one more or one less

━━ ˟ ⊰🍁THERE'S A PUNCTUATED SIGH OF relief , eyes drawn to the small figure before him. Traversing the forests alone could bring peace alongside potential risks ; while he knew better than to let his guard down, there comes with it a molecule of guilt at his easiness to start. Not everyone in the world aimed to harm him, he reminded himself, forcing those perceived memories of knife jamming into spine aside. Plenty of kind strangers wandered the paths here, so why should he immediately engage in the offensive?

        ❝ No! No, my apologies, ❞ this emphasized by low bow, sword placed once more back into its sheathe. While not ornate as the one he held in his past, it did its job well enough, keeping it secure and preventing liquids from seeping into it and rusting the blade he hadn't grown accustomed to. ❝ I shouldn't remove my blade until I'm certain I'm in danger ; I must have given you a fright. ❞ Embarrassing as it is, he'd glance around himself before continuing, ❝ What is it you're wishing to acquire? Perhaps I can help you gather them? ❞

━━ ˟ ⊰🍁EYES GROW WIDE AS NOISE draws attention to west , his sword drawn at the ready, piercing gaze devoid of its natural hearth. ❝ Who's there? ❞

allowed false flags of 100% sfw posts made by transfem users (and blacklisted trans-adjacent tags)

taken away basic accessibility features in an effort to tiktok-ify tumblr

pushed tumblr live, a feature users actively dislike which is mostly unused and overrun by spambots, that also collects all of your data

allowed ads that can literally kill people via flashing / strobing lights, even if the person had it filtered, despite user complaints, with the ceo even saying people with epilepsy should "just buy ad free" in response to concern over potential death or serious injury from such ads

STOP GIVING THEM MONEY! stop trying to make crab day or whatever else happen. paying for stuff from the shop is rewarding them for ignoring the userbase continuously and doing things the majority don't want, even if the things they're doing and allowing can cause actual deaths. staff shouldn't be praised and get profit for ignoring their users in exchange for trying to turn tumblr into twitter 2 ft. tiktok. at this point i don't even care for "staff are people 🥺 be nice" arguments, because even when people are being very polite in feedback, they're perfectly fine ignoring it in exchange for implementing changes nobody wants or asked for, all because new users may like it more (and forget anyone who's used the site for years, apparently).

he  listens  along  without  any  other  notable  commentary,  merely  humming  and  nodding  when  appropriate.  the  thought  of  using  the  weapon  to  bludgeon  her  foes  elicits  a  furrowed  brow  and  faint  frown  —  yet  ren  chooses  to  hold  his  tongue.  it's  a  matter  of  personal  preference;  if  that's  what  she  wants,  then  it's  up  to  him  to  find  a  way  to  accommodate  that  in  the  final  design.  

chewing  on  the  end  of  his  pen,  the  wanderer  shoots  the  empty  page  a  lingering  stare.  (  trying  to  ORGANIZE  his  thoughts.  )  then,  he  begins  to  sketch.  colors  can  always  come  later  —  it  wouldn't  be  difficult  to  conjure  up  a  palette  that  mixes  cryo  blues  with  the  darker  hues  of  her  attire.  a  sphere  of  polished  gemstone  for  the  focal  point,  perhaps.  he  surrounds  it  with  interlocking  shards  —  rough  at  the  edges  in  a  way  that  intentionally  resembles  CRACKED  ICE.  ideally  they  would  be  able  to  rotate  around  the  core,  like  the  debris  suspended  helplessly  in  a  celestial  body's  gravitational  pull.  shifting  accordingly  to  protect  the  inner  workings  of  the  catalyst,  cushioning  against  the  point  of  impact  —  on  the  off  chance  she  does  decide  to  use  it  to  bludgeon  someone.  he  thinks  the  design  could  probably  use  some  polishing,  but  it's  certainly  a  start.  particularly  when  taking  into  account  such  an  unconventional  request.

❝  ...  ❞   ren  holds  up  the  journal  for  amanda  to  see.   ❝  ... something  like  this?  ❞  his  handwriting  is  neat  —  almost  to  the  point  one  could  be  forgiven  for  assuming  it  was  printed  by  a  MACHINE.  ❝  as  far  as  materials  are  concerned,  i  was  considering  starsilver ...  and  condessence  crystal ...  though  that's  subject  to  change.  whatever  it  ends  up  being,  it  should  probably  be  durable.  ❞

Besides, she doubted she'd get a straight answer. It always seemed like a bit rude, like it may be a sensitive subject. Ren wasn't exactly the most level headed person, after all. No one who had killed multiple times was.

besides  —  it  would  reflect  badly  on  him  to  have  his  student  waving  around  a  piece  of  JUNK.  talk  about  embarrassing.

❝  what  kind  of  CATALYST  do  you  want?  ❞   ren  asks  in  return.  the  metaphorical  gears  in  his  head  are  already  turning,  but  ultimately  it's  meant  to  be  a  weapon  for  her;  the  kid's  input  should  hold  a  CONSIDERABLE  amount  of  weight  as  far  as  the  creative  process  is  concerned.  ❝  throw  some  ideas  at  me  if  you  have  them.  it  doesn't  have  to  be  something  grandiose ...  anything  is  helpful,  even  if  it's  just  to  give  me  a  general  idea  of  your  aesthetic  preferences.  ❞  hand  presses  to  his  chest;  in  a  flash  of  light,  he's  holding  a  small,  leather  journal  and  a  pen.  it's  not  that  he  needs  to  write  down  what  she  says  to  remember  —  but  sketching  out  a  few  rough  visuals  for  her  to  choose  from  might  make  it  easier  to  settle  on  a  final  design.

for all the muses out there who like to mess with others!! mainly meant for platonic relationships, but can be used for romantic & antagonistic relationships as well! feel free to modify any pronouns, descriptor words, & objects for your needs!

FROM THE LITTLE SHIT.

words. ❝ how'd you like the fake spider in your room? ❞ ❝ hang on a second, i'm gonna record this — ❞ ❝ i took 20 bucks out of your bag last night. ❞ ❝ alright, that's it, time for the tickle monster treatment! ❞ ❝ oh, yeah? and what are you gonna do about it? ❞ ❝ i think i might have accidentally just hurt myself again. ❞ ❝ what makes you think you can possibly take me? ❞ ❝ outta the way, i was here first! ❞ ❝ sorry, i lost that a little while ago. ❞ ❝ hey, come on! it was just a prank! ❞ ❝ i'm seriously thinking about forcing that secret out of you. ❞ ❝ wait, did YOU say you wanted the last piece of pie in the fridge? 'cause i kinda just ate it ... ❞

actions. [ SING ] — sender starts singing raunchy lyrics around receiver [ WRESTLE ] — sender attempts to start play-fighting with receiver [ FINGER ] — sender flips receiver the bird [ LAUGH ] — sender tries to make receiver laugh [ LEAN ] — sender puts their full weight on receiver [ COLD ] — sender puts their cold fingers under receiver's shirt [ DRIVE ] — sender begins to drive very fast with receiver in the car with them [ FOOD ] — sender steals a bite of receiver's food when they're not looking [ BLANKET ] — sender pulls receiver's blanket off them while they're half-asleep [ PRANK ] — sender pulls a prank on receiver (bonus points if a type of prank is specified!)

FOR THE LITTLE SHIT.

words. ❝ hey, stop that! ❞ ❝ careful, i just got that new furniture. ❞ ❝ okay, okay, i'll do anything, just please stop tickling me ... ! ❞ ❝ god, you're such an asshole! ❞ ❝ i swear, if you do that one more time ... ❞ ❝ i didn't actually think it was that funny. ❞ ❝ aw, dammit, you broke it! ❞ ❝ you can't go 24 hours without having some kind of accident, huh? ❞ ❝ you just cheated! i watched you! ❞ ❝ if you even think about messing with me today, i will end you. ❞ ❝ are you drunk or something? because that was some of the weirdest shit i've ever heard. ❞ ❝ okay, i won't lie, that was actually pretty funny. ❞

for all the muses out there who like to mess with others!! mainly meant for platonic relationships, but can be used for romantic & antagonistic relationships as well! feel free to modify any pronouns, descriptor words, & objects for your needs!

FROM THE LITTLE SHIT.

words. ❝ how'd you like the fake spider in your room? ❞ ❝ hang on a second, i'm gonna record this — ❞ ❝ i took 20 bucks out of your bag last night. ❞ ❝ alright, that's it, time for the tickle monster treatment! ❞ ❝ oh, yeah? and what are you gonna do about it? ❞ ❝ i think i might have accidentally just hurt myself again. ❞ ❝ what makes you think you can possibly take me? ❞ ❝ outta the way, i was here first! ❞ ❝ sorry, i lost that a little while ago. ❞ ❝ hey, come on! it was just a prank! ❞ ❝ i'm seriously thinking about forcing that secret out of you. ❞ ❝ wait, did YOU say you wanted the last piece of pie in the fridge? 'cause i kinda just ate it ... ❞

actions. [ SING ] — sender starts singing raunchy lyrics around receiver [ WRESTLE ] — sender attempts to start play-fighting with receiver [ FINGER ] — sender flips receiver the bird [ LAUGH ] — sender tries to make receiver laugh [ LEAN ] — sender puts their full weight on receiver [ COLD ] — sender puts their cold fingers under receiver's shirt [ DRIVE ] — sender begins to drive very fast with receiver in the car with them [ FOOD ] — sender steals a bite of receiver's food when they're not looking [ BLANKET ] — sender pulls receiver's blanket off them while they're half-asleep [ PRANK ] — sender pulls a prank on receiver (bonus points if a type of prank is specified!)

FOR THE LITTLE SHIT.

words. ❝ hey, stop that! ❞ ❝ careful, i just got that new furniture. ❞ ❝ okay, okay, i'll do anything, just please stop tickling me ... ! ❞ ❝ god, you're such an asshole! ❞ ❝ i swear, if you do that one more time ... ❞ ❝ i didn't actually think it was that funny. ❞ ❝ aw, dammit, you broke it! ❞ ❝ you can't go 24 hours without having some kind of accident, huh? ❞ ❝ you just cheated! i watched you! ❞ ❝ if you even think about messing with me today, i will end you. ❞ ❝ are you drunk or something? because that was some of the weirdest shit i've ever heard. ❞ ❝ okay, i won't lie, that was actually pretty funny. ❞

❝  don't  worry  about  the  mora.  ❞  eyes  open;  he  crosses  his  arms  —  then  thoughtfully  raises  a  hand  to  his  chin.   ❝  you  don't  need  to  spend  a  small  FORTUNE  to  get  a  good  catalyst.  ❞  not  when  one  happens  to  know  someone  with  experience  in  forging  weapons.  surely  finding  the  right  materials  wouldn't  be  too  TEDIOUS;  the  wanderer  spends  enough  time  traveling,  he  could  simply  collect  them  as  he  goes.  ❝  don't  misunderstand,  ❞  ren  continues  aloud,   ❝  i'm  not  going  to  patronize  you  by  dropping  a  fancy  new  catalyst  in  your  lap.  but  if  you  put  in  the  work  to  get  STRONGER ...  ❞   a  shrug,   ❝  who  knows?  your  efforts  might  be  rewarded.  ❞

it  seems  like  a  fair  enough  trade,  he  thinks.  rewarding  strength  with  a  WEAPON  to  match  —  not  a  gift,  but  a  sign  of  some considerable  accomplishment. he's always found it more interesting to deal in currencies other than simple MORA.

Ren's insistence on not needing Mora gives her pause, brows furrowing in confusion. Surely she would, she'd already talked to blacksmiths and learned just how pricey and material costly weapons could be. Maybe at some point she'd be able to save enough, but Mandy has already given up much desire to have one of the fancy ones they could make.