Garlond Artificer and Gunslinger

Gunner of Light (& Darkness, Hope, Balance, etc.) off duty Jobs: SMN, SCH, MCH, GNB, SGE, & PLD Omni-crafter in the making Manufacturing and technology enthusiast

[garlondartificer]

Week 5 - Bonfire

"Where did it all go wrong?" I asked him.

Ayash turned towards me past the bonfire. "Where did it go wrong indeed." He replied in a wry tone.

The spirit closed his eyes, bent his head down, and let out a sigh like as hot as an oven. "I had loved Amaurot, but I did so for its ideals and what it did for the world and its people. I joined the Convocation to join their task of watching over Etheirys and leading over such great prosperity. And yet," he opened his eyes and shifted their gaze to the night sky, "when the Final Days came, so much had been lost. Hermes, as much as I loved him, had sealed off our future by his reckless nihilism. Yet he was far from the only man at fault."

"While the sacrifice of Hythlodaeus and half the citizens of Amaurot to Zodiark may have been to nobly preserve Etheirys, the toll it took was arguably worse than the Final Days. With so many souls claimed, the vast administration and civil service which ran the provinces under Amaurot's care were overstretched, leading to widespread hardship. What few Amaurotines remained simply couldn't keep up with their workload, leaving much of the Republic to fall into disrepair and neglect, and its people to famine and hopelessness."

"The entire Convocation was swiftly made aware of this predicament by my own reports, and were soon debating rigorously on how to make up for this labor power shortfall. My proposition was to extend citizenship to those in the provinces and begin training them to take the mantle of stewards of the Star. However, this proposal was utterly refused, to my indelible shock. Instead, they voted to make yet another sacrifice to Zodiark, this time by taking from Etheirys itself - the flora and fauna, the land and seas, even the people of the provinces and their livestock and grain - to return the sacrificed Amaurotines to life."

His head knelt back down, with tears running from his eyes. "This, more than anything else, was perhaps the most damning part of all the horrors of the Final Days. For all of the recklessness of Hermes, he unmasked what Amaurot had become. My loyalty to Amaurot was, above all else, for what it stood for. It was a republic that promised a world where everyone mattered, without strife, bloodshed, or poverty. It's people and leaders were fair wards of all life on the Star, ensuring their continued prosperity and growth. Yet just then, with a single decree, they showed the culmination of the complete betrayal of such ideals. This new regime only stood for the city itself, its power, wealth, security, and unquestioned authority over those they called 'lesser.' And in doing so, Amaurot had come to stand for nothing."

There was a quiet tension in the air. The spirit seemingly needed to catch his breath and regain his composure.

He continued, "I had no other moral choice for what came next. As I had foreseen, as the Amaurotine troops became little better than raiders, many of the provinces began to defend themselves in open defiance of such tyranny, and young radicals had begun to spread their word railing against the corrupt Convocation. When my peers in power demanded I crush the rebels, I merely kept up appearances of loyalty. I apprehended their leaders, but not to dissuade them, but to organize them. At last, when the provinces gave me their discreet support, I declared the reigning Convocation of Fourteen to be unfit for leadership and bid the people rise up against their once benevolent overlords. Thus, did I come to lay siege to the grand city I had loved and served my whole life.

[polutropos-puppyboy]

i have for a while been using stepping on somebody's toes as a metaphor for misgendering. and i genuinely think that it's kind of a good one.

[polutropos-puppyboy]

if you keep stepping on somebody's toes for a long time at minimum they're probably going to start really hating you and at maximum you might cause them lasting damage.

if you do it on purpose you're a dick. if it's on accident but you keep doing it that person is still going to be mad at you because you don't care enough to try not to step on their toes

[polutropos-puppyboy]

if you give a grovelling begging apology after accidentally stepping on somebody's toes one time you're going to make the whole thing awkward, but not giving a quick "sorry" before moving on is still kind of rude.

[bluberryffxiv]

wolqotd: your oc finds themself in a new town going shopping. what kind of stores are they drawn to visiting first? what do they look at in them? do they buy anything?

[garlondartificer]

Dupas is quite the frugal man, both from his working class background and stern sense of responsibility. His first priorities when shopping are food and traveling supplies, and his military and engineering training have honed his resourceful instincts. The qualities he looks for are cheap cost, durability for gear, longevity for food - he's not afraid of preservatives and will often go out of his way to get them for sustaining expeditions - and little to no extravagance to them.

However, in the post-war times after he's settled down on Aloalo Island, he's begun to allow himself some luxuries in life. He typically acquires things for his hobbies - tinkering, at-home experiments, even miniature painting which he adopted from Krile.

[rneliflua]

this female character has toxic masculinity because she's rude and angry. it's misogynistic to hate my male fave because he's popular with women but it's ok to hate on this female character because she's bad female rep and women who like her don't count. it's actually misogynistic to like badly written women because it is rewarding low effort of male writers and I'm the sole arbiter of what is a badly written woman. it's misogynistic to write women with personality flaws because complexity is for silly boys. it's feminist to remove women from stories and focus on the men because I don't have to deal with that bad rep in my fanfiction. it's misogynistic how the narrative has reduced her to a love interest for a man so I reduced her to the mom friend, yaoi cheerleader, and therapist for the same man instead. she deserves better so I decided to remove her from the narrative altogether so she won't have to suffer all the interesting conflict my guys will have to suffer instead. no, I'm not a misogynist, my disregard for women is 100% feminist.

[snowlilly]

OC habits ask game

🗣️ Voice 1. Are they talkative? 2. Is their voice quiet or loud? 3. Do they have unusual speech patterns? 4. Do they have an accent or dialect? 5. Do they like to sing? Are they good at it?

🖐️ Hands 6. Left handed, right handed, ambidextrous? 7. Neat or messy hand writing? 8. Do they draw/paint a lot? 9. Are they good or bad at making handicrafts? 10. Do they need their hands occupied a lot? If so, what do they do?

🍛 Food 11. What's their favorite food/least favorite food? 12. Are they a picky eater? 13. Any food they avoid for reasons other than taste? 14. How are their table manners? 15. Do they rather eat too much or too little? 16. Do they prefer to eat alone or with company? 17. Are they good at cooking?

🛏️Sleep 18. Morning person or night owl? 19. Easy to fall asleep or insomniac? 20. Light or heavy sleeper? 21. Do they move around a lot while sleeping? 22. Are they used to sleeping around others or alone? 23. Do they snore? 24. Other sleeping habits?

[xiaonme]

everyone have higher opinion of themselves and their fanwork NOW!!!!!!!!! no fanwork produced is ever a given!!! they are passion projects made by people who love something so much that it drives them to create!! I think everyone who makes things themselves in their own time should be so deeply proud of what they do and the skills they have!!! be proud of the skills you have acquired from creating, because you gain skills anytime you have created something!!!

[garlondartificer]

Week 4: "Look at you"

"Oh, Krile. You are the most wonderful woman of my life. I had never been a man of romance; I had always been the quiet type, focused on my work. It was hardly love at first sight; you were simply a new colleague, though a welcome presence. Yet your wit was swiftly apparent - I was rather unprofessionally eager to see you reduce Alphinaud to melting embarrassment. From there, I only grew fonder of you, not only from your wit, but your care for others, your boundless love of the world, your wondrous art, and your unyielding will to make life better worth living. All these years of war are done, but I hope that you feel a similar fondness for me. Your bravery against the Endsinger has only cemented you in my psyche. When I swore we would march through the years together, I meant it. I remember how we both healed each other from the brink, and swore our promise of comradery. I know this may be a bit of a long winded confession, but I love you, and I hope you love me too.

Sincerely, Dupas Bulipas."

Letter from Dupas Bulipas to Krile Baldesion, October 20th, 1945 (20th Century AU)

[garlondartificer]

Week 3: Fun

Dupas may often appear to be a dry serious man - he often needs to be, given how serious and grim the problems he deals with are.

However, every man needs his hobbies, and his are of the quiet type. Tinkering, reading, crafting, even drawing from time to time. He's not the sort to find enjoyment in the loud, boisterous physical activities that are more popular. At heart, he is a craftsman, and when he has found a safe place for his people, he would like nothing more than to simply while away the hours in a simple workshop, creating designs to automate the tedium of life such as washing dishes, as well as continuing his research into magitech.

[corvigae]

Okay, question because I'm curious -

Fellow Tank-players, do you LIKE or DISLIKE it when a Healer runs ahead and pulls for you?

I like it

I dislike it

I don't care either way

Voting ended onJul 31

[garlondartificer]

So, Berlin Fan Fest is tomorrow...

EU is expected to reveal the new tank for Evercold, and I have some hopes I want to put out there.

I'm not claiming to make any evidence based predictions here, just a job I think would be cool to play in game.

I'm definitely hoping for a hammer wielding job, either two-handed or with a shield is fine. For theming, I'd be down for a Marshal or a judge, but I'm really excited for the thought of an angry industrial worker with blacksmith and machine style abilities, in the same vein of Reaper being an angry botanist. I hope it turns out to be the case, but I'm looking forward to seeing the new tank we get regardless.

Give love to your tanks today!

[tictacpbandai]

[magicmistral]

My uncle is really into warhammer and would win every miniature painting competition he was in. I have not very steady hands and he saw me messing up my nail polish for prom. He sat with me and carefully painted my nails and that moment meant so much to me all these years later.

[garlondartificer]

Funny you should say that, as there is in fact an indie company formed specifically for taking nail stamping techniques and applying them as decal substitutes for minis. I've even ordered from them recently myself.

[red-garden]

“Do dishes” and “take out trash” both require the use of a spell slot, vs “use phone” is a cantrip, and brother, I am a level one wizard

[garlondartificer]

[gailynovelry]

The fastest way to accomplish The Project is to cease being afraid of The Project. The Project cannot maim you. The Project cannot kill you. The Project is more afraid of you than you are of it. It is okay if The Project turns out differently from how it was in your head, and it is okay if it has flaws. You are capable of engaging with The Project.

[kelseyfun]

Reblog if you say "Y'all"

[garlondartificer]

Week 2: Water

In his homeland of the South Sea Isles, the ocean and its waters are revered as a source of food and life, and are cornerstones of their culture. Dupas himself has inherited this reverence in his own way. While he's rather disinclined to religious practices and superstition, he is well at home in the ocean, through its calm lagoons and even its rough storms. When he feels troubled, he will often don his own variant of traditional Summoning attire and ride his Falcon submersible down below the waves to ponder, meditate, and calmly sort out his eternally raging thoughts.

[heliotropist]

"America’s World Cup opener is today at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and the 2,000 cooks, servers, bartenders, and dishwashers who work there are now the highest-paid stadium workers in the country.

They didn’t get there by asking nicely.

The regime’s Homeland Security chief promised ICE agents at World Cup stadiums. FIFA—in partnership with the regime—demanded workers hand over home addresses and nationality data. Workers knew exactly where that information could end up.

Days before the opening match—when walking out would’ve been impossible to ignore—96% of them voted to strike. And they won big.

Their ratified contract delivers 40% raises, bringing most workers to more than $40 an hour, and something unprecedented in American labor history—the contractual right to walk off the job if ICE threatens any worker in that stadium.

Union co-president Kurt Petersen was direct: “These workers are heroes. They stood up to FIFA. They stood up to ICE.”

Suites worker Yolanda Fierro put it best: “Los Angeles should be a city of welcome—not fear.”"

Stadium Workers Beat ICE At World Cup, Trump Regime’s Secret Epstein Panic Exposed, and Republicans Defect To Stop Congressman’s Dangerous N

Plus, MAGA’s invincibility myth dies in Iowa and South Carolina

[fuckthisshit-ugh]

please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

reblog. share. don't scroll past.