#Key Predictions

[marketxcel]

Unveiling the Future: Exploring Key Trends for 2024

Explore the future with insights into the key trends shaping 2024. From technology to lifestyle changes, discover what lies ahead and stay ahead of the curve in this exploration of emerging trends.

[raayllum]

so we're just saying all the quiet parts out loud about Callum's psyche and his construction of his own identity huh

[hychlorions]

art i drew to say goodbye to the haikyuu manga when it ended back in july 2020 (please don't mind my old username/watermark)

[castleinthemist]

"JUST THEORETICALLY" you think i don't know you show. you'll do just that 😑 <-- first time watcher

[witchlingcirce]

I’m really curious on what Cassie’s top 5 fav shadowhunter characters are, like no1 is 100% Clary buttt I wanna know the other ones- I’m curious

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

I am really looking forward to the conversation Mike and El will have during or post-breakup and when Mike explains to her the feelings he has for Will, because I feel like this will be the only indicator we get of Mike's sexuality. He's probably not going to come out with it that he's gay or bi, but I think we should be able to surmise what his sexuality is based on the reasoning he gives El for why he can't be with her.

I feel like the biggest indicator we'll get is whether Mike tells El they can't work together because she is a girl or because he realizes that they're no longer compatible now that they're older. Like, he could say, "I do love you, but I think I've been mistaking the love I have for you for romance instead of friendship," or he could say, "I really *did* love you, but now that we're older, I think we work better as friends." I feel like it will really hinge on whether he admits to having loved El or not.

Low key, I think it's also very possible that Mike will remain unlabeled and that all we'll know from him is that he realizes he's been in love with Will for a long time. I can high key see him saying, "I don't know what it means or when exactly it happened, but I love Will and I know I'm supposed to be with him."

[trek-tracks]

I was going to make a joke about a game of Family Feud with the S'chn T'Gais (Spock, Sarek, Amanda, Sybok, T'Pau, with Michael as an alternate post-TFF) vs. another TOS family...and then I realized that as far as we know on screen, none of the rest of the TOS crew have enough living/non-divorced family members to field a team, and I made myself sad

[blackjackkent]

Wyll is trembling like a leaf when Jaheira pokes her head into his tent.

"I brought you some stew, cub," she says, setting a bowl down just inside the tent flap. "You will not want to come out to the fire tonight, I think." Her lips twitch with a brief flash of rueful humor. "Gale is holding forth about something or other that no one is in the mood to hear - least of all you."

She watches the Blade uncurl himself slowly from his hunched position. He wipes hastily at his eyes, his head tipped away from her in an attempt to hide his face, but she clicks her tongue dismissively. "Come now, boy," she says - and her tone is gentle in contrast to the curtness of the words. "Do you think I have not seen tears before? You have cause of crying; do not hold back on my account."

(Hypocrisy, of course. She would not be caught dead crying in his position; she would be swallowing down the tears and hiding the weakness, and she knows it perfectly well. But what use being so old, she thinks sardonically, if not to give advice one has no intention of following oneself?)

He tries to laugh but it doesn't quite come out right, a shaky, whimpering sound. "I'm-- sorry, I..." he mumbles. "I can't--"

Silence. She waits, watching, until he's ready to speak. "It didn't seem truly real till now," he finally whispers. "That they'd taken him, that my father--" He swallows. "He threw me out for listening to Mizora, and then he goes and gets himself taken by that-- that thing--"

His voice cracks and he looks down at his hands in his lap. "Like father, like son, eh?" he mutters. "I thought I'd failed him, all those years ago. That I was simply weak, that he would never have allowed anything to touch him as Mizora touched me. Seems I was wrong."

"The bitterest cut of growing up," Jaheira says with the ghost of a humorless smile. "The moment when you must learn that those who raised you are no more perfect than you are; some simply put on a good show of it." And some do not.

He nods. "All this time, I thought maybe... one day, there would be a reconciling," he admits. "And now this... he might be lost, with so much left unsaid..." He squeezes his eyes shut and she sees the glimmer of tears between the lids. "What if I can't save him?" he whispers.

She debates her answer before speaking - groundless hope or harsh practicality. "If it can be done, you will do it," she says at last. "And we will all be beside you."

She wishes there was some bit of certainty she could offer him in place of these empty words. Her own parents died in the flames of the crisis that toppled Tethyr; she has no memory of them. Sometimes it occurs to her, in vague terms, to be envious of those who know the faces of those who bore them. Other times, like now, it feels far easier never to have known.

"You should eat, Wyll," she says, gently nudging the bowl towards him. "It will gain no flavor by cooling off."

"I'm not hungry." He breathes out shakily. Then his head snaps up and he looks around with sudden wildness, starting to push up onto one knee. "I should-- I need to-- Rakha..."

"Stlarn. No," Jaheira says, and the word is suddenly so curt that it slaps him backwards into a sitting position again. "Do not trouble yourself with Rakha."

"She'll-- she'll need me, I--"

"She will keep." Jaheira frowns darkly. "The things she needs will not be found tonight, and they are a weight heavier than you need to carry. And for once, Wyll Ravengard, you will take care of yourself first, or I will know why."

He swallows. "Yes, mum," he says, and it's supposed to be a joke, but his voice cracks a little on the word.

There's a long silence. He leans over, puts his hand on the side of the bowl and drags it a few inches towards himself, but doesn't lift it. "She knew him," he mutters. "She was one of those behind the whole blasted plot, and he-- you saw the way he looked at her. And it's because of her that we have these things in our heads..."

He presses his fingertips to his temple and looks up at her with a lost, uncertain expression. "How do I look past that?"

"Wyll..." She sighs.

It is so much harder with Rakha than it was with Caden. Caden had Bhaal's blood, he stood on the precipice, but he never had the chance to truly fall into that dark god's clutches. Rakha, meanwhile, has spent her life submerged in blood; the best she can hope for is to be able to break the surface and draw a new breath.

"This is no better nor worse than what we have already learned of her," she says carefully. "The question to you remains the same. Do you hate her for what she has been, or do you love her for what she is, what she may yet be?"

She smiles ruefully. "No one but you can answer that question - and in truth I think no one would have cause to judge you if you decided it was too much. I hope you will not, but I would understand--"

"No," he says. "No, I-- I love her." He swallows and rubs the heels of his hands against his forehead. "It's just... it's just hard, that's all."

She nods. "I have loved many with darkness in their hearts," she says softly. "It is no easy matter. But you are equal to it." Her lips twitch. "Or you will be - if you will do as I say, and eat your stew, and sleep."

This startles a very low, very shaky laugh out of him, and he finishes pulling the bowl towards him and picks up the spoon. "All right. All right," he says. "I will. Blade's honor."

-----

"She was his friend?!" The flames around Karlach's body are high and wild, the highest Jaheira has yet seen them. The pale gold of her eyes has turned near blue with the incandescent heat. "She was his FUCKING FRIEND?!"

Jaheira watches the young tiefling warily, deliberately positioning her body between Karlach and the corner of the camp to which Rakha has retreated. "So it would seem," she says, her voice calm in contrast to Karlach's rage. "Though it cheapens the word to use it."

"I'll kill her," Karlach growls. "I'll fucking kill her. All this time, she was old buddies with Gortash? For how long, huh? Were they palling around the night he decided to pack me off to Avernus? Were they sitting about with a nice cocktail, talking about how my blood money paid off their first shipment of fucking worms?"

"I do not know, Karlach." Jaheira shakes her head. "Nor does Rakha."

"Yeah. Right. We sure of that? Maybe she remembers more than we think." Karlach's lips twist in a hard, manic smile; the rage is bright and blinding in her eyes. "Seems like the only thing I'm sure of right now is that she went into that fucking keep and swore an oath not to hurt him. Well, y'know what? I haven't sworn any fucking oaths, and I'm really, really, really ready to hurt someone."

She pulls the heavy sword from her back, makes a half-turn, and takes a step forward, about to break into a run.

In an instant, one of Jaheira's scimitars is out of its sheath. Without hesitation, she snaps her arm forward so that the hilt knocks smartly against Karlach's wrist.

Karlach yelps and drops her sword with a clang, shaking her suddenly stinging hand. "Ow! Shit!" She grips her wrist with the opposite hand and looks at Jaheira with wide eyes; surprise has muffled the rage for a moment, along with a hint of admiration. "Whoa."

"Do not think I do not understand your anger," Jaheira says curtly. "But I will not allow you to act on it. We both know you would regret it after."

A muscle works in Karlach's jaw with frustration, and then she spins and lashes out with a kick at the tent behind her, which immediately topples into a messy pile of fabric and poles. "Fuck..." she snarls down at it. "I can't believe we're working with that motherfucker. After everything I've been through..."

Jaheira cocks her head, looking at the young woman with no small amount of sympathy. She is all too familiar with the need for vengeance; a sudden memory flashes through her, of the sight of Jon Irenicus vanishing out of their grip deep within Spellhold, his mocking laughter lingering in the air behind him. No - she knows full well what Karlach is feeling. Unfortunately, it does not change the situation at hand.

"It is a practical matter," she says. "We have many enemies. This 'alliance' removes one of them for a time. It will not be forever." Her eyes narrow minutely and she folds her arms across her chest. "You will have your vengeance yet, Karlach."

Karlach leans over to pick up the sword she dropped, absently wiping a clump of dirt off the handle with her thumb. Her lips are pursed out, an attempt at masking her emotion but not a particularly successful one; Jaheira has seen many times already that Karlach's heart is worn firmly on her sleeve.

"I hope you're right," Karlach mutters. "But... what if she decides she likes him better'n us, huh? What if she decides she likes who she was then, better'n... all of this?" She waves a hand in a vague gesture towards the camp around them. Then her hand falls to her side and her shoulders slump.

"He welcomed her home," she adds quietly. The blue rage-glow is fading out of her eyes, and she stares at the ground next to Jaheira's boots. "Time was, not too long ago, I'd've done just about anything for someone who welcomed me home..."

Jaheira waits in silence for a moment. When she is certain that the immediate crisis has passed, she begins to slowly and methodically resheathe her scimitar on her back. "Do you trust Rakha?" she asks after a short pause.

Karlach laughs ruefully. "Ask me a tough one, hm?" She drops the sword with a low clunk on top of the pile of fabric that used to be her tent. "I think so? I mean, I did. I have. All the way through the shadowlands and all. We knew she was fighting some bad shit, but so are the rest of us, and I know Wyll loves her like fucking mad. But this..." She rubs at the bridge of her nose. "A Bhaalspawn, and now I find out she was working with Gortash too... It's just a fucking lot to take in, you know?"

"I know." Jaheira considers, then amends the question: "Do you trust me?"

Karlach's head snaps up and she blinks rapidly. "What? Of course I do, ma'am. You're--" She grins sheepishly. "I mean, you're Jaheira. Be stupid not to trust you, right?"

If only that were always the case. "Take my word, if you do not take hers," Jaheira says firmly. "This is the correct choice."

A short silence. Karlach studies her expression closely. "You're that sure of her?" she asks. "That she'll keep fighting and won't turn on us?"

Jaheira's eyes flick away.

The truth is that of course she isn't sure. Rakha is, at her worst moments, a feral animal struggling to hold onto its own leash; Jaheira would be foolish to think she is not capable of being supremely dangerous.

But... she sees snatches of someone else, buried deep in all that darkness - a curious, doggedly determined, oddly guileless, deeply frightened woman clinging onto sanity by her fingernails, a dark-mirror echo of one of Jaheira's oldest and greatest friends. She can't turn her back on that - no matter how uncertain the path.

"I would stake my life on it," she says gravely.

Karlach tilts her head, and then laughs suddenly. "Yeah," she says wryly. "Guess we all will, huh?'

-----

Rakha has dragged Lae'zel's training dummy away from the camp. She stands in the seclusion of nearby trees and another rotted-out building, and is pacing around the dummy like a stalking animal. Every now and then, with a sudden spasm of movement, she lashes out with a punch, a kick, a gripping rip to pull a piece of fabric away from the wooden frame. She has been at this for some time. Her knuckles are bloody.

As Jaheira draws near, she can hear the half-orc mumbling to herself, inarticulate phrases, frantic nonsense sounds. Her mismatched eyes - one blank white, the other pure black - glint almost imperceptibly in the dim light.

"Don't come near me," she snarls, hearing Jaheira's footsteps behind her.

Jaheira halts at once. "As you say," she says mildly.

"I mean it." Rakha's breath sounds ragged and rough; she inhales in a gasping, mewling groan, as if struggling for air. "I'm broken. Dangerous."

"You sound very certain of that," Jaheira says, keeping her tone carefully measured.

"I am. You heard him. Gortash." Rakha puts a strange twist on the name that is hard to define - it sounds like a curse, like a groan of pain. "He knew me. Blood and all, every bit on my hands. He was glad to see me. We were-- partners--"

"So it would seem."

Rakha growls hoarsely. Magic pulses around her body and then erupts outward, a thunderous shockwave that knocks the dummy ten feet backwards. It crushes the grass in a circle around her. "We were partners," she snarls. "We built this." She presses her fist against her temple, leaving a bloody smear from her knuckles across her skin. "All of it. The worms. The cult."

Again that strange whimpering gasp; she hunches over as if shielding herself from some unseen blow. "Bhaalspawn. Chosen. I wanted them all dead. Blood spattered, entrails spilled, thanking me as they died for the Absolute..."

She lifts her head, and for a moment Jaheira truly is frightened to see the manic desperation that has taken over her expression. "I did this," she rasps. "I did all of this. What happened to Wyll... it's because of me. What happened to Lae'zel... to Minthara... to you-- it's all-- because-- of me--"

Her breath is coming in rapid and uneven gasps now, hyperventilating, choking. And the words start coming faster, too, not her usual clipped-off sentences but a waterfall of terrified thought. "I could feel it, there, when he looked in my eyes, I remembered-- I remembered how I wanted to tear off his skin, how I had a greater plan, to bleed every last soul of the world into a pile of rancid carcass--"

She stops abruptly, her eyes wild, her fingers curled into desperate clawing shapes as she struggles for control. Her gaze rakes over Jaheira's body, and Jaheira is reminded all too clearly of the madness in Caden's face in the moments when the Slayer form took him. Subtly she shifts her weight, ready to dart to the side, to fight back if the need should come... but Rakha shakes her head suddenly, staggers backward and falls to her knees.

"I can't make it stop..." she gasps out. "What if I can't make it stop...?"

"You can." It takes a great deal of effort for Jaheira to keep her voice steady and even, not to betray any of the fear and revulsion that is rising in her in spite of herself. What if you can't, indeed? "You are strong enough."

"Am I?" Rakha laughs. Jaheira is not sure she's ever heard her laugh before, and certainly not like this; it's a bitter, hysterical sound full of pain. "It would be easy to give in. No more fighting. He wanted all of me, all of the broken parts. I could just give in... give in, and it would all be easy... no fighting, no wondering, just blood, and blood, and blood..."

She rocks spasmodically side to side, her fingers clawing restlessly at the uneven scar along her hairline. "Oh, gods, I can't make it stop..."

With a sudden movement that is more instinct than thought, Jaheira crouches to eye level with her, reaches out and cups both of Rakha's cheeks, wrenching her head up so their eyes meet. "Look at me. Hold on. Breathe," she snaps.

Rakha flinches back from the touch, her lips curling back from her teeth. "Why do you help me?" she snarls. "You should hate me. All of you should hate me."

Her eyes lock onto Jaheira's, desperate, feral. "Hate me."

"No." Jaheira's eyes narrow and her jaw sets, staring back just as fiercely.

"Gods. I'm broken. Shattered. Hate me."

"No." No doubt it would be easier if she could. She wishes she could, for then the path would be clear.

"HATE ME!" Rakha screams, and curls backwards into herself, her head hunching down into her arms. "Please..."

"I will not." Jaheira's pulse is thundering in her throat. She feels the delicacy of this moment, not so different from taming a beaten and frightened animal in the woods. "Those thoughts are in you, but they are not you. They do not define you. Who you were is not who you are. Breathe."

Rakha draws a ragged, sobbing breath that wracks her whole body. "It hurts..." she groans.

"I know. Look at me." Jaheira waits, carefully unmoving, until Rakha lifts her head and their eyes meet again. The frantic terror is ebbing away, slowly replaced by an exhaustion that makes something in Jaheira's heart twist to witness.

"I don't want to slip," Rakha whispers.

"I know," Jaheira repeats, more gently.

Rakha breathes in, shuddering. "I don't want to-- for Wyll--" she mumbles unsteadily.

"No." Jaheira shakes her head, just slightly. "Do not think of Wyll. Do not think of me. What do you want?"

The question seems to give Rakha some pause. She looks down at her hands, the blood on her knuckles, and then closes her eyes. "I want peace..." she says, almost too low to hear. "But I don't know where to find it..."

Jaheira relaxes a fraction, rocking her weight back. "You will not find it with Gortash," she says.

Rakha doesn't answer aloud, but raises one shoulder in a stiff shrug.

A long, long silence passes. Neither of them moves. Then Rakha shifts, and her eyes hood over again as she looks away. "I don't want to sleep in camp," she mutters. "I'll sleep out here."

Jaheira nods. "Then I will join you," she says brusquely. Without waiting for a response, she moves to the edge of the clearing and sits down with her back against a tree.

Rakha hesitates a moment. She seems as if she wants to say something, but though her mouth opens, no words come out. Then she shrugs again and turns away. Finding a patch of uncrushed grass, she lies down and curls her bulky frame into a tight ball, her back to Jaheira and to camp.

-----

Only when the half-orc's breathing turns steady and shallow does Jaheira allow herself to relax. She slumps, suddenly aware of all the weariness that adrenaline has been holding back, and rubs a hand down her face.

Ye gods... she thinks ruefully, leaning her head back against the comfortingly solid tree trunk behind her. How do I keep getting caught up in things like this?

In this brief moment of quiet, with no one to witness it, she allows herself the acknowledgment - she is frightened. This may be the second Bhaalspawn she has known, but Rakha is not Caden; that fact is becoming clearer with every moment, with every new revelation about the half-orc's bloody past.

And regardless of the confidence she expressed to Wyll and Karlach, Jaheira is not at all certain that they will win the battle for Rakha's mind.

I may have to kill her, she thinks bleakly. All of this may yet be for nothing in the end. The thought makes her scowl.

But not if I can help it. I will hold onto her with every bit of strength I have, before I will let Bhaal have her. I will hold onto them all...

[darkfictionjude]

saw the mood boards of the MCs and I would be sooo curious to see how you envision each universe of your IFs !! Esp the town

That’s the term I was looking for! I called it vibes because I forgot the mood boards 💀 thanks for the idea it’s good 😘

Alright I’ll do the town now and the rest tmrw

(Cue me just putting screen shots of the first twilight movie)

[kaasiand]

S1 flounder if it was good

[gayanime]

Saw the first episode of Chuang Asia S2, and listen, never did I ever think I would get the crossover of Jeff Satur and Minghao in one show!

Secondly, I am watching the show for Minghao and it seems he is basically the assigned baby sitter and ringmaster 🤣

Like, he was bringing everyone back from tangent topics, keeping people on track, he and bam bam were super strict compared to others who were either more lenient or were a bit emotional about the contestants. Even bambam i feel, if given the choice would join the chaos of other mentors and trainees and Minghao is there to exasperatedly (but with lot of fondness) pull everyone together! I am loving this and am looking forward to everyone testing his patience 🤣🤣

[raayllum]

The 'Dark'!Callum Inversion scenes Meta

Because it was Everything to me from a characterization standpoint, extremely interesting and satisfying, and I just have all the feelings, so let's talk about it!

First off, symbolism set up!

Before the scene in the forest begins, we're treated to reflection motif with Callum seeing a corrupted version of himself in the water of the Moonshadow assassin lotus pond, which was previously a place associated with shame, loss, and failure (3x03); as well as love and goodbyes (3x03, 6x09). The first batch is what Callum is feeling, with the second batch being what will influence his future choices in the coming episodes.

We also get Callum talking about how he (inadvertently) freed Aaravos, then dons his symbol of freedom (wings) in order to get away. Then Callum brings out a far more complicated symbol for himself: the cube.

A few things right off the bat:

The cube since S4 has explicitly represented Callum's inner turmoil and connection to Aaravos, and we see that come out further here in both areas.

Just as Karim looks to direction from the Sun ("What would you have me do? Where would you have me go?" in 5x04) and his sister ("And what would you have me do?" in 7x03), Callum quasi-looks to the cube for direction.

However, the runes being emphasized (upside down star for Aaravos, the Ocean rune) foreshadow that the choice of what do do next is already made, as the Ocean rune was also emphasized in his original dark magic dreams in 2x08, and foreshadowed his choice to do dark magic again in 5x08. We'll return to the rune emphasis again later.

I also want to talk about dark!Callum (DC)'s appearance as opposed to the form he takes in 2x08. The cloak is back, which in 2x08 was their main distinguishing feature. Now, 7x06's is joined with corruption around the eyes (which was present in Callum's 6x03 nightmare) and the white streak, which is new. 7x06 DC therefore seems both less menacing than full corruption leering grin DC (earlier in the pond; 2x08's true form) and simultaneously more honest. He's not covering up his appearance at all, is presenting more of a middle man of what Callum could become, and yet is still deeply loathed.

The rune emphasis continues even once we get DC shows up, with the Ocean rune continuing to be highlighted, as Callum unlocked the Ocean arcanum due to realizing/accepting his lack of control on "To love is simply to know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep [...] The Ocean arcanum is accepting that there are depths you can't see, parts of yourself you can't understand..." It was inextricably linked due to him realizing he would go that far with dark magic again, even if he hated it.

Then we get into what is probably my second favourite line in the whole scene, which is, "You didn't create me with dark magic, Callum. I have always been a part of you." Although DC is demonstrated through dark magic indicators, it is not exclusive to dark magic use. This too is reflected in what Callum says about the ocean arcanum, explaining, "The ocean arcanum is about accepting there are depths you can't see, parts of yourself you can't understand, and things you can't control".

This aspect of everyone having both dark and light inside them (as Aaravos lays out in 7x04) is reflected in 7x06 "Inversion" as well through the metaphor of the half-moon. Not only is there dark and light within all the main cast that they have to confront this season (Ez and Rayla, for example, both accept and understand the circumstances under which they'd murder someone) but it also comes back to the half-moon as well: "Consider the half moon. Light only falls on half its face right now, but that doesn't mean the other half isn't there" (2x02).

So this dark side—this willingness to go this far and in this way—is a fundamental part of who Callum is and who he's always been ("But not everything [has changed]: I would do anything for you"). Again, we love it here.

Then, the scene starts stacking metaphor upon metaphor / symbol upon symbol. First, we had DC, evidenced through dark magic corruption and a darker doppelgänger self; then we had the Ocean rune to invoke the last time Callum did dark magic, and why; finally, we have DC bring the two together into one of the other main symbols of the series: fate vs freewill through the idea of writing your own story.

"So how's your book?"

Previously, Callum had though that choosing who he wanted to be was exclusive to being a dark mage. He could choose to exert and maintain his agency OR choose to give into a pre-written destiny ("your destiny is already written, all you have to do now is accept it"). This was only enhanced by his struggle in earlier arc 2 seasons, as the dichotomy between "you can be a dark mage or a powerless human" become reconciled to "you are a powerless human because you are a dark mage," manifested in Aaravos stripping him of his power through possession/control because of his dark magic use.

This is similar to Callum's more optimistic but simplified view in 5x08 that "so long as we protect each other, so long as we love each other, you can never control us." By the end of the episode he's realized that's not true, and by the end of season 7 he likewise realizes his previous view of dark magic and himself is also not true.

Like Viren, Callum is realizing that it's not so much a choice between agency or dark magic in his life, so much as it is taking responsibility and acknowledging that he's Choosing to do dark magic for something he thinks is worth it ("Every step forward is a choice" / "That's the destiny I choose"). A character just giving up dark magic is not enough to make them a 'good' person (hi Kpp'Ar) or truly change their path (6x04 Claudia) without recognizing that dark magic itself wasn't necessarily the problem, but what it brought out in them and how they coped with it (Viren blaming Soren for his own actions, etc). Simply put, there is no 'or'. There is only 'and'.

The true heart is a gift of childhood. For a few wonder-filled years, we each have innocent eyes to experience the world’s beauty in a simple way. Terrestrius, you were lucky and held that innocent wonder longer than most. I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. But please believe me there is beauty in this burden. Your heart will be a little heavier, but now there will be no more half-truths, Terrestrius. 

[Side note: if you're interested more in the idea of knowledge as a burden in TDP, please check out this meta.]

As indicated by Aaravos' speech, this process of reconciling dichotomies into singular dualities is part of growing up and accepting that things are complicated shades of grey, just as Ezran had to learn in his 4x03 speech: "To give them that, we have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time," with reconciling dualities permeating much of arc 2, particularly season four.

So what does this process look like for Callum emotionally, with this scene in the woods? Well, there's a few different stages.

The first involves ideas of trust, which TDP comes back to time and time again. Whereas before DC kept himself very separate from Callum in 2x08 outside of a couple of lines, here he refers to them more routinely as one entity / person, emphasizing:

which Callum reflects even before we get there, even if he backtracks:

Furthermore, we return to the concept of parts of ourselves, not only in terms of fragmentation and brokenness, but also in terms of reality. DC states that he has always been a part of Callum, and the Ocean arcanum's "parts of yourself you can't understand" furthers this as previously noted, but so does Lujanne's statement from 2x02:

Real trust is accepting the dark parts we will never know.

But more on 7x09 in a bit. For now, part of how DC attempts to get through to Callum is in line with him being a more honest presentation of Callum than his prior manifestation in 2x08, and that begins with acknowledging Callum's feelings, but also the facts:

I get it. You hate me. But we know the truth too. Only I can save them all.

Now there will be no more half-truths. Dark and light brought together in understanding and acceptance, even if it is painful and complicated. DC posits, then, that Callum is someone who can and will "sacrifice [his] sense of right and wrong" and do dark magic again. This would, in addition, mean sacrificing his own life and his life with Rayla, as the plan involves being killed so Aaravos cannot use him further. (It does not, noticeably, involve sacrificing Rayla herself; in fact, it's rather the opposite, but again, more on that in a bit.)

Callum's capacity and willingness to do so is called out openly by DC, who reminds Callum of another truth and of his own doubt:

Taking the coin feels especially noteworthy since, when Callum did so, everything was seemingly fine. He'd cleansed himself of dark magic use and therefore possession, and believed/'knew' that the prison pearl was safely at the Starscraper, hundreds of miles away from him or anyone who would ever seemingly get to it. Yet he took the coin anyway, because to quote one of my friends, "Callum will see something and go man that's fucked up and file it away for later," and boy, he sure will. This tendency to preventively 'take', particularly for objects of perceived/potential power, also goes back even earlier: he doesn't just chain Claudia, but also steals her primal stone (1x03, 2x02: "You stole her primal stone"); in 4x07, he is unable to let go of / attempt to destroy the cube ("if you're so sure, why did you save it?"); and rather than having the self-awareness I'd assumed off screen to burn all of Viren's dark magic books, he read all of them instead (5x08).

So Callum plans for contingencies, yet has reservations about the plan DC—himself—is making. Fair enough. It would cause him to do "sacrifice his own sense of right and wrong," i.e. something that he considers vile and dangerous, and morally reprehensible. It'd mean dying and sacrificing his life. Does he bring any of these up as to why he doesn't want to, or can't, follow through on the plan?

No, because the singular reason he gives is this:

I can't. Don't you get it? Rayla loves me. She believes in me. This version of myself.

"You hate me" versus "Rayla loves me."

He doesn't say that it's wrong (2x08; which seems to be something he's relinquished partially by 6x03 anyway) and he doesn't even say that it'd kill him. The sole objection he gives is that Rayla would stop loving him, and implicitly that he'd be letting her down. I don't think I have to say why this is a little bit crazy and codependent, but I do love it, and it tracks with what Callum has said in the past, ie. 4x07's "I'm not afraid that he'll hurt me. I'm afraid that he'll use me to do awful things or hurt people I care about." A big part of 5x08 and the Ocean arcanum was realizing if it's a choice between doing awful things or his loved ones being hurt, he'll choose to do the awful thing, and 7x06 here takes that one step further: is doing an awful thing worth it to save your loved one, even if they hate you for it? (The answer to him is yes, but again: we're getting there.)

At this time, Callum still has hope that there's another way through that lets him defeat Aaravos and still have Rayla's love — I mean, not die, stating, "There has to be another way. Another way without you."

The immediate episode starts poking holes in this through Aaravos' conversation with Ezran: "It is the nature of children to think that the world must be one way or another." Callum has created a binary of "use dark magic to defeat Aaravos but sacrifice myself / Rayla's love" OR "defeat Aaravos without dark magic and keep Rayla's love". One option, or another. He's going to find out that that binary isn't true, but again, not quite there yet. For now I want to detour briefly into 7x07, specifically:

AARAVOS: There is great affinity between your brother and I. Callum sees the world as I do, understands the need for compromise [corruption]. Very soon, your brother will embrace dark magic to save those he loves. EZRAN: Oh? I suppose you've seen that written in the stars. AARAVOS: No, no. I've seen it written in his eyes. EZRAN: You're lying. Callum would never do that. AARAVOS: I never lie, Ezran. In your heart, you know this already. Callum will walk down that dark road.

So Aaravos knows, episodes in advance, what Callum is capable of and what he's willing to do. So does Ezran. So does Callum. And so, eventually, does Rayla.

But why is he willing to do this? Unsurprisingly, it's time to talk about my favourite part of the scene, or what I'm going to call

The Narrowing

Now, there's no denying that part of Callum's motivation here is to save the world. This has always been true; Callum loves the world. He cares about the greater good, and he's been willing to sacrifice himself for it before (3x01). Him being willing to use dark magic to save everyone, including Rayla and Ezran, is not news; it's inordinately in character. We've yet to see one of their lives be pitted against the greater good, wherein I think his choices would change, but Callum being willing to sacrifice himself / a life together in order to keep Rayla alive? That was always my prediction going into S7 that he'd do dark magic again and do it no matter the personal cost (losing the relationship, losing his life, etc) so long as it kept her and/or Ezran alive. And here we are.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about the specific narrowing we see, as DC proposes the same plan and according rationale behind it three times in 7x06, but it gets more specific each time (+ specific rune placements to boot):

"Them all," to a greater emphasis on Ezran and Rayla, to just Rayla.

Now, part of this is to reflect Callum's objections, which as we've gone over were exclusively centred on not wanting to lose Rayla's love (which Callum probably associates having her love as synonymous with him being alive, but Ezran did it first with her being alive in 4x01, so. yeah). That's what he wants to maintain, that's what he cares about. But DC points out that Rayla loving him, and him wanting that, should be secondary to keeping her alive. It's not about his wants. It's not about him.

It's about her.

After seasons of Callum's "I would do anything for you," we finally verbally get the second piece:

VIREN: But if it's love, then nothing else matters. Do what you must. (6x06)

While other characters discuss Callum's motivations in other ways—Runaan says "He will do whatever it takes to protect this world" as the man who's prepared to take him out to do the same, and as fits within Runaan's worldview like a perfect puzzle piece—most of that is publicly around other characters who share that worldview. Callum says "I have to, or everyone will die" and Aaravos' "So the hero dies for the greater good" in the final battle, where everyone—Rayla included—can hear (remember, privately, with Ezran how Aaravos framed the matter instead). Callum and Aaravos have an incentive and need for Rayla to accept and understand this—Callum wants her to take him out, and knows this'd be more effective than "I'm doing it for you" or she'd flat out refuse (6x03, 6x05); she needs to be Callum's 'false' safety net for Callum to be willing to corrupt himself again, on Aaravos' end—nor does it make it untrue. That is what Callum is doing something vile and dangerous for, and it's worth sacrificing his life and Rayla's love for him if it means saving everyone, including her. If it doesn't, or didn't, well, that remains to be seen...

But we all know what I'm saying for future events. Where we leave off story wise now is a Callum who willingly re-corrupted himself to save her and the greater good, a Callum who fully knows and accepts that in many ways he has sacrificed his sense of right and wrong in order to do so, and is aware that now and in the future he will "do anything, however dangerous, however vile" to protect the people he loves. The nice thing is that he also knows that rather than the false dichotomy set up before, sacrificing Rayla's love for him in order to save her life, is not something he has to be concerned about any longer, because she still loves him, and always will.

He became the person he hated, the person he was terrified to be (he carried out the exact same plan DC posited for the exact same reasons as posited) but not in the manner he expected, because he's still a person that Rayla loves. That's why the white streak is different. He can trust himself in this way, and knows that she can too.

She loves, accepts, and trusts this part of him, all of him. The thing he was most worried to lose is what he didn't have to lose at all, and I think that's pretty beautiful.

In conclusion, the scene in the forest was everything, the white streak and bridge scene in the finale was everything, we love a little snake boi and his prime enabler, TDP is kissing me on the mouth characterization wise always, god bless; thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.

[fossette-promenade]

2024 fashion predictions °●○♡

ive had a very strong belief that much like y2k, the early 2010s styles are going to come back!

with taylor swift being such a big name this year, i recalled some of her previous styles. looking back, she's very feminine, and almost "twee" or "quirky fashion"

we'll see lots of cozy clothes, cardigans. i think statement necklaces might come back too. much like the mary jane, the oxford style shoe will come back too.

but what does this mean for j-fashion, or lolita?

i think mori kei might have an uptick. much like how gyaru returned recently, mori will as well (first pic not mori, but how i imagine mori x twee could be?)

the shoes in the last images are like those birkenstocks that have been popular recently! and the bags in the swift image and 2nd pic are very similar!

in lolita, we may see a shift away from the larme color palette, of dusty pink and black, and see more earth tones and floral.

do you agree with my predicts (*´∀`)? what do you predict~?

[ssolessurvivor]

Ships Tag Drop Part 3!

I will be tagging all previous interactions with these tags in place of your usernames (those with AUs I'll hunt them down and tag manually).

This drop includes : @inkedmuses (tommy, buck, prince charming, edward, hayes & jack) TBA for Nikolai, @inabcck (izzy, jesinia, magnus and all his AUs, & harley) @resolutevalor (brianna, rose, yovela, ariel, belle for their original WWII similarity verse, and katerina) @scftmen damien, @townshaped sasha

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

Juno still has the Ruby7 with him. JUNO STILL HAS THE RUBY7 WITH HIM

THE RUBY7 CAN SENSE EMOTIONS OMG WAIT HEAR ME OUT- either:

A) the Ruby7 will sense Slip Jackson is sad, unbearably sad in his 15-20 year coma, and this will add into Peter's rage (not understanding what Juno's talking about the Ruby7 sensing sadness or whatever, not understanding why Slip does feel sad), and having to let go of Slip's dream. Or alternatively

B) the Ruby7 will sense nothing. Effectively brain dead, just a machine pumping his blood working his heart and lungs. Slip Jackson isn't alive, hasn't been alive for a while, and cannot be alive. Peter's rage (he was promised Slip's freedom in exchange for his services, he's worked two decades of his thirty years and for what?), letting go of the dream, etc etc.

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

And if I said that Mike and Will's relationship has always been romantic and that them finally getting together is just them accepting their relationship for what it has always been from the start