#also can't sleep very well

[artsywitchling]

Benjamin has become my comfort character

[pocketramblr]

I would do anything to save her.

This was supposed to just be drawing the Taoden siblings hugging a bunch but ah guess that Falin as the tower/princess/dragon post got into my head too much

[lilithofpenandbook]

Seriously how can M*r*uders stans like random Slytherins (who tf are Evan Rosier, Pandora (is that Luna's mum and why tf is she Evan Rosier's twin in half of these), and I don't even want to discuss Regulus) and make them Actually Misunderstood Good People Who Were Forced Down That Path when at least one of them *coughreguluscough* was obsessed with Voldemort

And then turn around and make Snape an awful person?

[orchid-n-petals]

So I've already shared parts of this on a discord server, but I have to scream about Ketheric Thorm on here as well. Obviously spoilers about the character under the cut! It's a long one.

The entirety of act 2 is about him, right? Jaheira, Shadowheart and numerous other NPCs shit on him for his fickle faith. First Selune, then Shar, then, as we meet him, Myrkul. You hear about his changes of faith on a whim, you hear that he's the person responsible for the shadow curse, he is painted as a villain, plain and simple.

You can figure it out pretty early on that Isobel was resurrected and that she is his daughter; the detail as well that he wants Isobel alive is so on the nose, it gives him away completely but there are still a few questions that remain unanswered, mainly about his faith.

And then you get to the mausoleum and the picture assembles; this entire tragedy, the death of hundreds if not thousands and the complete ruination of a landscape was all, ALL because you had this absolutely wrenched, heartbroken father who had lost everything and nobody answered his grief. He was left woefully alone, the Goddess whose daughter his daughter was involved with did nothing to save Isobel.

Imagine outliving your wife and your daughter. Imagine dedicating your life to fight the Lady of Loss, your Lady of Silver's enemy, and then be left so completely alone and in silence with your grief, with your loss. It's so, so poetic how and why he turned from Selune, and it's so understandable as well; he broke. His spirit completely broke. He couldn't deal with that void of having lost the only two important people in his life, seemingly undeservedly so. He was going mad with this and a lot of his ire was likely targeted at Aylin who, in his eye, represented Selune; she's literally her daughter, after all, and it was implied that even before the deaths of his family, he sort of saw Aylin courting Isobel as Selune taking his daughter from him, despite his service. This relationship was clearly not seen by him as a boon of "giving his daughter to the Moon-maiden".

His ways in the past clearly didn't spare him from tragedy and having to cope with it (which he clearly didn't, he snapped under the weight of his grief). He was clearly angry and unable to do anything, furious and helpless, which is a dangerous combination. A good part of his first change of heart must have been fuelled by a sense of revenge.

But then Shar didn't provide any balm to his aching heart either. If you read his letters in Grymforge and in act 2, he is so focused on enacting the will of Shar because he believes that healing lies in oblivion. Everything would be easier if he could just forget, if the damn world could just forget, if nothing was remembered because without Melodia and Isobel, nothing was worth remembering.

Then came Myrkul. Literally the only god who was not only able, but WILLING to give back his daughter to him. Imagine spending your all, EVERYTHING you have to serve two gods who would not give a single shit about the greatest suffering in your life. You were basically nothing, your loyalty didn't matter for shit, everything that was taken from you amounted to no recognition whatsoever: you should simply cope and seethe. Your grief will not simply go unanswered (which is not inherently antagonising) but ignored.

And then comes this supposedly evil entity who can alleviate your pain just like that, snap of a finger and it's a done deal.

I am so serious when I say that I believe Ketheric's main incentive was to extend Aylin's immortality to Isobel as well. You can read in her diary that she feels a taint after having came back, and there are things not even Selune can cleanse, but at this point, Ketheric doesn't care about Selune, vengeance is secondary if not tertiary, he's done that war during his Shar years and what did it give him? Literally nothing.

He doesn't even care about the fact that Isobel is still her cleric. He cares about the single most important fact: Isobel is back. Life is worth living again, there is something for him, and it was not Selune or Shar who gave it to him but Myrkul, and for this singular gift, he would raze the world for the Lord of Bones. Like people can clown on him for being disloyal but the man has the loyalty of a dog bonded to its owner.

He is powerful and is willing to go to insane lengths for crumbs. What is raising a single life for a god? Nothing. It has happened and it will happen again. But Ketheric will go to the ends of the earth to serve the single god who actually listened to him. The one god who didn't ignore him.

He knows that what he does is not the morally upright thing! He is so insanely self-aware that allying with Orin and Gortash and doing this entire plot with them only to then betray them is morally reprehensible at the best of times, he knows that people hate him, etc-etc. He was a Selunite at one point and he's not stupid. He just doesn't care; it could be literal Asmodeus and he wouldn't care as long as he got what he wanted, no matter the price.

He is probably the only one from the three of the chosen who has complete clarity over his situation, he almost sways (if you pass the check during his confrontation), he is not an inherently evil man blinded by power.

But he is inherently loyal to those deserving, and as of the story's standing, completely broken by his grief. In his eyes, at this point, the only one deserving loyalty is the one who actually listened to him. Isobel lives. It doesn't matter that she hates him, that his entire life has fallen apart, that literally nothing else that is good has come of it, because Isobel lives.

I don't think he regrets a single thing. His consciousness might tear at him at the end, but I believe he would do everything over again, exactly as he did, because in the end, his daughter was brought back. Because what would a grieving, broken parent give to bring back their child? Everything. Absolutely everything. And it's such a simply given answer, no second thoughts, no doubts.

Nobody can tell me that this man is fickle. Nobody. This man was willing to burn the world to the ground, create a Boudica destruction layer all by himself for the one single thing he wanted. For any God that would listen.

I don't know, I just have a lot of thoughts about his character.

[deoidesign]

.

[garvalhaminho]

i think the part i like the most about jem, tessa and will as characters is that they show love is what makes them human, what keeps them grounded. jem, throughout tid, has to live with the knowledge he will die soon, but the love he feels for the people around him, specifically tessa and will, is what keeps him sane. we see that even more with him as a silent brother, when silent brothers block their emotions and become almost robots, the thing that keeps jem human is remembering the people he once loved and still does. remembering tessa, will, their children, the people he cared for and the people that cared for him. it is what keeps him grounded, what makes him feel human again. and with tessa, tessa who is immortal and outlives everyone she loves, and has and will have to watch them die again and again, she continues to love. she chooses to do so. it is what makes her human, and it is rare for a warlock to continue being attached to and loving mortals. and will who believed himself to be cursed so that everyone who loves him back would die, he shut off a part of him to the rest of the world, the part that loved freely. but he didn't do it to jem. he allowed jem to love him, as much as will loved jem. their unconditional love for each other was what kept will sane. it was what kept him human, and not the emotionless farse he had around everyone else.

[sysig]

Hazing (Patreon)

[bumblingbabooshka]

Older Tuvoks

[anthromimicry]

[senselessalchemist]

On one of my usual walking routes there's a pair of mannequin legs out in the front garden of one house and today they were standing in and topped with snow

There's nothing else to this really but I do enjoy someone having a pair of very shapely mannequin legs that cut off at the lower torso out in all elements. If no one else got me the mannequin legs on [redacted street name] got me

[heartshattering]

5 AM

Just me and my overactive mind facing the nighttime again 🙃

[shopcat]

i love that the aizawa we get in canon is already an incredibly inwardly kind/outwardly passive about it older adult figure (if not paternal figure to be honest ALREADY like a lot of the time people say that and it's just some guy who happens to hang around people younger than him but i will acquieisisise on this one) who has a foster daughter he takes care of + one mentee who he imprinted on like the opposite of a duckling situation he was just like i'm taking this kid and teaching him to kill people with his minddddd Plus this crazy weapon i gave him. and then on top of that literally two whole friends who he pretends he hates.

and then everyone was like YEPPPPP you're actually gay married undercover to that guy and the kid you mentor doesn't have parents because he's a minor character so they haven't been invented yet which means he's your son now too and you've got a couple cats as well because what the hell am i right. congratulations ☺️. it's like the only time i've seen a fandom hc situation that actually just expands on the stuff that is already there in the funniest way possible. from shabby teacher to married 10+ years and two kids good for you buddy.

[arrgh-even-more-whatever]

hopefully opening commissions again soon. unless something happens and my brain malfunctions again

[starlit-roses-ships]

y'all ever just. have those times where you don't really have any energy to deal with f/o angst either from either canon or from your own scenarios you've come up with?

sometimes you just want to think about soft comfort you know? 😞

[deva-arts]

☆ Nathaniel Wilson ☆

I Really Like Nathaniel because the guy embodies Hope and Positivity without forcing it down the gullets of everyone around him.

He looks like he'd be a pleasant individual to actually be around at 7 am. Even before his coffee. [ Sera should be too, she doesn't seem like an unbearable person to be around in La Matinée ( the Morning ) . But still, she is alot grumpier than her other half. ]

With that said. Insert Happy music here. Nujabes or Smth.

Submitted by @mettamorphoses!

Love the way you drew Nate here! such a clean style and serious face :> He's my favorite little quadfocal guy... friendly, polite, and a good conversationalist! You're absolutely right, he's one of the easiest people to get along with. It's almost like he knows exactly what to say to people.

Sera isn't grumpy so much as she is disinterested and dismissive. She heads to work without bothering to make small talk besides a basic "Hello." if she passes you by. Not the worst outcome, really, if silence doesn't bother you.

[deiscension]

It's very important for me to say this and explain what I mean but SQX is not someone who can just leave you wanting. You want to dance? Then they'll dance with you, no music needed. You want to break something? Well, make sure it's not something that can't be replaced-- here, take this trinket from them, it's delicate and won't hurt your hands too badly if it snaps in the wrong places and they can always get another one so don't think too much about its value. You want to wander? Wander with the blessing of the wind always against your back to lighten your burden; it will never go against you, it will never create more hardship for you. You want quiet? They'll sit in silence, a hand's breadth away, and they might fidget a bit but they'll preserve the peace without letting the quiet become too loud. You want to cry? It's a little awkward, but that won't stop them from winding an arm around your shoulder and saying "there, there" not just to placate but to offer sincere solace.

That's not to say that they'll always know what to give and when to give it, much less always be the right person for what it is you need. They're generous to an almost offensive degree (why are you tossing out all those merits? isn't that at the expense of your believers' ardent prayers and offerings?). But if you want, why can't they give? They have an overabundance of everything. There's no use in letting the water of an overflowing cup spill onto the ground and create mud.

SQX themself has been cared for to a choking degree. The type of care with confines that shrink and expectations that grow with each milestone passed. Nothing they have has necessarily been earned by right or work. It might be an insult for someone like them to hear your want and offer their means. How aware they are of this is entirely dependent on the situation. Even so, it's no excuse for them to not try. No matter who is at the helm of it, the wind is a constant no matter what, isn't it? It's always there cooling the sweat on your brow, always there chafing your lips, always there to tug at your sleeve. That's who they are. Even at their worst, they are just so full. It's lonely to be that kind of full for too long without trying to share. How can they not give when there is want? So they don't deserve all they have. That doesn't mean you don't deserve them holding their hands out and saying 'take it, take as much as you like, I'll be here next time too.'