#and spiraled out of control from there

[ididntknowwhattocallthis]

Ok I wanna talk about Ethari's clothing/design over all. His clothes and tattoos are different from every other Moonshadow elf we've seen, and he's one of the few that doesn't wear braids. Like:

The recurring elements are intricate patterning; over layers and under layers; multiple colors in the same garment (or at least same outfit); wraparound construction, color contrast between mediums, lights, and darks; and the dominant color is always the medium, never the lightest or darkest color (usually navy, true black is very rare outside of the assassins). Even arc 2 Rayla follows most of these rules and she's been away from her culture for two years!

But then we have Ethari:

He doesn't have an outer layer, he wears almost solid navy, none of those clothes are wraparound, he has no light color, there's not a lot of contrast, and his dark color is true black despite not being an assassin. He bends all the rules, though he only breaks one completely. He still has that patterning, but it's minimal compared to the others. He has plenty of accent colors, more than anyone else actually, but they show up on him far less. He does have light, medium, and dark colors, but his whole pallet is darker than everyone else's. The only rule he 100% breaks is the wraparound construction

A lot of this probably derives from the fact that he's a metalsmith:

For the most part his clothes quite are practical;

Black/navy hides coal dust/soot very well. It gets everywhere, on your pants and face especially, and is highly visible on just about every other color.

Forging is hot work & you do it next to a fire that needs to be at least 1000° celsius, I never wear more than one layer either.

those sleeves, while a bit looser than I'd be comfortable with, probably aren't going to get in the way. Plus I heard somewhere that they're spelled to repel heat (couldn't find if that's actually canon tho), so if that's true they're much better than my gloves.

The crop top isn't great but he's got that belt to stop most embers. Besides he's probably not the type to yelp every time one lands on him like I am.

if he pulls the scarf over his mouth & nose it'll help delay him getting lung cancer in the death trap of a smithy Wonderstorm designed for him (my problems with it are a post all on their own. I have nothing against the artists, its pretty, but by all rights he should be dead)

There might also be a cultural aspect to his clothing:

I think the navy blue, the arm bands, the boot decorations, and his belt & tabard could all be symbols that mean "I am a metalsmith" in Moonshadow culture. (Quick side note, he's not technically a blacksmith. historically blacksmith means specifically iron workers. If anything he's a whitesmith since he usually works with silver.) We see it with the assassins, why not metalsmiths too?

Plus if you take a look at his forge in the art book, there's a design carved on it that looks almost exactly like the one on his tabard. Elements of it also appear on other parts of his clothing:

I suspect that this is some sort of symbol for metal working or fire protection. If he's in a guild it could be their symbol, or it could just be a wider cultural symbol. Either way it has a meaning that relates to the forge specifically. I couldn't find it anywhere else in the room.

I just realized that I never even brought up the metal hems on his sleeves. Then again what is there to say? It's metal, he's a metalsmith. It's pretty, he likes pretty things.

But what about the rule he completely breaks?

As I said, every moonshadow garment has some sort of wrap-and-secure construction to it-- except Ethari's clothes. I seriously doubt this is a metalsmith thing. Basic garment construction isn't a sensible way to differentiate your group within one culture. I fully believe Ethari is doing this on purpose. But why? That why gets even bigger when you realize that no other moonshadow elves we've met have brown eyes or periwinkle blue tattoos.

Put a pin in all that, I need to explain my interpretation of Moonshadow culture for this to make sense.

"Moon Primal creatures can be private and secretive, and are keenly aware of the power of appearances." - from the official website

"Moonshadow Elves obey a rather rigid, honor-driven culture." - from the wiki

To me this paints a picture of a fairly collectivist culture. They place a heavy emphasis on community and duty, two things that are usually more peaceful/simpler when you have cohesion within the group. Cohesion creates less conflict, less conflict makes your community more peaceful and your duty to it easier to complete.

But they know that this cohesion is- to an extent- only an act, so each person has a sub community where they don't have to act. Your inner self is for family and friends close enough to be family. (I honestly think they might have some sort of ritual to formally adopt friends as family) To everyone else you're supposed to put up a front that makes you seem more like everyone else.

OK back to the pin

Even without his clothes, Ethari is already visually different from everyone else. No other Moonshadow elves we've seen have tattoos or eyes the same color as his. It's a subtle difference but it is noticeable, and in a culture so focused on appearances people would notice. Most people's instinct would be to try to hide or downplay it, to prop up that front as much as they can. Yet Ethari doesn't put up a front, not to the extent that most people seem to. He's even accentuating his differences by dressing in a different style than them- and he's respected.

In my comm class the other day we were talking about groups, and one of the things that came up was that cohesion fosters sameness and diversity fosters innovation. Ethari is an innovator, it's literally his job. He invents the wingalings in bloodmoon huntress, Runaan and Rayla's weapons, and probably a bunch more stuff we haven't seen. Maybe for all they value appearances and fitting in, moonshadow culture still recognizes that people like him are important and they aren't as effective when they have to fit in. They can't be too out there (remember, Ethari only bends the rules rather than breaking them) but as long as they stay within a certain radius of the norm they can gain a lot of respect. I think this is what Ethari has done. The fact that his family (Runaan, Tiadrin, Lain) are all pretty traditional probably helped a lot. They keep him from pushing too hard on the edge of the box and he keeps them flexible.

That they aren't there anymore has probably exacerbated the rift between him and the rest of the silvegrove caused by Rayla's ghosting and whatever news has reached them from the storm spire.

I am so excited to see him in S6. I thought about adding some speculation about what his new design might look like, but I honestly don't think he'll have changed that drastically aside from his hair. My biggest question is honestly whether or not he's still in The Silvergrove.

Bonus:

I bet that some of Ethari's relative weirdness rubbed off on Rayla. She didn't have many friends as a kid so, when she wasn't in school or with the assassins, it makes sense that hung out with Ethari a lot. Since he's less strict than Runaan she was probably only comfortable completely unmasking with him. He heard about all her crushes, fears, and insecurities that Runaan didn't. Which goes a long way to explaining why Ethari was the only one who could see she wouldn't be a good assassin; she was hiding those traits from everyone but him.

This also explains some of why he was so willing to believe that she ran away. Ethari saw all of her vulnerability, but he didn't see all of her strength. While she was out training and facing her fears with Runaan, Ethari was in the smithy and only heard about their exploits after the fact. Neither of them saw all of who Rayla is, but both of them thought they did and had to find out that they were wrong in just about the most heartbreaking way imaginable.

[bet-on-me-13]

Danny commits to the Bit a bit too hard...

So! For the first few weeks after his accident, whenever Danny would try to help the people of Amity Park, he would be treated as a Villain.

No matter if he had just defeated the Big Bad of the Week or saved a Cat from a tree, everybody in town only saw him as a Monster or Villain to he feared and hunted down. Danny was really getting sick of trying to get them on his side, until Sam made a suggestion.

"Why not just...play into it?" She said, barely looking up from painting her nails.

It was just an offhand suggestion, but it stuck with Danny. Why shouldn't he lean into it? The people of Amity Park already saw Ghosts as Evil, and they already assumed he was in cahoots with the Ghosts attacking the town. Why shouldn't he just...play into it?

So he does just that.

From that day on, whenever Phantom was spotted he would dramatically monologue about his Evil Plans, or claim that another Rogues attack on the City was his own act of terror.

Box Ghost destroys the towns Warehouses? It was on his orders.

Ember mind controls masses of Teenagers? All part of his Plans somehow.

Every Adult in Town is kidnapped by Young Blood? Danny gave them over to a friend as a Gift.

He crafts an identity for himself as the most Vile and Horrible Ghost that has ever attacked the City, using his own infamy to cement his legend even more firmly. The town only sees a Monsterous Villain, who has eveded capture near effortlessly for months on end, who constantly attacks their City and gets away with it.

Of course he still needs an excuse for how his plans keep getting stopped, and he gets it when his girlfriend Valerie becomes the Red Huntress. Before that, he just claimed infighting or the Fentons getting lucky, but Valerie becoming the Town's Hero meant he had a plausible excuse for how he kept getting "Foiled".

Val was suspicious, because she was not as involved as Phantom painted her to be, but in the end she had no proof of him faking his defeats. And she couldn't come up with any explanations for why he would do that in the first place. I mean, who would fake being a Supervillain? It had to he something else.

This did come back to bite him a while later, when the Justice League decided that enough was enough, and dispatched Justice League Dark to recruit Red Huntress and help Deal with him.

Coincidentally, that was the same day Pariah Dark attacked the Mortal Realm and sucked Amity Park into the Ghost Zone.

And honestly? Danny had spent over a Year proclaiming himself as a Villain who commanded Ghosts to attack the Human Realm, and he had heard about the Right of Conquest being Absolute in the Ghost Zone, so why not make it official? Why not overthrow the Ghost King, become the Ghost King, and cement his identity as a Villain while also forbidding Ghosts from entering the Human Realm without his permission?

He may have gotten a bit carried away and forgotten that the Villain thing was a disguise...but hey! He was still preventing Ghost Attacks! ...mostly. That's got to count for something right?

He may have let the Bit run a bit too far...

...

Check the tags for more context!

[chirrups]

a few medieval-inspired life series lads because that makes me happy

[remxedmoon]

“the eternal wanderer. even death cannot release it from its plight.”

tribeless

1 power - 1 health - 7 bones

unkillable - when a card bearing this sigil perishes, a copy of it is created in your hand.

corpse eater - if a creature that you own perishes by combat, a card bearing this sigil in your hand is automatically played in its place.

brittle - after attacking, a card bearing this sigil perishes.

hidden trait - cursebearer

this card cannot be sacrificed at the sigil stones event.

finally posting my isatscryption stuff here!!! yipee!!! here’s a writeup about the card design because frankly i put wayy too much thought into all of these cards. sorry if these are a bit hard to parse!

unkillable and corpse eater effectively make sif immortal, since every time he dies, he’ll be placed back on the board! and i thought that was fitting for. y’know. timeloop reasons. brittle is only there to emphasize the whole constantly dying thing. because is it really isat without siffrin torment

also didn’t notice this until after i designed this card, but the brittle sigil art has a star on it??? not intentional in the slightest but it is Fitting

sif is a fox here! i know that that would technically put them in the canine tribe, but i felt it’d be more fitting for them to be tribeless? and base game inscryption already kinda bends the rules when it comes to tribes (such as the bullfrog being a reptile and the rabbit being treated internally as a rodent) so i think it still works

i’m well aware that card traits don’t actually have cool names or anything but i still want to give them cool names because it’s fun. anyways! cursebearer! i gave them this trait both because these sigils are extremely overpowered, and for lore reasons. sif sees their sigils as a curse! they don’t want to force them on anyone else!! it’s their burden to bear!!!

tangentially related to that last point, but sif is a talking card in this au! because it’s fun :3. and because i think it’d be really interesting to see how he’d react to the cabin

sif’s scar is covered by the hat a bit but it’s Star Shaped. and so is the eye shine teehee

this was the first card i made and Boy Does It Show. i had the WORST time trying to get the card generators to work for this because oops! both of the card generators are inaccurate in different ways! plus theres a few mistakes in the card art that i didn’t notice until after i finished most of the others... i promise the others are a little more polished

also, since i didn’t mention it above the cut, the sigil patch is for the bone king sigil! which makes the card award 4 bones instead of 1 upon death. this is less for lore reasons and more for the synergy with his sigils. since he’s constantly dying and coming back, he can basically give you infinite bones for Zero Cost. fun!

aaand i think that’s all the notes for this card! thanks for reading this absurdly long post. here’s his alt card art without the patch for your troubles 🫡

[quotidianish]

IM GOING INSANE

Original scenes for reference!

[dreamingpartone]

[ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜ. ]

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

I'm back with another Les Mis enjoltaire thing because i'm plagued with visions.

"Well, obviously my color is pink," Cosette hums thoughtfully from where she's perched on one of the Musain's backroom's tables, swinging her legs lightly. It makes her long skirt, the one she hand-embroided light pink flowers on, sway prettily. "Enjolras' is-"

"Reeeeed," the whole of les Amis complete in chorus, earning a huff from where the man in question is hunched over his computer, only lending a distracted ear to the conversation. The papers scattered around him take up most of the space on the table he claimed for his work, and his reusable coffee cup is long empty. Gold splashes on his features, dying sun filtering through half lowered binds. Grantaire almost sighs dreamily at such an heavenly sight.

"Right," Cosette goes on, "red for Enj. Combeferre is dark blue. Almost navy but not quite."

The man in question seems pleased by that, pushing his glasses up his nose with a content smile. Dark shadows bruised under his eyes, but his grin is sincere.

"In that case, Jehan is yellow. Sunflower kind of yellow," Ferre decides, leaning back more comfortably in his chair and allowing Courfeyrac to kick his feet up on his lap. It's been a long day, for everyone, for various reasons, so tonight's meeting got shortened, friendly banter replacing politics earlier into the evening than usual. Even Enjolras isn't typing away that fast, tell-tale sign that he'll probably call it a day and shut his computer soon enough, harsh blue light to vanish the second he's done.

Grantaire isn't sure why Cosette brought up associating colors with les Amis, but he finds pleasant to debate about it. Besides, so far, it all makes sense. Jehan, flattered by the color they've been assigned, leans further against Grantaire in the bench they, with Bossuet and Joly, claimed as their own for the evening. They gesture with rainbow nails, not one painted the same shade.

"What does your artist brain say, R ? What color would you give Ponine ?"

Grantaire takes a moment to consider. Despite what people might think, Éponine is so colorful in his mind : the red of scrapped knees, the blue of freezing lips after especially harsh nights, the pink hue of embarrassement whenever she's faced with Marius, the dark brown of tired eyes. It's all a bit anecdotical, though, so R thinks further, less practical, more sentimental. Cross-legged on the windowsill closest to the door, a shadow cut out of a blinding backdrop, Éponine waits for his verdict, more invested than she let on.

"Mmh. Dark purple, you know, like the outside of figs ?"

For a second, R catches Ponine's small, private smile, before she schools her features again. Good, then. Quickly, Marius is attributed pale blue, Bossuet orange, Feuilly pastel green, Joly lavender, Bahorel rusty orange ("not orange like Boss, hipster orange"), Courfeyrac bright purple ("Like a peacock though, without the good taste of Éponine's purple" "Peacocks don't have purple on them, dumbass"), and Musichetta, who popped in once her shift was over, ended up with a shade none of them agreed on wether it was orange or yellow. Which only leaves-

"I think R would be-"

"Forest green."

Every heads snap toward Enjolras, who's face finally lifted from his screen. He arches an eyebrow at the sudden silence, while Grantaire tries to will his stupid blush away (pink, incriminating pink, turning darker by the second). Seriously, all Enjolras did was give him a color. Why does it have to have any kind of effect on R ? Except now Enjolras' (blue, sky blue, dream blue) eyes latched onto him and Grantaire has to stop himself from squirming. He's not sure how to interpret the expression etched on marble-carved features, but it's softer than usual.

"Whoa, man, he didn't even hesitate," Bahorel laughs, trampling the moment. Feuilly, plopped on his lap, shakes in time with his chuckles.

"I know right," Courf grins, not one to pass up such an opportunity to tease their glorious leader. Enjolras mutters something that could be "and here we go", as Courfeyrac springs up to reenact the moment. Grantaire briefly wonders if he could get away with chucking his shoe at him, but he then remembers he's currently wearing Hello Kitty socks (hot pink, dissonant dash of bright color against black jeans and paint stained navy blue hoodie), and he is not about to give Courf more amunition.

"I think R- Forest green," Courfeyrac mimics, ecstatic, "bam, instantly. Incredible."

It's nice to see the energy rush back to Courfeyrac after he showed up moping in the first place, attitude soured by rude customers and prickly coworkers. But now there's that glint in his eyes, bright sparkles in chocolate irises washing away unpleasant memories. It's probably the reason Enjolras isn't trying to stop him, Grantaire muses, he knows he himself wouldn't have the heart to do it. Encouraged by whooping sounds from his friends, Courfeyrac spins in the middle of the room, only avoiding a painful hip check with the corner of a table thanks to Combeferre's hand flying to cushion the impact just in time.

Bathed in the dawning light, hues of orange dancing across his skin, Courfeyrac grins at Enjolras, who pushed off his seat to actually meddle with the group.

"C'mon Enjy, now we need to know why you were so sure of yourself," Courf presses, slinging his arm around the blond's shoulders to guide him toward a free chair. Enjolras tilts his head toward Grantaire, pale eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"It suits him, does it not ? I guess green comes to mind when I think of him."

Grantaire's treacherous heart thumps, so as not to linger on the sensation, he leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees with a shit-eating grin.

"Think about me often, Apollo ?"

Anticipatory silence, only broken by a low hum of "oooooohhhhs" and "shhhhhs". Pink again, dusted over high cheekbones. Enjolras shakes his head so golden tendrils of hair partially hide his face.

"Is there a way not to ?"

Grantaire's jaw actually drops. What the fuck do you mean is there a way not to ? Maybe he's just dreaming. Yeah, has to be that. There's no way in hell Enjolras of all people just implied he couldn't stop thinking about Grantaire. Right ?

"That, was the gayest shit I ever heard," Éponine mumbles, making Grantaire jump. When did she sneak behind him ? He doesn't have time to answer, though, because with the initial shock passing, the room errupts. Bossuet tumbles from the bench in surprise, dragging Joly with him, as various versions of "Did he just-" bounce off the walls, general surprise colouring everyone's tone. Enjolras, though his face is turning as red as his beloved coat, stands his ground.

"What ?"

"You can't-' Grantaire's voice crack. Sweet baby Jesus, just let the floor open up and swallow him already. His brain is mush, his palms clamy, his tongue heavy in his mouth, and it seems his stomach is trying for this year's olympics. "You can't just say that, Enj."

Something on Grantaire's face - probably his own shade of crimson - seems to help the blond regain some form of composure, as he squares his shoulders and clears his throat.

"Why not ? You are exceedingly hard to ignore, Grantaire."

"Am I that much of a nuisance, oh dear leader ?" R jokes, desperately trying to steer the conversation in a more familiar direction, biting banter instead of dangerous earnestness. Enjolras, though, doesn't let himself be distracted.

"You know that's not what I meant."

Keenly aware of their friends' eyes burning holes in the sides of his face, Grantaire swallows, traped in the unyielding glint behind stark blue. Shit. He can handle rage-fuelled Enjolras, can handle snappy, annoyed Enjolras, can handle "on the verge of a mental breakdown that might make him either murderous or miserable" Enjolras, but Grantaire cannot for the life of him deal with this sweet, earnest, strangely shy version of his favorite little ray of righteous fury. His breath catches in his seemingly shrinking lungs, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.

"You- I mean-"

Enjolras' little head tilt and encouraging nod, the way his eyebrows raise in a way that clearly reads "yes ?" are not helping Grantaire's current predictament in the slightest. Now is so not the moment to notice the color that welled up in the center of the blond's bottom lip, just where he always sinks his teeth when he's deep in thoughts, but there is something so hypnotizing about the spot of bright pink- shit, Grantaire's just staring like a creep now, isn't he.

"Oh, for fuck sake, I can't witness a second more of that shit, this is painful," Éponine groans, pushing off the bench's backrest to make for the door. "I'm getting a drink. Or two."

"You know what, I owe you one, so i'll just..." Feuilly mumbles, jumping to his feet to follow her out.

"Yeah, just remembered I need to, uh, water my cat and feed my cactus-"

"Dad just texted, he sprained his...eyeball, Marius and I need to go check on him-"

"He what we what- oh, yeah, yeah, of course, we, uh...."

"I have a date with my bathtub, actually, so..."

One by one, every les Amis makes their hasty exit with a half-assed excuse, leaving Grantaire and Enjolras still rooted to their respective spot, just an arm's lenght away. It's only when they're completely alone that R clears his throat.

"I like it. Green, for my color. I...yeah. It's nice."

Like the sun rising above the ocean, Enjolras' answering grin, like light bouncing off the water, bliding and utterly beautiful.

"...good. It's...yeah, that's good. Matches your eyes."

It's uncharacteristic of Enjolras, this stuttering, the hesitation, but it tugs at Grantaire's heartstrings, to be allowed to see him under such a different light.

"...your eyes are nightmares to draw."

Great, wonderful Grantaire, what a totally normal thing to say to your years-long crush, not at all creepy and vaguely insulting, good job. The need to bash his head in or down a bottle is becoming incredibly stronger by the minute. Enjolras' face does something complicated, so R scrambles to salvage what can be salvaged.

"I mean- I can never get the colour just right, and they never seem- lively enough, you know, you get that...that glint, when you're ranting, like you could set the world on fire, or mend it together, all in one breath, and it kind of lights up your whole face, but it's all in the eyes, and I can never replicate that, and I'm sorry I didn't ask before drawing you, I should have asked, I know-"

"Grantaire-"

"-really I understand if it bothers you, or, like, creeps you out, it's just-"

"R !"

Grantaire's babbling comes to a screeching halt. Enjolras- doesn't look upset, at all. He's smiling, no, grinning, those damn eyes so soft where they settled on Grantaire's face.

"I'm honored, that you drew me. Truly."

...Oh.

"Oh."

A beat.

"I didn't mean to insult you by saying- about your eyes- they're beautiful. You're beautiful."

Shit, okay, what the fuck is wrong with Grantaire's brain-to-mouth filter tonight, he hasn't even touched a drop of alcohol yet. He's sure his face must be a deep, deep shade of crimson now. Nothing could have prepared him, though, for Enjolras' answer.

"You too."

Instinctively, Grantaire scoffs, dismissive. He knows what he looks like, and, come on, it's not even his self-hatred speaking here, just common sense.

"You are," Enjolras insists, eyebrows furrowing.

"You sure you don't need glasses ?"

That doesn't seem to sit right with Enjolras, who crosses the space between them to - dear Lord above - crouch in front of Grantaire, between his widely parted knees, eyes relentlessly searching until they meet R's. Slowly, as to leave him all the time he needs to pull away, or maybe afraid he might spook him, Enjolras reaches up, until he can craddle Grantaire's face in his delicate hands. Pianist's hands, writer's hands, violonist's hands, with long, elegant fingers, cool agains his over heated skin. Enjolras runs a thumb along Grantaire's cheekbone, traces the crooked bridge of his nose, brushes the purple shadows on the delicate skin under his eyes, smoothes his thick eyebrows.

"You are," whispered with all of Enjolras' steely determination, usually reserved for politics.

Then those deft fingers slide lower, over unshaved stubble, the scar on Grantaire's chin, so close to his bottom lip, and R's skin is on fire, his breath comes out in short pants, his heart might give out, his legs probably would have already if he hadn't been sitting.

Ah, but Grantaire, so used to Enjolras as he is when the fire of revolution burns bright in his veins, tends to forget how gentle the man can be. A charming young man, when he wants to, and a dedicated friend, too. It's almost unbearable, in the most delicious way. R's brain is void of anything that isn't Enjolras, that isn't red and gold and blue, that isn't careful touchs and soft words.

It's almost againts his will that Grantaire sways forward, whole nervous system stuttering when Enjolras joins him in the middle to press their foreheads together. His eyes flutter shut, pale lashes faning over still rosy cheeks. Grantaire's hand finds Enjolras' on top of his own cheek, and he tangles their fingers together, earning a low hum of contentment.

They shift, closer, intimate, and it's no surprise when their lips meet, when Enjolras buries his free hand in inky curls, when Grantaire makes a small noise, when he tugs the blond up and on his lap.

Their friends are probably pilled behind the door, ears pressed against it. Grantaire and Enjolras have much to talk about. There is still work to be done, responsabilities to deal with, a lifetime to live ; but here, right now, there is only the two of them, red and green tangled, mouths pressed together for as long as they'll want them to be, and the world is quiet.

[discordiansamba]

thinking about Zuko in the avatar Yue AU is both so funny to me and also very depressing because like... somehow in the period before Sokka joins them, between himself, Yue, and Aang somehow he's the only one in this group that has common sense. It's part of the whole reason he decides to upend his life and travel with the two of them- because one of them is a talented airbender to be sure, but one that is still very much a naive child, and the other is a princess who has been isolated from the rest of the world since she was born.

he'd like to protect Aang's naivety if he can, but on some level, he knows that's not possible. and Yue... he understands her. it's not like he knew that much about the world either, when he found himself tossed into the Earth Kingdom wilderness. if he hadn't been found by a theater troupe, he probably would have starved to death.

officially, Prince Zuko was kidnapped by Earth Kingdom spies and likely killed. unofficially, Zuko knows that's a load of bullshit. After his mother vanished, and Azula's flames turned blue, the writing was always on the wall- that his days in the Caldera were limited. Or at least- he can see it now, when he looks back. Hindsight is 20/20.

(the kidnappers his father hired burned half his face, so that no one would recognize him as the missing prince.)

then again... Zuko also spends half of his time acting as the vigilante Blue Spirit, so maybe he doesn't have that much common sense.

(sokka is going to be a very, very welcome addition to the team.)

[wimbledon2008]

buck and eddie are desperately reaching out trying to hold on to one another and complete each other but the nefarious television program 9-1-1 on abc is doing everything in its power to tie their hands behind their backs and keep them apart. buck and eddie know they belong together and the show is keeping them separated by force. that's so fucked up. mr. minear tear down this wall!

[uldahstreetrat]

spent a lot of time on these so even tho it's not XIV I figured I'd post it anywho

my Inquisitor's outfit lineup <3 with color variations because I'm indecisive at the best of times

maybe I'll do similar lineups for my wols sometime aha

[cryptdfish]

“white mourning.”

[violamonty]

are they attending romeo and juliette's third wedding or a mandatory after-hours holiday work party? you decide, because they're getting kicked out in five minutes for being obnoxious either way

[pynkhues]

I’m confused by what you mean when you say that Lestat was “cast out of the house” after the drop in 1.05, as this is not what the show tells us. Lestat left of his own will — he wasn’t thrown out. He beat Louis half to death and then ran away, as evidenced here — “Lestat had disappeared after that awful night. Vanished out of a profound sense of shame he would later confess to” (Louis, 1.06). Louis was in no fit state to throw anyone out of anywhere: as mentioned previously, Lestat had just beaten him half to death.

Apologies if I’m misinterpreting, but in instances like this you seem to paint Lestat as a somewhat of a victim — poor Lestat, banished from his house by his uncaring, domineering husband — when in actuality he was anything but a victim. He was the aggressor, the perpetrator of horrific intimate partner violence, and so to twist the narrative to imply that he was hard done to leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. 

Another instance of this is in your Byronic Hero post, where you suggest that Louis “decides when Lestat gets to live at Rue Royale”, in reference to him being “one of the monsters who’s controlling the household”. We’re talking about someone that has just spent months recovering from a brutal attack by their partner; Lestat chooses to not return because he is ashamed and he knows that Louis has not forgiven him. Louis is not forcing anything on him — and he certainly doesn’t have the power to keep Lestat from RR.

Can you understand why assertions like these are problematic? I understand you wanting to explore the push-pull power dynamic between L&L, but in doing so you seem to be missing the essential through-line in 1.06, which is that Louis and Claudia cannot leave while Lestat lives. Any power they may have once held is overshadowed by Lestat’s absolute control of the household, so to place Louis on level with Lestat as “one of the monsters controlling the household” is at best misguided, and at worst displays an unsettling disregard for victims of IPV. 

(x)

I mean, with all due respect, anon, you're responding to a series of tags I wrote last night that I specifically said I would later clarify and better articulate, so I'm not surprised you're confused and yes, you are misinterpreting me (again, I suspect, as I think you may have sent me asks like this before). I've been clear for months now that the drop is a singular act of violence on this show, and it's not one that I'd ever diminish or underwrite, and as a result, this feels like a pretty bad faith read of something I've both spoken about already and explicitly said I would be talking about again soon. Instead of paying me the respect I extend to all of you by giving me the time to reply in the way I've signalled I would, you've used my tags to make assumptions about what I will say and frankly made some pretty unkind accusations as to my character.

It takes me time and energy to write up replies, particularly replies on this sort of topic that require greater attunement, sensitivity and nuance than others. It's something I do for free, and at the sacrifice of other things in my life, and it's something I do with my name attached, unlike anons. And look, I enjoy doing it - I do - but if you follow me, you should know that my sister - a survivor of recent IPV and her two small children are currently staying with me, after I was a witness in her courtcase against her ex-husband in October - real people, not fictional characters - something I've also been open about, and so you telling me that I have an 'unsettling disregard for victims of IPV' feels like a particularly cruel thing to say to me right now.

I will answer the other anon's ask, as I said that I would, but I'll do it in my own time, and in the meantime, I'd ask that you perhaps don't put words in my mouth or mount arguments to things you yourself say you are confused about or feel you could be misinterpreting. I'll clarify, again, as I said that I would.

[vickyvicarious]

“I made a mistake, Kemp, a huge mistake, in carrying this thing through alone. I have wasted strength, time, opportunities. Alone—it is wonderful how little a man can do alone! To rob a little, to hurt a little, and there is the end. “What I want, Kemp, is a goal-keeper, a helper, and a hiding-place, an arrangement whereby I can sleep and eat and rest in peace, and unsuspected. I must have a confederate. With a confederate, with food and rest—a thousand things are possible. “Hitherto I have gone on vague lines. We have to consider all that invisibility means, all that it does not mean. It means little advantage for eavesdropping and so forth—one makes sounds. It’s of little help—a little help perhaps—in housebreaking and so forth. Once you’ve caught me you could easily imprison me. But on the other hand I am hard to catch. This invisibility, in fact, is only good in two cases: It’s useful in getting away, it’s useful in approaching. It’s particularly useful, therefore, in killing. I can walk round a man, whatever weapon he has, choose my point, strike as I like. Dodge as I like. Escape as I like.” Kemp’s hand went to his moustache. Was that a movement downstairs? “And it is killing we must do, Kemp.” “It is killing we must do,” repeated Kemp. “I’m listening to your plan, Griffin, but I’m not agreeing, mind. Why killing?” “Not wanton killing, but a judicious slaying. The point is, they know there is an Invisible Man—as well as we know there is an Invisible Man. And that Invisible Man, Kemp, must now establish a Reign of Terror. Yes; no doubt it’s startling. But I mean it. A Reign of Terror. He must take some town like your Burdock and terrify and dominate it. He must issue his orders. He can do that in a thousand ways—scraps of paper thrust under doors would suffice. And all who disobey his orders he must kill, and kill all who would defend them.”

There's so much going on in this conversation. First, the obvious irony of Griffin telling Kemp how he understands now that he needs a helper he can trust, while Kemp is trying to ensure he gets caught in the next few minutes. Griffin saying that he will be easily imprisoned once caught but that he's hard to catch, as Kemp frets over whether they will be able to catch him now. That's pretty obvious, and both funny and also sad. It's perfectly understandable for Kemp to want Griffin to be caught even before he talks about this plan, but it sucks that Griffin's sincerity is just completely bouncing off him. Griffin is for the first time trying to make a connection with someone (something that could potentially turn this situation around) but he's been rejected from the start.

But there's also... what is Griffin talking about? This goes from 'yeah, Griffin, you shouldn't be going it alone' to 'no Griffin not like that holy shit' real damn fast. And it's really interesting in the context of the rest of his behavior, because... this really doesn't seem to match it throughout most of the book so far.

Griffin has used plenty of violence before now. He defaults to threats or physical harm when he feels too vulnerable or powerless. But while he's been reckless and careless with it, there has never really been premeditated malice to anything he does. He's not scheming evil upon others. He's mostly reacting, again, often in what seems a kind of panic. When he gets most violent, at least. He has done harmful things with forethought, but those are mostly limited to theft, and are informed by selfishness and a lack of consideration/awareness of potential consequences.

He also has been consistently motivated by curing his invisibility. He wants his resources back, and privacy/freedom to work in order to do just that. He very quickly decided making himself invisible was a shortsighted mistake, as he encountered drawback after drawback in the immediate aftermath. He also wasn't motivated by any particular single goal of seizing power when he made himself invisible. He was deeply depressed and clinging to 'seeing it through', and then panicked when he came into conflict with his landlord. His paranoia about his invention was intense, but that too is linked to him seeking control over his own life, not others' as such.

So then, why this turnaround? Well, last chapter he said this:

"I had one hope. It was a half idea! I have it still. It is a full blown idea now. A way of getting back! Of restoring what I have done. When I choose. When I have done all I mean to do invisibly."

So, now it seems Griffin's motivation has shifted. He no longer wants immediate relief from invisibility. Instead, he wants to do things while invisible first. He wants to establish a Reign of Terror, to take over a town by utilizing his invisibility in the only way he can see it being of practical use: murder and the spreading of fear. But he says that as a 'must' as 'judicious'. So it's still not for the pleasure of it. Then, why?

First, I frankly don't believe Griffin is actually capable of enforcing the kind of siege he describes here. Physically maybe (depending on how unprepared others are), but emotionally I don't think he could keep it up. He'd collapse, he'd succumb to the guilt he clearly does feel at times. When he's not in a constant state of high emotion (largely fear, which with Griffin transitions seamlessly into rage) he wouldn't be able to keep murdering people so coldly and logically. He can of course work himself up over time, and can hold a grudge, which might be enough to get him started enacting this plan, but I don't believe he could see it through all the way. Still enough to do monstrous things, of course, just not enough to be effective at establishing his goal. (And even that shows his typical lack of forethought. Does he think that no one else would help them? That this town would just succumb to him in total isolation?)

But why does he even want it? I think it actually reflects all his same motivations until now. He feels cornered and he reacts badly, lashing out at others. As the rejection builds all around him, as his options dwindle, as his fear and helplessness grow - he consistently reacts by escalating and proving everyone's worst assumptions about him correct. And right now, even though he has found Kemp and thinks he can mostly trust him, it's not enough to make him feel safe. There are lots of people actively hunting him, now. And he can't just stay in Kemp's rooms forever. He would hate the idea, would feel imprisoned. He doesn't think much of stealing from others, but absolutely hates being stolen from (and he has so little, that the loss feels correspondingly huger), especially something like his books which contain the key to freeing him. So being here is a brief reprieve but he's still deeply afraid. And that makes him deeply angry. And so he wants revenge, he wants to punish them (in general, who make him feel afraid - and Marvel in particular, who has 'betrayed' him).

He also quite likely knows even with his idea it will take an unknown but likely significant amount more time to perfect his cure. So even if all he wanted was to be cured, he would need a safe place to work until then. And the tension is so high right now, his fear of being betrayed is so strong, that I don't think he believes it would be possible to do the necessary work unless he has the town cowed under his invisible heel.

“I don’t agree to this, Griffin,” he said. “Understand me, I don’t agree to this. Why dream of playing a game against the race? How can you hope to gain happiness? Don’t be a lone wolf. Publish your results; take the world—take the nation at least—into your confidence. Think what you might do with a million helpers���”

This line is also key. Kemp urges Griffin to confide in others. All his considerations of the usefulness of invisibility were from the perspective of a lone man against a cruel world. Very selfish and very assuming of a hostile environment. This too is reflected in Griffin's treatment of the few people he has reached out to - Marvel and Kemp. In both cases, he seeks understanding and sympathy. But he also seeks it at metaphorical gunpoint, by threatening them with what he could invisibly do to harm them. It's because as much as he may pour out his heart to Kemp here, he doesn't fully trust him. He doesn't fully trust anyone. By collaborating with them, all he is doing is giving them power over him, and that means they have power to hurt him. So instead he clings to his own power to hurt them first.

In Griffin's eyes, there is no such thing as an equal relationship. There is such thing as trust rewarded, or even given freely. And so in order to ensure his own safety he has to be the one in charge. He has to convince Kemp that they will both reap great rewards, he has to be able to hurt him and get away should anything fall through.

It all ties in perfectly with his backstory of being an outsider (albino, not socially adept at all), and being poor (in many ways powerless). And of course, it is such a self-fulfilling prophecy of terrible outcomes. If you only give violence, you're only getting violence in return. Someone has to let their guard down first, someone has to be willing to trust and be vulnerable for things to ever change. But Griffin is convinced that would be a mistake to ever fully do. And as much as I want to tell him he's wrong, his experiences corroborate that view. Everywhere he goes, he's experienced rejection and hate, or nosiness and distrust at best, no matter how much he tries to be on his best behavior. Every time he even partially lets down his guard or reaches out to others, they turn on him. And of course so much of that is because of the way he never fully relaxes, the way he always keeps a threat hanging over their heads, but he's not gonna see that. All he's gonna see is that he's been right all along. That he truly is in this alone. That he has to be selfish and he has to hit first and hit harder because he is outnumbered and if they catch him he won't be able to get away.

[grim-green]

our father who art in heaven

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

My single contribution to the scourge war

I edited these a while ago because the Sweeps confuse me.

-@tracksshouldbeindaclub

Where am i