#commanding presence

[dailymtgflavortext]

"In every one of you I see a hero's heart." 

-Commanding Presence

[bullard90kendall]

In the softly falling city snow, a woman stands as if the world is holding its breath, watching her. She's encased in the amber hue of her coat, the color of faded autumn leaves just before they surrender to winter's hold. Her hair, a cascading river of the purest ginger, flows down her shoulders with the grace of a melody, the kind that lingers in the corners of your mind long after the last note has been played. Her stance is that of a modern-day Artemis, fierce and unyielding, against the hum and glow of the city's heartbeat behind her.

Her eyes, you notice, seem to carry a galaxy of silent stories, secrets whispered only to the most attentive of listeners, like small prayers that float up and tangle themselves in the strands of her hair. She's a poem, a living, breathing sonnet, clad in garments that drape and fold around her slender frame with an elegance that is at once both studied and effortlessly fluent in the physical grammar of her being.

She's the urban symphony, the symmetrical puzzle whose pieces click into place amidst the chaos of taxis and tales. With a clutch bag as black as midnight tucked under her arm — an enigmatic co-conspirator to whatever plots and plans are etched within its confines — she anchors this dreamlike moment in reality.

One might imagine her a creative spirit, weaving through the thrum of city life, or a savvy architect of enterprises yet unveiled. But her presence demands no explicit narrative; she is her own narrative, unfurling with each stride upon the glittering, wet pavement.

In a world ceaselessly in motion, this woman, this remarkable vision in sienna and ink, stands as if she is the axis upon which it all effortlessly turns, as if at any moment, she could step forward and the city would lean in to listen.

[blessmeultima00]

In a room caressed by the soft breath of twilight, beside the flickering candle whose light dances like a solitary fairy upon the surrounding walls, she stands. Her silhouette, a striking contrast against the vast expanse of the awakening cityscape, carves an alluring figure—a modern-day muse draped in the warmth of a flowing garment that speaks of both sophistication and comfort. The evening glow bathes her in a tender embrace, kissing her cinnamon skin as it highlights the gentle curves of her cheekbones, and setting her deep, thoughtful eyes aglow like twin beacons of raw, untamed intellect and spirit.

Those eyes, dark and resonant as the velvety sky that cradles the city's infinite lights, hold stories deep as the ocean, fervent as a lover’s embrace, compelling as the silent music of the stars themselves. Her hair, an exquisite crown of regal beauty, sits poised as if whispering secrets of a thousand ancient lands, each spiral an echo of times both turbulent and serene. She carries the poise of an empress who has known the burdens of a crown, yet stands now in her ascendance, unfettered by the arbitrary chains of yesteryear's expectations.

Within the hush of this chamber, high above the slumbering metropolis, she is the epitome of modern grace—an indomitable spirit catching her breath as the world continues its tireless spin. She embodies the linger of dreams upon waking, the courage of a new dawn breaking, and the infinite promise that each night whispers to those audacious enough to heed its call.

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCXDP FIC IDEA: The Dauntless Matchmaker

Danny Fenton is short on cash. He has been short on cash almost all his adult life, but usually, he can pull through untill the last minute before breaking and asking his family for help.

It's a pain in a half trying to find a job that is flexible enough to accommodate his "Health" issues.

He needs time off to keep his agreement. See back when he was sixteen, he realized that the ghosts that had been bothering him were all trying to challenge him for his power.

At first he looked like easy prey- being new and all- but the more fights he won the more his reputation rose and that made the ghosts attack less frequently.

They just became harder since the big guns wanted a crack at him. Danny proposed that the fights be in neutral grounds- the ghost zone- since fights in Amity Park were ruining his haunt.

Haunt Rights were highly protected and respected in the Infinite Releams.

His adversaries agreed under the condition that Danny responded to the battles within two hours; otherwise, they would haunt him in the human world.

Ghost fighting in the Infinite Releams to keep the ghosts busy, and nowadays, only the strongest bothered him like a bi-weekly challenge from dead beings that don't understand scheduling.

It worked out.....until he couldn't explain why he was missing so often in the human world. With the help of some friendly ghosts, he was able to fake a diagnosis of some muscle disorder and has been living with the excuse that he would go MIA because of it. He missed a lot.

Often enough to have almost every job he's gotten to fire him.

This brings him to his current problem. Yes, Danny can argue that he has a disability but to do so would mean having someone look into it and realize it's not real.

So when Charlie from the Tea MadHouse tells him not to bother returning tomorrow after a four-day-long battle, he can only sigh and turn in his tea maker apron.

He might have to call his parents to ask for help on this month's rent. That's a bitter pill to swallow.

If only there was a job that he could do that had no problem with him taking multiple days off without notice.

"Pardon me. I need a moment of your time." a voice calls out. Danny twists around, turning his neck slightly downwards to meet the green-eyed stare of a young boy.

"I have a proposition for you. My elder brother requires a fake lover to fool our family butler into thinking that he has moved on from the heartbreak of his last disastrous relationship. Not that anyone could blame Dowd for ending things with Drake. In any case, seeing as I have witnessed your unemployment, I figured you would do well for the job."

Danny blinks "I'm sorry?"

The kid pulls out a wad of cash. Danny can practically hear the ca-ching sound surrounding the boy as he raises a brow.

He gapes as the youth slaps the cash into his hand without so much as a blink.

"Do we have an accord?" The boy asks while Danny slowly turns the money in his hand.

"Whatever you say, temporary in-law," He says after flipping through the bills only to realize it's a hundred-dollars. A quick count of how many he's been handed causes his eyes to almost pop out of thier socket.

It's more then enough for this month's rent-hell he has some left over for at least four months!

"Excellent, we are expected at dinner. If Drake acts surprised to see you merely tap the table six times, then four. He shall fall into line and build off our lie."

Danny scrambles after the kid, nodding to himself. "Six, then four. Got it. Ugh, does the dinner have a dress code?"

It sounds like it would since a young boy just gave out hundreds like it was nothing. Danny would feel bad showing up in an old pair of jeans and a faded t-shirt.

Maybe he has a formal shirt somewhere.

The boy's green eyes flickered to him, then his watch on his wrist. "An impressive observation. Pennyworth will not be impressed by a poorly dressed paramour. We have time to purchase a suit. Come along."

Danny has no idea how someone so small can walk so fast. He feels his breathing is coming in quick bursts, but the boy doesn't seem winded at all. He winces when the boy enters a well-known suit place that is very pricey. "Is this coming out of my pay?"

"No. This shall be covered by the company card," The strange child says, holding up a black card with a quick flick of his wrist. At the sight of it, two store attendants appear at their side, offering assistance. Danny has never seen such power.

"W-wait we have a company card?" He shutters, overwhelmed by the attendant pushing him into a changing room and a light blue suit in his arms.

"Yes. However, you have a limit on what can be spent with it. I shall review the details later regarding your medical, dental, and vision benefits."

"I GET DENTAL?!"

"Of course. America's ridiculous health programs will mistreat no employee of mine simply due to lack of funds. " The boy scoffed, sounding offended by the very idea.

Danny doesn't care how long he needs to pretend to be this boy's boyfriend, and he'll sign a contract right now.

_______________________________________

Damian waited for Fenton to finish trying on all the suits the personal sellers had pushed onto him. He personally thinks the light blue was the best but it doesn't hurt to try other options.

They need Fenton to look his best to woo Drake and get him to stop acting so pathetic.

Yes, Dowd had broken up with him for reasons Damian is unaware of, nor does he care enough to find them, but Drake has had plenty of people break up with him before and remain on good terms with him.

Just look at Brown.

Drake had also always bounced right back after the breakup, usually because he would get tied up in either work at Wayne Industries or Red Robin.

Yet, for some reason, unlike all the others, Dowd leaving has not only been messy it also threw Drake into a downwards spiral.

He has refused even to get dress- walking around in a bathrobe and fluffy slippers- eating ice cream and sobbing over photos of Dowd for hours on end. He taken a leave from Wayne Industries and mostly stayed on monitor duty as Red Robin.

At other times, he plays sad songs and watches romance movies with a dead look in his eyes. Usually there were crumbs of some unknown spicy chips all over his face too.

Really it was unseemly.

It's been four months of this, and Drake does not seem to be getting it together. Damian had researched online, and all of the articles indicate that he should have felt better by the third-month mark.

He would have left the fool well alone only Pennyworth is beginning to worry. And Damian refuses to let Pennyworth worry over something fixable.

His research showed that a "rebound" was highly recommended (if done correctly), in the healing process of a breakup. Drake refused to find one, so Damian assigned himself the task of finding one for him instead.

He considered Drake's past lovers' looks, interests, and personalities. Then creating a list of what was considered a good candidate he wandered around Gotham in search of someone who would be a perfect rebound.

His efforts led him to Tea MadHouse- a tea shop with a surprisingly good coffee menu- where Daniel Fenton worked. Over three weeks, Damian had watched him, categorizing the pros and cons that Drake would find within Fenton, and concluded that he would be perfect.

The fact Fenton has lost his job now only worked in his favor. He'll convince Drake that Fenton is a decoy for Pennyworth - since Drake was getting fed up with all the hovering- and he would never notice that the real target of this fake relationship would be Drake himself all along.

Fenton will woo him, sweep him off his feet, make him forget Dowd and ride off into the sunset with Drake none the wiser. It was full-proof.

Damian will make Drake rebound on Fenton, even if he has to throw the idiot at the other teen. He is getting awful tired of the concerned glances whenever Drake slumps his way into a room.

No other reason. He certainly didn't care about Drake that much nor did does he lay awake at night wondering how Drake is doing now that he does not have someone to hold him.

Drake doesn't sleep well alone.

"How do I look?" Fenton stepped out of the booth wearing the light blue suit. It made his eyes pop and framed his body well.

Yes, muscular. The body of a boxer. Drake will lose his mind over those biceps.

"Ravishing." He tells the nineteen-year-old. Damian barely bites back a smirk as Fenton flushed, painting a pretty picture. Drake enjoys talking his lovers up, and Fenton will do well to receive plenty of compliments. "Let us be off."

Drake won't know what hit him.

[mike-jacque-c-the-world]

10/07/22 - Straits State Park, MI - THE MIGHTY MAC - The Mackinac Bridge, nicknamed the Mighty Mac, connects Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with the rest of Michigan to the south. It has a commanding presence and is hard to miss wherever you are in the area. We are viewing it from Straits State Park which is about as close to the bridge as you can get without being on it. Hard to believe that two hours after this picture was taken, we had a late morning snowfall: the first of the season around here. Time to head south to Texas.

[winterswake]

how to ruin a family gathering 101

[ianthedebonair]

Baby's first house visit

[ardentpoop]

i literally cant pay attention w/ his hair gently undulating in the breeze in every other scene

[maximura]

[pallanophblargh]

I have a lot to do and not enough energy to do it just yet, thanks to holidays and a backlog at work. Have I always been this tired, or have I forgotten? A riddle to solve in this new year. (No idea how i survived the last one aside from being a vertebrate cockroach)

Anyway, I still don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to Linocut, so I need to walk myself through the print process like I am a toddler. At least the plate looks nice at this stage?

Hopefully I can get back to regularly sketching at the very least. It’s been a journey.

[seven-oomen]

Obi-Wan really be looking at Cody like:

😍😏👀👀

[baylardian-1]

threshold au janeway being stuck as a lizard in Q2 big fave

[1-800-crscnt]

overall, i hc the Commanders to be unhappy and guilty over Thire's promotion to Commander. more under cut because this got longer than expected.

Fox feels the guiltiest because he feels as though this is a death sentence he could have prevented if he protected Thire more, and because he already felt bad over Thire possibly becoming like him, and in turn tries to help him get demoted. He also ends up teaching Thire the exact things he hates himself for doing, but tries to keep him to investigative work with instead.

Stone feels guilty and scared for the same reasons, but also because he thinks it's directly his fault for even teaching Thire a lot of the stuff that everyone praised him for. He's set up several emotional barriers though and keeps using a few coping mechanisms to get through all that and help Thire with his new duties, but unfortunately this means their relationship is worsening from the admittedly healthy and great one they had in the beginning.

Thorn is angry with himself, Fox, Stone, and Thire because he sees this as their collective fault, and makes this known to them. He also sees this as a death sentence like Fox, but becomes very overprotective and borderline rude when it comes to Thire and takes over most of his training. Thire was already pretty wary of Thorn before, but this makes him resentful despite the gratitude he feels when he learns something useful. Thorn's mental state is a wreck and he secretly cries over the thought of Thire having to do the things he does.

i know this all sounds pretty negative, but most of these feelings are well-hidden and don't actually ruin their relationships entirely, just make them way more complicated as time goes on. they all still love each other (in varying amounts), get along, & work together perfectly. most of the time. weeeeeeellll...

[thedragoninsideyourself]

You know how ppl say there is a 'calm before the storm'.

Recently heard my sibling refer to me as the calm before the storm and the only thing I could think of since then is that's a great way to characterize relationships.

Like codywan. Cody is the calm Commander you see in the midst of an chaotic battle. He knows what he does, he has done this thousands of times before. He is calm, his presence a anchor, the shielding rock for all his brothers. But he is also the calm before the storm. And obi wan is the storm. Because shortly after cody appears, there will be obi wan. And he will wreak chaos. He's a whirlwind of movements and lightsaber flashings. The storm that comes after the calm.

Just. Droids fighting for their lives just like their opponent clones and then they see that one clone appearing. You know, the calm one. The one who doesn't seem to be fighting for his life, but for all the others. The one who becomes the calm middle of all the fighting, the controlled leader. And they're like 'oh no' 'not that one', because they know if they can see that specific clone, the crazy redhead jedi is not far away. Because the commander is the calm eye in the middle of the chaotic storm of a battlefield. Of the jedi.

Just. Anakin doing something stupid and facing the commander afterwards. Who is so full of his shit, but still calmly speaks to him, reprimands him, until he actually feels sorry for whatever mayham ha just wrecked. The commander he knows everyone respects, he knows centers all clones of the 212th and most of the 501st. And then the calm is over when cody goes. And obi wan comes. And brings a storm of emotions upon him, making him feel like a padawan all over again. Before he gets lost in the storm obi wan always seems to carry with him. Not that he himself is any better.

Just, the calm before the storm.

Cody appearing first and then, always, Obi Wan afterwards.

[skltart]

this is just a concept sketch to figure out how to visualize something for a future piece, but I kinda liked how this turned out

[androdragynous]

"why are we LYING and saying THIS social media is better for art than that social media because OBVIOUSLY that social media is better and-"

shut up. the site that will be ""most useful"" for selling your work has nothing to do with the site itself and everything to do with 1. if the people you want to sell to are there (and, surprise, there are other users on literally every site) and 2. if you can tolerate using it enough to reach an audience.

implying signing up for different social media is the only way to succeed as an artist is just straight up stupid. you want people to find your work? try starting with remembering to sign your fuckin name on it