#it hasn't left me since

[museenkuss]

Embroidered Casket about 1675, England, wood covered with satin, silk and metal thread, mica and glass beads, ivory (figures in the garden) 32 x 21 x 26cm

In many cases the final challenge [for a woman learning embroidery] was the production of a casket like this one, depicting scenes from myth or the Bible using a wide range of stitches and materials. In particular these caskets employ raised work, the technique of embroidering over padding.

It is probable that each individual figure or element was sewn independently and then applied to the delicate white satin background. This meant that the needlewoman could experiment and correct mistakes which would be impossible to rework on the satin. Once the panels were completed they were sent to a local cabinet-maker who mounted them on wood and made them up into a casket. The silver braid conceals the joins and prevents the satin from fraying.

(image and text from the Victoria and Albert Museum)

[galaxialdarktale]

i have had... yet another... wip idea

[starry-bi-sky]

i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

[rapidhighway]

ummm wamen?

[cactosaurio]

I was thinking that Jing Yuan actually does see Yanqing as something akin to a son, but most of the time treats him as his disciple and a member of the cloud-knights; he admires his tenacity and wants to protect part of his innocence, he did seem to raise him and is so similar to his younger self, but it also comes with an arrogance unbeffiting of a soldier that needs to be straightened out, something that must happen to everyone. Plus, there's something he needs Yanqing to do for him when the time comes, even if he still can't let the kid walk completely alone.

On the other hand, Yanqing doesn't necessarily see him as a father figure (most of the time), more like a mentor and benefactor who inspires respect and some affection, his feelings on the matter could be less complex, but there's always doubt and rumors around Jing Yuan (still glad the common folk can talk so freely about him). For what plot would the general need some kid prodigy who came from thin air?

[pickletrip]

Tan is New, New is Tan. The whole fandom called it and I'm proud of us for that.

[paperlignes]

nandor the relentless and guillermo de la cruz, what we do in the shadows (2019-) / company calls epilogue, death cab for cutie

for @badgerswake​

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

I'm going to say something that I hope, for humanity's sake, is not controversial: You do owe people explanations for cutting them out of your life. Ghosting should not exist. Unless it is literally physically dangerous, communicate with people. We might not know what everything in life means, but I can say for certain that we are not made to be weapons with which to hurt each other.

[mintjeru]

i should probably be practicing how to draw yuder given i'm having a hard time w/ him but kishiar,,,

open for better quality | no reposts

[bloomingsalma]

i think one of the most disappointing things is to see that your childhood friends have grown up to represent the kind of people you're disappointed in

[viiinz]

everyday I think about him (Ippolit Terentyev)

[golden-fairylights]

This boy has me melting

[kingslionheart]

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That's why bad things happen to me. It is about the sins of my father. And my sins.

[otaasune]

A blue rose that made the impossible possible.

[weirdprophetess]

florence making the Dance Fever Live at Madison Garden vinyl was targeted so personally at me i swear

[laora-ryn]

Something about "Fili and Kili were the youngest dwarves in the Company of Thorin Oakenshield by several decades"

Something about "Fili and Kili were the heirs in exile to the elder, cursed, line of Durin, who had never seen wealth or comfort or even the mountain they were willing to die to reclaim"

Something about "Fili and Kili were the only dwarves, bar Bombur, who weren't taken in by the gold sickness despite it claiming every king in living memory"

Something about "Fili and Kili all but idolized Thorin despite his descent into madness, and willingly threw away their lives to defend his body"

Something about the cyclic nature of violence,

and something about the young and the hopeful and the potential for something better -

Something about all of it, every speck of goodness and safety being swallowed by war and greed far beyond their control, and -