#string join()

[bi-chimneyy]

okay so during "buck, actually", maddie and chimney sing karaoke of "islands in the stream" - the next time jlh sings that song it's during maddie and chimney's wedding and then buck and tommy's kiss - madney and bucktommy are so connected I swear

[rustedleopard]

I feel like if Chujin was still alive during the events of Undertale Yellow, his and Clover's relationship would be incredibly rocky. Pacifist!Clover could bring him around to tolerating them (after all, they have that sort of effect on everyone), but it would be more in a "this human is the only 'good' human" manner than a "maybe I should reevaluate my opinions on humans overall because you can't judge an entire group based off (very biased) stories and one bad experience." Even then, that opinion would be subject to change should Clover ever get frustrated or behave "too aggressively" or act in any manner that isn't perfectly docile. If Clover ends up attacking a monster then it's "humans are just as horrible as they were in the war stories, I should've known better" regardless of the circumstances that could've pushed Clover to fight. Suffocating expectations and endless demands for patience when he wouldn't ask the same of a fellow monster.

And heaven forbid he ever meet Clover on a No Mercy Run...

[in-my-loki-feels]

@silentxsymphony and I's Sharperton agenda continues! Please check out this absolutely amazing piece by @wolfpup026 of Benedict Bridgerton and Sir Thomas Sharpe sharing a sweet moment together. The detail alone is making me crazy, not to mention the softness. 🥺😭💕

Aaaaand to compliment this gorgeous art, there's a little scene below the cut. You can find other snippets featuring these two in my Sharperton tag or on ao3. (Come, join us... 👀)

Benedict sighed. He was not sure why he had indulged this whim to pick up the brush again but it was clearly a foolish idea. The still life taking shape on the canvas was very still indeed, lacking any element that might draw the eye or hold one’s attention. Perhaps packing away his art materials after that disastrous stint at the academy had been the correct impulse, after all. 

“When I saw the door was open, I feared I would find you with your head bent to more boring correspondence,” said a familiar voice behind him. Benedict turned. 

Now there was a sight more full of life than anything he could ever capture on canvas. Thomas Sharpe stood in the doorway, his coat abandoned so that he wore only his shirt, waistcoat and breeches. His presence lifted Benedict’s spirits, at least until he realized Thomas was coming closer to inspect the painting. 

“This is quite good,” Thomas continued, in that lovely rumble that sent gooseflesh spreading across Benedict’s skin. 

“Flattery is unnecessary,” Benedict said dryly, facing the canvas again. He eyed his work and sighed. “You need look no further to see why I was accepted into the academy because of Anthony’s generous donation and not by my own skill.” 

“Or,” Thomas said, raising an eyebrow as he shifted his attention to Benedict, “perhaps the money found them before your letter did. Regardless, I will hear no more disparaging remarks.” 

He reached out to clasp the underside of Benedict’s arm, his thumb brushing beneath where the palette rested. Thomas let the touch linger as he stepped around behind Benedict, then moved his hand to Benedict’s waist. 

“It is a good start, now you need only finish it,” Thomas murmured, his lips brushing Benedict’s ear. It was the smallest touch, but it sent fire racing through Benedict’s body. Thomas often had that effect on him. It was solely for that reason that Benedict did not immediately understand what the other man was suggesting. 

“What, like this?” he asked with a laugh. Thomas had wrapped both arms around him and the heat of his body warmed Benedict’s back. His lips curved into a smile against the nape of Benedict’s neck.

“I do not see the difficulty.” A soft kiss followed the words. 

Benedict shivered and tried, in vain, to rally his thoughts again. “It is simply that I can think of other ways to more happily pass the time.” 

As close as they were, Benedict could feel the rumble of Thomas’ chuckle in his own chest. 

“As could I, my darling, but first, I would like to see you complete this painting. You have only ever been supportive of my own creations.” 

That was because the toys and gadgets Thomas put together were so clever. Thomas’ hold on him tightened, as if he guessed Benedict’s thoughts and was silently warning him not to give voice to them. 

Shaking his head, even as a smile tugged at his lips, Benedict attempted to return his attention to the canvas. It was no small feat given Thomas did not relinquish his spot, occasionally dropping a kiss to Benedict’s neck or murmuring compliments on his technique. 

“You, sir, are a menace,” Benedict said, as Thomas’ fingers ran back and forth along his waistband. “Did you not say you wanted me to finish this?” It was growing ever more difficult to concentrate with the stirring in his breeches brought on by Thomas’ touch. 

“I’m sure you have it in you to continue,” Thomas said, with absolutely no irony. 

Benedict snorted out a laugh. Not since Tilley had he met someone so delightfully playful. It was a word many would not think applied to Sir Thomas Sharpe, who maintained an appearance of quiet charm at most societal functions. A man with eyes so clear and blue and yet at times darkened by shadows. It gladdened Benedict’s heart to see Thomas showing more of this side of himself, even if only in private. 

Benedict moved his brush to the palette then paused. His growing arousal was momentarily forgotten as he looked between the painting and the bowl of fruit arranged on the nearby table. 

“I do believe I am finished.”  

He realized now that Thomas’ presence had distracted him from the doubts that so often plagued him when he stood at the easel. The finished work was by no means a masterpiece, but neither was it the disaster Benedict had seen it as before Thomas entered the room. 

Thomas was conspicuously silent behind him, also admiring the painting. 

“All right,” Benedict said with an overly aggrieved sigh, “it is not terrible.” Thomas’ hold loosened so that Benedict could move to the table and set down his brush and palette. When he turned back, he found Thomas smiling with a mixture of mirth and fondness. 

“Worthy of being skied in the Queen’s gallery, in fact,” Benedict continued, simply to hear Thomas laugh. He so enjoyed the sound and the way Thomas’ eyes crinkled with his smile. Benedict returned to his side with an impish grin as he tilted his chin up to meet the kiss Thomas pressed to his lips. 

“I suppose this means I should solicit your assistance whenever the urge to paint strikes me?” Benedict said. 

“A wise idea, indeed,” Thomas replied, taking hold of Benedict’s hips to pull him closer. He bent down, bringing his lips to Benedict’s ear. “You may even discover I am quite a willing model, should you find yourself in need of more interesting subjects to study.” 

A delighted laugh burst free of Benedict before he was silenced by Thomas’ lips once again. 

* Skied art was hung at the top edge of a wall, typically the worst place for art to appear.

[pinkpirellis]

just soulmate things ❤️💕💖

[butevrythinggoesaway]

I have soooo many thoughts about Noir's spider sense and also his patron (yes I will continue to call the spider god that because they basically are)

If he trains his spider sense more, he'll eventually gain like a built in radar, and can fight without the use of his eyes just by focusing on the world around him his sense builds.

I tend to write him in colour but desaturated, to the point that colours don't actually have names in his world they're just *example* tinted, like red would be blood tinted usually. The symbol that appears in front of his face during the spider sense is the only true colour in that it is bright and vibrant and cannot be recreated in his world.

The lines of the symbol soften and round when it's a "oh yeah you're like me" tingle, but get more jagged lines when it's danger.

His patron sometimes speaks to him, and when it does, the spider sense activates

Those who have spider senses can also see the symbol. Miguel cannot, poor thing can't even get a second hand warning 😔

It can kind of act as a compass. He can look in a certain direction and depending on how much his head hurts he can figure out where's currently safe and where isn't

He doesn't always listen to it unfortunately. He's too stubborn for his own good. He also has a bad habit of getting information from his sense that the others may lack but not tell them and just go about his own thing. That kid lacks communication skills and really needs to learn but sadly no one else in spider society had social skills, at least before he got kicked out for gay crimes (covered the cafeteria in silly string)

[mistresscitrusslice]

Does the lack of Jayce merch worry anyone else? More so than the lack of Viktor merch or the existence of Mel merch? Hear me out.

We all know why Viktor merch doesn’t exist. It’s only because it doesn’t exist yet. Because of Hextech trio’s absence from trailers, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they were also entirely excluded from merch until the season came out, similar to how Ekko’s poster didn’t come out until he was revealed as the Firelight leader. Obviously they can’t release content so as not to spoil people who aren’t versed in League lore or League champions (love y’all btw 😘).

What DOES now concern me a lot is that Mel has started to be included in merch. She’s on the Fenty makeup and in the Tokidoki pony lineup. It’s an indicator that her design probably will not change in the coming season. This could be because she keeps the same look or possibly because she doesn’t survive long enough to have her design change. (I really don’t want her to die. She is the light of my life and also I have $20 riding on her survival.)

EVEN MORE CONCERNING/EXCITING IS THE FACT THAT JAYCE STILL HAS NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN MERCH. If Mel can be included, that means that Jayce probably would be too, considering he doesn’t have much reason to completely change his look in season 2 other than maybe putting a new jacket on… or does he?

We’ve been going off the assumption that no big changes will be made to Jayce’s appearance (other than an outfit change) since he already looks similar to himself in League. If so, there’d be no problem with including him in merch in his season 1 outfit. They’re already doing so with Jinx, Ekko, Heimerdinger, and sometimes Vi. But Jayce is suspiciously still missing.Jayce is also supposedly getting a legendary skin (or so I’ve heard, correct me if not). It makes sense for Viktor to be getting one, and also for Vi and Jinx to since they’re getting makeovers in season 2, but Jayce already has an Arcane skin.

All this makes me think that Jayce is getting a huge makeover come season 2 and it might even have something to do with Viktor or Jayce’s own magic obsession. If he were just getting a small change like Caitlyn putting on her little floppy hat, there’d be no reason to temporarily exclude him from merch because of it. There wouldn’t be a whole new skin because of it. I’m certain of it: Jayce is going to change A LOT.

[utilitycaster]

Skein of Destiny

Now that I've got your attention with a shitpost I do want to plug the article I worked on that prompted it, and throw out some thoughts that are too speculative for wiki articles!

What we know (ie, the canon stuff; much of this is also in the article with citations)

The skein is a physical manifestation of the concept of fate, with threads representing the fate of individuals - Vax and Caleb have both seen it in two entirely different contexts, and Evontra'vir's roots grow into it.

The idea of destiny and fate as a skein/tapestry/weave is nigh-universal in Exandria. It is consistent among worshipers of the Prime Deities (Raven Queen and Ioun both reference it; The Raven Queen's domain includes fate), the Luxon (Caleb sees the skein within the beacon), and nature (Evontra'vir was a druid of the Gau Drashari). Nana Morri, a hag in the feywild, acknowledges it is the Raven Queen's domain, though she has the ability to see it and influence threads beyond her own from an external perspective; Teven Klask (worshiper of a Betrayer God) identifies Fearne as being "outside the knotted weave." Arcane, divine of pretty much all known forms, fey, fiend, and elemental are all united in this understanding in a way they are not really about anything else.

Destiny and fate as understood in Exandria do not mean "all is pre-determined" (as indicated in the shitpost, this is about the interplay of fate and free will, which have always coexisted). The above entities are also united in this understanding. The Raven Queen notes that Vax, as Fate-Touched, influences the fates of those around him in unique ways not merely limited to his choices, but does grant him many choices herself, and tells Percy when he asks her for answers that "There are a great many deeds ahead of you. It's your choice to take them." Ioun says something similar to Vox Machina, and a core tenet of the Changebringer is "Luck favors the bold. Your fate is your own to grasp." The Luxon and Dunamancy are based on the concept of possibility, of many potential paths taken and not taken, and not only do chronurgy wizard spells and the fate-touched ability share certain mechanics, but also permit a do-over, since the future is not yet known. When Caleb observes the threads he sees multiple branches off of them that are implied to be based on possibility (ie, there is not merely one option). And Evontra'vir in episode 3x74 directly tells Bells Hells that while some things are fated to happen, it will be their choice that determines what happens to the gods; it also tells Ashton they are fated to retrieve the spark, but also to bestow it, a choice that is their own.

All three of the main powers discussed (Raven Queen, Luxon, Evontra'vir) also serve to preserve the cycle of life, death, or rebirth in some capacity.

Some thoughts: Honestly the big one is that while the idea of fate vs. free will or of the future being a series of possibilities rather than one definite path is a very common one in epic fantasy (frankly, the idea of Fate as "everything is predetermined" is a bad one anyway in fiction because then there's no point in telling the story), there is a particular ludonarrative harmony to play with this theme in a TTRPG. There is a general path laid out before you, but it is not ironclad, and you can make choices to attempt to change this. Sometimes you will fail despite your best efforts based on factors beyond your control but sometimes you will experience unlikely success. The narrative is shaped by this interplay of possibility/probability and choice.

Some wild speculation: I think a peaceful parting with the gods (ie, stopping Predathos and then Bells Hells making their choices about the fate of Exandria as stated by Evontra'vir) would still preserve this skein fate (as would of course maintaining the divine status quo), but a failure to stop Predathos will destroy it, and the fabric of the cosmos (the roots of Predathos are between worlds; fate connects all of the inner planes). I desperately need to know why Fearne is said to exist outside of fate, because I don't know if that's a fey thing, a Ruidusborn thing, a Nana Morri thing, or something else entirely. I would be shocked if the Luxon doesn't come up in SOME capacity later in the campaign (or perhaps in the Echoes of the Solstice one-shot coming up), and I'm very interested in seeing what other party members might gain as they gather their allies and resources. And I don't think it's coincidence that the two deities devoured by Predathos pre-Schism included Vordo the Fateshaper (nor Ethedok, the Endless Shadow, whose domain of darkness and winter is thematically associated with the cycle of life and death).

[whiteshipnightjar]

THE ONE AND ONLY JOANNA NEWSOM

[lightning-jay]

JJK 261 Spoilers!!!

.

Happy pride to my favorite tragic doomed yaoi

[rebornofstars]

Hey! How do you feel sepfember is going? I've enjoyed seeing all the lovely art and writings. Hope you're doing well!

luna!! hi!! thank you for the ask 💞

sepfember is going more brilliantly than i ever could have hoped. it's been absolutely wonderful seeing people coming together to create things! i've been trying my best to express my joy in the tags of my reblogs, but i'm not sure anything ever could! it's been truly wonderful. i have loved every minute of it so far - writing the prompt drabbles every day, and checking the tag for other people's work to reblog, and sniffing out beautiful art for the queue... a couple of times people have pinged me on the LU discord too, to show me sepfember art, and it entirely melted my heart. and i can't tell if it's coincidence but i'm seeing more sepfember-unrelated/untagged female focused art on my dash too!

in a franchise that caters a great deal to male gamers (and in my own linked universe bubble where all of our main characters are men), my only wish for this event was to balance the scales just a little - create a little bit of brainspace in our minds for the women. show more people who they are and what their names are and what they do! spare a moment to wonder about their goals and motives and characterisation. because they do exist! there are more women in this franchise than even i thought before this event! and i think they're worth celebrating, don't you?

[tastycitrus]

phantom's hanging out

[redlistenstomusic]

most unhinged AB performance, ever?

[rudimentaryflair]

Yuuji is aware he can cut an intimidating figure. Still, he'd thought most of the school would have learned better by now.

[iamrizaka]

Lee Fletcher and Michael Yew escape from the camp take little Will, Kayla and Austin with them to join Kronos.They have a bad ending.

OH NO MY BABIES

The thing is, even if they survive the war, they still have Apollo on their backs. He punished Halcyon so harshly (if I'm being generous) just for telling a girl about her future and death, I can't imagine what will happen with these.

If there are still going to be canon deaths, just think about the last three's absolute devastation. Maybe Luke is grieving too, but he show it, it's not his body anymore, he can't fight Kronos anymore.

Oh god, what if some of the little ones die???? Lee and Michael are going to go apeshit to avenge their little sibling's death. Or they will get depressed and just. stop fighting.

They joined Kronos' side to protect their siblings. But all they got is being against everyone and having seen their little brother/sister get impaled. They had a hand in killing their other siblings who stayed at camp. Luke is not here anymore. What is there to fight for?

[theromanticrationalist]

This will now become a Young Sheldon reaction and meltdown safe space as the seventh and final season of the show premiere’s next week. You have been warned. May the fun and tears commence! *slams gavel*

[mili-song-tournament]

read your tags on the tiebreaker and hard agree. it makes me a tad sad that PM songs are sweeping, not that they're bad, but there's clearly a bias and the fact that they come from a game and a context you can get attached too influences a lot

i've always had a strong preference for songs that tell a story (even pre-mili, i love vocaloid song series and i miss the era where those got tie-in novels and i'm glad that's making a comeback). my favorite mili songs are often interconnected to each other and that context strengthens my enjoyment of them all (rosetta/camellia, witch's invitation/sl0t/ga1ahad/summoning, world.execute(me);/world.search(you);/sustain++;), and the songs made for ruina and limbus explicitly tie into the games' stories while also being self-contained which is cool. its just a shame that project moon fans seem to dgaf about any of the other stories the band has told through their songs :(