#there's verbose and then there's this

[averseunhinged]

klaroline fic rec friday #1, i guess? meant to start this up for months, but i'm verbose, and time management is hard.

fine china and dull silver by @yespumpkindoodlesthings

in my dotage, i've been less into the constant hardcore angst consumption of my youth and have pivoted slightly toward fluff. but i'm super picky and it can't be fluff for fluff's sake. like my favorite characters are usually some level of The Worst, and if they're going to gently bake a cake, it has to be a murder cake. if you know what i mean.

this is one of my favorite secret good blorbo fics in this fandom, as well as being a secret good season six. pumpkin doodles is great at a lot of things, but they're especially good at maintaining a certain level of assholery even while fluffing up the place. klaus and caroline are very sweet together in this, but they're still klaus (a complete dick, but he's trying) and caroline (anxious and overcompensating, but she's learning). they're filled with a lot of love, even as they power through some of the major plot points of s6.

it jumps off from friendsgiving, which was the point where i too was like oh fuck this show. it just felt like such a regression to s2 for caroline after her s5 character arc. she came so far and learned so much and suddenly we're back to the menfolk discussing whether she deserves to be loved despite her sin of, like, having some level of expectations for the people in her life.

as for klaus, his TO storylines are cleaned up pretty tidily at the beginning in a way that feels relatively natural without putting anyone through all of that. you understand his problems aren't gone, but having caroline around, someone whose moral compass he actually trusts, goes a long way with him.

and the rest of the ensemble is great, too. everyone still has their foibles (elijah is stiff, damon is irreverent, hayley doesn't care about anyone who isn't designated as pack/family, stefan lacks self awareness, etc.), but it's easy to swallow. everyone is still awful in their own ways, but it feels pleasant to read.

it also touches on the idea that caroline could be devastated that stefan would abandon her without having romantic feelings for him. he's her best friend. he saved her from all the people she should have been able to trust, but who wanted to kill her for something that wasn't her fault. he had faith in her and she put her faith in him. and the previous two times he disappeared off the face of the planet, it was because he was actively being harmed and came back all the worse off for it. it would be soul crushing to find out he gave up on her while she worried about him constantly. that's a much more interesting story,imo, than the watered down side romance it became.

small spoilers under the jump

my favorite part is when caroline figures out that she can't follow through on the impulse to turn her humanity off, because there's someone in her life who very much needs her to be present, who loves her and is notorious for holding onto the people he cares about so hard it can crush them.

“I can tell when you’re actually terrified,” she said. “You want me to stay because if I go off the rails, you go off the rails?”

“Something like that,” he said, noncommittally. He wasn’t going to tell her that he thought it would be uniquely dangerous if both of them abandoned Caroline’s moral code.

“Which makes me responsible for your behavior,” Caroline said. 

“Someone has to be responsible for me,” he said. “Elijah’s really given up--and you’re so much more talented and energetic than he is, really.” She started to laugh and then her laughter turned to rough sobbing. He pulled the car over and wrapped his arms around her. 

“I’m your tower of strength, huh?” Caroline said, through tears.

“Yes,” Klaus said quietly. “I need you.”

“I didn’t think anybody really needed me,” Caroline said.

he won't abandon her and he needs her to not abandon him, even when it would be easier, maybe even kinder in a way to let her turn it off.

[sufficientlylargen]

It always gets me that the name "Gandalf" literally just means "Wand-Elf" or "Stick-Elf". I'm imagining old Gondorians just being like:

Librarian: I saw that weird guy at the library again today.

Guard 1: What weird guy?

Librarian: The old guy with the beard? Kinda elfy-looking, apart from the beard?

Guard 1: Oh, with the big-ass stick?

Librarian: Yeah, looked like he was carrying an entire tree branch.

Guard 2: Yeah, that's the Stick Elf.

Guard 1: Hell yeah, I fuckin' love the Stick Elf.

Librarian: The "Stick Elf"?

Guard 2: He comes by every few years, usually after some weird book or other.

Librarian: Oh. Yeah, he wanted a treatise on goblin breeding habits.

Guard 2: Like, how they have sex? We have books on that?

Librarian: Yeah, turns out we do. I was as surprised as you are.

Guard 1: What'd the Stick Elf need a fuckin' goblin-fuckin' book for?

Librarian: I didn't ask. So you just call him "Stick Elf"?

Guard 2: I mean, he looks kinda elfy and he always has that stick, so, like, yeah.

Guard 1: Dude also has some fuckin' dope pipeweed.

Guard 2: Oh yeah, his pipeweed is awesome.

Librarian: How long has he been coming here?

Guard 2: Oh, for decades. He's, like, super old.

Guard 1: More like fuckin' centuries. Dude's old as balls.

Guard 2: Wait, really?

Guard 1: Yeah, my gran-gran used to talk about him. She loved his pipeweed too.

Librarian: So he's… an immortal pipeweed dealer?

Guard 2: I think he's just, like, a connoisseur. He doesn't sell it or anything. He just always has some really top-notch pipeweed on him.

Archivist: Oh, are we talking about Stick Elf?

Guard 1: Hell yeah we are!

Librarian: You know about the Stick Elf, too?

Archivist: Oh, totally. Stick-Elf's a super chill dude. Gave me some awesome pipeweed when I was maybe 12, and tee-bee-aitch I think I'm still a little buzzed from it.

Guard 1: What'd I tell ya, fuckin' dope pipeweed!

Archivist: Also he's really old.

Guard 1: Old as balls.

Librarian: Yeah, so Éodan and Jenniforomir were telling me.

Archivist: My grandpa used to tell me stories - he said one time he saw Stick Elf enter a smoke-ring contest.

Guard 1: Ooh, I'll bet he kicked fuckin' ass.

Archivist: Apparently the guy made an entire warship out of smoke and it flew around shooting down the other rings.

Librarian: And how much of this "fuckin' dope" pipeweed had your grandfather had by this point?

Guard 1: No no, that's totally plausible. Dude's got weird elf powers and shit for sure.

Archivist: He brought fireworks for the king's birthday one year, too.

Guard 1: Oh fuck, I forgot about those! Fuckin' incredible fireworks! Dragons and knights and glowy trees and shit! I was fuckin' 6 years old or something, they totally blew my mind. Hey Éodan, did you see that shit?

Guard 2: No, I think that's before I lived in Gondor.

Guard 1: Wait, you're not from here?

Guard 2: Oh, no, I grew up in Rohan. We moved here when I was, like, thirteen because my uncle Éojeff said he could get my dad a sweet job. And also that there were houses that didn't smell like horseshit.

Guard 1: Oh shit, are you related to Éojeff and Éosteve who run that æbleskiver stand on Norndîl St?

Guard 2: Yeah, they're my uncles!

Guard 1: Shit, they cook a fuckin' great æbleskiver!

Librarian: Ok, hold up a sec, "Stick Elf" can't possibly be his real name.

Guard 1: Why not?

Librarian: What? You think his parents named him in the hopes that he would carry around a fucking tree when he got older?

Guard 2: Maybe they gave him the tree when he was born!

Archivist: I don't think a baby could carry that stick.

Guard 1: You ever seen a baby hanging onto something? They're hella strong.

Archivist: It's not a strength thing, their hands are tiny. That staff is enormous!

Guard 1: My halberd's bigger 'n I am, I can hold it just fine.

Archivist: You're not a baby.

Librarian: Also why would elf parents name their kid "stick ELF"?! Presumably they know that their kid's going to be an elf!

Archivist: Is he actually an elf? I didn't think they grew beards.

Guard 1: How'd he get old as balls if he's not an elf?

Guard 2: His ears aren't that pointy. Maybe he's just a really old guy? Like, a Numémoriam or something?

Guard 1: Did you just say "Numémoriam"?

Guard 2: Nûnenorman? Munimõrbitan? Y'know, those guys like the king that can get super old.

Guard 1: You mean the fuckin' Númenóreans?

Guard 2: Yeah, the Númenóreums.

Archivist: Even the Númenóreans don't live THAT long.

Guard 1: Plus he carries that fuckin' stick around.

Guard 2: Wait, what does the stick have to do with it?

Guard 1: That's an elf thing. Y'know, trees and shit? Very elfy.

Librarian: Ok, look, but his parents naming him "Stick Elf" would be weird whether or not he's an elf. In fact, it's even weirder if he's not - what human names their kid "elf"?

Archivist: Huh. Yeah, you're right, he probably does have another name.

Guard 2: Yeah, I guess so.

Librarian: He's been coming here for decades and nobody's ever asked his real name?

Archivist: I dunno what to tell you, he's Stick Elf. Even his library card just says 'Stick Elf'.

Guard 1: Fuck yeah, the Stick Elf!

Guard 2: Maybe we could, like, ask him his name sometime?

Guard 1: Hey, look, Elrond's over there. He's old as balls too, maybe he knows?

Guard 2: Oh, we shouldn't interru-

Guard 1: HEY ELROND, YOU'RE OLD AS BALLS, RIGHT? WHAT'S THAT OLD ELF WITH THE STICK'S NAME?

Elrond (coming over): Do you mean an old man cloaked all in grey and blue, leaning on a rough-cut staff, who came to the great library this day?

Guard 1: Yeah, the Stick-Elf!

Guard 2: (Sorry to bother you, sir...)

Librarian: He's got to have a real name besides 'the Stick Elf', right?

Elrond: Indeed, for no elf is he. You speak of the wizard Olórin, wisest of the Maiar, older even than Eä itself. Many are his names in many countries: Tharkûn among the Dwarves; Incánus to the south; Mithrandir he is called among my people, the Grey Pilgrim.

Librarian: Oh.

Elrond: And here in the North he is called Stick-Elf.

Librarian: Oh.

Guard 1: Fuck yeah!

[knock3]

[ssalballoon]

rot and ruin

this was heavily inspired by thatkorka's lovely fic! please check it out, it's such a good take on Gale's arc :')

[vpyre]

I made an Opus Eponymous inspired rosary! The first one is what it looks like all straightened out, but you have to click on it lol. Might sell it on my Etsy sometime if there’s any interest :)

[theladyem]

Opened up Journal 3 to get ideas of words to type for the website/ compare and contrast the vibe to the perspective gained with the Book of Bill and uh

Interesting verb choice there, Sixer

[extraliteral]

eu não estou magoada por você não me querer

eu estou magoada porque às vezes você age como se me quisesse

e de um dia pro outro…

já não significo mais nada.

- extraliteral

[akiacia]

maggie scenes for fun 🤣

[daredevil-vagabond]

Fanart for the 7th part of @overly-verbose 's SIkuna fic series based on the comment I left about the campfire scene lol

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late, especially after this past class.

This past class was about the Torah and Tanakh in general, and the way the rabbi talked about the commandments (specifically the ten commandments) has made me really reflect on how I interpret them, specifically the fifth commandment, or honoring your mother and father.

This is a commandment I have wrestled with for a long time - in fact, it brought me away from g-d at multiple times. I was severely abused when I was incredibly young by my mother, and I used to feel insulted at the implication that I were to honor her while she got to live a better life. It was hypocritical, in my eyes.

But this rabbi surmised that this particular commandment was because parenthood is an act of creation, something that is like the g-d from which we come from. My realization is this: I don't think we're necessarily meant to take even these commandments literally.

I this particular commandment is more of a call to honor creation - creation is a gift, and like any gift, many people simply will not like it and will discard it. The person who abused me created me, but she did not honor creation. She didn't honor me, but I can still honor it.

I have started to honor creation much more. I'm too young, too unstable, not mature enough to be a father (though I fantasize about it), but I create all the time. I create relationships, I create with my hands through crochet. I create memories, I create my world. And I can honor who I am and where I came from that made me who I am. I've been learning one of the mother tongues of my family (Italian, since part of my family originates there) and it was judaism that inspired me to do this.

I don't think g-d wants me to honor my abuser. I think He wants me to remember the Holy action of creation. When I am a father, that act of creation will be Holy, and indeed, I am already joyful about the thought.

I have seen many people struggle with this particular commandment, but I think this perspective helps me personally. I don't think I ever have to forgive my abusers (plural), and I don't think I am commanded to simply because they happened to be family. I am commanded to recognize the holy, to elevate the mundane. In doing so, I will remember g-d. Through creation, I honor g-d and everything he has done for us, for me, and for our collective people.

[palaceoftheprophets]

I can usually tolerate Mizora’s antics but The Iron Throne mission stressed me out so much that I did not have the energy for her shenanigans.

(Leave poor Wyll alone, he’s been through enough!!)

[alpacacare-archive]

Not enough joy and light today. Time for silly dadster and papyrus 🙏

Bonus:

[hilacopter]

Starkid looked at The Individual Who Was Unfond of Musical Theatre and said yes but what if he had clones on the moon and got stockholm syndrome'd into being a cat. They really said put that guy in a situation.

[talos-stims]

EMBRYOGLYPH

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[invinciblerodent]

btw yes, I'm also still stuck thinking about how in the cutscene at the start of the attack of Astarion's siblings, Astarion himself is standing right next to your bed.

Every time that scene is mentioned or brought up on my dash, I just keep thinking about how the bed the PC is shown using in the long rests (which seems to me like the top left one as you enter that side-room), and the one in which he's presumably been resting, are basically on the very opposite ends of the room.

like... sure, it already has me scratching at the walls to think about how, when unromanced, he probably felt something was wrong and went immediately to wake you and let you know (trust!!! friendship!!!), but it has me extra feral to think that he had abandoned the bed he had originally claimed in favor of yours, and was sprung from his lover's embrace by the arrival of his siblings. (Because you can't talk about cuddling, and cuddliness, and call yourself "cuddly Astarion" in the same scene, without actually cuddling sometimes lol.)

I kind of like to imagine that even on top of it being self-defense, springing to his feet so fast, there could also be something instinctively protective in the fact that he so quickly puts his own body between you and danger.

I mean,

right before the camera would focus on him, he's bent forward, snarling at them to get away, coiled to strike even unarmed (well. as unarmed as a vampire can be), and only relaxes into the conversation-pose when you stir, and Aurelia speaks.

And like, that doesn't feel like a conscious action, or even much of a purposeful decision from a mechanic standpoint (most likely the devs needed him to stand there-ish for there to be enough room for the PC to get up, and stand next to him for the conversation's camera angles to make sense), but I do like to imagine that at this point in the relationship, he just... acts without thinking, and puts himself into the more dangerous position on instinct. It lines up very nicely with that sweet, rather earnest line he says in the Wyrm's Lookout scene. (PC: "All that matters to me is that you're safe." Astarion: "I know you do. It matters to me, as well. I want to be able to protect you, too.")

... The rest of his "this is for us, this is to protect you, we're a team" lines are of course calculated, manipulative bullshit, and taking them at face value would be a mistake even if there is a kernel of truth at their core, but I think that one is genuine, and it's corroborated by this unthinking jump to your defense.

[vpyre]

Some friends in my Copia discord server told me to post this lmao