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The funniest thing on my dash right now is folks who are familiar with The Untamed (i.e., the 2019 TV series) only via GIFsets reblogged by their mutuals honestly being under the impression that it’s, like, a period romantic comedy or something and going “wait, that guy is an evil wizard?”

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❤️ A Very Shameless Love Confession ❤️

It's finally done! After one year of creating the original sketches, I finished this comic project!

I remember having a strong cinematic visual of this scene in my mind, where it's raining and Wei Wuxian is with his hair undone. And this is the outcome hehehe

I had so much fun with this! It was such a great experience to play with the expressions, the gestures, the movement, the angles. It was a learning experience for me.

I hope you enjoy the final piece as much as I enjoyed creating it!

HAPPY UPCOMING VALENTINES DAY!

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found goat milk and wheat ale at the store. theres no way im NOT making a white gilgamesh tonite

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Look, I dont know a lot about saints and Catholicism, but I know St. Agatha is always depicted with her breasts on a plate, and that’s sure something

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"Pet": Pretty Woman, But Gay

So I read the Captive Prince series way back in like, 2016, and read the first few short stories and never read the fourth one because I wasn't a fan of the character it would focus on. And then through a weird set of circumstances I found myself reading this short story this past week, and it might be one of my favorite short stories ever.

I'm posting under a cut because the series is very adult, and the short story and series itself contain triggering content.

Ancel is definitely a favorite character of all time now, which is impressive especially since I hated him. But that's kind of what CS Pacat does well--she writes unlikable characters who are indeed truly flawed and not just soft babies inside, and then makes you like them by showing their development without completely changing who they are as characters. It was the main strength of the original Captive Prince trilogy, after all--Laurent's development still remains one of my favorite character arcs of all time.

So really, I don't know why I was shocked at what she did with Ancel. Especially because the whole reason I hated Ancel was the same incident that made me dislike Laurent: a scene in which Laurent uses Ancel to sexually assaults Damen. And I still do think that particular scene is the biggest flaw in the series, because it's kind of glossed over in a lot of ways. Admittedly, that's still the biggest flaw of "Pet" as a story, too: that the story frames Ancel's low moral point as what he does to Erasmus, which is portrayed as an escalation of what he does to Damen, when I'd argue it's the opposite.

Yet, seeing things from Ancel's perspective--how desperate he is to matter, how he genuinely has only ever been used and so doesn't understand why other slaves wouldn't even try to perform and enjoy the meager scraps of joy they get in life--changed my perspective on him. Not on the incident, but on him.

Ancel's a brilliantly written unreliable narrator, too. As confident and vain as he seems, he's all too aware that he doesn't matter in the court. As much as he hates Damen and Erasmus for the former's refusal and the latter's inability to play the role, it's really self-hatred projected onto them. We see bits and pieces of this seeping through in his conversations with Berenger, such as him telling Berenger in a moment of delight:

"I'd even sleep with you. I might even enjoy it for once." He stopped. "High praise," Berenger said dryly.

Ancel doesn't enjoy a lot of his life. But he'd never admit it, because he lacks control over pretty much every aspect of his life and so seeks to keep control over his thoughts by lying to himself. And yet, paradoxically, he's still one of the few people at court who is usually honest with others.

All of this is why Berenger is such a great love interest for Ancel. Berenger prizes honesty, but also freedom. He buys Ancel but refuses to sleep with him because he knows Ancel doesn't really want to, no matter what sweet nothings Ancel whispers in his ear. He respects Ancel's autonomy in ways no one else ever has, and he sees him as a person first and foremost.

Normally stoic "good guys" aren't super interesting as love interests for me. I like angsty tortured souls, Byronic bastards. But Berenger works perfectly in the story, and is no less interesting as a character than Ancel. To be fair, part of this is because everyone in Vere is insane and debauched and there needs to be one normal one there, and that's Berenger. Yet there's intrigue, too: why Berenger bid so highly to buy Ancel in the first place is never directly stated, but what he does say is that Ancel:

You took on every councilor in that room and won.

It wasn't the physical performance, but Ancel himself, his psychological performance. It serves as a metaphor for the overarching plot of the Captive Prince series, wherein the lowly and those who have everything against them end up taking on far more powerful individuals and systems and winning.

Which makes the last line of the story all the more fitting:

But if he wins?

Ancel may not be a pure-hearted individual, but all along he's showing Berenger that it is possible for those who have less to win, and to be loved and give love. He gives Berenger hope for the future, for the coming coup. And as we all know, Laurent does win, and I can only presume Ancel and Berenger live happily ever after.

My second complaint about the series is that the ending is too abrupt even if the ending line is perfect because that's my complaint about the trilogy too.

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About a week before we all got on the plane, I got to talking to this man in a bar in Sydney. He was American, too. A doctor. I've been on some benders in my time, but this guy...he was going for an all time record. So, it turns out this guy has a son. His son's a doctor, too. They had some kind of big time falling out. The guy knew it was his fault, even though his son was back in the States thinking the same damn thing. See, kids are like dogs, you knock them around enough they'll think they did something to deserve it.

LOST

S01E21 - "Exodus, Part 1"

Dir. Jack Bender

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which one of u was going to tell me that tea tastes different if u put it in hot water?

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"Even before Laurent had hit the ground, the man had drawn his sword. Damen was too far away. He was too far to get between the man and Laurent, he knew that, even as he drew his sword—even as he wheeled his horse, felt the powerful bunch of the animal beneath him. There was only one thing he could do." -Prince's Gambit by C.S.Pacat

and a continuation of the same scene with more spoilers:

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In case anyone finds it helpful because mobility aids are horrifically expensive and inaccessible…

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

He also is working on cheap, open source, accessible designs for beach chairs, off road chairs, motorized attachments (think smart drive), and so on. Plus he skateboards in his wheelchair. Cool dude, helpful info, pass it on.

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@here4hualian kissmas day 3: morning kisses

Hua Cheng wakes up in the arms of an angel. Sunlight streams in and illuminates the face of his savior, his prince, his god. He smiles down at Hua Cheng as he opens his eye.

‘Oh god, your devoted believer would do anything to protect this sight if only he is allowed to see it every day,’ Hua Cheng prays.

Out loud, he says, “Good morning, Dianxia,” and relishes in the indulgent, sleepy smile he gets in return. Still half asleep, wanting to indulge in the warmth of his bed next to his god for just a little bit longer, he leans forward to kiss his beloved. 

His lips meet cold stone.

The illusion fades away as the cold shocks his system. The face of his beloved is one that he carved himself, the morning sunlight merely the remnants of the fire he built last night to keep himself warm. Whether or not it actually is morning is impossible to tell in the caves of Mount Tonglu, but it’s nice sometimes to indulge in a fantasy.

‘Someday, Dianxia, this servant will make sure you wake up every morning warm and happy,’ he promises. He gives the statue one last tender kiss, then leaves it behind as he prepares to fight another day.

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call me Brussels Sprouts the way I got the bitterness bred out of me

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i don't know how you can "the curtains are just blue! ACAB lol" fucking Death Note of all pieces of media

this is a show for thirteen-year-old boys. the only writers I've seen who are less subtle about what they're going for were fucking Victorians.

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so hot!!!

a little hualian painting practice

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this should be tumblr appropriate, i think..... SHARING SPIRITUAL ENERGY BUT MAKE IT HUALIAN LMAO

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i'm genuinely having so much fun writing a jock protagonist. can't believe i never tried this before. all these years i've been limiting myself needlessly

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The Forestrunner

(Any Pronouns, mostly used He/Him)

Also known as The Caretaker, The Man made of Trees and The Cryptid, The Foresrunner is the parent of forests and green spaces. Tall as trees and as quiet as the wind, he moves through his domain in silence and in peace during Hunt season, protecting his sacred animal: deers. She is a parental figure to The Goatkeeper, and is mostly seen as a gentle yet severe being, which makes them extremely respected and feared.