#But between real Lovers

[dual-domination]

Here, have a 2Luo fic in this Sunday, please:

A Crime for redemption

When Luo Fei needed to distract the policemen guarding the station door at night, the fortuitous appearance of the Dongjiang boy he wouldn't forget, gave him the perfect opportunity. Nosy policemen needed good entertainment that gave them something to gossip about.

And whatever crime Luo Fei was trying to commit or solve, Luo Fusheng only relied on his Detective's judgment for that. And for anything else.

[batsplat]

random throwback to fabio's response to casey saying he should've been black flagged for the whole open leathers situation

[juregim]

reincarnation

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

The Hours - Michael Cunningham // Lesbos - Sylvia Plath // Free-Range Angel Produce - Joan Tierney // Memorandum on Tlatelolco - Rosario Castellanos // The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman // 21 - Richard Siken // Orestes - Euripides // Past Lives - BØRNS // Love and Misadventure - Lang Leav // This is How You Lose a Time War - Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone //

[purrvaire]

black sails + shitpost I have on my phone (pt. 4/?)

3

[glasyasbutch]

EVERYONE LOOK AT GENTS SEXY BACK TATTOO AND GET LESBIAN ABOUT IT

art is by the amazing wonderful pure genius @ferretrix everyone go give them a million dollars

[dearabsolutelynoone]

мαχтσи нαℓℓ - тнє ωσяℓ∂ вєтωєєи υѕ

[phonydiaries]

haha sorry what did you say I just blacked out and came to in a cold sweat with a redraw of the iconic bisexual anne hathaway twelfth night poster but it's Romeo/P/Carlo in my lap

[seleneprince]

Following this little something that sent me on a brainrot for days

PROLOGUE

There are very few things that can impress him at this point.

Or so he thought.

Because when he sees a human girl cross the Wall by herself, armed with a sharp tongue and an iron-made will only, well, he has to be impressed. Shocked even.

Because no human has ever crossed the Wall by themselves and survived. They're not supposed to. They're too weak, too mortal for the ruthlessness that is the land of Fae. They're prey in the home of predators. Even the strongest of their people rarely last more than a few days.

But this female—this girl—doesn't look like any other human he has seen before. And he’s seen enough of them to get a general idea. She isn’t covered in weapons or clad in armor; instead, she wears accessories made of iron. (The sight of those always makes him chuckle—how the humans cling to them, as if it'll really give them a chance against Fae. Bless them). Her hair has been braided up beautifully, though a few strands have escaped, giving her a messy, wild look. She wears a plain, gray dress with a dark coat, stained with mud and ripped in places, yet she still carries herself with a certain pride—her eyes, piercing and unwavering, burn with a fierce determination he doesn't expect to see in mortals.

There’s something about her that makes him pause, a contradiction he can’t quite put his finger on. She’s obviously battered by her journey—filfth splattered across her dress, her face streaked with dirt mixed with sweat, and exhaustion clear in the lines of her features. Yet, even with the signs of weariness etched into her, she holds her head high, shoulders squared against the chilling breeze that sweeps through the land.

Of course, the path to the Wall has its own dangers and obstacles, with some Lesser Faes sneaking out once in a while to haunt the lands being the tamest of them. Certainly, a dainty thing like her should have died before even getting a glimpse of the Wall. It's astounding that she got out with just some bruises and dirt on her clothes. he wonders if he might be hallucinating—if this human is just a product of his exhausted mind playing tricks on him. But then he hears her curse, loud and furious, and he knows she’s real.

His lips quirk up at the scene. There's something endearingly amusing about such a delicate creature with such a filthy mouth. She reminds him of a wet, angry kitten. Adorable.

When he takes a closer look, carefully hidden in the shadows, he hums in appreciation. For a mere human covered in grime, she's a real beauty. Her eyes are an unusual blend of blue and gray, shifting depending on how the light catches them. Her sun-kissed skin is marred by burns, and her frame is a bit too thin for his liking, yet she exudes an air of cold, regal elegance—like a fallen queen. His interest deepens when a sense of familiarity stirs within him, as though he’s seen her before. It can’t be true. He would remember.

But before he can think further, the fiery human catches him off guard once more.

"I know you're there. Show yourself, coward!"

He's grateful that she can't see him almost tripping backwards in shock. What the fuck?! She can sense him. How? She's human, and as far as he can tell, she doesn't have an ounce of magic in her.

Maybe she's bluffing? She's terrified and knows there are all sorts of creatures roaming these lands, so she's trying to paint herself as brave. That must be it. It's an irrational, ridiculous enough of a reaction for a human.

She scoffs, stomping her feet.

"For heaven's sake, just come out now. Let's get this over with."

It's not a bluff. She really knows he's watching her. Or that someone is. She must know she's at disadvantage here, and still insists on provoking a potential predator.

Interesting.

He finally steps out of the shadows, appearing right in front of her. He grins when she jumps back, surprised and scared. He squints his eyes when her fear is quickly replaced with anger and...annoyance.

This human must be an abnormal among her kind, surely.

"What's the matter, dear?" he smiles, purposedly showing his sharp teeth. "I thought you wanted me to come out"

He delights in the nervous gulp and the tension that settles on her body. She attempts to take a step back, her feet hesitating, only to stay rooted in place, unmoving.

She still tries to hold unto the fake indifference, how cute. Not like it'll help her, of course. She'll about to learn just how useless the iron she wears is. But before he speaks again, her rich voice shuts him off again.

"You took a long time, sir. Haven't you been taught that it's incredibly rude to make a lady wait?"

Her chin lifts, defiance shining in her eyes despite the rapid beat of her pulse that he can practically hear thrumming in the air between them.

And he...well, he's momentarily stunned, caught between amusement and genuine disbelief. Any normal human would've been trembling by now, begging for mercy, or at the very least, backing away. But she stands her ground, her fear coating the air and her fingers twitching slightly over her where her thigh is.

He throws a quick look there and notices something poking underneath her skirt. A strapped knife. Her hand has been discreetly moving towards there, and now lays on top of it. So she knows he's dangerous. She knows what her situation is. The fact that, despite that, she still considers stabbing him an option can be interpreted as incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.

Probably both, coming from an human.

"Oh, my humblest apologies, dear," he makes a point of dramatically bowing to her, "I didn't want you to fret, you see. It is very rare to meet girls like yourself around here."

"Like myself?"

"Humans. For some reason, they tend to dissapear quickly once they're here. Specially the young and pretty ones."

He smells her fear, and the rush of blood pumping faster with it. He has to hold back a purr. Of course, she's smart enough pick on the threat, yet she doesn't react to it. She doesn't give away anything, besides the imperceptible twitch of her fingers. She's determined to fool him with that fake passivity.

Too bad he can practically savour her terror on his tongue. Luckily for her, she's too interesting to kill her soon.

"That doesn't explain why you waited so long to reveal yourself, sir."

Her voice has a slight tremble in it, but she raises her chin to speak to him and her blue-grey eyes look straight into his. The breath gets stuck in his throat for a moment. His gaze trails the shape of her lips, her long neck, her curly eyelashes, her slim waist.

His tongue swipes across his lips, a gesture that she doesn’t miss, judging by the way her shoulders tense.

"Ah, forgive me," he says, struggling more than he should to focus again, " I enjoy watching from the shadows first. I'm a bit shy." He pauses, studying her reaction, catching the flicker of uncertainty that crosses her face before she smooths it over with irritation.

She huffs and crosses her arms, like she's getting bored of him. As if he couldn't sense how much she wishes to run and hide.

"Do you get a kick out of lurking in the shadows, scaring humans for fun?" she snaps, each word laced with irritation. "Or is it just me you’re bothering tonight, sir?"

He lets out a low chuckle, the sound reverberating in the still air, a deliberate attempt to unsettle her further. But she doesn’t flinch, not even a little. Instead, her jaw tightens, and she glares up at him with a fierceness that makes his curiosity spike.

"And what if I do?" he counters, his voice dropping to a silken purr. He leans closer, invading her space. “What’s a little thing like you going to do about it?”

Her nostrils flare, her breath coming quicker now, but she doesn’t shrink back. "I don’t know," she replies, her voice sharp, almost cutting. “Maybe I’ll stab you in the balls and run.”

He arches a brow, genuinely taken aback by her audacity. This girl—this little human girl—is threatening him, a High Fae who could snap her like a twig without breaking a sweat. She's an insignificant creature standing in front of a monster that can destroy and devour her before she can blink. But she stares at him like she might actually mean it, like she’s weighing the distance between them, considering whether she could really drive that dull blade into his body before he overpowers her.

Ah, she's truly a joy. Far too interesting to let her die. Cauldron knows it's been so long since he's had some good entertainment.

"Oh, we don't need to get so violent, dear," a slow, wicked smile spreads across his face, and he lifts his arm, "I have better plans for us."

He flicks his wrist and shadows lurge at her before she can react, caging her with her arms pressed against her body, rendering her unable to move. She gasps and struggles uselessly, grunting in frustration and shock.

He chuckles at the display, throwing his hands in his pockets as he walks slowly towards her, like a predator lurking his prey. Only this time she can fully see him.

He stops just inches from her, his smirk widening as he studies her closer. The sight of her struggling against the shadows, the way her breaths come in quick, angry gasps, sends a shiver of satisfaction through him. She’s caught in his web now, her wrists and arms bound tight by shadows she cannot hope to break, and yet the fire in those silver eyes remains undimmed.

With a shift of his finger, a little shadow goes up to her chin and forces it up so she's looking at him. She grits her teeth, pure fury lighting up her glare. He can’t resist running his eyes over every curve of her face, savoring the wild anger in her expression. There’s no fear in her now—only rage. And it looks beautiful.

"Who the hell are you? Let me go!" she snaps, voice ringing with a boldness that doesn’t match her current state.

He smirks. It’s rare to find a mortal with this much fire, especially one who doesn’t immediately crumble under the weight of the unknown.

"Just a curious observer," he replies smoothly, his voice low and laced with danger. "And you, little thing, are far more interesting than I expected."

Her eyes widen, her struggles ceasing momentarily.

"What in the world do you mean?!"

He leans in until his breath brushes against her nose, relishing in how she holds her breath in anticipation.

"I'm going to keep you with me."

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital drawing based on Pedro from the film Arrebato. At the bottom of the piece, there's a close-up drawing of Pedro's eyes staring listlessly into the distance, face upturned. The skin around his eyes is red and blotchy. This drawing melds into another drawing of Pedro. He's sitting on a bed and tightly clutching a cluster of grapes close to his face. His mouth is pinching together and a liquid strand falls all, implying that he's eating one. He's looking straight ahead with wide, wild eyes. One of his legs is pulled up in front of him so his arm rests on his knee. To the left, there's a circle that shows Pedro asleep in his bed, bathed in blue light. It looks like a lens, and is coupled with a red light above it, as if a camera. Other circles in the piece are randomly coloured red, specifically Pedro's right eye on the top drawing, one of the grapes in the cluster, and the highlight in his left eye on the bottom drawing. The lineart is a dark blue and alternates between stark shadows and scratchy shading. The background is a bright teal, which contrasts against the more sallow colours used for colouring Pedro.]

Inktober - Day 26 (Camera)

Film - Arrebato (Iván Zuleta, 1979)

[kaeyapilled]

kavetham different meeting au where theres a sort of fair for people who want to study in the akademiya to get to know each darshan, yknow those college fairs? where they talk to you about universities and courses? like that. and the kshahrewar and the haravatat booths are next to each other and kaveh and alhaitham are responsible for them and despite having just met they bicker with each other all. day. every future akademiya student that passes through one of their booths might as well have passed through both because they will not stop arguing about which darshan is better and which one the people talking to them should go to. its a very amusing experience to all involved except for kaveh and alhaitham themselves. and anyways. nuisances to lovers

[platypotoo]

I started watching the show assuming (from pictures and such) that Sydney and C*rmy are the main couple. I didn't even know Richie existed.

But having finished the second season just now, I can't feel anything romantic between Syd and C*rmy. I expected to like them together, even to ship them at least a little. But I just don't.

Syd and Richie on the other hand? Wow.

In season 1, where they absolutely hate each other most of the time, their interactions are already so meaningful:

- The first time that we as viewers see Richie be vulnerable, Syd sees it too.

- His worry whether she is okay after the gunshots. Should be normal between colleagues, but... they used to dislike each other so much...

- When Syd resolves the fight between the gangsters, Richie looks at her in irritation, but also almost... awe? It also makes him actively change at this point already, actively change himself and how he sees certain things.

It's really a testament to the writing of this show, to the complexity of its characters that Richie is such a scumbag in season 1, in some ways saying exactly what you'd expect a guy like him to say, yet he could have been so much worse. He never crosses a certain line. And then in season 2, he becomes so much better.

Their interactions kind of hit me like a freight train - completely unexpected, raw, realistic, extremely emotional, almost forceful.

Thematically, too. The very new one and one of the oldest. At the beginning: always at each other's throats. Fighting, pulling, pushing. Is it possible that they might find peace with each other? Find even more?

The structure of season 2 had the main cast interact less, and since Syd and C*rmy were the ones working most closely together, I was sure that the strange vibes I got between her and Richie would disappear in favour of Syd/C*rmy. But except for the table scene (which I just didn’t read as romantic, more a continuation of Syd's personal arc), there were very few meaningful scenes between Syd and C*rmy.

There weren't many big scenes between Syd and Richie either, but... nobody really expected them to. However, we did get two scenes of weird awkwardness, like they didn’t know how to behave around each other without fighting. (her jumping away when nearly bumping into him! Their weird interaction when she's seeing him in a suit for the first time! "You smell good"?! Wtf? Ultimately it probably means nothing but I can't stop thinking about it!!) And of course the one scene in the last episode, when they are more than amicable colleagues - they are the perfect team without ever training together, same focus, same drive to make things exactly as they should be, helping each other, supporting each other and being impressed by each other.

It's just so weird how Sydrichie completely surprised me. I wouldn't even call it only "chemistry" or something. It's their entire dynamic, the way they made each other madly, almost exaggeratedly emotional in season 1, then went on parallel paths apart from each other - did some soul searching, improved themselves - and ended up as this weirdly perfect force together. I never expected it. I've never seen anything like it.

Right now, I think there's a 50:50 chance that in canon nobody of The Be*r's staff gets romantically involved, or that Syd gets together with M*rcus. No other option is realistic. But I'll be thinking about her with Richie for a good long while.

[rotteneldritchhorror]

Objectum headcanons are fuuunnnnnn

[yaeggravate]

just wanted to quickly share my thoughts on ronova's possible parallels to the character kundry, from wagner's opera parsifal

when the lord of the night talks about ronova she has this to say about her:

Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night: The one you wish to know about... I call her "The Ruler of Death." She helped Natlan establish the rules. It was also under her guidance that I created the Night Kingdom... Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night: It was an expression of love, as well as an act of reparation. She was seen as having significantly overstepped her authorities as a Shade, which quite displeased the almighty... Mm, Heavenly Principles. Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night: She succumbed to self-pity as a result, and no longer cared if others discussed her identity. Even so, her existence remains unknown to all but a select few.

in the memory of xbalanque, we find out ronova has little freedom to do as she pleases. (though it's unclear what this means exactly)

Ronova: Very well. I shall agree to help you. But I am merely a Shade, and I do not have as much freedom to do as I please as you might think.

because i have anfortano on the brain, all of these bolded tidbits immediately reminded me of the sorceress kundry. in wagner's version, kundry was an (unwilling) accomplice in getting amfortas (spelled with an "m" here) cursed. kundry was wrecked with guilt over what she had done and tried to help amfortas and the grail knights despite her being under her master's control.

PARSIFAL Gurnemanz: Methinks a curse may still be on her life,—She is so wild and strange, so sad her very eyes. But now, whate'er the past, she is with us, And serves us to atone for earlier guilt. Perchance her work may shrive her of her sins. Surely she does full well to serve us well, And in the serving-help herself and us.

kundry was cursed herself to reincarnate over and over again for eternity. (because she laughed at jesus while he was being crucified lol.) she went under several names, one of which stood out to me; gundryggia. this name seems to be an invention by wagner himself that he gave his own meaning to:

In Act 2 of Wagner's music-drama, one of the names by which Klingsor addresses Kundry. Cosima's diary relates, "... at lunch he tells me: "She will be called Gundrygia (sic), the weaver of war", but then he decides to keep to Kundry" [14 March 1877]. Although it has been speculated that the name was that of a Valkyrie, the author has not been able to find the name Gundrygia or Gundryggia in any of the Old Norse sources, which contain many Valkyrie names. There is, however, a resemblance to the name Gunnr (meaning strife or battle), one of Odin's principal Valkyries, and this might have been the inspiration for Wagner to transform Kundry into Gundryggia.

at the end of the story, kundry dies and is freed from her suffering after parsifal saves amfortas.

back to capitano, it's said that ronova sent him on a long journey and that cap has a final foe to face. it's not explained yet what this means and can be interpreted several ways but when you consider possible kundry parallels perhaps ronova is helping cap break the curse which could potentially defeat her too or release her from her own torment/guilt over the Crimes™

anyway just something to think about, even if ronova isn't kundry, it would still be interesting to see her character implemented in the story in some way.

[eashgirl]

VERY rough sketch of Breakdown and Bumblebee (tfe) I'm working on(preview)

It's very rough because I haven't cleaned the lines yet on a different layer, nor have I colored it. It's just in the first step progress I still have so much to work on so consider this a messy and rough doodle.

I loved their dynamic so I felt obligated to draw them, it's just so adorable, their banter, the angst everything about them screams soulmate energy whether it's platonic or romantic they are soulmates I kid you not.

I guess I should properly correct it, it's Breakdown and Goldbug, this is based on my new Wip ao3 fic which follows my own version of the events after the s1 finale.

Bee is definitely rolling his eyes under that visor (playfully ofc) I'll probably add a little chibi in the top corner.

I'm not really including a whole lot of ships in the fic just breakbee and starblade with other implied background relationships like ironchrome, oplita, thunderstream,jazzprowl and dratchet, the reason being the fic isn't really romance focused(and because I'm horrible at writing romance)and even the main ships I've listed won't have any explicit scenes just scenes to develop their relationship further.

[ingravinoveritas]

https://www.tumblr.com/cerisebio-art/724310511297150976/okay-im-sorry-excuse-me-but-the-hand-just

I’m assuming you’ve seen this already?

Oh yes, I have indeed seen that. It's interesting, because it immediately made me think of a moment in the third season of Staged where something similar happens, except it's David who presses a hand to Michael:

It really is something seeing them side by side, isn't it? That in both cases, the touch looks so natural, so completely fluid as to give the impression that this is not the first time it's happened. I also love that the recipients of both touches (Crowley/David on the left, and Michael on the right) are so comfortable with the touch that it seems to speak volumes about their relationship.

It's interesting, too, because when Staged 3 first came out, I had a few Anons messaging me saying they thought David touching Michael's arm was scripted, and that I was reading too much into it. Which of course could be the case, but it's a curious thing to have the same kind of touch happen not once, but twice between the same two people, and for it to be as soft the second time as the first.

(This is also not even getting into the fact that Staged 3 was filmed after GO 2, and all of the implications contained in that touch after filming such an emotionally charged scene in episode 6, which I swear I am going to write about in detail in another post...)

Honestly, I think we could be here all day discussing the parallels between Aziraphale/Crowley and Michael/David, because it is endlessly fascinating to see how much of themselves seems to be in the characters this season. I have a bunch of other Asks still to come in this regard, so stay tuned...

[mikailys]

I'm sorry Roy but I do

and that's not you