#I had to lie down for a while

[mohntilyet]

illario + lucanis growing up together means a lot for obvious reasons ofc like the fact they did not have to go through the dellamorte villa torment nexus alone really helps. immediately from the moment they are taken to that house, lucanis has had something to protect and love. the snark and jokes that they share in wigmaker job finally having a chance to shine outside of the only person lucanis is socialised with and he learns that wow, he's actually likable. because up until this point everyone around him calls him a demon and is freaked out by him but ofc the veilguard only know him as lucanis "he banished harding from the kitchen" dellamorte. sure he's a big bad crow assassin but his reputation simply does not carry that much weight with people who are just equally deranged (maybe a de riva rook but that's also a little different) . and then he's able to share and extend that love with his new friends, and able to try being something that he's not had the chance to before, and his goodness is actively encouraged rather than being an unfortunate sidequest that is tolerated. and i fondly think also of how much of that humor is copied and mirrored off illario ("shoulders....... feeling tight...... need a ..... MASSAGE!") and it's his best experiences with illario that turned him into the man he is. wish the game explored this just a little more because the betrayal would have been made a lot more intense if they had just bothered to show any of illario's redeeming qualities. he has them!!!!! nobody is just born a traitor. you have to love someone before they can become that.

[nekky-nek]

Will I ever recover from Xemnas saying to be human must take incredible strength? No. No I will not.

[orcelito]

in the Wolfwood side story of trimax volume 8 chapter 6, we see this visual metaphor:

[ID: Three pages from Trigun Maximum. The first pages shows Wolfwood staring up at a flying bird and carving it in wood. He thinks to himself, "Us humans... We look up at them... and feel longin'. But they may look down at us... and envy how we have earth and shade to escape the pain of endlessly flappin' yer wings to survive." The second page shows a new scene where he is talking to Maylene. She looks up at a bird in the sky and tells him, "I... used to be an orphan. I've always depended on others for survival. Mr. Priest... How does the world look when you are able to choose your own path?" As she talks, Wolfwood is shown with a resigned look to his eyes. In the third page, Wolfwood replies, "Knock it off. Look over there." The bird lands, and we see that its feathers are mangled. Wolfwood continues, "That bird... It's in terrible shape. If you could look into its heart, you'd know all it wants is a safe place to sleep, a few scraps of food, and a life of peace. You'd know just how much it would envy yer luxurious cage." End ID]

(all pages from @trigun-manga-overhaul)

even at the time of first reading this, I wondered if it was a metaphor for Vash. at this point in the story, it's just after Wolfwood broke Vash out of the ark. we've seen the horrible truths of Vash's life over and over again... & the fact that at the end of the day, he just wants to live a quiet life of peace.

this suspicion turned into certainty with these pages in volume 10 chapter 4

[ID: Four pages of Trigun Maximum. The first is a single panel of Vash passing by a bloodied Wolfwood with a hand on his shoulder, telling him, "Crush him." In the second page, Vash walks off, leaving Wolfwood to his fight. Wolfwood preps his gun and says to himself, "I'm sorry... Needle-Noggin..." The third page is a wide shot of the sky, followed by a flying bird just like the ones seen in the prior pages. The fourth page is a shot of Vash staring up at the bird. His face is partially obscured in darkness with his eyes out of shot, but he is not smiling and his posture is hunched. The final panel is blank white. End ID]

... yeah. with the same imagery of the bird, we see Vash looking up at it with a hard to read expression. partially obscured, so we don't even see his eyes, but in his posture and the lack of a smile... you can see his pain. he's only just learned that Wolfwood is dying, and he wants so badly to be able to save him... but he can't. he's forced to accept that this is Wolfwood's fight, so he leaves him to it even as it agonizes him.

looking up at the bird that's forced to keep flying to survive... Vash is that bird. for the first time since he was a child, he allowed himself to grow truly close to someone. he found himself wanting to share a future with him, to share their Tomorrows...

[ID: A panel progression of Vash listening to Wolfwood fight. His face is partially obscured until it's revealed that he is weeping in agony. End ID]

but it wasn't meant to be. Vash isn't a being that can settle down like that.

he's cursed to forever fly.

[stormyoceans]

https://x.com/alanwenn/status/1841772914833502390

oh god please🧎‍♀️

THE OFFICE BATHROOM HASN'T BEEN WITNESSING A MELTDOWN OF THIS PROPORTION SINCE THE LAST TWILIGHT HEYDAYS I HAVE THE PULSE OF A PREY ANIMAL BEING HUNTED FOR SPORTS IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING OVER THE BLOOD RUSHING IN MY EARS IM ABOUT TO THROW UP ALL THE BLOOD IN MY BODY

OH MY GOD IF THEY REALLY GIVE ME PODDPAPANG. IF THEY TRULY GENUINELY LEGITIMATELY SERIOUSLY HONEST TO GOD FR GIVE ME A PODDPAPANG MAIN SERIES WITH THEM PLAYING 30 YEARS OLD CHARACTERS. Y'ALL THOUGHT I WAS ANNOYING BEFORE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET IM GONNA BECOME THE MOST INSUFFERABLE PERSON ON THIS SITE

I NEED GMMTV 2025 TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY AND ALSO A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM TO GET ME THROUGH IT

[clementine-kesh]

if i may complain for a moment b’elanna torres is such a top tier fantastic character and it’s so frustrating that the vast majority of trek fans either a) hate her b) ignore her c) reduce her to being tom’s totally not spicy latina stereotype wife (aka the jay and gloria from modern family special). she deserves MORE she deserves respect and recognition and for people to stop being so gross towards her!!

[eremin0109]

My heart just absolutely breaks thinking what if Majima knew beforehand that Kiryu's days were numbered but he was in denial, refusing to believe that a fucking illness of all things would put the nail in the Dragon's coffin. So when they finally meet in that shack, he starts their conversation with a taunt, because he needs to see it for himself to believe it. To come to terms with the fact that Kiryu is actually dying.

And so, they fight. It gets real ugly real quick and by the end of it, Majima's eye is glazed over with a terrifying realisation as he stands over Kiryu's beaten body, his breathing more laboured than it had any right to be.

Going into the fight, Majima wanted to be absolutely crushed by those large hands, years of pent up feelings and frustration being pounded down onto him. That way he'd know that the Dragon was still alive and kicking. That his Kiryu-chan was not actually dying an excruciatingly slow death.

But his victory rings like a funeral toll in his ears. This is all wrong. Kiryu Kazuma is supposed to his perfect rival, his true equal. The only one who could tame the Mad Dog. Not the bleeding, coughing mess of a man that laid underneath him. This couldn't be happening.

But when Kiryu looked at Majima, he felt more than saw the remnants of wildfire in the Dragon's eyes, flickering away more and more by the second. It took every single fibre of Majima's being to not end the poor bastard's life right there.

What was the use anyway—the Dragon was already dead.

[idk-i-want-mcl-content]

i don't think it's readable but my candy's shirt says "1-800-HOTTOGO" (luv u chappell) this would be her everyday style and i wanted for it to contrast her more formal look for work.

I considered making her everyday the outfit she wears to ballet but then I heard chappell and I totally forgot about it lol. Her color palette as for now has been really soft and pink, but it's because i feel like these first parts of the story take place in spring? for some reason? but when the story progresses I'll give her different fits.

i wanted to share all the looks in one post but i thought this one looks really cute and i'm staring at it like this:

[ghoulodont]

in other news when i woke up this morning i almost immediately got a significant nosebleed. like blood was actually pouring down my face. ive never gotten a nosebleed in my life much less something like that so i think this is another instance of fanfiction manifesting events in my life after beta lactam gave me strep just over a year ago. it was not very sexy mostly because i had only just woken up

[acourtofquestions]

"You'll come back," Manon said.

It sounded like more of a threat than anything

Dorian smirked. "Would you miss me if I didn't?"

Manon didn't reply. He didn't know why he expected her to.

He'd taken all of a step, when Asterin clasped his shoulder. "In and out, quick as you can," she warned him. "Take care of Narene." Worry indeed shone in the Second's gold-flecked black eyes. Dorian bowed his head. "With my life," he promised as he approached her mount and grasped the dangling reins. He didn't fail to miss the gratitude that softened Asterin's features. Or that Manon had already turned away from him.

A fool to start down this path with her. He should have known better.

The hours that passed were some of the longest of Manon's existence.

From anticipation, she told herself. Of what she had to do.

Abraxos, unsurprisingly, found them within an hour, his reins sliced from the struggle he'd no doubt waged and won with Sorrel. He waited, however, beside Manon in silence, wholly focused upon the gate where Dorian and Narene had vanished.

Time dripped by. The king's sword was constant weight at her side. She cursed herself for needing to prove-to him, to herself-that she refused to let him go into Morath for practical, ordinary reasons. Erawan wasn't at the Ferian Gap. It'd be safer. Somewhat. But if the Matrons were there … That was why he'd gone. To learn if they were. To see if Petrah truly commanded the host there, and how many Ironteeth were present. He had not been trained as a spy, but he'd grown up in a court where people wielded smiles and clothes like weapons. He knew how to blend in, how to listen. How to make people see what they wished to see. She'd sent Elide into the dungeons of Morath, Darkness damn her. Sending the King of Adarlan into the Ferian Gap was no different.

It didn't stop her breath from escaping when Abraxos stiffened, scanning the sky. As if he heard something they couldn't.

And it was the joy that sparked in her mount's eyes that told her.

Moments later, Narene sailed toward them, making a lazy path over the mountains, a dark-haired, pale-skinned rider atop her. He'd truly been able to change parts of himself. Had made his face nearly unrecognizable. And kept it that way.

Asterin rushed toward the mare, and even Manon blinked as her Second threw her arms around Narene's neck. Holding her tight. The mare only leaned her head against Asterin's back and huffed.

Manon hadn't dwelled long on what she'd say.

And as the three hundred Ironteeth witches filed into the hall, some coming off their patrols, Manon half wondered if she should have. They watched her, watched the Thirteen, with a wary disdain.

Their disgraced Wing Leader; their fallen Heir.

When all were gathered, Petrah, still standing in the doorway where she'd appeared, merely said, "My life debt for an audience, Blackbeak."

Manon swallowed, her tongue as dry as paper. Seated atop Abraxos, she could see every shifting movement in the crowd, the wide eyes or hands gripping swords.

"I will not tell you the particulars of who I am," Manon said at last. "For I think you have already heard them."

"Crochan bitch," someone spat.

Manon set her eyes on the Blackbeaks, stone-faced where the others bristled with hatred. It was for them she spoke, for them she had come here.

jacket, then hoisting up her white shirt. Rising in the stirrups to bare her scarred, brutalized abdomen. "She does not lie."

UNCLEAN

There, the word remained stamped. Would always be stamped.

"How many of you," Asterin called out, "have been similarly branded? By your Matron, by your coven leader? How many of you have had your stillborn witchlings burned before you might hold them?"

The silence that fell now was different from before. Shaking shuddering.

Manon glanced at the Thirteen to find tears in Ghislaine's eyes as she took in the brand on Asterin's womb. Tears in the eyes of all of them, who had not known. And it was for those tears, which Manon had never seen, that she faced the host again.

"You will be killed in this war, or after it. And you will never see our homeland again."

"What is it that you want, Blackbeak?" Petrah asked from the archway.

"Ride with us," Manon breathed. "Fly with us.

Against Morath. Against the people who would keep you from your homeland, your future." Murmuring broke out again. Manon pushed ahead, "An Ironteeth-Crochan alliance. Perhaps one to break our curse at last."

Again, that shuddering silence. Like a storm about to break Asterin sat back in the saddle, but kept her shirt open.

"The choice of how our people's future shall be shaped is yours," Manon told each of the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks who might fly to war and never return. "But I will tell you this." Her hands shook, and she fisted them on her thighs. "There is a better world out there. And I have seen it."

Even the Thirteen looked toward her now.

"I have seen witch and human and Fae dwell together in peace. And it is not weakness to do so, but a strength. I have met kings and queens whose love for their kingdoms, their peoples, is so great that the self is secondary. Whose love for their people is so strong that even in the face of unthinkable odds, they do the impossible."

Manon lifted her chin. "You are my people. Whether my grandmother decrees it so or not, you are my people, and always will be. But I will fly against you, if need be, to ensure that there is a future for those who cannot fight for it themselves. Too long have we preyed on the weak, relished doing so. It is time that we became better than our foremothers." The words she had given the Thirteen months ago. "There is a better world out there," she said again. "And I will fight for it." She turned Abraxos away, toward the plunge behind them. "Will you?"

Manon nodded to Petrah. Eyes bright, the Heir only nodded back. They would be permitted to leave as they had arrived: unharmed.

So Manon nudged Abraxos, and he leaped into the sky, the Thirteen following suit.

Not a child of war. But of peace.

[keeps-ache]

'please i have a family !! of ocs'

[regular-lord-reckoner]

i’m home !!

procedure went real well, everything was really smooth and almost as soon as they said, “you can count backwards if you want,” i don’t think i even said ten before i was suddenly in recovery and sipping some ginger ale.

honestly the worst part was the iv because they had to do it on the side of my wrist because apparently my veins are crooked ?? i just hate ivs anyway so that’s no surprise but other than that no complaints.

everyone was real nice and made sure i was well taken care of (my nurse even had me pee one more time before so she wouldn’t have to do a catheter which with my history…..thank you)

but yeah, i’ll have a follow up in about a month just to make sure everything’s good and the iud is doing its thing !!

i do have some cramping and bleeding but that’s normal, although a little funny because i literally just stopped my period yesterday but…oh well !! hopefully in a few months i won’t have hardly any so this we can handle and i hace some medicine (and my ~medicine) that’ll help so i’m all set.

mom had to go run some errands so my little recovery buddy is keeping me company. also, a moment of recognition for my new favorite shirt (thank you as always, Boss Dog Art; i’ve already got my eye on another one that says, “i think therefore i am against transphobia around the world” or something like that and it’s got a cool skeleton on it; this is my third shirt from them and they’re really comfy and good quality so not sponsored but check them out, they seem cool):

[whisperofthewaves]

we went up the Śnieżka mountain on monday and I think I may have used all my allocated steps for this week. I can barely walk to the toilet now lol

[turtlespancake]

me when i write a character who is prone to dooming themself and then they run off and doom themself. core traits are stubbornness and a willingness to disregard their own humanity gET BACK HERE IM NOT DONE WITH YOU

[quirinah]

all im saying is if i went chimera falin-style i think it would fix me. next

[katrina-loves-birds]

I was just rereading the Paris pages, and like. I’m losing my mind at the way that these two characters view death. Andronicus’s absolute refusal to die, the way he STATES that he is not Done, his refusal to accept that death is beyond his control, is so indicative of his character and ruling style. You can see the shadow of what he was before whatever happened to him, his once-present charisma, the way he is used to being obeyed, and his absolute refusal to be anything less than In Charge in his declaration.

Directly contrasting that is Voltaire’s line “May I last until my work is done.” Voltaire accepts that he can’t control everything and he is willing to admit he isn’t all powerful. This admittance seems to be the main difference between Voltaire and Andronicus- Voltaire was successful as a ruler because he was willing to delegate and create secondary systems capable of running his city, while Andronicus was too obsessed with absolute control to the point that he destroyed himself.

[queenofbaws]

Hey Queenie, I wanted to leave another comment on your page again (this probably won’t the last hehehe I hope you don’t mind!) because I completely forgot to mention that in your The Almosts series, I loved the argument scene with Chris and Josh in their dorm room when Josh drops out of his course - it shows the true skill of a writer because I don’t think any cutscene of a video game or a TV show or a movie of this scene could ever capture what you wrote. I loved that there was so much angst and tension and you write angst so well. When I read that I was literally sitting at the edge of my seat because the scene was so tense and I was so excited to see how the rest of the scene would pan out. Even before the events of the main game, I loved how all of the characters were so fleshed out and I was going to say you made them three dimensional interesting characters, but I think you went beyond the three dimensions hahahaha! I love how you made all the characters grey characters, like you wrote Ashley as feeling very guilty for her actions but also so angry at Josh for acting this way, I thought that was so interesting! And I found myself legitimately feeling scared at times based on the way Josh was acting, you captured grief spectacularly! You wrote Josh so realistically in terms of his mental health - at times he would be goofing off and having a blast with the others, but then he would get so angry at times and try to lash out at his friends and sort of provoke them and deliberately try to make them angry? You portray mental health so realistically, and you show the ugly sides of it and I think that is so interesting, you even gave Josh a rationale for designing his elaborate revenge scheme but you also showed us how it did not make sense at the same time. I loved how you seamlessly added traces of Josh’s mental health throughout the game, and you could really see the way his relationship had become strained with the others. I can tell you really analysed and researched the game and wrote accordingly to that even the way you wrote the others was so spot on like them being conflicted and not knowing whether to feel upset with the way Josh was acting due to his grief. I loved the therapist analogy with the princess, prince, father and the bull, that was so smart, my jaw literally dropped because that was such a smart literary device (maybe because I’m a psychology major but I loved that)! Thank you again for writing this I’m definitely going to reread this book ❤️❤️

🥲

oh man, i don't even know what to say - you've got me all emotional over here!!!!!!!

i'll let you in on a (not-so-secret) secret: i, too, was a psych major once...and then a straight-up psychologist for a minute afterwards, so the desire to DIG DEEP into characters is just sort of a curse i live with. every day. constantly. all the time. hheheheheheheheh

honestly, when i set out to write t(a), wanting to portray josh's side of the story in a more realistic way was at the tip, tip, tippy-top of my list of things i wanted to accomplish. i think a lot of people, myself included, who played the game were left with sort of a bad taste in our mouths regarding how his whole deal was handled, so i really tried to walk the tightrope between "josh washington deserved better" and "this was always going to be a fucking tragedy and things were always going to hurt."

thank you so much for your KIND AND WONDERFUL words, and thank you too for taking the time to read my stuff!!! i am genuinely teary-eyed rn and i've only just finished breakfast, so i can only IMAGINE what the rest of the day will be like, hahaha!!