#Tent of Promise

[mondo994]

"We were both silent for a little, and then he looked at me with a direct, gentle gaze. His face in the reddish light was as soft, as vulnerable, as remote as the face of a woman who looks at you out of her thoughts and does not speak.

And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man. Any need to explain the sources of that fear vanished with the fear; what I was left with was, at last, acceptance of him as he was.

-The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

[astros-silly-place]

sneegfrank mountain. or whatever it’s called.

and alive frank design by @glsneeg-enthusiast (sorry for ping I can always not mention you lol)

also obviously this is the genloss characters I promise I just couldn’t draw frank as a skeleton nor wanted too

[isjasz]

[Day 196]

I Uh. Sherin brought back our roots and we have not been normal ever since (this is so messy bc I started too late but if u get it you get it RAHRHAJHRAH)

[pokeberry5]

this is a little old but im still fond of it

closeup:

[satans-knitwear]

I put the fan on for her and she is absoloutly thrilled and obsessed. Can cuddle without overheating now! A win for puppies everywhere.

[velvet-games]

draft for an oc idea (I had a bunch of scrapped concepts for alastor that were too ooc so I'm just using them on her lmao)

[timperi-fan]

The next chapter of "If Love Is The Answer, You're Home" is slowly but surely coming along. It went through quite a few rewrites and scraped ideas, but it's about ¾ of the way done now and it's going to probably be about 5k words.

For now, here's a snippet for y'all to get hyped!

“Shit, shit, shit!” Timmy muttered as he hurriedly shoved dirty clothes under throw pillows. 

Tonight was his first date with Peri, and he didn’t exactly want the other man to see how he lived. It’s not like Timmy was planning to invite Peri in — he didn’t have a chance of getting that lucky tonight — so as long as the filth and grime was out of sight, Timmy figured it would be fine.

Once the dirty laundry was properly out of sight, Timmy moved on to the stacks of papers on his coffee table. He scooped them into his arms haphazardly, causing half of them to spill onto the floor. Timmy sighed and bent down to collect the wrinkled papers. It was quick work until he noticed how many of them were bills... And how many more of them were job rejection letters. And how most of them were about his failed comic pitches. 

His kitchen counter was clear, surprisingly, so he decided to stash his tower of rejection there for the night. Like most everything else, Timmy would deal with that tomorrow.

Tonight was about Peri.

“When was the last time I had a date?” Timmy chuckled and leaned against the sink. “Like, a real date?” He stopped, noting how high the stack of dishes in the sink had gotten. “Speaking of last times…” Timmy murmured, running a hand through his hair. 

The rest of his apartment was no better. Timmy had to admit it, he was a bit of a slob. That had always been the case. From the ages of about eleven to eighteen, however, he had… something that motivated him to clean up after himself. Not that he could remember what it was. 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I’ll… I’ll clean the place this week! No problem-o! I’m just a little behind on my spring-cleaning, that’s all.” Timmy tried to reassure himself, but a nagging feeling of guilt tugged at his mind. He tapped his fingers against the counter top. “Maybe I’ll download one of those—” He scratched his head, trying to think of the word. “…Organizer apps. That might help.” Timmy took a deep breath and let his head fall back. “It’s gonna be okay, Turner. You’ve got a date with the hottest, funniest, nicest guy on the planet. Things are already starting to look up,” he reassured himself. 

And speak of the devil, no sooner had he lapsed back into silence than Timmy heard a knock on his front door. A grin inched its way across his face. 

He practically skipped over to the front door. Out of habit, Timmy peered through the peephole. Seeing Peri standing there on his doorstep made his heart soar. 

There was a mirror hanging over the little table where Timmy kept his keys and his wallet. He gazed at his reflection, appraising his appearance. His hair was suitably messy, his sweater wasn't stained, and his grin was anxious, but also excited. Timmy was so, so excited.

He rolled his neck and shook out his limbs. “Let’s do this,” he muttered, and Timmy opened the door.

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Transcript:

As soon as Dawn climbs over the edge, Atlas runs to her, and they crash into each other with a fierce hug.

Atlas: I thought I’d lost you. Dawn: I’m here, I’m okay.

When Phoenix makes it up a moment later, Atlas rushes over to give him a hug as well.

Atlas: Thank you. Phoenix finds himself unable to speak, managing only a choked sob.

They all come together, and for a moment just stare at each other like they’re not quite sure what to do next. Then, Dawn breaks the silence and startles them all by screaming:

Dawn: Holy shit!

With that, they all slowly devolve into fits of laughter.

Kiyoshi: Alright alright, is everyone good?

They respond with various forms of yeses and nods as they wipe their eyes and catch their breath.

Kiyoshi: Let’s get moving then. We still have a ways to go.

And so, they continue on, making their way to the summit through the deep snow.

Hours later, the sun begins to set. Even through all their layers, the cold seeps into their bones, their extremities already numb. All four of them are exhausted, muscles and lungs burning. They hike in silence, each one focusing only on putting one foot in front of the other.

Just as Phoenix is wondering whether he’s going to make it, he feels Dawn pull on this arm.

His breath catches for a second thinking something might be wrong, but when he looks up she’s smiling. Her smile is so big and bright that his heart skips a beat and he can’t help but stare in awe.

Dawn: Phoenix, look! We made it!

[scarlettaagni]

Soundwave: Fight with us. Just one more time. Starscream: I've had it. The war is OVER and we LOST. You can keep chasing ghosts, but I just want to move on. [crossing arms, looking away] Soundwave: But don't you want Megatron defeated? He's an Autobot now. Fighting the Autobots means fighting him. OUR enemies have become one. Starscream: [still facing away with arms crossed, but darts his eyes back to Soundwave] Soundwave: And Megatron is in such close proximity to those young Earth Cybertronians, telling them nonsense, leading them into danger… Starscream: [face journey of shock, frustration, a little bit of delight at the thought of crushing Megatron] [stops short and gets cross cause he KNOWS he's being played] You don't care. You don't care about them. Soundwave: But you do. Starscream: [unsure, desperate] Soundwave: How else can you ensure their safety? Starscream: … ONE more time. But only because Megatron needs to be taken down. Soundwave: I intend on making that happen. Starscream: And the Terrans are top priority. Anything happens to them, and I'm OUT. Soundwave: Cross my spark and hope to die.

[ladywaterfall]

One of the other ways clothing is steadily getting worse: pants of all kinds are getting thinner and show underwear lines almost as a standard now, even when the lines of the underwear are thin and masked with lace. This wasn´t a problem years back, but now I have to check every pair of dress pants I try on, and even some jeans - JEANS - for underwear lines.

"Just wear seamless underwear-" they're all made of plastic fabrics which aren't good for the bacterial enviroment of the coochie bc they don't breathe. The solution to all fabrics getting thinner and thinner should NOT be "buy bad plastic underwear instead".

[leatherbookmark]

our flag means death S2E3: the innkeeper

[pochapal]

rokkenjima.......i miss her

[mintjeru]

ok listen. i can explain.

open for better quality | no reposts

[ellekhen]

Hand, Hearth, and Home

Chapter 73 - Awaken and Rest

Chapter Summary: The party reunites for a desperately-needed rest.

Pairing(s): Astarion x Male Tav (Main); Past OC x Male Tav Rating: Explicit Length: 373K+ words; Chapters 73/?? (Master Post)

Excerpt below:

When Church comes to, he finds the world frozen in time.

And then he sees her.

The Raven Queen stands there — watching him from behind an unblinking, haunted-looking Astarion. She appraises them both, tilting the pale mask of her head. Her many eyes wink as her feathers flutter in a nonexistent wind.

“Oh Church…” the Raven Queen murmurs sadly. “See how easily he overwhelms you?”

“Stay away from him!” Church snarls at her. 

The Raven Queen sighs, gesturing down at the vampire spawn. 

“All it took was exterminating one undead — one suffering soul — and you would have had my protection until the day you died… and beyond. Your shadow never would have bested you.”

Her mask drifts lower as her wings flex. 

“It is not too late for you to win back my favor.”

Church stares at her incredulously, and he almost wants to laugh at the ludicrousness of her proposal.

“I don’t want your protection,” he spits. “I don’t want your lies, and I won’t hurt him.”

“Oh?”

The Raven Queen’s feathery body grows longer, more monstrous as she stretches forth to crawl over to him. But the tiefling stares as steadily as he can as her mask studies him closely, even though every cell of his body screams to turn and hide away. 

“You saw what became of you without my protection. Is this your final decision?” she asks him softly. Dangerously. 

“I won’t vow to destroy the undead,” Church says evenly. “Not for you. Not even for my own soul.” 

“Your mind could die. Your soul could sunder. Is that what you wish?”

Church huffs a bitter laugh.

“Well, you said ‘could,’” he mutters. “Does that mean I have a chance after all?”

The Raven Queen laughs — as if taken aback.

“There is always a chance, however small,” she muses. “But embracing that chance also means embracing the far greater possibility of endless suffering and death.”

Church stares and stares at the frozen Astarion, wishing he had time to help him understand…

“I don’t want to die,” he croaks. “But I want him to live more.”

“Even if his life will bring more death and damnation? Not only to you, but to many, many others?”

Church closes his eyes for a moment. He can still smell the foul blood and viscera caked into his clothing by whatever transpired during his sleep. 

“…yes,” he whispers.

The Raven Queen’s mask looms over him, studying him closely. 

And then she giggles. 

“How delightful,” she murmurs. “How curious. How deeply…” she takes a deep, shuddering breath as she retreats back into her smaller form. “How… horrible,” she says, voice distant, “Oh. I see your path before you — the turns in the road manifesting like newborn stars. You poor things…”

Church frowns at her. 

“What are you—?”

“Where one door closes… another opens,” the Raven Queen lilts. “I still see tragedy in your futures. Such sweet, sweet tragedy. But, oh! It is ever-shifting. Yes, so many possibilities are ripe for the picking…”

Church swallows, his mouth dry. 

“You intrigue me, child,” the Raven Queen declares, amused. “I will keep my eyes on you both. I will send my witnesses. They know your names.”

“Just leave him alone!” Church beseeches her. “Leave us alone.”

“Fret not, child. No pact will be made today… by your choice alone,” she says softly. “But the offer still stands, for as long as you are capable of making that choice. And that choice will linger there beside you — your destiny. Your doom.”

Church reminds himself to breathe. 

“So what happens now?” he asks her, voice cracking. “Is my soul lost? Is that the tragedy?”

The Raven Queen hums dubiously. 

“I see the potential for a tragedy far more delicious… provided you survive this one. You will have a short reprieve when you wake,” she says enigmatically. “What you will do with it, I do not know. Not yet. You will play your part, and my children will watch. Whether it’s tomorrow or a hundred years from now, we will be waiting for you. 

“And then, when all has come to pass, I will see your face in the Fortress of Memories, my child. And when that happens…” she summons the silver orbs of Astarion’s memories once again, smiling at them. “...you may collect what was lost.”

Without further ado, she disappears in a flurry of wings.

Church slumps back to the ground, his consciousness fading as time begins to pass once more. 

Without the protection of any entities, it’s only a matter of time before the shadows will claim him again. 

Well. 

He won’t spend it waiting for that to happen.

[evelili]

i dont wanna scream but *inhales* IM ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH YOUR CONTENT IVE WATCHED YOUR PROM DRESS MEME TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT<333 your twilight design is absolutely gorgeous like if i loved her character before i love her even more now i just really really love your art please accept this ramble as a compliment wait did i mention that i love your art

wahhh ty so so much!! im so happy that you like the design i did for her, it was a lot of fun for me to put together :DDD your ramble is defo a complement, dw! and, im sure youll b happy to know that the next animation i have planned will use the same design :3 so please look forward to it!

[lonesomedreamer]

The Rings of Power Liveblog: “Shadow of the Past” (Episode 1)

Two years late, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I had to see this thing for myself ahead of the second season premiere…spoiler: I didn’t hate it.

I’m not going to gripe about these children looking decidedly human (or at least not Elvish), because I understand the limitations of using, you know—actual human children as actors. But I will question the notion of Elvish children being smug bullies.

But baby Galadriel definitely looks the part.

“It’s not going to float, it’s going to sail.” Not off to a strong start with the dialogue…

Oh, the Elf children are…throwing rocks at her paper boat? All of them? Why?? I know the behavior of Elves in the First and Second Ages tended to be less detached/noble and whatnot, but little Galadriel is literally about to punch this Elf boy…

I have so many questions about this hairstyle choice.

“We have no word for death.” Somehow, I doubt that. This is the Second Age, right? Elves had definitely already experienced death.

Why does this seem like a slightly retooled Minas Tirith design? Is this supposed to be VALINOR??? (Actually, this would be a decent Amber design…)

A very underwhelming depiction of the destruction of the Two Trees…this is what Amazon spent amlost a billion dollars on? I know they can’t accurately depict what happened because, you know, no rights to The Silmarillion, but it still underwhelmed me.

This sequence is just all so obviously CGI. While I’m no fan of the original Jackson films (sorry, I know—boo, hiss), a lot of it looks real.

“See, it’s just like that Game of Thrones spinoff you like, but with terrible CG!”

It would be so helpful if Galadriel’s voiceover told viewers that Orcs were created as a mockery of the Elves, or hinted at why Morgoth created them/why he hated the Elves. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you try to adapt a work to which you don’t have all the rights.

She is very, very pretty.

“What devilry is this?” Is that a word in Middle-earth?

Lots of Galadriel confidently assuming she knows things she can’t possibly know (for the sake of hurrying the story/journey along, I guess)…if only the streaming services didn’t limit themselves to eight or ten episodes and gave their stories room to breathe!

Anyone watching who’s never read The Silmarillion (or even the trilogy): who the fuck is Morgoth? What are the Trees?? What year is it??? What’s going on here??!? Again, the huge problem of adapting a larger story/universe when you only have partial rights…

Insert obligatory video game-esque troll battle that’s also a callback to the Moria scenes of the FOTR film. You can use the bathroom here and miss nothing.

Some proto-Hobbits, because why not? I did like the “hidden village” reveal thing, though!

I kind of love them?

There’s a lot to be said for the charm and appeal of the Shire from an audience perspective, the comfort of it (which is why the Scourging of the Shire is so thematically important and excising it was an irredeemable sin…but I digress), so I actually 100% understand why they included these guys. TTT is by far the bleakest book of the trilogy, my least-favorite, and the lack of the Shire is a huge reason why.

23 years later and I’m still not over the utter miscasting of Hugo Weaving. Visually, this Elrond isn’t really better. Why is Elrond so damn hard to get right??? And his hair is described as black!

The best costumes a billion-dollar budget could buy?

“Elf-lords only.” Such a dignified, Elvish thing to say…

Yes, Elves could be haughty and unkind; just ask Bilbo! But Elrond is an Elf-lord. Hmm.

Also…Elrond and Galadriel appear to be approximately the same age. It doesn’t matter that Galadriel is actually much older (and his eventual mother-in-law!), because TV is such a visual medium.

This is actually a larger overall problem. Because most of The Lord of the Rings takes place over the course of one year, an adaptation doesn’t need to hold the audience’s hand regarding the passage of time. But in this case, as Galadriel’s narration too-briefly mentions, events are taking place across hundreds and even thousands of years. Elves like Galadriel are significantly older than others, like Elrond, but unless you tell the audience that, they won’t know, and the story loses something as a result.

Even though this design is clearly based on Rivendell in the Jackson films, it is quite lovely.

Pretty!!!

How do Galadriel and Elrond know each other? They seem close. Inquiring minds want to know!

The content and context of this scene is meaningless, but I don’t care—it’s just so pretty!

Even though I know they get worse, for now I don’t really mind the proto-Hobbits. They’re obviously not Tolkien, but they’re an homage, and they’re fun/visually appealing.

The casting director gets a D+ for the male Elves. (Then again, they were poorly-cast in the Jackson films too.)

“And as a reward, you will all be exiled!” lmfao. Being shipped off to Valinor doesn’t seem like much of a punishment, though. Where do I volunteer?

Still, it makes sense that Galadriel, who (correctly!) believes Sauron to still be alive and a threat and who wishes to avenge her brother, would be upset about this. They’ve changed her backstory/motivations—which I hate—but her attitude does track with those changes.

Nuns??

This set design is magical, no notes.

Luthien??

She really is perfectly cast.

Elrond, one of the wisest and kindest of all the Elves, is being written as some smug royal enforcer. Just like the Jackson films wrote him as a grumpy, condescending overprotective dad. Sigh.

“[Evil] waits. And at the moment of our complacency, it blinds us.” I mean…yeah, that’s basically how it goes down in Middle-earth. Repeatedly.

Not Elrond mansplaining about Valinor to someone who was literally born there…

None of these people look like Elves.

“I’m going with you!” But why?!? This lady is a healer with a youngish son still dependent on her at home!!!

I really hate them saying “mum” instead of “ma” or “mama” or something similar. (I’d also hate it if they were saying “mom,” to be clear. It’s just so modern-sounding and breaks any immersion they’ve built so far.)

Wow, the hilt of a broken sword with Sauron’s symbol on it… Generic “halfling” characters I can enjoy as a homage. This is lazy writing. And see? I knew her son needed adult supervision. (It’s also a ripoff of Pippin and the Palantir.)

(muttering) None of these people look—oh, forget it.

Elves don’t age as Men do (or age extremely slowly/imperceptibly), so what’s going on with this dude?

Gorgeous, all.

Ents???

Galadriel jumping off of the ship and just…floating there in the middle of the sea is as silly as the naysayers said it would be. However, I thought the scene leading up to it was fairly well-executed, though I wish they’d done a better job animating the rain of silver glass that leads into Valinor…that image has always resonated with me.

The Good:

Many absolutely stunning visuals thanks to great set design (with Valinor of all places somehow being the least-impressive!) and, apart from some cheap/underwhelming looks, costume design that varies from good to great

A solid score that seems to be trying a little bit too hard to mimic Howard Shore’s from the films

Morfydd Clark, in her entirety; the writing for Galadriel might be awful in upcoming episodes, but her casting was inspired

I find the Harfoots whimsically charming, at least so far, especially Nori.

The use of Tolkienesque maps to indicate location changes

An attempt was clearly made, in this episode if nowhere else, to pay homage to the source material, even the source material they don’t have the rights to use outright (the Two Trees, Morgoth, perhaps Luthien)…it’s better than nothing.

The Bad

Every single male Elf is miscast; yes, I said every single one, from Galadriel’s brother to Elrond to the OC Arondir. Gil-galad and Celebrimbor look like they’re in their late 40s/50s, at best, and idk…there’s nothing “Elvish” or “ageless” about any of the male actors playing Elves. (Full disclosure: I don’t remember being impressed by the male Elves in the Jackson films, either.) I also saw someone say that Gil-galad looks like Liam Neeson in a mullet, and now I can’t unsee that.

Some really clunky dialogue

Lack of adequate backstory/exposition…but exposition in an adaptation like this is hard, because most of it is contained in The Silmarillion, for which they don’t own the rights.

Building on that theme, I appreciate the idea of “showing not telling,” however…did they ever tell us Galadriel’s brother name (Finrod)? Or that “the king” is Gil-galad? Or even suggest that there are a variety of different Elves in Middle-earth? A lot of people know these things, because we know Tolkien. But I’ve got to assume that a lot of others don’t. Heck, it took them until almost the end of the episode to name one of their OCs (Bronwyn).

Some worthless scenes, like Galadriel’s company fighting the “ice troll” in the mountains. Actually, the entire sequence in the mountain lair was badly-written.

I don’t care about the “forbidden romance” subplot between the OCs Arondir and Bronwyn…if they’d spent longer than a few minutes in the first episode establishing their relationship/characters, maybe I’d be more invested. (See my earlier complaint about unnecessarily short seasons—some stories need room to grow!)

Even though my criticism outweighs my praise, even though I’m a self-identified Tolkien purist, I thought this was…fine. It’s an absolute feast for the eyes, truly gorgeous to watch (even with all those woefully miscast male Elves)—visually, apart from a few moments of obvious CGI, it’s what I would expect/want from a Tolkien adaptation! My expectations aren’t high for the rest of the series. There are upcoming plot points that I know will disappoint, infuriate, and disgust me. But considering that I went into this episode expecting to loathe it, I was pleasantly surprised.

Besides, I’m going to keep watching no matter what to see more of Nori and Morfydd’s face. This also makes me want to finish The Silmarillion, which I have been starting and then “saving for later” since I was a small child.