#a great inheritance

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

They arrive at the offices and are dismounting when Barak asks: ‘So, are we going to talk about how the wench sounded just like that devil Cantrell? Or are you going to make me ask nicely?’ ‘A please wouldn’t go amiss.’ ‘Christ’s wounds.’ ‘That’s hardly a please.’ Shardlake smiles at the tousled annoyance lobbed in his direction. They go back and forth on Barak’s aversion to playing the game of social politesse, make a bit of a sport of it

your honour they're dumb and I love them

[ambrosiagourmet]

Not sure how widely recognized this is but it’s fucking wild to me that miss kui just quietly snuck in the fact that most (if not all) of the differences between races only exist because of wishes they made to the Winged Lion.

Dwarves being strong? Lion wish. Elves being good at magic? Lion wish. All lifespan differences???? Lion wish, babey!

Not that the elves superiority shtick isn’t already BS, but it’s even funnier with the context that the only difference between them and humans is that, thousands of years ago, their leaders made a greedier wish to the demon that wanted to eat them.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

my resident evil MLP AU!

the winters!!!

re7 & 8 antagonists

[mirensiart]

Crying screaming and throwing up thinking about Sky telling the other links the ONE iconic line from fire emblem awakening 🫠💔

"You deserved better from me than one sword and a world of troubles. I'm sorry."

[ryan-sometimes]

Recently I’ve been getting anons and comments doubting the validity of some of the stories I tell on here. There’s nothing I can do to convince you that the stories I tell on here are completely genuine. All I can say is that they really are. I only post the wackiest, most interesting or funny stories of my life on here. You don’t get much of the boring day to day stuff.

Truth is, I come from a very long line of crazy people. When my dad was in med school he and some friends planted a small homemade bomb in an abandoned bathroom at their university. His roommate stole a pancreas from the corpse lab and put it in a girl’s backpack. The entire med school was suspended because no one owned up to it. My uncle would sneak out at night with my grandma’s car and she’d find out because she’d check the mileage and see it’d gone up, so my uncle started driving her car backwards since that didn’t increase the mileage. He got arrested driving her car backwards on the highway to another town. My uncle would steal my grandpa’s shotgun, tell his friends to jump in the pool, and start firing it randomly at the backyard. My cousin genuinely had two weed smoking girlfriends who were also girlfriends with each other. My great uncle had an affair exposed by having his intimate photos and videos with his mistress sent to the family groupchat by people who stole his phone, all because they were salty that my aunt told them to go fuck themselves when they messaged her asking for money. My aunt took out all her life savings and moved to another state to build a bunker because she believes the apocalypse is coming, and she didn’t even take any of her children. I don’t know how to tell you this, but life is just stranger than fiction sometimes. The sample size of life stories you get on my blog are just the instances in which that’s true.

[pitasmare]

learning that at one point in time during concept art they entertained the idea of v being a woman drives me fucking insane! i've lost sleep over this!!! it was such a good idea!

vergil picturing his human side as a woman because he can't de-entangle his humanity from eva. the resulting simultaneous rejection of both his mother and his humanity after the fire, and all the love and frailness that came with it (ignoring the strength found in it as well)!!!!!!! the continuation of a perceived abandonment cycle with nero! the guilt! the shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[viiioca]

[ roevember day 5 - stargazing ]

Meteion is certainly a little marvel, is she not? An "entelechy," as Hermes called her -- a creature whose very nature is to connect to some specific energy frequency with fantastic sensitivity and precision, and then translate the information stored there. She is to this "dynamis" what the Echo seems to be to aether; if Krile's gift is to sense thoughts and feelings through said aether, and it is indeed an immutable property of the soul she has inherited, then it stands to reason that its current Unsundered owner would be possessed of an ability not too dissimilar from Meteion's, and yet. Unlike an Ancient's soul, this is a feature that can be created at will and then replicated. The capacity to connect to anyone and anything packaged in the shape of a little girl, arranged into a tidy blueprint, to be produced at any scale? A very finely crafted instrument indeed. Based on Hermes' artful dodging, she does not need a soul to accomplish this as the Echo does. No, he did not even see the need to equip her with irrelevant functions, like a gustatory system, or digestion. To have her own experiences -- her own thoughts, her own feelings -- would add noise to the data, would it not? And make no mistake: attuned to the value of life as he is, Hermes did not make this little creature for any reason but a purpose.

And what a purpose it is. For all his frustration with his own people, what he has accomplished here is inextricable from them: in this beautiful world where conflict is the domain of beastly, lesser life, where such bleak ideas as war and famine and plague are thought exercises meant for the halls of rhetoric, Hermes would not have even begun to imagine the universe as an inherently ugly and random place. He would not have had the benefit of firsthand accounts of those from distant stars who have traveled that long, cold black; he could not have met Midgardsormr or Omega and seen the cost of that journey, the price of that war. It has not happened yet. No -- like any pitiable mortal, his only point of reference is the immediate. Mortality is an injustice inflicted on those with less power by those with more. Hunger as a driver of violence among mankind is a fiction; abundance is a fact. The creation of Meteion is an act of relentless optimism by a man attempting to expand his understanding of the universe, who does not believe that the truth could be any worse than the truth of the world right here, right now. How terrible could it possibly be?

I asked Meteion just how many sisters she had out there traveling the Sea of Stars, wandering that lonely nothing between those brief islands of life, with no comfort afforded them save what they can taste secondhand.

Hundreds, she said.

[fatedroses]

All these drawings of my boy and I realize I haven't really drawn crazed resonant eyes on him before.

So here's him based on the idea that he's guarding the WoL and holding something up while they're wrapping up some other job.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Obito still wanting to be the Hokage in his dreams during the war arc is funny for many reasons, but mainly to me because he DID get to be a Kage for years, but in Kiri, and to our knowledge, this is how it went:

Possess Yagura, the Mizukage ✓

Become widely known as the tyrant of Blood Mist Village ✓

Instill a policy of making people kill their comrades if they think they might be captured ✓

Cause most of your most powerful ninja (the Seven Swordsman and the village's jinchuriki, Utakata) to abandon the village, losing both their expertise and your village's weapons ✓

Have Zabuza try to coup d'etat and assassinate you ✓

Get attacked by the direct descendants of the god you will one day resurrect ✓

Have all your village's kekkei genkai users under constant threat of being murdered by their fellow villagers, causing them to go into hiding or be wiped out, and lead your nation to economic and social ruin ✓

Like babygirl HAD an oppportunity lead a village, made it worse and still went "no, I'm qualified for this job" and that's a level of confidence we should all perhaps aspire to

[daipeanutsaiban]

The Lord of the House is fourteen years old.

[pushing500]

Kwahu and Kristy really seemed to hit it off (maybe it's the "K" names?) and engaged in idle chit-chat on and off without a single disagreement.

On the other hand, Mechi managed to insult and slight his way through every single social interaction with her, proving once and for all that he's the evil twin.

Because she got along so well with Kwahu, it only seemed natural that Kristy would go to him with her birthday nightmares. Poor kid.

On reaching her birthday, Kristina also got the "Academian" trait, no doubt due to hanging out with the most research-obsessed duo on the entire planet for a whole day (that's Mechi and Kwahu, by the way).

I wonder what Kwahu's idea of a birthday gift is...?

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[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Matthew Shardlake Series - C. J. Sansom Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jack Barak/Matthew Shardlake, past: Barak/Tamasin Additional Tags: What is possession???, Shardlake wishes he didn't have Harsnet's voice going: told you it was a thing, in the back of his head, book only, I've not seen the show, spoilers up through Revelation, Barak and Tamasin aren't together anymore, Possession, Hauntings, Property Law, Murder, Animal Death, 'This is more or less period typical for a lot people's sensibilities around various things like, queerness and sexism and so on and so forth, as a heads up Summary:

Shardlake and Barak are making-do after the events of Revelation and no, Shardlake has no feelings at all about his assistant. Why would you think that? When a man comes asking Shardlake for help in a very strange case that involves a centuries old murder and potential curse Shardlake and Barak quickly find themselves drawn into yet another dark, tangled mystery linking past and present, the dead and the living. In the midst of this Shardlake and Barak also find themselves drawn into their own tangled mess of feelings.

---

Obligatory Excerpt: 

‘Ah, your morning prayers,’ Barak jests walking in without so much as a by-your-leave. Shardlake glares. ‘There’s a man at the door for you. Joan fetched me so I came to fetch you.’

‘It’s only just sun-up.’

‘Aye it is. Get your clothes on and come meet the fellow.’

‘Is it a matter of urgency?’ Shardlake drops down again, attempting to reach the floor and coming no where near it.

‘I would assume so.’ Barak lounges against a bedpost, picks at his nails. ‘Otherwise, why be up at a cock’s crow?’

‘To make a nuisance of himself to poor, unsuspecting men of the law.’ Shardlake glances up, through his hair, and catches Barak’s lightning grin.

‘He said he knew of your reputation.’

Now to stand, Shardlake gently twists to the left, wincing as he goes. Then he does the right. There is a fearful notion in developing a reputation—such things are difficult to control. Having one is rarely a good sign, even if it is positive. One thing done wrong and it slips away into mud and reputations are easy to tarnish, difficult to clean.

‘He said it was a strange case and while you might not be the man for it, he heard you will at least listen and if it is not in your purview you will know someone who can help. I said you’d hear him out.’

‘Very well,’ Shardlake sighs. ‘I’ll be down presently. Make sure he has refreshments, it’s early to have made a journey.’

Barak launches himself off the bedpost, all ruffle headed and gay for someone who is not a morning person. Though, it does mean he was likely not out into the small hours drinking and gaming and whatever else he gets up to that Shardlake isn’t keen to think on, which is something. Those inundations of self-destruction that Barak partakes in from time to time have lessened of late. Is it a sign of something mending itself in Barak’s mind or heart? Shardlake hasn’t a single idea, but whatever is the cause he is glad of it.

Will Shardlake and Barak ever talk about anything? Probably not. 

[batsplat]

there is that adorable pic of a 13 year old pecco and marc, hugging him by the shoulders. pecco hadn’t become a rossi protege yet, marc recently won his title in 125, they are both so so young. like, of course pecco is going to think a senior (albeit as famous as marc was at the time) is cool and worthy of “celebrity” picture! of course marc is going to take photos with kids that ask him to!

and then they meet at the rossi ranch years later, pecco after an abysmal rookie moto3 season, but part of vr46 academy, marc as a multiple world champion in different categories. like, i’m sure they’ve crossed paths in the paddock, but it looks like the ranch was their first outside of work get-together?

i do wonder at what point did pecco stop seeing marc as this admirable motogp giant? they are co-workers/competitors now, supposedly equals. does the childish wonderment and idealization ever go away, when you are put head-to-head? yes, pecco has said that he doesn’t consider himself on marc’s level, but it does really answer the question, when marc achieves something awesome, like a fucking pole on a honda, does it fill pecco only with the sense of falling short, jealousy, frustration, or is there that tiny 13 year old pecco somewhere inside going “wow, this guy is awesome”

anon... first of all this ask is right up my street. second of all, yeah no the thirteen year old never entirely went away

to some extent obviously all riders kinda do this when they end up competing with the guys they grew up admiring. (or well in modern motogp, that's how it worked out - the competitive windows do have to be big enough, yeah? I'm not sure about the nineties premier class riders, but starting from valentino who had the biaggi poster, was a capirossi fan, an norick fan... but then also didn't get to compete directly with doohan for instance and was instead just mentored by him. valentino sticking around for so long basically Breaks this.) like I was talking in this ask about the dani/marc relationship and how when we talk about dani being marc's 'reference', it does mean something slightly different than the valentino hero idealisation. basically, it's the question of whether you think you're gonna fight that guy one day, if all goes well... because if you're little pecco, right, you're looking up to marc and want to be him, but you also want to beat him (if little pecco is feeling very brave). so marc fills the role of 'reference', the bloke who is basically always a few steps ahead of pecco - exaggerated by how precocious marc was. the role of 'hero' is of course again filled by valentino, though in this case pecco didn't actually have to meaningfully compete against his idol. the separation is a bit cleaner

and look, I doubt this ever really went as far as marc's admiration for dani. but yeah as you say: at the end of the day it's this cool superstar who is tearing up the lower categories and then is tearing up the premier class... like that's this prodigy... and then you get to be part of your actual hero's academy AND you're there when the prodigy gets invited to your hero's home!! not only is marc cool, not only is he winning everything, but also valentino clearly thinks he's fantastic... you kinda want valentino to think you are fantastic in the same way he talks about marc and looks at him... and pecco is like. seventeen at this point. great age. super impressionable. he's having a marginally better season than his absolute flop moto3 campaign but it's still!! rough! you know, so far away from this world that valentino and marc inhabit. obviously young athletes dream, obviously they have to be a bit delusional, obviously they have to believe they'll make it, but those are the kinds of harrowing years that really dent your actual belief. like god, the world of valentino and marc must have felt kinda unattainable back then...

anyway, obviously a year later marc became public enemy number one. personally, if I had to guess, I don't really think valentino has ever spoken much to his proteges about the details of the marc feud. it's the kind of thing where you maybe occasionally badmouth a guy you all hate when the kids are in the room, some dismissive comment or some slightly ugly sideswipe... but valentino did probably prefer to keep his mentees out of the whole thing and isn't giving them particularly detailed hot takes on sepang 2015. I mean, look at what luca said last year

hey, he could be lying, but is he really the type? "I'm sure he's still angry" - even that doesn't sound like he knows anything particularly specific about where his brother's at these days. if valentino hasn't spoken much about sepang 2015 with his own flesh and blood, then is he really giving long debriefs to marco bezzecchi? are you sure? of course, unlike luca, pecco does have the dubious distinction of actually being at sepang 2015, so there's always the chance he was in the room when some nasty things were being said about marc... but my sense is that all the academy riders have kind of been left to their own devices when making up their minds about the marc/valentino relationship. just probably a bit of a no-go topic on most days. and while pecco may have initially been completely on board with the marc hate, over the years his stance has mellowed to the brave and bold position of 'actually, I have other stuff to worry about'. like, this is why you don't get this weird bez-style all-over-the-place behaviour from pecco - fundamentally, he is far too sensible and far too interested in his own career to be going around seeking revenge on the behalf of his mentor. it's not like valentino really seems to expect him to either. sometimes the best thing you can do is simply try not to care that much

soooooo fundamentally you get to this place where for quite a few years, pecco really isn't thinking about marc too often I reckon... it's very much background noise - even when he's gotten to motogp, he's obviously not exactly fighting with marc from the word go. he has other stuff to worry about! then marc is gone for a bit! 2021 is kinda weird because pecco never really felt in that championship fight (I mean, maybe he thought he was idk) because he only really got going late in the season, and marc definitely wasn't in that title fight... BUT pecco got his first ever motogp win as a result of a proper great defensive ride against marc at aragon! seven overtakes and re-overtakes in the last few laps! truly some proper smart riding, anticipating where marc was going to attack and figuring out how to get him back every time. and of course, that's like... got to be one of the coolest ways possible you can get your first win? beating one of the all time greats (even if a physically impaired one) in a direct extensive duel? genuinely looking at the current grid, I'd struggle to come up with a cooler maiden win... oh I suppose zarco last year would actually be a decent shout. one of those two imo! anyway what an ego boost that must be

typed out the response to this ask on wednesday and let it *vaguely gestures* simmer a bit, but actually thursday they had pecco on that motogp podcast thingy and talked him through basically his whole career. which is one of those cases of 'not necessarily anything new, but always interesting to hear how the bloke himself puts it', and anyway it does also cover a lot of the stuff referenced in this post, would recommend. I did want to quickly bring it up because pecco does talk about aragon 2021 in that (at around 23 mins in):

Q: And the amount of pressure, for everyone who doesn't remember - it was Aragon '21, vs Marc Marquez, anti-clockwise track, everyone's expecting a certain person to win. [...] Seven times, he passes you in the last three laps, and every time you have to find something, for your first win - A: Not bad, yeah? Q: How was that feeling crossing the line, because it's your first win but it's also the last three laps of craziness that you've come through? A: Yeah, I remember that... we were prepared to fight for this victory because we work at it a lot and we were finally prepared and as soon as started the weekend I was feeling great. Marc was very strong, Fabio was very strong also... We started to race and I did the pole position and then we started to race and Marc was like always super super fast in Aragon because it's a left hander track, he's very strong in Aragon, it's his home grand prix, so... I was trying the maximum and I was there fighting with him and for me was fantastic because I was very strong in a very complicated track for me. The first - was not the first possibility to win but was one of the first and we were fighting with the maximum with the top [player?] so defeating him in Aragon was fantastic and I never could have asked more for my first victory for sure. Because some win their first victory with gap or with some luck, we fight. [...] Yeah, was fantastic.

like I said. it's a really cool win! pecco knows it's a cool win! he knows it's a cool win because it's marc! even two premier class title pecco still feels deeply aware of how special that was

*reaches up to scratch at ear in slightly self-conscious manner when saying "not bad" about beating the eight times world champion*

because it does mean something extra to beat marc, right? and that's also what this represents to pecco, as an opportunity... obviously on balance he'd very much want marc to not be in his team, because he's not an idiot and he's aware it's going to be a bit of a nightmare. that being said! of course, would there be anything cooler than for him than actually beating marc in the same team... I don't want to sound like a broken record on this topic but just to reiterate, none of the titles won post-2019 are in any way diminished by marc's absence - and fundamentally pecco must know he's a deserving champion, even if he still considers himself on a different level from valentino and marc. but of course it would mean something special to beat him! it's already meant something special to beat him in individual races! it'd mean something special if he beats him this year, older bike be damned! and it'd mean something special next year. pecco is deeply wary of marc, and rightly so, but don't take that to mean he isn't up for the fight. he always has been

weirdly enough, I do actually think being valentino's protege might help him be sensible about marc. because the thing is pecco has clearly put some thought into all of this at some point and had to decide for himself... or well, to make peace with the fact that he is not going to be the next valentino rossi - and that he doesn't really want to be. it's kinda the casey versus jorge distinction: you can be a valentino fan and admire everything he's done on-track but still very much know that valentino the persona isn't something you really want to attempt to emulate because it just isn't you, or you can hunger after attaining that kind of 'character' and popularity for yourself and find yourself disillusioned when things turn out differently. pecco's in the casey camp, minus the desire to shove valentino off the nearest cliff edge. like he says:

man wants a quiet life when he's not doing the death sport. and, y'know, marc might not have quite those stratospheric levels of popularity as valentino does... but it's fairly obvious pecco links them in his mind, which is not just about talent. they're both Characters, they're both figureheads in the sport, they're both larger than life. and maybe sometimes, deep down, someone like pecco might wish that kind of thing did come naturally to him... but if he has felt that way, then he's already kinda had to work through all that. he's valentino's successor! he's the next big italian motogp star! but he's never going to be valentino. and he wouldn't want that life, it wouldn't make him happy - and probably he looks at marc with all his drama and controversy and thinks he wouldn't really want all that either. pecco's given all of this a lot of thought, and he's still probably a bit too self-conscious and a bit too aware of all of this stuff for his own good, but that does also mean he knows his own head and where he's at when it comes to his own status in the sport. both when it comes to the character and when it comes to the talent. sure, having marc's fuck you talent would be nice, everyone would want that... but also if you're a two time premier champion, at a certain point you need a certain cockiness about your own abilities. he's spoken about how he needs a more well-settled bike than casey or marc, how he can't out-perform the bike like they can - there clearly is a lot of admiration there, still the sense of respect and awe you probably can't ever quite shake. pecco won't ever be one of those aliens. but he's had enough time to establish himself in the sport before he's had to deal with the marc threat in a more active way, has had the chance to find his place without worrying too much about marc - has been able to build up his own confidence. at the same time, pecco is still very obviously aware of just who marc is and the weight of that legacy and it shapes how he approaches fighting marc. it's pecco's admiration vying with his arrogance - and he has to hope the latter wins out. you can't be fearful of the legacy of those you're trying to beat. you have to kill your heroes, even if it's a strange flavour of hero

anyhow - one big way in which valentino does loom large here is that everyone else is aware of his rivalry with marc and how it is crucial Historical Context for the pecco/marc stuff. because pecco does have that dog in him, he's fundamentally disinterested in fighting his idol's battles and is mainly just looking out for himself. a big part of the general wariness towards marc isn't even valentino-related antipathy or just respect for his abilities, but also this kind of sense of... god, this marc thing is always going to have extra implications, will there be discourse, can there please not be discourse... he doesn't want to get into this stuff, he doesn't want to be part of the sepang 2015 reenactment society. he's pretty determined to stay clear of marc-related controversy at every turn, and generally does do a good job of not letting the undoubtedly extremely annoying marc annoy him... the only time pecco had proper marc-induced head loss was mugello last year - y'know, that whole thing when he felt impeded by marc and then slowed down long enough to give marc the chance to warm up his tyres and catch a pecco tow to the front row. like that was just head gone, the kind of thing that happens when you already find someone deeply annoying and then you kinda choose the wrong moment to get mad at them. with a bit of distance pecco may well have regretted reacting that way, like you don't really want to give marc that kind of opening. he's been way more disciplined since then, but it still opened the door

fundamentally, the less time pecco spends obsessing over marc, the better for him. pecco obviously has to be very aware of marc and wary of him, but he also can't spent too much energy on admiring him or being irritated by him or anything else. (given that valentino's descriptions of the marc/pecco rivalry do seem to frame marc as a competitor who sounds an awful lot like valentino himself, ironically valentino is quite well-placed to offer the 'try to avoid letting the guy who gets off on annoying his rivals annoy you' advice.) it's always going to be tough, isn't it, competing against your heroes, figuring out how to disentangle those past emotions from how you actually approach fighting them, how to feel comfortable enough in your own skin to not be cowed by that status... you can't get to a place where you're so admiring or respectful or intimidated that you're already beaten before the competition even starts - and to his credit pecco has shown he is both willing to stand up to the famous marc marquez as well as capable of doing so. my guess is that for him, the childhood idolisation isn't primarily expressed in a 'wow he dragged the honda to pole!!' (not least when he was using pecco's teammate to directly deny pecco). sure, perhaps you do get those knee jerk reactions of admiring the sheer craft of your rival's riding, just have to do your best not to let it affect you. but for the most part it's... really wanting to beat marc. and sometimes feeling a teensy bit insecure about just how good marc is. and really wanting to beat him. he kinda has to be sensible and talk down in his brain how special this one guy is so he doesn't do anything silly, tell himself it's just any other guy... but it's still always going to be there, hovering in the background. and god does pecco really want to beat him

[whetstonefires]

for the record your mom's first cousin isn't your aunt, she's your first cousin once removed. her kids are your second cousins.

your aunts are your parents' sisters, or the wives of your parents' siblings.

english doesn't make much distinction between the paternal and maternal relations and is weirdly inconsistent about how relations-by-marriage work, but it's got a nice precise numerical coordinate system for the consanguinity of cousins. it's all based on nearest shared ancestor; very scientific; you can tell genealogists got involved.

unfortunately as a result hardly anybody understands how to apply it.

[zxal]

a mantle a legacy a knife

[puppygirlgirldick]

i rather enjoy being the dumb silly puppy until such point that someone in a discord server needs some investing 201 level financial advice. then the business degree that has branded my soul takes over and i rattle off some john bogle shit about exchange traded funds and lazy investing portfolios in a daze.

like, i am investing fuckin couch change and spare dollars into some robinhood account just because i want to do something with this degree i've otherwise not earned a dime off of cuz it beats going to a casino, but it's really funny to just go Professor Dog and have them be impressed and then go back to barking and such.