#all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well!

[raayllum]

So I always meant to do a little meta about Rayla and sleep (aka sleeps sitting up in S4, lying down but fully dressed + with her weapons in S5 — and now in PJs without weapons in s6) and it never happened (to my memory), but it did make me think about how I wanted to talk about Callum's whole thing with sleep in S6, namely how bad it is, as well as a bit about Viren and Rayla by proxy.

So in S6 we see Callum have two nightmares (the pearl sleepwalking nightmare and dark magic nightmare, shall we see) in 6x01 and 6x03. He wakes up once in 6x01 and then stays awake all night coming up with the decoy plan and sewing the anti magic blanket. He's still seemingly catching up on sleep days later in 6x03, with Rayla letting him just as she did before, and he has his second nightmare. In the Frozen Ship he struggles to sleep at first because of the cold, as he won't share the blanket, and then wakes up again naturally in the night, but won't let himself kiss Rayla. All except the cold is ultimately rooted in Callum's concerns over Aaravos and his susceptibility to Aaravos because of dark magic.

We see this sleeplessness and concern return in 6x06 as well, before it's 'resolved' (for the season). This nightmare and restlessness is something Viren experienced a bit of in S4 (namely 4x07), but we see it more consistently in S6, specifically with nightmares and fears of Aaravos using him as well, him waking up fitfully twice in 6x05:

Most of this fits with other aspects of the series. Dark magic causes you to fall into a coma-like state that persisted even once Viren 'woke up,' the comas themselves involve nightmares / tormented dreams, and Janai directly cites Aaravos' influence over them (5x03, 5x09): "Aaravos taunts me in my dreams with visions of destruction and despair" (6x02). Dark magic and sleep can both be associated with death, and are both interwoven with passing out, the actual possession, Aaravos' hold over you being a canonical fate worse than death (restful eternal sleep), hence why both Viren and Callum choose it over continued control.

The thing that I thought was interesting that was not only how frequent is Callum's lack of rest in S6, after seasons of routinely sleeping fairly well, as an overarching consequence leftover from 5x08 and everything going on... but also that his insomnia isn't exclusively because of Aaravos or dark magic guilt either, as in Viren's case, but also (more positively) because of his bond with Rayla.

Of course to begin, there's the subtext that Callum feels safe sleeping beside / around her (your partner should give you rest from the horrors of the world, etc etc, particularly with her continued opposition to Aaravos' hold on Callum that S6 is going to make direct text after seasons of subtext). But in the vein of Rayla's hold on Callum being 1) equally powerful and 2) can overlap with more circumstantial qualities (sometimes good, sometimes bad) for his.

For example, Callum is sleepless in 6x05 because he's trying to figure out the ice heart spell in order to defeat the 'behemoth':

We later learn (though myself and many others already suspected) that his fixation on it through the night was because he knew the reward for defeating the 'monster' would be quasar diamonds, and he wanted them for Rayla's family.

Then, just as 6x06 opens with Callum being sleepless, the episode also closes in a similar manner. Whereas before it was anxiety and Aaravos keeping him awake, this time it's Rayla and the promise of full reconciliation. A redo.

What does this all mean, though? Well:

Sleep (+ nightmares) are used to further link Viren and Callum in S6 with mirrored fears of being used by Aaravos

It strengthens the connection between Aaravos, dark magic, and dreams/nightmares, as well as bringing Janai into the loop

Like Callum and Rayla, Janai is also sleepless in 6x02, but is seeking Amaya's story, and lets her partner in. Callum does the same with and for Rayla throughout S6

Callum's relationship with sleep being influenced in a negative manner by Aaravos (anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, puppetting) and a positive manner by Rayla (comfort, thoughtfulness, love, mutual devotion) is another way the two elves are put in opposition to each other for Callum's fate and wellbeing without making them complete opposites

and I think that's all pretty cool

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

Put your hands together in prayer for me, ladies--I'm about to submit my first application for a full-time permanent grown-up academic job

[lord-norjam]

my dealer: got some straight gas 🕯️😛 this strain is called "mr. eaten" you'll be zonked out of your gourd.

me: yeah whatever si-, er, mad-, er, yes. i dont feel shit.

5 minutes later: dude i swear i heard a voice coming out of the well

my buddy the northbound parliamentarian, pacing: the masters are lying to us

[monstrousproductions]

Made this for the finale of Season One. Reused it for the finale of Season Two. And so naturally, here we are again, on the eve of the finale of Season Three, with the exact same energy as we've always had 😎

[maybe-boys-do-love]

[thebirdandhersong]

on the good news train today: I have finally finished the last chapter(!!!) of my Inklings challenge story, which marks the FIRST ever Inklings challenge story I've ever completed properly :'D coming in at 30,810 words (yikes) (it did get out of hand, I must admit), it is definitely not a short story, but it IS a piece that I think articulates a lot of what I've been thinking about lately re: love and death, and, considering everything, is probably something I needed to write. I am very happy!! It has been a wild ride, but a deeply clarifying one.

[araneitela]

Seeing Kafka in overtly revealing ("sexy") dresses in fan arts: I just... don't see why? Me over here: The most 'revealing' thing that I can imagine her in, if I envision her without a coat draped over her shoulders, is something like this. Am I just weird; where am I supposed to see this 'overtly revealing' nature of hers that oozes 'sexy'? That woman has class, and in that, I think she's sexy (f I have to use the word). And where do I get that impression from? Her entire default attire screams it at me from the rooftops.

[myriad--starlings]

i will tell you the secret of secrets

at the end—the real end

[...]

all shall be well

and all shall be well

and every manner of thing shall be well

— Dayspring, Anthony Oliveira

[kung-fu-cutbug]

[caladblog]

sometimes you read something so good that you just have to sit and stare into space for a few hours so your brain can fully process it

Irem is that good.

honestly all of Evolution has been amazing, especially the last few chapters. it might even be my favorite Fallen London storyline ever-- i was deeply satisfied by the conclusion of Ambition: Nemesis, but i also had a couple years between when i reached the pause and when they started the conclusions, so it’s hard to judge it as a whole.

but irem, all by itself... god damn. god DAMN it is so well-written and perfectly crafted and if you haven’t gotten there yet i implore you to go in spoiler-free and with the knowledge that it’s gonna take a lot of time to explore in full. let it unfold.

(there’s so much more i want to say here but i’d contradict my own spoiler-free policy lol)

so i’ll just say that: when i reached the end that was right for me after two days, it was beautiful and narratively satisfying and i was also struck with this incredible feeling of i want to go home. so i sailed my lil character back to london, and all was well.

[e-louise-bates]

Started to feel a little frantic this afternoon/evening as I tried to juggle schoolwork, making supper, getting supper to the kid at the high school in play rehearsal until 9:30 (they are in the week leading up to the performances, or as the kids call it, Hell Week), making sure the other kid is all set for her new swim lessons, get the costume measurements for dance to the studio before the deadline ...

I forced myself to sit down after sending out the scan for the costume measurements. I poured myself a small glass of white wine and I read a little bit in my just-for-fun book (Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh, and yes, murder mysteries are how I relax), and after about 10 minutes I was able to wrap up my schoolwork for the evening and now I'm heading to finish supper. I delivered food to the kid at school. The swimming kid should be finished with her lesson by now and she and her dad will be home soon to tell me about it. All will be well. The world did not fall apart when I rested for a few moments.

I need to remind myself of that frequently.

[ihaveonlymydreams]

Kaylie bingo!

[elrondsscribe]

Y’all, the end of Blood Communion …

Visibility, significance, recognition! All that I’d ever wanted when I took to the rock music stage, all that I’d ever wanted as a boy heading to Paris with a head full of dreams, all I’d ever wanted I now had right here with my brothers and sisters! I had all that I had ever hoped for, and I had it here and now in this place and amongst my own people.

The old human story simply did not matter. I had this, I had this moment, I had this recognition, and this visibility and this significance. And how could I ask for anything more? How could I look from right to left, at immortals who had witnessed all the epochs of recorded history, and want more than this? How could I gaze at immortals who’d been drawn to this very spot by something more immense than they’d ever witnessed, and long for more than the recognition they were now giving me?

The victory of our own tribe to embrace one another, and let go of the hatred that had divided us for centuries, was my victory.

“To the Blood Communion,” I said in my heart. And I felt the cold numbing shell of alienation and despair which had imprisoned me all of my life among the Undead—I felt that shell cracked, broken, and dissolved utterly into infinitesimal fragments.

What had been taken from me by Magnus had been repaid a thousandfold. And what had been snatched away that night in San Francisco when Akasha visited death and horror on our rock music spectacle had been given back a thousandfold. And I knew now that I could be the monarch that my people wanted.

Because they were indeed my people, my tribe, my family. And whatever happened hereafter wouldn’t be just my story. No, it would be the story of us all.

I know how people feel about the Prince Lestat era, and Lestat’s Vampire Court being hokey and stupid or whatever, but for me, this right here redeems everything.

The fact that they finally laid the groundwork for community among creatures who we thought couldn’t have community? The long, long arc of Lestat’s life, and the lives of so many other vampires, bending ultimately towards love and joy?

Look, I like my share of angst, but at the end of the day, this is what I’m here for.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

i have not worn makeup since i got this cat, which was my first mistake. trying to remember the only look i know how to do, which is a brown smokey eye with perhaps just a touch too much gold in the inner corner highlight, gold liner to about the middle of the pupil, normal black liner from the middle of the pupil back and along the lower lash line. nothing fancy! nothing too dramatic! the gold and my eyelashes distract from the indifferently applied amokey eye bc i have never really learned how to adjust for a left eye with more of a hood than the right!

anyway this fuckin cat. hopped up on the bathroom counter, tail went bristle brush, thought about hissing, didn’t, but got spooked anyway and leapt off in such a way that all my makeup brushes somehow landed IN her litter box. under the sink. this is no huge loss bc they were elf from six years ago but like!!! bro!!! come on!!!!

[designatedloveinterest]

I meet the right guy all the time. Then I meet his beautiful well behaved children and his calm and not at all overwhelming wife.

[kybutler]

{ tag dump }