#and Des immediately went

[tomaturtles]

The meaning of my destiny can be changed for your love.

Kawoshin Week Day 5: Rebuild + Time loop! 💜💙

[fukutomichi]

"...And Juan looked up at the painting and saw that Theresa's dead husband was Roberto. He had eloped with his enemy's widow. It's a telenovela!"

[roguesdelight]

am i losing my mind or is lestat's index fingernail blunt???

i just imagine lestat clipping and filing his nail so he wouldnt hurt louis as he [redacted] him

[kaleidemaran]

wolfkiller + a bunch of doodles from tvl and qotd below the cut

[lezstat]

[rapha-reads]

Okay, I have to put this out because it's rotting my brain. It's not original and I'm sure it's been remarked upon a thousand times, but:

"I am The Vampire Lestat. I'm immortal. More or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire --these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not. I'm six feet tall, which was fairly impressive in the 1780s when I was a young mortal man. It's not bad now. I have thick blond hair, not quite shoulder length, and rather curly, which appears white under fluorescent light. My eyes are gray, but they absorb the colors blue or violet easily from surfaces around them. And I have a fairly short narrow nose, and a mouth that is well shaped but just a little too big for my face. It can look very mean, or extremely generous, my mouth. It always looks sensual. But emotions and attitudes are always reflected in my entire expression. I have a continuously animated face."

— Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat, 1985

VERSUS

"Hi my name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony black hair (that's how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee (AN: if u don't know who she is get da hell out of here!). I'm not related to Gerard Way but I wish I was because he's a major fucking hottie. I'm a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I'm also a witch, and I go to a magic school called Hogwarts in England where I'm in the seventh year (I'm seventeen). I'm a goth (in case you couldn't tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there."

— XXXbloodyrists666XXX, My Immortal, 2006

You canNOT tell me the similarity is accidental, Tara definitely knew what she was doing, it would be way too big of a coincidence.

[merlyn-bane]

publicly kissing @meebles on the forehead for being extremely lovely about the inevitable byproduct of cowriting a dinosaur cowboy au with someone for whom dinosaurs are a special interest

[widevibratobitch]

when i say i am obsessed with him

[jyou-no-sonoko19]

For Disco Elysium re-players,

[starrysnowdrop]

FFXIVWrite 2023

#6: Ring

Noun: a typically circular band of metal or other durable material, especially one of gold or other precious metal, often set with gems, for wearing on the finger as an ornament, a token of betrothal or marriage, etc.

Set some time before the events of 7.0; Aymeric’s head butler Arnaud carries down a box from the Borel Manor’s attic that brings back precious memories, and conjures up dreams of the future.

As the elder elezen walked into his lord’s parlor, he saw the younger man sitting on the sofa in his blue silk robe, running his hand through his raven curls with a deep frown on his face and hunched over what looked to be a shopping catalog. He cleared his throat as he announced, “Dinner will be served within the hour, my lord.”

Aymeric glanced up at his head butler for a moment with a quick little smile before returning his attention back to the catalog in his hands. “Thank you, Arnaud.”

“If I may ask…?”

Looking up again, Aymeric replied, “Hmm? Of course, what is it?”

Arnaud tilted his head in curiosity as he noticed that the catalog in question was from the Ul’dahn Goldsmith’s Guild. “You seem troubled. Is something the matter?”

“Oh, ‘tis nothing to worry yourself over. I just have to make a decision, but I am not fond of any of these choices.”

Aymeric sat the catalog down on the table and Arnaud could finally see the items that his lord was referring to: a selection of what appeared to be engagement rings. A smirk crossed his lips. “Ohh, I see…”

Sighing, Aymeric crossed his arms and shook his head. “Hali deserves the best ring in all of the world, one that is as beautiful as she is, and one that she will adore for the rest of her life. And yet, none of these are right.”

“It is an important decision to be sure, though I am confident that Lady Hali will love anything you give her. For her, as long as it is from you, and comes straight from the heart, she will be over the moon with joy.”

“No, you are right. Still, I cannot help but want it to be perfect, and none of these are what I have envisioned.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

Aymeric closed his ice blue eyes momentarily before turning his attention back to Arnaud. “I picture a brilliant blue jewel with diamonds surrounding the center like stars in the night sky. With a crescent moon perhaps? Hmm…”

“A brilliant blue jewel, you say?” The elder man’s mind immediately recalled a ring that fit that description in part, but most importantly, the jewel that served as the ring’s centerpiece. Yes, it just might fit perfectly. “Well, I believe that I have a solution for you, my lord. Just wait here a moment.”

Before Aymeric could reply, Arnaud walked out of the room. A few minutes later, the butler returned with a small blue velvet box that was covered in a thin layer of dust. He brushed off the dust as Aymeric’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock.

“Wait, you don’t mean…”

Arnaud nodded as he opened the little vintage box in his hand. “Yes, your late mother’s ring.”

As both elezen men turned their attention to the ring, of which had belonged to the late Lady Borel, Aymeric’s adoptive mother, a gleam of nostalgia and joy twinkled in Aymeric’s eyes as he admired the blue diamond encircled with tiny white diamonds on a band of gold. It was close to being a century old now, but it was still a sight to behold.

The elder smiled as he offered up his thoughts. “For over a decade, it has been collecting dust in a box in the attic. Why not take the ring and commission a goldsmith to create a new setting for the blue diamond, and make the perfect ring for your beloved? I dare say that Lady Borel would have been the first to approve, and she likely would have put forth the suggestion herself.”

Arnaud sat the opened ring box down on the table in front of Aymeric, who then picked it up and looked it over more closely. With a nod and a grin, Aymeric replied, “You are not wrong about that, Arnaud. Yes, I think that is exactly what I should do. Thank you, my friend.”

“Anytime, my lord.”

[tabbyclaw]

As soon as they announced the bust of the twins and teased that the next one would be Grog and the gnomes, I did a tiny bit of internal screaming because that meant that, by process of elimination, my favorite pair of awkward besties would finally be together in the holy bonds of merchandising. I'm still no better than I've ever been at photography, so you'll have to take my word for it that the figure is lovely in person -- I'm still not over the names engraved on Percy's gun -- and it makes me happy to see it every time I walk past it. The jars flanking them are filled with their respective official character dice, and if you look closely you can see the antlers and the de Rolo crest on the d20s at the top.

[vingegaaard]

[wrthbrn]

something otherworldly ; something dark eminated from the woman whom entered the chapel . something antiquated. she had only seen a person with this sort of aura once in her life - a long time ago . it peaked her interest , but made her wary all the same .

" not many people come to a small church like this . " came her idle comment, gaze resting upon the stranger . " is there something i could help you with ? "

@hopeharmed / sc : for nemesis

[sunshades]

Ambiguous canonicity of fantasy hannibal in the sign of roses pending title universe...

[flyawaybooks]

I went to my friendly local gaming (and comics) store today (somehow for the first time even tho they've been at this location for years) and guys they had SO many indie TTRPGS and zines (in variety if not in volume of stock per game). and when I checked out, the person at the counter was like. "yeah if you like indie RPGs come back in like two weeks cause we actually don't have that many in stock right now compared to usual" which made my heart go !!!!!!! and THEN the clerk got out some hollow metal dice from under the counter, which sound like MAGICAL FAIRY NOISES when you roll them together.

anyway I picked up Epitaph and Dwelling which are both about death and life but Epitaph does it so cozily while Dwelling does it so spookily and I love them both and can't wait to play some fucking games!!!

[rapha-reads]

Anne Rice, IWTV, Part 3, Armand to Louis:

"'It is through you that I can save myself from the despair which I've described to you as our death. It is through you that I must make my link with this nineteenth century and come to understand it in a way that will revitalize me, which I so desperately need. [...] No. I must make contact with the age. [...] And I can do this through you . . . not to learn things from you which I can see in a moment in an art gallery or read in an hour in the thickest books . . . you are the spirit, you are the heart.'

'No, no.' I threw up my hands. I was on the point of a bitter, hysterical laughter. 'Don't you see? I'm not the spirit of any age. I'm at odds with everything and always have been! I have never belonged anywhere with anyone at any time!' It was too painful, too perfectly true.

But his face only brightened with an irresistible smile. He seemed on the verge of laughing at me, and then his shoulders began to move with this laughter. 'But Louis,' he said softly. 'This is the very spirit of your age. Don't you see that? Everyone else feels as you feel. Your fall from grace and faith has been the fall of a century.'"

Alfred de Musset, Confession d'un enfant du siècle, chapitre 2 :

"Trois éléments partageaient donc la vie qui s’offrait alors aux jeunes gens : derrière eux un passé à jamais détruit*, s’agitant encore sur ses ruines, avec tous les fossiles des siècles de l’absolutisme ; devant eux l’aurore d’un immense horizon, les premières clartés de l’avenir** ; et entre ces deux mondes… quelque chose de semblable à l’Océan qui sépare le vieux continent de la jeune Amérique, je ne sais quoi de vague et de flottant, une mer houleuse et pleine de naufrages, traversée de temps en temps par quelque blanche voile lointaine ou par quelque navire soufflant une lourde vapeur ; le siècle présent, en un mot, qui sépare le passé de l’avenir, qui n’est ni l’un ni l’autre et qui ressemble à tous deux à la fois, et où l’on ne sait, à chaque pas qu’on fait, si l’on marche sur une semence ou sur un débris***.

[...] Il leur restait donc le présent, l’esprit du siècle, ange du crépuscule, qui n’est ni la nuit ni le jour ; ils le trouvèrent assis sur un sac de chaux plein d’ossements, serré dans le manteau des égoïstes, et grelottant d’un froid terrible. L’angoisse de la mort leur entra dans l’âme à la vue de ce spectre moitié momie et moitié fœtus**** [...]

Toute la maladie du siècle présent vient de deux causes ; le peuple qui a passé par 93 et par 1814 porte au cœur deux blessures. Tout ce qui était n’est plus, tout ce qui sera n’est pas encore. Ne cherchez pas ailleurs le secret de nos maux*****."

............

Anne Rice definitely read Musset. And Musset would have ADORED Armand and loathed Louis - or maybe the contrary. And depending on when exactly during the 19th century Armand and Louis met, Armand might have already read Musset, and Louis would read him at the end of the century - Confession was published in 1836.

Translations of the passages in bold (translation by me and it's 4am for me right now, so don't expect a perfect work):

*"behind them a past forever destroyed"

**"in front of them, the dawn of an immense horizon, the first lights of the future"

***"the present century, in a word, what separates the past from the future, which is neither one nor the other and which resembles both at the same time, and where one does not know, with each step one takes, if one steps on a seed or rubble"

****"The anguish of death entered their souls at the sight of this specter, half mummy and half fetus."

*****"All that was is no more, all that will be is not yet. Do not look elsewhere for the secret of our ills."

There's a whole Comparative Literature essay that could be written, mirroring Confession with Interview... I will definitely come back to that idea later. Probably. At some point.