#and she can't do it of course

[a-kingdom-of-thieves]

Theory: Callum is the Final Boss the heroes have to defeat after he becomes 'forever' corrupted by dark magic.

[technically-human]

The case of the lighthouse leapers

That's right, more Niko angst, but most importantly, more Niko and Charles bonding! This is the beginning of the improvement for their relationship, finally.

This was, of course, a commission for @i-am-as-normal-as-you-are

[methoughtsphantom]

Jason “my family doesn’t know im alive” Todd and Danny “my family doesn’t know I’m dead” Fenton going alongside each of their plans my beloved. like Danny will absolutely go head-to-head with all of Gotham to support his new best friend on all his crime lord endeavors while he drags Jason to also attend collage with him. They are roommates and there never seems to a mention of family from either side. It’s an unspoken understanding they have. They met because Crime alley as a ghost lair thrummed with so much loneliness, it was at first the perfect place for Danny to hide his ecto signature in. But then he saw the dumbass whose lair it was lean his motorcycle just a tad too much when making a sharp turn to an alley, he sweeped the floor through a lifted chain link that passed his body but not his helmet. Yep that’s right the red thing got stuck. Danny who at the moment happened to be watching through his window snorted. Much to his horror because if not a ghost that dude could’ve gotten his head flung off.

Still, the scene was ridiculous.

On a whim he irrationally sees the police closing in on the guy and panicked at the thought of the guy using intangibility to free himself so Danny phased them both through his apartment wall and left the guy sprawled in his couch. Jason didn’t freak out but that’s normal when one’s got a concussion, one the guy immediately denied having as Danny laid out the medical supplies. The idiot proceeded to almost flatten four steps to the door with his stubbornness. He also said “I’m asexual” in the most deadpan voice as Danny dropped him back in the couch.

Danny sighed. Clearly though, he’d done so too early in the night because the guy kept trying to go, kept trying to knock Danny out, kept trying to slash him with knifes Danny didn’t know he had stashed. He’d only disarmed the guy from his guns. The visible ones apparently, cause at one point the guy did take out a gun and shoot until the ammo ran out and then teetered the thing like it was an art prop and hit his moon lamp.

Danny "yeah you aren’t officially my friend until you’ve tried to kill me" fenton my guys.

Anyways both keep having the same argument over if Danny technically kidnapped Jason or not. Danny holds the fact that the police at least didn’t see the guy make the ridicule. Jason argued that happened cause he was sporting a concussion. Danny argued he got that after.

Jason at first thinks the guy's a meta, but no. Danny introduces himself, sheepily now that he recognizes this is who the lair he invaded is from. He bandages him and tries to cook for him. If Danny didn’t have ice powers he most certainly would’ve burned the apartment. Jason then proceeds to kick him out of his own kitchen and make them both enchiladas. It’s the most normal both had in a while with another person and the air seems oddly settled. From then on, Jason constantly invited himself over, under the pretense that this was his territory and therefore he could drop in unannounced. Danny who has actual powers says he only allows this because Jason cooks very well.

Danny stays away from the crime fighting business unless his buddy is in deep shit he can’t get himself out. Also it’s Danny’s turn to cover for his vigilante friend which Sam and Tucker give him so much shit for. (but also advice)

And they were roommates. (omg) Danny effectively derails Jason’s big comeback plans by casually dropping ghost lore every two days. Like,

Jason, talking about how he doesn’t want Bats snooping on his territory:

Danny: Just don’t let them in

Jason: ??

Danny: yeah!! Hasn’t Batman died and got revived??? You can totally kick out death touched people you don’t want entering on your lair.

Jason: …I can?

Danny: Yep dude, your lair’s supposed to feel safe.

Jason: wait does that mean I can kick you out?

Danny: First this is my apartment. Second, im dead, not dead touched. Third, it’s too late to get rid of me. bitch.

Anyways Jason is super excited. You mean to tell him he can actually deny people over to his territory haunt?? (Yes it’s only to people who have died and came back but still!! The sample size is exactly the type of people he doesn’t want to see—!)

Joker my beloathed can’t step foot in Crime Alley.

(Jason’d feel a lot safer if the clown was dead but the possibility of his murderer turning into a ghost and their little loophole not applying on the clown is too scary to contemplate.)

Anyways, Jason loves experimenting with the power. It can go from simply making people shudder and not want to enter crime Alley to straight up not letting them enter like there’s an invisible wall blocking the way.

Jason because he’s hurt that Bruce never even patrols Crime Alley and also because he’s petty put B under the category of “invisible wall” blacklist. His reasoning is that the man doesn’t even attempt to enter Crime Alley. To him it’s surely just a place shadowed in tragedy. (anyways that’s it’s the place he met Jason)

Ironically, Jason totally forgets that Batman does venture into Crime Alley one day in the whole year. The day he met Jason.

Okay. He didn’t forget at first. The first year Jason remembers cause it was only a few months till then but then the next— Jason forgets that today’s the anniversary of the day’s Bruce’s parents died. He forgets to allow B in when he feels a slight tug and dismiss the feeling that prompts Bruce to investigate because he literally can’t enter Crime Alley. He starts the trialsTM, he scouts on the very edge and sees people the whole day enter and get out and cross with no problem but Bruce can’t.

It’s literally just Bruce.

Time to call Constantine, i guess.

[vibinginthebg]

Still some doodles of them :DD

[gideonisms]

fascinating thing about pyrrha dve is she deeply wants stability and she wants to go work her construction job and come home to her beautiful wife every day and make pancakes on Saturdays and wake up before someone and lie there all warm and cozy. But then she continually falls for people who do the exact opposite of that. She wants a happy marriage and a beautiful family but she wants it with people who are tigers clawing to get out of their cage. Sometimes the horror of love is that you can't control your own type. that your conflicting impulses cause you vast interpersonal problems

[themightymoose]

oh no not me thinking of a swap NPMD au where Max lives while Ruth and Richie die for unknown reasons and now both of them are out for vengeance against all the popular kids but most specifically Max because of course. And instead of "Nerdy Prudes Must Die" it's "Stupid Jocks Must Die" or something like that idk what the title would be

But the ones that would die would probably be Jason and Kyle. Or maybe those cheerleaders that Stephanie is friends with.

Idk I just think the nerds should kill. As a treat :)

[violetsorengail]

She doesn’t like anyone but Xaden, and she only tolerates me, though I’m growing on her. Like a tumor.

fourth wing - ch. 36

iron flame - ch. 65

onyx storm - ch. 62

[screwpinecaprice]

Oh oof I slipped and hit them with dark and serious beam. 😣

[sergle]

man, you know, nobody asked me, but I have such conflicting opinions on some of the fat falin art, where on one hand: it's always nice to see A Fat Body in fanart anywhere + it's being done in positive ways, for funsies and on the other hand, there is something so familiar about how you are automatically The Fat One if you are a woman simply standing next to a more petite woman, bc I've had a 0% hitrate in seeing people change Marcille's body type and keep Falin's, or change both of them. it's just Falin

[bumblingbabooshka]

Janeway crashing on Tuvok's couch post Voyager is a funny idea to me because make no mistake, she COULD just get another house in the no-money Earth future or stay with her own family but I think what she really needs is to just bounce between her new Admiral's office and Tuvok's guest room for a few months so she never has to think about her own personal life and she and Tuvok can talk about how fine they are and how unnecessary everyone's worry about them is while they're both very clearly going through something. Bonus points if this is latter mirrored by Tuvok staying at Janeway's place a bit later on and Janeway doesn't even know why and doesn't quite know how to broach the subject with Tuvok because they don't usually talk about that sort of thing and neither wants to change that part of their relationship because it's one of the few things that hasn't changed and that's comforting so she takes him on some maybe not totally official mission with her instead and it goes sideways and everyone gets mad at them. There's no real resolution to this, every planet just keeps spinning.

[mashandmartinis]

Thinking about how every man Margaret has been in love with was a personification of the army in one way or another:

First we have Frank, Major, patriot and a stickler for military rules. Annoying, not nearly as masculine as the other men Margaret is attracted to later on. But he symbolises army values, the patriotism that forms a driving force in career military personnel.

Then there's Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott, emphasis on the Lieutenant Colonel (as Margaret herself rarely fails to mention when she talks about her husband) who symbolises rank and status, and (as shown during the Olympics episode) a certain amount of athletic masculinity associated with the military.

Enter Scully, soldier gone AWOL, officer, private, manly and (the first time Margaret sees him) covered in front line grime. Scully symbolises the very basic traits associated with the army: masculinity in a very specific soldierly way, carrying the front line on his skin and uniform, ranked (until he isn't).

Margaret has never loved men. She's been in love with the army all along.

[my-name-is-apollo]

Why is Hera so hostile to Leto in a manner that she isn't with the other lovers of Zeus? I can't think of any other woman who was targeted so much by Hera. One could say she didn't want Leto to give birth because her children would be a competition to Hera's children, but why bother her even after she had already given birth? Is it because Leto herself is also a threat to Hera?

Sort of I guess?

I don't think Leto would ever be a threat to Hera's role as the queen of the gods but Hera might see her as a competitor for Zeus' affection, even though I think Zeus would not marry someone else and replace Hera.

The twins are definitely a big reason why Hera begrudged Leto - it is outright stated in the Callimachus Hymn to Delos that the reason Hera especially targeted Leto was because she was told that Apollo would be dearer to Zeus than Ares is. Zeus is very proud of Artemis as well. As he himself puts it, he doesn't mind facing Hera's wrath for children like her.

But the continued hatred even after the birth of the twins (like sending Tityus to rape Leto) could have been for different reasons. This wasn't like one of those affairs Zeus would have with mortal women where he'd leave them behind once the child is conceived. Neither could Hera, despite her many attempts, get rid of Leto like she did with the other lovers. Not only did Leto give Zeus children that he loves dearly, she also stayed on Olympus despite Hera's hatred towards her (which isn't directed to any of Zeus' other divine mistresses, btw). It might have also been because Leto herself is dear to Zeus, if the way she's treated on Olympus is any proof. In the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto stands next to Zeus - in the Olympian assembly - to welcome their son. Hera is completely absent from the scene, as if Leto had taken her place even if temporarily. Now you could say this is because Apollo himself is such a powerful and glorious son in a way that no other son of Zeus is, so of course Leto would get such an honor (the hymn itself presents it this way).

But here's another instance - in the Iliad, when Hera goes to seduce Zeus, he is obviously very smitten but before getting into the action, he lists some of his lovers (I believe these were his favorite lovers, as a lot of others are not mentioned):

"for never has such desire for goddess or mortal woman so gripped and overwhelmed my heart, not even when I was seized by love for Ixion’s wife, who gave birth to Peirithous the gods’ rival in wisdom; or for Acrisius’ daughter, slim-ankled Danaë, who bore Perseus, greatest of warriors; or for the far-famed daughter of Phoenix, who gave me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthus; or for Semele mother of Dionysus, who brings men joy; or for Alcmene at Thebes, whose son was lion-hearted Heracles; or for Demeter of the lovely tresses; or for glorious Leto; or even for you yourself, as this love and sweet desire for you grips me now.’ (Book 14, trans. A. T. Murray)

Notice how when talking about most of them, he also mentions the children they bore to him but when Demeter and Leto are mentioned, he doesn't bring up their children at all despite them being some of the most accomplished kids of his. What's more, he takes Leto's name just before Hera's. I mean, this is an interpretation but it looks like not only did Zeus love Leto the most out of all his mistresses - giving her a place second to that of his wife, but also his love for her wasn't necessarily only because she gave him two amazing children.

Nonnus does something similar in the Dionysiaca (but this time Zeus is enamored with Persephone instead of Hera) but more notably, when Typhoeus attacks Olympus and Zeus is discouraged, Nike takes the form of Leto to encourage him and it's pretty telling of what Leto meant to Zeus.

One interesting similarity between Hera and Leto is that they both had a giant try to rape them. Porphyrion tried to violate Hera (Zeus inspired him to do this) and Tityus tried to violate Leto (upon Hera's order). Though both of them were killed, only Tityus got an eternal punishment in Tartarus of having his liver/heart eaten out by vultures so Zeus seems to have taken a greater offense at Tityus trying to assault Leto.

Again, I don't think Zeus would ever take anyone other than Hera as his permanent wife - she is irreplaceable to him. There's an entire myth about Hera leaving him and Zeus winning her back. Their relationship is obviously complex and involves all kinds of emotions including love and hate. But Leto is continually dear to him as well and that's something Hera can't do much about.

[cogentranting]

People on Paradise keep going up to Sinatra and being like "I know that you-- Woman who is the real power in control of literally everything in this underground bunker we're all stuck in-- heartlessly had people killed to avoid information getting out that would threaten your power! And I'm going to tell people about it!"

And guess what? She has them killed. Because of course she does and of course she can.

[adastra121]

Bad End: The Fall

Summary: It's my Hound!MC Alon's birthday, so I made some sketches of them and Mhin based on the scene from Transformers One! For context, the idea is that Vere has gotten himself free and went on a rampage in the Senobium, slaughtering students and clerics alike, and destroying the labs and archives, along with all hope of finding cures for Mhin and Alon's respective curses. In the midst of the massacre, Vere finally made Mhin lose control of the monster within them and they have transformed into a crow monster hybrid. There is a brutal and bloody fight between them but Mhin has finally defeated Vere and is about to kill him, when Alon, their partner, stops them.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s over. He lost.”

“So did we! We lost everything because of him — I have to do this!”

“No, you don’t. Look at him, he's down. He's no longer a threat.”

“He needs to die! Can’t you see that?”

“This won’t cure either of us! Don't do this, Mhin. Don’t be the monster he says you are.”

…

“…You need to move out of my way. Before I move you myself.”

“Mhin—”

“MOVE!”

“Stop—!”

!!!

...

“No…”

“No, no, no, you idiot! Why did you do that? Why?”

Your blood is on my hands now.

You’ve made it my fault.

You’ve made me into the monster…

All to save him.

“Partner…no…”

…

…

…

“I'm done saving you.”

.

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[the-crooked-library]

I liked how in Nosferatu it’s shown that Ellen not only leaves Thomas behind, lets him go, but she effectively remarries, by dressing up in wedding gown and pledging herself to Orlok and then consumating their sort of marriage. Orlok came before Thomas as Ellen’s dark suitor and Ellen ended up in the end with Orlok, not Thomas. Lilacs as running theme also support it because they are associated with Orlok so even when Ellen was marrying Thomas with lilacs on her head she was involving Orlok into her marriage.

Yes, the lilacs!.. God, the lilacs. She wore them throughout the film, on her dresses, in her hair, as a scent - they're such a prominent motif, and it's very clear that she was never able to let go of her occult nature entirely, despite her very best efforts to conform. The way Orlok reacts to the scent of them in the locket is so telling, too!.. It must've felt like a secret note, passed in code - my first love, I've never forgotten you. Come to me. The hesitation, the slight trembling in his hands as he holds it. The way he keeps it without question, the way he can't resist opening it just to catch the scent - again, again, again. There is something so vulnerable about their connection, on either side.

I think that's why their consummation is so tender sdksjgdjh

[mohntilyet]

i read the wigmaker job recently and there’s an idea that really stuck with me, which may well have been discussed before, but it’s really been itching at me. it came from this exchange near the end –

“i don't want to quit.” / illario sat back. the distance between them suddenly felt much wider than a table. / “even if it kills you,” illario whispered. / “death is my calling,” lucanis stated, matter-of-fact. “just as yours is to become first talon.”

(the bits before and after this give important context, too, but these specific lines are what gnaw at me)

i. really wonder if this conversation – and the long-standing beliefs held by both of them that it’s indicative of – contributed to giving lucanis to zara.

like, illario coming to terms with the fact that lucanis really just will. not. stop. for ANYTHING. his cousin WILL get himself killed doing this and lucanis won’t have any regrets. he’ll leave illario to go this alone. (no one to follow after anymore.) combined with the envy of knowing that lucanis is and always will be caterina’s favorite, and she will likely pick lucanis to be first talon even tho lucanis does not want this At All…

i wonder if he thought that, well, if lucanis is going to die anyway… maybe it’s better to have it happen sooner, rather than later. why put off the inevitable? especially if this is the one thing that could shift caterina’s gaze to illario and give him what he’s wanted – what he’s earned.

lucanis wouldn’t be happy as first talon anyway (honestly, illario seems to see that what lucanis is NOW isn’t so much ‘happy’ as it is ‘obedient and content to accept the scraps that gives him’), and he’s GOING to get himself killed doing this, anyway… and sure, they COULD wait it out. wait for lucanis to do something foolish enough that he can't just walk away from it. maybe he’ll even last long enough to be made first talon (if caterina can ever bear to loosen her grip from the title) and be miserable for a while. years even, maybe. before he, again, does something he can’t walk away from.

OR. or. or illario could cut through all the pointless waiting and get right to the point. go straight to where this was always going to end up.

(and maybe part of it is an extension of anticipated grief, too – the loss will be agony. if illario controls when and how it happens, he can control his grief. …except he hasn’t accepted the inevitability of lucanis’ death quite as well as he’d thought and when he gets sloshed at the wake, real grief seeps through the cracks)

i dunno. something about both of them viewing lucanis’ death as a foregone conclusion and how illario Might have had that shape his decisions.

YEAH . YEAHHHHH. i do also think the “to reason” exchange is what solidifies it in illario’s mind. lucanis is like 'this has been a productive if tense talk with my cousin. surely he sees sense now.' and illario is like ‘what the fuck. i think he wants to die’ <- okay im exaggerating a bit but i do absolutely see the end of wigmaker’s job as the start of lucanis-illario’s downward spiral. there’s a reason that it’s something lucanis is stuck on during inner demons, and the exchange that you have very nicely broken down is what he hears echoes of, this is where he knows it started to go wrong

probably the worst part is lucanis WOULD have worked himself to death and it takes the series of events in veilguard for lucanis to see other options for his life, and still he ends up being shoehorned into first talon by the end of the quest. i thought his quest would parallel iron bull’s, in that rook shows them that living outside and away from crow influence is possible, and that he is much more than the weapon they turned him into, but it ofc doesn’t go through like that. it’s genuinely a bit heartbreaking that lucanis finally has support and like. FRIENDS. but with the way the game ends he’s pulled back into the crows and to a life that will be about protecting a cousin that the organisation he runs hates, and for as long as caterina lives, unable to say no to her. and meanwhile after lucanis has made connections outside of the crows, illario has absolutely nothing left (prison of his own making i get it but i still want to get his ass out of there. 😭) so the codependency that they used to share is gone as well. maybe lucanis has a foot out the door but i genuinely have no idea how illario goes on after this