#arc; awakening.

[thanflowers]

@tobebrutal (nathaniel) — starter call / accepting!

        “you...came back.” elspeth frowns deeply, a furrow of confusion forming between her brows. “i told you to take whatever you could carry and go. i thought that was very generous.” her jaw tenses, arms crossing over her chest. blue-green eyes trail past him, focusing instead on a point over his shoulder. it's hard to look at him without thinking of his father. “why would you return?”

[thanflowers]

        “if anyone's complaining about you, they've been wise enough not to let me hear about it,” elspeth replied, amiably. she liked anders. he was a breath of fresh air compared to nathaniel, whose presence grated on her nerves like no one else ever could. they struck a decent balance whenever she had them both with her.

        elspeth tilted her head, considering the question thoughtfully. “it's nice to sleep in a bed regularly again,” she admitted, though she had grown used to sleeping on a bedroll on the ground over time. “and i wouldn't say the stakes are lower, just a bit smaller scale.” she's sure the people of amaranthine don't think their trouble any smaller than the blight, particularly given the recent darkspawn incursions.

❝ I'm fine. The barracks aren't all that different from how rooming was in the Tower. ❞ Anders was more than used to sharing such a 'room' with several bodies at a time and with the LITTLE privacy such accommodations offered. It was only natural the healer didn't shy away from the mundanities of life that came with it, but if the others were bothered by it he had yet to hear a peep. ❝ I'm not so sure about the others, though? Hopefully no one's COMPLAINED about me yet? ❞

The potential of a future where he had his own room, however, was INCREDIBLY enticing. Especially if it was one that came with it's very own door that he could CLOSE, let alone LOCK, any time he pleased.

❝ What about you? You spent a whole year dealing with the Blight, right? It must feel WEIRD, now that the stakes for everything here are so much LOWER. ❞

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884) "Joan of Arc" (1879) Oil on canvas Located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, United States

[literaphobe]

miraculous movie very funny to me bc of how many adrichat things are just unexplained. why is he at school now? no clue. how’d he meet nino? you tell me. why did plagg choose him? yeah he just uh. he just saw a window ran in and knew. no adrien didn’t save the lives of any old men. yeah he’s just a hero now. also plagg will not stop farting

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Something something about Eddie learning Buck will be there for him off the job, even without Chris being in the equation.

Something something about that being an important realisation for him to finally make because he’s always hidden behind his son when it comes to Buck (and his love life more generally - even Shannon in reality was for Chris not himself) but he won’t be able to this time.

Something something about that realisation being the key to giving himself permission to examine his heart and feel his true feelings.

[zephyr-ro-emenki]

...does nobody else think Jaune pulled off that white dress perfectly?

A bit too muscly defined arms, but that can be explained away as working out a lot. From that hourglass waist line to the bold but valid statement of wearing PF-Flyers to a Prom, give this man slightly longer hair in the back and he's a 9/10 Bombshell.

And that cocky smirk, he knows he's hot, he ABSOLUTELY knows it, and I give him full marks for it.

[marisashinx]

He's a good boy... right?

[thanflowers]

        it doesn't take him nearly as long to scout ahead as she was hoping it would. sending him off on these little missions is—believe it or not—as much for his sake as it is for her own. she doesn't imagine he enjoys her company any more than she does his. it happens that he returns now as she's finishing adjusting her armor. she turns, looks him over, then her gaze casts back to fixing the strap on her arm.

        “good,” elspeth says tersely, bristling at his closeness and hating the way he says my lady as if it's a curse. then, like having a tooth pulled: “thank you, warden.” she turns to anders and oghren, giving them both a nod. “we head deeper into the woods. with any luck, the person attacking caravans will make themself known to us.” and if not, they'll start looking for clues around the wreckage. once they find it.

nathaniel's never been so encumbered with pride he's unable to do as she asks.. even when, what she asks for, feels mundane. to scout ahead. to track whatever'd left the most recent prints near camp. the little things that keep him busy, mind far disposed from the woman at his back and the implications of her shadow. but, sometimes...

pettiness is a howe family trait. inherited from both mother, and father, it feeds the shine in pale eyes once returned from his trek, path carved deliberately close to his commander, " your route is clear, my lady. "

@thanflowers ♡ s.c.

[unreversedumbrella]

I think the reason mobs sense of humour is forgotten by the fandom it's not only bc mob is really deadpan when he tells jokes or pulls pranks but also because they're so subtle. Mob doesn't go out of his way to tell jokes. He's more reactionary. He saw the cake falling to ground and took the opportunity to shove it in reigen's face

[thanflowers]

❀ | @freedomscall — starter call / accepting!

        “you know, i tried to learn my healing from wynne.” she is helping him crush some herbs for poultices and trying to make conversation, besides. “did you know her, back in the circle? she made for a rather exacting teacher...” everything had to be done exactly as the circle taught it, or else it was wrong. at least, that's the way wynne's attempts to teach had made elspeth feel at the time.

[thanflowers]

        “i'm not sure they were werewolves in the classical sense. they were cursed by a dalish clan's keeper to be wolf-men. or their ancestors were. i think those who we met were the descendants of the original humans zathrian cursed.”

@thanflowers | starters

❝ Commander, I overheard some of the men talking about you in the courtyard this morning. Is it TRUE that you encountered werewolves in the Brecilian Forest? ❞

[hulloitsdani]

@moe-broey THANK YOU!!! AND IM GLAD THE RUFFLES ARE APPRECIATED!!!🎉🎉🎉

But seriously this is the highest compliment, because this is actively what I’m trying to do when it comes to how I draw Kiran! I really want to convey how unabashedly charming this silly little tactician is. It helps explain how they keep the order intact on a social level and also why this keeps happening:

In retrospect, Alfonse never really stood a chance, did he?

Anyway I won’t lie, I did all this for the Loki bit. Please imagine that she’s just off screen for all these outfits hitting that exact pose.

[nocturnalazure]

[eroguron0nsense]

The Nagi Nagi no Mi and Trauma Defence Mechanisms

Not sure if anyone else has written on this but I've always found it interesting that they gave Corazon the power of silence to use as a defence against Doffy in both literal and metaphorical terms. Of course, it's a fairly practical thing for a covert operative like Cora to have in that it helps him conceal his presence, but it also protects him from Doffy and lets him fly under the radar because he's continually underestimated by the family because of his supposed trauma-induced aphasia and general clumsiness; it's assumed that he's good at fulfilling his assigned role, but that he's ultimately not a threat and he's only there in spite of his muteness because he's Doffy's younger brother. Even the children, who are under the impression that he hates kids, continually underestimate him and laugh at his antics, oblivious to his attempts to protect as many children as possible from his brother and the family's abuse.

On another note though, that avoidance and solitude might be interpreted as a perfect way to avoid the attention or ire of a terrible family member who is more than willing to hurt you for crossing them; even before he presumably ate the Nagi Nagi no Mi, he never gets any speaking lines in childhood save for begging Doffy not to kill their father. His silence maintains his nonthreatening, unobtrusive facade in front of Doffy, and even when he breaks that facade to protect another potential victim of Doffy's manipulation and violence, he quite literally uses his powers to protect Law from his brother at the moment of his death and allow him to escape undetected. His silence, which leads to his underestimation, is ultimately necessary to defeat the man who hurt him time and again, who robbed him of their father and left him for dead, who was eager to sacrifice him on the altar of his ambition.

We can see that Doffy is a pretty violent and sadistic child, who's internalized this horrifying entitlement and abuser logic by virtue of being raised in Mariejois, and his parents, while well-intentioned, do little to nothing to counter this conditioning or even intervene when he starts throwing tantrums in public where he calls for public executions and enslavement of regular townspeople. We know that he was more than willing to sacrifice Cora for the Ope Ope no Mi. We can also see that Doffy, for all his ostensible pride in his "family", cares nothing for them beyond how he can manipulate them to his own ends and only defends them publicly as extensions of himself. If that's how Doffy feels comfortable behaving in public, it's highly likely (even though its never stated) that he harmed or otherwise made Cora hate and fear him at home even before shit went south, with little to no real intervention from their parents. And I just like that, rather than cowardice, they made Cora's voluntary silence–his defence mechanism against his abusive brother– into something that he uses for the sake of undermining and ultimately defeating Doffy, and for the sake of protecting another child from his lifelong abuser.

[missgallavjch]

I was rewatching the first two episodes of the chuunin exam arc and you know when naruto and sasuke are pissed bc they're embarrassed about what happened between them in the land of waves? after that scene naruto starts thinking about how he must beat sasuke and prove how cool and strong he is, and I'm not saying that it's what has actually happened (especially because there's a time-gap between the two moments as they were waiting for kakashi) and I know I'm biased but it kind of looked like he was actually deflecting? in the sense that he's too young to delve into his feelings and question why he feels embarrassed, and instead of doing that he pushes aside his emotions and gets back to what he's used to (seeing sasuke as a rival) or turns the discomfort he feels into bitterness/rivalry...

(he's never beating the repressed allegations 😭)

[stagefoureddiediaz]

apparently severe CO poisoning can cause lesions on the skin, so maybe it's all connected? It would be just in the weewoo show wheelhouse to turn something silly into something deathly serious

Yes I was wondering if it would be a CO poisoning thing - which is where I was going with the post I made at 3am (my time) about the pipes Gerrard mentioned - it was 3am so I didn't actually state CO as the thing because my brain was not in fully functional mode 😂

It would be so on brand for the show to go down that route! especially as Buck has been stuck on latrine duty for so long - hence more exposed to those pipes perhaps!

My post about Tommy hitting Buck was more of a bit of speculative fun - to explore aspects of Bucks character and how the show might choose to address them - there are lots of possibilities!

I am very much of the opinion that it will be a poisoning thing - and that Hen will also be affected - hence the hallucination of Denny getting hit by a car and trapped - seeing her worst nightmares!

I actually really like the metaphor of CO poisoning to be honest. CO poisoning can also cause, increased heart rate, sleepiness, delirium, confusion and the depression of the central nervous system, alongside hallucinations and lesions.

Using CO poisoning as a way of indicating the reality of Buck's relationships over the course of all 8 seasons - that he's been slowly, slowly poisoning himself by just falling into all these relationships without actually stopping to look at what he wants or needs and how they're making him feel - letting others chase him and just going along with things, until a physical manifestation appears in the form of a lesion. its a really interesting and clever way of exploring Bucks tendencies to not choose for himself and not look internally at his wants and needs and also to not look to closely at his heart (where he'll find Eddie when he does)

CO poisoning slowly increasing your heart rate (abby), headaches and dizziness (Ali), kind of making you sluggish - like you've got anaesthetic in your system (depression of the central nervous system) (taylor), shortness of breath (Natalia) and being confused and disoriented (hello I misunderstood the assignment) when Tommy kissed him. The delirium of realising a new part of yourself you didn't know existed before, and then having it manifest visually in a physical lesion - Tommy being akin to a lesion on Bucks life (in a halloween episode no less) as almost a final and visual symptom is peak comedy (only on 911!) and such an interesting way to introduce baggage and hurdles or whatever synonym Oliver wants to go with in his next interview! Because if its visual - it means Buck has become aware of things - metaphorically he's beginning to understand what he does every time he is in a relationship - and now he has to both stop the cause of those symptoms and treat them before they 'kill' him - basically he has to actually learn from his past relationships (and his current one) and get off that hamster wheel. Its such a clever metaphor for Bucks relationships and his inability to look at things until they become so obvious he cannot avoid them.

He's going to learn that he's going about things the same way with a man as he did with the women he dated and this is where he finally looks and learns and unpacks that baggage and moves forward!