#but running them nonetheless

[hermetichermethermes]

Just had a flashback to Trump and his Trumplings stating he's running the country like a business.

Look how that turned out.

[starflungwaddledee]

alas, it seems the christmas mystery shall remain unsolved 🎁 happy holidays!

[vellichorom]

* smells like autumn...

saw parable cookification becoming a light trend even before i posted these- SOOO ~ now seems like as good a time as any to snuggle into the bandwagon,

( ft @tomi-chuu‘s ever beloved stanley ~ )

[innerxsanctum]

Pet Shop Boys - Nonetheless (2024) singles: loneliness, dancing star, a new bohemia, feel.

[novakiart]

Best spider man comic?

oh!! I'm going to stick to self-contained comics that you can just hop right into

i loooove the amazing spider-man annual #1 (2018) by saladin ahmed. the take on peter & venom's relationship (told through venom's pov) is really really good

peter parker: the spectacular spider-man #310 (2017) by chip zdarsky has been recommended a lot and for good reason!! strong emphasis on peter's relationship with average new yorkers (and vice versa). will make you feel feelings

spine-tingling spider-man #1-8 (2021-22) also by saladin ahmed is a great little self-contained story for spooky season!!! it's a marvel unlimited exclusive rn but physical copies are set to come out soon and a sequel is in the works!!! i love juan ferreyra's traditional art so much too

deadpool annual #2 (2014) by christopher hastings. ok I'm cheating because it's a deadpool story BUT it deals with peter's anxiety and spidey senses going rampantly out of control because he's 1) convinced random new yorkers are chameleon and therefore are out to get him and 2) he has not gotten any sleep because of this. deadpool as the voice of reason is pretty fun. it's just a lighthearted little one-off plot (bros keep bros secret identities safe)

mary jane & black cat: beyond #1 (2022) by jed mackay is also another cheat but you should read it anyway (don't let the bad cover dissuade you). peter is unconscious in the hospital and attracting unwanted attention because he's suspiciously got both mj and black cat looking after him, and their resulting team up dynamic is really fun! mackay's standalone black cat stuff is pretty great too

are these, like, the best spider-man's 60+ yr run has to offer? probably not! but they're fun little stories if you're dipping your toes into the comics

[transdimensional-void]

jonsa inspired by “children of dune?”

thanks to the anon that messaged @esther-dot recently about parallels with the dune series, i’ve been thinking a lot about what grrm might have taken away from dune in terms of themes, reactions, plot points, and more.

i began thinking today about the end of the third book, children of dune, which rounds out what many think of as the dune trilogy. there are additional books in the series, but these are set far in the future, so children of dune can be seen as the end of the story of paul atreides which the first book began.

warning: spoilers for the entire dune series will follow, for anyone trying to avoid those!

plot summary

children of dune focuses on paul’s twin children, leto ii and ghanima atreides. when paul overthrows the imperial house corrino to become emperor himself, he marries the former emperor’s daughter, imperial princess irulan, to cement his rule. however, paul refuses to sleep with her, so at the end of his reign, his heirs are the children of his beloved concubine, the newborn twins leto and ghanima (side note: ghanima is actually the older twin).

because the twins are babies at the point when paul gives up his throne, his younger sister alia serves as regent for them. due to alia’s own tragic circumstances, she becomes an enemy to the young twins. so, the twins, who possess prescient powers similar to their father’s, plot to ensure their own safety and leto’s accession to the throne. at the age of nine, leto runs away and, while in hiding, undergoes a transformation that sees his body fuse with a mystical creature. he leaves behind his sister, ghanima, who is vulnerable to use as a pawn in others’ plots to take the throne.

eventually, leto re-emerges, having gained new skills and resolve during his time in hiding, overthrows his tyrannical aunt, and marries his sister ghanima to prevent her being used as a pawn to challenge his claim to the throne. however, the transformation leto underwent rendered him incapable of fathering children, so while he is married to ghanima, he has no intention of consummating the marriage. instead, he makes an agreement with farad’n corrino, a member of the former ruling dynasty which leto’s father had overthrown, to become ghanima’s concubine and father the future atreides line.

farad’n’s mother, a princess of house corrino, had been attempting to murder leto and ghanima to restore her own house to throne. farad’n grows disgusted with his mother’s attempts to gain the throne, leading him to join with the atreides. the agreement between leto, ghanima, and farad’n allows the atreides and corrino lines to merge their claims, thus resolving the conflict over the throne. 

the story is, of course, more complex than that. it is especially important to note that leto and ghanima are hesitant to take the throne initially because they have foreseen the great personal sacrifice it will require. leto ultimately makes a sacrifice of his own personal happiness and personhood to ascend to the throne, not because he desires power or wishes to carry on his family’s legacy but because he and ghanima have foreseen a terrible threat to humankind in the future and have a plan to use the power of the throne to guide humanity to safety.

parallels

as i considered this story, the parallels to the tv show ending of king of westeros bran/queen in the north sansa began to jump out at me.

like leto, bran goes missing at a young age and during that time undergoes mystical training and a physical transformation that involves fusing with a magical creature, the weirwood tree. he eventually re-emerges, changed forever, and takes the throne. while the tv show didn’t do much with bran’s powers, the books have strong hints that they are in some way tied to one of the greatest threats to humankind, the others. (another side note: i tend to see more parallels between leto ii’s “golden path” and the targaryens’ “prince that was promised” prophecy than what’s going on with bran, especially in terms of how leto feels that mass levels of human suffering are the price he has to pay to ensure humanity’s survival. but of course grrm isn’t going to copy another story beat for beat but instead will grab the parts that resonate with him and use them to tell the story he wants to tell.)

however, bran cannot have children of his own. the tv show claims that this makes him a better candidate for the throne (???), but of course in the books it will likely be seen as a disadvantage because of the lack of a clear succession. if king bran does end up needing to designate an heir, the most likely candidate would be a descendant of his eldest living sibling: his sister, sansa.

sansa, like ghanima, starts out under threat from a tyrannical regent (multiple ones actually: cersei, tywin, lysa, littlefinger) but becomes a ruler alongside her brother at the end of the tv show. bran and sansa of course do not marry, but they are co-rulers of the continent of westeros. and, just like ghanima, sansa is bran’s only real option for an heir from his own family (arya theoretically could marry and have children, but if she’s not even in westeros at the end of the story like in the tv show, that won’t do him a lot of good)--and if bran and sansa don’t plan carefully for sansa’s future marriage and the succession of both crowns, the next generation could see the continent break out into war again.

so, much like in the case of leto and ghanima, bran has a vested interest in ensuring sansa marries someone who won’t be a threat to either of their claims.

and, you know, just like in the case of farad’n corrino, a surviving member of the dynasty bran and sansa’s father helped to overthrow could prove to be a major threat to the stability of bran’s rule. so, say, if there happened to be a targaryen still hanging around westeros somewhere at the end of the story, wouldn’t bran have a strong interest in ensuring that that person’s descendants didn’t become a threat to his rule? (especially if said targaryen had a female relative who was a princess of the former ruling house who threatened the lives of bran and/or sansa while trying to take the throne back for her own dynasty...)

just spitballing here, but if there were a male targaryen still in westeros, and sansa’s children are going to be bran’s heirs anyway, then marrying sansa to said targaryen would actually be a smart method for smoothing the way for sansa’s child to accede to the iron throne. her children would have a claim through both their mother (as the current king’s sister) and their father (as a member of the previous dynasty).

conclusions

we don’t know for sure whether grrm was influenced by the dune series, but there are some striking parallels between the journey leto ii undergoes and bran’s own journey. it is very possible grrm wrote bran in response to the character of leto ii.

there are also some interesting parallels in the struggle for the throne which children of dune sets up and the resolution of said struggle, at least in terms of the tv series’s ending. the extremely critical question of succession which the tv show so carelessly glossed over in its ending is at the heart of the resolution that frank herbert wrote for children.

that resolution involves: 

1.) a boy with superhuman powers choosing to take the throne after gaining resolve through a mystical transformation

2.) sibling marriage to protect a woman’s claim from being usurped

3.) siblings as co-rulers 

4.)  the monarch designating his sister’s children as his heirs because he can’t have children of his own 

5.) marriage between a man of the former dynasty and a woman of the current one to resolve a dispute over the throne and hopefully belay future ones

6.) a man agreeing that his children will bear their mother’s family name rather than his own

we don’t have absolute confirmation that grrm plans to make bran king of westeros, but there is some evidence that this is one of the plot points he shared with the showrunners. the question of grrm’s interest in or influence from dune aside, the example provided by children of dune’s leto/ghanima/farad’n trio shows that if bran becomes king of westeros (and sansa and jon both live to the end of the series), a sansa/jon pairing is almost guaranteed to be the best way to secure the succession.

(and if jonsa was originally meant to be part of the story but was scrapped in later seasons, that could explain why the question of succession post-bran was addressed so sloppily by the tv show...)

Edit: now with a part 2

[stinkrascal]

pick 8 pictures from pinterest for standstill!! (a moodboard)

heyyy so im actually really awful at moodboards but i do save pictures of things that inspire standstill so heres some of those! sorry they arent like aesthetically cohesive. standstill talks about a lot of different themes all neatly tied together w the thin thread of a romance plot so sometimes it's hard to describe those in a way that feels coherent, even in picture form. hopefully u get the idea though 👍

[acourtofquestions]

Boots crunched in hay, and then he was knee to knee before her.

Aedion.

There was nothing kind on his face. No pity or warmth.

For a long minute, they only stared at each other.

Then the prince growled softly, "Your plan was bullshit."

She said nothing, and couldn't stop her shoulders from curving inward.

"Your plan was bullshit," he breathed, his eyes sparking. "How could you ever be her, wear her skin, and think to get away with it? How could you ever think you'd get around the fact that our armies are counting on you to burn the enemy to ashes, and all you can do is run away and emerge as some beast instead?"

"You don't get to pin this retreat on me," she rasped. The first words she'd spoken in days and days.

"You agreed to let Aelin go to her death, and leave us here to be slashed to bloody ribbons. You two told no one of this plan, told none of us who might have explained the realities of this war, and that we would need a gods-damned Fire-Bringer and not an untrained, useless shape-shifter against Morath."

Blow after blow, the words landed upon her weary heart. "We—"

"If you were so willing to let Aelin die, then you should have let her do it after she incinerated Erawan's hordes!"

"It would not have stopped Maeve from capturing her."

"If you'd told us, we might have planned differently, acted differently, and we would not be here, damn you!"

She stared at the muddy hay. "Throw me out of your army, then."

"You ruined everything." His words were colder than the wind outside. "You, and her."

Lysandra closed her eyes.

Hay rustled, and she knew he'd risen to his feet, knew it as his words speared from above her bowed head. "Get out of my tent."

She wasn't certain she could move enough to obey, though she wished to. Needed to. Fight back. She should fight back. Rage at him as he lashed at her, needing an outlet for his fear and despair.

Lysandra opened her eyes, peering up at him. At the rage on his face, the hatred She managed to stand, her body bleating in pain. Managed to look him in the eye, even as Aedion said again with quiet cold, "Get out."

Barefoot in the snow, naked beneath her cloak. Aedion glanced at her bare legs, as if realizing it. And not caring.

So Lysandra nodded, clutching Ansel's cloak tighter, and strode into the frigid night.

"Where is she?" Ren asked, a mug of what smelled like watery soup in one hand, a chunk of bread in the other. The lord scanned the tent as if he would find her under the cot, the hay.

Aedion stared at the precious few logs burning in the brazier, and said nothing.

"What have you done?" Ren breathed.

Everything was about to end. Had been doomed since Maeve had stolen Aelin. Since his queen and the shifter had struck their agreement.

So it didn't matter, what he'd said. He hadn't cared if it wasn't fair, wasn't true.

Didn't care if he was so tired he couldn't muster shame at his pinning on her the blame for the sure defeat they'd face in a matter of days before Perranth's walls.

He wished she'd smacked him, had screamed at him. But she had let him rage. And had walked out into the snow, barefoot.

He'd promised to save Terrasen, to hold the lines. Had done so for years. And yet this test against Morath, when it had counted ... he had failed.

He’d muster the strength to fight again. To rally his men. He just ... he needed to sleep.

Aedion didn't notice when Ren left, undoubtedly in search of the shifter with who he was so damned enamored.

He should summon his Bane commanders. See how they thought to manage this disaster.

But he couldn't. Could do nothing but stare into that fire as the long night passed.

[bigboobshaunt]

Oh hey, another one of these

[b-blushes]

good grief so many schedule changes so much to handle.... now next week i gotta go to the dr and make Big Casserole AND make Big Sauce lest i run out of easy meals i can have.... summoning all my energy....... i can do it.......

[chiki-chiki-ahh]

friendly advice guys if you ever want to laminate your eventim or conbini-printed tickets because you want them to last forever: don't.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

made a little video bc i miss making little videos

cw flashing images

[quibbs126]

For me, most of the cookies of darkness are kind of terrible to each other. They don't really have much trust or love for each other, just working on a job for a charismatic leader.

Dark Choco was one of the few ones who managed to get out of that group and seams to be doing all the better for it. I like to think that if he and Licorice where to have a relationship, it would also require Licorice leaving the group as well.

What i mean to say is, 'Thats how i'm fanficing the ship'. Where Licorice ether leaves or otherwise is questioning what he's doing with his life, and wants to see how Dark Choco is doing.

Yeah, looking at their relationship charts and just their behavior in general, outside of Poison Mushroom, in canon they seem to be a pretty dysfunctional group. I get why people want to make them into like a found family, and I do find it cute, but again, in canon this doesn’t seem to be the case. So yeah, I get what you mean. And your idea of how this relationship would happen and Licorice leaving also sounds like an interesting one.

This isn’t necessarily for shipping purposes, it’s just in general, but I did once have an idea that Licorice, along with others like his minions and maybe Poison Mushroom, end up leaving the Cookies of Darkness because of the Sovereign of Darkness, and seeing what that thing is and knowing how messed up it is for Dark Choco is what gets him to leave. Because while Licorice may not have liked Dark Choco all that much, he definitely didn’t deserve being made into basically a living dough puppet, his only moments of consciousness being agonizing screams, and what possibly transpired to turn him into the Sovereign. Like it’s way too far and he can’t really stand for it, so he leaves and maybe warns the good guys (though that doesn’t necessarily mean he joins them). Just something I wanted to share

[nemmet]

bttf bingo christmas card prompt 1: gift 🎁

“can i get you anything..?”

“no, marty, you’ve already given me everything i need…”

(am i really going with a friendship is the true gift message? yes, yes i am. happy holidays to these besties.)

[forbodium]

i feel like you should be able to walk your dog past people's houses without worrying whether their dog will run right up to you and try to start a fight

[pushing500]

Gotta say, I just love everyone's winter clothes! They looks so... normal despite being cannibal cultists. When the ship leaves, will you please draw all of the gang together?

I'm definitely having fun drawing everybody all bundled up in scarves and hats, so I'm glad you like seeing it! They are very normal and unintimidating, though, aren't they? Maybe one day I'll do a run with a different cult that has strict uniform guidelines or something, then there can be thematic cult robes and hoods or something. That could be fun to draw!!

I would love to draw a "family portrait" for the finale of the series! I'll definitely do my best to get a beautiful picture done for you <3