#for your strength for work

[sorte-de-vida]

@brittunculii sent: setting prompts: within a quiet corridor of a castle during a lavish ball - historical, for Arthur !

As much as João could not stand king Charles II, there was a certain affection he held for his wife that drew him to this party with little complaints. Not to mention, João rarely turned down any opportunity to go to sea, and similarly to this, rarely denied himself the chance to sail to England.

He's worn his finest: deep green, silver silk embroidery. While he knows that the darkened cloth is not the most fashionable in these parts, he's certainly one of the finest dressed of the upper class here, even in spite of this— a fact he can thank his eastern trade routes for. My, how the ladies of the ball fawned over him: his accent, his looks, his worldliness, his exotic flair to his outfits, his full luscious hair. João would die before he wore a wig, regardless of what the so-called 'fashion' said. Those men with wigs simply wanted what he had naturally.

What an utter menace João had been tonight as well. Giving and taking away in the same breath. He'd saved Charles earlier from the vulture-like women who'd been hounding him, but in the same breath he'd caused fury when he'd whispered to him an invitation to join him on the dancefloor, or perhaps later. He'd narrowly avoided a dagger to the gut, not that being stabbed would have done more than excite him.

Arthur too had not been spared, a night of stolen glances as he danced with woman after woman, had even reached across the Englishman on this last partner to connect his hand with hers, not without a subtle drag of his fingers across the other man's pale skin. It was calculated, something that could appear accidental to anyone but themselves, but infuriating when he then flits away with yet another beautiful noble.

It doesn't escape his notice when Arthur slips away from the ballroom, and with this last dance, João excuses himself from his latest dance partner with a dip of his upper body, and a kiss to her knuckles.

An utter gentleman he'd been— though surely the two Englishmen would have spat at the rest of the room's agreement on such a statement, and with good reason (João however would vehemently deny such arguments against his character. He had and was a gentleman, the other two were simply jealous.)

He takes a glass of wine from a passing servant, sucking the liquid down in one breath and setting it back atop the serving tray before he exits swiftly from the room, the direction he'd watched Arthur slink out of earlier; with his twisted expression and tight shoulders. Perhaps he had been pushing things just a smidge too far, teasing him all night, spending most of the evening on the dance floor with only the most beautiful of the women. He'd been quite inattentive to his host in every regard other than perhaps his eyes— deep hazel gaze consistently drawn back to the Englishman over the heads and shoulders of others.

It doesn't take him very long to find the other man, tucked away in this small corner of the castle's labyrinth-like halls. Here it is quiet, the party laughter and chatter a soft buzz and the music muffled and gentle. He leans against the cavernous open doorway, ankle hooking his other as he leans his shoulder against the cool stone, eyes taking in his form. He looks quite relaxed, almost sleepy, but they both know it to only be a rouse. That in spite of this lax exterior, he would be ready to move in a moments notice_ not that he thought himself in need of such a thing.

"Boa noite," he greets lowly, a slow grin spreading across his face like a wild fox, sly and calculating. "Have you been waiting for me for long?" The deep baritone is practically purred to him, though João is accurately aware of how long he'd been here his long dark lashes bat slowly at the blonde, as the woman had been doing to João all night— yet there's no denying that this was the most interest he'd genuinely showed in anyone all night.

[reality-detective]

“We’re all involved in spiritual warfare” RFK Jr

This generation’s failure to keep the children safe will be remembered well into the future. We have a chance now to redeem ourselves and do something to protect their mental and physical health.

Bobbie is right, we need to stop focusing on what divides us and “that’s only going to happen when we start loving our children more than we hate each other.”

I AM remaining hopeful 🙏 that "We The People" as a whole unified revolution will do the right thing 🤔

[demigods-posts]

headcanon that annabeth is freakishly strong. not because she's been training as a soldier since she was seven. but because stretching the limits of your strength is a mental block first and foremost. and as a daughter of athena, goddes of the mind and strategy. all annabeth has to do is believe that she can lift something and she will lift it.

[thekeythief]

Vel was gone for five minutes… (๏ᆺ๏υ)

[zorangezest]

runs in throws ocs at you runs out

hairclips kid/chip guy = yin

bandage kid/hat freak = roro

[tinyfantasminha]

I don't want to keep clogging my blog with vent posts but uh... I guess this is a more general concern/observation

But it's getting real hard to stay motivated in fandom spaces when there's little compensation, and annoying occurrences are more frequent than good ones.

Mainly there's been less engagement/people showing interest in creators and their art (such as sending asks, making comments and reblogging with tags) and MORE parasocial interactions. This goes for both artists and writers.

Over this year I've noticed a vast disinterest within my public in general. Asks about ocs, my art, or just nice simple comments of ''I love your art'' has been getting more and more scarce. My follower number is bigger than 2-3 years ago sure and I get more likes on my posts but they are feeling more like just numbers and statistics than actual people who supposedly like my stuff.

And while people being parasocial with creators has always been a thing, I feel like it's gotten way worse... in general? People sending personal pictures out of the blue in hopes of being validated, unwanted psychological advice or assumptions about the creator without any established connection first ( <- these happened to me in the same week.) ventdump, just insensitive/lacking of common sense comments in general, unreasonable demands (mostly with writers)... I wondered at first if it was just me, but a handful of mutuals/acquaintances who are artists and writers seems to be going through it as well.

It's annoying. It's tough. It's getting exhausting. Creators pour so much of themselves into their work—countless hours, effort, and passion, all to share something meaningful or entertaining with others (and for FREE) The LEAST anyone can do is show respect, even if opinions differ. When a writer posts a fanfic, don't just say ''omg post next chapter!'', when an artist posts a drawing of their favorite character, don't just say ''omg draw (character) next!'' as if they're faceless content machines that are expected to churn out more '''content''' for you without acknowledgment, encouragement, or appreciation.

''I want to support creators but I don't know what to say and I feel intimidated by their talent so I just lurk silently :((('' I swear to you, no creator (at least not the majority) is making up an intimidating persona to discourage you from interacting with them. They WANT your comments. A single ''I love your art/writing/videos'' or even something as silly as ''I want to eat your art'' is enough to keep a creator sighing dreamily for WEEKS. It doesn't have to be deep! It's heartfelt and that's what it matters!! (Just remember to keep it relevant and thoughtful... It takes just a bit of common sense NOT to comment things like ''this looks like (another character)'' or ''this but with (another unrelated ship/character/show)''. No one wants to hear comparisons or unrelated ideas when they’ve poured their soul into something.)

In fact, the ''I like your art but I think you're intimidating'' feels more hurtful than flattering. It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong, acting wrong. 💀

If you love that fanfic that changed your brain psyche forever and want to gush about it, go tell the writer. If you loved so much a piece of art that you saved it a million times in your phone and can't stop thinking about it, go tell the artist. Push away the ''they probably won't care about my comment/it won't make a difference'' thoughts. DO IT NOW. You won't know when they might go inactive forever or deactivate. You can't know if that is the last piece they will ever post. Make sure you show appreciation to creators NOW, while they are still here. While they're still not being replaced by AI.

[pangur-and-grim]

this broken leg experience has made me realize how much muscle you need just to move around the house. I can walk without the cast now, but squatting to pick something up? kneeling and then rising? even standing for a long period in the kitchen takes a lot. and carrying things too, that’s something I couldn’t do while hopping about on crutches. every night I’ve been going to sleep with sore legs and arms just from performing my normal non-intensive household tasks.

[julijbee]

girlbossing too close to the sun.

[fernsensei]

au where gabriel's forced to cooperate with v1 and v2 for whatever reason

[demonslayedher]

Rengoku-san was so, so close to cutting off Akaza's head, yet Akaza still felt more terror about dawn.

[kelocitta]

I'll be honest if youre a strictly digital artist you should pick up some sort of physical hobby art. Stamp carving/needlefelting/etc. Maybe get a single carving knife and just start whittling twigs like some sort of cowboy. Having something more tactile to do with your hands can be a lot more relaxing and grounding than paper or screen art is in my experience its really good for nerves

[the-physicality]

here's what i want to say, politely: I am really tired of people [specifically on twitter] complaining about the structure of the expansion draft. what's done is done. but you can still make a competitive team.

However, I do think someone did the math wrong. many people are focusing on how many people teams were allowed to protect, but I think the real math problem was how many the expansion teams were allowed to take.

going into expansion, each team had on average like 12 players' rights [under contract or RFA] with the rest set to become free agents. If you say each team can only lose 3, and you protect the 4th player after losing 2, more of the lower salaried players stay on their team. then, each expansion team ends up with 9 players or their rights, as do the original teams [more or less].

This also means that expansion teams still have options when it comes to who they can select [which is the issue with protecting more people when the number of free agents is so high]. this is instead of expansion teams ending up with 12 and original teams ending up with 8.

then, you go into free agency with every needing roughly the same number of players, and everything can even out.

[zimszim]

there's something so raw about the doctor abandoning ruby before she could abandon him first. you made me a better person. be proud of yourself. but sorry. you have your family to go back to now. let's make this a clean break yeah 😊 ruby sunday, goodbye. the picture perfect goodbye. not one of abandonment, not really! not when it's like this. he genuinely thinks he's doing her a service with this dead-eyed generic hallmark giftcard goodbye. she deserves so much, and this is all he can give her. but then ruby has to make it personal. she has to say i love you. because she of course, does. and he has to know. but the doctor is incapable of such emotion or honesty at the moment. puts on a dazzling smile and turns away. and then they both break and they walk further and further away from each other

[swordscleric]

I can't stop thinking about the post from a few days ago about how Critical Role has been great at doing personal faith but didn't put the necessary work in to discuss the religious/god angle of c3 in-depth. Like the fact that Cardinal Respa was linked to both the Dawnfather and the Chained Oblivion is, on a personal level, very interesting (fallen/corrupted priest goes hard) but like does that mean that there's a Papacy somewhere in Exandria dedicated to the Dawnfather? If so, are there more cardinals who ordain the bishops of the Dawnfather? Are there Conclave-level intrigues going on in the Dawnfather's Sistine Chapel? Why is the Dawnfather so Christianity-coded in vibes alone if there's no actual outline of his religious organisations? With Downfall the Dawnchild/Dawnfather thing makes the allusions to Christ as Son of God co-existing with the Father textual - was there a Dawnfather Schism around whether the Dawnchild was a separate mortal? Was there a Reformation about how the Dawnfather's Pope kept selling indulgences? Is that why the priest of the Dawnfather Grog & Pike offer a drink to doesn't partake because of a cultural shift between Protestant-Temperance-League-coded and Catholic-coded Dawnfather congregations? Why do I have so many questions about the religious organisation of one of the most important Prime Deities in Exandria and to Critical Role's 3 campaigns? How on earth were the cast (and us as the viewers!) meant to care about the gods if all they had were "really tall kings" instead of interrogating how religious organisations provide both a place of healing and community to a wide range of people and also a place of horrific harm and abuse for a wide range of people?

[forcedhesitation]

astarion origin playthrough worth it just for all the extra moments where he does the "sad wet cat" face

[joongdunking]

WE GOT ANOTHER ONE!! 🥰

THE TENSION 🫠🫠🫠

Joong with his favourite phis 🥰🤏

Joong's message to Dunk 🥹🥹💛💛

"I'm insanely proud of you"

😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹

Joong saying the same thing like last year.. "being with me might be a bit exhausting" but Dunk's answer is still the same "it's alright, it's easy"

That's what makes them the unique JoongDunk 💛

Dunk's reply to Joong 🥹💛

Something extra in his IG caption 🥹🥹🥹