#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 🤔

[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.

[hajihiko]

“oh no people tell me I have no sense of personal space and I'm a man and her unofficial coach what if I've been making her uncomfortable- and Akane is like nah. You're not gonna do anything to me I can feel it. Like hes the only person who can overpower her but he just uses that strength to be there for her” og my god. i need a minute after that ome. god i had a whole long winded analysis of this and i was gonna put it all here but i seriously have no words. this is so real in every possible way and a lil too relatable lmfao

ITMEANS A LOT TO ME OKAY. I too could rsnt but idk where it would go

[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

[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

[forcedhesitation]

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

[averlym]

litany of the martyrs (click for better resolution!)

[desultory-novice]

“Through the Looking Glass”

Sorry for giving anyone Deja Vu!

To explain...

This comic was actually the FIRST propaganda piece I began drawing for the Finals before deciding to finish the other one instead. I wasn't sure I'd come back to this idea after Mint made their own funny jokes about the mirror-verse situation, but my sister (who gave me the idea for this) wanted to see it finished, so! ✨

Btw, Noir's really close to making a comeback..!! Can his tourney story end a happy one?! Will he escape the constant cycle of trauma?!

@kirbyoctournament

[cookiecrumbconundrum]

even a day is a very long time // on resilience & saving your younger self

@/inanotheruniverse | dana's hands and, long island, new york | lilith kerr | @/tapewormart | sue zhao | robert de flers | "problem area", melissa broder | dead poets society, peter weir | creature, michael dumanis | e.t, steven spielberg

[alwaysyouuuuuu]

So i was thinking about your Wolfstar Marvel AU again (it should pay rent with how much it's spinning around my head) and like,,,, Sirius not having any kind of closure about Remus,,, he doesn't know what happened to him, they never found a body or any traces of him and then he was pronounced dead and Sirius just. Doesn't know. He doesn't even know why they took Remus in the first place. And he probably feels guilty about it too (bc ofc he would!!!). Just, the lack of closure of it all, the big question mark haunting him, up until 70+ years later when he's face-to-face with Remus again (I'm loving it)

Hi hi hi!!!! 💕💕💕 Thank you so much for the ask! I am so happy we both find it consuming haha and I agree. AU needs to start paying me hourly wages for just how much it keeps me up and wondering at night. I would be in tears and at the end of my wit, if I had to do just part of this research in school (I was not into history or any literature for school, and that's putting it mildly.) and now I do this willingly lol.

You know one of those, "I'm so glad you asked"- *7 hour long vm* memes? I fear this will end up like that. Bear with me.

Before we get into that, I'll clear up some background? So Remus was first taken along with a lot of their troop (ambush?), and they were partially injected (plot reasons plot reasons!! I feel like you can guess why!!) and the Sirius and co rescued them etc etc. And then Remus was targeted specifically.

So before the permafrost, I feel the situation was very bad for Sirius. For one, he would have agreed to the Serum in the first place because Remus was in captivity (also for the war effort, of course, but to Sirius, at that point there really was no room for question which may have been there otherwise), and then he got Remus back. Just to lose him again.

And then, to the Military and almost everyone else, Hope and Lyall Lupin lost a son, but Sirius Black lost a fellow soldier. He lost a comrade. Sure, they were friends, so him being vengeful is believable, to an extent. And no one really gets the blank look in his eyes, after.

I believe there was a quote that went like, "Should you lose a spouse/partner, there is a shared understanding of the relationship, but when you lose a friend, there's no tangible evidence, no widely acknowledged way to mourn."

Except, for Sirius, he did lose his partner, love of his life and dearest friend of so many years. And no one understands. Maybe James and Lily know, but it is the 40s. Realistically, they are quiet about it at best. For him it is both, and all the more painful. And he doesn't get exactly why Remus was targeted either. Remus was at an integral position in the OSS, unusual for his age, recruited at the very beginning, one of the sharpest minds, so it could have been that. And god, he was cold blooded when he got to fighting. But of course, he cannot shake the feeling that it was because of him.

So, in that time, the days he spent looking for Remus with James and Lily, (which really wasn't much, they would not have been allowed to!) he is partially cynical. Not to the point of self-blaming but enough to self-destruct. James tries to get him out of it, but Lily grits her teeth. She doesn't say much, because she understands, I believe, how much at that point he just wants it to end.

*BAM* permafrost.

After he gains consciousness, he would have blanked out for a while, because what even is this? But he doesn't, because after the first few excruciating minutes, when the blood is pounding in his chest, looking at every flash of light, every building and car that look unnatural, really, the first thing he processes is Moody telling him that the War is over. Good, at least something went well, he thinks.

They tell him many soldiers were rescued, because that's the first thing he asks. After it sinks in, he wants to hope, and maybe he does. Because this is real, he can see it. As outlandish as it is, he is in the future. If this can be real, how foolish would it be to hope that maybe Remus made it too? He would be old, and he would have lived his life. Maybe with someone else, and that's okay. If he gets to see him one more time, Jesus, it's okay.

They tell him what happened with HYDRA and his family. They tell him about James Potter and how he revolutionized weapons, they tell him about Lily Potter, who later went on to join the NSA. God, he gets fucking giddy hearing all of that, because it worked out. For someone, it did. For James and Lily, it did. He wants to meet Harry.

And he starts to have a nagging thought, because with how they speak of and to him, maybe they would have mentioned his known childhood friend. And Remus was known to his own credit.

So he asks, slowly about one Remus Lupin?

And lo and behold. They know of him of course, of course, he was Captain America's best friend. But nothing was known of him post war.

He tries to hold his face and nods, but Moody gives him a strange look. Tells him that he'll look into it for him. He tamps it down, though, there is no point in a wishful fantasy. He would have begged Moody if required, but there really is no point. And he doesn't think he can open his mouth without saying something incriminating.

Moody offers him the initiative, of course, but they tell him to take a breath, see the world, find himself first. And he does, he takes a few days. But then he gets time to think about it, to mull things over, to reevaluate his last choices. When he is trying to ease into the new world, he is busy, things are overwhelming. But once he gets home, he spirals. He remembers how panicky he had been during the first rescue mission. He had been desperate. And what if that clued them in? There were others in the OSS. So why just Remus?

It had to be him.

So he throws himself into missions, trains hard, exhausts himself so doesn't have to think. He does what he's always been doing, he helps SHIELD and doesn't question much, because he is still processing. Some things stick out but one can only handle so much, yeah? Besides, James and Lily were the co-founders.

He finds out. Well. Many things about his past and it's just so much (I'll stop or this itself will spiral to 3k.)

I feel he's quite mercurial at times in these days. Unsettled, but he keeps going. He drinks sometimes, gets shit faced. Those days are increasing, really.

Then he meets Elena.

And there is something striking about her. Such a young girl, and he can see it in her eyes that she has seen a lot. Too much. He sees himself in her. And he is protective. He is maybe a little taken aback. Because she seems so much... like an old soul.

And Elena is drawn to him too. She opens up, slowly, slowly, which she doesn't normally. But he is fiery. Like her. And they mostly have the same stances. She doesn't speak of her childhood, and so he doesn't ask. She does mention she had a dad, and though seemingly not for long, she remembers her name from him.

She seeks out his company and it soothes something in him. I feel he's a little more settled? With time? I mean it's hard to pity yourself when there is someone dragging you out to bowl and join soccer clubs, when that someone is a loner too. Even though thinking of Remus' hurts a little more each day, because he feels that Elena and Remus would get along so well. Man she even fights like him.

So when he sees Remus again, it is whiplash of the worst kind. Remus is just there. Because it is Remus and it is not, and he is standing there just staring because this Remus even fights the same. And he sees Elena standing frozen there, and it suddenly hits him that she looks... like Remus.

Except for her eyes and it is like he is watching everything from afar. All he can do try to hold Remus back. Until Neville flies them away.

Because what has his life come to?

Elena is not responding. She is not even looking at him. And Sirius is thinking a thousand miles an hour. I think he'd find out everything he can about whoever this Winter Soldier is.

Before they finally bring R in for questioning I feel S would be overcome with guilty and longing and a lot of painful confusion, really.

And mostly, Sirius is guilt ridden. Remus was in there, with them doing who knows what to him, for 70 years? He never deserved that. Sirius was outwardly rebellious. It was his family helping fund HYDRA. And then there's Elena. Is Elena Remus'? Because how in the world did Remus manage to have a kid while he was trapped in a facility?

There is something really cool about her name. if you look closely.

Outside of his blackouts, Remus solely spoke Russian to everyone around him for 70 years right? So it seems logical that's what he'd speak to elena in that environment, mind controlled half the time etc, before they were separated (she was like. 7) and he'd find it a little difficult to slip into English again, or that's what Elena thinks. So when he demands to meet her first, she storms in, defensive stance (Sirius is standing right outside by the way) but Remus just blinks. Because they said it was Elena Chernova. But it's not. It's Helena Black.

And Sirius just. Dies a little.

Basically. He is spiralling.

So is this, so I'll stop here.

Based on this post. + snippet.

[reality-detective]

[idalenn]

To reach The unreachable star