#i am now matthias age

[thisusedtobeafanpage]

wait hold on the crows are 16 to 17 years old????? HELP?????

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

just got to the stupid zaharas chapter and went through dimi and claude's conversation and my god

they really did not use a single quarter of a brain cell when putting that conversation into ag

"your issue is with the church, not with faerghus?" eh wot hootie tootie claude never had a problem with faerghus and hasn't been acting like it. makes it sound like they've been fighting each other (i.e. this is meant to fit gw but and they just copy/pasted the whole conversation bc it just makes no sense).

"we have nothing to gain by fighting you." yeah, you... haven't been and never said you were planning to.

"we could've been friends." and whhhhyyyy can't you? there is an entire zero bad blood between y'all and lorenz has already pretty much said this whole second half of the war thing has been proof of the friendship between the kingdom and alliance soooo...?

"had i joined with you" uh um but you literally did this has been ongoing for half the war now

additional funnies are claude just being so butthurt that dimitri is like this might endanger your life and claude is like aw shucks my life has been endangered since i was born i'm basically an endangered species!

also, dimitri saying it brings guilt to do the things claude would do bc he's been there. lel. claude had no guilt in gw tho (for killing rhea and all that shit).

but fr tho, it just seems like gw claude and dimi got warped into zaharas and the ag ones are just passed out in the normal world having the same yeehaw ass fever dream LIKE

this entire conversation legitimately makes worse than zero sense. i can only imagine how confused people were who played ag first and got this conversation bc it like, legitimately has no place in this route. this is like a fever dream on steroids that were laced with drugs.

i was lucky i was playing ag while simultaneously watching the other routes on youtube or i would have also been absolutely bonkers confused.

[lilisouless]

Wylan: i don’t like being called “Kaz’s son” , it’s just absurd.We are the same age,people your same age can’t be your parent figure-

Wylan: Kaz! I told you to not touch that! Don’t try to use the assassin eyes at me,i said no!

Wylan: I don’t see him like a father “ouch” why would we have “ouch” a relationship as such…

Wylan: Kaz! I am not giving you money! Stop poking me with that thing!

Jesper: eh-

Wylan: don’t you dare!

Wylan: ahem, like i was saying, i understand this is because my real dad is shitty and people wants the best for me but i don’t think the way is just taking the first guys showing decency-

Wylan: Kaz! What did I say about tripping Matthias? Apologize now!

Wylan: Hmm,besides I am not comfortable with infantilizing me or anyone, it’s a huge disservice-

Jesper: Wy! Kaz stole money from our safe box again!

Wylan: ugh! What are we gonna do with him?

Matthias: hey guys! I made a frame of macaroni-

Jesper: Not now Matthias!

[endlich-allein]

My goodness, time flies ! The 2024 tour is already over and Till is right when he says in the song 'Zeit' : "So perfekt ist der Moment / Doch weiter läuft die Zeit"

This year marks 30 years since Rammstein travelled the world with their powerful vocals, rousing music and majestic fire. This year, I've been following the band's adventures for 15 years. I've seen them perform in front of 9,000 people and in front of over 90,000 people. I've seen them in modest venues, in dusty fields and in prestigious stadiums. I've seen them in sweltering sunshine and freezing rain. I've seen them evolve, collectively and individually, and I've evolved with them. I saw them laugh and I laughed with them. I saw them cry and I cried with them. They've been with me for 15 years now, like a second family. They are the most constant thing in my life: family members have moved away, lovers have broken my heart, friends have turned their backs on me, acquaintances have left my life as quickly as they entered it… But they're still here.

This year I had the immense pleasure of seeing them on stage again, and as always, it was an absolute happiness. I'm so grateful to them for the joy they bring to their audience, for the 2h15 spend far away from daily worries, for the smiles on the lips, the stars in the eyes and the happy memories in the heads. I'm so grateful to them for my voice breaking from shouting out their names or the words to their songs, for the aches and pains caused by the headbangs, for the legaches from standing so much, for the tiredness of the sleepless nights. I'm so grateful to them for who they are, for their infectious energy, for their boundless generosity, for their determination and courage in the face of those who would silence them. They are, for me, an example of resilience.

"Wenn unsere Zeit gekommen ist / Dann ist es Zeit zu gehen / Aufhören wenn's am schönsten ist". It's the end of an era, a page has been turned, but the book is not yet finished. So thank you Rammstein, thank you Till, thank you Paul, thank you Flake, thank you Schneider, thank you Oliver, thank you Richard and see you soon... ❤️

Thank you to Héloise and Yolande from Abélard, who did not have the easiest part but who showed passion and determination. And who remind us that we should never say no when an opportunity presents itself to us. I wish them good luck in their careers and much love in their lives 💙

I'd also like to thanks again the crew, all those who work behind the scenes and without whom it would be impossible to carry out this tour. I know that some of them will be heading off on tour with Till this autumn, others have already left for other projects and others are enjoying a well-deserved holiday. I wish them all the best 💜

Thank you to the photographers and friends of the band, who immortalised our memories. Thank you to Jens Koch, Paul Harries, Olaf Heine, Matthias Matthies, Rob Lewis and Sebastian Feger 🩷

And finally, one last thank you. I'd like to thank all Rammstein fans. Those who were lucky enough to go to one or more of the band's concerts this year. Those who weren't so lucky but have enjoyed the content shared. Those who express their love for the band by singing, dancing, having fun, writing, drawing or covering their music. We come from different countries, or even different continents, we're of different ages, from different social backgrounds, but we're united by one thing : Rammstein. Thank you, everyone 🙏🏻

[19burstraat]

proving kaz is a tidemaker, even tho it's not canon and shouldn't be, but I'm gonna argue for it anyway

I already made this post ages ago and now this has been in my drafts for even longer, I just unearthed it... but I'm making it again, more in depth, bc I didn't hit on everything I wanted to last time. obviously this isn't canon bc the point of kaz is he's Just Some Guy and how that really really pisses off more powerful people, and I think that's definitely best, Kaz NEEDS to be otkazat'sya for his function in the story... but if you ever wanted to prove it in a fic, shit is EASY. (I am vaguely considering how it might work out in a fic. we'll see. I've done stuff that couldn't/I wouldn't want to be canon before with my jordie-lives fic, so...) I'll mostly talk in the context that he'd be a tidemaker bc I feel like that's the conclusion a lot of this comes to, but some of the points are more generalised.

obviously the basic argument everyone makes for this is that the reason kaz was able to get back to shore from reaper's barge is bc, subconsciously or not, as a tidemaker he could control the currents to help him, since that's one of the most basic tidemaker powers. in the harbour scene, he notices that the tide has moved to work against him, but it doesn't seem to prove much of a problem; he attributes it to his new will to survive, but... Well. Kaz is exceptionally good at withholding information, even in his own POV.

grisha not using their powers become ill or weaker; kaz isn't really physically ill but he has an element of the underfed and sallow about him that's generally attributed to living in the barrel.

kaz is also ESPECIALLY horrified by the state of mikka, the tidemaker under the influence of jurda parem at the start of SOC; this is attributed to his past trauma and his dislike for things he can't rationally explain, which, yeah, but he is thrown in a way we don't really see again for the rest of the series. he instantly thinks of jordie, and it's maybe the one time he succumbs to superstition in the whole series.

the obvious explanation for how kaz knew that coffee extract and paraffin hid the scent/evidence of grisha is that he's very clearly involved in smuggling (jesper mentions how coffee grounds were used when packing smuggled jurda shipments) but the second explanation,,, is that he uses them himself. he comes up with the solution with IMMENSE speed and he just like, has the coffee extract around. ok, sure, not that hard to get hold of, but still. and coffee gets mentioned in relation to him at least a few times, most noticeably the 'bitter coffee eyes' thing inej uses, which is amusingly romanticised, but also... inej why do you associate coffee w kaz... something you've noticed abt him?

(but then, you wonder why he didn't suggest this to jesper previously; the answer I'm sure he would give you is he did, when it was a problem. before that it wasn't a problem and jesper was doing fine at staying hidden on his own)

the gloves can also add to this one, since they presumably at least cover his wrists and therefore his pulse somewhat, though obviously that's not their main function.

recovers with startling speed from nearly drowning at the ice court; matthias has to get his breathing going again but he's almost immediately fine after. I know yk, heist fantasy book, gotta keep going, but still

kaz is almost completely correct about the methods, powers of, and appearances of the council of tides (one single thing, the method of hiding their faces, is wrong.) impressive, no...? he is also shockingly apathetic in the face of their threats; they fill his lungs up with water and he just coughs it up and then is like "lol" immediately after. this is funny no matter what the fact of the matter (major general of the idgaf war) but the fact his link to them is left hanging is also a thread that could be easy to pick up. I think it would be hilarious if he was secretly in the council, but I won't stretch it that far bc they clearly don't like him lmao, that would have to be a proper AU.

in the dregs, kaz has a corporalki (nina) and a materialki (jesper) but no etheralki. wouldn't it be prudent to recruit one, if he could find one? or maybe he doesn't need one. if he already has one around, for an emergency of emergencies... for a rainy day... (ha ha)

the way kaz's trauma is often described as manifesting, is with the rising of the harbour waters; so it's pretty reasonable to suggest that in suppressing that, he'd also, inadvertently or not, suppress any kind of tidemaker/etheralki impulse or power. possibly he can't even tell the difference between the two, or they're so tangled up he can't really separate them anymore, which is why he doesn't so much as even think to attempt to use it. still, if this was the case I think improvement with one would not necessarily improve the other, or vice versa. kaz hypothetically using grisha power he'd had suppressed would not magically make his touch aversion go away, I think that'd be weird, and I'd not want his PTSD to be passed off as solely being the sickness from not using grisha power, that's reductive as hell. but I can see them certainly being two things very much intertwined.

we don't know a lot about grisha who are native to kerch, but assumedly he'd not have had much cause to use it in his childhood, on a farm somewhere inland, so most, if not all, of his experience with using it would likely be irretrievably tied to ketterdam and jordie so no wonder he just wouldn't use it. I don't think he'd even see it as feasible. perhaps it would be a very very final resort, but he'd never let it get to that point, he'd always want to try something else first. and anyway, he'd not be trained.

the sankt vladimir story is also thematically quite close to Kaz; holding back the harbour waters until he's finally too exhausted and lets it drown him. I like this regardless of this analysis actually it's a good comparison. patron saint of the drowned and unlikely achievement....

even if kaz wasn't an otkazat'sya, after all that happened, I think he'd try very hard to pretend he was. it couldn't save jordie, therefore in his extreme as hell thinking around that entire thing, I imagine he'd reason it wasn't useful, that he could get on better without it, and, like jesper, think it was a liability.

this would add a wild layer to him being the one to have the jurda parem on him for almost all of crooked kingdom; it would make it feel like his plan z was to take it himself. certainly he'd sooner do that than let jesper take it.

and finally: thematically, it slays. like half of the imagery around kaz (and kanej) centres around water (think the bathroom scene, how he only washes in front of her, etc) and that plays into both of their trauma, plus religious imagery, all this... it's a fantastic bit of extra theming. it just doesn't really work with how his character operates.

basically I think you could DEFINITELY make it work and it'd be a killer fic but again it's one of those things, like jordie living, that I don't really want to be canon because it undermines something about kaz's character that I consider pretty critical; in this case, that kaz is not really endowed with any special power or circumstance, he's just bloody-minded and clever, but that's enough for him to pull off almost impossible jobs anyway.

[lemon-natalia]

Harrow the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 49

ORTUS NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO GIVE AN IMPROMPTU POETRY RECITAL 

and Harrow’s started reciting the Noniad despite the fact that she hates it! aww, goes to show Ortus does mean a lot to her, especially after their little bonding session a couple chapters ago

oooh and Abigail’s coming in clutch with some kind of spell 

they summoned the ghost of fucking Matthias Nonius!!!! guess it really is the time to give an impromptu poetry recital 

��why am i speaking in meter’ omfg thats hilarious,  i didn’t even notice

imagine meeting the long-dead guy you wrote an epic fanfic about, Ortus might die again from sheer joy

‘Gideon [...] might have better appreciated the anonymous monster [...] she was a prodigious fighter’ i think its very cool that Harrow’s here watching the non-necromancy dream combat sequence, while Gideon’s off dealing with all the ancient necromancers and their weird dynamics. they’re both very out of their depth

i don’t have a lot to say about this combat other than go the Ninth!, Matthias Nonius is a sick fighter. guess i did get to find out more about him after all. now i want to know how the fuck Matthias Nonius originally died, it better have been old age because i don’t want to meet what/whoever could have taken this guy out

‘she had been, once again, so slow’ oh me fucking too, i just accepted that all of this just might as well happen. but there is a kind of weird dream logic to it all, where the rules are those of the mind 

‘plastered themselves in red whorls’ listen to me, book, listen, you gotta be less ambiguous and tell me if the hair is red from blood or its natural colour, because that is very much going to colour my perception of whats going on 👀 and if the Sleeper is the woman on the portrait that happened to look a lot like Gideon …

‘but i still don’t know why i’m talking in meter’ someone free this man

i kinda ship Ortus and Matthias ngl

and the Sleeper has a metal tag, kinda like a name tag but it says the word ‘awake’, like some kind of message to Harrow to wake up?

nooo Abby i don’t want to say bye to all of you ghosty guys again

and the whole ghost gang is gonna go help Gideon the First fight the RB! thats a fight i wish i could actually see on page. speaking of, poor Gid, he’s the only Lyctor apparently doing his actual job at the moment. he’s gonna be so fucking confused when a bunch of stabby ghost cavaliers show up to help him

Harrow is finally getting some therapy. from ghosts, but it'll have to do

oh no but now Harrow has a terrible choice to make. and like i know that accepting Gideon’s death is technically the right thing to do (and probably better for Harrow’s mental health) i also really really don’t want Gideon to die again

‘Jeannemary said to tell Gideon hi’ awww Jeannemary’s lil crush on Gideon is still alive and well, unlike either of them

‘actually i’ve got something to tell you’ ohhh some brand new and shiny information is apparently coming Harrow’s way. would love to know what it is without the dramatic cliffhanger 

[jh-newman-opn]

did the blessed Virgin Mary see the apostles martyred

A question that occurred to me during my daily rosary, and which I am now going to attempt to answer.

According to Hippolytus of Thebes, our blessed mother was assumed around the year 41AD. The 18thC mystic Catherine Emmerich says she was aged around 64 at the time of the Dormition (source: a vision), which would put the date between 45-49AD. Based on these two extremely accurate and definitely not questionable dates, I will now show how many of her children Our Lady had to watch die (while on earth). Edited upon being reminded from "she did not see this" to "she saw this from heaven", because. well. she did.

Jesus: 33AD. Obviously.

Judas: 33AD. She did not see this bc she was a bit busy with our boy JC but she was around and in the area.

James (the Greater) son of Zebedee: killed by Herod Agrippa in 44AD. Our Lady apparently bilocated to see him on his mission (ur mum could never) so maybe she did that for his death as well.

Andrew: Crucified on an X-shaped cross in Achaia (Greece) in the year 60-61AD. She saw this from heaven.

James (the Lesser) son of Alphaeus: stoned to death in the AD60s. She saw this from heaven.

Philip: Crucified upside down in Hierapolis in 62AD. She saw this from heaven.

Matthew: martyred in Ethiopia in 65AD. She saw this from heaven.

Matthias (replaced Judas): martyred in 65AD, either hacked to death or crucified. She saw this from heaven.

Peter: crucified upside down during the Neronian persecutions of 67-68AD. She saw this from heaven.

Paul: beheaded in Rome on the same day (BFF goals). She saw this from heaven.

Bartholomew/Nathaniel: skinned alive in Armenia in 72AD. She saw this from heaven.

(Doubting) Thomas: was in Persia and India (VERY funny story about this in the gnostic Gospel of Thomas) but was teleported back to Jerusalem three days after Our Lady's Dormition, and was there to see that her body had been assumed. He was later stabbed to death in India in 74AD. She saw this from heaven.

John: Probably died of natural causes at the end of the 1st century. He's winning. St Robert Bellarmine thinks his body was assumed into heaven so they even reunited on the same day (side note: John's conviction that he is Jesus's specialest little apostle is consistent with the favourite child syndrome he clearly also has from Our Lady, and this cannot have helped. Who is the greatest disciple? Doesn't matter, mummy loves John most). She saw this from heaven and then immediately they had a touching reunion :))))))

Simon the Zealot/Jude and Jude/Thaddeus: unknown but probably martyred together. We assume she saw this from heaven, because the alternative would make me sad.

[theautisticwriter]

Yandere! Crows X G/N Reader/ Yandere! Wylan Van Eck X G/N Reader

Characters- Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, WYLAN VAN ECK

Show- Shadow And Bone

Genre- yandere, romantic, polyamorous

Summary- you'd recently moved to Ketterdam, and unbeknownst to you, caught the attention of some crows. or in other words, your first interaction with each crow.

Warnings- Yandere tendencies, mentions of stalking, Wylan getting robbed (let me know if I've missed anything)

Word count- 1.5k

Extra notes- Due to how long each characters introduction is, I've split this into multiple parts, you can find the links to each crows interaction with the reader here. The links will be added as each part is uploaded.

This is a part of a series I will be doing about the crows as yanderes, it is a polyamorous series. I suggest following the order for the introductions so it makes more sense. This series will have its own section on my shadow and bone masterlist, everything else I write about these characters will be seperate to this story unless it is under that section.

I have only seen the show, I am currently reading the first shadow and bone book, so be aware that my knowledge on the characters is currently limited to what is shown in the show and the few spoilers I have for the books.

Jesper Fahey(2) Nina Zenik(3) Kaz Brekker(4) Inej Ghafa(5) Matthias Helvar(6)

———————————————————

♪Wylan Van Eck♪

A delicate tune danced in the crisp night air, adding a much welcomed soundtrack for the people passing by. Skilled fingers danced around a flute as a scruffy young boy serenaded the almost empty streets of Ketterdam. The wind snapped at his pale skin almost viciously, as if telling him to go home, but he couldn't. Not yet, at least. It was his turn to watch you.

As wrong as that sounded, there was nothing sinister going on, no no, he couldn't even see you right now. But you were just around the corner in the other street, gathering the last few items you needed from the market place, and this was Ketterdam. He couldn't leave you completely alone, that would be dangerous. He hoped that this song (that he'd written just for you) would make the end of your day soothing and calm, that the lulled tone of it would keep your forever busy mind at peace, even for a mere moment.

Caught up in his own head, a head filled with thoughts of you and his crows, he failed to recognise the two men coming towards him. When he finally did acknowledge them, they loomed over his scrunched up form, a menacing aura surrounding them. His song stopped, and so did you.

You paused for just a moment when your ears failed to pick up the addictive melody. You guessed the person playing the little ditty was packing up for the night, it was late after all. Your lips slipped into a soft frown as you realised you'd have to continue in silence, what a shame, it was a really nice song.

As you got back to flickering your eyes across all the objects in front of you, you heard a grunt of pain and a soft whimper coming from the street next to you. You paused again, suddenly alert to every little noise around you. The middle aged man behind the stall that you had been browsing sighed at the familiar noise and shook his head. "Poor lad." He grumbled quietly, playing with his pocket watch absentmindedly. You turned to him, eyebrows furrowed in concern, "What's going on?" You whispered, voice barely audible. You didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

He looked up at you and then nodded his head to where the noises continued to come from. "Flutist, always gets his money taken. Not much of a fighter, scrawny little kid." The man informed you, and your frown deepened. People were so cruel.

Your body tensed as a slam could be heard, followed by more pained noises, though they were being muffled by the sound of wicked laughter. Your chest tightened, you knew you couldn't help. You weren't much of a fighter yourself, but maybe, maybe once they left you could do something?

"Is it alright if I come back tomorrow? I- I don't really feel ready to make a decision on what to buy yet." You told the man, and he grunted in response, nodding his head. You gave him a small, but bright smile as you nodded back at him and began slowly making your way to the corner separating you from the crime. The laughter had disappeared, so you took this as a sign of safety.

You peeped your head around the corner, eyes locking on the shivering figure on the floor. Your heart cried at the sight, he looked so..disappointed? In himself, maybe. He held his flute tightly, knelt over the now empty case and you stepped towards him cautiously.

"Hello?" You spoke out softly, hoping to not startle him. His head shot up to look at you, and his mouth was slacked open at the sight of you. His eyes widened and breath stolen. Him. You were looking at him. He'd seen your eyes so many times, you'd looked at other people, you'd looked at the ground, you'd looked at buildings and items you might have liked to purchase, you'd looked at flowers and bees and all sorts of things. And now you were looking at him.

"Are you alright?" Talking, you were talking to him now too. He quickly scrambled to get up, holding his flute tightly to his hammering chest. He was practically screaming in his head to get a hold of himself. "Uh- I- uh- y-yes! Yes I am- I'm alright." A small, breathless laugh left his lips on the last word and he cursed himself for sounding so pathetic in front of you.

You moved towards him, and he stood still, frozen in place as you stood much closer to him now. The street lamps painted your face with a golden glow, your eyes shining in the light. "Are you hurt?" You asked with concern, you didn't exactly know what to say to the boy, so you thought keeping it simple would be the best way forward.

"No no- I'm. I'm used to, that happening." The words left his lips faster than he could process them, his eyes unsure of where to look. He could stare into yours for hours, but he felt embarrassed, therefore they occasionally flickered to the side, then back to your welcoming gaze. You frowned once more at the statement. "How much did they take?" You asked pointing to the worn case on the ground. His eyes followed your finger and he racked his brain to try and remember the exact number of kruge that had been taken.

"5 kruge, I think." He answered honestly, he didn't often get left tips or anything of the sort. In response, your hands rummaged into your bag that lay hanging at your side and you pulled out 5 kruge. It was a rash decision, yes, but you couldn't leave him with nothing. He'd earned that money, he had something that those fools didn't. Talent.

"Here, take this." You said placing the kruge into his shaking hands. At first, Wylan didn't process what you'd given him, focused on the warmth that flooded his body as your fingers touched his palm for less than a second. But then, his eyes fixed onto the tiny circles in his hand and his head raised at such a speed you were surprised he didn't get dazed.

"Oh, no I can't take this. You, you need this more than I do." He scrambled to find the words as he attempted to shove the money back at you, his flute tucked in his arm. Your hands wrapped themselves around his and his desperate attempt to give you the money back stopped. He looked at you, hastily gulping down an uncomfortable amount of saliva. "Please, it's the least I can do for you. You earned that money, and I won't let you go home without it. You have talent, your songs are beautiful and they deserve to be heard and rewarded. So please, just take the money." You spoke reassuringly, still clasping his hands so he couldn't give you the kruge back.

Wylan breathed slowly, his chest going up and down at a steady pace despite his heart pounding so hard he thought it might shoot out of his body. You, you were too kind for this place. Ketterdam was filthy, crawling with liars and abusers, assaulters and murderers, tricksters and conmen and you were in the thick of it with your heart of gold. He had to protect you, he had to. He would.

His thumb carefully lifted itself over your index finger, rubbing it slightly in thanks. "You have no idea what this means to me, please- let me walk you home. It's the least I can do in return." He offered, well, more like begged. "I would like that." You smiled at him, and he smiled back, a sheepish one, but a one filled with a happiness he hadn't felt in a long time.

"I'm Wylan." He spoke as your hands left his, the cold air kidnapping the warmth you'd given him. "Well Wylan, I'm y/n." You held your hand out for an official greeting, and Wylan grabbed it immediately. "It's lovely to meet you."

Wylan left like he'd met you so many times before, lurking in the shadows, watching you as his lips made music with his beloved instrument. But this, this time you had met him.

"It's lovely to meet you too."

———————————————————

[themanirealityshifter]

My Empyrean DR Script (that I will write on here, so that I actually finish it 😭)

Me

First Name: Sebastian

Middle Name: Fynn

Last Name: Riorson

Nickname(s): Seb; Sebby

Pronouns: He/Him

Species: Human

Age: 23

Description: Black hair (wolfcut)(I love wolfcuts, and I don’t care if it’s impractical, I MISS MY LONG HAIR); Olive skin (even though I’m as pale as the moon in my CR); Black eyes flecked with lighter brown; Lean, muscular body (I need to be in shape here or I will die, so luckily I’m in control of this and can script that I’m not a blob that lays on the couch every single day); Top and bottom surgery scars (you bet your ass I have those); Fully transitioned (love that testosterone); Huge black dragon relic covering my back; Rebellion relic covering my chest; Lots of scars all over my body

Positive Trait(s): Intelligent (I need to be able to not be a dipshit and die immediately); Clever (same thing); Good memory (say bye bye to all those days of dissociation and maladaptive daydreaming in my CR, now I will remember EVERYTHING there); Quiet (of course I’m quiet, have to keep up the mysterious act, plus I’m too overstimulated and socially awkward for this shit); Thoughtful (my mind is always stuffed); Nice (even though I’m quiet and don’t talk much, I am pretty nice when you talk to me first)

Negative Trait(s)(yes, I’m gonna script them, just to give myself some flavor): Trusting (making friends wise, always end up getting hurt or stabbed in the back, literally and figuratively)

Dragon Type: Black Morningstartail (I JUST LOVED TAIRN SO MUCH, I HAD TO MAKE THE DRAGON I’M BONDED TO A BLACK MORNINGSTARTAIL TOO)

Dragon Name: Aodhan (do we know how to pronounce his name here? no. will we script that we do know it? yes)

Signet Power(s): Time Manipulation (can go back in time) and Reality Manipulation (can make my imagination real life)

Weapon(s): Daggers and Swords (I love me some sharp things)

Parent(s): None (dead)(it’s literal canon that Xaden’s parents died[along with all the other parents that were part of the rebellion]so yeah)

Sibling(s): Xaden Riorson; Liam Mairi (adoptive brother)

Other Family Member(s): Brodhi Durran (cousin)

Best Friend(s): Xaden Riorson (I’m besties with my brother, I know, I can do that); Liam Mairi (same thing); Violet Sorrengail (I’m the one who ends up being the body guard for her, not Liam); Brodhi Durran (I love my family); Ridoc Gamlyn (I adore him, it’s gonna be interesting all the talks we will have [I am scared that most of them will be about sex he had or people that he likes, help me]); Heaton (I love my non-binary pals); Garrick Tavis

Friend(s): Imogen Cardulo (I love her hair); Rhiannon Matthias (bisexual queen, go girl)

Partner(s): None (I am single forever, thank the almighty gays)

Gender Identity: TransGuy

Romantic Orientation: Aromantic

Sexual Orientation: Asexual

Other Orientation(s): Ambiamorous; Panalterous; Panaesthetic

Extra Fact(s): Liam does not die (I was sobbing when it happened); Homework is effortless and easy always (I don’t want to work too hard or make it take up so much time); I am a skilled painter/artist (something to do when I’m not doing homework, have training, have secret rebellion meetings with Xaden and the rest, or guarding Violet); I wear ear plugs a lot of the time (because I’m overstimulated a lot, but I still manage); Probably have some anxiety and PTSD (not that I don’t have anxiety already and probably have some form of PTSD here-); I keep my head easily (no panicking for me, though, even though I know, realistically, that contrasts with the anxiety, but I want to live and also have my sparkle at the same time); I know how to pronounce Aodhan’s name perfectly; Garrick and Imogen are together (Imogen needs her love too); I cannot die; None of my best friends or friends can die; Xaden, Liam, and Brodhi cannot die

Specific Affirmations For This DR: “I am with Aodhan”; “I am Xaden’s brother”; “I am in Basgiath College”; “I am in my dorm room”; “I am training with Ridoc”

Safe Word/Phrase: “Put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up.” (don’t ask)

Me in this DR (Picrew Form):

Probably will add to this more. Maybe will post some individual scenarios for this DR.

[mariacallous]

As an ex-Soviet myself, I am baffled by the renewed global fascination with autocracy. According to Freedom House, 8 out of 10 people now live in a partly free or not free country. In the United States, surveys show that a substantial number of people would support authoritarian rule and do not consider the decline of democratic institutions a mortal threat. In China, Russia, and elsewhere, the winds of change seem to be blowing in the wrong direction.

Given this shift, HBO’s miniseries The Regime, whose finale aired on April 7, could not have been timelier. With Emmy Award-winning Kate Winslet and Succession’s Will Tracy at the helm, along with all the trappings of prestige television, The Regime was poised to explore some of the 21st century’s heftiest political questions: the allure of demagogues, the slide into unfreedom and tribalism, and the mechanisms a society can employ to reverse this slide.

Instead, The Regime provides only vague winks to the tendencies of the world’s strongmen that fail to rise to the level of serious critique or analysis, deployed with a naivete that feels distinctly American.

Winslet stars as Elena Vernham, a middle-aged chancellor of an unnamed fictitious country in Central Europe who is obsessed with the black mold she believes is invading her palace. To fight it, she summons Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a hunky army corporal from a province that grows sugar beets. Prior to his arrival at the palace, Herbert was thrust into the national limelight for his role in gunning down 12 protesters at one of the country’s cobalt mines, earning him a gruesome nickname: “The Butcher.”

Elena and Herbert quickly develop a Beauty and the Beast kind of attraction (postmodern, of course, with no clarity about who is the beast—capricious and delusional Elena or self-loathing, bullied-turned-bully Herbert). After a brief falling out, resolved by Herbert saving Elena from an assassin, the two begin to rule the palace through a Rasputin-style combination of hysterics and nativism.

For the next five episodes, we follow Herbert’s zigzagging ascent through Elena’s wobbling realm, from a walking humidity monitor to a trusted political advisor and lover. Herbert witnesses, engages in, or directs various antics that, according to the show’s description, depict a “modern authoritarian regime as it unravels.” Scenes include cabinet meetings that Elena conducts from an ice-filled tub and bizarre conversations with her dead father, preserved in a glass coffin in the palace’s basement. Herbert, a man of rural origins, caters to Elena’s paranoia by cleansing the palace’s supposedly poisonous air with the steam from boiled potatoes (a folk remedy popular in my Soviet childhood).

Of course, no leader can outrun geopolitics. The country’s rich cobalt reserves attract international interest, and after chasing out a deal that would have given the United States mining rights on the cheap, Elena cozies up to China, promising it a free trade deal and a cut of the mining profits. Together, Elena and Herbert then navigate their way through the illegal annexation of a sovereign neighbor, a half-baked flirtation with nationalization and land reform, and the sting of Western economic sanctions.

All this chaotic politicking unfolds against Elena’s droning on about love, which she constantly either bestows on or demands from her people. Ever the shrewd economist, Elena proclaims, “The American beast and its client states try to strangle us, but petty sanctions will always fail because our love cannot be sanctioned.” Having shipped her subservient, poetry-loving French husband, Nicky (Guillaume Gallienne), to Swiss exile, Elena, who has regained her sex drive, passionately makes up for lost time with Herbert—and fails to notice the unrest growing among her populace over the country’s economic downturn and crude handling of protests.

By the final episode—spoilers ahead—it seems that Elena’s ruling model is no match for revolution. She is chased out of the palace and must run for her life through a land it’s clear she knows nothing about, despite the “special connection” she often claims to have with its people. For once, someone in this world other than Herbert has managed to outmaneuver her delusions. But soon enough, Elena bends the knee to the very oligarchs she once vilified. A would-be coup is undone with the snap of a U.S.-backed finger.

“What was that all about?” Nicky asks his wife at the end of the show. He is offered no conclusive answer—and neither is the audience.

Tracy, who created the show, has compared The Regime to a dark fairy tale, which may explain Elena’s look—a cross between an aging Sleeping Beauty and Madonna’s Evita—and the glass coffin. One could also see it as a love story, in which two broken individuals find a semblance of happiness by tormenting each other in their own make-believe reality. It may even be a dark comedy, as HBO describes it, if one can have comedy without a single funny joke. (Her cabinet member’s quip, “His profits are fucked like a spring donkey,” is certainly rude, but rudeness isn’t necessarily funny.)

One thing the show isn’t is satire. For that to be true, it would actually have to satirize something. Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels derided the rigid mores of 18th-century England. Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin poked fun at the brutality and hypocrisy of Joseph Stalin’s flunkies in the postwar Soviet Union. Making Elena’s regime a pastiche of autocracies was a fatal choice because those regimes are products of their unique, often brutal environments. Because the show nods to a little bit of everything, it takes aim at nothing.

Instead of real people, The Regime offers us walking cliches: a delusional woman with hot flashes and daddy issues; cowering and corrupt ministers; greedy Americans pining for other nations’ resources; the dull, kerchiefed masses who look like props recycled from last century’s movie sets. It’s not that we can’t care for bad people. We did for the Roys in Succession because they were nuanced characters, at once tragic and funny, with clear agendas that drove the plot. But The Regime’s characters feel generic, simply dropped into the set, stirring no feelings from the viewer, sympathetic or otherwise. The only character with an identifiable interest is the U.S. senator, Judith Holt (Martha Plimpton), who just wants the country’s cobalt. The rest merely float through the episodes, as though searching for a good scene to act out but coming up blank.

This is a shame because the show has no lack of talent. Winslet does her best with the material she is given, but there isn’t much she can do with lines such as, “I like a bit of spice. Spice is nice,” in reference to Herbert’s “spicy” dreams. She has no real antagonists, no articulated desires, and no emotions. Viewers are left to blink at the screen, admiring her outfits and waiting for something substantive to happen.

Schoenaerts, who plays Herbert, is more plausible, if cliched: a tortured warrior prepared to kill—and die—for love. Andrea Riseborough, playing Agnes, the palace manager, is less lucky. Having shined as Stalin’s daughter in The Death of Stalin, here she is reduced to a brittle, peacoat-wearing loyalist who has an unexplained co-parenting arrangement with Elena and yields her maternal rights the moment Elena demands it. Her epileptic son doesn’t seem to mind, as long as he gets new toys. Hugh Grant as Edward Keplinger, the country’s imprisoned opposition leader, is charming, but his cameo feels like a checkmark on the celebrity cast list. With his carpeted cell, steady supply of sausages, and access to the prison’s keys, Grant’s performance lacks the gravitas that the suffering of real imprisoned political figures, including the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, deserves.

And then there is Mr. Laskin (Danny Webb), the head of Elena’s security service. In real dictatorships, the requirements of this job are gruesome and attract rather monstrous personalities—think Lavrentiy Beria of the Soviet Union or Heinrich Himmler of Nazi Germany, both of whom orchestrated horrendous mass murders. Yet in The Regime, Laskin speaks politely about his duty to his country and that he “believes in a principle, the legal transition of power.” Unlike in a real dictatorial regime, we see no blood on his hands. There’s a difference between a temporary suspension of disbelief, which viewers will happily grant, and constantly being asked to accept improbable things.

Herein lies The Regime’s fundamental problem: It fumbles what seems to be the primary point of the show—the portrayal of autocracy. The issue with autocrats is not that they’re narcissists who force others to listen to their off-key singing, as Elena does at seemingly every banquet and celebration she can, but that they are ready to sacrifice millions of people to their delusions. Their subjects, including their inner circle, live in constant fear because the autocrat’s government and law enforcement apparatuses are weaponized and can be turned against them at any moment.

But there is no fear in Elena’s kingdom. Her out-of-grace oligarch is not dispossessed and jailed but simply ordered to clean up chairs at a press conference. Her ministers plot for her downfall in a downstairs bar before mockingly denying her a seat on the rescue helicopter. The rebels take the palace in a span of an episode. (If only real dictators were toppled that easily!) The Regime makes Elena look stupid and pathetic. We do not flee from her in terror; we shrug her off.

Despite her European aesthetics, the portrayal of Elena as a ruler reflects an undeniably American attitude toward autocracy. Even after four years of a Donald Trump presidency, many Americans still don’t take his threats seriously, unable to believe that his cartoonish personality and ineptitude could translate into a real assault on their democratic rights and liberties. With the memory of World War II fading away, others may simply underestimate the difference between living in a free society and living under tyranny.

At some level, plenty of Americans may even hanker for a strongman because he offers simple solutions to complex problems, blind to the fact that—like Elena—he is animated not by public service but by his own vanity, enrichment, and survival and occasionally those of his cronies.

As a creative project, The Regime is free to be whatever it wants to be—a fairy tale, a dark comedy, a saga of human vices. But any serious work of art must be about something, some pressing aspect of human existence, and should be evaluated on those terms. What, then, is The Regime’s message? That love is an exchange of perversions? That the United States is a colonizer propping up authoritarian regimes because it wants their assets? That nothing ever changes and we should resign ourselves to endless inevitable iterations of the narcissist-in-chief?

Cynicism doesn’t win battles—or make for very good television. Perhaps HBO’s next meditation on authoritarianism will give us substance on the topic rather than winks.

[carica-ficus]

"Harrow the Ninth"

21/02/2024

Reading progress: 507/507 (100%)

Read through since last update: 157

Didn't think I'd cram the last part into one post, but here we are anyway. These last 150ish pages were... All over the place. In a good way!

Final notes:

Oh, there she is!!! Talk about a monster under the bed.

Ok, but how casual is that scene? I know something like that was coming (I've seen some fanart, but knew too little to know who it was about, just that Harrow and Ianthe would be peeking under the bed), but it's just so normal. I like it. Kinda eerie because it's not presented as scary.

Of course Ianthe didn't see it. Don't worry Harrow, I believe you.

Yeah, ok. It makes sense that Ortus was just fulfilling other to kill Harrow. His reasoning for it just wasn't strong enough. "You're a liability." Just like everyone else.

Oho! Here we go! Epiparodos! (Whatever that means.)

NUNLET??? 🥺🥺 That's such a cute word.

Ok, the lobotomy. Right. Also saw a fanart spoiler for it, totally forgot it was coming. I thought it was gonna happen later on? In any case. Ok. Yup. This happened.

Harrow NOVA. There we go. The other Harrow finally revealed by her full name. Though I applaud Muir, I haven't even noticed we never got her last name. Gorgeous and genius writing, through and through.

HAHAHAHAHAHA love how Harrow did the typical "I am small. Therefore, I will be a quick and murderous machine" but Muir decided to break up the cliché by saying she discovered that at the ripe age of 5. Man, I love this book. And I love Harrow as a character.

"What's that, you egg?"

Dying. 😂

Ok, gotta say, chapter 40 lost me.

I think... I got it? I might need to read the remaining pages for all of this to settle down, but this is much less complicated that I thought it would be.

What is the meaning of love if not sacrificing every single memory of a person in order to save them? 😭

Of course, it was not a dream. That would be too easy. The bubbles make perfect sense.

I know I said Ortus was annoying when quoting the Noniad, but I really like him as a character. And by that I mean how Muir has given him more depth and allowed him to grow. Which also made the scene where he hugs Harrow so impactful. 🖤

Ok, the Ortus thing was unexpected. And I'm excited to learn what it's all about.

But first. The Sleeper.

UGH! I love how considerate Gideon is with Harrow's body. Sure, she's a little awkward in it and puts out a dirty joke or two, but she's just trying to be respectful and useful. Also the way she's so worried over any and all her injuries, even though she knows they'll all heal? So fucking cute.

Protesilaus took Dulcinea in his care when she fell ill. That's so cute. 🥺

Oh, hell yes! Gideon stepped the fuck up. Time for Ianthe to meet her fucking match.

(I love how protective Gideon is ggghhhgghggh)

Man, I missed Gideon so much.

MATTHIAS NONIUS!!!!!!! :O

(Such a cool scene!!!!!)

You know what? After everything that happened, my reaction to finding out Gideon is God's daughter was just "Ok. Cool."

Cue John's corny dad joke. Love it.

Also I wouldn't have guessed they were related based on their eyes. Sure, John's eyes were mentioned multiple times, but they're silver and Gideon's are gold, so I wouldn't have put two and two together just by that. But! It fits. It's foreshadowed. It works. So yeah. Sure. Love it.

I knew it! I knew that he had a cavalier! I knew that he was a Lyctor! Hell yeah!

So much stuff happens at the end. I just kept on reading, without spending much time on commentating. I needed to know what happens and tbh, I have no idea what I just read. But that's okay! It was fun!

Ok, all in all, the book was spectacular. I liked it even more than I did Gideon. I liked how Muir handled Harrow's grief. I liked the reveals, the mysteries, the tension and the stakes. I liked the characters and I liked how Abigail got a lot more page time. I didn't even care about her in the first book, but now I really like her. I liked Ortus too!

Now, I'm still confused... About a few things. Primarily Harrow Nona. So I'll have to read an explanation or teo about it (or you can comment on the post if you'd like to help me out). Did... Harrow Nonangesimus kept watch and narrated over what Nona was doing? As in, she was dissociating from her body after the lobotomy and experiencing everything from a distance? Or was that all Gideon? Because I feel like it wasn't. Gideon's narration style is totally different and clearly comes out at the very end, but idk. I feel like I'm missing something here or that I'm not grasping something ridiculously simple.

Anyway, I'll be reading a little more about it, but yeah. "Harrow" is done, so I'll have to get my hands on Nona! In the meantime I'll be writing out my review. 🖤

[egittae]

"I'll tell you just as I told Dimitri, there is no time in the kingdom more joyous than this. Even in the wake of your passing, people still celebrate you as much as circumstances will allow." He wasn't immune to it either, the Duscurian wine bottles that were offered, honored, and shared with the dead renewed vigor each year, renewed resolve for the coming ones. "It was actually a set."

It made little sense to say it outright, perhaps it would've been better to let them find out on their own but it wasn't as though the details of such made themselves evident. "Yours is a bit hardier but likewise, the smith said the engravings were an absolute pain but, it should hold to you decent enough should you need to use it." The wine sat easily next to the bed while the sword laid across the pillow and Matthias hummed out as he leaned back. "How old would that make you now? About fifty right?" Sometimes he truly forgot just how young Lambert had been. Not that it would've been any better were he older but...there was much to be said about what might have happened...what splendors might have come to pass if he was even allowed to get older. "Happy birthday, your majesty, my dear friend." "I'd offer to find a river to dunk you into but I think an evening with wine of this quality is practically the same thing."

What an odd feeling, this was.

A date he had partially forgotten- not only because of his amnesia, but because a part of himself failed to acknowledge it as his own birth date. After all, if he wasn’t yet his true self, then this wasn’t quite his birthday, was it? It belonged to a man still lost to time, someone other than him. But alas, if he was to return to his true self he’d have to embrace all of it, even the parts he still struggled with fitting into and was slowly working his way through.

While the wines were appreciated, it was the sword that held Lambert’s attention the most- hands immediately reaching for it to closely inspect the blade and every little detail it had to offer as the corners of his lips pulled into a smile. “Well, I may at least find comfort in the fact my birth date remains a day the people can celebrate, rather than one to be spent mourning.” With eyes still studying the weapon, he sighed softly. A set…cute. “It is a formidable blade regardless, my friend. I am confident that it will be a good partner for any upcoming battles.” A cavalier he may be, but a sword on one’s hip was always welcome.

The mention of his age had Lambert look around for a moment, thinking.

“I suppose yes, fifty. If…you are to consider the years I spent gone, that is.” He locked eyes with his own reflection in the mirror near his bed. “Otherwise, I might as well be forty-six, instead.” Lambert then blinked away, chuckling to himself. “That would make for quite the birthday cake, would it not? A four candle difference, give or take.” After all, it wasn’t like he aged in those years spent dead, be it physically or mentally. It was an odd limbo not even Lambert knew how to navigate through.

Should he even consider the day he woke up on that glade as a new birthday? Not that he remembered the exact date, but that could very well be just as relevant. It was all in all, a messy situation. One he’d unfurl in the future.

Lambert broke into a laugh, patting Matthias on the back firmly. “Oh, you cheeky bastard. We did not even start to drink and you already considered the possibility of me ending up in a river? I might have to throw you there myself if that is the case. Come now, let me see if your tolerance is still as pitiful as my brain is willing to remember!” Sure, Lambert wouldn’t handle such exquisite wine so recklessly- but nothing was stopping them from hopping to a regular tavern later to prove their respective points.

With cheeks rosy from laughter, he looked at the other man fondly. Familiar, as if there wasn’t a gap of half a decade of death between them. “Thank you, Matthias. It is good to spend a day like this again, by your side.”

[quartzhearted]

great tree moon, year xx.

[ SECOND CORRESPONDENCE W. KINGDOM OF BRODIA. ]

Hi, honey,

It's been a little bit since my last letter---and let me tell you, there sure have been some new things here at the monastery. I swear it wasn't that long since I last talked to you, but maybe it has been? Time's a hell of a thing, ain't it.

A handful of moons ago, it was almost like some kind of mass exodus; a bunch of people disappeared, then came back after some time passed. Apparently it's a normal thing, but... it's really strange? I remember seeing something-or-other around the monastery asking for participants, I think... I don't know. It's all a little hazy. Apparently I could have gone, but there was too much to do and I decided against it. Lots of people came back with real bad sunburns.

I've got a pal, Lambert---he's the guy that consensually punched me, remember him?---and he'd gone off to wherever it was. He came back a completely different person. I'm talking new look, new attitude, new lease on life. I really wonder what happened to him over there, but I haven't had the chance to ask him yet. Baby, if you met Lambert, I know the two of you would catch on like a wildfire. He's fantastic!

Speaking of pals, I've made a few more since I last talked to you. One of my favorites is this guy named Matthias---I mean, guy's like an alternate me! He's huge, got short, orange hair, axe guy, and he's a mean fighter. When we first met, we did it the warrior's way. Ended in a tie, and that's while he had a problem with his leg! He's a lot more deadpan-looking than Lambert is, but he's his own brand of feisty. I hope I get to talk to him more; I think we've got some things in common.

There's a new wind blowing at the monastery right about now, and lots of people are getting involved. Heading out on missions, picking up odd jobs, or getting hired for real jobs, and that's just a few things off the top of my head. Hell, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I picked up a job. It was... well, there'll be some instant portraits in here. You can figure it out from those. Damn near gave Diamant a heart attack.

I hope my birthday wasn't too quiet. I assume it'd have turned into a day of mourning, given how things went with Alexand... but I'd much rather people drink and be merry like they always did. I was finally able to take Alcryst out to drink, and Diamant took me out to drink. And that's not even mentioning all of the neat gifts I got; this dragon squirt Nils gave me a dragon warrior charm! And Lambert gave me a sword. A really nice sword! I think I'll hang the charm off of it... but then it might break. So what should I do? You were always good about practical customization, so do you have any ideas?

A girl I've never seen before gave me a stone for my birthday. It was pyrite, so she has to be from Brodia, right? Because why else would she give something like that to me...?

Also, Lapis said something interesting to me when she gave me her present. Something about being newly-included in people that are worried about my health and somesuch. Very weird.

That's probably enough yapping from me for one letter. Like I mentioned, I've put in some instant portraits again---me in uniform, me working at my other job, Diamant is there in one of them, and a few random ones of people I've met. Being here has really helped me talk to people my age and people not my age. It's a real blessing.

I think about you every morning, afternoon, and night, my dearest. Even if you still don't believe this is real... that's all right with me. All I worry about is if you're healthy and happy. Hopefully Diamant and Alcryst have been writing you as well, but if they haven't, I swear that I've never seen them shining brighter or living healthier. They're doing just fine, and so am I.

Write me soon, sapphire. Even if it's just one word, it's one word from my loveliest gemstone.

Signed,

Morion, Professor of Axe, Sword, and Authority at the Officers Academy

[thrwne]

Before season 3 started I was really excited because i really liked the first two season & it reminded me a little bit of Skam. Also i was really excited to see where they will go with the ending of season 2, but now i am truly disappointed… I knew that this season would be tough and everything, but not like this. The only thing happening right now is drama (sometimes really unnecessary) & partying & Felix just being a dick. And yes, the characters are all have an age about 15/16 & they are making mistakes but by now it’s just to much. Erik doesn’t make sense to me, Felix is continuing to be a dick so I don’t feel sorry for him at all & Matthias is just suffering…And a development of characters is not really happening or it’s doesn’t feel like it’s happening.

I really hope the rest of season 3 & season 4 is going to be better, because this show has a lot of potential & it would be very sad if they would waste all of this.

I have hopes season 4 will be better anon ❤️

The Rykter writers are simultaneously doing too much and too little this season. Rykter in the hands of someone like Julie Andem would've been amazing, she understands writing nuanced characters and creating character driven stories

[eggrollofchaos01]

I have an idea, past Jesper, Kaz, Inej , wylan (like 15 before he was in the barrel), Nina and Matthias get sent to the future and see what there lives become to a lot of shock to each of them. I am thinking like a chapter a crow, then reactions to couples (like seeing who the person who you’re gonna be with at a different age than when it actually happens) and just getting it and finally reaction to the whole gang or for Jesper, Kaz and Inej meeting new members of their gang and everyone learning all the progress and how they’ve all changed. Imma go start this now ✌️

[moonchild-in-blue]

darya 👀👀👀👀 you maybe happen to have more women x death imagery like the one by Appolonia Saintclair? i can kneel and bow and do chores and i can cook decently if you care and i can kiss your knuckles tenderly btw … whatever it takes

Sophi honey, I am so sorry about the upcoming infodumping...... This is probably not quite what you asked at all, but alas. The art graduate jumped out. I don't have many sexy naked ladies riding Death for you, so here's a very brief overlook of Death and The Maiden depictions in art instead?

(i accept the cooking and kisses and return them tenfold)

For those who are wondering, this is referring to this beautiful piece by @apolloniasaintclairofficial, tasteful drawing of a naked woman sitting on Death's lap, while he holds a dagger. Beautiful and erotic.

I mentioned in the tags how much I loved seeing depictions of Death and women in art. Now, in art history, this is a recurring motif dubbed Death and The Maiden, often with erotic and sacrilegious undertones, and particularly prevalent amongst German artists. I did a quick google research on the origins of it, and according to the internet, was a common theme since the Middle ages, originating from the Danse Macabre allegories, with a significant revival in the Romantic Period. (wikipage here)

The allegorical motif of ‘Death and the Maiden’ (a young girl, often in a passionate embrace with a skeletal figure) had been popular with German artists and musicians since the Middle Ages, and its reminder of transience and mortality was especially appropriate during this period of foreboding (referring to WWI). [taken from the Tate's entry about Meidner's Death and the Maiden]

Here are some very interesting articles about Death and The Maiden throughout history - Paintings for our time: Death and the Maiden and Death and the Maiden. From Schubert to Schiele. I read them both while researching this, super informative without being overtly verbose. Great selection of art pieces.

Death and the woman, by E. Munch

I'm very fond of this drawing by Munch (huge fan of his lol). Every time I see Death and Women embracing each other so tenderly, my heart breaks for a second. There's just something that is equal parts sensual and tender, something that transcends the inherent sexual appeal of erotic art, something poetic and poignant. Oof.

Here are some selected pieces by K. Kollwitz - X X, and this beautiful piece by E. Schiele (a student of Klimt, you can see the similarities in style).

Also, the revival during the Romantic period was in great part due to Schubert's Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the maiden), a lied he wrote based on this beautiful poem by Matthias Claudius, which would later be used in his piece String Quartet No. 14, also known and Death and the maiden. The poem:

The Maiden: Pass me by! Oh, pass me by! Go, fierce man of bones! I am still young! Go, dear, And do not touch me. And do not touch me. Death: Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form! I am a friend, and come not to punish. Be of good cheer! I am not fierce, Softly shall you sleep in my arms!

Also! I found this super interesting book (it's a free english pdf) called Erotism - Death and Sensuality (og. L'Erotisme) by Georges Bataille, which explores in depth the relationship between erotica, death, taboo, sacrifice, Christianity, and many other themes. I haven't read it but this does look incredibly interesting so. I know what I'll be reading next.

I could go on and on and on about WHY I am so fascinated by these themes, but that would result in yet another big-ass post, and I think this is enough info for one day lol.

(before I forget, I just want to point out that this directly overlaps with depictions of Hades and Persephone, seeing as Hades was often times associated with Death itself - even though Thanatos is the one who embodies the Reaper figure in the Greek myths. So I'm sure you'll find some other tasteful pieces if you go down that route).