#it got dark af

[ellcrys]

Top 3 books I read in 2023:

How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks-those that are honest about the past and those that are not-that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.

An Immense World by Ed Yong

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension--the world as it is truly perceived by other animals.

Notes on a Foreign Country by Suzy Hansen

Hansen arrived in Istanbul with romantic ideas about a mythical city perched between East and West, and with a naïve sense of the Islamic world beyond. Over the course of her many years of living in Turkey and traveling in Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, she learned a great deal about these countries and their cultures and histories and politics. But the greatest, most unsettling surprise would be what she learned about her own country—and herself, an American abroad in the era of American decline.

[gender-luster]

the difference between rumplestiltskin and literally all the other dark ones is so funny to me. like. rumplestiltskin as the dark one is this campy, flamboyant, giggling, mischievous imp of a guy, who traded the dark one's typical ominous dark robe for skin-tight leather, thigh high boots, and a magical blowout. was he like that before he became the dark one? no. not at all. were any of the previous dark ones like that? also no. were either of the two dark ones after him like that? again, no. there's no actual real given reason for why he behaves like that. he just does. and i adore him for it

[sherrymagic]

Why did you throw the fight?

Aou Thanaboon as MEK and Boom Tharatorn as DECH MEMOIR OF RATI | GMMTV2025

[reds-skull]

Messy Cyberknights sketches because I am tired of everything+the English and Scottish banners of the respective knighthoods

I can't choose a favorite I love them all <3

[hikarisbeam]

[naehilisms]

hear me out: geto suguru was never a naturally good kind person

his outward facing personality was a constructed facade, and he defined his behavior according to strict rules and morals, which is why he was so affected when the logical foundation of his worldview began to show contradiction

[bakerstreet-and-beyond]

"Oh. I don't know if you recognize me from the Strip, when I handed you the Mark of Caesar? I wasn't wearing a dog's head at the time."

[katoska]

Theory why Betelgeuse left Lydia's side to "go to the little boys' room" and took over for Richard at his booth for a bit:

Yes, he could have dealt with Jeremy without playing dress-up and taking over Richard's job, and didn't have to enable Richy to get a little more family time in the process. They could have saved Astrid just fine without that, so it seems unnecessary, for him to do that. OOC, even. Except

2) Richard wouldn't owe Betelgeuse a big favor for said taking over of his job and enabling the extra family time with Lydia and Astrid. Also, ofc, for saving his daughter from trading places with Jeremy. Betelgeuse did all that at great cost to himself: A Code 699 violation (see screenshot of transcript from reddit below) gets you extra time working as a civil servant, it gets your topside privileges revoked, and it voids any marriage you entered into, so his contract for payment from/marriage to Lydia was meaningless (well, if it had been a marriage certificate rather than just an agreement to get married in the future. and if he'd actually signed it. and then possibly only if he'd signed it before entering the Netherworld so there'd be a marriage TO void, rather than... not signing it at all... *sigh* he totally burned that half-signed and not-yet-binding contract himself bc he understood she wasn't ready to marry him yet, is what I'm saying, but I digress).

1) Lydia wouldn't have gotten closure for her ex's death without it. Closure which she sorely needed, because the fact that Richard's body was never found plus her seeming inability to see his ghost (Richard: "I know you two can't see me, but I check in on you all the time") add up to her having been in denial of his death. She couldn't see his ghost because she really really did not want to see proof that he was dead. So now she gets to move on from him. Which is very convenient for B. Especially as Richard is unlikely to be able to visit her anytime soon even now that Lydia has accepted his death and should be able to see him again, but I'm getting to that.

Still 2): Anyway, B doesn't do favors. He does business. If people are allowed to take over for others at their jobs in the afterlife, but those jobs are also a form of punishment where you have to "do time" at them for a specific duration, then those work hours are a currency that you can give away or trade. You can, if you find someone who is willing, get someone to do your time for you (hell, you can even get a naive Breather to trade their actual Life for your afterlife existence).

So yeah, I don't think Betelgeuse took over Richard's booth just out of the goodness of his heart. I think they made a deal, one that means that B will be topside again much sooner than the Deetz' will expect so he can get back to trying to seduce Richard's ex (hey, Richard always supported lost causes, so... 😆), while Richard will be stuck at work, unable to visit the Living for a long and unspecified amount of time. Not that his family's gonna notice, bc they never used to see him visit them, anyway.

And yeah, according to someone from reddit who decyphered that page in the Handbook, there's a bit about how the Deceased who violated Code 699 has to cease Trading, if applicable.

But I think that only goes for post-conviction of the crime, not as an automatic consequence of the crime, as B was also still able to visit the Living World to attempt the church wedding. Which, actually, is yet more evidence that this latest marriage attempt was more for the sake of declaring his feelings and testing the waters (and showing off, and getting rid at the competition) than him trying to actually get, and stay, married. Cause the church wedding would have been voided by a conviction, too.

Anyway, that's my theory on B's incredibly considerate, and therefore incredibly suspicious, detour to Richard's booth and letting Richard have his heroic moment.

And tbf, Lydia and Astrid are Richard's family. So it wouldn't even be unreasonable to expect Richard to pay for the legal trouble B got into from saving them. Like, I'm sure he'd have done it anyway, but if B can pass on that buck then ofc he's gonna.

[morbidpaintz]

Death's touch, courtesy in the hush of winter. A silent adieu, for those who oppose so fiercely.

[toad-in-a-trenchcoat]

heheheh.

HeheHaHAHA…

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

[taygetuspositive]

local serial killer has difficulties reintegrating into civil society

[drzibs]

the horse girl in me wants so badly to draw eom’s trusty steeds….. i can see buttercup and witchstomper so clearly in my head

[dancing-heart-pony]

Pride Art, Day 13: Beach + Sign

As if I needed an excuse to draw shirtless Dark… 😤

[tiger-lily-55555]

My first art fight attack for @graphic-ginger of their oc Ardentia!

[myfanfictiongarden]

I was right, Sol is a clingy parent short from a soccer-mom!

[shadowqueenjude]

"Chaol is such a big red flag!" stfu if he existed irl you'd be tripping over yourselves trying to get him. Rowan wouldn't even get a second glance.