#it's a nice dichotomy

[misc-obeyme]

Hello! :D

I simply can't stop thinking about Barbatos being insanely attracted and so deeply in love with MC that he don't make the effort to hide it anymore, but the problem is: MC doesn't actually think that he feels that way.

(I'm using female pronouns for better explanation, pardon my english 😔🫶)

Like, MC lives with many ancient and immortal beings who have lived for many many centuries and she is only a human who lived for a few years. In mc's conception, she doesn't see a reason why any of them would be attracted to mc in any way, so she just lives peacefully with them, not really expecting any romantic approach.

Mc and barbatos have a friendship, and mc is attracted to Barbatos (who isn't really?), but doesn't do anything about it. Kinda like the attraction you feel towards your favorite idol, you don't really make a move, but you wish you could get married.

Barbatos notices and kinda feels the same way, sending discreet signals when they were together. He finds it strange, because he sees her obvious interest in him, but doesn't do anything about it.

As time passes, Barbs feelings grow stronger and he grows frustrated and is determined to show MC his interest, his discreet moves now are obvious (only when they were alone bc its barb, cmon). When mc is talking he is just staring at her with such lovestruck eyes, blinking slowly and repliying to her in a flirty way. Mc only grows more and more flustered, not making any moves still.

It gets worse in a degree that once barbatos corners her against a wall and stares deeply at her soul, saying something bluntly urging her to do something since he knew she wasnt oblivious to the situation. Maybe in a teasing way, maybe serious.

I dont know if my ideas came out clear and I honestly think I'm a little lightheaded bc of anti-allergy meds, but this plot has been haunting my mind and I had to tell someone. Stay safe!! 🫶🫶🫶

Hi there, anon! While I'm a little concerned about medications making you lightheaded (like omg please rest and I hope you feel better soon!), I do think I understand what you're trying to say!

Because ahhh Barbatos he's so reserved. When I wrote my long fic, there's kind of a theme where the MC character doesn't believe that Barbatos returns their feelings. It's the cause of much angst and anguish, especially in the later chapters.

I think this is because Barbatos doesn't really express his feelings all that much. He's always calm and collected. He doesn't really get worked up about much of anything. Even when he's mad, it's like hidden behind a smile. The only time we really see him get truly angry is with Solomon in Nightbringer. (I mean there may have been other times but that's the only time I can remember.)

Anyway, I love the idea that he finally picks up on MC's feelings and realizes he has to start being more expressive with his own feelings. I kinda think he might realize that he only has so much time with MC, assuming they're still mortal. Like he's gonna hafta do something because time is short!

I personally am very fond of Barb being a tease, so I like the idea of him kinda teasing MC about it at first. But eventually he's going to get serious. If he thought MC really didn't understand how he feels and wasn't picking up on his teasing and maybe couldn't respond for some reason, he would choose to get serious and direct with them.

So yes, I think this is a delightful scenario and I am always rooting for Barbatos to confess his true love to MC lol!

[ex-jock-enthusiast]

One of Tumblr's finest home-grown hogs, the wonderful @namdoogj! This feeder bodybuilder decided to embrace the best of both worlds, and he's looking all the better for it!

[sharkiegorath]

while i'm at it. while aziraphale is christian programming personified, i don't think he views crowley as 'bad' or lesser or needing to be 'fixed', especially not in present-day S2. not even subconsciously. the crazy thing is, i think he's almost absolutely sure that crowley is good. crowley is the best thing in his life, the keystone reason why he still believes in the underlying goodness of the universe. in aziraphale's rigid thinking, he wants crowley in heaven because heaven is pretty bad when it 'should be' good and crowley is 'actually good'. aziraphale doesn't hate that crowley is a demon - he thinks he never should've been considered evil at all. he doesn't prefer the long-gone angel crowley - he just wants to see him that happy again. aziraphale doesn't want to fix crowley so much as he wants to fix the system for crowley. but 'fixing' and good vs. bad are antithetical to crowley's worldview; that absolutism is part of why crowley fell in the first place and why crowley refuses to go back. that's why it's so heartbreaking and also i'm shitting drywall

[venti-death-watch]

i think a lot of people have a hard time reconciling aventurine’s ruthlessness with his kindness. and like to be honest, i fall into those traps a lot too.

he’s someone who has fought for everything he’s ‘had’, whose all-or-nothing mentality comes from how anything less than the best is not an option if he wants to survive, who i think is a lot more ruthless and cunning than people are willing to see him as.

but he’s also the guy who instantly was incredibly kind to his child self without even knowing it was him.

and tbh, i don’t see why he can’t be both at once.

[crystallizsch]

The First Kiss (?)

yuusha tala x jamil viper (oc x canon) word count: 800+ cw: pure angst

(awajkjfsdkjl omg some writing reveal about their relationship dynamic? 😳 ALSO THIS ENDED UP BEING LONGER THAN INTENDED AAHH and there are bound to be typos in here but uhhh anyways—)

At last, they found themselves alone, wrapped in each other's arms, savoring the calm evening air.

Yuu smiled and raised her bare hands to cup Jamil’s cheeks gently. It was rare for the prefect to have her gloves off. So Jamil’s face heated up at the touch.

“Haha. Your face is warm, Jamil.”

“Whose fault is that I wonder?”

“Couldn’t be me.”

They joked, feeling their breathy giggles against one another and realizing their lips were almost touching.

Was this… Was this finally the moment?

Sure, she was already incredibly lax with him before — being affectionately touchy with him and constantly giving him quick and casual kisses on the cheek (as she does with basically her closest friends). But they seemed to have become close in a way that was more than Yuu’s “overly friendly” nature.

So what about a kiss on the lips?

A sudden wave of uncertainty hit the magicless prefect. Her hands dejectedly slid back down Jamil’s chest as they curled into fists.

The implications of a first kiss on the lips felt a lot heavier on her than she thought.

They have both been dancing around their feelings about one another. They both knew what they felt about one another and even made a show of teasing each other for it. But neither explicitly stated what those feelings even were.

Yuu felt much more guilty in that regard, considering her more than a flagrant expression of that affection toward him. One would think she was leading him on, but that was never the case.

And she really, truly liked him but—

Jamil tightened his arms around her waist when he felt the hesitation in her body. This subtle move caused Yuu to look deep into Jamil’s eyes again. Her heart squeezed at the sight of a soft and gentle look as she looked back with a distinctly sorry expression on her face.

It was bizarre that these were once the dangerous eyes that brought her pure hatred toward him. Now that they looked so kind and genuine, they admittedly felt more dangerous. How unfair.

“…..We don’t have to, you know,” Jamil said in a low voice. It sounded vague enough that even he did not know if he was only referring to them sharing a kiss or having a relationship overall. He also tried to be reassuring, but he was aware of the slightly sad and disappointed tone he let slip in his voice.

Yuu gulped and then felt her breath hitch in her throat. It was as if Jamil had read her mind.

Damn you, she wanted to say to him. At this point, she did not know what to say. Yuu felt like she was caught in a lie and wanted to prove him wrong. But she can’t. It wasn’t that she felt anything less for him; she simply felt conflicted about finally sealing her feelings with a kiss. The prefect just wasn’t ready. She doesn’t know when she will be. And she did not want to admit that.

Meanwhile, Jamil was relatively ready to receive that kiss. Of course, he would not say that out loud. From his perspective, Yuu would have to act first if there was truly something more to their relationship. But it seems like today was still not that day.

“I’m sorry…” Yuu whispered under her breath.

Jamil did not answer. Instead, he gave a quick peck on the prefect’s nose, which caused her face to flush. She quickly buried her face on his shoulder with a shaky sigh, her hands gripping his clothing. The vice housewarden half-heartedly laughed at her reaction as he snaked his hands higher around Yuu’s back, giving her a gentle hug instead.

There were no words exchanged between them for a period of time. They simply rested in each other’s embrace.

Still, this indeterminate name to their relationship weighed heavily on both of them.

Jamil couldn’t even say that he would wait for her. Because that would be a lie. As painful as that realization may be, he knows he wouldn’t. Why would he? Yuu repeatedly expressed her homesickness anyway.

Besides, Jamil was used to it. All good things were never permanent. That was what he was telling himself at least... Somehow this time, it was getting harder and harder to convince himself that he could simply accept losing something — her specifically.

And for Yuu’s part, she was also aware of this — that she knows she’ll be leaving all of this behind one day. The prefect had her own plans for the future, and she assumed that the vice housewarden would have his own.

There was no point in committing to anything. Because if they dare even act upon their true feelings, or heavens forbid say it out loud, it will make the inevitable separation even harder.

this was the vibe when i was writing this btw hgffjhklj

[thatssroughbuddy]

I will forever love aangs optimism

“Right. Why has no one tried fighting the fire nation with fun??” “I don’t see why not”

“Maybe instead of saving the world you can go into the jewelry making business” “I don’t see why I can’t do both”

He’s just got the most balanced attitude in the face of it all and I love that about him

[there-are-4-lights]

from here

[asofterepilogue]

the very first song of epic is about how the gods just really want odysseus to have blood on his hands, and the only choice he has is whose. odysseus tries to think of other ways, and he's told they're not available to him because that's the will of the gods.

poseidon pretends to give him a choice between dying and apologising, and then destroys his fleet anyway. scylla's lair is the only way to go home, and scylla has a cost, and the cost must be paid, and all odysseus can choose is who will pay it. zeus comes down to punish odysseus and his crew for slaughtering the sun god's cattle and tells odysseus someone has to die, all odysseus can choose is who (and anyway zeus already knows who it'll be, doesn't even actually wait for odysseus' answer).

he's never given a third option. he doesn't even try to come up with them after circe - what would be the point? the gods have made it clear they're just toying with him and what he wants doesn't matter, what he would attempt doesn't matter.

and then poseidon finds him on the shore of ithaca, when he's almost done, almost home, after 7 years of having no choice whatsoever, not even the illusion of one. and poseidon tells him to choose between killing himself and watching all of ithaca be destroyed.

and somehow, this time, odysseus will choose another way.

[utilitycaster]

VERY glad that Evontra’vir said “the titans are dead” because like there are currently living beings that will suffer if Ludinus’s plan succeeds and they just don’t seem to matter compared to titans that died a millennia ago??? (After trying to wipe out mortals themselves)

Hey anon,

Agreed. The thing about the titans coming up is that it does, actually, make a lot of sense for the two characters who have been most vocal about it - Ashton and Laudna - to feel this way! But it doesn't come from a rational place; it comes from profound trauma and loss about which they can't be objective.

Taliesin talked about this on 4-Sided Dive: Ashton is grabbing on desperately to the one piece of information they know now about their missing childhood and is "leaning into it...probably before he should." We know this about them; Ashton's been emblazoning themself with the Hishari and Dunamancy symbols without having a single clue what they were. The titans are part of that. Did you notice how he keeps saying "things are changing" and didn't actually like...provide any meaningful information? Again to quote 4SD: "...there's not a lot of judgment happening about whether or not that's a good thing or not, and what it actually means." Like, I think that, based on Ashton's past position of "don't kill everyone for your goals, that is shitty" if they did stop, and process, and set aside that strong emotional factor that's in play (which is not something I'd expect them to be able to do easily!) They'd realize that the titans returning, were that possible, would be cataclysmic. But that's not what they're thinking about right now. I think Evontra'vir bluntly stating that the titans are dead was a needed splash of cold water on that line of thinking.

My thought re: Laudna is that it's slightly more metaphorical. Consider her backstory: a conquering force swept in and destroyed most of what had been there before. She is a relic both of that earlier time and of that conquering force, and the subjugation she experienced never truly stopped, even though Whitestone has moved on. Of course she'd see herself in the titans in the telling of stories about the titans! People like Percy get to return and revitalize and build a new family and grow old and happy and die, despite their trauma, and she's caught between life and death forever. Of course she'd relate to some half-buried thing that people call monstrous and ancient and displaced! But that doesn't actually help her do anything about her situation and it's not a philosophy that really is useful in understanding the larger geopolitical (and, frankly, cosmic) reality happening right now, because, yeah, if you let the titans back, people will die.

For both these characters - who have spoken to each other about being physically altered and left for dead, alone, in ways no one else can quite understand, I think there's something immensely seductive about the idea of something older than the gods, something defeated but could rise again, which both is relatable to their own situations and comes neatly packaged with a reason why it didn't save you when you called out. But it's still a fantasy. It's not real, it's not going to happen, and so it's important that Evontra'vir, who as Jirana said, does not mince words, called it out for what it is. The titans are dead. Something of their essences does remain for you to use to make a choice. You are going to have to do this using your own judgment; you are doing the saving; stop worrying about the dead and start thinking about what you will do to serve the living.

I think an emerging theme of this campaign - and arguably a secondary theme of the past campaigns, and really, the theme of D&D if you think about it, is that the person you developed into because of your trauma, and the coping mechanisms and behaviors and presentation you developed as a result may eventually cease to serve you once you find a support network and begin to be given more and more agency within the world; and indeed, if you cling to these things they will begin to hurt those around you, and eventually you as well. I think "The Titans are dead" is one way to very, very bluntly and effectively communicate that.

[tibialtybalt]

I've been spinning a bunch of tsv thoughts in my head but none of them can be said more aptly than

[kujakumai]

Marik Ishtar will experience an emotion he doesn't want and go well there are two options. i can break everything in sight about it right now or i can bottle it in a neat little compartment for one thousand years. and if you try to explain to him there are more choices than that he simply will not hear you

[starmist]

To me Alchemy of Souls is very much a “they’ve been dead from the beginning” story

Like,,, Cho Yeong died that day with the rest of her family, Master Lee declares her dead and Kim Dojoo even holds a jesa for her.

Naksu dies, if not the moment she shifts her soul/has it stolen, then in ep18 when she lets go of the ice stone and chooses to live a normal life. She herself even says in ep5 that “now Naksu is also dead”.

Hell, she even lives as essentially a vengeful ghost. A cold and empty existence, her only purpose to avenge her family. The entirety of s1 is about her learning to live and want to live which is what makes her fate so tragic.

Jin Buyeon died in the womb and later, the girl that was born through the power of the ice stone, is thought to be dead by everyone save for her mother.

(Nice parallel of Cho Yeong & Jin Buyeon where Jang Gang, like Jin Ho Gyeong, obsessively looks for a little girl thought to be dead by all but him, because of his grief and guilt)

And even her name belongs to a woman’s dead granddaughter. Though I’m only looking at this through a s1 perspective, Jin Seol Ran, Jin Buyeon’s original identity, has also been all but dead for centuries.

A twice over dead girl, inhabiting the body of another dead girl, uses the name of yet another dead girl, and shares a body with a two centuries long dead woman.

She was never going to survive. How much she changed, everything she did, was all futile in the long run because she died long before the story started, there was never any saving her, she was dead from the very beginning.

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Foolish and Bad being each others' kids' uncles is so funny cause you have Leo being a light-hearted little prankster to Bad and him being very fond and sweet to her

And then you have Foolish and Dapper

[silverlining-ships]

I don't know how y'all feel about original music, but I composed a Steven Universe-style soundtrack instrumental based off of Jasver last night :) It's very classical contemporary x trap and I'm so excited about it!! Especially since it's completely outside of my normal genre of composition. It feels so reminiscent of Jasper and I :)

[gaywizardemporium]

In the Wishverse, the Wishborn setting, wizard magic is categorized by function. There are eight major magical taxa represented by eight major Guilds:

Elementalism: the art of controlling nature itself - air, fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. The Association of Elementalists is really a dozen smaller Guilds in a united front.

Summoning: the art of beckoning spirits to your aid. The Coalition for the Summoning of Otherworldly Entities is similar several schools of magic working together.

Bardic casting: Expressive folk magic unified under the umbrella of Bardic working. The Society for Creative Spellcasting and Magical Self-Expression welcomes anyone whose magical expression is through a creative art.

Artificing: the art of physical spellcraft. The Guild of Artificers and Mystic Weavers makes magical items or embeds magic in physical things.

Necromancy: the art of speaking with the dead and mastery over memory. The Somber Order of Speakers with the Dead are all priests of Finality, the God of Death, and serve them personally.

Illusionism: crafters of beguilement and other spells that baffle the senses. One of the youngest major taxa, has a sudden swell of membership in The Sworn Kinship of the Beguiling Arts when there was a boom of children with an illusory affinity fifty years ago.

Potioning: the smallest of the major Guilds, but a major Guild no less. Potioning is a complex and difficult art, mastered only by the dedicated - but there are quite a few dedicated, as the membership of the Union of Arcane Chemists and Apothecaries attests.

Foresight: Future sight, clairvoyancy, prophesy and other oracular powers , the Seers membership only outranks the Potioners by the slimmest of margins. The Oracular Union of Foreseers and Clairvoyants supports anyone whose vision looks forward in time as well as ahead.

There are forty-eight recognized minor taxa, and countless others unrecognized by the Taxonomic Order. Wizards with uncategorized magic join the Freelancers Guild, if Guild life is for them, or must demonstrate a skill in one of the other taxa, so the wizard may serve them instead.

The Freelancers Guild has the membership to be counted as a major Guild, but has been barred from official entry on account of a philosophical disagreement among the highest wizard council: If the Taxonomic Order permits uncategorized magic, it would then no longer be taxonomic. But, is not the act of categorizing the uncategorized in and of itself taxonomic?

The subject is reopened for debate on the New Year and has since become a part of the festivities for the last fifteen years.