#it's good stuff

[acommonanomaly]

I’ve seen a lot of criticisms of how the Crows are portrayed in The Veilguard, the biggest one being that they are “sanitized,” and while I can sort of see why people think this, I personally don’t see it. 

I was thrilled with the Crows in the Veilguard. My Crow Rook playthrough was so satisfying, and I came to love the Crows even more than I did before. 

Maybe that’s because I don’t feel the need to be constantly reminded that they are assassins who kill people for money. Or maybe it’s that I love them because they are assassins who kill people for money. I thoroughly enjoy morally gray characters, those who struggle against or give in entirely to the darker sides of their natures. I enjoy them because they are a warning of what any of us could become under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

And that’s why it’s so vital to me that they are not dehumanized. 

Of course some of these people who have gathered together as a group are going to form found families. I LIVE for that shit. Them being assassins doesn’t mean they're incapable of seeking friendship, family, and love. They’re people. Of course they’re going to fight for the freedom of their city and their people when Treviso is occupied. That doesn’t mean they aren’t assassins anymore and it doesn’t mean they’re knights in shining armor. It means they’re people fighting for what they love.

Zevran told us about the horrible recruiting methods of house Arainai and their torture of children. But it’s also heavily implied that he really cleaned house and stirred up change. I like to think that his campaign against his house made waves, that it changed some things. Not to mention, I find it very likely that each house has its own methods, its own way of doing things. 

And really, there’s no reason to believe that there isn’t dark shit still going on behind some closed doors just because the Crows don’t open those doors to Rook, especially a non-Crow Rook. The Crows not showing dark shit to this ally who is helping them doesn’t mean they don’t have dark shit going on. The Crows absolutely have their infighting and betrayals, look what happened with Illario!

(As a side note: I would have loved for Caterina to have been called out for her abuse of Illario and Lucanis, but Lucanis has been through a crap-ton of trauma and probably feels like Caterina is all he has left, especially after Illario’s betrayal. It makes sense that he’s not ready to face that just yet.)

What I find really fascinating is how a lot of the Crows seem to see themselves. The Crows grow up in a place where being an assassin has become completely normalized. Antiva has no standing army and relies on the reputation of the Crows to deter other nations from engaging in open conflict with them. Many of the Crows seem proud to be Crows.

And they have their own code they live by, even if we in the real world wouldn’t find it a particularly moral one. 

It’s illustrated most clearly in regards to Jacobus:

.

.

.

Imagine the chaos that would ensue if Crows were allowed to just kill willy nilly? How would they look then? They do not want to be seen as mindless killers. They don’t want their new recruits to fall into the habit of killing without a contract, as this would make them something other than what they would like to see themselves as. 

This makes sense and I like seeing it examined.

I love the Crows being explored more deeply and given more depth. I love seeing them as people as well as assassins. I would love to see even more of it, to see how these people who go out and kill for money behave once they’re not on the job. 

This is good stuff and I’m all for it. 

[roominthecastle]

One thing that strikes me even after my 253789th re-watch of 406 is the marked difference between the two break-up scenes.

When Audrey tells Siegfried she is leaving, she's visibly heartbroken and hesitant -- offering first to stay on 3 months, then as long as Siegfried deems necessary, already delaying her departure even though Gerald's family emergency has rendered this matter rather time sensitive. It's all raw emotion boiling under the paper-thin lid of courtesy, brilliantly captured by Siegfried's hurt, bewildered echoing of her words, 'Inconvenience me?!'

This is not an inconvenience, this is unimaginable pain.

When she goes to Gerald, there is no trace of any of this. She breaks it off clean and yes, she is clearly upset but this is also the most balanced and unfaltering I have seen her be when openly discussing their relationship with him.

This is the other shoe dropping at long last.

[angeart]

Elegy - chapter 5/5

Chapter 5. be my place to land (when my feathers are burnt by the fire)

--

Mumbo’s holding up an unmoving bundle, cradling it, eyes firmly looking forward until they meet Scar’s.

He holds Scar’s gaze, locks on with finality of a finish line, an end destination in sight.

All that’s visible of the bundle he’s holding is a patch of wet-sand hair, Mumbo’s jacket draped across everything else besides a couple of limp, damp primaries and two pair of feet, swinging in tune with Mumbo’s body motions. 

It looks a little bit like he’s carrying a body.

Like he’s bringing in a funeral.

--

Read on AO3

[swan2swan]

Coming back to The Bad Batch:

Yeah, I recommend it now.

It stuck that landing perfectly.

I do think that a lot of it was just gratuitous cameos and a lot of wheel-spinning, but at the same time, the finale pays off enough to say "YEAH. WE DID A LOT OF NONSENSE. WE DID OLD-SCHOOL STUFF. WE WERE A SHOW THAT JUST SPENT TIME WITH CHARACTERS. SOME PEOPLE DIED. SOME PEOPLE LIVED. OVERALL, WE DIDN'T HAVE AN END POINT BEYOND 'THESE ARE LIVES.' THIS IS CLASSIC TV. WATCH THIS CARTOON. ENJOY IT. HAVE FUN. GET ATTACHED."

[my-name-is-markus-with-a-k]

"You keep complaining. What have you done exactly, Josh? At least I fought for us! At least if I die, I die free!"

[twilight-deviant]

Daredevil (1964) #180

Daredevil (1964) #192

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Look at this pathetic lovesick baby boy

LOOK AT HIM

I love him

[declareqenius]

ceo! wandanat x reader will always get me especially if they're perceived to be ruthless but are actually huge softies behind closed doors

[paeonia-horse]

Cough medicine: Take 1 or 2 spoonfuls ever 4 hours, if required.

Me: *chugging it*

[ghostypetrainer]

another thing I think A LOT about re: the Construct AU isn’t even about the twins, but about Lillie and Gladion, and how Lusamine created Gladion (as well as Type:Null) to explore the Ultra Wormholes... and if he could look after her kid while they perfected the technology to open the wormholes, that was useful too. How Lusamine never paid Lillie any attention, and certainly never paid any to Gladion other than what was necessary, so it wasn’t Lusamine that helped Gladion gain sentience... but lonely little Lillie, who viewed Gladion as like an older brother.

I’m just a sucker for that sort of thing.

[star-shard]

ok comic rec if you're lukewarm on Batman, read The Knight If you're lukewarm on Superman, read American Alien

[diamondsandtoads]

Project Update!!!

Hi!!! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has reblogged this and done the survey! The response has genuinely been WAY more than I had ever imagined--- ask anyone who knows me IRL and they'll tell you I haven't stopped blubbering over it!

Just a quick update: I am going away on a conference next week, and when I get back, I'll start contacting those who have said they are interested in talking to me a bit more.

I've had a few people ask about changing their responses because they forgot something, or there wasn't space for it. This is fine, just let me know so I can delete your first entry. But you can also just talk to me about it if you're okay with not being anonymous. I would love to hear your thoughts and talk fairy tales with you!

That's all for now!!! Thanks again :)

[coquettesamosa]

tagged by @gianniisantetokounmpo and @m-an-u

share your lock screen, the last song you listened to & the last photo you saved/took:

tagging: @cotinisnitida @modernmutiny @mellowdinonuggets @hvrrycameron @sarcasmic-skies

[auberylis]

People are used to me/know me for making mostly upbeat or cheerful fast music, or - worst case - dissotiative jungle and minimalist electro. But lemme tell you i have one album as my noise project that has so much terribleness in it that i didn't even release it on my "label" Elysian Tunes, even though the other few noise releases are out there. That's some scary shit inside i think

It's released on my friends' "experimental" music netlabel instead, and so doesn't have exposure to my usual audience through the ETunes bandcamp. Back then this was intentional - to not scare too many people. Maybe i should reupload it to etunes at some point... for now though you can check it out and download it off that place.

[vampirecatboy]

been wanting to write something more plotty and urban fantasy-esque (there's only so many ways i can write about dicks and pussies before i need a break lol) and i was thinking about Nick and the couple of pages i wrote about him months ago

if i could scrape the City of Mist IP off it i think there's something there

[ardenssolis]

[Suits with gloves? Ozy's jam. There's something altogether attractive about that. Half gloves? Even better.]