#its about the fall from grace

[corsairspade]

you are a god's best friend. the world is young still, and you are yet younger. he rides with you and hunts with you, and teaches you how to speak to birds and beasts. you are a god's student. you ride in his train and care for a hound that he gifted to you. gods have taught others before. gods have been kindly to others before. your god is your best friend. he gifts you something of his self, a hound of his own hunt.

you are your father's son. your grandfather is dead. no one has ever called you wise, and you are, above all else, your father's son. he swears a terrible oath. you swear a terrible oath. you don't know if you really mean it, but your mother named you well- you are hasty to rise, hasty to run into things. the hunt teaches you patience but you cannot outrun yourself. you are your father's son.

you are a god's best friend and you have sworn a terrible oath, but it is an oath that you hope that your friend can understand. to hunt the murderer of your grandfather, is something that the god of the hunt can understand.

you are your father's son. the blood of elves on your hands does not feel different than the blood of a deer, except in the tight feeling of your throat. except in the thunderous beating of your heart. you tell your brother, who is trying not to throw up, that you need to think of them like deer. he looks at you like he's never seen you before. you are forever doomed.

you are a god's best friend. he does not say goodbye, but your dog comes with you. surely you can fix this, then, surely you are still a god's friend.

you are your father's son. he dies. he dies but before he does, he tells you to burn the boats. you do. you are your father's son. your father dies and, he tells you to swear that oath once more. it is a terrible oath. you have sworn it once. you swore to your best friend once. surely it will not tip the scales to swear once more, if in your mind, you dedicate this hunt to him.

you were a god's best friend, and it is not enough. you are your father's son, and you speak your father's oath. it proceeds to eat you alive.

[muzzleroars]

danse macabre

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Hey do you think ya can explain Barnaby and his illusion smoke a bit? It seems really cool and I don't remember if ya talked about it in depth before

sure! this got a bit longer than i expected!

so i was thinking that Barnaby seems like more of a hands-off kinda guy when it comes to altercations. would rather sit back and make funny commentary! so if he Had to get involved, i imagine it would be from a distance and still in an Entertaining Way!

thus - illusion magic! for this au i've been picturing that he got his paws on some illusionary herb in his early teens. for making people laugh, you know! and help out with the farm - illusions could distract animals, convince them to move on to different pastures, calm the chickens for egg-collecting, etc!

Ms. Beagle didn't really approve, since smoking is harmful, but lucky for the both of them this particular plant doesn't deal as much damage when smoked as normal smoking materials would - like tobacco! something to do with the magic properties! so Barnaby mostly used it for chores (when his mama wasn't paying attention, ofc - it's still a bad habit in her eyes) and entertainment purposes.

how it works: on its own, it doesn't do much when burned. it's not like illusions will waft out of the pipe's bowl, or that sniffing it will give someone hallucinations. in order for it to work properly, the user has to inhale properly, form the Intent of what the illusion should be / look like / behave, then purposefully blow the smoke out with that thought firmly in mind. the reach of the smoke depends on the force of Intent, and the intensity depends on the amount inhaled. those that breathe it in / are surrounded by it will see hallucinations of whatever Barnaby - or whoever the user is - wants them to! it can be literally anything! whether or not the target is fooled depends entirely on the individual, but the herb is potent enough that most are convinced that what they "see" is real (auditory hallucinations only occur if the target breathes in the smoke)

upsides: this form of magic is great for distractions, cover, deescalation, and that kind of thing. if needed, Barnaby could stop a fight with one exhale! it's a pretty powerful trick! it also means that Barnaby has built up a tolerance to illusion magic over the years, so where most of the party would be tricked, Barnaby would be unfazed. the only one with total immunity to the form of magic is Wally!

downsides: if Barnaby uses too much in too short of a time, it will get to him. and since he breathes in the largest amount - undiluted at that - it can fuck him up! using it sparingly / using repeated small amounts doesn't do anything. the most it will do is make him feel slightly untethered, but he has an easy time ignoring it / shaking it off.

in mild cases of the magic getting to him, it's like a bad trip. his proprioception is messed with (basically he gets uncharacteristically clumsy & off-balance), he feels like he's falling, anxiety spikes, and his vision is just... off! there are blind spots (im talking actual blind spots, not spots of black), things are moving in ways that they shouldn't, he has mild auditory hallucinations. the others can help ground him by talking to him, touching him, and confirming what's real and what isn't.

in bad cases, it's like that but 10 times worse. on top of all of the previous symptoms being worsened, he gets extremely vivid hallucinations, and they're very often not fun! it's a simultaneous feeling of dying, going insane, and not knowing what the fuck is going on. Barnaby loses sense of where he is, who's where, what's happening. he can get lost in the hallucinations - he has no way to know that they aren't real. in these terrible trips, no one can really help him. they can't get through the hallucinations, and if they do, the magic morphs Barnaby's perception of them and they end up adding to the effects. honestly the best thing for him is to let him rest somewhere with as little sensory input as possible & leave him be until he starts to come down. physical contact does help, since Barnaby understands on an instinctive level that illusions can't touch him, but it doesn't help half as much as it does w/ the mild trips. and again, the presence of someone can make the hallucinations worse.

so! suffice to say! he doesn't like using the herb all that often, and it's why he Stays Out Of It unless absolutely needed. he has two pouches of the herb - one with the strong stuff, reserved for emergencies / one with just a tiny bit of it mixed in with Barnaby's own personal blend for recreational/everyday use. (he also has an emergency tobacco stash in his pack, but that's only for when he's completely out of his usual blend <3)

extra lil scribble that didn't make it into the lil doodle post... i broke his wrist...

[pumpkinrootbeer]

All of Revenge of the Sith, summarized:

Obi-Wan: I love and trust you, Anakin.

Anakin: No <3

Mace: Obi-Wan trusts you, Anakin.

Anakin: Opinion discared because Ive classified you as against me. Please forward my previous email to Yoda and get back to me about that council seat at your earliest possible convenience.

Yoda: mmm be a master, you will never be mmmm. melt steal beams, jet fuel cannot. mmmm. ignore that second thing I said, obi-wan cares very deeply abt you and are you still available tuesday at 6 for your next therapy session?

Anakin: Read✓ at 19:01

Padme: Obi-Wan loves and trusts you, Anakin. Just like I do.

Anakin: Not very gamer of you to not inherently validate my internal belief system :/

Palpatine: Obi-Wan hates ur loser ass lol. not like me tho I'm cool and always validate your internal beliefs (normal)

Anakin: I always knew he hated me, you're the only one willing to tell me the truth. thank God I never have to reevaluate my beliefs with you and don't have take any uncomfortable looks at my wants and desires. phew almost had to do some personal growth and acknowledge some things about myself thank God i avoided that

[greensaplinggrace]

willow's corruption arc is one of my favorites like the way she fumbles her relationship with tara and gives in to her worst character traits and allows her ego to cloud her judgement is some of the most honest writing i've ever seen for character development like that

[widevibratobitch]

ripping this moment to shreds with my teeth

[solomons-poison]

I know we don't explicitly see it in the manga but given how much of Geto's design seems to point at Buddhism, along with Geto's cool, collected, understanding personality, I feel like he'd often smell like incense.

Depending on the day, what he's wishing for or wants to hope for others, the scent changes. Most often, it's common sandalwood that he uses during prayers and meditation. But sometimes it's jasmine to balance emotions and inspire creativity, other times it's a citrus scent to boost energy, or maybe lotus to elevate mood, spirituality, and inner peace.

It has all long since seeped into his clothes, leaving a pleasant, peaceful smokiness to him that always manages to relax those around him. Although he may not be a strictly practicing Buddhist, burning incense has become a habit for him and grounds him when he returns home from fighting curses.

For a while after he defects, he abandons his incense. It's too linked to his old life, his past and what he has given up in order to achieve his new goals. When he dons the gojo-gesa and enters a temple to create a base for him and his followers, it's the first time in years he willingly burns incense. But by now, it no longer gives him the comfort or peace it did before.

He hates the smell.

[blurrymango]

What if they were married... oh but like what if Murdoc forced 2D into a wedding dress and and and and...

[triglycercule]

murder time trio come back from killing some guy (me) and dust just pulls out a rainbow cleaning duster and starts dusting himself off. horror questions him. he says it's self care

[theprinceandthewitch]

Despite being a fulltime Voxman enthusiast... I simply cannot forgive this part of the fanbase for making so much "Laserblast cheating on Carol with Boxman" fanart/fanfic.

Like i know cheating art/fics are always going to be a part of fandoms, there aint no escaping it. But for that to be the go-to reaction after it was confirmed PV and LB are the same guy and that PV/LB is unambiguously bisexual...

No...no, I will never forgive this.

And dont even get me started on the misogyny directed at Carol.

[fauvester]

THE NICHOLAS BIDDLE CODING OF XIE LIAN..

[radioconstructed]

// Slow burn radioapple where Al keeps being a menace because that's the best way she knows how to cope with being in crisis, her local Lucifer pushes back bc he shouldn't have to deal with this shit, they keep getting into beef,,, if he's not aware already, he becomes aware that she doesn't get this triggered by anyone else and wonders what the fuck her problem is with him,,

maybe he'll ask her. maybe she'll tell him half. she won't tell him the other half.

maybe he'll figure it out.

[wraithsoutlaws]

been thinking about the neglected section of dagger's lore after he leaves the bakkers as a teen and winds up in a smuggler outfit and aaaa for so long i couldn't grasp details of it all but now its flooding in and its coming together :ratscream:

[fru1t]

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[aspiringnexu]

I’ve played Shadows of Mordor and Shadows of War so I’m very used to Edgy, Sourpuss Wraith Celebrimbor who was game-canonically so fucking pissed at Sauron that he refused to leave Middle-Earth until he happened to find Talion and so began their decades long Old Married Couple dynamic. Until Celebrimbor fucks it up. Several times.

Now that Celebrimbor is very different to this new interpretation of Celebrimbor in TROP and honestly... I dig it. This Celebrimbor has eccentric uncle vibes. He has no thoughts other than for his forge and for Making Things in it. Every time we see him outside of the forge he seems nervous and he only gets fired up (forgive the pun) when Gil-Galad refuses to let him Make Stuff. He’s adorable. And I can totally see why he would fall into Sauron’s trap. The man has not an ounce of guile in his body if he isn’t following orders to keep a secret, why would he expect duplicity from his new smithing buddy?

And I know some in the fandom give him shit for not thinking of creating a mithril alloy but honestly I’ve done the same thing. Not with smithing of course but even if you’re an expert, sometimes the simplest answer can be staring you in the face and you won’t see it until someone pulls you out of your own head. And Celebrimbor is Feanor’s grandson, The master smith of Eregion. No one is going to contradict him. Until Sauron comes along and Celebrimbor latches onto this new partner like a touch-starved limpet.

Such a shame that when shit goes even more sideways Sauron’s gonna use his dead body as a war banner. They had such good chemistry.

[the-acid-pear]

Two things I've been thinking about DR since yesterday when I replayed to do snowgrave,,,,, one is that I'm really starting to feel a future where we can play as Susie is being teased considering we had a playing sequence w her and that she's the most independent of em. And Two is that I'm sooooo convinced that Noelle will be a secret boss eventually 🫣 I just know it man.