#minor spoilers but still

[window-to-oblivion]

"Till death and beyond"

!! Slight spoilers !!

Seeing how the last season of 97 ended I'm really exited for feral wolverine. And how Storm and Morph will handle him, wherever they all are.

One thing is clear though. Wolverine never gave up on Morph and they are definitely not giving up on him either!

----

I have wanted to try making a Comic cover for a while now and finally here it is!

[tacogoats]

Thinking about a Durge who has rejected Bhaal, and whatever person they used to be, but still secretly longs for their lost memories. A Durge that, despite the answers the man could give them, would never re-ignite that strange passion they were shown they once had for Gortash. A Durge that has, for all purposes to the others in their party, moved on. A Durge that, six months after that day atop the Netherbrain, at a party celebrating their new life, receives a strange letter with an even stranger gadget hidden inside.

The meeting at the inauguration was a strange one. Despite Gortash's very obvious elation at seeing what he'd called his 'dearest friend', the man had no hesitation very proudly detailing the Dark Urge's grand scheme; their grand design for the world to be.

In front of all their friends and 'new' lover, of course.

They were furious, and rightly so. Gortash must have known what he was doing. To isolate them, to bring them back to him. The person who accepted them for all they were, all they are, and all they could be - together.

It wasn't enough to win the Dark Urge back to him, and although they'd tentatively teamed up in the end - he had died. Not by the Urge's hand, but in some ways, his own. The group had left Gortash's body within the Prism, and simply moved on. There were bigger problems, and no one really was sad to see him go. Right?

The Urge remembers a letter found in Moonrise Towers. Gortash liked gadgets, according to Ketheric. Evidence was abundant enough with the Steel Watchers, among other things. The item is strangely shaped, entirely too small, and with a simple touch, comes to life.

It reminds them of the strange picture they had seen at the Iron Throne. Gortash's visage shone through a glass, moving, talking - warning them to leave. Answering them, praising them for listening.

What a strange contraption, they'd thought all those months ago.

And then, now, there he was again. A picture, in their hand. A moving picture. Speaking with his voice, wearing his weary face - so, so weary - but not the same as before.

This had passed already. The voice did not answer them this time. It was simply impossible - the man was dead, but not quite gone in this moment.

He speaks of the inauguration like it had just happened. His joy at seeing his favourite 'assassin' again, which he says with a sad smile and a moment of silence. A heavy sigh follows, rubbing at his eyes - which they can see are so much darker than they last remember.

He is tired.

Gortash speaks of their time together, before Orin - and how Orin torments him day and night now that they had both confirmed the Urge's return. She appears with their face, taunting him some days. Other days she sends assassins that wear the same, and he simply cannot let his guard down anymore. But he knew it was them that day.

They can see the exhaustion that pulls down his features, makes his words heavier. This is not the Archduke speaking to him in this moment - it is a tired, broken down man that has just seen a ghost.

Yet they cling to every word anyway, because even though this is a broken down man who is terrified of the ghost - the man still hopes the ghost will remember him, too.

They don't. But he doesn't know that, not this little picture of him, anyway.

The picture says that if they are seeing this recording, it means he is already dead - and although he had planned to sway them back to his side, he may not have been given the chance, and refuses to allow the opportunity to share what the two of them once had slip away.

He would gift unto them the memories that he could, even beyond death. The bloody ones, the happy ones, the painful ones.

And he talks, he smiles, he even cries.

And so do they.

[lizzylucky]

Behold

[kindness-ricochets]

"You're passable at demo. You're excellent at hostage." That was cruel, but that was Kaz. And the Barrel was a far rougher teacher than Kaz could ever be.

-Page 120 (directed at Wylan, Jesper's POV)

"You'll manage," Kaz said, though he knew asking Jesper to spend the night in a gambling den without placing a bet was a particular kind of cruelty.

-Page 131 (directed at Jesper, Kaz's POV)

Karma's a bitch, but nowhere near as big a bitch as Kaz Brekker.

Snark aside, it's hard to know if this is exactly a parallel when there's a lot of cruelty flying around whenever Kaz is... Kaz.

But it does demonstrate how Jesper doesn't really fit in the Barrel.

Oh, his skill set is great, he's valuable and useful and having fun, but deep down he acknowledges on the Ferolind that he's been more and more anxious, and pages 130-131 are just a cluster of Kaz needling Jesper emotionally. In Kaz's first narrated chapter (chapter 3, page 36) he has an exchange with Jesper--the first one on one conversation in which we see Jesper, and it's clear he's upset. Kaz knows that. Jesper doesn't like being kept in the dark--he feels slighted. The danger isn't the problem, the interpersonal exchanges, the mistrust, the Kaz of it all? That's the problem.

This actually carries on to Jesper's interaction with Inej (pages 61-62) when she fires Rojakke. Jesper doesn't act Barrel. He doesn't think Barrel. Inej knows she needs to handle this conflict herself and be seen as strong (which she is), but Jesper starts to get up because someone he cares about is being threatened. He never treats her as less or weaker for being a girl, so it can be assumed here that this isn't a gendered thing, it's just Inej, who's his friend, who shouldn't have to be alone right now.

Part of what's so fascinating about Jesper is that he genuinely doesn't fit in. He's exceptional and charismatic (some might argue that book characters can't be, but you tell me Jesper's dialogue doesn't just sparkle on your heart!) so it's easy to overlook how little he belongs.

Jesper's feelings for Wylan eventually do lead him to get in Kaz's way--hesitantly and minimally, yes, but those little steps have big echoes. And it's interesting to see that little split starting here, with Jesper acknowledging but hand-waving Kaz's cruelty mere pages before being barbed by it.

[speakercrab666]

i have just watched my gender play out on a screen in front of me for two hours (i have just watched the Barbie movie)

[applestruda]

digitized a tiny traditional desert duo doodle

[swugflower]

Brucie Wayne gets interviewed and the question who, expect Batman, is his favorite Gotham hero.

After some awkward moments of silence, he blurts out that it’s Spoiler. Since she is the only one from the main active team that isn’t his kid and this way he avoids picking a favorite.

Meanwhile, the group chats explodes into chaos instantly.

[flowersforbrokenspiritz]

Just saw Gnosia spoilers Now

[clickety-clacker]

Don't you love being able to draw whatever you want forever

[kidovna]

anyone else go crazy reading the latest @campbyler chapter?

bonus:

[rooniper]

Hot take: the Spiderverse movies are quite possibly the most relatable superhero movies I’ve ever experienced because I’ve never seen a superhero movie nail the ‘being queer and closeted’ experience down to a T

Like the AMOUNT of experiences they get down so well is just

- not feeling accepted anywhere, even within your own community sometimes, feeling like a mistake no matter where you go

- hiding half your identity from your parents (I swear to god that scene where Miles is about to tell Rio he’s Spiderman in ATSV is literally me trying to come out to my parents and chickening out, it hurt to watch)

- fearing rejection from your parents (“Dad, do you really hate Spiderman?”)

- finding out the people you look up to and trust wouldn’t accept you and would actually try to harm you and the sheer terror that comes from it (god the Prowler reveal in the first movie still hurts me)

- gravitating more and more towards friends who are also queer because they get you (aka the spideys from different dimension just gravitating together)

- just. having a secret identity, in general

- the underlying theme of the movies that despite anything, despite the world rejecting you, despite your own community rejecting you, you are valid and you are loved and you should never forget that (which is not an inherently queer experience but g o d)

I could go on, but. Just. Dammit, these movies mean so much to me.

[mayasaura]

just had a random jolt of excitement remembering the ending of nona and that the events of alecto are still a mystery. no one knows what gideon nav is going to do next. least of all gideon

[zel-zo]

"You are the God I Made"

---

Here's final act bird boy because I don't think just the princess should have a sick ass final boss form. Also if you know where I got the whole "wings have eyes and each represents one of the voices and they can speak to him" thing, uh, *throws smoke bomb*

[hyrulehobbit]

I'm having SO many S2Act2 thoughts so I'm going to focus on something that wasn't on my bingo card even remotely:

The fact that Cait having rebound sex with Maddie is like... the lesbian equivalent of some shitty tortured dudebro detective screwing his younger assistant who idolises him. It's such a typical masculine action movie character trait but they gave it to HER.

...wrow

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

I love when older characters actually refer to them as KIDS

BECAUSE THEY ARE KIDS AND IT'S NOT EMPHASIZED ENOUGH IN THE MAINLINE 👏

[thesummerstorms]

Okay, but what if Lucanis does buy Rook de Riva an important (mage)knife.

He gets knives, he has a good weaponsmith, but mages don't use their knives as much for stabbing/slashing directly as channeling elemental magic to stab with, so he goes to Emmrich and asks for the simplest, most paired down explanation of crafting materials' effect on magical frequencies that is humanly possible, specifically as it applies to knives.

Emmrich reminds Lucanis that he is in fact a stave user, but Rook would be a good person to ask.

Lucanis grits his teeth because he can tell from the older man's smile that Emmrich is having some fun at his expense. Of course Emmrich knows it's for Arsinoë. Lucanis hadn't wanted to be that obvious, but he can admit that it is.

Unfortunately, even when sincere, Emmrich is incapable of simple. Poor Lucanis knew this going in, of course and decided on Emmrich anyway because Neve would catch on too quickly and spoil her own gift and Bellara was equally incapable of simple and more prone to distracted tangents. It doesn't mean he's any more prepared to make sense of all this, and in the end he has to take Emmrich to meet his weaponsmith directly.

(The resulting "collaborative brainstorming session" almost scared Lucanis, put his favorite weaponsmith in a mind to possible shift specialties entirely, and cost House Dellamorte the price of a fully functional forge. It's still worth it.)

The end result is a beautiful piece of everite that feels vividly like the air in a storm in Rook's hands yet looks deceptively crystalline and fragile. It immediately becomes her favorite, unlike the vanished knife he gave Viago all those years ago, and from her shy smiles, he likes to think this time he's been understood.

Altogether, things are going well for once. If he feels more pride than maybe is reasonable every time he sees the everite blade in her hands alive with magic that cuts through a Venatori, then that's between him and Spite.

And Arsinoë. And Neve. And honestly everyone else because he's so terrible at hiding it.

All is going well, for once.

Until Tearstone Island, when he wakes up to Neve's anguished face, purple shards like crystal that cut through his gloves as he reaches for the snapped blade and severed hilt, his blood mixing with the sand, and-

and no Rook.