#miscreance

[kimkimberhelen]

MISCREANCE - Convergence (Full Album Stream) 2023

[iphisesque]

does anybody actually care about syllable count beyond me

[blaiddllodi]

If she were a kinder person, Sara might take pity on the poor soul underneath all that clamorous armor. She instead chooses to creep up behind it on soundless steps to rap her knuckles against the cold, steely metal.

"Hello," comes the quiet whisper and should the knight in black turn in the direction of that voice, its owner would already be out of view. Then from the opposite side, "Hello again."

Rather than repeating the same trick though, Sara ducks into a crouch, hands resting on both knees as she breaks into a flurry of giggles somewhere low.

"Ehehe, enough of that. I have another trick in mind, but it requires your cooperation this time. Your armor looks near statuesque from afar and I was thinking that if you remained real still that people would walk right past you. Therein lies the opportunity to scare them when they mistake you for a simple prop. Does that not sound fun?"

He thought he might have finally gotten used to the way sound echoed through this blasted helmet, before he heard the gentle echo of a quiet voice - spectral whispers, too unlike and not enough unlike those he already heard - at either shoulder.

Dimitri swiveled in place, then, understanding the trick, anticipated where it might have fallen next, and when he found that ethereal girl where he expected her, he let out a soft chuckle.

"So it is you," he said, almost fond. "I thought that I had seen you here, but it...seems to be your habit to float about in the periphery, isn't it? You did the same, back in the forest, didn't you?"

He would have been lying if he said he had not needed to debate with himself as to whether she was a real person, after that incident.

Without further preamble, without courtesy or niceties, or the little nothings that strained most conversations in his-day-to-day, the girl launched instantly into...mischief? Or the desire for him to enact it for her.

If it had been any other day, at any other time, after any other series of events, and for any other partner, Dimitri might not only have declined, but would have chastised the other for such miscreancy.

But was he not trying his best to fulfill a promise? To...live, as a child might?

If nothing else, he very much needed the distraction, from the swirling mire that his emotions threatened.

Propping a hand on his chin in thought, Dimitri sighed. "You say I appear statuesque, but I have had many people approach me by virtue of the armor - it seems I...made a poor choice. You are thinking that they might pay me no mind if I simply...stand quite still? Like...like this?"

[bathypelagicbutch]

i'm like one of those cheetahs that needs an emotional support golden retriever to get by due to severe anxiety. except in my case it's because i received the wrong kind of attention as a child and it decimated my sense of self worth. also because i have severe anxiety. and because of these issues instead of needing an emotional support golden retriever i need to be called a good girl semi regularly or else i'm filled with the urge to partake in general miscreancy. due to my strong flight instinct and other such cheetah-like behaviours

[metalcultbrigade]

Hellwitch - Syzygial Miscreancy 04/12/1990

[grimowled]

“OH DEAR, I have been caught!”

manacled, not for the first time - but also unmasked, disgraced and powerless, condemned to live among the common denizens of hell for what will probably feel like the blink of an eye, time wise, to one such as he; no wonder his algid terror-in-law had his knickers in a twist, for the great infernal judge is indeed capable of clemency, wrought with a sprinkle of exemplary humiliation: the equivalent of being rapped on the knuckles for a little miscreancy.

—thus it ensures the nobility of hell are kept dutifully in line. and, for an instant’s breadth, the fallen prince’s boundless conscience falls like a feather on the snow, upon the fleeting thought of what his venerable father might make of this delightfully and scandalously unsavoury business.

(besides, the enduring loyalty of infernal legions is not so easily bequeathed to an impostor-in-law.)

so what is a fallen demon prince to do, after offering his bowed and crownless head to the executioner’s axe (a superb performance indeed!), breathless from the musical triumph and ruthless vacuuming of his infernal powers, but to bitterly jest upon his temporary predicament?

·.·★·.·´¯`·.·☾·.·´¯`·.·★·.·

[llamamamarisen92]

Tempers Flaring

In my play through, if I'm romancing Gale I like to think that he hasn't fully forgiven Astarion for holding Tav at knife point... or for casually sleeping with her twice. I think it sets the tone for their... lack of friendship. They don't dislike each other, but it's more akin to siblings who barely get along sitting at a dinner table because it's a holiday...

Anyways... here is a snippet of them getting a bit testy with each other.

SPOILER WARNING FOR ANSUR QUEST IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW!

"Nonsense! Justice should be met out harshly as to deter criminals from further miscreance." Astarion proudly proclaimed as they were figuring out the shadow puzzle in Ansur's temple. Gale scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

Astarion turned a sharp look on the wizard. "Do you have something to say Gale?" Venom pouring from his voice.

Tav pinched the bridge of her nose sighing deeply as she prepared for the two men to battle it out. On the best of days they hardly got along. If she was capable of bringing out their best, they were equally as capable of bringing out the worst in each other.

Karlach chuckled, egging them on a bit. "Yeah Gale, what do you have to say for yourself."

Gale examined his nails taking on an arrogant tone as his eyebrow quirked up.

"I only wish to imply that if his own justice wasn't so… brutal. Perhaps he wouldn't have landed six feet in the ground with a vampires mark in his neck."

Astarions lip twitched. Practically snarling at Gale. "Big words coming from Mystra's chief boot licker."

Gale lazily lifted his eyes in Astarion's direction. Tav recognized the look in his eyes. It was a look he got when he was about three seconds from incinerating one of their enemies. Hastily she cast silence as sparks began to flare in the palm of his hands.

She picked up the picture frame of the man in the cell and placed it on the deciding pedestal. Looking back she leveled both of them with a look that made them both feel like two small boys fighting over a candy bar.

Gale at least had the decency to look down as Astarion rolled his eyes and moved towards the now open dragons chamber. Gale placed a hand on her cheek, an apology in his eyes.

"Don't push each other. We are so close to the end and we just need to survive this. You don't have to like him but we all have to work together if we're going to make it out of this alive." He nodded contemplating her words. She moved in to kiss his cheek accepting his silent contrition.

Karlach was giggling behind them and she followed Astarion into the chamber with Gale, Karlach, and Wyll in tow. Silently praying for as few hiccups as possible as they ventured forth into their destiny.

[twistedisciple]

"You there! Yes, you!" Forsyth marches up to the troublemaker--Griss, he's heard. This man has been causing a series of ruckuses across the ball, and even visiting grief upon Lady Celica! He shall not allow such miscreancy to continue! He seizes the man's hand, hardly taking notice of the flowers blooming on each of their necklaces. "Your knavish actions have visited chaos upon this gathering! I command you to cease at once, or face disciplinary action!"

Is this man even a member of the staff, here? How could Lady Rhea approve such a fiendish individual? No matter; he will either start to behave, or Forsyth will take the necessary steps.

"Command?" Griss whirls on his new critic with a look halfway between amusement and challenge, and boy is he a sight. He cuts the figure of a knight even with emerald cloth in place of armor, his posture straight, a chiding look that would've come straight from the pages of a textbook if there was one on making faces (and Griss is pretty sure there's gotta be at least one, somewhere, that's found its way into this guy's hands). Griss, by contrast, slumps down by nearly a third of his full height, shoulders and neck at odd angles, one arm hanging, the other limp in the knight's hand. He makes no effort to pull away, but a smirk snakes lazily across his lips as a flower blooms from his own vine. That was easy. Now he could have a little fun.

"What're you gonna do if I don't?" he prods, tilting his head and staring up at the knight from an angle. "Gimme a preview of this 'disciplinary action,' if you've got the authority."

[galadriel1010]

News at half past fucking midnight: A variable number of stupid baby cats are currently holed up and refusing to leave the lounge so the door can be locked to prevent dog miscreance. One numpty is hidden behind the sofa refusing to come out. Two others have come and taken up observation positions during her siege. All three may be sleeping in the lounge overnight at this rate.

[turtlefordestiel]

Generational trauma?

No!

Generational MISCREANCY

I find it incredibly funny from a meta/author perspective, that Ancient Greece decided to name their protagonist that angers many people “Anger Bringer” but, even funnier, is the in universe understating that anyone who meets Odysseus must have had the thought “oh dear, how unfortunate to be named hateful/hated” and then they have exactly One conversation with him and go “Ah I see now”

For reference, Odysseus’ name sounds very much like the Greek word odussomai, which can roughly mean “I am angry at” or “I am the cause of anger” (or simply “to hate” or “to dismiss”), a fact that is used for ironic effect frequently in the Odyssey.

It’s also specifically stated in Book 19 that Odysseus’ grandfather, a master thief and one who has also pissed off a lot of people, specifically named him this because “I am disliked by many, all across the world, and I dislike them back. So name the child Odysseus.” 19.428

Bro looked at his grandson and thought “Ahaha, this one’s going to be a troublemaker like me. Better get him started early.”

It’s like a terrible allegory for cause and effect or something.

[kimkimberhelen]

MISCREANCE - No Empathy (Official Visualiser) 2023

[idiocy-prescription]

hello officer ? i would like 2 report an act of miscreancy and tomfoolishness

[miscreantahead]

my url is silly because u'd think im warning ppl that i am a nasty little freak full of miscreance and like i am in comparison to like, the elderly neighbors, but, aside from some intermediate monster-fucking community participation, compared to many that linger here i am boring and vanilla as far as the facets of fandom i like/participate in.

but really the url has nothing to do with me anyways it's about patches and hooded knife guys in lower undead burg.

[mariacallous]

Amid all the talk of 2024 as the second wave of right-wing populism, including my recent prediction of a bloodbath for liberal democracy at the European Parliament elections in June, there is one country that could buck the trend. By the end of this year, Britain could be the one country where the light of responsible centrism shines bright, where good governance returns, and, as a result, its global influence increases again. Yes, this is the same Britain that in recent years has been dubbed the “clown country,” or, during the height of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s COVID-rule-busting miscreance, “the party island.” The irony of ironies.

This presupposes that Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, wins the next general election, which technically can take place any time before late January 2025 but which almost all politicians and commentators believe will happen in the second half of this year. Opinion polls have consistently shown a significant lead for the opposition party, usually around 20 percentage points, which would translate into something between a landslide and a comfortable victory.

Starmer rails against anyone in his entourage who predicts such an outcome, pointing to Labour’s lamentable election performances in past years. He reminds his MPs that in half a century only former Prime Minister Tony Blair knew how to gain power. That was back in 1997. Before him, you must go back to Harold Wilson in 1964 and 1974. Indeed, given the propensity of British voters to act against their own self-interest (think the Brexit referendum of 2016 and the victory of Johnson in 2019), a sensible outcome for the country cannot be declared a dead certainty.

The rudderless Rishi Sunak (the Tories’ fifth prime minister since the Brexit referendum in 2016) is clinging to the hope that he could secure a near-impossible victory if he frames the election as a Dunkirk-style “battle of the small boats,” a single-issue plebiscite on migration. The polls show his plans, going through Parliament now, of sending asylum-seekers away are not playing well, but that seemingly is all he has.

Starmer is not known for his exuberance. He has been shedding or watering down policies that could be construed as remotely radical as part of his mission to win at all costs. Parliamentary candidates who are anything but squeaky clean, who have anything close to a hinterland, are being rejected.

Not a lot of Conservatives are counting on staying in office, and many are bailing from Parliament to avoid having to endure a defeat. Many have been turning to professional headhunters in search of something to do on leaving politics. (It will be moot to see how many, or rather how few, end up with meaningful employment.)

If, or when—but let’s stick to the logic and say when—Starmer walks through the famous black door of 10 Downing Street, consigning the Conservatives to opposition for the first time in nearly 15 years, it will not be the U.K.’s own Zeitenwende, a moment of epochal change. There will be no reprise of 1997, that pre-millennial era when Blair declared that “things can only get better.” Britain, the leader in Europe, was the one to whom others deferred. The incoming Labour government had copious amounts of money and international goodwill in the bank. Not now.

Starmer inspires guarded optimism, not excitement. He is not a performer. He will be an incremental leader, testing the ground at each step of the way before acting. That will still be an improvement on what Brits have had to live through. After the buffoonery of the recent period, an element of sobriety will be welcome at home and abroad.

What role, therefore, might the United Kingdom assume in a Europe where moderate politics faces an existential threat? There are two ways of looking at this: the formal relationship with the European Union and the wider relationship with the continent and the wider West.

Starmer is planning several steps that he hopes will lead to a rapprochement of sorts with the EU. Expect changes to veterinary rules, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, education exchanges. In other words, low-hanging fruit—important, but not constituting a breakthrough in the short or medium term.

The EU by the end of this year, disrupted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and new friends soon to be elected, will be deeply unsettled. This will have contradictory effects. Pressure on Starmer from pro-Europeans within his ranks to move further and faster in looking for a second stage of improvements with EU institutions will wane the more the Brussels brand is tarnished.

And yet, conversely, the readiness for him to help play a part in combating Europe’s many problems will grow—particularly if former President Donald Trump wins the U.S. election, likely to take place within weeks either side of the British vote. From Ukraine (the one area in which Britain has been consistently respected since Russia’s invasion in 2022, due to its unwavering support for Kyiv) to the Middle East to China and the Indo-Pacific, Britain’s voice is likely to be stronger than before. Even though policymakers seek to differentiate foreign-policy issues from domestic politics, the U.K.’s bombast and unreliability, particularly under Johnson, hampered its diplomatic performance.

That is likely to change under Starmer. Even though he will be wary of attempting to institutionalize cooperation with the European Union—and Brussels will be equally reluctant to provide the U.K. with any precipitate “rewards” while remaining on the outside—personal relationships will improve. Expect Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, to have him on speed dial.

Bilaterally, Starmer is already on more solid ground. He has developed warm relations with Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor. A number of meetings have already taken place, with plans for a new security agreement and other deals in the first few months of a change in government. Ties are also growing with France’s president, Emmanuel Macron. Starmer will seek out allies where he can find them, such as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, though both will struggle to maintain their hold on power.

Starmer will be thrust immediately into a strange position. He will attract attention for simply being the only center-left leader from a major European country with a majority government. In Germany and Spain, Social Democrats are hanging on by their fingertips. In Poland, Donald Tusk is engaged in the fight of his life. Italy has joined others in tacking to the ultra-Right. President Macron in France is looking over his shoulders at Marine Le Pen’s populist nationalists. Starmer will be studied not just to see if he can restore the U.K.’s reputation for trustworthiness, but whether he can provide social democratic answers to economic uncertainty, social division, migration, climate, and any of the many other problems facing Europe.

His counterparts will want to know if there is more to him than stability and dependability. History shows that the center left suffers from an affliction that the right does not. In 1997, Blair had a mighty majority, a healthy budget bequeathed to him, and a country that was relatively optimistic. And yet, with one terrible exception (Iraq), he was frightened to take risks. He now regrets his caution.

An excess of caution by Starmer will leave him prone to being buffeted by events. The background noise—on migration, on culture wars—will start the day after his victory. Populists will rally to the flag, exploiting every sign of weakness.

The size of Starmer’s expected majority is extremely important. He desperately needs two terms, going steadily in his first and displaying greater radicalism in his second. Others believe his ultra-caution is not a tactic; it is a personality trait that will be the template throughout his time in office.

If Starmer ends up a mere stopgap who fails to arrest the populist tide, the longer-term prospects for the U.K. will be especially bleak. The nightmare scenario would see a general election by 2029 in which an ideologically sharpened Conservative party sweeps to victory, led perhaps by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, or even by the Trump-adoring Nigel Farage.

Whether he likes it or not, Starmer is set to become not just prime minister of one country, but also the standard-bearer for grown-up social democracy across Europe. His success, or failure, will have repercussions that extend far beyond his nation.