#most beautiful end

[chloristoflora]

He rose, the blanket that had draped his shoulders falling to the earth. He pulled the glove from his hand and let it fall. He walked uncertainly, like a puppet with his strings pulled by an apprentice puppeteer. He reached my father. So tenderly, he set his hand into my father's. Then he leaned down until he lay upon the wolf, his face turned to my father's face. He put his arm across my father's bony back. He drew him close and then set his silver fingers to the wolf.

For a moment, all was still. Then I saw Beloved's fingers stir the soft fur of the wolf's back. The firelit bodies of my father and Beloved softened and merged. I felt something I could not describe. Like the whoosh of air when a door opens, and then closes again, but it was in the Skill-current, and so strong that I saw Nettle flinch at it, too. Briefer than an instant, I saw light striate out from them. A nexus, a node on the path of fate. Then it was finished. Something finally complete, as it should have been.

Their colours dimmed and the wolf's eyes gleamed. It was slow and it was sudden, that they were gone and only the wolf remained. The snarl faded. The wolf's ears pricked and swivelled. His broad head turned slowly. He lifted his muzzle and snuffed the night air. Such eyes he had! They were a darkness full of the brilliance of life. For one brief instant, light caught in them and glowed green. We were all as motionless as if a huge predator faced us. Then, like a wet dog, the wolf shook himself and tiny fragments of stone flew in all directions, as if he had rolled in them.

Assassin's Fate, by Robin Hobb (Fitz and the Fool Trilogy #3)

[drulalovescas]

the parallels between the way their relationship started and ended might actually be the most beautiful in the history of tv

STARTED AND ENDED ON THE DEVIL'S TRAP

STARTED AND ENDED WITH A HANDPRINT

STARTED AND ENDED WITH CAS SAVING DEAN WINCHESTER

[embraceweird]

They are magic!

They have always been magic!

The Pilot Program

PILOT

Performance

Intent

Location

Objects

Time

[guzhufuren]

upcoming thai ql prayer circle 🤝🤝🤝

[sailermoon]

How Stories Can Save Us – The Philosophy of The Fall

[ryllen]

overblot grim with Yuu who accidentally get carried on his back

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I want it back / I drag its dead weight forward.

[fadelbison]

I think the story actually does so well in its juxtaposition of fadelstyle and kantbison going through essentially the same stages of their relationship simultaneously to highlight how majorly unfair this whole scenario is for Kant.

Kant likes Bison, there are these rare moments where he forgets what he's doing and what their relationship is like where first gets to bring out the full force of his signature kanawhipped style of romance

but these moments are not just rare they are short because he's never allowed to forget the mission

In many ways he's stuck in the same way that Fadel is stuck. Their handlers keep lying about how it's the last job for them and they have almost no reason to believe them and yet clinging onto this hope is also their only choice in ever seeing an end to this shitshow that is their lives

It's not until you see just how sad Kant looks versus Style's reaction:

that it starts becoming clear that Style has the luxury of feeling conflicted and being worried about Fadel while Kant just can't even go there. He can't bring himself to open up any part of himself to Bison whereas Style didn't know about Fadel and that allowed for some space for some genuine feelings to grow.

Everything we see from Kantbison that feels like at best a negotiation and at worst a threat we get to see Fadel and Style experience genuinely.

Kink and power negotiation? Fadel roleplays garage sex and gets his nipples teased while Bison is roofied and unintentionally dubcons Kant.

Staying over for the night? Fadelstyle buttgrabbing during bowling while Bison had pulled a gun on Kant 0.5s before asking (which he doesn't put away immediately).

Tell me about your past? Terse conversation where Bison is hiding a knife meanwhile FadelStyle gets a tenderhorny conversation about loss and grief.

And oh the tattoo kisses!!! I nearly cried.

Because Style gets to kiss Fadel's tattoo and experience him fighting the impulse to be vulnerable with him

But Kant?

He has a beautiful boy telling him he loves every part of his body and the sheer grief of it - any of it - not being real 😭 😭 😭

Save my beautiful car thief he is so doomed by the narrative; the same narrative he's driving I just want to *tears all my hair out*

[egophiliac]

new chapter 7 installment dropped how we feelin????

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

THAT'S HIS DAD

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[casscainmainly]

Since it's StephCass week, I wanted to share one of my fav StephCass moments, from Batgirls #16. Cass' promise to never abandon Steph hits so hard when thinking about their relationship in Batgirl (2000). They have so many good moments it's easy to forget one of the longest running threads in their relationship: Steph leaving Cass, and Cass letting her go.

From Batgirl (2000) #28, #38, #53, #54. It all leads to their final confrontation in #55:

Before she can give chase, Cass gets called away by Batman. Though rooftop tag is a cute tradition between them, in reality Cass never chases after Steph, not once; this final time, letting Steph go results in her death. Of course it's not Cass' fault, as much as it's not Steph's, but she probably does blame herself in some capacity.

Which is why that moment in Batgirls #16 is so moving. For two people who have been torn apart time and time again, sometimes by external forces, sometimes of their own volition - for someone like Cass, who spent most of her life without someone to come home to - finding someone who stays, who fights to stay, is incredibly special. They won't leave each other alone. They never will.

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[ruporas]

invisible scars (referenced previous talk here)

[ID: A colourless, digital Trigun comic of Vash and Wolfwood talking about Wolfwood's scars. They're both laying in bed and topless. Vash lays on top of Wolfwood, playing with the rosary around his neck. Then, Vash kisses a spot on Wolfwood's chest. Wolfwood asks, "What are you doing?" Vash smiles sadly, "You got shot here. In the last town we visited. You didn't even bother moving."

Vash props himself up over Wolfwood, who frowns slightly. Wolfwood is quiet for a moment before he says, "You remember that, huh?" Vash grabs Wolfwood's left wrist and brings it to his face. "And here." He kisses another spot there. "When you helped free the hostages from that robber..." Wolfwood dismissively says, looking away, "Was a lucky shot." Vash huffs, “Don’t brag. Jeez.”

Half of Wolfwood's expression is shown, eyes returning to Vash who is now sitting up, continuing to say, "And..." Vash goes on and kiss Wolfwood's right palm. "You got cut here, even though that girl was aiming at me." A moment from the past flashes, of Wolfwood grabbing a knife aimed at Vash, his hand bleeding.

At present, Vash moves down and puts another kiss on Wolfwood's right shoulder. "And here, from watching my back." Another memory flashes of Wolfwood and Vash back to back. Vash looks back as Wolfwood grins while holding Punisher, bleeding from multiple gunshots in his shoulder.

"And," Vash combs up Wolfwood's hair to reveal his forehead, "Here." A final memory shows Wolfwood with a regeneration vial in his mouth while getting shot on his temple. The next panel is framed in blood with Vash at the center, eyes wide and stunned in horror. The next panel is a closed up shot of Wolfwood's eye, locked on Vash's face.

Back to present, Vash’s head is bowed down as Wolfwood raises a hand to his nape and says, “Spikey.”

Wolfwood looks serious and frowns as he says, "We talked about this. Those were my decisions. They're not there anymore. Forget about them." Vash looks very sad before he smiles ruefully and says, "I still see them. All the time." He leans down so they touch foreheads. Wolfwood’s sorrowful expression can be seen as Vash says, "You protect so much. I could never forget what you've done to me. And many others..."

In the last image, they're drawn more cartoonishly. Wolfwood sweats and asks, "You don't actually remember every wound, right?" Vash points at a spot on his chest. "Kuroneko left a scratch here 7 times." Wolfwood, startled, says, "Why the hell are you keeping count—" End ID]

Credits for ID here and here

[ptieuca]

I felt your heart beat.

[kimp05]

till the end of the moon (2023) : appreciation post | tantai jin's costumes