#otherwise ew

[b0mb-sh3ll]

tord if he wasn't evil or something! (roommate hijinks)

cw: mentions of nsfw, but nuthin explicit !!

I BELIEVE!!!!! I BELIEVE IN POWEREDD!!!!

[drurrito]

Idk what would be a good title….

summary: you get a haircut

Pairings: Natasha x Reader

Warnings: idk reader has short hair now I guess

————

You feel the breeze on your neck as you walk through the compound’s entrance. You only make it a few steps inside when someone steps out in front of you.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“Haha—very funny,” you roll your eyes and Bucky flashes a big, bright smile.

“You finally did it,” his smile doesn’t break, “it looks so good!”

“Thank you! I’d hope so,” you run a hand through your new hair and let Bucky do the same.

“How does it feel?” Steve walks up, Bucky is too busy ruffling your hair to pay him any mind.

“Like I’m going to save a lot on hair products,” you grin.

“No one can grab your hair in the field anymore,” Bucky adds, falling in step with you as you walk towards the common area. Tony skids to a halt when he sees you.

“Looks like my Barber did a good job,” Tony sounds so smug, but you can’t blame him.

“Definitely,” you palm the back of your neck, reveling in the way your tapered neckline feels under your skin. You’re too enamored with your new hair to notice Natasha walking in.

“What’s all this?” Natasha asks only seconds before she realizes. The boys part for her and she’s only inches away from you.

“You look really good,” she says lowly, sincerely too.

“Thank you,” your jaw couldn’t be any more stiff.

She reaches out a cautious hand, waiting for your approval. You try to nod as casually as possible and she runs her fingers through it.

“Soft,” she mumbles, you count your breaths as she scratches your scalp. You have to stifle a shiver as her nails tickle the skin right behind your ears. Natasha steps back and your nerves have to bungee jump back into equilibrium.

Natasha leaves, only giving a curt nod to the boys before she reaches the doorway. She gives you a parting glance, her eyes traveling from the penthouse to the basement in her view of you.

It’s only when you can’t hear her footsteps anymore that your lungs finally fill with air again. Bucky gives you a nudge to reel you back into reality.

“I should cut my hair more often.”

[lizzybeeee]

The Lucanis vs Illario story would have had greater emotional depth/intrigue if the writers didn't water down how fucked up the Crows are as an organization.

Just some thoughts about how, out of all the side villains, Illario had some great potential to be a really interesting/tragic character in my opinion.

TL;DR: Zevran Aranai has a knife with Caterina's name on it for good reason and Lucanis/Illario need therapy...or whatever the Thedas equivalent is called...talking to Rook, I dunno

Going into DATV as a new player, or even as a returning one, the whitewashing of the Crows has a lot of the potential complexities of that life simply ignored or barely touched upon. The entire 'Illario vs Lucanis' boils down to: Illario seething in the shadows about Lucanis being the 'best boy'™ of the family while Illario is an after thought - which he is.

Let's be real, Illario is not subtle and immediately comes across as the Scar to Lucanis' 'Mufasa'. It's a questline with a very straightforward villain who has pretty lackluster motivations from what info we're provided - being 'I want power and to be the First Talon'. The game does very little explore what motivations he may have beyond being jealous of Lucanis/wanting more power.

However, if you play the quest line knowing what previous games have set up about the Crows - about how cutthroat and brutal the life is behind the glamour - then you can see that the entire Lucanis vs Illario conflict has amazing potential to be a dramatic tragedy.

We've seen how the life of Crow can affect Zevran - someone who was sold into the life through child-slavery. How interesting would it be to see how the life of a Crow can affect someone who was born into it? It's pretty clear in-game that Caterina intends for her grandchildren to carry on the family tradition - despite the fact that this 'family tradition' has likely led to the deaths of most of her grandchildren and however many children she had.

If there's banter about how Illario's/Lucanis' parents/cousins died specifically I haven't heard it, but the impression I got in-game was that it was likely linked to the Crows/politics in some way? Feel free to correct me! Still majorly fucked up that she pushes her grandsons into this life regardless!

Lucanis/Illario's situation was not like Zevran's - who was sold into the Crow's through slavery, with no one to speak up for him. Caterina was a woman who had power, who knew what the life of a Crow meant, and who still pushed those she 'loved' into it because is consolidated her place in the system. For all the Crows talk of 'family' Caterina doesn't seem to give a shit about them unless if they're contributing to the family business in some way - not to mention the whole 'you fail and we kill you' clause of being a Crow in the first place.

In the 'Wigmaker Job' from Tevinter Nights Lucanis talks about how Caterina hit him [also Illario] with her cane for mistakes and had him spend days without food/water. How he used to hate her but now 'realizes' that it was her way of ensuring he survived the life of being an Antivan Crow. Did it end up protecting them? It likely pushed them both to refine their skills out of fear. It's likely that simply by association with her they would be targets and thus needed to know how to take care of themselves and fight.

But why have him as a Crow in the first place? Why not simply train them well to defend themselves? You can't deny that she doesn't benefit from having her grandchildren in the family business - intentionally wanting Lucanis to take over her position as First Talon. The Antivan Crows are a force to be reckoned with and being one brings a whole lot of power in Antiva - being part of the elite of that group even more so.

If the game showed us the ugly reality of the Crows - the brutality of the lifestyle and how cutthroat the organization is, it could have really added some depth to Illario's betrayal - having it be more than "I want more power/respect" to "this is the result of what you taught me was valuable in life."

Warden: "Do you actually enjoy being an assassin?" Zevran: "And why not? There are many things to enjoy about being a Crow in Antiva. You are respected. You are feared. The authorities go out of their way to overlook your trespasses. Even the rewards are nothing to turn your nose up at."

Illario, bitter about Caterina favoring Lucanis - resentful of the fact that she has already decided that Lucanis will be her successor, being offered power by the Venatori (at the expense of the Crows) and accepting because why not? How different is it from what the Crows do? Isn't power and status the whole point of working yourself up in the Crows? Getting into a relationship with Zara because why not? Isn't sex part of the allure of being a Crow? Why can't he have this? Why shouldn't he have this?

Rook: "When we met, it didn't seem like Illario and Caterina were close." Lucanis: "It was hard to be close to her. Even for me. And...I was her favorite."

Why would he have connections to his family? Why should he? Caterina certainly never seemed to value 'family' beyond what they could do for her and their family legacy. Most of his family is already dead, and of those that remain the only parental figure he has obviously favors Lucanis. We don't have a lot of evidence in-game to show that Illario ever really cared for Lucanis, but the prequel story 'The Wake' and Lucanis' own banter imply that they were practically brothers, best friends. Perhaps he did care and then ceased to at some point, perhaps he didn't at all, or perhaps he accepted that an early death for them both was inevitable like everyone else in their family. Dead now or later - what was the difference? At least if Illario sells him out now to the Venatori then he'll get something from it instead of another dead family member to bury.

It's the tragic result of raising a child in an environment where he was taught and experienced the need for self-preservation at all costs. Constantly threatened, punished, and made well aware of that fact that his life was an expendable commodity. Then, when things in the world went to shit he picked the only option that made sense to him. To save himself.

The irony of the potential fall of the Crows, the fall of House Dellamorte, coming at the hands of one of their own - not because he had a change of heart but because he was taught too well by them. The Crows view those that fail them as disposable, someone to be discarded - if the Crows fail Illario, what is to stop him from applying that mindset to them?

But this would require the writers to acknowledge how messed up the Crows are and we can't do that to our 'Noble Freedom Fighters'™. They'll also need to address Zevran's existence and what lore was established in past games...and we can't have that either lmao.

[aliusfrater]

related to nick's post. you can't even make this stuff up

[eddsworldiscompletelynormal]

eddsworlding

[tissuegore]

cooking something up 🔥 [it did not cook and it exploded]

[klonoadreams]

Thinking back on the 3 am NRC General chat discussions in pogchamps and then how, during a Harvestella stream, i asked @sylanc and @the-only-n about how this meme is 100 percent Leona in Savannaclaw

Leona legit also often gets asked out in Savannaclaw, but he wants none of that, and just turns everyone down. Its now like a first year hazing ritual to mcfucking dare a first year to ask Leona out, when he legits is unfuckable and undatable. He refuses.

And once Yuu (ewe) comes around and he OFFICIALLY starts courting her post OB, he just sticks with Floof. And also whoever is in her flock (polycule), because shit happens lmao.

[burritello3000]

LSoH Saga

@phoebepheebsphibs & @boots-with-the-fur-club There’s still more to come >:]

Featuring:

@sugarpasteltmnt | @hitwiththetmnt | @shiveagit Lore? (This is my way of saying I LOVE YOUR IDEA SO MUCH AND I NEED MORE but no pressure :) ) | @kaysdenofchaos | @cupcakeslushie | @tangledinink | @fireheartfan | @dianagj-art | @intotheelliwoods (Sorry, I just realized how distorted he looks 😭 Oops) | @sharkfinn | Who ever is in that big-ass fight | @tmntaucompetition

[shima-draws]

Shaking hands with everyone who also cannot sleep without a fan. My parents affectionately refer to it as College Fan Syndrome (or CFS for short) bc my inability to sleep without a fan started with THEM not being able to sleep in college due to noisy roommates/neighbors so the habit started for them there. And then was passed to me. Now I too am Cursed with CFS

[amethyst-is-gay]

I spray, you spray, we all spray for Ospreay

[ac-art-and-stuff]

🌠🌠🌠

I kinda went hard on this methinks 😎

Was in deep art block but deciding to go back to textured brushes in clip studio and go ~wild~ with literally everything was a lot of fun!

(Imagining this character literally got me through a panic attack while I was driving so safe to say he might be my no. 1 in this specific campaign)

[unma]

Alright, you win. The propaganda worked, I'm building a rupture team now. Gonna have to do like 50 runs through EXP Luxcavation to get all the IDs up to speed.

I've got Lantern Donqui, 7 Faust, 7 Heathcliff, Rabbit Meursault, and Red Sheet Sinclair. No W Yi Sang, though...

Any recommendations for alternatives? Deyvat Rodion, Fang Hong Lu, 7 Ryoshu?

Fang Hong Lu and Devyat Rodion are definitely really good for rupture, especially MD, with their high coin counts. I'm pretty sure Devyat Rodion doesn't consume rupture count when she reaches her conditionals, where as Fanghunt Hong Lu does, so she's higher priority.

7 Ryoshu is a cope unit for Rupture. I'd know, I used her for a good while. Great clashing and nice damage, but don't resign yourself to a dead slot in terms of rupture application.

You could also try 7Outis. I've used her only in Railway, which isn't the best place for Rupture, and I don't remember how well I did. She has good count application, save for her s3 (which doesn't factor rupture damage into the bonus damage, which means it sucks), plus the passive she gets from Ebony Queen (I think that's the name of the apple thing) is really useful. I'd still rather use. The other two.

Glad to know the propaganda worked on someone at least. I should do this more.

[cypfi]

Wip dump

Haiii!!! I mostly posted cookie stuff here but I think it’s about time I share some oc stuff and wips for other projects!!

Small warning- some scars and man boobs (non suggestive but still warning)

Some face & marking practices

HUMAN MARGARINE NEXT TO MY FAVORITE AND MOST DASHING OC?!?!?!

Small cookie wip for a friend <3

HUMAN BUTTER ROLL?!?!?? *faints*

Please enjoy the food/j

[the-starprince]

Tord showing off his Top Surgery sc*rs to Matilda! Matilda is excited for her implants that she wants to get! :3 Also they're in love and kiss sometimes

[strxnged]

apparently every time i drink all i want to do is complain about being obsessive about my ex and tell a bunch of my friends that i'm drinking. anyways hi why do i do this i fundamentally hate alcohol

[echthr0s]

Still haven't finished Dawntrail. Half a month left on my sub, so I should probably get on that (I say, having spent 10 hours blazing through the latest Season in D3 for the past couple of days instead). I just miss the previous story so goddamn much and it's ruining my ability to judge this expansion on its own merits. I mean... Wuk Lamat is adorable. I do like Fantasy Central America so far, it's lovely. But I don't care. I'm waiting so very patiently for something to happen that will make me sit up and care, that will haunt me doggedly so I have to keep playing to find out what happens. Everything's so different now. Like Dayir and Ishan, my beloved now-retired WoLs, I don't feel like a part of this story anymore.

I'm trying to console myself with tenuous threads to story elements I care about -- for example, the idea that the character going on this New World adventure is a Halmarut shard -- but frankly I don't think any character of mine would do any of this stuff. I mean, the sidequest-y stuff, maybe. Sure, let's play Eorzean Anthropologist or whatever. But politics is rarely even remotely interesting to me, and this rite-of-succession thing just isn't compelling on that front. I just don't care.

Hopefully I'll finish this expansion before my sub runs out -- gonna try my best, anyway -- and hopefully I'll find that thing that will make me sit up and care, because I don't want to be bored with FFXIV. Not after all it's done for me.