#pragma.

[overmorrowrpg]

PRAGMA LUZ — [?], [?] — ENIGMA.

YOU ARE AN ALIVE THING THAT SHOULD BE DEAD— YOU ARE A MYSTERY EVEN TO YOURSELF. Fingers formed from ceramic and steel trace questions in fogged over glass, trail over constructed jawline, in search of revelations that refuse to come. Spectral energy hangs in your sternum, kisses your insides with heat-scalding animation, while mechanical limbs born from human hands guide each movement. Once you were something, once you were someone's. BUT WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH YOU NOW? Memory sits like a blasted heath, a thing ruined to the point of uncertainty. There was a knife, and there was a man, and now there is only you, darling, dearest, desecrated. The shape of your own face is a mystery, the lay of the land hangs like a loaded question. Understanding comes in waves— glimpses of times gone past, echoes of others' lives. There is a hunger here, a desire to be a thing that might be whole once again. There is a beauty, a wide-eyed wonder at the whole of the world. THERE IS A QUESTION MARK WOVEN THROUGH EVERY ACTION. Washed up on shore, given life and purpose by the whims of others, the whole of you is waiting for an answer that may never come. And when all the lights go out on all the shores, there is still this: might you still remain, eternal and unsure?

CONNECTIONS

AGAPE — EVEN WHEN I’M IN THE DARK I’M IN THE DARK WITH YOU.

There was a hand that found you in the port, cradled gently by sea glass and the debris of the night before. It was a soft hand, a gentle one, one that raised you out of the waters and gasped with shock as a face formed into being. AGAPE is the one that brought you to the rest. AGAPE is a north star, a cardinal point. Your loyalty to them is something that FIRE COULD NOT MELT OUT OF YOU. It is foolhardy, eternal, the first thing that you might have called your own. If they feel the same, you cannot tell. And still, you will not let them doubt your devotion.

STORGE — THE ONE THING LEFT IN THIS WRETCHED LANDSCAPE THAT COULD SAVE US ALL FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER THAN WE DESERVE.

There is something familiar in the way that they look at you, the way that they take your hand after jobs and promise that everything will be okay. Their presence comes with the smell of rosemary, of something known and not known hanging in the air, an echo of sleep. YOU WONDER WHY IT HAUNTS YOU. It follows the contours of how an older sibling might treat their younger half: you are greedy for it, desperately clinging to them, eyes forever following. But you wonder how you know this: how the word sibling can ever sit in your vocabulary. And with it, you begin to wonder why STORGE cares this much.

MANIA — I CAME TO TAKE UP YOUR OFFER TO NO LONGER BE TORTURED.

WHAT CAN YOU OFFER THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE? MANIA is not friend. MANIA is not foe. Even in your short time of being the thing that you are, knowing the little that you know, your heart a blank slate, even this much is clear. MANIA holds a key to a box that might hold another key to the start of the answer of what you are. But MANIA always demands a price. They hold question and answer, beginning and end: but is the price one that you will ever be able to stomach?

TAKEN BY DEL ✧ AIYANA LEWIS

[gophergal]

there are many kinds of love

TFTober 3 - Relationships

[zumurruds]

...watching the sun set from the open balcony, Heston offering his warm-hearted hospitality, ordering him simple delicacies and arguing with him on some obscure point of philosophy.

Loyalty, duty and protection between Heston and Damen in KING'S RISING

[normal-nightmare]

God. God I'm completely fucking insane about Dick and Jason

Their dynamic is everything to me. They have such a complicated relationship and history. They've been enemies and friends and almost-brothers. The what-ifs and should-have-beens and might-haves linger in between them so heavily. The guilt and grief sticks to their relationship and might never go away. They keep hurting each other but they love each other so much and they want to keep trying, to understand each other

Because that's what love is!! Relationships aren't perfect but that doesn't matter! They keep trying and they WANT to keep trying! Jason sees Dick for who he is and still thinks he's the most amazing thing he's ever seen. Dick has seen Jason at his absolute worst and still wants him around. They've both wanted the other dead and they've fought and gotten each other bloody and they still come back and offer a hand up.

They SEE each other- and that's terrifying. And they love each other so so deeply. The commitment, the sense of duty and obligation, it's all there. They don't HAVE to keep caring or trying- but they do regardless and God isn't that what love is? Trying?

Just. God they're so devoted to each other even when they've been hurt, even when they don't quite know how to show it or get the other to understand. But they try.

God, they try.

[hawnks]

A werewolf knight promised a bride in return for his unflinching loyalty and unmatched battle prowess.

His Jarl thinks the most beautiful, talented, and wellbred Lady of the island will suit nicely as his gift.

But the wolf has already made his choice -- he'd made it long before he ever went to war. Everything he did, every terrible, horrible, deadly thing, he did it for her.

And since he was promised a bride, well. Who can stop him? It's his due, after all.

[inkspottie]

Absolutely loved the part of Pragma where Takahide met Seb, so i decided to draw it

(Tw for blood and S/H kinda? Seb has wounds all over him so yeahhhh, i also posted it but i think my tumblr if broken. I’ll colour and fix it up later but yeahhh))))

Yooooo!!! This is so cool! Ah the expressions are spot on.

I love this so much??? And ouchie my heart with Seb’s injuries…

[malfiora]

Jaydick and Pragmatic Love

For some reason (*cough* neurodivergence *cough*) I like to get introspective about why I like the things I like. My love for jaydick came kinda naturally – a red/blue aesthetic between 2 dorks with canonically strong and complex feelings towards each other? Been there, done that, sign me up. But, like...why? Why was I obsessed with this ship? Why is the pairing itself so compelling, whether you ship them or not? I thought: "I don't know, it's the way they're coded as opposites but aren't really, and the way Jason admires Dick but also resents him a little, and the way that Dick's entire identity shifts when Jason comes along, I guess."

And digging a little deeper, I could finally put it into words: it's because Jason was made for Dick. In much the same way that Dick (and consequently Robin) was made to be Bruce's ward / Batman's partner, Jason was created to be someone Dick could conceivably pass his mantle to, someone he could see something of himself in and trust to take on the responsibility he'd been safeguarding for years so that he could finally go do something else (i.e. become Nightwing). Metatextually (i.e. between text and audience), this makes sense, especially given the logic that Jason needed to be similar enough to Dick for audiences to like him while being his own person so he wasn't just a shameless ripoff. (This logic evolved over time, hence retcons, but still.) But contextually (within a text, between characters), what must that look like?

If I had to put it in a single word, it seems like both fans and writers have settled on pragma. (EDIT: I like the Wikipedia article better.) According to Greek philosophy-based types of love, pragma is the type of love based on personal qualities, a sense of duty/obligation, and long term commitment. There is compromise and mutual understanding here. It's the type of love most associated with married couples who have been together for a while.

What's awesome about this is it can coexist alongside other types of love, like philia (platonic), eros (lust-driven), or ludos (flirtatious). These secondary types are where I see the disconnect between shippers and antis, but pragma is still the foundation, not necessarily in a romantic way, but certainly in the commitment.

A few examples under the cut.

Nightwing (1996) #119-122. I wrote about this enough, and so has frog. Commitment, sense of duty/obligation

Nightwing (2016) #15. Jason and Dick being bros, and Jason being self aware and commenting on their coping mechanisms (i.e. violence). Long-term mutual understanding.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) Annual #1. stealing this from @the-mocking-robin to make a point. Admiration of personal qualities.

Grayson (vol. 3). This one's just fun. Jason feels betrayed that Dick faked his death.

Nightwing (2021) Annual #1. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Nightwing (1996) Year One #5. Commitment, sense of duty almost immediately.

[pokophobia]

a few au designs, they were requested on twt/instagram :)

[arkanicdevotion]

Ahem. *Throws them gays at u* (Istg if the quality sucks I'm writing an entire paragraph insulting Tumblr like if it was an living being with an entire bloodline to roast in 5 languages at once) To have it not in pixels, click on it

Part 1 on 2, my stylus no-clipped into the backrooms (if anyone goes there find it for me please, I'll give you 10 dabloons) @inkspottie I forgot how to draw blush so I didn't give Seb blush (I haven't drawn characters blushing since middle of 2023 Funfact: this took me ELEVEN god damn hours. I fried my brain AND shoulders on this grrrr

[deer-daughterx]

{Words by José Olivarez from Citizen Illegal /@fatimaamerbilal , from even flesh eaters don't want me.}

[zumurruds]

Commenter: Very 'Troy' because I get the sense that Damen found real respect for Auguste and that the guy deserved it. Those two would have been a magnificent pairing, in a parallel fic universe. Pacat: Yeah! God, I am happy you picked up on this. I completely fell for the Damen/Auguste dynamic while I was plotting, for exactly the reasons you describe.

from C.S. PACAT'S CHAPTER COMMENTARIES

[jedi-order-apologist]

Post-Mission Support

Sometimes, after a bad mission, the best thing to do is to seek out friends who understand. Written for Fandom Empire Prompt Tables 2024 - Prompt: "Write a ficlet" and @starwarsalltypesoflove week - Prompt: "Pragma"

Read on AO3

It wasn’t a premonition that had Mace getting out the tea kettle, but the Force likely did aid him in the timing, as he was just taking it off the heat as the door to his quarters slid open, and Qui-Gon walked in and sank onto one of the round cushions.

Mace didn’t ask if it had been a rough mission; it was obvious in the tenseness of the Force pulled around Qui-Gon, and in the weariness spilling out. It took a lot to rattle Qui-Gon, but Mace knew that he’d get the full details when he and Obi-Wan gave their mission report.

For now, tea.

He offered a cup to Qui-Gon, who accepted it with wordless gratitude, before sitting down with his own cup. For a few moments they sat in steady silence, Qui-Gon’s tension slowly easing.

“I told the Council that this mission was ill-advised,” he said, eventually.

“You did,” Mace agreed. “But it had to happen, and there is no other pair of Jedi who could have handled it better.”

“You haven’t heard our mission report yet.”

“It won’t change my opinion in that regard.”

Qui-Gon lifted his cup and drank from it, before exhaling softly.

“Obi-Wan handled himself well,” he conceeded. “And we did what we could.”

“That’s all anyone can ask.”

Qui-Gon smiled. “Bold words from you, my friend. How often have I had to remind you of the same? And I’m sure if I asked Yoda, he could name many times more.”

It was true. One’s efforts never felt like enough, sometimes, when missions went south. The trap of self-recrimination was a difficult one to escape – at least on one’s own. That was why these moments shared over tea in the aftermath were so valuable.

“And Obi-Wan?” Mace asked, after a hum of agreement.

“With his own friends,” Qui-Gon said. “They’re what he needs right now.”

Mace understood that as well – after all, he and Qui-Gon had done the same, as padawans. There were times when you confided in your master, and there were times when you confided in your peers.

There was no shortage of people to turn to, in the Temple. Everyone needed support, and everyone offered it. Their shared duty and calling, and both the joy and hardship that came with it, was something they all understood.

And so they took these quiet moments together, to center themselves, and go back out into the world, ready to face its ills again – but never alone.

[writing-heiress]

Bewitching Pragma

Once upon a time, there lived a young witch who went by the name Freya. Freya was to be an extraordinary witch for someone her age. That bring said, she preferred to spend her days relaxing in the countryside & sometimes helping out the locals. Things shifted when Freya had imprinted on a baby dragon who will now not leave her alone.

In order to prevent a target on her back, Freya enlisted the help of three of Twisted Wonderland’s next villains in the making.

Masterlist

Tagging — @adrianasunderworld @absolutepokemontrash @the-trinket-witch @the-weirdos-mind @liviavanrouge @abyssthing198 @yumeko2sevilla @yukii0nna @tragedytells-tales @twsted-princess @queen-of-twisted @ice-cweam-sod4 @boopshoops @fair-night-starry-tears @lordofthewinter @nproduction626 @mangacupcake

[pokophobia]

second batch of designs! this one lacks a character because i kinda got frustrated trying to design gingerbrave/peach ...

pt. 1

[coolpointsetta]

hands hands hands hands phil dunster hands hands hands hands hands hands

PLEASE

[goodmorninglovelies42]

Sometimes I think about the juxtaposition of Brett Goldstein’s long tapered fingers and Phil Dunster’s massive hands.

That’s it. That’s the post.