#skullduggery

[dogmaz]

[Skullduggery - 1983]

[dansemacabre]

i’ve been thinking about “sixer, it would eat you alive” since i read it and. man. every layer you peel back makes it worse. im not a bill apologist but. shit

if you (1) take it at face value, it paints bill as an apologetic murderer in his single (and maybe sole) open moment of regret. he doesn’t let his walls down often- only with ford do we even get to see the remnant of his galaxy, see the “actual remorse” ford describes, get just a hint of his origins. but he does it, because he thinks ford should know.

if you (2) take it from ford’s point of view, as something he committed to journal three, like. wow. imagine being so committed to a being that you’d hunt down and kill the monster that destroyed his home, only to (assumably) figure out later that that being was the monster. the small moments of trust, the “good times”, are so key to manipulation. how long did ford hold onto that one shred of vulnerability? no wonder ford stayed for as long as he did. in his eyes, bill was a survivor. ford wanted to survive too.

(slight tw below for unreality- any time i mention our reality, i mean “our reality” as a narrative device used in the book of bill as a proxy for the idea of bill being in our reality, since he can’t actually be in our reality. all of this is a fictional theory about a show/book with fictional contents!)

but if you (3) remember that “even his lies are lies” and absolutely Nothing bill says should be trusted. Whoo boy. if i read tbob right the book itself is being created in the theraprism (even tho it shows up with the ciphertologists at some point? idk that’s a whole other post). it’s meant to show what the reader wants to see; it manifests in our reality as what the collective fandom wants to see. so if we want to see truth, if we want to see where bill ended up and who he actually is, there’s a non-zero chance that the whole interaction was a complete fabrication.

imagine bill, stuck in the actively harmful, probably earth-illegal theraprism, once again being forced to be “fixed” and molded into something more palatable, being forced to conform no matter how much it hurts. (i know natural uncontrollable mutation ≠ just so much murder and destruction and chaos, but. you can’t ignore the similarities. bill has obviously been thinking about those silly straws.)

he looks back on everything that went wrong, back on his relationship with ford, back through every dimension where he wins. would that one moment, that one truth amid centuries of lies, have saved him from purgatory? if he had just been open? shown his damage? maybe he did think of his parents, or his henchmaniacs (especially the oracle). people who he might have once opened up to. maybe he just wanted to open up to someone again.

so in his own weird way, stuck in a cell, he reshaped reality again. in this reality, for this fleeting moment, he had been someone worth believing. and ford had listened, hell, ford had wanted to help. looking back, knowing how he treated ford, knowing how ford ended up because of it, maybe bill would have said the most honest thing he’d ever told ford: i am the monster, i am not worth your time or belief, and i will eat you alive.

[roberhetero]

[dreadwedge]

The men who are searching my house are very impressed by my collection of legos. I can tell that the officers who are searching my home are extremely impressed by my large and well-organized collection of legos. The policemen who are ransacking my house (with warrant) keep getting distracted by my many shelves filled with Lego bricks, figures, and other parts, organized by shape and color. The cops are in my home looking for evidence with which to convict me of a certain crime but cannot help but gawk with amazement upon encountering my display room, which contains numerous Lego models of my own design. The fuzz are very careful not to disturb my elaborate lego constructions as they meticulously scan my clean garage for clues. The boys in blue involuntarily sigh at the sight of the 1:72 scale model of the very house in which we are standing, a near perfect replica, constructed entirely of Lego products. “She even has brick separators. That’s the real deal”, the detective murmurs as he shows me the crime scene photos, not even watching my face to see if my reaction is telling. The law marvels at a detailed diorama depicting a grisly murder quite similar to the one that they are currently investigating, only in miniature. The bastards are here for me and they didn’t even care about legos before today, but now they excitedly whistle and cheer as they compete to recognize various scenes from Star Wars and other pop culture properties rendered in carefully engineered plastic bricks in my living room. The bobbies are enamored with my Lego Fridge. I killed an evil man six months ago and buried his body in the park by moonlight. The Man is delighted by my Legoland memorabilia. The constables ask me what Lego sets I would recommend for beginners, as they think it might be a nice way to spend time with their daughters, whose birthdays are coming up. The coppers eagerly scribble the full web address of my blog on their arms. The police officers in my home have so very many questions about Bionicle lore, and I have all of the answers they seek. These men love my legos, and they love me. And they are very impressed.

[preyofolympus]

Little Tanith Low drawing. Trying to get better with cell shading. Still no clue how to do it so I just vibe it lol.

My art commission are open too! I’m about to post my updated price list, so look out for that!!🫶🫶

[jenfoundabug]

This creature is a tricksy one. Over half of you thought it would sting, and this FLY thanks you for the compliments on its mimicry <3

This is a long-horned yellowjacket fly (Sphecomyia vittata), aptly named because it evolved to cosplay a yellowjacket (a type of predatory social wasp). These flies can’t bite or sting, but as very convincing mimics, they can safely visit flowers to feed without being disturbed. I, too, thought this was a wasp, until I was looking at photos later. There are several giveaways. You can see its halteres in the first picture. These are small club-shaped organs that replace the second pair of wings on flies and are used for stabilization during flight. The fly doesn't have a "waist" like a wasp, and its antennae have a small number of segments with an arista (filament) on the end. The head is also distinctly fly-shaped, and it doesn't have large mandibles. Here's an actual yellowjacket for comparison: (Western yellowjacket; Vespula pensylvanica)

[dannieuniverseart]

First post is a funny one

I drew my two comfort characters in an art meme that my friend showed me

[sejii]

anyway this outro from Skullduggery of Peppino and Gustavo singing Funiculi Funicula is everything

[lemondemonpickuplines]

I’d be your spidery concubine

-i'd like to accompany your slacks

-our love is abundant various

-i'll cleverly make porridge out of your brain

-you give me a polyurethane smile

etc etc

[lazyy-peachess]

When artblock hits you , always remember your friends human version of skullduggery is right there 😌 ✌️

Drew @staticart skull dug boy he didn't start at the club but he's somehow ended up there

[ragnarvizsla]

This is my messy as heck sketch drawing of skullduggery pleasant! From a book series i started to read lol I hope you like it 🖤🖤🖤

[dansemacabre]

i read a pinescone fic recently abt wirt being the anti-beast by leading lost children out of the woods and it drove me insane and i suddenly started thinking abt my pinescone early aughts university au and. wirt instinctually leading people away from being lost without realizing. going into psych to become a guidance counselor/therapist. working part time at the library and directing people to the right section- he always seems to have the right recommendation for someone going through a hard time. his lights shine a bit brighter than everyone else’s, and his window on the top floor faces the woods, so anyone in the forest can see campus in the dark and find their way home. he frequents the lost and found- his laundry always seems to spawn socks that his floor mates lost four years ago. he’s always getting stopped by visiting families and freshmen for directions- he thinks he just walks too slow and looks approachable, no matter how much he scowls. he walks shortcuts over hills and through groves of trees and finds the ground below him a bit more worn than normal every time. wirt is a beacon to the lost and hopeless without even knowing it. even when he is at his loneliest, he is always being followed and always being watched.

[ru-the-fox]

By uejini

ﾑﾋｮﾋｮﾋｮﾋｮ～

Source: twitter

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A few stories about the Tangerine Tyrant caught my eye today, and they all point to his increasing desperation - so I figured I’d go around the horn and celebrate his continuing dissipation.

First: Criminal Defendant and Adjudicated Rapist Donald Trump yesterday predicted a “bloodbath” if he didn’t get reelected, and the media quickly devolved into outlets condemning his use of violent rhetoric and others - Fox and Newsmax - concern trolling over how he was talking specifically about the automobile industry. So, whatever. If you’re interested in parsing the event along those lines, have at it - but I think there’s a more interesting, deeply indicative phenomenon just below the surface that speaks not just to Trump’s mentality but that of his whole bonkers cult.

If you’re looking for the atavistic pull of Donald Trump on his followers, it’s in his power to do whatever the hell he wants and face no consequences. NO ONE can tell him what to do. NO ONE can keep him from attacking whomever he wants. NO ONE can prevent him from sating his desires. NO ONE.

Now, we know that’s not true - as evidenced by his exile to Mar-a-Lago for the past three years, but it’s part of the mystique. In a lot of ways, it makes sense if you look at his cult following - people who are, by and large, deeply disempowered and enraged at a culture that is stripping away their traditional privileges and social entitlements. They WANT Trump to keep shitting the punch bowl as a sort of wish fulfillment of their own stifled rage. Maybe they can’t rape the woman they want to rape or kill the immigrants they hate for speaking Spanish or Hindi at the Gas-n-Sip – but they sure as hell can dream about it when Trump gives a cross-burner of a speech. That’s all standard form.

But what we saw last night - and in the fascist outrage-trolling today - was something new. It’s been creeping into the 2024 election cycle here and there, but yesterday, it entirely broke through, and it’s this: NOT EVEN TRUMP’S BRAIN IS ALLOWED TO CENSOR TRUMP’S MOUTH WHEN IT COMES TO RAGE AND ANGER.

Look, Trump KNOWS that using words like “bloodbath” is going to cost him non-MAGA voters. He knows that calling people “vermin” is going to hurt his chances of navigating the very narrow path ahead if he hopes to return to the White House. Yet, he can’t stop himself. Trump is unable to act in his own easily achieved best interest if it means not being a monster, and while it’s lamentable that he’s bringing such hatred to our national debate, I encourage him to keep it up.

You be you, Donald!

Every single time you let your id out of its box, it’s like sending America an unsolicited, mushroom-shaped dick-pic. Sure, your fans are going to love it, but the rest of us grossed the fuck out.

So, please! Rage on!

-----

Second:

Trump’s lawyers in the NYS civil fraud case settlement submitted a filing today that it is “a practical impossibility” for Trump to post a bond for the half-billion dollars he needs to cough up in order to appeal the decision. According to reports, he approached 30 different surety companies, and they all turned him down. Why they would do that might indicate what’s got him tuned to “bloodbath” and “vermin” levels of rage.

It might be a simple point, but it bears a paragraph of explanation.

Most folks who don’t work in the NYC real estate market – or any real estate market – might think, “Hey, he’s a rich guy. Why not just sell a few of those buildings he owns? They’ve gotta be worth a pretty penny.”

Or, alternatively, “Why won’t anyone take Trump Tower as collateral for a loan?”

The simple answer is he doesn’t really OWN any of that shit outright. It’s ALL mortgaged to the hilt. To get a clearer picture of this, let’s look at 40 Wall Street – one of Trump’s “prestige” properties.

The numbers are a bit hard to come by, but an hour of reading suggests that the building is presently worth about $200 million. Mind you, part of the fraud charges – now proven – included his valuation of the building in 2015 at over $750 million, but it’s just not worth that at all.

So, take the $200 million as a starting point and note that Trump’s mortgage on the property, according to a Bloomberg report in November of 2023, stands at $122 million. So, if Trump were to liquidate his stake in the property fully, he’d only net about $78 million – and that is BEFORE the capital gains taxes, NYS taxes, and NYC taxes on the sale. According to a few articles I’ve scanned this evening, that would be up to about 40% of his earnings. That means, even if he drops one of his most precious assets, he would only raise about $50 million.

He owes TEN TIMES that number by next week.

Play that out another round, and realize that if Trump tried to sell ten or twenty office buildings in NYC all at once, the price of ALL of them would plummet to fire-sale prices.

He’s fucked. Moreover, he knows it and is desperate to find a way out.

-----

This brings us to news item number three: The Return of Paul Manafort.

News leaked today that Trump is considering bringing convicted felon and former campaign manager Paul Manafort back into his 2024 bid for the White House. Manafort, primarily due to his complete lack of a moral center, would be a tremendous asset for Trump. He’s a solid political operative, but what he REALLY brings to the table is a direct line back to the Russian oligarchy and their money. That, obviously, is an enormous threat to national security, and I’ve got to hope that the intelligence services in DC and around the world will be on heightened alert for any covert – or overt – entreaties to Putin or his cronies for a loan. I’ve got to hope there are ways of making such entreaties known to the public through selective leaks if nothing else.

But that brings us back to observation number one.

Trump knows that going to Putin for help with his financial difficulties if it becomes known, would be a dagger to the heart for his chances of returning to the White House. Yet, if I’m right, he will be unable to stop himself when it comes to finding a fix for his hemorrhaging empire. His brain will tell him this is a terrible idea, but it won’t matter. NO ONE is allowed to stop Donald Trump from doing whatever the hell he wants to do – not even Donald Trump.

In 1776, James Otis, a thoughtful supporter of the Revolutionary War, noted about politics, “When the pot boils, the scum will rise.”

Trump is proving that to be true, even when there’s only one evil, arrogant, rapist bastard in the soup. He’s so screwed.

Love to you all.

Michael J. Tallon

[preyofolympus]

little (I'm saying little to not psych myself out) WIP of Skulduggery and Valkyrie fighting some monsters (I'm thinking draugar) (I'm also thinking I use too many brackets).

I am very much not new to skulduggery pleasant- The amount of time I've been reading it, I've been sticking with it over two thirds of my life lol. But I am super new to the fandom space, so I welcome new SP friends!

Not sure why, but it keeps going blurry, so sorry lads.

Also, my art comms are fully open and I have way too much time off from uni for x-mas, so DM me for deets!

[rad-ramenkingles]

First Blurry Boy up, with surprisingly the most votes… Kinkotsuman!

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So this one actually wasn't as in-depth of a revamp as the others in the set, and didn't have really any extras. In a sense though I guess that makes him a perfect start to this group before I drop the others.

Hope you all enjoy the Skelly Boy, and stay tuned for the next one I drop in about a week or so, and thanks to everyone who voted again. Appreciate you peeps! One down, five more to go...

(Also I've presented him here at 300x the normal size just for convenience on the eyes.)

Until the next post, stay cool everyone. *Slight update, altered the Kinko sprite a bit upon reflection and changed some text, and the blue bands to purple*

-Ramen