#so here you are

[wyrmwright]

stolen divinity

[kerrste]

Deus ex Machina

[ghurab-alzilal]

3 y/o Damian: *pats Jason's head *

LoA's Jason, with a soft smile : What's up, bǎobèi?

3 y/o Damian, while still patting him : I'm trying to wake up the skunk in your head.

LoA's Jason, squeezing Damian's cheeks with a bitter smile : xiǎo shǐ...

[virtual-paint]

Top 10 photos taken seconds before disaster

[glass-warehouse]

holy fuck, he's done

I was so sad when I had to cover up the rendering on his hands with the tats :(

also I had to force tumblr into posting these - all my stuff is png's, and babyyy those files are massive. I imagine that the quality has been nuked.

cut to me screaming and crying on the floor about working at 600dpi that no one but me can appreciate

[black-leather-sketchbook]

snuggle

[rejectedfables]

Lan Xichen is clearly shaken by what WWX and LWJ tell him about NMJ’s death after the discussion conference. He has doubts, he is concerned, and in response to this he decides to USE THE EVIL SPIRIT AFFECTING MUSIC ON HIMSELF to SEE IF IT HARMS HIM. 

(A normal and hinged thing to do)

(it harmed him)

If we use Nie Mingjue’s behavior as a metric for what this selection from the Collection of Spirit Turmoil does to a person, we can reasonably assume it causes or exacerbates at least SOME of the following:

Disrupts spiritual energy such that a person progresses towards qi deviation

Emotional instability

Violent outbursts

Prone to suspicion or paranoia

Nie Mingjue is already prone to literally all of these things, but they ARE also the things the seem notably exacerbated at the end of his life. Whether it was The Song itself or merely the proximity to qi deviation which caused/exacerbated these things, we cannot be sure, but as the latter is caused by the former, there is no functional difference.

In Guanyin Temple, very shortly after Lan Xichen would have used the song on himself, he is notably distressed, his faith in JGY is further shaken, and he’s manipulated by Huaisang into killing Jin Guangyao-- something that is both understandable in context AND clearly horrifies him for the rest of his life.

Given the circumstances (learning what he’s just learned about JGY’s involvement in NMJ’s death, and then learning everything else he does during this scene), he was going to be upset with Jin Guangyao regardless. He was going to have questions, he was going to have doubts. But I do think it’s WORTH REMEMBERING that this man had JUST used the same song ON HIMSELF that Jin Guangyao used to speed up/cause Nie Mingjue’s qi deviation and death. It provides additional context for his reactions, both within the scene and after it.

Lan Xichen has spent over a decade on the same page with Jin Guangyao about JGY’s motivations, goals, and often even the unfortunate but necessary methods he needed to use to achieve said goals. LXC is not NMJ; he absolutely understood that JGY going undercover during Sunshot involved killing some of their own people, and he understands that that was unfortunate but necessary. He understood JGY’s situation with his father, understood that JGY was not in a position to do anything about JGS’s decisions wrt Xue Yang, supported JGY through everything it took to make the watchtowers a reality. NMJ told LXC about JGY killing his superior officer, and LXC went “I’m sure he had a good reason” and just MOVED ON. He’s not under the impression that JGY has never hurt anyone, broken the rules, or committed a crime-- he just does not care, because he truly believes that JGY is a smart, capable, and well intentioned person and therefore those are things to be understood and compassionate about, rather than condemn and scorn him for. He may not have been aware of the extent of JGY’s crimes, but he didn’t feel like he NEEDED to be. He knew JGY, and that was enough.

Under normal circumstances, Lan Xichen’s wish when finding out something that upsets him (especially with regards to his friends), is clearly to talk about it. The greatest example is when Nie Mingjue loudly and repeatedly threatened Jin Guangyao’s life-- Lan Xichen wanted to talk it out. FOREVER, if need be. This is a man who understands that mitigating circumstances exist (especially when it comes to JGY) but solves problems with people he KNOWS with words.

So he finds out JGY killed NMJ, and his response is horror. And his solution to that horror is that he wants answers. He wants to talk about it. Why didn’t you tell me? If you felt you were backed into a corner, why didn’t you tell me that either?? Why didn’t you come to me??? TALK to me???? It could have all been delayed even longer solved if only--!!!

And yet, despite more than a decade of defending JGY in the face of an entire society blaming JGY for everything they could, in Guanyin Temple he’s swept up in the mood of the scene and condemns JGY with the rest. He knows JGY better than anyone else, but is made to doubt this. He’s left wondering if he ever knew the man at all, simply because he’s shown a new side of him.

And he responds to that feeling with violence.

He lives in a world and holds a position in said world that necessitates and normalizes violence, but he himself is not prone to it, especially with loved ones. Yet he doesn’t threaten to tie JGY up, magically mute him, have him tried for his crimes, nor does he SIMPLY react instinctively in perceived self defense-- it’s notable that he threatens death. While the circumstances are different, he does the same thing Nie Mingjue did (threaten JGY’s life), and I don’t think it’s irrelevant that he must be not entirely himself to get to that point.

In the Untamed, during the Guanyin Temple scene, he even slaps Jin Guangyao. And while I believe this is not canon to the book, I don’t personally think it’s out of character BECAUSE I think it’s a further nod to there being something wrong with him in this scene. 

And his actions in that temple is, again, something he struggles to grapple with and regrets for, as far as we know, the REST OF HIS LIFE. 

Right until the last moment, Guanyin Temple is a scene in which Lan Xichen is made to suspect that he’s never known Jin Guangyao at all, and Jin Guangyao is made to believe that he’s never mattered to Lan Xichen like Lan Xichen does to him. And in the very VERY end, when Lan Xichen chooses to die with him and Jin Guangyao doesn’t let him, they’re both shown that that doubt was unfounded. Jin Guangyao may be many things Lan Xichen was never willing or permitted to see, but he is also, fundamentally, everything Lan Xichen has known him to be. 

And Lan Xichen never, ever, wanted to harm Jin Guangyao

[galedekarios]

gale + failing the weave scene (video)

text transcript

Gale: How can I help? Altonaufein: It was a pity your lesson in the Weave ended so soon - I was enjoying out moment alone. Do you think about us being alone again? Gale: Do you? Altonaufein: Yes. Gale: So do I. Gale: You see, I'm not a big believer in fate, but I do believe in serendipity. Gale: Life is a tempest of events that sometimes we brace against and sometimes embrace. Gale: You're one such event that, one day soon perhaps, I'd like to embrace.

how to get it

during gale's weave scene fail the skill checks and gale will then comment that perhaps he isn't the teacher he fancied himself to be and will wish the protag a good night:

Gale: No, I'm sorry, but it looks like magic's not on the cards tonight. Perhaps I'm not quite the teacher I fancy myself to be. devnote: The player failed to perform the necessary steps involved in spell casting. You really wanted the player so succeed, but alas. Gale: In any case, don't blame yourself. Mystra can be a fickle mistress. Coy to a tee.

intiate player dialogue with gale and pick 'it was a pity your lesson in the weave ended so soon...' as shown in the video.

enjoy! 🖤

[ineedtopost]

Paolo stories and rumors and their sources

Ok, so in the last 23 days i've been talking to @nate-acmilan a lot and he really likes having sources for everything I tell him about Maldini. This has led me to two things, one, that others most likely want the sources to these stories, and two, I have found many sources for these things because of it. Also i've found a lot of random things too:

Rumors (Fully sourced)

So the first story I have a source for is Maradona saying that Paolo is too pretty to play football, which i'm pretty sure everyone has heard at some point. So basically I had another source for this, which is this one: https://arcobaleno2006.wordpress.com/2005/02/23/made-in-milan/

But then just before I posted this Nate sent a better one which is funnier and from a few years before: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/988261.stm

2. Ok so this one isn't really a rumor or story but basically I am just going to assume everybody is curious about a source for Paolo liking coca-cola, so besides the pictures with him always having it I also have a source, which is just the magazine I got, because the others are taking super long to get here:

Though, there was another source for this but I don't remember, but it was among the ones for this list anyway. But his liking of cola is mentioned sometimes at random when people talk about him.

3. I think that everybody has different interpretations of what happened at his first training session, but what I originally heard was that Cesare just left him there and came back later, which is true. Also, he wasn't there for Paolo's debut match either, though to be fair it wasn't known it was going to be his debut. This source has both of those:

4. I don't know if this is known a lot or not but Paolo didn't graduate high school, he only got up to a middle school diploma. But I knew this, and of course was asked for a source, so here it is:

5. Also, I don't know if everyone has heard of this but I'm assuming some of you have, and it's Paolo liking Silence of the Lambs. Some sources say it's his favorite, some not, but I think this is where that idea originally comes from:

Semi-Sourced

For this section I have one thing so I won't be numbering it, but basically I have heard that Armani wanted Paolo to Model for him, at some point in the 90's. And I always thought that this took place in the late 90's, but actually it was apparently in 1994 when he said this, according to this:

However I have nothing else to go off of for this, so it's still semi-true because I haven't seen a direct quote from Armani.

Tid-Bits

Ok, so this section is just random things I found in my research and one of them is that, at least back in the day, Paolo walked on his tippytoes when he wasn't wearing shoes. It comes from a book where the author interviewed Paolo himself, and Adriana and Billy and Cesare and Ambrosini and Ancelotti etc., so I believe it to be true:

You can just download it from there for free. That in particular is on page 177-178.

2. This is something else that comes from that book, which is that as a kid his mom made him do gymnastics and guitar. This is from page 25.

3. Last, I know that Paolo used to have a website but I don't think any of us have actually seen it. But I found an archived version of it recently:

Ok so that's it. I don't know if there is anything else I forgot, but obviously if you want to ask about any stories or rumors do it because I might have sources for that as well. And no, @kvaradonaa, I still have not found the source for Paolo and Sheva sleeping in the same bed, which I know is devastating but I haven't seen anything about it since that one time. So yeah, but I also did this because no gatekeeping and also because those new magazines are taking forever to get here and I am bored.

[callmebrutus]

imagine

when tubbo tries to interfere the date, he's faced by none other than ramon. he's also dressed up, fancy looking, in his white buttoned up, black freshly ironed shorts and a meature hat, of course. the weapon turned towards tubbo the second he steps into the shaft.

tubbo tries and talk ramon out. just like with sunny, he's talking about how it's not a good idea for them to actually date and they will hurt eachother. ramon is immune to this tho. after some exchange, tubbo grows tired and pulls out a wildcard. he knows that fit and ramon are each other's priorities. so he says that fit will either forget ab him, or pac will just hurt him if he would need to choose between him and richas per se.

ramon says "he's my pai, he would never do that"

and tubbo snaps and says "he's not your fucking dad"

making ramon break and cry.

both pac and fit hear sniffles and cries despite how strong ramon tries to stay and keep his composure together.

they finally appear before tubbo; pac grabs ramon and pulls him in a hug, trying to comfort him, and fit confronts tubbo what the fuck did he do and what is wrong with him.

aaand everyone's hurt </3

[vincess-princess]

in darkness shall you be reborn

Chapter 16

Word count: 2241 Warnings: none A/N: you would not fucking believe this

The entire day Mick remained cold and unfriendly, only addressing Vince to bark out orders, and by evening Vince began to consider apologizing just not to feel so overwhelmingly lonely. But he wasn’t desperate enough yet. Maybe in a couple hours.

They had the usual for dinner, with an exception of a bit stale but still soft bread. Vince almost shed a tear when his teeth didn’t meet the usual resistance of a crunchy ship’s biscuit. Truly one never knew what simple joys of life were until he was deprived of them.

“You already munchin’? And who’s gonna bring the captain his dinner, huh?” Mick snatched the piece of bread out of Vince’s mouth. “Damn slacker. Do your goddamn job first.” He shoved a tray into Vince’s hands and watched him reluctantly fill it with food, ruthlessly ignoring his pleading looks. Vince didn’t know Mick could be so cruel - but he was a pirate, after all. Cruelty in this job was a given, and Mick just hadn’t revealed his immediately.

Resigned to his fate, Vince shuffled across the deck to the captain’s cabin. His hands were full, so he had to kick the door instead of knocking on it. A couple minutes passed, but nobody opened. Was he even there? Vince didn’t see him on the deck, but the ship was big. Maybe he was busy with some captain stuff somewhere down in the hold. Vince really hoped he was. He wasn’t ready to face the captain today one more time.

Vince kicked the door again one last time and already turned around to leave when it opened in front of him, making him almost drop the tray.

Nikki was standing in the doorframe stark naked. Not only that, he also had a raging hard-on.

”Ah, it’s you,” he said in the most casual tone. “Quite in time. Come in, come in.”

“I’m just gonna leave this here.” Vince dropped the tray in front of the door and tried to flee, but then his forearm got caught in an iron grasp, eliminating any hope of an escape.

“You ain’t going anywhere, punk. Pick that up and bring it in.” Nikki nodded at the tray. There was so much steel in his voice Vince just silently obeyed. Nikki didn’t lean forward when Vince awkwardly tried to reach for the tray; even when he almost flipped it over trying to hold it with one hand, the captain still didn’t weaken the grasp. Only once Vince was inside the cabin and the door lock clicked behind his back did Nikki release him.

“Hi, princess,” said someone from behind his back, making Vince almost drop the tray again. He turned around and saw Tommy sitting cross-legged on the bed, also fully naked. Thankfully, his pose prevented Vince from seeing the supposedly private parts of his body (the pirates clearly didn’t have the same distinctions, though). The sheets were crumpled in a specific, easily recognizable way, wet spots scattered across the fabric. Was it stupid to hope Nikki had spare ones?

“Am I interrupting you?” Vince said weakly, his eyes dashing between the two pirates. He began to slowly make his way to the table. Someone’s breeches sprawled on the floor wrapped around his ankle, and he spent too much time trying to shake them off, all the while being watched by two naked pirates, scarred and tattooed all over. Tommy, as it turned out, even had a ring in his nipple. It must have hurt to get it done, Vince thought briefly, putting the tray on the table.

“No, not at all,” Nikki’s voice, deep, breathy and unbearably close, said in his ear, and then his body pressed against Vince’s back, boxing him in by the table. “I’d even say, you’re a great addition.” His hand slid up Vince’s side and onto his waist, hot even through the fabric of his shirt. Vince tried to concentrate on this hotness instead of the hotness pressing into his hip, but it didn’t really work.

Damn it. He shouldn’t have come here. Whatever enraged Mick could do to him for shirking his responsibilities, it couldn’t be worse than this.

“He is?” Tommy suddenly said. He sounded like he tried very hard to appeal nonchalant. “We were kinda in a process of something here, Nik.”

Vince blinked in confusion. Since when did Tommy not want him “in the process”, after all the dirty jokes and pinches and groping?

“Yeah, and? You think we’d have to tie him up again or something? Don’t worry, he’s made progress since the first time. Right?” He hooked a finger under Vince’s collar on the small of his neck and pulled on it, cutting short a shaky breath Vince was drawing.

“You misunderstood me. Hey, Vinnie, there are two of us here. Go get a second tray, and me and Nikki meanwhile will have a little talk.”

“Oh. A talk, then,” Nikki said unexpectedly coldly. “Very well.” He stepped back, releasing Vince. “Go get the tray, as my dearest first mate told you. And-” he gripped Vince’s jaw, digging his fingernails into the skin of his cheeks, “-just you try not coming back. Just you try.”

Vince was out of the cabin in a blink of an eye. Tarrying would probably make Nikki angry, but he still spent some time leaning against the door eavesdropping. Something very interesting just happened there, and Vince was dying of curiosity.

However, the door was too thick, and he could only hear unintelligible humming coming from the other side. It did sound pretty tense, though. Were they arguing?

Thankfully, Mick was still on deck, handing out portions to the remaining pirates. Vince eyed him for a while, considering his odds. What would be worse – whatever Nikki wanted to do to him when he returned, or his anger if Vince involved Mick in all this? Provided, of course, that Mick would relent and agree to be involved first.

Vince’s eyes met Mick’s, and his heart dropped: the gaze of the old pirate immediately turned cold and surly.

“What are you waiting for? We’re not done yet!” His harsh tone made Vince flinch. “You keep rambling around doing jackshit, you won’t earn any dinner!”

Vince walked towards him slowly, trying to formulate a request that wouldn’t make him sound utterly pathetic. “Mick, Nikki and Tommy are having sex and want me to join, can you come with me and stop them”? It would be less shameful to just let Nikki and Tommy actually fuck him. Maybe he should turn back- but Mick was already looking at him inquiringly, with his eyebrow raised, and what would be worse, trying or running away?

“Tommy sent me to get another portion,” Vince finally said, pushing the tray forward. “He’s there with Nikki. They- they-“ he closed his eyes, stopped to take a breath but before he could say anything else a crooked grin widened on Mick’s face.

“Oh, I know that look,” he said. “What, the captain wants to shag you again? Now with the first mate, too? And what do you want me to do? Take your place? ‘M afraid it’s not gonna work. I’m not exactly his type. And even if I was… it’s your duty, not mine. Can’t help you here, sorry. The portion for Tommy, though, that’s my field of expertise. Gimme.” He pulled the tray out of Vince’s numb hands and swiftly filled it with food. “You better hurry now. You don’t want them to get mad, right?”

Vince didn’t listen to his advice. He stood there for a good minute, staring dumbly at Mick’s back. His brain felt like thick dough: slow, heavy, sticky.

Mick was right, of course. He couldn’t exactly replace Vince there.

Vince turned around and on unbending legs tottered across the deck, back to the captain’s cabin. This time the door opened after just one kick.

Nikki’s lips stretched into a pleased smirk. “Told you he’d come back,” he said into the room. “As I said, we’ve made progress.”

Vince threw the tray onto the table next to the other one. The mug of beer swayed dangerously, but didn’t flip over. Tommy and Nikki watched him again, but it was different now. That time they were cats and Vince was a mouse; this time, they were onlookers at a fair and Vince was a monkey in a cage. The atmosphere changed. To the better or worse, Vince couldn’t say, just that it was different.

“Do you still need me here?” he asked directly. Whatever was going to happen, he wanted it over as soon as possible.

“No. Not today,” Tommy replied. Relief washed over Vince. “Some other time. It will definitely happen, though, so don’t get high hopes, princess.”

“I’m not,” Vince said. He knew that the respite was short, that he wouldn’t be able to avoid it forever, that Nikki could call him in the very next day, but it was still a relief, a promise of another relatively painless night, a few more hours to heal his wounds. God, the joys of life truly were simple. “I’ll be on my way then.” He headed to the door, trying to balance the speed around that of a lively stroll instead of a hounded animal.

“You sure you don’t want him here?” Nikki suddenly asked Tommy when Vince was halfway there. Vince froze to his place, partly out of fear, partly because they’d drag him back anyway if they wished, and he preferred his humiliation to stay behind closed doors. “I can gag him, you won’t even notice he’s here.”

“I am.” Tommy cast him a grim look. “If I wanted a threesome, I’d say so from the start.”

“Fine, fine.” Nikki raised his hands in surrender. “Unfortunately, Mr. Lee here put you out of work tonight,” he said to Vince, “but don’t get too comfortable there, princess. Now leave us alone with our… business.”

“With pleasure.” Vince’s last shreds of dignity went into this reply, after which nothing was stopping him from leaping to the door like a scared out of its mind hare. The grins of the two wolves watching him were imprinted on his brain for the rest of the day.

Vince returned to the deck with a springy step (he tried skipping, but his knees protested loudly). He expected all the portions to have been handed out already – between his running back and forth half the dinnertime had already passed – but when he gingerly approached Mick, a plate with cold beef, a piece of cheese and a slice of bread was shoved into his hands.

“That was quick. So do our illustrious captain and his first mate have the stamina of schoolboys?” Mick laughed sharply – the high-strung kind of sharp.

“They didn’t want me this time,” Vince said, the last part of his sentence unintelligible due to the beef in his mouth. “To make me happy about not getting invited to a threesome, though – that’s a real feat. Never thought it’d happen, but life sure is unpredictable.”

“Are you talking like that with Nikki’s, hm, beef in your mouth too? Then no wonder they sent you off. Shut up and chew properly,” Mick cut him off. Vince would have resented him for it if he didn’t sense the guilty undertone in his commanding voice. “I damn like not having to do the dishes every day,” he then added, and Vince did resent him after that.

He and Mick were gathering the plates to take them to the galley when Vince noticed Slash approach. He was avoiding him all day, which was rather hard as Slash seemed to appear everywhere Vince went. Usually Vince just resolved the problem by getting out of that place as fast as possible, but that time he was holding a pot filled with plates and had an already irritated cook behind his back, so there was no way out.

Slash came up and carefully lowered his plate into the pot.

“Thanks for dinner, Mick,” he said loudly to him. Mick murmured something in response. “Thanks for showing me the moves, Vince,” he said to Vince quietly. “You alright?”

“Never been better,” Vince wanted to wave his hand, but timely remembered it was occupied, so he had to do with an enthusiastic nod.

“Yeah? The captain looked mighty pissed when he dragged you away. And I still don’t understand why. He puts up all these trainings so all the crewmates can protect themselves better,” Slash said, and Vince could hear the genuine bewilderment in his voice. Did they really not realize Nikki definitely didn’t consider him a crewmate?

“Well, that’s because he’s the one I need to protect myself against, I guess.” Vince shrugged, resorting to things that the whole crew was well-aware of. Mick coughed behind his back. “But I didn’t say that, of course,” he added hastily.

“Slash, you’re holding up the line,” Mick said loudly. “You want to get all chitty-chatty with my scullery boy, you’ll have to go down to the galley. He could always use a hand with the dishes, y’know.”

“Oh, come on,” Slash rolled his eyes, then gave Vince a small nod and scooted away. “The line” consisted of just two pirates, so soon they were back at the galley, and the Babel tower of dishes was staring Vince in the eyes once again. And also sneering at him and jeering, but that was probably the beer talking.

[hopeurokays]

the baudelaire siblings

[cheevowars]

My Dearest Eliza,

I write to you on this, the 6th of August. I hope that my letter finds you well.

It is three months now since our campaign against the darkness began. The blood-colored moon that hangs in the sky seems a constant companion watching over our efforts to learn what exactly it is that we are meant to be doing here.

Two days back, we received missives - not the first that we have found, and yet more informative than any that have come before. Would that we had this information at the start of this conflict, spelled out in plain English rather than the runic language of the local inhabitants of this place.

But alas, these pamphlets come too late. Our troops are caught in conflict with the giant nightmare snake, but to little avail. I begin to fear that we shall never see the much needed spoils of that victory.

All I can do at this point is to continue to repurpose the plentiful slimeballs that our soldiers bring back from their conquests into various potions, alcohol, and donuts. I pray that the day soon comes when the giant nightmare snake is defeated, and we come one step closer to peace.

Sincerely yours,

Ch'ee Vomop

[tardxsblues]

[lieutenantraziel]

A new swimsuit for Zack