#the masquerade spoilers

[handthattakes]

Duchess in chains

[7sage9]

Had a realization about the way that Baru and Yawa go through a similar arc in Tyrant. We see clearly how Baru realizes her plan to destroy Falcrest via plague and war is completely antithetical to her true goals and strengths, but, in deciding not to lobotomize Baru, Yawa also chooses not to achieve her own goals -- the freeing of Aurdwynn from a eugenic regime -- via the methods of that very regime. She could never have truly achieved her goals by using the same treatment (the lobotomy) as Falcrest does on those it deems outside the "normal" on a woman who is very much outside that norm, then commodifying her in order to enforce a marriage. As Baru returns to her true self by defeating Falcrest with trade, Yawa does the same by letting her belief in the ilykari (in Baru's eryre) guide her method of rebellion.

[snugstones]

I finished the traitor baru cormorant and I am not okay.

[its-not-how-it-looks]

Need to have hallucination sex w my wife who is me

[thelowerdecker]

This part here strongly implies that Gangle (IRL) had parents that forced her into a Shift Managing Job she didn't want to do. She was told that her dreams of making webcomics was "unrealistic".

"You Need to Stop Trying!" I'm sure she was directly quoting her parents at that moment. Clearly a hint of her tragic past!

[chelledoggo]

Zooble with wide eyes/non-stoic expressions appreciation post 💖

[egophiliac]

should've just let Vil be the one to fly, it would've gone SO much easier. 😔

also HEY how are everyone else's pulls going, because I have had the most RIDICULOUS luck, seriously, halloween magic is 100% real

[cillacantstudysosheshere]

Husk's expression here makes me want to jump off a building THEY ARE SO CUTE I WANNA DIE

[ramblinseahorsey]

As a person with bipolar disorder, I never thought I'd see a joke about mania I liked, but Gangle's struggles with her emotions and the heavy guilt for being over the top or needing help all the time was handled with so much care in her "episode". I feel respected and heard... Which is very rare.

Lots of people who are doting when your hurt in a thematically romance-able way, conveniently quiet or depressed and tragic, suddenly don't like helping or being around you, or even knowing you at all once your disabilities make you annoying, discomforting or angry. When your feelings are out of your control, and your hurt and overwhelming emotions disables you from being kind and helpful and happy, people are often much more disconcerted with you than bad behavior from a "normal" person. Sometimes it feels way lonelier than being stuck in a depressive episode somehow.

And you know they often don't mean to or don't know they're disrespecting Gangle, she seems to know too, but she sucks it up because she doesn't know how to "earn" help in either state, and the fear that a sudden surge of happiness will lead to a sudden great fall after solidifies the want to hide your "wrongness".

She is the very opposite of helpful here, but she tries her best, and having someone let her know it's ok for her to be around or have failed attempts to not bother those around her is all she needed to smile on her own face today. It doesn't fix everything, Zooble doesn't even correct her from saying she doesn't deserve their friendship, cause that's not something she will believe or needs to hear right now. She needs to know she still deserves and will get help and more tries, that there will still be people who will forgive and love her, that those who lose their patience with her right back will still want to spend time with her later.

The horrible ups and downs still haunt you, the long long journey to find the right treatment is exhausting, and it still won't ever get rid of all of it, but the episodes don't feel like their going on forever and always when someone will listen to you, wants to listen to you. Wants not just to help you, wants to spend time with you, wants you to be.

Also it is legitimately really funny to me she outright states she's going to weaponize her trauma to get back at Jax for his warcrimes lol. There isn't much out there better at making you feel less guilty about your mania than a legitimately evil person tbh. The manic episode having more seasons pun feels like something a bipolar person or someone who is trusted personally by a bipolar person would say, it legit made me giggle

[iamespecter]

Hey, feeling trapped Thinking that you can't get out of this humdrum scene Time to turn this thing upside down Show these people what you really mean

Ever think that you could lose your mind? Could it be the big dream you'll find? No more waiting 'cause it's almost time, Everything is gonna be alright, alright

A part 2 to the Gangle fanart that I did, this time it's a much more wholesome version of the whole "unmasking" and the truck scene.

Timelapse, and explanation underneath the cut!

There's a lot of valid interpretations of what exactly happened during the whole ordeal of Gangle when she looks up to the night skies. And while I see and agree with them, I chose to give Gangle a reprieve here instead of going along with the much more... darker interpretations. As a little change of pace

There's also the factor of me wanting to draw Gangle having her dreams realized (in some way), and revitalized as well. Nothing really beats the glorious feeling of being reminded of why your passion for art is the way that it is, and the freeing sensation of letting yourself indulge in your creativity.

So I don't know who needs to hear this, but I want to remind each and everyone of us here that what you guys create is worth a thousand times more than any "real" jobs that you've been told your whole lives to get.

Don't give up on your dreams, whether you want to write a book, tell a story, draw a comic; Now is a better time than never. If you're someone who's too caught up in the stresses of life, and if you ever find yourself with a little bit of free time... it's the perfect time to remind yourself what makes you happy and just do it. :)

[petitprincess1]

"I know what it's like to regret the choices made and...know when you can't take it back."

VIVZIEPOP! COME DOWN HERE! WE NEED TO TALK, MEDRANO!

[terristre]

AZUL-SHI HAVE YOU EVER READ HOMESTUCK

[athetos]

Rereading Traitor and I found a very interesting quote from Svirakir on page 146:

“If a storm comes down on the Empire, some of them will cast their lot with us, and some with the enemy. If the enemy is a united Stakhieczi invasion, or a renascent Tu Maia empire out of the west, or the menace from across the Mother of Storms - well, we cannot risk division in a moment of crisis.”

This has me thinking - is this an intentional hit? Could Renascent be connected to the Maia? They were an ancient, powerful empire that ruled half the known world, according to Tain Hu, and were responsible for many of the inventions used throughout the series. Being connected to them could be seen as being long-lived or perhaps even immortal.

I feel this has to be deliberate, but I’m struggling to fit this piece in with all the other pieces we have so far. Could Renascent be an immortata with the supposed souls of ancient Maians inside of her? Or is the cancrioth connection completely false entirely? Was Renascent interested in the Cancrioth because she wanted to know if others had found another possible way to achieve immortality? Or just to see if any of them were still alive after so many years? Seth said that, depending on your definition of “meet”, we have technically met Renascent twice. So exactly who is she??

I’ve been trying to figure out who or what Renascent is, and something occurred to me. The way that Hesychast referred to her, implying she may no longer be human, and has been around for a long time, sounds a lot like she is an immortata. I mean, it would make a certain amount of sense, wouldn’t it? Renascent literally means “rising again”, or “rebirth.” She’d be effectively immortal, her ‘soul’ being transplanted into a new host via tumor every time she died. And for someone to have such high power in Falcrest, of course someone who has lifetimes of experience watching the empire grow would be at the highest point of the Throne.

If this is true, is Renascent one of the Cancrioth we met? I personally don’t think so, as I believe she’s been watching safe in Falcrest the entire time, and none of them gave me “cryptarch with a million schemes up their sleeves” vibes. I think the Brain would probably be the most likely if I had to choose, but why in the world would she offer Baru a plague that could decimate Falcrest? Unless she was gambling on the belief that Baru would reject her offer? And if she knew everything about Baru at that point, she’d have more than enough power to dispose of her, or see how ‘compromised’ she was and pick Hesychast to win the war of minds. Lastly, I doubt Renascent is someone who isn’t a Falcrest native, especially if she controls more than just the one cell of cryptarchs we see.

But you know what would make more sense? If Renascent was a different recipient of the brain tumor. Maybe there was more than one line of Incrisiath (I hope I spelled that right). Maybe the tumor was spliced in two, and one half put in one person, and the other half in a different one. She would share some of the ‘souls’ that the Brain has, but also others, that came after the split. And what really makes this plausible in my mind is that Incrisiath sounds an awful lot like “incrastic.” Maybe she even coined the term. And maybe, just maybe, the Brain knows that she has a ‘sister’ in Falcrest, and it influenced her decisions. Who knows, maybe the person who wins Renascent’s favor will be her next host…?

This theory certainly isn’t foolproof, but I think there’s enough in the text for you all to hopefully see where I’m coming from. Either way, we definitely aren’t done learning more about the Cancrioth in the next book.

[snugstones]

I’m still in the middle of reading the traitor baru cormorant but I skimmed over the first few chapters and noticed that a soldier/guard in the first chapter mentioned that her aunt killed Duke Lachta. The person who killed him is Xate Yawa, so that’s her aunt. But she is also Tain Hu’s aunt. I doubt that the woman in chapter one is Tain Hu though, she seems much older and I have a feeling Baru would have recognized Tain Hu if they met before. So Tain Hu might have a cousin? Was the soldier Baru met the daughter of Xate Olake?

[tranquil-slaughterhouse]

[renegadesstuff]

IT'S OFFICIAL, SEASON 4's LEAD IS ✨️ BENEDICT ✨️