#the sky above us

[elvispresley]

George Harrison during the recording of the song How Do You Sleep? (1971)

[nikidontsurf]

JOHN LENNON and GEORGE HARRISON during recording sessions for the "IMAGINE" album

[bonefall]

My birthday was a couple days ago, and I got to see my bio dad for the first time in a while. He surprised me with the fact that I have a little half-sister, whom I've never met and who was adopted about two years back. So, I wondered if any situations in BB mimic this or have a theme of "secret siblings" or "secret family"? Sorry if this is a weird ask; this blog is honestly just such a cool little place and I love the way you approach the subject matter and take the flawed misogynistic foundation of the WC books and make them so much better (JUSTICE FOR BUMBLE!!!). I've also learned a lot about healthy and unhealthy relationships here and am really glad for your deep dives on Squilf and Bramble. Thanks, Bones!

Not weird at all! I really like exploring all the little nooks and crannies of complicated familial dynamics. I think one of the untapped strengths of WC (that the writers seem to be unaware of) is how their MASSIVE cast allows them to present all sorts of unique dynamics. So I like to pick up on it, since they don't.

For secret siblings...

I'm pretty heavily leaning towards Ambermoon being adopted by Wildfur, as a surrogacy. Something feels correct about it. Especially since Icecloud is getting retooled into a post-Battle of the True Eclipse birth, and a major supporting character in AVoS-era stories as a friend of Alderheart.

Thinking about it, I should zoom in and expand this. Maybe have Icecloud, somehow, acquire forbidden knowledge that would invalidate the Queen’s Rights and he (transman) struggles with if he's going to use it to expose his parents as an excuse to help Ambermoon.

(Especially since Ambermoon and Icecloud are basically nothing alike. Amber is independent, bold, and vain. Ice is jessie pinkman big-hearted, disorganized, and deceptively meek if you look past his "chill" demeanor)

But that's wip-- there's also Breezepelt and the Three, who are going to have an actual friendship. In particular I can't unsee Breeze and Lion having a deep one. I know I commit the Cardinal Sin of borderline himbo-ifying Lionblaze in BB, but I can't help it.

Hollyleaf ended up nabbing a bunch of his most violent roles to make her villainous descent smoother narratively, so BB!Lionblaze's story ends up being more focused on Ashfur's abuse, comic relief with cats in other Clans (something that the very serious Jay and Holly have a hard time providing), and the emotional fallout of the big reveal and Bramblestar's turn on them. Breezepelt slots neatly into that.

They were friends. Lionblaze's whole life came down around the reveal, everyone looking at him and his siblings differently, like they're suddenly something terrible. Why can't we find a silver lining, Breezepelt? Why can't we call ourselves brothers if the whole world is going to do it anyway? So much is changing, but THIS doesn't have to, we will take their weapon and turn it to armor, my ally, my friend, my brother.

(and when Breezepelt is lashing out at the three because of the Dark Forest's influence, Lionblaze is there, taking the blows and trying not to give in to the impulse to send him flying with a single paw)

There's also Harespring and Kestrelflight of WindClan and Owlclaw of ShadowClan. All of them are from a single litter between Whitewater and Mudclaw. She was going to raise the three of them alone as ShadowClan cats, but when the sire was smote, Whitewater felt they were cursed.

She was able to give the oldest two to their bio-uncle, Torear, but the weather was so bad that day and the runt was so sickly and small that it surely would have killed him. I don't think Owlclaw ever finds out why his mother always treated him with suspicion, but it did mess him up horribly.

Over in BB!DOTC, Thunder Storm is getting more half-siblings earlier. Clear Sky and Falling Feather had two daughters-- Pale Sky and Tiger Sky.

I want to explore the way that the various stages of Clear Sky's life acted on his kids. How any little curiosity Thunder Storm had about the life he might have had if he wasn't abandoned is crushed by seeing kittens who weren't. How Clear's favoritism of his oldest child set the trio against each other from the start. How this idea of "love" is toxic yet intoxicating.

It feels good to be the golden child. The power it gives you over his sycophants is satisfying. To know you, and you alone, have what someone else craves. Problem is, that's conditional, and it's cruel.

What Thunder Storm learns from his time with his biodad is that Clear Sky is not his father at all. He's taught him exactly what he DOESN'T want to be. There may be similarities-- in temperament, in physical prowess (though BB!Thunder is three-legged, he's still ripped), in taste and senses. But Thunder Storm's father is Shaded Flower.

(BB!Gray Wing died in the first book, rescuing Shaded Flower from being trampled by a horse. Xey're a patron of wisdom, Shaded Moss is taking the role of fatherhood to Thunder)

His sister is Rainswept Flower. His mom is Bright Storm. If there was a bond he could have had with Tiger Sky and Pale Sky, it dies simply and cruelly on the knife they used to cut each other out.

Pale might have wanted to mend it, she was the gentler one. But she dies in the First Battle along with her mother. Tiger Sky is too stubborn to accept any help, should Thunderstar offer it, and Thunderstar isn't in the business of begging for others to like him.

Naturally I'm lowkey obsessed with them lmao. I need to make a BB!DOTC overviewww

[mercymaker]

do you think that considering astarion is a walking corpse, a vampire spawn destined to live in the shadows (even if he finds a way around the sunlight sensitivity), someone with insatiable hunger for blood and two centuries of brutal trauma, someone whose place in the society according to most norms is to be skewered by a monster hunter... is there a part of him, somewhere deep down that craves normalcy? i don't think that's his stance on this on most days, as he strikes me as someone who doesn't particularly mind being a vampire and tends to deal with whatever uncomfortable and painful thoughts he has by deflecting and repressing that shit, telling himself he's above it. voicing out loud how utterly dull his life would be if he was still just a high elf, a magistrate in the city, with some pretty husband or wife, a marriage likely arranged to advance his status. scoffing at the idea of a house full of children, little elflings with silver hair. and, ah, he would be mortal. but..

i can't help but wonder if he'd have moments where he'd find himself thinking about it. thinking about the life he lost. about astarion without the scars on his back. the one who enjoys bouillabaisse and a variety of expensive wines instead of blood in whatever form he can get. the man that has a home, a place to return to, a comfy bed, and above all.. astarion who has a family. who would be distraught if something happened to him. who would go out of their way to find him... where was his family when cazador took him? was he truly so utterly alone even before??

and that would sever the thread of his thought, pain and anger replacing it like a hot wave. he was stupid to even think about it. of course, he's better off now, as a vampire spawn, an immortal. he doesn't have whatever responsibilities that would weigh the pretty, breathing magistrate astarion down. he's better off drenched in blood, out on numerous adventures than whatever boring affair a simple life in the city would give him... of course!!

[runefactorynonsense]

Melotober - Day 26 - Zodiac

There's an even better view up here!

[coldfruitwater]

sorry jenny but my favorite character from a mountain goats album is the sun in full force galesburg

[doyouknowthemossinman]

i have a feeling tanguish did NOT spawn with a natural eye for real vs fake products

alt title: when the guy you steal from hides on your back for 10 blocks before saying anything and then teaches you how to tell how jewelry is fake and you never see her again

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

I don't know what's more horrifying.

The thought that that alarm clock is showing the temperature OUTSIDE at NIGHT as 84F/29C

Or the thought that that alarm clock is showing the temperature IN SKY'S DORM at NIGHT at 84F/29C.

I know it's possibly showing Sky won't spend money on AC but again that is the temperature AT NIGHT?!?!??!?!??

[serratedpens]

I think life is fundamentally difficult. Hectic and brutal—it doesn’t spare an inch, and yet what always gets me to calm is the notion that there is and always will be art. The act of creation in a time of destruction is an act of defiance and an act of hope. Many people can put it better than I can, but art is constant, tiny little explosions in the sky. No matter the grievances you face, art is always waiting for you. A couch to sink into until the next morning.

[freakinator]

yknow it wasnt very obvious considering that wemmbus storyline was so heavily centered around zam (the first guy he ever became at least somewhat loyal to on the server who ended up scorning him) and egg (guy who hes genuinely attached and loyal to) esp if you arent super familiar with his older series but with this episode it really shows where his reputation came from i think like goddamn

[caraecethrae]

"Among the Continental Celts, it appears that the cosmology had a vertical architecture, with the three worlds comprising the living or physical world, the celestial Otherworld above, and the chthonic Otherworld below. The Irish seems to wrap this up a little differently, with the three worlds of land, sea, and sky being seen less in a vertical architecture and more as parts of a mutually interpenetrating, nested whole. Here there are still some parallels between the land as the realm of the living world, the sky as the celestial realm, and the sea as the deep realm, not an underworld in the Continental sense but an Otherworld accessed through the deep places."

— The Magic of the Otherworld: Modern Sorcery from the Wellspring of Celtic Traditions by Morpheus Ravenna

[elvispresley]

John Lennon + his iconic orange glasses (1971)

[phoenixtherobot]

Hermittober Day 22: Shard!

Tango has a shard in his hand, what will he do?

[oneinchbarrier]

[queen0funova]

I don't know how to describe the moment of totality starting. All of the lights around us, including the ones lighting the statue I rested against, had turned on 60 seconds beforehand. The sun still, still shined down on us, but it was dark out, like an ending sunset with the ball of fire still hanging above us instead of falling behind the trees.

And then the thin strip of orange I viewed through my eclipse glasses vanished. Yet I still could not look to the sky without them. For a few seconds, the rays still shined down around the gluttonous moon and upon us. But as I glanced up and away and up and away, I glimpsed the outline of the moon beside the dim, blinding sun as it moved the last few miles through space to reveal the sky's splendor.

[mercymaker]

fhjskwkfs there is NO WAY my top spotify song of the year is the one I endlessly listened to while trying to finish above the vaulted sky... in january/february