#things off it's probably happening lmao

[smiletimeisrunningout]

She gently placed a hand over his arm, leaning slightly closer to make her correction: "Emma." Because she was going to take advantage of his little concession the whole night, and if she let him call her Swan too many times he may forget about that.

"I think you'd like our town, the one next to my castle. Because it's... the people who chose to come or to stay there are... so much like us, they... feel the same way about most things, so it's a very tight-knit, happy place. If you enjoy festivals, that is, and I don't mean the fancy... pretty, elegant kind, it's... loud and... probably the opposite of elegant, and noisy, sometimes it comes off more like a bunch of drunken tavern men playing music while people dance in the street than a holiday celebration, but I promise you, it's so ridiculously alive that every once in a while you just... need a breath of that crazy air to remember who you are. My birthday is, of course, the worst offender, seeing as I celebrate it once in my castle with royalty and once in the streets and both times it involves fire exploring in the sky. Not a metaphor."

Emma could only hope with all her heart that his father would be there, waiting for him, once the war was over. He didn't seem to want to dwell on it, but she still bumped her arm against his, leaning against the wall, to let him feel she was close and there for him.

"I once beat a man because he was mistreating his goat. I don't need to tell you what would happen if I bumped into parents who are too ungrateful... You must visit the children at the home, honestly. After war is over. You could bring your father, make it a family trip! And Caleb, since he's family too. But you'd make such a great example to the little boys... Before you say it: I'm the girl's example," she anticipated him with a smile, "And I'd happily guide the boys, but I know they look up at men to see what seems right or wrong to do as an adult."

You're a bit of an animal now, too.

That pulled a laugh from her, even if she was surprised that he had expected her to be overprotective instead of reckless; but then, he had likely seen her at camp, check that the little ones were properly dressed for the winter before a snowball fight. "Yes," she agreed happily when called incorrigible, finding that a confirmation that he had given up on being scandalized. Truly, she had broken him, and it was the most amazing thing.

"I think you underestimate what I can handle."

That, however, had Emma turn to look at him with a different kind of interest, the oh really? on her smile as she faced him, "Is that so?" Because 'I'm not nearly as prudish' felt like fighting-words.

Her mouth fell open as she listened, forgetting to hide her shock, wondering if he was about to tell her, directly, that he had had sex with a woman, which would have been somewhat bold for anyone let alone him, and so she gasped when the word 'married' left his lips. "Gross! Unacceptable. Unacceptable! Did Caleb know that? It's just-oh, I hate adultery. I'm so glad you are not the type of man who says 'hey, she's the one who's married, not my problem' because I just can't stand any of it," she shook her head, "I actually had..." things happening "... got a little too close to a man who conveniently forgot to point out he was married until I found out. Seeing as he was a big man I didn't feel bad slapping him as hard as I possibly could. Betrayal is betrayal."

She frowned lightly, "You don't need to count her as your first kiss, she tricked you when she withhold information that could probably push you to reject her, so she stole the kiss, you didn't give your first to her. Count the one you picked next as your first," she suggested, though she'd have counted Anna, had she been in him. And she felt she couldn't apply the same rule to Arian, since she had been together with him for well over a year. But maybe at least Ben could have a nice memory of his first one.

"Are you ever curious about me?" she wondered all of the sudden, if only to run away from any thought of her past, and she let the mischief back into her expression and tone, "Since you seem to think you can handle me, perhaps you have wondered. After all, 'you are not nearly as prudish' as I think, right?"

Benjamin scoffed, though he was smiling. "You find it funny to break someone with your conjecture? I take it back: you're not a benevolent leader at all -- you're a sadist."

Following Emma out into the crisp night air, he was relieved for the slight reprieve of darkness. Out there, she couldn't properly read his face -- she couldn't see the perpetual pink that seemed to stain his cheeks any time she spoke.

Leaning against the inn siding, he softened once she spoke of her kingdom with that same warm, untouchable fondness. "I don't prefer the city," he assured her. "I grew up in a hamlet, Swan -- we were surrounded by the ocean and woods. A city being attainable only be horseback is precisely the kind of distance I crave."

When Emma spoke of family, a slight sinking sensation overtook his chest and he exhaled, crumpling back farther against the wall. "Family is important," he softly assured her. "No one would begrudge you for wanting to take time to rest. Hell, I wish I could do that with my own father. He's all I have left." And I'm terrified of failing him.

Mercifully, Emma deflected to the topic of children, and Benjamin more than happily latched on. "They are a gift," he softly agreed, "and I hate that there are parents out there who're ungrateful. If I could abscond with all the lonely, underappreciated children, I would...and I'd teach them and feed them, and take them anywhere they wished, because seeing and experiencing this world is precisely what we're meant to do."

Lowering his eyes, he smiled. "It does not surprise me that you're over-protective," Benjamin said, "and it also doesn't surprise me you were considered an animal at that age. You're a bit of an animal now, too."

Lifting his stein, he took a drink just as Emma purred, "I'm still trying not to say anything about devouring you, but if you keep talking about yourself like that... I could always prove you that you can charm me."

Nearly choking on his rum, Benjamin coughed and managed to swallow the mouthful, laughing in spite of himself. "You are incorrigible," he admonished.

"I'd do it too if I didn't think you'd hide from me for the rest of my staying. Poor darling. But look at that, at least we are already being completely honest and not at all hiding, aren't you happy?"

"I think you underestimate what I can handle." Wait...no. Flustered, he quickly amended, "I-I just mean, I'm not nearly as prudish as you seem to think I am." Lowering to set his stein onto the ground, Benjamin straightened again and turned to regard her. The moon was low-hanging that night, so he was only privy to the mischievous sparkle in Emma's eyes and the soft, lambent shadows on her face.

"I told you that when Anna and I were children, we kissed," he reminded her, "and in university, Caleb convinced me to go upstairs with an older woman. We, ah...had been imbibing, and it turned out that she was married. Her husband walked right in." With a sheepish little laugh, Benjamin said, "I'd never run so fast in all my life. Nothing happened, mind you -- not truly -- but I lost my coat in her ardor, and wasn't about to go back for it."

Finally, a hint of pink entered his face and he laughed at the memory, ducking his chin. "As you can imagine, after that, I swore to never again listen to any more of Caleb's brilliant suggestions -- not when it comes to the fairer sex. Mrs. Mayhew was actually my first real kiss." He shrugged. "I don't count Anna since that was just...experimental. We were curious, and were quick to determine there wasn't a spark between us. Sometimes in life, you need to test the waters to find out what you truly want."

[skippingthroughfields]

one thing that's missing from these convos about amc not submitting assad zaman for a golden globes nom that makes it 10x more malicious on amc's part is that a nomination isn't just like oh... ~simple appreciation for an actor's performance. even if there's no win, it results in a profile boost for these actors & them being able to command a higher salary when it comes to future projects. it's something that gets notice on their CV. these studios and networks love being able to market their shit with things like "starring golden globe nominee john doe" or "emmy winner jane doe." the emmys are more prestigious than the golden globes which are more prestigious than the critics choice awards (the one they submitted him for with two other actors lol). actors get nominated and have the opportunity to get attention from social media posts, article mentions, attending the red carpet, having their name announced and a little clip of their acting shown. that's not nothing! attention from possible new fans, publications, execs, peers, producers, directors, fashion houses & other industries which could lead to $$$ and sponsorships. I won't make any presumptions about the cast's finances but I do know amc is probably not paying them their worth, least of all the bangladeshi muslim who barely had any major roles in tv/film prior to the show.

there are fees and costs associated with submitting for awards consideration and FYC ads. the network basically took a look at assad's brown skin and name and said they don't think he's worth the money over the white actor who had less screentime and narrative importance (to the season ig) which is absolutely crazy lmao. it shouldn't be controversial to say that and you can't not discuss this without bringing up sam's name. this has nothing to do with whether he "deserved" to be submitted (and even if I said he doesn't deserve it over assad who's gonna beat my ass?). this white man isn't being persecuted by conversations about blatant racism. but I'd expect nothing less from this fanbase x.

[devilsskettle]

The X trilogy + "psycho-biddy" influences

[4thwallbreakerdraws2]

SHOWSTARS

Working on the asks again, but have this colored piece of SMG16 and RTV!Puzzles for now. Their duo name is SHOWSTARS (or BLUESCREEN if we take the angst path).

Please note that SMG16 belongs to @birdy-four and that these two are meant to be seen as STRICTLY PLATONICAL!

Anyway enough yapping!

[soupmanspeaks]

you ever wonder if the Glamrocks's face tracking acts up when they look at Glamrock-Freddy, like they'll look at his face, and the recognition will register as Freddy, but their systems for whatever reason or another think that there is a face overlapped on Freddy's do you think they see two small squares next to him, at his side, roughly child sized, but no one is physically there.... right...?

[lususnatura]

just a gentle reminder that THIS is how big the spines around blamore's neck are whenever he doesn't shrink them... so, it's pretty much a surefire way for it to keep other people away from him, NGL ☠️ (unless you are trying to get poked in the eye JSJSJ / j i'm kidding, i'm kidding (,: but blamore really does have several natural defenses against any 'aggressors,' i guess you could say, and it's spines REALLY add to it's uncannyness whenever they're at full - length ).

[s0fter-sin]

is there any actual catharsis in the boys or is it all just suffering and scrambling for a crumb of relief

[gothmiqote]

very normal thinking about them & their first progress towards anything in the azim steppe. taking the scenic route back to kugane & getting to know each other better after heavensward, when there were too many frayed threads to really start weaving something together yet. but now there's some time, with the situation in ala mhigo & doma dealt with. it's that bit of respite and pocket of time before the next crisis where they really got their claws into each other. of course, because of personal hang-ups and deep-buried insecurities, nothing was made definitive until after paglth'an, which left them both dwelling on this shared interim for several months, full of mutual regret for not making a move sooner.

[didnt-hear-idsb-live-again]

.

[hauntingblue]

Jayce telling vi she won't make it on her own.... okay mr. projector...

[byanyan]

byan once full-on tackled a kid during a soccer game in gym and started just pummeling him in front of their whole class because he intentionally punted the ball at their head.

the kid in question had been tormenting them for months since they transferred to the school and, after an already shit day, they'd been at their wit's end. the ball hitting the side of their head was just the thing that sent them over the edge.

later that same day, they slammed his head into a locker because they got in trouble and he didn't, having claimed that hitting them had been an accident. they earned a week's suspension on top of their week's detention for this.

in the past, this boy had been one of the reasons byan would skip out on school, their anxiety and fear of what would be in store for them each day making them physically ill. he would hurl awful insults at them, pull incredibly meanspirited pranks on them with intent of causing embarrassment and sometimes harm, and sometimes took it as far as physical assault. somehow, he almost always managed to avoid getting in trouble for any of this.

the soccer incident was the final straw for byan. after that, they stopped trying to talk to any teachers or adults in general about what was going on and they took it into their own hands. violently. however, they never instigated, only ever retaliated — naturally, the kid was often able to make it seem like it was the other way around. byan's reputation only continued to get worse, and somehow, no matter how badly they managed to hurt him in return, he always came back with a vengeance instead of backing down and leaving them alone.

one time, they bit his hand so hard that he needed to get stitches. they earned themself a broken nose and a concussion for it, but to this day they hope he looks at that scar and remembers the pain and fear they caused him, even if it was only a fraction of what he'd put them through.

somehow, it wasn't until byan broke a mirror with his face that they were expelled from that school and finally got to move on to a different one. some part of them was vindictive enough to want to hunt him down and make his life miserable the way he made theirs, but there was an intense fear of seeing him again spurred both by trauma and the knowledge that he might not hold anything back while not on school grounds which ultimately stopped them.

[the-kipsabian]

idk man

that doesnt really look like a face of an innocent man i trust is all im saying

[yanderespamton78]

ive already shown this to anyone who actually cares pretty much loll (anyone following the addison arg) but i might as well post it on here

this is actually the first proper animation ive done :'D like other than this ive animated a ball bouncing but that was more to test the software than anything,, lucky for me i consume animation memes more than i consume water so i know the basics B)

[py6oto]

birth

a poem

it's my day

pyto birth!

i am older now!!!!

Splendid.

2023.10.13

[kateis-cakeis]

Sometimes I like to think about the possibility of Arthur and Mordred having a sort of temporary immortality, as in nothing could kill them until they killed each other

That was how the Triple Goddess decreed it after all. Only the Disir could have changed it, only they could have killed Mordred to save Arthur.

And if you think about it, all that Arthur is saved from, all that Mordred escapes, I do believe in the webs of fate that they couldn't die. There was a path they had to complete, too bound to die in any other way.

Before they were born they had a set death. It's right there in the writings of the Catha, hundreds of years beforehand.

So it only makes sense that they could not die until that day came.

[memento-morri-writes]

I've been thinking a lot about how Rook's reunion with his former mentor, Zara, is going to go, and since I can't predict what the DM is going to have her do or say, I can only dwell on what I know is going to happen. Which happens to include taking off the illusion ring that's been hiding his injuries from her. So have a snippet of the description I have planned for that moment:

tw for description of (mostly healed) injuries

He hesitates, twisting a ring on his finger. Looking at it more closely, she can tell it’s very finely crafted, and must have been very expensive. A large emerald is set into the band. Rook sighs, and pulls the ring off his finger in one quick motion.  Immediately she’s struck by the difference in his appearance as the illusion melts away. He looks awful. His warm, healthy skin fades to a dull and sickly grey. There’s huge bags under his deeply sunken eyes, and his cheeks are hollowed, as though they have been carved out by an overeager sculptor. He looks like he’s recently risen from the grave.  While he was thin before, now she can see his ribs under the skin, and his collarbones are exaggeratedly pronounce. Thin white lines left by dozens upon dozens of recently healed cuts are scattered across his body. On top of that, faded bruises cover most of his visible skin, a mottled mosaic of purple and yellow. They’re clearly days, maybe weeks old, and she can only begin to imagine what they must have looked like when fresh. Bandages are barely visible under his shirt, wrapping around his back, hinting at even more injuries.