#this is so unsettling for no reason

[ofswordsandpens]

I rewatched Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai recently and it's left me wondering – when Zuko begins to goad Azula into striking him with lightning, was he making the decision to kill her?

Because had Azula shot lightning directly at him like he planned and not at Katara, the most forthright implication to me is that he was intending to strike Azula with her own lightning. And Azula, for all her mastery, would not have been able to counter that.

On the other hand, maybe he wasn't planning to kill her at all and was simply planning to redirect it elsewhere (similar to what he did with Ozai). But given the tone of tragedy throughout the Agni Kai, the fact that they both acknowledge that this fight will be "the end" to them, I don't think it's inaccurate to read Zuko's actions as him preparing to kill Azula, even though an Agni Kai doesn't have to end with death (and in canon it didn't). Also, why goad her into striking him with lightning if he wasn't planning on doing something intentional with it? If anything, it adds another layer to the tragedy to me, because I don't believe Zuko wants to kill her. And it stands in such contrast to the way that Azula desperately wants to kill him.

I also think that there would have even been something sadly poetic in that sort of demise for Azula should the Agni Kai had gone this direction: Azula, struck down by her preferred sub-skill. Azula, struck down by the very bolt of lightning that she intended to kill her brother with. Azula, struck down by her own power.

[fox-guardian]

I can't get over that last scene from this episode. that long pause where sam was quietly grabbing a drink and you could barely hear celia talking to jack as she put him to bed in the other room. nothing was happening in that moment that needed to be recorded. no terrible events no big revelations. just sam and celia quietly going about their lives, sharing a domestic moment.

as something watched and listened. and we don't know why it's listening.

[brainjvice]

Shidou's striking appearance is supposed to be off-putting. Its supposed to be unconventional, to look weird. Unsettling, even. To both attract and repell.

His looks match his personality so good. You either love it or hate it. It's extravagant, wild, and something few people can handle.

I love him so much. Feral creature. He bites into freedom's flesh and never lets it go. He doesn't want to just survive, he wants to live and be free.

[nightmarearian]

Done (heavy quotation marks) with monster Ody @evergreen292 ;)

tbh I couldn’t for the life of me pick a color palette I liked And Render it so I gave up on color. Enjoy the half assery.

Tbh I’ve just been call it Ithacan Naga, but it’s objectively it’s a mix of snake, owl/bird, and human. So 🤷.

Tbh the wings are supposed to be white/gray-brown, cause owls & Hermes, while his scales are supposed to be an oscillating scale from sea green-blue to purple-tinted gray. Uhm. Evidently that sorta didn’t happen but also did. So.

The purple/grayer scales are gonna be more around with the feathers and wings.

Those fin colors are. Too blue and too bright but I love the colors themselves so they’re staying for now.

Uhm. That’s it for now, ig. I’m sorta on a timer rn and I’m tired so <3

The writing bit with this is still in the works (😭)

[6-2-aestheticsofhate]

Ultratober day 14: memes

blank version of the pointing meme under the cut if you want it

[canisalbus]

So, about the latest piece, I'm wondering. Does Machete dislike the confession duty solely because of the burden of listening to others' sins and carrying their guilt? For the fact that even if someone confessed to him, for example, that they just murdered someone, he couldn't do anything about it, since their sins are only for God to hear? Or is it because he is sure that one day someone will confess his own, Machete's, sins?

.

[jade-doodles-questionmark]

guys hear me out...

reference is from Silence of the Lambs (1991)

[starleska]

just saw Heretic (2024) and am delighted. without spoiling anything, regardless of your religious conviction or lack thereof you'll be challenged on your faith, morals, and the question of whether or not belief constitutes reality, and whether the answer to that matters at all. please go and see it!!!!

[fictionadventurer]

What was the point of Scrooge's trip with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? On a structural level, it makes sense--three is the fairy tale number, and you can't visit the past and present without also including the future--but on a character level, it doesn't quite seem necessary. Showing a man that he'll die alone, unloved, and unmourned seems like the strategy you take as the last-ditch effort to convince a guy that he needs to change his ways. But that situation doesn't apply to Scrooge. He started softening immediately after he first arrived in his past. By the time he finished with the Ghost of Christmas Present, he was fully onboard with the need to reform, so the Ghost's vision of his future seems like unnecessary cruelty. Why show him all this when he was already planning to change his ways?

A few things come to mind. One is that this vision of the future wouldn't have affected Scrooge unless he had already changed his ways. A cold, hard businessman could have seen his lonely death as just the way of the world, might have viewed the people who stole the clothes from his corpse as just people doing what's practical in this world. He needed to relearn the value of the intangibles--human connection, respect for others--to see the true horror of the lonely death and the vultures who defiled the dead man.

But why the horror? Can't he reform without being threatened with doom? It's possible--but it's also possible such a reform would be temporary. After all, Scrooge started as a friendly, loving young man, but retreated into himself and his business out of fear of poverty and fear of the way the world looks down upon poor people. Even if a reformed Scrooge started on a course of Christmas charity, there was always a chance that the enthusiasm would fade, and the worldly fears would start creeping back in. The only way to beat those fears is to give him something to fear that's even worse than poverty. He needs to see the horrible end that his selfish ways would lead to, so he won't be tempted to slide back into them.

There's also the fact that seeing his death makes him ecstatically happy to find that he's alive after the Ghost is gone. Had Scrooge been spared the vision of his future, he might have been happy to find himself on Christmas Day, but his joy would have been nowhere near the manic glee he experiences after coming back from the future. Now, he doesn't just get a new start--he gets a second chance. Coming back from his own grave makes him mindful of his death, but it also makes him hyperaware of the fact that he's still alive. He isn't in the ground yet. He still has time to do good and make connections with others so he doesn't die alone.

Seeing the past reminded him of the innocence he'd lost. Seeing the present reminded him of the people whose lives he was missing out on. Seeing the future reminded him that death is waiting, so it's important to live virtuously while we can. All three are important because all three brought him outside of himself and taught him to value the wider world, just in time to live through another Christmas Day.

[natsmagi]

why doesnt the big natsume just eat the little natsume

[indigospyder]

[moe-broey]

Close ups on the pocket details!!! I'm SUPER happy w how the top pockets look 😳😳😳

I think the variety of pride pins with the moral panic button/Mr Faggot beadwork just. Really sells it. Shadow the Hedgehog voice Pee Your Pants. If you're going to be a shithead about me I'm going to be really annoying and do a bit about it. Plus the little golden angel pin... ALSO really pulls the whole thing together. "God help you" Right in front of my guardian angel? Really? 😒And how could I not make mention of. The Skull. I love you The Skull. It's a button (not sewn on yet, pinned) that I filled the details in w nail polish. Oh yeah! Besides the bottle cap pins (acrylics sealed with mod podge and a prayer), the biggest addition there is the chain lining the pocket flap! I think it looks SO SLICK

The pansy was gonna go on the queer side, but then I got the boutonniere idea! And I think it looks nice! Kinda adds to the asymmetry of the floral print/plaid blocking. And... of course.... I have... my friends...... 🥺 Biggest additions here are the glow-star pentagram pin, soda tabs and the heart locket!

I don't really have many new additions to the bottom pockets. Not yet! The only thing I did was stitch one side of the handcuff chain, and rearrange the pins holding up the other side. The cuffs/scorpion was just an impulse addition before going to a concert. But I do like it! And it looks even better now! Meanwhile, that other pocket, I actually have no idea what I'll do. Sakura is just there cause she matches really well, esp w the angel pin actually!

[quibbs126]

Okay maybe this is gonna sound weird, at least from me, but shut up, I need to complain about this somewhere

So I go on Ao3 looking for Transformers One fanfics, since I’ve been reading a few as they come out and I just like seeing what premises people have. Though specifically I’m only interested in megop fanfics. Because I’m incredibly biased. Anyways, so there’s a few that have mechpreg in them, and I swear, every time, it’s Optimus having the kid

Where the heck are the Megatron being the carrier fics? I want to see that side of the premise, give it to me!

[demigod-of-the-agni]

arcane got to me

featuring my boy kalki and him talking to his dashavatar predecessor, krishna. variants under cut.

also everyone say thank you to nasa for providing these beautiful star pictures, they saved lives (my life. i cannot draw stars)

[akikos-tribble-army]

Mori should have more anatomy models in his office. He's a doctor, where is the random skeleton in the corner? The eye model on the desk? The heart on the shelf? The half open body where the organs always fall out when you look at it? The skull where everyone wants to ask if it is real, bc dude is a mafia boss, you never know?

[lorebird]

Oh my GOD I am obsessed w @roguespodcast. I'm not really a fan of the "superhero genre," let alone DC specifically, but I still ended up binging the whole thing in like a week??? Help Me

I wanted to practice comic dialogue + expression, and this scene (on top of being one of my favorites from the whole show) felt like a great way to do that!! I really wanted to visualize the way Jon and Scarecrow's voices layer when he talks, plus trying to structure Ed's nervous babbling without a huge wall of text was fun. I've definitely gotta draw more -- this was just a quick and messy thing, but I wanna do something that does the stellar voicework justice