#tug-o-war

[dicknelson9988]

Royal Garrison Artillery, Tug of War Champions, 1911, Nowgong, India - 24FQ by thardy1 Via Flickr: No message on the reverse.

[tagzpite]

chimera odysseus!!!!

[marihem]

mistletoe

Heyyy @cautiousdetective I'm your secret santa this year and I present you this Dusttale Frans piece 💙🩵❤️

Hope you enjoy this gift and I wish you a Happy Holidays and early Happy New Years with good times and prosperity 🙌

Special thanks to @venelona for hosting the @secretsantafrans

[airrec]

DSMP x Manhunt crossover where M!Sam gets yeeted into the DSMP and meets c!Sam during the prison arc before he meets anyone else.

Cool! He thinks. Instead of a running game they did an escape room thing!

Then he actually sees the prisoner and uh-oh, there has been a Miscommunication somewhere here. c!Sam is one nasty piece of work, apparently. M!Sam should... solve that.

(POV you're c!Dream and a much friendlier and more understanding version of your captor and Warden appears with him, they disappear off together, and then he returns bloodstained and he hauls you up and over his shoulder kidnapping-a-bride style and takes a leisurely jaunt straight into another dimension, thoroughly ruining all of your plans but also rescuing you from torture. What a day.)

(POV you're c!Techno and you arrive to an empty prison bar the Warden screaming that his evil alternate self just took The Prisoner and that they've both escaped with no trace. What the hell.)

[es-peon]

man…

[madbard]

If I had a nickel for every time my favorite character from a given piece of media tried to strangle their double but ultimately couldn’t go through with it, I’d have two nickels, which somewhat concerns me.

[thlayli-ra]

Do you want to see a video of Drew McIntyre training for the highland games - I mean, Wrestlemania! - in just a shirt and tiny panties? Of course you do!

[talesofthedm]

List of ships I have and why (companions only):

Wyll x Karlach: wyll is a hopeless romantic and Karlach just wants soft relationship and I think she'd help him with the new horns and he'd help her reexperience all the intimacy and soft relationships she missed during her time in Avernus and also I want a dance scene with them here he tries to teach her without actually touching her. It would be some of Wylls most cherished memories, even after she dies and it takes him a while to move on and she's forever the one who got away because he couldn't bring himself to send her back to Avernus cuz it's the one wish she had and now I'm sad writing this

Lae'zel x Shadowheart (short term): they would not be a healthy (romantic) relationship in the long term. But I feel like they force all the pent up emotions about all the bullshit they're experiencing out of each other and by extent help each other process it. Ultimately they figure that out and just kinda part ways romantically, but the understanding makes them lifelong friends.

Lae'zel x Gale: he'd reach out to her in that awkward 'idk what to say or do because I don't deal with people but I know how you feel' kinda way after the creche. She just tolerates him as he rambles about special interests and maybe answers questions about the astral sea and the gith as she opens up more. They kinda bond over the realization that their respective gods are both assholes and that each other are worth more than they were originally led to believe.

Shadowheart x Halsin (later life): idk if they'd be long term, but I like the idea what after shadowheart is forced to revaluate her beliefs and faith and ultimately herself and place in the world that Halsin is just a kind shoulder and he helps her rediscover herself and what it is to have healthy relationships without expectations and also she gets to climb mount Halsin but that's a later thing.

Astarion x Halsin: Idk if it would be long term, but the two would def help each other through their respective traumas and at minimum always mean the world to each other even if they decide to pursue it as a friendship and not a romantic interest and Astarion would help Halsin realize self care and it's okay to be selfish sometimes and Halsin would help him understand that he can find fulfillment in helping others

[licncourt]

God I know it’s annoying to be one of those people who rains on people’s party by preferring original works instead of adaptations but the way book fans have kind of been pushed out of the fandom sucks lol Like I totally understand why people love the show and that it naturally has a huge fan base due to its wide reaching platform, it’s just I’ve noticed a good portion seem to dismiss book fans as small minded, as if you can’t be fans of both. Specifically with Louis of course. It just sucks that Lestat is seemingly embraced by fandom at large in both book&show form while bookLouis is basically nullified. Which is why your blog is such a joy to browse through as a Louis girl! Because I thought we were all on the same page that these are all horrible and terrible beings? lol And honestly both book&showLouis are so different yet so similar in ways that I find fascinating as they are both interesting characters with their own complexities. Anyway thanks for this blog and all your shared thoughts it’s much appreciated.

ps. I kind of miss the dynamic between L&L in fic where it was a bit more of a blurred line of push and pull. No one pulls off Ice Queen quite like Louis and I personally love fic where he’s the one who has Lestat crying and eating his heart out lol

I don't like to talk about the show/show fandom a ton on my blog these days because I don't want to invite any drama but I do agree with you for sure. I find it frustrating, like there's an infinite amount of space for everyone as long as you're nice, book fan, show fan, or both. It's definitely the only fandom I've observed with so much vitriol for the source material from a huge chunk of the extended fanbase..? A lot of the really intense hatred for even the IWTV book feels like the weird moral purity discourse that shows up in other fandoms and it just feel so out of place for something as inherently dark and morally ambiguous as VC/AMC IWTV. They're just dark in different ways (and many of the same).

The Louis stuff probably bothers me the most. I've made jokes before about people needing to hate him in the right way if they're going to hate him, but it's not really a joke tbh. If people don't want to engage with book Louis because they're uncomfortable with the plantation/slave owner aspect or they find his hypocrisy annoying or his personality too dour and unpleasant and not fun, I totally get it, he's an acquired taste!

My frustration is that a large group of people who hate book Louis as show fans commonly state that he's boring or has no personality or that he was a nothing character made into something interesting by the show and I hate that take SO much.

His character is more subtle and understated than Lestat or Armand, but incredibly rich and layered and he absolutely comes to life in the subtext in way that's really magical. I think show Louis is a fantastic character, but he's also intended to be easier to digest because it's a show on AMC designed for mass consumption and modern tastes.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but by comparison book Louis takes a little more effort to understand and absorb and evokes way more complex emotions in the reader. If that's not someone's thing and they just want to have fun, that's totally fine (I feel that way about other media sometimes), but I'm always bothered by people who feel that way speaking badly about the book/his character without giving it an honest try. I don't know how anyone could say that this character written as a mirror image by a grieving mother in a toxic relationship who has just lost her child and her faith while battling alcoholism and grappling with her relationship to death, sex, gender, and cycles of violence could be considered one dimensional.

It feels disingenuous to paint him as a lazily written stock narrator and spread that analysis across social media so that other people go in with preconceived notions and hate on it blindly.

[sweetie-peaches]

I think that in season four when the wormhole opened spoke became sort of and an. Other entity, channeling a wormhole through himself caused parts of him to become strewn, thrown, and stretched across space and time. And I think physically it changed him, there’s parts of him lost to space and the vastness of the universe. In his work with the wormhole he became just a bit more odd looking. His body reflecting the instability.

[twothpaste]

I’d love to see you elaborate on how you personally interpret Ness and Paula’s dynamic/friendship! How you write them together is super refreshing.

Aw, thank ya!! I just love the thought of them being very different sorts of people, who get along brilliantly in spite of it. Or perhaps because of it, in a "complimenting each other's strengths" kinda way (y'know, like how they play during combat in the game). When I started fleshing out personalities for them, I really wanted them to bounce off each other first and foremost. Ness is sappy, Paula's snarky. Ness has peanut butter for brains, Paula's an academic genius. Ness is really emotionally grounded, Paula's kind of a volatile wreck. It makes for a lot of fun little points of contrast, especially in dialogue. The big thing they do have in common is that they're both awfully selfless, and awfully insecure deep down. So their different perspectives end up supporting & uplifting each other, if that makes sense… Ness notices stuff Paula takes for granted, like how good she is with kids, and how carefully she looks out for others. Paula notices when Ness is pushing himself too hard, and might be the only person who can convince him to cut himself some slack.

Before they met, I imagine they were both pretty lonely in their own ways. Ness was isolated by childhood bullying & Porky's fucked up "friendship," Paula by her upstanding hometown reputation & lofty expectations. When they're together, they can just be themselves. No risk of being judged or chastised or pushed around. Their friendship feels like a fresh start. I like to think it's founded on mutual admiration & respect, and a sort of pact to always be genuine with one another. Ness doesn't gotta pretend to be smarter or cooler than he is, Paula doesn't gotta pretend to be "normal" or put-together, they're just kids bein' kids on their own terms! (Or dorky young adults being dorky young adults, when I write 'em at age 20 🤸‍.) They're good for each other. They make me smile. Besties.

[tagzpite]

Back at it again

[todayisafridaynight]

Holy fuck I thought Jo was in a speedo for a second 🥵🥵🥵

crying at the thought of jo in a speedo cause i know he's miserable 24/7 and speedos are for people who love life. like adachi.

[appri-dot]

My object ocs will be going through the most god awful torture of mind and body, forced to do rigorous challenges with lethal threat for broadcasted entertainment. And it doesn't matter cuz at the end of the day bro is a pack of gum with a little face on it

[grimfigment]

been getting caught up in the Grind this week and just realized i have not just played with my puppy in a couple days. i've just been the grumpy dad getting annoyed by puppy things. that's shitty!!

anyway we're on the bed playing with his gator now c:

[blackjackkent]

In the end it's not hard to spot the devil Wyll is chasing. She kind of stands out.

The woman is crouched in a ball of flame covering her from head to foot. A deep, brutal moan of agony is audible where Rakha stands almost twenty feet away - just as clear as the heat radiating off her.

The flames aren't magic - not in the sense that Rakha has come to know the term thus far. They're coming from within the woman's body, and though they seem to be causing no small amount of pain, her flesh shows no sign of burn or blood.

Must be devil magic, then. Wyll said she was of Avernus...

Wyll is already moving, closing the distance between himself and the crouching woman, one hand going to the rapier on his back. "One horn," he snarls. It's very unlike his usual pleasant, slightly wry tone; Rakha is struck abruptly with the thought that this is what she must look like when the beast takes over. "The stink of Avernus. Advocatus diaboli."

The woman's head lifts with a sharp jerk. Rakha braces herself for battle, remembering the image in Wyll's head of Karlach covered in blood, a greataxe in one hand - but nothing happens. Instead, the woman just straightens, staggers back a step, and an incongruous expression of exhaustion and grief takes hold of her features.

"Well, I'll be godsdamned," she mutters ruefully. "The Blade of Frontiers. Thought I'd shaken you for good. That'll teach me to underestimate you."

In truth, Rakha had sort of been looking forward to this - a death that needed to happen even by Wyll's reckoning, and thus one into which she could metaphorically (or perhaps literally) sink her teeth into. Something that might sate the blood-hunger in her head longer than usual. Attack with purpose, and savor your kills, as Lae'zel advised.

But the devil is not striking first, or even seeming to want to fight back. Irritation spikes through Rakha's skull. Do not deny me this now.

"Tell me, monster," she growls coldly. "What's it like to know you're about to die?" On some level it is a taunt to rouse the moment to violence. On another, it is a serious question to feed the hunger in her mind.

The woman's head snaps back and her lips curl in a tight, harsh smile. "Touch me," she says, equally cold, "and you'll regret it."

And there it is, the pristine glorious edge of violence--

WHAM.

The impact of the tadpole connection is rougher than usual this time, and it sears and burns like a hot coal against her temple. She cries out, staggers back a step.

Narrator: A great heat roars through you - her heat, fiery as the hells. Then you're lost in visions of demonic armies as you tear through a landscape of fire and blood. The Blood War. You saw it from above as the nautiloid passed through Avernus. This woman was on the front line.

Rakha's heart is racing, her breath coming in quick sharp staggers. The imagery Wyll showed her was powerful enough, but this-- this was a sea of gore, an ocean of death. She barely has enough wherewithal to acknowledge the implications here, that Karlach has a tadpole, that she is another of those seeking the same answers as Rakha. The beast in her head roars eagerly, ravenous, demanding more, demanding to gorge itself on the vision.

"What was that?" she hears Karlach shout, fearful.

And Wyll, cold, implacable: "Evidence. Proof that you're a devil, a gladiator in the archdevil Zariel's army."

"I can explain!" Karlach protests frantically as Wyll's blade draws towards her throat. "But it's a whole situation. If you'd just hear me out--"

WHAM.

The impact this time is strong enough to knock all of them to their knees. Rakha hears a sharp githyanki curse from Lae'zel, and Wyll, next to her, begins to shake his head as if staving off some inner attack.

Narrator: Another vision. Karlach's blade raised, slicing through devils - Zariel's servants - as her eyes dart around, seeking escape. Her rage and desperation seep into you. She is a victim of the Blood War, not an agent of it.

Rakha shudders as the images continue to pour through her; it overwhelms the need for blood in her mind as killing this single soul never could. The beast feeds, and feeds, and feeds... and slowly quiets, settling into a sated calm, rumbling with satisfaction.

Her mind clears, her eyes open. She looks up to see Wyll looking baffled, lost... and utterly terrified.

"She's trying to trick us," he rasps out. "Don't believe her lies."

Karlach looks equally shaken; her hands are up in a defensive posture but she looks more ready to flee than fight. "You saw the truth," she says unsteadily. "I never wanted to serve Zariel. I was enlisted in her army against my will. Forced to fight." Her shoulders hunch slightly, as if with shame. "And fight I did," she admits. A slight pause. "When I saw an opportunity to get away, I took it. I'm finally home-- or near it, anyway."

There's a strange touch of joy under the fear there, just for a moment.

Rakha struggles for breath, for clarity. Wyll was wrong, that much is certain. This is no destructive mastermind; she's not sure it's even a devil. She's never met a devil, so she can't be positive, but the woman seems more like the tieflings of the grove, except for the strange flame curling around her and the pulsing light within her chest.

And she was on the nautiloid. She has a tadpole.

It has been enough to keep Rakha from killing Shadowheart, Gale, Wyll himself. Everyone else is fair game enough, should they stand in her way, but it is few enough who seem to have had the same experience that she did, of being marked for death within that terrible ship. Better to keep this woman alive, to use her in their search for answers.

Wyll, it seems, is not quite thinking along the same lines - or is desperately trying not to. "You served her," he snarls. "That's enough to damn you."

Rakha grunts, knocks her fist against Wyll's sword hand irritably. "Be practical," she mutters. "She's infected. Same as us. And powerful, too. We can use her as an ally."

Narrator: [PERCEPTION] Wyll catches his breath and his lips straighten. Sheer dread twists his face.

"You don't know what you're saying," he says, and there's a strange desperation in his words. "You're asking me to trust a devil."

Her irritation sparks again, though it catches less momentum with the beast currently so sated. "Gods, you're stubborn," she snaps. "Karlach's not a devil." She peers at him. There's that same evasion in his eyes, the hint of misdirection. "And you know it," she adds coldly. What aren't you telling me?

Karlach has been watching this argument unfold in silence, the defensive tension slowly sagging out of her shoulders. She doesn't look angry at being threatened; she just looks sad, and perhaps more for Wyll than for herself, for reasons Rakha can't quite parse.

"Listen to sense now," the tiefling finally puts in, surprisingly quietly. "I don't want this to end badly for either of us." She angles herself a little closer to Wyll. "You know monsters, right? Better than anyone. Look into my eyes. Can't you see I'm not what you think?"

It's such a frank, open entreaty that all of them are struck to silence for a moment. Rakha finds herself eyeing the woman with a new curiosity, and not just because of the mountain of other images of death that probably lurk uncovered in her head.

But she's even more curious about what's going through Wyll's mind. The man looks as if he's been sucker-punched in the gut.

"Shit," he mutters. "You really are no devil, are you? I've... I've been deceived..." Both the anger and sardonic good nature are gone from his tone. There is only a cold flatness. Despair.

Did he want so badly to kill this woman, just as Rakha did? Does he feel the same call for blood? No. It's something different, something deeper that Rakha doesn't understand.

Karlach slumps with visible relief, and she grins crookedly. "Thank the gods," she says, in a somewhat more jocular tone. "Thought I was going to have to take your head."

Astonishingly, in spite of that flat despair, Wyll still smiles in return. "You would've died in the attempt," he says, deliberately mild. "But there have been enough threats today."

"Truce then, hey?" Karlach says cautiously.

"Aye," Wyll agrees. "Truce."

Which, Rakha reflects, leaves pretty much every single thing about this whole situation completely unanswered. But the woman will be a new ally. There's something in that. Her head is clear enough, for now, to see the value in it.

The tiefling turns to look at Rakha and grins widely; with the immediate threat gone, her energy rises immediately. "I'm Karlach," she says. She sticks out a hand towards Rakha's midsection the same way Gale did. "But you already knew that. And you are...?"

Rakha gives her a mildly puzzled look, ignores the hand, but answers curtly, "I'm Rakha."

"Well met, soldier!" she says cheerfully, letting her hand fall back to her side when Rakha doesn't take it. "Nice to meet a friendly around here. It's been tough going so far. I may not be a devil, but I can put the Blade's reputation to work. How would you feel about helping me kill some evil bastards?"

The beast stirs sleepily. Rakha's eyebrows lift and her pupils dilate slightly.

Karlach is still talking, evidently not recognizing that she's already said the key word. "A little background, if your moral compass needs something to point at-- you already know I fought in the Blood War. I was good. *Really* good. Turns out I've got a knack for killing demons. That made me a valuable asset. Zariel, the archdevil herself, made me as her personal attack dog. I played along until I could get the fuck out of there, but devils don't like to lose their assets. Zariel liked it so little, she sent a bunch of goons, so-called 'Paladins of Tyr', to take me back. Problem is, I'm not going."

Rakha stopped listening about two sentences in and has merely been waiting to get a word in edgewise; the woman talks nearly as much as Gale. She does not care about this Zariel, or Karlach's history; none of it seems much likely to be relevant to her own problems.

But Karlach wants someone dead. And dead she can do.

"So you want me to kill the people hunting you?" she asks matter-of-factly.

If Karlach is surprised by the alacrity of her response, she doesn't show it, just grins. "Don't worry. I'll lead the charge," she says casually. "But I could use your help. There's a lot of them and only one of me. After that, we can team up. Take Faerun by the short hairs. Sound good?"

Rakha blinks vaguely at the unfamiliar idiom, but she can get the gist. She helps Karlach kill, and in return, Karlach helps them find the answers Rakha needs. She sees no downside.

"Let's do it," she agrees.