#but you see. the thing is. the GUIDE !!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy Valentine's Day! (and this blog's first post anniversary!)

#poorly drawn mdzs #better drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #Woah...it's been a whole *year* since I took the leap and uploaded my 'first attempt' art. #It's outdated now but it holds a special place in my heart for the fact it started all of this off. #Calling this 'poorly-drawn' was always about accepting that my art was going to be imperfect and messy - and doing it anyways! #There has been a staggering number of times I have drawn something I almost didn't upload because I didn't think it was 'good enough' #only for someone to say they liked it - or that it made them laugh. And it has helped me realize - #-The worst critic for my work has always been myself. If I listened to it all the time...well we would not be here now B'*) #And now that I have dabbled in other fandoms I can truly see how lucky was to start out with the MXTX fans. #The supportive messages and tags have truly been a guiding force toward my artistic and self improvement. #I really can't describe how grateful I am. #Thank you for seeing something worth rooting for when I was just figuring things out. #Thank you for being sweeter than the candy I have strategically hidden in the nooks and crannies of this house. #But watch out! If you forget to find them we will get ants. #I remembered to not hide chocolate in the bed this year. Yes I know it melted last time. Yes it did stain. I'm still sorry. #Thank you for loving me regardless <3 Even if it looked like I shit the bed real bad.

[thecryptidbard]

“Oh fuck it these can’t all be clever” my girl. My beloved Guide. My sweetest blorbo who did absolutely 100% all of the crimes, who did so in the most elaborate dramatic way possible, who literally put on such an unnecessarily extensive show for…I can only assume the documentary crew and her own enjoyment and satisfaction?? Who sat kicking her legs, head propped up in her hands asking Laszlo if he’s *suuuurre* he doesn’t want any help??? Who came to see them all in their cages and LITERALLY said *teehee 😁* . Babygirl really said I am going to snap so goddamn fucking hard and completely, but I am going to do it with SHOWMANSHIP and PIZAZZ, she made SUCH a good murderboard (that says *OUCHY!* on it!!!) and then after all that just went….oopsie!! My bad!! Truly my hero you GO babe you’re doing GREAT please please never change

#wwdits #wwdits the guide #She is the absolute *god forbid women do ANYTHING* woman of all time 😍 #no thoughts. only her sad little Okie Doke 🥺 followed by 25 minutes of elaborate revenge #like I know big nandor/Guillermo stuff went down too I’m aware #but you see. the thing is. the GUIDE !! #best main cast addition in any show EVER since always sunny decided to add Danny Devi to #like so much of the elaborateness of the plan was just…absolutely unnecessary?? only the doc crew was watching at that point??? #but she still was just on a ROLL going ALL IN #the guide my absolute beloved #it speaks #wwdits season 5 spoilers #wwdits finale spoilers #the guide #the guide wwdits

[assiraphales]

I was rewatching Crowley's and Aziraphale's initial meet-up at the coffee shop, and realized that it sets up the miscommunication theme from the get-go. Crowley swans in and performs the display of how well he knows Aziraphale--the list of three reasons that Aziraphale calls him, the "tone of voice" which tells him which reason it is this time--and the one thing that Aziraphale hones in on is the one about bragging. Crowley calls it "you need to tell someone about something clever you did before you pop," but Aziraphale redefines this as "It's nice to tell someone about the good things you've done" and then explicitly says, eyes flickering back and forth, that he's telling Crowley "now that I'm not reporting to Heaven." (And we know that Aziraphale has talked about Heaven's total radio silence before, because Crowley mentions it to Shax.) Which is the psychological conflict that is the season's actual problem! So Crowley's conversational opener is all about semi-mockingly insisting that he knows Aziraphale perfectly, and yet he doesn't see at all that there's something wrong.

say that!!

#the thing is aziraphale spent his entire existence reporting to someone. being guided by someone. being supported #he’d do something and they’d say nice! That’s the reason you exist! #now that he’s not involved w heaven he’s lost and crowley couldn’t see that #good omens #good omens spoilers

[bonefall]

it is healing to come onto this blog and see basic respect for diasbility after being in other corners of the fandom and reading the words “snowkit could never be a warrior because he wouldnt know what anything is. he wouldnt even know what a clan is because nobody could explain it to him” said in full seriousness

Im..... That statement is so ableist I cannot even imagine the worldview you'd need to have in order to come up with that.

They really think the only way anyone learns anything is through verbal-speaking-words-noises? No one has ever observed something before? Not even once?

This is beyond touching grass, this person just fell out of the fucking Jurassic Period when all they had was ferns and stegosaurs.

I just...

OH YES. I remember my first day of Society Lessons as a hearing person, where the everything was explained to me. Via Audiobook. FIRST they spoke and said, "you are standing on the ground." It was a life changing revelation, and the world began to spin.

But it did not stop.

THEN they said, "there are fingers on your hands." The sensation of flesh and bone crackling into existence is indescribable, but I did not yet know pain, until they told me, "that hurts." I began screaming immediately.

And yet... it continued.

They explained so much. Chairs. Tables. Walls. The sky. Frogs. Ionizing radiation. Breathing. I was told all of it, in one sitting, and only then did I understand. Only when my ears were bursting with normal hearing knowledges, did they begin... my final test.

A strange wall-chair-finger emerged from the sky-of-the-wall, stood on the ground several times, until it was in front of me. A second one came behind it, this one slimmer. The audiobook gave these things names;

Human. Father. Mother. Door. Walking. It was completely impossible to know what these things were until that very moment.

I watch a human dip a hook into water and produce a fish, and I recall my Society Lessons where they called that "fishing." I am decked in the face by a nefarious hooligan, and I have only the audiobook to thank when I know I have been "punched" by a "bad guy." It was only the magic of verbal-speaking-words-noise that made me understand that there are "other people" and that they "do stuff."

Sometimes, even, in "groups."

Before the Society Lessons Audiobook, I knew nothing. I was pure, innocent, uncorrupted by concepts such as "parents" and "door." I am grateful every day that there is no such concept as "being shown things" or "simple logical reasoning" or "looking."

Blessed be those amongst us who escape the horrors of the Society Lessons Audiobook. I pray that you never learn what anything is. Be free! Free as a bird, which also knows nothing and famously cannot learn. 🤗

DEAF/HOH FOLLOWERS I'm losing my mind do you want me to bump a 'Hearing Disabilities Herb Guide' to the top of my priorities? Something you can use to bludgeon whackadoodles like that. This is ridiculous

Obviously not a MEDICINE guide but like; common causes of hearing disability in clan cats. Accommodations for hearing loss vs congenital deafness. Actual difficulties of not having that sense Clan-by-Clan. Debunking of misconceptions like... not being able to learn APPARENTLY.

#bone babble #Fennelposting #Obviously the answer is 'theyre incapable of THINKING' but like... they do know snow has a line right #In the book. He figured out. A word. Through observation. #He says 's'all right' because he knows it calms ppl down #He did not need to hear the magic words 'You can make noises at others to influence them' #Like a fucking tutorial tip #Im going to start keeping a JOURNAL of ''times people have been weird about snowkit specifically'' #Ableism #cw ableism #I could also link to the pawspeak thing so it's all in one place #I wrote this last night and put it in the queue and I laid awake thinking of this... #What do they think happens when someone goes to another country where things aren't written/spoken in a language they know? #Do they think they wouldn't be able to figure out anything? Do they think the tourist would just perish #Would they collapse in the streets of Berlin sobbing? #Happened to me. Went to England and they called it a Car Boot Sale instead of a Flea Market and I died to death #AND if I did make that guide please tell me if there's any other weird misconceptions you need to see in it #I know that ONE of them is going to have to be that. like. deaf people make noise. #theyre actually quite loud because they don't know they're making noise #and people with hearing loss do not suddenly forget how to speak. #and people born deaf dont talk like cavemen #cw body horror #tw body horror #EDIT: OOPS sorry I have such an astonishingly tolerance for body horror I did not realize that counted as body horror

[chirpsythismorning]

S5 opener REAL

#byler #will byers #stranger things #every season besides s4-5 opens with non main characters #for el we got a flashback of the lab followed by her perspective in the scene directly after #and I think for Will we will see something similar #with us getting the flashback of him in castle byers in the UD #followed by him in the present in the scene after #but what exactly would warrant that memory being brought up in association with Will in the present? #mayhaps his connection to the mindflayer and the UD run deeper than we realize… #it’s likely not something he could just rid himself of in s2 and now he’s all good #he literally still feels a connection to everything he is feeling #that means he is still technically at risk of being the spy in some capacity #the massacre at Hawkins lab also was a guiding force for El discovering the ‘truth’ in s4 #so it’s likely for Will this instance will operate in a way that re-contextualizes the events in the past up to now #like that time Will suggested they go to the hospital in s3 only for the flayed to be waiting for them #or how flayed Billy knew they were at the cabin… #all while Will was looking cryptic as hell in that scene watching over el #or the fact that he picked Billy in the first place the season after he focused on Will… #you know.. williams #I think the easiest way to introduce the castle Byers flashback is a dream honestly #specifically a dream within a dream #seeing that recent leak and Will looking like either he has a black or hasn’t slept in days #is giving very much ‘I am afraid to sleep bc I’m scared of what will happen’ #I think dude is not exactly possessed in the sense that we already saw in s2 with like the particicles #but he’s still vulnerable #the door is still ajar… #no but fr this idea of opening a door in your mind was so blatant in st2 AND s3b of teen wolf #I think a big part of it will be guilting Will over the fact that Will has helped him before without Will telling the others #hence his weird vibe in s3… like he’s already successfully fucked with Will post s2 potentially with us being none the wiser aka here we go

[americankimchi]

god i wish they hadn't retconned maul's death. i get wanting to explore more of his character because he was, objectively, one of the coolest star wars characters to ever hit the big screen and didn't get much screentime prior to his death, but also his role was fulfilled perfectly within those constraints so i wasn't too upset by it.

but by retconning it and making it so he never died it's like. okay. what now? the whole point (well, to me, ymmv of course) of the theed generator fight was that it was the first ever fight between the jedi and the sith in thousands of years, and that in the end even though the jedi (obi-wan) won the fight, a jedi (qui-gon) and a sith (maul) still died. a master and an apprentice dying together to herald the start of a new age/the return of the sith. perfectly paralleling the way in rotj a master (palps) and an apprentice (anakin/vader) died together to herald the return of the jedi. in both instances, a father figure (qui-gon/vader) dies in the arms of their son (obi-wan/luke) as a sith (palps/maul) is cast down into the abyss to their deaths. (palps being alive in the ST and retconning his death in rotj is also annoying for this reason)

i mean i like maul. don't get me wrong. he's an incredibly compelling character and i enjoy seeing more of him... but there's always the thought hovering in my mind like "he should be dead though. he should 100% be dead. this wouldn't be happening if he was dead, but i honestly would rather it not if it meant that maul was dead."

like the tpm fight just doesn't hit the same knowing that canonically he's just. going to become a robot octopus at some point. (shoutout to palps becoming sith glados in the ST) it cheapens the moment for me. it was supposed to be a moment of triumph marred by the deep and soul-crushing loss of a loved one and it's just... not, anymore. or at least not to the same extent. AUGH i'm just. frustrated. wish star wars as a whole wasn't constantly reframing/retconning what's been established. just puts a bad taste in my mouth.

#personal #star wars is HUGE #there's a GALAXY'S worth of stories to be told #and we're always for whatever reason focusing on this ONE PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD #it's suffocating #this is partly why i'm so excited to see the acolyte #it's a break from the skywalker saga #i love the skywalkers. i love the skywalker saga. #but that's also why i want them to STOP ADDING TO THEIR STORY #sometimes a story has a beginning middle and an end and that's okay! #that's fantastic! #we don't need to see between the lines! or behind the scenes! what if we just LEFT IT ALONE #AUGH #anyways. i don't know. i'm just frustrated with the state of star wars as a whole #it feels so claustrophobic right now. just because the space is there and undefined doesn't mean it needs to be filled #this constant push to canonize the years leading up to an event with content is so frustrating #negative space in an image isn't a bad thing it just helps guide the eye to what's most important #otherwise it gets too cluttered. too noisy. too DISTRACTING. #this was supposed to be about maul being alive but it's really about my ongoing grievances with how star wars is cannibalizing the movies #i'm tired of it........ tired i tell you #anyways that's all. real old man yells at cloud moment rn lmao

[lavellyne]

can the "finding your art style" discussion finally end because it does nothing but feeds people's insecurity and obsession with finding something... that they already have?

i've been there, trust me. growing up i was obsessed with "finding" my own art style. but you know what it only did? it made me almost quit drawing altogether on many occasions when in reality i already had one.

an art style is how you interpret everything around you through the act of creation. it's how you draw right now. it's how you place the lines. your line-weight. it's how you draw the eyes. it's how you shade.

an art style grows with you. it grows with your improvement. of course you can explore and bump it up by testing bits and pieces from art you love. but you don't add those bits to nothing. you add to what you already have, to the art style you already have. it's how you draw.

#lave talks #random ramble but i just saw another youtube video that's supposed to be a guide on how to find your art style #like dude. everyone who draws has an art style. everyone who writes has their own writing style #it will improve with you #it will grow with you #you can spice it up with things you like and enjoy. but it will always be there the second you pick up a pen #the refined art styles you see in experienced artists' portfolio is there because they've been drawing for decades and refined #what they already had. they polished their craft and their style followed. it will be the same with you. you just need to allow yourself #time for that growth #let's stop feeding into this idea that you don't have an art style until you do xyz #it almost ruined drawing for me #artist community #artists #artist #artist support #artist struggles #artist spotlight #art style #art tag #artists on tumblr #art discussion

[bonebabbles]

God the new ultimate guide sucks

It's not JUST the awful art, either. The art's just worth mentioning because even if the book's info had been terrible or contained nothing new, really cute art can make it still worth having.

But, no, it's even full of recycled lines we've been hearing for years like "Bramblestar Can Match Squirrelflight's Fire Not Contain It," and that's when it DOES get everything right. These entries leave out major, important details (making them bad summaries) and are sometimes even straight-up incorrect.

SUMMARY THOUGHTS

Leafpool is said to have watched Brambleclaw kill Hawkfrost to save Firestar-- but for one, no, she was not there because Ashfur was still leading her and Squilf towards the scene. For two, no, Brambleclaw did not kill Hawkfrost just to save Firestar, it was self-defense. Hawkfrost had him pinned and was going to kill him.

They're REAL cute about Leafpool's death, too, neglecting to mention WHY the Sisters needed to be saved at all and just saying Leafpool's "generosity" lead to her death in that cave-in.

I'm not even going to get into everything on Bramble's entry jesus christ.

Sagewhisker's entry is ESPECIALLY fucken' dandy, framing Yellowfang's Secret like she was simply waiting patiently for Yellow to realize her 'destiny' and not actively shoving it on her at every opportunity.

Leopardstar's entry states that romantic interest in Tigerstar was part of her motivation. "Perhaps she'd hoped he would be her mate" please speak to a woman irl for once in your life.

Gray Wing's entry forgot that the reason he "blamed himself" for Bright Stream's death is because he was literally staring at his big strong brother too much and tripped on a root in front of him. It IS his fault she died.

Clear Sky/Skystar's entry is just obscene. "He regretted abandoning his son and after a fire, he encouraged him to live with him" instead of "saw his teenage child was useful now and bullied and belittled the kid and his uncle into letting Thunder come with him." "Retaining his fierceness towards his cats and outsiders which caused his son to leave" instead of "murdering, brutalizing, and abusing everyone around him caused Thunder to leave." I'll just say this tho; "Fierce" is an interesting way to spell "Cruel."

It's interesting that they don't point out that a major part of Jagged Peak's arc was proving he was "Just As Good" as every other cat in spite of his disability, thanks to his introduced-and-pregnant-in-the-same-book wife becoming his life coach, only earning Clear Sky's respect after being allowed to physically lead a patrol in Blazing Star. Instead they frame him finding his place through taking care of kits, which... was something he seemed to resent in the actual series, considering how the books suddenly treat Gray Wing's protective treatment of him as a terrible thing in Blazing Star because he "didn't give him a chance". But at the same time I actually strongly dislike Jagged Peak and his messy, frustrating character arc so I'm not really UPSET with it. Just... noting it. I suppose this is the official direction they're taking away from it?

Shadowstar's entry is barely even 3 paragraphs yikes.

SHORT STORY THOUGHTS

And if you're wondering if the 4 brand new stories they smooshed into the end in a desperate attempt to make the rush job worth buying are good? No. Of course not. They're all slop.

Story 1: Firestar and Graystripe

First one's a marginally cute story about Graystripe and Firestar which is setting up the framing device linking the mini-tales together. They both remember this situation where Firestar fell into a ditch wrong. The punchline is that Thunderstar remembers it perfectly and they're both like, "WOW! Too bad Thunderstar's memory sucks!"

It's not terrible, but it does feel a bit pointless. But, hey, if you want more Firestar and Graystripe in the series that tosses them fanservice at every turn, who am I to judge?

Story 2: Dovewing and Ivypool

The next one is the Dovewing/Ivypool reconciliation passage everyone's talking about. It's... fine, but immensely dissatisfying to me.

Dovewing is apparently having problems adjusting to her Clan, grapples a little bit with the fact she has no friends but is going to be finding meaning in helping tigerHeartstar "bring the new ShadowClan into existence." She ultimately decides that she needs to talk to her sister, and begs for reassurance that Ivypool believes in her, feeling that her support can help her get through this difficult time in her life.

I think its biggest problem is that Dovewing was not the right choice for the POV here.

Dove was never the one responsible for the rift in their relationship. Ivypool is. Ivypool is the one who was jealous, willing to sabotage anything that would put Dovewing closer to Tigerheart, and continues to be generally aggressive towards her. So when Dovewing is reaching out to Ivypool in hopes of them reconciling, it feels wrong because Ivypool is the one that should be reaching out to Dovewing. SHE is the one who has some things to apologize for, and to show how much she loves and misses her.

It's even kind of frustrating, because Dovewing can never catch a break. She has to have these problems to force her to reach out, Ivypool even ends up suggesting that she leave and come home and take her kids with her, but in the end even a LITTLE bit of assurance from her aggressive sister helps.

I feel super bad for Dovewing, man. She deserves better than this cheap writing. What was the point of such an unsatisfying, rushed reconciliation, shoved into a crummy field guide, when we KNOW from the newest book that they're just going to use tension between them as part of the drama anyway?

shouldn't have even been written, imo. Even ends off with, "They'll always have each other :)" which is so... cliche. It's TIRED. Are any of you really happy with just getting a retconned platitude in a good-for-nothing field guide, instead of seeing complicated, INTERESTING feelings in a main book?

Story 3: Alderheart and Twigbranch

A tale of Cherryfall getting sick during TBC and Alderheart sneaks back into the territory to treat her. Also Crowfeather has a scene where he yells at him. Charming.

Twigbranch comes up with a diversion while Alderheart does his work, which is cute. It's a fine story.

Story 4: Clear Sky

Trash. Three dogs spawn in the middle of a gathering so that Skystar can have an uwu big boy sendoff saving his grandkit. Then he goes to StarClan and throws a fit because they can't give him ANOTHER life, becoming so upset that he attacks the nearest woman. Naturally, Shadowstar brushes it off because it's not the first time Clear Sky has pummeled her in the midst of an adult tantrum and this book series thinks violence is fine if their favorite sadboy does it.

Then Gray Wing brings him to the magic mirror pool where you can see the living, to confirm that Star Flower is ok and that makes him feel better.

Then it launches into Firestar saying "ouuuugh yum I LOVE the taste of his butthole. Clear Sky is so misunderstood, He Just Loved Too Much."

to which Graystripe responds, "Yes, he was a good and amazing person and his farts smells SO good, and can you believe that some people think StarClan punished his Clan for his arrogance? As if he ever did anything wrong, ever?"

Firestar, indignant, refutes it with, "Ugh!! StarClan would NEVER be interesting, we don't punish living cats we just float around and make vague, frustrating prophecies that do nothing but pad the word count. Why cant ppl understand that, gosh."

who wrote this? Gray Wing??

#The amount of passive voice Clear Sky has to be surrounded with in order to look like a redeemable character is dizzying #I feel like I'm reading a headline about cops who blew up an orphanage every time I read anything official about him #oh wait im sorry. A ''high-pressure accident which occurred at a government institution with 3 officers present'' lmaooooo #ultimate field guide #bone babble #im actually REALLY glad actually they havent been making these #This was garbage #There were a few good things in this but overall? Absolute slop. I wouldn't even feed this to a pig. #I think this is actually down there with Cats of the Clans (with Rock) for worst field guide #This is abysmal #You would be better with the wiki summaries and the 4 stories are mid at best #What a shame that they re-pivoted so hard from Riverstar's SE which I was JUST praising for tossing out that shitty ''redemption arc'' #Nope. We're right back to square one. #How much do you guys wanna bet it's ONE writer who's OBSESSED with Clear Sky and every time he writes anything he does this #I'm not sure who wrote this one but let's see if my hunch is right lmao

[introspectivememories]

#god i don't remember what fic this was from #but i remember reading and thinking '...huh.' #i've read so many atwow fics recently it's insane #also the jake & spider dynamic is insane to me #wait it was from that one locorro sentinel/guide fic #back to the dynamic though #this is a kid you've seen grown up. your children call him brother. your mate calls him demon. #in the darkest corners of your heart where no one can see the depth of affection you hold for him you call him son. #you will never say this aloud. you see too much of your other self in him. he is more na'vi than you ever will be. #he knows the songs better than neteyam. his bow posture is better than lo'ak's. his weaving better than some in the clan. #kiri and him are so close you sometimes wonder where one starts and the other ends #tuk does not know a life without him. still you say nothing. #(the rda takes him and you will yourself to ignore lo'ak and kiri's pleas to go back. you ignore neteyam's heavy gaze. tuk's wails for him. #desperately you try to convince yourself that youre doing the right thing. after all it's not like hes your son right? just a family friend #you do your best to ignore the part of you that screams for your eldest son. you are unsuccessful.) #(this action will have consequences.) #jake sully #tsyeyk suli #spider socorro #spider te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar james cameron

[justarandomhelluvablog]

having thoughts about how Husk actually has very little left to redeem bc he started his journey of self-change before even coming to work at the hotel, but at the same time redemption isn't even his goal- he ain't even aiming for heaven, he just wanted to be a better person and maybe now with friends and especially Angel, who he supports so much and wants to see succeed, maybe now he has a reason to be a better person

#hazbin hotel #husk #warning I am about to ramble in these tags O7 I have a ridiculous amount of thoughts about this cat bird man #thinking about that word of god from vivzie that Husk is actively fighting his gambling addiction in hell #which besides the pilot we've only seen his gambling mentioned in the past #and idk if it's just because they had to focus on other things but we don't see him drinking as heavily as he did in the pilot #and first few episodes. like he actually wants to be sober #we know he used to be an overlord and we assume that comes with all the terrible overlord qualities #(aka there's no such thing as a good slave owner) #but the Husk we know now has been on both sides of this chain #he knows and respects boundaries. consent is super important to him. this feels like a moral you can't really have to be an overlord #he also sees everyone as more than just what they can do for him specifically. he gets NOTHING out of being Angel's friend #he gets NOTHING out of defending Angel and Cherri during the fight with the Exorcists #he knows when to open up and who to open up to and trust. and he extends a hand to someone in need. someone he ain't even close to- #and if it hasn't changed he is trying to beat his own vices despite not even being a guest of the hotel. he's staff. he doesn't HAVE to #participate in their activities or try to change. he was dragged into this #but dammit he does it anyway #(also if he is still trying to beat his gambling addiction I wonder if the pilot was a relapse. hm) #anyway ig what im trying to say is husk isn't a guest at the hotel but plays the role of a guide for the guests bc he's already #got a very strong and *GOOD* set of morals considering they're in hell #like his level of morals we've only seen /explicitly/ shown in hellborn. and yeah consent and boundaries is rock bottom even for Earth #but they're in hell so somehow the bar manages to be even fucking lower than that so I consider it a win #ALSO THE FACT THAT HE STOOD BETWEEN ANGEL & CHERRI AND THE EXORCISTS??? this mf is willing to DIE for these people #I am 100% sure that if Husk's soul didn't belong to Alastor he would already be redeemed #we don't know what he did in life and we don't know how bad he was as an overlord but we know who husk is /now/ #and that person is a pretty damn good guy #he might have some work to do sure but he's already at least started his redemption before the show even began and #we're just seeing the tail end of it #god damn I really rambled in these tags i am so sorry #I just have so many thoughts about him

[justarandomlambblog]

(Open in new tab for better quality)

Re-ordered some stuff but here we go

will I color it one day? maybe. For now here we go.

--

In this AU, the Bishops were children who were raised in a temple together, chosen from a young age to bear the crowns.

Shamura the eldest, who loved to read and learn and share this knowledge with everyone around;

Kallamar the second, who loved to entertain his siblings with stories and tales;

Heket the third, who loved to try new things and share them with her siblings;

Narinder himself, who loved too much for the embodiment of death;

and Leshy the youngest, who dreamed of a future beyond the palace walls, where he and his family could simply be.

As they grew older, though, things began to change. Vows were made and stations were created- and everyone settled into their roles, learning and growing and expanding upon their domains... they of war, he of blight, she of famine and he of chaos...

But Narinder, he of Death, could not. And that already widening chasm only grew as he did, anyway.

Azri, eventually, came to view Narinder not as a cruel god, but as a victim of his station- a pathetic personification, a pitiable brother betrayed by those he loved, the very ones who placed those lofty, unreachable, unnatural dreams into him in the first place.

And, well, why become Death when you can simply put Death on a leash?

--

Since the Lamb spares Narinder, Narinder remains god of death but is essentially under Azri's control. The other four Bishops get revived, but since they died they lost their god status and only retain their immortal souls. Azri is a god themself after defeating all 5 Bishops (killing 4 of them) and obtaining their crowns.

All five crowns are now in Azri's possession and they are nigh on unstoppable. Luckily for everyone, they just want a peaceful and happy life. Being worshiped is a nice side effect, and sure, there's a sacrifice here and there, but all in all it's a very peaceful life.

Just... don't step out of line. When you have Death under your thumb, death has no meaning.

you can't die without their permission.

also don't mess with Nari bc the Lamb will have Words™ for you.

#cult of the lamb #CotL AU #Narinder CotL #The Lamb CotL #Justa Arts #see me thinking of a name for this AU #anyway Azri (my Lamb) decides they don't want to become death bc that job highkey sucks #like guiding souls and passing judgment and sending them into the correct afterlife for their belief AND righteousness? or whatever? #always between and never truly living on either side of that veil? yeah that sucks #so really keeping Narinder around just seems like the best thing for them. then they can focus on the cult #<- that is Azri's reasoning anyway in reality they just want to keep Narinder around #is it love or mutual stockholms? who knows at this point /j #anyway excuse any discrepencies this is a digital lining of a traditional sketch I did at 3 am and I probably missed a lot of mistakes #and this was like the first thing I did so I didn't have my designs solidifed #mind you I still don't but still #edited to fix Narinder's name bc I blanked out while writing this

[esterigermaine]

Okay, but Halsin, Jaheira, Minthara, and Astarion all taking one look at an Elf dark urge and immediately going "I can influence that"

So all 4 of the older Elves in the party end up being like a divorced couple that can't agree on how to raise their kid.

#dark urge #i know durge is an adult and the other elves recognize them as at least being physically an adult #but considering lore surrounding bhaal I headcanon durge to be between 35-50 at the oldest #and without memories to give them experiences to base things on when making choices #i could see the older elves and half elves trying to guide them #only astarion and minthara are encouraging violence #and halsin and jaheira are trying to nudge them toward good decisions #and it is a full out war trying to get a single Elf with amnesia to do what each of the 4 thinks is best for them #like nudge nudge I am 200 years older than you and wiser we should kill the clown #or hey trust me you want to befriend the displacer beast trying to eat your face. she is a part of nature “) #astarion over there trying to convince them to rob a temple #and jaheira is giving advice on how to raise kids only we know how Jaheira is with her own kids so the advice probably sucks #astarion #halsin #minthara #jaheira #baldurs gate 3

[not-available-for-comment]

“Image-obsessed celebrity can’t be struggling behind the scenes because being ultra-famous and almost pathologically protective of your public image is famously a very mentally healthy experience with no psychological downsides” is just as much of a dogshit parasocial take as “famous straight conventionally attractive if sometimes cryptic celebrity is leaving secret puzzles to prove to me specifically that she’s gay”.

You don’t know these people. YOU DON’T KNOW THESE PEOPLE. You can just like or dislike the music and it will be ok. I will not send the art cops to your house. Go to a coffee shop and put a tenner in the busker’s guitar case if you’re that exercised about it.

Also, not for nothing, being wealthy can be helpful with mental illness, but pushy stage parents and legions of obsessive fans historically Are Not. We’ve somehow blown straight past “money can’t buy happiness but it can pay for rent and doctor’s appointments which sure fucking help” to “no rich person has had a real problem ever” and I regret to inform you that that second statement is what the original platitude is about. It is, tragically, possible to have rent and groceries and doctors bills and cute clothes paid for without a second’s thought and still have a bad time of it, because even rich people are human beings who come from families of human beings and have human friends and lovers and staff and coworkers and part of the human condition is that sometimes some of us suffer.

I get the impulse to be resentful of someone singing about having a hard time when the spare change from between her couch cushions would easily save your life. I’ve been through a period of my life where I tried not to obviously resent my friends for *having food*. It’s ok if you can’t listen to her for that reason and in fact I’d argue that you shouldn’t. It’s painful, and it’s not the kind of pain that produces anything worthwhile, just more resentment. But “she’s making up alcoholism for clout” is such a deeply stupid way to phrase that. You don’t know her. What if she isn’t? What if she IS? Making up personas is literally part of her brand. Do you need a hug? Sincerely. I think a hug would maybe be more productive here. I’m sorry things are hard. It’s not fair. You’re right. It isn’t.

I just think one slightly overexposed pop singer is maybe not the main reason it’s hard.

#I’m probably not making any sense #but the utterly unhinged fanfic that just crossed my dash while masquerading as cultural analysis made me see red #I don’t even particularly care about tswift #I own 3 of her albums and don’t keep up with new releases #she’s done several things i deeply disliked #but i don’t think she’s a bad person #just young and out of touch #but the idea that having nice things is the same thing as being mentally or even physically healthy is rancid #it’s the cornerstone of the self-care bilking machine #and a way of making you miserable without giving you any tools to actually make your life better #HUMAN. CONNECTION. IS. HEALTHY. MONEY. IS. NOT. #that’s an oversimplification #rent obviously is healthy #abusive family isn’t #but your guiding principle needs to be forging strong healthy connections #not accumulating so much stuff that god can’t touch you

[loverlylight]

Since pretty much everyone who's watched Spies Are Forever (myself included) enjoy seeing Curt and Joey act opposite each other in other works as well, and since the Hatchetfield productions give us a lot of different character combinations for them, I was curious which character combinations people find the most interesting. This isn't intended to necessarily be about shipping, but just what duo you like having interact with each other the most, either from what's been released so far or potential future character interactions.

#starkid #hatchetfield #curt mega #joey richter #I usually just tag for archival purposes and not so others can find things please help/I apologize? #anyway I'm just really interested in knowing what people think since I know 99% of SAF fans love when the two are in other things together #like I said am I very much a part of that group #but while in things like Headless or Wayward Guide or Poe Party and so on they don't generally play multiple characters #the Hatchetfield shows give us lots of interesting dynamics and I wanna see what people like #tried to add as many canon interactions + the conceptual duos I personally found most interesting #but if you think something like Kyle and Brad from Yellow Jacket interacting with each other is the most interesting then great + go for it #also spoilers for Time Bastard Working Boys and NPMD I guess? #oh and Hatchetfield Ape Man spoilers

[bonefall]

Does leopard still have 3 lives in her final battle? Or was that changed?

Yep. I think she drowned her once, then Leopardstar lunges up refreshed, and she gets the upper paw on Mistyfoot with 2 lives to go.

(MAYBE tw gore, but I really did try to be tasteful about a head being smashed on a rock.)

On her back, splashing and thrashing furiously against Leopardstar's claws dunking her head under, Mistyfoot glimpses a wave breaking just over the tip of a stone-blue rock. Her only chance.

With a surge of power, her claws sink into her leader's golden shoulder and they tumble and roll to the right. Before the tyrant even realizes what's happening, she's yanked up, and then whipped backwards with a wet CRUNCH

And then again

And again

And again, until Mistyfoot can't even make out what's left of her leader anymore. All she can see is that it's a red, brown, and yellow blur, because her eyes burning with salty tears and her whole body is trembling.

She drops the corpse onto the stone and it slides into the water, lifelessly. After a moment it spasms aimlessly one last time, like an insect does after its head is bitten off, unlike the deliberate, agonized throes of Tigerstar suffering through his doomed lives. And then it's still.

There's only the tranquil sound of bubbling water, and Mistyfoot's frenzied panting. Her pounding heart makes it hard to hear either.

The blood is carried off by the shallow water in scarlet swirls, but the lake runs pale red as if it's washing it away. Some were aware of this prophecy, but Mistyfoot was not.

It isn't closure to her, or a fulfillment of divine decree. It's just blood that should be on her paws, slicked away by the complicit river. She wished it could feel like it's over, but she's smart enough to know the truth. Has been through enough terrible events like this to understand what comes next.

Her body will move foward. Her mind will need to consider her deputy. Her paw will come down on code-defying cats like Blackclaw and Greenflower. But her heart will stay here, next to the remains of Leopardstar, the same way another piece of it remains at Stonefur's side across space and time.

#Tw gore #Juuuust in case but I did try to stay tasteful #While also trying to write it as gut-wrenchingly violent as I imagine in my head #Because it's important that it haunts her #The kill wasn't pretty and clean. It was awful. She didn't want this. It wasn't heroic #'Why did you do this to me? Why did you make this so cruel?' #'Why was the last thing you ever did to me such a horrible command as a leader?' #'And why did I obey your orders until the bitter bitter end?' #'How could you turn my defiance into a new kind of cruel obediance? Did I not suffer ENOUGH for you?' #'And now there is no head to bury with your body. I am cursed with the last memory of your face. I alone will know how you looked at me' #'That the last expression on your face wasn't pain or confusion or realization.' #'It was all fury. For me.' #OF COURSE tho I will continue to make funny rock jokes until the day I die lmaoo #Duality of Bones #Hmm maybe when I get to this in BB!TNP I'll be quick and objective about it and save the Misty Emotions for like... #I miss how the field guides used to have stories told in 1st person. #It would be fun to have a BB!Mistystar Speaks #Because I do LOVE writing Misty's verbose and philosophical speeches. #As you can see from the tags lmao #BB!Mistystar #Better bones au

[akkivee]

so like, via canon and arb, we’ve seen kuukou guide, seal, and banish supernatural stuff; he helped a ghost pass to the next life peacefully and his hypnosis ability is to seal lol

it’s only in arb that we’ve seen the need for kuukou to banish spirits, and tho technically those instances never happened lol, he’s been shown to be bad at it. which i think is pretty interesting!!!! so he’s good at leading and perhaps keeping, but bad at sending away huh 🤔

#vee queued to fill the void #i was thinking about making this post quite literally the day before arb dropped those previews #where it looks like kuukou’s role is to banish a ghost in that movie lol #it’s a role so i can’t imagine he’ll fail but what if #and if so arb needs to get out of my head lmao how are we always connected when it comes to kuukou LOL #bat’s got a ‘welcome all’ theme to them which is why i think kuukou might be bad at banishing ghosts lol #kuukou’s good at guiding bc he’s a leader (and a monk lol) he’s good at sealing bc he doesn’t want people to leave #and maybe being bad at banishing is the other side of that coin??? keeping people by his side we’re all family don’t leave thing #kuukou’s supernatural abilities have only been shown once lol so it’s unlikely we’ll see it again #BUT HYPMIC HAS CLONES SO YOU NEVER KNOW LMAO