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laurelier · 2 years

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RGB reality: Our Flag Means Death x The Matrix

Back with more on color symbolism because I can’t stop thinking about it, there’s nothing in my head there is nothing behind my eyes rn but the ridiculous color work in OFMD and so today I’m reflecting a bit on red, blue, and green in the show’s visuals. @weirdgirlcore and others have already written at length about red, here, and blue, here, and this is going to take a lot of that work as reference points because I’d never have been able to come up with all of that on my own, lmao— but something I haven’t yet seen discussed directly (though that may just be due to a combination of my own laziness and tumblr’s subpar search mechanism) is the fact that each romantic pairing on the Revenge is made up of one red-coded and one blue-coded character.

And, like, I see red and blue and my brain goes straight to the Matrix red-pill-blue-pill scene*— bc that movie is a goldmine of cinematic allegorical philosophical personal identity-related concepts, it’s so rich. Red, blue, and green take up the most space in the color landscape of that film, and I think it’s really interesting to do a side-by-side with OFMD’s and The Matrix’s uses of these three colors, given a few posts I’ve seen about the parallels between OFMD and other well-known media— to start, Mad Max and Ed’s costume hi @notcuddles and here too @taititi (feat. @fuckyeahisawthat tags), as well as this on the role of the Pinocchio story by @sitzfleischh. So. This post focuses mostly on our canonical OFMD couples, exploring a little bit more what red, blue, and green might mean for them.

Under the cut— follow me down this lil rabbit hole and I’ll attempt to explain with some coherence, but to paraphrase Morpheus, you gotta see it for yourself.

*A little disclaimer: in doing research for this post I was made aware of the history of the “redpill” meme, and I hope it’s obvious but still want to be clear that nothing I am about to write in this meta has anything to do with the unfortunate co-opting of the symbol of the red pill by the fringe right.

Just a lil dash of color

Starting with the fact that all members of the Revenge’s crew feature red or blue somewhere in their costuming. Have this shot of them all looking mopey on the beach:

Roach said pose bitch.

And so much of the set design of the Revenge itself is red and blue, too, especially in Stede’s quarters— so, like, obvi these two colors take up a lot of space not just in Stede and Ed’s presentation (bc even there, they’re at times very subtle) but in the show at large.

Literally this room is so warm and red, this room is a heart, what is WRONG with the set designers

Which just sets the whole thing up as, like, a little universe of red-blue dichotomies: it positions the two colors as opposite, coexisting influences on OFMD’s world— and nowhere is that more operant than in the relationships between the characters.

Little lovebirds <3

On the actual ship, the most visually red/blue-coded couple is Lucius and Pete. The first time we see Pete, he’s in a greenish color, but I’ll kind of address that at the end— bc past the first episode of the show, he’s pretty reliably seen in blue.

Grumpy little grinch man does not like to sew.

As I’m looking at the blue-coded characters in that shot of the whole crew above, besides Stede, I’m seeing Buttons and Pete looking particularly ~blue. And I’m like, ok, well. Pete is less critical of/more enthusiastic about Traditionally Masculine Views of capital-P Piracy, like, as a construct, than a lot of other crewmembers, as evidenced by his stories about being a member of Blackbeard’s crew (real or not, have this interesting post by @avelera about the "Brown Peter" thing). In that little montage that he recounts to the crew about serving on Blackbeard’s ship, he makes himself into a Very Manly Ideal Version of Pete, and Blackbeard into something like a pirate god, when in reality both of them are far from that— which leads me to a working idea of what’s signaled by blue: a character who is susceptible to the allure of a set system of beliefs, an Idealized World, and who reaches for that Perfect Ideal to the detriment of their ability to exist as their real self. In the case of Pete, that’s the ~Mythos of Piracy.

Historical costuming accuracy aside, I think this sits really nicely with the fact that the British Navy wears blue. (And white, but that’s a diff conversation.) It’s a different shade than any worn by a crewmember of the Revenge, but. What better example of a repressive system of tradition and belief than a colonial, imperialistic navy?

On the other side of this is, of course, Lucius, who breaks with all of that— rather than requiring himself or others to fit into a pre-established standard, he favors emotional warmth and vulnerability; he has an ability to see people for who they really are and nurture the best in them as individuals. I agree, in short, with the many others who have theorized that Lucius captures red symbolism really well. He brings out so much softness in Pete, pulling away a bit of the carapace that years of trying to adhere to a Manly Man Pirate Standard has thrown over his soft little Pete heart, it makes me so <3.

The oranges above them while ~this~ happens make me want to go run a mile because literally yesterday I found @seriesfive post about love and oranges and OH GOD

After Lucius and Pete, there’s Olu and Jim— and the fun thing about these two is that both appear to be a pretty even mix of blue and red. Olu’s hat is pinkish red, but he’s got that gorgeous blue earring; Jim’s blue-coded (getting there in a second), but they’ve got a bit of red on their vest (you can see that when all their shit’s on the rock in ep 2 and Lucius catches them naked in the ocean, which, in hindsight, hello, this is an ocean-coded character.)

But there’s also this great shot of them at the end of ep 4 that I want to mention where you can see the very green handle of Jim’s dagger (we get a glimpse of it in ep 2 as well, coming back to that) and there’s Olu’s red hat and the rest of what they’re wearing is beige and it’s just so subtle and lovely.

Dagger at bottom left, that precious hat, the all time earring, Olu’s look of pure love, I hate all of this

Which means that, to Team Red, we can add Olu’s character traits: among other things, he represents genuine, effective leadership, because of his dependability, emotional openness, and loving nature. He is the member of the crew that just about everyone respects and trusts. He sees Jim with clear eyes, and tries to know them totally, in all that they are; he’s as much of a confidante for Stede as Lucius is, at the beginning. He is, in a word, The Best.

Teal!

With Jim, though, is where I think the symbolism of blue gets a little more layered— I, at least, didn’t really feel confident saying Jim was blue-coded until I heard them actually tell Olu that their favorite color is teal. So if blue signals a character who’s caught up in a rigid belief system, then the Logic that circumscribes Jim is that of revenge (the name of the ship, goodbye)— Nana explicitly instills the belief in Jim that they are only good for this Single Purpose, that they’re little more than a human weapon— and so just as Pete pressures himself to be a perfect pirate and fails, Jim pressures themself to be a perfect avenging assassin— and fails. Great time to link @sitzfleischh amazing post on the queer art of failure again yes linking it twice in one post because. Yes. Failure as a way for our characters to free themselves from toxic, narrow narratives about selfhood (and specifically masculinity), yes.

I loves me a thief

And if Olu is the red-coded character who supports and accompanies Jim on their arc, then Spanish Jackie is the red-coded character who, after listening with real understanding to them about their quest to avenge their family, actually convinces them to give it all up, saying:

“You can’t live like that! You got to get over it! You can’t end up like me... You don’t want that... All the revenge, and rage, and anger— it ages you, makes you boring.”

Spanish Jackie is maybe the most red-coded character on the show (it’s like, her and Evelyn, if we’re just looking at the percentage of a character’s body that’s covered in red at any given time). Her conversation with Jim is one of my favorite scenes— I think it’s so cool that it’s Jackie who finally convinces Jim to leave the revenge plot behind and live in a way that’s free of all that emotional baggage.

Also her wooden hand keeps me awake at night.

In short, Olu, Lucius, and Jackie are red-coded sources of wisdom and love: they show Jim, Stede, Pete, and Ed as well (<3) how to live better, in a way that nurtures them and helps them grow. (And really, Evelyn does the same for Mary, but, like, I don’t have space to get into that today because this post is already a book— it’s a similar dynamic, though, which I love so much. One more point for red as authenticity, self-liberation— bc Mary deserves that as much as anyone!!!).

Pirates of the rings

Finally, at long last (this post is SO long I am so sorry), we arrive at Stede and Ed, blue and red respectively. I think this way of seeing blue holds really well for Stede, because he's so bought into the Oceanic Pirate Lore thing— his whole deal is that he gives up his entire land-based life to pursue the one he’s always wanted, right, which on the surface just seems Really Gay And Great, and it is— but. There’s also this layer of self-deception to Stede’s decision to become a pirate; the fact that in his effort to become free, Stede still hasn’t shaken off the need to Become The Ideal— there’s a part of him that wants to be a perfect, almost cookie-cutter pirate, and one of his real chores, I imagine, will be accepting that he isn’t that— that that can't bring him any joy or fulfillment, because it isn't real.

Stede holds something of a one-dimensional view of himself, as, in their own ways, Pete and Jim do: Pete because of his need to adhere to Masculine Pirate Norms, Jim because they’ve never before thought of themself as good for anything besides enacting vengeance— and then there’s Stede, who has lived a whole life he never fit into, and is trying to learn about himself and mistakenly attempting to use the Established Framework of Pirate Legends and Myths to do so— he’s searching in all the wrong places, overlooking all the right (red) things.

Ok listen there are better shots of Stede’s ring in the show but this is where I really started to pay attention to the rings, so. Here’s Stede’s pretty blue-teal ring as he spies on Ed and Jack.

Ed, on the other hand, is the Pirate Ideal— his constructed appearance is, like, the definition of piracy. He holds his feelings in small hidden places on his body: the silk cloth, obviously, but also his little red ring which parallels Stede’s teal one.

Hello little ruby.

Ed’s red trajectory is one of accepting his emotionality: he is, of course, the one to first embrace how he feels about Stede, then open up to Stede in vulnerability, then once that blows up, he opens up to the crew, and it all goes haywire in the end but on the whole he’s so good at human connection, he has so much longing for it, I love him and his little red heart-on-his-finger so much.

Painfully aware rn that this is, like, such an aggressively long essay so if you’re still with me bless your soul and if your attention is wavering lemme just plug real quick that this next bit is the part that I’m real excited about and I WANTED to put it at the beginning bc I KNEW how long this would be and I couldn’t because all of ^^^^ that has to be laid out for this to make any sense, all this to say kindly bear with me, I think this is what really seals it—

Keanu Reeves gay pirate guest star when

Ok and now I am rubbing my hands together like a little squirrel because now!!! Now I get to talk directly about the symbolic compatibility happening with The Matrix here— and, like. I’m not arguing that it’s a reference, this is mostly just me holding the two up next to one another, but I do think that doing that casts OFMD in a fun light, so.

A little context on the movie, but I'll try to be brief: early on in The Matrix, our hero Neo begins to sink more and more into a creeping feeling that he is living in a dreamworld— he feels disillusioned with and disconnected from his life, for reasons he knows somewhere deep inside himself but can’t quite explain. He then finds himself on the verge of discovering what the “Matrix” actually is: a false reality that makes up the world he thought he knew, a computer simulation powered by the bodies and minds of comatose human beings on the outside. He discovers this upon meeting Morpheus, in the famous scene where Morpheus gives him a choice between taking a red pill— which will enable him to find out the truth and wake up into the world as it really is— and taking a blue pill— which will keep him safe, if still disoriented and unsatisfied, in the Matrix. Morpheus tells him:

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.”

There’s a whole other conversation to be had here about mirrors here, but.

The red pill, then, represents a willingness to face the realities of the world and of oneself in their fullness; the blue pill represents a choice to continue living by familiar frameworks and systems despite their hollowness. It resonates well, I think, with how red and blue are framed in OFMD: blue characters who move through the show guided by inflexible notions of how they’ve been told they Should Ideally Be; vs. red characters who see people As They Are, and truly accept and love them.

It is certainly worth mentioning here that the writers/directors of The Matrix have spoken about its being readable as a trans allegory: Lilly and Lana Wachowski are themselves trans, and in 2020 confirmed the influence of their experience on the movie. I myself am nonbinary, and watching this movie with a specifically trans lens, I was, like, hit in the chest a couple of times in the first bit— it is so very, very heavily saturated with themes of brave self-discovery, of unearthing parts of yourself you never dreamed you had within you, escaping a supposed Reality that just feels deeply wrong to you somehow, the very real fear and joy in all of that— and so many of these same themes guide many of the characters on OFMD, too: Stede, in leaving behind his old life; Ed, in transforming into a new version of himself, renaming himself (that moment is SO important to me); Jim, Pete, Lucius, all of them, all the embracing of self and others that the characters do as they fall in and out of love with one another over and over.

And finally, a word on green. Bc here’s the thing—

On the Revenge, notably (besides a few specific objects like Black Pete’s greenish vest in the first ep and Frenchie’s tie thing and Jim’s dagger etc etc) there is very little bright green. The main paint color of the ship itself is, like, a soft seafoam color, but for the purposes of this I’m saying I think that’s ~different, because past ep 1, bright or dark green seems to be reserved for land— especially as regards Stede and his marriage. When we see Stede in Barbados, it’s, like, the only time he consistently wears what I feel like is for-sure green, as in, I’m not looking at it and going hold on is that actually turquoise— his cravat at his wedding looks emerald, and his jacket/cravat in the scene directly following as he sits in his (green) living room with Mary are very decisive shades of green.

Also of note that Mary’s flowers are really green, too; this marriage is obvi a trap for her as well.

Green also comes up, unsurprisingly, when the crew is on land: in the forest at St. Augustine, and when they’re on the treasure hunt, for example, as well as with Calico Jack— but the instance that really gets me is, once again, on Barbados, with these lonely little plants right behind Stede and Mary’s very much not macabre wedding presents.

This makes me, like, honk laugh, I love this shot so much it is SO absurd

The last specific instance of That’s Definitely Green on the Revenge I’ll mention is in the lighthouse painting, just barely mixed in with the red there on the shore. Hi watercolor grass.

"What is it— a grain tower or something?”

Ok now the grand finale

I’m like, breaking out into a sweat typing this bc I was not even ten minutes into watching The Matrix the other day for this post when I was like, oh god— it’s green. The lighting, Neo’s clothes, the phones, the buildings, everything, down to the very code that makes it up the Matrix itself is green.

Literally those shots of green code are some of the opening shots of the movie. Neo also wears so much green early on in the Matrix, at the beginning before he chooses the red pill.

And my angsty little heart is having a genuine bona fide ball with this because in OFMD, green, to me, evokes Stede’s land-based familial obligations, the repression of his life, the isolation and spiritual decay that he feels in his Married State— which is emotionally so similar to how Neo feels, trapped in the Matrix. And thinking about how that little lighthouse painting is a confluence of blue and red and therefore of Stede and Ed, construct and reality, sea and emotion, and then there’s green right in the big middle of it makes me want to throw something— because, of course, even amidst all his self-discovery and the love he’s beginning to feel for Ed, the guilt and shame associated with Stede’s former life are still so present.

Bc just, like— just. If you put what the Matrix represents— believing lies about yourself that hollow you out, that clawing awful feeling of knowing you don’t and can’t fit in the world around you; a pervasive feeling of unreality, the influence of abusive, repressive social control— if you put that next to the moments in OFMD when green shows up most prominently— Stede’s wedding, the inside of Stede’s house, certain moments when the crew is on land having to face up to their lives pre-Revenge, the lighthouse painting— consider all that, and land as represented by green starts to look kind of like a Matrix, a fabricated simulation, a green world that Stede desperately wants to be free from and goes to great lengths to escape.

And the almost green-less Revenge’s little self-contained world is outside that of land, it’s literally a boat on the ocean— good time to mention that all the crewmembers on the Nebuchadnezzar, the spaceship thing in The Matrix, wear combinations of red and blue and beige, as the Revenge crew do, fun detail— so to come full circle with this, we can:

a) take Pete and his “I’m not fucking sewing, that’s women’s work” comment in the first ep: I think him wearing green while he’s still in this Toxically Masculine headspace works well here, given that toxic masculinity is a Huge part of the OFMD societal “Matrix”, if you will, that has so negatively impacted pretty much all of the crewmembers, and we can also—

b), take a good long look at the very bright, obvious green of the dagger that Jim uses before Lucius steals the Jiménez one back from Spanish Jackie.

Bout to lose my entire mind over this—

Like, I’m sorry, this is such a fun comparison because. The fact that Jim’s replacement dagger is green means that in each romantic pairing, we have an originally green-coded character (Stede, in his marriage to Mary; Jim, with this dagger; Pete, in his little green vest) who looks more and more visibly blue-coded as the limiting, restrictive rules that govern their worldviews and self-concepts become more and more apparent, both to themselves and to viewers. They start out, just as Neo did, caught in the green of the Matrix, not even knowing that their idea of reality isn’t real— but they feel restless and unsatisfied all the same; they then start, slowly and with the help of red-coded characters, to actively peel away the myths and calcified Requirements that have constrained them for their whole lives (toxic masculinity, revenge, lily-livered-little-rich-boy, etc.)— and begin to explore their actual selves— which is most obviously visually rendered, in my mind, when Stede makes the decision to go back to Ed, fakes his own death by dousing himself in pig’s blood while wearing that green suit.

What he does in that scene is literally an exit from the reality of Landed Life, like, everybody in the town just watched him die, so if we look at it through the Matrix lens— he took the red pill there, that’s what that was, it’s irreversible, he’s leaving the Matrix, he is covered in red now and he can’t ever go back— like, just. Have a side-by-side. Stede smearing blood all over his green outfit as he, once again, chooses to leave his suffocating land life behind? So that chromatically he reflects the green and red in the lighthouse painting? Don’t mind if I do.

There’s more to say about green while Stede’s back in Barbados at the end, like, when Mary wears it and what I think that means, but for your sake and mine, I’ll go ahead and pack it in here.

To finally conclude— really, this is all just another elaborate way to express the idea that being on the ship, together, represents a choice on the part of the (very textually LGBTQ) crew to split from the norms of being On Land because that world confines them as people, keeps them from truly seeing and accepting and celebrating themselves; they all, in their way, choose to leave behind false lives and be more of their real selves, guided by red-coded characters who directly represent a brave opening up to life, in all its glory and its gore.

Anyway. I don’t really feel as if anything I’m saying about the color work in OFMD is revolutionary here— no hot takes about what red or blue represent, and probably not green either— but. The Matrix parallels make me want to climb the walls, so I figured sharing is caring. This is the longest post on God's green earth so I will simply leave you with a little encouragement: if you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading, go forth and be red <3

#ofmd #ofmd meta #our flag means death #this........ is actually so extra but i had a Lot of fun writing it and so i am inflicting it upon you all. enjoy.#also those of you tagged in this absolute manifesto a) hello and thank you for your work! b) feel free to ignore if you so desire—#just giving credit where it's due!

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teamjacobthot · 3 years

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Dee anything that annoys you a lot

lots of things actually!!! I’m in a shitty mood rn so you caught me at the right time 💜 I’ll just list things until I feel better

when ceiling fans get dusty

dust in general

my family

when ppl say “I could care less” like no it’s you COULDNT care less bc you’re trying to emphasize that you don’t care

men with gross fingernails. like why are you pursuing me and there’s dirt under your nails. do u genuinely think you’re going to touch MY pussy w dirt underneath your fingernails

when i scoop up my dogs poop (i got a dog in september btw) and he barks at me for it??? like I’m tryna help YOU

when fanfic writers use a million different words to describe the mechanics of sex like dude idc i just wanna know if they love each other

the old ppl who call into my job

influencers

when I’m getting my nails done and my nail tech uses that nail drill and it touches my nail bed like omg that shit HURTS i hate it it happens every time and if i could stand to see myself w stubby nails I’d stop getting my nails done altogether

the fact that im not good at practical shit that would save me money and make my own life easier like cornrowing my hair or doing my own nails or cooking or changing a tire or general home repairs

jesy nelson

short coffin shaped nails

one kiss by dua lipa. it’s not a good song

pop music by british white girls in general. this does not apply to dua lipa or charli xcx tho

the fact that my leah fic won’t write itself and I told myself chapter 5 would be done tonight and it’s nOT

season 8 of modern family. I’m only like 4 episodes in but why is it so sexual??????

white pop music fans

anti vaxxers but especially how they don’t wear their masks and they don’t stay their ass in the house either

white rappers

when ppl say canon charlie is a great dad bc he’s not as negligent as renee. he’s still not that good of a parent. however tho when I write him I always attribute a lot of his hands-off parenting to his anxiety and knowledge of renee’s poor parenting style as well as bella not expressing her needs more due to her own anxiety. but anyways

when ppl refer to esme as a milf. shes not hot to me sorry

when girls don’t tell you where they got their clothes from like it’s THAT exclusive like bitch don’t be weird

when “boys will be boys” is used to defend sexual harassment. “boys will be boys” should be 100% exclusively used in reference to boys being silly and getting into funny avoidable situations. “boys will be boys” is about kenan and kel, drake and josh, big time rush, and zach and cody.

the end of you season 3

when ppl defend their less talented faves w wild ass statements like “pop stars don’t HAVE to have stage presence or perform well” like what???????? yes they do!!!!!!! that’s in the job description!!!!!!!!!!!!!

justin timberlake

when I’m reading a fic and the outfits are being described a lil too in detail for the plot. like ok sure if a character is nervous for a first date then we should know the fit bc that’s a part of it. but if they’re just going to the store to buy milk and nothing out of the ordinary happens why do we need to know

the fact that smeyer named that man Samuel Uley. why did she name him that. anyways his new name is Samson Uley

when I’m reading a fic and the world doesn’t feel lived in esp when the setting is important or there are side characters with speaking lines

pretentious ppl in line for concerts. like dude idc if you got tickets to the la show too we’re all fans who bought tickets to tonight’s show wtf are u trying to prove

short pop songs. ik why (streaming) why are we abandoning bridges???????? why are we abandoning outros and prechoruses????????????? every pop song should be at minimum 3:30

lana del rey’s setlist when I went to her concert in 2019. she barely played Shit from her new album at the time. it was all fucking born to die songs like why would u release your best album (nfr) and not perform it

THE FACT THAT LIKE EVERY TRENDY WOMENS SHIRT U CAN BUY TODAY THATS NOT A T SHIRT IS CROPPED. WHY CANT I HAVE THIS CUTE TOP JUST COVER MY STOMACH

ppl who think it’s quirky to post abt how they only consume iced coffee and adderall like dude shut up that’s not a flex eat a piece of bread

when ppl are afraid to use the block button and would rather engage in internet bullshit and stress out irl abt it like why are you letting a whole ass stranger impact your internet experience like that??? how are u letting someone stress you out on YOUR phone. continued harassment is different but like dude just block em

unqualified judges on reality tv shows. like why was jameela jamil a judge on legendary

jameela jamil

the last few seasons of america’s next top model

america’s next top model cycle 5 winner nicole

when men without jobs try to date me. i get that it’s a pandemic and I understand it’s tough rn and it’s absolutely fine if you’re in between jobs. but dating in general is expensive so why are u trying to date me instead of make money so u can afford to date at all

water sign men. ugh

99% of all aquarius ppl I’ve ever met, the exception being tinashe and only bc I don’t know her personally but if I did I feel like she’d get on my nerves in that unique way that only aquarius ppl can get on my nerves

when ppl think aquarius is a water sign “because aqua!!!!!” aquarius is the water BEARER

the non-incarcerated ppl on the “outside” on the show love after lockup. the second their partner gets released from prison it becomes clear they they think they own them bc they put money on their books. like your partner just got outta jail and wanna see their mom or their kid or whatever and they have like 3 hours to enjoy the outside before going into the halfway house like why tf do u think they immediately should fuck you in the car on the way to the halfway house????? stupid ass

when my parents think my extended family give a shit abt me or I should give a shit abt them like idc if this random ass cousin held me as a baby they literally do not know me

the fact that my work cut our lunches down to 30 minutes. idc if it’s the “industry standard” we’re all still working for 8 hours anyway. give me my hour long lunch so I can take a nap assholes

ronnie from jersey shore. there’s nothing likable about him it’s insane

when the main couple of teen romance media is the ONLY couple. like why is nobody else dating. teens go on double dates all the time. i hate when teen romances are so mf SERIOUS like you are 16 have fun……go bowling or sumn..,,,,,,,,,

when teens on the internet say the most heinous shit you’ve ever heard and immediately follow it up with “UM! I’m a minor!” when someone says what they said was fucked up

real housewives of potomac but really all of them. what’s the point of those ladies always going to dinner and on vacations with each other when they don’t even like each other. why would they go on vacation just to argue

deadbeat dads. like what’s wrong with u that’s your SON

how hard it is to cancel a savage x fenty vip membership

halloween kills. like I’ll watch any horror movie but that shit was deadass terrible idk why they thought putting that movie out was a good idea

the fact that zoey 101 didn’t have a laugh track. the jokes weren’t landing hard enough on their own and the lack of a laugh track made the beachy socal score seem extra loud so the episodes feel like long ass commercials

in n out burger. californians are liars bc those burgers taste like hot fucking flavorless meat and fries taste like cardboard. the food looks delicious in pics tho

moving. like this shit is so hard for no reason

when ppl take pics w flash when the lighting is perfectly fine as is like what are u DOING

flies. get the hell out of my house

when something bad happens to a celeb v publicly and ppl start with “I may not like her music but…” like I promise nobody asked

season 4 of crazy ex girlfriend. so many plots of the episodes are just bad and the songs aren’t even that good

gina rodriguez. she gives me heebie jeebies

the way they victorious ended. we didn’t even get a finale

when someone posts abt a loved one dying and ppl immediately ask “how?” (I see this on facebook a lot) LIKE WHY WOULD U ASK THAT SOMEONE JUST DIED

when pwp fics suddenly develop a plot in the last few chapters like I’m supposed to care

when fics portray leah as meek and mousy and w low self esteem. like no thanks. we can tell a story without the bellaswanification of leah clearwater thank yew

winter. what does anyone gain from being cold and the sun setting at 5pm

those fucking scam calls with the guy speaking abt the rapture or whatever in a very panicked urgent voice

bbl fashion. why are u wearing biker shorts and a waist trainer while carrying a BIRKIN

answering lyric questions on uquiz. I don’t listen to taylor swift why do I have to pick one of her lyrics

swifties

pop stans who think future nostalgia “saved” pop music

anybody who says “pure pop” to describe music

jay from modern family. ik it won’t happen but I hope he dies in the finale

ticketmaster

when ppl say “his/her” bitch just say they

the fact that recreational weed isn’t legal in all 50 states here like it’s literally just weed relax

thanks for asking!

#anon #mail

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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 3 years

Text

Blood of Mine

Prompts: Here's a quick lil Merlin prompt for you! I adored your Twins AO3 work, so amazing! Prompt: Arthur and Merlin discover they are twins by accident when an angry sorcerer curses the royal family so that anyone is isn't Uther or Ygraine's blood cannot enter or leave the castle. Merlin walks right in. - anon

a merlin prompt/request if you're still taking: can you please please please write a sequel-ish to 'Twins' where arthur and merlin find out about being twins and the aftermath of it,,, I really really adored reading the first part and how you depicted their characters !!! - onceandfuturekid

Thanks for the prompts!

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Pairings: none, we be gen in this house rn

Warnings: uhhh uther’s implied to be a dick but there’s nothing explicit

Word Count: 3281

The servants in the castle whisper.

They whisper of a night long ago, when winds howled and trees groaned and the walls held their breath. They whisper of a king, striding down a corridor, hoarding the knowledge of a firstborn son, a true born heir, close to his chest as his wife lay panting there on the bed, still suffering the afterbirth pains. The whisper of another babe, one with magic stirring in his veins, taken and shuttled to safety in the arms of the Dragonlord.

They whisper of what Uther has forbidden, what Ygraine’s memory does not say, and what all who know of the story to be true. That there is another heir, behind Arthur Pendragon, one with magic in his blood as well as royalty, that could return to sweep the land.

Morgana Pendragon is true born. She is the daughter of Uther Pendragon, sister to Arthur Pendragon, and the most formidable sorceress Camelot can remember. If she finds the other heir, what could they do together?

The servants whisper and Arthur ignores them. He has long lost hope of finding this person.

Merlin hears them and listens. Sometimes he thinks he sees a misty woman flying around just out of the corner of his eye.

He has a suspicion that destiny might have had more of a hand in this than people would care to admit.

——————————————

Merlin isn’t sure exactly why he’s able to figure out how Arthur’s going to move but he can, somehow. It tingles right under his fingertips a second before it happens, guiding him left, then right, then forward. He shadows Arthur closer than his own sword, always a moment away from Arthur’s left elbow.

He’s not sure he’s doing it on purpose, especially not while they’re arguing. Something about a visiting lord that had to be put into guest chambers that were the hardest to get to. Merlin had pointed out that it would greatly affect the servant rotations because not all the servants were able to carry their chore things all the way there, which would affect the running of the rest of the castle. Arthur had been a prat, and the argument had commenced.

They’d been winding their way through the castle as they argued, searching for more appropriate places to house the lord. And Merlin had never strayed further away from Arthur.

It’s when Gwen points it out that they both frown.

“Of course he moves,” Arthur scoffs, “it’s not like he’s tied to me.”

“I don’t do it on purpose!”

“No, you don’t have the brainpower for that.”

“No one has enough brainpower to keep up with you.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“No one is smart enough to account for your thick head.”

“Hang on—“

Then Gwen has proposed a test. She had Merlin and Arthur stand how they normally would and tied a simple knot in a bit of twine.

“There,” she says, stepping back, “now let’s just see how this goes.”

“Fine,” Arthur says, rolling his eyes, “let’s get this over with.”

Merlin had followed Arthur down the corridor. They’d found another room for the lord. They’d gone back to Arthur’s chambers.

Only when Arthur goes to sit down at his desk do they feel the tug of the twine.

——————————————

Arthur doesn’t know why he always has a keen sense of where Merlin is in the room, but for some reason, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a Council meeting, during court, or at a feast, but he can always look up and instinctually make eye contact with Merlin.

It’s more than a little bizarre, and Arthur’s definitely found himself looking away angrily when he catches Merlin’s gaze, but sometimes it’s useful.

Like right now.

It’s another one of his father’s ‘iron fist’ meetings. The council is trying to decide what the guard rotations are going to be like for the next year. Uther is insisting that the guards be increased, at the very least they must stay the same. The steward and Leon are frantically trying to convince him that the guards are unhappy with their long hours and the stress it puts on the people, and the people are stressed because, you know, there are guards in their streets all the time.

The pit in Arthur’s stomach is growing deeper and deeper by the second as Uther gets angrier and angrier. The urge to speak up wars with the need to be quiet, knowing that Uther will likely find fault in whatever behavior he shows. He needs out.

He looks up and Merlin is already staring at him, ready.

He nods surreptitiously.

Merlin goes to the door, under the pretense of asking one of the guards something, and turns.

“Sire,” he calls, addressing Arthur during a moment of pause, “there’s something that requires your attention.”

Uther barely looks at his son as he leaves.

“Thank you,” Arthur mumbles once they’re back in the safety of his chambers.

“Anytime,” Merlin mutters, shaking out a blanket to drape over the foot of the bed, “I hate those meetings.”

“You and me both.”

“Do you think he’ll ever understand?”

Arthur’s silence is all the answers they both need. But if Merlin starts doing that more often, well, it’s just good management.

——————————————

Then the curse comes.

Merlin doesn’t know who pissed who off this time. Listen, the royals don’t exactly deal with things with calm and words all the time. Morgana tries, certainly, or she did—Merlin still hasn’t forgiven himself for that—and Arthur’s getting better, but Uther is very much an ‘arrest first interrogate later’ kind of man.

So a sorcerer is very, very angry with Camelot right now—probably for justifiable reasons—and there’s a curse on the citadel.

Arthur wakes up one night to a spectral figure floating in front of his bed.

He shouts, draws a sword, only for the mistly figure to scoff.

“What are you going to do, stab me?”

Arthur certainly tries.

“I’m intangible, you dumb boy,” the figure scoffs, “you can’t hurt me. I’m not here.”

“Who are you,” Arthur demands, still brandishing the useless sword, “what do you want?”

“For you to open your eyes,” the figure says, “and see precisely what it is you’re missing.”

Arthur is exhausted, damnit, he’s been jolted awake in the middle of the night for this.

“What?”

“You Pendragons,” the figure says, “are all the same. You believe that you are better than the rest of people, that you don’t need the rest of people, or at the very least they aren’t worthy the way you are.”

Arthur can only stare as the figure waves a ghostly hand.

“Well, let’s see how you like it when you only have each other.”

With that, the figure vanishes.

And Arthur is alone, confused, and very, very tired in his room, in the dark, as the city begins to stir and quake and moan around him.

——————————————

Merlin opens his eyes. Something is wrong.

Around him, Gaius grunts and shoves something else into a bag as his feet do their very best to pull him out the door. Around him, the walls are crawling with the sounds of feet, confused and dazed voices, the courtyard outside blazing with torchlight lit hastily.

“Gaius?” Merlin jolts out of bed. “Gaius, what’s happening?”

“Merlin? Merlin, are you alright?”

Merlin flies down the stairs. “Yes, I’m—I’m alright, what are you doing? Where are you going?”

“It’s a curse,” Gaius grips out, clutching a table tightly, “my feet are moving of their own volition, I’m not controlling them.”

“Where is it making you go?”

“Outside the citadel. We are lucky it’s not further.”

“How do you know it’ll stop once you get outside?”

“I don’t.”

With that, Gaius loses his grip and Merlin rushes after him, holding Gaius tightly by the arm as they join a swarming crowd of people.

Some are in various states on underdress, clearly having just been jolted rudely from sleep the same way Gaius was. All are clutching each other, worried as the magic drives them further and further to the gates. Merlin’s own magic prickles uncomfortably, clearly feeling the strain of whatever power is driving them outside, just under the beds of his nails. It’s powerful, whatever this is, but he’s not sure the curse is directly influencing what he’s doing.

At least until he gets to the gates and slams into a wall.

Except there isn’t a wall here.

Gaius is still moving, turning around once Merlin’s grasp on his arm vanishes suddenly.

“Merlin? Merlin, what are you doing?”

Merlin shakily presses his hands against the barrier. Around him, people swarm out, but he can’t leave.

“Gaius,” he calls out, his voice wavering, “Gaius, I can’t come with you.”

“Of course you can, just—“

“No—“ he pushes harder— “Gaius, I—I—“

“Merlin—“ Gaius rushes back— “Merlin?”

Merlin shakes his head. “Go to Gwen and Elyan, they’ll know what to do, I—“

He glances over his shoulder. “I’ll figure it out.”

——————————————

Arthur sees the people fleeing and panics.

The guards are gone when he opens his door, absent from the halls as he flies down them. The rooms are empty, doors ajar, the last of the voices fading from the stairways as he races down toward the armory. There’s a secret back entrance through the stores here, maybe he can—

The force of running into the magical barrier all but stuns him, his teeth ringing unpleasantly in his head.

Panting, he rests a hand against the barrier, feeling it tingle uncomfortably at his palm before he pushes.

Nothing. No give. He can’t break this.

He grabs a sword and hucks it at the barrier, watching the metal pass through easily but his hands jerking to a stop.

So it’s personal.

The figure’s words ring in his head again.

“Well, let’s see how you like it when you only have each other.”

Uther.

Arthur turns on his heel and sprints, past the empty rooms, up the silent stairwells, finally barreling into his father’s chambers to find them empty.

He—where did he go?

He closes his eyes and strains, listening desperately for something, anything, anything to tell him he’s not alone, not again.

No, no, no, not again, he hasn’t felt this in so long, why is it back now, he’s not a child anymore—

The longing comes back full force, despite his best efforts to bury it deep. The longing for the person he still knows is missing, the one he did his very best to convince himself wasn’t real.

A wounded noise tears itself out of his throat as he turns again, bolting back down the hallway.

He won’t think of this. Not now. Not ever again. He’s going to find his father and then he’s going to find a way to fix this.

He will.

He has to.

Arthur bursts into the throne room and immediately sees his father’s back, strong and tall, tensed and angry. Uther whirls around, his face softening just the slightest bit as he sees his son.

“Arthur.”

“Father, I—there’s a curse—“

“I’m well aware,” Uther growls, turning back to face something in front of him, “I was just being informed of such a thing.”

Arthur peers around his father to see the figure lounging casually on the throne. Like they own it. Part of Arthur snarls at the figure’s open defiance, part of him is secretly impressed at the audacity.

Still, he edges behind Uther and listens as they start to talk again.

“I demand that you lift this curse at once,” Uther orders, “you have no authority here.”

“I’m not here,” the figure points out idly, twirling a spectral finger, “and you have no authority over me.”

“I am the king of Camelot—“

“You are a proud, angry, bitter man,” the figure interrupts, fixing him with a hard look, “and you have no power over me.”

“I will find you,” Uther promises in the awful, awful soft angry voice.

Arthur shudders and thanks the gods that his father isn’t looking at him right now.

“I will find you,” Uther repeats as he walks towards the throne, “I will find you and then nothing will save you from my wrath.”

“You won’t.” The figure stands, looking every bit the rightful ruler on the platform. “You cannot leave this castle.”

They wave their hand at the windows.

“Haven’t you noticed?”

“The people,” Arthur manages, trying not to flinch as Uther turns to look at him, “everyone, everyone’s gone. It’s just…it’s just us, now.”

Uther frowns. “What have you done to them?”

“You Pendragons think you’re the most powerful? That you are the most deserving?” The figure spreads their arms wide. “Then you shall have your prison of a castle. No one of royal blood may leave, and no one not of royal blood may enter.”

“You have imprisoned us,” Uther says, “in our own home?”

“Camelot is a people as much as a place,” the figure hisses, “and if you do not realize that you serve the people as much as the people serve you, you will die alone in your golden cage.”

“You dare threaten—“

Arthur’s mind glosses over as Uther starts to yell.

The figure is right. Of course, the figure is right.

But he can’t say that.

Something in his chest snaps tight and tugs, hard.

He cries out.

Merlin.

——————————————

Merlin feels the shout before he hears it.

He tears through the castle, his magic pushing him harder, faster, further, through the deserted halls and the far-too-empty rooms until he’s barreling into the throne room and almost smack into Arthur.

“Merlin,” Arthur pants, reaching out to steady himself, “Merlin, it’s awful, there’s a curse—“

“I know, I know—“ Merlin gets his arm under Arthur’s— “Gaius and the others, they all got banished from the castle, I can’t leave, are you—are you alright? Are you hurt, did they hurt you? I heard you cry out—“

“I’m not hurt, are you hurt?”

“No, no, I’m fine, what happened? Are you—did you run here too?”

“Yes, I was looking for my father, I had to find out what happened, what else the figure—“

“Figure? What figure?”

“A figure—“ Arthur gasps— “someone appeared to me in my room, said that I was—that there was going to be a curse, that they were cursing my family—“

“They didn’t hurt you?”

“What? No, no, I already said they didn’t—“

“Good.”

“No, no it’s not good, they—“ Arthur waves his hand at the doorway— “they’re the reason everyone left, they said that the—the Pendragons believe that they’re better than everyone—“

“I mean—“

“Oi!”

“Sometimes.”

“Well, sometimes I’m right.”

“Well…”

“Merlin!”

“Right, right, sorry, so what happened?”

Arthur swallows, still trying to get his breath back. “There’s a curse on my family. No one with royal blood can leave and no one who doesn’t have…royal blood…can come…in…”

What?

Clearly, Arthur’s realized that at the same time Merlin has. They draw away from each other, wary, both staring at Merlin, who is very much here, who couldn’t leave…

What?

“…Merlin?”

It’s only then that Merlin looks up and sees that they’re not alone.

Uther Pendragon stares daggers at him, his very gaze enough to make Merlin wish he could leave, before his gaze lands on the other figure.

“You.”

“Wait, do you know—?”

The figure floats down towards him, walking through Uther, and reaching out to lay a ghostly cold hand on his cheek. Merlin’s magic thrums in his veins as a sad smile crosses the figure’s face.

“So that’s what they named you,” the figure murmurs, “I always wanted to know.”

Oh.

“Is it…is it…you?” Merlin swallows. “Are you—is this why—“

The figure shakes their head. “No, not directly.”

“Then why—how did—“

“What’s going on?” Arthur looks back and forth between them. “Merlin, what are they talking about?”

The figure turns, reaching out to cup Arthur’s face too. Arthur flinches, before letting them run their cold, cold fingers over his cheek.

“You…my proud, stubborn boy,” the figure murmurs, “of course…”

Arthur opens his mouth to ask Merlin’s question of what is going on but—

They gasp.

Gold threads. Golden threads and soft smells and the faint scent of iron. Soft cries and the mewls of a newborn and a fat-fingered hand reaching into dark locks in the arms of an exhausted mother.

Years of longing, of looking, of missing something.

All compressed in a moment.

They open their eyes and see Ygraine standing there, her hands cupped around each of her son’s cheeks, smiling as tears roll down her face, washing away the last of the horrid dark grey mist.

“My boys,” she murmurs, pulling them closer, “my beautiful boys…”

Arthur reaches out, not daring to believe it, slowly cupping his own hand around the one still on his face, before he lets out a wounded cry and buries his face in his mother’s spectral shoulder. Merlin only watches in astonishment and Ygraine’s form starts to fill, becoming more and more solid as his magic flows into the bond. Into Arthur.

Oh.

Memories hit him one after the other.

Of Ygraine, alone in the birth room, two babies cradled to her chest.

Of Uther, never knowing he had another son.

Of Arthur, growing up alone, always looking for a missing piece.

Of seeing Ygraine on the island with Morgause and wondering why, why he felt so close to her and why lying to Arthur to get him to stop murdering Uther had hurt so, so much.

It makes sense now. And as he watches Arthur’s tear-stained face raise, he knows Arthur just had the same epiphany.

“Merlin,” he breathes, reaching for his twin, “Merlin, come home.”

“I’m home,” Merlin says, clinging back, “Arthur, I’m home.”

“My boys,” Ygraine keeps murmuring as she strokes her hands through their hair, letting them cuddle each other and her, “my sweet boys.”

Uther stands there, forgotten.

Ygraine barely spares him a glance.

Her boys are back together, bound by the magic that kept her here, kept her angry, kept them apart. As the last of her curse fades, so too does the curse on the family, as the other denizens of the castle begin to return, so too does she return to the hug, stroking the heads of her precious sons.

She turns and sees Uther’s devastated face.

“You will not become the tyrant of these people’s nightmares,” she says firmly in her golden voice, as her boys embrace, “you will be the king that serves them.”

Uther has enough common sense left to nod.

She turns back to her sons, Merlin’s head in the crook of Arthur’s neck, Arthur’s face buried in Merlin’s shoulder. They breathe in the scent of each other, drowning in a connection that has been deprived too long.

She can feel her hold on this plane fading.

Her boys have each other now.

Together they’re going to change the world.

Ygraine bids goodbye with a kiss on each of her sons’ foreheads and a smile.

#merlin #bbc merlin #merlin bbc #dragonbabbles #fic

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swordmaid · 4 years

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Super unpopular opinion in the gen fandom but Brienne as forever the Starks’ sidekick is so unappetizing. I don’t mind her official knighthood as long as it goes into how she reforms the system or the Starks respect her as an older sister/advisor. Whenever I read fics where Jaime dies & leaves her loveless so she guards the Starks is depressing to me? Like ‘oh, you loved the wrong man so you have to make it up to dedicating your whole life to the right family’ or ‘she’s loyal (ie dumb) muscle.

Yes, she is Duncan’s heir parallel but it is not a 1:1 comparison. She is his foil too. The characters’ genders, ages, and social statuses play a huge role in their arcs, personalities, and experiences. To have them end in the same place is just ??? Besides, Tarth’s place as an invasion means she will probably be thrust into a leadership role. Honestly, the only other worse ending is if she ends up with Hyle like a bad romcom written by a Nice Guy Incel whose inspiration came from a wet dream.

Also the Baratheon’s are dying, no one is officially in charge of it, the siege of Storm’s End is ongoing, Aegon’s forces are sweeping the area, Greyscale. Besides Davos, Brienne is the most significant POV from the Stormlands most likely to survive. Yes, she’ll probably find kinship & respect in the North. However, I’ve a hard time believing a woman who fears not being a good heir & is dutiful & compassionate even to people who were cruel to her would just abandon the place she grew up.

The Stormlands, like the Riverlands, are going to need strong and moral leadership when all of this is done, especially if Edric Storm is named Lord Paramount since he is just a kid and a bastard at that. Brienne, who has first hand experience with suffering and commits acts of small and large compassion, would be needed.

Same anon who ranted about Brienne, glad you liked my take! Wanted to add that if Brienne becomes a knight, I want her to lead reforms to take away knighthood from people who exploit it and focus it more on community engagement, knights other women, etc. while the show’s knighting scene is excellently acted, I feel :/ for it as a capstone for her arc because I feel like there are many plots that can come from and they just go oops, she’s Kingsguard now. Let’s not explain why she wants to!

Let’s not explore what it means to be a woman in a corrupt and toxically masculine field in such a visible job title! Let’s not explore the challenges of holding others accountable and how to stay ethical and not jaded/numb in a difficult job field. Let’s not explore how it will impact other women to see a female knight! Let’s make a knight and move on, people! We got CGI dragons and world’s most dull conclusion to film.

my reply is under the cut because this is already so long, but YASSSSSSS GO OFF!!!

I always and will forever express it--- i hate brienne as a sworn sword to the Starks. Gonna even go FURTHER to say that she’s not even MEANT to be a sworn sword. The fact that the two people she has sworn under died--and even if it’s out of her control--i think that’s going to have a play in her stance about this whole thing. I’ve said it before again, I don’t care about her getting knighting all too much as well because acquiring the title of the knight/ser isn’t what’s important--it’s her being recognized as one. we know, from the various of knights in the series, that having the title of ‘ser’ doesn’t mean shit when none of them uphold the values. we also know that hedge knights has a reputation of them being beggars with swords, and they’re usually frowned at. brienne achieving that recognition that she is a true knight without actually having the title of ‘ser’ herself would be important to her character imo because her character has been heavily and constantly judged by crowd perception throughout the series. even if she has the title of ‘ser’ who would believe it? if say, hyle knights her or jaime knights her, would other characters in the series believe that she actually has that title or would they think she’s just fucking around? achieving that crowd recognition--having that perception from the small folk etc. would mean so much more since it actually shows that you don’t need to be a ‘knight’ to be seen as a true knight, since all it boils down to is if you uphold the values or not (which she already does). though it would be nice to have, brienne doesn’t really need the title of a knight since she’s already one. she just needs to be recognised as one because so far, jaime, pod (maybe hyle?) is the only one who recognises her as one. (i would argue the lil kids in the orphan inn too)

I love the idea of her mentoring Edric Storm actually. Personally, I love entertaining the idea that Brienne doesn’t serve under anyone anymore, rather, she serves the small folk. her ‘political power’ comes from the influence that she garners from the people in the realm. and as you know with ice and fire, the opinions of the smallfolk & bannerman ACTUALLY matters like it’s not just a game between the great houses, and i think brienne will bring some relevancy to that. But in a scenario where she becomes an advisor for Edric Storm as some sort, I can definitely see her wanting to focus on the safety of their people first and foremost.

My mind is going off on a tangent rn but I don’t see her ruling over a land as well actually. I think a lot of factors will definitely come to play + it would depend on how this would end, but I don’t think Brienne would rule in some way. This is just mostly because I see so much ‘hero’ and ‘legend’ motifs peppered in her POV that if the series ends and she lives, the ending that I see her having is EITHER she’s gonna settle down with jaime somewhere OR she’s gonna go off with pod and continue to help and protect people ala dunk and egg. I’ve never seen her as a character who would rule; I don’t think she has any political agenda, but obviously that can be changed and I can be convinced otherwise but currently that’s where my mind is rn.

And I don’t want to think about the show’s knighting and Brienne being in the Kingsguard honestly dfkgdjg I refuse to have the show occupying my psyche like, no thanks!!! All I’m going to say that if brienne’s path leads to that in the books I’m gonna hunt down germ’s cabin in the woods

#but this is all so interesting tho like. i AGREE!!!#Anonymous

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lizzibennet · 4 years

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Hey Lori, I was wondering if you could help me with a skincare question. I took isotretinoin for a hear and a half two years ago for severe acne, and it gave me flawless skin for a year, but now I have acne again. It's not as severe as it was back then but it's still enough to bother me. However I would not like to take Accutane again as the side effects really bothered me. So I was wondering if applying tretinoin cream has the same/similar effects? After all, it is the same active (right?)

the answer to your question is yes but no lol. isotretinoin and tretinoin, while technically the same thing, are not actually the same thing. “wait what” u might ask. that is because they are isomers! which means they have the same formula, aka the same atoms make up both molecules, but the configuration of those molecules in the space they occupy is different.

here, take a peep:

as u can see, isotretinoin and tretinoin are cis-trans isomers. what does that mean? it may mean nothing, it may mean everything. to explain it simply, the spacial configuration of a double bond influences on how a compound interacts with other things. two isomers may have similar effects but they also may have completely different (and sometimes opposite!) effects. there are medications that had to be pulled from the market because one isomer would be, like, a headache medication, and the other would cause malformation on babies. yikes. I’d love to bore you more with chemistry talk but this is really all you need to know: they are “technically” the same thing, but actually, they are not. so operating under the impression tret cream will give you the exact same result as accutane is wrong! however! all is not lost!

isotretinoin works by actually shrinking the size of your pores because it reduces your oil production. (that’s why your skin looks so dang PERFECT. oh, how I miss my accutane skin) as far as I understand (be aware that I’m but a lil chemistry dropout and an enthusiast - I do my best but I’m no specialist), it does so by blocking the production of sebum on a molecular level. your pores shrink because there is simply not enough stuff happening there to justify them being more stretched out (not more open, because pores don’t open and close. they are pores, not doors). tretinoin, as other retinoid creams like adapalene and actual retinol, actually does kind of the the opposite! it stimulates cellular renewal, basically making ur skin go brrrrrrr really fast. in other words, it accelerates your natural skin cycle. that is why, a couple weeks into using a retinoid, you will get what is called a “purge” - the retinoid accelerated the surfacing of the closed comedones that would later become acne under your skin. however, if you brace through the purge, your skin benefits from being constantly stimulated. there is less of a chance for a closed comedone to form because there isn’t “idle” skin on ur face, and as a bonus, this also stimulates collagen production. other good news? your pores shrink when they are more clean, so since a chemical exfoliator like tretinoin helps with maintaining ur pores pristine, they do actually shrink with time (obviously as soon as you upkeep your care).

so! in the end both of them target acne in different ways. so the reply to ur q is yes but no - yes, they end up targeting similar things and having the similar result of helping with acne, but no, they are not the same thing. accutane will take a couple weeks (!) to take action, while a retinoid purge can last MONTHS. that is something to consider. I’m not a derm so I can’t really tell you what to do (as both of them require a doctor’s prescription) but since your acne isn’t bothering you so much rn I wouldn’t take accutane again if I were you just because of the side effects. it depends on what ur doc says when they see ur skin. but if you ask for a tretinoin cream prescription you will be asking for a very good alternative!!! I’ve seen incredible results with tret, there is a subreddit called r/tretinoin if you want to go there take a peep at the before and afters. some of them are simply unbelievable and u might bump into me in the comments hehe ;)

I hope I didn’t ramble too much! sorry if I did! I fuckin love talking about retinoids! they’re so fuckin interesting! chemistry fuckin rules! if you have any further questions pls shoot them my way I love a good excuse to go read up on retinoids on the journal of dermatology instead of studying hehe

#lori gives skincare advice #Anonymous #what is my ask tag again

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anonil88 · 4 years

Text

We are are who we are Episode 7 lb

Look at all those chickens

So quiet on election night thats wild. Maybe because they just don't care.

Sarah showed up in sweats, this is bad.

Damn they are dead, damn.

Trust they see more in barracks, a lil tit is not gonna hurt anyone. Also damn Chloe them thangs are sitting. Hello.

No time at all to pray.

I mean Fraser, your mom is gay she has a bit of semblance that trans people exist. Also taking a child that is not your own to an enfo assessment can turn out awful for that kid if their parents don't accept them. Especially if you are not in a position to take care of and invite that child into your home to raise.

Fraser get your head out your selfishness, be aware of your audience.

God, did their friend die?

A moment of silence simultaneously is eerie.

Oh no ;(

Damn an iud.

I'm with curly haired kid not the blonde one.

Based on Fraser being blunt like that with 0 I still think he may be somewhat on the autism spectrum or at least he has anxiety.

I hope Danny doesn't kill himself.

R.I.P Craig

She is only gay sometimes aka not now, that switch up is hella cold.

Oh, well I guess he gets his bluntness from Maggie.

Basically Maggie you are the distraction and she is breaking up with you.

DAYUM, she does have a son though. One who no one views as her own cause he's not biological which is weird. She already has those insecurities and everyone keeps reminding her of thatm

Grief bonding is real.

Danny is snapping, Sam sees this is ridiculous, and Harper/Cait ran to Fraser fast.

Wait Fraser and Cait could still be a thing, even though I doubt it, cause they aren't cis and Fraser definitely isn't straight.

Gosh this is a bleak group vigil. Oh wow, Craig's wife is there.

So military couples both wear their blues/greens at formal events together gotcha.

Harper/Cait's dad can get drop kicked rn i swear.

Fraser just being a support for Harper/Cait aww he finally got that he said the wrong thing earlier.

Leave her be Maggie.

Sarah really is mothering these two kids, oh fuck Richard is drunk. Damn he knew all 3 soldiers who died closely.

Its not her fault they died also, there is a chain of command. Someone gave her an order and she went along with/followed the order. If she had said no more troops it would have gone over her head and still happened.

This episode is really really good so far. The pacing, the story, just really well done. This series as a whole is a slow burn to the end it seems cause so far this is super cohesive.

Back to the house where they last saw Craig.

Ahh religious battles. So he was gon say no to the alcohol but yes to the coke??

Sam doing coke and ketamine, chileeee.

Drugs and alcohol only provide temporary relief from grief y'all. It's something you actually have to work through even though it hurts.

Yea please someone go follow his widow please. I mean technically even if you divorce someone and have kids you will always be bonded to them. Technically it always follows you that you've been married before in your paper trail.

Noooo Fraser Noooo, you can't just pop up on people like that.

Fraser seeing this half-naked man is bumbling. Yea kid, they were having sex or about to. You interrupted

Maggie is going to put this child under house arrest i swear.

Not these two weirdos baiting a child into a sexual encounter/threesome.

Come thru Dev with this soundtrack though we love a good radiohead moment.

Oh thank the lord he came to his senses, yes lets get out of there Fraser. He clung to that man like a scared leaf and looked at that woman with so much confusion. If Sarah finds out he's getting soldier man is fired.

Okay forest lmao

Thats how you fuck up your bike, don't do that.

Close the fridge before you defrost is damn.

Not him looking for a gun and then deciding on alcohol. Boy it is perfectly okay, you weren't ready and thats okay you aren't old enough and that man is far too old for you.

The freezer please.

Alcohol poisoning here he comes. Where is Maggie? I know Sarah is busy at work but where is Maggie. He feels like a failure because what he was looking for was a male figure to connect to and its muddled with attraction.

Oh there they are, awesome. He is so mad at Sarah. Maggie really can be an excellent mother when Fraser needs it. Glad they are home to take care of him.

They can be soulmates and not fuck.

As I said sex doesn't heal the pain of grief.

Soundtrack is 🔥🔥🔥

Yo Danny stop, omg they all are snapping, this is someone else's house. This is why you don't do psychedelics right when you greive or something traumatic happens. Those folks gonna enter their house and be pissed.

I wonder if the bottle was like half full cause he drank an entire thing of whiskey.

Oh awesome he got his moms to help, yay and Maggie is a doctor too so that works out well.

It is telling that they felt safer calling Fraser and his parents, rather than their own. Glad Danny is okay though.

Kids really don't allow for no funny bidness.

Oop thats a subtle, "I know you're fucking my wife so stop."

But she said it straight up with her wife, like I know why and what you did but let's not do that. Oh so both parents think their kids are bad influences on one another.

Damn so she habitually does this, their relationship has so many unstable variables and factors.

Awe they are on skype, also I now remember Harper/Cait told Fraser not to kiss anyone else.

Clearly Jennifer is still not watching her kids because her son just left out the door. Her son just left and she didn't even ask him what he was doing.

Is he gonna pray? Set up to look like something bad but he's in reality going to pray?

This gif is beautiful

I am excited for the finale, if this is the 2nd to last episode. They both gonna fall into their queerness fully.

#we are who we are hbo #we are who we are #wawwa #wawwa spoilers #wawwa hbo #liveblog

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jjkfire · 4 years

Note

yeah i def feel they’re tryna focus on selling rn but then i mean they’re company cause it’s def the company who are coming up with the selling and merch. I think it’s also cause they’re at the peak of their career and they all need to start in listing in the army etc etc. So they’re tryna get the most out of it. I wish we get our storylines back tho with the next album i mean mots7 was the most personal so there’s that. I can’t rly hate it bc everyone does it, but also it bothers me a lil too

anonymous said:

girl what you said abt bts being sellouts recently? i feel you. i'm trying so hard to get back into them it's so HERE LOOK AT THIS now that i feel like i'm getting suffocated. i miss the actual deep storylines and plots of their albums and songs and when they use to do halloween dance practices :( i'm so glad they're getting the recognition they deserves bc they're such amazing boys but also,,,, it's so exhausting now :/

yeah i think the fact that they have to enlist soon defo has influence on it. i also think they’re trying to get their strategy down before they enlist. this is so they can go to shareholders/investors/whoever with proper numbers and be like see this is what we can do, and what we can generate. then they take that model and apply it to TXT and all other artists directly under big hit. i think jin is delaying his enlistment till end of 2021 but can’t rmb if i read that from a credible source. anyway, i really wonder how they will handle things during enlistment and post enlistment.

and though you didn’t necessarily talk about it. i really have a bone to pick with the ads/brand endorsement that they are in. i mean some of the vids are pretty boring... or just like does not inspire me to buy the product. legit the guys getting caught with iphones despite being samsung endorsers is a big lol and if i am allowed to be a little critical, is sloppy on bts’ part. anyway I feel like the execution is trash when it comes to their brand endorsements lol. big hit nails the in house content production but when they partner up with other companies, it’s not great. though i feel that’s mostly on the brands and less so on big hit/bts.

these brands want bts as ambassadors to tap into the purchasing power that ARMY has. it's millions of people willing to buy anything they endorse but I just think they could do so much better. take brands like nike and adidas when they make ads, that shit moves you. you're like yeah that's sick!!! (e.g: nike’s you can’t stop us ad). yeah yeah they can’t go all out for a brand endorsement but i think they can do some low effort stuff. like downy for example could've done smth like make the guys make a fragrance, an exclusive limited edition product or capitalize on the fact that jk loves doing laundry.... maybe a cute little laundry day with jungkook and the boys lmao idk something that's just a little more genuine. it doesn't have to be cringe or high budget but at least it doesn't make me feel like it's just their name on a product. baskin robbins though they made a ‘bts flavour’ like the guys didn’t even have a hand in making the flavour? a video about them choosing the flavour would have made me go like ok i wanna try it. also they could get bts to work at a baskin robbins shops undercover or smth. idk something funny, something meme-y but perhaps bc of covid this wasn’t viable. anyway seeing them pose with ice cream doesn't make me feel like buying it lol. for Hyundai they could've done an outdoor camping episode, or a cute video about a road trip??? SOMETHING. like make me believe they actually like the products they are trying to sell at least. I want the ads to be more than them just saying look at this product hehe. like have you seen Thai ads? their stuff is top tier. and I remember the brands behind them because that's just the impact it has. maybe brand ambassador type products just are meant to be low effort. but a great brand related celebrity endorsed ad would be this one by budweiser & dwayne wade.

and to the other anon, i wouldn’t classify bts as sellouts as per se but bighit definitely has a very aggressive sales strategy. can’t say i’m the expert on sales and marketing but idk if this model is sustainable. i think first, fans who have been fans for a while will begin to get fatigued. maybe newer fans still don’t mind it or perhaps like it even, but eventually they might get fatigued too. but that may take years so perhaps big hit has it under control. can’t say i can fully understand because i’ve always been that person that has only ever voted, streamed and basically do things that are free in order to support them... i did buy tracks on melon in the early days to help lol but i’ve never felt the absolute need to buy everything they release, the albums and all the concert dvds or summer/winter packages. so i (and perhaps we) are not who they are targeting. maybe other people think differently and will always buy and never get tired of all the constant ‘buy this!’ type messaging.

but you are right haha i do miss the deep story lines, the goofy dance practice vids, the silly vlives where it wasn’t some curated event where they are doing smth (tho i like those too!!!) i just miss namjoon straight rambling for 10 minutes about his outlook on life, eat jin, jinminkook antics, [miss tae, hobi’s and yoongi’s vlives too] and i miss jungkook’s fancafe chatrooms... i remember one concert where in his ment, namjoon (and im paraphrasing) was like someone said something that made me sad. they said they felt like as bts achieves more, bts feels even further away from them now. (-- he went on to say not to feel like that, but i honestly can’t remember. i think this is the if our music can even make you feel 1% better ment but then again i am also not sure ahahahh!)

i didn’t feel that then but i feel that now haha. there isn’t anything wrong with it and i guess it’s just the reality of life! so so so happy for them and everything that they’ve achieved. amazing that they have a fan base that is so dedicated to them, and that continues to grow. perhaps i am just getting old...

#replies #misc #anon

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existentialburden · 4 years

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all!! please talk about your ocs!!!!

:OOOO I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE FOR YOU.... (for real thank you I’m super out of it rn, assignments have me fucked up) this is goin under a read more because I am going to go OFF

who’s friends with who? what are the squad dynamics like?

okay so with my ocs let’s start with C9 in general! the entire session has a sort of tense vibe with everyone together but it’s the type where they all know if they need to they can rely on each other. it’s just the situation making them all volatile.

for squads Aila has her moirail squad with two of my pal’s ocs, Lyla and Kodi, and it’s just all comfort there. Lyla and Kodi make sure that Aila doesn’t go off and fume by herself when she’s pissed off, Kodi and Aila make sure Lyla’s not just staying in the depression hive that is her room, and Lyla and Aila make sure Kodi doesn’t hide away and sew for hours when he gets upset. it’s mostly a “get the fuck over here and socialize instead of dwelling on every bad thought” crew but sometimes it’s just about sitting in the same room as someone else. and sending memes to each other. she also considers Dukkel a friend, but that vibe is more of a “Dukkel is manipulative and Aila is too volatile to be effectively manipulated” sorta deal. they hang out though and genuinely enjoy each other’s company so I’m counting it. she’s also pals with Joel (not mine)- she does think she has a crush on him? but she’s always real unsure of these things. either way she likes being around him and he likes being around her. that vibe is “awkward but in a cute dorky way”. also friends with Hurlii (also not mine) but they’re... dating?? hate-dating??? they both refuse to pin that down but they sit under the stars and vent a little bit to each other and get out their emotions and it’s cute. I’ve written about them cuddling before it’s adorable. her and Louise swap memes sometimes so y’know what that’s a friendship too. and she talks to a group of horrorterrors who gossip about her sessionmates with her. Aila has a lot of connections because she’s the Session Leader and also she’s tiny so everyone goes “:O a baby....”. sort of the same way you let your little sibling hang out with you and your pals because they get so excited about it.

Hope is friends with a DIFFERENT pal’s oc, Kori. their vibe is also comfort and chillin. Kori reassures Hope that no, not being able to talk to people is not bad and people don’t hate you. Hope listens when Kori talks about timeline stuff and helps her take precautions to soothe her anxiety. they’re also the alchemiter squad figuring out how to make new objects all the time. they stick real close. Hope’s also pals with Kodi! Kodi actually mediates between her and Aila. Hope can cut loose a little around Kodi and ends up with a surprisingly carefree attitude around him. things are a LITTLE awkward between them but they’re buds. Kodi keeps her in check. (Hope’s also friends with Lyla, kind of? they’re hate-dating but they are so soft for each other.) she used to go play poker with some SBURB constructs but :( no more.

Fantra is moirails with Panda (just assume if they don’t end up with their own list they’re a pal’s oc okay) and they vibe. there’s a little more flirting than necessary in their friendship and they DEFINITELY cuddle. they’re actually really adorable. again, I don’t know if dating counts, but Fantra’s dating Lyla and they’re cute but still sort of figuring things out. Fantra gives Lyla all the attention she asks for and it’s adorable.

Dukkel is sort of friends with Aila but I already talked about that. she doesn’t have a lot of friends other than Ails, actually. it’s. kind of sad? but he doesn’t really go out of his way to befriend people. she has more connections, just not... positive ones.

NOT ALL OF THE ALPHAS ARE FLESHED OUT SO I SWEAR THEY HAVE MORE CONNECTIONS BUT

Mell is pals with Dott and they’re fucking chaotic. I adore them but oh jeez. Mell’s the Responsible One and she’s not responsible at all she just used to pick Dott up from parties and then hold her hostage to help redesign furbies. they’re great. actually, the entire alpha session is great because they’re all in a D&D group. Mell sometimes chats with Cole and thinks he’s alright but also a huge NERD and jokingly makes fun of him for it. Cole doesn’t mind because he is, in fact, a massive nerd. (also Mell ends up dating Lyla it’s a whole thing don’t worry about it they’re adorable)

outside of her session she’s friends with Orca in a sort of “hey this kid needs more friends. now they’re the designated little sibling of the squad” way. she teaches them cool new horrific crafts. Mell just can’t let them sit there when their two friends are busy smh come join in craft time and also here’s how to play D&D. it’s real nice!

Cole is dating Peri! they co-DM in oneshots and he fleshes out NPCs while she worldbuilds and it’s adorable. they’re soft and sweet and cuties. also chats with Mell as I said before!

ALTS: the session as a whole is messy. everything runs fine but it’s less a team and more a bunch of people forced to work together. they’re pretty good at doing things they don’t want to do, though, so gg.

Enny’s friends with Juli. Juli calls her out on her bullshit and Enny holds Juli accountable for her own messes. they’re more functional than they look. Enny is also friends with Kods (not Kodi. alt Kodi.) and they consider themselves siblings even if the specifics are a lil wild. they threaten each other but they don’t usually mean it. they care about each other. also they shared a creepypasta phase that tbh Enny never got over. she’s also kind of pals with Jess but in a “thank you for helping me keep these guys in check. in return I will not swear at you” kinda way and just. mutual understanding of being stubborn when it comes to working at things.

outside of just the alt C9 crew (and delving into SPACE PIRATE TERRITORY): Enny’s also pals with Cece (yet another pal’s OC! the only pal mentioned that technically doesn’t work on the Official C9 Stuff but whatever I love him so much. all of the ones mentioned “outside their session″ are his <3!!!!) even though they stopped hanging out as much. Cece taught her how to paint and have a decent hobby and Enny appreciates it every day. their friendship is dear to my heart. makes me feel nice. Enny is friends with Tate too! they roomed together on the spaceship and even though they aren’t too talkative with each other sometimes that isn’t necessary. also kinda pals with Jody? they don’t hang out too much but Enny secretly thinks she’s a friend. they’re the short Light player squad. too curious for their own good. it got kinda hard for them to talk to each other in person because of an incident but Enny still thinks she’s cool and nice. and there’s Echo! Echo’s her friend and therapist who taught her how to talk about her feeeeelings. which is VERY important. everyone say thank you Echo. Enny enjoys his company and y’know it’s sometimes (SOMETIMES) nice to be totally open. hard but nice. well. it’s complicated. but thank you Echo. .....ENNY IS ALSO PALS WITH [REDACTED]. in “canon” right now they’re “rivals to acquaintances” but they have pet names for each other so what is the truth. they’re very cryptic and trade information but that means Enny’s actually very honest with him so they’re. adorable. they care a lot about each other and try to help each other when they need it. it’s so cute. I’m soft for them. they’ve always had a certain level of respect for each other and I VIBE WITH THAT. love me some respect and comfort in this house. also they totally cuddle.

Deuuuux is friends with Juli. Juli may be blunt and harsh in her humor but Deux vibes with it. she knows she’s just being snarky for the sake of being snarky. they hang out and it’s all very cool and fun. also pals with Kods, but that’s a LITTLE more strained. they still hang from time to time but it’s hard for Deux to tell when he needs his space. also hate-dating Jess but no, actually, they end up being like “wait this is stupid I don’t think I actually hate anything about you. which makes this just dating. ...heck yeah.” Jess keeps tabs on Deux’s volatile mental state and Deux makes sure SHE’S doing okay. like hey take a break. you deserve good things too.

outside of the alt C9 crew Deux is close with Wynn! they have a more sibling bond than anything else. found family. added onto this because Deux actually has a real squad, holy shit, is Echo! Deux is the Official Captain, Wynn made the spaceship they’re on, and Echo is the ship advisor. Deux goes to them when she wants a second opinion on things, which is a lot of the time. Echo is constantly side-eyeing Deux’s depression. it’s hilarious and I love them A LOT. SO MUCH. Deux and Wynn are also the ship chefs, though Wynn more so than Deux. I choose to believe they work on recipes together but that’s just me. Deux is also friends with [REDACTED 2], even if it was shaky at first. they bond over their annoyance at [REDACTED]- and they both get the feeling of being overworked and then looking over at other people goofing off. like damn, a little help here please? they’re so tired. Deux is so tired. someone give her a break.

West! is not C9, technically, but they’re still mine so :P. West is best friends with Fern and they game together. they like to try and fuck up games with West posing hypothetical glitches and Fern pulling them off. also they just hang out and it’s all fun times with them. West is also kinda pals with Alex- sometimes they hang and Alex gave West his old glasses for them to pop out the lenses and wear so that was cool of him. they just vibe and Alex thinks it’s nice that West appreciates their humor.

outside of their session they’re friends with Ulfort and Hazel! they’re a squad. Ulfort is the Responsible One, Hazel is the Bad Influence, and West is the Impressionable Chaos Enabler. I love them all. they goof and have a good time but also worry about each other and that’s real sweet. also Enny and [REDACTED] but in a parental figure sort of way so I’m only including it here and not in Enny’s- also because it’s only in certain aus. also only in certain aus is their friendship with Orca. they bond over similar excitable traits and they started out a little rocky but they’re friends!

Hazeee is also best buds with Fern! sure Haze is crushing on Fern but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pals. they support each other emotionally and also they’re totally both furries. like Fern COULD show her fursona to West and they’d support her but it’s not their interest so they don’t really know how they’re supposed to react so Fern and Haze get the fun of a mutual interest. Haze is also pals with June- xe’s Haze’s right-hand. June helps advise Haze and proposes new ideas and also teases Haze for crushing on Fern. it’s all in good fun though.

Fern is just pals with West and Haze and they’re both her best friends. no she will not rank them. she shouldn’t have to.

outside of her session sheeee’s totally in love with Ulfort and Rita. interacting with Ulfort she’s likes to try and make him flustered a lil bit. with Rita she’s much more shy about it. it’s so cute. she thinks they’re both very very pretty. this is still only in certain aus because otherwise they don’t interact... ...unless? hmu my boyyyyy show me the canon we could have had/can have [eyes emoji]

June is best friends with Alex. they thrive off their differences but June enjoys getting to just have FUN with Alex and Alex loves having support from June. they hang ALL THE TIME. they support each other and tease each other and make sure they know where the lines are. June’s also pals with Haze as mentioned above!

outside of xir sesh June’s pals/something else ;) with Orca. but like. only in certain aus. they’re. how do I describe this without getting into the aus. uh. they’re cute as hell okay? Orca spoils June and June lightly teases Orca and they’re adorable. they care about each other so so much.

Alex is besties with June and pals with West. yes he plays favorites :P.

Theo and Fate are best friends and found-family twins and they’re chaotic as a duo. Fate describes emotions to Theo and Theo describes colors to Fate and that’s adorable but Fate’s encouraging Theo to make horrorterror deals and Theo’s like what if I abused my god tier powers instead and it’s CHAOS. I love them so much. no one else they’re all they’ve got babey!

Luca is dating Elli and Julius (who are also dating) and they’re a squad all on their own. Elli and Julius are weebs and Luca makes fun of them for it but he’s the one dating them so rip. Luca loves them both so much but him and Elli have more of a “childhood friends” vibe (because they are) and Luca and Julius have a “flirt vs one very pretty boy” vibe (because that’s exactly what’s going on these aren’t vibes these are just what’s happening). they’re all ADORABLE. none of them have any other friends but specifically Luca doesn’t because he’s mine and he’s lonely. rip.

Orca is pals with/dating June as mentioned above! and pals with West! and friends with Mell!

I’m not gonna get too into the SBURB 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO squad because the friendships aren’t entirely fleshed out but Pistol and Spike are friends and Spike’s totally crushing on Pistol and it’s cute. they’re cute. I rest my case.

I’M GONNA DO THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS IN A REBLOG BECAUSE DEAR GOD.

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diisenchvnted · 5 years

Text

KIERNAN SHIPKA, DEMIGIRL, SHE/HER. — looks like BEATRICE “TRIXIE” BELLEROSE is attending AURADON PREP in auradon. they're the NINETEEN year old child of THE ENCHANTRESS, which means they're from THE ISLE. heard they're ENERGETIC & CREATIVE, but can also be OFFBEAT & NAÏVE ; we all have our bad days. people normally associate them with RED PETALS FALLING OFF A BLOOMING ROSE, A CRACKED HANDMIRROR BY YOUR BESIDE, RUBY RED LIPS AND BIG BROWN EYES, WORN STUFFED ANIMALS SALVAGED WITH A POOR SEWING JOB. — hylia.

❛ it’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams and... have you any dreams you’d like to sell ?? ❜ playlist. pinterest. to listen as you read. tws : mental abuse ( by a parent )

so hi again i am hylia and this is Baby. idk how long this one’s gonna end up eITHER bc my allergies are kickin’ my ass today and I should be resting but I cannot stay away from this group for that long. So yes !! pls continue reading for more info abt trixie bby here. i lov her.

HISTORY

The daughter of the Enchantress - yes , the same Enchantress that turned Prince Adam into a beast - Trixie never really understood why her family was stuck on the Isle. Since of course , the Enchantress only taught Adam a lesson , yes ?? It was maybe through more harsh means than one would think , but . . . she wasn’t a bad guy.

...Right ??

All Trixie knew was that this was the life she was given , and she had to suck it up and deal with it. And never one to really sit around feeling sorry for herself , she took it. And her life was pretty normal for an Isle kid , save for her mother projecting her anger at being thrown on Isle onto her child.

There was always a talk of showing them. Telling Trixie , One day we’ll show them what a real lesson is since they didn’t learn from last time. Excessively tutoring her in all things magic and enchanting despite the fact that powers like that actually terrified the child to her core.

But there was always pressure - and it only increased when it was found out the Isle kids were getting a chance. In Trixie’s mind , this was a new way to explore , a new opportunity for a brand new life - UNTIL Trixie’s mother decided it would finally be able to kick their plans into motion. All of that tutoring , all of the training that made it so Trixie never had many friends , couldn’t leave the house much - it would have to pay off.

Gifted with an enchanted mirror and an enchanted rose by her mother - exact replicas to the beast’s , the Enchantress gave Trixie an ultimatum to make sure revenge was sated : give the Beast’s family the same fate he once bore ( essentially , transform them all into beasts like he used to be ) by the time the last petal falls , or be doomed to become a beast herself.

And . . . that’s where she is now.

FACTS / CHARACTER

SO YES THAT’S IT - Trixie’s mother basically wants her to turn Belle, Adam , and their kids into beasts to get revenge or else Trixie’s gonna be the one turning into a beast if she doesn’t do it. And yes it’s fucking terrifying.

Nobody knows of this secret except for the two people involved in the deal - Trixie , and her mom. And by God Trixie does not want to do this.

And realistically , for RP purposes , I’m gonna inform you now that there is no way that the revenge is gonna be carried out. The Florians are fine. We all know she’s not gonna do it. But right now , since Trixie just got here and has that ultimatum , she doesn’t know that yet. So she’s struggling with a lose-lose situation since if she does do that , she makes herself an Auradonian criminal , and if she defies her mother and doesn’t , she becomes a beast and she has no idea how to undo a spell like that.

So yeah , just to clarify - nobody else really knows about this. Trixie keeps this deal hidden , and also hides the two items related to it in her closet ( the handmirror and rose ) so nobody finds them. Even though she routinely carries the mirror around with her and checks on the rose frequently because yes , its petals are starting to fall.

Which brings me to my next point - Trixie has AMAZING power , and essentially , later on in her life it’s destined that she’ll become the next Enchantress. But because Trixie’s magical prowess isn’t manifesting fully yet , aka - it’s not showing on the outside , she doesn’t think she has much of a talent with it. She doesn’t know her own strength yet.

And of course , her mother knows of this. Her mother knows she’s going to excel - but there’s both difficulties in keeping that a secret and letting her become aware.

She keeps it a secret right now - it’s in an effort to keep Trixie under her thumb. But this is also proving difficult for Trixie to carry out the revenge scheme due to a lack of confidence paired with her morals.

If Trixie becomes aware of her power , then that means she’s going to find out she’s growing stronger as her mother’s magic is waning - kind of like the deal with the Supreme in American Horror Story. Trixie’s power grows stronger as her mother’s grows weaker , but that isn’t showing yet in the former of the two.

So right now , Trixie is forcing herself to practice her magic to get stronger to appease her mother - even though honestly ?? She does not like magic. It terrifies her , and she blames her ability to use it for why her life kind of sucks right now.

To sort of make sure nobody is suspicious of her , Trixie doesn’t even tell people who her mother is. She just says her mother was a fling of Gaston’s banished to the Isle by association - that’s it.

And this is sort of how she’s managed to get a part-time job working in Ben’s castle as a maid to get close.

...Even though she really , really , really doesn’t like that.

But also !! One thing she has going for her is that despite everything - she is very outwardly FRIENDLY and optimistic - always smiley , always chatting up somebody up. This is sort of an effort to make herself feel better rather than put on a facade , since Trixie’s more keen on focusing on things that don’t make her feel sad to distract herself from the actual situation.

“Trix you’re in denial” “I know.”

Also this sort of influence her tendency to ignore or run away from situations as much as she can bc... mood.

Acting in her own world is very normal for her - and it’s a major coping mechanism. She’s very creative , obsessed with fairytales and stories and probably knows the whole story about your parents more than you do. She in fact writes some of her own in her spare time , always keeping a journal around with her for writing when she’s bored.

Also keeps a dream journal ( mR. ELECTRICDAD SEND HIM TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE AND HAVE HIM EXPELLED !!11!!1!!!!!! ) bc she is big into the belief our dreams have deeper meanings n stuff

She’s not the type to shy away from stuff tho in the sense of like... conversing about very out there topics or saying weirdass things that pop into her head. Sort of seen as a little weirdo for this but it all comes for the fact that Trixie is a HUGE thinker.

Also into the supernatural even on the slightly more malevolent side just bc she finds it interesting - she’s 100% the friend that proposes u guys try and summon demons during sleepovers

My lil weird baby

Looks rly good in green and red tbh and probably owns like forty-five different shades of lipstick since coming to Auradon

Also has a lot of rose-patterned/themed stuff just bc frankly it’s cute.

God as a character it’s so hard to describe her like... in words this sounds so pretentious but I do so much better showing and not telling bc her character is so complex in the sense that she’s. She’s like a dream. That’s the best way I can describe her - a dream as in the random , thought-induced , fantasy-like parts of dreams rather than the romantic parts of everything.

That probably makes no sense but. Yeah.

She’s weird I love her

Probably would do well in Wonderland if she didn’t have her mother lOOMING OVER HER HEAD

WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

OKAY SO PLSSS GIVE ME FRIENDS TRIXIE USED TO HAVE ON THE ISLE BUT SHE LOST TOUCH W/ FOR BEING SO... CLOSED IN

In general I just want friends that Trixie has that she can’t rly tell what’s going on with her. At all. And it breaks her heart bc she finally has the chance to fit in and get along with people but either way she decides to take her mother’s deal makes it so she can’t keep them.

Lots of secrets are gonna be passed about.

I’d lov her to eventually bond with sb so she can actually EXPLAIN her problem to and cry about it bc baby lowkey feels like she’s on her own in this and can’t turn to anyone for it

PPL WHO TRIXIE HELPS WITH WRITING BC SHE LOVES IT

Ppl who Trixie rly likes in any sense to point where she bases some fairytale characters in her own stories off of them

I’d also love some enemies pls gimme gimme gimme

Some ppl who suspect Trixie bc she seems so... vague. Like she’s not giving the full story.

Isle kids who know EXACTLY who Trixie’s mother is and for some reason resent her for tht bc I don’t think the Enchantress is the nicest magic user out there rn

Friendships that went sour bc Trixie’s been keeping so many SECRETS

First love who went sour for the same reasons : /

The general uhhhhh exes, crushes, that sorta stuff

Any ship that’s gonna b like a full on sHIP SHIP will have to b seen how chemistry works out !! But Trixie’s a panromantic asexual bby who I adore.

I’d love some folks she aCCIDENTALLY exposes her magic to and they can either

A .) Blackmail her n threaten to expose her for it

or B.) Find it RLY RLY RLY cool n she just shows them a bunch of magic... trix

hahaha HAHAHAHAHA

please clap.

BT ALSO LETS DEFFO BRAINSTORM SOME !!! again i’ll be making an official connections page for her like i am w/ luke but in the meantime ! lets plot !

#no graphic atm bc i can't b bothered i'm so sorry #usoa:intro #abt tag tbd #mental abuse tw

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svbcritic · 5 years

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ok wow don’t mind this being late of an intro bc i was out w my friend and have poor time management skills jdfks . i’m stuck at work rn so hopefully this intro has smth of substance in it for my boy hobgoblin boy charlie .. but yes !! hello all i’m cherrie and under the read more will be some info on my boy so sorry in advance if there’s any ramblings .. i just have a tendency to never shut up dsjfnk . but feel free 2 tap the lil heart if u wanna plot and i’ll pop over into ur im’s !!

brindle bay welcomes charles “charlie” kim the twenty-one year old podcaster. i kind of think he looks a lot like wong yukhei. they have been living in east bay suburbs for 5 years and i heard they are known to be amiable but also impetuous. when i think of them i think of unapologetic laughter, headphones hung around the neck, and a collection of pastel denim jackets.

STATS

full chinese name: jin ximen / americanized name: charles kim / nicknames: charlie / ethnicity: chinese & thai / sexuality: bisexual / occupation: true crime podcaster / spoken languages: mandarin, thai, english, korean & spanish / hogwarts house: slytherin

BIOGRAPHY

okie dokie so charlie ( born ximen ) is the youngest of the four kids between his parents born and riased in shanghai and their wedding was some big event bc both families were heavily affluent and prominent in their home countries

charlie’s dad hailed from shanghai, china where his family had a long lineage of old money and a 5 star international hotel chain that’s comparable to the four seasons .. meanwhile charlie’s mom is from thailand where her family has ties to the oil industry which is how they built their wealth .. their marriage was more political than anything and wanting to combine their wealth in industries the other was lacking in

as the youngest kid and the only boy with three older sisters, charlie never lacked a caregiver bc he was an adorable little boy who charmed whoever he met and though he was a little shit, his sisters loved him and helped raise him alongside a clan of nannies that his parents hired when they were busy off on different continents running their respective businesses

charlie definitely was more of a mommy’s boy in the sense that his mom made more of an effort to spend time with him bc as her only son, she held him on a pedestal and since she was a well known fashion designer, she often brought charlie to her studio and let him run wild in some of the garments and clothing that was in storage and whatnot

from this charlie had a lil mini modeling career ( lmao not really ) where he would do mock photoshoots with some of the models in his mom’s bridal collections and eventually bc he was adorable and everyone loved him, they dressed him in some mini tuxes and he appeared in some campaigns for his mom’s bridal collection

generally though charlie was an exuberant kid who often had more energy than he knew what to do with and that often had him getting in trouble at the expensive prep school his parents had him enrolled in . which he frequently was scolded by his dad for his hellion behavior jdsklafjd

so it was a constant push and pull between charlie and his dad in trying to calm down his son .. which wyd he;s just a happy go lucky boy hsalkjf but anyway charlie was eventually enrolled in a soccer club so he could wear himself out by running all the time and tbh it kinda worked .. but also charlie actually enjoyed soccer so it worked out

his dad really thought he did something by keeping his teenage son out of trouble and letting him build teamwork skills ig ... mainly bc he wanted his only son to take over the jin empire of their hotel chain even though charlie was like :/ .. and his mom was a bit :/ bc she knew charlie wasn’t the type who would want the weight of this empire on his shoulders even though his oldest sister was more experienced

but fun times for dad bc lit it’s w his soccer friends that charlie realizes that whatever heterosexuality is .. that ain’t him sdjldkjs but yeah he finds out that he’s into guys just as much as he’s into girls and he has a crush on one of his best friends on the soccer team w him

charlie was able to disguise his crush as a solid bro friendship around his dad meanwhile him and his friend were leaning on the scale of more than friends and 10/10 were making out whenever they were alone so yeah ... things were swaggy for the first three months until charlie’s dad came home early from his trip from new york and walked into charlie’s room to see him fooling around with his friend

so yeah ... things didn’t go great after that and the jin household was so painfully tense where his dad refused to go on any international trips and kept a strong grip on charlie and pulled him out of his school’s soccer team .. it was a tough time and definitely miserable for charlie despite his mom’s best efforts to help soothe him

nearly a month following The Incident ( as he dad refers to it as ) he announced that 16 year old charlie was going to live with his aunt over in america and it was an absolute shit show at the house when his dad broke the news but the next day charlie found himself on a direct flight from shanghai to brindle bay where his aunt lives with her american husband and son

the move was a big adjustment for charlie and it was here that he started going by charlie bc the kids at his new school couldn’t pronounce ximen . originally he was a bit standoffish and reclusive bc his english was still shaky and he had an accent so this combination of things made him a target of some shitty xenophobic bullies and it put him down for a bit

it was a dark period that charlie doesn’t like to think back on and relied on the friendship he established with his cousin and it was through him that charlie began to blossom in brindle bay and make his own connections and realized that his dad is a dumbass bc he essentially sent him away for being into men but lmao !! sike dad !! bc now he gets to kiss boys if he wants without the rope around his neck from his dad

it’s been five years since charlie has been shipped to brindle bay and he keeps in contact with his sisters and mother and has visited shanghai a few times for some holidays and lets his dad think him being in america has helped him become more sensible and learn responsibility

when he graduated high school his mom offered to have him come home but charlie decided he wanted to stay more away from his dad for the time beginning and enrolled in college and got his degree in communication studies

it’s when he’s in school that he starts up his own podcast where he just discusses true crime and paranormal stories and such just bc it’s always been an interest of his .. he started it with his close friend that was his first Official friend in brindle bay and they’re two years into and it’s growing a strong listening base on spotify and apple music .. for comparison sake it’s a mix of buzzfeed unsolved and my favorite murder

but yeah overall charlie is an easy going guy who is usually seen with a smile on his face and just v fun loving , charismatic and loves talking to ppl ?? comes off v flirty but that’s just who he is bc he has that kinda vibe .. sometimes he doesn’t even realize he’s flirting bc it comes like breathing . he means well and is a soft boy who misses his family but is scared to go back home to china officially

WANTED CONNECTIONS

someone who helped show charlie around when he first came to brindle bay and maybe they built a friendship from it

someone who maybe helped him improve on his english when he first came to town and charlie is forever grateful to them and feels indebted to them for being there for him when he was self conscious and needed help

his first relationship .. p self explanatory but charlie and your muse dated for a bit and it was nice and sweet but things ended amicably between the two and they still remain friends

maybe one or two fwb’s that charlie respects their friendship and somehow their arrangement happened and things are going good and having someone on call when he’s feeling needy is a+ .. whether or not smth angsty can stem from this can be debated

his first friend that he made when coming to town and charlie’s podcast buddy !!

maybe someone who has a crush on charlie but he’s stupid and oblivious and his flirting that comes as easy as breathing doesn’t help the situation

a good influence

a bad influence who is helping charlie embrace more of his hellion ways hfskd

or even someone who knows of his family’s wealth back in china and is trying to finagle their way into charlie’s good graces and hopefully try to get a cut of it

#bb;intro #this is just me rambling off so uHH sorry for that #if u read all this i luv u

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macdonvlds · 5 years

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tarot cards spread beneath trembling fingers, bubblegum and cigarette breath, never speaking a wish out loud for fear it won’t come true, knuckles whitening around a steering wheel as you slam on the brakes, laughing till your throat is raw, shimmering eyeshadow and flowing skirts rimmed in mud, only catching your breath on the roof, wilting daisies in empty firewhiskey bottles, oversized hoop earrings, ice cream dripping sticky-sweet down your wrist, looking your mother in the eyes when you lie. ┊ if you’re looking for MARY MACDONALD, you’ll probably find HER in the GRYFFINDOR dorm with the rest of the SEVENTH years. they’re the TWENTY year old MUGGLEBORN who looks kind of like MEDALION RAHIMI. they seem INQUISITIVE, COMPASSIONATE, VIVACIOUS to me, but apparently they’re also ESCAPIST, DEPENDENT, FLIGHTY. maybe that’s why their patronus is A HUMMINGBIRD. ( cis female & she / her )

mary macdonald was born maryam madani, to an iranian mother who wasn’t expecting her, but loved her nonetheless. zahra madani came to england for what was supposed to be graduate school, but instead turned into a surprise pregnancy with an english boyfriend who didn’t stick around very long after zahra told him she was pregnant

it took zahra a while to finish grad school with a newborn baby but she did it !!! we stan a queen. eventually started her own private psychology practice in birmingham

a single, immigrant iranian mother raising her daughter in 1960s england ?? that’s tough bro ! madani became macdonald, zahra became sarah, and maryam became mary in order to make mary’s childhood as seamless as possible

but even so, mary was always different as a child in ways her mother couldn’t explain

spoiler: it’s cause she’s a witch

mary always was kind of an awkward loner as a child. it meant she studied a lot tho !! lil baby nerd spent all her afternoons at the library cause her mother was working and it was cheaper than paying for childcare

wow tb to when mary was good at school... #spoileralert

anyways and then they found out that hey ! mary was a witch ! whoa

so she started at her semi-local wizarding school super excited n then found out that everyone else already knew so much more than her.... she just felt so behind and dumb and very discouraged yanno

plus she was far from home for the first time !!! she missed her mom !! homesick bb

when she went to hogwarts she was like. fuck this i’m reinventing myself. i’m gonna be the Fun And Exciting one

so she was always the class clown, wore a lot of badly applied makeup, goofed off in class and hiked her skirt up a few inches shorter, spread rumours about herself to make herself more interesting, talked loudly and made inappropriate jokes and got drunk on school nights

she liked attention and liked being liked

she bases her self-worth on how other people view her..... girl thats Unhealthy but idk she does it anyway

was ofc getting flak for being muggleborn but she kind of put on a v carefree attitude to hide it

obviously her grades were slipping but she kept on that who cares attitude, and at home told her mom that p meant perfect

as the years passed, she felt more and more like an impostor, searching for her passion and her place in the wizarding world, flitting from friend to friend and fling to fling, quitting different clubs and joining another

but idk as loud and crass and aimless as she could be .... she never rly had a bad word to say about people ? she always believed in the best possible version of other people

SCARS TW / until she woke up one day in fifth year, eighteen years old, in the hospital wing with jagged white scars running along her side and across her chest, and no memory of how they got there / END TW

madam pomfrey told her she’d been attacked and was found unconscious and badly hurt in the third floor hallway. but whether it was the result of a spell, or the trauma, or because she was under the influence, mary has no memories of the night

the rumours all point to mulciber, and she chooses to believe it because it’s not like she has a better idea

the week before her attack, her divination professor told her there was danger approaching. at the time, mary brushed it off with a laugh and an eye roll, but she fixated on it afterwards

now idk she’s really into divination ? it’s one of the few things she takes seriously. she always has her pack of tarot cards on her. her line of thinking is that if magic is possible, why can’t divination be possible ? it’s kind of a coping mechanism i guess. she needs something to lean on, something to believe with all the uncertainty in her life

she knows she’s a cliche and a cautionary tale but she doesn’t know how to be anything but

she’s not super happy rn but listen that just means there’s room for character growth

ok that was a rambly mess but um ya ? come plot with me

#epoch.intro

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