#a christmas miracle!

[vvelegrin]

"Who do you think you are? Are you an evil spirit?"

"Yes, and one of yours, I hope."

[synthville]

so what im getting is that it was absolutely unnecessary to isolate raffi on gotham city in order for her story to go on.

a story that’s so halfhearted that five episodes in—halfway to the end. btw—her motivation is yet to be explained (why go back to this sector of intelligence work when teaching seemed to be fulfilling? was she made to do this?? did she volunteer because her son now lives on this planet now apparently?? was losing elnor cris and possibly seven so painful that burying herself in work seemed like a better option??? who knows! not me!!) and it’s definitely a retreat character-wise but the fact that they still haven’t laid the groundwork to make this stick is kind of amazing lol. it’s the way they’re not even pretending to give a fuck about her or any of the other women characters for me—they said you’re a womb or a subordinate ladies pick one and shut the hell up LMAO?

the fact that the ‘real plot’ is happening on that other ship while everything raffi does is basically an afterthought with backstory slipped in between the cracks like aged caulk is so disheartening and pathetic. star trek picard make an effort maybe. she’s a polarizing character that’s been stuck in impossible situations, weighed down with retractions and stereotypes (they thread the line but HM) because the narrative continually refuses to meaningfully engage with her and a lot of fans of the show wont examine their own biases to see why they have such a viscerally negative reaction to a complicated black woman character that’s good at what she does, knows it and refuses to kneel at the foot of their hero’s :)

and if it wasn’t for ms hurd elevating this performance with sheer will, massive talent and the whip of that (sexy) ponytail? shit would be so much worse. but it’s still bad! because instead of giving her a nuanced, thoughtful send off she’s once again being made to suffer for the nth time. because why? oh right so wise man worf can guide her to the light lol give me a fuckin break.

and it’s no accident that if you cut raffi out (which they literally did in ep4 miss musiker you WILL be avenged) the story could more or less proceed as usual. that’s by design.

because legacy characters or not, im simply not buying that the main white cast members (plus two interlopers idgaf about those new guys and they’re doing nothing to make me care either. pick a random channel and their stories are being told right now live and in color like don’t piss me off) just so happen to be on the ship with the lead yet the sole woc is sent away on some underbaked adventure because ‘reasons?’ please. this season literally could not be more transparent about the audience they’re catering to and who/whose stories are of importance and consideration.

and i knew this would probably happen once the premise for s3 was revealed but i still can’t get over how obvious it is that there really was no plan for raffi and that she only happened to bypass the cull of the la sirena crew because she was romantically linked with seven at the time. which is baffling considering how things are (not) going between them (#theyareMARRIEDletthemTALKandKISSandREST)

and it’s not just them like everything about this season is quite literally happening just because. every slightly interesting or fresh development (and character it’s true) from the previous seasons has been dismissed or diminished and for what? secret sons and man pain? ew lmao. no suspense no lingering threads just excessive shots of ships, an aggressive insistence on biological families and rampant, shameless references to past glory. a mess.

[rohirric-hunter]

NPC musicians who... actually sound good?

[batshit-auspol]

Police have tweeted that large bags of cocaine are washing up on the beaches of Sydney and have asked the public not to touch them.

Merry Christmas everyone

[no-shirts-in-scotland]

Christmas in the Scot's Arms

If the action doesn't take place in a slightly misspelt Ivanhoe theme pub called The Scot's Arms I'm going to not be surprised but also a little sad all the same.

I like that he's in an indecipherable tartan, or else entirely in black, because it gets around my tartan pedantry. Also, the room looks really warm, so being shirtless isn't the threat it could be. Whilst it looks like the Highlanders have finally discovered the virtues of remaining inside whilst shirtless, which is good, it also provides the marvellous mental image of him insisting on being shirtless as long as there's a roof overhead. Bath Assembly Rooms? Shirtless. Hanging out at your mate's house? Shirtless. Audience with the Prince Regent? Shirtless, but possibly with a waistcoat on with the last button undone. Because fashion.

London, 1815

Laird Liam MacLeod is not lacking for lasses that wish to marry him. As chief of one of the few remaining stable and wealthy clans in the Highlands, the scheming misses are more than plentiful—too plentiful, in fact, for a man who desires to marry for love. Given the opportunity to escape to London for the holidays, Liam takes it with a half-hearted expectation that perhaps English ladies will be different. But the calculating debutantes of the ton and their marriage-minded mamas leave him with little hope, until a chance encounter brings him face-to-face with a beautiful, witty lady who knows nothing about him.

Miss Cecelia Cartwright has an unfairly tattered reputation and the distasteful yet pressing need for a marriage of convenience. She’d frankly rather eat dirt, but when one’s family is on the verge of poverty, pride must fall by the wayside. But the day a handsome, honorable Scot comes to her aid, he awakens longings in Cecelia that she knows she cannot pursue.

Torn between her heart and her duty, Cecelia finds herself dancing at the very edge of impropriety that once before destroyed her good name. When her old suitor returns to Town, she must choose between the laird she loves and the duke who could save her family. Just when she thinks she knows what she ought to do, Liam reveals a secret that may well prove charming Scots are the most dangerous rogues of them all.

It might just be because I'm in a good mood and listening to Kate Rusby singing Christmas songs, but even though Liam MacLeod is naïve enough to hope that English mamas don't want to marry their daughters off to wealthy clan chieftains, it's not so unlikely that it makes me exasperated - it really wasn't until Queen Victoria started to like Scotland that the whole Jacobite rebellion and the more-or-less illegal to be a Highlander thing went away, so it might very well not be unreasonable to assume that no one with ambition would want to get him hitched up to a relative. I have the image of Mrs Bennett going "It's a pity he's a Scotsman, but it can't be helped. Lizzie, go and tell him that you're single!"

The whole thing is made super by the line "she must choose between the laird she loves and the duke who could save her family".

I hope the secret is that he's descended from the Auld Pretender and thus the rightful king of Great Britain. Not only because it would be unexpected, but also because it would mean a Scottish king who wasn't Robert.

[paintsandquests]

An evening in Ketterdam

[fluffsnake]

Happy Holidays, friends! ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Cas' apron is a little reference to @naughtystiel 's artwork, and Dean is wearing my favorite sweater 🤭

Aand here's some behind the scenes~

[hopeinthebox]

bts + make up a guy pt.2 | for @cordiallyfuturedwight

[ato-dato]

Shiv. Shivvy. Honey.

[linterteatime]

Childhood besties that get into situations

[chanstopher]

gnabnahc: 1225

[farmer-swana]

Jenna and Julien are married, nature is officially HEALED

[thedeathdeelers]

[emrys-the-wild]

When your long-lost love returns from war:

[blmpff]

25.12.23

[awesomeabbeygirl]

I dream of waking up as a girl on Christmas morning!