#and every scene with them his father is obviously proud of him-

[mattypattypinky]

VECTOR'S PSYCHOPATHIC TENDENCIES

I'M GONNA CRY

This is so funny 😭

[queenvhagar]

My perhaps controversial take on the HOTD characters, the GOT characters the writers are trying to mold them into, and the GOT characters they actually most resemble in the books (in my opinion - feel free to disagree).

Disclaimer: these are entirely disconnected series with unique characters, so it's impossible to do what the writers of HOTD seemed to be trying to do in season 1 i.e. mold the characters from Fire and Blood to fit the characters of GOT to try to recreate the success of the early seasons. Given this, I tried to choose one single character analogue from GOT that each HOTD/FB character is most like, but oftentimes the reality is that if any single character from Fire and Blood resembles a Game of Thrones character it is likely that they are a combination of more than one. All of this said, here is who I think the writers are trying to fit certain HOTD characters into vs the character they are actually most like (according to Fire and Blood):

Rhaenyra Targaryen: obviously the show wants her to be the new and improved Daenerys, a protagonist everyone can root for who wants to revolutionize the existing order. In reality, Rhaenyra is most like Cersei: a woman who seeks to use her three bastards to usurp thrones and gain even more power than she already has, all while committing incest with a family member and using her power to punish and silence her enemies. She uses the existing system to raise herself up and keep others below her. She does reach her goal of ultimate power but ultimately she is unable to hold it. In pursuit of holding onto power or gaining more of it, she watches as her children die early deaths. The smallfolk despise her for her methods of ruling. Eventually, she will cause her own downfall and die before her time.

Alicent Hightower: the show wants her to be Cersei, a mean-spirited, jealous woman protecting her problematic children and using her status as queen to put others in their place (they even used Cersei scenes as audition material for the role). In reality, I see Alicent as most like Catelyn - a flawed woman, mother to a king, seeking to further the rights of her son in the hopes of protecting her family from those who would harm them, guided by her own sense of justice, honor, and understanding of the laws of the land (and of course, hyper aware of the bastards in the room). All she wants is her and her children's safety, and she is willing to go to war for it. In the end, however, she watches as every last child is taken from her before she herself dies alone.

Viserys I Targaryen: the show wants us to see him as the ultimate father who loves his child unconditionally and always supports her, and that his view of right and wrong should be what guides the world. In reality, he is most like Robert Baratheon: a weak king unsuitable for rule whose mistakes and complacency lead to civil war after his death. His preoccupation with past events and people, and his role in a former love's demise, leads him to neglect his current wife and their children and make decisions that create long-term issues for his family and the realm.

Criston Cole: as soon as Criston turns away from Rhaenyra, the show wants you to view him as a Meryn Trant type of Kingsguard - a man unconcerned with honor and violently anti-women, more than willing to carry out terrible acts commanded of him. In reality, Criston is like more like Jaime: he seeks to make a name for himself as a knight, guided by his own sense of honor and justice, though he is judged by others as lacking such principles. His devotion to his position on the Kingsguard and his love for the royal family motivates him. Occasionally his self-confidence and delight in goading his enemies can make him appear callous and proud. Although he is not officially the royal children's "father," he has guided and protected them and their mother from early on in the absence of their official father.

Daemon Targaryen: the show wants you to both love and hate Daemon. It seems he should fill many roles that Jaime did - a sword fighter whose swagger and danger mix together, whose dishonorable acts follow him through the world. He acts primarily out of love or his pursuit of it, whether for his brother or his lover and her children. The viewer is supposed to see that deep down he is a good guy, no matter how many characters say that he's not. In reality, I see Daemon as a more capable Viserys III: a man adamant in his family's racial superiority, who believes he and his loved ones should have access to unchecked power because they're better than everyone else. A man who enjoys exercising his power over others and demanding obedience out of fear of his wrath. A man who uses his younger family member to further his own interests without much thought to her own wishes or agency and willing to hurt her if she doesn't act the way he wants her to.

Otto Hightower: the show wants you to view Otto as a new Littlefinger, someone sly about his intentions who uses spies, information, and unsavory methods to take advantage of the ruling family and further his own interests and increase his own power. I see him instead as more similar to Tywin: a Hand of the King seeking to put his family close to the throne in pursuit of legacy and advancing his family's station, a man who arranged for his daughter to marry the king so his blood would sit the Iron Throne and bring his family power for generations, a man acutely aware of the political world and how the game is played and willing to get his hands dirty to play it.

The Strong boys: the show wants you to root for Rhaenyra's perfect, good natured and pure intentioned sons as if they were the Stark boys (mixed with Jon Snow). Raised in a good family, these boys know right from wrong and love each other. Yet some people unfairly think less of them for their birth. In reality, the Strong boys are closest to Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella. Bastards set to inherit positions they have no claim to, they are coddled by their mother and protected from any consequences to their actions. When one attacks another child, their mother demands that the other child's family is punished for their actions (and doesn't even reprimand the child for his role in the conflict). The result is the child has no remorse for the harm done, and the other child's family festers resentment against the child. Some people uncover the truth of their birth and object to their place in the line of succession, and these people are killed for speaking the truth. Eventually, a war is fought to keep them and their mother away from the throne, resulting in all of them being killed.

Aegon II Targaryen: the show wants you to see him as Joffrey 2.0. A man interested in viewing sadistic acts for his own pleasure, who abuses women for his own enjoyment, and who is unfit to rule. In reality I see Aegon as closest to Robb: a first born son reluctant to rule as king once his father dies but who rises to the occasion to try to keep his remaining family safe. A king willing to fight his battles alongside his men, no matter the risk it might pose to him. A king who tries his best to rule but makes mistakes along the way that cost him dearly. In the end, he watches as he loses everything, and he dies young.

[oraclefreak]

I think we, DPS fans, don't talk about Charlie during the school's tribute to Neil enough.

He's not singing.

Meeks, Pitts and Knox are singing, letting all their feelings out.

Cameron is singing a little calmer. You can see the sadness in him though.

Todd is stuttering words, not even singing—but he's trying.

Charlie does not sing.

I'm sorry for the picture's quality.

At first I thought he didn't sing because he was angry at Neil for leaving all of them; the Dead Poets, Keating and his dreams of becoming an actor. We saw at the beginning of the film how Charlie tried to convince Neil to speak up to his parents. I think he really wanted Neil to be happy, and he knew he wouldn't be if he stayed silent and pursued being a doctor because of his father.

During Neil and Mr. Keating's talk in the office, Neil mentioned Charlie: "We are not a rich family like Charlie's" (quoted by memory). Charlie tried to make Neil pursue acting when they had different social backgrounds; Charlie could go against his parents and not ruin everything. But Neil was an only child from a family that was mantained by his father and no one else... and not particularly wealthy either.

Even if they had those differences, they didn't separate them. And both of them were boys with dreams they couldn't follow easily. Charlie was more rebellious (especially when it came to school's authorities). Neil was more of the type to go with whatever people wanted. Charlie was more risk-taking. Neil's risk in the whole movie was participating in the play (yes, the club wasn't a Neil risk; it was all of the poets').

Charlie was really proud of Neil for finally following his dreams.

"He's good. He's really good."

Sounds familiar?

"I was good. I was really good."

This parallel makes sense to me, especially if we analyze the very first scene of Charlie and Neil in the movie. As I said, Charlie wanted Neil to speak up to his father. And when he did and it all broke apart; Neil said words Charlie had said about him during the play.

Obviously, Charlie disliked Neil's dad. We can be sure about that, definitely.

The school's tribute to Neil was either Mr. Perry's idea or he gave the permission to do it. The authorities thought of Neil's death as the institution's problem. Keating was suspicious from the beginning because of his unconventional teaching methods (plus Mr. Perry thought Keating told Neil to keep his place in the performance, which he did—but he made it look like it was a real problem... 1950s, let's go).

Charlie didn't think this event of singing words of grief and so on was for Neil. Neil didn't die to be missed. Neil died because he would miss out on what he wanted to do. But that reasoning didn't even come across the authorities' heads.

I think of Charlie as a person who has an internal philosophy, a reasoning that most people wouldn't think of. So, when every single one of his friends are singing because they miss Neil; Charlie does not sing because this is a way to pay respects to Mr. Perry for losing his son. A way to say the authorities are right. A way to say "Neil... poor boy." Neil was miserable because he wasn't free. And his only way to be free was... not living.

I believe this "Charlie wasn't singing" thing can be interpreted in many, many ways. I probably overanalyzed it because 6 years of DPS make someone go insane eventually. What I do think is clear is that Neil and Charlie's friendship was very obvious from the start. And yes, the not singing thing is something to observe and think about... but their whole friendship isn't very talked about in the fandom! And I had the idea to write about not only the movie's scenes that have both of them, but also how I perceive it (hence why I would describe this post as a theory rather than facts).

I would love to see other people's takes on this subject too !!

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#48: The Wedding Plans (1.05)

Of all the Jadis and Father Gabriel flashbacks, this was the best one right here because we get to learn something so special - Rick wanted to have a wedding with Michonne. 😭 Officially marrying his wife is one of the many milestones that trifling Jadis stole from them, and Michonne also addresses some other missed milestones Jadis took from them as they hunt her down 🚖...

Flashing back to two years ago, Jadis and Father Gabriel have another one of their annual meetings in the forest. Jadis asks, “How’s Rick’s wife doing?” And I do like hearing Michonne be referred to as 'Rick’s wife' by someone, even tho it’s one of my least favorite someones.

Father Gabriel says, “Michonne? She’s away helping people.” And even with this, I was like...SIR, are you at all curious why Jadis is curious about how Rick’s wife - who Jadis wasn’t close to - is doing? Like, please...

I'm not even saying Father Gabriel needed to immediately put together that Jadis had anything to do with Rick, since he, like many, thought Rick died. But still, he could have at least been a bit more suspicious of Jadis' whole situation and told some people back home about her and her helicopter.

And then I’m side-eying Father Gabriel again when he asks, “Why did you call her his wife?” Gabe, you have to ask? 😑 Lol, I know it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but, the second I even realized these two were having these yearly meet-ups, everything they said and did had me looking at both of them like...

Jadis says, “I mean, wasn’t she?” And I just know she’s thinking about how Rick barely says five words to her in Philly and most of those words are about his wife. 😋

Father Gabriel says, “Well not officially. If that matters anymore.” I said now Father G, I know you see Michonne every day raising those kids and wearing a wedding ring around her neck. That’s Rick’s wife, stop playing. 

Also, in TWD I was proud of Father Gabriel when he had his whole evolution into a real one and became a valued member of the group. But seeing TOWL made me remember that while Father G has grown a lot, this man did in fact enter this franchise with snake tendencies.

Had me wondering if his snake past is what makes him intrinsically drawn to this snake Jadis. But little does Father G know, that while he's actually tried to improve himself, Jadis is still slithering through life and causing so much harm.

Something I do like about this exchange between them tho is it feels like yet another thing TOWL came to set the record straight on regarding Richonne. Like for all the viewers that used to comment “no ring, no marriage,” stuff about Richonne, this was TOWL being like nope, Rick and Michonne are and have long been husband and wife, period. 👌🏽

This show didn't allow any room to downplay, discredit, or dismiss who Rick and Michonne are to each other and how much they mean to each other and I'll always appreciate TOWL for that. 😌

Then we get to the best part of these Jadis/Father Gabriel flashbacks when Father Gabriel says, “It’s funny. One day, Rick said that I should marry them. Maybe we should do it right there on the bridge that we were building”

Y’all. 🫠 When I tell you I was gagged when I heard that the first time.

I had been ready for them to just hurry this Jadis/Father G scene up but then I heard that line and...

I adore that we got to learn that Rick wanted to have a wedding and was making plans for it before he was taken. He wanted to marry Michonne on the bridge. 🥹 The very bridge he was then taken from her for years. 🥺

Watching Rick's season 9 episodes back, they’re now even better knowing that making his marriage to Michonne official was on his mind. It’s almost like you can see it with certain scenes, even tho obviously this detail was more added in TOWL rather than pre-planted in TWD.

It’s so sweet too because Rick was so adamant about that bridge being completed and I love knowing that it was both because of its practicality/symbolism of unity bringing the communities together and because it was where he and Michonne could celebrate their own special union with a wedding.

gif cred: @perryabbott

This was esepcially great to hear because I had always felt that Rick would be the type to give Michonne a ring and want that traditional solidification of their marriage. So it was nice to hear these details that show he really was working on it. 🥹

Also, another TWD scene that becomes extra emotional upon learning that Rick wanted to marry Michonne on the bridge is Michonne’s first scene post-Rick in 9.06.

Michonne goes to the destroyed bridge years later and essentially expresses how she’s still so committed to Rick and still fighting for him and them and their family. It’s almost like she's saying vows.

And little did Michonne know (because I’m sure Father Gabriel’s secret-squirrel behind didn’t tell her) that bridge is the very place Rick wanted them to exchange vows and get married. 😭

Rick truly does look at Michonne and see his future because he had big plans for the two of them in season 9. He was fully ready to have a wedding and a baby with her in his final TWD eps.

Also, in the season 8 premiere, Maggie asks Rick if he’s been thinking about what 'tomorrow' looks like and he confidently says "Yes I have" as well as telling Maggie, "After this, I’m following you."

I already always got the sense that part of that meant Rick was thinking about expanding his family by having a baby with Michonne. But I like how now after TOWL that s8 scene really reads like Rick was thinking about having a baby with Michonne and officially marrying her. That's what he wanted his 'tomorrow' to look like. 🥲

And a Richonne bridge wedding would have been beautiful. 🥹 In my head, Rick and Michonne definitely go on to have a wedding with their kids a part of it now that they’re back home. 

Father Gabriel says, “But I couldn’t see the future he described, so I sat on a log in the forest, and there at my feet in the dirt right in front of me was a ring. It seemed like it’d make a pretty nice wedding ring.”

See, see, see, even when others don’t see your vision, God gon’ see the vision. And He always makes a way. Amen. 🙌🏽

And Richonne is blessed and highly favored so of course a ring showed up. 😇

But then...y’all, I have to side-eye Father Gabriel yet again with what he does next.

Father Gabriel says how he picked up the ring and thought to put it someplace that Rick would find it “because I could suddenly see that someday” and then this man takes the ring out, revealing that he’s been holding onto it all these years 🙃...

Um imo, it would have been nice if shortly after the bridge he had told this story to Michonne and let her decide what she wanted to do with the ring.

Michonne clearly finds a lot of solace in these types of sentimental items and wore a wedding ring around her necklace. It could have possibly been a comforting thought for her to know this was the ring Rick might have proposed with since he was planning on them getting formally married with a priest and everything.

IDK, this was just making me feel like team family tried Michonne once again. 

Father Gabriel says sadly, “But then what happened, happened.” And Jadis, perhaps masking remorse but still as self-centered as always, just starts talking about how she looks forward to their next visit and the chance to just sit and talk and feel like who she was. How can she be so unmoved by the fact that she’s kept two people who love each other dearly apart for years? She got to have moments of feeling like who she was while Rick lost himself day by day. 😑

Jadis starts opening up a bit more about what she does and how it weighs on her but she’s committed to the mission and...they just can never make me like Jadis, tbh. 😪 Even when she's supposed to be showing her more human side I'm still just like...

And then Father Gabriel gets one more side-eye from me when he gives Jadis of all people that ring. What? 🙃

The only thing I like about that choice to give her the ring is that it’s kinda like the ring had a similar journey to Rick. It was stuck with Jadis for years but then eventually found its way to its rightful person - Michonne. 👌🏽

But otherwise, I was like 'Father G, why would you...???' Jadis of all people should hold onto the ring he found for Rick to give to Michonne?? 😪 Wasn’t exactly here for that choice. But that wedding ring leads to not one but two of my absolute favorite Richonne moments going forward so it’s all good now. 😌👌🏽

gif cred: @perryabbott

In the present, Rick and Michonne engage in a car chase with Jadis.

Rick says they can’t kill her but Michonne begs to differ saying, “Oh we can.” I promise Michonne and I stay on the same wavelength at all times lol. 💁🏽‍♀️ Michonne,...

Rick says, “I told you, she left a file about home for the CRM to find.” Michonne knows Jadis is just a neverending source of destruction when she says, “To destroy Alexandria because that’s what she does, Rick. She destroys!” Wrong where? 💯

Also, I love the little detail of seeing Michonne is wearing the M bracelet while she’s driving. Like they had to rush to get dressed and go chase after Jadis but Michonne still said I’m gonna remember to put on this bracelet from my man before we go. Here for it. 😊

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And then I so appreciate that we get a moment for Richonne to acknowledge the valuable and important life moments and milestones Rick missed because of Jadis as Michonne says, “She robbed us of you being there to see your son being born. Taking his first step.” 😭

I love that she says robbed ‘us’ because Rick being there to see his son being born and RJ's first steps would have been such incredibly special moments for Rick and Michonne to share. 😢

And Jadis really took that from them. Because while yes Rick was going to need the kind of medical assistance the Civic Republic could provide to survive the injuries he got from that rebar, he eventually would have been healed up enough to go home and recover there and be present for at least the tail end of Michonne’s pregnancy and birth. If only he hadn’t been held captive somewhere he couldn’t leave. 😞

Then I absolutely adore that, upon hearing Michonne mention super special milestones that Rick has missed in his wife and son’s life, Rick is immediately on the kill-Jadis train as he says, “Okay, what do we do after she’s dead?” I love the switch-up and how he’s instantly on board. 😋 He knows Jadis has got to go for, as he said before, stealing their family.

Michonne says they’ll do whatever they have to do and sis is not playing. 👏🏽 Jadis ain’t making it out of today alive if Michonne has anything to do with it.

gif cred: @nerd4music

Michonne rams into Jadis’ car and then they eventually get Jadis to crash off the path. As they continue their Jadis hunt down on foot, Jadis flees and enlists the help of that one noodle-less trio. She clearly has a scheme in mind because one thing about a snake...

In the woods, Rick tells Michonne that the CRM's bases are spread out across the country and they have to figure out which one Jadis hid the dossier in. Rick suggests there might be a route where they can take Jadis alive and talk to her to get some info.

Rick notes how Jadis clearly hated being called Anne and he thinks that the Anne-version of Jadis is still in there somewhere. (Both versions gotta go, in my book 🤷🏽‍♀️)

He says, “If there’s something she can give us first - something to keep Alexandria safe.” But Michonne feels they don’t need Jadis for that when she says, “We’ll keep it safe." And then, determined for Jadis to meet her maker before the sun sets, Michonne adamantly says, "But she’s gonna die.”

You already know I'm with that energy. But I get where Rick is coming from too as he says, “We need to keep it safe without risking anything."

Rick then adds, "I couldn’t see some things. I couldn’t. You helped me. Maybe we can help her, and if we can’t...” And Michonne is in her full deadly mode as she finishes Rick’s sentence saying, “Then I can kill her.” She is not interested in deprogramming that lady. 😂

gif cred: @taiturner

First; I love that Rick stays giving Michonne credit for how she helped him. He knows that after the mental warfare the CRM did on him, he was finally able to see the light - the real light not ‘the last light of the world’ - because of his wife.

And second; it’s admirable that Rick has it in his heart to want to help even someone who has done him so wrong. However…Jadis done had too many chances for help and she squandered it or took advantage of it every time cuz she’s a snake through and through. So the time for helping her has passed, which is why Michonne is hellbent on killing her.

gif cred: @taiturner

Rick says, “Be my guest." because while he knows Jadis can be a resource to getting things they need, he also doesn't mind if she gets sent six feet under. I mean, killing her was a dream of his so he gets it. 👌🏽

Then Rick says, "Maybe just maim first.” and that delivery is great and always makes me smile. 😊 Rick trying to talk killing down to maiming - you can tell he knows his wife is gonna rip Jadis up somehow someway for everything she’s done to him and their family.

gif cred: @taiturner

I don’t think Michonne even quite heard Rick's 'maim' comment cuz she spots some fresh blood on a tree and as a lethal woman on the hunt, she’s immediately ready to follow where it leads. And as they go, this pursuit leads to Richonne's final confrontation with Jadis. 😌👌🏽

[mevuelvelocatuboca]

If the first episodes of the week made me uncomfortable..these last two have been a rollercoaster of emotions.

Usually, when I watch this kind of show I cried a lot. For the impossible loves, the unfair destiny, the desire that goes beyond every social law and every rational thoughts.

Well, seeing Marta de La Reina forced to come out to her father was something that doesn't made me cry.

It made me angry and sad, made me reminder some conversations with my mother and feel all the emotions that Marta felt in those moments.

At the same time I felt the gratitude for a lot of things, first for living in this era - even with all of its problems - and not back then.

Gratitude towards all the Martas of the time, because we know that this kind of conversation has happen at the time.

Gratitude for be able to see this story, so well written and even better acted that all of us were in these scenes, suffering with Marta and having her back emotionally.

For a brief second I even thought that Damian, when he was walking towards his daughter, was going to hug her at the end. Then I remember that he is the person who had cover Jesus worst actions, didn't tell Digna the truth, blackmailed Andres and Begoña for their love and pay for Valentin's false death certificate and for a fake letter to convince his son to marry a woman he doesn't love.

And in front of him Marta have always had to do more and to be more perfect than her brothers, so - even if her "sin" really didn't hurt anyone - Damian can't allow her to be who she really is.

Instead do you know when I cried? When Marta goes to Fina's apartament to tell her everything and she can't even speak at first because when she sees her at first she admires her in all of her beauty and she thinks that maybe it's really over for them but then Fina, after the initial fear, reassures Marta like only her can do reminding her that she won't give up, she will never leave her, never, no matter what.

And they start to think and realize that they have to fight against whoever want to hurt them. Together, always together.

All of this is perfectly shown when Marta come back home and talk again with her father: she is more sure of herself, of her Love, she knows that Fina will never leave her side and she clearly verbalize this self-awarness to Damian: "it's you the one who didn't understand. We are in love and it is a clean and honest love, I don't feel that I am doing anything bad so nobody or nothing is going to separate us.

Do you want to report us? DO IT!"

With the last line Marta de La Reina get out of the room with her head held higher then ever. And I can't be more proud of her journey and to be a part of a community that shows courage every single day.

# cant wait for the talk between fathers

# but especially I want a hug between Isidro and Marta

# come here hija, I'll be your father too from now on

# but you have to treat well my Fina obviously

[girl4music]

“But I can tell you this, Xena… you’re the only constant in my life, and unless you know something I don’t, I’m not going anywhere. So I’m going to say the most selfish thing I’ve ever said to you: that baby’s my baby too, and I deserve a chance to fight for it as much as you.”

- Gabrielle, ‘Them Bones, Them Bones’ (Original script dialogue.)

They knew what they were doing with this scene. Especially the way Xena AND Gabrielle’s heads turn back to the baby at exactly the same time as if they were both proud of making that little bundle of joy between their arms. Also notice how Gabrielle only steps away after a glance towards Xena and Eve, clearly assessing that they both need to be alone while she responds to Hercules' request. As if to say "You stay here, I'll take care of business."

Dialogue is rarely ever needed between these two because the body language communicates so much in small intimate scenes like this. Both the mark of great acting and great chemistry between the actresses. I've always said that it's the quiet moments that truly reveal the depth of the loving relationship between Xena and Gabrielle. Whether you see it in a romantic way or not, you cannot deny that it is not filled with unconditional love. Especially where Gabrielle is concerned.

In fact...

I'm reminded of what Ares says in the ice cave in confession to what he believes to be a dead Xena about the dichotomy between his love for Xena and Gabrielle's love for Xena.

"You're with her now. I handled you all wrong. I know that. She knew what you needed - unconditional and unselfish love - and I couldn't give that to you. But I appreciated you in ways she never could. Your rage, your violence, your beauty. When you sacrificed yourself for others, you were hers. But when you kicked ass, you were mine. I love you, Xena."

- Ares, ‘Looking Death In The Eye’.

And I back up what I say in my character study thesis. The reason why Gabrielle won Xena's affection every time wasn't just because she was good at that moment. It's because she was given a CHOICE to be good in EVERY moment. Ares never offered her that choice. It was always "be mine, or die". Gabrielle always did - she would just take herself out of the picture if Xena chose evil or stand against her.

Such a striking difference is often not spoken about in this love triangle the writers obviously intended between Xena, Gabrielle and Ares. It says that the show never really went one way or the other on the romance not just because it couldn't... But because it didn't have to. There was importance in keeping the romance balanced although many wouldn't admit to it and would rather just complain about it instead. As for me, I think it's one of the most groundbreaking things about it. Rob was definetly right about keeping it this way and I back him up on it 100%. We knew that Gabrielle had Xena's heart. However, the conflict in Xena's heart would always remain because Ares would always be around to remind her of her former life. And in so doing this, we learn that Xena could never be definitively one way or the other either. This is what made her character so damn dynamic. And why it was leagues ahead of its time in queer representation. Even today, a bisexual narrative like this is never done. Or rather - it’s done but it’s never written this well. It’s never connected to the major narratives and themes. And that’s because the queer characters are never the major characters. They’re never the actual narrative. Instead, the queer characters have to wrap around it. And that’s the wrong way of going about doing this.

I don’t care what anyone says.

Gabby was the daddy.

Or the other mother, if you prefer. Although, I would definetly say Gabrielle’s role was typically that of a father. I don’t like gender norms, roles and stereotypes either but that doesn’t mean those are off-limits to a woman.

I’ve said before that the fact Gabrielle was depicted as doing the “typical father” role means the writers were abolishing the belief that only a man can do it and therefore using gender norms, roles and stereotypes as a way to promote equality and solidarity.

If you have a problem with me calling Gabrielle the “father” of Eve, you have to understand I am speaking from the point of view they would have in their time. There was no such thing as a same-sex couple in Ancient Greece in the sense that they could marry and have children without the participation of a male figure. Of course gay couples would exist but would not be socially accepted. Hell, it wasn’t even socially accepted a decade ago. What makes you think it was then? So me referring to Gabrielle as that male figure in Eve’s life should be seen as a compliment, not an insult. I’m saying she had the capability to fill that role and she wasn’t even a man. Just like how Xena could fill the role of a warlord and she wasn’t a man. Can’t you see that I am giving them respect as people who can take on both the feminine and masculine side of situations? Xena and Gabrielle were human anomalies and that’s bloody awesome as far as I’m concerned. I wish more shows today had that kind of gender roles representation with their characters. Sadly, they don’t.

[sunny44]

Daddy’s girl

Pairing: Mason Mount x Mom!reader

Warnings: just fluff.

Summary: you and Mason decided it was time to take baby Olivia to her first Chelsea game and it goes better than the expected.

Today would be the first time we would take Olivia to see Mason playing.

She had gone when I was pregnant and once and then I stopped going because of my difficult pregnancy and after she was born I stared getting a lot of hate online saying horrible things about the baby so we decides that we were taking her when she could walk by herself.

And today is the day.

Mason was already at the stadium and I would go along with his family who were downstairs waiting for us.

"Are you excited to see daddy?" As soon as I mention Mason she gets up and starts jumping on the bed "I guess that’s a yes."

I finished putting on her Jersey with the Mount and the number 19 on the back, she was wearing her Chelsea uniform and her little Nike air.

"We need to pin your hair up." I spoke to her but Olivia was distracted playing with Mason’s socks she had found on the bed. "My God you really are his daughter."

I've made two buns on her and took her on my lap down the stairs to find his family already waiting for us.

"I'm sorry it took so long, she have Mason’s energy."

"No problem honey you have you and mini Mase to dress up." His mother smiles at us leaving the house.

I went in the car with his parents and we were driven to where we were going to watch the game but right at the entrance Olivia saw a huge picture of Mason and she ran screaming “daddy” and hugged herself to the wall. The scene was the cutest thing in the world and it was a shame that I couldn't record it and show it to him later.

When the players entered the field and the big screen was showing them, Olivia screamed as soon as she saw her father.

…

The game was wonderful and Chelsea won it, Olivia spent much of the time screaming and every time the screen showed Mason she celebrated seeing him and the people watching us probably knew she was his daughter since some of them started to take pictures or record us.

After we were free we went to the field, Olivia was on my lap super excited to see everyone including some of her football uncles as I like to call them.

"Look there baby is Uncle Kai, go give him a big hug." She laughed and ran over to him since she hadn't found Mason yet.

"Hi love." He says hugging me from behind.

"Oh my god Mason you scared me." He laughs and I turn to him. "You were amazing I’m so proud of you."

"Thank you." He kisses me. "Where's Oli?"

"She went to give Kai a hug." I pointed to her on his lap and a few other players along making her laugh.

Her relationship with Kai was funny because Olivia was a miniature of Mason, super energetic and likes to talk to everyone and Kai was serious most of the time and not the most affectionate person when it comes to physical touch.

"Olivia." At the same time he calls out and even with all the noise she somehow seems to hear and cracked the biggest smile when she saw him. "Hey baby girl."

"Daddy." She shouts as he picks her up on his lap.

"Did you have fun?" she agrees and he puts her on his shoulders.

I took some pictures of her on his shoulder and lap and then some of them playing with the ball.

"The guys are going out for dinner to celebrate the win, do you want to go?" He asks. "Some of their girlfriend’s are going."

"We can go yes but can you take me somewhere I can change her? This uniform of her smells like horrible and she didn't even play." He laughs.

"I need to shower and get change so I'll take advantage of that and give her a bath in the locker room."

"Alright, let’s say goodbye to your family and I'll separate some clean clothes for her."

We said goodbye to his family and Mason went with Olivia to the locker room, I separated an outfit for her and I obviously wasn't going to go in and risk seeing things I shouldn't have so I knocked on the door and Ben opened it.

“Is everything ok?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah it's just that Mason is giving Oli a sower so we can go out and meet up with you guys and I wanted to ask someone to give him her clothes."

"Why didn’t you come in?"

"Because I don't want to see your things." He laughs and yells asking if anyone was naked and since they said no I went in. "The only one who might be naked is Mason but considering you have a daughter with him at least once you saw him naked."

I rolled my eyes at his comment and soon Mason let me know she was ready and handed her to me, he went to shower and I was drying and dressing her. When she was dry and in her diaper she got up from the bench and started running after Reece and Christian.

"Oli come back here."

"No." She ran and stretched her arms out to Kai’s who grabbed her in his lap and she hid in his neck.

"Are you hungry?" At the same time she gives me a quick look and I swear I've never seen a little girl as hungry as this one. "Where we're having dinner they have that pasta you like.”

She quickly holds out her hands to me and Kai laughs at how quickly she comes onto my lap. I dressed her I a white blouse and some leggings and a coat that Ben gave it to her.

"Mason I'm going to wait with Oli in the cafeteria."

"Okay love I'm just finishing up and I'll meet you guys there.”

Me, Olivia and a few more of the boys left with me and we went to the cafeteria to wait until Mason was ready to go to dinner.

Dinner was great and right after we ate Oli fell asleep and is sleeping until now, she spent the whole time jumping from lap to lap until she stopped at Mason's where she didn't let go of him and now we are going to the car with her on his lap.

"Wow you don't know how amazing today was." He comments smiling. "Oli went to her first game, we won and I am the luckiest guy in the world to share life with you."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it and Oli loved it." I put the bags on her in the backseat as he adjusts her in the car seat. "You know that giant picture of you outside the stadium?"

"I do."

"I couldn't record it because it all happened so fast but Oli as soon as she saw it ran out screaming daddy and hugged the wall." He laughed and left a little kiss on her forehead and covered her with her binky.

"You have no idea how much I love this little girl." He says starting the car and beginning to drive towards our house.

"She loves you too, every time you appeared on the screen she screamed and clapped her hands calling for you."

"Thank you for taking her today, it meant a lot to me." He takes my hand and leaves a kiss on the top of my hand.” I know it’s not easy to have a public life and I really appreciate you so much for loving me and doing all those sacrifices for our family. And I also know that it was not easy to take her today because now people know how she looks but I really love it, so thank you.

"No need to thank me, you know I would do anything for you." He smiles and we went home after this amazing day.

Bonus scene!

Y/nmount instagram post

Liked by masonmount, jazbenham, benchilwell and others 18,947

Y/nmount our baby girl went to her first game to cheer for daddy and her uncles

Masonmount my little lucky charm, daddy loves you so much

Debbiemount she was the cutest fan

Benchilwell I’m giving her a jersey with my name and number on it

Masonmount I’m throwing away

Y/nmount she’s going to love it ben, thank you

Fan65 we’re finally able to say that baby mount looks exactly like Mason

Y/nlovers yesssss, she’s all him

[thosewildcharms]

Hi, do you have any headcanons about Rick with RJ and Judith after TOWL?

sure! most of these are about the grimes family as a whole because michonne is the beating heart of the family yk!!

under a read more because apparently i had more to say than i realized (shocking). some of these are copied from previous posts!

antony azor who plays rj is apparently very shy and reserved but opened up unexpectedly with andrew lincoln and so obviously this is also exactly what happened with rick and rj. father and son bonded INSTANTLY

part of this is because rj (like antony) is very shy and reserved and rick gets that and so they can just be quiet together and still feel like they're bonding. as rj gets older, whenever he needs to think something through he asks rick if they can do some sort of project together, and through that he works through whatever he has going on.

his first night back, judith asks rick to finish reading the wizard of oz to her because he never got a chance to. it takes a good five minutes for him to compose himself but she does finally get the full story from her dad. michonne and rj join them because they both love hearing stories the most when rick is the one telling them.

I think rick definitely got back into farming post towl since that is his ~zen place. judith and rj have the idea to grow flowers for michonne, and the three of them plant her a small private garden as a surprise. they even build her a little bench to sit on and everything. after it's finished they have all their family picnics there :')

I think this is less my personal headcanon and more a collective fandom headcanon but rick DEFINITELY does call rj "junior" and he is the ONLY one allowed to do so. If anyone else tries they get the rick grimes head tilt and squint from both of them.

they as a whole family have all kinds of Secret Family Things (like the code names for security shoto/daito/brave man/little brave man). for example they have a family whistle that has different variants for different ~situations. it's kinda silly but they all get very into it and take it very seriously!

speaking of family rituals, family dinner is REALLY important to them!!! I'm always thinking about that one dinner scene in early season 9 where michonne, judith and rj are quietly/sadly sitting in that dark dining room with that empty chair where rick is supposed to be. NOW their kitchen is bright and loud and cheerful and they all cook together and use herbs and spices from their family garden :')))

during the week or so leading up to judith and rj's respective birthdays, Rick gives them each a gift for each year he missed. like an advent calendar of missed birthdays. Idk what he gets them exactly but rick king-of-gift-giving grimes would figure something out. michonne helps out a lot by filling him on the things they both enjoyed throughout their childhoods

(he does the same for michonne btw. a gift for every year he missed. they never cared about birthdays before but he's still making certain things up to her)

now that rick and michonne are back together they find it much easier to talk about all the people they lost. judith and rj's favorite stories are the ones about their brothers, carl and andre.

i love the idea of scene very similar to the one in towl 1x05 where richonne get mugged only to turn the situation around in .5 seconds only this time it's the whole family being badass and intimidating to a stranger who thought they could try it

as we know from towl, rick and michonne are fucking insane :') but eventually they realize judith and rj out-crazy both of them combined (much like carl did, rip king) and they are EXTREMELY proud :')

[teabutmakeitazure]

Cogency of the Deluded

>Yan! Chrollo x Fem! Reader

>Word count: 2.9k

>a/n: similar to Prerogative I wrote for Childe! Might give this one a part 2 who knows

Part 2 | Part 3

You love your parents.

You really do.

But when they’re casually laughing with the man who is the bane of your existence, you really want to bring yourself to express your displeasure. However, you don’t have the heart to shatter their beliefs, so you remain quiet, only nodding when absolutely necessary. It’s an outdoor setting, an outdoor restaurant. Of course you don’t want to make a scene either.

Chrollo eyes you with a challenging smile while your mother is busy whispering to your father, asking if they should invite him over for lunch the next weekend. You hate it. You absolutely loathe that when you glare at him, he simply looks smug in return.

He stalked you even when you were with your parents and had the gall to approach the little family outing and as the cherry on top, was invited to join them for dinner by your own father. You father! The man who gave you a stern look whenever you even mentioned a male specimen from your class or such invited this vexatious individual to join you all for dinner!

This is too unbelievable to be true.

Being the ‘gentleman’ that he is, he won the little discourse over the bill and ended up paying for everyone. You’re certain that your mother is just swooning on the inside. If only your parents were aware that auctioneering isn’t his actual profession. Ah, such a smooth liar.

Well. At least you know that you won’t be able to down the ice cream you were planning on eating after you got home. There is no way you can stomach it after seeing how your mother had innocently asked Chrollo how you both became friends. God forbid the proud smile on his face haunts your nightmares. You don’t think you would be able to sleep again if that were to happen.

You remain quiet during the entire exchange. Your mother obviously notices that something is wrong, but before she could ask you, Chrollo answers.

“[Name] and I recently had a little disagreement. I can understand why she’s quiet.”

“Did you?” Your mother's attention shifts back to him. “What happened?”

“I had asked her to allow me to meet the both of you. She… hadn’t appreciated that,” he chuckles. “I once again apologise if I happened to intrude on this family outing.”

Then sound more sincere when you’re sorry!

“Not at all, son,” your father replies. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

Your mother expresses her happiness and fortune of meeting him as well, and he just smiles at that, not even bothering you a glance.

"Ah, where are you from?" Your father finally voices the billion jenny question, the possible deal-breaker. "I don't believe I asked you earlier."

Your attention shifts to him, every ounce of it directed towards him and observing every single twitch and change of his facial expressions. To your dismay, it remains the same. No change occurs, and it's almost as if he isn't a person who doesn't exist by legal records.

"York New." The lie slips through his lips with ease like the many others he's woven this evening. "I started my career there as well. It's a hub for auctions and merchandise of all sorts."

"That explains your accent," your father chuckles. "You must've picked it up with all the sophisticated people around haha!"

Your mother smiles at the jest, and you have to refrain yourself from making a disgusted face. Chrollo continues humouring them, telling them about his hobby of reading and how it actually shaped his way of speaking and vocabulary more than his surroundings did. You figure that this statement might be the first truth he's told this evening except for his name.

Speaking of names, you hope to God that neither of them ask his full name. You don't even want to know what second name he might make up.

"And what about your parents? What do they do for a living?"

Ah. There goes another question. Will your father drop the enquiries already?

"I apologise if this makes the conversation awkward, but they aren't around." Chrollo looks at your mother with a little smile and if you were in her shoes, you would call it sad. "I grew up without them. I'm afraid I don't know much about them."

Well. That's another truth. How much is he willing to divulge?

Your mother returns his smile with one of her own. It makes you happy that she's so sweet but knowing who's on the receiving end makes you borderline nauseous. "It's alright my dear. You have us, so don't ever hesitate to ever ask us anything or reach out if you ever want to."

Did… did she really just indirectly adopt him?

"Thank you very much for your hospitality ma'am. I'm actually quite glad I gathered the nerves to approach you tonight." Grey eyes now staring at you, he gently nudges your foot under the table and you freeze. "I just hope that [Name] forgives me for doing so without her permission."

A challenge. He wants to see what you do next. Should you say something? What should you say? You can't possibly tell your parents anything. He's already painted the perfect picture for himself. There is no possible way that you could defile the painting without revealing the truth.

Doing something so horrible to your parents is out of the question. They don't deserve to see their daughter be harassed by a criminal in front of them. No. Not at all.

Chrollo nudges your foot again, smile widening and you snap out of autopilot. Mind blank, you hastily reach and grab at anything you can in your brain, any string of coherent words that you might voice as an answer. Unfortunately, your pacifist nature allowed for one single word to be spoken.

“Alright.”

Your mother elbows your side. Groaning, you side eye her for the abruptness of the action, but she simply shrugs. Excusing herself for a moment, she goes to whisper something in your father’s ear. Dread settles in when the man opposite to you smiles at you again, the chatter of the outdoor restaurant being the only noise that covers your wildly beating heart.

You sincerely wish you could go home already.

The seconds that pass by during your parents’ hushed conversation feel like hours. Chrollo, however, finds your anxiousness amusing. He rests his chin on the back of his palms and outright ogles you, uncaring of your father taking notice of the action. His gaze along with the background chatter proves to be too much for your brain, so you look away but he nudges his foot against yours once more.

There’s no reaction from your side. You know what he’s trying to do, and you refuse to give him the satisfaction. Being the persistent man that he is, he hits his foot against yours again before giving it a harder nudge, one that instantly makes you face him again. There’s no reaction from him except for a tilt of his head and his narrowing eyes.

Finally. Finally your mother separates from your father’s side, a soft smile on her face when she looks at you then to Chrollo.

“Chrollo, dear, is it alright if you drop off [Name]?”

What?

“I want you both to work out any arguments you may have,” she continues. “You may drop her home when your differences are worked out. I’m sure you won’t give him trouble, right [Name]?”

Her voice was strained when she said your name. It’s a warning from her. You know that, yet you still tell her that it’s nothing but Chrollo cuts you off.

“I would love that. Thank you, and I’ll be sure to drop her off as soon as possible.”

No one listens to your hesitant objections, and your parents simply bid you goodbye, leaving you standing alone outside the restaurant with the man who’s been terrorising your life for a significant amount of time.

When they’re roughly out of earshot, he speaks. “They’re a lovely bunch. I’m glad I met them.”

“Please, for the love of God, Chrollo don’t hurt them.”

He turns to you, hands in his pockets. “Who said anything about hurting them?”

Speechless, you look at him with your mouth open. He seems as nonchalant as ever. Maybe even content. It makes you all the more unbelieving of his words. “I mean it. Please, Chrollo. Just… listen to me.”

Glancing to the direction where your parents took off, you breathe a sigh of relief when you don’t spot them but immediately turn back to the man in front of you. Your index finger and thumb grasp his sleeve, eyes pleadingly looking into his. “Don’t hurt them. You… you would either hurt them or… or…”

You can’t bring yourself to voice the other possibility. Chest heaving, you sincerely hope that no one around you notices the state you’re in. Eyes fall to the ground, staring at your shoes, but you push through even against the fuzziness in your head from the anxiety. “Or you would… would end them. Please. Let them be.”

There’s no immediate answer from Chrollo. You wonder what kind of face he’s making but with your gaze fixed on the ground, you don’t have it in you to look up and face the confirmation of your fears. A few dreadful moments pass without any words spoken, and when you feel like you’re finally at your wits end, he grabs your chin with his other hand and makes you meet his gaze.

“Like I said, there’s no reason for me to hurt them.” He smiles, rubbing the corner of your eye and catching a tear before moving onto the other. “They brought you into this world. I don’t see any reason why I should treat them with anything less than courteousness. And to be frank, I’m looking forward to having lunch with them. It’ll help me get to know you better. How their personalities and habits shaped you is something I find quite intriguing.”

You retreat your hand, holding it to your chest by the wrist as though you just burned yourself. Chrollo simply chuckles at the display, both hands now holding your face as his thumbs run over your cheekbones.

To any onlooker, the scene might resemble that of a young couple spending time together but to you the scene is of Chrollo implicitly showing his power over you. It’s honestly disturbing how he reduced you into begging without even giving a direct threat.

“So, where do you want to go? We don’t have any arguments to make amends for, so we might as well kill some time.”

You gently brush away his hands, afraid that using too much force might invoke his wrath. “I don’t believe you. This… this can’t be right.”

“Am I so bad that simply being nice to you is suspicious?”

“You have no idea.”

Chrollo’s grin widens. “Unfortunately for you, you don’t have a say in whether you want to go or not. I’ll give you another chance. Pick a spot or I’ll pick something for us.”

You internally shudder at the word ‘us’. "I don't believe you when you say that you won't hurt them."

"You won't believe most of what I say until I do it," he challenges. Begrudgingly admitted, he is right. You didn't believe him when he said that he knows where your parents live. If you didn't still live with them, the signed flower bouquet he sent might've been discovered.

You don't humour him with a response, watching how he raises his sleeve to check the time. "One hour," he demands, "I want at least one hour with you and only then will I allow you to go home."

"As if I can't just get a cab if you refuse to drive me-"

"I used the word 'allow' for a reason, darling." Hands once again in his pockets, he gives another one of his smug smiles. "It would be daft of you to think that I can't monopolise you in this way."

A thought slithers into your mind. You could just run away, turn on your heel and not look back. This is a public place. The most Chrollo can do is run after you, but when the chatter and noise of the people around you floods your hearing, you throw away the idea. It will never be worth the risk.

Putting innocent civilians in danger just to act out a little temper tantrum is not what you want to do. But still… the prospect of seeing his eyes go wide as he watches you go farther and farther from his reach is tempting. For once, you want him to know what it feels like to be helpless.

"What might be more important than me that you've drifted off?"

Perhaps you'll get lucky and dream about that expression on his face.

"My parents. Let's just go, Chrollo."

He slings his arm around your shoulder, satisfied at your compliance. "Next time," he whispers, "I'll take you to where I'm staying."

The ice cream in your freezer lives to see another day it seems. There is no possibility that you can stomach it after all this.

-

"I might take offence if you remain this silent."

You cross your arms at Chrollo's words, letting the silence in the car persist. After parading you around with your hand in his, you are in no mood to entertain him with conversation. The vicissitude of your situation has been anything but pleasant or welcome, and you're sure that the man driving the car revels in your displeased attention.

"Are you mad at me?"

Shaking your head, you settle your eyes on his hands. They grip the steering wheel, muscles flexing whenever he moves it. Perhaps the possibility of you gazing at his arms is why he folded his sleeves. You did notice that he stopped wearing coats around you when you accidentally did that once, sleeves randomly exposing his arms every now and then.

"If you aren't mad, then why aren't you speaking? You know I love your voice."

You sigh. "I'm tired."

"Hm."

Chrollo takes a right turn, and you watch how his hands move the steering wheel, fingers elegantly tapping an unfamiliar tune on the surface. You feel your eyelids get heavy, but you refuse your body any sort of rest, readjusting yourself in your seat when you notice Chrollo going straight instead of turning left.

“Hey, that’s the wrong way,” you call out.

“It’s the wrong way for one destination but the right way for another.”

“Chrollo, turn back.” Unable to dig up any courage when he continues driving, you don’t even try to look at him. “Please, turn back. I need to go home.”

Your voice comes out shakier than expected, and Chrollo graces you with a brief glance. However, he continues driving. There’s no sign of him stopping, so you try your luck again.

“I need to go home. My parents will be worried. Please.”

“Had they been worried, they would’ve called you,” he reasons.

“They’ve sent me texts.”

“My point still stands.”

“They didn’t call because they trusted you with getting me home safely.”

“I am taking you home.”

Eyes fixed on your fidgeting hands, you take a deep breath, voice low. “That’s not home.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The car slows as though reflecting Chrollo’s slow consideration of your words. On the next junction, he takes a U-turn, but neither of you comment on it. It’s a little over half past ten which is very late into the night by your standards to be out. You’re sure your mother is worried. You just wish that he realised that instead of messing with you.

The promise to take you to wherever he’s staying is still haunting you.

Silence once again fills the car. Chrollo’s lack of comments is partly due to your timorous demeanour. He doesn’t wish to upset you more, but he still wants to mess around. Thus, he internally debates whether or not he should let his hand roam over your thigh all the while glancing at you now and then.

Before he could reach a conclusion, the car stopped in front of your home. Your hand immediately reaches for the door handle but Chrollo is quicker, locking the car through the driver’s controls and simply smiling at you when you look at him appalled.

“Your mother is watching,” he points out,” so try to be civil.”

“How do you know?”

“The kitchen window. She’s peeking through the curtains.”

She was very likely waiting for you to come back home.

Chrollo instructs you to remain seated, but exits the car himself. Smoothing out his shirt, he casually saunters over to your side, opening the door for you and gesturing you to take his hand when you get outside. You know what he’s doing. He’s putting on a show for your mother. How charming.

Chrollo calls your name when you’re near the door, but when you turn back, he doesn’t say anything. All he does is walk up to you and lean in. Lips tickling your earlobe, he whispers in a low voice like he’s sharing a secret between the two of you.

“I’ll drop by after midnight. Don’t lock your window.”

The silence of the residential street is synonymous to your speechless reaction. Suddenly, you regret not taking up the attic as your bedroom.

[ultimateshixiongfuckertournament]

Semifinal 1: Fei Du vs Jiang Cheng

Semifinal 1 is between Fei Du (shixiong: Luo Wenzhou) from Mo Du vs Jiang Cheng (shixiong: Wei Wuxian) from Mo Dao Zu Shi

Propaganda under the cut

Fei Du:

Fei Du: evidence? The entirety of Mo Du. His shixiong is is Luo Wenzhou, a dude with an eight-pack and parents who love him and love fei du as well, and a dude whom fei du is willing to not die/consider the future with, and consider himself not a monster to be with. Fei Du says shixiong to Luo Wenzhou so flirtatiously that they both stop and stare. Luo Wenzhou gets him birthday cake, a video game when he was small and a promise. (Also, they are cat parents)

Jiang Cheng:

Clinged to WWX constantly for 7+ years, wanted to have WWX as his right hand man forever after becoming sect leader, cried after WWX left, cried when he discovered what WWX sacrificed for him, was TORN APART when it got explained to him that if they were more outwardly close knit, WWX might not have died

PROPAGANDA!! to start, i'm still very bitter about how fairy lost the sentient animal poll and i want to win this badly. very very badly. current stats are 50.6 in favour of jc but that's too less of a gap for me. jc should be winning this by a landslide, y'all hear me? anyways. starting with a class act, like the clown i am->

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a few links ( because i'm chengxian trash, as always and i'd love if poll-guy could copy paste them on the og post): one, two, three, four (gif), five, six, seven (gif), eight (thoughts on different wavelengths), the absolute circles of them saving each other, the fucking golden core reveal scene. golden scene reveal part 2, jiang cheng will always forgive wei wuxian

to start with. jiang cheng is literally the picture of "i knew from the moment i met you that i'd spend a lifetime forgiving you".

the earliest dynamic of jiang cheng and wei wuxian is jiang cheng giving away his dogs (the only gift his father has ever given him, btw) because wei wuxian is scared of the dogs. tis only the start of it.

his father very obviously prefers his shixiong over him, his mother berates him for not being as good as wei wuxian and tells him his inheritance is in danger, and his sister (in my opinion) has more care for him (visibly. maybe jiang yanli doesn't show it because jc is an emotionally complicated purple grape, maybe because jc doesn't need it, or wei wuxian is traumatised but that's my opinion). but still. still. Jiang Cheng loves Wei Wuxian. so much. jealousy is like. the most tame response i can think of. and jiang cheng is proud of wei wuxian, okay? he'd believe his big brother if he'd said anything. want proof? well, here you go-> link

to paraphrase the link:

Jiang Cheng had just lost his family, his home, and his very golden core, and his older brother - his brilliant older brother who could fix anything, who could sneak wine into Cloud Recesses and defeat an ancient turtle nearly-god and make Jiang Cheng share a smile when Jiang Cheng’s mother was disappointed and furious at both of them - His big brother smiled and said, “I can fix this.”And Jiang Cheng believed him then, and believed him three months later when Wei Wuxian crawled out of the Burial Mounds (just the second miracle in three months), and believed him every day of the next seventeen(?) years until the pieces were shoved into place for him to see.

also. the circle these two go in protecting each other. (gif set by @sandushengshou), the 'if one of us is to die, then, i beg, let it be me' that they both do for one another in a seemingly neverending loop of sacrifice. via this post a la my lovely @backtoyunmeng

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64.media.tumblr.com

jiang cheng is a cannonically ruined woman archetype, justified via the countless posts you'll get in the top posts of jiang cheng tag. he keeps chenqing, wwx's flute in perfect condition even when he hates wei wuxian, even when wwx, if only indirectly, has a part in jiang yanli's murder and oof okay someone pointed out to him that he's known to have killed wei wuxian and he almost cries. he absolutely believes, with his whole heart, that wei wuxian lives even when the world is sure he doesnt. and it always read to me like, i'd know if he was dead. he's a part of my soul, so i'd know if he was dead. he can't be dead.

this is getting too long, so, to sum up, some absolute poetry by @jiangchengsjawline

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64.media.tumblr.com

#JC On The Other Hand Has His Entire Life Shaped By His Shixiong And Ended Up Cast As The Ruined Woman By The End

#jiang cheng though. wasn't able to fuck his shixiong but his shixiong definitely fucked with him

#hello?? the answer is Jiang cheng pls#he's the shixiongfucker or all shixiong fucker you wish you could be as pathetically in love with your shixiong as he is#chengxian

#i do not go here (chengxian) but the propaganda is incredibly correct they are insane abt each other#also sorry jiang cheng ik you're suffering but they are so funny to me#neway VOTE JIANG CHENG FOR CLEAR SKIN

#look I rarely go here#(here being chengxian)#but by GOD their lvoe compels me#they’re tragic and doomed and they love each other without knowing how to say it in words the other would understand#or in words at all because communication??? we don’t know her???

64.media.tumblr.com

64.media.tumblr.com

he didn't even think about sacrificing himself, and consequently his entire bloodline, his sect, pretty much everything that depends on him for his shixiong??????????

is this not convincing->

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64.media.tumblr.com

#had to vote jc though i have more feelings about chengxian#i think jc should have a huge gege kink

#like. jiang cheng should win the entire tournament hands down period

[lassieposting]

So anyway, things I've been thinking about this morning: Garrus Vakarian probably likes foreign films

Like.

Turians are the Proud Soldier Race Guys. They have an incredibly rigid, collectivist, by-the-book kind of culture, where every single individual is obligated to spend a good chunk of their formative adolescent/young adult years in the military, where Turian Ideals are hammered into them. So they don't seem like they'd have a big media scene glorifying tropes which go against their general cultural values - specifically, in this case, an individual going outside standard procedures to Get Shit Done on their own terms.

And this is a trope that Garrus loves. When we first meet him, he's sick of being the Good Little C-Sec Cop who follows orders and gets swamped with red tape and can't get the bad guy because Procedure Says No. He clearly sees himself as/wants to be the cowboy cop, detective-gone-rogue type, and he's got a pretty romanticised idea of what that would look like in his head. Bless him.

But. He's learned about that trope from somewhere, and I can't really see it being his own people. Especially with a father like Castis, who's so staunchly exactly what's expected from a turian. He seems like the type who'd have strong opinions about what his kids are reading and watching and being influenced by, because while he obviously loves Garrus, he wants him to grow up to fit a certain mould. The Turian version of the wish-fulfilment vigilante flick is the Spectre Movie, but Garrus isn't allowed to watch those, because Castis doesn't approve of Spectres being Outside The Law.

So baby Garrus grows up lowkey feeling stifled by the way society works, and maybe that's a problem with him, so he gets his head down and does his best to be a Good Turian and make his dad proud, and then he gets his discharge papers and goes to work for C-Sec, and suddenly he's living on the Citadel by himself, and he's got free time nobody is telling him to do X or Y with. He's basically moved away from home for the first time - the Citadel is not Turian-controlled, it's a thriving multicultural melting pot with plenty of people living there who don't exactly conform to Turian standards, he's got colleagues with interests he's never even heard of, and he's gonna start seeing new things.

Human superhero films and cop movies with lots of explosions and no paperwork. Small-budget Batarian short films about victorious anti-Hegemony rebellions. Even his own people's Spectre films. Some kid selling drugs in the wards has a Batman comic in his confiscated backpack? Garrus borrows it to browse on his lunch break. Some Salarian ex-STG operative publishes a memoir? Garrus reads it on the shuttle to work. All these people who feel like he does.

Like. Give me Archangel who regularly spouts lines from Batman or X-Men or Krogan Thunder 3 (or whatever the fuck else he's been watching) as part of his Good Guy Victory Speeches, that makes at least one of his multispecies team who Knows That Franchise pull up short and go "Oh my god, you're a nerd."

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Heart's Vocalization Thoughts and Feelings

Hello and welcome to another round of Moonlight Chicken Posts That Literally No One @respectthepetty Specifically Asked For:

Heart Edition Round ?? i've lost count.

Mx. RTP may have gotten me hooked on red/blue through clothing but my first and truest love will always be lighting so I need everyone, but especially Professional Life Ruin-er Formerly Known as "Petty" (you're my best friend now, sorry I don't make the rules), to understand that this specific lighting ruined my life. Like on a cellular level, my body is a wasteland, my mind will never recover. Stepping in from the outside world, from Heart's world, Heart's life, Heart's home in to the rich, red, warmth of Li Ming's world, Li Ming's home. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if my memory serves me correctly we never see Heart in warm lighting until the end of Episode 4, and we definitely don't see Heart in red lighting until Episode 5. Up until this point when Li Ming and Heart are together, there is always blue lighting on them, and especially when they are in Heart's home there is always a blue wash on the whole scene. So finally, finally we get red lighting babyyyyyy, fuck yeah!

Ok, sorry, I'm normal again.

Initial thoughts going in to the actual scene are as follows: 1. Stripes, my beloved! 2. Heart is so head over heels for Li Ming it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I love the small little smile that Heart has on his face here when Li Ming is essentially giving him an 'I told you so' to Heart about asking his Mom. I know that Li Ming sees Heart earlier on in the episode, but he isn't present for the conversation between Li Ming and his mother so regardless of whether he knows that Li Ming talked to her, I don't think he knows the specifics. But he follows this comment up with "You're smart. You can persuade her." Obviously he knows that something happened because Heart's mother has never listened to her son before, why would she start now?

So! Much! Red! Lighting! They are in love your honor. I am so grateful for every moment we get to see of Li Ming and Heart alone together having fun. They may be on the edge of adulthood, but there is still so much repressed youth in them that has been dying to get out and can't because it's been contained by parental shame, by the need to work to survive, by the nature of generational gaps and unsuccessful attempts to protect your loved ones.

When Heart and Li Ming are by themselves (with the exception of the post confrontation mental breakdown session in Ep. 5) there is so much joy between them. And look at Li Ming, he is so proud of himself here, for successfully persuading Heart's mother to let Heart leave the house. They don't have to sneak out anymore, Heart's parents are finally starting to understand that they can't make their son problem go away if they just keep Heart cooped up.

Once again like father-figure uncle like nephew, Li Ming has found himself a love interest that is also obsessed with the family cat. Honestly, this cat is living the dream, all he has to do all day is be held for approximately 30 seconds and get fed a fuck ton of treats. So far this scene is just very cute, Heart taking in his surroundings, attaching himself immediately to the cat, absolutely bathed in red light. And there is something so simple I love about the set up this moment brings to the important turning point that immediately follows...

Heart's holding the cat with both his hands. He can't text or sign.

Side Note: I am curious if Thai sign language has finger spelling.

And here we go! Heart speaks, not just vocalizes, it's not an exclamation of surprise, it's not a shuddering breath, or a sob. It's not a squeak or random sound Heart makes because he can't hear how loud he is being. Up until this point, every time we have heard a sound from Heart it has been unintentional. This is the first time we hear Heart speak. And importantly, he doesn't have to. He doesn't have to say anything. There isn't anything urgent, nothing that would require a sound to get Li Ming's immediately attention. He doesn't need to say Jimbo's name, literally right before this he looked at Li Ming and pointed to the cat. He could have ended the acknowledgement there. But he doesn't. He speaks. And he absolutely does not look at Li Ming while he does it. He keeps his eyes trained firmly on the cat in front of him.

I stole this gif from @earthpirapat because I don't know how to make them, and because I need anyone who reads this to see Li Ming's reaction in this moment. He is also looking at Jimbo, because he, like the audience, believes that Heart is going to end his acknowledgement of the cat's name by pointing to the cat. Li Ming is content to watch his friend play with his cat, and that's all he is expecting. Until "yyim-" tickles his ear, and Li Ming's head snaps straight up to Heart's face. You can tell how surprised he is at the way he pulls his head back a bit more to really look at Heart. To make sure that what just happened is actually real when he says "bo".

And I think it's important to know that Heart does not really seem hesitant to speak. He just...does it. What he is hesitant to do is look at Li Ming. He waits a full two seconds after he's said "Jimbo" to look up from the cat he is holding in his arms.

But he has nothing to worry about because when his eyes go to Li Ming, what does he see?

A puppy dog of a man, radiating excitement. Li Ming is beaming. It's funny to me a little bit that the thought has never seemed to cross Li Ming's mind that Heart, who only went deaf three years ago, is actually able to speak. But nevertheless he is thrilled.

"You can speak?" he asks, and he's chuckling a little and pausing and you can see all the gears in his head turning as he signs because it's like his whole worldview just got rocked. And GOD I love this moment so much because from the second that Heart speaks Li Ming's eyes never leave Heart. Or if they do it is literally an unconscious thing that is happening when he's trying to remember his signs. Heart puts Jimbo down and Li Ming literally folds his body in half, to follow Heart's movement, bends over to tap him on the shoulder. "Hey, you can speak?" he says again.

"Yeah? Can you speak again? I want to hear." he asks, and he's baffled. He's losing his signs. Like he is signing successfully to Heart, sure, but it's taking him much longer to create his sentence than it normally does because he's still in such shock over what just happened. That Heart can speak, that he heard his voice. His brain cannot keep up with his emotions.

The face of a man verrryyyy skeptical that his voice would be that exciting for anyone to hear.

"I"

"Want"

"To Hear"

"Your Voice"

I have no thoughts. I have no notes for this. It is just an incredibly powerful moment to me in furthering Li Ming as a safe zone for Heart, as someone trusted and precious. Each sign is deliberate. This is a deliberate request. This isn't a question built on surprise, "wait wait do it again" this is specific. "I want to hear your voice"

Look how pleasantly surprised Heart is. Look how happy, how bewitched he is in this moment. A few weeks back, I wrote a post analyzing Heart's communication. At the time I wrote it, I was doing a lot of speculating about Heart and his ability to talk and what it meant for the character if he could versus if he couldn't. The tl;dr version was me essentially wondering how much agency Heart has over his own isolation. Is he capable of talking and chooses not to to test the people around him, maintaining control of his own isolation, with speaking as a lifeline, or because Thai is a tonal language did he lose the ability to speak because not being able to hear might impede his ability to make distinct tones. Either way he has the ability to talk, it's a matter of whether or not he could be understood if he did vocalize his words.

I got a pretty quick reply from @littlederxxnged with a link to this Tweet quoting P'Aof and Heart's voice:

And if this quote is real, if the reason Heart doesn't speak is because he lacks the confidence to, this makes the scene all the more important and all the more wonderful for me. Because it's showing us, the audience, that Li Ming makes Heart feel confident. Li Ming makes Heart brave.

And I love that I don't get a sense of fear from Heart in any of this. Surprise? Yes. Confusion? Yes. Skepticism? A bit. Hesitation? Absolutely. But it doesn't seem to come from a place of fear. Heart is not afraid of using his voice around Li Ming, and he is never afraid of what Li Ming's reaction will be. He certainly has no idea what Li Ming's reaction will be, but it shows how much trust these two have built in one another, that Heart feels safe enough with Li Ming to test his voice.

I don't know if Heart will speak again the show. I don't care if he does. Speaking is not his primary language anymore and he doesn't owe his voice to anyone. I just want to establish that before I say I find it so much more special that Heart says his own name, rather than Li Ming's here. Why? Because the way I interpret Heart's character at this point is a man who is far more certain about what he wants out of life, now that he is able to live his life again. We get to hear Heart's name, we get to hear Heart speak for himself.

Something really cute about this moment as well is Li Ming's reaction. "I heard you just say your name!" I love that he signs to Heart what he heard. I love it so much. We know that Heart is hesitant to speak, and it takes him a second to get the word out, and I'm sure he can feel the vibrations of his vocal chords when he says his name, but he can't hear it. Li Ming is SO obviously happy, so obviously thrilled.

But this is about Heart, Li Ming's feelings have nothing to do with it. Okay, Li Ming's feelings have everything to do with it for Heart. But Li Ming's initial, gut-reaction response to hearing Heart, hesitantly say his name, is to hype the ever-loving FUCK out of that boy.

"You're great! You're awesome! How can you speak? You're so great. I'm happy." and GOD Heart can't even hear him say it. Li Ming isn't signing here, I mean he is very obviously happy, and very obviously showering Heart in praise. But Heart cannot hear him. For most of the hug he can't even read Li Ming's lips. But the pride, the joy, the excitement is so palpable. He's jumping up and down, you don't really need to hear his words to feel how happy he is about what just happened.

He pulls back "How could you do it? I'm happy. Can you see? I'm so happy," He is talking so fast. He is talking so so fast. He cannot contain himself. But he has integrated himself so much into Heart's life, that despite the fact that he is fully forgetting to sign here, he is touching Heart, he is jumping up and. down with Heart, he is showing Heart how much being trusted with his voice means to him.

Sweet baby angel, you are talking so fast. He sees a bunch of words coming out of your mouth but does not hear what you are saying. And he looks confused because he definitely did not anticipate this strong of a positive reaction to just saying his name. Especially when you consider he isn't confident in his voice. He looks confused because he almost certainly did not anticipate this outcome.

(Ignore the subtitles on that second picture, focus on Heart's smile)

Does Heart owe us his voice? No. Did we ever need to know if he could speak? No. Does this moment hit particular hard after the confrontation scene last episode concerning the use of the term "mute" in reference to Heart. Absolutely. We saw how much it hurt Heart to learn his mother refers to him as mute.

We know Heart has to beg Li Ming to even tell him what she said, Heart can see how much Li Ming hesitated to deliver that blow. He saw how strongly Li Ming was standing against his parents, he's a smart kid. He might not be able to follow the full conversation cause it's happening quickly, and they are shouting which fucks with lip shape to read lips, and Li Ming and his mother are both facing away from him. But he knows his mother said something bad, he knows Li Ming defended him.

It is so so so so so SO important to me that Heart decides to speak in this moment. That he uses his voice casually, to say a cat's name, in private, with just the two of them.

Heart's voice is not a commodity, it's not a novelty. It's a gift. And Li Ming treats it as such. Heart is being vulnerable with Li Ming. Heart hasn't spoken to anyone in three years, and when he does speak in front of Li Ming for the first time Li Ming literally cannot contain his joy. I love how many times the camera cuts to Heart's face in this, to show us to tell us that Heart loves this. That he is surprised by it, but that he is more than happy to speak again, that he is smiling the whole time because he knows how important it is to Li Ming. Because it's important to him too.

If you finished this whole post, congratulations you have won an invisible medal.

[tellmeallaboutit]

knock knock (Raphael x F!Player)

Chapter 13, In Which Your Father Hangs Himself

AO3

MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING: this chapter deals with suicide and this is NOT the last time this work will feature suicide in graphic detail. Other warnings include: prostitution, sexual aggression / assault, xenophobia, toxic relationships.  

This is chapter from Raul's POV. This got too large for Tumblr so I will only leave the first scene here.

****

"Tell them to go to hell," your father said.

He wasn't even looking at you - he was looking at the fireplace, slumped in his chair, his hand rubbing Bella - his favourite cane corso, a beast of a dog, who lay at his feet with her heavy belly full of pups. She bared her teeth at you when you tried to approach, so you kept your distance. 

"Papa, I obviously cannot do that," you said.

He was in one of his moods, you could see that. 

One of those days he thought he had the holy right to make other people’s day hell. 

"Why not?"

You drew in a sharp breath before answering, "Because today is your eightieth birthday. Because everyone's here to celebrate. The house is more crowded than St Peter’s on Easter Sunday. Because the Prime Minister herself has just..."

He cut you off mid-sentence with a raised hand. "I'm not in the mood for a party. You deal with it, Raul".

Two months of preparation, in which you had to get personally involved because of the announcement he was hinting at. A public announcement he should damn well should make, because he clearly couldn't run Avernus anymore.

"Are you deliberately embarrassing me in front of all these people?" you said. 

"You're embarrassing yourself in front of these people, Raul”, he answered and made a grating initiation of somebody else’ voice, because you surely don’t sound like that. “Oh no, what if they don't like me, what if they think less of me, oh no, oh no. You always worried too much about what people thought of you. They should worry about what you think of them, if you ever wish to amount to anything”.

Merda! You should have known better than to return to Napoli for this farce.

"Ah, forget it. No matter what I do, you will find something to criticise."

Finally, your father looked at you. You took after him in appearance, or so they said; you barely remembered your mother anyway to cross-check. That’s what another thirty years will do to you; grey out your black hair, bloat your jawline, steal your muscles and mark your face with age spots.

There was not so much time left. For him, even less.

God willing.

"No matter what you do? You do nothing," he stated, a look of genuine surprise on his face. "What exactly do you do?"

Don’t answer. Don’t… you… bloody…

"I run an international law firm!”, you exploded. “I employ thirty thousand people worldwide... and I built it from scratch! I own estates EVERYWHERE! PRIVATE JETS! ALL WITHOUT YOUR HELP!" 

He scoffed and looked back at the flames. That was a special talent of his; reducing you to a raging mess while he remained an epitome of calmness.

"He has private jets, look at him. Without my help you'd be making pizzas for tourists, Raul."

This was pointless. It had always been pointless.

What had you ever hoped for? Did you truly think there would be something to make this man proud or happy?

"What did you expect from me?”, you asked. “What was I supposed to achieve to make you proud?!"

"Something that matters", your father shrugged. 

"And what's that supposed to mean? WHAT MATTERS TO YOU?"

"Legacy matters" he said, patting Bella's head. "Isn't that right, Bella? My sweet girl gives me at least five quality cubs every year. Did you know her last litter won Italy’s top prize? That's a good girl.” Then he turned his gaze back to you. "Not like those scrawny things you've been chasing since school. All this whoring, all this sin, and not even a single bastard to show for it".

Bella stuck her tongue out and panted, looking up at your father with sheer devotion. For a fleeting moment, you thought of putting a bullet in his head, and then in hers.

"You can't be serious. You know very well how hard I tried..."

"Obviously not hard enough," he said. "Here I am at eighty, and what legacy do I leave? For whom? Generations before you had given everything, sacrificed everything, everything, and for whom, for whose future? Who will inherit this country? The Muslims?"

He spat on the floor.

"I'll tell you who will inherit my fortune," he continued. "The Church. At least they have the decency to remember who we once were. What we fought for. What we dreamed of building. A nation of pride and ambition and honour. But you, Raul? You fled your home to where the money was and sold your soul to the golden calf”. 

What? No way. Not to the Church. The old man is getting dementia, he is incoherent. That's it, that's what's happening: your father is going senile.

"That's enough," you finally manage to say through clenched teeth. "I'm not going to stand here and listen to this madness any longer. I have too much dignity for that."

“You wouldn’t know dignity if it hit you in the face,” he said. "Maybe my mistake was loving you too much. Spoiling you rotten. Poor boy, he lost his mother so early."

You bristled at his words, but refused to let him have the satisfaction of a response. Instead, you turned on your heel to leave, only to collide with that damned bronze monstrosity.

That thing - the statue that haunted your childhood nightmares; always guarding the door, ensuring no one dared disturb the man who loathed disturbances - Mephistopheles as depicted by Jacques Louis Gautier.

"I swear to God," you seethed. "That damned statue... I've hated it my whole life. The minute you're in the ground, I'm smashing it into dust."

"It serves its purpose," he replied coolly. "Reminding me of my failures when your presence is not enough”.

You paused at the door, deciding that today was the last day you would ever try for him. 

Avernus Capital wasn't worth it. 

Nothing was worth it.

"You know what, Papa?" You asked, struggling to keep your voice as calm and composed as you father’s, "I hope it's your last birthday."

You were hoping for a reaction. But just like always, he failed to deliver what you hoped for. 

He offered none; even the shrug he gave was half-hearted. Bella fell asleep despite all the commotion; her head resting on your father’s shoe.

"Keep hoping," he said. "I plan on living until I'm a hundred and fifty, and then some."

[eleanorfenyx]

I have finished Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and here are some of my thoughts! (Obviously not spoiler free)

The cases are absolutely batshit insane and I loved it every single time they were like 'we totally collected this evidence that incriminates a secret suspect, just believe us and also don't question when the fuck we had the time to do this or when we figured out that we needed to look for it'. 10/10 no notes, that's a hilarious way to have a genius detective. Show us nothing, tell us everything, YES king.

That being said, I could have done with a lot less standing around having the supporting cast repeat whatever Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing announce, maybe in an attempt to make sure their genius is clear for the audience? I get it, but at the same time it felt a little too hand-holdy for me, especially in scenes where LLH and FDB had already discussed their findings between themselves before presenting them to the concerned bystanders. I can read between the lines (or else understand what has just been explicitly stated) without having every conclusion filtered through a slightly different sentence structure to make sure I got it.

Di Feisheng amnesia arc my fuckin beloved

Di Feisheng destroying his 'father' and freeing everyone in Di manor in a vicious act of catharsis that tied nicely into the main Nanyin bug-mind-control-thing narrative my beloved

Di Feisheng my beloved

The amount of times I was like...genuinely surprised he and Li Lianhua didn't kiss is both embarrassing (because I do in fact understand censorship and what I sign up for with these dramas and yet and yet) and numerous enough that I could...possibly...theoretically..write a 5+1 fic of every time I want them to kiss about it. No one hold me to that but it's something I think I'd like to do.

Re: the above point: because what the FUCK was that ending?!!! EXCUSE ME?! I gotta FIX THAT SHIT.

There will come a day when the strength of my hope for an unambiguously happy ending in a queer(-coded? is the source originally bl or is this its own thing?) wuxia drama is rewarded....but it is not this day. I must fix this myself.

Jiao Liqiao's laugh is one of the most annoying things I've ever heard. I was reaaaaally hoping someone would just up and stab her during one of her little evil laughing fits. At one point I was shouting "KILL HER, KILL HER" at my screen because I could NOT take anymore of her (unfortunately, I did in fact have to take more of her).

I still think her insistence on being obsessed with DFS is hysterical when he is so VISIBLY only interested in LLH. Explicitly STATES that his only life purpose is to fuck fight LLH again. Babygirl (derogatory) he is so fucking gay let's get you a nice knife to the gut instead, okay?

I thought the whole Shan Gudao plot was interesting, going from looking desperately for his body -> putting him to rest -> hunting for his murderer -> finding out he's alive/the mastermind behind everything going wrong (which I was proud of myself for realizing before the reveal, I'm normally bad at that) -> thwarting him with sass and superior martial arts at every possible turn -> killing him stone fuckin dead with beginner level skills because he's so up his own hole he can't see that's what's happening - was really fun!

He also has a SUPER annoying laugh he can fuck off

OH OH OH MARTIAL ARTS SKILL OF TRANS YOUR GENDER?! I MARRIED HER SO HER AFFAIRS ARE MY BUSINESS NOT YOURS??? ASKING YOUR WIFE FOR HER FORGIVENESS AND UNDERSTANDING AS YOU LAY DYING AND SHE GIVES IT TO YOU?????? OKAYYYYYYY

The twist at the end that LLH is the one with royal blood was so funny to me. Like it's a good twist and I love that Shan Gudao was just quite literally always a fuckin try-hard loser in ways he didn't even know, but also it was SO funny. Granny coming in clutch at the last fuckin minute with secret knowledge she just literally never shared.

LLH is such a smooth motherfucker. Shame about his insistence on dying when quite literally everyone (bar the people who suck) is begging this man to just live. Just LIVE DAMN IT!!!!! I really liked it when FDB begs him to just consider his own life as important for ONCE and remember that people care about him because YES his self-sacrificing and committment to Chilling Out Farmer Style was not the mercy he thought it was!

LIVE AND GROW OLD WITH DI FEISHENG YOU DAMN IDIOT (the likelihood of me resisting the urge to write at least the one fic for them is zero to none)

Unironically love spitting up blood as a plot device and this show is no different. The Drama. The Panache. The desperation of everyone around you because you have BLOOD coming out of your MOUTH and you are FAINTING. Poison acting up? Spit blood. Someone bitch slap you with their magical palm ability? Spit blood. Get stressed? Spit blood. Get stabbed? Spit blood. It's always good!

Okay I think that might be all I've got for now, if I think of anything else I'll add them in a reblog. I thoroughly enjoyed it, would definitely recommend!

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Every time Ztarians write – jokingly or not - that Katara and Zuko’s extreme discomfort when someone suggests they are dating and their vehement denial that there are boyfriend and girlfriend are sure signs that Zuko and Katara are in love – I am so creeped out.

How can one deny a romantic interest? You agree – means you are in love. You deny – “you protest too much”, surely you are in love, you don’t react = you agree but too shy to admit you are in love, you burn down everything and storm away to the other side of the universe – of course you are in love!

Where is “no means no” and respect to Katara’s feelings?

Zuko is very straightforward in canon in this regard. He passionately denies untruth – neither Jin nor Katara are his girlfriends, and then dreamily sighs when talking about his actual girlfriend, Mai.

The jokes don't creep me out, nor do the fics in which they show the POV of either Zuko and Katara and have the character say they DO want to be in a relationship with the other but thinks would never happen, because it's all in good fun.

But the ones that INSIST those scenes could only mean Zuko and Katara like each other because they think that in real life people only deny being into someone if they ARE into that person? Those are creepy as fuck.

And yes, it's very hypocritical of the self-appointed "feminist shippers" who are always "calling out Kataang for being one-sided/inherent coersive" to then turn around and say "No means yes when it's convenient for me."

Also the Jin thing could not be more different than the situation with Katara. Zuko was out on a date with Jin, and we are given a very obvious reason as to why he's uncomfortable with the idea of them becoming a proper item: he wants to be Zuko, the proud Fire Nation prince that is gonna help his father take over the whole world, Ba Sing Se included. Jin likes Lee, the brooding guy that works in a tea-shop. He likes her, but he already made up his mind about his plans for his own life, and they simply cannot include a peasant girl from the Earth Kingdom.

Meanwhile, with Katara, there's no "larger issue." We are never given any indication that Zuko is even aware of Aang's crush on Katara, he's assuming that once the war is over IROH will be Fire Lord, and while Mai did save him at the boiling rock, we get confirmation in the finale that Zuko did not immediately assume this meant they were back together and they don't properly reconciliate until they see each other again.

And while Katara is obviously aware of her more complicated situation with Aang, she had no issue being honest with him about saying she was confused, reacting negatively when he jumps the gun and kisses her, and, more importantly, full on say that the play was wrong in stating that she only sees him as a little brother instead of a potential boyfriend.

The first time Zuko and Katara and wrongfully labeled as a couple, they aren't even embarassed, they're uncomfortable and look kinda grossed out, even sliding away from each other because ew, no. The second time they're blushing furiously - but it's because it's a direct conversation, not them watching a play that got everything wrong about not just them but their friends.

"Oh, they got embarassed" only works as "evidence" that the characters like each other when they've already done other things to suggest an interest. Most Zuko and Katara ever done was hug, something they casually did with all of their friends. Dismissing their very legitimate disgust and embarassement and trying to play it off as "further proof they like each other" is just absurd.

[verdemoun]

does sean ever get to re-tell the stories of his da, except now he has the gang’s attention he doesnt need to overexaggerate? like he used to tell stories of his father holding a gun in the air righteously, yelling battle cries, or just saying really cool insults (which poor darragh probably wouldnt even know). but now he can properly say what happened without having worry about the gang thinking his da isnt cool or outlaw-y enough then discovers his da sounds way more realistic, normal and somehow more admirable this way? sorry if this is too random😭

c:< no this is the perfect amount of random

sean is telling one of his usual stories about his da, to a much more patient and understanding gang who have learned about darragh's legacy and genuinely enjoy how animated and proud and happy sean is to tell stories about his da, when sean says one of his dad's famous insults 'your ma's sucking cocks in hell!!'

and a few, namely arthur and lenny, give each other a glance. they don't interrupt, they let him finish, but lenny says later, in semi-private 'sean i'm pretty sure that quote's from a movie'

sean gets. weird. heated, obviously furious, but quiet. insists they must've got it from one of the articles about his da, because he remembers hearing it clear as day. could tell the exact same story again, word for word, that his da said it just before running the barn was set alight and the smoke created enough of a screen for him to slip away all while dodging enemy bullets. stole one of their horses and galloped off into the night

arthur doesn't say anything, but he knows that wasn't true. because that was him and sean that set the tobacco fields ablaze

separately, but almost at the same time, lenny and arthur remember sean was only 10 when he lost his da. 10 was a long time ago. hell, arthur was 14 when dutch and hosea picked him up but he has maybe half a dozen memories from his life before then

maybe there's an element of truth in the stories, maybe there's a distant memory, but sean's brain has been picking up little factoids and quotes and quips to fill in the blanks. he doesn't actually remember that much about his da's adventures in detail - but admitting it would absolutely kill sean

so they listen to stories, and sometimes notice things that couldn't be true like turns of phrase that weren't a thing in pre-1890s and stories that sound oddly like movie scenes or their own adventures but they don't say anything because remembering his da, even if the memories aren't entirely true, makes sean happy. and who are they to correct him?

one thing that sean does remember is perfect, second for second memory, was the first time he saw his da properly afraid. he remembered the wagon he was sleeping in jolting to a stop, when he was maybe 8 or 9, and when he poked his head out to ask what was going on darragh covered his mouth roughly and told him in lethal seriousness to be quiet

there, standing in the middle of the trail, was a bull moose. an absolutely stunning moose that stood taller than their dingy little wagon. just looking at them them. darragh was terrified, because nothing he had ever seen before prepared him for the sight of a living moose.

sean, equally terrified but in awe, crawled out onto wagon's bench seat beside his da, wincing as it creaked, and both watched and waited in terrified awe as this moose boredly chewed a few leaves off a tree, snorted a plume of steam in the cold air at them, but decided to trot away into the woods.

sean said something along the lines of what in the jesus christ was that. darragh collected himself in a second, scolded him for using the lord's name in vain, and told him to go back to sleep. moose are still his favorite animal, because every time he sees one, or even the antlers, he remembers his da as clearly as a photograph

it's lenny's favorite story to hear, because there is that unspoken affection for his da and confidence in sean's voice, because he knows that story is completely 100% true