#hes trampling

[timethehobo]

Here, take another AC Emmy. 🤲

[lycoric3]

You know what's so bitter about Yoohyun leaving Yoojin in order to protect him? The fact that he never really understood the social implications of it.

We know that Han Yoohyun doesn't care for social cues, laws and regulations, all mannerisms and behaviour towards people are done simply to please his brother. And so- he doesn't realise that by denouncing Yoojin, as a highly praised and popular S-class, he has condemned him in society. Yoohyun leaves as soon as he can, publicly announces that he's a burden, and the media is having a field day where Yoojin is made a villain.

Unfortunately, it's only made worse by Yoojin's lost desperation to find out why his brother, his child, who he has raised all his life has left him behind. Has spit in his face and is so cold, and that maybe Yoojin has failed him all this time. His desperation in trying to get to talk to Yoohyun at least once, to give him a birthday cake, to awaken so that maybe he can reach him. It only ends up adding to this manic, ungrateful and spiteful image that the world views him as.

Yoojin is condemned by society. Yoohyun gets mad that he's a hunter but Yoojin has no other option. He can't get a regular job because his reputation has been dragged through the mud and because the constant public attention is too burdensome for any employers. Seok Simyeong has constantly berated Yoojin, fucking up his mental state and as the 'spokesperson' of Yoohyun, Yoojin must think its true.

Yoohyun tries to protect him from hunters through this instinctual thought of predators and prey, but society is far too nuanced and he doesn't understand. By trying to leave him out of the dungeons, he left him to the world.

Oh Han Yoohyun, you've doomed him.

[oceanof-starz]

i too like to trample children in the street

[somepinkthing]

"Hector was a good man" "diomedes was an honorable man" BZZZT WRONG. Diomedes was there to steal, burn, and wage war same as the next person. In fact, he was pretty adamant about it. Hector had no issue with the greek's actions, merely that they were directed at him—I mean look at what he wanted to do with patroclus's body, only to then cite respect for funeral rites when it was his own turn to die. Hector also owned slaves within his own city walls—people that he likely took from their homes during troy's own conquests. All that seperated him and the greek warriors was which side they were on.

The Iliad isn't a story about morally upstanding men. Sure, it has men who have honor and perform honorable acts, but these are not good samaritans. It's is a story about war and grief and the real victims of fights between so-called-honorable men and gods. The urge to find a "good guy" in this story is wasted. Hector doesn't have to be morally good just because achilles isn't. Troy didn't lose because they were more or less evil than the greeks. It all just. Is. Because of fate? Because the gods said so? Because people will always make disastrous mistakes and it will always end up biting not only them, but everyone else around them? Who knows? In the end though, doesn't it all feel so pointless in the face of the endless amounts of grief and destruction that war leaves behind? Maybe that's the whole point

[technically-human]

Damn ig stone really is in love with robotnik considering he'd literally do anything for him without expecting anything in return

Ah, love~

He's also unhinged but yes, mostly love

[red-rott]

Do you ever think about Laurent riding his mare? When Auguste gave it to him, and he was so proud of his very fast pony. Finally riding like his brother did.

And when he was alone he'd tend to it, make sure everything's right with it. He'd learned all there was about it; to feed and nurture it propperly, taking responsibility seriously, like his brother did.

He'd have been so happy when his father, a man of strength, probably saw his determination and desire to thrive, he probably thought he made him proud, like his brother did.

He probably spent hours grooming it and talking to it, a confidant that could not use his words against him, as a child both Prince and prisoner in a hostile court. He maybe spent hours mindlessly brushing its mane thinking about the fact that the "protection" his Uncle gave him felt nothing like Auguste's. He'd maybe wash and brush and clean the stall just to ponder that his "attentions" never reassured him, not like his brother did.

Do you ever think about him as a teenager riding when he needed to think, like Jord said, as he watched the young prince ride away more and more often as his birthdays passed, coincidentally getting longer as his reputation was destroyed by the Regent? Laurent probably imagined Auguste riding alongside him in his own, much slower, pony. He'd close his eyes as the sun, yellow and warm like his brother's hair hit his face, it warmed his skin and settled his panicked bones, like his brother did.

Do you ever think of him riding the mare in a hunt, hitting its side hard to ride her at full speed, like he raced with his brother? Do you think for a moment Torveld, in his periphery, head obscured by the radiant yellow of the sun, looked a bit like Auguste? He probably, for a brief moment remembered, the races and laughs, and pats on the head. Until the smell of the mare's blood filled his nose. Do you think it brought memories of Marlas? He'd struck down a mark no matter the cost, like his brother did.

After performing a feat of victory in the hunt, do you think he thought of Auguste as he commanded the servant to cut down the mare, and watched it die by the sword, like his brother did?

[opal-owl-flight]

But what if 👆 Fat fuck was FATTER

[fatedroses]

Sometimes his voices of reason are the embodiment of every onze of princely social training he's ever had, and the maniacal dragon who only ever acts on instinct and whimsy.

[barksbog]

i layed down on the floor and he joined me

[derangedchameleon]

Snow‘s attack on Haymitch was incredibly personal.

First of all. Before sotr I was always puzzled as to why the murder of Haymitch‘s entire family was a „nessecary“ reaction to a simple weilding of the force field. What we end up seeing in the recording can easily be seen as an intelligent, ressourceful rascal, making use of all the tools available to him in order to survive, and one of those tools just happened to end up being the arena itself.

Of course we now know that there was MUCH more going on than just the forcefield. But here‘s the important thing. The forcefield is the only bit the public knows about.

Katniss‘ stunt with the berries was much worse. Sure it could be rewritten as a lovecrazy suicide attempt. But I think many people who had watched Katniss could tell that she was a survivor and that she was banking on the Gamemakers stopping them.

Katniss family was not targeted for this. Probably because Snow wanted to keep them alive to keep manipulating Katniss.

So from my pre sotr point of view, why was Haymitch‘s? If the point was to control a rebellious teenager, wouldn‘t it have been better to keep his family alive?

You could argue that this was a message to other victors. But Snow could have chosen any dissentful victor to use as an example. Anyone that refused to let themselves be sold for example.

But then there’s the fact that Haymitch was alive to wield that forcefield in the first place.

Snow promised death in the games to Haymitch. And we know mutts can be programmed for specific people and dying by them can be absolutely horriffying. The mutt deaths in Haymitch‘s games were actually pretty tame and quick compared to what could have been achieved, like with Cato. An alive Haymitch was honestly dangerous, it would have made more sense to take him out early. The longer he was left alive, the more likely it became that he would do something so drastic that the capitol would want to show it on camera, to keep the image of their perfect games. Haymitch‘s stunt with the forcefield was kept in, because if it wasn‘t, it would have been painfully clear that the capitol was covering something up, and they couldn‘t have that. (same with Katniss’ berries, and Snow told her in so many words that, if he had been in the control room during her stunt, she and Peeta would have both been blown sky high. Would have been an effective « don’t mess with the capitol » message) So why didn‘t Snow just send mutts to remove him (painfully and slowly, as promised) after he blew up the water tank?

Because Snow decided, that leaving this boy alive and murdering his family, would be a much worse punishment for him. This had very little to do with controlling the public and everything to do with punishment.

And we know, from Haymitch himself, that this is not something the capitol or Snow usually does. Haymitch tells Katniss after she shoots the apple, that her family was probably fine, since her attack on the gamemakers wasn’t public. And in order for an attack on her family to have any effect, they’d need to make her attack public. If you punish someone, you want that punishment and the cause of it public and known. Again, to controll the masses. Otherwise, it’s wasted effort.

Snow saw that Haymitch, banking on his own inevitable slow and painful death, was not worried about his family. Which told Snow everything about what this boy valued. Haymitch said that he didn’t want his family to have to watch him die slowly, but his actions during the games clearly show that that is not his top priority.

Snow went out of his way to make this as horrifying as humanly possible for Haymitch.

My sister pointed out that Snow went after Haymitch in this personal manner because of his association with the covey. A belated revenge on Lucy Gray. And maybe, Snow even projected Billy Taupe onto Haymitch.

We all knew Snow was evil, but this, I think, is the first time we see him act in such a vengefull and personal way. Yes he enjoyed manipulating Katniss with Peeta’s torture, but that was really because he couldn’t get to her to murder her. Or because a mentally destroyed Mockingjay can’t be turned into a martyr like a dead one.

Snow really got a sick kick out of this.

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Crack humor au fic where Qi Rong time travels back to his childhood and, due to his insanity and disgust for his cousin, he acts like a brat to the Crown Prince and somehow unintentionally fixes all of Xianle’s (and therefore Xie Lian’s) problems while trying to sabotage Xie Lian’s reputation and chances at ascension.

[acourtofwhatthefuck]

US of A I am so scared of you. And not in a “you’re fierce, girl” kind of way, but in a “a lot of you are stupid as fuck” kind of way.

[coconut530]

STAY IN YOUR LANE

[doctorlafayette]

I have more thoughts on the whole "Xie Lian is bad with kids" thing. The only times we see Xie Lian with a kid when he is not in the middle of a crisis, a war, and/or dealing with the worst luck imagineable it is with Hong'er. Every interaction he has with Hong'er is a good interaction too. Like could he have done better? Sure! But he was 17 and not a licensed child psychologist lol. Not to mention all the trusted people in his life were telling him to throw Hong'er to the dogs. In their first interaction after catching Hong'er, Xie Lian comforts him and tells him not to be afraid. Then he doesn't let anyone punish Hong'er for ruining the parade. He asks Hong'er about his parents and only sends him away when Mu Qing says that he has a home. In their next meeting after saving Hong'er from Qi Rong, he makes sure Hong'er gets medical attention and takes Hong'er with him since he didn't have anywhere safe to stay. Plus, at Taicang Mountain Xie Lian reassures Hong'er that it's not his fault that the evil spirits escaped even though his teacher said Hong'er was bad luck. After his accession, he makes sure Hong'er eats and gives him a reason to live.

All this is to say that I don't think Xie Lian is bad with kids when he isn't in impossible situations. He has a lot to learn (especially by modern standards), but he is not inherently bad with them. I don't think he wants any kids of his own anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind post-canon Xie Lian watching my kid with instructions as long as I packed snacks.

[almayver]

I still think we should sue Phuwin for his expressions this entire scene

[mxtxfanatic]

Idk, something about Jun Wu’s ending: the “Beautiful” at Xie Lian’s winning move mimicking Xie Lian and Quan Yizhen’s “Beautiful” when they were getting their ass kicked by the brocade immortal, Xie Lian looking down at Jun Wu pierced through on the ground and giving him his bamboo hat mimicking how the old man had given him the bamboo hat when he had been pierced through—literally and metaphorically—by a sword, Guoshi choosing to stay behind to accompany his friend after millennia of running away… as if under all of that hatred and disappointment and self-loathing, there was still just a young man, enamored with cultivation and looking for the chance to save the world if only given the opportunity. It all just feels so…