#if a ships not here assume i have no strong opinions on it

[steel--fairy]

ships i love and actively look up content for: falkner/janine, whitney/jasmine, steven/wallace, may/brendan, candice/maylene, cynthia/diantha, sycamore/lysandre, serena/shauna, kukui/burnet, selene/lillie, laventon/cyllene, palina/iscan, ingo/melli, hassel/brassius, red/yellow

ships i love and would look up content for if anyone else but me shipped them: falkner/whitney, wallace/cynthia, steven/roark, eri/carmen

don't really actively look for content but i vibe with them: morty/eusine, will/karen(/grimsley), roxanne/brawly, phoebe/sidney, archie/maxie, lucas/barry, flint/volkner, hilbert/n, hilda/nemona, siebold/malva, leon/raihan, sonia/nessa, sonia/piers, victor/mallow, gloria/hop, kabu/juan, dendra/miriam

ships that exist (positive): red/blue, ethan/silver, kris/lyra, silver/lyra, steven/zinnia, steven/riley, cynthia/lucian, skyla/elesa

ships that exist (negative): hop/bede

""shippers"" ruined it: wallace/winona

ships that make my blood boil for good reason: steven/may, cynthia/dawn, all the others of their ilk

ships that make my blood boil to the point where i can't even stand them being friends idk why seriously why does it get under my skin so much: steven/cynthia

call me im single: diantha/me, melony/me, rika/me P:

[originalaccountname]

Thank you for your reply!

And yeah, I mean when Chuuya shows up the first time in the manga and Dazai says that he sent a letter so Chuuya can't kill him, and oops Chuuya broke the chains so it looks like he broke Dazai out. His plan to me seemed like a bit of a plot hole at first because Chuuya is stronger and there's a bunch of cells and chains at his convenience in the mafia dungeon, and even without that there's nothing stopping him from continuing to punch Dazai...but part of me wonders if they both chose to ignore that on purpose and that is very funny to me. What's your take on that scene?

I have the unpopular opinion Dazai was 100% bullshitting his way through that encounter with Chuuya. Yes he could have escaped earlier, but he was waiting for a specific moment to do so. He was estimating the timing of what the others were doing. This is happening while sskk are having their battle on the ship and the ADA just got Ranpo on finding them. I fully believe that when Chuuya showed up it was a "oh no a sudden obstacle has appeared" situation to Dazai:

They bicker and fight like we've grown used to them doing, though Chuuya is the most violent he's been to him since he rammed him into a wall when they first met. There is pent up frustration and anger there. It's also Chuuya's introduction, so we quickly need to establish that he's strong, prone to getting annoyed by Dazai, and looks very cool. I'm serious his solo panels are so extra.

When Chuuya finally asks Dazai why he stayed captured instead of escaping, Dazai has to take a moment to think before answering him:

What happens here is that Dazai starts by saying the truth, that he let himself be captured to know who wants Atsushi. That destabilizes Chuuya, because Dazai helping someone isn't something Chuuya is used to. This leads to Chuuya taunting Dazai for having "gone soft" and revealing that he just came back from a mission:

Chuuya put himself at a disadvantage that way: if he was away and just came back, he is not aware of all the details and recent developments. Look at the bottom right panel on the second page ^, all black with a thinking bubble. Dazai just got an idea. Dazai can use this.

"if that were true, they should have contacted..." <- Chuuya wasn't told about any executive meeting because Dazai is making it up right now. There was no letter. Dazai is making up a dilemma for Chuuya to get stuck on, with just enough plausibility that Chuuya can't immediately brush it off.

Plus, when Chuuya is finally cornered, he simply assumes Dazai one-upped him again by turning his own words against himself:

When he walks in:

When Dazai corners him:

When Chuuya first said he was here to spite him, Dazai looked tense. When Chuuya remembers it, it's to Dazai's little "yep" + looking away pretending this was aaaaall planned and not at all something he just came up with.

Dazai is the "improvise adapt overcome" king, I have no doubts he enjoyed making Chuuya squirm, but I don't believe he stayed for that at all. It was just a surprise treat.

Chuuya absolutely had more options than killing Dazai or letting him escape there. There really wouldn't have been any surprise to Chuuya going "yeah so I broke his restraints and then put him back sorry". He just sort of gave up the idea of holding Dazai back in any way. Yeah he could have chained him up. Dazai would have escaped anyway. Chuuya knew Dazai was only waiting for something.

And you want me to believe Mori was aware they captured and chained Dazai and expected him to stay there? They have the same escape artist hobby. Mori was taking bets with Kouyou for how long it would take Dazai to get out. Mori wants Dazai back: chapter 10-11 are in the 3rd volume, and the bonus of the 4th volume is Chuuya drunkenly calling Dazai to complain about the boss telling him he wishes Dazai would come back. Why would killing Dazai even be on the table?

My final thoughts though is BSD is a live series that has been going on for over 10 years, and it's expected that some details would change as time goes on. Dazai asked Chuuya why he bought his hat. Dazai of all people should know what the hat represents. Asagiri just didn't know yet what the hat would mean because this was chapter 10 and Chuuya was just introduced. So everything is to take with a grain of salt.

[bluginkgo]

Ep 8 Thoughts and Details Part 1

Some thoughts and details I had while watching ep8, and some parallels I found. And yes, I had to split this into 2 parts because Tumblr said "fack you, you can only upload 30 images :P"

Spoilers, duh

Already starting strong, the song that plays through the radio is "Cyn's theme" if you will, that is heard all the way back in ep5 (time stamp about 2:34)

Ep8 showcasing the first teaser image that was released on Liam's channel. Quite bittersweet, in a good way.

Well, uh, Uzi is a true god now XD She's got the AS that was originally in Cyn as well, double powerful and double traumatized/damaged OC!

"A How-to guide of overcoming the existential dread evoked by murdering innocent sentient robots capable of emotion and independent thought. Real life JCJ engineer testimonies. Thought provoking analysis of life and the benefit of being the apex predator. Insanely philosophical advice such as, 'Get over it,' 'Shut up and keep working,' 'Do you want a job or not.'"

Bleh >:P The fact that the AS is still playful is something a bit silly to me, in a funny way. Despite it being the god of the universe- almost- it has a silly side to it.

The amount of times there were cuss words either almost said/implicated made me so happy and burst out laughing one too many times XD

I've seen some people mention how the reunion between Uzi and Nori was unsatisfactory. In my opinion? It was perfect. The awkward feeling of meeting someone you should have known your entire life, all the while trying to the world was perfectly translated here. The silliness that Uzi inherited from Nori shines here. But most of all, N's kindness shines through Uzi. I think if Uzi was still her angsty rebellious teen like she was back at the beginning of the series, she would have not had as nice of a reunion with Nori as she did now.

Omg, you have no idea how happy I was in this scene. The animation, VAs, the DETAIL- ALL OF IT was so amazing! N looks so silly and goober-y <:3 Another thing I took notice later on was the timing. It's not really stated how much time it took for Uzi to go from falling down the AS hole to being punted into space. But assuming about minutes, that implies N facking booked it. The moment he got tossed out of the cathedral with the keys, he absolutely booked it to the ship without evening thinking whether Uzi was alive or not. He needed to see the evidence for himself. He didn't give up on and assume that Uzi was gone.

Recently one of the animators posted the scenes they worked on, giving us a clearer view of expressions. The work done by Xoriak was amazing and really pushed the expressions on these characters to the limit. What used to be Uzi's anger, quickly melts into relief an sadness as she realizes that N didn't give up on her in this scene. While she sacrificed herself, N did not accept her possible death as the only answer. No, he chose to look for her, and he would have done the same with V had the elevator not been blocked off.

This made me happy too. N has grown so much from who he was in the pilot. He used to be the push over that made friends with rocks, that accepted any order from the higher ups and didn't dare question any rebuttals. Now? Now he's confident enough to even voice the fact that he was mad about what Uzi did.

Give me like- giv- give me a second- LKJD;OIADKNVKVNAKDJF;OIWAEJFANVKJASDJFAOIWEFNAKJSDBV For the longest time my hyperfixation has been BONKS. Evident enough with what I've drawn (looks back at the 4-5 bonk drawings I've made). The fact that I got to see them bonk in canon made my sad sorry soul ascend into the upper plane of existence XD Oh and "die man bit-"

I grew up watching Studio Ghibli, so to see this moment- of NUzi falling and holding hands, of course my brain said- YOYOYOYO LOOK LOOK THEY'RE SO CUTE-

The moment of respite, the hug, the tail wrap around and the quick release from Uzi's part after having a heart to heart- it was all so perfectly beautiful ;w; NOT TO MENTION THE MUSIC, as usual AJ DiSpirito absolutely delivered. I REQUIRE THAT MUSIC TO BE PLAYING LOUDLY IN MY EARS 24/7 PLEASE AND THANK YOU AJ.

"I owe you 1 spaceship" -N

Couple things:

It's funny how J just either gave the ship up without a fight, or N was so stupidly fast that J couldn't even do anything about him taking it XD

N is an absolute machine at speed drawing XD

"I'm FINE, and calm, and GO AWAY." J is the embodiment of the entire work force TwT Couldn't help but say "same, honey, same ;w;"

Excuse me while I just- ITS VVVVVVVVV SHE CAME BACK OH MY GOSH- passes out On a more serious note, I've seen plenty of people mention that if V came back, her sacrifice would be for nothing. I don't think so. V came such a long way and grew to be more kind and honest thanks to her interactions with N, Uzi, Lizzy, and even her "death." It shows, because she chose to side with Uzi and N, and they all fought together in an amazing dance.

There were many moments in the episode that were a bit "slower" pace as many have put. That these moments took away from the intensity that was supposed to be in the episode. I don't think so. These moments are needed not just for the comedy part of it, but to give our brains to rest. To take a second, process the fighting we just saw, and be ready for more action. This is often used in Studio Ghibli movies, where after heavy action, it is followed by moments of quiet serenity to give you time to let the events sink in.

This, this right here TwT CRIES. These three have been together, hanging out, figuring out the eldritch mysteries- of course they'd pick up habits from each other. From N becoming more confident with himself and allowing himself to be mad at someone. To Uzi picking up on V's crawling on the ceiling habit. To V picking up Uzi's "bite me."

The amount of hand holding that was in this episode gave me enough serotonin for a life time. And the way that N always ended up wrapping his tail around Uzi, be it a hug or a cool pose. All of my NUzi hyperfixations are becoming canon and making me go FERAL.

Something that is interesting and always comes back to us, is the AS's interest and fixation on N. The way I have always seen it was Cyn was the reason for it. The AS tends to take something from the host and amplify it ten fold. For Uzi's case the perfect example was when she felt anxious or upset. Ep4 and ep7 are great examples of that. For Cyn's case it would seem that she got attached to N after she entered the mansion as a Solver host. The AS probably took that thought and amplified it to unhealthy amounts.

Oh.MY.GOD. THESE GOOBERS SEND HELP THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME WITH HOW CUTE THEY ARE. N first attempts to protect Uzi, and she says "nuh uh" and covers his hand instead. This. This right here. It's far too beautiful TwT

Great frame, but uh, how the fack are we able to see the AS symbol? XD Cause uh like, her face has a split for the nose section still and all of a sudden it just... went away? XD Don't get me wrong, the animation is TOP NOTCH in these last episodes, but silly little moments like this- where it's super tense and scary, but after a rewatch it just seems silly.

When I first saw this I figured "oh shit, it's ep7 all over again, they're gonna be obliterated." The demonic screams I let out were a bit embarrassing to say the least XD

This little shit. She's just playing with them, and she knows it. This entire fight was nothing more than a little game for her. Like a cat playing with a mouse before killing it.

In this scene you can actually hear the first notes of Eternal Dream, but in a super distorted way, much like it sounded in ep6 (timestamp about 15:30)

Alright, Ginkgo what now, why include this blurry frame of nothing? I really admire Cyn's VA. Fitzy has always done an amazing job at making my favorite character- Cyn- the creepy silly goober that she is. So of course I would have watched and unwillingly memorized laugh takes that Fitzy also shared. One of which was here (time stamp of about 0:47. The laughs are similar, and most likely reused from ep7 takes that never made it into ep7 but carried over to ep8. Just a fun little detail I noticed.

OMFG LMAO AAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHA THE WAY I BAWLED THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT XD

Split second frame but I see it. I SEE IT V. SHE COVERED UP N'S CORE TwT Despite all of the comments she made, despite all of the things she did, she still cared for him. And the entire show, her entire character growth shows that. She didn't run in that moment- she could have much like she did from Cynessa mere seconds ago, but she stayed, and tried to protect N too.

OMG BAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA YESSS UZI XD

The entire fighting scene between Uzi, Cynessa and J was so amazing. As usual, AJ DiSpirito did an AMAZING job with the songs, but more so the fact that Uzi is able to hold her own against J and Cynessa, that just amazes me. She has always been strong, but seeing it in battle made me appreciate it all that much more. Another thing about this episode, it seemed like the animators didn't particularly try to hide anything sneaky. All of the glitched sections (ex: Uzi's visor after she at the AS) were code that general population is unable to read/decipher- unless someone with an actual expertise tells me otherwise, I can only assume its code of her CPU functions- once again, remember, I know next to nothing about computers and that language TwT But the moments that were evident were these- they were even changed to BLUE. From the pilot time, everything was sneaky. I mean from the way the Murder Drones logo switched briefly into the AS symbol, to N's waking up having administration "CYN" written on his visor upon reboot. All of that was sneaky details put in for us to hunt down. This time around, it didn't feel much of like a hunt and more like silly easter eggs.

Wanna see the rest of it? Yeah, here's part 2 because Tumblr doesn't like more than 30 images per post TwT

[faededaway]

Monkey D. Garp x Reader (smut)

[WARNINGS: age gap, established relationship, gen neutral, Garp x reader. Reader is a marine Captain. I promoted them since the last fic ☺️)

The man's frame never fails to amaze you. He looks as reliable as he feels. His strong arms steady you as your knees give up on you.

“For someone your age, you get weak kneed real fast.”

Your reactions always give him lots of room to tease. His boisterous laugh vibrates in his chest and in yours as you feel him on your back. Makes you squeeze around him as he thrusts into you.

“You're an odd one, my stunner. Look at how wet my teasing's getting you. Feels like you're never letting me go.”

It's been a few months since you started dating. Six months in, he started bringing you on his ship wherever he went. He'd take on your whole fleet, too. Garp didn't give people any time to speculate. From the very first day of having you on his ship, he'd take you to bed with him every night. From the moment dinner ended, he'd snake his arm around your waist and say his goodbyes as he lead you into his cabin.

“If anything happens, remember there are two lieutenants on board. The captain and I will be occupied.”

No one dared to laugh, not when Garp held such a secure hold on your back and when his eyes held a genuine softness to them. Garp likes you, and that is obvious to anyone watching.

The first time, you'd been too shocked to protest. Thoughts of how you would face the fleet tomorrow made you uncomfortable. You didn't want to lose respect in front of your command.

But Garp had other intentions with bringing you onboard, the same intentions he had with Coby. He wanted to make you part of the change in the Marines. It was hard for the people to lose respect for you when you were the one leading them into battles and strategizing for them as Garp snacked in the corner. Of course, all of this was intentional on his part. Some sailors had even assumed he was secretly training you every night (Coby was the one who started this rumor: 'Just like Garp-san to train even his lovers so harshly!')

Of course, Garp gave you his words of consolation, “as a captain, you have to learn to mold and grip their opinions of you. Don't let their voices shake you. Don't let them forget your accomplishments just because you're shagging the old Vice Admiral now.” He said it so nonchalantly. His hands were undoing your shirt and his words were mumbled on your skin.

‘Even in bed, he's training me, Coby’, you had thought to yourself, ‘he doesn't even have to try.’

So you're here today, in his room, on his bed. Your nails dig into the pillows that smell of your shampoo and his cologne. Your back is arched how he likes it. The sound of his skin meeting yours is louder than your groans and his dirty whisperings.

He's leaning into, he always does. His hands always find his way onto your chest, palming and kneading your sensitive areas. He can never keep away from them. You're lucky to have him take you from behind, otherwise his mouth would leave your chest sore and sensitive enough to make you cum from the slightest breathe of a touch the next time you fuck.

His thrusts are hard and deep. With every thrust he pulls out completely and pushes back in. You feel his burning tip rub on all your folds each time he thrusts in. This old man has the most sensitive tip and he likes overstimulating it himself.

“S-sir, please, please, slow down!”

He stills inside you and stops his ministration. Slowly, he repositions the two of you so you lay on your back and he's on top of you. He listens to you every time.

“Is the damn near breaking? You want to slow it down?”

Every time you ask him to slow down, he stops for a second and changes your positions. His experience and age show in these moments. He teases you lots. All smiles and teeth, yet he never ignores what you say.

It's just, he does make it a challenge you to make you cum in the next 20 seconds. He counts down to it.

Lips around your nipple while one free hand teases the other one, “gonna make you come soon. Gonna break that damn of yours.”

Hips grinding into yours without pulling out at all, “you feel how heavy you get me? All thick and riled up.”

Hand rubbing your inner thighs, “gonna fill this hole of yours. Gonna mend the damn myself with my cum!”

Hand on your chin making you look into his eyes when he gets to 20, “gonna come for me now, aren't you?”

And he's right every time. You're not sure if he actually counts to twenty. Maybe you're the one doing the counting. But the last few seconds after the change if position always feel like your end with him. His dick feels bigger, his hands feel rougher, and his thighs spreading yours feel thicker. His skin is just so warm against yours. They grey in his hair stand out against the colors you can barely see with your teary eyes. His years and years of experience, his wisdom, his mistakes, his past, his accomplishments all pile on in this moment and make you cum for him. Just for him, all for him, I'm cumming for you!

You're not even sure when the words leave your mouth. But you hear his laugh and feel his lips kiss your forehead when you come off your high. His cum floods you when you can see again, the feeling of being filled to the brim almost makes you cum again. (Another thing he does with intent but always blames old age for, says he can't help when he cums.)

Something he actually can't help but do is collapse on the bed after he cums. With a grin that makes his cheeks hurt, he lays on his back and sighs in content.

“Ah, nothing like emptying your balls before sleep,” an elbow to his side would make him say, “I mean, nothing like filling your partner's hole so they can sleep better”. The grin on his face would remain even in his sleep. He actually wouldn't clean up until morning. But there is a bowl of water and a washcloth on the bedside table on your end. Once you're done cleaning yourself, he'd pull over your body to his dirty one. So, you clean him first. There's always lots of kisses and weirdly phrased praise, “you clean up nicely! I feel new!”

But you love him and this nightly routine anyway.

[yourlocalbadgerscales]

My OFFICIAL intro post, since I never actually made one!

Hi!! I’m yourlocalbadgerscales ^^ My name is a reference to me being a Slytherpuff 💚💛

Yes, I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan and a Slytherpuff for life!

A little something about me then. I go by she/her pronouns and I am currently questioning my sexuality, but I’m pretty sure I am at least panromantic. And I feel like that’s all you need to know about my sexuality to know that this profile is a safe place for all you fellow queers (:

I feel like it’s also important to know that I am a teenager and therefore a minor, so any predators, please leave my profile immediately (I have already encountered one, sadly, and I’m new here! I made an account on Tumblr last week or so)!

But I do not mind making friends or just chatting with adults ^^

My interests:

• Music! I love singing and I want to learn playing the piano. I also love listening to music and I do it 24/7. My favourite artists right now are Conan Gray and Taylor Swift, but I also love a little bit of Eminem ^^ • Books! I read a lot, lately I have mostly read fanfiction but I want to change that, hehe. I also enjoy writing books myself (and fanfics).

• Harry Potter! I read the books when I was just a little kid, but I never really discovered the charm of Potterverse until last summer (when I btw realised that I was queer). I have strong opinions on many things in Harry Potter but there’s room for discussion! Feel free to comment on my posts and reblog, or just write to me privately so we can discuss!

• Marauders Era! I love the Marauders so much guys you don’t understand 😭 My favourite ships are Jegulus and Wolfstar! My favourite marauders era characters are James and Regulus!

•LGBTQIA+!

These are topics I will post a lot of stuff about on here!

Things I don’t like and won’t accept on my profile:

• Homophobes, transphobes etc.

• Racists

• People against feminism

• Bullies

• Snape apologists (unless you just want to have a polite, nice chat about your reasons and opinions, I love learning new things and trying to see stuff from a different POV!)

• Predators, pedophiles

• Trump supporters

• No picking sides between Israel and Hamas on here ‼️‼️‼️

• Nazis

• People who deny climate change

• People why deny that kids can have depression, anxiety etc.

• People who look down on other people with disorders or diagnoses

• Genuinely just people who look down on other, hate people for things they can’t control or are bullies. Yeah, you get it.

Other things to know about me:

• Don’t assume stuff about me

• I’m from Europe. Wtf is 5’6 and all that shi /j

• I don’t plan on showing my face on here. Ever. But I might reconsider.

• If you want to follow me elsewhere I am also on Pinterest and Spotify. Write to me and I’ll give you the links :)

• I am not diagnosed yet, however I am pretty damn sure I’m autistic and have ADD (ADHD), based on a lot of research and what professionals have said about me. So I am not self-diagnosed :)

• No slander of any kind on here. If you disagree with me or others here, be polite about it. I am kind of sensitive when it comes to destructive critism… learnt that the hard way.

• UNLESS I accidentally say something really hurtful! Don’t be scared to point that out! I can assure you I never meant to hurt anyone, if that’s the case.

Now you know a little more about me! I may have forgotten something so I might add stuff later!

I often follow back, BUT I would love if all my followers are just people who genuinely enjoy my content and not following me only to get more followers themselves.

Have a nice day and drink some water! ;) Your favourite badger xx ❤️

[arliedraws]

Reminder, everyone, that queerness is not a personality trait. It can be an essential part of your identity and representation fucking matters, but your personality does NOT define your gender or sexuality.

The point of this post is not to call anyone out in particular for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about queerness/gender, but to ask people to be more reflective about why we tend to base our understanding of queerness in particular around stereotypical ideas of femininity and masculinity. Hypermasculinity harms all of us. If you are a trans woman, there is no RIGHT/CORRECT way to be a woman. If you are a trans man, you should NOT feel like you are less of a man because you embrace qualities our heteronormative society deems “feminine.” Obviously, right? Well, if you were to observe fandom and shipping dynamics, these values become…murky.

I say this out of the kindness of my heart and with all the love in the world, but folks gotta be more careful when they say, “I can’t believe people think THIS character is straight!!!!” with 100% sincerity particularly regarding a narrative where the author very obviously did not intend to make characters gay. (You’re excused if you say it because you’re just passionate and having a good time and I respect you for that.)

I am bothered by these statements because…upon what exactly are you basing this argument? The problem is, because the author (derogatory) did not intend for people to interpret particular characters as gay/queer, there is a strong likelihood this statement is based on stereotypical ideas of what queerness looks like. “He is dramatic/emotional” is…uh…not a good reason to think someone is gay. A man with stereotypical feminine qualities does not necessarily mean they are gay. A woman with traits associated with hypermasculinity does not necessarily mean they are gay.

Do I think Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks are gay? YES. Do I think Tonks could probably be gender fluid? Yes! Do I adamantly believe that Sirius is a bisexual semi-aro superstar? Also very much Yes. So it’s not like I don’t have opinions or feelings about this. However, there is SO MUCH HARM in believing that men who embrace softness, beauty, and vulnerability MUST be queer. Okay, you say. But in MY mlm ship, one guy is SUPER DUPER masculine and the other one is feminine. Right. That’s part of my point. Hypermasculinity is so pervasive even in queer spaces that ships are often reduced to “this is the top/masculine person in the relationship, and this is the bottom/feminine person.” So…uhhhh…what does this sound like?

Yesterday, I had a conversation with my students (teenagers) to explain why “she wears the pants in the relationship” is an extremely harmful idea. I asked them, “Okay, so what does that mean when you say that?” Students responded that it meant that the woman was the “boss” in her heterosexual relationship—that she was the controlling one.

“So when you say ‘she wears THE pants,’ are you suggesting that one person wears the ‘traditionally masculine’ article of clothing and the other should wear the traditionally ‘feminine’ article of clothing?” I prompted. They could see where I was going with this. So I went on, “Think about what we’re insinuating here. We’re saying that men are leaders—or at least, they SHOULD be. Masculinity is being a leader, and femininity is being a follower. Making a snide remark that ‘she wears the pants’ suggests that she is NOT assuming proper gender roles and it might strike some of us as funny. But do we see the problem with this? What does that sound like to you? And for that matter, should ANY partnership be so unbalanced that ONE person controls it?”

Kids were shaking their heads, but one student was really troubled by this. “But in every relationship, there’s got to be the person in charge and the person who is just…” He didn’t really finish the sentence. I’m pleased to say that most of my students immediately recognized the glaring issue with this. Most of the class shot this kiddo very horrified looks, and he was so shocked that people weren’t on his side (goodhearted kid, but clearly some messed up gender roles going on at his house). I let them discuss a bit more and finished with, “Be reflective in your relationships, friends. Dynamics like this can sometimes point to power imbalances—and generally, people shouldn’t feel inferior in their partnerships.”

Fandom is SO LIKE THIS. We equate personality with sexuality and gender so hard!!!! We try to inject hypermasculinity into queer spaces SO HARD. At some point, your desire to be ‘subversive’ just turns into toxic heteronormativity. When you make Remus hypermasculine and Sirius hyperfeminine because it “just feels right” - consider WHY this feels right to you when there really is not a lot in canon that points to these things. Why does it feel right to you that one person should “be a top” and one should “be a bottom”? This is not to say this is ILLEGAL or you shouldn’t make Sirius feminine—it’s just…think about the underlying message here when it’s in contrast to very very masculine Remus.

My point here is NOT “stop making characters gay/feminine!!!” My point is, hell yeah, the characters who are canonically straight could be gay, but also I really recommend avoiding basing this on stereotypes. “I can’t believe people think this overly dramatic/emotional/fashionable/soft man is straight!” Unpack that. Really think about it. What are you really saying? Just…be reflective, folks. You are not immune to the heteronormative agenda.

TL;DR // softness, aggressiveness, beauty, love, gentleness, competitiveness, etc. belong to everyone, every gender, every sexuality.

[cellarspider]

22/30 An old man, allegedly

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

We return once again to that movie I wish to send the gift of a single tribble, Prometheus.

Yes, the movie’s gotten around to a twist it’s been clumsily foreshadowing for much of its runtime: Ol’ Man Capitalism, AKA Peter Weyland, is in fact alive and on the ship. I’ve been informed this was a relatively late addition to the plot, according to the available script drafts. His inclusion makes a stab at some themes. Let’s see how they do.

Content warning for deliberately gross old feet, weird religious imagery, death mention, Holloway mention.

Yes, David’s discovery of a living Engineer has meant it’s time to take Weyland out of the tupperware and reheat him for a bit. And it means we get to see Guy Pierce in the flesh, under a pile of old man makeup.

Weyland looks no less weird than he did as a hologram. In fact, he possibly looks weirder, because we no longer have that excuse for why he looks like this. Weyland is very frail, and very frail people’s appearance can change rather drastically in ways that aren’t usually put to film, but frankly, he looks more like Grima Wormtongue has been giving him investment advice.

Weyland is here because he thinks the Engineers can stop him from dying. I’m not certain he’s not already expired, and I’m also not sure where he got that impression. There’s a missing step of logic here, which the movie never mentions, but it’s likely related to the assumptions of christianized worldview: if something is the creator of humanity, then it must also have ultimate power over human life and death. Therefore, appealing directly to it can grant you eternal life. The cosmic watchmaker can replace your gears and keep you ticking indefinitely.

I will go along with this framing for just a bit, particularly because this scene is obviously reaching for some biblical imagery I’ll try and tackle in a moment. When the movie remembers to have characters engage with its themes, there are various reactions to the potential of meeting humanity’s creators. 

Shaw is positioned as a true believer, but what that actually means to her is extremely unclear. She has some curiosity about the details of creation, so she’s not buying tickets to the Ark Encounter or whatever. She assumes welcoming and benevolent intention from the Engineers, but there’s never any indication of what she intends to do here, beyond prove herself right. 

She’s also christian, and she thinks the christian God ultimately created the Engineers. How does that fit into her cosmogony? She has to be the sort of christian that takes Genesis as allegory, but what does it mean that humans were shaped by another species in their own image? Are humans more faithfully created in the christian God’s image than the Engineers were? Does she think the Engineers have souls? Are they angels?

We get no opinion on any of that from her. We don’t even see much of anything about how her apparently strong faith affects her life, beyond having a family keepsake and having belief in things. Holloway at least had an explicit goal in mind–it was a hubristic goal, but it was a goal. He wanted to get all his questions answered about life, the universe, and everything, answered personally, rather than letting anyone else get there first. Finding out the Engineers were dead immediately took the shine off of that, seemingly because he’d thought they were omnipotent and omniscient, despite being positioned as an atheist in the dialog. 

Holloway’s position here was odd, particularly for an alleged scientist. He expresses that the creation of life turned out to be “nothing special” during his drunken funk. This echoes common misconceptions by deeply religious folks about how atheists and/or scientists think: the idea that if you’re so set on finding natural, rational explanations for everything, you’re doomed to view the world without wonder or beauty, just chemicals bouncing around for no purpose. That to seek the logic behind the world is to fling yourself into total anhedonia.

As many others have stated before, that’s not what comes out of it, what they’re describing is in fact called “clinical depression.” Understanding more technical details about how the world works doesn’t take the awe out of it, it makes it even more amazing. I’ve excitedly rambled to people that if sequencing tech was cheaper and easier, I’d love to study the genetics and epigenetics of weeds growing on dirt roads, to find out what makes them different from their cousins living only a few feet away in less crappy soil. The existence of a tuft of grass in dusty gravel is endlessly fascinating to me, and I know just enough about them to want to know more.

But no, Holloway’s behavior is common in depictions of atheists by religious people who fundamentally don’t get that one can exist around religious folks without secretly thinking the same way they do. It’s doubly weird, given how surface-level Shaw’s faith is, in a way that also seems to be written by somebody who doesn’t understand the concept too well.

In any case, Holloway got pre-disappointed in the answers he didn’t get, to the very basic philosophical questions he wanted to ask: why were we made? Do we have a purpose? Those sorts of things. Honestly, he could have had more complex things to say about this, even without dislodging his bro persona. Being a bro does not negate the possibility of thoughtfulness, it just means that thoughtfulness might be expressed differently. I didn’t see the movie doing that with him. 

The only other potentially intentional thing it was doing with him is using the sum total of his behavior as a negative example: don’t question these things, it’ll lead you to despair and death. Not sure if they meant that, but the rest of the movie uses the punitive morality of some slasher movies as part of its basic structure, so it’s not an impossible read.

Skipping over David for now and going to Weyland: he’s all about what the Engineers can do for him. It’s a gesture toward people who approach christianity from a transactional angle. Faith in exchange for something. There are definitely people like that out there. A lot of premillennial dispensationalist evangelicals fearfully cling to the belief that, as long as they say the right words, they’ll bodily ascend to heaven and leave everyone else behind for the Antichrist, conveniently skipping that unpleasant “death” thing they don’t want to face.

For those who grew up with that stuff or those brainrotted enough like me to remember it, yes. Yes, I am comparing Peter Weyland to Tim LaHaye. The dialog in this movie is bad enough that it makes me think of Left Behind.

All of this stuff positions the Engineers as either equivalent to the christian god, or to the imperfect gnostic demiurge who is mistaken for a god. But frankly, the Engineers seem more like they were trying to make a sourdough starter, but the last time they opened the fridge, it’d grown fuzz and smelled awful. They were ready to throw out their project. 

Was there a heavy ritual aspect involved in their actions? Sure. But the movie hasn’t sold me on the idea that they are themselves acting as christian allegory, only that christian allegory is being placed on them by others.

Speaking of Weyland and more christian stuff, he’s getting his feet washed by David.

Must be maundy thursday. Foot washing before entering a dwelling is a practice that started as a practical act in a sandal-wearing culture, and became one of power dynamics and religious symbolism. Water would be provided, or a host would wash the feet of a guest themself, or, if they were rich enough, a servant or slave would do the washing. This is very much the dynamic as far as Weyland is concerned. Weyland believes in souls, David, by his estimation, does not have one, therefore he serves humans.

Of course, foot washing also has connotations of humility, and is strongly associated in christianity with Jesus washing the apostles’ feet after the Last Supper. David has certainly and consistently shown himself to be more competent at everything he does than the other characters, and they wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. He’s working on a level they aren’t, even if he’s still forced to be humble about it. If this is the reading we’re meant to reach for, David’s managing a complicated double-act as Jesus (he’s going to be killed for the sins of man yet rise from the dead pretty soon), and also Judas (he is hella jazzed to betray somebody to their death).

In any case, Shaw tries to convince them not to wake up the Engineer. In response, Weyland essentially goads her about Holloway’s death and her beliefs: “And what would Charlie do, now that we’re so close to answering the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind? How can you leave without knowing what they are? Or have you lost your faith, Shaw?”

Yes, indeed, Weyland, WWCD. Once you determine that, you do the opposite, and you’ll never be steered wrong.

So of course Shaw decides to go with them.

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Alt-text rambles

https://wheelchair.spinergy.com/collections/wheelchair-everyday/products/lite-extreme-lx 

https://youtu.be/7h8zJHywjAw 

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2015/11/05/left-behind-index-the-whole-thing/

https://www.slashfilm.com/503786/first-photo-and-video-footage-from-robert-zemeckis-a-christmas-carol/ 

Overflow Ramble #1

I’m in wait-and-see mode on Fallout one right now. I’m not personally a FO:NV person, so I don’t have special attachment to the West Coast stuff, but I see what they were *trying* to do, even if it didn’t land with me at all (TL;DR playing a queer character felt especially bleak thanks to a lack of underground queer culture in the face of the homophobia). 

The trailer looks good, there’s conflict between the BoS and NCR, which hopefully means both factions are going to be the absolute, incurable disasters they should be. Goggins playing a ghoul who helped sell the lie of the Vaults is good, and he’s a damn solid TV and character actor. Dale Cooper and 80s!Paul Atreidies himself Kyle MacLachlan plays the vault overseer, so that’s fun. I’m not a TV person so I don’t recognize the rest of the cast, but I’m hoping it manages to be something good. We’ll find out in April, by which point I’ll hopefully be fREE OF THIS MOVIE

Overflow Ramble #2: Tribulation Force

Close-up of Nick Cage deep in his “paying the bills” phase as Rayford Steele in Left Behind (2014), looking precisely as enthused as he should be, to be playing Rayford Steele. I chose this reaction image because I am not subjecting anyone to flashbacks of the older movies with Kirk Cameron in them. 

Want to know how I know too much about this stuff, despite literally spending my childhood thinking people just entertained the idea of Jesus the way they did Santa Claus around the holidays? 

Because of a blogger by the name of Fred Clark, who decided one strange day in 2003 to write a thorough dissection of the Left Behind books (cite 3). Thankfully for his sanity, he lost steam eventually. …When Tim LaHaye died in 2016. All fear and respect to Fred Clark.

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[mazzystar24]

One thing that I dont understand is why everyone quickly forgetting about Oliver's comments that he wants bucktommy to follow Tarlos history

Or Tim saying that he wants to write a romcom with this relationship

Also, Kenneth saying that Buck finally found love or JLH wants scenes with Tommy in the season 8

Like, I think there is a strong chance of Lou to be in season 8

Hi anon!

I’m assuming you’re asking why people aren’t more convinced of bucktommy endgame and are still shipping buddie, I’m taking this at face value with no malice behind it but I will say if your intention was to kinda discourage buddie shippers or whatever by asking this then that’s a bit impolite because I’ve been very vocal on my blog about not icking other people’s yums or put a damper on anyone’s enjoyment of a ship or fandom

Now assuming you meant this genuinely and giving you the benefit of the doubt-

About the tarlos thing I genuinely don’t think I saw that (if you can send it I’d actually wanna read it) but there was sm press around the bi buck canon ep that I think maybe it just slipped my memory if it was around that time, even saying that if he did say something about that that could still mean a lot of things, like Ive personally not watched lone star (except a few eps here and there) and only have a vague understanding of tarlos but it could be talking about wanting a dynamic similar or something like that

Like let’s not forget Oliver also spoke multiple times how his ideal for this storyline is for bucktommy to break up and remain friends and for tommy to still be this guide to buck as he goes through his self discovery

And Tim saying he wants the relationship to be a romcom can just mean what he also said about wanting buck off the hamster wheel and sort of wanting his queer arc to be lighthearted and fun, like the relationship being a romcom doesn’t necessarily mean endgame to me for me it just communicates tone, like he doesn’t want them to struggle or kinda be put through too much angst and he wants it all to be light and carefree and a good experience for buck, which even as a buddie shipper I genuinely agree with so much because every relationship with buck has ended very badly and he’s just constantly getting hurt and I feel like he needs to have a good relationship and he needs that end to be amicable and have that be a good and healthy dynamic

Again Tim also said multiple things about them being a brief relationship, called them a fling and to not expect wedding bells, etc

Kenneth is not a writer or part of the ship so his opinion is interesting to see but doesn’t really hold much bearing on whether I think buck and Tommy are endgame

I do agree that it seems like Lou/tommy will be in s8 and I actually wanna see how it unfolds and also I feel like with so many bigger storylines it makes sense to keep the relationship going until s8 when you can actually get to see their relationship and also if/when they break up give it the time it needs to have actually made this a relationship rather than like a two episode/ date arc, you know what I mean? (idk if I’m being clear with what I mean)

Thanks for the ask anon!

[magebastard]

like dust settled on the world

rating: g

ship: solas x rome lavellan

description: fluff with nary a plot in sight

wc: 431

They stretch long fingers over the elegant curve of his fine jaw. His head tips back in soft, inquiring reply. Doesn’t think twice about baring his throat. He could very well be a hunted man—it would be far too late to turn back.

Instead of cruel teeth, Rome presses a kiss to the dip of his chin. They smile. Cold lips against colder skin. (Between the two of them—neither runs particularly warm.)

It’s dawn. It’s easier.

They share a tendency and propensity to ramble. Lore, principles of magic, politics, the fate of the world, a favorite snack, an anecdote, a strong opinion, nothing at all. It teems and mills about them as they travel. As they camp. As they fight their enemies. For two individuals who claim to withdraw—who claim a preference of being unobtrusive, they unfurl together.

Here, now there is nothing to say. Solas watches her eyes as she watches him. Warm, hearth brown. Earthen and arresting. He reaches for their hand.

Not—not where the mark—where his mark is. Not that—don’t think about that, now. Do not burden them. Do not burden them further than you have.

She twines their fingers. Lifts her marked hand to trace soft fingertips over his scalp. He wobbles at the careful touch. They both are only a facsimile of what they could be.

Solas takes a breath. Compose yourself.

“We should prepare to depart. I believe the situation in Emprise Du Lion will require the breadth of our focus.” They have come to retrieve him, after all. Better to be easily gotten.

It takes her a moment to reply, their fingers still moving, feather-soft and slow. “I suspect as much,” quiet, reverent.

Not the reverence of a disciple. The reverence of a lover. Starved whilst sated, wanting whilst content.

They kiss his brow. A parting thing. And they clear their throat and adjust to their full height. Assuming the mantle of Inquisitor once more.

(He knows it is a choice. Every time they slip into the ‘self’ of Rome Lavellan, it will be a choice again to become the Inquisitor. It is a transfiguration, a trick and a trapping. It will always be difficult, even when time eases the wrinkle of its newness. Solas knows this well.)

He stands to his own proud height. He smooths a wrinkle over the shoulder of her fine, silk shirt.

“I will be waiting at the gate for you.” I will be there. Fragmented and lying and wrong, you will have me.

She breathes deep. Nods once. “I’ll meet you, there.” I will have you.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

i think the reason why people don’t like mai for zuko is because zuko is already a very grumpy, angry, pessimistic person and so is mai soo they reasoning is that he needs somebody with a more opposite and optimistic, personality like jin and katara who are more nice and caring than mai idk cause zuko does cheer up a little at the end aand katara is more supporting at the end at least oor that’s what people say idk what do you think? why does zuko chooses mai and not jin or katara? and what do you think of the people who “knows whats best for z ??

Anon, I'm gonna be honest here: the people that genuinely dislike Mai with any kind of bias affecting their judgement are very rare. Anyone who tells you the overwhelming hate she gets, both as Zuko's girlfriend and as her own character, are not 99% the result of zutarians being bitter that she "stole Katara's man" are either lying to you or were lied to.

Mai, alongside Ty Lee, is one of the most chill antagonists of the show. Zuko was far grumpier and MUCH more furious than she ever was. Hell, her main deal is that she is always too chill because she was taught to repress her emotions and not voice her opinions.

THIS is why she is Zuko's true opposite, the yin to his yang. When he is letting his emotions cloud his judgement, she's the voice of reason. And in turn, when she's getting too distant, he makes get out of her shell and connect. They've had their issues, sure, but by the end of the show they were all pretty much fixed.

Also, I would NOT call Zuko a pessimistic character. He has low points and moments of panic, but that boy kept himself mostly sane during three years of exile by holding onto to hope that, maybe, just maybe, this supposedly dead enemy of his nation that had been seen in 100 years was not actually dead, thus his mission wasn't pointless, and he'd have a way home. Just look at how over-confident Zuko is battle and at how many life threatening situations he got himself into because he acted without a plan, assuming that everything would turn out alright somehow. That boy is an optimist. A grumpy, moody, reckless optimist, but still.

Again, that's the kind of situation where he and Mai would ballance each other out. She likes the thrill of these adventures as much he does, but she will NOT act without thinking. Hell, she won't even put up with stuff that is not dangerous but that she considers beaneath her (see her refusing to follow orders in "The Drill").

This is thing that really bothers me about shipping, not just in this fandom: people forget that no one wants to date their clone, but no one wants to date their COMPLETE opposite either. You need common ground.

Katara and Zuko have the same temperament - proud, strong-willed, stubborn, wearing their hearts in their sleeves, and willing to get VERY mean when pissed off (never forget the "The stars look beautiful tonight. Too bad you can't see them, Toph!"). Then being a couple would just BEGGING for them to have some very ugly fights. As for their differences? Like I've said a million times before, their goals in life are so different they wouldn't even live in the same country. How could a romance between EVER work?

Ty Lee's temperament would be a good ballance for Zuko's, but the most common ground they have is they hang out with the same two girls and maaaaybe Zuko believes in auras too since he basically demanded Mai to defend herself when Ty Lee insulted her aura (this is totally not me letting my headcanon of Zuko taking that stuff 100% serious and writting down everything Ty Lee says on the topic cloud my judgement). Other than that, we see that Zuko clearly wants to be Fire Lord, and while Ty Lee just wanted to go back to the circus or travel around with her new friends. We barely get any interaction between them, so acting like there's evidence for her to be his perfect match is quite the stretch.

Same for Jin. They got along well enough on their date, but that was just for short bit of an episode, not even the entire episode itself. That's too little to claim she could be "the one" for him.

With Mai meanwhile, we had a ton of episodes, in which we got to see their relationship's ups and downs, and see that they managed to bounce back from some pretty serious conflicts and still clearly adore each other after it all.

As for Zuko choosing her over any other girl, it's simple. He likes her. He likes her dry/sarcastic humor, how badass she is, how much she enjoys physical affection, how she doesn't put with any bullshit fro anyone (including himself), how she was bold enough to basically tell him, Azula and Ty Lee to fuck off, how pretty she is when she hates the world (unbelievably iconic line) etc.

Mai is Zuko's type of girl, she likes him back, and they are compatible, and thus they ended up together. It's not rocket science.

[the-hype-on-tv]

okay this is it imma bout to rant about fiction once again

tell me why everyone knows and loves or at least has a strong opinion about the Lego Batman Movie, but i might just be the only human being who grew up IN LOVE with the Lego Batman Videogame(s)???

[THIS THING CONTAINS SPOILERS, I TRIED TO KEEP EM OUT BUT WHATS THE FUN IN THAT]

the first one is CLASSIC, no voice actors so child me could (and also couldn't cuz i was stupid) understand what was going on since I didn't speak english at all, and i remember LOVING the designs (they're not as good as i remember 😭) even tho i had no idea who the characters besides batman, robin and catwoman were. also that was when i fell in love with poison ivy cuz she had like ??? love powers (as i said, child me was a dumdum) cuz there was this one level where she controlled batman with a kiss akjdkakfkakdja

i remember i had a crush on justin bieber a little before the second game came out (it was babybabybabyohh) and then BOOM suddenly my childhood crush was a friggin blocky plastic minifigure wearing goth furry clothes:

(also, young me wouldn't know, but this is where i got most of the superbat vibes from-- when i saw this ship years later i was like "oh yeah, i remember in the videogame clark was head over heels for B and bruce was like 'i am the knight' which is batman code for ilyt", plus dick (who's dressed at tim for whatever reason) is like "oh yeah, why don't we call superman?" I'm telling ya he ships it

...i remember the whole game story like it's a fever dream i had-- there's an award show which bruce wins, joker jokers it up and batman & robin chase him, then i remember robin says something about how "dick grayson couldn't attend the party because they didn't take teenagers" (I didn't know who dick was so this was my introduction to him) and then fire in the elevator, SUPERMAN, [SPOILERS] he and bats visit lexcorp but turns out the other gay couple aka lex and joker did some lexing and jokering around and got a weapon that kills... black???? so batman would die-- but like-- he's not black, he's wearing black clothes-- oh shit, are they racist-- /j

now comes the final one:

wow this one is in space! kinda-- brainiac shows up and i remember this was the first time i saw j'onn and-- wait-- this robin is the same but-- in the scene where [SPOILER] batman is being mind controlled he says his name is.. tim drake?? who tf is tim drake, kid me would say. wow, there's more than one robin, kid me would say.

but then again, I didn't have this game cuz my dad was sick of spending our lunch money on videogames, so he got a gameplay online (just the cutscenes), glued them together and told me IT WAS A MOVIE (actually, i just assumed it) and i kept believing that until i saw my friend GAMEPLAYING said movie on his VIDEOGAME, one more evidence to "i was a dumb child.

and there was superbat shit in this one as well!! there's this scene where [SPOILERS] big blue babyboy is being mind controlled and is giant (tbh idek why he's giant and I'm not sure if they address why-- something to do with brainiac's shrinking kink i think) and brainiac is like "kill him" and bruce goes like "clark, ur my bestie, I don't say it often but i realized i gotta say it more cuz earlier tim almost got his ass eaten by a random alien and i felt fear" and clark is like "🥺🥺🥺" and mind control breaks with yay power of friendship (the whole plot is how in the beginning tim saying he was tim got bruce out of mind control which meant bruce cares about tim but bruce thinks it was cuz the batmobile went shock on him, so in the end he admits he was wrong and everyone hugs wow)

and after that i forgot dc was a thing until like four years later when dc superhero girls came out

anyway, thanks tumblr for listening to this lmao i just dumped my whole childhood in here, I'm glad this thing don't have character limit

[flowerandblood]

Once in a while I get asked about Alys, what I think of her and why I use her character the way I do and not differently in my stories, why she is always a side character, sometimes good (The Impossible Choice, The Sweetest Fruit, The Knight & The Judge) and sometimes bad (Glass Cuts Deepest, The Softest Whisper, The Prince and The Fox).

I don't want to answer the same thing several times over, so I've decided to make a post about it to which I will direct people who ask about it. This is my opinion, which only applies to what I write about.

Let's start with the fact that I think Aemond doesn't have mummy issues, but daddy issues − I mean he craves male attention, not female one, and not in a sexual context, but in a paternal.

He craves his father's attention but doesn't get it, so he sticks close to Criston Cole, and looks at Daemon as if he were a god, dreaming of hearing a word of admiration and appreciation from him, of facing him, of being a great warrior in his eyes, someone his uncle might fear.

If the situation had been the other way around, if it had been a young princess who had been charmed by a much older man of lower status, grooming would have been the first thing the people would have talked about here.

Added to this, of course, is the fact that Aemond kills everyone but her, that his superiority of power and position is great, which makes going into the relationship toxic right from the start − Alys is fighting to survive, she can't refuse him and perhaps she feels something for him afterwards, Aemond wants a lover and companion, he wants to make out for the humiliation Daemon has caused him and perhaps he feels something for her afterwards too.

Of course Aemond became drawn to her. Of course he respected her, because we never saw him treating his mother or his sister badly. He respects Alys because she is intelligent, well-read, because he can get into a discussion with her, because she exudes wisdom and because she is beautiful, mature and can guide him when he feels lost.

He chooses her, however, because he knows he will never be able to count on anything else as a kinslayer.

It may help him to accept the situation and whatever feelings he has for her, but we don't even get a chance to see what would have happened if he had been given the chance to choose a woman equal to himself in terms of position. No matter how strong a character Alys would have been, I believe that even if he had married her so that their children would not be bastards, she would have been like Anne Boleyn, and one wrong word from her would have been enough to make her lose her head.

They have known and been together for too short a time for us to know what would have happened next, whether Aemond would have been bored with her if, as Prince Regent, he had come across another woman closer to him in status and matching his needs differently from her, someone who in his opinion would have been 'more suited to him'.

Why should I assume that they shared affection is true love? Because he flew with her on Vhagar? Because he put his child in her? Because he kissed her before he flew off to fight Daemon? Because he said "my lady, my Alys" about her?

He says this because she is his, emphasising his attachment to her, but also that she belongs to him in the literal sense, she is his woman, his mistress, his property. It was the first months of their acquaintance, of course they fucked like crazy. They hadn't yet had time to settle down and get bored with each other, to see what their relationship would be like if they were forced to be with each other in a time not of war but of peace.

Do I have anything against Alysmond and stories with this praning? Absolutely not and I never have, just like any ship with Aemond, but I just don't read such. Some people see chemistry in their confrontation, I don't − just as some people don't see chemistry in my stories between my characters, finding my heroines boring. That's okay too. That's what fandom is for, to have ships that we adore.

But please don't shove your "it's ridiculous you're making Aemond's canon love interest look like shit and you better not use this character at all" down my throat. No one is going to dictate to me how I'm going to use the character in my own fanfics, any more than I would ever dare to write someone not to write Alysmond because it's a toxic relationship. I don't give a fuck. Let everyone write about what they love and what inspires them, 100% support from me.

Just let people write what they want to write about, love your authors who write about Alys and Aemond, reblog their stories and support them instead of writing to me.

Amen.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Some of this is copy-pasted from my response to a comment on one of my fics several months back, so sorry to anyone who read that and will now have deja vu.

These thoughts are based on my perception/headcanon of Sherlock and Liam as an allosexual couple. I’m totally supportive of people who like to ship pairs as ace/queerplatonic/etc, but with these two I do find it a liiiiiitle bit of a stretch...have y’all seen the train scene? They have the horniest of energy, good golly. But that’s in my opinion, and anyone who sees it differently is absolutely valid; we’re here to have fun, so have fun with it!

Okay, disclaimers out of the way: the more canon Sherliam gets, the more I love that they don’t meet typical BL seme/uke cliches. I do catch myself borderline feminizing Liam on occasion, primarily because I want him to be held, and engulfed in too-big sweaters that smell like Sherlock, and tucked into comfy armchairs with blankets and books: and alas, gender stereotype nonsense makes that feel like feminization even though it really isn’t. And that’s totally separate from the way I perceive their potential sexual dynamic, which is basically: switchy as hell, but Liam is more prone to being a bit dommy.

But like...They're the same age and height and even weight to start with. There are no particular inequalities in their education or unbalanced power dynamics. Sure, the Lord of Crime is puppeting Sherlock around, but Sherlock knows that, and though he doesn’t feel he’s truly on equal footing with Liam until right before the fall, it doesn’t feel...skeezy. Liam never actually lies to him (*glares at English manga translation*). There might not be outright spoken honesty between them, but there’s a mutual understanding of the game they’re playing, and overall their energy is incredibly nontoxic for an “enemies to lovers” dynamic (not that they ever really managed “enemies” to begin with).

(Another disclaimer: I don’t have a problem with shipping toxic pairs, Hannigram is one of my all time fave ships. But the older I get the more I’m drawn to happy stories and healthy representation and boy oh boy has Yuumori been delivering.)

Anyway, back to avoiding BL standards: Liam is pretty and fashionable and a scholar but sometimes exudes such dom vibes. Sherlock is an athletic borderline himbo, vaguely wrong-side-of-the-tracks, but gets blushy and flustered easily. Liam is the damsel in distress saved by his dashing hero: but he is also the criminal mastermind taunting his rival. Liam is rich to Sherlock's working-class, except nope, Liam is an adopted East End kid and Sherlock's family is running the country.

So many gay stories, with BL being probably the worst offender but far from the only one, blatantly signal top/bottom, feminine/masculine. They practically put a giant flashing arrow over one guy’s head that says “HE’S THE GIRL IN THE RELATIONSHIP.” And as someone who is neither a gay man nor prone to entering relationships at all, I can’t really speak for the realism of these things; I know there are people who strongly align themselves with presentations like twink, bear, etc. And I’m sure many people have a strong preference for a particular role in the bedroom, especially in a dating scene dominated by hookup culture: but it also feels so disingenuous to me that anyone, particularly in a long-term partnership, would be like, “This is the only one thing I ever do.” Even in a straight relationship that sounds hella boring.

And Sherlock and Liam sidestep those assumptions so neatly, which up until chapter 67 I would have said is simply because...it’s not BL. But now we’ve got chapter 75 and they’re practically married. Mix together the almost undeniable sexual charge of their early interactions with their more recent LITERALLY VOWING TO SPEND THEIR LIVES TOGETHER and it seems reasonable to assume that sex is on the table. Yet nothing about the way they look or act demands the reader assign them certain sexual roles. They don't feel like a collection of stereotypes signalling top and bottom, they feel like an actual human couple who probably have preferences in bed but also like to switch things up and try new things.

I appreciate that.

[bloogers-boogers]

Ok so since I can't be anonymous anymore it's time I reveal myself so hello, ur literally my fav artist! Here is the image

Firstly I want to say that it still baffles me that I'm ur fav artist, I'm super flattered but also very grateful, thank you!! That makes me emotional 😭💖💖

Also, in regard of your ask, these are the three main ships I like! 💕

I have hc of each one of them, but I feel it would be a long ass text, but I will try to sum them up for you in the shortest way possible!

Kyman: a bickering hate/friendemies/friends/love romance that pretty much begins with the two disliking each other from the start of their friendship bc of their very different opinions and the way to handle things. They are equal! Mentally and physically; they have different reasons to put their skill and intelligence for, which is why they fight a lot. Kyle would use these qualities for good or right while Cartman refuses to use his abilities for the right and rather go for the wrongs. Their strength is basically based on what they find necessary to do. Cartman is seen as weak when it comes to confrontation (mostly with Kyle) but if Kyle were put himself in trouble all that weakness is vanish, he is strong af, he's just lazy and has no need to put it to use unless it's Kyle in danger. When it comes to Kyle however he uses it to correct Cartman or save him, but normally he doesn't feel the need to waste his energy on punching Cartman when he's his usual neutral dumb self (just one punch and he knocks him out).

Also they're very similar in the way they act; Kyle is just more easy to shrug off while being around an actual menace with no shame. The perfect example of the same coin.

A odd pair that throughout the years developed a bond and trust like no other duo to how obsessed they are with each other. Very obsessed. And yeah, conflict feelings, they fall in love and are even more obsessed with the other but more relaxed. Obnoxious but relaxed nonetheless.

Stendy: Their first and childhood love/highschool sweethearts! It's starts as innocent and cute, then the type of careless and "toxic" you'd expect from literal kids; which is why it's hard to expect much seriousness from it. They care for each other a lot! But unfortunately they have lots of breakups until they finally just had enough (I hc Stan ending it for good in six grade!) But the pair falls again throughout middle school but refuse to make any advances besides just enjoying being friends. They find comfort in their company. Highschool changes that after a long period of being good friends, secret pinning and nervous outbursts. Stan confesses again but this time they're both sure of what they want and starts taking their relationship seriously. They decide to put their relationship on hold while going to college and agreed that if the other no longer had any feelings for the other after reuniting again they would just end things peacefully. Ofcourse, theirs some dating here and there but they find their way, again, to each other. They can't help it, they just have that chemistry, the type that's hard to let go. Nostalgic, maybe? Warm and at home feeling. They get together, have a couple of dates and get married immediately. Cartman thinks it's gay tho.

Kenrietta: their relationship is based on rituals and curses! Mostly Kenny's curse~ Henrietta actually starts getting along with Karen after the little girl couldn't stopped looking for her in advice of her new goth phase and ofc looks up to her. So Henrietta just accepted her around, eventually however, Karen would reveal to her about her "guardian angel" which she would eventually just talk endlessly about him. She then told Henrietta it was mysterion and that's were Henrietta would blurt out "the poor kid?" (I hc that the goths know who mysterion is) but yeah, ofc Karen laughs it off guessing Henrietta was just assuming and let's it go. She meets Kenny when the bastard literally crashes inside her window (firework incident, typical main 4 shit) during a ritual with her friends and Karen. He greeted them causally as he walks dizzily to the center of the ritual unaware of whatever thing they were doing. Kenny gets sacrifice during that! And the next day it was like nothing happened until Henrietta and the goths start feeling some weird connection towards Kenny and they assumed it had something to do with the ritual 'that Kenny messed it up for them and ran off from'. After all that, they drag Kenny's ass into their mess (mostly Karen had to convince him) and eventually start hanging out with them thinking their dark stuff was cool. Eventually getting closer to Henrietta, falling in love first and telling her also about his curse. She believed him oddly enough for his surprise! But he was very grateful unlike with his friends who didn't believe him at all. And yeah that's how their thing started. They have their own thing going on outside the other so they're not together most of the time, but their closest friends and family know they're a "thing". They're not possessive or the slightest clingey type, they understand if the other is in need of space and will give it if necessary. They're pacient, very pacient with the other if they're acting "dumb" and will never back off to point out their bullshit if they're being dismissive about it. They have a lot of dark humor too.

Sorry if it's long! But if there's another ship you're interested in me doing just ask! Those are just personally my main ones Cx

[clatoera]

For the choose violence ask game - 1, 12, 18, 19, 22, 23

oh bestie you did not come to PLAY with this list okay okay okay I dont even know what i'm about to get myself into but okay!

The character everyone gets wrong and why?

I mean..we all know i have really strong opinions on the baby careers from the 74th, but a lot of that is based on extrapolation. So, instead, I'm going to go with my queen Enobaria. Yes. She has her little shark teeth. Yes she is a D2 victor. But she also is the only one left. Enobaria, we can assume, loses all of her friends either in the games or in the war. Of course people like to see her as crazy and blood thirsty, and yes I truly believe she could have won the Quarter Quell. That being said..when we see her in the end of Mockingjay she is the only Career left. period. And when she votes yes to the games it's like..not this over enthused yes because she loves the hunger games..it's let them know how it feels. Let the Capitol know how it feels to train and die and watch the children you mentor die and the friends you've made die and be abused and it's not about the glory of the games. It's about let everyone know how to feels to be the victor, to be the mentor, to be the person who watches someone they knew even briefly die. I love you Enobaria you will always be famous.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I have written 200k words on unpopular characters that people should like more so this one doesn't seem like i'll do much difference in answering but I'm going to go with Glimmer. Glimmer is a teenage girl who is immediately represented as a sex object. That is how she is presented; sexy. She's a teenager, literally no older than 18. Yeah we can hate her for whatever reason we want (which we don't really have a reason to) but I think it's important to recognize why she exists within the story and what I think the bigger point of her is and it's to represent how the capitol views them. She is, to me, very clearly a parallel to Cashmere who we know was a full fledged sex trafficking victim by snow. That is VERY Clearly what he fate would have been. She was a child being sold as a sex object so she could possibly survive, baby girl they could NEVER make me hate you!

18. It's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on..

Enobaria, period.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I have absolutely no shame/horror/etc over the fact I like anyone, I quite literally run a blog titled "mother of all careers apologists". We know who I like. We know I like Cato and Clove and Glimmer and Marvel. This is not news. I am not ashamed. It is my entire brand at this point.

22. Your favorite part of canon everyone else ignores?

I actually answered this one yesterday right here, it's the fact Peeta and Katniss come out of the arena with physical impairments and that Peeta is an amputee and that largely influences his story in Catching Fire in the arena!

23. Ship you've unwillingly come around to?

Again...I don't really think I came around to anything unwillingly. I run a Clato blog. I wrote Cashbaria into my stories. I consider myself a pioneer of Glimmer/Marvel shipping territory. If anything I think I make other people come around to ships against their will. Welcome to the fun house of career x career shipping that crosses district lines and weasels into everyone's hearts.

Thank you friend!!!

[mintyimperiatrix]

just finished reading the Infinity Doctors and i'm now going to make it everybody else's problem, so welcome to what is probably going to be the opposite of a concise review by someone who knows utterly fuck all about any of the 90s books, yeehaw (spoilers)

~~

so in all honestly i literally only read this because it's the only other time that i'm aware of that Patience appears and after reading Cold Fusion i wanted to find out more about her. imagine my feelings when i find out that this entire book is set in a different universe :D

for real though it took me a good while to figure out wtf was going on. i didn't know if it was pre-Hartnell or a Doctor from the future or what but i think it's the latter because there's one line about how he doesn't wear a velvet coat anymore, implying he's after Eight and i know it was written wayy before Nine was cast but his description fits Eccleston's so well which to me points to him being yet another alternate Ninth Doctor so ig Nine just gets to vibe on Gallifrey in this timeline instead of facing The Horrors(tm)

speaking of timeline stuff it kinda just felt like a compressed version of the Doctor's life from the main universe. he remembers Patience here so clearly married her as Hartnell rather than before. Hedin's around so i figure he just didn't die, which makes sense if the Omega shennanigans in the Three Doctors and Arc of Infinity also didn't happen which i have to assume is the case judging by the entire plot of the book. there were also references to something that'll off the Time Lords later on which tracks with the Time War but again this was pre revival so i'm guessing it's some Faction Paradox stuff since that was also referenced. it follows the concept that the Doctor's half Human and his parents are Penelope and Ulysses which is not something i'm a fan of normally but knowing this is an alternate universe i think it has potential. he called the TARDIS a family heirloom at one point which is bizarre but in that context somewhat works

and the Magistrate is the Master right? surely that's gotta be a unanimous opinion, right?? i loved him though, probably my fav character in the book. exactly what you'd expect a Gallifrey-bound incarnation of the Master to be like. i was sad when he was killed/vanished/whatever, i wish there was some sort of follow up on that or even just a reaction from the other characters at all. there was one line though where Larna notes that it's obvious that he's in love with the Doctor and vice versa and that made my thoschei shipping brain squee with delight.

loved Larna too! we all had that one hot teacher she's just the only one lucky enough to actually snog them. i loved her dynamic with the Doctor and the Magistrate and i like to think she exists in the main universe, probably re-engineering Gallifrey's staircases and turning down constant offers to join the High Council

i would like to have strong words with Lance Parkin regarding his repeated de-shoeing of female characters though and of the random mentions of curves and figure that never occurs with male characters. i wouldn't mind the emphasis as much if the same had been done for the male characters, and it's not like there wasn't opportunity for it however in the scenes where the Doctor is naked briefly or the Magistrate is wearing tight fitting clothing not once is it given the same depth of description as the scenes with Patience or Larna. the introduction of systemic sexism on Gallifrey was also so incredibly unnecessary and i have no clue why anyone would feel the need to specify that "of the thousands of Time Lords on Gallifrey only around a dozen were female" like huh???

speaking of Gallifrey i did enjoy (for the most part) the depiciton of Time Lord day to day. i'm not fond of the distinction between Gallifreyans and Time Lords, in my mind all Gallifreyans are Time Lords some just don't live in the Citadel, but the stuff about Infinity Chambers, the way they decorate their rooms, the random tech like Z-Caps and Force Knives, the obsession with protocol and proceedure, it's all gorgeous. the use of TARDIS/Time Lord dynamics was stunning (there's a soft moment between the Doctor and the TARDIS at the end and i love it), also the use of different pronouns for different TARDISes was a welcome treat

onto Patience though, the reason i read the book. it referenced her fate from Cold Fusion but because of the everything about this book i assume it's a different version of Patience which honestly i'm glad about because i'm not sure how i feel about the idea of the Doctor marrying the woman who was at his birth and proceeded to raise him. also don't like her being Omega's wife, that's really weird??? i enjoy the idea that she's older than she initially appeared in Cold Fusion though, past regenerations for her would be cool but i doubt she stretches back as far as the Doctor does in the main universe. it was so fun to see her again though albeit a different her

on the whole i'd say a very good book but with enough iffy bits that i wouldn't rate it too high. bit of a slow burn but in a good way! i love Sontarans and i didn't know going in that they were there so that was incredibly welcome. i really like the Infinity Doctor and i wouldn't say no to more content with him, even just an unbound comic strip or something because i really like this take on the character