#in terms of confrontation that is

[vv-ispy]

nameless bard ameno archon au.............

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[hothammies]

definitely one of the best things the bear has done was equate claire to chef david and sydney to chef terry bc it makes it so much more obvious where they're going to go with the story - even though claire and syd have "ambiguous" roles of who is better in carmy's life (even if it's extremely obvious to us who is), the juxtaposition btwn chef david and chef terry is so stark and obvious to everyone about who's better it's not even funny 😭

they even gave sydney and chef terry matching headbands btw LMAO

the fact that they also had the guy who physically got carmy out of the fridge be named terry as well, while chef terry's talk to him in s3e10 was what got him partially out of the fridge mentally is... wild to say the least. making the conscious effort to name the characters like that was definitely a choice

also sydney waiting for him by the door after he got out when claire left while he was still in it? that's some delicious storytelling right there

[litrallytyrus]

if troy was still in community for the gay dean episode where the word “gay” is said maybe 100 times he would’ve had some sort of revelation like the cogs would have been turning

[procrastinationaccount]

Hello, I would like to discuss some implications!

Between the fact that Harrow herself didn't use her sexuality as a reason and this fear about other Houses becoming involved in the Ninth:

I think we can assume that in the Nine Houses everyone is essentially expected to be attracted to people regardless of gender, especially when it comes to political alliances. It's not entirely clear whether the idea was brought up to her or she was getting ahead of it, but either way the possibility of a strategic marriage was floating around.

So, this tells us that at some point Harrow must have had to shield Gideon from marrying Ortus.

Did Harrow ever bring it up as a threat they both knew was empty, or did they both silently avoid it? Would Gideon hit her with the, "What are you going to do, hitch me to Ortus?" when she went on one of her monologues about punishment and House loyalty? Would Gideon ever be genuinely worried about the prospect; would she ever try to thank her, prompting a "I meant what I said, Griddle - I can't have an imbecile like you contaminating my Houses' bloodline"-esque response?

In any scenario, it gives Gideon more evidence that Harrow both understands her and is willing to place her over the needs of the Ninth and raises the question of how Harrow justified it to herself!

[homerforsure]

Thinking about how in a parallel universe there’s a version of this season where the Natalia actress was available so Buck got the “move in, move out, you don’t have to force intimacy on a speed run” storyline and Eddie and Marisol break up off screen.

And how, in that universe, there’s a 7.04 from Eddie’s perspective that ends with Tommy taking him home from the hospital and making a comment about Buck and Eddie saying “No, I knew he was jealous that we were hanging out without him. I kept meaning to invite him along but..” “But?” hesitant yet smoldering eye contact. “I didn’t really want to share your attention.”

[dailyaoyagi]

The duality is killing me.

[quibbs126]

What if we had an update where the North and South Dragons were recruited, but instead of Dark Cacao, it was Dark Choco doing it? Like, he knows the Ancients are probably forming some sort of army against Dark Enchantress, and so he goes to recruit the two dragons for the cause. Maybe he sees it as some way of helping or atonement (though not a full atonement) considering the things he did. Also he’s associated with Oreos like them

I dunno, it popped into my head this morning and I thought it sounded neat. Also this from the art book

(Pretty sure it’s Dark Choco because of the shoulder pads)

[badbookkeeping]

barely getting my thoughts in order here, but boston was always going to end up alone. even before we see him in the show he was planning on leaving, so he stirred shit up and acted impulsively and without fearing the consequences because he was going to new york soon anyways and wouldnt have to deal with it. the tragedy for him is that when things started catching up to him, he learnt that he very much did care. he thought he could simply cut ties and leave and not feel anything, but having those ties cut for him shows him how wrong he was about that

[nevertheless-moving]

stormlight au number 35 (help me i'm lost in the sauce)

Jasnah, Dalinar, and Renarin (surviving Kholin Radiants) travel from End of World all the way to right after Gavilar's death.

Vengeance pact still happens, but plays out very differently. We don't need absolutely every man in the kingdom to join the army, alright Elhokar? And we're making sure Dalinar is there to accept their surrender, actually win in reasonable time frame and 'conquer' them (no Alethi want to live out there anyway, and as long as they send gemhearts in tribute we won't enslave them. actually elhokar, your sister wanted to talk to you about slavery—).

Honestly, just an excuse for:

A) Adolin to have a breakdown that his entire family has been replaced by voidbringers, before eventually accepting with relief that they're still his family, they've just become voidbringers, but its ok because he loves them and will protect their increasingly heretical actions with his life. Hugs his glowing red and green eyed little brother a lot.

Adolin: do I — should I also learn to read?

Jasnah: do you want to?

Adolin: not really, no.

Renarin: to be honest, it's probably for the best if you just focus on being, well, a good Vorin Alethi. One of us probably should be, if we don't have a desolation as a distraction.

Adolin: ok! sure! I can do that. Also thought id mention that if possible, I would personally appreciate *not* having a desolation.

Jasnah: it may prove necessary.

Adolin: I know, i know. Just thought I'd put my feelings out there.

Dalinar: and we'll need you to produce Kholin heirs. Neither Renarin or Jasnah are likely to, and I'm not remarrying a younger woman.

Adolin: Sounds good!

B) Kholin family to have way too strong a reaction to this random darkeyed surgeon in training when they visit Kharbranth, scaring the absolute shit out of said darkeyed surgeon. Adolin walks into a wall when he sees Kaladin. He doesn't even know about the Radiant thing, it's just that

C) Kaladin dresses really hot in this au. Ok. I lied. this is actually the main reason for this au. It — there's a whole chain of events. I – don't look at me like that. The character development works, alright?

A lot of it boils down to distracting people from groping the female medical trainees.

He realizes that breathing in a certain way, while it makes you focus better and move faster, it also makes you more...present somehow? people pay attention to you, for better or worse. Some of the ladies teach him that there are different ways to channel people's focus on you, if they're looking anyway.

And apparently, for the first few years Kharbranth medical students, light and dark eyed alike, have basically no protections from wealthy patients or Lighteyed chief's of staff who are a bit too interested in teaching you to use your safehand, and its not like Kaladin can challenge them to a duel - he doesnt know how to fight, and it would get him and the person hes trying to protect kicked out of the program. So much for honorable lighteyes being real.

But I mean. If wearing some eyeliner, and a gemstone in your hair, if taking your right glove off first after an exam, conspicuously leaving the left on while talking, if bending over to pick his clipboard up in a certain way... if it gets people to not focus on his friends...

...one could probably get pretty angsty with this concept, ngl.

The Stormlight understanding and oaths come in time. There might also be some Radiant Disguise Superhero hijinks, havent fully decided but it's not really a major stretch from canon to say that Kharbranth struggles with violent crime. Also Kaladin gets to learn about institutional racism in school. It's great. I have a lot of Kaladin thoughts but so does everyone in this au so its ok.

Kholins visit Kharbranth:

Jasnah: you've been moping for days. Is your new fixation of the week not responding to your advances?

Adolin: I don't want to talk about it

Dalinar: son, you've clearly been in a mood—

Adolin: look, I'm not — the individual is not suitable for my station, alright? I'm not courting someone I could never actually marry, because that would be stupid.

Jasnah: while it would complicate matters, you know your brother and I have plans to alter the alethi codes around eye color, considering they're clearly a crude derivative of radiant mythologization

Dalinar: I thought we agreed that was low on the priority list

Jasnah: You said that uncle, Renarin most certainly did not agree, and his arguments are sound

Adolin: He's just some surgeon, alright! He's not just darkeyed, he's a darkeyed man. I said I'll get over it! I always do.

Dalinar: ah.

Jasnah: ...did you say surgeon?

Adolin: Yes? Why?

Dalinar: why does it —

Jasnah: how did you meet?

Adolin: He was — he was with this group of women at a winebar, and he was dressed like – but it turned out he just goes to protect them from - and it was so — why are you asking me about this?

Dalinar: Oh! A darkeyed surgeon. Protecting, you say? He sounds...honorable.

Jasnah: Very honorable.

Adolin: He is! He volunteers at this house for injured soldiers, and you wouldn't believe he'd never been to war, I mean his spear Katas — he's – it's like he was born for it —

Dalinar: He sounds like a fine young man. Perhaps you should bring him to meet us.

Adolin: I — while I appreciate that father, I really do, I thought I was the one who was supposed to well. I mean my role in...all of this is to produce heirs and look proper, right?

Jasnah: Hm. when you put it it that way...

Dalinar: I mean, Navani and I might be able to...

Jasnah: Don't be ridiculous. I'm perfectly capable of producing a child, should it prove absolutely necessary,

Adolin: Jasnah?

Jasnah: Provided the man you're courting is of worthy quality.

Adolin: We're not — I haven't been courting! I didn't think it was an option! I don't even know if he's interested! From what I can tell he has people throwing themselves at his feet all the time!

Jasnah: An abnormally honorable darkeyed surgeon, natural warrior, magnetically charismatic personality...yes that might make a worthwhile addition to the family.

Dalinar: I can write to Elhokar at once, recommend that he and Aseuden —

Jasnah: Uncle we've been over this — this is exactly the sort of thing that led to me insisting you come with me on this trip! If we cripple his ability to lead—

Adolin: Are we — are we moving into the discussing the future part of the evening, because I can go guard the door—

Dalinar: wait, when you say produce a child, you don't mean through soulcasting, right?

Jasnah: I don't see why I should answer that question.

Adolin: Yeah, i'm just going to go guard the door now

[dono-cho]

Wrote a fic a while ago and decided, maybe its ok to share it online here! It's...not sure what I was on when wrote it all down one feverish night haha but hopefully it's enjoyable!

(there's a dumb little comic at the end!)

[llitchilitchi]

maybe it's the trauma of being a years-long c!dream apologist but man do I get annoyed when people interpret everything that is Said or Written in a story as 1000% canon and don't even entertain the idea of deception, propaganda or, god forbid, the characters being wrong

[aeligsido]

okay but Sirius who has a blind spot the size of Russia for Regulus. Like, guys it's not his fault if he's supporting Voldemort, it's our family's. It's not his fault if he's turning into a Death Eater, it's because of who he's hanging out with. It's not his fault if he's getting sucked into a blood purist cult, it's because he's too soft, too kind, too naive, too stupid to push back against what they've been taught. He's a good person at heart, Sirius swears, and makes excuses.

But also, Regulus having an equally Russia-sized blind spot for Sirius. It's not his fault if he's getting distant, it's because he's alone in Gryffindor without support. It's not his fault if he's questioning everything they know is true, it's because of his so-called friends. It's not his fault if he's becoming a blood traitor, it's because of the mudbloods and the half-breeds and the blood traitors and fucking Potter. Regulus arguing with his parents for the first time because they can't disown Sirius it's just letting them win and we can't let them keep Sirius.

Sirius distancing himself more and more from his family the more hateful Regulus gets (look at what they're doing to his brother!) and Regulus growing into more and more of a blood purist the more Sirius distance himself (they're stealing his brother, they need to get rid of them!).

And neither of them realizes it either.

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

Did you know, the average age of NCT 127 ist 27.22222?

- A realization of an old kpop fan

Did you ever wonder if YouTube is broken because one of your faves didn't get millions and millions of views within the first few days of their comeback?

48 mio. views vs. 4.7 mio. views - a bug or reality?

Did something happen? I wondered. But no, nothing out of the usual kpop chaos happened. So they just became irrelevant? I googled. "The company failed them". "There was a boycott". "They don't use ads anymore to promote the MV".

Ah yes, the fans were quickly there to defend the old lads.

Aren't they too old for kpop anyways with an average age of 27.22222? The kids I once stanned when I myself was barely an adult (18 to be clear) now are grown-ass men. Who don't even make a quarter of the views they made back then.

The days where NCT was the new big star in the idol world are long over, I know. We are in an era where 05-liners are taking over the industry with 2 min long songs that are non-stop promoted in short clips via tiktok and co. I'm getting old.

Just like the groups I used to stan. But despite their mind-boggling oldness they still got their fans. They still got people like me who tune in to new MVs, who occasionally watch some funny clips and then go on with their daily business.

And this made me realize sth.

Mass streaming and meticulously planned "support activities" are easy to engage in when you're a young kid. But as you grow older and your interests and responsibilities shift you'll ultimately set your faves up for failure. How dare you getting old? How dare you having other interests? Your faves need you! According to the kids out there us older fans are just being old hags anyways.

But being an old hag comes with a positive side effect: You prioritize. The views you're willing to give some groups are genuine. You watch because you're interested, not because you feel obliged to join in mass streaming.

The views become more real. They reflect actual interest. Because seriously, do you really think that 48 mio. individual people actually watched that SKZ MV? No. And that's the case for all the bigger groups. How many views are actually real? How many fans actually are out there who share your interest? Are you one of 48 mio., or are you actually just one of 20 mio. who discovered the world of streaming bots?

I find comfort in the thought that eventually, all our faves will face the reality NCT is facing right now. As the fans grow older their interest in kpop gets pushed aside by responsibilities and other hobbies. In the end, none of the millions of mass streaming and bot views have any value for your older self. The real value lies in the emotions you feel when silently listening to your playlist and a one decade old song comes on, causing you to rewatch the MV and sing along to something that once was so important to you. Those memories won't fade. Don't waste your time kids, enjoy music and make memories.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

the way the doctor has never heard of the cyberium before and the master is like “oh yeah ive heard a lot about that over the years” is there any more concise illustration of their different ways of engaging with the universe. oh a thing for strategy? long term planning? the doctor has never heard of it. the doctor is walking through the woods looking at each tree they pass individually, putting out small fires, petting squirrels, they run into the master and are like what a surprise to find you here and the master is like well. it’s a forest. you like those. im following the path. found you sort of where expected really. and the doctor is like the what sorry? and the master is like .....the path? and the doctor is like no the other thing what did you say? and the master is like ..............................the forest?? and the doctor is like you mean these trees???? and the master is like ..............no my darling detested i do not. mean the trees.

[beauty-and-passion]

Are you seriously calling Thomas Sanders' patrons on Patreon his "investors" 😭 The way crit people talk about him you'd think he was a one man evil corporation, and not a single, mostly well-meaning guy who can't delegate properly, while creating videos that are free

Well, how would you call people who give money to someone to help them produce stuff? Are they not investing in art? Maybe "investors" was a bit too specific for a term, but it conveyed the meaning well, imho.

Also, I don't know why underestimating the value of money. I don't know if Thomas' patrons are all filthy rich or money falls from the sky for them, but I usually work to have money, they don't come for free - at least for me. Therefore, if I have to use them, I want to do it properly and not waste them. And I don't know you, but if I give money to someone who doesn't use them properly, I would feel very pissed.

And nope, that doesn't mean Thomas is "a one man evil corporation". I doubt anyone in the ts_criticism tag ever talked about him this way. What I found here are mostly frustrated people or people who point out the shitty stuff he did/does. Even in my last post, I purposely specified no one is here to burn him at the stake. He's unprofessional and disorganized, sure, but that doesn't make him the root of all evil.

One last thing: the "free video" card is so old, everyone already explained why it doesn't make sense and the videos are not free. Thomas still gets revenue from YouTube, so no, he's not making videos "for free". Also, if he has a sponsor, he's getting paid. Again, not free work.

And I know some people don't like to hear this, but if patrons are giving you money every month, what you make is not "for free". You have basically a salary, hence your work is not for free.

Again: I don't know why people refuse to admit it, because there is nothing wrong in being funded to make videos (or art in general). But for me, considering the result of these funds as "free", seems to invalidate the importance of Thomas' patrons - and Patreon in general.