#it's meow or never ; promos .

[lovedlace]

tag drop

[dogboytits]

Stray kids have a song called WHO? and a song called WHY?, and I think at this point they should just go ahead and make WHAT? WHERE? HOW? and WHEN? to complete the set

[romanoffsbish]

A PR Nightmare

Scarlett Johansson x F!R

Warnings: Drugs(the happy gas), Gaslighting(ex).

"Scarlett Johansson is my wife!” you groaned, slamming your laptop shut in the hopes of forgetting, but the embarrassing clip is now engrained in your mind. Your now ex was so jealous of your crush on your celebrity boss that she thought it best to post your drugged up form announcing it to the world.

So high on the laughing gas from your wisdom teeth procedure you'd failed to notice the camera in your face as you rambled on about the blonde starlet, not that you'd have done much of anything in the state you were in. Martha betrayed you, and all the trust you once held for her flew out the window with your relationship. She pleaded with you to let it go, that it was just a harmless joke, but the email you got requesting for you to meet up with Scarlett, Kate and HR told you it likely wasn't.

——

Now, all you wanted to do was to curl up in your bed and sob for days. Snuggling your tuxedo kitten impossibly close, while eating every unhealthy snack known to man. Your associated leave only lasted a few days, and the looming meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.

Quitting wasn't sounding so bad to you, but then you felt a cool breeze, remembering that living in the city wasn't cheap, and if you were to have no income lined up to replace hers you and Toby would be foraging on the streets.

"Wish me luck Tobes.," the cat lazily meowed from atop your chest, and you thanked him with a few head pats before letting a restless sleep win you over.

—

Scarlett was in her office tapping away on the computer, in an hours time she'll be on a zoom interview to address the silly issue at hand. Then a few hours later she'd be meeting you in person for the very first time, you were one of the many social media consultants on her team, and it wasn't a shock she never met you.

Doesn't mean she hadn't seen you before, her interested gaze always lingered on your form too, finding it humorous that you were so focused on getting the products lined up with the rooms natural lighting. When you were focused on that, she was focused on how that same light gave you the glow of an angel.

This video of yours might've cause a subtle uproar on the internet, but she couldn't be bothered by such a thing when it got her that much closer to you. Especially with the clear knowledge that the attraction here is mutual; The Outset sales booming is just a bonus.

While Scarlett typed away in a state of glee it was very much a polarizing experience for you. Clammy hands reached for the main entrance door, and after a few tries you'd managed to get in the building just to trip over an obvious box.

"Get it together Y/L/N," you grumbled as you wiped the dirt off your now wrinkled clothes, "Perfect, now she can think I'm a slob too."

You trudged up to your locker to put your bag away, and hopefully fix yourself up a bit. There was a group of your coworkers there, almost as if they were in wait, because instantaneous snickering occurred as you filled their view.

Ignoring them was easy enough, you'd never cared much for them anyways, so you just glared their way before making the dreadful trip up the elevator where ignoring the urge to vomit up your iced coffee was harder to ignore.

Especially when the metal doors slid open, showing you in a state of obvious duress, your fingers were aggressive as they massaged at your aching temple, and you were muttering words under you breath, you honestly looked insane. Which is why when the soft clearing of a throat was heard you froze up like a statue.

Stood before you was Scarlett Johansson, her hand on the shoulder of her co creator, and the CEO of The Outset—Kate, whom of which you were familiar with as she loved to be on the inside of a lot of the company's media promo. The older woman was smiling at you softly, her eyes dripping with sympathy, and you weren't sure how you were still standing on your feet.

"Miss Y/L/N, I wasn't expecting you for another thirty minutes, but lucky for you I'm free now," Scarlett spoke, tone even, but you could see amusement flickering in her eyes.

"I however have to go handle an emergency, something to do with legal, so it'll just be the two of you as HR only gave a form for you," Kate continued as she brushed passed, and suavely swapped places with you in the lift.

Kate's smiling face was like a lifeline in the moment, so when the doors shut you nearly collapsed to your knees. A meeting with the woman alone, the same one you embarrassed online, and who sometimes signs your checks.

You weren't sure it could get much worse, but boy were you wrong because as soon as you sat down the blonde had your video queued up, "Shall we watch this together? Or are you equally as aware of the contents as I am?"

"I-I know what was said,” you hung your head in shame, completely missing her sly smirk.

"I'm apparently the 'hottest thing since baked lasagna,” Scarlett read off a quote pulled from the unbearably long video, though she kept her voice level you could see the amusement in her eyes, and via the small side smirk she obviously tried to suppress. "But wait, at one point you mentioned that if given the chance you'd gaze into my brilliant green eyes for hours on end, but you've yet to even look me in the eyes."

"Am I being fired?" you managed to ask her the looming question. "Should you be Y/N?"

A heavy sigh left your lips as you clambered to your feet, "I'm sorry for the all the trouble I've caused you Miss Johansson, and I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity to work under you." The blonde's brows furrowed, she was genuinely shocked at your outburst, "Wait!"

Your hand paused on the handle, and you twisted your upper body to face her. "You're not being fired, as I've been told, and quite frankly as I've seen you're one of our better employees, and it would be a disservice to let you go over something so silly," she slowly moved from behind her desk as a means to approach you, her hand settled atop your arm and your breath hitched in your throat.

"That being said." You felt uneasy when she spun you the rest of the way to face her, it felt like your stomach was doing somersaults with the way she was smirking at you—at you, not near you, no, it was designated for your eyes. "You've caused quite the stir around the world, so my team and I think it'd be best if you were my next red carpet date, for the public appeal."

Scarlett watched as you swallowed thickly, so she softened her smirk, and squeezed your shoulder in a comforting way. "It would be good for The Outsets image, we'd basically be in on the joke, or more so getting ahead of it." You found yourself even more confused by her phrasing, and maybe even a bit hurt. "Joke?"

Scarlett internally smacked herself, she'd been nervous when she spoke, even if her confident smirk said otherwise, and now she has to find a way to make sense of her likely hurtful words. "You said I was your wife, is that not a joke?" Your eyes immediately looked away from hers at the pointed call out, "No, yeah, it was..."

"Exactly, but maybe if you play your cards right it could be your eventual reality," she winked, short circuiting your brain with the words and flirty gesture to the point of stunned silence.

"Just think about it Y/N, no pressure, but I'd be doing a disservice to myself if I didn't say I'd be the luckiest person on that carpet if I had a pretty thing like you hanging off of my arm."

At the sight of your soft, nervous smile the starlet felt her nerves settling. "Ok, I'll do it." Blinded by her excitement she pulled you into a hug, and fortunately for her you melted into it. "Perfect, my team will be in contact then, and I'll be seeing you around the office pretty girl."

—

True to her word, Scarlett sought you out the very next day after reading through your file. Kate and her had decided awhile back to do there best to connect with the staff on a more personal level, and in doing so they'd asked you all some really random questions. Nothing too personal, it was very surface level, like: what's your go to take out meal, or favorite game?

After reading how much you loved to play Uno, and eat at that small Italian restaurant up the street she immediately sent her assistant out to collect all that she'd need, and now she was in the elevator on her way down to your floor.

"Good afternoon Miss Johansson."

When your manager announced the arrival of your starlet boss you tried to shrink into the void, but it was to no avail as she was here for you. The toned legs slipped into cherry red high heels before your face said as much, "Hi."

Scarlett chuckled as you greeted her knee, her unbelievably soft hand reached down to help you to your feet, and with the force she used it made you stumble into her awaiting embrace.

"Oh, you're falling for me all over again?" she teased quietly with a whisper against your ear before she straightened the both of your bodies then began to walk away, heels clicking as she spoke, "We have things to discuss, come on."

After a moment of bewildering, you looked up to John who looked to you concerned, "Go."

Scarlett bit back her chuckle at the sight of you haphazardly rushing to catch the elevator, as if she wasn't patiently holding it open for you, and admiring how pretty your soft pout was.

"I'm sorry Miss Johansson," you rushed out, but she quickly stopped you with a hand on your lower back, causing you to freeze as a shiver ran through you, "Call me Scarlett."

As the both of you exited the elevator onto her floor you walked in tandem, her hand never left your back until it was pulling the chair out for you to sit down. Scarlett Johansson was proving to be quite the gentlewoman.

"So, you're probably wondering why you're here," she playfully quirked a brow your way, and watched as you nodded meekly, "Mhm."

"Well honey, I don't think it's proper me taking you out as my date without a proper sit down," she started while dolling out the take outs full of pasta before you, serving you a piping hot plate of fettuccine, while she had spaghetti. "There's also the discussion of whether we'll want to match, so we'll have some clothes for you to try on delivered in the next hour or so."

“Thank you,” you gestured to the pasta when she looked to you curiously, “No problem love.”

Scarlett was enjoying her time with you, she was getting to know you like she’d always been tempted to. Learning silly things like your favorite color, animal, or dessert, she even knows your go to comfort movie and snacks.

It was a serene moment until the team she hired to pick your outfits showed up to break it. There was a rolling bar full of various items, a mix of suits and dresses so you could choose whatever made you the most comfortable.

“So, tell me darling, shall we match? Because I have a dress to match any outfit you choose.”

It wasn’t hard to pick after she said that, you went with the deep red option, because you had always adored Scarlett when she wore red. Scarlett beamed at your choice to match, then she was working hard not to drool, because you looked rather delectable in the red yourself.

Neither of you realized how long you’d been together until you were leaving her office with your belongings in hand as the sun had nearly sunk below the New York skyline. You entered the elevator and pressed for the ground floor.

“So, Y/N, what made you apply to The Outset?”

You smiled softly, “I have always enjoyed the art of advertising, and I needed money so when I saw the attached salary I was sold.”

“It’s okay, you can say it was because of me,” she teased, stepping closer, only causing you to stumble backwards, “Not everything I do is because of my silly crush on you Miss Joh—.”

“Y/N, for the love of God, call me Scarlett,” she whined as the doors opened, thankful to be in a empty building as the work day already ended.

The rest of the walk to the street was in silence, you too busy overthinking audibly mentioning your obvious crush, and the blonde was in the opposite state, internally beaming at the words.

“I’ll get you Friday at six darling,” she placed a hand on your lower back, and shifted you into an embrace you couldn’t avoid, “Be ready,” she smiled at you, then ushered you into your car and waited until you were buckled to leave.

——

It was quite shocking to you when a car pulled up and had Scarlett in the drivers seat. You’d been expecting her to arrive with a driver, but you didn’t question her outwardly, instead you settled into the passenger seat, and in for a long ride since she made sure to make it hard with that innocent hand placed on your thigh.

Scarlett’s driver was at the edge of the event, and so as soon as she assisted you out of the car she was passing off the keys to Ricardo.

“If you get nervous, don’t hesitate to tell me,” she squeezed your hand for emphasis, then once you nodded she pulled you onto the red carpet where you’re met with blinding flashes.

Scarlett saw the way others at the venue looked at you, as if you were fresh meat for them to pick off of. It infuriated her beyond belief that anyone would so much as look at you while you were on her arm, but to try and speak to you?

It was ludicrous, and she wasn't having it.

Scarlett pulled you closer by the hand on your waist, then when a new wave of paparazzi came up to photograph the two of you she knew she needed to send a clear message. "Hey, Y/N?"

You hummed nervously, far too thrown by the hustle and bustle of a red carpet to speak, but you also turned to her with a nervous smile. The way she was staring at you, as if you were a glass of Chardonnay she intended to devour in one gulp, only served to intensify the nerves that were coursing throughout your body.

"Fuck it," Scarlett didn't exactly plan for this, but she was desperate, so she cupped your left cheek and pulled you in for a kiss, and to her luck and honestly, surprise, you instantly were reciprocating the gesture, eagerly if she may.

The crowd woo'd, and beyond the flashes they began to shout at her for answers, and this was when you pulled away with a terrified gaze. Scarlett ignored her responsibility as a star, and pulled you to a secluded corner so that she could make sure you understood that was a real kiss, and not a devious little PR stunt.

As soon as you were out of sight you ripped your hands from hers, it broke her to see you look so hurt, watching as you hastily retreated, wrapping your arms around yourself for the much needed comfort, "That was mean..."

"Y/N—"

"No, I-I get it, okay? I embarrassed you with the video, and now you're just returning the favor. It doesn't make it any less cruel."

"No Y/N, please," Scarlett had never been so desperate before, she's dated her fair share of people, but none ever as enticing as you, and she hadn't even properly asked you out yet, "This, everything up until now, was real."

"Scarlett, you're an amazing actress..."

"No!" she stepped forward, trapping you against the wall, "I wasn't being malicious Y/N, I kissed you because that's what I wanted to do, it's what I've wanted to do for months on end."

“Months? But my video is only two weeks old.”

Scarlett snorted, “I noticed you before that.”

For a brief moment the space was silent, the dirty blonde watched the way you processed her words with relative amusement. The way you smiled bashfully, with your eyes cast down had her falling even deeper into this crush.

“So you like me? The kiss was real?”

Scarlett reached out with a soft hand to cup your left cheek while her other hand wrapped around your neck. She caressed your cheek, offering you a sweet smile before she used her hold on you to pull you into a deep kiss.

The kiss was building up fast, her hands were roaming your body in sinful ways, and you were reacting with breathless mewling. It was only when a frantic young man rushed in to the once private space to look utterly relieved at your compromising bodies that the kiss ended.

“Miss. Johansson, and guest, you really need to be getting to your seats, the shows starts soon.”

Scarlett’s face tinged pink once she noticed the hustle and bustle on the red carpet had indeed dissipated, “Thank you, we’ll be right there.”

The blonde then grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the entrance with familiar ease. She seemed tense, so you tried to lighten the mood, “If you want to give this a PR twist we can get married for real, we can go to Vegas,” you teased your new lover who softly snorted in response, “Y/N, that sounds like a nightmare.”

“All publicity is good publicity Scarlett.”

Once you crossed the threshold into the dark entryway she spun you around and into her hold so she could whisper, “There’s no need to rush this Y/N, I’ll make you mine, I promise.”

Then with a swift kiss to your cheek, and a firm grip on your hand you believed her completely.

You will become Scarlett Johansson’s wife.

——

3,126 Words

❤️ Kaitlyn 🥰

[youhideastar]

Why you should watch Story of Yanxi Palace

It seems ridiculous to do a promo post for literally the most-watched television show on the planet, but I follow a lot of accounts that post cdrama gifs, and I don't think I've ever seen a single Yanxi Palace gif, and that's a tragedy.

Story of Yanxi Palace is a 2018 period drama with 70 episodes, set in the harem of the real-life Qing Dynasty Qianlong Emperor and featuring some real-life events and characters from that period. Our heroine is Wei Yingluo, a teenager who enters the Forbidden City as a maid, seeking to solve and then avenge her sister's murder. It was a smash hit when it was released, although it was later censored. You can find it on Viki.

If you liked Nirvana in Fire, you will probably like Yanxi Palace: Wei Yingluo is very similar to Mei Changsu in all the best ways, in that she is devious, ruthless, occasionally very funny, driven by revenge, and possessed of a fundamental core of decency despite her scheming ways. She is also a fifteen-year-old girl. (At the beginning of the show, that is - the drama spans more than a decade.)

Wei Yingluo's relationship with the primary love interest, Fuca Fuheng, is also just *chef's kiss.* She suspects him of her sister's murder, tries to secretly off him a couple times, and he then confronts her about it and hands her a knife, saying, "If you really think I killed your sister, you can kill me now. I won't stop you." We've all seen this scene a dozen times in assorted movies and shows; she loves him so she can't bring herself to do it; she'll drop the knife, they'll embrace--

Reader, Wei Yingluo takes that knife and STABS HIM IN THE CHEST. She stabs him in the chest!!! How can you tell she likes him? Because he survives the experience. Barely.

After that, you think this is a Mei Changsu/Mu Nihuang pairing where there's a relatively normal person who loves their devious little meow meow--and then Fuheng turns around and gaslights Yingluo with zero remorse and you realize that this pairing is actually 100% deranged 4 deranged. The shit these two do to each other and for each other is completely unhinged. At one point, she kills his wife and the two of them never talk about it. Not before, not after, not ever. Legendary. He calls her his zhiji. They will convince you that the height of romance is marrying other people but knowing one another so deeply that you can coordinate intricate political schemes without ever communicating with each other because you can predict one another's moves with perfect accuracy.

Also, the costumes, sets, and props are ridiculously beautiful (and historically accurate!), the characters are like 20 incredibly intelligent and complex women and then like 4 hot dudes, and the score is incredible.

Is there queer rep, you ask? Nothing explicit. But there are a lot of female characters who have very intense, passionate relationships with other female characters. Also, there's a subplot where the Emperor suspects the Empress is having an affair with one of his consorts and you can see his point; finally, there's a character who is intentionally set up to have a very ambiguous sexual orientation: I think you could plausibly argue that he's ace, that he's bi, that he's gay, or that he's straight. I'm not sure even he knows.

There's a lot more to love about it, but when a show's been streamed more than 15 billion times (yes, with a b), I feel like I don't have too much to add. 😂 Give it a try!

[sgiandubh]

What do you think about the ring?

Dear (insisting) Ring Anon,

I see the topic itches. I have answered this question three days ago, but somehow kept receiving Anon upon Anon upon Anon about it and, to be honest, I was surprised to be thinking about it, too.

Which is exactly the intended - and achieved - effect of this new plot device.

Mordor went berserk, including Meow Kabob's Gay Clique. The Shire hummed and buzzed with DMs. Lasagna Lady could have testified before a Grand Jury it was gold. Another halfwit joked on X about giving it to Desi, then retracted when things went completely out of control. A perfectly executed spin for a drier, longer Droughtlander.

If all this hullaballoo were happening at the Olympic Games, I'd give Desi a Comăneci 10.

This ring is all about using very useful and cost-effective props. It will fuel endless speculation, vanishing and reappearing whenever convenient, with no further need for painful pap walks, Flukenzie Floozy clones or a new round of The Matrix Bikini Game.

And that brings along another thought. We often use the expression going down the rabbit hole, when we talk about how this charade started for anyone in this fandom. But I begin to wonder if we didn't go down a funnel: at first wide open and then narrower and narrower (IFH, EFH, Remarkable Week-End, etc). Then COVID, followed by this strike made it even narrower, if at all possible, because now we don't even have the customary promo/banter periodically thrown in to keep the sacred fire alive. The Vestals are bored and already yawning.

But there is also a new book and some more booze to be sold. He knows - because he reads us, make no mistake- this fandom's documented obsession with rings (his or Lucy's, for that matter), so let's assume he indulged us. Yeah, I am grinning as I write it. Desi is trolling us big time and let's be honest: we love every single second of it.

As an aside, allow me to share a little something about me:

This is my left hand, of course. And that is a beloved family heirloom madame Mère gave me on my eighteenth birthday. It belonged to my Armenian great-grandmother and I never took it off. Not even when doing the dishes, swimming or walking around Phnom Penh's slums. I am not married and I am not especially looking forward to, for personal reasons.

In Desi's case, The Ring appeared at Starbucks (who the hell shows an 'engagement ring' while staying in line for covfefe?), on one of those very hot & humid end of summer days when NYC turns into a giant sauna. Understandably, he was dressed to suggest he casually went to record that book at Hachette's after a workout session: but if also weightlifting, why bring The Ring?

So read my lips, Anon: it means nothing and also anything you want it to mean. Yes, at the same time. This is OL, after all.

We didn't even start to see the end of this, mark me. It's way too juicy and the night is young.

PS: The good thing about going down a funnel is that at the end of the day you know you'll be out of it, somehow. That moment will come. Not a single doubt or worry in the world about it.

[barbieaemond]

hi! 💕 this is going to sound so random and silly but i have never actually watched a full episode of hotd — i just consume the content via osmosis by seeing it on my dash and then also watching some individual scenes and such on youtube 😅

but regardless, i really loved aemond in season one and literally as soon as i saw the first promo pics of gwayne i became kind of obsessed and was like “looks like another pathetic but devastatingly pretty little guy i need to add to my collection”

so anyway, i’ve been loving all your gwayne content and i just wanted to pop in and say i’m very excited to “watch” the episode tonight and see what the poor little meow meow gets up to via your posts! 🥰

thank you so much for your lovely blog!!!! ☺️💕

I don't know why but when he was announced as Gwayne I thought yeah he's cute but didn't give it much thought tbh. I must've been stupid back then. BUT I was free at least...release me Freddie release me 😭😭😭

Thank you btw <3

[starjxsung]

hiii bb. i hope you’re doing good <3 do my long-ass asks bother you?

but anyways! no, i feel you so bad. i usually fell asleep at like 2am and had to wake up at 6 for uni. and that’s really damaging for your health. i’m still getting used to it but magnesium and melatonin have helped me a lot with my insomnia. but im super lightweight in terms of taking pills so ill just sleep for a whole day if i take them together. so maybe you can look into that if you haven’t already. my mom’s a pharmacist so i got all the pill/supplement intel😅

i’m really sick of the insane amount of promos for this song as well. changbin posting a pic with him🙃🙃. i was like changbin honey angel baby ily but no. but i’m glad that a lot of people were commenting info about zionism and palestine under the picture <3 but so many others were supporting it🤕

im really sad that a lot of stays are boycotting silently too. education about these topics is so important!!! i’ve seen a lot of asks and comments about people who didn’t even know that ch*rlie p*th was a zionist or even what zionism is and when educated, stopped supporting the collab. there’s so many people who are unaware about the situation so shining light on the reasons can really change perspectives.

i love those pictures of momo sososososo much. she’s so bunny coded im obsessed. we r all momo stans here <333

my bf’s best friend came back from a trip to japan and he brought me a super cute hangyodon keychain. (he brought my bf a really really awesome studio ghibli greatest hits type of cd, i wish i took a pic to show it to you </3)

kuromi was like 5th which is consistent to where she was last year. i’m glad to see that other characters like pochacco and pompompurin are getting love though!

ily bb! i hope you’ve had the best weekend. and happy mother’s day to your mom & you 4 birthing queen momo 💘

(this is tofu literally helping me work on the presents and being a gift herself <3)

-🐈‍⬛

Hi my angel! Your long-ass asks get me through the days lately. They don’t bother me in the slightest !! 🫶

Thank you for all the wise pharmacist intel !! I will absolutely look into that. I need to hold myself to a better routine and be better about turning my phone off at night, but I always end up answering asks when I’m supposed to be sleeping and it’s just as therapeutic to me as rest is. It’s a constant battle 🫠

The Changbin pic 🤕 like skz never even use their instagrams all that much and all of a sudden we’re getting SO much stuff at the worst time possible ?? Where was this energy when I cared enough to interact with it 😭 the W Korea magazine covers too lorddddd everybody on my instagram knows I collect Felix magazines like a full time job and I had a few messages asking me if I’d seen his new covers. Had to politely share a story about why I’ll be quiet on my Felix shrine for a little bit 🤕 it sucks. Also absolutely agree with you about the education thing- I mean this has been an ongoing issue for 76 years now, but to pretend like it’s not EVERYWHERE since the escalation starting in October is just ignorant. It takes a few minutes to read through articles! People make tik toks! There are infographics! There’s so much information and to act like you don’t have time to do basic research is so silly.

Momo loves you right back 🫶💘!! She’s currently sitting in my window meowing at bypassers in my building and she’s very popular

Also the hangyodon keychain!!! That is so sweet of him oh my god!!!!!! I love love looooove hangyodon 🥹

Kuromi placing 5th makes so much sense if we’re going to give pochacco and pompompurin a little love too! Sanrio supremacy 🫶

PLEASE SEND TOFU ALL MY LOVE……. She is so cutie I’m so obsessed with her (and you) I love you angel!!!!! I hope you have the best weekend 💕💓💗🩷💘🫶👼 happy Mother’s Day to my favorite cat mama anon 🐱💓

[laura-de-milf]

I'm SO fascinated by the completely antithetical readings I've been seeing of Laura de Mille across posts, reviews, promo, comments etc. Is she foundationally inclined to evil? Is she a self-loathing little meow meow overcompensating for her guilt over actions which go against her otherwise-decent morals? Is she the ex-villain, not to be trusted, or has she never done anything wrong in her life? Is she power-hungry and ruthless? Was she coerced, exploited, forced into an oppressive system from which she was't able to or didn't know how to escape? Does she thrive in a position of leadership or is she longing to be an equal part of a team? Is she confident in herself and does she have a strong sense of what she wants? Or is she self-flagellating and repressing aspects of her true personality? Is she forced to do so for external reasons or does she repress those parts of herself out of shame?

The funny thing is, all of these perceptions are valid at the same time because there's evidence to support all of it. She has done really horrific things in the decades she spent sending innocent people off to war, and the only explanation she's given so far has been to defend those actions as "making useful agents" of them all. But she was employed to do so by an institution which would similarly exploit her and her friends if she didn't take utmost care to hide her meta-nature and comply to some extent. She clearly takes some degree of pride in her position of power--and yet we only see her genuinely smile when she's included in a group dynamic; she expresses fear of a future in which she's completely alone. She openly and regularly takes responsibility for her sins, even making a self-deprecating drinking game of it, and is quick to fuel Rita's ire as penance--while also asserting, "No, I am not evil!" when faced with this direct accusation. Yes, she ended up turning her found-family in to the Bureau, but the anguish on her face and the tears in her eyes and the desperation in her voice as she pled with the agents not to use force signal that, despite whatever circumstances led to the raid, she truly cares about the Sisterhood, and at that point she was beyond the ability to hide her feelings from every agent in the room.

What she personally believes and wants for herself seems to be fundamentally at odds with the reality of her living situation (and given that 4x01 comment about her war-profiteering family, her upbringing); in order to cope with this, she has had to create a heavy binary between herself and her work: between the Sisterhood, her meta ability, a sense of belonging, self-expression, an endless joy--Laura de Mille; versus the Bureau (and later Brotherhood of Evil), the pursuit of power as a means of security, straight-laced compliance, fulfilment of duty and responsibility, an impenetrable hatred--Madame Rouge.

She is so fundamentally full of conflict and it's tearing her apart.

It's almost like she has two distinct sides to her personality, each wrestling for full control and constantly forcing her to choose between one or the other. Is she good or evil? Hero or villain? Leader or follower? Laura de Mille or Madame Rouge?

If this is the very intentional way that the show has adapted Comic!Rouge's dual personality--by giving Show!Rouge the subtler but very realistic challenge of being a single person forced to reckon with a fierce dichotomy between her own morals, desires, relationships, guilt, trauma, and society's expectations of her--it's damn fucking brilliant.

[icharchivist]

C'mon Cygames, give Icha her sad elf meow meow husband

You just know he'd look gorgeous in the art style

the fact i can't even be sure which one of my sad elf meow meow husband you're talking about is..........

but yeah i definitely thought about it.

Like, this is the most unlikely of crossover and i won't hold my breath for it, but it would be so funny. and for me. only for me.

Tho i suppose if a crossover was to happen it'd be more focused on Veilguard, so maybe at least Solas/Varric/Harding being present, maybe Dorian&Fenris, as a little promo with already established characters who are implied to be in the game..... Would sure be funny.

but tbh i was also thinking about this crossover because someone on twitter mentioned that while the DA Japanese fanbase is more niche, it ALSO has the exact same problems as the English fanbase around Solas and people who romance him in particular and it is both cracking me up and making me sad at once. *gently pats Solas' shoulder* this bad guy can fit so many discourses of the likes you've never imagined in every single languages in existence.

And well if there's one game that can go "🖕 shut up about characters who are problematic, we love characters who are problematic, go kiss them girl 🖕" it's gbf. gbf save me. save me gbf. save me.

[eldesperadont]

now that the g1 is technically over, all i wanted was my two g1 first timer blorbos (Finlay and Phanta) to be able to shine and get over and as far as im concerned they did pretty good - also both have a win over a former iwgp world champ hell yeah :)

bonus: jay lost his chance for the finals in the last match again and threw a temper tantrum, which im also very happy over*

[truexman]

Naomasa is still Officer Smells Pretty, even with the beard.

[pussinbccts-archived]

tag dump

[randombubblegum]

so. imo it wasn’t terrible. I expected the crowd to hate/be conspicuously indifferent to them and tbh where I was sitting (towards the back of lower level) no one was even losing it during mcr. albany is weird bro I did not like the vibes at all. but yeah they did fine, Awsten’s voice has never been better idk why he dressed like a garbage man(?) I guess he’s trying to say he’s trash (?) just v confusing overall. absolutely no banter other than to quickly cut the two little voices in the pit that asked for group chat and he was like we are NOT doing that (thank god). Otto’s drums on real super dark <3 man was BEATING his set, like you can feel that song in your feet live (holding my opinion on it otherwise til I learn the lyrics, doesn’t seem to be terrible). Setlist is. bad. I have no idea why he did that. And I don’t even dislike the parx5 songs so far but it’s not really what the mcr show is about. would have preferred a liiiiiittle more curation. also magnetic is… not a good song for this tour. YBPT and Numb are fine but magnetic is not a good idea imo. don’t know why he won’t put TANTRUM on this set, or sleep alone!! the fact that WWHN isn’t on the list but turbulent is made me incredibly sad. what else. It looks like he stuck picks in seats? he made otto do the line after telephone again. gerard shouted out parx at the very beginning but nothing past that. as a fan I could tell he was NERVOUS but imo handled it like a champ, festivals don’t count so the last venue even close to this size I think (at least that I saw them in) was terminal 5 in nyc I believe cap is 8-10k there, and that was incredibly different reaction wise for him (crowd reacted similarly though).

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!! i see i see *taking notes*…..

thank god he didnt try to banter LOL that would have literally been. a nightmare. otto playing drums hard very sexy…. very hot……. the new songs tentative lyrics have me 😐😐😐 but i believe in it sounding good live…. like ill hold off judgement until we have lyric confirmation but uguhfjfn god.

the setlist is INSANELY bad literally!!! like even setting aside my disdain for gh/parx5 songs so far the ones he chose are just?? bizarre….. why would you put THREE songs off an unreleased album on ur setlist as an OPENER for mcr. and refuse to put your “hits” or actual confirmed crowdpleasers??? like sure leave the gh tracks. leave funeral grey if you have to for promo, but like. put songs people like on there or at least can dance to WHAT are you doing.

i bet he was nervous as hell LOL basically everyone has said he was like clearly terrified up there…. *resists ingrained desire to poor little meow meow him* *fails* i think he knows the attitude towards parx opening for mcr isnt amazing bc he cant log off twitter lol. lets see how it goes for the next shows???!??!???

[the-ethereal-aura]

SCREAMING this man never gets a break 😭

OMG UR WATCHING IT-

Ikr poor little murderous meow meow

oh oh besti bestie did u see the new promo pics??

[hoopyfrood]

hi i finally made an instagram! i'm gonna use it as a scrapbook of things that made me smile! check it out if u wanna, i hope i can encourage other ppl to keep a note of happy times too and spread some positivity!

my @ is imisshozier ! god i miss u andrew wherever u r roaming in the woods pls come back w some songs soon. even some poetry will do. lov that cryptid

[sage-nebula]

Oohhh, pokeani if you don't mind me sending in another one?

I don't mind at all!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

ALAN, MY SON, THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE. I love him so much I cannot even begin to explain how much. I still think about him all the time even though I'm not actively writing PokéAni things anymore. He's easily the most interesting human character the PokéAni has produced and had the best story and adventure, and while I miss him terribly, I'm also so nervous about him ever returning because I feel like they'll only bring him back to shit all over him. Nevertheless though, he is my valiant dragon son, my absolute most favorite best boy. ♥

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

LIZARDON (Alan's Charizard) TBH . . . because have you ever seen a sweeter charizard? He just loves getting chin scritches and pets and cuddles and snuggles and just loves his boy so much. Like don't get me wrong, he is expertly trained on all fronts, he loves battling just as much as his trainer and he can be ferocious! But also he just loves sharing snacks and getting snuggled and is just a sweet, sweet boy. I love him so much too ♥

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

I mean, considering I have still seen hate toward Alan for winning the Kalos League as recently as this fucking year, he counts. But in the interest of not picking Alan for every answer, I'm going to say Tracey! Tracey got a lot of flack as well for replacing Brock during the Orange Islands arc, especially due to the reason why that happened (because the Japanese studio was afraid that Americans would perceive Brock as a racist caricature for some reason). But I honestly love Tracey and I wish that he'd gotten to remain with the squad during Johto so that it would have been a four person group. I like the fact that he's an artist and is the only one with a sense of direction, I like how he teased Ash and Misty about their respective crushes on each other, I like how he would drop everything to draw a new pokémon. I just think he's neat.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

MY GIRL CASEY, MY BOY RITCHIE, MY GIRL DUPLICA . . . many characters that recur so they're not a Character of the Day, but that they still haven't appeared in like sixty million years so they can count here. Incidentally both Casey and Ritchie got little cameos in the new promo short that was released recently (to promote an artist's work), and that made me very happy over on twitter, haha.

OH, and as a final one, MY GIRL MOLLY HALE. And heck, while we're at it, my girls Cooltrainer Lisa and Melody, too. They're just movie characters but I loved them so much. Particularly since the Hales are family friends of the Ketchums, I wish we could have seen Molly come back at some point.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

I don't know that I really have an answer for this. Maybe Lawrence III from the second movie? Because he just wanted to do what is arguably the point of the main series games (catch 'em all) but he was also ruining the world while doing so, so it was like "okay we know we say to catch them all but also don't do that" lmao. I don't really know though.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

I mean, despite how much I love him, I do torment Alan an awful lot for hurt/comfort reasons. Though in my defense, so did the actual show.

Aside from him, I have a running gag in my fics where Louis thinks that Alan is his rival, that they have a very real rivalry going on, but Alan never remembers who Louis is because Louis is just . . . not important to him at all lmao. So that can count as an emotional plinko. And Malva also deserves the plinko because while she didn't actually know of Lysandre's plans of genocide in the anime and did do her part to redeem herself, she also stood idly by as he emotionally abused and used Alan and kind of laughed about it, too. (She was like, "Capturing such a pure boy . . . you're terrible" or something like that, but she was smirking the whole time.) So into the plinko she goes.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Lysandre (again), Xerosic (again), Hunter J, Paul, Damian, AJ . . . basically anyone who abuses pokémon or tries to commit mass genocide goes straight into superhell with no remorse.