#mine meta text

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

never in my entire life will i recover from the fact that this is not ed coaching stede on how to be a better pirate captain, this is ed trying to help stede feel more like a pirate captain.

ed has full faith in stede’s captaining abilities. one of his favorite things about stede is that his leadership style is something completely different, something that inspires loyalty out of love and compassion instead of from fear and awe. ed has zero criticisms about stede’s capabilities as a pirate captain.

but stede is saying he doesn’t feel like he’s the captain. and ed’s strategy to help stede feel more like a captain is to get stede to boss him around in a commanding voice.

and then, after sowing the seeds of his own sexual torment, ed says he wants to TAKE IT SLOW????

eddie. babygirl. my beloved. why are you doing this to yourself.

[beaulesbian]

Every once in a while I think again about the end of Thriller Bark and feel completely insane and ill about Zoro's sacrifice, FOR LUFFY, specifically (you know, the character Kuma's threat was directed at). It wasn't even that long into traveling together, a few months maybe, yet Zoro was ready to give up everything in that moment - in the chapter with Kuma appearing being titled The End of the Dream ! - to protect his crew and Luffy, so he could continue in his journey.

Since Luffy and Zoro met, they always understand how words and promises were imporant to them - with Luffy punching Helmeppo in ch. 3 for lying to Zoro. Zoro learnt how serious Luffy was about his dream, and soon he realized he backed up his words with actions as well - untiying Zoro and giving him his swords back - his biggest treasures. It meant that Zoro could be honest and honor-bound in the same way to Luffy, to gain this mutual respect and trust between them since day 1. To wield his swords to protect both Luffy and later their whole crew, and to step in a way between Luffy and danger.

He was being actually more upset that Sanji got up from the previous Kuma's attack and interrupted their fight - Zoro was trying to keep the whole crew safe by this exchange for Luffy's head - if Sanji was offering his life for Luffy half dead and without much strength left to fight for himself (he started the offering of his own life already believing he woudn't survive, with a "you should find a new cook"), then this very specific sacrifice would be meaningless to the crew (- if this arc was taking place post WCI, then it would turn out very differently, with the strength of Sanji believing in Luffy, but it wasn't his moment during this scene) - it would hurt them more than help them, because as much as Zoro was prepared to die as well, he was prepared to keep fighting until the last breath.

Zoro was thinking he might die - Kuma's words were pretty certain he WOULD die - but he still had the willingness and strength to take on the deal for Luffy, for his captain and his crew. ("if i die here, it just means I wasn't worth much to begin with" this line he says times and times again during the overall story, like in Rogue Town throwing Kitetsu and waiting if it would cut off his arm, up until standing against King in Wano "it's my power that was lacking", and all the other times he was questioning his worth - it's something he tempts the fates he doesn't believe in, to actually harm him, to take his strength away if he doesn't deserve to survive. and it's him saying he knows and accepts his own weaknesses - of not being strong enough (in comparison to Sanji in this example), and always fights through them.)

He threw away his swords, including Wado Ichimonji - literally throwing aside his and Kuina's dream, to compell Kuma into a duel (with the anime playing 'The Very Very Very Strongest' when Zoro bowed down and pleaded Kuma, offering him his head instead of Luffy's) so Kuma wouldn't go after the crew and specifically Luffy later - no matter the outcome if Zoro would surive or not.

And then, he was actually strong enough to survive taking his captain's fatigue, agony and pain! Possibly being the only one who could survive taking Luffy's pain.

Zoro could have back out when Kuma offered him the 'taste' of the pain, with the realization of the scale of the hurt with the very possibility of dying from it. But that wouldn't be Zoro now, would it? He accepted and took all of Luffy's pain so his captain wouldn't have to suffer or die, and when they found him afterwards, he still kept standing, tense with the fatigue but alive! (again, with anime adding the music of 'Luffy's Fierce Attack' to underline the importance between these two).

He was training for this since the beginning - to become stronger to shoulder the pain of his crew if necessary. (And not only that - he was preparing for that so another Kuina incident didn't have to happen). He was the first one to fight one of the Warlords before anything really began: his fight with Mihawk at Baratie really set the tone and his own goals to overcome - a glimpse to see on how much different levels the Warlords actually were in comparison to Zoro, Luffy and the others, and if they were supposed to beat them so Luffy could become the Pirate King, that always meant to be ready and to get even stronger than them.

(small spoiler for egghead, ch. 1102: seeing Kuma (a Warlord at that time) remembering this Thriller Bark event later, during Egghead arc, and thinking that even he might have passed out from the pain, makes it all the more meaningful that it was Zoro who took the pain and withstood it - establishing how high was the strength of his willpower, already before timeskip.)

There could be so many other nuances and details from these last few chapters of this arc, and even what this deal meant for the following arcs! Zoro was still in pain on Sabaody, and because of that the crew wasn't as strong as it could have been (not to say they would have a chance anyway, knowing what all was in the motion).

The next is the tragedy and beauty of LUFFY never finding out about this. Half of the crew knew: Sanji, Brook and Robin knew the details, but would never tell Luffy - and that shows their loyalty to both Luffy and Zoro (and Zoro's decision). Luffy woke up and first thing he did was to jump up and down, excited not to be weighted down by his injuries, and only seeing his swordsman being down with injuries so severe he was out more days afterwards, knowing that something else attacked them (him = Zoro), after he was passed out from the fight against Moria, brought down his mood (even if it's not much noticable, but the change into subtle worry is there in the few next chapters).

"I can't explain it either!" - meaning he was thinking about it too, possibly how weird it was for him to move normally after such long fight. We don't really ever hear/see Luffy thinking about something, except when it's mentioned how he came up with a solution or idea, telling us there's more to Luffy than just being straightforward in his goals and speech. With Luffy being sometimes very emotionally intelligent when he wants to be, he could have figured it out from all these other people in the room asking similar questions and deducing. Even Usopp was putting two and two togehter. We might never find out if Luffy actuallly knows or not. Luffy probably wouldn't ask Zoro directly, especially if Zoro wouldn't tell first and didn't want to talk about it

- because for Zoro, nothing happened! Nothing, that would compromise his and Luffy's first promise. For Zoro to become the Strongest he couldn't back down from the duel with Kuma (just like before with his duel with Mihawk at Baratie. When he's faced with something he swore to overcome, he can't back down or evade. Even back then Luffy understood that as he held back Johnny and Yosaku, but Sanji was perplexed how far Zoro (and Luffy) would go to reach their dreams). When Sanji was asking him in front of Kuma "What about your dream?" Zoro was still thinking about his dream- it was just that the context has changed, it changed into a journey. His dream is the most important thing, but it wouldn't mean much, if, when on his way to accomplish that, he would betray his other words and promises.

[wistfulwatcher]

the death of reruns was the death of television.

we talk a lot about why streaming is killing television, but i think one factor that is under-discussed is syndication. there have been some good short-run series, but the majority of our most beloved series had long runs. like, 5+ season runs. runs that hit that sweet 100 episode mark, meaning they qualified for the most lucrative syndication deals. streaming shows are reducing and eliminating the need for such deals because they’re so siloed. instead of making a syndication deal with another station (and paying your creatives fair residuals), streaming services host their shows on their own platforms and instead pay the streaming rights residuals that are nowhere near as fair.

because these streaming networks (both streaming-only, like netflix, and core networks with original content streaming, like cbs and nbc) aren’t selling their shows off-platform, they don’t need to hit any kind of episode landmark to be cost-saving. you can host a show in any increment, so having a 20-episode series is the same as having a 60-episode series. except the 60-episode series, of course, takes longer and costs more to produce. as long as a network makes one season of a show, they get to market it for new viewers. and once they feel they’ve gotten all the new subscribers they will out of a series, they drop it to save money.

until there is some monetary benchmark incentive to get a series past one or two seasons, television as long-form storytelling is dead.

[raayllum]

anyway one thing i think TDP does very very well is how it uses visual storytelling so strongly to indicate character mindset(s) and progression

Claudia's hair is the most obvious example - we don't need to be told she did something fucked up in 3x09 to bring her father back, because as soon as we see more white hair we know, from context and worldbuilding clues, that she did. It allows a lot to be communicated but not directly told, and it carries weight accordingly

Then there's more subtle ones - the sun being behind Janai when she steps up behind the horn ruins vs Karim not having one, because she is the true and fair queen and he is not, as well as her being right in how she handles matters legally and him being wrong in how he handles matters (il)legally.

There are also examples of Rayla's S1 binding - she's literally uneven/unsymmetrical and subsequently off-kilter - as a chain she has to be freed from, and how Callum has the golden bars around his wrists in his arc 2 design that also look like he's wearing permanent quasi-chains (because of course he is)

The crown of Katolis is a literally broken circle/chain, Aaravos walking around being literally heartless, how certain spells appear and a perpetual emphasis on circles (people being surrounded, objects, etc.)

There's a lot being communicated and is one of the reasons, I think, the show is so rich because our brains take it in subconsciously if nothing else, and then we can notice it more consciously on rewatches and subsequently appreciate it, and it just adds to how many layers are on screen at any given time

[ikosburneraccount]

Okay, in honor of the announcement of the TLC MOVIES*, I compiled of all deleted scenes from the The Lunar Chronicles, per Marissa Meyer’s blog**:

Deleted Scene #1 (from Cinder)

Deleted Scene #2 (from Cinder)

Deleted Scene #3 (from Scarlet)

Deleted Scene #4 (from Scarlet) 

Deleted Scene #5 (from Winter) 

Deleted Scene #6 (from Winter)

Deleted Scene #7  (from Winter)

Deleted Scene #8  (from Winter)

Deleted Scene #9 (from Cress)

**As part of a promotion between the releases of The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book and the release of Wires & Nerve Vol. 1

[shorthaltsjester]

i do not want to dig a hole but i am too much of a laura bailey pc enjoyer to not make this post so:

selfishness ≠ a lack of kindness 

selfishness is a theme that has come up with all of laura's main campaign pcs. that doesn't mean that her characters are always making selfish choices or that they don't care about the rest of the people they're with or that they're not good. it's just that, for the most part, the first thing they're thinking of when they take action or make choices is themselves. 

in jester and vex both it is more typical and obvious selfishness. vex's developed because she needed it to keep herself and vax alive and as safe as possible and it grew into a behaviour that she had to actively work to avoid. it's evident in her greed, her theft of the broom, her reaction to her own death which relied heavily on i'm okay/i survived to which keyleth reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had to witness and reckon with her death. in jester's case, she grew up in an environment that literally trained her to make every decision based on two things - her mother's opinion and her own. so, when she's out in the world without marion for the first time, her choices are those that will benefit her and her actions are those that consider her own thoughts and not really many others' (aside from the traveler's). 

it isn't a criticism of either vex or jester to say that they are characters who act selfishly. in fact, i'd argue that to claim otherwise does a great disservice to exactly how immense both of their character arcs are. because the nuance of both jester and vex is that they are selfish, and they also hold extreme room for self-sacrifice and empathy. vex is much more brash than jester is, and jester is much more trusting than vex, but both of them are characters who begin with selfish impulses who grow with them. neither ever truly shed those impulses, but they use them in new ways, typically transforming them into impulses towards things that are in the best interest of the party. 

you may have noticed the lack of imogen in this post about laura bailey pcs and that's because of two reasons. one, we are an unknown amount of time into her story, i can't analyse her development the same way i can vex and jester's. two, imogen's selfishness isn't the blatant quasi-self-aware selfishness that we see in things like jester complaining about her lack of money to caleb or vex stealing a broom. instead, imogen's is very internal, like a lot of laura's character work with imogen. it is a bit similar to jester’s in the sense that it comes from a lack of awareness moreso than vex’s practiced behaviour, but imogen’s is a lot more tied to inherent beliefs she has about the world and the people in it.

as a consequence of her powers, imogen sees people's thoughts as their entirety, she holds it above their actions to be the truth of who they are - to act against what they think or to say something that doesn’t cohere with what they’ve thought is akin to lying, so for her to act empathetically is to act in tandem with what someone else’s thoughts are, not how they act, which is typically not all that wanted. the same as vex’s greed and jester’s naivety, this is a trait that makes narrative sense and it’s one i find quite compelling, especially when read in the vein of someone struggling through trauma that has made them assume that the world is against them. imogen’s cynicism is coherent cynicism, i can’t say that in a similar situation i wouldn’t have the same predisposition towards the world.

the part that is particularly self-interested comes in if you look at how imogen has actually been treated in the campaign (quite well) in comparison to the cynicism that she’s developed from her past (something that speaks to a world out to get her). certainly, a bunch of shitty things have happened to imogen in the time we’ve known her, but the same can be said for everyone in bell’s hells and pretty much everyone in exandria at this point in time. but, in a fight to save the aforementioned world, imogen’s focus was getting her mother back on her side. which, while very consistent with her character and a choice that i enjoy, is a very selfish one. the fun thing (to me, obviously) about imogen is that she has, more than most, an insight into the opinions of others and she also tends to seek others’ opinions out and genuinely engages with them and supports their choices. but she still very much acts towards what she thinks is best. it’s one reason i enjoy looking at the dynamic between her and orym as one between foils, as orym tends to be stalwart in his beliefs and doesn’t care too much for other’s opinions if he’s already sure of his own, but his actions tend to favour collaboration and protecting others.

as i mentioned earlier, imogen is a harder case to look at because she is still in the process of her story. however, the circlet is clearly influencing how she interacts with the world and in the wake of the solstice, the hostile reaction towards ruidusborn people has started to become more and more apparent and i’m interested to see what route that ends up leading imogen down and how it will influence her relationship with the rest of bell’s hells. (for better, i think, based on recent conversations, but if it's for worse i will be just as seated and excited).

all of this is just to say, please stop assuming that claiming a character has a trait you think is a bad one is criticism or a hate post. in light of the fact that i know that people who don’t believe this will continue to not believe this, i’ll encourage anyone confused about the ability of a character to be good and kind and selfish all at once to look to what the text itself says, specifically scanlan’s words to pelor when asked what vex means to him:

“Her name is Vex, and she is greedy and mean sometimes, and she can steal a lot. She’s a little bit not the greatest person, but her flaws highlight everything that is right about her, which is she does all these things to protect her friends and her family. She would give her life for any of us and for anyone who was truly in need. And she’s not perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of us.”

would you look at that... an ability to be a multitude of things, some in conflict with one another. i know that's hard for fandoms to believe, especially about female characters with agency, but i promise its true!

[self-spaghettification]

Framing: Viren & Aaravos

i find it interesting how even though aaravos is actually taller than viren they tend to frame them at the same height or viren having the upper angle

let's keep in mind, this is their actual height difference.

but here with claudia, we get a more realistic height difference in the shot.

yet with viren, a lot of the time, they're framed more at the same height, or with viren above.

similar to how harrow is usually framed above viren. (despite harrow being 2 inches shorter.)

but no don't take my word for it. here, let's go through shots extensively bc i'm insane 🥰

and, well, because it's interesting to look at the framing within the context of the scene. the power imbalance. who's taking the lead

little height difference-

viren above-

exceptions being here

in conclusion, despite aaravos being taller than the average human, he tends to level with viren a lot, even appearing smaller as viren takes the lead and aaravos is just there to assist. if aaravos appeared larger, it wouldnt be as cool for the whole villain partnership and servant for humanity thing he's got going on.

viren takes the taller role especially in scenes where he's gaining some magical and political power (parting the lava, sunfire staff, baby dragon, freed from prison, freedom from aaravos question mark) or taking the lead in a scene in general (telling the flashback, reacting to karim) or simply because the framing helps aaravos play up his servant/advisor role (ie-now he's here for you)

however, in the few times we do see aaravos take a larger role, it's usually when he's advising viren on something viren feels personally uncertain on (conquering xadia, killing puff, using claudia) but something that he ultimately has no control on because it has to happen. or...is supposed to, regardless.

i also find it interesting how aaravos appears larger both places here where he's going to tell viren how he can transcend the limits of his physical form/natural morality. :)

also this post was originally going to include janai as another aaravos height framing comparison. but. 1 i hit the image limit aand 2. tdp doesn't have an official height for her (i checked) :(((( so. rip.

aaand i could have included the mirror scenes but IIRC viren is almost always framed above aaravos regardless :p

sooo yeah. did i just spend an hour going through these scenes to make this? maybe. but i thoroughly enjoyed it because them <3 my beloved hehwejhrw. hope you enjoyed/found some insight as well!

[greenisms]

Maybe it's because I'm getting old but I do not give a flying f*** about Threads or Twitter or any of that s***. If someone wants to take a look at pictures of my life there's my Instagram and if they want to hear about my internal thoughts and interests s*** like that here's my damn tumblr (and good luck finding it if you know me real life). But that's about it I'm tired of all this f****** social media crap. Enough with these 80 mil websites and apps and information everywhere. Join this sign up for that. LOL that's enough b******* already. It's a cesspool of s*** . I want a blade of grass to grow ginormous sized and just murder social media.

[sickgraymeat]

Here is a take. You need the context of the character outside of the relationship in order to fully appreciate the relationship, in an analytical/understanding sense. (What I mean is you can obviously enjoy it regardless) Most bubbline shippers are more drawn to Marceline’s context outside of the relationship than to Bonnie’s, which often leads to minimizing Bonnie by characterizing her as uncaring or a purely selfish partner, minimizing Marcy by characterizing her as purely a (Bonnie’s) victim who did nothing wrong, of oversimplifying the whole relationship by only acknowledging the bad parts (just the angst) OR the good parts (just the fluff). It’s really frustrating actually bc to me they’re both characters who shed a light on the complexity of the show as a whole, and when most people realize that they tend to latch onto the second layer beneath the surface so to speak— the big “reveal” that Bonnie isn’t just tea parties and smiley faces, and that Marcy isn’t just scary pranks and evil laughter.

The thing is, THIS IS NOT THE LIMIT OF THEIR COMPLEXITY. They definitely are not just those things, but they are not just “evil scientist dictator” and “depressed lost soul” either! They’re so many things, just like every other major character (and many minor ones) in the show. I see many of you getting into Bonnie’s complexities without sympathy because you think it’s cool or sexy that she’s evil or whatever, but there’s so much more to her than that. And while I’ve seen much more sympathetic introspection on Marcy’s character, it still tends to place her as the Victim with a capital V within the context of their relationship. Understandable considering we mostly see it from her side, and considering we mostly see the parts of it where it’s strained. But come on!! I know fandom is very capable of filling in blanks, but I rarely see that for Bonnie when it isn’t in service of a different character. I get that she is very withholding, but honestly so are all of them. That’s exactly what Obsidian is about, but I don’t think anyone waited for it to come out to acknowledge that Marceline was more than the series could directly show of her. So many people in fandom are willing to dig SO DEEP for interpretation, but with Bonnie, it’s like she surprised or angered or amused you so much by being 2-dimensional than you never acknowledge the dimensions beyond that. And if that’s because you don’t see them, then how are you seeing every other character’s so clearly?

[fanfoolishness]

What's holding Din back?

I sat down to try and write some fic for the new season, but so far, I'm fresh out of ideas for Din... mainly because I'm unclear of what's going on in his head these days.

On the surface, he has everything he could possibly want.

Grogu is back with him! Din was clearly thrilled to have him back in their reunion in TBoBF, and his pride for Grogu shines through in all of their interactions.

He has the Darksaber! It's been liberated from a non-Mandalorian enemy, and is back safely in Mandalorian hands.

With the help of his ally Bo-Katan, he's bathed in the Living Waters of the Mines of Mandalore and been redeemed in the eyes of his people, who have accepted him back with open arms and no further questions on his transgressions. Even better, Bo-Katan has joined his covert as a skilled warrior he respects. The Armorer is treating Grogu as one of their people, and Din is even getting along with Paz Viszla.

So why do things feel off?

Paz Viszla, who has the emotional range of a brick, explains to Din (possibly his least favorite fellow Mandalorian) that the foundling they are seeking to rescue is his son. Bo-Katan calls Din Grogu's Dad in all of their conversations. Grogu is trying his best to learn to talk, and Dad is an extremely reasonable guess for one of his first words.

Din... calls himself Grogu's ward. Not his dad, his guardian, his father. Just ward, an archaic word for protection. Grogu is a foundling. Not his foundling.

Why?

And why does he struggle so badly with the Darksaber? We've only seen him use it a few times; the only time that barely approached competence was when he used it on Tatooine, but even on sacred Mandalore itself, his mind focused on redemption and the history of his people, it would not obey him. The Armorer told him the Darksaber responds to his mind and its distractions. Why would he be distracted then, on his path to achieve his goal to honor his Mandalorian culture? Will we see next week that he's suddenly super proficient with it? It's possible, but I doubt it -- otherwise, why make such a big deal of his incredible skill in other areas contrasted with his clumsiness with the Darksaber? I really hope they're going somewhere interesting with this.

...Just like I wish this meta was going somewhere. But I can't get it there because I genuinely don't know what's wrong with him. Why can't he claim Grogu as his own after everything? Is that why he struggles with the Darksaber, because he's not accepting fatherhood? Why wouldn't he? Fear, memories of trauma... what could it be?

Talk me through it, folks. Reblog with your theories or ideas and help me figure this out!

(Of course, bad or inconsistent writing could certainly be the explanation for all of this, it is Star Wars after all and we all know it ain't that deep. But for the sake of argument, let's pretend that's off the table, haha!)

[thefableddestiel]

Seriously though, what is the deal with the Winchester boys?? Every character in universe is obsessed with them. They fall for them. They literally know it and they can’t help it. They die for them.

And every person who watches in this universe, does the same. We watched them for 15 years and we beg for more. We go to conventions years after it ended. We take over social platforms whenever something of note regarding them happens.

The Winchesters inspire unparalleled devotion and I can’t explain why that is, but I am also a victim of it.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

con coming out as queer actually adds so much context and so much more weight to how he talks about watching taika and rhys film the e5 moonlight scene and how he always finds a way to gush about the central romance between ed and stede in almost every panel and interview he does.

like, he’s is a middle-aged queer man who has kept his personal life extremely private for years. that "oh, this is our show" moment he's said he had while on set watching them film the “you wear fine things well” scene must have been a personal realization for him. this story about two middle-aged queer men falling in love is just as impactful for him as it is for us.

it’s reminding me of when the show first came out and there were so many people opening up about how much this show meant to them, like how the op talks abt in this post:

knowing now that con mustve had a similar experience while filming the show, and that this show as a whole has made him feel comfortable sharing a piece of his personal life that he’s kept private for decades, it’s just reminding me how special ofmd is and how it means so much to so many people.

[tyriongirl]

Tyrion's Heterochromia as an Analog to Lann The Clever Stealing the Sun

This is inspired by this post by @jackedup180 and further conversation with them.

Tyrion does not fit the mold of Lannister looks (fully blond hair, fully green eyes, and, in Tywin's and the rest of abelist Westeros' views, able bodied) and instead is this mix of both blond and dark haired, eyes both dark and bright, supposedly not looking like a Lannister 'should' look.

Tywin clearly thinks Tyrion isn't "truly" Lannister, and this is strictly because of his looks and his highly hyper visible disability:

"[...] Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that you are not mine. To teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about wearing that proud lion that was my father's sigil and his father's before him. But neither gods nor men shall ever compel me to let you turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse."

However, Lann's looks weren't "Lannister" either. In reality (or actually, imagined history / mythic past) Lann wasn't blond, even if that part of the story is being de-emphasized.

"The Lannisters were an old family, tracing their descent back to Lann the Clever, a trickster from the Age of Heroes who was no doubt as legendary as Bran the Builder, though far more beloved of singers and taletellers. In the songs, Lann was the fellow who winkled the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock with no weapon but his wits, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair."

[AGOT, Eddard VI]

Lann The Clever didn't fit the mold. There was no mold, and there still isn't one now. There's no 'right' way to be or look a Lannister. The story itself is only a legend, a myth, a tale with no actual or very little basis in history:

"Names such as Brandon the Builder, Garth Greenhand, Lann the Clever, and Durran Godsgrief are names to conjure with, but it is likely that their legends hold less truth than fancy. [The World of Ice and Fire, Ancient History: The Age of Heroes] "It is highly unlikely that such a man ever existed; like Lann the Clever [...] the Winged Knight is made of legend, not of flesh and blood." [The World of Ice and Fire, The Vale: House Arryn] "Lann the Clever supposedly lived to the age of 312, and sired a hundred bold sons and a hundred lissome daughters, all fair of face, clean of limb, and blessed with hair "as golden as the sun." But such tales aside, the histories suggest [...]" [The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands]

Tyrion's looks stopped Tywin from seeing that he was the essence of what house Lannister was about, before Tywin's bizarre "traditional"-made-up house values that didn't exist until him. Tyrion is a trickster, Tyrion does use his words as his weapon and assets, Tyrion can and have tricked his way into getting what he wants - as we can see with his first trial in the vale, and his deal with the mountain clans.

Instead of acknolwdging that, Tywin prefers to see it as a fault of Tyrion:

"He closed the shutters, frowning. "You have a certain cunning, Tyrion, but the plain truth is you talk too much. That loose tongue of yours will be your undoing." "You should have let Joff tear it out," suggested Tyrion."

[ASOS, Tyrion VI]

Tywin can pretend forever that Tyrion is not a 'true' or 'proper' Lannister ("this was the last time I will suffer you to bring shame onto House Lannister." ASOS, Tyrion I), but in the end it is clear that Tyrion is both a Lannister in values, deeds and character, and inherently Tywin's true and undisputed son:

"Now that's where you're wrong, Father. Why, I believe I'm you writ small." [ASOS, Tyrion XI] "[...] But Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. [...]" [AFFC, Jaime V]

Also I just think being the og Lannister would be the cruelest and most fun revenge Tyrion could enact on Tywin <3

[bladesofkyber]

Idk i just think it’s interesting how Freya thinks killing Kratos would’ve been revenge for Baldur even though for them to be truly even stevens she would have to kill Atreus. Freya never, ever tried to attack Atreus; every attack we see in game is focused on Kratos. In the opening fight, Atreus is knocked out of the sled but not seriously injured and During Vanadís 100% of her focus was on Kratos.

It was never really about getting revenge on Kratos; Freya forgave him the moment he blocked Atreus from mauling her, it just takes her a minute to realize it and a little bit longer to say it out loud. Freya has been so dead set on getting revenge because Kratos is accessible to her. Odin, who is really to blame, is untouchable, safe in Asgard behind Hrimthur’s wall. Kratos is merely a target she can hit Right Now. She’s so angry, so hurt and as far as she knows, there is no way to reach Odin; not until Atreus tells her they are going to find Týr in Svartalfheim. She begins to think there may be hope to destroy Odin, but instead of asking for help she attacks. Freya is unused to relying on anyone but herself. She’s been lied to and let down by nearly every other man in her life, why would this one be any different.

The vines are when Kratos realizes Freya forgives, or will forgive, him. He sees her power in that moment, hears & feels her anger. But Freya finally has taken a moment to figure some shit out. In that one vulnerable moment Freya could have crushed Kratos instead of that rock and they both know it. I think this is also the moment Kratos realizes just how much Freya has truly been held back. This is the closest to full strength he’s ever seen her; Kratos knew she was strong, a warrior but never knew Freya at her peak. And he still has not. He may not have realized how formidable she was until this fight, he knew her determination, her indomitable will, not her true physical strength and abilities. It’s here he understands why Odin bound her to Midgard, bound her powers and took away her ability to fight.

To Forgive or Kill is so important, but that’s not when she forgives Kratos. Vanadís is the true forgiveness, To Forgive or Kill is when Freya finally admits it to herself

[raayllum]

So as much as I love this moment (it's very sweet, and Rayla is very pretty here in particular) it does give me pause, because what the fuck was Callum's plan here? If he's getting out of the water (out of concern / feeling a perhaps Rayla self loathing stint coming on?) what was what his plan for going to the prison? Especially since Rayla takes it as he'll stay behind with her so that's probably supposed to be our takeaway, too. I'm assuming his idea was to give Soren the runes so he could go with Ezran, rather than letting Ezran go all by himself, but... Just proves Prince "tunnel vision" Callum of Katolis really does love Rayla so much it makes him Stupid (cue "we can walk around a sea" for her followed 20 minutes later by "sometimes getting somewhere slightly faster is important, like right now" from 2x04 all over again).

[waddledeeimages]

my waddle dee zine!!!! I'm so proud of it \(๑╹◡╹๑)ﾉ yes that's mitski waddle dee page im fucking Silly

(ID in alt text)