#recently there is literally none whatsoever

[ellenchain]

Pirate AU! (I haven't watched Black Sails at all)

47 is a spy working for period-appropriate ICA organization which is really run by the British aristocracy in service to the crown. He takes out key figures which improves circumstances, albeit half of the time only temporary until the position gets filled with someone worse. He unknowingly spreads colonization around, destabilising communities.

Lucas, mercenary for hire, can't bear to live in a world where decision makers tell him what to do, especially if what to do is either be miserable or spread misery. So he steals a ship of his employer Cobb, although officially it sank, dragging the whole crew to the depths of the ocean. He repainted it and hoisted the jolly roger.

Bit by bit he starts to commit acts or piracy but with the goal of fighting against colonization. Naturally the ICA eventually gets wind of that and sends 47 out to take care of the pirate captain.

His subtle methods won't work, Lucas sees through every disguise and when getting him on land fails, 47 sneaks aboard the ship.

He thinks he's getting lucky when a British ship attacks, easy to take out Lucas in the fight. But he realizes that things don't add up and Lucas is no a merciless monster but takes care of his crew, distributes wealth around and offers to take the defeated crew on if they swear loyalty.

Lucas finds him and offers a truce. 47 will stop trying to kill him and allows Lucas to show him the world for what it really is.

The story looks optimistic at this point but of course the ICA doesn't like that 47 is compromised and sends more hitmen and Lucas bit off more than he could chew when his pirate fleet expands and he's losing control of the crew who sometimes commit atrocities because they can instead of serving his goal.

Cue drama, heartbreak, desperate fights, yelling and, if this is a true gritty pirate au, everyone dies.

omg you put so much effort into this, it sounds fantastic!

Lucas would fit the pirate role so well. Basically that's what he is a bit in canon too - I mean, he has a very strong sense of justice, but somehow also agrees with taking hostages (but not hurting them!), blowing people up (but only the bad ones!) and robbing organisations for his own military base (but only the ones doing bad things! Jobs and people attached to them are somehow irrelevant)

So yeah, he fits pretty well as a (modern) pirate 🏴‍☠️

I love 47 as a spy - the best the Crown has to offer. Diana is proud to have him. But just like in H2, she lets herself be talked to after 47 returns from Lucas' ship (and she will join them of course!)

(Let's not talk about the spicy details that Lucas probably captures 47 first and puts him in a small cell on the boat, but brings him food and water regularly and talks to him, perhaps opening his linen shirt with the tip of his sabre and watching him intently as he tells of his plans to bring down the Crown, 47 tied to the floor, letting Lucas do whatever he has in mind and - )

And I do ask to avoid everyone's death, we have H3 as a heartbreaker, that's enough 💔

[pluckyredhead]

I read an interesting meta post about Kon's time in Smallville the other day and it got me thinking about how all the non-Steel Supers have three identities: superhero (Super), secret identity (Kent, usually), and Kryptonian (El). But they don't all identify with those identities in the same way.

Clark, in his heart, is human. Yes, obviously he isn't literally human, but he was raised his entire conscious life on Earth, by humans, surrounded by humans. He married a human. His two closest friends are humans. Until puberty, he thought he was human. It's not that Superman is a disguise, exactly, but as Lois and Clark put it so beautifully: "Superman is what I can do. Clark Kent is who I am." And Clark Kent is human.

(Same with Jon, if not moreso. Jon was born on Earth and didn't know he was half alien until he was ten. Jon is also human in his heart.)

Kara, meanwhile, is Kryptonian. Kara lived on Krypton until she was sixteen. It shaped her beliefs and her values. I don't think this necessarily means she's forever alienated, it's just a different experience of life than Clark has. And I think it's telling that she's had so many identities on Earth: Linda Lee, Linda Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, Kara Danvers, probably some others I'm forgetting about. None of them are as foundationally real to her as "Kara Zor-El," or as "Clark Kent" is to Clark. Supergirl is what she can do, but Kara Zor-El is who she is. And Kara Zor-El is Kryptonian.

But Kon? Kon was created to be Superman. Kon didn't have a name besides "Superboy" or "SB" or "Kid" for years. Even after Clark offered him the Kon-El name (and don't get me wrong, that was an incredibly meaningful moment for Kon), he didn't develop it as a separate identity. For the first ten years Kon existed in canon, he had no secret identity whatsoever. He was an extremely public hero, he loved being a public hero, and he had absolutely no desire to live any other way. When he was given the name "Conner Kent" and the secret identity that came with it, it wasn't something he wanted, and it took literally dying and coming back to life for him to see any value in it at all. He had to pretend to be something he wasn't, but hey, at least he wasn't dead! Even as recently as his current miniseries, Kon has chosen to "find himself" by leaving Earth and going on a mission in space where neither the Kon nor Conner identities are in use or at all relevant.

In other words, at the end of the day, Clark identifies as human and Kara identifies as Kryptonian. But, in a way that's half inspiring for what it says about his heart, and half tragic, like a grown-up child actor who has no idea how to interact with ordinary people, Kon identifies as a superhero.

[bunny-queen]

3d vs 4d

This is one of the big epiphanies I've had recently, and it's going to sound questionable. Or not. Ig many other LOA blogs have thought of this before but I'm still figuring out the logic of things lmfao

SO

nothing you do in the 3D has any impact whatsoever. It has no consequences. Nothing comes out of it, good or bad.

YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE 3D BY ACTING IN THE 3D

babes, the 3d is dead. Like legit. It's a fire gone out, you can't do anything with it. It holds no power, none whatsoever

That might seem daunting at first, but it's actually freeing: it doesn't matter!!! It doesn't matter if you saw bad grades on your last few exams, it doesn't matter what the reflection in the mirror is like, it's DEAD!!!!!

Even more, you don't have to force yourself to do anything you dislike out of hope of changing your circumstances: you don't have to study 9 hours a day, you don't have to workout religiously, you don't have to diet, because nothing done in the 3D has consequences to the REAL world

Which, finally means, that ALL CHANGE must be achieved in the 4d

Aka in your mind

Now's the part where you cry from joy and say "oh my god I'm so relieved" bc baby changing things in your mind is literally the easiest thing in the world

Going through class after class thinking "no I can't sleep I need to study more" is depressing, so instead of it you can retreat to your mind and tell yourself all you want to hear

"I've already passed my exams"

"My past grades were all A's"

"I am the perfect student"

And that's it. It's done. The minute you tell yourself these things, you've done not only everything you could—you've done everything you HAD to

You don't need to do anything in the 3d

You've changed your perception of things and now your outer world will reflect it

By retreating into your mind and telling yourself all you want to hear, you are effectively shaping your reality

And there are NO bad consequences associated with it, unless you think there are

Meaning; you won't fail your exams bc instead of studying you meditated and changed your state

...except if you obsess over that possibility and give it power

Then it might happens

But if it does, no panic, continue denying everything you don't like about the 3d, and it is BOUND to change

Nothing's ever a lost cause, nothing's set in stone

You are safe from everything in your mind

Your only job is to change your inner world. That's it

[mytaiyakeylover]

i just want to cuddle.

synopsis: all your super clingy and adorable boyfriend wants is for you to give him some attention.

pairing: mikey x gn!reader

a/n: this is my first time writing something on tumblr. i’ve only recently begun to use this platform, but i hope you’ll like this little one-shot🥰

warnings: none, just plain fluff and mikey being his usual overly dramatic self.

word count: 1.1k

series masterlist | next

Manjiro sighed, a pout slowly forming on his lips. It had already been four hours. Four goddamn hours and you still haven’t as much as glanced in his direction. He just couldn’t help it. Did you not love him anymore? It sure as hell seemed to be that way considering the amount of time you were willing to spend doing math.

The boy groaned loudly, hoping to get your attention. He then closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh that conveyed his utter agony. Two minutes passed, then five, and finally six.

Manjiro peered at your silent figure through his lashes, his right eyebrow twitching in annoyance at the lack of attention he was receiving. How could you be so indifferent? After all, your boyfriend was lying sprawled on your bed in the same room where you were doing homework, and all you had to do was ask him if he was okay.

The blond puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at you. Another set of five minutes went by without any progress. You just continued to stare at that stupid, demon-like book, filled with evil spells and, perhaps, even guides on how to steal a gang leader's lover.

“(Y/n)-chan~!” The boy whined, hitting his knuckles against the soft cushion, looking very much like a five year old. You hummed in response, not quite acknowledging him so it seemed.

That’s it. Manjiro couldn't tolerate it anymore. It was seriously starting to get on his nerves. All the blond wanted was for you to come and cuddle him, not lying on this cold and empty bed as some cursed book was stealing all your attention from him. It was about time you made a decision.

Muttering a few curses for having to leave the comfortable bed, he quietly padded towards you, who seemed far too occupied with studies to acknowledge him. Carefully placing his chin atop your shoulder, he wrapped his arms around your waist and peered curiously over the worksheets. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't interested in the content in the slightest. The blond simply wanted to know what could have been so interesting that it made you ignore him for several hours straight.

He nudged your cheek, quite similar to the way a dog would whenever it wanted some attention from its owner. However, his nudge seemed to be a bit more awkward since his nose wasn't as long, causing his forehead to hit you slightly as well. You sighed at his stubbornness, tilting your head slightly to his side to make eye contact.

Manjiro was sporting his famous puppy dog eyes, a look reserved only for you and Ken. He released his grip on your waist and reached for the fabric of your hoodie, giving it a gentle tug. His pout deepened, and his bottom lip jutted out to make his point.

“Jiro~,” now it was your turn to whine. “I'd love to cuddle with you, but you know how important school is to me.” You blinked your eyelashes at him innocently, trying to coax him into waiting just a few more minutes. Manjiro could easily tell by your expression, as well as the lilt in your voice, since it was just slightly more sugar-coated than usual.

The boy shook his head in defiance, refusing to fall for that act again. You literally said the same thing an hour and a half ago. Did school really mean that much more to you than him?

“Forget school (Y/n)-chan,” he huffed, ignoring the appalled look you gave him as those words left his mouth. “Am I not more important?”

Manjiro was looking at you expectantly, eyebrows arched as he awaited your reply. The fact that you took so much time to answer did not deter him whatsoever, as he found the confusion in your pretty (e/c) eyes too adorable to make him angry. You were obviously taking his question very seriously, which you should, as Manjiro himself was not joking around. He did, in fact, want an actual answer from you.

“Of course you are, Jiro,” you spoke softly, eyes tinged with a hint of guilt that made Manjiro’s heart skip a beat. Perhaps you had taken his question a bit too seriously. Your hand went up to cup his cheek, eyebrows furrowing while doing so.

“I just want to achieve a stable future. I'm sorry if I've accidentally neglected you,” you said as the blond leaned into your soft, yet cold palm. He sighed contentedly, despite the coolness of your fingertips against his warm skin. Your hands always seemed to be so cold, even during the hottest days of summer.

A smile soon grazed his lips, onyx eyes twinkling with mischief. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, peppering it with kisses as his hands once again snaked around your waist. Giggles escaped your lips as the boy suddenly lifted you, forcing a squeak out of you in the process.

Manjiro laughed at your reaction, finding it exceptionally cute. The blonde continued swaying with you back and forth until you both ended up falling onto the mattress. Snickers filled the room, your cheeks equally flushed as if you were completely drunk on each other.

Then he tightened his arms around you slightly. His forehead resting on yours as he held you trapped against the bed. “Jiro, get off, you’re heavy,” you gasped, words mixing with giggles.

“No more school, you got me?” He asked instead, that same pout from before reappearing on his face. Then, the boy repositioned both of you on the bed, laying you down more comfortably beside him. His arms were still securely wrapped around you, preventing any escape.

Manjiro closed his eyes after that, sighing dreamily as he inhaled your heavenly scent. Lips quirked up slightly as he felt your thin nimble fingers stroke his long ash blonde locks. Your angelic voice reached his ears as you started humming some song you had recently heard and grown to love.

As your lovely singing began to fade, Manjiro’s heart finally found a steady pace. For the first time since he had entered your room, did he realize that those four hours were worth the wait. Well, as long as he would get to keep you in his embrace afterwards.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 4

Gwen

She stands in the way of Merthur, by far the most popular ship in the fandom. I haven’t seen it as much in recent years, but back in the days of fanfiction.net she got slut shamed so badly for having been romantically interested in three of the male characters over the course of the show, which is just... normal straight woman behavior, meanwhile Merlin crushed on pretty much every woman who even looked at him in the early seasons of the show and got no hate for that whatsoever. I barely even read Merthur fics (not because it’s m/m, just because certain aspects of their relationship don’t appeal to me) but the “Gwen is a slut” attitude was so pervasive across the fandom, even fics that weren’t explicitly anti-Gwen would “jokingly” call her a slut. I even saw a few fics demonizing her for having an affair with Lancelot despite the fact that SHE WAS ENCHANTED when that happened, and surprise surprise, Lancelot (who was also under the influence of magic) got none of that hate, and neither did Arthur, who got enchanted to fall in love with multiple women over the course of the show.

Canonically Arthur Pendragon's love interest and an important and interesting character in the show who's completely shoved aside and ignored in favour of the medieval bbc yaoi ship. At best they put her and Morgana in Lesbian Timeout (ie make them get together and then reduce them to wingwomen at best because god forbid we focus on the medieval bbc yuri). Justice for Gwen right now!

She is prince Arthur's love interest (eventually wife). Arthur is MADLY in love with her. He tells his tyrannical father he would give up his crown to be with her (she's a servant in the series). He forgives her cheating on him with Lancelot (!), which in the show is caused by an evil enchantment, but the characters never find out about it. He chooses her time and time again. His love for Gwen is literally never put into question. Many fans insist to this day that there was no chemistry between Gwen and Arthur compared to Arthur and Merlin. Arthur isn’t even particularly nice to Merlin most of the time! The funny thing is that Merlin himself ships these two so hard and does everything he can to help them get together!! Gwen & Arthur are adorable and too many fans were drunk on the yaoi fumes to see it. ARTHUR WAS A SIMP FOR GWEN

Every Supernatural Woman

Supernatural is so mean to women and committed to queerbaiting but it still gives Sam and Dean lovers to kill. The writers kill and villainize them and the fans get the few that remain

wincest and destiel shippers cannot handle the idea of their blorbos having a Woman THREATENING their SHIPS god FORBID

It literally used to be a running joke that if a female character got introduced you knew she was going to die soon because fans would react so negatively to her "stealing" one of the boys away from the big ship, whether it be destiel or wincest

[alittlebitofsainz]

a place in this world (carlos’ version)

chapter 4: electric touch

summary: you’ve spent your entire career at mclaren, are you really willing to risk it all at a new team for carlos? or would it be safer, easier, to stay at the team that you’ve called home for so long? besides, daniel seems excited about your partnership next year, maybe taking a chance on a stranger could prove more interesting than you imagined…

pairing: carlos sainz x f!reader or daniel ricciardo x f!reader, depending on what your choices are

warnings: none other than swearing

masterlist | chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

8th november, 2020

alexa, play deja vu by beyoncé (featuring jay-z) on spotify.

another rainy morning in the UK, another trip west round the m25, another accident at potters bar, another driver texting you from an unknown number. more questions going round in your head, why did lando even have your number? and you were ten minutes late again, what was this, fucking groundhog day? you sat and read the text over and over in the car, a smile forming on your lips as you realised you’d gotten a text from the daniel ricciardo. the same daniel ricciardo you’d been watching in formula one since you were a teenager. crazy how life works out sometimes.

a notification pinged through at the top of your phone as you read daniel’s message through for the sixth time, and you frowned, head snapping up to look out your drivers window, immediately spotting carlos in the car next to you. you were sure that spot had been empty when you’d pulled up; he must have only just arrived. you flashed him a grin, shoving your phone into your bag, before shaking your head and mouthing ‘nothing’ at carlos in reply to his question.

you’d been walking in to the factory together recently, whenever you’d arrived around the same time. it was a good chance to catch up on any work related things, or potentially non work related things (the kick off of the FA cup was the chosen topic for most mornings this week). but this morning, you had an unexpected third member join the walk in.

“hey guys, wait up!”

both your heads turned at the familiar australian accent, his trademark grin adorning his face and his curls blowing slightly out of place in the breeze. he had his arm raised in a wave. you waved back. carlos didn’t.

“hey, daniel!” you greeted him as he jogged down the gravel path of the mclaren technology centre to catch up with the pair of you.

“hey, y/n! did you get my text?” daniel asked. carlos shot you a glance, but you elected to ignore it.

“yeah, sorry I didn’t get a chance to respond - I was driving and I’ve literally just rocked up.”

daniel fell into step in between you and carlos, his smile still as wide as when he’d first spotted you. you could’ve been imagining it, but you felt as if carlos picked up his pace just a little bit, leaving you and daniel lagging slightly behind.

“ah, yeah, no, no worries. I was starting to wonder whether lando had given me the wrong number as a joke or something.” daniel explained.

“I didn’t know lando had your number.” carlos muttered from several paces in front of you. what had gotten into him today? just a few moments ago you were laughing and joking together - it was almost as if his mood had completely changed when daniel arrived. was he… jealous? you scoffed internally at the thought.

“neither did I!” you replied, trying to keep the tone light, shooting a grin at daniel, who hadn’t seemed to have picked up on any tension whatsoever, mirroring your wide smile.

“well, I thought I ought to get to know my race engineer for next year. from what I’ve heard, I’m lucky to have her, ey?” daniel said as you continued towards the factory entrance. 

if carlos had realised daniel’s words were directed at him, he gave no indication that he’d even heard them. instead, he just walked that little bit faster.

carlos begrudgingly sat down opposite her.

“stop looking around. daniel’s in a meeting, he’s not gonna come and crash our lunch.”

carlos sighed, turning his head back round to face her. she could read him like a fucking book by now.

“I’m sorry, it’s just-“ he stopped himself, taking a mouthful of lasagne before looking back up at her. her eyes were trained on him, ready to listen.

“it’s just that, well, it’s hard, you know?” he swallowed his mouthful of lasange and continued, “I don’t like the idea of you being someone else’s engineer next year. it’s like… like someone’s stealing my best friend.”

to his surprise, she reached an arm out across the table, covering his hand with her own. her eyes were full of sincerity.

“carlos, whatever happens, you’re not losing me. we’ll still be friends.”

her touch felt like electricity, sparks jolting through her fingertips and firing a million neurones in carlos’ brain. ‘we’ll still be friends’. just friends my ass - shut up lando! in that moment there were so many things he wanted to talk about with her, he just wished they weren’t in the very public space of the mclaren technology centre cafeteria. he wanted to make sure they were on the same page, heck, whether they were even on the same chapter in the same book. but at that moment his phone rang. mattia binotto is calling. something told carlos that this moment could change everything.

“sorry, I have to take this.”

JOIN CARLOS AT FERRARI

STAY AT MCLAREN WITH DANIEL

taglist: @itsjustkhaos @bicchaan @luvvtrent

comment/message if you want to be added!

[bubblybellyblog]

ohhh my tummy is so so so sick... i decided to have an indulgent night at home, and so i ate two huge helpings of cheesy, rich pasta and a huge slice of chocolate cake and had lots of red wine.

i just didn't think about how i was feeling until i stopped eating and drinking, and all of a sudden i was just left with the most poorly tummy. it was SO round -- i looked 8 months pregnant -- and it felt so tight and bloated that i was literally about to explode. i could feel so much acid creeping up my throat, and i kept having these shallow burps that just kept bringing my stomach contents further up my throat. i could feel everything i ate just packed so tightly in my very very very sick tummy, and i could feel that absolutely none of it was going to digest.

i felt so woozy and queasy all of a sudden, so i went to go get a big bucket to sit with on the couch. i hunched over the bucket and breathed heavily and burped, whilst i could still feel my poor tummy expand more and more.

when all of a sudden, BLEHGH, a HUGE violent wave of sick tummy contents just gushed out of me. literally nothing had digested whatsoever -- it was just a massive wave of pasta and congealed cream and wine with chunks of chocolate. i only managed to gasp before i projectile vommed an even bigger wave, that was super chunky and yet so watery. i groaned as my tummy ached and cramped and brought up at least 4 more waves, until the bucket was over halfway full. each wave hit the bucket so forcefully and made this super harsh sound, and i barely had to retch to bring it up -- it just poured out. it was as if the food had nowhere else to go but up and out.

my tummy is very very poorly and honestly i don't feel much better. i emptied out the bucket into the toilet and seeing all of the undigested pasta floating about made me feel so sick that i vommed again, and i am still hunched over the toilet bringing up smaller waves of my dinner :( the cramps are so bad and my tum is so rumbly and hard still! i hope this wasn't tmi haha. if you have any ways that you would make me feel better at all, or things you'd like to know, let me know :)

🌸

Ohh hon, I’m so sorry this is late and so sorry your belly went through that. It’s not TMI at all, in fact - recently I’ve experienced something very similar. It’s so horrible with our tummies can’t handle something we’ve eaten, and the symptoms related to that are…ugh.

Have you felt better at all or is your tummy still turning?

[geekishfangirl]

I can’t view Batman/Bruce as a real hero

So I’ve gotten into DC recently, or more specifically I’ve gotten into the Batfam, and the more I learn about Bruce Wayne the harder it is for me to look to him as a hero.

I’ll preface all this by saying I have consumed very little DC content, so if something I say is not actually canon pls let me know.

It started when I learned that this man seemingly has an absolute no kill rule. Not a “I try to avoid killing and only do it when absolutely necessary” rule, but a “I refuse to kill anyone no matter the circumstances” rule. I honestly hate this because it’s not effective in any way. Take the Joker for example, Batman has to fight him over and over again because they simply cannot seem to keep that man in prison and Batman won’t kill him or let anyone else do it. I think this is because he wants to believe that anyone can change, and they can, but just because they CAN doesn’t mean that they WILL. People have to choose to change and the Joker has had like 30 chances to do so, yet he continues to kill innocent people. How many innocents have to die before someone acknowledges that the Joker will never choose to be a better person and finally decide to do what’s necessary to protect everyone? They either need to find a way to keep him in jail or just take him out.

This got worse when I learned about Jason Todd. Here you have a poor boy taken in by Bruce, who idealizes him and views him as a father, and when he gets kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Joker he dies alone. When he is brought back to life, he’s mad at Bruce, not because Bruce didn’t save him, but Bruce didn’t kill the Joker to avenge him. Because Bruce didn’t love him more than he loved Justice. Hell, even on his grave, “A good soldier”. I’ve seen ppl say that maybe he didn’t say son because he didn’t want to erase their family ties and the kids never took his last name and sure, I get that. But putting a good soldier instead? He didn’t have to do that. Jason wasn’t a soldier, he was a little boy. It seems like Bruce forgets that about the Robins sometimes. (None of this is even getting into my feelings about Bruce taking in multiple children and having them fight crime, literally risking their lives every night but then this rant would be even longer)

And apparently Bruce fucking decks Dick because Dick was asking him why he let him become Robin before he was ready? Bro cannot take any criticism for his actions I swear. I mean, even if he never officially adopts them (I’m very confused on that tbh) he does still view them as his kids. He still helped raise them. After all, they were all underage when he met them and took them in. So to straight up deck your eldest and tell him to get out literally right after your other kid was murdered solely because he questioned you is actually wild.

Then you have the whole batarang incident, which just makes me question his morals more because he’s got the whole “no killing whatsoever” thing going on but then decides, “I won’t kill the man who murdered my son and countless other innocents, but I can and will slit my son’s throat and leave him for dead.” Like, HUH??? Also, didn’t Dick accidentally kill the Joker once and Bruce went out of his way to REVIVE HIM? Honestly feels like Bruce has some weird relationship with the Joker cause he seems to care about him more than anything. LET THAT MONSTER DIE!

I saw someone say that they thought the “no killing” thing wasn’t effective but was accurate to Bruce’s character because his vigilanteism isn’t actually mainly about helping but about punishing himself for what happened to his parents. And if you kill the villains when you need to, you can’t keep punishing yourself through fighting them. Like a self-sabotage thing. I thought that was super interesting but it would also just go along with him not being a truly effective hero, cause he won’t make the hard calls that are sometimes needed.

In conclusion, while I am sure Bruce has done good for people, it’s hard to see him as a truly effective hero (or a good person/father for that matter) when he does stuff like this.

[thetypedwriter]

Children of Anguish and Anarchy Book Review

Children of Anguish and Anarchy Book Review by Tomi Adeyemi

This book was so horrible. 

No one is more disappointed than me to say that. 

I’ve gone to two of Tomi Adeyemi’s book signings, including a recent one for Children of Anguish and Anarchy.

Tomi Adeyemi herself is absolutely wonderful. She’s so intelligent, hilarious, addictively charming, and can work a room like no other. The book signing was fantastic. Too bad the book couldn’t hold up to the event itself. 

Children of Anguish and Anarchy follows as the third and last installment of the Legacy of Orisha trilogy, but doesn’t read like that at all.

Other than having the same four main characters of Tzain, Zelie, Amari, and Inan, nothing about the book concludes any issue, plot story, or character development from the previous two novels. 

A completely new villain is introduced, someone we haven't heard about as a reader in the last two books whatsoever, and obliterates any of the conflict and tension that Adeyemi worked so hard to build in her previous stories. 

Gone is the tension and literally hundreds of years of in-fighting between the Maji and the monarchy, gone is the civil war and its repercussions on Orisha, gone is even one of the main characters from the last novel, Roen, who was a significant love interest for Zelie and who has been completely disappeared in this new book all together (like, what???). 

It was incredibly lazy writing to wipe away everything the first two books created in order to “unite” against this new enemy. The sentiment is nice, but it’s not the finale we wanted or needed. 

I desired answers to Amari and Zelie’s broken friendship, closure to the Inan and Roen love triangle, a verdict on how Orisha would rebuild and who would rule. 

We get none of that. 

Instead Zelie and the others spend half their time in the book on a ship with very strong slavery parallels, and the other half in the introduced land of New Gaia.

While I thought the descriptions of New Gaia were beautiful (albeit very similar to Avatar), I was dissatisfied because the whole series at this point has been focused on Orisha and Orisha’s problems, not New Gaia and not the Skulls. 

While the plot was bad and aggrieving, the characters were even worse. 

None of the characters were interesting. They were carbon copies of each other in which all they talked about was avenging their fallen Orishan people, killing the Skulls, and protecting loved ones.

Rinse and repeat. It was boring as hell to delve into four different characters’ minds only to find that they all sounded exactly the same. 

I often had to go back to the start of the chapter to tell whose internal thoughts I was reading because they were so interchangeable and self-righteous and dull.  It is never a good sign when you can’t automatically tell who’s POV you’re reading based on their internal dialogue and tone. 

Lastly, the pacing of the book was atrocious. Everything happened so goddamn fast that I felt like I never had the chance to properly digest or internalize anything.

Oh they’re on a ship? Moving on from that. Zelie got some sort of medallion shoved into her chest?? Moving on. Wait, Maji and Titans and the monarchy are all working together after two full books of them killing each other??? Five pages and it’s done with. 

It was outrageous and insulting. 

The pacing made everything feel shallow, unimportant, and unnecessary. More than most of the plot were action scenes, while difficult to write and interesting in their own right, in this book it was so repetitive that characters killing other characters 90% of the time became egregiously tedious. 

And speaking of the action, I also found it incredibly violent and graphic for a YA book. As someone who is not a fan of gore and blood, this book had so many explicit details for no reason other than being gratuitous.

For example, at one point Zelie shoves a chicken bone through someone’s cheek. I found it repulsive and it was also incessant. 

I know some people can handle brutality, but I can’t, and found it a huge turn off and made me dislike the book so much more, especially as this was a majority of the book to boot. 

Disappointment can’t even contain my full feelings for this story. For such a wonderful trilogy to succumb to such a terrible end is a tragedy. I wish the best for Tomi Adeyemi and success for her future, but I will not read another book by her again. 

Score: 2/10

Recommendation: Read Children of Blood and Bone, a magical story that will inspire and entertain you. Read Children of Virtue and Vengeance if you really need something else, but even this book I wouldn’t recommend picking up.

Do not, I repeat, do not read Children of Anguish and Anarchy. It will leave you feeling dismayed and disheartened beyond redemption.

Bonus: Here's me, my fiance, and Tomi Adeyemi at her book signing!

[kwillow]

From your recent post, you mentioned how Theo would potentially favor a partner who could bear a child with him to continue his bloodline. But with Theo being...Theo, could he use magic to impregnate someone willing to birth his child? Bonus: none of that icky physical touch!

Hahaha, an intriguing thought, but unfortunately for Theo, the magic in this world doesn't work that way. Someone asked something similar of his mother, and she couldn't get away with a magic baby either:

I think he'd also be mortified to ask someone to carry his child for him even if it was an arrangement completely without physical contact. One, he'd feel it would be wrong if it wasn't in the bonds of marriage, two, even with permission and the assurance of no regret whatsoever he'd find it morally dubious as he would be demanding literal labor in an intimate and painful way (childbirth ain't easy), three, the thought of all the physical realities and indignities of impregnating someone would still freak him out even if achieved at a distance, and four, this man is not equipped for single fatherhood.

[bots-and-cons]

Um, could you do a scenario with the reader being the avatar and they meet the bots while they train and practice their bending in their secret training spot? Like the bots hear some kind of commotion and think it's the cons, but it's actually just the reader training?

So I’ve also got these avatar HCs from before, so you can check those out too if you want to. I did some of the bots, it’s always kind of random who ends up in these group things. I guess this would be like a prequel to the one mentioned above, at least for the Optimus part

•You’d recently found a new training spot in the desert and you some weird stuff

•There were a lot of marks left by tires everywhere and weird spots on the stones that looked kinda burnt

•It’s a good spot to train, but you have to bring your own water, because there isn’t really any there

•The bots noticed there were some strange noises and thuds coming from somewhere nearby

•They noticed it in the base and it later turned out to be because you were throwing huge rocks at the rock formation the base was in

•Of course they went out to investigate what was happening, and since they had no idea what it was Bee, Arcee and Bulk all went, just to be safe

•And there you were, a human throwing some 500kg boulders around

•They were all pretty much speechless and when you noticed them, you sort of freaked out

•Arcee and Bee managed to dodge the smaller boulders you ended up throwing at them and Bulk just caught it and threw it back before he realized what he was doing

•You of course just bended that sucker to the side so it didn’t hit you

•You’re ready to fight, because what the hell even are these things? Has some AI become sentient and created bodies for itself to use?

•None of you are moving, they’re just staring at you and you’re staring at them

•You sigh and relax your stance a bit, as to not seem threatening

•”Okay, so I don’t know what you are and you look pretty spooked by me too, which I’m not surprised about, benders are so rare nowadays. If I’m on your turf, I apologize, but I’m gonna leave now” you say

•”We can’t let you leave now that you’ve seen us” Arcee says, but she doesn’t seem hostile, even though the words sound a bit menacing

•Bee buzzes to Arcee about how that sounds like she’s going to kill you, but you of course can’t understand this

•They’re all pretty puzzled how a small human such as yourself is able to throw boulders around, and they don’t want to fight you to find out either

•So Arcee and Bulk explain the situation, with literally no details whatsoever, but they just ask you to come with them

•The transform when you agree and you’re thinking “cool” when you see their altmodes

•This of course leads to meeting the rest of the team and Optimus giving you an actual explanation

[darkshrimpemotions]

I dunno man something about telling rapists and child molesters 'oh you poor angel, none of the crimes you did were in any way your fault and anyone trying to say otherwise is a poopy head that's literally worse than Hitler, have some tea and a hug!!!'1111 doesn't quite sit right with me. If anything, letting them off the hook like that seems likely to make them think they can get away with it so they'll do it more.

I can only assume this is because you recently ran across one of my posts about restorative justice, so I'm going to pretend for a minute this ask is in any way good faith and tell you: that's not what restorative justice is.

There are two equally necessary parts to moving away from a punitive justice system: prevention and restoration. Prevention is identifying the root causes of crime in society and addressing those to stop more crimes from ever happening, and restoration is addressing the crimes that do happen in a way that focuses primarily on helping the victim recover and secondarily on making sure the perpetrator doesn't re-offend.

And the thing is, we have copious evidence that punitive justice does not deter crime, help victims recover, or make criminals less likely to re-offend. Just look up any study whatsoever on the subject. If it did, the U.S. would have the lowest crime rate in the world, because we punish more of our citizens than basically any other country on earth.

But in fact, our crime rates are pretty bad. Our incarceration rate is ridiculously high. Our prisons are largely for-profit, which means they are actually incentivized to keep people longer and create conditions that guarantee that people re-offend. Which is what happens. People who've been to prison in the U.S., even for a non-violent crime, are far more likely to end up back there, and to become violent, because of the conditions they endure in prison.

Not only that, but the people actually in prison are not, by and large, murderers or rapists. Most of them are there for non-violent crimes such as drugs, or petty theft. Lots of them are there for "crimes" such as existing while black. Less than 2% of rapes are actually punished in the U.S. already. So we're already effectively telling rapists, with our current system, that they can get away with it. They are getting away with it.

And murderers? Look into the number of unsolved murders in the U.S. Or hell, read up on basically any American serial killer. You'll find that the reason they were able to kill so many people is not, as cop shows would have you believe, because they're evil geniuses who are hard to catch. It's because our current system didn't work to stop the crimes until they had piled up so high they couldn't be ignored any longer. Because our current system is not actually structured around preventing crime or protecting anyone except those in power.

And most victims are not restored by our criminal justice process. They are re-traumatized by it. Again, look at any study. Or, you know, talk to someone who's actually been through the legal process from that perspective.

And once you've done that, ask yourself: Are you really worried about restorative justice letting rapists and murderers get away with it? Or are you simply unable to imagine anything else, because punitive justice, while completely ineffective and in fact counterproductive, is all you've ever known?

[lcnelyghost]

Hey, this could be just a jpm request or with the evans but how they would react to a s/o who swears alot 💀💀

help i literally love this idea. as someone who’s scottish and has a habit of swearing quite a bit, i just KNOW james finds bad language atrocious 😭

watch you’re tongue//jpm

pairings: james patrick march x fem reader

rating: pg??

warnings; none! perhaps a lot of harsh language but this is literally tumblr lmfao

“OH FUCK RIGHT OFF!!! I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS SHITTY FUCKING THING!!!” You screamed, slamming you’re phone down harshly onto the table. Why was it so hard to not have autocorrect on you’re ass all the time?

Meanwhile, Mr March was in his office, listening to you go off about whatever you had been doing for the past hour or so. He groaned slightly at the foul words you were currently saying. He should’ve grown used to this daily routine by now. If you got angry at even the slightest little thing, you’d full on explode. That was why James would often hear a string of curses come fumbling out of you’re mouth.

“NOOOOOO!! OH GET YOURSELF TO FUCK ALREADY!” You yelled again. James pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, muttering something to himself with great annoyance.

“FUCK THIS SHIT!” You repeated over and over again. James now fully couldn’t concentrate and it was starting to really bother him. He was working so hard on these plans, and you’re fit of rage in the background wasn’t helping at all.

He sighed and got up, exiting his office. You heard his footsteps getting ready to enter the bedroom, so you just managed to shut up yet still tapped at you’re phone furiously.

James knocked twice right as you told him to come in. You decided to turn you’re phone off and tossed it to the other side of the bed.

“Darling, may I speak with you for a second?” He asked politely. You signalled to him that you were sort of busy but he didn’t move whatsoever.

“Please.”

You huffed and motioned for him to sit down. He sat on the foot of the bed with his hands in his pockets, exhaling calmly.

“Dear.. what it is that has caused you to be so upset? I couldn’t help but hear that, erm.. filthy language..” You cringed a little as you heard James say those words. You knew he wasn’t you’re biggest fan when it came to how many vulgar and disgusting words were said by you from time to time.

You awkwardly scratched you’re neck. “Oh, uh.. well.. I had no clue anyone was listening if i’m being honest..”

James cleared his throat and looked away for a second. “Dear, this isn’t in any way intended to be offensive.. but it was hard for me not to hear you..”

You bit you’re lip as you realised you had distracted him from his work again. You and these constant unexpected fits of rage..

“Oh James.. i’m sorry. I’ll try to keep that under control as best as I can. It’s not very ladylike of me..” You said, taking him by his hand. He smiled softly and placed a light kiss on one of you’re own hands.

“Not to worry darling… oh! These last few notes shouldn’t take too long! I’ll instruct Miss Evers to begin making dinner shortly.” He winked, you giggled at him and watched as he left the room. You returned back to going on you’re phone and just ignored what you’d recently been up to.

Suddenly, a loud crash caught you’re attention. You’re head quickly snapped up from you’re phone as you froze completely.

James had accidentally fallen over something that Miss Evers had left out. He hissed in pain as a hand flew to his mouth. What he’d only just realised is that whilst he was going down onto the floor, he’d said something that you CERTAINLY would bring up the next minute you saw him.

“SHIT!”

[olderthannetfic]

I’m kind of surprised that the whole heteronormativity BL discourse turned into me hating femme men and wanting every man to be masc. It’s doubly nuts because the story I described that got the brunt of this was one I made because of a certain masculine gay character trope that I really hated, to the point where my idea of fixing it was to basically make him sensitive and soft and a yuri on ice fan, and bullied for his lack of masculinity. If I find myself hating or feeling negatively about any part of a BL story it’s usually because of the actions of the top/seme character.

If a BL is bad, or I don’t know if it’s good or not, or I think there’s any bad writing moments at all, the top is usually the problem. This rule applies even if I think the top is a great character. This applies even if the bottom is a fucking terrorist who crippled an innocent young woman and tortured her for hours and never once grows as a person the whole story. (to be clear I really like the story i’m talking about and would recommend it, halfway across by dracze, but it’s still insane how the top basically NEEDS to be at the more toxic one in the relationship if the story has any flavor whatsoever). I know there are obviously exceptions, I can’t name a single one at the moment.

None of what i’m saying is a criticism of BL or of masc gay characters, i’m just saying that way too many people jumped to one specific conclusion about me based on my words. I really hope this doesn’t turn into discourse about me hating masc gay men and wanting everyone to be femme or some shit. I’d probably rage quit the internet for a week if that happened.

--

You are the only one who can't let this go. Everyone else forgot about it five minutes after it happened... or would have if your ongoing behavior didn't remind them.

--

As I've explained numerous times, people respond to the subtext and vibe of what a person writes as much as to their literal words. You said a bunch of shit that was laden with buzzwords and dogwhistles from communities with bad attitudes. People picked up on that.

You send lots of lengthy posts that are hard to parse and that come out of nowhere. And no, "you don't have to answer this but..." is not the ass-covering you think it is. I have to at least look at the posts in my inbox to evaluate them before they go in the queue. Normally, I don't mind if the same person sends me lots, and I don't care if they're all super interesting, but yours are particularly self-absorbed, boring, and horribly-written.

They're always phrased like "I think X about media Y". They don't invite discussion. They aren't tied to past conversations on here. They don't show the slightest spark of interest in what others think.

You apparently want eyeballs on your writing, both creative and nonfiction asks, but you're incapable of showing genuine interest in others. If these posts are an attempt to interact rather than to just say words in front of an audience, it sure doesn't show in the final product.

The posts people respond better to are just written better, but they are also more obviously part of a dialogue that treats other readers of my blog as peers, not a spigot dispensing free attention.

--

Why should anyone care why you dislike one BL or another? I get that you're trying to prove something about yourself, but why should anyone care about that either?

You are not the main character in other people's lives.

You're treating this like some need to clear your name, but fundamentally, that's assuming any of this matters to other people. It doesn't outside of refuting a given comment on a given post and then, like I said, forgetting about it five minutes later.

--

Every time you ask a new question, it just demonstrates the same lack of clue as before. For example, you recently asked (in part):

"What would changing my behavior look like? I have full plans to write […]"

It does not matter what comes in place of that ellipsis because no one cares what you do in your own art.

No one ever had an issue with your art because nobody has consumed it. And, to be honest, plenty of people have perfectly fine values for things they do. The fact that you do or don't include problematic thing X or proship stance Y in your own art is not proof of anything.

The issue is in how people talk to others about other people's art.

Endlessly trying to bring up your own work just looks like pointless grandstanding. Meanwhile, the vibe when you chat with others here has not really changed. There's still a strong subtext of unexamined assumptions and desire to make everything about yourself.

It's not about swapping out word X or Y. It's about your overall writing ability and command of subtext, which is poor. Really, really poor.

It's also about moronic statements like:

Like would it have made you mad that I said what I said if I removed those words? Because I didn't even mean them I just didn't think long enough to cut them from the post.

"Ooh, I didn't think".

Then don't fucking speak.

Or, if you do run your mouth without thinking, like most of us do sometimes, expect to suffer the consequences and don't cry like a cowardly little weasel when you do.

--

To be perfectly frank, I spend less time trying to promote my own work on here than you do. On my blog.

And I can actually write.

This constant me, me, me, me bullshit is what makes you seem selfish, self-absorbed, and like you're wasting everyone's time on purpose.

[liesmyteachertoldme]

History of Kamala

The year was 1994. Former NFL superstar OJ Simpson has just fled from police in the infamous low speed chase in his white Ford Bronco. Pulp Fiction was playing in the cinemas.

And 29 year old Kamala Harris began dating one of the most powerful politicians in the State of California— Willie Brown.

Brown had been in politics for decades at that point and has risen to become the Speaker of California State Assembly, then Mayor of San Francisco.

(And despite having spent his entire adult life in politics, Brown somehow managed to amass a collection of $6,000 suits and expensive sports cars.)

Willie Brown was also at 60 years of age back in 1994 (he’s 90 now), three decades older than his girlfriend Kamala.

Obviously she was in it for love. I’m sure that’s the case.

But it just so happened that, barely a few months into their steamy relationship, Speaker Willie Brown appointed Kamala to multiple, senior-level positions in the state, including a seat on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the Medical Assistance Commission.

I’m also sure that Brown appointed his girlfriend due entirely to her competence, and absolutely no other reason whatsoever.

These appointments, along with Sugar Daddy's public support and endorsement, were integral in Harris's later campaign to become San Francisco District Attorney, then Attorney General of California in 2010.

Willie Brown also endorsed her for Senate when she declared her candidacy in 2016, and was instrumental in securing her top endorsements, including from Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

Again, all of this success was clearly due exclusively to Kamala’s tremendous competence and nothing more.

Now, a lot of people have been remarking lately that Kamala is a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hire.

But that’s completely unfair. Talk about a low blow. I mean, Kamala’s critics have completely missed the point that this woman— who claims to embody female empowerment— got her start by having sex with a powerful California politician 30 years her senior.

So let’s give credit where credit is due: she slept her way to the top well before she became a DEI hire.

In fact it wasn’t until she was picked to be Joe Biden’s running mate that she started benefiting from the DEI obsession.

Curiously, it is now considered racist to even bring this up. CNN has decided that calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “DEI Candidate” is a “pseudonym for the N-word” and “racist dog whistle”.

That’s absurd. Joe Biden’s entire presidency has been about promoting DEI candidates, and he admitted this himself recently when he said:

“To me the values of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion are literally— and that’s not kidding— the core strengths of America. That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse administration in history that taps into the full talents of our country. It starts at the top with the Vice President.”

Biden also made it perfectly clear in 2020 that he wanted to select a woman of color as his running mate.

So why exactly is it controversial to assert that Kamala was a DEI hire? Is it also controversial that the sky is blue, or that Michael Jordan was an exceptional basketball player?

But these people in charge have a way of acting offended about even the most basic and obvious truths. It’s quite a talent.

Speaking of talent, Kamala has none.

Whenever she opens her mouth, she is as incompressible as Joe Biden yet without the excuse of age and dementia. Like this gem:

“So I think it’s very important... for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.”

This is also the person that was put in charge of the border security, which has been a total disaster. But in her televised explanation, she justified having not been to the border by saying she hadn’t been to Europe either.

Wow, really racking up those foreign policy credentials!

And on the topic of foreign policy, check out this inspiring quote as Kamala showcased her encyclopedic understanding of European affairs:

“Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine, so, basically, that’s wrong.”

Note that this wasn’t an interview on Nickelodeon or some event with elementary school kids. This was an actual response in a real interview about the war in Ukraine.

One of my favorite Kamala stories, though, is when she visited Puerto Rico earlier this year.

Protesters were in the streets of San Juan, singing in Spanish. Kamala merrily clapped along, until an aide quietly whispered that the song was protesting her visit as a representation of the federal government’s “colonization” of Puerto Rico.

Her track record as a prosecutor is also far from impressive.

As the Attorney General of California, she prosecuted and incarcerated cannabis users. But in 2019, asked if she herself had ever smoked weed, she cackled and said, "I have. And I inhaled."

In 2014, Kamala’s office argued to keep non-violent inmates (including from minor drug convictions) locked up so that the state would have free prison labor to fight wildfires.

But Kamala would prefer that her Black Lives Matters voters forget about all that.

The Big Lie they are now force-feeding us is that the party of democracy is energized and united around Kamala Harris.

Personally I think they are terrified and desperate. Deep down they know this woman is an incompetent buffoon. And more importantly, they are still incredibly fractured.

This continues to look like a group that is completely out of touch, but insists that they have everything under control... which is pretty much par for the course given the last few years under Biden.

Having said all that, it would be foolish to think they won’t pull out all the stops— continue to create all the propaganda, tell whatever lie, manufacture whatever hoax, and suppress whatever truth is necessary to win.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda Under Cut

Alana Bloom

she kissed will graham in s1 and dated hannibal in s2 so you can imagine how bad the fandom is to her. fun fact she's in a canon lesbian relationship now tho <3

The show literally does the yaoi treatment of victimisation for the benefit of the male leads to her. And then the fandom mistreats her

I'm not sure if this even counts but...Literally a victim of Yaoi along with several other characters in-series, but she got it almost the worst. The entire show is just people dying because the two male leads are OBSESSED with each other and can't be normal about anything. Alana Bloom, actual PhD of psychology and consultant to the FBI, got kissed by one guy, fucked and fed people-meant by the other, and pushed out a window by the murder husbands' forced-surrogate daughter. Like. Actual victim of several crimes caused by yaoi. She's probably one of the few examples of a Yaoi Victim overcoming and evolving past her yaoi-related trauma into a stronger person/character, though: She gets an entire character overhaul and a hot, millionairess for a wife. She kills a man with an eel. She becomes head of the BSHCI, effectively putting her in complete power over her jackass cannibal ex-bf. She does quite well. Unfortunately, the rest of her screen time is spent trying not to get killed in the ongoing fallout of Hannibal and Will's fucked up courtship, but hey. Can't have everything. I don't even know if I'm saying anything valid here: the fandom loves her, but I supposed her position outside of the Hannigram relationship relegates her to a non-subject in a lot of Hannigram-focused fanwork. She's an 'obstacle' to their relationship only in the sense that Will had a crush on her once that went nowhere and Hannibal started an actual relationship with her SPECIFICALLY to piss off Will. I guess she's also a more literal obstacle as Hannibal's jailer and Will's friend who's constantly pointing out to him that Morals exist and he should try having some of those, maybe.

Gwen

She stands in the way of Merthur, by far the most popular ship in the fandom. I haven’t seen it as much in recent years, but back in the days of fanfiction.net she got slut shamed so badly for having been romantically interested in three of the male characters over the course of the show, which is just... normal straight woman behavior, meanwhile Merlin crushed on pretty much every woman who even looked at him in the early seasons of the show and got no hate for that whatsoever. I barely even read Merthur fics (not because it’s m/m, just because certain aspects of their relationship don’t appeal to me) but the “Gwen is a slut” attitude was so pervasive across the fandom, even fics that weren’t explicitly anti-Gwen would “jokingly” call her a slut. I even saw a few fics demonizing her for having an affair with Lancelot despite the fact that SHE WAS ENCHANTED when that happened, and surprise surprise, Lancelot (who was also under the influence of magic) got none of that hate, and neither did Arthur, who got enchanted to fall in love with multiple women over the course of the show.

Canonically Arthur Pendragon's love interest and an important and interesting character in the show who's completely shoved aside and ignored in favour of the medieval bbc yaoi ship. At best they put her and Morgana in Lesbian Timeout (ie make them get together and then reduce them to wingwomen at best because god forbid we focus on the medieval bbc yuri). Justice for Gwen right now!

She is prince Arthur's love interest (eventually wife). Arthur is MADLY in love with her. He tells his tyrannical father he would give up his crown to be with her (she's a servant in the series). He forgives her cheating on him with Lancelot (!), which in the show is caused by an evil enchantment, but the characters never find out about it. He chooses her time and time again. His love for Gwen is literally never put into question. Many fans insist to this day that there was no chemistry between Gwen and Arthur compared to Arthur and Merlin. Arthur isn’t even particularly nice to Merlin most of the time! The funny thing is that Merlin himself ships these two so hard and does everything he can to help them get together!! Gwen & Arthur are adorable and too many fans were drunk on the yaoi fumes to see it. ARTHUR WAS A SIMP FOR GWEN.