#there is no 'pOliTiCs' to be on the right or wrong side of LMAO we do not need an outsider haole who owns land while the bulk of OUR ppl

[wordsarelife]

—the alchemy

pairing: jj maybank x fem!routledge reader

summary: you always had a thing for jj, while you thought he had a thing for kie. you couldn't have been more wrong..

warnings: none i think

notes: i have absolutely no clue how to play poker, so please don't grill me lmao

the water glistened, reflecting the afternoon sun. you dunked your feet inside, hanging from the bridge you were sitting on. it was lightly moving due to the waves beneath it.

you kept your eyes trained on the horizon, but looking at nothing in particular.

jj came running from the shore, sitting down beside you, letting his feet dangle into the water next to yours. "john b is making food"

"what could he possibly be making?" you smiled, clearly knowing that there wasn't much left in the pantry. you got through the day alright, thanks to both of you working, but you didn't buy any extraordinary things to make sure you had enough money to pay everything else.

“we’re having toast,” jj smirked, then paused for dramatic effect. “but we raided heyward’s for tomatoes, and kiara brought guac from her mom. so it’s fancy toast.”

“fancy toast! the ritz could never.” you hugged your knees to your chest, resting your chin on them, but a smile crept up on your lips.

"what are you even doing out here alone?"

"i'm thinking"

"about your dad?" jj asked carefully. "you know I’m here if you need to spill. no judgment. not even if it’s super depressing.”

"thanks, i know" you were thankful that you had such great friends. people that were like family to you and always made sure you were alright, even if they didn't have much to give themselves, apart from kiara.

"are you going to surf the surge tomorrow?" jj changed the topic, interpreting your silence as answer enough.

"heard agatha's gonna be a bitch" you shrugged. "must be nice to lose a few unnecessary limbs"

"don't be ridiculous, i'm a pro" jj took the sunglasses off his head and pushed them on your nose instead. "are you coming or not?"

"i prefer not to" you giggled, slapping his hand away as he tried to readjust the rest of your apperance. "gonna look good for cps"

"they won't even make it out here, agatha will arrive too soon for that"

"well, then i should be thanking her, right?" you looked up to the sky, the sun still breaking through the slowly arriving clouds, but the darkness of them made it evident that it wouldn't take too long for the storm to arrive. "thanks aggy! sorry for calling you a bitch"

"if that isn't nice" jj grinned. "look at you! such a polite lady"

"told you i could behave better than you" you stood up and waited for him to do the same. "i'm pretty sure they just told you to go and get me not to wait out until they had finished the food, right?"

"caught me" jj shrugged. you knew him well enough to guess that he was trying to escape more work than necessary. "but it did take some time to find you. you weren't in the tower john b locked you in"

"oh, maybe i'm not as well behaved as we thought" you shrugged, following him back to the beach. "you need those sunglasses soon?" you liked the red tinted look of them. you had worn them before and you loved that they made you look like a hippie or vanessa hudgens going to coachella in 2014.

“keep ‘em,” jj shrugged, giving you an exaggerated once-over. “you look better in them anyway.”

you raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. “how much did these cost?”

jj spun around, pretending to be offended. “whoa, whoa! don’t insult me like that. i didn’t pay for them.”

you laughed. “you stole these?”

“they were like six dollars, okay? i stole them out of principle.” he wiggled his eyebrows like that somehow made sense.

you shook your head amused. “jj, that’s still stealing.”

“nah, see, i was planning on giving them to you for a while, so really, it was a selfless act. call it proactive gift-giving.”

jj’s face lit up, the trademark smirk in place as you walked side by side back toward the beach. he kicked at the sand a little, glancing over at you every few seconds like he was waiting for you to laugh again.

you could hear the others before you saw them—john b shouting something about the toast burning, and kiara’s voice cutting through with, “how do you even burn toast?!”

“so, what’s the plan after we survive this gourmet meal?” you asked, your tone only half-teasing.

jj rubbed his hands together with a glint in his eyes. “well, after we feast on fancy toast and whatever leftovers kiara’s mom sent, i was thinking… poker.”

“poker? don’t we always lose when we play with pope?”

“yeah, but he’s working today, so we have a chance.” jj wiggled his eyebrows as if this were the best news in the world.

you laughed, shaking your head. “so, your plan is to take all my money after i generously agree to participate in poker?”

jj’s smirk deepened. “well, since you’re wearing those shades, you’re bound to win. you’ve got that poker-face-hippie thing going on.”

you shrugged, pretending to think about it. “true. i could absolutely bluff the hell out of you all.”

he nodded seriously. “exactly. so really, it’s your civic duty to play.”

“civic duty,” you repeated, laughing. “sure, sure.”

"sit down, you two" kiara ancouraged when you walked onto the patio.

"where have you been that long?" john b questioned, looking at you suspiciously. "you're always sneaking around together"

"don't be ridicilous, b" you shook your head. "we were just watching the waves"

kiara and jj exchanged glances you didn’t quite understand. it made your nerves tweak to not know what they were hinting at.

“i bet it was a sight so see” kiara said softly, a smirk on her face.

jj nodded. “as always” he shrugged, his eyes still on her.

you had to try hard not to let your face distort into jealousy. you had had a crush on jj for as long as you could remember. and the two of you were close, but nothing ever really happened with your brothers best friend.

being in love with jj was confusing. most of the time, he treated you just like anyone else, acting completely normal. but then, out of nowhere, he'd start flirting, leaving you unsure of what to think.

even though you tried your best, the crush on the boy always resurfaced when he would flirt with you once more, keeping your hopes up.

the meal continued without anything happening and you found yourselves cleaning the table to play a few rounds of poker like jj had promised.

"looks like you're in a tough spot" he grinned.

kiara had put down her cards, while you were trying hard to keep a straight face, knowing you would probably lose.

you shrugged. "i don't see you putting down anything valuable, maybank"

"ohh" kiara and your brother hollored at the same time.

"well, let's see then" kiara nudged jj's shoulder.

the blonde smirked before he revealed his cards to you, flushing a street. "you've underestimated me, guys"

john b and you sighed simultaneously, accepting defeat as you threw your own cards in the middle. while jj was busy mixing the cards, kiara took a look at her phone.

"i think i better head out" she smiled, standing up from her chair. "my mother's gonna go crazy if i'm late again"

you played a few more rounds after the girl had left, john b and you losing to jj each time. you were sure he had gotten help from pope, knowing that his time would come.

john b threw down his cards after one more uneventful round. "i'm heading to bed" he nodded, pulling his snapback down, before he highfived jj and pressed a kiss to your hair. "don't stay up too late"

"night, b" you smiled as you watched after him.

"one more round?" jj giggled.

"i'm all out" you shrugged, pointing at the pile of money on the table in front of him.

"well, if i lose you can have all of it"

"this sounds almost too good" you muttered. "okay, what if i lose then?"

"you'll take off your shirt" he shrugged.

"jj!" you pushed a hand to your mouth, draining out the scream of outrage that threatened to errupt in the air between you.

"what?" jj smirked, looking up at you with wide blue eyes. "am i making you nervous?"

"not a chance," you shot back, trying to keep your voice steady despite the way your heart was hammering in your chest. jj's smirk widened, the mischievous glint in his eyes only growing as he shuffled the cards one more time.

"alright then," he said, dealing the cards smoothly. "prove it."

you glanced at your hand, trying to keep your expression neutral. jj's eyes flickered up to meet yours, watching you intently, and you couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not.

you took a deep breath and played the first card, trying to focus on the game instead of the way jj was watching you like a hawk.

the next few minutes were tense, each of you placing cards with care. it was almost suffocating.

"you're really dragging this out, you know that?" you muttered, glancing up at him.

jj just grinned, his eyes glinting with amusement. "patience, sweetheart. good things come to those who wait," he replied, his voice low and teasing. you rolled your eyes but couldn't help the slight tug at the corners of your mouth.

finally, it came down to the last card. you had one left in your hand, and so did jj. your eyes met, the room silent except for the sound of your heartbeat in your ears. You hesitated for a split second, then threw down your card.

jj's eyes flickered to the table, his face breaking into a triumphant grin. he laid his final card down with a laugh.

"looks like i win," he drawled, his voice smug. your eyes widened as you stared at the cards, disbelief washing over you. how did he keep doing this?

"you've got to be cheating," you grumbled, pushing back from the table. jj laughed, the sound warm, filling the quiet night air around you.

"well, you agreed to do this" he shrugged, like he was completely in the right.

you looked at him without any expression on your face, before you sighed, your fingers dipping down to meet the material of your shirt, as you stood up.

jj's eyes widened at your movement, standing up at the same time. "it was a joke, y/n" he muttered quickly. "you don't have to do anything you don't want to"

you halted in your movement. "if you had won, would you have given me the money, like you promised?"

"of course" jj answered without so much as a thought.

your smile deepend, before your fingers gripped the hem of the shirt, pulling it over you head in a quick motion. revealed was your bikini top. the one jj had seen you in a million times, but still his eyes widened even further.

jj's mouth opened slightly, his usual cocky demeanor vanishing as he stared at you. he remembered seeing you in it before, but this still felt different. maybe it was the intimacy of the dimly lit patio, or the way you stood before him now, your eyes steady and unwavering. you had called his bluff, and he was utterly speechless.

"see?" you said, trying to keep your voice light despite the rapid thudding of your heart. "no big deal. just a bikini, jj."

he swallowed hard, finally snapping out of his daze. "right," he said, his voice cracking slightly. he cleared his throat, his gaze darting away before quickly finding its way back to you. "just a bikini."

you walked around the table, pushing yourself between him and the discarded chair. "this can't really be the reason you're so uneasy"

you tried to read the emotion on his face, but he just looked at you, at a loss for words. you softly pushed your hand to rest against his chest. your eyes widened in surprise. "your heart is racing" you declared with a soft whisper.

"yeah" jj finally found his words. "you're so close"

you looked up at him, surprised at what he was hinting at. "i'm sorry if i'm making you uncomfortable" you tried to step back, but his hand shot out, holding you in place by your elbow.

"jj" you muttered, your voice barely audible. you could feel your heart beat just as fast as his did.

"have i ever told you how beautiful you are?" jj's voice was soft and tender, like he was trying not to disrupt the calmness of the moment.

"no" you sighed, unsure. he came closer, your noses were almost touching. his eyes were ready to close, not far from kissing you. your voice rung out before he could do anything of that sort. "what about kie?"

"what?" jj blinked in surprise, stepping backwards.

"what about kie?" you repeated a little bit louder.

"what about her?" jj laughed, before he saw the confusion in your eyes.

"i thought there was something—“

"between me and kie?" he smiled, shaking his head. "well only that she knew about my crush on you"

"you have a crush on me?"

"i thought it was kinda obvious" he pointed a finger between the both of you. "can i please finally kiss you now, routledge?"

you smiled, your heart fluttering in your chest at his confession. "of course" you watched him step closer once more, before you grinned. "but what about—?"

"—oh would you shut up now?" he pushed his lips against yours, drowning out your giggle as your smile touched his mouth like it was supposed to.

[sonik-kun]

Why are Jiang Cheng antis unable to accept JC's canon positive traits whilst completely denying all of Wei Wuxian's canon negatives? Lmao.

WWX is canonically reckless. In his first life, he made stupid decisions and made enemies on his own which even he acknowledges.

JC did correctly predict WWX's downfall. He warns him about walking the crooked path, and WWX just laughs and shrugs him off.

JC also correctly predicted that if he stood with the Wen, the rest of the world would turn against WWX, and JC wouldn't be able to protect him.

The whole thing about JC is that he is pragmatic. He is politically savvy, and he is very perceptive. We see this in the Wen indoctrination camp also, when JC warns WWX not to draw attention to himself or anger the Wen. We all know that he does draw attention to himself (even if doing so saved the lives of all the sect heirs at the camp) and not long after, the Jiang were targeted next after the Lans, with the Wens determined to shame WWX for his "insolence."

We also see that JC is more socially aware of the political situation. He is street smart and a realist. WWX, on the other hand, was more of an optimist, believing he can save everyone, even political enemies, and somehow, no one would bat an eye.

Now, no one is saying that WWX is wrong to speak out against the injustices of the world. On the contrary. Everyone in this fandom is very much on his side and agrees with him because he is correct to call them out and challenge the sect leaders. But that doesn't mean his methods were right, nor were they considerate. They were still reckless and still endangered many lives. His decisions often only thought about the short term and never the long term.

You also seem to forget that his DC also made him rather reckless and irritational. JC didn't only warn him of this, but LWJ, too. His actions via the use of DC lead to the deaths of JZX and JYL, not to mention the many disciples that were present at Nightless City.

WWX's actions, although pure and noble, put JC into a very difficult situation, and ultimately, they took away the last immediate family JC had left (JYL). That is a fact. It's not even a fanon headcannon. I don't know why I'm seeing antis insisting that we're completely ass pulling all of this. It's literally there in the book.

To conclude, no one is making up JC's canon good traits. You just refuse to see them because you're blinded by WWX's protagonist halo. So much so that you can't even see his own canonical flaws. Talk about hypocritical, much?

Also, no. MXTX doesn't care what JC fans think or even what JC antis think. She's moved on from this story years ago. It hardly crosses her mind anymore. (Even then, she was baffled by the hate JC got and claimed that he isn't a bad person. It's there in the interviews if you want to read them, straight from the authors mouth!). But sure. Pop off. Keep on justifying being vile, nasty haters. Let's see where that gets you. 👋

[justaz]

semi-dark king merlin au, someone from ealdor tells king cenred about merlin and he is captured and held as a slave in essetir. since merlin despises captivity and servitude, he’d rather be dead and free than alive and in chains so he acts out and pisses people (especially the king) off so they’ll think him too much trouble and kill him. at first they stick to beatings until merlin manages to get his chains around a few necks and now has a body count so they kill him…..only he wakes back up a few hours later and king cenred is Intrigued and keeps him close. merlin keeps acting out but no matter how many times they kill him, he won’t stay dead. merlin has this moment after waking up perfectly fine after his twenty seventh death where he is hopeless and believes there to be no escape, not even thru death. a few other sorcerers in chains come and help him clean up and give him a lil peptalk, realizing him to be emrys, and then they revolt and take over the kingdom and crown merlin as king and now uther is like “wtf” bc his neighboring kingdom who was kinda sorta on his wavelength about sorcery, though uther did not approve of keeping them alive, is now a kingdom ruled by magic. he goes to war with them but with magic running free and fucking emrys on the throne, they don’t make a lot of headway. anyways merthur meet on the battlefield, enemies to lovers, you get it

[spider-man-2o99]

Just wanted to say that I have been thinking of you and pre-emptively empathizing with the nonsense you are no doubt being flooded with and the psychic damage it must be causing. Keep stanning the king ignore the weirdos <3

thankg u.,, i feel like ive been trapped in a fuckign . Torture Labyrinth these past coupl days . but. wwe will. We Will Yet Persist onwards w/ our hand on the left wall till we;re either out or at the center i swear 2 fucking GOD,

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[gffa]

Okay, so. The senator's speech. Here's why I'm okay with it: It fundamentally misunderstands the worldbuilding of Star Wars and the Force, in a way that's reasonable for a senator to misunderstand. To say the senator is right, you would have to say that the entire foundations of the Force are wrong, as well as it's pretty laughable to say that you shouldn't control your emotions. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself." is pretty good advice and that's literally just "control your emotions, before they control you". Because that's how the Force works, it's based on the emotions you pour into it--if you don't control your emotions, then you will run wild and out of control. To say that the Jedi seek to control their emotions, which is an impossible thing to do, fundamentally misunderstands that it's entirely possible. This is a speech coming from a member of the Senate, which has historically not always had the purest motivations, that Padme and Bail and Mon are written specifically as a contrast to the vast majority of senators who don't actually care beyond their own desires. We don't know anything about this senator specifically, but that's the weight that comes with having a character like this introduced--especially one who is trying to drag the Jedi into being more politically bogged down. Because that's the solution he's suggesting here, to weigh the Jedi down with outside oversight that doesn't actually understand who they are or what they do, who fundamentally misunderstand who they are (they're not a religion? come on, my guy, they are very clearly a religion, they have specific beliefs, practices, rites, and attitudes, to say they're not a religion is either dumb as shit or malicious bad faith lmao) and is very clearly not interested in the Jedi beyond them being a political enemy of his. He says, "But it's only a matter of time before one of you snaps." as if the Jedi haven't existed for literally 20,000 years at this point in galactic history and been aligned with the Republic since it's inception, something like 900 years ago at this point. His speech acts like a Jedi has never gone bad before or that the Jedi pretend they're above it--they very much don't. The Jedi are constantly making a point about how no one is above the dark side within them (TCW has a whole scene where the High Council say not even Yoda is beyond the dark side, and Yoda straight up agrees immediately), to say that one of them will snap and "who will be powerful enough to stop them?" is deliberately ignoring the worldbuilding. It ignores what the Jedi actually practice (it's a lifelong challenge not to give in to anger, so they're constantly on the path to turn away from it), it ignores that emotions very much are controllable, it ignores that the Jedi Order has been keeping a handle on their shit for thousands of years at this point, and it ignores that there's dark siders out there that were never trained by the Jedi, so if the Jedi aren't around to stop them, the Sith would have been wrecking the Republic's shit for the last 500 years. To be fair, they don't know that (but we the audience do, so we should know a bullshit argument when we hear one), but "who will be strong enough to stop him"? Idk, maybe the rest of the level 100 psychic space wizard monks? Pretty sure there's enough of them to stop someone who "snaps", if that happens. The senator's speech just flat out doesn't work with the established worldbuilding, in a way that really works for me, because that's kind of a huge established point throughout just about every piece of canon with the Jedi in it--people just do not understand them and hate the idea that anyone might actually be truly good because they can't imagine it for themselves. Because, as is a theme in Star Wars: "As much as people loved the Jedi, they also hated them, on some level. It is hard to look at people who have become their best selves. It reminds you that you have not."

The senator cannot fathom the idea that a group of people could become their best selves, he doesn't believe that it's possible, because he has not achieved it, and so seeing it in others unsettles him. And, yeah, that's a whole thing that happens with the Jedi in Star Wars, so this speech made a whole lot of sense to me, especially combined with, "So the answer is more bogging them down in political oversight that does not bother to or even want to understand them?" Like, yeah, I see where you're coming from, sir. And that's not even touching the idea of calling the Buddhist-inspired religion (which the Jedi explicitly are) a "cult", because anyone who unironically says that should not be trusted.

[theheirofthesharingan]

What do you think about mikoto and fugaku as parents to Itachi & Sasuke? Fugaku gets a bad rep as a parent, but what about mikoto?

Wow, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Yeah, Fugaku gets a bad rep as a father and it's rightly so. Mikoto is seen as a loving mother, and while some part of that love is valid, and I like her for being a good mom to Sasuke, my admiration for her was dented upon the realization that she was a neglectful mother towards Itachi. And as much of a hot take as it might seem, both Fugaku and Mikoto were better parents to Sasuke than they were ever to Itachi.

So, I have mixed feelings about them both. And when I include Fugaku with Mikoto as a 'better parent' to Sasuke, please know the bar is in absolute hell.

I like the fact that Mikoto was at least invested in Sasuke's life.

She was present in his life, albeit for a short while, and involved in it. She provided him, offered him the love he deserved and needed as a baby. She saw Sasuke was suffering and struggling to get his father's attention, and provided her moral support to him. There's not a single instance, however, she was present there for Itachi. Itachi, too, would have needed his mother's support sometime, that too when he was being sucked into the politics, but we don't see him getting any of that. One could argue it was because Sasuke never witnessed.. Yeah, but how was it after learning the truth not a single memory clicked in his mind that would give away Itachi's sufferings in front of his mom? It's probably because it never happened.

Fugaku was outright neglectful towards Sasuke. Not just that he repeatedly compared Sasuke with Itachi, refusing to see him as his own person and saw him as only a shadow of the 'perfect' Itachi. If Sasuke wasn't as good as Itachi in all the things, he wasn't worth paying attention to, right?

The reason Sasuke was Sasuke and Itachi was Itachi was because of Mikoto. I strongly feel that children need a powerful feminine presence in their lives, which comes from their mothers or sisters. Sasuke was gentle and remained so after everything he went through. I believe it was because in his formative years Mikoto had been there for him.

There's a lot more to explore on Fugaku and Itachi than his parents with Sasuke. When I say Fugaku was a better father to Sasuke, what I mean is that despite being neglectful, he didn't drag Sasuke in the political mess that Itachi was. Sasuke was kept in complete darkness (probably like other kids of the clan) but Itachi wasn't shown this much kindness.

Fugaku and Itachi's conversations are mostly one sided with Mikoto being a silent spectator.

This conversation in particular pains me the most in regards to Itachi. It's like he's only allowed to say yes and no, and any other disagreement with his father on the subject will not be taken positively. He seems unhappy and is suffering and his feelings as a child are not taken into account at all. I say no one treated him like a human. But his own parents never even saw him a child.

Itachi had been acting strange ever since joined Anbu and Fugaku wonders what's wrong with him.

Shisui was spying on Itachi. Did he agree to go out spy on his BFF because some random Uchiha said this to him? Or was he ordered to do so by the chief of the police force? Fugaku, most likely, consented to Shisui spying on Itachi.

Some people say this is an instance of Itachi being evil. LMAO. imagine your best friend committed suicide in front of you and some people come to your house to accuse you of his murder along with many other things? Right. He must behave very angelic.

My man's worried what's wrong with his son who's being subjected to some burden he's dealing with all alone. And neither him not his wife want to reach out to him like normal parents should.

Eventually, when Sasuke asks whats wrong with Itachi and why he doesn't pay much attention to him, Fugaku has an even-I-don't-know response.

In the anime Fugaku says 'Your brother had a hard time dropping his guard'. All of it is an indicator of how terribly Itachi was treated. It wasn't just neglect but also an additional burden of the clan and the village. And all of this is being said about a child that isn't even thirteen yet.

Honestly, I give a lot of benefit of doubt to all the characters in Naruto, Fugaku and Mikoto included. And this opinion on Sasuke and Itachi's parents is because how much Itachi is hated when, it's obvious how every single grown up, especially his parents, in his life failed him. He wasn't treated as a child.

Although, I don't like to hate on their parents either. Fugaku and Mikoto were nothing but kind to Itachi in the end. He'd have cherished those last moments forever until his last breath. Sasuke spoke openly to his father the day he lost him. He'd have hoped he'd continue to be like this with his family but that was the only time in his life he received genuine acknowledgement from his dad.

No, Fugaku and Mikoto were worse parents to Itachi than they were to Sasuke. I like Mikoto because she loved sasuke and showed him genuine love. But i can't like her more because Itachi needed support from his family, which he never got.

Yet they both lost so much and loss of their parents was the worst thing that happened to them both.

[prideprejudce]

im genuinely curious since i keep seeing this opinion, but i rly dont think hotd writing was bad? nothing is perfect but idk, unless someone points to me the times they had shitty writing im having a hard time seeing it. unless i dont actually know what "writing" means here. english is not my first language, i COULD be misinterpreting things lmao. i rly liked how they did things this season, i think it made sense with the last one, this one was just Tenser because at any second the war will reallyyy break out n we dont know when cuz we have two driving forces from opposite sides not wanting that to happen, thats the entire point of s2 i think: establishing that in war there is no clear winner ("strange victory" n all that), that everyone is going to die, that there is no point to any of it theres no point to war at all, that every character is "heroic" and "villainous" in their own right in the right pov. i think it was a fun season to flesh out the characters, have us not feel entirely happy to be fighting for one side cuz theres innocents in both sides but ultimately we all know they will all die and its all for nothing. thats the tragedy of it all imo. i loved it to pieces. i guess id say im sad some characters didnt interact but also i dont see how they would considering how this season went. n also i wanted more rhaena (i do hope she'll have a cool ass role next season, idc idc)

i personally think this season was truly a transition season to full out war. people are pissed because they wanted war to instantly happen after lucerys died last season, but in reality things arent that black and white and i think it would have cheapened the plot to fast forward through the political negotiations and underhanded scheming to try and win without fighting, to just full on nuclear dragon war.

I actually like the idea that this season was like standing on a cliffs edge where one wrong move led to oblivion with millions of people dying and the practical annihilation of half of house targaryen. I'm glad that the writers took the time to emphasize how dire this war could become before barreling us into it. the political battles and moral dilemmas are just as fun to watch as the actual battles

that being said, there are still valid criticisms of the show being brought up too: like the weird pacing and absolute dragging on of daemons harrenhal ghost adventures. on one hand I get it, because in the books daemon just disappears for weeks at a time, and the writers had to do SOMETHING with him this season instead of having him peace out for 7 episodes. but I agree that the harrenhal visions became repetitive, and I'm also not a huge fan of the back to the future magic being shoved in our faces instead of more subtle clues to it

overall, it was a transition season, not the absolute best season of television history, but it's definitely not the worst (and not even CLOSE to being as bad as got s8). I think in modern age media consumption, people now equate "i personally don't like this" to "this is all horrible and the whole show is trash now"

[silviakundera]

Melody of Golden Age ep 1-2 watch comments

"Even a ghost claiming lives has personal desires."

Empress Dowager ruling behind the curtain

Head of the Imperial Guards!ML is slightly unusual, that's more commonly the role we see in second male leads/supporting character who backs up the ML.

But because they've made him the ML, he's of course Super Respected & Very Serious Business Guy

I appreciate how OTT melodramatic the ML is. His intro is The Double-esque.

I also appreciate that we can actually tell that armor is supposed to be heavy.

Decent costuming & sets - not historically accurate but the story isn't trying to be. It looks decent (not just cheap fabric & props), creates a sense of time & place. You can tell the clothes have a sense of weight, like they should. tbh my expectations were low, so I didn't expect it to look so good.

So the guy over the Inspectorate is a dick. Noted.

ML has the backing of the Empress Dowager. So tons of political players resent him. A bit precarious.

FL is non-descript but that's not necessarily a bad thing. She just acts like a normal person. After just trying 2 dramas where the actress does this thing where she opens her mouth & eyes wide as she talks and constantly looks unsure/startled and almost sounding-out her words, it's refreshing to see an actress just... talking

Assassination attempt! FL is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Inspectorate dude most definitely a dick.

LMAO the slo-mo on the ML and the not-at-all-scary dogs 😂😭

ML was the son of a convicted official, huh? Who rose to captain of the guard? not bad, my dude, but who was his benefactor and will they turn out to be SECRETLY EVIL???

FL knows ML from somewhere but is he pretending not to remember, because he just that dramatic

Young orphan boy wants to become FL's disciple. He's cute and hopefully not Secretly Evil (look, SOMEONE is gonna be secretly evil, let's just face facts)

FL is gonna be sister in law to ML but is that truly all she "remembers" about him? ugh her sister has that cutesy way of speaking that grinds my gears. Please!! don't purse your lips and talk wide-mouthed like a child 😭

FL family are not fans of marrying their fav daughter to the dramatic guard leader. FL's concubine mom: "It's quite good to be ignorant and uneducated!"

so there's a reason ML doesn't want this marriage bestowed: the prime minister can threaten their family, pressuring the married in daughter to spy on ML and share info

but engaged sister has fled with a scholar! 😱 how predictible! Except our ML and FL already met, so she will need ML's participation in the subterfuge

LMAOOOOOOOOO ML cannot move a finger without slow mo and an orchestra. can't even trot his horse down the street 😭 buddy is just going for an evening ride stoppppppp

ML is being so omnious and unnecessarily threatening, he knows that girl fled right?

The way they have ML and FL face off so far isn't bad, compared to other low-grade idol dramas - he is above her in status and the way he speaks to her very much reflects that but it never feels to me like he is treating her like a child, simply a lowly constable (he's just That Bitch). She asserts herself with frustration & anger, but she doesn't throw temper tantrums, stamp her feet and pout.

Bad guys are in masks. 🕵

Oh yeah, I knew it - ML is betting on the bride's family to cancel. He knows that 3rd sister won't show.

FL just like, "I'll be the bride" - girl I know ya'll don't want to die for defying the monarch but he literally knows who u are. Like you've had 3 conversations and he knows your name. What's the plan??

lmao he shows up just to be intimidating and point a sword in her face. I would try to sell him on fake-spying.

Huh. He actually doesn't need any convincing! Doesn't press about deceiving the monarch and lets it go. There's been multiple indications that he's a drama queen who had created this image but he has a soft side underneath. He's given her a way out twice now when it would have been easy & convenient to let her die.

ML is right that this marriage isn't much of a threatening conspiracy when everyone knows what's up. He's ridiculous but also sensible.

I hate her sister-friend, do not stay PLEASE go home. you are on my last nerve.

oh naturally ML and FL met as children and there's a token. there's always a childhood token.

ML can't even walk into a room without dramatics asdgghjkl

tbh I feel like he is actually a lot nicer about things than he could have been. other than some threatening, he's just gonna let her live there as long as she doesn't spy on him.

[ghost-proofbaby]

HI MY LOVE. 🩷🩷

Steddie — Electric Touch (even though we don’t know the vibe, but like…the title was giving)

electric touch (steddie's version)

warnings: use of shock therapy toys (i don't know what else to call those), use of a flogger, blindfold, and leather cuffs (reader is restrained to bed), mentions of a riding crop and nipple clamps, teasing, talk of safe words, talk of overstimulation, overall sexual themes. overuse of nicknames (it's me, what did you guys expect?), minors DNI.

wc: 1.1k+

a/n: hello my luna!!! okay. i know for a fact this song will not have this vibe. i know. but... electric touch? i'm supposed to receive a steddie request with fuckin electric touch and not take this sinful route? c'moooon. i already know this filth is getting me blacklisted by t*ylor n*tion lmao.

“What’s… that?” you question with a hesitant glance between the two boys, watching their smirks widen as Steve ruffles through a bag. 

“Oh,” Eddie answers for the both of them, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We just thought we’d try something new tonight.” 

You weren’t in the position to argue with them. They’d already arranged you at their mercy – each wrist and each ankle locked to the four posts of the bed, spreading you wide for them to do as they please. 

“Something new?” you squeak, trying to turn your head to get a better look of whatever toys Steve was retrieving. Eddie is quick to step directly into your line of sight for the other boy though, crouching down so that all you could see is him and his smug face, “What are you idiots about to-”

“Now, now,” Eddie tsks, shaking his head. He’d put his hair up in a bun, and the moment you’d watched him pull back those messy curls, you’d known he meant business tonight, “Is that how you’re supposed to be speaking to us right now, baby doll? C’mon. Play nice.” 

You purse your lips, daring him with a solid stare before you obey, “Can I please know what new toys you two bought?” 

He reaches out a palm, and against your better judgment, you lean into it, “There’s those stellar manners. I’m so proud of you.” 

“Quick playing with her, Munson,” Steve calls as he finally tosses the empty bag to the side. 

“Oh, but it’s so fun,” he murmurs, “Just playing with our little toy before we get to absolutely devour her.” 

“That’s not very polite,” you choke out, wrists pulling on their binds automatically with the need to just reach out and touch your boys. Whether it be your hands messing up their hair, palms against their stubble as you pulled them in for a searing kiss, running your fingertips over their bare torsos – you just needed to feel them. 

Eddie shrugs playfully, “I never said I play well with others.” 

He stands suddenly, and the distance only makes your chest ache worse. They’d had their fill of teasing, you had thought, leading up to this moment. Mouths all over you, a petal pathway of bruises leading from the back of your knees and over the dips of your hips, all the way up to the jugular of your throat. You couldn’t see, but you knew Eddie had left teeth imprints somewhere along the way, on your shoulder if you were remembering correctly, from all the times he’d bitten into your flesh to hear you cry out his name. 

And Steve had been no better. In fact, he’d been worse. Fingers had danced along the inside of your thighs in subtle circles, never reaching where you needed him most. He’d been the one to secure your wrists, and when you’d winced and started to complain about the tightness, he’d only grinned devilishly as he tightened the leather strap further. Went so far as to press chaste kisses to your inner wrist pulse points, reveling in the way your heart was already racing for them. 

Steve subtly passes something to Eddie, keeping whatever fabric was in his fist out of sight until it was in Eddie’s grasp, before he leveled you, “You remember your safe words, sweetness?” 

“Bandana,” you blandly reply, purposefully saying the wrong word out of spite. 

It makes Steve nearly sneer. Eddie is unphased, though, approaching you with a clenched fist behind his back before he leans down to bring his face closer to yours.

“Not even close,” he breathes out, lips close enough to brush over your cheek, “Try again and be good for Stevie.” 

You try to fight the shudder that runs down your spine as you tilt your head, looking Steve specifically in the eyes as your bratty act begins to falter, “Green, yellow, red. Now, please, for the love of God-“

“Don’t think he’s the one you’ll be worshiping tonight,” Eddie butts in, not deterring you as he had hoped as you continue to direct your words at Steve.

“-Touch me.” 

Eddie brings his fist between you two and let’s it slowly unfurl, finally letting you see the silky black fabric he had been holding onto. 

A blindfold.

“As you wish,” Steve says, and you get one quick glimpse of the toy in his hand — a flogger, “Put it on her, Munson. It’s time to play.” 

Your breathing only quickens as your vision is taken from you, feeling Eddie’s rough fingertips linger against your cheeks before his touch has vanished completely.

You hear a buzz in the distance, before Steve steps closer. His expensive cologne is dizzying, even from a distance. Something sweet, something fresh, something deceiving. 

He’s going to fucking ruin you.

“Color?” he asks of you, and you can feel one of his fingertips reach out to touch you, staring at your navel before it’s featherlight touches trail up between your breasts.

“Green,” you sight out, voice already quivering. 

“Good. Now, remember those toys you were eyeing the last time we took you to the shop?” 

Oh. Fuck. “I remember.” 

A new line of toys — all based on electric currents. Meant to shock the recipient. Whips, floggers, nipple clamps, riding crops. All charged to inflict pain amongst the pleasure.

“Good girl,” Steve continues to taunts. The buzzing grows louder now, right along with the thrumming in your chest, “Remember — yellow for slow down, red for stop. Understood?”

A hard swallow. “Understood.” 

“Excellent,” his touch retreats just as he reaches the hollow of your neck, pausing to press in to accentuate his praise before he’s back to keeping his hands to himself, “Now, I think I’d like to play a game, honey. I want to see just how many times me and Munson can make you cum before we even lay a hand on you. Sounds absolutely electrifying, right?” 

You only hum in response. And you aren’t prepared when suddenly, several leather straps smack against your thigh, the normal sharp pain of it overcome with a shock that has your entire body jumping and your already hot cunt clenching around air.

“Use your words,” Steve’s low voice commands.

He doesn’t have to ask you twice.

“Y-Yes sir! Yes, please, fuck, I-“ you can’t get out a proper sentence, skin still tingling where he’d whipped you. 

“Look at you,” Steve chuckles lowly. This time, the leather drags softly over your torso, still shocking you along its path, leaving a molten want and need rolling in your lower abdomen, “Haven’t even started yet, and you can’t even speak. We’re going to have so much fun, honey.”

Eddie’s voice calls out from where in the room, “Who’s playing with her now, Harrington?” 

“My bad,” he doesn’t even apologize — he’s not the slightest bit sorry, “What do you say, Munson? You up for the challenge?”

Your legs are already shaking. Thighs quivering as they stay spread wide, the cool air of the room against your exposed heat sending shockwaves up your spine. Your mind spins, and you question for a moment how you’ll survive this night.

“I say it’s time to play, big boy.”

[theforgottenmcrmy]

live reactions to house of the dragon season 2, episode 2

once again, these are just my opinions (about a fictional show and characters, no less). I will not engage with incendiary arguments (if there are any) , but I am always open to polite discussions or thoughts🖤

spoilers below the cut

still loving this new intro🖤

can you imagine how terrifying it would be to be a servant in the Red Keep post 🩸 and 🧀?

Aegon’s voice literally doesn’t even sound like Aegon👀

And just WHERE have you been, Aemond?!

“We mustn’t me shaken by this.” BROOO are you kidding me?!?! That was your great grandson?

“The gods punish us. They punish me.” Yes.

Tyland I can’t even with you lmao-

Paranoid Aegon here we go…

I will give Aegon major kudos for initially objecting to Otto’s plan to parade about his son’s body. 💚 his instincts are there at times, he has just always been coddled, misguided, and not reprimanded when he needed to be.

Why is Aegon the only one spared from this parade? They 110% could have had her refrain from going out in public, and it might have been more effective. “The queen is so distraught, she is unable to leave her chambers.” Where’s the lie? And you spare that poor girl even more torture.

Helaena never wanted this, never wanted to be queen.💔 She’s not a queen who lost a prince, she is just a mother who lost her son.

Helaena is seeing something, I just don’t know what…

Where are the damn guards in this show?!?! So six go to unstick the carriage, you telling me you only have a handful of guards escorting the queen and dowager queen out and about in public?🤔

Daemon’s side eye I cannot😭😂-

Even Rhaenyra knows Helaena is innocent🖤

Anyone else’s Max suddenly run into an error at this point?

The fact that Daemon actually thinks it’s humorous😅

Godssssss this argument is painful but good, and it’s needed, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it💔

“You struck down a child.” The audible HURT in her words-

Baela has had a handful of scenes, if even that, and I already feel like we as the audience know who her character is and what she’s about right away. And her and Rhaenyra’s relationship dynamic is so honestly wholesome.

Whatever brownie points Aegon gained earlier are lost for him not having the balls to say even a WORD to Helaena, who ALSO lost a child, who, unlike him, had to go be paraded about the public for HIS political advantage.

Seeing Rhaenyra with her younger sons makes me seriously wonder what if🥺

Feeling guilty, Ser Crispy? Good.

REALLY? This b*tch really out here preaching about purity rn?! Gtfo now.

And NOW he’s pointing fingers?! Is this guy 35, or 5?!

“He’s murdered, on YOUR watch-“ is he dying soon? He’s dying soon, right? Honestly his death can’t come soon enough and I doubt it’ll even be this season-

Otto and Cole are probably the two most irredeemable characters on this whole show. Literally, team black or team green, I think just about every other person you can make an argument for. But these two have got nothing. Name me one thing, one expression of care for another that was not ultimately self serving for either of them in the end. I’ll wait.

“And Ser Harwin Strong?” BAELA KNOWS 🚨 BAELA KNOWS, and she doesn’t give AF, we stan🖤🖤🖤

This little relationship Aemond has going on is 🚩 🚩 🚩 where are this boy’s parents at-?! … Oh, wait.

“Where he does, he wishes to be his own master.” Rhaenys and Daemon just get each other. Their dynamic is so interesting.

“A week, or forever I do not know.” She sounds so unbothered😂😂😂

Uh oh Alicent, Rhaenyra may have just found a new bff👀 and it only took 16+ years

Seasmoke is that you?!?!?! Wait, what does this mean for Laenor though?🥲

Errors are STILL being made in the wake of Viserys’s death I see…

The dog’s reaction nooo😭😭😭

“The king is my grandson, and my grandson is a fool. He’s worse than a fool, he���s murdered innocent men!” You can say allll the foul stuff about Otto you want, and you’d be right. But he is not wrong in this moment. This reaction is valid, and in my opinion sound council. The delivery could be tailored to better fit Aegon’s current headspace, but Otto’s reaction is still valid here I feel.

Crazy how Aegon went from wanting the small folk’s approval to scoffing at the need for it.

“Ser Criston Cole has acted.” BOY if you knew HOW Ser Criston Cole has been acting-

Also crazy how fast Aegon went from being pissed with Cole being “in bed” at the time of Jaehaerys’s murder to praising him and putting him in a pedestal.

“It’s time the bitch queen paid the price.” Could Larys have his guys cut out HIS tongue now?! Please??? Literally no one but Aegon, who’s grieving, paranoid, and a little off the rails rn, wants to hear a damn thing from him. Not even his dowager queen booty call wants anything from him rn.

I think Otto’s gonna give himself a heart attack.

Yooooo, Otto realizing that Aegon is going to be waaaaaaay harder to control than Viserys ever was😭😂😂😂 I love it. I need more. This is wonderful.

“He made me king.” *Otto laughs.*

“You will regret this.” THAT actually may be the truest words Otto has ever spoken to anyone, any king, in his life.

Mysaria is already proving her loyalty, we love to see it🖤

Moral of the story is everyone, the Greens and the Blacks, need better guards like😅

If anything happens to Elinda-

Oooo, we’re doing this here and now?🥲

Ser Erryk died with more honor than Criston EVER had. And that is a hill I will die on myself.

Hell, even Arryk had more honor than Criston.

DAERON?!?!?!?!??!!?? LET’S F’ING GO

Oh, you can ask for the Tyrell’s to help, but something tells me you won’t get it👀

It’s honestly tragic as hell how Alicent was a victim of her father’s plots in her youth, and continues to be one as an adult. (I am in no way saying she has not made her own choices throughout her life, but I still stand by this statement.)

THE NERVE OF THIS MAN-

THE NERVE OF THIS WOMAN-

Okay, team black, team green, team small folk, idc- can we please all agree that everyone is anti-Criston Cole?

Aemond was not in this episode nearly enough for what happened in the last one.

[woopyayayayayay]

My perfect love for all these years.

(Muzan x insecure!fem!reader)

(Reminder that it might not be good bc it's like 11pm when in writing and I haven't written in a while, I'm mainly writing for me bc I need this scenario, I was inspired at the snow part by another writter but I can't find their name. I'll stop rambling LMAO)

______

A thousand years ago, in the Heian Era.

Muzan and me where and arranged marriage. He was sick and I proved my wifely duties by helping him with whatever he needed, even though there were servants that could help, he seemed to not take his temper out on me, after we officially married, I fell for him quickly, I wasn't ready for his fate, that's why I helped him and forced him to take his medicine. Sometimes I really had to convince him.

"You need to take this." I have the bowl in my hand, filled with his medication from his "lousy doctor". "I refuse, it never does anything, that doctor just wants to see me die at this point." That broke my heart at his words, I wasn't ready to accept it. "Please.. you need to take this. Don't speak like that." I frown as he try and reason with him, I almost felt tears in my eyes. I loved him, I knew the medicine wouldn't help but I could always hope. "Absolutely not, him not taking that disgusting medicine." He told me, him sitting on his futon, panting as the sickness was getting worse. I couldn't stand to see him like this. "If you don't take this medicine I'm going to force you to, or you could just take the medicine. Please, muzan, I love you, I can't see you like this." It was true, I loved him so much that he felt he didn't deserve this. He hesitantly grabbed the bowl from my hands and drank every drop, he didn't like seeing his wife sad, especially at the thought of losing him. He gave up hope but, he would try, for his wife. "There, now leave, you insufferable woman." He said, placing the wooden bowl in the space between us. I slightly smiled at his comment, he meant "I love you" and I knew it. I grabbed the bowl and put it back onto my lap, my hands on either side as I sand up. "Thank you, for finally listening." I smile sweetly at him before walking away. I can see his eye roll to the side as he watches me leave, he never wants me to actually leave but he never tells me to come back.

☆

When winter came, he felt bad about not being able to go outside. He was too weak to touch it, feel it on his skin as he stared at it through the door. I walked into where he was, he was sitting on his futon, looking out the door at the white, fluffy snow. "Is something wrong, dear?" I ask him politely. "No, just let me watch the snow." He told me, he didn't even face me. I walked out the door and intot he snow, my socks and bottom of my kimono was covered in snow and I kneel, picking up a pile of the fluffy snow in my hand as I walk fasting over to him. He looked up at me, I bit confused as to why he had a pile of snow infront of him, my hands shivering in cold but I smiled softly. "You can touch it now." I tell him, his weak hand touches the mound of snow in my hands, the small peice he grabbed melted in his hand, between his fingers as water drips down them. He smiled slightly. He kept touching and feeling the snow until it was gone. He still kept that smile on his face as he looked up at me, my hands on my kimono, trying to make them warn as I grip the cloth on me. "Did you enjoy it?" I ask, the smile still on my face "..yes, thank you.." He tells me, he slightly moved to the right of his futon. "Sit down woman." It felt like an order, I sat down next to him as we both watched the snow for hours, silent as we watch it fall.

□■

I ran into his room one day, a bowl in my hands, I was sure this would work. I had too. "Please, please drink this!" I tell him as a i place the bowl infront of him. "You know it does nothing, right?" He asks me, genuinely confused as to why I was begging him so much to drink the medicine, maybe it was poison. "Please, I have so much hope in this one. Just one last time, muzan, please." I beg him as I slide the bowl towards him a bit. He knew that i would never poison him, but it was a possibility. He accepted the risk and moved to bowl to his lips, he drank it and then placed it in its original place, on the floor. "There." He said to me, looking in my eyes, he didn't feel poisoned, he saw genuine hope in my eyes. Definitely not poison.

♡

When I was peacefully sleeping on my futon, it was still night when I felt my door open and then close. I force my eyes open and I see muzan, standing infront of me. It seemed his sickness almost disappeared, he had blood on his hands, and his clothes, a small bit on his lips as he looked down at me, he could tell I was a bit shaken, he kneeled infront of me.

"Do not fear, love, I wouldn't hurt you." He tells me, I look into his eyes, the circles where no longer there, replaced with lines that almost looked like slits, his long wavy hair lies free on his shoulders and down his back. "what.. what happened?" I asked him, he medicine seemed to work but, why the blood. Muzan explained what he found out, he was sensitive to the sun, his sickness was gone, he has to feed on human flesh to survive. This all happened when I was asleep? "Would you like to join me on this journey?" He asked, still kneeling as offered. I could only nod.

◇

The present.

I stayed by his side everyday, him being the strongest person in know, literally. I was his demon "queen". I looked exactly like I did when I was human. He loved me and I loved him. He was the only man I ever loved, however, I didn't feel like a "queen". Queens were beautiful, I was suprised He was even attracted to me back then. I couldn't think these thoughts when he was around, he could read my mind, literally. I only thought them in the mirror, when he was at a meeting or working on a experiment.

Sometimes I would cry looking at myself, not knowing why such a beautiful man would keep me around. We still looked the same as when we were human, small changes like the black of our eyes became slits and he cut his hair, he was beautiful as always. One day, I slipped up.

I was crying over my looks as I was only covered by my undergarments as I sat on the futon, tears running down my face, thoughts spiraling in my mind. I didn't hear when he came into the room, he watched from the door, he didn't read my mind, he felt to sad to do so. Why was she crying? He asked himself as he walked closer, standing to my side as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I flinched at the action, he sat by my side, frowning. I wipe my tears fast as I look at him, shocked that he saw me like this. "What's wrong, my dear?" He asked genuinely, he didn't know what was wrong, he didn't want to read my mind, he would only if I didn't tell him.

"It's nothing, I swear." I say as I look at him, my tear stained cheeks said otherwise. "I don't like when you lie to me. Tell me whats wrong." He said a bit demanding but trying to be as gentle as possible, he had very seen you cry, not once. "I.. I don't feel pretty enough for you, why would you keep me around if I look so, unattractive..?" I ask him as I look into his eyes. His eyes seemed to soften more. "Your the most perfect woman in the world. I wouldn't want anyone to be by my side than you." He told me. I didn't believe him. "Your just saying that because I'm married to you." I shake my Head. "Darling, you should know I don't just 'say stuff.' I mean every word I tell you. Your my perfect love for all these years." He tells me with a straight face. Completely serious. "I... I just don't see what you see in me." I look away again, it broke his heart to see me like this, how long had this been going on? "Look at me. Your body is art, I don't want everyone else's. Your face is absolutely divine, I don't want to see anyone else's. Your mine, and I don't own anything that isn't perfect." He tells me as he grips my hands. Maybe he was right.?

[clonehub]

It's pretty weird to see both the pro-jedi and anti-jedi sides go into the acolyte with a bad faith reading from the start and reach two different conclusions based on the same flawed understanding of the text.

The anti Jedi cohort sees the disagreements and varying political, philosophical, etc opinions between the Jedi as "proof" that the Jedi are bad from an in-universe perspective. They think Sol was right to not want to talk to the council before trying to stop Mae, and they think the narrative supports this view. They think the Acolyte is about showing how evil and irredeemable the Jedi are.

The pro-Jedi side sees those same disagreements and that same situation, but from the out-of-universe perspective of the writers. Meaning they're looking at Sol butting heads with other Jedi and they're saying "the writers are positioning Sol as being in the right and therefore this entire thing is misrepresenting the Jedi". Any time a Jedi is slightly in the wrong, they think that Jedi is meant to represent ALL of the Order.

And...the anti Jedi people do this, too? The only Jedi characters they use as representatives of the Order are the ones who are doing something wrong. Both sides don't seem to get what the Acolyte is about.

So basically both sides from what I've seen assume the protagonist is in the right by default. Which...lmao.

Sol could be wrong to be arguing against Vernestra, who knows! We're only two episodes in! There's four Jedi connected to an awful tragedy that we know next to nothing about. We've already seen that the two people primarily involved came out with very different interpretations of the same thing they lived through!

[stxrrynxghts]

Re-watching Mahabharat (7/?)

Can't believe that Yudi is falling for Duryodhan's theatrics

bold of Vidur to assume that Shakuni is the sole reason behind the Kauravas and Pandavas not getting along.

Dushasana is sooo dumb God-

Okay. I refuse to believe that Gandhari doesn't know about Dushala's marriage. HOW?!

Yay. Everyone has to give their opinions, but where is Dushala? Why isn't she telling if she wants to marry Jayadratha or not herself?!

Tho technically, Shakuni isn't wrong. IF Dushala wants to marry Jayadratha, then she should have the freedom to marry him, and Duryodhan has the freedom to wed her to him.

And I don't want Bhishma, the man who abducted brides for his brother, to give his opinions on whether a girl has the freedom to select her husband or not.

Yudhishthira, no one is politically bound to respect and follow Bhishma's orders. The reason people do what he says is out of respect.

Kunti being manipulated by Purochan. Has the Yadava blood evaporated?

Yudhishthira is proving that he is Kunti's son after all.

YAYYYYY ARJUN~~~~~~

Honestly, this has been....what? 3-4 episodes since we last saw him?

Are these the exercises that Arjun has used to build that godly physique?

God, Subhadra, why are you so stupid sometimes? What is this show trying to prove? That she is someone who is just there for comic relief? srsly?

Okay but this is kind of like the "bhediya aaya" thing but Dwapar version?

Why is Karna being so scandalized? As far as memory serves, he was actively involved in this?

LOLS. Karna, probably: How will I kill Arjun if you burn him down?

Duryodhan is such a manipulative lil shit, isn't he? Shakuni is probably shedding tears of joy rn

Not the showrunners playing "Ye kaisi duvidha hai" in the BGM while Karna watches the Pandavas and Kunti leave.

If you feel SO bad for them, then stop Dury, or just tell them somehow? But no. Mitrata>>>>>humanity. If you can't do that, then stop feeling bad.

Krishna dropping casual hints in front of the simpleton Arjun

Arjun's memory starts glitching the moment Krishna starts giving him some divya gyaan XD

Vidur has a spy network? COOL

Why does everyone speak in riddles here? Is this a Dwapar thing?

Not Bhima and Kunti giving forced smiles on seeing the palace of Varnavrat hehehehee

Nakul is so much in love with himself XD #singlethings

Yudi is genuinely impressed by Purochan's mahal building and designing skills-

Sahadeva always asks the right questions at the right time. But no one pays attention to his borderline prophetic talks

The Pandavas don't sleep with a blanket? REALLY? Oh wait. They do have blankets.

This is such a cheap room. Have you seen the beds? That is literally a single bed. A single bed for PRINCES. No canopies, no King sized stuff, nothing. And they are in a single room.

srsly, where are the side tables?

Oh, that sneaky ass person was Bhima!! How surprising!!! *sarcastically*

Come on Nakul, use your brains!!!!!!!!!

Did Purochan just indirectly roast Bhima for getting hungry in midnight?

Do these ppl eat only sweets? As someone who doesn't have a sweet tooth, I feel very unrepresented rn.

There is no food for me to drool on T_T

Why is Dhritrashtra wearing Arjun's gamcha?

"priye Bhrata" LMAO DURY WHO U FOOLING.

Even Dhri's andha pyaar can see through this priye Bhrata facade

Dhritrashtra yelling at his son after not giving him any morals as a kid. HAHA.

Dhritrashtra knows what Dury will be doing, but he won't stop him, right? I mean, you should stop your kid when he is busy committing murder.

Arjun is back, YAAASSSS

The real reason Vidur sent a mouse was to encourage the Pandavas to open an animal shelter!!!!

Arjun so caring. Makes jokes and lies to lighten the mood.

Nakul, are you trying to say that Bhima isn't handsome? *gasp*

Arjun be like: mujhe kyu toda

Also Arjun, wdym by that line? Bahu isn't the only one who can cook in a family!

Yes Bhima. Kick Arjun's ass for that weird dialogue.

Not Yudi unintentionally adding insult to Bhima's injury XDDD

Arjun, a literal pillar is melting beside you. PAY SOME ATTENTION TO IT!

Bhima is a cook, isn't he? How does he not know about all the different things that are added to kheer?!

Bhima is not impressed by Purochan's wife's cooking hehe.

Srsly, how do you not find all of Purochan's activities sus?

Ofc. As always, Arjun is the one to decode all the mysteries.

Ye naubat aati hi nahi agar Arjun ne kuch time pehle apne baaju wale khambe ko dhyaan se dekha hota.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

I hate defending wwx, he has a lot of fans! But, in the iron extra wwx and jl were talking about the jin sect and wwx was asking how things were going. jl said that he wanted to help people (just how jgy did!) even if the elders didn't respect him enough. And wwx said something like :why don't you ask jc? And jl was like :"he is not a jin". The antis interpret it as him cutting his relationship with jc, but no, jl is trying to protect jc! jc had already dirtied his reputation going around with Zidian at hand to ensure jl's position, jl doesn't want to put a huge x behind his uncle back! And wwx hit jl saying "your uncle would be even sadder if you cut him off". You shouldn't hit kid! But, wwx there is showing growth! He is saying to us and jl that cutting jc off helping him, is going to hurt jc! jl needs to lean on his uncle for help! It's wwx saying that he has thought about the past and maybe he is a little sorry about how he didn't let jc help him!

Again, hitting kids is WRONG. But, mdzs isn't about people doing right things or at least, doing things in the best way.

Also yes jl shows still fear when lwj's name is made. When jl was making a fuss after being hit (because that is embarrassing, and not even his uncle has hit him before!), wwx says : do you want me to call lz? And jl stops. He fears lwj as a kid who was silenced in the past lol. Also, even ljy shows fear of lz sometime, when he says something he shouldn't say and he fears punishment. Maybe we shouldn't take it too seriously, idk what was mxtx editorial intentions. Still, I hope people don't take mdzs as a book about healthy parenting!

(Since it has been MANY hours since this Ask was sent, the extra in question is the one described in the post here.)

Ohhh, that is much much better in that context! It does show growth for WWX, and I like the full circle of going from "lmao why are you calling your uncle for help?" at their first meeting to "why AREN'T you calling your uncle for help?" at this point. (Also, going "well OBVIOUSLY you should do [thing I should also do but Will Not Do Under Any Circumstances], any reasonable person would!" is just. peak Yunmeng Shuangjie behavior.) It's also another instance of Jin Ling, age 13, fiercely deciding that it's his job to protect his uncle, just as he does when he tries to keep Wangxian from barging in to JGY's quarters early in the novel.

Still side-eyeing him threatening JL with LWJ yet again, though. In the other situation (situations plural?) earlier in the story, WWX wants/needs JL to immediately cease whatever behavior he's doing, so an abrupt threat to summon LWJ is, while not ideal, at least going to accomplish his goal. Here, JL isn't actually doing anything wrong. He's not breaking any rules. If anything, he's doing exactly what is socially expected of him, and is acting in a way that is politically sound (even though WWX is right that JC would want to know and help). "Stop pursuing your altruistic political goals that involve nobody but your clan in a way I don't like or else my scary boyfriend from a whole other sect will punish you!" is. Wild. Especially since JL as a whole entire sect leader is the highest-ranking person present!

[larsnicklas]

INTRODUCING: megan's definitive nhl captains fuckability scale, 1 being i personally would not under any circumstances, 10 being i will fly to where you are just say the word. okay let's go team!

(disclaimer: i am joking. i don't actually want to fuck these men!! and if i vehemently do not want to fuck an nhl man you DO want to fuck. more power to you!! he's all yours!! and if i vehemently DO want to fuck a man you also want to fuck. he's still all yours i would never sleep with a hockey player i know what they're like!!!!)

ATLANTIC brad m.archand: 3.5. like i know myself he COULD rizz me up but he'd have to work pretty hard like it wouldn't be an automatic yes sasha b.arkov: 9. he has an Aura he would not have to work hard at all i would in fact be working to rizz HIM up (<- matthew ghostwrote) steven s.tamkos: 4. this goes up to like a 7. if we invite h.edman. john t.avares: 3.5. ok don't get me wrong here. he IS handsome!! but i'm not getting any vibes here that say we would work. like it's not a NO. but it's not like i'm Interested off the bat. and i don't think he could rizz me up. kyle o.kposo: 6.5. like yeah i would. wouldn't go out of my way to approach but if approached would say yes. nick s.uzuki: 5. cute!! a true neutral imo. he does seem stressed often (side effect of being h.abs captain) so like maybe for fun. out of the goodness of my heart. to loosen him up a little. etc. brady t.kachuk: 2. NOT bc he's not fuckable in his own right but because the spectre of his brother would be hanging over me. does that make sense.

METRO jake t.rouba: 8. have long had a fondness for him. decent politics which is SO rare so that probably actually pushes him to a 9. jordan s.taal: 1. not the worst s.taal. but also i do have standards. i realize this list is not really backing me up on that claim. but i do have them. f.lyers rep: if most recent captain (g.iroux) like a 9.5. if assumed future captain (tk.onecny) like probably a 4. not for me but could be persuaded. if g.ritty — sidney c.rosby: 2. this is once again not a general fuckability scale it's a personal one. i would not fuck a pittsburgh p.enguin. if he goes to another team ever (i don't want him to!! he's a p.enguin for life!!) we can revisit this. nico h.ischier: 8. solid 8. good vibes, nice hair, big brown eyes. like he wouldn't have to work that hard you know. alex o.vechkin: 9. huge man. face that is interesting to look at (this is a compliment). at the stars game this weekend he knocked a guy over and then stood over him imposingly. i think i blacked out. boone j.enner: 2. my mind slides over him. i KNOW he exists. but my brain doesn't. like he's not that objectionable per se i just don't see a world in which i wouldn't instead go for whatever guy he's standing next to.

CENTRAL gabe l.andeskog: 9.5. this is not a looks thing. he IS handsome but it's in a bland way. this is an Aura thing and also a Hockey thing. power forward with commanding presence who can wrangle a team with really strong personalities. gabriel call me i am free on thursdays — jamie b.enn: 0. less than a 1. my least favorite n.hl player besides the ones who are actual criminals. terrible rep around here with locals. tips like shit. bunchmoxgate. under no circumstances would i consider him fuckable. in my mind joe p.avelski is the stars captain lmao. adam l.owry: 6. would clock him across a bar but not be interested enough to go over. but would be down if asked. brayden s.chenn: 6.5. i think he's really personable. another one that's like, it wouldn't be an immediate yes but he definitely could charm me. it would be more of a yeah this could be fun than an I Want You kind of way but nonetheless i would c.oyotes rep: is their most recent captain o.el?? it's been such a long time then...? he's like an 8. if a current alternate... 6 for c.rouse, 7 for s.chmaltz, 4 for k.eller. jared s.purgeon: 5. no he's not very tall but neither am i so it's fine. i think he does have a vibe i could be into hypothetically. but i'd have to see. chicago rep: i would not fuck a chicago b.lackhawk captain of the last few decades etc.

PACIFIC quinn h.ughes: 7 in a vacuum. 3 in the context of feeling bad about how much i want his teammate. mark s.tone: 5. true neutral again here. wouldn't go for him but wouldn't walk away. connor m.cdavid: 6.5? i think this would depend on whether funny dorky connor or very media trained connor showed up. hey do you think he'd tell me why he didn't go to dylan's wedding — anze k.opitar: 8.5. yes. hard yes. i'd be seeking flirtatious eye contact from across the room. k.raken rep: okay if we're talking most recent captain (g.iordano) i would say that's like a 3. not interested but not like. repulsed. of the alternates though. adam l.arsson YOU are an 8. call me anytime. mikael b.acklund: 6.5. like i could be into him. i can see it. i think this would also be a semi pity fuck. not because HE is pitiful but because i feel bad about the state of his franchise. ducks rep: most recent captain (g.etzlaf) is probably a 4.5? the gut reaction is like a 2.5 but if i think about it. i bet he has a commanding presence. i could be persuaded i think. logan c.outure: 1. absolutely not.