walkerswillow - Tumblr blog

[walkerswillow]

cailee spaeny and wagner moura in civil war (2024)

[walkerswillow]

CIVIL WAR (2024) dir. Alex Garland

[walkerswillow]

[walkerswillow]

"Episode 2 is about her trying to prove herself as heir so every chance that she gets she’s speaking up, she’s going against the grain. She’s trying to be like, ‘Look, I can do it. If you’re not going to hear me out then I’m going to f—ing show you that I can do it". — Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon | 1.02 "The Rogue Prince"

[walkerswillow]

!!!!!!

Being a female viewer and hating Criston Cole is deranged.

I have to get this off my chest. The blind hatred that Criston is receiving from women is insane and I’m going to explain why.

For context, I am talking about Show Criston, not Book Criston. Comparing two standalone versions of a story is silly.

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that so many women, who are the primary victims of utilitarian relationships, would ever come together and shit on Criston for enduring such a situation.

I’m sorry, but how many of you have been used by men? How many of you have been reduced to one night stands, situationships and placeholder wives? How many of you have been deemed “not good enough” to be an exclusive partner? I log into tiktok and I see NOTHING but stories of broken women who are just used for sex, money, care and whatnot by men, and then they are tossed away like worthless trash while said men continue their pursuit of the ideal woman. Being used by men just for sex and being denied the status of girlfriend, let alone wife, is probably one of the worst plagues women are experiencing in the western world because the MOMENT we were emancipated, men understood that they don’t owe us shit anymore and instead of treating us with respect, they decided to grab whatever they can and give nothing back. Do not tell me that there are women out there that are fine with this arrangement because the multiple “GWM while I tell you about the guy that was with me for 12 years and then married someone else” tell a different story, one of multiple women’s dignities being trampled by hungry men. My heart breaks for every woman (EVERY woman, cis, trans, EVERY woman) who has been called by a man she loves just for sex, for every woman whose man never wanted to be seen in public with her, for every woman who had to hear that her man is not ready for a relationship only to witness him getting engaged to another woman 2 weeks after. I hope you overcome this and become stronger and I am glad that we are finally supporting one another.

How can we then, the women who are helping other female victims rise up and speak out against this kind of abuse, push Criston down and tell him to suck it up and accept being Rhaenyra’s plaything? Have we no mercy? Are we so hungry for revenge against men that we’d want them to endure the same humiliation that we did, as if one fictional man’s suffering would bring us justice? Are we so jealous that Criston didn’t sit down and just take it like the rest of us, but instead spoke up and removed himself from that situation? Or are we so gullible that we accept what the screenwriters shove down our throats and unknowingly support the patriarchic view that if you’re being used by someone you should just accept it?

I can hear some of you arguing that “Oh, this is different because Rhaenyra is royalty!” as if being used and tossed by a powerful person somehow makes the situation any better? Would it be okay if a rich person wanted to constantly use you for sex while he keeps looking for a better woman to be by his side, just because he values his wealth and status more? Rhaenyra straight up sneered at the idea of a simple life with him. She straight up told him that HE is not worth as much as her crown. OUCH. Even though I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of being told you are not enough by your loved one, it was Rhaenyra’s right to choose what her priorities are, but WHY would he have to accept being her sidepiece? “These were different times”: does this make it any less devastating for the victim? And he was a victim because Rhaenyra still used Criston and misled him by constantly complaining about how she HATES her duties for YEARS and then luring him to break his oath. Do you think he would have still slept with her if he was aware that moments ago, Rhaenyra was begging on her knees to be fucked by Daemon and only turned to Criston because her first option was no longer available? Like, the man was contemplating having sex with her and resisted her for a good fucking while, so imagine how quickly he would have turned around and walked out that door if he had that information beforehand. You know why? Because he loved her. He loved her to the point that he broke his oath for her, the oath of a station he FOUGHT FOR IN A WAR. He shed blood and sweat and risked his life for the mere opportunity to gain that position. This was ALL he had, he came from NOTHING and he was still willing to toss it all away for Rhaenyra not once, but twice. It wasn’t just sex he wanted because we never see him have sex again after that. He became vulnerable and gave up everything that he was to be with Rhaenyra. He was willing to abandon his whole identity for her sake. Is this not what the ideal partner is? Ready to abandon everything for your shake? Everything he fought for, tooth and nail? Was he unreasonable in thinking that Rhaenyra was willing to do the same for him? Was he crazy to think that because he was ready to put everything he FOUGHT for aside for her shake, Rhaenyra would also put aside a duty she was handed and actively seem to hate for him too? Fuck no! After hearing her constant talk about how she hates her father, her duties, her refusal to wed other men, how she is trapped as a princess, how people have no idea how much it SUCKS being her, why would he not assume that she’d be willing to give it all up for him, as he’d do for her We never see Rhaenyra even TRY to be a ruler, just complain about it. Of course it would be a fucking shock to him hearing her say “Lol dude, I actually do kinda want this”.

Criston was actually the only person in the series that wanted Rhaenyra for her, not her money or crown. I’m not saying she had to follow him, it was her right to refuse him, but his willingness to lead a simple life with just her has got to mean something. And don’t give me that “he only wanted to redeem his honour by marrying her” crap, because first of all Criston nutted up and admitted everything to Alicent and was ready to face death without EVER blaming Rhaenyra for anything, and second of all, oh no, how dare a human being have ethical values and desire to live with dignity in society’s broad light rather than move in the shadows as the princess’s secret boytoy! Bad, bad Criston for feeling you have to atone for your sins. Maybe we as people have become so corrupt that we envy those who wish to walk a virtuous path in life. Or maybe y’all have become so fond of the unhinged unapologetic character trope because it feels “original” (even if it’s ridiculously overused nowadays) that you’ve actually forgotten what characters with good morals are. Like, picking your fave war criminal and rolling with them because you enjoy good drama, especially in a show that’s meant to provide entertainment, is one thing, but passionately stating that Criston had to submit to that humiliation is something else entirely.

Finally, let’s ditch the Criston being a misogynist bullshit because he had NO issue obeying Rhaenyra before their affair or Alicent. And he is ALWAYS true to himself and his values, because even after everything he endured, he did not use Alicent’s anger as an excuse to take revenge on Rhaenyra and harm her children. Criston never betrayed her, Rhaenyra used him and he walked away and he went towards the only person who seemed to spare him some sympathy and understand him and not condemn him for his crimes even if he hated himself, which is typical victim mentality. And don’t get me started on the Joffrey incident because y’all tore Cole to SHREDS for it. Joffrey had it fucking coming. You don’t go up to people’s faces, especially ones you don’t know, threaten them by telling them you know their secret, a secret that SHAMES them and burdens them to the point they’re ready to commit suicide, and all but directly call them a whore. What the fuck did he think was going to happen? They’d shake hands? Piss off. Let this be a lesson to anyone that doesn’t know how to keep their mouths shut and their noses out of other people’s business. Also, mocking his suicide attempt makes my stomach turn. Just take a moment to consider all the young women who just like him, reluctantly surrendered their virginities to men only to find out they were nothing but sex dolls in their eyes, all these girls whose trust led to their secret being spread and them getting ridiculed and slut shamed for it: how many girls have taken their own lives because they found living with such a burden unbearable?

For the love of everything you hold sacred, please wake up sisters. The narrative that you can be used by someone powerful and you have to accept it because that’s the way things are is a man’s construct. Do not let them fool you.

[walkerswillow]

Alicent: Where is Aegon?

Haelena: Doing stuff.

Alicent: I don't like the sound of that . And ser Criston?

Haelena: Trying to stop Aegon from doing stuff.

Alicent: Aemond?

Haelena: Trying to stop Ser Criston from stopping Aegon.

Alicent: ......and you?

Haelena: I'm supposed to distract you so you don't stop Aemond.

[walkerswillow]

Ah, yes. Team Green. Featuring a repressed lesbian still reeling from the fallout of her complicated situationship. An evil grandfather who eventually will become jobless. A guard who doubles as a stepfather and a hit man. An alcoholic. A doomed prophetess. An overpowered anime villain and his geriatric nuclear warhead. And a fourth child who may or may not exist.

[walkerswillow]

“Fabien had been crying and playing this raw emotion for hours, then there was this moment where he said he saw an innocence in me, which is something I hadn’t consciously been giving off or something that I was trying to play. But I think what Alicent is feeling was that there’s someone else who’s just as lost as she is. There’s this love that she feels for him that she maybe doesn’t quite understand.” - Emily Carey

Criston and Alicent's "unspoken bond"

[walkerswillow]

"Say you don't love me. I dare you. You cannot."

"I will not. I will love you until I die."

[walkerswillow]

like if you save/use

[walkerswillow]

2.02 | 3.01 | 3.10 marvel's daredevil

[walkerswillow]

PEDRO PASCAL at 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards (January 07, 2023)

[walkerswillow]

A list of things Steve Rogers would historically be unfamiliar with:

I fell down a rabbit hole of research about inventions circa the 40s and was surprised by a bunch of things that have been around way longer than I thought and some that are strangely reccent, and compiled them into a list. Aka, a resource for fic writers.

Bananas (or rather, the ones we have today. The ones he’d be accustomed to, the Gros Michel, a sweeter, creamier species, went extinct in the 50s and was replaced with the bland Cavendish banana.)

High-fives (the low-five was actually invented first, around WW2, and he may have been familiar with that)

Buffalo Wings (invented in the 60s)

CPR (not really used until the late 40s, not widely known until the 50s)

Tiramisu (invented in the 80s)

Big Macs & McNuggets (while McDonald’s was founded in 1940, the former wasn’t introduced until the 60s, and the latter, the 80s)

Seat belts (the first car to have one was in the late 40s, and only became mandatory to wear them in the 80s. holy shit.) 

Walmart (invented in 1962. Or really, the large-scale supermarkets as we know them today really)

Yellow tennis balls (prior to the 70s they were usually black or white)

Panadol (first sold in the US in the 50s)

The smiley face aka :) (popularised in the 60s)

Now alternatively, here’s a list of things Steve WOULD (or possibly would) be familiar with:

I’m not sure why some of these surprised me.

Modern Sunglasses (have been around a lot longer than I thought, and were mass produced in the 20s)

Nokia (was first founded in 1865. I’m not kidding. They began as a pulp mill and moved into making rubber respirators for military from the 30s onwards)

Nintendo (been around since 1889 as a toy company, during the 40s they made playing cards. Wouldn’t be implausible that he knew about Nintendo, perhaps from Morita)

Krispy Kreme (opened in 1937, didn’t spread widely until the 50s however)

Kool-Aid (introduced in the 30s)

Oreos (introduced in 1912)

Printed/graphic tees (didn’t become a trend until the 60s-70s, but they certainly existed in the 40s)

Hoodies (originated in the 30s, worn by workers in cold New York warehouses. Meaning, it’s entirely plausible Bucky could’ve been wearing hoodies in the 40s)

Malls (they weren’t called that back then, but they certainly had shopping centres or plazas since the 1800s)

Converse sneakers (invented in 1908 and have barely changed since!)

[walkerswillow]

JEREMY ALLEN WHITE as Carmy Berzatto

THE BEAR (SEASON 2)

[walkerswillow]

[walkerswillow]

[walkerswillow]

🪞⋆ 🪩 ✺ ˚ . . . Cinderella (2022)