#(is my due south tag lol)

[victimized-martyr]

Sorry I never gave a proper update on tumblr——

here’s some brainstorming doodles from Keo and me on the white board and some examples Keo made in my notebook. I won’t forget it, one of my harshest note was “NEVER draw Kenny in 3/4!! Trey hates that!” 🤣 The story leads stressed that Trey is very particular with acting decisions and poses, most of which don’t translate into the animation. It’s for him at the editing stage, to “make his voice sing”. Getting into Trey’s head, funnily enough, requires FEELING. Feeling what he’s going for in terms of delivery, to learn what not to take literally in his script (when trey says “kathleen kennedy is like terminator” it’s not what you initially think it means), what emotion or gesture to put in to elevate a joke, to get the message through. It’s so fascinating!

In short, I didn’t make the cut. I was “too fresh”, and needed more experience with the technical aspect of storyboarding…. but I was complimented by Keo for my intuition, something that can’t be taught. I was over the moon when I was told I got the style of the show, whereas other trainees with 10+ experience couldn’t. Some of them tested but don’t even watch the show!! That’s crazy, but I guess that’s to be expected. My knowledge of the show and deep love for the characters got me this far, but I need to work on my actual story boarding skills (keo said my struggles are in composition and scaling) to stay!! 💪🏼 I’m taking this… as a not yet, not a no. I’m already on their radar, in their database, I’m incredibly lucky I got to make my THIRD connection in the studio, I just need to work on myself until I can arrive. I’m so grateful for all the support from friends family and industry moots to get me this far, it’s only the beginning of the year but I don’t think anything could top what happened to me this March!!!!!

[gjdraws]

Your due south art is so rad!!!!

THANK YOU! I'm still figuring out their faces and general them-ness but it's very compelling cant seem to stop!

[bimrsadler]

For something nasty? Low Honor!Arthur with an F!reader in a scenario that leads to either dub-con or con-nonconsent (your choice) because she's physically ill somehow? Maybe vulnerable to Arthur due to a bad showdown/gunshot or just wrong place wrong time? Sounds weird I bet dfjblg but if you do do this, ty!!

In A Bind

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x female reader

Word count: 3,000

Warnings/tags: nsft, con-noncon, lots of dirty talk, d/s themes with bratty reader, rough oral (m receiving), rough sex, unprotected piv, creampie, light degradation, LH Arthur, established relationship/consent

Summary: after a failed robbery lands you in a Rhodes jail cell, Arthur comes to spring you but finds he can kill two birds with one stone in the process

Notes: this is just 3k words of smut basically lol, also my first time writing cnc so I kept it on the lighter side (plus even LH Arthur would never go further than that imo) but that being said if cnc of any kind is an ick for you - don’t read

Twiddling your thumbs in the quiet jail cell, you watched shadows from the trees outside as they danced on the wall — wishing desperately you hadn’t gotten yourself into this mess.

Arthur would no doubt be unbearable about it, with his sarcastic tsk tsks and I told ya so’s as he stood tall with his hands on his gunbelt, shit-eating grin wide and proud on his face. But dear God, as much as he could drive you crazy, he charmed you to death as he did.

It had been some time now since Sheriff Gray stumbled outside on “business,” clearly drunk on the moonshine the boys had recently recovered.

Unfortunately he had been sober enough to chase you down after a stagecoach robbery gone south the day before.

The bullet he fired grazed your leg and spooked your horse, stirrup catching around your ankle and twisting it as you hit the ground hard enough to knock the air from your lungs.

You were given cloth to tie around it and you’d seen worse, but it would put you out of commission for a few days.

Eventually the heavy footfall of boots on the wood floor broke the silence as Arthur came into view. Sauntering over with that stupid grin and familiar stance — he stopped in front of your cell and laughed.

“Well, well…quite a predicament you got yerself in missy,” after a pause and lazy scratch of his short beard he continued condescendingly. “I told ya not to go pokin’ ‘round where ya ain’t ‘sposed to.”

“I’ll poke around wherever I goddamn please, Mr. Morgan,” you stated unabashedly.

He raised his eyebrows and scoffed (smug taunt), “and look where that’s got ya.”

“I saw an opening and I took it. Care to tell me how many times Hosea and Dutch have rescued you over the years?”

“Lotta tough talk from a little lady stuck in a jail cell, don’tcha think?”

Arthur leaned closer to the bars and lowered his voice, “way I see it, you oughta choose yer next words carefully seein’ as I’m the only one who can help.”

Ignoring his vague threat you gestured towards his chest, “I think that silly little badge you’ve been wearing is going to your head. I can take care of myself.”

“That so? You ain’t foolin’ me. I could see that little shiver when I walked in, and yer still breathin’ fast. From where I’m standin’?”

Arthur reached through the bars to caress your cheek, a gesture in stark contrast to his deep and rough drawl. “Ya look like a rabbit caught in a trap.”

He slowly moved his hand along the growing length in his jeans, palming languidly at the sight of you sweating. “Now…what’re ya gonna do fer me if I let ya out? Seems fair don’t it?”

Astounded with his audacity you scoffed, “my leg’s hurt, the hell do you expect me to be able to do?”

Arthur responded without missing a beat, “ya can kneel right? Yer mouth ain’t hurt is it?”

“Pig,” you sneered as you crossed your arms in protest.

He chuckled darkly at your insult, rubbing himself harder. “Ya can lie down and open them pretty legs for me can’tcha?”

“I think you’re all talk, tough guy. Why don’t you come in here and make me?”

Arthurs eyes studied your face as you tried not to break your showing of defiance. You were going to make him fight for it as long as you could.

He was surprisingly agile for such a large man, giving you no time to react before your wrist was trapped in his much larger, much more powerful hand.

“C’mon asshole, knock it off.” Swearing under your breath and trying to pull away did nothing as he tied your wrists around the cool metal bars with his bandana.

“Quit squirmin’ and get on yer knees.”

You leaned in as close to the outlaws face as you could against the bars and spoke in a daring whisper, “ya deaf? I said, you’re gonna have to make me.”

Arthur placed a powerful hand on the shoulder opposite of your hurt leg and pushed. Even at his gentlest he was exceptionally strong, barely needing to use any of his strength to urge you down.

Freeing himself from the confines of his pants, he stroked his twitching cock inches from your face and thumbed your lower lip with his other hand.

You turned your head away from him defiantly, contempt clear on your face.

“Ah ah, what’s the matter princess? Too good for this? You’ll be cryin’ my name in no time, that’s a promise.”

“You wish.”

“Quit stallin’ now or you’ll be stuck in here even longer.”

Placing his forefinger and thumb on your chin he moved you to face him, broad figure towering above you as he waited for your warm mouth.

Positioning himself between the bars in front of you, he prodded your lips apart with the head, urging his hips forward as you took him further.

Arthur let out a long, groaning sigh. “That’s it, take it darlin’.”

He was slow at first, pushing to the back of your throat gently as you adjusted your lips to his girth; twirling your tongue around the tip and hollowing your cheeks along the shaft.

Glancing up you saw Arthur’s arms extended above him, hands white-knuckling the bars and eyes sealed shut it bliss. Every light thrust he made was accompanied by a sharp breath or husky groan.

Feeling ashamed, you realized the sight and sensation made your pussy absolutely throb — it was already becoming difficult to pretend you didn’t want this.

Small moans traveled up your throat and vibrated around his cock as you bobbed your head eagerly; shifting on the floor and squeezing your knees together to accommodate the uncomfortable arousal.

Always keen on your body and its responses to him, Arthur grinned and sucked the air through his teeth. “See? I knew you wanted this, I bet yer soaking through to the floor just from suckin’ on me. That right?”

You were dangerously close to giving into your lust drunk stupor, to rambling and moaning with spit hanging off your chin; though you couldn’t give him the satisfaction without a fight just yet.

You pulled your head back and away to remove him from your mouth, looking up at him with raised eyebrows. “Lotta talk for someone who was about to come in ten more seconds.”

“We’ll see if yer still sassin’ me like this when ya can’t walk tomorrow. Now, I asked you a question woman.”

You batted your lashes and smirked, “that’s funny, I don’t recall hearing a question. All I could hear was you whimpering.”

Gathering a fistful of your hair Arthur pushed into your mouth and to the back of your throat, causing a gag as your nose met his chestnut curls. The thrusts were rough and sloppy now, his soft whines turning into primal, teeth gritting grunts.

“Tired a hearin’ you talk girl, yer mouth’s better at this anyway,” you looked up at his crooked smile, drool gathering at the corners of your mouth.

“Now…fuck — let’s try this again. I bet yer soaked just from havin’ my cock in yer mouth, ain’t that right?”

Arthur pulled out quickly to let you respond — and to catch your breath.

“Yes,” you mewled and panted, unable to stifle your dizzying lust. “I’m so goddamn wet right now.”

Arthur laughed smugly as he fished for something in his pocket, “that’s what I thought.” Revealing the cell keys he let himself in and closed the door behind him.

Still tied to the bars, Arthur circled around you slowly as his eyes traveled along every inch of you. For the first time you truly did feel like a rabbit caught in a trap.

“Can ya stand?”

Your replied nervously, “I think so…”

“Then do it…” His snarl was dark and harsh and sent a shockwave straight to your core.

He felt dangerous and you felt cornered.

Gently pulling yourself upright Arthur allowed you to test the waters. Putting pressure on your ankle, you found that the pain was a quiet whisper compared to the aching arousal between your legs.

He approached slowly, boots thudding next to you as the scent of leather and tobacco was carried with it. He opened the front of your dress forcefully to slip a hand inside, squeezing and massaging your breast with his cock twitching at your side.

“Can’t let an opportunity like this pass me up can I?” His pulling and pinching of the pert peak made your hips roll at the air.

Moving behind you, Arthur placed his hands on your hips and rutted his hardness against the soft fabric over your backside with shallow breaths.

You spoke in a breathy plead, “haven’t I given you enough yet Morgan?”

“Hardly. You think that pretty little mouth a yers was all I wanted?”

Pressing himself tight against you he dragged the flat of his hand along your mound possessively. “I deserve this tight cunt too don’t I?”

He tilted your head backward against his chest to look up at him, his other fingers tightening along your slit — pressing into the soaked undergarments. “Don’t I?”

You nodded with a lick of your lips, not wanting to say it out loud but left helpless to his appetite.

The outlaw brought his lips close enough to your ear that you felt the scratch of his stubble as he spoke, “good girl.”

Bending you forward, Arthur made your lower half bare to him, wetness glistening invitingly. Without warning he entered you with three of his sizable fingers, immediately motioning inside of you.

“So fuckin’ wet for me girl, thought you didn’t want this huh?”

All you could muster was a weak moan, focusing instead on the ebb and flow already increasing in your abdomen, the lewd sound of Arthur working your walls, the absolute debauchery and how good it made you feel.

“Got nothin’ to say now do ya? If you wanna come I better hear it.”

Arthur suddenly removed his fingers, leaving you desperate at the sudden hollowness.

The digits instead roughly penetrated your mouth, making you suck them clean of your juices. “Taste that? That’s what I do to ya girl, may as well jus’ admit it.”

“Now…beg for it.” he asserted harshly as you whined around his fingers. The palm of his other hand collided with your ass, leaving a hot sting. “Ain’t playin’ girl. Beg. Or I’ll take what’s mine and go.”

And this is what you wanted. For Arthur to tell you off and take you, to make you beg and turn you into jelly. The shame was merely an afterthought now that your carnal body had taken over.

“Please Arthur,” you swayed your ass and rolled your hips. “Please — let me come.”

Another playful slap landed on your backside as he stuffed his fingers inside of you once more, “yer lucky yer so goddamn gorgeous.”

You felt his other hand move to your sensitive bud, rolling in circles as he fingered you. “C’mon now, lemme feel how bad you want it.”

Obscene noise and filthy words filled the cell and ushered in your peak, waves of fluttering giving way to squeezing pulses around Arthur’s fingers.

Crying out your body fell forward, shaking and spent.

Giving you no time to recover, Arthur spread your swollen and sensitive lips as he entered you, flush with your ass and twitching in your core, a relieved groan escaped his lungs.

“Fuck…Arthur!”

“You can take it sweetheart…you can take it.”

As wet as you were — and as wet as he always made you; there was still a sweet sting as you adjusted to his girth. But Arthur was not patient today.

His iron grip on your waist was the only thing keeping you from collapsing as he pistoned in and out of you, pushing the air from your lungs with each thrust.

“Someone,” you fought through the stuttered breaths, “stop — someone could come in!”

“Oh but you’d like that wouldn’t you?” Arthur pulled your hair and rode harder. “You’d like the whole town to see what a little whore y’are, ain’t that right?”

Arthur slowed his pace to a long, languid grinding. “Let ’em watch, then they’ll know yer all mine.”

His substantial hand travelled slow down your spine, almost lovingly. You had a feeling this wasn’t part of the act.

“No one else gets to touch you like this — take you like this.”

Your breath hitched in your chest at Arthur’s words, injured ankle faltering slightly. Taking notice he untied you from the cell bars and laid you face down, flat on the cot.

Now that you were more comfortable, his demeanor snapped back to dominance.

Arthur’s hands pawed roughly at your ass, fingernails digging in as he rutted against your dripping slit.

You couldn’t help but grind your mound against the thin mattress and ass along the bottom of his shaft, the time for feigning disinterest long gone.

“Give it to me,” you pleaded against the thin pillow, losing all composure.

Keeping your legs together Arthur once again entered you, the sting no lesser in this tight position. “Look atcha, ain’t even hidin’ that ya want it anymore.”

Arthur’s broad torso encompassed you as he hovered above your back, repeatedly slamming into your heat with hot, wanton breaths against your ear.

Pressed into the mattress you listened to Arthur’s breathing become ragged and felt his body stiffen, all signs that he was close.

In one swift movement he pulled out to flip you on your back, pinning your wrists above your head as he plunged back into you.

“Wanna look at that pretty face while I fill you up. You want it?”

You turned your head to the side, feeling your body flush with heat from the intimacy of his words — of his future actions.

“Yeah you do,” Arthur leaned into your neck, sucking and biting at the tender flesh above your collarbone.

You couldn’t help but grind against him as he bucked into you, much to his delight. “Such a dirty girl, knew you wanted it. Coulda just enjoyed it sooner if ya weren’t such a goddamn brat.”

Lacing your fingers through the honey locks pressed against his forehead in sweat, you tugged gently while dragging the nails of your other hand down his back.

Arthur winced with a proud smile, “gonna empty myself inside ya.” He paused with a bite of his lip and groan, “I’ll be drippin’ down yer thighs and all over that nice dress…”

You could feel his cock flexing inside your heat, talking himself into a frenzy with each passing second.

Falling on top of you as his climax took over, Arthur moved in for a heated kiss; the first since he walked through the door.

Pressing deep inside you his hips moved in shallow jerks while painting your walls. A single, honest groan released from his mouth into yours, turning into whimpering shudders as his tongue roamed.

Arthur laid his forehead on the pillow beside you with a quiet expletive as you both took a moment to catch your breath.

Stirring slowly you felt his calloused hands running down your calf and toward your ankle. “Y’okay?” He gently ran his thumb over the swollen skin, “I can go take care of that bastard, don’t give a damn if he’s the Sheriff.”

“I’m okay, handsome.”

“Good. Ya know, ya didn’t need to get yerself arrested to get me to uh,” he grinned with a chuckle, “well…fuck ya like this.”

Playfully slapping his chest you exclaimed, “you know I didn’t do this on purpose!”

“I dunno, yer a pretty wild woman. I wouldn’t put it past ya.”

“Shut up,” you teased.

Arthur was rough around the edges but you trusted him. After many mornings of trying to keep quiet in the tent, humid nights shared at the Flat Iron lakeside, sweating and entwined with praises and whispers; you couldn’t help your lust drunk confessions. Wanting excitement and thrill, to do things the other hadn’t done with anyone else.

“So was it…thrillin’ enough for ya then?”

“That and then some, cowboy.” You ran your hand across his bulky chest. “What’d you think?”

“That it’s the hottest — and craziest thing I ever done,” he laughed and squeezed your ass playfully. “And on that note we should get goin’ ’fore anyone comes back.”

As the two of you began making sure you were decent, you inquired, “won’t Sheriff Gray put it together that it was you who broke me out?”

“He’s drunk as Uncle on a Saturday night sweetheart, he won’t even remember I was here.”

Arthur paused as his tone grew stern, “really though, what were you thinkin’? You gotta be more careful.”

He was right, but his pension for being overprotective and pushy in these situations felt unnecessary after an injury and arrest. “Most of the gang’s been in jail or tights spots at least once, comes with the territory.”

He taunted, “maybe, but what if I ain’t around to rescue ya next time?”

“I could’ve broken out myself. Wouldn’t be hard to seduce a nervous old deputy anyway,” you winked.

“Ain’t funny.”

“Well quit givin’ me a hard time then.”

“Alright alright, let’s get ya outta here.” Arthur wrapped his arm around your waist as he ushered you through the back of the jail, supporting you through your slight limp.

Before he helped you up on his horse you planted a quick kiss to his cheek, “thank you, Arthur.”

He shrugged dismissively in response but the rosey tint forming on his face didn’t go unnoticed. “C’mon now, let’s get you home and get that leg better.”

[moon-spirit-yue]

Silly little bits of information for my atla au coming up because I literally can’t stop thinking about it even though I have 37 other wips:

Sisu is the last airbender her personality alone makes her a great fit. Plus it’s very similar to her role in the movie. She’s about 18 here

Raya is the last waterbender in the southern water tribe and doing her best to run things while Benja, the chief of the small village, fights in the war. Also 18. The elders have to take her place when she leaves

Boun is Raya’s cousin and a nonbender. To be so real he’s the brains of this operation and the only reason why they don’t get lost. My boy is 15 for this au

Noi’s the terrifying earthbender child in this au. I might make her blind like Toph is but I’m also considering making her mute instead. She’s 13 in the au

(Picture adult Sisu getting bullied by Noi during earthbender training LMAO)

Tong is from the Earth Kingdom but can’t bend. He’s Noi’s bodyguard and ends up tagging along with their shenanigans because he wants to make an actual difference in the war. I’ll make him 40 for this au

Namaari is a fire bender and the Fire Nation princess because of course she is. Another 18 year old

Namaari is HEAVILY brainwashed in this au. She genuinely thinks the Fire Nation is bringing peace to the world and overall doing the right thing until Sisu comes back

Namaari is going to be integrated into the group WAY sooner than Zuko was so that we get some slow burn Rayaari

Virana still actually likes her daughter so the Agni Kai thing doesn’t really pan out but alas she needs to go down

I’m sorry Virana I fear you’re a villain in this story

Atitaya is Namaari’s cousin and yet another villain in this story lol. She’s an excellent Fire bender and she’s well aware of what the Fire Nation really does. The woman’s a ruthless killer, basically

Firebenders did kill Raya’s mom thinking she was the last waterbender in order to protect Raya. It literally haunts her

Raya, similarly to Katara, has a lot of raw bending power and picks things up relatively quickly but due to the fact that she is literally the only bender in the South she really can’t do much in the beginning

Unlike many of my other aus, Raya and Namaari meet for the first time at the story of the story so there’s no emotional connection at first. No betrayal. Just hatred

Sisu honestly just wants to be besties with Namaari like immediately

“I like her” “Sisu just almost kidnapped you” “I get good vibes from that fire bender” “what”

Sisu may seem borderline insane but she ends up being right about pretty much everything in the end

In literally every universe Namaari is stalking Raya LMAO

[thefloatingwriter]

the grand master post of all things D3

made by a person who definitely thinks about a district that was never actually canonically described a little too much

so. let’s get into the fun stuff!

District Three consists of two main “areas” or zones: the Stills and the city of Stepanov, which is the main city in Three, named after the first mayor of Three, who’s full name was Hewlett Stepanov. It is still a popular name in Three, especially with the wealthy, and the Stepanov family are respected highly by citizens.

if you’ve read my other posts about d3 and everything related to it, some of this is just restating but some of it is new so make sure to find that stuff! here are all of the posts: Beetee + Wiress headcanons | District Three Lore + List of Victors + even more Beetee + Wiress headcanons | Wiress did not grow up poor - opinion | Wiress with Cats | The Latier Family Tree | even MORE Beetee + Wiress headcanons | Beetee headcanons pertaining to his childhood | Wiress headcanons pertaining to music + music that is most prevalent in Three | really random hcs about beetee’s great grandparents

tags: dayne’s beetee tag | dayne’s wiress thoughts (TM)

fics: even here as we are standing now (i can see the fear in your eyes) [aka The Beetee Fic]

this will be separated into sections because i have a lot of thoughts lol

General Info:

District Three consists of the majority of Idaho/the Idaho Panhandle, some of west Washington, and east Montana. There also a tiny, tiny little bit of modern Oregon. D3 borders One to the south and east and Seven to the north and west.

The area that is considered “District Three” is not all used for living and the majority of it is forested land. Due to this, lumberyard workers from Seven travel the short distance from the two districts to harvest many of these trees. This is also true for miners from One in terms of gems.

Three makes and produces the vast majority of all technology used in Panem, cars, glass, and various drugs.

Child labor is a major issue, as children from the Stills begin working at factories as early as age four/five. Much of the time, there is an encompassing building attached to the factory that your parents work at for children who work.

Stepanov:

Saint Stepanov (typically shortened simply to Stepanov during the ADD¹/DHG²/BSR³ era) is the main city of Three where wealthier citizens live, or there version of Twelve’s “merchant class”. Adults who live here work as software developers and engineers, factory owners or managers, analysts, programmers, etc. These citizens typically live good lives with fulfilling jobs and nine times out of ten, no one will ever have to worry about where the food on the table comes from.

Only one year in Hunger Games existence were both children reaped were from the wealthier families of Three. The 48th Annual Hunger Games came as a shock to everyone, when both Wiress Lisiecki and Fortran Stepanov were reaped.

The square in Stepanov is where the Reapings take place. All children of reaping age can fit, but families usually have to stand in accompanying streets or are pushed to the back.

¹—After Dark Days | ²—During Hunger Games | ³—Before Second Rebellion |

The Stills:

The majority of Three’s population lives in poverty or on the cusp (about 120k out of 190k), in the area called the Stills, which consists of five separate neighborhoods/towns joined together by a square in the middle called The Interface. The Interface is where the main marketplace for the Stills is, including a popular bar called Harlow’s.

The majority of the Stills inhabitants work as factory workers/laborers. Almost always, these workers work in these jobs for their entire lives. They are not given the same opportunities as the citizens from Stepanov are. Due to this, a lot of animosity from both sides of the divide is very prevalent in everyday life.

Citizens from the Stills are taught from a young age about doing whatever it takes to survive. Because of this, tributes from the Stills typically do better in the Hunger Game than their wealthier counterparts.

Victors Village:

As of the Third Quarter Quell, there were five residents of Three’s Victors Village.

Address — Game — Name — Age at Victory

316 — 16th — Attican (“Atlas”) Hoffman — 16

340 — 40th — Beetee Latier — 19

348 — 48th — Wiress Lisiecki — 18

355 — 55th — Marie Teller — 17

368 — 68th — Haskell Nishimaru — 16

— The Victors:

Name: Attican Hoffman

Kill Count: Six

Type of Reaping: Regular reaping

Birthplace: Hewlett Memorial Hospital, Stepanov, District Three

Name: Beetee Latier

Kill Count: Nine

Type of Reaping: Rigged reaping

Birthplace: Apartment Building 9, Floor 6, No. 612, Three Falls, District Three

Name: Wiress Lisiecki

Kill Count: Five

Type of Reaping: Regular reaping

Birthplace: Hewlett Memorial Hospital, Stepanov, District Three

Name: Marie Teller

Kill Count: One (technicality; she caused six deaths, but only actually killed one)

Type of Reaping: Rigged reaping

Birthplace: Apartment Building 6, Floor 3, No. 321, Three Falls, District Three

Name: Haskell Nishimaru

Kill Count: Two

Type of Reaping: Regular reaping

Birthplace: Apartment Building 3, Floor 3, No. 387, Dreier Springs, District Three

Important Characters:

— Parents of Victors:

The Stills —

Ada Latier (née Brownstone) — mother of Beetee Latier. Lost her older sister, Cora Brownstone, to the sixteenth Games.

Linus Latier — father of Beetee Latier. Lost his younger brother, Hermes Latier, to the fourteenth Games. Linus and Ada found each other as the only person who understood the pain of losing a sibling to the Games.

Annabeth Teller (née White) — mother of Marie Teller. Family friend of the Latiers. Grew up in the Stills.

Fox Teller — father of Marie Teller. Grew up alongside Linus Latier and were childhood friends. Fox and Anna were the reason Ada and Linus met.

Stepanov —

Aurora Lisiecki — mother of Wiress Lisiecki. She runs a circus/theater group to entertain Threes and visiting Capitol citizens.

— Siblings of Victors:

Adeline Latier — younger sister of Beetee Latier. She’s younger than him by six years. She was thirteen when he was reaped.

Roent Latier — younger brother of Beetee Latier. He’s eight years younger than Beetee. He was eleven when he was reaped.

Tera Latier — younger sister of Beetee Latier. She’s ten years younger than Beetee. She was nine when he was reaped.

Ruther Latier — younger brother of Beetee Latier. He’s ten years younger than Beetee. He was nine when he was reaped. Tera and him are twins.

Dayta Latier — younger sister of Beetee Latier. She’s thirteen years younger than Beetee. She was six years old when he was reaped.

Barbara Lisiecki — older sister of Wiress Lisiecki. She’s four years older than Wiress and was twenty-two when she was reaped. Grew up in Stepanov but moved out to live in the Stills after she was expected to join the family business (the circus/theater group).

Various —

Stefan Stepanov — older brother of Fortran Stepanov, Wiress’ district partner for the 48th Hunger Games. He was also in the same kindergarten class as Beetee.

Additional Information:

Three is not an “Anyone But A Career” district. They have never been one.

Every single time a Three wins the Hunger Games, a victor from One precedes them. Every. Single. Time. Atlas was preceded by Harrison Sanford, Beetee by Paris Sanford, Wiress by Zircon (“Connor”) Lewis, Marie by Emerald Reeves, and Haskell by Augustus Braun.

Three’s victors are sometimes seen as a buffer between the careers and the outlying districts. Most of the citizens of Three don’t have a problem with the Careers, except for some people from Stepanov.

In Stepanov, residents celebrate what children refer to as “Tree Time” during December—families use left over trees from the workers from Seven and display them in their homes with generational ornaments. Every year, at least one new ornament is added to the tree. Some families use breakable plastic to put new year’s resolutions inside of the ornaments and then break them on New Year’s to read them with family and friends at midnight.

[jeannereames]

Hello Dr. Reames! Why do you think Alexander never set his sights on the conquest of Sicily - a rich island with longstanding Greek presence? Is it because when he came to the throne the plan to invade Persia was already on its way? I understand that Rome was a backwater town at this point and that Persia was the bigger prize, but Sicily always remained rich and hotly disputed

Inertia had a lot to do with Alexander’s choice, plus SIZE of the conquest, plus a plausible reason for the attack. I’m going to address these backwards.

Sicily, at least in the east, was—as you note—Greek, it’s largest city, Syracuse, Corinth’s most famous (and successful) colony. If conquest was still a valid reason for war in his world, increasingly parameters were put on it. We may understand these as window dressing concealing motives often economic (“follow the money,” ancient version). Yet by the 4th century, attacks on “fellow Greek” city-states needed some sort of rationale beyond naked ambition—often a current or historical beef.

Hence, Philip’s reason for attacking Persia (all about the money) was vengeance for the Greco-Persian Wars of over a century prior.

Another example, with Sicily in particular: Athens attacked Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War because she wanted Sicilian timber (for naval construction), after Brasidas of Sparta had convinced Perdikkas II of Macedon to cut off Macedonian timber—which had been Athens’ supply since the Greco-Persian Wars. Yet Athens justified the attack because Syracuse was a daughter-city of Corinth and Corinth was a member of the Peloponnesian league. Not to mention the war began due to Athenian-Corinthian aggression. So, by extension, Syracuse was tagged as an enemy of the Delian League (e.g., Athens’ not-so-covert empire), and ripe for hostilities.

Alexander didn’t have a ready-made excuse to attack Sicily. He probably could have found one, if he’d really wanted to, but this brings me to my second point.

Sicily is just not that big. And if some of her cities were wealthy enough, they didn’t begin to compare to Persia. When it comes to Alexander, “Think small” was never his modus operandi. LOL. Sicily would have been regarded like the Greek city-states of Anatolia (Asia Minor): a worthy acquisition…on the way to Bigger and Better. Yet Sicily lay west…not on the way to Bigger and Better. Just then. (more below)

Last, and the real reason: simple inertia.

Persia was the campaign his father had planned for probably a decade, and had fought south Greece to line up support for, culminating in the Battle of Chaironeia and the League of Corinth. Alexander did have to spend his first two years re-pacifying the Thracian and Illyrian north, not to mention re-fight Thebes to keep the south quiet … but PERSIA was what he’d been hearing about for years—what all Philip’s alliances were formed to pounce on.

To suddenly change and set his sights west on Sicily wouldn’t have made much sense, not to mention it would have alienated some of the city-states he needed (particularly his naval allies). He couldn’t have sold it as a “Panhellenic” crusade in revenge for the Greco-Persian War.

So, basically, I doubt it would ever have occurred to Alexander to sail west to attack Sicily when Persia was the bigger—and long planned upon—prize.

Now, let me add that—if academic speculation is correct and Alexander was setting up a campaign against Carthage near the end of his life—it’s quite likely that Sicily, and especially Syracuse, would have figured into that…but as allies, just as later with Rome. Carthage had long held the western part of Sicily, and struggled with the Greeks in the east for control of the whole. Conflicts with Carthage are why Syracuse invited in Rome for what became the First Punic War.

By the end of his life, and after Agis’s Revolt was crushed, Alexander was such a power, the Greek city-states had mostly given up opposing him. They contented themselves with snarky remarks and symbolic gestures—until after ATG’s death, when they rose up to try and oppose Antipatros in the Lamian War…which failed.

Yet if we could suppose Alexander had recovered from his last illness and did attack Carthage, Syracuse (et al.) would have been all over that. They’d have stood to benefit handsomely in territorial acquisitions. And at that point in time, Alexander probably was the only power that could have beaten Carthage on the water.

Hope this helps to explain why Alexander’s focus was always Persia.

A last thing: the nature of the Greek landscape, with the formidable Pindus Mountains down the center, had divided the peninsula east and west for centuries. The city-states on the east fronted the Aegean Sea, while those on the west fronted the Corinthian and Adriatic Seas. This affected both colonization and conquest ambitions. So eastern city-states tended to look east and western (including the Peloponnesos) tended to look west.

Macedon looked east. By contrast, Epiros looked west. That’s why Alexander of Epiros went to Italy while his nephew went to Persia. Never underestimate the impact of simple geography on history in the ancient world.

[seriousbrat]

quite contrary: mary macdonald + historical context, music

this is my Mary MacDonald playlist and I'd like to talk a little about my interpretation of her and her cultural/historical context! it might not align with fanon, ive no idea but idc frankly haha. I hope to have done my due diligence in terms of research (i'm an absolute research fiend) and in general this is a topic I'm personally highly interested in. because it's highly interesting and (ime) little-discussed. I'll be providing links for further reading. tagging @goldenromione bc she asked me to do this!

so in my fic Mary is a muggle-born girl from a British-Caribbean family in Croydon. Her family owns a Caribbean restaurant in Thornton Heath. She's rebellious and punky and gets a lot of this from her two older brothers, both Muggles; Toby, the eldest, is part of the Race Today Collective in Brixton, dedicated to the publication of a political magazine (Race Today) on race relations in the UK. The middle brother, Lewis (who has a fling with Sirius as a matter of interest lol) is a musician/DJ very active in the Ska Revival/Two-Tone scene of the late 70s-early 80s.

All this is very influential on Mary; she is very outspoken about muggle-born rights at school, and her music taste reflects her background. I do think she would like women-led punk especially x-ray spex, but also in terms of ska a group I think she'd have liked is the selecter, which features pauline black the coolest female vocalist i've ever seen in my entire life. just look at her:

this will be explored in the upcoming 4th part of my fic, in which we see Sirius in his Brixton flat, and Mary and Lewis both spend a lot of time there. Specifically, he lives on Railton Road, which was a very important street in terms of both Black and LGBT history in Britain. It was the scene of the 1981 Brixton Riot and the location of many collectives at different points like the British Black Panthers, the 121 Centre (one of London’s longest running squats, also housed anarchist groups and other orgs), the aforementioned Race Today Collective, the Pink Fairies/South London Gay Community Centre, among others. It was also the home of many important Black British activists and historical figures like C.L.R. James, Darcus Howe and Leila Hassan. A few links:

A Radical History of 121 Railton Road By the Waters of Babylon; The Battle of Railton Road; International Centres Today in London gay history: the South London Gay Centre evicted, Brixton, 1976 Activist Streets (on history in Thornton Heath, linked above)

If anyone is interested in this topic I cannot, cannot recommend enough the miniseries Small Axe on Amazon, which covers a few different important moments in Black British history from the 60s to the 80s. It's so incredibly good and the soundtrack is SUPREME. Another good one to get a feel for the period is In the Long Run, created by Idris Elba and set in London in the 80s, loosely based on his own childhood.

Lastly, a few images of how I see Mary under the cut:

this is simona brown, my mary fancast, though the image I used for my playlist is of brenda sykes who I also think is an absolute Mary vibe.

[togamest]

chapter 2: umbrella beach

❝ home will always be here, unseen, out of sight, where I disappear and hide. I think dreamy things as I'm waving goodbye, so I'll spread out my wings and fly. ❞

word count: 2,904 content: gn!reader (no pronouns used), alcohol usage (kakucho drinks two rum punches which is his right), south cameo, beaching it jokes about being dead (izana's humor sucks), big tiddy bartender time. a/n: chapter two is here! this is relatively uneventful, mostly just kakucho traveling and being hit on by one of the beach bartenders lol. all the inspo for the room and the resort itself is from this villa in the philippines don't look too hard at that price tag i almost vomited when i saw it lmfao. and reader finally appears! i'm keeping them pretty gender neutral for this go around, but next chapter should be a lil spicy ;) did i mention south cameo??? he's gonna be ooc as hell and i don't care LOL. enjoy!! tags: @qichun @bajisdarling @kenpachisbrat @highpri3stess @fengxun @benkeibear @suyacho @bleach-your-panties @reiners-milkbiddies @honeybleed @mitsuwuyaa

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Kakucho barely recalls the night he left, and in addition, the entirety of the transport that led him here.

He did remember a plane, sitting next to a window with an empty seat beside him, which Izana happily took. A flight attendant had given him something fruity with rum in it, placed in front of him in a shock of red slush and a yellow umbrella on top. She’d said something close to enjoy your drink, but he hadn’t paid much attention to her response, simply nodding and taking a sip. His lips turned. It was all sugar and sweetness; but it felt good. Refreshing.

Izana smiles at him. Don’t like sweet drinks?

“No,” Kakucho says softly, taking another sip and quickly betraying his statement. He takes a moment for the slush to melt on his tongue before shrugging. “Well, alright, it’s pretty damn good.” He was never one for sweet drinks; he preferred whiskey, when he did drink, which was not often due to his past negligence. But hell, he’s on a plane on vacation. He’s allowed a few slip-ups. And one rum punch isn’t going to send him spiraling; this wasn’t a drinking binge under pressure. He was actually enjoying himself.

He’d turned his phone off, purchasing a burner on his way out of Tokyo. As the plane lifted off into the air, he could almost feel the claws of Bonten releasing from him, even just momentarily; he wondered if Rindou had told everyone, breaking his promise (although Rindou’s promises do tend to be pretty shitty in the first place) and stoking a fire. He can almost see it; Ran’s look of fake surprise, Koko’s look of real surprise, Mikey’s indifference as he wastes away at the top of a crime syndicate he never truly cared about in the first place.

He fears when he’ll have to come back. He may be dragged back, or not; either way, he’s hoping that it won’t be brutal. He can handle punishments at the hands of most of the Bonten members; hell, he could probably take many of them on himself. But he did fear them in some capacity; mostly because of how well some of them fit into the lifestyle they’d curated. It was a little terrifying seeing how easily they excused murder, or drug abuse, or using women for nothing more than pleasure. Kakucho wasn’t a prude by any means; but the way he’d seen some of them, especially Takeomi, treat some of the women they’d had at clubs put a horrible taste into his mouth.

Izana’s face comes into his frame of sight. You’re thinking too hard. They can function without you for as long as you need. Stop worrying about it.

Kakucho scoffs, blinking as he drags himself out of the spiral he’d certainly have fallen into if Izana hadn’t said something. “Probably. They’ll be at each other’s throats, I’d bet. That’s a sight I’ll miss seeing.” Thinking of Rindou with his shocking purple hair and glasses, easily a foot shorter than everyone else present, glaring up at Ran and Takeomi, Koko attempting to barter for a better sentencing, was both terrifying and hilarious. Him and Rindou had never been close, but he did happen to be the lesser of two evils. Although that wasn’t saying much, anyway.

The plane touches down so gently that Kakucho barely registers they’ve landed until he looks out the window.

He fully expects the concrete jungle of Tokyo, but instead, there’s appearances of green with the ocean spreading out to the horizon in front of him. The salty sea air stings his nostrils as he leaves the plane, Izana right next to him as he bounds down the stairs. Kakucho knows he didn’t grow up here, but he definitely feels a sense of home here nonetheless. Like how ghosts who didn’t live in one place but were culturally from somewhere else get their ashes spread there…something like that.

He breezes through baggage claim and getting to the resort is blurry; something about the driver knowing him with a wink, tinted windows making sure the glare of the sun doesn’t bother him so much, the receptionist smiling at him as he checks in, and finally, he stands in front of the door to his room. He has an extended stay for three months; Izana made sure that he booked for longer than his original two weeks. Two weeks wouldn’t be nearly enough to make him feel better.

He sucks in a breath through his teeth at the view.

Everywhere he looks, there’s a view of the sparkling blue ocean. Tropical birds perch on the windowsill, and fly off with sweet chirps as he enters, placing his bags on the floor. The smell of the sea is strong, but it smells cleaner than Tokyo; his mind is already more at ease. Izana follows him closely, flopping onto the bed. It doesn’t indent beneath him; another reminder that he’s not really here.

It’s so pretty here.

Kakucho hums, wandering out onto the porch as he lights a cigarette. The receptionist had stated this was a smoke-free resort, but Kakucho didn’t care. He was in his room, and he’s sure there’s a note on that reservation detailing who he is. Even so, he’ll pay the fee if he needs to as he takes a long drag, leaning on the window. Izana wanders over to him after leaving the bedroom, taking up residence on the chair next to him, settling in nicely as his eyes slide shut.

The sun hits his face, warm and cozy, just like the day where he’d last spoken to Koko.

For the first time in months, Kakucho smiles.

Kakucho’s sleep that night is nothing notable.

He awakens early, as he usually does, wandering down to the café for a pastry in his slides and board shorts, a Hawaiian shirt hanging off of his frame. He doesn’t bother buttoning it up; he’ll be on the beach soon enough, anyway. The pastries lined up on the table are light, tasting like sugar and cream and air as he bites into one. Izana watches him longingly, and Kakucho can’t help but chuckle.

“Missing real food, huh?”

Izana rolls his eyes.

Shut up. It’s one of the shitty things about being dead, you know. You’ll find out when you finally decide to die.

Kakucho laughs out loud at that, with Izana’s eyes glittering with humor at the jest. “Yeah, if I decide to die,” he says, gathering his things and walking towards the door to the beach, “and that’s an if. What if I just decide to live forever? Who’s gonna stop me?”

Izana doesn’t miss a beat. Rindou. Or Koko.

“Really? Rindou, my ‘good friend’? Sounds about right.”

The shorter man hums, but doesn’t comment on it. He knows better, Kakucho thinks; Rindou would sell him for a nice piece of paper if he had the means. And Koko? If he got a good enough deal…Kakucho was expendable, he knows that, even if the boys made it strongly known that he wasn’t. Their obsession into the topic only gave it away.

The sand is hot underneath Kakucho’s feet as he precariously ventures out; white sand being hot was a new one for him, but he acclimates to it quickly as he approaches one of the many lawn chairs strewn out. Sunscreen stings his nose as he removes his shirt, spraying it all over himself. Izana takes his place in the seat next to him, smirking at Kakucho’s effort of reaching the small of his back to rub in the sunscreen.

See, there’s a perk. I don’t have to wear sunscreen because I can’t get burnt.

“Wow,” Kakucho says, sarcasm dripping from his voice, “what a great perk of being dead. I’ll definitely enjoy not being burnt by the sun when I’m gone.”

The morning goes by quickly, the beach filling up with more people as the day drags on. Kakucho manages to get some sleep on the chair, before watching a group set up a volleyball net and draw out a field in front of him. They seem around his age, definitely here on their parents’ dime with the tans and expensive sunglasses and bikinis on some of the girls. One guy has a sprawling black tattoo, not unlike Rindou’s now that he thinks about it, spiraling up the side of his face and head.

After a while of watching them try and fail to successfully do a serve, Kakucho gets up to venture to the bar. Sweat makes his shirt stick to his back, so he removes it, leaving it behind. “Don’t go anywhere,” he jokes at Izana, who rolls his eyes again. Fuck off.

At the bar, the pretty bartender bats her eyelashes at him as he slides into a seat. She’s pretty, long black hair sticking to her skin from the heat, a sheen of sweat glistening along her body. Her blue bikini is working overtime to restrain her breasts that are threatening to spill out from the small cups, the bottom’s strings peeking out above her jean shorts.

“What’ll ya have, gorgeous?” she asks, her lip gloss shining in the sunlight as Kakucho’s gaze travels along the liquor bottles, “Can get ya a simple rum punch if ya want. It’s all the rage at the beach, of course.”

Kakucho nods, humming. “Sure. I’ll take two.”

She scrunches her eyebrows, as if looking around to see if he’s here with somebody. “For you and…?”

“Me and me. I deserve two of these, trust me.”

She giggles to herself as she grabs the rum. “You got a point there, pretty boy. What are ya doing here? Vacationing?”

Kakucho sighs. “Something like that. Just needed to get away.”

A hum. “Yeah, that’s what most of these people are doing. That, and using their trust fund parents’ money. Oh well, it keeps me in a job, even if they’re all a pain in the ass.”

She serves up the two rum punches with little umbrellas in them, before giving him another flashing smile. “Drink up! Feel free to come back for more.” With a wink, she wanders off to the other side of the bar, where a few middle-aged men are yelling for what’s on draft. She swings her hips as she does so, her thighs jiggling as she walks; Kakucho knows that tactic, he’s not stupid. He scoffs, grabbing his drinks, and leaving the bar. Little does she know that he’s not here for that; although her calling him pretty boy did make his chest twinge. Just a little bit.

The sand is hot underneath his feet again, having been in the shade for a few moments to lose the acclimation, and he tiptoes back to the chairs where Izana is waiting. He lifts up the drinks, smiling to himself, and—

“FUCK!”

Something hits him smack in the face, and he stumbles back, blinking in shock. His vision is blurry, but as he grips the drinks in his hands, he’s managed to not spill any of it. Thank God, because that would require another trip to the slutty bartender, and he’s really not ready to be objectified again. As he blinks rapidly for his vision to return, a figure swims in his vision, rapidly approaching him.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!” a voice says. It’s feminine, middle pitch, and as his vision focuses…

He almost drops the drinks from that alone.

He barely has time to process the person in front of him before they’re yapping again, apologizing profusely as their hand grabs onto his arm, leading him back to where his chair is, sitting on the chair next to him. Kakucho’s vision finally comes back fully, and he takes in the sight in front of him. Izana has moved from the chair to stand behind him, red rage radiating off of him in waves.

All he can think of is pretty.

You’re gorgeous, hair tied up in a bun, baby hairs flying away, cheeks flushed from exertion and sweat covering your skin. Your bikini is a nice cerulean blue, matching well with your tan, gym shorts low on your hips. You’re saying something about how you suck at volleyball and you really should have noticed Kakucho was right there before you’d served, and—

He places the drinks down and grabs your hands. Your eyes go wide.

“It’s fine…uh—”

You say your name with a smile, sheepishly.

He smiles back. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kakucho. Probably not the best way to introduce yourself to someone, yeah? If you wanted to say hi, you could’ve found a…less violent way.”

You throw your head back in a laugh. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Although it did get your attention, I guess, right?” you shoot back, one of your eyebrows high on your forehead. He doesn’t respond at once, and you look back down at his hands wrapped around your wrists. “You gonna let go or do you do this to all the girls you meet?”

Kakucho’s face goes bright red, he can feel the burning as he rips his hands away, like he’s been stung. “Right, yeah, sorry,” he mumbles, and you laugh again. Your laugh is so pretty; like a wind chime. “No worries, I probably just gave you a concussion anyway. I can imagine you feel a little shaken up.”

There’s a beat of silence after you’re done speaking, and you take up the silence again. It’s clear you like to talk as you start again. “I’m gonna sit here with you if that’s alright. Feels like I should since I injured you and all that, and again, I’m no good at volleyball.”

“I’ll say,” Kakucho says, taking a sip of the rum punch, humming as the chill hits the back of his throat, “what are you guys here for, by the way? Vacation?”

You nod. “Yeah, South’s dad got us a few months here to hang out during the summer. It was either this or Rio, and South wasn’t very keen on going back. So, we decided on here.”

Kakucho nods again. “Rio de Janeiro, I assume? Who’s South?”

You point to the guy with the massive tattoo, who serves the ball and smashes it right into one of the other guys, who doubles over with a howl. South’s face splits into a massive smile as he grabs the girl next to him, pressing a messy kiss to her forehead as she giggles, attempting to push him away. He seems alright. Kind of like someone I know…

You two chat for a little longer, finding out what your backgrounds are. He thinks it’s part of a concussion test; if he can recall what he does and who he is, that’s probably a good sign there’s no brain damage. Turns out, you’re a student at one of the universities in Tokyo, studying some fancy subject that Kakucho didn’t really understand.

The sun is well past its zenith when Kakucho hears South calling for you, and he’s almost finished his rum punch when he nods at him. “Looks like your group’s leaving.”

You look over and wave, before looking back at Kakucho, smiling. “Yeah. See you around?” you ask, gathering yourself as you stand up. Kakucho nods, giving you his room number. “In case you get bored. I do have a cool patio bath thing I’ve been meaning to try out,” he says, and at your raised eyebrows, he swallows, “but no rush. Don’t want to seem weird. You just…feel like a breath of fresh air. Sorry if that’s a little weird.”

Your eyes shine as you smile at him. He wishes he could take a picture of you like that, frozen in time, happy.

You run off, joining South and the others as they wander off the beach, their things in tow. He watches you until your group is specks on the horizon, wandering back to the other side of the resort from him. He’s not sure you’ll come see him later, but the thought of you doing so makes him feel a little giddy.

In all honesty, Kakucho isn’t sure what he’s feeling, but it’s not just a friendly stranger feeling of meeting someone new. No, there’s something else. his chest feels tight, unusually tight as he sips his second rum punch, the alcohol loosening him up. Izana says nothing, taking up the spot you’d left on the chair again, staring off into the ocean.

Something fated, something that feels meant to be about all of this. Stars aligning and whatnot.

Whatever it is, he is certainly not ready for what is to come.

divider credit: @/benkeibear for the mdni banner and the gradient dividers!

disclaimer: please do not copy or repost my works for any reason. translations are acceptable, but please ask for permission first!

© kakuchari 2024

[marley-manson]

WHAT IS IT about due south that makes my brain whirr like a loud laptop fan as soon as I think about any second of it

Those tags led me to thinking about Ray in the first non-pilot episode, Free Willie, being held at gunpoint while Fraser walks away because he refuses to give up the bonds a bank robber wants, telling her that he can’t forsake his duty to uphold the law so she and Ray are shit out of luck. “[A bond is] an instrument of trust between two people indicating a promise that must be honored. Much like a promise I made to uphold the law. So you see, the problem is now that I have the bonds in my hands I'm honor bound not to give them to you.” So Ray thinks he’s going to die but happily robber gets so pissed off at Fraser she tries to shoot him instead, giving Ray the chance to grab the gun. So ofc once the problem is solved Fraser proceeds to explain that it was a purposeful ruse, he wanted to enrage her, and he’d never actually let Ray die just to protect money.

Which is a perfect contrast to Vault, the early season 2 episode in which that same bank robber returns to rob another bank, inviting the overt comparison between these two episodes. In this sequel episode Fraser drags Ray into the bank vault and seals it from the inside to protect it, virtually ensuring their inevitable deaths when they either run out of air, or the thieves bust it open and shoot them. He genuinely argues that it’s their duty to protect the money with their lives. “Ray, would please just listen to me? This isn't about the loss of millions of dollars from some bank! This is about the average ordinary citizen who has placed their trust in an institution. We're here to guard that trust.” Ray, conversely, tells him the money is insured, they were off-duty anyway, it’s not worth dying for, and he’s fucked up.

The difference of course being that in between these episodes Fraser lost his shit and tried to run away with a (different) bank robber so now he’s doubling down hard on his devotion to duty and is maybe arguably passively suicidal and willing to drag Ray down with him.

But like it’s so good as a compare contrast - Ray doesn’t intrinsically trust Fraser to save him in episode one despite having already ended up in the hospital for him once, and it turns out he’s actually kind of right not to! Fraser may have been playing up his devotion to duty over his loyalty to his friends in the first episode, but as a way of establishing a very central theme that gets explored a lot more in some darker ways, it’s excellent.

Like, the pilot and ep 1 really hit this one two punch of Ray devoting himself to Fraser at the expense of everything else important to him including himself, while letting the audience question Fraser’s priorities in return. In Free Willie there’s also a sequence where Fraser gambles Ray’s job on the case without Ray’s input, leading to a scene where Ray fully believes he’s about to be fired. It works out ofc, but it really underscores the ambiguous question of Fraser’s priorities.

And in Vault Ray brings up the number of times Fraser has risked their lives without consulting him as a point of contention, and the overarching theme of the episode is feeling undervalued (Ray’s sister has a whole monologue about it too lol). But Ray is resigned to Fraser risking his life without asking: when Fraser comes up with a risky plan Ray wearily tells him to just do it without explaining first. Their conflict is resolved when Ray tells Fraser to value himself more and stand up for himself, rather than when Fraser, say, prioritizes Ray over duty. 

Basically Free Willie and Vault together are a perfect examination of Ray and Fraser’s unbalanced relationship.

[skepticalarrie]

I saw you already have a tag on Harry/Louis physical touches/flirting that are different from the other boys or more than friendly. Which, I agree. But after combing through hours of videos I feel like I always see at least British person comment how it’s just typical British behavior. One even said “Louis isn’t flirting. He’s just British.” I’m American and only been to the uk once so I can’t form an opinion and idk where you’re from/if you’d know but I do wonder about the cultural differences?

Hi, love. With all due respect to my lovely mutuals and friends here, IMO these kinds of discussions only make sense if you’re British or American. I’m neither. So as someone “in-between” that grew up somewhere with enormous cultural diversity and significant influence of both places... it's confusing as fuck why people get stuck in these kinds of things sometimes lol.

I’m from South America and I lived in England for a while so what I can say is that this is definitely a thingTM. British boys are very "touchy" and affectionate with each other, and that ends up being a striking contrast to British adults or Americans in general, that are not touchy people at all. So I do agree that Louis was very British in that sense, he was very touchy with everyone and when he got older he really started owning this very strong cultural background in many many ways. So it makes perfect sense. With that being said, his behaviour never came across as something new to me, people are very warm where I come from, and I can clearly see the difference between what was simply culturally normal to Louis and the kind of physical intimacy he had with Harry. That was a whole different thing, which also came from Harry's side, and the excuse of being "too British" was never used on him, so. Listen... boys will be boys, okay? They're stupid and innuendos are very funny to them and blah, blah, blah. But the thing with Harry and Louis is that it went so much further, them being touchy and affectionate barely scratches the surface. So I think this argument is very superficial, coming from people not looking at it on a bigger picture.

Brits please feel free to add to my post and give your perspective. (please just don't send me anons about it, just add to the post and I will reblog)

[unhelpfulfemme]

Once again I participate in the "get to know your mutuals" chain mail meme (I'm 100% this is not the correct term but my brain is really fried atm), this time I was tagged by @stripedroseandsketchpads :D I feel like I do this every two months at least so I'm kind of out of people to tag who haven't done it recently, and I've also been kind of dissociated from Tumblr due to work stress so I don't remember if I added anyone new recently :/ So whoever wants to do it, let's pretend I tagged you :D

Last song I listened to: Them Crooked Vultures - No One Loves Me & Neither Do I - I just discovered this band! Even though it's made up of really famous people from other more famous bands! And I really like it!

Currently watching: The Borgias. So far it's... okay? I'm enjoying the character beats but the actual plotty plot (i.e. the politics and wars) is so slowly paced and overly linear. They seem really scared of the audience not getting it so they only allow one plotty thing to be happening at any given time, and they make sure to spell everything out at least once per episode. Which is... not what I'm used to in my historical political drama (quite the opposite in fact!). Perhaps I could have benefited from this approach if it were a fantasy world or a country I don't have much to do with (I remember having to open up a map of Scotland so many times while reading the first Lymond because they kept going from one city to the other and I didn't know where they were in relation to each other), but it's set in my own country and half of the "as you know" recaps are just basic Italian geography for the anglophone audiences lol. After the fifth time one well-educated character explains to another well-educated character that Florence is in the north-west and Naples is south of Rome, I kind of want to scream. The pronounciations are also all over the place - three guys are sitting at a table looking each other in the eyes and pronouncing "Medici" 3 incorrect ways, at least they could have streamlined it between the actors. Like far be it from me to demand proper pronounciation with the way Italians butcher English words constantly, but at least make it consistent! Luke Pasqualino is the only one pronouncing anything as it should be pronounced, and I really felt bad for him in that scene where Lucrezia keeps asking him to say her name and they're both repeating it over and over, because he's the only one pronouncing it correctly while she's saying it as if she had a mouth full of rocks. Btw my favourite Holliday Grainger fucking up the Italian scene so far is when she needs to ride breathlessly up to the French king and say a long line about her brother Juan the Gonfaloniere and basically she's supposed to repeat "Gonfaloniere" several times and you can literally see her going "my brother is the gonfalonsajkdnajsdsbaj" and making a "fuck it, whatever" expression when she gets to the complicated part. Anyway I am enjoying the show, the pronounciations make me laugh they don't make me mad. And the costumes are gorgeous!

Sweet/spicy/savory: Savory or spicy, depending on the mood. I dislike sweet things.

Current Obsession: Nothing really, I've been really tangled up with RL things and am feeling vaguely anhedonic because I keep thinking about work, so it's hard to get into something haha. This is actually why I'm able to focus on the Borgias, because they have quite low bandwidth requirements (i tried to watch it before and found it slow-ish). This too shall pass I suppose :)

[novemberhush]

Tag 9 people to get to know better or catch up with

Thanks for tagging me, @littleblackraincloudofcourse !❤️

Three ships you like - Just off the top of my head, Buddie (Buck x Eddie from 9-1-1), Marvey (Mike x Harvey from Suits) and Chenford (Lucy Chen x Tim Bradford from The Rookie). I have so many more, lol.

First ship ever - These are all from roughly the same time, and I was only a kid at the time, so I’m not sure which came first, but I’d say Maddie Hayes x David Addison from Moonlighting, Jim Dempsey x Harriet ‘Harry’ Makepeace from Dempsey & Makepeace, and Anne Shirley x Gilbert Blythe from the 1985 made-for-television adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and its 1987 sequel. In my teenage years, I seriously shipped Benton Fraser x Ray Vecchio from Due South.

Last song you heard - I stopped at the Tesco Express on my way home from work earlier to see if they had anything I fancied for dinner (spoiler alert - they didn’t) and You Can Get It If You Really Want came on over the sound system, much to the seeming delight of everyone in the store because we all started humming, whistling and, in the case of one customer, even singing along. Oh, and it was the Jimmy Cliff version, not the Desmond Dekker one, or at least it sounded like it.

Favourite childhood book - Ooh, that’s a difficult one! I devoured books as a child (a habit I’ve been getting back into this year and last) and I don’t know if I could pick just one.

Currently reading - The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson (the sequel to The Jigsaw Man, which I just finished earlier this week), and I’m also making my way through a book of short stories called That Was A Shiver, and Other Stories by James Kelman.

Currently watching - I finally got around to watching the last half of the last season of The Blacklist this week, watching the very last episode just last night. I’m also watching reruns of The Closer and the original The Twilight Zone, as well the current seasons of Death in Paradise, Murdoch Mysteries, N.C.I.S. and Law & Order. I’m also watching Tatort Saarbrücken, but I’m trying to make the episodes last because there’s only five of them and the next one doesn’t air until January! I have a whole stack of other stuff I still have to get around to as well, but there’s only so many hours in the day.

Currently consuming - A tin of Pepsi Max.

Currently craving - Ice cream, even though it’s really cold here at the moment.

I tag @imwritesometimes @slow-burn-sally @firemedicdiaz @tulipfromtheinternet @fireladybuckley @smowkie @all-or-nothing-baby @mistmarauder @katries and anyone else who wants to play. No pressure on anyone who doesn’t!😘

[firewoodfigs]

Tagged by the resplendent @roseofbattles :)

TEN GOOD THINGS IN 2023

1. New York / poetry readings — sometime around September, I got to feed an old, ostensibly impractical dream that’s emerged and lurked around since two decades ago. I wrote a poem and got to read it aloud in a wonderful art studio around Chelsea, teeming with so much talent and heart, thanks to the incredible @mirabile---visu. Thank you, dear friend, for giving my poem a home. I will remember this forever and hold dear to heart all the honest conversations we had over pizza, art and wine <3 you are such an inspiration and I can’t wait to see you again! Thank you too to the insanely talented @go-haywire for putting my words into print and allowing them to rest in a well-bound sanctuary — I carried it with me in New York as a lucky charm, and will always be eternally grateful for your generosity and faith.

2. New Zealand — sometime in April, in between jobs, I got to visit the amazing @tsaritsa in NZ, and it was two weeks of peace and great novelty, including but not limited to riding on a horse, feeding penguins, and donning on a firefighter costume! We also walked a ton and talked a lot and gazed upon a blanket of stars. Thank you for all your hospitality and love which I will never forget (and see you in 2024?!)

3. Other travels — I travelled a lot around Asia this year, for work and for fun! I got to see the cherry blossoms for the first time in my life with Japan with my partner. We also got to celebrate his birthday there, and it was an all around lovely trip; I’m really happy he got to have this break because he’s been truly working so hard in 2023. I also ushered in the new year with a dear friend in South Korea; the fireworks were nothing short of spectacular! We got a strawberry shortcake after and returned to our cute little apartment to just wind down and pen down our hopes for 2023 :) I also got to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia for work, which were really exciting experiences!

4. Job switch — sometime in April, I was confronted with this HUGE dilemma of staying here in my hometown or moving to… a tax-free desert… the latter meant I’d at least be able to stay with my previous firm, but after a lot of coffees and deep consideration I decided it was better to move on to someplace else and stay put so I could spend more time with my partner. In hindsight it was probably the best decision I could’ve made; 2023 has been quite emotionally distressing for us and I would’ve hated to see him ensure all of that alone. I was mildly apprehensive at first about the switch, but I’ve been really blessed to have the most wonderful colleagues and bosses and am really excited to see what’s in store next :)

5. Meeting new friends, and in a similar vein, catching up and reuniting with old ones :) New York was a dream, in large part due to meeting some of the most luminous souls I’ve had the serendipitous pleasure of knowing during the pandemic—first over a screen, and then in person, over karaoke, and bagels, and coffee, and ice cream, and of course fried chicken LOL. @x-rainflame-x @roseofbattles @nightofnyx8 @beware-thegemini @thatisadamnfinecupofcoffee @annespelledwithane it was so so precious getting to meet you all in New York and I will cherish our time there together forever!

6. Learning a language—I try to learn at least one new word a day, and I’ve also been working on my Japanese since moving into a Japanese firm. It really helps as well to have colleagues that I can practice with—I took classes briefly in college but it sort of just drifted out of my memory after the pandemic because I didn’t speak it regularly, but now that I do it’s been super fun!

7. Getting into Spy x Family — and consequently, getting back into fic writing :) all of this is @nightofnyx8’s fault btw, now I have to pretend I like this stupid fake family a normal amount (when I’m just obsessed an unhealthy amount lmao)

8. Fraud/investigations work — this basically consumed the entirety of my Nov/Dec and there’s not much I can divulge about it (apart from the fact that it pretty much aged me by a decade) but… I felt like Loid Forger and it was fun being a spy for a month. the end

9. Dealing better with anxiety (?)—question mark because my progress is… questionable. On one hand I think I’ve gotten a lot better at regulating (or perhaps suppressing) a lot of associated feelings, but it still gets frightening on occasion when the dam breaks free without much prior warning. Regardless I think it’s a marked improvement from the countless menty bs back in college lmao. To be very frank, having a stable income of sorts has helped a great deal; in college I was constantly plagued with the fear of not having enough to purchase required materials or at times food, and it was just a lot to deal with. It felt like there was no room for failure because I only had myself to rely upon, and success was the only tenable avenue out of poverty, but being able to now obtain necessities and even additional wants has done wonders for my mental health. It’s true that money doesn’t happiness, and I spend a great deal of time daily mulling over capitalism and consumerism and the like, but I cannot deny the sense of security it affords.

10. And finally, falling deeper in love everyday :) it’s easy to think we know a great deal about someone, except we don’t. People may appear simple, but the truth is we’re all a work in progress, and by extension, a continuing story. I could read a million books and write a million poems, but beloved, believe me—you will always be my favourite.

Goodbye 2023, and hello 2024!

[exbex]

fic author tag game musings thing

Thank you @sygoflyy for the tag!

How many works do you have on AO3?

412. I am old, y’all

What’s your total AO3 word count?

547,393

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently it’s MCU and TRR

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Windows (OMGCP), Five Times Alexei and Kent Embarrassed Their Teammates, and One Time They Didn’t (OMGCP), On Lost Causes (OMGCP), Inferiority Complex (OMGCP), That Obscure Object (OMGCP)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I almost always respond to comments. I don’t get enough to justify not responding to comments, and I like it when authors respond to my comments. Sometimes I forget or it’s an older story with a very short comment and I might not, or something happened that week to distract me. So it goes.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably This Side of Hell (Sherlock). It’s dark and I just reread the comments and more than one person asked for a sequel that they definitely didn’t receive, so apparently that’s the one.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I guess that depends on what is happiest to people. Most of my pairings are together, sometimes their children are born or are thriving. 

Do you get hate on fics?

Only when someone hated the pairing and just wanted to throw a tantrum. That’s been rare.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write vanilla smut, pegging, tentacles, noncon. Some stories revolve around the smut and some are just incidental.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve written several. The craziest one is probably my OMGCP crossover with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road-“To Cool My Tongue.”

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a few. I think mostly Sherlock stories.

 Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sweeter For The Wait (due South) with prudence_dearly and We Never Had This Interchange (TRR) with CertainLittleSmile.

 What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I’m not sure I can choose. Currently it’s SamBucky.

 What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I’m going to be optimistic and say I’ll finish all my WIPs. If I abandon a WIP it’s basically dead to me.

 What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. If things are going poorly, I’ll just write dialogue until I can get over the hurdle.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. I’m doing NanoWrimo right now, with an original fic idea, and I don’t know how this FBI agent is going to solve this mystery. I have similar issues with fanfic, which is why most stories are short.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Terrifying. I am actually doing this now, but I’m limiting the amount because I’m afraid I’ll mess it up. 

First fandom you wrote for?

Due South. Started in 2009.

Fave fic you’ve written?

Just Far Enough (TRR) perhaps. I think I wrote in some notes on it that it was my fanfic magnum opus, lol. I’m pleased with it though.

I think my mutuals may have all done this, but if you see this consider yourself tagged.

[dark-side-blog3]

I’ve never heard of your OCs!!! If you’re feeling it, can you tell me ab them? Like, what’s their type, what kind of yandere are they, etc. I tried to search em but nothing came up so I guess they’re from the old blog lol

-Jojo

They are from the old blog, that is right! I've still got to update my tag post I've been using for searches on there-- but I'll post that and it should make it easier to read up on them! I'll reblog some stuff too!

I have two OC's and a third bastard child I never developed past like a couple of concept posts, and their names are Cyril and Dalton!

I thought it would be funny to name the idiot character "Dalton" Because of the insult 'dolt' -> 'dolt one' -> 'Dalton'.

And Cyril is named as such: 'see, here's eel' -> 'see, e're eel' -> 'Cyril'

Dalton came first, and he is a jellyfish merman based off the pink meanie jellyfish found of the gulf of Mexico. He has translucent pink skin that can change colours depending on what he has eaten, long messy hair, human hands, and a massive skirtlike membrane at his waist that acts as the natural fleshy cover for his thousands of thin tendrils-- each loaded with extremely painful toxin.

The venom is fast acting and makes your skin slough off from chemical burn damage, and if you don't treat the stings, you could potentially die from blood loss (not the venom itself). Dalton is dumb as a sack of bricks (inspired by the fact that jellyfish don't have brains), obsessive, delusional, and sadly for you: extremely affectionate, with a touchy disposition. He'll cling to you every chance he gets.

Dalton is so stupid that he cannot feel pain-- for most merfolk, walking on land is agonizing. Dalton can't fathom this, and just continues to beach himself until he can crawl, his fragile membrane and tendrils drying out and ripping, spilling vital goop as they shift into legs. Each step would be extremely painful, but Dalton can't understand what he's feeling, or what's causing it. And because he doesn't know walking is what's causing it, he'll continue to walk, searching for his "best friends" who must have gotten lost. Dalton believes that Cyril, and you, are his best friends. And you must have gotten lost on your way to find him again. So he'll go out and find you, and everything will work out in the end.

Cyril is a smarter, yet sadistic merfolk, based off of the electric eel found in South America's Amazon River and Oronocio basin. Cyril, unlike Dalton, is a freshwater merfolk, and is capable of being drowned in the brackish water Dalton prefers. And unlike Dalton, Cyril can comprehend the pain in drowning. As well as the pain in being stung by venomous tendrils, and walking. Cyril has chronic pain (as most merfolk do). If he can avoid walking, he will.

He has long, greasy black hair-- washing it does him no good, as getting wet just turns his body back into his natural form, which causes him to secrete slick mucus. His skin is opaque, unlike a jellymer. If he doesn't show you his true form, you might just assume he's a lazy but bougie guy, adorned in gold jewelry he's stolen from other's homes before having to flee the scene. Despite his inactivity, Cyrils' body is on the leaner side due to his high metabolism. He has no visible muscle, but who really needs that when you're an ambush predator that can stun others anyways?

Cyril has worked many odd jobs that helped him live a more lavish life than just hunting and eating whatever got close enough to the river bank. He's acquired a taste for grapes, sliced and microwaved. Any hot fruit would do, but grapes are his favourite. This has become an integral part of his lore, because once Cyril learns of fruit, and then heating the fruit up, and all the devices you can use to heat food up (not just fruit, though he thinks its the height of luxury), and where those devices are stored... It's how Cyril ends up breaking into his darling's home in the first place. They have shelter, water, and all sorts of devices with which to make hot meals. And he needs for this to be perfect is someone who he can force to fetch him things from other rooms once he finds the couch.

He probably doesn't even like you at first. You're just someone he's bluffing out of his ass to let stay here. Cyril will use whatever tactics needed to make you let him stay. He'll go the pity route-- he's a poor misunderstood man, kicked out of housing, turned down everywhere because people don't agree with his life choices... He just wanted to crash here for the night, he didn't know you were here, he thought you were on vacation and he could squat here.

If that doesn't work, he'll resort to threats. He doesn't want to hurt you, he wants to mind his own business here, but if you call for help or tell anyone he's here against your will, he will kill them and you, before eating you. As much as it pains him to walk, he'll trudge over to your bathroom with you in tow, to show you his transformation in your shower/tub. He's a dangerous monster, and you don't know what he can do! His long tail wraps around you, slime secreted from his skin soaking through your clothes, constricting your ribs as he slowly crushes you, before you get hit with a painful shock-- knocking you to the ground and convulsing with painful spasms. Life for you will be easier if you just do what he says. It's not like he's asking for much anyways.

And at first, he's not. He's just asking you to fetch him some food every now and again, or to refill the cup he's been using for water. To buy him a laptop so he can work from home-- this way he'll pay for his own food, and you're not against that are you? Unless you like him mooching off your budget.

Cyril slowly gets more possessive as time goes on. It's not that he likes you; he likes your things, and he likes making you serve him, and he likes hurting you when you do something wrong. That's completely different than liking you. And you were three hours late coming home the other day. Cyril had to get himself a glass of water. Scandalous.

And while he thinks of it, he's not really a good threat if you start thinking you can stay out of the house, and avoid him. How is he supposed to hurt you if you're not around?

He should add a new rule: You have to start staying home with him more, and you have to be in the same room. And if you don't... Then he's going to start breaking your things, changing your password on everything, texting everyone your compromising photos and destroying relationships...

And if you refuse to come home... Then he's just going to have to get up and go hunt you down. You may have forgotten he can actually walk from how little he does it, but if need be he can track you down to the ends of the earth. Eel merfolk have a heightened sense of smell, so Cyril can track you down.

Dalton may stumble upon either you or Cyril one day-- a terrible mix of fate, because the idiot has just been wandering following Cyril, and you know Cyril, which means you're going to all be best friends.

Dalton doesn't mind you doing your own thing, he just wants to watch. He follows you everywhere, forcing himself through doors that you'd closed until they bust down so he can watch whatever you're doing, holding your hand, a grip on your legs, or resting his chin on your shoulder. If you leave the house before he can know where you are, there's a chance he'll go out to look for you-- you must have gotten lost again!

But if he has faith you'll come back, then Dalton will spend his days exploring your home. What happens when he sticks his hand or face in your oven? In the freezer? Through the window? What if he puts your sheets in his mouth? What does your soap smell like? Taste like? Dalton wants to know. And he'll find out everything about you.

Including you. Dalton is clingy, but he's exceptionally touchy. It's not enough to have you next to him, he needs to constantly touch you. Holding your hand is a large part of his day. But his fingers will find their way to your gums to inspect your blunt teeth and bumps on your tongue. Your eyebrows. Dalton opens your eyes with his fingers as he stares at how your pupils shrink and grow in response to light or the air he blows onto them. Bending your fingers and legs as far back as they can. He doesn't mean to hurt you, Dalton is just curious.

Dalton and Cyril can maintain human forms if they stay dry, but if they get significantly wet, their body shifts back into their true forms. A full shower will have Cyril a writhing mass of a slimy tail. And getting caught in a thunderstorm will have Dalton crawling around, ripping his fragile bell membrane, ripping out his tendrils. And while Cyril can intentionally use his ability to shock you regardless of if he's in his true form or not, Dalton's tendrils are only a danger to you if he's soaked and in his true form... Something he rarely thinks to do. All he cares about is following his favourite people around and being close to them. But if Dalton ever gets in a body of water and you're in arms reach, he will drag you into the water, wrapping his tendrils around you, the pain making you pass out in the bloody water...

When you wake up, perched on top of his bell membrane, Dalton apologizes-- he didn't mean to hurt you! He just wanted to swim with you! He doesn't even know how you got hurt! Maybe you just need to be held tighter? A cracked rib is a small price to pay if it keeps you awake, and in his mind, happy.

As far as merfolk go, they're both disasters. As far as yandere's go, they're completely useless. You'd be better off with literal leeches than these two bleeding you dry.

[transdimensional-void]

tagged by @atopvisenyashill to list my asoiaf crackships (thanks <3). honestly, i don't really have any. i'm a boring shipper that way. but i DO enjoy coming up with infinite AUs just for funsies, so here are some pairings i've imagined that definitely never happened but could be fun:

elia & rhaella - rhaegar, robert, and aerys all die, so these two become co-queens regent for baby aegon, and then it turns into a full-blown naomi and ruth situation uwu. at first, virtually none of the lords of westeros are taking them seriously, so they're using all of their wits and cunning—and dorne connections—to stay on top, with only one another as allies at court. it turns into a very "us against the world" kind of relationship. eventually, it becomes accepted wisdom that westeros has two queens and one king (baby). aegon grows up to be the most woman-respecting targ man ever in the history of targ men.

cersei & viserys - rhaegar, robert, and aerys all die (my favorite AU seed lol) and a new lannister-targaryen alliance is struck (elia and her kids are fine. they're just like chilling in dorne. don't question the logic THEY'RE FINE). jaime gets packed off back to casterly rock because tywin is hand of the king. cersei is pissed at first but consoles herself that at least she got a targ prince, even if he wasn't the one she wanted. plus, she's far more influential in this marriage due to the age difference and doesn't have to spend much time with her husband until he comes of age, so she has several years to just enjoy being at the pinnacle of westerosi society without having to be a wife or mother. raised largely by rhaella and tywin, viserys turns out, like, awful, but in a way that cersei finds appealing (he thinks being a targ makes him so so cool and special, but cersei kind of agrees because being a targ by marriage PLUS a lannister makes her even more cool and special). they both think that they are the greatest rulers ever to oversee the realm since jaehaerys and alysanne, but honestly they're kind of bad-to-mid and are basically leaving all of the heavy lifting up to tywin. i dunno, i just enjoy the idea of the two of them indulging one another's delusions of grandeur to the point that they're happy together in their imaginary splendor.

lyanna & mance rayder - HEAR ME OUT. to avoid marrying robert, instead of going south with rhaegar, lyanna disguises herself as a boy and heads north to the wall. she's a new danny flynt—until her father gets wind of where she is, and she has to flee north of the wall to escape further marriage schemes. maybe she meets mance while serving in the nights watch and they desert together, or maybe he deserts along the canon timeline and they get to know one another after she's already lived among the free folk for a few years. either way, as a stark in the far north, lyanna's been having a weird time of it! she's like, "damn, guys, if we don't get all these people south of the wall they're going to join the army of the dead" and basically she becomes queen beyond the wall with mance as her consort. DO YOU SEE THE VISION????

okay, i hope that was satisfyingly off-the-wall enough. uhhhh, i'm terrible at tagging people in these kinds of posts, so sorry to break the chain, but if anyone else wants to do this, feel free!