#DA QUEEN

[mochasundae]

🐝💛

[miikpal]

target sighted

[zipsunz]

at first sight, a similar feeling

[idontevenlikedragonage]

I want to talk a little bit about Neve and how she can be seen as a direct answer to the early 2000s brilliant but rude detective stereotype. Characters like House, BBC Sherlock, and RDJ's Sherlock Holmes are the most obvious examples of this stereotype. These detectives are deeply antisocial, don’t particularly care for the human element, and treat cases like special little intellectual puzzles for themselves.

While Neve is a famous and brilliant detective, she is the complete opposite of this stereotype. First of all, she cares extremely deeply for people. She solves crimes because she wants to help others; it’s never a side effect for her but the goal. She’s also a clearly warm and compassionate person in her interactions with Rook and the gang too. She makes friends with everyone, directly helps Taash by connecting them with contacts, and becomes best friends with Bellara, etc. She doesn’t have “that one person who doesn’t hate them”, she has several friends.

In her romance, Neve is unsure and afraid of being left alone, but instead of dramatically pushing people away, she processes her feelings like an adult. She isn’t emotionally unavailable or unstable.

She’s also clearly extremely clever, but it’s never portrayed as a superpower; she doesn’t have sudden epiphanies. We know she can figure things out because she’s curious and puts the work into her cases. Her efforts are never minimized, and she never magically knows things. Case notes, contacts, and leads are what make her a great detective. She’s Neve Gallus because she cares about people, not merely because she’s brilliant.

10/10 character writing.

[lion-writer]

I’ve seen a lot of headcanons and fics where Viago disapproves of Rook getting together with Lucanis. And ones that focus on how an alliance with the De Rivas benefits House Dellamorte, which is definitely true, and i fucking love them, but consider Viago probably couldn’t possibly ask for a better partner for Rook.

Though to be fair I am obsessed with Viago and his belief that he could restore the royal power of Treviso and that “He will not be satisfied until he sits upon a throne.”

While as a talon, he’s definitely more powerful than the king, and he could probably easily overthrow his father and take the throne. But that's probably not his biggest issue, because as my old history teacher used to say, “Power cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred”, so by restoring the power of the royal family, he’d be taking power away from the merchant princes and the other talons. Which, it’s probably safe to assume they wouldn't be happy about”. (Also as a side note, the quote “It’s not paranoia if they’re out to get you” is applicable here. Viago is a man planning to make A Lot of enemies)

And remember, this man is still the 5th talon, and while he’s allied with Teia, she’s also only the 7th talon. (Though they definitely should have gotten a promotion after the events of 8 little talons). So he’s not really in any position to actually make any power play, not unless he wants to piss off 6 of the other houses. 

Thankfully, depending on the choices you make, by the end of Veilguard, he’s almost certainly up there among the most powerful people in Antiva, given that he was a key player in ending the occupation of a major city by the Antaam, not to mention the killing of a Literal Evil God. The only Antivans that could be more influential than him at this moment is Teia, who he’s dating and let's be honest, will eventually marry, Rook, who’s his protege, 

Among those people, Lucanis is probably the most politically powerful, given that he’s done everything Viago has, in addition to the fact that he actually killed a god, and is now The First Talon. While I feel that he would support Viago in the bid for the throne, he’s also the only one who Viago doesn’t have any sort of formal alliance with. And considering Viago’s general distrust towards basically everyone, he wouldn’t place that much trust in the bonds of friendship, (especially if you believe that he thinks that Lucanis’s attempt at flirting was a threat).

But given the general political upheaval Antiva is probably already in right now, because It’s highly doubtful that Governor Ivenci was the only guy to make deals with the Antaam or Venatori for power, there’s no better time for Viago to make a play for power. With everything so recent it would be so easy for him to step forwards as a figure for people to rally behind, I mean he exposed corruption in the government, he freed Treviso, he trained a god killer, and he’s the son of the king. But If he waits, he kinda does risk somebody else stepping forth.

But after Ivenci’s attempt at getting rid of the crows and the whole Illario debacle, the other Talons would be very suspicious of anyone trying to take power, and while Viago is a Crow, he’s also an infamous curmudgeon who doesn’t really get along with the others. 

Luckily, Lucanis is head over heels for Rook, which cements an alliance with House Dellamorte. And well, there’s quite a historical precedent, especially in Antiva, for alliances and weddings to go hand in hand. Not to mention the message it would send to the other talons for Viago to give away Rook, his protege for whom he has already demonstrated a soft spot for, to The First Talon, arguably The Face of the Crows. In addition, a grand high profile Wedding between two heroes who just saved the world, is the perfect thing for the general public to associate Viago with after everything. 

I mean I’m pretty sure he would still grumble about it and he’d definitely let Lucanis know that if he ever dared to hurt Rook, Lucanis would wish he was still trapped in the Ossuary. But once he’s certain that they’re serious about each other, Teia and him would be the first people to start bugging them about marriage.

[jetslay]

World's Bestest.

[a-titty-ninja]

[saturniidae-served-cold]

@changelinghell

Chrysalis

Finished MLP Season 2 and now through most of Season 3! Here's a fun Chrysalis.

[chicademartinica]

The Hwang Da Seul megaverse

[mochasundae]

🐝 🐝🐝🐝

[felassan]

John Epler: "that is in fact Claudia Black back as Morrigan, if you were wondering (apparently people were!)" [source]

[leikeliscomet]

Actually I dgaf what tumblr has to say about hip hop and rap music actually because Black art will always be loved and supported by us matter what. Thank you Black women of hip hop and rap for giving us an outlet to be angry and voice our emotions in spite of the angry Black girl trope. Thank you Da Brat, Queen Latifah, Salt and Pepa and more for starting the lane for women in rap and giving us the Black tomboy rapper. Thank you Lil Kim and Foxy Brown for birthing the sexual hypefeminine Black Barbie and crossing hip hop with high fashion. Thank you Missy Elliot for revolutionising production and choreography in hip hop music. Thank you Nicki Minaj for keeping women's rap alive in the 2010s and showing the versatility of rap with pop music. Thank you Rico Nasty for giving us Black female rage and giving us alt Black girl rep. Thank you Doja Cat and Tierra Whack for giving us quirky Black girl rap representation. Thank you Flo Milli, Leikeli47, Megan Thee Stallion, Lola Brooke, Doechii and more for carrying the torch for the next wave. Thank you especially to Doechii again for proving darkskin women can do anything and that our art matters. Thank you RoXXXan, Lioness and Amplify Dot for starting the renaissance of women in UK rap in the 2010s. Thank you Lady Leshurr for putting UK women's rap on the map. Thank you ENNY for giving us the Black British girl anthem, Peng Black Girls. Thank you Little Simz for carrying the UK rap game on your back no matter how long they doubt you, no matter how long it takes the UK industry to recognise your excellence. Thank you Cristale for paving the way for the next generation in the UK.

Thank you Black women of hip hop for giving us representation across the board . That we can be just as masculine just like the men of rap but also as girly and as feminine as can be. That we can reclaim our sexuality either through open sexual expression without shame or none at all no matter the stereotypes thrown at us. That as queer Black women we exist and we can thrive. That no matter the misognyoir, colourism and queerphobia we exist and we will always be here.

Thank you Black women of rap and hip hop. I love you all!

[filthyguts2]

Robert valley nachos 😭

b/w under the cut

[saessenach]

So Heirs in Crow Houses train fledglings according to and in reflection of the values of the Talon, right? right - banters with Teia and Viago seem to hint towards that, at least.

So, apropos nothing, a random banter from Heir at the Diamond today:

"We can't let the cruelty of others shape us."

I need to be sedated.

[cozylittleartblog]

a little Postlet. . because i Miss them

[partial-prints]

If you love vampires, listen up!

Do you enjoy vampires, 80’s music, a healthy dose of homoeroticism - all with a theatrical flair? Well look no further, for I submit to you Dance of the Vampires.

(More cool pictures at the very bottom)

What is it you may ask? It’s a musical about a vampire who seduces a girl and invites her to his midnight ball - an offer she simply cannot turn down. The whole thing sorta gives Phantom of the Opera vibes, but like, wayyy less creepy (despite it being a literal vampire). I will say now that yes, Tanz der Vampire (the original title of Dance of the Vampires), is in German, but there is a full recording with English subtitles on youtube, so please don’t let that prevent you from watching it. Now if you’re still reading, allow me to elaborate on the 80’s music and homoeroticism that I previously mentioned.

Let’s start with the tragic gay romance, because I’m sure that’s what you want to hear about first. While not a main part of the musical, the main vampire’s son falls in love with - gasp! - the vampire hunter’s apprentice. They dance together, and with stage magic involving a mesh screen and an actor on the other side dressed identically to the apprentice, it appears as though the vampire has no reflection in the “mirror”. Of course, the feeling is not mutual, as the apprentice is only at the castle to rescue the girl, who he is in love with.

Now, onto the 80’s music. Surely you’ve heard of the song Total Eclipse of the Heart, or the singer Meatloaf (even if it was just his role as Eddie in Rocky Horror Picture Show). Well, the man who wrote that song and a majority if not all of Meatloaf’s work, was Jim Steinman, who composed the musical. The soundtrack contains a decent amount of electric guitar, even a bit of synth at parts, and all around just sounds awesome. However, he only had about a month and a half to compose it all, so he reused some stuff he previously wrote, including a couple Meatloaf songs and Total Eclipse of the Heart, a song he originally wrote for a Nosferatu musical that ended up not getting produced. It was actually originally titled “Vampires in Love,” so what better song is there to fill the place of a big love duet between the girl and the Count?

Tanz der Vampire is my favorite musical ever. I’ve loved it ever since Count von Krolock appeared on the screen and first began to sing, and you may love it too. So I implore you. Please do yourself a favor and check it out. I’ll provide a link of a full recording with English subtitles here, but it should also be the first result on youtube when you search “tanz der vampire english subtitles.” (That production also has Drew Sarich as the Count, my personal favorite.) I should add though, do not watch the broadway production because it’s terrible.

If you’re still not sold, I’m not sure what else I could say to convince you, but hopefully you at least found this interesting and learned something new. If you want to know more about Tanz der Vampire or would like to hear about other musicals about vampires, please let me know and I can answer any questions. (If even one person watches it because of this I’ll consider this a success, and if you do watch it please let me know because it would really make my day.)

And now I’ll leave you with some pictures of Tanz der Vampire as a last resort to convince you how awesome it is and that you should watch it. (I also put in the alt text the song each picture is from for anyone interested)

*ooo the set design and costuming have hypnotized you… you want to watch it now… do it for the vampires…*