#I am SO sorry for how long this is

[katemagic]

okay once again time for some cherry magic th thoughts lmao but I'm thinking about the show's emphasis on comfort and how it's really interesting in the context of a character whose main deal (so far) is being in unrequited love with achi

bc I think it's so easy to get swept up in how we do hear karan's thoughts and therefore specifically how a;ldkfja;lkds wild his behavior is re: achi (researching cakes for a month!! buying bespoke pajamas for achi to wear at some point!! perfecting cooking eggs to make him breakfast one day!!) that it's sometimes hard to remember that, at least at this point in the story, if we remove all that and just look at his actual behavior towards achi he really.... isn't being intense or weird at all? what makes achi uncomfortable isn't karan's behavior in and of itself, it's that he knows the intention behind it which, yes, admittedly is very intense and uhaul-y

but it really is only when achi hears something he shouldn't that he feels that discomfort. like for example in this week's episode, achi reflects at the start on how he's getting comfortable with karan and feeling really happy in his presence (and we as the viewer can interpret that he's becoming aware and comfortable with liking him romantically, even if he says in that scene that he's not really sure what his feelings fully mean yet) but when he hears karan like "ah married life <3", THAT'S when he freaks out and puts distance between them. which makes sense looking at it from achi's perspective and understanding that his brain is a Complex Space (and I have additional thoughts about achi's perspective on events lmao that I should probably put in a different post) and also understanding like... it is an intense thing!! karan has a lot of intense feelings given they have not even been on a date yet and literally seem to have even only started regularly speaking recently al;jdksk;lad but it's also not something achi is supposed to know, because karan ISN'T actually being forward with him about his feelings at all with him or, IMO, crossing any lines

like the reason karan invites achi to stay with him at the end of ep 1 isn't motivated by anything sinister- we see him thinking in his head like "it'll probably take him an hour to get home, then he has to shower, and he won't get a good night's sleep" and that's why he asks him. he literally even treats saying goodnight to achi and lowering his sleep mask as some kind of transgression to be forgiven? like at every single turn in the show he is so worried about making achi uncomfortable and feels immense guilt over it when he perceives that he has made achi uncomfortable- we don't see his thoughts when they're directed to kiss during the game at the restaurant, but he doesn't look particularly thrilled (bless tay tawan for his perfect unreadable karan expressions) and he stops it as soon as he can tell achi is afraid (and says "please excuse me" in his head before kissing achi's forehead instead). he even feels guilty for defending achi against the guys trying to attack him in episode 3, chastising himself for inserting himself into achi's business and, again, for making him uncomfortable. in episode 5, he sees how he's being jealous and unfair and, again, immediately chastises himself for thinking those thoughts. while doing my ~research for this post I truly was kind of shocked at how frequently karan uses the word uncomfortable to talk about how he perceives himself as making achi feel, and it's a really sad aspect to the show, but also very interesting one

...alright this is long let me put the rest under a cut lmao

like I think it's a really fascinating thing about his character, that he does really care about achi's comfort beyond all else and is CONSTANTLY beating himself up when he feels he's crossed a line. after the kiss dare thing which literally is in no way his fault, he feels awful about how scared achi looked and says that he's the person who makes achi feel the most uncomfortable, and apologizes in his head to achi for falling for him because if he hadn't, achi wouldn't be uncomfortable, and like... that is so fucking sad!!! he's literally punishing himself for his thoughts that he isn't even acting on and the love he feels that he can't control. and honestly I am fascinated by the show including him saying "no guy would be comfortable kissing another guy" in the rooftop scene after the game- it's clearly a way to make the situation less weird and sort of give achi an out, IMO, to not have to discuss it or make it a thing like yeah!! of course no guy would want to do that!! but it is interesting in terms of the show not shying away from homophobia being a thing (and I have a LOT of thoughts about how a lot of karan's reaction to his feelings and behaviors towards achi and how extremely cautious he is could be read as having to do with internalized homophobia but this is already SO long lmao) and also how, again, he emphasizes comfort in his response

but I think the thing that is extremely sweet is that despite alllllll of achi's reservations and insecurities and stresses in the start w/r/t karan's feelings for him, when he hears karan feeling awful about making achi uncomfortable at the end of ep 2, he tells him about his inexperience and explicitly tells him that he isn't uncomfortable with the idea of kissing him. he admits something that he at the very least thinks makes him Uncool to the person he thinks is the most perfect guy in the world just because it clearly feels so wrong to him that karan feels guilt over something he shouldn't feel guilty for, because I do think on some level achi does realize that what's making him uncomfortable isn't really anything outward that karan is doing. at the end of episode 3 when karan puts distance between them by not sitting by him on the bus, achi again recognizes that karan's doing it because he thinks he's made achi uncomfortable, contemplates whether he IS actually uncomfortable, and realizes that he isn't. that he's actually very happy that karan sees him and cares for him and views him in this incredibly loving light that achi doesn't view himself. and so, similar to the end of episode 2, he takes a step towards him and tells karan to sit by him and they have that whole lovely moment, and I think this shows a lot of bravery on achi's part too, and a lot of care for him as well. achi is genuinely the person who makes the most moves which is FASCINATING to me.

I could go On and On but there's just this wonderful repeated emphasis on both of their parts to not want to make each other feel bad or uncomfortable and doing all of these little things to take care of each other, and how they're both being very brave despite having reasons not to be because they care about each other that much, and that is simply very beautiful to me and I feel a lot of things about it!!

[anarchypumpkincowboy]

Okok so like first off, I need y’all to know that this idea only came to me because I’d been watching ballets and the Indian movie I’d mentioned earlier Natyam (which is really really good I really do recommend it) but anyways one of those ballets was Swan Lake. Where the prince looks like this

Let us all take a moment to imagine this being Jace… okay moment over onto the au

So Jace multiclassed into bard in secret like when he was in college. His parents wanted him to become a wizard, and he tried he really did, but he failed and dropped wizard courses right after the second semester. He’s always enjoyed dancing, and he’s very skilled, but he’s always known that he could never view dance as any sort of viable life path. His parents would disown him. Not because they necessarily dislike dance or him dancing; they just believe he could do better, more important, things in his life.

He obviously goes to every recital he can, and damned if he doesn’t want to be up on stage with them. He goes back to his apartment after the performances and practices the moves as best he can. Sometimes when at night the moon is bright he’ll go to the spot he found by the lake nearby that’s slightly hidden from view, and get lost dancing to nothing but the music of nature. He’s not really religious, not like his mother, but he does find that dancing under the light of the moon helps to calm his mind and magic.

When he fails out of wizard classes he decides that maybe it’s a sign to go for something he’s passionate in. But he CANNOT let his parents find out that he’s switched from wizard to bard classes. They’re the ones paying for the university, his apartment, and they control his trust fund. If they find out he’s pretty sure they’ll disown him unless he goes back to wizard classes.

So he signs up for them in secret. He gets Corvin, a rogue and one of his best friends/fuck buddies, to sneak into the offices and make sure that there is no way his parents could find out.

And Jace fucking loves his dance classes. His teacher tells him he’s a natural, a prodigy, it’s still hard work and he’s sore and exhausted both physically and mentally at the end of every class. But it’s more than worth it. He’s never been so happy and at peace than he is when he’s dancing and performing.

As time passes it gets harder and harder to hide that he’s not learning wizardry from his parents. He just barely makes it out of having to go back home in the summer break, tells them that he’s still struggling so he decided to take up summer lessons this year. His parents are proud that he’s putting in the effort. And he is taking summer lessons, just for his dance class instead.

This pattern continues for another year. He’s slowly been working his way into more important roles, he’s even had a few solos this year. His teacher tells him that if he keeps this pace then by the fall semester he should start auditioning for some lead roles, that he’s near guaranteed the lead in a most.

Unfortunately that summer his parents decide they’ve missed him, and to surprise him with a visit. Three guesses as to what they end up discovering when they go to wait for his summer “wizard” lessons to get out for the day… They are of course furious. And when they see his name on a poster about a recital happening the next day, well, they decide to surprise him there.

Jace is the lead, and he’s incredible, and it’s so clear how much he belongs on the stage. His mother is almost moved by his performance, almost, and his father is thinking they should’ve stamped this out of him as a child.

By the time the performance ends, Jace is exhausted and riding an after performance high. His plans are to go out and have a few drinks with some of the other dancers before going home and crashing. That is of course immediately thrown off course when he leaves the building and sees his parents waiting for him. They don’t exactly give him a choice but to get into their car and ride in a painfully uncomfortable silence all the way back to his apartment. Where his parents make it very clear that he’s had his fun but it’s time start being serious. And that they aren’t accepting no for an answer.

But he is serious about dance, he shows them articles written about his latest performances, tells them about how his teacher calls him a prodigy, how he’s guaranteed the next couple lead roles. They don’t care. His father tells him if he doesn’t give up these ridiculous dreams they’re pulling away all his funding and taking him back home. Jace just barely manages to hold his tears back till they leave.

Okay, okay so he has till the end of the summer to figure out how to pay for his apartment, his schooling, and everything else. Not too hard right? Except that he can’t get a job that’ll pay enough for everything. And he already devotes almost all his time practicing. So he asks around his group if anyone has any advice.

One of his friends brings up how he could probably get a few scholarships. Another tells him that he should definitely apply for the House Sunstone Arts Foundation. It’s a pretty prestigious program, but even his teacher tells him he’s got a great chance at getting it.

About 2 weeks after he’s sent in his application he gets a response asking for a meeting with one of the members of the Sunstone family for an interview. The letter has the date, time, and address. It’s at a pretty fancy restaurant. One of those places with a dress code. And it’s only 2 days away.

He gets there. He’s nervous as hell. And as he’s led to the table he gets even more nervous because fuck he was not expecting the person he was meeting with to be so hot. Porter stands up to greet him, they introduce themselves, and Porter pulls out the chair for Jace. They both sit down, Jace apologizes for being late (he wasn’t, Porter had just shown up early). Porter says it’s fine, that he’d only just gotten there himself. They order food, Porter orders a bottle of wine for the table, and they begin talking.

Jace tells Porter about his accomplishments, his goals, his dreams, anything and everything he can think of to get him this scholarship. Porter nods and hums along before eventually asking why he’s applying for it. Jace tells him about how dancing has always been his passion, but that his parents envision a different life for him and cut off his funding. Porter tells him that he’s seen the videos Jace had sent in, that he can see the passion and talent Jace has, that he’s in the final list of applicants.

They finish dinner. And when they shake hands Jace tells himself he just imagined the caress of Porter’s thumb on his hand. He goes back home, tells his friends he’s made it to the final list. And life continues on for another 2 weeks before Jace gets 2 letters. One, from the foundation giving him another date, time, and address for a final interview in 3 days at the same restaurant. And the other from Jace’s parents stating they’ve cancelled his lease and he’s expected back home by the end of the month. He’s got three weeks of freedom left.

He goes to the interview. Once again Porter pulls out his chair. The conversation isn’t too much different from the last interview, but this time Porter’s asking him more questions. Mostly about his personal life unrelated to dance. And he keeps filling up Jace’s drink. And Jace keeps drinking. He knows he should stop, he’s already had a truly unprofessional amount, but Porter keeps filling it up. And Jace thinks it’d be rude to deny more, plus it’s good wine.

Jace knocks over his glass at some point, spilling it all over himself. He curses and grabs a napkin to try to dab it out but Porter’s leaning closer having already grabbed it and starting to dab Jace’s shirt. Jace is definitely not imagining how the dabs feel like caresses. And he’s definitely not imagining the look in Porter’s eye when Jace shivers from the touch.

They end dinner not too long afterwards, Jace can barely sit still in his seat now that he’s clocked Porter’s attraction. Jace is also far too gone to drive himself back home. So Porter offers him a ride. They go outside and Porter’s driver pulls up near immediately. Porter opens the door and gestures Jace into it. The back has plenty of space, but as soon as Jace has slid over to the other window seat Porter’s sidled up right next to him, draping his arm across Jace’s headrest.

Jace thinks he might actually explode. He knows there is no hiding how he’s practically vibrating out of his seat the whole drive. Especially when they come across a particularly sharp turn and Porter curls his arm around Jace to keep him from slamming into the window. And then just doesn’t move his arm back. Not until they pull up to Jace’s apartment building and Porter tells him to expect another letter soon. And asks for his crystal number. Jace gives it to him, obviously, and just barely refrains from inviting him upstairs.

More time passes with only the occasional texts between the two, and about 4 days before he’s due back home with his parents he gets the acceptance letter. Apparently not only will it be funding his schooling and dance specific items, it’ll also provide housing. Which is such a relief given he can’t renew the lease. Jace gets a text from Porter telling him congratulations, and that he can come by in a few days to take Jace to his new apartment.

Rumors spread eventually that Jace only got the scholarship because he seduced Cliffbreaker. But after he finishes his last performance before he graduates and gets scouted by 7 different companies those rumors start to die off.

[annabolinas]

Who is your fav portrayal of Jane Seymour and Kathryn Howard?

Good question! My favorite portrayals of Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard are Anne Stallybrass in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), the BBC miniseries, and Lynne Frederick in its movie adaptation, Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), respectively. In case you want to watch either portrayal, both the 1970 show and the 1972 film are available on OK (dot) ru. Just search for "the six wives of Henry VIII Jane Seymour" for the first one and the title of the movie for the second, making sure to choose the video which is 1:59:19. Best of all, there's no ads or popups!

Anyways, here's the long answer itself. It's quite a long post below, so be warned.

It's very easy to make Jane into either a cipher (e.g. Wolf Hall, Anne Boleyn [2021]) or a bland non-entity (e.g. Anne of the Thousand Days, Season 3 of The Tudors), but Stallybrass portrays her sympathetically, yet as a rounded human. That's the key, really. This is a living, breathing Jane, not the bland Goody Two-Shoes of Annabelle Wallis in Season 3 of The Tudors. As an Anne fan, I do feel this portrayal exonerates her rather too much of culpability in the former's unjust execution - this portrayal of Jane isn't involved at all with the plot to get rid of Anne but feels guilty anyways. However, it's a very moving depiction of a gentle, introverted believer in traditional Catholicism who would much rather be in the countryside, at Wolf Hall, than dealing with court intrigue.

Henry falls for her during his 1535 visit to Wolf Hall, and while Jane wants to protect her chastity, they bond over their shared fear of the plague and faith. Despite her arrival back at court after the royal visit, she longs for the comforts of her country home. She tells her sister-in-law Anne Stanhope that she'd much rather be arranging flowers at Wolf Hall than be at court after Anne rips Henry's locket off her neck. This Jane also stands up for what she believes in. She shows a love for monasticism at her first meeting with Henry, passionately telling him that the locals visiting Hailes Abbey are "afraid for the abbeys, sir, for their souls!". Later, she pleads with Henry to restore the abbeys during the Pilgrimage of Grace, which she argues must be God's punishment. The fact Henry proceeds to scream at her and damage her faith by revealing the Blood of Christ from Hailes is in fact, a vial of duck's blood, doesn't diminish her bravery.

Indeed, Jane takes no part in the plot to get rid of Anne here, although she nevertheless feels guilty over it. She intercedes for Mary to return to court after her submission, to which Henry replies, "If you had your way, my little nun," he says, "every villain in the country would go free." Jane's shy reply that "I should make a very poor ruler" is met with more condescending "affection" from Henry. Indeed, this version of Jane actually flees from the Christmas 1536 celebrations at one point, as it gets too overwhelming for her. This makes Henry's condescension and later, outright mental and emotional abuse, even more heartbreaking; even worse, Henry's treatment of her is probably just how it really was in history. After he shows her the duck's blood, Henry quickly apologizes and sinks into self-pity so bad Jane has to comfort him while pitifully weeping, "I am bound to obey and serve you, sir." Even as Henry celebrates Edward's birth and baptism, he fails to notice Jane lapsing in and out of consciousness. His tears by her body, lying in state, are too little, too late.

Lynne Frederick was actually only 17 when this movie was filmed - looking back, perhaps they could've waited a year or two. Nevertheless, this is somehow the best portrayal of Catherine Howard on screen despite her only appearing on screen for fifteen minutes in a two-hour movie. Let me just briefly summarize her storyline and give some analysis, because there's so much good stuff in here.

Frederick's Catherine is a vivacious, warm-hearted teenager who finds herself the object of Henry's unwanted affections. This Henry is, as in history, prematurely aged and far taller/stouter than Catherine, which makes his asking her uncle Norfolk whether she is "a good girl" even more disturbing. As Henry leaves Lambeth, Norfolk and Bishop Gardiner walk with Catherine, who protests that "I had not looked for it, sir. I had wished -" Gardiner then cuts her off saying that she "may no longer consider your own wishes. You now have a duty to return England to the true faith." It's a very telling exchange, as Catherine's own emotions or feelings are brutally trampled on by the men around her; all she can do is look mournfully at both of them.

When next we see her, she's already married to Henry, enjoying the jewels and rich clothes that being his queen brings. It's a grotesque sight, as the teenage Catherine kisses, and is in turn fondled by an old man nearly three times her age. However, being queen isn't all positive, as she reveals to Henry that she had a nightmare of a bird caught in a room crying out to her for help, perhaps a manifestation of her own feelings of helplessness. Her kind-heartedness is shown when she sends a puppy to Anne of Cleves, who in this film has solely been depicted as comic relief. In a later scene, as Henry limps to the window on his cane, he blows a kiss to Catherine, who is walking in the garden with Culpeper. Although she returns his kiss, it's a sign of things to come.

While Henry and Catherine enjoy themselves on the Northern Progress, in private, he is disappointed to discover she's not yet pregnant. Nevertheless, he gives her a rich jewel, although he does have to read the text for her, as Catherine admits she can't read very well, another heartbreaking detail. The audience's (and my) horror skyrockets when Henry proceeds to uncover Catherine's thigh from beneath her dressing robe and rain kisses on it, as the camera pans up to an incredibly disturbed Catherine who winces and tries to pull herself together. Her marriage to Henry is a gilded cage, and it is difficult to escape the conclusion this Catherine thinks of Henry more as a father figure than a husband.

After Henry is told of her premarital relationships, though, he abandons her, much to her dismay. She is then questioned by Archbishop Cranmer, maintaining that she was raped by Dereham "without my will or consent" and staunchly denying a precontract, despite Cranmer's argument it would save her life. When he accuses her of adultery with Culpeper, though, she tearfully pleads for his help, weeping, "I would have wed him. And been his wife. But they worked on me, sir. My Lord of Norfolk - Bishop Gardiner - my grandmother. Talking, whispering together. Telling him I was bound. That I was bound to the king. And now my fame is gone and I'm nothing young and I -" When Cranmer tells her she must calm down, Catherine swings around and screams, "Don't touch me! You all handle me!" It's a poignant allusion to her premarital abuse, as it's specified in the movie that Catherine was only 13 when Manox preyed on her. She then recalls her cousin Anne's bravery in death before dissolving into another flood of tears.

In the end, she makes her way to the block, silently but with composure. She pays the executioner, is blindfolded, kneels, and then, holding a rosary, stretches out her hands like the wings of a bird in flight. The tragedy of this depiction of Catherine (and arguably the real Catherine) is that from the moment we see her, she's a pawn of men, who use her to further their own desires and agendas. Only in death is she freed.

[walkman-cat]

CECIL RAMBLE!!

This is Cecil Meyers! He's Kit's sworn brother, one half of the Nonesuch Detective Agency, and one of the protagonists of Eidolon Vetch.

Here's some (actually Much, because I am incapable of Not Yapping) Cecil Lore (in bullet point form)(also under a cut because it is Sizeable I am so sorry):

In comparison to Kit and Orpheus he seems normal. Kit and Orph consider him to be normal. He is not normal. Kit and Orph are just much more extreme in their weirdness

Cecil's very curious and very nosy and loves eavesdropping, people-watching, and gossiping

He's got a great memory for other people's business, and collects secrets. The Nonesuch Detective Agency has a system where, if a client is unable to pay, they can either owe Orpheus a favour or give Cecil a secret (though Cecil does prefer being paid).

Cecil's habit of poking his nose into other peoples' business means that he's stumbled across a fair number of crime scenes and become witness to quite a few crimes (he likes looking into the windows of buildings)

He actually met Orpheus because he saw Orph sat on a fire escape in the rain and approachd him to find out what was Up with him.

He's the darling of a certain group of washerwomen/embroideresses who live in the city's Old Quarter. Instead of doing his job (ie. selling newspapers or shining shoes or any of the many jobs he took up while living on the streets with Kit) he used to come watch them work and listen to them talk. They continue to have regular gossip sessions to this day, and Cecil's considered family.

Most of his clothes are hand-me-downs or gifts from their families.

Because of this, pretty much everything he wears doesn't quite fit him right

Kit and Cecil grew up together. As children they lived in the same tenement (Cecil's parents and Kit's mother were close and shared in the responsibilities), and after the deaths of their parents they stuck together. They may not be siblings by blood but they are siblings!! Do not separate!!

Kit was always a better newsboy and a better pickpocket than Cecil (Cecil's poor vision made it hard for him to read the headlines, he's more awkward than her, and he'd often get distracted while eavesdropping). Kit often had to steal to make enough for the both of them. Cecil was the distraction.

When Cecil met Orpheus, he was basically working as an errand boy and a mudlark.

He's always preferred scrambling up buildings and across rooftops to walking down the street. If he has an idea he wants to tell Orph about he will just climb onto the roof make his way over to Orph's building and climb in through his window (this has jumpscared Orph multiple times)

Kit's afraid of fire, and Cecil's afraid of the cold, so whenever they were staying somewhere with a lit fire Cecil would mind the fire while Kit slept

Cecil's got insomnia. He spends a lot of his nights wandering the city or going over cases. Orph sometimes helps him sleep (god of dreams things)

Cecil knows nearly all of Kit's secrets, and is also well aware that she's Hermes Vetch.

He just pretends he Does Not See It. Nor does he help Orph during heists. It's a conflict of interest he does Not want to deal with

He's always wanted to be an artist (Kit's mother used to give him art lessons before her death) and he used to doodle on scraps of newspaper. Orph usually asks him to draw details of corpses now, which he's more than a little chagrined by, but he also has the funds to buy an actual sketchbook and watercolours (so he's happy enough).

He's drawn Orph. A Lot. (it gives him opportunity to stare)

His hands are covered in graphite and charcoal a good portion of the time. So are the pockets of his trousers. Because he keeps his pencils/charcoal in the pockets of his trousers

Speaking of Orph! Cecil's been pining after him pretty much since they met. Kit's had to deal with him for nearly six years by the start of Kit's part of the story and she is Sick of his Shit

He's literally all the 'kinda gay to be a detective' memes its so silly

Regardless of his romantic feelings, he's still perfectly happy with them being unrequited as long as he can still be close to Orph. Their friendship matters above all.

That being said, his feelings aren't necessarily unrequited.

He's also friends with Ophelia (somewhat)(she doesn't really Do interpersonal relationships for haunted-by-a-friendship-that-ended-abruptly-a-decade-ago reasons, but it counts)(sometimes they sit in the same room in silence)(it's pleasant).

he's my beloved and I love him

i've probably forgotten things but yeah! that's my boy my bestfriend my silly guy

[gothamstreetcat]

You can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show post... I dunno, mid-S4, let's say (maybe Wesley and Lilah leave L.A. after the Beast attacks W&H, you can decide exactly when they leave).

Are there any other buffyverse characters, major or minor or just one-episode characters that would be significant characters on this spin-off as well? What would the general premise be?

Okay, I've decided I'm going to answer this instead of finishing my little gifset (which has literally been talking over my mind all day). I don't know if this was the initial intention of "you can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show..." but I really think I read it wrong as took it as a compliment? <3 I really need to came down, lol I swear that is all I ever do. They're the leads of my blog FOR SURE.

(I'm going to put it under the cut because I know it's going to be long and embarrassing)

It's actually funny you should propose this because ever since I was little some bit of my brain decided they did run away together?? I wasn't even really over the beast but they did end up together in my little childhood brain and have been together ever since. Just doing whatever they want and being in love. But honestly, as I have gotten back on the Weslah train I have thought a lot more deeply about this.

I think leaving after the beasts attack is obviously ideal but I also think it is possible after everything has happened. Even though they are dead and serving W&H, who is to to say they can't just fuck-off and leave anyway leading their best undead lives???? I also think they would travel a lot and just be normal about things? Like have a normal life; breakfast in the morning, going to the movies, late night drives on Wesley's motorcycle. I even would want them to be married, nothing big or anything - just at a courthouse and I think Linsey would send Lilah an anonymous note congratulating her (I swear to god I am only sappy and dumb for them, okay?)

It sounds silly and so plain but I just want them to have it all and that would be enough for me. I also think Virginia would be part of it too because I have this little idea in my head that she and Wesley had been in touch and writing letters back and forth. I would want everyone in the buffyverse to be part of it in some way, just to see how far the pair of them have come. And at some point Faith shows up at their door and crashes with them for a few years.

I also have it in my mind that Cordelia bargained with the Powers and everyone got a do-over (because I am a sucker for the early seasons where everyone was alive and together and happy). And at one point the group is trying to figure out where Wesley is and what happened to him, and they go to his house and see him and Lilah cooking breakfast and they see how happy they are together so they just leave him be (but at some point, they all do come together again even if things still are not the same (because I literally have an entire inner workings of Wesley and his trauma and my trauma and even if everything is good it will just not be the same, you know?) But Wesley still helps out from time to time with cases and everyone does get together for major holidays or whatever.

I may or may not be making any sense right now and I know this is becoming very long.

I feel like I should be really embarrassed for what I'm about to say (as I also proceed to tell you with nothing but a NORMAL amount of joy in my heart), but there are also two other scenes I play in my mind constantly and I definitely put myself in them.

The first scene is a court hearing against Wesley/Lilah, W&H, and the Powers; where Wes and Lie have to fight for themselves to be free of their contracts and to be able to be together (on the count of that dumb and pesky good/evil thing). I am literally the star witness in this scenario literally just so I can talk about how in love they are and I would have a huge binder compiled of various blog posts and novel texts, show moments as proof. And I would show my gifs, and go on a huge tangent about Wesley and how he saved Lilah (love saved her) from the beast and how he tried to free her from her contract and it should have worked. And then I would tell Eve that she looks like the person who should be getting everyone's coffee and that she's just jealous because Wesley's given Lilah more orgasms in one night then she's had in her entire life. In my mind and in the scenario I think this is so fucking funny.

Also, when I was a kid I didn't really have friends so I got super fixated on my favorite characters from tv shows and they were my friends. Of course I was so fixated on Wesley and Lilah so they were my friends and we were close, so in this last scenario I imagine us being apart for my years (and somehow not because my ban be from watching the show) and somehow W&H tries to trap Lilah into coming back and I'm going to be used as some virginal sacrifice (which is so silly and weird but it is honestly one of the few things I am good for). But things get worked out and Lilah saves the day (as my hero) because she is a strong and independent woman who doesn't need a job that treats her badly - she is literally stronger and smarter then everyone at W&H. And at one point in this scenario she fights the people of W&H off with a sword because she is a badass baddie and I will forever be in love with that picture of her holding the axe (it's a real crime she didn't get to use it).

I also wanted to add, though, I'm sure you have read it already: the tough get going (out of town) by thinlizzy2 is literally a perfect Wesley/Lilah run away fanfic. I read it a lot and I say it so many time but I get so emotional about the bit with the horses and towards the end where Wesley tells Lilah he loves her ("as his heart fills with pride in her for so many reasons") It is literally one of my TOP Wesley/Lilah fanfics, maybe third. Almost cannon ending because my top fic is til break of day and in continuity of things, that's my cannon ending for them (in terms of fanfic, I wasn't not going to link one and not the other).

[kyistell]

Headcanon time because my tag paragraphs get shorted to nada and I didn't realize

Okay I'm a dumbass and didn't ever realize or notice that tumblr has a tag cap, because at least to my knowledge it does not tell you that you've hit a limit. So I shall rant about a kinda dumb headcanon I have for the states.

Warning: This bitch is longer than I thought it would be, you have been warned!!

ALRIGHT SO. The way I tend to draw the height for states is based off of two things, their state size and vibes, this is however excluded for the OG13 and then some.

This rule-ish not applying to them is because they all have actual families. Now you may be thinking "What the hell does that mean" and I am so glad you asked.

I haven't really talked about outside of the headcanon things but both New Jersey and New York have families, NJ his moms and technically the devil from the bible, NY his grandparents.

This also goes for the rest of the OG13, they all have families that while those who raised them aren't around anymore that family line still is. This is to the exception of Maryland because he is somehow even farther from being human than states normally are.

Anyway because of this, the OG13 heights are not based in state size, instead it is technically a strange mix between family genes and land size, only technically because those like Mass and Virginia are both taller(mass) and shorter(ginny) than one would assume based on state size. It's basically a ruelette on whether or not you get genes over state size and somehow Rhode STILL managed to be short as hell, bro rolled wrong TWICE XD.

Now it should be interesting to note that it's pretty much only the OG13 that have weird height despite the few other states who have family are locked to their state size. This would include Texas, Louisiana, both the Dakotas, Utah, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan- I see these three at least somewhat related in some way shape or form so thats why they are together like that.

So despite states out side of the OG13 having actual human families they are related to, it's only the OG13 that aren't state size locked and there could be some reasons for this.

For one it could be that colonies more or less aren't locked to their size, mainly because colonies can mix and it's shown quite a lot in history that there were no firm lines between colonies. So it would make sense that when the states (then colonies) were growing up they weren't locked to the size of the colony and rather just their family genes.

It could also be that because they were already adult age (or close to it) it was too far for weird border magic to effect them since they were too old and such. This would make sense and work well with this idea that the other states with families outside of the OG13 are sized locked because their borders were a lot clearer by the time they were older.

Another reason could be because they all have families, which yes doesn't make much sense but here me out. All of them excluding NJ and Maryland had normal human families, it could be that because they had families they were only labeled as personified states once the country became a country. This doesn't mean that they weren't already personifications, just that you have to be labeled a state for border size to take effect, however once again since they were all already adults or almost adults, it wouldn't take effect.

And the final reason I can think of could just be that they were a special case, considering the fact that (if I'm remembering correctly) there aren't personification of the Canadian provinces in canon. It very well could be that yes normally states whether they have family or not are state sized locked, but since they would have been a special case in that there weren't personification like them before that the magic creating state personifications was newly born and didn't have rules yet. This would also explain why they would have families to begin with, the magic had to pick those who lived there to be those personifications, meaning they originally human. The only real problem with this one is the fact that states outside of them have families, however this could be explained, it could have been a lack of people in the area to build a personification from, it also could have been in the southern states case that because family is pretty important there, it made sense to chose those from families instead while still keeping the rules in place.

Now this is a whole lot and it kind of sounds like I've gone insane thinking about this but honestly this is mainly just me typing before I think lol. Is it clear that I needed a reason as to why some states are not close to their state size, because I feel like it is.

I do want to say that the states do have some control over their height, Texas could get taller but it would feel wrong and that goes for most already tall states, it's vice versa for the smaller states who may already be at their height cap by default. I'm not super sure if the OG13 should be able to change their height slightly, mainly because they are all more human to an extent than the other states, of course ignoring whatever the hell Mary is and the fact that NJ is related to the devil from the bible because lord knows those two are not as close (or close at all in Mary's case) to being human like their fellow states with families.

Now height isn't super important but I feel it can explain some dynamics people may have. If you have a tall friend and a short friend, theres gonna be a lot of short jokes. Two short friends and it's a whole lot of complaining about not being able to reach anything. Two tall friends and it's either complaining about feeling claustrophobic in lower ceilings or feeling like your god because your taller than everyone. Two friends of the exact same height and it will always be a competition to see who is truly taller (it's neither but their in denial).

You have to think about these things when making characters because it can effect the dynamic, obviously not by much but still, it's important to know. So while this might seem like far to much thinking when it's literally just a funny internet series that was the only way you knew the news during covid, I find it important. Sure I may never actually write a proper fic and I will probably really only stick to my funny lil drawings, it feels important.

My drawings are like snippets to what happens in the day to day crazy-ness in either the Statehouse or just with the states, thus it is important to me that I have their heights to how I have my headcanons set up when drawing. It's small details like that, that convey a story when drawing without doing an actual comic, it brings life when I know my drawings can be a little stiff, it's about the story and maybe that's just the writer within me talking but I don't care XD.

Basically I just like having some sort of reason as to why the heights for the OG13 aren't consistent with their state size when I draw them. What can I say, I'm a dork :D.

[figothynewton]

First listen thoughts of Unreal Unearth!!

Disclaimer: when it comes to his music I am literally incapable of thinking it’s bad all of these reviews are good and I don’t take criticism ps sorry for the long post oml

De Selbys: part 1 STUNNING the fuckin gorgeous Gaeilge vocals at the end???? The tranSITION TO DE SELBY 2 COME ON !!!!!!

First time- SOME PART OF ME MUST HAVE DIED THE FIRST TIME YOU CALLED ME BABY??????????? FUCK!!!!!!! God the rhythm his fucking voice the instrumentals !!!!! So good

Francesca- phenomenal as we already know

I, Carrion- Girl I already knew I was gonna like I, Carrion cause like hello I am a whore for Greek mythology and especially Icarus like sunlight is one of my favorites BUT “if we fall I only pray you don’t fall away from me” I am weeping it is so so beautiful oh my god

Eat your young- as fucking amazing as always

Damage gets done- Brandi Carlile and Hozier’s voices blend beautifully and this song feels like something you’d hear in like a coming age movie when the main character is having her realization that her life is changing for the better like full on perks of being a wallflower car tunnel scene (and yes I fucking love it)

Who we are- are the fucking vocals in that middle part him??? How is he physically capable of doing that???? Holy! Shit!

Son of Nyx- I think the best way to describe this is that my sister sent me the gif of Pinocchio from shrek rising out of the bed cause. Yeah.

All things end- remaining probably my favorite from the eat your young ep

TSFAWC(U)- Y’all. I had to replay the intro of to someone from a warm climate about five times “a joy hard learned in winter was the warming of the bed you’d shake for minutes there and move your legs wrap the blanket over you and keep your head within let your breath heat the air until you’d feel it getting thin” FUCK I need help PLEASE Ohp ok and now I’m crying again wow I almost choked from crying I’m not doing well

Butchered Tongue- girl I’m just gonna not stop crying am I ? it’s still singing here above the ground ??? Screaming crying yelling throwing up

Anything but- ! So fun!! But still so like melancholy like I’d give anything to run away! Clapping reminiscent of almost (sweet music) and it just feels like they were having fun dining the background vocals just so good

Abstract (psychopomp) really be making me fell that post about not being able to understand him cause if he wanted me to know the words he would have enunciated but lord I still love it. upon hearing there’s a part of me I’m afraid will always be trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life and I wish I could go back to not understanding the lyrics that fully made me cry all over again

Unknown/Nth- so the album hasn’t been out long enough for me to decide what my favorite out of the whole thing is but this has been my fav if the early/single releases so this one is for sure up there

First light- wow just wow wow so like I don’t even know how to describe it like I hate the word epic cause it’s so 2000s but like it truly is so like epic and powerful the sheer strength of his voice is genuinely jaw dropping just wow wow wow wowowowoowowo

So it was just a first listen through I don’t know which my favorite is yet but wow they are all just stunning it’s just an incredible album so so so good

[rad-weekend]

Cactus Fruit Sorbet, Cherry Garcia

ice cream flavors ( no longer accepting ! )

cactus fruit sorbet: a “this shouldn’t work but it does” headcanon.

Okay I’m going to sound insane for a second and go with my headcanon that like somehow no one else has - as far as I’ve seen. And based off of how Akito seems at a first glance - I would consider it a very “this doesn’t work but it does” type headcanon. To say it bluntly - I headcanon Akito as transfem / gender non-conforming / nonbinary. Specifically - before getting his egg cracked. I do think he still prefers he/him pronouns and masculine terminology and people familiar with Akito might wonder why I even headcanon this; but it works. A big key point of Akito’s character is voice insecurity. And yes - it’s because he wants to be a singer, but has been told by people in the music industry that he’s not talented enough to chase the dream he wants to chase. But let’s look at some other things. Akito canonically expresses a desire to attend Miyamasuzaka Girl’s Academy. Which, as you can tell, is a private school that only accepts female students. It’s a very random, offhanded comment he makes. But instead of this being shot down because he’s a boy - Toya makes a comment that they have tough exams there, which Akito wouldn’t be good with since he’s got bad grades as is. He seems somewhat embarrassed by bringing it up, and quickly shifts the focus to his grades.  He has a deep rooted interest in fashion - which of course, anyone can have. But if we look at Project Sekai’s trends the other character in canon who has an interest in fashion like Akito does is Mizuki - the canon transfem character. 

Akito also has a lot of image insecurity. He tends to overcompensate his masculinity - like being embarrassed about enjoying cute things and sweets, and preferring to hide that interest. He’s embarrassed about going to amusement parks because he’s “a teenage boy, and they don’t go to amusement parks” even though he seems to ultimately have fun there. He refuses to carry around a large plush toy Toya wins, because he’s afraid of how it will make him look. He puts on a polite, fake persona when meeting with strangers for the first time so they like him more - which is also a trauma response he has but I’m not going on two tangents here. He says a lot of things that make it seem like he can’t enjoy certain things because “I’m a boy” but almost all of those things, are things he likes behind the curtains.  Also, this part was just part of my trans journey, but Akito canonically seems to get along better with girls that he does boys, with the exception of Toya. And sure, Project Sekai has a majority female cast, but he still acts different around them and does a lot of the things he does with Toya with them - like hanging out, and having a difficult time saying no to things they want to do, even if it’s something he thinks will be embarrassing for him in the end.  So to me, as a trans guy, I could be getting things wrong! I’m not transfem, but Akito really reads to me as someone with at least some kind of gender, needing to have his egg cracked. People like to use Akito as the “most cisgender guy” in Project Sekai but he really just reads to me as someone in denial! Which we know he does a lot - he denies things he enjoys, so he can fit the image people have for him. Which isn’t really him. 

cherry garcia - role model / inspiration headcanon 

Akito has a VERY clear inspiration and role model in canon material - being Ken, the owner of his favorite café and member of the disbanded street music group, The RADDers. Ken and the rest of the RADDers, and the street music event they hosted before retiring - RAD WEEKEND - are the reason Akito started pursuing music. Ken is also the only adult in the series that Akito actually is polite and respectful towards, being the only one he uses honorifics for aside from MEIKO. There’s a lot of canon material about Akito looking up to Ken - like owning all of his CDs, frequenting his café, looking towards him to get advice. But I do think he views Ken as one of the only adult figures that actually respects him back, and doesn’t care about his “talent”. Ken genuinely cheers Akito and the rest of Vivid BAD SQUAD on when it comes to their dreams of surpassing RAD WEEKEND, which I believe is something new to Akito, given he’s often the one in the group that’s considered the “weak link” by other characters in Project Sekai - both main characters, and side characters.

Given Akito is a child who was raised in a house that highly values “talent” and he views himself as someone who isn’t talented in what he does - I definitely think his admiration for Ken goes beyond an inspiration. Given how the VBS Sekai’s MEIKO is a very motherly figure, and is canonically based off how all the kids see Ken, I think it’s really safe to headcanon that to Akito - Ken is kind of like the father who actually pays attention to him, beyond talent.

[theredviper]

1, 4, 30 for the film ask game 🤎

movies/film asks

thank you for the ask, allie <3

1. what is your favorite film of all time?

i actually don’t particularly have a favourite film of all time. there’s so many different types of films that i’d struggle to even choose one per genre. fight club (1999), inception (2010), the matrix (1999), and everything everywhere all at once (2022) are all films that i thoroughly enjoyed :)

4. name a movie you put on to laugh to

i have the slightly psychotic tendency to not rewatch movies, even if i enjoy them, so i don’t have any movies that i put on to laugh specifically, but maybe deadpool & wolverine (2024). superhero movies are nostalgic for me, and i don’t watch a lot of movies that are purely comedies (although, i want to!). i had a good laugh while watching it in the theatre.

30. are you looking forward to any upcoming releases?

yes, yes, yes. i am always looking forward to upcoming releases, especially because i was unfortunately unable to see as many as i wanted to. i do believe that most of the films i want to watch are still a year or more from release. gladiator ii (2024)—although i am slightly worried about that one because i liked the first one—john wick 5, john wick presents: ballerina, mission: impossible 8, alien: romulus (2024), etc. i enjoy watching almost every genre so i tend to look forward to most releases :)

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[n0ahsferatu]

haven’t watched the star treks in five million years but this is what happened in In The Pale Moonlight right

(credit to @/sweepswoop_ on twitter who drew the original Labru meme!)

[egophiliac]

bring your son to work day

[kirbydots]

🔥

regarding continuity and looking at cape characters as mythologies

Unpopular opinion asks

Part of what draws me to comic universes is the extensive continuity and just how long these stories have been going on. It amazes me that my grandfather might have read about these same characters as a kid, that generation after generation has grown up with these characters the same way I have! Because I very much did grow up with comics and superheroes— my dad introduced me to X-Men as a kid, and I’ve been watching Batman cartoons and other DC shows since I was a baby. I literally cannot remember a time where I didn’t know and love these characters.

A lot of the times — especially by people who aren’t into comics — I see continuity treated as a bad thing or a hamper on the stories. While it can be, such as when an otherwise good run has to reckon with a godawful writing decision made by the previous writer, or a character has a history of being portrayed very poorly, I find that for me it’s a benefit.

I like characters with a rich history, and I especially love seeing how they’ve changed over the decades! Whether it be a character or a mantle, what draws me to it is the meaning and history behind it. With characters, I love to see how they’ve changed as a person, what they’ve been through, who they’ve known.

Take Batgirl, for example— the mantle means nothing to me in current comics. Not Cass being Batgirl, not Steph, none of it. There’s none of the history the mantle had, none of the meaning that came with it being passed down. The exchange of the suit from Helena to Cass, how it was created to represent the Bat, to give Gotham hope during No Man’s Land is so impactful, especially when you take into account Cass’ loyalty to the bat itself. That suit, created to represent not Batgirl, but the bat itself, being the suit Cass wears! The passing of the torch from one disabled woman to another! It’s incredibly powerful, and reading those books is what made the Batgirls my favorite part of the Batfamily.

Now that both Cass and Steph are Batgirl (except when they aren’t) and that Babs is Batgirl again (except when she… possibly isn’t?) there’s none of that history. It isn’t a mantle passed through generations, it’s “when girl is bat” and I’d argue that the mantle no longer works. Robin certainly doesn’t work when there’s two of them, and Batgirl doesn’t either! These titles mean nothing to the characters, and they mean nothing to me, either.

To use another example that nobody except me and four other people care about, Garth. He’s here in the current continuity, and I, a dedicated fan of him, actively want him to stop appearing! Because the writers cut out everything that made him, well, him! The kingdom he comes from is gone, cutting out the heritage he struggled with. He’s got magic, but the person who mentored him and the role it played in his development and understanding of himself is gone.

The romantic relationship that he defined so much of his life by is gone, cutting out so much character development regarding his acceptance of her death and moving on from it that was the crux of his arc in his solo. Also, said character is now his cousin, permanently removing any possibility that this could be restored.

He doesn’t act like himself whatsoever, and how could he? The new continuity removed everything that defined and shaped his character! His suit change, while a minor detail with most characters, really shows how little they cared for Garth’s character when rebooting him. While there are many in-universe details that make it a bad idea, my main complaint is that his original Tempest suit was a tribute to Neal Pozner’s Aquaman design. Phil Jimenez, the writer of said solo, had been in a relationship with Pozner prior to his passing from AIDS, and dedicated the solo to Pozner. This disregard of prior continuity and history cuts out so much meaning, and I’d argue is rather disrespectful to the creator of the Tempest mantle.

While no comic continuity is perfect, I think disregarding the history of characters is not a solution whatsoever, and by doing so you often gut them of meaning. It’s irritating when fan spaces are full of nothing but disregard for the source material, and it’s unbearable when comic writers totally disregard what came before. I can’t stand most modern Fourth World content, despite it being my favorite part of DC, because of a total disrespect for Kirby’s original saga and what it meant. Darkseid is stripped of context, Orion is erased from his own story, it pisses me off!

You lose so much when you disregard a character’s history, and they end up being a hollow shell of what they used to be. Why should I care about this character and their story when the story itself doesn’t? I’m not saying comics need to be dense and full of citations, but when they stop caring about their own history and refuse to engage with the past of the characters they’re writing, I check out. I love Cassandra Cain because she’s Cassandra Cain, not because she’s some random girl in a bat suit!

In regards to comics as modern mythology, I’d say I’m not well-versed on the discussion enough to have an opinion.

[mahou-goth]

hi howdy long time no freezerburn

[skrs-cats]

rut was really good im such a sucker for anything that just wants to be uplifting and genuine. so, here is them :3

[izzystizzys]

There is a scratch mark on the floor of the Council chambers that Mace has never noticed before. Not a deep one, mind, quite shallow. This matters because it’s making the white-hot pulse of agony stabbing through his eyeballs ebb momentarily. Then, he chances a glance upwards at the fidgeting Knight in front of them, and it returns in full force.

Huh, he’s never seen Oppo Rancisis’ face turn that colour before.

“Hmm”, Master Yoda hums, deep and scratchy. His expression is unreadable even to Mace beyond a baseline gremlinness, and the force with which he grips the edges of his seat is making his bones creak. Master of the Order you should become, they said. Follow the calling of the Force, you should. A fulfilling purpose, it will be. Mace is going to hunt the little goblin for sport when this is all over, and he’s going to laugh the whole time.

“Show us the livestream again, could you, Knight Parvo?” Yoda asks. Mace bursts a capillary, he’s pretty sure, and so does poor Knight Parvo, whose orange Mon Cala skin tips all the way into blood red with stress. “Most unusual, this is.”

“Absolutely not!”, Ki Adi intervenes before Mace has to, thank the Force for little mercies. Plo Koon’s tusks tremble slightly with either suppressed laughter or abject horror, maybe both, and Stass Allie has her head in her hands. “The holo stills should be enough”, Ki Adi proceeds to add, and Mace has to reconsider all feelings of grace he just felt towards his fellow Councillor.

He never wants to watch Yoda zoom in on someone’s abs again. Or Depa raise her eyebrows at the curve of thighs bent over the dripping front of a speeder.

“Speeder Wash For Our Troops”, his former padawan reads out loud from a still of what has to be hundreds of the things gathered in the public senate parking lot. “Fund Our Boys And Get A Wet Seeing-To!” The series of images features dozens of Coruscant Guard troopers in various stages of unkitted, gleaming and shining with soap suds and water. The fact that the whole thing is also massive shatterpoint after massive shatterpoint is, quite frankly, insulting.

“Well hello- oh dear”, Obi-Wan’s blue form crackles to life in his chair, followed by several sounds of choking that are definitely not him. Good, Mace thinks acidly. If he has to deal with this, then so does kriffing Skywalker. “I’m sorry, why am I looking at Commander Thorn using a washrag like a lasso on top of a speeder?”

“Oh, the Guard’s little fundraising project”, Bail Organa says, as he steps into the Council chambers. Normally, Mace likes the man well enough. Now, he just smiles and adds on, “I’ve already donated, in mine and Breha’s name. Remotely, of course.”

“The Guard’s fundraising speeder wash?”, Obi-Wan repeats, edges of his holo form flickering with what Mace suspects is Skywalker very unsubtly trying to edge in. Force, but the man really is horrible at any and all stealth, like kissing his secret wife in an open arena in front of his Master. “And they are fundraising for…?”

“GAR budget allocations have to come from somewhere”, Organa shrugs. “And with the tide of public opinion turning, they’ve been tending towards cuts. The Guard feels them more keenly than any other sector - they’ve been reduced from half to quarter rations, and medical supplies have not made more than a token appearance in the last draft. The Chancellor has cancelled three consecutive meetings on the matter, and thus it was agreed that a more hands-on approach was needed. Any surplus will go into the Army fund.”

“Surely it can’t be that dire”, Oppo protests, a slightly less concerning shade of purple now. Senator Organa shrugs again, jostling the smattering of cracks slowly building around his person in a way that makes Mace wince quietly. “It’s all publicly available data, Masters.”

It really can be that dire, as it turns out. And quarter rations is only scratching the surface of how dire, considering the Guard has apparently never had access to bacta in all their posting, and also includes requisitioning forms available to the Senate for reconditionings and decommissionings, two words Mace has only heard Ponds whispers amidst shuddering in the early days of the war before Shaak Ti went off and just about tore some throats out over it.

“Alright”, he concedes, rubbing at his temples. “Fair enough, we have failed to tackle a massive blind spot in the Guard’s well being. There is no Jedi assigned to Coruscant, and that’s an oversight on our behalf. But how in the everloving kriff did this get past the Chancellor and Commander Fox?!”

Who have both signed, black on white. Bail Organa smiles cryptically. “Well, if you scroll a bit past that one image, up to the industrial speeder in the back - Commander Fox is currently having credits stuffed into his codpiece in the back, I believe.”

“HE’S WHAT IN THE WHAT NOW”, Commander Cody screeches through the speaker of Obi-Wan’s holo image, and Mace has to summon every bit of Jedi-serenity he possesses in his body to keep from dropkicking a cackling Yoda through the chamber windows.