#I have brainworms for real

[trashmancer]

Gale of Waterdeep looking like a pinup ⚡️

[dandeleon]

it mcgucket monday (da WHOLE family here‼️)

[samuelroukin]

#indirect kiss my beloved TAIKA WAITITI as Blackbeard & CON O'NEILL as Izzy Hands in OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022— ) Episode 2.06

[stoutguts]

“What is Soap’s favorite fruit?”

Neil: Chocolate chip

Soap: Chocolate chip

Roach: (doesn’t exist in the remakes)

Ghost and Gaz (simultaneously): That’s not a fruit

Soap: Chocolate chip

I can’t get over how fucking funny this is.

[quecksilvereyes]

oh, sister, I am sorry. your eyes are sunken and your skin is bruised. your lips are chapped, your nailbeds bitten raw. your husband's hand on your waist is a ghost's touch held by the band on your left ring finger and I-

I am dead.

I got on the train, Su. Nevermind your tears, nevermind the plea you could not shape with words, nevermind your fingers on the pulse point of my wrist. "stay", you'd said, as you have always done, dictionary in hand and baby teeth yet lodged in your jaw. "don't go where i cannot."

I step through a wardrobe and you follow, damned be reason. I slay a wolf and you follow, I cling to the little ones and you follow, I am crowned and you follow, I am-

I go past a lamp post, and you follow, damned be dread. I go to a train station and you follow, trembling hands and tender heart. I go, and I go, and I go, and you follow. Sun of my skies. Light of my life.

I go. you stop.

are we too old for stories, now? ten-and-four and ten-and-three, budding bodies and steel bones, we are cast from our home. i hold the little ones until i drown in them. you grip your skirts until no iron can press the shape of your palms from them. and you have ever been, cruelly reasonable and logically callous.

say you, glass shard eyes and rouge-red lips: we are english. we are children. she thinks she has found a magical land in the upstairs wardrobe.

say I, trembling hands and coiling guts: we are narnian. we are monarchs. if she's not mad and she's not lying, then logically she must be telling the truth.

my sister Susan, beautiful as folk tales are and twice as sharp, did you intend every invitation you took for me to twist the knife a godly animal once thrust into my guts? perhaps it was the way your eyes turned blue, or the sound of your laughter losing its bells. perhaps it was just my trembling fingers at the back of your legs, drawing stocking lines where no stockings had ever lain.

the line came out shaking, and you rubbed it off until your skin cried red. the hem of your dress still dripped wet when you left that day, turning on heels too narrow for you to walk in.

do you remember? it took you days to come home, and mother wailed for all of them. you crawled into my bed that night, as you did when we were parents to our little ones, those terrible months. your head on my shoulder, your breath in my ear, I held you until morning.

your mouth in my throat, eyes heavy with sleep, tongue heavy with champagne: we are here now. we must make the best of it. he cannot have all our lives, and all our joys. i wish you would laugh again.

doesn't little lucy, shrieking mouth and tumbling legs, laugh enough for us all?

lucy's manic. if she didn't laugh she'd cry.

i think sometimes, in the parts of my guts that are still a schoolboy, and are mean and cruel to match, that the alcohol makes you softer than the daylight ever could. i do not tell you.

i press my lips to your forehead. i wrap my arms around you. the year between us rings heavy, and when I get up in the morning, you do not follow.

I tried, Su. I did. I applied for university, I saw that girl with that smile. with those eyes. I let you take sections from the paper before I ever touched it, I held the little ones in my arms, and I made coffee in the morning. I sat all my exams.

I smiled when the little ones came back smelling of home.

Aslan's wounds, did I try. but-

I have ever been a thing made for stories. brave the way knights are, bloody knuckles and buckling pride. a horse between my calves, a sword in my hands.

I think, sometimes, that I was born for my sword, for the hollow ringing of my heart when I first held it. a part of me, even then, ten-and-three and soaked to the bone.

such bravery is not made for real world boys and real world taunts. there is a map, I think, from the summits of my knuckles to the jaws of every boy who ever looked at me and bared his teeth.

I am sovereign. I am the skies for your sun to burn in.

I am made wrong, for this england, and I cannot take this life you want. I belong, I think, into myths and legend, the star-studded shards of our home.

so I went on the train, Susan. so I died, and I named what you have chosen. so I banned you from their scorning mouths. so you grip your husband's hand, realest of us all, and you cry. you do not follow.

Forgive me.

[velvetrambles]

Wheats!

[zylphiacrowley]

Ways to keep warm in the cold:

[dragon-gem]

The only downside about writing a Jaya Aladdin retelling is that every time I hear a song from the movie (either one, pick your poison lol) I imagine that it’s Jay or Nya singing it.

And look I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying that I’ve never been the same since I imagined the two of them singing A Whole New World.

[thisisnotkitty]

i know that securitywaiter nation is dead but was anybody gonna tell me that ness is actually the son of the owner of the sparky's diner or did i just have to watch matpat's latest theory to find that out?

[not-entirely-made-up-of-spider]

Every day there's a new reason to cry about jmart

[what-have-i-unleashed]

are you guys tired of me tfposting yet because i don't think i can write any kistposting today 😔

[theoncomingchaos]

How MYATB fits the Gothic genre

WARNING: BOOK SPOILERS

Alright, first off, I know the author was not intending to write a Gothic romance, but it seriously fits the genre so well and I need to talk about it.

Here are the main elements of Gothic horror

Supernatural elements

Omens, nightmares, or curses

Unnerving Atmosphere

Gothic Hero

Gothic Villain

Romance

Emotional Distress

Mystery

Power Imbalance

Here is how MYATB fits the criteria.

Supernatural elements primarily come from the cultivation, the magic poison and flowers etc.

We see Huai'en having nightmares about the cliff pretty frequently, and the poison acts like a curse where the cold weather brings him pain. Particularly, the curses in Gothic horror often connect to the past. This can be ancient or recent, and this curse connects to Xiaobao's personal past.

In this story the weather is the main source of unnerving atmosphere. Winter brings physical, torturous pain, and if it rains at all during the several days it takes to perform the cure, then Xiaobao will basically be doomed.

A Gothic hero usually has some big flaw and struggles against some kind of temptation. For Xiaobao, his flaw is that he was spoiled, weak, and naive. He has never known pain, any time he had a slight inconvenience he could cry out and someone would immediately help him. So, learning to see the world as it is, take responsibility for himself, and fight through pain to do what he knows is right is a huge part of his journey. The temptation he struggles with is desire (lust/love). We see this in him proposing to multiple girls in one night and his frequent patronage to brothels, we see this in the way he throws himself onto Huai'en, and we see this in the way he struggles between his continued desire for Huai'en vs. all the hurt, guilt, and red flags.

A Gothic villain usually encapsulates the temptation that the hero has. They are often powerful, beautiful, and seemingly able to work outside of ordinary societal restrictions without fear or restriction. In a Gothic romance- this can be the/a love interest such as in Phantom of the Opera, True Blood, Interview with the Vampire or Jane Eyre. In love, they are often obsessive and controlling, they are liars (from omission or directly), and often have a dangerous side and/or secret. Huai'en is a powerful cultivator, he keeps his identity a secret for good reason, and he is canonically extremely beautiful. Especially in the book, he is a clear symbol of Xiaobao's weakness: he is both beautiful and lustful which early series naive Xiaobao would have thought was all that mattered in being the perfect partner. Although we know most of his worst traits come from his abusive upbringing and his youth, Huai'en absolutely fits the elements. He is obsessed with Xiaobao and extremely possessive. Xiaobao is the only thing he has ever wanted in his life and he is absolutely willing to take Xiaobao away against his will to keep him. His plotting where he attempted to protect the Jin family often included lies of omission because he was trying to control the situation himself. In both the book and series, he shows his violent side both on the battlefield and in bed. The difference here is that unlike many others in this genre, Huai'en is allowed to change and grow for the better and the narrative rewards this change. Eventually, he becomes more selfless in his love.

The romance is obvious. What is beautiful here is that the way they grow is not only perfect for their individual characterization, but it also makes them more suitable for each other. Xiaobao becomes someone who can be an equal partner for Huai'en, and Huai'en becomes someone who can genuinely love Xiaobao.

Both Huai'en and Xiaobao experience extreme emotional distress throughout the story. Xiaobao has to deal with losing his home and the guilt he has over hurting his family and endangering his friends. He has emotional distress over loving Huai'en and wanting to hate him for everything he has done. Huai'en has emotional distress from first discovering desire and his obsessive need for more love and closeness, the abuse and continued pressures of his adopted father, and then trying to get back with Xiaobao while being constantly rejected and pushed away.

The mystery comes primarily from the courtly intrigue. What did the Jin family do? What happened to Huai'en's mother? Who is his father?

The power imbalance between Xiaobao and Huai'en is obvious. Huai'en can and often DOES do whatever he wants to Xiaobao even against his will and Xiaobao can't do anything about it. Xiaobao originally thought he had the power via his money (and when he thought Huai'en was a woman) and coming to terms with not being the one in power in a relationship for the first time in his life is a big blow for him in the book. Xiaobao does gain power in the relationship, but physical power and even social status both leave Huai'en far above. Huai'en may leave behind his family name, but he is still the emperor's son, and the emperor still favors him as such. In the book, even Yuzhan still protects him within limits.

Anyway, looking through the lens of a different genre can bring some new perspective to a story and because I am a fan of Gothic literature, it just makes me love this story even more to see the connections. The book has some stuff that makes it VERY hard to read sometimes, and there are some moments that make you realize the author probably needs a bit more time to cook, but there is a lot of really nicely done narrative beauty in the bones of the story. I'm so happy to see how the series has taken these bones and elevated it. I really hope they stick the landing.

[demons-i-get]

Anyone else ever just-

*makes an au that started out as a really vague idea*

*au starts to form more clearly as you write out the vague idea*

*you think the au is full of sillys*

*au is actually characters experiencing The Horrors with a few sillys thrown in for flavor*

*you are left to stare at your document in horror as you realize the monster that your silly little vague idea has become*

[mnonep]

Until this flower blooms, just stay as you are.

[mrsketchydude]

OKAY HEAR ME OUT I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING This might be kind of obvious but, as always, I like to share my thoughts so that maybe others can share theirs too. It's really interesting how Vash is called "The Humanoid Typhoon", right? Like a straightforward name, a human-looking person who causes destruction wherever he goes, we get that. BUT hear me out, why don't they just call him the Human Typhoon..?

The majority of the people on No Man's Land don't know he's a plant so obviously that can't be the excuse. And I doubt Nightow was like "Well it would be confusing to call him the Human Typhoon when he's not really human" like cmon be real here for a second, he could've easily done that, there is WAY more confusing stuff in Trigun then calling a non-human character a human. I'm bringing in examples from Stampede because it's what I can recall quickly so sorry I cant bring up specific examples from the manga and the 98 anime, maybe later. Well, I mean, when you think about it, most people don't really see this 'Vash the Stampede' guy as a human. We LITERALLY have a whole scene with Meryl poking fun at people for making him out to be this wacky character and not as an actual human. Like she said in the eng dub:

"Real people aren't such caricatures. He's a man, not a monster."

The people of No Man's Land don't view 'Vash the Stampede' as a human. He's basically like an urban legend to them. A rumor you hear about amongst folk sitting on their front porches in the evening. A scary story older siblings tell younger siblings that if they don't behave the Humanoid Typhoon will come and get them. Even Rollo had heard of Vash being talked about this way. He said, after Vash was surprised the kid had heard of him,(again in the eng dub):

"Well, yeah, you're super famous. You're the real-life Humanoid Typhoon, everybody knows you!" "I heard something else, too! You're a walking disaster, a demon who wreaks havoc wherever he goes."

Even in the manga and 98 anime after the JuLai incident, they talk about him like he's this weird cryptid going around causing mayhem and destruction. He's destroyed two whole cities and put a hole in the moon. It would be hard for any human to believe something was capable of this unless they met him in person and saw what he is capable of.

Idk it was just something that literally struck me while I was eating dinner and I typed this up real quick after finishing my meal so sorry if this seems a little messy.

As always, I appreciate the attention to detail when it comes to the writing in Trigun. While this may seem like a small and insignificant thing, I really love how even the smallest of things seem to carry information throughout the story. Just makes it all the more special to me :,)

[honeycrashed]

All stars has ruined my life.

seperate pics: (yea I don't know where the whole thing is I just snatched this from sum1 else lmk if sum1 knows where it's from)