#a long night

[wishingforatypewriter]

A Long Night

Written for Lin Beifong's Week (Day 2: A Long Night)

Lin stared at the newspaper until the headlines blurred to nothingness under her gaze. Triad Turf War Intensifies. She sipped her tea that had long since gone cold and glanced up at the clock again.

It was well past four in the morning and Zolt still wasn’t back, not that she was waiting up for him. Not that she’d been fighting off a soul-rending panic since that morning when a police informant revealed that the Agni Kais were entering the turf war on the Red Monsoons’ side. 

“Hopefully the crime lords all take each other out,” Detective Patel had said as he poured his morning coffee. “Save us all some trouble.” 

There had been a murmur of agreement throughout the unit, while Lin stayed silent and schooled her expression into a stone mask of neutrality—lest she reveal something best kept hidden.  

No, she was not waiting up, but when she finally heard the sound of a key turning in the front door, relief eased the tautness in her muscles and she was reminded of just how tired she was. 

When he entered the living room, favoring one side and moving without his usual swagger, Zolt leaned down and kissed her forehead. Lin closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his lips. Still, she noted the strong smell of ozone that clung to his clothes and wondered how many rivals had fallen to his lightning. 

“I’m sorry, baby. I should have sent word.”

“I assume you had your hands full,” Lin said. “You look awful.” 

“The other guys look worse.” He shrugged off his jacket, wincing a bit with the movement, and took a seat on the couch. “Though your concern is touching as ever.” 

Lin merely rolled her eyes and started unbuttoning his shirt. 

“Undressing me already, Linny?” he asked, sounding far more tired than flirtatious. 

She pointedly ignored him, and eyed his torso wrapped in bandages. “Broken ribs? Why didn’t you have Cobra heal you?”

Zolt sighed, then brought a hand up to his left side, grimacing. “Cobra’s dead. Mamba, too. The Agni Kais ambushed them.” 

“I’m sorry.” Lin reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I know you were close.” 

“I keep thinking about their kid brother, Viper. The kid’s got no one now,” he said. “Maybe if I had been there instead of dealing with the Red Monsoons—” 

“The what-ifs will drive you crazy if you let them,” Lin said. “All you can do now is look out for the kid.” 

“You’re right,” he said. “I should head back out soon, make sure everyone else is accounted for.” 

Lin swiftly pinned him under a glare that revealed exactly what she thought of that idea. 

“Linny—” 

“It’s been a long night,” she said. “You’re hurt and you’re exhausted. Just come to bed, and I’ll ask Kya to take a look at you in the morning.” 

“Don’t you have work in a few hours?” 

Lin sighed as she glanced at the clock. It was already well after five, and her alarm would go off in less than an hour. “I’ll call out.” 

“You never call out. You must have really been worried.” 

“Shut up before I change my mind,” she said and started walking towards the bedroom.

[journal-three]

I AM DEEPLY DISTRESSED OVER A PIECE OF GODDAMN MINECRAFT CONTENT MY EVIL FRIEND MADE.

[ofswordsandpens]

directors using colorful or "impossible" lighting to convey mood and meaning and beauty my beloved. directors making night scenes impossible to see for the sake of realism my beloathed.

[vietsoul]

Tony Idol All Night Long, 1996 - Jocks Studio, dir. Chi Chi LaRue

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

Also increasingly aware that a LOT of people "manage" getting through the 40+ hour work week by sleeping less than is healthy and relying on stimulants like coffee and energy drinks to keep them going.

For people who are unwilling or unable to do this...work really does just dominate your life. Like we really should not have to rely on unhealthy practices just to have a social life or keep on top of housework or whatever.

I know I post about this a lot but I'm so TIRED all the time and it's just so depressing that this is how we're expected to spend the one life we have.

[goldensunset]

did you know? if you do your laundry you can get your clothes back

[honeypleasejustkillme]

i thought i was at my lowest but holy shit it gets lower

[anyataylorjoys]

THIRTEEN (2003) dir. Catherine Hardwicke JENNIFER'S BODY (2009) dir. Karyn Kusama ORPHAN (2009) dir. Jaume Collet-Serra BLACK SWAN (2010) dir.Darren Aronofsky HELTER SKELTER (2012) dir. Mika Ninagawa I, TONYA (2017) dir. Craig Gillespie LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2022) dir. Edgar Wright THE SUBSTANCE (2024) dir. Coralie Fargeat

[chloesimaginationthings]

Can’t spell “Five nights at Freddy’s” without GAY

(Based off @/flashcs5 post)

[mxmarsbars]

he’s trying to help (the treat is soup)

[ravennowithtea]

Thank you to everyone for your continued support this past year! 💖

I hope you all have a warm holiday season, filled with light and love, and spent with those most precious to you <3

❄️ Happy Longest Night ❄️

[frakes]

#the girls are fighting!! STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE • 3.07 “Civil Defense”

[peculiary]

Secret Avengers #14 January 15, 2014

[fazgoo-connoiseur-1987]

oh so THAT'S why we can't inspect the photo

[staff]

Tumblr Tuesday: Your Pride Art on Tumblr

Hello, Tumblr. June is here, and you're all arting hard. This Tuesday would like to cordially wish you all a very good and community-fuelled Pride month. Please enjoy this roundup of delightful fanart and OC art, celebrating the beginning of this month of more gay art than usual on tumblr dot com.

(And here are some Pride art/writing challenges running this month:  an identities-themed drawing challenge; a Baldur's Gate 3 art challenge; a pride color pallette art challenge; a fandom art challenge; and finally, some Destiel pride creative prompts)

@theartofmadeline:

@themostimportantnight:

@seagiri:

@nepeteaa:

@bontwisty:

@liberumalas:

@kaetor:

@sailorsallyart:

@grrlterrier:

@liazartz:

@rosesraeken:

@wigglebox:

@shattersaurus:

@the-phantom-peach:

@enyoalkis:

@inkwellfire:

@toadalled:

@zetrystan:

@manthemoth:

@daily-dragon-drawing:

@meriahlatyar:

@thatskindarough:

@winchester-reload:

@retrobr:

@vickychendraws:

@ufofrommarss:

@vanillacreame153:

@emwheezie:

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.