#actually... quite the contrary

[messiahzzz]

assorted morena dekarios headcanons:

she possesses a sharp wit and is very perceptive, but is also incredibly kind and gentle

strong presence & really eclectic taste. she loves bright colors, extravagant patterns, collecting paintings, and all kinds of knick-knacks. her house is a reflection of her personality: warm, welcoming, and cluttered with ✨precision✨

has a penchant for big jewelry (especially necklaces)

gale deems her “unavoidable” because she has a way of seeing right through him, sometimes even going beyond motherly intuition (and because you’d spot her everywhere)

she always strongly supported gale’s individuality and wanted to give him every opportunity to grow into the person he wants to be

this often clashes cause she does worry about his safety constantly

on that note: would do absolutely everything for her son

her ex-husband had little interest in raising gale and deemed him too exhausting/high maintenance. morena eventually encouraged his decision to split, knowing his presence would do more harm than good

loves books but doesn’t bother to keep them in good condition (much to gale’s horror)

as he got older their dynamic grew to resemble a friendship, which is also why he refers to her by her first name

they banter a lot and it is very entertaining to watch/makes their similarities even more obvious

surprisingly strict whenever the situation calls for it. it’s a sudden 180. don’t mess with morena dekarios

claims she’s not interested in gossip, but is very curious nonetheless

possesses extensive mixology knowledge, but hates being drunk. life needs to be experienced to the fullest with all senses at all times

she’s a natural dancer despite not having a whole lot of practice

very welcoming to a romanced!tav and the rest of gale’s new friends. she has already been filled in by tara and withers. naturally, as long as her prince is happy she is as well

almost rivals gale in the duration of his crying during his own wedding. once he begins to read his vows she’s immediately brought to tears

actively tries to get to know a romanced!tav and makes sure they feel included in their family whenever possible, but will also respect if there’s no interest/some apprehension

she is very respectful of gale’s privacy and knows when to step back, albeit no less worried

she has dark, long, curly and thick hair that is hard to tame. (the envy of all her neighbors her age) she usually puts it up in a claw

tara has her own corner in morena’s sitting room, including her very own cozy armchair. no one else is allowed to use it.

[carlyraejepsans]

*just remembered that people are actually touched and moved by my art and look forward to seeing it and it's not just something that affects me and me alone which i throw into the internet's jaws sometimes resulting in Number Go Up* Huh.

[innitmarvellous]

Finally reading in the Lyrics books and why are we even still debating whether McLennon was real when Paul literally says he wrote a love song for John?

[winds-of-zephyr416]

So with the context of this post, I've written a bad (barely edited and written in like one hour while I was falling asleep yesterday) fanfic :P

(shhhhhhh we ignore the fact that this was written on the 26th and not the 27th. I changed like one word today it counts)

Open the cut for exactly 600 words of Melkor getting kissed by his dumb gay Lieutenant and maybe some light angst too who knows. also crossposted to ao3 as an update to this fic

“Mel-kor.” Sauron huffed, staring at his Lord. “I can’t believe you’d do this.”

“It’s not my fault this fana is too tall!” Melkor cried. “Blame Manwe for making me wear it in the first place. He’s the one who said I had to keep it until they fix all the stuff I smushed.”

“But now how am I going to kiss you? I’m half your height!” Sauron raged.

“I could–”

“No. You are not picking me up.”

“You could ask me to lean over–”

“No. Too normal. Let me think.”

“You could sit on my shoulders and keep me company during Manwe’s awful soliloquies.”

“No, no, no…,” Sauron muttered, pacing on the bright grass.

“Aha!” He looked up to Melkor with a beaming, if not a little intimidating, smile. “I know exactly how to solve this”

Melkor was about to ask how, but was cut off by the sight of Sauron’s shape melting away and reforging itself into a tall, bright pillar, many-eyed and dragon-scaled. Before he knew it, Sauron had swept him up in his arms, glittering with wild abandon as he whirled him around and into a secluded corner in the gardens of Valmar. Melkor’s hands flew up to the bright Maia’s shoulders as he found himself held close between Sauron’s warm, newly-built form and a shaded, vined wall, cool where the shadows had kept the stones out of the sun. 

“Great. Now you’re too tall.” Melkor griped, though he was thoroughly enjoying both the recklessly happy face of his Lieutenant and the green things wilting behind his back. 

“Easily solved,” he said, shrinking down to Melkor’s height like a fire dimming low. “Now, I believe you asked me for a kiss?” 

Melkor laughed and held Sauron’s gaze. “I believe you’re the one who asked first,” he grinned mischievously. “But I will ask again, if you so wish.”

Sauron’s face was already so close to Melkor’s that they were nearly touching. Sauron had already taken his hand, lacing their fingers together like two pieces of a puzzle. 

“Please?” Melkor asked, and that was all it took.

“Yes,” Sauron whispered, so close already that whether it was with his breath or Melkor’s own he could hardly tell. “It’s been so long.”

Sauron kissed him. Sauron had one hand around Melkor’s waist and another tightly held in his own, and Sauron was kissing him. So closely bound were they, one to the other, that it seemed that time had never moved beyond the great fields and gardens of Almaren, unabiding by the great deeps of time that sundered them for a hundred ages and more. Sauron could feel Melkor’s hands, buried in his hair and the back of his clothing, and it was as if they had never been burned by the hallowed light it seemed he had never stolen. 

Sauron moved from his lips to his forehead, the bridge of his nose, the lids of his eyes, each little detail that had been lost or wearied on the long wait in the Void. It was him, real and solid, breath cool and steady as it sighed by his ears.

“I missed you.” Sauron breathed, still holding him like he could never let go.

“I missed you too, Mairon,” Melkor said, and he pronounced his name like it was the most beautiful one in the world. “I am never leaving you again.”

And Sauron, for a second, broke his artful mirth, and leaned into Melkor’s chest with something like a tear staining gold on his face.

“Please,” he cracked, another tear dyeing the fabric of Melkor’s shirt aureate. “Never do.”

[bforbetterthanyou]

Controversial opinion but I think there’s a better case for Elizabeth Woodville marry Edward IV because she was an ambitious social-climber than Anne Boleyn marrying Henry VIII but the reason people don’t think of Elizabeth in that way is because Edward wasn’t already married and Elizabeth was lucky enough to have many healthy children

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Here are the issues I have with the book. Since it's a lot, I'll try to keep it as short as possible and only mention my biggest problems with it. So this list is not complete and I could write pages about it.

Let me start by saying that a good autobiography (or any book that highlights a real life person) should be balanced. It should not glorify that person or pretend that person is a god and without mistakes. I also have no problem with critizing Ze, because, let's face it, yes he made mistakes and fucked things up in the past and not every war decision or speech or whatever was good or perfect. The point is: the critique should be fair and balanced (this obviously doesn't apply to bad people in general and the books about them; but since Ze isn't a bad person...you get what I want to say). The portrayal of Ze in the book is anything but fair or balanced. Or true, for that matter (unless literally every person in Ze's life and who knows him better, including the Kvartal fam, Olena, Andriy or people like them, have been lying to everyone for decades).

Throughout the whole book Shuster does say that Ze is Ukrainian (and Jewish) but also always tries to paint him as an "Ukrainian Russian" - so Ze is actually Russian despite being a "Ukrainian" (basically using one of Russia's Propaganda lies). Ze is basically a stubborn "Ukrainian" who kind of deserves all the hate and arrogance he gets from "real Russians" during KVN times (and later) because Ze is an insufferable asshole during his KVN times. And that Russian treated Ukrainian (or from other former Soviet Union countries) teams badly (including racist remarks, looking down on them, treating them like slaves, insulting them, not giving them a fair chance,...) teams awfully is, in Ze's case, deserved. Because Ze was oh so focused on always winning - no matter what and the cost.

Speaking of KVN: According to Shuster, Ze was terrible as a person during his first years of stardom. A maniac who only lived for applause and needs it to survive and was willing to do absolutely everything to win and beat other teams. Because, you know, he's so obsessed with winning. To a point were even he gives a flying fuck about the Kvartal team and their members (Shuster basically hints that they all disliked Ze and he was some kind of group dictator who only wanted to work and win all the time and was reckless and took to many risks and almost destroyed everyones lifes). When Shuster finds something positive to write about, he quotes people from Kvartal but what he quotes are just general statements or people saying what KVN was like during the 1990s and early 2000s. The moment Shuster writes about Ze and was he (allegedly) like during this time it's almost only "team members" and "people who knem him" and "classmates" and all that stuff - so anon sources. Or it's just Shuster telling stuff without saying what his source is or him just have feelings and thoughts and drawing conclusions. If people get named they - surprise, surprise - have a lot of times bad things to say about Ze or are people who we never ever have heard of as being part of Ze's life. Btw, it's not very hard to guess who the "team member", who talked the KVN years and adds a lot of negative talk about Ze, is... . Denys (yes, THAT Denys) contributed to the book with pictures, so chances are high he also talked to Shuster. If you ever wondered if the asshole would ever get over the fact that he fucked up and Ze kicked his ass out of the group - well, the answer is no. He now just tries to cash in on Ze. And since we are talking about Denys' obvious contribution to the book - he, once again, gave out private photos. How much we all wanna bet that he, once again, didn't ask for consent?!

Shuster also tries to paint Ze's family in a bad light. The father a tyrann who sacrified his wife's (Mama Ze) health for his job and money. Also rarely being at home and giving a fuck about his son and family. Mama Ze spoiling her child and making him entitled. Both to unloving and hard and more or less making Ze's life a living hell. Also that Ze's family was suddenly rich. Not to mention indirectly questioning the trauma his family had to go through (and Ze talked about in the past) under Stalin and the Nazis and family members that are suddenly alive (despite Ze stating in the past that they were dead). Also, Shuster sees in the childhood and family of Ze a part of the explanation why Ze is such a horrible person today, to stubborn to just give up and end the fight (and all that nonsense) and won't win this war. Because the parents put Ze in all kind of activities without him finishing any of it but letting him believe he can do everything and always demanding excellent perfomance in every aspect of his life (to keep it short). So of cooourse Ze had to grow up into a maniac who can't loose and always continues despite what people may tell him and who needs the constant validation and love from others.

There are also a ton of negative remarks about Ze as father and husband in regard of his own family. Not to mentiont hat a ton of informations are factually not correct. Things like birth dates or dates in general, how and where Ze's family lived (missing important context several times), Ze basically being as awful as his father, Ze not giving a fuck about his families safety during the war (Olena was the voice of reason who protects the poor, poor children because their father just wants them back for egoistic reasons and doesn't care about their safety) or not seeing anything concerning about his sons military obsession and instead fueling it (again, it's the poor poor wife who has to protect the son from the awful father), Ze giving zero fucks about his relationship with Olena right from the start and that poor, poor, poor woman always staying behind and having to go through hell and hate because of Ze's maniac ambitions and facing an unsave future in the early 2000s because Ze was so full of himself and had the biggest ego,... . (reading several parts you would think that this "poor, poor woman" is trapped in some abuse situation or Ze somehow tied her to himself and the whole marriage is fake and there is no love) (also Olena simultaniously romantizing things and her life and Ukraine but also being the only who who sees the truth about Ze or several parts of their lives but, of course, can't tell her terrible husband because bad, bad Ze) Also Shuster indirectly claiming that Ze and Olena lied about their relationship and they didn't date for eight years but for a shorter period of time. Because suddenly Olena also was a part of KVN long before Ze (???) and was essentially just his work buddy and friend for a while and somehow and for whatever reason they ended up in a relationship one day. (Also prepare yourself to read about a new version of the "Basic Instinct" story we never have heard before...and Ze and Olena never said.)

Btw, the way Ze is portrayed during his KVN years is essentially with little variation how he's portrayed in later stages of his life. Including his presidency and the war (I'm not going to write several more paragraphes because I think you get the picture Shuster tries to paint of Ze).

Only one thing about Ze's war portrayal: Shuster swings back and forth between Ze as wanna be dictator who will turn Ukraine into something bad as soon as the war is over (and is already starting with that) and who already makes his own rules and gives zero fucks about people and is only interested in his own fame and people applauding him and all that stuff. And Ze being the worst President ever because the war and the current state of Ukraine (which is, of course, very bad and they are about to collapse and loose and big Russia and winning and blablabla) are somehow also his fault. Yes, Shuster really manages to make Ze (and with that Ukraine) partly guilty.

Throughout the whole book he also, sometimes more obvious sometimes hidden, Shuster portrays Ukraine in the worst way possible. He does mention how "bad" Russia is but somehow justifying it several times or leaving out important facts and, once again, context. Also the portrayal of Putin, especially in comparsion with how he writes about Ze, is a joke.

Oh, and, the "inside look in the bunker" life Shuster used for his marketing campaign and that the claim of the book - yeah, bullshit. It's nothing now and anon and all that stuff. Also, once again, portraying Ze in a bad light. Like, yeah, the first weeks of war affected him but to such a worrying point (according to Shuster) that Ze was actually unfit to rule any longer as President but continued (because, you know, he loves power sooo much...). And now he's the mini dictator of Bankova who is always grumpy and changed into a (an even more) awful person and... .

What can I say at the end?! As mentioned earlier, the book has a ton of fake news and wrong facts. It's incredibly poorly researched - if sources exist at all. A lot of times it's Shuster just sharing his feelings or thougths or conclusions or interpretations or whatever. Or just saying things without context. Or writing stuff without giving sources. And to be honest, in some parts it also feels like that Shuster just made stuff up.

If you have no idea about Ze and his life or know very little - that's not the book to get informed. If you know a bit more about Ze, you will surprisingly often feel that certain parts of "exclusive interviews" or "when I talked with XYZ" are strangely familiar...with interviews we all know from Ze's (and several other people) past...because it is these interviews. Just a lot of times missing context, shortening what was said, adding stuff or giving it a new meaning.

Speaking of using old stuff: Shuster also really used his old articles to include them in the book...to a point where it's basically almost word for word.

Overall, the book is in large parts poorly written (so poorly that you wonder how he became a TIME journalist in the first place).

In the end, you probably haven't learned anything new or interesting about Ze, his life, the war or Ukraine. When we talk about Ze, I may have read one, maybe two new things I haven't read before (but questioning both of them and will do research if they are true or just made up by Shuster). It's over 300 sites of wasted paper and ink. I know articles who did a better job than this "book". It's a waste of time and money. And in the end it's a Pro-Russia Propaganda book, trying to undermine the support for Ukraine and hurt Ze and his image (as well as Ukraine's). Shuster tries to be subtle at his try to do this but he isn't not. He tries to come off as critical thinker who wants to portray a balanced picture of Ze and also writes about the sides no one dares to talk about. But nothing about this is balanced. It's just 300+ sites of trashing Ze and backstabbing him and using every possible way. Same applies to Ukraine.

.

[enrapture]

I get what I want. I always get what I want. If it’s not right now I will get it and obtain it eventually.

[tremendously-crazy]

born to be nonchalant. forced to worry endlessly and have Emotions ™

[hsslilly-blog]

i'm putting this under the cut simply so i don’t jumpscare myself when looking through my blog. i'm talking about claire and sex.

the first time claire and hunt have sex she cries for half an hour afterwards because 1. for the first time sex feels truly consensual + something enjoyable and she doesn’t feel like an object. and 2. it’s with him that she feels like this + it is still rather shameful to her that she feels attracted to him. conflicting experience.

sex is important to claire’s character and i’ve never really talked about it in length because um well i don’t want to be crass, and i don’t want to remove weight from it.

when i refer to claire’s relationships i am mostly referring to sexual relationships because that’s what they were. and that’s why she feels she lacks worth. well, this complex exists since childhood but these relationships feed into it. claire is used and exploited, and she has been her entire life. in multiple meanings of the word. this is very connected to her theme of agency (it’s all one big thing). and sex is self destructive behaviour to her. hence all these situations she finds herself in. it’s a cycle.

which leads to: i don’t think claire knows how to deal when attraction and sex and desire are in positive contexts (please do notice that as soon as she realises she's attracted to hunt in on the hunt she blurts out about being abused by her therapist). and especially when it’s something that has proven to be destructive many times turns out to be positive. at least, she feels like it’s positive this time. what should she feel? in short claire’s relationship to sex (and sexuality in general) is… multifaceted. complex. i’ve mentioned it before and i’m not going to elaborate it further here, but both claire and hunt feel shame and guilt for their relationship, for different reasons. but i think it’s important for them, individually. there’s just like. this subject neither of them wants to touch upon because it’s shameful. and at the same time it’s attractive to them.

i had originally written a lot more here about it but i don’t think it’s good enough. lmao. and i don’t want to post something written without the merit it deserves. but i do think it’s good characterisation that claire can only talk about whatever goes on with her after sex. it's punishment and it's also catharsis. it's just really blurry to her. as it often is. would like to talk more about this i just like to be deliberate about it.

[co27]

i guess my question is why DOES nuance immediately become looked down upon when it comes to that one webcomic

[une-sanz-pluis]

Despite the strength of his claim, the anti-Lancastrian groundwork laid by his uncle and namesake in Wales, and his close family ties to the rebellious Percys, Edmund remained oddly inconspicious in the broils of the first quarter of the century. To be sure, his name does surface from time to time, as in the treason case of 1402 involving the Welshman John Sperhawk, who had the misfortune to repeat a rumor he had heard from a certain tailor's wife of Baldock to the effect that the present king was not the true son of Duke John but rather was born to a butcher of Ghent and that the earl of March was in fact king by right. That is the year in which Mortimer's uncle and namesake joined in coalition with Owain Glyndwr, explaining to his tenants his support of Richard if he were alive and otherwise of his nephew as "droit heir." In 1405 Edmund and his brother figured in a bizarre kidnapping attempt in which they were to be abducted from Windsor Castle, apparently to become rallying points for anti-Lancastrian activity, probably with their uncle Edmund in Wales. As late as 1415 one of the options supposedly entertained by the Southampton conspirators against Henry V was (according to Richard, earl of Cambridge's undoubtedly coerced confession) to have had the earl of March "into the lond of Walys … . takyng upon hym the sovereynte of thys lond. " Nevertheless, Edmund's uncle and Richard, earl of Cambridge, and most of the other high-echelon conspirators who mentioned his name, tended to treat Edmund, not as a first conspiratorial resort, but at best as a fallback should Richard really turn out to be dead and no good impersonator present himself. This effective neutralization of Edmund's claim was accomplished in part by the brilliant machinations of the Lancastrians. In a move that conveyed multifold practical and psychological advantages, the newly crowned Henry IV promptly took the young Edmund and his brother Roger into his personal custody. Practically speaking, Henry controlled their extensive lands and rents, and the patent rolls for 1399-1413 abound in his awards of sergeanties, stewardships, custodies, and wardships to Henry's loyal followers. At the same time Henry gained psychological advantage by treating Edmund less as a prisoner than as a child de- pendent; Henry was generous in his annuities (ranging from three hundred to five hundred pounds yearly) and, in the years prior to the attempted abduction of 1405, even boarded the two brothers with his own younger children.

Paul Strohm, "The Trouble with Richard: The Reburial of Richard II and Lancastrian Symbolic Strategy", Speculum, Vol. 71, No. 1 (1996)

[ell-arts]

POINTS AGGRESSIVELY AT THIS MAN

The emo.

( god I hope he’s still recognizable )

YOU DREW THE BOIIII!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹 He looks great!!

Thank you so much!!💙 I shall cherish this emo man-child foreva

[domysterio]

So. How we doing. I’m personally only focusing on Drew victory and Roman returning. What TJD implosion? There is no TJD breakup in Ba Sing Se

just thought about rhea and dom's matching cow boots 😭

[appleflavoredkitkats]

LIKE I CANNOT TAKE THE IBARRA WORSHIP ANYMORE... how the fuck do u see this man as the ideal filipino when it's revealed in the first boat scene w elias that he does what he does bc he believes filipinos r dumb and deserve the abuse by the spanish bc it's a "necessary evil" LIKE COME ONNNN

[georgeinamerc]

.

[hsslilly-blog]

chris is like claire's only ex partner who's still around right. that she stills talks to i mean. what did she do to the other ones