#and this is obvs one of those like we tried cases

[thecolorsfucked]

it is annoying when like writers are like we should acknowledge racism and privilege dynamics then has a white woman call a black dude privileged like 🤨

[fingertipsmp3]

I fucking haaaaate google, like why does googling something as simple as “what do I do if I find a baby” bring up completely random results like “how to care for a baby bird” or “support for people who are trying for a baby”. I had to do an advanced search to find anything fucking relevant

[eemcintyre]

Good Morning (Tom Cruise)

TW- none. Less than none.

Summary- Trying to make up for how busy he's been lately, Tom takes your daughter off your hands for the morning and obv cuteness ensues.

I stumbled randomly upon this picture on ye olde Pinterest and was immediately overtaken by my creative whims. I'm always a sucker for dad!Tom, and if you are too, then hopefully this will be an enjoyable read.

Children were the only thing that could have made Tom Cruise’s life more action-packed than it already was. He had discovered this firsthand a couple of years ago, when his and Y/N’s daughter, Indie, was born. Even though they had gotten past the initial stages of sleepless nights and teething by this point, Indie was now four and getting to the age where she needed a lot more stimulation and activity.

Over the last several days, Tom had practically lived in his home office. Due to an abundance of conference calls and other business negotiations, he was sorry to admit that he’d hardly been able to spend time with Y/N or his daughter. Though Y/N understood his obligations, he could tell that she was pretty exhausted. Even during breaks from her job, taking care of Indie on her own could be a lot to handle. Unsurprisingly, she had been born with her father’s daring, as well as his seemingly boundless energy, which was a deadly combination in a four-year-old.

But, this weekend, Tom had made certain that his schedule was clear. It was early Saturday morning, and he had decided to take Indie off of Y/N’s hands for a while so that she could sleep late. Being as quiet as possible, he jotted down a note explaining where they had gone. Placing the note on Y/N’s bedside table and pressing a soft kiss to her head, he took Indie out for a morning on the town. Strapping her into her car seat and cranking up some blues rock, they set off in the cherry-red Buick Roadmaster that he liked to break out on weekends.

Tom was pleased with how the morning had gone. First, they’d made a foray into one of the local parks where, between chasing her down when she tried to run off, Indie enjoyed being pushed on the swings and going down the tunnel slides. Then, after she had burned off a sufficient amount of energy, they ventured downtown for some breakfast items to take home. Gripping her little hand in his, Tom and Indie wandered the sun-drenched sidewalks past various brightly painted storefronts with lettering on the windows. Their main objective was to stop at a combination café and bakery where he and Y/N were known as regulars.

Nearing the counter, Tom had Indie in his arms so that she could see the full expanse of available pastries in the display case.

“Alright, darlin, what looks good?”

“Wan’ that one,” Indie replied, pointing to the iced donuts covered in rainbow sprinkles.

“And what do we say?” Tom glanced at her meaningfully.

“Please, can I have that one?”

“Yes ma’am, you may,” he grinned at Indie as the employee tending the counter approached.

“Mr. Cruise, hi there, what’ll it be this morning?”

“Hey, how are ya? The usual for my wife and I, and one of those rainbow donuts for the little lady,” he replied, glancing at Indie and bouncing her in his arms.

“You’ve got it. I’ll have the donut right out for you and those drinks will be done in a moment.”

“Thanks.”

A few minutes later, they exited the café and continued on their journey while Indie munched on her donut. Her attention was soon captured by a flower stand outside one of the buildings, and with icing smudged across her fingers and face, she pulled away from Tom and ran toward it.

“Hey, sweetheart, c’mere,” he sighed as he quickly caught up with her. Kneeling so that he was at her level, he attempted to clean some of the icing off of her face and hands. “You look like a wild woman.” He shook his head, and she giggled.

As Indie admired the bouquets, sticking her face in to smell them, Tom thought it would be a fun idea to get some for Y/N. 

“Why don’t you pick out some flowers for Mom?” he suggested. “Which ones do you think she would like?”

Indie was quickly drawn to one of the bouquets with pink and purple flowers in it. It was a wildflower mix of cosmos, chamomile, hyacinth, lavender, and a single large sunflower.

“All right, good choice,” he nodded.

After they had paid, they made their way back to where his car was parked.

“Daddy, can I please hold them? Pleeeeeeaaaase,” Indie insisted, making grabby hands up at the flowers as he carried them. 

“Okay, but you have to be careful, sweetheart,” he cautioned her, watching out of the corner of his eye as they walked to make sure that the bouquet didn’t end up scraped and scattered across the sidewalk. Thankfully, it made it to the car intact.

They returned home in the Roadmaster, this time with Indie’s choice of The Wiggles playing. The second she was freed from the confines of the car seat, she was eager to run inside and pounce on Y/N.

“Ok, now Mom might still be asleep…” Tom warned her, placing a hand on her shoulder as they entered the house.

“Hello?” Just then, Y/N’s drowsy voice sounded from the kitchen.

“Mama!” Indie exclaimed, catapulting herself in that direction. Y/N, who was wearing a baggy, vintage university sweatshirt and pajama shorts, kneeled down to scoop her into a hug. Tom grinned at them from the kitchen entryway, and Y/N greeted him, glancing at the bouquet and tray of cups he held, her face lighting up.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, standing up and reaching toward the cups, recognizing the café logo. “Mm, love you.” She bestowed a peck on Tom’s cheek. “What’s this?” she focused in on the flowers.

“Indie picked them out for you,” he gestured to their daughter, who was already becoming preoccupied by the cat and how she might go about picking him up.

“Thank you, honey,” Y/N said, playfully tousling Indie’s hair.

“She did a nice job. She already has your artistic sensibilities,” Tom chuckled. “Or at least your obsession with pink.”

“Then I’m doing something right,” Y/N laughed.

“She thinks my cars are ugly and told me I should get a ‘Barbie pink’ one.”

Y/N shook from laughter. “Y’know, this kid has a lot of good ideas.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

[candiid-caniine]

Hey! Long time no see, i know i said id send you a fantasy i thought you'd like but now ive forgotten almost all of it, oop!

Life happened, and uh, i saw that you mentioned your libido being a bit low, which definitely is my case too (im recovering from depression, now that im okay id love to get my FULL libido back, or at least a good percentage of it) do you have any tips on that?

Also any recs of blogs writing in the same vibe as you? (same-ish kinks would be nice but im specifically looking for queer inclusive stuff!) it makes me 10x hornier than the regular video/photo porn!

Hope you're well, you pathetic little thing!

💫

hi friend!! ugh i feel you. sorry i haven't got any advice on regaining ur libido...we just let mine wax and wane as it will, though denial has been a big help in keeping it steady!

i've heard good things abt ginseng and some other herbs. obvs use at your own risk, mind that some herbal treatments can cross-interact with certain medications, remember that pre-packaged supplement pills are often unregulated and may contain toxins, and be aware that some herbal remedies work better on pw certain anatomy than others, and finally that many herbal remedies considered to increase libido are largely untested on trans folx!

finally, sorry it's taken so long to answer this ask...i'm autistic and have been cataloguing lol. i present to you a list of other blog recs under the cut, organized by general vibe! i've tried to primarily include blogs that do their own posts rather than those who primarily reblog :)

note that my headings may provide some context as to what to expect, but you read at your own risk and each blog will typically have its own trigger warnings addressed in the header/pinned. additionally, i've not tagged some of the ppl below because they prefer that "Men DNI" blogs not interact, and idk if "no cis men" qualifies ahah!

all blogs below are queer- and/or trans-inclusive, if not exclusive! there is no detrans/misgendering, at least I don't think - i don't tend to follow those blogs.

hard kinks (blood, knives, etc; includes primarily-cnc blogs):

@puppy-mommy , who also does general t4t kink content, but does state untagged hard kinks!

@visciousest is someone whose blog i scroll when i'm in a Certain Mood ahah,, i won't elaborate

@hell-hound-bites: just. fuck. would drool on his knife blade.

@snuff-fag: its username should give you fair warning as to how wild its content tends to get, so please browse responsibly.

@condor-bait is taking a break right now, and all my love is with him as he takes care of himself. he made me feel so valid and so fuckable as a young trans person learning to love myself in a new way, and i've always been too shy to tell him how much his content meant to me one-on-one (yes, despite its often-extreme themes!), and he deserves as much time as he needs to heal!

@unwillingfvckpuppy for mostly cnc and medical kinks! if you like his style, but not so much their harder content, he also has a more-tame main blog--i just mainly follow/scroll this one!

@vampvictim: top-tier cnc/intox stuff, plus some great knife/bloodplay :)

@cryptidtid is wonderful and holy shit i follow a lot of hard kink blogs lol. incredible

@cnc-pet: i have been following her for a long ass fucking time lol. they post a lot of really good cnc and stories, but you'll also find a lot of aftercare tips and advice on her blog! i really admire blogs who try to balance horny content with best practices

@dollobotomy

general kinky content:

@excessively-queer . just plain old good shit :) there's a good amt of edging and degradation.

@clouded-king was honestly one of my earlier introductions to the queer/t4t kink community on here and how fucking euphoric it can be :) he posts some hard kinks, but generally it's a balance of a lot of different kinks so read his pinned at your leisure!

@ / cottontailx : just good kinky nsft posts :)

@ / digitalpenetration: often specifically t4t which i love!!

@femmelovefemme can step on me :)

@bigothteddies: could not build this section w/o mentioning him :) they had a big influence on my fantasies for a long time!

@hazelj-xoxo: bigtime want her to cuck me. have followed her across multiple blog deletions lol

@transpidered is forever an icon!

@subspaceemo

@writefinch for great stories and text posts

edging and denial, specifically:

@6irlpet is 1 of my go-to hands-down-pants scroll sessions :)

@droolkink is my inspiration!

@flustersluts does exactly what the name implies lol. a good helping of other kink content too :)

@puppycvnt is a 10/10!

@barkwoofbarkwoofbark: we r denial friends imo!!

@strawbrrysub

@blyssful-abyss

@urhighnessbitch is a big fav <3

non-detrans genderplay:

@butchviolence does amazing butch supremacy stuff and i,,, fucking hell. even just seeing their username puts me in a Particular state of mind ahah. they also post hard kinks so be aware as you proceed!

@mtfdomme: i literally just reblogged from her today lol. tbh i want to be their little stupid pupthing. it's not all transfem supremacy undertones/overtones, but that's what i mainly follow her for, plus just general t4t goodness! also, their general personality? and the way she shuts down people who disrespect their boundaries? huge inspiration for me!

@cuntboydestroyer: take me to the animal shelter and neuter me. good lord.

@the-kind-of-dame is the main inspiration for my recent genderplay post lol

@terfbreaking-tgirl (be warned of dykebreaking if that's an issue for you)

@barbarian-lesbian is my other inspiration for the recent genderplay post

@superiorineveryway

weird asf (/complimentary; my favorite type of shit. robots, ND-focused posts, etc):

@specksizedgoddess has introduced me to things i didn't know, like...existed, and that's saying a lot as one of my special interests is kink! never knew how down bad i was to be a tiny buggirl, nor how much i wanted to be someone's stupid little robot... BIG tw tho: there is snuff and gore content here, so proceed with caution if you don't wanna see that!

@sapphling fucked me up real good with some bird!sub bondage posts awhile back lol

@nobelisha: found them through their ghost cnc post so that's why they're in this category ahah! they don't have a pinned so proceed w awareness :)

@devout-cleric: hierophilia/religion kink, and i'm something of an acolyte of hers :) if you've read this far down you may as well know i'm her Little Lamb anon lol

piss/omo:

@latenightomo

@pissheartmybeloved - their URL makes me crack up every time, plus good content!

@hold-it-a-little-longer - good scenarios/imagines!

@ohmyrashi - (i think) my original intro to omo!

monsterfucking/terato:

@septimus-moonlight was my first real introduction to trans-positive terato and i've never settled for half-fun cis-oriented terato ever since :) mind tags!

@eggedbellies as well!

@bredpun doesn't appear to be active lately but still good for a scroll!

@steamandcream

@of-mutts-and-men

[skeine]

Orym didn't come out of the Wildmother's vision feeling like he had any answers, but I thought there was some pretty important information for him buried in her vision.

First is that touching Predathos's mind will almost certainly overwhelm and destroy a mortal mind that tries to contain it. Ludinus's plan seems to be to siphon Predathos's essence into Exaltant(s) who will carry it through the Divine Gate. This would leave Predathos's body entombed, the Ruidis population alive and the Gate intact to keep any surviving Betrayer Gods out. But if so we already know this won't play out as planned from Evontravir's divinations; it forsees Predathos shattering the Gate if Ludinus isn't stopped. So this is corroboration from another source (if biased) that the Vessel will likely be overcome and Predathos will take over the game completely.

But her vision of the fight against Predathos also showed how laser focused it is on the gods. They gathered on an Exandrian island and it came directly after them. They brokered a deal with the Primordials who entombed it along with the island residents. But the children of those island residents still live on Ruidis and have for thousands of years, which means Predathos just simply doesn't see people as food. Puppets? Yes. Food? Apparently not. Its hunger seems hyper focused on the gods only, corroborating Evontravir's prediction that it would chase after them and leave Exandria alone.

Third is the cold and diminished life of the glade that revived under Orym’s hands. She's outright showing him here that if the gods are driven away, life on Exandria will be diminished in some unclear way, but—most importantly—it will continue.

And by letting him know she only works through his hands and by showing the land thriving under them, I think she's also telling him that if the worst case happens he (and by extension the Ashari) can and must become the new custodians of her lands, rejuvenating and watching over them.

All of which is a far cry from the extinction event some of the BH are currently afraid of.

The last touches on Ludinus's other goal, one everyone suspects he has but no one knows much about yet. He's gone off more than once now about the gods bleeding Exandria dry through mortal souls passing on to the gods' realms. What he plans to do about it is up in the air but. I think it's pretty significant that the Wildmother chose to remind Orym about Will, whose soul resides along with the rest of the dead in the gods' realms. This is a fine bit of manipulation (imho, ymmv obv) but I think it's also more than that. There's a connection there that she knows of and she's reminding him what his stakes are.

So how screwed are the Bells Hells if they fail to stop the Vessel or even throw the fight and let it happen? I think Matt always meant releasing Predathos to be a viable option if they wanted to go there and I feel like the above bears that out. The consequences look like they'll be mostly social and political, with Issylra obviously devastated but the rest of the world, with far less reliance on churches for their government and stability, much less affected.

But as they say, no well laid plan ever survives encounter with the enemy. So I expect some great twists before they hit the end. I can't wait.

[fl0wrmzy]

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･

Jake Peralta Head-canons~

soft head-canon~

he loves. and i cannot stress this enough, LOVES cuddling. if he's around you then he will be touching you in any way, shape or form. whether it be holding hands, kisses, gentle caresses, just with his hand around your waist, hip or shoulder. he craves it like oxygen.

he loves watching your girly movies. he'll groan and whine through out to protest against a cheesy romcom kiss or a cute scene from mean girls but he loves those movies. he probably grew up watching them because of Gina.

he loves taking candid pictures of you. he's the type to take a picture of you petting a cat or taking a picture of one (like this one). you always catch him since he's not so subtle about it, even though you act like you're annoyed with it you love that habit of his.

he tries so hard to cook something for you but he usually fails. or just orders takeout and pretends he cooked it until you see the empty takeout boxes in the trash and he sheepishly admits he was lying and just wanted to do something for you.

he LOVES when you wear his clothes. whether it be because you forgot to bring a change while going to his apartment or because you spilled something over your clothes and got them dirty he will absolutely lend you a t-shirt or hoodie.

he's definitely is the type of boyfriend/partner to have a picture of you or both of you as his lockscreen/wallpaper. he loves you wholeheartedly and isn't ashamed of it or you for that matter.

is def the type to hug you with one hand around your waist and the other cradling the back of your head.

it physically pains him to see you in distress, pain, or crying. he'll do anything to have you back to your normal calm/cheerful self. he'll make jokes, remind you of inside jokes, plans for the week, fond memories together. anything to distract you from whatever it is you're going through.

NSFW head-canons~

he loves makeout sessions. even if they lead to nowhere he longs for them.

he is up for literally anything in the bedroom (01x04) and is definitely not scared to try anything even if it doesn't turn out as expected.

missionary or any position where he can look at directly because he loves kissing during it and seeing what he's doing to you.

he's so gentle it's adorable. unless of course you ask for it not so gentle.

he is definitely one to set the mood. not always but he loves to. he'll set up little fake candles because he knows it'll go wrong if he uses real ones, soft music (he probably has a whole playlist), being all nice n flirty before he eases you to it. and not that he's an asshole usually but his usual annoyingly teasing persona fades he's just a plain loverboy during those moments.

HICKIES !!!! any and everywhere. leaving them and receiving them just, hickies.

definitely the type to lift you up while you both kiss. he may not look like it but he's strong. (not terry strong obv) but are we forgetting he broke mirrored glass with his hands? broke a mug from a squeeze and broke a piece of wood in court from one slam?

very vocal. he may even get louder than you if it feels good enough. you name it, whines, moans, whimpers, groans, cooing, everything. he is very comfortable in his own skin to not think making noise during sex is only for women.

definitely enjoys little slow makeout sessions after sex. just holding you in his arms as he softly and slowly kisses you as if you're the most fragile thing in this planet. like you could shatter if he went too rough with it.

lowkey a masochist and a sub but doesn't admit it. most he'll do is admit to being a switch which is true but if it were up to him he'd love to be the sub all the time.

he loves roleplay. i mean have you seen how fast that man comes up with undercover characters for cases?

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･

i have no idea what i went through while writing this. i just felt like i needed to get it out. WE NEED MORE JAKE PERALTA POSTS ON TUMBLR !!!

[autisticlio]

I guess while I am rambling about Promare, here is some analysis I made regarding Lio in October.

Text vers under cut

in regards to promare stuff, I was editing the wiki page for the one burnish prison and kinda thought about how lio reacts to thyma waking up like the instant meis points it out, he hurries to her side and crouches next to her

like that tells me that lio is such a caring person cause he sees this poor woman and immediately hurries to comfort her

at this point, he doesn't even know her name. it's a similar thing with the kids where the instant he sees them, he is shocked at the implications of that and stops being annoyed at the guards

lio is so kind when he wants to be. it's just he doesn't show it that much cause how much he gets beaten up in the film and doesn't fully open up to Galo until the lio de galon fightlike he gathered all these burnish and made a little hideout for them to feel safe, he gets groceries himself for them, he plays with the kids in the art book. he is such a good leader figureik the kakusei scene everyone tends to focus on, but there's a lot of little details on how he treats the burnish that is filled with such love and kindnessobvs im not saying he's a big softie. it's more that so much of the film and outside media give these little bits of humanity he has

it's so nice to see these little details when he isn't doing his cold exterior cause he trusts the burnish fully, which is what gets him betrayed by the old man

plus after the cave scene, there's a bit where lio is leaning against the window in a truck in thought

the implication there is that he is thinking about what Galo said before about just fitting him. it could be that he tried before, or at least considered it, but knows it didn't work out that or it's a case of recalling that Galo attempted to save Thyma and Lio thinking 'hm, maybe he isn't as bad as i thought'

obvs we don't know the specific thoughts, but we know that something that Galo did has him contemplating to himself

he's also shown to be upset after trying to save Thyma. the other burnish are happy, thinking she is safe, but lio is upset likely knowing it wasn't enough

it's fun to look at these details and kinda see the gears ticking in his head cause unlike Galo, he doesn't always say what he's thinking cause he keeps to himself

people think the only way lio can be interesting if he's pissed all the time. in truth though, Lio is clever, passionate, caring, and emotive (maybe even moreso than Galo in some cases)

underneath his cold facade

the thing is Lio is only now letting himself get emotional

and it's likely thanks to the cave scene cause that scene had him open up to galo, someone non burnish for once and galo actually listened

galo willingly wanted to help save thyma knowing she's burnish

lio doesn't know that he went to confront Kray from what i recall, but he began to trust Galo so much that he's willing to protect him from kray

he is devastated when he thinks Kray managed to kill galo

i think it's so weird no one points that out

cause galo opened his eyes to letting himself be him, to take pride in himself, only to see him be flung off a mech and be shocked knowing he's likely next

like we know Galo will be fine, but lio doesn't

know if his flames were enough to protect him also like. lio also heard that kray tried to kill galo multiple times and also killed his family. he was in that scene too fjfjfn

like he heard kray rambling and was like 'wow i really hate this fucker even more'

like his story is about finding acceptance in those who care about you and letting yourself be true to yourself in a world that hates you no wonder i found out i was bi and trans because of him

[forgottengodfrey]

OOC | Malconaire Hiding & AUs

CASSIMIR'S HEIR(S)

ok so @forgotteneithne raised some interesting points abt 1) who @forgottenroderick would replace @forgottencassimir w as lord of malconaire, should cassimir perish w/o a son/heir or whatever, (and since lizzy mentioned that the malconaires have no cousins on their father's side) that means that even tho there are several v healthy daughters running around (even if they had never been declared witches etc!) in roderick's eyes the line of malconaire is extinguished, so this would probs ultimately end up w roderick awarding malconaire to one of the following: @forgottenalaric @forgottensebastian bartholomew, or eoin, or (less likely given its strategic signifiance: he'd wanna keep it in the family) even to alistair. there's also a scenario where @forgottenedmund might be considered, even tho he's already got a nearby holding, but alaric or sebastian are the most likely candidates for this job (editing!kate: or ~are they ooooh ;D)

alaric is the person roderick trusts the most out of anyone (and sebastian is, in roderick's mind, as yet untested) but he ~knows alaric could hold malconaire in event of revolt, plus unlike edmund and arthur (as far as i know?), alaric doesn't yet have an astairan holding (actually ig the riverbend isn't ~technically astairan but its right there/was prev held by a naturalized astairan sooo?). HOWEVER, i can def see where roderick may have already gifted alaric the fens for these exact reasons! and he doesn't want to divide alaric's attentions/resources too much and thus leave him split and thus less effective etc etc

w sebastian, he ~is 'untested,' but he's also roderick's only son w/o an astairan holding (w the edmund caveat yknow idk). and he ~does trust sebastian, as much as he trusts anyone, really, so if alaric has the fens, then sebastian probs gets malconaire unless marian or arthur (or even sebastian himself! -- cassandra's 'failings' really reflect only on herself and her mother bc #woman unless it was smth huuuuuge like running off and marrying an astairan servant ;D jk jk but yknow) has ticked off roderick in some way right when this is going down -- this btw is an issue w ~all his sons re: this bc those family/inheritance politics ALWAYS at play in the bg lakdsjfkljsdf (daughters are not military leaders in roderick's brain so they're not considered at all for the position, even guin). in which case, bart or eoin are the candidates to get it

i actually think its possible that roderick might feel that bart has a lot on his plate, plus im guessing he's more ~administrative than ~warlike from his bio??? so roderick might just go straight to eoin?? it's also possible he makes bart lord w eoin as his 'castellan/stewart' or whatever so like...its in bart's name but everyone knows its really eoin's etc! (and/or one of those like ~styled situations where its one of ur dad's holdings but he's got so many you're as his heir sorta entitled to the use of one and called its lord etc etc etc) however, they're BOTH getting nixed if arthur's true paternity has come out, and that's the situation where we get alistair!

however, even here roderick is tailspinning re: who he can trust so its also possible in this scenario he reverts ~back to alaric and thus splits alaric's attentions or else has gone so far down the path of paranoia that he trusts ~no one and tries to hold it himself even tho obv he himself is pr busy w other stuff!

edmund also becomes a candidate in this scenario, w the malconaire and riverbend lands being formally merged under him, which isn't as i think of it really ~splitting his resources since they are, in fact, neighbors etc even tho there is the river there but still, that's any easy route for moving stuff so it still stands, and edmund doesn't ~technically have an astairan holding so yeah!

ACTUALLY ACTUALLY!! as im thinking abt this more, unless amira/godfrey/tristan/edmund has recently ticked off roderick, if this ever goes down, the more i think abt this, the more i think edmund might actually be ~the most likely candidate, even from the start. he's got the riverbend. he's already conquered malconaire so he has PROVEN he can hold it and it specifically/he's obv aware of its weaknesses etc, he doesn't ~actually have an astairan title yet, he's one of the three heirs, his uncle is his neighbor so he's got a seaborn alliance ~right there~ which would probs come to his aid if needed w/o him even having to ask, and he even seems to have good relations ~w malconaire

now, if this is after the witch thing, and so roderick is like 'edmund was LITERALLY bewitched by a malconaire witch,' then we're back to alaric or eoin being most likely (sebastian having ~also been thus bewitched and thus ~also out) but yeah!! needless to say, @forgottenamira and godfrey would def be pushing for this, ofc, but im guessing? @forgottenmarian and her faction would be ~against it? pushing for sebastian, perhaps?

so yeah the more i think abt it, actually, edmund, then alaric, then sebastian, then bart/eoin, then alistair, and finally roderick himself, are the most likely heirs to malconaire!

@forgottenrian would DEFFFFF try to put in a bid immediately when he hears cassimir's outta commission but he'd be rejected and yeah!

either way tho...if its a currently played character its def lizzy im realizing BAHAHAHA ;DDD roderick: the only person i trust for this job is actually just lizzy <3

so yeah! in any event, IF the witch thing hasn't happened, roderick would probs marry one of the malconaires to whomever he's giving malconaire to help quell any resentment of the ppl, preferably eithne but if she's married then brigit and so forth in order of age, w sonya being last since she's only an ~adopted of the prev lord and therefore doesn't carry his ~blood and we all know how thing roderick is abt bloodlines smdh

if the witch thing ~has happened, this person is still def getting an astairan bride (w the ~possible exception of edmund or sebastian since roderick is really weird abt his own blood mingling places via his kids etc laksdjfkljsdf), w preference probs going to a lorcan???? but really they can choose atp as long as she's of noble astairan birth or else SO rich/powerful/well armed that a marriage to her would help make malconaire impregnable in case of revolt etc aljsdflksjfkj

MALCONAIRES IN HIDING

and the other thing kate brought up is how godfrey will handle hiding the malconaires! ngl if he were a real person, i deffff think this would actually involve stowing them each at separate ends of the earth, esp since he's got sea power -- BUT, since this an rp and it all takes place in astaira, in separate ends of astaira BAHAHAHA and i'll justify that by saying that he doesn't know when he'll have to call them in or whatever so he wants them each close at hand, but he also wants to ensure that if one gets grabbed, the others are still out there etc, so they also don't know where the others are etc! he ~might split them two by two tho??

BUT ANYWAY!! i do think he'd probs work w the resistance network to get at least some of them out! he's gonna wanna make sure tho that only ~he knows the whereabout of at least one of them, tho, so that no matter if the others get given up he def still has one malconaire in the hand! i def feel like the fens are a pr good hiding place, lorcan another, probs kil-kennar another and so forth!

now, how does he divvy them up! godfrey def sees them each as having their own individual value and ill spell that out:

@forgotteneithne = key to malconaire! she's its lady and the ppl will rise for her/in her name! and we know our boy is jonesing for a rebellion as soon as the time is right!

@forgottenbrigit = key to the guardians! actual witch! she's the best one to help him uncover that sword and unbind the final key(s)! she's his best conduit for communicating w the guardians too and perhaps, thus, to foiling them bc if brigit trusts him and the guardians trust her, well, doesn't that just make betraying them all the easier??

@forgottenaoife = key to ronan/the resistance! i mean, @forgottenronan loves ~all the malconaires no question...but i think we all know that aoife has a v special place in his heart and, reckless as he's growing, well, that'll be easier and easier to exploit! now, he might learn too that aoife has the mind that's most like his own -- w the huge caveat that she's CLEARLY a mUCH better person lakjdsflkjsd but anyway!! lakjdfklsjdf she's watchful and creative and sees the weaknesses of others as well as her own strengths w a clear eye, etc, all of which might lead him to think she maybe could ~also play into the eithne plot esp if? she's open abt the will? godfrey would be her best route no lie to getting that thing published and prolifierated EVERYWHERE to further enrage the populace too btw!

@forgottenroisin = key to edmund's astairan affections! not just to the lad, himself, but specifically to endearing him to the astairans! ive already talked abt how godfrey wants to play up their love and then kill rosie (tho it was supposedly roderick/guin/arthur or whatever!) laksdjfkljdsf rosie: 'hey!' and thus sort of twist this tragic lost love situation into, like, edmund's fighting for you!!!! for astaira!!! for his love of house malconaire whom you ~also love and has been so maligned blah blah blah against the tyrannical emperor his own father!!1 but he chose YOU!!! etc and then get him hitched to @forgotteneilionora etc

so yeah!! as such they each have v different but v important roles in his schemes so yeah!! lakjsdfkljdskf as a result of all this, aoife and rosie are the two least likely to use the resistance network since he's specifically blackmailing ronan w aoife's wellbeing and he legit hopes to someday murder rosie and the resistance might not be too keen on that soooo lakjdsflkjdsjfjdf but eithne he'd actively love to see interacting ~w the resistance etc to help foment rebellion!!!! so she's almost certain to be hidden re: their resources, smth that'll also probs help build trust of godfrey within the resistance etc! so yeah! i don't have specific notions really beyond that atm but those're my thoughts on all of that!!

[altschmerzes]

Sooo I’ve been wanting to ask this but have also been too nervous to do so for fear of sounding too demanding or fishing for too many spoilers…but after seeing your recent post about being happy to talk about your fics, I’m just going to go for it 😂 I am very curious about how you plan to tackle episode 2x8 and the changes you’ll be making, and just…is there anything you’d be willing to share about all that?

AH YEAH ONE OF THE...... BIGGEST THINGS(TM) IN THIS ENTIRE CONCEPT AND FIC. from the BEGINNING this was gonna be Enormous no matter what and i am happy to talk about it!!! i love when people are invested in my projects tbh it makes it way more fun and engaging to work on them. you guys feed my energy to work on this thing, and thus it gets done faster, etc.

("is there anything you'd be willing to share?" [goes off on a whole big explanation that is probably WAY more than you asked for-])

so. 2x08. and all that. gonna put it under a cut again, in case 'gav explains in some degree of... detail exactly what they're gonna write in their fic' is gonna ruin the experience for you (gosh i hope not ljkdsf) but here we go (also cw for abuse here, which is probably obvious but. still.)-

2x08 is where things like... it marks the big Shift in the status quo of how things are, though the actual Events of 2x08 as translated into the au are sort of in the middle of an extended series of events that begin before it and end after it. so i'll talk through sorta the process of events that it's contained in.

basically, at the time it starts jamie is living with his dad most of the week in manchester but spending weekends staying with his friends in a rotation in richmond so he can work at nelson road on weekends. (yes, i'm aware of how far away those places are from each other. yes this is an insane commute. everybody is aware it's insane, everybody is sort of tactfully avoiding pointing it out to jamie. he does his homework on the bus, it's peaceful, he says.) he gets to richmond late fridays, goes to whichever friend whose house he's staying at that weekend, and then gets home sunday evenings.

at this point, ted is getting way more worried about jamie as time goes on, and others are too. he's been talking to his little like. war meeting of responsible adults he's consulting on whether he's right about what he's suspecting here, what to do about it, how, when, etc. and he's just recently gotten worried enough that he's given his phone number to jamie's friends at the park, shannon and company, and told them that if they're ever worried, if something ever Happens with jamie that sets off that 'i need to get an adult' instinct and they don't know who to call, they can call him. in fact, please call him. and so shannon calls him. because it's like, wednesday or thursday, jamie is not supposed to be in town this early, and he seems hurt. he seems hurt and it seems bad. by the time ted gets there, jamie has bolted and they don't know where he is. and there's just... nothing really to do. he's texting shannon saying he's fine and leave him alone.

and then there's the match at wembley. which is coming up Right Now so they have to deal with that, not like they can postpone it, so they get all the way to the match with this awareness in the back of their heads that like. jamie's out there somewhere having just had a really bad fight with his father, who very obviously based on context clues and what shannon said has beat the hell out of him, he's hurt, but they just have to sort of. keep going. for the moment.

and they lose the match obvs, and jamie went to it with his father - he and some friends are staying in town for a night or two for the event, he got jamie to arrange him tickets a bit back like in canon as well - and comes to see them after because he wants to be there when things are bad too, and that leads to a confrontation when his father comes to find him, and it gets. bad. jamie tries to defend himself but it gets violent, and by the time they're able to intervene he's been. knocked around a bit. (a bit more.)

at that point it's pretty clear that he needs a hospital. it's not life threatening, or anything like that, but it's obvious to ted and roy, who are primarily dealing with this situation (and yeah we get a version of the hug with roy - which scares the fuck out of roy when that's how it becomes clear to him that jamie is Seriously Hurt), that he's not just hurt he's injured and they cannot in good conscience not take him to a hospital. which means doctors and social workers and an overnight stay and a while where they're not allowed in the room with him while the people in charge figure out what's going on and what to do about it. jamie is released from hospital and allowed to go home with ted (and roy, who tags along for a bit, because someone needs to drive them and he can't stomach leaving just yet) late the next evening, but it's a deeply stressful and traumatic experience for all involved. jamie has a lot of healing to do, both physically and emotionally, but this is the big like. turning point towards things Being Okay in the end, finally getting him into a safe place where he'll be loved and cared for.

[i-love-you-all]

We both had a knife

AO3 Link || Youtube Link (Song inspo)

A bit of backstory on this is that I was thinking about a Viper/Omen fic. Playing a bit on my other drabble for this pair and the revelation of how Omen turned... into Omen. Obv, I have a lot of incomplete fics tho so maybe not now... And again, this was originally for Whumptober, but I'm giving up on that lol

~1.4k Words: implied death.

Though scientifically inaccurate, vipers and shadows could go hand in hand. They were both seen as “evil”, and they were widely feared. Was that why Omen found comfort in Viper when they first met? The comfort that there was someone here just as monstrous as him, even if she didn’t look like it?

Like Cypher once noted in a short exchange in the armoury, Omen had never met a “doctor” like her. Someone who viewed humans as just a pest — something to get rid of when convenient. Maybe it was because he wasn’t exactly human that she was ok with him. Maybe he was so quiet, that he has yet to fully draw her ire.

Maybe she did know who he was before he became this ghost, and her guilt prevented her from lashing out at him. But if that last one was true, it went against everything else he had said about her. Mainly, it suggested that she pitied him — and it would mean that she wasn’t as cold or monstrous as him. So, what set him apart?

A stranger to their strange dynamic would call it attraction, but they would surely die at the hands of Viper for a comment like that. What others called closeness, he saw as distance. She did not need to rebuke him ever since she never let him get close enough to be able to affect her that way. In that way, she was much closer with the likes of Jett, Raze, or Killjoy. At least she paid enough attention to those agents to know when they were performing poorly.

“Fred—”

It took one syllable to change that dynamic completely. Fred was a name, and it was a name that was directed at Omen. It was then when that seed of doubt was planted because, despite her continued appearance of ignorance, he knew otherwise.

Omen spent hours after that talk thinking about one name. He could only assume that was his name — Fred. Unassuming, perhaps the short form for a name like Frederick? Frederico? What else could he think of? And what did “Fred” do for a living? Was he just some innocent bystander? Like a mailman that one day found himself in a facility crumbling down on itself? And while everyone else escaped, Fred was trapped inside, exposed to enough raw radianite to strip him of his memories and physical form? And if that was the case, did Fred have a family? Friends? People who would ask where he went? Or perhaps Fred was better off dead.

No matter how much he tried to think back, to grasp onto any hint of a memory he could think of, there were no answers in his mind. All it ended up doing was expose him to every peaceful, calm life that he could’ve had. Might’ve had. Probably didn’t have but apparently, he liked to torture himself by dreaming of it.

For a long time after that slip up from Viper, he wondered if the Omen from the other dimension knew something. That version of Earth had already had Radianite for decades. If that Omen was also the first Radiant, then surely, he would know something more. It was a singular fixation that drove Omen forward in every mission from that point onwards. He requested to be set against the other Omen as often as he could, and in every possible opportunity, he tried to hunt them down to ask the one question that had been plaguing his mind.

The closest he ever got though was when they faced off once across a site. Omen saw the other fade back, a sign that they were going to back off for good, and he took his chance to chase after them. Sova called for him to come back, but this was far too important, and he could always explain his reasoning to Sova later, if still needed.

Just as the other Omen started to fade into the surrounding shadows, he did the only thing he could think of and ask, “Who were we?”

All he got in response was a laugh. One last cruel gift because it seemed like this Omen knew the answer, and he also knew how much the question stung. But he would not grant any peace.

Omen didn’t get an answer until he met Iso. He had been on a scan for anything he could relate to since that final encounter with the other Omen, but he had been unsuccessful. There was no trace of a past identity, no missing persons, and no other leads. Iso was the first time he saw himself in someone else.

Iso had described being a “ghost”. That he had vague memories of what he did for work, and yet he had no idea about who or what he was actually trying to accomplish. In some ways, it was the same as Omen’s ghost history as well.

He listened to every word Iso said in their interactions together. But Brimstone wouldn’t hear him on the similarities. It was always another mission, another target, another person that they needed to reach out to and bring to a separate point.

Finally, Omen’s patience snapped, pushed on by the revelation from Iso that no, he wasn’t some poor sap with a spotty memory and ulterior motives. He said that he was sent here for Omen and Omen only. And that for once, Omen had a solid lead. At once, he demanded a mission to the headquarters.

That night, Viper actually sought him out. From their tenuous friendship, despite how long they’ve known each other, Omen never expected this.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Viper asked.

He didn’t give a response. She had a point to this line of questioning, that much was clear. Even without any facial clues to give it away, he could read her well. They were as close to being friends as they could be. He supposed this was proof, even if he had his doubts.

“What do you know?”

“Nothing that will help you.”

That’s when her face… broke. That was the best way Omen could describe it. Sabine looked… sad.

“I will be fine,” he said cautiously. Was that what she was concerned about? Sabine reached up, as if she were going to grab his hood, but then she pulled back. “Nothing is going to change. But I will have my answers.”

She nodded then walked away without another word.

That was an odd interaction, there was no doubt about that, but it didn’t make sense until he was trapped in stasis. Perhaps the was the face of this man in front of him, or the floating rock this was built on, or even the shooting pains caused by this… contraption.

But between the pangs of pain, he saw bits and pieces. The vial thrown against his face, the shove, the sound of pounding glass… He lived through it again, and he watched as Sabine take small steps back as the machine whirred and as what felt like burning hot needles pierced through his hazmat suit. Though it hurt, and it was clear now that he had failed his mission, he also had that sudden realization that in this memory, he also shared some of the sadness with Sabine, along with the horror and desperation to escape what was coming.

It took all his strength to gather the bits and pieces that constituted his physical form and channel his energy into escaping this beam. He looked at his former boss until he reformed right next to him. Before the man could take any action, Omen dug his claws into the man and threw him out the window. As he watched the bits of glass fall beside the fading figure, he realized something.

Then there was one more memory, one that leaked in like a runny tap that wasn’t done yet.

It was Sabine, younger than he remembered meeting her. The door to this contraption had opened again, and she was reaching for him. To his horror he still grabbed her wrist like he was going to go through with the original plan. Even his own feelings didn’t match the action, and he saw the momentary fear in her eyes. Then, his world started to fade again.

Though she was apprehensive, especially with the wrist on her hands, she asked, “Why? I thought… I thought you…”

Just before he closed his eyes and passed onto whatever was next, he heard her say, “It’s ok. I… I’ll bring you back. Even if you meant it.”

[mermaidsirennikita]

actually i do have anecdotal proof that bton made historical market works. And its the fact that i have friends who did like the show, tried to read the books and realized they were ENTIRELY white(even tho the reprint covers obvs lean toward show cast) and then got mad that historicals are all racist. And i cant even correct them in time to tell them its just that bton is a 2 decade old not exactly top tier series 😭😭😭

Honestly, the thing is that there ARE indeed racist historical romances! And the reality is that for some readers, the fact that historical romance primarily has white wealthy landowning heroes (who probably get their wealth by exploiting people) means it'll be a hard stop for them.

Do I think this is at all the reason why MOST people aren't reading it? No. Do I think it's pretty hypocritical to put all of that on historical romance then pick up books about your friendly neighborhood rich redneck who's definitely not MAGA even though he sounds very MAGA, or billionaire romances, without holding them to the same standards? ... I do. I get where the mental block comes from, and it doesn't mean we shouldn't critique historicals. But I think it's an unfair standard to hold one part of romance to and not the other.

The reality is that there are, and have been, historical romances about people of color, usually written by people of color. As many as there should be? Absolutely not. Did those books get a boost when Bton came out? If they did, I haven't really seen it. I've seen more of a presence, but I also think that we were seeing more of a presence begin before Bton. I'm sure Bton resulted in some books getting picked up, but I don't see much follow-through on that promise in tradpub. Which isn't surprising.

And I'll also say... there are plenty of historical readers who absolutely want the white Jane Austen fantasy out of these books, and they are vocal, and they certainly don't make much of a case for newer readers joining the crowd. So that's not very helpful.

But I've heard about a lot of readers who pick Bton up as an entry to historical romance, and they're a) disappointed by the rep not mirroring the show when the covers do b) not into some of the problematic aspects of the books.

... Which I get, but I also must say.... Are we just gonna ignore the fact that season 1 of the show had That Scene? I do sometimes get a little surprised by how much people pearl clutch over pretty innocuous scenes in the books (like, for example, the recent "Michael pressured Francesca into marrying him by baby trapping her" thing, which... is not how that went down.... and cherry-picking quotes from that book doesn't make it what went down lol; and that is undoubtedly the Bton book where the heroine had the most sexual agency, and it's really not close, so to see "Thank God the show is so much better about consent" being slung around during that convo when the show depicted the a white woman raping her Black husband and then blaming him for it... and never apologizing................ was A CHOICE!) but I get that it can be be jarring. The books have some problematic content. Some it squicks me out, and I have a pretty high tolerance for older books.

And then, the reality is that a lot of classic historicals that people who have been reading the genre for years loooove are older books. Not all the content has aged well. I think that for many people who love historical romance and loved those books... they either grew up on them and therefore are used to it, OR they eeeeeased into it and now kinda forget the initial surprise they may have felt. So we're recommending books that aren't entry level to people who may need entry level books. It's not something I would really hold as AT FAULT for, but it does lead to this idea that the subgenre is one thing when it's many things.

Like... I think a perfect series for people who want to get what they liked out of Bton is Adriana Herrera's Las Leonas series. And I don't think we're really giving that series, or others like it, the flowers it deserves.

But also there are books the same age as Bton that I think would be a lot smoother for readers to get into.

*shrugs*

[crackinthecup]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

I'm not sure if you have done this already but I'd love to see which of your fics you'd rec 🖤

Ahhh thank you so much for sending this my way <3 <3 The loveliest @cilil and @dragonofmordor tagged me in this too. Really appreciate it :D

Interlude (Angbang; 3,224 words; rated E)

This is an older fic that needed a bit of sprucing; I finished rewriting it just this evening, so here it is!

After a time, a new sensation joined the puffing and shrinking of his lungs: power, like dozens of ghostly hands on his skin, like the bite of sharpest ice. Melkor. He himself appeared on the balcony some seconds later, coming to stand in Mairon’s line of sight, and Mairon smiled to see him rather than the lord, the god, the king; just him, not wearing a shirt, his black hair crownless and sleep-mussed. * Poised on the cusp of the Dagor Dagorath, Melkor and Mairon share a private moment.

2. Wait for You (Angbang; 2,055 words; rated M)

I wrote this mostly in one go in a haze of heartache after seeing Hadestown and it still brings back all those feelings for me when I re-read it :') Also, it was my first time writing in first person so that was fun.

You were not dead, I told myself. I had no cause to grieve. It seemed faithless to grieve. What, did I not believe that you would triumph over your jailors, that you would escape the nothingness beyond the stars and come back to us (to me) like you had all those aeons ago?

3. No Other Choice (Elwing & Elrond & Elros feat. Maedhros & Maglor; 2,566 words; rated T)

Is the Elwing Defence Squad still a thing? BECAUSE I AM IN IT. With this one, I wanted to grapple with the choice Elwing had to make during the attack on the Havens—an impossible choice in an impossible situation.

“Your word means nothing,” she spits at him, baring her teeth, nearly shaking with anger as sudden as a cataclysm. The sea roars behind her, cold droplets spraying up and flecking her bare legs. “I do not barter with murderers.”

4. Old and New (Celebrimbor & Calairië, which is my name for his mum; 1,470 words; rated T)

This is an older one and I don't love how it's written anymore, but! Reunions fascinate me and this is Celebrimbor reuniting with his mother Calairië (meaning Sea Light) after his stint in the Halls, and also I adore Calairië and want to write about 10,000 more things about her.

“Not so, my darling,” Calairië says, voice quiet but vehement, and in that moment Celebrimbor feels young, and he feels loved, and he realises how much he has missed both of those things. “No one can shoulder the weight of the world on their own, though your father and your grandfather both tried in their own ways.”

5. Moments (Angbang; 9,163 words; rated E)

This fic. THIS FIC. It was meant to be short and fun and sexy, but then I started writing and Melkor had completely different ideas and this is the end result. I went on A Journey here, and it really highlighted for me how much I enjoy writing Melkor's POV, which feels raw and kaleidoscopic and just really interesting to get stuck into.

“The sortie was a triumph,” Mairon says, holding the helm upon his lap and gazing up into his face. He smiles a smile that grows and stretches, wider and wider, as though there is something within him that cannot be contained. Something vast. Something keen. “Beleriand is open to us. Those who thought we could be penned in, who thought our might the lesser, lived to regret such misapprehensions. Or,” he adds, showing his teeth, “did not live, as the case may be.” Melkor is drawn to that smile, to the something—vital, beguiling���underneath it. He reaches out. Places the leather of his gloved palm and fingers upon Mairon’s cheek. Beneath the leather, pain tingles, his burned skin protesting the contact. Mairon nuzzles against him, eyes flickering shut, a noise issuing from him that is happy and mindless, like the purr of some great pleased beast; and Melkor forgets the pain. “Congratulations are in order, I should think,” he tells him, “to the brilliant mind who engineered this victory.”

[giuliettacapuleti]

The musical Notre-Dame De Paris is one of my faves (esp the Italian version) BUT imo it could be SO much better than it is, and I don’t know why they insist on never changing anything but the costumes (and they didn’t even change those that much). It’s so late 90s/early 2000s, and not in the good way. Here are my issues: (Obvs this is just my personal opinion)

The sets. Let me be clear: I totally understand what they’re doing with the modern/brutalist style. But it’s ugly. Esmeralda is singing about how beautiful the cathedral is and it’s literally a few concrete-looking columns. I get that it’d be pretty difficult to actively try to make the set look like one of the most beautiful cathedrals ever, but still. It’s depressing.

The costumes. Update them. God please. The only Esmeralda dress I can abide is the Italian, because of the lace and fact that it is easier to dance in. Other versions are a) boring and b) difficult to move in. Even though it’s only really shown in the scene right before Bohemienne, it’s established that Esmeralda is a dancer. I even think it’s possible to go with the same ragged, borderline-apocalyptic style, but have it be more interesting and make sense for the characters. The update had the opportunity to go with a totally different look, but they kept it virtually the same. They changed Esmeralda’s dress so that it’s easier to dance in, but the material is still boring and the color is (imo) not aesthetically pleasing.The chainmail on Phoebus’ costume looks fake and weird (why doesn’t he have anything under it???). According to an actor who played Phoebus, the chainmail is actually real, and really difficult to perform with on. Essentially, the actor suffers for absolutely no reason, because despite being real it looks hella fake. I will say that additional costume Frollo wears is interesting because I think it’s a nod to the Requiem Mass vestments he wears at one point in the book, but it looks cheap.

I do like Gringoire’s pants and coat though, I must say that.

THE WHISTLE SONG. It makes no sense. In the book, Quasimodo gives Esmeralda a whistle in case she needs help. She later uses this whistle to call him to her aid when Frollo sneaks into her room and tries to assault her. But this scene never happens, and she doesn’t use it.

Where the Hell is Quasimodo during the police/refugee altercation? Just chilling in the bell tower? No seriously where is he.

Despite the fact that Frollo’s obsession with Esmeralda is what drives the whole story, they only have one (roughly three minute) scene together. In the book, they have three major interactions (not counting when he stabs Phoebus): the prison scene in which he declares her love and she rejects him, another scene that occurs after Quasimodo rescues her, in which she is in the tower and Frollo declares his love again and tries to sexually assault her, and a final scene where he declares his love for the final time and threatens to give her up to the authorities if she doesn’t go with him. These three scenes are condensed to a single scene and it’s so rushed and weird.

Fleur’s scenes. We only get two main female characters compared to, what, five main male characters? Her role is limited to Esmeralda’s rival and that’s it. It eliminates the sub-plot of Esmeralda’s long lost mother (which they do omit in most adaptions, and this musical is already two hours long, not to mention the problematic Romani child abduction element), but this means that this adaption does not even pass the Bechdel test and is limited to two female main characters.

compared to the male characters who have songs like “Belle” and “Tu vas me détruire”, Esmeralda’s songs are pretty lackluster. But this is a personal opinion.

The sung-through element. This one is definitely just a personal preference. The original Notre-Dame de Paris musical is French, and the French seem to prefer what are essentially concerts, with minimal costumes and sets. There is an emphasis on the vocals and not acting, which you can see in the French vs Italian and Hungarian versions of Romeo et Juliette. And this is totally fine if that’s what you prefer. But personally, if I’m watching a musical I want to watch the actors act as well as sing, and I don’t mind act-singing even at the expense of less than perfect vocals. I also prefer some speaking, as it makes the story more ‘real’. But again, total personal preference. I didn’t think much of the original French version when I first saw it. It wasn’t until I saw the Italian version and realized how passionate the actors were that I really fell in love with the musical.

Gosh, this sounds really negative. But I can’t stress enough that do really love this musical, it’s my favorite adaption of the novel (and weirdly one of the most accurate despite the fact it isn’t all that accurate), I just think it has to potential to be so much better.

[goldenpinof]

as someone who works in PR/comms doing campaigns promoting events and releases it feels like Dan hasn’t got a specialist person or team to run his marketing and press strategy?

If I was gonna guess I’d wonder if he has one company running the whole thing and they are more of an events focused operation and don’t specialise in press and comms stuff because they are being super inconsistent and are missing many of the normal steps you take when running these things.

I also suspect Dan isn’t making it super easy for them, it’s hard to get engagement when your key spokesperson doesn’t really want to do media stuff and isn’t necessarily willing to do things like give you access to their socials or put out your comms material when you tell them to. Obvs it’s totally up to him what kind of promo work he wants to do and feels comfortable with, but it does have an impact if you don’t do it and I guess we’re seeing some of that

i agree. it can be the case. the main indication that there's a team working on promo materials was that image with friday instead of saturday that Dan had to fix by himself. his "literally about 10 people's jobs" comment made me wanna cry, laugh and throw things. because YES, but also honey, you do need to go through the text before posting it to 7 million people to see trjgdfjewsew always. i do think that AEG/AXS has a marketing department that prepares images and posters. (i doubt it's irl merch, it shouldn't be their job).

well, i assume Dan doesn't like a formal advertisement. thus there are more natural/creative ways to do it. but posts/posters with dates and cities are mandatory, he must understand it. inconsistent you say hehe. yeah, remember that short videos from the venues hours before the shows? could be a good idea if they weren't made last minute. did they change the sales? no. they could have tried the same format but posted those videos a couple of days before the shows so more people could see them? just saying:) he could also make a deal of arriving at the geographical places of the shows. so people could see that he is in their city/town and spike their interest. anyways, any changes should be addressed at least in a tweet that can be deleted after the tour. it's the same old song we had during ii, the scale is smaller because there are no tbc dates. all of this can be done without giving access to his socials. i'm not sure if they are telling him to put out materials. looking at the Warsaw show announcement it was done last minute and no one really cared about following the fucking blueprint. creative issue? the lack of determination? communication problems within the team and Dan? trying new things? all of the above? but knowing Dan it could be done on purpose.

[wcrriorhearts]

𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓷𝓼 — send 💭 + a topic to receive a headcanon about said topic.

@cosmicacy said: 💭 + dragon magic ( based on that theory we were talking about ) 👀

Right, this is gonna be a lot of unhinged conspiracy theory waffling now, because we know next to nothing about dragon magic in the GOT world, so I will just give you my ideas, but i don't expect anyone else to agree with me :D

There are 2 things we do know: Valyrian magic was always closely connected to fire and it allowed those with magic powers to bond with and control dragons. Aside from that, it seems that magic in the world in general has always been tied to dragons. Magic had almost entirely vanished from the world of GOT, aside from some dark magic and blood witches basically, but as soon as Dany's dragons lived, magic seemed to be getting stronger everywhere. So it is needless to say that dragons are either in possession of strong magic themselves, or strong amplifiers, but I would suggest they are a bit of both.

I will entirely neglect the show's stance on the dragon magic, because the whole 'we can never tame dragons fully' and nailing saddles to the dragons shit completely negates the beauty of the magical bond a rider has to their dragon, so this will be mostly book based ( even though there is also only very little and vague information about such things ).

The magic between a dragon and its rider, to me, is a connection that is woven between their very souls. It strengthens with time and experience, but there is an undeniable invisible string between them that allows both sides to always feel connected to the other. Even though all dragon riders speak High Valyrian to their mounts and it may seem that this is their way of taming and teaching a dragon, I personally would rather suggest that it is a mere way of communication and sticking with tradition, but that the act of commanding a dragon happens almost entirely nonverbal, communicated by feelings and intentions the dragon senses, which could explain Vhagar's reaction in the Lucerys drama, bc she was acting on what Aemond felt, as he got carried away emotionally. Therefore the connection between a rider and their mount is very deep and profound in most cases. I would argue, however, that the first bond a dragon forges is always the strongest, but also that the bond between a hatchling and a child is different from the bond that a dragon forges with a rider who claims them. In the case of the hatchlings ( given there has never been an account of one of them rejection the child it hatched to, other than the abomination that hatched from Laena's egg that tried to eat her ), it is a bit like a duckling imprinting on the person it sees first. So their souls are connected almost from the very beginning and I would imagine that the dragons are even more an extension of themselves, because they have never lived a life without their dragons in them ( if the dragon hatched in the cradle obvs ). I would not say that their bond is necessarily stronger, but different from that of a dragon that was claimed. It is, in my opinion, definitely a difference whether someone is born into something, or if two kindred souls find each other ( eg. actively CHOSING a rider/dragon is probably a different experience for both ).

There is, in my opinion, also a correlation between female dragon riders of house Targaryen and dragons, or rather their magic and fertility. I don't think it is a coincidence that during the time of the dance, Syrax was the most fertile dragon ever recorded and they had as many dragons as they hadn't had since Old Valyria, while Rhaenyra herself was also very fertile. Syrax produced several clutches in a very short amount of time, which was not necessarily normal. The Dance also produced more dragon riders than ever, with all the children that had dragons on top of the adults. I also think there is a definite connection between Rhaenyra being the youngest dragon rider ever to bond with a dragon ( eg. carries strong magic ), her dragon producing the most eggs that hatched and her children all growing up with hatchlings, except for Viserys. Then in return, staying with the idea that women carry stronger dragon magic, we see Dany, who brings dragons back into existence after over 170 years and rings in a new dragon age basically, whereas Rhaenyra was the one living when dragons flourished the most after Old Valyria. Helaena also had a very strong connection to Dreamfyre during that time. I'm not very good at expressing my point, but I believe that women as dragon riders are vital and important for not only the prosperity of the dragons themselves, but also the land and the people in a way, as well as magic in general, and that their fertility is linked to that of their dragons, regardless if female or male, yet you notice it more in females bc they produce eggs.

Aside from that, I believe that the bonding experience is a very individual process that looks different for each rider and their dragon and depends on the way they bond & their age. With a dragon dreamer like Helaena, I would assume that her connection to Dreamfyre was forged in a dream, whereas the experience will look different for others, who cannot hear dragons sing for them in their sleep. Adults also might feel an entirely different pull than children who claim a dragon, in which case I would suggest that the dragon is more aware of the connection than the child, because they will not know what to look for and what it may feel like.

this was a lot of rambling and idk if it made sense tbh, but that's my idea on dragon magic

[ladyseidr]

it's miserably hot so i Just Got Here but uh ke.l notes on my portrayal dump or whatever ( will contain spoilers! i was going to try to keep it mild but it, like, one hc in i realized it wasn't possible )

i do Not vibe with the idea that ke.l is the simplest character / least developed because what are we forgetting "they ignored me, hehe. . ." OR aub.rey's "i didn't realize people deal with grief in different ways" ????????

he's not a "himbo" he has ADHD and is trying his best ( and also his hea.dspace-self is literally 12 like damn give him a break fkdshflsadj )

"there are no signs that he's bothered by his brother being the golden child" we did not play the same game, but yeah no like he loves hero soooooo much but there's no way i'm looking past the whole "they ignored me" thing on top of the way he avoids his house / mother like the plague at parts. like, yes, i actually think his parents love him but his mother is fr so much like mine ( not the golden child part, everything else ) so i know what i'm talking abt kfhdsafhdslh. parents can be loving but also extremely judgmental ( or worse ), those are sadly not contradictions in my experience

i'm obv a good / true ending person, and for the record: yes he forgives sun.ny. it takes a while to fully work through it all, but he's verbally forgives him like. definitely quicker than everyone else

big big big big "i'm always there for everyone but no one's ever there for me" vibes, like i think sun.ny might be the exception, but i do think most ppl who know ke.l see his sometimes-forced confidence / happiness and silliness and just think he's fine

okay so this is probably projecting but the whole "oh he supposedly moved on really fast and started doing all these sports and making a ton of friends etc etc" thing does not read like him just "getting over it," it reads like how i cope with grief: by not coping with it. don't get me wrong, distracting yourself can sometimes be a healthy part of grief but in my case, i wouldn't let myself feel it at all and like. especially with hero suffering????? i really feel like ke.l bottled it up and tried to be strong for his brother and at some point he did or will crack

i am a big fan of ke.l visiting mar.i's grave super often hc tho

in the same vein as like, everything above, his whole "i thought i would just mess it up / make everything worse" ( i am not looking up exact quotes, bear with me ) is so. . . like i think he's literally a little fucked up from not being able to read the room / read social cues well when he was younger ( which, like, literally canonical ). like he was literally scared to reach out to his grieving friends, presumably even before the argument with hero??? all because he might make it worse????? kill me

okay okay okay okay on a lighter note: so bisexual and yes i'm gonna be honest i stand by my Has A Crush On Su.nny headcanon. i didn't choose this life, my gay ass brain chose it for me

( on that note i do still find ke.l/aubr.ey/su.nny/bas.il extremely funny. collects almost the entire friend group and hero is just like "why???????????" )

he's so extroverted i mean this is canon ( "while you were working i sat on a bench and talked to strangers!" ) but it Has to be noted. everybody is a potential friend to him. where's that one post that's like "i'm not here to make friends (big dumb smile) i'm here to make BEST friends"

loyal to a fault, protective to a fault, and full of bad ideas ( affectionate )

so touchy, physical affection is so his thing. yes this is also canon but he's a big hugger for sure

bringing up the ADHD thing again because it's so real, i was replaying the junkyard part and the whole "what were we looking for again" followed by "were we looking for something? :)" like 10 minutes later is SO funny, he's just like me for real

he saved sun.ny's life. like we do acknowledge that right. you can only get bad endings if you don't open the door to ke.l. opening the door and letting ke.l finally reconnect with sun.ny after trying so long is the only path to a good ending. sobs into my hands.

anyway