#back and forth rambling

[yandereunsolved]

If the yans hate me touching my co-stars casually they are going to hate the end of most of our plays- because the professor is a hopeless romantic and he keeps either picking plays with romantic endings or changing them to have romantic endings, which is really funny when I think about it because it means most of the usual cast has kissed on stage with the rest of the usual cast, and also done the whole "method act relationships" which means there are like 3 different "couples" every time we start a new play and I have been asked if we're cheating on each other or poly by girls who realize we either start "dating" someone else a or just stop dating few weeks later, and I've also been asked if the entire theatre department is in a polycule because someone will have a fake partner and then kiss their real partner right infront of them and it's great, the yans would hate it because nobody could ever give a coherent answer about whos dating who, which means that even if they tried to spread the rumor that like, I was dating them and cheating or something (I can't imagine what they'd do other then just kill my co-star so, cheating rumor it is) people would just be like "huh, I wonder who thought they were dating, oh well" It's great, also if they killed my co-star I think I'd force them into the play but specifically as prop holders or background characters (we have enough of a group to have understudies, which tbh makes the relationship rumors even weirder because the understudies need to make chemistry with each other and the main actors because we don't know if we'll need to replace someone until the day of the play) anyway, the Targaryen's would be sitting there seething because the ending of a play is a kiss and there is literally nothing to hide the fact it's a kiss (unless the actor specifically asks for it because they aren't comfortable kissing, but I don't usually do that because I don't have a partner and don't mind most physical intimacy with people as long as everyone involved knows it's platonic- which the yans would also probably hate) but I'm also imagining the batfam with this because I think it'd be really funny if they can't info gather about my relationships past or present simply because everyone has a different answer- the school news paper has a section dedicate to break ups and get togethers for some reason, and that section has another section dedicated to theatre students specifically because the more dramatic theatre students- a rare breed for us, I know- will publicly and very over emotionally break up with eachother at the end of plays when they no longer need to make chemistry, and as such the batfam would be left trying to ask around because this couple broke up a few days ago?? why have they both gotten with someone else already??

-☀️ (sorry my response took so long- I've already got a project due for organic chemistry and have been focusing on that for a bit, so I didn't see your response until just now)

Don't feel bad for taking a second to respond! I take long to respond too. We've both got lives outside of Tumblr. You come first in your own life. You responding back to my responses can come somewhere below that.

The Targaryens would be having a day. A week. An existence. Like it isn't as if they can just kill everyone. ... Can they?

You are going to have to tell them no like cats. Probs get a spray bottle. It's mostly for Aegon. Aegon wants to date everyone you have 'dated' to learn more about you.

It also makes me think if they'll wonder if you are in some sort of brothel-theater mashup.

"Oh. But you kiss everyone. It's only a problem when I try to do it!?" (Aemond & Daemon, probably)

Helaena would just love to see the props and watch the rehearsals.

Alicent would like sowing costumes for you.

Rhaenyra is oddly protective in a way (besides the whole yandere thing) like "If one of them hurts you I will break all the bones in their body and have them strung from the ceiling. Love you, sweetheart. Have a great rehearsal."

[bonesandthebees]

one of the most infuriating things about becoming an adult is when you realize that it actually is 10x easier to solve problems by making a phone call vs literally any other communication method

[kaogens]

my big chicken waif

[feathers-second-face]

OH!!! OH!!!

DO YOU SEE THIS??

DO YOU SEE IT??

SHE'S TOUCHING HIS SHOULDER!!

Oh mah gawd. He doesn't let anyone touch him unless they're his friends.

If they aren't his friends, he'll either lean away or wipe off his hand. He hates being touched if he's not the one initiating it, to the point of wiping his sleeve off when Lucifer's hat just BARELY grazed against it.

He didn't wipe his shoulder off when Charlie stopped touching him either.

AND!!!

And!!!

Before You Say 'He did lean away', or 'She wasnt actually touching him, her hand was just near him', Take A Look At This!!

Look closely at how he moves when she splits them up. He doesn't lean away, she SHOVED him. She actively MOVED him. That wasn't an 'oh she's making contact with me, guess I should lean away', it was a 'well she's shoving me now, I'll shut up for a minute'.

Which also proves she WAS touching him. She couldn't have shoved him if she wasn't making contact.

He didn't lean away from it, he didn't retaliate. The ONLY people he lets touch him are people he cares for. And not only did she put her hand on his shoulder, she actively pushed him back, and he showed no sign of discomfort towards it. So why am I screaming about this?

Because he DOES care! It proves he cares for her. Don't get me wrong, I still think saying he's her 'dad' is a bit of a strech, but he does care enough to let her touch him. He doesn't dislike or even have a neutral opinion on her. She's his friend, even if just a little bit.

Just an edit to clarify; I know 'friends' is probably also not the best word to use, but it's just the easiest way for me to describe it.

[tannnnblogs]

[smokbeast]

.w. Gale like

Bnuuy cookie?

he has mixed feelings about it but he likes it hehe

[luck-of-the-drawings]

THIS THING IS SCUUUFFED AS HELL & ITS ALSO THE BEST THING I HAVE ANIMATED THUS FAR. IM SO IN LOVE WITH EMIZEL. JUST WISH I GAVE HIM MORE STUPID TATTOOS. NEXT TIME THO. NEXT TIME. I ALSO LOVE VEX&VIV SOOOO MUCH. charlies flavor of Deranged is my FAVORITE!!

[gingermintpepper]

Okay, let's finally talk about EPIC's Apollo

I feel very compelled to say, first of all, that I do not dislike Epic. In fact, I am very fond of Epic and have been following its production and status very eagerly! I attend all the launch streams, I watch all of Herrans' update videos; I am, at the end of the day, a fan and I want it to be known that my words are spoken out of love and passion as much as they are spoken from a place of critique.

So really, what my problem with Epic's Apollo?

In the briefest possible terms; the choice to have Apollo be defined by his musical aspect in God Games is thematically strange. And not in the 'oh well in the Odyssey, Apollo was important to Odysseus and his family so it's weird that that wasn't kept in Epic' strange, strange in the sense that Odysseus' character arc since My Goodbye has been getting more and more obviously Apollonian and so it is positively bizarre that when we get to meet Apollo, the god seems entirely disinterested in him and his affairs. So much so that he is not even defined by any station that would indicate that he has been watching over and protecting Odysseus and his family.

What do I mean by 'Odysseus has been following an Apollonian arc'? I'm so glad you asked!

Remember Them is the last song in which Odysseus explicitly uses his sword until Mutiny where he must use it to defend himself against Eurylochus' blade. He uses it to help enact the plan to conquer Polyphemus and, due to Polites dying in that battle, Polites who wished for Odysseus to put the blade down entirely and embrace a post-war life, Odysseus also retires his sword. This is an action that symbolically separates him from Athena - and the image of Odysseus as a traditional warrior set for him in Horse and Infant - as much as My Goodbye physically separates him from the goddess and her war-ways - from this point onwards, Odysseus will no longer be leaning on Athena's wisdom or methods to solve his problems. Likewise, he will no longer be able to rely on her protection.

Odysseus thusly solves most of his upcoming problems through diplomacy and avoidance. He approaches Aeolus - a strange and ambiguous god (both in gender and in motivation) and appeals to them for help. Circe too, he approaches not with wishes to conquer or for revenge, but for the safe returning of his men and an alternate way forward. In all of these scenarios, there is some Apollonian element which is subtly interweaved alongside the influence of other gods; it is with a bow and arrows that Polyphemus' sheep is slain (and thus it is this Apollonian element which is at the root of Odysseus' spat with Poseidon), it is a vision of Penelope that warns Odysseus that his men are about to open Aeolus' wind-bag, Circe's peace offering to Odysseus is to refer him to a prophet of Apollo who has since died.

In this way, Apollo is walking alongside Odysseus for all of his journey after Athena departs - even in the Underworld, he is guiding him. It is Tiresias' proclamation that is the last straw for Odysseus, it is by the power of a mouthpiece of Apollo that Odysseus decides to embrace his ruthlessness. It is with the bow and arrow that Odysseus subdues the siren who sought to trick him, likewise, Odysseus does not attempt to undermine or escape the fate of paying Scylla's passage price - he knows of the doom about to befall the six men and quite unlike the rest of the journey until this point, he does not fight against it. This all comes to a head on Thrinacia where it is a blade which sacrifices the sun god's cow and brings destruction upon the crew once more.

My point with all of this is that when I heard the teasers for God Games years ago, it made perfect sense to me that Apollo would be Round One - he is not Odysseus' adversary and has no reason to oppose Athena's wish to free him. From other teasers about what will happen in the climax of Epic, Apollo will still be walking alongside Odysseus - it is Apollo's bow that Penelope will give the suitors to string. Likewise, it is Apollo's bow that will prove Odysseus' legitimacy and identity. That bow will be the power by which Odysseus hunts his adversaries and cleans out his palace - it is Apollo who is the avatar of Odysseus' ruthlessness, not Athena.

So tell me, truly, what was the point of having Apollo raise a non-argument in God Games? Why have him appear unconcerned, aloof and slightly oblivious? Why have him appear in his capacity as the Lord of Music at all?? And if the intention was never to make Apollo an active player in Odysseus' life like he was in the Odyssey, why keep Odysseus as a primary archer?

The answer of course is that Apollo is inextricable from the fabric of the Odyssey - his influence and favour exudes from Odysseus just as much as Athena's. In Athena's ten year sulk, it would have been Apollo who kept Telemachus and Penelope safe. It would have been Apollo protecting Odysseus from Poseidon's gaze as he travelled the seas (according to the Odyssey anyway)

Forgive me for not being excited about something that I thought was being purposefully set up. I was extremely ecstatic about all of the little Apollonian details that litter the sagas because I know where this story ends up (loosely) but all God Games did was reveal that maybe those Apollonian details were not intentional at all, but merely the ghost of the Apollo who persistently haunts those he favours, even if he cannot explicitly come to their aide in an adaptation.

[hopelessfandomfreak]

hear me out: hadestown au with elphaba and glinda as orpheus and eurydice, and agatha and rio as persephone and hades

[coyle-and-co]

franco babe, you good there???? do you need help????

[gaywarcriminals]

I am so obsessed with PIDW Bingning; they’re like if tragic yaoi could be hetero. Neither of them could give the other enough but they were still too important to each other not to try, not to keep reaching for the echoes of a relationship that effectively died when LBH was shoved into the abyss.

In SVSSS, the two people we see LBH truly love are his mother and SQQ: both are relationships characterized by protecting him to the point of putting their lives over Binghe’s. This interpretation was solidified for me by how quickly LBH switches from unsure of his shizun’s change of heart (though perhaps warily hopeful) to fully and unquestioningly devoted to SQQ. As miserable as LBH is each time SQQ dies or is grievously injured for his sake, it undeniably lights something up in his brain that makes him feel cared for.

Bingge never gets that. As an adult, I think that Bingge is doomed to remain eternally ignorant of this desire, because how could the emperor of the three realms need protecting? He’s no longer a little boy who has to hide behind a woman’s skirts.  In his discipleship, NYY is in a strange grey area with that where she does want to take care of him, but just is a child herself and does so clumsily, incompletely, and often makes things worse. She is the in it person who cares for him while he’s an abused disicple on QJP, and for that he loves her, but she does nothing— can do nothing— to change his circumstances, while sitting in the seat of favor herself, and for that I think he also resent her a bit. He would feel guilty and ungrateful for such and emotion, but burying it only lets it take seed for the future and grow a further wedge between their adult selves.

For Ning Yingying’s part, she fell in love with a sweet, hardworking, and yet to be fully blackened young man. The Binghe who leaves the abyss no longer resembles her childhood sweetheart. He uproots her entire life, kills people she grew up with and burns the place she’s called home longer than any other, and she can’t even truly begrudge him for it because she’s no longer a naive child and hindsight gives the past clarity. How can she listen to Binghe’s stories and claim he is not owed justice? He is not the cute boy who would’ve tried to devote himself to her as her husband, but she still sees parts of him peeking through. Is it wrong to want to care for him now that it’s too late? Now that she’s just one of many?

[chronicowboy]

because we know all it takes for evan buckley to have an epiphany is a Single Kiss i think gerard should be saying some bullshit about the 118 turning a bunch of good manly firemen gay and then he turns to eddie and is like "better watch out, diaz, don't want the rainbow to catch you too" and eddie is fed up of this man's bullshit actually so just walks over to buck (he's closest, that's why, that's the ONLY reason guys, stop laughing at him) and plants a Very Firm kiss right on buck's mouth and whilst mildly (see: on the verge of another heart attack panic attack) freaking out (buck is essentially catatonic at this point btw) turns around to captain bigot like "whoops i think the mustache must have caused some drag, slowed me down, couldn't outrun the rainbow, anybody want any skittles? want to taste the rainbow, captain?" hen and chimney are holding in gleeful laughter. buck hasn't breathed once. eddie runs away to go freak out in private. buck looks at chimney for help who just throws his hands up like "i'm not kissing you", looks to hen "hey now don't look at me these lips are for karen and karen only". buck, in an act of both extreme self preservation and destruction goes "GUYS eddie just kissed me! he's clearly in crisis mode. we need to do something about this!" bonus: cut to eddie heading into a confessional booth like "i kissed my best friend and technically made him cheat on his boyfriend but i don't feel all that bad about it and i only did it to get back at a bigot and i know revenge is frowned upon by the bible but that guy wasn't loving thy neighbor you know. anyway is kissing a man a sin? ive heard conflicting things so id love some clarification on that because i might want to do it again" and the hot priest's katy perry ringtone goes off again, he hasn't learnt from his mistakes with bobby in s1, and hot priest is like "haha well as you can probably tell i dont preach loving men as a sin in my congregation" and eddie's like ".....oh..... my god ?????" they're both flustered by each other so they both accidentally come out of the confessional at the same time and look at each other and eddie's like "oh im definitely going to hell" and hot priest laughs before smiling shyly and goes "want to tell me about your best friend?"

[thedubiousdallon]

I'm chewing enthusiastically on the possibilities of an AU featuring Taylor, Lisa, and Brian as cluster triggers. Setting aside the incredible AU gymnastics required to make something resembling their canon triggers occur in close proximity and rapid succession to each other, the possibilities of their versions of each other's powers have me frothing at the lips.

I think their versions of each other's powers should still be shaped towards their own traumas, so:

Taylor's version of Brian's power focuses more on the power copying than the darkness. I think when she makes contact with a parahuman, she picks up an extremely weak version of their power for a short time. Like, touching Sundancer would let her make a match flame. But when her bugs touch a parahuman, they also gain a weak version of the power, and she can use a large swarm of very weak powers to very great effect. I think her version of Lisa's power would give her insight specifically on power mechanics and interactions; she can extrapolate power function from seeing it in use or its consequences.

Brian's version of Taylor's power would, I think, be a very direct, more limited form. I think he can, with concentration, manifest bugs out of darkness that he can control to the same degree that Taylor controls her swarm. What he does not get, however, is her multitasking ability, and if he's not maintaining active concentration on a group of his shadow bugs, they dissolve. So manifesting and using more than a small number for a simple task is pretty incapacitating for him. His version of Lisa's power is all about his own presentation; he can intuit how people perceive him and what he would need to do to change their perception of him into something different.

Lisa's version of Taylor's power would be all about information gathering - she can manifest a very small number of bugs under her control, and her control doesn't have much finesse, but she can process their sensory input extremely well. Her version of Brian's power would let her tag people with clinging shadows via projectile - as long as the shadow lingers, she can sense exactly where they are relative to her in great detail.

And that's not even touching on what their cluster power balancing would be! Something fun and psychological that really plays up the opportunity for cluster bleed through and kiss-kill dynamics.

It'd also be a ton of fun to explore how that bleed through affects them all psychologically, especially if they come together at a point in time where Lisa and Brian are as new to and insecure in their powers as Taylor. I think there's room for delightfully frightening shades of codependence only previously visible to shrimp.

And, of course, I think that would all almost inevitably lead to what would be simultaneously the most emotionally horny and emotionally repressed threesome known to man. None of them would be able to look each other in the eyes for weeks - except for Lisa, who Won the threesome, something that is not only possible but extremely Normal and Healthy, thank you very much.

[stylish-fish]

A List of Miscellaneous Rouxls Kaard Headcanons

(because i keep thinking about him A LOT and feel like sharing some of my thoughts)

1. He came up with the fancy spelling of his name himself. His name was originally written how it's pronounced (rules card).

2. A lot of the way he presents himself is based on trying to appear "historical" because he's convinced that makes him look sophisticated and superior. He, however, doesn't really know that much about history and is usually just making stuff up. He will often also just come up with historical "facts" to back up his lifestyle with. For example, he likes eating bugs, so he will tell people that this is what they did back in the 1600s or Middle Ages, and he's just being "Authenticke" and not weird at all.

3. Makes his voice sound deeper on purpose. Voice gets more high-pitched when he's distressed. Overall, the pitch in his voice varies A LOT, it can go from very low to very high even in the same sentence. He does that to appear dramatic, of course.

4. Was originally simping for the King, which changed pretty quickly though when the Lightners came along. Terrible taste in men, I know. He is really into evil tyrants in general.

5. Before being promoted to the Duke of Puzzles, he had never been very high-ranking at all. In fact, his former position was among the most insignificant the court could offer. That didn't stop him from very much pretending to be a distinguished nobleman to everyone he met. He pretty much believed he was "destined" to be important and high ranking, and surely would end up as such some day.

6. Assuming the Darkners' ages work in any way similar to those of the Lightners', he is currently ~32 years old.

7. Writes dramatic love poetry for his lovers with a quill and ink, but he isn't very good at it at all. To him it's mostly about desperately trying to convince his love interest of how good of a partner he is and how much being with him will be worth it and his way of going at it is just talking about how hot and talented and intelligent he is for 3 pages. He sees that as a surefire way to convince people to be with him. He might then offhandedly mention how "Evile and Powerfule" his love interest is in the final verse.

8. Never bothered to learn the difference between "thou" and "you", thinks they're interchangeable.

9. Nobody really knows what exactly he is or where he came from. It's believed even he doesn't know. This kind of sets him apart from other card darkners, who have suits and families they belong to — he has none, he's an anomaly as far as he's concerned. He's never met his biological family.

10. His accent used to originally be part of a show he'd put on to impress the kings and he would still talk normally to people of lower rank. However, the accent became ingrained with his everyday speech pretty quickly and now he just uses it all the time. It does still drop occasionally, especially when he becomes distressed. He also uses it less when he's being sincere or less stressed.

11. Back when he was the shopkeeper of Card Castle, Lancer would be his most frequent customer. Lancer, of course, either never had any money on him or would try to use something utterly bizarre as payment, so Rouxls would just end up giving him worms and the roux for free and pretending to hate it. That's pretty much what Lancer's diet consisted of in those days. Rouxls, of course, never gained any funds from this.

12. He has a distaste for sweet things and much rather prefers eating savoury food like worms and other slimy and soft foods like that. They are sometimes cooked, but very rarely.

13. Under the King's rule, he was pretty much considered someone who you would not want to get into an argument or drama with. Not because he was particularly impressive or formidable at it, but because if he felt like any of his subjects outclassed or humiliated him, he'd use his influence get them to jail for petty reasons and/or fabrigated charges. That's how much he cared about his image. He wasn't that good of a government official in general, he was incompetent and could pretty easily be bribed into doing anything.

14. He likes tasting different expensive wines and acting all pretentious about them because he's certain that makes him look like a sophisticated guy. However, he doesn't actually like them that much. His most well-guarded secret is that he only enjoys really cheap and shitty vodka mixes.

15. He enjoys gossip and as the Duke of Puzzles in Card Castle he would oftentimes eavesdrop the castle servants when they were gossiping about something. However, a lot of the time he would just become disappointed because it was just about him, and worse than that, absolutely embarrassing (and true) things as well. He ended up interrupting the conversations a lot and emphasizing just how WRONG they are about him — but not appearing very convincing at all, further fueling the rumors and even accidentally creating new ones.

16. Having found the Thrash Machine in the trash, he's gone to trash dump a lot in general. He particularly looks for things like old books, furniture, decorations and other antique he can use for his room or sell at his shop. It's a fun hobby of his.

[apollocabinrep]

My short-term Roman Empire rn is the LeeLuke divorce, esp bc I just know it's gotta be dramatic. Lee is an Apollo kid first and foremost. That shit definitely happens in Elysium, as soon as Luke gets there.

Castor just hands a stack of papers to Luke, who is deadass so confused. And Castor's like, "Your husband, Lee's words not mine, wants a divorce."

Luke is wondering when tf they got married & why tf he's being served divorce papers by a child of Dionysus and not Ethan, which would make more sense.

Michael Yew, in all of his 4'6 glory, walks over and throws a pen at Luke's face. "To sign the dam papers."

[queerofthedagger]

I just think that there are many reasons why one can go back and forth on whether Ygraine's spirit is really Ygraine in s2e8, but judging her and/or the situation one way or another over the fact that she is for once someone who tells Arthur the goddamn truth really just ain't it. Like. of course he would be furious! maybe because - and hear me out here - the truth is something to be furious about! Everyone constantly fucking lies and lies and lies to Arthur, to spare him, to stop him from being angry, for one million supposed reasons of knowing better, so maybe yes a sign of actual love is to not put yourself into the line-up and be honest, for once in his goddamn life