#but i keep coming back to this queen

[bsportif]

lots to take in and talk about as the mexican gp kicks off but nothing is as big or as important as admiring this absolute queen. who is she??? she looks so good. posing down. serving face and body. showing up in every team’s posts and ig stories for A REASON

[brighteuphony]

I love Chiyo- and I kind of headcanon her as a Witch of the Woods (Sands???) archetype- a bitter old woman who has sacrificed too much, experienced and committed more atrocities than anyone can imagine, and who knows the truth about what lies in the hearts of men to live among the villages anymore.

In my AU she's got a pretty dark backstory. Back in time when Villages were just getting established, women weren't allowed to be shinobi in the same capacity as men. There was too much warring and death among the clans to risk women, so they were only ever allowed to serve as spies or medics. (Chiyo started off as a medic).

And like any military/fascist dictatorship, serving the state was more important than anything else- so women who were kunoichi were given missions to steal and return with powerful bloodlines. Even before villages, this was a common fear among clans (which is why so many of them have protective measures and inbreed/arrange matches very carefully).

Chiyo was one such woman, who took a X-rated mission in her youth because she was told it would 'serve her nation'. There was a powerful bloodline whose Kekkei Genkai could harden sand to something akin to Steel- something Suna very desperately wanted.

Chiyo succeeded in her mission, but despite the veneer of 'serving your nation', when she returned, she was considered, in her words, "Just another whore."

Then when her son didn't manifest the bloodline- it was worse, but Chiyo was happy because that meant her son was HERS. (This is when she met Enji, and he saved her son's life at great cost- so Chiyo owes him a blood/life debt.)

Then the war came, and they needed women to fight so now serving the nation meant something different, and Chiyo became a full fledged 'shinobi' and turned her healing towards poison and death- especially when she had to fight the Salamander.

Then she sealed Gaara and that was the atrocity straw that broke the camel's back and she dipped out Suna and retired to an oasis. She's still a healer, but adamantly refuses to serve shinobi.

Once again, thank you so much for these asks and all the support for this AU?

@youngpeacearbiter

[saetoru]

if gojo doesn’t win this then it’s proof that all men do is lie bc why tf did you tell me in season one you’d win and have me all cozied up with no worries like “yeah trust. my man got this !!” only to make a fool out of the both of us. i’m never trusting nobody again this is not a game ok my mental health is not a game

[royaltea000]

Got so mad seeing a forced marriage plot for the 20th time that I got up to draw a design specifically to put a veil on him

[judasalicent]

my prediction right now is that a conversation between alicent and mysaria will occur in late s3 and have a similar function in the story as elizabeth bennet and lady catherine's conversation at the end of pride and prejudice lol.

in early s3, the relationship between alicent and rhaenyra will be strained because rhaenyra will believe alicent lied about aegon. but, as we move through s3, alicent will face no consequences for her "betrayal" besides being (very comfortably) imprisoned. in other words, alicent will suspect (though probably not consciously acknowledge) that rhaenyra still cares for her enough not to torture/execute her despite the perceived betrayal.

i believe this will inevitably climax with a private conversation between alicent and mysaria, who rhaenyra will be closest to during the beginning of s3. even at the top of s3, mysaria will be suspicious of rhaenyra's relationship to alicent due to the sept meeting, rhaenyra trusting alicent's plan to take the city, rhaenyra refusing to torture/execute alicent, etc.

as s3 progresses, rhaenyra and mysaria will grow to be more at odds as the interests of the nobles (with rhaenyra as representative) and the smallfolk (with mysaria as representative) begin to clash. this will culiminate in rhaenyra rejecting mysaria (for alicent) in some capacity mid-season, inspiring mysaria to confront alicent herself. up to this point, alicent may suspect rhaneyra's feelings, but her conversation with mysaria will make them explicitly known. alicent will realize that rhaenyra's love has kept her alive and well during her imprisonment.

the major consequence of this conversation will be that alicent, even if given the opportunity to leave king's landing in late s3/early s4, likely will not take it. knowing that rhaenyra's love is still there, alicent will seek it out. so just like elizabeth bennet realizes that mr. darcy still loves her after lady catherine reveals he intended to propose, alicent will realize that rhaneyra still loves her after mysaria reveals that rhaenyra is actively protecting her.

and to go even further, rhaneyra and alicent will potentially be given the opportunity to acknowledge their love for one another at the end of s3/beginning of s4 after rhaenyra turns away from the smallfolk after first tumbleton. in the same way that elizabeth and mr. darcy could confront their love for one another after lady catherine visits longbourn.

[grey-joys]

I know I want Sansa to go feral (as is her right at this point holy shit) but I’m not sure that would fulfill the point of her character. I can’t really imagine a world where Sansa’s kindness and amazing ability to forgive those who wronged her doesn’t win out (even begrudgingly so). Like there’s a reason she has so much connection to the Mother.

Gentle Mother, Font of Mercy

Soothe the wrath and tame the fury, teach us all a kinder way

Basically, I just want Cersei, the Hound, and Littlefinger to be wrong.

[nonokoko13]

"Short on credits" "Need a job soon" "A drama queen" "Max slacker"...

Tag yourself I'm all of them

[murderbirds]

Happy mother's day to Gertrude Kappelput, Gotham's best mother, and Oswald Cobblepot, who taught several people that if you kill someone's mother you will end up blown up, shot to the head and betrayed or with a knife in your heart. Oswald was still the only character in that show who could break through the plot armor of the main secondary characters entirely out of spite, and that is part of the reason why he will always be my favorite of all time

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Every time I rewatch S1E2 Guess Who's Coming To The Wedding?, Dorothy's behaviour hits me harder. Not just how she acts around Stan (that final speech, oh my god Bea Arthur you magnificent actress), but how she acts around Kate and the whole premise. She's so excited about the wedding!! She's always wanted to give Kate a great wedding!! She says "Your wedding day should be the most beautiful day of your life" and you know she's been dreaming about her baby's wedding day ever since her own. You know she's desperately trying not to think of how anxious she felt, how trapped, how terrified, how chocked she was when she herself walked down the aisle. She says "And I just hope that you and Kate have all the happiness in the world!" and you can just see the memories of those 38 years of her life shoot through her mind, you can see her hold on to all the happy moments she can and pray that Kate's marriage is nothing but good years and happy Christmases. And the way her voice chokes up when she says goodbye to Kate?? "Now, listen, you be a good wife, you hear? Be his friend, be his lover. Don't be his slave!" Do you think these are the things she told herself during her marriage? Do you think these are the things people told her and she desperately tried to be all that -- to be the perfect friend, to be the perfect lover, so her marriage would work? Do you think that don't be his slave! was a desperate plea -- don't accept it all, don't stay no matter what he does, don't be like me? Listen this is just a rant and I am going nowhere with this but the truth is Dorothy is the strongest woman who ever lived on television and I love her so much and I want to bundle her up in a nice blanket and go beat up Stanley Zbornak with a baseball bat!!!! God!!!!!!

[catsaurofmagiccomedy]

Missing my podcast guys o'clock!

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Could someone please sit on my bed and do whatever so I can clean my room?

[talleryn]

Cardan: *wearing a coat with a huge bulge at the front*

Jude: what’s under your coat?

Cardan’s coat: *meows*

Cardan: *sweating* drugs!

[brainrotcharacters]

Tell Penelope the total amount of times Odysseus went "FOR MY WIFE" the two decades he'd been away and Penelope's going to go "fuck yeah that's my man 😎🤙"

[acourtofquestions]

"You'll come back," Manon said.

It sounded like more of a threat than anything

Dorian smirked. "Would you miss me if I didn't?"

Manon didn't reply. He didn't know why he expected her to.

He'd taken all of a step, when Asterin clasped his shoulder. "In and out, quick as you can," she warned him. "Take care of Narene." Worry indeed shone in the Second's gold-flecked black eyes. Dorian bowed his head. "With my life," he promised as he approached her mount and grasped the dangling reins. He didn't fail to miss the gratitude that softened Asterin's features. Or that Manon had already turned away from him.

A fool to start down this path with her. He should have known better.

The hours that passed were some of the longest of Manon's existence.

From anticipation, she told herself. Of what she had to do.

Abraxos, unsurprisingly, found them within an hour, his reins sliced from the struggle he'd no doubt waged and won with Sorrel. He waited, however, beside Manon in silence, wholly focused upon the gate where Dorian and Narene had vanished.

Time dripped by. The king's sword was constant weight at her side. She cursed herself for needing to prove-to him, to herself-that she refused to let him go into Morath for practical, ordinary reasons. Erawan wasn't at the Ferian Gap. It'd be safer. Somewhat. But if the Matrons were there … That was why he'd gone. To learn if they were. To see if Petrah truly commanded the host there, and how many Ironteeth were present. He had not been trained as a spy, but he'd grown up in a court where people wielded smiles and clothes like weapons. He knew how to blend in, how to listen. How to make people see what they wished to see. She'd sent Elide into the dungeons of Morath, Darkness damn her. Sending the King of Adarlan into the Ferian Gap was no different.

It didn't stop her breath from escaping when Abraxos stiffened, scanning the sky. As if he heard something they couldn't.

And it was the joy that sparked in her mount's eyes that told her.

Moments later, Narene sailed toward them, making a lazy path over the mountains, a dark-haired, pale-skinned rider atop her. He'd truly been able to change parts of himself. Had made his face nearly unrecognizable. And kept it that way.

Asterin rushed toward the mare, and even Manon blinked as her Second threw her arms around Narene's neck. Holding her tight. The mare only leaned her head against Asterin's back and huffed.

Manon hadn't dwelled long on what she'd say.

And as the three hundred Ironteeth witches filed into the hall, some coming off their patrols, Manon half wondered if she should have. They watched her, watched the Thirteen, with a wary disdain.

Their disgraced Wing Leader; their fallen Heir.

When all were gathered, Petrah, still standing in the doorway where she'd appeared, merely said, "My life debt for an audience, Blackbeak."

Manon swallowed, her tongue as dry as paper. Seated atop Abraxos, she could see every shifting movement in the crowd, the wide eyes or hands gripping swords.

"I will not tell you the particulars of who I am," Manon said at last. "For I think you have already heard them."

"Crochan bitch," someone spat.

Manon set her eyes on the Blackbeaks, stone-faced where the others bristled with hatred. It was for them she spoke, for them she had come here.

jacket, then hoisting up her white shirt. Rising in the stirrups to bare her scarred, brutalized abdomen. "She does not lie."

UNCLEAN

There, the word remained stamped. Would always be stamped.

"How many of you," Asterin called out, "have been similarly branded? By your Matron, by your coven leader? How many of you have had your stillborn witchlings burned before you might hold them?"

The silence that fell now was different from before. Shaking shuddering.

Manon glanced at the Thirteen to find tears in Ghislaine's eyes as she took in the brand on Asterin's womb. Tears in the eyes of all of them, who had not known. And it was for those tears, which Manon had never seen, that she faced the host again.

"You will be killed in this war, or after it. And you will never see our homeland again."

"What is it that you want, Blackbeak?" Petrah asked from the archway.

"Ride with us," Manon breathed. "Fly with us.

Against Morath. Against the people who would keep you from your homeland, your future." Murmuring broke out again. Manon pushed ahead, "An Ironteeth-Crochan alliance. Perhaps one to break our curse at last."

Again, that shuddering silence. Like a storm about to break Asterin sat back in the saddle, but kept her shirt open.

"The choice of how our people's future shall be shaped is yours," Manon told each of the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks who might fly to war and never return. "But I will tell you this." Her hands shook, and she fisted them on her thighs. "There is a better world out there. And I have seen it."

Even the Thirteen looked toward her now.

"I have seen witch and human and Fae dwell together in peace. And it is not weakness to do so, but a strength. I have met kings and queens whose love for their kingdoms, their peoples, is so great that the self is secondary. Whose love for their people is so strong that even in the face of unthinkable odds, they do the impossible."

Manon lifted her chin. "You are my people. Whether my grandmother decrees it so or not, you are my people, and always will be. But I will fly against you, if need be, to ensure that there is a future for those who cannot fight for it themselves. Too long have we preyed on the weak, relished doing so. It is time that we became better than our foremothers." The words she had given the Thirteen months ago. "There is a better world out there," she said again. "And I will fight for it." She turned Abraxos away, toward the plunge behind them. "Will you?"

Manon nodded to Petrah. Eyes bright, the Heir only nodded back. They would be permitted to leave as they had arrived: unharmed.

So Manon nudged Abraxos, and he leaped into the sky, the Thirteen following suit.

Not a child of war. But of peace.

[finncakes]

"Nana lied to us. She hid the truth. She wrote the letters. She gave the gifts. Our parents ran."

listening to ExU after everything makes it 100% more painful! you should try it!

[argeriant18]

Weird thought but don't you find it cool and oddly fitting that Susan is gifted a horn. The whole point of it is that once you use it then help will always come to her. It's oddly fitting and quite foreshadowing as well, knowing that she's the one who strays from the path of Narnia. But also it's a bittersweet and hopeful thought because she should be willing to receive help. She can never come back to Narnia until she resolves her feelings about it within herself. And once she has that peace in herself, she can then seek out Narnia. Like an old verse: seek and you will find, I think that the horn operates on that level too: help will come to her, they will find her, so long as she is willing to call out and receive that help.