#but it’s already so insanely long

[withasideofshakespeare]

Dianthus's Histories Reviews! Part 1!

Once upon a time, I was a naive student who believed the "Shakespeare's histories are boring" narrative... oh, how things have changed... This year, I tasked myself with (re)reading the eight "major" Shakespeare history plays in order after reading 1 Henry IV (and seeing 2 Henry IV) and loving them. Here are my reviews in the order I read them, including one of my favorite lines from each play, an overall rating, a brief review, and a highlight from each play (below the cut)! SPOILER ALERT for all eight of the major history plays, but especially Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 & 2, and Henry V. The others are only mentioned in passing! Read with caution (even though they came out like 400 years ago...)

Richard II

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. (III.ii.145-7)

Rating: 10/10 Boy, do I ever love this play! I read and watched it multiple times this year and found that I loved it more every single time. Richard's angst and beautiful verse speeches give Hamlet a run for his money! Richard is among my favorite characters in the entire canon, perfectly angsty, dramatic, fascinating, and (as with many of the histories' best characters) prophetic.

Although Shakespeare wrote these plays out of order, they're incredibly fun to read as a series (if you can look past some minor retcons) as if they all flow into one another both thematically and plot-wise. Richard II seems to predict the rest of the series with his death of kings/hollow crown speech, setting up the themes of cyclical violence, loss of identity, and grief that reoccur throughout the rest of the series.

Beneath the surface, it also includes some incredible peeks into the motives of characters (especially Hotspur, Northumberland, and Aumerle---who later appears as York in Henry V) who reappear in later plays. Looking back at Richard II after reading the rest of the histories broadened my lens from focusing on Richard's personal tragedy to seeing the other characters as complete and unique people as well, all living out plots that set up who they become later on. Hotspur's messy, rushed vow of allegiance to Bolingbroke, Northumberland's shadiness, and Aumerle's isolation by the end of the play all seem to inform their actions as they appear in future plays (and makes everything hit SO much harder in hindsight---seriously, the reread value of these plays is INSANE!)

Highlight: It's gotta be Act 3, Scene 2. Richard's utter devastation as he realizes that he has been utterly abandoned hurts to watch (and is impossible to look away from). It's a beautiful scene that rips my heart out every time I read/watch it.

Henry IV Part 1

By so much shall I falsify men's hopes, And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glitt'ring o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I'll so offend to make offense a skill, Redeeming time when men think least I will. (I.ii.211-7).

Rating: 10,000/10

You could not begin to understand how much I love this play. I swear it isn't just because it was the first Shakespeare play I was in (as Hotspur!) or because Hal is frighteningly relatable as a young person suddenly burdened with the responsibilities of adult life or because it's insanely homoerotic or...

It's because of all of those things (and so much more) that this play is solidly one of my favorite Shakespeare plays of all time. Every single character, from the major players like Hotspur, Hal, Falstaff, and King Henry to those that only appear in a few scenes---Ned Poins, Edmund Mortimer, and Douglas---feels like a completely unique individual. The entire play is a masterpiece, perfectly executing its shifting perspectives between Hal & friends, Hotspur, and King Henry to create a constant state of engagement (and horror) from the audience. Even after rehearsing it a few hundred times and reading it outside the theater on multiple occasions, it still gives me whiplash. How quickly it shifts from Hal's silly (and sometimes uncomfortable) Eastcheap antics to the realities of brutal war without ever feeling tonally wrong is either a work of genius or an act of god (or both). Just about every single character is living out a personal tragedy of a thousand different flavors. Between Hotspur's impending doom and failing relationship with his wife, Kate, Hal and Falstaff's banter that begins to foreshadow Hal's eventual ascension to the throne, and King Henry's growing paranoia, it's almost hard to decide what to focus on!

Highlight: It's Act 5, Scene 4. Of course it is. It hurts me to say that because that's when Hotspur dies but the fact that he---constantly running his mouth throughout the play---is finally shut up by his own death and has his final words finished by Hal (who kills him)?! Yeah, I dunno who gave Shakespeare the right to do that but OUCH. (Close seconds to Hal and Falstaff's "play," Kate telling Hotspur he has PTSD in Elizabethean terms, Ned Poins and Hal's weird flirting, Hotspur shouting about poisoning the Prince of Wales in the King's palace... god, I love this play!)

As Hotspur says... I profess not talking! (And therefore, I will actually shut up, unlike somebody we know...)

Henry IV Part 2

For those that could speak low and tardily Would turn their perfection to abuse To seem like him; so that in speech, in gait, In diet, in affections of delight, In military rules, humors of blood, He was the mark and glass, copy and book, That fashion'd others. And him, O wonderous him! Miracle of men! him did you leave, Second to none, unseconded by you, To look upon the hideous god of war In disadvantage (II.iii.26-36).

Rating: 8/10

I will be the first to admit that this play drags a little for the first few acts, but it has enough strong scenes to make it well worth reading. Although to less success than part 1, it also tugs the reader between humor and horror. You get such wild transitions as Hal and Ned flirting weirdly in Hal's house to Kate Percy giving one of the greatest speeches in the entire canon as she laments her husband's death... seriously, these scenes are right next to each other and it works somehow? The final act really picks up steam with the absolutely heartbreaking death of Henry IV (and it's not even the major character death bit that makes it sad!) and the ascension of Hal as Henry V. Hal's rejection of Falstaff ("I know thee not, old man") is an absolute gut punch. As if Hotspur's death and Henry IV calling Hal a degenerate in the last play wasn't horrific enough, this is where I feel the absolute devastation of the history cycle kicks off. "High"light (ie. scene that nearly killed me the most): It's a tie between Kate's 2.3 lament for Hotspur and Act 4, Scene 5 (in which Henry IV dies). Augh. Hal thinking he's dead and begrudgingly putting on the crown only to get yelled at one last time by his dying father fucking kills me.

Henry V

Rating: 9/10

I think the King is but a man, as I am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me; the element shows to him as it doth to me; all his senses have but human conditions. His ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness, he appears but a man. (IV.i.101-5)

The tragedy of Henry V is not only (as the final chorus remarks) the fact that all of Hal's victories quickly become worthless after his (off-screen) death but that they never feel all that victorious in the first place. At a glance, it's easy to be blinded by the propagandistic glorious war that is such a major plot point in this play. It's definitely there---the famous Crispin's Day speech is incredible---but what I found most interesting in the context gathered from the other plays is how isolated Hal feels.

Without Falstaff and his merry band of drunken dumbasses (and pretty boys for Hal to flirt with), Hal feels so incredibly lonely. His imperialist project in France brings him glory at the expense of having an identity of his own. He is called by his title---"England"---and it's quite literal. He is a representation of a country, not a person. It doesn't matter how he feels about that. There's no time to think about it! And none of that forgives his war crimes or makes him any less terrifying... but it makes him feel so very human. And that brings us to our highlight: The cloak scene (Act 4, Scene 1) in which Hal disguises himself as a common soldier to mingle with his men. It's the most Hal-in-Part 1 vibe we get in this play---reminiscent of the 1H4 "I know you all" speech, his motivations are hazy again. Is this some roundabout way to raise morale or is this his way of having an identity crisis without losing a war over it? I can't say I'm quite sure. It's a beautiful, hilarious, and heartbreaking scene that makes this play not only a piece of pro-English, anti-French propaganda or a war story but a unique tragedy in which the loss isn't the protagonist's life but his identity.

[incredubious]

MODERN AU ACESAN !!!! first impressions with a guy who barely passes the No Shoes No Shirt No Service rule

[fanaticalthings]

Bruce coming home one day to find Robin Jason clinging onto a chandelier with Dick below him cheering him on.

Bruce: Jason what are you doing?

Jason: Dick said that you missed his antics after he moved out and so he’s teaching me how to be a better son

Dick: After this we’re going to drive the Batmobile into the bay :D

Jason: We’re going to what? I mean yeah! Right into the water.

Jason trying to whisper to Dick: Dick I can’t swim though

This just further fuels the chaotic dynamic of Dick and Jason during a time where Dick was still going through his teenage angst and was absolutely not a benevolent role model LMAO

I mentioned it in this post, but it's just so funny to me to imagine a Jason who grew up with an absolutely WILD Dick Grayson as an older brother, while the younger batkids grew up with a more mellowed out and mature (arguable but when measured against the other kids, he wins by a landslide) Dick Grayson.

Robin!Jason era:

Dick: You wanna go out and get high?

Jason: I can't, I have homework.

Dick, sputtering: HOMEWORK?

----

Dick, about to do an elaborate (and totally not dangerous) acrobatic move in the manor: Watch this, littlewing

Jason: You shouldn't do that, it'll make Bruce upset.

Dick, on the brink of angry tears: Why are you like this.

----

Jason, dejected: Listen, I know you don't approve of me because you think I'm not good enough as Robin, but-

Dick: Not good enough as Robin? I don't care about that, I just think you're a little bitch

----

Dick taking Jason out on a hangout for the first time: OK, looks like I got my work cut out for me. Take out a notepad and write everything down. I will NOT have my successor embarrass me like this. So what you wanna do to piss off Bruce-

---

[Years later, Jason returning to Gotham with the fury of a thousand suns and the chaos to match it]: I'm gonna make your life a living HELL, Bruce

Dick, older and relatively more chilled out: Okayyyyy, maybe let's just– calm down a lil, haha, no need for the theatrics

Jason, betrayed, observing a Dick Grayson who is teaching his new younger siblings to behave and be mature: Dick, what the FUCK

-----

Present!Dick, mentoring Tim: Make sure not to be too impulsive, don't wanna raise Bruce's blood pressure

Red Hood!Jason spying on them from afar: Who even ARE you??

-----

Jason: So you teach me ALL of that, only to turn into the ONE thing you despised so greatly all those years ago

Dick, sweating: Well-

Jason: I'm ASHAMED. How can you be worthy of being called my PREDECESSOR?

[thatnununguy]

PLEASREE PLEASE SHOW MORE EQUIGAM ART PLEASE!!!!!!

When in doubt — post yaoi art. Or however the saying goes. Perchance.

[putterphubase]

You said I can ask you if there's anything I don't understand, right? Then please teach me. How to kiss.

THE TIME OF FEVER (2024).

[egophiliac]

how are u on gavv so far? because i need to scream about how insane it has been (and that zakuzakuchips and fuwamallow have won special places in my heart)

can't believe his mom got flavor-blasted to death. 😔 RIP.

[wasyago]

the brainrot won

[cubbihue]

Wait, hang on. So is the reason why Timmy is a Pixie right now is because he's not a full fledged fairy yet? How long does it take before he makes that transition?

Nobody's quite sure!! It's been so long since the last taken child, so long since the last successful taken child, that not even the Fairy Council is sure when Timmy can become a fairy. They can't put a specific number on it.

He's a full fledged Pixie though. So, that's something! They suspect he can become a Fairy once his body can handle the same level of magic that a Fairy has.

Or at least until Timmy's completely shed of everything that made him Human. For now, though, he's feeling magic growth pains, and he has two teen gremlins raiding his kitchen.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[aenslem]

Then employ one of your own superstitions. Wish me luck.

[zivazivc]

What do the band mates look like now?

Hed's a dad, and Les finally found a shirt that fits him

[hedwig221b]

a snippet of my sterek twilight au as a treat for all of you 🖤🐺🫀

Stiles was glad to see Derek waiting for him. They walked out of the class together, though Derek caught his sleeve soon after and led him to the side of the hall. He waited as the students passed them before speaking.

“I wanted to ask you. About the spring dance…”

Stiles’ heart skipped a beat at those words. He tried to remain cool and unaffected but Derek grinned either way.

“I heard you were going to Seattle,” he finished.

Stiles blinked at him, hoping the warmth didn’t show on his cheeks. “Uh, yeah?”

“I was wondering if I could drive you.”

Stiles stared at him. “Huh?”

“Do you want a drive to Seattle?”

“W-with you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

This… was kind of sudden. Last week they didn’t talk at all, and now Derek was offering him… a ride? Alone in the car for two fucking hours with Derek fucking Hale? Who was, by the way, smiling again?

“My car works fine,” Stiles blurted and immediately cursed himself. Why the fuck did he just say that? Why?!

But Derek only smirked. “I saw you wrapping tape around the wires last Thursday. If you think it’ll survive the drive to Seattle, you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

“So… you were looking at me.”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other.

Stiles couldn’t help but notice the way Derek’s eyes lightened. His whole face, so handsome yet so grim before, was nothing but soft now. Relaxed.

It couldn’t mean anything except one thing. It really was about Stiles — his gloom and glare, his dark circles and lack of appetite at lunch. There was no denying it. All of Stiles’ doubts paled before the sharp glint of the evidence.

Whatever tension was between them, it only grew each time they spoke. They both knew it, felt it, thick, viscous, and sweet like honey. It left them wanting more.

Standing still in the buzzing corridor, they let the noise wash over them. Both came to a silent conclusion that they would not be able to stay apart. They tried, and look what it led to. None of them wanted to resist the pull.

Stiles pursed his lips in a smile. Derek’s glance slipped to his mouth and back before he, too, huffed out a laugh.

“Can I drive you to Seattle?” he asked in a low voice.

“Yeah,” Stiles said quietly and watched the grin bloom on Derek’s lips.

He forgot the last time he felt this light.

[divider link]

[naomihatake]

A love so deep

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x GN!reader

Synopsis: He loves you so deeply it defies the forces of nature.

Content warnings: weapons, loyalty, maybe it's fluff?

Word count: a few hundred words

A/N: Zoro brainrot hours. I'm around episode 330 of one piece so I don't know for sure if he ever harms any of his crewmates with his sword, so for now this is just a headcanon. Take it as you will, dear readers

Zoro Roronoa is loyal. He's confident, despite the monsters hunting him sometimes, screaming in his nightmares that he's not strong enough, that he has to get stronger and stronger and stronger in order to protect his friends, his lover. If he can't protect the ones he cares for at least through actions — because he's never been a professional at verbally expressing himself — then what the fuck is he even doing?

His will is stronger than steel. Maybe it's tied to his stubborn nature, to the fact that once he wants to do something, there's no way to stop him. His will is the highest and strongest mountain you'll ever lay eyes on and you're either able to accept it or not.

He wants to protect the ones he holds dear to his heart. Out loud there are rare times when he admits such things, but he's proved it countless times. He'll say things with a specific nuance and only his friends would know the deep meaning behind his words.

His will are his swords. His stubbornness runs through the hilts and rests in his scabbards, it makes his katana shine each time he draws them out. He's poured his everything into these swords, even the overwhelming and undeniable love he has for you. Weapons, objects he always used to kill, blades that sparkle with the remnants of blood.

However, not even once did his sword cut through a friend, through you. Even his very body would be manipulated by some supernatural force, the blades would only graze the skin, would mold into your skin and still not break through. There would be marks, it would be obvious something happened, but your blood will never get on his swords.

Especially if you trust him, his abilities and his katana. They're like an extension of his very being, of his own soul. Even the blades recognise you, your haki, your energy. Even their sharpness softens at the contact of your skin and stops, refusing to hurt you, someone he loves so deeply he doesn't know for sure what path he'll take if something happens to you.

And he'd be damned if you're harmed by him. He would rather die one thousand times and run with bare feet through hell than be the one to inflict pain on you.

And he trusts you just the same way he trusts his own will. Whatever weapon you weild, whatever power has been bestowed to you by a Devil Fruit — none of those matter. Deep down, he knows you're not capable of harming him or your friends.

Because, at some point, an enemy you're fighting against might laugh hysterically about how "You'll bend to my will, Pirate Hunter".

Both of you know that no matter what, none of your wapons will ever be drowned in the other's blood. His sword would stop at the contact with your skin and your bullet would ricochet against his bare chest.

A love so deep it defies the forces of nature. The string of trust is thick and stronger than steel, just like his will and your own.

This connection between him and you won't appear out of the blue, but it will certainly grow steadily and once it does, it's unbreakable.

[einaudis]

ALL OF US STRANGERS (2023) dir. ANDREW HAIGH

[old-skyguy]

Rewatching Gravity Falls for the who-knows-what thousandth time and I. I have. A thought.

The website that alluded to (not confirmed, as far as I know) of a season three. And this is a big deal.

Since it's pretty much a given that if this does end up happening, Bill WILL be a part of it and they'll need some way to stop him. So I figured, since Mabel destroyed the memory eraser and Bill would probably not have fallen for the same thing twice anyway, the obvious choice is the zodiac wheel again.

BUT.

What if instead of it all being the same person in the same spot as they were in the finale, why not have their positions switched around a bit. The obvious examples being Wendy as pine tree since she and Dipper swapped hats and Soos since he took over as owner of the Mystery Shack and also Stan's iconic hat. I *may* try to plot out who would go where and share the rest of that stuff on here, but I think this idea would work really well when you contextualize it with the concept that even though time has passed and people have grown and changed and are no longer the same as they once were, they're still just as strong and still care for each other and their bond will never be broken.

Much like the people who loved this show.

[synthshenanigans]

Theres yet again so much to talk about this video but I wanna say

Theres water already surrounding the pool. Like he already dunked himself in it.

How many takes.

How many times did he throw himself into this fucking kiddie pool

[missazura]

I just woke up from a dream where I was canceled on twitter bc i mentioned a k pop group that I don't even listen to and their fans were pissed at me and started doxxing real life pics of me and my family, which was horrible on itself

I was trying to ask for help from my friends? I think? I don't know them irl, but I was in the group with them in the dream. She said she can help me sue them

The whole printed evidence of said doxxing vanishes into thin air. The friend gets up and leaves bc it takes me too much time to flip through this book/ folder thingy to find it. I was frustrated, I wanted to cry

Then as i through the pages back and forth trying to find those papers

I saw pencil drawings of Bill pop up in it's place

Saying that he can fix this whole thing

I ignored one. Then I flip to another page. He's there, still asking me "Are you sure? All it takes is just one deal!" I flipped through those. It just kept showing up more and more until I closed the book/folder up

I'm so glad that was just a dream, that was a scary situation to experience