#but literally oliver queen would never

[silentauthor96]

#NotMyOliverQueen

(Source)

[rainedroptalks]

Im finally reading some green arrow stuff instead of studying chemistry and wow can someone get cissie a ride home or something she literally doesn't know these people

[little-pondhead]

Danny's Evil Jaunt. Its Evil He Swears. Ignore the Charity. pt. 2

Hello! Im back with Part 2 Im honored that so many people were interested <3 HOPEFULLY THE COLOR STAYS RIGHT IM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT I DON'T POST ON TUMBLR OFTEN. also i have almost 0 history about Dc so if anyone wants to ramble about the charaters in the tags please do

Danny's outfit was based on @little-pondhead 's art and prompt was by @im-totally-not-an-alien-2

part: 1

AO3

Oliver Queen had thought he’d seen it all; however this Fenton guy just seems to be full of fun little gadgets. And puns. So many puns.

No one knows anything about the guy other than he’s a mechanical genius. Just magically appeared out of the blue one day with inventions that make Dr. Freeze’s gun look like a toy, claiming that ‘he’s not gonna be here long today but needs to do some field testing.’

And now here's Oliver listening to this kid(it had to be a kid, Fenton didn’t look a day over 14) ramble about how much fun he had today and that he had to come back soon(not looking forward to that). Green Arrow took a good look at the kid. 

He was short, maybe around 5’4 without the boots, and didn’t have much bulk, but clearly had a lot of lean muscle from what Oliver could tell from the fight, and black shaggy undercut hair. He wore a red hazmat suit with black gloves and red with black tinted lenses goggles. All covered with a lab coat that is definitely not OSHA compliant for mad scientist children, not with the way it was singed at the bottom and the sleeves had been torn off at the elbow, and the amount of sewn on patches - the biggest being the Fenton logo on his back. He was also lugging around a massive cannon that had Oliver bound to a lamp post with a glowing green net, but nets weren’t the only thing it could shoot, no it shot out so many things within the half hour they had been fighting that Oliver lost count. The kid also had some weird meta biology if the sharp teeth and pointed ears were anything to go on. But Oliver’s thoughts were cut off by a phone ringing. Fenton looked down and started feeling around his suit until he found his phone, a small Iphone with odd attachments with a green ghost case covered with stickers, stopped the alarm and moved his goggles up to rest on his head wincing as the rising sun shined in his eyes.

“Hoo bright. Alright that's it for today I guess! Thanks for playing with me Mr. Arrow, I think I'm gonna pick up some energy drinks and  a couple of snacks before heading home, I still need to write an English paper for Mr. Lancer and Jazz’ll finish me off if I don’t get home soon” Fenton grinned and started to punch in directions for the nearest convenience store on his phone. It was just around the corner from the street they had left the fight off on, nice. 

‘Maybe I should grab some for Sam and Tuck’ Danny thought, ‘Oh wait I forgot!’ just as he was about to turn into the store he rushed back to where he left Green Arrow, who was trying to saw his way out of the Fentnet with his knife. 

“Sorry! I wanted to do something before I left!” Fenton smiled and put his wiry arm around Oliver in a side hug and pulled out his phone and did a peace sign with the hand around Oliver. “Say Frootloops!”

Fenton pulled off Oliver and showed him the picture, Fenton had a Cheshire cat grin while he had a miserable expression. 

“Ooph, probably not your best look but I think we look cool. And really, that’s all that matters at the end of the day. How I think we look.” 

“You're a menace, what do you want?” 

“You don’t know? I’m god’s playtester and I’m here for bug testing before the rest of the world sees my inventions. Consider Star City my testing sandbox. Anyway see’ya!” and Fenton was gone down the street. 

And that was the day Oliver Queen knew that he needed to make sure that the world outside of Star City could never be exposed to Fenton. Especially the bat. If anyone found out his ego would never recover.

---------------------------------------------------

if you want to be added to the tag list please put it in the comments! it's easier to see there!

@starkcravingmad@amuseofminds@emeraudesfateandfandoms@passivedecept@quirky-gardener@xarexraven@justwannabecat @fisticuffsatapplebees @blacksea21090 @lovelessnightfall @iceknight-of-sun @sabrina414 @moobloomrights @vortexbox @trickedri @naluforever3 @suppengott @angelsdeathsstuff @lesling123 @cosmicgesture @always-be-a-stranger @sealover89 @slapphapp1 @fantasticbluebirdfan @krzys2000 @xxwintrynightzxx @justgray15777 @littlegrayram @danisfra @kyrianclawraith @@thought-u-said-dragon-queen

[jackhues]

CLOWNS AND CARS - PADDOCK PASS, BABY [ PART FIVE ]

in which y/n hamilton might've accidently manifested her dad's dnf (australia 24)

[ prev ] | [ next ] | [ notes ] | [ masterlist ]

y/nhamilton

liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1 & others

y/nhamilton: "what did it cost you (to convince these two to step away from the track)?" "nothing (one of my dad's signed hats)"

tagged: kimi.antonelli, olliebearman

pinned y/nhamilton: guys i know the actual line is 'everything'. stop attacking me, i'm sensitive -> user: i just choked on my water -> y/nhamilton: are you okay? -> user: yeah i'm fine now!

pinned y/nhamilton: @/landonorris see how well MY bracelet would match with that fit -> landonorris: you mean mine? you're never getting it back just accept the fact -> y/nhamilton: never

pinned y/nhamilton: swipe to the end to see a wallaby sniff oliver -> kimi.antonelli: not pictured is oliver screaming very loud and running away -> olliebearman: i'm literally being bullied by two CHILDREN

user: omgg pretty 😍

user: ollie in the third slide is looking up the way y/n normally does when they talk -> y/nhamilton: i'm not short. he's built like a giraffe

user: omgg look at kimi with the koala -> y/nhamilton: that's not a koala. it's a mirror

user: queen hamilton making sure no one featured on her page gets an ego 🤩

logansargeant: invite? -> y/nhamilton: boy you were sleeping -> logansargeant: so THAT'S what all of those calls were for

carlossainz55: 🫎🫎 ->y/nhamilton: 🫏🫏 -> user: i have no idea what this means and i never will, but i look forward to carlos' comment EVERY time y/n posts

doriane_pin: pretty girl 😍 -> y/nhamilton: marry me 💍 -> doriane_pin: 👰👰👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 -> kimi.antonelli: what did i just see? -> y/nhamilton: congrats, you were a witness at our wedding!

--

--

y/nhamilton

liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc, olliebearman & others

y/nhamilton: last slide is me watching the aus gp if you even care

tagged: lewishamilton, valtteribottas, maxverstappen1

user: I CARE!

user: y/n hamilton back at it with the gp dumps

charles_leclerc: where are the podium pics? -> y/nhamilton: you put that filter on all of the ones you sent. it's not the vibe i'm going for today

logansargeant: are you still depressed about the uno cards? -> y/nhamilton: yes.

carlossainz55: 🏆🏆 -> y/nhamilton:🏅🏅

user: nahh you can't be clowning ferrari. that's your new home -> y/nhamilton: i've got a year

lewishamilton: well... at least i made the photo dump (?) -> y/nhamilton: TWICE

sebastianvettel: since when do you have a cat? -> y/nhamilton: it's a reaction meme seb. i don't have a cat

ausgp: we'll be back next year!!

---

TAGLIST: @67-angelofthelordme-67 , @somepeoplemaybe , @nothaqks , @theforevermorereject , @thatonesblog , @deviltsunoda , @xoscar03 , @mess-is-my-aesthetic , @d3kstar , @bwormie , @ietss , @sapphiccloud , @helaenatargaryensfavoritebug , @urfavsgf , @evie-119 , @raevyng , @khaylin27 , @champomiel <3

send a message/comment/ask to be added to the taglist!

NOTE: fifth part is heree! if you guys want to see something that already happened in prev seasons, send in an ask/comment! i meant to have this out earlier in the week, pretend it takes place before today! don't forget to like + reblog <3

[royboyfanpage]

Okay, let's talk about Ollie's experience with fatherhood.

I'm an Oliver Queen apologist forever, but I think that there's a tendency in fandom to go one of two ways- "absolutely perfect dad, no flaws whatsoever" or "evil abuser who shouldn't be within six miles of a child". This isn't an Ollie exclusive phenomenon, a lot of characters and topics do fall into that black-and-white mindset. But the thing is- Ollie doesn't have to be either extreme. Particularly with Roy, who most of the debate centres around, Ollie wasn't perfect! I think there's such a rich discussion point in terms of young Roy's relationship with Ollie, so much more than just That Panel. Because, in my interpretation, Ollie absolutely cared about him, absolutely saw him as a son, but also the idea of being a father is something that deeply terrified him. The idea that this literal child being dependent on him made it feel more real, if that makes sense. Coming to terms with the fact that he was responsible for another person's life was difficult for him, and so he put up this wall- hero and sidekick. A conceptual dynamic, one that's not based in reality. He can keep that distance between himself and Roy and decide what that means, he doesn't have to be a father because that word has so many strong connotations, but he can still express that he cares about Roy, in his own way. That's why he always calls Roy 'Speedy' even out of costume, that's why his first thought is that Roy's undercover in Snowbirds. He can focus on being a good mentor to Speedy, which will have a trickle-down effect to being a good guardian to Roy, right?

Unfortunately, kids' brains don't work like that! Especially not a kid who's already lost two fathers. Roy needed a stability in his teenage years that Ollie just wasn't able to give at that time. He didn't see "Ollie's nice to me as Speedy because he loves me and doesn't know how to show it", he saw "Ollie's nice to me as Speedy, which means I'm only good as Speedy". This, at least in my opinion, is a major factor in Roy’s later self-esteem issues. Roy’s constantly underestimating himself as a hero, constantly comparing himself to Dick, and pushing himself 24/7 to improve because he internalised the idea that if he’s good, if he’s the perfect hero, then he’ll be loveable. He can’t be bad, he can’t fail, he can’t back down because if he does, he’s nothing.

It’s absolutely not Roy’s fault, but also this doesn’t mean that Ollie’s an evil neglecting abuser, either. Even the best parents fuck up, and Ollie was by no means the best parent. He took in Roy as a sidekick, as a buddy, and then never really found a way to combine the ideas of sidekick and son. He assumed that Roy would be able to interpret meanings behind gestures, which is something that Roy seems to struggle with even into adulthood. I’ve talked about it a fair bit, Roy’s absolutely someone who relies on the explicit, but he’s also not someone who’ll ask for clarification, which has caused conflict in his relationships time and time again. And while it's something he has gotten better at as he's gotten older, a 12-18 year old Roy would absolutely not be able to read Ollie's motives.

And Ollie's fear of fatherhood isn't something exclusive to Roy, either. Sure, he'd gotten better at it by the time Connor and Mia entered the picture (speaking as an oldest child myself, we are the guinea pigs of parenting, I was my mum's sibling), he absolutely still expresses this with them. I mean, just look at his face when he finds out Connor's his son.

That's the face of a man who's just had the crushing weight of parenthood slammed down onto him again, the moment Connor stopped being an ally and started being his responsibility. He's scared, because Ollie absolutely does not see himself as a good father for someone to have. This was very much present during Roy's teenage years, but particularly since this is post-Snowbirds. Both in terms of Roy developing a drug addiction and in terms of Ollie's own initial reaction to it, he immediately spirals. And, since we've already established he does not know how to process things, he lashes out at Connor.

And as for Mia, he's definitely matured significantly by the time she comes into the picture, and compared to with Roy he's a lot more open with his feelings. However!

He still won't explicitly accept the responsibility of fatherhood! Despite acting like a father to Mia in every way through his actions, he still won't use his words! Even though in the issue following, he expresses a paternal protectiveness over her.

And I think Mia's HIV diagnosis is maybe one of the biggest examples of his distancing himself and hiding his feelings, particularly when Connor asks him how he's feeling about it.

He's so fine, so totally fine, trust him when he says he's fine, totally not freaking out. He's absolutely not terrified for his not-daughter, no way.

Ollie has this fear that if he gets too attached to his kids, he's gonna end up failing them. If he keeps a distance from them, then he can't blame himself when they get hurt. Is this good parenting? No! Absolutely not! But this is also the man who dresses up as Robin Hood and who chose to die rather than lose his arm. This is not a healthy man.

But he tries, he tries so hard, even if it's in his own way. And he recognises when he fucks up! And he tries his best to mend it later on!

He's not the best at showing his kids that he loves them, but he's so proud of Roy when he becomes Red Arrow. He comes back to life to save Connor. He stands by Mia's side when she gets diagnosed and becomes Speedy. He's not a great dad, but goddamnit he's trying to be.

In conclusion, no, Ollie is not the perfect father. He's deeply flawed, and his own emotional incompetency has been and always will be a point of conflict between him and his kids. But he's not some uncaring abuser, either. He's trying.

[starboy-acer]

late night riptide sadness

i just want everyone to know that if chip never experienced the devastating events of losing his found family to a black hole in the sea as a child and feeling so devastated by it that he tries to recreate his old crew with new people and try so so desperately to find the black rose pirates

jay would've never left the navy. she would've been stuck in a corrupt system that she's always had a hatred for because she didn't have the strength to leave and never had that one guy show up and encourage her to leave everything behind and lead her own life

gillion tidestrider would be all alone. he never feels like he belongs in the oversea because he doesn't understand anything and nobody is willing to teach him and he will never be able to return to his home in the undersea due to be exiled. it's likely that he dies alone, scared, and outcasted.

if chip never experienced one of the greatest pains of his life, his best friends and platonic soulmates would've never gotten to take control of their own lives and be happy. they would've eternally suffered.

chip had to suffer for a decade and continues to suffer from the trauma of the black hole in the sea in order for his friends to be happy. and in return, they help him move through it. they help him work through a decade of hurt because he saved their lives.

to add onto that; that little old town would forever be cursed and old man earl would've never gotten to experience the world. oliver teach would've grown up in a navy controlled zero and would've never gotten to experience what life can be outside of his home town. queen would've never found real friends who encourage him to do his best. captain lizzie and the grandberry pirates would be fighting a lost cause against the navy without the riptide pirates quite literally causing a riptide on outlaw soil and starting a revolution. desire island would still all be stone and be under the enchantress's spell (also the girls serving her would've never been free). drey would've died at the hands of his brother in an eternal prison and finn would forever be a bird, not even fully aware of what he was before.

good ole chip bastard saved hundreds, if not thousands, of people DIRECTLY and he will still never feel good enough. he will still never feel like he's as great as his old crew was and will always feel like he's letting them down in some way, shape, or form. he will never feel good enough, even though he and his crew are the heroes in hundreds of people's stories.

[starberry-cupcake]

I have made up from last time that was about only one chapter, this time we have 5 in a row. We finished act one, fam!

previously, in harrowbean the ninth:

this happened

I want to also thank you for all your nice comments and replies, I read every single one, I promise ♥

ch. 7 to 11 summarized terribly, here we go:

it's time to cross the river

difficult task to perform

as someone who lives literally surrounded by rivers, in every direction, I can relate

my rivers don't carry ghouls though, as far as I know

I mean, there are ghost and cryptid legends, but not ghouls that stick to the windshield of a spaceship like bugs

like these ones do

so harrow and yandere twin aren't doing fantastic

yandere twin loses it in like the first 2 seconds

harrow sees the ghosts of all the ninth kids who died for her to be alive

there's water also, but that part sounds very relaxing, actually

getting covered by water but not needing to breath

I'd be there forever tbh

but we can't, because ghoulies

mercygirl is still doing sound effects like kronk

btw we're changing her name to mercygirl because it's what I've been calling her now

I have been told by a number of you that mercygirl is your camilla so I apologize for disrespecting your blorbina

I might do it again, if the situation arises, though

mercygirl is piloting the ship and emperor the fool is just chillin' until he realizes harrow is walking about and doing theorems, which they didn't think she'd be in a state to do, so they didn't tell her not to do it

these people half-assing plans, who would have thought

mercygirl calls the emperor john

emperor johnnyboy tries telling harrow to come back from her state because she's in too deep and it's becoming dangerous

mercygirl stars talking about the death of cassiopeia (another name that's easy to remember)

says cassiopeia had a ceramics collection, which makes her worthy of all my respect

harrow was thinking "five", idk what it's about

next thing we know, we're back to our gideonless retelling of gideon

in this version, teacher explains things

he says the house was inhabited previously by "ten normal human beings of the Resurrection, though half were blessed already with necromantic gifts"

I'm tired of MATH

he says they left blueprints, he tells them about the Sleeper, he tells them how not to awaken it, he tells them about the trap door, he tells them what's under the trap door, he asks them to work together...

you know what this is like

it's like reading gideon was entering a new game and skipping every tutorial they give you

and reading this is like clicking every NPC's info and reading all that they say

ANYWAY, here is where ortus 1...

wait, this is going to be confusing

I want to call ortus from the ninth "ortus 1" and the new guy "ortus 2"

because ninth ortus was the first to show up

but new ortus is actually older and also is ortus the first

we're gonna go with ortus and lyctor!ortus, for now

so, as I was saying, this is were ortus starts becoming much more insistent in these "flashbacks" about him not being the right choice

which, he's not wrong

we know he's not wrong

and harrow is saying stuff like "unless you can summon matthias nonius" (matthias nonius is becoming a recurrent thing, let's remember harrow compared gideon to him at one point)

and ortus goes "I don't understand why you chose me" to which harrow says "there was nobody else" and ortus exasperatedly says "you never did posses an imagination"

VERY IMPORTANT THING

a skeleton turns around when they're walking and says "is this how it happens?"

we'll come back to that shortly

REMEMBER IT

(I know you all remember it, you've read this already, just act like I'm dora the explorer and play along)

next chapter starts in not!dulcinea's funeral

I'm sad I used the oliver queen grave meme already, I can't use it again to express my feelings

I'm gonna use the steel magnolias scene where they laugh at the funeral instead

so, we are introduced to the famous augustine who's name I will remember

there's some conversation about first and second generations and about not!dulcinea being chosen, and Emperor Johnny Bravo says "we were all there to meet her, all sixteen of us"

MORE MATH

I guess she was the last one of these, but maybe we knew that already, I feel we knew that already

apparently, not!dulcinea was the most reluctant to slurp her cavalier, but that didn't stop any of them, not even her, so

Emperor Johnny Quest says "for god's sake" and harrow thinks "the god who became a man and yet still invoked himself, apparently"

when she's right, she's right

that's better commentary than I could make

I have to respect augustine a little bit because he asked "which one of the kiddies did her in?" and I thought that was hilarious

he is called the saint of patience, which makes my previous comment about them being named via sarcasm very correct

it's like captain planet or the power rangers but chosen as funnily as possible

they start summoning lyctor!ortus by saying that he's interested in "you-know-what", which is both suspicious and childish and the vibes of these lyctors are all over the place

augustine thinks something's wrong, which is an understatement at this point, but ok

lyctor!ortus comes in as if summoned by the gossip and harrow calls him "the next terrible part of your life" which is saying something

lyctor!ortus comes with news of the seventh beast or whatnot that's trailing them

harrow bleeds from her ears and smashes her head on the next available surface to pass out

the mood

who could blame her

this lyctor job is terrible

it's like the end of drop dead gorgeous and harrow is kristen dunst

I'm not explaining that, in case you haven't watched a classic

we are back to the "flashbacks" and we've got a special appearance from the fifth

*studio audience claps and cheers*

they say they prefer to look into books than going downstairs, which is something one would consider if one had known what the fuck was downstairs from the start

abigail also does sound effects like mercygirl, it's catching on

abigail finds a piece of a recipe note that mentions an M and a Nigella

still no G&P

we know nigella is the cav of cassiopeia, the ceramics collector

I remember nigella's name because of the cook, which makes it funnier that it's a recipe

M could be mercygirl

abigail also gives harrow a note

abigail says that she'd like to summon the ghost of a lyctor but she's not sure how that could work or where they go when they die

ortus, magnus and abigail, in this gideonless version, are a polycule

I am convinced of that

while they're talking, magnus says "is this really how it happens?"

REMEMBER I SAID WE'D BRING THAT BACK

IT'S BACK

abigail starts telling harrow that she's got the energy of a lot of dead kids in her and harrow storms out

harrow gets angry when ortus calmly agrees about things and she doesn't want to look into why

I WONDER WHY THAT IS

harrow looks at abby's note again and now there's text on it

it's a longer version of the note she found before

it's a rant

it mentions dead eggs, implantation, some guy being sent after the OP, said guy taking pity on OP

OP is mad about all of this and doesn't use punctuation

what ortus reads isn't what harrow reads, once again

NOW THIS BIT

"ortus, I need a cavalier with a backbone" "You always did and I am glad, I think, that I never became that cavalier"

the gideon points keep adding up

harrow then goes to sleep and is like this

final thing in act I, in chapter 11, is harrowbean stabbing not!dulcinea again, which

always make sure, it's like resident evil in here

just in case, let's stab her a bunch of times

so, are these "flashbacks" happening in real time whenever harrow isn't conscious?

is it her trying to remember what actually happened?

or is it her trying to hide it?

was there actually a longer period of time between the defeat of not!dulcinea and the emperor Jon Arbuckle coming to pick them up?

a period of time in which harrow learned things that made her write those letters?

and in which something happened regarding gideon?

is the note of the implantation also related?

why was gideon born in space?

of course I'm not asking you, please don't spoil anything, I'm just asking the void of desperation and chaos right now

we'll see if any of this gets answered soon or if I just get more questions

also, guess who wasn't mentioned

see you on the next one!! I'll try to get back to the awesome replies I've been getting soon ♥

[tiger-in-the-flightdeck]

🎃 Trick! Pet-names 🎃

(I'm going to play it safe and assume you mean for ColdFlash)

A sugary sweet ficlet for you!

Read on below, or on AO3

What'd You Call Me?

It had started entirely by accident. 

Barry had been half asleep in line at Jitters when he bumped -very literally- into Leonard who was looking just as tired as him. 

After they finished mopping up spilled coffee from the floor around Barry’s feet and bought replacement drinks, it would have been more awkward for one of them to bolt, with the eyes of other patrons on them. So they pulled up chairs at a table against the back wall and tried to make small talk and pretend that Len hadn’t stolen over six million dollars in diamonds just the night before. 

Barry watched Len take a sip of his tea, make a face, then frown down at it in disappointment. He was to the counter and back before Len noticed he was gone. “Honey?” 

“Yes, Sweetheart?” Len replied, then blinked in surprise at himself. 

Lips pursed, Barry tried not to grin. 

Failed. 

Tried not to laugh. 

Failed. 

It was infectious and soon Len was snickering into his cup, shaking his head. “It wasn’t that funny,” he insisted even as his shoulders shook with near silent laughter. He took the packet of honey to drizzle into his tea and bumped Barry’s knee under the table in thanks. 

Their conversation was relaxed and genuine from there. 

After that, it became a habit. A joke between them that the Rogues and other heroes didn’t understand or find nearly as funny as the pair of them did. 

Len calling Barry his Darling as he aimed the Cold Gun at his feet -he’d long since stopped aiming at his chest- and freezing him in place to make an escape. 

Barry crooning Snow Prince as he slapped cuffs on Len’s wrists, knowing that they would be slipped long before the police finally made an appearance to drag him into custody. 

Angel, when they stood shoulder to shoulder against a common foe who would reel back in confusion when the ‘angel’ in question would attack with a ruthlessness that Flash never would. 

Baby, when Barry came to Len for help with an undercover mission into the criminal world, this murmured just above earshot as Len kept a protective arm around Barry’s waist and glared down anyone foolish enough to get too close to him until the job was done and he got him safely back home, his virtue and conscience untarnished. 

Shining Knight, after Len stepped between Barry and Oliver who was shouting him down for stooping so low as to work with a criminal. The bruised knuckles from Queen’s teeth were worth it when Barry had given him the title as he pressed ice to them and held his hand a bit longer than necessary. 

Lightning Bug, named through breathless laughter while leaning back on the grimy wall of a barside alley in a rough part of town after Barry won his fifth hand of poker of the night and been accused of stealing before he could sweep his winnings into the growing pile on their side of the table. The fight had ended after just a handful of minutes when Len broke a pool cue over a drunk gambler’s head and they made their escape out the emergency exit. The heated look in Barry’s eyes was worth more than his cut of the pot for teaching him how to palm cards. 

My Love, whispered against each other’s lips in the dark of a hotel room in Keystone where they found themselves, not Cold or Flash, just Len and Barry, with their lives as enemies locked on the other side of the door and held at bay until morning. 

My Love, mumbled sleepily under fresh bed linens as sunlight streamed in through the blinds to remind them it was time to start the day. 

My Love, quick, casual, accompanied by a peck on the cheek before one vanished in the flash to make it to work on time and the other got started on the breakfast dishes. 

My Love, against the back of a neck after a long day, gentle, sweet, and knowing that it will be the same tomorrow and next week and next year and from now on. 

[nightcolorz]

How do you think, why Armand did not allow himself to return to Marius's care throughout the book series, even though Marius seemed to offer it to him?

Armand kind of talks about this in the vampire Armand, he describes how he denies Marius’s invitations to rekindle their relationship because he is frightened of Marius (part subconsciously, and in a way he perceives as irrational) and he is frightened of him specifically because he is afraid that if he becomes close with Marius again he will “loose himself” and become submissive to him again. In other words, Armand knows that if he were to fall in love with Marius again and try to restart their relationship, he would have to become Amadeo, subservient and consumed by Marius, and he is frightened of that. Armand never consciously acknowledges that his relationship with Marius when he was a child was abusive, but abuse and trauma live in the body, and even tho Armand doesn’t consider it abuse he still feels the repercussions of it. Though Armand in tva doesn’t trust Marius, he considers his fear irrational bcus he doesn’t realize that he is afraid bcus Marius abused him. He thinks Marius was perfectly good to him and he is being difficult. So Armand allows Marius to look after his human children as an olive branch apology for continuing to refuse to be around him, and of course Marius harms his children in a very similar way to how he harmed Armand as a child, and I think this causes Armand to never be able to fully trust Marius again.

Armand perceives his own self preservation as his ultimate priority, and is always going to choose his sense of safety over his loved ones. So if someone he loves is causing him to feel unsafe, he is willing to discard them. When Marius is no longer a person who armand considers safe and caring, armand has no reason to want to be around him anymore. And even though Armand throughout the series seeks out dynamics that he perceives as being a replacement for Marius so that he can regain the comfort/purpose/security he remembers Marius giving him, he learns once he reunites with Marius that Marius can not be that security for him anymore. Armand considers his memories of Marius precious bcus Marius provided Armand with security and nurturing that he never experienced again in his life. Marius also abused Armand in a way that prevented Armand from being able to learn how to be an independent person, and in that caused him to always be searching for someone to take care of him the way Marius did. But if Armand were to be with Marius now he would not be given security, he would be putting himself in a vulnerable position by submitting to someone and regaining his (objectively comparatively weak) submissive, human child identity

I think that the reason Armand doesn’t go back to Marius despite always longing for what Marius once provided him is bcus he realized that Marius’s nurturing is conditional. If Armand were to accept Marius’s offer to restart their relationship, to fuel that dynamic Armand would have to become Amadeo again, the submissive child who is not self sufficient. And Armand is both frightened of this, and also he is unable to do this. Armand, despite his trauma response that convinces him that he needs a god to take care of him and give him purpose, is also by queen of the damned, a fully functioning adult 😭. He is a business owner and an entrepreneur, by the vampire Armand he has children. So Armand has taught himself how to live independently and self sufficiently, and he knows that he is capable of it, he’s been self reliant for centuries by the time he reunites with Marius. And Armand is quite literally, a different person than Amadeo. He can’t regain that persona bcus it isn’t him anymore, and Marius can not love Armand if he is an independent adult. Marius’s love for Armand relies on him being the child he was when they were together, and Armand’s love for Marius relies on Marius being the person that he needs when he feels helpless. So even tho Marius’s authority used to be Armand’s main source of comfort and survival, he has found a new way to survive without it, and if he were to begin with Marius again he would have to give up this new empowering life he’s found in favor of one that no longer applies to him, and actively makes him feel vulnerable and unsafe. Marius threatens Armand’s need for control, he threatens his independence and his business ventures, and he threatens his children. And like I said, Armand’s prioritizes his safety. And even tho I believe he longs for and loves Marius, and definitely misses his relationship with him, rekindling that feels dangerous for him, so he’s unwilling

Thank u sm for the ask!!

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

I am Machine I never sleep I keep my eyes wide open

by KhajitTink Tim Drake fic inspired by I am Machine by Three Days Grace. ( https://ift.tt/x1FX92B ) Tim Drake-Wayne was many things. Wore many masks, literal and figurative. People only made the mistake of underestimating him once, if they were smart. This is a character study as much as it is what I wish would happen (batfam goes to therapy) Words: 3544, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M, Multi, Other Characters: Tim Drake (DCU), Bruce Wayne, Dinah Lance, Jason Todd Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent/Jason Todd, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen Additional Tags: Other DC Characters mentioned - Freeform, Song: I am Machine (Three Days Grace), Tired Tim Drake, CEO Tim Drake, Tim Drake is Red Robin (DCU), Jason Todd is Red Hood, Kon-El | Conner Kent is Superboy, Tim Drake-centric (DCU), Mental Health Issues, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Don't worry they got better, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Let Tim Drake be happy, Tim Drake and Jason Todd are Not Siblings, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, He's doing better than he used to, I wanted to do a character study of Tim Drake, And had to include my fave tim ship, Throuple Relationship, m/m/m relationship, Teen and up for references to sensitive topics, Batfamily (DCU), batfam goes to therapy via https://ift.tt/z9ImMEq

[divinemare]

Cruel Cauldron

✎ᝰ┆azriel x oc

ᝰ┆part one

part two

this has been literally on my mind FOREVER, to give you a little introduction, an arrange marriage between an oc princess and our lovely shadowsinger, where they ofc hate each others guts.

disclaimer: english is not my first language, so i apologize for any mistakes in advance!

—— —͙ – -

When her feet touched the ground, Karina felt the racing urge to throw up overcome her.

“Don’t disappoint me any further, Karina,” her mother’s words echoed in her mind, making her stand extra tall and keep her chin up even tho the female could not see her now.

“I’m gonna make you pay for this, mother,” she thought to herself, feeling her blood run hot and her breath catching as she took in the whole situation of what her life had become in the last weeks.

And all for a stupid, Cauldron-fucking-damned bond.

៚ ·

Three weeks ago…

Anthra was one of the mightiest kingdoms in all the Continent, yet not the mightiest. And that had always been a bother to her mother, Queen Verena Basdearg of Anthra. A ruthless female who had always been jealous of the mighty Hybern and Prythian realms.

Anthra, her homeland, consistent of three principal lands:

The Black Land, was where the finest clothes, and the most delicious crops would come from.

The Silver Land; it was known for its concentration of mines: the rarest, most precious jewels came from there, as well as the gold and silver and bronze.

And finally, the Red Land. Where all the most terrible, brutal soldiers where forged in, hence the name; red as the blood staining its floors.

And all three of them answered to the Imperial Queen. 

Which, also happened to be her mother, one of the most feared females in the Continent.

Princess Karina Basdearg of Anthra, Second Daughter, Princess of the Valley and the Silver Land. Was anything but what a princess was expected to be if only when…: gracious —if only while her mother stared her way—, polite —whenever she actually liked the person she had to treat with, or her mother was in ears length. Not to mention that breathtakingly gorgeous as well —that she always was—, or so the lords and nobles always loved to tell her whenever they were so desperately trying to get her favor.

Now she was getting ready to humor them again, in her mother’s monthly grand dinner with the lords of the three lands. Brushing her brown black hair and testing which color of tint would best suit her dark olive skin tone.

Two soft knocks on the oak doors of her room made her stare into its direction from her mirror, and so she only bothered to mutter a ‘come in’, before a female poked her head into the room.

“Are you ready?” Her sister asked in the soft cool tone of her voice.

Before her was Princess Arisa Basdearg of Anthra, First Daughter and Heir to the Imperial Throne, Crown Princess.

They shared several physical aspects; like their hair and their skin and their button noses. Yet Arisa’s features were sharper, more grown, either for 200 years of difference between the two of them, of the burdens it carried that Karina would never understand. As well as the gemstone green eyes that had once belonged to their father, unlike the honey amber eyes Karina had inherited from their mother.

And then there was also the fact that, Arisa was everything Karina was not; actually polite, actually gracious, actually fit for a Queen.

Arisa was the success, while she was always meant to be the disappointment. But that never actually bothered her tho, it took one look at her big sister to know she never wanted to carry the burdens Arisa did.

“Not yet,” she replied with a sigh, brushing her thick eyebrows with a little brush.

Arisa smiled playfully through the mirror, and Karina lifted one of her now perfectly brushed eyebrows at her sister.

“Maxon came to visit.”

Karina’s eyes instantly sparkled at the mention of the name, but keeping her best composure in front of her sister, she left the brush calmly on the table and turned to look at the female with an unbothered eyebrow up.

“Did he, now?”

Arisa nodded, and with a smile, added: “So did Bastian and Fiona,” at that, Karina didn’t have it in her not to smile, and she jumped out of her sit and ran out of her bedchamber, and into the long halls of the palace. “Karina, wait, don’t run!” Her sister’s voice echoed behind her.

She only stoped running once she was at the entrance of the dinning hall, where every month the grand dinners were held. Karina gathered some air and fixed her dress just in case her mother was already inside. She gave a look to the guards, and they, ever so discreetly, nodded their approval before opening the doors.

The oak cracked as the dinning hall’s chandelier lights greeted her entrance, and all heads already present turned to look at the Princess who had just arrived.

Karina’s eyes, tho, only looked for three specific pairs once it was obvious her mother was still not there, and when hers found the browns she had been looking for, her smile stretched and she ever so gracefully nodded to the lords that made a curtsy for her, then walked as fast as she could without looking too un-mannered towards the already opened arms and bright smile of Maxon Hatchett.

“Your Highness,” the male inclined his head, and as soon as he was up, Karina threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

She had missed his brown eyes and dirty blond curly hair, his dimpled smile, his sun-kissed skin, his strong arms and wide shoulders. Maxon Hatchett was truly a male that attracted looks everywhere he went. But mostly, she had missed her best friend, and the only guy that made her heart jump with excitement.

Maxon laugh lowly, the sound brushing Karina’s shoulder, and then murmured, in a soft, low voice:

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Liar,” she said in a whisper. “You would’ve written if that were true.”

“I’m afraid that was my fault, cousin, I kept him rather busy,” when Karina parted from Maxon’s hug, her smile immediately grew at the sight of Bastian Basdearg.

Karina hugged the male with the shoulder-length black hair, the one with whom she shared their olive dark skin and honey amber eyes, who towered her for over a foot for how tall that motherfucker was, her cousin Bastian, as tightly as she had hugged the male before him, and then pushed him away to eagerly look for the auburn hair of…

“There’s no way you’ve grown this much,” she laughed at the sight of the little Fiona Basdearg already not so…little.

Both females smiled and hugged each other, while Karina complimented her other cousin over and over again.

“What are you all doing here, I thought you two were busy in the Red Land.”

As part of the Imperial family, and the only other one in the line of success since her father died leaving her mother with no more heirs, Bastian had inherited the Red Land from his mother: her mother’s only living sister. While Fiona, even tho she was still too young to formally become Princess according to their laws, was to inherit the Black Lands from her father: her mother’s only living brother.

There had been 6 siblings in her mother’s line, now there were only three. Karina had heard of one of them, the other two; she hadn’t even bothered to ask.

“Well, we were, but…” Bastian started, but the words got cut off from him when the oak doors of the dinning hall opened again with their loud creak, and inside came Queen Verena Basdearg.

Everyone instantly curtsied, and Karina couldn’t help but raise her eyes to meet her mother’s cold stare.

That’s why she hated to have her mother’s eyes; while honey amber was supposed to be such a warm color, Verena Basdearg made sure to turn it colder than any icy blue.

Arisa came trailing their mother’s back like the good Crown Princess she was, and Karina gave her sister a questioning look when the room filled in with more tension than usual, only for Arisa to advert her gaze from her, telling Karina she —and, mercifully, Fiona too—, seemed to be the only one left in oblivion there.

But when her mother opened her mouth, when the venomous tongue rolled to spat sharp words, Karina fell in absolute shock with each and every sentence.

“I hope someone here is ready to tell me why has Prythian declared war, and what are we gonna do to wipe them off of this Continent if it so happens to be the case.”

៚ ·

Karina almost dropped the glass liquor cup she had just grabbed when she heard her mother’s statement.

Prythian had what? And they were going to do what?

On a normal setting, Karina would’ve struggled not to laugh, because even tho they had one of the most powerful armies in the Continent, that their soldiers were known for their brutality and efficiency, and they counted with a large amount of wealth and powerful people, they had always been some steps behind Prythian, behind the powerful High Lords and the great Seven Courts.

But now, after they had gone into a war with not other than Hybern…

The repercussions of a war could leave the strongest of kingdoms in vulnerability and danger, and Prythian, as of right now, wouldn’t survive another war with another powerful and healthy enemy.

“What, in the name of the Mother, is going on,” she asked in a low whisper to Maxon when everyone else was sitting at the table, discussing the supposed offense Prythian had committed against Anthra, while they stayed in a corner watching everything unfold. Fiona sat at their feet with a bored look on her freckled face, and the curls of her red hair falling in her soft olive skin.

Maxon was the second son of the Red Land Lord, she was the second princess, and Fiona was not even a princess yet, they weren’t needed in the big discussions yet, leaving them at the sideways at all times.

It had been why Maxon and Karina had gotten along so quickly centuries ago, they both understood each other, as they both lived under their siblings shadows.

“You can thank this all to my wonderful cousin,” he sighed, shaking his head, while Karina furrowed her eyebrows together.

“What does Yvett have to do with this?”

“She got killed,” he said it so nonchalantly that it took Karina a moment to actually process the words, and almost spit out the liquor in her mouth when she did.

“What?!” She murmured loudly, cleaning the few drops that fell on her chin with her wrist.

“Remember that guy I told you she ran away with?” Of course she remembered, it had been the biggest scandal in court for months.

“Yeah, what about him?”

“Well he was just as awful as her. The son of an apparently really importar member of the Court of Nightmares. She got in deep shit trouble and got what she deserved at the end.”

“That’s…” Karina stared at the male with a frown. “The most vague explanation I’ve ever heard.”

“I didn’t asked for much detail,” Maxon lifted an uninterested shoulder, and Karina rolled her eyes.

The death of Yvett wouldn’t have presented such a big conflict if she didn’t happen to also be the daughter of the Queen’s Alhara; a group of the five most rewarded and trusted soldiers of the Imperial Guard. And her mother’s oldest —and only— friend.

“Fucking hell,” she exhaled a long breath, and Maxon nodded with a sigh of his own.

“Fucking hell indeed.”

៚ ·

“Please tell me mother is not going to do something outrageous,” once dinner was over and everyone was sent to their chambers to rest, the Basdearg sisters instead made their way to the palace gardens for a late night walk under the beautiful moon.

Arisa sighed, giving Karina a bad impression already.

“It’s…complicated.”

“Complicated? It’s not, really. You and I both knew Yvette, outside this lands that protected her for her mother’s rank, sooner or later she was going to get herself killed, that bitch was despicable.”

“Karina!” Her sister reprimanded, but did not corrected her, as she knew her words were true.

“What? It’s the truth.”

“You know mother,” Arisa said with another sigh, and Karina clicked her tongue in response.

“Mother has been looking for an excuse to put a spike on half of Prythian High Lords to put us above them.”

When Karina finished spitting her words, she looked at her sister and noticed the tiredness and wariness in her eyes, and sighed putting her arm around the female’s. Her sister was constantly working, constantly worrying, and Karina hated to see her so worked up.

“How’s Taj? Haven’t seen him today.”

Taj was her sister’s husband, they had been together for already 400 years, and were one of the only marriages in the history of their family that had been actually out of love.

They had been lucky when they met centuries ago in one of her sisters political trips around the Continent, he was a noble from another kingdom, and they had fallen madly and annoyingly in love.

In other words, they could be described as the perfect royal love fantasy, a happy, thriving couple. Now that Karina did envied.

Their mother had been so proud Arisa had secured a strong alliance, yet another thing she did unintentionally perfect. While the only person Karina had ever wanted had been never enough to please her mother. Even if Maxon was the son of a Lord, he wouldn’t give her mother more power, and that was enough for the Queen to disapprove of any kind of affection her daughter felt for the male.

“He’s…busy, organizing a trip,” Arisa said without looking at her.

Karina lifted an eyebrow, noticing the faint shimmer in her sister’s green eyes and smiling sideways.

“Aha…”

“And…” The Crown Princess sighed.

“And…” Her younger sister repeated.

Arisa stoped walking and took a deep breath, when they were face to face, Karina noticed the actual glow on the other princess’ eyes that spoke loudly with hope and excitement.

“We want to try to have a baby again.”

They had been trying to produce an heir for 300 hundred years now. And a century ago her sister had finally gotten pregnant, only to soon after have a miscarriage and lose the baby. They had stoped trying since then, recovering from the heartbreak.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, sis, but doesn’t your husband have to be, you know, here, to try for that baby?” Arisa laughed melodiously, and grabbed her sister’s arm again to resume their walk.

“He’s been busy finding Emeraya, have you heard of her?”

Emeraya was a very, very ancient healer who dedicated her life to helping fae females to have babies, since for them it was more easy to live 500 years than to have a baby in that time.

“Oh, Ari,” Karina hugged her sister tightly, while her heart murmured a prayer to the Mother and Cauldron to give her sister what she so much deserved. “You’ll have a family soon, I know it.”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Anything,” Karina smiled, leaving her sister’s embrace to look her in the eyes.

“We want to leave in three days time. But mother wanted me to go to Prythian to reunite with the High Lord of the Night Court. Apparently he requested an audience, maybe to try and make peace with our mother.”

“What a fool,” Karina snorted a laugh.

Of course she knew Rhysand. And some other High Lords of Prythian. But, as Rhysand was her mother’s least favorite of all seven of them, Karina had made him her favorite.

“You want me to go in your place?” She sighed, lifting a knowing eyebrow.

“Please?”

Rhysand was fun to be with, other members of his Court? Not so much. That male named Kier was one of those males you couldn’t help but want to throw up just thinking about him. And that Shadowsinger? Mother above, what a total waste of that much beauty.

“Ok. I’ll go,” she smiled tightly, but her wariness wore off when she saw Arisa’s bright smile.

“Thank you so much, Karina,” the oldest hugged her little sister, and Karina swallowed her sigh.

“Oh don’t think this is free, sis, this is going to cost you. Big time. I expect retribution after all this, in pretty dresses and shoes,” Arisa laughed, and took Karina’s hand to guide them both back to the palace.

[knight-princess]

Appreciation post for:

• Wererats. Fucked up little beasties. Do they turn into people on the full moon or did they used to be people, I can’t remember and Boorman certainly never explained. Look like roadkill and sincerely want to fuck you up. Two heads for some reason. Only appear once and are dope and real animatronics and everything I’m pretty sure

• “Chloe Allagash’s brave little man”, otherwise known just as Allagash. Insults extraordinaire. Spent like. ten years in a box pretending to be his best mate and was so committed to that bit he tried to sell it to his best mate’s other best mate and daughter. Gave up his life to fight trolls and save the gang. Hates olives. Iconic

• Madmartigan, who I spent far too long convinced was actually called Martigan and nicknamed “Mad” Martigan by all his mates. Also in a box when we meet him. Tries to feed roots to a newborn. Slays in pink. Souped up on the love potion, gains himself an enemies to lovers arc with the hot badass warrior queen

• Sorsha Tanthalos, said hot badass warrior, redemption arc speedrun, kiss in the middle of battle pro, stop listening to your evil mom and make your own choices queen. Pissed off that the dorky hot rogue confessed his undying love to her and it was just love potion. “‘I dwell in darkness without you’ and it went away???” Go off queen. You can fix that never fear. Dopest sword ever but also that would be so so sucky to get stabbed with because fuck that is a lot of serrations. Is it all that functional? Don’t know but it looks awesome. 10/10. Goes straight from being henchman to her evil mom to trying to run a whole kingdom, raise three kids and keep one of them from dying to fulfil the prophesy. Makes some dodgy decisions. Complains about it all to her (literal) captive audience. Saves her daughters life. Complicated queen

• Sorsha x Madmartigan. Enemies to lovers classic with all the fun twists. “Love her?!? I don’t love her! She kicked me in the face!” Oh you just wait buddy. Couple affirming kiss mid battle??? Oh fuck yeah, sign me the fuck up. “I dwell in darkness without you.” Wait. Was that foreshadowing

• Jade and Elora being besties. Unexpected and delightful. Elora calling her “J” nearly made me hit the cieling. You’re telling me they’ve got nicknames already??? Sign me the fuck up. I love it. Need more of it pls and thank you

• Lili of Cashmere. On the wyrms milk. Dresses like a Greek goddess. Known by the alias “the Crone” which she hates even tho she really is secretly a skeleton held together with goo and a love of drama (I’m reusing that description ok I enjoyed it too much the first time). Evil makeover specialist. A+ Lili I love you

• And last but not least, smart and sassy trolls. @lowkeyed1 is a lifesaver and provided me with the transcript for the episode bc I remembered they had some truly iconic lines but couldn’t for the life of me remember what they were. So we’ve got: “He’s not appealing, but he speaks his mind, and I suppose that’s something” of Sarris’s own brother. Of the Crone: “Is she the eldritch nightmare people make her out to be? Yes. But she has her positive qualities too.” Lol fair. The forever iconic “I deplore those who rouse rabble” and my personal favourite “yeah, cos when I said ‘I do’, what I really meant was ‘explain it to me like I’m an imbecile’.”

[justletmeramble1701]

I'm rewatching Arrow (might turn into an Arrowverse rewatch depending on how much I hate myself) and, man, season one Oliver's story is really tragic from the perspective of the housekeeper (Raisa) or, really, just from the perspective of an onlooker.

This man spent 5 years in hell and his support system doesn't care! They are too caught up in themselves to notice that he's struggling (again, this is from the perspective of someone who doesn't know the secret). They literally give up on him after a week or two.

Everyone is expecting him to both be the spoiled rich kid that he was before he left and the perfect mature adult that they've created in their heads. This causes him to hide in the bratty persona to try to find some comfort (angering those around him), while anytime he tries to be mature, no one takes him seriously (leading to more anger at the "hypocrisy"). It is almost painful to see.

To be more specific: his mother is already trying to shove him into taking over the family business, a police detective who desperately wants to prove he's a monster so he can punish him, and an ex who wants to hate him while also being obsessed with him. The only one who is understandable is Thea, his little sister, who is on a downward spiral because she never got the help she needed after she lost her father and brother. It's understandable that the troubled 17 year old would be behaving like thus.

All this drives him into the arms of a mob boss's daughter, which also becomes a toxic relationship, because she is one of the few people who will empathize with him. If it wasn't for Tommy and his new body guard, he would have no support system.

This idea makes me want to see a fanfiction that is either from the perspective of an Oliver who is not the Hood (the Hood still exists, their just a different person) or from the perspective of an OC watching the Queen family drama during season 1. I would write it myself, but I don't think I could write in Oliver's head or know enough about mental health.

[nikkiruncks]

Zuko and sokka #14

14. When one has a cold, what does the other do?

Sokka is literally INSUFFERABLE whenever he gets a cold and acts like a total drama queen to the point where Zuko is the only one who can be around him. He'd put a wet towel on his head and cook him soup (culinary wiz!zuko when lmao).

Zuko claims he doesn’t need any help and that he’s fine, but Sokka would know otherwise. Even after all these years, Zuko still has a hard time accepting help (at least that’s how I view him) because he’s not used to it.

Sokka would try to make him soup but he’s a bad cook so he just ends up getting soup and breadsticks from Olive Garden instead 😂. But he would make a care package for Zuko and never leave his side.

[benegesseritofficial]

Pushing Daisies has immediately struck me as extraordinarily queer coded. Enjoy my rant.

This show came out in 2007 and yet Ned is an extremely gentle man in every aspect of his characterization. He was emotionally wounded as a child, a fact we linger on and explore at length. He drives people away but in an incredibly passive way. He isn't interested at all in the hot woman throwing herself at him. The only person he's interested in was his childhood best friend. The man is passive, sweet, and a romantic; not someone who would chase you but a prize to be won.

Chuck is literally named Chuck. Sure her name is Charlotte but when we first meet her she's in a dinosaur costume and her name is Chuck. No one's called her Chuck since Ned, and when he does again she only wants him to call her Chuck. Almost immediately everyone calls her Chuck. Also... Charolette Charles? Charolette is the feminine form of Charles. Gender fuckery is afoot from square one. And she's assertive. She has no trouble talking over Ned, or any other man for that matter. She cares deeply about feelings and emotions and her perceptions of right and wrong, and she will steamroll anyone who tries to contradict her. She kisses Ned first. She figures out how she can safely kiss Ned. They both wanted it but she's the one who starts problem solving. Now, her actress Anna Friel is slender, her hair is long, and she is dressed exclusively like a 1950s fashion model. She's 5'5", but dwarfed by Lee Pace's 6'5". But what if she wasn't? What if she was opposite a man who wasn't a fucking tree? What if these lines and actions were given to a woman who wasn't a size 2? What if Anna Friel wore jeans for even one scene while Chuck interrupts and problem solves and takes action? Well, the audience might start to notice that the character isn't very feminine at all. Chuck is all character and very little gender. She could really be played by anyone.

And finally, Olive. Dear, sweet, Olive, longing after a man who shuts down one half her advances and doesn't seem to notice the other half. Olive, who is bold and brash and catty and fun and (apparently, by the costuming department's choices) obsessed with '70s fashion. It's 2007. A gay writer cannot express his struggles longing after a straight man who will never care for him. Not in so many words. But he could write most of that character. He could just swap a few little details and pronouns. By the time a minuscule, high voiced actress is reading Olive's lines, the average straight viewer would never even guess. But there Olive is; a readymade gay icon, over the top and feminine and unapologetically attracted to men. Everything a more feminine gay man wishes he could be out in the open. Olive can tell gay men's stories when they couldn't use their own voices. Relatedly, once you see her and Chuck's aunts as drag queens, you just can't unsee it. When Olive first meets those two, they take her under their wing as a kindred spirit. In the course of telling a story, it's not a trope or action that makes much sense for straight women. Younger women don't seek out and value the advice of old women. Not on TV, not in the cultural wisdom of 2007 or today. Gay men on the other hand. Drag queens on the other hand. If you were in the culture, you understood to value your elders when they bestowed wisdom.

And none of that addressing the situation. Ned absolutely cannot touch the person he's in love with. He and Chuck kiss in (I think) the third episode. Chuck isn't a love interest, she is arguably his girlfriend for most of the series. And yet, a forced wall must remain between them. Chuck has to remain in disguise when they're in public. They are together, but still feel they have to restrain themselves. There is no clear future for their relationship, no matter how in love they are. Much like a gay couple might feel, years before widespread societal acceptance and legal recognition of their relationship. It isn't safe, and only a few close friends can know.

[island-in-the-shadows]

Felix in his sex Apollo shirt.

Why is the score so obvious atm?

Granny....hi Granny! (This is my fave minor bit I use in my story)

Why am I literally CRYING AT THIS???

Because the camera never wavers from Felix. Ever. Felix, Felix, Felix. SUCK MY DICK CUNTASS YOUTUBERS ITS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT FELIX AND THIS TRACKING SHOT PROVES IT!!!!!

If it had been about the house we would see the house. The fugly Rubens. But we don't. We see FELIX. Felix is the sun and the stars and the moon and all that matters or has mattered or will matter.

The only time we get a shot is when he's in the king's bedroom and it's not even the room it's Oliver. Oliver wanted to be King by marrying the Queen. But he killed his queen and rendered himself redundant.

Dead relly, dead rellies, daddy's old teddy, Shakespeare's folio, and Maze! *gay little skip* 😭😭😭