#but we deserved sixteen episodes of this

[bitacrytic]

So he died and his senior put him in the game as his "heaven"? Because that's what I'm getting and frankly, I'm fine with it. If he gets to live out the rest of his days with love and friendship, then that's the best thing to give someone who got so down on life that he took his own.

Good for him.

[verstarppen]

pairing; lando norris x fem! star wars actress! reader [ no faceclaim ]

a/n; i cleared out my ask inbox before posting this because i know y'all be in there screaming after you finish reading, anyway remember the broken headboard? it's come back to haunt us [ series masterlist ]

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yndeathtrooper there's some guy following me around monaco he said he drives for a living idk never heard of him

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landonorris P9 BAAABBBYYYYYY

yndeathtrooper max is shaking in his boots, he told me himself maxverstappen1 Terrified, even.

oscarpiastri Nearly ran me over with that car

yndeathtrooper what were you doing in his way oscarpiastri Existing

liked by yndeathtrooper, oscarpiastri, yn.jpg and 785,002 others

lando.jpg hola bitchachos

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holidaykimi no y/n pic? 😟

staraikkonen this weekend is about to be in spain without the s

lukestarkiller IS IT TRUE YOU'RE IN AHSOKA????

roboclaren another week another dutch anthem

yndeathtrooper google how do i spell gorgeous in spanish

lando.jpg uncultured swine yndeathtrooper your only braincells comes from me

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mclaren Two cars in the top ten! Heading into the race with plenty of momentum. 👊

Great work, @ landonorris and @ oscarpiastri! 👏 # SpanishGP

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yndeathtrooper WE'RE SO BACK, BABY

landonorris i'm just trying to be the trophy husband you deserve (literally) mclaren We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Miss L/N yndeathtrooper just doing my job

angelricciardo this is it boys we're so close to a win

norrisun LANDO WE CAN BE WORLD CHAMPION I SAID

clarenmc LET'S GO

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ahsokaofficial Remember her name.

# Ahsoka, a Star Wars Original series. Don’t miss the two-episode premiere, streaming August 23rd at 6PM PT on @ DisneyPlus

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yndeathtrooper this is where the fun begins

bellanorris but where's lando

sugarussell EVERYONE IN THE F1 FANDOM FLOODING THE COMMENTS IS SO FUNNY

chewie_gum DADDY'S (thrawn) HOME (back in the galaxy)

danielricciardo MOM I MADE IT

ahsokaofficial We're proud of you, Lord Ricciardius

pic credits: instagram and pinterest

taglist: @justdreamersdream @cha-hot @dl-yum @minkyungseokie @allywthsr @eugene-emt-roe @soleilgrec @raevyng @baw-sixteen @palomaxaxaxa @cassiopeiia24 @callsignwidow @sheridamn @kissesandmartinis @gods-menace @iifloweringnightsii @fanboyluvr @idkiwantchocolatee @flyclaren @cixrosie @lanando4 @lichterfee @yagirlhayes @blueberry64857959 @thatoneembarrasingmoment (taglist is open!)

[brionysea]

if you know me, you may know that I love animation. I think it's beautiful and deserves a lot more respect as an artistic medium than it gets. I still live with my parents, and they don't agree; they think it's for children, which makes it worth less. I put on my favourite film (Into The Spider-Verse) while they were in the room once, in a sneaky attempt to share something I love with them, and they were just on their phones the entire time. if I'd been more open about what I was doing they might have tried more, but as it stands, it didn't even cross their minds that something animated could be worth their time.

I say all this to lead into the fact that I've also never been able to get them to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. again, I was watching something I liked while my mum was in the room, but just because I wanted to this time. I was watching the North Pole episodes. my mum likes badass female characters in media, so I told her to pay attention to Katara's fight with Pakku, but even that didn't pull her in (although she did note that Katara was "fiery"). she was bored, wanted the TV for something she liked now (I'd had it for a while), but I wanted to finish the 2-parter first. we decided on one more episode. we reached the part where Zuko kidnaps Aang and runs into a blizzard with him, and Katara, Sokka, and Yue find them. Katara, of course, outmatches Zuko in seconds. Sokka frees Aang and suggests leaving Zuko to die in the blizzard, and Aang - being who he is - says, "No. We can't leave him here."

and my mum, barely looking up from her phone, says, "Why not? He'd leave you."

bear in mind, she hasn't watched the show. she doesn't know these people. she doesn't know Zuko. this is a single glimpse into a single moment of his life, one of countless mistakes made by a lost teenager, where someone else had to decide whether or not he was worth saving. I got this sinking feeling, imagining a world where Aang didn't listen to his beliefs in this moment; a world where Zuko died in the blizzard, where Iroh lost another son, where Aang never got the chance to learn firebending from him - a world where Zuko never realised his destiny, all because he was left for dead in a snowstorm.

but my mum didn't know this show, didn't know all the reasons why that shouldn't happen, so all I could think of to say in response was a small, devastated, "He's sixteen."

and I'm looking back on that feeling now, at the judgement made on a boy she didn't even know, and I'm thinking: what gives you the right to decide he's done? that he's not allowed to grow anymore? that he won't be missed? that he should die, and that Aang should be complicit in it?

this may seem silly. animated or not, Avatar is just a show. but it's a show that got me invested, a show that made me care about the characters and what they have to say about morality and philosophy and the world. it's a show that made me not want Zuko to die alone in a snowstorm. it's a show that made me not want Aang to become a murderer at 12 years old.

but that mentality of judging people by their worst moments, of not seeing them as full human beings who have worth and a future and limitless potential for change because you, personally, haven't seen it, translates to real people too.

it's reductive.

I think of it like this: what they decide says something about who they are, but what you decide says something about who you are. are you the kind of person who would let someone die when you had the chance to save them? are you the kind of person who invites more pain into the world? who allows it without protest? who believes it's possible to reach a point where people don't deserve your compassion anymore?

Aang isn't.

I didn't have much of a plan going into this post, but looking at it in full, I think this is the value of redemption arcs. and while on a practical level, you can understand why so many people pushed back against it at the end of the show, I think this is the value of Aang's philosophy: it lets you be more.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

This moment in Episode 42 is the moment that breaks The Untamed a bit plot-wise, I think. With Wangxian's mutual awareness that the final curse mark is for Jin Guangyao, we can't trust that they aren't motivated by self-interest.

I mean, of course Lan Wangji sulks when his brother insists upon evidence beyond "Wei Ying says he saw something" before he'll forsake Jin Guangyao; if they don't kill Jin Guangyao fast enough, then he'll lose Wei Wuxian for a second time.

And of course Wei Wuxian believes that Mo Xuanyu was a perfectly innocent victim whom Jin Guangyao falsely accused to cover his own crimes (he posits that what Mo Xuanyu really did was find out the secret in Qin Su's letter and try to warn her, despite zero evidence supporting this); if someone else must die so you may live, it's easier to kill them if you believe they're evil and deserve it.

And of course the show itself has to go all-in on saying that all the treasons for these eighteen sixteen years complotted and contrived in this land fetch from false Mowbray Guangyao their first head and spring, because otherwise the audience might notice that our two romantic leads have a lot to personally gain (or lose) from this and may not be purely motivated by a desire for justice.

[nephilimeq]

Hey, I was just wondering what age you thought Derek was in season one? Cause it’s a heavily debated and unknown piece of information. Me personally I always thought he was 19 in the pilot, and this was before I had read anything about the writers wanting him to be that age in the pilot. It was just the way he acted, to me, it doesn’t seem like a mid-20s man. Also stiles says the fire happened “ like ten years ago” but then a few episodes later Peter says he’s been in a coma for 6 years. So I was just curious what you thought. Also stiles saying that is always made out to be taken as it literally happened exactly ten years ago, and people always bring it up but they never talk about how long Peter said it had been.

Sorry if this is long I just enjoy your blog and your thoughts. I wanted to share mine while also hearing it from your perspective. Hope you have a wonderful day, you deserve it!

This is a very tricky subject to handle, because the writers made mistakes in their own timeline so they switched things around.

But in the very first episode Stiles says that Derek is only a few years older than them. I always figured that Derek was around 19 in Season 1, while Stiles was 16.

The reason why they messed everything up so horribly is because they hadn't actually created a timeline for all the events when they started writing, and to me, it made the show feel like a fan fiction writer who was just making it up as they went and then all the reviewers were saying, "Hey, you have a few continuity errors," and instead of trying to make it work, they just made something up and didn't really try to go back and adjust anything.

There's a scene that happens when Stiles is asking Peter and Cora about Derek's past (Season 3, Episode 8 "Visionary"), and he is trying to find out how old they are, and this train wreck section of dialogue occurs:

Stiles: Okay, if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you? ...How old are you now? Peter: Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think. Stiles: Okay, that was frustratingly vague. How old are you? Cora: I'm seventeen. Stiles: See, that's an answer. That's how we answer people. Cora: Well, seventeen how you'd measure in years. Stiles: Alright, I'm just gonna drop it.

This dialogue made me so pissy when I heard it the first time because I knew that this was the writers' response to the viewers and fans. The fans are Stiles in this conversation, and the writers are Peter and Cora being purposely "frustratingly vague" in the hopes that we'll just "drop it", which a lot of us did because they wouldn't give us any straight answers.

They messed up and they know it.

In my head canon -- because it makes the most sense to me -- Derek is three years older than them. Canonically, Derek is actually only ten days older than me, as seen in this enhanced screencap right here (from Season 1, Episode 11, where Kate has him kidnapped and held up in chains):

So according to this he would have been around 22, about to turn 23 in the first season...but here's something to take into consideration. This driver's license isn't for California -- it's for New York. I have a theory that he got a professional fake I.D. so that he could do more jobs (such as bartending) while he was out of state.

Now, when Stiles mentions the fire was "like, ten years ago," I genuinely think that he was just generalizing. Derek was sixteen when Kate took advantage of him raped him, which means that the fire happened when Stiles was around twelve/thirteen (as he has a canonically April 8th birthday, so it all depends on the months).

Regarding anything Peter might have said...please remember that it has been firmly established in the show that Peter is an unreliable narrator. Stiles openly admits that to Cora in the previously mentioned Season 3, Episode 8, "Visionary".

A lot of these issues are because of the lack of consistency from the writers.

I think the biggest problem was when they cast a younger Peter and totally threw the timelines off, trying to make him only a few years older than Derek -- which he wasn't. Peter is Derek's uncle, for crying out loud! The man would have been in his late twenties, early thirties when Derek was a teen, barely looking any different than he does in the show...and yet the writers and producers thought that making him look almost like a teenager was the right call.

I do think it was a last ditch attempt to try and make Derek waaay older than Stiles because they didn't like the shipping -- but they had already established too much of their timeline at that point and simply messed up and didn't have the guts to admit it.

Simply put, I genuinely think Derek was nineteen and turned twenty during season one.

Hope that answers your questions, anon!

[sokkastyles]

"It's about Ozai's psychological need for control and need to hurt his son to feel powerful."

hmmmm I mean Ozai was pretty straight forward when he said to Zuko "it was to teach you respect" it doesn't make the situation any less fucked up but he's not lying about his motivation. Also Zuko and Azula aren't the only ones who try and act as a mini version of their father. Ozai reacts to Zuko's pragmatism in the war council the same way Azulon reacted to Ozai's suggetion of becoming the heir to the throne after Lu Ten's death.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but this is something I'm gonna need everyone to understand real quick.

Whatever Ozai might say, it is not about respect.

In fact, the show has Zuko call this out, when Ozai tells Zuko it was to teach him respect in "The Day of Black Sun," and Zuko says, "It was cruel, and it was wrong!"

I believe that Ozai believes it's about respect, but Ozai is an abuser and abusers are notoriously good at lying to themselves.

Abuse is always, always, always about power.

And actually, Azulon's treatment of Ozai is a big part of why I think Azulon was an abuser, too.

First we need to understand this one rule, that abuse is always about power, and that whatever excuse the abuser gives is always going to be wrong (even if the abuser is able to convince themselves that it's true).

But also, if we really break down the idea that Ozai was trying to teach Zuko respect, does that even hold up?

Did Zuko learn respect by being burned?

Think about Zuko at the beginning of the series. Is this a teenager that has learned how to be respectful? Would you use that adjective to describe Zuko, age sixteen, circa book one, episode one?

Zuko, as we are introduced to him, is angry, rude, hateful, and full of rage. And he became that way through abuse. Abuse did not teach him respect. It never does. It didn't teach Ozai, and it didn't teach Zuko. It's a vicious cycle and if Zuko hadn't learned better, far from learning respect, he would have actually learned how to become just like Ozai, an angry, hateful person doling out cruelty because he never got the "respect" he thought he deserved and not understanding that respect is actually earned through giving it.

Also, consider that Ozai has another child, who he thinks is so much better than Zuko, who he heaps praise upon and thinks very highly of. If you look at the way Ozai interacts with Azula vs how he interacts with Zuko, the idea that his treatment of Zuko was about "respect" becomes the obvious lie that it is, because we see Azula act incredibly rude and disrespectful to basically every person around her, including Ozai, and he continues to praise her for it. Azula isn't any more respectful than Zuko, Ozai just has this idea in his head of what his kids are like and treats them accordingly. That's kinda the thing with the golden child / scapegoat dynamic.

Zuko isn't even respectful to Ozai at the beginning of the series. He fears Ozai, but as Zhao remarks, what Ozai did didn't teach Zuko anything about speaking respectfully, because it had nothing to do with that.

Because you can't teach someone respect by disrespecting them, especially a child. What children learn from this is that the way to be powerful is to disrespect others. They learn to fear others, and they learn that fear will earn them a facsimile of respect, but, like Azula at the end of the series, they are left wondering why their lives still feel empty.

Do you know who actually taught Zuko respect?

Iroh did.

Iroh taught Zuko respect by treating him with respect, even when Zuko was disrespectful to him. Iroh taught Zuko that Zuko deserved respect, and that also meant he didn't deserve what his father did to him.

The irony of Ozai's statement about respect is like, the entire point. Ozai has no authority to talk about respect while he's raising a hand to a terrified child. Someone who knows anything about respect would not need to terrorize children to try to get it.

Abuse is always about power, and always about the abuser, and never about the victim.

[quitepossiblybamboozled]

thinking about Finn and Fern and how The Death of Legacy was essential to their story's resolution

Legacy is a repeated theme throughout the series—legacy, destiny, our ability to change and/or uphold those, whether or not it is our responsibility to do so, even when that legacy or destiny directly conflicts with our morality.

Each character confronts (and usually kills) the legacy assigned to them in one way or another throughout the series: Marceline rebels against Abadeer, PB relinquishes her place of power, King of Ooo has his own fall from grace, BMO confronts and kills AMO, NEPTR refuses to succumb to evil, Cinnamon Bun escapes the "dumb clutz" persona he held in the Candy Kingdom, Flame Princess subverts every expectation held for her and shows an immense capacity for kindness and forgiveness when expected to lash out or become evil, Ice King goes from "evil freak" to "irritable weird old man who cares about people a lot" even in spite of the fact that the Crown was imposing aggression onto him, Gunther/Orgalorg throws away another chance at unfathomable intergalactic power for a chance at the love Ice King was always searching for, Betty became a chaos god rather than accepting the fate of Simon's death because of her own summoning ritual, Jake sacrificed his role as an active father to continue raising Finn when he realized who needed him more immediately, and perhaps the biggest example of this is Sweet P, who is the Lich reborn.

And all of this is not even touching Finn or Fern.

Finn and Fern actually share a legacy of a well-known and generally respected hero (though some of that trust was damaged after the episode, "The Tower," when said tower collapsed onto the Candy Kingdom and, "lotsa folks got squished"). They share the legacy of "The last human in all of Ooo," and as "Son of Martin Mertins and Minerva Campbell," and as "Son of Margaret and Joshua," and as "Little brother to Jake the Dog and Jermaine," and as "Father of NEPTR," and as "Flame Princess' ex boyfriend," and as so much more.

but Fern has this additional legacy attached to him, this separate history where his timeline and Finn's diverge. He has the legacy of "The Sacrifice that brought back Prismo"—a sacrifice that he did not consent to making, by the way. He's got the legacy of "Finn Sword," protecting the version of himself who sacrificed him and separated him from his own Jake, who was also sacrificed for Prismo's sake. And then he has the legacy of the Grass Wizard forcefully imposed on him, this legacy of the Grass Sword's curse, of evil.

And then Finn imposes the legacy of "brother" onto him. forces him back into the old shoes of "Finn the Human, Hero of Ooo," when he's still trying to figure out what he even is now. What all of it means. It's like with the Jiggler all over again, where Finn refuses to address the underlying issue of the fact that there is no space for Fern here.

And Finn never realizes, the self-sacrificial guy that he is, that Fern is seeing all of this for the first time, is finally realizing how Jermaine must feel, because when it comes to Finn and Jake and the bond that they share, there's not really any room for anyone else. but Fern is also only a sixteen-year-old boy—why does Finn deserve to be loved and cared for by his big brother, but Fern doesn't anymore? Why is Finn the only one offering him comfort? Oh. Right. Because he feels like Fern is "his responsibility."

So Fern already feels out of place, and he recognizes that, unless Finn is gone, he will never have Jake again. And he decides that, in order to step into "Finn the Human, brother of Jake the Dog," maybe the legacy of "Finn the Human, Hero to All in Need," may have to fall.

And then we have Finn, who embodies kindness and compassion, who refuses to kill Fern, but ends up doing it, anyway. Who, because he couldn't save this version of himself, feels he has lost the legacy, "Protector," has failed to uphold the legacy of, "Brother," has maybe even lost "Hero," in the scramble.

Tell me, what remains?

[magadauthan]

Ep 17: Rem Saverem

Day 17 of @trigun98watchparty : Vash and Knives get their origin story.

The viewer has learned over the last sixteen episodes that Vash is not an ordinary human being, or a human being at all. He's prone to weeping at moments of crisis with the name "Rem" on his lips. Now we get some answers.

Rem isn't particularly well characterized in the anime, for obvious reasons; she hadn't been fully written yet. Apparently she was inspired by Ellen Ripley, which is pretty badass.

There's a lot to unpack in this ep and it's not particularly silly, except for Knives' very relatable "I am so done with my mother and brother's shit" face. So, musings.

--The theme of going to the mats to save a child runs through all of Trigun and TriMax. Both Rem and WW will selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the young and innocent. Their methods are different.

...their outcomes are the same.

--Rem sees the two Independents as babies in need of care instead of aberrant monsters. To her, they are angels from God, and imo at least part of that is because she likely envisioned building a home and maybe having children with her (lover? husband?) Alex in their new world before he died. Vash and Knives are gifts to her to fill that void of emptiness.

--Brought this up last post, but it's worth remembering that for all their hyperintelligence and accelerated growth, Vash and Knives don't have the human experience of a toddler in their terrible twos/threes. Kids take things as black or white. They do not do nuance; they don't have any length of experience. Everything that's happening right now is the first and only time it's ever happened. How can you consider situations or instances relative to one another, if you have no experience? Or if your experience comes from what you saw on the computer?

--Knives is very aware of his own intelligence and his non-human superiority, but his emotional quotient is zero, and even as he gains experience, he sees no reason to bother with it. Either all humans are good, or all humans are bad. They take and don't give. Even if they do give, they don't fit with the paradigm and are disregarded. He's a child, with no nuance at all.

--Rem's philosophy is that no one has the intrinsic right to deprive another being of its life. The fallacy Knives can't resolve is that everyone has to eat (except him, in Tristamp... hmmm.) He's not wrong; the spider has to eat something. But I think there's a distinction between killing something because you feel like it or think they deserve it, and killing something because you're hungry.

--Back to the black and white - Knives can't resolve that either, because it's nuance, and when it comes to people... he's perfectly fine with messing with the crew's heads to show Vash and Rem that they're wrong. Steve is a dick and an abuser and possibly a rapist (it's unclear whether he actually did rape Mary or whether Knives made her think that he did) but does he deserve to die for it?

--When it comes down to it... I don't think anyone has a black and white answer. That's as far as I'm going with that.

--Vash clearly struggles with this same question but falls on the side of not killing anyone, no matter how threatened he or his loved ones are. Does he have the right to kill anyone? Probably not. Is he justified if there's no other way out? Guess we'll find out.

On a personal note... I appreciate Rem a lot more now than I did 20 years ago, before kids. It ain't easy. She had two of them at once and she did her damn best. Give the woman her mom jeans and a lifetime of appreciation for getting in there and putting her money where her mouth was. That corn ain't gonna shuck itself.

[sillygoofyqueer]

The Untamed review: episode two!!

Yes, Wei Wuxian, Little Apple IS a picky eater, because he deserves only the best and KNOWS IT

Bro's complaining about a donkey to a donkey, what a guy

"You're like MY master"

"Yo, there's a well!" Wei Wuxian immediately moves out of the way, what a gentleman

HE'S JUST TALKING TO THEM, WOAHHHH

Wei Wuxian helplessly listening to them argue over his inventions is so funny to me

"IS WEI YOUR DAD?!??" "HE'S MY IDOL!!"

The way that Wei Wuxian just gives up and peaces out

Fighting with a donkey now

Take the fucking apple, you dumbass

How old is this woman? She looks about twenty five

IT'S JUST LIKE IN MINECRAFT

Push her off, it'd be so funny and no one would know

Yo, what is Yan doing?? She's busting some moves

Does he just flick any random person?

Ohhhh, I see

Got killed by the mist, that's an embarrassing way to go

Bro is dead, goddamn. Poor lass has no soul

This woman has been through so much, she doesn't deserve it

Someone's catching humans, cannibals in every universe

JIN LING!!! <3

Laughing at the richness of people

"Naur, stay up there. See you later xoxo"

How is this woman here????

LITTLE APPLE BEHAVE YOURSELF

It's fine, he's wearing a mask that covers his eyes

"It's you?" Aw shit, the guy who was a baby when you were around is onto you

Joking, he knows Mo Xuanyu

Mock him and see how it ends up

BRO JUST INSULTED HIM BECAUSE HE'S MOTHERLESS

Stop trying to get up, jesusss

Nice throw

He looks so done with people's shit

STOP FUCKING MOCKING HIM, WEI WUXIAN

Oh, hey Jiang Cheng, you're baby girling quite hard today

No need to crush it

"break his legs? No, feed him to your dog, kiddo"

His boyfriend has come to rescue him

"I'm so unlucky today", on the contrary, I think you're very lucky, these characters are key to the plot and you didn't even have to go looking for them!!

I like the music that plays when the Lan Clan is around

Lan Jingyi stepping up for his father- teacher

Lan Sizhui, how do you know so much

HE CAST THE SILENCE SPELL, I LOVE HIM

He says it like a slur hahahaha

Lan Wangji is too busy mewing, don't break his streak!!

"If you don't get that spirit, don't come back to me!!" Jin Ling was never seen again 😔

He's like a grumpy toddler, I love him so

"Don't worry, we'll pay for the nets we broke!" "Nuh uh!!" Lan Sizhui, you're an angel, don't listen to him

HIS MEWING STREAK NOOOOO

Nice voice though

"I thought I saw my boyfriend 😔"

There are spirits in the lake, I wouldn't suggest drinking from it

Jiang Yanli 😭😭😭

Stop smiling, you're hallucinating

Slander my boy and sees what happens

Slap yourself, go on, like the books

Don't put the blame all on him!!!

Nice, like the books

Feel the shame

That cannot be comfortable, those are literal rocks

LITTLE APPLE!!

He's like they're little leader

That's a fast old man

Lan Jingyi's first instinct is to point a sword at an old man, lmaaoooo

"anything strange here?" "Duh"

Leaving him alone while he's trying to give important plot information, rude

Glowing grass, what the fuck

I think you should eat some

He just wants to clean, leave him alone

WEN QING!!!!!!

Flashbacks lmao

Where'd the old man go

Dirty

No way is that naturally formed

Lan Jingyi, you're surprisingly knowledgeable..I didn't know you could read

Jin Ling and his group of people

AAAAAHH WHAT THE FUCK

"what's up baby girls"

Ugh, it's been moving for a while now

Maybe you should, I don't know, LISTEN TO THE GUY WHO KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING??

Also, y'all ditched him, minus points

"We're out" "fuck, y'all are gonna soooo be punished"

The look he gave, as if this isn't like, a sixteen seventeen year old. No, wait, he's probably eighteen...how old was he before Wei Wuxian's death? ANYWAY

Criticising the Lan education system while you're at it

"wait, you can't be crazy, because that makes sense!!" Lan Jingyi my beloved

Shit, my cover as a crazy person has been blown

Are they having a mewing contest or what?

Well done, Lan Jingyi

WHERE'S MY NEPHEW

I swear it wasn't that big before

Y'all are doing a shit job at running from something this slow

Nice attack, it's still stone though

Dude, listen to Lan Sizhui

"Hey, my sword 🥺😔"

Considering this flute playing is supposed to be shit, it's not too bad

"ugh, you're playing the flute this bad? You must be crazy" Lan Jingyi, make up your mind

STOOOOOP JIN LING

Nice kick, it's still stone though

WEN NING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE'S HERE TO KICK SOME ASS FOR YOU!!!!

They both look mildly terrified

Dude killed it so easy, well done. Naur, it's just an illusion.

"y'all, no need to be scared, the Yiling Patriarch ain't here" he's standing over there, wearing a mask

I THOUGHT THE LANS WERE BETTER THAN THIS

Luring him over with shitty flute playing

LET GO OF THE COMEDIC RELIEF

His robes are even blowing, just for you

Me leading my next snack away from the bag

Walk faster, goddamn

"hey bbg, it's been a while"

Listen guys, I know you're in love but there's a corpse there

He flew away, like Jesus

So...how is everyone surprised when they do turn out to be gay???

DON'T PIN THE BLAME ON HIM. MY MAN'S IS GUILTY BUT PRETTY

Uhh uh oh. Mom and dad are fighting again

Lan Wangji already looks so bored

The fucking GLARE I CAN'T

"Take off the mask!!!" "Nuh uh, I'm too handsome"

Lan Jingyi needs to stop being smart, it's scaring me

Stoooop, he didn't kill his brother

Okay, so he did, but he didn't want to!!!

He passed out, okay man

Answer the stupid call

FAMILY!!!!!!!

They're so happy 😔

Give him what he wants, it's SYMBOLISM

Lecturing him better than Lan Qiren

You lost him already, not very good at this, ey?

Alcoholic

Of course he will, it's Wei Wuxian

They're so happy :(

[acourtofinkandpapyrus]

A Flower With Petals of Flame: Part seventeen (Eris x Reader)

Warnings: Blood, gore, murder, death, trauma, family trauma, fighting, arguments, all the fun stuff!

Part sixteen Part eighteen

Tag list: @esposadomd

Basically, this is the most heart wrenching episode yet, and I pity all of you for having to read this.

Eris was just standing next to me, unable to speak.

Tears started to stream down my face.

Tamlin wasn’t a great person, but…

But no one deserved what she had done to him.  To him, and to poor poor Lucian.

Just because there is life after death, doesn’t mean death is nothing.  It’s painful, and will stay with you forever.

And this hadn’t been a quick death.  Tamlin had been pinned to his throne with daggers, half in his beast form and half skinned.

Lucian had been taken apart, piece by piece.

His metal eye was placed in the middle of the room, covered in blood and glistening in the setting sun.

I take a deep breath, and start walking over to their mangled corpses.  

“Y/N-”  Eris croaked out, pain in his voice.

“They deserve a proper burial.  We can’t leave them like… this.”  the words come out far more strangled and pained than I would have liked.

I started trying to take the daggers out, but Eris’s hands landed on my shoulders, gently turning me away.

My hands were covered in their blood, shaking violently as I raised them to push away from him.

“You don’t have to do this.”  He said, pulling me into an embrace as tears fell again.

“We won’t let her get away with this.”  He said, his voice hardening as I let myself relax into his embrace, letting out a sob.

I should have stopped this.

I should have known ever since I first came back here, that those Hybren soldiers were just the beginning.

And I left them all alone.

I let this happen.

Eris held me closer to him, and I felt the air shift around us.

I knew he had winnowed us away, the scent of blood lessening, even if it still clogged my nose.

He stood there with me, content to hold me as long as I needed.  Both of us are silent.

Even though he had just lost his only kind brother, he was standing here, comforting me.

“I’m sorry.”  I croaked out, still shaking.  “Your brother just died and I’m-”

“Shhhh.”  He comforted me, petting my hair.  “You need me right now.  It’s going to be okay.”

My whole body shook.  “I don’t deserve this.  I don’t deserve you.  You should hate me, I this is all my faul-”  I said, my voice watery and ugly from crying.

“No.”  He said, his voice stern, pulling back just enough to look down at me.  “Do you know how ridiculous that is?  If anything, it’s the other way around.”

I shook my head, but he grasped my chin firmly, light enough not to hurt.  “This is not your fault.”

I blinked away tears, not speaking as I stared into his grief ridden red eyes, swirling with not just hate and pain, but love.

“Say it.  This is not my fault.”  He said, his tone stern.

I didn’t say it, and he sighed, letting go of my chin and pulling me into a hug again.  “This is not your fault.”

I had calmed down, locking the emotions in a dark corner of my mind where all my unresolved shit went.

“We need to tell all the highlords.  If there’s anything that will unite them, it’s this.  It’s Amarantha.”  I tell Eris, pacing in front of the table in Eris’s private cabin.

I have no idea when the fuck he got a private cabin, but I was greatful for it right now.

“They’ll never answer our call.  Your brother maybe, but the others don’t know you, and I’m guessing my father’s not too pleased with me right now.”

I stopped pacing, my mind racing with thoughts, good and bad, when I finally settle on an idea.

An idea that might fix everything.

“What if we didn’t call the meeting?”  I asked, turning to where he was stiffly sitting in a plush couch.

He studied me.  “Then who?”

I grimace.  “What if Tamlin called the meeting?”

His eyes went wide.  “That’s a risky move.”

I shrugged.  “Well, it’s better than running around shouting that the female that trapped everyone for fifty years that everyone saw die is back.”

We just stared at each other.

“Couldn’t we just bring him back?”  Eris asked hesitantly.

I shake my head.  “We can, but I think it’s better if we leave them with Sam and the others for now.  If Amarantha is working with the Asteri, there’s a good chance she has some trap set up to see how we get back and forth.”

He sighs.  “So no contact?”

I shake my head.  “No, not for a while.”

He sighed, standing up.  “I’ll go get the pad of paper.  You shouldn’t have to go back into that bloodbath.”

I shake my head.  “I’m not making you go back in there with your dead brother.  You stay here and I’ll go and get it.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but I held my hand up.  “No.  I’m going, that’s final.”

“Can I at least come with you?”  He asked, worry swirling in his eyes.

I shake my head.  “Just- I’ll be right back.  Stay here, and think about what we can say to the other highlords.”

He nods, standing up and walking over to me.

He could sense my sorrow, but he didn’t know the whole reason, and I couldn’t tell him as he tugged me into an embrace.

We stood there for a moment before I pulled away gently, kissing him before I took a few more steps away.  “Goodbye Eris.”

And I winnowed away.

I winnowed to Velaris with only one stop in between.

I was going to kill this red haired bitch before she could even touch my family.

But there was no way we could call together a meeting of the high lords, and it was highly unlikely they would gather together at Tamlin’s summons, if news that he was dead hadn’t already reached them.

So I had to do this, even if it was going to suck.

I was running out of time.

Making my way to the River house, I stood outside the door, wondering if maybe I should go back and bring Eris here with me, damn the consequences.

I didn’t even get a chance to knock on the door as it flew open, revealing Azriel, dark and angry as his shadows swirled around him.

He quickly froze, and I watched his eyes go wide.

I forgot I was still covered in Tamlins blood, the events of the past day making me weary.

Had it truly only been earlier this day that I was pretending to be Eris’s cousin?

I pushed past him.  “We need to talk, is Rhys in here?”

He whirled.  “We do need to talk.  What the hell happened to you?”  He snarled, following me into the living room.

Everyone was in there, along with a red haired half human, half human female.

I recognised her as Bryce, and under any other circumstances, I would have been excited to meet her, and be questioning her how the hell she got here, but that wasn’t the problem right now.

All of them stared as I entered the room, and I saw Rhys open his mouth to speak.

I held up a bloody hand.  “You had plenty of chances to speak, I have the floor.”

He looked as if he was going to talk anyway, so I just spit out, “Amarantha is the third dead soul.”

Fearful silence rippled through the room.

I looked at my brother and Feyre, not sure I could handle the other’s expressions right now.

“She killed Tamlin and Lucian.  She basically told me she was going to kill everyone we care about and make us watch.”  I say, my tone flat as I look at Rhysand.

“Now normally, I wouldn’t go ringing the alarm bells, I like to handle these types of things myself, but I know what she did to the two of you.”  I say, keeping my tone cool and even.

None of them say anything, but I can tell Feyre and my brother are communicating in their heads.

Morrgian’s eye catches mine, and I freeze.

We just stare at each other.

I can see the pain and hurt in her eyes as she goes to look away.

“Whatever Azriel told you I said, there’s more to it than that.”  I say to her, and she looks back at me, her eyes a bit wide with surprise.  “I would never just… leave you like that.”

“What’s going on?”  Bryce asks in an old tongue that few use nowadays, turning to my brother for answers.

“Hello, Bryce, right?”  I ask in her native tongue.

I don’t look away from Bryce to gauge the others' reactions, but Bryce looks surprised, if not a bit happy as she answers in her language, “Yes, and you are?”

I shoot Rhys a dirty look before coming over to her, holding out my hand in greeting.  “I’m Y/N, Rhysand’s sister.  I’m not sure what he’s told you, but I’ve been dead for quite a while.”

Her eyes went wide, annoyance tinting her features as she turned towards Rhys, yelling at him in the old tongue.

I grin, but I turn my head to see Azriel scowling at me, and it falters.

Now that I look around, everyone is looking at me with either rage, hurt, or mistrust.

I don’t blame them, but it also hurts deep in my heart.  I had spent my whole alive life trying to be liked, to be someone they could love.

I hate the way I want to slip back into that role, change back into exactly what they want me to be.

But I’m not.

I turn away.  “I said what I needed to say, do what you will with it.”

Azriel grabs my arm, holding me in place.

I stare at his hand, waiting for him to let me go.  I look up at him to see him looking at Rhysand to see what to do next.

“Let me go.”  I snarl, and his shadows swirl around him threateningly.

Rhysand stands, walking over to me.

Azriel lets me go once Rhysand’s close enough, and I snarl at him, “I’m warning you now brother, I’m leaving whether you want me to or not.”

His matching violet eyes studied me.  “Even though I do not approve of your choices, I think you already know what you’re putting us through.  So I’m not going to ask you to leave Eris, but you have to stay away from her.”

I knew what he was talking about, but anger prickled in my veins at the order.

“Do not speak down to me Rhysand.  I will do what I wish to do.”  I warn, turning to leave.

He winnowed in front of the door.  “I am your high lord, and I will not let you leave until you promise me.”

I knew where this was going.  He wanted a bargain.

“I am no one's subject.” I snarl, my power starting to boil over.

“Rhysand, I suggest you let the girl leave.”

I whip my head around to look at Amren, who is the first to realize I am more than appear, and I’m not surprised.

I see a look of realization come over Nesta’s face, and she leans into her younger sister, whispering.

Rhysand growled.  “Promise me.” He snarled.

“I would rather rot in Hel.”  I say, and I hear Bryce stifle a laugh, the only part of this she understood.

I walked toward the door, pushing past my brother.

As soon as he laid a hand on my arm to stop me, I exploded.

I grabbed his arm, shoving him against the wall with the other.  I could hear everyone else either unsheathe their knives or gasp.

Rhy’s seemed shocked, but he shoved me back, and I ducked just in time to dodge a fist.

Fine.  If he wanted to duke this out, I was fucking fine with that.

I grabbed the soft velvety cloth of his jacket, winnowing him to the fighting ring on top of the house of wind and backing up, getting into a fighting stance.

“You want to fight brother?  Than let’s fucking fight!”  I shout at him, and I realize it has started to rain.

Neither of us care, and he widens his stance, his chest heaving with rage as he raises his fists.

We start to circle, and he asks, “Why?”

Right as he throws a punch, thunder rings out, deafening as I dodge, spinning around and swinging a foot out to knock him down.

He falls, and I ask, “Why what, brother?”

He gets back to his feet, wiping away blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.  “Why have you abandoned us?  For fucking Eris?”

I snarl, and dodge again, but he fakes me out, landing a punch to my exposed side with enough force to bruise.

I hiss, stumbling back before quickly regaining the fighting stance.  “I didn’t abandon you.  If you had ever bothered to stick around, you would have seen exactly how bad our father was.”  I snarl, charging him.

We grapple for a moment, and I manage to get a hold on him and throw him to the ground, pinning him there.

He snarls as his face hits the floor.  “You could have told me.”

“I TRIED!”  I shouted as he threw me off, and I rolled away and into a crouched position.

“I tried and I was sent to a fucking Illyrain camp!  Left completely alone, far enough away so I couldn’t even contact you at Lord Devon's camp.  He knew what they might have done if they found me.  He expected to teach me a fucking lesson.”  I say, standing as he stood across from me, too far away and the sky too dark for me to see his face clearly.

“I learned how to use plants to change my scent, I cut my hair, I bound my chest and I learned how to fight with the best of them.  Do you really think you managed to take out every single one of the Illyrians that wanted you dead during the Blood Rite single handed?”  I screamed, my voice rivaling the roar of rain and thunder.

I started to shake, and he stood there, still unreadable.

“I killed them! I followed you, and I cut them down before they spotted me.  I continued after the three of you found each other!  I touched that stone moments after you did, and the three of you never knew!  And how could I tell you?”

The rain washed away the tears, the only sign of my crying was the uncontrollable shaking.  “And if I told you, you would have suffered.  Father was always looking for ways to make sure neither of us could take him down.  I protected you.  I protected mom.  We died, and I have spent the whole time trying to keep the Asteri from coming here and killing YOU!”

We both just stood there, breathing heavily.

“Why Eris?”  He asked, his voice broken and full of sorrow.

I shuddered.  “Because he understood.  He has spent his whole life protecting his mother and Lucian.  Because he’s my mate and I love him.”

I look up, staring at the murky sky, the stars blocked by the clouds.  I didn’t want to see his reaction.  I didn’t want to see the look of disgust-

Suddenly, there’s a strong pair of arms wrapped around me, hugging me tight to his chest and murmuring, “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

After years of hiding, and these past months, I can’t help but to break into tears, letting him hug me.

I wrap my arms around there, and I don’t know how long we stand there, hugging each other in the rain.

Eris Pov: 

What the hell?  Was what I was thinking as I paced back and forth across the floor of the cabin.

It had been too long.  Y/N should be back by now.

Why hadn’t I just gone with her?  I had wanted to respect the space she needed, but going back to a massacre scene where Amarantha had just threatened her alone was idiotic.

So, I winnowed to where I knew where she was.

But no matter how much I looked, there was no one living here.

I left, and started to frantically search the area around.  Has she been kidnapped? Was she hurt?  If I had let her do this alone and something had happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

I heard the sounds of people, and I paused, slowly sneaking between the trees and shielding my scent.

It got louder the closer I got, and a pit formed in my stomach as I saw a army of Hybren soldiers.

Turning, I ran away, knowing there was nothing I could do until I found Y/N.

I paused after some time, and heard footsteps.  I whirled, weapon in my hand.

It was Sam, Tamlin and Lucian standing next to him.

At the sight of my brother, who I had seen dead only an hour or so ago, my weapon fell from my hand.

I rushed to him, embracing him tightly.

He was stiff at first, but relaxed into the hug, wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m sorry brother.”  I said, holding him tightly.  “I should have been there, I should have stopped her.”

I had never spoken like that to him, let alone around Tamlin.

He pulled away.  “There’s a problem.”

I forced myself to smirk and wink at him.  “When isn’t there?”

The look on his face is serious, and he doesn’t laugh.

“Where’s Y/N?”  Sam asks, his voice worried.

The worry gnawing at me threatens to come out in my words.  “She told me she was coming here.  She was going to try and pose as you and call a meeting of the high lords.”

As I say it, I realize how stupid the plan is.

“Eris, where would she go that you wouldn’t want her to?”  Sam demanded, and I’m still reeling a little.

She tricked me.

I think for a moment.  “To her brother.” Sam groans.  “We are so fucked.”

[respectthepetty]

I decided the best way to make it through Our Skyy 2 with minimal damage is to drink my way through it, so welcome to

CockTails in the Skyy! (there's no pun; stop laughing)

First up is Rum-Antics (Romantics + Rum & Antics) with Never Let Me Go

I have to make the drink first. *pause*

spiced rum (since I can't get Mekhong)

smashed blueberries (for that purple color that Nueng and Palm always had during their lovey-dovey scenes)

ginger ale (because I think Nueng was studying abroad in England, but if not . . . it is what it is)

brown sugar and lime juice on the rim (for class differences)

It's not even close to the purple I was going for, but it reminds me of the beach they went to and the filter that was used for it!

Okay! I got my drink. I'm in my rocking chair. I'm ready!

I'm already disgusted, and I don't know if it's because I put three shots of rum or because Palm is so in love with Nueng.

It's Palm. I can hold my liquor. He is disgusting. But this brown sugar and lime rim SMACKS!

The product placement and Nueng's attitude will be consistent I see.

TAM! Why did nobody mention her?!

The dad is alive? I don't know why I thought he was not alive.

I made this drink too strong. I don't know what is happening!

Oh, now I see why people are upset about the Master's. Palm had plans. Oh shit.

WHY ARE THEY GOING WITH THIS MAN?! (for plot reason, I know I know)

I like that Nueng in the series was like, "put the bad fortunes back" and Palm is now all, "don't listen to this rando" because that's *growth*

It's only been sixteen minutes?! I finished the drink already, so switching to sangria.

Palm is laying it on thick with the "we will be together." Read the room, sir. Your man is not on board.

IS THAT INTHA?! WITH A MACHETE?! He really got worse since high school!

They are hiding from him all over again with the finger on the lip just like the high school hall way.

HAHAHAHA! Why am I laughing that Intha just busted up their lovers' hug?

Phum/Petch is CRAWLING!

He pulled a Keke Palmer and really told Palm, "I don't know that man. Sorry to that man" about Nueng.

I knew who it would be, yet that reveal was FIRE! Why is my mouth open? *picks jaw up off the floor*

Them sitting by water reminds me that I need to drink water. I'm drinking too fast.

Nueng needs to get slapped for playing jokes in the Time of Cholera.

Nueng is making that Game of Thrones smile with this meal conversation.

Palm having his Devil Wears Prada moment and dismissing Petch is the petty behavior I love!

Perhaps Phum is an asshole to Palm in the present because Palm was an asshole to him in the past.

Nueng/Phuwin is a pretty boy. No further comment.

I hope Phuwin gets paid for his skills. Run him his money.

Kla really said, "we don't want to welcome the colonizers" by learning their language; they need to learn OUR language being on OUR land.

Oh, the Marc/Pawin feels are strong two drinks in.

Obviously, they have had to graduate from high school, but Palm confirming they did is wild to me since they were on the beach falling in love for most of that last year.

This is why I can't do historical dramas. There is no good time for me or my people to go back to. If the present still ain't it, why would I want to travel to an even worse time?

Oh shit! My ass just sobered up during this argument. Palm is spitting straight facts!

I'M FULLY SOBER NOW! A whipping?!

Nah, Petch deserves the energy Palm is giving him in this lifetime.

I might not actually be sober because that ending was rocky.

ANOTHER RUM-ANTIC for episode 2

Now Nueng is a teacher. Is he being paid for this service?!

It's Palm's birthday, yet he said being with Nueng is enough. Definitely not a fire sign, for sure.

Why does Pawin play shady so damn well?!

I already knew he wanted to flirt, but hearing it in the same sentence as "lashed, punished, and accused of doing an immoral act" just ruins the vibe a bit.

They really have time to write their feelings and bury them. This is why Palm is sleeping past noon.

Palm - My guy is out of my league. Nueng - My guy is stupid.

Fly, baby gay. FLY!

I should know how to count in Thai by now, at least to five.

I HATE GROUPS SINGING "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"!

And now Nueng is rattling off a poem. I cannot. I'm not drunk enough for this.

Sike! *record scratch* Y'all, I was expecting that hug to work too.

But at least we get more of this!

I don't like this plan. This is not a good plan.

Palm's walk is too much right here with this background music.

I'm thrilled my man is staying booked and busy after Ai Long Nhai.

That was a sick burn - "Even when you're reborn, you'll still be an asshole"

So they needed to experience a historical hate crime to get back? Cool beans.

I let the blueberries sit in the brown sugar and poured the juice in with the liquor. It is hitting right now in the best way as I entered the final quarter.

Phum asking if they remember him, their bully, is peak bully audacity.

A Zoomer buying a house? Definitely fictional.

Past era Palm and Nueng beating the "they were best friends and brothers" allegations! (unlike some other past "brothers" *cough* Dome x Khatha)

I know this is Pond and Phuwin's vehicle but Marc and Pawin are the drivers now!

I would like to link to the countless posts I wrote about Palm always choosing kindness and these two making the other stronger even through they are opposites, but that rum is hitting and I'm having to squint to focus.

Nah! I'm trying to get a visa for New Zealand right now for the World Cup, and it's a process. How did Palm get a whole ass passport and a ticket in a week?! Most unrealistic thing that happened in this show about two lovers being sent to the past.

These two talking about wanting to go back into the past to be enemies like they wouldn't rather stab themselves than give the other a paper cut. Pu-lease

OH SHIT! It's the singing I was warned about!

I know it's the theme song, but MUTE!

I don't know what happened at that end because I blacked out from the singing, but I know it was good.

Congratulations, Palm and Nueng on whatever happened!

Now that I am properly tipsy, I'm going to rate the Rum-Antics. The first was a 7/10 CockTails for too much rum and no Chopper, but the second was a hard 8/10 CockTails for its blueberry and brown sugar sweetness with MarcPawin, so I'm going to split the difference.

7.5/10 CockTails for my first OUTting.

Let's see how Pawin steals the show next week with Star in My Mind.

JOONGDUNK SUPREMACY!!!!!!

[nubreed73]

LOL look who is in a hell of her own making again.

I watched The Guest while we were on holiday in South Korea and it was a REVELATION. I could not believe that the drama we watched because "it looks like a fun gothic horror thing and Kim Jaewook plays a hot priest" was capable of bodying me like MCTNA did the first time (and every time since)

But rewatching to incept @judiwench and @moodybluestocking has cemented it deepdeepdeep in my DNA.

I am SO VERY SCREWED.

For this man, who is so terrible at people and so haunted and so hot and so every lifelong Catholic kink I have ever had in a long boi body. Trying his best at all times.

Choi Yoon, who is so in love with a boatload of disregulated impulses in the body of a PTSD-addled, cute-aggression-inspiring, chaos gremlin of a man.

THEM. I AM FERAL OVER THEM.

For Gilyoung: precious, beautiful, brave, strong, steadfast and vulnerable Gilyoung who loves her stupid boys so much and who is their rock and who deserves THE WORLD. When she cries it's like being stabbed very slowly and painfully.

THEM. THE FOUND FAMILY/QUEER PLATONIC (ISH) OT3 OF MY DREAMS.

I love them alllllllll.

BUT THAT ONE THERE? THAT ONE? YEAH. He is a massive, massive liferuining problem for me.

Yoon Hwapyung. GOD. That beautiful, eviscerating, self-blaming, trauma magnet, brat of a man. He makes my entire chest ache and makes me want to a) protect him, b) whump him to the East Sea and back.

And boy does he get whumped (as do they all, bless this galaxy brain show)

I cannot comprehend just how Kim Dongwook manages to hold two polar opposite characters in his face at THE SAME TIME?! Those tears while (redacted) is (redacted) are my doom.

I just. I can't. The SEVENTEEN MINUTE sequence culminating in (redacted) in episode sixteen is just the most exquisitely beautiful things I have ever seen and words will never do it justice.

And then. THEN. Well, if you've seen it you know and if you haven't I will not spoil too much but. UGH. Incredible. So many tears. SO SO MANY. SO SO MANY.

Anyway I love them so so much and already have multiple fics and vids in the works and no I have not forgotten about MCTNA but The Guest has lodged itself in there next to my lovely Joseon himbos and isn't going away anytime soon.

[doggirlbuffysummers]

I think my general thoughts on Xander are that there are actually a lot of good reasons in universe for the way he acts. However, I think the Buffy writers either forgot a lot of stuff and had that happen by accident, didn't think those things were important but stumbled into his actions contextually making sense anyways, or (what I am assuming in writing this) adopted a "show don't tell" policy and showed the characters exhibiting trauma symptoms without making it clear that that is what was happening.

Firstly, I think he comes from an abusive household. He is deathly afraid of becoming his father, and this is part of the point of Hell's Bells. They really did not do a good job of conveying this to the audience leading up to Hell's Bells throughout Season Six, so the decision seems to come out of nowhere.

We do get foreshadowing for this throughout season four, including Restless, an episode which is practically a gold mine for understanding characterization. There is a sequence in Xander's Restless dream where he is in his parents' basement and there is something ominous lurking behind the door at the top of the stairs. No matter how hard Xander tries to run, he cannot escape his parents basement, until finally his dad comes down the stairs and rips his heart out.

Xander is afraid that he will never amount to anything, never get a stable job and move out of his parents basement, doomed to be a heartless old man who abuses his wife.

We need to consider that so many of the characters on this show are child soldiers. Xander regularly puts his life on the line fighting the forces of darkness. He has been constantly aware of his own mortality since he was sixteen.

It should also be mentioned more often that the first vampire he killed was his childhood best friend. His actions toward Angel and later Spike make a certain amount of sense given that he needs vampires to not be actual people, especially the person they were when he was alive, because if they are then he is responsible for murdering his childhood best friend. So he compartmentalizes vampires and humans as completely distinct categories to cope with trauma like Buffy compartmentalizes soulless and souled vampires post "Becoming."

Linking this post on Buffy's death and Hell's Bells because it is good analysis.

Finally like to leave you with the bit in Xander's Restless dream where Giles says "Spike's like a son to me." I would like to look at "Into the Woods" with this lens. Xander could have had a very good adult role model in Giles, but Giles' attitude towards Xander is one of absolute antipathy, to the point that he is convinced that Giles likes Spike (of all people) more than him. So in season five, Xander starts to give Riley the mantle of "adult male role model." Riley doesn't really deserve this mantle but through this analytical framework we can see the speech in "Into the Woods" as entirely self serving. This is the first adult man who seems to actually treat Xander with respect, and he is forced to contend with the possibility of losing that relationship.

[scotianostra]

On 2nd November 1902 The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition led by William Speirs Bruce set sail from Troon on the “Scotia”.

I would think not many of you will know of this expedition itself but most of you will have seen the photos of Piper Kerr playing his bagpipes to the indifferent penguin.

William Speirs Bruce work in both the Arctic and Antarctic should see his name ranked very highly, even alongside Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen, yet hardly any Scots will recognise his name at first glance.

That is because unlike Scott and Shackleton, Bruce was a difficult man – he may have been on the autistic spectrum – who was wholly dedicated to science and did not seek attention or publicity for his work. Most London newspapers ignored him, and unlike other explorers he had no media sponsor, as we would call them nowadays. Nor did Bruce die or need to be rescued on his expeditions – doing things right was rarely a way to endear yourself to the press.

There have been attempts in recent years, especially during the centenary of the SNAE, to boost Bruce’s reputation. There was also a documentary from the BBC in 2011, but he is still not given the accolades that he surely deserves.

Born in London in 1867 to a Scottish doctor and his Welsh wife, he was given the middle name Speirs. He was sent to boarding school in Norfolk and prepared to study medicine at University College London, but a brief stay at the Scottish Marine Station a floating research laboratory – at Granton Edinburgh convinced him to stay in Scotland.

In 1895, the continental Antarctica was entirely unknown, as was much of its coastline. At the 6th International Geographical Congress a motion was adopted declaring “the exploration of the Antarctic Regions” to be “the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken”. During the following 25 years, no less than sixteen major expeditions were to be sent to Antarctica during an episode widely referred to as The Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration. Amongst the various national expeditions organised was one from Scotland. Its leader, William Bruce, was one of the most capable polar scientists of his generation.

The Scotia reached the Falkland Islands in December, continuing south to make the first oceanographic exploration of the Weddell Sea. Scotia, with a complement of 33, wintered at Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. Here a meteorological observatory Omond House was established on 26th March 1903. The island was mapped, and when the engineer of Scotia, Alan Ramsay, died during the Antarctic winter, his grave became the first in the island cemetery.

Scotia revisited the Falkland Islands in December 1903 then called at Buenos Aires, Argentina, where transfer of the meteorological station to the Argentine government was arranged through the British Legation. Scotia sailed to the Falkland Islands for a third time then back to Laurie Island where the transfer was made on 22 February 1904. This second southern voyage saw the discovery of the northern part of Caird Coast, Coats Land (named for two brothers who had funded much of the expedition). With no landing possible on the Antarctic continent the ship then called at Gough Island and Cape Town, South Africa. A comprehensive scientific programme was conducted throughout the expedition; cine photographs and sound recordings were made.

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

#OH MY GOD#please don't let this be ronen exaggerating!!#THEY DESERVE IT#WE DESERVE IT

i literally won't make it to september anne pls find out what happens in s5 and communicate it to me via ouija board

Oh my god, Tessa, how did I miss this from HOURS ago?? I blame tumblr.

Anyway...we still have to wait SIX WHOLE MONTHS for season 5!!

(I'm guessing it will be something like exactly six months from now because Fox fall premieres are usually around the early 20s of September. )

How are we supposed to last that long without new episodes??? By the time we get season 5, it will have been an entire SIXTEEN MONTHS since the season 4 finale! That's just cruel to make us suffer for so long!

You're right, we must find out what is going to happen in season 5. Perhaps we could infiltrate the set somehow? Or bribe someone?? I'll brainstorm ideas.

[polyhexian]

How does Vee feel about Jasper and Hunter in her home? Like sure she might realize that Hunter was just kid but Jasper is a grown man who has killed people.

YEAH LMAO UH.... how long do we think the basilisk project has been going on? Vee seems about Luz's age, but we also don't know for certain at what rate basilisks mature. She could just as easily be five as she could fifty. Let's assume she's 14/15 like Luz though. The other basilisks in her flashback definitely seemed older. Especially the season 1 basilisk. And even if they are all, somehow, fifteen- jaspers time as the Golden guard ended sixteen years ago. I doubt the project was begun and successfully completed in the year between jaspers death and vee's birth.

So the question becomes... did jasper know about the basilisk project? It's some high level secrecy stuff. But jasper isn't a scientist. He doesn't know shit about this stuff. And even Belos knows he likes kids and perhaps if he knew he had children being tortured in cages... that might not be something he really wanted him to know about. At the same time jasper obsessively stalked everyone in the castle, could belos even KEEP him from figuring it out?

At the same time, maybe he DID start it after jasper died. Belos DOES have a ton of experience with cloning.

God maybe it doesn't matter because would vee even KNOW that? Yeah no I think she's pretty freaked the fuck out by this guy

Tho... again the second she mentions Jacob was going to dissect her, that he put her in a cage and was gleefully going to murder her- lmao like? Oh my god. Nothing would stop him. Jacob was already dead the second the words left her mouth.

And I don't think he would actually tell her... doesn't want to put that on her conscience, but also. Willow definitely looked at his face and clocked that it was murder time when she said that and snuck out at night to go with him. Exciting murder bonding episode. And I think WILLOW would tell her.

And I think that would mean something. Both that he would immediately move to like- this man is willing to dissect a child, he can't be allowed to run free in the world anymore. He has to die for vee to ever feel safe again. And then also to not tell her because he wants to also protect her from the guilt of living with a death on her conscience, even one that was deserved- but she's got enough guilt and he doesn't want to burden her with anymore even if it might theoretically make her like him more. I think that would all matter to her. Not enough to make her actively Like Him. But she ALSO killed stuff. They put living things in her cage and made her kill them. And we have no idea what they made her kill, but like- they're experimenting with the limits of their abilities. Do we really think they wouldn't have tested if she could kill a witch by eating all their magic? I think they would have. And we also know from the season 1 basilisk that YEAH there was at least one basilisk that was totally on board with eating witches like candy.

I always write a vee much more conscious of her position than hunter is. She could see the bars of her cage and she always wanted to escape. Hunter has only just recently realized he was even IN a cage. She's way past him in that. I think at least part of her can understand and see some part of both herself and her loved ones in jasper. She was in a room of basilisks and all of them were forced to kill things or die.

I don't know if she would ever want to be in a room alone with him. But I think she has a lot more complicated feelings than just not liking or not trusting him.