#certainly not the greatest episode

[aqueeracademic]

morse being queer (and other commentary) pt. 9:

season 3, episode 1, “Ride”:

- here we go season three‼️‼️

- give me some gay shit

- i just SMASHED an angel heart and an iced coffee so i am ready to go

- i do recall this episode being very gay in a very Gatsby way so i’m feeling excited

- i love rich people they’re so terrible

- winnie not saying “come home safe” to thursday because they’re all still shook up over what happened

- thursday assuming jakes would be the person to see morse

- “not since he got out.”

- ^jakes picked morse up from prison and also visited him in prison confirmed

- this whole episode proved that morse was well liked even though he doesn’t like being around people

- people. like. him.

- he’s a loner because he chooses to be. because HE thinks there’s something wrong with him

- they were not subtle with their plagiarism of Gatsby and i respect them for it

- going all in on the dark academia vibe

- thursday misses morse so much im SICK

- morse got invited to a party which means the gay stuff is gonna start happening

- monica deserved better ‼️‼️

- “he doesn’t want to be found”

- do you mean physically or spiritually queen?

- morse walking through this party has me cackling he’s so buttoned up

- roddy is gay for bixby

- i have 0 proof i’m going on vibes alone from a 0.2 second interaction

- thursday is wild for just breaking into morse’s house and waiting

- morse is absolutely gorgeous in maroon

- the way morse is so obviously trying to flirt with bixby and is confused when he doesn’t flirt back

- “and what’s the truth of you?”

- king CALM DOWN

- morse looks at bixby like hes another mystery to solve which means he is immediately obsessive and attached

- “you hardly know me!” “gamblers instinct”

- this translates directly to “ur hot”

- morse taking on bixby’s mentality to decide how to approach his life is so…

- “how was it?”

- strange i need you to reconsider the questions you ask

- he was a COP in PRISON

- this woman is awfully quick to assume morse is attracted to her

- the way he’s so uncomfy 😭😭

- given that jakes is the one who went to go see him in prison and given that he is clearly upset that morse is gone and given that he thinks he won’t be coming back…

- jakes is the only one who knows what morse went through in prison

- he knows!

- and he’s mad morse isn’t coming back

- “i wouldn’t hold your breath”

- he’s mad

- i need answers ‼️

- morse looks jealous asf that bixby’s attention is tacked onto Kay instead of him

- it is so unfair that both Kay AND bixby are using morse to get to each other

- like literally using him and for what

- “are you falling in love with me? men do.” “i can see how that might happen.” “then why don’t you kiss me?”

- i fucking HATE these manic pixie dream girls in the sort of episode

- like shut up

- no girl acts like this

- immediately jumping to his boyfriends protection 🙄🙄

- munch.

- “bix, you could have any woman in the world.”

- and then IMMEDIATELY looking ashamed for having said it

- he is basically saying “you could have anyone. you could have me. so why her?”

- them on the dock together is so intimate

- you can tell they feel it’s the last they’ll see of each other

- even though they don’t know why

- a romantic opera playing during this scene (depicting a forlorn man finding his lover dead)

- jakes being the only person to try and talk to him after he finds bixby 🥲

- morse trying to express to thursday why he feels like he doesn’t wanna come back and thursday being like “stop being a pussy and get used to it” is so insane

- bright is doing his absolute best to apologize and i gotta respect him for it

- my mom giggles every time thursday speaks (she has 0 clue what’s going on idk why she’s watching w me)

- morse opening up about prison makes me 🫤

- he didn’t know whether thursday was alive or not for so long 🫤🫤

- rich people in this time period really just stood around in silence drinking and smoking and thats all

- wish i was them

- ope nvm they also got abused by their husbands i do not wanna be them

- thursday WOULD love magic shows

- he is that bitch

- after morse got shot he reacted poorly to everything from a door slamming to a car backfiring; thursday gets shot and he lets a magician fully point a gun at him and fire for FUN

- heroin feels like such a random tie in to this episode

- like it makes sense in the plot but why

- morse is awfully quick to defend bixby despite not knowing him at all

- little bit 💅

- i know he met bixby in a vulnerable state and was glad to have that sort of attention but he is soooo determined to prove bixby is a good person despite FULLY knowing it isn’t true

- which is insane

- and gay

- you gotta be some kind of freak to have a portrait of someone you have no official attachments to hanging above your bed

- i know kay is supposed to be a sort of rattled and traumatized character but i don’t like the way they wrote her at all

- her entire character feels misogynistic

- even my mom doesn’t like it and that’s telling

- “bixby” being alive is so fucking funny to me

- gay people don’t die ‼️

- roddy deserved better! he was j a lil gay guy there was no need for all this hatred

- morse and jakes are so cold with each other this episode i hate it

- i know we don’t get to know anything about jakes as a person in this show but listen

- i feel like he’s intentionally really closed off and defensive and that’s why he’s especially defensive to morse

- morse is able to figure people out so easily and jakes knows that and he doesn’t like it

- he doesn’t want to be figured out

- so it makes sense that he would be particularly cold to morse (especially given that morse is presumably the only one who knows about his Blenheim Vale background)

- jakes just appearing in the shadows while morse is talking

- like what r u doing babe??

- this man killing his son after everything gets found out is so??

- and not a single person did anything about it

- jakes 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

- finding out where the coin flip thing came from is fucking sickening

- i will say that i enjoy the notion that morse falls in love really easily and that BECAUSE of that he’s a loner

- also the camera lingering on bixby’s face and morse just staring after they lead you to think he’s watching the film for kay???? that’s queer cinema

- “bixby didn’t belong in their world anymore than i do. did. i wanted to tell him that the last night i saw him. he was better than that.”

- morse convincing himself he could have saved bixby if he told them that neither of them belonged in that world

- because he thinks bixby would have gone with him

- like??

- “there’s no real magic in the world. only love. the rest is just smoke and mirrors.”

- him saying that all that was real between them was the love 🫤🫤🫤

- 10/10 for gay this episode

[mariocki]

John Levene pops up as Gene Bradley's co-pilot on his private jet, called Tony, (John Levene's character, not the jet) in The Adventurer: I'll Get There Sometime (1.15, ITC, 1973)

[basingstokemercury]

Wow

It seems I'm going to finish DS9 today

(I'll have to rewatch all my favourite episodes of course)

Don't know what to do with myself afterwards

Voyager is next right? With Robert Picardo?

Might be too spoiled by this to go start any other new shows though

I guess I should start with the rest of the films

Then maybe write those fanfics (reached at least four ideas, one of which is threatening to bud and multiply)

[cosmicspaceslug]

watching “Subspace Rhapsody” for Hugos voting and having my prior belief confirmed that most people hear “musical episode” and assume “good episode” & “good musical” when it is actually neither of those

[britney-rosberg06]

When you go back to episode 2, the way Luke managed to convince other demigods to leave becomes quite clear.

He’s the first face they see, the nice calming presence someone who’s whole world just changed needs. He tells you things. Explains the world, to us the reader he’s exposition, to a camper he’s the leading authority on the demigod world. He controls the narrative these kids hear. Slowly he can even control what they believe—if he gets enough of their trust.

And this isn’t just for new campers, Hermes cabin canonically had the most kids leave. Luke’s kids. The kids who heard his speechs of glory and godly injustice for days, weeks, months, years. And now not only do you have Luke telling you about the gods and the world and their opinions, you also have Chris Rodriguez denouncing the food offerings and Ethan the quiet kid in the back who scoffs at names like “Zeus” and “Poseidon” and so on and so on.

Even if all those kids didn’t believe in what Luke taught, some did. And that’s enough to change the culture inside Cabin 11.

This isn’t to say that there was an oligarchy of some sorts within Cabin 11. With those who didn’t believe in Luke being scared into not talking no the opposite even. They all love him. His speeches are disguised as comforting words his reputation allows for you to put on the rose colored glasses he hands you because “surely the greatest swordsman wouldn’t hurt me” his understanding nature convinces you to vent your frustrations to him. And just like that you’re in it. Without him even having to say the words “i’m evil” your in it

So when he leaves, you all leave. Cuz he was helpful, cuz he was nice, cuz he understood. Because a life under him is certainly better than a life under the gods. Right?

[unsleepingtales]

FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR TRAILER CHARACTER ART BREAKDOWN

The character artist credited for this season on the FAQ is Cait May! Without further ado, let's get into it.

Each character card has the PC art, the PC's name, the player's name, and a couple extra details such as an NPC they're connected to and/or plot points from the previous seasons.

Here is Adaine's character card! Boggy gets pride of place of course, with his backpack and ESF (Emotional Support Frog) flag. The sword is possibly a step towards confirming the popular prediction that Adaine will multiclass as a Fighter this season. There's also a small sketch of Jawbone in the corner. Adaine's jacket has an owlbears patch on the sleeve!

Fabian's character card follows a similar formula. There's a small sketch of Bill Seacaster in the upper left corner (titled PA-PA), and there are many references to dancing. Fabian holds his sheet. In several places the words Toxic Masculinity have been crossed out! He dances now! One of Fabian's first defining lines is referenced: "I'm here to be great!"

It's not very clear what this ticket is for, but to me it looks like a ticket to a dance recital!

Kristen's character card is next! The many holy symbols she has previously believed in are seen, a sun has been crossed out, as well as "yes?". Cassandra appears in the upper right corner, while an ear of corn appears in the lower left, not crossed out!

Cassandra looks vaguely worried, which could be their natural state, or it could indicate that Kristen's questions of faith are still just as present as they have been previously.

Riz's character card is a lot more detailed than the previous ones. Trailer analysts far more intense than I will have a field day with this, I'm gonna give the sparknotes. Riz takes front and center, with his (un)license above his shoulder! Next to him is a sketch of Coach Daybreak. Several sticky notes with the words Night Yorb appear, as well as references Riz's previous cases. Drawings of Kalvaxus and a Corn Cutie are next to each other. The photo of Pok and Kalina is shown, as is a drawing of Baron. There's also a sticky note with "Jorjug" on it, which probably isn't as important but I certainly enjoy it.

Fig's character card features her art for the season, a large Anarchy symbol, and her bass guitar. A small sketch of Gilear is shown, as well as a ticket to what's likely a Cig Figs concert, and a skateboard!

The toe of a combat boot is poking out from behind the paper with the skateboard on it. Burn Towns, Get Money is also written in the corner, which is the name of one of Fig and the Cig Figs' hit songs. The Sig Figs Collective put out a fan song version that slaps, which you can find here! (Tbh you should just check out their whole discography)

Gorgug and his greatest hits appear on this character card! The 'are you my dad' bit keeps on running. Keep Going is also written several times. The white streaks are still in his hair, headphones around his neck, and his axe gets the most movement we've seen in one of these cards.

(Gorgug gets a small animation in the transition to his character card!)

The word metal is shown, as well as a sketch of the metal flower from the very first episode.

There are also a couple of group shots!

Look at them go! The Bad Kids are back and I am so excited to see where they go this year.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

There's something in the differing emphasis that Brad and Hunter and Charles place on the phrase "good guy" that really affected me on my first watch and hit even harder on my second. I'm going to try and put it into words.

When Brad and Hunter say it, they say "we're good guys", as in, good at everything a guy "should" be good at - good at sports, popular with the ladies, on their way to a good university. But they turn out to be total shitheads. They don't care about being "good", they just care about their reputation, how they're perceived. It's status and power - they're good guys and they feel entitled to do whatever they want.

But when Charles, feeling betrayed by this reveal of their character, says he wanted them to be good guys, the emphasis is completely different. Charles wants to be a "good guy". He doesn't want to be a "bad guy".

The emphasis is on good, because that's really the crux of Charles' greatest fears, isn't it?

When Charles wants to be a good guy, he doesn't mean it the way Brad and Hunter do; that veneer of goodness that comes with popularity. He means that nothing he did was ever good enough for his dad. Doing the good thing and helping that kid his "friends" were beating up literally got him killed. Trying to stop Devlin only got him trapped in the loop, stuck until his friends freed him, only able to watch helplessly as a mother and her innocent children get slashed to death before his eyes.

And it's this helplessness that is the thing that truly sets him off at the end of episode 4.

It always struck me just how much of his breakdown there, for as much as he finally gives a voice to his own hurt at the injustice of his situation, was still about other people. Because he was secure-ish, at one point, when he was Edwin's partner and protector. He thought he did a good job at it anyways, but guess not, because something obviously happened with Edwin and he's not talking to him about it. And he likes to think he did good with solving cases, but Crystal is still hurting and haunted by a demon and nearly threw herself off a cliff earlier that day because she wants her parents so badly, and he's no closer to helping her solve that. And all of it, every single part of it, is a reflection of his own unresolved trauma; that he never "made it better" and he can't, so now he tries to be good enough for other people, but that isn't working anymore either, and now someone is threatening to take Edwin away, and even this final shocking act of anger and violence is still in service of protecting; of saving someone from the suffering he was never able to escape except by fucking dying.

His anger, really, stems from the injustice of it all, and the abuse of power by guys who can get away with it because they're guys, when they should've, could've, been good to others instead. It's a large part of why he projected so strongly onto Brad and Hunter - they did everything right, they were good guys who got screwed over, because even if everyone seems to love you, there's always that one person you can never please, right? Who will hurt you, no matter how good you are. When it's revealed that Brad and Hunter are far more like his bullies, like Devlin, like his dad, than he'd thought - controlling, intolerant, cruel to those who "step out of line" - Charles feels betrayed and horrified because he related to them... so what does that say about him?

But here's one major difference that Charles does not seem to recognize well. Charles has never had the power in these situations. He was the victim, and his being the victim is through no fault of his own, but the fault of those who decided to be cruel. It is certainly not contingent on how good he is. Being good in the eyes of people who want to hurt you will not stop them from hurting you.

When he lashes out at the Night Nurse, it's out of helplessness and rage. Once again, he's pitted against someone who holds more power than he does and is threatening harm, and he's just been bitterly, brutally reminded that a smile and a helping hand and a firm word never, ever worked to make it stop. There's only one other way he can think of to shift the balance of power, and he's finally livid enough to actually do it. This violence is a desperate attempt to finally overcome yet another force much greater than him, a transdimensional entity that has unjustly arrived to take his best friend to Hell. And Charles wins, he did it, he stopped her, at least for the moment. But at what cost, when he looks at his friends and can't tell whether they look more scared for him or of him? And can he blame them, when he's clearly scared of his own anger and how overwhelming it is now that it's been let out?

Because he tries so hard to be good and it's never good enough to stop the suffering. Because that anger rose to the surface so easily and maybe that means he's not good at all.

But of course, Charles once again misses something important here - there is a distinction in why that anger exists. His dad, Devlin, and Brad and Hunter get angry because their power over others makes them feel they have a right to punish when things don't go their way. Charles gets angry because he feels more helpless than he'd care to admit, and seeing cruelty inflicted onto others by those with power makes him want to cut them down to size.

And herein lies the second major difference. Charles... is a kind person, at heart. He's genuine. He really does likes helping out, he likes making people happy, he doesn't turn people away who need help, he's friendly and protective. The scene where Edwin pulls him out of his fear that he's somehow bad even though he really doesn't want to be, is outright one of my favourite scenes for what it brings to both of their characters. Edwin knows exactly what to say. While it's always good to check your behaviour, to apologize and take accountability - because no one can be good all the time, and even the most well-intentioned of us will mess up sometimes - Edwin is right.

"Bad guys do not worry about being bad guys."

[paranoid-rhythm]

Fate/Grand Order COMIC à la carte PLUS! SP Showdown!

Ashiya Douman VS Dioscuri

TL & Typeset by yours truly.

Right, so, edited to add AU's commentary below.

Au's commentary

【Douman】

I think that due to his position as an onmyouji and as a bonze, he places an emphasis on formality and rituals. Whatever his motivation may be, he can't help but go through these motions (though there are times that he stops abrubptly), it's like "if he has to do it anyway, it's more interesting to do it this way." In addition, it was a confrontation against the Dioscuri.

The Dioscuri, gods who connect with humans through "rituals" that play an important role in religion and faith, and whose way of being can be influenced and altered by man, in contrast with Ashiya Douman, one who blasphemes even gods themselves, one who guides humans by "looking up to the heavens and divining the stars." The ritual was brought about when Douman thought that he wanted to perform the steps to carry out the purifying ritual (monomi^), but he did not want to be the one to be shut in, so he made someone else disappear instead.

(^物忌み - monomi; an onmyou practice of shutting oneself inside the house on inauspicious days to avoid misfortune.)

In simpler terms, it's an act to purify one's body and soul by cutting off impurities, as such, Castor was furious at not only being suddenly separated from his sister, but also for being judged as "defective." (Although Castor's anger was at the forefront, his bond level is assumed to be high, because he rushed into the scene, out of concern regarding the abnormal situation, and for his Master's safety.)

【Dioscuri】

・Castor's Saint Graph is deficient, due to his separation from Pollux (derived from the Dioscuri interlude). ・In addition, it was difficult to stop Douman with a god's power, as due to Douman's spell, it was a situation where no divinity other than Douman's was functioning.

As for the "stronger truth (for the Master)" that Holmes mentioned, at this part, the Master was reminded of Dioscuri Castor's return gift from Valentine's, St. Elmo's Fire. One aspect of the Dioscuri is being the guardians of navigation, the guiding light, the "star" shining in the heavens.

Castor's return gift, based on the circumstances of the event scenario, is interpreted here as a blessing given by the Dioscuri only to the Master. A "truth" that was clear to the Master, that even if no one else knew about it, without any doubt, they have received this blessing. At that moment, the Master, who is the key figure in this divine ritual, overrode the "Dioscuri" by strongly recognizing them as "stars" rather than the "twin gods". Thus, this is the process that allowed Pollux to be revived.

【The Master of Hell】

Though it has various meanings, it revolves mainly about Seimei's episode with the "Taizanfukugun", and the "Taizanfukugun Festival^".

(^An onmyou festival, revering "Taizanfugun", a god from ancient China that was syncretized with the Buddhist king Enma, and was believed to rule over human lifespan and fortune. It was a popular festival among court nobles during the Heian period, and it was the festival that the onmyou family, the Abe clan, excelled at.)

Taizanfukugun is a major deity in onmyoudo, in Buddhism, considered as one of the ten kings of hell (sometimes equated with King Enma). The main implication of this image is that he is able to interfere with even the forces of hell and use them as if they were his own.

In this sense, Seimei should be the one who's more suited for hell, so what point would there be if the Master falls into hell? Would there be any meaning after that? In the first place, the Master would certainly not fall without a fight. And if they decided to, they would jump in without hestation, which is for Douman, also infuriating.

How does Douman see the greatest onmyouji? Did he collectively likened that person to the emotions swirling around him? Was it through the story of that person's resurrection, their travels through the world of that time, that equated to them easily conquering even Hell? Or is it something else entirely?

Whether he gives it his all or not, I feel that for Douman, there seems to be a fundamental ambiguity in self-affirmation, making him think "If I'm like this, then that person must be even better", regardless of Douman's own level of ability.

【Companion/Attendant】

When the Master pledged that they were determined to take Douman with them, even if it meant dragging him along with them, I wanted to show a "contrast" that showed their difference from Seimei, expressed through the rather exaggerated "Master allowed themselves to be accompanied / Seimei will never allow himself to be accompanied."

It's like "I said I liked apples, but he didn't say he liked apples. So he must hate apples.", something to that extreme. From Douman's point of view, that's how it must have been.

Furthermore, most of the passages in which Douman refers to Seimei are all from his perspective.

-The following is a digression -

・Sanson and Asclepius These two were the ones originally from Showdown Part 1. Originally, there was no scene in which these two talked to each other, but I hope those who read the previous comic will notice it.

This too, is a story about "humans" and "demigods (children of Apollo)".

(By the way, I was able to draw Asclepius in his second ascension for this FGO comicalized series.)

・At the beginning, I wanted to make the Master upset by making (Douman) say, "I killed her,'' but the response got boring so I changed it up.

・Buddha's great vows - this is the Bodhisattva's vast desire to save all sentient beings. In short, this was a hugely sarcastic remark towards the Master, as if to say "Your determination and your theatrical declaration are both truly admirable!" However, it also suggests that even if they would have to get various people to help their cause, the Master might just be able to pull it off.

・I was able to finish Holmes' panels in just one day.

・The last panel I drew was Douman's left side.

[malfoyswand]

𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬

pairing: draco malfoy x reader

summary: your best friend, draco malfoy, plans a surprise to ask you to the yule ball.

word count: 1.8k

genre: fluff

warnings: none, just soft draco :)

author's note: thank you to the lovely reader who requested this, it's my first request so i really hope i did this justice! also yes, i got a little inspired by that one gilmore girls episode with the 1000 flowers for the proposal lol

➪ masterlist | requests

"Mate, I think you're overthinking this."

Blaise Zabini reported his opinion of the matter, but Draco Malfoy barely comprehended a word he had spoken. The only things on his mind were (Y/N) and of course, the bloody Yule Ball.

If he was honest with himself, Draco was at least partially excited for the dance. He knew it was meant to be one of the greatest nights he may ever experience while at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure if he would. The dance was only a week away and somehow, Draco found himself without a date.

If anything, the Yule Ball was making him nervous.

"I'm not, Zabini!" He spoke quite loudly, then softened his voice as he realized students had looked their way. "This needs to be perfect, alright? This is (Y/N) we're talking about, you know how I feel about her."

Blaise couldn't help but sigh, with a smile on his lips as the two of them walked to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was quite a feat for Malfoy to tell Blaise that he had romantic feelings for his best friend, (Y/N). Blaise knew that Draco dreaded being seen as anything but tough to the world, the fact that a girl had this much control over his emotions spoke volumes. 

"Exactly my point, Malfoy. She's been your best friend since first year, I doubt she would ever be disappointed or angry with whatever you come up with. Besides, she's just a girl. Just ask her to the ball like how you would ask a girl out on a date."

"Er.. well.." Draco began to speak, the hand that wasn't holding his books scratching the back of his neck. The two of them finally stopped walking besides the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Blaise's eyes widening as he tried to hide his laughter.

"You're telling me that Draco Malfoy has never been on a date before? Merlin!" His laughter echoed down the chamber, earning him a scoff and a playful shove inside the classroom by Draco. "Sorry, sorry. I just thought that with every other girl in this school begging to be your date to the dance, you would've taken at least one of them on a date." His voice was spoken quietly, careful that the other students wouldn't hear their conversation.

Draco shook his head as the two of them sat down in their seats, pulling out their books and parchment. "No. I've turned them all down. They're just not her, know what I mean?"

"You're down bad, mate." Blaise smirked slightly to himself, whispering the only advice he could really offer his friend. "Listen, girls like being asked out in a personal way. You know the kind of things (Y/N) likes, all you have to do is make it special and she'll be swooning."

"Right." Draco mumbled to himself as Professor Moody began to teach his lesson. However, he certainly wasn't thinking about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Instead, Draco glanced over to where you sat across the room. He knew you better than anyone, yet he had no idea how to ask you to the Yule Ball.

That was when the idea struck him. The new bag you bought last week caught his eyes, he noticed the way the bag had intricate floral designs sewn into it. A memory replayed in Draco's mind. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he wrote on a spare piece of parchment, folding it into a paper crane before sending it your way.

Your hands caught the paper crane, grinning as you knew exactly who it was from. You tried to ignore the way your heart seemed to skip a beat each time you saw one fly towards you. On the piece of parchment, it read:

Meet me at the Astronomy Tower tomorrow morning before breakfast? - D.M.

You lifted his gaze to meet his awaiting gray eyes, your head nodding before turning back to the professor's lesson. Draco did the same, but his mind was already running through a mental checklist on all the supplies he had to get to make his idea come to life.

The next morning, you woke up wondering why in Godric's name you decided to meet up with Draco this early in the morning. The sun was just starting to rise outside the window, and none of your other roommates were even awake. You groaned as quietly as you could, practically tiptoeing around the dorm bedroom to avoid waking everyone else.

As you brushed your hair in the girls' lavatory, you felt the butterflies in your stomach begin to flutter around again. You cursed yourself under your breath as you tried your best to focus on your breathing.

Lately, being near Draco Malfoy has always made you more excited than you really ought to be. Of course, he was your best friend so you had always been excited. But now, even one glance at him caused a warmth to glow within your chest. The feeling was a foreign one.

As you walked through the castle towards the Astronomy Tower, that warm feeling in your chest arose again as you caught sight of him. He was pacing near the entrance door, mumbling as if he was rehearsing something. You cleared your throat as you walked towards him, Draco stopping in his tracks.

"(Y/N)." He spoke your name, his lips forming into a soft smile. "Thanks for meeting up with me, I know it's a bit early for you." His tone was playful, he knew you were not much of a morning person. 

"About that, why so early in the morning, Malfoy?" You gently shoved his shoulder, he only laughed in response. He opened the Astronomy Tower door entrance, his hand indicating for you to step inside first. 

"You will see."

You walked up the long set of stairs up the tower. You couldn't see the fact that Draco was a nervous wreck behind you, his hands having to wipe themselves on his slacks to remove the sweat from his palms. As much as you hated to wake up this early in the morning, you knew the views up from the tower would be gorgeous. Draco knew that the Astronomy Tower was, quite honestly, your favorite place to admire the landscape.

“Oh my..” Your body stopped in its tracks once the two of you reached the highest level of the tower. Your eyes couldn’t take in your surroundings fast enough it seemed.

It was as if every surface of the tower was covered in red roses. Somehow, someone must have placed hundreds of roses in vases, scattering them around almost every corner of the room. The light shining into the tower only amplified their beauty, it was as if each petal seemed to come alive as the sun continued to rise.

“D-Did you know these flowers were here?” You stuttered as you started to pace around the room slowly, your fingertips grazing upon almost every petal there was. Their beauty took your breath away.

“I did.” Draco bit his bottom slightly as he watched you, desperate to know your reaction. He couldn’t tell if you liked or hated them. “They’re for you, actually.”

Your eyes darted from the roses you were admiring to Draco, your body facing his. Although you were truly flattered, the idea of him doing all of this for you made your head spin with so many questions. You knew Draco Malfoy better than he may ever know himself, you had never seen him do anything this nice or extravagant for anyone before. 

“You said a couple of weeks ago that you wish spring would come along so you can watch the flowers bloom again. Of course, it’s only December, as we can all see.” Draco answered your question, a slight chuckle falling from his lips as he pointed outside of the tower. More snowflakes began to fall, covering the castle with even more snow.

“So, I thought to bring the flowers to you. And I only assumed you liked roses, from your bag.” His eyes went from watching the snowflakes outside to your bag that was decorated with tiny red roses around it. Since when did Draco notice something so mundane, like a new tote bag?

“I just.. don’t know what to say.” Your voice came out as a whisper. Him decorating the entire Astronomy Tower with roses, just because you said you missed the spring and summer flowers, was entirely insane. You couldn’t come up with the words, so all you could do was step forward to hug him tightly.

Within an instant, you felt Draco’s arms wrap around your waist, his head resting in the crook of your neck. He closed his eyes, smiling softly to himself out of relief and joy. He was relieved and happy that you had liked the surprise, but he knew what he must do, even though it terrified him.

“That’s not the end of the surprise.” He said as he slowly pulled away from the hug. All of a sudden, it was as the boy became aware of every heightened emotion he was feeling. “But I must do this properly..”

Your eyebrows raised as you watched him turn around, picking up one of the red roses from their vases. If you weren’t convinced you were dreaming at the moment, you would have sworn you saw a small bit of sweat on Draco’s forehead as he looked towards you.

“I-er..” He took a step forward towards you, any closer and your bodies would have made contact. With a deep breath to calm himself, he handed the rose to you. “Would you want to go to the Yule Ball with me, as more than just a friend?”

Your lips slightly parted as you took the rose from him. You had slowly been falling for your best friend for the past four years, but you had convinced yourself that the Slytherin Prince would never fall for you. For four years, you had thought that he would never settle for you, when every other girl in this school begged for him just to look their way.

Once you realized you had failed to give an answer, you closed your mouth and smiled in his direction. “I would love to, Draco.” You responded, stepping forward once more to close the gap between you two. You pressed your lips softly to his cheek.

When you pulled away, you realized that Draco’s cheeks were slightly pink as his eyes widened. You couldn’t help but laugh slightly at the sight. Draco Malfoy was notorious for being the calm, collected one of the two of you. Seeing him as, essentially, a nervous wreck over you caused that warmth to be felt in your chest again.

“Who would have thought I could make Draco Malfoy this nervous?” You joked, attempting to calm his apparent nerves.

“Who said I was nervous?” He scoffed just as playfully, grabbing a few more roses to hand to you. You took them in your hands, smelling their pleasant aroma as you followed him back down the staircase.

“Malfoy, you were just as red as these roses.”

[spirantization]

I'm surprised at the hate that Sokka's character arc from NATLA is receiving. To me, Sokka's development and characterization was one of the strongest adaptations the series made.

In the original ATLA, Sokka's character arc revolves around him unlearning his own misogyny. He makes pointedly sexist comments throughout the early episodes like "Leave it to a girl to screw things up!", "There's no way a bunch of girls took us down!", etc.

Sokka's comments have a strong narrative purpose: they give a platform for women in the show (Katara & Suki mostly) to refute his attitude. Katara emphasizes traditional "women's work" (cleaning, cooking, sewing, etc), which forces Sokka to confront its inherent value. Suki is able to prove to him that women can fight too and he learns to respect female warriors. It's a great character arc and it's well-executed.

It's also characterization that is in direct response to the culture and feminism of the 90s and early 00s. The representation of women in the media at that time was...oof. It was not great. One-dimensional love interests whose only purpose is being saved by the male protagonist, mostly. Female protagonists were not as common, and certainly not ones who were depicted as being able to fight, and certainly not in cartoons. Female protagonists in animation were almost exclusively princesses.

ATLA was progressive in this regard. Katara was a complex female character in a time when there were not a lot of them, in media in general but especially in animation and kid's shows. (I grew up in the 90s; there were no characters like Katara in animation on screen for me.) ATLA incorporated the zeitgeist directly into the story, which is why we have Sokka learning to overcome his sexism in his interactions with Strong Female Characters.

If you go back and watch the original cartoon now, Sokka's sexism feels a bit dated. It's a very 90s, Girl Power, "girls can fight too" style of social commentary. It doesn't match with the media landscape of today. We've got 20 years of media with female superheroes behind us. If your message is "girls can fight too!" the response for the most part is going to be "yes, we know that. And?"

So imagine you're adapting the original ATLA for a live-action remake. You want to keep Sokka's character arc intact, but you want to update it for the 2020s. So what do you do? You look at the conversations that are happening today.

The 90s were about "girls can do everything boys can do", but the 20s are over that. The conversation is more about gender: gender expression, gender roles, gender dynamics. What does is mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man?

Sokka's character arc in NATLA is focused on this question: What does it mean to be a man? At the beginning of the series, it's his identity as a warrior that defines him. He needs to be the warrior, the protector, the leader. He's constantly trying to reaffirm this part of his identity, and it's completely tied up in his perception of his value as a man. Instead of his interactions with Suki being about "how could girls possibly be warriors", it shifts to Sokka saying "I'm ALSO a warrior" and trying to justify that to Suki (and mostly himself).

His arc over the series is about him accepting other aspects of himself and relearning how to define his masculinity. He can still have value as man without being the greatest warrior. He can still have value as a man by using his skills as an engineer. He can still have value as a man by offering compassion and kindness to others, like the little girl with the doll & Yue in her final moments. Instead of rigidly defining himself by a specific set of gender roles & expectations, he learns how to define himself through his own strengths and qualities.

I know there are a lot of people who are upset at this change to Sokka's characterization, and the most common thing I see is that it results in changes to Katara's character and her anger in response to Sokka's comments. I think there are valid criticisms to be made about how the show handled the adaptation of Katara's character, but I won't go there with this. In terms of Sokka and his characterization, it was well-done and thematically consistent with the original. It's not an exact port, and it never needed to be. It's still a feminist arc that centres on unlearning harmful misogynistic worldviews, but the focus has shifted from external (roles of women) to internal (his role as a man). And his journey is one that people would benefit from seeing represented.

[space-manatees]

He was just a humble preacher's son. And yes, he had his demons, but they never stopped him from searching for beauty. Because when you find beauty, you find inspiration. If, that is, you stay as determined as Vincent. Never stop, no matter how many failures. When you know you're doing what you're meant to do, you have to try.

Ted Lasso, Season 3 Episode 6, Sunflowers

Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world. No one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived.

Doctor Who, Season 5 Episode 10, Vincent and the Doctor

[mariocki]

Horror icon Ingrid Pitt guest stars as enemy agent Elayna in The Adventurer: Double Exposure (1.20, ITC, 1973)

[quasi-normalcy]

I think that Farscape does balls-out weirdness better than just about any other sci-fi series.

Like, Star Trek's greatest weakness is the same as its greatest strength: it's cozy. You're out in space, but it feels weirdly like Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood. You've got your Federation, your Romulans, your Klingons, and you know basically what to expect from them. Occasionally you get blindsided by something truly inhuman, like the original concepts for the Borg or the Prophets or Species 8472, or SNW's take on the Gorn, but overwhelmingly, it's a story about humans meeting people who are basically human, or at least, have recognizably human mentalities. And even when they try to depart from formula, like on Discovery or Picard, they do it in the direction of making it *less* weird; more like 21st century Earth. Babylon 5 and Andromeda are similar. Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and the Expanse all set up basically a mundane world that might occasionally have some alien or inhuman elements. Doctor Who certainly is weird, but its nonhuman elements (and the Doctor is basically human, except when they're not) are overwhelmingly portrayed through the idiom of Monsters, rather than being taken on their own terms.

Farscape, meanwhile, throws you into the deep end. The weird and the alien and the inhuman are absolutely central to its storytelling. Even its opening theme sounds like it was composed according to some other world's conception of music theory. It makes heavy use of puppetry to give us nonhumanoid aliens, and they don't *act* like humans, either. And the only rule for watching an episode of Farscape is, whatever premise you *think* that the writers are setting up, whatever you *think* is going to happen, is absolutely not what ends up playing out. It's not predictable; it's not cozy; you're not in your world anymore and it's weird and dangerous and absolutely anything can happen to you now.

[blizzardsuplex]

They certainly are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism, who are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood[...] -- Cyprian of Carthage

Blood cross + mask from AEW Dynamite, 05/22/2024 [cc: @christiancagesupporter for making me notice the cross LOL. There was a lot of blood on this episode, wasn't there?]

[sagaduwyrm]

I've been thinking about Pharaoh Tucker/Duulaman and I really wish it was longer than a single episode. Like, that is such a brilliant story line? Finding out you were a powerful sorcerer in your last life should be the start of a trilogy, not a one-off gimmick.

Imagine this:

You are a king. You are a god. You are a sorcerer.

You will kill yourself to protect your home.

You know it's going to happen. You have always been willing to tear yourself to pieces to protect your people, and you long ago lost the arrogance that made you think being Pharaoh was a reward rather than responsibility. You look forward to it, almost.

But you don't die fighting, no, you perish with a traitor's blade in your back and the chains of a curse wrapped round your soul. And you hate.

And then, thousands of years later, when the people and the land you fought to preserve, earning your title as the greatest sorcerer in the world, are gone, you are born again.

And the two are nothing alike, except in all the ways you're exactly the same. But you are a new person, with no memories of your past, and you live and thrive without the weight of the throne on your back.

Just like you were once an innovator of magic, now you create new tech that touches the afterlife in ways never seen before. Just like you were once a protector, now you fight to protect your new home, this time with friends by your side.

And you are happy. Happier even. It's not an easy, perfect life but you are free from the responsibilities that dictated your last with people you trust. You love it.

And then, well...

You should have known you couldn't touch the infinite afterlife without consequences.

It starts in your dreams. You remember the sands under your feet, the magic in your hands, the sun in your face. In mirrors you see a face that is yours but older, more worn in ways you don't recognize. In battle you find yourself reaching for a bow rather than a gun, and your code is written in a language none but you now speak.

And you can maybe deal with it, maybe. It's not easy, reconciling two lives that were lived so differently, but if your friend can reconcile death and life then surely you can do the same.

But then. The traitor. Comes. Back.

You are easy to manipulate now, is the thing. The lack of a crown may have been good for your social development, but it didn't lead to the same paranoia and sense of responsibility that protected you in your last life. He turns you against your friends, but they help you fight him back anyway, yet how can you trust yourself now? Your last life was terrible, he was cruel and selfish, the traitor said so, and the one moment the person that is not you but is almost you came to the surface he hurt your family.

You don't touch magic, even when you find yourself reaching for it. You drop the bow and pick up a gun that never feels quite right in your hands. You don't let yourself reach for the eyeliner that reminds you of kohl, even though you miss how sharp it made your eyes look.

Because you won't hurt them again. You won't.

But maybe someday things can be better. Maybe someday you'll back up your friends with summoned sandstorms and clever illusions and no one will ever be able to hack your tech because of the magic woven into the wires.

Maybe someday you will step into the sands of your home, preserved in the infinite green of the afterlife, and you will learn yourself again. Maybe you'll meet old friends and loved ones, and maybe things will be different now that you are a child in need of guidance rather than a leader they depend on.

Maybe.

But a character arc like that would certainly take more than a single episode.

[genericpuff]

SO I just got my stay-flats in for mailing prints which means I'm one step closer to getting my online shop open <3

But what I WASN'T expecting to also show up inside the box of mailers was my pre-order copy of Covenant!

Apologies in advance because my photos aren't the greatest, but I wanna share some pics of it because I'm really impressed with how these books look and feel.

For starters, the actual cover designs. The front cover features stunning art and has a nice gloss cover, whereas the backside actually has a softer matte feel with gloss golden text which compliments the overall aesthetic of the book very nicely.

As for inside the book...

I was so relieved to see how well the formatting was done. Those who follow me here know I spend a lot of time bitching about webtoons-related stuff and one of my biggest gripes is how the webtoon format overall is very unfriendly to long-term publishing, as many creators don't anticipate eventually formatting for print (and Webtoons certainly hasn't helped as for years they've perpetuated the notion that print books are "dead", at least until it came to them making money 🍵) It's not an easy task to convert a vertical webtoon into a page format comic, but I'm happy to say that Lysandra's team here knocked it out of the park. The panel and text flow is smooth and easy to follow, they always take full advantage of the page space given to them, and the overall structure of every page feels very well thought out to work for the story it's trying to tell (as this is an action comic with fight scenes which can be tricky enough to pull off in page format, let alone converting from vertical format!) They've also gone out of their way to properly format the episode divides, so episodes (or as they're called in the story's stylization, "books") flow seamlessly with very little breakage, unlike what you would find in some webtoon-to-print books that often find the flow interrupted by episode title breaks every few pages. According to the credits page in the front of the book, we owe a lot of the formatting to layout designer Miranda Mundt and book designer Carey Soucy! Well done!

The print quality of the pages is also superb, printed on high-quality glossy paper which makes for stunning colors that have translated well from web to print. The darks are very dark which is necessary for a comic like Covenant which has a very earthy color palette; but when there ARE color pop moments of pink, red, and blue, they really shine. Of course, there is a downside to this, which is that the glossy paper WILL show your thumbprints in the darker areas (especially if you have particularly oily hands like I do, ech) but hey, it adds character and it's worth seeing the comic's art come to life on the glossy paper.

Sooo yeah! This is a very competent and well-made book from an awesome creator and if I have ANYTHING to snipe about just for the sake of it, it's that it's no wonder Webtoons tried to keep the creator from promoting their book launch, because it frankly outdoes a lot of WT's own publishing efforts LOL Congrats on your book launch Lysandra, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Volume 2! <3