#didn't intend to watch it anyways

[yakozy]

not even gonna hate watch the new show 🖤

[raiii-bee]

Wanted to mess with charcoals again, so here's a little Hal and Sunny based on a memory I have of my own dad.

[monkayy]

[gingermintpepper]

I think a lot about the depictions of Troilus' death that feature Achilles trying to prise him with a gift of doves instead of the immediate promise of death.

I've alluded to it before, but I tend to look at Achilles and Apollo as comparison cases - maybe not explicitly foils because I'm petty and that would imply that Achilles is narratively equal to Apollo and I don't want to give him that kind of honour even in a bit of casual analysis - but certainly as characters who gain a great deal of complexity when their actions are contextualised in context of each other's. The ambush of Troilus is just one of those funny little things that gets my mind a-whirring.

Because to me, Apollo's 'Troilus' so to speak is Kassandra. Kassandra, who Apollo coveted and wished to court. Kassandra, who was offered a great gift that would have undoubtedly forever marked her as one of Apollo's if she had accepted. Kassandra, who takes the gift but rejects the god and is cursed for her deception. Kassandra, whose curse makes her experience a thousand deaths over and over with no way of communicating such disaster to those around her.

The Achilles who falls in love with Troilus upon seeing his beauty and wishes to make a conquest of him is much the same to me. The biggest difference between Troilus and Kassandra though is that Troilus' rejection is much more physical. Those doves are nothing more than a symbol of the type of sacrifice Troilus would be; if he accepted them, he would die a docile death, sweet and quiet, a necessary casualty to turn the winds like Iphigenia. Except Achilles' love is nothing like Agamemnon's and it is nothing like Apollo's.

In the face of rejection, Achilles' instinct is to maim, it is to destroy. He was always going to kill Troilus - for the sake of the campaign, the boy had to die - but there was no dove's death, no quick and easy knife through the heart, no spit into an open mouth. Troilus' death is a brutal, drawn-out thing, a chase through the sand, a dragging that bruises his skin, a ripping of his hair, a violation of his flesh, a maiming of his corpse. As far as sacrifices go, it's an apalling one. None would dare to treat an animal set to be sacrificed before a god with that kind of brutality, sacrifices were meant to be blemishless and beautiful, something the gods would find appealing. Iphigenia was given away in her wedding finery, Kassandra was dressed as though to seduce a god. Troilus was a dove with his wings broken and his feathers pulled, whose death cries must've been like the terrible hollering of all birds when they try to alert their kind to a predator.

And as fucked as that is, I love it. It sets Achilles' love as this stormy, squallish thing that bleeds into his rage, it establishes that for him, love and wrath are but two sides of the same blade. Troilus was a necessary sacrifice, but he is in no way given even a modicum of the same dignity his contemporaries are and a part of me is just continually intrigued by this.

[i-write-things]

Truth or Dare with Yan!Chrollo

Playing truth or dare with Yan! Chrollo seems so childish on the outside because I mean, come on, it's a game we'd all play at recess in our childhood.

But it's no game when it's with chrollo. Because on one hand, it can be a great way to get answers and get him to do (most of) what you want, if you can convince him to play. On the other hand, it can be so, so dangerous.

Because while Chrollo knows you are probably playing this game just to get answers or get him to do something, he knows he has an equal advantage. But considering he's, well....Chrollo, He'll somehow have the upper hand.

If you haven't already succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome, it can be both exciting and difficult. I mean, really difficult. "Alright then, I'll play along. Truth, or dare?" He asks, finally setting down his book and deciding that at least it's one way to get your attention. And if he requests something difficult enough, perhaps you'll quit asking him. And if you don't quit, well, it will just confirm his theory that you really want something.

If you pick truth, well, he expected that. It's the safest option, to be fair. But don't be fooled. It's still not safe at all. "What's one thing that you do like that I do when I show you affection? Oh, and don't even consider lying, your body language will give you away." Something like that, anyway. and the questions will only get worse.

If you pick dare? Wow, you're feeling a bit more adventurous, aren't you? Your practically begging for it, he thinks. "Come here, sit on my lap." It'd start off small, but it would build to something worse than any truth he asked you.

If you HAVE succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome already, however, things will be more pleasant because he knows he doesn't have to force affection out of you. And if he's sure you love him enough, he might even be less suspecting of you trying to take advantage of him. But he'll still have that voice in his head telling him you are, especially if you only just started returning his affection.

Dares won't always have to be so...intimate. They can be, if he is especially in that mood and he thinks you are, too. But sometimes, they're just nice. Like, "Come here, my dear. This whole game would be much nicer if I can hold you the entire time, hm?" At this point, he probably only asks for truths. You might as well just not call it truth or dare, and rather "Cuddling with Chrollo while you ask each other questions". The only person who would be requesting dares when you're in his arms is you, because he wants to chill now that you're with him. He'd probably ask for sweet gestures, like a kiss on the cheek or something simple.

Truths can range from him asking you deep thinking questions, things about philosophy, your moral ground, what you'd do in certain situations, and on occasions, just whatever he's curious about you to know.

"What's something you've never told me before?"

"Hmm...Sometimes, when I say I need I hug, I don't really. Sometimes I only say this because I think you need a hug.

...Chrollo?"

If you answered something super sweet and affectionate like that, he'd take a moment to just....let that sink in, before hugging you tightly nuzzling your neck or kissing you. "You're so sweet, my dear."

He really thought it was super sweet. His dead heart was already beating when he was holding you, or just in your presence, but after that? He may seem calm on the exterior, but inside his heart erupted into fireworks. He might consider doing something sweet for you back, like getting you something he knows you'd enjoy.

He'd, of course, fill out his dares to the best of his ability and answer his truths 100% honestly, but don't be too surprised when you come to face with loopholes. This is Chrollo, what did you expect? Even if you're affectionate back, expect at least some loopholes. Though, it's a lot less and a lot less severe than if you didn't return the affection.

Just do yourself a favor, and just...try to love him back. It'll make things much easier for the both of you. Maybe your pride won't let you (or the fact he's a mass murderer), but seriously, it'd just be a lot easier. So give it a try. Besides, it might not be all that bad?

[hauntingblue]

Jayce telling vi she won't make it on her own.... okay mr. projector...

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

You know, for as much as I didn't like all the romance soap opera drama and what happened with a lot of the ATLA cast in Legend of Korra, I can admit that just because it wasn't my thing and bothered me in a lot of instances doesn't make it necessarily bad per se. I just think there were some weird decisions character-wise

However. I did not like what they did with Wan and the Harmonic Convergence, and I am quite confident in saying that it thematically weakened the show and was a wasted opportunity to do something truly special with the concept of the Avatar itself

[sassypantsjaxon]

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been here for the past three years that I would eventually cave and watch the my hero academia stage play so here’s some bad screenshots of it

the guy who plays Mic is clearly having a blast, and I am here for it

also Him

my man Yusuke <3

Babey

Mic being confused by Aoyama doing his thing where he stares at the camera

*TodoIida shipping intensifies*

Also these two just having a good time playing off each other

[edwardshundredyearoldspunk]

the only way to watch tv shows the way they were meant to be watched is through DVDs isn't it? I keep hearing of tv shows that netflix has made major editing/aspect ratio/music changes, once again cementing netflix as my archnemesis. yes I'm pedantic, it's my only talent

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

When will the cruel mental illness be over...

[theinfinitedivides]

can't believe i'm saying this but in the current Bollywood economy this absolute trainwreck/komèss of a fucking film that is Fighter (2024) could have been worse. like 'Kashmir Files' level worse. that being said the only way i am watching this all the way through ever again is if i transfer the file to my computer to try and make some fucking gifs and even that's not guaranteed

[juliareed]

Tell me how does it feel When your heart grows cold? How does it feel? How should I feel? Tell me how does it feel To treat me like you do?

[raziraphale]

I generally hate when people get exposed for doing something ~problematic~ and people that already didn't like that person for unrelated reasons get to be like 'oh I always knew that. they just had bad vibes. you should've known' like it really reinforces this idea that certain people are just intrinsically bad and you can somehow sniff it out. you can just not like someone you don't need a reason or a callout post about it and that's fine and healthy. so like please know that I'm saying this with no claims that I totally knew it all along and I had no deep reasons for being a hater. but I am really enjoying the latter half of the new hbomb video lmao

[thelastspeecher]

btw I started watching MLP and I now see why ages ago I got an AO3 comment saying that the commenter imagined Angie as having Applejack's voice

[queerfables]

Wincestiel could do Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, actually

(bitter sexless destiel marriage... sastiel mutual jealousy hook up... taboo wincest pining culminating in suicide and guilt/grief-stricken alcoholism...)

[cha1cedony]

I'm gonna ramble about fic writing (while taking a break from actually writing, but I'm making progress this time! I promise! woohoo. knock on wood). ANYWAY, one of my favorite things to consider as far as characterization goes is self-awareness. Because there's so many different ways and degrees to which a protagonist can be self-aware, and I just LOVE seeing how characters shift (not necessarily 'grow') over the timeline of a story. I love thinking about where a specific character would choose willful ignorance, where they would choose to come to terms with a harsh reality, where they would be entirely oblivious, where they're NOT oblivious but can't even verbalize it in their own internal monologue... chef's kiss. My favorite stuff to write