#don't fuck with the roman

[firephoenix2305]

This is a Rory Williams appreciation post

Because I have recently finished season 6 and I need to shout about it to someone.

(Disclaimer: Severe season 5 and 6 spoilers ahead. If you haven't watched them yet, run away very very fast. Or don't, it's up to you. But you have been warned)

Okay, don't get me wrong. I love Amy, she's great. And I love The Doctor, because well, he's The Doctor, and also Matt Smith, so he's great too.

But.

But. But. But

If I had to pick a favorite...

Rory. Fucking.Arthur. Williams.

I don't even know where to start with this man.

The way he loves Amy. The way he cares about her more than the entire goddamn universe. The way he DOES NOT BUDGE from her side even when she kisses another man the night before their wedding, then proceeds to severely third-wheel him in a very Mickey Smith sort of way for the better part of two episodes (which in retrospect isn't really that much, but STILL) and takes her sweet time to realize she is in love with him.

We are talking, ladies and gentlemen, about the Last goddamn Centurion. This is a man who willingly lived through every single second of 2000 years of human history only to protect Amy Pond. 2000 years without so much as a wink of sleep, or rest, or any synonym of the word. How does this man's heart not physically burst from the sheer amount of love he has for Amy?!?!

I just...I want one. I want a Rory. Does anybody know where I can find a Rory? Pretty please?

And another thing. I'm not sure what it was that Rory did to the writers of this show but JESUS CHRIST. Why so much hate?

And just to prove I'm not even exaggerating, here's a brief summary of some of the things which have happened to this poor guy in seasons 5 and 6. (From the point where he officially joins Amy and The Doctor in the TARDIS onwards, that is)

- S5E7. Killed by the Eknodine in the Dream Lord's fake reality. (And given that horrible ponytail, btw)

- S5E9. Murdered in cold blood by a rogue Silurian, then absorbed by a time crack and hence deleted from the memory of the entire universe. (Being murdered obviously wasn't enough, no)

- S5E13. This is a big one. Revived as an Auton, realized Amy doesn't remember him, then when Amy finally does remember he unwillingly kills her because of his programming (which he eventually breaks free from), stays with the Pandorica for 2000 odd years and finally, after all of that, gets erased from reality. Again. (But it's okay because The Doctor has rebooted the universe, so real Rory came back. Or, rather, never left in the first place. Doctor Who is complicated, okay?!)

- S6E3. To start off the season well, he drowns and practically dies, and is then transferred to a spaceship healing facility where he is essentially hooked to a live support system until Amy brings him back to life.

- S6E4. Tortured and "killed" by the thing controlling the TARDIS, who had a blast warping time and making him go crazy and ultimately making him die of old age. (Not sure if it even counts as a death, but his rotting skeleton was there, so I'm counting it)

- S6E6. Finds out that his wife is not actually his wife but is instead a bunch of sentient flesh which is pretending to be his wife; and that his actual wife is nine months pregnant and currently giving birth to their daughter God knows where. (I did say it was complicated).

- S6E7. Finds Amy and baby Melody, only to lose Melody to the creepy eye patch lady because having lost Amy in the exact same way the previous episode clearly wasn't enough torture for him.

- S6E10. Has "other" Amy (the older version) absolutely hate his guts for something which isn't his fault at all, and has to re-convince her that she loves him. Again. (Seriously, Amy?). Then, he has to sacrifice the other Amy to save his Amy, which was extremely painful for him. (Man, this season gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?)

- S6E13. Suffers inhumane amounts of pain and almost dies (again) when he lets himself be electrocuted by the eye patch thingy to give Amy, River and The Doctor time to escape. (I know this wasn't technically the same Rory that went through all those other things, but I decided to include it anyway)

AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED SEASON 7 YET. Give the man a break! And stop killing him, for God's sake!

(I know this won't happen, because although I haven't watched S7 I accidentally spoiled the whole weeping angel business to myself, so yeah)

And lastly, this scene >>>

Do. Not. Fuck. With the roman.

I just love him.

That is all. Thanks for hearing me out, I feel better.

(@capinejghafa was the furthest back I could track these gifs, but I don't know if they were the one who made them).

[indecisiveavocado]

Some notes on the name Palestine

TL;DR: Palestine is a colonialist name from a group trying to deny an indigenous group's indigenousness as part of a genocidal campaign. It may have acquired other meanings, but the etymology is still linked tightly to that, and it still carries that past with it. Anyone who considers themselves pro-indigenous should not use the term.

Let's rewind. The word Palestine is related to "Philistine"; indeed, it comes from them. So who were they?

In short, a bunch of Greeks who created a syncretic culture in what is now, roughly, Gaza. They mixed with the native people, called Canaanites. (We don't know what they called themselves - Philistine itself derives from a Biblical term.)

They vanished pretty fast, and then, a while later, the Romans came.

The indigenous population rebelled too much, so they embarked on a campaign of genocide. They killed people, of course. But they also raped enough women that Judaism is matrilineal. They sold people as slaves, barred them from their holy city and capital, Jerusalem (which they renamed). They destroyed the Jewish holy temple, the Second Temple (there is now a mosque on top of it).

And then they tried to deny that the indigenous population was, in fact, indigenous. They renamed the region Syria Palestina. Why? Because Philistines weren't around anymore. They could pretend there weren't any indigenous people to displace.

Over time, that word, Palestina, moved. It moved to Arabic, where it became Filastin. It moved to English, where it became Palestine.

But the indigenous name for the region (except, arguably, for Gaza, give or take) has never been Palestine.

We don't know what the Neanderthals, the first group there, called it.

But we know what many of the indigenous people call it. Eretz Yisrael. Or, in English, the Land of Israel.

("But wait!" you say. "You just said that in Arabic it was Filastin. Palestinians are native and speak Arabic!"

But they didn't speak Arabic back then. Arabic came with the Arab conquerers (who Palestinians aren't super related to, FYI). Arabs spread vastly during the Islamic conquests, but before that, they were primarily a desert people, whose homeland corresponded to roughly Saudi Arabia, although it extended to places like Syria and Oman. There are majority-Arab countries and places today that range from Morocco to Mauritania, Sudan to Iraq, Egypt to (parts of) Iran. Arabs are not indigenous to any of those places, and neither is Arabic.)

You may not support the Roman genocide. I hope you don't. But you are still using a term European colonialists used to erase indigenous identity as they genocided them, and it still carries that baggage.

(If you refuse to call the region Israel, Canaan is also a fine term - although it may get you some weird looks.)

[erinwantstowrite]

actually i wanna put down right now that those motherfuckers (nazis) who are defending elon (also a fucking nazi) by saying he has autism and that we're being intolerant and prejudiced against people with autism can go put a skidmark in their pants like they're so fucking used to doing. because 1) just because elon the nazi SAYS that he has autism, doesn't mean he has it, 2) specifically they refer to 'aspergers' which was a term coined by a fucking Nazi and doesn't exist, 3) autism doesn't excuse any of that behavior, 4) it's infantilizing autistic people to say that he didn't know any better just because he's autistic which means 5) if he's so far on the spectrum that we should say he can't control himself, then he's not a fucking genius who can make no mistakes like everyone claims, 6) so many of these same cowardly buffoons don't believe??? is autism??? have we suddenly forgotten that so many people have claimed that vaccines give you autism and not genetics and that not everyone has autism why is everybody being so over diagnosed yadda yadda bullshit?????? suddenly they're advocates for autism?? go fuck yourself. 7) anyone who defends that shit is either a nazi or a nazi sympathizer created by their own embarrassment at becoming such a god damn bootlicker that they've gnawed down to the center of the boot and started kissing their feet. you SHOULD be fucking embarrassed. we have been telling you fuckwads for years that billionaires do not have anyone's best interest at heart and have no place in our government body because they are so far removed from the people they are supposed to be representing. the fact that all of these people have been appointed because they were his friends is a direct sign that we're being forced into a fascist regime. WE FUCKING TOLD YOU. they do not care about us, they care about each other.

[strangeasf]

in my head zack was never a gormogon's apprentice. in my head all interns are friends and often hang out together. it's just like the lab au. but daisy have a girlfriend. zack and sweets kiss. vincent and wendell also kiss. everyone is queer. cause I said so.

[notsogoodangel]

I'm just saying that there's no heterosexual explanation for AJ, as the Champion, having a twink actually running Parkour Civilization.

[ignitesthestxrs]

there's something about the way people talk about john gaius (incl the way the author writes him) that is like. so absent of any connection to te ao māori that it's really discomforting. like even in posts that acknowledge him as not being white, they still talk about him like a white, american leftist guy in a way that makes it clear people just AREN'T perceiving him as a māori man from aotearoa.

and it's just really serves to hammer home how powerful and pervasive whiteness and american hegemony is. because TLT is probably the single most Kiwi series in years to explode on the global stage, and all the things i find fraught about it as a pākehā woman reading a series by a pākehā author are illegible to a greater fandom of americans discoursing about whether or not memes are a valid way of portraying queer love.

idk the part of my brain that lights up every time i see a capital Z printed somewhere because of the New Zealand Mentioned??? instinct will always be proud of these books and muir. but i find myself caught in this midpoint of excitement and validation over my culture finding a place on the global stage, frustration at how kiwi humour and means of conveying emotion is misinterpreted or declared facile by an international audience, frustrated also by how that international audience runs the characters in this book through a filter of american whiteness before it bothers to interpret them, and ESPECIALLY frustrated by how muir has done a pretty middling job of portraying te ao māori and the māoriness of her characters, but tht conversation doesn't circulate in the same way* because a big part of the audience doesn't even realise the conversation is there to be had.

which is not to say that muir has done a huge glaring racism that non-kiwis haven't noticed or anything, but rather that there are very definitely things that she has done well, things that she has done poorly, things that she didn't think about in the first book that she has tacked on or expanded upon in the later books, that are all worthy of discussion and critique that can't happen when the popular posts that float past my dash are about how this indigenous man is 'guy who won't shut up about having gone to oxford'

*to be clear here, i'm not saying these conversations have never happened, just that in terms of like, ambient posts that float round my very dykey dash, the discussions and meta that circulate on this the lesbian social media, are overwhelmingly stripped of any connection to aotearoa in general, let alone te ao māori in specific. and because of the nature of american internet hegemony this just,,,isn't noticed, because how does a fish know it's in the ocean u know? i have seen discussions along these lines come up, and it's there if i specifically go looking for it, but it's not present in the bulk of tlt content that has its own circulatory life and i jut find that grim and a part of why the fandom is difficult to engage with.

[romatito]

So sorry if I asked you this already but how would you interpret Romano’s relationship with Lithuania?? Part of me thinks they may have had a friends with benefits situation or something like that when living in America, but then lost touch after Lithuania was under Soviet rule only to reconnect after the end of the cold war. I feel like today they’re probably pretty good friends, and they are pretty close with America as well and go to visit New York City to check out all the areas they used to hang out at during the roaring 20’s.

HI hello i have been sitting on this for a bit because ive literally been thinking about the relationship between these two recently and i wanted to answer it when i could actually get this sketchy art out lmao. i pretty much agree with everything you said lol, i think they do have a bond that developed during their time living together before the depression hit, and i love seeing other people explore that!

(more of my thoughts under the readmore lol)

i think that initially, it was awkward between them just because they are in two Very different places when they make it to america lol. lithuania may have been poor but he's finally getting space away from the russian empire, able to enjoy being himself again after the assembly of vilnius put an end to russification policies. romano, on the other hand, is suffering the ill-effects of the unification, and poverty is so terrible in his half of italy that tons of his people are emigrating in order to escape it -- once again the lesser italy brother. all of that, coupled with romano's standoffish personality and lithuania's tendency to make himself sick with worry, made interactions... difficult. i think america's blunt, unapologetic nature kind of forced them to interact more than they would have and without him, it would have taken a lot more time for them to settle around each other lmfao.

ofc once they're both more comfortable around each other, i think they keep a close friendship that others don't really expect! like they don't talk too much but they're both glad to see when the other is doing well -- and they'll stand up for one another if the situation ever calls for it.

[beesgobzzzing]

the delulu isn't delulu any more Käärijä and Hooja are really working together. Or at least parts of Hooja is working with Käärijä.

SO! Hooja (both the main account, hoojahooja, and DJ Mårdhund's own account, mardismardgard) have been following Käärijä on IG since summer 2023, and Käärijä has been following them back since at LEAST March 29th this year.

Yesterday, November 25th, mardismardgard posts an IG story saying "Making music here in the machinery"

pay close attention to that piece of carpet at the bottom right of the photo.

today, November 26th, Mårdis keeps posting about being in Finland, and most importantly, posts a picture from his dinner, where a note on the table is visible with the text E-STUDIO WIFI

also today, Allu posts a picture from a studio, where there is an E-STUDIO sign clearly visible on the wall. Two people are seated at a mixing console and Käärijä is partially visible standing behind a mic.

notice that the carpet in this picture is identical to the sliver of carpet in the picture Mårdis posted?

it's fucking coming. they're cooking something. right now it's unclear if it's just Mårdis or if this is a full Käärijä x Hooja collab. but something sure is happening. words can not fucking express how hyped I am about this.

[beanghostprincess]

There was NO need to turn this short thing that is barely a fucking page in the manga into a whole scene with Sanji staring at Usopp from a distance with the sunset behind them and going "What is that idiot doing?" but in the softest of voices instead and turning around to smoke while he keeps listening to him. Like. No need to do it. Other than they're in love. Thank you.

[theokusgallery]

Hiiii I saw you say you have Notes on your Remus and Janus designs 👀👀?

Could we see/hear some tidbits?

FOR SURE !! Here's what the original doodles for their designs look like, first off, (I know you didn't ask for Virgil but I did these three at the same time)

When I drew this I had just finished an exam and had to wait another hour until I could leave the classroom, so I wrote down enough notes that I had to flip the page instead:

Virgil:

- Virgil has light brown hair that he dyes black (badly). It is essential that the dye job look like shit. It looks artificial, his roots are showing, there's patches where the color didn't take, etc etc.

- He also has blue eyes, which I decided on mostly because it makes it even more clear that his hair isn't naturally black.

- He wears earrings, but his ears aren't actually pierced — they're fake little little clip-on things.

- He wears black nail polish at all times, but it's always chipped because he gets the cheapest stuff he can get his hands on.

- His hair (especially his bangs) get very long at times because he gets too socially anxious to go to the hairdresser. Back in middle school, he used to have Janus cut them for him (Remus could have done a better job but trusting him with scissors would have been a mistake). Now he mostly cuts it off by himself — it looks about as good as his dye job.

- Virgil's purple hoodie is a leftover from Remus' fashion design endeavors that Remus thought didn't look weird enough.

Janus:

- He has naturally strawberry blonde hair. The length is very important to him — he started growing it towards the end of middle school. (He allows Remus to experiment with hairdos sometimes as long as he doesn't cut anything off. I need to draw that sometime)

- I'm not entirely settled on his eye color. I know at least one of his eyes is a very pretty brown, but I have half a mind to give him a yellow glass eye for his left side — I'm not sure it'd make any logistic sense for his situation, though

- He got his ears actually pierced when he was 16.

- He also may or may not have a forked tongue. Not sure how I'd ever be able to show that off — but if he does have one, then Remus definitely was the one to encourage him to do it.

- His fashion style was definitely influenced by being around Remus (who may have used him as a mannequin/dummy because he's small.) so much. Remus also attempted to make clothes for him, but Janus is very fancy and picky, so he doesn't wear those clothes very often (though he might accessorize with stuff Remus made for him occasionally).

Remus:

- He has naturally very dark hair. He uses temporary/surface level dyes a lot, but if he's using permanent or semi-permanent dyes, he's usually limiting himself to the grey streak — it's kind of a sample strand, since it's already bleached. He 100% copied his hairstyle from Roman's.

- He (and Roman, of course) has greenish blue eyes.

- Janus paid for him to get his ears (and eyebrows) professionally pierced because otherwise he was just going to do it himself with a sewing needle.

- He has a lot of very shitty stick-and-poke tattoos he made/makes on himself. They're almost always hidden by his outfits.

- Speaking of which, Remus makes most of his outfits costumes himself. The quality of the work may vary, but they are always way too over-the-top for casual wear, because he stands out anyway, so... in for a penny, right. (As I said in the tags of a post: he is very creative and has no shame or social anxiety at all, so he had his whole aesthetic ("overdramatic green") figured out by the time he was 13)

- He also has SH scars, but, again — they're hidden by his outfits 99% of the time. He's a slut who never shows an inch of skin

[samijey]

You have a funny way of showing it

[kradogsrats]

hmmmmmm

[idyllic-affections]

i can't STANDDDD the abyss sibling. in my case, it's lumine. anyway i can't stand her. imagine your sibling chasing after you, pushing themselves to their limits JUST to find you--to find answers about you because they love and miss you more than anyone else--and when you finally decide you will see them again, what the fuck do you say? NOTHING OF VALUE?????? and you just go on your way, acting like you don't give a fuck????? when that's literally your only family, you walk away without reassuring that you do care for them and it's just that you have your hands tied or... fucking SOME explanation for why you won't talk??????? the abyss twin does not care about the other at all i swear. like imagine making your allegedly "beloved" sibling stretch themselves so impossibly thin just to find you instead of using your words and, idk, talking to them???? i would just stop looking for them at that point fuck that. anyway this is just a pet peeve about the genshin storyline. it's so annoying.

(i am not an only child btw. i do have an older sister.)

[romulussy]

genuinely funny (and mildly irritating) to see so many people up in arms about gerri's refusal to comfort roman lol. when the stone cold killer bitch is a stone cold killer bitch :/

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

i don't know who needs to hear this but asserting a belief as existing "in lore" without specifying what "lore", from when and where, or indeed naming any kind of actual source makes you look like you just pulled that "historical fact" out of your arse

[anchored-nyctophilia]

my roman empire is the cool girl monologue from gone girl