#it wasn’t and i still hated it. it was very vindicating

[hazellvsq]

headcanon that hazel had the most parasocial beef imaginable with shirley temple. 8 year old hazel was writing hate mail to the local paper with her crayons calling the also 8 year old shirley a sellout and an industry plant. in 2010 hazel's watching nick at nite on the fifth cohort rec room tv and sees the 2 minute long shirley temple box set commercial and loses her fucking mind.

[yourdeluluescapist]

SHACKLES| Bangchan X Fem!reader| Request! @jiyeonslays

A/N: For some reason, anytime I give a date on anything. Life decides to hit me with its trials. Romance for some reason hinders fanfics. It was supposed to only take 2 days, but apparently my love life didn't like that answer. But i did put in more effort to make it a little more worth it. <3

Warnings: smut, creampie, semi rough sex, half angst half fluff.

WC:1617.

✧

It’d been 2 years since he went to jail for murdering him. You’d wished it hadn’t been labeled murder, it was just much needed vindication. He did it for you, to protect you, to make sure nothing came between him and his love. But thankfully, he was released today. And you were damn well gonna give him a warm welcome.

---

The price of safety from another almost felt like it wasn’t worth it. You’d missed Chan ever since he was locked up, even if it was legally wrong. It was the only way, the only exceptional thing that could’ve been done to keep you safe. You knew damn well if he didn’t do what he did, it would’ve broken you. 

You normally weren’t the one that thought killing another should ever be an option. But the pain, the abuse that went under every type, and the downright disgusting treatment of you.  It felt right, divine intervention, the only call that could begin to rectify and convict your ex of his act of torture.

Hours upon hours of his verbal berating, his fist clutching whenever you didn’t agree, and the pain from being treated like nothing and only seen as another thing on the earth that stole breath from the earth. 

But Chan? He saved you from that, freed you from that torment and showed you what real love was. Being treated like you mattered was refreshing and very much needed. He took care of you even after all the reassuring that killing him was the right decision. Throughout all he did, you were still never prepared to watch someone you hated with all of your being, simply die in front of you.

Trauma was never something you’d wanted to have to stomach, but knowing it all. You almost wished you pulled the trigger instead of Chan.

But all reminiscing made you forget the fact that you had ignored while rethinking all of this while spread out in your bed.

He’d be getting released today, and right now? You should have already been on the road..

A heavy groan and slow, yet heavy hand slowly dragging down your face. You clothed your naked body, got your keys, and left to start this dreadfully long 2 hour drive.

- - - 

He got into the passenger seat of your car, the look on his face looking different after so long. But his aura hasn't changed, he was still the same chan. Even after taking the life of a man who absolutely deserved it. That comforting smile still melted your heart, and all you wanted to see was that smile you had missed so much. All day, all night. 

“Hey, baby. It's been a while huh? Did you miss me?” Chan turned his head to you, smiling ear to ear as he studied your face again.

“Don’t ask me something stupid like that,” You leaned over from your seat and hugged him. “Of course I did, you know that.” You slightly pouted.

“Hey I was joking.” He chuckled, his tone softening from how much he missed you too. “I know you did, and you’re well aware I did too.” He embraced you and placed a gentle, clasping hand behind your head and kissed the top of your head.

”I wrote and sent you things every day! Even your favorite books, and sometimes those pictures we took a while ago.” You pulled yourself away from him to give him his space.

“And I thanked you for all of that. Especially those nude ones, I needed something to pleasure myself too.” He smirked, leaning onto the car down and placing his head on his fist.

“Even in prison, you're still a walking, talking cock.” You put the car in drive and pull out the lot.

“One you’d always happily service” He said in a jumpy tone, shooting a playful punch at your elbow.

Once you guys got on the road, silence and whatever was on the radio made the ambience of the car for the next hour. Though quiet, it was sweet. Being with him after all this time, you didn’t care how you spent your time with him.

Thinking back on all the unhinged and fun conversations you shared in this same car bestowed a lingering smile on your face. It was so good to see him again. Every part of your body pulsated and quivered with pent up excitement and libido. Being near him brought it all back, you haven’t done the deed with anyone since then, and you thought.

“God, I missed him badly. I’m wet just sitting next to him now, I’m so pent up I could just strip him and take him whole..” 

Knowing that, that's what you were going to do. You wanted him to take you whole, you’d been waiting for him to touch you, to fuck you, just simply kiss you after all this time. You just yearned for another time where his key would unlock your hole.

- - -

The feeling of being picked up and slammed on this bed he used to always take you on was lip biting. He didn’t waste a second when you shot the offer of. 

“Tonight, I don’t care what you do to me. Whatever hole you please, however rough you wanna do me. I just want you to fuck me crazy.” 

“Was this what you were waiting for? Just for me to fuck you like a slut?” He asked in a husky voice, his hands dancing against your breast. 

“Mhm.” You moaned at his touch, “That’s exactly what I want, I’ve been waiting years for this. I need you bad okay?” You quiver at every movement, you haven’t been so tense at a man’s touch since then. It feels like you couldn’t even handle this let alone full blown fucking. But your body told you, it wanted it all. 

“Well okay princess, I'm gonna have my way with you okay?” He leaned down, being mere inches away from your neck and began to pepper you down.

You nod in agreement, his lips feeling like butterfly wings across your skin as he kisses around your neck, slowly going down the line and making it to your clavicle, playfully nibbling at it and getting more sensual everytime your body shakes in pleasure. 

He groaned as his kisses got lower and the depth between each one getting harder and harder. You had basically begged for him to hurry up and get down to your pussy. Though he knew that, and he loved taking his sweet time to savor every part of you. To tease and to annoy you. 

“Oh, Chan!” You screamed, “Just get down there already, I'm begging you I can't take it anymore.” 

Taking what you said into playful consideration, he stopped kissing you from top to bottom and quickly dragged his tongue down your torso until he was met face to face with your sopping wet entrance.

He was like a plumber the way his tongue plunged his tongue in and out of your vagina. Also following that, the onslaught of a very much invited finger joined in to make sure your pipes were cleaned. 

He only sucked more and more, kept changing from fast and slow with his fingers. You couldn't handle it anymore, your body knew it couldn't hold that orgasm any longer. And knowing that, you came all over his face and his fingers.

“That's only the first time, sweetheart. He uttered, licking his finger clean and beginning to take his briefs off. Releasing his rock hard cock, veins bulging all the way from the tip down. Tense and ready to reunite with its plaything once more.

He had crawled on top of you, showing every ounce of his muscular body like it was in 4k. His big chest, his bolstering biceps, and chiseled abs. Also not ignoring his huge package that was waiting to get in the back of your truck.

“Are you finally gonna actually fuck me? You know I hate that foreplay shit, I'm too horny for that.” You playfully pout at him, a seductive smirk growing on your face.

“Mhm,” He began to drag his tip around your clit, covering it in all of your sweet juices. “Just you like it.” He said as he rammed it inside you, a strong sexual moan escaping your mouth with pants following its path.

“Oh my, FUCK. I needed this, after so long I’ve been begging to be filled up like this again. His cock is just playing inside me, I can feel every throb with double the effect. My pussy is just hugging him back with every time that dick shows me it still wants me.

He didn't beat around the bush this time, his strokes went deep. In and out repeatedly, harder and harder with every second that passed. You could feel him getting closer and closer, and you only began to think more wildly. Making you wrap your arms around his torso, your grip tight as he started to pound you harder. 

“Cum inside me, Chan. Please, I want it so bad.” 

“As you wish, princess.” He replied, going balls deep inside you and releasing a fat load inside you. One that would definitely knock you up.

You pant and pant feeling his cum course through your vagina.

After he dropped that inside you, he had basically collapsed on top of you, obviously wore out after so long without sex. Though he was heavy this was the only time that you would let this happen .So you caressed his head and your fingers through his hair as he cuddled up on you. 

You missed this and would do anything to keep this forevermore.

[reallyhatethiswebsite]

haarlep solo time in tav's form, raphael catches. no romance between tav and raphael yet, haarlep does it to provoke.

ok here you go

they/them for haarlep, gn tav

Read on AO3

-

Warm hands danced over soft, smooth skin, a wanton caress of an ardent lover in the night, but Haarlep was alone. As they often seemed to be lately. They cherished every form they’d been gifted in their long life, some more than others, but there was a certain excitement to exploring a new one that couldn’t be matched. Finding out what made the new form tick. Where and how to touch to squeeze as much pleasure from the flesh as possible. It was almost like having a first time, again and again. Knowing the person who gave them that fresh body – if their soul hadn’t been consumed – would feel the phantom of their unquenchable lust, even in a different realm, only made Haarlep come harder.

Masturbating was something of a ritual of theirs, when they had a new shape to try. Their own thank-you; an appreciation of sorts. What better way to show their love? Particularly now, to the sweet, special morsel whose lovely skin they were wearing. Raphael’s very own little mouse. The object of his obsession. Haarlep couldn’t help it, they moaned in that adventurer’s voice, quiet, breathy, desperate. So many things were turning them on: the memory of that mouse, pinned and squirming beneath their claws, slick with sweat and slack-jawed with desire…gods, what a fuck that had been, made better by the knowledge Raphael would seethe when he realised…

“Ah…”

Haarlep’s new voice was pleasant. They reached between their damp thighs to squeeze and rub their swollen sex, hips bucking shamelessly. They licked their fingertips and plucked their nipples, testing how hard they could pinch before it hurt. Searching for that perfect spot between pleasure and pain. Mortal bodies were always so fragile, but this one seemed sturdier than most. The incubus scratched their belly, writhing on Raphael’s red silk sheets. The sharp sting of pain felt so good. There were many toys they’d like to use, to fill their hole with, but for now their fingers would do. They lathered three up with spit and pushed them in, savouring the stretching burn. Kept them still in there just to be full for a moment. A shame Raphael’s little hero would only feel an echo of this.

Speak of the Devil.

He displaced himself straight into the boudoir, making a beeline for the expensive whiskey always kept by the pool. He poured himself a glass. He hadn’t looked at Haarlep yet. He seemed stressed. All his carefully laid plans were either coming to fruition or coming apart at the seams – but either way, Raphael himself definitely wasn’t coming these days. Something Haarlep was keenly aware of, and something that was likely going to change very soon.

“Of all the things I loathe about the mortal realm, I think the smell is the worst,” he grumbled, “I can never quite get it out of my clothes, and I’d hate to have to burn this –”

The snooty devil’s gobsmacked expression when he finally caught sight of the form in his bed was comical. Vindicating. It sent a thrill shuddering through Haarlep. They couldn’t stop the wide, cruel grin blooming across their borrowed face.

“Welcome home, master,” they purred, noting the flare of Raphael’s nostrils, the darkening of his eyes. They wondered how long he had pined, how long he had desired to hear those words from his little mouse’s mouth, and they squirmed with sadistic delight. They spread their legs wide, showing him the goods. Showing off. Raphael stared greedily, but his mounting temper was obvious.

“When,” he said, low, dangerous. The set of his jaw fierce. Haarlep played dumb.

“When what?” They twisted the fingers inside them, gasped when they brushed a sensitive spot. Raphael’s upper lip curled.

“When, you contemptuous creature!” He growled it this time. The glass in his hand shattered. His cambion form burst free and he strode to the bed, fangs bared. “When were they here?! When did you…!”

“When did I what?” The sexual and psychological satisfaction Haarlep felt already almost made up for the neglect. Almost. “When did I touch your precious mortal? When did I take them? When did I kiss, and tease, and penetrate them?”

“Haarlep.” Though possessive jealousy oozed from Raphael like a dark fog, Haarlep noticed he struggled to tear his eyes away from where they fucked themselves, and his cock was starting to fatten. They slipped their wet fingers free, showed him, let him gawk at their winking, hungry hole.

“Hmm…not two days ago, maybe. You would know if you didn’t deny our connection when you’re away…”

“As if I have a choice.” Raphael’s voice was rough. Deep. His pupils were blown. “You would make it near-impossible for me to get any work done otherwise.”

“Well, you know what they say about all work and no play…and you’ve been such a dull boy lately. It’s a wonder this little obsession of yours is even interested in you at all…”

That absolutely got the devil’s attention. “Tell me,” he demanded. Haarlep chuckled, stretched luxuriously like a lazy house cat on the bed. Raphael’s gaze ate them up with impatience.

“Your sweet mortal came alone. I don’t know how. The hammer is still here, so perhaps they were looking for you…and found me instead. They told me they’d been dreaming of what it was like to lay with the devil Raphael. Undiluted and raw. I offered them a few different forms, but they only wanted yours. A shame. I’ve always wanted to try the pit fiend out on a mortal…”

Raphael’s jaw worked as he processed this information. “Did you finish inside them?”

Haarlep’s mean smile got sharper, thinner. “Would it burn you, brat, to know if I did?” They crooned nastily. “If I marked their insides with your seed, filled them with your cock, before you could? Does it burn you to know that I tasted their soul before you? That it was I who muddied their canvas of innocence with my corruption?”

Snarling like the infernal thing he was, Raphael snatched a fistful of Haarlep’s hair, his other hand closing around the incubus’ throat. “Careful, demon. You don’t need a tongue to be able to serve me.”

Haarlep was not frightened. They moaned breathlessly instead, hips thrusting. “Oh, yes, that’s more like it…punish me, Archdevil Supreme. Punish me for taking what was yours…”

Raphael threw them back onto the bed with a sneer, though he began to unbuckle his belt, his cock straining desperately in his trousers. “Get on your hands and knees and beg.”

[were-wolverine]

au where when tim finds dick and asks him to be robin again, dick is like “no but also are you okay?? where are your parents?” and proceeds to adopt/kidnap him

dick sends clark and diana to babysit bruce and tries to dissuade tim from being robin, but he’s a stubborn little shit so blüdhaven gains a new vigilante alongside nightwing (dick won’t let tim be bruce’s robin, not robin in general)

dick isn’t a cop because fuck you dc he would never idgaf what you think it’s wrong and goes against so much of his character!!! i hate cop!dick so much, he isn’t real to me

dick is a part-time college student majoring in human biology and minoring in psychology while training to be a paramedic. tim moves in with him (a small studio apartment) and they forge some records and IDs so tim can go to school in blüdhaven (not that the schools really care)

tim likes to read dick’s college textbooks & notes (if eligible) and spends most of his free time in the library or taking photos across the city. dick is 19 and tim is 14. jack and janet don’t even notice tim is gone

they both have enough to live comfortably but dick only uses his own money (from his parents) and tries to teach tim about like. class differences and how much normal stuff costs (i love timmy but he is a lil rich boy)

dick can cook and clean (which is CANON thank you very much), but his room is basically an organized mess (adhd-ass), while tim is used to needing his room to look perfect and deep cleans like once a week (trauma & he has a touch of the ‘tism)

when dick kills the joker, thinking tim is dead, tim gets to him in time but dick doesn’t let bruce resuscitate him and joker stays dead. this leads to post-pit jason going to blüdhaven instead of gotham.

part of him feels vindicated that his big brother the golden boy killed the clown, but part of him feels like he was replaced by tim. either way it drives him to blüdhaven. he observes nightwing and the new robin for a while, realizing that shit, this robin is just a kid. he can’t hate the new robin for something that’s not even the kid’s fault

he has a mess of complicated emotions about dick, though. again, he’s glad dick avenged him, but is mad he replaced him, and is a better brother to this robin than he was to jason. jason wanted that fun older brother. he got it for a little bit but it wasn’t nearly enough time, and then he fucking died

anyway, this of course leads to a confrontation between red hood & nightwing and robin. jason considers messing with them but decides to just get it over with (so he can yell at dick) and takes off the helmet. dick recognizes him immediately, and tim figures out who he is by dick’s reaction.

queue jason failing to be mad at dick when he starts sobbing and hugging him, and tim jumping in and making it a group hug. they bring him back to their apartment and give jason the guest room (they often have titans friends over), while jason is still like “…what just happened”

him and dick do talk later that night, and dick pretty much tells him everything. jason does the same “so they’re even”

jason goes back to gotham to protect crime alley, he has a couple safe houses set up around the city, but he visits blüdhaven whenever he can. similarly, when dick and tim are free they visit jason in gotham, at his main safe house that only they know about

going back a while, tim is kidnapped by joker while helping bruce with a case in gotham. he goes missing and bruce calls dick to see if he went back to blüdhaven, which he obviously didn’t, and dick speeds to gotham and finds joker, who tells him tim is dead and taunts him about jason. dick beats the joker to death, and doesn’t let bruce revive him, even if he has to live with what he did

after that bruce cuts contact with dick, but tries to stay in contact with tim. tim, however, is pissed at bruce for how he is treating dick and similarly cuts contact with bruce. both boys stay in contact with alfred, though, and sometimes he will update bruce on how they are doing

after jason settles into gotham, he joins dick and tim on one of their visits to alfred (while bruce is away/at work) and gets to reunite with him. alfred agrees to keep red hood’s identity a secret from bruce until jason is ready to tell him, but encourages him to do it soon because bruce misses him terribly

after blüdhaven is destroyed, dick is a wreck, so they move in with jason at his apartment near crime alley. nightwing is out of commission for a while (mentally AND physically) so robin patrols with red hood, who agrees to be as non-lethal as possible around him

dick is in a depressive episode for a while, so jason plays the role of Big Brother to tim (and dick if he’s being honest) until he feels a bit better. he’s actually the best at helping dick when he’s upset (aside from alfred ofc) and forces his ass into therapy with dinah

therapy and spending time with his brothers helps dick a lot, and he manages to force both of them to see therapists as well (not dinah cuz like. bias and legal stuff. but they find some good ones)

jason actually talks to harley sometimes (she’s calmed down a lot since the joker died and she started dating ivy), and she’s stable enough to give him solid advice occasionally. regardless, she’s a great listener and will always let him rant to her

okay flashback time again: when dick was living in titans tower in nyc, he attended college at hudson university. after about a year there, he moved to blüdhaven and transferred to blüdhaven university

tim moves in with him after dick’s been in blüdhaven for a few months. he finishes sophomore year at BU and starts paramedic training, deciding not to return to college. he’s 20 as of March and tim is almost 15

it’s around this time that jason (18) shows up- after dick’s finished sophomore year at BU but before he finishes paramedic training. after blüdhaven is destroyed, dick stops his paramedic training but eventually picks it back up again in gotham

ANYWAY so yeah the three of them share an apartment in park row

dick finishes paramedic training and starts working with gotham emergency services / thomas wayne memorial hospital (leslie’s clinic), and often helps anyone he comes across for free (he always has first aid supplies on hand & their apartment is hella stocked up)

dick and jason also often make meals for nearby homeless shelters (tim would help but he is a terrible cook, instead he manages to trick rich assholes into donating to and funding shelters, food pantries, schools, etc. in park row)

idek where i’m going with this anymore, just the three of them being brothers and visiting alfred. bruce focuses more on damian and cass, but occasionally they will all work together on a case (bruce has given up trying to get any of them- mostly jason- to move back to the manor)

damian and cass will drop by their apartment from time to time, as will alfred. jason, after watching over robin while nightwing was down, has stopped killing (for the most part) and focuses more on community support than beating up criminals

nightwing has become a sort of medic vigilante of sorts, he bounces across the city helping anyone who is injured (mostly abusive victims / those who can’t afford healthcare and are too far from leslie’s clinic to go there / homeless kids who can’t go there without having CPS called / etc)

he mainly patrols park row, but if he has time he will venture further out into the rest of gotham. tim is still robin atp, but he eventually changes his vigilante identity from robin

tim and steph still meet and become friends, but instead of working with batman as spoiler, she works with nightwing, red hood and robin. also, she is never robin, but she is batgirl for a bit

babs is oracle (okay timeline wise idk if she gets shot by joker before or after dick kills him soo i’m just gonna say before) and she helps out both the bats (bruce, dami, cass) and the birds (dick, jay, tim, steph)

steph ends up moving in with babs (who is very excited to have a little sister). this is when babs gives her batgirl, which she eventually (with permission) gives to cass.

sidenote: babs & dick are Best Friends like ride or die and that’s part of the reason dick killed joker- tho he doesn’t tell her that. they see each other all the time (the boys’ apartment building has an elevator) and stay in contact throughout all of this

robin and spoiler meet when the boys move back to gotham, and the two become fast friends. spoiler runs into red hood and robin one time and tim is like “hi S, this is my big brother!” and she’s like “your what.”

once dick is back as nightwing, he meets spoiler as well (who has told them her name is steph atp) and she’s like “i’ve heard all about you from your brothers :)” and dick is like “🥹 really?”

after that the boys tell steph their identities- “didn’t you die?!” “yeah, long story”- and she does the same- “wait is your dad that knockoff riddler guy?” “unfortunately, yeah”- and she crashes at their apartment sometimes after long nights of patrolling

it’s MY au so i say that cass found damian, understood what talia was trying to say when she saw her, and steals lil dami to arrive on bruce wayne’s doorstep. alfred opens the door and she basically shoves damian at him and then runs into the manor and launches herself at a very confused bruce with a hug. bruce is just like ‘okay i guess this is my daughter now’ and then alfred walks in with damian and he’s like ‘…i guess i have another son now too’

this all happens while tim and dick are in blüdhaven and jason is in gotham avoiding bruce like the plague. babs doesn’t tell them because she can be evil sometimes and wants to see their live reactions. imagine their surprise when the boys go to visit alfred and find two assassin children (cass is 19 but shush)

when bruce is lost in time, jace fox takes over as batman while tim, dick and cass go look for him. jason and steph stay and guard gotham and tim gives robin to damian so he can help them (and not go stir crazy without his dad). huntress and the sirens also help out in place of the three vigilantes looking for bruce

they find him faster since there’s three people looking, and everything pretty much goes back to normal after that, aside from jason being damian’s favorite older brother (instead of dick, bc he was never the batman to damian’s robin)

another sidenote: i am totally just ignoring jack and janet drake’s existence bc i don’t wanna deal with them yk? also crystal brown is alive and a decent mom, steph just moved out cuz she wanted more independence

rough age timeline rq

dick is 19 when he kidnaps adopts tim who is 14

jason (18) confronts dick (20) and tim (15)

cass (17) & dami (7) - jay (19), dick (21), tim (16)

blüd destroyed - dick (22), jason (20), tim (17)

tim (17) and steph (17) meet as vigilantes

cass (18) becomes orphan

dick (23) returns to nightwing - jason (21), tim (18)

tim becomes sparrow- robin is put in storage

the boys meet cass (19) & damian (9)

steph (18) moves in w babs (26)

steph becomes batgirl

future timeline

steph (19) gives batgirl to cass (20)

cass (21) becomes black bat

bruce gets lost in time

dick (25) jay (23) & tim (20) give damian (11) robin

[vivithefolle]

What are your thoughts on the bad future in Cursed Child where Hermione basically becomes Snape as a teacher just because she didn't get with Ron?

Oh, I'd written a Quora answer about that! Let me get it-

In the alternated universe in Cursed Child, Hermione became a Snape-like professor because she lost Ron. Is it just bad writing because she'd never be like that? Why?

Au contraire, I think it’s the only bit of characterization in this garbage play that makes sense.

And I’m not saying that because I love Ron, I’m saying that because I know Hermione rather well - I’ve been a very Hermioneish person in my life.

I’ve been that girl who wanted to answer every question I knew the answer to, because I liked to show off what I knew, I liked it when the teacher validated me, I liked to be seen as clever by the adults. The adults were the most important people, after all they were the ones who handed out the punishments. Therefore it was important that I endear myself to the adults considering that they were the only people who could protect me from the other kids’ bullying.

I was bullied. A lot. As a result, I hated my schoolmates. I despised them with all my being. I only trusted the adults and a select few fellow kids who didn’t bully me. My philosophy? “The adults are always right. I’m always right, unless the adults say otherwise. My friends are always right, unless the adults or I say otherwise. Everyone else is stupid and useless.”

Notice a pattern?

It’s quite easy really. The more I was bullied, the tighter I shut myself out. Every new act of bullying was only vindicating me. The world is made of idiots, idiots and more idiots. There’s nothing out there but idiots, and they prey on the smart people like me.

When Hermione made friends with Harry and Ron, thankfully, they stopped her from leaping into misanthropy entirely. They grounded her, gave her something to look forward to other than school. They made her realize that people who don’t care for school aren’t necessarily complete dumbasses who’ll never achieve anything with their lives. They brought some humanity to her. Some much-needed emotion and empathy.

They got her away from her feeling of superiority and made her accept that she wasn’t perfect, something that is incredibly important considering that being perfect is impossible.

[…] Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

(Lookit those two Dads parenting their perfectionnist daughter. Iconic.)

Okay, so, we know how Hermione reacted when Ron dated Lavender Brown, right?

No, I’m not talking about the birds, I’m talking about after that. After she threw her hissy fit, she went on to bully Ron for months on end.

“Hi, Parvati!” said Hermione, ignoring Ron and Lavender completely. “Are you going to Slughorn’s party tonight?” “No invite,” said Parvati gloomily. “I’d love to go, though, it sounds like it’s going to be really good… You’re going, aren’t you?” “Yes, I’m meeting Cormac at eight, and we’re -” There was a noise like a plunger being withdrawn from a blocked sink and Ron surfaced. Hermione acted as though she had not seen or heard anything. “- we’re going up to the party together.” “Cormac?” said Parvati. “Cormac McLaggen, you mean?” “That’s right,” said Hermione sweetly. “The one who almost” - she put a great deal of emphasis on the word - “became Gryffindor Keeper.” “Are you going out with him, then?” asked Parvati, wide-eyed. “Oh - yes - didn’t you know?” said Hermione, with a most un-Hermione-ish giggle. “No!” said Parvati, looking positively agog at this piece of gossip. “Wow, you like your Quidditch players, don’t you? First Krum, then McLaggen…” “I like really good Quidditch players,” Hermione corrected her, still smiling. “Well, see you… Got to go and get ready for the party…”

And

“How did you do?” asked Ron, hurrying toward Harry. “I think I felt something the last time I tried - a kind of tingling in my feet.” “I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” said a voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past, smirking.

You know how many pages there are between these two happenings? Seventy. 70!! In-universe, it goes from December to freaking March!

And by being away from Ron, Hermione also reduces the time she spends with Harry. Because Harry won’t seek Hermione out, it’s always Hermione who will come see him - and only if she has something to tell him.

So, without Ron, Hermione would consequentially drift away from Harry. Without Ron to bicker with, without Ron to act as a buffer between her controlling tendencies and Harry’s rebellious nature, Hermione would close herself off and ignore other people.

Now, as for why she’s a She-Snape when it comes to students?

Well duh! Have you seen Hermione?

Ron, at the next table, wasn’t having much more luck. “Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill. “You’re saying it wrong.” Harry heard Hermione snap. “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”

She loudly points out Ron’s failure, getting everyone’s attention and making him feel humiliated, because she was so sure she knew better than him. That she happens to perform better than him right afterwards just makes Ron feel even worse.

She wasn’t nice, she wasn’t friendly, she wasn’t helpful. She shot him down by snapping at him and only then did she try to help him, but she was already “the aggressor” in Ron’s mind. Of course he wasn’t going to react nicely to anything she’d have to say afterwards!

“All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,” said Hermione in a sniffly voice. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?”

Note that here, this is Harry’s narration. Harry thinks of Hermione’s voice as “sniffly”. It’s about on par with Draco’s “sneering” in terms of positive first impressions.

And look at that! “people outside are behaving very childishly”, that’s an 11 years old speaking! She’s just as much of a kid as her peers yet she already has an overinflated sense of her own maturity. *sighs* Believe me, I know from experience that this can only end in tears.

And it’s what would make her miserable should she become a teacher.

Without Harry and Ron with her to remind her that she’s human and faillible, Hermione would ignore other people’s needs as well as her own.

We already see that she can be somewhat gentle to people like Neville, maybe because Neville is kind of the equivalent of a “special needs” kid in the Wizarding World, but with other students like Harry and Ron, whom she assumes are just dumb or not trying hard enough? She’s harsh. Snappish. She can’t understand how they don’t understand stuff that to her is so easy!

Now take Harry and Ron and multiply them by 10. And put Hermione in charge of them all.

She’s gonna go insane in a couple weeks.

A few years and she’ll have lost any sort of enjoyment she may have gotten from passing on her knowledge.

Hermione is not a good pedagogue, like the books show us multiple times - she has an easy time learning because she can memorize her books, but not all students are like this. When someone doesn’t understand what she understands, she makes a snippy remark, act as though they should know and make them feel dumb and in the process snuff out their interest for what she had to say.

Hermione Granger would be a complete nightmare of a teacher, because she has no patience and has a very “if I can do it, so can you” mentality, and she also tends to assume the worst in others. She’s not suited to a role that requires her to interact with people on a daily basis (also why she would make a terrible Minister for Magic).

[lurkingshan]

Shadow episodes 8–14

Well, that went to some unexpected places! I’m not sure it entirely held together in the end, there were definitely some dropped threads and weak spots in the cast, and the back end wasn’t as tightly paced as the first half. I still enjoyed watching this show overall but the back half didn’t live up to the hype they built with this release schedule, unfortunately. And not gonna lie…I kinda hated that ending.

Some initial reactions:

As I mentioned back when I finished part 1, this show is emphatically not a bl. There is no romance and the protagonist is not, in fact, gay. I do think this show marketed itself to bl fans and did a little dishonest baiting on that front and I will side eye it for that. It does have several explicitly queer characters and themes, however, which is probably why it’s on Gaga.

They disappeared Danai from his own fucking narrative! I was already bummed by him disappearing into a shadow coma for most of the last two episodes; it already felt like he vanished from the resolution of his own story. And then that final reveal that he never actually came back and Trin has somehow managed to possess his body. So the end for Danai, the character we’ve been following this whole time, concluded with him passing out on stage during his attempt to expose Anurak during the play and then getting squashed by Trin in the shadow realm? Thanks, I hate it! 

The reveal of the shadow as the forest spirit (not to mention that goofy ass costume) was also kind of a letdown; I have no idea what this forest ghost has to do with the backstory they showed us for Danai and his family, and I ended the show still unsure of why this spirit glommed onto Dan in the first place. The complete dropping of the family trauma theme is especially egregious to me; I was so interested in everything they set up for Danai in part 1 but they left most of it on the table. Strange writing choices.

The final reveal of Brother Anurak’s whole deal lacked juice (and as the story continued it became clear the actor playing him was not strong enough for the role). Nice guy tries to do what’s right and fails and cries about it for twenty years is just kind of boring as the ultimate reveal of a spooky mystery story. And I didn’t really expect the haunting to be about state-sanctioned murder in the end. While I appreciate that the show is referencing real history and making a (somewhat garbled?) political statement here, this direction for the story felt like an awkward fit with the beginning, which was more about family trauma and homophobia. 

I thought Trin’s story was the best executed part of the show. Fiat was great in this role and his plot and characterization stayed consistent throughout. 

Poor Nai. The way Dan gave him that total stone face and zero reaction to his attempted kiss was almost worse than an outright rejection. And then the show added insult to injury by having Dan say he liked Cha-aim after all. You expect me to believe that shadow fucker is a straight dude who wanted to date the insipid girl? Okay show!

Anan was a pretty decent antagonist for most of the show (I hated that dude and his evil ass teacher girlfriend) but I thought him getting another girl pregnant and then murdering her together with the teacher kind of came out of nowhere? And ultimately his story didn’t connect to the larger reveal, he just exited stage left before the big dramatic climax. 

After part 1 aired @wen-kexing-apologist tried to tell me my boy Josh was evil, and I was not having it. *Captain Holt voice* Vindication!!! Josh is just a garden variety dumbass teenage boy.  I always believed in you, boo!

All the teachers were, in fact, sus. Not a single decent educator among them.

Fluke Natouch is very, very pretty. 

And that’s all I got! I can’t honestly say I recommend this show to anyone who hasn’t already watched part 1, but for those of us who already arrived here I look forward to reading about the things you noticed that I didn't. This show has style and some of the cast is great, but the writing just didn’t hold up. 

[garlic-in-the-land-of-vampires]

Okay so I gave in and watched the current Bored arc

And then I wrote a thing about Rowan finding "Alan"

Not-quite but kinda spoilers for latest episode?

Rowan sighed as he unlocked his apartment door. He had just gotten back from Alan’s place, where once again he had waited for hours in the dark and eerily empty apartment. No one had come by. He knew Alan was avoiding him–and by extension the massive paycut that was coming his way–but he just couldn’t figure out how.

As he tossed his keys onto the table he heard something coming from upstairs.

It sounded like a voice

It sounded like Alan’s voice.

Rowan ran, taking the steps two at a time. At the top of the stairs he stopped.

“... Rowan? Is that you?”

It was coming from his bedroom closet.

Rowan threw open the door and there, curled up into the corner, was a very naked Alan.

:What are you doing here?” Rowan asked, temporarily forgetting to be angry.

“Well, sometimes, when you need to talk to your coworkers, it’s okay to sneak into their home to wait for them.”

Rowan nodded. That made perfect sense. “But what are you doing in my closet?”

“I was embarrassed that I was naked.”

“Right, and… why are you naked?”

“I got mugged. They stole my uniform. I’m very weak so I was mugged pretty easily.”

Rowan nodded again. That also made sense, given how Alan had only won their fight (or won one round, really, he left before it was really over) by cheating and distracting Rowan by destroying company property. “Alright but, that’s coming out of your paycheck.”

“That’s fair. Rowan, could you help me up? I think I’m stuck.”

Rowan reached into the closet and gingerly helped Alan out. He then guided Alan to his bed and helped him sit down.

Any other time, having a naked Alan on his bed woud have been too distracting to Rowan to even hold a conversation, but he hadn’t completely forgotten his anger. “What the hell Alan? I know I embaressed you by kicking your ass in front of everyone, but you’ve sulked so long that Adam didn’t even think you were coming back!”

“I didn’t mean for it to go on this long! And I’m sorry I scared Adam.”

“Oh, you’re sorry, ahuh, sorry for how you made ADAM feel?”

“Yeah well, you knew I was coming back, didn’t you? I always come back. No matter what happens. It’s been nearly ten years… sometimes I storm off, but I always come back.”

It was true, and hearing it felt like vindication. “Yeah, well, uh… “ It was getting hard to maintain the righteous anger. “You’re still getting a massive paycut.”

“That’s fair.”

“And working closing shift, weekends, and all holidays until… forever.”

“Okay.”

“And… and you’re signing a new contract. Where you’re never allowed to quit, or even pretend to quit, ever again.”

“Right.” Alan gave him one of his small smiles, the ones that were always half sad, and Rowan hated the way those smiles made his insides feel. “You know… I am sorry. I was coming to tell you that, when I got mugged.”

“Psssh… yeah, well…” Rowan shrugged. It wasn’t like he cared… but it was nice to hear.

“I have these anger issues, I’m working on them. It’s just when I don’t understand your jokes sometimes I just lash out. You didn’t deserve that at all though.”

Rowan squirmed a bit. As much as he had been looking forward to Alan groveling, he was suddenly wishing they were past this part. “Get dressed, you’re coming with me to open the store. This isn’t your shift! It’s going to be…unpaid training.” Rowan stood, went over to his closet, and pulled out a red shirt, throwing it to Alan.

Alan just dumbly watched it smack into his chest. Idiot.

“Rowan is this my shirt? The one I lost and you docked my check for?”

Rowan froze. It had been Alan’s shirt. He’d left it to dry after washing a coffee spill out of it. When Rowan had grabbed it from the washroom it was still damp, but it also still smelled like Alan.

“Yes… that was to teach you a lesson! About being more careful with company property!”

Alan nodded. Then he struggled so stupidly with putting it on that Rowan had to help him.

When that was done Alan looked at him, and for a moment Rowan was lost in his gaze. “Rowan… can I… maybe wait a few days, before going back? Maybe I can stay here, just for a bit. I’m still embarrassed by how I left. I don’t know if I’m ready for anyone else to see me like this.”

Rowan thought about it. It was temping, to keep Alan like a secret. Oh, he’d tell everyone Alan was back, but not where to find him. He’d come home every shift to have Alan waiting there for him…

But no, he needed the others to see, to know he was right. Alan was wrong, he was sorry, and above all he came back. “Nope, you’ve had enough time off. Time to get back to work!”

Alan accepted this, because he was getting better at understanding that Rowan knew best. Rowan even helped him to the car, and made sure he was safely buckled. Then he got around over to his side, got in and buckled himself.

“Oh and Rowan?”

“Hmm?” Rowan asked, adjusting his mirrors.

“I watched The Phantom Menace again. You were right, it was really good! The best actually!”

Rowan looked over at Alan and couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah? And who was your favorite character?”

“Jar Jar! He was just hilarious!.”

Rowan smiled as he pulled out onto the road. Everything was going to be fine. Alan was back, they were finally on the same page, and everything was as it should be.

[bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky]

I have a complicated outlook on the big reveal that Chuck (aka god) is the villain.

On one hand, I'm like, very anti religion. I don't believe in god at all. I think organized religion is evil and easily corrupted. and I see the ways that religion (specifically christianity) gives people an excuse to be hateful. basically, I like the fact that god is the villain in supernatural bc I see religion / christianity so negatively. it felt like a hell yeah moment for me. especially bc I was raised in the south where everyone is just soooooooooo christian and people have told me my whole life about the "power of prayer" and that I need to "give everything to god". which, in my opinion, all of that is ~bullshit~. especially because like... we see horrible things happen everyday to people who do not deserve such treatment, but tHe GoOd LoRd doesn't lift a finger to stop it (bc he's not real). And even if he was real (he’s not), you’re telling me that children get cancer and people get murdered but he’s this loving almighty father??? You’re telling me there’s a pLaN and a ReAsOn FoR eVeRyThInG??? Bullshit. Absolutely not. There’s no reason for a child to get cancer. There’s no reason for rape and murder to exist. so I've always viewed church/ prayer as shouting into the void. Bc no one is listening!!! which is basically what happened to sam and dean. god was not answering prayers, he didn't care. he didn't listen. So the reveal of god as the villain was so satisfying to me, it felt like vindication.

BUT-

on the other hand, I loved chuck! before the reveal that he was The God, back when he was just a guy to us, I was like "what a weird little dude. He's endearing and kind of pathetic and he the writes supernatural books, that's fun." and in every episode after that (up until the reveal of him as god) I liked him more and more. Then we found out he was god and my view of him changed a little. I was kinda pissed at him for being such an absentee father and leaving sam and dean alone to deal with all the apocalyptic shit / general awfulness. but he was still that endearing, likable guy. And he talked about free will and how he didn’t step in because it wasn’t right of him to intervene and dictate their choices. so I didn't hate his guts…

UNTIL- the s14 finale. He's just such a spiteful asshole. The way he sees sam and dean as nothing more than his favorite show makes me ill. And it made me miss the version of him from the earlier seasons, when I thought he was just some weirdo prophet guy.

even when I rewatch the show, I still love that version of chuck. I still really enjoy him. And then when everything turns sour in the s14 finale, I hate his fucking guts.

[troutfur]

augur au: cinderheart dealing with the fallout that came from her relationship with jaypaw

This is a very interesting prompt considering the plot of to Aaron and his sons because a very important point is that whatever consequences ultimately befall Cinderheart it's got to be kept as under wraps as possible. She can't have too public a punishment, and it must under no circumstances leave ThunderClan. The whole of ThunderClan's foreign policy depends on it.

And yet I do like the idea that Cinderheart is forever tainted by this scandal. Gaining a reputation as a cheater and a seductress and a rule breaker. I don't think she'd ever be able to carry a litter without some nasty rumors.

Rather than try to figure out now what the punishment on the part of Firestar and Sandstorm would be I elected to use this prompt to write about the emotional fallout. Take this as a potential intro scene for a Hollyleaf-centric entry I may eventually write.

(Want your own ~500 word ficlet from me? Take a look at my guidelines and submit a prompt! I'll be doing them all November long.)

Cinderheart’s absence from her nest had bothered Hollyleaf a lot more than she wanted to admit. It was a little pathetic, really. Only just the night before they’d shared their vigil and they had a whole life to sleep near each other in the warriors’ den ahead of them. But nevertheless it stung. She was second to a puerile fantasy, to a shameful demonstration she’d be above had she been in that position.

Cinderheart had chosen to sleep in while she still could instead of awakening for her assigned dawn patrol, and in thinking up that metaphor Hollyleaf hated how self explanatory the why was.

Swallowing an exhale Hollyleaf resolved to take a walk under the moonlight to clear her thoughts, picking perhaps the worst --best?-- moment she could. She caught the silvery glint that danced on Crowfeather’s fur as he crossed the bramble barrier and right behind a sulking Jaypaw dragging his feet.

“Oh dear StarClan,” Hollyleaf cursed under her breath. With Cinderheart nowhere to be seen, now she couldn’t just stick to her original intention. No matter how slim the chance she had to hold on to hope that the absolute worst hadn’t come to pass.

It wasn’t long until Cinderheart would come, her tail lasing behind her and her steps heavy as she shoved her way through the barrier.

“Hey, Cinderheart, are you--”

“Leave me alone!” she spat, pointedly slapping across Hollyleaf’s face with her tail.

Hollyleaf let her bound over towards her nest before she followed in, finding her screaming with frustration with only the moss to muffle herself. “Hey, I know it must be hard, but--”

“What do you even know?!” she screeched. “And why do you even want me to tell? It’s only going to be a stain in you brats’ oh so precious lineage.”

“Watch that mouth you--” Hollyleaf managed to catch herself before she could mouth it. Though rightful fury burned inside her she just knew Cinderheart wasn’t the kind of uncouth brute that would deserve that treatment. “I just...” she said, turning to a softer voice. “I don’t know how much of what I suspect is true, but it was my brother being his usual self wasn’t it?”

Cinderheart sank her claws further into her nest. “Quit trying. You’re not gonna get anything that Crowfeather won’t already be reporting to the leader and the Matriarch.”

“Cinderheart,” Hollyleaf said with a sigh. “If you don’t want to tell me you don’t need to but... I want to know what even made you so upset.”

“I just feel so used,” Cinderheart got out almost choking on the words. “I knew it wasn’t going to be forever. I knew Jaypaw and I were playing at being mates more than anything. But I thought he at least did love me. Why? Why?! He’s leaving for RiverClan tomorrow, he didn’t even really have a punishment to avoid.”

Never once before had Hollyleaf tasted such bitterness in being vindicated. She’d have to yell at her brother at some other time but for now her task was to comfort her friend. “What did he do?” Hollyleaf pressed.

“The moment Crowfeather saw us he put all the blame on me,” Cinderheart said. “And he had the utter audacity to try and claim that I being a warrior and him and apprentice made me the one who should’ve known better. As if he hadn’t been knowing since three moons old who his mate was going to be.”

“Oh Cinderheart that’s...” A part of Hollyleaf wanted to tell her exactly why she should’ve seen that coming from that brat. But it was a moment for comfort, so she settled besides Cinderheart and wrapped her tail around her. With rhytmic thoughts she began to lick at her cheek. “I’m really sorry my brother did this to you. It must have made you very happy for you to take that risk.”

“He made me feel so special,” Cinderheart said. “I wanted to believe that when push came to shove he would accept the risk that came with it.”

Your first mistake was thinking that Jaypaw had the least amount of honor, she thought but bit her tongue.

“I hope I’ll make you feel that special myself one day...” Hollyleaf murmured, almost inaudibly.

[planets-and-prose]

NaNo 10K Excerpt

So I hear y'all want everything to be okay, have the very lightly edited last little bit that I slammed out last night!

Their last class behind them, Briar tossed their bag down in Dr. Adams’ office and slumped in one of the chairs. At least Dr. Adams was one of the professors that cared enough to have somewhat comfortable seating. Dr. Adams looked up, just a bit curious. Her right arm was in a sling, since the shoulder wound she sustained had apparently severed some tendons.

“Rough day?” she asked. Briar made a face.

“I am going to lose it if I don’t get my color vision back soon,” they grumbled.

“I mean at least you didn’t get the danged hospital bill that you didn’t wanna get,” Dr. Adams huffed. “The healthcare system in this country’s gonna give me an ulcer and then charge me way too damn much to treat it.” Briar smirked—Dr. Adams arguing with a nurse about how she didn’t need to go to the ER for severed muscle and tendons, using the words “it’ll just work itself out,” was still a funny image, and that nurse seemed so vindicated when Briar sided with him and made Dr. Adams head to the hospital.

“At least you’re still gonna have a working arm and everything. And you don’t have to deal with dog time.” Briar rummaged in their bag for their notebook and handed it over to Dr. Adams. “How do these data look, by the way? I feel like I’m missing something, but it’s not coming.” Dr. Adams took the notebook, and started looking through it.

“If ya ever need a babysitter—you know, during your time of the month,” Dr. Adams teased, “I’m sure ya got my number already. I’m sure I can make sure ya don’t tear too much up.”

“I told you, I have it handled,” Briar sighed, watching Dr. Adams look over the work. “You just wanna see me be a puppy now.” All Dr. Adams did was smile, still looking things over. “But seriously…thank you for everything. I…didn’t know how bad I needed to talk to someone about this. Until, well, I did.”

“Don’t mention it. I wasn’t lovin’ the whole “hunting alone” thing either, so I’m not too opposed to havin’ a right hand…person. Also, I know it ain’t what you’re lookin’ for exactly, but these PH readings can’t be right for your soil. Some of ‘em look fine, some of ‘em would kill the plants.”

“Did I mess up the reading again!? I swear to god, if they don’t come up with better PH testing systems for people that literally can’t see color—“ Taking a deep breath, Briar looked over the numbers, and let their face fall into their hands. “I’m waiting to try this again till I get my color vision back. Or I will go insane.” All Dr. Adams could do was put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Aw, hon, maybe we’ll have to find something else for you to do after the full moon. Cuz I think you might lose your marbles if I keep makin’ you interpret colors.”

“In fairness,” Briar sighed, “you didn’t make me do this one. It’s for my project. But I guess. Ugh. I hate that these things are different…”

“But I’d bet there’s some’a you that ain’t mad at it.”

Briar raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“You took to fighting as a wolf pretty easy. I think you finally let your instincts take over instead’a overthinking. And learnin’ to do that’s half the battle of bein’ someone that can manage the twists and turns life throws at you.”

You finally let your instincts take over. Briar took a breath and thought about it. The minute they just let themselves be, without overthinking or stressing, things fell into place. But that caused a pretty big issue…

“I don’t think I can do it again…” they murmured. But Dr. Adams didn’t seem concerned.

“Has anyone ever gotten anything down without practice?” she asked. “It’ll come, just have faith. We’ve got plenty’a time figurin’ out the crazy in this town to get you feelin’ better about just…being. And now that you finally let me know more about you than your alma mater and your research interests, you got me at your side every step of the way.”

When they heard that, Briar couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Dr. Adams. Again.”

“Don’t thank me yet, this means you gotta listen to me make all the werewolf jokes you can stand,” she teased. Briar tried to scowl and make a face at her in retaliation.

But this time, somehow, Briar couldn’t manage to keep the corners of their lips from twitching up in a smile.

Tagging @k-v-briarwood , @the-grim-and-sanguine, please let me know if you wanna be added!!

[fanficapologist]

Hi Blue! I read this earlier this morning but couldn’t type out a proper reply as I was at work :(( But anyway, things are now moving in Aemond’s POV! I was about to protest when he said he secured a marriage pact with the Baratheon girls then I remembered, “oh yeah, that didn’t go through”.

I liked that you included his conflicting emotions when Lucerys died. I think it’s natural for him to feel both satisfaction and dare I say slight vindication and guilt - the former because, really, Luke just got away with slashing his eye and while I don’t think taking out his eye is appropriate, I don’t think he was made to actually ruminate on his actions. Hence the smirking at the pig, just no accountability and doesn’t even feel the slightest guilt. But then again, for him to meet his end at Vhagar’s hands when he was actively retreating, not to mention Aemond’s obvious advantage in terms of his physicality and dragon, well it’s a bit cruel.

That said, I see it as human nature and it’s not always easy to paint it black or white. Which is what I love about people in general.

So we finally got to see him arrive at Harrenhal. I’m reading while cross-checking his explanation to Maera to see if he filtered anything during his time with Alys. And so far, his story checks out. So far. I mean, he was right when he said her head was on the chopping block but she mentioned “the Lady Maera” I also like to think that Aemond’s longing was so great that even if he wasn’t actively thinking about Maera, Alys was able to sense it, thus use it to her advantage. It also struck me as, Aemond misses Maera but refuses to reconnect, and so instead of talking with her even through letters, he does the less confrontational thing and keeps tabs on her. I mean, I would have done the same too, to be honest. I’m not one for confrontation 😬

So far, all I’m getting is Aemond’s not in hot water, yet. I suppose we’ll find out how Alys got him to lie with her. I also want to know how Aemond felt during that time, like did he think it was a necessary evil? Or is he the type to think “might as well enjoy it” because I remember Aegon taunting Aemond at the Council when he said he thought Aemond might have missed going back to Harrenhal. This implies that his uh, one-time affair with Alys was of so significant news that Aegon was under the impression Aemond took her as a mistress. We’ll see hahaha

Oh, question! Will the next chapter be Aemond’s POV? Or Maera’s?

Hope you enjoy the rest of the week!! ☺️

Hello doll! 🖤

Tell me about it 🤣 I’m having to go back and remember shit that I wrote months ago!

Yeah I wanted to mention about Lucerys. The way Ewan Mitchell portrayed his reaction was just *chefs kiss* as I know in post they were not sure to go with a remorseful shocked Aemond or a ruthless book!Aemond. Either way, Ewan nailed both! And I’ve said in a previous anon answer, that’s what a love about this series, it’s not as simple as good and evil, they’re all very complicated characters.

Alys be a shifty bitch 😏 and Aemond was so stubborn he didn’t even write to Maera 🤣 he was just like “yeah fuck you, I hate you now, you’re dead to me” but was still eager to hear updates from Helaena like boy what???? That is not hate, my guy!

So it’s about two more chapters till we see Alys and Aemond lying together and it’ll be…interesting to say the least 👀

In terms of chapter upload, it’s whatever one I finish first because I’m writing both at the same time (madness I know, but I’m currently hyperfixating so I’m rolling with it 🤣)

Thank you for your support as always 🖤

[evansbby]

like when I lived in Pakistan I had NO CLUE the west hated us so much and thought we were some backwards people when really we’re not at all!//

Bestie we’re living the same life because I thought this as well!!! Like I moved to the UK from Morocco when I was around 8 or 9 and I never realized how much the west actually hated us. It only really dawned on me when my mum picked me up once from school and other parents were looking at her weird and LITERALLY pulling their kids to the side as if she had some disease. It broke my heart because she’s the nicest woman ever and to see people just blatantly have so much hatred for her because she’s wearing the hijab makes me so sad.

When I still used to live in Morocco, I’d see tourists from the west sometimes, and I remember one woman who asked me for directions and she was so nice to me that I immediately thought that everyone must be this nice from the west….I was HORRIBLY wrong💀 I was more surprised that she could speak Amazigh so well instead of if she was wearing a hijab or not, because that’s literally the first thing western people see, a piece of cloth wrapped around my head.

Also about that magazine cover??? Wtf😭 How did they not think that shit was, I don’t know, maybe VERY islamphobic??? (also how did your teacher react to your essay? I know my friend also did something similar and she had to redo it because ‘University isn’t the place to discuss these matters’💀 the teacher is very ignorant and racist so it didn’t really surprise me tbh)

I can go on and on about how the west RUINED peoples views of muslims, because it actually makes me so mad and so sad that this is the world live in rn😕

That’s so awful and I feel so bad for you bc it’s genuinely such a shitty thing to go through 😭😭😭 For me it wasn’t as bad of an experience, bc as I said before I don’t wear hijab, so most people don’t even think I’m Muslim (and this is a different topic but I found that so strange, bc where I grew up in Pakistan, most everyone was Muslim and not many people wore hijab? But when I moved to the UK I saw many more hijabis than I ever did in Pakistan).

Anyways, bc I didn’t cover my hair, they’d treat me fine, but then I’d hear the way they spoke about Muslims and I’d be so disgusted… like they have this inner hatred and you get this helpless feeling as if you can’t do anything to change that bc it feels like it’s in their DNA to hate us 😭😭 it fucking sucks! It especially hurts when they pick out random crimes committed by random men who happen to be Muslim and they’re like “see!!! This is the so called religion of peace!1!1” bestie I HATE when they do that! They lump as all in as one and it’s like nothing we say or do can change that even thought all we’re doing is existing!!! (I say “we” but please understand that I know the plight is worse for hijabis and they are treated worse!)

My professor was actually a middle aged white man and he loved the essay bestie 😭😭😭 he gave me a first (A*) and I got very good feedback and it’s an essay I was very proud of bc I felt vindicated that this white man understood what I was saying 😭😭😭🤧🤧🤧

Also when I moved to the UK, the kids in my class thought Pakistan was a barren desert 💀💀💀 they literally don’t see anything outside of themselves bestie they don’t know shit 🤧🤧

[anders-hawke]

Okay, I want to hear your thoughts j never again, why you hate it, why your love it. Your gifset has me intrigued 👀

Oh, God, what’s not to love? What’s not to hate? It’s cerebral in a way no other episode of the show has been before. It awkwardly charms my pants off, even though there’s an itch at the back of my head that says something’s wrong. I only hated it when I first watched it two years ago. Then I saw what everyone loved about it and loved it, too, although I still had sore spots. (The absolute garbage that is the tattoo scene and back at Ed’s apartment will be separate paragraphs cuz yowza.) Now I love and hate it in equal measure.

I love the idea of it, the actors’ performances, the imagery. Gillian never falters and neither does David. But they can’t carry the entirety of an episode. (They nearly do, though. Somehow.) It’s painfully obvious to me that there were people along the way that didn’t view “Never Again” as a real episode—it shows in the cracks. (The music is also bad and doesn’t quite hit right but I just chalk that up to usual outdated music trends making my ears bleed.)

I feel like I’m one of the shows biggest fans (duh, we all are on here) but also one of its harshest critics. Anyways, the tattoo scene literally has some of the worst camera angles I’ve ever seen. It’s one of the main reasons why I applied to colleges’ directing majors. I would change all of the angles and the shots. I couldn’t help but re-imagine it and before I’d even realized what I was doing, I’d redone the scene in my head in great detail. What we actually got is not just bad but atrocious to me. An injustice done both to Scully and to Gillian. None of the episodes that came before had this issue of bad angles.

I understand trying out angles but for them to be in the final product? That was deliberate—from multiple people. (Probably all men but that’s a different conversation.) And then at Ed’s apartment. I get that it’s supposed to be like he’s consuming her, she’s letting him overtake her and overpower her and isn’t fighting back—snake eating its own tale. But there was something missing from the very first time I watched it. I thought it was just me being weird until we got to see one of the pre-censored drafts where it was way clearer that Scully and Ed fucked—on the floor, no less (IIRC). I was like that Captain Holt meme—VINDICATION! I wasn’t just seeing things. It’s like a special film/TV sixth sense.

It’s an important episode. I don’t hate its existence. But even moreso now that I’m studying film, I see so much of the bad. I see just how much it could’ve been better. It could’ve been so much better, like, you guys don’t even know. If I could remake a single TV episode it would be this one. It has the foundation, but it got so convoluted with trying to make sure Ed’s hallucinations fit into the X-File box that it feels like things got dropped. Why are these doors closing on their own? Why is having a hallucinatory disorder, which onset because of immense stress, an X-File. (Good old ableism. But that’s also a different conversation.)

It just makes me angry, and then sad, and then determined. It accomplishes its goals, brings up what it intended to and follows through with the themes and the messages, but it just... It could’ve been done even better. And it’s only not its best because of misogyny. (Because of course.)

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Met Opera 2023-24 Season Announcement: Full Reactions

alright y’all. it’s finally out and here are my reactions:

so i already knew that there wouldn’t be that many operas this season (thank you whoever on reddit figured that out yesterday), but it’s still kinda disappointing to see only 18 operas and only 9 hds, even though that’s still a 50% rate. so:

ALDEN BALLO IS BACK IN THE HOUSE FUCK YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH BOY

castronovo as gustavo YES PLEASE. rest of the cast looks good too, sorry this isn’t an hd (but really could it ever replicate the magic of the 2012 hd?)

oh hi quinn kelsey role debut as anckarström

no strong feelings about bohème except that i was relieved to see that my prediction it would be hd’d this season was incorrect. we have enough bohème at home.

CARMEN NEW PROD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I HATE IT THE LAST PRODUCTION WAS GOLD. also like if you’re gonna do a production about human trafficking you have to be VERY careful.

also: JOYCE IS NOT CARMEN????????? huh. okay. not super familiar with the mezzo who IS carmen in the first run so this’ll be exciting. beczala/blue/ketelsen makes for a killer cast tho.

i still think that having dead man walking as the opening night gala is SO fucking funny. like it is not an opera that screams “gala occasion”. (disclaimer: have never seen it). can’t wait to see the opera and that AMAZEBALLS cast.

FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES IS BACK!!!!!!!! i hope it becomes part of the regular rep

I CANNOT WAIT TO DISCOVER FLORENCIA AND THAT CAST LOOKS FIRE AND PROPS TO THE MET FOR DOING A SPANISH LANGUAGE OPERA. that is all. @leporellian you will at last be vindicated.

the hours reunion tour reminds me i need to find the pirate video lol

FORZA FORZA FORZA!!!!!! with LISE DAVIDSEN!!!!! and some other cool people too. can’t wait to see this production

also congrats on getting a solo recital lise <3

could not care less about madama butterfly except to say congrats to jonathan tetelman (my beloved) for getting TWO MET HDS in his debut season!!! but why is butterfly getting HDd with a white soprano AGAIN????????? (also HI ASMIK GRIGORIAN MET DEBUT!!!)

don’t care about the holiday magic flute either but why is villazon papageno AGAIN???

okay that nabucco cast looks pretty dope so i don’t mind this one getting hd’d again (we get an ACTUAL baritone this time)

el niño looks intriguing!!! and JULIA BULLOCK MET DEBUT FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!! but y no hd met :/

orfeo ed euridice!!!!!!!! FUCK YES!!!!!! i love this show and here’s a great cast!!!!! (no hd tho) mixed feelings re: countertenor orfeo because on the one hand: mezzo orfeo adds gayness. on the other hand: anthony roth costanzo.

BERNHEIM/SIERRA ROMÉO AND IT IS AN HD!!!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!! also supporting cast looks sweet (WILL LIVERMAN AS MERCUTIO!!!!!!!)

BLUE/TETELMAN RONDINE AND IT IS AN HD!!!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it is THAT ICONIC PRODUCTION!!!!!!!!!!!!! @rayatii @smile-at-the-stars

i thought it would be lise davidsen as elisabeth in tannhäuser but elza van den heever is NOT a downgrade!!!!!! rest of the cast looks cool too (thank god no groissböck)

turandot. again. and the wiki wasn’t even right about sondra. i don’t care. at least no hd for this show.

THE MALCOLM X OPERA IS COMING AND I AM SO EXCITED I CANNOT WAIT TO DISCOVER IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hds are dead man walking (october 21), malcolm x (november 18), florencia en el amazonas (december 9), nabucco (january 6), carmen (january 27), la forza del destino (march 9), roméo et juliette (march 23), la rondine (april 20), and madama butterfly (may 11)

all in all i have to say: for the most part, despite being a smaller-scale and shorter season,

IT IS PRETTY FUCKIN COOL AND I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

SO. SEVERAL POINTS TO MAKE. So many severals that I’m gonna make this a read more.

S Rank for Majima Everywhere, was gonna go to the ‘final showdown’ (which can’t actually be final cause I KNOW I can get to Triple S Rank, right? but whatever) but we’re not ready for it to end, so me and bestie were like “okay we’ll save it for later, for now let’s do more plot” because we have no side missions to find.

Yall won’t fuckin believe this. By doing more plot, we managed to get to the bit where Majima himself texts us to warn us about some guys who are after us (look, this makes me emotional okay? Nishida didn’t email or call, no, Majima got a fucking phone and personally messaged Kiryu telling him he was worried for him. I just....I need a minute okay). And I immediately go OH NO because then it’s the fuckin bit where he helps us kick ex-Dojima family ass (very beautifully btw) AND IS SHOT INTO THE FUCKING SEA.

AND KIRYU.

DOES.

NOTHING.

I was laughing, I’ll admit, because it’s so funny for Kiryu to see Majima get fucking shot and just be like “he’ll be fine lol”, but I am actually really annoyed by it, and more importantly, so are bestie and bae. (Bear in mind, bae hasn’t really understood why I love Majima but he’s grown fonder of him, probably from doing all the Majima Everywhere stuff in quick succession).

For me, it’s the fact that Kiryu straight up says he doesn't have time, Kazama is a priority rn. Okay, ignoring the fact that I’ve been playing a bug tiddy card game and racing plastic fast cars and hanging out with hostesses instead of the Actual Plot so God knows why he’s got a problem with prioritising anything other than that, it honestly makes me so sad how Majima just...isn’t a priority for Kiryu.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Kiryu, I don’t hate him (bae currently does), but Majima is so clearly fucking obsessed with him and cares about him, and Kiryu just...doesn’t get it?? I’m kinda joking when I call them boyfriends but I’m also not. Mad as he is, Majima cares about Kiryu and everything he’s done has been for his own sake. He’s always got his eye on him, always trying to help him get his strength and skill back, trying to hang out and play games with him for God’s sake, and Kiryu gives him nothing. 

I think to him, Majima is....a fact. He’s the Mad Dog of Shimano, he’s everywhere, no matter what he’ll be there to barge his way into a fight or a game or whatever Kiryu’s up to. He doesn’t have to worry about him, the man’s unstoppable and unhinged, no matter what, he will be fine. But, even if that were true....I feel like he should still care. What would Kiryu do if one day, Majima wasn’t there? If the guy he rolls his eyes at and considers a nuisance, but a consistent nuisance, suddenly wasn’t there? Was truly out of commission, truly hurt? What then? Would he care? What would it take for Kiryu to see that Majima is mortal, that he’s human?

He keeps giving us glimpses behind the mask, let’s it slip for just a moment here and there, and Kiryu just goes ‘damn Majima-san is so weird, you never know what he’s thinking’ WELL MAYBE IF YOU TRIED TO LEARN TO READ HIM KIRYU YOU’D KNOW!!!!

Again, I knew this happens, but bae and bestie didn’t, and they’re genuinely really upset at Kiryu for it. They even assumed he drove the truck into Shangri-La because he was pissed at Kiryu but to their surprise, no!!! He doesn’t even bring it up!!! He just wants to fight Kiryu cause that’s what he’s into, and he calls him amazing before passing out. They’re mad at Kiryu on Majima’s behalf which I find very funny but I’m also vindicated because yes, they too are starting to see Majima as Boyfriend Material.

I will reiterate, I DO NOT HATE KIRYU. I just really really love Majima and I’m sad he doesn’t get shown even a fraction of that love by anyone in this game. Poor baby :(

[kukuandkookie]

I don’t know how but in a tired/sleepy, nostalgia-induced haze, I ended up watching “Beijing Welcomes You” (《北京欢迎你》)—the 2008 Olympics song which is, you know, very catchy. It also just makes me happy and warm and fuzzy inside. But the thing is, I ended up on a version from years ago that happened to have English subs, and I scrolled down to see some comments like “Oh, this is such a good message, but I’m so sad about how things turned out now :( ”

Naturally, that made me go 🤨 because “are you saying you miss when the US hadn’t ruined its relationship with China, or…?”

And yeah. The answer was not that lmao.

People were responding with stuff such as “Yeah! It’s so sad how China’s become so aggressive and authoritarian now” or “I do still want to visit China, but the CCP is just too aggressive” or “it’s a pity what China’s become” etc.

And it’s just like. Hello??? China didn’t just one day turn around and decide, “Hey, fuck the world, I want to threaten everyone and cut all ties and never again welcome newcomers into the country.”

I mean, sure, the nation is a lot more disillusioned with foreigners, but again, it’s not as if that shit happened without a reason. China isn’t unfriendly. Anybody who goes would tell you that Chinese people are very open to community and making friends, and back in the day, they did really love when foreigners would come visit.

It’s just too fucking bad the west had to ruin that!!!

Basically, I’m too tired to articulate this properly or intelligently (forgive me, I have been doing difficult and lengthy readings for my classes all week and I am so sleep-deprived), but it really is exhausting seeing people label China as “being bad without reason.” They always treat the country like it’s just naturally or inherently or essentially evil in some way. And sure, these commenters suggested instead that China has become evil, but it’s still the same message: they’re acting as if China became this way for no reason.

But that’s seriously not it!! I mean, if you provoke a nation enough, it’s going to fucking retaliate!!!

The US really took one look at China’s growth and said, “That’s a threat” and then immediately set out to discredit China in every way. As someone who got more interested in my Chinese roots because of the sinophobia surrounding me, I’m not fucking surprised China retaliated!!!

I feel like I’m sitting here gesturing wildly at the sign of “Let China Sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world”—because clearly, Napoleon fucking warned everyone all those years ago, and yet the world (and the US especially) went, “Fuck it! Let’s poke the sleeping tiger!”

And again, China’s not even that aggressive right now. Like yes, there’s a degree of nationalism and patriotism fuelling the government’s moves now as they work to secure and maintain their rising power and potential as a superpower, but many nations try to do that (and some were even worse about it, like the US and Britain and Japan and Germany and France and the USSR etc, because idk countries that get strong enough just seem to have a habit of trying to get a little too colonialist. So at least China isn’t too much to that degree).

Like if it wasn’t for the global pandemic, China would still be fairly open to foreigners. Perhaps still less, as again, Chinese people have grown increasingly disillusioned and/or desensitized to the presence of foreigners, but that doesn’t mean the country would shut itself off and/or attack all the visiting foreigners (again, if it wasn’t for the pandemic and all the extra ensuing hate following that).

So there’s perhaps a sense of vindication I get, knowing that the China of 2008 that these westerners are so busy lamenting no longer exists. I mean, I remember 2000s China. It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t necessarily all that great either. Pollution was still a major issue, as was cleanliness, and I did notice some “uncivilized” behaviour from citizens some of the times I went back. There was always this sense of distance and even disdain I kept, separating myself from the nation despite me being of Chinese descent myself.

But it’s hard not to, when you’re surrounded by reminders that China makes rip-offs and is dirty etc etc. And truly, back then, foreigners were a much bigger rarity, and Chinese people would flock to them with curiosity and excitement. I used to get satisfaction getting special attention on the communal playgrounds just for speaking English with my brother, basking in any of the praise and awe I received from parents and children alike.

So there was this…admiration of the westerners, you know? These trendy, powerful, wealthy, intelligent, pale people that looked so different from the Chinese, who were curious enough about our culture that they bestowed the nation with their presence.

It’s just too bad that there were—and still are—so many foreigners that never actually had any real respect for China as a nation.

Idk. I guess I’m just salty that even before China was being painted as a monstrous creature or one of the worst James Bond villains to ever James Bond villain, China was still viewed negatively. Back then, the country was something poor and dirty, with what just so happened to be brainwashed citizens who were also poor and dirty and uncivilized—but back then, that was more okay, because at least China was weak. It was something to be pitied, not something to be hated and feared.

It’s why my salt piles up even more knowing that these YouTube commenters are going, “God, I miss the old China,” because the old China they speak of (~2008) would be the China that would happily welcome—as the song says—yet also deeply admire them. And it is a little bit like…these kinds of people probably don’t deserve to be admired, you know? At least, not that much.

Sure, it’s always nice when someone takes interest in your country and your culture, but not everyone who does is necessarily viewing you as an equal.

I know I can’t fully say these guys are sinophobes—perhaps they’re just misinformed—but it’s still frustrating. Like I can’t help but be reminded of shitty assholes that took advantage of China’s “we welcome you” attitude such as Laowhy86 and SerpentZA (I think that’s how you spell their fucking usernames. I hate those fuckers so much I’m not going to bother to double-check because seriously, fuck them. The less space they take up in my brain, the better). Because it’s people like that that give me some schadenfreude that people have to contend with a China who won’t just solely and unconditionally welcome you.

I mean, even my younger brother’s growing disdain for white men who expect Chinese women to be submissive and devoted and worshipful of them (and with his disdain of Chinese women who actually do fit these expectations) demonstrates how there are frustrations with the way the west treats China versus how China treats the west.

And again, China really isn’t even that hostile!! If you want to go, you can still go and people will happily welcome you, but just know that you’re a lot less likely to get special treatment. And sure, that sucks, but I’m glad, in some ways. I’m glad that China is really growing back into its own—even though of course there are flaws, as there are with every country. After all, China really did get torn down during the 20th century and had to really build itself back up.

Hell, even China itself has been getting more and more in touch with its roots. You can see it with the hanfu movement but also with the viral Douyin videos where different shaoshu minzu (people in any 1 of the 56 recognized ethnicities within China) dress up in their traditional clothes. We’re not all just wearing qipao/changshan-inspired clothes anymore—and don’t get me wrong, qipao and changshan are great too! It’s just that such clothes became such a commercial and stereotyped sign of China that it’s refreshing getting more diversity in the portrayals of traditional Chinese culture. And I mean yes, the “Beijing Welcomes You” song definitely does also demonstrate Chinese culture, but you know. Chinese people embrace their heritage(s) now more than ever, and it’s nice.

It’s kind of like…if the rest of the world won’t appreciate them, Chinese people will appreciate themselves. 😆

Anyway, to get back to my initial point: as long as you’re not an ass and you show some interest in the country’s culture and everything, Chinese people are more than happy to “welcome you” the way the “Beijing Welcomes You” song claims.

As for the rest of the west, for the ones that keep treating China like shit and then get all surprised when China throws their shit back at them? Well, they can get a proper, warm, open Beijing welcome when they learn to fucking play nice.