#rowan's faves

[rowandriftwood]

I just watched Local Hero (1983) again, and I think it might actually be my favorite movie.

A businessman from Texas (Peter Riegert) is reluctantly sent to Scotland by the oil company he works for to buy a small coastal town and turn it into a refinery. Instead of the locals being upset at the prospect, they are all delighted about the money they will make. However, American falls in love with the place, and wishes things didn’t have to change, and he never had to leave.

It’s like a heartwarming Hallmark Christmas movie, except that instead of Christmas it’s Scotland, and instead of the big city guy falling for the small town girl, he simply falls for the small town.

Oh, and a very young Peter Capaldi runs like baby bird and falls in love with a marine biologist who might actually be a mermaid.

It’s the perfect combination of gentle humor, delightful characters, and beautiful scenery that gets me right in the feels every time. Just … magical.

As an added bonus, the music was done by Mark Knopfler, the frontman of Dire Straits, who also did the music for The Princess Bride.

[m0dernv4mpire]

Rowan was 18 when he went to Hartley High...he should have been at the psychiatrist's

[rowan-ashtree]

Obviously we all loved it when Murderbot said "ART" is an anagram for "asshole research transport". ART didn't comment on that because MB was still really mad at it, but I bet it used some of its processing power to generate a billion anagrams for that phrase and then pick the best one in 2.7 seconds.

[partiallypearl]

So, you know nothing when you're a baby, when you're nine, you're just figuring things out, and when you're 12, you get confused forever? That's life?

[ghostlylicious]

rowan gilder with the ghostlylicious hcs. look at my son

[yourfaveisa-nepobaby]

Rowan Astor from The Art of Pleasing Princes is technically a nepo baby (canon)

Rowan Astor from The Art Of Pleasing Princes is a Nepo Baby (Canon)

submitted by anon

[theviridianbunny]

🌶️🌶️🌶️

I just think she’s neat >:)

[eyobis-andthe-bunnycats]

I'm so fucking pissed off I need to vent somewhere. Feel free to skip this post if you're not interested in reading what an angry non-partnering aroace has to say.

***

Backstory: There's this cute little webcomic I've been reading that has confirmed soulmates with a Red String of Fate. You know, stereotypical amatonormative shit but portrayed in a cute semi-fantastical world. I really enjoy the world building of the story and the themes the author is exploring. I'm currently reading a spin off of the comic. So far we have been shown everyone is born with a Red String tied on their pinky and that at the "right time" that string connects to someone else and you're bound to have a very good relationship with that person(s) [I do believe it is mentioned in universe that there's been people whose red string connects to more than one person (yay polyam!)] and if you work through the beginning stages, you and your string partner(s) are guaranteed to have a fulfilling relationship, which is HEAVILY IMPLIED to be romantic.

In recent chapters of this comic, there was a character currently shown to be on his own. In a more recent episode, the guy is said to have been born without a string and is fine on his own. I was fucking ecstatic! I have been wondering how this world would handle aromantic and other identities and here was an established character that didn't match up with the current narrative of the setting. I left a comment on the episode listing possible scenarios as to why this character did not have a string and why he was fine alone.

I theorized that maybe he was aroace. Or he could have been some other a-spec identity that I wasn't familiar with. And then I theorized maybe he was non-partnering, something that very rarely ever is portrayed in any media that I've seen. Everyone is constantly paired up with someone for one reason or another. So seeing a character without someone and is fine on his own and fucking said he's fine, I was overjoyed to learn more about him and how the setting worked in this comic.

The problem: it might be a coincidence but this other commenter keeps replying to my comments about not being partnered with the phrase "soulmates don't have to be romantic, they can be ✨ best friends ✨."

I did not say at any point that soulmates were only romantic and that best friends didn't count. Like I'm not fucking talking about partnerships? I'm talking about NOT having ANY. And the fact this person said this shit to me twice on two different comments is annoying as all get out. I do not know if they know they're talking to the same person (me) or they think they're being an advocate for aromantic people who have a partner or something.

This just struck a nerve with me because as previously mentioned, non partnering people are hardly EVER discussed or shown in stories, and if it is, it's usually along the lines of "oh they're a broken person who needs fixed." I even have to deal with this shit IRL with my bigoted dad and cis heteronormative friends who are starting to try to pair me up with their friends' kids. Someone I'm BARELY acquaintance with just got engaged a month ago and to be married this weekend and our mutual acquaintances are starting to ask me about my partnerships because of that.

As an aroace person who is not interested in partnership, I'm ticked off.

So, you know, seeing a character in a story not partnered and living alone and BEING HAPPY in a world where everyone has at least a someone, made me really happy and I was excited to learn more about this character and this world he's a part of.

I do not give a shit if my theories are wrong, they're just theories. I just want to learn how this setting works. I have hardly seen any media that has soulmates talk about a-spec identities or non partnering people, and especially I've not seen it written with characters who are not cishet.

This series has gay relationships galore and it also has relationship trauma THAT GETS TALKED THROUGH AND RESOLVED. Great things that I am enjoying! I just really enjoy this setting and the world building and I just want to see if the creator will throw me a bone; I've just been getting scraps and I'm a little nippy.

(this is okay to reblog if you want! I'm just screaming here)

[volfoss]

sorry for aqualad posting at like 2 am on a thursday morning BUT he is literally the only character ever. ive read a lot of comics w the young sidekick/inexperienced parental figure superhero dynamic and aquaman and aqualad is by FAR my favorite.

aqualad, at the start, is introduced as a child who is deathly afraid of schools of fish, to the point where aquaman has to step in and offer to help him get over his fear after learning about his past.

[ID: Two comic panels from Adventure Comics #269. The first panel shows Aqualad surrounded by fish and clearly panicked. Aquaman reassures him. The second panel shows Aquaman holding a very frightened Aqualad, who pleads for Aquaman to send the fish away from him. /end ID]

this really sets up their relationship a lot through the next issues, as aquaman is trying his best to deal with parenting but is largely unprepared but aqualad loves him more than anything else in the world. aqualad doesn't really have any other adults in his life, as basically he was sent away from atlantis for his purple eyes, which are seen as a sign of the infant being unable to live underwater. hes been an orphan for five years and despite the fact that he can breathe underwater, the proximity to fish made him much too panicked to continue living in atlantis so he was shipped up to surface.

aquaman is SUPER patient with aqualad as he tries to get over his fear of fish and aqualad gets attached to him super quickly (honestly i feel the complete lack of anyone else who really is a good figure in his life really adds to this). but the big difference here, between a lot of the other stuff ive read that follows this trope, aquaman wants aqualad to go back to atlantis after he conquers his fear of fish. he LOVES the kid but he wants him to be in a place where he can thrive. even as aqualad is heading back to atlantis, aquaman is thinking about how much he misses him and how much he cares about him. aqualad ends up using fish to trick aquaman that he went to atlantis and then returns and is taken under aquamans wing. i think a lot of the first issue really stands out as different to other characters like this, but honestly the biggest thing is just how there is depth there in a specific way. they both kind of help each other out (and while that is present in other versions of this dynamic, it comes off differently here).

however, one of the most interesting bits comes in the issue after, Adventure Comic #270. This is Aqualad's second ever appearance and the issue focuses on Aquaman saving a fortune teller, who predicts that someone who he has recently met will cause him harm and take over his position as king of the ocean.

[ID: A panel from Adventure Comics #270 that depicts Aquaman and Aqualad eating birthday cake underwater. Aquaman brings up that he doesn't have a home for Aqualad to live in, and Aqualad doesn't care, as long as he is with Aquaman. /end ID]

He is in denial that it is Aqualad at first but Aqualad keeps doing kind of fishy (pun intended) behaviors that make him convinced that the boy is out to hurt him. The end of the issue reveals that for Aquaman's birthday, Aqualad has been doing all of this to make them a home. what specifically is interesting about this to me is that neither of them have a home: aquamans mother was banished from atlantis and aqualad doesnt want to go back. and that in contrast to a character like batman, aquaman isnt providing for aqualad, aqualad is providing for them both. not saying this in the way of aqualad is forced into a more responsible role, more that they are moreso equals in the process of their partnership, which is something i find deeply interesting.

another example of this comes from Adventure Comics #278, where Aqualad goes to school for the first time. Aqualad is at first hesitant about school because of how much he wants to help Aquaman, but it is clear Aquaman wants what is best for him and wants him to have a more balanced life. Once he is reassured that he can still help Aquaman, he gets adjusted to school pretty quickly, until about half through, when helping someone, he gets hit over the head with a pipe (not even the first time this has happened). aquaman is SO concerned about him passing the exam to be able to fully participate in the school that he gets fish to help him jog aqualads memories. which imo just really shows the fact that they both really want to do all they can to help each other. and idk it means a lot to me because neither of them really have a ton of people in their lives and just really lean on each other.

[cxdemistake]

@do-these-eyes-look-human continued

Rod wraps her arms around James’ neck, nuzzling his hair.

“Grandma told me she heard your voice through her mind, so I came to find you. I missed you a lot.”

Rowan steps out from behind a tree, carrying a black, lacy umbrella to block the sun. “Hello, James. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”

[coconut530]

I LOVE MUSIC THURSDAYS

[rowandriftwood]

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) is a movie which answers the very important question, “what if Sherlock Holmes was Harry Potter and also Indiana Jones?” It is like the best sort of AU fanfiction. 5/5

[beautifulbookishdisaster]

There's relief knowing I can love and be loved, after years wondering if I was so broken that there was room only for vengeance and loneliness in my heart.

Brynne Weaver, Butcher & Blackbird

[rowan-ashtree]

question: what’s the new pfp you have of? :0

hi anon 🥰👋 it's from my new favorite game: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist!! it's a very pretty game all around, but my pfp is a screenshot of one of the 29 different ending screens :)

[emma-d-klutz]

Rowan and Wednesday would be such a great team. Well, no, they’d be a terrible team, but they’d be great for me. Two obsessive, half-maddened psychic sleuths with intersecting-but-not-the-same goals? 

Wednesday's priority is solving the mysteries themselves, and Rowan’s is to protect the school from prophecies, so all their tension would be from that. Like they are up for sneaking out, breaking and entering, using and hurting others - whatever, no question, but now Wednesday has to keep a short leash on him like, “No murdering our suspects. Do you want the trail to go dry?” and Rowan’s like, “The second this goes south, I am killing you, I am killing everyone involved. Prophecy averted.” 

He does attempt to kill her several times throughout the investigation. Wednesday never takes it personally but it does eventually cause a late-season team break-up, because his indecision on wether to be a help or hinderance is only slowing them down. They have a custody battle over Eugene.

They’d be so insane. There’d be no love between them but there’d be mutual respect. I would have liked to see it. 

[breakfastthecat]