#she was willing to die for and with him

[seamayweed]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON — 1.09 // 2.08

[darlingod]

Cardan was so real for giving up on life for a moment after confessing his feelings to Jude in tcp. He was like yeah, actually, maybe you should shoot me. Knife? Okay, whichever method you prefer. I respect your decision.

[b-rainlet]

The Green family dynamics are so interesting because like, Viserys is the father but due to his decay he seems more like the grandfather, whereas Otto is the Grandsire but seems to fill out the role of a father more, not only to his daughter but also her children, so he and his daughter are a mother/father unit but in some situations Alicent is treated like a sibling to her children (by Otto) and then you have the obvious Helaena/Aegon happening (siblings who are also husband/wife and mother/father to their children), but at the same time it seems like Aemond is the one trying to be the family's protector and attempting to step up as patriarch, with some of the scenes between him and Alicent giving off the vibes of equals rather than Mother and Son (like when they discuss Aemond finding Aegon) and his relationship with Aegon seeming like he's the big brother and not the other way around, in this essay I will-

[anghraine]

It's kind of fascinating to me that towards the end of P&P, Elizabeth has become protective of Darcy and either a) actively tries to insulate him from Situations or b) wishes that she could and gets stressed that she can't.

Darcy deeply loves her and is very ready to do whatever he can to secure her happiness, but narratively, I think the emphasis at the end is very much more on Elizabeth's protectiveness towards him.

It's like:

When Bingley and Darcy first come back to Hertfordshire, Darcy is very quiet and Elizabeth can barely bring herself to say anything—until Mrs Bennet insults Darcy. Then Elizabeth speaks up.

Mrs Bennet enlists Elizabeth to separate Darcy from Bingley with another insult to Darcy. Elizabeth finds this both convenient and enraging.

That day, Elizabeth decides to privately tell Mrs Bennet about her engagement to Darcy, specifically so that Darcy will be spared Mrs Bennet's first unfiltered response.

Elizabeth fiercely defends Darcy's character and love for her, as well as hers for him, to Mr Bennet. She not only says she loves Darcy but that it upsets her to hear Mr Bennet's criticisms of him.

Elizabeth is both relieved by Mrs Bennet's ecstatic reception of the engagement and a bit disappointed by how completely shallow she's being about it, and 100% sure she made the right call in keeping Darcy away.

Elizabeth defends Darcy against Darcy himself, repeatedly.

There's a period where Elizabeth seems to unwind and laugh, but this passes, especially after Charlotte and Mr Collins show up. Darcy manages to stay calm around Mr Collins (I think this is framed as a significant and admirable achievement for him), but Elizabeth does not like him being in a situation where he has to deal with Mr Collins in the first place.

Elizabeth tries to shield Darcy from being noticed by Mrs Phillips and Mrs Bennet, who do seem to make him pretty excruciatingly uncomfortable.

Ultimately, Elizabeth ends up trying to keep Darcy to herself or to shepherd him around to relatives he can handle more easily, and is so stressed at this point that she just wants to get married and escape to Pemberley.

After their marriage, things are actually great at Pemberley and in their married life, despite the occasional complication.

Lydia writes a congratulatory letter to Elizabeth, asking for Darcy to get Wickham a promotion unless Elizabeth would rather not bring it up with him. Elizabeth really does not want Darcy to have to deal with this and handles it by privately setting aside a Lydia fund out of her personal expenses. (IIRC, it's not clear if Darcy even knows about this.)

Elizabeth also is the driving force behind Darcy's reconciliation with Lady Catherine.

This could read as an unsettling, unbalanced dynamic and a very odd ending point for the arc of a woman like Elizabeth, but in the context of the overall novel, it doesn't feel that way. Or maybe I'd see it more that way if I interpreted Darcy (and for that matter, Elizabeth) + their arcs differently? But as it is, I do think that by this point in the story they are genuinely doing the best they can, independently and for each other, and they've both come a long way. They shine in different contexts and support each other as much as they can in the circumstances that do arise.

It seems very them, in terms of their temperament and abilities, that Elizabeth would put all this effort into shielding Darcy, while at the same time, Darcy completely cuts off Lady Catherine for insulting Elizabeth and only ever speaks to her again because Elizabeth wants him to.

[essektheylyss]

Honestly, it is so funny remembering that Annabeth Chase's literal, stated, canonical fatal flaw is hubris.

Rick Riordan was like, "This clever, neurodivergent preteen girl believes that she is smarter than the gods, and she will get the chance to prove herself right," and he was correct. 😌

[theoakleafpancake]

I would like to say that I will NOT be taking any Eurylochus slander

[winepresswrath]

Armand's simpering little "and I never have" has taken on new dimensions for me. Technicality king and also I think very in keeping with his whole malign fairy creature deal. You can tell him not to hurt the bae, but you should really specify what "hurt" entails. Is chopping someone's hands off really hurting them? If they have annoyed you very much I mean.

-questions Armand might pose to Lestat that inspire him to leave the country

[snowwhitedraws]

Maybe I should make ficlets atp lmao oshamir brainrot go brrt brrt

I had this specific part in my head where Osha is getting better at her training at a lightning speed but at the same time her grief, her anger, her sadness, her helplessness, her diminishing hope is consuming her and Qimir can see she's slowly breaking and he does let her breakdown.

He lets her mourn. He lets her cry. He lets her be angry.

but there is one thing the Qimir won't let Osha do,

He won't let her blame herself. He won't let her feel that everything was her fault. He won't let her feel alone.

He will never let her think she is unwanted.

Qimir would let his desire be known. He would let himself be vulnerable yet at the same time, his vulnerability is frightening Osha

It means so much more. IT PROMISES SOMETHING MORE.

this is more than the power of two, more than being his pupil, more than being an acolyte.

He would rather cut himself open, than to let her bleed.

He is letting Osha know what he really wants and laying it bare for her to take it whenever she's ready.

You are a witch, Osha. My little witch.

You are also someone who can kill a jedi master without a weapon. My acolyte .

but you are also my beloved darling, the one that I have been waiting for.

Verosha Aniseya, I am yours.

I will forever be yours if you decide to be mine.

[lucreziagiovane]

"One thing that I've always said about Juan is that every action that he does is heartfelt and genuine. When it was the war against the French, he was there and he was going to go to war, even though he knew he was going to die. He saw them getting ripped apart, but he was there and he was going to do it. I believe if Lucrezia hadn't come over, he would have led all his troops into death. I don't think there's anything that he's done which was through general cowardice. In terms of his survival, he died how he lived, and that's laudable, in itself." — David Oakes.

[augustjustice]

I am gripped by the idea of Kas!Steve.

But specifically...broken Steve, who’s been tortured and tormented and mind-controlled by Vecna, until he’s been sharpened into a weapon, his old King Steve persona pulled on like reshaped armor but now so much worse than Steve himself had ever been.

Kas!Steve who’s cocky and smug, who spews every cruel thought the gang has ever worried he’s had about them, clawing at each one of their insecurities with piercing accuracy. Because he knows them, from years of being friend and confidante. Their beating hearts, their strengths and weaknesses. So he taunts Robin by spilling every precious secret they’ve shared. Mocks Dustin and all the kids for being pathetic and snot-nosed, following in his footsteps like lost puppies. Needles Eddie about how obvious his crush on him is. Tells Nancy it really is their fault, what happened to Barbara all those years ago.

And it’s all so pointed, feels so specific, so...real, the group can’t help the worry that gnaws at each of them (just like Vecna would want), that this is what Steve really thinks.

Even more so when some of his barbs draw attention to the ways they’ve treated him. When Steve laughs at the thought of them overpowering him when for years they’ve been relying on him to be the tank, to take all the hard licks. Do they really think they can take him down? Like this? It’s as comical as it is pathetic, this new, dark Steve, the betrayer, the bloody, tells them, and Dustin sees the way that Nancy flinches, catches Robin’s pained eyes, guilt gripping each of their throats.

The question lingers, even hours after Steve has slunk back into the shadows, another battle they barely scraped out of alive behind them.

How will they do this without Steve?

[kuroshika]

oh my god what the fuck.

sorry, can’t let things die. more abigail hobbs posting. (sort of inspired by @bloodaria and their post this morning? it’s referenced at least)

look at these three gifs. i know that the will and abigail one wasn’t actually real, but LOOK AT THE BODY LANGUAGE.

abigail is struggling against garret. she’s fighting for her life. she knew he was going to kill her. she had always known that. from the moment she had started helping her father target girls, from the moment she realized just how similar they were to her, she knew she was going to die. the way garret tries to cut her throat is quick and meant to finish the job quickly. despite being the one to kill her, garret didn’t want her to be in pain. he wanted her to go quickly.

the way will ‘kills’ her is the exact same way. he’s holding abigail the exact same way that garret was, down to pinning the same arm to her body and the way his cut is quick and broad - his arm swings the same way garret’s did, uninhibited by gunshots. will knew he was going to end up killing her and she wanted her to go the same way garret had wanted her to.

but hannibal’s method is completely different. his is slow, precise. methodical. he doesn’t restrain her and she doesn’t fight him off. he digs the blade in and he drags it across her scar - he doesn’t slit her throat, or go for any artery, he reopens the wound. it’s breaking the teacup that has come back together.

it’s slow because it’s a punishment. it’s not a mercy killing, it’s not getting rid of abigail so that the fbi don’t get to her. abigail didn’t think for a second that hannibal would kill her. she trusted him, more than she trusted her own father and more than will thought she trusted him. she handed him the knife to finish the job - the same way she had broken her tea cup when she had that drugged tea with hannibal, she’s breaking the teacup herself. just under hannibal’s influence.

[hauntingofhouses]

mizutaigen is literally like. the first "toxic" m/f ship i've ever cared for. cuz like usually my taste in m/f ships is basically "unhinged baddie" x "badass wifeguy" *

* (see:yen/geralt. trevor/sypha. adolin/shallan. kataang but katara is sane and they're literally so wholesome like theyre traumatised kids in love who are each other's emblem of hope in a war-torn world! so basically they don't count. anyway. i'm rambling.)

and to that end my friend called mizutaigen yaoi-adjacent and im like. yeah you're right actually cuz like hell yeah non-binary mizu and bisexual taigen rights and all the gender fuckery in the show in general

but also like.

theres just SOMETHING else about mizutaigen that just GETS me. like there's a special secret sauce like the pheromones in that one sephora lotion attracting spiders and i am the silly spider!!! there's just something about it!!! it's not even the enemies to lovers trope cuz i personally am not even usually into that (obv it's fine if you are. but yk.)

so as i keep rotating these thoughts around i thiiink it's the fact that, yknow, theyre so similar. like i honestly truly think they could be besties in another universe: a kinder universe where taigen was not taught to hate. a universe where mizu was not born a girl in a deeply misogynistic society or half-white in a xenophobic homogeneous society.

yeah now that i think about it that really just might be THE secret sauce!!! like the fact that they COULD be perfect and happy together, if only things were different, if only they werent themselves.

smth v bittersweet about that's just driving me insane and makes me want to root for them to overcome all those obstacles, to say "fuck all that" (re:the world and all its fucked up shit) and find each other in the end. to eventually become each other's fav person and confidant. who obv still bicker and tease and insult each other all the time but they dont really mean any of it and over time it just becomes a running gag between them and no one else has to get it because it's just between the two of them.

[impossibledial]

i’m so intrigued by dannyclara despite not shipping them. i think that relationship is an interesting addition to clara’s character arc and i’m still trying to to figure out it’s purpose.

[katnissandpeetamellark]

Peeta is one selfless motherfucker. I love him.

[simcardiac-arrested]

no actually I’d like to hear your thoughts on the isat ending

Like i said it felt really tropey and by that i meant that it’s just Everything Good Happens forever and…..that’s it ? like idk we were building up to this huge catharsis sort of thing and then we got to it and it was so sudden and not a good payoff and just kind of nothingburger of an ending . the fact that everyone just forgives siffrin bothers me, or at least the fact that they don’t confront them about the shit they’ve said and done. call me a mental illness villainizer but i think if you’re a fucking asshole and doing the most insensitive things to the people you care about then hey, i think those ppl have a right to fucking tell you off for it. likeeee idk being at your lowest point …… not an excuse …. not feeling it chief ……. like sure the message is to move past your mistakes or whatever but ? that doesn’t mean just getting away with it ??? and i just really don’t understand Why everyone forgives him. honestly at the end of the day the ending is just one problem, the root of which are the characters. everyone feels like trope cardboard cutouts. oh, this is the smart one. this is the smol bean. this is the himbo. and they all care for each other btw. Did u hear that? they all care for each other. we’re not really going to explain to you why these people are so close or what they went through together but just trust me man they’re sooo found famy. like …. okay. i’ve played 30 hours of this game and not once did i buy that any of the characters really cared about each other. like??? why???? You’re telling me everyone super cares about siffrin even though they barely know them?? you’re telling me siffrin cares about everyone sooo much even though he never even bothered to find out their problems before ? Wat ? and this just breaks the ending more because literally whyyy do these people care about him so bad. and then it’s just whyyy does siffrin Have to tell them anything he doesn’t even seem to know them that well. everyone feels like colleagues and Just Friends at best. and so the ending just seems really forced. like it was written by that type of tumblr user who’s always talking about aww why does the found family have to break up after the end of the journey :( which is like fiiiiine. i guess. but u guys know that u have to build up to it right?? you can’t just tell me they’re Family Members(tm) 102829 times and that they super care about each other source: trust. you can’t just do that and then expect me to believe it ….. It feels unearned. the ending feels unearned and i don’ttttt understand what i’m supposed to take away from it . that it’s ok to fuck people up because you’re traumatized and insecure?? that you have to talk about your deepest problems with people you barely know??? i just dont know. Like i said if im being honest the problems with this game’s writing are more than just the ending, it just stands out so much because there’s a lot of build up and then just …… That

[bumblingbabooshka]

Something about this interaction between Harry & Janeway - specifically Janeway but it's notable that Harry's the one listening because I think, say, Chakotay or B'Elanna might push back against the idolization of this 'it was different back in those days' way of thinking.