#tbt season 2

[keepin-it-on-the-d-l]

Matt Arnold either has the most BROKEN good luck or the absolute SHITTIEST bad luck there is no in between

[yessikg]

[a9saga]

tbt - seventeen - clap // I cannot believe this was 7 years ago

[niccage]

I miss having hope on our drag race draft because she would always consistently and exclusively pick the first 4/5 out and it was like being in the presence of a real bonafide psychic

[lausticzt-a]

my canon timeline consists of

The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission arc,

MPs trying to retain their hold on Eren and putting Laura as a representative to make sure the Survey Corp don't just run off with Eren should their expedition fail (they fucking right though-) because she's the only one with experience for the expeditions and titans ; and god does she hate that.

During the Female Titan arc., I think she's warmed up to Eren by this point. Because god does he remind her of herself, but also that rage of humanity and fight that she once held; though his more honourable then her previous self.

She wouldn't want him to be executed by then. She'd want to buy them more time to figure something out. They wouldn't tell her details of their plan, of course, because what happens in Stohess was inexcusable. God she'd be so unbelievably pissed and once again, her distain for the survey corps would rise; but she's also in too deep -- those remnants of her old self are back, and it's not so easily distinguished. She has loyalty in her heart for people she actually cares about.

Evacuation and the aftermath of the fight are where her priorities are redirected; because you know she'd want to kill the Titan herself, and its a battle of protecting people and fighting. But she also will support Niles decisions ; she was still an MP.

Clash of the Titans arc

The events in Wall Rose afterwards she's not involved in much ; not on the frontlines. Finding out Eren is kidnapped, she'd want to go -- because o h shit, that's right, she cares about these people now, because oh look she can actually show care for the soldiers younger then her ; she doesn't really care much that he's a titan and his role is important, he's just important as he is, human, with passion in his eyes and heart. ** on the fence whether she goes or stays with nile -

Royal Government arc

She would liaise with the Survey Corps behind MPs backs, because her heart was always with them; or rather, for her its no longer about sides, but doing what she feels is right to her.

She has such an active role when it comes to the nobles in the next arc. and especially the MPs. Because her actions aren't unnoticed. And her father has high connections in the government. First Interior Squad knows what's up. And also, the reveal of the anti-odm gear would be something she would never approve of ; for someone who'd criticise the survey corps, having things meant to take them out would make her protective. Even killing Erwin wasn't okay in her eyes ; and she has a lot to say about that man, and never anything pleasant.

If she tried to conceal Eren's location, or help the survey corps in any way, she'd out herself, and be seen as a traitor alongside them. She knows of Historia, watched over the 104th Training Corps members, the new levi squad, as much as she could. If there's interrogation, it's definitely outside of Nile's knowledge ; but, at least, all the beauty she was known for would take a huge hit. She'd be released when the coup happens, her hair ripped and uneven, and definitely shorter once she tends to it. She loses a few nails of her own ; and isn't especially keen to be touched in the aftermath. Except, if it came to Historia, who she finds herself understanding given her childhood, and the lack of love they both shared ; also, for real though, Laura also looks a lot like frieda which I never noticed until rewatching it - but also, they hold themselves so differently that they also don't look anything alike on that alone. and yes, the younger ones are also fine, she isn't a touchy person but god, knowing they are safe? she ignored the pit in her stomach to hug them.

Return to Shiganshina arc

She's going on that mission to shiganshina and no, you're not stopping her. I need her there for her own reflection on the past she tried to forget, and also because you know who's fucking going on that mission ; marlo, her absolute boy. You can bet the death of all the new, younger recruits, was hard on her; as someone who is now developed to nurture and protect the newer generation (she's only 28 but that means old in the aot universe its hard to survive) ; the cart titan? it had to go, die, she will end you. bastards don't get to do all this and have an escape option. The option over Erwin and Armin? She actually shows restraint and maturity for once in her life, despite yes, having blade in hand, because the choice is only Armin, you're wrong, she also leaves the choice to the others ; and puts trust that it will be the right one.

everyone in the walls are basically united now, so there's no differing factions.

Marley arc

still a w.i.p but she's going to have to beat some sense into this little shit- oh hey cart titan, still eyeing you but we fineee. thank god laura doesn't drink, only on the rarest of occasions like before the return to shiganshina. Niles death would hit her deep. She was always about only protecting the people she cared about, so she understands eren's motivation, but she's also not about killing families and children ; next generation is all they can put hope in to fix the world, that means on both sides - no euthanasia plan (it wouldn't affect her anyway; she lost the chance to have anymore kids during the fall of wall maria). She'll rebuild the outside world ; because at least there's nothing here that can contain her anymore, she can just live freely ; which means healing from everything up until this point, another struggle in its own, but thankfully theirs a lot more people who need a lot more support, so you're stuck with her.

bonus:

The Fall of Shiganshina arc

she's a complete mess and mostly hospitalised for many months ; don't visit her, she has nothing but hate and no will to keep going, and she's finally succumb to her biggest fear; failure. as a mother, as someone strong, as someone who held any hope in their exploration of the outside; of any true freedom to be found. it would always get taken so long as they kept pushing back against titans. Also, a year later, when she's newly appointed to the MPs .

OVA / ACWNR

she's within the timeline of this ova, which is extremely entertaining for me because - underground criminals? in her dorms? suspicious, up to something, she's fucking watching you. Isabel would, unfortunately, grow on her a bit ; but also be the one who continuously gives her grief and vice versa, but out on the field you have to protect your own, background and personality preference aside. it's not stalking ; it's making sure you don't get in the way, or do anything shady. bet you have a knife on you at all times. try it on me, dare you. they good with ODM? ... fuckers. bastards. scoundrels. now she's out training again until her bones break. won't be outclassed, only she can be the strongest.

[sintva]

i’m soooo STRESSED, what in the actual fuck netflix.

[jude5bellingham]

tbt pt.2 ౨ৎ trent alexander-arnold

part one here!

pairing: trent alexander-arnold x f!reader

summary: part two of throwback thursday, reader is lfc's photographer but people start thinking there is something off when she is exclusively posting tbts

notes: hope u guys enjoy :3

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and liverpoolfc

liked by trentarnold66, liverpoolfc and 102,549 others

yourusername my first heartbreak tbh.. #tbt

view all 80,435 comments

trentarnold66 mine too

yourusername wrong actually! your first heartbreak was when i laughed in your face when you asked me out cause i thought you had to have been joking

ibrahimakonate oh wow😂😂

user1 trent getting aired out on a tbt of 2021/2022 ucl finals post of yn's is crazy😭😭

trentarnold66 it was just a misunderstanding 😒 we are literally married now anyways

virgilvandijk no need to open old wounds

yourusername sorry skip im running out of content

mosalah you will have more if you comeback!

yourusername soon mo!!!!

andyrobertson94 comeback to work soon

yourusername hopefully

user2 yn isnt at work???

user3 we miss you yn

user4 real lads' first heartbreaks💔

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and england

liked by trentarnold66, england and 100,878 others

yourusername throwback to when my (now) ex-boyfriend made me pay stupidly expensive tickets to see him #tbt

view all 60,090 comments

trentarnold66 did not

yourusername did too

joegomez5 you two are such children

yourusername 🤫

trentarnold66 stop calling me your exboyfriend

yourusername you literally are mate

andyrobertson94 your exboyfriend sounds terrible

yourusername he didn't even score! why'd i spend all that money!

ibrahimakonate 😂😂😂

szoboszlaidominik what's your exboyfriends @

yourusername oh hell no....

user5 her calling trent (her husband) her ex boyfriend 😭😭😭

user6 they're literally so funny 😭😭😭

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and england

liked by trentarnold66, england and 120,432 others

yourusername shouting out this young lad from liverpool #tbt

view all 80,003 comments

trentarnold66 ...

andyrobertson94 up and coming young scouse lad

curtisjr young lad just trying to make it

judebellingham that is broski 🙏

user7 i wonder how trent felt seeing these pictures ���😭

user8 has anyone else noticed she's only been posting tbts?? i know she does normally but she hasn't uploaded a not tbt in a while..

user9 she might just be going through old content!! she has a habit of uploading extra pics from old tbts later when she feels like she needs to post more!!

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66

liked by trentarnold66, liverpoolfc and 109,883 others

yourusername even with setbacks, just know YNWA ❤️‍🩹 #tbt

view all 65,556 comments

trentarnold66 i miss you at the games

yourusername alright pack it up loverboy

yourusername i miss you at games too... GET BACK ON THE PITCH!

judebellingham mate can never catch a break huh

yourusername nope!

user109 WE also miss you yn

harvelliott we miss you

❤️ liked by yourusername

liverpoolfc yn YOU need to remember that ynwa ❤️❤️

curtisjr ^^ ❤️

mosalah ^^ ❤️

ibrahimakonate ^^ ❤️

virgilvandijk ^^ ❤️

yourusername okay relax guys i'm going to cry and i'm a real ugly crier...

trentarnold66 @yourusername liar

andyrobertson94 trent's just a sap after all

user10 is yn okay? why did lfc comment that?

user11 did yn leave lfc?

user12 why are they all leaving hearts and saying ynwa?? did yn leave??

user13 i hope everything is alright yn ❤️ YNWA❤️

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and england

liked by trentarnold66, england and 100,409 others

yourusername when @england hired me for the season and then i literally just watched him have stronger bonds with men than me but that's ok i guess #tbt

view all 80,867 comments

trentarnold66 i'm not even going to say anything

aaronramsdale you're acting like trent didn't kick me out of the room to spend time with you

yourusername okay don't get dramatic! it wasn't even your bed!

aaronsramsdale 🙁

england 😳

yourusername 😳

judebellingham no photos of trent and i?

yourusername yeah as if i was gonna post my ex-boyfriend's side ting

judebellingham ex-boyfriend 😭

user14 did yn leave lfc for the england nt???

user15 if you left for the england nt, we still love you yn ❤️❤️

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and liverpoolfc

yourusername yes i have heard the news, trust me we are all devastated but YNWA klopp and thank you for the memories, especially the ones in the making ❤️❤️❤️ #tbt

user has restricted comments on this post

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and andyrobertson94

liked by trentarnold, andyrobertson94 and 101,255 others

yourusername no words can describe how i feel about this friendship but maybe this ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 emoji can! #tbt

view all 90,888 comments

andyrobertson94 love you both❤️❤️ can't wait for your return

trentarnold66 ❤️

szoboszlaidominik that should be me 💔

yourusername leave my ex-boyfriend and his husband alone... homewrecker...

user16 we hope you feel better ❤️❤️ we miss you and klopp

user17 klopp hasnt even left yet

user18 tell that to the hole in my heart

yourusername and trentarnold66

liked by trentarnold66, andyrobertson94 and 150,809 others

yourusername hi everyone! i'm so sorry i did not say anything during these last few months... if i'm honest they were very difficult. I was not myself for the last few months so I took a leave of absence from lfc, that i'm so incredibly grateful for, and i tried to post like usual even though i was running out of photos and energy. Trent's injury, Klopp's announcement, and everything else in this world felt incredibly hard to deal with but even in those times I could always turn to this community to put a smile on my face. I'm so happy to let you all know Trent and I have welcomed a beautiful and healthy son to our family. anyways, long story short, always remember that i love you and that ynwa❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

view all 109,004 comments

andyrobertson94 Proud godfather here!❤️❤️

user229 omg😭😭😭

liverpoolfc congratulations yn! we love you & ynwa❤️

virgilvandijk ❤️

curtisjr new young scouse lad about to become a superstar 💫

judebellingham 🤍

aaronramsdale ❤️

jordanhenderson ❤️❤️

szoboszlaidominik ❤️

ibrahimakonate ❤️

user19 we love you yn❤️❤️

user20 im so glad you put yourself first❤️❤️

yourusername

liked by trentarnold66, andyrobertson94 and 109,899 others

yourusername my pretty boy 🤍🤍

view all 30,990 comments

yourusername trent is there too i guess

andyrobertson94 you know you could've asked me to take a picture of the three of you right

yourusername you don't get it andy

andyrobertson94 🙄

virgilvandijk two very stylish lads in the pics

yourusername it's cause i styled them after you skipp😁

curtisjr didnt know your exboyfriend could dress so well

yourusername he can't without my help 😕😕

user21 sobs... this is so cute😭😭

user22 dilf trent

❤️ liked by yourusername

user23 theyre soo cute together 😭😭

yourusername

tagged trentarnold66 and liverpoolfc

liked by trentarnold66, liverpoolfc and 120,389 others

yourusername some day my kids will know the winner that their father is #tbt

view all 89,343 comments

liverpoolfc they'll watch him win another with their own eyes

❤️ liked by yourusername

andyrobertson94 more importantly, they'll know how big of a winner their godfather is

yourusername honestly... you kind of are the captain of scotland and a member of the great british empire ...

trentarnold66 okay stop agreeing with each other

yourusername no need for jealousy in my comments

user24 KIDS??? AS IN PLURAL????

user25 omg is this a pregnancy announcement 😭😭

user26 ANOTHER ONE??? OMG

user27 UGHHHHH SPILLLLL

yourusername and trentarnold66

liked by trentarnold66, andyrobertson94 and 100,445 others

yourusername i don't think i could even begin to describe how happy and grateful i am, but i will try. i love the family i have created here in liverpool with the help of everyone. you are all family, thank you for the love and support you have always shown me. ❤️❤️

user has restricted comments on this post

[bluedalahorse]

This is a Sara and August Appreciation Post (Favorite Non-Wilmon Overall Ship)

A post written for YRFavesFest2024, graciously hosted by @youngroyals-events. This is in response to prompt #6.

They’re so awkward. I love them.

If I learned anything from the historical example of Vasa, it’s that some ships are destined to sink. But lo, they sink so majestically that you must cherish them and build an entire museum dedicated to their cultural significance.

Such are my feelings for Sara and August. They have been my two very favorite characters in Young Royals from day one, and also they are in love? They’re both so deeply flawed, with so much chemistry, and they’re both so very lonely, that you can see why they’re drawn to one another like magnets.

Truly, I could honor saraugust in any number of ways, but I realized looking back that they were above all extremely fun to write about. So in this post, I’ve put together snippets from fics I’ve written about Sara and August, both finished/published and unfinished/unpublished, that showcase all the fun I’ve had with their dynamic over the years.

I’m going to put the fic snippets below a cut, as this post will be as long as Malte is tall. Also, as a heads up, there will be some excerpts that trend a bit naughty, but never anything explicit. Enjoy!

Terrain Boundaries Territory was the first fic I wrote for them in summer of 2021. I went into a two-week fugue state and forgot to do anything else while I worked out the story.

In TBT, Sara decides she’s going to get revenge on August for how he treated Simon. She decides she’s going to do that by dating him, finding out all his secrets, and ruining him somehow. Of course, as Sara and August get closer and more entangled, things get more complicated between them.

I used this fic to discover characterizations for Sara and August, mostly, and figured out what made them tick. It really helped me to bond with them as characters. I feel like my Simon is reasonably characterized, but the other secondary characters need… a lot of work. At this point the show was new, I was lurking, and I couldn’t even keep the character names straight. It showed.

I wrote TBT right when I got into verse novels, so it’s in verse. I also decided I was going to write Sara’s POV as a second person narrator, to put the reader uncomfortably close to what she’s thinking and feeling. These things are fun to play with in an MFA program, but they’re a bit risky for fanfiction, where a lot of fans prefer familiar tropes and writing styles. I still love that this fic reignited my passion for writing fanfiction in general.

Also there’s a Fleabag reference that no reader has found yet. Beat you to the punch, Lisa.

An excerpt:

There is a floorboard in the hallway where August’s step hesitates, a door on his left like a gap between fangs. In the evening, now sober, you return without him— stand in the threshold of the door and sniff each layer of dust, catalogue the shrouded furniture, the landscapes painted in storms of oils, the one tall harp, out of tune. Footsteps, doubling back. His shadow touches your shoulders and, This is where we found my Pappa dead. Like he didn’t mean to say it out loud. Did he know he was being too honest? You know what that’s like.

Next excerpt comes from an unfinished, August-POV sequel to Terrain Boundaries Territory I was writing in Fall and Winter of 2021. After TBT, I was asking myself: well, how did August manage to fall in love with Sara? I could feel, instinctively, that he was going to fall in love with her, whenever season 2 of YR came around. I just wanted to work out what it would look like. I started to play with the idea that maybe he dates her to deflect any suspicion about the video, but starts to soften toward her as he realizes they have a lot of loneliness and grief in common.

In this scene, Sara’s just had a meltdown during a clash between Marieberg and Hillerska students. Sara and August are just starting to date publicly, and everyone has thoughts, including Sara’s old bullies. They’re nasty to her, and Rosh (who happens to be both Present and Intimidating) tells them off. Sara runs away, and August goes to find her.

They talk:

“So you have some friends at Marieberg.” “They’re Simon’s friends. They only like me because of Simon.” Oh. Shit. If August were a good boyfriend (which, he isn’t) and this were a real relationship (it’s not, they just need one another for appearances) he’d tell Sara I like you because of you. Maybe also I’ll always put you first. They’ve only been official for a short while, but guys have whispered bolder lies into a new girlfriend’s hair. That’s sort of how relationships work, isn’t it? Always moving too fast and lying. August wants to say that because Sara’s brushed aside the graveyard dirt that covers up an old memory: his first parents’ weekend, back when he was a gangly kid with no muscle definition and no idea how to dress himself, when he told his mamma people only like me because Erik makes them. That put a shocked expression on Mamma’s face. Then she forgot just ten minutes later, when she told August she was seeing people again. Three years and becoming prefect should have dulled August’s memories of that weekend, but now unearthed, the memories only make the present feel fake. Sara’s closed in on herself—head bowed, eyes on the ground, now ungloved hands clutching at her elbows. Inside Sara must feel cold, raw, bruised, inert. Like forgotten meat at the back of a freezer. It’s not fair that she should feel that. Not when she’s smart and detail-oriented and secretly daring. Not when she’s the sort of girl who becomes a social media heroine for rescuing cats. August is too scared of saying I like you, even as he’s counting all the reasons people should like Sara. So instead he asks, “Do you want me to hold you?” Sara nods. August follows the advice of football scarf girl and hugs Sara tight. She doesn’t tense up—it’s the first time he’s felt her relax, actually. That he’s noticed. If he’s going to pull off this fake boyfriend thing, maybe he should notice more. “You asked,” says Sara. “You’ve never asked before.” Talking into his coat, she adds, “I need somewhere to rest.” “I told you, you can always use my room.” “Somewhere to actually rest.” “I know. I understand. Come on.” He takes her hand and leads her back to the dorms.

Next, in early 2022, @heliza24 and I began publishing Heart and Homeland, our ensemble regency AU. I think to this day, we’re one of the few true ensemble fics in YR fandom that gives all five main characters roughly equal POV time, but I could be wrong about that. I intend to finish the epilogue chapters in 2025.

Anyway, I felt like I had a solid grasp on Sara and August at this point, and also I love period dramas. Do you know how exciting it was for me to write them in a troubled gothic romance situation? Sara’s the governess for Felice’s younger sisters, and August is attending Hillerska with Simon and Wilhelm while also being engaged to Felice. Felice breaks off her engagement to August though, and then after a Series Of Dramatic Events, Sara and August run off together.

The first twentysome chapters of the fic were written before season 2, and I think I did a reasonably good job predicting Sara and August’s dynamic. Also, they hooked up in a moving carriage, so I may have predicted a Bridgerton season as well, oops. Anyway, here’s a scene from the morning after that hookup, and if you’ve read far enough into the story, you know this will have tragic resonance later on:

Sara tugged the dressing gown tighter around her shoulders. August sat beside her on the bed, careful not to upset his mug. An aroma from Sara’s childhood filled the air, and she remembered how Pappa, in his better moods, used to let her grind coffee beans when he came back from his voyages. Preparing coffee for Pappa and Mamma helped Sara to feel useful, even though she had not been allowed to drink it herself. “That’s coffee, isn’t it?” Sara asked. The smell never bothered her the way it did Simon, after Pappa was arrested for smuggling it. “It is,” said August. “Her Majesty’s ban doesn’t really apply here with us. It is really only for the general public’s benefit, to help them moderate their vices.” Vices. Sara felt she had not indulged hers enough. “May I have some coffee?” “You may.” August handed Sara the mug, and Sara drank as he drawled on. “Speaking of Her Majesty, she is in good health, although of course it distressed her to learn of last night’s events. I am glad I was the one to bring her the news and reassure her of His Highness’s well-being. One needs the support of family at such dire times.” He was showing off now, speaking breezily about his connections to the monarchy, as if Sara herself hadn’t danced with the prince earlier. “Her Majesty has already implied that I should stay in town for the coming days so that I can assist Wille as he returns to the palace. I will be back and forth between here and there. You must promise not to fret too much when I’m out.” “I am capable of occupying myself, and you are quite committed to serving the realm. We will manage a few hours apart,” said Sara. A moment later she realized that he probably wanted her to say something else. Felice had explained once that boys sometimes expressed such sentiments so that girls could reassure them of their devotion. “Of course in practice, I am sure I will miss you, and that you will miss me.” Things were moving fast. Sara took a final long sip of coffee before handing the mug back to August. “Here you are.” August looked down into the mug. “You drank all of it.” “You will have to bring me more, then.” Sara smiled.

Now that we’ve had Sara and August in the historical past, let’s move on to some fic where they find one another again in the future! While I am very satisfied with their breakup at the end of season 3, and think it’s what was right for them, I sometimes imagine a possible future where they can try again and things work out for them. Why? Because I like seeing them kiss. It’s really not that deep.

Here’s something unfinished I wrote after season 3, where the Swedish people are about to vote on a referendum about whether or not they want to end the monarchy. August (who has been through a lot of character development and worked to make things up with Simon) just assumes everyone is going to vote to end the monarchy, so he’s doing everything he can to make sure the transition goes smoothly and that they can give the monarchy a good “funeral” and such. Meanwhile, Sara is working a toxic nonprofit job that takes advantage of her passion to make the world a better place. And wouldn’t you know it? They’re crossing paths:

August nods and exits out through the double doors, and just like that, Sara becomes a royal guest. Perhaps one of the last royal guests ever, if last week’s polling data means anything. She hopes no one will interview her for a documentary about it in the future. There’s a farcical moment two minutes afterward where August sticks his head back in and says he’s forgotten his sunscreen, and Sara hands him the bottle before he goes out again. It’s a brand she’s never seen before—something ridiculously expensive and high SPF. Fragrance free, too. Sara can’t help watching through the windows as August rubs the sunscreen onto the back of his neck and onto his exposed forearms. Can’t help wondering if she’d have rubbed it in for him, admonishing him like you know you burn so easily, if they’d had their summer weekends in Bjärstad during his military service like he’d wanted. Still, Sara hadn’t wanted it, then, and that thought should be enough to push herself back into fifteen minute stretches of newsletter edits and donor emails. Sara reminds herself of her bosses’ talking points: that PuzzleChildrens’ oldest donors appreciate the paper copies of the newsletter they receive each month, that the personal stories of lost children remind them where their money is going, that Sara is doing so well at communicating with people and that she shouldn’t worry too much about creating a perfect product, only one that reaches people’s hearts. She opens up a colleague’s story about a pitiable single mother in Luleå called Maja, whose eleven-year-old daughter Saga has been “stolen” by a serious disease. The colleague is older and touchy, so Sara phrases all her line edits delicately. What she really wants to type is: Don’t call meltdowns “tantrums.” Of course Saga has empathy, she loves her dog and she probably feels that very deeply. And for fuck’s sake arm flapping isn’t a “babyish gesture.” But no. She can’t respond like that. Not with the amount of money these newsletters raise, not when her older colleagues don’t know things, and she was the one hired to educate them. Sara thinks that maybe, the cotton of her sundress would be better if it were rougher. If she could run the nail of her index finger across her hip and it would hurt just enough to remind her how to communicate with people at work so they don’t think she’s a freak. Eventually Sara’s phone buzzes with an incoming text, pulling her out of her thoughts. Do you want something to drink? It’s from August. Sara looks up, and he’s still outdoors on the balcony. He glances in Sara’s direction and offers her a stiff—but not unfriendly—wave. The glass between them is impossibly clean, probably scrubbed this morning by the staff at Solliden. Sara texts back. I don’t want to trouble you too much. Are you having something? Seltzer. There’s a local brand that just launched, they do one with an elderflower and pear infusion. August makes a face at his phone (Sara’s still watching him, it’s that twisting expression his mouth sometimes makes when he’s embarrassed himself, like he’s gotten an unexpected taste of sour candy) and types a follow up. It’s less pretentious than it sounds. You can have what you want though. We’re well-stocked here. Seltzer sounds good, Sara responds. I’ll have that, thanks.

Do I have other future scenarios? Yes. One of them involves Sara and August on a road trip back to Sweden (they can’t do air travel because of a volcanic explosion in Iceland) so they can get to Wilhelm and Simon’s engagement party in time. This is a future set after August leaves the monarchy behind, but hasn’t explained to anyone why and it’s a bit of an incident. Sara is working a shitty nonprofit job in this story idea, too, since the road trip idea was sort of a 2.0 iteration of what you see above.

Anyway, when I think about them as adults, I enjoy letting them be a little bit kinky. Mostly because they both seem to have intense sensory needs and would also like figuring out the power exchanges, and also because you can have a scenario where Sara’s tried more kinks than August has, and it reverses the experience dynamic they have as teenagers. Like this:

Sara presses the brush bristles down onto August’s open palm. It’s only a little bit of extra pressure, spread out over multiple prickling points, but it sends a current up his arm and through his chest. August draws in a sharp breath. He and Sara meet eyes. They’re studying one another now, like they’ve both been hit by the realization that it’s been over ten years and they’ve tried other things with other partners. “So.” Sara smiles out of one corner of her mouth. “You like a little bit of pain?” “Maybe,” says August. “I mean, life at the palace was pretty conservative, so I didn’t get to explore much—” “Please.” Sara is the one laughing now, and there’s a mixture of affection and disdain in it that makes something in August’s stomach curl. “Royals get away with doing all kinds of kinky shit.” “Not me,” says August. “I was working all the time.” His face flushes as he realizes how embarrassing it sounds—Sara’s giving him an are you kidding me look—but there’s also something hot about it at the same time. About wanting to squirm under her gaze. “We could try something tonight,” says Sara. “if you want.” “We promised ourselves we wouldn’t.” “We said we wouldn’t touch each other. And we won’t. I’m only going to touch you with the brush. Do you want me to explain?”

Sara domming is fantastic, but I also kind of imagine saraugust as a couple with with swtichy vibes. Which is why in L’escarpolette, twentysomething Sara has a surreal sex dream about getting tied up on a swing while she’s wearing her Valentine’s ball clothes:

August kneels, and that’s when Sara knows she has him where she wants him. Or, he has her where he wants her. Whichever is the truth. August reaches for Sara’s foot—the one that hasn’t lost its ballet flat—and his eyes meet Sara’s as he slides the shoe off and sets it aside. He bends down further to kiss her ankle. A current of electricity travels up Sara’s leg. The sensation leaves Sara twitching and ticklish. August seizes the hem of her skirts and lifts. Out of the corner of Sara’s eye she glimpses the firelight down at the bottom of the hill, where the mysterious eighteenth century party frolics on. Perhaps sparks of that light glint in people’s eyes or in the lenses of their opera glasses as they swivel their gaze toward the hill… Sara’s balance falters. She tips backward. “Wait wait wait.” August lets go of Sara’s skirts and claps his hands back around her waist, steadying her before she can hit the ground. “I want to make sure you don’t fall.” He’s so earnest, and Sara still feels ticklish. She giggles, and August joins her, and for a moment they are consumed by the giddiness that comes with carrying out an odd and daring experiment in the night. But how to avoid falling? Sara follows the line of the swing’s ropes upward. Oh. Those flowering vines hanging down from the tree branches. They’re waving ever so slightly in the breeze, as if they’re trying to get her attention in secret. In her waking life, Sara sometimes imagines what it would be like to tie up a lover. Or what it would be like to ask a lover to tie her up. She’s never felt like she could ask anyone. Maybe here…

To finish off this post, let’s talk canon divergences. I once had a commenter on one of my fics say that they saw Sara and August as a case of Right Person, Wrong Timing. I can get behind this idea myself, and it’s always made me wonder what their relationship would be like when they met earlier, when August is raw from grief in his first year at Hillerska, and Sara is still experiencing bullying in public school. I’ve started a fic along those lines, and I’m hoping to finish it soon for events in January or February.

Looks like Sara and August are going to have to escape a situation together:

The boy in the closet with her is pale and slim. He twitches and groans softly. Something pinches inside Sara’s chest. Sympathy? He looks as trapped here as she is, and Sara wants to trust him. Just so she isn’t alone. She crawls over to the boy and kneels at his side. She keeps a house key in her palm just in case. His eyes flutter open halfway. “You’re awake,” Sara says. “Fuck.” He blinks. “You’re… Sara?” “Yes,” she says. It’s a relief to hear someone say her name aloud, even though he’s a stranger. “Did you hit your head when you fell?” Haltingly, the boy pushes himself up to a sitting position. “I’m… not sure.” “You should check.” He’s quite tall, Sara notices. And he’s sitting still, not checking his head like she told him to. Sara can’t tell from looking at him if he has any lumps on his head; he has thick, dark curls that hide that. She’d have to run her fingers through his hair if she was going to help him check. Will she have to? The boy hasn’t moved yet. It’s like he’s in a daze.  Sara’s fingers twitch. She’s impatient. Before she can raise her hands and look the boy over, to make sure that he’s safe, he finally shakes himself alert and moves his hands to his hair. “No lumps,” the boy says. “So I’m alright.” His eyes land on Sara. “Are you…” Sara replies with the truth. “They locked me in here for hours. We need to get out.”

Anyway. Do you see how much these two fuel me? Do you see The Vision? More fic to come on a tumblr near you!

[polis-fandom]

TBT "Shadow and Bone" Season 2 on Netflix

One year ago on this day (June 7th 2022) cast of "Shadow and Bone" was having fun photoshots in the sand dunes with "cake" Darkling. It was one of the last days of filming the Season 2.

[ourflagmeansbts]

Source (Season 2 - November 13th 2023)

debwatsonmakeup: TBT this time last year .. I had the absolute privilege and pleasure of working with @oneill.con playing Izzy Hands in OFMD . Such a fantastic character arc to help bring to life.. thanks to brilliant designer @nancyhennah for having me on board!♥️🏴‍☠️♥️🏴‍☠️ Shared with actor’s permission

[iantimony]

tuesday!

hello again! another 2-weeker because I was in Washington (Da Capital) for a portion of last week for an academic conference and boy howdy did that sap my will to live/energy to post.

listening: I finished relistening to TANIS! season 5 felt completely unfamiliar so I either never actually listened to it or it was just that forgettable. which tbh, it was. very forgettable. definitely good background white noise but really nothing cooking in there. very clear to me that at the end there terry miles was way more interested in writing a book than an audio drama.

for the sake of completeness I also am relistening to the black tapes. definitely a more cohesive narrative happening there even though I know the "finale" is looming ahead. also has not generally aged super well, and some of the attempts at writing academic experts of things in make me laugh a lot, and the overlap in voice actors for side characters is also amusing. I think this universe of podcasts only work if TANIS is a fictional podcast in TBT and vice-versa but that's not news. also why did they make cuneiform on…parchment…as a plot point in s3…it's cuneiform…wouldn't it be on a slab of clay…anyways a reference to "current political discourse" in a s3 ep made me check the date and I didn't realize that this came out in 2020????? insane. way more recent than I thought (derogatory).

music-wise, saw Mahjong Crib live a few weeks ago at a local bar so I've been letting that run in the background. the bassist was incredibly high (as he should be) and very funny. the last song of the set he put the bass down and started going ham on cowbell. definitely in the family of freeform jazz which isn't normally my thing. still not sure this band is my thing, will probably not be purchasing this album for example.

reading: How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular (David Gauvey Herbert): what it says on the tin. didn't realize how much of it came down to monopoly of an industry again. womp womp.

read these both on the plane back from the conference: By Proxy (Lise): mind the tags. really nailed a good dynamic between LWJ and JC imo. Wuxian The Ninth (spockandawe): was linked by the author in a server we're both in. the choice to just do the intro and finale is so incredibly valid. I should do that for my abhorsen/TLT crossover actually because I have the beginning done and definitely have a finale cooking in my head but writing all the bits in the middle seems exhausting and this has made it occur to me that I am allowed to just. skip all the shit in the middle. nothing is stopping me.

watching: fallow

playing: fallow

making: I have been speed knitting a pair of fingerless gloves for my mom! chose this pattern specifically to do them flat style because I was on the go and didn't want to think about using dpns, and I don't have the equipment for knitting in the round comfortably on that small of a scale.

finished carving the block for my holiday cards BUT printing them has proved. challenging. I have what turns out to be kinda shitty water-based ink that is a real pain in the ass to do more than one print at a time with because it dries so fast. it's also applying and printing extremely unevenly and patchy, and while I don't actually mind the texture that adds, the fact that I have to wash off my block & roller every 2-3 prints or so is really stymying my speed. I am abusing my boyfriend's amazon prime to get an oil-based printmaking ink shipped to me so I have put further printing on hold til today when that allegedly arrives. I miss living in closer proximity to a more professional art supply store :-( I've printed about 15 or 20 now and depending on how much nicer the ink looks I may restart lol… either way next year I think I will get thicker paper to mail postcard-style instead of in an envelope to save on postage and work? we'll see. I'm hand delivering around half of my cards over the course of the holidays as it is to make it simpler and cut back on the amount of envelopes and postage I'll need anyways so it's really not TOO bad…

I kind of want to carve a return label stamp as well but obviously the scale/detail of that is more challenging. the easier move is to order return label stickers obviously so maybe I will design some of those, not for this year at this time scale but y'know. I was thinking of putting up my holiday card designs on redbubble or etsy or whatever as well just for funsies.

eating: made deb smittenkitchen's lentil soup with sausage, chard and garlic! really good! my sausages are generic beef from the farmers market so I feel like I lost a little flavor in there by not using some sort of sweet or spicy sausage but it's still tasty and filling. according to comments it freezes very well so I made the full recipe and will be freezing about four servings. I am rich in frozen soups rn.

I was GOING to make her crispy cauliflower and cabbage salad as well but the half a head of cabbage I had in the fridge tragically finally went bad. so instead I did an improvization at her cauliflower with dates and pistachios salad. I did not have dates or pistachios, subbed in craisins and almond slivers, lmfao, but still tasty and has the same structure. I also got some salmon burgers from kroger that have TWENTY FIVE GRAMS of protein each and were very tasty.

misc: feeling very [horror movie scare chord] from networking at that conference. my advisor's previous student who I did not overlap with but am familiar because I have continued his work casually commented that he applied to over Four Hundred Jobs before getting the one he currently has that he. does not even like that much. (I think? unclear. he is kind of a hater at heart in the funniest possible way, bless him.) so I have the fear of god in me a little bit but it's Fine, I'm doing what I'm "supposed" to be doing that a lot of other people are not by doing extensive networking and looking for summer internships for what will hopefully be the last summer of my PhD program.

I gotta start thinking about my yearly roundup too!!! I did a bad job of keeping a spreadsheet this year for this to note everything down in an easy format so maybe I will do that in retrospect as a time-filling activity in the next few weeks…

[the-physicality]

2/4 our 4 top defenders are out and O’neill didn’t play so 🤷‍♀️

Yeah I’m not that concerned in the same way tor should be less concerned. I will also look at the minutes breakdown later (can’t see on my phone if it exists at all) and I would expect it to be a bit more even than top heavy, as Kori has to use this time to evaluate players who aren’t signed

no comment was a little bit about emptying the net lmao bc that was an oof and a tbt

but also if you look at shots on goal, it was 28-32 in their favor which is not that big of a difference even if you discount the eng , and that’s concerning. Bc last year we were able to make up for depleted d with stronger offense (and that was with KO not playing a big role until after worlds). And this shooting is without frankel in net.

the Murphy goal was promising bc she followed thru on the rebound. And rebounds are so. Important.

but I also think we didn’t do well in preseason last year (I wasn’t following then) and we came in second on the season

[autisticandroids]

What's the deal w the black tapes I keep on hearing stuff about it but I never got a sense of why it was so good everyone seemed to know it but it's ending was so bad everyone unanimously dropped it

so i was never around for the online following of tbt so i can only give you my opinion, not broad opinion. my opinion is that the first three episodes work really well as like. sincerely, unironically good episodic horror. like genuinely it's the kind of stuff i CRAVE because it straight facedly pretends to be like. an npr-alike nonfiction podcast. to the point that the actors and writers aren't even credited until the end of each season. and it totally plays in this space of like. stuff that's JUST non-paranormal enough to feel like it could almost be a real story, but is scary as shit. like the unsound scared the bejesus out of me when i first heard it.

but then starting in ep four and continuing for the rest of the season it 1) jumps into campy, ouijia board and the exorcist inspired satanic panic lore, and 2) becomes serialized in a way that kills horror.

later, in the second season, it manages to jump the shark into charmingly intentional camp and i start liking it again. mostly as like. a salacious and journalistically unethical romance between our protagonist and sexy richard dawkins.

but even though i like the later stuff, it still frustrates me because the podcast that it started out as is a podcast i genuinely want to listen to SO bad.

[ncisladaily]

@ncis_la_densi_neric - #tbt to season 2 when Hetty spoke with deeks about her agency😍❤ #ncisla

[competitivedust]

Tbt that one redditor who I was arguing with about Fitz's actions in the devil complex, and he said that if I consider what Fitz did to Daisy wrong then I should also consider Mack cutting off Coulson's arm to save his life in season 2 wrong because these two incidents are apparently identical...? Something Fitz did while having a psychotic episode is equivalent to Mack making the well timed decision to cut off Coulson's forearm to stop the obelisk from killing him.

Make it make sense.

[madelinksi]

y’all I forgot I wrote this, and now it hurts EVEN MORE WITH SEASON 2 OMING OUT!!! AHHHH

tbt to when my voice memos weren’t working and i could only screen record 🫠i should rerecord this.