#the last lines for both of them esp... yeah

[ashesrebirthed-a]

which very specific character type are you?

cordelia.

THE BEAUTY: Beloved, beautiful, naive, innocent—or at least, perceived this way. The one representing goodness, in all its purity, to others. Smarter than they let on.

keiko.

THE PROPHET-MARTYR: Someone representing something divine. Eyes fixed above everyone else's, on something too great for words. A person with a heart aflame, and a distant sort of kindness to everyone, a person who'd trade everything simply to understand.

tagged by: @feminaferitas <3

tagging: @perfectionreached @lapdlockley @morexfuntomiss @luminescenc1e @screwhope @playst1me + whoever wants to!

[riacte]

so hey guys i finished dungeon meshi yesterday and i'm still thinking about it

[pencileraser1]

things i noticed/thoughts about most recent rewatches of dps (plus laserdisk deleted scenes):

whenever theres a group scene i've started watching the characters that the story isn't focusing on to see what they do and i've been having a fun time with that. pitts and cameron specifically seem to almost always be doing something interesting in the background.

hopkins!!!! my favorite minor character who somehow got character development despite having like 2 lines!!!! the last guy to stand on the desk but he did it!!!

sometimes i do like to think about what the rest of the students thought about the dead poets society, esp in alternate timeline neil lives dps keeps meeting universe. like yeah theres this guy in their class whose one of the most credited students in the school and we think he maybe started a cult. idk though. but that group runs out into the woods every few days to do god knows what and one of them keeps talking about "dead poets honor" whatever that means and holy shit welton star student neil perry started a cult.

i watched the movie with headphones. and maybe it's because ive seen this movie Far too many times and mabe i'm listening too hard but it was Really obvious sometimes when audio was added in post production. llke in the sweaty toothed madman scene when you can hear laughing and to be fair the camera is behind their heads. but it does Not look like anyone's laughing. my favorite is at the end of the phone call to chris scene where knox is like i'm gonna seize the day!! and runs up the stairs and the poets are cheering him on and neil is sort of yelling "carpe!!!!" and i could be wrong but i'm like 75% certain that the person singing is Also rsl so now neil is just speaking two times at once somehow. anyways it didn't ruin the experience for me or anything it was maybe just a little bit funny to notice but very sorry if this did ruin anyone's viewing.

people talk a lot about how rsl and ethan hawke really made their characters what they are but i have to add dylan kussman to that list. I get the impression that older versions of the movie didn't really give as much depth to cameron and watching dylan kussmans performance is like. he Knew who his character was so fucking well and it shows!! like the deleted scene of them getting clubs assigned. like i could tell So Much about cameron from that scene

for how little she actually appeared, there is an emphasis put on the fact that neil's mom smokes pretty frequently. and i think that's interesting considering neil is one of two poets shown actively smoking. neil's mom doesn't appear for very long in the movie but during that time it definitely seems like the movie is intentionally making parallels between the two, particularly in the last argument with neil's father. neil and his mother are both sitting for almost the whole time, which contrasts with his father who is standing. they are both almost powerless in this scene. they stand up at almost the same time. anyways there's a couple different possibilities for what this could mean? that i've though of? 1. to show that neil's mother is in a similar situation to the one neil is in in regards to neil's father and 2. maybe a stretch here but the theory that neil inherited his mental illness at least partially from his mother. i'm pretty sure 1 was fully intentional on the directors part, not entirely sure about 2 though

unmanned flying desket scene: it's probably cause he and ethan wrote the scene themselves but the way rsl talks in this scene feels more like the way he talks in general than the rest of the script. like briefly neil perry is talking in rsl's voice. one of my absolute favorite scenes though the sarcastic dialogue is so good.

the light of knowledge at the first shot of the film vs. todd standing on his desk at the last shot of the film paralel

[apopcornkernel]

i dont know if there's even a ppop presence on tumblr but i do also want to promote ALAMAT, a 6-member idol boy group from the Philippines. Its members comprise of Taneo, Mo, Jao, Tomas, R-ji, and Alas. They debuted in 2021, and their creative direction centers on championing the Filipino identity and culture through their music.

sorry that ^ was a copypaste but it's a very useful and concise copypaste LOL but onto my own promo:

(note: also most of these videos have english subs!!)

(extra note bc this issue always pops up whenever locals encounter alamat: mo is always wearing black hairstyes bc he is blasian and not bc he is appropriating from black culture hdfjhdf)

KASMALA, the inverted Tagalog word for "strong" (malakas), is the MV that really did numbers on social media iirc. The video direction focused on the "human zoo" in the St. Louis' World Fair of 1904 (which included Filipinos specifically Igorots), and a general theme of anti-Filipino racism by white people (who are represented as ominous figures literally dressed in all white)

personal opinion: the music video is great but i personally think they have better songs, music-wise. and i'm going to give you an example of that by introducing you to my ALL-TIME FAVORITE ALAMAT SONG!!!

ILY ILY, a transliteration of "Ili-Ili Tulog Anay", incorporates the melody and lyrics of the Ilonggo lullaby it derives its title from. The MV and lyrics both work together to portray the experience of being an OFW/having an OFW parent. OFWs, or overseas Filipino workers, refer to Filipinos who go abroad in search of jobs that have better pay, so that they can remit money back to their families in the Philippines.

personal opinion: this is their best song THIS IS THEIR BEST SONG EVER OF ALL TIME and lyca gairanod is such a perfect singer for this. her ethereal crooning really gave me chills the first time i heard it UGH

DAYANG, the term for the wife of a Datu, is one of their most earworming songs ever. It's a gorgeous love song and what I would recommend to newbies if they want to get into alamat <3

personal opinion: The MV is kinda ass because it's just a super long extended ad for DITO PH (in terms of story and also bc they really missed out on doing a vid that drew more on culture esp bc dayang is a historical noble title and they used tausug words and designs for the graphics an the dance itself already incorporated pangasik dance which is also from the tausug people LIKEEE?? they've always promoted other cultures of the philippines i know they can do it but because of CAPITALISM--). But the song bangs so severely, as a pop enjoyer this is peak pop for me.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT DAGUNDONG

DAGUNDONG, a song basically recounting the colonial history of the Philippines from Spain to America, is just so fucking good you should watch/listen to it rn. There's EN subs don't worry you won't miss out on the context. This is colonial rage it's so satisfying I still remember where I was when they dropped this.

personal opinion: FOREVER OBSESSED WITH HOW THEY SAY "dahil puso mandirigma di papakutsa di papapugon" you guys have no idea how much i sing that line to myself sooo satisfying. Instant earworm this song i swear.

OK ONE LAST one last and i'm done. okay.

MAHARANI, a Sanskrit term for the wife of a Maharaja (translated as "great queen"), heavily features singkil, a Maranao dance which uses bamboo poles like tinikling does. The song also uses SEAsian instruments like kanun, gamelan, and gangsa. Also BINI's Jhoanna plays one of the main characters here!!!

personal opinion: this is their most pop-sounding song, which i think is slightly carried by the video i'm sorryyy. it's catchy though!! and i looove the part somewhere halfway where alas starts his verse, singing it in a more spoken-word way

___

okay 5 songs is. probably enough. this post is already kinda long shdfjskdff but yeah. pls check them out if you can hehe <3

also ppop idols are just really funny. there's no concept of an idol image so they just tweet shit. alamat jao gave out his genshin UID after a fan tweeted about having co-oped with him in genshin, and then after that he started answering questions with the hashtag "#canceljao" making a lot of magiliws (alamat fans) confused, and then he posted a classic iphone notes apology like this 😭

i'll do a bini version after this my girls deserve more international hype. they occupy a more girlcrush pop genre but they're just as chaotic as alamat if not even more 😭 there are entire THREADS on twitter of them just being hilarious jdhfkshgf i love them so much

thanks for reading <3

[brucewaynehater101]

adding to my last ask, the rest of the album is so similar to the Batfam

Loves like Ghosts - Batcat or BruTalia

Until the Night Turns - Dick (the vibes esp)

Dead Man’s Hand - Jason

-> pretty obvious why 💀. I see it as Jason talking abt his old self with the “tired of a life that never felt like his” line

Hurricane (Johnnie’s theme) - Dick, Jason, and Steph(Cass)

-> I mostly saw it as Stephcass but there were definitely lyrics that applied to Dick (thrill) and Jason (dying lol)

La Bella Fleur Sauvage - DickBabs

The World Ender - Steph (with the romantic lines being shaded between Cass and Gotham) or Jason (with the romantic lines being completely abour Gotham)

-> I feel like it fits Jason better bc it’s literlaky abour being back from the grave but alas

Meet Me in the Woods - Tim(Bern)

The Yawning Grave - ALFRED AND BRUCE ALFRESH AND BRUCE. This is so important to me omg

Cursed - where “she” is Gotham and the speaker is any of the Batfam (sans Cass I think)

Way out There - Damian (“I’m just wearing old bones from those who came first”) (“you” being Dick) or StephCass from Cass’s pov

The Night We Met - the BatSiblings (sans Duke bc he wasn’t adopted yet) during Bruce’s death

There weren’t any I could connect to Duke specifically but yeah 😞

Loves Like Ghost definitely gives of Talia to Bruce vibes. The lyrics of "what ain't living can never really die. You don't want me baby please don't lie. Oh but if you're leaving, I gotta know why." "And if I can't have you then no one ever will." "Baby in my eyes you do no wrong. I don't feel it till it hurts sometimes. So go on baby hurt me tonight."

Until the Night Turns is a cool song. Perhaps you would elaborate more on why you think it fits Dick? The vibes are pretty on, but jot too sure about the lyrics.

Dead Man's Hand does fit Jason. "Sure as hell he was dead as they come and he was already starting to smell. Just a kid with his hair slicked back and a knife tucked into his belt. Was he unforgiven or just tired of living a life that never felt like his?" "I know I'm dead but I don't wanna lie in a grave out here where the coyote's cry. I stared right into the endless void and I ain't going back if I got any choice. I know how to live, I don't know how to die and there ain't no thrills in the afterlife."

Hurricane. I do think that all of the batkids are adrenaline junkies but I do see how the lyrics fit those ones especially.

La Bella Fleur Savage - Google says Fleur means both flower and resilience. I can see how that fits Babs and how the song resembles her love with Dick.

The World Ender - I love this song for Steph. She deserves to get her revenge. She did kind of die with Black Mask, but she didn't really do a revenge thing like Jason. On the other hand she "won't ever feel the embrace of the grave" because she revived before being buried.

Meet Me in the Woods - I see how this is TimBern especially because Bernard isn't in the vigilante business (so he won't really understand what Tim's been through).

The Yawning Grave - Alfred warning Bruce not to become Batman, of its dangers, of the likelihood of him dying, fits so well. He told him when he was a kid, but Bruce still went down with this path

Cursed - I agree that Cass isn't tied to Gotham like the others. If "she" was Gotham, that does fit the others. I raise you, though. What if "she" was their mission or vigilantism? That then fits all of them.

Way out There - Oof. That definitely fits Damian and I love that analysis of him.

The Night We Met - I agree, however, there's a tik tok that has an animation of this song. It absolutely kills my soul every time I see it. It has Bruce singing this about Jason: "I had all," Jason as Robin, "and then most of you," Jason dying, "some and," Jason's grave, "now none of you," Jason as Red Hood. "Take me back to the night we met." The tire jacking night.

We definitely need some Duke songs out there. If anyone has any songs that fit Duke, feel free to comment or reblog with them!!!!

[horizon-verizon]

The fact Alys killed FOR Daemon. Probably the most romantic thing someone has done for him, lmao. I hope they have sex and she does get pregnant with Daemon’s child, FINALLY someone who match his freak (you’d never hear the end of it from some quarters if Daemon did, the same people who are championing Rhaenyra cheating).

But seriously, Daemon asking Alys for help, her actually helping him and the last hallucination she gives him is that of reconciliation with his brother… I’m still processing this and what it’ll mean down the line. I need to know her motives because it can’t just be helping out Daemon ?? She calls them both chess pieces at the hands of larger forces… How far into the future has she seen ?

Besides that point she knows how Daemon dies, she told him “he’ll die in this place”, so why does she even help him ? And what about Aemond ? Like I wonder what the end goal is for her. Since she will know Aemond dies, imagine she doesn’t warn him about it when she met him which will be 100% funny.

First, this is nothing against you anon. But I don't take HotD's writing and characters at face value or value them bc I believe much of HotD's writng is superficial and too contradictory for that. Even without considering how they have made it so much easier to hate and misunderstand several F&B characters, general ASoIaF lore, etc., enough for people to think this war wasn't as anti-woman-leader focused as it was bc the showrunners have blatantly said they wish to make this more about "both teams bad, Targs are uniquely selfish".

Answer: (in case you weren't being facetious) Sorry, nothing is ever going to beat for me Alys getting impregnated by the craziest bitch of the greens, aka, anti bastard team. Other than that, show!Alys is not doing for Daemon but for the Riverland smallfolk, so yeah she doesn't care for Grover Tully that much. I believe she's meant to parallel Mysaria in HotD's endless love for "parallels".

I don't think the writers know what her end goal is, bc even this is not all that clear in the book as she disappears from history with her son. And I don't think that she has much to anticipate since unless HotD is trying to say that Jojen Reed was Alys' descendant, how did a Targ father contribute to any of Jojen or Meera's abilities in GoT or ASoIaF? Nah, this storyline is weird & jumbled.

As for Daemon asking for help, I think this is the "toxic-man-learns-he's-not-that-special-and-asks-for-a-woman's-help-to-raise-women's-importance" arc HotD has out for him in this season. An unnecessary one that contradicts the first one--and no 1x10 was bullshit esp the choking scene, so 🤷🏿‍♂️.

Finally, I don't blame some people having issue if Daemon did cheat with Alys bc if they are, like you, trying to enjoy HotD for its own thing and in this iteration of Daemon, he did choke Rhaenyra out. So yeah, he has less of a high horse if he did cheat. Other people's dislike for Daemon cheating may rather just come from their misunderstanding of his character, book or show, so they don't count.

[likeadevils]

I think Taylor does her best work when she has someone to impress. I don't really buy into the Aaron v Jack argument, esp at this point, bc they're both clearly close friends. I do think she did some phenomenal work when starting out w Aaron (folklore) and Jack (1989) because she was desperate to prove herself. She's clearly incredibly talented and driven - but I think her last two albums have leaned confessional/repetitive because she doesn't have to come in to impress but to vent. Theres songs I enjoy on both but I think she's pulling the wrong lessons from her successes - ex: excessively wordy lyrics, the same collaborators, etc - when her best work has been done w her back against the wall. Art thrives with friction!

rating system:

is it rare?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

controversial with swifties? . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

controversial with normies? . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

do i agree with it? . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

additional thoughts: i think this is a much better way to say it then "she just needs to work with new producers!". but yeah, i think a big reason why 1989 (and to a lesser extent, folklore) will always be so special to me is that she just put everything on the line. but i also thik the other side of what makes them so special is that she was following her gut with both of them. those albums are so special because it was what she needed to make. like, having something to prove is important, but it works best when that thing you need to prove is your own instincts.

[its-all-papaya]

omg so so so excited about landoscar kid fic. it'll be incredible to read no matter what direction you take it, your characterization hits!!!❤️

Ok these are just random headcanons that make me soft but (also just vibes would love to hear ur thoughts/opinions about this verse forever): 

Lando letting Emma pick out Oscar merch to wear on race weekends 

Lando & Emma become a very welcome addition to the paddock: Emma loves the cars; Oscar passing hospitality in a rush but seeing Lando happily chatting away with some McLaren ppl and it makes him both warm and prideful— Lando’s adapting so well to this new lifestyle and it blows Oscar’s mind every time they’re really making it work 🥺

Trips to Australia!!! Lando and Emma LOVE it there!

Lando’s handling the clothes shopping for the whole fam honestly😅 and the trip planning

Pre-lando Oscar could cook up like 2 nice dinners but after meeting him, he invests time into it and gets genuinely good. On non-race weeks grocery shopping with Emma is a whole thing—Oscar never knew it could be so enjoyable picking up groceries & cooking for his familyyyy

thank you for sending these so i can release them rn to vibes cleanse the dash 🙂‍↕️

emma wearing oscar merch is already in the outline and I've only outlined like 1/5 of this thing, so absolutely dw, that will be in there. she's a little confused about mclaren in general in this thing but she got the spirit.

lando and emma in the paddock also going to be part of this for sure. I took the max f inspo last night and just fucking ran with that, so f1 is not a new world for either of them now, but being part of oscar's corner of it is. And they're definitely around more races after lando and osc get together and it's definitely a dead heat between who's heart/brain will explode faster: oscar seeing lando waiting for him in hospitality & watching emma with her big headphones on in the garage during free practice, or lando watching oscar take little moments out of his work day to pay attention to them and give Emma high-fives and kiss lando's forehead before he has to run off to his next thing.

yes australia !! lando probably first meets oscar's family on a gp weekend tbh, but oscar's been itching to take them both home with him foreverrrrr bc emma's ALWAYS asking for stories about australia and begging to go see the kangaroos. and then yes, they both love it. and oscar's accent gets stronger when he's there and that's impossible for lando to deal with.

yeah the thing i didn't consider when making lando kind of a disaster is that oscar is also a mess of a different kind? and so that honestly probably makes lando feel BETTER, because lando feels self-conscious about himself as an adult almost constantly, but in comparison to oscar's four t-shirts (dried with the fkn oven, lest we forget) and general carelessness on some things, lando is like... perhaps i am sometimes a little put together after all. but osc when he's around takes on a select few of the domestic tasks lando loathes (cooking yes absolutely) and that's cool but it's mainly so nice to just have another person around. to entertain emma while lando does necessary adult things or to run grab extra shampoo from the store quick bc lando didn't realize they were out and now emma's already in the bath. having a partner? mint.

extras for youuuuu from my own early plotting and thinking:

calling/facetiming oscar before emma's bedtime on race weekends when they're not along with. esp when it's like the north american races and lando lets emma stay up an extra 45 minutes past bedtime so they can watch fp1 and then call osc to say goodnight. emma so impatient to call even though lando reminds her every time they do this that they have to wait for oscar to call them because he's at work and he'll only have a minute. but then him in his race suit still with balaclava lines and lando is like. extremely not normal about it. ever. and emma is like "you were the fastest, osc?" and oscar is like "well we were testing a new rear wing, so-" and lando's like "yeah she doesn't care babe" even though he knows oscar knows that and they're both just being shits bc they're helplessly FOND of each other. (lando stays up past his bedtime, too, to watch fp2 and oscar calls HIM to say goodnight after that as well)

i decided last night to just swap lando and max f in this universe, so max is the other mclaren driver. so then max being stupidly irritated all the time that HE'S been the one around emma since she was BORN and OSCAR won her over in like four days. after everything he's done for her, she still wants to sit in OSCAR'S lap in-between media events, smh. constant bickering between max f and oscar about whose merch emma is gonna wear and who she wants to finish ahead of the other (even though she truly can't tell them apart on track whatsoever and gets excited whenever any papaya car does anything) and who's her favorite. and she obviously drinks in all the attention and lando is just heart exploding bc how did he even end up with all of his most favorite people all in one place like what good deeds did past life him do to deserve this cosmic luck?

emma's used to daddy sleeping in, so she's good at waiting to get out of bed until it's time, but oscar gets up early and she quickly learns that when he stays the night, she can get up and follow him to the kitchen at like 7am and he won't even be upset. he'll let her sit on the counter while he scrambles eggs or whatever and talk to her about whatever she wants to hear about. premiere bonding time for them. (also then osc coming over once after a late flight home from wherever just to sleep in lando's bed bc he missed his bby and lando said it was okay. so he gets up to get water early, still sleepy, and emma comes running in to join and he's like "i need to go back to sleep, baby, sorry :(" bc he's rlly only gotten like two hours at that point. but she looks so sad... so he's like "do you wanna have a cuddle with us?" and obviously she does. so lando lifting his head all groggy and confused as oscar slides back into bed, but osc just shushes him and kisses his hair like "sh, go back to sleep, emma's here though" and then his daughter's on the bed, too, and lando's really not sure what's happening bc he's hardly awake, but em curls against his chest and oscar presses up behind him and kisses the back of his neck and like. there's literally nothing to complain about?? so sleepy lazy morning as they all snooze until like 11am.)

ANYWAY!! I'M NORMAL ABOUT THIS FIC!!

[jgracie]

OMG JUST SAW THAT YOU FINISHED BOO

okok here are my thoughts

ew caleo

jason is such a hopeless romantic like when he was imagining his future with piper and then when he pulled her up to the top of the zeus cabin to recreate their first kiss

leo leo leo

leo some more

LEO 👹

nico and reyna and jason would make the ultimate friend group

”hazel and frank didn’t protest. leo had wished they had” OR WHATEVER THAT LINE IS LIKE POOKIE THATS SO DEPRESSING???

the fight with gaea was way too short but the build up made up for it

that scene when piper was like oh no we’re screwed and then jason comes in with like lightning going through his chest or wtv and he’s like saying something all cool 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

them fighting with their parents was amazing my fav was hephestus and aphrodite

the ending scene is so sad (the book actually ends with piper and jason thinking about leo not caleo 😍🥰)

also there was this scene in the lost hero where leo was like i am so scared of being remembered as like the funny friend and like all of my frineds are cool heroes and i’m just leo the tofu taco chef

yeah uhm

that’s exactly how jason and piper remembered him…

CALEOOOOOO OMFG THE LAST CHAPTER WHEN HE CAME BACK TO HER GAVE ME MAJOR MIXED FEELINGS... i always have mixed feelings when it comes to them cz like leo in love is so cute and sweet and then i remember hes thinking ab calypso 😭 like wowww wdym u aren't thinking of my mutual pinkdiorluvr 😭 i just tune it out atp LMAO

YESSSS I WAS SO HAPPY READING BOTH OF THOSE SCENES BECAUSE IVE BEEN PUSHING THE HOPELESS ROMANTIC JASON AGENDA!!!!!! AND THEY AFFIRMED IT!!!!!!!! i feel like because we didnt see jason pre memory loss we forget this man isnt all stoic and serious ALL of the time like the books say he joined the fifth cohort on purpose to make it better and was lowk a troublemaker or wtv it was in camp jupiter?? i forgot the exact wording but LIKEEEE HE IS MORE THAN SERIOUS AND BLUNT! (hes those 2 as well ofc but ykwim)

I LOVED NICO AND REYNA AND NICO AND JASONS INTERACTIONS SM SO I STAND BY THIS TRIO esp the nico reyna interactions they were so sweet tgt literally made me wanna cry i love them both SO much omg.... nico reyna jason trio def do the mama y papa tiktok trend thing LMAO (jeyna truthers rise)

i read that line n wondered if that affirmed to leo exactly how unloveable he is despite the fact that he chose to ask those two for the reason that its in their blood to put duty above all.... leo u r ur number 1 saboteur ur number 1 hater i pray u heal

ANF ONG I WAS SO CONFUSED AT HOW IT ENDED SO QUICKLY was a little disappointed but i never enjoyed fight scenes anw cz i struggle w visualising them so overall didnt rly mind... im much more of a character development girlie like tell me all their inner thoughts pls

THAT WAS SO HOT OF JASON i llove like the 5 times overall rick let him fight without passing out before the action even starts 🙏🏼 free my man jason grace from the shackles of fainting

I LOVED THAT PART SO MUCH ESP APHRODITE CHEERING PIPER ON IT WAS SOOOO CUTE OMFGGG 😭

oh yes ofc it was rly sad i cant believe leo died fr there def wasnt a leo chapter in my copy at the end where he comes back to life and goes back to ogygia ... it acc just ends w jason and piper thinking ab leo idk what these other versions have as the last chapter

STOP I DID NOT REALISE THIS I WILL BE THINKING AB IT FOR THE REST OF TODAY NOW WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKK

[cynthiav06]

idk if you take asks but enchanted is such perachel (esp from rachel pov on how like she was so wonderstruck by him and his life/world)

Enchanted is definitely Perachel coded, and some sections work for both Percy and Rachel pov.

Percy pov:

Percy is sure his fatal flaw could have been hindsight. The number of times he has lamented the choices he has made, more so on the fact of whether he could have done it better differently; much like now that he's finished regretting his Nico conversation his thoughts finally return to one Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Yes, he remembers her full name, he has a good memory and even if he didn't she would be hard to forget.

For one, she saved his life despite him running her through with Riptide (he had never been more glad that his sword didn't harm mortals).

That and her face was a bit too memorable to ever forget. It's logical, too; he remembers Annabeth telling him the statistics for facial features. Red hair and green eyes were the rarest pair, and of course, Rachel Elizabeth Dare had both. It's not his fault he was enchanted, the sort of enchanted you get when you see a once in a lifetime thing cause that was what it was. He hoped, however, desperately that he would see his red-headed nightmare again; after all he had a debt to repay. Given that she probably lived near Hoover, chances were he would never see her again.

He shouldn't have doubted how much the Fates love proving him wrong because he sees her just a few months after the orientation of all places. He's equal parts glad and embarrassed, for he certainly couldn't apologize enough, and that makes him do something insanely stupid like run away. She finds him like she did last time, and he is so caught up in staring at her that he forgets he needs to run mostly cause he can't give her the answers she wants.

It starts out as he knows it would with her wanting an explanation. He wants to explain, too, but he's always been bad at it, and it's not like he got a good one from Chiron. Then came in the demon cheerleaders. They were so well disguised that he wouldn't have known if not for Rachel screaming. So yeah, it's now the second time he's gotten her involved in something dangerous. The empousai, something women, seemed to have it out for his blood, which wasn't new, but he drew the line at them attacking Rachel. He killed the first one and was almost on the second one when Rachel realized her scheme. Now Percy could definitely say thinking on his feet was his strength but between Rachel being attacked and Paul Blofis showing up he was a bit slow on the uptake. Rachel, brilliant Rachel gets them both out of there, they are almost out and he is half ready to drag her with him so they could both talk and so he could apologize again right until Annabeth shows up. So yeah, that ruins almost all his plans. Annabeth's in a hurry, and he should be too given the burning school, but he couldn’t just leave Rachel Elizabeth Dare on her own. If not for her insistence, he would have taken her with her. Deja vu is quick to catch up to him as he flees with Annabeth, leaving Rachel to deal with the mass chaos he left behind yet again. This time, though, he has her number scrawled on his palm, and he memorizes it for good measure because now he wouldn't need the Fates to run into Rachel.

Rachel pov:

Rachel can't stop thinking about Percy I-am- not -a mortal- guy weeks after her trip had ended and the cold was long gone. Made sense. After countless years of thinking herself insane, she finally met someone who knows all the answers to her questions. Perhaps that's why she is so ridiculously obsessed with him. What's more ridiculous is that she can't stop sketching. No matter what she starts with, she always ends up with the same visage of a sea-green eyed boy. The only reason she remembers his face is because she's good at that sort of thing; being an artist requires good memory, not because he was excessively good-looking even in that awful lion fur.. Had he not run her through with his stupid sword, she would have gawked at him. Listen, she was an artist, and she could admire a good face. She was almost at the point of hiring a P.I. under her father's nose to look for Percy something. She was sure he was from New York , call it a feeling. But if so, New York could have like hundreds of Percy and what if he lived in some strange place only people like him,no, people like them could see.

Rachel had a barrage of such weirdly eerie encounters, but something about this one was far more enchanting than any other. He had seen what she saw and heard what she heard, and when she told him to hide, he listened to her no questions asked. Nobody had done that ever before, but just before he slipped into the stall, she was sure that the uncertainty he felt was less over hiding and more over leaving her alone. "I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he had said to her with so much belief in the fact that they would meet again that she almost believed him as vain as it felt.

Turns out Rachel didn't have to believe in vain for too long. She saw him at this new high school she had picked against her father's wishes. It was so random that she thought she was hallucinating. She almost doesn't catch up to him, which makes her next words angry, and then he just stares at her as he blurts out her full name, and she's forgotten entirely why she was angry. The fact that he remembered her name made her weirdly happy until she remembered he tried to kill her. He had finally begun answering her questions until demon vampire things came along. Percy couldn't see them, so she had to ask him to run. Even now, he believed in her without any hesitation. Percy was negotiating. She could tell when Kale something and her trainee cornered them. Negotiating to get them both out. Then the trainee lunged at her. Faster than she could process her fear, she lay dead sliced clean by Percy. It was gross to be covered in monster dust, but she was happy she was alive. The Kelli one attacked now, and Percy swiftly put himself between us . For all her bragging about being thousand years old, I had a feeling Percy could defeat her. Maybe that's why she didn't feel any fear, just adrenaline and awe. Percy was extremely good with the sword, and the demon thing probably caught that cause she tricked us into ducking as she exploded and started a large fire. Even that would have turned out fine is some professor who knew Percy hadn't interrupted and made Percy freeze.

As she called out about the fire he seemed to recover as he quickly counted his options and settled for jumping through the broken window. Because she was now certifiably insane she jumped after him into the alley. By the time she caught up to them some blond girl was standing with him. By the looks of it she knew him but Rachel hadn't seen her at orientation; as soon as her grey eyes settled on Rachel her smile disappeared but Rachel didn't much care about that. Percy had gotten her into this he was going to pay her back with at least a fee explanations.

She ignored the pang she felt when he told the blond girl Annabel something that she was a friend. But friend was good it was better than nobody. As Annabel was about to drag him away, possibly preventing them from meeting ever again, she scrawled her number on his hand in permanent marker. Contrary to her thoughts, he didn't call her crazy nor did he back away. It might have been her speech about him owing her, or maybe just maybe he was just as enchanted by their first meeting. As she ran away to make up some story, she could still feel his eyes on her. This time, it was he who would look for her maybe, just maybe as fixatedly as she had.

This turned out to be rather long but it's such a good theme it might deserve a part two. (Yes I do take asks , just takes me bit of time to deliver.)

I will never get over the fact that Percy Jackson called Rachel his redheaded nightmare. I can't-

[bentosandbox]

don't block me for this bento lol but while yes i get that her being Huge is hyperbole, i just can't suspend my disbelief that her being tall for a typical IRL asian woman jives with her in-game quote about having trouble getting through doors. she's the only op (outside mudrock i guess) who even has such a line, while men bigger than her have no problems or worries about banging their heads off the supposed tiny doorframe. i'm just being nitpicky about environmental implications i guess lol like why does she have this problem that no one else seems to have. gacha be gacha c'est la vie

also, what was the right line hoshi said to bagpipe? this is the first i've heard of it being mistranslated? :o (thank you for your TL work btw you're one of the few bastions of sense in this wasteland)

you're welcome + all good dw i have a pretty high block threshold for better or worse

Yeah i get it! BUT here is my copium reasoning

184cm + horn height (if as long as her face + average face length = 20cm) + boot heel height (about 3cm) = 207cm which is just very slightly over average door height (here?) which is 205cm and my view is that just slightly missing a few cm is way more troublesome than going through a door that's obviously smaller than your height since you'll definitely know when to duck than having a perceived illusion that you can make it through without bending down a little and then BANG the rhodes door frame has a little hole or something

I mentioned it here in a little rant i did last july but i'll explain it more in detail below (i thought i did before somewhere. probably twitter but i can't find it so i'll just do another one here)

I'll do a more literal TL first

风笛: 那个......我的钱包和护照都丢在莱塔尼亚了。 Bagpipe: Um...I lost both my wallet and passport while I was in Leithanien. 星熊: ......我是不是该佩服你？ Hoshiguma: ...Should I be admiring you? 风笛: ——被炸得一点不剩了。 Bagpipe: ——They got blown up with not even a shred left. 星熊: 我确实该佩服你。 Hoshiguma: Indeed, I should be admiring you.

And 佩服 really does mean admire

'what's wrong then' But admire has like 2 main definitions

And whoever translated it went with the second definition instead of the first; it's not admire in the 'oooo you have an admirer' (someone who fancies you) way, it's admire in the 'wow i admire your tenacity to make your way all the way from Londinium to Lungmen even after almost getting blown to bits otw'

'what makes you so sure its that reading over the other' just read the context of the conversation + I'm well aware of my bias for the JP loc but like. it's because their TL track record is pretty good (esp with characterisation) so I sometimes check it to double confirm my readings, and they use 褒める here which is homeru for you weebs and for everyone else

So back to the lines, admire sounds strange in context, but the idea is that hoshi is so impressed by her tenacity that she goes 'wow should i praise you?' so I would use 'impress' here

Bagpipe: Um...I lost both my wallet and passport while I was in Leithanien. Hoshiguma: ...Should I be impressed? Bagpipe: ——They got blown up with not even a shred left. Hoshiguma: Yeah, I should be. (Or 'Yeah, that's pretty impressive.' to flow better but it loses the 'should' which I prefer because Hoshi has a tendency to be very passive in her speech)

also also sorry i need to get this out lol i know they want swire to be as bratty as possible or whatever but :\ aghdgfhfgffff as someone who also calls their dad 爸爸 with cantonese tones and not mandarin im just really fucking bummed ok the rep would have been cool it, also has the slightly childish vibe to it that 'daddy' has so (without the discord kitten vibes even /shrug) Yuxia calls her dad 爸 if anyone was wondering

bonus since i mentioned chen's op rec in that og post

insane that swire's oprec was the last of her batch and chen is the first of the batch after so theyre next to each other in the medal list

TL is fine for the most part but man this is some 'parents making you call them by their first name' level of americanization (they took out most of the 警司 especially the one in their 'first' meeting??naur way...)

[foodsies4me]

AND yes I was sobbing at Alec giving Ali and protection/kinda adoption sigil in Bridges. He is such a caring and considerate being even though he presents as so stoic. Definitely a soft bean who just melts around kids. (esp when he has two toddlers constantly visiting his quarters multiple times a week)

Magnus when he finds out Alec is basically the rookies unofficial honorary guardian:

(he fighting falling for Alec so hard but you basically fed him breakfast on instinct. We see you bb 🙃)

Magnus is starting to crack and you’re going to see it more and more over the next chapters. And yeah, finding out his husband has more or less been adopting kids left and right by the time they start talking about them is going to be a surprise.😆

Also, here is a tiny snippet (though still a bit rough around the edges because the words need to be made ✨prettier✨ still) from the next chapter that should have been part of the previous chapter before it spun too far out of control.

Bane holds out a hand toward Ali, helping him upright while Alec picks up the last of the pre-teen's bags and hands them to him. He's about to push himself to his feet when a tanned, manicured hand enters his line of vision.

 "Well?"

Bane's eyes are focused on Alec, something heavy and searching in them that Alec can't name. He raises his eyebrow again, the expression cool and distant, and yet distinct from both the cold scrutiny and the chilling aversion that Alec knows and knew.

His hand is warm.

[philosophiums]

hi sam! i have more jjk/writing questions 💫

whose pov do you find it easier to write in? i've only written in nanami's and megumi's povs and i find that the quieter characters come more easily to me. i think if i were to write in yuuji or gojo's pov for example it would be a lot harder....what about you?

do you write in silence or with something playing in the background?

do you have any writing pet peeves? like if you see it when you're reading something it just gets at your nerves? hgjshfhf

what do you do when you're stuck on a scene? oh also. do you write chronologically?

who do you think has the most interesting cursed technique? why?

is there any standout vocal performance in the anime for you? i personally think sukuna's va kills it every single time he's toooo good esp when he's playing around with his opponent, that coy teasing tone is just *chefs kiss*

hi mariam!!!! 💜 WAAAAAA SO MANY HELL YEAH

i also find it easier to write in the pov of a quieter/more introspective character. it makes scenes flow faster/better imo if the character is intuitive (or at least thinks they are) and can make some logical assumptions along the way. so megumi is for sure an easier pov for me to write in. however! i am finding that yuuji is coming easier to me lately because i have (re)Discovered that his intelligence and inner thoughts run along the lines of Reading People. so megumi is very in his head about himself and looking at the world around him, but yuuji is connecting dots and thinking about the people he's with. getting his outward personality down, however, is still a bit of a challenge to me KJSBVJKSDBV

both! if i'm Cruising and the words are flowing, i listen to music (usually just whatever has caught my attention lately, be that my entire !!! playlist, which changes sometimes daily, or just one song looped for hours on end). but if i'm really on the struggle bus and have to focus, i keep my earbuds in but don't listen to anything. i can't write in complete silence, but i like to have the world a little muffled when i'm concentrating

SKJCBVKJDSVB i have a couple writing pet peeves, but the main one for anime fics is when honorifics either aren't used at all or are replaced by the Western Equivalent. like it feels so so wrong to me when, say, yuuji just calls gojo JUST Gojo and not Gojo-sensei (or simply sensei), and i was reading a fic a while ago that had Mr. Gojo, and i full-body flinched followed by immediately closing the fic. i just can't do it. having no honorifics for Inner Thoughts is fine, but as soon as dialogue comes out there better be -sans and -senseis and -kuns thrown around or i will likely Leave

funnily enough i had this discussion with hina a couple days ago KJSDBVJKSBDV i've started to recognize that when i'm stuck on a scene it's because i Fucked Up something a couple paragraphs ago that drove me into a wall. so i usually stop writing and talk Out Loud to myself about what the necessary steps are in the scene to accomplish my goals (sometimes as simple as getting the characters from point A to point B) and then i go back and reread the scene from the beginning to look for where i fucked up. it's usually pretty easy to spot. and then i delete everything from that point forward (into the Kill Your Darlings doc they go) and start over

i do write chronologically! i enjoy thinking about and planning for future scenes, but i have to write chronologically. in the last long fic i wrote (and i'm anticipating it happening again for this one), i had an Epiphany for the climax about 60k in, and feverishly wrote literally an entire chapter in my notes app, and then promptly left it alone for the next 150k words. it helped to have that written out, though, because it was a constant reminder of This Is What I Want and therefore was always a question hanging over my head of How Do I Get Here?

most interesting cursed technique is a tie between megumi and yuuta! i'm obsessed with shadow powers; i will put them anywhere i can and love giving them to ocs (umbrius has some shadow abilities!). i'm also an animal person, so megumi really has just a 10/10 cool technique to me. i am also, however, obsessed with Copying as a power, because universes that have magic/power systems are often filled with this ego in characters revolving around being Super Unique, so to have a character who can just,,, copy them and be like actually this is Our power now :) is really cool and creates a fun narrative beat to boot

OUGH Suwabe Junichi kills it as Sukuna frfr he's such a talented voice actor i really don't think he ever misses. every character he has ever played has been an immediate obsession of mine. i really also have to shout out Enoki Junya like oh my god can he get emotions across. from cheerful and very obviously carefree to just screaming and sobbing and choking on his words it's just So Good he's so talented. no one else could have played yuuji as well as he does. (Uchida Yuuma also has my heart he's so so so so good)

[whatislifebesidesrehearsal]

Hello, do you speak in hypotheticals by chance?

Let's say that, hypothetically, your show's lead actress quits 2 days before performance day. Let's also say that, hypothetically, you have been removed from stage management and placed onto the cast in a panicked frenzy.

In this completely hypothetical and not-real-life scenario, is there any kind of advice you would give yourself for learning an entire character in 48 hours?

(Yes everything's fine why do you ask?)

So, hypothetically, I've never had to learn a role on this tight of a time line, but here's my like. General Memorization Strategy™:

You've been part of the SM team, you've got a general idea what's going on, you're not going in completely blind, you can do this.

Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. (spoiler: this is also in every other point.) Run it as much as you can.

You need a line partner. You will read the script (Several times! Out loud even!). You will go 'yeah know what the lines are.' You will not. Get someone on book while you run. It can be a cast member, it can be your friend, it can be your mom, it can be some guy you stop in a grocery store aisle, whoever, Someone needs to check you.

Adding to 3, my favorite method to have them check me, is where I start at the top and go until I mess something up at which point they correct me and I start over from the very beginning. This makes the scene take ages and gets boring fast and it is Absolutely Crucial to making sure you know the scene in context (also. free repetition).*

Do this on your feet. ** I like to run lines under my breath while I'm walking places, which can be anything from around the block, the aforementioned grocery store, or just straight up pacing. You're never just speaking on stage so try not to practice like that. Get your body involved

Don't forget the Everything Else you're doing. You know the lines but do you know where the next entrance is? Props? Costume change? Quick turnaround? Make a list***. Run the list often so you can recall things backstage

Also uh..i've never been concise but 30 Second Character Workshop:

Feet and shoulders. Bam. Like 85% of character body movement right there. How does the character hold their feet and how do they hold their shoulders. If you know that it will lead pretty naturally into the rest of the movements.

*I am absolutely guilty of bailing on my own method and only going back part way bc I have said that dialogue forty times in the last five minutes thank you very much, so this isn't like a hard rule but try to start from different places each time so that the memorization is cohesive and run it all together at the end. I also personally like my partner to make me be word perfect but that is dependent on both directorial and personal preference.

**This is more of a step 2 bc it can be a lot esp if you're trying to read at the same time, but you want to get to it as soon as possible. Also a great place to run blocking if you know it but if you only run things on your feet when you have space to do blocking you're losing out on ages of practice time. Just get your body moving.

***Given the fact you're stepping in so last minute, I'm going to hazard this list already exists in some way but make it your best friend. If you have time to rewrite it (by hand ideally) that can help cement it into your memory. My personal format is "In Scene X, I am playing X in X costume. I enter from X carrying X and exit X carrying X. After I leave, I X" but do whatever format and information makes the most sense to you, cause you're the one who's going to use it.

That's like. kinda a lot but I hope it helps! Anyone else got something they think would help (hypothetically)?

[wrongcaitlyn]

need more apollo and darren lore to see if i can relate them to back to december

you can ONE HUNDRED PERCENT relate them to back to december if you just ignore the tiny detail of them not breaking up in december (but like, who cares because it’s the VIBE that matters and in this case the vibe is definitely accurate)

i will definitely be adding more apollo and darren lore…let’s just say… archery world championships happening soon…. olympics in one year…. kayla’s an icon mastermind…..

but! some little notes in specific relation to back to december

i know you may think this is apollos pov, but after looking over the lyrics again to refresh my memory… it’s from darren’s perspective. 100%

I'm so glad you made time to see me / How's life? Tell me, how's your family? / I haven't seen them in a while

apollos family!! not referring to his dad. duh. but darren’s prob just talking abt like the 1-2 times he met will and austin as babies, he hasn’t seen them since so “a while”…. sure darren, that might be a bit of an understatement

You've been good, busier than ever / We small talk, work and the weather / Your guard is up and I know why

small talk is SO real with them. they’re so awkward esp rn. they don’t know how to talk to each other. apollo says “nice weather we’re having” completely unironically and darren responds “oh yeah it’s nice”

cue silence for like 2 minutes until apollo asks how his coaching is going and more and more stilted conversation

AND!!! they’re both busier than ever!! apollo returning to being employed (kinda? i mean, he has a job so) and darren with olympics being next year

Because the last time you saw me / Is still burned in the back of your mind / You gave me roses and I left them there to die

i don’t wanna spoil exactly how they broke up… bc me and wronghuntress had like an hour long convo abt pollen lore a few weeks back and. guys. when i tell you i am SO fucking excited to write it‼️‼️

HOWEVER. this line. is very. very. very. fitting. from darren’s pov that’s all i’m saying hereeee

bc ik in one of the other chapters i said that apollos like “i ruined his life” and he DID but also like. it’s messy. it’s so very messy.

So this is me swallowin' my pride / Standin' in front of you sayin' I'm sorry for that night / And I go back to December all the time

not technically in front of him but!! the phone call!! abt kayla!! him swallowing up his pride, and there wasn’t necessarily an apology for the… things that happened, but it’s a step forward

It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you / Wishin' I'd realized what I had when you were mine / I'd go back to December, turn around and make it alright / I go back to December all the time

change it to march and make darren a singer instead of an archer and this would be one of his songs😭😭

These days, I haven't been sleepin' / Stayin' up playin' back myself leavin' / When your birthday passed and I didn't call / Then I think about summer, all the beautiful times / I watched you laughin' from the passenger's side / And realized I loved you in the fall

god… this timeline is actually SO real. if anyone’s making a pollen playlist out there (i should probably do that when i have timeHDKDJD) THIS SONG‼️‼️‼️

anyway ofc apollo is associated with summer in darren’s brain… and also apollo def thinks of summer too when thinking of darren :)

and oh yeah, ofc apollo’s in the passenger seat. bro probably grew up with drivers and doesn’t have his license.. rip sun chariot!!! (he gets his license eventually, ofc, but only bc it’s to drive will to school)

I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile / So good to me, so right

But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right

i mean, do these even need to be explained? well darren, i can assure you that you WILL love again. it’s what we all need

okay so. i can’t really. explain the rest of this stuff. but here are the lyrics that stand out to me SOOO much because of how they broke up. that is all i can say for now!!

And then the cold came, the dark days / When fear crept into my mind / You gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye

And how you held me in your arms that September night / The first time you ever saw me cry

thank you so much for the ask!! it’s been a while since some pollen content but i swear it’s coming soon :))

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/baldwinhearts/753792475477557248/if-what-im-going-to-say-upsets-you-please-block?source=share

This is quite a strange thing to say when Alicent is a great representation of Phariseeism and religious hypocrisy. Adding to that, she has allowed her rapist son to get away with it and has allowed heinous sins and crimes for her own benefit, while still considering herself morally superior. But I think it makes sense that someone with this kind of conservative and hypocritical opinion would like Alicent; both are hypocritical, Pharisaic, and misogynistic.

Alicent's behavior is the typical Pharisaic behavior that Jesus would abhor. It's funny when people try to turn her into a genuinely religious figure....

It's all the same tradcath/tradwife/internalized sexist arguments over and over again, so I'm just going to talk abt some lines here and there:

she doesn't want her children to go through what she went through. she’s a good woman, with a very good heart, who deserves all the respect in the world. AND she represents all the men and women who have suffered in silence for years and have found the strength to stand up again — “i am not what happened to me”, that's what alicent represents.

Except in episode 7, Aemond explicitly says that their mother wanted Aegon to marry Helaena, who was even younger than Alicent when they marry. She slaps Aegon around manically in her insistence he do what he clearly did not want to do--go against Rhaenyra or look after Aemond when that last part was her & Criston's responsibility, not his, when her own father also used intimidation against her to do what he wanted to do with her. So she also makes "her children to go through what she went through". It's also ironic how she had to look to Cole to make Aegon change his mind abt his approach towards Rhaenyra in the 2nd season's first episode at the council; how Aemond refers to her as "Alicent" and "fool" -- her kids don't respect her both bc she is a woman, she already raised them to be might=right, self grasping little shits, and she did not really ever respect them. Esp not enough to even punish them for their own egregious acts (murder, rape, etc). So with what reason should I respect Alicent if she does not respect anyone but the patriarchal might=right dogma she preaches to have a bit of a pie she will never have but also chooses to say Rhaenrya doesn't deserve?

And that gets me to this:

she’s not sleeping with criston cole for him, but for herself. yes, she has created a strong bond with him, but if she sleeps and discovers her feminine desire with him, it's because she's doing it for herself. she’s never been in control of her body or her desires, she was only used to produce children for viserys — a filthy, neglectful husband with the charisma of an oyster. now that she's rid of him, she can finally discover herself, and it's beautiful to see.

Yeah...the only difference b/t what Alicent is doing vs Rhaenyra is that Rhaenyra is not in the socially-"appropriate" position of women which is she is not the consort of any lord or male monarch, so she is not seen as having "sacrificed" like Alicent has...meanwhile both women do not really comply with their marriages, even as Alicent's situation is more black-white coercion and abuse. I explain HERE.

Alicent and that stan's issue is that Alicent has been outwardly trying to destroy Rhaenyra for doing the exact same thing she herself has been doing. Why is it that Rhaenyra has to be as abused and suffer in the exact , cookie-cutter, same way as Alicent for us to identify the character of her own social entrapment that is unique to women/girls? They go through things that are categorically under the same family as "women having to compromise their own relationships with their bodies and happiness or sexual exploration for the sake of male ambition or societal patriarchal order". You are not negligent of what Alicent went through in her youth if you criticize her actions of the now that are setting not just her kids and but herself up for further disappointment as well, bc Criston's priorities are not her but her sons and himself.

He's going to eventually turn on her--maybe not violently or accusingly like Rhaenyra, but he's going to stop trying to be her silent advocate and swing more towards her sons' desires so he can boost his own influence. He's an incel, got mad that the girl he slept with didn't want to forgo everything she ever knew for him to sell oranges when that would have been itself a breach of their own loyalities to their houses as well as Cole, once again, breaking his own KG vows.

It's also canon; he's responsible for a lot of stuff that person may or may not know about, and if they do they are in serious denial if they think HotD is not going to have Criston be actively planning some stuff that he does in canon. This is the same dude who was all too willing to run away with Rhaenyra to ruin both of their relationships with their houses; Alicent by now maybe knows of the whole deal (can't be sure bc again, HotD didn't develop that) of him wanting to run with her AND she knows he slept with her and broke his own vows...for her to believe that Rhaenyra "wiled" him when she herself is busying him from performing his duties through sex is wildly hypocritical and shortsighted.

So yeah, she's doing shit for herself...but literally anyone else would have been a better pick, and I rather think bc it is Criston of all people, she rather than Rhaenyra is being way too selfish at the cost of those around her. HotD!Harwin sorta risked some shit for Rhaenrya by losing control on Crispy in the training yard so that she was even more alone then, but at least he never would have actually turned against her and/or her kids!

Alicent wants to act out as the matronly Queenly authority and doesn't want to tie herself to a dead man, a sick too old man and she has every ethical right to do so...however she wants her cake and eat it too. She wants to be seen as morally righteous and by the contradictory, sexist rules...but at the same time she thinks she can escape those rules by ignoring the implications of her own actions while hoping the men around her will respect her if she just manages to act outwardly like a "good girl". Of course most women of her time-place will likely feel similar, show!Rhaenyra herself doesn't totally escape from the need for validation for her ruling (bk!Rhaneyra could not be more different) BUT show!Rhaenyra also still doesn't try to make other women (or anyone) conform to those rules she herself is resisting more than Alicent.

While Alicent is still sincerely trying to get everyone to play the the rules she sincerely believes in, has made herself the exception of, and actively breaks. And yes, widows are also consigned to sexless-ness....why do you think so many real noble ladies were either forced or "voluntarily" consigned themselves to the nunneries (other than genuinely wanting to enjoy scholarly pursuits or to finally escape the reproductive demands of their families)?

I am not religious at all, and all my knowledge of Jesus has dwindled in years past since Catholic school and my last compulsory Church attendance. But yeah, agreed. Alicent and this user you link display a lot of dogmatic, oppressive conservatism and violence that he simply was not about.

That person really showed their hand:

alicent hightower is very personal to me, her character speaks to me enormously, i see a lot of myself in her. she represents women and men victims of domestic abuse and abuse of all kinds throughout the world, people who suffer and have suffered in silence for years.

As like this anon told us, it's not a rational sort of thing for a lot of Alicent's stans. It's too close to an idea of themselves:

they've always been people who, to say this nicely and vaguely, take a very passive approach to trauma and hardship sometimes to a frustrating degree. And the way they'll talk or write about these fictional women often mirrors the way they talk about themselves. And there's a good part of me that suspects they see themselves in these passive women and the patriarchal fantasy of one day being rewarded for passively enduring your hardships. It's basically internalized misogyny tied on with real life pain that they channel through fiction because, as I said, they're often either quite passive or quite... "my pain should be centered at all times but I refuse to extend that empathy I demand to others" in real life. Which is why I honestly don't think there's any sense in... trying to talk sense into a lot of these people. They're channeling feelings from their real life that they've not addressed in their real life, and they're so obstinate about it that they're not the kind of people who would ever see it as a chance to examine how they feel about their own life. Because for them, characters like Sansa and Alicent validate their own feelings about their own lives, while Dany and Rhaenyra challenge them and therefore must be destroyed in order to protect that validation, and they're simply not the kinds of people willing to rethink, or even be aware, of what they're doing. That's why they get so passionate while also refusing true criticism.