#the one i do remember very clearly is the 2016 one

[slutforpringles]

Ricciardo is speaking to me from Baku (where he sensationally won from P17 in 2017), a week before what will be remembered as one of the most arcane and unceremonious dismissals in the history of the sport. And while it couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke, the repercussions of the decision - specifically, the way it was executed - affects the team,the sponsors, the fans, and F1 in its entirety. Somehow, Ricciardo gritted his teeth and smiled throughout the train wreck, departing with dignity, and in doing so left a legacy that will go unrivalled by drivers more accomplished in the sport - both past and present. You only have to go through the tribute posts from current and former F1 drivers, teams, commentators, celebrities, specialist media, and fans to see what sort of an impact he had, and what size pothole his lack of presence will leave on the grid. Ricciardo's eight grand prix wins ranks him equal 37th on the list of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, and redemption at Monaco in 2018 - after Red Bull fumbled his certain win in 2016 - will likely rank as his (and his fans') most satisfying victory. To put his career in perspective, only 15 per cent of all drivers who've competed in F1 have won a race. Of those, only five per cent have won eight or more races. It's fair to say, the Honey Badger is one of the best to ever do it, and he deserved a send off that reflected his success. For brands like Tudor, who organised my interview, they've lost a valuable asset. They may have even lost the very reason they committed to sponsoring the team in the first place - an affable, approachable, and highly respected marketing machine. An ambassador that everyone, including myself, is dying to meet. It's the reason every brand in Australia wants a piece of Ricciardo; he's impossible to dislike. After an enthusiastic discussion about Tudor's involvement with Visa Cash App RB, we move onto the Black Bay Ceramic "Blue" on his wrist. "They even did this custom flame strap for me," he beams as he lifts it up to the camera. It's greyish white and embossed with flames, like his headphones - and if it's a piece unique from Tudor, which one would assume it is, then it's going to be highly collectible. I ask questions about his McLaren exit and return to F1, the competitor in him, how he deals with pressure and maintaining mental clarity as a driver, but in hindsight, none of it matters anymore. Not until we arrive at life after Formula One.

The most obvious and undeniable proof we've had yet of just how last-minute and haphazard the decision was to replace Daniel after the Singapore GP. The team's big sponsors had no idea, Daniel had no idea, clearly even VCarb's team principals had no idea .... an absolute shitshow that resulted in Daniel being subjected to some of the most cruel and unfair treatment by the media and resulted in an exit completely unbefitting of his contributions and achievements over his career in Formula One.

Daniel Ricciardo: The Last Laugh | BH Magazine Volume Two (November 2024) | James Want (**if used please credit**)

[hiraethwrote]

AS I LIVE AND BREATHE

pairing : tobio kageyama x f!reader summary : he thought time had extinguished any silly little feelings he'd had for you. that was way back in high school anyways. why would they linger when he didn't have you around to remind him? cw : just pure fluff, very self indulgent, kinda boring but idc, heavy pining, timeskip, set in 2016, flashbacks, reader is a uni dropout (lowkey me venting about dropping out lol), mild cursing, no use of y/n word count : 3.5k

He couldn’t help how his looks always used to linger — a generous gesture he had only spared you.

It wasn’t news to Tobio that he was notorious for being unapproachable. He had a permanent frown stamped on his forehead that always gave the impression that he was in no mood to interact with anyone. And if someone had been possessed with the spirit of engaging in small talk, he would keep his answers short and to the point. If the topic didn’t interest him, he saw no reason why he would waste his energy on it.

Eventually people just stopped trying, leaving him to live in his exclusive bubble where volleyball was the only thing that mattered — and that was enough for him.

However, you decided to go against the stream, ignoring the pinched eyebrows and standoffish demeanour.

It wasn’t anything big, but you just spared him something as simple as a smile. If he accidentally locked eyes with you across the classroom, or you passed each other in the halls, your lips would curl into the kindest smile before going on with your day.

At first he had thought you must have mistaken him for someone else, because why would you smile at him? You never really talked to each other, falling into the roles of simply being classmates.

But the tiny smiles continued, clearly meant for him. And what was probably just a meaningless act of kindness to you, had heat creep up his neck and colour his cheeks in dusty pink. Eventually he developed the tiniest hallway crush, eyes shyly seeking you out as he impatiently waited for you to catch him.

That’s where his courage stopped however. He knew he would never be brave enough to ever initiate a conversation, based on the few times words were exchanged between you and his mouth would completely dry out. You could come over to ask the most casual question of “do you have a pen I could borrow?”, and when he muttered a shy no, you simply went on to ask the next person, thinking nothing more of it.

Tobio would churn over the interaction for hours, hindsight supplying him with all the possible answers he could have given you.

Three years of a childish crush eventually came to an end when graduation rolled around. When separated, your smiles simply ceased to exist in his life and it was like a fog had lifted. He left Karasuno, and the crush evaporated into nothingness and he grew out of the childish infatuation.

That’s what he thought at least.

Right now, that very smile that had his heart race was staring back at him, identical to how he remembered it — turns out his infatuation had nothing to do with age, and everything to do with you.

Your deadpanned expression twisted into one of pleasant surprise when you spotted him. “Kageyama Tobio, as I live and breathe!”

Maybe he had always had a tiny glimmer of hope he would eventually run into you again — that being said, he was not prepared for that time to be now. Last he heard, you were basking in the glorious university life in Tokyo, attending some prestigious education he could only imagine getting into. You weren’t supposed to stand behind the counter of the quaint convenience store, much like you had done when you were sixteen.

What was even more unexpected was how you knew his name. Your interactions throughout your acquaintance had been so few and far between, he had just assumed you knew him as ‘that volleyball guy’ — but hearing his name spoken in the tune of your voice, travelling in cheerful waves, had his heart beat a little faster.

Despite his frozen stature, he let his eyes take in the scenery of you sat behind the counter. Your shoulders were close under your ears, the corporate fleece doing little to shield out the gushing cold air that occupied the store.

As unflattering as the white light above might have been, it did little to diminish your appearance which was prettier than he recalled — you looked very much like yourself, just slightly different. Every feature had turned more defined, the childlike curves slowly fading with time.

“There’s a face I didn’t think I’d see any time soon.”

Swallowing his nerves, praying his flushed cheeks wasn’t beyond obvious, he placed his items on the surface in front of you.

“Could say the same.” He wished he was brave enough to look at your face, wanting to take in all the subtle changes to your appearance. But he didn’t dare let his eyes rest on you for more than a few moments at a time, redirecting his attention to the rather interesting products he was purchasing, impatiently waiting for his heart to settle so he could act like a normal human being.

“Thought you were busy being a big shot volleyball player,” you teased, the obnoxious beeping of you scanning his items ringing in his ears. “What are you doing back home?”

He cleared his throat, hoping it would bring back some steadiness to it. “Just visiting,” nodding carefully as the words tumbled awkwardly out of him.

As he paid for his items, he tried to let his innocent urges control him and tilt his head to look at you — he had to greet the embarrassed redness to his cheeks like an old friend when he saw you already had your eyes focused on him.

“Are you in town for long?” You asked as you handed him the bagged groceries, your fingers brushing against his in a featherlight touch. It was so modest, he wasn’t even sure you felt it — he most certainly did.

“Just a few days.”

“That’s nice. A break from your hectic schedule.”

“I’ll still practice.”

Your smile widened as you pulled your sleeves over your hands, folding your arms and leaning forward on the counter. “Yeah, guess I kinda knew that.”

He felt so stupid, ogling you with big eyes as he racked his brain for all that he knew of small talk, and yet he blanked completely.

“Guess the life of a pro athlete never stops,” you said as you checked your wristwatch, probably waiting for the time to strike eleven so you could close up.

“No, not really.”

He sensed an awkward silence sneak in on the conversation, and he so desperately did not want it to end. And he spotted the slightest betrayal in your expression when your smile wavered for a split second — and he was convinced it was because you thought he was being weird.

With this opportunity served on a silver platter, he wanted to prove he wasn’t as socially inapt as he came across to be.

“You’re in Tokyo now, right?”

“Well, yes, technically,” you chuckled, undisclosed information hiding in your answer. It was uncontrollable how he quirked an eyebrow in confusion, though he quickly smoothened it in hopes he didn’t come across as rude. “Guess I’m home visiting as well. For a while.”

“And do you like it? Tokyo?”

“It’s definitely more my pace.”

That confirmed his suspicions, possessing a lively personality that seemed too big for this small town. He had always found you to have a soothing type of vibrancy that filled every room you walked into.

And your energy was infectious. He was still anxious beyond belief, but somewhere inside him he could sense that your presence had a calming effect on him. It possessed him with a flash of courage when he said “it’s nice seeing you again.”

You blinked at him, lips parted in surprise at his unexpected line, and for a moment he was sure he had messed up. He clenched his fists, waiting for you to laugh at him or tell him off.

He didn’t expect your smile to return, reigniting the butterflies once again. “Yeah,” you spoke softly, “yeah, you too.” The smile remained and the cute crinkles by your eyes deepened.

The conversation was once more drifting towards a close, and this time Tobio didn’t think he had it in him to resurrect it. He took a deep breath and presented you with a tight lipped smile, mumbling a quiet “see ya,” before turning on his heel and heading for the door.

He only had time to place his palm against the cool glass before you called his name. “Hey, Kageyama,” capturing his attention, eyebrows narrowed as he waited for your next words. “I close up in like ten minutes. Wanna walk me home?”

What? Had he heard you right?

You sunk your teeth cutely into your bottom lip, a tiny bit amused by how visibly his mind was racing to comprehend your request. “I would love to catch up more.”

His shoulders raised, as if this wasn’t the most stressful interaction he could ever remember being in, “sure.”

You gave him a look, one he couldn’t quite deduce the meaning of, while there was a sprinkle of mischief in your pursed smirk.

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket so his nerves wouldn’t spill out in anxious fidgeting, while you started all your closing routines.

As subtly as he managed, he kept his attention on you, standing behind the register, counting the change as you quietly hummed along to the melody coming from the cheap radio behind you. Consuming his mind was the thought that you seems to fit perfectly into the impression he had created of you back in school — kind, generally keeping a smile on your face, really just trying to enjoy the day that was today.

Your head tilted down to check your wristwatch again as you let out a deep exhale, ridding yourself of the strain caused from the closing shift before you disappeared down one of the isles.

Shifting his weight from one foot to another, he was still trying to mentally prepare himself for the walk home — he was probably never again going to get the chance to prove to you that he wasn’t as socially constipated and egocentric like everyone thought he was.

The lights shut off, and you emerged again, having changed out of the uniform and into a black hoodie. “Finally,” your head fell back playfully in light exasperation, hands rummaging through your bag before you pulled out your keys, “staying open until eleven on a Saturday should be considered a crime. There’s not a soul present the last hour.”

Tobio walked out the door first, and without even thinking about it, he simply held the door open for you. He had just acted on pure instinct, and didn’t reflect on it until you flashed him another one of your charming grins. As you mumbled quiet gratitudes, he spun his head away and retracted further into the neck of his jacket — if you were to look directly at him, you would definitely be able to see the generous flush spreading across his face.

“So, Kageyama Tobio,” you said nonchalantly, spinning the keys around your finger before tossing them in your bag again, “the olympics. Quite the achievement.”

“Thank you.”

You chuckled as you startled to fiddle with the packaging of a protein bar. “Never took you to be so humble,” you teased.

Turning to look at you again, he let his eyes be led by the protein bar heading for your mouth, before landing on your lips — your plump, glossy lips that looked so extremely soft. It wasn’t until you’d finished chewing and started talking again he was able to catch himself staring and avert his gaze back to the path ahead.

“I mean, from what I’ve seen of you on the court, it’s not the first word I would use to describe you.”

“You’ve seen me play?”

A deeper laugh escaped you, one that reactively caused a smile to grow on his face — he quickly wiped it away, too scared to lean into the feeling. “Of course I have. Several. Always having us at the edge of our seats. But you-“ you cut yourself off, pointing the bar in your hand at him.

Did you even have a clue what you were doing to him? His breath hitching in his throat, tense shoulders stiffening his arms when you so abruptly stepped ahead to walk backwards while always able to look at him.

“You, mister, got pride filling your every fibre when playing.”

Eyes widened at your compliment — because that’s what it was, a compliment. Not a comment with rude undertones, not a snarky statement to piss him off, but genuine admiration for his craft.

“You think so?”

“No, I know so. It’s quite obvious when looking at you.”

“Been looking at me quite a lot, have you?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.”

This time he surrendered to the urge to flash you a smile. It was a reserved one, however, barely able to spot how the corner of his lips tilted upwards — cute.

“Guess it’s not too long until you head for Rio, right?” You asked as you took another bite.

“In a couple of months,” he retracted his hands from his pockets to clutch around the strap of his bag. “Kind of a wonder they let me visit home.”

“Yeah, would think they’d have you locked up in the gym until you leave,” and you chucked again, a sound he quickly realised he really liked to hear.

He cleared his throat, slowly stepping into a more confident role. “When are you heading back to Tokyo?”

Your steps came to a halt, and he couldn’t help but notice how nice you looked under the warm light from the street lamps, he nearly missed the uncertainty that traveled across your face.

Eventually it seemed you reached a conclusion, opening your mouth. “I don’t know, to be honest. Soon hopefully.”

“Studies going well?”

“No,” you hesitated, forcing a laugh. “In fact, they’re not going at all.” You could tell by the look on his face he was confused. “I dropped out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

You didn’t know why it had so easily slipped past your tongue. Usually you had a hard time admitting it out loud, feeling the weighing sensation of disappointment from everyone you told.

However, there was something about Tobio that had you fall into a sense of comfort you couldn’t quite explain. Maybe it was the fact that he was someone who wasn’t a complete stranger to your life, yet unfamiliar enough that he felt unrelated to everything going on.

“Do you regret it?”

It wasn’t the question you expected. People usually wanted to know why — why would you do that, and what were you to do now? Would you manage to find a job no when you had strayed from your original plan?

You let the question linger in the air for a moment before you answered, “no. I don’t.”

His chest raised as he took a deep breath, a welcoming and warm smile greeting you, one that was wider than the one he flashed you earlier. “Good.”

It was one word — just one word, yet it was loaded with a sense of understanding you had barely received when sharing your life changing news. It had you purse your lips to contain the overwhelming smile that was about to overtake your entire face.

The eye contact was intense, heart pounding a little harder by how surprisingly comfortable it felt, filling you with giddiness you hadn’t experienced in a while.

“You know,” you cleared your throat as you turned your back to him and started walking again. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” It only took him a few seconds to catch up and walk along side you again. “You’re quite the character, Kageyama.”

He scoffed, pretending like what you said didn’t make his heart flutter. “Care to elaborate?”

“I don’t know, I always just assumed you would be like how you are when you play,” you sighed. “You’re so sure of yourself when you’re tossing. Very serene, if you will. Unless you were yelling at that little guy. Damn, what was his name? The ginger?”

Amusement twisted his expression. Not only because you knew Hinata as ‘the ginger’, but also because you had known his name, but not remembered his old teammate’s name despite him being considerably more outgoing than himself — Tobio was almost certain you’d had more conversations with Hinata than you had ever had with him.

“You talking about Hinata?”

“Yes! Him!” Excitement spilling out in your gestures. “Besides the point. My friend had a crush on one of your teammates, so she sometimes dragged me along to spy on your practices.”

He was slowly growing tired of how you had the blush lurking under his skin almost permanently, when he once again felt it approaching as he waited for the rest of your story. For the short time you had been walking, he had managed to find a somewhat steady presence, but the little confidence he grasped onto was hanging on by a thin thread. Whatever you were to say next threatened to sever it.

“There was a handful of times I witnessed you scream at the poor guy,” you laughed, nudging an elbow to his side.

Maybe he could latch onto the pleasant vibrations of your laugh to maintain his peace, trying not to let the memories of his outbursts crush him.

“It was a refreshing sight.”

Come on, Kageyama, give into the banter.

“Has anyone ever told you that you come with quite loaded statements?” He hoped he managed to smear his voice with sarcasm in order to hide the insecurity that tainted his words.

“Sorry,” trailing off with a soothing giggle. “Bad habit — what I mean is, it expanded the impression I had of you. You were always so quiet, minding your own business, much like you are now. When you’re playing, however, you’re emotional, if that makes sense?” You said with an awkward chuckle.

Was he dreaming? Was his ears playing a trick on him? Had you really been doing such an analysis of his character, enough to form an opinion that went beyond the impression he gave to most people?

He turned to look at you, locking eyes with you immediately — there was something so tender in your expression, gaze seemingly holding a deeper message he was eager, desperate, to unveil. But he struggled, too wrapped up in how your vibrant grin had transformed into a shy tilt. He couldn’t quite describe it, but it felt more genuine somehow — emotional, maybe, as you’d put it.

“Anyways,” breaking the eye contact, feeling an unfamiliar burning sensation tingle up your neck. You weren’t used to being flustered like this. “Yelling at Hinata, proved you’re more of a hothead than you let on,” trying to fall back to a casual tension, ignoring how the recent eye contact with his captivating blue eyes had stirred up the tiniest whirlwind inside you.

“Never thought you were so observant,” he quipped, and much like you, he tried to smother the boyish excitement you had caused.

“What? D’you go around thinking I was too daft or something?” There was a very evident joking manner to your tone, but didn’t seem like he picked up on it.

“What? No! That’s not-“

“I’m just playing with you, Kageyama,” you laughed, true melody to his ears.

“I just meant… of me.” He kept his eyes locked ahead, knowing his face was about to completely succumb to the blush that was so easily brought to the surface around you.

“Yeah, well,” he heard your deep sigh, “I don’t know. You stuck out to me, despite you trying your very best not to.”

All his experiences regarding you from his school days suddenly intensified — everything was put in a new light with this revolutionary information. No wonder he had found himself falling for you when there was an unspoken connection he wasn’t even aware of.

“This is me!” Your tone changed immediately, the sentimental energy evaporating into nothing but a memory. “Thanks for walking me home.”

He was fortunate enough to receive another of your characteristic smiles, those would probably always have an hypnotising effect on him, as you backed up towards the entryway of your house.

“My pleasure,” he said, trying his best to mirror the earnestness of your affection.

You had pulled out your keys again, “and I’ll make sure to tune in when you’re in Rio. Even if I have to get up in the middle of the night.”

“Maybe you’ll see some of that emotion you were talking about.”

“Oh, I’m betting on it,” you opened the door. “Good night, Kageyama.”

“You know,” he was quick to interject before you had the opportunity to disappear through the door. He swallowed his fear, “you can call me Tobio.”

A smile. “Good night. Tobio.” You held his gaze a second, and you were out of his sight.

tags : @hiraethwa

an : okay i am not so happy with it... the words were working against me on this one. might be bc i'm not familier with writing for hq yet but eventually. i have more hope in my next hq fic. it is also v boring, but it's more of a venting fic for how i feel about dropping out (it comes in waves yk)

©hiraethwrote 2024 . all rights reserved. reposting, translating and otherwise plagarisim is prohibited

[striveattemptfail]

in prime earth canon, jason todd (NOT red hood) was* publicly known to be alive

red hood: outlaw (2018) #32 (ID in alt text)

considering that jason todd was the official owner of the iceberg lounge during this time, it's likely he acquired the lounge legally and thus can be inferred that he had to be declared legally alive to do so

which brings me to my point:

i've seen a lot of people writing/speculating the difficulties and limitations jason experiences bc he was declared legally dead after ethiopia, which is all well and good, and is fantastic fodder for angst

but i've been wondering if this was bc people are actively ignoring canon (valid) or simply didn't know that at one point* jason was publicly alive (also valid, bc following comics is a shitshow lol)

please reblog to increase visibility! the whole point of this poll is to gauge how many people know this, so i'd love to see this post reach as many people as possible. thank you~! 😅🙏

(* big disclaimer under the cut!)

note: all of this info is as of may 2023. i am only one human so it's impossible for me to read every comic jason has been in since rhato (2016) and remember every single thing that happened. if anything i said above the cut is incorrect now, i apologize! /o\

for reference, as of creating this poll i've read:

red hood and the outlaws (2016) #1-26

red hood: outlaw (2018) #27-52

task force z (2021) #1-12

batman: urban legends (2021) #1-6 – cheer pt.1-6

the joker: the man who stopped laughing (2022) #3-5

i haven't read a lot of other important runs like death metal (2020), three jokers (2020), robins (2021), etc. if jason (NOT red hood) was declared dead once again in any of those, that is the reason why i used "was" in the very first sentence of this post and reiterate that he was alive at least for a limited period

my bad that i missed his second legal death tho LOLLL

i'm also aware that red hood (NOT jason) was known as "dead" by others after task force z (even though he clearly didn't die). that said, in the little i've read of tj:tmwsl, it seems that 1) not everyone knows red hood is actually alive, and/or that 2) red hood died at all. again, if red hood is generally known to be alive after tfz, that's on me

if there's anything else i've missed, let me know!! i'll update/reblog this post for as long as the poll is up (-u-)b

[blackbird5154]

I noticed that there is a request in the community for a more serious look at Terzo. I decided to start posting my observations and some conclusions based on them. If this post gets the attention of ghesties, I will try to continue this column.

The first observation concerns the Papa's attitude to work. It is generally assumed that he is an frivolous person who leads a chaotic lifestyle. But there are a number of examples that show how responsibly Terzo takes his performances.

2015, the show in Antwerp. Papa says he has been on tour for over three months. He is clearly tired, but he adds that despite this he will give the audience 100% of what he has. Notice how vigorously he tries to speak despite his fatigue.

2016, Download Festival. Papa has a strep throat, but he doesn't cancel the concert. In the middle of the video he is chatting with the audience and you can hear how hard it is for him to speak, he is literally wheezing. But if you watch all the videos from this concert, you will see that he performed all the songs brilliantly, even the scream at the end of "Absolution", without once making his job easier. Sometimes I think the more difficulties he gets in his way, the more gorgeous he performs.

2016, touring with Iron Maiden. Papa falls in a pit, hits his head and hurts his leg to the point of bleeding, but brings the concert to an end like nothing happened.

Circa 2016, Leeds. Papa faints backstage, but comes out to the audience to sing on.

Also, remember how often he asked the audience if they were having fun, if they were spending time well. He also kept a close eye on an order in a crowd for no one to be hurt. I think Terzo cares a lot about his "flock" and thinks they deserve to get the very best from him, despite all the obstacles. Nothing can stop him from accomplishing that goal.

How do you feel about all these cases? Do you attribute them only to Tobias' character or to Terzo's character as well?

[part 2]

[pumpkinpie59]

the donatellos are so funny like they all have different energies but are still essentially the same character

2003

the most cinnamon roll ever. also the donatello most likely to kill someone without hesitation???? like canonically??

2012

also cinnamon roll and a huge romantic but it a sasslord and tried to commit a murder spree

1987

awkward lil guy but is also a major sasslord (rivaling raphael and sometimes being worse than him). also has had the most action packed fight scenes with shredder (that i’ve seen) and got close to killing him.

rise

the ultimate sasslord, despite having a ton of sunshine moments and being pretty soft on the inside. hasn’t had a murder arc yet but i would not put it past him. he’s already risked his brothers’ wellbeing more than once.

2014/2016

sweet awkward guy. annoying little sibling to raphael. still insane (HE FREAKING JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE WITH NO HESITATION??)

mirage

i haven’t read a whole lot of it, but from what i have seen … he’s still a pretty nice guy, but he was also the one to kill shredder in the first issue.

idw

has a big heart and a strong urge to do the right thing. doesn’t make him a pushover tho. he’s very stubborn and has argued with leo a lot. i can’t remember a specific time he was murderous but i wouldn’t put it past him either.

2007

tired brother just trying to lead in leo’s absence. clearly loves his brothers, but sasses them regularly. we don’t see a lot of him, but he did outright disobey leo.

we’ll see if mutant mayhem brings a similar vibe

[ishallgivehimupforever]

Here We go again Bellarke warriors, if you can hear me, it's been about 1680 days since I stopped caring (or so I thought)

I hadn't been to tumblr in years, before I decided to give the 100 a rewatch in June of this year, as I had given up somewhere around the start of season 5 (I remember hating the LONG ass timeskip teased at the end of S4, I guess some other media must have swallowed me during hiatus, and when I tried to give that season a chance I vividly remember 1) I couldn't see shit on my screen 2) I hated what the timeskip did to the established relationships) and so I dropped it for good, looking back I almost can't believe I could just...not finish it like that because let me tell you I did NOT fuck about Clarke and Bellamy, and Raven, and Monty, and probably some other characters back in 2015-2016. I think I maybe did not appreciate season 4 enough at the time it was airing (because I think binge-watching is very flattering for that season, watching it live I remember it was frustrating to watch the characters go on side quests in 4A) but now knowing what the character arcs are and where it was going makes it my second-favorite season. BUT, I digress, wow. This is meant to be a rambling, incohisive love letter to the compelling relationship between Bellamy and Clarke. I warn you, they truly do not fucking leave you as it turns out. I would go to the trenches for them back in my fandom days in 2015-17, and I realised, after binge-waching the show over 4 sleepless nights (seasons 1-6, which are the only seasons in existence, obviously)that I STILL just FUCKING CARE SO MUCH. I NEVER CARED ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS SO MUCH AS CARE FOR THESE TWO SEPARATELY, AND AS SOULMATES. Because let me tell you, Clarke and Bellamy, they fucking love each. Like actual, happens-only-in-romances LOVE. It is frankly INSANE how JRoth, K*m Shum and other managed to gaslight me over some of the bellarke scenes in S2-S3 as to make me think it's in my (and thousand's of fans') head WHEN IT IS SO FUCKING OBVIOUS FROM SCORE, EDITING CHOICES, LONGING LOOK SHOTS, HANDS SHOTS, LINES, AND FINALLY, ACTING AND DIRECTION THAT THESE TWO ARE LOVERS.

I have never, ever, before or since, followed two characters who were so compatible, so equal, so trusting in each other, so open with one another, so mindful of the other's emotions and needs, so so so made for each other, that it is no surprise to me that they are top 10 F/M pairing on AO3. Because Bellamy and Clarke would fall in love in every imaginable scenario, in every universe, across time. I am not usually that cheesy or cringy, but it is true. I could not put my finger on why they are my absolute favorite to read fanfic for and then it occurred to me. That as long as the hands of fate put these two in proximity of each other, it;s a done deal. That chemistry transcends the limits of a single tv show. The depth with how Clarke and Bellamy love each other honestly makes me pause for breath sometimes. It is not just the iconic, famous bellarke scenes, but also the quiet moments.

Like in 6x05 or 6x06 (cant remember) when Clarke's body was stolen by Josephine after her one-night stand with Cillian. (stay with me) Bellamy, unaware that Clarke isn't herself at that point, comes over to chat, he's clearly at least a bit jealous over her sleeping with Cillian, and yet he says "happiness looks good on you" with that wide, earnest smile. And just wow. How must he love her, to be so utterly happy for her own happiness that has in that instance nothing to do with him. so selfless. well, selfless is basically Bellamy's middle name.

Or how in season 4, after a lot of the characters and at times the narrative wanted to push this idea on Clarke that she is the sole leader of her people, gets right back on track to her co-leader dynamic with Bellamy, constantly checking with him, considering his input, and respecting choices that she herself would maybe not make (releasing the ensalved arkadians and grounders vs ensuring they get a machine necessary to generate water) but always understanding that these choices agree with his core values, and she loves him for it.

This post is way too long. I love Bellamy. I love Clarke. People often use the 'MY PARENTS" about ships on twitter, and you know what, in my case that's kinda true with bellarke. I met these characters when I was 15. I am 25 now, and with an adult perspective to my surprise I found their relationship even more profound then I remembered, and I was insanse about them already. They are truly THE power couple of all time. I miss the 100, If you wanna ramble about it together, feel welcome to send me ask, I'd love to have an excuse to share some of my (sometimes unpopular) opinions lol.

[celaenaeiln]

I remember seeing a panel of Bruce and Barbara(?) talking how Dick's feelings for Starfire(?) Is just a phase and Babs(?), and thought about if Bruce had ever pushed/or try to direct Dick to date a girl he (Bruce) liked/preffered Dick to date? I mean I don't think Bruce will forcibly do so, but he clearly has preferences (cough titans is Nono to him cough).

Batman: Gotham Knights Issue #43

This one!

Even though he said this to Barbara, Bruce has drawn a line in overtly interfering with Dick's love life. Actually he makes it very clear that he's not going to interfere with Dick's love life after bringing up the topic.

Nightwing (1999) Issue #14

Which is....what just happened? Was he saying he disapproves? Clearly not because he says he believes in Dick and that sounds genuine. But then does that mean he approves? Then why didn't he give a clear answer, actually why did he even bring it up because Dick wasn't even talking about that in the first place.

He's openly supportive of Tim's choices so why doesn't he just say what he thinks about Dick? I guess it doesn't help that Dick reacts like a cat in hot water when it comes to Bruce's involvement in his life so this is probably that Bruce doesn't know what to say. I don't know if he doesn't want Dick to date anyone, which tracks from his thoughts on Dick's relationships with people in general, or if he has a particular inclination toward someone but he's afraid of saying it because he doesn't want it to blow up in his face.

Obviously the Titans are a no way. Like the Titans aren't even on the table for Bruce when it comes to acceptable Dick Grayson dating choices. They're probably in the neighbor's trash can lol.

He's against civilians in general, even for himself, so that wouldn't fly with him. Anyone from the league or heroes are just as bad as the Titans for Bruce because he's terrified of Dick leaving him and has canonical attachment issues to him. So it would have to be someone in Gotham or in direct attachment to the batfamily so he can gatekeep Dick Grayson.

That only leaves two available choices - Barbara and Helena - that Bruce would ever be okay with Dick dating. You know how sometimes people compromise or say things like "I love you and would do anything for you but in the end it's up to you and I respect that", yeah...Bruce just leaves off the last part indefinitely.

Although this comic issue is older, it shows that he's not particularly keen on Barbara either,

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #369

But that was then when it was just Dick, Barbara, and Bruce. Now there are more players in the game than just Barbara so compared to how much Dick would pull away if he dated or married one of them, Barbara looks like a shining star of a choice because all of Bruce's actions are inherently selfish although he tries his best not to be.

I think the issue with Bruce and Dick's dating life is the problem he has with Dick's life in general. He clearly wants to interfere, but he's worried about the backlash he's going to get.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #38

Because Dick loves to help others but he hates receiving help much to the despair of literally the entire rest of the hero community. But he's particularily sensitive about Bruce's involvement in his life because he only became Nightwing to prove to Bruce he can take care of himself. Since then, Bruce's relationship in term of helping Dick or giving him his opinions has been a series of "Can I-should I-" thoughts.

So although he'll never tell Dick his opinions because he's scared of the backlash, but he definitely has opinions.

[vortex-of-beats]

It’s been a week now.

It’s been extremely difficult to collect my thoughts and say all of the things I wish to say. I truly never imagined that I’d be writing a post such as this one and every time the realization hits me, it kills me. My heart feels completely shattered and it’s proven to be a very tough week to navigate through. Since my blog started with my love for the GazettE, I had to pay my respects here too.

I discovered the GazettE in 2009. I was only 13 years old. The very first song I ever listened to was Filth in the Beauty. I was hooked instantly and from there, my love for them blossomed. They helped me get through some tough times and accompanied me through the good times. I have so many beautiful memories with the GazettE and I hold them very close. From all of the fantastic music, the funny interviews and backstage videos, the numerous albums and memorabilia, the outstanding music videos on repeat, to all of the amazing friends I’ve met along the way. For that, I am forever grateful to them.

In 2016, I had the opportunity to see the GazettE live and meet them in person. I cried like a baby. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to. They blew me away with their performance and stage presence. They were absolutely amazing as always! ❤️ Hearing Vortex live was a dream come true. Seeing them live and in person was a dream come true.

I remember greeting every single member clearly. All of them were super kind with warm smiles and firm handshakes. I’ll never forget how warm and friendly Reita’s smile was. How welcoming and how full of life it was. How firm his handshake was. I hold it all so close to me. Thank you for an awesome concert. You did so well as you always do ❤️

Reita, I can’t believe it’s been a week already. Time feels like it’s passing slower than ever. Losing you has felt like losing a long-time friend. It’s proving extremely difficult to see a future without you. Amidst all of this sadness, I know you’re here with us and you always will be. We will stay strong for you and we will take care of the other members for you. The GazettE will always be 5. ❤️

To our eternal bassist 🌟✨

Whose love and love for music forever remains infinite, thank you for everything. Thank you for the beautiful memories and being an inspiration to so many.

Shine brightly from the sky, Reita.

You’ll live on eternally in all of our hearts. We will always love you and you will be forever missed. ❤️

GAZEROCK IS NOT DEAD!

[cubur]

Hi there! How did you come to sns fandom? 👉🏻👈🏻

Hi there！ Oh I have received many questions so far such as why do you ship sns, how long have you loved sns etc. but i have never seen a question like how did you come to sns fandom. So I thought a little about your question ^^！

Well, if I remember correctly i started watching Naruto in around 2014 …but started shipping them around 2016. I didn't watch anime episodes every day so it took me about 2 years to finish the whole story, yep (I checked the manga much later). And I didn't start the anime for naruto&sasuke's story. Sasuke's character caught my attention from the very beginning. So obviously, I started watching the anime just to learn about his and Itachi's story together. However, even though I hadn't even finished the first season of the anime yet, the story of Naruto and Sasuke and all those feelings reflected by the author had seriously penetrated into me. Still, I didn't want to make a clear decision before finishing the whole story and waited… But as each episode passed, Naruto's feelings for Sasuke began to increase and this had reached a point that could no longer be ignored. And this actually reminded me of myself in a way. I mean, i was following some anime pages at that time and maybe 90% of the naruto fandoms clearly hated Sasuke. And sometimes I even wondered if i was the only one who was weird. Because I understood Sasuke, i knew why he acted like that and i never blamed him. And even also contrary to what others said I never believed Sasuke hated Naruto. Because even though he didn't say anything, the author was drawing Sasuke's eyes in such a way that as if I understood everything he said at that moment

After the story ended, both of them got married to a female character, so I think they asked the entire fandom to ignore the story that has been written for so many years. Some accepted this situation, some said they won but frankly, I have never been someone who lies to myself, so I chose to move on without forgetting my past. That's why, I decided to join the sns fandom to keep them alive …at least as much as I can. Also ofcourse I never forget the fanartists who inspired me！If they weren't there I probably wouldn't be where i am today. Some of them already know themselves and some of them maybe don't even know about my existence because they deleted their accounts and left the fandom long ago… But as I said, I have never been someone who quickly forgets my past, so i'll never forget them either <3

Also… (you can ignore this part if you want)

I want to be a little more honest with you guys now. A few days before you sent this dm I was thinking to myself that i shouldn't be in this fandom. Yes. Maybe if you ask why, I can't explain it. Just… I have been experiencing some personal and country-related problems lately, and I can say that I am starting to fear that these may become permanent problems. It's probably too early to talk about these things but… I just feel like i'm not as creative and active as i used to be. So… idk. Just wanted to share with you all how I feel inadequate.

Thank you to everyone who read this far！🙏

[f0point5]

You know, I love Seb (he’s the person who got me into F1) and I respect Lewis and his accomplishments but one thing I’ll never forgive them (and a lot of the older drivers, most already retired now) for is how they treated Max when he came into F1.

Yes, he might have been their rival but he was also a teenager, a literal child and gosh… I know Max probably doesn’t really care anymore but I still hurt for him sometimes.

Especially when you consider that he was the one paving the way for his generation. When Charles and Lando and George and everyone else came up a few years later they were welcomed as the youth, the future of the sport. Older drivers talking about their talent and how great it is to see them come up.

Max didn’t get that. He got shouts of “too young”, “too reckless”, “too… too much”.

So no, to me the only real grid dad (or maybe grid uncle is more fitting, idk) will be Fernando Alonso who said that some people are simply ready earlier than others and that Max should be judged on his performance in the races, not his age (paraphrased).

Fernando who has been an idol a lot of the younger generation growing up but also exchanged helmets with Oscar and Zhou, joked with Lando on instagram, talks Le Mans with Max and probably many more moments I’m forgetting about rn.

THIS.

Honestly, I don’t really get the Seb hype. He just has never given me good vibes. I didn’t watch during the RB days so maybe if I’d seen his golden era I’d have gotten attached but he has just always seemed…not likeable. Clearly a very driven, straightforward, intelligent guy, but something about him doesn’t sit well with me. Anyway rant over.

I’m not even going to talk about LH because…par for the course.

Yes, they were all mean to him. As grown men, too, how are you not absolutely embarrassed?! I get that he’s a kid and maybe you don’t want to hang out with him or confront the fact that you’re not the hotshots anymore but omg it’s a CHILD. (And Seb who made a bit of a meal out of being a bullying victim as a kid…I see you.)

No one else of Max’s generation would have survived the way they treated him, I stand by that. They all needed the support they got, and Max had none of it from his peers. I can’t see Max being the type who cared per se, because he was probably already used to being…not ostracised, but like…observed? And also because of how he grew up I don’t think anyone’s words could rattle him. But even if he didn’t care the grown men should have known better.

If I were Max I’d still be laughing about how bitter I made men in their 30s. Like “I couldn’t grow facial hair and y’all were running scared”. But I still think it must have been a pretty lonely few years until others his age started catching up.

I think Max was really lucky to have such a tight team (Christian, Helmut, Jos, Ray, GP) around him to insulate him a bit and stop him getting pushed around but the way these men tried it. (Toto I’m looking at your for the Jos phonecall.)

Yeah Fernando is the only one who I think was ready to embrace the new frontier as it were. But he is just kind of like that. I feel like he doesn’t feel his age is the disadvantage that most do, and that’s why he’s not so afraid of younger drivers. Like, his relationship with Max, Carlos, lando, George (nye buddies lol) and Zhou (literally just today saw a quote of him talking about how nice Alonso was to him, even Lance, he treats them as much as peers as he does his own generation, it’s cute.

Also, this is kinda random but I swear Nico and Max were kind of friendly in the early years? Max has known Nico a long time, despite the age difference (he said he remembered glasses Nico used to wear at like 7, and Nico once went out with his mum?), Nico was on the jet with Max on his birthday in…2017? And I think there’s a picture of Max having flown with some guys (including both Nicos in 2016) and for some reason I’ve always had the idea that Hulkenberg was his link to that whole crew? (Idk if this whole friendship is a headcanon but for some reason I feel like these two are/were kinda connected)

But yeah, agree. Grown men acting like little bitches. That generation I think was the last generation with real bitterness between the drivers, though. Idk you wouldn’t catch me being a jerk to a kid but I’ve never been terrified of a kid before so 🤷‍♀️

[gilverrwrites]

Nothin' Good Starts in a Getaway Van

AN: Flash from the past, literally. I wrote the first draft of this in 2016, and have only recently rediscovered and finished it. If I was writing this from scratch today, I probably wouldn't characterise him like this. I was a different person back then, and it shows, but I’m still down bad for this dirty mf.

Pairing: Captain Boomerang/F!Reader

Rating: 18+

Words: 3.6K

Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Request Info

Content: Swearing, crime, petnames, violence, blood, implied size difference, mysophilia, dubious content, manipulation, biting, hair pulling, vaginal fingering, oral (m receiving), teabagging, rimming (m receiving), name calling, verbal humiliation, dirty talk, tickling, (very brief) public nudity, (very brief) choking, restraining.

Mentions of feces but no actual feces. Reader is a girly-girl who uses the criminal alias Red Rosie, but it’s only mentioned like 1.5 times.

Please remember: Kindness is free, so be kind to yourself 💙

🡡 Please read the content section before proceeding 🡡

You quietly hum to the beat of the van’s radio, bobbing your head and tapping your fingers against the wheel as you wait for your crew. Eyes on the clock, they were nearly a whole minute overdue, and worry was starting to seep in. Trying not to panic, you force yourself to keep humming along with the music.

The song comes to an end, and the radio hosts start chatting about something or other, probably the weather; you don’t care. Two minutes and forty seconds late, still nothing. Rolling down the window, you stick your head out, peeking back at the jewellery store, searching for signs of life. No alarm buzzing, no lights, no curious on-lookers or police cars. All signs said things were going well, but you couldn’t shake the worried feeling setting into your chest.

Leaning back into the seat, you take a few deep breaths and continue waiting. God, you hate waiting. Just your luck that you’d pull the short straw and get stuck on getaway driving duties. What you would give to be in that store, ransacking shiny jewels and expensive trinkets right now. No, actually,  you’d be in the back of the van, halfway out of the city by now. You might be a daydreamer, and a dawdler, but years of committing crimes in Gotham, henchman-ing for bosses like Two-Face and Penguin had taught you that when you only have a limited time to get stuff done, you get it done on time. Hell, early if you can swing it.

There were no alarm bells going off, no police cars, you reminded yourself, things are going just fine.

Three minutes, thirty-two seconds. Where were th- SLAM

You swing your head around, looking into the back of the van. The new guy, with three full bags of loot, swung over his shoulder, climbed in and slammed the doors behind him. He’s big, not the biggest guy in town, but still, big. You can see the curves of his muscular figure even through his leather duster. New to Gotham anyway. “Captain” Boomerang. He’d already robbed anything worth having in Australia, then Central, now here. Gold star for being the first one back, at least.

“Drive Hon, let's get movin’.” His thick accent was intensified by the shouting. He’s loud, and bossy too. Calls himself a captain, and clearly thinks himself as one too. You’d already caught him shouting orders at the rest of your gang when you’d been plotting this heist. He dropped his bags before climbing into the passenger seat.

“What about everyone else?” You shout back at him. In the past, you would have easily slunk back and let him take charge, not just of the job either, not now. You were a strong woman, you had to be in this line of work. Besides, this was your turf, and that was your gang.

Okay, maybe you shared it with a handful of other Gothamites, but not this fucker. This guy was gonna have to learn that you can’t just walk into this city and act like you own the place. If anything, you’d be doing him a favour. Better you than someone like Ivy or the Joker, or, god forbid, the Bat himself. “Where’s Wyvern? Where’s Pye?”

“They ain't comin’, now put ya foot down before the boys in blue get here.” He demands.

“I ‘ain't’ leaving without P-” Suddenly, a deadweight lands on your foot. You look down to see Boomerang's taped-up boot stomping down on you, forcing the van forward. Panicked, you start steering. The last thing you need is a car crash with multiple millions of dollars worth of stolen goods in the back. “Alright, alright, we’re moving! Get your fat foot off me!”

He doesn’t move at first, not until you’re at the end of the road. You swivel the van around the corner, heading for the bridge, the same route you’d originally planned. One quick glance down at your foot proves you’ll have a nasty bruise there. Briefly, you wonder if you should wear more sensible shoes. Nah. Why do that when you could be wearing perfectly adorable tieks?

“What happened?” You press, glaring over at him for a second before whipping out your phone. “Where is everyone?”

“Ya know, it’s an offence to text and drive.” You fire back nonchalantly, a chuckle lacing his lips. It's enticing, you’ll admit.

“So’s not wearing a seat belt.” You respond. Eyes half on the road, half on your screen.

[To: Pye] [From: RR]

[Where r u??? Left w/ boomerbutt, respond asap xxxxx]

“Guess we’re a couple of wildcards then, aye babe?” He winks at you.

“Don’t call me that. It’s Red Rosie, and don’t try to distract me,” you deadpan. What happened back there? You were nearly four minutes late and alone.”

“What should I call you then?” He asks as if you hadn’t literally just answered that question. Withholding from grinding your teether together, you tried not to shout.

“Red Rosie.”

“Ya know, roses ain't the only things with long stems.” He’s shamelessly amused by his own bad joke, but you feel your cheeks heating up nonetheless. There's just something about his unwavering confidence. You’d never really heard a serious sexual innuendo from anyone.

“Awh, have I rendered you speechless?” He muses as he reaches a knuckle over to stroke your warming cheek. His fingers smell like leather and malt. Unpleasant but Intoxicating.

You open your mouth and stomp your teeth around his finger, not hard enough to take it off, although you could if you wanted, but enough to break the skin, to make him bleed a little. Digger rips his hand away, your teeth grazing the skin more as he pulls it from your lips. You hope it’ll scab. He grips your hair and gives it a good tug in a display of petty revenge. When he’s done, he cradles his wounded finger, puffing out his bottom lip in an obviously fake pout.

“Now that wasn’t very nice pet.” He continues to feign hurt as he presses the finger to his chest. “An to think, I was gonna go 50/50 with ya on this lot.”

“Ha.” You laugh bitterly, sarcastically, blowing a misplaced strand of hair out of your face before continuing. “You should be so lucky. This raid was mine and Pye’s. You were a last-minute addition.”

“Hey now, girly. I did all the work while you just sat pretty in the car.” He barks. “If anythin’ I should be making off with at least 70%, if not more.”

“You’re kidding?” You scoff as you come to the end of the last bridge. Your phone vibrates in your lap, and you pause the conversation to read and respond to the message. “You might have loaded up, but you lost all my guys.”

“Yeah, and? The less there of them, the more reward to m- us.” He states it factually as if it were the simplest thing in the world, but you caught that slip-up. “I say we call it 65/35. Play your cards right, and I might even give ya a 5% tip.”

You briefly close your eyes, calming your temper, and thinking of a plan. Eyeing the road in front of you, you make a diversion, heading towards the farmlands, to emptiness.

“You know what, my fine friend?” You flatter, using your best, innocent smile and batting your lashes at him.

“What?” He questions, biting his lip and eyeing you suspiciously through his thick eyebrows.

“You’re right. I’m being difficult. You’re clearly smarter than I’ve been giving you credit for.” You speak concisely and confidently. Swallowing your pride seems to come easier than you’d expected. “Please do tell. What exactly can I do to get that 5%?”

“I knew you’d come around, pet. Smart girl.” You could feel the smugness spread throughout him. You didn’t need to look at him to know he had a shit-eating grin on his face. A strong hand lands on your inner thigh, and you peek over at him, waiting to see what he does next.

“Firstly;” He leans closer, his mouth ghosting across your cheek. His breath smells even more like beer than his skin did, and something else, something sour, like he hadn’t brushed his teeth in days. “Pull over.”

He points to the side of the dirt road, and you obey, keeping your eyes on the window until you’re fully parked. With the engine turned off, you turn to face him, ignoring the stench of his breath. You look up at him with your best doe eyes. “Secondly?”

A hand returns to your hair, jerking your head back. Before you can react, his lips are on yours, his tongue is in your mouth, exploring every inch. Holding back a gag, you open your mouth wider, allowing him access, occasionally flicking your tongue against his. You reach for the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer, urging him on. You nibble at his tongue, his brows crease in response, but if he dislikes it, he doesn’t make it known. Instead, he pushes his mouth deeper onto yours, you can feel his teeth against yours, even through skin. You’ll both be bruised come tomorrow.

His tongue seems endless, it's almost as big as your mouth, and you can practically feel its tip grazing against your uvula. Briefly, you wonder how good it would feel between your legs. His fat tongue lapping between your lips, against your slit, inside your cunt. No, you stop yourself. Just play along.

You spread your legs apart, shifting out of your seat and climbing over until you're sitting on his thigh. Within seconds his callused hands are between your thighs, skipping your panties, runs his thumb roughly over your clit, and pushes one finger straight into your entrance. You’re impressed by the speed at which he located everything. He pumps until you moan into his mouth. Clearly satisfied with your reaction, he smiles into the kiss before pulling back, both his lips and his fingers.

Hand still fixed in your hair, he yanks you to the side, guiding you toward the back of the van. You take the instruction, climbing over the seats when he releases his grip on you, moaning when he slaps your ass as he follows. “Secondly, get on ya knees.”

 Keeping your composure, you do just that. “Sure thing, Captain.”

“Ohh, I like that.” He groans as he begins working on his belt. “We’ll have more of that.”

“Okay, Captain.” You wink before reaching up, batting his hand away, and undoing his belt and jeans yourself. You’d half expected him to be going commando, he seemed like the type, but you were wrong. Instead, you were greeted by a pair of off-white tighty whities, the band garnished with blue boomerangs. You pulled them down, grinning when Digger's gloriously fat dick sprang free. You had not been expecting that, and you physically couldn’t stop yourself from licking your lips and staring up at him with excitement.

“Like what you see, babe?” He grinned back at you, the tip of his tongue poking out between his crooked teeth.

“I-ye…” You’re at a loss for words, so you nod instead before leaning forward and taking as much of it into your mouth as you could easily fit. The angle was funny, what with the way it curved up, but you pressed on, pushing as far as you could before retreating, then back down, and up, and down, taking more with each motion.

Digger grunts approvingly above you, threading his fingers in your hair once more and pumping his hips forward. You worked in sync, you pushing further and further onto his cock, him pumping it deeper and deeper until your nose presses into the scruff of his pubic hair.

His grip on your hair tightens, holding you in place, allowing him to slip his cock in and out of your mouth, watching you take it, enjoying the tears that form in your eyes when the lack of air started to take effect. When he lessens his grip you jerk back, panting for only a second or two before going back for more. But he halts you, retightening his grip to prevent you from moving any closer.

Confused, you look up at him, he directs your head back down, and lifts his cock up vertically, exposing his balls. Knowing what he wants, you stick your tongue out, running it along the centre of his testes and up his cock, before dropping back down to cup one in your mouth and suck on it before releasing it and swapping to the other, taking breaths between alternations. They’re hairy, sweaty, and smell almost as bad as his breath, but you’re long past caring. Yes, there's an endgame here, but why shouldn’t you enjoy yourself along the way.

“Fuck, yeaahh. Like that.” Digger murmured in much the same way a greasy old man in a porno would. Again, you glide your tongue up and along his cock again before taking it all in one. Digger hold you down, shaking your head at the base of his cock, long enough to make your eyes feel heavy before letting go.

Once more, you only take a few seconds to catch your breath. This time, you don’t look to him for guidance. If he doesn’t like what you have planned, he’ll have to say something, you think as you crawl beneath his open legs and position yourself beneath his ass. You place your hands on his cheeks, spreading them before leaning up and gliding your tongue between the crack.

You can’t conceal that laugh that escapes you when he suddenly shouts “Bonza!” in response to your actions.

His hands shoot up and thread through his reddish locks as you continue swiping your tongue against his ass, when you locate his anus, you push harder until you’re licking at the inside walls of his asshole. You’d worried partly that his ass would be the worst part of him. Hairy, smelly, and shit-stained, but you were pleasantly surprised. He was hairy and smelly, but clearly, he’d given it a good wipe the last time he used the can.

“Fuck.” He breathed, fingers still gripping at his own hair.

“You like that?” You quiz, retracting to ask your question, lick at his balls again as you wait for his response.

“I do!” He exclaims, reaching down and urging you back into his ass. “Just thought I’d have to talk ya into it.”

“Guess you were wrong, Captain.” You reply playful, giving him a teasing lick but still not resuming.

“No kidding. It’s always the ones you least expect.” He responds, equal parts playful and self-righteous. “Look like a princess, fuck like a whore. Ain’t that right?” 

“Awh, you think I’m a princess?” You joke, trying to act like he’d really touched your heart with that one.

“I did. Know I know you’re just a whore. An’ a dirty one at that.” He can’t see your expression as you settle back below his ass. You make like you’re about to start rimming him again, but instead, you bite into his right ass cheek.

“Aye, none of that.” Reaching down, he delivers a hard smack to the back of your head. You ignore the throbbing it causes and dive straight back in, pushing as much of your tongue in as you can before wiggling it back and forth.

As you work, you hear the rustle of his coat above you as he searches his pockets, followed by the unzipping of his underjacket. Soon, both jackets make their way to the floor, leaving him in just his dirtied grey vest and gold chains.

You dart your tongue in and out a few more times before leaning forward and filling your mouth with his balls again, your hand reaching up to grip the base of his cock before pumping it. It only lasts a few moments before you feel his hand around your wrist. He could probably crush it if he squeezed hard enough, not that you wouldn’t make him pay for it.

You release your grip on him, and using your wrist as an anchor, he pulls you forward, hard, releasing midway and causing you to land on your back with a cry. Enthusiastically, you sit up, spreading your legs wide for whatever is to come next, only to look and be greeted with the last thing you’d expected. Big bad Captain Boomerang, standing at nearly 6’1, so tall he had to crouch within the confines of the van, a mess of hair, scars, and golden teeth, all long legs and built biceps, stood before you, clutching a pink unicorn.

For a second, you thought you were dreaming. Had someone left it in the van? Had he picked it up, presuming it was yours, and planned to mock you with it? You looked at him questioningly, waiting for an explanation.

“This is Pinky.” He informs. “He’s my lucky charm. Never get laid without him.”

“Right…” You nod slowly, waiting for him to go on.

“Mind if I keep him out? He likes to be a part of the action.” There was no hint of a joke in his tone.

“Uh, sure.” You shrugged. It could be weirder, after all. You scoot closer to him, reaching up to touch it, and he allows it, crouching to your level to give you easier access. “He’s adorable.”

“Ya like him, do ya?” He asks, watching you sceptically as you pet the pink toy. You smiled and nodded, and he continued, “Well… I think he likes you too.”

You giggle at the feel of its soft fur when Digger nuzzles the plush into your neck. He makes neighing noises as he begins to rub its softness up and down your body, tickling your skin. You grip at his arms to try and make him stop, but to no avail. He keeps on tracing the fluff against you. Any movement you made, any retaliation, he simply followed, even when you fall against the floor, breathless.

“Dig- DIGGER- No NO! STOP please!” You gasp, each attempt to push him away growing weaker. “Uncle, UNCLE!”

“That’s not my name, is it pet?” He responds as he straddles your knees, locking your legs open as he relentlessly continues his attack.

“CAPTAIN!” You’re practically screaming at him. “CAPTAIN PLEASE!”

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” He trails off, lifts his pink buddy away, then seems to change his mind, intentionally grazing it along your chest, down your stomach, The fabric of your dress blocks any real friction until suddenly you feel its softness at full force between your legs. “Nahh,”

“God, NO, STop.” You dart up, mustering all your upper body strength to push him away. With a wail, he tumbles back, balancing himself on the side of the van.

“You’ll regret that.” He mumbles as he pounces back at you. The only thing between you and a concussion caused by the hard metal floor is one of the sacks Digger had filled during the heist. Before you can fight back, his lips are on yours again, tongue already practically tickling your tonsils.

“Drryrratagd.” You mumble into his mouth.

He pulls away, eyeing you. “What?”

“I said: Does your ass taste good?”

He turns his head in an attempt to hide a grin, but you still see the curl of his lips. He runs his tongue along his teeth as he considers the question. You’ve stumped his smartass.

Eventually, he answers. “You’d know better, you’ve taste it firsthand.”

“True.” You agree.

“Well?” He pushes the question back on you, now you’re not sure how to answer. “Umm… It tastes like ass.”

Digger only nods half-heartedly before pressing back down on you. Legs either side of your waist, arms against your shoulders, he begins kissing, sucking, and nibbling at your neck.

“Harder.” You whimper, wiggling beneath him, purposely rubbing your thigh against his dick.

“What’s that? Speak up.” He murmurs against your throat.

“Bite me harder.” You cry, without hesitation, he bites down on your collarbone until you feel the skin break under his teeth, before relocating to the base of your neck to chomp down again and again and again. Not once bothering to lick at the wound when he was done. But then, you hadn’t done the same for him.

“Like that?” He asks, not looking up to see your reaction.

“Ummm, yes.” You whine.

“You really are a fuckin’ whore, aint ya?” He says as he rubs the tip of his nose along the centre of your neck.

“Yes.” You concede. “Probably more of a whore than you can handle.”

That was unnecessary, but damn, he was hot when he was pissed.

“We’ll see about that.” He says. No words he’s ever said to you had felt more like a threat than those. Without warning, his burly hands release your shoulders and grip the neckline of your dress. With one quick motion, he pulls the entire thing in half. “No bra -”

“Hey! That thing was expensive.” You chide, cutting him off. You sit up, meeting him face to face.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t wear it while ya working. God knows what would happen to it.” His tone is mocking. “Try dressin' more practical in future.”

“You do you Captain fucking Boomerang boxers.” You seethe. “I’ll do me.”  

“No.” He latches a hand around your jaw, roughly forcing you back down. “I think you’ll find, I’ll be doing you.”

He leans forward to add more pressure, but his actions are interrupted by the sound of the van doors opening. The outside light temporarily blinds you both. When you come too, you see Pye standing outside, weapon at the ready. You can’t see her expression beneath the mask, but her stance means business.

“What the fuck is this?” Digger asks, looking back and forth, confused.

“There's a tracker in the van, dumbass.” You explain, “I’ve just been keeping you busy.”  

[arminreindl]

The NEW Ultrastenos and its Ironic History

So those that have been keeping up with my posts on mekosuchines might recall the name Ultrastenos, as I've talked about this genus back in August of last year. If you've read that post you might also remember how I highlight at multiple points that a lot of the info was tentative on the basis that Ultrastenos was highly incomplete and that close relatives awaited description.

You may also remember "Baru" huberi, a small mekosuchine that lived roughly around the same time, clearly distinct from Baru yet at that point still unnamed. Oh, how I wished for the former to get more material and for the latter to recieve a proper genus assignment.

My now outdated reconstructions for "Baru" huberi (the small one in the left image) and Ultrastenos (right image)

And then the monkey's paw curled.

As it turns out....they are the same damn animal. Now, back when "Baru" huberi was described, Willis also named a bunch of other mekosuchines from the same locality (the White Hunter Site of the Riversleigh WHA) and described even more material that remained unnamed, including the White Hunter Cranial Form 1. Now, when Ultrastenos was named in 2016, the type material was from the Low Lion Site (also Riversleigh), but importantly, the skull tables identified as WHCF1 were also assigned to the genus (and were the basis for my reconstruction).

Well, re-examination has shown that the WHCF1 and the holotype of "Baru" huberi aren't just a single species.....THEY ARE A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL.

Given the fact that the assignment of the skull table to the Low Lion Ultrastenos material still holds up, this means that Ultrastenos willisi and "Baru" huberi are a single taxon. Which consequently requires some reshuffling of the names.

"Baru" huberi was named first, so the species name takes priority and continues being used. However, since it was never given a genus name, Ultrastenos does stay valid. Except now it's called Ultrastenos huberi, not Ultrastenos willisi. A name that has aged like milk. Back in 2016 it was proposed that Ultrastenos had a very narrow snout (thus the name), so now that we know that the rostrum was flat and mesorostrine, the name really is just wrong.

So next up, lets examine what went wrong.

As I said before, Ultrastenos was fragmentary, so that certainly played a big part in it. But the team in charge of describing the animal still cited several lines of thinking to support their interpretation, most of which are now thoroughly debunked.

As an example, the lower jaw was rather shallow, however while this was initially taken as evidence for longirostry, the 2024 paper states that this only an argument against altirostry (a deep skull), not against a more generalized condition. The teeth were also initially used as evidence, citing their homodont condition (the teeth looked uniform), HOWEVER, the problem in that was that there were only a few teeth present, all of which notably do not bear any resemblance to the needle-like teeth seen in other long-snouted taxa. Another important clue initially taken to mean longirostry was the orientation of the quadrate area and the seemingly sudden constriction of the lower jaw. But the quadrate area was not found in articulation and would support a generalized skull form if simply rotated a little, while the constriction of the mandible appears to at least be partially exaggerated by preservation.

Of course, the fact that we now have proper material of the snout makes the interpretation of a generalized skull shape a lot more solid.

Image 1: The left and right halves of the mandible of Ultrastenos compared to that of Baru iylwenpeny (D), note how the right half is a lot more straight. Image 2: The initial reconstruction of the quadrate area of Ultrastenos compared to one that is slightly rotated Image 3: The revamped skull reconstruction by Yates and Stein

The size of the animal does stay relatively unaffected by these new discoveries. "Baru" huberi has been estimated at only around 1.5 meters in length and my own scaling of Ultrastenos got up to 2 meters, which seems to be in line with what is still assumed for this animal. So among aquatic mekosuchines, its still rather small.

There are however some interesting implications for mekosuchines at large. Now that we no longer have a longirostrine member of this family, one has to wonder, why is that? Well, there might be several reasons.

It could be that the types of environments that were present in Cenozoic Australia simply didn't support such animals. Even in the type description, its been noted that the Riversleigh isn't exactly known for its fish remains, leading to the idea that Ultrastenos might have gone for other small vertebrates like frogs. Hell, the ecology of Baru might suggest that the reason that this genus was so robust might tie to the fact that the local bodies of water just weren't deep enough to allow the typical crocodilian grab-and-drown tactic.

Competition might have been another factor. In environments that may have been more suitable for such morphology, mekosuchines might have been beaten to the punch by other types of crocodilians. Harpacochampsa for example, tho originally thought to be a mekosuchine, is now more often regarded as either an unrelated crocodile or a gharial and its very possible that it filling the nische of a longirostrine simply meant that mekosuchines didn't have the opportunity to expand into that space. Same goes for Gunggamarandu in the Pliocene and Pleistocene and Freshwater Crocodiles from the Pleistocene onwards. (Tho it should be noted that both Harpacochampsa and Gunggamarandu are so fragmentary that their snout shape is technically unknown).

Images: Gunggamarandu (Eleanor Pease), Harpacochampsa (ArtbyJRC) and Freshies (Antoni Camozzato) might have been key factors in why mekosuchines never evolved slender snouts.

Finally, its also possible that something in the growth of mekosuchines simply prevents them from evolving longirostrine skulls, which Yates and Stein liken to alligatoroids (notably the closest alligatoroids got to traditional longirostry as seen in gharials is the Rio Apaporis Caiman, and even that one is closer to some extant crocodiles in its morphology).

Whatever the case, I for one mourn the loss of our long-snouted Ultrastenos. Tho as a note for any paleoartists, there is not a single illustration of this new interpretation since nobody ever drew "Baru" huberi either. Wink wink nudge nudge

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasteno

Ultrastenos revised (palaeo-electronica.org)

[sweetpaintedladie]

i’m scared after these past two days. i’m sad too. i’ve barely stopped crying to be honest.

but i’m sad for 11 year old me, watching hilary lose and having no idea how that would effect the rest of my life. i’m sad for 13 year old me who started to enjoy watching kamala harris debate, saying one day i hope she runs because she would be great. the joy i felt when she was chosen as vp, the joy i felt when she was elected.

i’ve harbored an ill will towards the government for a very long time. i told myself i never wanted to vote because i wanted the electoral college to be abolished and because i felt i would never once feel optimistic about who i was choosing. how at 18, i registered independent and looked in fear of who ran on that number. looked in fear of who ran republican. looked in fear of who was running democrat. it was the day kamala harris announced her candidacy, i felt hopeful. like i could vote in good conscience for someone i felt would protect me, that right, and be someone who i’m glad children get to see as the person in charge. not someone based in hate. a fiercely intelligent, caring, qualified woman who could do amazing things for people here and people elsewhere. i voted with happiness because i was voting for 11 year old me, 13 year old me, and 14 year old me. and i voted for every other 11 year old girl too - so she wouldn’t have to feel the fear i felt.

it’s hard to explain how you feel when you reckon with the fact you failed your 11 year old self. that you were failed by countless people in your own country who proved they don’t care if you live or die, they care about the price of their gas. they don’t care about the kids they let be shot, or miscarried. they don’t care that young men turned out to vote because in 2016 they didn’t see the beginning of their rights vanishing they saw someone who allowed them to spew the hate and bigotry they felt.

i feel lucky enough to have grown up with obama being the first president i remember. that the person i saw lead the country was a young, well spoken politician who cared about all people. who spoke not in hateful rants but eloquent speeches, who spoke highly of his wife and daughters, who despite hate spewed towards him he remained cordial to his opponents. in other words, a leader. how kids now have to grow up with a man child, a rapist, a felon as who they see. someone that shows young men not that there is power in respect, diligence, kindness, but that shows them that you can say you want to grab women by the pussy and be elected. twice.

i wish kamala harris and tim walz won, of course, but i wish they won for the people who have to live in the world and don’t know better. how children can’t look upon their television and see a woman who represents what once felt impossible become possible, who would lead with them in mind. i voted for her not for myself, but for the minorities who will be effected by the other sides regime, for the children who deserve more than this world is ever going to give them now, for the women who now have to live in fear of ever being in charge of their bodies again. i didn’t vote for myself, but clearly the majority did. as a young women will die in a parking lot after being denied medical treatment, a man will be able to buy gas for $2.07. a human life is less important than a luxury in a man’s, and unfortunately an entire new generation of women had to learn that today.

i’m heartbroken. i feel i failed the future of my country when i did the best i could. kamala did more in five months than most could ever dream, shattering glass ceiling after glass ceiling to get where she was last night. i wish it was her. i wish it was her for so many women today, and young girls of tomorrow.

unfortunately, it was proven that backwards and in heels is still an understatement. she had the world against her and got so far. as a first time voter, my fears came true. as a woman, my fears came true. as an american, my fears came true. as someone who had to watch women in my life cry in 2016 and not understand how much that would effect me now, my fears came true.

this isn’t the end. its okay to feel scared and hopeless. but think about how far we came in the past 5 months. kamala harris will go down in history for so many reasons, and this is one of them. she lead where she could with strength, dignity, understanding, and love. when it’s realized that’s missing, we’ll feel it. her impact certainly does not end here.

[lailoken]

What are your favorite pieces of media that you think accurately represent magic and spirit work? Movies, books, even music..

This is an interesting question, but one that requires a lot of thought, as I have read and watched an inordinate amount of books and movies. Plus, even really good fiction with pagan themes that I've read/watched is generally inaccurate in most ways, with some realistic aspects of magic woven in here and there. Some of my very favorite media relating to the subject can't really be included, simply because of how inaccurate it is overall, but there are a few that have caught my notice.

I'm sure I'll end up missing ones, which bugs me, but I'll do my best to recount some examples that I can think of:

The Love Witch (2016) is a movie that I think presents a strikingly realistic portrayal of what magic can look like. It manages to show some of the ways one might use magic to great effect, without actually skewing into fantasy at all. Clearly, the magic shown isn't going to line up with every paradigm, and its not exactly a heady or spirit-based story, but I think it's a very real look at how ritual and magic is/can be approached by many folks in the modern day.

The Witch (2015) is, above all else, a great slow-burn horror film and an excellent period-piece. However, it also portrays quite an accurate conception of folkloric beliefs about Witchcraft in the 17th century, which inexorably inform the realities of modern Witchcraft traditions. It does just barely skew into fantasy horror, but the actual folkloric information being presented is quite sound.

A Dark Song (2016) is a film that portrays ceremonial magic realistically in many ways. Ultimately, it is still a supernatural horror film, but the bulk of the magic in the movie is based directly on the Abramelin Operation, which was interesting to see. A lot of the ways that the magic "takes shape" in the film feels real enough to me, too (though it certainly takes it to extremes at points, as horror movies are wont to do).

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is a horror novel I much enjoyed when I read it a coulple years ago, but I also remember that it happens to contain small, but meaningful, instances of sympathetic magic within the story that I appreciated as a practitioner looking in. This one has been made into a movie as well.

Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill is one of the more realistic looks at magic—including the uncanny side of it—that I've come across. It's still definitely a horror story, first and foremost, but there's an oomph to the ritual and magic described therein that a lot of other similar fiction lacks—even when the ritual act being described isn't necessarily accurate in terms of historicality or my personal experience of the Craft.

The White People by Arthur Machen is a Welsh short horror story from the turn of the century, which I think is worth including here. There are elements and aspects of the story that feel surprisingly real in terms of Gloaming initiation and the Gloaming Spirits—though, of course, it takes creative liberties informed by the paranormal beliefs and trends of the time (1890s).

The Craft (1996) is a movie that I'm sure a lot of pagans have of nostalgia for in one way or another, myself included. I struggled with whether this movie should be here or in the Honorable Mention section, but I included it here in the end because a lot of the ways magic and ritual are presented in the film are accurate enough. I also think it did a fairly good job of capturing how it can feel to discover, revel in, and then become overwhelmed by magic. However, since it is a supernatural horror film, a lot of magic shown is portrayed more fantastically than the real thing, and there are aspects of the magic (rituals, entities, etc.) made up entirely for the sake of the story.

As implied above, there are also some pieces that, while largely inaccurate or too far into the realm of fantasy, still manage to succesfully capture some essence of realistic feeling magic in them. I will list those here as Honorable Mentions:

Practical Magic (1998) is another movie that I'm sure a lot of Pagans have nostalgia for in some way or another. I won't claim that it's a genuinely "accurate" representation of magic—and it certainly strays into outright fantasy at times—but there are little things throughout the movie that managed to ring a bell for me, as someone who grew up with magic in my family. I know this was originally a book, but I actually haven't read that as of yet, so I can't speak to it.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is a movie is squarely in the fantasy-horror genre to me, but even still, I include it here as an honorable mention because a lot of the lore depicted is drawn from real lore, and the overall ambience it manged to evoke strongly reminds me of some of my own experiences with chthonic journeying.

The Good Witch franchise isn't one I have ever actually watched any part of before, but I include it here because, oddly enough, multiple practitioners have mentioned to me that they think the magic is surprisingly realistic for a Hallmark series. As I understand it, the main character is a sort of local Wise Woman who helps the folk in her little town using things like folk-knowledge, remarkable intuition, and an uncanny ability to seemingly sway people and circumstances. Since I haven't seen it myself, my take on it may be somewhat lacking, (which is why I listed it as an honorable mention), but based on the description, it actually sounds like it may be one of the more realistic interpretations of magic on this list.

I know this is a strange addition, as it's not exactly magic, per se, but much of how Stephen King writes about psychic abilities like clairvoyance and healing throughout his works manages to touch on something all too familiar for me. I think, sometimes, that he may have known someone with the Sight and/or the Touch in his real life, as it comes up a lot in one shape or another in his writing.

As I said, I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing, but this at least a serviceable overview. I encourage others to share any other media that they think deserves a mention, too!

[digi-log-conversation]

1: does the brainrot memes have signifigance (i feel like there is a plotline developing around them)

2: where the hell do the halloween specials take place

1:

i think most of the lore around the brainrot trio is pretty spontaneous but it may go somewhere. i reckon it'd be pretty disconnected from most siivagunner lore. what's interesting is that there has been an effort to keep lore around them somewhat consistent unlike the halloween specials lol

2:

2016 - main universe (reboot, ccc). wood man takes over the channel while siivagunner is asleep. 2017 - main universe (reboot, ccc). wood man pitches a movie he came up with to haltmann during the events of the ccc 2018/2019 - so... idk. maybe its own "halloween universe". it really doesn't check out with any of the established universes. back when i was trying to create a consensus on continuities some time around 2021, this is where i got stuck, because it calls back to both kfad and ccc, and includes jerome and reader... it's kind of a mess. i consider it a pocket dimension at this point, but maybe i'll try to rationalize it in the future. 2020 - main universe in illucidity. the ai runs this event, i dont remember there being a lore angle to this so it's pretty clear cut. unless im stupid and forgort somethng 2021 - i wasn't really involved in the making of the audio dramas at all, but i reckon they fit into their own little universe. dramaverse. idk. one could argue that they continue on from the 2018/2019 halloween universe due to some of the returning characters but i don't really wanna touch that shit right now. grr. 2022 - yeah. so the.. th... it's uhh. they're having a fun time okay. it's fun. dont think about it too much. look the siiva ai wasnt very good at continuity clearly okay. it had a small context window. leave it alone maybe 2023 - crying

it's fine. the halloween stories exist to let the team have fun writing whatever they want with any and all characters they like to write about :) yay

[onemustalwaysbecarefulofbooks]

Why I Dislike Rhysand, Part 1: Not a Martyr Like You Think

So. . this rant has been a long time coming. I finally came to the conclusion that it would be too much to include all in one post. There are so many different things I feel the need to touch on and include that I decided I’m going to be breaking it up. Enjoy Part 1. 

I also feel the need to start off by saying that I’ve been an SJM reader for nearly ten years now. I remember when ACOTAR first came out. I remember reading ACOMAF upon its release and nearly being blown over by my intense disgust and dislike for how a story was handled. ACOMAF was released in 2016, so I’ve been holding on to a lot of this for the better part of seven years. I don’t know how many of you were a part of the ACOTAR or SJM community here on Tumblr back in those days but let me tell you. . .it was something else. The fevered Rhysand obsession and worship was WILD. The fans were CUT THROAT and had no mercy. If you even HINTED at the fact that you felt like Rhys was not All That, they came for you and they came hard. I have never been one to engage in ridiculous arguments with strangers on the internet so I kept most of my feelings to myself. It’s giving me immense satisfaction and validation to see so many people begin to express things that are so like minded with how I feel. Keep fighting the good fight!

SO! We’re going to dive deep with this and go back to before the series chronologically even started. 

A huge part of why I so strongly dislike Rhysand is that I find it very hard to sympathize with him regarding his time UTM. 

Yes, you read that correctly.

Now, I realize that that sentence alone is enough to cause a lot of people to click away from this in disgust immediately. I challenge those people to keep reading and to hear me out. I try and make it a point to back everything I have to say with canon facts and logical sense. One of the fatal (or perhaps not so fatal) flaws I have as a reader is that 99% of the time, I am not able to just let things go and absorb them at face value for the sake of an entertaining story. You can sell me just about anything and I’ll be able to find some enjoyment in it. . .if it makes sense. If something exists in a scenario that is contradictory or just plain illogical, I tend to fixate on it and not be able to let it go (I call this the Ravenclaw in me). Sometimes I almost resent that I’m like this because I feel like it prevents me from just having a good time with literature, but for better or worse, this is the kind of reader I am. 

Unfortunately, the ACOTAR series, specifically many things that have to do with Rhys and the Inner Circle, are riddled with things like this. Now, it’s no secret to any SJM reader that Sarah J Maas is OBSESSED with Rhys and the Inner Circle. Like. . .OBSESSED. I’ve truly never seen anything like it from an author. She so plainly and clearly holds these characters on pedestals and believes them to be the best of the best. She also so plainly and clearly works very hard to try and get the readers to feel the same way. This is why I say that SJM is one of the most confusing and frustrating authors I’ve ever read about. She clearly feels this way and wants US to feel this way. So you’d think, if that was her end goal, that she would simply just write characters who really ARE the best of the best and deserve to be on pedestals. Easy, right? She has total control over the actions, thoughts, and words of these characters, every other character, the plot, the narrative, the direction of the entire story. So just. . .write them as being perfect saintly beings, as you so clearly view them as?? You have the power to do this?

But here’s where the confusing and frustrating part comes in: She doesn’t.

Instead of giving us these characters who truly ARE as virtuous and amazing and wonderful as she thinks they are, she instead gives us characters who do horrific, selfish, and highly questionable things across the span of the series and then gaslights her readers by continuing to hold these characters on pedestals and laud them as being The Best In Every Way. . .while their atrocious deeds are sitting RIGHT THERE on the page being completely ignored in every way. It’s one of the most unaware and bizarre things I’ve ever witnessed from an author and honestly, from a group of readers. The amount of people who just blindly accept anything SJM says as Gospel is wild to me. I really don’t understand how people just swallow this stuff and can’t see it for what it is. Open your mind to just an ounce of critical thinking and I really do believe you’ll begin to see things in a new way. 

So. . .my point in all that being: SJM clearly wanted us to have a ton of sympathy for Rhys from his ordeal with Amarantha and his time UTM. The scene is set perfectly! Valiant and selfless Rhysand volunteers himself to play Amarantha’s whore in order to keep her attention from the city and the people Rhys loves so much. He lives for 50 years having to “service” a psychotic evil woman who actively tries to bring destruction to his entire country. Horrible, right??? Unthinkable. What he went through!!! What he had to do!!! No one has a selfless heart like he does!!!!

The only problem is. . .this entire scenario has a million holes in it. Let’s explore some of them. 

So, when Amarantha returns to Prythian, Rhys heads to her little party without any backup from the IC. He plans to kill Amarantha himself but of course, she tricks all the High Lords and captures their power before this can happen. 

Sidenote: This is another thing I can’t stand about Rhysand’s power: We are told over and over and over that he is THE MOST powerful High Lord not just of the seven current High Lords, but in all of Prythian’s HISTORY. In the High Lord’s meeting during ACOWAR (top contender for my least favorite scene of the entire series), Feyre says: 

The others, who had been watching with disdain and amusement and boredom, now turned to my mate. Now possessed a shadow of fear in their eyes as they realized who and what, exactly, sat amongst them. 

Brethren, and yet not. Tamlin was a High Lord, as powerful as any of them.

Except for the ones at my side. Rhys was as different from them as humans were to Fae. 

Okay, first of all:

Second of all. . .once again, we are faced with SJM’s convenient Whatever-I-Need-To-Happen-Will-Happen story telling. She claims that Rhys is as different from all the other High Lords as humans are to fae. And despite this, he still gets tricked and overtaken by Amarantha, the exact same as all the rest of them. His powers were ripped away by that spell just the same as all the others. Being the so-called “Most Powerful High Lord in Prythian’s History” didn’t mean anything in that situation. He’s the mOSt POwerfUL HiGH LOrd iN HiSTORy, but was able to be totally overtaken by Amarantha just like everyone else. Looks like that title really should have gone to HER!

Anyway. . .as Rhys feels his powers being ripped away, we are told that in desperation, he “threw the shield around Velaris”, binding it to my friends so that they had to remain or risk that protection collapsing and used the last dregs to tell them mind to mind what was happening and to stay away”. 

What a noble sacrifice right??

INCONSISTENCY ALERT: There were ALREADY spells and protections hiding Velaris and there had been for years!!!!!! 

The first time I read Rhys’s explanation of this, I was super confused. SJM tells it like he was the one who created Velaris’s shield and protection right there in this moment. That this act was the only thing that kept it hidden and safe from Amarantha. But like. . .this is not the case!!!! 

Don’t believe me??

“Did you even think for one moment,” I said, my voice like gravel, “to extend that luck to anywhere else? Anyone else?”

“Other cities,” he said calmly, “are known to the world. Velaris has remained secret beyond the borders of these lands for millenia. Amarantha did not touch it because she did not know it existed. None of her beasts did. No one in the other courts knows of its existence, either.”

“How?”

“Spells and wards and my ruthless, ruthless ancestors, who were willing to do anything to preserve a piece of goodness in our wretched world.”

(ACOMAF, page 144)

The Velaris Wiki page states:

To preserve it, an ancient High Lord kept Velaris a secret, and so did his descendants. There are many spells on the city itself—laid by him, and his heirs, that make those who trade here unable to say anything about the city and possess the skill to convincingly lie in order to keep the origin of their goods and ships, hidden from the rest of the world. Rumor has it that an ancient High Lord doused his blood upon the stones and river to keep that spell eternal. 

And then in ACOMAF, we get:

“I used the remainder of my power to shield them all from sight and sound. I had only enough for one city--one place. I chose the one that had been hidden from history already. I chose, and now must live with the consequences of knowing there were more left outside who suffered. But for those here. . .anyone flying or traveling near Velaris would see nothing but barren rock, and if they tried to walk through it, they’d find themselves suddenly deciding otherwise. And because my powers were focused on shielding them all, Feyre, I had very little to use against Amarantha.”

So, which is it?? Did your ancestors shield and protect Velaris or did you?? 

Do you see the contradictory writing here? 

Again, in ACOMAF:

“You are safe here, and safe anywhere in this city, for that matter. Velaris’s walls are well protected and have not been breached in 5,000 years.”

According to what Sarah J Maas herself has written, the city of Velaris already had extensive wards and protection on it for millennia. The city had been a safe haven from the rest of the world and a complete secret for 5,000 years. So I was very confused as to why it was being made out to be that Rhys made this Grand Ultimate Sacrifice to shield the city and its inhabitants from Amarantha, when this was already the case before this. She wouldn't have touched it because she didn’t know about it. . .words from Rhys’s own mouth!!!! 

I’m sure in Sarah’s mind, she just needed to make a way for the IC to not come after Rhys and try and help him, so this is what she came up with. Regardless. . .Velaris already had protection on it that did not rely on Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren. You’re saying that with the last shreds of his power, Rhysand undid centuries old ancient blood protection of his ancestors, created an entirely NEW foolproof protection plan, and bound it to the Inner Circle?? 

I’d also like to point out that Kallias, High Lord of Winter, did essentially the same thing with Viviane and the Winter Court. 

And in those last moments, when his power was ripped from him by that spell. . .Kallias had flung out the remnants to warn her. To tell Viviane he loved her. And then he begged her to protect their people.

So she had. 

As Mor and my friends had protected Velaris, Viviane had veiled and guarded the small city under her watch, offering safe harbor to those who made it. 

(ACOWAR, pages 410-411)

These situations are exact parallels of each other. Kallias and Rhysand couldn’t protect their entire courts, but they were able to throw shields and protections around the one city where their loved ones were. The Winter Court was ravaged by Amarantha’s troops, we know this from the story. But evidently, this one city where Viviane was remained protected. And in this situation, I have infinitely more respect for Kallias than I do for Rhysand.

Rhysand claimed he became Amarantha’s whore in order to keep enemies from looking too closely at who he really was and who he loved. He serviced her in bed and committed atrocious deeds in her name for 50 years. All this, he claimed, to protect Velaris and his loved ones. 

So please explain to me how Kallias was able to do the same thing. . .WITHOUT doing Amarantha’s dirty work. 

As I said, I know fully well that the Winter Court in general was not spared by Amarantha. We all read about the children who had their minds wiped (conveniently by some OTHER daemati who we never learn about or hear about ever again). It sounds like Amarantha tried her hardest to destroy the Court in general. But remember. . .the Night Court is not exclusively Velaris. If you look at the map of Prythian, the Night Court is huge! It’s the largest of all the Courts. We have no idea what happened to the rest of the Night Court that was outside of Velaris’s protection. Since it’s such a big deal that Velaris is such a whole, untouched city, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that it probably wasn’t spared any more than the rest of Prythian was. So it stands to reason that both the Night Court and the Winter Court had one city that remained protected while the rest of their Court was destroyed.

Even further than that. . .it is specifically stated that Viviane offered shelter and protection to anyone who made it to that protected city where she was. Kallias begged her to protect their people and she did. It was a city of safe haven for any refugees who could make it there. (Viviane was Prythian’s first High Lady and that’s the tea). 

Rhysand KNEW what was happening all throughout Prythian during this time. . .he helped partake in it!!! Did he think to offer the same protection for innocent refugees in Velaris during this time??

We all know the answer.

I’m not saying that Rhys was obligated to do this. In a horrible situation like that, I’m sure many people would enter survival mode and adapt an “every man for himself” mindset. It’s an extremely Slytherin move to make, and I don’t really mean that in a bad way. But at the end of the day, Rhysand prioritized his friend group over every innocent citizen of Prythian. 

Kallias and Viviane didn’t do that. 

Again, I don’t entirely blame Rhysand for this!! I think a lot of people would have made the same decision!! But just. . .don’t ask me to act like Rhys’s decision was some grand ultimate sacrifice that was more than any other High Lord made. It’s not. SJM, if you want Rhys to be my fave, why are you putting characters in here like K and V who do the more noble and honorable thing?? 

Kallias didn’t have mind powers where he was able to erase the knowledge of Viviane from every one UTM who knew about her as Rhys did with the Inner Circle. There weren’t already extensive, centuries-old shields and protection guarding the city that she was in. And despite this, he STILL asked her to protect their people, and she kept the city open for refugees who could make it there. AND he remained true to his cause and didn’t do Amarantha’s dirty work for her to “keep people from looking too closely”. 

And yet Feyre and everyone else tell us constantly that “no one sacrificed as much” as Rhys. Yeah, no. My respect for Kallias and Viviane is 10000000x greater than Rhysand. Sorry, not sorry. 

And this leads me to my next point. 

One of the biggest issues I have with Rhys’s time UTM in general, is that his actions are treated by the narrative and the other characters as the MOST sacrificial out of all the High Lords. 

As I’ve expressed above, I do not buy this for one second. And I actually find it pretty insulting on behalf of all the other High Lords!!

Rhysand’s choices and actions were entirely self-serving. He did nothing to fight against Amarantha or protect citizens of Prythian in general. It was entirely about his city and his friends. Again, I’m not saying I condemn him for this! It was a horrible situation and this was what he chose to do. People do crazy things for the people they love. But that’s my point. . .it was a CHOICE. He CHOSE to “service” Amarantha. He CHOSE to do her dirty work and commit atrocious deeds in her name. And every choice he made protected no one but the people who were important to HIM. So I’m just not really sure how/why I’m expected to feel the greatest amount of sympathy for HIM, over the other High Lords, many of whom stayed in open rebellion and never aided Amarantha. How easy would it have been for any of the other High Lords to attempt the same thing he did, and pretend to sympathize with Amarantha? Maybe not “servicing” her as Rhys did, but pretending to deflect to her side, doing dirty work for her, in order to attempt to spare their Courts and THEIR loved ones??? Did anyone else do this??? NO.

Rhys says he bows for no one but that isn’t true. He bowed for Amarantha. The other High Lords did not. 

The High Lords of Summer, Day, and Winter lost their lives by refusing to submit to Amarantha. (ACOTAR, page 284). 

And I’m supposed to have the greatest amount of sympathy for Rhysand??

People talk about how horrible it was for Rhys during those 50 years Under the Mountain. I’m not here to say his life was pleasant. But what I AM here to say is that in comparison to what the other High Lords’ lives were like. . .I find it hard to have MORE sympathy for him than the others. 

“If that was what she wanted, then that was what she would get. I made her beg, and scream, and used my lingering powers to make it so good for her that she wanted more. Craved more.”

“For fifty years--whenever I was inside her, I’d think about killing her. She had no idea. None. Because I was so good at my job that she thought I enjoyed it too. So she began to trust me--more than the others. Especially when I proved what I could do to her enemies.”

Rhys is “so good at his job” of killing Amarantha’s enemies (and one assumes that Amarantha’s enemies are, you know, PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR PRYTHIAN AND AGAINST HER OPPRESSION) and so thorough in their sexual acts, that Amarantha begins to trust him. He is allowed certain freedoms that no one else has. He is not trapped for 50 straight years Under the Mountain. In ACOTAR alone, we see him visit the Spring Court three different times. Do you think any of those other High Lords saw daylight even once during those 50 years?? 

He is clearly allowed to move about as he wants to Under the Mountain. He visits Feyre in her cell several times, seemingly without Amarantha knowing. She is a prisoner of Amarantha, but he’s allowed to do whatever he wants to and with her. 

Essentially. . .Rhys lived as a member of Amarantha’s court UTM. He served as her fuck buddy and one of her main attack dogs. To our knowledge he wasn’t tortured, starved, or forced to watch, powerless, as someone or something he loved was dangled over him. High Lords were losing their lives living in open rebellion against Amarantha, while Rhys lived with a level of security that no one else had. I am NOT saying that servicing Amarantha was pleasant for him, obviously it wasn’t. But at the end of the day. . .this was a choice he made. Everyone makes choices and has consequences of those choices. Rhys chose to serve Amarantha in bed and was given a position of power and security that no one else had. The other High Lords chose to openly oppose and resist her and subsequently had to suffer and live in terror with none of the freedom or choices Rhys was given. I honestly fail to see how Rhys’s decision was more valiant than all the rest. 

Again, this is NOT me trying to say that Rhys did not suffer at all UTM. I completely acknowledge that he suffered his own type of torment. I just get very sick and tired of him being treated as if he is the Greatest, Most Suffering, and Only Martyr in all of Prythian. 

I often say that Sarah writes all of these characters and this entire story in a way that elevates and favors Rhysand, even if in doing so she has people saying and doing things that make absolutely no logical sense. Everything that happens after UTM is a prime example of this. 

The fact that the other Courts and High Lords are so quick to trust Rhysand and work so closely with him after the events of UTM is downright ridiculous and makes absolutely no sense. All of them have EVERY reason to be extremely mistrustful, if not openly hostile to him, after what they witnessed for 50 years. I myself do not understand most of his actions during ACOTAR. Let’s dive into all of THAT.

I made a post separately on this, but I’ll still comment on it here. Rhys claims that he “thought” about killing Amarantha the entire time he worked for her. However, he claims:

“I couldn’t use my powers to harm her, and she had shielded herself against physical attacks”.

There’s nothing I hate more than contrived convenient story-telling. To me, this is on the same level as Feyre not being able to have a C-section in ACOSF. We need it to be true, so we’re just going to say it’s true. . .no matter how little sense it makes in this context. 

Rhys says that he, the most powerful High Lord ever born, had his power ripped away by Amarantha. On page 520 of ACOMAF he says, “Within a few seconds, my power belonged wholly to Amarantha”. 

But does it??? Let’s take a look at all the things Rhys is able to do with his power during his time under Amarantha, without her knowledge or consent:

Uses it to enhance the sexual experience between him and Amarantha, making her beg and scream, and crave him (ACOMAF, page 520)

Broke into the minds of the three fae who cornered Feyre on Calanmai, reshaped their lives, their histories, and then made them confess to Amarantha that they were rebels (ACOMAF, page 523)

“Against my violation, my body straightened, every muscle going taut, my bones straining. Magic, but deeper than that. Power that seized everything inside me and took control: even my blood flowed where he willed it.” (ACOTAR, page 239)

“I couldn’t move. An invisible, talon-tipped hand scraped against my mind. And I knew--one push, one swipe of those mental claws, and who I was would cease to exist.” (ACOTAR, page 239)

Broke into Clare Beddor’s mind when she was captured and took away her pain, told her to scream when she was expected to, then finally slipped into her mind and ended her life (ACOMAF, page 524)

Visits Feyre in her cell UTM and heals her shattered arm completely (where was this power to save her from a C-Section???)

Mentally controls and commands the guards to stay out of Feyre’s cell and not touch her. “If you do, you’re to take your own daggers and gut yourselves. Understood?” Dazed, numb nods, then they blinked and straightened. I hid my trembling. Glamour, mind control--whatever it was he had done, it worked. They beckoned--but didn’t dare touch me. (ACOTAR, page 344)

Enters Feyre’s mind to influence and help her during her second task

Convenient storytelling at its finest. He may not have total control over the full extent of his power, but it is abundantly clear that he definitely has control of some of it! And yet we’re told that Rhys is completely unable to do anything to harm or kill Amarantha, because she holds all his power!! It belonged “wholly to her” as he said! But he’s able to do all of this stuff without her knowledge???

Forget killing her with his power!!! Lysandra killed Arobynn Hamel by slitting his throat in the middle of the night! I’m sorry, I do not find it believable that the Most Powerful High Lord in Prythian’s HISTORY was completely unable to find a way to end this bitch’s life in 50 years, ESPECIALLY when it’s explicitly stated that she allows him certain freedoms and he does things without her knowledge. I just don’t!!!! 

So if I’M thinking that. . .what do you think the rest of the people UTM were thinking??? Can you see how they might be very suspicious of him??

In addition to this. . .his actions regarding Tamlin, and eventually Feyre, make zero logical sense in the context of their situation. Let’s take a look at THAT mess.

So Rhysand is suffering in this horrible awful torment, having to play Amarantha’s whore and do evil things for her. He hates every minute of it, he grows to hate himself, he claims. 

And in this giant mess, there is only ONE road to freedom for not just him, but for everyone. And that’s Tamlin.

“Then she cursed Tamlin. And my other great enemy became the one loophole that might free us all.”

Rhys knows about the curse. He knows the stipulations and what Tamlin must accomplish. He knows that doing so will free them all.

Wouldn't you then think that he would do everything in his power to attempt to aid and assist Tamlin during the course of those 50 years?????

I know he hates Tamlin by that point anyway, due to the rivalry between their families. But, my God. . .would that really matter at this point?? If me and my entire country were stuck in the position Prythian was in, I don’t really think I’d give a shit who our freedom depended on. It could be my greatest mortal enemy and I’m pretty sure I’d still be like Okay Buddy, let’s do this. I wouldn't say I’d LIKE it. But I’d use whoever I could to get me and everyone else out of that situation. 

If Rhysand, the Inner Circle, Velaris, and every other High Fae in Prythian’s lives and futures depended on Tamlin getting a human girl to fall in love with him, I would think Rhysand would be doing whatever he possibly could to further this along and make it happen. Don’t try and say that he couldn’t do it because Amarantha would find out. Rhys WAS able to keep secrets from her and do things she didn’t know about (see my big list up there! ^^) Don’t try and say that he wouldn't risk dropping his Bad Guy Mask because it would make people look “too closely” at him and possibly target Velaris and the IC (I would have a million comebacks to that. As I’ve already said, there were ALREADY extensive shields and protections guarding Velaris and had been for years. Rhys had wiped the knowledge of the IC from the minds of everyone who knew about them. And wouldn't the safer, better option for the IC be that the curse was broken??? So if he really wanted to protect them, this was the #1 thing he should be doing!!!!)

When it became clear to us all in ACOMAF that Rhys was not in fact, really a bad guy, the very first thing I immediately wondered was, “If this were the case, why was he not trying to HELP Tamlin all those years???” If that was their one loophole and their one shot at freedom and ending the nightmare they were in, why on EARTH did Rhys spend 50 years bullying, manipulating, and tormenting the ONE PERSON who had a shot at freeing them??!?!?!? 

Rhys tells Feyre in Chapter 54 of ACOMAF:

“I didn’t know. That you were with Tamlin. That you were staying at the Spring Court. Amarantha sent me that day after the Summer Solstice because I’d been so successful on Calanmai. I was prepared to mock him, maybe pick a fight.”

Again, do not tell me that Rhys was a slave to Amarantha so there wasn’t anything he could do. That is NONSENSE. After Calanmai he crafts an entire fabricated story to tell her and brings people he’s mind manipulated into validating what he’s saying. 

Instead of offering Tamlin support, or at the very least, leaving him alone, he chooses to terrorize him and his people. He leaves severed heads on the manor house grounds, taunts Tamlin about the curse, and taunts Lucien about his mother and his dead lover. Listen to what he says to Tamlin and Lucien, before he knows Feyre is there: 

“What a pity that you must endure the brunt of it, Tamlin--and an even greater pity that you’re so resigned to your fate. You might be stubborn, but this is pathetic.”

“Little Lucien. You certainly gave them something to talk about when you switched to Spring. Such a sad thing, to see your lovely mother in perpetual mourning over losing you.”

“She’s already preparing for you. Given your current state, I think I can safely report that you’ve already been broken and will reconsider her offer.”

This is flat out disgusting behavior. This is the man you want me to have sympathy for, to view as the “better man”. Tamlin and Lucien were even greater victims at this point than Rhys was himself. They were running out of time after desperately fighting a losing battle, with the entire weight of Prythian on their shoulders. Rhys’s actions do not make sense. He is digging his own grave by behaving this way. If he wanted himself and everyone to be free so badly, I’m really not sure why he’s going out of his way to mock Tamlin, make his life difficult, and taunt him about not breaking the curse. 

But things don’t stop there! They get even MORE illogical when Feyre enters the picture!!

So once Rhys discovers Feyre’s presence, he immediately picks up on the emotional connection between her and Tamlin. In this situation, I would expect his first reaction to be glee. He didn’t know who Feyre was at that point, other than a girl he’d been dreaming about (and he later reveals that he first believed these dreams meant that she would be the one to save them all). Did anyone really expect Tamlin to break that curse?? Did anyone really expect him to find a human girl with hate in her heart for the Fae and have her fall in love with him?? I don’t think for a minute Amarantha actually believed there was even the slightest chance of this happening, just like she didn’t really believe Feyre had any chance of winning all three of her trials. It’s a mind game, nothing more. But here Tamlin is, on the very brink of meeting the very specific standards set by Amarantha. 

But what does Rhys do? Amp up the dramatics to scare Tamlin into sending Feyre back across the wall, therefore ensuring that the curse will never be broken. 

His reasoning, he tells us in ACOMAF, is:

“I made Tamlin beg--as Amarantha had made me beg, to show him how powerless he was to save you. And I prayed my performance was enough to get him to send you away. Back to the human realm, away from Amarantha. Because she was going to find you. If you broke that curse, she was going to find you and kill you.”

Um. . .if Feyre breaks the curse, that means that Tamlin gets his powers back. If Tamlin gets his powers back, Amarantha is dead. If Tamlin didn’t do it, certainly one of the other High Lords would have. If you’ll recall, Feyre DOES break the curse and when that happens, Amarantha is dead in literally seconds. Her power isn’t brute strength, it’s trickery. She is no match for Tamlin whatsoever. She literally backs away in fear and pleads for her life. It’s not even a close competition!!! She doesn’t get a single scratch on him! 

Now, I will fully admit. . .this was also something I always found kind of dumb on Tamlin’s part as well. It’s seen as this grand act of love that he sends her away and puts her safety before all of Prythian’s but I’ve always been like. . .dude. You were literally A DAY away from getting out of this thing. Tamlin, as a High Lord with his full power returned, really couldn’t shield and protect Feyre in the time it would take him to kill Amarantha? Yes, he wouldn't be able to properly protect her under their current circumstances without any of his real power, but that was the whole point of the curse. . .if Feyre told Tamlin she loved him and meant it, his power would be returned. The way in which he would be able to protect her would not be the same. You’d think at the point they were at, both Tamlin AND Rhysand would be bouncing around like the singing candlestick and clock from Beauty and the Beast trying to woo a confession out of Feyre. Kallias was able to shield Viviane for 50 years while his Court was under direct attack, I have to believe Tamlin could shield Feyre for the very short time it would take him, or any other High Lord, to end Amarantha. 

Rhys later says:

“If there was a shot of freeing us from Amarantha, you were it. I thought. . .I thought the Cauldron had been sending me these dreams to tell me that you would be the one to save us. Save my people.”

So. . .if this were the case, wouldn't it make more sense to just get a happy little “I love you” out of her before the 50 years were up? Tamlin and the High Lord’s powers would return and Amarantha would be “bloody ribbons”, as SJM likes to say, in seconds. Which is exactly what happened. All the struggle and strife of her trials UTM totally avoided!! 

What I’m essentially trying to say here is that most of Rhys’s actions during this time were in direct contradiction to what he claimed he really wanted. If Tamlin was Prythian’s only shot at freedom for all those years, you’d think he would be trying to secretly aid him in some way, or at the very least, not go out of his way to torment him. If Feyre was in Tamlin’s house, clearly in love with him, and the Curse was expiring in one day, you’d think he’d go back to Amarantha and be like “Nope, sorry, nothing to report” and pray the two of them would get it together for the sake of Prythian. 

Essentially, what I’m trying to say here is that I struggle to have a ton of sympathy for Rhys during this time because I feel as if the explanations that are given for his behavior and actions are flimsy and don’t hold up against most arguments. He felt as if he HAD to become Amarantha’s lover and lapdog in order to keep her from figuring things out about his friends and trying to hurt them. . .who were concealed in a city that hadn’t been breached for 5,000 years and the knowledge of them had been wiped from every person who knew them UTM. He “couldn’t” kill or hurt Amarantha because his power belonged “wholly” to her. . .but he was able to use his powers in ways that worked against her without her knowledge or consent about tons of other things. He was so tormented and miserable in his time UTM that he. . .mocked and tormented the one person who had a shot at freeing them all. When he saw that Tamlin was right on the brink of actually breaking the curse he. . .manipulated him into ensuring that it would never be broken. All the while being surrounded by other leaders who did not have the luxury of shielding their loved ones in an anciently protected city, who worked to help all innocent citizens of Prythian, and who were losing their lives over their refusal to submit to an evil tyrant. I have a vastly larger degree of sympathy and respect for these other High Lords than I do with Rhysand. I find Rhys to be either very self-serving, or doing things that seem to directly contradict what he claims he wants. I do not blame any of the High Lords for being wary and mistrustful of him after UTM--it makes perfect sense that they would (but that’s a topic for another section of this rant!). This is a prime example of SJM self-sacrificing through her writing. I can guarantee you I wouldn't feel as strongly about this as I do after hearing it beaten into my head over and over what a noble, selfless, honorable hero Rhys was during this time. I’m sorry, it doesn’t add up to me. Too many holes, too many contradictions. Which, unfortunately, is pretty standard fare when it comes to Rhys.

Remember, this was only Part 1!! Part 2--Why Rhys is actually a terrible High Lord--coming soon!