#there are so many parallels it kills me

[withdenim]

Local man desperately trying to stop the cycle before it gets to his kids (it’s already there)

[muffinrag]

yknow I saw that gifset of Garak's actor before I ever started watching star trek - you know the one, the interview gifset - so I knew going in that there was going to be gay subtext. but holy shit, you guys. Garak doesn't just wanna fuck Bashir. that man is a whole entire homosexual. that man is a queen. or like. a princess at minimum. the actor put his whole pussy into being a gay lizard and he's going to heaven for it

[aromantic-and-aromatic]

Sephiroth was denied his humanity so consistently that the moment he saw a sliver of a possibility to justify his separation from it in a way that put him above humanity instead of below, he took it, and decided to become humanity's victimizer instead of it's victim

[yaralulu]

“But I will say that Lucien is loyal— fiercely so." "Nesta is many things, but she's certainly loyal."

Lucnes you will ALWAYS be famous 🙏.

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

The final song on the Fitzjames playlist is from the soundtrack of the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, a movie about a group of colonialist soldiers (Spanish conquistadors) invading an environment hostile to them (the Amazon rainforest) in search of a source of wealth for their empire that does not actually exist (the city of El Dorado) who experience a mutiny, murder an innocent indigenous family, and finally go insane and starve to death.

[oswaldthatendswald]

I continue to rotate in my head the question of why Rocinante points his gun at Doflamingo, but does not shoot. The question, to clarify, is about both these actions. Why does he draw his gun; why doesn't he pull the trigger?

It's a really interesting bit of background characterization which is mostly overshadowed by Rocinante's speech and Law's panic. Rocinante draws his gun, and the members of the Donquixote crew react, but are stopped by Doflamingo. That's part of why I'm fascinated : Doflamingo lets Rocinante point a gun at him. Does he expect to be able to avoid a bullet? Does he think (correctly) that Roci won't shoot him?

Rocinante draws the gun, aims it, cocks it, but does not try to pull the trigger. Is it a bluff to make Doflamingo pay attention to him, and avoid any chance he might notice Law? Does he intend to shoot, but decide he's too likely to miss? Does he intend to shoot, and discover he can't bring himself to do it?

[mephoj]

nickel and balloon would be so much more interesting if people explored the way nickel became everything awful that balloon used to be but so much worse ironically all in the name of "protecting" everyone from that history repeating. and not softboy tsundere yaoi or whatever is going on in those tags rn

[triglycercule]

horror is so BLESSED he's the only one out of the murder time trio that has actual good people trying to influence his story 💔💔 dust and killer were both driven to INSANITY because of the choices of their respective humans but horror??? every time without FAIL the polls for horrortale's plotline have always ended in a good place for aliza (either by bettering her relationships/reputation or for her to just. not DIE)

horrortale's potential alternate timelines my beLOVEd��🙏 they're SO lucky that we're being kind and benevolent hehe (≧ω≦) now where are the aus based off the possible different outcomes that could've happened in horrortale HUH???? (like how aliza couldve killed toriel or chosen horror's puzzle or gone with undyne to the core........)

[diddlesnap]

joniss for the soul

[clegfly]

Finally got caught up with TADC and to no one’s surprise I’m now uncontrollably sobbing over the tragic doomed loving couple

[greenleaf4stuff]

This is the worst way to find out I have a favorite kind of character and it is one that is loyal to his people no matter how much others might fear them, being a father and a protector of them, and then dying tragically even as they try to help and protect those they care about.

Brb crying

for the trop girlies (gn) unfamiliar with him - the other character is Hugh from Star Trek and he (spoilers for Star Trek Picard):

got taken by the borg and was modified against his will thereby losing his sense of self while forced to serve them (and needed others to regain his sense of self and empathy)

his name as a borg was Third of Five, but after gaining his freedom he was given a new name, Hugh, which he goes by

became a guardian of the freed former borg (xBs) helping them to heal from their trauma and get better while trying to protect them from those who feared them or wished to exploit them - against a whole galaxy of ppl who saw all borg or former borg as dangerous

him and his people also have no 'home' of their own

ended up getting killed while trying to help his friends and while being unable to protect the very xBs he had devoted himself to

also. facial scars due to experimentation/modification. dark hair. dark clothes. goth vibes but dark does not mean evil.

...does this remind you of anyone?

[daritskaya]

one of the things about gaius' character that makes me terribly angry and confused is that he also tells merlin about destiny from the beginning, even though it's not even something he truly believes in. prophecy is important to the druids, it is - in one sense or another - important to kilhgarrah, it is important to the sorcerers. It makes some sense for them to throw this weight of knowing destiny on merlin. they don't know him; he is to them the messiah they have waited too long for. he is to them the long-awaited release and/or long-awaited revenge

but gaius has turned his back on the sorcerer community. he doesn't wait for the prophecy to be fulfilled, even if he believes it to be true. he's been convincing merlin all show that it's too soon for change - it's too soon for merlin to reveal magic, it's too soon for arthur to take the throne; when in fact it's gaius who isn't ready for change, it's gaius who wants to leave things as they are. He's comfortable where he is. all he's doing is making it harder for merlin to fulfill the prophecy - even if he does it unintentionally.

and he knows merlin. merlin is not just a distant image from the prophecy, not just a messiah, he is the boy that gaius calls son, a boy who is too young to carry such a burden.

and despite all this! he still keeps reminding him of the great destiny as something that defines merlin and everything around him, with absolutely no thought of how it affects merlin, because…. it's convenient? in the first, uh. two, maybe, episodes it could be just a (dubious) attempt to encourage merlin, after all, these are his first weeks in camelot. but later? later it turns into a way to manipulate him, to push him at crucial moments (one of the most striking cases in the first episodes: merlin doubts whether he should go kill the griffin? remind him of his great destiny! gaius just… uses it as a convenient excuse after which he doesn't have to explain anything).

"you have a great destiny, merlin" = "you have my permission to use magic, merlin."

gaius' approval is important to merlin. gaius restricts merlin a lot, (ultimately exacerbating merlin's fear of his magic) and if he turns a blind eye to his prohibitions, then the situation is very serious. and guess what? the only times merlin has gaius' approval are when merlin needs to destroy someone or save the prince and/or king. he literally learns merlin to think that his magic is good for killing and guarding pendragon and nothing more. that's all he can afford (that's what gaius can control. if anything changes, gaius loses control and he doesn't want that)

and that's one big reason why, in the end, merlin sees himself as a weapon in arthur's hands and sees nothing beyond that

what the hell, gaius.

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Rayllum Month 2024! (4/13)

white flowers and love letters, you say i’m yours forever

July 7th - Flowers

~

Rayla hated mornings. Callum couldn't get enough of them- she was convinced he must be on something, but it wasn't her place to say; hell knew she'd done weirder shit. And conversely, Callum hated late night while Rayla loved them. But at least she had a reason- she was a Moonshadow elf, after all. Moon's at night. The math wasn't difficult.

He slumped onto his bedroll when they made camp that night in a meadow, a clear view of the stars above. And if Rayla had chosen it specifically for that, in memory of their last time and hoping for a repeat, well… at least Callum had the good nature to not say anything if it bothered him. He was probably too exhausted to care.

She pushed his hair back. “Go get some rest, Sleepy Mage.”

He groaned, pushing himself up and rubbing at his eyes. “No, I'm fine. I'll help with dinner, and-”

Rayla rolled her eyes, lifting the bag off Luna and holding it out of Callum's reach. “Your eyebags could carry a gallon of milk. Go to bed- you're exhausted. I've got it.” She smiled, letting her hand fall within his reach. “Really.”

Callum took it, sending a rush of warmth through her perpetually cold body, the smile he gave her worth a billion gold coins. No- more. Priceless. “Thanks, Ray.”

She smiled back, squeezing and lingering. “It's not a problem.”

With Callum passed out instantly, Rayla ate a handful of beige bittersquash as she set out her own bedroll. Once she had it laid out as flat as she could get it on the uneven ground, she plucked Stella from her shoulder, the cuddlemonkey looking at her sleepily.

“Shh, I know, baby,” she soothed when she chittered, scratching her under the chin. “Will you do a very quick job for mama?”

Stella nodded eagerly, big purple eyes focusing.

Grinning, Rayla set her down near Callum with a pat on her head. “I'm going to go use the bathroom. Will you keep an eye on our things and Callum for me?”

The cuddlemonkey saluted her, adorably tapping Callum’s shoulder.

Rayla kissed her forehead. “Thanks, baby. I'll be right back. So fast you won't even notice I'm gone.”

She picked her way off through the woods until finding a dark, secluded enough spot to do her business. Stopping the fuss with the buckles of her pants on her walk back–honestly, she’d had them for over a year now, and the damn things never got any easier to clasp–she stopped short.

Nothing looked familiar. Sure, it was dark, but Rayla had always been good at memorizing environments and had keen night vision even for a Moonshadow elf. Shit, was she lost? Wonderful; that was just the icing on the cake.

Rayla flicked open a single blade, letting it hang at her side. She doubted there was anything nearby, but better safe than sorry.

She slowly spun around, getting her bearings and trying to figure out which way was east, the way she’d come from. Moss grew on the north side of trees, so if she could just find some freaking moss, she’d be set.

She squinted at a faint glow in the darkness, picking up the pace as she made her way over, curiosity getting the better of her. She was already lost; what was another detour?

A cluster of flowers bloomed at the base of a tree, glowing silver and shaped like lilies. A little like lunablooms, Rayla couldn’t help thinking, a shuddering wave of nostalgia washing over her.

Rayla inhaled the flowers’ scent, smiling at the smell of, oddly enough, fresh-baked cookies and Stella–unhygienic as the little monkey was, she thought with a snort–and- Callum. Why on earth did a flower smell like her ex-boyfriend? Why did it smell like home?

Greedily, she leaned back in to smell it again, but lurched back when instead of everything she’d longed for those two years away, it smelled of sulfur. Of evil. Rayla coughed, shaking her head. Where had that come from? Yet when she sniffed them again experimentally, certain she’d gone well and truly crazy, she was proven correct by how it had gone back to smelling like home.

She was clearly crazy, Rayla decided. She’d already been having auditory hallucinations, and with the added stress of her parents in her pocket, the fate of the world on her and Callum’s shoulders, everything that might happen once they reached the Starscraper, what he’d asked her to do… She really deserved more credit for keeping herself out of an insane asylum.

She pulled up a flower, gently gripping it by the stem in her free hand, and continued on her way. No reason to kill all of them. Let a little beauty spread around, right? But, come to think of it, it was odd that none of the little blossoms were anywhere to be seen other than that one patch.

But what did Rayla know? She was no Earthblood elf, no botanist. And she had bigger things to worry about than flowers.

And yet, she couldn’t make herself let go of the blossom in her hand.

By the time Rayla found her way back to camp, tired and agitated from stumbling over tree roots and through thorn bushes, it’d been at least twenty minutes since she’d planned on returning. Stella had fallen asleep curled up with Callum, out like a light.

Rayla smiled softly at the monkey, brushing a kiss against her forehead. She glanced down at the flower in her hand, and before she could think better of it, tucked it behind Callum’s ear. Adorable.

Read more on AO3!

[acaciapines]

rereading random bits of descendants of olympus (as one does) and. vera <3 still soooo obsessed with how she takes lupa's divinity. like MAN.......there is something to how shes had to scrape and claw her way into every single good thing shes ever had. that she's never just been able to KEEP these things, that she is always always always fighting for them. and so of course she takes divinity. she wants to LIVE. and in this world where the fates themselves are trying to control her, its like--yeah. maybe you do need a gods power to finally get like, at least a year of the life you want. the life you werent supposed to have. forever thinking about vera's one line in her chapter thats like 'of course the fates are losing power. because they'd never let someone like leo into my life.' YELLS. FOREVER.

also have we talked enough about minnie I THINK WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MINNIE--

[ruvviks]

Nathan Dixon is lead STEM developer of the Union environment and Team Bravo special ops agent of MOBIUS. He is one of the youngest recruits of the shadow organization, having been forced to join them after he killed his parents at age 16; and now, nine years later, he is looking for a way to destroy MOBIUS once and for all– if that is even possible.

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