#this is deliberately ambiguous

[rowanthestrange]

Layer 1: The Doctor and Ruby do a song and dance number styled as a non-diegetic/non-canon one unusually (in fact uniquely) for the show.

Layer 2: The song involves doing the twist and talking about a twist in terms of narrative.

Layer 3: End usually means “end of the story” and the song is at the end of the episode but also portending events presumably at the end of the season itself.

Layer 4: The song is actually happening diegetically i.e. in-universe.

Layer 5: Murray Gold is playing the piano in-universe.

Layer 6: So in-universe the Doctor is thinking of things being like a story which has a twist in it and is inspired to sing and dance that.

Layer 7: There’s an actor at the end, in the credits, called Susan Twist, who’s been popping up sometimes multiple times an episode as different people.

Layer 8: Her name genuinely is Susan Twist and Russell cast her specifically for that purpose.

Am I missing anything?

[idontwikeit]

Interview with the Vampire 1.06 // 2.06

[justplaggin]

i am here to help you. are you alright?

— bsd 118 raws (gdrive)

[laurelwen]

Home Is the First Grave Web Weave

[Like Minds Aesthetic Masterpost]]

SOURCES 1: thoughts of a stray iii, @dvoyd // 2: unknown // 3: unknown // 4: What I Could Never Confess Without Some Bravado, Emily Palermo // The Pianist, Valeriya Lakrisenko // 6: Untitled, Franz Wright // 7: Poplar Street, Chen Chen // 8: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong // 9: Artificial Condition, Martha Wells // 10: Celebrating Childhood, Adonis // 11: How to Cure a Ghost, Fariha Roisin // 12: Mouthful of Forevers, Clementine von Radics // 13: it lingers for your whole life, katie maria //The Chaos Within detail, Seanen Middleton // 15: Origin Story, Desireé Dallagiacomo // 16: Girl Made of Glass, Shelby Leigh // 17: Stop Me, Natalia Kills // The Hours, Michael Cunningham // 18: unknown // 19: The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt // 20: Anna Kamienska // 21: If They Come For Us, Fatimah Asghar

[hesgomorrah]

something so special about watching old tv shows do shit that would be called queerbait if they came out today but they predate queerbaiting as a phenomenon so you know it's genuine home-grown all-natural free-range homoeroticism

[leifyposting]

Your name is Diluc Ragnvindr. 

Or are you misremembering again? You’re forgetful, these days. 

Your name is Diluc Ragnvindr. You are certain of this. It meant something, once.

It is so cold out here. At least, you think it ought to be cold. It’s probably a bad sign that you are starting to feel warm. Or… don’t some of the native Snezhnayans make houses out of snow? Maybe that’s the reason you’re suddenly feeling warm, warm and toasty, like you’re snuggled up by a fire. When was the last time you sat by a fireplace? Do you remember?

Your name is Diluc Ragnvindr. Your father’s name is Crepus. 

No, that’s not right, is it? Try again.

Your father’s name was Crepus. 

Right. Because you killed him, don’t you remember? 

It was an act of mercy.

Put your hands around his neck and squeezed until the life faded from his eyes. 

It was an act of mercy!

Or maybe you placed your hand on his chest and pumped flame into his heart until it stopped beating. Wouldn’t that be poetic, the coveter killed by the very thing he had so coveted?

Your Delusion gleams on your chest, the same colour as the blood that’s blooming on the snow underneath you. It winks out at you from the bird that adorns your coat, like it knows something you don’t know, like it knows something you have forgotten. You have forgotten a lot, lately. 

He would have died from his injuries anyway. You simply couldn’t watch him suffer anymore.

Does that help you sleep at night?

No. It doesn’t. 

You haven’t slept well in a while. Three years, now; three years of tossing and turning and waking up from nightmares in a cold sweat. You can mark the time down to the day. No one tells you that when you turn 18 you forfeit any claim you had to a good night’s rest. That happens to everyone, right? Or is it just you? What happened on your 18th birthday that robbed you forevermore of rest? 

What else do you remember?

You have one brother. 

Oh?

Had one brother. His name is Kaeya. 

What happened to him?

You… You don’t remember. 

You do. Try harder. 

You don’t remember. 

He can’t have meant that much to you, then. 

He did! He does!

Then why don’t you remember?

You… 

Red against the night sky. Raindrops hit your blade and sizzle, sending steam into the air. You swing your claymore blindly, your vision obscured by flame, towards someone standing in front of you. Are you aiming for him, truly? Are you simply overtaken by grief? Either way, the effect is the same. When the steam clears, there is frost on the ground — an acknowledgement of the gods’ favour upon him. You turn and do not look at him again.

You had a fight, the two of you. 

Ah, there we go. What about?

It was after your dad died. 

And?

And he told you… something. Something that made you hurt him. Why can’t you remember?

Was it important?

It felt important at the time. 

And now?

Now it doesn’t seem worth much of anything. 

The snow is melting underneath you. You have always run hot, even before you received your Vision. You sink further into the snowdrift and it cradles your body like the mother you never knew. High, high up above you, an eagle makes slow circles in the air. You try to look around, but you are too weak to lift your head. 

Death has a way of putting things into perspective.

You’re not dying. Are you?

Sure looks like you’re dying, little prodigal. 

Kaeya will save you. He always has before. 

Kaeya’s not coming. You disowned him, remember? You tried to kill him. 

You didn’t mean it. 

That doesn’t change what you did. And now there is no one but yourself to save you. 

You remember… a boy on his knees in front of you, cradling a newly granted Vision to his chest. You remember the charred sleeves of his jacket, the skin of his arms raw and red, the blood that’s oozing from underneath his eyepatch. You remember the look of horror on his face. You don’t remember what you did to put it there. You don’t remember who he is. You don’t remember who you are.

It is so cold out here.

Stop that. 

And you are so tired. 

Enough of this. Who are you?

You don’t remember. 

Think. 

You don’t remember. 

Who are you?

Your name is– Your name is Diluc Ragnvindr. 

And?

You are 21 years old. Your father’s name is Crepus. Your brother Kaeya…

You hear crunching on the snow behind you. Footsteps, growing louder and faster as they spot you. A flash of blue in your peripheral vision, half obscured by the blood in your eye. Kaeya? Is that Kaeya?

Your brother Kaeya is not coming to save you.

Someone sinks to their knees next to you. “Gods, kid. Always getting yourself into trouble, aren’t you?” A woman’s voice. She gets her arms underneath you and lifts. You feel the earth fall away, blood and melted snow dripping from your coattails. “Let’s get you home.”

You don’t remember what home is. 

Yes, you do.

You remember a fireplace. The smell of wine. The feel of dirt beneath your feet, the gleam of a crystalfly outside your window, the dense heat of a summer evening before a storm. You remember a woman’s voice, gently chiding you for trekking mud into the house. You remember your brother’s obnoxious grin as he bends to take his boots off, ever the rule-follower. 

That’s not the home she’s taking you to.

You know that. She’s taking you back to headquarters.

Is that a good thing?

They will keep you from dying.

Is that all you want?

That’s all you deserve. 

But is that all you want?

No. It isn’t. 

Oh, little prodigal. Isn’t it time to go home?

[writtenbyevie]

this, like them, could honestly go both ways

[artingsumstuff]

Nari Love my beloved. Still figuring out these folks' designs!

[pensandsneakers]

Most of the time I’m inclined to see Kaz’s ugly violent reputation as just an act he puts on, that reputation being a necessity in the violent society he lives in, but there’s one thing Kaz has done that I can’t really excuse, and it fills me with so much dread every time I think about it.

The most chilling thing that Kaz ever does for me is during the bathroom scene when he says “You want to know what Pekka did to me? How about I tell you what I did when I found the woman who pretended to be his wife, the girl who pretended to be his daughter?” It honestly makes me sick to think about what Kaz did to Saskia. Apparently Leigh Bardugo had originally written an explanation of Saskia’s fate into a draft of the bathroom scene, but Leigh eventually cut it, saying “It was just too much. There’s a reason things get cut.”

Which honestly I understand, because how are we supposed to move forward in Kanej’s relationship if after they’ve shared this intimate moment, Inej learns about the violence Kaz inflicted on an innocent girl?

Saskia was just a girl doing a job she had to do. Maybe she was a talented actress, maybe she had dreams of being a performer someday. Probably her family was connected to the Dime Lions and she had no other choice but to work for Pekka, or she had people who depended on her for the money she could bring in for this job. She was just a pawn in a scheme larger than her, and Kaz, a random man, killed her anyway.

It’s better that we never see the falling out of Inej finding out about what Kaz has done, because if she knew what happened, I’m not sure if Inej would ever be able to forgive him.

[chamerionwrites]

Fucking wild that "carpet-bombing cities is evil. also a war crime" is considered a controversial opinion by anyone anywhere on this earth

[hajihiko]

Show us some lgbtq headcanons of yours

No

[pishifuzul]

need more affectionate friends

[cto10121]

Wish there was this much energy for defending R&J

[rhaenin-time]

I do not like how often you see any defense of Rhaenyra, especially regarding her being a victim of misogyny, attached to an "I know she wasn't perfect!" or something like it when you do not see that pattern for similar characters where misogyny or other forms of bigotry are not a major factor. There's an inconsistency there that I am not a fan of. A pattern of inconsistency that I see pop up not only in reaction to other works of fiction, but also real life.

[blu3mila]

Bláth is an Irish name meaning 'blossom'. Feminine. The one he got to choose for himself 🌸

[rowanthestrange]

So if Ruby thinks she’s seen Susan Twist before, does that mean she does have a bit of deja vu memory about what happened in Wales?

(Or did they just then see her hiking in Wales cus presumably they then had a…normal day out together there???)