#victims of their father's ambitions and political hypocrisy

[teen-spirited-away]

"All I wanted was for someone to tell me they were sorry for what happened to me" self-destructive duo

[narrowtriangle33-blog]

What do you think Martin Luther King, Jr. would think about BLM? Originally Answered: What do you think Martin Luther King would think about BLM? Well, they didn’t have BLM back in the 1960s of course. But they did have the Black Muslim movement, best known for their charismatic leader, Malcolm X.

“We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us.”

“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.”

“Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.”

“If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.”

“I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those that do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation.”

“It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That’s the only thing that can save this country.”

“When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom.”

“Dr. King wants the same thing I want. Freedom.”

“I want Dr. King to know that I didn’t come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King.”

"So how did the two get along?"

"Remarkably well.Frankly, as Malcolm made clear, if white people had just done what Dr. King had asked, there would not have been a need for Malcolm. Malcolm deeply believed that white people would never relinquish the power they held unless they were forced to do so. That being said, although Malcolm talked about violence a lot, he never actually used it and he, like King, was murdered.And because people didn’t listen to either Malcolm or Martin, we got this instead."

"The Black Panthers actually started out as a peaceful movement to organize a political party because both the Democrats and Republicans in many states didn’t allow black people to join the party. It eventually turned into a militant arm of the largely peaceful organizations that had existed to that point. If you wonder why we have a “right to carry” movement, that’s the Black Panthers insisting they had the right to carry guns for their own defense against police, a right that quickly led Ronald Reagan to champion a California law to ban open carry that had the full support of the NRA."

"But let’s get things straight. Malcolm X’s father was a leader of black rights movement who was almost certainly murdered as well, except the Detroit police wrote it off as a street car accident. His mother had to be institutionalized with schizophrenia. He was raised in foster homes and despite the fact he was the smartest kid in class his teachers discouraged his ambitions of becoming a lawyer saying he should seek out a profession more appropriate for a black man, like carpentry. Instead, Malcolm became a hustler and thief and only straightened out when he found Islam during his time in prison."

"Remember that BLM is really only asking for police accountability. The talk about defunding and disbanding is based on the fact that the police are largely more harmful to the black community than they are helpful."

I would agree with a lot of this, the Police do seem to more harmful to Black Americans than they are helpful in a general sense, I could be wrong, another thing too is the writer basically exposed the NRA for it's racist hypocrisy. Black Americans are not allowed to defend themselves in their eyes.

While people will talk about how certain BLM members or people who choose to associate with them have burned down buildings and rioted. BLM still has a point when it comes to police brutality. Many Police officers not only abuse their power against many Black people or Other Black people, but they also do the same with many people of other "races" too. I do believe that they are quite a few cops that have a racial bias for sure. Those cops should NOT be on the police force, plus power abusive cops should not be on the Police force also. When I mean many I do NOT mean most Police officers, I just mean that there a lot, meaning too many who do abuse their power.

[sweetobseesion]

ABOUT YEONHWA

•This is a very long post that can be considered a rant ,but I use valid points that sound valid to me .And yes, I hate her for reasons I’ll discuss below.

We all love a independent , strong female lead don’t we?  Especially, a woman who is strong, intelligent female charector in Historical Saeguks, who doesn’t rely on men for support and ruthlessly cry over them.

I have to admit, when I first came across Yeonhwa I was,thrilled. She was completely enchanting on screen, with her looks , posture and aura. Her hatred for Hae Soo didnt put me off so much. But slowly and surely, she started ticking me off as the drama progressed. While we saw many charecters like Soo and So evolve, but we saw her evolve backwards, as in she became far less likable as the episodes progress.

At first when we are introduced to her in her robes with a string of sevants at her beck, we are not denied of her sneaky , smug personality. In fact, the first thing Soo notices was how she likes to put people down in a roundabout way, and her crooked smile and expresion. Which is a very accurate depiction of her personality.

At the very first episode, we see her immaculate manipulation skills as she basicallly manipulates Soo into mixing the glue on her own accord.

I was still rooting for her though, and I was willing to give her the benefit of doubt, as she seemed to genuinely care about her family and So. I very much believed her stance of pushing her brother to get into a stronger political marraige to protect her family and that she had genuine affection for her brothers and their lives, when they tried to get Soo out of a political marraige.

It’s obvious from the first episodes that she and Soo don’t get along. Especially in episode four she clearly gets a rise out of whipping Soo. The actress mentioned there was a reason why she hated her long that wasn’t shown but I think her deep resentment comes from Hae Soo refusing to show respect and easily obey her in the first episodes.That’s why she is so pissed at her.

For Yeonhwa, status and reputation are the most important.Especially after her exile , she works very hard at presenting this sweet, poslished image of herself to the world.She is happy when Soo is about to be married off,but she is pissed when she learns it’s her father. Why? Because that would mean Soo would surpass her in social status and to Yeonhwa nothing more is nightmarish than treating Soo as her equal.

All that pretence came crashing down in episode seven, where her true manipulative nature and motive is revealed. I have to give it to her because boy did she really own this episode. We first see her encouraging her brother to be King while playing the sweet, caring sister. Smiling sweetly and stating to him that she will not mind if she is even sold off, stating she will only marry someone who will help him become King.

Earlier , we see her play the perfect daughter to the King, smiling sweetly, saying pretty much what she said to Wook, that she does not mind being married off, but in a different fashion that shows she trusts and loves her father. We see her try hard to fix her face from showing her true ambition, and saying the right things that only bring him joy.

This sets her on her mission for pretty much the entire drama. Whether it’s marrying one of the princes or being a sister, she only wants to align herself and remain family with whoever eventually sists on the throne.  She wants to be Royalty, for life.

There is no need for love for her, in her mind there is only ambition and power.

In episode seven, we see her play the sweet sister all over again,but this time to gain the sympathy of her brothers, as she arranges a brithday party for Eun, where she announces the King’s decision to marry her off to incite sympathy and action from them.

This is where her hypocrisy is defined at it’s finest. Because she judged for Soo for getting help from the princes so hard and now she is pretty much expecting the same. And it’s all fine on her part because they are Royalty.

She does get the attention she wanted as Yo offers his hand in marraige,but she sets her eyes on So, in whom she sees great potential but admits needs more power and polishing. As she admittedly stated that she wanted to tame him in an earlier episode.

I think she sees in So a potential to be King,but she also sees in him a potential to be controlled, and that is why she chases him. I think she is very aware of his capacity and true, kind nature and that is why she concludes this.

I guess she wants all the recognition for turning a wild prince into a powerful , capable King.

But the thing is, she is a very skilled liar and her loyalties lie all over the place. She pushes her brother to be king, but she also keeps Yo on his toes without rejecting him completely while she chases So, offering him the power that she is pushing her brother to chase. She very much enjoys people fighting over her as it makes her feel powerful, as clearly shown in her expressions in episode five.

She accuses Soo of playing with people’s emotions and betraying her brother, but she does the exact same thing. Intentionally. As early as episode seven.

I think she hates Soo because she easily won the affection and loyalties of the princes without making an effort ,is easily favoured by them, and is protected by all of them. And she does so without having the ettiquette, understanding of the palace nor does she have the position, but she is easily given all the privilleges, even being allowed to be a part of a royal birthday celebration.She’s a contradiction to every thing she ever learnt and she captures the hearts of two of the men she cares for.

So when Soo manages to get the interest of So, she immediately loses the hold she has over him and silently watches in scathing jealousy as both So and the Princes become completely enthralled by Soo’s performance. She doesn’t understand her and she only sees her as the threat.

We see her continue to put Soo in her place and her hatred and her vengence to have her removed festers in episode nine, when her brother is so willing to give up everything and move to their hometown to settle down with Soo.

Yeonhwa has this clear pretense she uses, playing the victim and having justifiable resons. She cities the reason of protecting their clan and constantly brings up what Queen Yoo did to them. But she contradicts her own grudge, by teaming up with the same person who is responsible for their exile to get what she wants.

I think this makes it clear what her loyalties and priorities lay, she will team with her mother’s enemy and even her own, if that enemy can provide her with the assistance that her family refuses to provide.

So she teams up with Yoo to poison the Crown Prince , while secretly arranging to eliminate Soo at once. I think this is her another tactic,to place a card on the table while hiding one under her sleeve.

When her plan goes awry, she is shocked that the man she has her eyes on will drink the poison for the woman she hates. So she pretends to drink the poison, pretty much imitates So and falls and gets the Queen to expose it, as she weakly states to get help for So. Brilliant execution,on her part.

Most say this expresses her love for him, while I say this exposes her brilliant, conniving mind, and the ability to play the perfect, self-sacrificing women in society’s eyes.She does it mainly because it will be a waste of all her efforts,whether its the scheming or pushing both her brother and So to be King at once.

But Soo escapes execution, but this does get her brother to finally act on her wishes and break up with Soo, and she is delighted. 

She also uses and throws away people, and she tactfully does this with Queen Yoo. And she also places the blame on Queen Yoo for Court lady Oh’s death, which logically the blood really is on her hands, as it was the result of her efforts to have Soo framed. Again, playing with guilt and emotions. Showing no remorse or responsibility.

Her brother, pretty much grows cold and distant,as he now hates her for what she did to his relationship and is willing to offer her up as collateral in order for his bid for the throne. I don’t support him, but he is pretty much stating what she promised him episode seven. She still rejects Yo, as she doesn’t want to be just one of his wives, and approaches So, offering him marraige.

And she finally states and reveals her true colors to him. Finally stating that she was lacking something, despite all the love and privilleges, and finally realised that power was what she needed, when in exile.

She still plays her card as a innocent women perfectly, stating she has loved him for long and is destined to be with him and hence, marraige.

We all know she is doing this to escape being collateral, and will immediately push him to be king if he agreed.

But he doesn’t so she sticks to her brother, encourages him to fake a decree and use the oppertunity to become King.

Feels no sadness when her father dies, silently vows she will reach the very ambition that he didn’t want her to have.

But still she isn’t compeletly loyal to her brother, as she literally offers So her power and the oppertunity to be King while blocking the roads for her brother.I was pretty sure she would’ve been moved if So said he wanted to be King to claim her heart instead of Soo’s. But he doesn’t, so she blocks his path.

In episode fifteen, we see the full extent of her personality, namely her very flaws. We see how hypocrytical, shallow, vain and foolish she really is , while reminding us that she is still very much the person who has mastered the art of the double game. 

We see her get shocked at Wook’s confession, while he’s literally out here carrying the same act that she planned years ago : Poisoning Mu.

We still see her foolishly still have hopes of being Yo’s queen, as she silently hints at the ring he gave her years ago. This was her most foolish moment, as it showed how little she understood or had humanity. I don’t know what caused her to conclude that Yo would still harbor affection for her and take her as his Queen , after she rejected him, humiliated him and betrayed him. In her mind, she foolishly thinks people will accept, love and praise her if she offers them power, but what she doesn’t realise is people act around her that way because they have to, there’s nothing true or genuine about thier motives, and they usually want something from her.Like she wants something from them.

Yo puts her in her place and informs her that she will be sent to Khitan, and we finally get to see her break. She’s very alone in this and this is very much the result of her reckless, misplaced loyalties and scheming.

She goes to Soo to manipulate her into taking her place and to make her give up on So, but Soo refuses and she states the most punchable line of hers yet.

“Now I know why I always hated you. For you, feelings and marriage are just silly games. They aren’t life and death like they are for me.” 

It’s very much a punchable line because it shows how shallow and irresponsible she really is. She ended up where she is because of her own devious, reckless actions but she blames this woman who’s been minding her own buisness and places the blame on her while seeing herself as the victim. 

She is a Princess with a family and it’s not only her who marries to elevate. It’s every woman’s duty to marry well and protect their family in Goryeo.Even Hae Soo ends up marrying for survival,just like she escaped it .She has more pressure becuase well, she is a Princess and it’s her duty. Every Royal family member married someone they did not like because,well responsibility.But she can’t accept it because it’s literally her one disadvantage and she uses it to play victim. Again.Soo’s perception only differs because its quite modern.

She promises she will make Soo regret it, and she plays the double game perfectly. She offers the whereabouts of a wanted Prince to the King in exchange for stopping her marraige, and since the whereabouts happened to b Soo’s quarters, she reveals it So as well, hoping to break off their relationship as she smiles smugly.

She knows very well, that the infomation is going get the prince killed. And the Prince is a brother she grew up with, who is being framed but she is happy that the information is breaking off a relationship she hated.

So leaves the palace for a while and she supports her brother, but she and her mother are quick to switch her loyalty to So when he satges a coup and becomes King.

She then pressures her brother who she used to push to be King, to get his help to now push her to be Queen. And,she succeeds.And still foolishly assumes she has won, as she sits triumphantly on the throne.It’s the night of the consummation,and she is still so naive and foolish,thinking this marriage and power is going to help her win the heart of the man she wanted. While him,the King was being forced into it and to break the heart of the woman he loves. She looks at him expectantly and he just walks away. So she continues her political diplomacy and tells him to get rid of Hae Soo,as she is a “risk”and he basically puts her in her place,telling her to be satisfied with being Queen.

This where we finally get to see her cry,and we don’t feel for her at all. She is sad but not deveasted and it shows how naive she really is . Because all I see is a girl crying,not a broken hearted woman. I guess that’s all she was deep down, a little girl with thirst for power, whose ambitions were nurtured due to her spoiled upbringing, who by her admission, had a brother that never said no to her since she was young.

She doesn’t give up easily ,and she sets off to get the King’s trust and break his relationship with Soo. But the King ignores her and she waits until their relationship is Rocky to seduce him,and she tries to trick him by pretending to be Soo.

This is where in my opinion, I truly understood how her mind works.She is a woman of her times ,yes but she is not exactly a original thinker or a broad minded person. She listens,watches and learns from the scheming woman around her and lusts after power and things that are far from her reach. She is smart but not wise, as trying to trick the King into sleeping with her only exposes her devious ways,makes her look untrustworthy. The thing is for all the times people praise her for her intelligence, they forget that she has born and raised to be that way. Her schemes and plans are meticulous because besides seeing them, she also has nothing but time to carefully think and plan her plots, since she doesn’t have to work nor does she have responsibilitiy like her brothers. I think the drama, did a very good job in aligning her with Yo in earlier episodes.Like Yo,she has the appearances and qualities of the Perfect Royalty,but what they both truly lack is tact,understanding of their true responsibility and original and innovative thinking. They are both not adept at handling pressure and easily break when things don’t go their way. The only difference is Yeonhwa knows how to hide it better.She is corrupt, narrow minded and the definition of wasted beauty and brains,because there is no point in having it all if your priorities and perceptions are fucked up. She doesn’t even want to be a human, she wants to be “ a God above the King”.

The King is furious but this time he sees right through her, and gets her right where it hurts: power. He makes a deal to consummate their marriage and make their child a Crown Prince but in exchange she has to throw away their family and she does , in a heartbeat.

So the King frames her brother and plans to execute him,she doesn’t bat an eye. Her mother approaches her and she basically puts her in her place stating that she is the Queen now and that she has far more things to be concerned about than her brother’s crimes. And her mother is shocked and there is no end to her arrogance.

That is power to Yeonhwa: the need to feel important,powerful,superior and control others and watch as people bow down to her. Everything comes down to her and she has no consideration for anything beyond her. That is why she deserves to be put in her place, as it’s dangerous putting absolute power in her hands, as it’s similar to putting a favourite a toy in a child’s hands. One can only watch as she plays with it until it breaks.

Her brother gets exiled and she still isn’t satisfied and she can’t digest the fact that she has to make sacrifices and get judged while Soo gets all the love. She walks in and as per usual ,places the blame on Soo while saying the most despicable line yet.

“You ruined everything,yet you shamelessly still live?” 

An apt sentence applicable to herself, I’ve always chuckled at how much the things she says to Soo to degrade her are more applicable to her than anyone else.

As she wishes,Soo leaves and dies.But the King doesn’t trust her and doesn’t give her the chance to get involved in politics and she spends her days begging him to visit her and her children. But he’s colder than ever.

The thing about Yeonhwa is ,she has agency and is smart,but she is far from empowering.She props the very system that subjugates her as she only seeks to reap the maximum benefits from it. Her political sense is very narrow ,as it limited to scheming, controlling the clans and elevating herself. The big ambition that she always speaks about cannot be visionary if it doesn’t extend beyond elevating herself. As she would realise later, having the throne won’t make you safe, happy or noteworthy. Because, politics and power is gigantic responsibility more than anything else. This is why Soo unironically ends up having more influence, than her because she sees how the throne affects everyone.We rarely see Yeonhwa understand and express opinions or interests beyond the scheming for power. Authority is making the right desicions , improving the economy, caring for the people ,balancing political and social structure , foreign relations and war tactics.It’s not all power and glory and “ honour and recognition”.This is why sadly, she ends up being a Queen who’s forgotten, despite being the Kings only wife.

I would’ve rooted for her and even accepted her if she showed true,broader understanding of politics and had a true passion for it. But all she has is fascination and obsession.

Powerful Queens throughout history,though hated and slandered at their times, are remembered because they proved to be capable and wise and tended to their responsibility well.No one can deny their ability or legacy,and they mostly sought to uplift their sex during their reign.

Yeonhwa doesn’t care for the responsibility and is very demeaning to her own sex.She usually sees other other women as rivals.Shown through her attitude to Soo or when she asks Yo to divorce his wife.In her mind she is the only capable ,perfect women and other women are below her and she doesn’t bat an eye if they suffer.

Most conclude that Yeonhwa lacks empathy because she was raised in those times. But that’s not true,though you can’t afford love if you’re royalty ,that doesn’t mean you don’t experience it. King Taejo had a love. So,Baek Ah,Eun all experience and show love. Is it just because she is a princess in exile ? No,she very clearly states she lacked something when she had everything as a child. If the exile didn’t happen,she would’ve realised her power hungry nature anyway, as there is no end to her greed and Jealousy, till the end. Even in the last scene we see her hate So’s reforms because she interprets them as gifts to Soo out of Jealousy without realising how powerful it makes her.

The thing is,Just because she is a princess doesn’t mean she is meant to lack empathy. Most conclude this because she is the only princess we see. But the thing is, there is another Princess with the beauty ,wit and scheming skills who can love and be a decent ,kind human being. Her name is Woo Hee,and she sacrificed herself for her people. She was a spy yes,but for a greater cause. She had a horrible childhood , tried to kill and killed a man but that was the true definition of trying to survive. She matured and puts aside her grudges and never inflicts pain on others. Unlike Yeonhwa,she truly understands the responsibility she represents.

If you’re still adamant,let’s take the example of Jung,who was born a Prince and was spoiled in a similar way like Yeonhwa. He can be bull-headed and polarising ,but he understands his responsibility as a prince and fights wars. He loves Soo dearly and selflessly raises her child ,though he never gets the love he craves from her.

All of this leads me to conclude, Yeonhwa is and was the same person she is now. She is vain,shallow ,arrogant and greedy. She wants to be a Kingmaker but she is very shallow and extreme in her execution, as countless scheming displays ambition that never goes unnoticed. Being a Kingmaker requires wit,knowledge, trust and silence. You only help your Prince if he needs it, you don’t push him to it and you try to hide your ambition and knowledge and show your support continuesly . And Soo does this , while Queen Yoo and Yeonhwa make a fool of themselves by putting pressure and scheming. The whole royal family knew of their scheming nature and left them alone in the end.

Her loneliness is well deserved and part of her own making. She threw everyone away and everyone ignored her in the end. She is very much an improved version of Queen Yoo, everyone , especially her family and clan can see it. She stated that she wants power to protect her clan but she proves that she cares little about it,as even in her reign as Queen ,her family was in exile and their clan probably lost their standing. Just like Queen Yoo’s reign.Her mother is now competing with her for the throne.Like she did with Queen Yoo.

But atleast Queen Yoo has other Queens and Court ladies to bully. Yeonhwa has no one but herself and she just has to just settle for it.

In conclusion ,she is the least sympathetic,redeemable villain I’ve come across. What led me to not sympathise with her is how she easily plays victim while she is the most privileged,protected person in the story. Everyone thinks she protected herself,but the truth is she would be nowhere without her position and family. She would be done for if Wook confessed her crimes. I hate it when people who have everything continue to complain about their lives and insist they have it worse more than anyone else,while clearly being ignorant to the suffering of other around them. Every Villain in MLSHR had a redeeming quality,motive ,circumstance or atleast a redeeming relationship with another character. They atleast showed tiniest bits of remorse for their actions and acknowledge villainy. We don’t see her do either ,and she Probably sees her current situation as unfair,still refusing to admit her villainy. She is meant to be hated and interpreted as evil, and I have to give props to Kang Hanna, as she played the role to perfection.

If I had to say one thing about her though, I think marriage for her is survival in a sense that she’s surviving by protecting the only thing she’s known: power. Unlike Hae Soo, while she has her intelligence, she doesn’t have any special skill,knowledge or understanding of life outside the royal family. She doesn’t want to be the wife of a noble or go to Khitain, because it doesn’t provide her with security or position. I think she’s so accustomed to the privileges and riches that she can’t live a life beyond that. She considers it to be lowly and impossible. Her position is the only thing that protects her.While Soo had the favour of four kings,Yeonhwa only had her family and position to keep her safe.

I will admit that she did have her feminist moments, and I appreciate how she was willing to not settle for less. I loved it when she asked if the only way to control women is through marriage and tries to use marriage to elevate herself. But the thing is marriage is control and it all comes down to the value your husband is willing to put on you,especially in patriarchal times like Goryeo. This is discussed in episode five and is very telling of its time. If you’re husband doesn’t trust you and treats you like property,there’s nothing you can do as your worth is attached to the value he sees in you. Do I feel bad for her? No, she very much wanted to reap the benefits of patriarchy than put an end to it . Truth is ,she wanted to control him instead and if she did suceed then only God can help Goryeo.

EDIT: I wondered for long ,why is her character so despicable and greedy,after some contemplation,I’ve reached it.Its for the purpose of historical accuracy, as when you see international version,you see that her mother is plotting to push her grandson on the throne,due to Yeonhwa’s betrayal and thus her nephew becomes King.Historically,Gwangjong mistrusted his five year old son , making her devious and scheming gives depth to that. Her Son ,ruled for five years and had very little interest in politics,which again can be attributed to her ambition and pushy ways. In history her daughters were married off to powerful nobles to establish a strong power base ,which in MLSHR universe proves her to be a hypocrite because we all what she did to escape being married into a noble family.

But it’s exactly what gets her in the end, because at the end of the show her mother pushes her nephew to be King , who ends up marrying her Daughter probably due to her efforts, and her daughter betrays her like she betrayed her mother and becomes his Queen if MLSHR universe is to be assumed. Classic Karmic retribution If I might say.

Gifs: @just-bring-the-coffee and blog a new kind of hobby.

[mindsmade]

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑻

repost,  don’t reblog !

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

FULL NAME.  alicia florrick PRONUNCIATION.   ah-lee-sha flor-rick NICKNAME. saint alicia GENDER.   cis female HEIGHT.  1.68 metres  AGE. ranges from 42 to 49 in the show ZODIAC.  virgo SPOKEN LANGUAGES. english, basic latin and greek ( mainly law-related ) and some basic french

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 !

HAIR COLOR. brown with a slight maroon shine to it EYE COLOR.  hazel SKIN TONE.  peachy? BODY TYPE.  quite sinewy, especially after she passes the age of 50 ACCENT.  'inland northern american english’ according to wikipedia, lmao VOICE.  url ( i’m still laughin about it djsfiosj ) DOMINANT HAND. left! POSTURE.  it changes throughout the series, mainly in the season. she goes from appearing to want to be ‘small’ to standing upright. after a while, you won’t catch her slouching even in her time off. her shoulders are pulled back and her chin’s slightly raised when around others.  SCARS.  ehhh, nothing too visible. perhaps a random scrap here and there or a leftover smallpox vaccine scar ( img ). TATTOOS.  — BIRTHMARKS. — MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S).  her generally formal but simple style of dress / dark hair/eyebrows/eyes on pale skin.

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 !

PLACE OF BIRTH. Chicago, Illinois.  HOMETOWN.  ^ BIRTH WEIGHT. ? BIRTH HEIGHT.  ? MANNER OF BIRTH.  natural FIRST WORDS.  uhhh ... ‘dink’ maybe. like ‘drink’ lmao SIBLINGS.  owen cavanaugh ( younger brother ) PARENTS.  veronica loy and roger cavanaugh PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.  o boy, lol. neither of her parents afforded alicia much emotional involvement. her father especially was simply never given the chance to ( i’m assuming he wasn’t even present or if he was, not to a great extent ), whereas her mother just ... apparently had ‘more important’ things to do than bonding with her children and raising them? 🙃

𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 !

OCCUPATION.  Attorney at law / Cook County state's attorney for like a hot second  CURRENT RESIDENCE.  a 4 bedroom apartment in downtown chicago. CLOSE FRIENDS.  kalinda sharma, lucca quinn, diane lockhart, cary agos.  RELATIONSHIP STATUS.  aka the crux of the show? A Mess. until the very end of the series, she’s married to peter florrick ( cook county’s state’s attorney / governor of illinois ). they unofficially separate, agreeing only to keep up appearances to support his political ambitions with the falsehood of their ‘thriving marriage’. in the meantime, alicia becomes involved with a few men to various extents, most prominently will gardner and later on jason crouse, whom ( according to the writers ) she ends up with after the show. for the sake of rping, i’m sticking with her marriage to peter as written, but an affair isn’t off the table. FINANCIAL STATUS.  generally quite well off — but there are times in which she struggles to get by. she’s never shown to be completely ‘broke’, though DRIVER’S LICENSE. yes CRIMINAL RECORD.  no — but some people sure fuckin wish they would’ve been able to get her one LMAO VICES.  increases throughout the seasons as she evolves from a victim to a victimiser: infidelity ( though, lbr, peter started it and they did agree before long that their marriage was only a formality/a front ); alcoholism ( especially after will’s death ); does absolute ruthlessness count? because it’s a Big Thing around season 6 / 7.

𝐬𝐞𝐱 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. portrayed as heterosexual but ... i’m leaning into bisexuality here tbh ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. heteroromantic? but the above might go here as well 👈🏼😌👈🏼 PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE.  submissive |  dominant | switch. PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE.  submissive  |  dominant  |  switch. LIBIDO.   varies ( with her use of sex as a coping mechanism, it increases when times are hard ) TURN ON’S.  intelligence, courage, cunning, dedication, a good argument, tailored suits tbh TURN OFF’S. hypocrisy, idleness, disloyalty, dishonesty LOVE LANGUAGE.   alicia will include you in activities that matter to her ( not peter’s stupid grand events, but rather a fun though lowkey night out at her favourite bar, for instance ); she’ll pop into your office or give you a call between cases to check in on you; she’ll gently grab your hand and give it a soft squeeze, or brush a lost strand of hair out of your face; she’ll argue with you about things that are important to her; and if you’ve really gotten under her skin, she’ll let you see her vulnerable, see her cry and crumble and seek out your shoulder to lean on. RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES.  she craves emotional involvement and yet she avoids it before she’ll go back on her decision and chase it instead. she’s generally very emotionally withdrawn and that paints her relationships, platonic and romantic alike. nevertheless, she often realises she’s begun caring for someone only when it’s too late to withdraw without grieving a loss. emotional involvement therefore often catches her off-guard. only with jason was it a fairly conscious choice to drop the ‘i just want your body’ attitude in favour of chasing him for his mind and heart, too. either way, once you’re in her heart, she’ll fight tooth and nail for you — until you cross her. then she’ll drop you like a hot potato with no thought for forgiveness. that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for her to forgive, however. it just takes a while for her to get there under the gentle pressure of someone who perseveres despite her circumstantial iciness.

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG.  no one’s more happy than you ( url ) HOBBIES TO PASS TIME.  drinking wine, reading, later on she even starts gaming ( a true halo hero — thanks @ marissa gold, ur a real pal ). MENTAL ILLNESSES. alcohol use disorder ( alcoholism ) PHYSICAL ILLNESSES. — LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED.  this is too deeply rooted in pop psychology for a psych major to entertain, man FEARS.  in the end, i think it all boils down to a loss of self / sight of herself. as she progresses up the social and professional ladder, this fear does come true: she didn’t realise she’d become the very thing she was once beaten down by until diane confronted her with it through a single slap to her face.   anyway, on a less profound level? she doesn’t fear failure per se, but she does despise it. a fear of negative change is another. SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL.  rather high. she has her moments of self-doubt, of course, but her self-confidence isn’t easily undermined. VULNERABILITIES.  her loyalty to peter; her loyalty to the firm ( mainly will and diane ); her love for her children; her growing craving for alcohol, if you think about it; last but not least, her own ambition

TAGGED BY:  @afraidofchange ( thank you!! ) TAGGING: @viindicia ( lucca or liz ) / @multimentium ( nix ) / @sheoccult / @aglaecan ( jack ) / honestly it’s massive lmao so whoever has the energy to do this ... DO IT

[thessalian]

Thess vs Christianity

I have a difficult relationship with Christianity. This is to do with a really weird Anglican Church group my father shoved me into so he could have more time alone with his girlfriend on weekends I spent with him. I’ll do the anecdote thing about that later but suffice to say that the experience left me phobic of anything Christianity-related.

But I met a couple of devout Christians when I moved here - and I mean Christians as I understand Christ’s message. Love thy neighbour, judge not, do help those in need, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, etc. One of them, with ambitions towards devoting his life to the Church, had a few things to say about prayers that I think about in the wake of the GOP reaction to the school shooting in Florida. Basically, he put emphasis on the one about God helping those who help themselves.

Look, according to Christian doctrine, the greatest gift God gave mankind was free will. In cases like these, he’s not going to take that gift away because people are abusing it. He trusts us to do right by each other; he sent his son to martyr himself to deliver a new covenant of peace, and trusts us to do the rest. God doesn’t solve people’s problems. God gives people the strength and support to find the solution that exists for those who really want it, and work to find or create it.

It occurs that every time someone offers thoughts and prayers for the victims of massacres that could have been prevented if not for any legislation being counter to their political or financial interests are mocking the whole idea of prayer. I’m not a Christian. I don’t believe that Jesus was the literal son of a deity. But I do believe that he was a good man who died with a message of peace and tolerance on his lips and deserves better. Just like the children - the far too many children - who have died in fear and only have mealy-mouthed prayers with no substance by the rules of the faith to mark them in the minds of those who keep letting it happen.

The term Christian no longer causes flashbacks all by itself, but the hypocrisy of so many of the so-called faithful makes me want to puke.