#of course I don't agree

[thundergrace]

"You're the best mom I ever met, Ms. Talia."

#I know the large font isn't sexy #but it is accessible #first kill #first kill netflix #firstkilledit #talia burns #theo burns #theseus burns #gifs #mine #1x08 #firstkillcentral #aubin wise #please don't steal/use my gifs #Jack's a great dad #i actually do understand him #of course I don't agree #but he's so fully indoctrinated by the guild #that nothing can get to him #not even the idea that his own child could be the same man he raised AND a vampire at the same time #is a digestible thought #shit we saw that when Cal told him Juliette saved her life #and he was like well that's nice but she's still a monster so she can still choke lol

[echthr0s]

I have a few things to say about Fallout (2024).

I know Caesar's Legion gets all the credit on the sickos (complimentary) side of fandom for having insanely homoerotic rituals but oh my god what's this, it's the Brotherhood of Steel with a steel fucking chair

Lucy MacLean has a face that's made for kissing women. why is she not kissing any women, what's going on

the ghoul lore is truly all over the goddamn place. like ok fine I don't hate it. but it's thin at best and if I think about it for longer than 3 seconds I am gonna poke holes in it whether I want to or not

brain on a fucking roomba

again, can we talk about Maximus and that whole "use my cock" business like please explain to me in detail what the actual factual fuck is going on in the BoS. I'm a visual learner btw

#i actually do have some Concerns about the focus on everyone being terrible to each other #and of course i agree with the ''it's been 200+ years but it sure don't look or feel like it'' critique #but i'm willing to hold out hope that our protags and friends are supposed to forge new paths #and this season is the necessary setup for that pathing #all that being said. i'm not interested in complaining too much bc the bottom line is... i had fun. #fallout

[gnomeantics]

DARREN CRISS as TOBY PHILLIPS · Little White Lie (2007)

#pinning this actually. this is all u need to know about me #i have learned how to make gifs & of course the first ones i make are darren criss/little white lie #i am nothing if not predictable and obsessive #i relate to sami reese because i don't nick music off of comatose kids but i do agree with her stance on toby philips 'he's totally perfect #sorry #starkid #darren criss #little white lie #my gifs 🎞️ #yapping

[edorazzi]

It’s Tintin Day again! 💖

I’ve been watching Thunderbirds (original and reboot!) lately and I’m just obsessed with the whole thing, so here’s a fake book cover with both my beloved Tintins! 🚀🔎

#the adventures of tintin #tintin #thunderbirds #tin tin kyrano #snowy #thunderbirds are go #i love the original series; of course some parts aged poorly but that just makes it even more relevant to tintin #there's a certain era of tintin we just don't talk about and that's universally agreed #but i'm like.... obsessed with the 2015 reboot just for the character designs and family banter #it's so much better than it has any right to be tbh. and have you SEEN what they did with john. help me :'0 #i'm trying so hard not to pester my friends about it but my only other outlet is drawing the team a hundred times so :/// #and i like kayo but i wish we got her AND tin tin. they coulda been girlfriendsssss :/ #anyway tell me your fave tracy boy in the notes please and thank you

[teamsasukes]

people rightly criticize how team 7 reacted to sasuke's pursuit of justice for his clan, but one thing i feel is always overlooked in these discussions is how sakura literally is not granted the option by the narrative to learn about what sasuke has been through — not in the way that naruto, kakashi, or even team taka are. throughout all of part 2, she is operating under the assumption that sasuke killed itachi and then turned on the village for no apparent reason.

in part 1, she offers to help sasuke with his plan to kill itachi and even says she'll come with him so he won't have to handle a clearly dangerous and unstable sannin alone. she tells him she wishes he would be more open with her because she wants to understand what he's going through. (all of this stands in stark contrast to naruto, who says he'll break every bone in sasuke's body to bring him back, or kakashi, who projects his own traumas on to sasuke.) then in part 2, she can't bring herself to hurt him despite ample opportunity and even though (as far as she knows) he's become a violent criminal. throughout the series, she's averse to inflicting harm on others (aside from the punching naruto gag). is it really so unreasonable to imagine that if she knew sasuke was avenging the state-sponsored genocide of his clan, she would respond differently? with more empathy and compassion for his circumstances, and anger of her own towards konoha?

#people never factor this into their sakura discussions and it does upset me #like no offence but no one raised in konoha is going to have a political awakening where they realize how awful the system is #without some major catalyst (ie what happened to sasuke's clan) and she never gains access to that information #it's also been pointed out that her speech to him at tvote2 is really stupid and like. i agree #but if all she knows about the situation is from naruto and kakashi @ sasuke saying he's given into hate or whatever #of course that is going to be her response? like what else would she even say. she doesn't know what's going on LMAO😭 #don't get me wrong i think in canon (pt1-2) their relationship has a whole body of issues but a bunch of them are intrinsically tied to thi #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #sasusaku #this is not really a shipping post but that's my tag for their relationship in any form sorryyy #naruto meta

[danwhobrowses]

It shouldn't need to be said but I'm seeing a lot of vitriol towards Ashton about their actions and I have to say I don't agree with them.

At the clock tower Fearne brought up the shard, stated that in her opinion Ashton should take the shard because she didn't want it. Ashton decided then as a result they'd take it, but because it was an extreme risk made very aware to them all they knew the other Hells wouldn't allow them to go through with it. Ashton asked Fearne if she was okay with both of them going together alone with the plan, reiterating that they didn't want to put this on Fearne, that if they died Fearne would not be to blame, and that they have no intention of dying, and Fearne said yes.

Fearne having second thoughts at the Ziggurat was just worry, because she cares deeply for Ashton, Ashton kissing her was not manipulation either; it was letting go of fear, having no regret with the person they also care deeply for and taking the risk. And yeah, it was frightening, 10 rounds of perpetual fiery near-death situations and one actual death situation; Laura is fuming, Ashley cannot look, Liam is playing Mad World on loop in his mind, even Matt is completely on edge, but they survived. Accusations that Ashton manipulated Fearne to selfishly take the shard seem to misinterpret the shard saga as well as Fearne and Ashton's characters, they will get a very intense amount of chastising for sure, but it will be out of love, out of the fear that they were going to lose them, not because they thought Ash was manipulative.

#critical role #bells hells #ashton greymoore #taliesin jaffe #fearne calloway #ashley johnson #laura bailey #matt mercer #Ashton literally is comprised of things that shouldn't exist of course they're gonna not heed warnings when Fearne didn't want it #the group are stressed but I don't believe there's heat #if I recall 4sd is aired after an unaired episode so Tal Travis Matt and Ashley were happily vibing from that despite having already played #Tal and Ashley agreed on this gambit they just underestimated how bad it'd go #and I would wager that Tal knew he could lean on the ring to save Ashton at least once #overall no I don't think Ashton intended to manipulate or hurt anyone and in trying to shoulder it alone they were trying to be selfless #but reminder Ashton is 6 charisma they aren't gonna express their intentions too well #the Hells are rightfully so mad for making them worry but in the end they're just gonna be grateful Ashton's alive #also I have to make a point that Fearne said 'I shouldn't have listened to you' not 'I shouldn't have trusted you' there's a big difference #and Tal hasn't tried to wriggle or bargain out of it he's had Ashton accept all frustration because they know it's from a loving place #critical role spoilers #sorry for multiple edits I keep seeing me unconsciously use he/him and I have to fix it plus I have more to say but nobody to say it to

[rawliverandgoronspice]

given that seems to be the new popular take in the fandom at large since totk got out: let the record show that I'll gladly let myself get repeatedly manipulated by the wind waker speech and be foolishly moved by its implications over rejecting space for humanity and vulnerability in the monstrous and the dispossessed, and then feeling weirdly smug about severing that fleeting attempt at connection and deem it obviously insincere

#tloz #wind waker #ww #ganondorf #zelda fandom critical #it's just not even nice for the writers? #like they obviously tried something here #it's thematically resonant with the rest of the text #you don't have to connect with it personally of course #the complexity of a genuine cause being taken over by self importance and cruelty and what is owed to whom in the bloody aftermath #but to reject that it tried to touch upon something ambiguous and complicated is a shame in my opinion #voluntarily depriving yourself of depth sure is a move I don't understand #(the youtuboys of the world are just *so smug* about this and I find it... kinda tragic modern nintendo seems to agree with them) #(not to mention... seeing a guy coded as foreign going “hey I was sick of having nothing and wanted more for myself” and going) #(“!!!! that's manipulative and illegitimate and deserves no sympathy whatsoever” is a questionnable gut reflex to cultivate in my opinion) #(yearning for a privilege ganon could only ever access through submission can *absolutely* coexist with tyranny and selfishness) #(and isn't that layered and complicated and unfair to everybody involved?) #(doesn't that make for MUCH richer conflict than “he lied because he was greedy for power”?)

[shkika]

The tragic part of moon I think is her incredible patience probably being something she learned by enduring the constant awfulness of the ancients, since she couldn't really speak out in any way, since she was in a completely imbalanced power dynamic with her creators.

Maybe that unwillingness or fear to retaliate or advocate for herself is what led to her not doing anything to stop pebbles until it was way too late even though some in game dialogue says she could have used admin privelage to stop him by force.

That makes her story even more heartbreaking...

Poor moonie, she deserved so much better from everyone. And the most kindness she was ever shown was from the little animals her creators made as tools and objects, I suppose there may be a kinship between them there.

I love moon so much. She deserves all the hugs.

I think her patience came in multiple ways!

If I had to ramble in detail on how I write Moon I'd be here typing all day..

Lttm has a lot of experience and has talked to many iterators, younger and older and has went through many generations in her colony.

But the way I see it is that Moon became a person who is just very.. mm tired I suppose. The unfairness and lack of regard for her feelings she received from the ancients was a constant she grew to passively hate, but accept. So she's patient with them yeah. Moon is patient and calm with anything that life throws her way, because she's had to deal with a lot. She's quick to accept defeat and see when something is unreachable. The opposite of Pebbles yet again, who tried everything to go against the very way he was built. He's willing to fight and take action much more than she does. Moonie ultimately, in her last moments with Spearmaster, accepts her demise. Nothing can be done and.. as scary as it is that's okay. She's happy others cared for her and still do.

I don't think she's afraid to stand up or herself! Moon isn't a pushover, at least to me! Nothing can ever be done about how ancients see her or her group so tolerating them is just.. easier! Otherwise she demands respect and to be heard and listened to on a basic level even from a slugcat and she thanks you greatly for it. Or else. You don't get anything out of her. Even in a vulnerable dying state she can put her foot down and refuse to speak to you.

The situation with Pebbles is different.

I don't think she was scared to talk to him. I think Moon wanted to trust that her brother wouldn't do something like this. Because she wasn't just his admin to take control of him whenever. She was his sister.

Unlike their parents he'd take her well-being into consideration, surely. He wouldn't risk her safety like they did.

But oh well.

It's how it is.

#nobody will ever understand how mentally ill i am for moon i LOVE her i cannot wait to draw her even MORE #AH #!!! #rain world #looks to the moon #kiki rambles #ask #anonymous #of course you don't have to agree with everything i see i feel like im repeating this like a mantra #but i dont want to force anything on anyone #this is how i read her character #shes extemely complicated #and a VERY good senior #shes not a pushover #god i love moon #favorite forever #i hope i get to explore her as well as id like to in the ask blog i really do

[crispy-ghee]

i'm fuckin convinced that I would not want to be friends with like 98% of the Larry Bird fans who leave comments on youtube.

#my number one mistake is obviously reading the comments of course #but in any case sometimes it's weird being a non-white #comparatively young Larry Bird fan and reading some of that shit #bc it's like they aren't saying shit directly but you can sure read some implications in how they say things #Someone I was talking with said that Larry was a Symbol for some people in a Bad Way and I think it's true #In ways that he has made explicitly and implicitly clear that he does not agree with himself but that don't stop people #Anyway I know my love for Larry Bird can be obnoxious sometimes #But I can at least take comfort in knowing I'm not an aggressive crusty asshole about it #Generally

[homielander]

the most interesting character detail about maeve through which i have extrapolated at least half my understanding of her is that she prefers to be called maeve. i frequently see "maggie" pop up in meta and fic as her chosen name, but quite literally nobody calls her that, including (and most significantly) elena. elena is maeve's tether to her humanity and her refuge away from vought, yet even elena only ever refers to her as maeve. (and in season 2, we learn that maeve started dating elena before she joined the seven -- before queen maeve's popularity would have become so inescapable that she would feel compelled to introduce herself by that name.) it's especially notable that in her final scene, maeve refers to starlight as annie for only the second time, but she is still called maeve by both annie and elena.

here's what we know about maeve's life as maggie: she had a rocky relationship with her father whom she doesn't seem to speak to anymore, she's from a "cousin-fucker hick town" as described by homelander -- i can't imagine this place being terribly lgbt-friendly, and she generally lacks connection with anyone she would have known before becoming queen maeve. she doesn't have fond memories of this time of her life, and perhaps that extends to all associations with it, including the name maggie.

i tend to think that becoming queen maeve was, in many ways, self-actualizing for her. the act that garners her national attention and earns her a ticket to vought is a heroic one -- she breaks every single bone in her right arm to save a school bus from falling off a bridge. and i know madelyn says she is responsible for the mythos of queen maeve, but this character was still aspirational, and likely someone maeve wanted to live up to. in any case, this new identity gave her a purpose and tools to achieve it: she wanted to help people! by her own admission, maeve enters vought bright-eyed and hopeful, not far off from annie. (maeve is also one of the only supes in the seven not to know about compound v -- she doesn't strike me as religious but believing she's among the very few born with powers would have strengthened her internal drive to be a hero.)

it's for the same reason that i think maeve actually... liked having powers? of course she says otherwise in her last season, but season 3 maeve is cynical and weary from about two decades of dealing with vought and homelander's abuse. they've used her first as the token woman and then the token gay person of the seven. after growing largely passive to the brutality of the job, the flight 37 incident forces her to confront all of the violence she's witnessed and tolerated. she's given pieces of herself away and she loathes the husk of herself that's left. i don't find it surprising that she would want to relinquish every single connection to vought, including her powers.

assuring herself that she will be better off without her powers comes with an added benefit: she gets to distinguish herself from homelander, who would be lost without his powers. and i think she is eager to make this distinction in her mind because there are some uncomfortable similarities between their initiations into vought. the mantle of homelander allows him to exert agency for the first time in his life, just as the mantle of queen maeve endows her with purpose for the first time in hers. (crucially, none of his current circle call him john, either.) they both enjoy being the most powerful superheroes in the world, the unending public adoration, and (in my interpretation) each other. they're also both overwhelmingly lonely and they know it -- homelander teases her multiple times about how she has no friends with a bit more bite in every passing season, while maeve is keenly aware of his isolation and exploits his yearning for love pretty effectively.

maeve steadily grows disillusioned with her position at vought because she still has a moral code, suppressed though it may be. even so, she nearly relents to homelander's vision: that they will be lonely at the top but lonely together. she's pulled out of her miserable state of inaction by annie and elena. annie reminds her of what a hero should be (what she was, once); elena offers her a way out of vought, serving as maeve's light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

she escapes that tower as maeve, not maggie. she rejects homelander's god complex which engenders his cruelty towards regular people and 'lesser' supes -- no one will call her queen maeve ever again, at least -- but it is still important to her to be a hero, and for better or for worse, she found that as maeve. i feel like she'd struggle to exist without her powers (possibly the self-awareness hasn't settled in yet) for all the reasons mentioned above. i like to think that eventually, she'll circle around to helping people and resisting vought however possible -- albeit on a smaller, more covert scale so she can continue living a peaceful life with elena.

#sorry for this word vomit i have just been thinking about maeve! what's in a name... #motivated by 2 years of reading takes about maeve wanting to be a normie (during s1-3 and prior) that i don't rly agree with #i'm not offering this as the 'right' interpretation of course this is just what makes sense for me!! #i have a couple of things i wanted to add (particularly re: maeve x HL since i know how consensual their relationship was #is controversial and i feel a bit weird slipping in that characterization of it w/o any follow-up) #but for now i am just going to say it fits with how i perceive her character trajectory and leave it there?? #because i don't want to disrupt this post my thoughts on that #i also have mixed feelings on her ending but again not the post for it i suppose #queen maeve #the boys #maeve x elena #maeve x homelander #annie x maeve #supe names in this show are interesting... curious to see what they will do w annie next season

[lacallemojada]

'Cause now I'm in it and I've been trying to find my way back for a minute.  And the rain keeps coming down along the ceiling. And I can hear it but I can't feel it.

#station19edit #station 19 #dailystation19 #maya bishop #carina deluca #sean beckett #ben warren #vic hughes #station 19 spoilers #don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me #dark maya is killing me (in a good way) but also i think it must be one of the most interesting plots happening on television right now #do you agree? #and of course danielle is killing it so #this is my sad edit edit of last episode #i have so many feelings still #(and i think the best thing about this season is that one of those feelings isn't anger because of an awful plot) #i promise the next gifset i make will be a happy one :) #by apf

[onepiece-polls]

I love your polls and it’s great you try to be on both sides to give fair chance to everyone, but the way you talked about shanks/buggy is crazy They’re fine together but in canon they’re brothers and your shipping googles got so tight you actually sounded like you could believe they’re anywhere close to canon which is u know stupid af

lmao, okay, this came out of nowhere 😂 Like... I talked about that months ago. But okay.

Anyway, Shuggy is canon. They're making out behind you right now.

#Anon please 😂 #Calling me stupid because you think I think shuggy is canon #but all the while claiming that the fact that they are brothers IS canon #My dear... neither are canon. It's all in our heads. #as far as I know only the marines said Shanks used to see Buggy as a brother #and what the hell do they know about the relationship between two pirates? #sounds like historians talking about queer relationships by saying 'they were REALLY good friends' #And... I don't usually talk about my ships on this blog but that was for the shipping war #shipping goggles was what the tournament was ABOUT... #But come closer... come look at my main blog... #I assure you you can only enter that blog with shipping goggles on 😂 #This is all meant jokingly from my side of course #I don't see any ship but the confirmed ones as canon #even though some might be canon TO ME but that's something else entirely #Why not... you know... let people ship what they want to ship however much they want to ship it? #Do you see me taking offense to people who don't want to ship something? #No everyone is free to see relationships as platonically - even if they're canon confirmed to be married #I just take offense to people calling other people stupid because they don't agree with them on fandom things #Especially when they're claiming THEIR headcanons are actually canon #Honestly imo anyone talking about 'shipping goggles' is just trying to make people who enjoy shipping feel inferior #I'm sorry you can't believe we're all equals no matter what we ship or don't ship #anon #ask #not a poll #I hope you all get that this is not an invitation for you all to send me more messages about this #I don't want to start a discussion #I just want you all to respect each other

[thevioletscout]

#I saw someone who was responding to Amy posts saying how much they wanted her to die #and I'm just sitting there like one #that's a fictional character #she is at the whims of writers who often don't know what they're doing #and two #SHES TWELVE #of course she's a little immature and annoying #that's how twelve year olds are #also I showed this to my friend before posting and we both agreed that the hate against her is also probably misogyny #but that's a rant for another day #Amy Rose #Sonic #meme #shitpost #my post

[softquietsteadylove]

If you have the muse for it, could we maybe get a circus au or life interrupted update? Missing those two lately! Thank you!!! 😘

"Gil?...Gil!"

"Huh?" he turned, ruffling his hair with his free hand. "Uh, s-sorry, what were you saying?"

But his friend just frowned, "you sure you're okay? I know you're a doc to the animals, but are you really qualified to diagnose yourself?"

Gil subconsciously shifted his arm in his sling. He was no expert, but he did know how to reset a shoulder. Granted, it was because of getting into fights in his school days, but still. "Yeah, it'll be fine, really."

He shrugged, picking up some of the coiled ropes, "y'know you can take it easy if you want. We can finish setting things up for tonight."

Gil nodded, looking around them. Technically, all he did was light stuff to help out here and there. He wasn't really a regular crewman. But he had hung around all morning on the excuse of checking on the animals and helping out wherever his one good hand could help. "You, uh, seen Thena yet?"

He heard a few quiet chuckles and blushed; everyone knew why he was hanging around. He was eagerly and desperately trying to get even a glimpse of Thena. He hadn't seen her since the night she had admonished Kro - and her beast of a husband had dragged her away by the arm - and he was going nuts.

Of course, no one else knew that she had kissed him, either.

He was lying awake at night! And part of it was the pain, but another part was thinking about how she had leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't just a mistake of a peck, either, it was a real kiss. He could feel how she meant it, no matter what that really meant for them. She was a married woman, and married to the man who was both their boss, in a way.

"No one's seen her," another crewman shrugged. "Assumed boss had given her some time, I guess."

It was a reasonable guess. She had suffered quite a scare, after all. But her husband was not a reasonable man, and Gil was confident in guessing that Kro would sooner put on her costume himself than give her a day of rehearsal off without injury.

Gil picked himself up and tugged at one of his suspenders. "Thanks guys, I'll grab some lunch I guess."

They sent him off with well wishes. He wasn't in any shape to do any of the usual heavy lifting he could be asked for anyway. But rather than go in search of the group lunch being cooked behind the main tents, he slipped away towards the train.

He hadn't seen Thena in two whole days. She had once said that Kro would never really hurt her, but that was the only time when Gil wasn't really inclined to have confidence in what she said. He didn't trust anything about Kro. And he was really trying not to let the kiss influence that thinking in him, either.

He couldn't let it. She was a married woman. Whether she had kissed him or not, it wasn't his place. And he was concerned about her regardless. This wasn't about him and his feelings, it was about making sure she was okay.

"Thena?" he whispered, sticking his head out and between cars and looking around like a common cat burglar. He crept around, picking his boots up lightly.

Maybe Kro had her chained up like a ruffian. Not that he really thought he would, but he wouldn't be as surprised as he would like to be by something so barbaric.

"Thena!" he whispered again, slowly making his way to their shared sleeper car. If he was found, Kro would probably feed him to the lions. But he had to know.

Once at their sleeper car, he checked around him one more time. He knew Kro was in the main tent, snapping his cane against the ring and shouting up a storm. No one had been able to ask how Thena was without getting a real earful.

Gil knocked on the door with his good hand, pressing his ear close, "Thena, are you in there?"

"Gil?"

She didn't sound hurt, or teary or anything. He gulped, "can...are you hurt? Can I see you?"

"I'm fine Gil, you can come in."

Part of him still imagined a nightmare in which he would walk in and find her on the floor, sitting crumpled like a bird fallen from the sky. But Thena was no fallen angel. He closed the door behind him as he saw her seated at the little table barely big enough for a single plate.

He had never seen her in a normal dress, but the soft, creamy fabric looked just like her hair.

"I'm sorry I worried you," she professed immediately, still sitting primly at the table. "Kro told me I wasn't to leave for the next two days. People should think I'm in recovery."

Which was very different from actually wanting her to recover from her fall, but it would make people think of the monster more favourably.

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked, still almost whispering as he dared to come a little closer. "Are you resting?"

She smiled at him, like having not seen him for days was completely normal and expected. "I'm resting fine. Kro has been bringing me food twice a day."

So, she was missing a meal, Gil surmised. He frowned, but that was the least of his worries. "Why won't he let you out?"

Thena's expression finally cracked, and he saw her eyes drift to his shoulder. "He asked if there was anything...with you."

The words she didn't say weighed a lot more than the ones she did, and Gil found himself flustered again. He had always known what his feelings for Thena meant. But he had thought it was a harmless crush on his unattainable and lovely boss' wife. The implication that she cared for him too...it was enough to have his stethoscope picking up his own heartbeat from ten paces.

"I assured him there wasn't," she looked down at the little table, tucking some hair behind her ear. "He said then there should be no reason I should want to leave."

There should be no reason for her to ask to see him--that was the threat that had kept her in here. If she asked to see him, or probably even ran into him accidentally, Kro would have grounds to suspicions. And Gil wasn't sure which one of them would face worse consequences for them.

Gil looked around the sleeper car. It was larger than the others, of course, or maybe it was just arranged neater. It had a small but proper bed, rather than just a cot and some hay. The little table, there was a trunk that probably held their collective things. There was even a little radio on top of it, as well as an oil lamp.

"It's not a prison."

He didn't feel comforted by that. She was unharmed, sure, in a physical sense. But sometimes animals could seem fine, then they'd give out the next day of a broken heart or some such. He moved even closer, even kneeling down to face her better (he wouldn't dare move the chair across from hers). "Birds get real down if they're in cages too much."

She laughed a little at the insinuation.

"Really," he whispered. Without him telling it to, his free hand drifted up to hers, feeling the softness of her pretty linen dress. "They're meant to be free. Clipping their wings...it seems harmless, but it really hurts them, even just a little bit, everyday."

Thena tilted her head at him, her hair slipping over her shoulder. She was so beautiful, and far too delicate for a cage like this.

Gil sighed as she brought his hand from resting over hers on her lap to her lips. In another life, he could imagine this would be a beautiful moment.

It was brief, but for just a split second, her lip wobbled. She whispered, "I wish I had met you a lifetime ago."

Gil's heart broke inside his chest. It fractured, just like his stupid shoulder. Oh, to have met her a lifetime ago. To have met her as a student, to have scraped and scrimped for pennies so he could buy her flowers and take her on swan boats on the lake. To have swooned over her everyday until he could kneel just like this and hold up an embarrassingly modest ring and ask for another lifetime.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but he rose from his knee, tilting her head with his palm and kissing her as if she weren't married. As if they had this lifetime to get it right. Which wasn't true, but it wouldn't be something he would regret, either.

Thena sighed against his lips, her hand moving to his hair. She kissed like she hadn't drank in days and he was an ice cold lemonade. "I wish I could love you."

He loved her anyway, wishes be damned. "Thena-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips, breaking the spell around them and forcing him a precious few inches away. "He'll be back soon. If he catches you in here-"

He gripped her shoulder, "I won't let him hurt you, Thena. Never-"

She grasped his hand between hers, "I am not worried about what he will do to me."

So, Kro had threatened him to get her to comply with his sick delusions of ownership. And Gil hated to admit it, but in his current state, he wasn't so sure he would in a fight against the ring leader.

His heart groaned in his chest, begging not to be separated from her. He made a face, "I can't just leave you like this."

She looked him square in the eyes, and the frosty, fiery acrobat he knew - and loved - was back. "You can, and you will--for both our sake."

She was right, he would because it would be best for her, if not both of them. But he didn't have to like it. He gave her hand another squeeze, even as he picked up his feet again. "When will he let you out of here?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, their hands dragging apart like lines of a frayed rope snapping string by string. "Until he's satisfied he has nothing to fear from you."

Kro had everything to fear from him, and as soon as his shoulder was better, Gil would see to it, too.

"I'll try and find you when he does."

He turned back to her, his hand on the car door. "Don't do anything risky. If he tries anything-"

Their eyes both shot to the side. It wasn't dangerously close yet, but it was definitely Kro's voice drawing nearer. Thena eyed him, begging him to leave before their lives were changed irreparably.

Gil nodded, dragging himself out and closing the door as quietly as possible. He held his arm as he slipped away, the muscles screaming at him like a storm was on the horizon. He stopped on the other side of the car.

"Well?"

"What?" Thena's softer voice came, but Gil was relieved to hear her usual sharpness in the demand.

"Usually you're begging to know how your little boyfriend is doing!" Kro barked at her. Gil heard the rattle of a container being tossed down, perhaps one of Thena's meals for the day.

"You told me to stop bringing him up," she fired right back at him. There was a pause before she added, "dearest."

Gil felt his gut clench. He had seen Kro use that term of endearment for her, and it never failed to make her squeamish.

"Very well then," Kro snarled back at her, "darling."

Gil waited a little more, but that seemed the end of it. And he had no choice but to leave it at that, at least for now. He dragged himself away, feeling just a little bit of a coward for it, too. His shoulder was aching again.

"Hey, Gil, you get some yet?"

It was lunch time. He eyed the pot of stew. Maybe that would be just the thing. "Say, will you do something for me?"

He was heard out as he explained that he was worried about Thena--heard she was on bed rest and all. It didn't come from him, but maybe - just if there were leftovers after everyone had their share - if someone could ask the boss nice and casual if Miss Thena would like it...?

Again, everyone saw right through him. But Thena was not her husband, and the crew agreed readily that they would ask in a very normal and friendly way if Miss Thena wanted any of their extra portions for the day. The lady needed her strength and all.

And Gil needed his too. The quicker his shoulder healed, the faster Thena could stop worrying about him, and the faster he could confront Kro about the treatment of his wife.

#Thenamesh Circus AU #thank you so much for the ask!!! #a little drama anyone? #a little angst? #pining???? #okay really Gil is sitting around desperately looking for her #He barely leaves to sleep or eat in case he misses a glimpse of her #now he's ready to romeo outside her sleeper car making sure she eats #Kro comes and goes at dawn and night slapping down bowls of bread soup for her #meanwhile Gil sneaks in and hands her his stash of peanuts #and THena is dying to see him of course #but Kro is like if I see you two within a foot of each other I'm calling the fuckin police #Thena agrees to be sequestered only for Gils' protection #becuase she knows her husband #and she just knows Kro will make him haul all sorts of heavy stuff #strain or even hurt himself #he'll bump into Gil's bad shoulder and oh go 'oh sorry forgot' #y'know like a huge ass hole #Thena: Gil don't do anything to make him angry #Gil: hey so what would you think if I beat your husband to death in the parking lot

[bookwyrminspiration]

Yeah, you have the person who made the comparison between this and the pro-choice/pro-life debate blocked

Ah, well in that case I can still view it and say that you're correct, that is an unfair and infuriating comparison.

They're correct in that call outs and witch hunts are bad and ineffective, and it sucked for them to experience that, too.

But it's not reasonable or accurate to point out the difference in support in these two instances as some sort of "wow...I see how it is." (which is the tone I got from that, whether it was intended or not)

The difference is here we are not only supporting the individuals against being called out, but in defense of their actions and positions. They're not wrong or harming anyone for creating/engaging with "problematic" fictional media in fandom spaces.

When that person was witch hunted, which was awful for them, we also disagreed with their position. Our support went as far as "witch hunts/callouts are bad" (which was a position many took), but the fact is the fandom is largely pro-choice. Of course they're not going to get support for being pro-life from pro-choice individuals, especially since that is a position you take on what real life people are allowed to legally do with their bodies. It's not fiction, and the people being debated about are real and harmed by it

It almost seems they're upset people didn't support them for being pro-life? Because while of course details are different, both instances we largely spoke against call outs, which is the similarity. In which case I don't know what to tell them--if you have hurtful, conservative opinions and beliefs people aren't going to like them or you. Doesn't mean you deserve to be witch hunted, but we don't owe you anything more.

#kotlc #kotlc discourse #quil's queries #nonsie #their posts seems to miss the point of what we're saying #though I don't know the extent of what they say #because it's pretty clear. at least I think. why we've acted differently in these different situations #in this instance we agree with those called out in their opinions and beliefs #for them we didn't #of course we'll respond differently #these aren't comparable in that way #anyway #also yes I have this person blocked so they won't see this but if someone screenshots or sends this to them I won't mind #just in case someone was thinking about it

[lopsidedtreetrunks]

lmao I never watched the announcement video bc I thought it was clickbait since they'd been hyping something up for like a week or so so I thought it was that. Turns out it wasn't clickbait?

#Truly was not expecting to see what 's going on in the tags today lmao #of course I agree that artists should be paid etc. #but I'm not paying for a streaming service that only offers 1 thing #Not that I'd be able to anyway since I'm not in the US ! #now that's what I call an oof move #Um... good luck with that lads #watcher #watcher entertainment #like ik they have morethan one show but its all the same production and people jykwim #anyway I don't like being involved in drama #I just like looking at it & I find it kind of funny in a Sad sort of way #so this is all I'm contributing to the conversation