#the love and care between the characters

[disenchanted-youth]

Seriously, what's up with that golden light that's protecting Phaya and Tharn? Is it Phaya's powers? Someone in his family tree? I feel like this episode needed to be longer. I usually get tired of shows explaining every little thing. This time I wish this show actually gave me more. It's ending next week! Why are we still having questions about the mythological/supernatural aspect?

That Tharn and Chalothon scene will be stuck in my head all week. Babe kills it in these emotional scenes, this one and the one with Phaya in the cave. Pain. Tharn sounded so broken and hurt.

Honestly I don't blame Tharn. I get why some people do. It was definitely frustrating to watch him constantly defend Chalothon. But Babe honestly saved that part for me with his acting. When Phaya talked about Chalothon being the naga, it was kinda obvious that Tharn really didn't want to believe it. I mean who would? It's crazy to think about. You put all your faith in someone, go to them for advice and support, even your mental health troubles, and then you find out they were the one hurting the people you love. Abusive relationship 101 by Psychiatrist Chalothon. Moments like that make it clear that Tharn is a victim of emotional abuse. Chalothon has his fangs deep in my boy.

Once Chalothon actually showed up, it completely broke him. Babe conveyed that confusion and pain so well. Big shout out to Heng and Babe for nailing that scene, Chalathon's desperation and Tharn's hurt were so real.

Then the doctor had the guts to be like "I'll never hurt you". Mate what do you think you are doing? Making him all giddy while you keep trying to kill the person he's in love with? Threatening to kill everyone he loves? How to keep your man happy - a masterclass by Mr Naga himself. There's crazy, and then there's Chalothon.

#the sign the series #listen i adore babe #for a first time actor he's doing a great job #it's not easy portraying Tharn he has so much nuances as a character but Babe's holding on pretty well #i just wish they made it a bit more clear this episode rather than waiting till the last #if they info dump on me next ep i'll be so mad #i hate when shows do that #but my fav part of the show still shines #the love and care between the characters #so good #and none of the characters are acting out of character #most shows usually forget about the characters in the last few eps and just rush through the story #the show hasn't fumbled with the characters or their motivations and that's still what's at the heart of the story #the sign

[winepresswrath]

one thing I like about tazmuir as an author is that at any given time she will be like "here is a character," and I will think "that's nice, but I don't care. please return me to my beautiful Gideon" and then she'll be like "no. look at this other character under a microscope. they are so fucked up and full of love in such specific ways. probably they are bad at sex also." and I make a shocked face and welcome them into the pantheon in my heart, still waiting to hear from my beautiful gideon, at which point tazmuir will show me another character. and then.

#who is forcing me to care about Babs like this #jrr tolkien #that's who #not a lot of overlap between them as writers but they do love their Catholic references and tbh I can easily see jrrt getting distracted #writing a massive adventure for an unpopular minor character's implied relatives

[meirimerens]

curious and curiouser

#my moment of weakness. let this be the only ts2 image on here [begins to sweat] #ts2 #ts2 premades #sims 2 #pascal curious #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #nervous subject #i'm not even mentioning it. you know what the relationship between that first character and that last character is. #also hi tycho. #first & second of nervous mohawks are based on the ts4 ''wild'' & ''mad'' hairs respectively by s4simomo. if you care. #& his last one on his ts2 one obviously. #lazlo's monkey shirt is a nod to one of his psp secrets that says he became a scientists because he loved the test monkeys.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Instruction on Courtship

[First] Prev <--> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #lan jingyi #lan sizhui #wei wuxian #a-qing #(In case ppl are wondering: LJY and LSZ changed their hairstyles to get into character). #I love this scene very much its so silly and sweet #a-qing is WAITING though guys. Come ON #Lan Jingyi definitely is the type to read romance novels and be a deep romantic at heart. And of course vehemently deny it. #But the truth of the matter is that wwx and lwj don't follow those typical romance tropes (at least not at the moment) #wwx and lwj split up because they *know* the other one is perfectly capable on their own! It's about acknowledgement and respect. #The original line was “Why. I trust him and his skills” which is more accurate to the Audio Drama. Because that's the core of what makes #Wangxian so good! Trust!! Despite years of miscommunication- there is deep trust between these two! #They can and will delegate tasks because they are an effective team! #If you cannot trust the person you say you love and care about - you have killed that relationship. (Genuine relationship advice). #Add one more to the 'retelling of wwx's story from other's perspective' counter. #I know that wangxian get more lovey later on but I really feel like mxtx was trying to make a point here. The more interesting dynamics #are not one's that rehash lines and tropes from dime a dozen romance books (sorry boys)

[eight-pointed-star]

#fëanor #maedhros #my art #silmarillion #the brainrot continues i'm afraid. yes i'm aware of how much feanor&maedhros stuff i've drawn and written here in the past couple of weeks #i too am horrified. not surprised though #fëanor & maedhros #why so many floral ornaments on their clothes? they're noldor! you might ask. and you would be completely right #i have no idea what i'm doing #i have a very limited fantasy i just copy the ornaments from whatever clothed i find on pinterest and like #i DON'T enjoy thinking ohhh what kind of clothes and ornaments would these characters wear if we take into account their culture and the we #ther (which we know nothing about) their individual personalities their character arcs and symbolism the parallels between them and the oth #r characters. i DON'T care!!!!! and i can't just leave their clothes unadorned. so here we are #i say if the clothes match the characters vibe — great amazing good lovely. if they don't — fantastic splendid beautiful wonderful

[ablazenqueen]

The most upsetting part of this scene (and probably the whole ep) are these two looks:

Because the look on Jeff’s face? It’s hopeful and trusting. He has just the slightest ghost of a smile when he looks at Alan, he looks like he has full confidence that Alan is going to back him up, continue backing him up like he does at the start of this confrontation.

But the look on Alan’s face? It’s doubt. He looks at Jeff and he thinks maybe and he breaks eye contact, looks away just slightly, drops his gaze, because he wants to trust Jeff and he can see the hope in those eyes, but he’s unsure. And even if he chooses to trust Jeff, he’s team leader, how can he not side with his boys? How can he not support the majority, the boys he’s known the longest, the boys who’ve proven their loyalty to him and each other over years, and offer the resolution that most benefits the most amount of people?

How can he not choose the rational resolution, even if it requires squashing that hard-earned trust?

#this scene hurt a lot 🥲 #but it’s also so refreshing to see a character struggle with their priorities the way alan does #in a lot of bls a character would just prioritize their love interest no matter what #having alan feel genuinely torn between his found family and his (eventual) love interest makes him feel like a very real person #his priories are conflicted because he genuinely cares about ALL of his relationships #alanjeff #jeffalan #pit babe #pit babe the series #pit babe meta #thai drama #asian drama #asian lgbtq dramas #thai bl #asian bl #bl drama #*my stuff #can’t believe this show has gotten me back into gifing and making meta #just wanted to ramble about them a bit because I love them

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi Silver! o/ because that fanart made me wonder - would you happen to know when/where Dick's stuffed elephant plush Zitka turns up in the comics?

GREETINGS CAM <3333 THAT ART WAS SO CUTE

Yeah, I think your instincts are right - it's a truly adorable bit of transformative fandom, but I'm 95% percent sure it's not comics canon. Barbara has canon plushies, but I don't think anyone else does.

I got kinda invested in the investigation (it's hard to prove a negative!) and I ended up typing out an entire History of Elinore/Zitka, so, uh, if you're curious, meet me below the cut for:

Where does Elinore / Zitka - the animal - appear in comics?

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

Where does Elinore / Zitka appear in comics?

We're gonna go in chronological order!

Dick's circus elephant friend was first created for practical reasons: in Batman 436, Marv Wolfman does a big expanded flashback to Dick's circus backstory as a way to subtly show us Tim before officially introducing him (so that we can have a technically-solvable mystery-of-Tim's-identity in LPoD). In this comic, there's an elephant named Elinore who loves Dick:

Aww. Such a cute elephant!

Batman 436 comes out in August 1989. New Titans 60 comes out a few months later, in November, and guess what? When Dick visits the circus, he is suddenly surprised by an unexpected blast from the past! It turns out that even though it's been years, Elinore still remembers him!

Here's the part where Elinore remembers Dick:

SUCH a cute elephant. I love her.

(Guess who else still remembers Dick even though it was so long ago. Guess which other character is about to be an unexpected blast from the past. Guess which character Elinore is directly paralleling guess guess guess sorry everything is about Dick and Tim in my mind but I can focus I swear)

Four years later, in 1993, Batman: The Animated Series retells Dick's origin story. They like and keep Wolfman's elephant, but they change her name to Zitka:

Wolfman doesn't return to the elephant beyond those two appearances, and a few years down the line, New Titans gets cancelled and Wolfman's not writing Dick anymore anyway. So the animal gets abandoned for a while, until Devin Grayson, a fan of both Wolfman and B:tAS, revives the Wolfman-era Titans team in JLA/Titans and then the ongoing series Titans 1999.

Grayson then brings back the elephant in a flashback to Dick's past in Titans 16 (Jun 2000), where she imports the B:tAS name. Sometimes I'm skeptical of TV-to-comics imports, but honestly, I endorse this one. You lose the alliteration, which is a shame, but IMO Zitka is a better elephant name than Elinore.

Here's Dick with the newly-christened Zitka in Titans 16:

Grayson also briefly references the elephant in Gotham Knights 20 and - in a final angsty callback - in Nightwing 88 (Feb 2004), where Zitka tries futilely to comfort Dick in the midst of his trauma conga line:

... And... honestly, I think that's it for comic appearances? The two Wolfman comics plus the three Grayson comics.

Both Wolfman and Grayson are writing multiple titles - Batman, New Titans, Titans, Gotham Knights, and Nightwing between the two of them, spanning a big chunk of Dick's post-Crisis canon - and both writers use the elephant for heartwarming moments of nostalgia, which means if you're doing a post-Crisis readthrough for Dick, Elinore/Zitka feels memorable. But I don't think she actually shows up that much.

For post-2011, I am not as well-informed - throwing this out to the dash? anyone know? - but I feel like Zitka the heartwarming symbol of Dick's heartwarming circus past is, uh, thematically very at odds with the Court of Owls evil!circus vibes, so my instinct is that this story element was almost certainly dropped in the reboot.

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

In WFA, yes; in main comics continuity, no. Technically, I have not read every comic ever published, so I could be wrong!! But I don't think so.

Below, find my rambling reasoning on the tonal vibes of pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, and post-2011, and why this particular story element doesn't seem right to me for the first two.

Pre-Crisis (...okay, mostly the Silver Age): stuffed animal, yes or no?

tl;dr no, requires too much background knowledge on the part of the reader, plus the elephant wasn't a thing until later

Elinore doesn't get created until post-Crisis, but also just generally, pre-Crisis callbacks are more along the lines of this reference in Batman 129 (published in 1960), where, wow, Batman and Robin are hunting jewel thieves - and it turns out Robin recognized this strongman! BUT HOW?!

The comic goes on to recap Dick's entire origin story in flashback, on the assumption that you may not know it.

(BTW, if you'd like to know more about Haly's Circus throughout the years, nightwingology has a great post here summarizing a lot of fun plotlines and characters!)

Basically: Silver Age comics are very self-consciously episodic and kid-friendly; they're not generally gonna do overly-elaborate callbacks because they don't know what comics their kid readers may have randomly picked up or remember.

By the time of post-Crisis, comic books were being written for an adult audience buying from the direct market, i.e. readers who are collecting whole runs & don't need or want Dick's origin story to be recapped to us in full every time it's referenced. That's why in post-Crisis, we get stuff like "hey, neat, this particular soda brand is getting mentioned in several different books!!" or "in order to understand this story arc, buy SIXTEEN DIFFERENT COMICS in FIVE DIFFERENT RUNS and read them ALL ACCORDING TO A NUMBERED ORDER and also you better be following the individual plotlines and recognize these five minor characters who we don't bother to introduce!! Good luck!!" But the elaborate post-Crisis plotlines - and subtler worldbuilding like a stuffed animal callback to Dick's backstory - don't make a lot of story sense UNLESS you're imagining your readers as completionist adult fans.

So IMO a stuffed animal wouldn't be a pre-Crisis thing unless it was The Episodic Story Of the Week, and I don't think a stuffed animal is action-adventure-y enough for the fast-paced storytelling of the Silver Age. (Unless it, like, came to life and tried to eat you or something.)

Post-Crisis: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr: no, Dick's a manly tough guy, he's not gonna have a stuffed animal, that'd be lame, like something Tim might do

Part of the edgy grimdark adult vibes in 80s/90s comics is that some characters who used to be kinda silly & goofy & lighthearted - like Batman and Robin - get reimagined as Serious and Angsty and Edgy in a Tough Cool Manly Brooding Way. This massively affects characterization for Bruce, Dick, and Bruce and Dick's relationship.

(I obviously love this change & love the tense Bruce-and-Dick interactions, but plenty of fans of the earlier fluffy comics really disliked the edgy retcons of Miller / Wolfman / Starlin / et al.)

The upshot is that post-Crisis is a period when you could have a recurring reference like a stuffed elephant, but you wouldn't have a stuffed elephant, not for Dick. I think a toy like that would be too cutesy / childish / effeminate to give a male character in post-Crisis, unless you were poking fun at him.

Now, you could probably let Tim have a stuffed animal, because Tim is sometimes cool but also sometimes a tryhard loser who is faking being cool and not entirely pulling it off (see e.g. the Robin comic where he practices tough-guy faces in the mirror, or the Teen Titans comic where Conner discovers his cringy Enya CD, or when he's fanboying over Connor and it's awkward, etc etc.). A stuffed animal would be deeply embarrassing, and you'd have to be careful to compensate by having Tim do something cool afterward - but Tim's character concept allows for "he's kind of a loser sometimes."

But Dick isn't!! In post-Crisis, Dick's a tough / impressive / "cool guy" character, the kind of guy anyone would want to be, even in the flashbacks where he's Robin, and even in the stories where he's more lighthearted than angsty. It'd be kinda lame for Dick to have a stuffed elephant, so he wouldn't. I feel like Dick would be more likely to poke fun at it if someone had one, like when he's making fun of Wally for liking the Hardy Boys. Dick could have a Batman action figure, at most, and if he had one he would have it ironically.

Basically: in post-Crisis, a male character hugging a stuffed elephant feels more likely to be a punchline to me, not something poignant. (Even with Tim, Tim could have an embarrassing stuffed animal, but he couldn't hug it when sad - that's too far. Maybe Booster Gold might do this. Probably he wouldn't, but spiritually, he would. Sorry Booster ilu! <3)

Instead, Dick instinctively deals with his inner turmoil like the TORTURED ACTION HERO he is: by punching things and brooding and yelling and joining the mob and sleeping on rooftops and going on obsessive secret missions and acquiring Angsty Stubble!! Just like Batman!

(Technically I don't know if Bruce ever joined the mob but you know he would.)

Anyway as you know this is my favorite continuity and I am poking fun affectionately, but uh, yeah sdfsfdsfs. No stuffed animals.

Post-2011 / Infinite Frontier / Wayne Family Adventures: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr it's in WFA! Probably not anywhere else, but it could be.

Post-2011 stuff tends to be cutesier overall, most of all in the current Infinite Frontier era. So I don't feel like this would be tonally out-of-line with IF comics. Taylor tends to go for more meme-y references rather than fanfic references, though.

So the obvious best fit is WFA, which is aiming for a rough approximation of Silver Age family-friendly vibes - wholesome, episodic plots, Teaching Good Moral Lessons For The Youth, etc. - plus lots of Easter eggs for fanfic readers and some comic references.

And look, here we are:

Aww.

Whew - that's everything I could find!

Anyway as you can probably tell, I LOVE the elephant, so this was a very entertaining rabbit hole to go down, thank you <3

#dick grayson #anyone with more info feel free to chime in & we can crowdsource <3 #i do think the toy elephant is awfully cute though <3 #total digression but i was thinking about it as i was writing: #i'm fascinated by the ways that the post-crisis batboys & their stories can intersect with 90s masculinity and all its issues with stoicism #and i'm pro-queering and gender-bending - 90s comics were a total boys' club so i think it's neat that transformative fandom isn't #but i do love 90s masculinity and All Its Issues too & one of the things i find compelling about the dick-tim-bruce trio #& especially dick's place in it - is the unspoken hierarchy whereby bruce is manlier than dick & dick is manlier than tim #and so dick's in the middle as this somewhat softer-character who aspires to be a harsher & more stoic & ultimate manly-man character #caught in the middle between robin & batman & what each role represents #and like. batman is both manhood & the only desirable thing to be AND ALSO it represents this immense narrowing of possibility #because so much of stereotypical masculinity is about reducing the range of emotions you're allowed to have or express #and dick is both incredibly conflicted about bruce AND wants to be just like him & by extension is conflicted about masculinity writ large #so a lot of dick's interactions with tim veer between trying on a frat-boy-ish 'I'm The Manly Guy' persona vs. giving up on it #or trying on imitations of Bruce's Batman persona but also trying to backtrack out of it bc he doesn't like how it feels etc etc #ANYWAY i think what i am trying to say is that if tim had a stuffed animal dick would be entertained & poke mild fun at him #and call him 'teddy' for the next hour or something while tim got increasingly defensive about how the teddy bear was steph's #and/or about how the teddy bear was OLD and tim doesn't even care about it and also WHATEVEr i'm above this #and to an uninformed observer this might look like bullying BUT ACTUALLY #this ritual would IN FACT be very reassuring to both of them + tim would feel WAY better afterward than if dick had ignored it #because by poking fun at him dick shows he still respects tim enough to tease him thus subtextually exorcising the threat of wimpiness #plus allowing tim to defend himself & demonstrate that he can take a joke so they've both reaffirmed their masculinity to each other #& they don't have to be scared of the teddy bear and all it represents anymore #however also afterward dick would have a brief nostalgic flashback to when he was a kid & had a teddy bear & feel weird about the memory #because he would be unable to articulate to himself that what he misses is a past when he allowed himself to be vulnerable #anyway this wouldn't actually happen in comics but it's what would happen in my soul. you know. #ask tag #zitka

[lyxchen]

Something I also love about Heartbreak High is how the main character is just so silly <33 Like Amerie doesn't try to be cool or fit in or anything. She's silly and weird and she knows that and she's confident in that and that makes her such a lovely and amazing main character <333

#like seriously #often the main character is kinda boring #because they always have to be this misunderstood outcast who just wants to have friends #but not amerie #she cares and she loves and she protects with all her heart and she is so fun and silly goofy and sometimes she fucks up and she's amazing #i love her so so dang much!!!! #heartbreak high #amerie wadia #lea's random thoughts #i also love how heartbreak high comes much closer to actual social relationships between sudents than a lot of other highschool shows do #like nit everybody hates everybody actually #and sometimes people become accidentally and unexpectedly close friends #like amerie with darren and quinni #that happens #and things pass #like you won't actually be forever knows for that one embarassing thing you did one time #nobody calls amerie map bitch anymore #because people move on #anyways #i'm too tired to write more about this but maybe some other time

[biblicalhorror]

Aroace Riz real but also Fabian is SO clearly in love with him and Riz has no idea

#honestly fabian might not even fully know yet #a core part of fabians character is that he is so deeply afraid of rejection that he is never going to pursue the people he actually wants #i do think he likes Maezy a lot but i think he only knows how to pursue hot toxic women that will discard him at a moments notice #which in a way protects him from ever actually dealing with heartbreak #is he a gay man dealing with comphet? ehh maybe #i could see that #but I think the vibe i get is more about how he has these platonic friends he completely adores and is fully devoted to #and then in another category he has the people that he does not have any actual attachment to that he will allow himself to pursue #and crossing the boundaries in between those two categories or allowing himself to pursue someone he really cares for #would require a level of vulnerability he is in no way prepared for #in his home life he has an emotionally detached mother who is well liked but kind of floats through interactions on a surface level #and a father who is extremely concerned with fame and glory and attention but doesnt seem to have ever stopped moving in his life #genuinely fabian does not know what a safe loving partnership would look like #and we see him constantly oscillating between emulating his mother and his father in relationships #but just beneath the surface is a little boy who wants so badly to cling to his loved ones so tight and be squeezed right back #with no way of knowing how to even ask for that if he wanted #and riz is his best friend in the world and he knows on some level that riz is simply not interested in having that kind of relationship #not on the level fabian needs #but that also makes riz a safe target for these feelings of devotion #theyre just friends! just besties! fabian never has to reckon with his own loneliness or harmful patterns #if he channels all of his yearning for closeness onto his best friend #anyway! this boy needs therapy #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #fabriz

[larkspurglove]

Broke: Dr Ratio and Alhaitham would get along

Woke: Dr Ratio and Alhaitham would hate each other for being ‘exceptionally arrogant’

Bespoke: Ruan Mei and Dottore are the real crossover academia duo that we should be talking about

#every now and again I think about how Ruan Mei’s goals overlap with Dottore’s #more than Alhaitham and Ratio’s ANYTHING will ever overlap #it hurts me bc I loathe dottore as a person but love him as a charafter #while I love Ruan Mei as a character but loathe her as a person #like the main difference between them is that their atrocities are told differently #Dottore’s are seen as a direct violation of all that is natural #with his experiments being products of his own insane hubris and will to defy the gods #while ruan mei’s are passed off as ‘oh she was feeling a bit lonely and silly’ #‘who cares if she created an emanator in herta’s basment’ #‘drugging the trailblazer was just a silly quirky thing :3’ #at least the story acknowledges that her hubris to become an Aeon is misguided #please hoyo I’m begging whoever wrote dottore needs to be let into the Ruan Mei writing room LET MORALLY GREY WOMEN BE MORALLY GREY #honkai star rail #hsr #genshin impact #alhaitham #dr ratio #ruan mei #dottore #il dottore #the doctor gi #gi the doctor #lark rambles

[foxcort]

sometimes i think about how the acotar books could've been a great way to show that "love doesn't heal trauma" rather than whatever points sjm was trying to make about abusive relationships and sa. instead of tamlin being abusive, she could've written that feylin's individual traumas kept them from reaching out to each other. or that feyre felt suffocated by the perfect, idyllic and alive spring court when she felt the opposite on the inside. or that tamlin felt overwhelmed by the sudden influx of responsibilities as he's trying to rid himself of the nightmares from utm. they try to make it work. they try to replicate some of the dates and dances from book #1 but there's an almost tangible shadow over their relationship now. and maybe one day feyre sees a memorial for andras or a likeness to one of the high fae living in the spring court to one of the high fae she killed utm, and has a panic attack. and this serves as the catalyst that severs feylin's relationship and reveals that yes, their love broke a curse, their love saved prythian but it couldn't (and shouldn't) heal them.

#im not an analysis girlie i'd much rather rb the smart people in this fandom #but i couldn't stop thinking of this despite sarah's tendency to resolve all of her characters' traumas with dick #no need to retcon or character assassinate my bbgs #feyre could've had a whole plot to herself where she lived outside the bounds of a romantic relationship and discovered her abilities #there could've been reconciliation between her and her sisters (perhaps something that could start her healing) #hell you could even put the feysand mating bond in there and show once again that a magical love bond does not heal trauma #give them a fling that rhysand stops because he knows she's trying to force it so she can feel healed #and its bare minimum but rhys actually sacrificing his desires on page and putting feyre's mental health above them gives him likable #qualities and shows that he truly cares about feyre and this could maybe start his redemption arc #this definitely spiraled but i think it would've been cool #anti sjm #anti acomaf

[fromtheseventhhell]

I ignore about 95% of the conversations surrounding Arya having killed people because, outside of Arya stans, people refuse to include the context of the very violent circumstances she experiences + her trauma which influences her actions. She wasn't destined to be a killer and her being forced on the run, having to survive during a war (at times on her own), having to witness countless people being tortured and murdered, being enslaved as a prisoner of war, having to witness the deaths of her family, etc. are all hugely important factors. Not to mention the times when her life is literally on the line and she has to make tough decisions to ensure her survival. The only time her trauma is acknowledged is when people are using it to prove she's "too far gone", otherwise it's essays on how she hasn't suffered that much. It's so boring how people ignore well-developed characters just to reduce them to one or two aspects of their story. And this treatment is only for certain characters; let someone mention Sansa being part of the plot to poison Sweetrobin and all of a sudden, people can understand being forced to make questionable decisions under difficult circumstances.

#arya stark #asoiaf #fandom nonsense #I'm just so uninterested in the same boring repetitive conversations where people debate fanon characterizations...boring! yawning! sloppy! #Sorry?? I guess that she hasn't had the benefit of being in a castle the whole story with relative safety #but people trying to demonize a child who has one of the most harrowing and violent journeys for the decisions she's been forced to make #is ridiculous cause why are you more worried about how Arya reacted then to the actual situation she's in?? #If they're feeling especially faux-progressive they'll pretend to care about Daeron and cry about how innocent he was #but of course this never leads to criticism of Ned or Westerosi society...nope just calling Arya a psychopath and nothing else #At this point it's just jealousy because they know their fave never would've survived what she did and not only did she survive #but she showed off incredible skills and intelligence + has only learned and grown more + constantly gets her importance reinforced #yeah I'd be mad if she wasn't my fave either 🤭 #the disconnect between Arya antis and George is so funny cause they twist themselves in knots over how /evil/ she is and then there's #George calling her a character everyone will love ooooh shouldn't have picked one of the author's faves to hate on 🤷🏾‍♀️

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

A Tempest of Tea

first in a YA fantasy duology

follows a young immigrant woman in a fantasy Victorian city who runs a tearoom that doubles as an illegal bloodhouse for vampires at night

when their business is threatened, she gets a chance to save it by teaming up with her best friend, a rich girl with a talent for forgery, a vampire artist, and a mysterious city guard to do a heist to infiltrate high society and collect a logbook that may reveal the extent of the corruption in the city

fantasy city with a masked ruler, arthurian elements, themes of colonialism

#a tempest of tea #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #This has a really cool concept and worldbuilding and some fantastic characters! #I like the discussion of immigration and colonialism (I appreciate a story in this niche that’s not so white) #I like arthie and jin’s relationship and Arthie is a great character. #It definitely feels like the first half of a story - like is the arthurian stuff gonna come up more or is it just... #the mc is called arthie and has a gun she pulled out of a stone. Is there more to that lmao. it does end on a cliffhanger too. #The main thing I *didn't* like is that the middle kinda turns into…miscellaneous events purely to facilitate the characters being attracted #to each other. good for them I guess but i don’t care. #(I probably should have expected that based on the author’s other duology so that's on me I guess) #(the romances also feel on the older side of YA) #I also found that the audioboook narrator paused slightly too long between sentences. #I love having author interviews at the end of audiobooks! #which also directly called me out for guessing the obvious twist but not the multiple others directly after #(granted the obvious one I was like... genuinely confused whether it was supposed to be a twist bc I thought we already knew that) #also what's up with the coconut. lol. why that specifically

[clj-art-blog]

Care from DFQC

你听着。本座不关心你的死活。只是你的命属于本座... Listen. I don't care about you. But your life belongs to me...

I tried to capture in gifs DFQC's concern for XLH, which he showed, but … The more I made gifs, the more I began to understand that "IT" could not fit into the gif format. It doesn't even fit the word "care". DFQC took care of Xiao Lanhua with words, deeds, looks, his presence, his breath. He gave her so much care and kindness … He gifted her such different attention. He tried so hard and diligently to make her happy… So many times… I should stop making gifs of him taking care of XLH. There is no continuation, no finished thought in this post… I'm just at a dead end, because it's like I realized again how much I love their love… But since the gifs are made, I will publish my "confession" and this tattered post.

#cang lan jue #苍兰诀 #cdrama #clj #xiao lanhua #dylan wang #wang hedi #esther yu #moon supreme #love between fairy and devil #care #dfqc #dongfang qingcang #xlh #unfinished thought #I understand that they are just characters #that they do not exist in this world #but why are they so real?

[good-beans]

Kudos to anyone making ocgrams, that's really an impressive amount of content 👁👁

#i was going to (and still will) make a post about how i love seeing everyones ocgrams and the care and creativity they pour into a new cast #but DAMN its a ridiculous amount of art and writing especially at this pace (compared to like the canon release schedule) #i decided to treat myself and in between other things ive started making all the key art stuff for my sona #not even writing anything -- just choosing titles and making mock up art/albums/thumbnails/minigrams and JEEZ its so much 😂 #and its about me!! i dont even need to make choices #you guys are awesome for doing this plus full vd/mv/timeline writing for TEN UNIQUE CHARACTERS hello??? #very cool..... #rose rambles

[straightuppotato-art]

Six characters for six pieces of media that ruined my remaining braincells 💕💕 And I'll tag the requesters 💕

@evilbunnyking @bulleheart @sunshineandviolets @hydrateme @lemonlimegaytorade @helcaraxe04

#does the style change between david tennant and the fictional characters look a little silly. merhaps. #do i care? no #drawing that guy was the worst bc i'm in love wi—[EXPLOSION] #anyways. this perfectly encapsulates my taste in characters!! #hot women + silly guys + cat!! that's it that's me!! #art that i do #the wayhaven chronicles #twc #twc n #natalie sewell #rottmnt leo #rise leo #mind blind #sally alavidze #warrior cats #firestar #tenth doctor #stray game #stray 2022 #stray zbaltazar #six fanarts #woof. okay i sleep