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ryndicate · 1 year

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Winter is Warmer ⨳ Megumi Fushiguro

Winter seems to be universally hated by your lord's country, but it's your favorite season of the year.

notes: this is for @shirohyorin ’s Christmas Calender event. I dug deep into my brain to make this cute little sfw drabble for you guys, hope you enjoy the winter vibes!

warnings: fem reader, sfw, arranged marriage, royalty au, it's cute shit ok

18+ Blog Minors DNI

Rules & Main Links ***please read, i don’t normally write sfw content, so don’t follow me with that expectation.

Your toes dip into the water and you wince, instinctively withdrawing them.

“My Lady?” One of the maidservants notices, and paces over, dragging her fingertips through the surface of the basin. “Oh no, we overheated your bath! I’m sorry m’lady, if you wait a moment we can cool it down.”

“No, this is fine. I’ll adjust,” you assure her, dropping your robe and slipping into the water before she can protest. You breathe evenly through your nose as the water scalds your skin, the scents of the soaps and oils assaulting your senses, and sink lower into the bath.

The maid eyes you worriedly, critical eyes checking you over before she assures that the water isn’t hot enough to harm you. Then she takes a small cup and begins to gently wet your hair, preparing to wash it. “We’ll be more mindful next time. The first snows have everyone distracted.”

The other servants moving throughout the room, setting out clothes and cleaning, are talking amongst themselves about the impending weather, lamenting the passing of the warm season.

“Yes, of course. It’s fine, Noa, really,” you murmur absently, your fingers dancing over the steaming water, leaning back into her touch.

She’s not wrong. The first snows of Hinterland are always cruel and swift, and there’s always so much to be done to make sure it won’t be too bitter. It’s your third cold season in this country, and you've only just gotten the reign of things.

Food has been stocked, meat smoked and herbs dried. You were sure to call in materials throughout the warm seasons to make sure there was enough winter clothing to go around, and firewood. Last winter, a sudden blizzard on the breach of the melt took everyone by surprise, and there were many unfortunate lives lost to the cold. This year, you were determined not to be surprised again, storing a surplus of firewood in the unused cellar space of the knight’s mess hall, enough to last everyone an extra fortnight if need be.

All the extra preparation has left you exhausted, but thankfully you can soon relax. Now that the snows have begun, your duties will lessen. Now that the snows are here, your—

"Head back, my lady." Noa requests softly.

Temporarily pulled from your thoughts, you tip your head back with a silent sigh, closing your eyes as she does her work with the gentlest of hands, allowing you to relax deeper into the water.

Everyone is so kind to you here, something you’re immensely grateful for after the dark shadow of your engagement.

The entire continent had heard the stories of this country’s former lord, and his wicked, warbound ways. And there was no shortage of rumor of his son, the Hinterland’s strongest warrior withholding his father, who obeyed his lord at every turn. When the warlord fell to the White Dragon, the balance of the nations seemed on edge, expecting the tyrant son to replace the tyrant father and begin the fierce cycle anew.

Your father, looking to avoid the unabating wrath of the Hinterlands, did what any Duke might do… he offered his eldest daughter in marriage to the warlord’s formerly unbetrothed son. You were one of the many ladies offered throughout the continent, each seeking the new lord’s favor.

You thought yourself safe, that you wouldn’t stand out amongst all the other nobility, some with better standing, others with greater wealth, or both. You thought you would never have to leave your homeland, but fate chose otherwise. Or should you say, he chose otherwise.

Your father had been elated, your two younger sisters devastated, but you put on a brave face for all of them, and made the most of your last months at home.

The engagement began in the early winter, with your new fiance visiting you every couple of weeks. It wasn’t until you moved to his country that you understood just how costly his efforts had been. Had you known, maybe you wouldn’t have been so reproachful of him.

It was the blinds of your mistrust that led you to feel so powerless in your marriage, your sullen attitude secret to few despite your best efforts to maintain appearances. It led to many fights, and even more misunderstandings until your heart finally thawed.

"You mustn't soak too long, lady. Let's find you something appropriate to wear."

Washed and dried, Noa and the other women help you dress and you're descending to the eating hall when a symphony of horn sounds in the distance, the low regal tones of the knights' return.

Forgetting food entirely, you turn and gather your skirts, steps swift as you all but race to the entrance.

You don a thick cape of wool and furs, beaming at the squires who are pushing through the snow with your horse in tow, faces pink and breaths billowing in the air.

You can hear Noa somewhere behind you calling for you to wait for an escort, but it's lost to the thundering in your heart and on the ground as you gallop through the streets towards the town’s imposing gates.

In the warm seasons, the monster populations run rampant. Goblins pillage every town they come across, wolves and Weres terrorize nomads and livestock, and ogres and trolls make it impossible to move throughout the forests. The knights and mages are forced to crusade, to cull what monsters they can to keep the country's peace. But when the cold seasons arrive, even the monsters take to their nests and dens to wait out the biting cold.

Which means the men are safe to return home without consequence.

You reach the gates and order them opened, impatiently waiting for the heavy oak and iron to be pushed outward. Once they are, you're racing through, and you finally see him.

Your husband, lord of the Hinterlands, rides at the front of his men. Silky black hair, eyes of viridian, Megumi Fushiguro is as tall, handsome, and fearsome as all the rumors tell and more. But the rumors fall short by far.

When Megumi catches sight of you, a knowing smile tugs at the corner of his lips, calling to the unit to slow their approach. The rumors failed to report the heart of fire the lord bears, his warmth and kindness enough to keep any Hinterland winter at bay, at least for you.

You do my men a great service," Megumi greets you affectionately, dismounting his horse with envious grace, helping you do the same as hungry viridian take in the sight of you. "Even a small glimpse of their Lady is surely enough to stoke the flames of their hearts and chase away the weariness of their travels."

"I couldn't stand by after all they've done." You smile shyly. "You were all gone weeks longer than usual this time."

Megumi gives the smallest of smiles, just a slight tug to the corner of his lips, taking your hand into his own as he all but purrs. "How generous of my sweet wife. But aren't you cold? We should get you inside."

As he presses his lips to the back of your palm, a flutter deep within you overtakes the bracing chill. The men behind him hoot and holler, and it's enough to break the spell overtaking your senses, averting your gaze demurely. Then his emerald eyes are staring into yours as he assists you in gathering your skirts to mount his horse, seating himself behind you. His voice is a low, long-missed rumble in your ear. "And you truly couldn't wait a moment longer to be next to me again, could you not?"

You duck your head, fingers curling tight into the edges of the leather saddle as you nod coyly, not looking back at him. There's a new tension in his form now, one that sends a warm flash of anticipation racing through your veins.

But you take a breath, and lean into his chest, feeling his arms on either of your own as he reaches around to take the reins. Megumi's presence is encompassing, deeply comforting, and everything you've been missing.

You tilt your head to look up at his handsome face, and he glances at you shortly as the thundering of hooves fills the air around you.

"What is it, my love?"

"Nothing. I'm just not cold anymore."

Link the rest of the event! Also Bonus Scene

#megumi x reader #megumi fushiguro x reader #megumi drabble #look i have them talking like ye olden (ish) cause it's fun for me 😩🥺#i fucking love royalty au's #ficmascalendar22

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demonslayedher · 1 year

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Things that ran through my head while watching this episode:

--Something I love about Uzui is that he strikes us as an extreme narcissist or somebody who just does random stuff and dramatic poses, but you can't even place him in that shallow of a box. He's a character who is hard to place at first because of his flamboyance and unconventional style, and part of the difficulty in making some gut decision about his character right away is because he defies stereotype. In every scene we get with Uzui, we dig deeper and deeper into what we erroneously might had assumed was a shallow box to place him in, but the box keeps going deeper and deeper--and the best part is, none of it is a front. What you see is indeed what you get.

--A friend who knows me really well once called me an Uzui type. I was shook. Of all the Hashira, he was the one I had the least desire to emulate (I strive most to give off Shinobu vibes when I'm at work), but then when I remembered this scene when he introduces himself, I recalled, "wait, I have indeed struck that pose." And if you catch me leading a nerdy tour group, yes, that's me. Painfully so. I promise I've never punched anyone for not following directions, though.

--Speaking of that same friend (whom I dragged into watching KnY), this episode has personal signficance to me because it aired when we had our first reunion in years, and not even an hour had passed before she underwent a small tragedy. It had the perfect timing for airing after she'd made some fragile peace with the situation, and it had us laughing and laughing to nurse away the pain. Could not had asked for better timing.

--I want that painting of The God of Festivities lording over the Kamaboko boys as a wallpaper for my computer. I love that while Zenitsu is constantly Tsukkomi-ing the others in his head for how more and more ridiculous they all are, Uzui just does it outloud straight to Inosuke's face. Uzui and Zenitsu are like two same ends of a magnet, repelling each other because they are the same in so many ways. I would like to see that grow to have enough of a friendship someday that they could talk about how they perceive other people's sounds and stuff like that, but I also find it so unlikely that they'd ever reach that contemplative level of conversation any time soon.

--That's so cute that Sumi & Naho are both clinging to Aoi. They're so relieved to keep her!

--Some of my favorite filler in this whole anime is the scene of Uzui and the boys checking out Yoshiwara. Not only does it establish the setting, but the boys are adorable and in-character, it gives Tanjiro (and the audience) a clear understanding of how this town works, and frankly, it's hilarious and adorable. Uzui has already had it with these boys before they start ticking him off even more while he's trying to explain the mission details.

--Makio, Hinatsuru, and Suma really are capable, as it was after they entered that they were able to narrow the suspicious locations down to three establishments. That makes me suspect that they slipped around more like maids from place to place, or just as Kunoichi who could blend in, before specifically infiltrating those targets as women who can be more entwined with the inner-workings. But the two things that get me are that they became Oiran so fast (what remarkable talents did they show off? Were they sold as being top property from other flower districts outside of Tokyo or something??? How long were they on this mission?? I have to assume being Oiran (and therefore more prohibitively expensive) made them less occupied by taking common customers), but also, WHY WERE THEY USING THEIR REAL NAMES????

--I love the off-key violins played in Sumiko's background

--Speaking of BGM, the one played behind Zenko as the screen fades to black and we get Zenitsu's angry thoughts towards Uzui is similar to the BGM played as his inner-space was infiltrated on the train and he started going gardener on the guy.

--Inoko picking up the ends of the kimono to walk faster, hahahahaha

--Again, loving the set-up to the Yoshiwara setting, from Koinatsu's footsteps to the dialect used by the yarite who bought Inoko--she feels like someone who has totally been doing this since the Edo period, though that might be a stretch. Also, after Inoko is dragged down the hall, there's the girl carrying a tray of food who stares after her a long time, then finally blinks. I love that Ufotable takes their time with things like this. Also!! I love that Neesan who sees promise in Zenko.

--According to Kimetsu Radio commentary, Hanae-san and the others were directed against doing falsetto voices so as to keep the boys recognizable (especially since it is harped over and over again how the three of them were chosen for how they'd be distinctive against each other). The directions for Sumiko were to do it as a "refreshing" tone of the Tanjiro voice.

--This is making me think back to how much fun I had with the activities at the TOEI movie studio's event in their Yoshiwara set, where you could carrying stuff like Sumiko or pose with the shamisen like Zenko. The shamisen kept getting broken. XD I posted photos here, but unfortunately what I thought would be a crafty way of getting way more than 10 photos on a single post backfired and they're only reasonably visible on mobile. Sigh.)

--Awww, Sumiko kept the candy from Koinatsu-oiran! If Tanjiro slipped that in his sleeve, I wonder what he did with that later? I'll bet his first thought was wanting to let Nezuko taste it. Also, I didn't buy it, but I liked that this was a piece of merchandise available at a traveling Ufotable gallery.

--So that outer layer Warabihime-oiran wears has a black pattern I can't recognize, but it reminds me of zoomed-in snake scales. It looks even more like that in the manga. Gyutaro reference!?!??!

--This low-lighting is doing all kinds of favors for Inoko's delicate features and bright eyes.

--I love the imagery of the ending theme, especially that tender shot of the Kamuro from the various Okiya being out in the sunshine, laughing and playing together, simply as the young girls they are. It's so freeing, especially considering the life they've been sold into and the harsher work which awaits them in the future. The beautiful oddity of those bolts of kimono fabric flying around provides such a moment of respite for everyone in that den of darkness.

#kny rewatch #my art #uzui tengen #hashibira inosuke #agatsuma zenitsu #kamado tanjiro #kamado tanjirou

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istumpysk · 1 year

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Operation Stumpy Re-Read

ADWD: The King's Prize (Asha II) [Chapter 42]

Asha Greyjoy rode in the baggage train, in a covered wayn with two huge iron-rimmed wheels, fettered at wrist and ankle and watched over day and night by a She-Bear who snored worse than any man. His Grace King Stannis was taking no chances on his prize escaping captivity. He meant to carry her to Winterfell, to display her there in chains for the lords of the north to see, the kraken's daughter bound and broken, proof of his power.

Almighty tree, show me Stannis Baratheon's power.

+.+.+

Between Deepwood Motte and Winterfell lay one hundred leagues of forest. Three hundred miles as the raven flies. "Fifteen days," the knights told each other.

"Robert would have done it in ten," Asha heard Lord Fell boasting. His grandsire had been slain by Robert at Summerhall; somehow this had elevated his slayer to godlike prowess in the grandson's eyes. "Robert would have been inside Winterfell a fortnight ago, thumbing his nose at Bolton from the battlements."

[...]

This king lives in his brother's shadow, Asha thought.

I'm guessing the brother inferiority complex will be present when Jon becomes king.

In truth, the young lord commander and her king had more in common than either one would ever be willing to admit. Stannis had been a younger son living in the shadow of his elder brother, just as Jon Snow, bastard-born, had always been eclipsed by his trueborn sibling, the fallen hero men had called the Young Wolf. Both men were unbelievers by nature, mistrustful, suspicious. The only gods they truly worshiped were honor and duty. - Melisandre I, ADWD

+.+.+

"No man has ever died from bending his knee," her father had once told her. "He who kneels may rise again, blade in hand. He who will not kneel stays dead, stiff legs and all."

Does that count as another Asha / Arya similarity?

+.+.+

Qarl and Tris and the rest who had survived the wolfswood were all she had to care about. Only nine remained. We ragged nine, Cromm named them. He was the worst wounded.

Nine? She had two hundred men and now she has nine.

Damn, I was wrong at the time, maybe she should have stayed in the castle.

+.+.+

Stannis had given her their lives. Yet she sensed no true mercy in the man. He was determined, beyond a doubt. Nor did he lack for courage. Men said he was just … and if his was a harsh, hard-handed sort of justice, well, life on the Iron Islands had accustomed Asha Greyjoy to that. All the same, she could not like this king. Those deep-set blue eyes of his seemed always slitted in suspicion, cold fury boiling just below their surface. Her life meant little and less to him. She was only his hostage, a prize to show the north that he could vanquish the ironborn.

Stating the obvious. The man does not pass the vibe check.

+.+.+

Her very womanhood seemed to offend him. Men from the green lands liked their women soft and sweet in silk, she knew, not clad in mail and leather with a throwing axe in each hand. But her short acquaintance with the king at Deepwood Motte convinced her that he would have been no more fond of her in a gown. Even with Galbart Glover's wife, the pious Lady Sybelle, he had been correct and courteous but plainly uncomfortable. This southron king seemed to be one of those men to whom women are another race, as strange and unfathomable as giants and grumkins and the children of the forest. The She-Bear made him grind his teeth as well.

+.+.+

Even prisoners have ears, and she had heard all the talk at Deepwood Motte, when King Stannis and his captains were debating this march. Ser Justin had opposed it from the start, along with many of the knights and lords who had come with Stannis from the south. But the wolves insisted; Roose Bolton could not be suffered to hold Winterfell, and the Ned's girl must be rescued from the clutches of his bastard.

The mountain clans have doomed Stannis and I'm loving it.

+.+.+

The king cut him off. "We all know what my brother would do. Robert would gallop up to the gates of Winterfell alone, break them with his warhammer, and ride through the rubble to slay Roose Bolton with his left hand and the Bastard with his right." Stannis rose to his feet. "I am not Robert. But we will march, and we will free Winterfell … or die in the attempt."

I believe you, ellipsis of truth.

+.+.+

Whatever doubts his lords might nurse, the common men seemed to have faith in their king. Stannis had smashed Mance Rayder's wildlings at the Wall and cleaned Asha and her ironborn out of Deepwood Motte; he was Robert's brother, victor in a famous sea battle off Fair Isle, the man who had held Storm's End all through Robert's Rebellion.

Mance Rayder and his ragtag army were PARLEYING.

You had two hundred men, and ABANDONED THE CASTLE. He didn't even smash you, the mountain clans did!

Zero credit. None.

+.+.+

Stannis need only bloody Bolton, and the northmen will abandon him."

So you hope, thought Asha, but first the king must bloody him. Only a fool deserts the winning side.

Trying to think of who this could be hinting at.

+.+.+

It made no matter. Her father's lands would never be hers, no matter whom she married. The ironborn were not a forgiving people, and Asha had been defeated twice. Once at the kingsmoot by her uncle Euron, and again at Deepwood Motte by Stannis. More than enough to stamp her as unfit to rule.

It's true, that will be a problem. Asha needs a big victory for the ironborn.

+.+.+

"Do you have brothers?" Asha asked her keeper.

"Sisters," Alysane Mormont replied, gruff as ever. "Five, we were. All girls. Lyanna is back on Bear Island. Lyra and Jory are with our mother. Dacey was murdered."

"The Red Wedding."

With their mother where?

The last time we saw Maege Mormont she was supposed to be sailing up the Neck to Greywater Watch. I would love to know how Lyra and Jory got to her.

+.+.+

"Aye." Alysane stared at Asha for a moment. "I have a son. He's only two. My daughter's nine."

"You started young."

"Too young. But better that than wait too late."

A stab at me, Asha thought, but let it be.

The probability that Asha's pregnant is increasing.

+.+.+

"No. My children were fathered by a bear." Alysane smiled. Her teeth were crooked, but there was something ingratiating about that smile. "Mormont women are skinchangers. We turn into bears and find mates in the woods. Everyone knows."

I'm surprised the Mormonts aren't ostracized from the rest of the north.

+.+.+

The king stood outside his tent, staring into the nightfire. What does he see there? Victory? Doom? The face of his red and hungry god? His eyes were sunk in deep pits, his close-cropped beard no more than a shadow across his hollow cheeks and bony jawbone. Yet there was power in his stare, an iron ferocity that told Asha this man would never, ever turn back from his course.

We love a stupid stubborn man.

+.+.+

"Torrhen's Square is not worth the mud beneath my heels. It is Winterfell that matters."

"Strike off these irons and let me help you take it, Sire. Your Grace's royal brother was renowned for turning fallen foes into friends. Make me your man."

"The gods did not make you a man. How can I?" Stannis turned back to the nightfire and whatever he saw dancing there amongst the orange flames.

Ser Justin Massey grasped Asha by the arm and pulled her inside the royal tent. "That was ill judged, my lady," he told her. "Never speak to him of Robert."

I should have known better. Asha knew how it went with little brothers. She remembered Theon as a boy, a shy child who lived in awe, and fear, of Rodrik and Maron. They never grow out of it, she decided. A little brother may live to be a hundred, but he will always be a little brother.

Bran is also a little brother, are we going to see that play out too?

+.+.+

"Would that we were ravens," Justin Massey said on the fourth day of the march, the day the snow began to fall. Only a few small flurries at first. Cold and wet, but nothing they could not push through easily.

But it snowed again the next day, and the day after, and the day after that.

+.+.+

On the third day of snow, the king's host began to come apart. Whilst the southron knights and lordlings struggled, the men of the northern hills fared better. Their garrons were sure-footed beasts that ate less than palfreys, and much less than the big destriers, and the men who rode them were at home in the snow. Many of the wolves donned curious footwear. Bear-paws, they called them, queer elongated things made with bent wood and leather strips. Lashed onto the bottoms of their boots, the things somehow allowed them to walk on top of the snow without breaking through the crust and sinking down to their thighs.

Bwahahahaha.

+.+.+

Some had bear-paws for their horses too, and the shaggy little garrons wore them as easily as other mounts wore iron horseshoes … but the palfreys and destriers wanted no part of them.

Guys I'm starting to lose hope for a Dothraki Christmas.

We could have had it all! :(

+.+.+

On the fifth day of the storm, the baggage train crossed a rippling expanse of waist-high snowdrifts that concealed a frozen pond. When the hidden ice cracked beneath the weight of the wagons, three teamsters and four horses were swallowed up by the freezing water, along with two of the men who tried to rescue them.

Foreshadowing for the The Night Lamp theory.

Long story short, Stannis will use a beacon of light to trick the Frey army into travelling over a frozen lake.

We'll cover it all in Theon I TWOW.

+.+.+

That was the night that Asha first heard the queen's men muttering about a sacrifice—an offering to their red god, so he might end the storm. "The gods of the north have unleashed this storm on us," Ser Corliss Penny said.

[...]

The king said nothing. But he heard. Asha was certain of that. He sat at the high table as a dish of onion soup cooled before him, hardly tasted, staring at the flame of the nearest candle with those hooded eyes, ignoring the talk around him.

Speaking of foreshadowing, I think we all know what this is pointing to.

+.+.+

Asha thought she had known cold on Pyke, when the wind came howling off the sea, but that was nothing compared to this. This is a cold that drives men mad.

What are you saying about Canadians and Russians, George?

+.+.+

Later, when Ser Corliss Penny wondered aloud whether an entire army had ever frozen to death in a winter storm, the wolves laughed. "This is no winter," declared Big Bucket Wull. "Up in the hills we say that autumn kisses you, but winter fucks you hard. This is only autumn's kiss."

Peak asshole behaviour. Big fan of Big Bucket Wull.

+.+.+

"A sacrifice will prove our faith still burns true, Sire," Clayton Suggs had told the king. And Godry the Giantslayer said, "The old gods of the north have sent this storm upon us. Only R'hllor can end it. We must give him an unbeliever."

"Half my army is made up of unbelievers," Stannis had replied. "I will have no burnings. Pray harder."

No burnings today, and none tomorrow … but if the snows continue, how long before the king's resolve begins to weaken? Asha had never shared her uncle Aeron's faith in the Drowned God, but that night she prayed as fervently to He Who Dwells Beneath the Waves as ever the Damphair had.

... good question ...

+.+.+

The cold count, Asha heard it named. The baggage train suffered the worst: dead horses, lost men, wayns overturned and broken. "The horses founder in the snow," Justin Massey told the king. "Men wander off or just sit down to die."

"Let them," King Stannis snapped. "We press on."

The northmen fared much better, with their garrons and their bear-paws. Black Donnel Flint and his half-brother Artos only lost one man between them. The Liddles, the Wulls, and the Norreys lost none at all. One of Morgan Liddle's mules had gone astray, but he seemed to think the Flints had stolen him.

+.+.+

On the twenty-sixth day of the fifteen-day march, the last of the vegetables was consumed. On the thirty-second day, the last of the grain and fodder. Asha wondered how long a man could live on raw, half-frozen horse meat.

Go home, Stannis.

+.+.+

Finally, after a nightmarish day when the column advanced a bare mile and lost a dozen horses and four men, Lord Peasebury turned against the northmen. "This march was madness. More dying every day, and for what? Some girl?"

"Ned's girl," said Morgan Liddle. He was the second of three sons, so the other wolves called him Middle Liddle, though not often in his hearing.

[...]

"Ned's girl," echoed Big Bucket Wull. "And we should have had her and the castle both if you prancing southron jackanapes didn't piss your satin breeches at a little snow."

I'm stupid, is this where Middle Brittle comes from? Bwah!

The armorer considered that a moment. "Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he's copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day." - Jon I, ACOK

+.+.+

"Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned's little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue."

How can I not stan Big Bucket Wull?

+.+.+

Even in his bulky fur cloak and heavy armor, Stannis looked like a man with one foot in the grave.

Every once in a while George abandons the art of subtlety.

+.+.+

The next day the king's scouts chanced upon an abandoned crofters' village between two lakes—a mean and meagre place, no more than a few huts, a longhall, and a watchtower.

[...]

Asha crawled out from under her sleeping furs and pushed her way out of the tent, knocking aside the wall of snow that had sealed them in during the night. Her irons clanked as she climbed to her feet and took a breath of the icy morning air. The snow was still falling, even more heavily than when she'd crawled inside the tent. The lakes had vanished, and the woods as well. She could see the shapes of other tents and lean-tos and the fuzzy orange glow of the beacon fire burning atop the watchtower, but not the tower itself. The storm had swallowed the rest.

Night Lamp things.

+.+.+

Somewhere ahead Roose Bolton awaited them behind the walls of Winterfell, but Stannis Baratheon's host sat snowbound and unmoving, walled in by ice and snow, starving.

Sounds like he's a wildling.

Final thoughts:

The Kraken's Daughter

The Wayward Bride

The King's Prize

Someone on Reddit made the great observation that despite her self-assurance, Asha is always defined by (male) others.

-> return to menu <-

#operation stumpy re-read #adwd #the king's prize #asha ii

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lemonhemlock · 1 year

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What are your thoughts on the starks?

my dear friend, i interact with the starks through the lens of lannister allegiance. i usually prefer characters that are more towards the theatrical side of the spectrum, more campy, more devilish, characters that entertain me and make me cackle. so, from that perspective, the starks don't really pass the vibe check, i'm afraid

i adore sansa because i'm really into pawn-to-queen narratives and because i love how stalwart she is in sticking to her principles and preserving her interior moral core in the face of extreme adversity and trauma. she possesses an innate emotional intelligence and social awareness and is learning how to play the game. all qualities i find satisfying in a character & i enjoy her chapters bc they deal with themes that pique my interest - plotting, castle administration, medieval performance of femininity - i love that sansa makes her own clothes, embroiders, delights in lemon cakes - i just find her generally precious

i like ned as much as any man, he has his own charisma and is easy to engage with because he is a generally good person, albeit doomed by the narrative. his love for his daughters is moving. ned comes to KL to act as hand of the king, so i found his chapters enjoyable bc of all the politicking and backroom plots and ///mysteries///, but i would no doubt find him boring if the story was about A Day In The Life Of The Lord of Winterfell. ned doesn't exactly have an exciting personality.

i would have probably enjoyed robb's POV if he had one, bc i am a sucker for kingship narratives. robb is more vivacious than ned, so i appreciate that, however, i spent the entirety of his life on page actively rooting for jaime to escape and for tywin to defeat him in battle, so...

in a similar vein, i enjoyed going through catelyn's chapters because she travels a lot and exposes us to a wide variety of settings. through her, we gain access to different characters such as lysa or renly that we couldn't otherwise see. catelyn was always a frustrating character for me bc her observations and instincts were sometimes very spot on and even wise, but, at the same time, she drove me up the wall often enough bc she would just pull conclusions out of her arse. i do suspect that i would appreciate her more if i were to re-read. her death scene with robb was vvv heavy and leaves a lasting impression

for rickon i can't mount much of an argument bc he is a small child and disappears from the narrative early on

jon, arya and bran i struggle with a lot. often enough they just bore me to tears. jon is a very important character for the whole storyline, but i find it very hard to engage with the night's watch business bc i just simply am not interested in wildlings, frozen expanses and a celibate male military order. i forced myself to read his segments and it does get more lively as the plot gets going - the mystery of the others becomes a cool idea once you let it germinate in your braincells. i have to say though that the most i've enjoyed jon is in the show when he was trying to win back winterfell with sansa, before he bent the knee to dany and lost all spine

bran's chapters are understandably very heavy-hearted bc the poor boy has just been crippled and goes through a lot of shit while left on his own. that being said, it does kind of wear me down after a while. i enjoyed theon's occupation of winterfell bc i find theon a more compelling character. unfortunately, after bran escapes, his story becomes one of tracking through the wilderness and my brain kind of shuts off since it's not smth i would choose to read voluntarily. i mostly cling to the magical mystery bits to get through to the next POV, if i'm being honest. it's not that i dislike bran, per se, he's a sweet boy for the most part, but i kind of low-key (high-key) think bloodraven is evil & i really have a problem with this sort-of historical / time-travel manipulation nonsense that surrounds him, if that is supposed to be the endgame of the books. it just completely fucks with the notion of free will & to me feels really unearned and unsatisfying

controversially, arya is the stark i dislike the most. for my tastes, as a character, she really has nothing to offer me. i don't like survival narratives in general and arya spends a lot of time trailing through the countryside and escaping all its related dangers, i'm not invested in her revenge arc at all, i dislike how she fetishizes violence, i just generally find it really hard to relate to her or find smth appealing about her. i think really the only time i enjoyed arya was when she was unwilling to dispose of Needle bc it was a palpable reminder of her family, all she had lost and all she wanted to gain back (needle was robb and bran and rickon, winterfell's grey walls, the summer snows, jon snow's smile etc)

other than that, i really deplore how arya is perceived in the fandom as the cool girl tomboy to sansa's stupid, frilly girly girl persona & i'm tired of that kind of discourse. most readers refuse to engage arya critically and just treat her like the westerosi katniss everdeen. for me, personally, arya doesn't have enough traits i find attractive to counterbalance the things i don't like - i don't find her funny or charming or entertaining, so the effect on me as a reader is that i'm bored, rolling my eyes and just churning through the pages to get to the next chapter. she has her own place in the narrative, but i don't think i'm necessarily the target audience for a character like her

#ask #anon #house stark #i like jon the best within jonsa narratives but y'all are not ready for that conversation #asoiaf

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sophia-sol · 9 months

Text

TGCF volume 1

Over on mastodon I'm participating in a group readalong of TGCF, one chapter per week, and a few weeks ago we finished the first volume of the official translation so I might as well crosspost all my thoughts over to here as like, my book review? Yeah okay here we go! Putting it all below a read more to save your dash.

PROLOGUE

I've read the whole book once before, and I just finished the prologue for this read-along, and it's fascinating to read now in the full knowledge of things that get revealed later; on my first read I absolutely did not realize how much backstory was just glossed over here!

It's fascinating how it both reads very differently and also still entirely the same when you know more!

this is one of the bits that uhhhh really strikes differently!!

[Only then did the crown prince realize that he had just encountered the Heavenly Emperor, who had personally descended to the Mortal Realm to subdue evil. The deities had already taken notice of this exceedingly outstanding God-Pleasing Warrior since his time in the Shangyuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession. After the meeting at Yinian Bridge, they asked the Heavenly Emperor, "How does My Lord find this Royal Highness?" The Emperor answered, "This child's future is infinite."]

CHAPTER ONE

ok and now I've read chapter 1! ahhhh I just love xie lian so MUCH, what a guy, what an endless delight. Both the hint we get of wee baby newly-ascended 17 year old xie lian earnestly introducing himself to every single other heavenly official, and the current xie lian, cheerfully accepting of his misfortunes

Also: ling wen my beloved <3

also, this time I vow that I WILL keep Mu Qing and Feng Xin straight, no matter how much I have to work at it!

I also love in this chapter how indications given from early on that xie lian is unusually unlucky and also has no spiritual powers, but it's just breezily passed over as if it's no big deal and to be expected under the circumstances....oh ho ho

I do love how much xl and his pov just like....avoid noticing or expending attention on the things that suck in xie lian's life!

Mu Qing (tgcf) and Mu Qing (nif) have impressively divergent character vibes, to the point that I literally didn't even notice they have the same name until it was brought to my attention today!

CHAPTER TWO

Interested by the detail about how much extreme effort even a fairly well-placed lord has to go through in order to get the attention of any of the gods in heaven. Really checks out with respect to how much the heavens seem more interested in their own interpersonal dynamics than in, like, actually doing things for their followers!

It is extremely funny to me that Fu Yao is capable of criticizing the Nan Yang statue for 2 hours straight, and that that's how long it takes before Xie Lian thinks it might be time to change the subject

Kind of heartbreaking how completely Xie Lian doesn't consider that someone might be upset by seeing how injured he got from his fall from heaven! what? little ol' him might matter to someone?!

I was talking last week about how to keep track of which names go with which of Mu Qing and Feng Xin, and I'm very sad to report that my strategy does not completely hold up, because Ju Yang has a u in it, and is a name for Feng Xin. Mu Qing does not have a monopoly on u names after all :( RUDE

CHAPTER THREE

Fu Yao criticising the inefficiency of Ling Wen's palace...as if Mu Qing's palace is able to do anything useful in this situation!

Xiao-Ying is delightful. Willing and able to stand up for herself, but also happy to lend assistance to people who need help, if they were kind to her. But assistance only on her own terms!

hua cheng introduction!!

ahhhh when hua Cheng first finally encounters Xie Lian, he holds out his hand in offer, and doesn't demand or force anything. of course!

"If he was a real groom, then he'd genuinely be a most gentle and considerate one."

Xie Lian is just full of thoughts about how wonderful this mysterious person is, in character and appearance and action, despite the context of meeting him

what a meet-cute! lol

I am really loving #TGCFReadAlong ! such a good way to inspire lots of conversation about this book that I pretty much always want to talk about!

CHAPTER FOUR

I loved Xiao-Ying, how brave and how kind she is, how hard she tries to do what's right, and it's very sad that she ends up dying :(((((

This is the chapter where we get introduced to Pei Ming's womanizing misogyny. Xuan Ji....you could have done SO much better than him! What IS it that makes so many women actually attracted to him?!

But I also do wonder what it was that led Xuan Ji to such an extreme response to being abandoned and rejected by her lover. She was apparently a very capable general, previously, so what led her to all these bad decisions!

CHAPTER FIVE

I do find human face disease to be kind of a silly concept. Like it's developed in interesting ways over the course of the book but the defining symptom has always seemed just a bit silly to me.

I genuinely do not remember though how this kid ends up with human face disease though, all these centuries after the plague! too many things happen in this book lol

ahhh on first read of the book when you see xie lian's reaction to the boy's face, you're like, oh it's a combo of body horror plus fear of the plague that destroyed his home. On second read.....oh it's The Trauma.

It's so sad, too, that it means he doesn't manage to have a chill reaction to this kid who was so worried about showing his face!

on another note, I love how thoroughly hua cheng managed to trounce the 33 gods, and how thoroughly he punished them afterwards when they renege on the parameters of the challenge

it's so funny to me how it makes so much of the heaven terrified of hc, even though hc was behaving perfectly honourably. he issued a challenge and he abided by the agreements in the challenge, that's only scary if you plan to do dishonourable things yourself!

during this week's reading I went back and forth approximately a thousand times about whether Xie Lian has already recognized Feng Xin and Mu Qing or not! I just CANNOT decide. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for further clues as we continue in this book

CHAPTER SIX

it's so funny and charming how xie lian's efforts to engage with the communication array basically come down to those spammy email forward chains that old people used to send all the time!

(I suppose that that energy has been redirected to facebook or something these days?)

I'm also super charmed by how xie lian has basically made himself immune to feeling awkward about things he does. everyone else is super embarrassed for him, to be his own only worshipper, but xl is chill. And thinks "amusing himself could be fun"!

but ohhhhhh xl's inability to come up with anything to say about why he should be worshipped, when the villagers ask him about his shrine! this is what you need hua cheng for!! xl might be chill about many things but it's because his self esteem is in the basement

oh man thinking from hua cheng's perspective about this meeting between him as san lang and xie lian, it's so cute. He looks languid and carefree on the other side of the cart, seems to only start talking with xie lian out of boredom, but you KNOW how carefully he orchestrated this meeting!!! (him and his attractive legs in tight-fitting boots, which he absolutely chose to make sure he looked good for dianxia)

I've been wondering for a while already just how early on xie lian figured out the identities of fu yao and nan feng, but now I also need to remember to pay attention to how early I think he figured out san lang's identity! If he knows it right from the start, it's pretty cheeky of him to be questioning him so thoroughly about hua cheng :P

awwwwww interacting with san lang is the first time in centuries xie lian feels really embarrassed!! because san lang's good opinion actually matters to him!

CHAPTER SEVEN

I love how Xie Lian is already so sure that San Lang is going to be sticking around, that he's not just a transient part of Xie Lian's life. And throughout the chapter it's so clear how Xie Lian just likes San Lang so much!!!

he does his due diligence by testing sl and so forth, but doesn't let that stop him from simply liking and trusting sl regardless, and enjoying his mean streak too lol

and San Lang has such swagger, I love it. He makes it look like he couldn't enter the shrine with the seal on the curtain-door, but actually he just wanted the opportunity to flex. He's just like constantly showing off in this chapter, and making it clear that he doesn't care about anything except Xie Lian

Anyway it's time for the intro of the next plot arc, Banyue Pass, now that the ghost groom is resolved. Nan Feng and Fu Yao are sooo uncomfortable with the fact they're volunteering to help - whether it's bc of the specific mission or bc it's to help Xie Lian is unclear, but could well be both!

Also it's clear to me that nan feng and fu yao recognize san lang & vice versa and they're all mad about it. Xie Lian's uphill battle to get them to peacefully coexist begins!

One question I had was that earlier it seemed evident that Puqi Shrine was named after the fact that the villagers gave Xie Lian water chestnuts, but now apparently the village is named Puqi, so is the shrine just named after the village after all?

First mention of state preceptor Fangxin! If I'm remembering right, this is actually Xie Lian. Love the way that the complex parts of xl's history get seeded in from so early on without, like, making it clear what the actual situation is. This happens a lot in the book iirc, with things being casually referred to early on and then later when you get into it there's like a whole well of trauma for xl!

and one final small observation. xl's perspective on his own cooking: "unable to bear the sight of such a tragedy" ahahahaha

CHAPTER EIGHT

the ongoing attempts to unmask San Lang are sooooo funny

it reminds me a bit of the sort of fairy tale involving endless tests to try to prove that a character is actually a woman dressed as a man, which the character always passes easily but the testers are never convinced. same vibe!

the captain/general the stele is remembering is a guy who tried to keep civilians from being killed in war. this is very like the teenage Xie Lian wanting to save the common people! and Fu Yao criticises the captain's actions, which xl both expects and doesn't seem happy about :( though he doesn't say anything against Fu Yao

and then San Lang cheers Xie Lian up (who had been feeling "a bit woeful") by being mischievous and by convincing the merchants to prostrate before the stele! ahhh I love how attentive sl is, and how much he knows just what to do for xl!

and then San Lang's REACTION to xl being stung - and stung because xl was trying to protect sl! "the expression on the youth's face was /off/" and then the vibes remain off balance for the rest of the chapter and xl is toootally bewildered. what could have upset San Lang, xl???? what could it POSSIBLY have been?? don't strain yourself too hard in wondering!!

anyway I do not remember lots of what happens next in this particular arc, except BEEFLEAF and also chekov's pit of snakes, so I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the rest of it as we continue!

CHAPTER NINE

To start, I do not love the othering framing the narrative uses to discuss the Banyue people and language, which from what I understand ties into common stereotypes in China about northern people groups. Huge dark-skinned people who are beast-like, and the language is "ghastly, guttural, and heavy with tongue rolling." Not great.

xie lian your trauma is showing again 😭

[He stepped forward and said in a small voice, "Don't worry. If anything happens, I will go forward first." Xie Lian thought that if they all must fall, he might as well be the first one to check things out. It couldn't be worse than venomous snakes and beasts or menacing ghosts. He couldn't die from the fall, from getting beaten, from bites, or from poison. As long as it wasn't lava or fire, or some pool of corpse-dissolving water, it shouldn't be too terrible when he jumped down.]

San Lang continuing to act way too unbothered, then coolly throwing himself into the pit -- at first it seems to accomplish what xl wanted to do but couldn't (keep the mortals from having to be thrown in first) but then it becomes clear that sl is fully aware of how likely xl is to end up in the pit in short order and wants to be in there first to clean up the mess and CATCH XIE LIAN. (and then xl immediately jumps in after sl, no thoughts present, so good work there sl)

hahaha xl, head empty, taking the opportunity to feel sl up. and then he gets the opportunity to feel awkward for the first time in centuries. sl has inspired him to rediscover embarrassment!

[Maybe it was because the stench of blood here at the bottom of the pit was heavy and disorienting. Who knew what was going through Xie Lian's head, but his hands continued to roam upward until he reached a strong, hard Adam's apple. He snapped out of it in shock and immediately reprimanded himself, withdrawing his hands.]

ahh xl just finds everything about sl so attractive

["Don't worry about him," San Lang said, still holding Xie Lian tight. he made a small sidestep and spun around. In the dark, Xie Lian heard a series of fine clinking sounds: pleasant to the ear, clear and intense, swishing here and there.]

xl is sooooo not used to someone taking care of him!!!

["Why can't I get down?" Xie Lian asked in spite of himself. This guy couldn't possibly enjoy fighting while carrying someone, could he? He didn't need to go that far to look down on his opponent, did he? San Lang's answer was only two words: "It's dirty." "..." Xie Lian had never imagined that would be the answer -- and said with such seriousness too. He thought it was a little funny, but it also made him feel inexplicably strange, his chest growing slightly warm for some reason.]

and then xie lian and san lang's conversation after kemo is defeated!!!!! xl's main concern: making sure sl is safe in the future. sl's main concern: xl judging him for showing irrefutable proof that sl's not actually human. to the degree that sl actually prompts xl with a question about it because he's SO confused that xl isn't concerned!! SAN LANG!!!

Our first encounter with someone xl knew during his time of banishment in the mortal world! Poor Banyue had a rough childhood.

(but also: Banyue kingdom's state preceptor has the same name as the kingdom? Why was she named that? It does allow for xie lian to not realize until now who the state preceptor is, because he thinks people are referring to her by the kingdom she's state preceptor for, rather than by what her name is, but it's weird to me that she'd be named that?)

I had forgotten that xl was actually the general-captain of the memorial marker from the cave in chapter 8! I went back to reread the scene where the captain's story is told and xl's reactions are very illuminating in light of this knowledge. He's not just identifying with the captain for also being a person who wants to save everyone; he IS the captain

"around two hundred years ago, due to certain reasons, Xie Lian couldn't muck around in the east anymore and decided to stay out of sight for a while." HMMM I'll look forward to being reminded later of what those certain reasons were! Gonna guess: one of the various other horrible traumatic experiences from his past that he doesn't like thinking about.

or actually - does anyone know of a good resource that lists out all the relevant events xl's life in chronological order, unlike the reveals of backstory that happen in all kinds of different orders in the book?

CHAPTER TEN

Now that we are at the end of it, I feel like one of the main themes in the Banyue arc is about how much the heavenly court sucks. Which like. YEAH. and WHO'S ALLOWING that unpleasant culture to flourish, hmmm jun wu?!??

(context for the third quote is that Xie Lian is worried the Wind Master will put all the blame on Preceptor Banyue to protect Pei Jr)

["I knew that for close to two hundred years there was something causing havoc, but none of the heavenly officials cared, and no one dared speak of it. So there had to be someone no one wanted to offend keeping this scandal under wraps."]

[The Upper Court wouldn't bat an eyelash at something like this; everyone needed to spill some blood if they wanted to do great things. But slaughtering a city wasn't anything glorious, after all. If the story spread too far, it would affect the number of new believers, so of course there would be some cover-ups after ascension.]

[Xie Lian relaxed. "Much ashamed! I was suspicious." "It's normal to be suspicious," the Wind Master said. "There's certainly an unpleasant culture in the Upper Court, after all."]

The other thing this arc is about is solving a mystery from hundreds of years ago, and relitigating the past between ghosts and gods. Do I see thematic foreshadowing? :D

I love seeing Xie Lian get his first new human believer! and telling the kid his title is the Scrap Immortal - but taking so much convincing to give any name at all, and telling it in the narrative in such a sideways way that it took me a moment to realise what was even meant, lol. xl has Issues around being worshipped

and then of course I LOVE the name reveal at the end of the chapter. it's so them!!!!

[He turned to look at the youth next to him and smiled cheerfully. "He's not hungry, how about you?" San Lang smiled cheerfully back. "I'm starving." Xie Lian grinned and stood up again, before turning around and casually tidying the altar table. "All right, then. What do you want to eat, Hua Cheng?" Behind him, there was silence. Then chuckling. "I still prefer the name 'San Lang.'"]

but my favourite thing about this chapter is that BEEFLEAF ARE INTRODUCED. Hiiiiiiii beefleaf my beloved! Cannot wait to watch that spiral out in the way it inevitably must

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I did my reading last night for #TGCFReadAlong for this week, but what I did was take pics of the sections of text that I had thoughts and feelings about and wrote zero notes....so I am going to have to formulate my thoughts into something coherent now

In this chapter we got to explore a bit more about Xie Lian's current feelings about himself back when he was still the god-pleasing crown prince! Between his feelings about being called "Your Highness," his embarrassment at having told someone to make himself that person's reason for living, and how he reacts to the idea that he used to have as his goal in life to save the common people....it's a lot.

But I appreciate that Hua Cheng pushes back on all of these! hc calls xl "Your Highness" in complete sincerity, and tells xl that his goal was a good goal, and that it is not embarrassing for xl to be someone's reason for living. hc is just like: "you're worthy of being admired!" without ever coming on too strong about it.

It's interesting though - xie lian has complicated feelings he doesn't want to look at about Hua Cheng calling him "Your Highness" in earnest, but he flat out does not want Banyue to do the same thing.

(also, shout out to Ling Wen for not making a thing in any direction out of xie lian's title! she calls him your highness simply because that's his title and then moves on with things.)

can't not point out more content in my "heaven sucks!!!" agenda

[Hua Cheng replied quietly, "They're heavenly officials. Mortals are nothing but ants in their eyes."]

also my hualian being cute agenda!

[That's not necessarily true," Hua Chen said. "Besides, you can always kick me out." Xie Lian replied, "You're so powerful. Even if I kicked you out now, if you really wanted to do something bad, wouldn't you just change your skin and come back?" The two met eyes and grinned.]

[If anything must be blamed, it would have to be the look on Hua Cheng's face, like he was welcoming Xie Lian to test it out himself. Without thinking, Xie Lian raised a finger and poked Hua Cheng's face. After poking, Xie Lian snapped back to himself in shock, yelping /Oh no!/ in his head. He was only curious to see what a supreme Ghost King's fake skin would feel like, but apparently, his body moved faster than his mind and poked him! How extremely outrageous of him! To have someone suddenly poke him, Hua Cheng looked somewhat shocked too, but he was always calm and collected, so his expression cleared instantly. He didn't say anything, but his arched brow raised even higher, as if waiting for Xie Lian to explain. The laughter in his eyes was apparent. of course Xie Lian couldn't explain himself. He looked at his own finger then hid it away, betraying nothing of his thoughts. "...Not bad." Hua Cheng finally burst out laughing, and he crossed his arms with his head tilted. "What's not bad? Do you mean this skin?"]

[Xie Lian was thunderstruck. He flipped over and curled into a shrimp, wishing for another pair of arms so he could cover both his face and his ears. He groaned. "...San Lang..."]

I didn't quite understand this bit though - why does hua cheng laugh in response to xie lian's reassurances about hc's appearance?

["...Well, we're sort of friends now, right? So if we're friends, then we should be honest with each other. My wanting to see your true appearance has nothing to do with how you look. You asked what I would do, but of course I won't do anything. Don't worry, as long as it's your real face, I'm sure I'll... Why are you laughing? I'm being serious." When Xie Lian reached the last part, he could feel the youth next to him shaking. He froze for a moment, and thought, /Are my words so moving that he's touched like this?/ and was too embarrassed to turn around to see. But after a while, the soft laughter from next to him very obviously leaked out. Xie Lian felt rather deflated and placed a hand on his shoulder to give it a little push.]

and then we end with the RING!!!!!

#tgcf #mo xiang tong xiu #heaven official's blessing #book thoughts

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tahitiwoke · 1 year

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@vlyuvdova & @halechief offered / an underground / illegal fighting club

TRANSCRIPT // 0293. CASEFILE #99038STA. D. 06/29/2004. NOTE: THIS FILE HAS BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELEASED FOR PUBLIC RECORD.

STRIKE TEAM ALPHA CONSISTS OF STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO AND OVERWATCH. OVERWATCH: STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, THIS IS OVERWATCH. CONFIRM COMMS, OVER. STRIKE ONE: STRIKE ONE CONFIRM. OVERWATCH: STRIKE TWO? OVERWATCH: STRIKE ONE, DO YOU HAVE EYES ON STRIKE TWO? STRIKE ONE: NEGATIVE. EN ROUTE. OVERWATCH: OBJECTIVE CLEAR. OVER, OUT.

the thing about drug lords is they never really pay attention to the little guys. the old expression of being smart and dumb at the same time really does apply, especially when it comes to money; everybody just grabs at the board like it's a game of fucking hungry hippos and phil, while he has a certain patience, does not have the inclination to pander to sheer incompetence. who runs a multi-million dollar cocaine business and forgets to do a background check?

( and ordinarily, he might be concerned they've been made but phil has met el santos - a middle aged white guy from connecticut whose middle name is lindsay - and it's not even worth the time it takes to ask the nsa for wire taps. )

from his booth in the sweaty club, phil plays up the obnoxious playboy vibe and orders a two hundred dollar bottle of vodka that retails for forty at any liquor store on saints row. there's a lot of cocaine on the table, a lot of girls half-clad in bikinis passing by; he pays no mind. focusing instead on what he can see and what he cannot.

this place is heaving with sicarios, their girlfriends and tweakers, rich kids on vacation to tijuana who got fun little invites in their pockets. some of them are here for the drugs, some for the money but everyone - and that does mean everyone - is here for the fights. violence for violence sake has never really been a turn on for him, but that doesn't mean he can't act as uncouth as this feels. boxing and mma and whatever the fuck this mutant on human fight night is about completely passes over his skull.

( if she could hear his thoughts, natasha would call him pretentious for the way his biggest objection to this sort of thing is simply because it is inelegant. )

clint is playing fighter tonight. personally, he'd prefer it to be natasha but sexism, right, and el santos is unforgiving when it comes to his fighters, so clint makes the natural fit. you look better in the suit than i do anyway, man, clint had said with a laugh.

that's definitely true now.

STRIKE ONE: VISUAL ON TWO. HE'S ABOUT TO GET HIS ASS KICKED. OVERWATCH: BE NICE, [REDACTED]. STRIKE ONE: I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME MEAN. OVERWATCH: ALWAYS, BABY. [TRANSCRIPT INTERRUPTED / SOUND DISTORTED.] OVERWATCH: I'M UP TO BAT. VISUAL ON TARGET. STRIKE ONE: I SEE YOU.

phil's goal was to get santos alone. which shouldn't have been hard except clint was too good at playing tyler durden and drew in quite the crowd; so phil ends up pressed against the corrugated roof barriers.

OVERWATCH: HE REALLY IS GETTING HIS ASS KICKED. STRIKE ONE: NEXT TIME, YOU GET IN THE RING. OVERWATCH: AND RUIN MY CASHMERE? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

#vlyuvdova #halechief #V || WE WERE AMATEURS TO WAR ( STRANGERS TO SUFFERING )#love me some spy games!

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rrxnjun · 10 months

Note

i'm sorry for replying late but had actual zero clue that i didn't send this and then i had an exam so💀

to be fair u wouldn't really be wrong with that statement🫢 (kinda interested in who u were targeting lmao) sticker just hits diff as much as i wasn't vibing with it when it first came out (sorry) now i jam to it so hard!! I REALLY LIKED THE SONGS also recommended without you to my friend and she also loved it very much!!! I DIDNT WATCH THE ACTUAL MV BUT I SAW ONE OF THEIR PERFORMANCES FROM A MUSIC SHOW AND THE SONGS WAS SSOOO GREAT I REALLY LIKED IT!!! (and that's as far as i got with checking out the cb😔smh exams)

i feel like 2 hour should be a lot actually😭idk how someone expects the brain to work more than that smh😭 i think u actually getting in despite that and ur uni being one of the bests just screams that u are veryvery smart🫡 I NEED ALL THE PRAYERS I HAD ONE IF IT TODAY AND ALMOST CRIED BY THE END LMAO THEY SHOULD ACTUALLY BE CANCELED!!! i hope ur speaking exam will go well as well!!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳glad u passed!!!!! IM A LITTLE BIT LATE TO THAT BUT I HOPE U PASSED THAT ONE AS WELL!!!! (ur teacher sounds like a nightmare😟)

KEEP SPREADING UR LOVEJOY AGENDA!!!! and tbh i kinda see it how they match🫡

IM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY THAT I SENT U THAT ASK!!!😭I LOVE THE STORYLINE OF LIEBESTRAUM SO MUCH ACTUALLY!!! (i have read it like three times already instead of studying for my maths exam🫢) IT DOES LEAVE A GOOD OPEN ENDING ITS JUST SO GREAT ACTUALLY😭😭AND THANK UUU FOR BEING AN AMAZING WRITER!!! AND JUST BEING A VERY LOVELY FRIEND;-; I HOPE SO AS WELL!!!! HOPE U ARE DOING GREAT!!!! AND THAT THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING WELL FOR U!!!!!!!🥳💓💞 (liebestraum anon💞💞)

GIRL IM HERE TO ANSWER THIS RELIC OF AN ASK TO MARK OFF THE END OF RRXNJUN HIATUS AHAHAHA. this is so funny to me. from the moment u sent this ask i managed to slide into your dms, get out of a depressive episode and also stan the boyz, somehow. anyways.

i kind of had to look up my previous answer to know what we were talking about here

i wont say the group name out loud for the sake of my reputation but if you ask about it in dms ill tell you AHAH. sticker definitely took some time to marinate but i got the vision eventually. glad to hear your friend liked my all time favorite cix song!!! and thats totally okay i get that these things take time *cough cough* me w tbz *cough*

i love how i was talking about exams in my last reply.....thats so crazy bc that was like more than a month ago now GOODFUCKINGBYE. and NOO im not tHAT smart i just learn pretty fast. i hope exams went well for you as well LORD i- okay lets proceed

are you serious did you really reread the fic ;-; that's making me so flattered omg thank u mwah. im glad you liked it and that you sent the ask that long ago bc now we are actual besties AHAHA. glad you enjoyed the open ending!!!! im happy you didnt leave me after getting the fic AHAHA /j

#��ask #liebestraum anon

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everything-is-as-it-was · 1 year

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Damn I just love my friends

I don't have many friends. But I love them. And I find it hard to tell them that so I'll just make a silly tumblr post about it.

I love the one who lives kinda far away and she talks waaay too loud but is always there to listen to me when I need to be listened to. She reminds me how valuable it is to try to be a better person each day.

I love the one who's leaving for college but is one of the funniest people I know. She reminds me to appreciate the small things in life, and that it's okay to take pride in your obsessions (*cough cough* Six of Crows, Young Royals, Call Me By Your Name Movie, etc) and that I'm not as crazy as I sometimes think.

I love the one who we constantly tease over having a late birthday, but she is so hardworking and puts her heart into everything she does. She has a lot going on at home but never fails to make anyone laugh or see the glass as half-full. She reminds me that you don't always have to take life seriously. Sometimes shit is just funny.

I love the one that seems quiet on the outside, but once you get to know her is so genuine and funny I'm jealous sometimes. I never fail to feel completely safe around her, a quality not many people possess. My dog also adores her so she automatically passed the vibe check.

I love the other one who is going off to college. She's pretty quiet, always under the guise of "I'm Tired," but one can still tell how much she cares from her actions. She fought to be able to induct me into this stupid theater thing at school, and her speech was one of the sweetest things someone has ever said about me. She came to the US as a young teenager and she reminds me every day that you don't have to be remarkable to be happy. I know that sounds like such a backhanded compliment and I don't mean it that way at all - but she helps remind me not to beat myself up for my failures because I owe nobody perfection. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I love her.

And my best friends.

One of them, whom I love, is the definition of a nerd. His whole family is made up of nerds, honestly, but it's one of the few places I feel completely safe. This guy puts his whole soul into things he absolutely does not need to, but he does it anyway because he enjoys devoting himself to everything he does. He caught covid last year and what did he do? He learned every single flag of every country on the planet, is what he did. He isn't perfect at it, but I have yet to find a flag he doesn't know. He learned Blender on his own, and has made really cool things with it. He creates, constantly. He is the only teenager I have ever heard of that actually enjoys shakespeare, and he is not shy about it. He could talk about any of his plays for days, and probably recite more than a couple monologues. He volunteers at the classical play theater in our area because he enjoys it. Honestly, I can't tell you the last time I gave him a proper hug, but I should, because I love him so much. So incredibly much. I hope we stay friends for many many many years.

And I love his twin sister. And calling her his twin sister really doesn't do her justice, because she's her own incredible person aside from her incredible brother. If he's the nerd of the family, she's the artist. She draws these incredible photorealistic pencil drawings, but can also paint like there's no tomorrow, but my favorite things are her sculptures. She made this house out of cardboard, painted it, gave it texture, cut out individual shingles for it, and made a dragon to go on top of it, Lord of the Rings style. The house even has a "stained glass" window and electricity. She spent hours upon hours laboring over this simply because she could. She decided her freshman year that she would begin pole vaulting, and now is damn good at it. Her buildings are always the best-looking on our collective minecraft server. She's a drummer and actually a really good actor although she's a techie at heart. And maybe I like her a little more and a little differently than I would ever admit to her, but that's okay. I value her friendship more than I do some silly feelings which will hopefully pass one day, because I love her so incredibly much, and with her, too, I hope to stay friends for many many many years.

I know not many people are actually going to read this and that's really not the point. I feel a little better just knowing my love for them is out into the world. I am trying to be a warmer, more genuine person. This is just one step closer to telling them just how much I love them. Because I love all of them very much.

#just having a moment #having a lot of feelings #I wish I could tell my friends this but ya boi is not used to being vulnerable #Nobody really talks about how difficult it is for guys to have true close friendships #People think I'm touch averse which I am a little but I want nothing more but to cuddle with these select people #the lack of genuine human connection is jarring sometimes. I love my friends but sometimes it feels like I barely know them #hence why I want to be more genuine and loving #etc etc yk #Could use a hug #shitpost #writing #creative writing #love notes to no one #feelings #idek what to tag this #six of crows #young royals #nightposting #friends

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laifelow · 1 year

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I dunno how I'm always late for reviexing eurovision entries (some I check out immidiatly, but others...... God I'm so late)

Thoughts (in no particular order)

Check this post for Ireland, Norway, Belgium, Albania, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine.

Finland : Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha. I'm in tears. It's so good. What a lad. By far one of my fav this year. The charisma. The dancers. The colors. CHACHACHA. It's about getting drunk af. An absolute athem.

Czech Republic : Vesna - My Sister's Crown. Oh yeah, it's good. Did I ever mention how much I love trad sounds? Especially the white voice singing and harmonies? (yes, I did). It's a bit underwhelming at the verses, but the chorus is f i n e.

France : La Zarra - Evidemment. I can't deny that her voice is great, and huh..... she gorgeous. Not a fan of the dance elements, but, well, it's fine. VERY FRENCH THO. I what can I say? I don't like the majority of french pop. But she can sing.

Italy : Marco Mengoni - Due Vite. Why does everybody love it? It's boring? He's a good singer, no questions there, but... it's a ballad. Don't get me wrong, some ballad are great. Just not this one. The weakest italian entries in years if you ask me.

Serbia : Luke Blake - Samo Mi Se Spava. wtf it's great. I'm loving how much of what my friends calls "berliner night club" vibe we're getting this year.

Netherlands : Mia Nikolai & Dion Cooper - Burning Daylight. I'm pretty sure this one will grow on me, esp if they have a good stage presence (sing w/ your guts and you're good). But pretty underwhelming.

Croatia : Let 3 - Mama ŠČ!. Big fan of whaterver is gooing here. Dunno what's they're sniffing , but I want some. Do I love the song? No. But I'm glad it's there. (kinda catchy tho) Hope they go to finals

Moldova : Pasha Parfeni - Soarele si Luna. I'm crying. The esc Gods have listened to me. There is SO MUCH trad techno this year. I'm ascending. Alvan & Ahez would be so proud. I'm sure are. The fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuute T-T

Australia : Voyager - Promise. Yeah, I like it! It's good! I hope they'll hgave a good live performance!

Poland: Blanka - Solo. Oh no. No, this one is not good. She's off key. It's bland af. Pass. Jann was JUST THERE.

Estonia : Alika - Bridges. Well, there's a ballad I can get under. Not really my jam, but it's good.

Germany : Lord of the Lost - Blood and Glitter. Can't believe Germany finally decided to stop being lame. I'm proud of you guys. You're a good neighbour once in a while.

Cyprus : Andrew Lambrou - Break a Broken Heart. Side note : what a title. Also, can Cyprus do anything aside from pop? Like, they're good a it, but still... Nothing special here, move on.

Denmark : Reily - Breaking My Heart. Side note : heh, title. This one kinda pisses me off, bcause I don't like It, but also.... I'm vibbing to it?????

Iceland : Diljà - Power. Heh. I guess it's fine.

Malta : The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party). I'm so weak to sax solos, I'm almost ashamed. So yeah, I like it :) They have this Lake Malawi kind of charm.

Lithuania : Monika Linkyté - Stay. Guys........ I'm really triying to make an effort here, but why your ballads have to be so generic?

San Marino. Piqued Jacks - Like An Animal. Welp, this has potential.

Latvia. Sudden Lights - Aijà. I really want to like this one, but the live version is just underwhelming. The studio version slaps, tho.

Romania : Theodor Andrei - D.G.T (Off and On). I'm not sure. It's good, but also it's meh. It lacks a littke something, but I like it I think.

I'm impressed, we're actually getting a really good year! I can't wait to pressure my friends into watching the final with me!

Also, I'm loving the national langages this year!

#esc 2023 #eurovision song contest #eurovision #CHA CHA CHA

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bigdickevans · 1 year

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i watched smile and wrote down my live reaction if anyone cares lol. long story short it was better than i thought it would be, the death/spooky effects were fun but it was kinda heavy handed with the mental health commentary

i went into this thinking it would be funny bad but. goddammit. ok i liked the opening.

the fucking back and forth shots of the main lady and the college girl’s faces, it set me up!!

then when it showed college girl had gotten up. idk man something about how empty and sterile the office is wigged me out even more.

and her cutting her neck was neato

at the title card now and alright goddamn it didn’t have to flash like that yeesh

oh also it sounds like this is just gonna be it follows but with suicide instead of sex

lord they’re trying to do mental health commentary. great.

ugh if i end up liking this movie i’m gonna be embarrassed

that cat’s dead. and nooo i don’t know that because i checked doesthedogdie.com

i was hoping the cat would smile lmao

WAIT THE BOYFRIEND

WHO IS HE

SLKJFLKSDF IT’S A-TRAIN

i’ve decided this takes place in The Boys universe

sorry i got so distracted by a-train that i forgot to say that main lady seeing the dead girl in the dimly lit kitchen did freak me out.

we’re back to the mental health commentary.

why does the cat have such a big fucking bowl

Young cop(?) dude gives me the creeps.

Haha sassy black coworker!! very funny and cool el oh el

ooooo i liked her passing the rooms and having to backtrack

bro is vibing stop snapping

im so sorry but this carl actor has a really silly voice

i feel like this boss also looks familiar

oh he was in designated survivor ok

actually i’ve been kinda constipated so maybe if i watch this on the toilet i’ll shit myself and finally be free

jesus this lady just can’t stop breaking glasses

none of this would’ve happened if you just KEPT YOUR HOUSE WELL LIT

WAIT STOP EVERYTHING

YOUNG COP CREEP IS THE EMO GUY FROM JENNIFER’S BODY

wow what a cast

i sorta missed the whole bit where she listened to the recording and heard stuff, i was unclogging my toilet

main lady and blonde bitch are sisters?? wow that went straight over my head until now. i knew they had to be related in some way? but i kinda thought the husband and the main lady were siblings

dead cat moment

love that they felt the need to clarify it was her cat lmao

when the boy picked it up it looked like really bad cgi

DAMN

TABLE SLAM KO

yeah babe sometimes you just gotta yell it out

SLKDFJLS THE PAIN ASSESSMENT CHART

im sorry… mental health preachy message aside, are you telling me the fiance had to look up the fact that mental illness can be hereditary??

for some reason i feel like the main character’s spiral happened way too fast

but to be fair i guess she does have that trauma with her mom, so maybe even though she works in healthcare she’d still be more susceptible to this line of thinking?

the number of times they say “crazy” in this movie is getting ridiculous

love a good smashed in head, i appreciate they didn’t add a loud noise with it considering the amount of jumpscares in this fucking thing

thank god horrible events always happen to artists so we can have ooky spooky drawings

these “coincidences” are so obviously connected it’s ludicrous that literally nobody noticed until now

I mean cops being inept is nothing new i guess

main character is being? unbelievably unreasonable here?? yes, calling a mental health professional is what you’re SUPPOSED to do when someone around you starts acting like this

i thought one of the whole points of this smile demon thing was that it could look like anyone? they haven’t really been utilizing that as much as i assumed they would which is a bummer

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

loved that moment with the sister at the car

it is kinda neat that the death has to be super dramatic so it inflicts as much trauma as possible

but also couldn’t you just do something traumatic that doesn’t involve murder or suicide?

like pretend you murdered someone or killed yourself in a crazy violent way in front of someone so they believe it happened, orchestrate a big practical joke

the demon voice is goofy

putting a knife that big up your sleeve seems like an atrocious idea

LMAO AWESOME DREAM

it’s like in chainsaw man. the whole door thing with denji. i’m not elaborating bc i don’t wanna spoil anyone.

the mom is kinda hot

lol i like how slowly rose closed the door

ooooooo!!!! suddenly tall mom!!!

i’m a tad disappointed with the monster design :/

HELL YEAH you thought a house fire could kill a demon?? lmaoooo

I TAKE IT BACK THE MONSTER DESIGN LOOKS RAD

rose the throat goat

hell yeah love a good person burning

#gail babbles about dumb shit

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stoplookingupforheaven · 2 years

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rain liveblogs the hobbit an unexpected journey but it’s just one post

NOT THE SPOONS

thirteen men barging into my home unexpectedly? yeah this was written by a man

WAIT WAIT IS THIS WHOLE THING THORIN’S MIDLIFE CRISIS???

far over the misty mountains remains unironically one of my favorite songs and this movie came out when i was eleven

not bilbo immediately handing the contract to balin and not thorin. power move

okay say what you will about this hobbit but he is advocating for himself!! yes u Do need that pocket handkerchief sir!

spooky scary storytime

every time i watch these battle scenes i just. imagine being at the back of one of these giant-ass armies. all full of adrenaline cause it’s combat, but you just gotta wait

i’m sorry but i just don’t Get thorin

“died of his wounds”

narrator: azog had not died of his wounds. azog was alive and well and tracking the dwarves

i just see hedgehogs now and i think norman

river plate fireworks going off in the background really set the mood for this movie

IS IT TROLL TIME I THINK ITS TROLL TIME

biLBO JUST LEAVE THE FOOD

oh my god bilbo just leave the scythe alone- EEEEEEEW

and then kili, in an act that would set the tone for his entire character arc, did something stupid

do- do any of the dwarves know what the word “parasite” means

i would be very interested to study the geology of stone troll

dwalin might be my favorite dwarf. he Always passes the vibe check

this movie refreshes my fear of spiders every time i watch

radagast brought the receipts

geologically, this route into rivendell does not work

thorin. grow up

“hidden pass” THATS NOT A LOGICAL LAND FEATURE

OH LOOK. ITS THE ORC. THE ONE WHO DIED OF HIS WOUNDS

it occurs to me that the bad blood between gandalf and saruman predates the sauron issue

EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF MUSHROOMS??? can’t decide if it’s funnier if saruman is implying that radagast is constantly tripping or that an Actual vegetable is ruining him

i am an hour and forty-three minutes into this movie and i am Just now remembering that gollum, who arguably kick-starts the entire lord of the rings trilogy, is going to make an appearance

HOw in the motherfuck did bilbo hold onto sting when they just both went rocketing off a cliff

i gotta give the goblin king points for theatrics

WELL WELL WELL, LOOK WHO IT IS

“if baggins loses, we eats it whole” was delivered SO matter of factly

teeth…? TEEEEEEEEETH

paused the commentary to ice my shins but. goblin kingdom escape scene my beloved

andy serkis ate this role up

GANDALF’S EYE TWITCHING

the Zoom™ of shock when thorin sees azog

ah yes this is the best way to defeat the orcs. start a forest fire

thorin what in the fuckery

this is giving new meaning to the term “hot girl walk”

me every five seconds: i really wanna go to new zealand

i did forget thorin got a partial redemption arc in this movie

there better be a way down from their very convenient outcropping the eagles have dropped them on because like. the company can’t fly

YOU HAD TO SAY SOMETHING BILBO. YOU HAD TO SAY SOMETHING

overall lovely and now i really miss fifth grade. rain out

#i had a Lot more thoughts that i just didn’t manage to get in here #plus it was already so long #lotr #the hobbit #an unexpected journey #rain talks

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portablefrailty · 11 days

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Shades of Freshman Year?

This is the kind of win you’re not supposed to get.

Facing a great team on their home ice in a 2-0 hole and desperate to stay in the series; facing the best power play in the league and itching to break an 0-10 drought and avenge a PK that’s surrendered 4 goals; facing a goalie change; coming off 50+ shots faced in Game 2; up against a 40-25 shot disadvantage, a 39% face off win rate, a 31-17 deficit in hits--nothing about Game 3 boded a Rangers win.

The script unfolded as expected in the first. Guentzel, the deadline acquisition who’s scored maybe more playoff goals against the Rangers than any other player, buries another. Carolina allows no let up but holds the lead into mid second period when, at 7:39, Fox gets called for tripping.

Carolina goes on their third power play of the game, hoping lucky 13 will break the drought.

They. have. all. the. momentum.

Guentzel wins the faceoff. For thirty seconds its a firing squad: Burns, Jarvis, Aho, Guentzel and Svechnikov all shoot the puck. One block, one miss and three saves by Igor.

Just past the eight minute mark the whole series undergoes a seismic shift.

Zibanejad jumps a bad cross-ice pass at the blue line. He and Kreider are off--two white streaks breaking down ice with one hapless stick swinging, back checking defender between them.

Kreids buries the shorty. 1-1 score.

For the rest of the second it feels like the Canes (team, coaches and fans collectively) have been punched in the throat. The momentum shift feels like round 2 in Rocky IV after that hook tears Drago’s eye open.

The Canes were so rattled the Rangers damn near scored again on the same kill. Twice.

After that, nothing surprised me. Not the go ahead third period goal. I thought the Rangers might take it 2-1 but Carolina does their thing with the goalie pulled. Svechnikov at 18:24. Ho-hum. No panic. Three minutes and nineteen seconds later (not including intermission)-- By the time Panarin rips the game winner (his fourth), it feels like it's meant to be.

Wins like this are about the surest sign you can ask for that it's your team's year.

The series isn't over (technically), Boston ain't bad and Florida is scary, and the west has got scoring talent galore. Not to mention the Avs: as a Jersey transplant in Colorado, the thought of a another Avalanche cup win, this time at the Rangers's expense, makes me throw up in my mouth.

All of the above notwithstanding--the Rangers have the '94 Mojo. Another President's Trophy, another 7-0 start to the playoffs. They're also rested and, with Chytil back, actually healthier than ever! Unlike the Knicks, who are a Brunson ankle-tweak away from forfeiting--the Rangers are spreading the love and could absorb almost any loss. Just when you think a Ranger's name hasn't been mentioned in a while, he scores.

Hell, with Quick on the bench, we could even survive losing Shesterkin!

The 5-5 issue has turned into a nothing burger with a healthy six to date in these series and a slew in round 1. Not that anemic even-strength scoring matters much when you're dominating on the power play and your PK has more goals on opposing penalties than your opponents do!

In the face of this freight train Carolina be like Michael Spinks after a hard right from Tyson--a fine boxer whose grand strategy is now trickling down his leg and will be lucky to make the first bell.

Lest I be accused of jinxing my beloved Blueshirts: I'm not having Stanley Cup visions yet. But I can't deny that tonight's vibes have a premonitory quality to them.

Not exactly Stephane Matteau, Jim Leyritz or David Tyree tremors.

More like Kovalev's goal in Game 6, Jeffrey Maier's catch, or Brandon Jacobs vs. the shot clock at Texas Stadium.

Rest assured, though, Lord Stanley's mug remains as impossibly silver and elusive to me as the Holy Grail.

After tonight, though, I will permit myself a fond remembrance of the day Ken Conrad brought a cardboard and tinfoil replica to school one fine spring day in the waning weeks of freshman year (June 15th, 1994, to be exact). It was glorious. Every Ranger fan was decked out like an American flag while the eye of every Devil's fan (about 70% of my high school) burned red with bitterness or green with envy at the sight of that faux trophy.

The afterglow lasted precisely one week--ending the night John Starks went 0-11 from three point land doomed the Knicks in Game 7 against the Rockets. After finally getting past the (Jordanless) Bulls, I was sure the script called for a Knicks coronation and felt a bit cheated to be denied the double title.

I was 15. A year later I watched NY getting swept by the Legion of Doom, Claude Lemieux snag the Conn Smythe and the Devils raise their first cup (with two more slated for my college years).

At age 45, I have learned not to take championship glory for granted. 30 years on, following the Rangers negotiate the two month gauntlet that is the NHL playoffs is about a nerve wracking as witnessing my son's birth in the middle of the Boulder Floods of 2013--7-0 record be damned.

Tonight at least I'm making a point to enjoy the ride so far.

#New York Rangers #rangers hockey #Rangers Hurricanes #NHL #stanley cup playoffs #2024 stanley cup playoffs #2024 Stanley Cup #1994 Rangers #New York sports #1990s

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missrosiewolf · 1 year

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What elements make up a good trio?

An archetype/trope that’s an absolute ick?

Book (or books) that you’d recommend to others to understand u?

How’s your day so far :3?

My day has been good so far! I'm over halfway through season 5 of Lucifer and I have better work shoes now too! I also gave my dog a much-needed bath.

Unrelated, but my bookmark collection of D&D sourcebooks is growing and going through Dragon Magazine #236 'The Seldarine Revisited' is...a journey. I might do a post about those folks sometime (an actual post not me being baffled over the state of Melira's section).

What elements make up a good trio?

Everyone's thoughts on this will differ, but for me I think a good trioe of adventurerse or heroes is made up of:

The Funny Guy or (alternatively) The Chaotic Gremlin

The "Let's Do This" Guy

and the person who holds the group together: The Only Sane Guy

Yeah I know that's kind of trope-y, but it is my favorite one. I think it's because it kind of describes me and my own friend group(s). I think the role I find myself in most often is the Only Sane Guy. Like for instance, me and one of my friends chat pretty much daily and she is a bundle of chaos (she has her serious moments ofc but she's a chaotic gremlin most of the time), especially when she's simping over a fictional character so I'm often being like that bugs bunny gif of "no"

An archetype/trope that’s an absolute ick?

I've got so many but I'm just gonna keep it down to just two tropes

Sibling Triangle

For those who do not know, the Sibling Triangle is a trope where a pair of siblings fall in love with the same person and try to get with that person. This can turn into a rivalry, one sibling eventually deciding to back off so that their sibling can be happy, or a reenactment of Abel and Cain (and I don't think I need to tell anyone about how that ended).

And it's a trope that I do not like. I just do not like it. I do not enjoy it being in whatever media I am consuming. I tend to get irritated and lose interest in the story and characters when this trope rears its ugly head. The only reason I don't completely drop whatever it is I'm watching or reading (that that trope pops in) is because I'm one of those who needs to finish watching/reading before I can move onto something else. I might walk away for a bit, but I always come back to finish it.

The reason why I don't like this trope is mostly for the same reason why regular ass love triangles don't appeal to me: two people (friends, siblings, coworkers, whatever) fighting over a person does not sit right me at all. That's not an object. That is a fucking person. Fighting over a person, over who gets to be with this person and not bothering to ask what this person fucking thinks does not pass the vibe check.

Also the very idea of fighting with a sibling over the same person is just a big no from me.

It just feels icky.

2. I don't know the name for this trope but it's the one where the dude is portrayed as dense when it comes to one girl in particular but then, when you read between the lines, it turns out that she just refuses to fucking communicate for some fucking reason.

I hate that shit.

Book (or books) that you’d recommend to others to understand u?

Oh that's a tough one. I'm not entirely sure how to answer that because I don't remember all of the things I've read over the years that made some kind of impact on me and who I am as a person, but I'll try to answer as best as I can.

The books I'd recommend are:

J.R.R Tolkien's books. Anything involving his Middle-Earth stories. In middle school, I read The Children of Hurin and The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings (trilogy). In college, I read The Fall of Gondolin, The Silmarillion. None of these were assigned readings. I checked out of the library or they were given to me by friends and family. I loved the LOTR movies and I wanted to read the world Tolkien had created.

The Dragonlance Trilogy Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Read them in high school.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. Read in middle-school and high school.

The Redwall books by Brian Jacques. Read some of these in elementary and middle School.

A lot of what I read as I was growing up was fiction. Fantasy books. Adventures. I was...lonely and those genres of books where the ones I could more easily pretend to be traveling alongside the man character was an escape of sorts, I guess. I didn't very many friends (1, maybe two per grade) in elementary and middle school and those friends I did have I didn't hang out with because they didn't live anywhere near me (and there were the grades where I didn't have any friends).

So books, once I started reading chapter books, became my first real friend(s). The friend I'd see every day when I woke up, went to school, and came home.

High School and College is where I got my first real group of friends that I still talk to. I guess that is probably why I don't read as much as I used to. I'm not filling a void anymore.

#Ask: Drizzit #Ask answered #personal

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