Aleksander Morozova as General Kirigan Shadow and Bone (2021)

Notice how Shan Yu doesn’t even question it or make a comment about “BUT YOU’RE A GIRL” he just instantly goes into a “I’LL TEACH YOU TO KILL MY MEN AND STEAL MY VICTORY” rage and I think about this a lot sometimes

((Well that might have to do with the fact that he’s a Hun.  Women among the Huns had higher status than their Chinese counterparts and even some of their own men. Women were free to hunt and fight along side of the men, could choose their own husbands and divorce him if she choose to. There were even records of clans being led by women leaders. So for Shan Yu Mulan is just another soldier))

thank you, history side of tumblr.

He also might not have been able to see very well, due to whatever horrible disease has taken hold in his eyeballs.

Pretty serious Wilson’s Disease judging by the copper buildup in in irises, and apparent melanocytosis localized to his sclera.

Thank you medical side of tumblr

I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOREVER

It’s always mandatory to reblog this whenever it appears

painted some thoughts re: steve rogers and illness

Leigh: I'm gonna make a dark edgy universe with ongoing genocide on witches for centuries. It'll be like the Avatar but the elements of the four nations are: Nazi Witch Hunters, Persecution, Prison camps to torture and experiment on witches, and Slavery.

And then, I'm gonna make a character who fights back, creates a safe space for witches, finds a way to make them indispensable to the king, and plans to put an end to the ongoing genocide.

Readers with functional braincells: Is that your hero?

Leigh: Hero? No! Oh God, no!!! Where did you get that impression??? He's the VILLAIN with a capital V!!! Ugh, I guess I'll have to add more nonsensical mustache twirling evil villainous visuals to make it clear. Maybe throw in a black cape and shadow magic into the mix while I'm at it.

Readers still refusing to shut their brain before reading YA: So what do your heroic leaders want?

Leigh: Its really brilliant and subversive actually! Get rich quick hustles for money. Housewife to the first boy to talk to her. And inherit a royal title from his father.

Readers refusing to kill their reading comprehension: So what about the persecuted witches?

Leigh: What about them? Oh...maybe I'll make up magic cocaine that's highly addictive to the witches and overworks them to death to speed up the genocide now that the horrible evil villain advocating for them is dead and modern technology renders grisha useless anyway. No point in letting them just live am I right? xoxo grimdark edgelord girl

so systemic oppression and state-sanctioned witchhunts of grisha leads aleksander to create a sanctuary for other grisha but because of how shitty the world treats him, he drives off the moral event horizon and tries to gain more power and put a stop to the endless wars while the "good guys" show up at the last second and decide he's evil and must be killed but after they kill him things are worse for grisha and the wars continue and all the systemic issues that led to aleksander being the kind of man he was still exist so....wtf did they accomplish or even learn?

sexy man bad?

Since I see this word thrown around causally on here, this is a reminder that the Darkling does not commit genocide. He’s a mass murderer, but genocide has a specific meaning.

Criticise him for what he does - murdering civilians, mutilating Genya, assaulting Alina, but don’t call him genocidal.

i’m so goddamn fucking sick of the argument that the darkling is based on an old toxic relationship from leigh bardugo, and that we’re meant to find him abusive because of that.

please stop being ridiculous. it’s fiction. the darkling is a fictional character, and if miss leigh didn’t want us to like him (which she, by the way, tried very hard for) she shouldn’t have created this entire narrative of a hunted & persecuted minority who have literally one person in the entire world to stand up for them. she shouldn’t have given aleksander the thousands of reasons for him to be the way he is. she shouldn’t have shown us all the centuries of torture and prejudice grisha received until the darkling made a safe haven for them.

human morals don’t apply to eternal beings. simple as that. there is no definite good or bad for him, all there is is life and death and the safety of his kind, who are still enslaved, experimented on, murdered, burned alive, and all other sorts of the most horrific things in the neighboring countries. was the way he treated alina morally right? no. of course it wasn’t. but he has lived centuries of war and loss for even a glimpse of hope and then it came in the form of a fickle teenage girl, who hadn’t seen the things he’d seen, and who didn’t have a clue about the hurt her kind had been receiving since the beginning of time. what he did was wrong, but in his eyes necessary; the end justifies the means.

and i could go on and on about this, explain all of his actions (which i very well can, this is the tip of the iceberg) but the thing is, i shouldn’t have to.

we are allowed to like a morally grey (or, in the hater’s view, entirely fucking evil) character because he’s fictional. we aren’t morally obligated to blindly take over the author’s opinions over their fictional characters because they brought them into this world to be critiqued. to be viewed and liked and hated. we are allowed to like and defend fictional characters despite the author’s intentions for them.

thank u for coming to my ted talk and @ the haters please stop making yourself look stupid. go outside, touch some grass. oh and stop tagging darklina underneath your “ten reasons why the darkling is evil” because it’s unnecessary honestly go take your negativity somewhere else.

all this talk about how weaponizing the fold will only increase anti-Grisha sentiment when it's already been established in canon that they're still undergoing heavy persecution is so strange to me. they're already being sold out to the enemy by their own countrymen as well as experimented on and burned alive overseas...how much worse can it possibly get? they're already balancing on the knife edge of being at risk of genocide. (sidebar: I hate how this show attempts to justify their persecution by laying the blame at Aleksander's feet. that conversation with Baghra where she tells him he's responsible for the 'war on Grisha' even before the creation of the Fold is so awful.)

if Alina and the gang had just let Aleksander usurp the king I'm inclined to believe the situation for Grisha in Ravka could only have been improved. and for all that I see claims of Aleksander's belief in Grisha supremacy, I've yet to find any support or evidence for that in the text. if he wanted to enslave all otkazat'sya or get revenge on them surely that would have come up at some point? instead he's a loyal patriot to the country of Ravka and is more interested in cleaning house of the corrupt Lantsov regime.

if I'm wrong please feel free to correct me, because I actually would be interested in seeing if there are passages in the books where the Darkling goes full Magneto.

What she says: I'm fine.

What she means: Alina's relationship with Aleksander is heavily framed as something shameful,as a stain on her character and very existence and how people around her are supposed to be doubtful of her because "she almost fucked the bad guy!! she could be corrupted too!!" While her relationship with Malyen serves heavily to the puritan culture with the "pure,chaste love" trope,defying any passion or sexual chemistry because those things are considered shameful in the society. Malyen is viewed as someone who saves her from said corruption and is considered noble for loving her despite her past with Aleksander and the "bad decisions" she made. Aleksander plays such an important role in her growth but we're supposed to hate that because Aleksander is the villain meanwhile Malyen does nothing but hold her back, limiting her development as a person. The only conclusion I can derive here is that if you were associated with someone wrong in the past,who helped you unleash your full potential,it can all go to shit and you're not going to be valued for that because the very reason for your growth is a monster. Your entire arc is going to be villainized because it's associated to the bad guy. The whole concept of moving on and being your own person is demonized because "you did it once and you ended up in the wrong hands. You started becoming your own person and were so dumb, someone almost made a weapon out of you for their own gain" Alina and her past attraction towards Aleksander makes Alina bad and if she still wants him despite his deeds,she's wrong and "oh so corrupted". That's why Alina goes back to being the same underdeveloped protagonist, because hey,even if she had zero character development at the end of the day, atleast she's not with the bad guy,at least she's one of the good ones. Her only mistake was being unaware of Aleksander's plans,it could've been called a "bad decision" if she was fully aware and yet chose to be involved with him. And it's so funny how Baghra ONLY tells Alina the truth about Aleksander before they're about to have sex,when she had multiple opportunities to tell her the truth AND help her train into being stronger. This only simplifies into "silly girl,thank god i told you the truth,you were about to fuck the bad guy but you didn't so you're saved,you're still pure" What does Aleksander and his behaviour have to do with Alina and her character? How long are we going to let the men in our past define how pure or impure we are? Is this the feminist conclusion I'm supposed to derive from this mess? Is this not what slut shaming is? How long are we going to shit on our heroines so they stay Good™?

Just casually thinking about how Matthias a witch (Grisha) hunter who has most likely killed a lot of Grisha people for absolutely no reason is not considered a villain, but the guy who has spent his life protecting his people and saving them from being hunted and killed is considered pure evil.

Me: I just think that if Leigh wanted to write a cautionary tale about a manipulative man who is beautiful but not as he seems, she should have made him a non-grisha prince like Nikolai. Because then you have someone who pretends to sympathize with the oppressed Grisha but is actually just exploiting them for his own gain which is a much more interesting commentary on society. And then Alina could have been the revolutionary trying to overthrow the system and help change things for the Grisha, opposed by a non-grisha who wants to control them. 

Instead, she makes the villain the one person actively fighting to improve things for the Grisha and ultimately gives Alina very little interest in the cause and makes the non-grisha characters nice and understanding and gives us a message of ‘you just need the nice people to be on the throne and then it will be fine’ which is a naive point of view. Its not about whether or not the Darkling is good, its about where she ultimately decided to place the villain in the story/world that bothers me.

Therapist: Can we please get back to your trauma.

They said you might come.

#This scene makes me so sad#because above all else#above UNIT and Torchwood#and even the Doctor#SHE was a doctor#Martha Jones helped people - her passion was to heal#and save lives#and now she might be the only one who can save the universe#but at the cost of the entire planet#she’ll kill them all#and it’s the last thing that she wants to do#but it’s the only option now#so when this woman pulls the gun on her and threatens to kill her#Martha sadly nods her head and tells her to do it#because then she wouldn’t have to make this choice#and it kills me

(via riveralwaysknew)

oh my god martha nearly did to the earth what the doctor did to gallifrey

oh my god

This is the exact reason why I maintain my position that Martha was not, under any circumstances, the companion.

She was the doctor.

Now I know that he’s always the same man at the core after regenerations  so on and so forth, but when it really boils down, the doctor isn’t a timelord, the doctor is an idea. At least in the RTD era, every companion at one point or another, has had to make the choice to become the doctor.

Rose Became the Doctor when she accepted her fate as the bad wolf.

Mickey became the doctor when he stayed in the parallel universe.

Donna became the doctor during the meta-crisis.

Jack became the doctor when he ‘died’  for the first time trying to save everyone before Rose destroyed the Daleks.

But Martha? Martha was different, Martha was special. Martha never chose to become the doctor, because that was who she always was in her heart; and substantially she was the only companion of the RTD era who didn’t need to be saved by either the timelord doctor or TARDIS intervention (in the case of Jack, seeing as it was the badwolf, who brought him back).

^^^^^^

THAT COMMENTARY IS GORGEOUS.

I would argue that Martha is the doctor and the Doctor is the companion in that season. Not only does she saves the Doctor, he relies on her to BE the doctor when he can’t. I’m not saying the other RTD era companions don’t have moments of that (they totally do, as mentioned in the above commentary), but not to the extent Martha does. And I think when the Doctor meets Martha, he’s in dire need of taking the passenger seat for a bit. The Doctor is (typically) not an idiot and he knows pretty much instantly that Martha can be his doctor. There’s a reason Martha is put in a lot of the same situations as the Doctor. There’s a reason she walks out of the TARDIS and leaves him to figure things out. She’s a freaking Doctor.   

LUCIFER → 2x02 liar, liar, slutty dress on fire

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S 

It’s not Christmas unless this giftset has appeared on your dash at least five times.

It’s back 💕

it’s not christmas without wilf on your dash 

Annual Wilf reblog.

@human-nxture

HAPPY HOLIDAYS MY DEARS!!!!

people really go “I want a story where the female lead...” and then say something that already happened on the cw’s “crazy ex girlfriend”

4. If the car pulls up to you run in the opposite direction.

5. Walk with your keys in your hands and keep a key between each finger

6. If they put you in the trunk kick out the headlights

7. If you get lost find a woman with a child. Never ask a man for help (this one was drilled)

That scream fire piece of advice is literally life saving

8. Watch your shadows and reflections, especially if someone is walking behind you. A split second notice is better than none and will help you.

Yes this last one really saves lives y'all I do it all the time

girls have to learn to view the world like international intelligence agents just to be safe walking down the street. smh.

guys pls pls pls reblog and girls pls pls pls be safe out there. terrifying and so sad that we have to worry about this on a daily basis

(I’m an enby, but, frankly, this is helpful for anyone.)

- always tell someone where youre at and an approx time when youll be back

Add text replacement words in your phone if possible. Something short and memorable that you can send quickly to people in moments of emergencies.

E.g.

I f ing hate that we need to reblog this, people suck, but this will save lives.

DO NOT SCROLL PAST

Being female fucking sucks but yes this shit is important for everyone

Also, do not walk close to walls. It will be easier for someone so walk past you and push you against it or corner you.

If your gut is telling you to cross the street or change your path, do it. Don’t risk it. Your body knows.

If you can, buy a large umbrella and walk holding it. Studies say that predators are less likely to attempt an attack on someone that could fight back. Keys around your knuckles is fine but you’ll need to get very close to do damage. Umbrellas are more precise.

Avoid wearing headphones if you are alone on an empty street. Look aware.

Again: Stay. Away. From. Walls.

Entering an uber alone? Call your father (or anyone you trust) and say “hey dad! Yep, I’m almost there, I’m sending you the route.” outloud. Then proceed to send them the route so they can follow the uber drive. This will most likely intimidate the predator.

If you see someone in an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation, walk up to them and say “Betty, oh my god, I haven’t seen you in so long!”. If she gets slightly confused, you can whisper and let her know you’re trying to help and that she should follow along. Walk together to another station or away from where you are. The man will most likely not follow. I have done this one 2 times and can be very helpful.

If you are unsure she needs help, you can pass her a note saying something like “hey, I noticed this man beside you is making you uncomfortable. If you’d like help, fake a sneeze right now and I will come up to you and pretend we are friends.” This is a long note, but its an example. Be discrete. If she follows along, proceed with the previous tip. This is helpful when you’re in a crowded train and you notice harassment.

Help your sisters. Trust them. Trust yourself. Be safe.

If you ever feel unsafe or need help, anyone is welcome to run upto me and ask me for help! I’ll go all mama bear and keep you safe!!!

Said Gay Rights:

Ended Homophobically:

we may not have been able to save brandon. but the fight is far from over.

this is dustin john higgs.

in 1996, he was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three women and was sentenced to death.

this conviction is entirely false. he didn’t murder anybody.

he has been found not guilty of the crime. at this point, the only reason he remains in jail is because he was at the scene of the crime. the court also claims that he bullied willis hayes, the man who actually did murder the three women, into killing them. however, willis hayes has come forward and has admitted that dustin DID NOT commit the crime, and he’s also even confessed that dustin never bullied him into murdering the trio of women. but the court won’t accept it.

DUSTIN JOHN HIGGS IS SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED ON JANUARY 15, 2021. HE IS GOING TO BE EXECUTED FOR A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT AT ALL. WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.

@esspress0depress0 @thesevenumbrellas @real-tua-facts @thetrueihaveaname @youngsamberg @umbrellas-be-falling @peterbparkers @amystiago @stranger-umbrellas @glitched-coffee @letsgoravendors @kakakuroo @klaus-is-the-real-number-1 @itty-bitty-rampaging-committee @mariarreynolds @benhargrieves @number5theboy @millicent-is-goose @caseoftheblues @27-umbrellas @the-aro-ace-arrow-ace @the-umbrella-academy-confessions @studentlifeproblems @sunriseseance here’s another chain post for you. you guys know the drill, please make sure to tag anybody you can think of to make sure this message gets somewhere.