I don't really have a specific theme for what I post, this is just my personal blog where I keep all the things I really find interesting. I do hope my followers have a similar interest in what I post and hopefully in the future I'll make more specifically themed blogs!
God y’all so boring about the Will Smith slapping Chris. “Violence is wrong” what is this a church? Fucking lay his ass out him next time, Will. Let Jada get a kick in too.
John was limp in his arms, the criminal long gone, leaving nothing but a bullet and at least a liter of blood on the pavement. Sherlock’s fingers fumbled on John’s throat in their rush, shaking with nerves and fear, and then with a lightheaded relief that stole his breath away as he found a pulse. It was thready and weak, almost threatening to give out, but it was there. It was there.
“John…” his voice barely rasped out, and he swallowed the lump in his throat, clenching his other fist in John’s torn jumper even as he pressed forward, applying the pressure he knew was needed to stem the bleeding. The rational part of his brain told him that he should be using both hands, that he should lower John to the ground and apply as much pressure to the gunshot wound as he could, meaning both hands, but the panic that clouded his vision wouldn’t let him take his fingers from John’s pulse point, from the only thing that told him his friend was still alive.
“Please John…” the deep baritone faltered for a moment, hoping for a response, needing a response. “Wake up…you’re scaring me.” He got no answer, but for the shallow breathing he could feel on his cheek.
He swallowed once more, eyes clenched shut until the spots behind his eyelids matched the lights on top of the ambulance that would surely get here any moment. Any moment now, it would get there, because this was not how John Watson died. He refused.
“You…” He took a breath, and it shook all the way in and all the way out. “You are…the most stubborn man I have ever come into contact with, and I include Mycroft in that assessment.” His brow furrowed, and he looked away at the bricks coated with grime and sunlight-starved ivy. “And you are a fighter. God knows, you fight with me enough…” He looked back, intense eyes willing John to hear him. “This is not how you die. You don’t give up. On anything. So you will not give up now.” His deep baritone cracked on the last word, and he searched John’s face. “And you’re a doctor so you know that this is…bad…but it’s nothing you can’t handle. Think, just think of all of the things you’ll make me do which you’re recovering. I’ll have to do every bit of it, even clean up my experiments. And cook. You don’t know I can cook, but I can.” Sherlock swallowed, keeping heavy pressure on the wound. “I know you’re there so just listen…”
Sirens filtered into the quiet stale air, growing louder in the distance, and John roused just slightly at the sound. Sherlock pressed with all his might on the wound, causing a groan to break on John’s lips.
We are always reminded of MC’s unnecessary courage, especially towards the later chapters. Every time she gets into trouble, the boys are there to save her.
But from Chapter 10+, we see that they won’t come to our rescue every time.
And that made me really sad (I JUST WANT HAPPY ENDINGS Y'ALL)
So I’m using this opportunity to write alternate endings for some of the darkest stories for each of the boys (and I had to use my imagination for these, so they may be a little lacking)
This took me a LOT LONGER than I expected, so that’s why my headcanons weren’t updating lately
Warning: There are spoilers for the main story (Ch 11-15)
We are always reminded of MC’s unnecessary courage, especially towards the later chapters. Every time she gets into trouble, the boys are there to save her.
But from Chapter 10+, we see that they won’t come to our rescue every time.
And that made me really sad (I JUST WANT HAPPY ENDINGS Y'ALL)
So I’m using this opportunity to write alternate endings for some of the darkest stories for each of the boys (and I had to use my imagination for these, so they may be a little lacking)
This took me a LOT LONGER than I expected, so that’s why my headcanons weren’t updating lately
Warning: There are spoilers for the main story (Ch 11-15)
We are always reminded of MC’s unnecessary courage, especially towards the later chapters. Every time she gets into trouble, the boys are there to save her.
But from Chapter 10+, we see that they won’t come to our rescue every time.
And that made me really sad (I JUST WANT HAPPY ENDINGS Y'ALL)
So I’m using this opportunity to write alternate endings for some of the darkest stories for each of the boys (and I had to use my imagination for these, so they may be a little lacking)
This took me a LOT LONGER than I expected, so that’s why my headcanons weren’t updating lately
Warning: There are spoilers for the main story (Ch 11-15)
Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.
(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)
Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.
All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.
I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.
Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.
And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.
Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.
I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.
Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.
No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a responsibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.
They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.
This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.
In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.
At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.
I think the least we can do is remember them for it.
MLQC CN: What mythical creatures do the guys transform into?
I decided to write this encyclopaedic entry post because I saw someone reblog the PV I translated with a comment in the tags about it being “sum (sic) mythical creature ancient china nonsense”. I don’t think the person meant any harm by it, but I feel like some clarification is in order. These mythical creatures are a treasured part of my culture, and I hope the non-Chinese audience here on Tumblr can appreciate them for what they are as well.
The theme for the Qixi event this year is mythical beasts, and is probably inspired by the ancient Chinese collection of texts, Classics of Mountains and Seas（《山海经》 ）。This is organised in two large volumes: the Mountain （《山径》）and the Sea（《海经》）. The Mountain volume describes the myths, mythical creatures and religions in ancient China, while the Sea volume describes interesting findings in oceans and in places outside of China.
Mythical Creatures and the Guys
Xu Mo = Baize (白泽）[pronounced “by-tsuh”]
The Bai Ze is regarded to be an auspicious creature. Its appearance differs from text to text, so I figured I’d refer to the Qing dynasty text 《渊鉴类函》which quotes from the Classics:
东望山有兽，名曰白泽，能言语，王者有德，明照幽远则至。——《渊鉴类函》
There is a beast named Baize in Dongwang Mountain* which is capable of human speech. Only if the king is virtuous will he be able to see it.
*Some believe that the Dongwang Mountain refers to the famous Kunlun Mountain.
N.B. There’s some contention as to where this creature first appeared in ancient Chinese literature. The passage above is specified as being quoted from the Classics of the Mountains and Seas. However, modern-day versions of the Classics do not include this passage, possibly because it had gotten lost over time.
—
Bai Qi = Qilin（麒麟）[pronounced “qi-lin”]
Yet another auspicious creature, on the same level as dragons.
Most early mentions of qilin describe it as having only one horn:
仁兽也。麕身牛尾，一角。张揖云：牡曰麒，牝曰麟。郭璞曰：麒似麟而无角。——《说文解字》
It is a benevolent beast*. It has the body of a deer and the tail of an ox, and has a single horn. According to Zhang Yi, males are called qi, and females are called lin. Guo Pu says that the males look like females, except that they have no horns.
*Renshou/benevolent beast is another name for qilin.
Some of you might be wondering at this point why Bai Qi’s Evolved karma clearly shows him wearing two horns. This is because there are some descriptions of qilin from ancient Chinese literature which depict it as having two horns, and some even five.
N.B. There’s a Chinese idiom, 凤毛麟角, which means that something is very rare. “凤毛” = the feathers of a phoenix; “麟角” = the horn of a lin. The latter part of this idiom is a reference to this very mythical creature, since legend goes that qilin are nearly impossible to find.
—
Li Zeyan = Black Dragon （黑龙）[pronounced “hey-long”]
Fitting for Li Zeyan that he should get to be a dragon. Dragons are also auspicious creatures, and traditionally they are associated with emperors.
I don’t think I need to elaborate on this since most people are well-acquainted with this creature already.
As with Li Zeyan, it’s fitting that they made Zhou Qiluo’s creature jinwu. It’s a mythical bird which represents the sun, which is why these two terms are sometimes used interchangeably in ancient Chinese poems.
Let’s refer to our trusty Classics again for a description of the three-legged crow:
汤谷上有扶木，一日方至，一日方出，皆载于乌。——《山海经·大荒东经》
There is a fusang tree in the tang valley. Whenever a sun rises and whenever a sun sets, it is always borne on the back of the crow.
This is a reference to the Legend of Hou Yi and the Ten Suns. As the legend goes, there used to be ten suns sleeping under the fusang tree. They would take turns to brighten the sky. But when all ten of them appeared together, they scorched the earth. To save the human race, Hou Yi shot nine of the suns down, leaving one behind. Each sun that was shot down transformed into a three-legged crow.
—
Ling Xiao = Zheng（狰）[pronounced “juhng”]
Described to be a ferocious mythical creature, the zheng looks a bit like a leopard with five tails and a horn. Its entire body is crimson.
Again turning to the Classics for a description:
有兽焉，其状如赤豹，五尾一角，其音如击石，其名如“狰”。——《山海经·西山一经》
There is a beast which looks like a crimson leopard, but has five tails and one horn. The sounds it produces is like hitting stone. Its name is “zheng”.
—
I hope that’s a relatively concise explanation of what the mythical creatures in the PV are! If you understand Mandarin and haven’t already, I recommend glancing through 《山海经》。The descriptions make for quite a relaxing read. (I read the ancient Chinese version, but I believe good modern Chinese translations of the text exist.)
Beginning of Act 2 they say how water will melt Elphaba & Fiyero’s like…what? Are you listening to this, people believe anything, blah blah…
And he says this TO GLINDA.
So….does Glinda really believe that Elphie melted/died? Even though she was told to her face that that wouldn’t happen?
Am I missing something?
This concept drives me crazy every time I think about it.
This is an excellent question and one I haven’t explored before so lets dissect the Melting Scene and see if we can find some answers. First things first this is the dialogue:
“What was that?” “Hurry. No one must know you were here. Hide yourself. Hide.” ♪ And Goodness knows the Wicked lives are lonely. Goodness knows the wicked die alone. ♪
Alright. When Elphaba tells her to hide she draws a curtain between them. This is obviously so the audience cannot see the trapdoor under the stage. Also so the actors don’t have to literally throw a bucket of water. Yikes what a mess that’d make on stage.
BUT. It also obstructs Glinda’s view. If we follow the canon that Glinda knew that a bucket of water couldn’t kill Elphaba (as you pointed out: Fiyero mentions it as being stupid) it can still be that Glinda had to hide and didn’t see everything that was going on. She probably had to make out from sounds alone what was going on, so when she hears Elphaba’s scream she suspects the worst.
Canon supports this when the danger is over and Glinda crawls out of her hiding place and she says a soft “Elphie?” but nobody replies. I’d say this is her cue to believe Elphaba is dead. If she wasn’t, she would’ve answered.
Secondly, in the song sung before the melting we have Goodness = Glinda and Wicked = Elphaba (I love it when Glinda actually sees herself as wicked too but that’s an entirely different analysis) so we know that Glinda knows that Elphaba died alone. We can already see so much guilt on Glinda’s part dripping in. She died alone. But Glinda was there. But she was not by Elphaba’s side. She did nothing to stop it.
I would almost call it a day and say the writers found a loophole in their narrative so Glinda believes Elphaba died but didn’t see the cause and thus never knew it was water that did her in. BUT. There’s a glaring contradiction to be found during No One Mourns The Wicked, which in a chronological timeline happens after the melting scene:
Because there’s been so much rumor and speculation (…) let me set the record straight. According to the Time Dragon Clock the melting occurred at the 13th hour. The direct result of a bucket of water thrown by a female child. Yes. The Wicked Witch of the West is dead.
Now this exposition is mostly for the audience to let them know we’re in The Wizard of Oz, but it’s said in-character so we must take it at face value. We can still point out that perhaps the Time Dragon Clock mentioned that the cause of death was a bucket of water as well as the time. After all, it’s like a prophecy thing in the book. We never get to know how Glinda acquired that particular information (following the logic she didn’t actually see how Elphaba died).
But at any rate she now knows the verdict that Elphaba died was by a bucket of water despite knowing this could never be true. Not only did Fiyero point it out in Thank Goodness (making it canon) but she was also roommates with Elphaba. What, did she never see Elphaba walk out of the SHOWER in all that time living together? Drank some fucking water? She’s not allergic in this timeline so she would do those things, right?
In Maguire’s book Elphaba is allergic to water and even though the melting scene is never explicitly mentioned and there are many rumors throughout the book series that Elphaba is in fact not dead. But she also is no longer present so there’s something true to the words when it’s said that Elphaba is dead. The reader and the characters are both second-guessing whether she’s alive or not.
But because Schwartz didn’t want to leave it on the most dire note possible he kept Elphaba alive. By doing this he made the audience aware but not the characters. That’s a tremendous error in the narrative: Glinda would know Elphaba isn’t dead by the information given to her.
She would never mention those findings in NOMTW because it’s through the point of view of the Ozians and she doesn’t want them to go on another witch hunt.
The Finale however, is through the POV of Glinda. So following the logic she:
knows Elphaba cannot die from water
but that it is her ‘cause of death’
conclusion: Glinda knows Elphaba didn’t fucking die
So when she sings “Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? But because I knew you. Because I knew you I have been changed…” it’s not to mourn Elphaba, it’s to call for her. Glinda knows Elphaba is not dead but gone. And she is so fucking confused why Elphaba wouldn’t just reveal herself to Glinda. MOREOVER. Elphaba answers that call.
So now I somehow have to fucking believe Glinda just accepts that??? That Elphaba is still alive and Glinda stays in her place forever. Even though in the books it’s fucking canon that every single thing Glinda does after Elphaba’s death is to honor her memory. Bitch PLEASE. You cannot under any circumstance make me believe Glinda never went searching for Elphaba after this. Especially after knowing she isn’t actually dead.
Stephen Schwartz, I’d like a fucking word with you!!
It’s been FIFTEEN YEARS and at long last, someone puts forth evidence for our least favorite headcanon: Glinda knows Elphaba is still alive.
Also, while I completely support Glinda desperately searching for Elphaba post-musical, you can also consider this: Glinda doesn’t. She 1) knows that Elphaba isn’t safe in Oz and 2) probably still blames herself for everything (there was that moment, that brief, excruciating moment, when she thought she had witnessed Elphaba’s murder. She still hears her scream, late at night when she doesn’t sleep).
So what if Glinda never searches for Elphaba? She stays in the Emerald City and makes Oz better, fulfills her role of Glinda the Good. And with all that guilt, every time she thinks of leaving, of searching for her, she talks herself out of it, convincing herself that Elphaba didn’t just leave, she left her.
6x4 | Jiraiya gets poisened by a cut he recieves, and his vision becomes blurry, and he can’t really fight against the enemy.
6x5 | Naruto is in a lot of pain due to Kagero squeezing his heart. He screams in pain and looks close to death. He is more than fine shortly after tho lol.
🩸 6x6 | Naruto gets stabbed deep in the back by Kamikiris scissor thingies. Blood dropples on the floor. 5:30, Naruto gets slammed to the wall and slides down, quite injured. He holds his arm and makes pained noises. Sakura tells him that he is heavily injured, but he brushes it off. 6:55, he pushes Sakura out of the way and gets captured in Arashis Fuuma ninpo Jubaku mandara Jutsu. He pushes the cage smaller and smaller, therefore squeezing Narutos whole body. He screams in pain. 13:32, nice scene of Naruto walking a few steps and then half collapsing in pain, Sakura catching and supporting him. 15:00, Cute, bandaged, hurt Naruto scenes, carried bridal style by Jiraiya. 19:00, Mummy-Naruto in Hospital bed.
6×7 | Kurenai and Asuma are seen lying on the ground after being beat up by the prisoners.
6x8 | Asuma and Kurenai seen again during field treatment, in Hospital beds awake and well.
6x9 | Iruka gets a few cuts from Mizuki. Naruto gets thrown hard against a tree, passes out, comes to.
6x10 | Shikamaru has to visibly strain to keep enemies in his shadow hold. He is shaking violently. / Iruka is overwhelmed. He fights Mizuki in the dark, gets punched and sliced a bit. He is breathing heavily. Later, he is caught in a big explosion.
6x11 | Iruka is found bursting out of the debris, he is in pain and coughing and dirty, but even though they mention wounds, there aren’t really any to be seen. :/
6x12 | Iruka gets neck chopped (he is fine tho) and later hardly kicked into a tree (we don’t see the aftermath tho). Naruto gets stomped into the ground in the stomach by Mizuki. Later stabbed in the back while jumping in front of Iruka (just like Iruka back in ep1). Iruka sensei thrown hard, Naruto beat up nicely by Mizuki. (They are still fine tho damn -.-)
1x1 | Iruka gets slashed a bit by flying knives (one in the leg) and stabbed in the back protecting young Naruto (+blood drizzle at the mouth and emotional whump) Later in episode he is seen very roughed up and tired (kind of trembling) and pained
1x6 | Naruto stabs himself in the hand to extract venom he obtained during a fight and a scratch (it heals due to kuruma)
1x8 | Naruto and Sasuke get beat up vs. Zabuza
1x9 | Kakashi acts fine, but then passes out due to overuse of his sharingan.
1x15 | Fight against Haku. Sasuke and Naruto get very roughed up, Naruto falls hard many times. In the end they both get pierced by needles thrown by Haku amd scream out in pain.
1x16 | Naruto and Sasuke get pierced multpiple times, they are in a lot of pain, wincing etc. Sasuke fights and protects Naruto despite his injuries. Naruto passes out twice due to pain and overuse if his chakra. Kakashi gets slashed across the chest protecting Sakura and Tanzen from Zabuza (on purpose tho). Sasuke protects Naruto further. He collapses fatally injured into Narutos arms and “dies”.
1x22 | Sasuke gets beat by Rock Lee in their first “fight”. Sakura has to catch him mid air, otherwise he would have fallen hard.
