#Cheese Wars Arc

[queersanddeers]

Guess who

*cheeses only Jackson*

*hands everyone else a piece of cheese* choose who you cheese.

"JACKSONNNNN-" -N

"I'm cheesing Riktor 'cause yes." - S

" <:[ I don't want to cheese anyone! " -R

"GIMME THAT SLICE!" [Throws both his slices at Jackson, again, before sitting back and smiling with 0 elaboration] -D

"Dude… Why… Anyway, I cheese Jackson." -K

"I cheese Noah. It's deserved." -T

"WHAT IS THIS WAR?! " -R

"I cheeese… Myself. This stuff tastes good." -M

"I'm dating a slime… :)" -V

Thanks for your input, hun. -M

[With like, 4 pieces of cheese hanging off of him] Do you want more cheese?... -J

[mwolf0epsilon]

Breakfast Beans

Whenever it's Hardcase's turn to look after everyone else's Beans, things tend to get a little chaotic... Mostly because the lil guys have no real self-control (unlike their respective troopers) and go overboard in any activity provided to them. Including eating.

Previous Bean Posting: [X][X][X]

[ladymorghul]

they made b&c a sequence centered on blood and cheese rather than helaena and added a dog for sympathy points and brought that dog back for half a season with ryan saying b&c was green / alicent propaganda and that you almost root for b&c to not get caught. lt's deranged.

they also turned b&c from being a hard task given to cheese because of how well he knew the most guarded part of the red keep to whoopsie daisy we just stumbled upon helaena and her children and guess what guys there's no guards around and the greens didn't give helaena a kingsguard so who's fault is it truly?

they also take focus away from how awful b&c was to a cheap shocking scene of alicole having sex + they made helaena and alicent brush off the death of jaehaerys SO EASILY and alicent spending half the scenes b&c related more worried about how helaena saw her fucking cole.

they had aemond figure he was the target of b&c, but didn't have aemond involved in b&c aftermath at all and instead had him talk about luke only.

they made otto and alicent to be dismissive of aegon (alicent of aemond too) and bring up how cool viserys was. in the season finale alicent is written to refer to her relationship with viserys as being fond of each other, with the directors saying it was a loving marriage. absolutely disturbing.

in an absolutely hilarious move, they had aemond targaryen refer to what the greens are doing as "usurping".

they made rhaenys killing countless people in the the dragonpit for no other reason than a "girlboss" moment to be the fault of the greens actually instead of rhaenys, but they yapped about 12 ratcatchers for half a season.

they made aemond betray aegon at rook's rest and gave a lot of plot armour in that scene to rhaenys with barely any scratches on her before meleys was killed.

they refused to give quality green siblings scenes but we spent a lot of time on irrelevant alicent and rhaenyra shots.

they had alicent be completely different from her book counterpart to the point where does nothing useful for the war effort, holds contempt for her sons and ends up selling them to rhaenyra.

they gave daemon a redemption arc but they barely spent any time doing proper build up to aemond and instead had him go from 0 to 100 with both of his siblings.

do i need to go on?

[acepalindrome]

The thing is, Pluto shouldn’t work as well as it does. It’s literally taking Astro Boy and reimagining it as a noir murder mystery/psychological thriller. Taking something cute and lighthearted and making it dark and gritty is such a bullshit concept.

AND YET. That’s not what Pluto is at all. Because for all the cuteness in Astro Boy, the arc Pluto is adapting is about the horrors of war. Osamu Tezuka was a young man during WWII and that absolutely plays a role in a lot of his manga.

And for all that Urasawa’s works have a lot of very dark content and a high body count, there’s always such a beautiful cord of hope and humanity under it all. At the very worst times, there is still kindness and love and hope! Always! Two lonely, deeply traumatized men can have a picnic with good wine and good cheese! A robot that was built to be a weapon of war can learn to play the piano! The world can end, over and over, and we’ll still have music!

Pluto isn’t gritty or grimdark. Like all of Urasawa’s works, it’s got a beautiful, human heart.

[gojuo]

Ryan condom forgot that after rhaenyras death we sre supposed to follow aegon if he wants to continue after nyras death so he can put at the end of the series the crown on aegon III, so he eather tries to make people view aegon possitively or have the series end with nyras death and the crown on aegon’s head and people will riot like they did with the mad queen end of got, either way he deserves the hate he is going to get at the end of hotd. But now that i tnik of it the series starts with rhaenyra doing a voice over telling her story so i wonder if he will change the end of the story and all the lore just to have finally a targ kween sit at the iron throne

i've been saying this since forever but making rhaenyra the unequivocal protagonist of the story + writing this show with a protagonist-centered morality framework + shoving 30 years of court drama and political intrigue building up to the actual war in a measly 10 episodes is a huge fucking mistake because

1. the portion of the dance in f&b starts with alicent reading to king jaehaerys as he lays dying, and the dance eventually ends when alicent herself dies. this is thematically important

2. daemon is the unequivocal villain of everyone's story in the dance, including rhaenyra's, and him staying that way is just better and (i'm loath to say it) cooler for his character & arc

3. like asoiaf/got, they should have had multiple protagonists povs spanning different locations for viewers to follow. the teams debate + emotional investment, stakes and satisfaction would have been far more balanced that way

4. rhaenyra dies long before the war ends anyway. like please think ahead when you're writing a show like this dawg

5. aegon just has a better character arc than rhaenyra does (especially if he kills himself). bias aside, it's just factual 🤷‍♀️

6. season 2's issue is the glacial pacing of character arcs (and some are... straight up just stagnant) while the plot moves its merry way along. we went from blood and cheese to harrenhal exile to rook's rest to regency era to now the sowing but the character work isn't there (and continues to not be there since the set ups and pay offs are almost all offscreened or nonsensical) because condal & co have structured the story in a way that skips 30 years worth of character work and arcs and relationships in favor of getting to the action immediately. they're suffering from that decision now in season 2 rightfully so

[prince-dork-the-companion]

Batfamily Presentation Night - Pizza - Jason

Masterlist

Jason: Alright fuckers, my turn.

Tim: Uh oh.

Steph: This is going to go one of two ways.

Steph: Okay, I now know which way this is going.

Jason: For the record, I made this presentation last night after accidentally making eye contact with Bruce, so if I seem very angry, that's why - and it's mostly justified. Damian, I don't hate your pizza that much, but it's still bad.

Damian: You're just jealous.

Duke: I respect using your status as a criminal like it's a title.

Jason: It's my full legal name, actually.

Dick: EXCUSE ME?

Babs: Jay, are you really going to turn against me like this?

Jason: I stand by this entirely. Cheese pizza is boring and no one likes Dick Grayson.

Duke: I think he's pretty cool.

Jason: You haven't known him long enough.

Dick: :(

Cass: I like Dick.

Tim: [snorts]

Babs: I - You do know -

Jason: Again, I stand by everything stated on this slide.

Duke: This is oddly philosophical.

Steph: Jason you're no longer my favourite Robin.

Jason: You act like I care at all.

Duke: Man I'm just sitting here and I'm just being ATTACKED on ALL FRONTS.

Steph: PINEAPPLE DOESN'T BELONG ON FUCKING PIZZA YOU HETHAN.

Bruce: Stephanie, get off the table.

Steph: Stfu Bruce you're old.

Bruce: ...

Tim: [sips coffee loudly] I dunno what all the fuss is about, it's just Pizza.

Steph: Shut up Tim you're a war criminal.

Damian: I don't mind the taste of pineapple on pizza. It's not bad, but I don't understand why you're so angry about it, Brown.

Steph: I hate this FUCKING FAMILY.

Cass: You love us. :)

Damian: TODD -

Bruce: Damian, off the table. Don't try to stab your brother.

Jason: He can try.

Damian: This is why Mother didn't want you around me.

Steph: WOAH -

[Long, collective silence]

Steph: Bruce what?

Bruce: I don't like getting grease on my fingers.

Steph: BRUCE WHAT?

Tim: The disrespect on this slide.

Steph: WE CANNOT GLOSS OVER BRUCE EATING WITH A FORK AND KNIFE.

Duke: Rich people...

Jason: You're one of us now, Shrimp.

Duke: Aw, shit.

Duke: The animosity...

Dick: I'm on the edge of my seat.

Tim: Not the STOCK image.

[uproar]

Steph: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, JASON?

Dick: HUH?

Damian: You put... fish on your pizza? Todd, what has gotten into you?

Duke: I'm gonna hyperventilate.

Tim: Lord, give me strength...

Duke: All of you were hating on MY TASTE, meanwhile Jason was RIGHT HERE the WHOLE TIME.

Steph: You're going to hell. Straight, DIRECTLY to hell.

Babs: Because nothing else Jason has ever done will land him in hell.

Steph: EVERYTHING ELSE HE DID WAS JUSTIFIED.

Bruce: Stephanie...

Steph: YOU CAN'T DEFEND THIS BRUCE HE PUT FUCKING FISH ON PIZZA.

Steph: NO, NOTHING you say is going to fix this Jason. I'm disowning you.

Tim: Half the time you aren't even one of us because -

Steph: SHUT UP DRAKE!! I'M GOING THROUGH A BREAKDOWN RIGHT NOW LEAVE ME ALONE. This is it this is my Jason Arc.

Duke: [loud breathing]

Damian: This whole event is unnecessary. I've got better things to do -

Jason: If I can't escape family bonding time, you can't escape family bonding time.

Damian: Tt.

Tim: Steph, are you good now?

Steph: No. I'm never going to recover from this.

Duke: I am no longer hyperventilating.

Dick: Let's just - move on -

Tim: I'll go next.

Steph: Uh oh.

TO BE CONTINUED

[catindabag]

Since I had a good drink with my THG buddies again, I’m just gonna drop my personal TOP 10 favorite TBOSAS fanfics of the month. My previous list is [this] if anyone wants to read. Cheers!

So here they are:

1. With Age Comes Love by morelikediscordinated

It’s that Snowjanus story that surprisingly pulled all of my heartstrings in one sitting. It includes a lot of kissing and some misunderstandings here and there. However, it gave us delulu folks the happy ending that we secretly want from our two walking disasters.😘

2. Arrangements by helloimdeadinside

It’s a greatly written ongoing Snowjanus story that features two awkward teenagers who were arranged to be married by a scheming Strabo Plinth because of political reasons. To be fair, Grandma’am was the one who agreed to the match. So enjoy~.😏

3. Hear it call to me, constantly by ColorMeHappy

It’s a great Snowjanus story within an ongoing series that features a lot of crying from Sejanus and a world changing breakdown from Coryo. 10/10. Would read again.

4. Hate is a strong word by KatcadeCascade

This is one of my personal favorite Snowjanus oneshots ever. That’s it. That’s all I can say. So just start reading this masterpiece while I’ll start eating some Gouda cheese.

5. To Where She Flew by madzdolin

It’s a greatly written ongoing SnowBaird story that explores a lot of different “What Ifs” to make a compelling narrative. Also, we got your usual amnesia trope, redemption arcs, well written side characters, and Capitol conspiracies.

6. Blood of my blood by loveshazel

This is the SnowBaird story where Coryo’s parents are still alive and kicking along with their irreversible war traumas. Also, our poor cabbage boy’s little sister is there too.

7. A Bird in the Hand by horrormoviebarbie

This is that ongoing SnowBaird story where crazy Coryo is trying his best to fight off his destined redemption arc until he gives up and joins the good side unwillingly.😭🤣

8. Nothing Burns Like The Snow by evilweasel

This ongoing SnowBaird story features our favorite Crazy Peepaw Snow living his best life with Sweet Meemaw Baird. Meanwhile, Katniss and fam are starving and the only thing she wants in order for Prim to survive is by adopting the old crazy couple whether they like it or not. And Crazy Peepaw Plinth is also alive, I guess?

9. i deserve it, don’t i by ColorMeHappy

This greatly written Snowjanus oneshot is really sweet and is filled with sweets. I mean, it literally features a starving Coryo wanting to eat chocolates and cookies. So Sejanus bakes and provides for his poor cabbage boy.

10. Cyanide Dipped Roses by Angelsbite_demonkiss

It’s that ongoing Snowjanus Omegaverse that features a desperate Coryo who was forced to change his dreams and future plans because of his omega status. And because freaking Dean Highbottom bent the rules again out of spite. So the only way to secure the House of Snow’s future is to marry a rich man who is willing to provide everything for our poor cabbage boy. #SugarBabyCoryoSnowisonthemove

SPECIAL MENTION: These TBOSAS stories are also great to read on the weekend.😉

1. The Capitol’s Dilemma by way_too_many_fandoms

2. Red skirt by Blue_green_purple

3. Hand in hand (me on my knees) by DevHasIssues

4. Like Melting Snow by egg_thief

5. the line between hoping and hurting by asbealthgn

6. I’d Like To Go Home Now. Please. by Aabbott91206

7. The Peacekeeper by killmymindlarry

8. The cost of Honey by aquietcloud

9. this private war of mine by liteacademeia

10. Somewhere Along the way our Lives Entertwined by DevHasIssues

[hargitays]

potential spoilers for s2 of HOTD (leaks)

after a day of thinking about it, i'm actually okay with a potential alicole sex scene. i just really am not looking forward to memes making fun of alicent ("she just needed an orgasm"), calling her a hypocrite, etc.

i honestly think this major change alicent has gone through of having a lot of power politically as the queen to now just being the dowager queen could make her go through an identity crisis. she's just the king's mother now. she worked so hard for this, and it sucks. she's (in her head) done everything by the books, she's morally just, she's devoted her life to serving the king & the realm, she's done her duty, and now there's going to be war.

even if you headcanon alicent as a lesbian, she does not know that about herself. and, even if she did, she wouldn't believe it or do anything about it. she has always been sexually repressed because from what we have seen, she has NEVER had a consensual sexual relationship with someone in her entire life. if she wants to experiment sexually in search of identity, i honestly think that is a good and interesting direction for her character this season. and maybe it will even help the general audience like her more, since she's choosing for herself liberation sexually (but this is just wishful thinking). the main complaint about alicent last season was just a lack of autonomy and perpetual victimhood. while i disagree with that, i feel like this entire arc might help her find herself more & gain some autonomy back. but i just don't really see why she'd be experimenting sexually in the midst of all this turmoil unfolding.

major actual spoilers:

fabien said in a recent interview that criston feels very guilty because he was with alicent (in her chambers, i'm assuming) DURING BLOOD & CHEESE 😭. i really hope i'm misunderstanding but it sounds pretty clear in the video that that is what happens. so maybe the one time that alicent decides to have sex upon her own volition her grandchildren and daughter are attacked and one is murdered??? i just know now that is why she seems so depressed and guilty in every clip we've seen so far. probably why she tries to drown herself in the bathtub. both her and criston are just going to be completely guilt ridden and i guess i don't know how to feel about it until we really see it, i just hope the writing is good. that's all that i need to be on board. i need the sex scene to make sense, time & place, and i hope there is some buildup prior to it etc.

[aryas-faces]

House of the Dragon Review

The Good:

- Aegon and Tom Glynn Carney. Aegon is the one compelling character this season, and his arc is great. He tries to be a good King but can’t protect his son. He tries to get Alicent’s love, but can’t no matter what. He tries to save his people but he gets destroyed in the process. He trusts his brother who betrays him. And Tom acts with his whole heart and soul. They’re truly the only good this season and the only reason I’ll keep watching

- Larys, Matthew Needham, and his relationship with Aegon. Just *chef’s kiss* The best relationship on the show. So much manipulation but genuine growing fondness too. Can’t wait to see Tom and Matthew inevitably do press for season 3 together and talk about the relationship in depth

- Ramin’s score. He is the only thing that’s consistent through GOT and HotD

The Meh:

- Rhys Ifans is a great Otto, but they criminally underutilized them

- Rook’s Rest was an amazing episode but they still had Rhaenyra be the hero by giving her a “divine” reason to go to war

- Episode 1 also was meh because Blood and Cheese being botched ruined what would otherwise be a great episode

- Ep 2 is similar to Ep 1. LOVED the Green scenes and the Twin scene, but they had Rhaenyra feel bad about what happened which is SO out of character. I also don’t like the propaganda angle they took with Blood and Cheese with Otto

- Aemond becoming his book self was great, but it was done rushed and sloppily. They underutilized both Aemond and Ewan

- Phia and Helaena are also great but again, criminally underutilized

- Olivia is a fantastic actress, despite what they did to Alicent

- The Dragon seeds being burnt by Vermithor would be in the Good if they didn’t try to brush it off and still claim Rhaenyra’s innocent

- Daenon and Alys scenes were either incredible or a total snooze fest. No inbetween. They were repetitive and not all the Daemon haunted scenes were necessary. Matt and Gayle are great though

- Criston and Fabien are underutilized, especially post Rook’s Rest

The Bad:

- What they did to Alicent. It is unforgivable. They threw her character away in favor of Rhaenyra. They can’t stand the thought that a woman doesn’t worship Rhaenyra

- Everything with Team Black. This is not hyperbole. The scenes were dull, designed to sanitize them so they are the Good guys and destroy them in the process. The actors, I’m sorry to say, are not on the level of the Green actors. Even the better Black actors (Emma and Steve) have stiff moments through the season

- Sexual humiliation and degradation of the Greens. This isn’t the place to get into it, but people have talked about it elsewhere

- Sanitizing Rhaenyra still, even after episode 7 and trying to make her a hero

- Sanitizing Viserys. The man raped Alicent and abused his children that weren’t Rhaenyra. Why are the Greens holding him in high regard?

Overall, I’d say a 5/10. All it took was the show having Black centered episodes to descend into GOT season 8 levels, since the Green episodes are SIGNIFICANTLY better

[ladyluscinia]

Honestly I kind of like that there's no guards for Blood & Cheese.

Like, yeah, it does kind of push belief for drama, but frankly there's so much happening in this episode and I imagine they have a lot of events they want to get to this season. There's a lot of moving parts and various character arcs that need to get into place before anything. At some point plot explanation and building tension becomes a trade-off with how far you can take story arcs in a certain amount of time. We can revisit if this was "rushed" once we see how they've used the rest of their season. It's a bit silly to do it now, though.

Well. Anyway - I like that there aren't guards. I like that you can probably read a lot of not-unreasonable implications into there not being guards.

Larys just finished a purge of the castle to ensure everyone inside is unquestionably pro-Green. Now he's talking about servants, but the twin at Dragonstone points out that every single member of the Kingsguard swore to protect the whole royal family and they are all going through some degree of the "what do you do when the royals start killing each other?" conundrum. How many have deserted Aegon? How many did they kill recently for objecting to the usurping? How short-staffed are they really?

The guards we do see are Aegon's (and their eyes pass over the ratcatchers with no acknowledgement, like you would expect from the highborn sons they are). Guards who would likely fan out through the royal wing for the night once the newly installed king - the biggest target, the most important charge - goes to bed, but he's not doing that now is he? No, Aegon is downstairs with his robust guard getting drunk on the iron throne in the wee hours of the night with his new mandatory status-friends.

Aemond has wandered off - perhaps up to the battlements? The battlements where a bunch of guards must stand ready every hour in case a dragon arrives to escalate the war he's made inevitable. The war he's straining at his leash to go start properly, same as Daemon. The assassins are here for him, they show up in his room, but he won't be the one who meets them.

Criston Cole, who should maybe be on duty somewhere and certainly is a driving force behind deployment priorities, is off having an affair in an abandoned royal room. He's been just as keen on the war as every other man in this keep - egging on Alicent and her children's hostility for years, killing Beesbury - and earlier that night he was with Aemond also looking forward to more violence. Where the guards are isn't an oversight on his part, or a dereliction of duty - it's a reflection of what the Greens have been focusing on. The fact that neither he nor Alicent clock a reduced presence in the royal wing as a problem vs a convenience for illicit sex plans is just a bonus.

Of course no one is protecting Helaena or her children from being casualties. She's been begging them to do so since she was a little girl and they still just ignore her.

Of course there's no guards.

[queersanddeers]

*hugs Jackson* sorry about cheesing you so much

*pats him, walks off hoping he didn't notice the cheese on his back or on his head*

-monty

AJHSYDFYGG NO HUGS NO HUGS NO HUGS!!! -J

A-Apologies accepted though, Apologies accepted...-J

[And he never knew about the impending cheesy doom...]

[totally-ikea]

NO FIREHOUSE!! THEYRE EVIL!!! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOURE GETTING YOURSELF INTO I SWEAR JOIN MY SIDE ILL GIVE YOU A BLÅHAJ

Join the right Mac & Side. (damn i’m so cheesy)

@definitely-spirit-halloween @firehouse-subs-fr @the-real-google

[bibibbon]

when it comes to the traitor reveal, I feel like revealing it during the training camp would’ve been too early but while the canonical reveal is okay timeline wise it’s also kind of too late? but with how the tightly packed the timeline & events of manga goes, I’m not exactly sure when it’ll be the best time to reveal it?

especially since it seems like shigaraki doesn’t utilize yuga’s spy status? either because he has no use for yuga post-kamino (especially with himiko’s existence, gestures to himiko infiltrating the license exam), had no way to get into contact with the aoyamas, or maybe afo didn’t tell him about the ua spy (or maybe even shigaraki saw the aoyamas as strickly afo’s property and didn’t want to (or couldn’t) get involved? idk?)

anyways, where in the canonical timeline would you have put the traitor reveal?

au where the lov uses the aoyama residents as their primary hideout pre-mla arc when-

The more I think about it the more I start to realise that horikoshi revealing the UA traitor plot line after the vigilante arc isn't the problem but the problem is that the plot point felt and was heavily neglected.

We get hints of there being a traitor among UA during the training camp arc by present mic meaning that if that plot point was resolved within that arc it would be incredibly rushed and wouldn't of had time to fully breathe and be developed especially because the moment in itself is framed as mic being too paranoid.

Ultimately, horikoshi, from this point, starts to slowly build up yuuga and his role very indirectly, whether that be through yuuga's hero name of ✨️i can't stop twinkling ✨️or yuuga consistently breaking the 4th wall.

While these are small little hints spewed here and there in the story they aren't further developed or we don't get much attention to them as mha slowly branches out from class 1a making the plot point feel quite deattached.

Other than this, yuuga also has some weird gag scenes that draw a sense of uncomfortable aurora around him. This can mainly be seen with the way that he interacts with izuku. He gives him cheese and sneaks to his room. He also is quickly to see right through him and connect the dots that izuku must have been formerly a quirkless guy.

Yuuga perfectly ends up encapsulating a character that's a bit suspicious but not enough to really raise any warning bells. Ultimately, it just ends up making it look like he is being himself, especially with how he seems to seemingly fabricate lies and truths together because he genuinely did start to care for 1A but he is also a spy that has given accurate information to the leauge.

Now I think my main problem is that we don't see yuuga interact with the league at all or get eird messages. We don't see shigaraki utilise the resources he has when he easily could, and we don't see a lot of yuuga's own perspective at all. For example, we don't know how yuuga retold the information and it would of been hella interesting if we saw yuuga's active conflicting feeling of fear and obeying orders due to that and with sheer regret and guilt.

Did yuuga try and distance himself and not form close relationships with 1A because he felt guilty? He felt like a sheep in wolves clothing. He was a student at heart, he loved UA, he loved the classes, the teachers, but he has no autonomy having to actively tear down what he loves to protect himself and his family.

They made a deal with a devil, and now he pays the price being haunted by what's to come. I imagine that the events that played out during and after the war arc must have done a great deal to his mental health, completely breaking down and engulfing him in guilt. He probably blames himself for the deaths and injuries of so many heroes because if he could do something, this wouldn't happen.

It seems like the plot kind of forgets about yuuga in all honesty, especially when they had himiko break in and infiltrate the exam. It would have been interesting to see why that happened. My theory is that shigaraki started to develop some doubts about the information yuuga was providing and wanted someone he could trust to infiltrate and cause a bit of chaos while also checking up on yuuga in a way. This could have been a great moment to show tensions between yuuga and the league.

[gojuo]

free helaena from those fanfic writers. wdym her son was murdered and her husband is bedridden because of that man and now even her dragon dreaming which is the only thing those writers had allowed her to have will also be connected to that man? this ship only existed in headcanons and shouldve stayed there. im sick of this pandering

every excitement i had before this season is gone. season 1 going full mushroom was bad enough already but now we’ve completely entered fanfic territory. its embarrassing for an hbo show

after season 1 ended and we five helaena stans criticized her lackluster and frankly ableist depiction in the show, the dickriders were soooo adamant to tell us that we just had to wait for season 2, she was gonna go through blood and cheese and she's a dreamer now so that was gonna be an interesting new character arc for her, we were just being too impatient!! etc. etc. now we're here, 2 episodes left in the season, blood and cheese meant fucking nothing to helaena, it doesn't haunt her, it didn't change her, it didn't affect her, she's still the same character in season 2 episode 6 as she was when we first met her in season 1 episode 6. she spoke 10 lines this season, her screentime is still minimal, her bond with her dragon is completely erased, she's not going through any development, she has no reaction to anything that's happening to herself nor her family. she is an add-on to alicent's guilt complex instead of being her own person with her own emotions and opinions on this war. her dreamer powers aren't about her, aren't about self-realization or actualization, it's about aemond using her as a crystal ball to go to harrenhal in two episodes time like the plot device the writers have made her out to be. like fuck this show and fuck all the low iq morons that defend it.

[prince-dork-the-companion]

Batfamily Presentation Night - Pizza - Cass

Masterlist

Cass: I'll go :)

Duke: Uh-oh.

Tim: Interested to see where this one goes.

Duke: Is this cheating? This feels like cheating.

Jason: When did you make this?

Cass: Before today. :)

Jason: I shouldn't be surprised.

Damian: That is a very useful visual.

Steph: I have nothing to say.

Duke: A good, hardworking employee.

Tim: We should get a cat and name it Cheese.

Damian: That is a horrible name for a cat.

Bruce: No.

Jason: Wh -

Duke: Are those turtles???

Bruce: Where did you get this image.

Cass: :)

Jason: B you have to explain.

Bruce: Cassandra.

Tim: So Bruce can have pet turtles, but when we do it's a problem? I see how it is.

Steph: Tim this is the perfect opportunity to go on your Jason Arc.

Jason: Your what?

Dick: Oh, I remember them! Those are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! They're vigilantes in New York. Super cool guys. Have a bit of an addiction to pizza, though.

Cass: And the sewers.

Dick: Yeah they live in sewers, it's kinda gross, but they're nice.

Jason: Please tell me this photo isn't in the New York sewers.

Tim: The rats, the rats... we're the rats...

Dick: Oh, that's a good one of me.

Bruce: Dick.

Dick: If you mention the rules about eating on patrol I will throw a fork at you.

Steph: Haven't we already discussed that, Bruce?

Dick: Y- WAIT!

Jason: [cackling]

Dick: So you HAVE been stealing my pizza??

[general laughter]

Steph: Why does that image look so sad...

Babs: Don't diss the deep dish.

Jason: Steph, you're not gonna say ANYTHING about the order it's in?

Steph: Nah it looks fine.

Duke: This is favouritism.

Steph: Sauce on top of cheese is a far cry from PINEAPPLE, DUKE.

Duke: It's good!!

Jason: It's not.

Jason: Wh-

Tim: Why are you so angry... What did that burger do to you...

Jason: CASS??

Cass: :)

Jason: I can't believe I have to move AGAIN.

Dick: You don't have to move every time we find your apartment.

Jason: It's called PRIVACY, DICK.

Duke: I'm unsure if I should be more concerned about what "Nemo" means or the Pinterest deck.

Jason: Pintrest deck?

Tim: [wheezes]

Dick: Nemo... does Jason eat goldfish crackers on his pizza??

Jason: GOLDFISH? Have you NEVER seen the movie finding Nemo?

Dick: I don't remember what kind of fish he is. Sorry for not having that information STORED AWAY in my brain.

Jason: It's a clownfish, Dick. Kind of like you.

Dick: I'm more of a Dory, I think.

Jason: No, you're those annoying ass seagulls.

Steph: Mine? Mine?

Cass: :)

Steph: EXCUSE ME?

Jason: Digiorno? You WILLINGLY eat DIGIORNO??

Steph: NOT ALL OF US HAVE THE TIME OR SKILL TO HARVEST AND PREPARE THEIR OWN PIZZAS, JASON

Jason: SO BUY SOME.

Dick: There's a really good pizza place on Poplar called Moe's. They give me free pizza.

Jason: Moe's is shit and you know it. I'd eat fucking Dominoes before I eat Moe's.

Dick: YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

Steph: Fight fight fight fight!

Duke: [wheezing]

Tim: Huh what?

Jason: I think I'm gonna be sick.

Dick: It could be worse.

Jason: I don't think it can get any worse than this. I can't believe we're related.

Babs: Y-

Dick: ANYWAYS.

Steph: Tim, you need help.

Duke: He's not the only one.

Steph: Duke, I take back everything I've said about your taste in pizza, this is a war crime.

Duke: This feels backhanded somehow.

Duke: Oh.

Jason: Hm.

Duke: I'll take it.

Steph: THREE STARS?? AND I ONLY GOT TWO???

Duke: L.

Steph: I'm going to unionize against Duke's union.

Bruce: Duke's what?

Jason: Pesto?

Cass: Hm?

Jason: Green pizza sauce. Was it pesto? Tastes like herbs, really notably the basil. It's alright. Not my favourite, but it's alright.

Cass: ...Yes. I think so.

Damian: Only four stars... what do I have to do to receive five stars?

Duke: Dude, are you trying to RIG the competition?

Dick: It's okay Dami, we tied!

Damian: I wish crush all of your pizza flavours.

Jason: There's the answer, kid.

Damian: Hn.

Duke: I smell bias.

Steph: No, no, she's got a point.

Duke: I feel enlightened. Good presentation, 7/10.

Jason: [muttering] So tired of fucking moving...

Dick: You don't have to move, little wing.

Jason: Fuck off.

Steph: I am going to hold off making my judgements but all of you know that Cass's presentation is the best.

Damian: I will go next, as mine is the objectively superior one.

TO BE CONTINUED?

[horizon-verizon]

Lucerys went to Storm’s End to deliver Rhaenyra’s message, he insisted he would bring Borros’ reply to the QUEEN, Lucerys basically died for his mother’s claim and she repays him by trying to make up with his murderers ? That’s sociopathic.

Rhaenyra agreed to send her son as an envoy for the sake of her throne which she apparently doesn’t want and then she begs his murderers for peace ? Why did she let him go then ? Did she sacrifice him ? For what exactly ? She spat into her dead son’s face, she worries about her PR but not her son's sacrifice.

This ask accusing Rhaenrya as being sociopathic is part of why I simply don't emotionally/morally engage at face value (as in these are "real" or well realized character) with this show as much as a lot of other people in the asoiaf fandom do. I do engage as critically (analytically) as I can AND use some scenes as evidence against fandom sexism. The clear misunderstanding and trying to fix characters into roles that don't make sense for their arcs in this story of the Dance undermines too much of the HotD story for me to remain Watsonian about it.

Bec it is not "Rhaenyra" that is sociopathic. It is the sexist writing breeding inconsistency after inconsistency for the character as well as the entire list of circumstances--how kinslaying seems no big deal and how it seems no big deal that Aemond commits this taboo and thus removing a critical layer to why the blacks go to war to answer such a tragedy (this layer that is already on top of how they usurped her).

Though she'd be a valid character if she had been adapted/created for some other appropriate story, FOR THIS ONE and for the relationship she has w/Daemon, she simply doesn't make any sense (the reasoning for war, her kids dying and little response or exploration of that versus her trying to do what Viserys thinks...the guy who ruled pretty poorly, etc.) and is horribly, sexistly written so that they can get as many people--who are not really weighing what the point of her character was in the Dance story or truly care to understand the very basics of misogyny--to like her character. Which itself tells us something abt our world--women over male characters of fiction and perhaps real life need to be morally upright in order for the sexist violence to matter or even be defined as sexist. (Catelyn Stark of ASoIaF is a character who has her flaws but also her valid reasons for how she acts. Margarey of GoT is not sincere to smallfolk, but we can't count her as evil for it. ETC.)

That the motive behind her usurpation and eventual murder was greedy sexism. Then entire reason why Viserys is king is bc of sexism and the Targs succession rules not having been solofoed in terms of which royal has a superseding claim than the other since Aenys and Maegor. Many Targ men actively blocked their female counterparts or children or others' children to strengthen their own claim in the eyes of the Andal-Westerosi descents they were ruling and assimilating into for the ease of said rule.

Therefore yes, the Dance happened bc of misogyny/you can never remain that misogyny played a small role in it happening.

Part of the reason--but not the only reason--she fights for the throne is bc she wants payback for her sons' deaths/punish the greens/not have Luke-Jace die from nothing at all.

This is the same woman who marries Daemon Targaryen bc she is like him in the ferocity, prideful way as well as wanted him for his loyalty and willingness to go that far for her, their family/kids, and her crown. It was actually rather cheap for HotD to portray a Rhaenyra who is conflicted over: some sort of payback for Luke's death thru Blood & Cheese vs the horror of Helaena's grief and pain as a mother herself. A sort of reckoning that she may or may not accept and how far does she actually "accept"? THIS, I argue, would have been far more interesting bc of the layers to it all that reminds me of ebing close to any other Gothic narrative...and this is more of a Gothic couple than they aren't.

This also goes into how the focus of her distrust of him is somehow whether he's trying to rule through her instead of self control. It appears a fine line--bc some might think if she actually cared to follow directions or lead, he wouldn't fly off the handle or go behind their backs or do stuff like "heir for a day", so it has to be him wanting the throne for himself sincerely, and that is all...no love. Again, that is what she was arguing he was trying to do in the actual S2 E2 episode, when she says that he is just trying to use her name to do what he wanted against the Hightowers/Otto/his enemies.

When we have already hashed this bit out AND Rhaenyra (if we say she is very careful and deliberate when it comes to her kids' safety) would not have endangered her 3 boys if it were obviously true Daemon was gunning for them for himself...also, his daughters were marrying those boys so he does have stake in the line even with Jacaerys ruling bc he'd have ruling grandkids through him. So no, it didn't make sense, her concerns.

Not unless we reason that:

this Rhaenyra is simply not the same Rhaenyra as the book canon, and thus her relationship with Daemon simply makes no sense on screen as the writers wrote her/them

we recognize that the writers contradict epi 2, epi 7, epi 8 (all where she obviously understands him and puts trusts him not try to get the throne from/through her or harm her again NOT abt his emotional control) while remembering Daemon suddenly choke her out in epi 10 (which didn't make sense itself bc of those episodes I listed)

*7/14/24* I guess we could argue that Rhaenyra was more trying to address his tendency to leave her when things get too hard by accusing him of cold ambition (as an expression from the fear that he only wants her for power since he didn't bother to help her out at least 2x before, so this is her taking an opportunity to draw him into it and express that fear)...again, this doesn't make much sense when this show has made us believe that they had rather very peaceful and happy and fulfilled days on Dragonstone from S1 E8! This is a pre-marriage argument or at least an argument had either before Rhaenyra proposes to him--thus the argument is her confronting him before she ties herself to him--OR it's had in the first two years when he does something nasty or sus and she confronts him. It's not an argument that one has 6 years after marriage and raising 6 children and seemingly completely satisfied with one's partner WITHOUT HAVING ALREADY WRITTEN MULTIPLE SCENES SHOWING/ESTABLISHING SOMETHING LIKE A MISUNDERSTANDING THAT HOLDS A LOT OF TENSION BETWEEN THEM BEFORE THIS ARGUMENT! It should have been built into to make any modicum of sense. *END*

So yeah, even though I liked the acting and energy of the fight, I didn't care for Rhaenyra's argument w/Daemon. and it isn't actually Rhaenyra nor does their Rhaenyra make any sense, so I don't care to actually engage with this show that much or take it as a serious project. It's their cluster fuck of a character they made to draw in people who can't handle dark or morally questionable female character OR genuinely don't grasp what an unreliable narrator is: