#Philip is a hypocrite

[asherisawkward]

So Philip has all the glyph scars that are believed to be the cause of his curse. Either that or doing Palismen like cocaine. But all of the circles are perfect. No human should be able to make circles that perfect. Therefore, one suspects he has some method of assuring this perfection. It just gives me the mental image of Philip doing his glyph scars with cookie cutters.

[bookish-cravings]

The same crowd that gets on Eloise’s neck about being rich and privileged and unaware of how hard other people’s lives are is the same crowd that trashed her for spending time with Theo, seeing more of the world outside of the ton, learning more about women’s rights and the world around her and called her selfish for wanting more than to spend her life as a man’s trophy-on-a-shelf

Almost like you guys don’t actually want her to grow and expand her worldview, you’re just waiting for Scumbag Ph*lip to come and completely destroy her spirit and punish her for thinking she could possibly do more with her life than be a wife and mother

And what exactly was so selfish about her spending time with Theo? You guys love Benophie as if the class difference isn’t also a factor there

[trvrphlps]

making trikey hang out is so fun because they always have the stupidest conversations

[ofstarsandowls]

Philip/Belos: "I am duty-bound to rid the human world of all evil – of the demons and witches. It is my God-given mission as a champion of all that is holy"

Also Philip/Belos: [does an evil laugh out of seemingly nowhere for fun/to gloat or whenever he does something very henious]

[jojojooo33]

Would the Wittebanes have known about Shakespeare... Puritans apparently thought theatre was Evil but I could imagine Caleb not particularly caring about that. But also I don't know if they would have access to plays even if either of them were interested

[fandomsarefamily1966]

Caleb/Eda: You've gone too far! Philip/Lilith: I?! What have I done but what was expected of me? Forever upholding our society, our family, the law. While you flout all to do as you please! Where is duty? Where is sacrifice? It's trampled under your pretty foot again! Caleb/Eda: Exhausting, wasn't it? Hiding behind the cloak of your own righteousness. But now they see you as you are.

[sethdomain]

just saw someone call belos just born evil, I'm seething 😁

[pipwife]

"how could anyone not like this character???" him being canonically a racist makes it a little hard, i'll admit.

[sepublic]

The core to Belos’ character is that he’s everything wrong with the United States of America. Why else is he a Puritan, a group of racist settlers who helped found the U.S. and contributed to the genocide of the Native Americans? Why else does he dress up like a Founding Father when not in papal robes, with a ponytail resembling a powdered wig?

Luz thinking he’s a great explorer, only to find out Philip is just an entitled asshole who takes credit from others to make himself look better, is a play on people IRL finding out that people like Christopher Columbus and Thomas Edison were assholes who stood on the shoulders of others. It’s a play on white mediocrity and how white guys do the bare minimum and expect to be praised.

Belos is a bigot whose entire motive and goals are based on genocide-level bigotry, and he refuses to unlearn any beliefs; Being a historical Puritan he is 100% racist and misogynistic and unlike Caleb, didn’t take the chance to grow out of it. He wants to believe he’s born special and better than everyone else, and that’s why he buys into white supremacy. The modern cop is the descendant of the witch hunter.

There is an explicit connection between the colonial genocide of Native Americans and Belos’ genocide of witches and demons, down to imposing a Christian misunderstanding of the local religion. He feels entitled to their magic but does none of the work to understand, nor does he cultivate a sustainable relationship with the land the way indigenous people do, hence consuming palismen.

He coined the term Savage Ages, with Savage having racist connotations. His fantasy is the Monster Hunter, the idea that it’s okay to dehumanize anything and even anyone that’s different to kill them. He believes in the Evil Races trope which is of course inherently racist. Belos treats Luz like his White Man’s Burden, a brown child who needs a White Savior to civilize (just as the U.S. kidnapped Native American children to assimilate), and then tries to kill Luz when she doesn’t go along instead of just. Leaving Luz alone or dragging her into the human realm with him anyway.

Belos makes exceptions to his religion when convenient, allowing himself to use magic but then demonizing those who do, just as homophobic Christians and Republicans do. Think of all the anti-gay politicians who are caught being gay; They’re not repressed victims, just hypocrites who think they’re entitled to special treatment. Philip didn’t rat on Caleb for hanging out with a witch for the reasons Pro-Lifers let loved ones have abortions; Caleb was important to him, and he’s not one of the witches Philip planned to murder. And even then he still killed Caleb for ‘crossing a line’!

The Puritans and other groups informed the Alt-Right in the U.S., as well as Evangelicals who rage about how something as innocuous as Pokemon is a Satanic influence (Yes this happened; The Conformatorium doesn’t seem so unrealistic after all, and remember that Dana’s father gave her a copy of Pokémon Red before he died that she latched onto). But like the Televangelist, Belos indulges in material wealth and glory via the glamour of Catholicism, because he’s not even consistent to Puritan values either.

He’s Trump, he’s Elon Musk, he’s Ron DeSantis. He’s the incel/mass shooter who fell down the pipeline, who feels cheated out of the promises of a white supremacist society and takes it out on minorities but not other white guys, because he thinks the system’s idea is fine it just isn’t working as it should, at least he’s better than those guys. He calls others NPCs because he wants to believe he’s born special and better and chosen.

Belos’ reaction to Caleb being with Evelyn was undeniably motivated by racial disgust at his brother for committing miscegenation and making Philip related to a savage in the process, it’s why he never brings it up because of the scandalous shame of it all. Belos hates those witches more than he ever loved Caleb, Caleb was never his priority or he’d have changed his mind; It had far less to do with ‘codependency’ and far more to do with white supremacy, perhaps Philip wouldn’t have minded Caleb settling with a human white woman. The issue being not Caleb leaving him but who Caleb left him for.

Belos thinks taming a wilderness and murdering its natives makes him a tough man because he’s insecure. He has a sniveling victim complex that can’t comprehend why minorities would dislike him, except that they’re mean. Belos epitomizes the U.S.’s racial and colonial violence, its white supremacy, and its global police narrative that decides the existence of another, independent world is an inherent threat to his own.

The conflict between Philip and Caleb was over racism, and so it’s black and white because racism is always wrong. Making it ‘nuanced’ would take away from the fact that the motives for real life racism are inherently nonsensical and insincere; Caleb wasn’t selfish for living with another culture on its terms, instead of staying in the racism village (The Gravesfield statues corroborate Philip being an adult when he arrived in the Demon Realm, according to the memory portraits; Caleb waited until Philip was an adult before leaving). Philip was not a weird kid, he was adhering to his social norms with games about how anyone different or actually weird should die, and he wanted to do this, he’s a Conformatorium prude like all the rest and let his fear of Evelyn justify and evolve into violence.

Even if he was weird, Belos isn’t telling other people they should fit in for their sake, he’s telling them they should just die (Unlike himself, because he’s ‘special’); It’s what he admits to the Collector in the finale about not bothering teaching them anything, just wiping them out. Belos uses magic only to kill magic and discards it out of disgust when he’s about to leave, but makes an exception for the life of the non-human he’s become.

And the choice for the villain to be a genuine Puritan makes sense, because this is a show about weirdoes, so who’s designating them as such and why? Luz has a conflict with the IRL system since the first scene and Belos symbolizes the system, his Puritan ideology marked the foundation for it and the U.S. Belos killing Caleb is just the cherry on top of his actual motives and what his character was always about, that’s why his death scene isn’t him lamenting about Caleb or how lonely he is, it’s him being racist and demanding special treatment for his race. A racist white man feels no guilt for the witches and demons he murdered, just his white brother and clones; He still keeps killing them too btw.

Deeming someone a lost cause and killing them instead of working to rehabilitate is un-Christian, because Belos is not secretly bound by his religion, he picks and chooses. His guilt is not Catholic, he is the Protestant belief in his own superiority. Belos isn’t just a Nazi, he’s an American racist, he’s the KKK; He’s a condemnation of American Values and Exceptionalism, and lowkey I think that’s part of the reason why Family-Friendly Disney canned TOH, because Belos is a condemnation of a major consumer base. Disney being more progressive than other companies means jackshit because it’s performative and the bar is in hell.

[captainsophiestark]

Hypocrite

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Requested by @flowers-and-fichte! Hope you enjoy, Novalis, and thanks for the request!

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Bucky's gotten close with Peggy's best friend, the two bonding over the reckless mavericks they both chose to care so much about. But Steve and Peggy aren't the only couple dancing around each other in this war.

Word Count: 1,396

Category: Fluff, Humor

A/N: I can't believe this is my first time writing for Bucky, lol. Most of the rest of the fandom has been here since Winter Soldier, but better late than never I guess!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I shook my head as I barely managed to put one foot in front of the other, heading through the front door of my favorite dive bar. The Howling Commandos and I had spent many a night here, toasting success or planning our next move, but tonight I was without the rest of my group.

Peggy Carter was going to well and truly kill me, and I needed a night to process that.

She'd been my best friend for just about as long as I could remember; we'd joined SOE together, and somehow managed to end up on General Philips' staff, two of the only women getting as close to combat as we did. We made an excellent team, and normally, I had no complaints. But sometimes she could just be so reckless, flying head first into insane danger, that my heart needed a break lest it burst on the spot.

Tonight had been no exception. Peggy and Steve Rogers, the one and only Captain America, had worked together on a Commandos mission just across enemy lines. We'd been successful, and the two of them together had made an incredible difference in the war effort, but damned if I didn't also rue the day they'd met.

I slumped into a stool at the bar, barely registering my surroundings until someone slid a glass of my favorite drink in front of me. I frowned at it, then turned to my left to see who exactly it had come from.

Sargeant Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers' best friend, stared back at me with a faint smile on his face. He looked almost as tired as I felt.

"You look like you could use this," he said. I huffed.

"Thanks. How'd you know what I liked?"

He just shrugged, his eyes never once leaving mine as I took a drink, the corner of his mouth gently tugging up.

"I usually pay attention to the drink orders of pretty girls."

I snorted so hard a bit of my drink came out of my nose. It burned like hell, so it took me a few moments to recover myself enough to meet Bucky's gaze again. He'd leaned forward a bit, one eyebrow raised, looking a bit concerned.

"You alright there, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, fine. Just wasn't expecting you to hit on me, especially with that lame ass pickup line."

"Lame?" Bucky asked, a hand flying to his heart in mock-outrage. "That hurts."

I just rolled my eyes. "Knock it off, Barnes. We've quite literally been through hell together, I think we're a little past you trying to get my number in a bar."

"Well then how would you suggest I get your number?"

I paused, drink halfway to my lips again, and cut my eyes towards Bucky to let him know how truly ridiculous I thought the question was.

"You already have my number. It's the same one for Peggy and all the Commandos, as long as we're all stationed at the same camp."

Bucky just stared at me for a long moment. I sipped my drink and set it back down on the bar before he finally spoke again.

"Shit."

"Yeah. Nice try though."

Bucky huffed a laugh and took a sip of his own drink, then turned back to me with renewed energy and a bright, charming smile. I held up a hand before he could launch into whatever he was planning to say next.

"Okay Buck, why don't you just tell me what this is about. Because I came in here exausted after dealing with our best friends, and I don't have the energy to coach your rusty ass on how to flirt, if that's what you're trying to practice."

Bucky cleared his throat, deflating a little, but not all the way. He sighed, then set his shoulders and met my stare again with a determined expression.

"Actually, I'm trying to ask you on a date."

I laughed, until I realized Bucky wasn't laughing.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Very. Although you're really testing my resolve, since you've now laughed in my face twice. You know I used to be good at this before the war?"

I shook my head, a disbelieving smile subconsciously forcing its way onto my face.

"Bucky... I'm not saying no, but... I mean, why? Why me, why now? We've known each other and been working on missions since Steve got you out of that prison... what changed to make you think this was a good idea all of a sudden?"

He sighed heavily, the muscles in his jaw working as he apparently forced the words to come.

"I've been feeling like I wanted to ask you out since I saw you, honestly. But we were going to have to work together, and I think it's pretty clear I'm a little rusty. So I waited, and I was just starting to convince myself to wait all the way to the end of the war, until I tried to get Steve to ask Peggy on a date."

My eyebrows shot up. "You did? How did that go? Those two have been dancing around each other for way too long, I've been trying to tell Peggy the same thing-"

"Well, maybe between the two of us we can actually get them to take the leap. But I realized when I was talking to Steve that I can't expect him to take my advice when I won't take it myself. I'm turning into the biggest hypocrite in the world encouraging him to talk to Peggy while chickening out on talking to you. So... here we are."

"Here we are..." I repeated, my voice a little faint as the full weight of Bucky's confession sank in. He had feelings for me, and apparently had for a while now. And now he was asking me on a date, the fact that we were in the middle of a war be damned.

I grinned.

"Is that a good sign? That looks like a good sign, but now I'm not sure..."

"It's a great sign, Bucky," I said, meeting his eyes and feeling a spark of excitement in my chest. "I'm glad you decided to take your own advice."

"So that's a yes?"

"That's absolutely a yes." Bucky's shoulders finally relaxed, a smile appearing on his face to match my own. "So... when do we do this? Do we call tonight our first date? We're out together, the two of us, at a bar..."

"No. No way," Bucky quickly decided. I raised an eyebrow at him, so he continued. "Tonight's not a date, sweetheart. Even in the middle of a war, I can find a way to make our night on the town something special. A little magical, and definitely just about the two of us. Tonight might be just the two of us, but it's about the two reckless idiots we call friends."

I laughed, then reached for my drink and raised it towards Bucky.

"I'll toast to that. To taking tonight to cope with the people we care about, and putting something on the books for a real night out together soon."

"Hear hear."

Bucky and I shared a smile, then each took a drink. I finished mine off, then sat back in my chair and stared at the man before me.

"So... how do you feel about a game of darts? Person who's not throwing is allowed to distract the other person, but only by relating the most insane shit our friends have done lately. True stories only."

"Bring it on. I've known Steve long enough that nothing's gonna surprise me anymore."

I snorted as the two of us grabbed another round of drinks and headed for the dartboard at the back of the bar.

"Look, Peggy might've gone through a phase of trying to be a proper lady, but she's been making up for it by doing even more ridiculous nonsense lately. Your boy's got nothing on her."

"I guess we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

Bucky and I shared another smile. The routine was familiar, but now, there was an extra spark attached that hadn't really been there before. Even though tonight wasn't a date, spending time with Bucky felt a little different, now, in a very good way.

Maybe this could be the silver lining I held on to the next time Peggy tried to kill me via heart attack, until the end of the war and beyond.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Marvel Taglist: @valkyriepirate @songbirdcannabe @infinetlyforgotten @coinsublime

If your name is crossed out, Tumblr wouldn't let me tag you for some reason

[goodqueenaly]

If Tywin was to decide, a few years after Joanna's death, to remarry, who and what (in terms of marriage power) do you think he would go for?

The problem is, I can’t work in a scenario which by the author’s own admission would never happen. Tywin did not want to remarry, point blank, despite having plenty of opportunity (certainly in terms of time) to do so. Joanna was, I think, completely irreplaceable in Tywin’s mind as the ideal bride: the kinswoman whose main-line (male) Lannister pedigree identified her as elite among the levels of humanity (by Tywin’s calculus, anyway); the companion of his childhood at Casterly Rock, whom he had loved and had married at least in part for love; the trusted confidante who could not only make him smile and laugh but who had supposedly ruled Tywin personally as much as he had ruled as Hand politically; the mother of his golden twins, especially precious heir Jaime, the products of Tywin’s quest for politico-dynastic domination through Lannister perfection. Tywin, the man who never did anything by half measures - as small-scale as shaving his head when his hair began thinning or as large-scale as drowning every Reyne inside Castamere at the tail end of the Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion - could not simply remarry after a proper period of mourning: he would remain a widower, publicly advertising his permanent status as only husband to the late Jonna.

If this all sounds mighty hypocritical given Tywin’s ruthless insistence on unhappy but diplomatically advantageous marriages for his children, as well as his violent and cruel outrage toward Tyrion and Tysha’s marriage purely for love … well, you’re right! Tywin was not, as much as he might have wanted to appear, a gilded android guided only by (what he saw as) cold logic and political acumen, but a deeply emotional man, driven by (among other things) love, anger, grief, hatred, pride, and jealousy. Tywin, but not his children, could sacrifice any potential political benefits to be had via aristocratic marriage/remarriage because he had felt Joanna’s death so strongly, because he wanted to honor her memory by not remarrying, because he needed to show how much he had loved her. (Which did not, of course, prevent Tywin from using sex workers before and after Joanna died - a reflection, I think, both of the hypocrisy in Tywin’s public perception versus his private life as well as Tywin’s attitude toward sex work specifically and people he considered subhuman more generally.)

Also, and it me so of course I have to say it, Tywin’s refusal to remarry after a beloved wife’s death is a nod to Philip IV in The Accursed Kings. In yet another parallel between Philip IV and Tywin, Druon’s Iron King was married only to Jeanne of Navarre (note the almost identical names of their respective wives), with Druon describing Jeanne as “the only love of [Philip’s] life” and noting that following Jeanne’s death Philip had “never wanted any other woman” and “had looked at none other and would never do so” (nearly identical to what Cersei, incorrectly, thinks about Tywin in the wake of his death).

[the-other-art-blog]

What do you think about the theories going around that they might announce Benedict to be bi by the end of this season? His character has always had queer undertones and the show runners have talked about making more stories with lgbtq inclusivity. As much as I love Sophie, I really don’t think they’re going to include a female lead next season

My short answer is: I've heard the rumors and even if they announce Ben as bi, he's still marrying Sophie. They already skipped Ben season, they're not going to change his story completely.

My long (really long) answer is:

I truly believe that Benedict wasn't supposed to be anything but straight. People saw him hanging out with ONE gay man, who was very much in love with another gay man, and decided he must be gay or bi too. It didn't matter that he went right to a threesome with 2 women. That storyline was merely to show Benedict how difficult life could be for some people and to stop being so judgmental and hypocritical. In the end, it was about SOPHIE BECKETT.

Bton team must have decided to keep Benedict's future open so as not to cause problems with the side of the fandom and press who would call them for supposedly queerbaiting. They consciously decided to pair him up with a woman in s2 and his poem was about a woman (another foreshadowing for SOPHIE BECKETT).

With Jess as the new showrunner, I think she decided to address Ben's sexuality and open a door for bisexuality to appease some people.

Let me just say that a lot of Benophies including me have embraced the idea of bisexual Ben, you just have to read fanfiction to see that. I am just concerned that certain people will be nasty to Sophie because they want Ben to marry a man.

I also don't think that a show whose main audience is women would erase a female lead. That would just be absolutely stupid.

They might experiment with secondary characters, but not the leads.

I'M TALKING POSSIBLE SPOILERS NOW!!!!!

I have heard about a threesome between Tilley, Benedict, and a man name Paul Suarez(?) We saw him in the trailer.

I've heard various versions. It seems Lady Tilley arranges the meeting, but I'm unsure if Ben agrees. Some people say he declines the offer. So, even if he is attracted to men, which he has never indicated in any shape or form, she is not ready to go physical. This is fine, bisexuality doesn't mean you MUST sleep with both sexes.

And honestly, if he does it, I wouldn't blame him. That man is gorgeous.

But again, it's pretty obvious that this is just to appease people. But really they are setting everything up for Benophie. There have been direct references to events from that book:

Violet moving out of Bridgerton house

Benedict losing his art

Benedict being an asshole to debutantes

All the mentions of Benedict excellent dancing skills

She's coming. SOPHIE BECKETT is coming.

Even more, they won't change canon couples because this is a business decision. The books are being republished with a tv tie-in cover. Let's say that Ben gets a male love interest, how would they do that cover? Are they going to bring a random woman to pose for him? It's the same for the other books, and some of them are too specific in the titles. Philip is going to be Eloise's husband in the show because the book is called To SIR PHILIP with Love, same for When HE Was Wicked, and It's in HIS Kiss.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

What parts / bits of Papa Titan's speech do you agree with when he was talking to Luz about Belos? Was he right when was said that Belos liked being the hero of his own delusions and was afraid of things he couldn't control?

So there are two major lines that I think the Titan is dead wrong about Belos: the first is “You assume Belos’ goal comes from a genuine place" and "that man doesn't care about anything but his own need to be the hero."

The first line feels less about explaining Belos' motivation and more like the Titan is trying to absolve Luz's (narratively stupid and overly drawn out ) guilt about "helping" Belos. Because Belos' goals do come from a genuine place; he really thinks he is out there protecting humanity and that he will be thanked for it. He tells Luz that he does not want to see "one more human life destroyed by this place." The man carves up his own arms and ears to achieve his goals! Belos may be genuinely wrong about the target of his mission but he was raised and encouraged to be a witch hunter (by his brother!) and it's the only thing he has left justifying his horrific existence so he has to go through with it.

The second line is missing a lot of context as to why he feels the need to be the hero. A lot of people think that Belos just wants praise and glory and to be the Witch Hunter General but his actions and the story focuses more on the trauma connected to his brother than any desire for fame and glory. He set out to the Demon Realm to save his brother but when that failed, his goal warped from "save brother" to "save humanity because I could not save my only family." His desire to help Luz and bring them home in King's Tide is proof of this.

The Titan's lines are extremely reductive and either ignores a lot of context behind Belos' actions or are flat out wrong. The only thing I do agree with is that Belos is afraid of things he cannot control. Growing up in a Puritan community, he would have been taught to fear the Unknown, the Other. Anyone who didn't fit into the rigid standards of Puritan society was deemed suspicious. The show supports this reading when Masha says that the Wittebane brothers became witch hunters "to fit in." They talk about how the brothers tried to adapt to their new home but failed, so the two adopted the path of violence to gain acceptance and security in the community. With that background and mindset, Philip would be wary of anything different because he was different, and anything outside the norms could threaten his status as well.

We see this a lot in real world communities where anyone who is different is stamped down into conformity because such differences upset the status quo and threaten the identity of the community. It's a toxic environment that breeds suspicion that then can be turned onto anyone, even those already on the "inside."

When Philip arrives in the Boiling Isles, everything is turned up to 11. The inhabitants look just like the creatures he's been taught are pure evil, he can't eat the food, and the very environment itself is dangerous to humans. If Luz had a hard time adjusting to the BI even though she loves witchcraft and all things weird, then for Philip it would have been literal hell. And then he finds his brother alive and thriving in this hellscape and when he dies, Philip has no one to guide and support him. Small wonder he never changes.

I think what's most disappointing about the Titan's speech is just how dismissive it is; we could have had a great story about how trying to adhere to toxic conformity is ultimately destructive, about how small-minded communities traumatize children and continue the cycle of violence, and the importance of positive social connections, especially for the community's most vulnerable members.

But instead, the show decided to spit on all that and reduced Philip's complex story to make the protagonist feel better. It's frankly disingenuous and hypocritical that the writers gave the audience all of these tantalizing details that have massive implications for the character and motivations of the central antagonist, only for all of that to be ignored in the end.

[clove-pinks]

Is there anything about your new location (the terrain, the local culture, the physical sites, etc) that has given you a new perspective on regional events of the War of 1812?

This a wonderful ask, thank you! I have been mulling over how to answer it all day! This ended up getting so long I put it behind a cut (I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS).

The Maumee River, as seen from Fort Meigs Historic Site.

One thing new in my life is a heightened awareness of important rivers facilitating the movement of trade, supplies, and settlement. Particularly in the Old Northwest/current Midwest of the USA: regions that I grew up perceiving as a land-locked "flyover country."

Like, to give one example, I had a vague idea that there was a city called Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I thought it was just in the middle of a cornfield for no reason(?). But actually it's at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee Rivers, leading to the Great Lakes! The strategically important location is why General Anthony Wayne—that guy again—built the original fortification in 1794. I am downriver of all of this, connected to many inland waterways.

I also have a keen sense of living in the Great Black Swamp, despite how dramatically the land has been transformed by deforestation and drainage. There are the terrifying drainage ditches everywhere (the locals seem less perturbed by them), and many other signs of the natural state of the terrain—the swamp is just barely at bay. My coworkers have said "Black Swamp" unprompted in our conversations; I've seen it mentioned in local Facebook groups talking about the need for back-up sump pumps. The idea that people of northwest Ohio have no sense of history and are unaware of the Great Black Swamp isn't true at all.

I look at the pools of water that form in every hollow and think of the words of Alfred Lorrain, marching to Fort Meigs:

We had frequently to pass through what was called, in the provincialism of the frontiers, "swales"—standing ponds—through which the troops and packhorses which had preceded us had made a trail of shattered ice. Those swales were often a quarter of a mile long. They were, moreover, very unequal in their soundings. In common they were not more than half-leg deep; but sometimes, at a moment when we were not expecting it, we suddenly sank down to our cartridge-boxes.

Swale is a new word in my vocabulary, and now I see them everywhere!

Culturally, I think there is a great appreciation of history here: a very positive difference from the Chicagoland area. Even if the average local is probably not deeply into it, they have a consciousness of major historical events that have shaped their region and take pride in it. It's a lot more like New England that way.

Because of my focus on the War of 1812, I notice the absence of Indigenous people and voices—absent from historical accounts and from the demographics of Perrysburg and its environs today. I can't single out Ohio as being a uniquely violent settler-colonial state when this is ALL of the United States; but it hits different when I have this much greater familiarity with who was forcibly removed from this land, and how. The same US military leaders who fought in the War of 1812 were behind the (very much related) campaign for the removal of Native Americans from newly acquired territories, including the infamous Trail of Tears.

Once again, it's probably hypocritical for me to notice this so much, when I literally grew up on Wampanoag land where King Philip's War was fought, but here I am. Suddenly aware of General Wayne's name on everything, etc.

General Wayne's spurs in the Fort Meigs Museum. Not pictured: the can of Maumee Bay Brewing Co. Fallen Timbers Ale that I am currently drinking.

I haven't had the chance to explore physical sites with historical significance beyond Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers. I know I will get to the ruins of Fort Miamis soon, and I really want to explore a lot of wetlands in local parks and nature preserves (that will double as birdwatching excursions). I am always thinking about what this place looked like 200 years ago, and what I can see today that might still look familiar to a person from that time.

I had a great trip to the National Museum of the Great Lakes today, which is closer than I thought! Local maritime museums are also on my agenda, even if they're not specifically War of 1812-related.

[marbeeowl]

a short story dedicated to this picture

--------------- - Well, how many times have I told you that they will dump you?

The black-haired guy exhaled indignantly and irritably. His already perpetually gloomy face became even darker. Dima Ternov, ternovik, devil, that's what the others called him. And he matched with his nicknames. His sharp tongue was both his friend and enemy, and the whole gloomy and dark appearance of that guy repelled, as if saying "Don't come near - it will kill you". He always knew that pioneering was stupid, that there were no friends there, that everything there was as hypocritical as in any "firm". Yes, everyone work together, help each other in small things, but no one is really friends there. So he believed in his opinion, he saw the confirmation of his point of view.

- And they didn't dump me at all...Big deal, they forgot at the bus stop..I'll go to the museum next time. What I didn't see there..

He was answered by a blond boy wearing a newspaper man's cap in the English manner, who walked next to him with a frustrated, but not discouraged look. Philip Pirronov, or as he was affectionately called sometimes, Philya, was the complete opposite of Dmitry in every sense. Always cheerful and polite, a young pioneer, proud to wear his red tie. He piously believe that pioneering was honorable, that all pioneers were good and responsive, despite the fact that his "friends" from the same brigade made fun of him. Is he too kind and trusting? Definitely. Did he realize that he had been made a kind of punching bag? Definitely not. They might have been tolerant of him, but they always dumped him to the rough work. However, Philip never complained and, on the contrary, was proud that he could do something useful. And what a surprise it was that such a simpleton would be able to make friends with almost an enemy of the pioneer party, who openly called it all nonsense. Although at first it was difficult to call it friendship. Dima just made an errand boy out of him, give-and-bring something, nothing more. Over time, he began to stand up for him. And now, taking him by the hand and carrying his briefcase along with his own, he accompany him home. Dima sometimes wondered himself: why was he so soft? Why does he get into fights for this fool? Why is he comforting when Philip has once again become the one on whom all the dogs are unleashed even though he has done nothing wrong? Neither Ternov nor Pirronov himself knew. However, even though Dima grumbled about it, he did not regret anything.

- You're a fool. How many times have I told you that? - Five in a day, probably.. - So I'll tell the sixth: You're an idiot. Someday I'll leave you and figure it out on your own, until you realize with your empty little head that I'm right.

The blond boy just smiled, letting out a short laugh. He was used to Ternov's sarcasm and sometimes it seemed funny to him. Philya raised his eyes, blue as the summer sky, at him, looking at him with the same cheerful sparkle in them.

- Did you not join the pioneers so as not to be in my place, or because you didn't want to, huh? - Maybe. ---------------

[catboymoments]

CW CSA mention/incest /// (no description, just a question about your take on the owl house)

I was curious to know if this is a repeat behavior for Belos in your take on The Owl House? Did he hurt other grimwalkers/Caleb before Hunter? And if he is motivated by that (why he went after Evelynn)?

If you could,, would you be willing to elaborate on Belos's obsession with Caleb? I don't mean to call attention to the perpetrator at all,, not really asking for his motive,, I want to know where you are coming from with your take on this. It changes the context for me when interacting with your content.

Okay so as I go into this please know I don’t fuck with incest ships or romanticize them and I think that shit is GROSS!!!!!! Whenever I discuss topics that are dark or taboo, it’s all done for the purpose of a diverse and compelling story because we all know that only fluff does not a good narrative make, and my reasons for writing these things doesn’t come from a place of perversion, satisfaction or gratification. It comes from a place of me healing from my own trauma and for the first time, stepping into writing content that goes outside of my comfort zone.

I think that Philip Wittebane is a fucked up, evil and hypocritical man but he’s also a product of his environment and what we know of his childhood. He thinks what he’s doing is rational, and it’s not. Maybe he knows this! Maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know. But I do think that Belos was very possessive towards his older brother, and had some (obviously unreciprocated and also. Unknown to Caleb) behaviors/thoughts toward him that weren’t ok. I joke about him being “grandpa yandere” but it’s mostly a lighthearted joke about bad tropey things in anime and how it relates to how I view Belos’ character.

Whenever the “yandere” trope comes up in anime it’s mostly portrayed as the character being in genuine love with fluffy romantic feelings, and their violent behavior surrounding it played for laughs, or in worse cases, it’s romanticized as something tragic or beautiful. I’m not here to say that watching something that does this is problematic or it makes you a bad person, but in the real world and around a narrative where the characters have common sense (say, TOH,) this behavior isn’t a good thing at all- it’s abusive. It’s predatory. It doesn’t come from a place of love or affection as much as characters like yuno gasai would like to say- it comes from a place of a need to control and intent to harm without regard for the victim’s feelings, only the aggressors feelings matter. It’s like how rape isn’t about love, it’s about selfishness and control and violence. (This extends to the grimwalkers. It wasn’t about pure intentions or affectionate feelings. Ever.)

I feel like Belos, with his Puritan-Christian upbringing (that we all know sucks) and the shock of Caleb, his only caretaker and the only person he ever cared about abandoning him for someone else (an “evil demonic witch” nonetheless!!) caused a slurry of feelings that make for a complex narrative and a horrifying character who’s actions go on to hurt so many people.

Philip Wittebane is a horrible, complex, formidable and terrifying villain, and he only gets worse when you peel back the layers and start to speculate for yourself.