#and I should value my own opinion over another person's‚ I think

[throughpatchesofviolet]

A win for patience ... my new Ishmael, maxed out upon acquisition.

[nyxshadowhawk]

A Retrospective on Harry Potter

Why did I like it in the first place? What about it worked? Where do I go from here?

I have decided to give up Harry Potter.

J.K. Rowling’s reputation now stinks to high heaven. At this point, she is quite indefensible. And even if that weren’t the case, she is not someone that I would want to associate with anyway. Meanwhile, the internet has not only turned against her, but against Harry Potter itself. An innocent question on Reddit, about which Hogwarts Houses the ATLA characters would be in, got downvoted to oblivion. Innumerable Tumblr threads insist that fantasy fans should get into literally anything else (suggestions include Discworld, Earthsea, The Wheel of Time, and Percy Jackson). And now that Harry Potter is no longer a sacred cow, there has been a recent slew of video essays that rip it to shreds, attacking it for its poor worldbuilding, unoriginality, and the problematic ideas baked into the original books (like the whole SPEW thing), etc. Those criticisms always existed, but now they’re getting thrown into the limelight.

It pains me to see such an ignoble downfall of Harry Potter’s reputation. If Rowling had just kept her damn mouth shut, Harry Potter would have aged gracefully, becoming a beloved children’s classic. I'd still plan to introduce it to my own kids one day (after Rowling dies and the dust settles). It’s not surprising that not all aspects of it have aged well, since it’s been more than twenty years since its original publishing date, and everything starts to show its age after that long. I acknowledge that most of the criticisms of the series that I’ve seen lately are valid, and I’ve read plenty of better books. And yet, when I return to the books themselves, even with the knowledge of who JKR really is inside my head, I still really enjoy reading them! There’s still a lot about them that I think works!

None of the other things I’ve read have had as collossal of an impact upon my identity, my values, and my own writing as Harry Potter. It’s hard to move on from it, not just because it’s something I enjoy, but because I have to literally extract my identity from it. I don’t know who I’d be without Harry Potter. I don’t know what my work would look like without Harry Potter. I don’t know how to carry it with me as just another piece of media that I like, as opposed to a filter for who I am as a person. So, with all that in mind, I have to ask myself why I liked Harry Potter so much in the first place. If I’m going to move on from it, then I have to be able to define and isolate the things about it that I want to keep with me. Something about it obviously worked, on a massive scale. So what was it?

It’s not the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is objectively quite terrible, especially in comparison to that of other fantasy writers who knew what they were doing. At best, it’s inconsistent and poorly thought-out, and at worst it’s insensitive or even racist. Is it the characters? The characters are, in my opinion, one of the stronger parts of the story. But I felt very called-out by one of the many online commentators, who said that anyone who identifies with Harry is too cowardly to write self-insert fic. (I do not remember who said it or even which site it was on, but I distinctly remember the phrase, “Reject Harry Potter, embrace Y/N.”) The reason why people get so invested in Harry Potter’s characters is because they’re easy to project upon, and it’s possible that my love of Harry comes more from over a decade’s worth of projection than anything else. The incessant arguments over characters like Snape, Dumbledore, and James Potter ultimately stem from the fact that these characters do not always come across the way Rowling wanted them to. As for the writing itself, it’s decent, but not spectacular. Harry Potter is something of a sandbox world, with less substance than it appears to have and a crapton of missed opportunities, making it ripe for fanfic. For more than ten years, I’ve been doing precisely that — using Harry Potter as a jumping-off point to fill in the gaps and develop my own ideas, some of which became my original projects.

So what does Harry Potter actually have that sets it apart? Why are people so desperate to be part of Harry Potter’s world if the worldbuilding is bad? What, specifically, is so compelling about it? I think that there’s one answer, one thing that is at the center of Potter-mania, and that has been the underlying drive of my love of it for the past decade and a half: the vibe.

Harry Potter’s vibe is immaculate.

You know what I mean, right? It’s not actually a product of any specific trope, but rather a series of aesthetic elements: The wizarding school in a grand castle, with its pointed windows and torches and suits of armor, ghosts and talking portraits and moving staircases, its Great Hall with floating candles and a ceiling that looks like the night sky, its hundreds of magically-concealed secret doorways. Dumbledore’s Office, behind the gryphon statue, with armillary spheres in every single shot. Deliberate archaisms that evoke the Middle Ages without going as far as a Ren Faire: characters wearing heavy robes, writing with quills and ink on parchment instead of paper, drinking from goblets, decorating with tapestries. Owls, cats, toads. Cauldrons simmering in a dungeon laboratory. Shelves piled with dusty tomes, scrolls, glass vials, crystal balls, hourglasses. Magical candy shaped like insects and amphibians. A library with a restricted section. A forbidden forest full of unicorns and werewolves. That is the Vibe.

There are five armillary spheres just in this shot. They are unequivocally the most Wizard of tabletop decor.

There’s more to it than just the aesthetic, though. The vibe is present in something that writers call soft worldbuilding.

There’s a phrase that writers use to describe magic systems, coined by Brandon Sanderson: hard magic and soft magic. Sanderson’s first law of magic is, “An author’s ability to solve problems with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.” A hard magic system has clearly-defined rules — you know where magic comes from, how it works and under which conditions, how the characters can use it, and what its limitations are. Examples of really good hard magic systems include Avatar: The Last Airbender and Fullmetal Alchemist. If the audience doesn’t understand the conditions under which magic can work, then using magic to get out of any kind of scrape risks feeling like the writer pulled something out of their ass. It begs the question, “Well, if they could do that, then why didn’t they do that before?”

You may come away from that thinking that having clearly-defined rules is always better worldbuilding than not having them, but this isn’t the case. Soft magic isn’t fully explained to the audience, but that doesn’t matter, because it isn’t trying to solve problems — its purpose is to be evocative. Soft magic enhances the atmosphere of a world by creating a sense of wonder. If your everyman protagonist is constantly running into cool magical shit that they don’t understand, then the world feels like it teems with magic, magic that is greater and more powerful than they know, leaving lots of secrets to uncover. Harry Potter, at least in the early books, excels at this. The soft magic in Harry Potter is what got me hooked, and I think it’s what a lot of other people liked about it, too.

The essence of soft magic is best summed up by this scene in the fourth film, in which Harry enters the Weasleys’ tiny tent at the Quidditch World Cup, only to find that it’s much bigger on the inside. His reaction is to smile and say, “I love magic.”

That’s it. That’s the essence of it. You don’t need to know the exact spell that makes the tent bigger on the inside. You don’t need to know how Dumbledore can make the food appear on the table with a flick of a wand, or how he can make a bunch of poofy sleeping bags appear with another flick. You don’t need to know how and why the portraits or wizard cards move. You don’t need to know how wizards can appear and disappear on a whim, or what the Deluminator is, or where the Sword of Gryffindor came from. You don’t need to know how the Room of Requirement works. Knowing these things defeats the purpose. It kills the vibe, that vibe being that there is a large and wondrous magical world around you that will always have more to discover.

One of the best “soft magic” moments in the books comes early in Philosopher’s Stone, when Harry is trying to navigate Hogwarts for the first time:

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 8

Many of these details don’t come back later in the series, which is a shame, because this one paragraph is super evocative! It establishes Hogwarts as an inherently magical place, in which the very architecture doesn’t conform to normal rules. Hogwarts seems like it would be exciting to explore (assuming you weren’t late for class), and it gets even better when you learn about all the secret rooms and passages. The games capitalized on this by building all the secret rooms behind bookcases, mirrors, illusory walls, etc. into the game world, and rewarding you for finding them. The utter fascination that produces is hard to overstate.

Another one of the most evocative moments in the first book is when Harry sees Diagon Alley for the first time, after passing through the magically sealed brick wall (the mechanics of which, again, are never explained). This is your first proper glimpse at the wizarding world and what it has to offer:

Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, “Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad....” A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon.... —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 5

What works so well here is the magical weirdness of wizardishness juxtaposed against normalcy. Eeylops Owl Emporium is just a pet shop to wizards. A woman makes a very mundane complaint about the price of goods, but the goods happen to be dragon liver. Broomsticks are treated like cars. All of these small moments contribute to the feeling of the wizarding world being alive, inhabited, and also magical. It gets you to ask the question of what your life would be like if you were a wizard. What do wizards wear? What do they eat? What do they haggle over and complain about? What do they do for fun?

In Book 3, Harry enjoys Diagon Alley for a few weeks when he suddenly has free time, and we get to experience the wizarding world in a state of “normalcy,” when he isn’t trying to save the world. He gets free ice creams from Florean Fortescue, gazes longingly at the Firebolt, and engages with delightfully weird people. He’s a wizard, living a (briefly) normal wizard life among other wizards in wizard-land. And that is fun. It’s so fun, that people want that experience for themselves, enough for there to be several theme parks and other immersive experiences dedicated to recreating the world of Harry Potter.

One of the greatest things about Universal was its phenomenal attention to detail. You can hear Moaning Myrtle’s voice in the women’s bathroom, and only the women’s bathroom. The walls of the Three Broomsticks have shadows of a broom sweeping by itself and an owl flying projected against the wall, so convincingly that you’ll do a double take when you see it. Knockturn Alley is down a little secret tunnel off of the main street, and that’s where you have to go to buy Dark Arts-themed stuff. It’s really well done.

Another thing that contributes to the vibe, in my opinion, is that the wizarding world is slightly macabre. They eat candy shaped like frogs, flies, mice, and so forth, and they have gross-tasting jellybeans. In the film’s version of the Diagon Alley sequence above, there’s a random shot of a pet bat available for purchase. In the third film, when Harry is practicing the Patronus Charm with Lupin, the candles are shaped like human spines. In the first book, this is Petunia’s description of Lily’s behavior after she became a witch:

Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school, and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 4

I remember reading this for the first time, and it just kind of made intuitive sense to me. I suppose it fits into the “eye of newt and toe of frog” association between magical people and gross things, but somehow it works. Unfortunately, this is retconned later with the knowledge that wizards can’t use magic outside school, but before that limitation gets imposed, the idea of Lily amusing herself by turning teacups into rats seems like an inherently witchy thing to do.

That association between magic and the macabre shows up elsewhere, as well. In The Owl House, Luz’s interest in gross things is one of the things that marks her as a “weirdo” in the real world. When she goes to the magical world of the Boiling Isles, weird and gross stuff is absolutely everywhere. That world’s vibe leans more towards the macabre than the whimsical, but it works because you sort of expect the gross stuff to exist alongside the concept of witches, and that they would be an intrinsic part of the world they inhabit. You don’t question it, because it’s part of the vibe.

(The Owl House is one of the few things I’ve encountered that has a similar vibe to Harry Potter, but it’s still not the same vibe. In fact, The Owl House outright mocks the expectation that magical worlds be whimsical, and directly mocks Harry Potter more than once. The overall vibe is much closer to Gravity Falls.)

The Harry Potter films utilize a lot of similar soft worldbuilding with the background details, especially in the early films that were still brightly-colored and whimsical. For example, the scene in Flourish and Blotts in the second film has impossibly-stacked piles of books and old-timey looking signs describing their subjects, which include things like “Celestial Studies” and “Unicorns.” When Harry arrives in the Burrow in the same film, one of the first things he sees is dishes washing themselves and knitting needles working by themselves, taking completely mundane things and instantly establishing them as magical. In that Patronus scene with Harry and Lupin, the spine-candles and a bunch of random orbs (and the obligatory giant armillary sphere) float around in the background. One small detail that I personally appreciate is the designs on the walls above the teacher’s table in the Great Hall, which are from an alchemical manuscript called the Ripley Scroll:

It’s all these little things that add up to produce The Vibe.

Obviously, much of the vibe is expressed very well in John Williams’ score for the first three Harry Potter films. The mystical minor key of the main theme, the tinkly glockenspiel, the strings, the rising and falling notes that mimic the fluttering of an owl, the flight of a broomstick, or the waving of a wand. That initial shot of the castle across the lake as the orchestra swells, as the children arrive at their wizarding school:

If you grew up with Harry Potter, just looking at this image gives you The Vibe. The nostalgia hit is definitely part of it, but The Vibe was already there, back when you were a child and you didn’t have nostalgia yet.

In my opinion, only Williams’ score captures this vibe — the later films, though their scores are very good, do not. But the soundtrack of the first two video games, by Jeremy Soule (the same person who did Skyrim) absolutely nails it. This, right here, is Harry Potter’s vibe, condensed and distilled:

This is why I feel invalidated by the common advice “just read another book.” I have read other books. I’ve read plenty of other books, many of which are wonderfully written and have left an impact on me. But there’s still only one Harry Potter. To date, there’s only other book that has filled me with a similarly intense longing for a fictional place, and that is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. That book deliberately prioritized atmosphere over everything else in the story, and actually lampshades this in-universe. The Night Circus has a plot and it has characters, but it’s not about its plot or characters. It’s about the setting and its atmosphere. It swallows you up and transports you to a fictional place that is so evocative and so magical that you just have to be part of it or you’ll die. And even then, The Night Circus has a different kind of vibe from Harry Potter. In this particular capacity, there’s nothing else like Harry Potter.

The thing is, I don’t think Rowling was being as deliberate as Erin Morgenstern. (In fact, given many of Rowling’s recent statements, I question how many of her creative choices were deliberated at all.) She was throwing random magical stuff into the background without thinking too hard about it, which works when you’re writing a kids’ story, but stops working when you try to age it up. Actually, scratch that — soft worldbuilding is definitely not just for kids! The Lord of the Rings has a soft magic system, for crying out loud, and Tolkien is the original archmage of worldbuilding. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that prioritizing atmosphere over meticulousness is bad worldbuilding. That is a valid way to worldbuild! Not everything needs to be clearly explained, not everything needs to make sense. The problem is that Harry Potter doesn’t balance it well. Certain things do have to be explained in order for the magic to play an active role in the story (and the setting of a magic school lends itself to that kind of explanation), but no rules are ever established for the kinds of magic that need rules. When you begin thinking about the rules, you’re no longer just enjoying the magic for what it is. At worst, you begin running up against the Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

It wasn’t actually the “aging up” of the story that did it in, per se, but rather, the introduction of realism. The early books were heavily stylized, and the later books were less so. A heavily stylized story can more easily maintain the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. That’s why, for example, you don’t ask why the characters are singing in a musical — you just sort of accept the story’s outlandish internal logic, and the inherent melodrama of it doesn’t take you out of the story. Stylized stories are more concerned with being emotionally consistent over being logically consistent. The later Harry Potter books changed their emotional tone, but without changing the worldbuilding style to compensate.

In addition to the more mature themes and darker tone,��Harry Potter introduced more realism as it went, but Rowling did not have the worldbuilding chops to pull this off. There’s the basic magic system stuff: When you begin thinking about it too hard, something like a Time-Turner stops being a fun magical device, and starts threatening to break the entire story. Then there’s the characters: Dumbledore leaving Harry on the Dursleys’ doorstep in the first book is an age-old fairy tale trope that goes unquestioned, but with the introduction of realism in the later books, it suddenly becomes abandonment of a child to an abusive family. The exaggerated stereotypes of characters like the Dursleys become tone-deaf. The fun school rivalry of the House system is suddenly lacking in nuance. And then there’s the shift in tone: The wizarding world that we were introduced to as a marvellous place is revealed to be dystopian. You start thinking about how impractical things like owl messengers are, you start wondering if Slytherin is being unjustly punished, the bad history appears glaringly obvious, the quaint archaisms become dangerously regressive. Oh, and the grand feasts are made through slave labor! The wizarding world suddenly feels small and backward instead of grand and marvellous. J.K. Rowling’s bigotry throws it all into an even harsher light.

This is why I’ve always preferred the early books and films to the later ones. There’s a lot of things I like about the later ones, but they’re not as stylized — they don’t have The Vibe. Thinking about things too hard is just a necessary condition of adulthood, but it’s still possible to tell a dark, mature story that is highly stylized. I really think JKR could have better pulled off that shift if she was a more competent worldbuilder. But it is painfully obvious that she did not think things through, and probably didn’t understand why she had to. In her defense, she did not know that her story would end up being one of the most scrutinized of all time. As it stands, her strength in worldbuilding was in the softer, smaller, deliberately unexplained moments of magic that were there just to provide atmosphere. And there were less and less of those as the books went along.

Pretty much all the Harry Potter-related content released since the last film — including Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, Hogwarts Mystery, Hogwarts Legacy, Magic Awakened, and that short-lived Pokemon Go thing — have been unsuccessful attempts at recreating The Vibe. In fact, the only piece of supplemental Potter content that I think had that Vibe down pat was the original Pottermore, back when it was more of an interactive game. And of course that got axed. That was right around the time things started going downhill.

Some of the art from Pottermore’s original Sorting quiz.

So what now? Well, that’s the question.

I think I can safely say that The Vibe was the reason I liked Harry Potter. It’s the thing I still like the most about it. I’ve spent years chasing it, like an elusive Patronus through a dark wood. If I can capture and distill that Vibe, and use drops of it in my own work, then perhaps I won’t need Harry Potter anymore.

I'm gonna write the story that I wish Harry Potter was, and when I'm a famous author, I won't become a bigot. I'll see you on the other side.

[meanbossart]

Ask compilation: I'm Starting To Think That This Drow Guy Is Kind Of An Asshole Edition.

Probably a Ranger in the hunter subclass. I actually intended to multi-class him as fighter/ranger at some point and make that his official class, but I haven't had time/quite figured out the best build that would still suit him - Ranger makes a LOT of sense with his backstory, arguably more than fighter, but he's still supposed to be a magic-less brick-house with 19 strength who hasn't handled a bow and arrow in 10 years, so I'm not sure where that leaves us LOL

A lot of people have suggested that Berserk Barbarian would fit him well, but I think that implies a lot of other characteristics that do NOT suit him at all so 🤷

HE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CRECHE, and honestly it made the game feel much more immersive to pick one path and stick to it like Halsin suggested, even if I did have to endure the shadow cursed lands without the shiny mace 😂

Probably for the best, it'd be a real shame if the story ended there just because he didn't like Vlaakith's attitude.

But yeah Lae'zel (who, for the record, I adore) never stood a chance in his playthrough. Sorry baby girl.

I'm either uninformed or we have different definitions of what constitutes a crush, but sure I'll play in this space LOL

He's both jealous but also kind of aloof when it comes to things like that. It's yet another symptom of his arrogance, where it seems unfathomable that anyone who has him would be genuinely tempted by someone else. He doesn't mind a normal amount of glance-stealing and flattery, even playful flirting to a degree, but if there's persistence or if his partner seems to seek another person out for things he thinks he should be providing, he feels threatened.

Also, he has a difficult time discerning that "deep emotional connection" does not equal "romantic interest". So, at least immediately after the events of the game, he's more likely to be made insecure by his partners forming deep bonds with others than any throwaway expression of physical desire or fleeting infatuation.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

Let me preface this with the (hopefully unnecessary) disclaimer that this murderous dark-elf's opinions are not my own, and that I very much purposefully made a bit of an asshole character because I find that entertaining.

And now that you're hopefully primed for what's coming - DU drow is pretty damn judgemental of people's looks save for the rare times when they give him a good impression right off the bat. He notes people's appearances and makes preemptive assumptions about them without even realizing it. He definitely does not equal beauty to value or prowess (in fact he will very much still mock of you if you seem too concerned with your appearance) but he does prescribe things based on looks.

I don't think he'd take issue with what you're describing, It sounds like a pretty average body, but he would assume that person is weaker and less fit to "keep up with him", basically. Which kind of diminishes interest.

As far as to what he finds immediately attractive, he definitely prefers people who seem physically fit (not more than himself though - gods forbid). But, the caveat to this whole tangent is that once you get past initial impressions, he could definitely come to be sexually attracted to pretty much any type of body attached to the person he's in love with.

Thank you! There was no main event, just the building up of resentment over time and the opportunity she saw opening up when the Chosen's plan came into motion. She definitely didn't always hate him though, they had a fairly close relationship until his obsessive behavior and arrogance became an issue.

Thank you!!!

They call him the/that drow, dark elf, or "big drow" if there's more than one present. In private they might facetiously call him Bhaalspawn if they get tired of referring to him by race.

I'll be honest, I forgot whether or not I found it in his playthrough LOL but if he did stumble across that would be VERY funny. He'd be like "look at these idiots and their fake murder god. What kind of dimwit would worship carnage as a religion. Hey Shadowheart get a load of this-"

HAPPY YOU ENJOY HIM! I think his unique situation overall with having been such a overwhelmingly horrid person and forgetting all about it is my favorite bit. That's kind of vague, I know, but I often think of dreams I've had where I committed a crime or did something horrible, and that immediate feeling of relief and disconnect that follows immediately after waking up. That's kind of what I imagine it's like for him - he knows of the things he did, but he doesn't really. In theory it's all true but that's a truth far too fantastical for anyone to conceptualize even if it's put right in front of your face.

That, tackling the guilt (or lack thereof) of something you genuinely don't feel like you've done and the intricacies of it, that's a fascinating state of mind to explore. I love how many directions you can take that.

For me, having a character who is not good, but is not necessarily pure unadulterated evil, makes for a lot of complex thought experiments and contradictory values. DU drow has a lot of those - things he believes and abides by absolutely except for this specific instance, being contradictory is a pillar of his character and it can be a little challenging to keep up with it - but I'd be lying if I said I don't deeply enjoy that aspect as well all the same.

THANK YOUUUU It took me so long to figure out how to draw Astarion in a way I liked, I'm so relieved that others enjoy it too 😂

Shockingly he did succeed it and was immediately put-off by it, lmao. They wouldn't really develop much of a relationship for a while after that, so at that point DU drow just figured he was trying to get something from him and wrote him off, much as he did with everyone else with the exception of Shadowheart.

He didn't meet her at the Tiefling grove! I didn't even know you could meet her before-hand for the longest time. But he did super, duper kill her at camp of course.

He managed to hide the body and everyone else was none the wiser, huge blood bhaal-sigil on the ground aside lmao. He was a little shocked but didn't feel all that bad about it, kind of resigning to that primal feeling of satisfaction at a job-well-done that overwhelmed him instead. He decided she was too weak to survive out there and he had just spared her the trouble.

[kradogsrats]

One Truth: The Nature of the True Heart

The Dragon Prince has long dealt with contrasts and tensions between idealism and pragmatism, particularly as a source for character conflict. From Harrow, Sarai, and Viren clashing over the Magma Titan to Callum, Ezran, and Rayla deciding whether to pursue killing Aaravos or securing his prison, principles weighed against practicality is a never-ending battle for the characters of this world and story.

Since the story never purports to give us the answers to the moral questions it poses, we as the audience are left to form our own opinions and judgements. One of those that is fairly consistent across a lot of the fandom is that Ezran is naive in his pacifism and reliance on negotiation. My opinion on this has largely always been "yeah, he's naive... but he's literally twelve years old and that's developmentally appropriate, even without the trauma."

We knew Ezran and his growth would be challenged in s7, but what we also got was a codification of that process as a tangible in-setting phenomenon: the true heart.

The true heart is described to Terry, Claudia, and us (the audience) as a way of seeing the world that is innocent and good-natured, without the complexities introduced by adult concerns. All children begin life with this worldview, but it is inevitably challenged over the course of their growth by situations that it cannot necessarily react to without being inherently altered.

It is possible, though rare, to hold on to the true heart past childhood into at least the beginning of adulthood—it is revealed to us that Terry is one who has, against all odds, retained his true heart. This allows him to read the map to the Garden of Innocents, the final resting place of unicorns. However, it's Ezran whose arc through s7 is most related to the true heart, as he confronts new challenges in the world around him as well as changes to himself and those he loves.

But what is a true heart? What does it actually mean to have one?

Simple and Clean: Language Surrounding the True Heart

First of all, I think the way the true heart is intended winds up being difficult to articulate properly because even the most neutral language used to describe it is loaded with baggage. Innocence, purity (though "pure" is a word used only by Kruha, who demonstrably struggles with human language), light and darkness, simplicity, and even childhood are all concepts that carry cultural connotations that skew our perception of what's being discussed.

In the heavily Christian-influenced culture of the West and USAmerica, the concepts of childhood, innocence, and simplicity in combination carry associations that become protectiveness, condescension, or dismissal. While childhood and innocence are valued as things that should be protected in those who have them, that leads adults to dismiss children as essentially lesser beings. Innocence and simplicity together are indistinguishable from naivete, another feature associated with a need for protection, but with a nice slice of contempt on the side. If you weren't so naive, you would have known better than to get hurt.

Finally, from a perspective saturated with Christianity, innocence is also conceptually inextricable from the concept of sin. Like, one of the central myths of Christianity is that the first humans were enticed to defy God and eat the forbidden fruit that granted knowledge of good and evil, which made them aware that their naughty sex parts and female-presenting nipples must be covered, which meant they had to be expelled from paradise into a world of struggle, pain, and death. This transgression was so severe that it tainted every human ever born, until a few thousand years later when God personally came to earth as a self-cannibalizing sacrifice to essentially pay bail on letting their souls into heaven. (This is a very serious and 100% theologically accurate summary, don't @ me.) As a result, we get fucking weird about innocence and its "loss."

The point is that in the setting, it's strongly suggested that there is no inherent "better" or "worse" to whether you have a true heart or not. You aren't morally superior for having one (though the nature of the true heart aligns more with compassion and openness, it doesn't have a monopoly on them), nor are you necessarily wiser or more mature for not. There are roles and circumstances where one might serve better than another—the likelihood of Ezran being able to continue indefinitely as king with a true heart has always been low, but an argument could definitely be made that his true heart was necessary to change the world, and the setting would not be what it now is without it. The true heart—as well as people who retain it into adulthood, like Terry—is a vital part of society, in that it inspires people toward an ideal. Terry calling out Claudia on her cruelty toward Rayla shames her enough to go back and correct it. Ezran giving up the crown in exchange for the safety of any moral dissenters within the Katolis army gives those dissenters space to take a stand—something crucial to their eventual victory.

So here's how I propose thinking about it in a way that's slightly less loaded with unnecessary associations: instead of innocence, the true heart is about faith. Specifically, an unwavering faith that people are inherently good. From that faith, several important conclusions are derived:

People are inherently good, therefore all people want the same or similar things both for themselves and for the world: peace, plenty, and community

People are inherently good, therefore if someone is intentionally doing things that hurt others, they either don't understand the impact of their actions or are lashing out as a result of fear or pain

People are inherently good, therefore treating everyone with dignity, respect, and compassion is the natural state of any society

These form the basis of the worldview and resulting behavior of those with true hearts.

The Tides are True: Depth and Complexity

Despite all of that, Aaravos describes the true heart in a fairly neutral manner to Claudia:

All children have a true heart. But as we grow up, we are forced to make choices, sacrifices, compromises. And they change us forever. Childhood innocence gives way to something... complicated.

and later to Terry:

The true heart is a gift of childhood. For a few wonder-filled years, we each have innocent eyes to experience the world's beauty in a simple way. I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black or white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. But please believe me that there is beauty in this burden. Your heart will be a little heavier. But now, there will be no more half-truths.

In both explanations, he refers to what replaces the true heart—what we grow into—as "complicated." We learn to accept that nothing, including ourselves, is purely one way or another, but at some gradient point in-between that will be different from everyone else's. The words he uses—"light" and "darkness," "black or white," "shades of gray"—all carry strong connotations of a scale of morality, and the understanding that nothing can be fully good or fully evil, but is instead inevitably... complicated.

However, I think this is meant to be a little deeper than just that surface-level association to tie in with the overall light/dark and complex morality themes of the show overall. These are things we've heard in another context: of all the primal sources Callum could have focused on or arcana he could have unlocked in arc 2, there's a reason what we got was Ocean.

A better way to refer to the "darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light" is as those depths you can't see—it's not about good and evil, it's about clarity and obscurity. Simplicity and complexity. People, even people you love, aren't all the same. They don't all want the same things for themselves and the world.

There are depths within you that you may not see or understand, but even more so, there are depths in others that you will never see or understand. Even if someone is only lashing out because they're hurting, there are hurts you cannot heal. There are people who will refuse to allow their hurts to heal. There are people (and by people I mean Aaravos) who would rather make the entire world hurt along with them than ever allow themselves to heal. You can't heal these people for them. It's beyond your control, and all you can do is respond appropriately to their actions and mitigate the harm they do.

When you accept that, you will treat those people differently. You may decide to keep trying, but with the knowledge that it will be an uphill battle of strategy, compromise, and progress so slow that few will recognize your work as worthwhile. You may decide not to waste your time and effort on them anymore, and focus your attention on doing a broader range of good more efficiently than struggling to change a single heart or mind. You might decide to make them the enemy, and purposefully antagonize them because you are hurting, too—maybe even because of them.

The point is that there is now "us/me" and "them," and that's what's antithetical to the true heart. You can't fix everything simply by reaching the part of them that's the same as you. You will have to compromise.

A Just King: Ezran's True Heart

Before examining Ezran's true heart arc in s4-s7, I want to point out a much earlier, and perhaps unexpected, appearance of a textbook child's true heart:

Yes, back in s1e2, Callum had a true heart. (By the standards with which I'm describing it, at least.) Where did it go? When did it go? Someone more interested in Callum could probably write a very long essay about that. You could probably make a case that being possessed by Aaravos the first time is the final vestiges sliding away.

This also highlights my personal theory that the true heart of childhood is not usually lost in a single, all-or-nothing event. It's like losing your baby teeth—under normal circumstances, it happens one or two at a time over the course of a few years, until you've Ship of Theseus-ed your whole mouth. (Also, in contrast to things like "losing" your virginity, there's no weird purity or moral connotations to it. It is a completely normal thing that happens to everyone as part of growing up.) However, it's also possible to have some, a majority, or even all of your baby teeth traumatically knocked out of your head at once.

Oh, wait.

Let's roll back a bit, first. Ezran's arc, like... well, everyone's, gets its initial setup in s4. In fact, it kicks off s4: the major event starting the season is Zubeia's visit to Katolis, which is clearly one of Ezran's first big initiatives toward not just peace, but potential unification.

In the lead-up to Zubeia's visit, Ezran's true heart is on full display in his behavior and the assumptions he's making:

Zubeia is a good person, and good people will understand and accept that both she and other dragons should be treated as friends.

Everyone will approach this meeting with open hearts, because everyone wants to grow toward peace and understanding.

Even when the meeting, where he is honoring the Dragon Queen in the final resting place of human kings and queens, no small number of whom (including his own mother) were killed by dragons, is sabotaged by a relatively mild act of vandalism, look at his response:

The person who did this is obviously lashing out because they are hurting—they are angry, and that anger needs to be soothed. He affirms that he and the people are the same, inside. They are all angry and in pain... but, like him, they all want to not be angry and in pain anymore, and understand that the way to do that is to move forward.

This is not to say that he's wrong, or even ineffective—he speaks from his true heart, in a poignant call to both himself and his people to acknowledge the past while looking to the future, and to reach for that future in every way they can instead of clinging to the hate of the past. It's a key scene for all of arc 2, and one that is returned to over and over again, thematically.

However, it's also a point where he demonstrates how his true heart leaves him ill-equipped to approach Rex Igneous's selfishness, or Sol Regem's hatred, or even Karim's petty arrogance... much less the shit Aaravos has going on.

(Speaking of Sol Regem... he not only refuses to be healed, but instead demands to be remade into an engine of indiscriminate death and destruction. He really does out-bitter Aaravos, on occasion.)

Then s7 hits, and two things happen: Katolis is destroyed, and Runaan is returned to the living world. Well, both of those technically happen in s6, but Ezran actually has to deal with them in s7.

For all that Katolis being destroyed sets Ezran on a path toward the complex politics and morality of nuclear deterrence, it's really the situation with Runaan that both tests and exemplifies Ezran's true heart. Aaravos's initial explanation of the true heart ("Childhood innocence gives way to something… complicated.") is directly overlaid on Ezran's dealing with the aftermath of Callum helping Rayla and Runaan escape the Banther Lodge. I don't think Ezran ever really expected to have to deal with Harrow's killer, since Runaan is presumed dead, so he's unprepared to be confronted with it—particularly given that he has convinced himself he's over it, when he really isn't. He's tested both in suddenly facing a person he can't see as good, deep down. Runaan wasn't lashing out because he was hurting or scared, nor can Ezran conceive of them wanting the same things. There's also the sense of betrayal at Callum and Rayla differing so deeply from his own reaction, when they were previously so in tune—literally banding together despite being born on opposite sides of a millennia-old war, because they recognized the goodness in each other and that they all wanted peace.

Ezran's reaction to Runaan is definitely affected by what happens to Katolis—he's denied not only any kind of justice for Sol Regem's attack, but any explanation. Runaan's fate is something he can ostensibly control, in a situation where he feels both responsible and powerless. Now, an entire separate post could be done about s7's recurring exploration of punitive versus restorative justice through Rayla's trial, Ezran and Runaan, Janai and Karim, Terry, and (as always) Aaravos, but to briefly recap part of my meta on Terry's true heart and growth: Terry, in being challenged during s7, comes to realize that even if he chooses to continue holding to his true heart's faith in the world and others, he is complicit in the harm Claudia and Aaravos have done, and he feels compelled to start doing the work to repair that harm as much as he can. While he hasn't necessarily done anything that would warrant punitive justice, he recognizes that truly doing good requires work and effort, and sometimes doing difficult things. There's not really anything Runaan can (knowingly) offer to make right what he did, beyond his confession that he has come to realize everything he believed at the time was wrong, and he did grievous harm to Ezran that night. However, in that confession, he says something crucial:

Ezran's true heart led him to rule in a way that changed the world for the better, moving toward an unprecedented era of peace—something that, to Runaan's eyes, required a great deal of strength to put aside completely legitimate pain and grievances that could have easily rekindled millennia of war. (See also: "It's a strong name" in that Terry meta.)

I think it's in part because of that reminder—the description of the kind of person and king he wants to be—that Ezran chooses compassion and working toward forgiveness with Runaan. He's not choosing the true heart as a core part of his identity the way Terry does, but his own past true heart inspires his current self to make a decision that's right, but also hard. As with Terry, he is discovering that goodness can take work—true, concerted effort to both determine and follow the right path.

Does Ezran retain his true heart throughout s7? I don't know. I don't think it's entirely as simple as a yes/no state, and he has definitely lost some of his earlier confidence and beliefs. Ultimately I'm not sure it matters. He took a solid punch to the mouth, but either way... it seems like he's going to come out of it okay.

Not Worthy: Claudia's Skewed Perception

And now, a final tangent.

All that stuff I said earlier about a true heart not making you better or worse, and its "loss" being morally neutral? Well, there's at least one person who doesn't see it that way.

In s7, Claudia's inability to read the map and Terry leaving her (as she knew he would, when he learned the truth about her and her behavior) both contribute to the insecurities she has carried for most of her life. Claudia derives most of her self-worth from being very good at dark magic, and therefore loses emotional stability when either she "fails" at something magic-related or dark magic itself is questioned.

This is an interesting connection, because the true heart and/or its loss isn't inherently linked to dark magic. A true heart doesn't shrivel and die at your first dark magic spell, but it's inevitable that the practice of dark magic will at some point become impossible to reconcile with the core beliefs of the true heart simply because they're inherently incompatible... you can't see sapient magical creatures as "people" the same as you and as resources for spell ingredients. So while it's not surprising that Claudia no longer has her childhood true heart, it's not necessarily because of her dark magic... and yet, some part of her perceives it as an indictment against her.

We also know exactly where she probably internalized that view:

Puzzle House is actually where we first encounter the concept of the true heart, as a yes/no state that allows you to access the map to the Garden of Innocents. Kruha, the map's guardian, doesn't ascribe any moral value to being able to see the map or not—noting that he, himself, is "too old" to see it, anymore. However, a single note from Kpp'Ar, combined with her own insecurities at a point of emotional turmoil in her life—her mother has left her, Kpp'Ar has (apparently) left her, she's acting out by attempting increasingly complex self-taught magic and keeps getting in trouble because of it—lead even a 7-year-old Claudia to question whether she might also be unable to see it due to being "not good."

We still don't know why Kpp'Ar was seeking the Garden of Innocents and what caused his "change of heart," but if it's at all comparable to Viren's experience, he was going through The Horrors(tm)—it's not surprising that he'd indulge in a little self-loathing in what's meant to be a private note. Claudia, meanwhile, has her faith in him as a mentor figure she wishes to emulate shaken—he imprisoned Kruha, keeping him collared like an animal, away from his home and family. She knows that's wrong, and struggles to reconcile the Kpp'Ar she knew with someone who would do that. If Kpp'Ar is somehow bad, and she didn't know, could she also be bad and not realize it?

This is particularly interesting to me because she doesn't have this crisis when Viren quits dark magic, even when he explicitly tells her he led her down the wrong path. She does question whether she should also quit dark magic, but it's from the perspective of "it seems like it might have done him a lot of good, emotionally... maybe I should also try it?" rather than "my dad thinks I'm evil, actually," or even "my dad explicitly said he hopes I'll take a different path, one day... am I betraying him if I don't?" She's remarkably chill about it, though to be fair, she's probably still in a state of emotional shock and dissociation. She gets progressively more sensitive about it again during s7, particularly as she receives validation from Aaravos.

Anyway, just a little window into which little wheels are spinning in Claudia's head when she insists she hasn't changed:

I'm sure that won't be significant as she starts her Dragon Girl Summer (and Autumn, and Winter, and Spring).

[gentlehue]

the hogwarts houses — an analysis by cynthia

establishing the basics

important to remember throughout reading: there will ALWAYS be anomalies in all houses!! no one can be the perfect representation of a house because we're all humans which means we're a mix of anything and everything <3 this is simply how i personally see them

in harry potter, as far as i’m aware, the way the sorting hat picks what house you’re in isn’t clearly explained. a lot of people generally believe that their house is the one that matches their personality traits the most, and while in my version that is partially true, i think that there is an additional factor that plays into this

that factor is which house’s traits you value, not to be confused with which ones you particularly exhibit. you can value a gryffindor's ability to immediately act on their goals and dreams while also constantly being held back by procrastination yourself. in my opinion, this has a bit more influence on what hogwarts house you get put in than what your personality is like, simply because it explains why people like neville get into one house when they're 'so clearly suited' for another, as well as that it explains why many people seem to get into houses just because all their family members were in the same house. if you grow up around ravenclaws and view them as positive influences, its only natural for you to value ravenclaw traits the most

when deciding your hogwarts house, it is important to consider both how your own traits line up with the traits of the houses, and which house represents the traits you personally admire the most

for example: i consider myself to be a very ambitious person. i will do absolutely anything and everything to achieve my dreams, and for that, i could easily be put in slytherin. however, throughout my life, there is nothing i enjoyed and valued more than the pursuit of knowledge and creative expression. while both are core parts of who i am, my particular love for the latter (among other things you'll see later on) is what put me into ravenclaw

head vs heart houses

in my mind, the houses are divided into two groups: head houses and heart houses, with the head houses being slytherin and ravenclaw, and the heart houses being gryffindor and hufflepuff

head houses are characterised by their utilisation of their heads over their hearts. they tend to think things through more often and are very methodical, finding solace in their daily routines and rituals and constantly making to-do lists for every little thing. while that does mean that they're more on top of things and are able to stay disciplined for longer periods of time, they're also prone to procrastination due to an inability to visualise a clear path to their goals and thus being unable to actually start. they also tend to be more stubborn and opinionated, refusing to admit that they're wrong even when the evidence is right in front of them. head houses are excellent givers of advice and will gladly dish it out since their problem-solving nature means they probably thought of it before you even asked anyway

in comparison, members of heart houses tend to follow their hearts instead of their heads. they are extreme empaths and their loyalty knows no bounds, as they would do anything to protect a loved one, even if it means putting themselves in harm's way. they often don't think things through as much as they should, and while this is detrimental in some cases, it also can be the reason for their successes, since they don't have procrastination holding them back from achieving their goals the way head houses do. heart houses are also quite friendly and helpful, the exact type of people you can go to when you need a shoulder to cry on after a bad day or someone to celebrate your wins with you

note: slytherin > ravenclaw in terms of which is 'more' of a head house, hufflepuff > gryffindor in terms of which is 'more' of a heart house. spectrum from head to heart goes slytherin -> ravenclaw -> gryffindor -> hufflepuff. the two in the middle (gryffindor & ravenclaw) therefore fluctuate more than the two on the opposite sides of the spectrum (slytherin & hufflepuff)

a deep dive into the houses

slytherin: ambitious. cunning. can slip through any situation like water. will go to extreme lengths for the sake of their goals ("if there is a will, there is a way"). prefer to stick to their established groups. surprisingly good at both platonic and romantic matchmaking considering said lack of branching out. charismatic. make excellent event planners. see things exactly as they are and are rarely phased by this ("that's just how life is" mentality). value power and usually do have a powerful aura, even if they don't particularly see it themselves. are often 'naturals' at many things ("slytherin can help you on the path to greatness"). resourceful. extremely protective of their own. secretive and can keep other people's secrets very well. do want to be liked deep down, no matter how many times they deny it. pros at networking (slytherins are the #1 linkedin warriors trust)

ravenclaw: intelligent. imaginative. lovers of any and all knowledge, but have particular fields they're interested in. open-minded and rarely ever judgemental. creative. listen and analyse everything. extremely good at thinking outside of the box. eccentric and unafraid to be themselves. embrace people’s differences with ease. dreamers. quick learners. hate feeling ‘stuck’ but can be quite prone to it. have a knack for storytelling. extreme perfectionists. love defying stereotypes and proving people wrong. often quiet and private as they don’t see a need to publicly advertise everything they do (the type of friend you discover has a sibling after three years of friendship). some are hopeless romantics. bookworms. will do anything for praise and validation (but lowkey). nostalgic. you can tell they’ve been through multiple lives (“old souls”). very understanding.

gryffindor: brave. love with their entire being (fell first and harder trope). will do anything for praise and validation (but highkey). can be a little jealous sometimes. infectious spirit (if they’re happy you’re happy, if they’re sad you’re sad). fill up a room when they’re in it. don’t know how they’ll get things done but they get them done regardless. compassionate. quick to anger but also equally quick to forgive. tendency to help even if they know nothing about what they’re helping with (stems from a want to be needed). will always fight for what they think is right. love to mingle with people from other houses. protect those who cannot protect themselves. young at heart. determined. some have particularly large egos (the one quote that goes james had an ego the size of the great lake but a heart to match it). hate complaining and prefer to find solutions to their problems instead.

hufflepuff: kind. grounded in their emotions and who they are. dislike change. very hard working. indecisive. patient. value honesty and trust (gaining their trust takes work, and losing it means you’ll never get it back). don’t sugarcoat things for others (better to deal with the hard truth than live a lie). extreme hobbyists. love making themselves busy, hate sitting idly doing nothing. will seek justice on their and your own behalf. very good wing(wo)men. fiercely loyal (can result in them being very biased against the opposing side). bad at planning surprises. have the strongest moral compass (hence so many of them staying behind during the battle of hogwarts). humble. can be a little naive sometimes. tend to easily overwork themselves. really good physical and emotional healers. a lot are social butterflies.

[virgilisspidey]

LMK CHARACTERS IN HOGWARTS HOUSES

I accidentally exited the app before I finished typing out my thoughts but I saw a post, I don’t remember from who and I can’t find it anymore about where the LMK characters would be sorted it they were to go to Hogwarts.

From what I can remember they said that:

MK would be a Hufflepuff

Mei would be a Slytherin or a Gryffindor

Red Son would be a Ravenclaw pretending to be a Slytherin

Pigsy a Slytherin (?)

Tang a Ravenclaw

Macaque and Wukong they had a hard time where to put them because halfway throughout the post they realized how complicated sorting is

They asked for other’s opinions as the other characters are starting to confuse them on where they should be sorted.

As someone who has read the books in elementary and endeavoring to rewrite the whole Harry Potter series for my own indulgence, I can confidently say that I know my way around Hogwarts houses and has sorted different characters from different fandoms before.

TO YOU WHO POSTED THAT, PLEASE ENJOY!!

Long post ahead

First and foremost… what are the Hogwarts houses?

They are Gryffndor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin— named after the four founding fathers and mothers that established the school. What they value the most in a person is how they are chosen to their respective houses.

Gryffindor valued bravery, loyalty, and chivalry.

Ravenclaw valued intelligence, creativity, and wit.

Hufflepuff valued kindness, hard work, and patience.

Slytherin valued ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness.

You would think it would be easy to sort people in these four molds but the problem is that people change and develop overtime, making it harder and harder to put them into specific character traits that each house values. That’s why I see the original poster struggle, since they’re looking to far into the series for character development, making it harder for them to sort the characters into these respective houses.

But there’s one thing we have to remember…

They were all sorted when they were 11 years old.

They were all sorted in the time of their lives where they barely even started puberty. Where they barely even know who they are and what their place was in the world. They are sorted at a time where they are easily influenced by their peers.

And being sorted to a house doesn’t strictly mean that they have to remain acting with the traits that accepted them in mind. Take Gilderoy Lockhart and Peter Pettigrew for example. Lockhart was a Ravenclaw but what do we see him do? He steals the work of other brilliant witches and wizards and pass it as his own. There is no denying that he’s not smart, he is, he managed to get into Ravenclaw after all, but his methods, as he grew up, was becoming more and more of a Slytherin’s. Pettigrew, on the other hand, was describe to be a coward and a frequent follower. He does whatever other people want, and we can say that can be a Gryffindor trait of being loyal to his friends but what do we see later on? He betrays his friends, causing their deaths and going over to the dark side. A Gryffindor caused everything to fall apart, causing the main character’s parents to die, causing his entire friend group to fall apart.

With that out of the way, I know what you are really here for: the LMK character sorting ceremony.

Let’s start with the traffic light trio.

I think the original poster also minded the colors of the house as another basis but for this, we ain’t doing that.

What we are going to do is observing the characters when they showed up the first time or their earliest ever version. Afterwards we try to see what house they could’ve been sorted to after some character development.

Let’s begin.

MK is a Hufflepuff and I completely agree with that. Although it doesn’t seem so at the start, MK does exhibit traits of being a Hufflepuff by doing what he thinks is right and returning Wukong’s staff to him at a moment’s notice. Hufflepuffs are also known to be honest, and that’s what MK has been from the very start, honest about how it was his fault for the staff getting stolen, honest that he doesn’t believe himself to be the perfect fit to stop DBK, honest in what he views or thinks of himself. Although Hufflepuffs get stereotyped for being soft and uwu-ified by the fandom, MK represents the house very well as the series goes on. MK sticks to his ideals. He redeems characters left and right, displaying kindness no other character was willing to display. He is also hard working in training and trying to prove himself… however, Hufflepuffs also have flaws, that being, due to their impartialness, aka tendency not to take any sides, they often find themselves right in the middle of conflicts where they don’t know where to go. That conflict can be seen with MK as more and more of Wukong’s past enemies start to show up and more and more of his own past was starting to come to light. He is confused and doesn’t know which path to take, as Hufflepuffs tend to see things black and white. Til the very end of season 5, however, he showcased his Hufflepuff traits very well by making it the people’s choice to live on, and not his own as they start to rebuild the pillar.

Mei was being confused between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin but I do believe she is a Gryffindor. At the start of the series we are introduced to her as an adrenaline junky, she was a little bit jealous seeing MK running around with another person having fun, but her mood quickly changes to cold threats the moment she found out that MK was being chased in the not so fun way. She observes the Gryffindor traits very well, she is brave and chivalrous, and oh so loyal to her friends, and especially MK as she develops. What she said as the Samadhi Fire manifests within her is very Gryffindor-like, and most especially her anger. Gryffindor’s most negative trait are their temper. She is one angry character and we can see that consistently throughout the show. One thing that I also love to speculate in Gryffindors is that their weakness are other people because of their loyalty and Mei has always been afraid of losing MK as he becomes more and more distant, wanting to have their own monkey dragon bonding time in season 5 before it was abruptly cut short. She values their friendship too much is crushes her. Gryffindors tend to also be stubborn, attacking first and asking questions later, something Mei does. Henceforth, Gryffiindor.

Red Son, and I am going to contradict the original poster, is a Slytherin. There is no denying that he is very smart but the first ever moment we see him he was being ambitious about his invention aiding the return of his father. That is not to say the entire Demon Bull King family are Slytherins (although I love to believe PIF is a Slytherin and DBK was a Gryffindor), but that’s what he is when we first see him. He is a prideful character who wants to rule the world with his family’s side and using any sort of means to achieve it. The seizing of the weather tower is a work of cunning and resourcefulness, heck, his inventions itself is a display of his resourcefulness. Not anyone can lift Wukong’s staff and he managed to do it… with a gauntlet. As the show goes on, he does exhibit more and more of that Ravenclaw mindset as his family mellows out. Believe it or not, he still does want to do conquest but he prioritizes finding knowledge and researching about the Samadhi Fire. By being a combination of a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw, I do believe it helped him not being that single minded, as Ravenclaw’s do tend to rely too much on their own knowledge and not on other people, him being a Slytherin helps him acknowledge the fact that it is necessary to ask other people for help, like Mei in season 5 when he messed up and made an artificial Samadhi Fire pug creature thing. As I observed with Slytherins too, they tend to do things for their own benefit, like Red Son did in the Spider Queen special, where he would rather save the city just to get his father back rather than saving it for the goodness of his own heart, because of this, they tend to be a little bit harder to trust if they deem you not useful in their plans.

Now unto the rest of the Monkie Kid gang!!

Sandy, Tang, and Pigsy’s sections would be much shorter since I see them as pretty cut and dry.

Tang is a Ravenclaw through and through. He is someone who values knowledge so much and want to discover more and more, going as far as to write his own version of the Journey to the West as they search for the Samadhi Fire rings. He even geeks out a lot about all of the things he has learned and lets not deny that fact that he has saved their asses by giving important exposition and knowledge, so yes, Ravenclaw.

Pigsy, on the other hand, is different from op’s opinion (if i can even remember correctly). He is a Hufflepuff. Although it does fit for him to be a Slytherin because of his ambitions for his restaurant, Hufflepuffs are well known to value hard work and that’s what Pigsy is all about. He also tends to be blunt and honest about things, another Hufflepuff trait. And again, Hufflepuffs don’t have to be soft guys, he’s pretty much the epitome of what a Hufflepuff is.

With Sandy, oh boy I am gonna love this, he is a Gryffindor. Remember their character flaw being their temper? That’s why I saved him last for this trio of characters. He displays so many Gryffindor like traits throughout the show too, loyal to a fault, brave, and definitely chivalrous. As he grows as a character, we find him being more of a Hufflepuff, his kindness shows it all but just like MK, because he tends to be passive, he gets right in the middle of conflict not knowing what to do.

Now… what I know you’re all actually here for…

Wukong and Macaque.

Let’s save Wukong for last.

For these two we are going to base it all on the brotherhood period of their lives so most of it will be based on speculation on my part.

Macaque back then, isn’t like the Macaque we have now. We do see so little of them and I do think it is seen through Azure’s perspective most of the time, so we cannot truly see what his old personality really was like before his death. From what I can see, and this would seem out of left field, but he’s a Gryffindor.

He is loyal to a fault, loyal to Wukong most of all. We don’t know when these guys met, if it was before the brotherhood or during the beginning of it, but based on how Peng always loved to throw unnecessary shade towards him, Wukong and Macaque are very close. That is also based on the peach scene as well as the fact that they can be seen together in the season 4 intro first before it was the scene where Azure discovers Wukong, so it’s a bit safer to assume that they knew each other before the brotherhood gets established and this has led me to believe that Wukong was the only reason Macaque was even there in the first place.

From what we can tell on how others described Macaque in the past, he is a match to Wukong, they can fight really well together and have done so multiple times based on another thing in season 5 where they don’t even need to talk to each other to know what they were going to do, he also had this self sacrifice moment there too, something that I have observed Gryffindors do sometimes. This also leads me to believe that Macaque tried to fight in a more heads on approach like Wukong did before, not really utilizing the efficiency of his shadows much so he would match with his friend. It is safe to assume that he would be a Gryffindor…

But in his revival he is a Slytherin. His tactics has changed, being more manipulative, more cunning, if you will, rather than facing things head on. His tactics involved redirections, disguises, use of his environment, illusions, and big grandiose shows of power for intimidation. His personality changed as well, as one of the more negative Slytherin traits are the tendency to being selfish. Since he was revived and tried to avoid his job of freeing LBD knowing its consequences, he was forced to work under her to keep himself alive, he forged the fire too early to get out of her control. He is using the people around him as a means to an end, manipulating their thoughts and views on Wukong to pit them against him as a form of revenge.

And still… he is a Gryffindor through and through and that loyalty brought him back to working with MK to save the world from LBD. The people of his past always claim he was a coward but he was brave at that moment, he could’ve easily just dipped into the shadows and never show his face again after the Samadhi Fire was forged but instead he went back as MK and Nezha followed Wukong in his fight against LBD, he saved MK, he grabbed the Mayor for more information, he stayed tied up even though he can easily get freed, and he heard MK out. Even still, he stayed after LBD, hiding away in FFM, he gave MK some courage to make his own choices, he complained but saved Wukong from the scroll anyway, and fought his biggest hater and proved himself. He may not fight for Wukong’s sake anymore, but he did it for MK. He sacrificed himself so they can get away and save the world in season 5, he absorbed the chaos from Xiag Liu’s magic to give Wukong a chance to get to the pillar to stop MK with the knowledge that Wukong would throw himself there instead.

If that isn’t brave I don’t know what is.

Then there’s Wukong…

Although his life isn’t much of a mystery, we can read the actual Journey to the West if we want info about his life, but we don’t know how much LMK changed in regards to that, the brotherhood thing was different in the show, the Samadhi Fire too, so how much creative liberty did they give Wukong? We don’t know because despite being a crucial character, most of Wukong’s past and his friendships aren’t laid right in front of us.

From Macaque and Azure’s words, Wukong is selfish, used those around him, and overall, wasn’t the person they thought he was. We don’t see specific examples of those moments except for the confrontation under the mountain with Wukong and Macaque but from what we have seen during flashbacks, Wukong was always egotistical and ambitious, craving attention from other people and doing things just because he wanted to. He’s a cheeky little cunning monkey, although his cunning is’t like Macaque’s more calculated one, it’sm ore on the spontaneous side. Going for the Jade Emperor the second time after the Havoc in Heaven doesn’t seem so out of character but looking at it, Wukong at the time was nervous and fidgety, insistent and adamant that they were going to win.

Slytherin.

How he acted in flashbacks and how people viewed him is so confusing since we haven’t seen things in Wukong’s perspective at all, which makes the tragedy of his character so good. Him being a Slytherin makes a good sense story wise since Slytherin’s are known as great leaders and tend to have a more leader-like role, being the king and all that. He also searched far and wide to look for immortality achieved it, and even dared to go against heaven for not acknowledging his ambitions, all the things he worked for to be one of the strongest and we can’t forget the stereotype of Slytherins being evil, with the Journey to the West being all about redemption, having him be a Slytherin makes sense.

Throughout the journey though, he started to act more and more Gryffindor like, a complete opposite to Macaque. We don’t see it, however, since the show loved to show us nothing about Wukong’s past with the pilgrims, but we can observe that Wukong definitely did change his ways, he became more of a hero than a menace, and although he still has that bad reputation amongst demons and celestials alike, he has grown to be selfless, another trait Gryffindors tend to have. He has grown so much as we can see in season 3 more as he slowly starts to own up to his mistakes, not faulting MK if he ever sees him is a bad mentor or a bad person in general for his past. He also has thrown his body in front of MK multiple times in the show to protect him, being a steady pillar for MK to lean on when things get rough, teaching him all that he needs to know as his successor, trusting MK more than he trusts himself, that level of loyalty towards the kid is so strong that he was willing to sacrifice himself in MK’s stead.

And it fits.

A Gryffindor acting more Slytherin like.

A Slytherin acting more Gryffindor like.

It fits with the show portraying the monkeys as two sides of the same coin.

These analysis aren’t perfect, of course, most of it is speculations and my own personal opinions, but I hope you like it!!

TLDR: MK is a Hufflepuff, Mei is a Gryffindor, Red Son is a Slytherin (and a Ravenclaw), Tang is a Ravenclaw, Pigsy is a Hufflepuff, Sandy is a Gryffindor (and a Hufflepuff), Macaque is a Gryffindor (and a Slytherin), and Wukong is a Slytherin (and a Gryffindor)

[nichelink]

i mentioned [in this post] that i didn't want the term to be used for medical profession terms, here is my attempt at elaborating on this.

my ruling so far has been that i don't want there to be terms like "Doctor+Patient", "Therapist+Patient" because i feel like it would have to include (or would encourage even if it doesn't specifically mention) people avoiding seeing a therapist or some other professional in favor of using their nichelinking partner for that.

in the past, i have been a part of (and also seen) multiple relationships between people where they expressly referred to their partner as a therapist, and each one of these was unhealthy for the people involved. i have done a lot of thinking on this and right now i don't believe that there's any situation where you can treat your partner as your therapist, doctor, or etc professional. it includes an imbalance in the relationship that isn't healthy, as the "therapist" is saddled with more intense pressure to help their partner, with things they are most likely not professionally trained for. your partner should of course be someone you can rely on for support, but giving them the title of "therapist" "doctor" etc just doesn't sit right with me.

even if i coined these and made them 18+ only, i still don't believe it can be healthy. i have been in several relationships like this while we were both over the age of 18, and it was still an unhealthy dynamic which i don't think anyone should seek out.

since i have also seen this happen MANY times in the r*dqueer community, and nichelink is a term and community that i encourage former r*dqueers to come to, i don't feel like i can let nichelink include this term for that reason as well.

at the same time: i do understand this might seem a bit hypocritical. nichelinking is intended to include things that at a face value wouldn't be seen as healthy or something you should desire, like being an object owned by another person, but from my perspective terms like that are less realistic to human life and therefore seem removed enough that i think it is inherently easier for people wanting to use that term to understand where the boundary between "two people having fun expressing their desires" and "tasking my partner with something that is too much for them."

which is why i'm spending the time writing out this little essay, haha... i get nervous when i feel like my actions may be misunderstood, so i wanted to share where i am coming from and give the nichelinkers out there context on why i am saying this.

commentary/opinions on this are welcome but please assume good faith and use tone tags with me.

*edit* added link to Medicine Cat term

[cepetriwrites]

Alicent Reverses the Hourglass Chapter 52 Memes Pt 3

Her husband, her castle. A voice from within whispered. Now even her gown.

Alicent dug her fingernails into her hand.

No. They existed in a different world now. The past should stay in the past.

AVPM anyone?

She literally had a magical witch call her out on her relationship with rhaenyra and Alicent is just: No thoughts. Head empty. Get dick.

~~~~~~~

He had shown little interest in matters of local politics, household structure or financial planning: all these things he was more than happy to leave to Alicent’s keeping.

The man who wants to be king everybody……

Daemon was too busy dying and tripping balls in Harrenhal to notice how much work ruling is

~~~~~~~~~

“Are you about to tell me how I may select mine own heir, my lord?” Daemon’s voice held an all-too familiar edge. “Do you imagine I require your opinion?”

Me:

This is what an ally looks like. If I had to choose between daemon and a bear…. I’d probably still choose the bear cause daemon loves killing people but if he did kill me, it wouldn’t be because of sexism, it’s just because he’s an asshole. Take notes men.

~~~~~

Corlys and Rhaenys looked at each other and everyone else brought their eyes back down to their plates.

Me wanting to be apart of that post dinner debrief/gossip

I just want to be the kid in the backseat of their parents car as they discuss the drama from the latest family function

~~~~~

All with the exception of Selman Sunglass who clapped his hands, eager to agree with everything coming from Alicent’s mouth no matter what it happened to be. “Well, I think it is a fine idea! Times are changing after all! Male, female: they will still be the Prince and Lady Alicent’s child.”

I’ll allow it. Raw as well.

~~~~~~

“My mother and he raised Viserys and I together. As one. I always intended to do the same with my own family.”

“I agree.” Corlys said.

Both Laenor and Rhaenys raised their eyebrows in unison. “ You do?” They spoke together.

Laenor when his dad implies he’s a present father

Me & laenor should get shirts for our club

~~~~~

Gwayne & Laenor going through a messy gay breakup at the dinner table

The dinner guests

It’s so sad when friends fight :(

Meanwhile cut to Laenor buried under blankets sobbing as he blasts casual by Chappell roan

Someone should introduce these boys to the concept of an affair…. Lord Corlys is pretty well versed on the subject……

~~~~~~

At that moment, Gwayne couldn’t help but feel horribly out-of-place. He gave another look to the back of Laenor’s head and then left, quickly before the next song began.

So ignoring your loved ones cries for help is just….. a thing you do… huh?

Someone tell Aegon it was nothing personal when she moonwalked away from him as he sobbed over the death of his son, she’s just allergic to the spectrum of human emotion

Aegon🤝Gwayne🤝Rhaenyra = getting ignored by Alicent during their times of need

~~~~~~~

Daemon glanced at her as if surprised. “I thought you would be pleased at the idea of our daughter being our heir.”

Anskdkslwksnd he thought his sexist wife, who did a coup that killed most of the Targaryens and dragons to put a younger son over the oldest daughter, would be happy about him equally valuing a daughter? Sir you are married to the Westerosi version of Phyllis Schlafly.

~~~~~~~~

“I saw him drink goblet upon goblet of wine,” Arthor’s eyes roved over her. “His temper will be soft and…malleable.” He came forward began to twist at the seam of her bodice until her cleavage spilled forth. “There. That’s better.”

Shoutout to reddish for writing such toxic people it makes me happier with my annoying family members. At least they’ve never tried pimping me out

~~~~~~~

He hoped that, at some point, he could cleave one of Alicent’s enemies in two. The look on her face: both gratitude and love. He was impatient for it.

She would see then that only he could be called upon to protect her and cast all memories of the Dornish knight or the Baratheon boy into flame.

His love language is literally murder. At this point I think he needs it to function the way we need food to survive.

Also not his anxious attachment still making him insecure over a Baratheon when Alicent was literally riding him like a stallion with an audience watching.

Good thing she’s not bi, the man would never know peace if he knew everyone was an option.

~~~~~~

“Wife.” His fingers drowsily grazed her arm, still between sleep and waking, the medicine addling him.

Koline chose not to speak. She straddled him instead, making sure that her scented skin was underneath his nose. He breathed in and seemed contented. {…} In the hollowness of the dark chamber, she did her duty.

Hey what… um… that’s um… that’s a….

I cannot believe I am using this video for TWO different people.

~~~~~

Alicent & Koline staring at each other after Alicent walks in on her mid sexual assault

~~~~~

Alicent feeling her brain chemistry change as she catches her husband “cheating” on her

Homegirl about to snap and take everyone with her

Memes Masterpost

[shadowdaddies]

what do you think about cassian with a mate that used to get bullied before they met, And one day they’re at ritas and she sees her old bullies and she freezes up. He notices and reader explains what happened, her bullies walk up to reader and act all friendly bc of cassian, they wanna be in the army or something so they act nice but cassian beats them up instead, and takes her home UGHH THE ANGSTT AND COMFORT AND FLUFF👀🤍

Phew, I have a few angst requests in the works that I've needed some time to get in the right headspace to write. Thank you anon for sending in this ask, please enjoy Cassian being both therapist and mama bear

Karma

Cassian x Reader (angst to comfort/fluff)

Warnings: implied violence, mentions of bullying, lil bit of suggestiveness

You were resting your head on Cassian’s shoulder, holding onto his bicep with one hand while sipping on your drink with the other. You had your eyes closed as you enjoyed the music at Rita’s, basking in the peace of the evening you were spending with Cassian. You recognized the band starting to play a song you loved, and you began singing along. As you opened your eyes to turn to Cassian who was also singing along, your heart dropped into your stomach. 

You froze, fight or flight mode taking over as you saw two familiar faces you’d prayed to the Mother you’d never see again, over by the bar. You quickly turned away, looking towards the ground as your shoulders curled inward. Cassian immediately caught on that something was wrong, gently rubbing your arm as he asked, “honey, what is going on? Are you alright?” You couldn’t help your reaction to his touch, instinctively shaking him off as the room felt like it was closing in on you. You couldn’t breathe as you started sweating, unable to lift your gaze from your shoes. You struggled to whisper to him, “I can’t be here. I need to go outside now,” before standing up and bolting out the door, Cassian following right behind you. 

Once you got outside in the fresh air, you felt like you could breathe again. Pacing back and forth, you racked your brain for what you must have done in another lifetime to deserve seeing those two males here, in a place that was supposed to be a refuge for you. Cassian watched you, wide-eyed, as he observed this side of you he had never seen before. He didn’t want to touch you without your permission after how spooked you were in Rita’s, so he cautiously whispered, “angel, is there anything I can do?”

Cassian’s uncharacteristically timid question was enough to snap you out of your thought spiral, as you couldn’t help but giggle seeing the feared Lord of Bloodshed shifting on his feet as he tried to determine the best way to support you. Your heart softened as you took in the concerned expression on his face. You held his hands in yours as you took a deep breath, and tried your best to explain what was happening. “Those two males who arrived at the bar right before we left, they bullied me for a lot of my childhood. They are the reason for so many of my insecurities, Cass, and I thought I had moved past it. But seeing them in there... It brought all of those emotions back. I haven’t gotten any better. They still have power over me and I hate it.” All of your pent-up emotions poured out of you as the tears again threatened to spill. 

Cassian took one of his hands from yours and brought it to cup your cheek. He looked into your eyes, and spoke with an unquestionable certainty, “You are beautiful. You are kind. You are loved. You are the most incredible person I have met in my life, and I can assure you that whatever problem they may have or had with you, came from their own faults and insecurities. Those males are not the type of people whose opinions we should value. Do you truly care what they think of you?”

You were taken aback by the question. You never considered if you even cared what they thought about you, and you felt the burden lift off your chest as you realized that you didn’t care. Why should you care what such hateful people think? You wouldn’t care about their opinions on anything else, so why about yourself? You shook your head as you took a deep breath. “No Cass, you’re right. I am above them.” Cassian smiled, “it’s normal to still be hurt by what they did. But you have grown, and continued to be kind, and that is how you have won.” He leaned down to press a kiss to your forehead before leaning back to look at you with a cocked eyebrow, “I can kick their asses for you, though.” You laughed, shaking your head as you took Cassian’s hand, walking home. “As much as I would love that, they’re not worth it.” 

Almost as soon as the words were out of your mouth, you heard your name being called from behind you. You froze for only a moment before regaining your composure as you turned to see your former bullies approaching you. “It’s so good to see you! How are you?” They bombarded you with questions, acting as though they didn’t make your life a living Hel for years. You squeezed Cassian’s hand, both for support and to keep him from lunging at the males. One of them looked down at your joined hands with Cassian before they turned their attention to him. You seethed with rage as they flattered Cassian, asking him about joining the army and his connections in Illyria. Of course, they were so shameless as to use you to meet Cassian.

Cassian gave them curt answers until they asked about how they could join under his command. You were shocked to see Cassian smile as he invited them to the training ring the next day for testing to enlist. You abruptly dismissed yourself from the conversation, turning to continue your way back home when Cassian caught up with you. “What are you thinking, Cass?” you practically yelled at him. “Why would you want them as soldiers?” He smirked at you. “I didn’t invite them to enlist. I invited them to test.”

Late the next morning, you made your way downstairs to the dining room to grab some breakfast, when Azriel and Cassian walked through the door. You looked at their hands to see bloodied knuckles and you chuckled, “you two have some fun sparring this morning?” Azriel gave Cassian a sidelong glance as Cass winked at you. “Not sparring. There was testing this morning, remember?” Your jaw dropped, realizing the cause for their bloodied hands. “You two fought them?!” Azriel scoffed, “I don’t think you can call it that. Neither of them landed a hit.” 

You laughed as you grabbed a rag to clean Cassian’s hands. “You shouldn’t have done that,” you attempted to scold him through your bright smile. He laughed, tucking your hair behind your ear. “I don’t think you need to worry about them bothering you anytime soon, honey.” 

You pulled him by his hand, making your way up the stairs to your bathroom. “What do you say I finish cleaning you up in the bath, General?”

[hortaheart]

Thinking more about the utter decentralization of the Maquis from the start despite the premise, as well as Seven taking over the second half of the show.

Seven struggles so much against Starfleet rules and Starfleet values, do we ever see the moment she finds out that so much of Voyager’s crew are Federation Criminals? About the treaties that left multitudes of people defenseless against Cardassian occupation and destruction?

Despite having rewatched Voyager a lot, it’s been awhile since the last time I did it completely, and my memory isn’t perfect. I feel like she mentions it in conversation/argument, but I don’t remember anything significant. Which I think very possibly reflects a major lack of narrative utilization, rather than just my imperfect recall.

Some of my favorite blogs on this site draw tons of fascinating and stark parallels between Seven and B’Elanna, and this feels like yet another way those parallels could and should have been addressed!

So many of the episodes that were devoted just to Seven should have been equally about B’Elanna, and sometimes Chakotay, and the Maquis crew we barely get to know. It could have been really interesting! Do you think she could have been more comfortable taking orders from and working with people she knows are also very critical of Starfleet? Who have also struggled against its confines? Who try to live up to its ideal whilst frustrated by its hypocrisy?

I feel like she should be very curious about the experiences and values of the Maquis, I feel like she should be asking them bold, awkward questions whenever allowed to. It’s funny, B’Elanna is sometimes so hostile towards her, and towards being asked personal questions in general, but she can also try very hard to patiently answer her when she sees that Seven is really trying to understand them.

She should be asking her how and why she joined the Maquis. Why she dropped out of Starfleet Academy. How she adjusted to taking orders from Janeway.

I think it would be wildly interesting (AND TROUBLESOME FOR EVERYBODY) if all this led to Seven gaining a political consciousness about how the Borg (not just ex-Borg) are treated by the Federation.

Why do victims, many of them family members, friends, and allies, instantly become dehumanized alien villains that must be destroyed as soon as they’re assimilated? If they really care about Seven and really see her as a human like them, why don’t they show the same care to the Borg that have yet to be freed? Does being dangerous make their lives worthless? Does being too much trouble for the Federation mean you get discarded? (It did for the Maquis.)

Do you think she has nightmares about when they tried to kill her when she was just a drone? Terrors that if she gets assimilated again, they’ll simply kill her instead of trying to save her? Do you think B’Elanna, or Maquis crew members who aren’t so close with Janeway, ever have the same nightmares and fears about when they weren’t valued crew members, and were just terrorists to hunt down and capture?

(I can see B’Elanna having these fears specifically because she’s close with Janeway and values her opinion so much. She’s lost so much that it has made her suspicious of good things, and terrified of losing them too. Sounds like someone else we know…)

I think Seven could absolutely convince Chakotay of this radical stance, considering how far he’ll go to save someone he’s at odds with, how much he values life, and his experiences with being linked. And if B’Elanna and Seven’s relationship had steadily developed in the foreground like it should’ve, then I think she’d eventually support her too.

You know, Seven becoming particularly close with the Maquis crew in general, them becoming protective of her as someone who also suffers from Starfleet’s overbearing governance, hypocrisy and villainizing propaganda. Who doesn’t have the life experience required to navigate any of the crew’s anti-xb prejudice on her own. Could be good….

WE MISSED SO MUCH DUE TO THE WRITERS’ FEAR OF THE POLITICS OF THE MAQUIS!!!!!!!!!! Political Radical/Honorary Maquis Seven of Nine you are real to me.

[pop-punklouis]

Hope ,what's your opinion about the Blake - Justin drama? Did you see the new video they released ? He got dragged through the mud when her lawsuit came out where her team released her court docs as well. Isn't it fair that he gets to show his side as well? And she refused to meet the intimacy coordinator before shooting the scenes . So obviously she will be uncomfortable if he did something , which is why IC's are imp. I saw the insider info leak that Candace Owens got and it makes a lot of sense. Ryan Reynolds is a super controlling jealous guy.

ngl celebrity feuds and hot topics like this are my guilty pleasure lmao especially with the rollercoaster that has been the blake and justin lawsuits. i have been keeping too much on top of it for my own liking tbh (***putting this under a read more bc i have many thoughts thanks lol***)

BUT, unless blake’s team comes out with some bombshell at this point to completely counteract everything i read in that 700 page filing i read from Baldoni’s side the other day and watching the footage (that they say they have plenty more of)…. i do not see how they think they’re ever gonna win over a judge. and public perception is in the toilet for her and ryan now. they should just try and settle at this point (which i doubt baldoni will do after her lawsuit caused him to lose three jobs, too much money, and completely damaged his image in the industry — if i were him i would also stand my ground if he is indeed telling the truth which… jesus) anyways, i did read the insider info from candace owens and it only further solidifies what i had already convinced myself of regarding the whole thing after falling down the rabbit hole.

so my completely outsider opinion is that this whole situation has felt way too petty and hateful for it to not have any personal ties to it— and those personal ties, it seems as the only plausible explanation in my mind, that blake and justin connected emotionally on set. you can see that in many of their text exchanges and comments that were made about late night writing sessions etc. and the chemistry they had on set and in the footage before everything went sour in the baldoni lawsuit. whether blake became attracted to him or they both flirted with one another isn’t that important. what’s important is that, in my mind, ryan reynolds found out about something or didn’t like that blake was showing a more relaxed and comfortable side with baldoni which caused him to get uncomfortable and insecure and he pushed for the lawsuit believing that their combined presence and celebrity power would practically dessimate baldoni as he’s only worth like 3 million dollars compared to ryan who is gaining net worth close to a billion dollars (🤢) and they could wipe their hands of him and gain the rights to the sequel of the film. **funny how ryan knows how easy it is to become attracted to a co-star as he cheated on scarlett johansson with blake during green lantern but oops <3 **

unfortunately, everything i’ve ever heard about ryan reynolds has fit an ego-maniac frame. a lot of what i read in the baldoni lawsuit and from other sources about the film’s production and how reynolds practically took control over the entire thing, observing the dailies, rewriting scenes that blake took credit for, and then having meetings with certain crew and baldoni where they witnessed him degrade baldoni in front of everyone…. it wouldn’t surprise me if ryan was the one who won’t let this go and keeps pushing it because his pride and his ego won’t step out of the way long enough to realize this is only tanking both his and his wife’s image and value in the industry and to the general public. i think a perfect example of how weirdly obsessed he was with baldoni was in the new deadpool movie (which i know many people have referenced but it’s still so bizarre to me) where he becomes a character called “nicepool” which is an obvious jab at baldoni who has longer hair swept up in a half bun, with a certain vernacular, and is standing outside of a sage store (baldoni is known for saging any new environment he comes into) where blake lively’s character in ryan’s film ends up defeating him in a battle……. if his wife was that uncomfortable and felt like baldoni was creepy and actually harassing her why would ryan even bring up this guy in his film— treating it and him like a bad joke. it all just screams of ryan being a controlling partner who didn’t like that blake was actually growing close to another man. and she is the mask for him and his petty agenda to destroy him.

now, i don’t think Blake is an innocent party here at all. i think she also has a lot to answer for because almost everything she claimed in her lawsuit was referenced and countered with actual evidence from baldoni’s lawsuit (i also cant stop thinking of how absurd some of her texts and thinly veiled threats were to him like a grown ass woman acting as a cartoon bully)…. but, i do think ryan has a much bigger hand in this than people know and he’s practically running the show here and won’t back down which is going to ultimately damage him and her more than i think he believes it will damage justin. again, they should just pack it up and go back home with all the evidence baldoni’s team has but i know they won’t. would absolutely love to be a fly on the wall in the reynolds household right now though.

it’s a mess but yeah that’s where my mindset is at right now and i doubt it’ll change because i don’t think they have anything up their sleeve to change most people’s opinions here after all that’s been dropped. they genuinely believed he would back down and take it but he didnt. (also i find it easier to form an opinion when you see that most of the cast sided with her BUT the entire crew sided with him. that paints a pretty clear picture to me imo)

btw i’ve been following a tiktok creator’s commentary on the topic and they have a very similar opinion that i do about ryan reynolds role in this entire situation and why it feels like he’s pulling the strings. you can watch it here.

[frownyalfred]

Hello! I’m not Jewish and I just learned about Pikuach Nefesh. Being Jewish yourself, I’m guessing you have a lot of thoughts on this and how it relates to Bruce’s no-kill policy. I’d be really interested in hearing them if you want to make a post!

Hey friend!

I absolutely have thoughts, but I must begin with a disclaimer:

My perspective does not cover all Jews, nor is it the authority on what is or isn't Jewish. I grew up Reform/Reconstructionist, in an ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish family, and these are just my thoughts as a Batman blog.

Another important note: different types of Jews hold the halacha (rules/principles) of Judaism to be far more important in their lives. An Orthodox Jew will observe halacha much more strictly than a Reform Jew. Despite what some people will tell you, this doesn't make either of them better. Just different.

Whew, okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business.

What is Pikuach Nefesh?

In very general terms, Pikuach Nefesh (hard ch sound in the back of your throat) allows Jews to override other religious "rules" or values in the pursuit of preserving or saving a life.

A good example of this is a an Orthodox Jewish person, who, following halacha, will not drive or operate items with electricity during the Sabbath (Shabbat). But what happens if someone has a heart attack and they need to call 911? Pikuach Nefesh would permit them to use electricity, despite it being Shabbat.

If a Jewish person who keeps total kosher is in a situation where they will starve if they do not eat non-kosher food, they are permitted to eat non-kosher food.

Exceptions

There are some notable exceptions to Pikuach Nefesh, which I suspect is what your question is getting at. The threat to an individual's life generally has to be known, urgent, and not abstract.

Murder is another large exception, with some conditions. Generally, the intentional act of killing another person, or injuring them to the point where they might die from their injuries, is not an act that can be permitted by the principle of Pikuach Nefesh.

The slim exceptions to this include highly specific cases of self defense of oneself or another against an aggressor. One may kill to preserve a life in very strict situations, but they cannot murder. There are even times where killing is obligated, such as war.

So how does this relate to Batman/Bruce's no-killing rule?

Okay. So. I've had a lot of discussions with folks about this, and the answer I've learned is: it doesn't. Not really.

Pikuach Nefesh refers to the principle that a Jewish person should preserve life over almost any other rule or halacha. It does, actually, permit Bruce to kill under very specific situations. It does actually forbid him from gravely injuring people and doing so in the name of fighting against abstract threats, which are both things he does in canon.

The last time I wrote about this, I was definitely off about the details of Pikuach Nefesh in regard to Batman. I was corrected and I stand by that correction. I didn't grow up in the Orthodox faith and I don't observe much of their halacha, which is where a lot of religious theory questions arise from. I'm not an expert, and my explanation is only as deep as my own experience.

I think a good way of looking at Pikuach Nefesh is not as a way to define what, if any, killing is acceptable, but rather, what are we obligated to do to save a life?

The more important Jewish principle shaping Batman's ideology (in my opinion)

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

This is much more of an important focal point for Bruce's Jewish-influenced ideology. The flipside of this quote, from the Talmud, is equally important: "Whoever kills one life, kills the world entire."

Bruce's no-killing rule is famously tied to his parents' deaths during his childhood. In a way, his entire world ended with their murder. He sees his mission to clean up Gotham as a way to prevent that loss from occurring for anyone else.

Saving one person, like he tells Barry in Justice League, is enough. That is a viciously Jewish thought. It is frequently quoted in reference to those who acted in support of Jews during the Holocaust, doing what little they could against a fountain of evil.

Conclusion

In that regard, yes -- Pikuach Nefesh tells us that preserving a life is the most important thing above all else. But Bruce's no-killing rule would swiftly be broken if he followed the principle of Pikuach Nefesh closely, in that he would a) likely have to kill someone in self-defense at some point in his duties and b) it would not allow him to injure or hurt people to the extent that he currently does in canon.

More importantly, Bruce's no-killing rule is a better reflection of the Talmudic quote that "he who saves/kills a life, has saved/killed a world entire."

It is not much of a stretch, in my opinion, to connect Bruce's trauma from losing his parents at young age to his outright refusal to kill later in life. The more interesting question, in my mind, is if the creation of this no-killing rule truly was shaped by Batman's Jewish creators and their view on life and death, especially post Holocaust.

Comics became more widely available during and after WWII and the Holocaust, during which time many -- many -- Jews entered the field as writers and artists. Their influences on the characters we see today are obvious, often intentionally Jewish, but just as often un-intentional.

Was Batman's no-killing rule a product of the post-WWII Jewish comic writers who shaped his character? Was it a coincidence that lined up well with the Talmud, but not necessarily all the conditions of Pikuach Nefesh?

How else does Batman represent, or not represent, the goal of Pikuach Nefesh (the necessity that a person act in the preservation of human life, above almost all else)?

[bronte-deserves-better]

In honor of pride month, I think I'm gonna do a little ramble about why Bronte/Emery genuinely appeals to me as a ship dynamic, even though I've been in this fandom long enough to remember that it started as a joke. More below the cut because this got longer than planned.

So first off, Bronte and Emery are similar in some ways. To me, their connecting thread is their shared devotion to the Council. Bronte is the longest-serving Councillor, and when the main crew is suspicious of the Council having a leak in Everblaze, Fitz dismisses the idea that Bronte could be that leak outright. Bronte is said to be very dedicated to his job. Similarly, we see Emery make every effort to maintain the Council's reputation and standing over the course of the books. As the Council's spokesperson, he rarely shares his own opinion, and instead acts as the voice of the Council. (Which makes Emery a fascinating character in his own right to me, but that's a different post.)

So Bronte and Emery have some shared values: the Council. They're both believers in the system, generally upholding the established power structures rather than transgressing them like Oralie or Kenric.

But their duality is also fascinating to me. Bronte is strong-willed and opinionated, "infamously struggling" with the edict that Councillors should not speak against the Council's decisions even if they don't agree. He clearly has his own moral framework; even though it often aligns with the Council, when it doesn't, he never hesitates to speak against the rest. Bronte is blunt, harsh, and a rather abrasive character.

By contrast, Emery is smooth-tongued and charming. Unlike Bronte, he almost never speaks his own opinion. Instead, as I said above, he acts as the voice of the Council. I think it must require a certain kind of personality and patience to be a successful spokesperson; even when decisions are made which you personally disagree with, you have to maintain the facade of unity.

I think it's this duality which draws them to each other, in a way. Neither of them could be each other, and consequently they find the other equally fascinating and frustrating. It's easy to imagine that Emery is sometimes frustrated by Bronte's outspoken nature, which he sees as undermining the unity of the Council. Bronte, meanwhile, wouldn't understand how Emery can set aside his principles so easily. It's frustrating, but it's also fascinating. It draws them to be curious about each other.

Another aspect to this is the isolation of the Councillors. We know Councillors are forbidden from having romantic relationships or children canonically; some people have extrapolated from this the idea that Councillors are also encouraged to not maintain contact with their families. But even setting explicit regulations aside, the Councillors are deeply lonely characters. They each live (theoretically alone) in a vast castle, making their decisions about the elven world largely in isolation. How many secrets must the Council know that they are forbidden to share with anyone else? How much does their work keep them from forming connections with other elves, even ones that they aren't technically forbidden from having, like friendships?

As far as I imagine it, the Councillors, by virtue of their positions, are deeply isolated from close relationships with anyone outside the Council, which makes their relationships with each other all the more crucial. The rest of the Council are people that they spend long periods of time in discussion with, must work with to preserve the safety of the elven world, and the only other elves who can truly understand what all of this is like. The Councillors are forbidden from forming 'attachments', but under those conditions, it's not hard to see why some Councillors do form attachments to one another: canonically, Kenric and Oralie, or not so canonically, Bronte and Emery.

In my fic your drama (the touch of your hand) (which is on my AO3 SemperAeternumQue and you should definitely check out-), I imagine Bronte and Emery as having somewhat of a friends/coworkers with benefits relationship. In AUs, I might imagine them in a more traditionally romantic dynamic, but in the canon universe of Keeper, traditional romance just doesn't seem to fit them. Both of them are too dedicated to their work to pursue anything they see as overly romantic or breaking their oaths; they aren't in love the way Oralie and Kenric were, but they find a sort of comfort in one another. They are some of the only people capable of understanding the position that the other is in: their shared dedication to the Council intermingled with the sheer loneliness of being a Councillor.

And that's fascinating to me! I love dynamics that for whatever reason can't be categorized nearly into traditional relationship categories! Bronte and Emery's canon dynamic is absolutely fascinating because of so many things: the unconventional nature of the relationship, the fact that they're both doing something that could be seen as breaking their oaths- oaths that we know they both are canonically quite dedicated to- and the resulting cognitive dissonance, the duality and contrast between their personalities that draws them to one another, the fact that they can never fully understand each other but take comfort in the other nonetheless- I just love everything about what canon!Brontemery would be like.

(Oh yeah, and a final note because I thought of it midway through: I've spent a lot of this ramble contrasting brontemery to koralie, which wasn't intentional at first, but I do think Bronte and Emery's dynamic in canon would provide an interesting contrast/foil to Kenric and Oralie's dynamic. They’re both pairs of Councillors, but one largely upholds the existing system and one acts rebelliously.

At first glance, Kenric and Oralie seems like the most wholesome, if tragic relationship, while Bronte and Emery does not, particularly as they both take an more antagonistic role at different points in the series and are generally not depicted as good people. However, as we’ve seen canonically, Oralie and Kenric’s relationship had some darker aspects, while I imagine that whatever else about them, Bronte and Emery’s relationship with each other is largely good. Bronte and Emery are two characters that rarely act against the system, but break one of their sacred oaths as Councillors to be together. By contrast, Oralie and Kenric pine for each other but refuse to break that specific oath, despite all the other treason they both commit. They're both pairs of Councillors, but couldn't be more different otherwise. (I also have a rant about how Bronte and Oralie's characters contrast one another in interesting ways, but that's again a different post.))

In conclusion, am I normal about kotlc? No.

[dootznbootz]

Hi!! I love your blog and I’m enjoying your Odypen headcanons and theories very much! I recently started reading the Iliad so I’m new to all this and I just want to know your opinion on smth. In song 1, lines 135-140 Agamemnon mentions the bride prizes of several Achaean leaders, including Odysseus. Obviously nothing else is mentioned, no name, just that he has one, too. What’s your take on that? Any headcanons? I honestly hate the whole cheating discourse around him and I don’t want to add more fuel to the fire because in the Odyssey he was clearly a victim!! I would just love to know what you think about this particular thing in the Iliad. Considering the historical and cultural context, having a bride prize was normal in war (albeit awful from our modern standpoint). But Odysseus is a very interesting and complicated character so this could go in many different ways with him, and in any case it doesn’t really change my opinion on his love for Penelope. Thank you! :)

Thank you so much!!! That's so kind! And I'm so happy you're reading the Iliad! I hope you enjoy it! I'm so happy you're enjoying my silly and I DO have many thoughts about it! :D

And very good that either way, it doesn't change your opinion on his love for Penelope. My opinion/interpretation regardless of those lines, that should ALWAYS be the interpretation that people have of Odysseus.

So idk if you've seen my Aspec OdyPen silliness yet and/or my "Odysseus is a half-eunich from the boar". BUT those are my headcanons. (which I can delve into further later)

but I'll go over the canon evidence now. :P

(disclaimer: Slavery is a fucked up thing regardless of the circumstances. this is in no way excusing any of it)

So IDK which translation you're reading, but as someone who's read multiple versions...Some just say "Prize", and with the "it" and "something". I...didn't really see it as a woman and/or specifically a concubine.

Let Achaeans give me another prize, equal in value, something I’ll enjoy. If not, then I’ll take a prize myself by force,                                   something from you or Ajax or Odysseus.

(Book 1, Johnston)

Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming.

(Book 1, Butler)

But if they do not give me such a gift, then I will seize your own prize or Ajax’s or Odysseus’ and carry it away, angering whomever I visit.

(Book 1, Heumann)

So to ME, (I do not know what the actual words said mean) I take "Prize" of "something of equal value" and/or just a slave.

As yeah...My Odysseus is aspec (basically Pen-romantic/Pen-sexual), I kind of plan to WRITE it personally as a bit of a thing with "Grab one of Odysseus' slaves, he doesn't use them as concubines."

And with Odysseus being the one to transport Chryseis, I have it where it's a bit of "I'll go bring her to her father. Take any slave you wish from my tent if you must. I don't care."

Agamemnon dragged a swift ship down the shore, chose twenty sailors, loaded on the oxen, offerings for the god, and led on fair-cheeked Chryseis.          Shrewd Odysseus shipped on as leader. All aboard, they set off, carving a pathway through the sea.

(Book 1, Johnston)

(Also with Ajax and his girlfriend/bride prize, I think this kind of made him extremely worried. My Odysseus and Ajax have "special beef" even BEFORE the war but they are fine about it by the war. Odysseus not only doesn't have a concubine or slave woman he's attached to but he also was helping a bro out in a way lol.)

And Odysseus is a king and a piece of shit. It's horrible but it feels in character for my lil asshole to basically use pretty slaves in trading. "Hey, you like lighthaired girls, yeah? Well, you have that really pretty silver-studded sword...I want it. Would you like to exchange?"

I want to make it clear that I'm not writing like this or interpreting this in the way of "UwU Odysseus is too of a good boy for that." as that feels icky to try and "make everyone else shitty to make him 'better'". It's literally because Odysseus is just simply LIKE this. He has basically no libido/sex drive if Penelope isn't around. (I'm keeping this as safe for wormlings as I can so I'll leave it at that.)

An old wip post explains it more but I'll also put the wip itself here to kind of explain lol

My Odysseus is a "pretty boy" as he is in canon as well, and he hates when people make moves on him.

BUT these are just MY headcanons and/or what I plan to write, while I just don't really vibe with Odysseus being with folks willingly other than Penelope I have big gay for her. I live vicariously through Odysseus. I love her so much I can't stop others and other people COULD find evidence of Odysseus being with others if they truly wanted.

[all-pacas]

Would you elaborate on a Chase in The Good Place AU? It's consuming my brain since you mentioned it and I love your AUs

I mean, mostly just an offhand comment on I'd love to have all of them be forced to attend a Chidi philosophy lecture, because it would be fascinating on so many different levels, right? Or just using the Good Place as a shorthand for "surprise! Your life was meaningless and now you're in hell! Change!"

Foreman and Cameron both seem fairly set and certain of their morals and philosophies, but are in different ways hypocritical and inconsistent. They both think of themselves as good people for sure. And I don't know how much critical self reflection either of them do.

Chase is a bit askew of the two of them, not because I think he's much more self aware, but he's also much more morally vague — he doesn't have a ton of stated values or a strict moral code, I'm not even sure how he views himself, how he'd define himself if asked. Cameron would call herself a good person. Foreman would call himself intelligent, a good person. Would Chase? Not out of some enlightened awareness, but just… everyone on the show thinks he's morally vacant, and he knows it too.

(And that's not even touching House or Wilson in the Good Place. House alone, who studies religion and philosophy and both knows his morals and his code and is incredibly ambivalent and self-hating.)

I mean, they're all going to the Bad Place. I think Chase and House would be the least surprised, on a scale: not happy or accepting, but, you know. Sure. (Especially post S6 Chase. He knows he's off to hell.)

Cameron would be horrified, and outraged. She does so much to help people! She's so nice! I think she overlooks or tries to overlook the harm she causes, the ways she can be cruel: they're accidents. They're unintentional. Intent is what matters, and her intents are always good, or at least: she tells herself that they are. Which isn't true. She can behave selfishly, she can behave unkindly. But it's very important to Cameron that she is a good person, both as something to be and something to strive towards. And she is! She is a good person! She does work hard at it! But I do think she ignores her own failings.

Foreman, for his part, strikes me as a utilitarian — he's done net good, so what does it matter if here and there he's bent a rule or hurt someone's feelings? He probably is the one who lies awake and considers himself and his place in the world and how he's doing and what he's done. He wants to be good, but he also wants to be the best, he wants to be admired. (Him and Amber are the same. If they won't like you, you have to be right.) He wants power, partially because he does have that ego; partially because it's a way of proving himself. On the whole, he is a Good Doctor, he Saves Lives, he Helps People. That should outweigh the people he's hurt or been cruel to. That should matter more.

I don't know what sort of philosophy Chase would best fit with. He falls into a sort of … nihilistic hedonism, almost: enjoying himself and wanting to have fun, but only because he also believes that if he's a burden to others he deserves death; because he's Quite Catholic and just sort of accepts when it's over he's going to hell. So what does it matter, right? If he's fucked no matter what, why not sleep around and having a good time? It's sort of a reflection of his talk with House in Cursed: if caring leads to pain, it's better not to care. If you burden others, you have failed.

So they're all in the Bad Place. There was another bus accident or something. And they get to do the fixed version of the game, reincarnating again and again until they reach enlightenment. Foreman's Bad Place seems pretty easy. He's gotta stop caring so much about the opinions of others, getting his self worth via superiority and praise. Cameron's biggest flaw, I think, is that she avoids the consequences from her actions. Runs away and uproots her life repeatedly; ignores the ways she hurts people or ignores their feelings. In a way she's too empathic: she pushes her own feelings and empathy onto others, and assumes they feel the same way she does, need nothing but what she'd need or want. I'm not sure how to make that her personal hell. Chase? He's again the hardest (after House), because I think he'd sort of just accept he was in Hell and that was that: why try to improve? Why try to change? He doesn't try, that's his biggest problem. We know he's incredibly bright, capable of solving cases on his own from early on, but he never tries (because trying means failing which means disappointing others). He stays with House for years after he should have moved on because it's safer and easier. So that's his personal hell: something to make him need to try, want to be better. Put him in a position where he has to.

[raphaellight]

What are Alastor's plans for Charlie exacly?

How it started

How's it going? Is it genuine? The hole fandom is discussing that question.

Let's be real, fandom really wishes it's genuine <3<3 I do too. But sadly, it just doesn't look that way. ˙◠˙ There are phew good analysis of Alastor manipulative behaviour thruout the show. But does it mean Alastor will betray Charlie and become the full blown villain in the future? Or manipulate her into givining up her soul for something and then the heroes will have to figure out the way to free her for her deal?

I propose another forecast. Depending on the perspective, it may be better or actually worse.

We know Charlie isn't dumb around Alastor. Neither in Pilot, where she openly rejected the idea of having a deal with him, but even in episode 7, when she makes a deal, I feel people are not giving her enough credit. She not only backs off despite being desperate, but she even pushes back and negotiates for herself, making it so her favour is not going to be about hurting anyone. I'm not saying she isn't warming up to Alastor from the first time she met him or that even with "You harm noone" rule on Alastor's favour it can't turn out horribly wrong, but if Alastor aims at getting her soul, he will have a hard nut to crack. And his acions don't seem to aim at it as much.

"She's filled with potential that I can guide, I concurr, stick with her, you'll be in on the winning side"

We know those lines from Alastor and Rosie, right after, with help of those two Charlie managed to inspire the army of cannibals to fight angels. ANGELS. Right until now it wasn't even really known angels can be killed/hurt, Charlie doesn't even know how to do it, yet she manages to make an army on the premise they gonna win with angelic army. She really rolled nat20 on inspiration with Alastor's help.

"She's bound to pass the test as princess of hell"

Alastor constantly inspire Charlie and helps her in her projects. Vaggie might be Charlie girlfriend, but Alastor is her right hand in the practical sense. He is the investor and main manager, supplying hotel with most of resources it needs. Only to get Charlie trust to strike in the best moment? Possibly. But I think there is more likely scenario: Alastor is not Charlie's enemy dressing up as a fake friend. Worse, he is her genuine advisor.

He doesn't want the figurative throne of hell for himself. He wants power and control, starting with breaking his own deal. In my opinion Alastor isn't the type to fight for recognition for it's sake. Reputation is important as a tool, not value in itself. As much, he is perfectly content to let someone else sit on hell's throne, if that someone is the person that considers Him as their right hand. And who's better than idealistic princess of Hell, that cares more about redeeming souls in hell than rulling over it.

In that sense, Alastor will not be another Adam to beat up. He will become to Charlie what Palpatine was to Anakin: parental figure advisor that potentially will make Charlie into another villain. Thats what I mean it might be worse than simple betrayal. If I'm right, we might see Charlie becoming the villain to defeat.

You might counter with "But Charlie doesn't want power, she wants to run the hotel and redeem sinners." And it's fair, she isn't greedy or powerhungry. But that's where Alastor manipulation might come in handy. Because there are good reasons for person wanting to change the world might need power and Radio Demon can convince Charlie she should "take her place as a heir to the throne". Even tho people need to choose to stay in Hotel, so Charlie can't force anyone there, that doesn't mean she can't take control over parts of hell that really doesn't help sinners in redemption. She might want to put down certain overlords for making deals, thus making it nearly impossible for some souls to get free. She might want to abolish drugs in hell, so people in hotel aren't tempted anymore, same with porn industry. Coming back to Star Wars reference, she might want to "bring peace, freedom and happy days to her hell". And all of that with support of very loyal Radio Demon, that will be running all errands in hell, when princess sitting on the throne is busy doing trust exercises with group of sinners in Hazbin Hotel.

That's what I think Alastor imagines, when thinking about "pulling the strings" after "guiding Charlies potential". Share what you think about the topic and follow for more.