#and how she never allowed herself to be selfish because she always put

[ardenssolis]

@dayscorch said (inbox):

❛❛ Seeing how freely you let yourself want things & how you go for those things you want ---- ❜❜ Her eyes soften as she stares down at the ground, hands settled in her lap. ❛❛ I do believe that in some way, Ramses, that has changed me. ❜❜ Warmth, a feature 'pon her face, an existence rumbling within her heart. ❛❛ The more I have come around you, I've began to freely go for things I seek & I hold back less than before. In my last life, I hardly communicated with others. I didn't want to make an impression on them, then disappear & hurt them. I had no need for such things if I was only going to be remembered in tinges of sorrow. I didn't want anyone's heart to hurt ---- that being said, I apologize for all the times you've seen me die. ❜❜ She finally looks at him, letting him see the expression of warmth & eyes that speak a thousand unspoken things. ❛❛ But, in that same vein, I must thank you for teaching me how to go for what I want. That's why I blame you for making me selfish, heh. ❜❜ She leans into his side, bumping softly & smiling warmer. ❛❛ Maybe, you truly are something. Ah, don't let that go to your ego. Head's big enough, right ? ❜❜ She teases, tugging at his cheek.

❝HAVE I NOW?❞ A brow rose curiously to these words, surprise too present upon his features as golden eyes came to rest upon Koto. Never did he ever think that he would hear such things from her of all individuals. Though in truth, he didn’t expect this at all in regards to anyone else either. Ozymandias merely acted himself; highlighting all the traits that made him charismatic…as well as all the traits that made him a tyrant to others as well. The good and the bad, it was both embraced and accepted as a part of himself. Whether the real Ramses II was like this or not, was of very little consequence to him. Such would not change how he carried himself, for he was always and forever himself. Even the Koto sitting in front of him now might not have been the same woman that had fought fiercely against demons in a time torn between the past and industrial revolution. However, in the end, did such even matter? ❝This new life of ours is false, and although this is our truth now, that does not mean you should be so quick to put yourself in harm’s way when the opportunity arises. After all, you are not alone in your fighting.❞

     There were others too.

     Their shared summoner as well, despite being no warrior, still fought just as hard. They were just spirits with a physical form that could be resummoned upon death, but this didn’t mean that it was still painless to see a comrade killed on the battlefield. None of them were devoid of feeling. ❝Heh, being selfish is an innate part of being human. So, rather than cast this aside, it should be embraced for what it is. There is nothing wrong with taking your own feelings and thoughts into account – for putting yourself first.❞ For those who were keen on duty, this always seemed so difficult for them to follow through. He understood this struggle. ❝Well…at least in moderation for you more duty-bound types, I suppose.❞ Ozymandias laughed at this, amused as she bumped her shoulder against his own. ❝By all means, sing my praises some more! I shall allow it.❞

[sxlphie]

Still haven't processed the experience of FFVII Rebirth and I literally beat it months ago. So much happened

[chantillyxlacey]

i've seen a lot of takes (i am using the word 'take' absolutely neutrally here; and i'm specifying neutrality bc i have started to see that word as having inherently negative connotations in this context and i have no idea if that's just a Me Problem but i figured specificity couldn't hurt)

okay, that got away from me, let me start again

i've seen a lot of takes about The Damsel that have to do with idealization being another kind of dehumanization and how she's Like She Is because you/TLQ are projecting a fantasy onto her and sanding away any traits that don't fit into that fantasy and rendering her into little more than a vessel for your/TLQ's wish fulfillment

and i don't necessarily think that's *wrong* either-- but i think that's also not the complete picture, and that only looking that that half of the image does kind of tend to paint TLQ in an unfairly bad light

because the thing is, in The Damsel's route, TLQ is ALSO being reduced to an archetype just as much as The Damsel herself is! The Princess becomes the quintessential fairytale fair-maiden-in-distress that exists only to be rescued by a knight-in-shining-armor; and TLQ-- if you allow them to be guided entirely by The Smitten-- becomes that quintessential fairytale knight-in-shining-armor that only exists to rescue the fair-maiden-in-distress

The Damsel says over and over, explicitly, that "I just want to make you happy!" and The Smitten in this route is equally preoccupied with making HER happy-- he even says it directly if you start deconstructing her. every other part of his identity has been subsumed to revolve entirely around her just as much as the reverse is true for her.

(speaking of the Deconstructed Damsel, i've also seen Smitten's reaction to that touted as him not caring about her agency-- but again, i always read that as him being unable to see any flaws in her rather than being pleased with the idea of her being biddable, specifically. if you halt the deconstruction his reaction is "she's ALWAYS been perfect" -- he'd think that no matter what she did or said, because his identity revolves around her the exact way that hers revolves around him/TLQ)

even the actions that lead to HEA fit into this, i think-- i read that moment as less The Smitten lashing out at her because she didn't live up to his fantasy-- it still happens even after she's said "i guess we can stay, if that's what you want"-- she's giving The Smitten what he wants, but he's still distressed because SHE'S not happy

i think it's more The Smitten feeling that HE hadn't lived up to HIS half of their shared fantasy. if she's not happy with the idea of "all we need is each other" then it must be because HE failed somehow. if she needs or wants more than him, it must be because HE is not enough.

if he was just better at playing his part, if he just offered her more, if he was just clearer about his devotion--

"if we just showed her the contents of our heart, she'd be happy"

that's not to say that what The Smitten does in HEA isn't incredibly toxic for both of them-- it definitely is, and it clearly makes both the Princess and TLQ miserable. "everything she doesn't know she wants" is a bad mindset to approach a relationship with, whether that mindset is reached through controlling selfishness or a desperation to appease (and i definitely think Smitten is motivated by the latter-- it's no coincidence that we arrive at HEA through a literal and fatal act of self mutilation)

he's definitely the antagonist of HEA, in that he is what TLQ and the Princess and the player need to overcome, but he's not a VILLAIN (which i think is most clearly illustrated in the moment where the Princess admits she's unhappy, that she's never been happy here, and his reaction is to GIVE UP instead of lash out harder)

i never got the sense that The Smitten was ever putting any blame on The Damsel-- he always considered *himself* to be the problem-- he puppeteers TLQ just as much as he does the Princess, even if we can't hear him while she can, and he asks TLQ/the player through her "isn't this enough? isn't this what you wanted?"

which in and of itself is an unhealthy way to approach a relationship-- blaming oneself for every bit of conflict or lapse in synchronicity is just as harmful as laying all the blame on the other person. there IS no blame-- sometimes people disagree or have conflicting needs or desires, and that's not anybody's "fault" because that's just how people and relationships WORK.

...can you believe i wrote out all of this when my original intention was to lay out an entirely different point about a read on The Damsel/HEA routes that wasn't about relationships at all?

OKAY!

THAT GOT AWAY FROM ME LET ME START AGAIN

so i don't think that looking at The Damsel/HEA through a lens of "what does this say about relationships and expectations and respecting other people's agency" is incorrect-- clearly i have a lot of thoughts about that lens!

but i wanted to offer another one that i haven't seen yet:

The Damsel/HEA route as a commentary on what makes a satisfying narrative

if you play out The Damsel route just single-mindedly taking actions to free her-- it's kinda dull, isn't it? like-- it's not without its charms! The Smitten is silly and entertaining and the Narrator's exaggerated pettiness is very funny! but ultimately, that's about it.

potential sources of conflict are brushed aside-- if you took the blade with you, you just drop it and it gets forgotten; the Damsel's hand slips right out of the manacle with no effort or harm; when the Narrator locks the basement door, every 'choice' you make just magically unlocks it right away. and then you're outside, what you wanted to do from the start. ...so what do we do now?

nothing, actually. the chapter ends, and there is no chapter 3. the game itself continues, but that ending feels about as substantial as the Narrator's "Good Ending" where you follow his instructions without question and accomplish his goal immediately.

if you DON'T take either of the actions that lead to one of Damsel's chapter 3's, there's very little variation in The Damsel's story-- pretty much all of it comes down to slight differences in dialogue. there's no "the princess kills you" outcome. the closest thing to an alternate end to The Damsel is if you deconstruct her-- and even then, it feels like less an "alternate route" and more like-- a cheeky acknowledgement of the lack of substance, because that isn't a bug, it's a feature!

but if you introduce conflict-- either in the more direct sense by slaying The Damsel or in the more interpersonal sense by highlighting a mis-match in her and TLQ's desires-- suddenly the story opens up! there are a bunch of new possibilities and a bunch of new outcomes, and all of them are more interesting than "you achieve your goal with trivial effort, hooray!"

Even if you wind up finishing HEA on a note that is superficially very similar to the easy end of The Damsel's route-- you leave hand in hand with her, the narrator conceding defeat, and the last image of her before TSM takes her is a warm, tender smile-- it FEELS so much more like a genuine happy ending-- even though the Princess' face is still streaked and stained from her tears. BECAUSE of that.

it's one of the most heartwarming moments in the game, and one that has made me misty eyed every time i've seen it, and it's BECAUSE of the conflict you had to go through to get there.

conflict is what drives a compelling narrative, is the takeaway. it precludes PERFECT endings, perhaps, but not happy endings-- it's what makes those imperfect happy endings feel substantial and earned.

even the dinner and the board game contribute to the idea-- the description of the food is some really lovely writing, to the point where i sat through and listened to it all again even though i knew nothing really happens during it-- but *nothing really happens during it*. it doesn't move the narrative forward-- you're just as hungry as you were when you started. it just stalls the story in place, and every time you go through it again it's less satisfying until it's outright unpleasant. the description of the meal also notably gets simpler each time, and less detailed-- there's only so much that you can say about it before you run out of things to describe.

the board game is similar-- the way that it's described the first time you play even sounds like the description of an exciting story! and then the board resets, and you do it all again just the same. and so on. the game/story stops being exciting and the wins or losses stop feeling like they mean anything-- because is conflict really conflict, is a challenge really a challenge, if you're always tracing the same path, always making moves where you already know the outcome? it becomes "a slog towards the end"

and this is how i tie the idea of "what Damsel/HEA has to say about relationships" and "what Damsel/HEA has to say about narratives" together:

ultimately, the statements can be summarized the same way "whether in a narrative or a relationship, 'perfection' is unattainable, but you wouldn't actually want it anyway"

conflict, substance, variety

in a relationship there will always be differences of opinion, differing goals etc-- variety between the members of the relationship, knowing and sharing this substantial and non-superficial information about one another, navigating the resultant conflict-- that's what allows the relationship to grow and deepen, and what allows the people in it to grow as individuals as well.

in a narrative, or in Narratives, as a whole, conflict is what makes things HAPPEN, substance makes them feel like what happens MATTERS, like something is being communicated, variety means that you're learning or considering something new-- and those are what make a narrative capable of impacting a person, of changing them, of being remembered

[blueraith]

It's wild to me just how badly Vi's arc is misunderstood in S2. The claims I've seen that it was bad because she didn't join up with Ekko to help liberate Zaun or didn't "have enough stuff to do."

Big 'ole S1 Vi analysis under the cut because some "hot" takes seem to forget that Vi's S1 arc even exists.

Like, sorry, but that was never the direction her character was going to go. This was spelled out for us in the very first episode of the show when Vander is giving her that lecture.

"When people look up to you, you don't get to be selfish."

"Whatever happens, it's on you."

This is the first conversation in the show that carries an impactful character building statement. We are effectively being given the start of Vi's character arc verbatim.

She is not allowed to be selfish.

And as S1 Act 1 progresses, and Vi expresses a will to fight, to rebel, to revolt, she is constantly and consistently shut down and discouraged from that way of thinking by her father figure. She's fifteen years old or so, Vander is the only authority figure in her life that she respects. Why wouldn’t she internalize any of this as is, let alone after all the tragedy she's forced to endure at the end of this act?

Then we get to tragedy. Vander tells her two very specific things before and after the showdown with Silco.

"Take care of the family."

"Take care of Powder."

You know. Not, "hey, take over my mantle as Hound of the Underground."

Or "lead Zaun to freedom" or whatever the fuck.

He tells her to look after their family. The people closest to Vi.

And I don't know how many of you are older siblings. Or even older sisters. But I question if some of Vi's most heated critics are either neither of those things or lack any knowledge of sibling dynamics, period. When you are handed this tiny baby from a young age and are told "this is your baby sibling, you have to help take care of them, we won't always be here but they'll always have you" by your parents, that shit sticks with you forever. For better or worse.

If you're parentified on top of that through either circumstance or abuse, then that sentiment turns toxic. Vander, as well-meaning as he is in his talks with Vi, inadvertently presents a pretty black and white viewpoint. When paired with Vi's reaction to his (first) death and learning what Powder did, it becomes even worse.

Think about it. Most people seem to focus solely on Vi's anger issues when she strikes Powder for obvious reasons. But there's this selfishness that Vi temporarily succumbs to when she hits Powder as well. She's not thinking of Powder's emotional state or devastation as she realizes what she's done, Vi is mired in her own grief and anger.

She then walks away from Powder to take a moment to herself and presumably recollect her own composure, also a selfish move.

Now, when I call these actions selfish, I'm not assigning any negative connotations to them. Selfishness is not always a bad thing, putting yourself and your own needs first does not make someone a bad person by default. It can be healthy to take some time for self-care.

The "issue" is that Arcane is a tragedy. The narrative punishes Vi for lashing out and temporarily leaving Powder by having Marcus kidnap her and Silco adopt her sister. Not that Vi even knows that much when it happens. For all she knew, Silco murdered Powder.

So, then Vi spends something like seven years in Stillwater in constant limbo wondering if Powder is even alive. The sheer guilt she must have felt at "failing" to protect her baby sister would have likely been agonizing.

Seven.

Years.

Then she gets out. And all Vi cares about is finding her sister. She doesn't care about the Hexgem besides the fact that it's directly related to Jinx, and Caitlyn lied to her by ommission about it.

She's not trying to retake the Lanes in Vander's name. She only cares about bringing Silco's empire down because of what he did to her family. She wants her sister back first and foremost, she does not care to stick with the Firelights and even leaves Ekko and Cailtyn on the bridge initially to go after Jinx.

It's really her burgeoning feelings for Caitlyn that ever cracks this near obsessive compulsion to chase after her sister. Vi was going to choose Jinx until the point Caitlyn was injured and then the both of them were shot at by Jinx.

Even the moment she falls in love with Caitlyn is tied to her guilt about leaving Powder. The story she tells while they're on Caitlyn’s bed, her obvious grief and guilt over her sister. She's mired in this moment of pain until Caitlyn reaches out to comfort her. Like, Jinx and Caitlyn have always been intertwined in Vi's arc after she meets Caitlyn. There is no overarching thread to connect Vi to any of the political plot points in this story.

Vi's arc is character driven. Always has been. She's motivated by her warring desire to protect those she loves with EVERYTHING she has, and this by now guilty pleasure to finally develop something purely for herself.

It's why she pushes Caitlyn away during the infamous Oil and Water breakup. The class differences she's citing are an excuse, an easy thing she can point at to push Caitlyn away. What's really going on is that she failed to get the Council to decisively act against Silco. She's failed Jinx again in her own mind, he's still out there poisoning her mind, and now she needs to take care of him herself. Caitlyn proved to be a distraction from her goal, and so must be removed.

Even after teaming up with Jayce and then going her own way, Vi does not go after more shimmer factories. She's not rallying the Lanes to revolt with Hextech weaponry in (on) hand. She immediately goes to the Last Drop to challenge Sevika, someone she hates specifically because she'd betrayed Vander. She had every intention to confront Silco right after that.

Then we get the tea party, and Vi has to come to terms with the fact that the sister she loved is fundamentally changed in more ways than one. She's given an ultimatum to choose between her self-imposed duty as an older sister and Caitlyn. The only relationship Vi has ever formed purely for herself.

And she can't do it. It's an impossible choice. Jinx ends up triggered intensely, Caitlyn is struck by indecision and doesn't take the shot because of Vi's pleas, and Jinx goes on to fire that rocket.

Like this is just Season. One. Every single important character moment Vi has is tied to either Jinx, Caitlyn, or both. This is not a new thing S2 did with Vi's character. Her arc was always about how much she was giving to other characters without much thought to herself.

I just don't get how some people expected that to radically change in S2. It was never going to happen. I'll probably make an analysis on S2 Vi as well, but this is already getting very long. It's also a good way to remind some folks that each season of this show does not exist in a vacuum. I've read a lot of takes that seem to just... ignore S1. It's pretty bizarre.

[beanbagstab]

My current Sonamy headcanons! 💖💙

These are mostly based off official content as well as what I’ve extrapolate from irl changes to the characters n such

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1) Believing in Amy is the closest Sonic gets to believing in fate 

2) Sonic feels similarly to sinking in water to how he feels “falling in love”. He feels a loss of control in a way he’s not entirely comfortable with or even sure he likes but he finds it exciting nonetheless

3) Amy compares herself to Sonic too much and sees herself as weak as a result 

4) Sonic hates being vulnerable so he helps the weak

5) Amy is uniquely capable of seeing right through Sonic and that makes him feel vulnerable

6) Even if she is helpful, most strangers see Amy as annoying, her friends love her tho

7) Sonic is the first real person in her life to put up with Amy and she attached to him so much because of it

8) Both realize they’re trans early in childhood but Sonic never had a word for it until later in life 

9) Sonic is Demi and Bi-Romantic but goes unlabeled for most of his life. He’s known what he’s about since he was fairly young tho

10) Amy is Allo and Bi but had not really thought about until meeting Sonic, she goes to pride events when she can

11) Amy developed attachment and abandonment issues that don’t go away even after they begin to date 

12) Amy and Sonic have a weak telepathic connection that functions more like a sixth sense Sonic is less aware of it than Amy is and he doesn’t really question it

13) Amy actually has no idea how she is able to sense Sonic’s presence (she chalks it up to girlish intuition)

14) Sonic usually has a very good awareness of his surroundings but somehow Amy always manages to catch him off guard 

15) No matter how angry or aggressive Amy gets with him, Sonic’s danger sense has never gone off because of her

16) Even after they started dating, Sonic isn’t entirely sure if he ‘loves’ Amy the way she ‘loves’ him but as long as they’re happy he doesn’t really care 

17) Amy realized Sonic’s on the aroace spectrum before he did 

18) Sonic is secretly worried that one day Amy will fall out of love with him 

19) Sonic believes that Amy knows him better than he knows himself but Amy feels like there’s so much she still doesn’t know about him 

20) Amy is very perceptive and empathetic but Sonic is the hardest person for her to read 

21) Sonic is likewise very perceptive but lacks the same level of empathy as Amy 

22) Amy looks at Sonic like he hung the stars and Sonic would do anything to keep that look on her face 

23) Sonic doesn’t get jealous easily but when he does he gets very jealous 

24) Amy does get jealous easily but it quickly fizzes out to either anger or sadness 

25) A lot of people have a crush on Sonic but the only crush he’s ever really been affected by is Amy’s 

26) Sonic loves to live. Amy lives to love 

27) Amy is constantly trying to prove to herself that she’s worthy of Sonic’s love and attention 

28) Sonic can be selfish when it comes to Amy’s affections 

29) After/if Tails gets a partner Sonic ‘moves out’ and ‘moves in’ with Amy to give them more privacy 

30) Sonic is consciously more gentle with Amy and Amy is unconsciously more rough with Sonic 

31) After years of becoming more used to physical touch with/ from Amy he is almost completely unaffected by it which leads to Amy trying to find new ways to fluster/ tease him 

32) Meeting Amy as kids gave Sonic the patience and empathy he needed that lead him to allow Tails to follow him later 

33) Even if Amy didn’t want him to, Sonic would still rush in to save her. 

34) When Sonic is upset Amy is the first one able to tell the difference from his usual demeanor  

35) They almost never have serious arguments but when they do they both are quick to forgive 

36) Sonic considers himself very lucky to be the one who Amy fell in love with

37) To Sonic, Amy is truly a “good person” to the extent that he trust her moral compass with very little, if any, push back 

38) Sonic and Amy are both orphans

38) Sonic is an introvert and Amy is an extrovert 

39) Sonic is very bad at expressing his more negative/complex/vulnerable emotions

40) Amy often gets ahead of herself, overestimating her abilities which sometimes pay off and sometimes get her in a lot of trouble 

41) Sonic thinks Amy’s tenacity is amazing and fun but sometimes it worries him too

42) Sonic’s impatience as a kid stems from him being so used to being the strongest/ most capable person around 

43) Sonic gets less reckless as he grows but he gets very reckless when his emotions are high 

44) Amy: heeheehee (aka cute giggles)

Sonic: heheheheheHAHAHAHAHA (aka chuckles into full on cackling)

45) Even when they’re old, Sonic and Amy still act like teens in love- teasing each other and chasing each other around, new people are kinda weirded out but friends are very used to it by then

46) Sonic is so used to Amy telling him how she feels directly that he would have no idea what to do if she decided to clam up and suppress her own feelings. It would upset and unnerve him- he’d feel in the dark.

[burningcheese-merchant]

PLEASE MERCHANT LISTEN TO ME

I started watching Burning Spice Cookie's flashback in the game and suddenly I started thinking "is that all? How stupid" because there are characters older than him and who apparently haven't had this problem of "boredom from "same old thing" so he leaves the Burning Spice Cookie thing as childish. but then I started thinking, what if I developed this? You see, if a person doesn't have a proper childhood they can develop psychopathic traits (more or less what I've seen in Burning Spice Cookie) so what if he and the other Beasts didn't have childhoods? We are not given any clue that they have grown, which gives us to understand that they appeared among the common cookies as adults.

Imagine that you barely have time to know your own name and suddenly you are thrown into... (I don't know, a battle?) expecting you to help calm everything down. What if, as soon as Burning Spice Cookie was born, he began to be burdened with many responsibilities and having to fight to unify Beast-Yeast into one nation? It would be a good reason why he "got bored" with everything, since some psychopaths have that trait of enjoying causing harm or hating monotony and social rules (it could also be an explanation for your au's Burning Spice Cookie).

I am SO glad someone else sees the problem with Burning Spice's "boredom". We have a million immortal characters in this universe and not a single one has had this issue with their lives. The Ancients live forever thanks to the Soul Jam, and they don't seem bothered by it at all (hell, look at Golden Cheese. She is actively pursuing immortality, for herself and especially for her loved ones). The Elementals are immortal, and they have zero complaints about it. Millennial Tree and Sugar Swan are older than the world itself, do you see them crying about it? Nope. They live and carry out their duties happily. You don't even see this with the ones that actually WERE mortal once. Fire Spirit? He loves who he is now, he's said so out loud in cutscenes in Ovenbreak. Sherbet? Though he misses being with Cotton, he otherwise loves being free to travel and see the world almost entirely unburdened, the way he always dreamed. Frost Queen? She adopted her role and upholds the balance of nature with grace. Life and immortality are only what YOU make of them. The Beasts are a bunch of stupid, selfish babies. The end.

"Not having a childhood" IS an interesting point to raise, though. You're absolutely right: having a tumultuous youth can and often does lead to psychological issues of all kinds, big and small ask me how I know lol. And for all we really know, they WERE born adults right from the jump. How Cookies are born and how they age are SUPER weird in this series and neither is ever explained properly besides "baked in oven", so... What's keeping anyone from imagining characters just born fully grown right away?

With this in mind, and with the points you've raised, we can maybe look at the Beasts like this: people who were brought into the world without being asked (although no one is), and burdened with nigh-impossible responsibility right away. Immediately told to sacrifice themselves for people they do not know or care about, who do not know them or care about them. To uphold a balance they may not understand, nor did they create themselves. Never having been allowed the chance to live and grow as all sapient beings are entitled to; to go out and have fun and be foolish and make mistakes that they end up learning from. They were born abnormal, and they never never allowed to escape that abnormality once. They live only for others, never for themselves, not even for small things. One has to wonder if they even counted as people at all in the eyes of those they fought for, or if they were just archetypes whose faces and actions were used to placate and justify whatever anyone wanted them to.

... Yeah, that sounds pretty shitty when you put it that way lol. It just goes to show how the Ancients are the true rightful owners of the Soul Jam, in my opinion. They EARNED that power, it was not given to them on a silver platter. They were able to live life as regular mortals for a while, then actively sought out that power and proved themselves worthy of it. Hollyberry united an entire region of warring houses. Dark Cacao tamed dragons and brought peace to a long-devastated land. Pure Vanilla endured the many arduous trials of the Sugar-Free Road in pursuit of truth and enlightenment. These are all things that require hard work, dedication, humility, and a certain wisdom that you gain from experiencing life in general. Wisdom that the Beasts may or may not have possessed, because they may or may not have ever been able to attain it in the first place.

As for my Yandere AU Spice... Yandere Spice is well and truly a psychopath (all the Yandere Beasts are). It's the thing you see often with actual stalkers: he's more in love with the IDEA of Golden Cheese than the woman herself, as she actually exists. It's all about what HE wants, what HE needs, what HE expects from her. Pure, utter selfishness, projection and delusion, as psychopaths are fundamentally incapable of empathizing with others (that's what marks them as psychopaths in the first place). With the Accidental Yandere Golden Cheese one, he's the same, but A) leaning a bit more into his bloodlust/enjoyment of harming others (which is also common in psychopaths, like you said), and B) him actually being clever/manipulative enough (at least to some degree) to know how to play into Golden's wants and feed her ego in order to sway her (Golden in this AU is also just kind of a fucked up person on her own, independent of Spice, so it's an unlucky combination). She's not "boring" like everything and everyone else is. She captivates him, she surprises him, she keeps him on his toes. He "loves" her. Therefore, he owns her and vice versa, and he will do whatever it takes to have her all to himself, up to and including hurting and killing innocents (it's not like they mattered, anyway). What caused him to be this way ultimately does not matter; maybe it's that overwhelming burden of responsibility and lack of a choice or a chance to live life that we addressed earlier. Perhaps he was just born broken. Whatever it is, he's a bloodthirsty, selfish, uncaring monster and it is Golden Cheese that he has chosen to make pay for it, unfortunately.

TL;DR Not liking immortality is a skill issue. The Beasts are dumb little crybabies. Yandere Spice is disgusting and should face a wall. I like writing deranged people far too much. I enjoy engaging in meaningful conversation with others about things. Thank you for the ask, I vibe with your thoughts and ideas, I hope you find lots of money on the ground today

[quartztwst]

Your Local Flower Bullies

(No Yan Sim AU)

Their names (left to right): Anisette Selcouth, Daisy Marguerite, and Rosa Russelliana!!

They don’t rule the school since the student council does but they do have power and they abuse it constantly. They come from rich families and their families constantly support the school which makes Headmaster/Principal Crowley SUUUPPERRR happy to allow their kids to attend the school.

They are also Quartz’ past friends. They hold grudges against her.

Anisette Selcouth

Anisette loves to put on a show where people believe she's this elegant and kind woman. She loves the praise and compliments so she shows off a lot and puts others down. Sometimes she'll even manipulate things into making herself look good. The student council and staff might believe she's a well composed and mature student but she's absolutely ruthless and terrible to certain classmates.

She only picks on the weak and lonely because she knows people won't believe them.

"Ah? Quartz? That dumb girl? Hah! I can't believe I used to be friends with her. If you want more information on her, then you have the wrong person. I barely knew her myself."

Anisette and Quartz were friends since middle school until Quartz left the friend group at the start of highschool. Anisette was clearly angry about this since she felt like Quartz was her closest friend.. yet... she didn't know her at all.

During their friendship, Anisette vented a lot to Quartz about her family. She never felt so vulnerable with a person before and really appreciated Quartz's comfort and support.. But Quartz would never share any personal information to her in return which annoyed her. She wanted Quartz to feel comfortable with her too. (Ok this sounds so gay but stay with me now)

Quartz was always there for her yet she left so easily. Did their friendship mean nothing? Was picking on other students too much? What did she do wrong?

Or is it that boy Azul?

Daisy Marguerite

Daisy is a bright but sneaky girl. She really loves to spread gossip and rumors. She's actually the one making up every single rumor. Not a lot of people suspect her because of her "sweet" attitude.

Although she has a friend group, she actually feels really lonely and talks to flowers like they're her friends. She realizes after Quartz leaving, they all were starting to drift away and pay attention to other things. She only makes up rumors and gossip so she could be together with Anisette and Rosa.

She feels really useless to everyone and so the only place she would feel useful in is with her flowers. They won't leave her because they need her right?

"Quartz? Oh, her!.. That lonely girl that likes Azul? I find her kinda weird hehe.. Hey! I heard that she's actually a mean person! She used to beat other students up during middle school. Like I might be a little mean... but Quartz is WAYY worse! Hehe!"

She hates Quartz and resents her. She didn't have to leave the friend group and ruin everything. She messed up the closeness and warmth they had. Why couldn't she just stay?

Daisy finds Quartz idiotic and selfish because now she's alone again. No one wants to hang out with her. They're all busy. They're all gonna realize how much of a bad person she was and make fun of her. She hates being a butt of a joke. She doesn't want that again now that no one will care.

Rosa Russelliana

Rosa is slowly becoming a reformed bully. In the past, she used to hang with Anisette and Daisy and just mess with other students. She thought it was fun at first but she slowly realized how wrong it was. She was also a slacker in her past school days. Her grades and attendance were LOW low.

Because of her horrible reputation and rumors of her beating up other kids, everyone was intimidated by her and her strength. She gave up on joining a club and stays by Anisette and Daisy, accepting her role as some mean girl. Most of the time, she's alone and doing her own thing though.

"Quartz? Oh, yeah. I remember her.. I was friends with her once. I always thought her attitude was kinda fake y'know. Maybe she was faking it for us? So she wouldn't get bullied.."

Rosa doesn't know the reason why Quartz left. She doesn't even know if she even attends the school anymore because she doesn't see her. But Rosa accepts it because she understands that the environment they created was horribly toxic.

[thollandneedy]

hiii can you make something inspired by the video of tom protecting zendaya from the paparazzi

Worthy- Peter Parker

A/n: Peter being protective, ugh (give it to meeeeee). Btw, thank you for the request babe 🥰

Warnings: Mentions of death, swearing, mentions of vomit, anxiety attack symptoms and aggressive approach

Don’t forget to share, like, comment and leave your ideas here

Bellah’s Masterlist 🪻

It was no surprise to anyone that Peter Parker was dating Tony Stark's daughter, but it was the first time they had appeared publicly at an event together. After some catastrophes caused by the Avengers after their last mission in Berlin, in order to redeem the act of motivating violence towards young people, Stark decided to hold an event to fund social support groups.

Y/n was used to having the eyes of the media, mainly because of her beauty, but Peter hated the media. As well as distorting many of Spider-Man's actions, calling him irresponsible and selfish, there would always be people who would point out the slightest of his mistakes in order to get 'likes'. The girl, on the other hand, had several controversies involving her name, but she never let that get to her. Her father had taught her to always ignore people who spoke badly and pointed out mistakes, because if they were strong enough, they would talk in person rather than hide behind a screen in a dark room with a deplorable life.

“Aren't you nervous?” Peter asks, finishing lacing up his black shoes.

“No. I just didn't want anyone coming up to me asking me about my sexuality again because I said in an interview that I'd kiss Madison Beer.” Y/n says, looking at herself in the mirror as she finishes fixing the pair of earrings on her ear.

“What if they ask me something? What do I say?” The brunette gets up from the cream recliner at the end of the king-size bed in his girlfriend's room, heading towards her.

“Just be yourself, love.” The girl turns to her boyfriend, who places his warm hands on her waist, pulling her close in one smooth movement. The girl opens an affectionate smile, allowing her pink lips to meet Peter's. “And don't get involved in any controversy. It's not enough that people suspect you of being Spider-Man. My father will kill you if anything happens, especially during the party.”

“You look beautiful, you know that?” The older man commented, looking at the girl from head to toe with a sideways smile. The dress was tailored, with long sleeves that were almost transparent and her body shaped by the wine velvet until it dragged on the floor with a small neckline, but one that emphasized her breasts.

“I know it.” Y/n laughs, making Peter roll his eyes and walk away.

Two knocks on the white door are heard, drawing the attention of the young couple who head towards where the sound was coming from, then open the door. The image of Pepper in a black dress comes into view, apparently impatient with how long they were taking in the room. The blonde put both hands on her waist, saying:

“Really? 10 minutes to put on an earring and get your bag, Y/n?”

“We're ready.” Peter defends. “Come on, sweetheart.” The dark-haired man in the black suit and gray tie holds out his hand to the younger woman.

“But my bag.” Y/n turns her body to the side, looking out of the corner of her eye for her bag, which had mysteriously disappeared.

“This one?” Peter holds out his other hand with the handle of the white bag positioned on the tip of his index finger, drawing a surprised smile from the girl.

“Come on, you two.” Pepper warns, stepping into the middle of the couple and closing the door behind them.

(…)

“How many minutes until we arrive?” Y/n asks the driver, at the same time as his eyes are focused on his cell phone camera so that his gloss doesn't get smudged in the photos that will be taken later.

“Less than 5” he replies, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

“Do you want me to go out holding your hand or do we go out one at a time?” The brunette asks, swinging his legs as a way of relieving the anxiety trapped in his chest.

“Relax, Pete. Let me go out alone first. I know some of my followers will want to take pictures with me since I told them I'd be at the event.” Y/n says, closing the transparent gloss and putting it in her handbag. “I don't want the same thing to happen that happened in January.”

“You turned down photos because you had a viral infection and put your organs out in the back of the car in that KFC bowl” Peter reminds her, placing one of his free hands on the girl's back.

“And they still called me an unsympathetic diva,” Y/n mentions, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes to catalyze the feeling of discontent after remembering the hate the media threw at her.

“We're here, Miss Stark,” the driver warns, opening the automatic door and showing the group of fans and paparazzi who were waiting for the couple at the entrance to the event.

Peter got out of the vehicle, being called by several people and blinded by the flashes of the paparazzi who insisted on putting their cameras in his face. The men with their caps back and big cameras asked

“Are you really Spider-Man?”

“Does Stark approve of your relationship even though you're poor?”

“Is it true that Stark Enterprises is related to the death of your parents?”

Peter clenches his jaw, takes a deep breath to himself, and walks past the men with his face closed as he hears these questions. Y/n, on the other hand, got out of the car with a smile on her face like a princess. The girl put her hair back and got out of the car without the protection of the security guards who were at the door of the event. The group of followers who were waiting at the railing to take a picture with the youngest girl held out their cell phones so that she could take a picture with them. Y/n waved to the fans who were a little further back, allowing them to be noticed too. The girl took the cell phones, snapped the photos and thanked them with a smile, and this was the key to the paparazzi taking advantage of the situation to punch her with questions and photos that were too close.

“Are you dating Peter Parker out of pity?” One of the men asks.

“I'm not,” she replies, as she takes pictures with the people clinging to the low railing.

Peter stands in the doorway, watching from afar how his girlfriend will react. Thanks to his powers, he could hear Y/n's heart and sense when she was threatening to have an anxiety attack. Her mouth might lie with a smile, but her eyes would never lie about her being. The brunette turned on his heel as soon as he heard the first question, turning back the way he had come.

“Do you regret realizing that what happened in Berlin wasn't deliberate? The damage was done by your father's group. People died.” Another says.

The group of photographers was getting too close.

“I have no regrets. That's why my father is promoting the event. To help those who are hurt.” She replies, finishing taking the last photo.

As soon as she lowers her head so that she can go to meet Peter, she is cornered. Several white lights take over her vision, and she finds herself dazed by so much movement. Her frightened eyes searched for Peter, but she couldn't find him. Everything around her was getting too hot from the sweaty bodies that were increasingly trying to get in touch with the girl in the red dress.

“Your father killed innocent people.”

“We already knew she'd be just like her selfish father. She's just a good girl in disguise.”

“Did you cheat on your boyfriend with actor Drew Starkey at your best friend's party in Los Angeles last month?”

“She looks like she'd do that.”

Peter stepped into the middle of the paparazzi, pushing them hard with the sides of his body, throwing his cameras to the ground every time he saw one of them being placed in his girlfriend's face. The older man seemed to have fire in his eyes, even capable of burning someone with his fury. The girl's heart was racing, and then a strong hand found her, pulling her close and taking away the whirlwind of questions and comments spewed at her. Her chest was heaving, feeling her lungs regain air, and pressing her hands against her chest. Peter hugged her close, running his hands down her back and directing her towards the door of the event decorated with gold, white and red balloons

“She always does that. Leaves when she can't answer something we ask. Classic spoiled bitch.” One of the men picks up his camera from the floor, wiping the lens on his gray blouse.

At one moment, Y/n was standing next to Peter, and the other she was being abandoned again at the door of the large party building. With strong, hurried steps, Peter spins his body around to throw a powerful punch at the man who made the comment, causing him to fall against the other gossip channels who were on duty at the scene to capture any slip-ups. The photographer grumbled, putting his hand to his lip and realizing that blood was coming out. With a startled look on his face, he glares at the brunette

“Call my girlfriend a bitch one more time, and I'll make you swallow your fucking tongue.” He says through his teeth, stepping out of the crowd again and into the building with hurried steps.

Y/n had her hands over her mouth, stunned by what Peter had just done. Her heels tapped against the lobby floor as her boyfriend patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her from what she had just been through. Parker was followed by two security guards, who, only after seeing the situation, decided to protect Y/n.

“You irresponsible bastards. Stark will find out about this.” Peter says loudly to the two men in black, who were now following them to the elevator.

“My father!” Y/n says in astonishment. “Peter, my father's going to find out about the punch you threw at the guy outside! Fuck, we're fucked. He's going to kill you. Shit.”

“Don't worry, darling. Anything to protect you is worthy.” The brunette pressed the elevator's ‘up’ button, hugging his girlfriend tighter against his chest.

[thewickedkat]

long post incoming; meta enthusiasts may wish to digest this in chunks.

i am so completely exasperated with Laudna as of the latest episode. however, i temper that exasperation with my enjoyment as a viewer; indeed, i am feasting on the conflict, thinking finally, some good fucking food, because i think (and have always thought) that Laudna is terrifically interesting as a character and she presents wonderful opportunities for growth not only on her end, but as a catalyst for others.

that being said. the sword. how she handled it. how she handled her own trauma bubbling up, how she handled (or didn't) Delilah, how she handled Orym and Chetney and Dorian and the whole miserable mess she made.

it was selfish. there. i said it. you may disagree with me, i care not, but her course of action was terribly selfish and destructive.

i know many people out there have been likening her behaviour to that of an addict's (and there are many common factors there: the hiding, the lying by omission, the shame, the acquiescence to bad behaviour), but i think in some ways that to do so is reductive, and also removes agency from Laudna herself.

she is allowing her trauma to almost make her decisions for her, allowing it to define her, and she is not giving herself the opportunity to realise that growth beyond it is possible--or, perhaps, she does realise this and is simply too afraid to reach out and grasp it. i think even if Delilah weren't trying to subsume her, Laudna would still be self-sabotaging and self-destructive and still try to hide the parts of her she felt were undesirable; Delilah in many ways simply makes it easier for Laudna to do so and, if pressed, provides a rationalisation for Laudna's choices and actions (as in 'it wasn't me, it was her, she made me do it).

first and foremost, Laudna was a victim of heinous trauma, being murdered and then being put on grotesque display. then she was further traumatised in coming back from the dead and being forced to isolate herself from people for many years, with only Delilah's honeysweet venom dripping into her ear for that time. then she is murdered again as an object lesson for the woman she loves, then stuffed down so deep into her own psyche by the one who first killed her; she is fought for and brought back by her friends...who then seem to do little to check in with her, to make sure she is stable, or coping, because they each have their own baggage and oh by the way, the world is possibly ending. to be fair, there is little time for therapy and stability when you are literally running from crisis to crisis and trying to stop something you haven't even conceived of in your nightmares.

she feels dismissed, often, minimised, and she never developed healthy people skills or coping mechanisms (i am sorry but as much as i love Pâté, a dead rat does not a support group make). so she lashes out, has poor emotional regulation, and Does Crappy Things. so i also understand when she said 'what else have i to give, but myself?'

all that being said. what she did with Orym and the sword was fucking selfish. she is behaving like a child, as if she is the only one whose tragedies matter; she's playing Oppression Olympics, and can i just point out that Orym was the one to say 'i'm sorry' but Laudna never apologised for accosting him while he slept and hurting him? saying 'i didn't mean to hurt you' is not the same, because that implies that if she had not hurt him, stealing from him was perfectly acceptable and reasonable.

i don't believe her when she said 'i accept responsibility' because that means one must accept the consequences of their own actions, and right after she said that, she argued with everyone, told the oldest member of the Hells that he had no right to talk about loss to her, and then fled. that isn't accepting responsibility; that is mouthing platitudes in the hopes you will sway others to your point of view and when it fails, leaving in a huff like a child having a tantrum.

she didn't even bother to ask Orym why he kept the sword. she just tried to take.

Laudna often reacts from a place of fear: of pain, of more trauma, fear of inadequacy, of loss. all of these fears are valid. they are understandable, given all that has happened to her. but just because her fears are valid does not give her the right to make others pay for her emotional baggage. this is what makes her behaviour in ep 95 selfish. all of her actions in the back half of that episode are things she chose to do, and now she must sit in the mess she made. Laudna seems to be falling into the same mental rut that many victims fall into when their trauma isn't dealt with in a healthy fashion: they start fucking others over, as if being a victim excuses it. it does not.

and before others come for me, i say that as one who used to do the same fucking thing but i was lucky enough to have therapy. Laudna doesn't have that luxury--none of the Hells do. there simply isn't time to make space for any of their issues, not just Laudna's. Imogen is still wrestling with her mother; Fearne is wrestling with her parentage; Orym is just trying to keep his feet under him and do what he feels is right without betraying anyone he cares for (yes, including Laudna, shut up); Ashton is still trying to process the loss of Fresh Cut Grass (for gods' sakes, the crafting night was a fucking wake for the lil guy); Dorian just lost his brother and watched his friend succumb to a Betrayer God that turned her into a monster; and Chetney? Chetney is an old man who, i personally think, can pick his battles and knows how to compartmentalise better than any of these kids.

Laudna is not unique in that she has suffered horribly. no one is saying she hasn't, but her behaviour implies that she believes they are saying that. her actions imply she believes not only that she does not trust her friends (thanks, Dorian), but that acknowledging others' losses somehow negates hers. there just isn't time to healthily process any of this, which sucks. it does. i do think her friends love her, care for her deeply, and i think part of the reason they haven't checked up on her as much as they could is because a) they're afraid that her problem with Delilah is much worse than they thought (duh, it is); b) they can't fix the Delilah Problem right now even if they were qualified to do so (even Pike couldn't scour that bitch out of Laudna, she said as much); and c) they run the very substantial risk of wholly alienating Laudna if they press the issue too hard, thus not only losing an asset in the fight against the Vanguard and Ludinus, but also a friend and lover.

it's shit, all around, we all know that. but to pretend that it's okay she did what she did to Orym--or worse, somehow transfer responsibility from her onto him and make it his fault--is infantilising and disingenuous at best, and more than a little insulting.

[greenqueenhightower]

I agree so much with your analysis of the of the moon tea scene but it also hit me that in this episode we see the Blackwood Lord bring up that he tried to win Rhaenyra’s hand. It’s a reminder that Rhaenyra had the choice and the privilege to choose her spouse, of course she lost that privilege but she did get to choose her children’s fathers. Alicent didn’t and her husband didn’t love hers.

Not that I think Alicent wants to be a mother again at this point in her life. She is a grandmother now (and Jaehaera has become her responsibility as well) and she is practically still raising her adult children and desperately wants her sons them to become self sufficient and less in need of guidance. But I think the pregnancy has again reminded her of a life she was never allowed to have because her life was already chosen for her by her father and Viserys at 14.

She doesn’t really want the child that would come from it but this is first child that wasn’t forced on her. She was a willing participant this time and this child was made out of big, emotions that are new to Alicent like love, lust, freedom, recklessness, indulgence and selfishness. In an another life that she was as never allowed, the child would’ve been born to a man who would be a great father- he has been a better father to her children than their own father.

Ultimately though, she is finally in control of her womb and drinks the tea. Which like choosing a partner this time and consenting to sex, enjoying it, being in control- this is another freedom she never had before. However, I think there is also a side of it that is still duty and sacrifice too though. Alicent is always going to do what she has to do with a stiff upper lip. She’s not Rhaenyra and knows how it would be detrimental to Aegon’s reign and Aegon’s cause for war. It would be the ultimate hypocrisy and an embarrassment to herself and her family. So she does her duty and she makes the only sound choice to be made.

I’m reminded of the line she’s going to say this season about how she always did what was expected of her and how she tried to live by the Seven’s examples and it all still amounts to nothing.

It’s not lost on me that in this episode she aborts the last child to ever take root in her womb. Then she uses the first child to ever grow in her womb as a conduit for all of her anger and negative emotions. She tells him that he has no idea of all the sacrifices she made in her life for him but like herself, he never chose any of this. Otto chose her life and in turn she chose Aegon’s.

So she blows up on Aegon, then he impulsively goes off to war on a dragon to prove himself worthy to her and worthy of his name and title. He’s then gravely injured by the hands of her other son and is on the brink of death. So it’s like once again the life of duty, sacrifice and rationality amounts to nothing. She did not successfully put her son on the iron throne and even after sacrificing so much of herself to protect him, he might still die.

Hi anon 💚

That is an interesting observation! Alicent never had any authority over her body, and she claimed this authority by choosing to sleep with Criston and also consciously choosing to abort his child. Perhaps she thought that had the circumstances been different, she might have wanted to have this child which wasn't conceived as a result of rape. Alicent understands that aborting the child proves to be yet another duty to herself and another sacrifice for the rest of her children.

It is interesting that Alicent can finally be in control of her own narrative, but at the same time, she is still confined within her roles and expectations. Her choice to drink the moon tea is self-liberating from one hand but restrictive from the other, because she knows she has no other option. She has tried hard to grasp and taste freedom, and yet she is still not entirely free. Because even if she wanted to keep the child, that would be denied. So again, she tries hard to gain some agency and control over her body but, ultimately, this is limited to what social conventions and expectations demand of her.

This is why I liked the framing in the last shot of the moon tea scene as the camera zooms out and shows Alicent already suffering her abortion pains, defined by the pillars and the furniture in her room that becomes her prison. No matter how hard she tries to escape, no matter what she does, she is still bound. It is so tragic to think about.

Your points about how she uses Aegon as a conduit for all her anger for what she had to go through minutes before but also what she went through her whole life make total sense. Aegon has become the representation of all her troubles and the manifestation of her trauma. She lashes out at him because she could never lash out at Otto or Viserys, and in her mind, Aegon becomes synonymous with the person "who started it all."

So Aegon takes the blame for being the reason she is still there, in the castle, confined by others' expectations, forced to dote on duty and sacrifice, forced to give birth to more children. He takes the blame for all of his father's and grandfather's sins, and in his face, she sees her pain but also her strength, perseverance, and self-claimed power, since he is the reason she has become the person she is. She would never change him for the world, because that would deny and negate all she ever lived for. The possibility that he might die and with him, part of her own sense of self-worth, must be harrowing for Alicent.

I can't wait to see more of them next episode. The dynamic they have is one of the best, if not the best, in the entire show.

[hazbinrarepairs]

Seramilla Propaganda: they both are willing to do what they must to try and protect their daughters, (cause even if Emily isn't actually Sera's daughter, to me she seems to act as a motherly figure to her) or otherwise the people they care about, even if it's throught drastic measures.

Emilette Propaganda: I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Character growth: First of all, they would do so well to the other. For instance, Velvette would help Emily to stand up to Sera more confidently, not allow Sera to take the decisions just because she is "wiser and older", also, I see Emily being the sort of person who always puts everyone else above her so Velvette would also help her to think more about herself, prioritize her needs. On the other side, Emily's kindness and sweet heart eventually would inspire Velvette to be a better person, I don't see her stop being a bitch, but she would be less cruel. I think that Velvette would have the opposite development of Emily, thanks to Emily she would learn to think more about the others and not be so self-centered. Relationship growth: They wouldn't get along very well at the beggining, Velvette would think of Emily as a weak brat who doesn't use her powers while Emily would think of Velvette as a selfish abusive girl who takes advantage of everyone else. They would have to get to know each other, and see that things are not that simple and that there is layers, and leave their differences aside, it will be a long, slow burn path until they become friends even. But eventually Emily would be inspired by Velvette to be strong, and Velvette would help her to get back the confidence she lost after being expelled of Heaven, she would also like how Velvette is honest, and would never lie to her like Sera did. On the other side, Velvette would be charmed by the small acts of kindess of Emily towards her, used to people being mean or terrified towards her, is refreshing to see someone aside Vox or Valentino (and we know how they are) being friendly with her, and she would also fall in love because of how dazzling she is without effort, making everyone smile. I think that Emily would be a safe place when she gets tired of the Vees. Both of them would support each other through difficult times. They would grow quite close, until they will eventually develop feelings for each other. Relationship tropes: •Chaggie paralels (https://www.tumblr.com/dallina17/746121072218374144/things-that-chaggie-and-angelic-vogue-share-the?source=share) •Lucililith paralels (The seraphim who defied Heaven and the human that became demon who wants to decide for herself) •Angel x demon overall •She (Emily) fell first but she (Velvette) fell harder •Enemies to lovers •I could fix her/I could make her worse •Slow burn •Words of affirmation and physical touch languages of love I HAVE MORE ABOUT THEM THAT I WILL BE USING AS PROPAGANDA AS THE TOURNAMENT GOES!!

[herefortheships]

I guess Bj wouldn't be as kind and selfless to let Lydia marry someone else, so is the dream theory more realistic?

I guess it depends entirely on interpretation, but my take on it is that for Betelgeuse to be selfish and possessive enough of Lydia to intervene in her relationships it would depend on the person she's involved with and how the relationship is going. Like I mentioned before in this post, he simply might not have had the power to intervene or even reach Lydia beyond just projecting flashes of his presence around her, when she was with Richard, but I can also believe that he just let her go and be happy during that time. However, he definitely wanted to intervene in her relationship with Rory, because Rory was a toxic partner and would eventually destroy Lydia. He was already destroying her, as a matter of fact. So in this case, Betelgeuse would never allow this man to have his Lydia, no way. He'd have done anything possible to get in the way.

When it comes to Lydia, Betelgeuse is just different. Lydia is special and he does love her, so he might just have been putting her best interest and her happiness first when she was with Richard, even above his own feelings, which is big for someone like Betelgeuse if you ask me. I don't know for sure how long he was like trapped in the model before Barbara and Adam dug him up (probably since the moment Adam built the model?), but my assumption is that even before he was bound to the model he was strapped down some other way by Juno in the afterlife (and if I add my own little headcanon, even before he was stopped by Juno he was an aimless spirit unable to move on, bound to the ritual of marriage), so Lydia is definitely the first woman he loved since Delores (don't think there were other ghost ladies in his afterlife, is what I mean), it would be natural that he became possessive of the one person he made a connection with in hundreds of years. Lydia is the first woman he's fallen in love with since Delores. This is confirmed in the wedding dance scene. That said, if he loves her truly, part of loving someone is letting them go if their happiness depends on it. (Once Lydya is free after Rory, though, the story is different; now Betelgeuse has a shot and I don't see him letting her go any time soon 😉).

I already shared my thoughts about the Dream Theory before, but I can add a little more here to answer the question more completely. While I personally have a different interpretation of the events in the movie, I do find the Dream Theory very intriguing and interesting to read. I can say in some ways it can be more realistic, considering Betelgeuse's nature, and looking at Lydia as a character. Lydia is attracted to the darkness; she likes the strange and unusual, and she described herself as such in the first movie. She might have at some point called on Betelgeuse after the Maitlands moved on, and opted to live with him rather than to live with another living person. The first Beetlejuice movie doesn't really go into Lydia's head when it comes to Betelgeuse. It could be that any persistent negative ideas she had about him were all put in her head by Barbara. As she grew older she might have changed the way she viewed him and even be intrigued by him. The Maitlands were definitely more her parents than Charles and Delia ever were, and Lydia always connected more with the dead than the living (we can throw in Astrid's resentment about this fact here as a reflection of guilt in Lydia's subconscious about it, if Astrid truly is a dream figure existing only in the dream). This is all speculative, of course, but yes I don't think it's unrealistic to conclude that it was all a construct of Betelgeuse's power. I have a different interpretation, which I talked about in the post linked above.

When it comes to Lydia, Betelgeuse is softer, and I think he would do pretty much anything for her. Whether that is being selfless and allowing her the freedom to love someone else, when he failed to reach her, or building a dreamverse for her to experience the things she can't have while being his forever partner.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Sorry if this seems confrontational, but for the life of me I can’t get into your “Chloe has no growth” point when the show itself retracts growth from everyone and is inconsistent with everyone. You saying “The show just lays down basic character traits in Chloe” doesn’t make sense when her basic character traits are supposed to be her being selfish and spoiled.

S2 built off of that and despite what you say, had Chloe doing things that in S1 she wouldn’t have done. She apologized multiple times to the people she wronged, she willingly put herself in harm’s way to help the people she cares about and she was openly vulnerable to Ladybug in “Malidiktaor”. Something S1 Chloe wouldn’t have done. If there’s a distinct difference between a Chloe back in S1 and a Chloe in S2, then growth HAS taken place. But it doesn’t stay because of the formula (and the writers just don’t want her to keep that growth)

So what I’m asking is…what do you mean “Chloe doesn’t have growth”?

I can understand the “No arc” argument because an unfinished arc feels like there’s no arc at all (even though they are fundamentally not the same)

I wouldn't say that the show retracts growth from everyone. It's more that no one is ever supposed to grow. Every episode resets the cast. That's just how pure formula shows work and Miraculous is being sold as a pure formula show. The characters are meant to be static (one of the writers literally compared Miraculous to Dora the Explorer).

That static nature is why pure formula shows normally avoid giving their good-guy characters major flaws. It's the wrong medium for that type of thing specifically because the characters cannot change in meaningful ways throughout the show. They can learn little lessons that don't really change them and maybe have big change between seasons via a special or movie, but that's about it. Thus things like the season four conflict working so poorly. It's just a terrible choice for a formula show! The conflict is literally not allowed to develop properly because of the chosen format.

But sure, let's talk about Chloe and why I will die on the hill that she never demonstrated meaningful improvement even with the issue of the inconstant writing. In fact, seasons-one-to-three Chloe is one of the most consistent characters in the show. For this discussion to work, we need to start off by discussing character development and the two main forms it can take: character establishment and character growth.

Character Establishment

When the audience meets a character, they know nothing about said character. It's up to the writer to guide the introduction process. To choose when to reveal already existing elements of the character's personality, skills, and backstory. This is called character establishment. It is the writing telling you who the character is on a baseline level. Those reveals don't need to happen at the start of the story, though. They can be - and often are - held back for when the time is right.

When these reveals are delayed, it's important to remember that these elements were always part of the character. The reveal isn't changing who the character actually is. It's just changing how the audience views the character.

For example, we spend a good chunk of season one uncertain why Gabriel is doing what he does. Then, in Origins, we learn that it's all for Emilie. This is new information that adds depth to Gabriel's character, but it doesn't change him in any way. This is who he always was. We just know him better now and can recontextualize past events with our new understanding of his motivation.

Character Growth

Character growth is when writers take a character's personality or world view or even just their skills from point A to point B, allowing the audience to watch the character change and become a new better - or lesser - version of themself. This is usually part of a larger character arc where all the moments of growth add up, but it can take the form of small moments of growth that don't fit into a bigger picture, too. I'd probably still call that an arc, but we'll use the word "growth" a lot in this post, so let's just call it growth to be consistent.

Miraculous doesn't really have either arcs or growth because - once again - formula shows don't allow characters to meaningfully change, so I'm going to have to make up an example here. I'll use one that illustrates how character establishment and character growth can and do intertwine as that's an important thing to acknowledge to help guide this discussion.

Let's say that we have a character who lost their family at a young age. We'll call this character Mary. Mary's loss guides her character throughout the entire story, but the other characters and the audience are never told that this is what's going on. We just know that Mary acts in seemingly illogical ways at times and that she trusts no one.

Throughout the story, Mary learns to trust her costars, leading to a big, dramatic scene where she finally tells them - and the audience - about her past. This big dramatic scene is both the culmination of a character arc and a piece of baseline character establishment that allows us to understand Mary's character better no matter what part of the story we're reading.

Because these combo growth and establishment moments are so common in stories, it can feel like character growth when we learn new things about a character in a dramatic moment, but that's not always what's happening. Sometimes dramatic moments are just there to reveal what was always there by forcing a character to act differently than they usually do through the power of extenuating circumstances. These extenuating-circumstances moments are not character growth because, once the moment is over, the character resets to their normal self. The moment wasn't there to let them grow. It was there for the sake of the plot.

This is actually a really important thing that writers need to know how to do. Figuring out what circumstances will make a character say or do a thing they generally wouldn't say or do is part of how stories work. I have started stories with characters acting wildly "out of character" because I put them in the a situation where the behavior suddenly was in character!

Oh, you don't want to talk to this total stranger because you're an introvert with social anxiety who has yet to learn how to love yourself and open up to others? That's nice. Your leg is broken now and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. What you gonna do sucker? Lie there in the dirt or talk to the nice lady who wants to help you? Your choice! (Spoiler: he talked to the nice lady. He even let her physically support him when he'd usually never let a stranger touch him!)

As soon as that scene was over, the character reverted because it wasn't growth. He didn't become a more open person. He just did something he normally wouldn't do because the situation demanded it. It was extenuating circumstances so that the freaking plot could start.

This is what happened with Chloe in season two. Everything that people call growth is really just extenuating circumstances that reset by the end of the episode or even by the end of the scene.

Let's Talk About Chloe

Chloe does not have a character arc, aborted or otherwise. She is never taken on a journey where we watch her change. All we get is delayed character establishment via extenuating circumstances, but it's given in ways that make some people feel like she was being given an arc. Let's talk about why that is.

Season one Chloe is a one dimensional mean girl. She has almost no depth. She's just here to be petty and cause akumas. She is not a fully realized character.

Season two takes those traits and keeps them, but also gives Chloe a lot more depth to round her out and make her feel like a real character. She's just as petty and mean as she always was, but we're finally allowed to see her in some moments that make her feel like a well of potential to become something more, which the writers basically had to do if they wanted to let her be a hero. The audience needed to feel like Chloe could be good in the right situation.

The feelings evoked by her newly discovered depth are why people go "oh, she had a character arc! My feelings about her changed in a big way!" But she didn't have an arc. You just got to know her better by seeing her in moments where she was forced to be vulnerable. That's not growth. Growth is meaningful, lasting change, not situational change. Everyone changes based on the situation! It's why the "True Selves" stuff is such nonsense. It implies that there's one set way that we're supposed to act in order to be authentic and anything else is some kind of lie which just isn't how the world works.

Let's look at some examples to drive home what I mean.

Season one established that Chloe idolized Ladybug. It's why we get things like this moment from Evil Illustrator:

Ladybug: Fine! You stay! Later! Cat Noir: What do you mean later? Ladybug: I mean, you're the one who wants to protect her, so you don't need me. So, later! (swings away) Chloé:(looks over balcony) Ahhh! Ladybug! Text me! OK!

And this confession from Antibug:

Ladybug: [Chloe] pretended she was me?! How often does that happen? Armand: She idolizes you.

So Chloe adores Ladybug and wants to impress her/be her best friend. Cool. Got it. That never goes anywhere in season one because season one doesn't see Chloe and Ladybug interact much. The most we get is Ladybug saving Chloe from akumas, which doesn't allow for deep conversations. I don't think that they're ever alone in a moment where they can actually talk.

That changes in season two. In season two, they get to interact a lot and it's often in moments where there's a big threat and no one else is around, letting us see a new side to Chloe. But that's not Chloe changing. It's just the writers revealing that Chloe has more to her than the mean girl stuff because of course she does! Pure mean girls don't exist. Everyone has depth. We simply never saw that depth before because Chloe was never put in a situation where she needed to be open. We can't say that season one Chloe wouldn't confess things to Ladybug or chose to sacrifice herself to let Ladybug win because she never had the chance to do those things!

In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that season one Chloe probably would have done the same things as season two Chloe because season two Chloe doesn't really contradict season one Chloe. Antibug showed us that Chloe was pretty desperate to be loved and welcomed the way that Ladybug is loved and welcomed:

Chloé: Jagged Stone! Jagged: (thinking she's the actual Ladybug) Ladybug! What are you doing here? Chloé: Um… when I find out you were here, I knew you'd wanna see me! I had to come say hello. (Sabrina waves at Jagged)

and Chloe has always been a stubborn girl who stands up for what she wants even if what she wants is something bad. Antibug also showed us that Chloe can be genuinely nice to the people she cares about. Her and Sabrina's relationship is shown to be complex with them often having a lot of fun together.

Similarly, Origins sees Chloe showing her father genuine affection after she's saved from Stoneheart:

[Image description: Chloe and Andre hugging and looking very happy to be together]

Origins is the baseline episode that tells us who the characters are on day one, so I never once doubted that Chloe loved Andre, but Andre didn't get akumatized because of Chloe's actions in season one. He didn't even get akumatized for something that Chloe had nothing to do with! His first akumatization is in season two, so it's not shocking that we don't get a Malidiktaor type scene until Malidiktaor.

Chloe was vulnerable with her personal hero when her beloved parent was in danger, but not before? Shocking! Who would have guessed?

Me. I would have guessed. I didn't even realize that people were reading it as some sort of character growth because it clearly wasn't. Malidiktaor didn't feel like something new for Chloe's character. It just felt like the writers were leaning into things that we'd always known about Chloe and using them to better establish her character as someone who genuinely cares about select people. She just doesn't show most of the time.

The same thing goes for Chloe's sacrifice and apology in Zombizou. Chloe only sacrifices herself when there's no one left but her and Ladybug. When the choice is to let the terrorist win or take the hit and let you personal hero save the day. Brave? Sure, but also not growth. Chloe is team Ladybug for all of seasons one, two, and three! She wants Ladybug to like her! Plus even a petty brat can have moments of goodness where they pick a hero over a literal terrorist.

This honestly would have been a damming moment if Chloe didn't sacrifice herself. She functionally had no other choice here. The entire episode builds itself to the self-sacrifice moment so that Chloe is forced to make that choice even though she's been her petty bratty self throughout the whole attack. It's genuinely solid writing.

Then, in the heightened emotions directly after the Zombizou win, we get this:

Miss Bustier: But I hurt a lot of people... Chloé: No... I did... I forgot your birthday, once again. And when I saw everyone had prepared a gift for you, I totally lost it. Because I, too, would've liked to offer you something. I'm sorry, Miss Bustier. Miss Bustier: Thank you, Chloé. Those words are the best possible gift you could ever give me. (hugs Chloé) (Chloé hugs her back, forgetting herself for a moment.) Chloé: Huh?... Uh, yeah. Okay then, we're all good.

A brief moment of vulnerability that quickly ends and does not stick around because Chloe's change was situational, not true growth. The next scene of that episode starts with Chloe being her usual self:

Chloé: Me? You want me to apologize to the entire class? Ridiculous! They should be thanking me for saving everybody.

And ends with the reveal of Chloe's gift to Miss Bustier, which was given in private via a note.

Once again, nothing new for Chloe's character. She acts as she always has, being mean to everyone while having moments of vulnerability when things get tense. Remember that hug between her and her father that we talked about earlier? Same concept. She had just almost died from an akuma attack and so she needed some emotional support, leading her to act more openly loving than she usually does when he's around. Once the moment is over, she reverts to the petty mean girl default.

Giving gifts to placate people is also something that we've seen before. A pretty similar thing happens at the end of Evil Illustrator, it's just played less sympathetic towards Chloe because the writers weren't giving her depth back then:

Sabrina: Too late. Chloé and I are doing the project together. Marinette: You mean, you're doing the project? Sabrina: Well, of course! After all she's been through... Marinette: Ughhh.... Nice new beret, by the way. Sabrina: I know, right! Chloé lent it to me. She really is my BFF! Chloé! Your geography homework's ready!

For any of this to be character growth, we need to see Chloe act differently over time. For her to be put in similar situations and get different outcomes, but we don't see that in part because Chloe didn't change and in part because season one didn't do much to develop Chloe's deeper side. We rarely see her alone or in moments of extreme vulnerability, but you need those moments to show her depth. That's why Despair Bear had Chloe crying alone after Adrien threatened to end her friendship and not before. Chloe is very reluctant to openly show depth. You have to force it out of her, which perfectly fits the character we met in season one.

Even her standing up to Hawkmoth and rejecting the akuma isn't character growth in my opinion. Chloe has always stood up to authority and demanded whatever she wants. She has wanted to be Ladybug's friend and be seen as a hero since season one, so it's not shocking that her extremely strong will would allow her to defy a terrorist. If there is anyone in this show who can stand up to a terrorist on shear "no!" power alone, it's little miss I-always-get-what-I-want. I could see a variation of this happening at any point in the show, just change Chloe's reason for defying Gabriel to match the situation. Rework these lines to be about a party that she wanted to go to and I'd still totally buy it:

Chloé: No, Hawk Moth! I am a superheroine! I am Queen Bee! Ladybug will come and get me when she needs me! I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU! (throws her photo onto the ground as the akuma exits it... and pants)

Chloe acted like a hero here because she wants all the perks of being a hero and can't believe that Ladybug would actually bench her. That's impossible! Ladybug wouldn't do that!

As soon as Chloe accepts that she won't be a hero again, Chloe stops acting heroic because acting heroic wasn't growth. It was her playing a part the same way she played a part in Despair Bear. She was doing what she needed to do to be Queen Bee again and not because it's the right thing to do. This would only be real growth if she rejected the akuma after accepting that she wouldn't be Queen Bee again, but that's not what happens. As soon as she accepts that she's out, she no longer has any reason to play nice. She never grew into a character who did what's right for the sake of doing the right thing. It's always been about getting what she wants or being seen how she wants to be seen. Until that changes, she hasn't changed.

So no, Chloe didn't have an aborted arc. They didn't start to redeem her and then change their minds. All they did was make Chloe one of the most complex characters in the show only to then not do anything with the character they wasted our time establishing, ignoring the complexity they gave her while also cranking her mean dial up to the point of absurdity where she's not even fun in her original role anymore.

I get why it feels like she had an aborted arc. The fact that the character establishment was delayed makes it feel like something shiny and new about Chloe. There's also the fact that the character establishment we get in season two is the kind of character establishment that you'd do if you were setting up for a redemption arc, but that doesn't change the fact that it was all establishment work. None of it was a true arc where we watched Chloe grow. We just saw her put in situations that revealed hidden depths.

Her showing depth is not her growing because when in the world does she show off this supposed growth? She only acts differently in the type of scenes that we've never seen her in before or around characters that we've never seen her truly interact with before. When she's around the established teen characters or in her usual scenes, then she acts the same way that she always has. We never see her be genuinely nice to Marinette or something like that. She's only nice to Ladybug and she's still rude to Chat Noir. That's not character growth! That's character establishment that can then be used to guide character growth!

Same thing goes for the stuff in Despair Bear. We learn that Adrien can push Chloe to be better, but he never does it again and she reverts as soon as he lets her off the hook, so it wasn't character growth! It was just Chloe establishing that she can play nice when she needs to. This means that she could grow if the story chose to take her down that path because we've established that she knows what being nice looks like. Fake it til you make it plot go, go, go! But the plot never went, went, went so meh?

Add in the fact that season one was a bit of a test season with lots of elements that got dropped and the fact that characterization in this show has always been wildly inconsistent from episode to episode and I'm really not seeing a strong argument for Chloe having an intentional arc that somehow got aborted. People just saw the potential for her to have one and argue that potential is the same as an aborted arc when it really, really isn't.

To give an analogy, Chloe's story is like walking into the kitchen and seeing grandma laying out the ingredients for her famous chocolate chip cookies. We get excited because, hey, cookies! Then we come back an hour later and there are no cookies. Nor is there some other sweet that uses the same ingredients. There's just ingredients, sitting unused in their original packaging, making us wonder what the heck grandma was up to. At the same time, she never really started making cookies. She just set out ingredients. They're still there, totally unused, waiting to be made into something, so we can't call them a failed cookie attempt. That implies a level of commitment that was never there. She didn't even say that she was making cookies! We just assumed she was because we, understandably, wanted cookies and wanted to believe that grandma had a purpose to her actions.

[itmeansiris]

The Solar System Legacy Challenge: Friends to Enemies Gen 1 pt.71

After Kason left Madison made the short walk back to her house. The clouds made good on their threat. A light rain started as she approached her front porch. She stood in the rain holding out her hand, allowing the water to build and pool threw her fingers.

When she was uncomfortably soaked she made her way to the door where she finally noticed Paris's black truck parked outside. She stormed inside to find Paris lazing around on her sofa.

Madison: How could you?!

Paris: Whatever it is, I'm sure a drink would help. I'm having some of that spooky day wine you had in the fridge.

Madison: You took pictures of me and Kason at the clinic and at my meeting and posted them online!

It wasn't a question it was a blatant accusation.

Paris: Oh, that. Yeah so?

She shrugged nonchalantly never once looking up from her phone.

Madison: Paris do you have any idea what you've done?

Paris: I'm sorry did I do something wrong?

Her tone didn't imply she thought she'd done anything wrong and it pushed Madison over the edge. They had been friends for years and Paris had constantly roped Madison into her little stunt’s, but Madison had always been in the background. She had grown used to being one of Paris's pawns, she never agreed to be made a public display. Her life turned into some trashy rumor. Her reputation would be ruined rendering her talents as an artist useless considering no relevant artist would ever work with her after this.

Madison: Yes! I just met with Kason at the dog park. He's pissed! He thinks I set him up! He was going to help the book club host an event in Mercury's honor and now he's going to cancel the whole thing. All the clubs work down the drain! This was important to me. Important to the club. I asked you to leave them alone. I told you I was done being a part of your stupid chase.

Paris rose from her seat on the couch and came around the table to stand before Madison. Her expression showed no signs of regret.

Paris: Tsk, Tsk. Mercury won't like that. This was never about making friends. If you're not with me on this then you're against me.

Madison threw her hands up in frustration.

Madison: Here we go. Classic Paris. We've been best friends our whole lives and you would throw it all away just because I don't want to be a part of your shenanigans. I've been here for every cat-and-mouse game you've played. Even when you ended up in trouble with that married guy in high school. For once, I got something out of it and I asked you to respect that and you couldn't. And no, Paris, I'm not on your side. Please Spare me the dramatics.

Paris: How about you get your head out of your ass and stop being selfish. You only met Kason because I let you. You told me to leave him alone, yet you're the one messaging and meeting with him behind his wife's back. You're rambling about friendship and respect but what about you huh? You claim to be all wrapped up in Mercury, but all I've seen is you getting friendly with her husband. Is that it Maddy, you want Kay all to yourself?

Paris took the seat across from Madison the smirk on her face proof she thought she had won. Like Madison was some helpless animal ensnared in her carefully laid trap.

Madison couldn't believe her ears. Paris had tried to turn the whole thing around on her. Paris was accusing her of being a bad friend, of using her to get close to Kason. After all the years of putting up with Paris's shit Madison felt she had finally crossed a line. She seethed with anger. She got up from her chair. Paris followed assuming the conversation was over when Madison picked up the cup on the table and before she could stop herself threw the contents in Paris's face.

Paris: You Bitch!

Though petty, Madison couldn't deny how good it had felt to do that. She didn't feel a shred of remorse. She was tired of bending over backward for someone who didn't give a damn about her. Paris didn’t deserve a friend like her and she’d finally realized it.

Madison: I can't believe you would say that to me. Kason is a nice guy who doesn't deserve to have to deal with your crazy stalker bullshit. A nice guy who happened to be married to Mercury. Who, I know you can't stand, but watcher forbid you should ever put your feelings or childish demands aside for anyone else. I've been her fan since we were in high school when she was writing short stories out of her studio apartment while finishing college. I own all of her books. I got her autograph at the book signing in San Myshuno the year we graduated high school. You would know these things if you paid attention to your friends. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and you couldn't put your obsessive woohoo needs to rest. He doesn't want you and you will never be Mercury.

Paris: Fuck you Madison!

She shrieked.

Madison: You already have. Over and over. I'm done. Get out. You can leave the key on the table.

Paris let out a scream that could only be described as animalistic. Madison heard her slam something down on the table before she stalked off towards the door, closing it with enough force to stutter the frame. Madison stayed cemented to her spot listening to the sound of Paris's driver-side door crashing against the body of the car. The engine roared to life and the tires screeched as she peeled out of the driveway.

Madison exhaled loudly. Releasing all the built-up tension from the confrontation. She peeled off her wet jacket, curled up on the couch, and cried herself to sleep.

[lemonhemlock]

this is me airing out my thoughts regarding daemon and rhaenyra bc there could have been potential for actually make their relationship interesting. so, obviously they are supposed to be the ultimate targ love story (even though everything is the exact opposite) and that's how most people swallow it but the writers could have used s2 to show that it was just them acting. rhaenyra and daemon could never have a healthy relationship (in any way in my opinion), rhaenyra yelling about how she can't trust him seemed like a good thing for me until ep8. we could have had them both struggling to go back to their behaviour in s1ep1, this dreamy lovey dovey thing. daemon struggling with a older rhaenyra who knows what a somewhat healthy relationship should look like (i don't think harwin was 100% healthy but it still stands). now, rhaenyra is in a abusive marriage and has kids that threaten her older ones, it would have been great to see that internal conflict. how her life now is in a way a twisted one of her former best friend and the women around her. using daemon x rhaenyra to show how despite being heir and her uncle apparently doing anything for her she is just a woman in westeros. how even if on the outside she portrays herself as this perfect girlboss revolutionary, she will always be a pawn trapped by the man she spent years fantasizing about. i don't like daemon but his theme of never being able to change and always reverting back to his old selfish ways could have been amazing in s2 if it was even a thought. tb has no drama (any hint of it is destroyed to save rhaenyra) but daemyra could have had some at least and it would have been enough (since nettles and daemon leaving rhaenyra won't be a thing). there a multiple reasons for them to have such a messed up dynamic but they aren't allowed. now daemon and rhaenyra are in the exact same spot with eachother, perfect, loyal (rhaenyra cheater but i doubt anything will happen from that, the writers will probs have daemon think it's how or something), pure and badass.

also rhaenyra mentioned how daemon left herr during her Stillbirth but ig that's totally cool for everyone involved.

I'll be honest, anon - I think one of the main problems is that the writers probably think they've done a stellar job portraying the >conflict< between Daemyra and don't really understand the criticism.

Because at the end I think the INTENTION was to show that Rhaenyra isn't completely trusting of Daemon after his stunts, so they're not 100% back to how they were - she has a line akin to "don't ever betray me again" and looks a little apprehensive but is putting on a show for the Harrenhal audience. So, their reasoning was probably that it was enough to portray appropriate "punishment" - a loss of trust.

But this "consequence" seems ridiculous in context, because the greens fall apart much more dramatically and are treated like unfeeling monsters over less egregious shit. So it ends up looking cowardly that they let Daemon get away with the proverbial slap on the wrist.

[daybreakmusings]

Elain telling Nesta “All you can think about is what my trauma has done to you” was incredibly ignorant and no one can convince me otherwise.

For some reason, Elain thinks the trauma that had resulted from that night belongs solely to her and Nesta is being selfish for trying to take any ownership of it.

Everything in Nesta’s life, has always been about Elain. She came first and she never stopped to think about how it could impact Nesta. Very rarely does Nesta have the time to face her own trauma and learn to heal from it because she was always in environments/situations that put her on guard to protect her sister. And Elain has always been comfortable allowing her to do so while she retreats to the background where it was safe. She has never thought twice about putting Nesta in these positions all her life. 

When the sisters first come to Pythian, Elain completely checks out from the weight of the loss and trauma she has experienced. Which is completely understandable. But she isn’t the only one to have lost so much. So had Nesta. But at a time where Nesta may have needed her support, she wasn’t there. 

All Elain could think about was what their shared trauma has done to her. But Nesta never cared.

Those first few weeks in Pythian? Nesta was there to check on her. To make sure she is eating. To ensure her wellbeing. To see to her needs. To make sure she is comfortable.

In ACOSF, for the first time in Nesta’s life, she isn’t capable of putting Elain first. But Elain is unwilling to confront the possibility that the trauma they both experienced that night may have affected her sister differently than it did her. As a result, she avoids putting herself in a position where she might have to face the full extent of that truth.

I’m not saying that Elain doesn’t have a right to feel greatly impacted by what had happened to her. She went through alot. But she doesn’t get to pick and choose whose trauma that night was greater and warrants more concern.