#basically every game of thrones lady

[melenae]

how do the fantasy media ladies get those specific curls/waves in their hair

[sapchat]

Ways to add simple little details to Prythian in your stories!

For the Autumn Court this one is basic and many people use it: Males gift their fiancées, wives, mates fox kits as a symbol of their love and good luck with the relationship. To make it sadder, Beron never did this for Lady A, so when Eris found out about this tradition he got his mom one!

For the Dawn Court: Like how the night court Illyrians put the women down, what if the Dawn Court was the opposite and the Peregryn females would put the males down. In the real world male birds are held to a high standard for breeding, I feel like Peregryn instincts would cause this and it just gives more to a story than the females constantly being the abused. Also they’re stomach/side sleepers. I talk more about this below with the night court just to not repeat myself.

Day Court is full of bastards. You can NOT convince me that it isn’t. Helion is laying the fucking pipe like he’s discovered oil. And the reason I feel this is because of @florencemtrash ‘s story “The Shadow and the Inkbird” (also it’s really good go read it if you haven’t) where the MFC is Helions bastard, and meets Lucien and instantly realizes that they’re halfsiblings. And I was like ya know the Day Court is probably like Game of Thrones Dorne. Dorne is know for their bastards almost every persons name in that city is ‘Sand’ because they’re all bastards basically. So I just KNOW that Helion probably has other kids than just Lucien. And everyone in that court is fucking.

Summer Court has mermaids. It’s basic, it’s simple and it’s true. There’s mermaids.

Night Court, listen we already now a lot about the Nigh Court but this pertains to Illyrian’s so I feel it’s different. They’re stomach/side sleepers. They are. You can’t tell me that two massive wing sticking out of your back would allow you to lay on your back. It can’t be comfortable. Like have you ever tried sleeping with like a ponytail/claw clip in? It ain’t nice. Now imagine it with two that sit right beside your shoulder blades and the clips are like 3ft long? Idk how long the base would be but like probably pretty fucking long to allow actual flight capabilities. Also when they sleep on their side they just have their wings straight out, now like laying on one and the other out. They’ve got big ass beds for a reason spread out. (Cassian fully takes up a bed like star fish style just on his stomach. Nesta is sick of it.)

Spring Court, during the Spring Equinox the High Lord chooses someone to dress up and hand out spring gifts to family’s (usually kids). When Tamlin became High Lord he appointed himself to do so. During this time Tamlin also gives many of the less fortunate families something they can later use for the Tithe.

Winter Court puts on a celebration for the children called Three Kings Day. Family’s with children are welcomed to the castle(? Do they have castles…?) and the bakers leave a cake outside the doors of the family, inside the cakes (this is a real thing from Puerto Rico/France/Spain too btw, the cake is called la galette des rois (Kings Cake)) are toys/coins. Whichever children find them get to wear a crown for the day and called Kings/Queens (Kallias started the tradition that all kids get to do this, he’s a softy).

[angelwishess]

1, 9, 10, and 18 for Kyra for that get to know your TWST OC ask thing!

Hi anon! Thank you for the ask! 💗

Questions for the TWST oc ask game here!

Club: Which club does your twst OC join and why? Is there anything memorable about the club fair day/their first day at the club? Which clubmate is their favorite?

Kyra is in the Equestrain Club!! Shes an animal lover through and through, and she couldnt pass up the chance to join!!! Her horse, Lady, was a noble gal. Extremely well trained and haughty, but she fell into a depression after an incident with her former handler.

Ever since Lady refused to run, often just staring into the wall of her stable. Kyra decided to try and take this challenge on, determined to get Lady back up on her feet and running like a horse should be !

Kyra was very gentle with Lady, and it was a slow process, but it was all worth it. Because slowly, Lady was acting like a proper horse again! Even more so as Kyra taught her how to misbehave and have fun galloping around again. You can bet you’ll find Kyra and Lady racing around as fast as they can, jumping around and having fun. Though its probably a safety hazard— nothing can really stop either of them from doing what they want. So! You can bet Kyra sneaks out Lady from time to time to go for a little run.

Lady adores Kyra, too! Super protective of her and… a man hater. Yeah.

As for club members, the one she gets along with the most is Silver! Though they’re very different, they get along really well! And bond during club hours :3

Name: What does your twst OC's name mean? Why does Rook/Floyd call them [insert nickname]?

OOOH IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE !!!!!

Depending on what language you check, it has different meanings, but every one of them suit her perfectly.

In Greek, the origin language for her name, it means “Queen”, “Ruler”, “Lord” or “Lady”; yet in Japanese it can mean “Glittering” or “Shiny”.

“Sun”, “Far-Sighted” and “Throne” in Persian, “Beam of Light” in Sanskrit, “Leader Of The People”, “Beloved”, “The One People Look To” in Russian, and “Beloved”, “Precious”, “Valuable” in Turkish.

As for her nicknames, I actually talked about why Floyd’s nickname for her is “Sea Angel” here!

As for Rook’s nicknames, he has two! Of course theres “Trickster”, but theres also “Princesse de la Lumière” , or “Princess of Light”! Kyra is very shiny, and she notably brings love and light along with her wherever she goes <3 (he also comments on how her beauty is ‘blinding’… yeah idk either but Kyra is flattered WHAHAHA)

Subject: What is your twst OC's best subject? Worst? Do they study with another whom excels at the same subject? Do they ask anyone for help with the subject they are bad at?

Answered this question here!~

Backstory: Tell me anything about your twst OC's backstory. Their childhood, their parents, their siblings etc. Does their backstory affect how they are as a character now and how they interact with the cast?

Kyra had a very lonely childhood. Never allowed to leave the castle she grew up in, alienated from the rest of her family and everyone else, seen as something ‘inhuman’. Her entire life, perfection was expected of her, it was an obligation. She was meant to be seen, never heard. A figurehead, someone who’s worth has always only been for her status and her beauty.

Coming to NRC, shes struggled a LOT with social cues. While back at home she knew how to handle many of the nobles and royals she interacted with, most of the time she never actually had to speak, seeing as she was expected not to.

Now… she basically cant shut up. There are some jokes that she doesn’t get either, and there are times where she takes things a little too seriously. She just… isnt used to interacting with other people as herself , and it takes her a long time to get used to it.

It definetly affects her relationship with some of the cast and how they develop in the storyline, which is why she values the people that accept her nonetheless so very much.

[terapsina]

#2 for the book worm ask game!

(ask game)

2. Favorite fantasy book(s).

(Eeeeexcellent, I do love fantasy books. Though how I'm gonna narrow it to only a few I've got no idea. Okay. I'm going to remove the very obvious choices like Lord of the Rings (though it is one of my faves)).

---

Monstrous Regiment. I love the entire Discworld series (especially The Witches) but I've also got a huge soft spot in my heart for Terry Pratchett's take on 'a girl dresses like a boy to go to war' (and thinks of everything except some spare socks in- erm... the right place). Along with Polly, the squad consists of a vampire, a troll, an Igor, a religious fanatic and two very, very close "friends" (and yes, the official summary put the friends in quotes too). And everyone has their own secret.

I love basically everything about this book and I can't tell you guys any of it because it would spoil all the fun.

The Goblin Emperor. This one's a story filled with light. Maia the half goblin son of the elven Emperor was never supposed to take the throne (or to ever even be at court. because racism). And then everyone ahead of him dies in a single "accident" and suddenly he's the new Emperor. Maia is a good person, and a kind one, and despite everything that gets thrown at him he keeps hold of that understanding of right and wrong and refuses to bend.

(I have to mention that the language of the writing is kinda hard to get into in the beginning, and the characters's have very complicated and long names, but once you get into it it really did enhance the story for me).

Good Omens. An Angel and a Demon try to stop the apocalypse and instead lose the Antichrist. I've loved that book for like a decade now and if I don't put it on a list of my faves that list would be a lie.

The King of Attolia. Third in The Queen's Thief series and my favorite one out of all of them. I've always enjoyed Outsider POV in fics. And here is a book that just... proves why. We've got Eugenides and Irene, the Thief and the Queen, and we know them from the two previous books. And adore them. But the story isn't from their POV, it's from the POV of Costis, a Queen's guard who's suddenly gotten assigned to the King. The useless, weak, undeserving king that as far as Costis is concerned doesn't deserve to even kiss the Queen's boots. And it's hilarious to read the story from the eyes of someone who knows so much less than us. And so satisfying, as he begins to understand.

(I recommend the whole series and am personally glad to have read them in the published order but Megan Whalen Turner has stated that she wrote them in a way that allows you to jump in at any point you want).

The Raven Tower. The story is from the viewpoint of a sentient, omniscient rock whose name is Strength and Patience of the Hill and it is the GREATEST THING EVER. The gods are real and must be very careful with their words, because if they speak a lie the reality will alter to make that lie the truth but if the lie is bigger than the power of the god... well. Inspired by Hamlet.

(the book also has a trans man as the main character; the other main character? The sentient rock is the narrator but the largest part of the story focuses on Eolo).

A Natural History of Dragons. The first book from The Memoirs of Lady Trent (and honestly it would probably be more honest to say that every single book from this series fits the category of fave but I'm putting up the first here because this isn't a series where you should skip ahead). The book focuses on the life of Isabella as narrated by her older self. This is the story how a Scirland lady bucked all tradition and became a world renowned expert on the Natural History of Dragons.

(this series has a piece of my heart and always will).

---

(and finally, here's some more of my favorite fantasy books that I also adore and would totally ramble about but I got tired of typing).

[ladyodium]

Controversial take: (this is my own opinion and you don’t have to agree, but I ask you to respect it because that is just how I perceived Rhaenyra not everybody perceives the characters the same way.)

I don’t think Rhaenyra would be a good ruler. Neither do I believe Aegon is either. I am neither Team Black or Team Green. I don’t like either factions, it’s a stupid civil war between families.

However, Rhaenyra herself made me angry throughout the whole show and while reading the book. Rhaenyra was given the chance to show the realm that she could be a Competent ruler, a leader, a new hope for the people and women that lived in a society ruled by the patriarchy. Instead, we get to see her just straight trash all the opportunities, have affairs, have illegitimate children, and then turn almost every noble lady and lord against her.

Before anyone says “she was mourning her mother.” “Her kids were still targaryens!” “Oh, well she did the right thing.” “Oh, you’re just saying that cause you have some Internalized misogyny.” I understand this to a point, and I don’t dislike Rhaenyra because she’s a woman, I don’t like Rhaenyra because she makes these selfish choices that only benefit her. You can argue that she did this for her kids, which is true, but she still could have done those choices without offending the Great houses.

She tries to pass off her kids as Velaryons, and everyone knows this isn’t true even the people who are apart of House Velayon know that her children are illegitimate, and it’s seen as a huge slap in the face to her biggest ally. I also wanna point out that’s why Vaemond, Corlys brother, was so offended that the King would accept that this illegitimate child should take the throne of House Vearyon.

Rhaenyra to me is a tragic character, I like how she’s charming, headstrong and willing to protect those she holds dear. I think she truly wants to show she can be a Great Ruler, but she plays the Game of Thrones like a man instead of playing it like a woman. Sometimes, when I was watching the show it seemed like she didn’t even want it until it wasn’t hers anymore.

To conclude this kinda rant, Rhaenyra was given the opportunity to become the first woman (after Rhaenys) to sit upon the iron throne, and instead of showing that she is capable of becoming the ruler of the seven kingdoms, she basically shows the realm that she is ill prepared to take the throne, and she takes advantage of the fact that her father, The King, is willing to be ignorant of her wrongdoings, and not a uphold her to the same laws of the realm that hold it together.

Rhaenyra was a child who was grieving the loss of a Mother who was always on the birthing bed and never in her life. She was surrounded by men in her life that continued to use and abuse her, even if she didn’t realize she was a victim. She is product of her surroundings and even after all my rants about her, I still want to believe she could be a Great Queen with the proper guidance and education.

( I’m gonna do one for Aegon as well and Alicent) 

[gxldencity]

I'll say recruiting minthara on a good playthrough really puts into perspective about some things in this game and how larian has been addressing feedback. like....minthara just stands around. you can have halsin and minthara just a few feet away from each other and even bring them in the same party together but they don't give a shit about each other. No one else comments about the two being in the same camp. then you still could complete halsin's mission and minthara still sits on ketheric's throne at the end of act 2.

Basically this change was added bc a bunch of ppl cannot handle not having the hot evil drow lady in their party bc she has character agency and will not join tav's party if they don't do what she asked them to do. there's no point to this, like they absolutely half assed it. It's basically for a bunch of whiny babies who can't handle that a companion is locked from them in certain routes and don't give a shit whether it fits for a character or not and in minthara's case, if she even has character.

It's so simple but it kinda ruined the game for me bc this is basically how they treated every character request post release. they removed certain lines from lae'zel bc ppl complain that she's too mean, who cares if it was ever in character for her. they changed tav's expression for that ascended astarion's kiss animation bc ppl whined that tav looks rightfully upset and scared, who cares if it defeats the purpose of that storyline. They added that stupid durgetash line when not everyone considered durge and gortash's rs romantic.

They're basically still acting like they're in early access when this game has been out for a year. It shows lack of confidence for their work to stand on its own lmao.

And they also listened to the loudest and the wrongest of the bunch bc you cannot be this confident in Wyll's storyline as it is lmao to not change a single thing about it.

[alicentisim]

beautiful and so deprived of oxygen . premise rewriting of seasons six to eight of game of thrones . a lot of it may be similar but i wanted to use a similar format to how the books were written ! a lot is the same but i wanted to incorporate some details and changes i wished we could have seen . if you haven't seen the seasons mentioned i recommend not reading this as there are major spoilers . warnings mentions of abuse , joffrey and ramsay are their own warnings - their actions are mentioned but not written , canon divergence , death , language , war , alcohol . . . basic got warnings .

i.  you  were  born  bluer  than  a  butterfly  .  JON when the knife plunged into his heart , his only thoughts were that he would never see them again .

he was conflicted . seeing his family cast a warmth around him—the thought of seeing his brother—he could see him as a brother of the watch as they spoke of . however , this warmth was only squandered by the cold snow he lay in . the realization of how he would die in the cold without knowing if his sisters were alive and if his brothers—no , that didn’t matter . not now anyway .

he felt undeserving , he shouldn’t call them brothers or sisters . he was a bastard and he was to die a bastard , a boy in black masking himself as a man .

he felt the tip of the blade piercing his heart . the eyes of those he swore an oath to were staring down at him .

perhaps he deserved it , didn’t he ? he broke the oath he swore to abide by , the people that had died with the slice of his blade , blood coating his hands . he knew this moment was coming , what did he expect ? 

a boy in disguise of a man .

and now that disguise was ripped from him as he lay and bled , the cold eating at his flesh . he lay as a boy , not a man . he was to die a boy , not a man .  

a man with no family , he had nothing to his name besides being the brother who broke his oath . he betrayed the promise to his brothers . he deserved this .

he covets death .

ii. beautiful  and  so  deprived  of  oxygen  .  SANSA   sansa was sitting in her childhood bed . the bed that she grew up in , the room she once would lock her little sister out of . the room she would sneak lemon cakes into , a room that was always a comfort . not anymore . she looked out the window , inhaling sharply as she watched the snow falling . she felt the pain coursing through her yet she kept her eyes forward . she had to . persevere , she reminded herself . she made it this far , the odds would play in her favor if she stuck it out . play his game . she’d contemplate it from time to time , throwing herself from the highest tower . perhaps the same one her brother fell from , a dagger to the heart even . death seemed better than feeling the warmth and familiarity of her home turn into a cold prison . persevere . she looked down at the blood on her sheets . she frowned . her eyes were sapphires before , so full of life yet the moment lady was taken from her she realized that life was not what she thought it was to be . she was childish . she was a child . she knew he wouldn’t kill her , he needed her to get what he wanted . the last heir to winterfell . he needed her . she needed him , dead . she resented the man who was a monster wrapped in flesh and blood . she felt her blood boil just thinking about him . she resented him , some days she felt grief and others anger . persevere . she would cry at first , sobbing into her pillow after every visit . the wedding night was the worst . she felt she could trust nobody , not a single person in this place she used to feel the safest . she wouldn’t cry anymore , she refused . she would no longer waste tears on someone who deserved nothing but to be swallowed by the gods whole , into the darkest hells . persevere , for them .

[lunamkardas]

COZY GAME?

So last night I saw this really cute looking farm sim game, yes another one, called Grimshire. It's just a demo but the pixel art is charming and it seems really interesting. So far you can only be a bunny or a fox so I picked bunny.

Game opens with a boat horn sounding. I and some random goat lady have been rescued from The Capital where Some Shit Is Going Down and we are both unconscious, dragged to safer shores by an otter named Fin. He lets the town know shit's going down and he's going back out on his boat to see if he can get more info.

We get taken to the town healer and I'm just a little banged up but fine. Goat lady is hurt much worse so she's going to take longer to wake up.

Day 1 Basic "hey welcome to town here's a run down farm house for you to live in new dude, we'd really appreciate it if you contributed to the town's root cellar by growing some stuff" tutorial. Quickly followed by the "You should talk to all 26 people in town newbie!"

They got a small town/hamlet version of Animal crossing's museum thing going on so any stuff I forage or catch for the first time can go there.

They gave me a pump and water pipes straight off the bat so it was SO MUCH easier getting the watering down for my baby farm.

Holy shit fishing is so much easier than Stardew valley my god I love it.

Day 2

Goat lady died in the night from her wounds.

None of us knew her name. The town burned her atop the mountain peak with all in attendance.

Everyone is pretty down about it. Some people mention they hope Fin gets back with news, especially since him and his boat are such an important part of their food supply because they're an island.

My eyes lock onto the root cellar and then to the previously mildly annoying but NOW VERY IMPORTANT game mechanic of food spoiling.

I immediately start selling everything I own including the swank new bed and bookcase I got for collecting specimens and begin rapid fire purchasing as many drying racks as possible, throwing every fish, fruit and mushroom I find onto them to start stocking up.

Day 3

Normal day of collecting and throwing stuff onto the drying racks. Selling junk to buy more drying racks. The game refuses to tell me how to make them myself.

Get a crack at the mines which has an interesting quirk where you actually mine out the rock from the walls and if you remove too much of the supporting walls it can cause a cave in. Also you can very easily find the ladder to lower levels, which I appreciate.

Learned how to make more pipes to improve my pumps range.

Did some logging for the woodcutter. Mining for the Smith.

Day 4

The Mayor and his assistant come get me and start walking me through the root cellar tutorial while telling me that they will no longer be expecting me to pay ANY TAXES under the circumstances. (Waaaaay ahead of you dudes I already pieced together I'm now the most important person on this island and I am panicking a little bit because I'm pretty sure Covid just entered your reality and thank FUCK we burned Goat lady.)

Thank you kindly can I PLEASE get back to foraging and fishing and drying so I can keep both herbivores and carnivores alive while we Quarantine.

Healer lady and her assistant had the same idea about us suddenly being cut off from the outside world. No one's saying 'disease' yet but I have my suspicions.

Anyhoo they put the town up to a vote over what we should build, a new medicine herb garden she definitely knows how to maintain and use or a mushroom hut to alleviate the island hamlet's food needs even though no one on the island knows the first thing about mushrooms.

I am sitting on a fucking throne of fish jerky and dried fruit/veg. WE ARE MAKING THE HERBAL GARDEN.

The other villagers agree and I immediately bum rush the donation box and slam all the wood and rocks we need into it.

Day 5 Herbal Garden is complete and Healer lady is excited to start researching new medicines.

I am desperately mining as much copper as I can to make more water pipes because I only have so much energy each day and I can't be wasting it watering 30 plants.

I also start planting the tree seeds I've been shaking out so I can have fruit trees. Fishing is easy but the island has both carnivores and herbivores and the plant supply is harder to come by every day plus Drying takes Time.

Day 6 The town gathers because Fin is FINALLY back with news!

It ain't covid.

The Capital is Gone and most of the other landlocked population centers are too.

But they weren't empty.

It's Zombies.

It's Zombies and the only places that still exist are boarded up and armed to the teeth refusing all entry or trade because it's ZOMBIES.

Thank FUCK we burned Goat Lady.

10/10 I need this shit now

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Even More New HOTD OCs

I have a problem i admit it (blame @ginevrastilinski-ocs and @ocmerunaway) , need to figure out their titles so i can add them to the masterlist

1 – Cira Waters in Nobody's Daughter (Florence Pugh); x Jace – Cira is a bastard girl on Dragonstone who one day accidentally runs into The Cannibal, almost dies but ends up claiming him (does not know that she's a dragon rider), Jace goes to investigate the chaos and finds this random bastard girl riding him

She inspires the idea of looking for more dragon riders

2 – Jaella Targaryen in In The Blood (Poppy Drayton) – one of Saera Targaryen's bastard's child from across the Narrow Sea, at some point Rhaenys, without telling anyone, decides to fly across the narrow sea to talk to her aunt Saera, Jaella decides to come back with her (just not sure about when, if she's back with them for Lord Of The Tides or not until the war)

3 – Sarisa Celtigar aka Lady Waters in If You Love Me For Me (Marina Ruy Barbosa); x Aegon & Aemond – inspired by Barbie Princess And The Pauper. Sarisa is from the Celtigar family (a noble house in the Crownlands), her father is not the heir though. Her parents liked to live beyond their means and incurred a lot of debt, in order to pay it off, their only child (Lady Sarisa) was sold to a pleasure house in flea bottom. The agreement was an upfront fee for her purchase, her virginity would be auctioned off to the highest bidder (Aegon) and her parents get 50% of that cost, and then some percentage of the earnings from every other client who pays for her

it's known that she used to be a lady but having been sold by her parents, she is now seen as no more than a bastard hence Lady Waters (mocking her having once been a lady, as well as mocking her having been disowned/forsaken by her parents); westeros version of My Parents Sold Me To One Direction

Aemond has to go get Aegon from a brothel again (maybe when everyone is there in Lord Of The Tides), as they're leaving they witness a kerfuffle in the streets, where one of the gold cloaks is about to kill this girl, claims she assaulted him, Aegon and Aemond are very confused by it all. What actually happened is that the gold cloak tried to assault her and she pushed him off but knocked him into something – she works at a brothel but this man wasn't trying to pay her, he decided that since she was a sex worker he could just take what he wanted

and Aemond doesn't know why but he defends the girl and brings her back to the Keep, which basically spirals into "it's her word against his so there's no proof that this is what happened" mixed with "even if she was free to leave and go back to the brothel, there's nothing stopping the gold cloak from going back tonight and killing her"; Aegon is already married and can't do much, Aemond still doesn't know what he's doing or why but basically ends up claiming her as his future bride and they're both very confused.

At first it's her being Aemond's intended but being with Aegon, and then eventually they just share her and she's very happy

4 – Valaenyra Targaryen in Family Tree (Anya Chalotra); x Alicent – Valaenyra is lowkey ripping off my Game Of Thrones oc (with the same face), Nymeria of Volantis. She is Saera Targaryen's daughter, meets Daemon and Laena when they're in the free cities and they kind of take her in (she's similar age to Laena, they're super close and see each other as sisters) and she returns with Daemon & the girls for Laena's funeral, goes super mama dragon protecting all of the kids during the big fight in Driftmark, but also becomes close with Alicent – doesn't agree with taking Luke's eye but agrees with "how the fuck does calling someone a bastard justify a child losing his eye???"

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

He Is

(A timeskip Bridgerton/HOTDish fanfic)

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen X Philomena Finch (faceclaim for Philomena will be the amazing Taylor Richardson, who plays Bridget in The Gilded Age!)

Word Count: 2800ish

Cheesiness: Off the charts, cheesier than the state of Wisconsin

Summary: Just as her mother Philippa predicted: Philomena Finch is a writer.

But Philomena is disappointed that none of the men in real life live up to the fictional ones she reads and writes about. None of them until Aemond Targaryen, that is.

Author's Note: This fic is a somewhat convoluted, three-way crossover (kinda???) because it obviously has elements of the Bridgerton universe but also the HOTD/GOT universe, with mentions of the Skyrim video game lore! Basically, Philomena writes what we know in this world as Skyrim but in a book form and Aemond is the author of what we know as Game of Thrones in this fic. Get it? Alrighty. Also, yes, the fic title is yet another Ghost song big whoop I love them ok?!

Dividers: @cafekitsune

GIF Credits: In the gifs themselves, I used the gif search function

The first time Philomena Finch knew she didn’t fit in with The Ton of London high society was in boarding school at age 12, when the teacher asked each girl to come to the front of the class and share what their goals in life were.

“I want to start a charity for orphans,” came one of the replies.

“My goal is to throw the most glamorous balls anyone has ever seen!” another girl said.

“I will tutor respectable young ladies on how to speak French,” yet another said.

On and on the answers came, but they all had one thing in common: before telling what their goals were, they all prefaced their statements with “After I marry-”

Philomena knew she wasn’t going to marry then and she knew it still now, at age 19.  It's not that she didn’t want a husband, she just had always known that the type of man she desired to be with was not to be found outside the books she read or little stories she would write. The kind of husband she wanted had to be amazing and handsome and approve without question whatever she wanted to do in life.  The years had taught her she would not find him in the real world and she accepted as her fate that she was to remain unwed, as if it were a commonly given fact like any other.  Her parents’ and aunts’ marriages were simply lovely anomalies in the humdrum, rigid world of the english Ton.  The way of things would not change.

The sky was blue, grass was green, taxes were to be paid and Philomena Finch was destined to die alone.

That being the case, she preferred to fully throw herself into writing, which her parents wholeheartedly supported. 

 “The world is changing!” her father had informed her, contrary to what she herself believed. “Women hardly have a need for husbands like they did before and besides, how else could we survive the monotony of life without stories to read?.” 

Her mother agreed as well and for that Philomena was so grateful, as her own grandmother constantly moaned about having a spinster in the family and her well-meaning Aunt Prudence put the famous Violet Bridgerton to shame with the amount of gentlemen she sent her way at balls. 

It was relentless, so the minute Philomena would get home and dress for bed,  she went straight to her writing desk instead to create worlds she could escape to. Every time she sat to write she thanked her lucky stars that she had a mother and father who bought her all the quills, ink and paper she wanted.

 In fact, she was working on a story she hoped to publish soon but it was rather gruesome…and violent. Recent inspiration had hit her about two years ago after the country of Valyria had ceased its war with England and everyone had seen the new, foreign aristocracy trickling into London to break bread with new allies.  

Before the war, stories had floated around of beautiful white-haired men and women, but to see them in person?  Everyone in society clamored to be near them, to win their favor and possibly their love in some cases.  Philomena thought they were otherworldly. It was as if there existed a version of the Bridgertons that was fifty times as popular and a hundred times as good-looking.  Being near them felt practically magical. 

Certainly too magical for an ordinary, plain English girl like herself.  She knew this because only last season the one time Aunt Prudence had managed to snag a Valyrian Lord at a ball to bring to her, practically elbowing away other girls from him (a Daemon Targaryen, she remembered) the conversation had remained one sided.

  Lord Targaryen seemed incredibly disinterested and practically fled as he excused himself after hardly saying more than ten words the entire time.  “I must find my brother, pardon me.” Daemon had told her as he walked away. 

  The only type of men in reality that seemed to interest her…had zero interest in return. 

So Philomena dealt with her increasing feelings of inadequacy with writing, as always, and got to work.  A world of dragons and magic, of elves and warriors. Not at all what a typical lady would read, let alone write! 

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, she called it and she finally had about two thirds of the story written to show her parents before the new season got going. She had anticipated horror from them both, but they had been utterly enthralled by the story and wanted to know more. 

“Oh, please tell me Ulfric Stormcloak wins!! I need to know!” her father had begged.

Her mother was of a different opinion. “I do hope he gets executed by the Dragonborn! Preferably while Elisif The Fair watches! It's what he deserves after killing her husband! Hmph!”

Aunt Prudence was a fan of the character Maven Blackbriar, and positively preened when Philomena told her she had based the character off of her. “I do have a knack for finances and running my family well,” she had said with a smile at tea one day.

“Like no other, my love.” Uncle Harry was quick to put in. 

The most help had come from, surprisingly, her uptight grandmother Portia. She had dropped by for luncheon one day and insisted on seeing this story her daughters had been ‘blathering about’.

“I do wish you would concentrate on finding a husband instead of that scribbling…,” she had began, after receiving the hefty manuscript from Philomena in the parlor and having read through it for a few minutes. “-but if you must insist on continuing with it, then you might see about getting some assistance in trying to publish from your uncle Colin and Aunt Penelope, after their return from Germany.  No doubt they’ll go straight to the Viscount Bridgerton, who will then reach out to his contacts and ensure you have a chance at this little story of yours getting printed into an actual book. Maybe.”

Philomena was ecstatic.  Writing was her greatest passion, it was what brought her the most joy, and now there was a chance that hundreds (possibly thousands!) of people would read her work and feel that same joy. Who needed a husband?

The latest season started as the last few had: everyone shamelessly fighting to get a hold of a Valyrian lord or lady.  Or one of their lesser family members, but the objective remained the same for the Ton, which was to align themselves with a wealthy Valyrian family.

Philomena mostly avoided the season these days, as she was busy trying to publish her novel (which had turned into a several novel series, as her publisher had suggested because the story was so long).

A few weeks in, all of London high society received quite a shock: Daemon Targaryen had brought his nephew Aemond.  He was badly scarred on one side of his face, a patch covering the missing eye.  Rumor had it the Targaryens were  so rich, a sapphire was put in.  

What would have spelled doom for the prospects of a normal Englishman, however,  did nothing to cause Aemond to be seen as lesser by the Ton.  The loss of an eye didn’t deter daughters and their mamas in the least.  Aemond Targaryen was rich, beautiful and available.  

All were determined to secure the position of being his wife but that determination was soon snuffed out. 

 To the dismay of every marriage-minded mama, Daemon proclaimed to the queen herself that Aemond had already selected his future wife when she asked why he had brought his nephew along this time.  The surprises didn’t stop there, for soon after Prudence Dankworth and her husband arrived, Daemon and Aemond were witnessed by all approaching them and engaging in what seemed like a long and animated conversation. 

Lady Danbury gleefully suggested to Lady Kate Bridgerton that the gossip rags would soon be printing headlines about a very lucky match indeed, for no Valyrian had yet married anyone of English descent. 

Philomena could hardly believe it.  Aemond Targaryen was sitting across from her in the Finch  family parlor.

She had been in her father’s office minutes ago (which he had generously surrendered to her for the duration of however long it took to get Skyrim published) when she had heard a huge commotion near their front door and someone rapidly running (stomping, more like) to the office.

It had been Aunt Prudence, out of breath and slightly disheveled.  The maids didn’t even bother to try to announce her as they caught up and turned to leave just as quick. “Wash that ink off your hands and let down that bloody hair!” Aunt Prudence hissed. “And put on your best dress.  You are to have a special caller today!”

"In the evening?!" Philomena had said in disbelief. "The sun is about to set! I have candles already lit, for goodness' sake. Who calls at this hour?!"

"NEVER YOU MIND!" Prudence had all but shrieked. "Ready yourself!"

So Philomena had.  She was not really expecting anything to come of this visit but no sooner had she sat at the couch adjusting her hair than the maids were announcing the arrival of one Aemond Targaryen.  

Now here they both were.  Philomena’s parents were out but Aunt Prudence remained to chaperone. She tucked herself as far away as possible near a window with a large lamp lit nearby, pretending to read so as to try to give them some privacy.

  Courteous introductions were made, stiff small talk attempted.  Aunt Prudence made a show of loudly flipping pages to fill the silence, so that the young couple might feel like they were being thoroughly ignored and perhaps open up to each other more.

Philomena did not know what she was supposed to do.  

She felt clumsy and ugly next to Aemond, whose hair seemed to sparkle in the candlelight and whose face looked like it was carved by the most expert of artisans.  His magnificently sculpted jaw tempted her so, she struggled to keep her eyes from simply staring at it the entire time.  

Her own hair was slightly frizzy from having been rapidly combed, wisps of it escaping in front of her ears. It was a rusty, orange color.  Not the beautiful, brilliant red that her mother had.  Certainly nowhere near the gorgeous silver of Aemond’s hair.  How she longed to touch it! To smell it! God must be mocking her, because she had also heard he was an avid writer. Simply put, he was perfect for her.  Too perfect.

Desperate to take her mind off of gawking at him so that he wouldn’t think her a lunatic, she hurriedly offered him some biscuits, which he politely refused. 

“The last thing I wish to be is overzealous, but,” Aemond began. “My uncle has told me about you.  His contacts in publishing say that you are working on…quite a story.”

Philomena frantically looked to her Aunt, who quickly mimed what looked like…writing on paper? 

Show him your book!  What you have been working on! Show him Skyrim!

The scene in the parlor was quite comical.  

Aemond could clearly see Prudence Dankworth furiously miming to her niece and yet she continued with it as though he wasn’t present.  It almost made him laugh but he did not wish to ruin his chances.

Philomena Finch was not everything his uncle had said.  She was so much more.

She had the most alluring, fire-colored hair.  Her face was the perfect shape, with full cheeks and deep brown eyes.  Keeping his one functioning eye on her face was a monumental task, as he longed to slowly drag it over her seductive body. 

Best of all…he had clearly just caught her as she was working on her writing.  Aemond could still see a few spots of ink she hadn’t managed to wash off.  

Aemond let himself think for a moment, gazing at Philomena as she “communicated” with her aunt.  

Writing was his passion.  It soothed him and gave him strength, especially when he had lost his eye.  It was everything to him.  To find a woman who shared his dreams…it was too good to pass up. 

“With writing, you can create anything from nothing, like a god.” his Uncle Daemon had told him once, when he had spiraled into doubting himself again.  “It is your gift, nephew.  Don’t throw it away.  For anyone.  If your future wife truly loves you, she will love all of you.  Do not stop your writing.” 

So Aemond hadn’t.  

He had cultivated it and was on the cusp of publishing his first work, A Game of Thrones. A great deal of people had been disgusted with it…but an equal number had loved it, likening it to a Shakespearean work. His uncle had friends who worked in the book writing world and he told him there was a somewhat similarly violent story in England, also with dragons, about to be published.  It was written by a lady. 

Aemond had begged for a copy of at least a few chapters to read it.  Obtaining it wasn’t difficult for him, being already an author about to release his own book.  

He loved everything about the story. 

Everything the characters felt, he felt.  Really, the similarities stopped at the dragons.  

He longed to walk in the world of Skyrim. To see the babbling brooks of Whiterun.  To wander through caves, fighting his way against hordes of Falmer. Everytime he reread his copy of Philomena’s beginning chapters, he lost track of time.

To have created such a universe…if she could only feel a fraction of that passion for him, as a husband, he would be the happiest man alive.  He knew it. 

His heart was already hers.  It was just a matter of letting her know it. 

“Marry me.” Aemond said, coming out of his thoughts.  Zero hesitation.  Matter of factly. 

Philomena felt like her heart was sliding into her throat as her head snapped to look at him.  Aunt Prudence audibly gasped. 

“Marry me.” Aemond repeated. “We belong together.”

He would be miserable married to her, she just knew it.  If they married, she knew she would love him…how she could possibly love a man that wouldn’t love her back she didn’t know but that was what she felt.  

He would grow to eventually hate her and still she would love him, like a fool. He would try to change her and when she refused, loving him the entire time,  he would hate her.  And it would break her heart.  So that was not going to happen.  It could not happen, because she would not let it. “I don’t know you!” Philomena cried.

“We will get to know each other over the years.” Aemond said, taking her hand. She did not remove it but continued to protest.

“I detest going to balls.” 

“I do as well. I prefer to write.”

“My aunts are a lot to deal with.”

“As is my uncle Daemon.”

“My family is nowhere near as wealthy as yours.”

“No matter.  I stand to inherit more than enough money for the both of us.”

“Well, I often argue.  It’s not my intention but it happens a great deal.” Philomena persisted.

“Husbands and wives will argue.  It's the way of things.” he shrugged, still holding onto her hand.

“I often write very depraved scenes.  I have a few more horrid bits to add to Skyrim.” 

“Did you know incest is featured prominently as a storyline in my own book?”

Undeterred, Philomena barreled on, Aunt Prudence watching in shock from her corner.

“I do not want to have children right away.”

“We have various useful contraceptive methods I can get for you.”

“I often get up at night to write.”

“One cannot control when the muse calls upon you. It’s good to work when you get the inspiration for it.”

“I want to travel.”

“I want the same.  We can go wherever you like first.”

“If any of your family were to insult me, I will not just take it.”

“Understandable.  I love them with all my heart but family can be quite insufferable at times.”

Out of options, Philomena didn't care how pathetic she sounded when she said it but it had to be said. “I am not…as beautiful as you.”

“I do not know what to say to ...that.” Aemond said, rubbing her hand gently.  “Other than youre wrong.  So very wrong.”

Philomena was silent. For once, she did not have words, either on paper or to speak.  What Aemond asked next felt like a dream. Prudence had long since dropped all pretense of reading her book and was watching, jaw dropped.

“May I touch your hair?” he asked.

“I- we are not even betrothed!”

“Aren’t we?”

“Yes…? I suppose...?” she whispered, her own eyes boring into his one.

“Excellent! I’ve been dying to to touch your hair since my uncle told me the color. No one has such a color in Valyria.”

“Very well.” Philomena said with a smile.  “I am right, though.”

Aemond looked puzzled. “Right about what?”

“You are more beautiful than me!” 

He fiddled with her hair, blushing.  “Lies.”

“I would not lie to you!” 

“Arguing with me already?

Prudence Dankworth could contain herself no longer. 

Loudly declaring her congratulations, she ran to hug her niece while Aemond Targaryen finally burst out laughing.

[cellsshapedlikestars]

As a writer, what’s something you would have done to improve the ending of Game of Thrones?

I mean. You could add back in all the plots that were interesting, like Lady Stoneheart, Dorne... not the greyjoys though, I found Feast SO BORING because it was all greyjoys lol.

But honestly, I think the biggest misstep was trying to keep D's villain turn a secret for as long as possible. They clearly wanted to keep using her in their marketing as their girlboss naked dragon barbie to appeal to as many demographics as possible, but it was at the expense of the plot and nearly every other character, including D herself. They ruined her character, along with Jon & Tyrion most egregiously. She could have been such a GOOD villain. She could have been so INTERESTING. It could have been excellent.

But honestly, I think a lot of the writing issues were D&D trying to be *shocking*. Some of their dumbest scenes/plots were for shock value only.

D being a villain is the most obvious, but also Sansa not telling Jon she contacted Petyr? It was already done, why not tell Jon to keep him from rushing into battle? Because D&D wanted to surprise us with the Vale army. Why spend an entire season pretending Sansa & Arya are fighting? Surprise! They were working together the whole time. Arya killing the Night King? Surprise! Bet you thought it would be a character who actually had narrative ties to the Others, like Jon or Bran or even Sam.

Whenever people ask me why I don't write show-canon, this is why. The problems with the show, for me, start SO FAR back that by the time I ret-conned them, it's basically book canon.

[songofthesibyl]

More thoughts on Tamlin as a High Lord

I recently saw an interview with David Mitchell about British kings, particularly of the Middle Ages. Early on, he says point blank:

“They were all right bastards, basically, in terms of—the standard of conduct is woefully below what we’d expect.”

When asked what makes a good king or queen, he says:

“All of the things we expect from government today, you’ve just got to ignore that. They’re not trying for any of it, they’re not trying for peace—on the contrary, they’re waging war. In terms of education and healthcare, they’re just—they’re not interested, forget about it. Um, so all you can expect is stability. That’s—the good kings provide stability. The bad kings don’t. And the stability comes from being predictable in your actions, and firm, and not having favorites. And I think that’s why the people, you know I’m—you know Henry the First was particularly good at that. He’s even-handed, he didn’t have a clique. The worst kings, the ones that caused the most trouble—Richard the Second, Edward the Second, Henry the Sixth—have favorites.”

(Is the Inner Circle a clique? Who knows.)

But this brings up a sense of confusion I get about what makes a good leader in Prythian. Lucien and Tamlin both describe how brutal Prythian is in the first book; Lucien emphasizes this again in the next two books—that High Lords are a different “breed.” We see what Rhysand is capable of—we know what the fathers are and were capable of. This is a very regressive, patriarchal, toxic society overall. Are the Courts not featured as much—Dawn, Winter, Day, and Summer—any better? From what we see of Summer, there is a class divide, Cresseida mentions their obligation to return Feyre to Tamlin. Kallias doesn’t seem that enthused about Viviane being High Lady, nor has he apparently mentioned it before. Rhysand is supposed to have basically invented feminism. No women thought to change things before, or had any support in doing so—from anyone, including the magic of the land—before Feyre became High Lady. Because this is the kind of society described in the quotes above. It is a Game of Thrones-esque, medievalist world, and women thrive only on an individual level because of partners or family members like Rhysand. Who have the wherewithal to make said changes and protect the women they make them for (in Feyre’s case, anyway).

But then all of a sudden Tamlin is, alone, an absolute monarch. He alone is a tyrant, though an absolute monarchy is inherently a tyrannical form of government. He alone adheres to tradition, he alone is “conservative,” whatever that means in this world. He alone refuses the existence of High Ladies, he alone hoards wealth. His government is regressive, and patriarchal, and toxic—not Prythian’s as a whole. He stands apart in a bad way. What he does, according to SJM, is bad even for Prythian.

And I think this has to be referring to his personal sins against Feyre of course, his mistreatment of her. But as a leader—it has to be his general instability. He is out of control, unpredictable. Before, according to Rhysand, he wasn’t enough of a bastard, he was too stubbornly Stark-like in his morals (even if he resembles Theon more in the timespan of the novels).  

Now, he isn’t upholding the contract—his role had become defined by being a provider and protector of his Court—a traditional male role, yes. But also, the very basic role of a government. Is presenting a united front, showing strength weaknesses of Tamlin’s, or simply how leadership is seen in every world, for better or worse (mocking presidents when they cry on camera, for example). I saw an  ACOTAR analysis in which Tamlin is simultaneously decried as the epitome of toxic masculinity, and mocked because the fiddle/violin is not a masculine instrument.

So Tamlin rightly has consequences for his transgressions, and it’s one of the things that makes him such an interesting character. But bad even for Prythian? A tyrant compared to the rest of the High Lords? Regressive compared to the rest of the High Lords? Unstable compared to the other High Lords?

A history:

It was a shock to everyone when Feyre was High Lady.

Rhysand felt the need to re-enact UTM in his own Court. He pulled rank with Mor regarding her father in ACOWAR. The state of Illyria and the CoN is accepted as the status quo. Its citizens can’t leave, but it’s implied most of them are monsters anyway, that Rhys has been cursed to deal with. He still has to placate them as part of his army. He does what he can for Illyria, but the culture is almost too ingrained at this point, and its citizens also part of his army. 

The people of the Spring Court (at least the nobility) did not flee when Tamlin’s father risked war with the Night Court by slaughtering its High Lord’s mate and daughter. It fled when Tamlin became High Lord. 

The people of Autumn presumably didn’t flee when its High Lord murdered his own son’s lover in front of him, forcing him to watch. 

There is no word of a rebellion in the Summer Court after its nobility left the commoners to die in the attack on Adriata.

Every Court practiced slavery, and not all fought to end it.

Even with Tamlin—Tarquin knew about Feyre being locked up shortly after it happened; so presumably Spring would have known as well. He executed the sentries who failed to protect Feyre from Mor, in public view, with Lucien begging mercy. The mass exodus didn’t happen until Feyre returned, when the whipping, along with his violence against Feyre, finally convinced everyone to leave. 

David Mitchell, on Henry the First: “What you have to do—you have to be horrible. They were all horrible, you have to be willing to kill at a moment’s notice. But if you do it with a rationale, you do it even-handedly, you don’t have favorites, and you have some notion of the stable government you want to be heading towards, then—then it can work out. And he created a very peaceful kingdom. Albeit through violence. And—and in those days, that’s sort of as good as it gets.”

Tamlin had proven to them, at that moment, that he was not to be trusted, that he had betrayed them, that he didn’t have their interests at heart. That he was not in his right mind, even. And so they abandoned him. Even if it was partly due to mind control and manipulation.

Something is fundamentally rotten with the Spring Court’s training, and yet they abandoned Tamlin when he went too far—and the CoN, the Autumn Court, remain intact.

In reading through the books, even if he doesn’t stand out in a good way as a revolutionary leader (even if he might want to be, deep down)—how does he stand out as a bad leader compared with the ones we’ve spent any time with? How is he just as bad as his father when he doesn’t support slavery? How is he bad as a leader even for Prythian? What are the standards? Other than his instability after UTM.

This is why, reading these books, I suspended disbelief and enjoyed the story, because, really, they’re all right bastards. I am not looking for crumbs, making up something that isn’t there. I get he was a bad leader from ACOMAF onward, though it wasn’t as if he fought with Hybern in the end. But I simply didn’t see how, as a High Lord, he fundamentally differed from everyone else.

People say this isn’t a Game of Thrones-esque series. It’s romantasy. So why is politics in it at all? Why are people writing essays at equal length as this with quotes from the book about what a horrible High Lord he is? Why is it relevant? And how am I expected to turn my brain off for certain parts of the story and not others? I can’t.

[cassiaorsellio]

what was your 6:30 am realisation?

That the romanced!Cassia ending I got on my original run of the game on release may not be the true romance ending, despite the fact at first glance, it reads like one.

I know for a fact the correct path is noted as her 'freedom' path, and that she needs to be sufficiently romanced in a courtly way. And it's easy to think "well, freedom in this context means freedom from duty, right?", particularly on the first run on release when no one has written any guides yet.

And here's the thing about Cassia. Despite the fact she's likely to be one of the most romanced companions (not here at least, but wider playerbase, I could 100% see it), isn't it a little weird that there's no guide out for her true romance a year after the game's release? And then the other night I learned about the existence of a romance epilogue for her that not many people seem to know about or have gotten based off what I've seen on Reddit etc. This epilogue is what got me thinking. The language between this and what I call the Elope ending is quite different when you compare the two:

Despite scandalous rumours about a love affair with the Rogue Trader, Lady Navigator Cassia continued to accompany her lover among the stars of the Expanse for a time. Their love was delicate and selfless. The Lord Captain and the Lady Navigator wordlessly understood and accepted each other's feelings. Even after Cassia ascended the throne as Novator, she spurned all claims on her hand and heart, remaining loyal to her first and only love. As the years passed, mutations transformed her body, but the bond between the Lord Captain and the Lady Navigator endured and they continued to find solace and consolation in each other. — AMOUR COURTOIS/NOVATOR

Cassia Orsellio renounced her destiny of becoming the Novator and chose to spend her days with her beloved. She lived a short life, trying to fill every moment spent together with colour and passion. Alas, Cassia's genetic mutations did not allow her to bear an heir, and soon they began grotesquely deforming her body. One night, she gave her lover a kiss and disappeared forever, leaving behind a short note: "My love, from our first meeting to our final days together, you were the only morning light that shone in my heart, never fading. You have a life ahead of you — live it happily, for both of us. As for me… I love you endlessly. Yours, Cass." — AMOUR COURTOIS/ELOPE

What gets me is the mutations part — Cassia has a crisis event early in act 4 during her romance. In that event, she tells the Rogue Trader that she has had another mutation. She calls herself a wretched mutant, a monster, but von Valancius can tell her that he finds her beautiful all the same and can list what he loves about her. At the end, she says "you have captured my heart. Made me fall in love with you. And shown me how to love myself." So why, in the elope ending, does she walk back on that and disappearing forever as her mutations became too much for her when her growing comfortable with her mutations is a keystone of her romance? Yet as the Novator, she doesn't and their courtly relationship continues. In the elope ending, they use 'grotesquely deforming' compared to the far more neutral 'transformed' in the Novator. Weird choice of language, I think.

And that made me think "what if Cassia's freedom path isn't freedom from duty, but freedom from reliance and fear?" It checks out with what I consider to be her other key path: Subservient. The subservient path has her continue to rely on figures like Aaronto and the Rogue Trader and she never really gains any form of confidence - her basic Subservient ending has her "return to the bosom of her House." But on the freedom path, where you encourage her to think for herself in various study events, and if she's in Commorragh with you, Cassia actually says that she is "the blood of House Orsellio, its heiress" and she's determined to make sure everyone gets out. The line is delivered with such surety. Compare that to when you speak to her in act 1 and she'll deflect and say nothing is decided yet regarding her inheritance. She goes from she's thinking she may not to being worthy to showing she's worthy and commanding respect from her House. She's no longer frightened of the machinations of her House. She has the Rogue Trader's support but she isn't reliant on them.

Another thing about her is that she doesn't wish to shirk her duty, particularly as she takes great pride in her position as a Navigator and cares a great deal about the noble spheres. The elope ending is wonderfully romantic and the line "be with me for as long as the stars allow" has me in an absolute chokehold. She acknowledges leaving House Orsellio in that same crisis event (re the mutations) is the only way to truly be with von Valancius, but I also remember her being nervous about doing it and needing to be convinced that the end of The Price of Power is the right time to leave House Orsellio behind to be with the RT.

Sure, they aren't together-together in the Novator ending, but to me there's something exquisitely romantic about these two influential heads of houses spurning all offers of suit because of their love for one another, and their love enduring despite everything that's thrown at them and their duties to their houses. It reminds me a lot of Cassandra's romance with the Inquisitor if she ends up being Divine (which I really enjoy), as well as Leto Atreides Snr in Dune keeping his marriage hand available for political reasons but being very much in love with Lady Jessica. What can I say, I'm biased.

For what it's worth, I think they're both equally valid paths and it's hard to know which one is actually the true romance path, but I personally prefer the Novator ending as it feels far more consistent with Cassia's personality and romance arc and themes compared to the elope ending rather than her walking back on some of her personal growth.

[pastafossa]

Stumbling and crashing and tripping with various crashes and a Wilhelm scream into your askbox to ask, YOU PLAY BG3????? ISN'T IT GREAT?!?!?!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH AKSHQKXBQ it's been my Focus since December!!! Who's your favorite so far?? How far are you in?? What kind of route are you doing?? Have you discovered any funny loopholes yet?? What race do you favor playing?? I LOVE to hear about other peoples playthroughs,

IT'S GODDAMN AMAZING AND I ALREADY HAVE MULTIPLE PLAYTHROUGHS PLANNED BECAUSE ONCE IS NOOOOT ENOUGH! I AM IN LOVE. Like I know these types of games (I've been a Bioware slut since KOTOR 2, so I looove this genre), and so I feel very confident saying holy shit, BG3 is one of the best! ALSO IT'S HUGE??? INSANELY HUGE??? AND FULL??? I LOVE IT SM.

Oh god favorites are hard, I'm gd attached to all of these little ducklings following my Tav. So far at least, storywise it's SCRATCH HE IS THE BESTEST BOY maaaybe Astarion. I LOVE his arc, his voicework is stunning, (I accidentally killed him with the big monastery laser and his reaction was hysterical) and his quest has been very moving. A close second is KARLACH, MY GIRL, MY FIREY BFF, like damn I HAD my little battle group (Gale + Astarion + Wyll) when I found her but I adore her so much I'm rotating Gale and Wyll to keep her permanently, SHE JUST WANTED A HUG. 😭

I'm in act 3, I just hit the city! I have no idea how but I am also STILL on my first PT after over a month of play. I love to sniff around under every nook and cranny granted, AND YET I STILL MISSED THINGS, IT'S SO BIG???

So far my route has been a chaotic good route! Outside, uh, occasional murdery hiccups goodbye creche but ya'll were assholes I've mostly managed to follow that alignment, and somehow still made friends with Lae? That was unexpected. I thought she hated my Tav's guts before she hit on her. 😂

Hilarious moments: setting off the giant laser at the monastery cause why wouldn't I grab the shiny weapon (sorry Astarion); being instakilled by Vlaakith at said monastery after basically mocking her with 'if you were really a god you'd be able to just kill someone yourself ha ha-splat'; friends telling me to talk to animals so I got excited when I saw a squirrel and ran to talk to it - it proceeded to bite me, then I failed a persuasion roll about being friends and it told me to fuck off; trying to get to that dwarf lady's husband in the Underdark and shooting an arrow at one of the mushrooms in the field he was in, thinking I could clear them one by one to get to him, only to set off a chain reaction that incinerated him and left the entire field a smoking crater (me as the explosions begin: oh, OH, oh no - wait, sir! Sir! Oh you're fine, you're - oh fuck, RUN SIR RU-shit he's dead); placing my druid in rothe/battle cow shape at the top of a ladder and charging whatever bad guy comes up so they fall back down (catchphrase: MOO, BITCH); and finally, I was having trouble with that one boss guy in the goblin camp, the one that sits on the throne. So when I saw I could get to the rafters, I painstakingly dragged every last explosive barrel and grenade I could find into the room and innocently placed them around the throne, then went up to the rafters and had Astarion shoot a fire arrow. I figured I'd at least bring the guy's health down but instead I set off the fourth of july, blasted that guy so hard he bounced around the room like a pinball before his body wound up glitch-stuck halfway through a wall, but hey, dead as a doornail sooo... it worked? Chaotic good alignment: MASTERED. 🤪

I'm playing a half-elf druid CAUSE I CAN BE AN OWLBEAR OR DINOSAUR TO FIGHT. I now have a chance to run around as a dinosaur druid with my 200 yo elf boyfriend, my BFFs, and find random bowls of poutine, this is the BEST GAME EVER. Also hilariously, I didn't check the stats closely and her intelligence wound up quite low, so she is very wise but also dumb as a bag of hammers, I love her, my first Tav is a good-hearted, unintentional bundle of chaos.

[beesmygod]

overthinking quickening and the old hunter's bone aka the cope theory

the old hunter's bone is an item that gives the player hunter the art of "quickening" (dude if this was intentional this was a 10/10 translation job), which increases your roll and quickstep speed. visually, the player appears to disappear into a moving puff of smoke. this short video demonstrates the effect:

item description:

The bone of an old hunter whose name is lost. It is said that [they were] an apprentice to old Gehrman, and a practitioner of the art of Quickening, a technique particular to the first hunters. It is appropriate that hunters, carriers of the torch who are sustained by the dream, would tease an old art from his remains.

editing mine. a rare objective translation error; the original japanese is ungendered and it does in fact turn out that gehrman's apprentice was a woman. the description is as intriguing as it is incomprehensible. lets break it down:

first the basics: the number of hunters that can use the quickening without an item can be counted on one hand: gerhman the first hunter, lady maria (his apprentice) and I THINK the vermin infested old hunters in the DLC (i will need to double back to check for sure u_u but theres a gif of at least one of them doing it on the fandom wiki). on the other hand, since the player character is not an old hunter and did not practice "quickening". therefore, they have to use the old hunter's bone to gain the same effect for a short time at the expense of their quicksilver bullets. only one other NPC hunter uses this item: the bloody crow of cainhurst.

the old hunter's bone is found in gehrman's abandoned workshop at a grave strongly implied to belong to lady maria, his apprentice. we would, therefore, have to assume its lady maria's bone. but, i can hear you say, isn't that bone a tibia? lady maria has both of her legs!

but....does she?

she's completely covered up from head to toe. we don't know for sure. but we do know that you can do your quickening with only one leg and move completely unhindered on a prosthetic; gehrman is proof positive of this. there are a number of clothing items that reference the removal of the right leg because that's where they believed that the beast scourge originated from. in hindsight, its obvious that this was because of all the wolf infected blood they were unknowingly injecting into themselves via their right leg.

in fact, the statues at cainhurst reflect this belief as well. the statues of knights in the queen's throne room are all missing their right leg.

the bloody crow of cainhurst is a weird wannabe guy so he probably got his bone from the corpses of one of these knights. the people of cainhurst and their ancestors, the pthumerians, both have some form of enemy that can disappear and re-appear or pass through tables. quickening-esque abilities.

the point of this is mostly this: i do not think that maria's entire body was buried at her grave, just the part of her that was left behind: her severed leg. the rest of her was captured in the hunter's nightmare. much like how ludwig's body does not exist outside of the nightmare. they are not "dream versions" of the characters made of their consciousness or some stupid shit there's no precedent for and sucks ass. they are physically trapped.

this extends to laurence and wraps back around to my "laurence is objectively the headless bloodletting beast" thing in spite of his stupid appearance in the DLC. the objective canon im choosing to go with is that DLC laurence was a last minute terrible idea retcon based on the fact that its literally just a reskinned cleric beast and has no concept art or appearances in art books. laurence is the only one who breaks every known convention in the game while simultaneously being one of the most overly ham-fisted addition to a game

the end

[fzzr]

The Eminence in Shadow is Premium Garbage

The Eminence in Shadow is the best anime of the Fall 2022 season. I enjoyed it more than Bocchi the Rock!, Mob Psycho 100 III, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family Part 2, and all the rest, and it's not close. There's nothing else I looked forward to every week more.

We have to start with the protagonist. Cid "The Eminence in Shadow" Kagenou looks every power fantasy protagonist and attempted parody of the same dead in the eye and says, with the swagger of one who won before the battle began, "I am not here because I want your throne. It is already mine, and you sat upon it by my grace. Your time is past now, for I have come to reclaim what never belonged to you." Kirito hasn't finished grabbing a weapon before he is reduced to one inch cubes. Ainz Ooal Gown freezes in place, eyes empty, with no answer. Anos Voldigoad gives a knowing smile and steps aside. Rudeus Greyrat stands with tears in his eyes, grateful to be freed of his burden. Rimuru Tempest bows with grace. Maple doesn't know how she got here, but she's very happy for him. Kazuma and Subaru are nowhere to be found. A thousand other guys with messy hair and dark cloaks are silenced, with no time even to cry out.

The basic concept of Eminence is thus: Our protagonist has always wanted to be the ultimate badass. Realizing this is not possible in our mundane reality, he truck-kuns himself and is reborn in a fantasy world, intelligence and ambition intact. He does the usual isekai thing where he becomes stronger than anyone else with magic no one else uses mostly off screen - we're not here to see him struggle to earn his power. We do see him recruit Alpha, his first disciple in Shadow Garden, the underground antihero agency he made up to fight the Cult of Diablos, which he also made up. He decides for this scene that she will be descended from the hero to explain why those baddies wanted her blood.

Wait, "he decides?" That's right, Cid/Shadow is making it up as he goes along. He is playing a character, and the only way he knows how to do that is to actually become that character. While not being the magical Punisher, he plays a background character. He's not so good at that role - he keeps stumbling into relevancy. Eminence is improv, and Cid is very good at making things up and getting everyone to play along.

When Cid goes to the obligatory high school for aspiring magic knights (where he plans to be a C student), it turns out the princess in his class is the next target of the Cult of Diablos! Not one to leave a prompt like that unfulfilled, he yes-ands that encounter into one of the greatest statements of badassery you will ever hear. When Alpha and the rest of Shadow Garden show back up, he's grateful that they still enjoy their little game and are so accommodating of his quirks. He can't say that out loud, of course - that would break character. He just makes whatever cryptic statement feels right to him at the moment.

The world really does seem to revolve around Cid, and like the thousand shadows of his glory, he has no idea. As Shadow, the leader of a secret agency/cult of personality, he obviously has a harem of badass bombshell beauties in tight magic spandex, and just as obviously he's completely oblivious to their worship. As Cid, aspiring nobody, he has a separate, ever growing harem of less badass bombshell beauties. He is fully aware of their attention, but having an increasing number of ladies lusting after him doesn't fit the background character vibe, so he does his utmost to avoid their ever-compounding thirst. You heard me right - Cid/Shadow has two separate harems, so he gets to parody two different types of oblivious harem protagonist. There's even a power fantasy within that power fantasy, as the Shadow Garden harem regularly shows off how much better they are than Cid's collection of extremely eligible bachelorettes.

The 11/10 strength of Eminence is undoubtedly in its dialogue. In multiple places Cid/Shadow delivers lines with more impact as comedy than some of the most powerful statements in serious dramas deliver even once. I honestly struggle to find a comparison here. Monogatari is another shining example of dialogue, but even it never quite reaches that height.

Eminence does not have a deep emotional thread binding it together. It has no subtle themes woven into an intricate plot. The point of this exercise is unadulterated fun, and Eminence has that in spades. As for the rest of the factors that go into making a good anime great: The music is good all the time. The simple animation is consistent, and the expensive scenes really flex that budget. There's a bit of background CGI, but seriously who cares.

Conclusion

Score: The Eminence in Shadow is 9/10. Hammy, scenery gobbling dialogue can be found anywhere. Eminence manages to implement some of the best bad dialogue ever and it makes no apology, while also being gripping in its own way.

Recommendation: The power level requirement here is quite high. Eminence is only of interest to those already familiar with (and maybe a bit tired of) power fantasy/isekai anime. Additionally, it indulges in occasional fanservice you wouldn't want someone to see over your shoulder. However, if you do fall in the target audience you really should feel obligated to watch it.

Comparisons

I already said it's better than every isekai ever made. As a parody of power fantasies in general, it is perhaps best compared to The Misfit of Demon King Academy. That protagonist, Anos Voldigoad, is reborn with all the knowledge and powers of a nigh-omnipotent Demon King. He can literally reduce someone to a puddle of blood with the beat of his heart, and resurrect them with a snap of his fingers. Unlike Eminence, Demon King Academy has no winks at the audience - its position as parody is derived entirely from being presented as a straight implementation of the premise turned up to 20. As such, I think Eminence allows itself more room to play in that space. If you end up liking Eminence, Demon King Academy is a good pick for a follow-up watch.

How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend is the universal solvent of anime comparisons. It has many secret weapons, but the hook is in the title. Megumi stubbornly avoids classification under any well-established romcom stereotype. She's a nobody, a background character, a storytelling blank slate. In short, she is naturally what Cid tries his hardest to be. So, let's compare what these two anime think a background character actually is. Megumi defies tropes. Whenever someone tries to paint preconceived characterization onto her, it slides right off. You have to actually get to know her to understand her. Cid's view of a background character is instead someone you don't get a chance to get to know in the first place. He wants to be the guy who gets rejected to show that the love interest is picky. He wants to be the first guy to die in an action sequence to show the stakes are real. He wants to be disposable. So, to Saekano, a background character is someone you just haven't gotten to know. To Eminence, it's someone you never will. A subtle difference, but since Saekano is taking a look instead of taking the piss, it's the more interesting way to look at it.

Final Words

I will indulge myself in stealing borrowing from Susan Sontag's Notes On Camp. "Not only is Camp not necessarily bad art, but some art which can be approached as Camp... merits the most serious admiration and study." Eminence is not necessarily Camp, but it swims in those waters. I recommend you watch Eminence for the sheer audacity that it was made in the first place, but if you have a particularly open-minded professor and are desperate for a topic for a term paper, well... you might as well have fun with it, right?