#dragon age politics for ts

[bracketsoffear]

Shout-outs to my submissions that didn't make it:

Rose Red/Briar Rose/The Rose Reds/The Queen of Hearts (The Mechanisms): Rose Red was “the finest warrior of King Cole’s army,” so Cole, “desperate for a force that could never be stopped, never be defeated, never be halted as it marched from planet to planet, had Rose seized on her wedding day, to become the genetic base of this unholy horde.” Rose’s eponymous song includes lyrics like “she has fought and she has bled / Waging war on a hundred worlds, on a thousand battlegrounds / Open fire, open fire, turn your home to a funeral pyre, All she knows is pain and death and a moss-covered stone” and “Always marching on to fight to another bitter end / Open fire, open fire, the flames of war can still burn higher”. Briar Rose, the first clone of her, still had Rose’s memories, so she murdered an entire moon’s population (“battle, beauty, both had I won”) and was subsequently turned into the heart of a defense system, fueling and focusing the gun turrets with her rage, hatred, and FEAR. The subsequent clones, known as Rose Reds or “Rosies,” were a monstrously effective conquering force that waged brutal and deadly war for decades against rebel forces: “a single rose red was a match for thirty at least.” They are just as defined by war as their source: they have numbers instead of names, it’s unusual for them to survive long enough to show signs of natural aging, and they think of torching a village as a throwaway line in a funny story. The Queen of Hearts (described as wearing a uniform “stained black with old blood”), is a Rose Red waging endless, pointless war against rebel forces decades after the war ends, refusing to give up the fight despite it being entirely pointless with the fall of Cole’s empire. She puts Rose Red skin on robots, decapitates her troops for desertion, and declares “Until my last bullet / My troops will be strong”; it’s implied that she might have forced Alice into becoming her recruiter, broadcasting a message to the stars saying “Send lots more soldiers. I need them. I need them for the war.” Finally, The Toy Soldier fought alongside the Rose Reds (they thought it was a human with Rosie enhancements), and TS is one of the more Slaughtery mechs.

The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms): Literally called the Toy Soldier. Has a song describing war as a children’s game generals play with soldiers as toys. Blindly obeyed orders from both sides of the Moon War, gladly slaughtering its former comrades without any compunctions. Joined the Rose Reds, a conquering army of super soldier clones made from another arguable Slaughter avatar. Embodies/deconstructs the military culture of Britain and the uncanny dehumanization of war—it is a polite English “gentleman,” and also a ruthless murderer who senselessly obeys anyone commanding it like a machine and correctly recognizes that all soldiers are really toys in the game of war. Also, it’s very musical.

General Radahn (Elden Ring): craved war, and, wanting to emulate his idol Godfrey (known as Lord of the Battlefield, waged wars of conquest against the Giants+Dragons+Storm King, had to have his bloodthirsty rage sealed away to be an effective ruler), grew obsessed with battle at a very young age; his challenging of the Starspawn might be emulating Godfrey’s war against the Fire Giants. His Red Lion Army was one of the most hardened and skilled among the Lordsworn, and they won him victory after victory through his leadership during the Shattering. As the Red Lion General and "the Shattering's strongest Demigod", Radahn was famed and feared throughout the land as an apex warrior, magician, and tactician as a General; his leadership and charisma were such that even after the disastrous Battle of Aeonia, his Redmanes are still organized and disciplined enough to simultaneously contain the spread of Scarlet Rot to Caelid in a brutal Forever War. The mightiest warrior in his army, who even went toe-to-toe with fucking Malenia. Even after centuries of enduring untreated injuries from his battle with Malenia and her Cleanrot Knights, the Scarlet Rot ravaging his body and mind, wandering a desert with nothing but corpses for sustenance, and repeated attempts from warriors across the land, it’s still expected for the player character to work with a small army of some of the greatest fighters still alive to finally kill him.

Jagganoth (Kill Six Billion Demons): his village was murdered by soldiers, who forcefully recruited him, made him “dead,” by beating everything out of his life but war, and molded him into a perfect soldier. He regards violence with a certain degree of reverence and believes a ruler must singularly dedicate themselves to combat and war. As one of the survivors of the Multiversal War between the Demiurges, he became the conquerer of 111,111 worlds. He is on a holy mission to annihilate the universe in an omnicidal war, which as of the latest pages his followers are waging in his absence (as detailed in the War For Rayuba contest). He hoards and improves weapons and modern technology with the aim of improving them for warfare. While he desires to escape the cycle of endless warfare, he is ultimately extremely complicit in spreading Slaughter across the multiverse.

Jonny D’ville (The Mechanisms): “If you were a hedonistic sadist with a six-gun, immortality and a sense of humour, what would you do? In this case, the correct answer is 'shoot the nosy archivist right in her card index'." Self-described as happy murdering women, men, everything between, and children (the annoying ones). Killed a man's family, turning him into a brutal vigilante who apparently made a habit of beating Jonny to a pulp. During Ulysses Dies At Dawn, was apparently "depopulating" the lower levels. Joined the 42nd Starborne Division during the war against the Moon Kaiser, apparently for the heck of it, and apparently participated in Tim's rampage across the moon; generally thinks of the horrors of the Moon War as a fun time, judging by the tone of Gunpowder Tim vs the Moon Kaiser. Watched the civil war in Once Upon A Time In Space with the other mechanisms going on for thirty bloody years "For when you're immortal, a good war is a very pleasant distraction, indeed," but is persuaded to interfere partially because "it has been a while since we've had any really... good violence." This results in his rampage in "Sleeping Beauty": "Gotta say I’m in the mood for violence, and I reckon you might be too / Let’s get this party started the only way we know / Gunfire and explosions, that’s our cue" and "Fire ‘til your guns are empty, ‘til your ammunition runs dry / If you’re finished playing at soldiers, you might have noticed we cannot die / I suggest you beat a fucking tactical retreat / Or we’ll let slip the dogs of war and havoc cry". Describes the crew of his ship as "Having fun, violence, adventure, violence, violence." All of the Mechanisms are arguably Slaughter to some extent, but I would argue that not all of them are the BEST Slaughter Avatar (Ashes feels more Web, for instance, and Raphaella and Ivy are very Eye); the strongest candidates would be Tim and TS because of their military themes, and Jonny because of his various serial killer rampages plus participation in the Moon War.

Belkar Bitterleaf (Order of the Stick): Described by the wiki as a “sociopath that loves stabbing, inflicting grievous bodily harm to others, and gourmet cooking. His complete lack of morals and willingness to kill is most clearly illustrated when his internal conflict takes place between two devils (one representing his usual impulsiveness, the other thinking in terms of the bigger picture) on his shoulders (his constant murdering having driven the angel completely insane) […] Belkar is one of the group's most powerful fighters, consistently defeating opponents one-on-one or when outnumbered, to the point of proclaiming himself a ‘Sexy Shoeless God of War’”—and this happened while he was standing on a pile of soldiers he single-handedly slaughtered. Buries his feelings about how everyone dislikes him and he has no idea what he wants to do with his life in violence--“if I stab something in the face enough times, [my complex feelings] will go away!” Took at least one level in Barbarian.

.

[earlgraytay]

sorry to put Dragon Age politics on your dash- and sorry to scream the same thing I've been screaming since like 2015- but I just saw a take that was bad even by DA Politics standards on my Simblr and I'm Angery.

I get really annoyed when people miss the point of Inquisition, especially the reveals with the elves/templars/etc.

the entire point of DAI from a storytelling perspective is to complicate the narrative you've been given the first two games. it's trying to force the player to confront their in-world prejudices- and it's trying to force the player to do that no matter where on the Dergen Erge Perliticerl Spectrem (TM) they fall.

are you a Grey Warden stan because of DA1? congrats, you get to see all the numerous ways that the Wardens as an organization can fail, how recruiting criminals is actually not a great idea, how the Wardens' sacred quest and insularity make them paranoid and isolationist.

are you a Templar stan for some ungodly reason? congrats, you get to see just how fucked up the Templars are as an organization on every level, and how the dysfunction they've bred leads them to wind up becoming a cult. (and the point is made even more forcefully than it is with the other factions, because Templar stans are dense motherfuckers.)

are you a mage stan? congrats, you get to see that Mages Are Not A Monolith (TM), that different factions of mages want different things, that the fight for Mage Liberation is getting ordinary people caught in the crossfire, and that there is no way to square the circle of "where mages are in society" and "where mages want to be" that will leave every mage happy.

are you an elf stan? congrats, you get to see that elves have not been perfect pure victims for the entirety of their existence. you get to see that history is complicated and awful and written by the victors. you get to see how nationalist factions also try to rewrite history and can get it super, super wrong. you get to see that until very, very recently, elves were part of the world, with everything that entails. but you also get shown-via Sera as a protagonist- elves still deserve a better life and future anyway, because their lives now really are that horrible, and they're still people.

conversely, if you're (say) a qunari anti-stan? you get to meet Bull. you get to see how the Qun does give people's lives some meaning where it might not have been there before. you get to see the consequences of what that philosophy does to the people who are living under it, yes- but you get to see that they are still people, and not just Boss Monsters For You To Murk.

same with Cole and spirits. Same with Varric and the Chantry. Same with Vivienne and circle mages, and same with Dorian and Tevinter. every faction that's been demonized (heh, literally in Cole's case) over the course of the games gets a voice and a face.

you get to see why someone would stay in a society that's toxic as fuck, why someone would try to fight to make it better from the inside. you get to see why someone would stay with the Chantry- they're not just Evil Politics People who occasionally hand out a quest to do Evil Politics Things, it genuinely comes off as a belief system I can see non-evil, non-Mindless-NPC people following in DAI. which makes the atrocities it commits all the worse.

i saw someone calling this DARVO the other day and like??? my guy? I will grant that some parts of how this game were handled weren't great, especially the mythological parts of the fucking elf reveal. but I think you misunderstood the assignment.

the entire point of this game is that there is no clearcut VICTIM and OFFENDER. there are groups of people who are trying to do the right thing by their lights, and sometimes those lights are horribly, horribly wrong.

you get to decide, for yourself, what the Right Thing To Do is, and you get to do it, and you get to see the consequences. but there's no perfect victims for you to white knight for, and there's no faceless abominable evil for you to slay.

there's just people. and people are wonderful, and people are fucked up, and otherwise good people hurt each other because they're afraid.

I think that is a much more interesting, nuanced, and adult set of ideas to play with than "Wardens good, darkspawn bad" or "mages good, Chantry bad". and I keep getting really, really pissed that no one else in the fandom seems to grok why the writers are doing this, or care.

it's just a neverending wheel of "grr the Dergen Erge perliticle factions I stan are good, and the ones I anti-stan are bad", regardless of what your Beliefs (TM) are

i'm probably gonna try and play DA4 if it ever comes out, but by god, am I going to be blocking most of the fandom before I do

[loquaciousquark]

I posted 265 times in 2021

50 posts created (19%)

215 posts reblogged (81%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.3 posts.

I added 604 tags in 2021

#quark's q - 160 posts

#dragon age - 124 posts

#fenris - 110 posts

#hawke - 56 posts

#fenris/hawke - 53 posts

#beautiful - 26 posts

#long post for ts - 21 posts

#critical role - 21 posts

#quark recs - 18 posts

#critical role spoilers - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#it is freaking amazing how polite they are in the emails requesting meetings when they 100% know why they failed and they 100% know it's

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E136 & 137 (May 11, 2021)

Good evening and good night, everyone! Tonight on Talks are Laura Bailey & Sam Riegel. I was seriously hoping for Travis after the oh-so-spooky ending to last week's episode, but we'll make do! Tonight, Sam joins us while exercising on his Peloton (apparently in a full workout program led by Peloton teacher Tunde(?)) in front of a green screen. Boy, this is gonna be a thing, huh?

We're not even to the first question and Sam has already been photoshopped into a carwash. Oh, brother.

[snip]

198 notes • Posted 2021-05-12 03:37:51 GMT

#4

See the full post

211 notes • Posted 2021-03-05 03:32:54 GMT

#3

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E125 (Feb. 16, 2021)

Goooood evening good evening good evening, all! I hope you’re all staying warm and safe and dry in this chilly weather. Tonight’s guests: Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey. 

We open tonight with Travis ribbing Brian for his continuous remodel of his office space. Laura demands a second introduction of herself as she wasn’t paying attention during the first one.

Travis: “You’ve gotta love Julianne Moore. She’s the only actress who can cry and show you all her teeth at the same time.” I was listening pretty closely when he said this and I’m still not sure it had any context. 

[snip]

See the full post

321 notes • Posted 2021-02-17 04:00:15 GMT

#2

we watched johnny mnemonic (keanu reeves, 1995) tonight at movie night because the movie takes place TODAY, JANUARY 17, 2021, and may i say that for a movie that is a quarter-century old it got a terrifying number of things right:

worldwide pandemic causing massive shutdowns

vast economic disparity between the corporate ultra-elite and the impoverished lo-techs

opens with a scene of virus protestors being beaten in a riot by cops (though the rioters were protesting not having treatment for the vaccine)

visor-based vr tech surprisingly analogous/accurate to today’s tech

keanu and jane (and society in general) are in the process of losing their minds due to the vast information overload constantly overwhelming the world (endless zoom meeting jokes)

dr spider says the pandemic is being caused by 5g information overload poisoning the airwaves

johnny has an entire scene where he stands atop a trash heap and rants to the universe about how he doesn’t WANT this terrible life, he wants freshly laundered shirts and cold mexican beer and room service in a hotel

things that the movie missed: 

vcrs still being the pre-eminent data storage mechanism

bionic dolphins extracting implanted data from our brains

they thought january 17 was a thursday

829 notes • Posted 2021-01-17 08:22:02 GMT

#1

See the full post

920 notes • Posted 2021-05-28 10:01:56 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[fellhellion]

1, 9, 42 for 3H asks :]

1. What drew you to / made you pick up and play FE3H?

I really like story driven RPGs ( dragon age fan...) and I had some vague memories of there being a lot of hype when 3h came out and I was interested in it! I picked up a couple other games when i bought my switch and i was just like huh i wanted to play this and people seem to like it, lets do it

9. What is your favorite scene in the game (can be in the main story or a support convo)?

I think the final CF cutscene w Edelgard and Byleth is my favourite tbh. it’s just SO good and I really like how the mood of that cutscene changes once you’ve got all the information regarding these characters, it makes that sad little bit of piano over the shot of Rhea’s body feel even more conflicting, for me personally at least. Also Edie and Byleth whacking a dragon w their weapons just looks rlly cool and i’m a basic bitch. 

Tied for second for me would be Bernadetta’s B support w Byleth (makes me tear up every time FUCK), Edelgard and Hubert’s A support and his A+ support w Ferdinand <3

42. Do you have / are you willing to share a possibly controversial opinion or headcanon you have about a character?

gfkdgjjklfdglk ive got a COUPLE

- a BIG portion of the fandom hatred of leonie yet adoration for felix is just sexism. it’s literally just sexism felix doesnt even APOLOGISE for lot of harsh or even downright cruel shit he says don’t even TRY me with the “oh but leonie said a mean thing she instantly apologises for in the next support :/” 

- lorenz’s critques of claude post ts (and mostly pre ts tbh) are literally just racism <3 theres also the the whole thing about “claudes ideals don’t seem to have concrete paths beyond tear down the borders” but the thing is thats a writing choice ACROSS THE BOARD every single lord is fighting for vaguely defined ideals w no concrete policies because 3h doesn’t care about those details! so i dont think it’s fair to critique claude for not laying that out, or lorenz for not badgering him on it because it’s this weird glaring hole in a character driven drama that every single lord gets, and it’s only made more awkward by the fact edelgard is waging a political war in the first place god WHY did the story choose not to give it’s main characters concrete idealogies and really explore and critique those

- i dont think this is unpopular but the duscur people murders being this narrative prop that gets overshadowed by dimitri’s trauma, to the point of the story privileging his perspective (to the point where dedue is the only retainer who can just fucking die before the ts) over a literal survivor of that genocide is just. such a terrible writing decision it astounds me. lets not even get into the fact that NO ONE really reacts to the revelation in AM as though “oh no we murdered the people of an entire country unjustly” it’s “oh no dimitri’s family was murdered by our own :(” 

- gilbert and annette’s story may not be personally sympathetic to YOU (and a large of portion of it isnt to ME) but i still think he and it are well written

[dreadfutures]

In the Tower of Justice, Ixchel finds a challenge.

-:-:-:-:-

Chapter 117/???

Fandom: Dragon Age Inquisition / All Media Types

Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Relationship: Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan, Female Lavellan/Solas, Lavellan & Solas, Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford, Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford, Female Inquisitor/Solas, Male Mahariel/Morrigan (Dragon Age), Fenris/Male Hawke, Fenris/Lavellan (Dragon Age), Fenris/Female Lavellan (Dragon Age)

Character: Female Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Female Lavellan (Dragon Age), Fen'Harel | Solas, Cullen Rutherford, Dorian Pavus, The Iron Bull (Dragon Age), Cole (Dragon Age), Cassandra Pentaghast, Male Hawke (Dragon Age), Hawke (Dragon Age), Varric Tethras, Scout Harding, Lace Harding, Morrigan (Dragon Age), Warrior Lavellan, Male Mahariel (Dragon Age), Fenris (Dragon Age), Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi, Blackwall | Thom Rainier, Calpernia (Dragon Age), Raleigh Samson

Additional Tags: Suicide, TW: Suicide, Fix It Fic, Time Travel, Resurrection, Blood Magic, who knows - Freeform, angry depressed inquisitor, you always have a choice, Or do you, empathy is the enemy of free will, bleeding heart Inquisitor is bloody and broken, lots of politics, lots of moralizing, but hope is a choice

Series: Part 4 of Bloodied and Broken

Summary

Shadows fall, and hope has fled. Steel your heart; the dawn will come

The Inquisitor’s heart broke when her family of friends scattered to the winds in the wake of the Exalted Council. She was emptied of hope as Solas’s power and reach grew. Left with a dead past and only a dread future to look forward to, Ixchel Lavellan lay down and chose not to wake up.

As the Veil began to unravel and the fabric of reality tore apart at the seams, a desperate ally sacrificed everything to give her a second chance.

And Ixchel will never forgive him.

-:-:-:-:-

time travel/fix it fic.

tw: suicide, first chapter, and themes of suicidal depression throughout

nsfw chapters marked: ** (only four thus far)

[becca-becky]

any good sanders sides fic recs?

oh my god, i don’t know what prompted you to ask this but do i have some*!

*i have a lot (these mostly come out of my bookmarks so y e ah (that's why there aren’t a lot of roman or patton ships ;-; (i’m just gonna link em and put the fic summary))

Analogical:

when you look at me with those eyes (i'm speechless): virgil finally manages to ask out the pretty enby in his class, just in time for his father's epic gala event. sadly, neither of them would know fashion if it bit them in the ass. luckily, they both have friends to help them out. (OR: almost 3k words of analogical being useless fluffy gays) (one-shot)

No Truth Untold: Set during SvS: redux. When Deceit makes the switch, he sends Logan to Virgil's room. Angst ensues. In other words, #LoganBreakdownRights2020 (one-shot)

the world had fallen under this falling: A snipet of the lives of Logan and Virgil, who are very much in love and very much stuck in their house. (one-shot)

lovely, dark, and deep: virgil wants exactly two things out of life: doctor sanders’ advice on his dissertation and the freedom to pursue his research in peace. he thinks he’s gotten both of these things, and then he finds a wounded merman tangled in a net on the beach. he rescues him, because of course he does, and that’s not so bad. then the others show up, and man, they are NOTHING like disney led him to believe.at least one of them’s cute, right? (OR: the analogical mermaid!au that exactly one person asked for) (multi-chaptered, on-going)

LAMP/DLAMP:

The Thought That Counts:  Your soulmate’s first thought about you appears on your skin, which can make them a little difficult to find. Especially when Virgil has to find three. (one-shot)

From Time Immemorial:  Logan’s timer seems to go on for far longer than the human lifespan... What can that mean? (multi-chaptered, complete)

Mind if I Slytherin?:  Deceit never can resist flirting with the other sides. The only problem is when they flirt back. (one-shot)

Moceit:

Love Like You: Patton asks Janus whether he'll take care of Thomas. Which seems like an innocent enough question at first, but Janus quickly grows worried about the moral side. (one-shot)

Overdue Apologies: Patton didn't expect any visitors after the video. Especially after Roman had ignored his knocking, and especially not from the one side he wasn't sure would ever visit him. (one-shot)

Love the View:  Patton is hiding something and Janus really wants to be in on the secret. Not for any malicious reasons, of course, he just wants Patton to trust him. (one-shot)

Multi-Ship:

taller than an avalanche: Virgil is taller than the other sides, but no one realizes how much taller. Virgil is faster than the other sides, but no one realizes how much faster. Virgil is stronger than the other sides, but no one realizes how much stronger. Then he proves it.(OR: virgil is thomas's fight-or-flight reflex, which makes him tol-strong-nyoom boi, and the others aren't exactly aware of this.) (analogical and royality (one-shot))

we’re all gossipy bitches sometimes: Roman and Logan sit down to gossip -- but not in the way you think. AKA Roman and Logan gush about their respective crushes, which is totally gossiping, right? (analogical and royality (one-shot))

Clouds and Moss AU: ok so this is a series for the TS sides as gods so I’m counting it (and it’s really good (it has roceit and intrulogical))

Logan ships other than analogical (i.e. loceit, logince, and intrulogical):

Infodumping About Octopi:  It was late afternoon, and the sides were spending it well with some much-needed relaxation time. Janus and Roman were in the kitchen baking, well, trying anyways. Virgil was taking a nap in his room, and Patton was in the imagination, reading books from the fairytales section of the library there. And Logan? Logan was currently dying of gay. (intrulogical (one-shot))

Amanecer: “Amame” Deceit’s smile fell, and Logan could see the moment he recognized the words, and he was sure Deceit could hear his heart beating. He was practically in Logan’s lap, how could he not? “Love me,” Deceit whispered, his eyes wide and - hopeful? Logan took his chance. Or, where Logan learns how to speak Spanish and agrees to teach Deceit. Things take an unexpected turn. (loceit (one-shot))

You Belong With Me: Much to his surprise, after being released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Logan has been appointed as a the prince’s new advisor. (logince (multi-chaptered, on-going))

Virgil ships other than analogical (i.e. dukexiety and anxceit)

First Words, and Then Some: Dee clams up whenever someone says the relatively common phrase on his wrist, fearing the inevitable rejection. Virgil's willing to work around it. (anxceit (one-shot))

What the hell would I be (without you): For as long as humans could remember, turning 18 meant so much more than reaching adult age. It meant it was time for the Swap, time for souls linked by fate to swap their emotions, their feelings to help them come together and one day, find each other. Virgil is about to turn 18, and for the surprise of absolutely no one, he's incredibly anxious about it. (dukexiety (oneshot))

Our Journey Never Ends: Deceit doesn't talk to humans that often. And he usually doesn't bother with them unless they step directly into his fae circle. But... he supposes one does many things, when they're bored. (anxceit (one-shot)

Misc (i.e. not any of the other ships listed (but they’re still really good)):

The Prince and The Frog: Prince Roman befriends a odd, blue eyed frog in the castle gardens. Little does he know, however, is that the frog isn't really what it appears to be. (royality (one-shot))

To Build A Home: "There was a long silence as Virgil processed the words, his eyes darting between the pair of them. “Y-You-” he swallowed heavily. “You want to adopt me?” This was a joke. Surely, it was a joke. Nobody ever wanted him. Nobody had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in adopting him. "Virgil never believed he was good enough for a loving family until the day that Patton and Logan walked into the orphanage. (gen, a lot of parent!logicality (multi-chaptered, completed))

Of Trying and Towers:  “Then there’s Princey. He always wants to go haring off after these impossible, grandiose dreams.” “Like breaking the Queen’s Stone, stealing all of her power, and freeing the entire kingdom from a rule that’s lasted well over five centuries?” “Yeah,” Anxiety said. “Like that.” After (grudgingly) attempting to overthrow the monarch of his country, Anxiety finds himself the sole survivor of a curse that takes Thomas and the other sides away from him. To make matters worse, he’s trapped in a tower with his own self-loathing and cowardice, and he finds himself guarded by an unusually polite dragon. What’s a guy supposed to do? Break out of the tower, finish overthrowing the monarchy, and save Thomas and the other sides. Obviously. (Ugh. He really doesn’t feel good about this.) (prinxiety (multi-chaptered, completed))

Love And Lip Gloss: After Remus returns Patton’s lip gloss, Patton comes to a few realizations. My imagining of a follow-up to IvyCpher’s Strawberry Lip Gloss, you’ll probably want to read that one first to understand this! (intruality (one-shot))

(you probably weren’t anticipating this many but like, yeahhh)

[jacensolodjo]

playing metro 2033 and remember when i said you can kinda tell who the developers and writers for the series are?? 

“The Reich is supposed to be a complete opposite of the Red Line [Communists/Soviets]... but why does it look so similar? Poverty and hunger, forced labor and endless rallies, rambling of the politicians and empty eyes of the plebeians. They also talk in slogans and you can’t doubt what you’re told here, either.”

like lmao welp! i played myself playing metro to take my mind of stuff but hey guess who is no longer sneaking around the human enemies and just punching them or shanking them because they aren’t even worth my precious limited supply of ammo. 

I can punch pixelized versions of the same people i hate irl with no threat to my handicapped ass. It’s actually kinda cathartic right now with my mood the way it is. Obviously no substitute for the real thing but i will take what i can get

[starringemiliaclarke]

Press: Emilia Clarke on Why Dragons Are Daenerys’ True Love

  TIME – Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke thinks she has chemistry with the dragon she rides — even though in real life it’s a bright-green rig, a bit like a mechanical bull, that moves like the fictional, animated creature. Clarke explains their bond: “ You get a romantic couple onscreen, and chances are they’ve had sex… Half of that reason is that as an actor, you’re convincing yourself you’re in love with that person.”

  Or that creature. Clarke’s bond with her beasts has helped Thrones soar — and helped her transcend jitters on her first major acting job. “I’m 5-ft.-nothing, I’m a little girl,” she says. “I’ve got the face of a chubby six-year-old. You walk onto set and you’re like, ‘Hey guys, I hope you like me! How can I help? What can I do? How can I be helpful?'” Perched on the dragon and empowered to “go crazy,” she says, her insecurities fall away: ” Hey, everybody! Now who’s shorty?! ”

  Clarke spoke to TIME in January for our cover story on Game of Thrones, whose seventh season premieres July 16. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

  You joined the Game of Thrones cast fresh out of drama school — this is one of your very first jobs. When you walked onto the set and saw the enormous apparatus in place, what went through your mind?

  Fear! I was just petrified! I genuinely was so scared — I was so fresh out, a year and a bit, so I’d done a couple of little things, but this was the first proper thing that I’d ever done. I was just thinking at any moment they would fire me, and at any moment they’d be like, Just joking, take the wig off.

  The entire first-season arc begins with you living in fear and ends with you striding out of the fire, reborn. Do you feel as though, similarly, you’ve come into your own as an actress?

Growing up on the show, playing Daenerys, there’s a number of times when the parallels between me and her have been sort of astonishing. Ultimately, Daenerys’s main arc is the arc of a girl to a woman. And then to a kind of woman who’s like, Wait a second! OK, I got here, I’m a big girl, but maybe I’m going to be a totally different person! Maybe I’m going to flip! Maybe I’m going to change my mind at the ripe old age of whatever. And that’s really exciting because her changes have come at a point where I feel comfortable enough to explore them as a human being. It’s lovely but I get first-day-of-school jitters on the first day back every year. Every year I’m like, I’ve forgotten how to be Daenerys, I never knew how to anyway. That last season was terrible; I was awful! I’ve got to be better! So that never goes away.

  Even inside this bubble, I think you might be aware of the ways in which Daenerys is read as a feminist icon. Do you see other political aspects to the show that have helped it succeed?

  I think it’s twofold. There is a character who is front and center, a leader, or aspiring leader, with ample resources to take it where it needs to go. The fact that she has a pair of tits does not make any difference. Sometimes she needs to use them and sometimes she doesn’t. There’s that, but on a personal note, I spent my life with a very, very strong mum, working mum, feminist mum, wore the trousers, brought home the bacon. But I never heard the word “feminist.” Never was I told “It’s going to be tough out there because you’re a girl.” So it was never that I ever saw that there was any inequality between men and women. And it’s only as I’ve got older, being in the industry, that I say, “Huh! Why are you talking to me funny? Why are you treating me differently?” And that’s fueled Daenerys for me.

  But the other thing… Politically, I’m an actor, I haven’t got a right to say anything. I’m not a politician, I’m a trained actor. But if you look at the state of the world, to me it seems like, it’s not so much that the world that we are in [in Westeros] reflects somehow a political aspect of the world that we are living in. But there are moments that we’ve been living through where people want escapism. They want to turn to something that they can be fully absorbed in and forget for a second that there’s anything more scary out there in our own real world.

  Escapism is one of the classic virtues of entertainment, and to be able to go to Westeros—

  —and see something where it’s on the cusp of believability with regards to the good guy not always winning, but he gets damn close. Human beings can do that. I know they can! It’s more engaging and engrossing to watch, because we’re not watching Disney. We’re watching something that is believable to be real. Real. Because bad guys do really well on Game of Thrones, and people die. And people do! So, I kind of think, that’s where the real world politics and Game of Thrones meet in a beautiful way.

  Early in Game of Thrones, you often appeared in a state of undress; now you no longer do. What went into that move, from your perspective?

  You look back at a lot of actresses. Brilliant. Dames. They had stages in their career where they were asked as women to show their sexuality. Which was asked of me in season 1 — there ain’t no hiding from it. And that aspect of the show that I was presented with at that age was just an aspect of something that was really exciting and really wonderful, so I wasn’t going to say no because they were asking me to take my clothes off.

  Because it was the first thing I’d ever done, and because it was successful — those two things, and I happened to be half-clothed, or whatever—it kind of followed me around a little bit. And you’re like, Hey! If I had had a career before now, doing anything else where there was a sex scene, this wouldn’t be the conversation we were having. I don’t have any qualms saying to anyone it was not the most enjoyable experience. How could it be? I don’t know how many actresses enjoy doing that part of it. And I don’t think that it was an active, ‘I’m never going to take my clothes off choice.’ It’s just a thing where, the roles that came up and the show itself has unfolded in a way where she no longer does that. Where you want to draw parallels as a character, with Daenerys’s strength in keeping her clothes, is kind of obvious.

  She’s able, now, to use her wits—

  —to keep them on!

  …And rely on all her other strengths.

  Yeah, exactly. And I think it’s hugely important for the character thing to see that parallel. To see, oh no, she doesn’t have to do that anymore. As a woman, I don’t have to do that anymore. It’s not to say that I would have a role where I wouldn’t have sex, if it would need to be on camera to see passion, and love, and intensity, and all of those brilliant things, but if I were asked to play a porn star, I would probably say no.

  It’s different when it’s part of the spectrum of human experience and emotion, versus just being the story.

  Exactly, and I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it again: People wouldn’t give two sh-ts about Daenerys if you didn’t see her suffer. We saw her suffer in season 1. Did I suffer a little bit from that? Of course I did, it’s my first job! [sarcastically] It’s my first job ever, and they told me to take my clothes off, and it’s like, oh, yeah, sure! Super happy! Okay, great! I didn’t turn around and say, I’m never going to do that again. You want me now, you can’t get rid of me, I’ll never do it — as you saw in season 5. I would take my clothes off again, because it’s important.

    Seeing worlds coming together last season when you met Peter Dinklage’s character was so gratifying for viewers, and I imagine it must have been for you too — seeing your storyline finally entering the main story of the show.

  Yes, hugely! I always say, they stick me in a box and they ship me out to sea! I don’t see anyone, which is important for the character. And I had to go do these things, these huge scenes, these epic portrayals of this character by myself, which fueled Daenerys wholeheartedly, because she’s like, I want to get home! I want to get where the people are, and all the cool stuff!

  She wants to rule over all the people, too.

  Exactly, she wants to get her power out. But that’s the magic of the show — they presented these characters and then ripped them all apart. It’s classic storytelling, but it’s done, here, in such a complex way that it’s so enticing. It’s an investment, so when the reunions happen, it’s like, Yeah! You guys have been so close, and now we finally did it.

  What have you taken from Daenerys’s ability to deliver these rousing, emotional speeches?

  It’s kind of wonderful. It’s kind of dreamy. It’s weird. It’s one of those bizarre things, and I truly think it’s because of the show, that I’m more comfortable in a crowd of 1,000 people than I am in a room with ten. Round table scenes, I’m like, I’ve got to go tell people what to do, and there’s only ten of them! Everybody’s going to see the whites of my eyes!

  As an actor, as myself, I can get nervous really easily, and feel like I shouldn’t be here. On the set, I still ask myself, You sure? You really sure about this? You’re not going to recast me? Because sometimes I feel like you might! Needing to draw in and summon every ounce of confidence I have to do it, get out there and be as truthful as you possibly can, it’s empowering for me. And in turn it feels her. Daenerys keeps asking me to be a stronger woman, and I have to keep rising to the occasion.

  Do you have an easy time on the back of the dragon?

  There are certain shots where you’re like, I’m hanging on for dear life, oh my goodness. But yes, yes. I definitely — it’s this really weird thing. Okay, so, famously — people know about this — you get a romantic couple onscreen, and chances are they’ve had sex. If they’re single, they will have, and sometimes when they’re not…

  Actors are famous for—

  —copulating with each other. So I’m not saying with the dragon, but there is this — half of that reason is that as an actor, you’re convincing yourself you’re in love with that person. And there’s a little bit of you, maybe, that is, or whatever it is, if you’re single and attracted to each other! But there’s something about this maternal connection I had with the dragons from day [one]. I really got into Daenerys’s head, and the dragons are on so many levels the only children she’ll ever know. She has a huge amount of love to give, and all her family’s gone. She’s alone. There is no one character that has ever connected with her in a way that has left her feeling secure.

  Even Daario is more about fulfilling a need than any kind of intellectual match.

  Exactly. And you meet Tyrion, Jorah keeps coming back, but they are not her match. And the dragons are. The dragons are hers. With that essence in mind, it’s so much more a metaphorical idea that there’s that hole in your heart that needs to be filled and they do it. So it’s just this knee-jerk reaction that I have with them, where they are… as they’ve got bigger, and as she’s riding them, they are a physical part of her. And that in itself is empowering as f–k. I’m 5-ft.-nothing, I’m a little girl. I’ve got the face of a chubby six-year-old. You walk onto set and you’re like, ‘ Hey guys, I hope you like me! How can I help? What can I do? How can I be helpful?’ T hey’re like, ‘Emilia, climb those stairs, get on that huge thing, we’ll harness you in, and then you’ll go crazy .’ And you’re like, ‘ Hey, everybody! Now who’s shorty?!’ Every chance she gets, she’s empowering to play.

Press: Emilia Clarke on Why Dragons Are Daenerys’ True Love was originally published on Enchanting Emilia Clarke

[amy-church]

The Dark Side of Gangnam Style

K-Pop, to most people, is Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ but who are the true masterminds behind the South Korean music industry? And what really goes on behind the scenes?

The rising popularity of Korean pop culture - ‘The Hallyu Wave’ – was a political action that is claimed to have started in 1992 with the formation of Seo Taiji and The Boys with the ambition to make the country the most powerful in the world. The government introduced a way of producing idols that would supposedly excel Western artists. Citizens would join companies, at any age, and train for years until they become ‘ideal’ for the public.

Big Bang’s Kwon Jiyong – also known as G-Dragon - debuted in a music group at the age of 5 but soon after, they were disbanded and Kwon was scouted by SM Entertainment, one of the biggest companies in the industry. He trained for five years at SM, before releasing an album at the age of 13 and becoming the youngest Korean rapper to release an album. This caught the attention of the Yang Hyunsuk, the CEO of YG Entertainment and former member of Seo Taiji and The Boys. After another six years of training in dancing, singing, acting, rapping, and modelling, Kwon finally debuted as G-Dragon of Big Bang under YG Entertainment at the age of 18.

The “training process” that these idols have to go through include mornings as early as 5am followed by hours of intense workouts, leaving only a few hours for eating, sleeping and leisure. Trainees would often go weeks without seeing their families, the only company they had being the other trainees that they shared a dorm with. Many trainees would quit before they debuted, cracking under the pressure.

Although trainees join companies with full knowledge of what they are getting in to, this training process often receives criticism as it is seen as “unnatural” and “cruel”. Even once an idol has debuted, either as a solo act or as part of a group, we still see cases of mistreatment, many resulting in lawsuits against their own record labels. Some of the most famous being EXO’s Kris and Luhan, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Super Junior’s Hangeng, KARA, JYJ (formerly members of TVXQ) and Block B, the list goes on.

Most recently, B.A.P from TS Entertainment has revealed that they are suing their company after claims of underpayment and being overworked after signing a “slave contract”. An official statement from B.A.P’s representatives says that “Starting from March 21 of [2014] until June, the members travelled to Sendai, Osaka, Tokyo, the Philippines, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Melbourne, Sydney, Taiwan, Singapore, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Chiba, and Bangkok to complete a murderous schedule. Due to their busy schedule, the members suffered mental and bodily fatigue.” Also, after B.A.P’s debut in 2011, TS Entertainment had gained revenue of 10 billion won (approx. 5.8 million GBP) over three years from B.A.P, each member of the group only receiving 18 million won (about 10,000 GBP) during that time.

This is not the first time that we have witnessed idols being overworked and not receiving what they signed a contract for. EXO’s Kris was still forced to perform after his medical records stated that he had a chronic heart disease due to SM Entertainment not giving him the correct medical treatment that he was entitled to. One of the existing members of EXO, Kai, was seen performing with an injured ankle, resulting in him collapsing on stage. SM Entertainment is notoriously known for mistreating their artists, with Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ and EXO – all groups that are signed to the label – having filed a lawsuit against them at some point.

Krystal, a member of f(x) (another group working under SM) collapsed backstage after being forced to perform on stage in Beijing during a storm. Members of Girls’ Generation have previously said on variety shows that “[the members] often starve [themselves] just to fit into the outfits that the stylists make.” Not only does this prove that SM only cares about what their artists look like in front of the fans and the cameras, but it makes you wonder just how many companies are doing this to their artists.

Korean artists promote themselves differently to Western artists. The average K-Pop idol has two to three comebacks a year, each time releasing a single, EP or album. Music shows such as Gayo Daejun, Inkigayo, M Countdown and Music Bank are necessary for an idol’s success. When an artist has a comeback, their essential goal is to win first place on music shows by performing their new songs and getting the audience to vote for them. Each show airs once a week and the artists perform their song on each show for weeks until the promotional period ends. As soon as they stop performing on music shows, they have to get straight back to working on their next comeback while also attending variety shows, award shows and even acting in dramas and movies. Their non-stop schedule is a constant worry for fans but seems to be a normal way of promotions and gaining income for the companies.

The busy lives that idols lead leaves virtually no time to be social. They could go weeks and months on end without seeing their families, friends, or having time to date. Dating is often seen as a controversial ‘scandal’. It is an unfortunate but common occurrence to see fans sending hateful comments to a celebrity’s new love interest but record labels in the Western music industry do not forbid romantic relationships. However, in South Korea, many labels dictate how their acts live their lives. A relationship is kept quiet and the people involved are forced to sneak around without being seen until their companies ‘approve’. Companies often ‘approve’ if the people involved are both celebrities as it could boost their images and be beneficial for all parties. However, when it comes to celebrities dating ‘normal’ people, it is kept secret because the celebrity’s company may believe the relationship would harm their image and they may lose fans.

Ultimately, record labels would not change the way that they treat their fans as each one has a different work ethic and the artists sign a contract, but does that make it acceptable? Should they be like Western labels that give their artists more freedom or would the definition of K-Pop change?