#empress vents

[empressofthelibrary]

I wish I knew how to explain to people that sensory overload is a state of pain. Not physical, not emotional, it doesn't hurt in any way I can really express. But it hurts. And being in that state for six hours straight fucking sucks.

[violetlunette]

The Remarried Empress Krista deserves better

Notes: *Spoilers for the series *Vent post / Critical *Touches on anti Heinrey and anti Kaufman *One line of Navier critical

So, I just learned that Krista is just as—if not more hated—than Rashta. Like, WOW. Really? Okay, she screwed up by working with Kaufman and trying to blackmail bird shit later, but that’s it. She wasn’t overly antagonistic toward anyone. Even to Navier, the worst she said was, “Sorry, but I can’t be your friend.” She didn’t even try to hurt anyone. Even when Heinry came to her, drugged, all she did was wipe sweat from his face. That’s it. She didn’t even try to kiss him. And it’s made clear she even knew about the love potion; she just followed Kaufman’s orders and waited in a room like he told her too. Again, threatening to blackmail birdshit later was a shit move, but aside from that, she never crossed the moral line, unlike every single one of the protagonists. (We don’t even know if she would follow through or if it was just a desperate bluff.) Yet because of Kaufman—who gets to marry a princess later in the series—and one threat she makes, Krista loses everything.

She loses her family as her father is made to believe she’s dead, and the rest are forced to turn on her to save themselves. Nieces and nephews, whom she doted on, are made to believe she’s a vile woman and insult her name. She loses her status and position in society and is finally isolated for what can be assumed to be forever. And on top of all that, she’s hated by the fandom. Wow, okay.

No, know what? Fuck it. She deserved better. She did wrong, but what she did was just a poke compared to what every other character does, and I am including Navier, who pardons SLAVERS later in the story to boost her rep. Like, if you made a list of all the terrible things the other characters--especially Heinry--did, she would look like a a saint. (If someone actually made that list of everyone's crime, I would love you for it.) But oh! I forgot. She doesn’t have hot abs or goo-goo eyes for the protagonist, so she’s evil, worse than scum, haha—fuck.

Krista was a good queen to her people and loyal to her husband, even though he had several mistresses. She was loving to her family—though NONE of them deserved it—and was even polite to Navier. She never did anything immoral except when she was pushed by Kaufman. And the worst she did was make a threat, which, if we look at her past actions, was most likely an empty threat.

Krista, you deserved better, and everyone else involved with your downfall deserved WORSE.

[ladypepperofdavenshire]

Some angsty Ariadne art from last month

[bisolationist]

Im usually on your side *especially* when it comes to this issue but here you were basically asking her to read your mind.

"No this isnt about you its about some deep intricate bisolationist lore, how dare you not be up to date" like what ???

You're probably right in that I'm being unreasonable and I get what you mean. My intention wasn't for anyone to read my mind though, because I didn't anticipate anyone interacting with me on this at all.

I saw those posts circulating and I wanted to discuss the general ideas within them and how I see them branching out into other harmful ideas that depend on the partial truth she was pushing. I dont think any knowledge of my "lore" is required to think more deeply about how male SA victims are treated by a variety of parties instead of just men. So rather than "know this already" my intent was like "Actually this happens a lot too".

Does that make sense? I don't know why everyone took it as a personal thing instead of talking about the ideas. I guess when posts have that many notes especially, I view it about the broader issue and not anything personal.

Still I'm clearly not in my right mind rn so I'm gonna be away for a bit.

[liroyalty]

This is what she wanted to see right? The real him? How much anger was stored in such a human body, one that swung a metal rod at anything that could break in the junk yard. A broken down car that hadn’t been seen in years? Now the windshield was shattered, then the headlights. “Son of a! Cock sucking! Whore!” Yea, he was pissed off and he was pissed off that he was pissed off.

“I come down here to get AWAY from all the SHIT I deal with on a day to day!” Opening the car door he’d kick it as far as it would go until a harsh scrape of metal could be heard, hinges scraping and shredding before finally giving way and falling to the ground.

Atom was far from done, it really did seem like Sue’s words struck a chord within him which only made him angrier. He could only guess how she was judging him. Seeing the ‘cool uncaring’ punk give a shit about something for once and feeling such heavy and harsh feelings.

“I can’t stand it!” Another swing of that rod, clashing against steel, vibrations running down the pole and into his hand. It hurt like hell, but fuck he didn’t care. He would continue this rampage until finally, his human body couldn’t keep up anymore. He tossed the weapon he had away, turned and slumped on the now badly damaged junk car he had made a poor target out of and just…. Breathed.

Sue had a friend named Denis. Well, 'friend' was a strong word, but she got to know him when she would sneak into this junkyard as a kid to smash things. He could of had her arrested, but must have took pity on her, saw all the things she was going through, & decided to cut her a deal. For twenty bunks, she's allowed to come in here & smash whatever the fuck she wanted until she exhausted herself. It's a scrapyard after all, most of the stuff here is going to end up smashed, & it's worth it for twenty bucks.

She paid forty to get Atom in here, after grilling him in knowing that he was just pretending to act like the chill rocker guy. She's always been good at reading people, even as a kid she could read adults very well, & though she didn't know what he was hiding inside, she knew something was there. It's only after he was getting as angry as he was that day that she figured he needed somewhere to air it out. So to Denis's yard it was.

Well... she knew he was definitely bottling something up, but now she wondered for how long. You don't go for the door like that unless you've been holding something in for a long time. She would know, she's done it herself. But really? It was kind of refreshing to see this wacky motherfucker be... anything but wacky & chill all the time.

She didn't say much, aside from a few mumbles of 'damn' or 'holy shit', but never anything directly to him. She knew better, now was not a good time to say anything unless she wants to be next on the target board. It was better to just let him get it all out. Let Atom be as violent as he needs to be before he eventually tires himself out.

"..." She didn't know who looked worse, Atom or that fucking car, cause they both look like they had the shit beaten out of them. But that was a good thing... well... in Atom's case. He'd be easier to talk to now, but... first things first. If she wants to talk to him straight, she needs to vent out the built up resentment of the bullshittary he's put her through, as well as some other things that's been happening.

Sue was wearing a hoodie, & she provided to take it off & tie the arms around her waist, showing the crop top underneath. What followed was her picking up some randomly discarded lengthy piece of metal on the ground that could serve as a replacement for a baseball bat & saying a singular word-

"Move."

-before smashing that makeshift metal bat into the roof of that already very beat up car. Putting a dent in it deep enough it could actually be seen from the inside, & making such an ugly sound in the process. And she did that again... & again... & again. Pounding down on the roof of this trashed car until you couldn't even call it a roof anymore, more of those ugly sounds being made & the metal she used at a bat cutting into her hands, but like hell that stopped her. She just kept... going & going, smashing parts of this junked machine that had already been dented & broken to shit, & making it so much worse, even beating one of the other doors that it just fell off of it's own accord.

She didn't even seem to care he could obviously watching. If Atom though Sue was angry before... those times don't have shit on this. Seriously... why was this dainty looking woman so rageful & so strong?

Eventually, she started slowing down, her swing less frequent & losing strength, until she just let out the last, big & final swing with loud roar of just held in frustration. Leaving Sue to just stand their a while... before chucking that piece of metal she'd been using off into the sky to land somewhere else in the scrapyard... & then falling back onto her ass on the ground.

"..."

She clearly needed that.

[empress-cherazu]

I don't understand why I do the things I do. I don't understand what's wrong with me.

I'm sorry to anyone that has to or has had to deal with me.

I'll be better, I don't know when, but I'll come back when I'm better.

I'm sorry.

[sspookyspoonss]

Me: Tries watching TV to distract myself from a really bad bout of body images issues caused by an ED

Some random history documentary: Empress Sisi was a narcissist because she constantly worked out and controlled her diet all to retain how she looked.

Me: Enough TV for tonight…

[vincentbriggs]

Hello! Transfem person here. I haven't started HRT yet, but want to procure a 1730s menswear suit (actually decided based on your video). I would prefer not to wait for it if possible, since I don't know when HRT is going to be possible. I am, however, a little concerned about my bust size changing and affecting the fit of the waistcoat. Is that decade usually pretty forgiving in it's tailoring? I am also considering having the upper back tie like some later waistcoats to accommodate if necessary (even if it's not entirely historical), but I figured I would ask you.

Thank you!

Hello! Ooh yay! Not enough people do early 18th century, so I'm delighted to hear that! (Link to the 1730's suit mentioned.)

I think the fit would be affected, yeah. The sides of the waistcoat are easy enough to let out (and we have extant examples of waistcoats with an extra strip of fabric added into the side seam) but the curve of the front is pretty important to how it sits on you. But then, it is fashionable in that era to leave quite a lot of the top portion unbuttoned, so maaaybe you could get away with it not fitting as well, depending on what changed and how much?

Regarding the adjustability of waistcoats, some of the earlier ones actually do have lacing in the back! This red one is an especially nice example, and it's separate all the way to the top.

(c. 1740's, V&A) (Though you also do see ones with the back hacked up and a bunch of ties that were likely added by Victorians for their fancy dress parties.)

The breeches also have adjustable waistbands, of course, so I think the hardest part to alter would be the coat. The back vent is edge to edge, so there's no overlap to sneak a bit more width out of, and letting out the side seams would require re-doing those massive pleats, which were the part I found the most difficult when making my coat. But fortunately those coats were worn open a lot of the time, so even if they're not quite right when buttoned, they should still look ok unbuttoned.

It's very difficult to predict how the fit will be affected, since HRT is different for everyone and things keep changing years down the line. (One comment on this post talks about suddenly getting more breast and hip growth after 7, 12, and 14 years.)

I only have experience from the transmasc side of things, and alas, I very much did outgrow all my old waistcoats and coats. My 1730's suit needs alterations, because the waistcoat is a bit too small, and the coat seams could use a bit of letting out too. (I made those the year after top surgery, but my ribcage kept expanding and my posture improving for quite a while.)

I've been putting it off because alterations are boring :/ My pre-top surgery waistcoats are all way too small across the chest even though material was removed, because my posture was kinda bad and I didn't even notice it, and I expect that the opposite could also lead to the same sort of better posture from more confidence & comfort.

But bodies keep changing forever anyways, even without transitioning. Plenty of cis people can't fit into the things they sewed when they were younger, so we may as well make things to fit us now. Perhaps you could make the suit now, but use a not-too-expensive fabric, and then maybe alter it later, or make a newer and better one with the experience you gained from the first one!

Also I know you specifically said menswear suit, but I want to add the fun fact that women's riding habits in this era looked extremely similar to men's suits!

(Left: Maria Amalia von Habsburg by Franz Joseph Winter, right: Member of the Van der Mersch Family by Cornelis Troost.)

As far as I can tell, the main differences are that the riding habits have a petticoat instead of breeches, and are made to fit over stays.

(Empress Elisabeth Christine in riding costume, unknown artist.)

So similar, in fact, that this portrait of a young lady in a riding habit was misidentified as a young man!

Most of the petticoat is out of frame, but you can still see that it's not beeches, and the stays shape is pretty obvious. Very silly of Sotheby's not to notice!

I have no idea if you're interested in wearing a riding habit, and I'm not sure how difficult it would be to alter the somewhat looser men's coat to fit over stays, but thought I ought to mention it.

[a-d-nox]

what your tarot deck thinks about the place you are living

grab your tarot deck! ask your deck "what do i need to know about my home?" below are some ideas of what the cards you get could mean.

the fool

first time home owner and/or going without an inspection or walkthrough (site-unseen buying)

the magician

fixer-upper and/or in need of repair

the empress

fertile ground and/or having a good foundation

the emperor

you definitely need to get an inspection and/or a picky/tricky seller (needing to be aggressive with bidding)

the hierophant

seek financial counseling, to seek with your realtor more seriously, and/or needing to call in a specialist

the chariot

get ready to move

the hermit

the house is older; you might want to look at foundation, electrical, and/or insulation

death

remodeling

the devil

definitely look at electrical and ac/heating elements (duct cleaning may be needed) - or even the dryer vent

the tower

this is a tear down and start from scratch project

the star

PLEASE look into your plumbing...

judgment

you might be in over your head with the cost of where you live; its time to move to somewhere a bit more sustainable

3 of cups

house warming

3 of cups rx

a controlling HOA and/or noisy/gossipy neighbors

4 of cups

having a lot of big ideas for what you want your house to be and look like, but not taking the action needed for it to get to that vision

5 of cup

money pit house that makes you feel disappointed/depressed

2 of pentacles rx

not having enough time for everything you want to accomplish with the house between life, job, and house renovations

3 of pentacles

talking with architects, someone who does custom building, and/or who an interior designer

4 of pentacles

having a lot of clutter and/or hoarding that damages the house

5 of pentacles

needing better insulation and/or to upgrade windows (plastic wrap in winter or something)

7 of pentacles rx

not working towards your vision in terms of housing expectations

ace of swords

making an offer on a house

2 of swords

having to make a difficult decision about what project to focus on

5 of swords

disagreeing with your family about what should happen with a project and having an argument

6 of swords

needing flood insurance

7 of swords

taking pieces from old projects or from what already exists

2 of wands

putting in an add-on

7 of wands

the place as a lot of unforeseen issues

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific pac/pile next. if you'd like my input on how i read a specific card or what i like to ask my deck, feel free to use the ask button for that as well.

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[sea-lanterns]

Poor Sucrose probably too shy to initiate anything with the Empress and thus has to use the plushy

Sucrose is definitely too shy to do anything intimate with the Empress, so she uses the plushie as a fleshlight instead to vent out her personal feelings. Poor Sucrose has a bit of an inferiority complex in comparison to the other courtesans, so she rarely ever has some alone time with the Empress, let alone get the chance to have sex with her.

However, the Empress will eventually find Sucrose’s crusty plushie and she’ll put two and two together before quickly tending to Sucrose’s needs. It doesn’t matter how surprised Sucrose is to find out the Empress has discovered her dirty little secret, the Empress is determined to make Sucrose cum harder than she ever has in her life! She wants to show her love for all her lovers!

Let’s just say the Empress pussy is a lot better than fucking the plushussy (Sucrose’s thoughts, not mine)

[yermes]

What the fuck are you doing? A tarot reading

↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅↟ ⋆ ❅

Pick a meme

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Disclaimer: please take what I say with a grain of salt and not as the gospel. I just want to share some ideas of practicing and giving advice using the medium as often as I can with school, work, and my own personal studies and practice. But I am working on sharing my notes soon so that will be exciting! Liking and sharing does a lot 🥰

Socials: TipJar | Follow me!| Podcast

The cards

IV of wands 🫁

What the fuck are you doing? Celebrating, partying. With all the pain and misery in the world you can bring in joy within your small microcosm. While everything id dire, still we smile, and still we dance.

The empress (reversed) 👒

You are smothering your growth, like blanket over small flame. Do not suffocate and sacrifice yourself for the sake of others. Do you pass the street fearlessly, or do you freeze in the face of fear and die in the middle of the road, ran over by literally yourself squandering your own progress.

V of swords 🍻

People are not treating you well in your life. Babe, do not throw yourself away for the loud people who want to see people doing worst than them. Work to thrive in the face of hostility, you are more than the people who try to underhand you.

Extras:

Story/vent:

Im fucking exhausted bryh

[empressofthelibrary]

"oh wow you look good for your age" girl I just told you I'm not even twenty-eight, the hell do you mean I look good for my age?

[wumiings]

Binggeyuan ‘Sleeping Beauty’ AU

Shen Yuan (20 y/o) belongs to a merchant family that conducts trade in the Borderlands - something considered scandalous in the jianghu, because they act as go-betweens for the Human and Demon Realms.

One day, a group of bigoted Huan Hua cultivators organize an attack (à la Tianlang-jun’s imprisonment) on the Borderlands village, which kills most of Shen Yuan’s family and leaves him in a coma.

Fortunately, Huan Hua Sect’s then-head disciple Su Xiyan persuades the Old Palace Master to spare Shen Yuan’s life, as there’s no evidence he was involved with the business.

= 24 Years Later =

Luo Binghe (22 y/o) comes across the room where Shen Yuan lies unconscious, tended periodically by a healer.

Right away, he is captivated by the beauty of the sleeping man (who bears a passing resemblance to Shen Qingqiu) and, subconsciously, the fact that a coma patient can neither judge nor want anything from him.

Binghe easily persuades the Old Palace Master to let him take over Shen Yuan’s treatment, and visits with increasing frequency over time:

He comes after Shen Qingqiu’s trial to vent his feelings to a captive (insensate) audience, and again after turning Shen Qingqiu into a human stick, annoyed that Ning Yingying seemed disturbed when he tried to brag to her about it.

He spares Mu Qingfang during the destruction of Cang Qiong in order to force him to wake Shen Yuan, despite the peak lord’s insistence that even if he succeeds, Shen Yuan is likely to have sustained serious brain damage.

Additionally, despite having sex with a large number of people, Luo Binghe never stays the night with them but instead gradually forms a habit of sleeping in the same room with Shen Yuan.

= 5 Years Later =

Shen Yuan (now physically 49, though cultivation has preserved his youth) wakes unexpectedly from his coma.

Luo Binghe briefly frets that Shen Yuan might judge him for his heritage now that he’s awake, but to his surprise, Shen Yuan’s resentment is entirely directed towards Huan Hua Palace, and only towards him insofar as he claims affiliation with them.

(Binghe is quick to assure Shen Yuan that the current Huan Hua bears no real resemblance to the one of three decades ago, and after some investigation, this does seem to be the case.)

He takes advantage of the facts that, despite being human, Shen Yuan deeply distrusts human cultivators and even alleges to prefer the company of demons (as if Binghe needed any more proof that this is the one) to keep him close and - slowly, cautiously - begins the endeavor of grooming Shen Yuan to become his empress.

[sh0tanzz]

RIIZE OT7 LOVE LIFE READING ~ based on tarot

so glad to be doing tarot again tbh

reminder this is based off of my interpretations of the energy and cards I receive and is not exact fact unless said so by the members themselves; energy is subject to change or manifest differently so my reading may differ from others

note: while doing the reading the members seemed ok speaking on their love lives (lowkey seemed like they wanted to vent) but the phrase “can this stay anonymous” kept coming up so instead of outright saying each member I’ll keep it vague on who I’m speaking of

Member A:

he most definitely has been involved with someone as of late and this person is most likely new or it’s a more recent romantic development for him (AoW, 2oC, PoC). the pacing of his dynamic has been pretty fun and lighthearted which he really does enjoy but it may be moving a bit faster than he expected/intended to making him anxious (the fool Rx, 8oW). the person he’s seeing might want to make things more serious but he might not 😭 he’s been deliberating on a decision of how he wants to operate, he’s very indecisive on committing to anyone rn (2oS, 2oW, 2oC)

Member B:

dating is lowkey out of sight out of mind for this member, he could date and has opportunities but is more focused on bettering himself (KoS, ace of cups Rx, 7oC, 8oP) . he isn’t outright refusing the opportunities he’s just not that concerned with them. he might’ve broken up with someone however this breakup isn’t exactly recent [or he’s been thinking about past relationships] but it made him reflect on some things. (2oW, 4oC, the hermit) he’s concerned about figuring out how to let go of some of the baggage and bad behaviors he has plus to be a better person with more to offer. (the devil Rx, 8oS Rx, temperance, 6oP) he essentially wants to heal himself before dating anyone.

Member C:

he’s interested in someone, like has a small crush it’s probably another idol or someone who works in a similar/same field and might be someone older or debuted before him/been in the industry longer (KoW, QoW, 3oP, the hierophant) but he’s lowkey suspicious of the person and may feel that they’re deceptive or may not have the same intentions as him (7oS, QoS Rx, the magician Rx). in his personal life he feels like he’s finally seeing the success and and results of him working hard as an idol and will be very intuitive and on gaurd romance wise to ensure that maybe a dating scandal or bad relationship doesn’t sour his good work life. (the high priestess, 9oW, 9oP, 7oW)

Member D:

this member in particular isn’t really fond of how they look currently; and is very caught up in a personal illusion of not being as desirable as he “used to/could be” (Empress Rx, Moon, 9oC Rx). his more deeper insecurities regarding his appearance is hindering him from pursuing or moving forward in relationships out of fear of rejection (5oS) as well as being too caught up mentally about his physical dislikes to even consider love opportunities (5oC, 9oS) he wants to wait till he’s confident again

Member E:

very simplistic, he’s honestly more worried about other relationships in his life outside of romantic ones so his family and friends plus he’s looking forward to adding new friends to his circle cuz he’s lowkey been bored social life wise (3oC, 10oP, 4oC, 3oW). similar to member b he isn’t outright against dating at the moment but he isn’t actively pursuing it, he’s satisfied where he is (9oC) but if an opportunity comes he won’t mind it exactly..he has a very “if it happens it happens” mindset about it for now (the hanged man, the wheel of fortune) he might be finding many people attractive at the moment or having talking stages here or there or getting to know someone but that’s really it (AoW)

Member F:

he has a lowkey urge to date because he’s very available at the moment but at the same time he has other matters to tend to which is holding him back. he might currently be studying and working on a new thing he’s recently gotten into. (8oP, 3oP, PoP) this reading is a bit ironic because he has so much free time yet still might not be in the position to date again for now, he might have a small urge to put himself out there since he can but he’s nervous that it’ll go left and end up making his current dealings more complicated. (the lovers Rx, 9oC Rx, the world Rx, 2oP, 9oW) he may have had a woman/fem figure in his life aiding him through his current processes and have an admiration for her I’m not sure if I’d call it a crush however (the star, the hierophant, QoC)

Member G:

ok this one is funny bc I can’t even tell if he’s in a relationship or not but what I do know is this member is STRESSED and it’s impacting his relationships not just the romantic ones 😭. (10oW, 2oC Rx, 7oP, the sun Rx). the stress is causing imbalance because he might be a bit more abrasive or could be a bit snappy at people lately from being so burnt out maybe even a bit rude (the emperor Rx, KoS Rx, 5oW) however he knows he needs to correct these behaviors for his relationships in general to flourish (8oP, 9oP)

[nyaskitten]

This is such an insanely good scene To Me and we genuinely do not talk about it as often as we should even though it makes me so autistic... So I'm just gonna analyze it, looking mainly at Ras' manipulation tactics.

First, you have Ras, pissed off in an alley, angrily complaining about his woes, when suddenly Beatrix approaches him with an offer. (This scene will later be paralleled in the finale, but Jordana takes the initial role of Ras, and Ras takes the role of both Beatrix and himself, the Approacherrr and the Manipulatorrr.)

Ras stops, because he hears Beatrix's footsteps before her shadow appears on-screen, and based on the lighting the shadows appear to be pretty long, this scene occurs either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. We're gonna go with early in the morning, as a reverse parallel to Jordana's scene, which is pretty late at night, so already you got an additional parallel.

Ras turns around to see Beatrix approach, he gets her name right the first time, but then proceeds to ask if she could be Zeatrix instead in a slightly fake tone. She reacts angrily, of course, and Ras feigns surprise at getting it wrong, and bows respectfully, as a means of apology. This was the immediate start to his manipulation, in "confusing" their names, he was feeding into Beatrix's anger, which he continues to do in this scene, and then later on with Jordana, both in the s1 finale and in season 2!

When Beatrix says she's interested in Ras' offer of unlimited power, he seems like he may be genuinely shocked at her willingness to join him, however given the tone he takes on, this may be another tactic to further play into her anger, asking her why she'd do it so she could explain, and just get even angrier.

When Beatrix vents about how Zeatrix's birth robbed her of elemental power and Levo's father, Ras says elemental power is a cheat, and someone who may not deserve it gets it anyway, this time wearing his manipulation on his face with a smirk, he Wants her angry, he wants her rage.

Ras then fakes a scoff and waves his hand around, asking a question he likely already knew the answer to, about Zeatrix being the future Empress of Imperium, and getting Beatrix even Madder as she explains she will be left with nothing, while Zeatrix gets everything.

Ras smirks yet again, and claims it to be a waste of her "true potential." Now, I have made a post about this specific line before (which I can no longer find) but basically, I think him putting emphasis on the "true potential" is Also meant ot anger her. Why?

Aside from real-world usage, in Ninjago, ones True Potential is, as we all know, them unlocking their element properly, so in saying it's a "waste of her True Potential," it's like Ras wants to rub in the fact that she lacks powers, that she can never Have that moment like her sister, where she finally figures out what holds her back, and unlocks her powers, because she's powerless.

Beatrix asks Ras to help her in seizing the throne, offering him the resources he needs to capture a Source Dragon, and in response, Ras bows to her, as he did earlier, and he goes "As you wish, Empress Beatrix," and he smiles yet again, he's succeeded, he's manipulated Beatrix, he's gotten her angry enough that she's willing to trust him, and murder her father to seize control.

Everything Ras did in this scene was to feed into her anger, hell, the way he glances at her at the end of the cold open, part of me thinks he Knew she was gonna follow, maybe he was anticipating it, hence, the glance. Ras was angry only until he needed to manipulate, in which case he became this instigating force, there to listen to Beatrix's rage, and make her even worse.

[danwhobrowses]

Prefacing that, again time zones, I've only been able to glean the latest CR episode and that I do not agree with their in-character opinions on the gods, I'd like to remind fans to try and not get super ugly about their criticism of Ashton Greymoore.

I'll be the first to throw my hands up and say they're among my favourite C3 characters so there may be bias, but I've been getting flashes of the Shard Incident from reactions towards their recent and vocal disdain for the gods. Disagree with them all you want, Taliesin knows that the gods can't simply leave since they're the one who said that the Wildmother would die if she left, but understand that it's a character flaw and if you recall the hardships of their backstory, the unanswered prayers, and that their only exchanges with the gods have required them to do something or, with the Dawnfather Angel, have been met with cold disregard, it's understandable how they got to feeling that way. Ashton has lived alone and been told they don't matter for a lot of their life; no gods, no family, no nurturing presence to guide them, they've been abandoned, used, and - with additional influence by the Dominox accusing them of wanting FCG to die - are currently between blaming themselves and the Changebringer for their closest friend's death.

Make no mistake Ashton is wrong, I think the self-confessed hypocrite with also self-confessed poor morality knows that deep down, or at least knows that they're not the kind of person who should be in charge. Vassalheim is a difficult place for a titan vessel to be in so it is unsure what they will do from here; perhaps investigate the Earth Titan? Commune with the Emperor and Empress? Or maybe be brought to the gods and be able to vent or reconcile with them (and maybe get some closure with FCG, speak with his spirit as like a mediator between the Hells and the Gods)? But it feels like Taliesin is being vocal for a reason, and it's either to invite Matt to challenge it (I've said in other comments but I would love if Ashton found some comfort, not worship or a pact but maybe just a dialogue, in the Everlight: a goddess of healing, temperance and redemption - all of which would help Ashton mentally - as unlikely as it'd be) or find another maybe primordial route to give Ashton a narrative tether towards stopping Predathos.

Let's just, not be cruel about the character, they are more than just their bad trauma and grief-led opinion on gods remember?