#herself and her brother repeatedly assaulted

[swagging-back-to]

apple dont fall far.

The way this made me fucking cry

[aroanthy]

kiryuu sibling stasis post-32 is so interesting to me. nanami tries to leave and is (temporarily but also, crucially, violently) prevented from doing so by touga and akio. after this experience she puts distance between herself and them: she leaves touga’s phone in the car, she resigns from the student council (though she dons her old uniform still), she repeatedly dismisses and undermines the authority of the rose code, of end of the world, of akio, of touga. but she’s still in ohtori, isn’t she? uncomfortable with the idea of leaving, uncertain if it’s really possible. she tried before, and it hurt her. deeply. it’s so interesting to me, nanami’s agency and how she limits her exertion of it after 32, when she realises it for what it is. contrast that with touga, who accepts this weird stalemate between them, who is, really, uninterested in having any relationship of any kind with nanami if he can’t gain something from her. he’s very passive with her after 32, compared to the passivity he’d always feigned towards her before in order to stoke reactions from her and then exploit them. i was thinking about how touga has always been able to sever his relationship with nanami, but chosen not to; first out of a sense of obligation (‘we should live to help each other’) then a realisation of how that could be exploited. i was thinking about how nanami has never realised her ability to leave, in part because it is limited by touga and the harm he does her. i was thinking about the desperation and confusion akio calls out to anthy with as she leaves. i was thinking about how different that is to the kiryuus’ strange semi-breakdown; touga doesn’t want or need nanami, and nanami might love her brother but she cannot trust him or feel safe around him, doesn’t want to see him anymore; she’s itching to leave, and just a little scared (you know, because last time she tried that her brother assaulted her), and he’s not doing anything because ignoring her means he doesn’t have to deal with the emotions of her leaving or staying. something something gendered power dynamics something something tragic siblings

[ladydeath-vanserra]

Hello 👋

I love your thoughts on anti ic and the way you delve into everything and actually name the issues within them .

I have a rant about Feyre :

I liked her in Book 1 but book 2 onwards Mr SA melted her brain . There are lots of things that irk me about feyre : Her Hipocrasy first and foremost

The Hipocrasy is strong with this girl istg , like you're the one who does a free public porn show for the guy who SA you and then have the gall to compliment rhys when he uses his powers on keir for calling you a whore. Like wtf ? I am on kiers side in this , if your dictator ( because that's what rhysand is ) was fingering a fae in front of all of his court I'd be disgusted too .

The scene where feyre starts crying because of nestas expenditure ? Like bitch you have 5 houses and your "friend s" are always out drinking and fucking and you don't have a problem with that ? I actually think mor is an alcoholic and her relationship with cassian is incestuous.

Feyre locking Nesta in the HOW even after her trauma when tamlin locked her up in the manor like are you kidding me rn ? Seriously if I was nesta I would've verbally rendered feyre to a pile of dust .

Coming to that she also has no phycological damage from the 3 months rhysand SA her and made her do lap dances but when your sister is snarky and calls you for her decisions you have the gall to have trauma about that ? Be fr bro I call my brother whore for fun 💀( only children shouldn't be allowed to write sibling relationships - sjm )

Sorry if this got too long , I just wanted to rant to someone and I hope you understand ( you're one of the few people in this fandom with actual functioning neurons )

Thank you 💗

Yeah, I don't really get Rhysand's whole,,, well anything regarding politics tbh. He talks down and degrades the CoN and treat them as nothing more than oppressive misogynists' in front of them and then proceeds to perform sexual acts with the woman he then wants to be viewed in a professional, respectable and political light and when that doesn't happen, due to the whole sexual act and 'Rhysand's harlot' or whatever she called herself, thing, Rhysand then assaults Keir

So like.... he can assert authority and abuse power when it comes to disrespect to the girl he literally wanted to be his plaything in front of these people, but he can't assert authority when it comes to protecting the vulnerable populations of the CoN or to establish progressive laws. He says Keir is in charge of the CoN and that he can't use the Darkbringers without his permission but then he assaults the Steward of the CoN. High Lord or not that doesn't make a lick of sense if he ever wants to be viewed as a legitimate ruler. I would also be disgusted by such vulgar acts- besides these people did not consent to be witnesses to sexual acts of display

Feyre crying is... I dunno. Like I chalked it up to hormones, but I am more concerned with Rhysand's blatant manipulation and emotional and financial abuse of reading off expenses in front of every single member of the IC. That is a form of shame and humiliation in order for Feyre to 'get her sister under control'. But I also agree, I think it's completely unnecessary and hypocritical of Rhysand and Co to look down their noses at Nesta for spending money when Rhysand himself said that the IC bleed him dry with their flagrant spending on alcohol and parties- which is said in ACOMAF but then it gets played off for the Laugh

Feyre and Rhysand locking Nesta up in the HoW is just sooooo. guh. How is it that when Tamlin does it for *checks notes* five minutes it's the most egregious, unforgiveable sin but when Rhysand and Feyre not ONLY lock her up, they demolished her home, they had Elain pack up her belongings, they made her live with a man Nesta repeatedly, verbally said she wanted nowhere near her. Plus the humiliation factor of not only being talked at in front of the IC, but Rhysand, Feyre and Amren talking about Nesta via Mental Powers in front of Nesta. There was so, so much wrong with that entire scene and the fact that both the narrative and the fandom cannot see why that scene was so disgusting is quite frankly, alarming

Like I can get that Feyre could have emotional and internalized feelings of a bad self image via Nesta from childhood, but I am also aware of what can happen when children are forced into extremely small proximity with each other with a very toxic and unhealthy household. Nesta and Feyre both were at each other's throats. they were both awful to each other and there is a rather large amount of assumption by Feyre and a large amount of miscommunication with both the girls

Rhysand however, with all his abuses of Feyre UtM, just... being forgotten about, just like that, is very weird. Very weird, especially if Nesta is still paying for sins from before the first book even took place. Feyres not getting triggered from the Weavers cottage? shes not getting triggered with his "Feyre Darling"? She's not getting triggered being in the CoN where UtM was inspired by? She's not getting triggered wearing those scraps of clothes? She's not getting triggered when Rhys uses paint on Feyre in Chapter 55 or whatever chapter it was just like he did UtM in front of Tamlin??????

Feyre brings up UtM ONCE to Rhysand and he gets all hyperventilatey and says theyll 'talk about it later' and then guess what, it doesn't. It just gets explained that he just had to torture his mate and what it was doing to him

give me a break

[hello-nichya-here]

In your opinion, do some of the more dubious moments in ASOIAF (Rhaegar and Lyanna, Dany and Drogo, Dany and Jorah, Tyrion and Tysha, Cersei and Taena, Theon and Jeyne, Lysa and Petyr) count as rape/assault/grooming?

Let's go through this answer case by case.

Rhaegar and Lyanna

Ah, probably the most controversial "Did she consent to it or not?" in the whole story - and for good reason since we only ever hear about it from other people. However, even taking that into account, there are enough hints in the books to shed some light into that mistery - and honestly, I think it points to BOTH "Lyanna ran off with Rhaegar willingly" and "Rhaegar was asshole who took advantage and ruined her life" being true.

Lyanna didn't want to marry Robert. She objected to it repeatedly, and we hear all the time about how she has the "wolf's blood" - and Ned, the person who was likely the least in the dark about all of this, said that this "wolf's blood" led both his brother and his sister to an early grave, implying that she did go with Rhaegar willingly.

Rhaegar was also seen as handsome, charming, clever, and just basically every woman's dream husband. It is not impossible that Lyanna took a liking to him. Rhaegar would also not be the first Targaryen prince/king to elope with the woman he loved, and Aegon the conqueror became king of Westeros with his TWO wives. He could have easily used those tales about his family to assure Lyanna that things would be fine, that her running away with him wasn't that crazy of an idea and that there wouldn't be tragic consequences.

We also have Jon Snow, who we are 99% sure is her son in the books like he was in the show, constantly discussing "bride stealing/kidnaping" with Ygritte, which is treated not as real kidnaping but essentially as courting, with the woman choosing to elope with him or not. We we even hear the story of Beal the Bard, the king-beyond-the-wall who pretended to be a singer, was allowed to take a flower from Lord Stark's garden - and in the morning, Lord Stark's daughter is gone, but there is a blue winter rose in her place, a flower that is CONSTANTLY associated with Lyanna in the books. Once again, the story is told as love story.

But, while all of that gives us a pretty romantic, happy start to their story, we cannot forget how it ended: Lyanna all alone in a tower, dying while giving birth, seemingly completely in the dark about the fact that Rhaegar's family has been killing hers as no one bothered to explain to the Starks that no, she wasn't kidnapped, she went with him willingly.

And Rhaegar did not elope with her just out of love. He was trying to fullfil a prophecy. He needed a woman to give him another son - the right son - and clearly priotized making sure that child would not be taken by the Starks or anyone else over, ya know, not raging war against Lyanna's family.

The power imbalance between them is also quite great. Rhaegar is an adult, Lyanna is not. Rhaegar is a married man taking a mistress, Lyanna is dishonoring herself by sleeping with him. Rhaegar is the future king, free to go wherever he wants, Lyanna is a noble girl that is far away from her family and locked up in a tower. The further they get from Winterfell, the more Lyanna has to rely solely on Rhaegar - and look where it got her.

So yeah, in all likelyhood it started out as a love story, but ended with Lyanna losing all agency, her family, and even her life - things Rhaegar could have at least tried to prevent, yet we get no indication that he did.

Dany and Drogo

Just their first time is already one hell of a controversial topic. Daenerys is 13, she's terrified, she just wants to go home and be a kid. She is also being courted by Drogo and they do share some nice moments during their wedding. Then it's time for the wedding night, and Daenerys is once again cowering in fear and in fact tries to cover her body up, but Drogo won't let her. However he also tries to be reassuring, gentle AND asks her permission to go all the way, and she accepts. Dany goes to non-consenting to as consenting as someone in her position can be, and then back, A LOT. It's mixed-bag.

But let's not forget what Drogo does when Dany is clearly NOT consenting, and is in fact hurt, crying, terrified, and freaking suicidal. He takes what he wants anyway. She's his wife, so he is usually kinder to her than he would ever even consider being to any of the random women he raped, but he does still view her as property. If she's being all sweet and willing, great! If she's not, then she's gonna have to endure because the decision of when they do and do not have sex is his to make. In his mind, he probably thinks "I was nice to her the first time and she agreeded to it - that means she's ALWAYS up for it" because if the idea of marital rape is already something the people in that universe can't grasp, the idea that a wife consenting to sex with her husband once doesn't mean she has consented for EVERYTIME might as well be just a bunch of nonsensical words to them.

Now, Dany does take some more control later on. She becomes as equal to Drogo in the relationship as she could possibly ever be (again, considering her age and Drogo's mentality), and the two of them end up genuinely falling in love, and sex with him becomes something Dany quite likes instead of just more suffering. But retroactive consent doesn't exist.

Lets say that Dany was an adult who married Drogo willingly, they got along right away, and for months all the sex between them was consensual. Then one night she turns him down and he doesn't take no for an answer. The one non-consensual time doesn't magically make all the previous times they had sex sudddenly become rape, nor does the fact that it all started out consensual change the fact that he did rape her that one night.

Drogo raped Daenerys. The feelings they would develop for each other later on and all the times she did consent don't change that fact.

Dany and Jorah

A way more mild exemple compared to the previous one, but still worth discussing.

In the third book, Jorah kisses Dany, and that kiss is the thing that sort of re-awakens her sexuality, which had been dormant since her husband died AND since she was in a lot of pain due to the truly agonizing birth of her child, that had already been dead, but also wasn't, but kind of was. Anyways, Dany kind of liked the kiss - even though it's very clear she wishes it had not been with Jorah, but rather with someone younger (her lovers are all men, as in fully grown adults, but they're not thrice her age like him).

However, let's look a the actual scene.

Dany is changing her clothes in a hurry, not thinking much about the fact that Jorah is there (she did walk around with one breast out nearly all the time after all, and he did not do anything other than look). This time though, he surprises her and pulls her for a kiss, and while Dany doesn't really struggle, she does think to herself "I'm his queen, not his woman."

She tells him he shouldn't have done it, he replies that he shouldn't have waited that long. He keeps on staring at her naked chest, and she covers up. She says it wasn't right and that she is his queen - a very clear "Don't do anything I didn't give you permission to do" - he calls her the most brave and beautiful woman he has ever seen and calls her by her name, leading to her very sternly reminding him to call her "Your grace." Jorah agrees... and then goes on to talk about how no man would ever be as faithful to her as him, and it's very clear he isn't saying that just because he is her loyal knight, but rather to once again declare his romantic attraction to her.

Daenerys is being VERY clear and rejecting him. But every word she says goes in one ear and out the other because Jorah doesn't want to listen to what she has to say. He did not kiss her again (as full on forcing himself on her out be VERY out of character for him), but his complete disregard for her repeated verbal objections to his attempt of making her think of him as a potential lover are not great.

And it makes perfect sence considering WHY he is so "in love." While he genuinely connects with Dany, the attraction comes from the fact that she looks just like his second wife, the one who loved and who abandoned him to be part of a rich man's harem.

Whenever Jorah acts on his feelings for "Dany", Daenerys is, ironically, the last thing on his mind. He is thinking of his desires, his pain, his feelings. The girl in front of him be damned - she's just an object of lust/affection, despite her clear discomfort.

Tyrion and Tysha

This one is rather easy. It 100% is rape - however, Tysha AND Tyrion are being victimized, because the real abuser, the one holding all the power, is Tywin.

The whole "give her to the guards" thing was HIS idea, and Tyrion, who was just 13-years-old, says he was FORCED to watch, and then to rape her as well, and it's clear the event messed with his head. WE feel sorry for Tysha and think of how horrible that must have been for her, but Tywin's intention was to hurt TYRION, and she was just a way to do it, not a person.

Tysha went through hell on that moment, but so did Tyrion - and that was by design.

Cersei and Taena

The argument for this one is even simpler: Cersei's intention was to assault Taena, therefore this one should be treated, at the very least, as attempted rape, if not full on rape.

She had been thinking of all the times Robert raped her before she decided to assault Taena, deliberately hurt her and blamed it on the wine before saying she'd have what she'd want anyways because she's the queen - almost word for word what Robert used to say to her. And during the act, Cersei is fantasizing about torturing Taena to death.

"Oh, but she was aroused, seemed to enjoy it, and even offered to fuck Cersei too!"

1 - Cersei explicitly mentioned said to her "I'm the queen, you don't get to say no to me." The message was very clear that even if Taena didn't want it, she'd have no choice but to play along.

2 - Taena ALWAYS knows what to say to make Cersei happy anyways. She made up the whole bullshit story of "Loras is totally in love with his sister and joined the king's guard to be near her" because she knew it was Cersei's love story with Jaime and thus she'd be super biased to believe it. OF COURSE she'd play along to anything Cersei did.

3 - Arousal and orgasm are involuntary. It's just the body reacting to what is being done to it. It is NOT the same as consent.

4 - Even if we assume Taena was attracted to Cersei, wanted to have sex with her, and truly enjoyed herself that night, once again, Cersei's INTENTION was rape. Imagine that Cersei serves her food that was supposed to be poisoned, but for whatever reason it ended up not killing her, and intead Taena only had a lovely dinner - it's still attempted murder, even if Taena never realized it.

Cersei wanted to make Taena her victim. End of story.

Theon and Jeyne

Once again, this one is very simple. When Theon "warms up" Ramsay's wife for him, he is doing it under the direct of threat of "If you don't do as I say, I'll torture you until you beg for death, then torture you some more." It's like when Jeyne says she'll do anything Ramsay wants her to, with anyone he desires, including the dogs, and adds a "He doesn't have to cut my foot" at the end.

Both of them are Ramsay's victims. Theon was terrified as Jeyne. It absolutely was rape, but the rapist was Ramsay.

Lysa and Petyr

When Lysa went to Petyr's bed to sleep with him, he had been so drunk, that he mistook her for Catelyn. The second time they sleep together, hehad just gotten beaten so badly by Brandon (Cat's would-be-husband) that Catelyn had to BEG for his life. Naturally, with someone in that poor condition, he was given plenty of things to help with the pain - and as the books have stablished all the time, these lead to very weird dreams and leave the person way out of it.

This throws any consent Petyr could have given in both nights out the window, because even if Lysa asked his permission before doing anything, he was barely even understanding what was going on around him. If consent was impossible, it was rape by default.

Now, we know that Petyr will not only brag about these two night, but also go on to sleep with Lysa many more times and even become her husband eventually. But let's not forget the context here.

1 - Like I explained in the Daenerys and Drogo bit, retroactive consent doesn't exist. It doesn't matter how many times he had consensual sex with Lysa, it does not magically erase the fact that that first two times were rape.

2 - The idea of a man being raped by a woman is just not something the society of Westeros thinks is possible, so naturally Petyr would NEVER understand that what Lysa did to him was assault. At most he'd be bitter that "slept with the wrong sister"

3 - Petyr is very clearly lying to himself about A LOT of things. He convinced himself Catelyn loved him, that he slept with both Tully sisters, that Sansa is BOTH the daughter he and Catelyn never had AND Catelyn 2.0.. Him being in denial about potentially feeling abused, or at the very least angry that he was "tricked", because the story of "Everyone tried to humiliate me but I just ended up fucking my crush AND her sister" makes him feel better about a event that was deeply traumatic to him in a ton of different ways.

[philtatosbuck]

it’s so gross to me how c*roline stans have been running with this narrative that Elena is a horrible friend to Caroline and attacking her for getting involved with Damon after he r*ped Caroline while giving Stefan a free pass when Damon is literally Elena’s abuser too, and Elena was horrified and outraged by what Damon did to Caroline and did everything she could to protect Caroline when Elena was literally a teenage girl unfamiliar with the supernatural world being preyed on by two 100+ vampires and oh yeah DAMON WAS ELENA’S ABUSER TOO like literally what was elena supposed to do Damon was constantly inserting himself into her life and every time she’d reject him he’d do something like kill her brother like she had literally no power against him. Stefan was the one who could have done something about Damon and constantly chose not to but this gets completely ignored by fandom. also funny how the “elena is the worst” crowd had nothing to say about Caroline sleeping with the guy who killed Tyler’s mom (except for the people attacking TYLER for being upset lmao)

Listen, I'm 80% right there with you. You've hooked me. You're gonna get a whole essay out of me.

There are five (major) issues to tackle here. Let's start with the first one, which should be the most simple to understand.

Damon's Ongoing Assault Issue.

We all saw what Damon did. We all agree that him compelling Caroline removed her ability to consent to it. We are all aware of that. Here's the thing. In character, no one ever addresses more than the feeding and manipulation. Not even Caroline herself. We, as the audience, know the issue. But the issue presented in character is never as clear cut as "Damon raped Caroline, and she rightfully hates him for it." They never go there, and we know why. This also unfortunately means that Caroline never once says that's the reason she hates Damon so much. We're given the "he manipulated me, he fed off of me without my consent" which is still bad, but it's nothing he didn't do to anyone else. He killed Alaric multiple times. He killed Jeremy. He threatened and attacked Bonnie. He's killed Vicki and Mason and everyone else, and this is after what he did to Caroline. If he gets away with all of that, why wouldn't they forgive or tolerate him for something as 'natural' as feeding? By not acknowledging that his compulsion removed Caroline's consent, they never have to acknowledge that what he did was rape. And that means they never have to say Damon did anything worse to Caroline than he did to anyone else. Specifically, we also never see anyone call out the fact Damon compels Andie to be okay with what he is and to let him feed off of her while in a relationship with her as well. Alaric in particular never calls this out despite the fact he's an adult who should know better than the teenagers how wrong it is, because by that point, they've all reached a place where they're damn near complacent in what Damon does. But anyway, without them outright saying what he did and calling it what he is, Caroline seems very... obnoxious with her dislike for him, while everyone else has gotten over it. It kind of leads us into the next one.

The Stefan Issue.

You're completely correct. Stefan should have been the one getting Damon away. Both Elena and Stefan knew what Damon was doing to Caroline, and Elena demanded he deal with it. And he did. To do that, he used Caroline as a way to subdue Damon. While people often talk about how Stefan took Caroline under his wing, it wasn't before he repeatedly used her. Even after that, he uses her when it comes to Klaus and to Tyler. But focusing on the Damon subject, Caroline never once acknowledges that Stefan knew (which she knows) what Damon was doing to some extent or holds him responsible for it, or snarks at him about Damon as much as she does Elena. She all but outright absolves him of any wrongdoing as soon as he becomes her mentor. You see it in the way she personally roots for Stefan whenever it comes to the damned triangle, her own desire to prop him up overriding any and everything. Even after Stefan hurt Elena herself, she was still very aggressively team Stefan. This is partially because she's basically Julie Plec's self insert, and partially because she sees Stefan as the good brother, despite the fact he above all is the one who primarily excused and defended him during that time. People will not admit that Stefan is complacent in Damon's actions because they're obsessed with a 'good brother, bad brother' dynamic. On the flip side, people who do acknowledge Stefan's part of it claim Damon is better because he "owns up to what he is". The truth of the matter is that they're both assholes.

The Elena Of It All.

Like you said, Elena was rightfully disgusted and terrified of what Damon did to Caroline, and fucking immediately told Stefan to deal with that shit. For a bit after that, she (and Bonnie) were doing their best to keep Damon away from Caroline. Here's where the issue lies. Like I said before, we, the audience, know everything, right? Did we ever see a scene where Caroline tells her exactly what happened with Damon? This is part of the issue I mentioned with 'Caroline never outright says it'. All Elena has to go on is bruises and bitemarks. And she is mad about that, mad about the fact Damon fed on her without her consent, but that's all she thinks happened. She does not know Damon is her rapist. And yes, that is enough reason for Elena to hate him and be mad at him, but look at all the things I mentioned above. What did he do to Caroline that he hasn't done to others who, frankly, mean more to Elena? As bad as it is to say it, as far as Elena knows, there's nothing special about what Damon did to Caroline.

Part two of the Elena issue is that while you're right, while Damon was her abuser too, it gets wonky because of the sire bond and because of her eventual feelings for him. At some point in season one, Caroline is asking for the necklace back, and Elena goes "why? so you can give it back to Damon?" which is half a joke, half not. So already, Elena is joking about the situation. Which, Caroline doesn't remember everything. Elena knows that. Look, you can essentially take it one of two ways. One, Elena's trying to make shit seem normal because they haven't told Caroline about the supernatural, while feeling out why she wants it back. Two, she's being cruel. It honestly depends on how you view her character this early on. I'm not gonna debate about that, whatever.

Anyway, later on, in season whatever the hell, Damon jokes "have fun with blondie, I know I did" and Elena laughs. That? Was bad. Even without knowing the full extent of what he did, it was a fucked up thing to laugh at. I love Elena, and it was fucked up. You'll never see me denying that shit. Damon even fucking teaches her to hunt in the same way he picked Caroline out and it isn't called out, in canon.

Primarily, people's issue with Elena, is that it seems like she co-signs all of Damon's bullshit from even before they were together because she gets with him. For them, it's like Elena is immediately acknowledging and approving of everything Damon did because they're in a relationship. Some people acknowledge Stefan and Alaric do this as well. Some don't. Oh well.

I don't ship delena, or stelena. I think Elena and Damon's dynamic was terrible. I think her character changed when she got with him, for the worse. I openly admit all that, and you can take it as I'm biased if you want to. I personally don't think two people getting together means they cosign each other's bullshit, but whatever.

But the main issue lies in season one. They believe Elena should have done something to stop Damon from what he did to Caroline. What, exactly? I don't know. Damon was trying to compel Elena to fucking kiss him in season one and she smacked him immediately. She wanted him dead for what he did to Caroline. She said as much. I couldn't tell you what else people wanted her to do. By the time she had some kind of power against him, he had done bigger and worse things and yet he was one of their only allies with knowledge of the supernatural so they needed him. So, bluntly, Caroline's thing got pushed to the way side. One thing I see people mention is that Elena stopped Bonnie from personally killing Damon when they found out Caroline got turned and you can make your own opinions about that but Damon did not do that. Katherine did. He did deserve to die, but Elena didn't want Bonnie to be the one to do it. Opinions and reasons vary, but she also didn't let Damon kill Caroline (by directly putting herself in harm's way to protect her), so... whatever you want to think about that, think it, do it, bop it, I don't care.

My opinion on Elena being a horrible friend to Caroline is that she's not. At the end of the day, Elena is probably one of the people who treated Caroline best, if you step back and look at the whole thing from an objective point of view. People just do not do that.

I do think there's a certain point where "Elena couldn't do anything" stops being entirely true, but it's long after what happened to Caroline. And it's nothing that Caroline herself couldn't do after she became a vampire (much sooner than Elena did).

The Caroline-Klaus Issue.

Preaching to the choir, dude. People will go on all day saying how dating your friend's abuser is wrong (fair) and then say Caroline is better because she Just fucked Klaus (despite the fact they WANTED them to be in a long term relationship anyway). I, personally, don't see how the fuck that's better. I also don't see a point in "morality" arguments for this fandom, but let's just write it out. Fucking the guy who murdered your boyfriend's mom and his friends is better than dating a guy who manipulated your friend into doing his bidding and feeding on her (which as is as much as Elena knows)? Debatable.

People will often excuse this as "Tyler chose revenge over her" as if Klaus did not murder his mother and the fellow hybrids. If the roles were reversed and Liz had been murdered, there'd be a different talk. But hey.

Finally,

The Caroline Issue.

Caroline not only serves as Julie's self insert, but she's the self insert for a lot of this damn fandom. You see it in fics, where they either change her personality so she's more like Elena or Bonnie, and Elena/Bonnie is the friend who can't keep their mouth shut or is always commenting on their friends' lives or spilling secrets.

The Tyler thing? Caroline's a girlboss for telling Tyler to get over it! after she slept with his mother's murderer. But Elena's a terrible friend and "trying to make it all about her" when she tries to sympathize with Caroline over Liz's death and turning her humanity off. Caroline's a queen when she slutshames Katherine and Rebekah and literally any female character she doesn't like who she speaks about for more than two seconds, but when Elena throws it back in her face that Caroline INTENDED to sleep with Damon before finding out he was a vampire (which she did. It's why he got invited into her house), she's just so awful. This, in addition to the fact that Elena was under a sirebond, and Caroline is just regularly fucking like that.

You see my point. Anyway, make no mistake, what Damon did is an issue, but it's only as big of an issue in fandom because Caroline is the golden girl to them. They completely ignore the fact Elena has no full knowledge about what went down. They ignore that Stefan or Alaric should have been taking charge against Damon. They ignore that Caroline never so much as utters a peep about exactly why she hates Damon besides him being a "manwhore". Anything they can use to villainize anyone, but especially Elena, where Caroline is concerned? They will. Facts be damned.

[atla-confessions]

I wanna get one thing off my chest real quick relating to the Rain stuff. I do not like her or agree with her points whatsoever, but I think discussing her fics in relation to that post about Katara being drawn ‘more mature’ is counterproductive since the thread wasn’t originally about that.

Rain has repeatedly stated that she herself is a victim of rape and that the dialogue she wrote in those screenshots is stuff that was said to her. My main criticism from this isn’t that she wrote it all — you can write about Katara recovering from assault if it brings a comfort to you as a victim of it yourself, but the problem comes from WHY she wrote it the way she did.

Why is Zuko the one comforting Katara? Why is Zuko supposed to swoop in and save the day? Why not Katara’s family? Her brother? Her father? Her grandmother? Why just Zuko? That’s when the intention of the piece gets called into question.

I was going somewhere with this but I’m still kind of getting my feelings together about it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth

X

[rollinouttahere-writes]

I love all your yandere AUs and OC/readers that go with them, but Lullaby takes the cake rn because the idea of so many characters thinking they are the dad is the drama I need in life.

Anyways I was wondering how old Rosy would be if she were still alive when the one piece story starts?

Also what is the likelihood of Lullaby having half/full siblings somewhere out there?

(I think lullaby having an older brother would help to explain why Rosy never returned to stay on Amazon Lily and instead continued to wander. Since Amazon Lily is all women and her son wouldn’t be able to stay with her or even that Rosy herself was not fully welcomed back for having given birth to a boy which is an anomaly. Also lullaby’s brother would be able to give her access to all that money Rosy left behind)

Rosy is three years older than Hancock, putting her at 15 when they became slaves. If she were still alive, she would be 32 at the start of the story

I'm going to get into Rosy's early life, so I'm going to put all of that under a cut since I'm going to be touching on really heavy themes like sexual abuses (to minors) and the typical dangers of being a sex worker. If reading that is going to upset you, do not read further.

Unlike her sisters, Rosy never really came back from what happened. Her mind was stunted from being repeatedly assaulted for four years straight, especially since she was regularly throwing herself at the celestial dragons who bought them in an attempt to spare her younger sisters from being abused and/or molested.

When they got back to Amazon Lily, Rosy tried to acclimate, she really did. But she couldn't. She was so accustomed to life as a slave and being seen exclusively as a sex object by everyone that wasn't related to her that suddenly being in a safe environment felt wrong. It pained her to leave her sisters, but she couldn't stand being on Amazon Lily any longer and left it by choice, though she would regularly come back to visit.

She immediately began a career as a sex worker, and it helped to scratch that itch. Everything felt "right" again because this is how it's supposed to be for her. That was all that she thought she was good for. It was rough in the beginning as she learned the ins and outs of the industry, but she found herself enjoying it as time went on. Yes, she was still being reduced down to a sex object, but now she was getting paid for it. As she rose to higher levels, her clients even started buying her nice things, taking her out to fancy dinners, and sometimes even bringing her out on luxury vacations.

Over the years, she made friends with the other women doing this for a living. At first they were sticking together and watching each others' backs as friends, but then it grew into something more. Rosy decided to open up her own personal escort service so as to keep all of her friends together under her protection, as well as to reach out to other women that were being abused by the system. She prioritized her workers above everything else. If they felt unsafe/uncomfortable, they could leave any call with zero repercussions. If a client actually hurt them, Rosy would take care of that piece of shit personally. If someone wanted out of the industry, she would set that person up with a new look and identity on whatever island they wanted. She made everyone else abide by a buddy system to prevent any of her girls from being injured or killed. She was beloved by all the women under her care ans was mourned deeply when she disappeared.

As for potential half-siblings, Rosy would never under any circumstance abandon her child. Family is one of the few things she holds dear in life, and she would rather die than leave her own flesh and blood to fend for itself. Rosy had her faults, sure, but she was a damn good mom that was willing to lay down her own life to give her daughter more of a chance to be found.

If her sisters actually rejected her and banished her from the island over having a son, she would lose it. Such a betrayal would genuinely break her and likely ended in a violent fight between them. The bridge would be fully burned, and her sisters would be dead to her from that moment forward.

Doflamingo would love this development though because it would leave Rosy significantly more vulnerable and susceptible to his manipulation

That being said, I really can't imagine them shunning her over something like that, much less looking at their newborn nephew and hating him just over being a boy. Hancock was able to fall in love with Luffy over the course of what? Hours? So I feel like loving her own nephew wouldn't be hard. And with Hancock being the Empress, I feel like she has the power to make everyone else shut the fuck up if they don't like it.

[clairethecutepup]

Tykes at Heart: Getting Your Goat (Ch. 2)

Our tykes try to find out what exactly is causing Cio's new goat to be so... "homicidal," to put it nicely (and it is the nicest way to describe it). Unfortunately, Cio faces some bad news on top of his goat's attitude...

Alternative sites for reading (and better keeping track of the whole story), if preferred:

[Chapter Title: Antidote for an Angry Goat…?]

It took some time-- and all of the poor hybrids' well-being --but everyone managed to get the goat into the pen. Claire and Cio lay atop each other, panting while their canid ears and tails hang over themselves. Poor little Faxie found his small body sandwiched in between them. Suru found his head stuck in the building's back wall, his fox tail twitching around in anticipation of his head's freedom; while Kage drags herself back outside from the door that she previously flew past, her fox ears and tail hanging limply on her. Only Ryuketsu could be the still-standing triplet-- and generally standing person --as the large fox-man managed to hold the repeatedly rammed gate in place. Speaking of “twins,” what of the Winnings' fate?

"Leena, stay still!" Sparky cries, "Whatever you do, don't panic!"

"Sparky, look!" Leena points, "I can see our apartment from here!"

Sparky gazes around for something to help, while Leena looks on from the billboard that managed to hook the flying girl's shirt. Even literally, as she's hanging in the ending curve of a giant rod's line. Unfortunately, even those on the slimmer side can be doomed by gravity: Leena stops wagging her tail and screams, plummeting toward the ground with a ripped shirt bottom. Sparky also screams and hurries to catch his sibling, paws and furry arms outstretched. His attempts are thwarted by the long top of a street light: Leena's front-- face and all --emit a metallic, Clang! after the harsh landing.

"... Leena, are you--"

She slides off and lands atop her grimacing brother, laying them both on the sidewalk.

********

Everyone later recovers within the booths of the dining area, while Ryuketsu still remains as guard of the pen’s gate outside. Everyone takes a turn with the aspirin bottle, whether for their sore head or other aching body parts. Faxie didn’t require any, being a mechanical pet that lacked proper “feeling,” but his receptors and otherwise still remained dazed by the goat’s assault: the poor little thing just laid upon the table, his eyes spinning during his stay beside Cio.

“Cio, I know you want to make your own ingredients,” Sparky sighs, “but I think it’s safe to say that it’s a little… dangerous.”

“Look man,” Cio sighs back, “she’s probably just nervous, that’s all… I’m sure that once she gets settled in, she’ll stop trying to commit mass murder.”

“Maybe you’re better off getting a new goat…?” Sparky continues, “Who knows when that one will finally calm down…”

Claire mentally seconded the idea… She loves goats, but this would end with them all in the hospital. In her eyes, it seemed the animal just hated everyone, instead of it simply being afraid. She even thinks it tried to impale Cio and everyone else, instead of simply launching them! … Would Cio be upset if she preferred ordering takeout, instead of eating anywhere near the building now? Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind keeping video gaming and whatnot to strictly “long distance” measures… Or, he could always just come to her or the twins’ places-- in fact, maybe he should just live with either of them for now? Grayson would be happy to have his brother back under the same roof.

“Um, Cio?” Kage raises her braceleted hand, “Can I please do deliveries from now on, instead of the cash register?”

Kage also shuddered at the thought of Satan’s-Fitting-Symbol leveling the place.

“Come on, man,” Cio assures, “Kenny’s got her under control, and I’m sure she’ll calm down.”

“Um, can I work from home instead then…?” Kage still tries, “I think I heard it’s possible to do cashier jobs from far away…”

“Dude, everyone’s staying at the pizzeria…”

"Cio, please,”  Sparky interjects and stands, “it should honestly be everyone but that awful goat! I'm sorry, but I really think you shouldn't just 'give her time'..."

"Well, I don't really have much choice, man!" Cio shrugs, "They said that all 'livestock' sales are final... To be honest, I don't like it either, but I gotta now."

"Why can you not give her back?" Leena asks, "I am allowed to give things back to the store if I do not like them..."

"It was something about not wanting to risk 'sick' or 'injured' inventory," Cio sighs, "Even if that second part’s probably gonna happen to us instead..."

Sparky sighs, "Well, I guess you never do know what could happen to them..."

"I know what’ll happen to us!” Suru puffs his cheeks out, “That mean goat’s gonna give me another headache and do even worse stuff to everyone!”

"Maybe not, man..." Cio shrugs, "We just gotta find some way to help her relax and maybe she'll be nicer."

"Oh, I think I can help!" Leena stands proudly, "I am already good at calming my little buddy here."

Leena pats Claire's head, before giving her hair the most affectionate ruffle. Claire smiles and wags her tail, reaching a paw up to the hair-messing hand. Leena demonstrates her point through visually enacting her next words.

"Petting, scratching and especially hugs always make sad or nervous people happy again."

"Don't put her to sleep, man," Cio requests, "I'd like everyone to help me with that goat."

Claire simply laid back in Leena's arms, until the taller girl lightly patted her cheek.

"Wake up, Little Buddy, it was meant as an example and not to be an actual nap-starter."

Claire fully sits up, moving her glasses upward to slightly rub her right eye. It was always hard for a touch-sensitive pup to not pass out from all that.

"Uh, I don't think you should get close enough to do all that..." Sparky gulps, "That goat would only need you inside the pen to do even worse... I already had to worry about you falling from a three-story billboard, Leena. And, of course, the painful aftermath..."

"Pi-shaw, Sparky," she waves him off, "for nothing can be worse than that."

"What about actually dying this time, Leena...?"

“But people die all the time, Sparky, and for Cio’s sake--” Leena pats the mentioned friend’s head, “I must do my duty as a friend and not be stopped by what will happen to me anyway.”

"You can prolong your death, though, Leena..." Sparky then looks at Cio, "But I guess you’ve got a point: if you really are stuck with this goat, then we would have to find some way to make things work out..."

"It is time for me to shine!" Leena heads toward the outdoor pen, "Beware, little goat, for you shall become nice and friendly!"

Sparky immediately chases after.

"Leena, don't just walk back in there...!!"

Everyone else hastily follows as well, Kage carrying the still-sleepy Claire along, before they all dogpile the husky-hybrid.

"Sorry Leena," Sparky sighs, "but we really need a better plan than just walking back in..."

"You are right, Sparky," Leena pops her head out, "I should get a carrot first. Goats like them as much as horses, right?"

Everyone had to agree: perhaps some treats could help soothe the savage beast. Although, a salt lick was deemed more a goat's desired snack. Everyone leans back in anticipation, hiding behind the tallest that is Ryuketsu, as the giant fox-man holds the long pole that the treat is tied onto. It didn't take a genius to realize it’d result in a bitten-off end that looked like a woodchipper's aftermath, so everyone only felt more fear than any surprise.

Leena suggests, "Should we try another one?"

Cio gulps, "Uh, I think she'd rather eat our souls next instead..."

Cio certainly felt his pierced by those glaring eyes above the chewing maw.

Suru asks, "What's after ‘treats’?"

"Scented candles," Leena nods, "our mom always says that they relax her during baths."

"Dude, I don't want fire anywhere near her!" Cio protests, "She's already dangerous without some kind of hazard around...!"

"Do not worry, as I can hold the candle away," Leena continues, "or we can use canned air freshener instead."

"I think we'd better stick to more standard means for animals," Sparky suggests, "Maybe we're also rushing things a bit: we're probably better off approaching her and making peace, after she's had a day or two to take in her new environment."

"I guess that makes sense..." Cio sighs, "I just hope she'll eventually let me get close enough to milk her..."

"I suggest wearing a helmet-- one with a face guard, too," Sparky gulps, "Sure, you're usually beside the animal, but you never know..."

A couple days pass… and it’s a good thing Leena is arguably “braindead” already, otherwise she’d have become permanently comatosed: being the only one brave enough (or likelier stupid enough) to enter the pen, she’d often find herself being struck in the head or hitting it after each launch. Everyone insisted she get Ryuketsu’s help in restraining the goat, thus reducing the risk of injury and death; but Leena felt it would “build better trust” if the goat didn’t feel like it was “bullied into also being nice.” Well, they all supposed they could understand the logic, especially Claire: the pup would hate it herself if she was held in place, and forced to let someone untrusted come near her and especially do anything with her. This time, the ground breaks Leena’s fall, as her face slides along it and creates a small trench. Everyone else winces at the scene.

"I think I am getting somewhere, guys," Leena keeps her face down, "She did not launch me out of the pen that time, so she is starting to like me being in it."

The goat then crushes her spine underneath all four pouncing hooves.

"... Nope, I have not done it yet."

"Aw man," Cio sighs, his fox ears hanging, "we're never getting her to calm down..."

"I've been thinking that maybe we should get a vet?" Sparky suggests, "There could be an underlying issue."

"Nah man, she’s clearly healthy and fine if she’s able to attack us so easily… She’d probably be more defensive, too, instead of offensive.”

Leena is flipped over the fence and crushes Cio, making his face slam into the grass. With Faxie being in his front overall pocket, the poor little critter whimpers and finds himself unable to move under the weight.

“Are my legs still there?” Leena asks, “I cannot feel them…”

“... You know…” Cio keeps his face down, “I’m willing to try anything, even if it seems unnecessary...”

Unfortunately, the local vet is familiar with more “traditional” pets: cats, dogs, birds… It also doesn’t help that she can’t be thorough with such an antagonizing creature. If not for Ryuketsu still managing to restrain the beast, a doctor would’ve been needed instead.

“Well, everything seems to be fine…” the terrified woman backs away, hiding her face behind her clipboard, “No signs of illness or injury, but I did make a discovery…” she feels for the pen entrance, not taking her eyes off the horned menace, “Your doe isn’t actually one, but a buck… I guess that would explain the terrifying streng-- GÜTIGER HIMMEL!!!”

The full-human barely had time to exit and slam the gate shut, before the goat’s horns practically impaled the portion of fencing.

“Sorry…” Ryuketsu pulls him away, “He got free…”

“If that’s all you need of me…” the lady continues backing away, “I’ll send you a bill later…”

She turns around and runs, while Cio stands about in wide-eyed disbelief.

“... Are you freakin’ kidding me, man?!” he throws his hands up, “Even if I do somehow get that crazy goat to calm down, I won’t be able to use her-- him like I need to?!”

“Okay, that does make things a bit harder…” Sparky rubs the back of his head, “But even if ‘sales are final,’ they still have to fix any mistakes on their part, right?”

“I sure hope so, man…”

However, was it a mistake on the company’s part…?

[End Chapter]

********

Keyword of advice: if you EVER have a question pop into your head when writing, look up the answer immediately. I just realized that I almost repeated a plothole that's present in the original draft of this story, back when it was "Claire's Companions" instead: I wondered if "all sales are final" means it includes any possible errors on the company's part, so I looked it up in ChatGPT and learned that a company CANNOT actually get away with denying exchanges/refunds/etc. if there was a proven error on their end of things-- "sales final" or not. Yeah, in the original draft of both that series and TAH, Cio wouldn't be able to do anything because the site claimed for legal protection: "Sales are final, no matter what."

PS: remember that for general legal help, in case you ever actually find yourself in such a situation and especially if some seller tries convincing you, "Oh, well, we warned you it was 'final' regardless and now we'd like you to be naive enough to assume you can't do jack about it." Believe me, some people WILL try to use a general lack of knowledge against you if you're not careful.

[hallowsweenie]

The connection between Angela Orosco & Alessa Gillespie

Content warning: Sexual violence and abuse. Spoilers for Silent Hill 1 - 3

Something I always found interesting is the similarities between these two Silent Hill characters. To me, I see them as two sides of the same coin.

Silent Hill 2 is a self-contained story about a man and his late wife, following his experiences going through a town that wants him to explore his subconscious. We meet other characters in the story that James Sunderland did not know prior to coming to this town, some having to do with the plot and Mary (Maria & Laura) and some that have seemingly nothing to do with his storyline at all (Angela & Eddie). While Eddie Dombrowski is possibly reflective of the cold, callous nature it takes to become a killer, Angela has little to do with James and Mary's relationships and psyche. However, when looking closely, some things can be speculated.

Angela is a victim of abuse. Throughout her life she was sexually assaulted by her alcoholic father and brother repeatedly, with her mother turning a blind eye to the situation, speculated to also be verbally abusive to Angela. She is apparently not even twenty when James meets her in Silent Hill, and is looking for her mother specifically. We later learn through a newspaper clipping that Angela had actually murdered her father and brother, details left unknown, and she is seeking out her mother assumedly for finishing her circle of retribution on her family and cause of her suffering. Angela displays suicidal tendencies and severe mental illness, being detached from reality (If Silent Hill is reality) at times, as well as a kind of childlike-demeanor that switches to a colder, more mature side of herself. When James finds her with a knife when encountering her for the second time, she offers the weapon to him out of fear of her own misuse of it. However, as he reaches for it, she suddenly becomes frightful. Angela is very severely afraid of men. Also in the encounter in the room with the mirror and knife, Angela reveals she finds it "Easier to run" which is how she handled her abuse several times, to no avail as her father had dragged her back to her horrid living situation. She has an escapist mentality until recently, as one can assume now she is confronting her trauma after murdering her father and brother and now seeking her mother. During her journey in Silent Hill we get the idea that she still sees herself weak to her abuse and trauma, as she cowers during the boss fight we, as James, intrude upon. However, once James defeats the Abstract Daddy boss, Angela beats on the dying creature and lashes out at James, accusing him of wanting her sexually. Later, Angela mocks James by asking him rhetorical questions about saving her. Angela struggles with herself, seeing herself as a victim and her own savior at the same time. The last we see of Angela is as she ascends the burning stairs in the hotel on the lake, at the end of the game. She demands James gives her the knife back, but he declines, not giving her a weapon to assumedly commit suicide with. We can assume suicide because she asks him "Saving it for yourself?" and James claims he would never do such a thing. She questions James seeing the flames too, and says, "For me, it's always like this." Angela's end is left ambiguous. We never know how she handles her trauma. We can only hope for the best for one of the more tragic characters in the game. Masahiro Ito, monster artist of the game, did confirm on twitter that Angela dies. But the way she passes is not remembered and left ambiguous.

Alessa Gillespie is another victim of abuse in Silent Hill. She is arguably the most important character in the series, and credited as the 'cause' for Silent Hill being the way it is (However, this is debatable). Her father is left unnamed with nothing known about him - it's speculated that Alessa was the result of a magical ritual performed by her mother in the cult she was a part of, thus Alessa having psychic abilities and destined for the fate that is put upon her. However, it could be just as possible that Alessa is a product of rape, which is implied in the movie adaptation. Her mother, Dahlia Gillespie, physically and emotionally abused Alessa and involved her in the famous cult of the town The Order, which believes in old world magic and a God that will bring them salvation. Alessa, at the very young age of seven, was offered up to be sacrificed by ritual of fire in her own home, by her own mother because Alessa tried to act against her mother's wishes to birth god. The cycle of abuse continues after, as the 'god embryo' Alessa is assumedly born with does not allow her to die in immolation - she is locked away in a hidden room in the hospital, treated for severe burns, unable to interact with the outside world while on the chopping block for birthing a monstrosity at the whims of insane cultists. Lots of other abuse is left unsaid and can only be assumed. Alessa's psychic abilities are very powerful. She eventually musters up the strength to actually sever her soul out of spite to prevent the birth of God, and launched that soul out of Silent Hill as a roadside baby. A baby that is raised by the protagonist of Silent Hill's first game, Harry Mason. Eventually, Harry goes to the town by the request of his young daughter named Cheryl, who unknowingly is following her destiny to be reunited with her other half, Alessa. Harry uncovers the truth about Alessa while searching for his daughter and is misled constantly by Dahlia who does exist within the town, trying to manipulate Harry into helping her with the ritual in thwarting her daughter and bringing about the birth of God. In the end, Harry realizes what he has done and does right by Alessa, who gifts him a new baby that is the whole Alessa reborn with both halves of herself. She gives herself to a man she has deemed worthy of raising her into a better life, a man who has gone through literal hell for his daughter. We never get to know Alessa personally. Everything we know of her is through environmental storytelling in Silent Hill, and she is painted as the true victim of the story. No one in the series has undergone the level of pain, abuse, suffering and tragedy that Alessa has. Her psychic abilities on top of an already cursed land combined with her trauma supposedly created the Otherworld that Silent Hill is known for, the kind that calls to people struggling with guilt of their crimes like James Sunderland. We can maybe get an idea of who Alessa was personality-wise in Silent Hill 3, where you play as that baby Harry is given at the end of the first game, renamed Heather Mason. She's sassy, she's strong, she's so independent already as a teenager. Knowing she went to insane lengths to thwart her mother and the cults plans driven by spite, and considering that she survived everything she went through, we can assume that Alessa was also a very strong-willed girl. If she was given the choice and the room to grow, she wouldn't have been meek in any way.

Angela and Alessa are like two sides of the same coin. Besides the physical similarities and the similar names, they are the same in the way that they are opposite.

Angela is a normal girl with no psychic ability, a survivor with a damaged mental state that renders her, at first, submissive and meek on the surface and fearful of the world. But underneath, she is an angry soul who wants to right what was wronged unto her. She is without a mother, looking for her to (assumedly) kill her and seek retribution and revenge for herself. The men in her life have severely wronged and abused her, thus she hates the gender altogether. She is a victim of rape but also a murderer. She is a victim, but she is also her own savior. She rejects James's help and goes her own path in the end in flames.

Alessa is a supernaturally gifted girl who survives her situation, but not without literally dying. She never actually escapes her situation until she has to rebirth herself magically and start a literal new life as a baby. She is without a father, and while she has no siblings, she did grow up with a girl named Claudia Wolf (Introduced in Silent Hill 3) in the same cult who comes to believe the same brainwashing the rest of the cult undergoes. We can assume Claudia would have unknowingly been complicit in the pressuring of making Alessa birth God. Her mother is the person she seeks to get away from, and while it isn't explicitly said that Alessa is sexually assaulted, she does become supernaturally pregnant and is expected to give birth without her consent. Without any say in the matter, really. She is burned alive and left to suffer with the wounds, and only receives her freedom and salvation in the form of a man she deems worthy of becoming her new father. Her end is not ambiguous; she becomes Heather Mason, and the protagonist of her own game installment.

Family figures between the two girls are opposite. The views on men are opposite. One has turned to killing to resolve her trauma, and the other chose to withstand and send a part of herself away. Both go through horrendous living conditions - but one makes it out renewed with a seemingly happy ending, while the other is fractured, angry, and looks to suicide with a tragic ending. However, both girls have that fiery spirit within them that are angry about what has happened to them.

The spirit of Alessa is still present in Silent Hill 2, a game that is separate from the plot about Alessa and the Order, in the form of Angela. To James, Angela shows that not everyone can be saved, no matter how innocent they are in their own stories. The tragic suffering of a young girl like Alessa was arguably molded into a unique mirror for James once he came to the town, just like everything else in Silent Hill. Alessa's story can be seen in Angela's and one could even think that they might be the same person just in different lives, in different worlds, but there to hold a mirror up to James and his own crimes, no matter how blameless he may see himself.

Video essays maybe worth your time:

[leastdatablebracket]

QUARTER FINALS, MATCH 3

Propaganda under the cut! (tw rape)

Laito Sakamaki

Propaganda

I really could've picked any of the boys from that series really but this dude literally keeps referring to the MC as little bitch. Also, asshole wears a fedora. The fact he made the most datable poll astounds me

He's not a nice man with Yui (the protagonist) and even do some deplorable things with her when she SAYS she doesn't want to. He has a sobbing backstory and uses that to do whatever he wants. He should go to a psychiatrist. In jail.

He is a rapist! In both the anime and the games, he sexually harasses Yui. I can't remember if it was more explicit in the games, but there was a cutaway scene in the church Yui grew up in where he forces himself on her. Like the other vampire brothers, he enjoys causing her pain and suffering, and he particularly likes playing mind games with her along with his usual shit. Canonically, Yui is just the last girl in a very, very long line of "sacrificial brides" who the brothers all ended up killing in one way or another. Laito may look and act like a teenager, but he's an immortal vampire and he knows what he's doing.

This man repeatedly assaults the protagonist (Yui) because he wants to "taint" her. At first he only strips her and touches her only laughing when she says no because "well what a perverted woman, why aren't you being honest with yourself" and it's implied that he rapes her. There's a scene where Yui contemplate suicide (keep in mind she's religious and try to keep her faith even while abused so it's a big deal) because she can't take it anymore, and then Laito shows up in her bath and makes her harm herself. He humiliates her in public. He's just horrible. His excuse is that his mother abused him and he convinced himself he liked it and he loved her. At the end of his route Yui is totally broken in my opinion, convinced she is tainted now and losing her faith in god. Granted he isn't the worst of his brothers but this man is definitely undatable. While he softens in later games, this man is horrible.

Peter King

Propaganda

Oh I could go ON AND ON but here’s a list: He’s a stalker, he showed up late to a date HE REQUESTED, he killed either your landlord, roommate, or coworker (depending on route) and stuck them in a freezer, lied to the police about it, followed by a car ride either consisting of traumadumping about his family (valid tbh) or him talking about how much he wants to fuck your brains out, then you finding a bloody knife in his glove compartment, asking about it, and him smashing your head into the window to shut you up while he takes you to his house. He is The Worse Datable, as well as The Only Datable because well…he killed the others…and kidnapped you….

FUCK THIS DUDE!!! Country Human looking-ass bitch, I want him dead and obliterated

Many violence, Yandere behavior, cut your leg off in a semi-canon series of illustrations, smashed your head into the passenger side window of his creepy van, chloroformed you in your own house, brought you flowers that were probably tainted with his own blood, given context from another route. Generally a terrible person. Also just very strange to look at :/

He knows what he did….😒

He broke into Y/N’s house and chloroformed them. Generally a really creepy and perverted guy. TK is better :/

Send that man to Worst Datable Hell! Put him in the trash file (he’s a pseudo-sentient AI, similar to Monika, so this threat is valid)! He sometimes looks like a kicked puppy when talking to you, but with your small contributions, we can make him look even more like a kicked puppy! Vote Peter King for Worst Datable Datable Character today! Bonus: Funny canon facts about him! - He can’t swim - He’s allergic to peanuts - He has to wear glasses, but usually wears contacts - He had an emo/goth phase in high school - He’s a YouTuber; he does product reviews - He has very strong mother issues (understandably) - He will respond to and greatly enjoy the nickname “Cockbite” (there are many other names he enjoys, but this one’s the funniest to me)

[esther-dot]

What do you think about song Bear and the Maiden Fair? While the bear is described as brown and black with hairs while the maid described as honey in her hair and pure. Many think that song is about Hound and Sansa because he saved her when other knights couldn't but the bear in song didn't seems to saver as it tastes the honey of maid when she was shrieking and kicking. Seems like forced touching just like Hound forcing on Sansa. Tyrion, Penny and Jorah had played the characters in Meereen.

I also received this ask about the song:

(These are so old, neither of you may be around anymore, but I finally typed up some thoughts on this. Sorry for how belated this is! 😬)

I would assume that the reason so many relationships have a connection to the song is that Martin has an interest in developing relationships between extremes. At one point or another, he’s formed a relationship between youth/age, brother/enemy, beauty/ugliness, life/death, love/hate and I totally forgot the big one and had to circle back to add: ice and fire! Lmao). “Beauty and the Beast” is based on the interest in the juxtaposition of extremes, The Bear and the Maiden Fair offers something similar, so it makes sense to me that he repeatedly utilizes it.

The placement of extremes in relation to each other is an aesthetic thing some find compelling (created via The Hound’s size and scars against Sansa’s remarkable beauty and youth, Dany’s size, eye and hair color contrasted with Drogo or Jorah’s…), but more importantly, a thematic thing. We see the contrast vividly with Brienne and Jaime as well as Sansa and the Hound. Their appearance is at odds, of course, but what really matters are how their values are contrasted. Sansa’s beliefs and her nature are entirely opposed to the Hound’s, and if you think of Jorah as the knight exiled for being a slaver and the shame of his house helping the woman who attempts to end slavery (until she needs it) and restore her house…well, you get a version of that there too.

Being that Martin has stated he played with the Beauty and the Beast angle with Sansa and the Hound, but was surprised people shipped it, we should accept that Martin uses tropes/references for different purposes, not necessarily to signal an endgame romance or mutual interest even if that is the initial thought by the reader. Martin likes the inside/outside view of things, likes to examine ideas from multiple perspectives, and a character occupying different roles throughout the story allows him to extract a lot of meaning. Fans like to focus on how Sansa is wrong about a certain character, but the main intent behind all of this is the author challenging his reader when he forces us to examine and re-examine who characters are and what he is saying with them. The lyrics of the song twists our perception of things, so, even if I reject how it’s often applied, I agree that the concept behind the song is being discussed in these relationships.

We see the same beast/knight ideas with the Hound and Sansa as with Jorah and Dany. Both Dany and Sansa have these guys who are associated with specific animals (bear, hound), who function as protectors at some point even though they also betray them. Jorah’s betrayal is labeled as such in the book, but the Hound going from rescuing Sansa to assaulting her is a betrayal as well. Both men develop loyalty to the girls, they offer some protection, both have a sexual interest in the girls and both sexually harass them (Jorah kisses Dany without permission, the Hound assaults Sansa). I suppose Sansa and the Hound fit a little better with parts of the song because the girl is initially frightened by the bear while Jorah presents quite differently despite all the bear references. The bear-ish description of Jorah isn’t just the bear sigil, we also get all the hair stuff:

"I shall wish to speak with Ser Jorah before the night is done," her brother said. Dany found herself looking at the knight curiously. He was an older man, past forty and balding, but still strong and fit. Instead of silks and cottons, he wore wool and leather. His tunic was a dark green, embroidered with the likeness of a black bear standing on two legs. (AGOT, Daenerys I)

“He had a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head.” (AGOT, Daenerys III)

and of course, he is referenced as a bear pretty often:

“Ser Jorah, her gruff old bear” (ADWD, Daenerys VI) and he’s referred to as her “bear knight” (ADWD, Daenerys III) and “My bear, she thought, my old sweet bear” (ADWD, Daenerys X).

I selected those from ADWD because to me, that’s when it for sure was deliberately connecting back to the song as Tyrion puts Jorah in the role of the bear:

"That one is part of our show. The bear and the maiden fair. Jorah is the bear, Penny is the maiden, I am the brave knight who rescues her. I dance about and hit him in the balls. Very funny." (ADWD, Tyrion X)

So, we begin the story knowing Jorah is a bear (Mormont), that he’s described as bear/beast, called a bear/bear knight, and then eventually, he’s playacting the bear from the song. Interestingly, the "knight" who fights the bear is acted by someone Martin has called a villain. I could never argue that the author isn’t being intentionally self-referential, he clearly is. However, we do have the fact that Jorah betrayed/molested Dany, and this:

Jorah Mormont's face was dark with anger, but he answered. "To serve her. Defend her. Die for her, if need be."

That made the widow laugh. "You want to rescue her, is that the way of it? From more enemies than I can name, with swords beyond count … this is what you'd have the poor widow believe? That you are a true and chivalrous Westerosi knight crossing half the world to come to the aid of this … well, she is no maiden, though she may still be fair." (ADWD, Tyrion VII)

I’m uncomfortable with the emphasis placed on virginity in the books and hate to use that (or beauty) as a determining factor in which couple the song is “really” about, but we have this line which I see as direct guidance from Martin about interpreting the Dany and Jorah relationship as a straight up version of The Bear and the Maiden Fair. The way it’s presented and challenged indicates that while in a particular dynamic or in a specific scene a character fulfills a certain role, that isn’t necessarily their overall role. To me, looking at the story as a whole, Brienne’s role is true knight, more so than maiden. Just as the idea that Dany is the maiden/damsel is present in her interactions with Jorah, but that isn’t her role in the story as a whole, no more than Jorah is the true knight. (He’s a slaver ffs).

As for the Jaime and Brienne of it, Jaime protecting Breinne from a bear slots him into the knight role, but as they struggle over who is fighting the bear, there’s a play on who is in the knight role and who is in the “maiden” role. Also, Brienne is mockingly called beauty and Jaime is described as a beast, and while those characters are being cruel to Brienne, to the reader, we know Jaime has done horrible things (attempted kid killing = monstrous), and we know Brienne is the purist soul (goodness=beauty), so taking a step away from the superficial, we are getting a layered play on the trope. And yes, Brienne is a virgin and Jaime a knight, we can leave it there, but Brienne is a knight in the truest sense and Jaime is beautiful, so I think the best way to look at this question of who this song is “about” is to accept that the trope being discussed is getting a rotisserie chicken treatment. We’re allowed to see it from every juicy angle, not limited to one. After all, Jorah is a knight and a bear.

Of course, as I already said, since the author likes to reference things without implementing them the way people expect, this doesn’t necessarily mean romantic endgame, but saying that doesn’t mean I’m dismissing Braime because I do think Martin wrote in the romantic stuff deliberately. The whole knights/fools etc is at play in that scene too:

"What are you doing here?"

"Something stupid. Get behind me." He circled toward her, putting himself between Brienne and the bear. (ASOS, Jaime VI)

Brienne is referenced as the maid in this scene, but later she reads like a knight on a quest to save the fair maiden --Sansa. We even get some “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” singing there. If they ever meet, I would expect some beauty/beast discussion to crop up just as part of this continuing conversation about roles, part of the characters revolving through them to allow the author to thoroughly analyze the ideas and evolve what fairytales are/say. In their pairing, Brienne would be the knight to Sansa’s maiden to allow for Martin to contrast Brienne with all of our failed knights.

We get a lot of duality with these characters/their roles which means we can ask, who is the knight/who is the bear and come up with many, many answers. All of them true in a certain light, only to then turn them on their head. Sometimes, a failed knight rises to the occasion, and sometimes the maiden saves the knight, and sometimes, the knights are evil, sometimes the knight isn’t a true knight. Sometimes salvation comes from where you least expect it, and sometimes, rescuers are also a threat. The roles are there, but Martin is playing with them, challenging them, so the multiple ways we can read these characters and dynamics is very much intentional. All of that being said, it’s undeniable that there is one maiden for whom the song is particularly relevant.

Sansa fits the maiden role in a much more overarching way than our other contenders. Not only because she’s a virgin, not simply because of her interest in romance or because so much of her story has been driven by various people’s sexual/political interest in her/marrying her, but because she represents certain attributes, foremost of them, mercy. We get in trouble when talking about how beautiful she is, but it can’t be disregarded because she represents hope, innocence, compassion, peace. Martin made her beautiful not just as a physical thing, rather, because she is representative of ideas; she is the beauty of certain ideals.

The Hound who laughs at killing children is moved to protect her, can’t follow through on his own desire to harm her. Dontos tells her,

"A knight?" Joffrey had decreed that he was to be a knight no longer, only a fool, lower even than Moon Boy. "I prayed to the gods for a knight to come save me," she said. "I prayed and prayed. Why would they send me a drunken old fool?"

"I deserve that, though . . . I know it's queer, but . . . all those years I was a knight, I was truly a fool, and now that I am a fool I think . . . I think I may find it in me to be a knight again, sweet lady. And all because of you . . . your grace, your courage. You saved me, not only from Joffrey, but from myself." (ACOK, Sansa II)

Personification is a thing and even though she is a multidimensional character, I think the way Martin has written Sansa makes it clear that he is calling back to old archetypes here which is why, when you hear “maiden fair,” Sansa is the referenced character in an overarching way, not just in a specific dynamic, not just in a specific chapter or one book, but in the series, this is who she is in a way that no other character is.

Her role in the story is notably the tropey damsel in distress/princess in the tower (in a way that Dany and Brienne are not), and even with the revision of what that means by a modern author, even with the idea growing and evolving into something new, with the girl having far more agency and inner life than in older stories, it’s so clear this is who she is that even her haters know it. They call her a princess in a tower to show their disdain, but all they’re doing is admitting that even they recognize who she is in the story.

And of course, there is the fact that Sansa is referred to as a fair maiden, even in her TWOW chapter, that her beauty is often remarked upon, and that she has some parallels with Persephone which seems pertinent due to the Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone/Death and the Maiden connection:

Petyr cut a pomegranate in two with his dagger, offering half to Sansa. "You should try and eat, my lady."

"Thank you, my lord." Pomegranate seeds were so messy; Sansa chose a pear instead, and took a small delicate bite. It was very ripe. The juice ran down her chin. (ASOS,

LF is her uncle (by marriage), he spirits her away from KL and is clearly intent on making her his, and as we know, he’s orchestrated destruction for her family/the realm, so he fits in here as a kind of Hades (death) to Sansa’s maiden which is relevant considering how loosely related death and the maiden is to the beauty and the beast idea.

However, the thing that feels the most like the author directing us to a specific conclusion must be reading her first chapter in ASOS which might as well be called “the Bear and the Maiden Fair chapter” because we finally get the lyrics to the song, and it’s interspersed into a scenario that is kinda telling a similar story. Sansa wants a beautiful knight (Loras), but is offered a stranger instead (Willas). We’ve also just read a speedrun through all the fake knights/bears/suitors/“love interests” Sansa (or fans) have selected for her:

Sansa wondered if Joffrey knew of this supper. For all she knew, it might be his doing. That thought made her fearful. If Joff was behind the invitation, he would have some cruel jape planned to shame her in the older girl's eyes. Would he command his Kingsguard to strip her naked once again? The last time he had done that his uncle Tyrion had stopped him, but the Imp could not save her now.

No one can save me but my Florian. Ser Dontos had promised he would help her escape, but not until the night of Joffrey's wedding. The plans had been well laid, her dear devoted knight-turned-fool assured her; there was nothing to do until then but endure, and count the days.

[…]

Even so, she must accept. She was nothing now, the discarded daughter of a traitor and disgraced sister of a rebel lord. She could scarcely refuse Joffrey's queen-to-be.

I wish the Hound were here. The night of the battle, Sandor Clegane had come to her chambers to take her from the city, but Sansa had refused. Sometimes she lay awake at night, wondering if she'd been wise. She had his stained white cloak hidden in a cedar chest beneath her summer silks. She could not say why she'd kept it. (ASOS, Sansa I)

So, we have the prince who turned out to be a monster (Joffrey), the guy everyone thinks of as a monster who protects her (Tyrion), a knight who she saved but sexually harasses her (Dontos), a man who threatens her but ended up saving her only to then turn around and be a threat himself (The Hound). See what I mean about multiple roles? My gosh, it’s almost like the author has intentionally been writing variations of the song into Sansa’s story all along, or even, dare I say it, he's written Sansa’s story into a song, only, none of these match up perfectly, so we are still waiting for the true(est) incarnation of this song to manifest into her story.

Or, all of that shorter:

"I CALLED FOR A KNIGHT, BUT YOU'RE A BEAR! (ASOS, Sansa I)

"I prayed to the gods for a knight to come save me," she said. "I prayed and prayed. Why would they send me a drunken old fool?" (ACOK, Sansa II)

So, if Sansa is the maiden of the song, the maiden fair of A Song of Ice and Fire, who is the bear, who’s the knight? More importantly, where is this poor girl’s hero?

Y’all, this is getting ridiculously long. Now, I’ve never not done something for a silly reason like not wanting to appear ridiculous, but I can’t post seven thousand words all at once. tumblr staff will deactivate my account to save me from myself! I will get to Jon and the Jonsa of it all in part two.

[soleminisanction]

I saw a thing about Stephanie being the ~heart of the BatFam~ and all I could think was ‘she’s barely a spleen to them and DC says you can cut them out no problem’. I made myself laugh, thought I’d share

LOL. That is amusing.

Man, talk about people mistaking their headcanons for canon though. People keep trying to insist that Steph is "the heart of the Bat-family" or "the hope at the bottom of Pandora's box" because it's a lazy way to make her seem important without having to do the actual work of giving her a concrete personality beyond, "I'm not like other girls! I like purple and waffles!"

You want the actual heart of the Bat-family, you're thinking maybe of Dick now, or of Tim pre-Flashpoint.

I mean, on one hand, you've got Batman's long-term partner, his true believer, the one who pulled him back from the edge. Nightwing's beloved younger brother and biggest fan. Kid brother to both the Birds of Prey and the Gotham Sirens. The one who kept giving Red Hood second chances even after it repeatedly blew up in his face. The one who believed in Cass-Batgirl after her brainwashing in spite of being the primary target of her resulting attempted assaults, the one who reached out to remind her that Gotham would always be her home whether she was Batgirl or not.

And on the other, you've got the girl whose primary role is standing around in the background making judgemental mean girl jokes about other people's appearances and personalities. Who doesn't even have a properly established motivation for why the hell she wants to be a superhero beyond fucking with her father, forcing the readers to piece it together through context clues and then argue what that context means. Who spends every single "bear your heart and express your true emotions" beat she's ever been given talking exclusively about herself and how very very special and important she is. And who forgets her supposed best friends in the entire world the very second she can no longer use either of them to get what she wants.

One of those is heart material, the other most certainly is not.

[celiaelise]

Watched the first 2 episodes of "It's Okay To Not Be Okay". (recommended to me by my mother who watches a lot of kdramas) I like the fairytale themes, and children's books and mental health/developmental disabilities are both topics I'm interested in!

But I have to say, while I am TRYING to suspend my disbelief. That man should absolutely get a restraining order. She 1. attempted a murder right in front of him, 2. assaulted him w a knife, (didn't mean to but he did get hurt and she didn't seem that sorry) 3. was generally just really weird and up in his personal space and making creepy comments, 4. attempted a SECOND murder right in front of him, and VERBALLY EXPRESSED her disappointment when the man is only injured. 5. FOLLOWED HIM TO HIS NEW JOB IN A DIFFERENT CITY

Like. I actually DO think Ko Moon-young is a very sympathetic character, and I can see the justification for a lot of the shit she's done, but. If it were ME in Moon Gang-tae's shoes, I would be Taking Action. Running, hiding, calling for help, contacting my attorney, etc. (Though idk if he's, like, undocumented, in a way? bc he ran off with his brother as a kid? So maybe he can't take her to court.) Like, you've just acquired a stalker who has repeatedly demonstrated herself to be capable of violence!!! This is NOT A DRILL!!!

I mentioned my thoughts to my mom, and she was like, "yeah but she's he's First Love 🥺 You can't control who you fall in love with." Absolutely not!!! If your First Love attempts murder in front of you TWICE and then TRACKS YOU DOWN to a new job in a new city??? I would say that is probably some sort of red flag! I think that might make me not be in love with someone anymore! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Plus, he even SAID his memories of her were specifically bad memories!!!

[brokenhardies]

Foolsuke AU Character Profiles

Yusuke Kitagawa/Ace

Fool Arcana and the Wild Card

Foster son of Madarame, but was disowned and shipped off to Tokyo after they witnessed Madarame drunkenly abusing a young woman and stood up to him, leading to a scuffle

Is on probation for 'assault', staying with a friend of their late mother in Tokyo - Ichiko Ohya - and going to Shujin Academy

Still an artist - but focused on graffiti and sketch work. Tends to keep it to themselves however

A bit of a cynic and tends to keep to themselves, which doesn't help when their record is leaked

Secretly enjoys puns

Their main persona is Nezumi, who uses Ice skills

Main weapons are katanas and assault rifles

Violet/Rogue

Magician Arcana

A cat-like creature that Yusuke and Makoto find in Kamoshida’s palace following Yusuke’s awakening

Very naive to the workings of the real world, but intelligent when it comes to the Metaverse

A bit insecure and sees Yusuke as being a teacher/mentor - calls them ‘Senpai’ repeatedly

Believes that they were transformed into this form by the distortions of the Metaverse. Wants to get to the bottom of the Metaverse to find a cure for her changed form

More honest with the starting party than Morgana in canon, but still takes on a mentorship role when she can

Her persona is Giselle, who uses Wind skills

Main weapons are rapiers and lever-action rifles

Makoto Niijima/Knight

Chariot Arcana

Former overachiever, Student Council President shoo-in, and A-grade student. However, when one of her friends - Eiko - was being abused by Kamoshida, she tried to call him out

However, this resulted in Kamoshida calling her to his office and attempting to sexually assault her. Makoto refused his advances, which led to him getting violent and breaking her leg, then spreading rumors about her having sex with him in order to stay on top

This resulted in Makoto becoming the school’s pariah

Bit of a loner and is hyper-aggressive, however, is still good at school. She tries to keep her results to herself as she doesn’t want to draw attention to herself

Older sister is a teacher at the school, which is probably why Kamoshida was able to get in and under, as he also wanted to ruin Sae for speaking out against him(?)

Can and will fight people who hurt others

Massive bully hunter

Her persona is Ching Shih, who uses Electricity skills

Main weapons are knuckle-dusters and revolvers

Futaba Isshiki/Jackal

Lovers Arcana

A popular streamer and influencer who gained the attention of Kamoshida

Best friends with Kana Magario, who is on the school’s volleyball team

Later, upon discovering Kamoshida’s sexual offences, she tries to reveal it via social media. Once Kamoshida discovers that she knows the information, he holds Kana’s starting position over her head

After Kana attempts to commit suicide, Futaba joins the Phantom Thieves

Daughter of Wakaba Isshiki, a researcher who was left wheelchair bound after a car accident, which Futaba insists is linked to the mental shutdown incidents that have been happening recently

While loving to stream and talk with fans, Futaba is very introverted, and prefers to hang out with only a select few people

Terrible actress but tries her best to use her skills to distract and fool others

Speaks in mostly anime and video game references

Her persona is Charlotte, who uses Fire skills

Main weapons are spears and hand crossbows

Akira Kurusu/Raven

Emperor Arcana

Music prodigy and student of Atsushi Samuragochi, who acts as a ghostwriter for him (unknowingly?)

Upon meeting Futaba and recognising her on social media, he asks her to go to his concert and meet up with Samuragochi, who’s trying to get a younger audience to come to his shows

Futaba immediately thinks its suspicious that Samuragochi has gone through several students, one of which being Akira’s twin brother Ren, who they’d recently gone to Mementos to save

No nude modelling incident, but when the trio confront Akira on his mentors abuses, Akira kicks them out of the shack that he and Samuragochi have been living in - which is when they find that Samuragochi has a Palace

Eventually, Futaba convinces Akira to join her in going to the Palace, which is when he awakens to his Persona

Akira is flamboyant and energetic, being very high-spirited and talkative. However, when he’s upset, he can get quiet, to the point where it’s scary

He and Yusuke bond over both being artists who were abused by their parental figures

His persona is Rocancourt, who uses Curse skills

Main weapons are daggers and semi-automatic pistols

Goro Yoshida/Baron

High Priestess Arcana

The Student Council President of Shujin Academy, taken in by Toranosuke Yoshida after his mother died in an accident caused by the mafia

He is tasked by the principal to investigate the Phantom Thieves, but - upon finding out who the Phantom Thieves are - he decides to instead use them to stop a recent mafia scam that exploits high schoolers

Upon confronting Kaneshiro - who was his mother’s killer - Goro awakens to his Persona

Becomes the unofficial navigator and strategist for the group for a short period of time, with Violet’s help

Is often considered to be ‘too harsh’ to the students and is considered a buzzkill, which he tries to counteract by behaving ‘pleasantly’ as to not appear threatening

In reality, Goro is a surprisingly vindictive young man with a short fuse, that will often get set off over the shortest of things - which comes in handy when dealing with the injustices that the Phantom Thieves face

His persona is Corey, who uses Nuke skills

Main weapons are single-handed swords and ray guns

Ryuji Ohya/sans/Roger

Hermit Arcana

After his mother was killed due to her involvement in the Conspiracy - a death that also cost Ryuji his right leg due to being in the car at the same time - Ryuji was convinced his mother suffered from a ‘maternity neurosis’ and became a shut-in

As a result, the guilt and trauma from the accident and self-blame for his mother’s death caused Ryuji to gain a Palace

Has a skill in hacking, founding the white hat group Medjed but quitting it following their actions leaning over into black hat territory

However, Medjed decided to use their newfound position as being leaderless to threaten the Phantom Thieves — if the Phantom Thieves didn’t give up their identities, they would perform a large-scale attack on Japan known as the ‘cleanse’

Reluctantly, Ryuji contacted Yusuke, knowing they and their friends were the Phantom Thieves, in exchange for helping them with Medjed, the Phantom Thieves would change his heart

Awoke to his Persona by accepting his Shadow and confronting the image of his mother created by his distorted heart

His Palace is based on a Post Apocalyptic Wasteland, with raiders and bandits scavenging the area

His persona is Nautilus, who acts as the main Navigator for the team

Ann Takamaki/Rose?

Empress Arcana

The daughter of Felix Takamaki, the founder of a modelling studio

She works for her father as a model, predominantly appearing in photoshoots when she was in her teenage years

After her mother’s death, her father slowly began to become isolated and obsessed with material goods and power. Ann noticed that he’d started to become distorted as he’d begun to neglect her in favor of other models, namely Mika

I’m honestly not sure what causes Ann to seek out the Phantom Thieves… Maybe something to do with Shiho like in canon?

But she awakens in her dad’s palace and gains the strength to save herself and her friend from her father’s distortion

Her persona is Fiocca, who uses Psy skills

Main weapons are whips and sub-machine guns

Haru Okumura/Blanc?

Justice Arcana

Former heir to the Okumura Foods Conglomerate, who became a detective prodigy after her father mysteriously died

She’s working with Yoshida, and it’s after the Phantom Thieves are targetted for Felix Takamaki’s murder that she decides to seek them out and ask them to enter Yoshida’s palace

Very sweet and polite, good natured, but has a ruthless streak when in the Metaverse

Probably already knew of the Metaverse as she heard Violet say something about ‘pancakes’…

Her persona is Cagliostro, who uses Bless skills

Main weapons are axes and rocket launchers

Satoru Yoshizawa

Faith Arcana

Information not found, will get back to you later ;)

[majormeilani]

riding off the emotions of last night,

i did actually end up confronting my grandmother and my uncle about their shitty behavior and i got the absolutely most deranged response i've EVER heard from them and not a single thing they said to me felt like a genuine apology.

the first thing i said to my grandmother was expressing that i don't feel respected by her and how she always makes excuses for my uncle making shitty comments and being an asshole and i asked her 'why do you always stick up for him when he says shitty things about me or my siblings' and her first response to me was '... because he's my son.'

and i was like ......... WHAT?!!!??!!

and i exploded from anger at that statement and barked back at her 'but i am your granddaughter. do my feelings not matter???' and then she fussed at me for yelling like 'you don't have to yell..' and i was like NO bitch i do need to yell and this coaxed my coward ass whiny bitch of an uncle out of his room because i was 'yelling at his mommy' cry me a fucking river

and then my brother stepped in on my behalf and lit them both the fuck up and called my grandmother something insulting but true and said she's only cared about herself, which is true, and then shit escalated to the point where my uncle threatened to call the cops on my brother and then kept telling him to leave and apologize to our grandmother, because they're both kiss ass bitches to each other and enable their bullshit. and then things escalated further to the point where my uncle ended up trying to remove my brother physically from the house, essentially assaulting him. and after that my brother just ended up waiting out in the car.

and after all that my uncle starts preaching to me about how he's 'always cared about us and loved us with his whole heart' and starts talking about how he 'doesn't understand how things ended up like this with our relationship' and sheds some crocodile tears about how he's so heartbroken that we don't love him back and whatever, when he's the one who literally made my brother suicidal since he was 6 years old with how shitty things he'd always treated us. and he has the audacity to try and appeal to me by bringing up the fact that my parents had a divorce and it's what 'ruined everything we had as a family' when motherfucker it was you acting like a piece of shit that ruined things between us, constantly bullying us and putting us down and saying hurtful things that my grandmother just excused as 'teasing' motherfucker. dunking my brother's head underwater when he was like ten years old and you're a grown ass man isn't fucking teasing. i would strangle you with my bare hands if i could, motherfucker.

and then he repeatedly brings up how i we were his 'first little nieces and nephew' and gets all weepy and pathetic again expressing how it breaks his heart and blah blah blah as if WE are hurting HIM for being affected by his shitty behavior?????? and then he mentions his own hardships and how he's not the type to hold grudges he just lets things go and leaves the past behind him and blah blah blah like wowww so hard for you to say your shit behavior wasn't that bad and express how we're somehow bad people for 'holding grudges' like dude.

also him mentioning how we're his first nieces and nephews was something he tried to use as leverage to the fact that 'his relationship with his other nieces and nephews aren't as bad as ours with him' yet they didn't live with him constantly growing up? and be tormented by him day by day? they didn't live with them. they're also children too, who don't know better yet and i'm honestly hoping they realize the true colors of that side of the family when they do grow up because my heart breaks for them being caught up with this shit too. i still can't believe he blamed it all on the divorce tearing shit apart when he's the one who acted that way with us before it happened.

and my grandmother also tried appealing to me too, getting in my face, touching me, and trying to wipe my tears and nose, like i'm a fucking child. and she proceeds to infantilize me by constantly bringing up child me and how she was so excited i was her first granddaughter and how she cried and blah blah blah. she kept bringing up how i was when i was a child and trying to use that to show me that she's always loved me no matter what I thought of her and ect. and then she goes on to try and commend me for my accomplishments and when i step to kinda move away from her, she steps in my way, essentially making a barrier to keep me from leaving while she's speaking. and she asks me if there's a way we can fix things between us and it's like???? that's not for me to figure out. that's her and my uncle's responsibility. they're the one who ruined things, not me. they just kept trying to ask essentially for another chance but that was not going to happen and kept trying to guilt trip me essentially by claiming that it's my choice of what happens, but heavily implying that we should just let it go and give them another chance. but like, it's clear to me these people won't change and it's why they've meant nothing to me. they played no part into shaping the person i am today so what makes them think i'm going to forgive them? they're as good as dead to me.

and guess what? after all of this bullshit they both had the audacity to ask for a hug. like i want your disgusting bodies against mine. fuck. off.

[cepetriwrites]

Into the Storm - Chapter 14 - Helaena V

Read on AO3

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Next Update: September 6th

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Helaena had found the fight chaotic, the moment after Aemond’s eye was slashed trumped it. Somehow she gained some fabric to hold against his bleeding eye.  After ordering the twins to fetch the maesters, Jace and Helaena helped her sobbing brother out of the dragon pit. 

The ground beneath her moved as if it was the sea. Helaena felt as if she was going to vomit, Aemond’s crying worsened the pain in her head. She nearly collapsed with relief when a maester took Aemond from her and Jace. Leaning against a wall, she heard Jace say she was hurt, and her head was bleeding. Helaena was so disoriented, it wasn’t until a maester started examining her, that she realized who Jace was referencing.

They were brought to a giant hall, which kept filling with noise after each guard and maester and parent entered.  Alicent’s maternal instincts were in full swing as she fussed over her two children.

“What happened?”

“Luke attacked me!” Aemond said.

“That’s not true!” “They attacked us!” Helaena squeezed her eyes shut as the yelling assaulted her ears.

“The injury is minor, but the princess will need a few stitches,” said the maester cleaning her wound with a stinging vinegar.  

Someone helped hold her still as a needle pierced her skin repeatedly. Aegon, who had appeared in the great hall at some point, slipped his hand into hers as she whimpered in pain. Aemond fared far worse. His eye was too damaged to be saved. Helaena no longer cared after who was right or wrong, she wanted the issue to be dropped, and to curl up in bed. Surely everyone had suffered enough.

“I’m so tired,” Helaena whined softly.

“You cannot princess, falling asleep after receiving such a head injury could be dangerous.” The maester said. Fine, she would stay awake, but she needed calm and quiet, her headache had not lessened.

The doors burst open and Rhaenyra and Daemon came in, Helaena groaned quietly and sank further into her chair. If their parents did not come to blows, they would all be lucky.

Alicent was demanding justice for Aemond, Rhaenyra for her boys; her father, the permanent peacekeeper, would not make a decision that alienated either group. Helaena hardly followed, despite the Maester’s warning, she felt herself trying to nod off. All she wanted was to sleep.

“Set Cole, bring me Lucerys’ eye, he may choose which one he keeps, a privilege he did not grant my son.” She heard her mother demand, Helaena sat back up, focused into the conversation.

“Mother no!” Helaena said, Ser Cole stammered a refusal. The princess looked to her older brother, “Stop her,” she pleaded. “We’re lucky that’s all that happened.”

“Your brother lost his eye, Helaena!” Her mother practically screamed at her.

“But that’s only because he tried to…” The words died on her tongue as she realized the severe consequences that come from it.

“Tried to what , Heleana?” Her father asked with an intensity she was unaccustomed to. 

Helaena’s eyes flicked to the different factions in the room. Her mother had often lamented her husband’s favoritism, and his refusal to make a polarizing decision. His constant need to placate everyone, satisfying no one. His younger daughter would be lying if she didn’t admit it made her feel a little bitter. However, at this moment, she understood her father’s difficult position. No matter what she said, someone would feel vindicated, others attacked. Her mother and grandsire stared her down. She had been angry at Aemond, but then he lost an eye. Baela lost her mother’s dragon. Everyone was bruised and bleeding. “Hasn’t everyone suffered enough?” Helaena asked.

“Aemond has lost HIS EYE!”

“My sons were defending themselves!” Rhaenyra shot back. 

The Hall of Nines began to fill with noise again. Her mother throwing accusations, her sister throwing accusations. Helaena had to cover her ears as the cacophony made the pounding in her skull worsen. 

“Everyone, silence!” Viserys snapped, losing his temper with his quarrelsome family. “Helaena, tell me what happened.”

“Sire, the boys have each given their testimony, why make the girl,” Otto started, as Helaena tried to shrink into her chair.

“The girl is the only one amongst my children and grandchildren who is not known for starting fights with each other. She is the oldest amongst them and I want to hear her testimony.” Viserys cut him off sounding, Helaena thought to herself, like a proper king. 

“Everything happened really quickly…” Helaena slowly said, not wanting to add fuel to the fire already roaring between the Queen and the Princess. 

“Try your best, Helaena.” Her father stepped forward slightly, effectively blocking the view of the others from the child’s eyes.

“I wasn’t there when it started, I came into the pit, and they were already fighting.” 

“What did you do?” Helaena was telling the story in a halting fragmented manner, only giving details when prodded. And her father was prodding.

“Nothing at first, Aemond got the better of them, he’s bigger. I… I thought everything would stop.”

“But it didn’t?”

Helaena shook her head slowly, despite the pain, the room grew quieter with her every word, only the fire continued making noise. The crackles from the hearth became uncomfortably loud as her heart pounded while she tried to figure out how to say what happened next.

“Aemond… wasn’t going to stop, someone was going to get hurt, badly. I stepped in. I separated them and I told everyone to go to their quarters for the night. I, I tried , I just wanted to stop them from fighting. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” Her voice was cracking as the grief and frustration bled through. If Aemond had just listened to her, instead of insulting her. If any of them had just stopped, they wouldn’t be here. A handkerchief was offered to the princess for her tears. She accepted it and started wringing it.

“Is that when you were hit?”

“No.”

“But it was Aemond you hit you?”

Helaena nodded.

“It was an accident!” Aemond finally spoke up.

“You hit me with a rock!” Helaena shouted back at him.

“You hit me first!”

Viserys placed a hand on her shoulder before she could get out of her seat. “This is not like you Helaena, why did you hit him?”

“He … called me names.” She was desperately trying to sidestep telling her father any details that would cause the two mothers to erupt. Helaena feared it would come to blows again if she admitted Aemond had tried to kill Jace and Luke and called them bastards. The young princess was trying to relay the story accurately enough to not be called a liar by either party, but simultaneously trying to scrub it of details that would add to the mounting tension. “I got angry so I hit him, and he struck me with the rock. Everyone started fighting again.” She didn’t want to finish her story, in her heart she knew her mother would want justice for Aemond’s eye, whatever that meant. But if she said Aemond had tried to kill Luke… what would Rhaenyra demand?

“You did this to each other over an insult?” Alicent spoke up, Helaena withered under her disapproving tone, she knew Aemond was shrinking down too. Viserys looked between his son and daughter, Helaena could see Aemond’s face when he shifted his body. 

He looked awful, there was an ugly line of stitches running across his now hollow eye socket. The rest of his face was worse. His lip was split, with dried blood crusted on. Aemond had large bruises blooming on both cheeks, one was creeping up towards his good eye, Helaena wasn’t sure if that meant he would have a black eye as well. She could feel stinging in her knuckles where the skin had broken open as she landed punches on her brother’s face. She had caused all that. This was too excessive for a simple fight, especially for siblings who got on well. She could see these thoughts in her father’s eyes. Desperately, she begged with her eyes for him not to ask.

“My sons’ legitimacy was called into question.” Rhaenyra cut in; Aemond looked back at his sister in disbelief. Helaena admired how steadfast Rhaenyra remained, never wavering on her truth.

“What?” Viserys asked, stunned.

“He called us bastards,” Jace added on, looking at his mother.

“And he called Helaena a bastard lover.” Luke helpfully continued.

Helaena was glaring daggers into Aemond, seeing a slight smirk on his face, it dropped when he caught Helaena’s gaze. Despite the aching head, she considered continuing their fight.

“Helaena is this true?” Viserys asked.

“Y-yes.” What would happen now?

“My sons are in line to inherit the Iron Throne Your Grace, this is the highest of treasons.” Curse it Aemond, you knew better!  

“Aemond needs to be sharply questioned.”

“Over an insult?” Alicent said, her eyes were wet, was she going to start weeping? Helaena had never seen her mother cry, it made her feel scared. “My son has lost an eye.”

“You tell me boy, where did you hear this lie?” Viserys asked Aemond, their mother tried to excuse it away as an insult thrown out in the heat of the moment. Viserys did not accept this excuse. She inquired about Laenor's whereabouts, Rhaenyra did not know, Helaena did not think it would help to tell everyone he was passed out drunk in his quarters. The girl’s heart pounded as she looked between her two brothers. They all knew where he had heard this lie: their mother. 

He couldn’t admit that, it was treason, she’d be… traitors were usually killed, weren’t they? Helaena clenched the balled up handkerchief, her nails were digging into her palm. Why did you have to say it out loud Aemond? She blinked, trying not to let the tears fall as Aemond stared at Alicent, then Viserys looked at her. She had never seen her mother scared. It terrified her, mothers were not supposed to get scared. Maybe if she faked a swoon it would distract everyone, and then the matter would be dropped, she thought in a panic. “Aegon.” He finally said, deciding on the oldest move of the younger siblings: throwing an older one under the carriage.

“Me?” Aegon repeated, stunned, unprepared to be in the hot seat.

“And you boy,” Viserys asked, walking over, his cane hitting the stone sharply. “Where did you hear such calumnies?” Silence. “Aegon!” Her brother flinched, “Answer me boy.” Do not say me, no one will believe it. Helaena thought of who in the room she’d feel the least guilty about lying about. She landed on Ser Cole. If Aegon looked at her she’d gesture towards him. Maybe she should just accuse him, she didn’t feel good about it but if she had to choose between her mother and Ser Cole. Her mother won.

“We all know, father,” Who’s WE?! “Everyone knows.” Helaena momentarily forgot the overhanging threat of treason, instead was dumbfounded and enraged her brother had pulled her into this mess.  She fought the impulse to start arguing with him, “Just look at them.” Aegon caught her eye, That’s the best you came up with? She thought angrily. She should’ve spoken up.

“This infighting must cease! All of you! We are a family!” There was a raw emotion to her father’s angry statements. Helaena felt a tear fall. She wanted peace so badly as well. She wished she had not been born into a family where they called each other bastards and cut out eyes. “Now make your apologies and show good will to each other. Your father, your grandsire, your KING demands it!” He started to leave, she felt as if she could breathe. Everyone would have to go to bed, have to move on. No one questioned the king when he made a decision so firmly.

“That is insufficient,” Except today, Helaena groaned slightly, no one was focused on her to take note. “Aemond has been damaged permanently my good king, good will can not make him whole.” She hadn’t had the heart to tell Viserys Aemond deserved the eye gouging. That he had attempted to bash in both boy’s heads. That Luke had been defending his brother after watching her crumple to the ground from such a blow. 

“I know Alicent, but I can not restore his eye.”

“No, because it has been taken.” Helaena was paralyzed with indecisiveness, would it quell her mother’s righteous rage? Would it lead to her brother being charged with treason? She felt sick.

“What would you have me do? Viserys demanded

“There is a debt to be paid.” Her mother replied, she looked to Rhaenyra and her children “I shall have one of her son’s eyes.” The temperature dropped, there were whispers in the hall, everyone shocked at her demand. 

“My dear wife-”

“He is your son, Viserys, your blood.” She cut him off, pleading, her voice catching in her throat. Helaena stood up, unsure what to do, unable to sit still anymore, her head pain worsened. All she felt was panic, she could barely breathe, much less speak. And she felt so dizzy, she gripped the chair for stability.

“Do not allow your temper to guide your judgment.” He warned, Helaena had thought the children were hot-tempered, the adults were no better.

“If the king will not see justice the queen will. Ser Criston, bring me the eye of Lucerys Velayron.” 

“Mother!” Helaena’s tongue finally moved.

“Mother,” Luke cried out in fear, her sister pushed the two boys behind her.

“He can choose which eye to keep, a privilege he did not grant my son.” 

“You will do no such thing.” Rhaenyra said, staring down Ser Criston, Helaena felt as if Rhaenyra would duel him right here and now. Despite being untrained as a knight, Helaena felt she would win. The queasiness in her stomach grew, Helaena did not want to fight someone as skilled as Ser Criston, but she would. I’m going to get two concussions tonight. She thought miserably looking at her mother’s guard, dressed in shining, hard, metal armor. For his part, he had not moved, still frozen from shock at her command.

“Stay your hand!” Viserys ordered.

“No you are sworn to me!” Her mother snapped.

Helaena moved further towards the pathway of Luke, I have to fight a knight, he’s going to flatten me. “As your protector my Queen.” Helaena could’ve collapsed with relief, he would not cut the eye out of her nephew. She could’ve kissed him.

“Alicent, this matter is finished. Do you understand?” Viserys asked her, her mother did not reply. “And let it be known, any tongue who dares to question the birth of Rhaenyra’s sons, should have it removed.” He said to the rest of the room.

“Thank you father.” Rhaenyra said, Helaena’s legs were shaking so bad she thought she would collapse any moment. Was this nightmare finally over? She should go console her mother. Lead her out of the room. Explain this further, in the safety of their chambers, away from treasonous punishment. She moved to her mother. Her mother moved as well, grabbing the knife from her father’s belt and charging towards Luke. Everyone started shouting, guards swarmed the king, and towards the Queen and Princess. A room full of knights and no one moved fast enough to stop her, only Rhaenyra managed to block her, standing between Luke and the knife. 

Helaena’s hurt head made everything slower, she labored to understand everything happening around her. The maester had mentioned something about it, confusion. She blinked and she was now standing in a circle surrounding her mother and sister, wondering why no one had separated them. Tears freely flowing, Luke was safe behind Lord Corlys for now. “Mother stop!”  She begged, unheaded.

The two grappled, “You’ve gone too far.” Rhaenyra said. What should she do? Try to pull her mother away? Grab her nephews, rush them to their quarters and bar the door? Why was everyone standing still? She was a child, too shocked and scared to move. Someone had to do something.

“I? What have I done but what was expected of me?” Her mother replied, “Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law. While you flaunt all duty.”  

“Alicent! Let her go!” Viserys demanded, she did not listen. This was treason, treason, she was going to lose her head for an eye.

“Mother!” Was all Helaena could manage to say.

“Where is duty? Where is sacrifice? It is trampled under your pretty foot again.” Alicent continued.

“Release the blade, Alicent.” Her grandsire Otto called out. Nothing.

“And now you take my son’s eye, to even that you feel entitled.” Were they all frozen but the two ladies fighting in the center.

“Exhausting wasn’t it? Hiding under the cloak of your self righteousness, but now they see you as you really are.” Rhaenyra replied, calmer than Helaena would have ever been.

Helaena didn’t understand how, but somehow their hold was broken and Rhaeynra or Alicent pushed the other way. Both stumbled back, the dagger fell from Alicent’s hand, and blood from Rhaenyra’s. Her sleeves hid the length of her wound, but the blood flowed freely. Helaena rushed to her mother, wrapping her arms around her, freely crying. 

Laenor was wrong. She was not brave. She was scared. A terrified child desperate to hold on to her mother before the guards ripped her away to cut off her tongue, or head, or lock her in a dungeon forever. One arm clutched the child tightly as well. No one moved or spoke, except for Aemond, who stepped forward and said, “Do not mourn me, mother, it was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.”

A moment before she had thought to hide her nephews behind a locked door, to keep them safe. Now she wanted to do the same for her mother. “Mother, come, come.” She whispered softly tugging at her shocked mother’s gown. 

The intensity of the unprecedented actions left everyone standing still and frozen. No one stopped her as Helaena nearly dragged her mother out of the hall. If I run, they might chase . She thought to herself as she pulled her mother into the hallway, feeling thankful the Queen was not resisting. With shaky legs, and an aching, spinning head, she walked her mother to her quarters, only daring to breathe once the door was shut.