#honestly a lot of fallout men

[calamitydaze]

long tag ramble below u have been warned

[alpaca-clouds]

Some historical context for Olrox

Okay, let me prephase this with one important message: Castlevania Nocturne made me really happy by making the plot all about colonialism, as colonialism and its fallout and how it influences us to this day is a topic that I am very passionate about. We do not talk enough about it. The US does not talk enough about it because it could make white people feel uncomfortable. And here in Germany we do not talk about it, because we act as if this had nothing to do with us at all.

But the show talks about it and I love it.

And I honestly also gotta say that I love that the BI_PoC character have a concrete cultural heritage. Olrox is Aztec, Annette is Yoruba, and Drolta is Egyptian. Other shows: Please take notes!

But let's talk Olrox, because he is so fucking interesting and amazing!

We know about him that he is Aztec and also that he is 250 years old. Or roughly that old by the time he kills Julia. Which would put either his birth or his turning somewhere around 1530.

Now, the fall of the Aztec Empire has a very exact date: August 13th, 1521. But you should keep in mind that this does not mean that on that day the Aztec's are extinct. To this day there is still 1,5 million people speaking Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and preserving some of the Aztec cultural traditions. It was just that on that day the empire construct fell to Cortez and the Spaniad conquistadors and a lot of Aztecs went into exile to flee the genocide that Cortez was bringing upon them.

The question of course is: Was Olrox still human at this time or was he already a vampire? From his dialogue it is clear that he was at least alive and grown enough to remember the fall of the empire and the distruction Cortez and his men brought upon them. But you can bet it was very traumatic.

I also am assuming he was turned by a white man. Because so far my assumption is that vampirism is an old world thing that got brought to the new world through colonialism. (Mostly because in Dracula's court we do not see any new world vampires.)

Now, the other interesting thing is what he says about his dead lover. The one Julia killed. So, first the "town in Massachusetts" he speaks about is clearly Stockbridge. Which was the town in which many Mohicans have settled during the colonial times, as well as other people from the Iroquois Nations. Now, it should be noted that the Mohicans were not part of the Iroquois alliance and in fact went to war with the Iroquois, but by the time colonialism really geared up there was some cooperation between the Mohicans and Iroquois.

Due to this they were in an alliance with the Oneida (who were part of the Iroquois) by the time of the Revolutionary war. Now, the Revolutionary War created a lot of conflict between the Iroquois nations, because they did not agree which side they should fight on. Of course both sides promised that they could keep their land, but the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca did not trust the colonists and hence sided with the British, while the Oneida and Tuscarora (and through them also the Mohicans) sided with the Colonists.

And the dead lover clearly was among those siding with the colonists. Now, a quick refresher for the non-Americans (and the Americans who slept to history class, which is understandable). The Revolutionary War lasted from April 19, 1775 to September 3, 1783 (which, yes, also means that Julia and Richter probably were in the US during the war the entire time and the "evil" Julia was fighting probably was linked to it). And of course we all know how it ended for the Indigenous people: The colonists won, countless Indigenous folks died on both sides, only to get booted of their land soon after. The Oneida und Mohicans were made to move westwards not soon after the war ended. So, yes, Olrox would have seen that happen.

Now, an interesting thing in his dialogue was when Erzebet said: "We will create a new world." To which he replies: "I have heard that one before." And she says: "This time we are going to make it to last."

And the big question is to what this is refering. Is it refering to the colonialization or is it refering to the revolutionary war? Or something entirely different. In both cases it would be possible. And yes, the American Revolution definitely were claiming to create a new world. But was it that what he refered to or something else?

Well, never the less: Interesting character. Really good writing.

[syndrossi]

Ahhh, so long as you're thinking about Rescue AU, can you give us a breakdown of how that initial 'Thoren rescues the twins' scenario goes? How does he convince them to come with him? Does he write a letter to Daemon ASAP, or does he travel with the kids in secret to avoid bad guys? Did he travel toward King's Landing or Dragonstone? If Dragonstone, did the boys meet Rhaenyra before Daemon? If KL, did they meet Viserys first? How did them being known as trueborns come about in this verse?

Aaaaaand how was Daemon and the kid's first meeting in this AU, since it wouldn't have been as, uh, people-lighting-themselves-on-fire! and dragons-disobeying-because-of-evil-candle-powers! charged as Resonant was.

Ah, this AU reminds me of how much I want somebody to stab Crayne. Preferably Rhaegar, honestly, or Jon, but Daemon or Thoren would do! 😂

I don't think there's much convincing to be done. It's effectively "listen here, I am taking you to your--uh, safety." With two adults (or one adult and one teen) carrying a child apiece on their horse, there's not a lot the twins can do. Two people can keep watch over the twins much more effectively than one (Crayne) to make sure they don't try to run off or steal the horses (which is difficult anyway, given that they'd need nature's equivalent of a mounting block due to their height).

From there, I think Thoren is in "trust no one" mode. Lady Arryn could very well be in on it, he might be pursued for taking the boys, etc. His advantage is that Allard has no clue what happened; he'll have to split his men between search parties of the woods, checking whether hill tribemen have taken them, and the various roads in the Vale of Arryn they might otherwise have been taken on.

So I think it basically goes: Thoren makes for the nearest harbor town he can get to in order to book passage to Dragonstone, willing to offer a hefty reward that he knows the royal family will be good for in order to ensure he can find a captain + ship ASAP, as he fears pursuit. Allard and Rhea are scouring the Vale as best they can, slowly bringing in what allies they can to the search. Rhea eventually sends a raven to Rhaenyra in KL in desperation, who then sends a raven to the Stepstones, and takes off with Laenor to assist Rhea in searching.

Before they arrive, Rhea has her riding accident searching for the boys and is taken back to Runestone. Rhaenyra and Laenor continue their search. Ser Thoren reaches Dragonstone but no one's home, so a raven is sent to Runestone and Rhaenyra races to fetch the boys and bring them to see Rhea before she dies.

Daemon arrives perhaps a day later, and pulls off his trueborn confession scene, which Rhea is amenable to after seeing how he rushed to their aid, and that the crown princess and her consort themselves came to join the search.

Which all points to a pretty emotional whirlwind for Jon and Rhaegar. They're going at a breakneck pace, not unlike when Crayne kidnapped them, arrive at Dragonstone to find it empty, then get picked up by Rhaenyra who tells them that their aunt is dying. And as they see her, Daemon storms in, nat20s his persuasion roll and the twins + Rhaenyra + Laenor are all present as she declares them her own sons.

Rhaenyra is watching in stunned silence because she understands the political implications/fallout, and also because she's thinking about the breathtaking cruelty of denying Daemon his children. Laenor is swept up in the emotion of it all. The twins are grappling with seeing the woman who just confessed she was their mother dying in front of them. And that's how they meet Daemon.

I do wonder if Rhaenyra convinces Rhea to officially pass Runestone to Jon, as at least some token of remorse from House Royce, because she knows it's gonna get ugly for both them and the Redforts.

So we might even get Jon being officially passed the title and then the procession of dragons returns to King's Landing, after picking up Ser Thoren who was left behind on Dragonstone.

(I suspect the twins are both wary/skeptical of Daemon, because they don't know him or what he wants with them, and may assume based on the histories that all he wants is Runestone. So there are probably several days of Daemon making overtures and growing increasingly heartbroken at their wariness. His hugs are tolerated rather than sought, their conversations polite but stilted, and he spends weeks slowly breaking down their barriers with lots of playtime with Rhaenyra's children, and going on trips with Laenor and Rhaenyra and the kiddos, letting them see him as human, in a parental capacity. The first time they hug him back, he has to choke back tears.)

(Ser Thoren stays on as a personal shield and is rewarded handsomely by Viserys. The twins had grown somewhat fond of him--maybe he protected them from bandits at some point?--and feel comfortable around him.)

Who gets to ultimately stab Crayne is the real payoff of Rescue AU, truly.

[witchesofvaliant]

My Take on Worshipping & Working with Ares

(Disclaimer: "My take" means my personal opinion and deriving heavily from my own experience.)

I work with Ares primarily in Shadow Work, and worship/work with him heavily in my practice.

1: The Misconceptions

I see a lot of "I work with Ares, so I work out all the time for him", and while exercise is wonderful for the body, and I myself love to get in a good walk, I have never devoted that to Ares. I am not saying you shouldn't, but the reason I mention it at all is the fact that many people equate working with Ares or those who do as muscle-headed gym bros who are always having to exercise or have to prove their masculinity. As a computer nerd who doesn't have exercise in their daily life and has chronic disabilities/illness that make that harder, I just don't do that. If I can, I take a good long walk for an hour or two about twice or once a week (if I can), that's mostly as far as it goes. In terms of proving my masculinity? Why? Let's dispense with the antiquated gender roles that say we have to assign the tough masculine aura to the cis guys. I am a trans male who has no issue looking feminine and being both a Queen and a King, that's just how it is. Ares can tell me himself if he has an issue with it, but he never has. And after getting to know him for some time, personally, he's not the type to give a fuck about your gender presentation. That also means, you don't have to be a guy to work with him, as I have also seen before.

Now, if we're trying to be true to the ancient Greek times, he was the primary deity worshipped in Sparta, and once the Romans adopted (which is putting it nicely) the Greek deities into their belief system, Mars was used as the primary deity equivalent to Zeus (Jupiter as he was called), with the common epithet to represent him being Mars Ultor, basically a title of greatness and power for him. He was used to inspire and push young men in those times toward a great strength and motivation in terms of military service as that was a greater focus in their culture than it was in the Greek culture (Not that the Greeks couldn't fight of course, they had their war deities, and Ares was one of them, but there IS a massive shift in the Greek and Roman mindsets when involving war, too much to get into). Now, here's where I stop, as I'm not an expert on Greco-Roman history and the two cultures, but it should demonstrate the point well at least on where these ideas so many people are spreading come from and why many think they're valid for everyone.

2: Worship

I tend to worship him by simple prayer. I take the knife I have and meditate with it, praying to him or simply talking. Sometimes, I don't even take the knife Lol. He's honestly a very simple person to deal with in my experience. You don't need to do fancy shit for him as devotional acts, he values respect and honor above all, so if you are giving that and offering this to him, he's a very pleased guy. I can't and don't use candles or fire in my practice, but my fire element/offering is going into a game and killing some bad guys. Is it semi-stereotypical in terms of the aggression? Kind of. Is it more focused on lessening my own stress and self-control so I'm taking my stress and anger out in a game than on people? Yes, and usually this isn't done FOR Ares, this is done more in terms of working on myself as agreed upon with Ares. Which goes into our next subject.

3: Work

Working with Ares is a huge part of my relationship with him (don't get me wrong, I love to just exist with him and listen to Fallout Boy too) but it's here where I have much more to say as I have always focused on Shadow Work in my life, and that only increased when I started my practice and my move away from the toxic Christianity I was raised with. Ares was not the first to work with me on this, and I had to work on some stuff myself just to be open to the idea of working with other deities. But in terms of Ares, he has been someone that I feel a strong connection to because of the heart, not my masculinity, not fighting others and exercising, but more because of the internal struggles and survival for my life I have had throughout my entire life. Be it with illness, my heart and trauma, or defending others, mainly my little brother, but all these thins took an internal struggle, not am external one. I find I work with him purely in terms of internal survival (either against physical or mental illness) and Shadow Work, which means understanding my heart, my will, and how to overcome the pain that has broken those things in my past. THIS part of him, is the part I rarely see anyone say anything about. Or everyone pairs him with Aphrodite and says this is their thing. I don't understand why it can't be him alone, I have hardly ever worked or dealt with Aphrodite, and while I give her respect and have given her my prayer, she is rarely there as my path just doesn't flow that way.

And also.. Why does no one talk about the fact that Ares can connect to illness too? In my opinion, he connects to illness through the issue of having to fight through it or even fight to keep someone alive.

I love embracing him as someone that doesn't require you to be a cis man with a six pack, or fight a literal war or fight other people just to work with him, and I really want to stress that you don't have to be these things, or change who you are as a person or fit into any requirement to work with him, and you don't have to do this with any deity either. You bring yourself first, that's all you truly need to bring to them, yourself and an open mind and ears to listen.

(Damn, this was long, hope people actually read this rant lmao)

If you got to the end, congratulations! And thank you for reading, I deeply appreciate that and you! 💖

[dez78]

Who did this to you, sunshine?

----------------------------------

Fandom: Fallout 4

Pairings: Hancock x Fem!Reader

Prompt: Who did this to you?

Warnings: Lots of cursing, Harassment, Blood

Summary: The mayor himself, steps in and solves all your problems.

-----------------------

You had lived in Goodneighbor for the better part of eight years. Since Hancock has been office, you were a scavenger for Daisy. Meaning you also knew the cock sucker, Finn.

Every time he whistled your way, you sneered at him and slapped away his advances. It's been going on for more than a year. Whenever you left for a supply run, he'd slap your ass and blow you a kiss, every night at the Third Rail, he hit you up and tried buying you a drink.

It was getting tiring honestly, you didn't know how much longer you could take it. You wanted to beat the crap out of the son of bitch, but you couldn't. He was a guard and an assault on a guard was a crime.

You debated complaining to Hancock but decided against it. You had a nagging feeling Hancock would simply dismiss it as men being men.

It started out as a normal morning, you woke up and headed to Daisy's from your apartment, when Hancock of all people pulled you aside.

"What's up, mayor?" You questioned, caught off guard. The mayor hardly paid you any mind, unless you were delivering his chems personally. Or so you thought,

"Listen doll, this is kinda tricky for me to stay, so I'm just gonna say it." Hancock started, you blinked for a few seconds, thinking you were high on something.

"Wanna grab a beer with me later tonight?" Hancock asked, you were stunned. You'd be lying if you said you hadn't thought of the mayor impurely.

"Uh, sure. I just gotta do a supply run now, so maybe afterwards?" You countered his question with a suggestion.

"Sounds good." Was all Hancock said as he turned to walk away, a hint of a smile on his mouth. You melted on the spot; the mayor had asked to take you out. The butterflies settled in your stomach as you smiled stupidly.

You headed out of the town, but not before Finn greeted you with a firm swat to your left cheek, you winced with displeasure.

----------------

It was late afternoon when you stumbled through the door of Goodneighbor. That supply run was a bitch. You had run into more trouble than you cared for. Otherwise, you were unharmed. You walked into town and Finn approached you.

"You look like shit." He told you, you could only frown.

"Not so pretty yourself." You growled venomously. You tired moving past him, but he stopped you.

"I can make you better." He offered, you snorted and turned your nose up.

"Like hell." You replied, you tried moving again, but this time he pinned you.

"Listen here, bitch. I've tried being nice, but this game is getting old." Finn snarled in your face, you looked away. He grabbed your face and forced you to look at him. You winced at the grip of his hand.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." He spat angrily, you ripped from his grip and kneed him in the knads. He growled and held his groin.

"Bitch!" He cried as he slapped you across the face, you whimpered in pain. You looked up,

"Keep your hands off me, you piece of shit. Fuck you." You said as you spit in his face before storming off. You held your busted lip.

You grimaced as you held your jaw, Finn held you so tight, your skin bruised around your jaw and lips.

You couldn't care less and walked into the Third Rail, forgetting about your deal with Hancock.

When you arrived, the mayor was waiting for you,

"One beer, Charlie." You said, the mister handy went to the old fridge and fished out a beer. He slid it to you, and you opened,

"Geez, you had a bad day." Hancock voiced concern, you looked over at him and your eyes widened. He saw the bruises and busted lip in the light. His facial expression changed then.

"What happened?" He questioned, his voice dropped an octave and sent a chill down your spine.

"What?" You asked as you blinked at him dumbfounded, Hancock's finger grazed your injuries, his coal eyes fixated on the specific marks Finn left.

Hancock's eyes darkened, his breathing became ragged as he looked up at you.

"Who did this to you, sunshine?" He questioned. You were breathing heavily, and your mouth was terribly dry. You couldn't find the words, mostly because you didn't want to cause a scene.

"No one." You replied meekly.

"Don't be shy now." Hancock said to you, you looked up and replied shakily.

"Finn."

"That son of bitch!" Hancock snarled as he stood and marched out of the Third Rail, you followed quickly afterwards.

--------

Finn was keeping guard at the front gate, when a fist made contact with the back of his head. He flew forward and landed on his stomach, winded from the fall.

"Get up you piece of shit!" Hancock howled as he picked Finn up by the collar, he swung him around and slammed him against the wall.

"What kind of bastard bruises a woman!" Hancock cried, holding Finn off the ground by his collar.

"Bitch kept rejecting me." Finn replied angrily. Hancock was furious.

"You stupid bastard, you slapped my woman!"

Finn's eyes widened,

"What?" He said stunned.

"That's right, you slapped my woman, you sick fuck!" Hancock cried angrily.

He let the man go and punched him until he fell to the ground.

"Get up! Fight me like a man!" Hancock snarled kicking Finn.

"Unless you're not man enough, a man like you can't fight men. You can only beat on helpless women! Get up!" Hancock wailed picking Finn up off the ground himself.

You were speechless as you stood there, watching Hancock beating the crap out of the man who had harassed you for a year.

"What kind of man beats a woman!" Hancock yelled as he punched Finn again. His knuckles bloody and sore. The man struggled to get up.

"Had enough?" Hancock spat,

"Fuck you." Finn managed to gurgle as he spit blood out onto the ground. Hancock rolled his eyes and pulled out his pistol and shot the man dead.

"Fuck you too."

--------------

Once Hancock got his composure back, he hurried over to you.

"Are you okay?" He asked with worry as he looked you over again,

"You shot him." You said, still speechless.

"Of course I did, nobody beats a woman on my watch. I don't give a fuck who they are." Hancock replied bitterly.

"Are you alright, sunshine?" He asked again, you nodded your head slowly. Hancock pulled you into a tender hug and held you in a close embrace in attempt to comfort you.

[hangingslothcentral]

Today is the fourth anniversary of the day I launched Spirit Box Radio, and it's also the last day of trans awareness week.

I have a lot of big feelings about SBR. If you've listened to the show, you'll know that I was medically transitioning through its release. I went on T at the show's midpoint, in the middle of S2, and my voice was changing throughout the rest of the show's run. I got top surgery two months after the show ended, almost exactly to the day.

Now. We're all big enough and daft enough to be able to have a grown up conversation about this, I think. So here's some stuff about that experience I haven't really talked about before.

1. I wish there had been media which had trans creators transitioning alongside a character who is transitioning when I was younger. The main reason for this is that it would have been representation of trans people, but honestly? The main thing I wanted was to see someone transitioning over a long period of time. So often, transition seems to happen behind closed doors. Unless you are lucky enough to have lots of trans people around you (I grew up in semi-rural Wales so no luck for me there) you just do not see it happening. People, understandably, want to hide the length of the process, the messy in between stages.

2. Transitioning and playing Sam transitioning simultaneous to me was one of the most mentally challenging and emotionally vulnerable things I've ever done. I do not say this lightly; I'm a survivor of abuse and I've seen a lot of shit in my life. I've come out as nonbinary at a corporate job and argued with a university about changing my name on my graduation certificate. As much as I loved it, and still love it, and I'm intensely proud of it and SO glad it exists, making SBR was fucking brutal. Hours of editing my own voice through a period where it sounded different on a near-weekly basis. Having no idea how I sounded anymore and posting episodes anyway. Dealing with the emotional fallout of people responding weirdly to me in my real, actual life whilst portraying a character who is outcast, isolated, and terrified of himself? Challenging as fuck.

3. Many people need to examine the way they're talking about trans men. The conversations around Sam shifted very violently as my voice dropped. This is in part due to the arc this character follows, but it's hard not to notice a shift in language as dramatic as this. It started as soon as the show came back from its S2 midseason break and my voice had shifted down a bit. People talked less about Sam being cute, and for the first time, I started to see people talking about him like he was sexy. These things aren't mutually exclusive, but it was very noticeable to me, especially in contrast to conversations about Oliver, Sam's hot, cis gender, florist boyfriend, who was categorised as sexy from the off. Before my voice dropped, even though they were using the right pronouns for them, people talked about Sam with very feminine, infantilising language, and this almost entirely stopped when my voice dropped.

4. I am so fucking glad I did this. Yes, it was brutal, emotional, and I really struggled through a lot of this process, and I am so glad I did this. I will have the immense privilege of medically transitioning in the way I have over the last few years exactly once in my life. I am glad I took that vulnerable moment and made art with it. I'm glad that my transition is captured and mirrored by this thing I was making at the time it was happening. I'm glad that thousands of other trans people have listened to the show and have heard me doing this as they are doing it, or before they do it, or after, or as they're deciding not to, or finding out they can't, or realising they'll never have the chance, or any one of the myriad experiences of transness that exist. I am, frankly, honoured to have been a part of such a vulnerable aspect in the lives of so many people.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for listening to the show, if indeed you already have. If you enjoy my work, I would love to be able to pay my bills and be able to keep making it. I have never made even minimum wage for the work I do on my shows. Please consider becoming a member.

[nerdragenewvegas]

Thinking a lot today about how despite my insane thirst for Joshua Graham, looking at him logically for 35 seconds made me realise that my years in the Mormon church were effectively years in a cult and how projection seems to change how people experience Honest Hearts a lot.

Like there's a huge subsect of people who credit the character with reconnecting them with their faith and I mean hey if that's a positive life change for you that gives you grounding, cool. But I really struggle to kind of understand that perspective of in to be honest because the point of the arc (at least to me) is that Joshua was using faith to project his own feelings and traumas and bias in a way that allowed him to somewhat avoid blame or responsibility in the event he learns he's wrong - he even admits this much depending on your ending.

First time around he did this with the Legion taking that place of a "higher power" once he was out on his own and seperated from the accountability that the other New Canaanites gave him, and when we meet him, he's doing the same thing with his Faith. And believe me when I tell you that scapegoating like this is so common in Mormonism that it's actually hard to clock once you've been in for a while, and Joshua is so good at romanticising what he's doing that we spend a lot of the DLC willing to believe him until he's about to actually do a genocide for real and we realise what's happening here.

This happens a lot in Mormonism with things like LGBTQ+ and gender stuff, where nice things like the Plan of Salvation (which can genuinely be quite reassuing and warm in a spiritual sense) are co-opted to justify homophobia and transphobia and misogyny. "I, personally, don't have an issue with trans people at all! But the plan of salvation is so clear about our bodies and how we need to respect gods choices in our design!" - despite the Plan of Salvation saying nothing about gender identity or expression and honestly kind of validating the idea that transitioning etc is also part of gods plan for some people. "I love lots of gay people and so does the church, but the word of God is clear that temple marriage is for men and women only." That kind of thing. "The whitelegs are gods children, too, but the bible is clear about how we handle those who would seek to harm this Zion we've built! I don't enjoy murder, but it's what God wants, it's a chore."

Realising this and then looking at times in my life where I saw this happen in the Mormon Church is what took me from "gently deconstructing and still believing some of it" to "I was brainwashed and in a fucking cult." So i always kind of struggle to see how anyone can get "I should seek God again" from this, but at the same time? I think that's the best part about Honest Hearts and a lot of Fallout NV in general: it forces you to learn not about yourself than anything else in the actual game. It's such a wonderful game when it comes to getting players to self reflect - maybe this is why it's so known for being the "omg I'm trans now" game.

What a special fucking game, huh?

[misspermitted]

The funniest thing about the “accomplished woman” scene and the fallout therein is that Elizabeth shows, in her response, the exact opposite of the fault that Caroline accuses her of: that is, “Putting down other women to make herself seem better.”

Darcy means to compliment Elizabeth with the exchange, quite obviously I might add. Elizabeth, minutes before, was mocked for preferring reading to cards. Now, after Caroline lists a myriad of traits that a woman should have to be accomplished, all which she herself has, Darcy immediately dismisses these as not substantial. What is substantial and worthy of admiration in a woman: the improvement of her mind through reading. Which Lizzy was just mocked for, by Caroline. Literally anyone with a brain, even Mrs. Bennet, would’ve caught this as a compliment.

But at this point Elizabeth is in absolute denial to the point of being ridiculous (he’s staring at me because he hates me so much, he asked me to dance because he wants to mock me). So it’s likely she didn’t clock this as a compliment. But she certainly didn’t see it as a personal attack.

When Lizzy reflects on her and her sister’s education she says that it was focused on one’s drive to improve themselves. And that she had read almost every book she could get her hands on due to this drive. Darcy’s statement is a very good description of Lizzy and how she passes her time. She is self aware enough to know this.

But she calls Darcy out for being arrogant and having high standards anyway. Why? Because one shouldn’t put down women and compare them to others. It’s goddamn rude and elitist. One should be like Mr. Bingley: appreciating women for the effort they put into different things. No woman can be perfect, nor should she be.

In Darcy’s eyes it even more clearly shows how not a pick-me Elizabeth is. He compliments her, and she not only doesn’t accept it but has a go at him for putting down other women. She won’t be complimented like that! (Honestly I would’ve fallen for her to, damn.)

And then Lizzy leaves and Caroline says that she was putting down other women to make herself appeal to men, and Darcy essentially responds “Someone was definitely doing that.” And I think this is an important moment for Darcy: where he realises that Caroline is mean about other women and that’s not okay (he hasn’t actually gotten there about himself yet but hey).

So essentially Caroline calls herself out. Which I think is hilarious.

(This is also a really long meta of me saying that Elizabeth is not a pick-me that hates other woman who aren’t as smart as her, and I don’t like it when adaptions do that (*cough cough* pride prejudice and zombies). She has sisterly rivalry because siblings, but aside from her sisters the only women she mocks is Caroline (and only lightly) and Lady Catherine. Which is really not a lot considering she mocks literally every man she comes across (including Bingley).)

[razzek]

Reading Pern fic and realizing that it's always queen riders or future queen rider Mary Sue type characters who here all dragons and I am now desperate for a green rider with the ability. I know in canon it's rare and has to do with bloodlines and is a women only talent that's maybe twice in a generation. We got Lessa and Ariana (? the gal in Renegades who has such a bad time she avoids dragons) and maaaaybe Moreta (it's been a long time since I read that one). But if it's going to crop up in fanfic and RP constantly, I want to see someone that everybody pins all these expectations onto and they end up riding green to the dismay of all but them. (I love greens, second best dragons to me, only topped by blues which seem to be the only dragon an ace person can ride, but the culture around them and the way their riders are treated is fascinating.) If the green rider in question was a trans man maybe no problems there or nothing would change (though that's a story I'd be interested to read in general, a trans man in canon Pern society riding green, which had to have happened at least twice in their 2k year history). But if you had someone who was being brought up and expected to ride gold and she gets a "crappy" green, the political fallout alone would be fascinating.

Man I wish I had the stamina to write longer fics. I have so many ideas for Pern stuff (most of them horrible; I am somewhat disappointed that purity culture in fandom spaces has kept people from exploring and digging down into the real canon implications that were always present in the books; I understand not wanting to do that on a personal level, but it's disappointing that a lot of writers will avoid it solely for fear of purity assholes coming after them). If Anne herself was allowed to write really shitty attempts at confronting some of this stuff (looking at you, Skies of Pern, ugh) why aren't fans allowed to tackle it honestly and better instead of just pretending it doesn't happen? But on the flip side, where's the exploration of queerness in it’s entirety from fan writers? I've seen trans women green riders and of course lots of gay men, but where my ace blue riders and lesbians and trans men and so many others be at? Aaaanyway....

This became a tangent. tleadr: it's been like 60 years of fanfic and I'm bored of the same old runaway rich girl who hears all dragons becoming a queen rider stories. XD Nothing against that sort of self indulgence, everyone gets to write that kind of wish fulfillment. :) I'm just bored and I wanna read something new but don't have the energy to write it, alas.

[hexedwinchester]

Fire Country Season 1

apparently, some very lovely people on Tumblr asked for a quick review on Fire Country and since I'm already bingeing hard on this, why not?! (Some spoilers in the review, please proceed with caution). This one's for you @idontknow-1213 and @sounknownvoid 🤗🤗

For those who don't know the show, it starts with Bode Donovan (actually a Leone but changes his name to Donovan) in prison applying for a program to be a firefighter. It's all good and lovely, until the day he starts the program and is assigned to a firefighter camp, Three Rock in Edgewater, his hometown. Ghost of his past actions (revealed later) have him conflicted about being back home and he requests for a transfer but of course ends up staying. Throughout the season, Bode struggles to build the bridges with friends and family that were burnt long ago, all the while striving to be a better person. He believes if given a chance, people can change.

Now let's talk about some key characters!

Bode Donovan (Leone): our protagonist, though looks like a guy you wanna don't cross, thanks to the muscular build, long hair and prison tats, he is actually sweet but deeply misunderstood guy. He takes his job as a firefighter very seriously and is not afraid to defy an order if it means saving people. I mean you can't always play by the books, right? One thing I noticed about him is though he is out of prison (in a way), he still goes by the prison law. Bode has a long way to go.

Manny Perez: Captain of Three Rock, Gabriela's father and Bode's mentor. He keeps the inmates in line but also believes in them and has their backs. He comes to appreciate Bode's knack at being a natural firefighter and regards him highly. Unfortunately, Manny has his own demons he tries to fight on the side. This is also why Manny relates to the inmates because he shares a similar past. I like his character. He is a man who learnt a lot the hard way. Quite hard bitten like that.

Sharon Leone: Division Chief Sharon Leone is Bode's mother (gasp!). She is also sick (kidney disease, it sucks) so she requests Manny to keep Bode in the camp and he does. While Sharon has a soft spot for her incarcerated son, she is headstrong and damn good at her job (woman knows her shit and how to make it work). She is a total badass and popular among men (I mean, seriously what's with other men hitting on her like she's single cause she ain't?!)

Vince Leone: that's Bode's dad (and if you are a huge Twilight geek like me, you would recognise him as Chief Charlie Swan, Bella's father) who doesn't want to be Bode's dad because he is the reason why his daughter, Riley dies. (Not really, he thinks he is but accidents happen and the catalyst is someone else). So Vince hasn't forgiven Bode for this until the real guy confesses and Vince is stuck in a situation that brings back old memories. What's Vince like? A devoted husband (except for that one incident), a good firefighter and a girl dad that's hard on his son. And did y'all know, the actor Billy Burke is a damn good singer??!

Gabriela Perez: Manny's Olympic-swimmer-turned-firefighter daughter. Honestly, when I first saw the cast, I expected Gabz to be a lot stronger but she's just a sweet girl next door that's trying to follow her heart, conflicted to choose between swimming and firefighting, just like Jake and Bode. Sparks fly between her and Bode as they try to balance their feelings among other chaos. Although, they are still not my favorite couple. I prefer Vince and Sharon (tooth rooting couple goals!!). I honestly wanted to like her but she comes with unnecessary baggages and is a bit of a crybaby (sorry!) but whoever is incharge of her costume, needs a raise. Her wardrobe is really pretty 😍

Jake Crawford: ex boyfriend to Gabz and ex friend to Bode. They have a fallout when Bode discovers Jake cheated on Riley which ultimately led to her demise. And honestly, I was prepared to hate Jake (no, it has nothing to do with Jake reminding me of Jacob Black from Twilight) and while he starts off as a jackass, towards the end of season 1, they redeemed him well. He is also serious about his job and his new love interest (thank God!) Cara who happens to be Bode's ex! (Yeah, they date in the family, it seems like🤣) he respects the Leones (Vince and Sharon, I mean)

Eve Edwards: (is it just me or that's too many Twilight references already? 🙊) a part of Bode, Jake and Eve trio friendship, she is funny but doesn't sugarcoat it. She is fiercely loyal and hardworking. They start exploring her character towards the end of season 1

Freddy Mills: Inmate at Three Rock camp and Bode's friend. Their camaraderie is commendable. Both are loyal to each other and have each other's back. I think Bode needed a friend like him. So that's good. Plus, he wants to marry a girl named Cookie!

Throughout the season, Bode tries to prove he is worthy of being at Three Rock, worthy of Gabriela's love but with his own conflicted nature and Sleeper, an inmate from Bode's past comes to stir trouble, it creates a challenge, leaving Bode with a difficult choices to make.

I honestly went in blind with Fire Country. At first, I was just going to see the episode with Camden in it (duh!) but I decided to give the show a try and I'm glad I did. What I love about this show is, if you have seen Walker, it will give similar family vibes. The entire Cal Fire unit works like a family including Three Rock as they fight fire side by side. The whole romance between Bode and Gabz is not in your face (which is nice) but the chemistry between Vince and Sharon is too cute to ignore. The first few episodes are a bit slow as they set the tone but then the show ups the stakes progressively. It is quite intense at times and you can feel the heat (no pun intended) on your face. I love that the show takes the time to scratch beneath the surface for each of its characters and not just the main ones, giving them a certain depth. I didn't expect to like the show as much as I do! But it's quite refreshing and a bit different than your regular crime/cop procedural shows. All I can say is Max Thieriot, who I know from his The Pacifiers time, has done a great job as an EP.

Let me know if y'all have any interesting takes on the show or the characters!

[kingsmoot]

Something I haven't seen brought up much with the ramsay vs manderly horn wood question is about Donella Hornwoods own claim to those lands. She's not a Hornwoods by blood, but by marriage, so she would only have widow's use rights (which I believe are the rights to live there and be supported). Hornwood would need to pass to the next blood claimant or revert to the crown to dispense with if one can't be found. This is why I'm especially confused as to how she can name Ramsay inheritor in a will to lands she doesn't own. (Whereas Catelyn clearly doesn't have the power to will winterfell to Arya over Jon despite being in the same position as the widowed Dowager Queen/Lady)

Instead, it's the manderlys and the bolton at odds over who owns that land, both through Donella, even though she herself doesn't seem to have actual inheritance rights to it. (As opposed to Sansa Stark, who is a blood claimant so Tyrion could legally rule winterfell through her) In any case I think the real crux of the issue, like with the forced marriage, is bigger army diplomacy. Bran mentions a bastard, but unless said bastard can raise an army or get the millitary support of a larger faction, those lands are going to the bolton or the manderlys.

I imagine there isn't a blood relative with any real millitary backing or roose and wyman wouldn't be going through all this trouble for someone who technically only has widow's use rights.

Ultimately, because armies are honestly the biggest decider of succession law in westeros (Aegon II acknowledged as king over Rhaenrya I in histories because he won the war, Maegor over Aegon the uncrowned because he won the war, even the Tyrell's claim to highgarden being a bit dodgy in terms of blood relations but backed up by the targaryen millitary power of the time etc), whether or not Donellas's marriage and contract are going to be considered valid according to history will depend on who is in power. Should the boltons be toppled, I think the new lord/lady/king/queen of the north will suddenly be hearing a lot of arguments about the legality of vows forced at sword point that no one dares take to roose bolton now.

hello anon, thank you for your thoughtful message!! the hornwood marriage and its fallout is one of my favorite subplots of the series so i'm always thrilled to talk about it.

while i agree with your final conclusion that armies are the biggest decider of succession law in westeros (i talked about this here re: lord manderly and his squatting on hornwood after donella's death), i think you're underselling donella's legal claim to hornwood as lord hornwood's widow as they apply to her lord husband.

look at lysa tully, jon arryn's widow:

agot, chapter 34, catelyn vi

you could say that lysa only has a claim to the vale because she has the men to back it. lady hornwood is alone. her son and her husband were killed, and the majority if not all of her household guard were killed as well. she is the last remnant of house hornwood.

the degree to which wives who marry into greathouses are integrated into that breathouse is variable. cat, as a notable example, calls herself a stark as often as she calls herself a tully. tyrion (and others i think) calls her a shewolf. she considers herself an outsider, a riverlander in the north, but as the series progresses and especially after ned's death she speaks about herself in her private thoughts and aloud in public as a stark of winterfell. cersei, on the other hand, would drop dead before she called herself a baratheon. and lysa falls moreso in the middle, where she is called lysa tully and after the death of her husband is often reminded of/aligned with her familial connections to house tully, but absolutely considers herself Of The Vale, even though she's spent about fourteen years in king's landing with jon serving as robert's hand. (donella, for as long as we know her, is always and by everyone referred to as lady hornwood, never donella manderly).

so one could argue that lysa tully is pointedly not an arryn, and is only holding the vale because her son is a blood claimant AND she has tully and arryn forces to support her own claim in the meantime.

but suitors are beating down lysa's door because they want the vale. and the vale would pass to them as the new head of the vale and defacto head of house arryn. i was going to use ramsay as an example but his bastard status makes this more complicated so let's pick a legitimate second son. why can't i think of anyone.

actually, let's say tyrion, since you also mentioned sansa's blood rights to winterfell.

tyrion is heir by blood to casterly rock, since jaime is a knight of the kingsguard and thus unable to inherit. let's axe that because it also makes things more complicated. jaime leaves the kingsguard as tywin wants him to do and he inherits casterly rock and becomes warden of the west. this leaves tyrion a second son with no blood claim to casterly rock (similar to the blackfish, who left house tully to go with lysa to the vale and serve house arryn. i didn't use him as an example because lysa's husband also being a tully would muddy the waters of an example that is already stretched pretty thin). so tyrion marries lysa tully. tyrion is now lord of the vale, stepfather to lord robert aryn. tyrion's first order of business would be siring a son on his new wife so that lord baby lannister-tully would become the new heir to the vale, trumping robert arryn's claim. all of this would come from lysa tully's claim to the vale, as the widow of jon arryn.

importantly, donella hornwood is considered an elligible marriage prospect by the men at winterfell, even if she is too old to have children.

Midday came and went. Maester Luwin sent Poxy Tym down to the kitchens, and they dined in the solar on cheese, capons, and brown oatbread. While tearing apart a bird with fat fingers, Lord Wyman made polite inquiry after Lady Hornwood, who was a cousin of his. “She was born a Manderly, you know. Perhaps, when her grief has run its course, she would like to be a Manderly again, eh?” He took a bite from a wing, and smiled broadly. “As it happens, I am a widower these past eight years. Past time I took another wife, don’t you agree, my lords? A man does get lonely.” Tossing the bones aside, he reached for a leg. “Or if the lady fancies a younger lad, well, my son Wendel is unwed as well. He is off south guarding Lady Catelyn, but no doubt he will wish to take a bride on his return. A valiant boy, and jolly. Just the man to teach her to laugh again, eh?” He wiped a bit of grease off his chin with the sleeve of his tunic.

acok, chapter 16, bran ii

here we see lord manderly scheming to get the hornwood lands by marriage, for either himself or his son

Bran wanted to give the lady a hundred men to defend her rights, but Ser Rodrik only said, “He may look, but should he do more I promise you there will be dire retribution. You will be safe enough, my lady … though perhaps in time, when your grief is passed, you may find it prudent to wed again.”

“I am past my childbearing years, what beauty I had long fled,” she replied with a tired half smile, “yet men come sniffing after me as they never did when I was a maid.”

“You do not look favorably on these suitors?” asked Luwin.

“I shall wed again if His Grace commands it,” Lady Hornwood replied, “but Mors Crowfood is a drunken brute, and older than my father. As for my noble cousin of Manderly, my lord’s bed is not large enough to hold one of his majesty, and I am surely too small and frail to lie beneath him.”

Bran knew that men slept on top of women when they shared a bed. Sleeping under Lord Manderly would be like sleeping under a fallen horse, he imagined. Ser Rodrik gave the widow a sympathetic nod. “You will have other suitors, my lady. We shall try and find you a prospect more to your taste.”

“Perhaps you need not look very far, ser.” After she had taken her leave, Maester Luwin smiled. “Ser Rodrik, I do believe my lady fancies you.” Ser Rodrik cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable.

acok, chapter 26, bran ii

and here we see donella both acknowledging her many suitors and flirting with ser rodrik (cute!!!)

immediately after this though we get a more pragmatic breakdown of why donella's dead husband and son cause issues politically:

“She was very sad,” said Bran.

Ser Rodrik nodded. “Sad and gentle, and not at all uncomely for a woman of her years, for all her modesty. Yet a danger to the peace of your brother’s realm nonetheless.”

“Her?” Bran said, astonished. Maester Luwin answered. “With no direct heir, there are sure to be many claimants contending for the Hornwood lands. The Tallharts, Flints, and Karstarks all have ties to House Hornwood through the female line, and the Glovers are fostering Lord Harys’s bastard at Deepwood Motte. The Dreadfort has no claim that I know, but the lands adjoin, and Roose Bolton is not one to overlook such a chance.”

Ser Rodrik tugged at his whiskers. “In such cases, her liege lord must find her a suitable match.”

“Why can’t you marry her?” Bran asked. “You said she was comely, and Beth would have a mother.” The old knight put a hand on Bran’s arm. “A kindly thought, my prince, but I am only a knight, and besides too old. I might hold her lands for a few years, but as soon as I died Lady Hornwood would find herself back in the same mire, and Beth’s prospects might be perilous as well.”

“Then let Lord Hornwood’s bastard be the heir,” Bran said, thinking of his half brother Jon. Ser Rodrik said, “That would please the Glovers, and perhaps Lord Hornwood’s shade as well, but I do not think Lady Hornwood would love us. The boy is not of her blood.”

“Still,” said Maester Luwin, “it must be considered. Lady Donella is past her fertile years, as she said herself. If not the bastard, who?”

“May I be excused?” Bran could hear the squires at their swordplay in the yard below, the ring of steel on steel.

acok, chapter 26, bran ii

so we're right back to the point where you and i totally agree. the only thing that REALLY decides inheritance rights in westeros is the point of a sword.

which wheels us back to my longstanding point (arrived at throughout my first reread and with the help of many friendly mutuals and anons who contributed to my understanding of the issue) that ramsay kidnapping donella hornwood and marrying her at swordpoint is unusual because he is an unrecognized illegitimate bastard when he does it, but is at the end of the day not that much more brutal or unheard of than any other run of the mill marriage in westeros.

so donella here is like a vector through which the hornwood lands would pass. lysa's situation with the vale is similar, though her claim to the keep and its lands is stronger because she has a living heir AND both tully and arryn forces to guard her claim.

ramsay banked on the dreadfort's forces to protect him from the ramifications of kidnapping raping and murdering a noblewoman AND to hold the hornwood lands. the dreadfort forces could do neither. but the marriage was not a total loss politically since as i have said, ramsay is the legal claimant to the hornwood lands, AND roose has an interest in holding those lands as well so he would back his claim if it came to it.

as with all things in westeros, whoever carries the biggest stick wins the day, regardless of written law or unwritten social custom.

so at the end of the day, i think donella's legal rights to hornwood are strong only insofar as they serve her new lord husband, who stands to inherit her land. which. actually reading over all this again i think it is accurate of you to say that donella only has widow's rights for as long as she does not remarry. but that is less to do with westerosi legal code (nonexistant) and more to do with hornwood having no military strength left AND their leige lords the starks being stretched too thin with the WoFK to lend their help before it's too late to do so.

donella can will her lands to her new husband ramsay because she would have functionally been doing to same thing if lord manderly or his son married her. or if ser rodrik married her. donella has claim over hornwood only insofar as she can give it to her lord husband.

[harlivycentral]

I think Poison Ivy #29 was actually pretty interesting. I do of course think it's annoying the way they're having her shy away from Ecoterrorism (major eye-roll at the line about "Right about the problems, delusional about the solutions.") But I also honestly recognize that DC is a major corporation & that we're unlikely to get to get any actually meaningfully revolutionary politics portrayed in the pages of one of their comics. That being said, I feel like they threaded a lot of interesting stuff throughout this issue, and I'm willing to see where it leads. I have LOVED Bella since she was introduced in Tynion IV's Batman run years ago, so I love to see her brought into play in the current Poison Ivy run (not just as a flashback like we got a while back). And I think she was drawn so beautifully/I loved the dynamic they set up with her & Ivy. I think there was such a clear thread of both the love they have for each other and the way they have always been somewhat intellectually and morally at odds

And I don't think the issue was setting up a clean dichotomy of Bella = wrong & Ivy = right. I think we're supposed to feel the tension between Bella and Ivy's points of view. I do think that we're still seeing the fallout from when Ivy tried to kill/mind control large numbers of people, and how she's now struggling with what it means to do meaningful work to save the planet that still allows other humans the dignity of their own choice. I think there IS something interesting in the way they're exploring the unhealthy-ness of this current cult-like dynamic, and how the followers of the Green Knight are actually dis-empowered from seeking their own solutions even as it gives them hope. It's interesting to me to see Ivy bristling against being a symbol to people on a meta level, in that this is her first ongoing solo run ever, and I think Ivy has often been written in the past as a symbol, and a stand-in for different writers' different viewpoints about women/the environment/etc. She was written so differently as a vehicle for so many different people's view points that we saw them resolve that issue with the multiple-Ivies storyline in Tynion VI's run that set up the current run.

And I *hope* that the series will land somewhere in the middle and not just condemn the followers of the Green Knight, but show them working with Ivy to find more agency and their own voices. Also LOL but sorry I have lived in Seattle and yeah there ARE a lot of obnoxious reactionary leftists there who aren't actually doing meaningful work (AND a lot of people who really are. obviously, but. Still made me laugh.)

I also liked Ivy kissing Bella but Bella turning her down because a) I do think for many of the decades in which Ivy has been a character, she's been written to use her sexuality as a weapon. I definitely personally see her as a lesbian who was heavily manipulated by/abused by men early in her life and turned to this very sharpened-steel use of her sexuality against them as a means of protection, a sort of "fuck you." I could honestly write a whole other post about that. Anyway, I think it's very in character for her. We see her in panic mode, falling back on these old habits instinctively (weaponizing her sexuality, using an extreme level of violence with her vines) that she doesn't actually want to rely on anymore. But Bella knows her better than that, and is able to put a stop to that. And Ivy cares about Bella enough to want to not just turn to those old methods. But I think we HAVE seen her really struggling, ever since abandoning her plan to kill herself and humanity to save the environment, to figure out what she wants to do instead. So I think her running away is maybe bringing all that to a head, and I'm interested to see where the writers and artists will take her next. I think they're using this storyline as a crisis point and thus opportunity for growth past the fallout from the original storyline from the first six issues, and I'm hopeful the team will do something interesting with it.

[dreamwreaver]

Helluva/Hazbin fandom really sucks man 😑. So misogynistic that it's concerning.

They'd choose the likes of Valentino over Stella, hate Lilith even though she hasn't actually said or done anything yet, depict Charlie as this poor, dumb, naive baby who needs Vaggie to protect her from everything and despise Octavia for having a valid reaction towards her neglectful father. Then they treat their favorite grown men as either their blorbos who never did anything wrong or acknowledge that these men did a lot of wrongs but downplay it/never take it seriously while demonizing the other female characters who's done comparatively less worse things than the men.

Unfortunately nonnie that's fandoms in general. Unless a show is essentially all women like She-Ra or Steven Universe the men are inevitably going to dominate the fandom spaces. Part of that has to do with older shows... not having well written female characters let's be honest. The male characters by and large are written better. Helluva boss is Blitz's story, and I do feel that season 2 so far has done a good job exploring the fallout of blitz's actions and why everyone he used to be close to left him. I think the stolitz should have slow burned a bit more, and there should have been a few more missions that weren't short episodes. But hey, that's just me.

I'm honestly not sure who's to blame for Stella's writing. Octavia is an emotionally volatile teenager and while I myself am not a child of divorce all my friends who are do say that when they were young they felt the same way. Loona is someone who grew up in the foster system and was understandably wary of Blitz and it took her a while to warm up to him to the point where she saw him as her father. Bee... well bee is literally Kesha in furry form, but she's not written as a ditzy party girl, she actually has a lot of nuance since she feeds off energy and takes action to stop blitz from decimating himself when he was upset.

So there is proof they can write women well. Charlie herself is a well written character. You spend five minutes watching her you know what she's about. Rosie too, and Velvette for that matter. Hell, even Carmilla Carmine has a very distinct personality that isn't just "abusive bitch". And yet, immediately after carmilla's debut I saw tiktok inundated with genderbend pictures of her. And surprisingly, almost no bends of Valentino, or Vox. Hell, the only Luci genderbend I've seen was done by one of my friends. Also, most of the genderbend Alastor art is from charlastor artists too now that I think about it. So unfortunately there's some internalized misogyny that isn't so easily left behind in fandom spaces. I wish it were different, but all we can do is make the content that makes us happy. And if someone happens to like it? That's a bonus!

[epickiya722]

Hello, previous anon here. I would like to thank you for replying to me.

Now, the reason I thought it was weird to view the Izuku/Ochako scene as platonic was because, for as far as I remember, they never really had a fallout or anything of the sort. Of all the people in Class 1-A, Ochako was always Izuku's "friendliest friendship" as they never had any sort of prior conflict, so I'm not sure how exactly you could go further from here.

Like, rereading of the chapters, I feel like people underrate Ochako a lot as a love interest. She was effectively the first person in his life to actually stand up for him, doing so entirely out of selflessness. With that in mind, is it really strange that she is considered Izuku's most special person? Or that he would be attracted to her (yes, he does think she looks cute in a school uniform)? Hori changed the dynamics a bit by making her attracted to him instead, but it's not a development that came from nowhere. It was always gradually built upon.

Meanwhile, Bakugou is pretty overrated as a friend, coming off as really nasty early on. And still is even after his character development, with a lot of unprovoked violence (it's wildly uncomfortable to be reminded that Katsuki almost gave Izuku a crianial hemorrhagy at one point, and have that depicted as funny). The contrast between those "friendships" is just really notable when you take in account all the moments, not only the major ones.

It's also why I think the Bakuangst stories that makes Izuku come off as thankless for the suit are very tasteless, especially because he wasn't the only person who funded it anyway. If anything, he did slightly more than the bare minimum, and he's lucky that he has a normal relationship with Izuku now while retaining his usual aggressive tone after all the years of bullying (not trying to bash Katsuki here. I understand that he is an anti-hero and needs flaws). I think Katsuki, like Izuku, is also heavily misunderstood, although mostly to paint him as a better person than he actually is. Frankly, he is better off with the likes of Eijiro, Shoto or even (God forbid) Monoma, since those are the people who can stand up to his Bakugoisms.

Continuation of this ask here!

I still don't see how is it weird to view Ochako and Izuku as platonic... when they are platonic in the canon material. Do they have to have a fallout to then become friends again?

They couldn't just be friends and want to hang out more in later years because they haven't since their high school years (possibly)? Wouldn't that make it even better for them to hang out more because before they didn't have bad blood?

Heck, wouldn't that would make a romance between them great because they were friends first? Who wouldn't want their friend to also be their romantic partner? That means that if I trust you enough to be my friend, I trust you enough to be my romantic half.

Like, who wouldn't want that for Ochako and Izuku?Again, I never said they couldn't be romantic.

You just proved what I said even bringing it up how "Ochako's attraction was built up" because during that time they were friends.

But let's not forget that when it was pointed out that she has a crush, it was pointed out by someone who was obsessed with love (Mina). That's the same person who got giddy seeing her homeroom teacher and Ms. Joke together when there was no romantic build up at all between the two. Same person who teased Midnight and All Might and had to be shut down by the former who points out she isn't into older men.

So honestly, I think it's unfair that people want to keep bringing up about how Ochako's feelings when at a lot of the time how she feels is stated by other people. I feel like that was something she could discover on her own and be sure about it.

With that in mind, you bring up Izuku's (possible) attraction to her. Throughout the story, they do have their cute moments but he also didn't have anyone in his ear telling him how he should feel about Ochako. Again, unfair to Ochako because while her feelings are often pointed out, Izuku's aren't.

On a romantic level, it does come off as one-sided or at the most 30/70. On a platonic level, it does not.

But who is denying that they can't put in a romantic 50/50 romantic bond in the future and make those decisions ON THEIR OWN?

And I wouldn't say that Ochako is "underrated" as a love interest. There is plenty of ship content both in and out of the canon material.

It's just that with Ochako, I doubt Horikoshi was trying to make her just the love interest. With her character, despite that crush, he was also trying to be make her stand out as her own and not as "Izuku's girl" because she isn't. She is Ochako Uraraka aka Uravity, someone who wanted to become a hero to help her parents financially but also because she wanted to help people and put smiles on their faces.

I don't think Ochako should only be seen as Izuku's love interest. He's a part of her story, not the reason for it. And much of it doesn't even revolve around him. After all, let's not forget she does put her feelings aside for him, at some point.

All of her traits are admirable and Izuku respects her for that.

That's why them being friends is also great for them being in a romantic relationship, if you wish to see it as such.

I don't think it's strange that Ochako is a special person to Izuku. But I do think it's strange that Katsuki can't also be seen as a special person to Izuku.

They're not competing for his attention or anything. While it's true Izuku and Katsuki had a falling out, it's not like they weren't friends at some point and haven't been each other's lives since they were children.

They were childhood friends. And let's not act as if even when their relationship wasn't rekindled, Izuku didn't show any care towards Katsuki because he has multiple times.

Katsuki isn't "overrated" as a friend for no reason.

Yes, Katsuki has his flaws and no, he isn't the best person. But he did become a better person and yeah, I do think that is something to admire especially when he did recognize his flaws, he was just a teenager compared to the many adults in the same story who later realize their own flaws. (I do believe you can recognize your flaws at any given time in your life.) He caught how he was just in time to change his life around. I'd rather for that than for him to not ever recognize how wrong he was.

Katsuki would probably agree with you that is lucky he still has any kind of relationship with Izuku. But I also don't think that he can't have any relationship with Izuku when it's Izuku who has that choice.

He's not being captive to be Katsuki's anything or vice versa. He's always been able to make his own choices. They all are.

And you bring those other characters being able to stand up to Katsuki and his behavior, but so does Izuku as the story progresses. In fact, him standing up to Katsuki is in the earlier parts of the story.

Honestly, at this point, I feel like some of the fandom feels as if Izuku isn't free to do anything. It's like there's always this constant need to point out he's a victim, and he is, but also in the same breath some people like to downplay that he is able to stand on his own two feet. That is he is his own person. It's like he has to be this and he had to be that.

Just like Katsuki (as you pointed out) and Ochako, I do feel like Izuku is heavily misunderstood. In fact, probably the most misunderstood character in the story.

I'm sorry, but you saying it is weird for Ochako and Izuku to be viewed as platonic gives me the same energy as when people think it's some strange phenomenon that a woman and a man or a girl and a boy are just friends and don't want to be romantically involved. It also gives me the same energy as people thinking that a pair could only be viewed as platonic or romantic, it can't be both.

Characters they are, but I am a real person. I am a real person with my own opinions based on feelings and how I feel about 431, Ochako, Katsuki and Izuku is not going to changed unless I chose to change those feelings and I don't want to argue about it.

I'm going on a limb here and saying you feel like I was wrong about seeing IzuOcha as platonic. It's why you called it "weird". You ignored that I used the term "also", meaning there's room to see them as romantic if you want to.

I'm not trying to dictate how people should view these characters, I don't want to. But I don't think anyone should turn around and try to do so to me.

[mai-komagata]

rest of rings of power

here is what i think will happen in the rest of rings of power, season by season. (if they get renewed for 5 seasons). I'm deciding the show will end with Sauron being defeated by Isildur, and him refusing to destroy the ring. I think there might be an epilogue with him losing the ring/gollum finding it as a denoument/tying the hobbit plot to the main plot, but that would be the absolute latest the story would end. I will also buck the trend and think the destruction of Numenor won't happen in season 3, just so they can keep the characters/numenor around for as long as possible, so i think this will be in season 4. So brief outline:

Season 3: I think the main thing that needs to happen this season is Sauron needs to make the one ring. I don't think this will be the first thing that will happen. I think this might happen towards the latter half of the season, and all the fallout from that will wrap up the season. I think Durin becoming king, and how he deals with the dwarven rings will become a big plot point in this season. I hope he can reconnect with elrond as a result. Maybe we'll see dragons (but that might be a plot in later seasons, since there is not much else for the dwarves to do later). Sauron also needs to start doling out the rings for men. I think him meeting Kemen will happen and be a major relationship he will have this season. Maybe meet Theo too. I don't think Sauron will sail to Numenor, but maybe some of his rings will be shipped there. I think Gandalf will finally meet up with the elves and the main plot. What im curious is if they ever bring in Saruman. But i think Gandalf and the Elves meeting might be what these characters do. Maybe we get more elven lore like building Imladris and Lorien, or we meet up with the Silvan elves in Greenwood. Honestly dunno what the hobbits will do. I'm hoping they reconnect with their family and settle in the banks of the anduin. After the one ring gets made i expect some sort of telepathic confrontation with the elves, specifically Galadriel. And the numenoreans might notice something is up and come capture sauron. Season 4: Main plot will be Sauron in Numenor. I expect most of the plot will follow the Akallabeth. I expect Elendil and Isildur to come back to middle earth, and like, establish some sort of kingdom or settlement. Maybe they meet up with Gil Galad and the Elves. Maybe the Dwarves get attacked by Dragons at this point, maybe some of the rings get destroyed. The Elves will freak out a bit b/c they can no longer use the 3 rings. Galadriel's wounds might reappear -- maybe Gandalf will help her or something. This seems really light on things that happen, but i expect it will be a very numenor heavy season, since we won't see a lot of those actors after this, they will maximize their airtime. Season 5: Sauron comes back to middle earth, much worse for wear. I will assume they will give him a new form, even if it is not completely book accurate, I don't think he'll be a masked form all season. They might give him the adar treatment of "still hot, just scarred". I will expect him to start building some sort of deception/relationship with Elendil and Isildur. Especially after he lost Tar Miriel, maybe that is an avenue for reaching out to him. I feel given the tenor of the show, they will show them having some connection to sauron for the final confrontation to have emotional heft. Elves can use the rings again! but they can sense sauron isn't really gone, they just don't know what is up. If Cirdan hasn't given up his ring to Gandalf I expect they'll introduce this at some point. Ringwraiths come out in full force. Hobbits are doing some thing, maybe they introduce Smeagol to them somehow. Or maybe Nori will be his "grandmother" but he is born later or something. Things build up so the final battle will occur towards the end of the season. Everyone who is a main character still alive will be here somehow. lots of people die, it will be very sad.

Battle happens as expected, with Sauron shenanigans as to why Isildur decides not to destroy the ring. some denoument for everything else. Elrond finally gets his ring. Galadriel is in Lothlorien, at ease finally. One ring gets found by gollum. maybe sauron is a blob again. the end. -----

This is why the show hires actual professional writers, so things aren't as boring as what I'm describing, lol.

I expect the main relationships we'll see with Sauron are Kemen, Ar Pharazon and Isildur for each of the remaining seasons. Maybe Earien and Miriel in there, too. Honestly the main unknown i have is what they will do with the hobbits from here on out. Maybe they'll establish the beginnings of the shire, too. What plots/characters do people think I missed? Do people think some events will happen sooner or later?

[apr1lr4in]

EDDSWORLD FALLOUT AU

Ok I'm putting this here because I have had this as an idea for so long and I don't rlly expect eddsworld fans to rlly be into fallout BUT I AM, OK? I got a lot of points I wanna talk abt and MAYBE I'll draw it MAYBE SETTING- Every fallout game is in America and EW is not, but I think I can keep the setting in England. As ur gonna see later, I thought Tord being a synth would be fitting. BUT UNFORTUNATLEY synths are only present in Fallout 4 and that is largely due to the institute not being a huge presence anywhere but Massachusetts. Compromise? There is no institute, but something similar (Will talk more in the Tord section) EDD- Honestly I LOVE cowboy Edd, but the only game with a huge cowboy setting would be New Vegas. But think about it, a survivor in the wasteland who is obsessed with prewar relics and clothing. Places like the midwest or even the Mojave are very different from England, but Edd seems like the kind of guy to be into the whole Prewar cowboy nerd. Ofc he's the protagonist, I'm not sure what kind of name he would have though. You know, lone survivor, the courier, i forgot what the protag is called in fallout 3 i havent played it. The "Goulden one" would be kind of funny though. I want him to have the same energy as the Courier, got shot and survived and is now a menace in the wasteland. But he's more heroic obv, going on silly adventures with the gang and make the wasteland a better place

TOM- I can see him being a vault dweller, but choosing to leave the life of one. It wasn't working for him and he probably didn't live in one of the good vaults. He travels with Edd and matt because he probably would get killed if he went by himself (Alcohol and chem addict) and is possibly out for revenge. Revenge for what? You'll se :3 ofc this is just brainstorming, maybe he wouldn't end up as a vault dweller and perhaps Edd was the vault dweller and Tom is the jagged wastelander. MATT- I have to say it, Matt is a ghoul. But does that affect his self esteem? No! I don't think there's a single ghoul in fallout who doesn't have a captivating personality, Matt is no exception. He is definitely the type to pick up random junk from the wasteland and is over encumbered. And he loves those fuckass monkey symbol things that make noise if you've played fallout 4, you know what I'm talking about,,,shudder) But people don't take him seriously BECAUSE he is a ghoul and full of radiation. But Edd has a good reputation and is able to vet for him. I also just thought what if he was a celebrity before the war? That would explain his lingering ego, but failing to realize nobody really cares anymore. RED ARMY- Notice how I didn't put Tord here? That's because he is unfortunately the enemy. Moreso his Red Army, but he isn't aggressive towards Edd or anyone else. He thinks positively of the 3 (maybe except Tom), but the issue is his reign against the wasteland. Think of him like Mr. House or the Brotherhood of Steel (Not the vegas BoS, they can go kys) he is the only military force around, but it's not a good one. The Red Army are known for their brutal enforcement of rules and are in fact transhumanists. They want to slowly take control of everyone and "improve" the human form. Why? Tord is essentially a partial synth. Not fully robot, but not a natural human. Yes his robot arm is coming back and YES power armor is being involved. I would like to mention that as much as I want to include characters like Paul and Patryck in this post, they are not as "essential" as the main 4. They are still Tord's righthand men, but it would be unfair of me to include them in this post and not other lesser known character. I DO have plans though, but I'll have to iron all of this out first. Larry will be thought of dw bing and larry fans, all 10 of u <3 These are all ideas! Basic thoughts i've had for a while now and maybe some ppl won't understand it. But if anyone does like fallout and EW...GIVE ME UR IDEAS!!! Perhaps even draw up some designs? I know I def will revisit this but I have a haircut today