#i could write essays on this subject

[dearest-lady-disdain]

1950s cheryl is such a loser and i love her more for it than i can possibly express

[chloecherrysip]

We're going to save your brother.

[bisexual-kelsier]

Love Is Stored in the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

On Lizzie & Ripred

The newest take I’m seeing right now, both in the TUC tags and on my “controversial TUC takes” post, is that Lizzie’s relationship with Ripred is unfounded and that the inclusion of it “robbed” us of a softer moment between Gregor and Ripred. I disagree with this take so much that I decided to write an entire essay about my thoughts on the subject. The most common argument I see against Lizzie is that she received Ripred’s affection, as well as his tragic backstory, after being present for a very short period of time, while Gregor has known Ripred for months. At a surface level, this may seem counterintuitive, but when we dig deeper into the characters and their behaviors, motivations, and allegiances, the thematic significance of Lizzie’s role in the story becomes apparent.

First and foremost, let’s take a look at Gregor. I love this kid so much, but I do believe that the core of this argument hinges on his more subtle flaws as a character. Consider this: the entirety of The Underland Chronicles is narrated from Gregor’s point-of-view. What does this mean for our perception of the story? We receive only the context that Gregor has, and we only receive the details that Gregor notices and finds important. Across the series, his understanding of the Underland and its denizens expands, grows, and solidifies. He is twelve by Code of Claw and very much still learning and growing, but some of beliefs have settled by this point.

This is where Ripred comes in. Gregor has more or less made up his mind about Ripred by the end of Curse of the Warmbloods. He wants to lead the Gnawers and will achieve that goal by any means necessary. He’s an ally, but probably not a friend, grumpy and abrasive and untouchable. Definitely not worthy of sympathy, because he can take care of himself. In short, Gregor doesn’t see Ripred as a multidimensional person, as someone with emotions outside of anger and self-importance.

In direct opposition, we have Lizzie. Upon first glance, she might seem inconsequential until Code of Claw, because her character arc is quiet and mostly happens off-screen. She’s anxious about almost everything, and the Underland puts her through a lot of trauma in the earlier books without having ever set foot down there. It took her dad from her when she was only four years old, and when he returned years later, he was ill and severely traumatized. His absence and then his inability to work meant that she grew up in poverty, spending a large portion of her childhood food insecure and without a stable home life. Similarly, the Underland suddenly took Gregor, who by that point had undertaken a parental role in the household, and Boots away on more than one occasion. These traumas were then compounded on in Curse of the Warmbloods, first when her family’s apartment was swarmed by rats and then when Grace, the stable parent and breadwinner, contracted the plague and was unable to return home.

Lizzie’s role in both Marks of Secret and Code of Claw directly opposes the effect that Gregor—and by direct extension, we as readers—expects this trauma to have on her. Lizzie is afraid of almost everything, and the Underland has harmed her directly in the past. She should approach it with fear, maybe even hostility, like Gregor does in portions of the book. Lizzie is not Gregor, though, and her key trait as a character is that she is able to see the world as a whole through different eyes. So she chooses kindness, instead.

This is where the excerpt above comes in. Lizzie has never met Ripred personally at this point, and she really only knows anything about him from Gregor’s stories—which almost certainly don’t paint Ripred in the kindest light. Lizzie sees beyond the surface of these stories, though, and considers Ripred as an entire person, with depth and emotions. What she sees between the lines is up for individual interpretation. Maybe she latches onto Ripred’s insistence that Gregor learn echolocation, a skill that might save her brother’s life. She does pester Gregor about practicing. Maybe she sees pieces of Gregor reflected in those stories about Ripred. A rager who doesn’t quite fit in where he’s from or where he’s fighting for, who can be stubborn and short-tempered and quick to hide his vulnerabilities from the people he considers himself responsible for. Maybe she sees pieces of herself reflected in those stories. Maybe, as someone who has lost pieces of her family, who has only one friend, who has likely eaten less than her share so that others could be full, she finds it easy to spot the humanity, for lack of a better word, in Ripred, like light through the crack under a locked door.

Whatever her reasons—and maybe there are no reasons beyond “he’s a person, too”—Lizzie goes out of her way to treat Ripred with kindness before she ever meets him. She sends some of her own food with Gregor so that Ripred doesn’t have to go completely hungry. She makes sure Gregor knows to share that plate of oatmeal raisin cookies with Ripred. Where Gregor rarely shows any gratefulness for his help and, in fact, rarely views him through a lens unclouded by a deeply ingrained bias against Gnawers, Lizzie is kind. Ripred notices.

This is not a matter of Ripred suddenly opening up to Lizzie for little reason after bonding with Gregor across the entire series. Ripred treats Lizzie differently because she acted differently. Their relationship is not built only on Lizzie’s similarities to Silksharp, but on a history of compassion and respect. It isn’t shoehorned in, it’s a necessary relationship that supports the central themes of The Underland Chronicles—violence, war, and colonialism are cyclical, but the refusal to continue living life based on the biases of the past can break that cycle and bring about a brighter future for everyone.

[checkazi]

life crazy draw nervy

[mindsafe]

who always gets 2nd place?

@pontevoix || from [X] || ACCEPTING

who always gets 2nd place?

ILLUMI ZOLDYCK;

he was born first, but he comes second.

for twelve years, he is a placeholder, keeping an empty crib warm. for twelve years he tries ( && fails ) to be the perfect son; but he is malleable to a fault. dislocated joints && rearranged organs // loyalty bleeding into M̴̖͋͋I̶̹̒̐Ṅ̴̢̜̓D̷̨͖̎L̵͎̤̒È̷͙̚S̴̖͕̋S̷͙̙̑̚ ̴̟̎O̶͚͝B̴̘̺͆É̸͈̲D̵̡͂͝I̸̛͖̖Ẹ̷̦͗̀N̷̘͌͑ͅC̴̝͎̒̀E̷̪͇͆̔. the strings move, && he moves with them: a puppet with his mother's face. there are days when he feels like a stranger in his own skin. sometimes he forgets his birthday.

then, killua is born: a blue-eyed boy, with long eyelashes // the spitting image of their father. illumi might have taken insult to being supplanted by an infant; but he is malleable to a fault. the change in status quo is necessary, due to his own inadequacies; he should be honoured that he is given the responsibility of moulding killua into the perfect heir. it's an opportunity to atone.

[hannibal-is-my-comfort-show]

Me at a party, trying to think of an icebreaker: So if you had to die, how would you wanna go?

[only-one-brain-cell]

“Jj AnD hOtCh WeRe BoUnD bY lAw.” Ok cool, Spencer can still express his feelings???? Especially after he went to JJs house to morn. Imagine not only loosing your friend but going to your other first house for comfort and the whole time said friend knows the other friend is alive.

[raiiny-bay]

it’s honestly kinda crazy to me that kel & co were literally the first OCs i ever made

[vordemtodgefeit]

i got a high 1st in my classics creative project!!!!!

[ccybersharkk]

I wanna write about 017's relationship with the other creeps so badly but there's so much and so little to say at the same time.

Like yeah. He can't stand Jeff. Wdym I have to explain why he hates him

[maribellablack]

Italian TV show - Baby (2018)

[spacedlexi]

been rewatching atla recently and its wild to finally recognize Just How Much this show impacted me not only artistically but also just like.. fundamentally as a person

[thaimolpiyas]

preston garvey 🤝 wyll ravengard

objectively the most morally upstanding and unnecessarily kind companion treated like shit by the fandom

[emeraldenha]

for all the lovely engenes who have been deprived of enha content on this page, hopefully that will change bc chaconne alone has brought back my enha hyper fixation

[moshieee]

Ew, essays :[

I miss the old days of kindergarten when we attempted to color butterflies and ate erasers and glue

-🎁

I hated kindergarten

Essays may suck but at least now I'm not the weird kid in the corner wishing I had friends

However yes I absolutely despise essays with all my being... in fact!

Achievement unlocked: you somehow found a topic moshie hates enough and on a bad day to start them ranting in the tags...

Warning there are curse words, poor spelling, and caps locks

Sorry in advance

[lesbiangracehanson]

not gonna post any screenshots from it (tonight at least lol) but i just watched the raven ep of voyager + it will be occupying about 90% of my brain space for the foreseeable