#i made alice look badass because i wanted to

[onyxmistkes]

raises my hand ✋ can i request ima alice and/or holly and/or featherworth on your style too 👀

Now that I've finished all my classes, I had to sketch all of them

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

I know only about three people total follow me because I post about the band Fanny sometimes, but have I got some news for you all: I'll be posting about them again next week, including at least one other gifset!

[suckmyfatdee]

Clear Bias towards Team Black(A lot of possible spoilers)

If you are against what I wrote and don't like it, then scroll or block me, idc, don't waste your time commenting and ridiculing me because trust me, for these opinions I've heard the same thing over and over again and you're not gonna change my mind by writing an angry comment. The comment will just be deleted and you blocked because not everyone wants to argue with someone in their comments. And for those who saw something similar on reddit, that's because I posted the same thing on reddit.

I've seen people online talk about how the screenwriters are not actually biased towards Team Black because they've made Team Green less vicious than in the books and made them sympathetic...and they're wrong in my humble opinion. This rant is gonna be long probably and my english is not the best so...

Starting off with Ryan Condal constantly talking about how the books are propaganda against Rhaenyra...why specifically Rhaenyra? He says it's because Rhaenyra is a woman. How that isn't enough to make it clear that he favours Team Black(the oh so feminist team) is beyond me. The books have always been about having morally grey characters which makes sense given that the story is set in medieval times and it's literally a world where dragons exist. So naturally they don't have the same morals as we have in real life at this point in time, so to us they will always be morally grey, as intended.

Also let's talk about the fact that even if they made Team Green more sympathetic they've also destroyed them in the process.

INTRODUCTION OF TEAM GREEN:

● For older Rhaenyra and Alicent where they've already been divided into Team Green and Team Black, Rhaenyra is introduced giving birth, obviously very much in pain and exhausted. And before they introduce adult Alicent, they talk about her asking for Rhaenyra's babe and then they show Rhaenyra walking around the Red Keep, with blood trailing after her and in obvious pain having just given birth...that's how they introduced Alicent. Literally her asking a woman, who has just given birth, to bring her babe(even tho she didn't ask for Rhaenyra but whatever).

● "Older" Criston Cole is introduced in the background barely, if at all, reacting when Rhaenyra walks around the Red Keep with blood trailing after her...

● Then young Aegon(in his teen years) is introduced bullying his younger brother, which by the way never happened in the books, if anything it was the Strong boys and Viserys. And then right after that, sexually humiliated and shown jerking out the window.

● And as for older Aegon they first show his victim Dyana, who we know what he did to(even tho this also never happened in the books), violently crying and extremely traumatized. And right after that, Aegon waking up(also once again sexually humiliated) and not caring for what he did referring to it as just some "harmless" fun. That's something the audience can't get over, that's how he was introduced, and a rapist is hard to be fond of(naturally) especially with how little, if at all, he cared. But it wasn't even about the victim in this scene, we don't get any elaboration on how Dyana dealt with it or even how the other maids reacted only Alicent's dossapointment in Aegon and her disowning him. ONLY THEN they choose to make him sympathetic, letting him cry and talk about how he will never be good anough for his parents and Alicent rolling her eyes RIGHT after he is introduced as a rapist. Making a character of one faction a rapist is the easiest way to make the other faction look better and be more likeable, no matter how sympathetic they make said character(Aegon) thereafter.

● Older Helaena is introduced walking in on her brother husband crying and her asking about the very woman her brother-husband just raped. That's all we know of her in the first scene.

● Older Aemond is introduced fairly badass, I didn't have a problem with that.

MAKING TEAM GREEN INSULT RHAENYRA JUST TO DISTRACT FROM CERTAIN THINGS....:

● While Alicent and Criston are talking about Rhaenyra committing High Treason and her father not giving a flying shit, they make Criston call her a spoiled cunt.

● They made Vaemond call Rhaenyra a whore just before they made Daemon kill him so it was kind of a "Ha! He had it coming moment", which I don't remember Vaemon doing in the books but sure go on(Also, in the books it was Rhaenyra that ordered Daemon to kill Vaemond before she had Syrax eat him and then yk what else...)

● Season two it kicked off amazingly and Aegon was definitely the most entertaining character for many. I don't think I need to elaborate on what I think about the B & C scene, given Geroge has taken the words right out of my mouth. But let's talk about the small council meeting right after Aegon found out what happened to Jaehaerys. Not even in Aegon's grief do they exclude Rhaenyra, and I'm not talking about the fact that they blamed Rhaenyra but rather that they made Aegon insult Rhaenyra. And while I loved the scene and understood why a grieving father would insult his rival who is most likely responsible for the death of his son, of course a lot of people focused on him insulting Rhaenyra instead of him having just lost his son to murder.

● Criston's character they've also reduced to nothing but a heartbroken pathetic man who is bitter of a rejection even tho he played such a big part in the books(IMO). But almost every scene of Crirston they make him insult Rhaenyra as if he can't think of anyone but her.

SEXUAL HUMILIATION OF TEAM GREEN:

At this point it's pretty clear they'll sexually humiliate Team Green at any given moment.

● Ser Criston Cole is shown breaking his oath and being coerced(yes coerced, because if we watched the scene it is pretty clear as a day that that is what happened)into sex by Rhaenyra, that was something left unclear in the books but anyways. For Rhaenyra it was seen as her bravely being a girlboss and exploring her sexuality whereas Ser Criston is humiliated by the audience for it.

● As I said Aegon(in his teen years) is sexually humiliated and shown jerking out the window, with his rear on display and his own mother catching him in the act.

● Then after introducing Aegon as a violent rapist, they make Alicent pull the blanket of Aegon once again sexually humiliating him by showing his rear on full display to his mother once again...

● Then they have Helaena making a joke at dinner and we know how people perceived this as...I have no idea if the screenwriters intend to make it seem as Aegon is sexually abusing Helaena but it was seen as such by many.

● Did I forget to mention when they made Aemond and Criston look for Aegon and then they made up a scenario where Aegon forced 13 year old Aemond to have sex with the brothel Madame Silvy, which DID not happen in the books.(and yes I edited this in because I forgot to mention this). So not only is Aegon a rapist but also is the one that orchestrated the rape of his own brother.

● Then they make Larys Strong have a fetish to the very thing related to his cripple...feet. And they make him sexually abuse and coerce Alicent, the Queen, into showing her feet and show him starting to jerk off. Wow!

● In season 2 to make Alicent seem hypocritical they make her and Criston have a sexual relationship(npt even once specualted in the books) and to add insult to injury they make Helaena who freshly watched her son get murdered walk in on them having sex just to make it seem all the more horrible even tho in thw books Alicent was bound and gagged and also watched Jaehaerys get murdered.

● Then they sexually humiliate Aemond by making him lay in the lap of his RAPIST and seek comfort in her.

● A few episodes later they make Aegon, the very reason for Aemond's rape, sexually humilate his brother publicly. Great.

● Oh and of course Aegon for some reason having his cock burned when in the books he was excited to have an heir with that Cassandra Baratheon.

TEAM GREEN DOES NOT BELIEVE IN THEIR OWN CLAIM:

● In the show, they make Aegon's claim weak, if they even make it a claim. Even tho both Rhaenyra and Aegon have a claim. Rhaenyra by Viserys' word and Aegon by birth right and by Andal law.

● Young Alicent however calls Rhaenyra's claim a birthright, which it is not(and yes Book Aegon called it Rhaenyra's birthright once, I know) so she didn't believe in Aegon's claim at all since the start.

● And just to add that they made Rhaenyra see that animal to make it seem as the gods "chose" her.

● The reason Alicent usurped the throne in the show is not because she believes it's her son's birthright at all but rather because she understood Viserys to have said that Aegon was to sit the throne.

● In season two, Aemond, while talking to Ser Criston, also says they usurped Rhaenyra, so to Aemond it wasn't their birthright?

● Aegon and show!Aegon are similar in the books when it comes to the claim, so not much to elaborate on.

Lastly, TEAM GREEN HATES EACH OTHER:

Do I need to elaborate?

There is much more I could say but I don't want to make the post too long. Tried to keep it short and simple but failed(Oops.) Also I got a bit lazy towards the end as you can probably tell.

[thegildedblogger]

IS RYAN CONDAL OK ? or is his life mission to torture GRRM. How can you bring in the creator who publicly is against certain scenes and keep making the same mistakes. Who are these characters. Maybe the book is unreliable but GRRM has talked about Daemon and Aemond in interviews. This is not Daemon (this so called badass man is subjected to Alys, who he met one week ago and doing nichts over there)

Why do Rhaenyra and Alicent have the weakest dialogue for such a "progressive" show ?

And I treat progressive within quotes because it's obvious to me they don't know what to do with black characters.

Corlys is treated as standard and honestly comical deadbeat absentee black father, Rhaenyra will only acknowledge Rhaena and Baela when she wishes to use them but admonishes Daemon for using her, Rhaena was going to be lady driftmark but now that Luke who was a bastard is gone, Rhaena seems to not matter. They made the Velaryons black to treat them like this ? Cole has gone up in rank, Mysaria has gone up in rank, everyone got an upgrade except the Velaryons. Rhaenyra truly was the doom of that house and overlooking that considering they're also black characters now is so gross.

Also I thought nothing truly was happening during this season.

Characters will talk but say nothing, they will have the same dialogue each episode, Daemon and Harrenhall is an example of that ( his character arc in the same place as it was in ep 1).

Also Mysaria's plot is giving Joker. She said she wanted to stop the fighting pits meaning she has a plan for the people with no gain from it. And her story is fake. Mysaria has been pregnant before, way after she escaped from her father. She only "opened up" the moment Rhaenyra started sulking which is every episode, she didn't think she could win the war so Mysaria put herself in a position of power now that Daemon is gone because she cloked her, she knew Rhaenyra is moved by her romantic partner. She saw with Daemon on that bridge and she saw it in her behavior with Alicent. But people are eating it up instead of looking a the flaws of the show.

It's so bad, I've have seen people grasp at straws like Alicent getting sliced in the same place than Rhaenyra, what kind of breadcrumb symbolism is this.

If you watch the show or have read the book, you're allowed to have an opinion. It's so awful how Got fans sinked the show because it didn't have a How to train your dragon ending but are cool with this.

[queenendless]

👻🦇🎃 Spooky Lovin' (Various JJK ft Adult!SatoSugu x Adult!Female!Reader) 🎃🦇👻

A/N: Just my headcannon on an imagined scenario with the JJK cast celebrating Halloween together and they're all A-OK and happy and 😭🤧❤️‍🩹 There are ships/pairings in this here and there plus the costumes I thought of for them all that took forever to think of! Spooky romantic fluff. Cause writing that vampire AU 18+ piece is ... hard.

Pairings: Yuji x Megumi, Nobara x Maki, Yuta x Rika with hints of Yuta x Toge, Kokichi x Miwa, Shoko x Utahime, Nanami x Haibara, Mai x Momo, Yuki x Choso, and Satoru x Suguru x Fem!Reader at the end.

All credit for JJK cast goes to Gege.

* Please DON'T plagarize, translate, or repost my FANFIC content. Reblog, like, and follow instead.

I hope you enjoy. And —

HAPPY HALLOWEEN~!

THE CAST'S HALLOWEEN ATTIRE!

🎃Yuji in a tiger onsie and his usual sneakers with black face paint on for the whiskers and the nose.

🎃Megumi as wolf boi with just a wolf ears headband on … he was willing to put those on for his Yuji bae and that's all you're getting.

🎃Nobara as OUAT Aurora with a sword because she is a cute badass.

🎃Maki as OUAT Mulan because I like her warrior armored suit. Blame the fanarts I've seen.

*Plus seeing fanart of those OUAT girls together made something click.

🎃Toge as the Mummy. Better that than automatically putting him in a sushi roll suit.

🎃Panda as Frankenstein's Monster. In the torn up black Frankenstein jacket, stitches painted on, Frankenstein bowler head wig, and bolts in the neck. It was either this or Killer bear.

🎃Yaga as Dr Frankenstein. Labcoat, gloves but with his shades still on. Makes perfect sense.

🎃Yuta as Bendy the Dancing Demon.

🎃Rika as Alice Angel

*They both start off cute then become quite terrifying but in the best way.

🎃Kokichi as Victor from The Corpse Bride.

🎃Miwa as Emily THE Corpse Bride.

🎃Nanami as Captain America cause I got the idea from @TimieTate on twitter. But he keeps said cap off. He'll keep the shield just to see the fanboy within faces Yu, Yuji and Ino come to life.

🎃Yu Haibara as Iron Man cause I like Stony and it all fits now. Also he used face paint to add in the beard goatee combo.

🎃Ino as a zombie with the usual horror makeup with green skin, bloody cuts, and he's a cutie wanting brains~

🎃Shoko as Sally

🎃Utahime as Genderbent Jack Skellington with a Zero plushie.

🎃Momo as Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Just the poofy velvety black dress, witch's hat, It was the broom's fault.

🎃Mai as Salem Saberhagen/Cat. It's just in a velour jumpsuit with an attached tail, layered choker necklace, cat ear headband, and ankle boots.

🎃Todo as a crossdressed Takada … cause why not.

🎃Choso as Netflix's Castlevania Dracula, with his hair loose to match. Also because of the whole blood thing.

🎃Yuki as Lisa Tepes also from Netflix's Castlevania cause they're both independent and stubborn and it just made sense to have them pair up.

🎃Riko as Wednesday Adams

🎃Kuroi as Morticia Adams

🎃Toji and Shiu as Sam and Dean Winchester. Just wearing leather jackets, rustic shirts, torn jeans and boots for the rugged look. Doesn't matter who's dressed as who. They can both make either roles work.

🎃Noritoshi Kamo as Hellsing's Alucard

🎃Junpei as Ash Williams. OG Classic. With detachable chainsaw toy hand.

🎃Nanako as Mitsuri Kanroji

🎃Mimiko as Nezuko

🎃Tsumiki as Shinobu

*They all got the wigs and custom made toy Nichirin swords. Also because Tsumiki and Shinobu share the same seiyuu. It was either her or Yor from SPY X FAMILY. Lord knows Gojo, Geto and Megumi would never want to see this girl in that kinda getup; overprotective they are.

🎃Mei as Disney OG Ursula. They both have white hair and do business with high rewarding profits. I had trouble figuring out a costume for Mei, okay!?

🎃Ui as a Flotsam Jetsam Mashup. Devoted brother/minion, so be it.

🎃Kusakabe as a Scarecrow. Apparently he's a fearful man that is courageous when it counts. It all fits.

🎃Akari Nitta as OG Disney Cinderella. Cause why not? It's cute!

🎃Ijichi as Zorro. Be a brave badass, my man!

*Those two are doing a callback to A Cinderella Story; the OG one, where Sam is Cindy and Carter is Zorro. Ergo, neither pair are couples.

🎃Arata Nitta as just a bedsheet ghost. He's timid as hell according to his wiki so there.

🎃Satoru as Wassup Ghostface

🎃Suguru as Viper Ghostface

🎃You as OG Ghostface

*Cause I gotta put my favorite horror character of all time in this and seeing fanart of them as Ghostface is a big turn on~! Plus Gojo gives Wassup vibes. And Viper looked so cool for Geto. And yes you be representing the OG!

🎃👻🦇 🎃 👻🦇🎃 👻🦇🎃👻🦇🎃👻🦇🎃

Fall has come.

Warm colored leaves whisking in the cold blowing winds.

And so much rambunctious chatter teemed the atmosphere.

The annual Halloween carnival fair has arrived.

"Fushiguro! Let's go on that ride next!" Yuji cheered enthusiastically as the pair rode the flaming pumpkin head shaped go bumper car.

"Fine fine! Just keep your eyes on the – ACK!" Megumi grabbed those mochi cheeks of Yuji's to make him face forward, both jerking forward as they got slammed in up front by another go cart.

"Itadori-kun! Eyes on the road!" Junpei laughed.

"You two can get it on later, ya know~" Ino teased, grinning, innuendo jokes going hard.

"Ino-san, please don't egg him on." Megumi grumbled, bashfully avoiding eye contact.

"If he wants to, sure." Yuji made it all seem so simple.

"WHAT!?" All three exclaimed in shock, startling the other drivers and passerby, earning him a hard yank on his tiger hood.

Mingling outside a food booth

"Mmm, umai~!" Nobara's eyes lit up with actual stars in them as she eyed her crepe with bat and spider sprinkles paired with chocolate sauce. "Delicious and Insta-worthy~! Maki-san, what do you think?"

She smacked her lips in afterthought, eyeing the"With the black and orange dyed cone, matching sherbert ice cream gave off that spooky pizzazz to put one in the festive mood "Not bad. Too much though."

"Hmm … then finding the best cammable sweets for Maki-san is our goal for this all Hallows Night!"

"Don't go overboard, baka." Maki bopped her on her crowned head, endearingly smiling. "Cause we're burning all this sugar in our workout tomorrow."

Nobara saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

From down the road, sitting at a mini table set up outside another food both, Mai scoffs at the sight. "Maki, what do you see in that girl?"

Giving heated glares to some passerby that were giving cat calls to Mai, Momo "Your envy is warranted but not tonight. Now have a spooky berry." Momo plopped a bloody frosted one from her decorated strawberry coffin into her partner's mouth.

"Out of all the people, she chose to date … her." Mai muffled through her full mouth.

"I heard that, you know." The Kyoto pair looked up to see Mai's twin and her bae standing there; Maki a bit facially irked whereas –

"We BOTH heard!" Nobara's seething face was too close for Mai's comfort; Maki restraining her from going feral, though Mai looked undisturbed.

Oh? I didn't see you there." Mai's false smile had Nobara shooting steam out of her nostrils.

"She means well." Momo; understanding Mai's protectiveness over her twin, just sat there and ate those berries away.

The baseball struck gold as the bottle tower collapsed with ease.

"Alright Nanami-san! Perfect aim as always!" Haibara cheered, clapping before pointing at the prize he wanted hanging above their heads. "How many prize booths does that make now?" Haibara beamed, arms full of stuffed toy prizes.

"This would be the fifth one. I believe we've reached a moderate amount at this point." Nanami stated, adjusting the strap keeping the star spangled shield on his back, as they walked off with their reward.

"Yeah. This is more than enough for my sister. Thank you. So here." Picking up his latest prize, he handed the Iron Man chibi doll to his beau. "As a token to remember this night."

Nanami was so taken back by the gesture. "Then you keeping this one would even things up." He plopped that Cap chibi plush right on Haibara's face.

Haibara nuzzled the Cap plush with his cheek. "I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth … Kento."

God, Nanami's heart was getting ready to burst right outta him! "Yu …" Looking straight ahead, he shyly blushed as he kept a hand on Yu's back just in case. "I'll never forget."

On a park bench, viewing the fair from across the way, the two ruggedly dressed drinking buddies were hogging the bench.

"You know spying is a bad look for you, Zen'in."

"Shut it. It's Fushiguro now, remember?" And yet, propped against the back of the bench, Toji kept glancing at his wolf eared teen son walking with his fellow sorcerer buddies through the festive grounds evidently content regardless if he was smiling or not.

"Just go say to your kids already, you big old wuss."

Downing some booze, Toji sighed. "Nah. It's better this way. Besides, his two new papas would kill me in cold blood if I got even close."

"You're actually pissed you didn't get invited to their group gathering." Shiu drolled, getting bonked in the back of the head by Toji's half empty bottle.

"Still though, nothing like a drink and a smoke outside to spend the night away." Shiu mused, smoke slipping through his lips.

Toji's semi bored eyes suddenly became focused as they trained on a former target that now alluded to his sights after slipping inside one of the many houses of horrors littered around the fair grounds.

Holding hands tightly, Riko and Kuroi jolted and squeaked among the many other costumed attendees from every jump scare triggered by the gory horrifying figures coming every which way.

"Riko-sama, it's okay if you don't want to keep going."

"No! I can be brave through this! Just to rub it in those two's smug ass faces! I can do this – mmph!" She bumped into someone's back amiss her self encouragement. Looking up into the blackest eyes of Count Choso who bluntly uttered.

"Boo."

Riko's terrified screams didn't startle Choso in the slightest as she flailed, losing balance, and falling into Kuroi's arms.

"Sorry about him, Amanai-chan. Just trying to get him in the spooky spirit is all." Yuki's head popped out from behind him, apologetically smiling.

"An incarnated object … in the flesh!" She was as terrified as she was astounded at being in his presence, especially when he punched a screeching animatronic that got too close for comfort.

"Another former Star Plasma Vessel." Choso pointed out dryly.

"I chose my own path going forward of my own free will, same as you. No need to be so blunt about it." Riko stuck her tongue out at the somewhat irked hybrid man.

"Riko-sama, let's get going. We're holding up the others behind us." Kuroi cautioned.

"Yes yes, we're wasting precious time here! The night is still young after all!~!" Not wanting to get kicked out and sued by those running the house, Yuki dragged those three out to the exit, barreling through puzzled exclaiming normies.

In a mock up Haunted Mansion ride, Kokichi stayed stiff but flustered as Miwa held his hand, hugged his arm, and cuddled up next to him in their automatic carriage seat for two.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" She curiously wanted to know.

He nods, fidgeting a bit. "And you?"

"Yes … I'm with you, after all." Miwa's genuine smile spoke volumes to how true she meant it.

"Good." He kissed her cheek all feather-like, earning a glow from her face before she peppered his face all with lipstick kisses, to his dopey smiling face.

"Oh my precious students!" That alerted the two as they spotted their sensei tearing up, to which her date used her Zero plush to pat away those tears.

"Just ignore us. We'll keep mingling with our brethren, that's all." Shoko waved to them, lounging in the fake graveyard setting.

"Not if we get kicked out over it!" Utahime panicked.

"Eh, no big deal." Shoko's usual apathetic shrug.

"You promised me you wouldn't act like THOSE TWO – MMPH!" Utahime got shushed by a smooch. Zero's nose lit up red, smooshed in between them, pouting as they parted. "You don't play fair."

Shoko rubbed her nose against Utahime's, mixing her faded blue powder with her white face powder, smiling proudly. "You make it too easy."

Outside, in a corn maze, Toge was looking ahead over the tops, carried on Panda's shoulders,

"Tsuna Tsuna."

"Go right?"

"Shake."

"Got it. Oh, Yuta, why must you leave us in your wake!? We barely see him anymore! Now he left us behind in this maze!" Panda dramatically tearfully shouted to the heavens.

"Mentaiko."

Turning this and that way, they finally found Yuta. On the hay covered ground. With Rika laying atop him.

"T–Toge! Panda! Uh … I can explain everything! I – It was just a slip –!" Yuta sweated bullets.

"He still cushioned my fall. You're always looking out for me, Yuta, my love~!" Rika gushed.

While he remained calm on the surface; that and his mouth was covered in wraps, Toge was irked at seeing his close friend being smothered by his lifelong love.

"If you two wanted to be alone, all you had to do was say so." Panda suggestively said.

"Uh, that's not – AH!" Getting pulled up to their feet, Yuta blushed at how intense Inumaki's gaze held him with such devotion. Ruffling his hair, Toge was now turning red from what those wraps didn't hide, Yuta laughed a bit at the cute sight, before Panda bear hugged them all. "I – I missed you all too!"

Leaning against the fenced borders of the exit, Kusakabe-sensei stood beside his fellow Scarecrow; a display maybe but still, staying steer clear of any unwarranted hassle.

"Kids … naively enjoying normalcy despite our true reality. As long as I don't get screwed over in the long run, I'm –!"

A clown faced balloon got thrusted in his face.

"Take one. Enjoy yourself. I mean it."

Principal Yaga, handing out spooky themed balloons to adorably costumed kids passing by with their parents, still noticed the somber fear in his eyes. Speaking of kids –

"Come on, uncle! Mom is waiting for us!"

Yaga smiled at seeing Atsuya being dragged off by his Batman dressed nephew, willing to let his guard down for the little guy, a bat shaped balloon in his small gloved hand.

Mei cackling as money rained the sky. "Thinking you can trick me out of my wits," Men with wounded pride crumbled around her. "Only to be treated to my heart's content." They should never have bet straight outta their wallets. "Now that's what I call the best treat ever~!" She was that good at the shooting ranges. And darts. And slamming the hammer to ring the bell.

"Nee-sama, on top, as always~! Perfection~!" Ui applauded in his own odd unsettling way that only his elder sister enjoyed as she laughed madly.

Noritoshi hoped Miwa and the girls' choice of costume for him wouldn't make him feel so … out of his comfort zone. And yet, the various fangirls that adored the character he portrayed had them taking him up on both sides, hugging him arms and giggling nonstop at how fine he looked. Guess letting his hair down and loose made the look really sell. Still …

"I cannot tell if this is better than dealing with curses … or worse."

Getting dragged off to God knows where, an overwhelmed Noritoshi passed the masked Ijichi-san who was mesmerized by Nitta-san as the princess she is inside and out, twirling on the bridge. "I'll make sure not to lose my glass slipper~!" She cheekily jokes.

"I'd gladly carry you should you ever lose them." Ijicji bravely offered.

"Oh thank you Ichiji-san, but I'll manage. Right, Anata?"

All she got from the tarp draped ghost of her teen brother was jerky nodding and an "Eep!"

"He's really shy. But that makes him that much more precious to me~!" She hugged her startled embarrassed tarp brother.

It brought tears to Ichiji's eyes, sniffling. "Ah sibling love … so pure!"

And for Todo. Yeah, a Takada-chan Halloween themed concert was happening nearby. And yes he got tickets to see her. Cross dressed as his #1. The man will wear it with the utmost unbridled pride and joy for his Takada-Chan. And he'd lose it seeing her dressed as the best half angel half devil in history. "Pure and forbidden to all … the perfect balance … that's my Takada-chan~" He'd be on Cloud 9 yall!

SNAP!

"Ooh, another one!" Nanko cheered.

FLASH.

"New pose time." Mimiko softly suggested.

CLICK!

"Okay, one more!" Tsumiki added.

Posing and taking photos with cosplayers of their fave online idols in their demon slayer outfits was too much fun for all those involved.

"PHOTO BOMB!"

A Wassup Ghostface popped up above Nanako's head. Followed by a Viper one appearing between Mimiko and Tsumiki's faces. Startling away their cosplaying acquaintances.

"Our own papas giving us heart attacks, unbelievable!" Nanako complained.

"It was a good scare, though." Mimiko clapped a bit.

"It made my heart jolt right out of my chest!" Tsumiki exclaimed.

"Huh? Where's Mama, though?" Nanako asked.

"She's missing." Mimiko noted.

"I thought you three would all arrive together." Tsumiki reminded them.

Gojo pulled up his mask to beam at them. "Not to worry, girls. The Mrs is fine. Quite fine, actually~" Gojo's purring tone at how fine you looked in your costume did not go unnoticed as the girls mock gagging into their hands.

Geto also pulled his mask up to peck their foreheads. "You girls keep having fun…not too much, though." Geto wanted the best for his girls too, but not around unsavory company.

"Yes, Geto-sama." The twins kissed his cheeks before dragging Tsumiki off to rendezvous with Megumi's group.

The big question.

Where are you in all this?

Photographing the moments, of course.

Entrapping these precious once in a lifetime memories.

Looking over them all from afar, your tender smile gave way to a wave of attachment as tears pricked your vision behind that mask.

This fragile tender peace amiss this cursed world was what you sought-after.

Swaying from the overflow of sentiment, empathy and affection you felt for this found family had you shaking in your actual costumed boots.

"Tell me …" You felt his cursed energy appear immediately, hovering right behind you. "What's your favorite scary movie?"

You felt giddy, butterflies flocking your nerves, smiling nervously underneath your mask. "This one." You pointed at yourself. "Duh." You giggled as he glomped you from behind, lifting your mask off to see your red cheeked beauty. "Lord forbid I wanna remember this night, digitally and soulfully. Doing group hangouts takes lots of planning, coordination and effort – AAH~!"

You squealed as Satoru lifted you up bridal style, spinning you around, marveling at your form highlighted by the moon while the fair lights made your e/c eyes sparkle like the universe laid in your gaze. Matching his Six Eyes perfectly, hypnotized by them as ever, as he kissed you openly.

"Heaven sent … you truly are." Tuffs of his snony bangs tickled your forehead and nose as his face beamed with pride and joy, unbridled love stretched from both ends of his wide smile, all for you.

"An angel for our depraved souls," Feeling those giant clothes hands cup your cheeks from behind, your toothy smile looked up to see Suguru sharing the same twitterpated expression.

"Ghosts having guardian angels … huh. Who'd have thought?" Your attempt at joking only made them give loud, slobbering, open mouthed smooches all over your face as you became a flailing giggling mess.

"Selfie time~!" Satoru chirped as he took tons of them with his phone, lots of laughs and kisses exchanged amongst the many goofy, creepy, and ecstatic faces you three made.

When midnight would soon be upon you all.

"Looks like we're right on schedule." Suguru mused as you three saw everyone that you personally invited eventually convening where the end of the fair grounds and the park meet, fairy lights hanging among, between, and around the tall hanging trees, various spooky tune favorites playing in the background to set the mood.

"Precisely." You threw the heavy ginormous bag you brought with you.

You popped it with the signature cursed energized finger gun.

It rained candy for all assembled.

While some – Yuji, Panda, Toge, Yuta, Rika, Junpei, Ino, Nobara, Miwa, Riko, Yu, Todo cause his lovely Takada-chan's concert had ended early, Nanako, Mimiko, Tsumiki, Satoru who yes scrambled over to get some too – clamored for every piece they could get their hands on.

Others – the adults at least – had restraint or not much interest.

As the fireworks went off to signal the end of the night, so much lively chatter bounced off everyone in animated mayhem, and you could only stand there and watch in amusement, content, and peace.

You wanted to freeze this moment. As well as many others. From back then to going forward.

This world – this reality – was something else.

You found more meaning, a sense of belonging, and heart in being here.

You would shape, bend and change it all to make it the kind of world you wanted it to be.

One where you could protect the smiles of those you feel attached to. Keeping this little slice of semi-normalcy intact, this somewhat safe haven of a life.

And should any curses wreak havoc upon the city – they will be most active on this night after all – this league of sorcerers would exorcise the hell outta them.

Sitting down on the grassy grounds, you were lost in the glowing sight that you got startled as Suguru slung an arm around your shoulders, nuzzling your humming self with his own.

"Truly a memorable night. Well done, love~"

You two jumped as Satoru collapsed before you two, candy stains smearing his lips, but smiling too much to care. "Best Halloween thus far! But next year we gotta top it! We should throw a bash! At our place!" Satoru's eyes were crazed and high at that point.

"Satoru, no more sugar for you tonight." Suguru lightly scolded.

"But Suguru, I feel so good right now~!" You and Sugu sucked the sweetness right off Toru's lips. "Like that but more~! Please love~?" Those puppy dog eyes and pouty lips have you kissing his lips. "Thanks you two~"

Helping Satoru sit up enough to rest on his elbows, you three spent the moment relishing the youthful scenery. Satoru's head rested on your left shoulder, Suguru's head rested on your right shoulder, and you hummed at how warm and cozy and right it all felt.

Calling out to everyone assembled to do at least one group cheer before the clock struck twelve.

Finishing the night off with one last –

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!"

[f0lly-melanch0lys-world]

Since it's officially Spooky Season, I can finally share this.... A Hazbin Halloween! For a bonding exercise and for an excuse to hold an event in the new facilities, Charlie decided to incorporate human holidays into the Hotel

Let's have a look at everyone's costume choice:

- Niffty - Chose the Wednesday Addams outfit, thought it was a kind of maid outfit at first. "Felt cute, might stab some guests later."

- Lucifer - Panicked about finding the perfect costume. Originally wanted to be a duck, tried to be Count Duckula but couldn't handle the fake vampire teeth. Shape shifted throughout the evening, kept losing his hat

- Keekee - Charlie put little bat wings on her, she kept taking them off but Niffty would follow her around and put them back on, the glare is personal

- Evelyn (OC) - Chose her costume, Sally, to compliment Alastor's (they're in a complicated QPR), made the dress herself, hated having her hair down because it got in the way all night

- Alastor - Did not want to participate (Lucifer persuaded him). Eventually settled on Jack Skellington so he could still wear a suit. Didn't wear his monocle and was completely colourblind and partially sighted all night, Evelyn had to guide him around but he could still dance. Vowed to never participate in this silly tradition again

- Vaggie - Only dressed up for Charlie. Carmilla helped her make her costume (there's supposed to be leaves on the leggings but it didn't save 😫). Went for one of the more covered Poison Ivy costumes, didn't spray her hair because the smell of the spray on Charlie's gave her a headache. Actually enjoyed dressing up

- Charlie - Had to match with Vaggie. Originally thought of Joker and Harley Quinn for costumes but after reading about the Joker she changed her mind. Used so much hairspray that there was a cloud of smog around the Hotel (Pentious thought he was back in the 1800s), made her own costume. Tried every Halloween cocktail, was definitely tipsy by the end of the night

- Cherri - Couldn't make up her mind but went for Lara Croft because she's "a badass bitch". Did have guns but Charlie confiscated them. Also tried all of the cocktails but she can handle her alcohol better than Charlie

- Angel - Had been looking for an excuse to wear this outfit for months. Really enjoyed being Catwoman. Was going to wear the mask but it made him feel claustrophobic so he just stuck some cardboard ears on a headband, the mask fit Fat Nuggets so Angel put it on him so he wouldn't feel left out. Charlie confiscated the whip because she was afraid he'd hit lightbulbs and guests

- Husk - Also did not want to participate. Alastor told him that if he had to do it, so did he. Grumbled the entire time Angel painted his wings. Didn't mind the mask but it did irritate his whiskers after a while. Was really proud of the themed cocktail menu. Made sure to throw out guests that kept harassing the people who were in more "revealing" costumes. Fed a drunk mobster to Alastor after the guy wouldn't leave Angel alone

- Pentious - Arrived late. Accidentally left his costume (Indiana Jones) at the embassy, was about to cry then Cherri came up with an idea. She found some bandages, tinted them with makeup and wrapped them around him. Really enjoyed the night and the costumes overall

Honourable mentions:

- Mammon - Came as Oogie Boogie. Spent the evening critiquing everyone's costumes, ate so many sweets he passed out

- Frank and the Egg Bois - Angel painted them to look like an Exeggute (nerds make for some interesting conversations after sex) . Were completely confused for the entire night, almost got stepped on several times

- Vox - Played jump scares on his screen throughout the evening

- Velvette - Came as a creepy antique, yet stylish doll. Kept spinning her head around 360° and popping out her limbs

- Alictoria (Alice OC) - Couldn't decide on what to be, let Velvette pick her costume (they're dating). Ended up also being an antique stylish doll, forgot her contact lenses so was also colour blind and partially sighted until Alastor managed to locate her spare pair of glasses that she'd left at the Hotel (what else are younger brothers for)

Original Hazbin Hotel characters and original character designs to Viv ©

[nico-drawings]

You know, you start seeing a lot of reels and posts and shorts about a series and so you start to watch it. And you see how a lot of people like one character and it is really common to see this: men relating a lot to a male character that is badass and kicks ass and them looking up to him and wanting to be like him. And 90% of the time that character is a fucking piece of shit.

Well nothing could have preprared me for the gigantic asshole that is Daemon Targaryen. It is honestly impressive how many good things I have seen said about him AND HOW MUCH OF A HORRIBLE PERSON HE IS. OH MY GOD. I have heard so much stuff about how much Daemon is a great warrior and how much he loves his brother Viserys and how much he DOESN'T want the throne. And. No. For fuck's sake no. How can people look up to this absolute garbage of a man. I can make a LONG list of the awful things Daemon has done to people.

Season 1:

Episode 1:

- Sitting on Viserys' throne (not that bad, but it shows how much he respects his brother's title)

- Called his wife both ugly AND a bitch (sexist piece of shit)

- Made fun of the death of Otto's wife (Otto is a bastard that deserves it, but he's still an asshole to make fun of someone's mourning)

- Making Otto's knight trip after asking for Alicent's blessing just to humiliate the Hightowers even more (doing so by making the horse trip, fighting dirty is a dick move)

- Made a toast celebrating the death of Viserys' death, even calling him "Heir for a day" to mock him

Episode 2:

- Stole the egg of Viserys' dead son, basically spitting on his death again

Episode 3:

- Beat the shit out of a messanger because the little brat couldn't accept the fact that he was sucking so much at a war that his big brother had to send him reinforcements (yeah he won before they arrived, doesn't change the fact that it was quite literally a reaction at the level of a tantrum)

Episode 4:

- Called his wife a bitch AGAIN and joked about her being probably infertile due to being harsh and stuff like that

- Bringing his teen niece to a brothel, grooming her and having sex with her (hey, it does not matter if morality is different in Westeros and Rhaenera is technically an adult, THAT'S HIS NIECE THAT IS HALF HIS AGE. THERE'S A POWER INBALANCE HERE. AND NO, BECAUSE OTHER CHARACTERS DO IT, IT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER. VISERYS CAN GO DIE IN A DITCH AS WELL FOR HIS RELANTIONSHIP WITH ALICENT FOR ALL I CARE)

- Boosting about fucking his niece to her FATHER and then proposing a marriage with her, acting like she's a prize for his success in battle

Episode 5:

- Killing his wife (of course she wasn't manipulable so she had to die)

- Mocking the cousin of his wife about having her inheritance

- Almost started to make out with Rhaenyra in front of everyone at the banquet before her marriage

Episode 6:

Wow, actually nothing in this one. They even kept him from making the same choice Viserys made with Aemma.

Episode 7:

- Fucking his niece again, he just doesn't learn I see. Oh yeah and he marries her. I'm sure they won't be toxic.

Episode 8:

Wow nothing again. Unbelievable, I am surprised. Did his two wives help him become a decent person? It has been like more than 10 years between the start of episode 6 and the end of episode 8 so it could be.

Episode 9:

Nothing again, but he wasn't in it so.

Episode 10:

- HERE HE COMES BACK WITH THE STEELCHAIR! Calling Alicent a whore and telling Rhaenys what she should have done.

- Ignoring his wife screaming for him, what a great husband (god that birthing scene, why jesus christ)

- Basically commanding Rhaenyra's council of war like it's his, just like the conversation with Otto. This doesn't make him an asshole per se, but it is a great showing of not being able to read the room. If the entire conflict hinges upon the fact that her legitimacy is being discussed you shouldn't really talk like YOU are the boss instead of HER.

- Basically saying that Vyseris and Rhaenyra aren't good leaders in front of EVERYONE. This man is not smart. At ALL.

- Chocking Rhaenyra and saying Vyseris' reign was useless. He is pathetic beyond belief.

Season 2:

Episode1:

- Wow less than 5 minutes into season 2 and he's already kicking. Giving Rhaenis orders, undermining Rhaenyra's authority and basically telling Rhaenis that Luke's death is her fault.

- Treating both Mysaria and Erryk like shit.

- Not trying to be there for Rhaenyra for Luke's death not even for a second, not one word, nothing. I understand, Rhaenyra's pain doesn't help in a war, but the war in question hasn't been going on for not even a MONTH. And with the naval blockade and the loyalty of some of the clans they already struck back. You CAN hug your wife for 5 seconds due to the death of her son, you won't lose the war if you do.

- I know some people try to defend him by saying stuff like "Oh he just ordered to kill Aemond". Why would they kill the kid then. I'm not joking, why the kid ESPECIALLY? Do people really think a random rat killer would be smart enough to kill the prince because he, one day, would get on the throne? Why would he even care? Even the guard loyal to Daemon wouldn't care about that. Hell, Haelena would be more straightforward and reasonable for a random person, since she's an adult and she saw them. But no, the MALE child specifically to destroy the bloodline. Come on, Daemon ordered it, "a son for a son", he doesn't care if it's a child. And even if he didn't, and it's a huge if, it just shows how little in control he is. He is not able to do anything right.

Episode 2:

- Throws a tantrum, lashing out to Rhaenyra, insults Vyseris in front of her and basically tells her "You're only on the throne so that I wouldn't, you don't deserve it".

Episode 3:

- Taking an offense in being called "Prince" instead of "King". You are not the king boy, pipe down. The crown isn't yours. Ego piercing the clouds, seriously.

Episode 4:

- I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because he was tripping balls, but seriously? Killing young Rhaenyra? Yeah that's not a good look.

- He told a teen to kill his grandfather, and then said to his face that his family is shit.

- So you DO know that that Psycho of Aemond is basically you but 30 years younger.

Episode 5:

- "Daemon never wanted the crown!" His literal subconscious in the form of his mother (that he was fucking) told him he deserved it more than his brother. What else do you need?

- He scoofs anytime he is remembered that the crown isn't his.

- "The true heir of Viserys" he calls himself, he seems SO loyal to Rhaenyra (that's sarcasm)

Episode 6:

- The allucination with the Viserys conversation due to the "heir for a day" comment made me realize that he never apologized for it. Not once.

Episode 7:

Surprisingly nothing, I mean yeah he killed the Lord of the rivers with Alyn's help, but the man was to going to die anyway so. I don't know if it counts.

Episode 8:

Nothing again, not denying the treason proposal was fishy but at the end he bent the knee so all good.

Now that season 2 has ended and season 3 won't come out for a year or more, the list by episodes is over. I will use this to elaborate my thoughts.

Watching Daemon Targaryen in the series and seeing his reception by the fandom made me realize how the "media literacy is dead" is yes wrong but is also very justifiable as an opinion. Because the Daemon situation is really the last installment of this behaviour, especially from men: Walter White, the guy from American Psycho, hell even Ken from the Barbie movie. How much can these characters been latched onto, been seen as incredible and as a goal, while their entire purpose in the story is to have a giant glowing sign that reads "this is a bad person and this how they fit into our messed up society" or maybe they are part of a story and they are not there to be an omen, but they are very openly written to be bad people. Daemon falls into the second category. He has a very distinct role in the series and that's to be the ambigous guy with a giant ego, always understimating everyone around him, while constantly being punished for such way of thinking and arriving, at the end, at finding purpose in being under someone and serving them. Daemon is constantly dismissive towards other people: he thinks he's beneath everyone and everything. That he can do and say anything he likes. And he gets fucked every single time for it. He thought he could insult Vyseris' child, he got sent away. He thought he could steal his egg, he had soldiers and a dragon at his doorstep to take it back. He thought he could start a war at sea and win easily and he had to use Laenor's tactic to win or use Vyseris' troops, otherwise he would have lost horribly. He thought he could have his way with Rhaenyra, he was banished for it. He thought he could command his second wife, ignore her desires and choose for her, she made her own dragon burn her alive in order to make a choice for herself. He thought he could take revenge for Rhaenyra and hurt the greens, he not only gave an order so shallow that it could have been misinterpreted but Rhaenyra was disgusted by it and it ruined her reputation throught the seven kingdoms. He thought he could make the Blackwoods kill their rivals without a problem, if the young Tally hadn't grew balls the size of Caraxes the entirety of the River people wouldn't have followed him even if the dragon was about to burn them all alive.

THAT is who Daemon is: an incompetent, egomaniac that is constantly needed to be reminded that he ain't shit.

And yet so many people think he's the most badass character in the show. They think he's a loving brother, a great husband, a genius when it comes to war and a great warrior. All of those things, Daemon Targaryen is not.

And if you enjoy him as a character, well I only have one thing to say to you: that's fine. Because Daemon is written BEAUTIFULLY. He is coherent to a fault.

You can see that he loves Vyseris, but he's a psycho that has never respected him so he constantly hurts him because he's a piece of shit.

He doesn't respect Rhaenyra because to him she's always gonna be a child because Daemon is a groomer. She is also not fit to be queen because she's like Vyseris, someone that Daemon never thought to be a good king, and he wasn't entirely wrong. Because, mind you, if Vyseris had a backbone, Daemon would have lost his head. He got too many chances.

Daemon will always envy Rhaenyra because in a way he was always seeking Vyseris' attention, he always wanted to be praised by him, but he always wanted to be praised for being HIMSELF, hence why he never tried to act as Vyseris would have liked. He wanted Vyseris to like Daemon, not the Daemon that acted like Vyseris would have wanted.

Daemon could never be in a good relantionship because he can't respect anyone else outside of himself. His first wife was his equal. In no way that woman would have bent to his will. His second wife was more accomodating, but she had pride in herself and at the end choose for herself. And Rhaenyra? She's supposed to be BENEATH him, he could never accept that.

Daemon can never shut his mouth because to him, being himself is more important than reason. My brother is mad at me for maybe having fucked his daughter? Well I'll double down, I have every right to get her- oh he banished me. The entirery of the conflict revolves around my wife's claim being questioned? Well I want to fight this war in this way, so I'll give orders, go to Harrenal to build an army and win by myself- oh one of her council members has come here to ask me to betray her and lead the war because he doesn't believe she's good enough to lead.

You can almost always predict Daemon before he speaks or acts, that's how well he was written. And it is also very EASY to see how he was written. Seriously, his actions are up there, they have been documented episode by episode, if you still don't see it I don't know what to tell you. Anyone that has seen him throw a fit for not being called King is seriously still trying to say that he didn't want the crown? HIS FIRST SCENE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES WAS HIM ON THE IRON THRONE.

ONLY. And I repeat, ONLY in the last episode Daemon has let go. Only then. Because he finally realized, due to the visions: "Okay I need to get my shit together, this is bigger than me" and it took a vision of quite literally zombies killing a dragon and marching towards the world of the living to make Daemon Targaryen lower his head.

I repeat: this is not a post about Daemon being a shitty character and me saying that his fans are dumb. It is, however, a post about how men have, once again, latched onto a toxic and objectively bad male character in a show and ignored 90% of how he was written in order to have a cool character to kin. It is also about people not being able to. Understand writing because saying "Daemon never wanted the crown" is like saying "Aegon always wanted the crown" and I think we all know he never wanted it.

Also also, this post, about making a list of all the bad things a character has done, can be done about a lot of other characters, I am aware. But no other character in this show has been read as wrongly and has been lifted so high as Daemon has.

[lostgirlfandom]

Mother Dearest

Part Two

Pairing: FP Jones x Female!Reader

Warnings: None, afab reader

Words: 958

Summery: Mama Jones meets Betty

Previous | Next

The next couple of days were spent in bliss. While you hated living in a trailer, it was home. Your family was home. You made sure Jug and JB were going to school, especially after getting Jellybean enrolled in school in Riverdale. You had officially moved back home.

You even got your old job back while FP was working with Fred at Andrews Construction. You got back into the habit of helping Jug with his writing.

One day, when you picked up JB from school you went ahead and headed to the high school to pick up Jughead. You stood in front of the school, leaning against the truck with JB sitting in the passenger seat playing with her Nintendo DS.

As you stood there, you kept getting glances from other students as school was let out. You had your hands in your pockets of your jeans as you crossed your legs with Timberlands on your feet. A flannel was over an old band t-shirt, which you were sure was your husbands from when you first started going out. You also had a jean jacket over that to keep you warm.

You then saw Jughead step out of the school with a pretty blonde girl, a raven haired girl, and a red headed boy. You were pretty sure that was Betty and Archie. Betty you vaguely remember from a couple times she played with the boys when they were younger. You and her mother, Alice, did not get along. Alice was ex-serpent which didn’t settle well with you as you had been a serpent since around the same time as FP. You didn’t trust her after she refused to acknowledge the fact that she came from the Southside.

While you were proud of the fact that you were a Serpent.

“Mrs. Jones!” Archie yelled loudly as he rushed to hug you. You laughed as you hugged him back. You always saw him as a second son and he always saw you as a second mother. You were always supportive of anything the kids did.

“Archie! You’ve gotten taller since I last saw you.” You told him as you let him go and patted his shoulder.

“That’s what happens when you get older.” He sassed with a grin on his lips.

You smiled and smacked him on the back of the head, making it jerk forward and him to scrunch his face up in a grimace. You always hit hard.

You then looked over at Jughead and saw him with his arm around Betty’s waist. You raised an eyebrow and Jug rushed to introduce the two girls. “Mom, I don’t know if you remember Betty, but this is Betty Cooper. My girlfriend.” He said kinda slowly as if he didn’t want you to know. “And this is Veronica Lodge.” He introduced the Hispanic girl on the other side of him.

“Hi, Mrs. Jones.” Betty said with a smile on her face. You smiled back and shook her hand that she held out.

“Hi, Betty. Yeah, I remember you. You sometimes played with the boys when you guys were younger. You guys can just call me Y/N. I don’t mind.” You turned to Archie. “I think I’ve told you multiple times.” He shrugged with a innocent smile. You laughed.

“Jughead, you didn’t tell me your mom was a badass.” Veronica said as she reached out her hand to shake.

You smirked and narrowed your eyes at her playfully. “Well that’s because she’s my mom. Although she has been my role model since I was maybe 5.” Jug said with a tone of sarcasm at the begin. “Not that I don’t love seeing you Mom. What are you doing here?”

You grinned. “You want a ride home, Jug?” You asked.

He made an ‘oh’ face as he threw his arm around Betty’s shoulders. “I was gonna walk Betty home.”

You smiled. “I can drive you both. Come on.” You then turned to the other two as Betty and Jug headed to the truck.

I think Betty was trying to be quiet but I heard her as she whispered to Jughead. “She is so much easier to talk to than your dad.” He chuckled.

“You two good?” You asked the other two high schoolers. Wanting to make sure they got home safe.

Veronica answered first. “Yeah, I’m at the Pembroke and it isn’t that far. Bye guys.” She then made her way in the direction of the Pembroke. You then turned to Archie.

“You good, kid?” You asked him.

“Yeah, dad should -” He was cut off as someone spoke up from behind you.

“Y/N?” You both turned around and saw Fred standing there.

“Hey, Fred!” You smiled. You missed your best friend. You had been friends with Fred and FP since you were all kids.

“Hey, dad.” Archie said as he walked over his dad. Fred patted his shoulder as he glanced at Archie before looking back at you. You smiled as you shoved your hands in your pockets of your jacket.

“Y/N. You’re back.” Fred smiled big at you.

“Yeah, hopefully for good.” You told him. He went to say something else but JB decided it would be a good time to honk the truck horn loudly.

Archie and Fred jumped at the loud sound while you set your face in a grimace of agitation.

“MA!!!! HURRY UP!”

You turned around with raised eyebrows. “Forsythia Penelope Jones!” You said sternly.

She shrunk down back into her seat as Jug laughed at her.

You sighed as you turned back to Fred and Archie who were chuckling.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later.” You turned to the truck and went to the driver’s side with a wave over your shoulder.

[greenqueenhightower]

I can understand why people like Rhaenyra. I can understand why Alicent isn't to everyone's taste. I still don't understand how she is so hated for behaving like a human considering the gaslighting and abuse she's been through, and how she has much less free agency than Rhaenyra. It was reading through the horrific and vitriolic extreme takes on Alicent that made me side with her. And something about Rhaenyra and her mean diehards just remind me so much of white feminism. I feel like it's no coincidence I see way more WoC tending to sympathize with Alicent, as a WoC myself. The gaslighting and watching someone else consistently get away with things you wouldn't while being trapped in a cage is all too relatable. The rules dont apply to Rhaenyra and Rhaenyra only. And seeing Rhaenyra being the only one in the narrative made to look extra sympathetic (like the double birth scenes, as if all births aren't horrific and like Alicent didn't give birth even younger too). I also hate how despite their efforts in diverse casting, black actors are just backdrops or tools to make Rhaenyra and TB look better and how they're disposable to move the plot forward for her. This matter has been brought up in the TG subreddit thank God I was not the only one who saw that. Now it seems like they're even butchering B&C to absolve TB. ��🙃 Girl I am not ready for the blind Rhaenyra dickriding and Alicent victim blaming to come this season. You'll know it'll be misogyny and double standards all around. The suffering Alicent endured in Season 1 will be even more disregarded.

Hi anon! 💚

Alicent isn't to everyone's taste because to understand her character, motivations, and aspirations, one needs to take the whole show as context, instead of some stand-alone scenes that provide dissatisfaction or lack the "wow"/"badass" factor that the average got/hotd viewer is used to.

I understand how Rhaenyra's character appeals to people because she is the female Targaryen heir, desires the best for her children, and is determined to honor her cause and her late father's wishes to serve the realm. Rhaenyra believes so much in herself; Alicent doesn't. Rhaenyra's overconfidence, her "flouting to do as she pleases" is what is so attractive to a lot of viewers, me included, because, well, she doesn't give a damn. She can go against the conventions of her time because she has already entered the game in a good battle formation, has the means, and is ready to play it (I'm trying to go for a chess analogy here as we saw in the promo, bear with me).

Alicent on the other hand, has entered the game as a foreigner. She did not wish this, she has no historical ties to rulership, no dragon blood to base her confidence on, and no pride in taming and riding wild beasts. She is common as Rhaenyra is exotic. What Alicent has and brings to the game is "honor, duty, sacrifice." These values alone make Alicent compelling and intriguing because they are very subtle qualities and principles that one needs to notice to comprehend her character. They are not as easily identifiable as riding a dragon or slicing a wild boar.

Yet they are equally powerful, because as Rhaenyra plays the game in the open field, being free to make her own decisions, unstoppable in always getting what she wants and being able to claim it herself, Alicent plays the game behind closed doors, in septs, praying to the seven, following directions, seeking council, and moving strategically. Rhaenyra's battle is more visually impactful, but Alicent's is equally moving if one cares to observe and understand it properly.

Therefore, what you are saying about WoC standing by Alicent makes perfect sense because the motivations and experiences as well as the feeling of always having to try twice as hard to achieve what is simply given to others is a point of connection for WoC.

You also very poignantly highlight the show's "humanization" of Rhaenyra through two birth scenes, because again, she is this exotic being whom the audience loves to aspire to, but we must also not forget that she is special while also being human. Alicent's suffering in S1 very much humanizes her in my eyes and is precisely also what distinguishes her from a commoner. She becomes a strong woman who doesn’t shy away in the fear of danger, learns to hold her head high and pushes forward the interests of herself and her children. The hate Alicent receives is uncalled for, and it stems from a misreading of her character, despite being the most interesting character in hotd in my opinion.

I’m glad you decided to stan Alicent after reading all the horrific takes about her! There are so many people in the fandom who want to vilify her, but there are also many who totally connect to her and sympathize with her character, like queer people, WoC, etc.

I didn’t like what the show did with black characters in s1 either. They served mostly as props and had brutal deaths. For S2, it does seem as if the show will want to downgrade the events of B&C and continue emphasize the narrative of Rhaenyra’s superiority (and the Greens and Alicent will be blamed and hated a lot this season), but I honestly stopped reading leaks and spoilers because they affect me a lot. I’d rather wait and see what the producers decide to do with their portrayal and then comment on the events. I’m so scared about B&C though and how this will affect the Greens’ arc and their perception by the public, but again, I’ll be standing by Alicent’s side till the end lol. 💚

[a0random0gal]

If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion?♥️🖤💙💚

Ohh anon i've got a list.

When it comes to the tv show there are a few choices the writers made that just don't sit right with me.

Laenor

I do like the characterization they went for, he's a pretty cool dude who really loves his weird, dysfunctional family. What I really don't like is how they handled his death.

See I truly can't stand it when a character is sugar coated just because they're the protagonist and thus must be righteous and always objectively correct.

So to witness the writers white wash his murder, having him flee to essos instead of being killed by Rhaenyra pisses me off. I get that after showing them being good friends it would be very odd to have her kill him.

But that's the thing, they should have opted for a more ruthless Rhaenyra in the first place!

Laenor's death in the books (at least for me) was the first instance of Rhae Rhae making morally wrong choices in order to pursue her ultimate goal. It was compelling! Here she just takes the easy way out, without having to make a tough choice.

Also his survival really fucks her up when you really think about it. Now all her sons are bastards since her marriage to Daemon isn't valid, and for the upcoming season 2, how are they going to handle Addam and Seasmoke? Laenor is still alive, his dragon won't accept a new rider. This doesn't make any sense and just causes plotholes what the actual fu-

Sidenote: After Laenor's very moving speech on how he was done goofing off and was now willing to really step up for Rhaenyra and their family it's super strange to imagine him ditching them all immediately afterwards Lol.

Rhaenys

My gosh, where do I even begin with this woman?

She too is pretty cool at the start, but then episode 9 rolls around and I roll my eyes.

She's so hypocritical. She tries to shit on Alicent for "toiling in the service of men." When that's all she does in the goddamn story!

She wants Baela to get Driftmark, tells Corlys about it, he shuts off the whole plan cause he wants a kid who he's not even related to on the driftwood throne, and when she complains about it he dismisses her.

So what does feminist Rhaenys do about it?

She... submits to her husband, something she conveniently forgets about when talking to Alicent. My god. Just remove this entire exchange, it hurts to watch.

And the coronation scene, Jesus Christ! It was so cool in the books, why did they have to ruin it? Had they replaced it with something better I wouldn't have complained, but this is just, the worst.

Rhaenys shows how badass she is by.... Brutally crushing hundreds of small folks to death and almost slaughtering the greens.

Cool, cool, absolutely necessary. Thanks Sara.

And you know what's even more infuriating? When she flees to Dragonstone to inform Rhaenyra of all that happened. She says she didn't kill the greens cause she didn't wish to start a war. I'm sorry what?

That would have ended the war at the start! As glad as I am that Rhaenys didn't barbecue them it makes absolutely no sense!

If she had killed them there would have been no dance in the first place!

I hate these dumb show only moments. They needlessly complicated an already complicated story and just mess everything up.

There's probably other stuff I could rant on, like how Aegon was made a rapist sorely to make the audience think:

Oh look! The greens are so baad, they believe a rapist alcoholic douche should be in charge instead of our empowered dragon queen, they sure do suck!

Or how house Velaryon was disrespected and mistreated by D*emyra but still somehow decided to support Nyra's claim.

They didn't really have a motive to be greens though, so I think they should have stayed neutral. Their fervent black support makes no sense.

The writers really should have given them more reasons to back up the blacks or had their beloved queen treat them better so that their loyalty made more sense ( I mean holy hell I wonder how they will handle the two betrayers and Corlys's arrest lmao).

But other greens have already shat on these awful decisions and I won't beat a dead horse.

Book

When it comes to fire and blood I surprisingly have very little complaints, except of course, the Jaehaera situation.

My poor baby deserved better, I've made a post about it in the past

(where I ranted and said stuff I kind of regret now, don't post while very angry guys I don't recommend it)

tackling how the little queen was unnecessarily killed off and how her death genuinely adds nothing so why was it added? God I get upset just thinking about it lol.

Some people say George did it cause he needed Aegon's kids to be born after Viserys's, and apparently he couldn't fathom a married teen not having kids until her 20s, which is veery weird.

The more plausible theory is that he got rid of her cause he wanted more Velaryon queens to showcase how close they used to be to the Targs.

Which is something I had understood already thanks to Alyssa, the sea Snake and all the Velaryons who were masters of ships but whatever.

[nrilliree]

Hi. If you had to pick, what would you say is the worst change they made from F&B for HOTD? And is there any change they made in the show that you like? There are a lot of changes I didn't like, like the ages being jumbled and the complete personality changes of some characters, but I personally really like that they made Aegon the Conqueror a dragon dreamer who saw the Long Night and how they worked in the PTWP and "the Song of Ice and Fire" as his his dream. I'm just interested in what you think

I don't think I'll be able to pick just one thing. So I'll make a list, but number one can be considered the most important :P

What changes do I like? 1) As you say, I like the addition of Aegon's prophecy. This doesn't change much about the Dance itself, but it shows that Aegon was not an evil colonizer who conquered the kingdom for power, but that there was something bigger than him or his family behind it. It's just a pity that we know the ending of GoT :( 2) The fact that Rhaenyra was the one who retrieved the egg from Daemon. This showed that she (unlike Otto) was able to solve the case bloodlessly. 3) A small change, but Daemon didn't declare himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, he was declared so. 4) Showing Laenor fighting on the Stepstones. This added some depth to him.

What changes do I not like? 1) What they did to Laena. Where's the portrayal of her as a badass getting bond with Vhagar? Where's the friendship with Rhaenyra? Where is the fact that it was HER decision to have her daughters betrothed to Rhaenyra's sons? Where are her frequent visits to Driftmark? Where is Laena?! 2) Making Alicent and Aemond victims. Why victimize bullies? Aemond didn't have to have a "sad childhood" to become a psychopath. 3) WHERE ARE RHAENYRA'S BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES AND JEWELRY?! 4) Where were the crowds screaming at Aegon's coronation that they wanted their queen?! 5) Making Viserys such a bad father. In the book, he did not ignore his children, and Helaena and his grandchildren visited him every evening. He had relationships with his children. 6) Changing the background of Viserys and Daemon's conflict. In the book, Mysaria really was pregnant and Daemon wanted to have the child, even if it was a bastard, and because of Viserys she lost the pregnancy. In the series, Daemon came up with this to spite his brother…? 6) Why were Baela and Rhaena reduced to just looking pretty in the background? And I could write and write here…

[ceoofhelaegon]

Stealing traits from Daeron and destroying Aegon's character completely, all of these things have made me dislike Aemond so much. Someone remind these writers that Aemond is not the only character in team green.

Hey, Nonnie.

I’m not gonna lie, I used to love Aemond but after reading the books it made jaded about his character. Aegon is fascinating and actually has a character arc in the books, he’s the only one that redeems himself IMO.

I wouldn’t mind Aemond’s characterisation if it wasn’t at the expense of Aegon’s, I was on Reddit and someone said that in the show Aegon isn’t a character he’s a problem that everyone has to deal with.

Alicent has to deal with the fact that Aegon hurt someone, Otto has to deal with the fact that Aegon isn’t interested in being King at all and Aemond (for some reason) has to deal with the fact that Aegon is “unworthy” (see what they’re doing?) of being the firstborn son.

Aegon was a great fighter because he also trained with Ser Criston, but only Aemond is allowed to have a fighting scene and be badass. Aegon has a mystical bond with Sunfyre, he actually fights for Aegon until the bitter end, but only Aemond is allowed to have scenes with his dragon.

Aegon would never bully his brother, especially with the Strong boys, whom ALL of them hated, but no, Aemond is the bullied meow meow, his brother is a meanie and has to bully the poor Aemond because Aegon is rotten, didn’t you know?

In the books, when Viserys asks where Aemond heard the bastards rumours you can infer that the brothers are close and that Aegon will always be there for him and he was. In the show, to the general audience it was only Aemond taking revenge for the bullying.

In the books, Aegon never took his brother anywhere but in the show, he takes Aemond to brothel for some reason and traumatised Aemond. Why? Because Aegon is rotten, he has no redeeming qualities and Aemond is the poor meow meow.

When Viserys is dead, Aemond was actually training and what the first thing he says to the Kingsguard?

“Is Aegon King?”

In the show? Apparently he’s the one that should be King because he reads and has Vhagar? Apparently Aegon never touched a sword, only Aemond.

Even his brother being the spawn of Satan, he still goes out to find him, isn’t Aemond just the best? He’s so dutiful and loyal. Even though he hates Aegon and wished that he was far away, and Aegon wanted that too. Or Aemond wanted Aegon dead, whatever works best for him and getting him close to the crown. Sorry, Aemond is amazing he would never covet what his brother has.

Because instead of getting only Ser Criston and Aegon, we got that pathetic scene of Aemond fighting Aegon in the middle of the street. Because Criston convinced Aegon by saying that his half-sister would be a threat to his family we also got Aemond looking for him, why was he there? He was so unnecessary in that scene, Criston and Aegon needed that scene. Criston needed to show his intelligence and Aegon needed to show the care and love he has for his family.

I really hate what they did with Aegon, and now? I don’t care about Aemond, I don’t care about his story or his character. I simply wished that they cut Aegon entirely, like they wanted to do with Daeron. Have the star of the green side by himself, but sorry, he’s only allowed to shine when Aegon is the villain of his story.

Sara Hess and Ryan Condal are a fucking joke, I hope that they’re never hired for anything ever again. Their writing is ridiculous, I just know that TGC will shine with whatever shit they write for him and then HBO will try to claim that it was because of them and their script. It won’t be, it’s purely TGC’s talent.

[darklinaforever]

I love these womens. But the adaptations really ruined them.

Give me back the Daenerys, Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, Laena, Baela, Rhaena and Helaena Targaryen of the books...

They made Daenerys a final villain due to some madness out of nowhere.

They made Rhaenyra passive and dislike her womanhood (experiencing a random violence from her husband).

They tried to make Rhaenys a pseudo wise figure who doesn't want war when in the book she was the one who wanted to go to war with the dragons, not Daemon.

Laena literally died as a result of giving birth to Daemon's stillborn son (like many women of the era that inspired Fire and Blood), and took her last breath trying to join Vaghar in flying a last time. She was also Rhaenyra's best friend and generally had a visibly happy marriage with Daemon while it lasted, even if it wasn't true love. And how does the series handle this ? Laena is not Rhaenyra's best friend, this role is given to Alicent. Laena and Daemon have a marriage that works but also seems to have problems, and above all, she is burned alive by her dragon... As if that was more badass than facing childbirth I guess ?

They made Baela's look super generic even though she is a tomboy in the book, she actually has short hair in reality, plus they tried to change her into a mini Laena when Baela has always been a female version of her father Daemon.

Rhaena is literally the last dragon rider until Daenerys and she has almost no dialogue, her only personality trait that stands out is that she has relationship problems with Daemon due to her lack of a dragon which she therefore wants to fill, whereas in the book, these two never had a problem and what's more, Daemon himself didn't have a dragon before claiming Caraxes during his adolescence, so it makes no sense that the lack of Rhaena's dragon causes relationship problems between them. They therefore make Rhaena yet another gratuitous victim of men.

Even Helaena had potential according to the book. Clearly a big mouth.

But the misogynist sources weren't interested in Helaena or her personality. And what did the show do with it ? Well almost never made her speak except to deliver stupid prophecies because they thought it would be a good thing to make her a dreamer...

Kill me.

But this edit is still fabulous.

[presidenthades]

Did you like the new episode ?

It was…an episode. 😅

I don’t have particularly novel thoughts for S2E5, but I can give some highlights.

I have seen people criticizing the scene where Meleys’s head is paraded through the city, mostly in terms of the smallfolk reactions. I agree that there should be more mixed feelings, because it was only about a month ago that Rhaenys and Meleys massacred a bunch of peasants. But it does make sense there’s a sense of awe and dread, because even though dragons HAVE been killed in Westeros before, none of them have ever had their heads paraded through the city.

As an Aemond fan…I really hate him right now. 🥲 He only had maybe two sympathetic moments this season so far, both in the brothel, including where Aegon made fun of him. Then he just decided to turn evil and fratricidal. When he went to watch the maesters take off Aegon’s armor and immediately said “someone else needs to rule in his stead” (paraphrasing), I was shaking my fist at the screen.

On the plus side, I guess we kinda finally get Alicent realizing Aegon is her son and she’s supposed to care about him? That little “mummy” broke me. 😭

I never thought I’d be rooting for Alicent over Aemond, especially this season, but I did find myself hoping she’d be picked as regent. Mostly because I don’t think Aemond is a good choice at the moment. Man, I miss Otto (something else I wasn’t expecting to say).

Gods bless Orwyle though. I feel justified in previously admitting I like him.

I don’t have particularly unique thoughts about that Daemon scene. 💀

It is interesting how GRRM tends to be very pro-Blackwood and anti-Bracken, but the show has actually made the Brackens look badass in this episode whereas the Blackwoods have become war criminals. I can only hope (delusionally, maybe) that the show will follow through on the “angry Riverlords denouncing Daemon’s war crimes” plot line instead of conveniently forgetting about it. 🥲

The show keeps framing Alfred Broome as dumb and misogynistic…but he’s actually speaking a lot of sense? 🧐 I know what he ends up doing in the book, so this might be the start of an interesting character arc for him. Usually I’m all for interesting character arcs…but Alfred is a minor character in the grand scheme of things, and it reminds me that a lot of the main characters are not getting logical character arcs. 😔 I’m gonna laugh if Alfred ends up being an accidental fan favorite.

I am not sure that Jace’s diplomatic negotiations with the Freys will go as well as he thinks. And not because they’re Freys—Freys don’t get a bad reputation until Walder a few centuries later. Sure, taking Harrenhal from Larys makes sense, but what about Daemon’s new BFF Simon Strong? I can’t imagine Simon is going to be happy about the family castle being handed over to another house.

(It’s probably moot because Aemond is gonna do…stuff…at Harrenhal eventually. 💀)

I loved the glimpse of the Eyrie. TBH I’m on Jeyne’s side here about being cheated in their deal. 😅 Hatchlings are probably liabilities more than assets. Their riders are babies, and the hatchlings are just gonna eat a lot of food.

The convo between Corlys and Baela is really nice and lovely. But. Her rejecting Driftmark without even thinking about it feels very “the writers want the audience to know it’s OK that Laena’s daughters are being passed over, we’re all friends here.” I feel like Corlys keeps making halfhearted gestures about being angry with Rhaenyra but never following through. Just a taste of drama and infighting without the actual consequences.

We’ll probably get more details about the Elinda and Dyana plot next episode, but I don’t have high hopes for logic and consistency. The first thing I asked myself when Dyana recognized Elinda was “how do they know each other?” I think the show might have them be friends from their days of working at the Red Keep, but there’s a problem with that. Elinda went with Rhaenyra to Dragonstone, so she was gone from KL for 6 years. Dyana is notably very young, so I can’t imagine her being a little girl already working as a royal chambermaid 6+ years ago; being a front-of-house servant for the royal family would be a very coveted job probably based on seniority, experience, and connections. So odds are their time as royal servants at the Red Keep didn’t overlap, and servants had a hierarchy of their own, so it’s not like Elinda (who is a noblewoman) is hanging out with the scullions. I guess we’ll just have to see what the show does…or if they just gloss over it.

I am excited about the dragon seed plot, even though there are some plot holes and problems with it. I quite like what they’re doing with Hugh (his wife’s Tumbleton mention is not going to end well 👀), and Ulf has honestly been fun to watch. But I’m going to be very disappointed if they really cut Nettles (and it sounds like they did). 😢

[reignof-fyre]

House of the Dragon really dropped the ball on the changes they made. They could have kept Alicent as ambitious as her book counterpart. She could have befriended Rhaenyra for the power being the Princess' bestie and daughter of the Hand brought her. She could have been Otto's spy or hidden dagger and still be used for Otto's goals of having his blood on the throne.

Making Alicent who, in the books, is a Cersei-level female antagonist, a victim just...fell completely flat and made me despise her so much more than I do Book!Alicent. Book Alicent is a woman in a man's world who knows how to grasp for power not usually afforded to women. In the show, she's pathetic and annoying.

Rhaenyra, too, in the books is a woman who knows what she wants. She wants her birthright. She wants to fight for it. She has loyal followers. In the show they made her a bratty, annoying little girl.

The common denominator? The writers wanted these girls to not be the badass women they are in Fire and Blood and completely destroy their agency and nuance.

It's the same with Viserys, who wasn't blind to Alicent and Otto's treason. He knew they wanted Aegon on the throne. Otto was fired as Hand for bothering Viserys about it constantly.

Daemon's morally grey character was completely wiped and replaced with "this man is a villain only and he is a bad guy." In the books he's both good and bad, doing villainous things for reasons he sees as good. He loves his family, he never wanted the throne in the book; he had so many chances to usurp Viserys and never took them. He never killed Rhea Royce, he was at war; he begged Viserys to annul the marriage. Otto convinced Viserys to fire him from his positions as Master of Coin and Law, he didn't do a bad job, he was shunted from those potions because of Otto's dislike of him and Viserys' people pleasure nature.

Rhea Royce was also older than Daemon when they got married. Daemon was a boy of 16 and forced to marry her, literally dragged to the Sept against his will; but no one is complaining that he was a child groom, which he was, but because he was a boy it's okay? No. Rhea was older than him and gladly married him. That's fucking gross.

Y'all complain about Daemon grooming Rhaenyra - that never happened. Grooming is how Viserys II (son of Rhaenyra and Daemon) was forced to marry Larra Rogare and she, a TWENTY YEAR OLD WOMAN, fell pregnant with his child when he was THIRTEEN YEARS OF AGE. He was also held captive by her family in Lys for years. He likely had Stockholm syndrome.

Also, Rhaenyra adores Laena in the books. They're best friends. Daemon loves Laena in the books, and is utterly gutted by her death. Laenor is killed by Qarl with WITNESSES in Spicetown and Rhaenyra and Daemon wait a YEAR to marry, the acceptable mourning period. They then had years of happiness on Dragonstone, and they ADORED their children.

Rhaenys isn't a robot bitch queen, and her claim to the throne was dismissed by JAEHAERYS not the council. The council was between Viserys and Laenor, a boy of seven. Corlys wanted his son named King, not his wife. In the books, he's in his 30's and Rhaenys is SIXTEEN when they marry and he's a misogynistic POS.

It's also likely that Jace, at least, is Laenor's son with the Baratheon features because Rhaenys has black hair because her mother was a Baratheon.

Aegon isn't a rapist chad boy in the book. Aemond didn't "accidently" kill Lucerys. He meant to actually kill him. He demanded Luke's eye or his life at Storms End. He's an actual psychopath and commits genocide in the Riverlands and likely didn't care much for Alys Rivers. She was just his mistress/whore. AEMOND IS EVERYTHING OTTO SAID DAEMON WAS = A MONSTER. that's the whole fucking point of them being compared to one another. Daemon isn't Maegor come again, AEMOND IS. THAT IS WHAT IS IRONIC.

It's like the writers looked at the book and went "no thanks" and wrote their own really fucking bad Fire & Blood fanfic because they're green sympathisers.

Greens = antagonists in the Dance

Blacks = protagonists in the Dance.

And Ryan Condal saying we're gonna change to green sympathisers? He really wants the fandom to be RAPE APOLOGISTS? fuck no. The greens can fucking choke. Ryan can fucking choke.

The show completely obliterated these characters in the worst ways, removing most of their agency and nuance.

[emilyofthegreenwood]

"Queen of the May" by Denée Cody

Zebra Books, 1997 || Read and reviewed November 2024

Introducing my first foray into the classic genre of paperback romance! As this is my first paperback romance, I can't compare it with any others. There might be better ones out there. There might be worse. I've been interested in trying one of these out for a while, particularly because these are books made and marketed for women, specifically for the sake of having fun reading. The marketing is shamelessly up front about what they are and what they offer, and there's something badass to me about grandmas having a casual romance novel in their yarn basket, with a fabulously erotic clinch cover on full display.

So, the other week, I wandered into the most embarrassing aisle at Half Price Books with the goal of finding a paperback romance to try out. To my surprise and delight, I stumbled upon "Queen of the May", which features Robin (spelled Robyn here) and Marian as secondary characters. I knew it would be a hoot, and I was right. "Queen of the May" follows our two protagonists, Giselle and Alexander. Giselle, although not really an outlaw herself, lives in Sherwood Forest with Robyn Hood and company. Her best buddy is Marian. Alexander is the lonely baron of Wolfhurst, a fictional village near Sherwood, and he's back in England after twelve years on crusade. For inexplicable reasons, Giselle accidentally shoots him with a poisoned arrow and then takes him back to her cave to heal him. And so, they immediately fall in lust with each other, and we're off on the grand nonsense ride of this book! I didn't crack this open expecting anything particularly good, and fully expected to find some distasteful tropes along the way. (And, oh boy, did I ever.) To be honest, that was half the fun. This book was hilarious and deserved every eyeroll. Let's look at some highlights.

Hot tub sex in Sherwood! Oh, I'm sorry, it's a hot spring. Okay, sure.

Alexander and his family have some kind of emergency whistle protocol and it's absolutely hilarious.

Every character's favorite curse is "God's feet!" for the first two thirds of the the novel. And then in the last third, everyone graduates and uses "God's blood". I was so relieved. I was sick of hearing about his feet.

The absolute low point is when Giselle doesn't want to marry Alexander because she thinks she'd be an embarrassment of a wife, and he decides to "wear her down with persistence" until she agrees. "I'll accept nothing less than total surrender." Yikes, buddy. Maybe not? Villain behavior. Seems it was all talk though, because nothing actually happens in that vein.

The standout character is honestly Marian, and I swear I'm not being biased. She didn't get to do much, plot-wise, but she was great fun every time she was on the page. Which is more than can be said of anyone else.

Just as a fun throw-in, Marian is pregnant for the entire novel, although we are only told a few times, and there doesn't seem to be any purpose to it. Over the seven months of this novel, she continues to exist without so much of a mention of a baby bump or any other changes. During a horrible winter storm, Giselle (in the castle) worries not a whit for her pregnant best friend living in the woods. Robyn, bless him, is the only one who seems worried about Marian having a baby in the forest. Meanwhile, Marian does not mention the baby even once. So.... why?

What little character Robyn was allowed to have was good enough, and he seemed mostly like himself. I liked this bit of internal reflection from Alexander: "Robyn had proved an able and reliable man, intelligent and with a mischievous sense of humor." Sounds like Robin Hood to me. :)

As a Robin Hood book, it's very periphery. Then again, the pages are filled with Robyn, Marian, Tuck, and Guy of Guisborne. Heck, Guy is the primary villain! Other characters who get a mention or more are Little John, Alan, and Alan's lover (here named Alice). The focus, as expected, is the romance between Alex and Giselle, and it's more physical than emotional so there's not much to really bite into. The muscles are firm, everyone's hot to go, the bedroom is the goal, and Robin Hood stuff happens on the edges of it all. I would recommend this only if you, like me, have an interest of some kind in paperback romances and are willing to put up with the negatives that come with that. Go have fun! Read some silly, pulpy books. I approached this book with completely unserious expectations and had fun. I think that's enough. Robin Hood shelf: for more Robin Hood book reviews (eventually)