#i think 'they own slaves' is a perfectly good reason to hate a character but it's one where consistency kind of matters. imo.

[theodysseyofhomer]

one thing about homer and greek tragedy is that most of it is about the ruling class of mythological characters, which means that all of them own slaves. it's assumed. it's also explicit.

there are people born into slavery and people sold into slavery. there are high status concubines, and low status enslaved women also being abused and assaulted. there are derogatory comments about the nature of slaves. there are enslaved people who are said to be more noble than others because they were literally, at one point, nobles. there are enslaved characters with tragic backstories and enslaved people with no stories at all. there's anxiety about fortunes overturning and making free people into slaves, and anxiety about slaves overturning their fortunes on their masters. slavery is a plot point and it's also wallpaper.

maybe if you don't want to engage with that, or with slave-owning characters in general, ancient literature is not ideal for you.

[sunny12th]

2, 6, 8, 15 for dany!!!

Under the cut <3 ty for asking

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Dany is never what anyone expects her to be, narratively and from a meta standpoint. We don't expect a female character, far removed from the main point of magic in the story, to find her own magic and be a destined hero. We don't expect a child rape victim to have a lusty, consensual, and fun romance with a side character. She was not expected to survive khal drogo or the red waste. She was not expected to pivot at every turn and find a third way. And we didn't expect the very real consequences to come from her actions in slavers bay. No one expected the wide spread consequences across Essos from her actions - a slave revolution brewing. No one thought we'd get to see what might happen when a revolutionary character actually commits to the revolution and then has to handle the fallout. That feels so rare to me. She exists so far removed from what the average fantasy reader, or reader in general, would expect to find in a book and I think the fandom takes this for granted sometimes.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Not going into detail but- isolated childhoods with not very good siblings, messy family history, and a whole heaping of desperation. Looking back, it's pretty blatant why I latched onto Dany when I first read agot back when I was like 14/15. Projection and cathartic healing babeyyyy 🔛🔝

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

In another ask, I said that I hate when the fandom uses Dany's family/ancestry as evidence for her impending madness. Along with that, I also really dislike the notion that Dany should have not acted at all to free the Unsullied and other slaves because she didn't have a clear enough plan to handle the fallout. This idea that, because she couldn't do this Perfectly she should not have done it at all. For obvious reasons lmao. One reason I like Dany is that doing nothing goes against her character and usually leads to negative consequences for her, as in Meereen.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I'm not overly invested in any of Dany's ships tbh. That being said, my fave is Dany/Jhogo. I am probably one of 3 people that like them. grrm is an excellent writer when he cares to be one but he didn't care for the Dothraki. Why are none of the bloodriders allowed any interiority or ... personalities. Or anything that might let them feel like distinct characters that warrant the level of proximity and relevance they have to Dany. 'blood of my blood' - was this supposed to mean something? Because it couldve meant a lot! especially to a character like Dany, with no blood relations and desperate for family. Besides Jorah, the bloodriders and her dothraki handmaids are the characters she spends the most time with since book one.

Anyways, Jhogo has a bit more personality than the other bloodriders, he's 'of an age' with Dany (all the bloodriders are around the same age), and it just has so much potential. The royal guard/royalty trope but outside the culture we usually see this is. And!!! They've seen each other literally at their lowest. They survived the red waste together, sacked cities together. Jhogo is held hostage for her right now, along with Daario. I can't pull up the quote right now but Barristan remarks that Jhogo is indispensable to Dany, or smth like that, in his POV chapter. They grew up together, learned how to be strong together. If grrm had cared, they couldve been a top tier romance. It wouldn't have felt rushed or like they were pulled together through fate. Could've just been two lost kids growing into love. But this wouldve required grrm putting effort into the Dothraki characters and he's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't feel the need to do this.

[gxldencity]

4, 7 & 24 for the 🔥🔥 asks!

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

Tbh I don't have a last straw anymore. I use and abuse the block button liberally. If I see an annoying opinion, I block. Sometimes, I don't even finish reading the post because you usually can tell it's rancid from the first 2 lines.

I've blocked half a fandom at this point bc of the constant negativity. I simply don't care anymore. I'm here to have fun. If you take personal offense to that then that's your problem not mine.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Alngksgnw as you're said hate IS a strong word and I don't hate characters really unless there is a good reason for me to hate them.

So when I say I began to dislike Dorian Pavus after seeing how the fandom acted towards him, I don't hate him. I guess I do find him fascinating and relatable to an extent but I also don't think he's written perfectly as some people act like he is. Revisiting Dorian's quest as an adult with a fully developed brain and way more comfortable about my own queerness made me realize that I dislike how Dorian didn't really have agency whether to reconcile with his father or not. I know it's the point of The game to have a choice but Idk a bit more dialogue about the choice could've easily solved that problem for me.

I also have issues with Dorian's Indian coding lmao and have since felt like I was duped. It just feels like a cop-out? Like Gaider and team knew about the complaints people have about his comments wrt Asians in Thedas so they made him Asian—only mentioning it in a forum post or Twitter I think 🫠 so to this day ive seen people still surprised that he's Asian—without considering how to code him as Indian in the game.

Things like his clothing having some influences from the cultures in India or family structures and mannerisms. I mean it could be as simple as Indian coding the people of Quarinus so you don't just have this one Indian coded family in the entirety of Thedas. The Alexiuses could've also been Indian coded.

(An aside there's more layers to this like the unfortunate implications of coding a group of people who own slaves as poc but I could write a whole post about Dragon Age's attempts of trying to put Asians in this game)

Anyway, that's canon lol. Fandom makes this all worse. I could just point at the Orientalist depictions of Dorian in fanart and just end it here but nope it goes deeper. Somehow, Dorian attracted the worst kind of fandom. Like the Solas and Cullen stans maybe louder but I was there Gandalf. I was in the trenches. People were forming cliques around this one BNF and their friends. I was in the clique and it was all good until Tresspasser dropped.

You see this clique hated that Tresspasser ended with Dorian and the Inquisitor being in an LDR—because Dorian was off trying to fix a country—to the point where some of them acted like they broke up. Hello? Okay 1) That is such a poor reading on long distance relationships 2) Dorian...got a phone crystal for the Inquisitor, u know a tech that didn't exist in Thedas so they can stay in touch.

It also isn't enough that they didn't like it. Others have to Not like it as well. I remember talking to the BNF about my Inquisitor and Dorian, how they stayed in touch as Dorian was y'know trying to fix a country and the BNF told me that it was a depressing situation for my Inquisitor and Dorian...even though it isn't and they're perfectly happy.

(An side, not from this clique but I wouldnt be surprised if some of them also held this opinion but I saw some accusations from folks that Bioware is homophobic because Dorian and the Inquisitor are in an LDR. This is how batshit this fandom is).

Anyway, to keep it short, I was 19-20 when all of this happened. I probably said some stupid shit around that time but I should tell you these people were in their late 20s to early 30s. They were affected by a 19-20 year old with just a handful of followers saying stupid shit. They were so affected by the barely adult saying stupid shit that one of them stalked me, vagueposted about me and when I found out they were vagueposting about me, proceeded to gaslight me and told me I was the one stalking them. :)

Not only that, they also harassed one of my friends to not posting their fics ever again, harrassed a friend of a friend for trying to steal the BNF's spotlight 🙄. Come on some of you have fucking children.

I don't think I could look at Dorian in the same way which is a shame because for a time he was important to me but like God, it was rough.

I also have not forgotten nor forgave :) hence why I have the studio behind that chorus game or whatever it's called now blocked :) and would not be playing it. Do not care if David Gaider is the one writing it. I mean he kinda was the weakest link in that writing team imo (and I also hate his prose).

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Very cliche but anything to do with the mages and templars

[rjalker]

@redfoxdude07 why are you putting this in the tags and not a comment? Either you agree with the post or you disagree with it. But if you disagree with it then please comment openly. Keeping it in the tags is just weird.

#I feel like you missed what Orion's character is supposed to be #he's supposed to be thinking about the long term affects of slaughtering Sentinel while D-16 is thinking short term (revenge) #killing Sentinel while being Euphoric for a second will only lead to more divide as everyone will see the new leaders as vengeful/homicidal #Sentinel living isn't the greatest thing and Orion clearly isn't giving him sympathy #Orion hates Sentinel for what he did and if there was no negative consequences he'd leave him to die too probably #but there ARE negative consequences to killing him #the entire Autobot vs Decepticons thing only happened because D-16 let his emotions control his actions rather than thinking clearly #the Elite Guard only reinforces the whole “emotions > thoughts” idea in D-16's head and pushes him to kill Sentinel even more than before #if Starscream never captured them he might have been able to stop and think #but instead he let the power go to his head as he began to lay waste to Iacon#to the people he was supposed to be saving #D-16 is a message on how to NOT overthrow a government #don't let your rage blind you to how your actions will affect your world #killing every bad person won't fix anything it'll just lead to more killing of people who didn't deserve to die at all #the only propaganda I see in this movie specifically is the blatant toy advertisement everywhere

I don't think you know what the word "propaganda" means if you're right now reinforcing the idea that killing dictators only leads to more violence. You can't see the propaganda because you're chugging it like it's going out of style.

Your takeaway from this movie is that killing dictators causes more negative consequences than letting them live. And you think this movie had no propaganda in it.

If you disagree with a post then you can just openly comment your disagreements instead of keeping it in the tags. That's just weird and sneaky for no reason.

I think you should maybe think about what you've just said for a day or two and look at the actual history of the world and ask yourself who exactly benefits from convincing you that killing fascists does more harm than good, and then think about it some more. And learn how to recognize propaganda. Because you're falling for it at mach speed, honorific of your choice.

And please take note of your own choice of words: You refer to killing the dictator as "slaughtering". Ask yourself why you choose that particular word to refer to a slave killing a dictator

And then ask yourself why the movie wants you to be perfectly fine with B-127 actually going around gleefully slaughtering enemies and terrorizing civilians, while also claiming that Megatron has "gone too far" for killing the actual literal dictator.

You are not immune to propaganda. You have fallen for it completely.

Transformers One said nooo don't fight for your freedom!!! That's only something bad mean people do!!!! Real heroes jump in front of fascists to take a bullet for them!!!

[Image description start. The meme comic of people in a meeting, with the boss sliding his hands onto the table and demanding of three employees, "Quick! We have to update Megatron and Optimus Prime's shared backstory for 2024! But the original conceit is... Problematic, how should we fix it?"

The first employee suggests, " make Megatron rich too! "

The second suggests, "make Optimus Prime a slave too! "

The third employee, leaning on an elbow with a sardonic expression, says, "Don't condemn slave rebellions maybe."

The boss glares at this employee with an exaggerated expression of rage. The employee stares back in silence with the same expression as before.

The last panel shows this employee being thrown out the window of the office building.

Image description end.]

And then the slavery apologism propaganda worked.

[leonardhoee]

A Rant About Ikesen’s Treatment of Motonari

I’ve been away from tumblr for a while but I had to come back for this.

So something I’ve noticed throughout playing Ikesen is the way that the game is very biased agains Motonari and I think it needs to be addressed because he is the only brown character and his portrayal is full of harmful stereotypes against brown men. I love this game but I haven't seen a single person acknowledge how badly Motonari is treated by the creators and the fandom as a result of that.

Also any racist comments will be blocked.

Possible route spoilers under the cut…

So lets start with the obvious, he is the only dark skinned character in Ikesen and when I first started playing I was so happy about that because finally (regardless of his ethnicity which honestly in this portrayal of him can be up for debate, I HC him as south East Asian) we are getting some representation. Throughout the game though I started noticing a lot of harmful stereotypes being thrown onto him that none of the other characters face.

Both him and Nobunaga are relatively misogynistic, I’m not denying that at all. However the way it is portrayed in their routes is very different. Nobunaga should in fact have sexual harassment charges, yet its romanticized repeatedly throughout his route. Motonari on the other hand treated MC as a possession the same way Nobunaga did, however he is shown as aggressive and scary as opposed to Nobunaga being shown as sexy and romantic.

There is also a difference in their respective CG’s 

Motonari’s CG is shown much more threatening and aggressive than Nobunaga’s

That brings me to my next point. Every other antagonist so far is shown to have a gentle and redeemable side. Kenshin threatened to wage war on the whole country while keeping MC locked in a cell yet he is still shown to be gentle and romantic. Kennyo repeatedly kidnaps and threatens MC’s life in other routes yet he is shown as a gentle monk who just wants revenge for his fallen brethren. Why doesn't Motonari get that level of consideration and empathy? Why is he, the only brown man, shown as an aggressive two-dimensional brute in every single route that isn’t his own? And this is a harmful stereotype that shows itself in all kinds of media. Brown men are depicted as predatory and aggressive both in fiction and real life.

This leads me to his ethnicity (I’m only talking about Ikesen’s portrayal of Motonari, I am well aware he was a Japanese warlord irl). In his route there is a part where he is talking about slavery and colonialism. As a South Asian woman I completely understand his perspective and its what got me thinking about this subject in the first place.

This subject is clearly personal to him. These lines, the way he looks as opposed to the other characters, and the fact that he speaks Spanish (around this time period the Philippines were being colonized by Spain), leads me to head cannon him as South East Asian, specifically Filipino. However, historically, Motonari comes from a region of Southern Japan, which is known as Hiroshima today. Cybird meant to market him as Okinawan. A large part of the reason Motonari is being treated this way by Cybird stems from the fact that people from Okinawa face racism from mainland Japan. Considering the fact that this game was made in Japan, and knowing what we know about their history of colonization, racism, and east asian beauty standards revolving around colorism, I am honestly not surprised that Motonari is being portrayed like this.

Until now they just showed his reason for fighting the Oda to be “oh I just want to watch the world burn for no reason”. But no that’s not the reason. These lines. That’s the reason. A lot of the context behind those lines comes from the fact that comes from because people from mainland Japan treated Okinawan people as slaves. He doesn’t want to see another colonizer come into power. Sure he’s a bit of an extremist but historically people who have this ideology have always been portrayed as savage and barbaric and “against the betterment of society” (think Jet from atla or even Malcom x). It’s no different in ikesen. The devs are clearly villainizing this ideology. Let’s not forget the fact that irl Hideyoshi invaded Korea. And the fact that anime and otome games are part of Japan’s way of erasing their war crimes and rebranding themselves to the rest of the world. It’s blatantly obvious here with the way they’re villainizing Motonari for having a perfectly valid reason to fight the Oda. If Japan stays divided they can’t invade and colonize other countries like the Philippines can they? Anti-colonialism = bad. 

Lastly I want to talk about how they downplayed his abilities as a leader and a warlord in his own right. In all the other routes he is depicted as less educated and frankly “dumb”, and it shows itself in his speech patterns too. Compared to Nobunaga and Mitsuhide, Motonari’s speech is stereotypically “less educated” and “lower class”. Yet he is just as much of a leader as any of the other warlords. However instead of acknowledging that, the game chooses to focus on his crimes and behavior as a pirate, instead of his role as the head of the Mouri clan.

At one point Kicho even compares his intelligence to a fifth grader which just rubs me the wrong way because lets take a moment to actually look at Motonari’s abilities. He is multilingual, has knowledge of global politics and economics, is an amazing businessman, and extremely analytical. He is literally known as the God of Decit, yet I did not hear that name once until his route came out. His strategies are good enough to be called a god, yet that is completely buried in the other routes in order to simplify his character into a trigger happy psychopath and a violent brute. He is just as smart as Nobunaga yet he is not given the credit he deserves.

Both Motonari and Nobunaga are extremely similar yet because of the horribly biased portrayals, Motonari is one of the least popular characters whereas Nobunaga is the second most popular. It makes me angry to see people in the fandom choosing to blindly hate Motonari without recognizing the fact that this stems from a frankly racist portrayal of an extremely intelligent and powerful character. Although truthfully, I blame the devs because if they had given his character even half the consideration and depth the others got, this would not be the case. 

You can disagree with me if you want. I am simply bringing attention to something I haven’t seen being addressed.

I hope in future routes, events, and sequels he is treated better by the devs and and the fandom. Please stop projecting racist stereotypes onto brown men.

[thebluewritingbench]

the wrong side of a second

or, how 5x8 might have gone if Lena didn't succeed in turning off Mount Norquay's Kryptonite cannons on time

A tribute to Lena at her worst, if a few extra seconds had put her beyond forgiveness. It's an angsty one - cw for major character death, if that's something you'd rather avoid at all costs

(also on ao3, if that's more your speed)

+

The walls of the cell are white, clean, pristine. Three blank, empty, one of glass. There’s a bench, long enough to lie down on, too hard to be comfortable.

Lena stares at the white walls. They’re bright enough to make her eyes hurt, but she can’t look away from them. Can’t blink. If she blinks, she’ll see the moment again. Her eyes sting from the effort of holding them open for so long.

They separated her and Hope the moment they arrived at the DEO. Lena doesn’t really remember how they got back here. She doesn’t remember anything after the blast hit, after the sky lit up with green like the Northern Lights, after the screaming started. Her screaming. She was the one screaming. She’s not sure why she isn’t still lying crumpled on the floor on the bunker, like she should be.

There were strong arms grabbing her the second they appeared, guns pointed at them from all directions. Cuffs being pressed into her wrists. She’s not sure why they bothered. She wasn’t trying to escape. She’s here of her own volition.

She’s still wearing the clothes she was wearing at the bunker. The ponytail is so tight that her head aches, but she doesn’t bother trying to pull it out.

She wonders if she can just die, right here, right now, if she uses enough willpower.

She’s so cold that it might as well be her lying in the snow at the bottom of a mountain.

Footsteps approach her cell, loud and echoing through the hallway. She doesn’t look away from the wall when the person comes to a halt in front of her cell, but their shadow blocks out some of the brightest light.

“Last I heard, she was heading to Mount Norquay to stop you,” says Alex. “So, I’m going to ask now, calmly. Where is Supergirl?”

Lena sucks in a breath. Maybe this was why she came back. There was this to do.

This one last horrible thing. This living nightmare of a thing.

She opens her mouth, doesn’t remember any words. She closes it again. There’s bile at the back of her throat. Alex allows her a long, hearty pause before she speaks again.

“We’ve got your little… mind-controlled slave locked up. She refuses to tell us anything. So, I’m asking you. Where the fuck is my sister.”

My sister. It’s the first time she’s heard Alex use those words to refer to Supergirl. Lena closes her eyes, desperate to escape Alex’s voice. As soon as she does, the inside of her eyelids fill with green, and she watches the tiny figure in the center of a sea of neon arch, convulse, fall, down down down. She sucks in a sharp breath through her nose, wrenching her eyes open.

“Supergirl is dead,” she says, looking directly at Alex. “I killed her.”

Every muscle in Alex’s body goes perfectly still. “What?”

“The cannons at Mount Norquay. They were Kryptonite. I tried to turn them off. I wasn’t fast enough.”

Alex’s hands are starting to shake. “You’re lying,” she says.

Yes, Lena wants to say. I just wanted to hurt you, for a moment. It’s not real. “No,” she says instead. “I’m not.”

“Luthor. Tell me you’re fucking lying.” The shaking has moved up her arms.

I wish I could. “I’m not lying. What reason would I have to lie?”

“Kara is not fucking dead. You didn’t kill her, you hear me? She’s survived way worse than you. Do you know the kind of things she’s survived? You’re not powerful enough to kill Supergirl. You’re deluding yourself to think that you could be,” she spits out her words, venomous in the same insidious, green way as Kryptonite.

Lena can’t close her eyes. She can’t look away, back at the white walls. She can’t look down at her lap, like a child scolded. She can’t do anything but stare into Alex’s eyes and watch the rapid rise and fall of her shoulders, the twisting of her facial expressions. She doesn’t know what to say. There’s nothing to say. Words stick to the dry roof of her mouth.

Something in Alex’s face shifts more panicked with each moment of silence that ticks by. Lena swallows, digs her nails hard into her palms. Alex’s fist bangs into the glass in front of her, and it shudders. Lena flinches.

“What the fuck did you do?”

“They were Lex’s cannons,” says Lena, her voice unsteady, and each word takes a mountain’s worth of effort. “He didn’t design them to incapacitate. He designed them to kill. I could have disabled them, if I’d just had a few more seconds. It would have only taken a few more seconds.”

“A few more seconds,” Alex repeats blankly.

There have been so many instances in their lives when a few seconds made the difference between life and death. So many instances where they just managed to come out on the right side of those few seconds, just managed to keep everyone safe.

This time, they came out on the wrong side.

“Lena,” says Alex. “Tell me my little sister isn’t dead. Tell me you didn’t kill Kara.”

Lena looks down at her hands. The response that comes to the tip of her tongue is I didn’t mean to, but it’s too juvenile, too blameless. “I can’t.”

“Fucking hell,” says Alex, turning away, digging her hands into her hair. “God, fuck.” She whips back around to face Lena. “I thought you were on our side! I thought you were someone we could trust! Kara thought you were someone we could trust! Do you know how many times she’s stuck her neck out for you? Risked her identity? Risked everything?” She’s yelling, and it vibrates in Lena’s bones. She wants to flinch, wants to close her eyes and wait for it to be over like she has every time it’s been Lex or Lillian, but she can’t. She can’t, because this time it’s her fault. This time she deserves it.

Lex would be proud of her, she realizes. Lex would be delighted that his weapon worked so well.

How far she has fallen.

“She’s not dead,” says Alex. “You’re lying, and you’re despicable, and Kara is not dead.”

“She is, Alex,” says Lena, leaning forwards, and she’s shaking too, can’t get it out of her voice or her lungs. “She is, she is, Kara’s dead. I watched the cannons go off. I watched her fall. I saw her hit the ground. I saw it, I saw it all, and I wasn’t fast enough to stop it, I would have stopped it. All I needed was a few more seconds. Just a few.”

She feels the few seconds in her chest, a deep, hollow, aching squeezing. If she’d only been a little bit faster. If only she’d never pressed deploy. If only she’d never gone to Mount Norquay. If only she’d confronted Kara at the beginning. If only she’d known all along.

If only, if only.

“I don’t believe you,” says Alex, shaking her head.

“I wish I was lying. God, I wish I was lying.”

“She’s my sister. She’s my sister and you killed her, you killed her.”

“I know,” says Lena, and she’s starting to cry. “I know, I know.”

“Don’t fucking cry,” says Alex, slamming her fist into the glass beside Lena’s head again. “You’re not allowed to fucking cry, do you hear me? You lost that right! You lost that right when you blasted my little sister out of the goddamn sky! This is your fault, this is all your fault!”

“I know,” Lena sobs.

“Stop fucking saying that!” Alex yells. “Stop it, just stop it, just…” She turns abruptly on her heel and strides away, and Lena thinks that she’s finally going to leave and let her hate herself in peace, but Alex stops before she can round the corner. She’s still for several moments, her breathing loud and harsh, and then she turns again to face Lena.

“You want to know what the worst part is? She was in love with you. And I know she was fucking obtuse about it, but I also know that you weren’t. You knew that she was in love with you. You knew that you were in love with her. You knew, and you still…? How could you still…?”

“I wanted to hurt her,” Lena whispers. “I wanted to hurt her like she hurt me, and then I didn’t want anyone to hurt ever again.”

“You wanted to hurt her? So you killed her? So you left her rotting in the snow at the base of your little mountain fortress? Because I sure as hell don’t remember her doing any of that to you.”

The childish words slip out before she can stop them, barely audible. “I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t mean to? Does that fucking matter?She’s dead either way, isn’t she? Your intentions don’t mean shit, this isn’t something you can just apologize for and get fixed! It’s not one of your little basement experiments that we all stayed silent about because Kara insistedyour intentions were good. You can’t just say sorry and cry into her arms to fix this, Lena.”

And there’s nothing she can say, no defense to Alex’s words, so she just stares at her hands and shakes and sobs quietly, tears streaming hot and fast down her face and falling into her lap in a steady drip.

“Stop it,” screams Alex, anguished, composure gone. “Fucking stop it!”

“I can’t,” Lena chokes out. “I can’t, I can’t.”

She can tell by the fury that’s radiating off Alex that she wants to shake Lena, or slap her, or punch her into the ground, but that’s she’s holding herself back because she knows that it won’t be satisfying. Knows that Lena won’t fight back, that she’ll just take it quietly.

There’s nothing Lena could do or say right now to make any of this better. There’s no better to this situation.

“What kind of person does that? What kind of person kills the only other person in the world that they truly love? What kind of person could bear to let that happen?” says Alex, hollow.

“You think I can bear it?” says Lena. She runs her fingernails down her arms, sharp, repeats the motion, repeats again.

“I think you’re going to have to,” says Alex, and her voice takes on a sharp, ugly quality as she steps back towards the cell. “Because I sure as hell am not going to let you die. Oh, don’t give me that look,” she says, when Lena looks up, startled. “Believe me, I want to kill you. I don’t think there would be anything more satisfying in the world right now than taking you out myself and letting you rot. But that would be too merciful for you. You would just… get away without any of the consequences. No, Lena, I hope you live a long, miserable life, and that every second is consumed by thinking about what you’ve done. You’ve annihilated one of the only things that still gave people hope in this world. You were trying to prevent people from being able to feel hurt again? That’s all they’ll feel now, because of you. You didn’t just kill Supergirl, you just killed every single person that she would have saved for the rest of her life. That’s their blood on your hands, too. That’s their families that you destroyed.”

Lena thinks she might throw up. She doesn’t remember how to breathe properly. It sits ragged in her throat, choking her.

Alex isn’t done.

“God, and I hope every second of your life is consumed with the knowledge that you killed the only thing that could ever have made you genuinely happy. Because do you honestly believe that anyone else will ever be capable of loving you the way she was? With your family? With the shit that you’ve done? Kara was willing to look past that. She did every day. She would have forgiven you for this, had she survived. She would have fought for you back. And she can’t do that anymore. Because of you.”

Lena’s drowning. Every word that comes out of Alex’s mouth is like another needle in her skin, lining her flesh and her throat and her the inside of her organs and she can’t even tune them out or deny them because every word she says is true. Kara was the only person who believed she was good, unconditionally.

“It was wrong,” says Alex, dangerously quiet, back outside the cell now. “It was wrong of Kara not to tell you she was Supergirl earlier. I’ll be the first to admit that. But she was willing to put in the work to fix it. She would have done everything in her power to fix it, and you weren’t even willing to try. You self-destruct, Lena, and that’s one hundred percent on you.”

God, she’s so stupid. How was she ever this stupid? How did she get here? How did she let this happen? She might still be crying—her eyes are certainly still blurred, but her skin is too numb to feel the tears. She doesn’t even feel like her body belongs to her anymore.

“Don’t just sit there,” Alex says. “Say something. Just… fucking say something!”

“What do you want me to say?” Lena says, and it’s like her voice is coming from someone else. “That you’re right? You are. Of course you are, you’re right about all of it. This is my fault, all of this is my fault, and there’s nothing—nothing I can do.”

“I changed my mind,” says Alex. She slides down the wall beside Lena’s cell, digs her hands into her hair again, curling in on herself. “I don’t want to hear your voice.”

Lena closes her eyes. The moment the cannons went off starts to play again behind her eyelids on repeat. Flash of green, sickly green. Tiny figure, blonde hair, flopping like a ragdoll, dropping like a stone. She glowed, when the cannons hit her. Like every single one of her veins and arteries and capillaries lit up with Kryptonite, all at once. Like a broken glowstick. She glowed, suspended a thousand feet in the air, her arms splayed like she was taking it all in willingly. It plays again and again behind Lena’s eyes, and she doesn’t feel like she has the right to stop watching. It’s her prison to endure.

Alex voice breaks through, soft and awful and crackling. “It’s sick. It’s really sick, but I wish you were happy about it. I wish you were happy with yourself so I could hate you more. But you’re so… pathetic. You’re so fucking pathetic, how can you hate someone who’s so pathetic? Who am I supposed to hate when you’re like this? It’s not fair.”

“I’m sorry,” Lena says, and it’s not even the tiniest dent in the way she feels.

“I know. That’s the problem. I wish you weren’t. It would be easier if you weren’t.”

Lena stays silent. It’s despicable, but she doesn’t want Alex to leave. She doesn’t want to be alone. She wants… god, all she wants is for Kara to be here. She wants Kara’s arms around her, warm and comforting, steady and real. She wants to bury her face in the crook of Kara’s neck, breathe in her shampoo, cry herself to sleep on her shoulder. She wants Kara’s lips on the top of her forehead, brushing soft, whispering reassurances into her skin.

She wants, and she’ll never have, never again.

And it’s her fault.

It hits her suddenly, in a way it somehow hasn’t before, and the pain in her stomach is so intense that she has to wrap her arms tight around her middle to stop herself from falling apart, has to fold forward as she gasps out sobs, loud and harsh. She’s not sure it’ll ever stop. Behind her eyes, Kara falls, she keeps falling, she hasn’t stopped.

“I don’t how to do this if I can’t hate you,” Alex says, over Lena’s sobs, and Lena can hear in her voice that she’s crying too, even if her vision is too obscured to see it. “I can’t do this if I don’t have anger to lean on. I just want to hate you. I just want to hate you.”

Please hate me, Lena wants to say. She’s crying too hard to speak, it’s hurting the inside of her throat, like each sob is ripping something. Hate me all you want. You’ll never be able to hate me as much as I hate myself.

She doesn’t need to say it. Alex knows.

She must cross some line into hysteria, because she wakes up with the heavy feeling that she’s been under sedation for a long time. She’s in the same cell, lying on her back on the hard bed and staring up at the ceiling. Her chest is hollow; someone’s scooped out everything from inside her ribs.

It feels like the end of time.

“Are you awake?” asks Alex’s voice, scratchy. She’s sitting outside Lena’s cell, arms wrapped around her knees. It looks like she slept there.

“Yes,” says Lena. If this is what awake is.

Alex looks away. She drums an uneven pattern on floor with her fingertips. Her hair is sticking up at the back.

“Why are you still here?” croaks Lena. “It’s because of me that your sister is dead.”

“I know,” says Alex. “I wish I could kill you for it.”

“Why don’t you?”

Alex looks over, and she’s aged about forty years overnight. “You’re the only person who loved her as much as I did.”

Lena laughs, humourless, at the ceiling, because if that just isn’t the most fucked up thing she’s ever heard in her life. “Well, fuck me.”

At some point, Alex is going to have to get up and leave. She’ll be able to seek solace in her other friends, in the other people who love Kara. And Lena will be moved somewhere more permanent. She’ll let them take her. She won’t struggle. She hopes there’s no trial, but if there is, she’ll plead guilty.

For now, they both just stare at the ceiling, at exposed dirty grey pipes, as the DEO rumbles around them.

Somewhere far away, Kara lies in the snow, crumpled and green and more peaceful than they’ll ever be again.

[antiloreolympus]

May I ask why you dislike LO? I enjoy reading the series, and there are faults in the writing (as no series is perfect) and I have my own gripes with it, but overall I just really like the myth of Hades and Persephone.

I'll admit there were things that made me uncomfortable when I first started reading it (and they still kinda do) like Persephone being a teenager while Hades is, what - 40-60ish? The timeline (of the story taking place over the course of only a few weeks, when a Lot of stuff is going on), Hera the goddess of marriage having an affair, Demeter being an overbearing mother who financially takes advantage of her daughter, some of the flashbacks (like specifically the one where a much younger Kore meets a drunken Hades and falls on top of him while naked? And its played off as a meet cute)

But thats besides the point - I'm curious as to why you don't like LO and/or the creator of it I guess?

Also your posts are showing up in the lore Olympus tag - (and I know there's probably a seperate "anti-lo" tag but I also wouldn't be surprised if angry anons came into your inbox for spamming the tag of the webcomic they like with criticism, because apparently thats what people do on this hellsite instead of just blocking). And, of course your entitled to critique the series, but I'm sure some people are not going to be happy about that. (I say this as a person who enjoys critiquing media, like netflix's spop reboot, and have had angry anons come at me before, so stay safe out there).

Also, sorry this is so long.

Heyo! And I understand

I'll take this time to get into why I don't like each character as it's one of the reasons I don't like LO as a whole:

(Some I removed because there isn't much to say about them)

Main Characters:

• Hades - Man in his Late 30s to Early 40s actively pursuing a 'teenaged girl'.... He acknowledged that this was wrong at yet pursues her anyway? Plus, he's perfectly fine with slave labor and using his power/status to get his way. His character is also inconsistent when it comes to Minthe because one minute he can stand up for himself and the next he's terrified?

• Persephone - An overly sexualized teen who acts like a child. She also killed people but it was because of a 'feeling'. She still committed murder and yet it's framed as a "well, it's not her fault" but I'm also supposed to believe this 19-20 yr old would make a great and feared queen.

• Hera - Not only does she treat the lower class like garbage but she's also a hypocrite (the affair). Plus, she just randomly goes back on her word about Hades being a creep for no reason.

• Eros - Put a girl in some random dude's car and gave her "apology donuts" as a sorry gift 😒

Antagonists:

• Minthe - She was coded with bpd which wouldn't be a bad thing if she wasn't so demonized by the story.

• Apollo - How come this dude is one of the most prevalent people in the story and we don't get a strong motive for him until season 2? Even then, we barely know anything else about him. I get the whole "well, he did this so I don't want a backstory for him" but at least give him a solid motive. One that comes from him directly.

• Thetis - One of the sweetest people gets turned into a homewrecker for no reason. Even then, people gloss over her being verbally manipulative to Minthe.

• Leto - Also verbally manipulative to her daughter. How comes RS decided to demonize the goddess of motherhood, too? There's really no justifiable reason for that.

Others: 

• Hecate  - Also switched up about Hades and Persephone. Let's not forget her hitting Hades 3 times and him having to tell her to stop.

• Artemis - I get letting her brother in the house but Eros and Hermes? That's just inconsistency right there.

• Demeter - Got demonized for the 5973th time 😔🤚

• Aphrodite - Also rude to the lower class but it makes more sense as she's Aphrodite. Still rude af though.

• Hermes - Man got mad at Thanatos for "messing with his money" as if he didn't cover the whole thing up with Demeter      

• Hestia + Athena - Just hypocrites and the fact that they're supposed to be (aro)ace goddesses.

• Ares - He and Persephone also made out when she was 18 and I assume he was way, way older. Plus, him simping for Persephone in front of Aphrodite was an odd move.

• Hephaestus - This issue has more to do with RS's writing because how the hell did he hack Apollo's phone from Persephone's sim card alone and why is that just never explained?

• Daphne - Excusing nepotism as if Thanatos doesn't work in the same place as Persephone

Now, onto the story:

Its pacing is slow but also extremely fast for what it is. Everything (excluding flashbacks) has taken place over the course of 2-3 weeks. Persephone literally gets SA'd the day after the party. But then you have to think about how Persephone and Hades are probably going to get married like a month after their second meeting. We haven't even gotten to the trial yet and it feels like we never will with how slow everything is. LO honestly isn't made to be like a regular webtoon, it's made to be binged like a Netflix show or something. That would be fine but I can tell from interviews that it wasn't RS's intentions.

Also, RS herself? Yeah, don't really vibe with what she says a good portion of the time

I'll show some examples:

Not all of them are bad, just very weird

Besides the wonky art, she does have potential but LO doesn't really show her skill. Hopefully, she does learn from this comic though.

About the hate, I honestly don't care that much anymore as it really doesn't change much. I respond but only because I find it funny/entertaining when someone tries to tells me what to do with my own freetime.

[mamuzzy]

Hooooly shit this video. Thank you for making this post about Hunter because it really sums up how I feel about him.

When I first joined the fandom after watching TBB, the first weird things I encountered about Hunter-haters is that this character is expected to be a hero. THIS kind of stereotypical masculine hero who are in charge of everything, he knows everything, and because he has the responsibility of a leadership that would mean he knows what is right and what is wrong. A hero like Rex, Cody and Echo. That he has a responsibility to his COMMUNITY (as in being a clone). And honestly I was angry too watching Hunter so indecisive, so lame, so not-being-Rex, so not being a community-man with higher purpose. But it's just made sense how he is because being a hero, being the center of all righteousness never was in his nature! Crosshair on the other hand has a higher sense of purpose, he wants to be a part of something bigger, he wants to help to create this world he belives the Empire stands for, but yes, Cross is the other end of this spectrum because he is willing to sacrifice even innocent lives to make it happen "for he sees the bigger picture". Crosshair is an idealist, the chip probably strengthened this trait. Hunter is more on the ground.

Second thing I noticed that another reason haters hate tbb and Hunter that much because tbb are so detached from the regular clones, they don't feel compassion about their situation of still being slaves, and they don't actively do anything about it unless PERSONALLY affects them. Like, they have their freedom, they have their own choices, why don't they use their freedom to do "good"?Okay, I have my own theories why the TBB is so detached from the regs, i mean they were canonically bullied and as a person who were constantly bullied as a child by other children, I'm really shocked that being bullied is not considered a perfectly valid reason to feel detached from a community. It's like saying "you are such a pussy for not accepting that that was in the past, people have much more bigger problem in the present than your childhood trauma". Hunter takes care of their own little family which is already crumbling around him since the end of the Republic, he doesn't want to be hero, he doesn't want to take part in a war that is not his and while he may have higher morals (doesn't hurt civilians, children), he doesn't make his mission to stop an enormous system of hate and enslavement. He freed himself and his brothers (sans cross) and little sister and made his mission to take care of them. On smaller scale... yes. It's insignificant. Hunter won't free an entire slave and oppressed community. He won't free the galaxy from the evil. Never intented. The video talked about that younger people spirit in their early 20's that they are an in the age of self-realization, finding their higher purpose, serving higher cause that helps people in larger scale but they are so occupied with chasing these higher goals that they are forget to take care of their own small circle of people. And I think haters expect Hunter to have some kind of higher sense of purpose otherwise why exist at all? The ultimate stigmatization of a soldier who wants to quit.

He is flawed. He is sooo idiot I want to punch him in the face for so many reasons, especially Crosshair and Tech reasons, because for me, he failed to be a good brother too. His character representing something we don't see much in movies, series, and often not even in our real life. Broken and being miserable mop who only wants to survive. Hunter is a wonderful character. ...

...

sorry, the video made me worked up.

The Myth of Heroic Masculine Purpose, and How it’s Harming Men

This video is worth the time and at least listen (if you don't have time to sit down and actively watch). I was thinking of The Bad Batch's Hunter. Hunter wants to stay home and "do the laundry" settling on Pabu to raise Omega safely. He's done being a soldier. What he is doing is still worthy. Some in the fandom don't agree he should do that and denigrate his character for it. Not everyone can be an Echo or a Rex. We need some people to be on the home front to take care "of the laundry" as this video describes while others go to fight in the Rebellion. In our Earth history, there have been both, and it doesn't necessarily have to be gender specific.

[alreadyblondenow]

Touched by a god

▸ Jungwoo x reader  ▸ 2.6k words ▸ Fluff, Smut, Angst lol I tried ▸ A Megara story hehe. kissing, public sex, oral (female receiving), cheating?, lucas is here, major character death. just bc 1000 day since debut, we love u zeus. 

“Do you want to play hide and seek?” 

“No” you answered sternly. 

“If I give you a basket of berries, will you play with me?” 

You stopped walking and looked at Jungwoo. Your mother strictly told you never to talk to the gods or to the young prince who’s the same age as you. But Jungwoo is a lonely prince, and he wants to have a friend. He has been bugging you since he saw you hide under the apple tree. “I’m going to get in trouble if I play with you,” you said to the prince, trying to get away from his presence. 

“Hmm. Well then let’s hide from everyone and play? I don’t have any friends, you can be my first friend if you want to” 

His offer was not hard to refuse because honestly, you’re bored to death. No one can know that you’re friends with the son of Zeus. “Where will we hide?” 

“Come on I’ll show you!” Jungwoo’s smile was from ear to ear while tugging your arm as he wants you to follow him quickly. 

For years and years, following Jungwoo is always the best decision you made. He is the reason why your life is full of adventures, wonders, and learnings. Being a daughter of a slave was never a problem to Jungwoo, he did not care about where you came from. The prince thinks you crave knowledge but you don’t know that you are already smart, you are very honest when it comes to your thoughts just so you can’t lie to him, the way you call his name ‘Jungwoo’ is something he would like to hear every day instead of you calling him 'prince', and the more you two stay as good friends, Jungwoo is falling hard for you. He kept it for the longest time, as long as you stay beside him and became his only friend, your adventure continues and grows. But more importantly, he can admire you closely and love you silently. And because you’re smart and the prince is becoming bold with his feelings each day passes, soon he proved his feelings for you but not quite admitting it yet. He holds your hand, whisper beautiful and sweet words to you, he sings for you, brings you flowers whenever he can, and he makes you happy every day. Jungwoo tried so much to hide his feelings until the right time comes because he doesn’t want you to get in trouble. Slaves are not allowed to be friends with gods, and more importantly, fall in love. 

Today, he brought you to the waterfalls. You two just turned twenty and to your surprise, the prince finally confessed his feelings to you. Which you can’t accept obviously, “Took you long enough, but I’m sorry my prince this is wrong” it pains you to hurt his feelings of course, but he can get into trouble too if you dive in with him.

 “We don’t need to worry. When did I ever put you in danger?” he came closer to you as you two stood in front of the waterfalls. He was confident, and his presence can make you feel safe and is urging you to let go and fall in love with him. As he keeps you close to his body, he caressed your cheek and slowly came close to you until your lips touched. 

“Tell me, what did you feel after we kissed?” 

You weren’t planning on lying because Jungwoo can always see right through you, so you told him the truth with every bravery you have. “Happy and somehow I felt blessed by the gods. How can a prince fall in love with a slave? I have nothing to offer” you said, pouring your feelings like how the waterfalls continue to flow. 

“I’m not asking for too much like the other gods. I just want you to love me back. I have loved you for the longest time and I am willing to be a normal human being for you-“ 

“Don’t say that. You don’t have to sacrifice what you truly are for me because I accept you for who you are just how you accept me”

And ever since that night you and Jungwoo loved each other deeply in your own little world. Away from every threat, away from reality. And as you get older you became even more beautiful that Jungwoo became greedy when it comes to you. He hates it when the other gods mention you, he even hates it when the other gods look at you. During the banquet where every slave is needed to serve the guests, the god of the underworld, Jungwoo’s cousin was attracted to you to the point that he became obsessed with your existence. 

“Back off cousin, we are in love with each other” Jungwoo said while sipping on his glass of wine. 

His cousin Lucas just smirked and watched you walk around the hall serving wine. When he called you to pour him some wine, Jungwoo was watching you like a hawk, nervous for his own cousin. “I will make you mine” Lucas whispers to you. 

After that day, you shrugged it off and forget about it. No need to tell Jungwoo, you didn’t want him to get angry at his own family. Instead, you shower him with kisses and love when you two finally met at your usual hiding place. The grass feels warm on your skin as you lay comfortably on it, enjoying Jungwoo’s kisses on your neck. The view of the clear sky while feeling Jungwoo’s lips on your skin felt like freedom. Freedom because you don’t feel like a slave and although a god is kissing you right now, you don’t feel like he owns you like some kind of material thing. This is the feeling of being loved deeply.

“Where are you my love?” he asks, bringing you back to your little world. When you meet Jungwoo’s eyes, you returned his kisses, and this time you’re the one who goes on top of him. And because you two are becoming even more touchy these past few days, when one of your sleeves fell from your shoulder and expose a good amount of skin, just enough to make the prince beneath you hard, you smiled innocently and removed the other sleeve. Leaving your breast, fully exposed to Jungwoo. Without hesitation, he kissed you hungrily and knead your breast and pinch your nipple according to his liking. He made you lay down on the grass again and with your permission, he lifts your dress and caresses your inner thighs until his fingers shamelessly go inside your damped underwear. You moan quietly and spread your legs wider so he can have more access. He removed his fingers for a second, remove his clothes, and went in between your legs. “Beautiful,” he says, kissing your knee and slowly removing your underwear. 

“What if anyone sees us?” you moan out while watching him situate himself between your legs. 

“We’ve been going here for years, that’s impossible” he smiled and spread kisses on your heck again. Hands gently cupping your breast, “If it hurts, tell me and I’ll stop” he says, warning you about his godlike strength. You feel him grind on your body while your eyes were closed and just feeling him on top of you, bodies to bodies and skin to skin, listening to his whispers. You don’t have to take a look at his cock, it felt big while he was lining it in your entrance. He kissed you while he pushes in slowly, but it was hurting so bad and so good at the same time that you moaned a little too loud making Jungwoo cover your mouth and start moving slowly. “Are you feeling this-“ he groaned near your ear, hand slipping back down to your breast and feed his lust. You were overwhelmed by every feeling Jungwoo is giving you that your long nails scratch his perfect skin at the back. And even though everything felt great already, it’s obvious that he is holding back. 

“Don’t hold back” you said, kissing him and urging him to do whatever he wants. And when he finally let go, every thrust he gave you is piercing hard that your body is being dragged on the warm grass. He watches you take everything he gives, sucks your right nipple while watching your face contort and your lips part, listening to every sound you make. But Jungwoo was still not satisfied, he pins your legs on the ground while it’s perfectly spread then he fucks you at a quick pace. Quick but hard. That godlike strength is not made for a human, now you understand. He soon cums inside you while kissing your neck deliciously, whimpering and shivering as he enjoys his orgasm. 

“I can’t get enough of you” and because of that, he pulls out, watched his cum drip from your entrance, and glides his soft cock on your slit. The feeling was too much even if his cock is not inside you, but Jungwoo knew that he can make you cum by playing with your slit. And he was right, when he felt you tensed up, he spreads your legs once again and licked your folds in a very sinful way. His tongue glides up and down very fast, that you don’t have a choice but to try to push his head away from you until you finally came and became weak while Jungwoo is still torturing you with his tongue. 

“I can’t take it anymore-“ you said, bitting your lips and breathing heavily. Thankfully, the man in between your legs stopped. And spread kisses on your sensitive body until his lips are near yours. 

“I got carried away” he smiles. “I promise, I will make love to you in my bed. Tomorrow?” he kisses your swollen nipples while he waits for your answer. Tomorrow sounds great you thought, but you were so tired that you only answered him with a nod. 

When it’s finally time to go home, you and Jungwoo watch the sky turn dark blue as you two walk hand in hand on your way back to the village. Little did you know that the perfect day will be ruined in the most unexpected way. You can’t move when you saw it heading towards you two, you didn’t want to let go of his hand but he was brave as expected and bolted to danger. No one knew that a deadly cyclops has been lurking outside the village of Mt. Olympus. He told you to run and call for the soldiers and of course, you did. You left him. 

As you call for help with great panic, the guards did not believe you because you were just a slave. You feel bad and hopeless. You feel like you’re wasting time so came back for Jungwoo with a big rock in your hand, hoping that you could strike the cyclops with it. But it’s too late. You found him on the ground, gravely injured and almost lifeless. “Stay with me!” you shake him and tried so hard now to let him close his eyes as you scream at the top of your lungs, “HELP!”

Nothing. You screamed again, a little desperately than before and then someone appeared. Leaning on the side of the true calmly as if he likes what he’s seeing. You begged him to help you but instead, he smiled, came close to you, and held your chin oh so tightly. His hands were big and hot on your skin as if he was fresh from the underworld. 

“Lucas your cousin needs help please” you begged again. 

“He’s dead. Two minutes ago. He is now trapped in the river of souls”

“You are the prince of the underworld, I’m sure you can do something” you sob. He released your chin and smirked in front of you. 

“Of course I can do anything. But the question is, what can you do to bring Jungwoo back to life?” You don’t know what to answer, you don’t know what you can offer. As a slave, you don’t have anything. 

“I don’t have anything to offer” you looked at Jungwoo’s cold body and hold his hand. Lucas is now dying of jealousy. He did not plot Jungwoo’s life to feel defeated. No. 

“Offer your soul and loyalty and I’ll bring him back. Pledge your loyalty to me, and love me. When I’m satisfied, I’ll make sure to keep my word” 

It was an offer you can’t refuse but also an offer that meant betraying Jungwoo. But he has to live. So without further thinking, you agreed to Lucas and gave your soul to him. He brought Jungwoo’s dead body in the underworld, with you on his side. The deal is to show your loyalty to him and to try to love him until he’s convinced and satisfied. And so you did. You became loyal to the prince of the underworld, stayed with him day and night, accept his gifts and his admiration. Time moves slowly in the underworld so no one is suspecting about Jungwoo’s disappearance. Soon, you earned Lucas’ trust and kept his word. He brought Jungwoo to life and trapped you in the underworld.  

When Jungwoo came back to life, he can���t remember what happened after having sex with you that day. Your disappearance was a mystery to him and your family. He looked everywhere for you, searched high and low but still, nothing. 

“Why are always gloomy my child? It’s banquet everyone should be happy, please wear even a fake smile before you meet your bride” his mother whispers beside him. As prince Jungwoo fakes his smile to all the guests and made small talk to a few people, his world stopped when he saw you again. After many years. Although he is not sure if it is really you, because his cousin’s hand is on top of your waist and you were smiling as he has never seen before. You changed, you don’t look like the girl he loved and adored. 

You tried so hard to avoid Jungwoo and seclude yourself. You missed the view of Mt. Olympus in the afternoon. You let out a sigh and drank your wine, thinking more of how can you escape Lucas. Even if you die, or kill yourself, he still wins. And that thought alone makes you mad to the core. “Y/n? Is this really you?” you turned your back slowly and face the man you love.

“So that’s why you’ve been gone missing? You finally showed your true colors and betrayed me. Cheated with my own cousin?” he was angry but you didn’t care. Everything he said hurt you. 

“I did it for you. Please don’t say those harsh words to me. Jungwoo it’s still me, please save me from your cousin-“ 

“That’s prince Jungwoo for you, slave! I don’t- I can’t believe I loved someone like you. You made a fool out of me” he said tears in his eyes like his own words hurt him too. Hearing him call you a slave was like a dagger to your heart. After everything you did just to prove him, you love him. 

“My love, what are you doing outside?” Jungwoo’s bride came to fetch him, she was a goddess and they looked perfect together. You turned your back to dry your tears and wish to not see Jungwoo anymore especially in the arms of another. ‘My love’, you used to call him that and it was for the two of you only, but now those words are meaningless. 

You were a daughter of a slave. 

He was a prince and a son of a god. 

What did you expect to happen?

↩︎prev next ▶︎

[flashthescalesian-art]

Saw one of the absolute worst takes on the whole Fox and Fives situation in my TikTok comments this morning.

For some context, this was on a joking video about Fox's reaction to Palpatine dying, there was no mention of anything else, just Fox reacting to Palpatine dying. Fox haters on TikTok don't care, they just see positive Fox content and flood the comments with "I hate Fox"

Also, I will preface this by saying that I am not asking to start drama over this on here or on TikTok. Do not seek the guy out to harass him or whatever. It's not worth it, I just need to get my thoughts out on this because it's gonna drive me nuts all day and I have other stuff to do.

Anyway, I had been having a perfectly polite discussion with someone who disliked Fox for killing Fives, but still believed Fox was hated too much within the fandom (which is a perfectly valid opinion, you don't have to like Fox as long as you're polite to people who do). Then this other guy decides to butt in with a snarky comment saying Fox should have used stun when I had already pointed out why he couldn't easily have done that.

Setting aside my own headcanons here, I pointed out that since it's extremely likely that Fox was ordered to shoot to kill, using stun instead could have easily ended in a court martial for Fox, and court martial for clones almost certainly means death because the clones have no legal rights as people.

Reason behind that which I couldn't fit into the comment because of character limits: You can only legally disobey a direct order if it is unlawful or you have a good argument for why it is otherwise immoral or invalid. The clones are not legally people, so Fox doesn't have a voice to defend himself, and if Fives isn't legally a person, then there's no argument on morality there either. (Obviously the clones are people, but the Senate doesn't see it that way).

I pointed out how Palpatine is the reason the situation even got to that confrontation in the first place because even if Fox wasn't ordered to shoot to kill, it's Palpatine's fault the confrontation even happened.

This guy in the comments proceeds to say that he can't hate on Palpatine because he's a cool villain and interesting character.

*inhale*

B O I

First of all, you're totally entitled to like Palpatine as a villain, he's an awesome, well-written, scary villain.

B U T

This guy is telling me he can't hate him for that BECAUSE he's an awesome villain??? Dude, I think you're missing the point of villains here... You're supposed to blame them for the bad things they cause. That's the whole point.

But this guy simply decided that the villain wasn't at fault and instead a literal slave was to blame for his favorite character's death???

I-

Where is the logic???

Anywho, I'm done ranting, I just needed to get my thoughts out so I could go do homework.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Some Thots on Black Sails Season 3 Episode 9

Here’s part of Eleanor’s speech to Vane in the fort, after he again confronts her with the truth that she refuses to hear. That her father was just as much a monster as any of them, that Vane was the one man in her life that actually did love her, and that she will betray anyone and everyone as soon as it suits her purposes. Suddenly in the wake of her father’s death, she thinks he was a good man. I think she has to believe that, because it’s the only way she can live with herself, now that she’s become worse than he ever was. She’s whitewashed her memory, and Vane is plainly stripping that away from her.

"You can't comprehend what you took from me, or what it was good, because there is no goodness in you. There is no humanity in you. No capacity for compromise, nor instinct towards repair, nor progress. Nor forgiveness. You are an animal."

I like Vane. He’s a terrible person for most of Season 1, and probably into Season 2 (Although the only thing I take issue with is what he did to Max, honestly.), and he’s selfish and self-serving through everything up to this point. everyone in this show is. Everyone is serving their own ends. But the difference? Eleanor is the only one that lies about it.

So, lets dissect this speech of hers, with the last scene that we saw with Vane, when he was captured. Cut because this will likely get long.

1. No goodness in him.

The most complicated argument, for sure. But I would say through season 2 and 3, he’s starting to show quite a bit of goodness. As demonstrated by the next points.

2. No humanity

Vane is brimming with humanity, and I think he hates it, because in the beginning it was a hinderance to him. Now he’s leaning into it. The first example that comes to mind is with the slaves put to work at the fort. He can’t stand it. You can see it tearing him apart, Jack even tells him he didn’t give Vane the truth of the hunt because he was trying to protect him, knowing how much it would kill him. Vane tries to work alongside them, maybe as some kind of penance, punishing himself for his part in this and, perhaps, to show they aren’t alone.

Another good example is the first prize he takes with Blackbeard, and the dying Spaniard. Vane allows him the dignity of least dying upright, fetches him some rum, and listens to his story, and is very clearly touched by it.

3. No capacity for compromise or repair

From the very beginning, Vane has been forced into quite a few compromises, actually. In the beginning he resisted. But as the show progresses, so does Vane, and he learns to accept compromise. Hell, season 3 starts with the biggest compromise he’s ever made, becoming partners with Jack and Flint for the better of Nassau. ( Which is a great lead in to the next point...)

Vane burned his bridge with Jack. Max bribed him into fixing it, but he clearly has put in work to repair things further, rather than leaving it with their awkward “reconciliation”. At first, it was an act. Now? It’s genuine. Vane cares for Jack, defended him to Blackbeard as the only one that would stand up and defend him.

4. No capacity towards progress or forgiveness.

Let’s talk about forgiveness first. Once again, Vane forgave Jack and Anne. He even forgave Max, to enough of an extent to continue working with her. He put his past with Flint behind him. I think he would even be willing to forgive Eleanor if she could just swallow her pride and apologize to him, because for some god-forsaken reason, he still loves her.

But progress. Vane’s entire character arc has been about making progress. And the biggest mark in that progress is standing with Flint to defend Nassau. The place that he’d previously been perfectly content to let burn, because he couldn’t give less of a fuck about it. In the beginning, Vane was willing to defend Nassau because it’s what Eleanor wanted. Now? He defends Nassau for the sake of what it is.

Now, let’s look at this as a case of projection.

Since the very beginning, Eleanor has served her own interests, against the guidance of others. She ignored key advice to do what she wanted. In the beginning, we were rooting for her. She was supporting Flint, because their interests were aligned, so of course we want her to buck the apparent system.

But then we begin to see that her ideals and Flint’s diverge. She wants to civilize Nassau; Flint wants the same, but he doesn’t want the crown to do it. He wants to establish his own colony free from colonial rule.

Eleanor doesn’t compromise. She either gets her way, or she makes everyone regret refusing to give it to her. The only time she “compromises”, is when it still works in her favor. Such as when she deposed Vane because of what he and his crew did to Max, and then lifted her ban as soon as it became clear she couldn’t maintain her power otherwise. Sure, she looked so sad and hurt about it, because what about Max, what will this mean to her if she reinstates Vane. Fucking nothing. It means nothing, because Eleanor is the one that tipped over that first domino. So what does it matter if this is just another one that falls in line?

Eleanor has no humanity. We are shown again and again that she will align herself with people, use them to meet her ends, and throw them away as soon as it’s convenient. She didn’t even try to ask Vane to come with her, rather than stay and face certain death with his crew. She didn’t try to compromise with him when he promised he would make things right with them, without her needing to leave him for dead.

Eleanor has the chance to repair her relationship with Max countless times. Every time, she finds away to vindictively attack her, and claim it’s for Max’s benefit. Just giving her helpful advice, of course. Not trying to cut in all the ways she knows will hurt.

Eleanor has no intentions for progress. What she’s advocating for in Nassau is a regression. A return back to colonial rule. True progress would be leaving Nassau to self-govern, establishing it as a self-sustaining state outside the rule of the crown. Exactly what Flint has been trying to do from the beginning. Eleanor doesn’t want that because a self-sustaining Nassau doesn’t answer to her. And above all else, all she cares about is maintaining her power. Nassau can burn so long as she gets to reign as queen over the ashes.

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

Realm of the Quarantine Reread End-of-Book Questionnaire: Assassin’s Quest

Any differences between your first/previous reading experience and this one?

Keep in mind I’m writing this months after finishing the book lol (it’s mental illness innit). I have LOTS of notes to go off but yeah, things aren’t as fresh in my mind overall. With that said the biggest difference I can think of between my first and second experience with AQ is my feelings towards Kettricken. I think the first time around reading you know that Fitz is an unreliable narrator but you are still limited by his viewpoint so you can get a bit trapped seeing things the way he does. For this reason, I think I pretty much just forgave Kettricken when he did on my first read, whereas on this read I was like……. Waiting for her to actually apologise and show some sympathy towards Fitz and it just…. Never happened.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I still love Kettricken as a character and I fully recognise that she has been traumatised. I don’t expect her to be nice or act rationally, and in the case of being willing to take Nettle for the crown… It’s cold but she’s doing what she feels she has to. My issue is - do what you have to, but don’t expect Fitz to understand or forgive you (same with Starling). But I think what bothered me the most was how Kettricken would constantly confide in Fitz and break down to him and he was always there to let her do so, yet she NEVER gives Fitz the chance to do the same. The one time he does “open up” in a sense is when she forces him to air out his traumas in front of everyone, and she didn’t show him any sympathy for what he’d been through then or later. She has been through hell, absolutely, but while her plight may not have been any better than Fitz’s it certainly wasn’t any worse. She pretty much had two modes in this book: completely cold or a crying wreck - but she was only ever crying for herself. She lets Fitz console her but she never consoles him. Again, this is a result of her own trauma and I don’t expect her to act any differently, but it just reaffirmed for me that while she and Fitz care for each other deeply it is not an equal relationship. Fitz feels an obligation to serve her and she - knowingly or not - takes advantage of that. Like, after realising that this is their dynamic it is so obvious that the same is true in Royal Assassin as well, and it will be interesting to see how it changes (or doesn’t) in Tawny Man as I don’t remember it well enough to say.

Must reiterate: Kettricken is still a great character and I still have a lot of respect for her, unfortunately she just falls into the overfull camp of people who love Fitz but have an unhealthy power dynamic with him.

The other big difference I noticed was that the Verity stuff just wasn’t as devastating this time. Not because it was any less sad but it just didn’t tear out my heart like it did the first time. That’s not a fault with the writing at all, I think it’s just the fact that, knowing what would happen to Verity and that we wouldn’t see the real Verity again, I kind of already let go of him at the end of Royal Assassin.

Something you can’t believe you forgot

I guess more of a misinterpretation/wishful thinking but like, realising that there is no passage explicitly stating that Fitz and the Fool were actually spooning in the mountains murdered me and spat on my corpse.

Oh also!!! Fitz yeeting himself out the window at Tradeford castle jskaskjf

Favourite character introduction moments/scenes

I love Kettle in general and the way we’re introduced to her as a cranky old lady sets her up perfectly

Favourite character arcs

Man they’re all so fucking sad lol but I guess the Fool? He goes from thinking Fitz is dead and his purpose failed to reuniting with Fitz, their relationship growing into something really real for the first time, and actually completing his mission - at least for now lol. This book is really the first time you get to see the Fool be properly vulnerable. Even when he was getting beaten up by Regal’s guards he always had his veneer of snark and superiority to hide behind - and I doubt when he went through his sicknesses at Buckkeep he would have revealed his weakness to anyone in order to be helped. But in the mountains he lets so much of that facade of the King’s Fool fall away - at least when it’s just him and Fitz. When he and Fitz meet again he lets Fitz see his grief and pain and hopelessness and joy as the Fool looks after Fitz, and then later when it’s the Fool who needs looking after he lets Fitz look after him. When was the last time the Fool had anyone really care for him like that, ya know? Had someone protect him purely out of love? Ouch dude!!!!

Also he gets to kiss Fitz at the end so good for him!!!!!!!!!! Be gay ride dragons!!

Favourite quote/s

“I would kill Regal. It only seemed fair. He had killed me first.”

“I had looked into the heart of my enemy. I still could not comprehend him.”

“The more I drank, the less tolerable my situation seemed. And the more intolerable I became to my friends.”

“I had never thought to be disdained by a tree.”

“The Fool, the Fool, only the Fool. I sought for him. I almost found him. Oh, he was passing strange, and surpassing strange. He darted and eluded me, like a bright gold carp in a weedy pool, like the motes that dance before one’s eyes after being dazzled by the sun. As well to clutch at the moon’s reflection in a still midnight pond as to seek a grip on that bright mind. I knew his beauty and his power in the briefest flashes of insight. In a moment I understood and marvelled at all that he was, and in the next I had forgotten that understanding.”

“When you can either laugh or cry, you might as well laugh.” - the Fool

Favourite relationships

Fitzandthefoolfitzandthefoolfitzandthefoolbahslbghabfhalgngjba 

Also fitz and nighteyes (speaking of which, Nighteyes’ arc in this book is also fascinating and surprisingly complex) and Fitz/Nighteyes/Fool mwah magnifico chef’s kiss

Favourite setting

Kelsingra baybeyyy. I remember the first time reading this having no fucking clue what was happening in that chapter but I guess it was the gay agenda all along

Favourite chapter

It’s gotta be the chapter where Fitz and the Fool reunite, right? Catch me just gradually losing my grip on reality with every lingering stare 

Most loved character

Foooooooooool

Most hated character

Ya know, for a minute I was actually wondering if I would like Starling this time round but yeah no lol. She was actually okay for a while but as soon as she sold Fitz/Nettle out she became The Worst, just as I remembered her. It’s not even because she betrays Fitz but because, like Kettricken, she expects Fitz to forgive her for it, to the point of running to tattle to the queen because Fitz isn’t giving her enough attention (I’m also not impressed with Kettricken for actually getting involved instead of just telling her to grow up). Not to mention her constantly misgendering/gendering (??) the Fool or just assuming the Fool’s gender and loudly fucking proclaiming it to everybody is just truly fucking disgusting. Like I cannot even explain how furious I was reading her incessantly using she/her pronouns for the Fool despite no confirmation that her theory is right or that the Fool is comfortable with this and despite EVERYONE ELSE using he/him pronouns. God I’m mad now lol. She just acts like a spoilt brat and it makes my blood boil. But that’s probably because I have known many people like this so… Good character writing lol congrats

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimised by Robin Hobb (most heartbreaking and/or visceral moments)

The whole first chapter/s are just so heavy and carry on that gut wrenching feeling from the end of Royal Assassin. Fitz just has no real desire to live and watching him systematically severing the last few ties he has to his human life is just so sad.

Even though I wasn’t as attached to Verity this time, his goodbye to Fitz still made me cry

As did Fitz giving Kettle her skill back

Verity using Fitz’s body to have sex with Kettricken really got to me this time, mostly because I either didn’t notice the first time or had forgotten just how much it affects Fitz. It’s no wonder he doesn’t want to acknowledge Dutiful as his son when the event that brought that fact into being was so fucked up and traumatic. It’s really upsetting.

Burrich saying he almost took Fitz to Chivalry and he should have never let the Farseers take Fitz just …… breaks my heart. Just seeing Burrich so raw like that in general is so unusual it really takes you aback.

Details, observations, spoilery notes made with the benefit of the full picture

Strap in lads this part is lonnnngggggggg

Is it bad to immediately want to cry just from seeing “Sandsedge” on the map and thinking of Sandsedge brandy

I never really thought about how poor Hap didn’t get the real Fitz all those years and how their relationship could have been if Fitz hadn’t been partially forged

Pls I have no idea why but to picture someone as emotionally repressed as Fitz actually sitting down and writing about his life makes me want to fucking cryyyyeeeee

Fitz in the prologue talks about needing a purpose as something to distract himself from sinking [into his chronic pain, mental illness and addiction] and boy howdy if that ain’t relatable. As someone with mental illness and chronic pain Fitz is just painfully relatable way too often.

“I have never forgiven myself the triumph I ceded him when I took poison and died.” Fitz :(((( my guy :((((((( forgive yourself for surviving however you could baby!!!!!

This book mentions Bingtown providing slaves to Chalced

It’s so funny to me when people expect Fitz to have social skills as if he didn’t literally live as a fucking wolf for weeks at a time. It’s a miracle he bloody speaks

The state Fitz is in at the beginning of this book was literally Burrich’s greatest fear for him, yet Burrich doesn’t just say I told you so and leave. He stays, is patient and even optimistic.

“He (Burrich) is not bigger than I.” Why does this feel so wrong lol??? I just can’t picture Fitz as bigger than Burrich

“When you were younger and not supposed to go into taverns without me…” So it’s fine if the child goes into taverns and gets drunk as long as you’re also there. Got it, Burrich.

Fitz calling Chade “the grey one” wow get rekd old man river

Seeing Chade and Burrich interact is so bizarre

Fitz is still having seizures at the beginning of this book! I had forgotten that

God okay so idk if I can articulate this point super well but the whole thing of Fitz going through this extensive abuse and then essentially becoming an animal feels like a metaphor for the way your brain’s “higher” needs and functions just shut off sometimes under certain levels of stress. Like in order to cope with the trauma you don’t think about concepts, or long-term goals, or other people. You just take care of your basic needs - food, sleep, shelter, water - long enough that you start to feel safe and secure again, at which point your brain can open up a bit more and allow you to really think again; to want again, to plan again etc. Like obviously literally becoming an animal is a heightened version of reality, but the functionality of it is the same; our wounds and our fear stop us from fully embodying ourselves.

Burrich be like, Fitz was getting way too dependent on drugs before all this so let’s steer clear of those. :) LET’S GET HIM ABSOLUTELY SHITFACED INSTEAD

I  love how Fitz has his own unique relationship with Lacey and she’s not just Patience’s servant in his mind

Fitz talking about how even his memories from before his time in the dungeons are soiled by his trauma :( baby boy

Dude it’s so rich Chade lecturing Fitz about not making a life for himself, having friends or just chilling out like???? WHO TRAINED HIM TO BE AN ASSASSIN CHADE?? Like I get your point but what the hell kind of life did you think he was gonna have? Who ever took the time to teach him the importance of making connections with people for their own sake, and when would he have ever had the time anyway? I think Chade himself doesn’t actually know what he expects from Fitz.

Fitz saying he’s bad at making decisions because he’s never actually been allowed to make any is literally a point I’ve made lol. This is what happens when you teach teenagers how to murder in lieu of any basic life skills.

Burrich + Chiv were luv at first sight. No I will not elaborate.

“We kept you a boy, looked after you too much.” Huh??????? Fitz was never fucking sheltered lol. He didn’t have autonomy. There’s a difference.

I’m so fucking glad Fitz hugged Burrich before he left and that they actually left off on okay-ish terms. I didn’t remember that and it vaguely dulls the blow of knowing we don’t see Burrich again til Fool’s Fate (and that he thinks Fitz is dead the entire time between now and then).

“If I shaved my hair back from my brow” bitch disgusting

“Honey was the older of the two women. Perhaps my age.” jskfjnajgbl my guy those aren’t women then those are children!!!!!! U freak

I was wondering for ages why Fitz doesn’t mention the Fool like literally at all bc that’s so unusual right? Even in Assassin’s Apprentice he thinks of him when he goes to Moonseye and just in general the Fool usually enters Fitz’s thoughts pretty frequently. So why now, when Fitz doesn’t even know if the Fool is okay, is he just not thinking about him? And then I realised that that is exactly why. Because the only two people from his old life he doesn’t think about are the two people whose fates he knows nothing of: Kettricken and the Fool. So he can let his mind wander to think what Patience and Lacey might be up to at Buckkeep, or who Molly is with or whatever, because he knows they are all safe. But in such a fragile state I don’t think he can bring himself to really wonder whether Kettricken and the Fool made it to their destination - he probably doesn’t really believe they could have, and that is far too painful a road to go down when you are trying not to think at all.

I know the first act of this book is slow and that bothers some people, but I think it is so necessary, not only for Fitz’s arc but also because it really demonstrates just how severe the situation has gotten with the red ships and forged ones AND it shows just how destructive a king Regal is. Without this perspective it would probably be much harder to buy that the extreme measures taken at the end of the book are really worth the sacrifice.

Fitz is Demisexual, Exhibit A: when Honey is coming onto him, all he can think about is Molly.

Fitz is so scared of the Forged ones :( his trauma affects everything. He has no faith in himself and less heart for the violence than ever.

Speaking of trauma metaphors: the way Fitz tends to drift off into the wit or Skill after a traumatic experience is… pretty much just dissociation but magique

I forgot that witted folk can apparently communicate with each other mentally, not just with animals

“Her head was the size of a bushel basket.” Ah, yes, a bushel basket, a thing whose size we are all intimately familiar with.

Fitz finally finds others like him and even then he is not fully accepted. Told he is doing the wit wrong. Othered by the Others. It’s the queer experience innit.

Also forgot that apparently the forged are attracted to the wit as well as the Skill?

“I wondered if I had as many wolf mannerisms as they had halk and bear.” Yeah no probably not you only bloody LIVED as a wolf, Fitz.

Okay I know it doesn’t need saying but Patience is just so fucking cool!!!!!

Jesus fucking christ, Fitz skilling out to Molly when he knows Will knows he’s alive and is looking for him is just… so dumb. So so dumb. I know he’s just fixating on her because he’s miserable and she’s like this unsullied thing he had before everything went wrong but holy moly is it frustrating 

Not to mention he doesn’t connect the dots between the fact that Burrich went to “help a friend” and every time he reaches out for Molly he sees Burrich sajkdbshkhja dude

Nighteyes leaving just goes to show that Fitz cannot rely solely on Nighteyes for companionship. No matter how innately the same they are they are equally as innately different. Fitz needs Nighteyes but he shouldn’t have JUST Nighteyes (which is why he, Nighteyes and the Fool are the holy trinity). When Nighteyes leaves, Fitz is in way too fragile a state to be left alone, but Nighteyes cannot think of the future or what might happen. All he knows is he’ll be back at some point and that’s all that matters.

“My anger fed my competence” whatever you need to tell yourself sweetie

I think I had blocked out the fact the Regal was keeping animals trapped in filthy cages so they could ravage people in the king’s circle uggggghhhhhhhhh I hate him

Fitz is down on himself saying that without Shrewd’s largesse, Chade’s information and Verity’s protection his idea of himself has been stripped away and that he’s not actually competent etc. but like. This is an extreme situation!! You’re literally alone in the wilderness with nothing and no one!! Who would thrive in this situation? And nobody gets by without help anyway! The people in our lives do define us to an extent. You don’t have to be able to stand 100% on your own at all times with zero resources to be considered capable. It’s human to depend on others. Yes I am chiding myself as much as Fitz here :))))

Burrich’s earring is the repressed gay earring. No I will not elaborate.

Fitz refusing to sell Burrich’s earring is frustrating yet something I would 100% do lol

Direct from my notes: Celery hiding out in caves?? Bad bitch

“I felt I was within the flames looking deeply into the Fool’s eyes” um okay gay

It’s actually surprising that Fitz admits he would not have gone after Molly even if he had known she was pregnant when she left. On one hand so self aware yet this doesn’t stop him from completely idealising their relationship.

And then you have Molly who says he was supposed to come after her “so she could forgive him”, that he was supposed to be the one to light the candles for her childbirth etc. The fact that she in any way thought he was mature enough to be a father just shows how little they really knew each other.

Burrich treating Molly like a horse while delivering Nettle is way funnier than it has a right to be jskakjasd makes me think of Dwight treating Phyllis’ back injury in The Office lol

The first thing Burrich notices about Nettle is that she has Chivalry’s brow are you fucking kidding me. Gay!

Fitz is Demisexual, Exhibit B: He had no interest in Tassin whatsoever until she literally started kissing him. At this point his body reacted, which is normal, but as soon as he got a second to actually think about it he stopped, because for him it would not be satisfying to sleep with someone he didn’t have feelings for.

“It seemed to take years for the dried beans and lentils to soften.” Okay mood

I love how Fitz just assumes Molly will take him back. “I have a woman and child awaiting me.” Says who bitch?

Small ferret? More like big legend

Ya know, we give Fitz so much shit but honestly with so much physical, mental and emotional stress on this journey how can we expect his mental faculties to be at 100%? I wouldn’t be making good decisions either, in fact I would be long dead.

Starling telling Nik that the earring once belonged to Chivalry is truly a smooth brain move

“Do not fear, little brother, I am here to take care of you again.” Words can’t explain how much I love Nighteyes and how often his dialogue makes me smile :’)

It’s so cute how Nighteyes is worried about Molly and Nettle until he knows that Burrich is taking care of them

It’s really interesting when Fitz claims “I’d rather be with Molly even if it meant rocking a crying baby in the middle of the night” because, well, he’s literally made other claims to the contrary, saying he wouldn’t have gone with her even if he’d known she was pregnant. Because at the end of the day as much as Fitz is compelled by others to do work for the greater good, I think deep down a lot of the time it is what he would do anyway. Like I really don’t think he could actually enjoy being with Molly knowing that the world is burning down around them. He would want to get out there and help somehow; not only to secure their own future but to reduce other people’s suffering as well. He’s an empathetic boy even though he’d like to be selfish.

Every time Fitz calls Molly his wife I lose ten years off my life

Again, I understand why he’s thinking like this, but Fitz’s ownership of Molly is just so uncomfortable. The fact that he can’t imagine her not having a place ready and waiting for him in her life when he returns just illustrates that she is not a fully realised person to him. She is just a comforting idea.

Oh yes, it was definitely Starling’s “pillowtalk” that got you captured and not the fact that you fit the exact description of the witted bastard right down to having Chivalry’s earring and a whole ass wolf

Somehow forgot that Jhaampe is basically a city of tents with only a few permanent buildings and people constantly coming and going

Fitz’s first words to the Fool are “I’ve come to you.” I’m gonna fucking die

Literally every single word from the moment Fitz realises it’s the Fool and starts describing him is a full body assault and personal attack I am seeking reparations

God the tenderness, the angst, the relief……… shall i pass away

“I doubted he was much taller, but his body was no longer a child’s.” My dude this is a gay awakening if I ever saw one

Fitz be like *spends 87 pages describing the Fool in painstaking detail* anyway I love being a heterosexual male

I’ve heard ppl cite Fitz’s descriptions of Kettricken as evidence of a crush (hard disagree) but literally nothingggggg even comes close to the way he describes the Fool. Not just this once but over and over again it’s insane.

“Talk fell off between us. The bottle of brandy was empty. We were reduced to silence, staring at one another drunkenly.” skjakfnajghajgnaLNGJ is it gay to silently gaze into thine homie’s eyes

The Fool protecting Fitz from everyone - especially Starling - in Jhaampe is often hilarious and always heartwarming

Realising Fitz was skinny enough for the Fool to lift on his own ahhh no wonder he said the famous “When I recall how beautiful you were” line, Fitz is a total wreck

I love that the Fool actually gives Chade shit for his plan to take Nettle. I love him.

“Too few folk cared for me. I could not hate a single one of them.” Oh, Fitz :(

I always wonder how the Fool really feels about Molly. Is he jealous? Does he compare himself to this woman Fitz idolises and he doesn’t know? Does he know that Fitz is barking up the wrong tree or is he stuck thinking Molly must really be Fitz’s soulmate since he won’t shut up about how much he loves her and can’t wait to get back to her? He just never really lets on how it makes him feel when Fitz has relationships with women. We know Fitz gets jealous of the Fool (for litch rally like no reason lol), so with the Fool being much more honest with himself/in general about his love for Fitz and having much more legitimate reason to be jealous, is he? Or is it just something he’s made his peace with, that these women give Fitz something that he cannot? Is he okay with that cos he has to be or does he have a different, less monogamous view of love and relationships (he does have three parents after all). I dunnoooo dude I just have so many questions. Like obviously - OBVIOUSLY - if Fitz and the Fool didn’t have romantic feelings for each other before, there is no doubting that romantic feelings appeared the moment Fitz appeared in the Fool’s hut. Fitz won’t admit that but mere chapters later the Fool is talking about how he loves Fitz in every way so like. He knows. So how does he feel when Fitz is calling out for Molly in his sleep, or openly speaking of seeking her out when all this is over, and lying to the Fool to protect Molly and his daughter. Really makes u think!!!!

Fitz reuniting with Sooty and going to see her every day in Jhaampe is so cuuuute and made me so happy. Sooty is a good girl :’)

Fitz be like *leans against the table where the Fool is carving and watches his fingers at work like a true repressed gay*

Verity is literally so strong???? He submerged himself in skill and was able to pull himself back from the stream can u imagine? Go off king!

Bro I literally can’t with the Fool mentioning Jofron so casually and Fitz immediately thinking wow oh my god they’re definitely fucking oh my god the Fool has a girlfriend - Fitz sweetie calm down

I love how Fitz and the Fool just naturally walk together :))) and Nighteyes babysitting Kettle is so cute

Molly never once says that she misses Fitz. She says she always expected him to do the right thing, to come after her and not leave her alone with a child. But she doesn’t look back on their time together fondly or have much positive to say about him as a person. And all that is fair, but it’s also just… Not really the behaviour of someone who’s been separated from their soulmate. It’s more just someone who’s been left in a shitty position by someone they cared about but hardly knew.

Fitz asking the Fool what is between him and Starling when they’re literally just being civil is sooooo fucking funny. Not everyone finds the Fool as irresistible as you do, Fitz.

The Fool just casually finding a pretext to call Fitz the light of his life

Fitz telling Kettricken firmly that he will not travel if the Fool is ill is one of the only times he ever puts his foot down with her GEE I WONDER WHY

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again…… there really do be something about the way Fitz can’t meet the Fool’s eyes………. It’s not like they’re weird and colourless anymore like they used to be!!!

The Fool already talking about Clerres in this book!

Fitz and the Fool and Nighteyes playing in the stream is too fucking pure omg, it’s what they deserve

And then Starling has to bloody ruin it bc she’s homophobique

But seriously, Fitz actually lets go for the first time in ages and has a nice evening only for Starling to go tattling to Kettricken, and Kettricken having the gall to confront Fitz about it. And then Fitz solves the problem by saying he doesn’t disdain her when like!! He has every right to!!!! She sold him out, sold his daughter out. She never even apologised but instead has just been totally petty and self-righteous and stirring up trouble amongst the group. She hasn’t earned or even asked for his forgiveness. So fitting that she’s the one constantly judging Fitz for his relationship with Lord Golden in Tawny Man lol, she just cannot let Fitz and the Fool be the queer icons they are!!!

Verrrrrrrrrrry interesting that Fitz only “suddenly missed the human warmth and comfort” of Starling taking his arm or sleeping against him literally IMMEDIATELY after the plumbing and love confrontation with the Fool. I mean he has been doing all of those things with the Fool (sleeping together, walking arm in arm etc.) so it’s not about human touch at all, it’s about convincing himself that a WOMAN’S touch is somehow inherently different.

He does the same thing with Starling as with Kettricken. She technically apologises but it’s not sincere and that’s not why he forgives her. Same as Kettricken, she tells her sob story and he can’t hold onto his anger. It makes sense, but it’s just very toxic. It would be nice if at least one person would really recognise how much they’ve hurt Fitz and really, genuinely want to atone for it, or apologise without expecting forgiveness. The onus should not be on Fitz to forgive Starling but on Starling to grow up and not need Fitz to like her in order to remain civil and do what they have to. Also “I do not find your wit bond offensive” has the same energy as someone telling you out of nowhere like “It’s fine that you’re gay :)” like wow thank u?? lol

Fitz is Demisexual, Exhibit C: “I wanted her with a desperation that had nothing to do with love, and even, I believe, little to do with lust.”

“By his love he is betrayed, and his love betrayed also.” So fate agrees with me, Fitz and the Fool are in love? :)

Anytime the potential that Fitz might have to choose between Molly and Nighteyes I lose brain cells. That’s ur brother Fitz!!! It’s not even a choice!! How dare u

It’s just sooooo intentionally laid out for us in this book that Fitz’s relationship with Molly really wasn’t good or healthy and that his fixation on it is misguided, and I think that’s why I struggled sooooo hard with the ending of Fool’s Fate, because it kind of implied the exact opposite. I’m hoping on this reread I will pick up on it being laid out as a result of Fitz getting his memories/teen feelings back rather than it just feeling like a lowkey retcon, but I guess we’ll see lol

“I felt I was a bit in love with him, you know. That sort of lift to the heart.” the confirmation that the Fool KNOWS HOW IT FEELS TO BE IN LOVE sends me deep into the swamps goodbyeeeeeeeeeeee

“The one who loves him best will betray him most foully.” So fate agrees, the Fool loves Fitz best :)

“You do love me! … Before, it was words. I always feared it was born out of pity.” Godddddd Foooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!! 

Everything about Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes meeting in the skill for the first time is just truly perfect iconic unparalleled.

Fitz’s love for Verity hurts my heart so much. Just think of the relationship they could have had if they weren’t stupid royals.

Kettle’s whole speech about Fitz and Molly… Just yes to every word.

Look I’m just gonna say it… The way Burrich reacts to Molly’s advances … like I know it’s probably not intentional but it just reads as very much fitting in with my headcanon that he is gay. As soon as she makes it clear she wants to sleep with him he like leaps across the room lol. I do believe he cares for her and loves her in his way, but it does feel mostly like he’ll just do whatever he needs to to care for her and the baby.  Sowwy

I wonder why the Fool wasn’t as affected by his giving up of memories to Girl-on-a-Dragon?? Or was he, and he just gets them back before we see him again in Tawny Man?

“Take my hurt that I never knew my father, take my hours of staring up at his portrait when the great hall was empty and I could do so alone.” um this is so fucking sad

It was the Fool who sent Starling to find Fitz after Verity uses his body and again I have to ask, wtf is going on in your mind, Fool!

Fitz is Demisexual, Exhibit D: Even once he actually sleeps with Starling he has no enthusiasm about it, he just kind of goes along with it, likely to prove to himself that he has really let go of his past/Molly. 

I always wonder why the Fool leaves now. Is it because he thinks their work is done and doesn’t want to risk messing things up by hanging around his catalyst like at the end of Tawny Man? Does he intend to come back and find Fitz again but get sidetracked by a lead or a new dream? Like it’s just weird because at first he was like “Prophet and Catalyst stick together” and was gonna stay with Fitz - or was that just an excuse because he was obsessed with Girl-on-a-Dragon? Fool u spicy lil enigma

It’s blood and the wit that wakes the stone dragons so does that mean King Wisdom was witted? Or is that obvious lol

Fitz isn’t even bothered by the Fool’s kiss, just shocked. I am looking.

Patience shouting orders at Verity-as-Dragon is beautiful ksjjk

Of courrrrrssse Burrich names his first son Chivalry

In the epilogue, the Fool is the only one Fitz actually says he misses. Exquisite.

I know some people have an issue with Regal’s death but personally I find it delicious

Okay that’s all (I say as if this wasn’t 139841989 pages long). See y’all in 92 years when my sister finally starts reading Liveship!

[queerbutstillhere]

Yes, share the opinions if you are up for it

*starts aggressively fetching the receipts* YOU GUYS DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ASKING FOR YOU DON’T KNOW

OKAY SO

First of all a MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILER WARNING for Chapter 15, aka Episode 7 of Season 2. Certain people are not allowed to allowed to touch this post, and they know who they are.

We first meet Migs Mayfeld in “The Prisoner” episode 6 of Season 1 (also known as Chapter 6). In this episode, he’s an asshole and its clear him and Din do not get along. Hell they get into multiple fights and Din ends up leaving Migs aboard the Republic prison ship, thus being the reason he ends up in jail. In Chapter 6 Mayfeld constantly pokes at and insults Din, as well as threatens Grogu a few times.

In Chapter 6, their dynamic is very hostile. Mayfeld is clearly very intimidated by Din, and expresses this by challenging Din, trying to establish dominance quickly. It’s hard to read Din, but I think he felt like treating Mayfeld like a puppy nipping at his heels. He’s not threatened, he knows he’s capable of handling Mayfeld. And of course this just eggs Mayfeld on more.

And of Course, as is required by any side character in The Mandalorian, Mayfeld taunts him over his Mandalorian helmet, giving us this beautiful foreshadowing.

Which YES I screamed when I realized the foreshadowing in that. Yes I realize.

Now! We move on to chapter 15. Mayfeld is in prison because of Mando. Cara comes and fetches him, and hes confused, but goes along because what other option does he has. And then he sees Boba. You can tell immediately that he’s still afraid of Mando, judging from his reaction to Boba, and his posture as Din walks up to him.

He keeps his eyes down and talks quietly. “So what, you came here to kill me?” He’s given this chance, after he’s told what the job is, to run. They all walk away, aboard the Slave I where he’s left completely alone. He could run, make a break for it, and you see in his eyes that he’s considering it. But you can also see, just from the simple interaction with Din and Cara that he’s changed some. The reaction he has to Cara calling him Imperial is what tells me that.

But when he finds out what the job is, he helps anyway. You could argue that he was doing it for himself, but Cara made it very clear that there wasn’t anything he would be getting from this. Maybe it was from fear, maybe it was from the goodness of his heart, who knows. But he helps, and willingly gives them the information they need. And I think it says a lot that Din went to Migs in the first place, hell he could have probably intimidated this information out of someone, but instead he went to Migs Mayfeld.

And ofc, in classic Migs Mayfeld fashion, he starts pointing out Din’s armor, I think as a defense mechanism. He’s scared - or rather, terrified - of Din, and he instinctively  chooses the fight reaction over a flight reaction. So he talks, he poked at the Mandalorian’s, about the creed, about the helmet.

One thing that really stuck out to me was this scene

Din can see that Mayfeld is anxious over the rhydonium (which is fair enough, i feel like you should be a little more concerned about hauling EXPLOSIVE SHIT, DIN). He chooses to reassure him. “Drive steady and you’ll get us to the refinery.” He had faith in Mayfeld. He shows it in this one scene alone. He already has some level of trust in Mayfeld.

Another scene here is the “I’m just a realist. I’m a survivor, just like you.” “Lets get one thing straight, you and I are nothing alike.” Which really is just a punch to the gut.

Now after we get through the pirate battle and get into the have the Brown Eyes scene. They get to the Refinery and Mayfeld is immediately all business, until he sees Hess. And even then, you can see some change from Chapter 6. He apologizes. You can see he feels bad, because this is it for Din’s chance at getting the kid, but he can’t go in there. And when Din decides to go in, Migs tries to explain, tries to stop him, because he understands. Even for as much as he pokes at Din for it, he understands that Din has his creed, that he refuses to take that helmet off in front of everyone, and while he may not understand why, he understands that it is there, and that it means everything to Din.

And of course we have our brown eyes scene. Migs risks his own safety, and hell, even the safety of their mission, just to go save Din. Because he must have seen Din’s panic, even from outside the mess, and known that Din was not okay. Din’s never been around people with his helmet off, this is never a situation he’s been in before. Migs just swoops in and saves him, doing his famed fast talking to save both their asses. And you can see Migs do a couple of double takes, because why wouldn’t he. He’s been wanting to see Din’s face since the day they met. Curiosity is only natural. But despite this, he focuses on the problem at hand.

As they’re talking to Hess, Din is panicked. I think he and Migs switched panic roles, as Migs is now perfectly calm, and Din looks like he’s about to be sick. He’s attempting to engage, and answer Hess, just trying to get this over with. And when Migs starts to challenge Hess, they make eye contact and Din tries to signal him no. But other than that one moment, he only looks directly at Din once, right before he shoots Hess.

In this moment, they’re both very vulnerable. Migs because of the conversation with Hess, Din because of his helmet gone.

And of course Din’s alarmed face after Migs shoots Hess gets me every time

And then after their brief shoot out, Din is hesitating, but Mayfeld immediately moves. “You did what you had to do. I never saw your face”

The fact that Migs turns away sends me. Not only is he giving Din some privacy, as much as he can, to put his helmet back on, but he’s leaving his back exposed to Din. I don’t know if this was an intentional choice by the directors, but just the fact that he’s just leaving himself open like that, to an armed and highly deadly man with a creed saying no one is allowed to see his face? It’s either trust, or it’s willingness to accept that he won’t survive. And Din doesn’t take a shot, he had an opportunity, we all know he could’ve made that shot, but he doesn’t.

Also the immediate demeanor change in Din after he gets the helmet back on is really cool to me.

At the end of the episode, Din has no indication of any hostile intentions towards Migs. As if he’s just okay with the fact that Migs is now the only living person to have ever seen his face. In fact he encourages that Cara lets him go free.

I don’t know all of Din’s reasons for this. Trust, resignment, I don’t know. But I think it speaks volumes. He chose to let Migs live. Migs knows this. No one else knows how much of a deal this was. His little nod to tell Migs to get out of there? Good shit folks Good shit.

In less official proper format, MIGS MAYFELD HAD A BI PANIC ATTACK WHEN HE SAW DIN DJARIN’S FACE AND DECIDED HE NEEDED TO RESCUE THE PANICKING MAN. THEIR CHEMISTRY WENT FROM HATE/FEAR TO MUTUAL RESPECT IN ONE EPISODE AND I’M FUCKING HERE FOR IT. THEY HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

[justalitlecreacher]

Ok as much as I hate the events of the Rako Hardeen arc in Clone Wars and deeply wish that the council/Obi-Wan had at the very least told Anakin and Ahsoka what they were planning, I feel like the arc represents a very important turning point in Anakin’s fall and actually shows an important bit of character growth from Attack of the Clones.

Tl;Dr: The Rako Hardeen arc is my favorite and least favorite arc in all of Clone Wars because while it puts Anakin through unnecessary pain it also gives a lot of insight into why he may have fallen in Revenge of the Sith and shows some important character growth

Ok; the most important part of this post/analysis (I think) is to remember how close Anakin and Obi-Wan are. Anakin was placed in Obi-Wan’s care at the age of 9 and from then on Obi-Wan practically raised him. In Attack of the Clones we see Anakin refer to Obi-Wan as the closest thing he has to a father not once, but twice, and one of those two times was directly to Obi-Wan.”OBI-WAN:  Why do I think you are going to be the death of me?! ANAKIN:  Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father... I love you. I don't want to cause you pain.”(Attack of the Clones) and later to Padmé “...He's [Obi-Wan] like my father,...”. This is especially important because when Anakin leaves his mother to become a Jedi in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan is literally the only friendly/familiar face in the Temple. Plus in the comics (disclaimer: I have not read all the comics just bits and pieces) we get a glimpse of Anakin training with the other padawans and it’s made clear that at least some of them don’t like Anakin at all. One padawan even refers to him as “just a slave” when shit talking him during training.(which like super fucked up; they def should’ve gotten in trouble cause that don’t seem very Jedi of them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Anyway; we’ve established Anakin and Obi-Wan’s bond. So let’s turn our attention towards someone who deserved so much better; Shmi Skywalker. Her death in Attack of the Clones was the first major turning point in Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side. There is really no excuse for Anakin’s actions after Shmi’s death; he goes to a very dark place, and likely taps into the dark side of the force during the massacre of the Tusken Raiders. But that’s not what we’re talking about rn so back on track.

I bring Shmi’s death up to say that while Anakin was tracking down Obi-Wan’s “murderer” I didn’t fully realize that Obi-Wan had disguised himself as Hardeen and I was genuinely worried that Anakin was about to unalive an innocent man. I really believe that the only thing that stopped Anakin from trying (and maybe succeeding) to kill Obi/Rako was like he said: he knew that Obi-Wan wouldn’t have wanted him to. This is important because the last time Anakin lost a family member he brutally murdered an entire village of Tusken Raiders, children included, and I think it’s safe to say that Shmi “the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other” Skywalker would not have wanted that. I’ve finally arrived at one of my main points; this arc shows a crucial bit of character growth by showing an Anakin that is capable of thinking his actions through and not just reacting out of anger even after the loss of one of the most important people in his life; something he was previously shown incapable of when his anger and grief blind him. This turns this arc into an sort of midway point on Anakin’s fall; he’s clearly tempted to give into his anger and pain again, but he is able to resist this time. A younger Anakin may have killed “Hardeen” then and there. 

This scene really contrasts with Anakin’s actions in Revenge of the Sith in a way im not sure how i feel about yet. On one hand it has potential to make Anakin’s actions in Revenge of the Sith feel too out of character. We just saw Anakin able to see past his own emotions in the wake of the death of a loved one so what makes this different? On the other hand this arc can be used to show just how desperate Anakin is to not have to feel that way ever again. It’s also good for showing how much influence Palpatine has had on Anakin in the space between this arc and Revenge of the Sith. As for why Anakin may be unable to think past his own feelings in Revenge of the Sith when he appeared perfectly capable in the arc, a likely reason is that there really wasn't anything Anakin thought he could do for Obi-Wan anymore because he believed him to be dead, but with Padmé, Anakin knew she could be saved if he could just get her the proper care. But his fear of being exiled from the Jedi Order, and his increasing lack of faith in the council led him to believe that he had no choice other than to trust in Palpatine. And no hate to Yoda but im sure when Anakin did try to reach out (even as vaguely as he did) Yoda’s response of “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” didn't appear to be very helpful (especially considering that he is well aware that listening to Ahsoka’s visions and responding appropriately saved Padmé’s life (not sure if Anakin knows about that though)). These three episodes show pretty well how/why Anakin may have felt that he had nowhere to turn but Palpatine.

These groups of episodes actually show negative character growth (is that the right term?) in Anakin. He goes from commiting mass murder rated E for everyone to understanding that his loved ones would not want him to seek revenge in this way, but then he backslides into this lightsaber is rated E for everyone by Revenge of the Sith. Logically he should know that Padmé would never have wanted him to do what he did; he has to know what he’s doing is wrong, but he’s incapable of seeing another way out because he cannot handle even the thought of losing Padmé. He’s too desperate to not lose her, and so sure that there’s no other option that he manages to convince himself that he needs to do this for her. I find this entire arc really interesting but unless i want to be here all day the most i can do here is point out that it exists and that it peaks in the Rako Hardeen arc. Surprisingly i do have a life outside of writing long posts, and i lack the time and energy to analyze all of Clone Wars and write about every event that led to Darth Vader (there are so many). On top of that i actually haven’t seen all of Clone Wars; just the episodes most important to understanding Anakin’s fall.

Onto my next point, we just talked about the growth Anakin showed in this episode; now onto why i believe that this arc was instrumental in Anakin’s fall. (Disclaimer: I do not think that removing this arc alone could have saved Anakin, but i do believe it would have helped a good bit). I’ve already touched on Anakin and Obi-Wan’s bond so im not gonna do that again. 

Ive said it before and i will say it again; it was super fucked up of Obi-Wan and everyone else on the Council to use Anakin’s (and Ahsoka’s) reactions Obi-Wan’s “death” for their own gain. It was super manipulative and they absolutely knew what they were doing.  Obi-Wan even explicitly says, “Keeping Anakin on the outside was critical. Everyone knows how close we are. It was his reaction that sold the sniper. I'm sure of it.”(Deception season 2 episode 15). He knows just how devastated Anakin would be by his death, and he uses like Anakin and his mental and emotional well-being mean nothing to him (I know this isn’t true but its probably not hard to believe that someone doesn't care about your feelings when they’ve just tricked you into thinking they’ve died for their own gain). The Council really proves time and time again that they do not care about Anakin’s (or maybe anyone’s; Anakin was far from the only one close to Obi-Wan left unaware of his deception) mental or emotional wellbeing, but tbh i think this is the worst example of how callous the Council can be. And on top of all of that it was Obi-Wan who decided to keep Anakin in the dark Obi-Wan who should have known better; if we assume that Anakin is at least 20 in Clone Wars; Obi-Wan has known Anakin for at least 10 years, and has practically raised him from the age of 9, and yet somehow, somehow he had this idea and didn't see a single thing wrong with it. (And they really picked the worst possible person for this; like yea let’s trick the most unstable Jedi we have into thinking his closest friend/ father figure was murdered)

This arc’s main purpose (IMO) is to really show the beginnings of Anakin losing faith in the Jedi and putting more and more faith in Palpatine. Anakin trusted Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan betrayed that trust. Beyond that Palpatine is able to make Anakin begin to doubt how much the Council is telling him if they didnt tell him something as crucial as this. We even see Anakin parroting Palpatine’s “concerns” of the council not telling Anakin the full truth the Obi-Wan and the end of the arc. This arc is instrumental is establishing Anakin’s loss of faith in the council and shows how much he trusts Palpatine and sees him as a real friend.

Anyway I’m sure I had more I wanted to touch onand if I remember I will definitely edit this post but for the now I just wanna say. A) I love Obi-Wan a lot; this arc just really was not it. I do not understand how he thought this was in any way acceptable but I do still really like him. B) i fully understand that Anakin’s actions are his own and he does take a share of the blame for his own fall.

[sirloozelite]

A Review of SWTOR

So, not too long ago, a pair of friends (frenemies more like) of mine were playing SWTOR... and suffice to say they would not shut up about it.  I’d always been aware of the game in the back of my mind, but it had never really appealed to me. MMO’s don’t really, as I would always be worried about random players sticking their nose in whilst I was trying to keep to myself. 

Still, my friends would not shut up about it, and they kept recommending it to me, despite my internal aversion to it.  Now, considering that they had both foolishly taken my advice on games to play in the past, I decided to return the favour and give SWTOR a chance. 

And boy was I glad I did.  Is SWTOR a good game? Yes... and no... and yes. It’s not perfect, it’s got problems, but it’s still a lot of fun, and I’m glad I’ve done at least one playthrough of the game. 

Upon loading up I of course had to choose what storyline I wanted to follow. Since both of my buddies had gone Jedi Knight, (though I’d argue that a certain someone made their Jedi about as deplorable as Anakin) I decided to be the awkward one and went Sith Inquisitor instead, and honestly... I think I chose perfectly!

Oh and... for those interested... here is my Inquisitor:

His name is the Sixteenth Brother! What’s his backstory? Well... that depends on who you ask! Some say he’s the 16th sibling of a Zabrak family... others say he chose the name to hide his true one. Some even say he’s a time traveller from a distant future sent back in time after accidentally finding a Sith relic in his time. Whatever the truth is matters little. All that matters is that he was great fun to play as. 

Oh and for the record, this review is based on a Free To Play experience and completion of the class storyline only. I’ve not touched the expansions yet, but intend to at some point. Any criticisms I have that are solved by subscribing are a moot point. Furthermore, it goes without saying but all of the below is my own opinions of the game. Doesn’t make them right or wrong.

The Good

There are many good things about SWTOR, almost too many to name. That said, there are some things I’d like to highlight.

The Story 

The first and foremost best thing about the game is of course, the story. Being a Bioware written game created at the same time as the Mass Effect trilogy, I expected a good story... and I was not disappointed by the tale of the Sith Inquisitor. It was the standard tale of a protagonist coming from lowly origins, in this case a slave, and advancing up the ladder of society. Nothing too revolutionary, but add in the Sith and the Empire and it was made all the more better. Frequently, poor 16th Bro would get hounded for being an alien, and each and every time he’d beat the odds, and then usually show mercy to those who had insulted him. (I played him mostly light side... though there were a few times I surrendered to the dark and zapped people)

The world building within the story was also top notch. Plenty of detail is hidden away in the codex, much like Mass Effect, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t stuff in the actual gameplay and story as well. I’d never really been a legends fan, and whilst I’m still not, I do see why a lot of people love these sorts of stories. I was invested, and that’s what mattered. 

Outside of the Sith Inquisitor, the very fact that there are seven other unique storylines and classes to play, as well as heavy character customization and role play more than make the game worthy of revisiting. There is a little bit of something for everyone it seems. 

The Characters

Another great strength of Bioware games is usually it’s characters, especially the protagonists companions. I can happily report that, at least for the Sith Inquisitor, the vast majority of the characters in the story were great. 

The three standout characters outside of the Inquisitor to me were Khem Val, Ashara Zavros and Talos Drellik. 

That’s not to say that Andronikos, Xalek, Zash and Thanaton weren’t good characters either, I just didn’t enjoy them as much as Khem, Ashara and Talos. 

Each character felt like they had their own arc. Khem Val growing to accept you as a Master and true successor to Tulak Hord was great, even if he and 16th Bro were constantly disagreeing about 16th’s methods. Despite his dislike of the decisions, I still sided with him when the time came to choose who got to control his body for good. 

Ashara going from “I’m a Jedi and I won’t go against my teachings!” to “Peace is a lie!” was good development as well. I understand that some people don’t like this character much, but she was my go to companion most of the time. She’s not quite a Sith, but not quite a Jedi either, and that made for a perfect companion for the 16th Brother, as he was hardly a model Sith either. 

As for Talos... well... he’s an archaeologist and a historian... and I’ve got a degree in history... so of course I was going to love him! Plus he was eccentric as all hell and added a nice voice of humour to the crew. His personal story about him trying to find his old mentor and carry on his legacy was heartfelt too.

As for everyone else, I was invested in their characters, don’t get me wrong, just not as much as the others. Both Zash and Thanaton were good villains that I took pleasure in ending, and Andronikos and Xalek got their fair amount of use on the field and in the ship. Everyone was friends at the end after all. 

The Voice Acting

The other good point I’d like to highlight is the voice acting, particularly that of the male Sith Inquisitor. I’ve heard people say the female voice is better, but for my experience the male Inquisitor was the perfect match of sass and sarcasm. It made every scene with him in enjoyable to watch. RPG games were a single protagonist can get a bit boring sometimes. Commander Shepard suffers from this in Mass Effect at times. I never got that feeling with the Inquisitor though. He was hilarious from the second he stepped off the shuttle on Korriban and sassed Overseer Harkun (who I totally zapped to death) to the moment he took his seat on the dark council with a surprised Pikachu look on his face. 

So yeah... super credit to Euan Morton for making the Inquisitor the dark master of sass and sarcasm! 

Outside of the Inquisitor, I can say that all the other VA’s did a great job too. I can’t think of any character that had particularly bad voice acting off the top of my head. 

Other Good Stuff

Outside of the three things I mentioned, SWTOR also has plenty of content to offer for everyone. If you want to do main missions, sure! Side quests? Sure! Space combat missions? Yep! Whatever you fancy, it’s there. There is no shortage of content to enjoy for hours on end, even as a Free To Play player like I was. 

The Bad

And now to most likely upset some people... sorry about that, but no game is perfect, and SWTOR has some flaws that could put people off playing it. This stuff is by no means a game breaking deal for me, but it did annoy me and I felt like it needed addressing. 

The Game is Tedious

My biggest complaint is that at times, usually after an hour of playing, the game can become tedious and boring to play! There were times it felt like a chore honestly, and I hate saying that because SWTOR is a good game. 

The main reason for it feeling so tedious though comes down to how you move around the maps. When you can, fast travel is your best friend and can save a lot of time, however, not everywhere has a fast travel point near it. 

This is where speeders come into play. You can buy one for a reasonable amount of credits, and they are faster than walking for sure, but not by much. 

The problem with the speeders is that it is so easy to get shot off of one by one of the random enemies you are trying to drive past (and believe me there are hundreds of them!) that is becomes aggravating to move around the map from objective to objective. Avoiding enemies isn’t hard for sure, but sometimes you have to go right past them, and after hours of fighting enemies it can get a bit tedious being shot off your speeder in one shot just because you didn’t want to waste time fighting an enemy. Once you hit your level cap, fighting random enemies is pointless after all. 

Maybe that’s just me though. I’d personally make the speeders a bit more durable. One tiny shot shouldn’t disable your speeder. Heavy fire... sure!  Doesn’t help that sometimes you can tank a bunch of shots on your speeder and escape without being knocked off, but then on another occasion you’ll be knocked off by a sneeze. 

Either way, movement around the maps can get annoying as all hell, but at least the scenery is pretty. 

The Planets

Now don’t get me wrong, I like all the planets I went to... mostly... and my issue isn’t with the planets in general. 

It’s with how bloody long it takes to complete them all.

The Story Arc quest lines for each planet can take forever sometimes and they end up going on a bit too long if you ask me. Alderaan and Hoth are the two that come to my mind the most. It felt like I spent weeks on those planets driving back and forth between areas to do simple tasks for little reward. Plus the sheer number of side quests didn’t help. I stopped doing everything that wasn’t a story or Arc quest once I hit Hoth!

Don’t get me wrong, I like side quests for sure... I just don’t like them to drag on forever! In a lot of ways, SWTOR reminds me of Mass Effect Andromeda. That game too also had side quests that went on forever. 

My one piece of advice to nay new players for SWTOR would be to ignore the side quests and focus solely on your class story quests and planet Arc quests instead. If you try and do everything, you’ll burn yourself out quickly. Unless you are a completionist of course. In that case go nuts! XD

Other Bad Stuff

Aside from my two big gripes above, which are honestly minor in reality, the only other issues I really have with the game are the boring side objectives in some missions. Nine times out of ten they equate to ‘kill a bunch of dudes’. They are easy enough to complete, as you’ll be killing things anyways, so you don’t really need to put any real thought into completing most of them. They just feel tacked on and rather pointless honestly. 

The Ugly

And now the ugly stuff. This is stuff that is between good and bad. Bad as in they annoyed me, but good as in I understand why others like them or they improved over time. 

The User Interface

Oh god the UI! When I first started the game it was so overwhelming! Pop-ups everywhere! Hundreds of tabs and side bars and tutorial boxes being spammed my way. It was not friendly to a new player who had literally just jumped in. If I hadn’t played games like Civ or XCOM in the past I might not have been able to cope with how much stuff was going on at once. 

Luckily, after a few hours of play, I began to understand the UI a bit more and became comfortable with it. I knew what was where and what did what, as well as what I didn’t need. (any PvP stuff for example) Plus the ability to edit the interface to your own liking helped a lot as well, so it wasn’t a complete lost cause, just overwhelming at first. 

Flashpoints and Heroic Missions

So, these missions are designed to be played with other players online, clearly. They can be done solo, but they take forever to do so. Endless hordes of high HP enemies, including even higher HP boss fights is not that entertaining to me, and thus very quickly became boring to me. Artificial difficulty in a way. Plus if you do die, it ain’t half a pain in the ass to get back to where you were, only to find that boss that had 5% health left when it killed you is now back to 100%. 

I gave up doing these sorts of missions and have no intention of returning to them unfortunately, which is a shame as some of the flashpoints have actual important story content in them. 

Still, if unlike me you actually have friends to help you with these, then I get why you like them, and more power to you. I just don’t enjoy them much. 

The Soundtrack

And now to really upset some people. Look... I like John Williams music scores as much as the rest of the fandom does. That said, there were places in SWTOR where it showed up and really really did not work! It almost felt like the game was just spamming random iconic tracks that sort of fit the scene, but really didn’t. 

The biggest one for me that didn’t work was the final duel against Darth Thanaton in the Dark Council Chambers. During the cutscene between the two fighting, the music started on ‘The Final Duel’ from ROTJ when they were fighting, and they suddenly it shifted to the theme from Padmés funeral when Thanaton was overpowered! I mean, I get what they were going for with the music, but the sudden shift between tracks was unceremonious and didn’t work. If they were going to use licensed movie music then they should have just chosen one track and stuck with it rather than jumping between two!

Furthermore, to me those themes were written for specific scenes in their respective movies, and thus were created to fit those scenes, not random SWTOR scenes. If anything, the entire scene should have had it’s own score written for it rather than just reuse movie tracks instead!

That said, whenever the game does use original music that isn’t from the movies, it’s fine! The ambient background for the planets is great, Alderaan’s especially, and I hated that planet! They clearly had the talent of music directors to write Star Wars sounding music, so I don’t fully get why they didn’t just go with original music all the way rather than just reuse John Williams music instead. I don’t know if they didn’t have enough money or something. If that was the case then I’d understand. 

So yeah, the music is a 50/50 for me. The original music is great. The movie music is still great, it’s just not used right. 

Other Ugly Stuff

WASD controls. They aren’t game breaking, but I’m not a great fan of them. They make my wrist hurt. I adapted, like I did with the UI, so it’s not really a big issue, but I know it could put one or two people off playing it. 

Another minor gripe is a consequence of the game being an RPG within an MMO. Other players are running around, often doing the same objectives as you. They can steal your objectives before you, forcing you to wait around for them to respawn so you can do them yourselves. Luckily there is usually other stuff to do in the meantime, and the re-spawn timer is smallish, so it’s not a huge problem. Just an unfortunate consequence. 

Conclusion

So... would I recommend playing SWTOR to people? Yes! I would. It’s a good game, even with it’s flaws. I had a lot of fun running through the Sith Inquisitor’s storyline, and I learnt a lot about the game for any future playthroughs I do. I know what to expect now and what to stay away from, so hopefully whatever class I choose to do next will be full of less annoying little things. 

That said, considering how long it took me to do the Inquisitor’s story, I feel like I’m gonna need a serious break before I can play another class. I was almost burnt out when I finished the Inquisitor, and I’ve still got the two free expansions to go!

So yeah... all in all, SWTOR is a good game,. I’d recommend it, and I’m glad I gave it a fair chance. It’s not in my top 10, but it’s one to return to. :)

So, if you’ve ever thought about trying out SWTOR before but were apprehensive about it, then I’d encourage you to give it a shot. It is free after all! Unless you subscribe. But you can at least try it for free! Bonus I say! XD

[mable-stitchpunk]

What were your biased rants for Abe?

I feel like I'm gonna tick some folks off here... But they're probably not even in the fandom anymore.

I should also note that I am sort of a hypocrite in some cases, because technically some of their interpretations were possibly canon in the original timeline. At least, during Munch's Oddysee?

Ah, well, here they are. Or at least, two of them.

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1: Abe doesn't give a damn.

There was a time- right after Munch's Oddysee- where the popular representation of Abe was that he kind of just... Didn't care about anyone? Like, in some works it would be portrayed that he only cared about Mudokons, but if the main characters were Mudokons he pretty much didn't care about them either.

I mean, there'd be a character in a lot of danger and vitally important to the Mudokons' cause, and Abe would just be like, "Oh hey. Well, goodbye," and be off to never-never land. Some stories successfully wrote him out by being somewhere else, but sometimes he'd drop in like Kramer and then split.

Pretty much, in most of the fanfics from back then, Abe had no interest in the protagonist, leaving him looking... bad. I think the reason was to show that the protagonist didn't NEED Abe, but if that's the case then why not show it in a better way?

You don't have to do the whole 'heroes will let you down' trope. I've seen a fic knock Abe out and have him just be out for a majority and STILL make him look like a decent person.

...The other representation wasn't as flattering.

2: Abe is stupid.

I get it, Abe from the old games was a little ditzy... looking. He wasn't stupid. This kid went through numerous factories outsmarting some of the highest of Glukkons; he might be a goof, but he's not stupid.

But due to the tone of the games- though not the first one, apparently- the common consensus became that Abe was a complete moron. That all of his accomplishments were just spontaneous things because he's so gosh darn dumb.

...Which considering that he was a slave, hah, is concerning.

Now there's a distinct difference between ignorance and stupidity. We could say that Abe was ignorant, because he wasn't allowed the same knowledge as those in charge. Thus, he needed guidance to figure out where to go. Perfectly reasonable!

Acting like Abe's one of the stupidest heroes in gaming is just all kinds of wrong, even back with the very first game.

Kind of reminds me how people say the original Ash in Pokemon was dense when he kind of was more ignorant and headstrong. A lot of Ash's issues were that he tried to go in guns blazing even when he didn't have a read on the situation, but he did begin to learn throughout the series. That's what kids do.

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I feel like the first could stem from the fact that people want to write an Oddworld fic about their characters, but feel obligated to add Abe in because he's the lead. I've seen plenty of fics just not have Abe and do fine.

And as for Abe being stupid or apathetic to others, I feel like these could've easily been taken from Munch's Oddysee. A game where Abe and Munch aren’t really given much time to connect and Abe and doesn't seem to have any agency of his own.

Now, I’m not hating on Munch’s Oddysee. I’ll admit that Munch himself is characterized pretty good, but I almost feel like Abe was pushed a little out of the way to- Oh my Odd, so that’s where it came from. O_O

Currently, I’m pretty cool with Abe representation.

...

...Okay, uh, small nitpick here, but I’m not totally on board with the ‘Abe is cripplingly depressed’ headcanon. I know that seems weird when I wrote him having a panic attack, but I’m not sure if I agree with the severe depression angle. Especially when Abe seems to managing pretty well considering what’s going on with him.

I think I’ll leave it at that for now. Thanks for listening!