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incomingalbatross · 1 month ago

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Thoughts on Ghost Days by Jim Butcher (and possibly the earlier books, if they spill over into this post)

All of this is, as Harry observes, absolutely typical of his existence. Of course he can't just die, he gets sent back as a special unknown type of ghost to solve his own murder. And of course he shoulders like three different new obligations, makes a new friend, and adopts a criminal teenager within his first 24 hours of unlife.

Kinda love how quickly and understatedly he's incorporated the very latest familial revelation into his narration. He says something like "I'd lost the scar on my arm that I got while skinning a fish on my grandfather's farm" and it's so casual it almost slips by.

(Side note: I need to see his grandfather and his brother find out about each other now. I realize there has been no opportunity and these aren't exactly Harry's secrets to tell anyway, but please.)

Mort going "all cats can see ghosts, they just don't usually care" checked out completely, of course, but it was also perfect setup for Mister's "HELLO YOU'RE BACK MY HUMAN HI." Which. Oof.

Ways you can tell it's really Harry Dresden: 1) Mister hits him in the invisible shins, 2) he opens the conversation with a Star Wars quote, 3) he's talking a teenager into turning his life around.

Love all the Bob content in this one. Harry got to see how the other half lived and everything. (Though his amorality credentials are slightly tarnished by that heroic last stand of his. Which he'd better have survived.)

Everyone here seems like they're an inch from cracking, and I'm concerned for all of them, but they're DOING THEIR BEST. (Butters isn't an inch from cracking. He seems to be doing great, I'm very proud of him.)

Very glad and also a little amused that the Super Secret Safe Witness Protection Home for Maggie is... the Carpenters. I mean it absolutely should be, but it's also funny.

Of course Mouse exists equally in the physical and spirit world. I'd be more surprised if he didn't.

I DID have several moments where I went what about Thomas. why isn't your narration even mentioning Thomas, but the payoff of "I couldn't stand to face even the thought of what I'd done to him" made it make sense.

More general/Thematic thoughts:

Uriel and/or the narrative really said "You're going to take a good, hard look at the unintended consequences of your actions. And you're going to do it disembodied so you can process a little better."

There was something that really struck me at some points in the Lasciel period, and it's back again now: I love that when Harry crosses lines, not only is he capable of seeing it, but the reaction of the people around him is, "yeah you sure did cross a line! you did wrong. so stop doing it and get better, because you can. this isn't a slippery slope unless you decide it is."

He has! Free will! Contrition is always meaningful! Change is always possible! Harry is never allowed to write himself off. He is always told that he's capable of picking himself up and doing better - because he is. He's alive and human and that means he has as much hope as he chooses to hold onto.

That said, I also really appreciated the weight his choices in the last book are given here. It's so easy to just go along with "it was for Maggie, it was his JOB" (and it was his job), but this book made Harry and us stop and linger on both the lines he crossed and the unintended harm he caused.

(Though he is taking too much weight on himself. Martin maneuvered a lot of this into play, not to mention the ACTUAL Red Court. And there is something to be said for the SG-1 approach of "stop worrying about ramifications and just kill the ancient evil first.")

(Oh, now I remember! I was also thinking of Hunger Games re: this. Katniss and Peeta's defiance of evil was personally motivated and sparked a lot of unintended harm to others - but it was also the only spark that could have destroyed the machinery of evil. Not quite the same but made me think of it.)

ANYWAY. Speaking of crossed lines and harm caused: I was NOT prepared for the murder reveal.

It DOES explain so much about this whole book, especially in combination with the (not as shocking :P) reveal that he's only mostly dead. He NEEDED to know this. He needed to know and understand all the choices he made, and their results - and the lie that influenced him - if he was going to be allowed back to his body.

First, he needed to know there was no outside killer to worry about. He also needed to know that HE did this. All of it. Part of accepting culpability and facing his choices meant facing that there was a third murder on his account - because that is how he frames it - what he did to Molly and what he did to himself and everyone who loved him.

He also, most crucially, needed his free will reasserted, both by the manipulation being revealed to him and by Uriel balancing the scales.

Because a Harry Dresden who had given up on himself as the Winter Knight is a nightmare the world's not ready for.

Instead he's ready to give Mab new problems. :) She gets what she paid for.

Closing thought: If, when he finally gets back to the world of the living, he does not make at least one "mostly dead" and/or "really most sincerely dead" joke, I will be very disappointed in him.

#this got long #i am rambling because i can :P

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mikami · 11 months ago

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Do you think Light ever had “good” intentions? Like, not justifiable, obviously, but like, intentions to sincerely change the world? Or was he just after the feeling of being the one who decided who lives and who dies from the beginning?

I do think that Light had sincere intention to change the world for the better, yeah. But I also don't think that that they were his primary motivation, exactly.

In my opinion the order of priority for reasons to be Kira is:

Ego Protection ('I made a horrible mistake and I should not be capable of making horrible mistakes, so I am gonna lean into it so hard that eventually it stops being a horrible mistake.')

Genuine dissatisfaction with the state of the world (watching his father's work be futile in changing society for the better, being afraid of living an equally futile life, wanting to leave his mark and actually accomplish something large and positive)

Power tripping, like you described.

I think the power trip element is the weakest motivator, because it comes in only after he meets Ryuk.

When Light first finds the Death Note, he thinks it's most likely an elaborate prank and uses it to do a thought experiment because he's bored as fuck - when this actually turns out to kill people, he totally freaks out.

At this point, killing people does not feel good for him. He even thinks that he's probably going to get killed by a shinigami for having used their property. So he starts killing as many criminals as possible in what limited time he thinks he has left, just so his life won't have been in vain. Like, it's crucial that he does not have a long term goal here - he thinks he's a dead man walking!

So the foundation of Kira is laid as a) a mistake and b) an act of martyring himself that he's mostly pretty miserable about.

It's only after Ryuk tells him that he won't kill him and he can just keep doing what he wants that he starts fully enjoying the power trip of gaining influence, outwitting people, and killing his adversaries.

That's why I'd say that it's not his primary motivation, more like a side effect that strengthens his conviction to keep going.

#answers

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yuseirra · 4 months ago

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**onk spoilers** wow I'm so sorry, I have to let my thoughts out, I can't shut up about this, I really can't contain my feelings about what I saw??? Hm?? there is something that really gets on my nerves now that I think of it.

There's something that really bugs me from what I saw, how can they make Ryosuke and Nino look like a victim? That's so wrong though?? I wonder about the rest, the rest may or may not could... look okay depending on how it's handled later (the fact that this chapter makes it look like Kamiki's somehow triggered them to kill Ai and Gorou's really problematic and it does irk me out too) but-

This is what makes me even more frustrated than the possibility of having a pair I love dearly being contradicted. If the story is good then okay?? (although I feel that ship is so important in terms of the plot itself? It's a pretty central one) THAT also has its own problems because I'd feel so sorry for Ai (I'm in this ship because he's the man she loved, that's the most important part of it, and I was convinced after my analysis that he isn't capable of having tried to hurt her in the first place)

But even more than that, how can their actions ever be justified?? Perhaps Kamiki's some god that makes people kill each other with some psychic powers? But why write the story like that? and why.. for what reason would he want to hurt Ai? If that's what he's wanted to do, then what is he working for now?? What are his motives? Killing everyone with the white star eyes? What was his past? Why did he have the white star eyes himself when he was young and when he's met ruby?

This HAS to be an act in my opinion for it to be considered as decent storywriting. The chapter itself is interesting as a standalone, but I really, really don't want to see what Ryosuke's done as something that was inevitable or under some divine influence that he had no control over because these things CAN happen in real life and blaming it on some psychopath that's somehow coerced you into it??? feels so wrong. He should not have done what he's done regardless of what the heck Kamiki's said. and it seems like he's only shown him a toothbrush Ai's left behind so what the heck?? Then that means Kamiki DOES have some superpowers that can make SHARING A TOOTHBRUSH a good reason to go stab an idol if you'd want to blame him about Ryosuke stabbing Ai. Because someone with a sane mind wouldn't do that. You'd have to be already really insane in the first place to try and go after an idol for having a boyfriend and had matching toothbrushes. HOW CAN SHOWING A TOOTHBRUSH, FOR GOD'S SAKE, BE A GOOD REASON FOR KILLING SOMEONE?? I guess that wouldn't be all, but isn't it ALREADY crazy of someone to kill an idol for having a boyfriend and kids?? The sensible response upon it would be like Gorou's. He took it pretty well??

And Nino??? Didn't she get a phone call from Kamiki saying they should turn themselves in? Isn't that what's made her act out? That's really different from being manipulated into stab someone, isn't it?

How is that supposed to work?

How can the writers portray them out of all people as the good guys? That part needs to be expanded upon or contradicted later. I'd be pretty angry if things really are how it's shown in 160. It's not a good story, while it may seem pretty entertaining taken at face value because it's SO WRONG.

That's why I think this chapter needs to be a lie.

I have my reasons to think 152~154 are the genuine ones, I may write those out when the chapter gets released or maybe not..while 160 would be the lie, but.. this is really unforgivable if the story is left at this. So I hope not.

Yeah, I'm crossing my fingers for this chapter to be the lie because.. it's just wrong. It makes the whole story look bad and the subject this manga is handling shouldn't be handled this way. This HAS to be a lie, or I'll regret having read this piece. It's disappointing to me for that reason, now that I think over it. And I'm sure.. the author would know what they're doing. You can't blame things like this on some single insane individual or a corrupted god, whatever. Those two guys brought things upon themselves and THEY have to take responsibility for the ugly things they've did.

I'll just bring back what I've written for my review of 159:

Aqua’s “revenge” has to be fulfilled through a movie because Ai’s situation was caused by the public’s perception of her.

If people had accepted the real Ai as a person, twisted individuals like Ryosuke wouldn’t have appeared, and Ai wouldn’t have had to lie to the person she so dearly wanted to love. If… If only Ai had survived, I think Kamiki could have reunited with her after the movie was released. Because people would have understood and accepted their circumstances. Ai would never have had to die because she had children - for being imperfect and human, as she is.

This is not a story about a psychopathic murderer getting back at his ex-girlfriend or just one crazy fan attacking their idol, it's tackling a much bigger theme than that.

So no, this isn't going to be about Kamiki being the crazy mastermind, quite the contrary. He's the one who's lost his beloved due to a societal belief that idols have to be perfect and flawless. He's the one who desperately wants to get her back after having lost her.

When I think about it, it’s really heartbreaking. Ai and Kamiki could have been happy, for sure. They really could have had it weren't it for this, I feel.

The public isn’t always so cold, so I think Ai might have wanted to take that risk…

I think a message like this would better suit the series, and I want this to be a meaningful story.

So, till next chapter drops!

#oshi no ko spoilers #spoilers #if this is really where it's gonna go #then it's really unforgivable. so I don't think it should be #oshi no theories #it's not about the ship but the whole message;; it's so wrong

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whetstonefires · 1 month ago

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I think you’d write a fic where Jiang Cheng has to care for Wen Yuan for some reason, knowing that he is Wei Wuxian’s adopted son. And tries to work through his feelings about Wei Wuxian, chosen sons, parents, and himself in relation to the intersections of all of the above, so that he doesn’t mess up too badly.

Hah, fantastic! I'm honestly very impressed by your command of this narrative based on secondhand information.

This is fascinating, because yeah on the face of it that ought to be something I would write, it lines right up with the kind of thing I keep on writing across fandoms, and I am admittedly very hung up on Jiang Cheng's brain. By all accounts you should have me dead to rights.

This however isn't actually something I'd be very likely to write, unless I read someone else doing it in a way that was really interesting but which I disagreed with passionately in some way. And I've just spent a while trying to isolate why.

I think it's:

1) I'm generally loath to move things around in the death-timeskip part of the story unless I'm going for a really dramatic final result, so if Jiang Cheng got Wen Yuan I'd need to work out why, and what this would cause, and it would have to be interesting. And I'd be worried about Lan Wangji and this would distract me.

2) For me, Jiang Cheng assumes his final form at the unseen moment he makes that irrevocable choice to commit to the siege of the Burial Mounds. In a lot of ways, the entire construction of Jiang Cheng's personality is all designed to bring him to that point, and make him live with it forever.

He is The Kind Of Guy who would Do That under the right conditions, that's the point of him.

That is to say, one of the major functions of Jiang Cheng as a fictional construct is that he's occupying the same niche in the my-beloved-sect-brother-became-a-dark-lord cliche that Star Wars cribbed for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but in a deconstruction of the cliche. Meaning, among other things, that his throne of lies is hiding much dirtier pain than Obi-Wan's.

So I instinctively don't want to situate a Jiang Cheng character study in a timeline where he avoided making that choice, at least not if the timeline is like that mainly to create a more functional Jiang Cheng, and that's not just a side effect. I find that unaesthetic. I could get over this aversion with motivation, but it's definitely there.

But if he's taken that damage, he cannot take responsibility for this child.

3) Okay, I'm sorry gecko, but I can't explain myself further without some reference to harm-to-children; almost entirely hypothetical but in some cases somewhat specific. You can just skip the rest of the post if you're not feeling up to entertaining that kind of scenario, or go forward warned.

I honestly do not believe Jiang Cheng, at that point in his life, would be capable of being sufficiently okay in the face of this situation to not harm the child in some way, and even trying would be self-harm on a frightening scale. I think unless you introduce some fairly enormous changes into the circumstances of Wei Wuxian's death, Jiang Cheng could not do this.

Elaborating under a cut for length, not because the references to canon-typical violence are that bad.

I can't entirely buy a Jiang Cheng characterization compatible with this scenario, and when I have seen characterizations intended to have a similar effect, they have mildly annoyed me. His inability to not lash out under strain is a defining feature; the way it interacts with his exquisite consciousness of who 'acceptable targets' are and how that list is defined is key to his characterization.

I've read a few fics doing a less intense version of this idea, and (especially if you use softened cql Jiang Cheng) it can work, but I have to aggressively suspend my disbelief to invest, in a way I can't do while writing.

The Jiang Cheng that killed this child's family as part of a symbolic rejection of this child's foster-father being his foster-brother cannot pivot to interacting with the child in basically any way at all while acknowledging the context, and not break.

I don't think he could be the one to kill A-Yuan, either, mind you, because he's not a person with all that much capacity for evil.

And like his mother, he is extremely reliant on self-vindicating narratives to hold his shit together when he does behave badly, and I doubt he could sustain one about child murder--like, he went those 13 years assuming his actions killed that kid indirectly, but I'm sure he didn't think about that ever.

I can see Jiang Cheng in a mental health crisis backhanding Wen Yuan across a room, I can see him pretending he didn't see him in a situation where that means the kid will almost certainly die one way or another, because he canonically did a more abstract version of that; I don't think he could go through with his murder, and I give him only 50% on the ability to deliberately and consciously let someone else do the deed in his vicinity, even with the most stringent political pressures to do so and even if he didn't have to watch.

(Now that's an interesting scene to write. Picks up the Jiang Cheng that held Wei Wuxian back from protecting Mianmian; picks up the Jiang Cheng who clutched the hem of his mother's skirt and begged her not to maim Wei Wuxian.)

But he could not take him home, the way his own father took Wei Wuxian home. Especially not if he had any expectation of getting to do any of the caring for baby Jin Ling, which it's popular to depict him doing but I really question if the Jin would have allowed it.

If he did take him, on some mad impulse, like if he hid an entire toddler under his fancy cloak after tripping over him in Demon Subdue Groddy Cave and smuggled him out, he would need to pass him off to some random family and never see him, if he wanted to stay functional.

...except having laid hands on him, he might not be able to completely let the kid go; Jiang Cheng has never let anything go in his life. But you can't stick a child at the back of a drawer like you can a flute. So I guess he'd stick the kid somewhere, like a couple towns over, and discreetly check up on him occasionally, like a huge creeper?

He might be able to do that, and even be better off for it, as long as he didn't let himself think too hard about it.

(This is genuinely compelling now that I've started trying to problem-solve it sdkafjskl; lmao.)

Hmm. Are his powers of denial strong enough that he could steal the baby from the middle of the massacre, after watching Wei Wuxian gruesomely self-destruct, take the Last Wen home from his own killing ground while half mad with grief and rage, and then just not think about it every time he saw this one junior disciple that was actually Wen Yuan?

I don't think they are, but it's fascinating to try to imagine what the process of pulling that off would look like.

That one would be so delicate to write but it has some fun meat, in that in this scenario, Jiang Cheng would be raising his disreputable dead best friend's son as a Jiang disciple and giving him no special treatment. Not even acknowledging him in any way. No intimacy whatsoever.

Exactly like his dad should have done with Wei Wuxian, according to Jiang Cheng's most resentful brain worms.

I don't know how that would go, and that's interesting. It's basically impossible Jiang Cheng wouldn't occasionally remember, even if he didn't let himself consciously remember, and have a fit of temper in A-Yuan's general direction. He probably wouldn't single him out as the one to hit when he got mad at the group the way Yu Ziyuan did with Wei Wuxian...or actually maybe he'd do that once and then never again.

There's basically no way Jiang Cheng doesn't do something fairly awful at some point in the proceedings, though; leaning into all the worst habits his mother taught him is a vital coping mechanism for him in this stage of his life, which means emotional violence as a routine self-soothing tool, and the threat of physical violence sort of lurking in the wings.

He's not nearly as cruel as she was (aside from however much murdertorture of demonic cultivators was actually going on, but I mean like, he's not nice to Jin Ling exactly but he also doesn't target his insecurities the way she did to him) as far as I can tell, but I think that's partly because none of the people he's really mad at are present in his daily life. And his schema for differentiating acceptable and unacceptable targets is noticeably influenced by his father's principles, even as it diverges from them at certain points.

Anyway so Jiang Cheng wouldn't be as casual about hitting even a teenage Wen Yuan as his mother was about hitting Wei Wuxian, but unlike his mother Jiang Cheng has been through war and killed a lot of human beings, so my impression is that his whole relationship to violence is more intense than hers was. He can't resort to it casually, because his instinct to stop before he goes too far can't be relied on.

...the thing is, Lan Sizhui is talented. He's not a genius but he's gifted. Even with a certain amount of shifu neglect, I think he'd be near the top of his age group. And he's about three years older than Jin Ling.

If Jiang Cheng ever saw That Kid helping Jin Ling with his swordplay or anything like that, I think he'd have a stroke.

So yeah conclusion I've reached is, it would be ooc for Jiang Cheng to wholly refrain from child abuse in this scenario, which it would be ooc for him to put himself in to begin with, and thus I'd struggle to write it. You could make both happen, but at that point you're cramming the narrative into a small enough space within the greater possibility space to avoid Upsetting Events that it loses dynamism.

Having thought about it this hard, I might wind up doing it anyway though lol.

Maybe like ten years later, if Lan Wangji messed up and allowed Jiang Cheng to put together the clues to Sizhui's identity and he was placed in an emergency situation where the kid needed protection? With that kind of distance from the traumatic events, he could probably handle it short-term at least.

Hmm. He'd be doing his best to compartmentalize, but it would be imperfect, with no run-up, so you could get more direct thoughts on the subject in this case....

#answers #kiragecko #ask #mdzs #fanfic #jiang cheng

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tangledinink · 1 year ago

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Heya! First off I’m around halfway through teenage mutant what now and it is the funniest fic I have ever read - Beautifully written and overall brilliant but the jokes get me every time

And second, is it okay if I reference a pose from one of your gemini artworks for my own work? I’ll credit the inspiration if I post it anywhere ^^

whew we're overdue for an ask dump,,, OKAY ALRIGHT.

THANK YOU ; w ; I'm really glad you like it hehehehe. also yeah sure feel free! I don't mind! ^^

HEHEHE THIS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY THANK YOU

oh he DEFINITELY freaked out at first. there was a lot of panicking and confusion and "how could this even happen?!" ("you think i'd genetically engineer a creature that's not capable of reproducing? all of you should be genetically compatible with practically any yokai," draxum said. "AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO, I DUNNO, TELL US THAT?!" donnie said.) but eventually, he did calm down, and he and his partner talked about it (a bunch, multiple times), and eventually some of the panic gave way to... curiosity, first of all... and then maybe kind of excitement? and some fondness? i mean, he was still pretty scared, and sure, he doesn't really consider himself a 'kid' person, but it's not like he never thought about EVENTUALLY having kids, just maybe... not so soon? but. i mean.

well. if they're already cooking...

THANK YOU ; w ; i'm glad you like them! @kiwi-smug-silvalina

oh gosh, that's a good question. i'm not entirely sure... uhmmm... i would say perhaps... details about how gemini!donnie's witchcraft looks and acts, VS how venus's witchcraft looks and acts...

it is very shiny. i like that people call it "the bean" instead of its actual title coz it pisses anish kapoor off.

ah ; w ; THANK YOU SO MUCH,,, thats so sweet and this made me very happy,,, <3 im glad you liked it!!!! @allegedllama

HEHEHE thank you. yes im aware that i am deranged.

omg same hat!!! i was a lifeguard and it was.... uh.... INTERESTING to say the least... (sometimes lovely, sometimes AWFUL...) @datfearlesschick

if by games you mean 'messed up deals that she can manipulate to her own advantage,' then yes! @frogonamelon

@beannary @spectralsleuth @heckitall @livsinpjs and the sep council as a whole!!! y'all's support has definitely meant so much and there's no way i'd have gotten as far with any of my projects as i have without them... or without literally ANY of the people who take the time to do things like reblog with tags, leave commentary in the tags, send in asks about my stories, etc etc etc! that's definitely one of my main motivators to create more!!! <3 thank y'all!

EEEE this made me smile, hehehehe. thank you :3c @thejavavoid

AAAAAA THANK YOU THIS GENUINELY MADE ME SO HAPPY COZ I WAS SO GODDAMN PROUD OF THOSE HANDS AND HOW THEY CAME OUT ; w ; THANK YOU @onejellyfishplease

thank you!!! u w u @fanrulerjynx

THANK YOU ; w ; I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS,,, it made me very very very happy and HEHEHE IM GLAD YOU LIKE YASSIFIED DRAXUM,,, i just think he DESERVES it, y'know? also thats just my favorite way to draw characters lmao I think it's fun so I decided for this comic I just get to indulge...

not necessarily-- this was mostly just a coincidence! @breezehurricane

oh gosh. i'm not sure, but i know it definitely WILL affect their parenting... i think at first donnie will find himself just... deferring to his partner a LOT in almost any situation because he's afraid that he'll fuck it up, because he DOESN'T feel like he understands proper boundaries or what parenting is supposed to look like, etc etc etc, and he's afraid he'll mess up. he probably reads a TON of parenting books as well because RESEARCH and will often try to pull directly from them in any situation he can, and is confused when things don't go exactly the way they were described in the text... leo i think kind of tends to flounder between being overprotective and feeling the desire to protect his son from everything and anything and wanting to overcorrect this tendency by pulling back and trying to give him as much freedom and space as possible, which sometimes leads to some... inconsistencies. there's definitely a learning curve for both of them, but they both get the hang of it eventually. they both have lovely partners and a very loving and supportive family to help them and they'll figure it out with a bit of practice.

ahhh thank you! :D im so delighted that my silly stories actually inspired something for you!!! hell yeah!!! MAKING THINGS IS GREAT!!! THANK YOU!!! @can-elope

i like to imagine them all staying very close, especially coz i'm loosely planning on them all going through the kraang-apocalypse together (and then coming through to the other side!) so i can't imagine them ever drifting too far from each other, emotionally or geographically. there's a bit of a rocky start for a lot of them, but all of the siblings end up a very tight-knit bunch.

#asks #ask dump #anon

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horizon-verizon · 8 months ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/groovybiha/749056181944958976/why-does-she-want-to-be-queen-given-that-the?source=share

"Why does she need a special reason to want to be queen? Also, show! Rhaenyra is the type of queen who is willing to lose her title for what she considers is best for the realm. But of course, she hasn't shown any good qualities."

She has no unique traits or qualities that make her really stand out, we don’t really know her true motives or intentions behind anything outside of just being short sited and mistakenly believing her position as heir will be enough to shield her from consequences and her complacency fueled by arrogance. Plus we don’t really know the reasons behind wanting to rule outside of “i will be queen because daddy says so”. Why does she want to be queen? What kind of ruler does she intend to be? What legacy did she wish to leave behind? Entitlement aside, without these things being made clear, it’s impossible to really root for her when you don’t know what they intend to do or stand for as a ruler.

OP is not totally wrong. I actually happen to think that show!her could have had a "special" reason to want to be queen.

HOWEVER what I think it could have been is not the altruistic kind or one focused on lawmaking necessarily. It's a defiant one. [#2 of the list below]

And, yes, why must she "rise to the occasion" as if even if she were one of the better rulers, she'd wouldn't have been usurped....the greens/Otto didn't care about her abilities unless they were to block them from installing Aegon as heir! They just wanted power and Otto explicitly states that he doesn't think that Rhaenyra will ever be accepted bc she is female in the 1st or 2nd episode.

So, Rhaenyra, as other male heirs, should be heir because her father named her as heir and she is the eldest. The usual way heirs are chosen! To say that she needs to do "more" to be seen as "deserving the throne" is a moot point when the reality is the alternative is any of the greens, who are thankfully not very good candidates on their own merit. Why so much scrutiny for her, as if she has done horrible evil things that spell out her rule being one of tyranny?! When the evidence shows she's anything but and that's more likely with any of the green boys?

I've often mentioned how siphoned [post-writer: ozymalek] of character older Rhaenyra seemed. I know some of those I follow and mutuals feel differently, that older Rhaenyra has gone through at the Keep a lot for her to have become more reserved, less outwardly expressive, less bold, etc. It's simply going to always make an ulcer in my mouth. If it was anyone else, I'd be fine with this, but this is Rhaenyra, whom GRRM himself has shown that even after her time at KL, she retains a fieriness that I simply do not see in show!Rhaenyra. Not bc Rhaenyra was anything "special" as her own person, but in principle, I think it's beyond disrespectful to wantonly change a person's character simply because you happen to believe they are unpalatable. even if this character is the most evil person in the word, you're just doing it on behalf of your own feelings rather than interested in honest fiction. It shows that you don't really respect a person's humanity unless it makes you "comfortable".

All which lends to wish-fulfillment text that could lean in multiple directions and frameworks--including the sexist one HotD takes--mishaping the story itself into something not like itself. It comes from the writers not caring or fully getting F&B [ozymalek], but also latent misogyny.

But OP was talking more abt what would make Rhaenyra seem a good, capable ruler on her own, which yeah, like I said in other posts:

not every protagonist needs to be a more "moral" character, bc it seems OP's approach to "likeability" is whether or not this character will be a good ruler or one who thinks majorly outside of her own desires, which is very fair. But we also should look at what the text is saying about the character when they are not "likeable"--this' not really Rhaenyra's role, that's more Dany's. The point of the Dance and us caring abt Rhaenyra is to witness how regardless of her character, she's basically set up, how it didn't matter that she was amoral or tried to impress anyone, they usurped her bc they wanted power and she was a woman. HotD rather should have written for multiple times where Rhaenyra's unfairly assessed apart from actual truths of her character for audiences to understand that.

and thus HotD failed to give us the entire process and set up for why Rhaenyra would definitely would seek for power when she's been put into a corner for most of her life as was book!Rhaenyra---I tend to believe that Rhaenyra is asserting her right to ascend in the orig story because she wants to claim that which has always been denied to her according to her sex, or what people have said was something she never deserved....this is a wound that HotD should have given to their Rhaenyra, or made more obvious, and we even see the beginnings of it in episode 5 when she says "I am the crown", or a hint of it. When she's thinking of her role as the protector of the realm. That ambition born of determination beyond what daddy wants her to do. Instead, she has been pushed back to making most of her avoidant decisions about war based on Viserys' faulty no-war-ism---NOT because I think wars are not devastating and that we shouldn't take the steps to avoid it, but bc it's beyond obvious that, in F&B, the war or some sort of conflict was going to happen regardless bc Aegon refused to accept Rhaenrya's terms...this was before Aemond killed Luke, btw. And HotD did not show us Aegon flat out refusing Rhaenyra's attempts at preventing a war, instead showing us dead-Luke off after Rhaenyra sends Luke away...that context is missing. Also, in the show, she's tasked with being the one to make sure their line leads to the Prince that was Promised, while Aegon the Elder never was. We don't even get a discussion or see how she processes how she would address this dilemma even in the event that she gives up the throne and Luke doesn't die. Her talk with Daemon, when he chokes her out--maybe instead of that nonsense, they could have had them talk about this event and even if he feels like he's indulging her, Daemon gives his thoughts and they converse about it? But no, HotD wants the spectacle of marital abuse. 🙍🏿‍♂️.

So OP has the point of HotD not showing us WHY/HOW Rhaenyra decided she must be Queen, even if it were for more self-interested reasons, they'd still be reasons with a sound line of strong rationale--for some relatable even.

Basically, OP is describing HotD writing Rhaenyra sexistly--show!Rhaenyra is more of an extension of her dad's wishes and motherliness than her own person to me. Book!Rhaenyra, I believe, never would have really pursued the throne or want to rule if Viserys hadn't named her as his heir, but because she's put into that position and others wish to define her as unworthy based on her gender, she must do more than fight for the throne but fight for her gender value not to block her from her loss of dignity. Of course the greens deciding to usurp her & her deciding to fight esp after Luke's death began a war that would claim thousands of smallfolk and highborn lives, but I also don't want this element that fuels a feminist thought to be obscured simultaneously. Otherwise, the motive for why marginalized groups tend to be more tenacious or even "ruthless" than their more privileged peers, social superiors, etc., will easier characterize them as "unfathomable" and irrationally cruel. When the rationale rather is right there in our faces, thus reinforce=ing the desire for the simplicity of the dangerous status quo.

And I can see why they'd be more intrigued by Alicent, yes they did give "glimpses of what lead to alicent being how she was in later years".

...It's also very obvious that Alicent has also been dumbed down by the latter end of episode 8...arguably worse than Rhaenyra for the sake of her becoming more of a Trumpwife blindly trying to just follow the rules. And done so through making her a SA victim by 15 instead of a 18 year old with ambitions of her own. That's the male gaze at work. [post by @xenonwitch], not that SA victims who act like this doen't exist, but that they made Alicent this. Thought that tis change was somehow less sexist than her ambitious Evil Stepmother original self. And expected us all to just take it and erroneously use the ol "F&B is unreliable", as if ages aren't accurately told in the book!

To this day, I still haven't heard reasons as to hwo show!Alicent's rewriting isn't a sexist change. Not "uninteresting", sexist.

Yes book Alicent was a traditionalist, but she at least strategized and was kept abreast of what was going on around her! So, no, Alicent doesn't intrigue me either in the show nor am I very thrilled with her character who seem to just mope around all day about her not knowing anything or where to find "help"; she just repulses me. Her suffering does not endear her to me, and even with me seeing how she became the women she is, the writing still has her unable to manipulate others and be too manipulated. Much too vulnerable. It's a clear dilution of character like Rhaenyra, just in a different way.

So me and OP agree in that they should have just stuck to the book. Just not so much on Alicent and defintely not on Rhaenyra being "spoiled" as they imply.

Also, Show!Rhaenyra has always performed her duty! She obeyed Viserys when he gave orders, she accepted the position, she married LAenor despite not wanting to, she attended those meetings, she even went beyond any instruction and retrieved that egg back from Dameon no muss no fuss!

believing her position as heir will be enough to shield her from consequences and her complacency fueled by arrogance

This was never the case. I'm very tired of people implying and accusing women and girls who act this way as "spoiled" and "entitled". She was actually asking for fair terms for her "duties", which Viserys shut down the minute he kicked Daemon out and refused Rhaenyra's obvious choice in book and show. What are her other duties? Cup-bearing, attending council? She does all that!!! Being faithful to husband so she has leg heirs? She triedi that, it didn't work bc LAENOR IS NOT THE TYPE OF GAY MAN WHO CAN GET IT UP WITH A WOMAN ENOUGH TO IMPREGNATE HER and these same people would rail her if she were to use a Valyrian sex slave or something. And if she tried someone else, how do you know they wouldn't try to take advantage of that and she'd have another worry and danger to her and her kids to deal with?!!!

People keep saying that she should have not gone sleeping with anyone or "hurting" Criston and people around her, when really it was those people who made dumbass choices that affected her.

Marriage tour? Viserys should have married her to Daemon. Her sleeping with Cole? Daemon brought her to a brothel, and why is she so stressed? bc her dad married her best friend and said friend is trying to still be friends AS WELL AS be her superior. Mom just died a few years back, and said friend has already had a son and is pregnant while Aemma was cut open after multiple miscarriages and traumatic births. Viserys is aware Otto is there to get his blood on the throne, yet needs to be told he needs to dismiss him, only to later bring him back! Again, marrying her to a gay man, thus putting parentage of her kids to a little more doubt than otherwise. Laenor going off doing fuck all when he is supposed to be more at her side than he is. She became the Princess of Dragonstone in action and actually became a ruler in all but name for abt 6 yr in the show, 10 in the bks! That is performing a duty (yeah she left bc of Alicent, still doesn't make it any less a duty of the designated heir to look after Dragonstone and the dynasty's dragons housed there)! Her with Cole? Wasn't she drunk and he had ample ability to just leave! Of course it wasn't smart, but it was hardly either an attack or something that other nobles and royals don't already do... so why is she so uniquely amoral?!

A woman/girl who's either spiraling, terrified of not having or being able to retain what little autonomy one has over one's life, or just resistant against constrictive social mores on her based on gender--even when she is in the upper class--should never be shamed. Called "unfortunate", sure, but not shamed!!! These people sound like they'd call young girls "fast"!

Rhaenyra doesn't think her position will save her from harm. Her talk with Alicent proves that, where she had to turn the tables against Alicent to avoid getting punished unfairly. And epsiode 7 has her do similar, bc she can see where it could have easily turned into people looking more at her sons than Aemond with the restoration of the bastardry claim (once again, go back to what I said about Rhaenyra not being able to get Laenor to impregnate her). She was the one who had to prompt & guide her father or trigger Alicent so she'd protect her sons, Viserys wasn't being very competent! Her position as heir and as Viserys' daughter certainly helped her, but it would have been useless in that situation without her having to work at actually making it work for her! And we see how her being heir actually has turned her life inside out where she's put into this ort of position because her society has never had a female ruler and doesn't think she is capable of really being a leader bc of her gender! Her heir status actually gives her a set of unique problems!!!!

She wasn't (in-world) "complacent"; she was just horribly written in her elder years and in her younger years she was still reeling from being forced into a place she's deathly afraid of, no pun intended. Her mother died in the ambitions of men; she's afraid of being married off to a man who'd allow her to die for his own ambitions by using her body for heirs and access to Targ power. She is at war with her identity and gender. And she is a teenager while all this is happening--no matter the time, teens will rebel to try to see their own limits as well as try to find ways to thicken and realize their own autonomy. What we are actually seeing is a teenage girl forced into denying her own desires and needs until, gravely misunderstood, she's compelled to suppress her deeper desires.

That was the intent HotD had for her. And you could still have this, but make her less...of a female-friendless doormat?

#hotd characterization #rhaenyra's characterization #asoiaf asks to me #hotd critical #hotd writing #hotd rant #alicent's characterization #hotd misogyny #hotd male gaze #asoiaf #hotd

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howredemptionwaswon · 3 months ago

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“Mrs. Adler? When did you decide that Mr. Adler was ‘The One’ for you?”

There wasn't a single day that passed that Sadie didn't think about her Jakey. Every little thing reminded her of him, be it a song being sung or a random object they once shared a laugh over. Her love for Jake consumed her existence even after his death.

She rarely had anyone from the group approach her to inquire about her late husband. Initially, Abigail was the one who checked on her the most, followed by occasional inquiries from Arthur. Eventually, conversations about Jake gradually diminished. It was somewhat bittersweet for Karen that now, after all this time, she was the one asking about him. The way the question was posed made her believe there was an underlying motive behind it. It was clear within the group that she and Sean were growing extremely close, which wasn't necessarily a negative thing. However, she struggled with finding a way to tell Karen what she wanted to hear without tearing at her own heartstrings.

" Pullin' out the big questions are ya? " Sadie questioned, then proceeded to find a chair and sit down. This was bound to take some time and effort. " I don't know how you can sum somethin' like that into words. It's just somethin' you feel. " So this already wasn't starting out the greatest. " My Jake and I, we were like best friends. We brought the good out in each other and a day just came when I couldn't picture havin' a life he warn't a part of. That's when I knew. " Karen found a chair for herself and sat down next to Sadie, eager to listen to her explanation. She remembered the days gone by, when poor Mrs. Adler was a new widow, openly grieving for the loss of her husband at the hands of those damned O'Driscoll Boys. It seemed like she would never recover, but gradually, she did, and hell, she became a spitfire in her own right. She ditched the skirt for trousers and became more vocal and bloodthirsty.

"Best friends, huh?" Karen mused. "Back when you were brought into our gang, you probably saw me wanting to throttle Sean more than anything."

He was loud, obnoxious, annoying - sometimes he'd be sleeping during guard duty, or whittling when he should be doing chores, flirting with the girls at camp, or telling silly stores at the campfire with the boys… but behind all that, there was a certain charm about the Irishman that kept her anchored to him. When he was almost killed during a botched job at Rhodes, she realized how much she cared deeply for him, and never wanted to leave his side. The group splitting away from Dutch, and being able to live their own lives, helped her focus on the fact that, well, she loved him. Sean was the only man she could truly care for.

"If Tilly and Mary-Beth were here, they'd be teasin' me 'til the cows came home," Karen remarked, and it was followed with a snort. "Here I am, sounding all… romantic about Sean of all people, when they were the ones always going on about their fantasies about their hopes and dream weddings. You know, women's rights, women voting - hell, I'd just settle for being married to Sean, taking his last name, and makin' him happy as his wife, if he'd let me. But Mrs. Adler, would it be crazy if I were to ask him to marry me?"

Sadie believed that her love for Jake was unparalleled. Overcoming the pain of his death was a lengthy process, and even now, it occasionally brings her sorrow. However, through their relationship, she learned that love is not limited; it has the capacity to develop and transform with time. It taught her that the heart possesses an extraordinary capability to expand and accommodate new individuals who leave a lasting impact on our lives. Each day got a little easier than the day before.

Sadie knowingly grinned. " Yeah I saw, but I also saw through it. It's easy to see the signs when you've been in that situation before. Hell, I think Arthur and I were the first ta notice there was a little more going on with the two of ya. "

Sadie had expressed her gratitude towards the individuals in their small, tight-knit circle. Each person played a unique role in helping her overcome her past and regain her strength. Arthur's heroic act of rescuing her from the O'Driscoll Boys created a debt that she knew she could never fully repay. Nevertheless, she vowed to stand by his side and assist him in any way possible. This commitment extended to everyone in their group. She had managed to endure, and maybe someday she would have the chance to experience love once more. Whether that day ever arrived or not, she found solace in simply witnessing the abundance of joy from the others surrounding her.

" Don't worry yourself too much about what they'd think. Look at it this way, while they're stuck fantasizing you've got the real deal. " Sadie reached over and patted her on the knee. Her next question however had Sadie's brow raising. " I mean while it's always been custom for the man to ask the woman, if it's something you really want I don't see no harm in it. I say go for it cause we ain't exactly traditional folk here. "

Mrs. Adler had a point. They weren't the most traditional folk. Rules be damned. They were lucky to stay one step ahead of the Pinkertons. Danger lurked around every corner, and Karen didn't want to live another day with this nagging regret.

"Damn it all," she huffed, tugging at the edge of her blouse. "You're right. I need to do this. After all, we only tell each other we love one 'nother when we're drunk. This has to count for real, but without the booze."

Karen reached over and offered the other blonde a warm hug. "Thank you so much, darlin'!"

She couldn't imagine going through what Mrs. Adler had: losing a husband the way she had at the hands of the O'Driscoll Boys. Lord knows what would've happened if she lost Sean in any way, shape, or form. But she wouldn't think that. Right now, she was going to find something to propose to Sean with.

She searched about the area for jewelry that would be suitable for the likes of Sean. He wasn't a man who was into jewelry at all. If anything, he was into whittling, but she'd yet to see him carve anything. Too bad she didn't see a ring anywhere that happened to be carved out of wood.

With a disappointing growl, Karen swiftly returned to Sadie, and asked, "You mind helping me find something to propose to Sean with? I'm too impatient to wait around. I got the words I wanna say, but I don't want to go to him empty-handed."

Sadie chuckled, amused by Karen's sudden burst of determination. " Well, ain't that just like you, Karen. Always ready to charge ahead. Alright, let's see what we can rustle up for that Irish fool of yours. " She stood up, brushing off her trousers. " Knowing Sean, he'd probably be happy with a bottle cap if it came from you. "

The two women set off, scanning the ranch for anything that might serve as a makeshift engagement token. After coming up empty handed something dawned on Sadie and her eyes lit up. " Hold on a minute, come with me. " She said, while leading Karen to her room. Once inside Sadie reached for something tucked away in her bedside table drawer. She pulled out a small wooden box, its surface worn smooth by time. Opening it carefully, she revealed a simple silver band inside. " This was Jake's father's ring, " Sadie explained, her voice soft with memory. " Jake always meant to wear it, but his fingers were too big. Maybe it's meant for Sean. "

Sadie moved over to Karen. " And before you even say you can’t take this… " She pressed the ring into Karen's palm. " It's been sitting here gathering dust. Jake would've wanted it to be used for something good, something that brings happiness. He would want you to have it and I want you to have it. The ring or gift isn't going to mean as much to him as what you say to say does. So keep that in mind. And if you find something else between now an then, give him both. "

Karen's mouth was agape when the ring was given to her. It was truly an honor to be blessed with a gift bestowed with such memories. She didn't feel worthy! But clearly she was, otherwise, Sadie wouldn't have gone through the trouble with helping her.

"My goodness, Mrs. Adler," she said in a teary voice. "I… I don't know what to say…!"

She sniffled, hating how emotional she quickly became. Karen was normally one of the toughest of the gals, but when it came to situations closest to the heart she was quick to fall apart when nobody was looking, or beer was involved--mostly the latter. Sadie's words struck deep in Karen's heart, that she swiftly gave the other woman a fierce hug, even patting her on the back.

"Oh, thank you so much, it means the world to me!"

After a couple more sniffles, Karen sighed heavily, and pulled away. She used the back of her hand to dab away her eyes. After clearing her throat, she said, "Now, I'm going to put this ring in a safe place. I'll plan on how and when to propose to that silly boy. I promise it's gonna be soon, so ya'll won't be waitin' long to hear an announcement from us!"

Karen smiled at Sadie, waved, before she turned around and dashed off to head back to finish the rest of her chores.

#t: when you know you've found the one #feat: sadie & karen #v: build a little home together #red dead redemption #c: sadie #c: karen

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rosewoodconch · 4 months ago

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RWCH Readathon 2024: Day 4

Underciver Princess - Chapter 9

THE GIRLIES GET TO BOND! FINALLY

Im on a train so his is literally my thoughts as i listen to the audiobook instead of reading a physical book

I really love the visual of Ani and Ellie painting each others nails... stay tuned for something about that tomorrow? ;)

Ellie tidied the room! I really adore that Ellies messiness isnt necessarily gone, but you can try that Ellie has really tried to sort it out

AND OH MY GOD

WHAT DO YOU MEAN STANDING IN JUST BRIEFS

We were too casual about this

Also you can wear a bra or tank top to dye your hair trust me i do it every month

This is the gayest thing I've ever read and I've been on ao3 since i was 12

The velvet underground is excellent, and i think you should all go listen to them

Their lil apologies and the "Mr Truffles." Im dying i love them

NON BINARY / ANDROGENOUS ELLIE MY BELOVED

Baby gender funky

Ellie is legit the reason i figured out i maybe was gender funky so shoutout to ellie wolf the most gender ever

Even though ellie did get to choose Rosewood that easily, i like that she can still kind of relate to lottie in that it wasn't the easiest thing to get there, even though they have different circumstances

I like that ellie really genuinely is in awe of ellie and shes trying to say that

But honestly yeah some of the others probably wont apprciate it as much as them both because they almost couldnt go here

"Ill gladly beat them up for you" cut to Edmunds nose...

"I'm perfectly capable of beating up my own enemies" well... not yet, but you'll get there

Honestly yeah. Dying hair is a true bonding experience. I remember my gf dying my hair for the first time and its one of the... most non romantic non sexual but intimate things

Maybe Charles boyle from b99 had a point about the shampoo...

The kitchen sounds like heaven

"Like she'd found a little home with her" GUYS IM CRYING ON A TRAIN I CANT DO THIS

Right onto the "Bad Thing"

Thats the most scary way she could've phrased that

Poor lottie she just wanted to please

Adina devine once again could punch me and I'd thank her

I love Ellie so much, shes such a little actress

Prof devine is so chaotic good i adore her

I feel like theres not enough fan art of their pajamas!??!?!? Ellie likes star wars and we dont talk about that enough

I love their lil blossoming friendship, the way they cant stay mad or cross and just burst out laughing theyre so sweet

William tufty!!! What a man

I have such a perfect image of this room in my mind, but a glass table is no where in it that feels so wrong

I dont like the term loveseat

I think that this scene and the interaction between prof and devine proves that she knows ellies identity. We never get confirmation of it, but like... someone must have her actual legal documents right? For exams and stuff?

"The fates have placed you together" UGH I NEED A SOULMATE AU RIGHT NOW

All of devines speech at the end of this bit feels like its got so much power behind it, like shes casting a spell.

She understands these girls so intensely that I wonder if she had a similar experience when she was a student. Did she go to Rosewood?

"We can achieve amazing things when we uplift one another"

Reminds me so much of "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent" from YOU GUESSED IT Barbie Princess Charm School

I promise I'll have a different comparison eventually

Theyre a little sanctuary 😭😭😭

Finally, the ominous little bit about the rumour, growing like weeds in the grounds of rosewood is so poetic and so full of suspense i love it so much

It really sets up quite how dangerous the rumour could and will be

It also comes back to the whole thing about Lottie being somehow tied to the roses and garden. And the rumour and things stirring as weeds, here to disrupt her perfect life at Rosewood

And we're so back. This is the chapter that lowkey gave me faith again. The way the settings are described and the character motivations are softly shown and they feel like real moving characters.

I really appreciate this humanising Devine too, while also making her seem otherworldly at the same time. It's like a heightened version of Binahs almost omniscience.

All in all, this chapter makes me really happy and i need fan art of all of it please @ Rosewood artists

#rwch #undercover princess #connie glynn #the rosewood chronicles #u.p readathon #rosewood chronicles #ellie wolf #lottie pumpkin #rwchreadathon2024 #rosewood #rwch readathon 2024

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veliseraptor · 2 years ago

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12, 13, 16

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them: I feel like a solid percentage of my fandom experience is pretty much me picking a if not unpopular then probably controversial character and then proceeding to talk loudly and ad nauseam about why I think people should like them.

but if I gotta pick just one, and thinking about characters who I feel like are actively unpopular (as opposed to controversial, which is a different category; like, I'd put Xue Yang in the latter but not really the former, since he's got a middling strength group of core fans)...

since I mentioned Black Jewels Trilogy I'll throw one out for Jaenelle Angelline who I recall people really not liking back in the day, at least (I'm not actively in the fandom now so maybe this isn't the case anymore), or at least didn't find interesting as a character. and I get that because on the one hand sure, she's a classic "all the good guys love her, all the bad guys hate her, all-powerful chosen figure" character, but I've always been deeply fond of her because like. she's weird. she starts out weird and continues to be weird, she's really fucked up psychologically actually, she's kind of socially awkward and this combination of shy and insecure and exuberant confidence. she's sweet and compassionate and also vindictive and capable of horrific cruelty.

I think I have kind of a thing for characters who are extremely fucking powerful and also a complete mess as human beings and that's how I always felt about Jaenelle? yeah, she can decimate a planet and makes friends with unicorns but also doesn't really know how to be a normal human person. I don't know. I don't actually expect other people to be with me on this but I am.

but also, a while back I went looking for Wang Lingjiao fic because I was like "there's interesting material there about this woman from a nobody family who ends up in a relationship with the son of a major sect leader, and, like, what was she thinking? did she try to catch Wen Chao or did he notice her and she either (a) made the best of a bad situation by turning it to her advantage or (b) actively decided that she was going to improve her own life via this guy? like, yeah, she's petty and mean and vindictive and I want to know what's going on in her head. in a story that has a lot of people who come from low station and suffer for it, and sometimes even more for trying to get out of it, I'm prodding at her version of that and going "there's something here, give it to me."

sometimes think about that half idea I had where Wang Lingjiao notices Wen Chao coming onto her, doesn't like the idea, and basically tries to escape by glomming onto Wen Qing instead. Wen Qing/Wang Lingjiao rights, is what I'm saying.

worst blorboficiation: my first reaction to this was "oh no, are we going to make "blorbofication" the new "woobification", I was glad when we left that word behind and I don't want to see it replaced, I really don't."

but also. in my heart I immediately knew my answer and it's perfect good boy Wei Wuxian. singlehandedly turned me around on my feelings for a character and I don't really know how to get the good ones back at this point and I would really like the good ones back. I got into this fucking fandom because of him as basically an antagonist-as-protagonist model (i.e. a character who could be an antagonist in most stories but narrative positioning complicates things) - in CQL, even, so this isn't just adaptation decay or whatever - and now...augh.

idk man it makes me sad to think about too much. going back to thinking about Wen Qing/Wang Lingjiao rights instead.

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc): so many and I feel like a lot of them have come up in answers to other questions...going to throw this one out though to the people who insist that Xue Yang never had any squishy feelings for Xiao Xingchen and all his motives were bad and evil forever, not just because hey that's my baby but also because it is, as I've said before, both an incredibly shallow read of the story as a whole that strips it of part of what makes it so painful and good and also makes that whole dynamic so much less interesting.

it just makes me feel kind of crazy, also, the way I look at that arc and see the reiteration of themes across MDZS and across MXTX's other works and feel like I'm just going "LOOK AT IT. LOOK AT IT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT BUT AT LEAST SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT" and meanwhile there's another post in the tag throwing "no empathy" around as a shortcut to indicate "bad and evil."

anyway. I'm tired. every month or so I have to block another one.

#conversating #stripedroseandsketchpads #lise memes #lise's aggressively bitchy opinions about irrelevant and unimportant matters

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hyperfixation-fix · 6 months ago

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I haven't been very active on this account, so, how's everyone doing? Feel free to reblog with more of an answer ❤️

Love you guys, take care of yourselves ❤️

Below is how I'm doing :)

I've had a really rough time lately, but I'm feeling like maybe things are actually going to get better? Finally???

I think my new therapist is actually going to be an awesome fit. My previous therapist was honestly a bit of a nut job, but she was a nut job that made sense some of the time, so I stayed for longer than I should have. But really, she made me feel unstable and insecure... The one before that was perfect, she was kind and attentive and stable, and she made me feel capable and safe, but she changed jobs. This new one feels like she might be the same as that one, so maybe she can help me glue my life back together again..?

I also had a 4-day-weekend bc I'd worked so much overtime recently, and I actually feel like I've relaxed for the first time in, like, weeks if not months.

I also hung out with my best friend 🥰🥰🥰 I love her so much 🥰🥰🥰 and having her over also motivated me to clean my house! Whoop whoop!

So yeah! Brain sucks but there is the possibility of it sucking less in the near future 😁

#myposts #riordanverse #pjo #percy jackson

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xo-cuteplosion-xo · 1 year ago

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Eeeeee I never know if my rambles are any good but here is me doing a sort of study into Dazai and Ranpo kinda analyzing their intelligence.

Could it be completely wrong... yeah... is it a bit of a personal take... kinda... did I kinda do some research? I did actually but surface level.

It's 1,667 words : )

Confidence to post this from my moot @pompompurin1028

Character studies:

Dazai and Ranpo

Dazai and Ranpo are both incredibly interesting characters. In more than one way they remind me of one another. The two are both highly intelligent and it's hard to say which would outsmart the other considering their intelligence differences.

Dazai is shown to be more of a mastermind. His intelligence is specific and direct. He bases predictions on the observations of people and the natural order of how a person operates. It's almost philosophical in a way. There's this certain disconnect to the world.

While on the other hand, Ranpo shares a similar disconnect but in a very different manner. Ranpo's definite is being able to observe and connect quickly. Hexs somebody who is hyper-observant and his brain processes information quickly and efficiently. He can "see through" people because he observes the smallest details most wouldn't notice. He can't actually do anything without evidence. We see his downfall with the perfect crime. However, through observing outside information from the crowd to things he noticed and looked around he was still able to find the murderer. Be it he did this a bit slower than he is used to he solved something that nobody else in this universe would have been able to solve.

It's arguable that perhaps Dazai may have been able to but I'd say because Dazai is oriented towards predictability and problem-solving he wouldn't have been able to find the perpetrator. Dazai would have observed that something was wrong, it was too perfect. There was a lack of evidence. Yes, you can create a perfect crime but Dazai most likely would have found something up with the scenario and looked for an ability that would have caused this.

My basis for why this sort of scenario would take Dazai longer is purely in the way we have seen him act. When it came to seeing Ranpo work he was rather impressed and admits to admiring him. It's not direct but the panel says "why ranpo is admonished by the agency." If Dazai didn't also think he was impressive then these words would have had a different spacing or flow and different words completely. I genuinely think Dazai in a way sees his flaws as being backed up by Ranpo.

Both are incredibly intelligent and have been such since they were small children.

The only difference is their environment.

The environment a child grows in and learns has a large impact on the development of their intellectual capabilities.

I don't think the Dazai we see today is the same type of smart as the Dazai we see in 15.

(Welcome to Lu losing their academic sources : (... oops )

I read in some studies that a child with an above-average IQ that is nurtured and has positive influences even when faced with trauma will develop an outlook that allows them to slip better into society and feel less estranged from others. Ranpo is a fine example of this. He suffered a great trauma with the loss of his parents but because of Fukuzawa, he was raised in those important teen years by somebody who nurtured and gave him hope allowing him to "fit in" his intelligence was forced in front of him and flaunted. That seemed to be avoided by Fukuzawa. He didn't want the child to grow up thinking he was too different and to put himself at risk because numbers said he'd be fine. This is shown when he gets so upset at Ranpo for putting his life on the line to solve a case. Ranpo is shown that intelligence isn't everything he's just like everybody else a life worth existing. He learned that lives should never be risked for the sake of a successful plan there will always be a route around. He became egotistical and motivated by praise but he values the lives of others and grew compassionate.

On the other end of this spectrum is a child whose intelligence is shoved in their face. It's the only trait that is ever acknowledged and they are even punished when that single aspect is not up to performing In other words an environment where the child is scolded and only ever acknowledged for intelligence in an abusive situation is commonly going to befall a bath of separation from others or will dehumanizing themselves. Dazai is a prime example of a child's intelligence being incorrectly handled. We don't know how things were for him before mori but some of the most crucial years of a child's life are those teen years. As intelligent as he was at the time, an adult influence still would have made a huge impact, and whether it's something that is solid or not Mori's role in his life was the most prominent adult presence. From the age of 14 to 18 Mori's abusive treatment of Dazai would have shaped his intelligence to look past morals and "basic human ideology" and see simply the open board. I like that it's often shown as Dazai making moves in chess because it's a very good example. Chess is a game of sacrifice and risk. This type of raw intelligence isn't a natural talent. You can be born with a high IQ but the shape of that IQ is nurtured. Dazai had to be cunning, risky, and sacrificial in the Mafia. It's not a place where he could place value on life. It's highly likely his situation pre-mafia wasn't any better. He already felt separated from humanity Mori's "care" only made things worse for a kind already starting to separate himself from others. If Dazai had been in a situation similar to Ranpo's he would likely have seen his intelligence lean closer to Ranpo's observational intelligence.

I also like to look at the two of them, now versus then.

We see a huge change with Ranpo. He doesn't take huge risks like sacrificing people on purpose. He tries to solve things without doing harm. When. He shakes the agency shakes. They rely on him because he's empathetic and understanding though he doesn't make it obvious.

Dazai is less obvious but if we look at 15 dazai and the current dazai there's a definite difference between the two of them. 15 Dazai was still exploring his capabilities. Planning and acting was still somewhat new having only just truly gotten into the mafia. We see him predict things and notice things but his details and explanations are mainly observational habits. We don't see him purposefully putting him or Chuuya into severe life-threatening danger the way we see him act in Storm Bringer. He doesn't sacrifice "pieces" then in Dark Era we see a severe drop in his attitude toward others. Even somebody he is close to is put to the test and toyed with in a way. We see him more organized and far more willing to sacrifice others for his goals than we noticed in 15. Then there is the ADA Dazai. There's manipulation of feelings but he's never put others in a place where the risk was overly dramatic. Kyouka was a gamble but it can be inferred that it was indeed the only way to save her from either execution or being killed in action. Even in Dead Apple, his gamble did put others at risk but he didn't purposefully try and kill any of his coworkers or pieces. I believe it's a fair assumption that none of them were in real grave danger. Dazai in prison however can be seen as almost slipping back. I believe the influence on Dazai with his surroundings is more important than anything else with him. Around Fyodor we see the light in his eyes drain. BSD really likes paying close attention to the eyes in the manga It tells us a lot about a character. Dazai's emptier looks usually reflect when he's around remnants of his past or he's acting similar to how he would have in the mafia. It's not a complete slip but he takes gambles that could get others killed. We don't know of it was his intentions are with a lot of his "moves" but what little we can infer from panels and expressions it's clear Dazai has less regard for human life and the only reason he doesn't do things the way he did is because of his promise to Oda. Oda was the first positive influence he had as a child. Around oda Dazai's intelligence was observational rather than performing in an analytical way. He wasn't taking knowing the situation and doing background research to figure out he'd lose his friends. No, he analyzed Ango's small details. He recognized things without any sacrifices and came to the conclusion that things wouldn't stay like this because of a pattern of events in his life not the rules of the world. He subjected himself to personal feelings and thoughts rather than the logical straightforward approach. This part could be argued but I truly think Dazai's thought process altered around Ango and Oda then around the agency he began to see a bit more of why protecting people was better than sacrificing them.

I believe Dazai and Ranpo have equal intelligence they just have separate types of intellectual capability because of their differentiating upbringings. I want to look more into how they contrast and yet complete each other's weaker areas eventually but at the moment this is all I have written out and all the journals I've read so far. I have a feeling that Ranpo is sorta that white knight of intelligence while Dazai is the dark knight of intelligence. They are equal and yet completely different and yet both are just as important to the overall "game". I could also probably go more into detail about how Dazai's upbringing with his intellect only created a worse issue of separation between himself and those around him. It's a concept I'm still building on but I think Dazai and Ranpo complement each other in a parallel kind of way.

#dazai #ranpo #dazai study #ranpo study #i have a few of these but im ao inaecure im wrong avout them #this is a test Ig #lu rambles 🎀#bsd #bungo stray dogs #Their differences and simulates really do interest me.#not proof read sorry about typos

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iatrophilosophos · 1 year ago

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The funny thing is I think I'd be a lot less sick (and probably nicer to be around & less prone to losing it) if I just let myself be sick sometimes and accept that sometimes that means not getting stuff done... Instead of spending hours beating my head against tasks I physically/cognitively cannot do just then anyway

Like. I'm definitely not some kind of hyperproductive wunderkind that doesn't take enough breaks, I procrastinate like hell and I don't really get much done on any given day, but I'll do shit like. Sit in a chair feeling miserable and half awake for three hours bc I feel like I should be doing something, instead of going to take a ninety minute nap and then knocking out some quick cleaning, or hell just going to lay down for three hours and not feel like hell. Or I'll spend an entire day trying to do something I can't think about clearly enough to accomplish and get confused and melt down every fifteen minutes when like. Probably it would be way better for me to just go "huh. I don't appear to be very capable of this right now. Let's do something else and try again later".

I guess my point is apparently I need to learn how to differentiate physical and cognitive limitations from motivational and executive functioning deficits which is really fun bc that's a blurry ass line and my episodes/fits/whatever the fuck they are Really limit my ability to tell what's going on or make new choices (w the task triggered ones,I kind of just...spin out trying to do the last thing I decided to do?). I need to find a middle ground btwn totally avoiding tasks that make me anxious and throwing myself against a wall failing to do them. More anxiety coping tools and more figuring out how to keep myself from getting confused (/subsequently Angry) and shutting down, less "just fucking do it right now", probably.

... maybe I should start checking the weather every morning and if I'm alone + it's gonna be 30s or lower most or all of the day, I just don't do anything I don't want to, unless it's directly related to me being alive that day or a time sensitive catastrophe that can and needs to be averted? Aaaaand if I feel unable to think through the steps of a task or get panicked and confused thinking about how to do it, I'm allowed to make tea or take a nap or spend a little while doing something for fun about it to see if that helps before I employ "now-or-never-just-fucking-do-it" antiprocrastination techniques. Yeah. That seems like an OK start.

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nanjokei · 1 year ago

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hopefully we get more info about mutei, yeah. any thoughts/'meta' on reiji isoi? or any character you'd like, really, he was just the first that came to mind

im not good at making choices so you will have to ask me if there's anyone specific youre curious about!

for reiji ill just talk about both LOL. S+ and DLC spoilers untagged.

i think our reiji is an absolute genius character. the fact that the entire real climax of the game hinges on whether or not you like reiji, its honestly a great burden that i usually see flop or gets overemphasized without really giving reasons to care (or really, giving too many reasons and having it feel forced). but, if you think about it, there isn't much in the plot itself that makes caring necessary— the base game is way more sympathetic to minoru than utsugi, but it is still very late on before the moment most will finally throw their hands up and go "oh this guy has it bad" so reiji's unwavering desire to do something for him is the strongest part of his character in the latter half of the game... to the point where he sort of played the heel to get his mission over with. even at his most antagonistic, coming back from a long absence from the plot which casts more doubt to the "why" of his actions— you do kind of wanna root for reiji, even if his actions are sus at best. im almost certain the initial reaction to the woof scene is usually always "no, wait, shinano, it's not like that, fuck. why now." even though it is INCREDIBLY suspect. subsequently, reiji and atou opening up to each other a bit and placing trust in each other with shinano eventually joining in feels like a ticket home to a good ending. a good ending which doesn't come if you don't put in the work for it.

it is precisely why S route is so genius. without reiji being such a good character, being so convincing really, the setup would warrant nothing more than an eyeroll. i LOVE it. and i LOVE the usage of ave maria there. and the domino effect that ending has on the survivors. pure definition of having to earn your happy ending. it is a stunt that by all means SHOULD NOT WORK. but it DOES. i'd clock it as cheap if it was a hair out of place in the execution.

as for reiji himself as a character, i absolutely adore him, he's so cute. his personality hits all the good points of "this guy was definitely raised by a bunch of weirdos and knows nothing else". i think the purity in his motivations and overall self philosophy is *chefs kiss*. his respect for LDL both as his family and his superiors is balanced incredibly well. in the dlc, the feeling of "you're a part of the team, but adult things are adult things after all" jumps out to me. especially the way reiji's actions seem to respond "but i want to repay you, i want to be acknowledged, i want to be useful." even before 2015 he was kept in the dark about things. now, i don't know if this is on purpose on fukao's part (obviously the date is on purpose but lol) but i do choose to see reiji going off on a suicide mission to save the son of the man who raised him, who he doesn't know, as a sort of coming of age. if you only reach S route, reiji dies at 20 years old, but if you get to S+, the very next day, he turns 21. i want to think it's intentional!! seriously god-like!! its enough he dies right before his birthday to begin with, but the fact that it's like that!!! AHHHH!!! i do feel like it may be on purpose given reiji's age is obscured as "early 20s" until the very end of S+ (the note that there's a 5 year difference between shinano and reiji). after S+, reiji has become an adult, who pulled off the impossible. his graduation from just being just a very highly attuned kid, a capable adult. also the fact that he's only hung out with a bunch of weirdo adults in his whole life means the gap between him and his peers is incredibly endearing

i love reiji. he's so good!

as for reiji numero uno, it's spoilers all around, so ill put it under the cut

honestly this is less about reiji himself and more about the circumstances around him... intensely tragic character. but it really is funny. i think its funny hatsutori basically used his existence, the potential of him being useful to misumi, as a way to mobilize misumi against empyrean and theodore. now i don't think misumi is some kind of misunderstood saint (though i have a feeling by com is out we're gonna find out he's probably one of the less demonic fragments) but the fact that he clears the very low bar of telling hatsutori off for being a homicidal psycho... well it's telling i think. even then apparently reiji wasn't experimented on immediately, and was taken care of before misumi split his fragment. but still. it is a state to be in. when atou and sanemitsu find out he's not only alive but sharing a body with a man who's probably well within retirement age the fallout is gonna be BAD

his existence as a device to further the motivations of at least like 10 other characters, is fun. it's fun. i like izu. i like misumi. i'd love to see the reiji part of the body izu is occupying to come out. is he still a 10 year old boy in there or what. definitely getting the short end of the stick here

#ask #anonymous #see oh ee related

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runawaymun · 2 years ago

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Living in a country where home schooling is illegal learning that parents in the US can just go "Yeah I'll just do it myself" was wild to me. I don't disagree that this could be a good system for certain kids and their family but the fact that there seems to very little quality control and supervision of what's going on in those homes seems honestly dangerous. Even ignoring the (very relevant) political aspect of the motivation to keep certain information away from your children given the fact that sub-par education (that can happen even if the parent is really trying!) can have a tremendous negative effect on a child's future i don't think this should be a widely available option for the general population. Maybe for older kids who can grasp the concept and could critique what's happening but the fact that you can unanimously decide to deny children ages like 5-12 going to school sounds scary to me.

oh 100 fucking percent. The states that have zero regulation in the US terrify me.

My state is very active with homeschoolers and there is mandatory testing at certain milestones to make sure your child is actually being educated. If you're not educating your child the state will rule it as neglect. The political motivation IS super relevant as well -- I don't want to discount/minimize that at all.

I'm very much on the side of "let parents decide how best to raise their kids" but that comes with huge caveats and HUGE "within reason and proper accountability" -- and I'm aware I have a huge bias on that myself. I absolutely disagree with states that allow parents to homeschool with ZERO supervision and despise the fact that politicians who homeschool themselves or just...actively support homeschooling have any control over policies related to public education. It's a horrible conflict of interest and they have no business making policies that govern our public education system.

So in short: the laws vary state-by-state and there ARE states where parents can deadass just choose not to educate their children. My experience is largely so positive due to the fact that my state firmly regulates it.

And actually I'd argue that if kids are going to be homeschooled, it's best for it to be in the 5yrs-10yrs age range (within proper state supervision!!! that's always the caveat), as that's the point that the average parent will be capable of handling teaching them most subjects with a degree of competency (so long as those parents are learning how to educate in the first place. I know a lot of parents don't, but most homeschooling parents I knew growing up actively made sure to learn how to teach and followed curriculums). Once they get older it's popular for students to join co-ops or take certain classes at community college, public schools, or private schools because their parents no longer feel confident that they can teach those subjects. And at that point kids are developing critical thinking skills and the logic centers in their brains, so it's a good time to start branching out into the public sphere.

#out of uniform

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