#my personal opinions

[monowritestoomuch]

My thoughts on the High King/High Queen of Prythian Argument:

I am currently reading A Court of Silver Flames and have not finished it has not been confirmed to me through reading that Eris has killed Beron yet, so until then and Eris can reform the Autumn Court, these are my final scorings.

To preface this, I currently like how there is a seven court system for Prythian in the books, as the lands are a continent, not a country. In addition, it would be impractical and inefficient for there to be a “high king or queen” of Prythian as the geopolitical system and issues would be far too difficult and incredibly complex, giving its high chance of collapse under the sheer weight of whoever ends up ruling on the throne.

This being said, many arguments have been made on who is going to be the high king/queen among the high lords and I believe I’ve figured out, if there was to be a high king/queen, who would be the best to sit on the throne and bear the title.

So here we go:

7: Rhysand

At number seven we have Rhysand. I know I’m about to get a supreme amount of hate for this, but hear me out. Most of his people hate him, including the Court of Nightmares and others, including Hewn City. His armies aren’t loyal in places like Hewn city or the Court of Nightmares because of his treatment of them, and I haven’t even mentioned how he treats women.

This man took over FIVE HUNRED YEARS TO REALIZE that Illyrian men’s treatment of Illyrian women was too harsh. He put in place laws to stop wing clipping and to allow women to own property and business 500 years ago, but there was a fatal flaw in his lawmaking process. He didn’t enforce it.

It had already taken years to make proper laws to prohibit the mistreatment of Illyrian women, but he doesn’t even enforce the laws he put in place, basically rendering them useless. And the Illyrian men don’t even care, they just carry on with the treatment, only now they can get caught but not much would be done about it regardless as Rhysand never visits to do a welfare check. 

And don’t get me started on Velaris or Illyrian reproductive rights.

There are other parts of his character that I feel uncomfortable writing about as it is triggering for me.

6: Beron

There are many others who could go here but I’m putting Beron. The reason he isn’t at the bottom is because his court doesn’t completely hate him.

However, his prominent issues are clear within his court. There is a clear divide in privilege between classes, a classist system, clearly enforced by him. And as far as I’m concerned, this man doesn’t care for child safety laws (based on how he treated his dead son’s deaths after their subsequent murders) and murder. Since he clearly doesn’t care for the lower class, there could be horrific crimes against them, such as what happened to Jesminda.

His entire court, including his advisors and emissaries, are all toxic, backstabbing individuals who couldn’t care less about anyone besides themselves, which is what Beron intended.

The only reason he isn’t lower is because his court is still decently stable and doesn’t look like it’s going to collapse due to the obscene laws created by the high lord or BEHAVIOR exhibited by the high lord.

Once Eris kills Beron then perhaps the court will be reformed and this rating could be changed but until then this is my opinion.

5: Tarquin

Now I love Tarquin, he’s my favorite character out of everyone in this series, but there are some extremely flawed political matters that have landed the Summer Court so low.

Here are the Positives: 

Tarquin, as the youngest high lord, has a more modern viewpoint than any of the other high lords.

Tarquin wants to abolish classism in his court, he wishes to merge the higher and lower classes into a single body, for there to be little to no tension between them. This is a very different view than what the other high lords have conjured for their courts. 

He also takes in refugees from spring after  Feyre destroys the Spring Court, implying the reconstruction and beginning rehabilitation of his court, including the deep care he has for both his subjects, and refugees that may be in harms way. He offers them benefits and a way to live with less fear than they had, which I admire about him. He seems to be a very kind-hearted high lord.

However,

Flaws:

He’s too trusting, as exhibited when Feyre visits the Summer Court for the first time. He trusts her immediately, causing him to have a piece of the Summer Court stolen and diplomatic declaration of perhaps even war on his hands due to the actions of another court because of how trusting he is. This boils over when he sends blood rubies to the night court to show his distaste, displeasure, and a ban from returning to the Summer Court overall.

He is also too forgiving, as exhibited when he forgives Feyre for the blood rubies without an explanation. I can’t tell if that is SJM’s intention, or if Tarquin is just that naïve. 

In addition, he has a weak military. This is exhibited during the war with Hybern, as his forces cannot properly hold their own and the Summer Court gets heavily damaged due to it. 

He is also the youngest high lord, at only eighty years, he hasn’t lived long enough, or been the high lord for long enough to fully grasp his position and the power it holds, along with the power his subjects hold. His modern views are nice, but he isn’t experienced, which can and has caused tensions and fatal flaws in his rulings.

Tarquin is a good example of a good person, just not entirely fit to rule, which isn’t his fault given Amarantha’s whole “I’m gonna be high queen shtick” with her murdering his parents and relatives, causing him to have to become high lord.

4: Tamlin

Now I just KNOW I’m going to get hate for putting him as fourth on this list, but if the shoe fits 🤷

Tamlin was a decent high lord before Amarantha and Feyre came into the equation. Even when Amarantha came into play, he welcomed in refugees from all over the continent, especially the Summer Court, as if you recall, Alis and her boys were from there. 

Not only that, Tamlin’s people were extremely loyal to him, his emissaries were loyal enough to GO OVER THE WALL AND GET KILLED FOR HIM. That is how loyal they were.

(And another thing, because there were refugees from all over Prythian in the Spring Court, they celebrated other courts’s holidays and traditions, as a form of respect.)

He had reformed the once slavery-ridden court his father ran, effectively destroying the concept and acceptance of slavery. He reformed his court to be nothing like the court his father tan, but more alike to what his mother would’ve approved if she were still living.

However, Tamlin’s easy ability to get manipulated and gaslighted is very troubling and important to include in here. Because of this, his court is falling and his people have become disloyal. His self-destructive, and generally destructive tendencies must also be raised in alarm as he drove his sentries out by shapeshifitng into wild form and becoming a beast. He also was just generally self-destructive and dangerously suicidal when we last saw him.

In the past he was a good high lord, but now? He needs a good healing arc before he can properly rule again. He needs to be able to make himself better than he currently is, meaning in the future he’ll NEED a support system to help him reach that. Until then, he stands at fourth place.

3: Kallias and Viviane 

These two are so politically inclined that it makes me incredibly relieved that some high lord and lady in Prythian is finally getting forcing and regulating laws, not only that, but reviewing previous laws and adjusting them to fit the newer values of the court to part of the people’s values too.

Speaking of their people, they listen to their people and they care, they let their people speak to them trustingly, giving them hope and encouragement that their high lord and lady will listen to their issues and find a viable solution.

They’re both politically strong people given Viviane held the court up on her back for fifty years while Kallias went UTM to help protect and keep a watchful eye on his people and other citizens of Prythian.

They also are decent at making deals and alliances with other courts, which is a very good thing considering how much war this continent goes through on the regular.

But here are their issues:

They have a weak military, as it’s mentioned during the war with Hybern how their forces might be able to hold off Hybern’s forces and help, but that they’re small and not very powerful. This is a very prominent issue as an improper military could lead to the collapse of their entire court.

And with the other courts there are some tensions mentioned? Such as between them and the night court, as Rhysand’s actions UTM were less than pleasant.

With that being said, they would making promising rulers, which is why they take the third spot in the top three for now, this is until we hear any more about their court in future books.

2: Helion

Now Helion and Kallias & Viviane’s spots on this chart could flip flop depending on what he opens in the future books, but until then, this is my placement.

Helion’s court is not only rich in magic, but it’s rich in information. Don’t forget this man being the second oldest high lord. 

Magic is very prominent in the Day Court, the Fay Court itself being the most magically driven court, leading me to assume that’s a large part of the infrastructure and economic system.

But it is also mentioned how the Day Court has the biggest and most libraries in all of Prythian. That is a lot of reading material, meaning a lot of information, which is valuable.

Helion is older and wiser, he’s seen a lot in his days as the High Lord of the Day Court, meaning he’s much more experienced than many of the other high lords. He’s dealt with war before several times and he knows how to handle himself and his court.

That being said, there’s also some not so great parts of him being the High Lord of Day. . .namely his actions.

Sure, Helion is nice, but he’s also incredibly sexual. He can be serious, we’ve seen that, but he is known as the high lord who sleeps around. Not exactly the nicest title to be given. He needs to be able to be more mature sex miss given his age, especially around other diplomats, such as high lords.

In addition, we don’t know much about his military, which is disappointing to me as it’s a large component on whether one’s court can hold its own. Without a proper military, the Day Court could be in shambles. Luckily, it seems like the court does have a good military, it just hasn’t been mentioned. But I’m the future, knowing how efficient his military is would certainly help in my scoring of the Day Court as a whole.

AND FINALLY

1: Thesan

Hear me out, he would be the best candidate for High King of Prythian.

As previously stated, he has a strong military, loyal and dedicated. His husband is literally their general, so he’s constantly well informed on it.

He might not be one of the older of the high lords, but it is implied how he has much expertise politically and morally. 

Another large part of Thesan is how the Dawn Court is known as the most neutral court in Prythian. This is an incredibly important position for his court to be in, as a strong military and strong neutrality is a great defense for his court, not to mention when Dawn helped during the war with Hybern, Dawn’s reinforcements of the Seraphim military were mentioned to have helped push back and eventually defeat Hybern.

Dawn also held the meeting between all the high lords, giving Thesan the upper hand as the host to have executive authority as it’s HIS COURT. 

Their neutrality is incredibly important as it’s kept them out of trouble for most of the series so far, and I sincerely hope SJM keeps it that way. We haven’t gotten to know Thesan and the Dawn Court well enough as they haven’t been mentioned since the war with Hybern.

Also, just personal opinion, gay high king. He would totally legalize gay marriage, prove me wrong.

Again, these are my opinions, and if you’d like to be an ass about them, then click off of this post. This is just what has been on my mind since I’ve seen others on tumblr debating who the High King of Prythian would be.

That’s all for today, Mono out ✌️

[idontcarecarebear]

I believe the Ash Navi (ash people) in the next Avatar movie will be an Indigo colour and glow under the moonlight. I also predict they’ll be Ice Navi, who will be Cornflower Blue and physically bigger than other Navi to keep them protected from the cold.

[tomdayaqna]

I’d love to hear your thoughts on TZs project since you’ve been gone! Did you watch TCR? Do you see Dune or Challengers? Which future project(s) of theirs are you most excited about?

I've watched them all. Here are my brief PERSONAL thoughts on each one in order of release:

TCR- Tom was excellent in this, he demonstrated a range I've always known he has and I especially loved seeing him in drag as Ariana. Whilst I think critics were needlessly harsh on it I do think the script was definitely the weakest part, the pacing of the show was all over the place with the start being almost glacial then they had to rush to wrap it up. None of the characters outside of Danny felt well developed, I think developing Amanda Seyfried's character and her interiority more would've made the dynamic between her and Danny much more interesting. The directing and cinematography/general visuals of the show were a bit dull, there was clearly not really a singular vision in terms of direction which makes sense knowing the behind the scenes drama.

Dune Part 2: Really well directed, shot, acted etc. I like that they changed Chani's role so she wasn't so reverent to Paul (I know some book fans didn't like it but the books depiction of the relationship between the colonised and the coloniser with no resistance is deeply problematic and disgusting) but I'm curious to see how they bring Paul and Chani back together in Messiah without completely undermining Chani's characterisation up to this point, or will they alter large parts of Messiah too? Overall I think I'm ambivalent about Dune as a franchise because of the orientalist origins of the books and I think the films just completely ignoring these origins (their refusal to use the word jihad is hilarious) rather than addressing it and having interesting commentary on the relationship between western sci-fi and orientalism/Islam is disappointing, but I do appreciate the films from a technical standpoint. And Z was excellent; I think about that final scene a lot.

Challengers: Such a sexy and sensual film. I liked how it looked at sensuality and how sex informs interpersonal relationships all without using sex. I loved seeing Z play someone so different to both herself and all her previous roles. I loved that the film doesn't attempt to over explain or justify Tashi's behaviour to try and make her sympathetic; we need more female characters written like that. The score, editing and cinematography was of course excellent. I will say the part of the film I found weakest was regarding Tashi and Art's child, she sort of felt like she was just there...I guess in a way parenthood was secondary to everything else going on but a bit of exploration into how parenthood changed Tashi and Art relationship dynamics (if at all), how motherhood changed Tashi and her relationship with her injured body etc. or just anything to make it believable to me that these people were parents to this child would've made the film 10/10. Still it was definitely my favourite of all the projects from them.

As far as what I'm excited for The Drama and The Odyssey! With The Drama I'm so curious given how little we know about it, and I've seen the director's other film 'Sick of Myself' which was such a fascinating character study. With The Odyssey I like Nolan, but I think with the fuckload of money and free reign he's being given this can be a masterpiece or a Megalopolis lmao

[mrstsung]

Shang tsung has BEEN sexy. Always has been

Y'all just late to the game.

I mean 30+yrs of games. You got a lot of material to work with.

Like come on

I mean come on people.

Young,old,beard,no beard. Shang has it all.

He's cunning,scary intelligent,handsome. Funny. Has humble origins(could be written a bit better and less yikes by NRS but ya know) like you feel bad for shang regardless of his predicament. Because being cursed to take the life force of others for eternity because some salty bitch didn't want you to be "better" than him. Never to embrace death or fully feel life. Stuck in a limbo. Have all the powers of a god yet denied any clearance. Have all the ambitions of a emperor and ruler yet desire none of triviality of it all. Only the security and safety of it. Desire nothing more than what you feel you deserve,and that grows day by day through the trials of kombat. Day in and day out you fight for your life for crumbs.

How can anyone not feel for shang? At least nowadays.

Like they gave him something more than "evil bad guy to beat up" yet expect people to still go the status quo when they want us too. How can you root for anyone who sides with earthrealm or any of the supposed "good guys" anymore?

But anyways. Yeah shang tsung deserves better treatment than him being sexy in looks. Tho he is definitely *meow* deliciously cold Blooded.

He is sexy because he is complex. Because he's not afraid to go after what he wants. He's cautious(and more so as time goes on,as he gets a lil bit wiser tho not much changes overall. He's still a lil cheeky shit and stuck in survival mode. Oof). shang tsung is sexy because he's a bad guy with standards. Twisted sense of honor,he stands for himself. Because nobody else will.

See liu kang,in this new "timeline" if you gave him friendship or friends. Ya know genuinely a happy fucking life. And not put edanians on a pedestal because you wanted kitana puss puss so damn bad. Maybe you could have avoided all of that! Ya know maybe kung lao,raiden,and shang could have been the "deadly alliance" you needed. But noooooooo! Pusshy and looking good for these god/titans was more important?! Fuck off.

Dark raiden would have decimated you on spot for that bullshit.

And i would have laughed. This new liu kang is a joke. Fr. (Tbh the whole damn thing has become a joke but eh)

Shang tsung is once again the only thing keeping this dead horse alive,look me dead in the eyes and tell me he aint!? It's the truth and i know it,and y'all know it. And even then that will wear out in time. Even then it's not the BEST shang tsung(storywise)and Alan Lee's voice and performance is what made this enjoyable. Mr lee is too damn nice for this shit. Luv ya man but yeah. Still would love to see more of shang tsung being actually treated with respect and not with nostalgia bait clouding the writing devs minds. But people who actually love complex villains or morally grey characters.

Anyways. We love this sorcerer. But he deserves better than that.

BY FANS AND GAME DEVS ALIKE!

💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚

More kontent soon. Sorry for the smol hiatus.

[claymoresofinfamy23]

Here is probably the most unpopular Skillet opinion of the century, but I’m gonna say what I’m gonna say and that’s what I’m gonna say. Dominion is their best work yet! I vibe so hard with that album! This is probably very controversial, but it’s my personal opinion. Please don’t bash me for it because I wouldn’t bash you for your personal opinion.



[oidheadh-con-culainn]

i do think there is a degree to which certain kinds of Instagram activists have convinced themselves that traumatising themselves in solidarity is a useful form of activism. "I'm having nightmares and crying so much I want to be sick because of all these videos of dying children but I can't look away while people are getting hurt" I mean don't you think you'd be able to help more if you weren't having nightmares and crying all the time?? don't you think this is a one-way trip to burnout? don't you think maybe increasing the amount of trauma going around is counterproductive? I dunno bro there's something to be said for bearing witness but there comes a point where you gotta look hard at yourself and go "am I helping, or am I just making myself suffer so I don't feel guilty for not suffering while somebody else is experiencing bad shit"

[princesskuragina]

My last post was being snarky but here's my genuine pronoun etiquette opinion in case you actually want to know: it's pretty much never a good idea to directly ask someone their pronouns in front of a group of people, especially if you're in a position of authority, i.e. a teacher. The stakes of this question are very high for some people and you are putting them on the spot to decide what they want to share and what is safe to share. If you have decided you want to ask for pronouns at all, you can introduce yourself with your own to remind people that they can share theirs if they want to. And for the love of god whatever you do please do not just single out the most gender non-conforming or "trans looking" (to you) person and ask only them and no one else

[hinamie]

subject, specimen, spectacle;

should i say that you're dead?

[justarandombrit]

I don't know

[vvanillavveins]

Is she Lucy Westenra, or is she just a vessel for the writer's barely disguised fantasy of a women being punished for her promiscuity? Is she really"Bram Stoker's" Lucy Westenra: a naive, innocent 19 year old, with a cheery personality and a bright future ahead of her? Or has the writer instead just slapped her name on an OC that behaves nothing like her, and- with none of the grace or decorum that Lucy's tragically short story deserves- sexualized her slow and agonising death as much as possible, whilst very unsubtly doing their best to blame her for being murdered, so that we won't object to her being killed again later in an even more gruesome and sexual manner?

[infamousmonkey-cat]

i actually think it’s so significant that disco elysium is named after an optional side quest. because the heart of the game is in the margins. same way you don’t get the real ending if you don’t do the (let’s face it, sometimes annoying and disincentivised) cryptozoologist quest line. you have to care about the world and its people, not just grinding through the mystery, to ever really understand anything. which is exactly what the game of suzerainty tells you IF you don’t try to “win”

[oifaaa]

Just realising most of my grievances with popular bat fanon really boil down to "Character flaws are good and interesting actually and I don't like when you try and take them away to make the character more palatable"

[mrstsung]

Mk Characters I'm surefire firm on nobody knows how to properly write or respect.

*Warning: Spicy hot takes. If you don't want scathing angry venting plz scroll past. Thank you*

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

RAIDEN ⚡⚡⚡⚡🌩⚡⚡⚡⚡

Fujin

Kung lao (cries)

LIU KANG (MORTAL NON FIREGOD aka how he should be aka not bobby kang dollar store i wanna be goku so bad but never would in a billion yrs ever hope to fill those shoes. Aka liu kang should have retired but boons a pu**yfoot and caters only to money and his own pocket not fans unless we bitch enough then he may throw a bone. But not even worth writingabout anymore ,so moving on.)

Shang tsung (mofos can't leave my hubby alone for FIVE FUCKING MINUTES WITHOUT BEING GROSS AND WEIRD BOUT HIM and obsessing over mk12/mk1 shang tsung only because he looks younger than tagawa because they're shallow af. I could go on and on about how fucking pissed i am on this but I'd be here forever. Moving on)

Baraka and all tarkatans(who are a species btfw!)

All female characters period ever

Johnny cage (and be normal about him)

Kenshi (tho he's not that fucking important of a character so meh idgaf that much)

All shokan characters (tho its two steps forward one step back with them)

The elder gods!

The kombat kids especially kung jin

Jax (nuff said)

Shao kahn and any outworld baddie

Quan mother fucking chi

SHINNOK

The whole fucking roster (basically everyone ever to exist in the 30+yrs it's been around and hasn't truly been consistently good simce the fucking 90s maybe 2000s. Period)

[egophiliac]

ENG PLAYERS I BESEECH YOU

I have been informed that you guys are getting part 4 of episode 7 tomorrow, which means we are FINALLY going to get the official romanization of Revaan's name, somebody please tell me because I need to know what it is.

like, yes, it's probably just Revan/Levan, but look, I'm sitting here with my finger over the button of all these Laverne and Shirley jokes and just waiting for the opportunity to deploy them --

[raineyraven]

man i feel bad for fans of the httyd movies who haven't seen the shows, especially race to the edge. like they don't know that the riders left berk and lived on an outpost together to go adventuring and fight dragon hunters as a team. they don't know that snotlout and astrid and fishlegs and the twins got character development. they don't know how cool and interesting the villains in the shows are compared to the movies. they don't know that the riders are filled with love and loyalty to each other and they bicker and train and play card games with each other and have sleepovers together and will risk their lives for their friends and their dragons in a heartbeat. imagine that.