#people had just made up a version in their heads where girlbossing their way to the throne was the point of the story and

[guayabana]

elden ring attracting so much attention from audiences that usually wouldn't touch a fromsoft game has been so annoying when it comes to discussions about its story.

like maybe ironic considering grrm was involved in the writing this time, but the response to elden ring & specifically SOTE feels very similar to what happened with game of thrones, where the story is pretty explicitly about the dangers & violence & cruelty inherent in certain systems of power, and 95% of the audience response is to look at that & be like "wow i hope my fave character gets to be the good ruler who fixes everything because they're so cool & nice :D"

[aroaceleovaldez]

i'm so happy you brought back up the topic of rick's shitty writing of anyone even remotely non white / "white passing"

with that being said, do you think the shitty script he gave to annabeth in the show has to do with him just being deeply uninterested in adapting his story to include characters of color? bc it seems like once rick encounters a character that cannot be easily erased all ethnic or racial identity of to fit them into an usamerican specifically white ass narrative, he gets lost.

i just keep thinking how the only thing that "changed" about annabeth as presented in the show was her race but her plot relevance and her characterization got downgraded severely. meanwhile percy, whiter than before (wheres the mediterranean god look......................................), got half her functions. like i just look at rick in context and i wonder if he just gives so little fuck about characters of color he cant even write a decent character arc for an adaptation of a very established persona

thoughts? thank u!

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Rick (and the writer's room, since it actually seems Rick isn't all that heavily involved if much at all with the script itself based on some interviews) just has internal biases that he refuses to reflect on. It would be a consistent trend with the uptick in offensive writing in the books themselves (see: the troglodytes in general, all the Jewish kids in CHB being in Hermes cabin, etc etc). Rick seems to want to engage with these topics but refuses to actually assess how he's approaching it and his own biases while also overemphasizing his engagement with the topics. It's a kind of big talk/words vs actions type thing to me.

[this got a wee bit long so throwing it under a cut]

I was having a couple of conversations about this topic recently - one being group reading/discussion of WottG and how, allegedly, the slightly different characterizations in that book are inspired by the actors in the show. Annabeth is repeatedly and frequently described as motherly and maternal in the book, plus some other misc characterizations that make you tilt your head and go "Wait, what about Leah made you want to write Annabeth this way?" and concerns about it leaning into stereotypes. (It's also strange, because in the show Sally is MUCH more aggressive and less maternal, and this is painted like it's supposed to be a girlboss thing cause her being too soft and motherly was too weak or something? But now book Annabeth is now being described as all soft and maternal??? What. What is happening.)

Another conversation that i had with my therapist (cause we talk about pjo a lot lol) and later repeated and discussed more with other folks on discord more specifically regarding the show was a lot of discussion about the casting. Particularly casting choices and how the writing either is refusing to take casting into consideration to respectfully approach how things would be changed to avoid problems or are actively changing the script for characters in a way that is potentially if not downright offensive. Clarisse is the number one example i bring up because a lot of people say that the reason a plus sized actress wasn't cast for her was to avoid the "fat bully" trope. The thing is, there is ALSO a POC bully trope that is just as bad if not worse, so if they were actually taking offensive tropes into consideration one would expect them to avoid that too (especially since Percy was cast as a pasty white boy - which just makes it all look worse)? (Also other plus-sized characters like Dionysus and Gabe were also cast as skinny, same with Tyson. So it just seems like they don't want to cast plus-sized actors either.)

But also they're rewriting stuff that actively puts the casting decisions into worse tropes. Like hey, why is Percy (a white guy) the one who knows the "real" versions of all these myths and is expositioning them to Annabeth (a black girl), who in the books is supposed to know more than him? Why does he know better than her for some reason and have to guide her? Why is Percy teaching Annabeth about pop culture and how to be a kid? Not to mention stuff like the show constantly encouraging the viewer to doubt or distrust characters like Grover and Clarisse and Annabeth as red herrings as to who the traitor is. Plus there's no adjustments to stuff from the books like Annabeth initially being somewhat aggressive/antagonistic towards Percy, or Clarisse's aggression and bullying towards Percy to try and circumvent those being bad tropes in the contexts of the casting.

And there's an ongoing trend of characters who are antagonistic towards Percy in the books being divided into two groups: those who continue to be antagonistic towards Percy in the show, or those who are tweaked to suddenly become kinda silly-goofy and significantly less threatening. Gabe, Dionysus, Ares, and Hades are all examples of characters that should be antagonistic towards Percy but are softened SIGNIFICANTLY and played for laughs in the show. Echidna is played as a twist antagonist because she initially because she approaches the kids as very sweet and helpful. And they're all cast as white! Meanwhile other characters like Clarisse, Luke, Zeus, etc, are still antagonistic towards Percy (plus also like Annabeth initially and again, Grover being painted as a major red herring). Plus some new additions like Hermes, Mr. Lin Manuel Miranda himself, being wholly introduced into the plot when he's not supposed to appear until book 2, and all he does is sabotage the quest. Like, it's weird! That's a weird writing decision!!!! I get wanting to get that sweet sweet LMM cameo money, but, why is Hermes an antagonist here???????? he's not even supposed to be here yet!.

We also have stuff like Poseidon (who, like many of the god/major kid pairings so far seems to have been cast to match each other appearance-wise) saving the day for Percy and being this weirdly good dad, versus the books where we get the iconic "I am sorry you were born" line and Percy and Poseidon's tension is part of their arcs. Notably, Poseidon does this by ceding to Zeus, who is actively about to start a war. While Gabe is rewritten to be a total loser, Sally is MUCH more aggressive and her yelling and screaming at young Percy is supposed to be sympathetic for some reason? If Gabe were acting like Sally does in the show, he would actually be significantly more like his book counterpart! The show is making active decisions to paint these characters the way they do!

Admittedly, part of it may just be they got overzealous with their casting (not inherently a bad thing! diverse casting is good!) and then proceeded to not consider how that casting affects the way the characters are perceived. It also doesn't bode well for certain guesses we can make going further into the show - Thalia is very at odds with Percy initially. She's a very aggressive character. They fight a lot! Also Annabeth's description already implies that they're tweaking Thalia's character to be more "tough love" versus the books where she's significantly more of a bleeding heart when she first meets Annabeth. Like, I'm very happy about Thalia's casting, her actress seems amazing, but also I'm VERY concerned with how they're going to approach her character to make sure it doesn't end up wildly offensive. Athena is similar - we can guess based on casting decisions so far that they're going to try and cast Athena as similar in appearance to Annabeth/Leah. The show has already painted Athena has antagonistic and uncaring towards her daughter. If projected trends continue, these things are not gonna be great.

And the show does seem to rarely want to engage with these topics - like the scene with the cop in the train. You can tell what they wanted to address by having Annabeth be the one to confront him. The thing is they were too cowardly to actually have that conversation! They paint the kids as being unreasonable and getting unnecessarily upset when they aren't directly being accused of destroying a room, therein painting the cop as the one in the right in that situation. The implication seems to be a little bit they were going for "Oh, this is Annabeth's hubris getting them into trouble" but. that's such a bad way to do it! That's like the worst way you could have done it! (This is also a trend in books from HoO onwards, more or less - Rick tries to engage with certain topics, often using characters of specific demographics, and then proceeds to do a really bad job of it.)

There are also some aspects that are just like - in the books, Luke being a middle-class blond-haired blue-eyed pretty white boy is relevant! Because the fact that he has privilege from that particularly in how he's perceived is part of how he came to where he is and why he acts the way he does. Percy not having those same privileges, and having aspects like constantly inherently being labeled as a trouble-maker just based on his atypical (neurodivergent) behavior and coming from a lower socioeconomical background play heavily into his character!!! Percy being both a poor and disabled kid (and implied potentially POC) plays DIRECTLY into why he feels so strongly about standing up for other disenfranchised kids (in SoM, explicitly including other disabled kids and kids of color). It directly relates to his experiences and standing up for kids who are like him because he didn't have that, versus Luke whose perceptions and goals are very self-oriented. Now, in the show, we've essentially swapped Percy and Luke's appearances, and that paints a very different narrative. And that's important to acknowledge!

[nyhti]

I feel like Jervis and Hugo would make each other normal (they would literally make each other so much worse)

I'm literally writing a fic right now about them making each other normal (worse). They would fuel each other's fucked up kinks <3 But honestly, at the same time they would make each other better in some ways as well. I love that cute shit <33

And this is where I could have ended this response, but because I love these two so much and think about them all the time, I wrote all this:

It depends on the writer just how ”aware” Jervis is. Some writers like to write him permanently stuck in Wonderland and in some versions (mostly Pre-Crisis) it's like he's never even been there. I prefer the versions somewhere in between; the ones where he's lucid most of the time, but slips back into Wonderland under stress. And I especially like the versions where, at times, it is unclear whether he is actually in Wonderland or just faking it to get out off a situation (think Gotham Central #19-22).

I'm saying all this, because Jervis' awareness is very key to how I write this relationship. Aside from those moments when he is genuinely in Wonderland and genuinely disconnected from reality, he is very aware and has a very keen eye in my verse. This comes from the whole hypnotist and general Mind Games World Champion thing. I think as a hypnotist Jervis needs to be very good at reading people to know exactly what to say and do to put people under his spell. And given that he is an expert in mind games himself, it is impossible to play mind games with him. In general, I love the contradiction of a character who pretends to not even be here mentally most of the time, being actually incredibly keen eyed, smart and fucking with people's heads. They think he's lost his mind, but they're the ones who are about to lose their minds. He might seem like he doesn't understand what's going on at all, and sometimes that really is the case, but most of the time he knows exactly what's happening – even better than most people.

How this relates to Hugo is that he basically has immunity to Hugo's bullshit. You cannot play mind games with him, because he knows every trick in the book. He was there when mind games were invented. My Jervis is like a human lie detector, if lie detectors actually worked and Hugo, as we know, is a big fat liar. I love it, I love it, I love it. Hugo cannot stop lying, it's so second nature to him that he lies even when he doesn't necessarily need to and every time, every time Jervis catches him on it. This is where it's at for me. Hugo has been Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlbossing his way though life for 52 years and suddenly there's this 150cm tall 48-year-old man who finally tells him to shut the fuck up. I love it. Immovable object, unstoppable force. I love it.

I just love the frustration that it ignites in Hugo when he cannot lie to get what he wants, when someone is forcing him to be genuine for the first time in over 50 years. I think it would remind Hugo of being young. See, he wasn't born a Girlboss, he had to learn how to Gaslight, how to Gatekeep. He was always shitty and was trying to manipulate and control others from a young age, but it was hard. He made mistakes and things didn't always work out and it left him frustrated. And it's all happening again now, his bullshit doesn't work on Jervis and it makes him feel frustrated, angry and finally depressed. But ultimately, it is all for the better.

I think it's evident reading Pre-Crisis Hugo issues, that he wanted people around him and not just as his little minions that he would dispose of when they weren't of use to him anymore. He has those too, of course, but I'm saying he wouldn't have made sure Magda wasn't defenseless if worse came to pass, had he not truly cared for her, he wouldn't have healed Bruce's wounds and ”died” to protect his secret, had he not cared for him. He wanted people around him and he deeply cared for the few people he was close with. All of his relationships are fucked up, because he is fucked up, but it is clear to me that this man both wanted to love others and was capable of loving others.

He wants people around, but I think it's very difficult for him to let anyone that close. Even though in my verse Jervis is the one person next to Batman (and mayyyybe Joker) that he respects, I don't think that he would ever even consider letting Jervis close, letting Jervis see behind the lies. But that's just the thing, Jervis saw thought them anyway. It was like he was forced to let Jervis close, because he couldn't keep him away. And as stated, it makes him frustrated, angry and even depressed, but ultimately, it is for the better. It does him good to be genuine around someone for once. To stop lying for two seconds and just be himself. It does actually make him more normal.

For example, if Hugo was upset over something, his first response would be to lie that he wasn't, as to not seem weak. Think of when Thorne had him kidnapped and beaten by thugs and Hugo was still going on about how: ”Threats mean nothing to Hugo Strange! You mean nothing to Hugo Strange!” Yet, after he had faked his death, he spent so much time and effort on getting his revenge on Thorne – TWICE. This man had to avenge what he suffered in Thorne's hands TWICE. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure the torture did mean something to Hugo Strange. Plus, we have seen countless times the way he responds to his plans not working out: faking his own death. Seriously, the tiniest thing goes wrong and he's out there faking his death again. This man CANNOT handle setbacks.

Imagine now if Jervis caught him on that first lie, when he pretends to not be upset. Imagine he was forced to face the fact that he very much is upset. Imagine he had go through that emotion, instead of running away from it (to his ”grave”). If he actually sat through that emotion, he would find it isn't the end. It wasn't that bad. Life goes on. Jervis could never fix him, but I do think that he could make him more normal.

And what does Jervis get out of all this? Well, he gets to play with Hugo's nice round ass <3

[the-gentleman-pining]

Decided to rewatch OFMD S2 eps 1-3 and actually jot down my thoughts as I go! Oh what fun! Ngl this is mostly for me babes but if you enjoy it that's neat ❤️

Episode 1: Impossible Birds

Stede bearded in his dream could just be playing to swashbuckling archetypes for funsies, but is it some lingering wish that he was more masculine?

Con O'Neil truly graceful about it with the sword huh

"WHERE IS HE. WHERE'S ED?" Stede seeing Izzy as the thing that is keeping Ed from him when he's the one that left lol ok

His idealised version of Ed doesn't hold him accountable either. My mans doesn't want to face what he did at all!!

His first words to Ed in his letter are reassuring him that the crew are safe, as if he doesn't remember that Ed marooned them and left them for dead on purpose??

I know it's meant to be funny but Jackie was a bit of a sex pest toward Swede at first and the power dynamic was a bit 🫤 Glad he was into it in the end!

WHY DOES WEE JOHN SLAM THE HEAD OF THE ONE WHO GOT STABBED INTO THE TABLE INSTEAD OF THE ONE WHO STABBED THEM?? 😂

Stede truly is unphased by people being assholes to him and I just,,, respect it.

Ricky your vibes are strange and unsettling

Who in their right mind would have an ocean wedding in the golden age of piracy?? I know they probs didn't know it was the golden age of piracy while they were in it but STILL

Ed looks so dead behind the eyes 😭 Just going through the motions eh buddy?

Dressed up like the book Blackbeard I see. God he's trying so hard to inhabit this character.

I would die for Archie. Truly the himbo we need in these depressing angst riddled times.

Jim asking someone else how they're bottling things up?? Hello?? Who are you and what have you done with Jim?? Aren't you the bottling up Master? Olu bewitched you too good and now you've unlocked Feelings 😔

"He's actually a good guy" Stede babygirl did we actually forget the marooning???

I have so much I could say about how Izzy and Blackbeard's relationship has deteriorated hhhhh,,,, Izzy is a problem child but I'm so glad the story is crashing towards his character actually growing and changing. In season 1 he at least got the crumbs Ed would throw him like "I need you here", now he's only getting abuse and maybe he's throwing himself at it because he recognises he had a part to play in reaching this point and believes he deserves it.

Fang's delivery on "how you doing Izzy" will keep me warm and fed all winter. Masterclass in approaching someone, truly tender and genuine but not too pressuring. God.

That second "unhand me" hhh the panic of realising you're going to start crying if the situation continues

Con is gonna rip my heart out and eat it this season if I'm not careful

Labour exploitation Jackie what a girlboss x

Why does "you'll be having a lot of breakfastseses together" sound so ominous though 😭 Smeagol Jackie my worstie...

Stede doing Blackbeard Voice is adorable but damn he really doesn't believe that he made Ed's life better. Like how??? Why doesn't Stede equate happiness with better? Ed was explicitly happier around you ya dingus!

Swede deserves his married bliss so much. The crew can be so mean to him!!

"What am I to you" and "I have... love for you" are said so softly I'm gonna be sick,, Izzy you fucked it by wrestling this man into this particular coping mechanism and your tenderness is coming wayyyy too late. Heartbreaking tbh cause the guy didn't know how else to help Ed and now he's realising it could have been different. Sick and twisted little dynamic I'm eating it like good soup.

Definitely supposed to be taken that Izzy didn't realise "talk it through" was a Stedeism as he said it but godddd you idiot dude

Once again god bless you Archie I'd die for you

Fang I want to rescue you hhhhhh my hot topic fashionista must be so dehydrated from all these tears!!!

No way in hell Ed expected anything else out of Izzy's mouth than something about Stede, but god I wish the guy had just payed attention to Frenchie shaking his head. The catharsis of saying the quiet part out loud wasn't worth your leg, man.

"Start by cleaning up that mess"... yeah we def see Ed is killing people himself again but outsourcing the Big Job on Izzy makes sense. He's also exactly the kind of self sabotager atm that would know Frenchie won't do it, and he's looking for reasons to Be Worse.

Indigo heist my beloved. Fuck those hammies up!! I love how loud Black Pete was omg 😂

Oh fuck off Ricky I know you're a S1 Stede mirror but you're doing it detestably

Roach why is your instinct to immediately put the blue dirt on your face darling

Zheng Yi Sao completely unphased by Jackie is giving me so much delight

Sexy Dutchman 😭😂 Jackie never change

I love that Zheng Yi Sao is taking the whole crew on just to have her lil Olu moment, get it girl

TENDER JIM IM SO HAPPY FOR THEM THEY'VE COME SO FAR. I LOVE THEIR BIG SMILE 😭 (also Archie is so wholesome what is she DOING here???)

Ed oh my god you're not alright at ALL

Frenchie's quiet "sounds like a plan" is just so... painful. The acting this season is off the charts.

When Roach asked if they were in soup now I thought he was referring to the ocean as soup I'm an idiot 😭

[gnomey22]

If Only, Erose: A Failtopia Analysis

My mind often wanders to the garden scene with Erica and Bo. If you know this fandom, you know what I'm talking about. The scene where Bo, for the first time in the entire series (the only time before S2E18), lets her guard down far enough to admit her deadly secret to someone. That someone being Erica, who was attempting to form a friendship with her at Failboat's request, and succeeded to a degree no-one could've expected.

My mind also often wanders to the blatant parallels between Rose and Bo, each season's respective 'Cautious Princess who is the first member of the RotF team and is constantly nervous about hiding their deadly secret until their character development allows them to be a confident girlboss'. The trajectory of Bo's arc is exactly where Rose's arc could've headed if she had a better support system.

Most recently, vaguely prompted by minifemslashfebruary, my mind has been wandering to the combination of these two thoughts. What, exactly, is Rose's equivalent of the garden scene with Erica?

Of course, there's nothing to suggest it exists in the first place, the original garden scene was created way after everything with Rose, but the RoseBo parallels are too strong for it to not exist in some form. Almost everything about Bo's significant moments and dynamics is a different side of the same coin Rose operated on. The garden scene is the most significant moment where Bo feels comfortable enough in the party to talk openly about herself, and considering where Rose ended up, it's logical to assume she had something similar, even if it was off-screen.

Fortunately for the sake of this analysis existing, it wasn't. S1E25 makes a pretty big showing of it.

Their random argument in the Neksdor cave is one of only two scenes where Erica and Rose actually talk to each other, and the other one... we'll get to later. It takes place immediately after they form their first relationship level, making Erica the first member of the party to have a real friendship with everyone. At least, that's what Failboat claims. This is thematically similar to why the garden scene exists.

The actual content of this argument isn't clear, because it's Miitopia dialogue, they have no in-game reason to argue, and they don't even develop a quarrel because of it, they literally just get pissed at each other for no reason. What we do know about it, however, is Failboat's reasoning for why it happened. Rose developing an ego, due to her rapidly increasing Rosalina power, and taking it out on Erica.

EriBo's garden scene was where Bo decided to let her guard down. Erose's cave scene is where Rose decided to push her guard up.

From the garden scene onwards, Bo is more willing to place her trust in the team and willingly work alongside them, and this is especially obvious when she teams up with Erica for most of S2E18 and E19. From the cave scene onwards, Rose really struggles with maintaining her friendships, refusing to properly work with people, and this is especially obvious when she shows off for Erica out of pure spite.

Because of the garden scene, Bo is able to fully come out as a ghost. Because of the cave scene, Rose goes all-in on the Rosalina lie.

It's interesting to think what would've changed, had the cave scene gone more like the garden scene. Where Rose makes use of the budding friendship to admit she's not Rosalina, and Erica decides to support her. Not because there's any battle benefits to it, this isn't S2!Erica, but simply because Rose needs help, and as the resident healer, she's the one trusted to give it. Maybe we could've gotten a version of Erose that wasn't just rivals to lovers. Maybe they could've been a power couple like EriBo, helping each other heal from their respective traumas. We'll never know. Rose wasn't made for that.

[honey-tea-and-cookies]

Placements I Simp For

Hey everyone! This is basically a part 2 to my 'Placements That Are Hot' post, but I liked this wording better. Also, remember that ALL placements have positive qualities, and this is just my opinion. Let me know if you have any of these placements <3

- Taurus Venus mmmm. I talked about y'all here but I'm gonna fuckin do it again okay?? You deserve ALL the love. I would die for you. I need a Taurus Venus to fall in love with me ASAP okay?? I want to take you out on pretty dates. and buy you pretty flowers. and go on pretty shopping trips with you for pretty clothes because I 100% trust your judgement. I wanna kiss your pretty head. You feel like peppermint tea. You're warm and comforting, but refreshing. You wake me up, make me see the world around me. You entice all my senses, and force me to be present. Please let me snuggle you. A slightly odd thing to say, but I *really* want to brush your hair. Endless kisses for you!

- Capricorn Mars. Basically for the same reasons I said about Virgo Mars here, but you will be meaner about arguing/debating and tbh I respect that. Not that you'll be rude or anything, but if I've just said something outrageous, you will NOT be as diplomatic as Virgo. And you know what? Girlboss move of you 💅🥰. Absolutely rip into me. Make me learn from my mistakes. Also I love watching you destroy other people. Thank you <3

- Leo Rising. The way you command a room? Watching you just,, live,, and do your thing,, is such a treat. Everything looks so purposeful?? I'm in awe. I'm also in awe of how oblivious you are to your own movements but that's not the point here. Also you walk in a very specific way but I can't describe it. It's like you walk EXACTLY how you feel. Also y'all kinda stomp sometimes and it's really funny. Either way, wonderful placement 10/10.

- Aquarius Moon. Idk y'all used to scare me, but now I've evolved and I think you're hot so. The circle of life! As an Aquarius stellium (but without an Aquarius Moon) you guys feel like?? The truer version of me?? I don't know but I feel like you just have the balls to do stuff I want to do, but can't. You're me but more social, you're me but actually helping the world, you're me but better. I don't say that from a place of jealousy at all, I say that from a place of appreciation. You guys just seem to have the drive that I don't, major respect for that. Keep it up!

- Jupiter 10th house. Personally, as someone who has a 10th house stellium, y'all are awesome. Me + you = Power Couple. I'm telling you man! Listening to your ideas inspires me. I could genuinely listen to you talk for hours. You might not know exactly where you wanna go, but you know that you'll get there. Also I feel like y'all are/were the kids that got decent grades with little to no studying, and you know what? Good for you. Iconic.

- Sagittarius Sun/Mercury. Y'all pull me out of my head and force me to have a good time. I overthink constantly, and you have this very honest way of living that cuts through my bullshit.

An actual conversation I've had with a Sag Sun/Mercury:

"No I can't do that, because what if I run out of time? If I want to get a good grade I need to finish it today so it can be drafted and-"

"PR, just stop for a second. You need to eat. Why would you skip lunch to work on a 500 word response that is due in over a week. That's stupid. Please eat."

"Oh okay"

Thank you. I'm dumb. You guys help. Thank you.

This is all I have for today! Thank you so much for reading. I made this because I was pissed off and decided I could use that energy to be more productive, and it worked! Let me know if you guys have these placements, or what your experiences are. Sending you all lots of love <3

[lonslibrary]

 best characterization lines from the crows—nina zenik

“She shoved one of the cakes from the cofee service into her mouth and mumbled, ‘What do you want, Kaz?’

‘You have crumbs on your cleavage.’ 

‘Don’t care,’ she said, taking another bite of cake. ‘So hungry.” 

Kaz shook his head, amused and impressed at how quickly Nina dropped the wise Grisha priestess act. She’d missed her true calling on the stage.”

such. an. underrated relationship. ik people love to talk about the lines where she bullies him for his hair but i love this crumbs on cleavage line AND the fact that kaz truly is impressed by her skills not as a grisha, but as a performer>>> danielle galligan mentioned she used that last sentence to characterize her own performance as nina which i also love. 

“‘Of course every time [the mark] pats his back pocket or the front of his coat, what is he doing? He’s telling every thief on the Stave exactly where he keeps his scrub.’

‘Saints, grumbled Nina. ‘I’ve probably done that.’ 

‘Everyone does,’ said Inej. 

Jesper lifted a brow. “Not everyone.” 

‘That’s only because you never have anything in your wallet,’ Nina shot back. 

‘Mean.’”

i adore her honesty and sass and everything about her honestly 

“Nina had wronged him, but she’d done it to protect her people. She’d hurt him, but she’d attempted everything in her power to make things right. She’d shown him in a thousand ways that she was honourable and strong and generous and very human, maybe more vividly human than anyone he’d ever known. And if she was, then Grisha weren’t inherently evil. They were like anyone else—full of potential to do great good, and also great harm. To ignore that would make Matthias the monster.” 

i LOVE this because nina from matthias’ pov is always the best and this quote says as much about him as it does about her. get yourself a girl who will change your mind from its deadset ways that you’ve been brainwashed into since birth.

“Matthias was already up, seeing to their weapons. Nina stretched and yawned, adding a little arch to her back, pleased at the way his gaze darted over her figure before guiltily jumping back to the rifle he was loading. Gratifying. She’d practically thrown herself at him the other day. If Matthias didn’t want to take advantage of the offer, she could make damn sure he regretted it.” 

i’ve read this book over ten times and just made solid eye contact with this line. i heard people spell girlboss like nina zenik. i also heard people were right. 

WARNING ⚠️ last quote is from the chapter 39 —skip to avoid spoilers or heartbreak 🚨🚨

“Nina screamed, a howl that tore from the black space where her heart had beat only moments before. She searched for his pulse, for the light and force that had been Matthias...She felt the river around her, the black waters of grief...

‘Come back,’ she demanded. He breathed. His eyelids fluttered and opened. His eyes shone black.” 

scarlet witch vibes anyone??!! what is grief, if not love persevering? her powers develop beautifully all the way into king of scars and rule of wolves. 

aaaand my favorite series is back :)) comment below any quotes i missed! 

kaz’s version | wylan’s version | jesper’s version | nina’s version | matthias’s version | inej’s version

[grace13star]

“Look, there’s a reason why you are not the president and never will be.” - Wilbur Soot (Am I The Villain?, 05:36)

Hi guys it’s me, Grace, with another mini essay about c!WIlbur Soot. Assume every name is about the character and not the real people. 

So there’s this scene that a lot of people use as evidence that Wilbur is “evil” or “manipulative” to Tommy in Pogtopia. If you ask for evidence of abuse or manipulation, this is a scene they point to first. 

Its literally the worst example they could give.

I’m sure you all know the scene. Wilbur and Tommy are arguing, and Wilbur tells Tommy that he’ll never be president and that they can’t trust anyone. 

So we’re gonna talk about this scene and lay out exactly how you’re wrong using critical thinking skills. We’re gonna talk about context. We’re gonna talk about quotes. We’re gonna talk about mental illness and ableism in this community. 

Strap in.

So first of all, the context. 

In the scenes leading up to the speech, Wilbur and Tubbo are exploring the tunnel system Tubbo has built under L’Manberg that leads to Pogtopia. He specifically shows him a false path he’s built so that if Schlatt ever comes down, he won’t be led straight to the rebel hideout. 

Surprise, surprise, Schlatt and Quackity show up. 

Tommy is also there at that point, and when Tubbo and Wilbur try to get him to crouch and hide so he doesn’t reveal their location, he ignores them and starts destroying the wall that is hiding them as they try to get him to stop. “Tommy, fill in the gap. (Tommy starts breaking more) No! Tommy, fill in the gap!” -(Am I The Villain?, 4:28)

Wilbur then gives in and lets Tommy have the path open, but he tells Tommy that he doesn’t want him at Schlatt’s decree because of how irresponsible he’s being. Tommy argues, and this is when Wilbur first says “This is why you are not the president and never will be.” Harsh? Maybe, but Tommy is doing things that are risking not only his and Wilbur’s life, but Tubbo’s as well. 

Schlatt and Quackity almost follow the path to Pogtopia, but luckily, Schlatt turns back to make his decree. 

The declaration of the Manberg festival is the first time Wilbur’s point of view is questioned. He has a very black and white viewpoint throughout the entire storyline.  “It was Dream, he’s kinda the bad guy. Yeah, we’re the good guys, we’re the good guys here.” - (Wilbur’s Niki joins L'Manberg: 22:28) The festival isn’t evil and doesn’t seem like some nefarious plan (we know later that it’s just a front for Tubbo’s execution, but it’s unclear whether that was planned from the announcement or if it was added later). 

This shakes his whole worldview, and the way he reconciles what he thought with what he knows now is deciding he’s the villain. Objectively, this isn’t even close to true. Schlatt was a tyrant who over taxed and imprisoned his citizens if they spoke out against him, and Wilbur’s government never really did anything. It’s worth noting as well, that one of Wilbur’s justifications is that Schlatt was elected legally. However, a lot of tyrants and dictators in history were also elected legally. Its the actions of the governing force that make them a bad leader, not whether or not they got their power legally. 

Wilbur’s response to realizing the world is a lot more morally grey is immediately the most extreme response. He thinks they should blow up Manberg and completely raze it. 

While Wilbur, in this video, claims that its because he can’t have it, he truly believes that Manberg is what caused conflict, and if he takes out Manberg, the conflict will disappear. This is confirmed by a Reddit analysis post that Wilbur reponded “Any truers” too.  Wilbur also says this directly in the video. “Do you know what would happen if we get L’Manberg back, Tommy? More blood would be shed.” -(Am I The Villain?, 18:56)

Now we get to the part that people claim is manipulation. 

First thing I’d like to say is this: look up what manipulation means for the love of god. Stop using buzzwords you don’t know the meaning of. 

This has become a problem with the meme “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss,” where people joke about serious topics like manipulation and abuse and confuse it with completely normal things to do. I’ve seen so many people claim something is gaslighting only for it to be a character saying their opinion. It’s tiring, guys. 

Anyways, with this specific scene, people point to the part where Wilbur says “Everyone who’s claiming to be on our side? They’re lying to us! Tubbo? He’s lying to you, man!” - (Am I The Villain?, 20:27) 

This is not manipulation. 

This post explains it in a lot more depth (check it out, it’s very well written, thank you @the-redeemed-anon​), but to sum it up: manipulation requires coersion, intention, and withholding of truth. While Wilbur is trying to coerce Tommy, he does not lie to him, and that makes this persuasion and not manipulation. 

This scene, in my opinion, is just an extremely stressed, paranoid, and self deprecating man lashing out at one cause of his stress. Villainizing this scene and calling a perfectly normal emotional response manipulation and evil is not...great? Yes, he hurt Tommy. Yes, it was unfair of him, but I’ve had responses like this in real life and I didn’t have the stress of almost being killed hanging over me. It’s honestly surprising he didn’t lash out further. 

So how is this ableist?

Wilbur is a character with clear mental illnesses. He is paranoid, depressed, self-deprecating, and suicidal. There are no mental health resources on the server (at the time), no therapy or drugs, or anything that could help him. Even before exile he was under so much stress that any time he was alone he would scream and cry into his pillow. 

During L’Manberg, he kept all the bad parts of himself to the times when he was alone. Then, he was exiled and couldn’t hide it any longer. He starts lashing out and reacting in the only way he knows how, in the only way he can. 

The villain narrative only started appearing after this. 

There’s a stereotype in society that is especially prevelant in this community of calling mentally ill characters who don’t react in “good” ways insane or crazy. I see it literally every day. “Wilbur went insane and blew up L’Manberg.” “Wilbur was crazy.” Even the characters in roleplay call him that. I’ve even seen people claim that he is “a psychopath.”

It’s just plain and simple ableism. 

For one, using the terms “insane” or “crazy” especially in analysis is a good way to show you don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re too vague for actual analysis, and don’t actually describe anything about the character. Not to mention all of the stereotypes caught up in those words. Basically all of modern media uses it as a synonym for evil, especially horror movies. 

People seem to villainize Wilbur to an extreme degree all the time, even more so then other villains of the story. 

Dream, is a character who started most of the major conflicts of the server (Disc War, L’Manberg War, exile, Doomsday), blackmailed a neighboring country and threatening to imprison their people unless they exiled Tommy, abused and manipulated Tommy into almost committing suicide, planned to steal people’s things, pets, and even Skeppy so he could hold it over their heads and control them, and many other things, is excused because “Tommy was annoying” or because “we just don’t see his perspective.”

I personally don’t see Technoblade as a villain, I’m putting him on the list because he’s done much worse than Wilbur and he’s not called a villain most of the time, which shows the double standard people have for Wilbur. While Wilbur just blew up a country with only some property damage, Techno spawned multiple Withers, and then went out of his way to kill people, chasing after them and stopping them from killing the Withers. He then also helped Dream when he blew up L’Manberg again, with a lot more property damage than Wilbur’s explosion.

So why have people who have done worse things been excused while Wilbur has been villified?

You know why. 

People constantly make Wilbur worse than he ever was. I can’t tell you how many “Abusive Wilbur Soot” tags I’ve seen. People make up headcanons where he hit Tommy. Artists draw him looming over Tommy, being physically imposing or creepily touchy-feely. People make up claims that he manipulated and gaslit people. 

And the name “Vilbur”. Why. 

Too many people have tried to use Vilbur to seperate Wilbur from his Pogtopia self. They say he has “versions” of himself. They try to make them seperate people. Even Phil does this in rp, saying he wants his “real son” back. Wilbur is Wilbur. His mental illnesses are a part of him. He’s not a fake him for acting on his emotions. He’s not a different person. Like I don’t see how people don’t see that it’s ableist. 

Wilbur was not a great guy. He was an antagonist He made a lot of bad decisions that affected a lot of people negatively. But he’s not a bad guy. He’s not a villain.

Stop it. 

Sincerely, a tired psychology student

(Thanks to @kateis-cakeis​ for your amazing quote post, ily you’re doing god’s work)

[rosetintmyworld84]

I'm not mad, just disappointed

Anyone who likes the live action Cowboy Bebop, go ahead, you do you. These are just my thoughts on it as an adaptation, and well...

First of all, it fails as an adaptation. Now, I'm not at all saying I wanted a shot for shot remake, I'll rewatch the anime for that. I wanted something new. And I at least wanted the characterization to remain consistent.

Full disclosure, I couldn't make to the end of episode 2. I value my time too much to force myself to watch 10 episodes of something I don't like at all. And after seeing some of the Julia spoilers I think I made the right decision.

So the show doesn't just remake the existing episodes/movie, but it does take pieces from the anime, dialogue, whole scenes, side characters, from various episodes and mix them together in a kind of mad libs script. When it made Katerina the runaway daughter of a crime Lord I was like, ok let's see where this goes. And it basically goes nowhere. It ends as Asteroid Blues ends, but instead of a couple on the run, with Katerina realizing Asimov has become too much of a junkie, too reliant on Red Eye to ever be the man she once loved, she kills him and herself to escape. In this new version they are star crossed lovers, and Asimov's drug use isn't an issue apparently, and he is killed by Faye and then kills herself in a Juliet parody. This kind of misreading becomes indicative of the show as a whole. 

Now the casting was actually really great, and honestly I don't care that much about John Cho's age difference from Spike; it was a nice music related detail but not really a deal breaker. AND it could have been a jumping off point for them to do something new. Same with Faye being introduced as a bounty hunter already. Her character was pretty defined by being a gambler and con artist in the anime, but that wasn’t really her defining trait. She is a survivor who has had to look out for herself for a long time, while also having no past or sense of where she belongs.

And Mustafa Shakir is a fantastic choice for Jet, and I was really looking forward to it, but aside from great casting THEY MURDERED MY BOY! I know he’s not everyone’s favorite, but Jet is integral to the cohesion of the Bebop crew. Jet is a former cop who left because he was an idealist that couldn't clean up a corrupt system. He is the black dog that won’t let go once he gets his teeth into you. And in no way would he chuckle it up about killing the bounty heads that they need alive to collect the bounty on, because their faces looked “so funny”. He was the conscience of the Bebop, reigning in Spike and Faye’s worst impulses. He is a man that feels such responsibility for the people in his life that he makes sure he’s the one to bring in his ex’s new boyfriend, to make sure he isn’t hurt, and that the police get the evidence that he killed a man in self defense. Despite his growling and complaining he worries about his crew, and comes to the rescue. It’s because of his need for companionship that the crew grows from him and Spike to include Ein, then Faye, then Edward. This is a man who is so desperate for a family he can’t function when they’re gone. I like to believe that in the anime, after Spike is dead, he and Faye go off to find Ed and Ein and bring them back. In no part of this characterization is a man that would run around the solar system, barely scraping by, while he HAS A CHILD! It doesn’t matter that he left the force, that he and his wife are divorced, Jet would NEVER leave his child behind! It just doesn’t fit! And don’t think we didn’t notice that as soon as he’s played by a black man they made Jet and absentee father Netflix. WE NOTICED!

All you need to know about how the creators totally missed the point is their comments about the women in the anime, and how they “improved them” for the live action show. Improved them how? Cheap girlboss™ Faye, battered wife Julia, Syndicate bar owner Ana are not the breakthrough feminist portrayals they believe them to be. Faye was already a kickass, take no shit kind of woman before. Her design was a bit fan service-y, and the costume change was very welcome, but everything about her was about survival. She had her Redtail, all those cool gadgets disguised as jewelry and cosmetics, and girl could throw a punch. Julia had ALREADY left the syndicate, living on her own for 4 years. Ana was a tough as nails FAT lady (OG Bebop was all about the diversity of body types in a way Netflix’s is very not) who was likely somehow related to Spike, like an angry Russian aunty. To say nothing of all the other female characters who were diverse, had full inner lives, and agency. 

And Vicious, oh my GOD Vicious. Part of his menace was how little he was in the show. Some brain trust decided that Vicious was integral to the plot and had to be EVERYWHERE, in a god awful wig. First of all, the whole Vicious/Julia/Spike love triangle was NEVER about Julia. Anime Vicious could give a shit about her. For Vicious it was always about Spike. Because of his relationship with Julia Spike wanted to leave. THAT was the conflict between them. If Vicious couldn’t have him, then NO ONE COULD! Spike wanting out meant he could grow and change, which means he’s NOT like Vicious, and that’s something Vicious could not allow. Spike in the syndicate gave Vicious power. That’s all Vicious really cares about, power. And nothing in Julia’s, admittedly tiny characterization, would stay with some psychopathic crime lord out of a misguided “love”. She knew leaving would put a target on her back, and she did it anyways. And she left without Spike because traveling together would make them more obvious. 

And for as much as people tend to typify Spike in the finale as going after Vicious for Julia, he’s really not. He was going to go after Vicious after they found Ana. He had already decided, even though he and Julia had just found each other, and she begged him not to, he was going to end him once and for all. Because that’s who Spike is. He had run away, and hoped he could just move on; but after Mao and then Ana he couldn’t let him be. He knew Vicious would continue to go after everyone he cares about. Julia’s death was just the final nail in the coffin, but he was still always going to end up taking the Red Dragons on regardless. 

It seems they were trying go for a lot of camp with it, which is fine and in keeping with a lot of the original tone, but where they miss the mark is the camp surround the bebop crew, but they are playing it totally straight. THAT’S what makes the world feel real, and likely why their Ed feels so off the mark for so many people. maybe it’s actor, maybe it’s the direction, but if anyone involved had every met a kid they’d know Ed behaves like a normal goofy kid, albeit with amazing hacker skills. It shouldn’t have been hard to have someone act like Ed but real, kids just be like that. And Ed adds an element of innocence to a hardened and cynical crew, and that’s an important balance. 

And I get that there are monetary constraints in live action, but the world seems so much smaller. Jet, Spike, and Faye only every fly their own space craft on planet. The space casino in Honky Tonk Women is massive; it feels like a space station. In the live action, it’s a closed off, fairly small room. It doesn’t feel like the right scale for a story that takes place across many planets, moons, and asteroids. 

Again they nailed a lot of the look, and I love that they kept Punch and Judy completely accurate, and the casting, for the most part, is fantastic. But they missed what people loved about the show. It wasn’t quippy one liners (and the Netflix ones are pretty bad ones), it wasn’t badass villains, it was the crew. It was the found family of broken and lost people, all of whom bring something different to the mix. It was seeing them become a family, as cliche as that has become now, but not realizing it until it’s too late. The crew in the Netflix version feels more like the Suicide Squad in the 2016 Suicide Squad; a bunch of unpleasant people who don’t like each other, becoming a “family” because the script says they do. It’s a cheap imitation that brings nothing new to the story. I’m upset because it could have been great, but instead it’s generic and boring. But I’ll always have the anime, and the movie, and even the 3 volume manga, or the 2 volume Shooting Star manga. To be fair, it is probably impossible to get that lightening in a bottle a second time, even with Yoko Kanno writing the music. And honestly, I think we, as a society, need to admit that live action adaptations are never going to work, because the medium of a story matters, and animation can produce wonders and fantasy that live action, even with modern special effects, can only dream of doing. 

[gay-ghosts-committing-crimes]

Two Best Friends Going to the Thrift Store!! (They Don’t Kiss)

AO3 link is here

Summary: Bobby and Flynn decide that watching people get their nails painted isn't fun, so they figure that shopping is the only answer.

Warnings: swearing and a sickening amount of platonic friendship

Words: 1,472

taglist, just ask to be added or removed: @barrel-of-cat-mituna @completekeefitztrash @tiergan-andrin-alenefar @lemontarto @hershis-kotlc @genesiscaveat @everything-else-and-mars @juline-dizznee @chaotic-basics @an-absolute-travesty @classyfunnyquotesmuffin7 @iamstealingyourgenderaswespeak @itstiger720 @introvertedscarecrow @sunset-telepath @an-idiot-in-a-trenchcoat @cowboypossume @anaccidentwaitingtohappen @sofia-not-sophie @fire-sapphics @dr-alan-grant-blog-blog @real-smooth @juline-dizznee @it-tastes-like-lizard

Flynn groaned from where she lay sprawled out on Julie's bed.

"I'm bored," They complained, idly picking at the covers, "I'm too gay and adhd for this."

Bobby agreed from his spot on a beanbag. "Don't get me wrong, I love the vibes, and if anyone can pull off red nail polish, it's Reg, but watching nails get done? Not my version of a hot girl summer."

Julie rolled her eyes at them and continued painstakingly painting Reggie's thumbnail, making sure it was completely even before responding.

"First of all Flynn, don't pick at the blankets, your nails are still drying, second of all, Bobbin, you are literally nonbinary. You don't get a hot girl summer."

Bobby clutched dramatically at their  chest, purposefully deepening his voice and pouting.

"Jules! The pain- who knew you were the gatekeeping girlboss of the Molina family? That's so transphobic." They paused, clearly waiting for someone to stand up for him. No one did.

"Fine, I see how it is. It's because I'm amab, isn't it? If Luke and Alex were here, they would let me have a hot girl summer."

Reggie piped up, "They probably wouldn't. Luke would be on Julie's side, and Alex would either agree with Willie, or if they weren't here, say something sarcastic about how you haven't earned a hot girl summer."

Bobby huffed, flipping over on the bean bag so he was basically upside down, and made a face at Reggie, who only smiled and shrugged, his cheeks lightly pink.

Flynn laughed but didn't disagree, and Bobby glared at them before flipping them off and haughtily crossing their arms. She only cackled more and he gave up, scoffing under his breath.

Julie hummed quietly under her breath as she worked, and Flynn made various noises to stim in an effort to not ruin her nails, but otherwise the small group fell quiet.

Finally Bobby couldn't handle the silence and pushed themself up, stretching and ruffling Reggie's hair before grabbing Flynn around the waist and lifting them up onto his shoulder, ignoring her protests about being careful of her nails, and heading for the door.

"Flynn and I will be back, we've got hot he/they and she/they shit to do." Flynn grumbled from where they were thrown over his shoulder, complaining about how they treated her like a rag doll, but didn't put up a fight to leaving. After all, she had been bored too.

"Alright half-pint, where to?" Bobby gingerly set her down once they made it outside, this time noticeably more careful about their nails, and she gave a nod of thanks.

"I'd pinch you for calling me that, but my nails are still drying," She glared disapprovingly at him, but they only gave a cheeky smile and started walking, leaving her to follow. 

"I think there's a new thrift store we could check out; I've been meaning to get some nice platform shoes."

Bobby nodded in understanding and plucked at their black shirt, which they had cropped himself "I've been wanting a new crop top or two," They replied.

Flynn checked out their outfit and raised her eyebrows approvingly. Bobby was sporting his black crop top, a pair of red high-waisted cut-off shorts, and black combat boots with rainbow laces. Their hair was loose, and he had black winged eyeliner to finish off the look.

"You can't really go wrong with a crop top," She agreed, and he grinned in response.

"Thanks half-pint." They went to rub his knuckles on her head, but laughed and pulled away when they threatened him with being called a CisHet™.

"Hey hey!" He gestured placatingly as he laughed, "No need to be harsh!"

She rolled their eyes, but gave a soft smile and bumped their shoulders together.

They slung their arm over her shoulder and started walking again.

~~

The thrift shop was mostly empty of people when the friends got there, but the selection was good and they both enjoyed searching the racks and showing off the random treasures they found tucked away, like a pair of boots that would have been a near perfect match of the combat boots Bobby was wearing, except for the fact that they were a beautiful floral pattern, and an adorable button up with sunflowers and bees that Flynn found between an atrocious neon orange jean jacket, and cute quarter-zip jacket with handmade embroidery on it.

Bobby paused their search for the Perfect Crop Top to hold a teal dress against his chest, and raised an eyebrow at Flynn.

"Well, what do you think? Figure this would convince Julie that I deserve my very own hot girl summer?"

Flynn snorted and shook her head, grabbing a garish purple dress with more frills than square inches, and handed it to him.

"Try this," They smirked, "You'd have the hottest girl summer of us all. Might even catch yourself a man in that outfit."

He stopped as if considering, and then regretfully shook their head, "I couldn't. There's only one person I'd want to catch, and I wouldn't want to make anyone feel bad by being the hottest in the group." He winked and bit his lip to make the fuck-boy face, to which Flynn responded by slugging them in the arm.

"Never, and I mean never, do that at me again, and also? I literally exist. I'm the hottest of the friend group. We all know this." She posed for a second and then turned back to the dresses, eyeing them up and down and smiled to themself.

"'Only one person'," They teased, partially pulling out a sequined pink dress and wrinkling their nose before glancing back at Bobby, "Please, you are head over HEELS for him. I'm surprised you haven't made a move yet honestly."

She grabbed a lavender sundress and held it up for his approval.

"Cute, I like it for you. And it's not "surprising" that I haven't made a move. I'm just... being patient. Besides little miss disaster lesbian, you haven't stopped pining over Carrie in years, and you haven't even asked her out once!! at least I've done more than that."

Flynn spun on him, "What?! You didn't tell me?!?!?"

"Wait wait wait, it wasn't anything big!" Bobby held up their hands and took a step back, "We were all up until like, four in the morning, and high on lack of sleep and all that, and I said we should all go on a double date. Luke pouted because he didn't want to go without Julie, and Alex was already asleep, so it was just me and Reggie.

"I guess now that I think about it, it was kind of a date? But like, a platonic one." They shrugged and turned back to searching the racks of clothes, but Flynn wouldn't let go of it so easily.

"So you're telling me you went on a date, with your crush, alone, and you think he doesn't like you back?! Are you fucking kidding me?? Oooh, pretty!"

They paused their rant momentarily when a cute pair of pants caught her eye, and she held them up to see how they looked. Flynn put them back and shook her head.

"Anyways, he's as much in love with you as you are with him. And. I'm getting these sunglasses because fuck you, that's why." 

Bobby rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to tell you not to, but aight. And he might like me back. It's not like-" They waved their hands vaguely, "- like Luke and Jules." 

They were practically made for each other, and it was never a question about whether or not they liked each other back. They just. Did. 

"With Reggie it's different. He's been through a lot Flynn, and I'd die alone a thousand times before hurting him. I just don't know if he feels the same about me."

They were both quiet for a bit, flipping through hangers and assorted shoes. It wasn't an awkward silence, just a thoughtful one, and Bobby was grateful that Flynn was able to tease and annoy, but ultimately listen and offer advice too. They were a good friend, and Bobby wouldn't trade it for the world.

After a while they went to check out, the cashier offering them a smile and polite goodbye when Flynn pushed open the door, warm air flowing around them as they began the walk back to Julie's house. 

"Hey Bobbers?"

"Yeah half-pint?"

"I don't think the boys, or you, would ever let you come close to hurting Reggie. And by the way? He tooootally likes you back."

"Yeah?" He gave a grateful smile.

"Yeah."

"Thanks half-pint." They laughed when she flicked them, and pulled her into a hug before linking their arms and singing a song under his breath.

It was a good day to have friends like his.

[kinnoth]

What's your take on Thor Ragnarok? What's your take on Thor's development within the MCU so far?I'm a fan of your posts and tags!

GREAT QUESTIONS THANK YOU FOR ASKING, THANKS FOR BEING A FAN

tldr I """"like"""" Thor's canon development now bc I've done some fucking Olympic grade backfilling and contortion to recontextualize the canon to make it meaningful, but this results in me living in my own pocket universe of an interpretation where I can't really interact with other people bc they don't subscribe to my exact reading of canon

But bro I LOVE Ragnarok. I know that can be a controversial take (I've read the meta of people who think it "slaughtered" Thor and Loki's characterisations), but I just thought it was so much fun! Like on a movie watching experience level and on a lore/meta level, it's FUN. That's not something I can say for 95% of marvel movies, which are nigh universally too dimly lit and too reliant on hateful sarcasm between characters as a substitute for a relationship.

On a meta level, I 1000% subscribe to the idea that the entire movie is a retelling that Thor is preforming for his refugees, so it's a heavily edited, exaggerated, and sillier version of events meant to keep everyone's spirits up. On the point of lore continuity, I really appreciate that thor3 makes CANON and EXPLICIT Odin's campaign of imperialist violence behind his "peaceful" reign over the nine realms, I FUCKIN LOVE IT. I LOVE the context Hela gives to their family, because she makes canon and explicit Odin's disappointments in Thor. I LOVE that Mjolnir was Hela's weapon before it was Thor's because Mjolnir was never meant to be a metric for moral goodness or readiness for rule, but a metric for a colonialist's commitment to imperialist violence on behalf of an empire WHICH IS WHY IT FINDS CAPTAIN AMERICA WORTHY BUT NOT LOKI

(btw if anyone else can draw a line between Hela and Steve Rogers that is a. representative of Odin's priorities and b. includes Thor but excludes Loki, hmu, bc this is the best I got.)

(Mjolnir rejects Thor in thor1 bc Thor was trying to conquer Jotunheim for personal glory and doesn't accept him again until he starts thinking about the good of the empire again by protecting Midgard, an imperial asset. Mjolnir rejects Loki bc Loki is a not an imperialist in service of an empire)

Off topic but I know a lot of people get hung up on Thor leaving Loki paralyzed in the parking garage, potentially to be found by the grandmasters dudes? Like people say that was unaccountably cruel and ooc for Thor. But like, ok, they killed everyone on the way up, and Thor knows his armed gladiator rebellion is on his heels also headed for the parking garage, so I dunno, I never read it as Loki was in any particular danger? But I'm a notorious Thor apologist as well as a Loki apologist so 🤷‍♂️

Things I also love: loki defunding the military to spend that money on art and infrastructure, Loki's live action thorki fanfic that Asgard unaccountably loved, Loki stonewalling Odin's attempt to reconcile bc fuck Odin, Thor's lightning powers, Bruce banner is now a Jewish grandma, Hela have I mentioned Hela love that girlboss, Jeff goldblum love that wiggly man, the Valkyrie love that angry girl, "piss off ghost", inglorious deaths for all the warriors 3, "I'm here" (screaming, crying, shaking), the story about how Loki bit Thor as a snake as well as the confirmation that they are in fact the same age

I have complicated feelings about Thor's canon development tbh. On a very ground floor sort of reaction, I despise what they did to My Boy in infinity war and endgame. I think it's a disgusting character assassination and I don't think the russos understand humour and specifically how to use humour to expand on tragedy like what thor3 did.

On the other hand, if you've read my fic and meta, you'll know that I've accepted the canon development, bc at this point, I've done a LOT of very deliberate and concerted labour to MAKE the canon development we see between thor1 and endgame WORK. But, like, there was a LOT of labour that I, specifically, put into it. It fully relies on me specifically doing a lot of digging and reaching and mining these movies for every possible frame of content to the point where I am pretty sure I've put more effort into making all the development make continuous sense than any of the screenwriters put into the actual development.

And I think I've probably just drank too much of my own Kool aid but like, I am in a position now where I do think my interpretation of Thor's character development is THE most complete and accurate reading of his character development. Key to these points are: a) I think he is an ex-imperialist who is currently and actively trying to deprogram himself from the colonialists' mindset that Odin instilled within him b) he is trying to deprogram himself from Asgard's culture of extreme toxic masculinity wherein he was not taught to have any sort of emotional processing that did not involve physical violence c) Loki is/was/always will be the person he loves best

So like, as I try to show in my thorki canonverse fics (shameless plug for myself), I can make most of the bad decisions made about Thor's character in infinity war and endgame work if I recontextualize all of his canon actions with my own (well supported, well documented) headcanon'd baggage. Of course he goes on a death wish mission to get revenge on Thanos -- he has a literal deathwish bc he was already supposed to die with Loki. Of course he sinks into an unshakeable depression afterwards -- he has no identity now that he has no family bc he was never taught to live by himself or for himself. Of course he leaves new Asgard and abdicates his rule -- he hasn't wanted a hand in the dirty business of Empire ever since Odin's ambition got his mom and brother killed in thor2, and that hasn't changed. I try to make him go through all the canon-implied feelings and anxieties and doubts in front of the reader. My entire goal of this is that people read my shit, then look at canon and think "oohh that context DOES make it better!" I will be gratified if that is the case.

(The only thing I cannot fix is the bit in endgame where Thor walks past Loki's Tupperware cell and the narrative doesn't come to a screeching fucking halt as Thor has so many feelings that he has some sort of paralytic breakdown where he simultaneously wants to commit Time Crime (tm) so he can just stay here forever and also wishes he could just die here, next to loki, like he was always supposed to. Like, that needed to happen to really lynchpin all of my work together into one smooth, problem free reading, but I'm not allowed to have nice things so)

(oh also I didn't like Thor calling frigga "mom". Shouldn't it at least be "mum"? I think "mother" is best tbh, bc I don't really read them as having that sort of relationship, see "toxic masculinity", see also "homosocial socialisation")

(and ok I get that it was a nice moment for Thor to call the hammer back to his hand, and I get that it even still works with my headcanon that mjolnir finds Thor worthy still bc Thor is defending the imperial asset that is Midgard, but like God damnit. The uncritical and unquestioning use of that word "worthy" when he catches the hammer again. Like worthy of what you guys? Do you ever ask yourself that question bc I very much do. I kinda wish they didnt bring it up at all, or if they did, it didn't come back to Thor's hand and he is just like, wistfully, "that's all right, I suspected as much. I'm such a different man now, mjolnir doesn't recognize me. I don't think I'd be alive right now if I had been the same man I was")

Wow that got long, anyway, thanks for chatting with me! Again, always a pleasure to field asks!

[sheresh0y]

Mar'eyce: Chapter Five

Pairing: N/A for this chapter, no Din unfortunately.

Word Count: 2,756

Rating: M, 18+, no younglings, we got another heavy chapter

Warnings: language, violence, slut-shaming, weight-shaming, xenophobia & racism, gaslighting, spice/drugs, alcohol consumption, implied smut, and implied abuse. No beta, too much Mando'a like always. If I missed anything please let me know, I feel gross after being in Harbinger's head.

Author’s Note: I decided to try something far out of my comfort zone and write in the antagonist's POV. I knew Harbinger wasn't a good guy when I created him, but this gave me the creeps. Harbinger is the worst version of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. Take care of yourself first and foremost, if you need to skip this chapter please do. It's more a character study and background, if you want an abridged version of this chapter message me.

As always, translations and lore are at the end.

Summary: "Mandokar was different than mandokarla for a reason. Nobody could be taught mandokar, they were born with it."

Read from the beginning: Mar'eyce Masterlist

The easiest way to get a Mandalorian to do anything was to make it seem like their idea. Too stubborn to do what was good for them, too dense to understand their own goals. It was why the entire race was in shambles. It’s why Harbinger had to fix it.

It took a long time to create the plan. Everything had to be in place, done at the right time. It was the most intense production he had ever put on and it needed to be perfect. One error could cause the whole thing to come apart and spell disaster for him. Though his reputation seemed… Flawed in certain eyes Harbinger cared a great deal about what people thought of him, and to lead his record had to be expunged. Redeemed. Cultivated to mirror what everyone thought they needed.

He honestly expected more of a fight. Kaiyah would be his biggest competitor, he knew that from the start. What he wasn’t expecting was everyone to be so keen to solve her so she could solve their problems. Any admirers she might have had ten years ago weren’t so fond of her now. No marriage, not even prospects. Hadn’t gone looking for anyone, some even gossiped about her being dar’manda, it was rare but it wouldn’t be the first time someone might have been skipped over. Especially since Kaiyah’s family line left little to be desired, who comes back from war soft?

The entire family had come back too weak to do what needed to be done. Arumorut had been fine, ran well under the rule of their old alor, Nejaa, while Kai was too busy fighting in a war that didn’t concern Mandalorians. The family had come back without their matriarch, which was expected. Not everyone survived a thirteen-year war, to be frank, it was a miracle any of them came home. It was the first wrench in his plans to rule.

As Nejaa’s nephew Harbinger would be first in line for the leadership role if none of their family made it home. They had been training him, apprehensively. Nejaa’s contact with their family was turbulent at best and they would always get skittish when Kai hadn’t contacted them for a few months. The training would pick up around then and stop when Kai or Ilyah made contact and the cycle would repeat itself.

It was maddening and Harbinger had said so. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, like any good Awaud it was best to say what you were thinking. There was no room for shyness in the family, in the culture. It was eat or get eaten. If you weren’t going to take it, whatever ‘it’ was, someone else would.

Nejaa had just arched one of their thick, dark brows at him and asked Harbinger if he became alor what would be his plans for Arumorut. It was an obvious answer, make them stronger. Better. Capable. Expand their reach, the town was getting too large to be kept a secret for much longer. A thousand people were hard to hide. His ba’vodu asked for clarification, where would they expand? How would they expand? Townships, a kingdom? Would Harbinger personally see over every person's well-being or bring in other leaders?

Frustrated, Harbinger shouted that he didn’t know but how they were running Arumorut wasn’t working. They were better than this hiding was for hut’uun, Mandalorians fought their problems. Nejaa had turned back to their datapad and nodded, saying that he should figure that out and hadn’t ever called him back for training again. Kai’s family had come back a few months later and the then sixteen-year-old Kaiyah had taken his spot as their protégé.

The town had accepted it quickly, Nejaa had spoken up about wanting to retire and Kai had disappeared, making Kaiyah the obvious choice for their next chieftain. It didn’t help that she would do everything in her power to upstage Harbinger. Coordinating town projects, bringing in extras of everything, including people, by taking up the mantle of her mother and freeing slaves.

When Harbinger tried to do the same it went unnoticed, or worse, he was turned away and figured out she had already beaten him to the punch.

“Kaiyah brought some in fresh this morning, she always brings the best cuts. We’ll take this though, once it's dried out it’ll make good rations.”

“You don’t have to do that, Kaiyah got it done last week.”

“Kaiyah brought our family together, made it whole.”

“I can’t believe how much has gotten done around here since Kaiyah’s been home.”

Kaiyah, Kaiyah, Kaiyah. It was all he heard. All the time. The bitch was taking what was supposed to be his. Everyone was fine with Harbinger leading, but grateful for Kaiyah’s wisdom. Harbinger would have been okay at the job, but Kaiyah was better. Kaiyah wasn’t shit. After four years of this garbage, he had finally gotten fed up with how much she was taking from him. Harbinger decided to have a drink, clear his head. Just to get the buzzing to stop. Just to have one thing for himself.

Of course, that was when the second wrench hit his plans.

Surrounded by his friends and bolstered by the ale he had let some of his opinions known. Those that weren’t born Mandalorian, weren’t Mandalorians. If you were adopted in, fine more fodder was always needed, but you weren’t ever going to be as good as a bred Mandalorian. Mandokar was different than mandokarla for a reason. Nobody could be taught mandokar, they were born with it.

Using the first example that came to mind, Harbinger picked Ro. The Twi’lek medic was fine, good at his job as Nejaa’s other hand. They had taken Ro under their wing to teach them more about healing, something that might be beneficial to Arumorut in the long run. Everyone knew Twi’lek healing baths were great for a reason. Ignoring a few grunts of disapproval and spurred on with shouts of encouragement, Harbinger kept going.

Ro was a healer because he didn’t have mandokar, he would never. It didn’t matter at what age Kai had gotten him because it would never be enough. Unless Ro was a half-breed, which he might have been, had anyone gotten a look at his lekku? What kind of a Twi’lek only had one? Maybe Ro was a worse Twi than Mando to lose something that important.

In hindsight, it was his fault. Harbinger hadn’t cleared the catina since the last round, if he had he would have been quicker on the draw. Then Kaiyah would have that ugly scar and not him. He still wasn’t sure how it even happened, one second he was on a barstool laughing at something that was obviously a joke -you were only a bad Twi if you were bad at sex- the next he had that fat bitch’s entire body weight on his chest, pinning him to the ground as she tried to carve his face off.

Luckily his squad pulled the dinii off him in time and Ro was on standby with a medkit. The wound was too much for bacta, it needed stitches that Harbinger should probably have been put under for. It sliced through the edge of his mouth and up his cheek, Kaiyah screeching in the background that if he thought he was so funny he should wear his jari'eyc smile forever.

When Kaiyah had finally been shoved out of the bar, Ro gave Harbinger his options. Be taken to the medcenter in town to be sedated and stitched up or put his face back together on a catina floor with nothing. Harbinger choose the latter. He wasn’t letting anyone put him to sleep so revenge could be taken. Sighing, Ro shook his head and offered the only advice he could, “don’t scream.”

The only thing Harbinger could confidently say went well for him that night was that he didn’t make a sound. Took what he was offered and didn’t look too far into it. Neither did Ro from what he could see, just did his job and left. Gave instructions on injury care to Harbinger’s not injured, now sober friends and left them to their night.

His squad dropped him off at his doorstep and never talked to him again, saying that Harbinger ‘wasn’t right in the head’ to be thinking that kind of stuff. Zaalbar - the Wookie catina owner - had banned everyone involved in the fight from her bar, it had been ten years and Harbinger still wasn’t sure if he was allowed to go back. Kaiyah got to go back though, he had seen her take that massive blue Mando to lunch. Fitting that the only person who could ever stomach being around her wasn’t even a true Mandalorian.

The days following the catina incident found Harbinger quickly became an outcast, whispers of his statements and exaggerations were spread faster then wildfire. He needed to leave, get away from these di’kut who didn’t understand what being a Mandalorian meant. Not like he did, he was born to be a Mandalorian, he would be the pinnacle of all their achievements.

He found Zac and Nadiya first, years after he had been ousted from Arumorut. They were spice users - glitterstim was their particular brand - trying to jump him for credits because of his beskar. Harbinger had to scoff at that. Beskar. One of the many things that were taken from him as a rightful, true Mandalorian. The Empire had stripped Mandalore of the metal, using it in their weapons, jewelry, and clothing. Anything they thought to add beskar to had it, a status symbol of their hand in his genocide. Harbinger wore durasteel, just like every other Mandalorian left in the galaxy. The addicts wouldn’t get what they wanted from him, but he could get what he needed from them.

Zac and Nadiya were too old to take the Verd’goten, they were maybe a handful of years younger or older than him. Drugs wrecked havoc on the body and Harbinger swore he would never touch the stuff, he was the prime of a thirty-year-old Mandalorian, the perfect specimen of Mandalorian.

The two leeches didn’t need to know that his offer of a ‘new leaf’ wasn’t real at all. They would never be real Mandalorians, not just because of their birth but the fact that they never swore the Resol’nare, never took the Verd’goten, never did anything a true Mandalorian would do and that was by design. They were just… guard dogs, enforcers. An impromptu part of the plan that ended up working out for him.

Harbinger got the two clean, healthy, and strong for what was upcoming. They were just a stepping stone for the next chapter of Mandalorian success, doing what needed to be done to get Harbinger to the final goal. And they nearly had Nadiya had found Sonja and Zac had been tracking what Mandalorians he could, reporting everything back to Harbinger.

While Zac and Nadiya were not part of the original plan, Sonja always was. Harbinger needed her to carry out the vision he had. His success-their success-hinged on Sonja being around and all she had to do was stand there. Sonja was truly Maker sent, the youngest daughter of some moisture farmer on a backwater skughole who couldn't wait to get rid of her. Harbinger had a suspicion that she wasn’t just ‘shy’ like everyone advertised but she never told him so he never knew. All he cared about was the fact she seldom spoke, did what she was told, never needed to be asked twice, anything and everything he could need or want out of her was freely given.

It was disappointing at first, finding out she didn’t have mandokar or mandokarla, but she more than made up for it in elbow grease and pleasure. The ship was spotless, food was readily available and delicious, her body open to him whenever he wanted, his armor was scrubbed down every night by someone other than himself. And she did it all without speaking a goddamn word. It was beautiful.

With Sonja in tow, Harbinger doubled down on trying to find more Mandalorians. It was harder than ever before. Concord Dawn was a ghost town, the moon half gone because of The Republic or Empire, it didn’t matter. Mandalore was populated, in a way. Slaves were forced to pull whatever beskar flakes they could from the planet’s crust while the Imperial Remnant tried to hold on to some of their strength. No Mandalorians in sight though. It was like the entire race had gone underground, so it was time for the backup plan: hope Kaiyah never got married.

Zac and Nadiya had scouted Arumorut, confirming what Harbinger knew and everyone was figuring out ten years too late. Kaiyah was worthless. Not even the manda knew what to do with her, the Ka’ra had abandoned her without a soulmate or a second thought while Harbinger and Sonja were on a pseudo-honeymoon of sorts. He wasn’t sure if Sonja wanted one, or what they were, just that it was something people did and his wife should get used to a life of luxury. She was going to be his queen after all and queens got whatever they wanted.

Things were finally looking up for him since he left Arumorut. He was thriving, married, and about to rule the planet he once called home. Kaiyah was still single, lonely, completely stagnant in the life she decided to lead. Harbinger couldn’t believe that Arumorut had been suspended in this transition of power for so long. It also happened to work in his favor, sometimes a push was all a person needed.

Harbinger was good at pushing, the best. He knew what people needed and how to give them that. For Zac and Nadiya, it was money or drugs and because he was a good ‘friend’, he could afford to float them. Then when the money ‘ran out’ he had not only their trust as a ‘friend’ but a better option for them: make the best money doing bounty work, together. Three people on one job meant bigger jobs, better credits. Then when they had ‘proven’ their prowess to the Mand’alor they got the honor of being a Mandalorian like him.

None of it was real or worth anything, never had been. Plastoid alloys and silver words for eyes and ears wherever he needed them. Now Arumorut had something to give Harbinger and all it took was gentle steering in the right direction. Pointing out the complacency in their lives now, questions like:

“Alor? Kaiyah finally got married?”

“Why hasn't she been out to find them?”

“Well, isn’t that a job for the alor?”

Then he offered up his resume, showing just how green the grass is on the other side.

“This is my wife, my riduur, my greatest love. Sonja.”

“I can’t believe I found her, I’d nearly given up all hope. I thought I was scouring the galaxy looking for myself when all I needed was her.”

“Let me take care of that for you.”

Finally, Harbinger would offer a listening ear. Solutions from the ‘outside perspective’.

“Wow. That’s awful. What did Kaiyah do, she is the alor after all. Kai still is? I haven’t seen him yet. Oh… Well, it’s good of her to help out where she can, I guess.”

“It’s nice of Arumorut to pick up the slack in Kai’s stead, I’m sure being alor is a very time-consuming job. He hasn’t left his house? Today? In fourteen years? Wow… Still, good to help our vod in their time of need.”

“You need to take that directly to the Awauds, they’ll help out. Kaiyah’s on a mission? What about Nejaa? They don’t handle these things anymore? That’s weird. Let me take a look at it.”

Time was a fickle mistress, it was hard to keep her happy. Harbinger had figured out long ago that Time was a harp to be plucked, pulled, and caressed with intention. Once he had been gifted the harvest she could bring in when he was patient with her… It was intoxicating.

Kaiyah had become the pretender, a puppet decreeing the motions her coward father wouldn’t with no drive to put Arumorut first. If she truly cared about these people she would have gotten married, would have proved herself to them. Kai would have too, instead, he was curled up in his house, wasting away and becoming a specter in his own life. What kind of leader could he be if he never spoke a word, never rallied the people to be better than this?

Mandalorians didn’t just survive, they won. And Harbinger was going to show them how, beginning with Kai.

Translations & Lore (in order of appearance):

dar’manda: soulless

alor: leader

ba’vodu: aunt/uncle

hut'uun: coward, the worst insult

Mandokar: the ‘right stuff’

mandokarla: having the ‘right stuff’

dinii: lunatic

jari'eyc: ugly, wrecked

glitterstim is in the family of spice, apparently it gives you telepathy and harvested from spiders. Don't do drugs, kids.

di’kut: idiot

Resol’nare: Six tenants. I came across this really cute rhyme to help kids learn the Resol'nare in Legends so I now bestow this little piece of fluff to you. "Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader—all help us survive."

Verd'goten: Coming of age hunt, usually taken around 13

manda: heaven

Ka’ra: stars, but in this sense we're using the myth of the ruling council of fallen leaders. For lore in this story, the Ka'ra reside in the manda and choose your soulmate for you.

riduur: spouse

vod: sibling, mate

[highladyluck]

Fortuona Athaem Devi Paendrag playlist

Direct link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KLghlM9nCF1WLKBNoLt5z?si=b1e1d244810e4ae9

26 songs, 1 hr 23 min. A character playlist for Tuon Athaem Kore Paendrag, aka the High Lady, aka the Daughter of the Nine Moons, aka “Precious” but only if you’re Mat Cauthon, aka Fortuona Athaem Devi Paendrag, aka the Empress of Seanchan.

She’s a fascinating mixture of good and evil, person and tool, sympathetic and unsympathetic by turns. I tried to capture that in this playlist, which is organized roughly chronologically by her personal timeline.

There are spoilers in the playlist and commentary for Winter's Heart through A Memory of Light, since this is meant to mirror the narrative.

Track List:

1.      Second Child, Restless Child – The Oh Hellos

2.      Game of Survival – Ruelle

3.      Sit Still, Look Pretty – Daya

4.      When I Rule The World – LIZ

5.      Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

6.      The Thief and the Moon – Shawn James

7.      Pomegranate Seeds – Julian Moon

8.      Zebra – The Magnetic Fields

9.      Jolene – Dolly Parton

10.   Maybe, This Time – OK Go

11.   Big Guns – Ruelle

12.   Fascinated – Ivy

13.   The Bullpen – Dessa

14.   Pretty Little Head – Eliza Rickman

15.   Greek God – Conan Gray

16.   Emperor’s New Clothes – Panic! At The Disco

17.   Rat Queen – The Mountain Goats

18.   Carmina Burana: O Fortuna – Carl Orff

19.   you should see me in a crown – Billie Eilish

20.   Muse with a Dagger – Taylor Castro

21.   Please Don’t Say You Love Me – Gabrielle Aplin

22.   Daisy – Ashnikko

23.   Mother’s Daughter – Miley Cyrus

24.   I Walk The Line – Halsey

25.   Glory and Gore – Lorde

26.   Trouble – Stripped – Halsey

Commentary and lyrics underneath the cut. Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5KLghlM9nCF1WLKBNoLt5z?si=b1e1d244810e4ae9

1)      Second Child, Restless Child – The Oh Hellos

See, I was born the second child With a spirit running wild, running free

The Empress’s second child, the only one who goes across the ocean.

2)      Game of Survival – Ruelle

Are we the hunters? Or are we the prey?

"Keep this doll to remind you that I will always hear you if you say my name. If I am still alive, of course."

3)      Sit Still, Look Pretty – Daya

Oh, I don't know what you've been told But this girl right here's gonna rule the world Yeah, that's where I'm gonna be because I wanna be No, I don't wanna sit still, look pretty

Tuon wishes she looked more intimidating, and threw a full-blown temper tantrum when she was told who she’d have to marry.

4)      When I Rule The World – LIZ

When I rule the world, then I'm gonna make you sweat Dog collar 'round your neck, on your knees and scrub the deck

I promise I didn't forget about the sul'dam thing. This should be as jarring as her initial POV in Winter's Heart is.

5)      Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

I see the bad moon a-rising I see trouble on the way I see earthquakes and lightnin' I see bad times today

Such a good “Seanchan invade Ebou Dar” song! I definitely stole this from someone else’s Mat playlist, but I don’t think it’s on 8tracks anymore.

6)      The Thief and the Moon – Shawn James

Said the Thief to the Moon "I'll extinguish your light soon I'll put an end to all the light that you shed On this world in its darkened state"

I can imagine this as a Seanchan myth; covers Tuon's opinion on her prophecy & getting kidnapped.

7)      Pomegranate Seeds – Julian Moon

Kore, Kore, fauna and flora How did you get your throne? (Hey!) You made a deal You traded daffodils For a kingdom of ash and bone

Had to sneak in a reference to Tuon's middle name. Tuon's POV on her bargain with Mat.

8)      Zebra – The Magnetic Fields

so there's one thing I crave when my days become ho-hum and blah I want a zebra

Took this from my Mat/Tuon book playlist because it is truly the funniest song on there. It's a zebra in our hearts!

9)      Jolene – Dolly Parton

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man

This is very tongue-in-cheek, but at the same time, if you pay attention you can see that Tuon's particularly annoyed by/threatened by Joline Maza.

10)   Maybe, This Time – OK Go

So listen, I'm not trying to prove anything at all here But don't you think that maybe, this time, you were wrong?

Mat to Tuon after confiscating the a'dam from her.

11)   Big Guns – Ruelle

Every little move is fixed Like a game of chess The blood on your hands is thick And you're placing bets Can't hide in the den of lions

A really perfect song for Tuon's 'lion on the high plains' realization; I know technically Mat doesn't have cannon or grenades yet, but shhhh, the rapid-fire crossbows are more or less machine guns. Let me have this. Call it foreshadowing if you must.

12)   Fascinated – Ivy

Never turned out like we talked about Never could tell how to read your mind Never found out what you're all about In this lifetime, baby, you will be mine

Tuon's POV on the marriage ceremony.

13)   The Bullpen – Dessa

Forget the bull in the china shop There's a china doll in the bullpen

Returning to Ebou Dar to kick ass and take heads. This was the song that made me create this playlist, because of "china doll in the bullpen," which is such a great description of Tuon.

14)   Pretty Little Head – Eliza Rickman

Catch yourself a looker, let him go, go, go Wanna have your baby, but I'm so, so slow

Tuon misses Mat, but don’t you dare breathe a word about it. Besides, it’s just business.

15)   Greek God – Conan Gray

And since you always swear that you wanted me gone Then why don't you go get your gun? 'Cause you don't really hate me (You're a little baby) You don't wanna end me (You wanna befriend me)

The Tuon vs Rand confrontation (take two, where Tuon's actually there.) Rand has quite enough confidence, really, but most of the song really works.

16)   Emperor’s New Clothes – Panic! At The Disco

Welcome to the end of eras Ice has melted back to life Done my time and served my sentence Dress me up and watch me die

Declaring herself Empress after meeting with Rand.

17)   Rat Queen – The Mountain Goats

We who have never once tasted The stench of defeat Victory sweet as the dregs of the fast food dumpster Look how they jump when we show up Like they've just seen a monster

H/T to @anyboli, who first suggested this to me as a Tuon song. This is a good soundtrack to planning the raid on the White Tower…

18)   Carmina Burana: O Fortuna – Carl Orff

O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable[…]

I literally cannot imagine a Tuon playlist without this song. It’s White Tower raid time!

19)   you should see me in a crown – Billie Eilish

Count my cards, watch them fall Blood on a marble wall I like the way they all Scream

Yeah, this was inevitable too. I’m using it for that absolutely horrifying POV of hers where she's in the damane training room and decides it's time to plan a full-out attack on the White Tower.

20)   Muse with a Dagger – Taylor Castro

You're making fun of my people Pretend I don't hear you Cause I won't forgive myself For fueling or burning you

Tuon's thoughts on Mat in the garden. This didn't lean as as far into the dagger/knife imagery as I'd hoped for- remember, this is the blog that insists Athaem means Magic Dagger Curse- but it seemed so strangely apt for the two of them that I had to include it.

21)   Please Don’t Say You Love Me – Gabrielle Aplin

There's no need to worry when You see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me Cause I might not say it back

Her conversation with Mat in the garden.

22)   Daisy – Ashnikko

Respect a bitch, I'm a maverick Flexible, so elastic But don't you dare bend a bitch backwards

This is what you married, Mat. (The Mat POV version of this character sketch is probably Cake's Short Skirt Long Jacket.) I will not apologize for the number of #girlboss songs on this playlist.

23)   Mother’s Daughter – Miley Cyrus

Oh my gosh, she got the power Oh, look at her, she got the power So, so, so Don't fuck with my freedom I came up to get me some

The confrontation with Egwene. I see this as mostly Egwene's POV, with Tuon doing a sort of echo, the way she does in the original scene. They are fascinatingly alike here, and the way Egwene controls the scene and gets in Tuon's head- when that's Tuon's signature strategy- is amazing.

24)   I Walk The Line – Halsey

You've got a way to keep me on your side You give me cause for love that I can't hide For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide

Tuon admitting that her heart tells her to return to save Mat (and the armies of the Light).

25)   Glory and Gore – Lorde

Glory and gore go hand in hand That's why we're makin' headlines (Oh! Oh!) You could try and take us (Oh! Oh!) But victory's contagious

The Seanchan army comes back for the kill.

26)   Trouble – Stripped – Halsey

Don't forget me, don't forget me I wouldn't leave you if you'd let me Hmm, when you met me when you met me You told me you were gonna get me

Death threats are just their deranged way of flirting; if Tuon wanted Mat dead she wouldn't warn him, you know? And in that final scene with the fireworks Tuon's telling Mat that she wants him around, and he understands it as such.

[gwasgy]

Okay. So. Here’s an elaborate multiple days of brainstorming ideas as they come PracticalMagicnatural AU nonsense. Thank you.

- Bobby and Rufus would be the Aunts and they'd be bffs not siblings and would have Vibes but it would be... hm. This is not a Bufus story is what I'm saying.

- the Curse would be on the men and for the women they love of course (classic fridging :/)

- this works for Bobby, (Rufus,) John, and Sam. (Supernatural is bad)

- so this is where it's kind of. Hm. Bc Sally and Gillian are not one to one for either boy. Where Sally and Gillian BOTH have identities separating family and magic (family business), these ideas are inseparable for the brothers.

- alsooo dean and sam to BE dean and sam they would've had to be "raised" by john until they were at least near-grown, even if they had a home base at Bobby's house.

- John still kills himself with grief MAYBE but it's like /later/ and more through self destruction and revenge and alcoholism, leaving the boys to live their later teenage/early twenties in the Bufus household

- Azazel is the one killing all the Wives in this curse. And if they use The Resurrection Spell to bring them back, he is possessing them

- hmmmmmmmmm they need to still be hunters I think buuut what if. They also did witchcraft.

- Dean would cast the love summoning spell, making it so that he uses angel descriptors unwittingly or on purpose because he doesnt think angels are real and therefore cannot exist for him to fall in love with and kill (bc the curse)

- it would be fun and very cringe fail embarrassing for Dean if sometimes he thought about His Angel and accidentally occasionally prayed to Cas

- Anna could show up and be Dean's red herring

- Dean could be in an About to Die situation and think, as a joke or whatever, "fuck. I never even got to meet that hot angel chick that's in love with me," and Cas shows up (with wings bc hot), saves him, *handprints*, then leaves

- OR. There's a blinding light and screeching noise and Dean blacks out and wakes up with a handprint safe and sound

- Cas and The Guy From Practical Magic That's A Cop both bend the rules of their superiors for their person easily and pliantly. except for the initial pushback. Hm.

----

- it's weird bc in practical magic there's this whole vibe of I'm Done With Magic And You're Dragging Me Back Into This And Ruining My Life but sammy had gone away and rejected The Life THEN found the woman he loves and THEN tried to resurrect her mayyybeeeee wait wait wait it wouldn’t be Jess bc she isn’t evilll...

- DEAN would be the one with a bad boyfriend that they accidentally kill and have to resurrect... hmmmmm

- maybe it's like a Boy Best Friend of dean's like maybe he is on a hunt with Benny and he accidentally chops his damn head off and tries to resurrect him to cover it up

- and that fucks up something in the afterlife and Cas is sent to Fix The Problem of whatever the fuck happened to this guy's soul when they did this

----

- it's wonderful to think of the PTA mom shenanigans Dean and Sam could get into but I don't think that Dean would have any sort of kid in this besides maybe jack?

- I mean, it could be that Ben is still around and he was with Lisa but never Loved Her on principal, and left in time so the curse didn't fuck her up, but they're still friends and he will still pick Ben up from school sometimes

- I don't see how the phone tree could work into it but I don't think that it's necessary bc sam and dean and cas's version of this story does not and can not revolve around them being outsiders in their own community but overcoming it and accepting who you are and integrating into the community through girl power and witch magic

- BUT. the potential of sammy being possessed is yeah. It’s extremely. Yeah.

- They could have a nice bonding moment of I'm never gonna leave you you can do this like from Swan Song. Like Sally joining Gilly in the broom circle to help her while she’s being exorcised

- their brotherly bond is NOTHING like Sally and Gillian's, though. Like YES. they would no doubt help bury the body, but they aren't giggling about their love life under the covers together. They simply are not that type of girl

- also I guess there wouldn't be the tension of You're Ruining My Life That I've Constructed Just By Being Here between them.

- WELL.

- Dean WOULD say something shitty about cleaning up Sam's messes though. He is just that type of guy

----

- Dean can definitely be the one chopping and hacking at the rose bush and cas would DEFINITELY get distracted and heal him in the middle of his conversation with him

- Dean oh dean he and his close Boy Best Friends could totally fuck with the curse. Like-

- Dean: Oh my good friend Benny he’s the first person ive really allowed myself to get attatched to in a while but that’s fine! he can't die because i don't love or like him like that because he's a guy! Haha, I'm not gay! We are just guys being dudes just two bros hanging out :)

Benny: *dies anyway*

Dean: FUCK

- Sammy would totally make that new age witchy herbal shop that Sally had! that would be so fun. Also ft. periphery what the fuck is up with those people type locals

- maybe Rowena shows up still and Crowley is also there hmmmmm and Rowena teaches Sam magic stuff and it gets him to make the supernatural a part of his life again without having to do any hunting hmmmmmmm or it's just another tool in his arsenal and he just always deserves to have magic powers

- the supernatural ladies could work in the shop :) like Meg and Rowena and Ruby anndddd Alya :) Ava? The psychic hunger games MVP girl

- or all the kids work at that shop!! I miss those dang kids. Max, the twins, death lesbian, Jake, electric guy, and all them :)

- Rowena is like a witchy shop owner up in town that buys Sam's wares to sell in the city #CareerWoman #GirlBoss

- Jody and Donna can also hang out I guess. Since we're at Bobby's place

----

- Dean casts the love summoning spell after either Regular Heartbreak with Cassie, his first love, when he was 15 or whatever, OR after the behated Boy Best Friend death. Hmmmmmm

- it makes more sense for the story for dean to have someone die on him and apply to the curse. But I don't wanna kill Benny ):

- well I don't think he was ever In Love with Crowley or Benny like he was with Cassie (or even Lisa)

- when he was 15 or 14 and John was still around but had left him at the Bufus household he got hold of that love summoning spell and made sure it was impossible so he would never experience heartache again. He does so while crying teenagishly and 11 year old sam is like. Why the fuck are you summoning this weird monster girl to fall in love with you

- and Dean is like no no this kind of monster doesn't exist. Anyway they'd have glowing blue eyes and they're as big as a building and and they hear me whenever I call no matter far away

- Sam: that...... sounds like an angel, dean.

Dean, having already done the spell: WHAT. NO. NO IT'S NOT IT IS SO NOT LIKE AN ANGEL. ANGELS AREN'T REAL

- Cas in Heaven, a bunch of flower petals swirling around him: what the fuck is that. That's weird

- Cas like 13 years later when he sees a cajun zombie vampire demon: okay I'm already getting weird prayers from some guy down there I'm just gonna check that out

- by the time Cas gets down there they've killed it again and buried it and hmm

- It's weird because it's the opposite of Practical Magic here bc Cas is the one that needs to be believed about something supernatural BY dean

----

- what if they accidentally kill JOHN instead of a hot bf. Dean kills John bc John tries to kill Sam, and they panickedly try to resurrect him immediately

- yeah yeah yeah yeah and John, possessed by Azazel, gets killed again while still being possessed and is buried underground. There can still be a rose bush and frogs and whatnot

- I doon't know why Bobby and Rufus would just leave the brothers in their house if John was alive until then?

- Alright John's been missing for like 5 years and the boys have just been living there and assumed he's dead. Then he comes for Sammy bc Sam is Turning Evil or whatever and John's a huge loser about it

- so Bufus is like "you guys are acting insane and you aren't telling us what's wrong so we’re just going to leave and you're going to sort it out yourself." Like the aunts

- then, when cas shows up to track down the weird resurrected demon-possessed serial killer abomination Dean and Cas are EMBARRASSING like completely totally absolutely embarrassing cringe fail love where they can't talk normal with eachother and Cas keeps getting too close and staring but Dean forgets to tell him to back off or anything and he just stammers uselessly through thin dumb lies

- there aren't any children there to comically thwart Sam's plans to get rid of Castiel as he is investigating Dean and Sam but it could end similarly

- where Cas finds Sam making a small angel banishing symbol and is like "okay. You guys aren't to be trusted and you're doing something evil (and i don't understand what’s happening to me when i’m around Dean). I'm just straight up going to leave then" and boom he's gone

- the fight Sally and Gillian have right before Gillian gets possessed can play out pretty damn similarly with Sam and Dean, but it's a LOT different too

- like it's their DAD not some random serial killer bf. You can't choose your dingdang dad! So the part of "I cant keep cleaning up your messes" WHOSE MESSES who even says that to who whose mess could this even be

----

- Sam has a girlfriend that dies from the curse and it’s bc of being caught in the crossfire when Hunter Bullshit Happens. The Women of the Winchesters’ way. So he moves back specifically to get back into hunting and witchcraft to BREAK the curse hmmmmm.

- Much like Sally with Michael’s death. “I don't care what he comes back as. As long he comes back. Please do this for me. Please? Please? Please? Please?” :(

- I think Dean is an Of Course I’m Not Going To Fall In Love kinda character, like younger Sally before Michael. very pessimistic very self depreciating. He only confides his deepest darkest desires (to be loved simply and openly without fear of the Curse taking anyone. To be held and to take care of someone who will appreciate it) in his fakey fake pretend prayers to his imaginary angel (this turns out to be very cringe fail embarrassing when Cas shows up)

- Cas holds onto these prayers like Hallet (the cop from movie) does with Sally’s letter to Gillian, not knowing or understanding why he’s so fixated on them and why he can’t stop reading them/playing them back/listening in

- John… maybe he was pulling a Gordon and was killing all the psychic kids and was eventually going to have to kill Sam, and Cas was for some reason Put On The Case as an angel or was Allowed to Interfere or whatever bc it was fudging up God’s Plan

- and that’s how Cas justified being so fixated and taking notes on Dean’s prayers, like Hallet did with the letter. It was a good lead. It was about their father, and Sam seemed to be having psychic tendencies or whatever that could turn dangerous

----

- Okay okayokayokay so Sally and Gillian’s story is them escaping the ostracization they feel from the people in their physical regional community. The Owen’s family has always been outsiders, even before the curse came into being. They are persecuted for being witches (and sleeping around and being sexy).

- the sisters try to escape this either by just LEAVING: going to a place they can be themself without shame, or assimilating and abandoning a part of themself so that they can stay.

- the Winchester brothers are, I guess, ostracized by the hunting community because they are kept away from it and moved around a lot in the show. Okay okay okay okay okaywaitwaitwait

- Okay so the Winchesters feel alienated from both civilians and the hunting community, and they both eventually choose to do similar things to Sally and Gilly..! Sam LEAVES and assimilates, while Dean stays and just accepts his role his father gave him.

- Gilly and Sam LEAVE, while Dean and Sally STAY. Gillian and Dean embrace what makes them Different, while Sally and Sam reject it in favor of Being Normal

- The witchcraft/hunting thing especially doesn’t mesh well here though because Hunting is KILLING it’s literally murdering sentient beings. It’s war propaganda it’s desensitizing you to Even Though The Enemy Is Capable Of Good Individually They Are, As A Group, Evil And Should Be Slaughtered.

- Witchcraft in Practical Magic is just… a way of life that’s considered outside the accepted norms of society. It’s being openly queer, it’s being from a different country of origin, it’s being non-christian religious in a small town. Accepting witchcraft doesn’t have any moral good or badness, it’s just with or without the consequences of being “out” in your area. While accepting Hunting as a lifestyle is to accept putting yourself in bodily danger doing morally ambiguous/BAD things to protect people you can’t relate to or find a community in. Hmmmmmmmmmm

----

- Sam and Sally both have natural talents/instincts but don't want to use it in favor of being "normal"

-

[floorbed]

15 (And Explain), 32, 48, 67, & 98 for Pen !!

haha funny guy time

15. What battle in the campaign has been most memorable to your character?

okay so basically i have three. so Like. the fight right before we found ewelin in the skew Αnd Ori Was On Death Saves and pen was just holding her and brought her back b4 he had spare the dying. like they werent that close but now that like ori is one of the most important ppl in pens life I Think Abt That Moment A Lot. also that was the first time in his whole life pen encountered the idea that ppl he knew could Die?? he just considered everyone in his life to be untouchable until that point and it was a big wake up call for him that he was in Big Real World

and then wachterhaus. lol. being paralyzed right next to juni and coming to consciousness watching ori and alba desperately trying to save them and just getting stabbed over and over and then Literally Dying, and then having a deity show him (what he thinks is) unconditional kindness when all of his patron experiences thus far had been fucked?? Did SOmething. also like,. when he came back at level 20 and killed everyone both him And me thought that was his final act before he died and like. in that moment he was completely at peace with that. all he wanted to do was help his friends and that was the moment he was like yeah fuck that i literally cant front with these bitches anymore i just unconditionally love them is the thing and im going to start openly expressing it and it helped him. a lot socially

And Then . Uh. Last Fight. Yeah. he didnt even know it was juni who got him back up and like didnt even Know he was down until he followed ori and he just like. refused to believe it and held him and tried to spare him like hed done so many times before even tho he was literally just A Wax Torso . and then he saw ori literally Sprout Wings And Bring Him Back From The Dead. and at first he was super panicked bc usually ori fire meant Bad It Was Going To Hurt Her Time but then she just?? literally became a beacon of healing??? And Juni Was Okay?? he didnt even like. fully wrap his head around not having juni there bc he Had to be okay and then ori gave him back to them and he. so many feelings abt 2 of da closest ppl he has at once. ah

32. What is your character the most insecure about? early pen wldve been like. not being nobility and not being married to the graf girlboss powerwife. but he has made a lot of progress getting over that lil dream. currently it is his pact and how he is endangering his friends By Existing and he wishes he didnt have to be like. a constant burden In That Way. like oh what new Stupid Demon Thing has his gullible ass gotten into. he just wants to be a pillar for his friends and family and not have ppl worry abt him 48. What aspect of your character’s future are they most curious about? (If they could know one thing about the future, what would it be?)

If His Friends And His Mom Will Be Safe And Okay And Recovering Living Somewhere Where Nothing Can Hurt Them 67. What is your character the most envious about, regarding anyone in the party?

I Dont Think He Envies Anyone In The Arsonparty Anymore Lol. if anything, ori’s ability to Give Advice and be Comforting , but its less of like he envies it and more like he wants to emulate it

98. What advice would your character give to a younger version of themselves?

when you go out into the real world someday, because it will happen, be kind. acting like youre better than people isnt a defense its a hindrance

[melonoverlord]

Ask meme for Nikolai

Which parent do they look the most like?

He’s a pretty spitting image of his dad, except because his dad’s power wasn’t super strength, he just looks like a more jacked version of him. It was his mom who could wrestle with polar bears.

Is there a name they were almost given (either by their parents or during character creation)?

His parents juggled back and forth between Nikolai and Alexei, but figured that since he came out as a brickshit sized baby, Nikolai sounded stronger.

This is a reference to that I named him Nikolai but constantly call him Alexei in my head.

What were they like as a kid (if they’re currently a child, what would they be like as a teen)?

Nikolai was pretty active as a child and was very outgoing with his school friends, but once he got his powers and had to stay more out of public view, that’s when he became self conscious about his size and strength so he stuck more to himself and his family until he moved to the Library.

What’s their drinking tolerance and what kind of drunk are they?

As a classic Chi du Soma, he has an impeccable drinking tolerance and can take about 5 drinks before he feels something. When he does get drunk, he is the first to start singing Russian drinking songs at the loudest decibel.

Where do they like to be touched?

People are always focused on the muscles but maybe Nikolai just wants to be gently caressed on the cheek like he’s a precious treasure that you’re holding in your hand. Sure he has to kneel down to get his face held, but he wants that.

What’s their favorite position (top/bottom/switch/pillow princess/etc.)

Nikolai really said malewife rights as a very attentive bottom, which let Doris get to live out her fantasy of being listened, but the one to two times he was able to have sex with the true love of his life, he was a very loving service top to his darling girlboss bottom wife.

What are their kinks?

He really likes giving up control and getting out of his head for a while, even if he’s still topping but made to use restraint, but he’s also into defiling different rooms around the Library so that everyone knows he did it there, something that his future great-granddaughter also appreciates. Except when Nikolai fucks around the Library, the very very few times it happened, you knew something went down when he has to submit a maintenance request.

How do they feel about adrenaline (roller coasters, extreme sports, etc.)?

He wasn’t a huge fan of it being younger because living with abnormal strength, he always had to be very very careful not to damage things, and so doesn’t really like raising his adrenaline. However, once he got older and married Doris, both he and her loved doing adrenaline-raising things together because it... reminded them of something they loved for some reason. Neither of them could figure out what that was.

What is their fight or flight response?

Call him One Punch Man because he will punch a whole through your sternum if you threaten him or his family. But he usually likes to start with silent intimidation.

What’s their pain tolerance?

He had the highest pain tolerance of any of the squad, and it took smarts to beat him because any hand to hand combat and an enemy’s hits were ineffectual at best, a soft pet at worst.

What character archetype are they the most like (the Innocent, the Hero, etc.)

The Warrior. He’s quiet and stoic, and is ready to bust kneecaps to protect his family. Even if he doesn’t remember why anymore.

What TV-Tropes trope would they be?

Bruiser with a Soft Center. No one would deny that he’s the strongest and biggest the Library has seen (even beating out the next future biggest bruiser, Abuelita) but at the same time no one would deny that he couldn’t hurt a fly. The only thing he’s hurting is baddies and the occasional chair with the clap of his thicc bootyass cheeks.

What John Mulaney quote/bit do they most embody?

‘And now there’s Nazis again! I don’t care for these new Nazis and you can quote me on that.’

He already fought pseudo Nazis only to find new “improved” Nazis. And being in Italy, he had to live under fascist rule later.

With the exception of love interests and immediate family, who are they closest to?

Given that he eventually married both Marscipone sisters, it would have to be Ruth. They were both fairly quiet and more backseat than their respective crushes, but also were the voice of reason in the group.

What is their moral alignment? What would have to happen for it to shift?

He’s the other side of Doris’ Lawful Good. He cares about justice and order and he has absolutely no problem listening to someone else to get them there. He’s a team player 100%.

Are they a morning person? What are they like before 8am?

He would never get up willingly before 8am. He is such a heavy sleeper that you would have to shake him and slap him awake. If he is awake prior to 8am it means that something’s wrong and he’s extremely grumpy and more willing to be a little of a petty bitch.

What are they like when they’re tired?

Nikolai cannot be moved when he’s tired. He will find a corner to thud and he will not listen to you, he will not hear you, he will close his eyes and he will take nap. Thank you and good night.

What are they like in arguments?

The only time Nikolai brings out the big guns is in arguments, because he only gets into arguments if he feels like his voice is needed. He is the big, quiet intimidator who doesn’t raise his voice until absolutely necessary but when he does he will terrify the shit out of you into getting his way because in his mind, it’s life or death at that point.

Little arguments he just tends to let go.

What is their dominant hand?

Right

Out of 10, how happy are they? How happy do they think they are?

Despite being quiet, he never was unhappy, except for the one time he lost a mission (turns out he’s good at losing princesses, whether it’s a real one or mafia one), but he never really dipped below a 7/10. After losing Luca, his home, and his memories, he never was able to climb past an 8/10 but by the end of his life, he liked to think he liked it. There was something missing, but he liked it.