#sorry this is a whole essay

[calamitydaze]

let's talk: canon events! how'd you get into the dream team? what brought you to dtblr?

oooh this is a fun question!!! i actually first heard of dream at the very beginning when he blew up because of the pewdiepie seed but i never looked into him beyond that, and a little bit later i kept getting “if i pick up an item the video ends” recommended to me and it annoyed me so much that i was like FINE fucking fine i’ll watch it so i watched it, thought it was mildly funny, and immediately never thought about it again 😭

so the first time i actually “found out” about dream team was from stantwt, a few of my longtime mutuals got into them in like summer 2020 and started putting clips on my tl which piqued my interest, and i was already sort of in the sphere because i had gotten into corpse in the among us era (and looking back at it i probably encountered dream in some of those videos but i don’t really remember). so a couple months later i was like Ok fine i’ll watch dream where do i start. and they provided me with the manhunt playlist and tommy’s playlist of dsmp videos and from there i was a goner! despite being on tumblr since 2016 i stayed only on mcyttwt for like a year and a half (except for going through tags and rbing dsmp fanart here and there) but as it got progressively more unbearable i started consistently lurking on dsmp/dtblr and eventually just made the switch! i remember the first time i wanted to shift from a lurker to an actual blog was january 2022 and then Everything happened and i was like oooooh okay nevermind. let’s wait a bit. and i don’t remember exactly when i made the jump but i was definitely fully active by summer 2022 so it’s been just about a year now :D a (mostly) wonderful year

[sesamestreep]

it’s wild to me that like every modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes (and by modern I mean “made recently” not “set in modern times”) is like Hell Bent on coming up with a Reason™️ that Watson stays with Holmes and trots around with him on adventures all the time despite the inconvenience and the danger and all, and so it’s like “oh, Watson’s a gambling addict, he loves uncertainty and mystery” or “oh, Watson’s an adrenaline junkie, he gets off on being constantly in danger from criminals” or even like “Watson’s atoning for sins of the past of BEING IN THE WAR by solving crimes with Holmes now” or WHATEVER. And it’s like, girl, maybe he’s just in love! Did you think of that?? Maybe he’s got a crush and it’s making him do stupid things. Maybe he’s just got bad taste and his type is guys who don’t know how to refold newspapers properly but can identify different types of cigar ash by sight, smell, and taste. And wrote a monograph on the subject. Maybe he’s down bad is all. I mean, Keep is simple, stupid!!!

[whiskeyswifty]

the way clara bow is written both with the optimism she once had and the hindsight she has now, layering both often at the same time. you'd be picked like a rose both in how in the moment she felt beautiful, chosen as the most beautiful one adored by all, but she knows now that cutting her stem froze her as she was, never allowed to grow further, only slowly fading until she's a dried, dull husk of what she once was, pressed between the pages of someone else's book. also the crown is stained but you're the real queen both in how she felt holier than thou once crowned, and the mistakes of the fallen monarchs were markers of their own unworthiness but she is the real queen; she is different because she is pure and true and deserves it. but writing it now, she knows that the crown was stained not just from previous owners, but with blood shed by her own hands, and how it will never be scrubbed clean because of horrors she had to endure to get it that she will never entirely suppress and what she will have have to continue to do to keep it. however my favorite is I'm not trying to exaggerate but I think I might die if it happened to me... Die if I made it.... both in how as a young dreamer she felt so small and it felt so impossible, the shock of knowing she would achieve fame and fortune would nearly kill her. but she knows now the grim truth in what was once hyperbolic, how when it did happen, the breaks didn't come gently and the beast that is beauty tore her to shreds. parts of her at least, and perhaps the most significantly that little dreamer who scribbled that unintended prophecy in her diary decades ago. she made it and slowly and brutally and quietly without fanfare, she died. it harkens back to the lucky one, when she was just embarking on her rocket to fame and fortune, and she pondered another name goes up in lights. You wonder if you'll make it out alive. clara bow seems to answer that question with no, you won't, but nobody before you made it out alive either, not fully, not whole. the machine grinds ever on and on and there was never any other way.

[aroaceleovaldez]

reminder that the only reason the "ADHD is actually demigod BATTLE STRATEGIES" and "dyslexia is DEMIGOD BRAINS HARDWIRED FOR ANCIENT GREEK" things exist in the PJO universe is because it's a very direct reference to early 2000s teaching/parenting techniques for neurodiverse and disabled children, which aimed to frame childrens' disabilities and hardships as a "superpower" or strength so that the children would feel more positively about their disabilities or situations. This technique has fallen out of favor since then for the most part since more often than not it just results in kids feeling as though their struggles are not being seen or taken seriously.

Yes, demigods are adhd/dyslexic (and sometimes autistic-coded) in the series. This is extremely important and trying to remove it or not acknowledge it makes the entire series fall apart because it is such a core concept. Yes, canon claims that their adhd/dyslexia is tied to some innate abilities, which is based on an outdated methodology. It's important to acknowledge that and understand where it comes from! But please stop trying to apply it to other pantheons in the series like "oh, the romans have dyscalculia because of roman numerals!" or "the norse demigods have dysgraphia for reasons!" - it's distasteful at best.

A better option is to acknowledge the meta inspiration for why that exists in the series, such as explaining potentially that Chiron was utilizing that same teaching methodology to try and help demigods feel more comfortable with their disabilities and they aren't literal powers. In fact, especially given Frank, there's implication that being adhd/dyslexic isn't a guaranteed demigod trait, which means it's more likely to be normally inherited from their godly parent/divine ancestor as a general trait, not a power, and further supports the whole "ADHD is battle strategy" thing being non-literal. It also implies the entire greco-roman pantheon in their universe is canonically adhd/dyslexic - and that actually fits very well with the themes of the first series. The entire central conflict of the first series fits perfectly as an allegory about neurodiverse/disabled children and their relationships with their undiagnosed neurodiverse/disabled parents and trying to find solutions together with their shared disability/disabilities that the kid inherited instead of becoming distant from each other (and this makes claiming equivalent to getting a diagnosis which is a fascinating allegory! not to mention the symbolism of demigods inheriting legacies and legends and powers from their parents and everything that comes with that being equivalent to inheriting traits, neurodiversity, and disabilities from your parents).

anyways neurodiversity and disability and the contexts in which the series utilizes representation of those experiences particularly during the 2000s symbolically within the narrative is incredibly important to the first series and the understanding of what themes it means to represent. also if i see one more "the romans have dyscalculia instead of dyslexia" post in 2023 i'm gonna walk into the ocean.

[spaceistheplaceart]

found an old ekurei comic rotting in my files, decided to finish it. upon my rewatch of mp100 i kept noticing how many times dimple was referred to as a pet- but he's not ! ! ! he's a friend :)

[jthealien]

I can make everything about these three if I try hard enough

[flying-fangirls]

As a music, religion, and literature nerd, the Dies Irae has been one of my favorite go-to pieces of trivia for a long time, which means that this line:

Has been driving me batshit BONKERS since part 42! And also as a semi-professional media analysis yapper, I figured I might as well dive into the exact reasons I jumped up and audibly gasped upon first hearing this line and have subsequently lost my mind since then. So!

Here is why I think that the Dies Irae is the perfect analogy for John and Arthur:

Religion

Let's start with the most straightforward meaning: "Dies Irae" is a Latin term, and it translates to the "Day of Wrath." Or otherwise known as the Judgement Day, the foretold second coming in Catholic canon, when Christ will "come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." It's at this Last Judgement where God will wield perfect justice to send the worthy to everlasting peace and the unworthy to everlasting punishment. (everyone say "thank you" to excessive childhood Catholic lessons for burning this into my brain)

There's a kind of irony to the fact that Arthur so vehemently rejects Christianity and religion as a whole, and that John spends much of his arc trying to distance himself from the role/identity of a god, yet both are given this incredibly religious title, effectively restricting them from ever forgetting the presence/influence of religion in their lives.

This title has a couple layers though, because we have to consider why it's the Day of Wrath specifically that represents Arthur and John. Now, I don't think I have to tell you that those two are bursting with anger 80% of the time. But I am going to tell you that those two are not just angry, but moreso "divine fury" incarnate.

The Day of Wrath, the Final Judgment, is the final and eternal judgment of God on all: "For now before the Judge severe / all hidden things must plain appear; / no crime can pass unpunished here." (Dies Irae, Dies Illa). The final Judge, the all-powerful God, can see the objective morality of every single person, and is thus the sole, rightful determiner of fate.

This assumption of their right to perfectly and single-handedly decide others' worthiness shows up over and over, not just John and Arthur's actions, but also in how they describe these judgments.

When Arthur kills the widow on the island, it's not because she was dangerous, but because she was a cultist who "deserved" to be punished.

When John and Arthur need to get rid of Mr. Scratch's stone, John says they should give it to "criminals" who are "deserving of this curse." Even though, just moments before, Arthur refused to give the stone to Oscar because to do so would be to cursing him to a fate of eternal suffering.

And I can't go into every single detail about the entire Larson plotline because this post would double in size, but it obviously needs to be included here. Possibly the strongest tie between this arc and the idea of the Dies Irae is Arthur's conviction through it all. Arthur vows that he is going to kill Larson in divine retribution not because he wants to, but because he has to. He even goes so far as to admit that killing Larson will be a mistake, a cruel and overly-bloodthirsty action that goes against his compassion. But killing Larson isn't a choice to Arthur, it is the unavoidable punishment for Larson's sins and Arthur is simply the enactor of justice. Just like the Final Judgment, there is no sympathy, no hesitancy— the judgment is absolute, divinely ordained, and cannot be stopped no matter how undeniably horrific it is.

If we look at the Catholic Catechism, principle 2302 states that it is sinful to kill out of desire, but that it is "praiseworthy to impose restitution" and use violence to "maintain justic." So even if Arthur has intent to kill, his actions count as divinely sanctioned. He is acting as the hand of God's punishment.

Over the course of Season 3 and 4, Arthur's fiery rage dies down to a more gentle simmer, but his conviction only seems to grow, and John follows suit. Despite previously reprimanding Arthur for his unquestioning wrath, John eventually becomes just as convinced that Larson "deserves" to face a wrathful reckoning. The "fact" that Larson is wholly unforgivable and is fated to receive eternal punishment becomes more indisputable in their minds, and they both stop questioning the morality of their intentions, entirely convinced of their judgment.

Throughout the story, Arthur and John insist upon the importance of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, and say that these are the values that guide their every action. Yet, time and time again, they approach certain people with nothing but wrath and resentment. It's a sharp contrast to the benevolent figures they make themselves out to be, and Arthur and John are often blind to the contradiction because, in their eyes, they are still following those values in every action. And in the moments when they do recognize their horrific words or actions, they still cannot let their judgment go, convinced that it is their "duty" either way.

In Part 35, Arthur says "Just because you can't make the hard decision, doesn't mean it's wrong." This is exactly how John and Arthur view themselves. They know that some of their actions are harsh and violent and painful, but they are don't view that violence as wrong, because they are enacting that violence in justice. They move through life with carefully-selected destruction, culling the world of those they view as unforgivable sinners, and punishing them with divine righteousness. Arthur and John carry righteous fury in their every step, bringing the Day of Wrath down upon the world around them.

Now, there's already a ton of meaning just in this religious allusion alone. However, there's another application of the Dies Irae in modern culture, which brings us to the second side of this title:

Music

Back in the 13th century (sounds like a familiar setting...), friar Thomas of Celano wrote a poem for and about the Dies Irae. The poem was recited at Requiem Mass (church services to honor the dead), and it ended up being set to a Gregorian chant tune.

Over time, this melody has been used by a variety of composers, but the one we're focused on is Hector Berlioz. In 1837, Berlioz used the Dies Irae melody as part of his narrative symphony, Grand Messe de morts, in order to communicate that the main character had died. Then a lot of other composers saw that and said "Hey that's a cool idea!", and started also using this melody to represent death in their music. Nowadays, it's a fairly staple part of modern film and musical storytelling. If you've listened to literally any major soundtrack, then there's a good chance you've heard this motif (or a variation of it) used before. It's often subtle, sometimes loud and obvious, but no matter what, it reveals the inevitable presence of death. (essentially, the Dies Irae=death)

Now, obviously there's something tragically ironic about Arthur being likened to a musical motif when he tries so hard to distance himself from it, and there's something tragically ironic about John being associated with such a dark piece of music when he shows so much fascination and joy toward the art. Again, though, we've got some layers here. Yorick doesn't just compare Arthur and John to the Dies Irae, he literally defines them as the Dies Irae, a full embodiment of it.

Even before the story started, Arthur lost both of his parents, his friend and wife, his daughter, and his best friend.

John, when he was part of the King in Yellow, knew only how to harm and attack. In the Dark World, he falls back on this fearful lashing out with violence, harming even more people.

And throughout the story, John and Arthur seem to bring devastation to everyone else around them: Lilly the buopoth, Oscar, Noel, Collins, Daniel, Larson and Yellow.

The arrival of Dies Irae musical motif in a film always indicates that death is approaching or that is has already struck— a host carrying its blight to spread onto others. Just like the musical motif, the arrival of Arthur and John foretells the near-arrival of death. They play a duet together— John and Arthur, and death— always singing and dancing around and with each other.

These two never succumb to death, always finding a way to slip through its fingers and survive every situation. But they cannot escape death's presence because they are death's partner— singing the melody to death's subtle harmony. They cannot escape death because they are its host— destined to carry and spread devastation to death's victims. From the moment you meet John and Arthur, you know that death is inevitably approaching just a step behind, waiting to strike you down.

Whether it's the religious or musical side, we can see that John and Arthur are the literal embodiment of these allusions. They carry these powers and ideas in their every action and word, in their every step, in their very breath and blood.

Arthur and John. The hands of God's justice. The enactors of divine fury.

Arthur and John. The hosts of blight and destruction. The partner of death's song.

The man himself. The voice inside his head.

The Day of Wrath. The Dies Irae.

[fresanita]

Angel Dust Turns Human pt5

"Alastor & Angels Background 2!"

Pt1

Pt2

Pt3

Pt4

IM SO SORRRYYY!!!🧎 omg, my classes were absolutely becoming my lifestyle for a moment! It's not even bad. It's just REALLY time-consuming💔🙏 Istg u can tell it took a few months bc of the artsyle change midway; there were so many mistakes but idec anymore☹️ pic 3 is not "buy my time" it's meant to be "BUT my time"!! Also idky I basically drew Alastor w tit pecks on pic5, but I'm not fixing that😣‼️ there are other mistakes but SHHH!!

This part was meant to have more images, but there's a 30 pic max on here, so it's gonna be split in half☹️👍. I tweaked so hard drawing these bc I tried to do this on a bigger canvas for better quality, and the amount of glitches on my tiny ass laptop was insane😒...it deadass deleted a whole layer w several panels that was the ending which I spent the whole day on, but it's okay cuz I redrew it🙂 (FUCK MY LAPTOP FUCK STORAGE AND FUCK THAT I CRIED THAT NIGHT AND DIDNT WANT TO STARE AT THAT SHIT FOR 2 DAYS!!!)

Anyways YAY!!!😁😁🙏 I'm so glad to finally be able to draw moments where alastor and angel are getting a bit closer! I know Alastors interest or consistency w accompanying Angel seems ooc and THATS BC IT IS💔‼️ Self indulgence w a hint of desperate explanations.

Antoní as a kid, finally opens up about home life (not rlly🤫) and Alastor offers a branch to hold onto, furthering Antonio's trust🫶. Antoní is PLATONICALLY blushing bc he's a bit embarrassed thinking, 'Wow, sir is so cool and nice, now he wants to hang out w ME?' He's flattered at nothing☹️ (FATHER ALASTOR FATHER ALASTOR FATHER ALADTOR)

Tag list: @diffidentphantom

[chaos-interwoven]

aftg floor plans

not that anyone asked but the way my brain works means that any time i read anything, i am piecing together every room, every house, and every space. i need to create an image in my head so i can see the characters in it and see how they interact with the space. except it’s always vague and sometimes a throw-away line places a window or a wall where i didn’t think it was and i have to redo the entire space in my head…… it’s a struggle but after so many times rereading aftg, i have a pretty solid idea

this is just a long way of saying i have decided to take what’s in my head and make it into reality and i have made floor plans for aftg lol

so far, i have done the foxes’ dorm (both how i think the entire floor is laid out and each of their three rooms), wymack’s apartment, and abby’s house. i plan on doing the cali places later, don’t even worry

of course tumblr is corrupting the quality but in my head there are five rooms to each side of the hall and the stairs are right next to the monsters' room. that stray white box is an elevator supposedly.... i had no idea how or where the elevator should be so i just kinda threw it there, don't laugh. and we know the soccer kids live on their floor so they have the rooms across the hall

i placed everything based on descriptions gathered from the first four books (thank you jean for telling us they do in fact have stoves even if they are just two burners). i gave kevin's desk an extra monitor to watch games on lol and andrew has to be by a window to smoke out of it. also, the beds are bunked. i know this looks big but it was hard to get the spacing right..........

for the girls, i mirrored the monsters' room because i know that piping tends to make apartments laid out so kitchens or bathrooms are back to back with your neighbors. they also get a fancy extra chair and a bigger tv bc allison is rich and you can't tell me their room wouldn't have the nicest furniture. i feel like dan would have the bottom bunk, renee the top, and allison the lone lofted bed but that's just me lol

we know matt and neil shoved their three desks by the windows and in my head, matt and neil's bunk is on the left while seth's lofted bed is on the right. and matt and neil have their dressers underneath seth's bed and his is by the window

this was actually interesting because we know that the front door is out of sight from the doorway of the study and that there are windows in the living room so i put in this turn to the hall. again, the space looks huge here but that's mainly because i didn't want to have to shrink and rearrange all the walls over and over again

abby's was the hardest by far. i went back and scoured the books for more information about her house because i was struggling and have struggled with it since my first read through. we know that there is a doorway to the kitchen (so i couldn't give her the open floor plan i wanted) and that the bedroom jean stayed in was just down the hall from the bathroom. i ended up giving abby her own master bath just because i felt like it but i have no idea if that is canon. and the hall bath seemed too large so i put in a laundry room randomly but whatever. we also know she has a two car driveway so i made the shape of the house a little funky. and in my head, during summer break aaron and nicky stay in one bedroom and andrew and kevin are in the other one. i put kandrew in the bedroom down the hall because it is farther from the front door and andrew would like that imo. that is also the bedroom jean is in after renee takes him from evermore. and of course she needed a huge dining room table to fit everyone

ANYWAY, if you made it this far i am surprised and thank you for entertaining this. i can also share all the passages i used to piece together these floor plans cause they are all bookmarked but that felt like too much to include here and i doubt anyone cares. feel free to debate wall placements in the comments, i would love to talk to you about it as you can probably tell

and if literally anyone is interested, i can and will make these in the sims and then they will be real cute and colorful floor plans. i will probably do it anyway for my own enjoyment but whether i post them is up in the air

pt. 2 pt. 3 (cali)

[recent-rose]

yknowwww there is something... deeply uncomfortable about the way mel never speaks directly to viktor in the 'build hextech weapons' scene. she really only speaks to jayce. plenty of people have pointed this out already but like the one scene they actually share a meaningful interaction and she treats him like he's beneath her. all this after jayce has emphasized how important viktor is, that hextech is theirs, together. she unequivocally ices him out, there's no other way to interpret this scene. the way it's shot too - from viktor's perspective, looking up at her, as though to reinforce the same belief in him. like he doesn't even bother expecting respect from her - or anyone from the upper echelon of piltover. he's fully accustomed to being dehumanized by everyone around him at this point. sometimes even by jayce, despite the trust they clearly have in each other.

then of course after this scene is viktor experimenting on himself. it's pretty clear that he has internalized his own dehumanization. crazy.

[fan-a-tink]

Personal post, but seeing this gif loose in the tournament brought up some stuff and I just needed to get it out of my system.

This moment right here is the reason why this show has come to have such a hold on my soul. Before I watched a single minute of the actual show, I came across the YouTube video where Jayden & George break down the confession scene and it includes this snippet where Charles says "there's no one else, no one else" and I knew then I had to see this show and that I was going to love it.

A few years ago, I fell in love with my best friend and having carried this love quietly for a long time, I finally told them how I felt. It was one of the scariest but also bravest things I've ever done. I had realised that I was ace earlier that year and it took me a long time to work out where I fell on the aromantic spectrum. It was because of my friend that I could understand what being "in love" meant. For me, romantic attraction is all about that secret third thing, that incurable hope to mean something to the other, to be allowed to love them and care for them and be a part of their life not matter what. So when I told them about my feelings, I wanted to acknowledge how important they are to me. I wanted them to know how much they are loved, how important their presence and friendship is in my life. And yes, I guess what I was hoping for was to be just as important to them as they are to me. I was asking them whether they wanted to go through life with me, and let me go through life with them. And although their answer was similarly to Charles a "not yet" rather than a definite "no", it caused a hurt I have still not recovered from and I'm not sure if I ever will. At the end of the day, I was not a priority to them enough that they wanted to figure out what the rest means together.

So hearing Charles say that "there's no one else, no one else" does something to my heart every single time I watch that scene. Having been the Edwin in this moment, I cannot tell you how much Charles' response to Edwin's confession is an affirmation of their friendship, of the importance of their relationship, no matter how they define it. No matter who Charles has a crush on at the moment, there is no one else he would go to hell for. Edwin is the most important person in the world to him and that will never change. It's exactly the response I was hoping for from my friend, the response I didn't get, and hearing Charles say these words tore my heart in two and healed it at the same time. The entirety of the confession scene still does all sorts of crazy things to my emotions, but this is the moment that I cannot let go of, that I will never recover from.

Edwin and Charles mean the world to me because their relationship is the definition of the secret third thing, so devoted that the distinction between romantic and platonic looses some of its significance. They are "it" for each other, they choose each other over heaven and hell over and over again. They care about each other so much that being apart is the only thing they cannot endure. They can deal with whatever happens to them, as long as they are together. The one thing that they are both completely sure of is that there is no one else for either of them. Their relationship is what I had hoped to build with my best friend, and to see these two ghost boys get there has healed something in my heart and made me feel incredibly seen.

[theusernameiwantisntavailable]

Every variation of Tim gets a cat brings me so much joy

[beedee-wans]

i think my favourite things about the jedi games that i haven’t really seen discussed is the similarities in the design of the ancient zeffonians and the anchorites.

i’m gonna suck at articulating this so massive apologies!! the autism creatures were screaming :)

i think it’s fascinating how the zeffo fell to the dark-side under the sage kujet which led to their presumed extinction (a whole other post about their possible connection to peridea and kujet being an easter egg in ahsoka) their greed for power was their downfall. i, personally, would love to see the zeffo again in future media (ahsoka season 2, pleasepleasepleaseplease)

contrasted with the (narkis) anchorites who want to help cere rebuild the jedi order, to preserve what is left of the teachings and helping the hidden path. if i remember correctly they have a long history with the jedi order too, starting a thousand(?) years ago. they chose to live as hermits since they believe suffering is the way of life, yet they never stray from the lightside

both are force sensitive (i don’t think the anchorites as a whole are force users, unlike the zeffo) and both sought to understand the force and preserve its teachings

i think it’s neat

i really hope we see the anchorites in the next game and that they aren’t just wasted. the anchorites have so much potential especially with the timing of the games being during the reign of the empire and the order being in shambles. i also really hope cal continues his connection with them or at the very least sister taske. poor baby needs some positive force sensitive influence :(

[ponytailzuko]

tho i will say its actually kind of incredible how atla is used as the bastion of western animation. the pinnacle. nothing lives up to it. how? its not perfect. it reuses tropes (in a good way!!!). watch an anime. etc. how is it the pinnacle of western animation? but at the same time, i cant actually list a better western cartoon when it comes to long form narrative storytelling. which baffles me because atla could literally be better. "zuko is the pinnacle of redemption arcs" i have literal critiques about it. its just like i swear there can be other shows like it. or similar. or on par. or better even because it was written by two white men in 2005. but i cannot list one.

[coern-art-very-cool-and-nice]

“An abnormal heat is occurring within the ceasing remnants of my mind”.

[polysucks]

Hello! I asked earlier about your takes on the ironborn: racially, culturally, and real-world parallels as you did for the northerners in your other post. What are your thoughts on them?

Alright. Time to fly off the handle

The Drowned God and Other Maritime Daddy Issues

A deep dive into the cultural nuance of the Ironborn

Ironborn are way more than Vikings with a reaving kink that the fandom likes to overgeneralize them as. They’re a defiant, sea-soaked culture clinging to the bones of a dying identity—geographically, spiritually, politically, and culturally. They’re not here to kiss the ring or plow the field (but they will plow your daughters’ fields ayooooooooo) They’re here to steal your silver, set fire to your village, and sail off with your livestock and your dignity. While their longships and raiding traditions induce immediate comparisons to the Vikings of our own history, the grgegegrge didn’t ctrl+c, ctrl+v Norse stereotypes and call it a day. My mans contains multitudes (here I go defending a white man again) The Ironborn are a patchwork culture stitched from raiders, islanders, and post-imperial anger, haunted by lost glory and desperate to matter again. Geographically marooned and ideologically medieval, they stand apart from the rest of Westeros not only in how they fight, but in how they remember.

Yes, they raid. Yes, they sail terrifying longships. Yes, they chant “What is dead may never die” (what is dead may never die) while holding drowning parties. But behind the axe-swinging and chronic pneumonia that no one is talking about is a nuanced cultural tapestry that blends ancient Norse badassery with the isolation of real-world island peoples, and the trauma of former empires left licking their wounds and whispering stories of past glory.

I want to talk about the Ironborn as a composite culture rooted in Old World violence, shaped by seclusion, and haunted by the trauma of cultural decline in a post-imperialist society.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: the Ironborn are Westeros’s stand-in for Norse raiders. They pilot longships sharp enough to slice inland rivers like butter. They prize the axe over the plow, the drowned god over the Faith of the Seven, and a good old-fashioned reaving over… you know, capitalism.

They're not here to negotiate. They’re here to take. (and good on them!!!)

Much like the Norse raiders of Earth (looking at you, Great Heathen Army), the Ironborn built a culture on plunder, not production. Land? Meh. Crops? Pass. Oaths of fealty? DISGUSTANG. These guys earn (yes, EARN!!!) their keeps with steel, salt, and stolen gold. Even their religion reeks of Norse fatalism: the Drowned God doesn’t promise peace, but power through death. Dying at sea isn’t a tragedy; it’s a promotion.

But here's where it gets juicy: this isn’t raiding for fun (I mean like. Duh. It’s silly fun :3) This is a worldview. A rebellion against the "Green lands" and all their soft-handed, oath-swapping, crop-growing nonsense. In Ironborn culture, you're not born noble; you earn your worth by taking it. Violence is virtue.

Let’s begin with the obvious.

Real-world parallel: The Norse / Vikings (8th–11th century Scandinavia)

Longships with shallow drafts? Check. The Ironborn sail upriver like it owes them moneyyyyyy (it does)

A raiding economy based on “plunder first, ask questions never”? Also check.

A decentralized political structure? Yes, with jarls —I mean, saltlords—ruling from sea-worn keeps.

Gods who care more about blood, death, and the sea than your feelings? Double check. The Drowned God feels like a damp, iron-flavored Odin with worse manners.

Even the Ironborn motto “We do not sow” is a banger. It’s not onlyyyy a rejection of farming and cultivating their uninhabitable land; it’s a middle finger to the entire feudal value system. THEY SAID WE WILL NOT BEND!!!!! (I know das right!!!!!) While the rest of Westeros climbs social ladders, swearing oaths and marrying for land, the Ironborn take what they want. it’s divine theology.

That brings up another point I wanna make. that raiding isn’t just economically sound. It’s sacred. It’s cultural. The Ironborn don’t steal—they earn through force. Just as the Norse elevated pillaging to an artform, the Ironborn dress their brutality in holy robes and saltwater rites. Their sea-baptisms? Violent, intimate, and soaked in fatalism because culturally, that’s all they’ve ever known.

Okay, but not everything about the Ironborn screams Norse. In fact, if you really squint (and maybe tilt your head), you'll start to notice something else pulsing beneath the raider aesthetic: the ethos of isolated island peoples.

Let’s hop from the Iron Islands to the Azores or the Canary Islands—small, storm-battered, independent maritime communities with a deep distrust of mainland politics. Like the Ironborn, these societies relied on the sea because the land gave them nothing. Fishing, whaling, sailing—they weren’t hobbies, they were survival.

Sound familiar?

The Azoreans (15th century–present, Portuguese Atlantic islanders)

Remote and rugged, the Azores bred self-reliant people with strong religious traditions and a stubborn refusal to blend in with the mainland.

They fished, they survived, and they were proud to be... not like the rest of Portugal.

They were often seen as quaint, backwards, or provincial by mainland elites.

Ironborn vibes, anyone? Like the Azoreans, the Ironborn are often dismissed by the “green lands” as brutes with boats. But that outsider perception only intensifies their cultural pride. In both cases, we see the brutal independence of a people who’ve had to scrape a living from rock, sea, and storm—and who hold on tight to their traditions because they’re all they’ve got left.

Even the Ironborn’s gruff spiritualism echoes cultures like the Māori or the Polynesian navigators, whose reverence for the sea shaped not only their cosmology but their entire identity. To these people, the ocean wasn’t ONLY a resource—it was kin. A god, a grave, a memory, a mother and a father. The Ironborn feel this too, but theirs is a darker mirror. Their sea is cold, cruel, and filled with the bones of the drowned. It demands respect and sacrifice.

And just like real-world islanders were written off as "savages" by colonizers, the Ironborn are dismissed by the rest of Westeros as pirates and pests. But this condescension misses something veryyyy critical: the resilience and cultural cohesion that isolation can breed. The Ironborn may be violent, but they are not chaotic. They have codes. They have gods. They have a way. The Old Way.

The Ironborn may not have Polynesian-level navigation, but the spiritual connection is there. The sea is their entire world. It’s where they’re born, where they fight, and where they return—whether by rock or watery grave. The Drowned God demands reverence and veneration.

The Ironborn weren’t always this… small. Once, under House Hoare, they ruled from the Iron Islands to the Riverlands, commanding coasts and hearts with equal fervor. But then Aegon came. And with him, fire.

The burning of Harrenhal was the collapse of a civilization and a birth of a new culture. The Ironborn were stripped of their mainland holdings, their empire, their power. They were, politely, told to go back to their rocks and choose a new leader—one that wouldn't be a problem.

This is colonization with a nice coat of Westerosi politeness. This is "you're part of the Seven Kingdoms now, behave."

So, how do they respond?

Well, if you’re Balon Greyjoy, you throw a tantrum dressed up as a war. You scream, "We used to be kings!" from the rooftops of Pyke while your sons fail both upwards and downwards and your daughter carries the family brain cell but insists on not using it half the time.

It’s an identity crisis. A post-imperial culture trying to reassert itself with war paint and rusted swords in a world of strategy and swords by proxy. Balon doesn’t rebel because it’s strategic; he rebels because he can’t stand being forgotten.

It’s nationalism with barnacles. And it's heartbreaking in its own, salt-soaked way.

The Ironborn are reduced to axe-wielding set pieces in the grand scheme of Westerosi opinions. They are a mournful, defiant culture staring down the long death of their way of life. They are proud, traumatized, deeply spiritual, and yes— assholes. That’s allowed. But they are not one-note villains.

Their raids are rituals. Their violence is honor. Their stubbornness is grief.

In them, we see echoes of real-world islanders and once-great peoples left behind by history and colonialist ideals—fighting not to win, but to matter. To be feared again. To be remembered. To prove that what is dead may never die. (what is dead may never die)

Because even drowned and dying gods have followers.