#that doesn't stop me from finding terrible flaws in it either

[asterthought]

I've had this finished for days now, I posted the wip but didn't post the final piece because I couldn't find the PERFECT caption.

I still can't so whatever I'll post it anyway because I really love how it turned out 💖

[thewalrusespublicist]

What do you think about the Lindsay Ellis essay on Yoko?

Hi anon,

Ah, this is a toughie as Lindsay Ellis' video was actually the video that got me interested in the Beatles! So on that front .. I must have really enjoyed it at the time and I am grateful/embittered to it for leading me down this chaotic rabbit hole!

That being said, ughhh the video. On the one hand, to actually deal with the topic at hand she needed much longer than the run time of the video to actually get into it with enough detail, so it was always going to be simplistic. I did like some of her points about the other competing factors in the break-up and how Yoko really shouldn't be blamed for the overall break-up. I also liked her comparisons with Courtney Love and how women get blamed in these scenarios unjustly. However, my problem is she was presenting herself as an informed authority on the subject when to be honest, she doesen't actually show that great depth of knowledge. The not knowing about the nitty gritty about Northern Songs is one thing but clumping May Pang with those desperate for fame or clout ... I found either ignorant or disingenuous. That wasn't the first time I've noticed that with Lindsay's work. Not going to lie, I stopped watching her for ages after I watched a video where she was talking about British media and somehow managed to call John Hurt a low-rate tv actor and said that Blackadder was pro-the class system which I'm sorry, was ignorant to the point of stupidity. So yeah, I think Lindsay is great at conveying information but maybe also perhaps conveying incomplete information as if she was an expert in the subject.

This next bit might be a tiny tiny bit controversial but I don't really care. Knowing what I know now, I found the entire video to be partaking in an outdated and reductive type of feminism which doesn't actually allow women to have any flaws or be real people. Yoko was massively over-hated for all the wrong reasons, but it seems that in reaction some fans including Lindsay refuse to look at her with any critical view and dismiss any dissent as rooted in sexism. As a born and raised from the cradle feminist, I find this approach not only exhausting but sexist in and of itself as it strips women of agency and complexity. In the case of Yoko, the two extremes has meant that we've only recently been able to have honest conversation about her. No Yoko didn't break-up the Beatles, but she was a contributing factor and was a massive factor in why they didn't reunify in the 70s. Not because she sat on the bloody amp but because of nearly everything else she did. To say that she had no impact is terrible source-work and practice as it requires dismissing most of our sources from the period and from multiple primary perspectives in order to fulfil an ideological agenda. This in May's case is also silencing the voice of a female employee in a vulnerable position power-wise to sanitise her much wealthier boss' public image. I don't like that. I also want to make it clear that I don't think a lot of Yoko's actions were borne out of malicious intent but due to her extremely complicated personality and trauma, a personality that gets completely flattened if she's just a bit of cardboard jutting out in the corner. There are no winners if you refuse to engage with women as real people and through a modernised Madonna complex lens.

So ... a well-presented video with some great ideas but at the same time quite a basic overview that showed a lack of understanding of some key elements and a refusal to actually engage with the material to push a particular agenda.

[beanghostprincess]

It would be cracked if judge had no problem with them being trans. Like during whole cake island yonji is already transitioning in a hyperfem raid suit.

Sanji is in shock like

Sanji: it's fine when you do it but it's a problem when I do it?!?!? What the fuck? How is that fair?!?!

Yonji: Dad didn't hate you because you were trans. He hated you because you were weak...... Also, you might need to invest in getting a push-up bra looking a little flat there sweetie.

Yoiji would be so mean pointing out Sanji's "flaws" and " imperfections" In reality she's just finding ways to make herself feel superior to Sanji because she doesn't get that much support at home from her brothers or dad. Judge allows her to transition but he won't recognize her as a girl or his daughter and will misgender her. He also made it a rule for everyone in the Germa Kingdom to do the same and her brothers well...... after Sanji left they needed another scapegoat to pick on and take out their complicated feelings out on and unfortunately yonji was it. She does fight and stand up for her self, she may not admit it but it does get to her most of the time.

Sanji hates her but does sympathize with her asking why she chooses to stay even though they treat her so terribly. Of course she's welcomed with defensiveness and anger. How dare you ask that question like you care!! I never cared about you why do you care about me?!?!

Deep down she doesn't know why she stayed maybe because this life is all she knows. She's kids scared of what's beyond those castle walls and she's not really ready to find out.

TW // Transphobia (Because the Vinsmoke siblings can always get a little bit more traumatized)

I adore this whole thing so much. Judge lets Yonji do whatever she wants but never acknowledges her as a woman. It gives Judge also the opportunity to say shit like "You owe me for indulging you in your dumb wishes like... Choosing to act like a woman". Yonji wishes she could complain but both Niji and Ichiji also tell her she should be glad Judge is giving her this opportunity.

Aside from the egg, do you know what else is cracking open? Yonji's emotions. Realizing who she truly is is making her feel things she has never felt, and yeah, she turns sadness and dysphoria into frustration and anger. But she's on her way to feel more stuff.

And now I can't stop thinking about that other ask about Yonji wanting to fight Sanji but Sanji refusing to do so because she doesn't hit other girls,,, Yonji keeps pointing out things about Sanji that make her seem "not feminine" but it's only things she doesn't like about herself. And Sanji knows, even if the things Yonji says get to her sometimes, that Yonji only needs help. She can't forgive her but she can't leave her there either.

[ultimate-marysue]

I feel like the misogyny in fandom is only partially the fandom's fault. Let me explain: if the piece of media you're a fan of has a 50/50 female to male ratio, and treats its female characters with the same love, nuance and respect they treat their male characters with... Obviously you have a bigger chance of having your favorite character be a woman instead of a men.

If there's only one or two women, if they're written like shit, if they're not allowed the same complexity (because they're just set dressing or because "feminism dictates female characters can't have flaws" lest they call you out) well obviously you're gonna gravitate to the more nuanced male characters. If you don't care enough to write compelling female characters why should the audience feel compelled?

Don't get me wrong, even great female characters get sidelined in favor of "tall dudes with (dubiously) homoerotic tension". But in fandoms with majority female characters/really compelling female leads, the vibes are completely different. Even if there are still assholes. A great example is the fandom of Game of Thrones vs the fandom of A Song of Ice and Fire. When all your female characters either feel the same brand of girlboss/badass or are framed as annoying/evil while most of your male characters (even the evil ones) are painted as cool and badass as opposed to having a full cast of nuanced characters of both genders... yeah misogyny is gonna happen.

So yeah, we do need to work on our internalized misogyny and we do need to point out when we or the fandom treat female characters unfairly. But we also need more stories that love their female characters as much as their male counterparts. No one has the guts to hate on the female characters of The Locked Tomb Series. Mostly because why would you read a book with a mostly queer female cast about necromancy and the awfulness of love if you hated complex female characters??

We should try to give more attention to those stories. Once you start asking "isn't it weird there's no interesting women here?" When you watch/read/listen to a story you find yourself not caring much for a lot of shows. Hell it's why I can't watch most shonen anymore and why I gave up on supernatural at some point. As a "consumer" (hate that word) I also have the option to stop caring about a show that clearly doesn't care about me (or any woman for that matter).

Does this mean you can't read Sasunaru fanfic anymore? No, but when you start a new show you might want to keep that question in mind. And you also may want to consider specifically searching out for works about women or that care about their female cast as much as their male counterparts.

The fandoms don't yearn for the misogyny as much as we think. I've seen some fandom really work the terribly written female characters into extremely compelling stories. Or write new female characters in fandoms with barely any (shout out to "Local Skate Dads Adopt Three Sons and a Hooligan" for adding like three new female characters to a show with one and a half).

Our internalized misogyny is left alone to fester in a desert, deprived of good female characters. Of course people develop an almost paraphilic obsession with M/M ships when they've been trained from birth on shows that don't care for their female cast (if they have any). We center men because society centers men. And we have to do the individual job of decentering men/centering women while also aknowledging that the people that make our shows aren't doing the job.

Also if you're reading this and wondering "what even is good female representation? What kind of show should I watch?" Read the locked tomb series. Trust me, it is a religious experience (not just for women, it has so much gender in it).

Has this all been a ploy to get you to read about TLT? Yes. I also recommend The Magnus Protocol for podcasts, and Derry Girls for tv shows. They're all so good.

[seriousbrat]

What do you make of Lily’s relationship with Slughorn? Slughorn in the series seems to be seen as a bit of a cringe guy, blatantly collecting celebrities and celebrities in the making. With Lily’s disdain for James and Sirius arrogance and entitledness, wouldn’t it be in line with her personality to not think much of someone like Slughorn either? Although understanding he means well, his attitude towards muggleborn talent reads a bit like a micro aggression - would that not bother fiery and independent-thinking Lily? I’d love to read more meta or fics about these two characters, it’s so funny to me that Harry was always almost hyperfocused on uncovering his dad’s memories and identity, and then in HBP, out of nowhere Slughorn comes alone like “Lily Evans gave me will to live” and Harry doesn’t dig deeper??? I’m also curious wether Slughorn ever also acknowledged Snape’s talent for potions or had any curiosity about him, since he was so close to charming Lily. I need to know!!

Honestly, I LOVE Lily's relationship with Slughorn. Mostly because I find Slughorn a very entertaining character to write. I just find his mannerisms amusing so I kind of have a soft spot for him lol, even though I don't think he's a great person or anything. He's not terrible either, he's just supposed to be average. Moderate.

I definitely think you make a good point about Lily's lack of patience for the Marauders, but at the same time I think Slughorn, whatever else he was, was never purposefully cruel and I don't see him as arrogant. Pompous and ambitious, maybe, but also not overly ambitious-- Dumbledore states that he never aspired to personal power but preferred to watch from the sidelines. I think Slughorn represents the casual or 'benevolent' prejudice of the wizarding world, probably the most common attitude among purebloods. He espouses unexamined beliefs about Muggleborns that are obviously bigoted, but at the same time his actions don't fully line up with those beliefs, as several of his favourite students have been Muggleborns, and he deliberately rejects students aligned with the Death Eaters. He's just a moderate, who doesn't examine the world around him because the status quo benefits him.

I do think Lily would have been fond of Slughorn despite all that, because he's generally kind. We only see Slughorn with older students but I imagine he was really sweet to the first years, one of the 'softer' professors among the staff. He was very kind to Hagrid (even though this was partly for personal gain) and also to Ron after the love potion debacle. So I think Lily would have seen him as a kindly, well-intentioned uncle who nevertheless had failings. For the time period, however, Slughorn's attitude would probably have been standard and honestly his inclusion and support of Muggle-born students during the war, even if it was flawed... is still something. I've no doubt that Lily wouldn't have been afraid to argue with Slughorn when she disagreed with him, but he would probably take it in stride, engage with her opinion with good humour and respect even if he didn't share it. He enjoyed and encouraged her "cheeky answers". And that's honestly a much more pleasant experience than someone outright dismissing your beliefs. I can see why they got on, personally.

About Snape: I've no doubt that Slughorn spotted his talent pretty much immediately. And while Lily and Sev were friends, this was perfect- the glow of Lily's personality basically covered Sev as well, made him more likeable by association lol. However, I think while Slughorn was very fond of Lily for who she was, he didn't actually like teen Sev very much. Snape's not exactly a people person, and he was even more disagreeable as a teenager from what we know-- Slughorn likely saw that as an obstacle to success. My belief is that when Slughorn (who I see as a bit of a gossip haha) became aware of the rift between them he automatically sided with Lily and Sev stopped receiving invites to the Slug Club. Slughorn likes talent but he also likes charisma, something Sev lacked (at least in a way that was obvious), and if Slughorn as Head of Slytherin was at all aware of Sev's proclivity for the Dark Arts that would have been a further strike against him.

Anyway! As I said, I really enjoy writing Slughorn lol. I've even considered doing a Wodehousian-inspired Slughorn prequel even though there's no audience for it probably lmao..

[katyspersonal]

i genuinely wished if they did go with the blasphemous route with Messmer instead of making him another loyal hound of Marika, like everyone is doing Marika's bedding then get betrayed/abounded by her, that's boring and uncreative

"Boring" is a strong word here, because in grand scheme of things it isn't that many characters and each carries unique context! Godfrey and his champions got stripped from grace when there were no more wars to fight in the Lands Between, and sent off so Tarnished become the powerful army of the Elden Ring! I am not sure about this counting as betrayal completely; he loved her, but he ALSO loved battles! Maybe their spark naturally started to die down because as the OG warmonger (with Radahn being just a fanboy -_-) he would have nothing to do and become depressed 😔 Again, since Radahn adored Godfrey, not Hoarax Loux, I assume Serosh only did that much for chaining his violent personality!

Maliketh was created by the Greater Will as her shadow, and from what I pieced together 1) she was broken by the death of Godwyn and several others Demigods 2) it was kinda awkward that it only happened because he allowed the Destined Death be stolen from him 3) she gave him a hope to redeem himself by telling him to go eat Death everywhere (to reclaim it?) 4) turned out that it was just a lie so he'd be far away when she shatters the ring and thus can't stop her as creation of Greater Will (remember his dialogue towards Marika "Marika... why... wouldst thou... gull me? Why... shatter..." if you kill him as Gurranq + the paranoia sequence about Blaidd who is also Shadowbeast). Not only this betrayal came from a place of reasonable fear, but also technically Maliketh deserved it gfhgf The girls LOVE the sentiment of "It doesn't matter if you didn't mean it, acknowledge that the damage IS done!", and the damage here is a lot of deaths in her family.. Betrayal is betrayal, but the nuance here is strong!

...I don't count divorcing Rennala as betrayal either, because it is just divorce that kinda happened because Marika needed a Lord! The fact that after Godfrey she couldn't find anyone better than literally herself is really telling though fdgrxn Alternatively, it was a Radagon thing, not Marika, depending on how different are they! Nor I count Morgott and Mohg being hidden from the world as Omens, because they were not doing her bidding and then betrayed; they were discarded from birth! As for her betraying the Hornsent in the end, I don't recall them stated on "doing her bidding"! It was careful planning to finally get to the Divine Gates and finally obliterate them all.

So, I think maybe Messmer is, in fact, merely a second example of her betrayal! He is another extention of her terribly flawed personality and bad mother skills, that much is true, but she was trying to love him and did a lot of things to ease his burdens! Eventually she just grew too fearful of the power within him, and that is expected from the person who started war on Fire Giants only because they might have burnt the Erdtree, or ordered burying Nomads alive because some random Leyendell asshole (Shabriri) said they worshipped Frenzied Flame! 🤦‍♂️ These darn cursed fire powers always put her at risk of losing everything again.

_________________

That all being said, I'd also loved to see Messmer being an awful person and Marika being justified in abandoning him for another reason than her being a MILF Gwyn but with fire rather than darkness paranoia before cursed fires powers! Like, if Messmer himself attempted burning Erdtree for one reason or another, or did God knows what else that he had full control over unlike with the horror that lives inside of him that made him deserve worse punishment than simply abandonment! But this is my own wish and the writers got their own vision! Marika's reactionary paranoia haunts the entire story, and it is fun in its own way!

The "uncreative" part could be how much he parallels Malenia, but the use of parallels in Soulsborne games is a reoccurring trend! Not only that, but it is always masterfully done to show the trap of the vicious cycle and how people are bound to repeat mistakes of the ancestors/family/others whether they've learned from them of not!

[anewp0tat0]

hey so who are your favourite characters in black butler? like a top ten or something

heyyyy thanks for asking! sure, always nice to cover the basics. ofc this will probably not be surprising to anyone who's heard me rant for a while now, but I'll explain it anyway.

top 3 first:

1. Ciel: an atrocious guy with very little social personality, and one of the best written protagonists I've personally read. I'm just really into digging through this guy's brain, and when he isn't destroying people he's doing things that end up being funny.

2. Sebastian: another well written protagonist, despite the fact that we know absolutely nothing about him other than the fact that his personality is "cats, I'm better than everyone, except for agni maybe". I remember in my first year in the fandom a friend and I had a like 2 hour long text conversation about how much we hated and loved Sebastian. terrible guy, couldn't have the series without him, leaves a lot to think about.

3. Grelle: she's just as if not more atrocious than the last 2 cause she made these awful decisions herself, but that doesn't stop me from respecting her work ethic and just thinking she's awesome in general. and aside from how cool she looks, I think her inner thoughts and relationships with her coworkers is so curious, there is a lot to explore here. compelling character for me.

and following:

4. Elizabeth: she's one of the purest characters out there and she is so complex. a good amount of people hate her or just find her annoying for whatever reason, but I think the trend here is that the more flawed the character is the better. she's trying so hard to please everyone. probably one of the most relatable characters in her own way.

5. Soma: the source of joy in my life, God I wish he was my friend. he and Agni are basically equal in my ranking, I think they're just the kid mentor duo, but unfortunately only one of them has the chance to keep developing... ;;;^;;;

6. Agni: "agni" was good every day of his life until the end. the only thing he did wrong was out of loyalty for Soma, Sebastian should be jealous of him cause he is all the butler that Sebastian will never be. plus he just cries sometimes and I respect that.

7. Ronald: this is such a fun guy, and yet I am capable of having long conversations about him and everything that he could have possibly been through, it has been done. his workplace dynamic is perfect. everyone needs a Ron.

8. Finny: another pure being, he's such an interesting and honestly rare character, I don't often see other people like him in media, so obviously he's interesting. he's one of the only characters in kuro who have deep trauma and yet doesn't act negatively on it, either because he's unable to comprehend it at length or because his love and positivity for all things is just stronger. also he's Ciel's big bro fr.

9. Meyrin: she's awesome, Hollywood and feminists alike wish they were able to write a strong female character like her😏 she's freakishly powerful and one of the most feminine people out there, and she deserves that after what she's been through. I will never stop supporting her, she's everyone's big sis and she's adorable.

10. Bard: proud dad to all the servants, he's the wacky beer uncle that we all wish we had. he's conservative but just give him some time cause he does care about people and what makes them happy.

hope this satisfies you and doesn't completely contradict your own list of favorites! have a good day

[optiwashere]

I stopped reading Gardens of the Moon after 250~ pages because frequent character switches got confusing and I couldn't get a solid idea of the magic system. Does it ever get better?

I liked the the prologue, but I feel like they just dropped me into middle of 50 different powers scheming against each other after that. Also the coin is spinning.

TL;DR — This is a series that I love but really struggle to recommend.

Anon, it took me... ten years (?) to finish that book. I still think it's pretty terrible even having read the whole main series. So, I get where you're coming from lol.

That said, the writing quality immediately skyrockets when you hit Deadhouse Gates due to the fact that he wrote that book so many years after the first. But the books fly around a massive world and constantly switch around POVs, so...

If you don't like frequent POV switches, then you won't like the series. Flat out. There's something like 450 POV characters, but some of those brief POVs are some of the most powerful. Some of the characters are really high up in my faves of all time. Onos T'oolan, Tavore & Felisin Paran, Beak... Samar Dev??? Korlat!!! Itkovian, my beloved... there's some amazing characters mixed in with some truly awful ones.

And if you're someone that likes hard magic systems, you won't like Warrens. I don't like hard magic — when a book touts its "magic system" first, I'm immediately negatively biased towards it through no fault of the writer in 99% of cases — so it worked for me.

Pros:

Really broad worldbuilding with lots of cultural influences that aren't Western blended in with traditional Western fantasy.

Erikson has an excellent prose style later on (yeah, I know, it's very difficult to believe considering Gardens) and he has a very elegant way of expressing postmodernist ideas.

Extremely varied women characters (hell, Tattersail in Book 1 is already pretty unusual, sadly, in fantasy for being a fat character who's noted as extremely attractive — and Erikson doesn't stop at her when it comes to hot fat women, what a king.)

My favorite withdrawn, depressed, badass, ruthless lesbian commander character of all time, Tavore Paran.

Very strong messages about compassion and what it means to do "the right thing" in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Despite largely dealing with militaries and soldiers, the books are really about kindness, loss, and love, as well as finding the space within oneself to reject the notion of unconquerable despair.

Cons:

Erikson has, like, four character archetypes and they all blend together (barring a few standout characters.)

The worldbuilding is so broad that it sometimes feels pretty shallow.

Erikson loves using excessive epithets (the soldier, the ex-priest, etc.) and it's wild that those made it through professional editing.

Sometimes, Erikson likes his own prose style so much that we have to listen to identical characters internally monologue over identical woes and dramas. I love the Tiste Andii, but holy shit...

There are so many cases of plotting being hidden from the reader in transparent ways. Conversations where two people will refuse to elaborate their thoughts where they often cut off one another with inane, oblique reasons so that the reader is left in the lurch in a way that is often personally unsatisfying.

Possibly neutral or possibly a con, but there's a trillion content warnings scattered all through the books that are actually really, really serious (lots of sexual assault, and in several of those cases it's either completely unnecessary or actively detrimental to the story IMO.)

Having said all of that, I'll leave you with some quotes for why I still love the series despite its (to me) many flaws:

Open to them your hand to the shore, watch them walk into the sea. Press upon them all they need, see them yearn for all they want. Gift to them the calm pool of words, watch them draw the sword. Bless upon them the satiation of peace, see them starve for war. Grant them darkness and they will lust for light. Deliver to them death and hear them beg for life. Beget life and they will murder your kin. Be as they are and they see you different. Show wisdom and you are a fool. The shore gives way to the sea. And the sea, my friends, Does not dream of you. —Reaper's Gale

"No tyrant could thrive where every subject says no. The tyrant thrives when the first fucking fool salutes." —Toll the Hounds

Against a broken heart, even absurdity falters. Because words fall away. A dialogue of silence. That deafens. & The failure of hope has a name: it is called suffering. —The Crippled God

[viscardiac]

There were we, me, @targaryen-brainrot, and @number-0-iz looking at a Daemon/Alicent setting. Consider that Daemon was unmarried, either never married to Rhea at all or she died before for whatever reason. And blur a little the lines between the show and the book for better aesthetics.

Otto might deslike Daemon as much as he will, but Daemon is a prince. For all effects, Aemma is still alive, and Otto has an unmarried daughter. He would have pushed for a wedding between them. He hates Daemon, but he loves power more. And what's more, Viserys would have accepted it delightfully. Alicent is a young woman from a prestigious noble family and daughter to what he sees as a loyal servant of the crown. Maybe Daemon will settle down after all.

And so the wedding happens. Daemon will see her as an extension of Otto, and will likely be very much terrible to her at first. It wasn't her he wanted, after all. Aemma invariably dies in childbirth, whatever the nature of her death, and Viserys needs a new wife either way. For politics, he marries the Lady Laena Velaryon. Book wise, she was older than Laenor, a change that show wise, I still don't see the point of, maybe to justify him choosing Alicent over her, to make everyone involved look creepy, I don't know. Let's keep Laena with her original age for this one. There is still enough reason to maintain Rhaenyra's wedding to Laenor, so she still does.

Those are our key pairings for this scenario, Daemon and Alicent, Viserys and Laena, Rhaenyra and Laenor. We are keeping the children with their mothers, and that would shift things out some.

Baela and Rhaena are immediately in line after Rhaenyra. Nobody wants Daemon with the crown for a very good reason, and if Otto pushes for it, it'll be obvious he means for his daughter to be queen — it won't stop him from trying, mind you, but it gets to be seen as it is: a grasp for power. I will keep them as they are, but instead of taking after Daemon, Baela takes after Princess Alyssa... Whom Daemon took after as well, so I suppose it evens out.

Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron are children to Daemon. I find it fun to have Aemond as Daemon's son. The parallels were there, but now, they are direct. Daemon was shown to be fond of his children book wise, they were important not only to him personally, but to him as a character. For all his flaws, he left such a lasting impression that Aegon III spoke of him so fondly his daughter Daena named her own son Daemon. It's one of my biggest beefs with the show, actually, to cut that out from him. He doesn't love Alicent, far from it, but there's something about punishing her in place of Otto. And then Aegon is born, and something shifts a little to the left. There it is, the valyrian babe Viserys wanted and that now he has. It would seem Alicent is capable of such despite her common looks. Aegon was never pressured to be a perfect heir. Daemon always seemed keen on letting the kids roam free and do their thing, after all. Helaena is his precious little girl. He will have the seamstresses embroider her dresses with bees and centipedes and spiders and crickets. Anyone who speaks ill of her interests will be put to the sword — is it not high treason to speak against a princess of the crown? Aemond may ride Caraxes with his father while he doesn't have a dragon of his own. It'll be fine. Someday they'll be back on Dragonstone. Maybe he can claim Vermithor as his own. Daeron is told about brave knights and kings of old, and strives to be just as dashing.

Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey still are just as they are. Brown haired, and dark eyed. But alas, Harwin needs to back off eventually, by either death or the hand of politics. Let's say Laenor doesn't die, no matter if a faked death or a murdered one. Let's say he just wasn't there on the wrong moment, or that Rhaenyra can't be had, and therefore there's no point in getting him out of the picture. She will find love elsewhere, as she is bound to, but without such strong (ba dum ts) genes on the way, Aegon, the younger, and Viserys are just as pale of hair as their mother is. Despite whatever ethnicity the Velaryons are pinned as, it definitely helps the older boys' claims that there are younger sons of valyrian appearance (you see, King Viserys had this mare once...). For the sake of this au — and our own enjoyment, no doubt — I say little Visenya lives to be just as lovely a girl as her mother.

Daemon will, no doubt, try to poison Alicent. Rhaenyra's heirs are bastards, you should be Princess of Dragonstone, you should be next in line to be queen. Otto does the same. But this marriage was, nonetheless, accepted and pushed foward by Viserys and Otto, and neither Alicent nor Rhaenyra fail to see it. There is, of course, a sour note to her friend wedding the uncle she wished for, but Alicent can do nothing about it, her fate has been decided. Laena is a good political choice, and nonetheless, she and Rhaenyra were close, book wise. Their little circle is expanded to include Alicent, and the Queen and Princesses grow closer to each other.

No matter the dealings of their father, Alicent's children never learn to hate their cousins by experience. The behavior that led to it is never tolerated in the women's circle, and reprimanded, extinguished. Aemond never needs to take Vhagar, he and Rhaena bond over being dragonless for the time being. He never loses an eye, and perhaps, as per suggestion of his father in younger years, takes Vermithor as his own. Perhaps he is the one to encourage Rhaena to take Vhagar. Laena's death is openly mourned by all of them, and her girls are taken care of by her good-sister and good-daughter, and their nephews and cousins. Rhaena and Helaena sew together, and Baela will compete in flights with Jacaerys and Aegon.

With a large and united family — that Viserys himself never spent a minute building — marriages are arranged. Baela being the oldest of Rhaenyra's sisters is betrothed to Jacaerys as heir to Rhaenyra's throne, further unifying the line. Rhaena, however, is betrothed to Aegon the elder, bringing Daemon's children into the mix. Helaena, though, is joined to Aemond, as Daemon thinks no one else but one of his sons would be appropriate for his precious daughter. Wedding Aegon and Rhaena puts Daemon's blood upper on the succession line, and even more so when Daeron is betrothed to Visenya. It does not sate his wish for the crown, but makes the impossibility of it bearable. It becomes acceptable when either Jaehaerys or Jaehaera are married to Jacaerys and Baela's heir.

Otto dies mysteriously in a freak accident. The likely guilty parties are too many to count. Viserys I still corpses out eventually and dies. No amount of blabbering will take Alicent to believe the throne should be taken from Rhaenyra. She has now been a queen in everything but name since Laena's death, become apt and led to understand how to run a kingdom. No one else would be more suitable.

The dying of dragons never happened because there were three women who supported each other. And, of course, because of one glitch marriage as a grasp for power.

Bonus: Addam of Hull becomes a queensguard, while his brother Alyn becomes a famed sea captain. The Princess of Dorne is enchanted, and the dornish court becomes a home to return to.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

What are some things you think about a lot, more than most other things you think

I'm thinking about this right now, and it seems like the answer is "whether or not I am a good person." It's hard to put into words how much that bothers me. There are some people who seem to feel very confident in their own moral bona fides. But I just don't see myself as one of those people. Even though I know there are plenty of things I do well (both in terms of being nice and friendly toward other humans and also just in terms of general life competence) . . . there is always something that looks bad when you look at yourself. And even if you try really hard to fix your flaws, they keep coming back; so you have this sense of having been through cycles of self-improvement and then regression, over and over again, for years on end. At least it feels that way to me, but maybe others experience this less acutely? [EDIT: actually, after writing all this, I think there may be more than two options here -- either people genuinely feel good about themselves, which means they never notice all these flaws, or else they mostly notice them, but can somehow find ways to cope with them without getting too depressed.]

This sounds pathetic and whiny, but it's really true! Some of my friends have told me that I often come off as arrogant or conceited because I tend to talk about what I believe in strongly, and that makes it sound like I don't care what anyone else thinks. And while that's probably true, I feel terrible when people tell me this. Especially since my strongest opinions aren't on subjects where there's any real controversy anyway. They're usually about stuff no one cares about, or issues everyone agrees upon, or a weird mix of both. So it seems like my only excuse would be that I'm an idiot who doesn't realize he has nothing interesting to say, except that I do get some positive feedback from time to time, so I guess I must really be that big an idiot. Or I could try to become someone whose beliefs line up perfectly with the prevailing wisdom, thereby becoming uninterestingly conventional. Which would be bad enough, but worse still would be to have a reputation as a screwup among people who think conventionally. Not sure why I haven't done anything like that yet. Maybe I've tried, and failed, because I simply cannot stop talking about myself. That was probably what made college so torturous -- I spent most of my social interactions trying to figure out whether I had said something stupid or insulting, or if it was just that my conversational partners were awkward/unwilling to make conversation. I didn't want to ask them directly whether they disliked me or thought I was dumb, because I wanted to maintain plausible deniability. In hindsight, I wish I had asked straight out whether I seemed annoying or anything. Then again, I wouldn't trust anyone's answers to such questions, given the times I misread intentions and ended up saying something wrong.

Anyway, I should clarify that this isn't really a complaint post. Just an observation about a pattern that runs throughout my life. My natural state is to feel like a loser, and every once in a while this feeling becomes intense enough to cause pain and grief, but basically this is normalcy for me, in the same way that walking

[battywlove]

Hi Dusty! :)

RE: your recent rb, I was wondering if you could tell me some things you love about your F/Os, specifically Ryuji or Sun Wukong (I would say Phoenix but I’m pretty familiar with him and not so much with the others!) And also maybe what they like about your s/i if you’d like? :) —CCFM

HIIII SABRINAA!!

I see Sun and Ryuji being similar characters, at least in appearance and basic traits. Both canon and fanon treat them terribly. So I apologize if I sound repetitive

Sun is just omg <<333 He is my boyfriend material <<33 He is such as sweet and endearing guy who just wants to help his friends and make them happy! I love how playful and funny he is! A lot of people both in show and out, portray him as this dumb blonde, while he may not be book smart he's actually really emotionally intelligent! He's not a perfect person but who doesn't have their own flaws. Sometimes Sun can be selfish without meaning to, often because he's trying to help someone else without thinking of the consequences. Also he has great abs <3

Ryuji is similar to Sun in that they're both rebellious, outgoing, and not so book smart. He's not always the most street smart either, but he really tries to be good person despite all the sh*t he's gone through. He really has heart, and passion! Honestly at first I fell for the protagonist Akira Kurusu, but overtime I felt he was too.. idk perfect? Ryuji felt real, he wasn't perfect, Ryuji made mistakes but he just wants to help, to be seen as more than just 'the delinquent'. On a less deeper note I think he's really super cute <3

Now why they like my s/i's!

Sun thinks Estella is the most beautiful star in the sky in all of Remnant. He appreciates how grounding she can be, because Sun knows he can get carried away and is thankful for her reminding him when to stop and think. They both love being silly and having fun together, feeling more than they've ever felt.

(My persona 5 s/i is still a work in progress so for now I'll call her Eve) Ryuji was a first confused by Eve, sometimes he still is. He didn't understand why she went out of her way to talk to him and make conversation. Eve wanted to find out the truth about what happened to him and wouldn't listen to any rumors, only straight from the source. Ryuji is floored by how much she loves him, constantly defending him and lifting his spirits with compliments. He's made it a challenge to himself to be more affectionate! Much to the annoyance of their friends

[appl-cider]

Notes App

While I write most of my chapter notes on paper, sometimes I'll be out and about when I get an idea for a line or a scene or something, so I'll just jot them down into my notes app. My phone is on the verge of breaking at the moment, so I'm just gonna share some of them here.

There's not a whole lot of cohesion between these, mostly undeveloped ideas or stray thoughts. Some have already been developed into ideas in my fics, others I might use later. I just like laying out my thoughts, so hopefully you get something out of reading them. I don't remember writing most of them, but I'll give a bit of context for the ones I do.

There's no warning for when good things end; one day you're in the middle of things, the next day it's all over. (April 2nd, 2023)

I don't think anyone understands me, as cliché as that may sound. but that doesn't mean I'm misunderstood, that people have the wrong idea of me. I just don't think they have any idea at all. And maybe that's comforting, because I don't think I have any idea at all either. (April 11th, 2023)

I think my biggest weakness will always be my ability to stay hopeful. It's not a flaw (it's actually gotten me through some tough times), but I find it o easy to manipulate myself into believing that, even when met with crumbling failure, anything is possible. But sometimes that just isn't true, yet I try to think otherwise. (April 12th, 2023)

This one was written in a car park. I think I had seen a girl whom had turned me down a few months prior and part of me wondered if we could ever have some kind of relationship, platonic or other. We couldn't, but that didn't stop me from thinking about it. I realised I wanted to emulate this feeling in one of my stories, somehow, so I wrote it down.

I can't wait until all this is past me, when I can look back on these times as a wonderful memory. Because when nostalgia makes my nose run and eyes water like pollen on a summer afternoon, I will say: "What a violent, tender, blissful young heart I kept." But not really; I want to keep this heart forever, even though it hurts a lot. (April 13th, 2023)

I wrote this in an English class. I have hay fever and there was a lot of pollen in the air that day, so my eyes were all puffy and teary. I think it made me want to be young forever.

Maybe this is bad but I sometimes wish something terrible would happen to me. i wish I would break my wrist and have to get a cast, because it would be a conversation starter. People would see the cast and they'd be like "Oh wow, she broke her wrist, that's really interesting, I should talk to her." That's what I need: a conversation starter, grafted to my body so that I might finally be interesting. (April 27th, 2023)

I have really bad social anxiety, so starting conversations is a real challenge for me. I don't actually want to break my wrist, but I'd like if I had a reason for people to approach me. instead of the other way around. it would make my life a hell of a lot easier.

I have feelings for her, not in the romantic way. But it's not platonic; platonic is safe, it's static and standard. This is raw and exposed, it's something that makes my emotions bleed from my mouth, not in pain but in vulnerability. And I hope some of it spills from my lips and trickles down to her chin, like the juice from an orange slice. (May 7th, 2023)

Wrote this on a bus at 2am, sat beside one of my closest friends. This isn't how I feel about her, and I doubt it's how she feels about me; I wish it was how we felt about each other, it would make my life a tad easier, I think.

I wish that for a second you looked at me how I look at you, as in you see through my eyes and I can stand in your shoes. (June 6th, 2023)

Gender envy's a bitch, especially when you wanna kiss the girl.

That's all, for now at least. I'll probably dump some more notes another time. Much love.

[mcalhenwrites]

It took me far too long to realize that all the hard work had paid off and continued to do so, in regards to my writing. In the past, when I'd feel proud of a story or a scene, I'd immediately scramble back to, "Well, someone will read it, and they'll find the flaws, and they'll know I'm an imposter."

Every single person who writes - even those who've done it 50, 60 years - doesn't do it perfectly. That's impossible.

The definition of what makes "good" writing also varies per person. I personally love it when the writing style is a bit more poetic (you can see that influence slowly infiltrating my own work) and we hear details about the characters that give us more depth about their background and personality. Meanwhile, some people want that to be kept vague and for the story to cut to the chase.

I though my writing was too simple/basic, and I've been told my writing wasn't good enough for anyone to read in writing circles. I've been told my characters all fall into the same category. There's more history with this, but people read my fics and my original works and still liked them. I know these things weren't true then and they're especially not true now, but I was so insecure and afraid that I believed the negative commentary most.

I don't think being hard on myself was all that helpful, either. So none of that improved me. My methods of going about improvement did, but I might have done better at this stage in life if I hadn't let terrible people confirm my negative feelings.

(This isn't about criticism, either. I like concrit! But insulting someone's work or tearing it down in a public space for your friends to have a go just makes you a shitty person. It doesn't make you helpful whatsoever.)

I've also not been able to trust writing circles for years, which sucks. I have some friends who also write, but I'm typically pretty careful and don't do well integrating into new writing circles. Not really fair to the writers in them, so I've finally dipped out of trying to get involved in any until I figure out how to socialize without fearing that I'll end up the butt of all jokes.

And getting over that is hard, I tell you. Even now, I hesitate. "My writing might actually be all those things, and I'm defying reason by saying it's good." Only to then realize that if I wrote exactly like those people's favorite authors, but they knew it was me, it wouldn't matter how good it was. They were out to make fun. Maybe that stems from jealousy or just their own general insecurity that makes them need to drag down others with them. I'm sure some were not into whatever I was writing, but it's improtant to learn how to handle that without being cruel to the author and their work.

All I can really do about it is make sure that's the type of writer I never become. That's the best I can do: support writers by buying books, leaving genuine commentary on AO3, and enjoying my own writing journey.

I love writing. The joy of creating characters and worlds, of weaving them into words... I love that entire process so much. I told myself a year ago - when I took down all my writing from the public eye and locked my works in a private AO3 collection - that I wanted to focus on that for a while. It helped me so much to take a step back for about three months. I also don't mind that most of that stuff is still private.

I did leave up a couple of anon works, but only because I didn't want them to disappear at the same time that all my other writing did. (And those are still anon, and people don't know I've written them.)

These days, I still worry that even the writing I've set aside for publication will never take off, and that I won't have my writing career, but... that's never going to stop me from writing any of it. At this point, I don't think anything beyond a life-altering severe health issue or death is capable of stopping me.

This doesn't mean I doubt my writing quality! I think that the book industry isn't particularly great to begin with, and self-publication is complicated when you have to be your own PR person. What I write is also not for everyone. It's a little weird to say it's niche, as if that makes it special, but I just mean that it might only ever appeal to a small group of people.

I have to keep writing what's in my heart. But after all this time, I'm glad I'm still here, that I have always and will always write what I need to, for myself.

And it's also okay if I want to monetize some of it and share some of it for free, if I want to post or publish it because I think it's good enough to share. Libraries and book stores exist because people do that. We now have the internet to share our writing, whether it be original or fic, and I think that's a beautiful thing. (Side note that fic is just as valuable as original, and I don't condone saying one is better than the other. That's needlessly cruel to people who work hard on their writing writing, regardless of what they write. The publishing industry has its messes, but fics/fandoms do too, and you just have to find the writers who deliver what you like. If you exclusively prefer fic to original or original to fic, that's fine, just don't make your personal tastes a reason to insult millions of writers whose works you've never read. As an author of both and as a fan of authors who write both... I have a wider pool of writing to enjoy!) Anyway, I suppose I'll always fight some imposter syndrome, but... it's nice to also recognize my own skill level. It's nice to have others recognize it, too. I do think that helps a little. We all need some support and encouragement. We shouldn't forget our roots, but it's not necessary to take the journey through writing alone unless that's what we prefer. :)

[lesbianwyllravengard]

Okay I'm compiling my comments in a reblog so ppl stop questioning me /lh. I solemnly promise I note his flaws with the utmost love and affection. Wyll is my favourite guy ever. But he says a lot of things in game that is honest and good advice, but then he does the opposite himself. And what's best is either that he doesn't realise it, or he does but thinks it doesn't apply to him, because he sees himself as being worth less than the people he wants to save. It ties into his insecurity issues. He's not a hypocrite in arrogance, but in a lack of self worth.

I've said longer things about it before but like, one big thing is how he (rightfully) hates the gods for demanding so much from their followers and then being apathetic in return, but he offered his soul for a city that didn't even recognise his sacrifice and doesn't care about him as a person. How he warns against anyone pacting with a devil, and you'd think of this as advice from experience, but then he says that he personally doesn't regret it and it's okay that he did it, that it was worth it because it happened only to him.

He thinks himself the one who must suffer, he doesn't extend the grace for himself that he freely gives others, and as a result his words do not match his actions. And again, it's definitely based in the low self worth he holds for himself. My point is his actions and beliefs towards himself do not match his actions, words, and beliefs towards others. It is hypocrisy in how he warns against doing things he actively does, offers empathy to others he doesn't grant himself, and gives his beliefs regarding forgiveness for other people's actions but never forgives himself nor accepts that he deserves it (like bro, if someone kicked their child out he'd be mad about it, but when it's his own experience or his own suffering "it's fine"). He's very complex mentally and emotionally, and I adore him terribly. Shaking him in my teeth like a chew toy.

And finding Astarion charming is an obvious flaw, so I don't need to delve into that one

People who think Wyll is too perfect try to make up flaws for him because they don't want to bother paying attention to his very real flaws in the game, such as blatant hypocrisy, lack of self worth to the point of reckless endangerment, and finding Astarion charming.

[k--havok]

I should probably stop telling people to call me Lanx because. Well. That name comes from my main fanfic penname which is Lanx Borealis. (Bonus points for you if you know where this name comes from, haha!)

I've had it for so long and so many internet people call me Lanx that I've grown really attached to it. It feels weird when being called other things. I do not mind being called K or just Havok (I think I prefer Havok, however!) I'm just really attached to Lanx.

And the reason why I think I should probably stop being called Lanx is for I guess ""branding"" purposes. When you google Lanx Borealis you get all my Problematique TM Fanfic. And it seems a lot of people who go from fanfic author to published author completely drop, delete, and hide their fanfic. Even fanfic not relating to their published works which is just. Sad?

You can write fanfic and published works. They're not mutually exclusive. And furthermore, I am not ashamed of my fanfic work either. Why would I hide it? I don't care if its terrible and probematique TM and gross. Fanfic is part of my writing journey. It's part of the communities I was apart of. I still get comments and kudos and bookmarks on my fanfic. I'm not going to take that away from those people who enjoy those stories, as flawed as they are.

Plus there's no point anyways. It's on the internet. It's backed up on the Wayback Machine too for archival purposes. I have encouraged people in the past to download my fanfic too. It's out there and out of my control. Even if I deleted it, its clicks away from being found.

Which is why I don't really care about being called Lanx or people finding my fanfic. Let them find it. Let them know I use to write Gravity Falls fanfic and the like. Hell, I may still end up writing fanfic in the future if the urge and a fandom grasps me again! I am not going to turn my back on it. And because I still actively read fanfic! I love fanfic! It was a huge part of my life growing up, my journey as a writer, and how I made several online friends I'm still friends with today, even if we no longer share fandoms or talk as much as we use to.

But, back to branding purposes, it could be confusing for people to come to this writeblr blog and see I go by Lanx, even tho my penname doesn't even have an L in it. I thought about changing it to instead L. Havok, but that just does not look as good as K. Havok. Plus how many names even start with an L to begin with?

I don't know... I just have a lot of thoughts turning in my head. Like a rotisserie chicken.

[majesticwren]

Gosh, I hate it when it's clear that a story is not someone's gig at all but they choose to whine about it to the author-- making them feel bad about what they write maybe without even realizing it. It's not polite at all. Also, you know, fluffy fanfictions exist. Don't like, don't read. As simple as that. That ask gives "an old man telling a woman to 'smile more' vibes, I think.

I see what the anon is trying to do in defending you but as you said yourself Stella is flawed and you wrote her that way on purpose so you must have known that would get a reaction? And some would be positive and some negative, just because this anon GETS Stella's choices doesn't mean that everyone will and just like in real life people will get frustrated with her and they'll want to slap her and yell pull yourself together woman 🤣 and they'll also want to hug her and tell her how much she deserves to be treated better by all the people around her 🤷‍♀️ I don't know I think it's unfair to say that the story isn't their bag or they went out of their way to hurt your feelings and they just whined to you..... maybe they were just trying to give you their opinion and sure they said they didn't like her but that doesn't mean they couldn't get to like her. I'm sure even as the Author and creator youre sometimes like girl just go get some good wine find some good dick and move on with your life stop pining for Max you look stupid 🤣🤣 that doesn't mean you don't like her and that doesn't mean you don't like the story it just means at that moment in that time during that scene you wanted to smack her upside the head 🙈

Also Anissa is me and I am Anissa. LOVE HER. We stan a BFF who tells you your shit stinks when it stinks.

Also hope Greg rots that piece of shit. What a PSYCHO.

Also she finally told him the truth and he didn't pick her (BOOOOOOOOOOOOO) I'm gonna need him to grovel for his life before she even agrees to see him again, the era of Stella is about to hit and our girl is GONNA THRIVE......once she gets psst the fact she has a psycho ex trying to kill her and is hung up on a guy either too stupid, too scared or both to realise he has the world in his hand and just let her slip through she is gonna THRIVE and I'm here for it.....

hello my darling ✨sorry it took me this long to get to my asks it's been a terrible week. Anyways, as always, thank you for taking the time to send a little comment my way, it's always appreciated 💕

I understand what you are saying and I always support that everyone is entitled to their opinions. I think that the way you just explained that first ask I've received makes it appear much much clearer, if those were their intentions, of course - and I absolutely agree with what you are saying lmao Stella did need to get a good "wake up, gurl" kinda situation :')

Anissa is literally an angel, I love her. I wish I could give her a bigger role because she deserves to be the queen of england if you ask me

Greg deserves to rot in hell :') we aren't done

And about Max and Stella 🥲 let us all pray AAHAHAHAH they are a lost cause

Again, thank you for taking the time to leave me an ask 💕

I'm currently in the process of writing ch 4 :') which is kicking my ass so it might take some more time, wish me good luck - hopefully I'll get to the result I want from it