#thats another level of crazy

[nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma]

So funny that The Red Sowing is literally The Bells Part 2

...As in Targaryen Queen wants the throne so bad they suddenly flip into lunatic who burns innocent people alive en masse - something neither of them ever do in the books. Yet while The Bells is generally accepted as awful writing and an abrupt character assassination, I see The Red Sowing praised (often the same people who criticise The Bells) as making Rhaenyra more interesting.

And part of that is the scale - Dany pointlessly burns an entire city street by street. Compared to Rhaenyra pointlessly herding in a hundred dragonseeds into a confined space and ringing the dinner bell. Rather than letting them go one at a time and not risking killing off all your potential dragonriders in one dumb fiery swoop. So, a relatively smaller dumb pointless kill count = good writing I guess.

Part of that is the relief that after a mostly dull season Rhaenyra is finally doing something. Which wouldn't have been a problem if they actually spent the season letting Jace have his book arc and take the forefront for a bit. Rhaenyra would have taken a bit of a step back, but we would have been able to focus on her grief and it would have been set up for Post-Gullet Rhaenyra. Instead the season is spent with Rhaenyra moping in frustration or dressing up as a nun or kissing Varys Marx Part 2 while Jace also mopes in frustration.

Part of it is the fact that Rhaenyra is a morally more ambiguous and less altruistic person than Dany anyway, so people are more willing to accept it as consistent characterisation. Especially if they've irritatingly got it into their head that Crispy is a rape victim (though thankfully not even the show, for all its other faults, understands him as such). Many who complain that Rhaenyra has been whitewashed by the show even cheer that we are, apparently, finally getting something closer to book Rhaenyra.

Which irritates me because most of Rhaenyra's worst actions take place Post-Gullet.

An event that hasn't even happened yet. And what she does in The Red Sowing is already far more monstrous than anything she ever does in the book. There is a broad spectrum between morally ambiguous, even dark, and... crazy cult lunatic who gives the Mad King himself a run for his money. Rhaenyra's worst actions come about from the loss of her children, from paranoia at losing more. That's a human story. The Red Sowing is an uninspired Targ coin flip.

As for her worst actions pre-Gullet... while there are some valid charges of whitewashing the biggest ones I see are incorrectly targeted. Like Rhaenyra's lack of involvement in Blood and Cheese, or calling Helaena an innocent. That is literally canon. That isn't whitewashing. The Rogue Prince literally sent the 'son for a son' raven from Harrenhall just as Rhaenys and Corlys were sitting the council down to discuss how to respond to Luke's death (Rhaenyra was absent out of grief).

Or Rhaenyra not killing Laenor. She didn't kill Laenor in canon either - for starters Harwin was still alive at the time of Laenor's death. The show switches up and compresses the timeline - the fight at Driftmark takes place at Laenor's funeral in the book, and Harwin is sent away to Harrenhal in the aftermath. So, Rhaenyra wasn't looking to marry Daemon while she was in a loving relationship with a still-alive Harwin.

Using the dragons as deterrence? Outside of an impassioned speech after Jace's death, that literally was the strategy she used in the book. Daemon lured Aemond and Vhagar away from King's Landing, and outside from one small battle at one of the gates the city swiftly surrendered at the sight of the dragons. Which were not used. (So no, Show Baela, when Rhaenyra said 'subdue their armies' she did not mean 'burn innocents').

Which brings me to my next issue with complaints of whitewashing, because it doesn't factor in areas where Rhaenyra had been simultaneously demonised.

Such as being complicit in the murder an innocent bystander in cold blood so she can fake Laenor's death. Or the fact that her arrangement with Laena is erased so a now-whitewashed Vaemond is depicted as the wronged party (erasing a black woman's agency and wishes - thank you for that hotd). Or the fact that she now voluntarily abandons King's Landing rather than being ordered away by her father, and getting passed over as Hand as a result.

Or 'questioned sharply' now coming before Alicent's demand to cut Luke's eye out, rather than being said in response to a threat to her children. Like either way it was a toothless threat, Rhaenyra was just trying to back Alicent into a corner to get her to admit to raising her children to coup. But it makes her the aggressor where she was previously reacting to Alicent's threat. And Alicent already had an understandable reason to flip out herself - her son had lost an eye - both mothers had a reason to lose their heads and say shitty things.

This isn't book purism for book purism's sake. The problem isn't that changes were made, or that changes were even necessary. The problem is that these changes dramatically re-characterise Rhaenyra.

Or, considering her motives are changed from ambition towards Peace Keeping in the name of Altruistic Prophecy of Destiny - temporarily characterised.

The show makes changes, but then doesn't write those changes consistently. And the show doesn't compensate for the way these changes re-contextualise the canon that they do keep.

Take Shae as an example. Show Shae and Show Tyrion have a genuine loving relationship. So genuinely loving that the events of book canon - Shae testifying against Tyrion and Tyrion murdering her in cold blood - no longer work. So in order to fix it, the show assassinates Show Shae's character by turning her into a bitter woman scorned, by having Tyrion now murder her in self-defense.

Sibel Kekilli reportedly defended her character, and asked the writers if they could instead give Shae the motivation that she testified against Tyrion in exchange for clearing Sansa's name. It still would have been a mess, but it would have been more consistent with the version of the character they wrote.

I ultimately think they should have just stuck with the book - if they were going to change or flesh Shae out it should have been done in a way that would have worked with the ending for her character. Making their relationship genuinely loving was a change that ultimately didn't work (as much as I am still moved to rewatch some of their scenes).

But having made that change, the show had to compensate for how the book canon they were going to keep was no longer going to work in a changed context. And they seriously dropped the ball.

So no, changing Rhaenyra's character isn't necessarily bad. But you have to understand what it is you are actually changing and how it interacts with the canon you do keep. And you have to write her consistently.

And when you have a character who is going to have a dark turn, it's important that you get that character right.

Just because a character does morally ambiguous things it doesn't mean that every dark action you can think of is on the table. What actions, why, to who, in what context, at what point in their character arc?

To compare to an actually good show (not that I think the characters are comparable) - Season 1 Walter White almost walks away from cold-blooded murder but ultimately makes his first kill out of self-defense. Season 2 Walter White guiltily lets Jane overdose so she can't blackmail him. Season 3 Walter White gets Jesse to kill another meth cook for him so he can't be murdered and replaced. Season 4 Walter White poisons and hospitalises a child (child endangerment, but not murder) to trick Jesse into helping him kill a crime boss who had threatened to kill him and his family. Season 5 Walter White will willingly work with someone who murdered a child out of cold selfish pragmatism, and will arrange the murder of 13 fellow criminals to keep himself out of prison.

Gus Fring orders a child to be shot to tie up a loose end. Todd Alquist tortures Jesse and shoots Andrea in cold blood just to punish him. Tuco beats a man to death for annoying him.

Walter White is a monster (again, I don't think he is comparable to Rhaenyra) - but he is a consistent one. It wouldn't make sense to have him act like Gus Fring, or Todd Alquist, or Tuco. And you don't prematurely put Season 5 Walter White in Season 2. Where would his character even go from there?

Where does Rhaenyra go after Squid-Gaming a crowd of bastards into a fiery massacre?

You can't have post-Gullet Rhaenyra in the pre-Gullet. And you can't have Mad King Aerys in Rhaenyra's place. Or... you can't have Aemond (burning the riverlands and beheading children) in Rhaenyra's place, or Aegon (burning the shepherd and his followers in a gruesome little light show) in Rhaenyra's place, or Daeron (slaughtering an entire town of innocents even though Maelor's killers had already been executed) in Rhaenyra's place.

To lay it out, not for the sake of book purism, but to detail the original context of her actions:

Rhaenyra reacts to Alicent demanding to cut her kid's eye out.

Rhaenyra leaves King's Landing because her father orders it.

Rhaenyra marries a man who may have killed her husband, at a point where she is grieving and has been essentially exiled from her position at court and passed over as Hand.

Rhaenyra makes an alliance with Laena to secure Driftmark and the Iron Throne for their children, and orders the execution of Vaemond when he falsely declares himself the heir ahead of both their children.

Rhaenyra fails to execute her husband, the father of two of her children and one of her few dragonriders, when he goes behind her back and orders the murder of a child.

Rhaenyra withdraws from her own council out of grief for her son, forcing her 14-year-old child to grow up too quickly (the Robb and Cat parallels hurt me)

Rhaenyra allows her son to let dragonseeds attempt to claim dragons - an inherently dangerous business that was always going to have casualties without squid gaming them into a cave and ringing the dinner bell - because they need dragonriders.

Rhaenyra turns darker after the Gullet:

Broken by the loss of one son, Rhaenyra Targaryen seemed to find new strength after the loss of a second. Jace’s death hardened her, burning away her fears, leaving only her anger and her hatred.

Catelyn doesn't become Lady Stoneheart until after the Red Wedding. Catelyn doesn't murder Jinglebell in cold blood until after she watches Robb die.

It hurts so much, she thought. Our children, Ned, all our sweet babes. Rickon, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Robb … Robb … please, Ned, please, make it stop, make it stop hurting …

Rhaenyra loses Visenya, then Lucerys, then Jacaerys and, she believes, Viserys. Four children gone, with two children left to protect.

That is the context for the worst of her.

Rhaenyra has Tyland tortured... to try to retrieve the crown's finances, and the failure to do so leads directly to the collapse of her reign.

Rhaenyra executes turncloaks - again after a series of betrayals that had already resulted in the loss of 4 children, with 2 left to protect.

Rhaenyra passes over the daughters of Rosby and Stokeworth... because she couldn't risk alienating the lords. The Greens had bankrupted her kingdom, she was in the middle of a civil war, she had two children left to protect. And idk maybe she had qualms about serving a 6 and 12 year old girl up to be child brides to Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White. Which leads to...

Rhaenyra turns against Nettles and Addam. Her own son's friends... out of classism and racism and... the urging of her own council. On the word of her mistress of whisperers. In the aftermath of one of the most horrific war crimes of the dance by Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White. Is turning against two of your few remaining dragonriders when the other side has just gained two dragonriders a strategically bad move? Absolutely. Arguably, so is risking the possibility of the other side gaining four dragonriders.

Even so, this is Rhaenyra at her worst. It is her at her most paranoid and, if Eustace is to be believed, most vindictive. It comes towards the end of her reign. It comes at a certain point, in a certain context. It is an earned moral decline.

It is nowhere near as bad as, or consistent with, a crazy cult leader Squid Gaming a crowd of bastards into a fiery massacre out of some deluded religious sacrifice.

Now, 'book purism' aside... even with the changes the show makes to Rhaenyra's character, The Red Sowing still isn't consistent with her new character (as inconsistent as her show character already was).

Rhaenyra just isn't set up as a crazy religious cult leader, even with her prophecy of destiny (heck the prophecy of destiny certainly never stopped show Rhaenyra from voluntarily bouncing to Dragonstone and leaving King's Landing for the greens). In the very first episode she acknowledges that the idea of Targaryen's being closer to gods than men is propaganda. She lets the white hart live rather than kill it and use it for political gain. She honours both Erryk and Arryk and is upset by their suicide. She doesn't force Steffon Darklyn to tame a dragon, and is horrified at his death. She is concerned with deterrence and avoiding conflict to the point that she'll disguise herself as a septa and risk everything to stop a war. She advocates intervening between the Blackwoods and Brackens rather than leaving it to Lord Tully because she knows how quick they are to turn to bloodshed.

There is no consistent set up for her being a) a lunatic or b) seeing human life as disposable.

Yes, even with this version of Rhaenyra's willingness to kill an innocent bystander in order to fake her husband's death

Because frankly that's about as consistent with the rest of her character onscreen as Rhaenys' dragonpit massacre is with the rest of her pro-geneva convention character. In both examples, you can see the contrivance by the writers. Their motivation for the dragonpit massacre was, in their own words, "what would be the worst thing to happen at a coronation?" and "wouldn't it be cool if?"

With very little thought of course to Rhaenys' motivation - as is embarrassingly clear in the way they address the glaring plothole their Big Episode 9 Moment created: why didn't she end the war there and then?

Well, it wasn't her war to start! (the greens had already started it, also how is the dragonpit massacre not an act of war?). And... she wouldn't do that to another mother! (she had already in fact done it to many many mothers). Ok well she's a classist who doesn't value the smallfolk as much as she does Alicent (except for 99% of the time when she's pro-peace and anti-violence and lamenting the cost of war, also I'm pretty sure she at least values the survival of her granddaughters over Alicent).

Ok... well she just had a stressful day and the tactic "hand over the crown, I've got a dragon and I'm not afraid to use it" didn't occur to her.

Meanwhile Dead Bystander-Gate... clearly the result of not wanting to bury their gays. Well done show, harmful trope averted, but now Laenor and Rhaenyra are chill with a) murdering an innocent bystander and b) traumatising Rhaenys, Corlys and their children for life with the charred corpse of their loved one.

Now there are other reasons for why Laenor's exit from the show happened the way it did - primarily the structure of the season.

It had just two episodes to fit in the events of before, during and after Driftmark. They needed episode 6 to serve as a second pilot episode, while they wanted episode 7 to focus entirely on Driftmark, leaving no room for the aftermath (Rhaenyra leaving for dragonstone, Harwin's death, Rhaenyra getting passed over as Hand, Rhaenyra marrying Daemon).

So instead they took part of the aftermath of Driftmark (Harwin's death and Rhaenyra leaving for Dragonstone), stitched it in before Driftmark, and used it to set Larys up as an antagonist in the second pilot.

As a result two big character exits get switched around: Harwin dies an episode early and Laenor 'dies' an episode late. Which means cramming his exit into a quick montage at the end, alongside Rhaenyra's marriage to Daemon. A montage of Laenor getting assassinated, Rhaenyra grieving his loss for a few months, then Rhaenyra marrying Daemon wouldn't work - but a montage is all the episode has time for. So to expediate things Rhaenyra has to be in on it, but that would be too jarring a character assassination, so she can't actually have Laenor killed. So fake his death.

So... a big whopping mess, and honestly I think there were plenty of other ways to get around the episode structure - ways that wouldn't assassinate either Laenor or Rhaenyra's character. Or, again, temporarily assassinate.

Either way, 'this character assassination is consistent with another moment of character assassination' isn't a great argument in the Red Sowing's favour.

Same again for the blockade causing a famine in King's Landing,

Which I also see cited as set up for Rhaenyra squid gaming people. Well, the blockade didn't cause a famine in the book, because most of the food doesn't come by sea. It comes by road. Specifically, from the Reach. You know, the bread basket of the realm? Remember, from last time there was a famine on this show, during the War of the Five Kings?

This isn't an argument against exploring the costs of war for the smallfolk. But that comes later, and more realistically, with the taxes Rhaenyra is forced to raise. Right now its valuable screentime that could have been going to Jace, Cregan, Baela, Rhaena, Nettles (another smallfolk character!), Daeron, Marilda (another smallfolk character!), giving Addam and Alyn more personality and agency...

Oh wait we're giving these two random white guys sad backstories now? Sorry my bad.

The ultimate trigger for Rhaenyra's religious delusion seems to be Addam interpreting getting chased by a dragon as a divine sign from the gods...

which I guess was anticipating a cinema sins ding on whether Velaryons can be dragonriders without Targaryen blood? (Just say they're all from Old Valyria and call it a day).

In the book Addam had put himself forward as a dragonrider - demonstrating his ambition, daring and willingness to take a risk. In the show this level of agency and motivation is reserved for the white dragonseeds - leaving us with a passive Addam and a lunatic Rhaenyra.

Which leaves us with 'this bad writing was set up by previous bad writing', which again isn't a great argument in the Red Sowing's favour.

The other set up we've supposedly received for Rhaenyra's fanaticism is... reading history books and doing some light Visenya cosplay. I bet that's how Mad King Aerys got started too.

Or seeing the White Hart as a divine sign. Many people see the White Hart as a divine sign. They don't all go crazy. Putting stock in dreams and signs and portents is a Westeros thing rather than specifically an Evil Targ thing, that often does not result in mass murder.

As for the idea that Rhaenyra believes so fervently that she needs to win the Iron Throne in order to protect the realm from Long Night that she'll sacrifice people en masse for the greater good...

Again a) set that up and b) why are we prioritising inserting a song of ice and fire into a story about female succession? And after we just had 'Daenerys believed in ending slavery so badly she became hitler' do we really need another mad queen on the altruism to mass murder pipeline?

Even then, the sowing of the seeds was already dangerous in the book without squid gaming everyone. If you want to depict it as a fiery sacrifice then... people individually trying to tame the dragons one at a time already had a high casualty. That was already a decision Rhaenyra accepted as a sacrifice for the greater good. Which as moral declines go is less of a rapid descent into absolute lunacy. Again, without risking killing all your potential dragonriders in one fiery swoop. And apparently ordering your guards to let themselves get burnt alive to stop people from escaping?

It does make me wonder what was going on with the dragonkeepers strike. Setting aside the fact that this is an absolute monarchy and they don't have union rights so... Rhaenyra can just order them to do their job lol. When I first watched the episode after hearing some leaks I saw this scene and thought "oh ok so the dragonkeepers are too classist to do their jobs, and that means something is going to go wrong and the dragon is going to get out of control".

But nope, turns out the plan was for the guards to stop everyone escaping a fiery sacrifice... and to be a part of that fiery sacrifice themselves so... the dragonkeepers were refusing to be part of that fiery sacrifice? Rhaenyra was planning to burn all the dragonkeepers too?

Thing is, the Red Sowing sequence is more shocking and cool to watch on our screens

and perhaps it was cheaper for the budget to kill everyone in one go. But if the only way to save on budget is to assassinate your main character then perhaps you need to go back to the drawing board. There were ways around it. Idk, a montage of people going one at a time? A scene of some people giving up and being free to leave, while others decide to stay and risk it? A scene of a dragonkeeper reading the list of casualties per dragon?

You could have had Rhaenyra listening to the list of the dead. You could have had Rhaenyra letting the cost of the greater good sink in. You could have had Rhaenyra try to reassure herself that they did it out of their own free will and... actually explore it as a difficult morally ambiguous decision that a ruler could realistically rationalise. You didn't have to make her a monster.

Which is why it tickles me that I see fans lavish this season with praise for being a reserved pro-smallfolk anti-war story that refuses to glorify violence because... it isn't.

Not that it doesn't have effective anti-war moments (the ground-level view of the battle of rook's rest was very well done!) but:

a) Just because a show tries to address a topic doesn't mean it's doing it well (essay for another day but anachronistic riverlords geneva convention was laughably bad). Just because a show replaces action scenes with dialogue scenes doesn't mean the dialogue is actually any good (I lost count of the number of times the dialogue amounted to "oh tis so hard to be a smallfolk, you high lords do not care for us smallfolk, war crimes are bad").

And congratulations, you explored the sad smallfolk backstories of two white male characters while removing the agency of or flat-out erasing 4 smallfolk of colour! (hey remember how Hugh got Addam's moment of heroism in the Red Sowing?????)

b) The show still adds in crowd-pleasing shocking action sequences, at the expense of all internal logic and character consistency. First dragonpit massacre, then the Red Sowing. It adds in fucked up spectacle where it didn't previously exist, it prioritises shock value.

So no, the show doesn't get the credit for being reserved in it's depiction of the Battle of Burning Mill. An event that actually would have introduced us to the character of Alysanne Blackwood - but instead we spend the season with Willem Blackwood and Amos Bracken (the male characters who died at the battle), and their deaths are replaced with two male ocs for tumblr to ship.

If you're going to have spectacle and action sequences that lament the cost of war... canon already provided opportunities to do so. You don't need to invent war crimes that assassinate characters. (And you don't need Hugh and Ulf to take the place of your characters of colour as our smallfolk viewpoint characters).

And... funny how the canon war crime of Aemond burning random villages is shown only in the aftermath, some flames and screams in the distance... while we get elaborate visceral on-the-ground spectacles out of show-only war crimes for Rhaenys and Rhaenyra.

(but sure, the show is team black bias)

[starry-bi-sky]

i think i'm hilarious -- aka i made blood blossom danny au memes

all of these come from my DpxDC prompt "i am pushing the batdad agenda--" and it's corresponding additions in the reblogs ksdjlf.

i am. rotating them in my head. forever and always. personally i think there should be more batdad aus in dpxdc, their dynamic could be neat. :)

[moonshynecybin]

different anon but ‘viciously dumped without even the catharsis of a physical relationship until reconciliation’… EVIL i love it. usually i am in favor of them hooking up before because the contrast between how good things were/how they are now can be starker BUT this is also very good… get haunted by unexplored possibilities idiots!! true that in many ways this is closer to reality. love your airport fic for this very reason… i think it’s so interesting to explore a rosquez that hadn’t considered this as a possibility until it was gone.

… which is all to say thoughts on sexuality awakenings and homosociality vs homophobia in sports it inspires aside. once they DO get together do they ever roleplay being their 2013-14 selves. is it fraught with aging + arm and/or divorce issues. or just FUN

YEAH... as @cvrthage said on that post PLEASE dont forget that these guys are still at least culturally catholic, AND that we're trafficking in the social realities of men's sports. like theres a lot of overall heteronormative pressure being exerted on BOTH of them (vale was born in 1979 people), and while they are still individualists who just do what they want to a POINT, its not like they dont feel those influences. actually for the most part i'd say theyre both pretty vicious people pleasers. to that end, does anybody remember david emmett asking the grid if they were hypothetically gay would they would feel comfy coming out publicly, and every single man on that bench (marc, jlo, cal, stefan bradl, dovi, all of whom were also notably not homophobic i should be clear) shat their pants affirming their heterosexuality to the masses? there is PLENTY of room for repression here lets be serious

[coldblooded-angel]

COVID AU where Art and Tashi are forced to quarantine when the city wide lockdowns prevent them from traveling. They find a motel that would let them rent the room for as long as they need to. Thankfully, Lily is with her grandma and they’re both safe.

I want forced proximity. I want Tashi going stir crazy not having anything to do. I want Art still attempting to keep in shape until one day he’s too lazy to workout or get up out of bed. I want Art and Tashi forced to actually talk about anything other than tennis.

COVID AU where Patrick gets trapped in the lockdown. He knows he can’t stay in his car forever so he goes to the nearest motel and uses his emergency credit card to rent a room.

One day, he decides to use the amenities. He knows the motel has a pool and he’s not surprised to see other guests already there. He knows he should stay 6 feet apart. Except he recognizes that blunt short bob and that mop of blonde curls.

Yeah, Patrick Zweig just casually quarantining with the Donaldsons. It’s definitely gonna turn out fine.

(Blame @lovethelittlerthings for implanting this in my brain 😵‍💫😵‍💫)

[skitskatdacat63]

This is my personal crossover event of the century

[ltlemon]

started the penumbra podcast the other day and im surprisingly Really on board for only like five episodes in (more like two? since four of them are two part-ers and one was an unrelated one shot) but holy mother of god what is going on with the sound design are you guys okay in there

[lewyn-martell]

.

[villalunae]

my doctor literally told me i had way more platelets than normal and i was like huh thats weird. anyway time to deal with my weekly nosebleed

[vaniliens]

Why does 'kingdom hearts: union x' have to be abbreviated to 'khux' girl i thought a white supremacist group was involved

[florida3exclamationpoints]

. (Content warning in the tags : whale SA ?)

[phagodyke]

barely biting back the urge to get a high end performance pair of climbing shoes bc most intermediate ones are only like. a tenner less so if im investing i might as well go straight to the top right...?

[peanutheaddd]

Chronic put that beast into a situation disease (Au.. Deets.,. Under cut........)

This is another au thats Extremely canon noncompliant and Extremely self indulgent . the level of neurodivergency ur abt to witness is gonna go through the roof. bear w me here. Goling so bad

This au takes place in the us in like the early 1960s <-- guy whos fucking crazy

greg was an anthro dog in this au but it doesnt change much abt thim . everythingis basically the same he was js bipedal sometimes and its mostly so he fits into the social hierarchy i made tf up (era typical social hierarchy w anthro animals being at the bottom and barely considered individuals w autonomy; legal protections for them are basically like that for regular animals . socially they are considered different from animals but they lack any legal protection . also prejudice ! )

greg + knight were childhood friends and got drafted into the vietnam war tgth basically when it first begins so like the mid 1950s . u can see where im going w this. (they get blown up on the battlefront and sewn tgth)

cue era typical cultural homogeneity and dman hiding the fact that hes half human so he doenst yk get reported for being a commie bc hes different (mccarthyism L) . he js passes off as an anthro dog

petey is an artist and the main plot of the au kicks off bc he gets a commission to create a series of pieces meant to be unsettling and disturbing

at this point of his life hes forgotten his original passion and love for art and hes basically entirely in it for the money .

he tries to look for inspo by js going around and trynna find disturbing shit (not hard bc this is the 1960s) but none of it gives him inspo .

this is asko how he first meets lil petey . hes js a homeless orphan basically and when peteys poking around in a ghetto to look for inspo he happens to meet lil petey and he keeps following him around and bothering him LOL .

i think the ghetto lil petey lives in is similar to great depression ghettos and petey spent much of his early childhood in the great depression (born early to mid 1930s) . so lil petey reminds him a Lot of himself when he was younger

at some point lil petey gets his hands on peteys art stuff and not only does he have a lot of fun w drawing but petey can tell hes Really talented bc his art is Really good for his age . at that point he takes lil petey under his wing as an apprentice of sorts

anyways hes hitting dead end after dead end w inspo until he finds dm ☝️☝️

im thinking dm and lp meet first somehow and lp keeps hanging out w him until one day petey finds him while hes hanging out w dm. and thats how petey meets dm .

i think when theyre talking (dm writing) in their first meeting dm tries to subtly scratch at his stitches but peteys sees and hes like Oh. ohoho . now This is gonna be disturbing.

so he basically js asks dm to be his muse . and dm has never had this happen before but hes like ok!! bc hes dm LMFAAAOO so atp dm doesnt know that petey knows hes a hybrid

cue petey + lp + dm hanging out mostly so petey can keep trynna get sketches in and get inspo .

dm is an active participant in the anti vietnam war movement . his involvement in that is what gets him involved in various other civil rights movements .

this is also how he meets sarah . shes 100% a reporter for some movement. GOD BLESS!! ohhhh god the way the media was used by civil rights activists is Insane btw 💔💔 Insane Insane. Anyone else feeling normal? Haha

also chief was friends w knight and greg but was also like kind of a higher up to them during the vietnam war . he also eventually gets involved in the civil rights movement through dm esp bc hes a black man during this era 😭😭😭

petey tries to deny it but dms involvement in the civil rights movement is Very worrying to him esp as the govt gets more aggressive in their protest suppression methods

but anyways eventually the plot gets to a point where petey physically Cant see dm in a disturbing or unsettling light and everytime he tries to paint him he paints him . Beautifully. Lol. this puts him in a bit of a sticky wicket bc atp hes alr promised his commissioner smth fucked up w a hybrid creature

im thinking eventually petey tells the commissioner to eat shit and he just leans into the beauty completely . its a completely unprecedented way to portray a (seemingly) anthro animal + i think it kicks off smth similar to the black arts movement

im thinking petey himself never gets directly involved in the civil rights movement bc hes js not that typa guy but he keeps painting and hes implicitly involved in the movement basically

social + cultural importance aside its also Really gay to paint dozens of Beautiful portraits of the same guy . dm doesnt think much of it esp bc petey keeps saying hes his muse while petey is like I NEED HIM

frogor to mention peteys part of a biker gang . they dont rlly cause any major trouble they kinda js ride motorcycles and shoot the shit LMFAO . the gang consists of the cat jail cats .

Okay thats abt it i think.

[syluses]

you are such a talented writer—literally art through words

i have got to ask: how was/is sylus during your pregnancy? how does he feel seeing your body change to accommodate growing his big babies?

also, does she end up giving him a girl? do they end up having even more? 🤭

ohhh thank you dear thats so sweet to hear!! 🥹💖 pls take this lil drabble as a long answer lol :,) [based off this fic] CW: slight yandere, pregnancy, suggestive, dubious feelings

hehe OKAY so sylus is super attentive to mc we’ve established that!! also i don’t wanna say he falls more in love with you bc that’s quite literally impossible- he’s already down atrocious. but that’s not to say something inside him doesn’t soften and melt into a puddle whenever he sees your belly bump or rubs it reverently with his hand. your pregnancy both reminds him to be strong, to be that one grounding force in your life, the thing both you and your blossoming family can lean on- but at the same time it brings the epiphany that he’s just a man at the end of the day… and if one thing will make him weak, it’s his wifey <3

but to concisely answer your question: sylus is possessive, yes- hawk-like in the way he watches over you, but he’s also very soft. he knows and hates that he can’t be around the base all the time for you (if life was simpler, he’d be glued to your side 24/7), especially when you’re at your most vulnerable, too big to properly move, hormonal and requiring some sort of aid- emotional or physical- around the clock.

luke and kieran help where they can and sylus silently entrusts that they’ll hold the fort down while he’s gone, but even then, papa isn’t the keenest on the idea of the boys lingering around you for long periods of time,… especially when he isn’t there as well. it’s not that he worries they’ll make some sort of move on you or anything (God knows they’d sooner wish death upon themselves than to lay a hand on sylus’s girl), but more so that you’ll grow a little too lenient on them. he’s not an incredibly jealous guy,.. but the streak is certainly there.

sylus thinks there’s something undeniably intimate in it as well: his beautiful wife pregnant with his kin, relying solely and fully on him. it deepens your bond, and your trust in him (and ultimately your affection, he hopes).

oh and seeing your body change and reshape itself to accommodate his kids ABSOLUTELY drives him crazy. you’ll be insecure and whatnot, subconsciously trying to wrap yourself in baggy clothes (his massive wardrobe making that very convenient), walking around the manor with a blanket draped over your shoulders, not meeting his eyes when sylus inevitably can’t keep his hands off for any longer and brings you to bed. but he’ll kiss away those tears you can’t help from falling and croon at your ear, his hands will appreciatively roam over all those new curves you loathe and he’ll be super super gentle when he fucks you... tell you the sweetest things- purring reassurance in that velvety, deep voice of his as his lips meld lovingly with yours.

seeing you a lil plump, extra soft and vulnerable- round with his children- makes it near impossible to keep a level head around you but he does his best. you’re always the priority, even when it feels like he’ll cum in his pants like a teenager when you slot yourself in his arms and bashfully guide his big hands toward your aching, swollen breasts. someone is standing at attention immediately.

ahem. also… this outcome can be imagined in another way, that’s completely fine wit me— but in my head, sylus DOES end up getting the precious baby girl he wanted. is he satisfied? oh one hundred freakin percent. for… how long? eh. maybe anywhere from half a year to twelve months before that baby fever kicks right back in and puts reader on her ASS. poor exhausted woman is furious at him for constantly nudging her towards having a bigger family; but to be fair, sylus won’t actually voice those returning wants until weeks or months down the line, for that exact reason. he doesn’t wanna piss her off too bad haha.

this time around he’ll try to cushion the blow by saying ‘oh but we have two boys and only one girl- we need just one more to tie the numbers up. our little sweetheart will hate us if we don’t give her someone to play dolls with, dont you think?’ or some nonsense like that. im sorry but to me, sylus wants a big family. i dunno i just think that man WANTS DESPERATELY for mc to domesticate his crazy ass!!! a bunch of trifling lil toddlers scampering around his home seems like a great way to do that! i mean, if not, what else would his house be so massive for? honestly, you’d both just be wasting the space otherwise :(

in any case, your mean pouty face can’t fool sylus. you absolutely adore those little ragamuffins he gave you and will give you. there’s no denying that. <3

[fairestwriting]

Hello 👋 could I please request headcanons for leona's fem s/o defending him everytime one of the other characters start making backhanded comments to his face (if you've seen some of the vignettes you'll know what I mean) she doesn't reveal things like he's depressed or anything (tho he is) she just tells them it's shitty of them calling him lazy/selfish constantly without even knowing him personally

[Everyone treats leona like crap and I take personal offense to it >:( ]

You know i make fun of him on a regular basis. but theres a line thats gotta be drawn when it comes to leona bullying. cause damn this guy needs a real Break he cant even have issues in peace

𐙚 Leona Kingscholar

Before you got closer to him, there’s a fair chance the comments didn’t even stand out to you at all. It always felt a little unfair, yes, but not in a way that was particularly shocking, they were all just rude comments like any other. Back when you weren’t quite friends yet, and maybe even at the start of your friendship, you might have interjected with a simple ”hey, he’s not that bad” or "you don’t need to be rude about it”. It was just a gesture of basic politeness then, something the people around you seemed to lack.

But obviously, your perception of those interactions, and the way you see Leona’s situation itself, soon went through a rather radical change. Possibly even before you two started dating, or even before he “told you too much” — His own words, mumbled dismissively but bitterly, the day he came back after spending a weekend with his family and then proceeded to complain for a little longer than usual — As he warmed up to you, you started to notice things about him more. You started to see the spark of actual passion he has in his eyes during his club activities, the level of detail he gets into when analyzing things, the precise way he moved his chess pieces when you two played...

Above all, though, you started to notice how he often looked actually tired when he took part in any of the “slacking” he’s so infamous for. Learning the littlest bit more about his family life just worked as the final piece of the puzzle you’d been putting together without even noticing — And then, other people’s “rudeness” started to sound like something much more cruel. It didn’t help that he never seemed to react to it whenever he overheard others gossiping, or whenever you told him about the things you heard. “Why doesn’t he care?” The thought would echo in your mind for ages, trying to understand him through the tiny slivers of vulnerability he didn’t mean to show.

Now, as his girlfriend, you feel you just can’t let people say whatever they want, and you feel it more strongly than you ever have. ”Why don’t you mind your own business instead of talking about someone you don’t really know?” You snap back on instinct when one of your classmates, who was in Savanaclaw, comments on how lazy their dorm leader is. Their mouth closes instantly, regardless if you’ve made your relationship public or not — You realize that, on top of all the negative treatment Leona got, it was also extremely rare for others to defend him in any way at all. Enough that even a response that simple elicits shock from others.

”You know, it’s crazy to see you hanging out with Leona like that. I never thought I'd see anyone get so excited to spend time with him.” You hear some other day, while spending time in Savanaclaw’s common area, sat right next to Leona, and it just makes your blood boil. He’s just half-glaring at your particularly cocky acquaintance, sighing like he’s heard it a million times before, which you know he probably has. ”Hey, make sure you don’t get too influenced, we don’t need another person who just sleeps all day—”

”Yeah, you’re right. This type of person can be such a pain. I’m so glad I don’t know anyone who’s, you know, actually like that.” You say through grit teeth, just barely holding back aggression, and in the corner of your vision, the subtle flash of surprise in Leona’s face only encourages you to continue. ”Imagine if like, the Magift team had this sort of player in it… the club would be done for.”

They stare at you with wide eyes, having very much picked up on the aggression. The entire room is silent, you refuse to break eye contact, arms firmly crossed. ”Well, I mean…” The student stammers, but then, Leona himself speaks up for once. ”Did you not get her message? You need me to tell you to shut up instead?” He snaps, and they frantically shake their head, eyes fixed on the ground. You feel pride swelling in your chest, almost unable to hold back your smile.

”You know, Herbivore, if I needed a bodyguard I’d already have one.” He tells you later, in that same day. His tone has that snarky edge that feels like his default, but it’s much less pronounced than usual. You can even see a sort of softness in his eyes while he tries to play it cool. But needing and deserving are two different things, you think. As interactions like these repeat, with you defending him every time, you hope your message fully gets through to him, one day.

if you like my work you can support me by commissioning me or tipping me on ko-fi ── ᵎᵎ ✦

[fluffylino]

ghostface ! hyunjin

little did you know you'd end up bumping into someone unexpected at a halloween party

-suggestive? so flirtatious istg

you weren't this type of person. the type of person in college to actively go seeking out parties and big frat parties. infact thats what you'd probably prefer avoiding. classmates and seniors drinking till they pass out or doing god knows what in bathrooms.

it was scary to be amongst so many people yet deep down you really wished you could experience a party like this. atleast for once in your life.

a recently made friend encouraging you to join her and her group of five friends. you weren't exactly on that level of closeness to go out with them but they genuinely were sweet. you felt like you could trust them. however they weren't as much into halloween as you.

you were wild on the inside. god knows what they'd ever say if they ever found out you found ghostface attractive.

not the killing and gore and all. just the idea of a mask like that. hiding someone's appearance completely.

yet all one could see was their physical figure, mannerisms and...their voice.

"you've never watched scream? the 1996 film?" you questioned, voice raising in pitch as they all shook their heads.

"oh is it that ghostface dude you keep mentioning?"

"technically yeah...imagine bumping into somebody wearing that whole outfit...here..in this place"

you said, getting a little anxious as you saw the classmates dressed up as various characters. some a little too gory and drenched in fake blood.

it was a halloween party afterall.

"I really hope he's there..." another friend chimes in. her cheeks visibly turning red. her and her huge ass crush on this guy.

"hm and if he is? what you gonna do with him" you can't help but tease her. nudging her shoulder and wriggling your eyebrows mischieviously. she laughed nervously.

"shhh what are you saying! dirty dirty!" her eyes widening. internally you questioned the innocence of this poor girl. she wasn't the type to think dirty thoughts.

"you think hyunjin will really be here?"

she whispered, looping her arm around yours. both of yall walking past people and into the house. streamers and decorations all over. lights dimmed down and occasionally flashing. the music louder than expected.

"..hwang? hm i don't know" you mumbled, feeling a bit shaky. guilt setting in slowly.

the thing was...you may have had a teeny weeny crush on him as well. however you pushed it aside when you found out she liked him like crazy. she described it as falling in love with him completely. it was a little too extreme but you simply laughed along. knowing all too well that they had never even spoken once in the previous semester.

hyunjin was a senior by a year or three. watching him from afar in the canteen. heart thumping faster than usual when he glanced your way too many times to be casual.

"he's looking at me, isn't he?" she'd always blush and say, trying to avoid him in all the possible ways.

a little delusion because it took only a few instances for you to figure out that he was...looking at you everytime you either walked to buy some coffee or whenever you'd be laughing and cracking jokes.

but you never know? maybe you just thought he knew your existence.

its only when the music gets louder and more people start coming in do things get overwhelming. grabbing a few shots of soju and downing it quicker than ever.

"we're gonna go there okay?" she slurs, waving goodbye and running off somewhere amidst the crowd with the other three. you hum to yourself, smacking your forehead. beginning to feel the alcohol kick in.

just when you think you should leave, your eyes land upon a mask. worn by someone who looks absolutely sculpted.

no flowy robe to match the creepy mask yet the way his arms looked in a tank top the stranger wore was worth drooling over.

looking away quickly when he turns his head towards you.

"god-...f-fuck he's hot..." you mumble breathlessly to yourself. cheeks burning and body on fire.

trying to steal another glance at the stranger. however he had vanished. was he in the crowd or did he go to the kitchen or backyard or-

"looking for me, honey?"

neck spinning to the side to come face to face with the elongated mouth and downward eyes of the spooky mask. a choked out shout leaving you.

"u-uh i-...i m-mean" you don't even know what you're saying at this point.

its the way he's leaning over you. towering above you.

"sooo you got a boyfriend?"

his voice goes straight to your core. its insane how turned on you are. realising he's playing along. reciting lines from the film.

"why? you wanna ask me out on a date?"

dragging your syllables. its the alcohol thats talking now. growing more confident and comfortable with this supposed stranger.

"maybe..."

the mask tilts comically.

leaning down even lower. that is until he sits on the short table opposite to you. carelessly dropping a few leftover candies on the ground. its a mess anyways.

he moves closer. thick thighs on either side of yours. his elbows resting on his knees as he seems to stare back.

expressions hidden under the damn mask. seeing just a sliver of his eyes under the mesh.

"you're pretty...pretty hot to not have one" muffled behind the mask. you can hear him breathe.

eyes trailing down to his arms unconciously.

"you think i'm hot? even though i'm dressed up as joker?" you chuckle. blushing incredibly hard.

because for some reason this stranger felt familiar. his mannerisms and his physique.

"even hotter, baby"

his voice. you've heard it before. you feel like you know this man's voice. no wonder you were enthralled. why couldn't you pinpoint who it belonged to?

"do i know you?" you sit up quickly. mimicking 'ghostface' who sat infront of you.

moving closer till his body heat engulfed you.

"mh do you?"

he tilts his head, humming condescendingly. goosebumps rising on your skin when his hands carefully rest on your knees.

"cause I definitely know you honey"

again.

your heart races.

unconciously leaning into him.

"you do? i see this little game you're playing" you tease. placing your hands on top of his. he lets you.

"m'not playing any games sweetie"

the man laughs lowly. shoulders shaking and neck arching to look down at you. growing more and more interested.

"yeah? then why don't you show me whose under this mask"

gently placing your index under his chin. his hands resting higher on your thighs now.

"oh i couldn't. that would ruin the fun wouldn't it."

allowing you to play around with the edge of the mask. edging him on mercilessly.

"what if i said i wouldn't mind it staying on"

you whisper, eyes meeting his briefly. arousal pooling in your abdomen.

whoever this was. you knew him for sure.

"while we talk? or did you mean during sex? please do tell, doll"

his voice drops an octave lower and you let your instincts kick in. forcing you to your limits with his teasing.

pushing the mask up just enough to kiss him senselessly.

it takes him by surprise, and you find yourself clinging onto him. his hands sliding higher to hold your waist.

quite literally using his strength to pull you right onto his lap. the low table creaks at the weight of two .

(lord have mercy we must stay focused brothers we MUST STAY FOCUSED AAA sorry i had to lolz)

"f-fuck...who are you..." you whisper, nose brushing against his. he huffs out a breath. choosing to kiss you with more fervour.

your fingers slipping under the mask.

shakily pushing it higher until your heart throbs. but that isn't the only thing throbbing when you see his uncovered face.

hyunjin.

"y-you...hyu-njin" going absolutely speechless as it sets in.

you're kissing hwang hyunjin.

the senior you thought you'd never even have the courage to talk to.

the mild taste of peach soju on his tongue. quietly opening your mouth for him to trail his tongue over your bottom lip.

the dark mesh falling over your face when you let go of the mask to fist at his fluffy hair. you could run your fingers through his hair.

his grip on your thighs strong enough to firmly keep you planted directly over where you could feel him.

getting worked up with how affected you were.

the feeling of his hands, his hair, his hot mouth moving passionately...his covered length....

"your friend. tell her you're with me, baby"

hyunjin pants out, nudging his lips to the corner of your mouth. your eyes widen, heart pounding.

"tell her im kissing you"

it felt like you were committing a sin. but you just couldn't bring yourself to care that much.

"tell her...i don't plan on letting you go home anytime soon"

.

.

.

.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha surprise!

its a late halloween present but who cares! ghostface hyunjin has made an appearance acjwugsbsjskskshs~

<3333

[transgenderer]

attention conservation notice: atheist butchers proclus' theology

ive been relistening to some of the SHWEPisodes on proclus and i think proclus could have saved abrahamic theology (which like. okay obviously they are different. but like. theyre really not different. the amount of cross-influence in abrahamic theology is crazy. and also mutual influence from the same greek philosophers, which leads to cross-influence via cribbing interpretations of nominally secular philosophy. anyway).

so okay, religion has basically two threads, nirguna (without attributes) and saguna (with attributes). yknow, god as transcendent, indescribable, beyond comprehension, totally detached, etc, vs god as earthly, specific, with attributes and symbols and statues. just the former is boring and sort of without content, leads to deism, just the latter isn't even god, its just like... a powerful guy who might exist. not god, really. so you need both

but how do you have both? theyre contradictory. well, christianity tried to solve this with jesus and it sucks. so. not like that. BUT a mere 400 years later proclus figured it out. and a little bit of it spread around the greco-abrahamic tradition, because his elements of theology was shared around by people who thought it was by aristotle. but mostly, he didnt influence that much, which is too bad

okay so here's proclus' idea. first of all, there's the one. it's the ultimate nirguna. totally transcendent. cause of all being. etc. we cant talk about the one. we cant even talk about what the one ISNT. BUT below the one, there's the henads. the henads are not the one but theyre sort of. related to him. theyre the closest thing to the one than anything else is. and the henads "are" the greek gods. but actually, they just correspond to the greek gods.

from each henad there is a chain to lower and lower levels, with the earth at the bottom. and a statue of athena doesn't look like athena-the-henad. but it resembles her MORE than other earthly things do. and in fact everything is in the chain of one of the henads. so like, if you know a guy, and he has some of hermes' traits, and maybe a facial feature associated with hermes, thats because he's in the henad of hermes. some things, or traits of things, have a better "resonance" with the henads than other things. and because everything is connected via the henads you can do magic, by yknow, influencing things higher up in the chain, which then send their influence back down to other things in the chain (i guess it's less a chain and more a tree).

its a good theory of magic! its a good way of having the saguna and nirguna together! it makes the transcendent aspect do metaphysical work, its not just a trait its the mechanism by which ritual functions (another thorny puzzle for theologians!)