#this isn't directed at a specific fandom btw

[inkyprince]

Can we please stop normalizing telling people to kys for liking things you might not like? Like... It's absolutely insane. The block button is right there... Theres blocks for tags even. Stop telling people to go die just because they don't share the same opinions.

I should also say this;

You're allowed to not like things, and that's okay! Not everything is for everyone! You are free to not want to interact with things or fandoms you don't like. I'm not saying we all have to get along. B/c that's near impossible.

Seriously. Stop telling each other to kys. Stop normalizing that shit. That's seriously not okay.

And people wonder why fandoms aren't fun anymore.

[exoflash]

You know what. I genuinely find the view of villainous or morally grey characters in some fandom circles fascinating. More specifically, how fans of those characters are treated.

Note: i am NOT talking about meta, when a character does something crappy that's treated as perfectly okay. That's just bad writing. I'm solely talking about fandoms.

The MCU fandom is particularly guilty of this. There's a trend there where essentially, if you're a fan of a grey or villainous character, people will villainize said fans themselves and treat them as if they're saying "I think everything this character did is okay", rather than "I think this character is interesting from a writing standpoint", or even more common, "hehe. they're silly :3" Compare this to, say, the Doctor Who fandom, where people literally call the Master babygirl and scrimblo sckrunkle the third. Even though that character is arguably FAR more evil than, say, Wanda. Absolutely insane difference

Villains are written to be likable. Every character is technically written to be likable. It is not a thoughtcrime to like a fictional character, they are all pieces of a machine that function together. Liking a character does not equal justification of their actions.

Fandom needs to learn critical thinking and media analysis, desperately.

[gaoau]

i've been thinking a lot about Suo and i need it to stop, so i wanna analyse him a little bit and say things into the void. normally i like to psychoanalyse characters in fics but i've seen that side of the fandom and i do NOT wanna go there, so i'm saving myself by pulling the same thing i did with Nanao ig.

disclaimer: this isn't necessarily a theory about his backstory as much as it is what i personally wanna see happen. see, if i were writing him, i'd do very specific things that could go in various directions, but since i am not, unfortunately, writing him and he's not my character to fuck with, all i can do is yap. which, also, probably won't be very eloquent.

manga spoilers for literally the whole manga up to date btw.

i don't think we won't be getting a backstory on him, to be honest. with a character like him, yeah, the mystery is part of the charm, and having this much anticipation can suck ass if once the secret gets revealed, it doesn't stick the landing. but i doubt Nii Satoru doesn't have something planned for him. why would bro be leaving Suo's room illustration out of the fanbook if there wasn't something there to talk about? what is in his room to talk about? but that's not what this is about.

anyway i'm gonna be so fr Suo's built like a dog. he's clearly full of shit, and yknow, that's fine, good for him, but there are things that are so painfully obvious he's just straight up lying about. after his fight with Kanuma, which is deadass the first time we see him fight, he says he "doesn't usually get so emotional," which ?? shut the fuck up? that's not true.

i know a liar when i see one. we've seen him fight five times? six if i wanna be generous; in three of those he got crazy emotional (Kanuma, keel, and Endo), and just a tiny bit miffed with the gymnast guy idr his name fuck that freak. which, listen, to be fair, if someone touched a single hair on Nirei's head in front of me, real me too i'd kill a guy. but look me in the eye lil bro don't lie to me. real talk, though, he was more than ready to kill the keel dude, and was going to. he wanted to. he was shaking while Sakura held him back, don't play with me. he wasn't gonna stop just cause someone was interjecting.

bro was itching to kill, side-eyeing Sakura, spitting snark cause how's the hot-headed mf who jumps head-first into a brawl without a second thought staying more rational than him, the rational one? Sakura's talking to him the same way i talk to my dog after she tries to kill my cat. i'm ngl my dog has better self-restraint than this kid. he also just straight up xd's his way out of it? like "oh whoopsies! mb gang! i was just feeling silly goofy! 🤪" like he forgets he's not supposed to glare at people with murder in his eyes.

speaking of murder! this is where i want him to have killed someone before Bofurin. he's, like, 15? so there's not much time to work with, but the same way Kaji was going feral at idk 8 years old, i can see a world in which Suo actually went overboard when he was a younger kid. (i'm not saying this is what things are pointing at, but i want this to be the case. i would do this myself.)

he is emotional, i don't think that's up for debate. i understand why he gets so emotional and i do think it's very noble and cool and swag of him, that's a good person, somewhat, he cares about his friends and it pisses him off when they get hurt. i fuck with that. that's great, get him an ice cream (if he even eats fucking weirdo). but why are we acting like "i am chill ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ" when, clearly, that's not true?

here's where his teacher comes in. for how much grief i'm giving him, i don't think he's all lies at all. i don't think him liking Nirei and Sakura enough to not only speak highly of them, but also fuck a guy up for them, is a lie. i think he is as kind as Umemiya describes him to be, cause honestly, if Umemiya says someone is kind, then they probably are.

i don't think this is necessarily fake as much as i think it's borrowed. it's learned behaviour. it's teachings passed down to him by his teacher. it's discipline. it's not something that comes naturally to him, but it is something a person he respects and looks up to taught him, so he tries to live by it. he's very clearly been disciplined, probably got beaten into the ground by his teacher, got his ass handed to him again and again and again until he sharpened his reflexes and learned how to control himself in a fight.

he talks a lot about adulthood, talks a lot about maturing, talks a lot about self-control and whatnot. which, by the way, this is a child? lil bro you're fifteen go play on your switch idk. but i'd like to think this comes from someone telling him, "hey, what you did was not okay. you have a lot of strength and you're not an animal. use it wisely so you can one day grow into a proper adult." solely cause i want him to have killed someone. that's all i want.

i think it would make sense, really. how funny would it be if he was living similarly to Sakura? i've seen people headcanon him as a rich kid, but he lies a lot, and i wouldn't put it past him to be living in a sad, lonely one-room apartment. there's a billion ways things could be done with him. maybe his parents didn't care to try disciplining him, maybe he grew up with no parents at all. he has a short fuse, that's easy to tell, even if he acts like he's got everything under control. it's a very Suzuri type of situation, so maybe it's not the direction Nii Satoru is gonna take things, but one can dream.

as for the eyepatch, i haven't really thought much about it. the way i see things, he's gotta come from a neglectful background, so losing an eye would make sense. or maybe he did it himself, i'd love to see that (i would do that with a character like this if he was mine). if his eye is even missing at all, cause all things considered, it might be sort of just a way to give himself a handicap to remind himself not to go overboard.

which, circling back to the self-restraint thing, i like to think that's the reason he doesn't really use much excessive force. not to say he doesn't kick and punch, cause lil bro packs a mean punch, but he doesn't gravitate to hitting people. he's usually using his opponent's weight and momentum against them, which is why i was decently surprised when i saw him grab the keel dude and wind back to bash his face in. he's not violent, until he lets go of what little self-restraint he has, and then he is. it's values and principles that come from someone else telling him how to behave, except he still struggles to hold himself back.

to put it in simple terms, if he were my character, this is what i would do. i'd have him kill someone by going overboard as a kid, have him be taken in by this teacher, have him disciplined and clean his act up by beating his ass, and then have him parrot all these teachings at people he meets later. cause that's essentially what he's doing, he's just repeating things someone else told him. what does bro know about being an adult he doesn't even pay taxes go do your trig homework. but he tries, and you can tell he's trying, even if it doesn't come natural, he cares about his friends and he cares about becoming a better person, he's just a little too quick to snap.

you know what i mean? he cares about Nirei in particular, he loves Nirei, he tries to learn from Nirei. (guys i love Nirei i wont shut the fuck up). but fr, he's got that Nanao complex where he instigates things or sets things into motion and doesn't quite participate. he watches from the back, for better or for worse, but he doesn't necessarily involve himself in things. he keeps a distance. he feels like the other side to Sakura's coin sometimes, learning about people and how warm they actually are. he's all prim and proper and nonchalant, but he recognises he's no match for Sakura and maybe even Nirei. after all, it's always Nirei the one grabbing both of them by the arm and dragging them places.

he talks so big and maturely about not meddling too much with people who can't quite handle friendship yet, and then goes "!" when Nirei tells him "? fuck are you talking about? that's the more reason to teach Sakura about friendship." it's the look on his face after Nirei, despite Suo's long-winded and logical argument, goes to Kotoha and insists they help Sakura anyway. he's learning from Nirei too. also Nirei's crazy endearing so real me too but that's beside the point.

i don't think these parts of him are fake, but they might just be artificial. he's still integrating them into his own person and making them his, but he still slips here and there. he's not quite there yet. i hope he killed someone when he was 8yo. that's all thank you for reading thumbsup

[roboj0e]

Wade would bully Peter bc someone said he would and wrote it happening and bc y'all are so boring and annoying. Fanfiction isn't about what's canon or strictly in character thats why they're called transformative works. I think y'alls weird obsession with what's cannon while also trying to heavily police what and how ppl make fiction is honestly been the death of fandom and creativity.

There hasn't been a large scale cross over in fandom in years that either wasn't completely ironic or torn down by bullies that it fizzled out bc y'all don't know how to have fun. Even that recent debate over how sans would react to his brother death is further proof of y'all's lack of understanding of interpretation and fan works. Fanwork are supposed to exist in the reality of the fiction of the person who wrote it. NOT what IS the right interpretation bc there are NO right interpretation except for what is made canon which can be anything bc WE aren't the creators.

Who cares what happens in the comics. The comic themselves don't care what happens in other comic runs unless it's specifically meant to be a spin off/continuation.

Wade is SUPPOSED to be a morally ambiguous character. I know y'all have washed him of all the ambiguity bc ppl have told you that how ur supposed to approach fiction and y'all can not perceive a protag who might not be the best person who ur also NOT supposed to hate (god forbid a protag not have Jesus adjacent morality) but thats what he is. He'll do whatever anyone wrote him doing bc he's not real and also anything thats morally ambiguous or toxic bc that's one of his character traits and what was supposed to set him apparent from other heros he's not even a hero he's an antihero. I can not believe y'all are moralizing something as tame as bullying. Bullies making up with their victims happens in DISNEY movies now y'all tryna make that into some problematic take. OMG. And this is from someone who WAS bullied briefly until I learned how to fight and stand up for myself.

Thinking that someone who romanticizes something morally wrong couldn't have possibly been through that experience is the direct antithesis of fiction. It also makes no sense. Plenty of ppl write from experience but also sometimes turning it into a story in which they control how they interact with a bully does A LOT FOR REGAIN CONTROL OF THOSE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES. STOP TRYING TO SUS OUT WHO HAS TRAUMA OR NOT. also STOP thinking that you are an authority of certain traumatic experiences you aren't every experiences are very VERY personal and the portrayal of those experiences should have NOTHING to do with yours bc there is NO way to encapsulate all lived experiences. And even if someone hasn't been bullied who cares again decenter yourself from a fictional scenario that should in now way be a representation of you bc u are not the center of the universe.

(THIS SECTION UNDERNEATH IS MY HEAD CANON U DONT HAVE TO TELL ME U DONT LIKE AGE GAPS IDC)

Secondly wade only wouldnt bully Peter TO ME bc I'm not a teenager in highschool like some of y'all and highschool fics don't interest me and wade to me shouldne even be in highschool and always be the much older one in the dynamic. They shouldnt even be near the same age for me. But whatever floats ur boat. You can do whatever you wan't but when y'all make these long posts telling OTHER ppl what they can and can't do OR how you think YOUR interpretation of the character is the most right your crossing a line frl.

Edit: I read both Deadpool and spiderman comics btw plus the very wonderful spiderman/Deadpool run. GASP I know someone who likes the source material but doesn't adhere strictly to it bc I actually have an imagination and like to have fun instead of kissing marvels feet and remaining in a narrow interpretation of a character. A rare breed I guess.

Edit edit: I also think alot of y'all have a very romcom take on spideypool. And thats definitely fine love my fair share of fluff. But I have a much more complicated take on them. Again I think an age gap compliments these complications. It adds to an imbalanced perspective of both of them towards each other. I'm also very uninterested in a spideypool that grow healthy together or peter "fixing" wade. I want them to overcomplicate their relationship but for it to also be a healthy balance of comedic and fun and hot monkey sex that keeps them interested in a less than perfect relationship. A sorta push and pull from both sides.

[gildedmuse]

Fandom rookie here. Could you please walk me through your Zoro/Law and Zoro/Ace HCs? Love your humor btw!

Ahhh! A little fandom greenhorn! So cute!

You have asked the wrong person the wrong question, newbie.

ZoLaw:

Zoro is from the East, and while he isn't use to Winter Island Cold, he naturally runs hot. Law is from the North and while he HATES being stuck on Summer Islands on hot days, he naturally runs cool. They balance each other beautifully when they share a bed.

Up in the North Blue, it's considered weak to admit that you're cold. Weaknesses gets people killed in the North Blue, so having someone imply you need an extra blanket is a direct insult to a person's ability to keep themselves and their loved ones alive. So obviously Law would never need the extra heat.... But he MAY find himself scooting closer to Zoro-ya on the chillier nights.

The handle of a katana isn't the only thing Zoro can talk around.

...

(Cock. He can talk around a mouth full of cock. And Law LOVES it. Its the only time he can stand one of the Strawhats yapping on).

Look, Law is scientifically minded and likes to believe he is very rational (that's open to debate). He's seen Zoro-ya in the sea and knows he doesn't have a devil's fruit. But sometimes it feels like he does. SPECIFICALLY, one that somehow manages to undo every single one of Law's plans. Because the problem certainly isn't in Law! His plans are complex and perfect. But anytime he comes up for one about how to, say, ask Zoro-ya out it always somehow manages to go terribly wrong. It MUST be a devil's fruit ability.

The first time Zoro actually properly asks Torao out, he first bows to and addresses Kikoku. Since it's imperative he has the curse blades permission to touch his master (especially with all the touching Zoro has planned).

Law doesn't get jealous. That's petty and below him

Law has personally threatened at least three shichibukai and one very (also highly annoying) horny yonko. Not because he was jealous, they just need to step off and stop looking at HIS Zoro-ya that way.

If you ask the boys when they started dating, you get VASTLY different answers. Law would argue that while he'd of course taken notices of the other Supernova back on Saboady, the boy then disappeared for two years and besides Law had a lot of plans that he needed to focus on and execute perfectly. They didn't really see each other again until after Punk Hazard and of course Law was very distracted until after Doflamingo..... Then the horrors they saw on Zou, though, admitedly he may have found himself distracted by Zoro-ya once or twice even at the time.... You know, he would say it was Wano. It was Wano when he realized what an idiot the other boy was, and how he absolutely needed Law on the ground watching after him or he would do something amazingly stupid like... Like listening to Law's plan for instance! When Zoro-ya endangering his life was CLEARLY not what Law intended! Yes, that is when Law decided this boy simply couldn't be considered safe unless Law is there to watch after him..... Also, it's sometimes nice when Zoro-ya looks after him as well.... SOMETIMES.

Zoro would say "Did you see Torao cut that island in half?" And that is all he has to say on the subject of when they started dating.

Law has noticed that Zoro-ya doesn't seem to pay much attention to what he wears, just picks up what is nearest and easiest and throws it on. On an unrelated note, Law has been "accidentally" making sure to strip down right by their bed, and leaving his shirts right there. His shirts with his jolly roger.

Nico Robin had to use not just her ability but her most Teacherly voice in order to separate Luffy and Law when Zoro shows up with the Heart Jolly Roger on his shirt. Law's smirking about it (while Zoro remained utterly confused through the entire fight) didn't help.

Zoro is super weak to people playing with his ear. This goes double when it's Torao and his stupid, sexy hands. He already wants to squirm whenever he watches Torao do that stupid switch-switch thing, but once Torao starts to sit closer and, even while reading his fingers seem to find their way to Zoro's earrings..... Twirl twirl twirl, TUG. Its enough to break Zoro's brain.

Historically, Northern denizens tended to have shorter and much more dangerous lifes compared to the relatively safe and stable East Blue, leading to them having a much different view of things like romance and marriage. That's part of why tattoos are so popular among North Blue denizens. However short your inevitably short life is, a tattoo is permanent. You can't change your mind or take it back. It's a way of wearing your loyalty.

Right behind his ear, the same side as his piercings, Zoro has a small black heart tattoo. He got it on their way up to Wano.

Usopp still doesn't understand how Zoro got lost on a submarine. He didn't see him for a whole four days! What's so funny, Robin.....

I actually have a number of HCs for these two that basically boil down to "Each Island should have its own culture, and by extension, each Blue should have its own culture the way each state has its own culture but the USA also has its own general culture." This can range from things like what I mentioned above, about North Blue having historically shorter lives due to the harsher environment or being more technologically advanced. But I also had smaller things like Law kissing Zoro-ya on the nose, since up North that was how you showed affection to family or younger friends and acquaintances. I also went the entire opposite direction of "smaller" and invented an entirely Shinto derived religion that's customs and kami differed based on the Blue.

I even came up with particular weather that happen almost strictly up North (Ice Storms which are incredibly deadly at sea and Black Mist, a yet unexplained phenomena that seems to choke the life out of any one who gets caught outside) and then wrote up an entire "Old North" mythology that explains the two phenomena and why they often follow each other even though one happens strictly on land and the other typically at sea. I pretty much full on created a whole religion and mythology and wrote individual stories just so Law could have a whole culture that belonged to HIS blue. The myth in question involved a human falling for a siren, and just like actual myths I created multiple retellings and versions where the characterization changed depending on the message the storyteller was trying to express. But in most every version the Siren, Isa, had green hair (because of course the North associates green hair with fertility; oh that's another thing, I created a whole sex profession hierarchy for the North Blue with the one common feature among different types of sex workers being they typically dyed their hair green, like that was a way to physically depict that you were fertile and later that you were, you know, open to being fertilized) and regardless of how they are depicted they end up turning into the shards of an Ice Storm either because they accidentally take human captain's life, do so and then regret their hunger, or are told they have killed them and in turn kill themselves. Law was told the latter version as a child and so always felt bad for Isa, who didn't know they were eating the captain's life force but the crew could have just told him and he would have left and instead because he is "different" they think it's better if he simply destroys himself. It's a character Law can both identify with but also see aspects of Zoro in; both his physical appearance which I'm sure to Law he just pictures Zoro now, but also in his loyalty and honor which aren't as important values up North which instead values survival and strength.

As you can see if I presented an accurate list of my HCs for these two, it would be insane and make no Earthly sense. I just really enjoy world building, especially when that world building leads to two hot sword boys pining after one another.

Oh, did I mention the whole "green hair = sex worker" association and just how personally All Hearts Law takes that when applied to his Zoro-ya?

Yeah.....

ZoBurn FistRo PortZoro

ZoAce:

Upon meeting him during Alabaster, every single non Luffy Strawhat was - at least a little -totally into Ace. He just seemed so cool (and also hot.) He's like a sexy Luffy and the whole crew wanted some.

Zoro wanted it the most, bitches

[orphiclovers]

yk, I was goaded into reading Self-Cest for the Danny Phantom fandom (it was a good read and I stalked the author’s entire dischoreography afterward) but now I’m wondering how that would go for Han Sooyoung and her avatars. Specifically 1863rd Han Sooyoung.

How would they get over the dispute over who the true hsy is? Would they conclude that they’re just two different people because the 1963rd was only possessing the other hsy to write? Would they be able to differentiate? Questions questions questions

The fic was by Dream_Trance if ur curious

'goaded' I like that word. I too have goaded people into reading selfcest content I think.

I'm guessing you read my recent Han Sooyoung meta where I talk about how I think their split happened and then sent this ask. You got me absolutely right in that case, there IS a secret selfcest version of that post I didn't include because of woke (well, actually because I want people to focus on the theory lol and weird selfcest shipping distracts from that).

The thing orv does with the alt universe selves that is sooo interesting to me is all of them, and I do mean all, have these twisted and complicated feeling about their other selves. And that's all canon, all I do is tint those feelings in a slightly more romantic direction. for fun. (despite all appearances I'm secretly a canon purist. no, not really. but imagine if I was)

So, what is Han Sooyoung's whole deal?

From what we see in orv, their whole dynamic is basically.... 1863 is cool smart badass powerful protagonist-like and 3rd is the 'rip-off' constantly trying to catch up to her awesomeness / keep up / 'plagirizing' her. This happens a lot, starting from when Han Sooyoung is 13 years old and accidentally plagirises herself for the 1st time.

1863 writes Ways of Survival? 3rd gets vague dream-memories and writes SSSSS grade infinite regressor.

1863 becomes a constellation named Architect of the False Last Act? guess what 3rd does.

See how the narration always mentions 'btw 1863 did this first' - I'm not making this up. 3rd even plagiarizes 1863's lost memories into existence again !!

So if there is one 'true' Han Sooyoung...it is pretty clear who that would be. But crucially, 1863 does not mind at all being ripped off and isn't bitter about it. (unlike sp, who is very bitter at first.)

When Kim Dokja comes to her like 'someone plagiarized your novel!!1!!1!' han sooyoung says lol idc because she knows its just 'daytime ego'/3rd.

Even during the scenarios, 1863 is constantly helping her out because she sees 3rd as a bit of an idiot who does not know anything (very sp style) so OBVIOUSLY she needs to come along and save her while pretending its a huge hassle and she totally doesn't want to. (very 'this will be the last time i help you' for spyjh).

Like, for example, way before 3rd gets Predictive Plagiarism, 1863 is giving cryptic dream hints to help her, and when that doesn't work just straight up temporarily passing on the skill.

but she's totally doing it for fun and because she likes to throw a wrench in others plans haha and not because she cares or anything. totally.

And ALSO let's just talk about this epilouge moment that drives me crazy. 3rd is doubting herself and crumbling under the pressure so 1863 emerges from their subconscious to help her one last time and says LET ME DO IT. Aargh!!!

selfcest yuri...

So yeah, this is a brief look on how I interpret the 3rd/1863rd relationship (Han Sooyoung version.) I have more thoughts on them during the epilouge specifically and the avatar skill but. different post.

[thrandilf]

while i fully agree with the thesis of your gay best friend mei post (she is often pushed aside in fanworks and her friendship with red son is undersold) but i think you might have gone too far in the opposite direction regarding mk and red sons dynamic?

obviously they dont have as much plot-relevant screentime as mei and red but mk is still important to red son. even disregarding their s1 nemesis dynamic, red son still regularly brings up mk in his conversations with mei during the s3 special, announces his entrance to mk in the mech, and asks about him on meis stream in 401, all of these feel like intentional writing choices to imply he cares about mk (and mei, but thats more implicit with him saying her name and such) more than he lets on

that is to say, i dont think shipping mk and red means someone doesnt value mei and reds dynamic or think its unimportant, just like shipping red and mei doesnt mean disregarding mei and mks bond

i hope this doesnt seem like im trying to pick a fight or anything, i just wanted to put in my 2 cents :v (also tumblr is being shit so sorry if this sent twice)

MK and Red Son are definitely friends, not denying that, but the show doesn't have an interest in developing their specific relationship further past like... halfway through Revenge of the Spider Queen. MK says they should trust him, and from there on out the two banter or work together sometimes, but nothing between them really gets going or more intense

Because after that the majority of the time is spent developing Mei and Red Son's dynamic (which was already starting in S1, 1x08 in particular I'd argue, but it was still minor then).

Her and Red Son constantly get paired up onscreen together in RotSQ, both on the main quest and then in like... every shot possible. The piggyback ride thing is actually a romance trope as well, btw. 3x06 involves everyone, but it's Mei who Red Son touches and has the Samadhi Fire connection with, and even then it's Mei who interacts with Red Son before they leave and she leaves her plushie, and then -insert the special here-. MK comes up in their conversations, as Mei comes up in MK's conversations with Red Son, so that segment's even to me, but then the Samadhi Fire ending is kinda like. Man. That's unique to Mei and Red Son and it got build up. That's something intimate and between just them

Don't get me wrong, I don't think shipping Has to be about who a character values most, because my arospec ass doesn't think that there has to be a One person put above all else. But it often comes across that way in shipping. I guess a fic doesn't have to include people who aren't in the pairing, but it does feel like it skews Mei's importance to MK and Red Son.

TBH, entertaining my own idea of a Most important person, even liking Red Son and Mei together, I think think that MK is more important to Mei than Red Son is, if she had to choose. Frankly I also think both of the boys would pick Mei before each other if they were in a situation where they had to choose, MK as Mei's best friend and Red Son, to me, having Mei as his anchor to the group considering how S3 went. They all matter to each other, but in different ways.

So sure, I don't think shipping automatically means that a dynamic is skewed to exclude or devalue a character, but it sure comes across that way when paired with seemingly ignoring all Red Son and Mei do get together, as well as how often I see people trying to give the Samadhi Fire to anyone but Mei. This is also a fandom where it seems like Lady Bone Demon's nameless male sidekick gets the same amount of content she does, which makes me scratch my head

Like, if Drag-onfruit was m/m, would Red Son and Mei be the rarer pair? Would ppl keep trying to give the fire to anyone else? For me it does read as fandom sexism with a gay hat slapped on. At the very least it's MK/main character bias, even though Mei is the female lead

No one Has to ship anything to be clear, Drag-onfruit isn't canon, but maybe it's because I watched the series all in one go that hitting the end of S3 and imagining going, "Who do I think Red Son is most likely in love with/has the most compelling relationship with? -insert anyone but Mei-" baffles me

I certainly prefer Drag-onfruit where MK is deeply important to both of them, even as a sort of platonic third (1x05 shot down MK and Mei or chimera faster and harder than any other ship known to man for me lmao) and to be fair I rarely engage with Red Son and MK shipping because it isn't my thing for multiple reasons, so maybe there is a lot of stuff out there where she's really given the love and place in their lives that she canonly has and I just don't know it, but the Mei treatment that I see in fandom does seem to be a side effect of said fanon favorite ship which is how I landed on the original post I made about her getting shoved aside to be the sassy bff who's conveniently fanonly a lesbian (for reasons I don't get) so people don't have to consider that she could have a relationship MK doesn't get to have

Maybe I'm a pessimist but this is how I've perceived it. TLDR they're a delightful trio regardless

Thank you for being polite btw, I know this got long winded but I appreciate being able to discuss!

[louisferrignojr]

the buckley parents have more than one "child," btw, they are trying with buck, but what about maddie and what she went through from childhood to her time with doug and everything after

this isn't necessarily directed at *you* just the fandom in general

i addressed this here - although it's not a fully thought out response. i haven't forgotten about maddie. i have a lot of thoughts about maddie. one day i'll put them in a post all on its own 🫶

and this isn't directed at you also, but there are people in the tags saying this, or mentioning other parents, and i feel like they have missed the point of the post. i specifically wanted to point out the woobification of evan buckley and how people bashing on his parents is a direct consequence of that behaviour. today on "buck's a grown ass man" you know?

and while i'm here: i specifically abstained from commenting on the diaz parents because to me, the situations are not comparable (i would say eddie and maddie have suffered from parentification, but that's the extent of the similarities) and honestly, i haven't fully formed an opinion on the diaz parents. (just because this was also mentioned in the tags and good lord!!!)

[suncchaser]

some time ago i fell down the rabbit hole of booktok and it fried my brain and put me into a bad metal space for a few days ngl, then recently i got back into the marauders fandom and something similar happened. now going down the rabbit hole of booktok again and reading into it more at a different angle, i'm starting to recognize similarities and realize why the marauders fandom has made me feel, not bad but almost unwell when engaging with most of the fandom that isn't a few fanartists. the focus on tropes and ships is the main similarity and reducing these characters abd their story/stories into just tropes individually + as couples/ships (eg; wolfstar = tall smart bad boy x dumb short boy. regulus = basically a tsundere. james = sunshine. jegulus = grumpy x sunshine. etc.). and i feel that as most of the new fandom joins because of ao3 fics specifically jegulus fics recently, those tropes are what they joined for now the books anymore. now the fics are basically the foundation of their love so they see the characters as these tropes and the ships are what they focus on and they lack basic knowledge of these characters and in turn just like the characterization in that fic or au. causing a lack of care for the canon characterizations. this isnt a bashing btw just pointing out the similarities between these two communities.

This is probably quite a pretentious take and I am admitting to it straight up but I find it strange that some people are willing to go on AO3 and reading gigantic fanfics on Harry Potter’s dad and his godfather’s brother without having any care for the source material and pre-existing love for any of the characters rather than picking up an actual book. There are wonderful, beautifully written queer literature out there if a queer story is what they are looking for.

I will never understand reading fanfiction when you aren’t a fan and that being your introduction to the fandom. It’s like reading Larry fanfiction without caring for Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson or One Direction. I would genuinely love to have a conversation with anyone who entered the fandom like that so I could try to make sense of it because I haven’t. Because my experience with the fandom previously were that everyone were originally Harry Potter fans, who simply developed a greater interest in the Marauders Era. Now, the Marauders are no longer a sub fandom but a completely separate thing.

[hxhhasmysoul]

What makes you dislike kurapika as a person and a character?

The character I think I explained in the previous ask. Their backstory is extremely by the numbers but also done is a very shallow way. And then they've been going into a pretty predictable direction, it's all about their revenge and they are consumed by it blah blah. But omg now there's a little baby so maybe Kurapika will grow... Out of the main 4, Kurapika's story barely, if at all, deviates from the blueprint. And that's a really disappointing thing for HxH specifically. In any other manga Kurapika wouldn't probably stick out like a sore thumb.

As a person... How do I explain this?

Killua calls Gon stupid repeatedly, he can be mean and abrasive. He can be disrespectful to people, he's not a great person. But with Gon you never feel that he doesn't respect Gon, that he doesn't admire Gon. Not with everyone, but with the people he cares about (that's a very low number btw) Killua never crosses the line into being condescending even if he teases and is rude at times.

Kurapika doesn't toe this line with Leorio. Like it feels very clearly Kurapika doesn't see Leorio as their peer. After they learn Leorio's backstory the benevolently give him a pass. There's such a difference in the way Kuarapika interacts with Gon and later with Killua who they see as strong and as assets and how they talk to Leorio.

And I know in the fandom people think it's cute. I know that people think that Kurapika is like that but deep down inside they actually... That it's about the contrasts...

Personally I despise this kind of dynamic, especially when it's a ship dynamic. It comes from my and my family's history of abuse. The deep down inside doesn't matter, not to the people on the receiving end of it. Because yes, you can delude yourself that the deep down inside exists but you never know, you don't live in that person's head. and if a relationship is built on believing in the deep down inside it's just fucking horrible. And Kurapika doesn't show enough of the supposed deep down inside for me to believe in it.

And even if Kurapika actually deep down inside believes they truly like their friends, they truly care for them, even for Leorio... So what. To paraphrase ATLA it only starts to count when it's on the outside.

For a relationship not to be god fucking awful both parties need to be mindful of each other's needs. Of course these needs will never be exactly the same and complimentary. Sometimes you can have a decent enough relationship and don't meet that many of each other's needs but with a mutual understanding that it's impossible and kinda working around it. Kurapika doesn't give a single shit about anyone else's needs in the relationships they have with others. All those relationships exist because others try to uphold them. It's clear that they have need for this friendship, for interactions with Kurapika who doesn't do a single fucking thing to facilitate them.

As to an argument that they don't want the people they love to get hurt... By assuming other person's needs and acting solely on those assumptions you're guaranteed to hurt others. It's also extremely convenient and selfish.

And everyone is understanding of them, everyone goes out of their fucking way because Kurapika has a tragic backstory and is consumed by their rage...

It's extremely evident when Kurapika doesn't even pick up their fucking phone when Gon's dying. The friends are there to fight for their attention despite them making it hard for them. If they care they will fucking jump through all the hoops and try as long as they have to, right? Isn't that tru friendship TM.

What's going on in those friends' lives? Irrelevant. If they can't be the audience to Kurapika's internal turmoil fuck them, honestly.

These are of course my personal subjective feelings about Kurapika and I know this isn't a popular view of them in the fandom. Also I have nothing against people who love Kurapika.

[nikialexx]

very very tired of trying to engage with TLOU fandom only to encounter more Hot Takes about how certain episodes (and we all know which episodes) are 'boring' or 'unnecessary' or, perhaps most frustrating all, 'woke propaganda' so here is my take on it all.

first off, i really do think that all of these people need to take a crash course in the difference between a piece of media being 'woke' and something which simply showcases the existence of people who are not white, male, and/or straight.

but with specific reference to TLOU i think it's particularly exhausting because all of the criticism I've seen of episode 3 and episode 7 are that it doesn't advance the plot which- fair point, it doesn't, but this completely ignores the fact that storytelling is not solely devised from good plot execution and that it also heavily relies on things such as theme, characterization (this includes backstory), allegory, symbolism- all of which are pivotal aspects of these episodes.

and i think that if you lack the intellectual capacity and the media literacy to recognize these things and understand their importance- well first of all you shouldn't be watching the show at all, because it clearly wasn't made for you. but you especially shouldn't be criticizing it.

ep.3 for example, seems to me that is serves the same functional purpose as the direction that the game took Bill's storyline. Bill in the game was a cautionary tale, and in the show he was an aspirational one. But the impact he had on Joel was the exact same: he served as a reminder of the difference between surviving and living, a reminder that the most important thing you can do is to keep your loved ones close, a reminder that the world isn't all bad, even if it seems like it is, and that shutting yourself off from it in an attempt to avoid pain will only prevent you from embracing the good things. Bill's relationship to Frank is, functionally, the same as Joel's relationship to Tess and Ellie. Joel shut himself off from Tess and in the process likely missed out on what could have been a very good thing, and Bill and Frank and the example that they set is what gave Joel the push he needed not to make that same mistake with Ellie.

The changes that the show made to Bill's storyline is exactly what a good adaptation should do.

which brings me to my second issue with all the criticism: it also ignores the fact that this is not the video game, it as an adaptation. the purpose of an adaptation is to explore aspects of the story (note that this is not the same thing as plot!!) that the original source couldn't/didn't. It is meant to delve deeper into the story (note!! that this is not!! the same thing as plot!!) than the original source did. it's meant to be an alternative, updated take. it isn't meant to a shot-for-shot reenactment. if you want the exact same story that the game gave you with nothing added in and nothing taken out- that's great! good for you! go play the game and leave the rest of us alone. because why are you really here if you can't understand that film is a different media format entirely and that yes, it should play to its specific strengths.

furthermore:

ep.7 was not a 'filler' episode. It was an episode that explored Ellie's backstory (a particularly important backstory btw, given Joel's remarks in ep.6 that Ellie doesn't know what loss is. this episode showed us that yes, she very much does). And by doing that, it cemented her reasons for being so determined to find the fireflies and let herself be experimented on in hope of getting a cure (this, children, is what we refer to as a character motivation. It's a pretty important thing). It gave us insight into what Ellie's life was like before Joel- because, you know, she is her own goddamm character that can and should be able to exist without him.

and it's particular insidious to me that so many people are blacklisting this episode because 'it sidelined Joel' when, and I cannot stress this enough, Ellie is also a main character. She is arguably the main character. This isn't The Joel Show. If you can't stand to watch a 50 minute episode that focuses on Ellie, then why are you even here? Ellie's story is important to her, her loss of Riley is important to her, just as Joel's loss of Sarah is important to him, and both of those things deserved the screentime that they got. Ellie is not 'filler', you misogynistic dumbasses.

And from what I've seen, one of the most notable aspect of TLOU game has always been its focus on story (do I need to say it again? yes i do. this is NOT the same thing as plot), characterization, and the intimate relationships between the characters. So why did anyone start watching the show if all they wanted to see were guns and zombies. Go somewhere else. This clearly isn't for you.

[strangertheories]

This is from a ro nance and Nancy anti btw.

I understand why you wouldn't want to hear the hate on a ship you ship, because at the end of the day it is just a ship, but there's anti tags for nearly every ship and character. And I definitely think that antis who go out of their way to harass others need to stop because that's not okay, anti tags aren't meant for harassing others, they're made for talking about something you don't like in the tag. There's nothing wrong with voicing an opinion in a place meant for voicing that specific opinion. People are allowed to have opinions, people are allowed to ship/not ship whatever they please as long as they don't go around causing harm.

Also I don't remember why I decided to make this ask but what I'm trying to say is that if someone else doesn't like a ship and wants to talk about why they don't like a ship, just let them. And if someone wants to talk about a ship they do like, just let them. Also this isn't even directed towards you really I just mean in general.

Sorry if I phrased this poorly it seems jumbled to me.

I actually don't mind it at all! I think everyone's entitled to dislike and speak about things. But I'm also allowed to respond to anti Ronance asks as well as general sentiments I see from Ronance antis. I would never directly message an account or post in that tag, but I'm allowed to respond to criticism just as much as people are allowed to respond to me. This doesn't just go for Ronance, by the way. Whilst a lot of my responses to Byler antis are directly to anons, a lot are just from scrolling through that tag to see the general sentiment.

Just as you said, people are allowed to have opinions. They share theirs, I share mine. I think discussion is a healthy part of fandom as long as you are not being harmful. For example, if someone is homophobic about Byler, I will call them out and I may not be the nicest about it because that is not a healthy part of fandom. But if I disagree with something someone posts, I'm allowed to post about why I disagree.

[thegirl20]

19 and 25 for the writer ask thing! 💌

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started writing stories when I was a child, just for fun. (I once wrote about people hunting for wild haggis.) Then I started to write scripts and outlines for my friends to adhere to when we were playing with dolls or when we were acting out imagined scenes from Neighbours (the Australian soap).

Looking back, this may have been an early indicator about my tendency to want to take over so that other people can't take things in directions I don't want them to go in. *cough*controlfreak*cough*

In terms of fan fiction, I discovered it through the Xena and Buffy online fandoms. I had never heard of it before. This would've been late 90s and I would have been in my late teens. My first foray that I was brave enough to publish was a Charmed/BTVS crossover about Willow being possessed by a demon and the Charmed Ones having to save her. I'm sure it was terrible but I'm too embarrassed to even look. I wrote for a while in the BTVS and Popular femslash fandoms, but stopped when I left uni. I didn't really write again until I was about 26 and Desperate Housewives came onto the scene. Bree and Lynette reawakened my desire to write stories in between the bits we saw on TV and I've really never stopped writing since then. I've had fallow periods in that time, which in some cases have lasted years, but I've written pretty consistently.

Where I am now is that I'm still writing fan fiction here and there where something takes my fancy. My output has slowed down considerably from the mad days of early Vanity - my most productive fandom by miles and miles - but I still churn out the odd wee thing when I'm caught up by an idea.

I've never had any desire to write for anything other than pleasure, and never had delusions that I'm good enough to, so I'm quite happy where I am 😊

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

I don't think I'm this kind of writer, to be honest. I'm fascnatd by people who can inhabit a character and give them an inner life beyond what we've been shown in the source material, but I don't think that's me. I come up with headcanons on demand, in that if someone asks me about an element of a character I've written or am writing, I will make something up about it on the spot because I've almost definitely never thought about it before in my life.

(I'm sure this isn't totally accurate btw, I'm sure that when I'm in the middle of writing things, I have ideas about characters' inner workings, but not to the point where I can call things to mind spontaneously!)

[theconfusedacorn]

Greetings! :D

How've the tf2 fic recommendations been going? (this is, of course, assuming that you've had time to read any of them lol)

What do you think of them? Any favorites? Any types of fics you want more recommendations for?

HOLY SHIT, HI!

ALRIGHT, THIRD TIMES THE CHARM

I have tried to answer this two times already because my damn internet keeps trying to stop me, but by God, I am going to answer this if it kills me!

So, first off:

I've read a small handful of the fics I got recommended and have enjoyed EVERY ONE so far!

I FINALLY read "Running Blind" (my friend who has been recommending me it for MONTHS thanks you, I'm sure), and it was AMAZING! Absolutely ADORE feral guard dog Sniper! (I also just love Sniper, so perhaps I am biased, but STILL!!!) I read the ENTIRE THING in one 4 hour sitting, and I DO MEAN SITTING. Specifically, under some public stairs on the cold hard floor because I am a maniac. My back hurt like hell, but my brain was quite happy!

I must say, I've always been a shipping fiend, as in I rarely read anything besides ship stuff, but that is changing because of the TF2 Fandom, and I, for one, am QUITE excited about it! Not to say I'm not still a ship addict, Speedingbullet, my beloved, but I'm really enjoying the variety!

Your short Spy fic, "Tastes like Minerals" (I think that's the name??? Sorry, I can't check rn, lest Tumblr delete my response again O-O) was really silly, and I loved it! It's not something I've thought about, but Spy definitely does seem like the type of guy with really attuned taste (Suffice to say: you have given me a new headcannon), and the other mercs betting on said sense of taste is HILARIOUS.

I still have a decent sized pile of fics to get through, BUT if you had any fics you REALLY LIKED and/or wanted to recommend to me, FEEL FREE! This applies to anyone who happens to read this as well! Please feel free to send me fics! I'm not all that picky, and I'm open to reading just about ANYTHING TF2!

My only real no-no is spy/scout. I'm not here to judge people, but kindly respect that I don't really care to interact with that. Thank you! (This isn't directed at you, Lepidop, btw. This is just a general thing. O-o)

Anywho, hope that's a decent answer for yah! Nice to see you in my ask box! ^w^

[horizon-verizon]

A) The Inevitably or High Probability that there'd Be Rebellion WITHOUT Green Intervention or Accusations

i'm not judging rhaenyra's choice to have children with harwin. but having bastards weakened her position - she was forced to leave court because of the rumors. her sons succession was challenged by vaemond - who, btw, genuinely believed that he was in the right and rhaenyra was an evil woman trying to usurp his home. did vaemond had a wife ? children? other velaryons that loved him & will want to avenge him & refuse to accept luke?

And who enables Vaemond (who was literally the only person who tried to go against Rhaenyra or call her son's bastards)? The greens. Vaemond seems to try by himself anyway, but how easy would he actually have found it to try to claim the Driftmark seat without the greens and meeting with Otto? He would have been killed or imprisoned a lot faster, or someone could have made an easier job of talking him out of it with such arguments that I'm making right now about him having no real means to go against Rhaenyra... basically he needed support to do so. Again, which he got from the greens who were essentially going to rule against Rhaenyra anyway, as was clear in the 8th episode.

Realistically, what chance did Vaemond have without Otto & Alicent? Truly? Even in the book/original lore, with Vaemond's nephews and others actually doing as you mentioned and trying to go against Rhaenyra (by going to Viserys himself, another dumb move), Viserys nevertheless had all of them immediately punished by cutting out their tongues. The challenge was handled. And the evident challenge only came from this group of people.

This reflects & mirrors the Green supporters that you mentioned. The ones that are with the greens are the Hightowers, Brackens, Lannisters, and some of those under their banners, etc. The Hightowers are Alicent's maiden house, so regardless of it being true they are bastards or not they would have backed her/the greens bc they have a direct stake and benefits in her and her sons. And the rest say opportunity. But where is the proof that they were planning to go against Rhaenyra independently? Would they have done anything WITHOUT the greens pushing for Rhaenyra to be removed through their specific accusations? Could they, or did they have the ability? Short answer, no (since I already listed why/how above in the first reblog).

Those supporters of the greens had no evident plans or preparations BEFORE they aligned themselves with the greens, why? Because they didn't have dragons and the greens did. They had a way in through the greens' actions of going against Rhaenyra, similar to how show!Vaemond's way was lubed by the greens and made a more of a real problem to Rhaenyra. The greens materially opened the way towards any possible rebellion against Rhaenyra that you are saying would be inevitable without those close to Rhaenyra doing something to invite such actions from external lords. This isn't a chicken-egg situation,o one thing clearly happened before the other and caused the other. There was no vague passive force pushing the greens to do what they did, and there was no vague passive force enabling the lords to make their moves or to choose the greens.

rhaenyra was also forced to marry the boys to baela and rhaena (again, referring only to hotd) instead of making matches with other houses and securing their alliance. and again, not judging rhaenyra or saying that she should've had children with laenor.

Even in peacetime, these betrothals would have likely happened or at least been at the top of the list of marriages because of how prestigious and blood-close the Velaryons are. Both of the Targ girls came from dragonriders, why wouldn't Rhaenyra marry her dragonriding sons to dragonriding girls? When the point of marriage was to produce children who would likely inherit specific privileges, etc.?

Does it benefit her own claim and her sons' or protect them by ensuring that their Velaryon allies were even more invested in them? Of course. Did the announcement of betrothal come after Vaemond's accusation & death? Yes. Does this necessarily mean that she only thought of marrying her kids to the girls after Vaemond? No, not necessarily. Because of all the reasons it is a good reason why she marry them to those girls even without her being the heir and a woman. Does this mean that she never would have betrothed them even without Vaemond at her neck? No, of course not.

To claim so, we need more specific scenes of Rhaenyra either never having thought of it before the "trial" or her, again, being reluctant as such a prospect. But there's no hard evidence in the show/season of such because we moved immediately to the small dinner after Viserys defends Rhaenyra. And to claim that the ONLY reason that she's marrying them to those girls is because of a fear of a threat thus comes into question under. Without proof of Rhaenyra having some sort of reluctance or without disapproving how she's really that different from most nobles by doing this, I don't think we can begin to argue that she had to be compelled to marry her sons off to the Targ girls. I think it's getting ahead of ourselves to argue that she ONLY sought a Velaryon-Targ marriage in her kids for her/her sons' claims. The show indeed seems to frame it in a way that Rhaenyra seems as if she were responding to external pressure by marrying her sons to those girls, but this reveals more that the writers wanted this dramatic moment for episode 8 when we consider that she had all that time (10 years) at Dragonstone living with Rhaena and her own kids for those mids to be very happy with the idea of marrying each other. Evidenced by their looks and smiles in episode 8. But even more so, where was the lack of surprise on those kids' faces? This supports the idea that such was discussed to them before the dinner AND that they had a while to process said information.

Nobles are always thinking of potential allies or accruing more wealth or access to certain lands for other purposes when they are considering who to marry or marry their children. It is already a custom in Westeros--HotD or not--that people marry their first cousins or cousins and nobles often try to marry relatives as close to them as possible to reduce the number of possible competitors to the children's claims or inherited resources/wealth. Rhaenyra would not be unique in doing what she did in betrothing her kids to those girls, even with the earlier attempt to marry Jace to Helaena, which reads as much more desperate than her marrying the Targ girls to her own boys.

In HotD & the original story, the Targaryen girls are both stepsisters and cousins of the Velaryon boys. In HotD, they went against one particular piece of lore (fosterage and who gets to actually marry some scions) to justify the idea that Corlys or Rhaenys had more say in who the girls married without Daemon's permission. Corlys, show or book, maintained that he didn't want Baela or Rhaena as his heirs above the boys and he didn't consider them a part fo his house even though they were his and Rhaenys' granddaughters by blood. They both "belong" to House Targaryen precisely because they are girls and are not heirs. Even so, why wouldn't Corlys desire or even seek out a marriage b/t his Targaryen granddaughters and the Velaryon boys when he was eager to marry Laenor to Rhaenyra in the show and the canon? And I mean why wouldn't Corlys be the one to ask Rhaenyra this before he left for that 6 yr war project? And if he didn't, again, wouldn't such a marriage only work more toward his long-held desires for power and prestige?

the fact that there are lords who believe that aegon should be king instead of rhaenyra is a danger in of itself - that's the point i was trying to make.

The greens' supporters are not the only nor had most of the most powerful lords of Westeros. Here is a list of those who supported Rhaenyra and kept fighting for her and her sons's claims after she and the V boys died. Plus, it is canon that Aegon III had his claim through his mother, not Daemon nor Aegon II being his uncle. As you mention ("like rhaenyra said, challenging luke is also challenging jace and her own claim to the throne. so even before viserys's death - her position was already challenged.") this means that those lords, who overwhelmed the greens, all supported both Rhaenyra and her V boy sons (as she even declared Joffrey her heir later) as those boys being the heirs to her was the condition that came with her being the next Queen. They were a package deal. Of course, there were defectors on both sides during the entirety of the war.

This society is definitely a sexist society since the core of Rhaenyra's claim and motivation to go to war is not that she was the oldest but that Viserys chose her (and that girls in Westeros already could & did technically inherit before younger brothers or cousins, it just wasn't preferred). However, that doesn't mean that what actually happened during the Dance doesn't inform us of how much support she actually did have & came to have because of this argument and her son Jace's efforts to gather people for their cause. Plus some of the Greens' dumber decisions before and during the war.

This is all important bc it contradicts both the idea that it was inevitable she'd rebelled against. When push came to shove, she had enough people fine with her ruling even with her having children that you'd or some in-world people'd consider bastards. The future that became the present contradicts your claim.

So, no, WITHOUT the greens' accusing Rhaenyra of infidelity and having bastards, there is little substantive reason or material for us to speculate that it'd be more likely that Rhaenyra would be forced to kill her own siblings.

Also, I ask for proof of the ideas because Westerosi society, as I already mentioned, though sexist has had female leaders or girls/women considered as heirs. Therefore, we must go off of more than "it was a sexist world" to claim that there was absolutely going to be a rebellion WITHOUT the greens coming in first with their accusations.

B) Another Approach to the "My Kids Are in Danger"

So, HotD wise, Alicent's motivation is supposed to be that the lords will endanger or force themselves/their interests on her kids in a rebellion against Rhaenyra. We can argue that even bk!Alicent always believed that her sons would die if Rhaenyra became queen.

Bk!Alicent says, in the green council, that she thinks that Rhaenyra or Daemon would come to kill her kids if she succeeds in becoming queen ("The Blacks and the Greens"):

confidently "forgetting" that the Vhagar-claim incident and the fight was a literal fight b/t under 10s...except Aemond who was older than the rest, Joffrey having been 3. That Aemond was the one to push said 3-year-old and his brothers came to Joffrey's defense. Not that Aemond was necessarily evil for his pushing Joffrey, but he's not innocent nor NOT the provoker of the violence there. And still, in the show, he's the one to provoke the others or perform a "trick". Because after he pushes the group of younger children off of him, he proceeds to try to fight them again and would have bashed Jce's head in with a rock (because if you rewatch the episode, he re-raised said rock even as the others backed off). But as I already did in my last reblog, no, Alicent of nay version was wrong even if she felt that this was going to happen. Again, this is even if we argue that Bk!Alicent actually believed that Rhaenyra ore someone else would kill her kids...which she didn't she specifically says DAEMON would.

But here's the thing about her thinking Dameon would kill her kids: apart from his making fun of her after he came back from the Stepstones (and does mocking a person = beating them up, grabbing their shirt with a rock in the other hand, or actually planning to murder them? No.), do we have concrete, textual evidence from either the show or the book that Daemon would go after Alicent or her sons IF they do not try to make any moves against Rhaenyrs or Viserys? No. Daemon could have done a lot to Viserys when he forced him to abandon Mysaria and his first-ever child, but Daemon reluctantly and resentfully sends Mysaria away and that's the end of that. He would not kill Viserys' children even if he disliked them or thought them obstacles...until any of them did what Aemond did and kill Luke or seriously harmed Rhaenyra and the rest. Daemon had all the time in the world to harm his stepsons/the V boys, but didn't. And we see no time where he ever overruled Rhaenyra even when she later doesn't take his advice (delight spoiler but not rally, you'll maybe see). No, Daemon is not this stupid rabid dog who goes after people just because he doesn't like them AND he does place value on what may hurt his brother, niece-wife, stepsons, etc. Alicent and her sons simply never established any sort of bond with him, so he left them be until Luke. This all goes for the show!version of Daemon as well (not the overruling or trying to roughshod Rhaenyra part, that was purely a show invention/change). Even if he wanted, to he's not stupid enough to make any moves without provocation to the greens because he knows he'd be at the top of the list of being suspected, which in turn would harm his niece-wife and brother's needs.

In HotD, Otto from the jump says that he's making moves against Rhaenyra & that he's doing so because he believes the reason the lords will rebel against her or not accept her is bc of her gender alone. Doubly so, we understand that he's motivated not bc of bastards bc Rhaenyra is not even married at the point he says this.

Otto has much more influence and power than Alicent in the first episodes of the season. And over her. He's the one who gives Alicent the notion that her kids are even in any sort of danger. He's the one setting up that motivation that many say justifies Alicent's actions against Rhaenyra & her children. Without Otto, show!Alicent would not have really been so set against Rhaenyra, or at least have utterly destroyed their friendships by the numerous attacks. Without Ott, Alicent would not have perceived a threat to her kids bc she never conceived of such until he mentioned it.

We see instances of lords thinking Viserys will change his heir to Aegon in episode 3, absolutely, but if we're just going by HotD, I ask again where do we get the idea of there being either an absolute or very good chance that they will rebel against Rhaenyra for either her gender or, later, her bastards?

Going back to kinslaying, Alicent thinks it's a good idea to directly antagonize the woman who she says would have felt necessary to have her kids murdered...then proceeds to give her even more reason to do so?! In this scenario, it's different if she had approached Rhaenyra as a friend so that IF Rhaenyra were told or advised to execute her brothers, Rhaenyra would hesitate & thus there's more room for counter-advise or to prepare against hat. But, no show!Alicent decides to risk (since we're talking abt "risk" a lot) Rhaenyra being less hesitant towards the idea of killing her own siblings. Again, this is all in the case scenario that somehow Rhaenyra WAS as some for the she-could-kill-them arguers say she would or could be.

C) The Context, Nuance, & History of Bastardry; On Specifically Whether or Not the V Boys were Bastards or Proven to Be; Why Proving Matters in General and for Rhaenyra

In HotD, yes, Rhaenyra's sons are biologically Harwin's. (Me, I argue that even in the original story, at least Luke & Jace were likely Harwin's bc Laenor was not physically close to her for long periods until after things grew worse b/t the greens and blacks after Luke's birth.) I'd agree that considering that Rhaenyra's gender places her in the position that she follows contradictory rules about leadership, Rhaenyra's position would be troubled by having bastards in a way that it wouldn't for a man...however, the meaning or at least consequences that inform the meaning of bastard does not just mean or is defined by "not biologically" in a society that didn't have foolproof/good enough technology to prove the parentage of a child.

A reminder: HotD's Jaehaerys I's mother was a Velaryon & the Velaryons in HotD are black; yet Jaehaerys and all the Targs shown except Baela & Rhaena are Euro-Americana white bread white with no hint of Afro features that Euro-American racialization would designate as "Black". Or most other places in the world. Orig!Alysanne Targaryen's hair & eye color were not Targaryen-typical, being blond and blue respectively. We have Orig!Alyssa, with her having one green eye to her other purple eye, and "dirty blonde" hair. For these two women, we have yet to see proof that they didn't have the features I described in the HotD universe the writers constructed, so for now they have those features in the show as well. Orig!Rhaenys had dark hair. In later Targaryen families (& it's very doubtful that they will make biracial & Black or PoC main Targs in later period Targ stories if they adapt them), we have Baelor Breakspear & Rhaegar's Rhaenys. The first had dark hair and eyes, while the later had dark hair. Then there is Aegor Rivers and Shiera Seastar, Shiera had a blue and a green eye, while her mother (Serenei of Lys) very likely had the full-blown silver-gold hair & purple eyes of Targs (or had at least one typical Valyrian feature) because she was from Lys. Of course, Aegon IV was typically Targ-looking. Aegor had dark hair & purple eyes. The bastards I mentioned are all bastards not because it was materially proven that they were biologically not Naerys' (Aegon IV's only legal spouse), but because people observed that Naerys did not carry them respectively but that other women did. So, we see that regardless of who was the Targ parent (mom/dad), the undoubted parentage of various Targ children--trueborn or not--produced children with all sorts of looks. IF we stick to how real genetics work & try to apply it to ASoIaF and HotD, take also the cases of interracial marriages sometimes producing children that look like they are of a completely different ancestry or ethnicity than from one parent. Genetics can be wild. I mean, look at Alicent and all four of her children with Viserys come out having the silver-gold hair and the purple yes. Neither of which the Hightowers typically have (or it would be mentioned or shown, and what we do see in the show, the Hightowers are mainly brunettes).

Noblemen in Westeros, whether this is HotD or the canon--bc they are allowed to have affairs and cohabitating/non-cohabitating lovers even while married--wouldn't think of or really need to claim that their bio bastards are really their trueborn because they mostly have their mistresses or affairs publicly known and displayed. And they can't because they are not the ones birthing them. Whereas when noblewomen have bastards, it's usually kept very secret and the child is shipped off to another family to be raised while she's married off to prevent her from not being able to marry IF the news of her birthing said child reaches more people/out of the family, so that the family would also not lose reputation or opportunities for others to marry, build alliances, etc.

In real life, what made one a "bastard" could also mean how "good" a lineage your mother or father had more than just if your parents were married or not, as was the case for William the Conqueror. And I specifically mean that even if they weren't married, you as a "bastard" could still be entitled or have more "claim" to something over to others, especially when the father names you his heir as William the C's father did with him. No, he never "legitimized" him nor ever got a higher authority to. And because HotD's universe both comes directly from the original lore and little about how nobles noble has been changed PLUS how canon mirrors a lot of real-life EU noble practices/social principles, these are relevant.

I'm sure we already know all this, but it is important to think of the implications of such conditions and how it applies to how "bastardry" is not a fixed condition that is 100% or even "75%" built on incontrovertible facts but relies a lot on timing, perception, and opportunity as well as how well can you use a precedent against current circumstances (Anstey case of 1100s).

So, what incontrovertible proof did Alicent & the greens have that Rhaenyra's sons were not Laenor's? That Rhaenyra or Viserys were lying? Where is the accusation really coming from, and were there actual dangers to her children if she/the greens stopped trying to put as much attention on Rhaenyra as they did? Even in HotD, where no one has actually seen Harwin & Rhaenyra have sex or Laenor NOT have sex with her? Who has monitored & recorded her movements behind closed doors day in day out second by second, etc.?

You can say you just need to look at them to know since all 3 had different features, but the issue is that even when this is true (that there is observable data of them ALL having different looks from their claimed father), Alicent, in the show (epi 6), wonders how they could have ever hatched dragon eggs from the cradle/when they were babies or toddlers (compared to her own kids, who at least 2 had to claim dragons when they were older). Why does she wonder this? Because, she's implying, that children inherit their most impressive or desirable traits of appearance or behavior or otherwise from their father, not their mother. And since Harwin is not a dragon rider nor has any known Valyrian background, it made no sense to her at all. Not only does this reveal how comparatively little they--court or larger Westeros society--actually relied on real material knowledge of genetics or otherwise to make their rules, but it is also a clear reference or pulls from this F&B/the original lore or story fact about said society/court ("A Question of Succession"):

which itself comes from the older legend of Rhaena the Black Bride giving Jaehaerys & Alysanne their dragons when she placed the eggs in their cradles and they both got their dragons to hatch without having to grow older and claim a dragon as Aegon I, Rhaena, Maegor, etc. all had to.

Point is that the show!Alicent is going off of book!lore's social and historical context directly. Which means the same feelings and ideas about physical inheritance have been directly transferred into the HotD Westeros/HotD's court. Directly.

I'd argue that since even if Rhaenyra's sons weren't Harwin's in the original story/the book (bc there is debate even on why they'd be described with the features they are in F&B when Harwin, for example, had a broken shoulder I think & thus would be out of commission for sex for months or us not knowing what he even looked like, etc.), the center at this consideration is that the truth of Rhaenyra's sons' patrimony does not supersede how it's very possible & likely that the greens merely used such an accusation against Rhaenyra or not.

I stress that without the original lore that HotD heavily relies on for context. Even as it sometimes contradicts & its logic in some places. This is one of those times that its world only makes sense if you know what's going on prior. Would we be discussing bastards and such without the original story that existed even before Fire and Blood?

D) The Real Life Comparisons

the fact that there are lords who believe that aegon should be king instead of rhaenyra is a danger in of itself - that's the point i was trying to make. that's why richard iii killed his little nephews, that's why henry 7 killed edward warick, that's why mary killed jane gray - who clearly had a much weaker claim then her to the throne.

Richard (III) got to Edward V & Richard (brother, the Duke) from Elizabeth, taking advantage of an already existing separation b/t mother & son and all those military protections that Edward could have had. By contrast, Rhaenyra and her kids and her husband were all on Dragonstone with their possible protections...which include dragons. Please, let me know how the lords could expect to catch her off guard as Aegon (II) try to do first with one debated assassination attempt (failed) and another through Arryk (and failed)? Thse lords would likely (Occam's razor) not have the confidence to trry to attack Rhaenyra openly; privately, they still would be deterred by how well protected she was and have to bank on a lesser chance of really gettign to her.

Rhaenyra was already the monarch-designated heir, she was not a usurper. Richard III was never the heir, he was the usurper. Richard III took the throne away from his own nephews...of course, he did away with them. The throne was the nephews' by their "natural" male and direct blood rights by being Edward IV's sons. Richard was a usurper & usurpers must legitimize their rule when they seek to use illegitimate or violent means to force power into their own hands. Edward IV never named his brother (Richard) his heir over his sons, & his elder living son was considered a king in his own right before his uncle did whatever he did. So this is a false equivalence.

Rhaenyra is the one having something taken away from her. Not the greens/Aegon, Aemond, Daeron. Because Viserys explicitly did not name them as his heirs. And Rhaenyra was heir for almost 20 years before she was usurped.

So really, it is all her sons--especially Aegon III & Viserys II way later--who can be told to be in similar conditions as Edward V & his brother Richard, Duke of York. Aegon II is more like Richard III; maybe this is a spoiler since idk if you read the bk, but Aegon II threatens to mutilate the 10-year-old Aegon III and Aegon III is in Aegon II's custody before Aegon the Elder dies. He's also their uncle.

Unlike Elizabeth who actually seemed reluctant to get rid of Jane from an emotional place, Henry VII had Edward Warwick killed during a time when there were

Meanwhile, Rhaenyra had a much better line of descent/claim than Elizabeth or Henry VII by being the firstborn daughter of a man who declared her his heir and kept it so for years, never having legally named her as a bastard nor her sons as bastards. Rhaenyra had no such "kinks". Elizabeth had been ruled at one point a bastard while Henry VII had only a real claim to the throne through his mother. His house was a minor one descended from a bastard-turned-legitimate (John Beaufort, first Earl of Somerset, son of Jon of Gaunt and Katherine Synford, who birthed the Earl before she eventually married Jon of Gaunt. She had been his mistress for years until then).

Also, I don't understand why dragons are being left out of this conversation when they have been the game changer and the reason why the Targs are unique in their place from those real-life people that you listed. Elizabeth I didn't have dragons to feel like she'd be able to tell the lords pushing her to kill Jane "no" (she was reluctant in many sources). Henry VII didn't have dragons to deter or remove Perkin Warbeck fast enough, though he won the war by killing Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

There's a reason why dragons exist in this narrative, they serve the purpose of giving much more advantage or being much more of a deterrent against competitors. We really shouldn't underestimate not just their actual firepower but the role of them being deterrents. Once again, how likely were any lord to try to "force" any green boy to go to war against Rhaenyra with this in mind?

E) Using GoT

we also have dany and jon snow for example - dany was threatened by him despite the fact that he publicly swore allegiance to her. as long as a "stronger" alternative exists, rulers can't truly secure their reign.

I'm not sure using GoT Dany and the story they wrote for her to ascertain the realities and circumstances of Dany & Jon's eventual meeting in the actual story GRRM is creating, the politics, and how she'd react or think of them when they appear. Because Jon can be Rhaegar's son all we like, but polygamy was, for years, not accepted as legitimate after Maegor. Maegor got to be legitimately polygamous because he used his dragon & Visenya's support (Vhagar) plus the later army at his command to enforce it, as Aegon I did by winning his conquest (apart from him being already married to his sisters). Even we argue that Rhaegar could have restored its legitimacy, Rhaegar lost his chance to affirm his privilege to marry more than one woman by dying before he could announce Lyanna as his wife and for Aerys to maybe accomplish getting the rest & the Martells to accept such a union. This means his marriage to Lyanna in the show is not really that valid to make Jon Snow their legitimate son.

Who has/had the dragons between Dany and Jon, book or show? Who is the trueborn without any debate or "kink", hands down? Who had a fearsome army at their command and will definitely continue to do so when she meets Jon? Dany. Though she is a woman like Rhaenyra, she simply has too much on her side for her to be as nervous about the throne as D&D wrote her. It reminds me of when people tried to say that bk!Rhaenyra was legitimately or only resentful of Alicent bc she was pudgier than Alicent, when in fact it's far more likely she resented being compared to her as Aegon (II), Viserys, and Helasena were also pudgy people. No, Dany would not be that concerned about Jon. She'd more likely get a little frustrated with the sexism and scoff at the cheers for Jon, bc of what I mentioned.

Despite people (in-world and out) thinking that Jon was "stronger" bc he was a man & he rode one dragon, Dany was quite obviously the more powerful of the two with a stronger relationship with all three of those dragons she breastfed. Her dragons obeyed her, not Jon. If she did feel that threatened by him, that was an illogical writing thing on the part of D&D in their rush to end the show. Dany is more self-possessed than that ("Do you mean to make that [woman] as an insult?"), but they wrote her and several women more unnecessarily irrational, more like Dany consented to sex with a slave master, or more overtly and generally more sexual than their book counterparts without providing a bit of nuance in the sex we do see. We should then take their way of adapting with a grain of salt overall.

D&D made multiple consistency errors, multiple even sexist/classist/racist changes to characters and events, and forgot many things that they established in their version of ASoIaF, etc. So to use their writing to establish that things definitely would turn out the way they did is not useful.

One last thing that I don't know is a common point in the fandom: in HotD, Alicent & Otto both have many lords imprisoned, at least one killed, and they intimidated all of them at court to keep them from spreading the news of Aegon's coronation....if Alicent really were trying to protect her kids from rebellious lords...why is she giving them a far more tangible reason (than the already disproven "they don't want or can do something against Rhaenyra") to go directly against her, her sons, & the Hightowers?! One that has nothing to do with Rhaenyra herself and all to do with Otto & Alicent trying to clear the way for Aegon. And yes, Alicent imprisoned those people if not we remember Rhaenys she also explicitly says to the council that she endeavored to keep Rhaenyra out of the way and to crown Aegon. How to do that? Imprisoning those people is one way.

ok, so i've been getting a lot of "rhaenyra would never kill her siblings" asks recently.

first of all, no one is saying that rhaenyra WANTS to kill her brothers. but there's just no way that a woman & a bastard can inherit peacefully when 3 legitimate sons (with legitimate sons of their own) exist. this is not how westerosi politics work. the men in power wants to keep the men in power, this is the definition of patriarchy. and i'm not saying that's a good thing - because obvs it's not - but that's the truth. westeros is a patriarchal society.

the lords of westeros - the men in power - wants to preserve the existing order. legitimate sons inherit over daughters, bastards can't inherit. it's important to them because their own power is dependent on this very system. let's say rhaenyra becomes queen, and all of the sudden other firstborn daughters start to stand up and demand to be named heirs to their houses . let's say jace becomes the prince of dragonstone, and suddenly bastards that are older then their legitimate siblings start to demand their rights as well. from our modern pov - that's a great thing, but for the lords of westeros that's literally their worst nightmare.

"but a lot of houses supported rhaenyra". true! i'm not saying every lord in westeros will not accept her, i'm saying some of them def won't, and as long as aegon\aemond\daeron lives, there will always be someone advocating for their rights - and that's dangerous for rhaenyra and her family. so yeah, to protect herself and her children she will 100% kill her brothers. i'm not holding it against her - she's obvs going to care more about her children & herself then her brothers.

"but dorne ..." i feel like GRRM has made it abundantly clear that westeros does not want to become like dorne. dornish people are stereotyped and discriminated against - especially dornish women, that are viewed as promiscuous and are constantly oversexualized. westeros becoming like dorne is def not something westerosi men want.

ironically, jace will have to face the exact same situation with his own brothers aegon and viserys, but i digress.

also, did we forget how easily rhaenyra offered to have her 10yo brother tortured when she felt like her children were in danger? do you guys really believe that she's above murdering to protect them?

[haleigh-sloth]

I understand critiquing weekly chapters can be fun to break down and analyze but it stops being fun and instead exhausting when it turns into the fandom unfairly trashing it weekly when clearly the story just needs to be told. Sort of like you said, looking back everything ended up in the right direction! I understand the godawful pacing waiting rn but I swear, people forget a story is meant to be read as a whole. I feel like leaks have harmed the intake of the story more than anything (this isn't aimed at you or anything btw)

The way I see it is that at this point in the manga, so close to the end, whether you enjoy the chapters or not is gonna depend on which characters you like and care about.

Anyone who isn't interested in Shigaraki's development? No, they're not going to enjoy these chapters. The most popular character in the series was "killed" to develop Shigaraki. As a Shigaraki fan, I find it hilarious and awesome. But a Bakugo fan might not feel the same.

And I AM a Bakugo fan, but my opinion of the manga isn't riding on solely his arc.

There are some characters whose fans I sympathize with, but can't really relate to. Even though I get it. People who really like the rest of the 1A kids and expected them to be dived into individually, or be utilized more intently and be more individualized--I get it, I sympathize, but I can't relate.

I get that side characters are fun, and people want more of them. But idk, I've always accepted that side characters are just that--side characters. Not everybody gets an arc. I've liked side characters before but I've never shit on a manga for not making them a main character.

Everybody is different though. Not that I don't get it or sympathize, but I can't relate.

A different type of discussion is whether or not the characters of focus are being done justice. That's up to personal interpretation with other people's takes, and I either agree or disagree. I say my piece on the arcs I care about, say my complaints, and move on.

Some complaints I either agree with, sympathize with, or neither of those things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But some complaints I feel make me wonder how certain parts of the fandom are even still reading this manga.

Idk--my complaints are usually over minor things in specific chapters, not overall arcs or manga trajectory.

I'm personally satisfied with the main casts' arcs and the manga's direction, so I feel pretty lucky in that aspect.