#this whole series is fascinating and nuanced

[here-i-am-again-god]

Ooooh fsfsfs. Uma really only loses her temper three (3?) times:

Once at her opening, when she throws food at a TV and kinda grunt / yells (?)

Second time with "you do not get to win every time!"

And third with "give it to me!" during the D2 climax

I don't think anything in D3 would count as losing her temper either.

As OP points out, this is altogether way less than we see Mal get angry or at least ticked off, even when controlling for proportional screen time of each character. I love Mal and sometimes I'm watching like girl why are we yelling right now . . . anyway

Fascinating that there are so many, even Uma-friendly, "Uma was so justified in her anger" posts that have me like mmm what anger? I feel like China played a character who was more frustrated than anything, at least compared to Maleficent or Audrey. Uma is frustrated and determined and even desperate at times, but rarely angry.

One of my favorite line deliveries in the whole series is when China says ". . . that was the maddest I've ever been in my life" because this is a children's franchise and (let's be honest) most of the acting is meh but China's expression was chilling, and I love when characters describe rage in the most calm way possible.

That was Uma to me--so done that she was past the anger. Most of her scenes, she's the suave villain with All The Time In The World, which China nailed. Even in her sea monster fight scene, she was laughing. She wasn't there to whine or yell. She's a woman of action. She stands on business 101% of the time.

She's also the only one of the three movie antagonists who departs / surrenders peacefully to swim away. Angry? Hardly.

also also here, when it becomes clear that Mal lied to all of them in D3, Uma isn't angry. She's barely surprised. She's just so disappointed in the world at this point that she just . . . ahhh I want to hug her so closssssssse

I wish this could be a case of differing fandom interpretations (exciting, nuanced, fun to debate!) instead of racism (boring, overdone, how'd we get stuck in this timeline yall fr) but alas . . . I fear it may be more of the latter.

Current thought, that I might put more analysis to later: Uma gets such a reputation for being angry, despite how well she keeps her cool when other characters directly try to provoke her. Mal is way more notably temperamental than Uma is.

[eurekavalley]

Oklahoma’s Republican governor Kevin Stitt is a card-carrying member of the Cherokee Nation. So why is he also considered the most “anti-Native governor” in history? A look at his family history reveals some wild surprises, and shows how Indigenous identity can be used as a weapon against Native nations.

[clfixationstation]

"this ur fave?"

saw this on twt and it did make me giggle because Armin did far worse than Caitlyn ever did, so if you're an Armin fan you realllly can't be going that hard on Cait (said as a massive Armin fan who's eh on Cait).

you can discuss how the narrative of Arcane handled her character or policing as a system, or their differing ideologies, etc, but comparing Caitlyn to Hitler when your fave is Armin, who LITERALLY killed thousands personally and enabled near omnicide (albeit (mostly) unknowingly), is wild. the comparison is extremely distasteful and inaccurate - especially having seen the racist "Caitler" caricature going around.

Caitlyn's crimes are bad enough without such exaggeration: she was a dictator doing evil cop stuff, not committing genocide or waging war for territorial expansion, or even committing mass murder.

It reminds me of the Eren stans I'd encounter back in the day who hated on Catra and it was like. Oh you love your glorious king when he does omnicide but a catgirl almost does it and suddenly it's too far? 🧐 alright buddy

honestly comparing the crimes of most AoT characters is almost always gonna be a losing battle lol. though it seems twt users are now claiming Mikasa intentionally enabled genocide (though she ended it) and that AoT supports genocide?? it explicitly does not, what are we doing here

[aremindertoremember]

One thing Africa did not cure...

... is that I still love you.

[infizero]

every time i so much as think about that scene where light looks at porn magazines while scowling i go into hysterics its genuinely the funniest thing i've ever seen

[radioactive-yuri]

i find moceit such an endearing yet fascinating ship, because of how their every interaction subverts the general expectation the very early series set up. patton is, to me, a lot more interesting of a character when interpreted as the morality of a young catholic boy, adapting very poorly to the fact that that young boy is now a full grown adult man, who needs to start considering things from a more nuanced point of view. patton was born from what c!thomas was taught was right and wrong, and he still has trouble letting go of that rigid mindset. and janus effectively juggles protecting c!thomas and his mental health, and trying to gently guide patton through deconstruction. at the end of svs redux, their back and forth with each other is essentially just janus reassuring patton that c!thomas is still a good person, he just has to put himself first sometimes in order to be able to do any good for others, and patton panicking at the concept.

overall, there are so many scenes where janus is just. incredibly soft towards patton, if you pay attention. he acknowledges, almost immediately, that he knows patton isn't trying to hurt c!thomas. his voice is calm and gentle, as he assures patton "i'll take care of him", reminds him that they're on the same team. not to even mention all the fluffy filler shit, janus giving patton a christmas card wrapped in multiple boxes because he knew he'd appreciate the gag? patton calling janus "jan"?? the whole thing about janus giving patton half of his sandwich, and then immediately trying to deny it by claiming he thought patton was a trashcan???

absolute peak ship, i can't lie.

[cryptotheism]

Hey have you ever made content about the African American masonic tradition? I first learned about it when looking into Sun Ra and his whole deal. It's interesting to consider how Egypt's central role in American Afrocentrism might be an inheritance from the masons.

Omg it's funny you mention that actually. Ive been wanting to do a piece on the intersection of Afrocentrism and the Black American Conspiracy sphere for a while now because it's so rarely discussed, but it's the sort of topic I would want an experienced cowriter for.

Hood Politics did a series on COINTELPRO where Prop like, offhand mentioned that conspiracy thought among black Americans tends to travel via extended family ties rather than the underground talk radio programs and newsletters that dominated white conspiracy circles of the 1970s. That's fascinating. It's a massive structural difference in how conspiracies propagate. As far as I can tell it's completely true, (for the 1970s at least) but I've literally never seen that concept mentioned beyond this one off the cuff mention.

And like, the relationship between black radical politics and black conspiracy circles (i.e. the NOI and the Panthers) is already a bit of a minefield for black intellectuals to navigate. So it can be a bit difficult to study with the nuance it deserves.

[yuurei20]

"Vil has possibly never acknowledged having friends, or even school friends." I'm confused. Are you talking in that one event or in general? If it's the latter...what? Vil has said that Jack is his childhood best friend, and seems to be friendly with Rook, possibly seeing him as one. That statement contradicts the canon.

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! 👑🐺

I have not been able to find a line of Vil calling Jack his childhood best friend ("best friend" itself seems to be a word that has only been used four times in the whole game!), but if you happen to have a chapter or screenshot it would be very much appreciated! Always happy to update with the most accurate information m(_ _)m

The closest I was able to find is Vil's ceremonial robes vignette where he refers to himself and Jack as "同郷のよしみ," but in this case the word "friend" might be oversimplifying the nuance of what he is actually saying: Vil is acknowledging that they have something in common--their hometown--without referring to Jack as his friend! He is acknowledging their pre-existing connection without implying friendship or an emotional bond.

EN chose to go with "old friend" for this particular line, but it is not uncommon for EN to introduce the word "friend" into dialogue where it does not exist, which is why this series is based on content from the original game rather than the adaptation :> English adaptations will often simplify nuances for accessibility!

EN uses the word "countryman" earlier in this conversation, which I think is a perfect interpretation ♪

The realization of how very rarely anyone actually says "friend" (and Yana's interview where she says that the theme of the game is making problem children get along with one another) was the inspiration for this series!

Malleus, for example, has never referred to the prefect as his friend, but the word was not only added to his EN dialogue but the word "human" was replaced with "acquaintance"!

Between Halloween Year 1 and Halloween Year 3 Malleus promotes the prefect from "acquaintance" to "friend" in relationship development that hasn't actually happened in canon! Which I find fascinating ^^ The EN game really is its own unique experience!

Returning to Vil: he does seem to be friendly with Rook, but he has never actually said out loud that they are friends!

This does not mean that they are not actually friends, but refusing to acknowledge friendship aloud is also a theme:

Ace seems to be friendly with the prefect, for example, going to Ramshackle alone late at night so that they can watch horror movies together, but when others comment on how they are friends he will deny it 📝

Ace: "We're just in the same class. You don't have to read anything into it!"

It has been very interesting to track which characters seem adverse to the concept of friendship and which are not--are things building up to a climactic moment where characters like Malleus, Vil and Ace actually do admit that they have friends?

(In a mirror image of Ace we have Deuce, who is one of the only four people who have ever said "best friend" 👀📝)

I am certain to check new content as it releases for examples of anyone saying "friend" aloud and am updating this information as the characters evolve ^^

Am very excited to see if there will be character development and/or plot points in the future where the characters finally do refer to one another as friends!

[sunelloise]

I think one of the appealing things about pernico—beyond that the male friends of male protagonists tend to be written with more depth and nuance and effort to show why they care about each other vs the assumption that the lead guy and girl will just be together because heteronormativity—is that these are two characters screwed over by the books?

I love the PJO series, and all my criticisms of it come from a passion for it and what I think all went wrong so that it didn’t live up to all the potential it laid out for itself.

I’m not going to summarize ten books (stopping at BOO) of Percy’s story every book that Nico featured in but a lot of Rick’s characters have such amazing potential, the ingredients are all there, but so much was left on the table, Annabeth included and I do love Annabeth.

Nico is a fascinating case of the Luke-that-almost-was. Artemis could have been his villain. He had every reason to turn against the gods who screwed him over deliberately. Luke of course had valid reasons for turning to the Titans, but Nico had more of them. Zeus personally killing his mother, Artemis’s scheming that got his sister killed, the anti-Hades propaganda around camp that made him feel even more ostracized than he had to be, and all the other gods writing him off as doomed.

And then of course Cupid coming out of nowhere for the retcon of all retcons. Truncated version because I’m not laying out my whole thesis again in detail: Forcing your only canonically queer major character out of the closet with a sword at his neck, in front of an audience in that audience’s POV as if Jason’s perspective is at all more important than Nico’s here, to then retroactively pin all of Nico’s angst and self-hatred on his sexuality strips his character down to “the suffering gay”. Nico retroactively became “the gay character” and I don’t hate solangelo, I hate what it’s become and how it’s diminished Nico into being the dark and broody emo half to Will’s sunny optimism.

Meanwhile just… everything that happened to Percy in HOO. Making his demand to the gods to be better matter for all of a week before more plot got in the way of their accountability. Forcing him to carry them through Tartarus when Annabeth’s hubris demanded that his loyalty wouldn’t let her suffer alone, and then the insufferable trauma-bonding aftermath. I have only read BOO once and I never want to pick that book up again.

So the idea of Percy and Nico together, beyond yes it being a gay ship, is that it feels like giving the finger to the gods and the narrative to say, this is who these characters could have been if you let them win and escape the railroad you set them on.

Which isn’t unique when the gay ship overpowers the lackluster canon straight ship. Here it just feels like defying the Fates.

Rachel wasn’t in the plot enough for me to really see them together, but her, too. Who they could have been if Percy was allowed to choose his love interest instead of all his options dying, finding someone else, or becoming forever virgins.

[yoroshiu]

An Interesting Thing About Sora and Ven: Their First Meeting

So like this is a follow-up of sorts for my Ven and Sora posts in the Characterization Through Language series. I mentioned it in the Ven post but I wanted to make a separate one with a focus on their meeting in the beginning of BBS in particular.

BECAUSE I FORGOT TO MENTION IT IN SORA'S ToT It's cursed because this was something I knew prior to making this series so I'm mad at myself for forgetting.

If anyone's interested in the translation of the entire sequence, then let me know ^o^

But essentially, these two are particularly fascinating in this part because they both use "boku" as their 1st person pronoun ("I"/"me") when both of these characters usually use "ore" (俺):

("Me and Terra are connected, I won't forgive you if you don't stop messing around") ("I'm Sora!")

But this is how they refer to themselves in the beginning of BBS:

("I'm a heart that was just born") ("Yeah, my heart is missing.")

Here, they both use "boku" (僕 / ボク). "Boku" is a masculine pronoun that's more polite/softer than "ore" but still relatively casual. It's something that's associated with younger boys to some extent but it's definitely not exclusive.

Interestingly, Sora's heart uses ボク which is "boku" but in katakana. Katakana is usually used for foreign/loan words but if you read certain texts in media, you might see words like this be used in katakana despite it having a kanji (Chinese character). From what I've searched, this can have multiple purposes whether it be for emphasizing something (like a sound effect in manga) or emphasizing the informalness.

As Sora is a newborn heart here, it conveys a sense of childishness, I think. In the conversation as a whole, the way the heart speaks is pretty Sora-esque but the "boku" lets the player know that this is a young heart. And I think it's a similar case for Ven here. He's older so his "boku" is written as 僕 but it captures how his heart has been shattered. Like a part of him has been ripped away, his energy and spunk, things that made him fully Ventus.

These are details that inevitably get lost in the translation/localization process so it's fun finding things like this. Sure, it doesn't make much of a difference in the large scale of the narrative and our understanding of it, but I enjoy being able to analyze the story with these nuances.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 122)

[experiencedbuffoon]

finished reading silverborn so massive spoilers ahead

I wanted to let it settle into my brain before writing about it to see what stayed with me. So here are some things that have sorted into a list:

The guiltghast is a fascinating creature and I love what it represents in the world? I do love that the lack of wundersmiths being the reason the wundrous society has so many things to deal with because there is no one to maintain these creations.

I really like how each book adds another layer to the worldbuilding, through reveals and re-contextualization (ie. the wundrous society real purpose, or the real purpose of the black parade). I think it really does mirror, at least, my experience of the world growing up.

Does anyone else adore how the nuanced the adults feel? Like Bertram Crow, who has no real interest in Morrigan, or any of her aunts? Everyone feels like they have complicated histories and stuff to deal with apart from her, despite the fact the story does kinda center distractingly around her

Cadence!!!!!!!!!! <3, that's all.

Ok a little more on Cadence, it's nice to see her coming out of her shell and making friends with more of the unit!

I do wonder if this book was hurt by being so anticipated? I think when the series is finished/or as finished as it ever will be it will read as a satisfyingly focused character study breaking up more dramatic books

More on the tone, I found I liked it, but I can imagine why someone wouldn't. Actually I think it sold me on it more, because it makes me believe this series is going in a very interesting direction. It tackles themes that feel unique and, increasingly, mature. And in a way that can only be done for a series with this sort of audience? Also the worldbuilding is so good - it just has such a distinct feel?

The cake scene was so cute ^^ -- i think this book finally sold me on jupiter and morrigans dynamic (not that i didnt like it before), it was so lovely

However. I still live in dread wondering what happened to those other cursed kids who went to live on a farm upstate. What was that

I love how the ages are being explained, and honestly the whole prologue

I like how often morrigan's emotions get the best of her and influence her wunder use - and also how much she lies??

Alright I just needed to get this stuff out. I'm going to write a more cohesive review/analysis when school's wrapped up + try to illustrate some of the scenes/characters bcs im dying to do so. Please if anyone knows what happened to those cursed children barring Jupiter's explanation tell me. I mean i didnt even mention the wintersea politicking (Bertram??) or really get into the weeds of the plot and i want to...

[randomness-is-my-order]

okay, buckle up, this pjo rant-post will be a bit long! this is gonna sound a bit melodramatic but what genuinely saddens me about percy’s characterisations and portrayal by the narrative over the years since the last olympian was out is that... the very nuance that was written into this character in the original series is slowly being stripped away and moulded into the caricatures that percy has been flanderized into in popular fanon. i remember having debates over the whole “can’t function without annabeth”/“has one functional braincell”/“is constantly self-doubting himself into a pithole” characterisations and opposing these perceptions with canonical content. because the beauty of percy’s character is how his strengths have always balanced his weaknesses. he’s impulsive but battle-smart, he’s ignorant (about the greek ways) but has a tough as shit skin, he’s new to everything but he’s mindful enough to keep up with the new inlet of information. he’s loyal to a fault, but brave beyond measure. he’s a smart guy, a wisecracking guy, a loving, caring, wonderful person. the aspect of himself that doubts himself always read part-trauma, part-humility. his perception of himself was generally skewed, yes, but we had a counterbalance of it in terms of how people reacted to him, even in the original series! annabeth sure as hell didn’t fall for him for being a dumbknut who can’t tie his shoelaces without her assistance. their competence was implicitly and explicitly shown to be equal! percy had opinions that went against annabeth’s all the time, he had stances on matters that he remained so firm on he gave up immortality for them. he respected himself enough to respect his own views on different matters.

and towards the end of the series, i always got the impression that percy’s self-doubt had been improving and that is exactly how an upward progressive arc for a main character should be! and i did think that was rick’s idea too during the heroes of olympus, especially because the outsider perspectives were heavy on appreciating percy as a powerful, capable demigod. but i think, in hindsight, the seeds of what we now see in the new trilogy had already been planted. the constant pointed remarks about percy’s intelligence are irksome enough but the backpedaling of percy’s self-perception is probably the most egregious to me. because how do i argue my points from above anymore when the newest canon supports that fanon pov?

when the people surrounding percy have been reinforcing views that undermine him–primarily his intelligence and his competence–the very same people who you’d think would know better because they actually know percy the most intimately, it makes sense that percy himself is still stuck in the routine of undermining his ownself. but also... this should, from a writing-continuity perspective, make NO sense whatsoever. because this kind of superficial reading of percy from the other characters only made sense at the very start of the original series. by the end, i do not think annabeth was in the dark about percy’s “surprising intelligence”. that’s a laughable notion to have. and she’d be the first to shut down anyone implying that percy couldn’t function without her because again, so much of their original fascination and bonding with each other was about how well they could keep up with each other! they don’t need each other and that makes it all the more wonderful that they’re gonna help each other out regardless!

ugh, i just do not understand the logic behind having the protagonist revert back to self-esteem issues that he has already been shown to overcome to a noticeable difference by the conclusion of his original arc. i get regression in self perception is not some uncommon, unfathomable concept. but i cannot wrap my head around the fact that this view of percy of his ownself is not treated with enough gravity by the narrative, instead it’s just a part of his pov now. i do not think rick’s trying to paint annabeth or the friends as enablers of this self-perception and if he is, that’s bullshit. someone like sally would not allow her son to continue thinking of himself in such a manner anyway.

also, like, forget everything–the writing, the logic leaps, the plot holes. is it too much to ask for percy, a beloved main character, to have a confident outlook and have that reflected in the books explicitly meant for “fun”? if this series is how we send-off the golden trio and say goodbye to them, why do we need to see percy with a self-deprecating perception? why can’t we have banter that doesn’t horribly contradict established characterisations in the past? the fun of percabeth was, for me, that even if they were on some pedestal, they were on it together. but lately, it’s like rick is trying his best to throw percy off that pedestal from all directions possible and i think that’s such a disservice to this character we all have cherished for decades now. there are ways to go about writing, what is essentially, an “unserious” trilogy without compromising on character traits and interpersonal dynamics. it was never dumb vs smart, clumsy vs competent, grumpy vs sunshine, whipped vs unbothered when it came to percabeth. but slowly, so many of these black-and-white popular tropes have been bleeding into their canon dynamic and at the cost of sounding crude: fuck this, just fucking FUCK THISSSS.

[everliving-everblaze]

Fitz's characterization is so interesting and so hard. He's both very kind AND a bit of an entitled jerk, and most people only manage to capture one of the two.

I think this is well-illustrated in the first few chapters of the series. Fitz and Sophie spend a lot of these chapters rolling their eyes and sniping at each other, because they both have an attitude about the whole thing. In particular, Fitz has his attitude about elvin superiority, and Sophie immediately responds to that negatively.

He'd never heard of Albert Einstein? The theory of relativity was dumb? She wasn't sure how to argue. He seemed so ridiculously confident—it was unnerving.

On the other hand, it's very clear that Fitz's heart is in the right place (or at least, a well-meaning place). He has his attitude of elvin superiority, but he's thrilled to welcome Sophie into it as well.

Fitz nudged her arm. "Hey. It's not your fault. You believed what they taught you—I'm sure I'd have done the same thing. But it's time you knew the truth. This is how the world really works. It's not magic. It's just how it is."

(And undoubtedly, he's right. He would have believed what he'd been taught—he did, just different beliefs!)

The thing is, Sophie doesn't particularly want to jump aboard the elvin superiority train that he's so excited about.

"Well, it's like you're saying, 'Hey, Sophie, take everything you've ever learned about anything and throw it away.'" "Actually, that is what I'm saying." He flashed a smug grin. "Humans do the best they can—but their minds can't begin to comprehend the complexities of reality." "And what, elves' minds are better?" "Of course.

Fitz reads as a total jerk with what he's saying! He's completely ignorant of the fact that his belief that humans are stupid and evil is like, gonna hurt Sophie's feelings. Because that's what he's been taught!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fitz's character is hugely about prejudice, about people who believe what they are taught, even though it's wrong. And his character is about those people who then have to relearn their beliefs!

Fitz makes so much progress throughout the series in combating his own prejudice, largely through befriending Sophie. His character arc is one of my absolute favorites from any media, ever. I've gone through a lot of the same things he has, having to learn about prejudice and deal with my own biases, the lies that I was taught. His character is very meaningful to me!

But I think that's a piece that so often gets missed when people try to capture Fitz's character. Some people only see the bad parts and choose to portray him as totally evil. Some people focus on the good parts and portray him as more of a victim.

But I don't think either interpretation is totally right. Fitz is nuanced. He means well and truly tries to be kind within his worldview, and once he truly starts to realize his worldview is bad, he works on it! That's way more than a lot of people do. But he he makes a lot of mistakes along the way.

That's a fascinating, relevant character. And that's why he'll always be one of my favorites.

[avelera]

I’m dying for your thoughts on what is going on in Dubai with the triangulation of Armand and Daniel in Dubai because nothing in 2.05 explain ms what they(beddeath vampires) could want him to tell them as referenced earlier in the season or warrant all the Rashid pageantry. Especially not with how Armand looks at Daniel like he just got home from the wars.

Your takes are exquisite and I’d love to hear them.

Ok, I THINK you're asking what the hell is going on with Daniel and Armand and Louis and the longing looks Armand keeps shooting Daniel and I might be missing some nuance to your question but that is the question I'm gonna answer because I can't stop thinking about it.

Ok. Ok, ok, SO!! The biggest question I think we're facing as of 2.05 is did the Devil's Minion chapter of Queen of the Damned ever happen?

For the uninitiated (LOTS of BOOK SPOILERS but like the books have been out for decades, sorry): Louis/Armand is like... not a thing. At least, it's not one of the big love affairs of the series compared to Louis/Lestat. I mean they've had a situationship but they're definitely not a long devoted love affair going right up to the beginning of the events of Vampire Lestat/Queen of the Damned, which is where the show seems to take place. They traveled together for a bit after the events of Interview with the Vampire but then parted ways because What Happened In Paris changed Louis irrevocably.

The big love of Armand's life in the books is Daniel.

And we learn this in the chapter of Queen of the Damned called the Devil's Minion.

Because Armand stumbles upon "The Interviewer" and falls in love and they have this fucked up whirlwind torrid romance where Daniel teaches Armand about the modern world and basically "how to be fascinating" and Daniel begs over and over to be made into a vampire.

Lots of stuff happens between them but short, TRAGIC version is that Armand does make Daniel into a vampire and it breaks Daniel's mind. He's not a cool powerful vampire once he's turned, he's basically a vegetable, he loses his mind and becomes a hollow husk of himself. (Ironically, insane-new-vampire!Daniel is left in the care of Marius of all people lol)

SO, from the book reader perspective, I shot upright on my couch when I saw old Daniel. Because Old Daniel means we're in... some flavor of happy AU? We're in an AU where Armand did the "responsible" thing and didn't give Daniel the Dark Gift, so Daniel got to grow old and actually be a person instead of being the Devil's Minion where Armand became his whole personality and then he lost his mind.

Thing is, since S1, I've been assuming, like others I think, that we're in an AU where the Devil's Minion didn't happen at all. That Daniel did the interview, he and Louis parted ways, and now he's back to finish it. It seemed neat, clear, if a little confusing for book fans because Daniel/Armand is one of THE great love affairs and it seems like it just got skipped entirely, which kind of makes sense since no other film version has really delved into it, right?

WRONG. OK, so with the longing looks that begin RIGHT when Armand finally reveals himself, the whole mic drop moment of "Armand, the love of my life" while Armand stares at Daniel, almost seeming to plead with his eyes "GET ME AWAY FROM HIM" and looking at Daniel with such longing, going into SEASON 2 where we learn that ok, the 1970s beat was WAY more complicated than it seems, Louis' memory is very faulty, Armand has actively tampered with both of them and we DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH....?

So my current theory is: the Devil's Minion DID happen.

Armand and Daniel had their love affair, but instead of turning Daniel, which by the way he had to be talked into doing because of Daniel's suicide attempt basically, Armand set him free. But CLEARLY he continued to stalk and pine after Daniel, if he was there at Daniel's fucking engagement reading his girlfriend's mind enough to tell Daniel what she was really thinking then. Armand was definitely still OBSESSIVELY IN LOVE. And, IMO, has been the whole time.

Now, what does this mean going forward? What do I think is going on?

Armand wants out of his relationship with Louis but he's chronically, pathologically, incapable of breaking up with anyone. He used Lestat to break up the Children of Darkness, he used Louis to break up the Theatre des Vampires, and now he's using Daniel to end this fucked up marriage he and Louis are in.

Armand is doing this first by consenting to renew the interview, Louis gets a walk down memory lane, remembers how much he loves Lestat. Not to solidify their bond with how good things are now, but to break it up with nostalgia.

Armand is also going to reveal things he's hidden from Louis, I think. Like the fact Armand killed Claudia. I think right now they're both operating under the excuse that Santiago and the coven did it in defiance of Armand but that is simply not true, Armand ordered her death to get Louis all to himself. But (book canon) her death broke Louis so basically Armand destroyed what he wanted in Louis in the gaining of him.

Armand also misses Daniel. He's doing the classic passive lover thing, using the next lover to get rid of the current one. That's why he picked Daniel specifically as the vehicle of his liberation. Boy wants to get white knighted in the most fucked up way possible. Evidence: every single painfully longing, puppy dog look he shoots Daniel's way and how those looks only get more intense the more Louis waxes poetic about how great the Loumand relationship is.

Armand appears as Rashid in order to establish for plausible deniability for Louis that he DIDN'T have a relationship with Daniel OR, if Louis knows about it, that he really did do as promised and wiped Daniel's mind. Look, Daniel doesn't even remember him! When he's standing right there! Pretending to be Rashid! He definitely didn't summon his former lover here to break up Louis and him, obviously this is JUST about Louis' desire to do the interview haha, definitely not trying to bring his old ex to break up his current relationship the guy doesn't even remember who he is.

In conclusion: Armand still wants to fuck that boy old man. And he wants to get rid of Louis by making Louis break up with him because that's how Armand rolls. And that's why this whole ridiculous pantomime is happening, because Armand will never, ever be the active party in the breakup because the boy is way, way too fucked up by his supremely fucked up life up to this point to ever be the initiator. Instead he will always, always manipulate those around him to do what he wants.

[winterinhimring]

poking my head in because im rereading Cin Vhetin for i think the fifth time, and just wanted to say how much I love your characterizations. you're so good at exploring and developing the nuances, flaws, and philosophies of the characters. especially skirata and vau. and i love what you do with luke. probably one of my favorite mandalorian centered fics of all time

I'm so happy to hear both that you've reread that series FIVE WHOLE TIMES and that you are still enjoying the characterisations! Skirata and Vau are both fascinating guys, and I think I have a post on here somewhere about how they're examples of really amazing character work on the original author's part, so I had a lot of good material to work with, and I enjoyed poking them in different directions. Luke was also fun to write and I enjoyed figuring out the philosophical underpinnings of his role in the story and especially his trial on Ilum.

Thanks for sending this ask!

[pingkcorner]

Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf Review!

Like many others who held their breaths anticipating the second season of Arcane back in November 2024, I too was drawn to the hype (Cait and Vi, ladies!). I love how the main characters are beautifully written–none are perfect; they have flaws, strengths, and weaknesses. The nuance of the interactions between these characters is full of emotional complexity that makes you, as an audience, relate to their feelings.

In other words, I’m an avid fan of the show!

So when I saw Riot was announcing a novel featuring one of the badass villains that I LOVE to hate, I immediately pre-ordered the audiobook!

Brief Summary of the Story:

Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf written by C.L. Clark (same author who wrote the sapphic novel The Unbroken and The Faithless!) follows Ambessa Medarda, who we all know from Arcane series, is one hell of a badass warmonger Noxian general. Set a couple of years before the events of Arcane, the book dives into her backstory, showing her ambitions, relationships, and especially her complex bond with her daughter Mel. The story kicks off with Ambessa having a power struggle with her cousin Ta’Fik over the future of the Medarda clan. A full-on story about power moves, family drama (Medarda over all!), and her emotional battles in her personal and political life, which ultimately lead to her arrival in Piltover in the Arcane series.

Narration and the Audio Production: 

I love the fact that the audiobook is narrated by Ellen Thomas herself, the VA of Ambessa from the show!  Her voice is just perfect to capture the whole essence of the book! While I was hoping for some dramatization with sound effects or music, but it's a straightforward reading like a traditional audio book. Still, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Personal Impressions:

The book nails Ambessa’s character just like in the show. It’s not one of those stories where they try to make the villain seem all soft and misunderstood. Nope, Ambessa is just as fierce and unapologetic as you remember. The author didn’t water her down or change her motives to make her seem more sympathetic. What you see in Arcane is exactly what you get here–no out-of-character moments. Ambessa care about her family and even protects them, but ambition has always been her main driving force. She’s willing to sacrifice her family members if they stand in the way of her goals. This theme is emphasized throughout the story and became a source of internal conflict within Ambessa herself as she has a hard time admitting it and often tries to deny it, but her actions speak louder than words.

About the Lore:

If you’re a fan of Arcane’s lore, this book is a must-read. It feels like a setup for the next Arcane show, which is heavily hinted to be set in Noxus. Even if you have zero knowledge of League of Legends lore, it’s a great introduction to the Empire, their cities, their war culture, and how the Noxian view magic in general. There is also a moment in the book where they talk about Demacia, a rival empire of the Noxian. It also serves as a setup for Mel’s backstory. Just after the end of Arcane season 2, Riot released a video called “Welcome to Noxus,” featuring Mel returning to Noxus to uncover the truth about her roots. This book delves deeply into that backstory, providing valuable context and enriching the narrative.

Overall Ratings

3.5 Stars - Good, with some minor issues

How Sapphic is this book?

There is a side character (one of the heroes in LoL that has a potential to appear in the next Arcane show) that has a sapphic relationship in the book, but it’s not the main focus of the story.

-----SPOILER ALERT------

The book sets the stage for another League of Legends champion: Rell! It turns out that Rell is Ambessa Medarda's protégé, which adds a fascinating layer to the character. Plus, she's sapphic, and her brief but adorable teenage romance with a young stable-hand named Tora unfolds during the conflict between Ambessa and Ta'fik. I'm super excited to see if Rell makes an appearance in the next Arcane show. The groundwork laid in this book hints at some thrilling possibilities for her character and storyline in the series.