#we stan a problematic king

[ladyadaine]

Lestat was such a bitch he managed to haunt the narrative without even dying. Iconic behavior

[ohfugecannada]

✨♠️Happy pride month, ace inhabitants!♠️✨

Bonus non ace related memes under the cut because solidarity

[cnl0400]

I also think it's funny how both Lucifer & Belphegor, two of the most controversial brothers for trying to kill you in the OG game, also try to kill you in this one, both in the same lesson lol

[h-worksrambles]

One time I was talking with a friend who told me “all your favourite fictional characters are so wholesome.” And I know it was meant as a compliment but like…you sure about that?

^ Killed kids.

^ Has killed thousands of human souls and ultimately helped cause the apocalypse.

^ Cynical, bitter asshole who uses his past trauma to justify constantly being a dick to everyone.

^ Little Miss Imperialist Conqueror.

^ Unrepentant murderer who kid me still stanned anyway because he had a nice voice and a badass song.

“We’re living weapons who resent our immortality and are in dire need of therapy! Also we wiped out three whole continents.”

^ Literal unrepentant hitman.

^ Centuries old, hate filled killer-for-hire.

^ Callous, violent vigilantes who are just in it for the adrenaline rush.

I’m not even saying this to come across as edgy. God, no. But I think I’ve made my point about my potentially questionable taste in blorbos.

[flatstarcarcosa]

actually now that i think about it so many of the one liners in the first predator movie that rewired my brain are also on the cusp of some of the most blatantly sexist/homophobic shit you've ever heard.

i often forget 'A GODDAMN SEXUAL TYRANNOSAURUS, LIKE ME' is on the heels of that same character calling everyone else a bunch of faggots lmao

[praetorqueenreyna]

Locke outright telling Jude "I love to cause problems" grl same

[spacerockfloater]

Every time Team Black stans talk about Rhaenyra’s bastards and the Dragon Twins as if they’re blessings upon this earth, an angel loses its wings.

Like, okay. They’re children, I’m excusing all of them up to a certain point. But they’re some of the most vicious, aggressive, cowardly, snotty brats we’ve ever seen in this franchise and pretending that they’re not is so foul.

Lucerys is a hypocritical twat that bullied the boy he grew up with because he didn’t have a dragon, but then he’s totally okay hanging out with Rhaena who doesn’t have one either. And then he pulls out a knife and blinds Aemond for no fucking reason, after his gang attacked him first, and faces zero consequences for his actions. He eventually grows up to become an even worse person by literally laughing in his cousin’s face, whom he disabled. And then he tries to boss lord Borros around by telling him that he’s obligated to ally with Rhaenyra even if there isn’t anything in him for it.

Jacaerys is also very two faced for the exact same reasons as Lucerys, with the addition of having anger management issues. Like, remember how he beats the living shit out of his little brother when they’re training at the beach, kicks him to the ground and grabs him by the throat because he is upset their uncles are better warriors than them? That’s the good future king you’re all talking about? He is already obsessed with the idea of becoming king, to the point that his own mother has to remind him that she’s actually alive and well and he would have to wait a good fucking while before his dreams come true. That’s actually so sick on his behalf. Not to mention that he very likely married Sara Snow, betraying his fiancée, in order to gain the Starks’ help, which is very dishonourable. At least Lucerys told Borros he’s betrothed and refused to marry one of his daughters to get his support, I’ll give him that.

Baela is a deranged evil girl who was ready to throw hands on sight, too. And have we forgotten that she becomes a drunkard and whoremonger who spends her money gambling in the rat pits, the places where children fight one another in King’s Landing, once she grows up, or is it wrong only when Aegon II does it?

Rhaena is an aggressive coward who seems more preoccupied with the acquisition of a dragon than her mother’s death. She didn’t have the guts to go and claim Vhagar, but she feels powerful enough to confront Aemond when she has three people backing her up.

Finally, even without taking all of their problematic traits into account, these people are so severely uninteresting and unimpressive. Lucerys does not convince Borros to side with his mother and drops dead like a fly. Joffrey gets shrugged off by Syrax and plummets to his demise. Jacaerys is immediately killed during his embarrassing attempt to fight the Triarchy, not to mention that he was the reason his youngest half siblings were captured and nearly killed because he had the brilliant idea of sending them away. Baela loses the only dragon fight she was ever part of to Aegon II and Sunfyre who were very injured by a previous fight already! And Rhaena is just… there. Doing nothing. Never avenging her husband’s death, eventually marrying a Hightower. Yikes.

Are there much more ill behaved children in ASOIAF? Yeah, for sure, but we actually acknowledge that children like Aegon II and Joffrey Baratheon are pieces of shit. But if we could like, stop glorifying these four mediocre and borderline malicious kids solely because some of you feel the need to ride the dicks of everyone who is part of Rhaenyra’s crew, that would be great. They might be children, but they’re children with shady, putting it mildly, personalities, wielding new-clear weapons of mass destruction who actively participated in a war, especially Jacaerys and Baela. They sure were victims of the world they were raised in, but they were aggressors as well. And like, this is the ASOIAF universe, nearly all of our protagonists are children. We can’t constantly apply modern day morals and coddle them forever because “OMG, they are just babies!”, unless we are ready to apply the same logic on the Targtowers, who were basically the same age as Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children.

[fumifooms]

Laios Touden and autism; admiring the non-human

Do you think people exaggerate when they scream about Laios being autistic? Do you feel like it’s weird that so many people including autistics are so set on Laios, the problematic (but incredible and kind) king TM, being the most autistic that has ever autisticed? Why do we cheer on autistic people wanting to be monsters?? Isn’t that weird?

Well, of course it depends on the way it’s done, it can be done quite offensively, but long story short Kui blew it out of the park. The thing is, autistic people really do like monsters and animals and robots. Nonhuman does not mean subhuman, it just means Other. Feeling a connection with them has been shown to be an extremely common autistic experience for that very reason.

Because some people don’t understand why we autistic Tumblr Laios stans cheer “autism! Autism!” whenever he talks about monsters and feeling alienated to humans so! Here’s a post about how yes even research papers are analyzing the special connection we form with animals. I’m not even joking but Laios Touden & the mass cries of relatability with autistic people he gets and all the love for him could be used as study material and evidence for future papers because the link is that strong. Oh also I think it’s notable that being autistic and undiagnosed vs diagnosed makes a huge difference. In my experience as someone who was undiagnosed up until 18, it’s even more alienating to not know that there’s a reason why you’re different, being gaslit that you’re ‘normal’ and you just need to try harder and get with the program, etc. Personally when getting diagnosed I went through the 5 stages of grief because the thought of having been fundamentally different all your life (a difference which you will never be able to change) and mistreated for it when you weren’t “wrong” all along makes you unload all the anger and sadness and loneliness and sheer trauma you’ve built up over time. Like it’s world shattering.

So! Back to seeing dogs as family. Also I implore you to value experiential evidence when it comes to autism and other neurodivergences because brains are complicated and neurotypicals not being able to understand us well even with scientific research is like, a whole thing even though we’re right there speaking about how we feel and being right every time because the topic is literally us and how we experience the world. 

Disclaimer for this whole post that, of course, no group is a monolith and everyone has different experiences or can diverge from the norm of the group, and that doesn’t diminish the validity of either side! Like, I know autistic people who have trauma with dogs and hate them. But, trends do happen, and in this case... Autism is very “My experiences with humans make me feel dehumanized in a bad and lonely way so instead I’ll dehumanize myself in a good and inspiring way”.

“I was treated like a failed human my entire life and you’re surprised that my response was to become a dog.” -Patricia Taxxon

It’s literally well recorded that autistic people relate to animals more than humans globally. With this post, besides spreading autistic Laios truthism and explaining why the portrayal hits so deep for so many,  I want to show in what way this is a very specific experience and not looking at his character through an autistic lense really misses a lot of why he’s everything that he is. (Tacking allegedly onto here for legal reasons, different interpretations are valid etc etc /gen). This honestly isn’t super long though.

To define an important term, anthropomorphism in the studies and in this post means to attribute human traits to the nonhuman, which not only includes anthro furry designs but also animals irl, inanimate objects, and animated media as opposed to live action, to humanize them and empathize with them.

Paper: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2019.0027 

“Dogs taught me how to hunt and socialize and work in groups”, Laios having internalized body language... So real so real. I, too, make a great dog impression. And I want to emphase the part that it helps greatly develop a sense of emotions and relationships! For Laios, he didn’t get along with kids his age, it was him, Falin and the dogs against the world. Since it’s a group of dogs too, it taught him group dynamics and social hierarchies (like with Falin being considered as being below the dogs in authority according to the dogs rip), and the importance of group coordination when hunting.

For me, I cannot like, concisely explain just how much animals were important to me developmentally. I also grew up with dogs, but like I vividly remember encounters with like hamsters as well just radically shaping my understanding of boundaries, the importance of giving something space and the way you interact with them and respect their side of it. Unlike humans they don’t really mask how they feel, it’s direct cause-effect reaction and data gathering. There are no words involved, so the focus on having a perfect phrasing and tone is gone, leaving just pure interactions. 

There’s also no reason to mask how you feel either, and you don’t have to feel silly over wanting to form a connection and it showing, what, is the dog gonna laugh at you because you obviously want to make friends with it? Toshiro or Kabru might, but dogs and cats will just tell you to fuck off and leave it there worst case scenario. I often say that I think one reason Marcille is special to Laios and he feels comfortable around her is because she emotes INTENSELY, she gestures, she puts her whole body into it, her facial expressions are pretty exaggerated and her ears even emote too- like with a dog’s ears!

I think there’s def also things to be said about how he gravitated towards Izutsumi at first, all excited, was eager to sleep in the same bed as her, but in the Izutsumi sleep rating chart we see they really just casual and chill so it’s not a Laios talking to Shuro deep into the night situation just a “I like sleeping besides animals” situation and that is enough to hype him up. I love how he pet her in the extra about why Chil let her sleep with him too. He’s just so transparently eager to befriend her, even if in the end they weren’t all that compatible and he accepted that.

There are honestly so many examples I could give for this. Like Grandin the famous cow lady.

More about autism & empathy:

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/double-empathy-explained/ (Also mentions a study in which groups of autistic, allistic then a mixed group played a game of telephone and both singular groups had similar levels of information retention, but the mixed group was significantly worse. As an autistic person yeah duh, obviously autistic people are different from one another and can have plenty of interpersonal issues, but communicating with other neurodivergent people feels pretty intuitive and straightforward and comfortable. One of the reasons why neurodivergent people tend to naturally gravitate towards each other I suppose.) 

^ Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5932358/  For good, extensive summary of why we relate to animals so much you can go to the “anthromorphizing and asd” section of the paper. This paper extends to our widespread liking of cartoons and robots as well. Ok so this is a whole thing I won’t get into here but this is a big reason why a lot of autistic people are agender leaning as well. Genders and queerness in general is a lot about social constructs, and being queer is being marginal to these, not fitting into boxes or challenging those social norms and conventions. Queerplatonic relationships are a great example of this, where the framework of the relationship is platonic but the intangible nature of what it is exactly is the point, not familial not anything but everything at once too, just adoration, I like to say having pets is a bit like it as well, bc obvi it’s not romantic and often not fully familial, very platonic but also sooo much cuddling and adoration and kissing and whatnot that you wouldn’t typically do with a friend or family member. I’ll talk about qpr and labels another day though.

I got carried away but queerness in Dunmeshi is something I 100% want to make a big post on one day. Experiencing the world with different guidelines and not registering things to have the same boxes, sigh. Personally I also relate to Laios on a gender level, “cis by default because I don’t care all that much but if I were to dig deeper I’m probably otherkin and I want to be socially associated with traits of monsters and animalistic rather than man/woman” sighh hard to be a cryptid in this day and age. I wish we had a term like furry but for monsters, I want to be in the fantasy or folk tale genre ty, like changelings. Goshh changelings... You know, the irl myth where people said their neurodivergent kids were fairies’ children instead of human. Diminished physical sense of self means I see myself as some unknowable black  void aesthetic wise, but like in a way that simultaneously makes me feel seen. Like becoming a monster, losing your sense of self but also somehow just being simplified and seen for what you are, it’s weird to try and explain. This post is more about relating to the nonhuman than about seeing yourself as such, but like connect the dots right, that IS an important point of Laios’ character. It’s because our brains literally work different than allistics which makes us feel as other, but also because of social ostracization and functioning in a different way than society at large, living in the margin of society, being weird and non-conforming.

Meanwhile, animals and social norms... Like ok, showing your neck and rolling on the ground to show that you’re friendly and harmless and play biting might not be proper. But have you considered that it’s also fun and feels very intuitive. Play with a dog in the dog’s way I promise it is so nice and freeing. Play tug of war and growl back when they growl. Hiss at your cat to tell them they do something wrong, engage with them on their level.

Autism made social life hard, but it made animals easy. Do you have anyyy idea how good it feels to mask all day every day and feel constantly misunderstood or like you’re doing a performance but then you can just, drop all of that in the company of animals and they understand you. They understand you. You form an understanding and rapport so easily.

And this whole thing with Laios is so explicit too, with the Winged Lion saying “You’re sick and tired of the human world”. Notice the choice of words. Sick and tired of the human world. Exhausted from the constraints, sick of the mind games. It really isn’t as much about loving monsters as it is about loving the nonhuman. Relating to them because you feel that you can actually understand how they work and think, and feeling like they could understand you back as well. Animals are safe.

Like I could go on about how Laios admiring even just demi-humans like orcs is because they’re socially seen as non-humans more than any true physical thing, that they’re not bound by human society and its rules and live with their own lifestyle. But it would deal myself 1000 points of psychic damage and I am not ready to cry today. It’s idealization 100%, and like, Laios DOES want to be treated as human, to be valued, but it feels like an unreachable thing meanwhile becoming a monster is instant gratification and freedom and a sense that now no one will be able to hurt you in a way that reaches you, never again shall you be defenseless, and then if people dehumanize you then that only strengthens your sense of identity as a monster and UGHH ugh ugh.

And like. This post is a mess at this point but if you want to kinda delve into the more “why” then I recommend this Patricia Taxxon video essay. It starts out on a very different topic, but it’s all about autism and finding comfort in the inhuman. Long story short is othering made us like this also animals are just simpler to intuitively get along with.

So when I post this

I mean it. I really mean it when I say he’s me. I have never felt so seen. So many conflicting emotions all wrapped so concisely yet so intangibly woven into the whole storyline so subtly. 

Not being depicted as a monster of an human being for feeling/having felt that way?? The manga understands you. The world can understand you. Other humans can understand you. You can bond with them. You can. And I think that’s a big part of Dungeon Meshi too- Laios opening up to others about how he really is and his interests, and all the bumps on the way but how it was the only way to truly get to know each other and bond. With the climax being Laios confronting head on his complex with monsters and humans, and his monster-loving side and animalistic side being exactly what saves the whole world, what saves humanity. Because Laios does value his friends, does think humanity has beautiful sides to it, he wants to help it thrive and eat and become more accepting, carving out a kingdom for misfits and demi-humans. At the end of it, transforming into a monster and being free is a daydream fantasy, and the reality of it is that Laios does belong in the world as he is, and does receive and give out love.

If you enjoyed this you’ll probably like some of my other Laios analysis!  Here’s an analysis of his succubus and what it says about his relationships with other humans. And here’s an analysis about his relationship with Shuro from his perspective.

[dragonseeds]

do you have any thoughts on daenys the dreamer?

extremely fun and obvious play on the cassandra figure. a version where her family not only believes her but venerates her visions and prophecies—like, she saves them and a handful of dragons and, in doing so, the world, but it also curses her bloodline. the thing that once saved them becomes an obsession that consumes them literally in wildfire. the idea that you can be doomed by believing in and actively trying to fulfill a prophecy (aegon v at summerhall, melisandre and stannis) just as easily as others are doomed by their disbelief or their attempts to circumvent fate (cersei echoing my buddy king laius)—like that’s so, so cool to me. i love the ambiguity between fate and choice, the way grrm takes the whole trope apart and plays with all the individual components.

also very interested in the line running from daenys to daenerys, and i always wonder if daenys saw her too and if so, how much of her life daenys saw and was able to contextualize? did she see clear images like melisandre and bran or more metaphorical ones, like jojen or dany in the house of the undying? something like… a dragon with three heads fighting in a frozen wasteland lol?

considering the the loss of female power in house targaryen is so deeply entwined with the dying of the dragons, underneath all of that for me is aemon’s line in affc and the context that follows it:

what were they translating?? were some of the documents in other languages? it couldn’t have all been daenys’ works because aemon says they’ve been wrong for a thousand years. this prophecy has been a motivating factor for the targaryens (and valyrians?) for a thousand years, but i wonder at what point the translation error actually crept in? daenys was valyrian and that would’ve been her primary language—i like to think she would’ve understood the nature of the dragon in a way her male descendents couldn’t. no one ever looked for a girl, but it was always a girl. not men in a patriarchal feudalist society reducing women to their reproductive capabilities (rhaella’s miserable life being one of the most egregious examples of this) and then being surprised when a woman is needed to rebirth the dragons lol.

this got away from me because i think the (deconstruction of the) use of prophecy in asoiaf is fascinating and everything we know about daenys is tied up in that. cutting myself off before i start talking about gender as it relates to this prophecy. beyond that, i’m really not interested in interpretations of daenys where she’s catatonic or broken by what she’s seen any more than i am in interpretations of dany where she goes mad, just because i’m sick of the seeing the general victimization of women in asoiaf taken to such an extreme that they’re defined by it—with whoever suffers most ecstatically being the least problematic to stan, especially when the women in question are from/associated with house targaryen.

[catboymoments]

Hey so, I've been a fan of your art for a while and, I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but I noticed that you have a post featuring drawings of King saying quotes from Arin Hanson from GG. I know you drew it because he voiced King’s dad in the show, but the guy himself is a problematic individual. I‘m worried that having a post like that will shed both him and the rest of Game Grumps (who've done bigoted, pedophilic, predatory, etc things) in a positive light and will encourage others to watch and support them unaware of the terrible things they've done and continue to do.

Hey dude I appreciate your concern but I wouldn’t have drawn and posted that if I knew Arin was a bad guy. /gen

I’ve done my research and looked at the allegations myself and they’re not predators and they’re not pedophiles idk where you’ve heard that, they’ve said some edgy offensive jokes ten plus years ago and I know it’s not my place to forgive them for some of those, but I can also be an adult and also realize that they’ve genuinely apologized since (in 2020) that was like “hey we thought it would be okay to just move on from the shit we said in the past but fuck that we can be better” and have actually changed said problematic behavior. I’m not gonna say they’re perfect nor do I stan them because I don’t ! They’re very VERY popular content creators and there needs to be distance there. But I encourage people to again, do your own research and make a decision for yourself when you hear bad stuff about someone online.

[littleoneamanda]

GF: Stanford Pines

Well, probably one of the fastest drawings I have been drawing xD

The original art style is pretty easy to work with, but I think I will keep doing it in mine after Fidds. Unless you want to see me draw more in the original style. Let me know! :D

Now to my thoughts on the book of bill and Stanford as a character. (SPOILERS)

The missing Journal Pages in this book are probably the ones that I found the most interesting and disturbing. We learn more about Ford as a person and what kind of friendship he had with Bill.

I just wanna say this, I really don't see how so many people saw them as "lovers" which I (imo) found very problematic and disturbing.

I think it is pretty clear Bill only uses Ford for his own gain. His property. Ford was the perfect human for his plans.

Take everything Bill says in the book with a whole spoon of salt.

"Even his lies are lies"

-Code from TBOB

"The ego of a king. The insecurity of a circus freak. And totally isolated from anyone who might steer him clear of my plans "

-Bill, TBOB

Ford has very low self esteem, isolates himself, bad at social interactions and even had a shotgun pointed at him. He describes himself "six fingerd freak".

So when a god like figure shows up in a dream one day, tells you how great you are, you will change the world, ect, You would buy it. Especially when others around you have made you feel like an outcast through your whole life (except for Stanley and Fidds).

Bill is basically love bombing Ford. Making Ford feel very special and reminding him of the project that will change everything.

Now there is a difference between self esteem and self confidence. (I'm adding the links if you wanna know more :) ) Ford absolutely have a strong self confidence. He believes strongly in his research. He belives he CAN achive and complete his research. This is also something Bill takes advantage of. He knows Ford is desperate. This is where is self confidence turns a little bit more to narcissism (again caused by Bill by manipulation). Bill does everything to make sure Ford continues the work.

As soon Ford realizes the betrayal, Bill shows his true colors.

He takes over Fords body multiple times. Takes his body on top of the roof in the middle of the winter, taped a rattlesnake into his journal, recorded a video of him being in Fords body "Puppet Hour with Bill" and will cut to something more disturbing scene. Left a lot of polaroids of him humiliating and torture his body in different ways.

Scaring Ford with one scene where he pretended to call Stan that he was gonna kill himself. This part of the book was probably the one that made me actually shiver. Think about it, You see video and pictures of yourself doing all of this, knowing that this is not you doing all of these things. And having no memory of it at. Too scared to fall asleep because you have no idea were your body is going to be next. That would make any person as paranoid Ford was at the end.

Fidds and Ford.

There is a lot of things that I wanna talk about when it comes to these two, but I will save most of it to the Fidds drawing.

Fidleford is Fords only true friend during this time. He is very supportive but also honest with Ford.

Ford haven't had any other friends during his early life. Stanley was his only friend, and the one who protected him until that one mistake that separates them. When Fiddleford comes in to the picture, (a person who also seemed to have problems making friends) he's probably the first person who doesn't even notice at first that Ford has six fingers. I really wish here we had some more backstory of their college years to know what their friendship looked like, but it seems they were very close.

"I am overcome with emotion. The sight of my old classmate upon my doorstep this morning filled my heart with such joy and gratitude."

-Stanford, Journal 3

Ford was obviously very happy to not be alone anymore in his home. To have his best friend (who also left his family behind) to work with him on this massive project. Now comes the question, what does Ford see Fidds as? I think Fidds shows some kind of feelings towards Ford escpecially when it comes to giving presents (Not only in TBOB but also in Journal 3). I think Ford does deeply care about Fidds, but his mind at this point is so focused on the project (and Bill making sure he is) that he pushes away a lot of feelings. Probably a lot of feelings that are necessary to have as well.

Something I do notice tho is when Bill isn't present, Ford becomes more like himself. Decorating the portal to make make Fidds happy after the failed family reunion (which I don't think he normally would have done if Bill was present during the holidays).

After Bill torture and threatening Ford in the nightmare, the only man he could think of in that moment who could help him was Fiddleford. When he went through Fidds notes for any hints of where he was now, he finds the 5 failed knitted 6-fingered gloves and the ripped photo of them. I can't imagine what that must have felt...

The closest person he had in his life at that point, who has tried to warn him. Tried to give Ford another option for success in his research instead of the portal. The regret of not listening to his warnings.

When they reunited after Weirdmaggedon, seeing how Fiddleford lived now and what the aftermath of the portal incident did to him, must have been a punch in the gut.

"...but when I saw that he was living at the dump, it became clear how deeply I had hurt this man that I had once held so dear."

-Stanford Journal 3

So...Is Ford a jerk? The question and discussions that I've seen so many times here xD

Honestly, this man is complicated. Especially when it comes to understand his thoughts and feelings. However, Stanford is a type person that I personally have encountered irl. Sometimes too smart for his own good, sometimes not understanding how others may feel about certain things/topics and a person who constantly try to prove to themself and to others. A man lost in his own insecurities and very isolated. He his the main character in his life. Now that doesn't exscuse his negative actions at all. But more like a explanation to what might had led to the certain events.

Alright, this took way longer to write than actually make the drawing xD But did wanna share somethings that has been on my mind. When trying to search for analyses of the characters, it has been difficult to find one that is a middle ground. It's either: Stanford is a jerk and doesn't deserve anything good or Here is why everyone is wrong type of stuff. I'm not here to tell how we should think about certain characters. This is just how I look at all of this. The only problem I have with all of this is the thing between Ford and Bill. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't see any type of romance there. I know a lot of people went off on the "one thing led to another" part. I do not know what to say to that honestly. That page was super hard for my eyes to read for some reason lol. And i know, Yes, I did a video of Fidds being cucked by a triangle. I don't mind some of the jokes around it...I mean i did myself xD

I think the reason Bill is a bit obsessed over Ford is because after so many attempts with making deals with other humans to help Bill build a portal, this one was sooo close to success and ALMOST succeeded. He had all the tools and the right human to make it, but failed. He must feel so bitter.

Anyway, that's it for now! Next is Fiddleford :D

[aliciavance4228]

One thing that I honestly do not understand about some of Hades' fans is the way they claim that they like him because he is a complex figure, yet at the same time they erase all the characteristics that make him complex in order to depict him as the nicest guy possible.

"Hades never had any bastards." Yes, this is absolutely true, yet at the same time nobody is wondering why ancient greeks depicted him as having sexual relationships only with Persephone, or why Leuce and Minthe were added only centuries later by the roman poets. In order to answer to this question we have to understand why other gods are depicted as womanizers in the first place. It's because in this way it was easy for you to pretend that your father is a god, and by extension to receive a certain attention or priviledges.

"Of course I'm great. Don't you know that my father is Zeus himself?"

"How do you know that?"

"He told me in a dream that he disguised himself as an ant and then entered my mother's vagina."

"But then why didn't Hera kill you already?"

"He forgot to tell me why."

Hades, on the other hand, was equally feared and hated by ancient greeks, which is why nobody wanted to claim that they are his offspring. Romans, on the other hand, weren't necessarily afraid nor repulsed by him, which is probably why they were more comfortable writing about him having a dead lover and a mistress on top of Persephone.

"Hades never punished mortals the way other gods do." Are you kidding me, right? When Asclepcius started to bring people back to life he complained to Zeus about how Apollo's son is openly mocking death and asked him to kill him, not to mention that in some versions of the myth the reason why Zeus decided to murder him was because Hades was going to unleash his wrath on Apollo himself or destroy Asclepius' entire city. When Pirithous and Theseus tried to kidnap Persephone he trapped them for years and let them be attacked by the Furies on a daily basis.

Now, people will tell me: "Yeah but both of them were violating his rules so he had all the right to do that." and I'm not contradicting you here. However, there's another myth where he inflicted Thebes with a deadly plague after a king refused to bury some dead warriors or something like that. It is emphasized the fact that many died, and "many" could mean anyone, no matter if they were innocent, quilty, children, elders etc. The only way they managed to appease him was by sacrificing two girls. Sure, he took pity of them in the end and turned them into comets, but was the death of hundreds of mortals so necessary? Why didn't he punish only the king instead of his people? And then his stans are really going to say that Demeter is a monster for causing a global famine, even though this was clearly a result of her grief for her daughter.

Furthermore, I would also like to point out the fact that the main reason why there are few myths where he's directly punishing a living mortal is because he knows that sooner or later everyone will become his subject. Sure, you may not be punished immediately for cursing his name or badmouthing him, but thirty years later when you will be dead quess who will throw you into Tartarus!

"Hades was the least problematic greek god." First of all, there aren't only fifteen deities in Greek Mythology, but hundreds of them. And I doubt that out of hundreds of deities he's the least problematic one. And secondly, even if you think only about the fifteen major gods you cannot say that he's the least problematic one when Hestia exists. I think people are focusing way too much on his qualities and moments where he proves himself to be generous and equitable, and forget the fact that he's literally the King of the Underworld. One of the reasons why there are few to no writings about him nowdays is because a) people were afraid even to write about him and b) we're not sure how many of the few writings about him survived and how many were lost. He might have done even more horrible things that we're not aware of. Also, we do not live in Ancient Greece among people who existed thousands of years ago and had a way more clear perception on their deities. They might had good reasons to fear him other than the ones that we already know.

I do not consider anything wrong in portraying him as having a secret soft side or emphasizing the fact that just because he was the god of the dead that doesn’t mean that he was "pure evil" or "the devil himself", because we're talking about a polytheistic religion where deities are allowed to have complex, multidimensional personalities instead of being only "good" or "bad". But that doesn’t mean that you have to automatically turn him into an innocent guy who never did anything wrong in his entire life and all he wants is to unconditionally love his pastel goth wife and play with his dog Spot.

[livannasalinger]

DP x DC prompt 2

I like the idea that JLD starts hearing rumors about the new King of Infinit Realms and then Batman decides to investigate. Usually stories are written with Batman having discovered Amity and then meeting Danny, but what if the focus of the story is a little earlier? The idea is:

Okay, according to wikipedia, the JLD members are: John Constantine, Detective Chimp, Doctor Fate , Ragman, Etrigan and Zatanna. Wonder Woman is also included in some fics and I think it's cool to include her here. Well then, it would be nice if the story started from the perspective of these members, each one (or at least some of them) having supernatural encounters that go in a different direction than expected (a mission, an artifact that starts to work differently, a realization that something in the universe has changed). Each member reports these changes in a conversation that started casually and then they decide to investigate more, it would be great to explore different encounters they have with creatures or beings more connected to the other side, and these beings talking, but not talking - maybe presenting riddles, maybe not talking on purpose, refusing to comment - I particularly like it when the character Lucifer, from the series, appears. He can clarify the facts, or he can refuse to give a straight answer (I imagine he and Danny can actually get along very well). Anyway, after many ghostly and surreal encounters, as well as finding several pieces of art and legends about the mysterious Phantom (maybe Diana will also get in the middle of this, discovering files in themyscira about Phantom being connected to Kronos aka grandfather clockwork), the group finally discovers that there has been a significant power shift, that Pariah Dark is no more etc. Not only that, they  discover the GIW and the Anti-Ecto Acts exist. And in the midst of it all they discover that there's still a whole universe of things they don't know (infinit realms and such).

Meanwhile, on the other hand, it would be awesome if, like stan lee in the avengers movies, Danny actually had multiple appearances (a boy asking for coffee in the background, someone they asked for directions in a certain city). Danny would already be moving towards being the king (crowned, but still learning and effectively being a prince, more than a ruler). Or the idea that he's basically the host of the realms is pretty cool too, less of a ruler, but more about being the one who maintains the balance between life and death. This would all be part 1, which would see JLD coming to the realization that there's a part of the world they didn't know about and now they have to bring it to JL.

In part two you could focus on other aspects, such as: - Division JLD and JL: not on purpose, but members like Superman and Batman, among others, have their problems when interacting with the supernatural. Batman for example: he's not stupid, but his tendency to investigate and have a contingency plan for everything and everyone can be especially problematic when dealing with the supernatural, as there are rules and boundaries you can't cross if you don't know how to deal with them and the consequences. So, difficult conversations trying to explain the situation in the right context and perhaps a greater understanding from JL members of how unprepared they are to properly deal with this type of problem maybe?. - Follows after the fact above the investigation itself, with a mixture of JL and JLD, each with their contacts and specialties, finally arriving at Amity park and the Fentons. - And finally we come to the classics DP fics: the Fentons as Mad scientists, neglectful parents and etc and the plot twist of the moment: Danny and Jazz Fenton are “missing”, with the city as part of a conspiracy that helped take the children out of the Fenton family and out of reach of the GIW, and citizens of Amity distrustful or aggressive towards the JL (Danny and Jazz ran away and they are now Nightingale , it would be great if they were in Gotham this whole time hauhau) . It could even expand the lore about the Nightingales, they could be a family relatively known within the right circles as the psychopomp. The idea here is that they don't find out who Danny is at first, that there are layers of mystery until they find the answer. That Danny, even though he's young, has enough time to learn and when he has to face it and talk to JL and JLD, he would do it as an equal.

possible part 3 - In parallel, the adventures of Danny, jazz and company running away to gotham, learning things outside the small world that is Amity Park, Danny talking with Lady Gotham and helping her to take care of the supernatural part of the city, since that is not the specialty of Batfam, even with Metas like Duke. The batfam feeling that the city is different someway. Maybe Danny meeting several of the waynes/ vigilants, bonding with some of them and etc. Not forgetting Jazz and her work in Arkham and Sam and Tucker and Ellie somehow included. (maybe even Dan).

tips - fics and stories that inspired me in this idea:

You and me and our best friend makes three by Elizabehta_Beilschmidt

Humans and Ghosts and Different Kind of Hero by RedGhost1010

and

Goncharov

[greenbirdtrash]

their first encounter

pre-fame voidler is skrunkly as fuck, but we stan our problematic faceless king

[wc-confessions]

I love Reedfeather so much you guys don’t understand. None of you understand him like I do. Nobody even knows his name. But I know it. He hates Hailstar. In my heart him and Hawkheart dated. And no matter what anyone says I know Reedfeather was just the most doting and loving father to Greykit and Willowkit. Is he sorta shitty at times? Yea. But do we not stan a problematic king? Anyways everyone should talk about Reedfeather he’s really cool actually.

.

[tweedleneue]

Look I love Gale and I don't want anyone to feel bad about loving Gale, nor do I wanna fight but people are so absurdly hard on Mystra.

Putting aside the fact that she shouldn't be romancing mortals (people generally misunderstand how God's in this world work and misunderstand that Mystra was an adventurer who has only been a living goddess for a few decades) Mystra was not being manipulative by asking Gale for the crown of Karsus.

You can be pissed at her for asking Gale to sacrifice himself, despite the fact that he was going to die from his own self inflicted illness. But to perceive the request for the crown, a second request for forgiveness after Gale denied her first, one that doesn't require him sacrificing his own life, as manipulation on her part is nearly bordering on misogyny I'm being so serious.

The whole ROLE of her as Mystra is to protect her domain. The crown of Karsus DESTROYED MYSTRYL AND THE WEAVE! Why do y'all give her no consideration while giving Gale a whole weaves worth of benefit of the doubt? Please remember that when she literally feeds her power, the source of all magic, into Gales self inflicted power hungry orb, Gale immediately becomes power hungry again.

Gales insecurity leads him to having narcissistic traits, the Orb is a reminder of his folly leads him into a depressive episode because he requires greatness to feed his ego, and immediately when that wound is sated he goes back to his old ways!

Again y'all can like Gale, but you can live in the grey that both of these characters exist in. Yes she's a literal goddess I understand that, But she's not actually omniscient and omnipotent. Her current incarnation has literally died before. She's capable of Mistakes just as Gale is, and we literally only get his side of the account. Plenty of mortals mingle with the Gods in this world, Mystra literally rose to Godhood due to this proximity, Gale isn't ignorant of that fact.

Idk I am only so passionate about this because Gale is the most blatantly concerning companion. His red flags are glaring! I stan a problematic king like anyone else but c'mon now he's not a lil uwu baby who was had. Give him the credit of his own mistakes and flaws! He's literally the only companion who is directly the cause of his own undoing in his past life and people are so quick to sweep it under the rug.