#who Stan a slaver

[defira85]

Snippet Snuesday

@elinorbard tagged me for Snippet Sunday but time has no meaning so here we are on Tuesday, or as I like to call it, Snuesday. I've absolutely called it that before, I certainly didn't make it up just for a bit

I have not really written in the last week so here's a snippet from the Mystra fic I wrote for the BG3 zine that I might end up posting on AO3

You remember what it is to die. No, not to die—to unbecome. Death has rules, it serves a purpose in the greater scheme of the universe, an entropic balance against the bloated weight of immortality. Mystra can die, but that is not what has happened to you. You have become nothing. An absence. A sudden cessation more violent and more horrifying than any mortal could ever comprehend. The part of you that is Midnight screams and sobs in the everlasting silence of eternity when she tries to look upon that part of you. Twice now, you have unbecome. Twice now, reality has shivered and begun to unravel at the seams at the moment of your unbecoming. Once, at the hands of a mortal man. Once, at the hands of Helm, acting on Ao's behalf. Twice you have been felled by someone who cannot fathom your brilliance, your necessity, and the universe has suffered along with you. Karsus, who could not see the far horizon at the end of all time and existence as you could, and deemed that his need was greatest, that his desire outweighed that of every other mortal soul across every other plane of reality, reached up first and unmade you. It is a violent violation of which there are no words to describe it, to be unmade. Death would be a mercy in comparison.

Who wants to be tagged for Snuesday? Consider yourself tagged for this new day of the week

[ahelluvahater]

Can we just agree Alastor is one of vivsie's worst characters?

Disclaimer this post was meant to share points about the demonizing a real religion I have heard been said by people of color especially people in those religions who have been overlooked and diminished due to vivsie stans who are mad at the critiques.

So for one he does voodoo in the show which I wouldn’t trust Viv or any of the others to do, but a lot ended up very demonizing, Vivziepop made one character who does voodoo (which is a closed religious practice and Black/Creole/Haitian culture that is constantly demonized in media, like actually fucking stop). and is a demon and that’s all she thought was necessary for the representation, she could’ve had Sera/Emily practice voodoo as they are black women with powerful magic maybe characters who aren’t completely shown as demonic? Vivziepop tried to control the backlash from her using a practice she is not a part of by stating the alastor was mixed. (showing how little she cant draw non-white characters if she can just race swap them at the flip of a switch) Alastor most recently was said to be white/Creole.

But this also just was incredibly weird seeing as he is now a mixed man giving a black man/feline character a contract that allowed Alastor to "own" him with tons of imagery of Alastor pulling him around on chains. Which feels strange for him to be a supposedly “likeable character” (and by that I mean in fandom not necessarily in world) I feel like im crazy to have to say no matter your race you shouldn’t “own” somebody. And I don’t think a slaver should been shown in this fan favorite type character ignoring the important part to have character who does bad be shown as doing bad.

Not only is Alastor a shitty character people will defend the writers saying "it’s hell" like really? yea there are awful people in hell but he is shown constantly in a fun quirky way leading him to be a fan favorite so if they were meaning to show how bad of a person alastor is they are doing a shit job.

Along with all of this Al is Vivsiepops only Ace character wtf is that supposed to say about how ace people are portrayed in the show? as Slavers? Rasicts? Heartless? This is her idea of acespec people, the only ace repersentation in her show and this is what she hands us?

Not only that but she refuses to confirm Alastor's romantism to "let people have their fun" aka she doesn't care about aro representation because it might ruin peoples ship. Our romanticism and sexuality shouldn't be something to shove to the side anytime a fan is horny. Imagine if someone shipped Stolas with a girl? do you think she's say that its all fun? No because she doesn't care about ace people or poc people all she cares about in her non-con demon porn.

there is my rant Alastor is Shit Ace representation SHIT voodou representation

Also Mammon and Octavia haven’t done anything in the actual show to achieve ace rep. Also mammon? Really?

[rainhadaenerys]

Unpopular opinion, but I really do not see Dany as this "oh so tragic" and "oh so full of trauma" character. She has bad things happen to her like every other ASOIAF character, but she isn't really super traumatized or unable to deal with what happens in her life, and the tone of her story isn't really one of tragedy: on the contrary, her story is full of her overcoming hardships. It's full of triumphs. Even the low point she hits at the end of ADWD is just setting up her journey to finally crush the slavers and become the Stallion who Mounts the World. And then when she goes to Westeros, she will be one of the people to defeat the Others.

I find it a little bit annoying when I see people reading her character purely through the lens of "oh she suffered to much, she was raped by her husband, she was abused by her brother, she doesn't have a home, she is so tragic, etc" (I'm not saying people can't discuss these topics, by the way, I'm just saying that it annoys me when this is the ONLY thing people talk about when it comes to Dany). First, because this isn't the majority of her story, this is mostly part of her early story or backstory, and the main part of her story are the things she does after that, her triumphs and hardships trying to lead her people, fight a war, fight the status quo, and so on. It's a little annoying to see a character who has such a great complex political and magical storyline, a great adventure, all be reduced to "she is just an abused girl who suffered", with all other aspects of her story being ignored. But most importantly, I think this reading of Dany as this tragic character, by Dany stans and Dany haters alike, gives fuel to a bunch of other annoying readings of her character: the neutrals use the "oh so tragic" narrative to argue that her story has to end with her dying and she has nothing else to contribute to the main story other than sacrificing herself and be a tragic hero. Meanwhile, the antis use the "oh so tragic" narrative to claim that they sympathize with Dany, but her trauma is going to make her crazy, paranoid, a villain, etc. Or, when they don't say that her trauma is going to make her a villain, they claim that she was always a villain and use her "trauma" to claim that they sympathize with her and that her "trauma" makes her such a complex villain.

[we-stan-cale]

Defeating the White Star so easily relied heavily on Kim Rok Soo - not just what he learned from reading The Birth of a Hero, not just his special powers, but all his experiences, his way of thinking, all the things that made him who he was .

Fair warning, if haven't finished part 1 you might want to skip this. I'll be talking heavily about Kim Rok Soo, and I don't remember which chapters we learned this... Just that it's fairly late.

Kim Rok Soo is an analyst first and foremost. Record allows him to remember and process information at ungodly speeds, but it takes real skill to take masses of information and filter out all the irrelevant and distracting details.

Cale, as the transmigrated KRS, has that skill. He has repeatedly been able to take information from the books, information he gained as a noble (whether purchased from an information guild like what Deruth gave him at the beginning, or just reports or books he has access to) and pull it all together to find the most important factors.

Like why the crown prince might want a naval base, or why Ubarr would be a good location for one.

Or that the Mogoru Empire would want slaves for their alchemical experiments, and that that slaver noble he learned about was probably selling them to the empire (though, naturally, he found the evidence to back up his intuition. It's just knowing where to look and what to look for probably sped the process up tremendously).

And given how much he knows about the importance of any sliver of information, it's no surprise he constantly looks for sources of it.

He repeatedly asks Choi Han to capture rather than kill their enemies, and it's not just that he dislikes killing. Every captured enemy is a source of information - from the Arm member they captured at the elf village, to Cloppeh, to Syrem, to the dragon half blood... Cale learns a tremendous amount of information about the organization they are fighting. He even got the dragon half blood to lead them to one of Arm's bases on the Eastern continent.

And he's able to get even more through encounters with people like Hannah, and even the bandits on the Eastern continent that he shanghais into serving as waitstaff in his hotel.

He also denies information to the enemy as much as he can. From the silly fake uniforms that Choi Han dreads to his insistence they kill or blind the mage who saw Ron's face, he and his people are constantly able to take Arm by surprise.

Imagine if we were in Birth of a Hero, and Choi Han just straight up killed all those sources of information? And didn't wear a disguise, so he became a known opponent that the White Star could plan for and target?

Then we get into his experiences taking down corrupt guilds, which he used on corrupt nobles and priests alike. From selling of the treasures he found to the priest of the sun god, to handling the Stans and more..

He has the skills and experience - as well as an ability to quickly plan with the resources on hand and the flexibility to adjust his plans as needed - to handle almost anything thrown his way.

The foreknowledge from The Birth of a Hero and the wealth and connections he gained as a Henituse are only partially able to explain his success.

[torchwood-99]

You hit a nerve. My hats off to you.

since sansa stark is the epitome of femininity i think she should end the series as daenerys’ lady-in-waiting because that’s the traditional job for noble ladies 👯‍♀️

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

Rhaenyra's Victory

The "nobody won the Dance" argument is so ridiculous and just flat out wrong. Certain fans (read TG stans), constantly argue that, because Rhaenyra and Aegon both died, the Dance had no victor. GRRM clearly disputes this in both F&B and ASOIAF.

In F&B, the end of the Dance is clearly in favor of the Blacks, despite Rhaenyra's murder. Cregan Stark and the rest of the Black forces took KL, forced the last of the Green supporters to surrender, and placed Aegon III (Rhaenyra's oldest surviving child) on the throne. After that, the last of Aegon II's line died with Jaehaera, leaving Rhaenyra's as the only legitimate and surviving royal line. That means, in simple terms, Rhaenyra's family won the war. They were the survivors of the war and ruled for the rest of the Targaryen Dynasty.

Speaking of the rest of the dynasty, there's a second way GRRM makes Rhaenyra's victory clear, and that's through Daenerys Targaryen. Despite the Blacks winning the final conflict of the Dance, male primogeniture was accepted and reinforced throughout the following kings' reigns. Baela and Rhaena were passed over as options to be Aegon III's heirs before his marriage to Daenaera. Daena and her sisters were passed over in favor of Viserys II and his children. Vaella was dismissed in favor of Aegon V. The first woman to be named heir to the IT since Rhaenyra was Dany, something done purely because she was Viserys III's final surviving relative (no, the relatives in other houses don't count).

No matter the reason Dany was named as heir, she eventually succeeded her brother as the head of House Targaryen and the rightful ruler of Westeros. After becoming the head of the house, she awoke dragons from stone and became Khaleesi of her own Khalasar. Dany then began a conquest across Slaver's Bay and eventually conquered Meereen and became its queen. Thus she became a conqueror and queen in her own right.

Despite House Targaryen embracing the sexist Andal traditions about succession, the future of the house now rests on the shoulders of a woman. Dany is the final ruler belonging to the house, a queen regnant who overcame every man who stood in her way. Not only that, but she awakened dragons from stone, thus beginning to heal the damage done by the Dance and the greens' misogyny.

Dany, a woman, is the savior of House Targaryen and arguably one of its most powerful rulers to date. She not only is continuing its legacy, but is bettering it. Rhaenyra's legacy is her female descendant who will save not only the house but the whole goddamn world. Dany enacts radical social change in Essos, rules her city well (as much as she can with the slavers' interference), and brought dragons, the key to defeating the Others, back into the world. Daenerys is Rhaenyra's final victory over the greens' misogyny and treason.

[decadentbutterflies]

No, it's about the brain rot of Sansa stans calling Dany evil and a colonizer etc. Or erasing/diminishing Sansa bullying Arya when we bring that up that she's not exactly kind, only when she wants to be.

Acting like Sansa is a perfect fit for a queen instead because she's kind and "everyone she touches becomes kinder" while she slowly poisons a child, her own cousin (she was even warned about how it hurts the boy) and then going "me and father have more important things to worry about", who's mother was murdered by the man she covers. Being classist...

You could argue that she does it out of fear (which I agree with except the feasts and classist behavior ofc). She is not "kind" like an average person would be. She isn't evil, but calling her kind and then acting like Dany isn't and calling Daenerys a tyrant is mind blowing. Dany personally feeds refugees and genuinely does her best to help people, while Miss Sansa throws feasts while the common folk is starving.

And the argument is... She killed slavers.. Oh noo, how dare she.

Also Sansa's bullying is another reason why people don't see her as kind (validly), but again people love to erase that and diminish it.

Or do even THIS lmao. I just knew there's going to be something "Arya is mean, Arya is bad" in the comments.

Yes, because Arya bullied her so much, like throwing peach on her after Sansa was her classist self (this was Arya's reply to Sansa saying "once she's the queen Arya will have to bow down to her" btw. she ain't becoming a follower like some fans wish for her to be).

She was bullied so much that she has trauma that she doesn't even believe when others tell her she's pretty. Sansa felt sooo out of place in Winterfell and lonely (not like she had any friends that followed with the bullying..) :'((

But thankfully we have Jon who's going to save her and marry her because he just LOVES the "waiting for someone to save her" type of girl! He can't stop talking about that kind of woman lmao.

Ofc. A Jonsa and Catelyn fan account lmao.

I can't make this sht up. That show should've never been made, I'm sorry, but it brought so many morons combining the show into the books and completely changed how fanon sees many of the characters.

[katy-89]

The way certain Stark stans are trying so hard to deny or diminish Jon's Targaryan heritage is pretty sad (except when they want to give him a dragon uhm)

This character is overcoming prejudice toward peoples on the outside, is a character that is all about conciliating opposing things but he will not be capable of conciliating his Stark and Targaryan heritage? sure, Jon is gonna hate the Targaryens, his BLOOD, even if in the books he looked up to Daeron, he respected and loved Aemon, he spoke highly of Alysanne and he wished he had dragons during battle.

He's gonna hate Daenerys because....she's a good person, she cares about people, she killed slavers and she's the best hope against the others?

Or he's gonna hate his bio father because he was the only person who took seriously the threat of the others or because he chose love over duty? Oh shit, this is also what Jon did in the books with Arya :O

This fandom give zero fucks about how the characters are WRITTEN in the books. Y'all are just projecting your headcanons onto them.

[seeker-ophelia]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Ophelia’s Review, Part 1: The Emotion

Like most people on tumblr, I went into Veilguard for Solavellan. I needed a happy ending for them. I had obsessed and freaked and theorized for years. But before I delve into VG I need to explain some backstory. This is going to be as much a biography of me as it is a tale of my rook. And its going to be long, so you know, heads up. And Veilguard Spoilers.

I have been really struggling to get my thoughts into a coherent string after act 2 of VG. I feel like I can’t even review the game because I’m so emotionally wrecked, all I can do is tell a story. If you want to read this, be forewarned, its long, also, obviously spoilers, Veilguard. But… holy god my Rook. 

[Part 2 is here]

My first Dragon Age game was Origins, in 2009. I torrented it off Pirate Bay and played on my aging laptop that could barely handle it. And I loved it. I had never played a game like this before and loved the emotional and story-telling aspects of the game. I played as a Dalish rogue, Lelianna and Zevran were my best friends. Morrigan was the awe-inspiring yet traumatized goth-girl, and I fell for the golden-retriever bastard king of Ferelden.

I did not only watch on in broken-hearted horror as he ascended to his throne beside Anora without me, but I had him lie with Morrigan, the weirdo-turned-friend, because I trusted her, and frankly, I didn’t want to die.

And it broke me in a way the fantasy books I inhaled like oxygen as a child never did.

Because I chose to do those things. I made the choice. For right or for wrong, I was the one who decided their fate, even if those choices came back to bite me in the ass later.

I played Origins three more times over the next 5 years, through what I now call my University Years. I was broke, stressed, and overworked, and Origins became a comfort to me. I even properly bought the game with the DLCs the last time, because I had a little more money, and I figured a game that I had played and loved so much deserved it. (Never played 2, and that was my own fault). I discovered Fan Fiction because of Origins.

Then… I did some life things that I’m not going to air into the internet, but I kind of got my life together around 2016/17. I had a good job, a career even, and while I was by no means wealthy, I was okay.

And I heard about Dragon Age Inquisition, and remembered my old love for Origins, and gave it a go. I’ve always been a fantasy stan (I grew up with LotR), if you give me the option to play as a mage or an elf I’m going to do it. I wanted to romance Leliana, especially after her bad-assery in Redcliffe, but that turned out to be impossible. Because I never played 2, I didn’t know who Cullen was, and I romanced him (my love letter to Alistair). And while I liked the game, loved it even, I didn’t feel that emotional pull that Origins made me feel, and I put it aside. I’ve played some other games I’ve liked throughout the years, Fable, Skyrim, The Witcher, and I liked them all, but none of them really gut-punched me like that first fated Origins playthrough.

Cut to 2020, covid, and fuck if I didn’t have anything better to do, so I played DA2.

Oh man, I laughed at the graphics, oh it was so bad after Inquisition, how did anyone play this? And then I walked Darktown with Anders, walked slaver dens with Fenris, helped my Merrill with her Eluvian, and Isabela with her relic. And I helped my friend Varric in the deep roads. And I began to feel a tendril again of what I had in Origins. Who cared about the graphics, the gameplay, the locations, these people’s stories were what was driving this tale, and that was amazing and rare.

And I went into Inquisition with new eyes. I could not touch Cullen again, not after how he acted in Kirkwall. I knew Solas left, so I wanted to try and romance Bull (I’ve seen the youtube videos; ‘So you want to ride The Bull’). But I slowed down my playthrough this time, talked to everyone, actually spoke to Solas over and over in Haven. Indominatable focus indeed, hahren. What a curiosity you are. And I fell for fucking Solas.

A bald fucking hobo apostate, are you for real? Brain, get your head in the game. And my heart said, wait.

But he leaves! You know he leaves!  

Well, maybe I’m just destined to fall in love with emotionally unavailable fictional people.

And I played Descent and Hakkon for the first time, which were fantastic. And then I played Trespasser.

And Trespasser broke me. Just like Origins did.

And my Casual Dragon Age Days were done. I was feral.

But I also had a very demanding job. I could not just play video games for large chunks of time. I worked. A lot. I mean a lot. And in the fall of this year, I burnt out. I quit. I’ve got Real Shit going on in my life right now, and I’ve worked so much I can afford to take some time off.

And Dragon Age was there to welcome me, arms open wide, with Escapism 4.0, AKA The Veilguard. I spent hours crafting theories, making connections, playing Inquisition again, playing DA2 again, writing, actually writing Fics again. I read the comics, read TN, watched Awakening (twice).

I joined tumblr to stop being a lurker and actually participate. Joined Caitie and Kala’s patreons, just loving the hype and the theory crafting and the love for Veilguard. I love the Dragon Age world. It has helped me through so many tough times in my life, and its going to get me through this one, too.

I found community online. In tumblr, in reddit, in discord.

And I breathed Dragon Age for almost 2 months before Halloween. Solas this and Lavellan that and Fade and Magic and Titans and Gods and Love. Remember this, don’t forget about that, did you hear this theory, well what about the connection between…

To quote myself, Like most people on tumblr, I went into Veilguard for Solavellan. The companions came out, and I didn’t feel super strongly about any of them. I didn’t even feel strongly about my Rook. I had a general idea, especially because of Trick’s IGN interview, Rook/Mirror/Solas, but nothing really concrete.

And then Nadas-Dirthalen asked me about my Rook a few days before Halloween, and I had to think about it. I had to put down Solas and Lavellan, I had to put down my theories, put down the lore, and pick up this new thing. This Rook.

And I looked at it.

What did I want her to act like? What did I want her to look like? How did I want her to be? What drives her? Where is she from? What are her goals? What does she like? What does she hate?

And I weaved a new friend. Danivas (Dani, for short). Escaped rabbit slave out of Minrathous, her magic the only thing that saved her from hard labor in Dock Town or the mines, and then it was the only thing that saved her from the unwanted advances of the Tevinter Nobility. Rescued by the Dragons in her teens, she sought connection to her elvhen heritage with the Veil Jumpers, falling hard (platonically) for her mentor, her sister, Bellara. Everything she hated about herself, Bellara loved, and Bellara was flighty enough to need protecting, especially after Cyrian, so that’s what she became. Bellara’s protector. Arlathan’s protector. Protector of the small, and defender of the powerless. She will never apologize for saving Varric and the others at the cost of some stupid magic map, she would pay that price a hundred times over to save living beings.

And I made her in CC, I walked her through the streets of Minrathous, through Solas’ ritual, through Arlathan forest. My heart sang when I saw Harding again, and knew that Rook and Harding would be best friends. And I began to fall for the characters.

My Veil Jumper sister Bellara, poised but wickedly intelligent Neve, violent and troubled Lucanis, steadfast and resolved Davrin with playful Assan, towering yet growing Taash, and mystifying, immortalizing Emmerich, with his weird but I guess acceptable Manfred.

I helped Harding, Paragon of her time, discover her new mystifying magic, to find peace through pain, just as Bellara had done for Dani.

I learned all their stories. Their loves. How to interact with them, what they liked and didn’t like. And I fell, for Assan. That fucking griffon. Is so cute. How can you not love him? He’s just like Dani. Forced through circumstance to fight terrible evil, not necessarily against their nature, but certainly not what they would prefer to be doing. They are powerful and special and fierce and playful.

And, like any child, rebellious.

Dani helped Davrin through parenthood. He was a soldier, a commander, not a father, or a teacher, and though she was brash and sarcastic, she had been Bellara’s protector, she knew honey over vinegar, and pushed him to be gentler with Assan. Watched them grow together and felt such unhinged joy through their path to tulum. And then she looked up from digging her fingers into the feathers in Assan’s neck one day to see Davrin staring down at her, and thought, oh.

Her heart stuttered. And they flitted about each other for a long time. Teasing and testing, flirting and ribbing.

As she walked the steps of the Cobbled Swan to meet Morrigan, she told herself she would bring Davrin to Arlathan again, without Assan, and without any gingerwort tea. Just the two of them, and she would tell him what he meant to her.

But the Gods had different plans.  

And they had to move, NOW.

Davrin, the Grey Warden constantly surrounded by death and destruction, tried to warn me.

What if one of us doesn’t come back?

I actually let myself imagine the future.

Our future.

With our half-bird, half-cat kid.

And Dani, who had never had much hope for anything before, brought her hand to Davrins face with a soft smile, and soothed her Griffon Daddy, Var Lath Vir Suledin, Davrin.

When we win, when we beat this thing, we will come back here, and I will show you how much I love you.

Every Solas fresco I uncovered, I cried. Every memory, every revenant, even the ones I saw coming. I felt so much emotion for Solas, even as my love for Rooks Companions grew. Dani’s love for Davrin grew, in a very real, fast, surprising way.

But the Gods Eclipsed the Sun, and we had to move, NOW.

Of course I chose the Grey Warden to lead the charge against the Antaam. I needed Taash and Harding with me, and he was better suited to the roll. Harding is a scout, not a commander, and Davrin would have Lucanis for any sneaky mischief he would need, with Emmerich for any quick heals.

Imagine my relief when we met up again. I made a choice and he didn’t die, thank you, BioWare.

No, Neve, Bellara is better suited to deal with old Elvhen Magic.

And then Elgar’nan took her from me. Dani’s sister. Her home.

And she blasted through darkspawn and Blight to get to Elgar’nan, to get to Bellara.

But they had to get through Ghilan’nain first.

Fuck you Ghilan’nain if you think I’m fighting alone, my strength is my team, and I will move Fade and Titan to get to them. And Dani frees them, only to have Lucanis foiled, again. How do we get out of this? What do we do?

Upside down, she watches Davrin scale a crumbling tower, and their eyes meet.

No.

Whatever it takes.

Davrin, No.

His voice is deep and commanding, resolute and resolved.

“Assan!”

And Dani’s scream tangles with Assans as her son smashes into Ghillan’nain’s back.

The Blighted Goddess stumbles, and Lucanis and Dani fall to the ground, but Ghilan’nain’s blight is lightening, and when Dani looks up at Davrin two tentacles have speared him, his eyes wide and unseeing into the dark sky.

She screams again, Ghilan’nain forgotten, and as she watches Assan dive to the aid of his fallen partner, Dani is knocked back by a concussive blue blast; the Crow has fulfilled his contract.

The air is charged, the veil tearing here, Emmerich is yelling something at her, she must remove the dagger or this world will be torn asunder.

And then there’s overpowering, pressured silence. Grey and fog and stone and loneliness surround her, and all she can see or hear is Solas.

You were never ready to make the sacrifices that leadership requires.

Davrin. Assan. Bellara. My family. Is GONE. Because of ME.

Well, shit, kid. Haven’t you learned anything from this place? I made the choice, even knowing the risks. My decision, my sacrifice, and you don’t get to take that from me.

And Emmerich and Lucanis pull her from her prison of regret, and she knows she can’t blame herself, that would be taking away Davrin and Bellara’s agency, but you know who she can blame?

Solas.

The man my Lavellan loves. The man I swore to save. The one I started this game for. The one who made me feral for Dragon Age.

He did this to me.

Solas took away my love. By not being able to face his regrets.

And Dani became Hardened.

“Are you certain you’re alright, Rook?”

“We’ve still got work to do. I can collapse when this is over.”

“You needn’t carry this burden on your own. The rest of us will send word to our allies. You must take care of yourself in the meantime. We’ll speak again soon.”

But she was fine. She would be fine. Had to be fine. They had a job to do. Gods to kill. People to save.

It was walking past Assan’s spot in the courtyard that broke her.

Mourn Davrin?

To the Void with that.

I will avenge him.

I will kill the Elf who started all of this, forget Mythal, forget Lavellan, forget the Blight.

Mirror.

Solas cannot blame himself, that would be taking away the agency of his friends, but you know what he can blame?

The Veil.

I will end the curse that started all of this, forget Mythal, forget Lavellan, forget the Blight.

Mirror.

I will defend the small.

Mirror.

I will free the enslaved.

Mirror. 

You were never ready to make the sacrifices that leadership requires.

Mirror.

Its easier to play the villain, because that means you didn’t fail, all the damage you’ve done, all the people you’ve hurt…

Mirror.

It becomes a choice.

Mirror.

Remind yourself who you really are.

Mirror.

But will you listen?

Mirror.

Rook lays on the cold cobblestone, eyes wide, fist white-knuckled around the lyrium dagger, a battered and bruised Solas standing behind her. Her anger got her through her battle with Elgar’nan, but it will not help her here.

Rook will have to live with the choices she made. The successes and the failures. She can’t blame Solas. It's easier to blame Solas. But that’s exactly what Solas did, place blame where it did not belong, and it destroyed the world.

And her anger and hate and grief and despair swallow and consume itself into the tiniest, smallest fleck of a wisp.

Of hope.

She rose slowly, meeting Solas’ gaze, and places the dagger in his outstretched, bloody hand.

I don’t want to see any more pain on top of what Elgar’nan has done.

(Hope)

Your prison is made of regrets, and you are trapped in yours.

(I’ll not be trapped in mine)

Destroying everything won’t erase your mistakes.

(Killing Solas won’t bring Davrin and Assan back)

You have the chance, right now, to save the world. Bind yourself to the veil and stop it from failing.

And it takes the Mother, the Maiden, and the Mirror, for Solas to accept his past.

As Lavellan walked the din’an shiral after Solas, Rook walked it for Davrin.

As Varric released Dani from her regret, Mythal released Solas from his.

As Solas turns to the Eluvian, the Magic Mirror named Rook, he is forced to see his faults, and how to fix them.

His corrupted purpose is repairable. And he passes his torch to the Mirror, vowing to seek atonement for the sins of his past, sins grown and amplified because he refused to face the truth of them.

And that will probably hit everyone, because I’d wager good coin that if you’re playing video games, or reading fantasy, you’ve used escapism before, but it hits especially hard for me. Right now. At this point in my life. When my own personal veil I’ve constructed to hold back my own evils is crumbling around me because I have not faced the truth of my own past sins, my memories as demons grown and amplified and slipping through cracks because I refused them for so long. My choice.

And when Solas and Ellana walked into the sunset, I cried. And cried. And cried. Because this whole time I thought I was my Inquisitor, bare your blade and raise it high, look to the sky, for one day soon, the dawn will come, var lath vir suledin. Bellanaris. Perseverance, endurance, outlive, outlast, that is what you need.

When in reality I am my Rook. Let go of your regret. You don’t need to hold on to this, you need to let it go.

We all have to face our regrets. Accept them, and then let them go. Running from them only makes them worse.   

And I leave with the lyrics of the Veilguard Credits song, “Roll The Credits,” by Danielle Ponder:

I could feel it, I won't come down I could see it, oh, with all eyes Hold my head and saw the whole sky I never felt so damn alive And if there's smoke, then I'll be water If there's fire, I'll be rain

We were lost, but we weren't stranded We were dreamers on the run I gave my all, it was commanding And we just did this shit for fun I could feel it, I won't come down Found myself above the sky Tell my mama, tell my daddy That love is falling from the sky

Good God Almighty, I done opened my mind These holy waters left a chill down my spine

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Letting Go: How Shinkai Succeeds where Lucas Fails

After reading that essay on how Kung Fu Panda did the “letting go of attachments” story way better than Lucas did, I was inspired to write this. The problem with SW is that it tries to apply what is spiritual advice to a hero’s narrative when it’s not about heroism. It’s about coming to terms with grief, preparing for death or letting your child grow up. I want to talk a bit about two of Makoto Shinkai’s films that are both favorites of mine, Weathering With You and Suzume as both delve into this topic. The latter has its title character come to terms with her grief and trauma while the former is a rejection of the utilitarian view of letting one person die for the “greater good”.

Suzume succeeds with its “letting go” message because it focuses on the journey and shows the importance of a true support system and that it takes time to come to terms with grief. Expecting people to just let go immediately isn’t fair and unrealistic. Suzume’s whole journey is about exploring new places, meeting new people and learning joy can still come from grief.

Shinkai based this movie off the 2011 earthquake which was a real source of trauma for Japan. Suzume is a survivor who lost her mother and her home. She has to learn to not dwell on her past hurt but at no point is she shamed for missing her mother or told to just let Souta rot as the keystone for “the greater good”. She’s allowed to mourn. She and her aunt, Tamaki grow as people and as parent and child through emotional experiences, both in the movie during their argument and reconciliation as well as in the booklet that revealed a bit about their past. Tamaki had the responsibilities of being a parent thrust on her and resented it at times but communication was what helped their relationship become healthier and she never shamed her niece for having negative emotions. I’ve written an essay about this too.

The reason this movie succeeds at its message is that it treats its characters and audience with sensitivity. Suzume heals by remembering the happy moments with her mother and Tamaki was willing to adapt to her needs, unlike the Jedi Council. I think @abla-soso’s written about this but George doesn’t have the healthiest view of human psychology and trauma or of relationships nor is he a good writer. He’s sympathetic to Anakin, sure, but he and much of the fandom treat him as just greedy for holding onto his attachments when he doesn’t have a support system that validates his emotions and won’t help him heal except for telling him to meditate. A child healing by remembering their mother while going on a road trip to come out of their shell is not the same as being forced to go and help slavers that caused you so much pain. How can one heal from that?

The other movie in question, Weathering With You, is sort of a response to the ultra collectivism in Japan. Hina is expected to die so the rainfall will stop but what about the people who know her and have to deal with her loss? The little people are always forgotten about in these greater good arguments. Kind of like Trace and Rafa in TCW. Hodaka may have been selfish, yes, but Hina was the one person who treated him with kindness and affection as opposed to how his parents and the kids from his hometown did. Not to mention she still had a brother to take care of with their mother dying a year before the film was set. To just die would be abandoning those who needed her. Hodaka’s trauma and anger is treated with respect by Shinkai as opposed to just being written off as evil like Lucas or Jedi stans would.

Some have interpreted the movie as a climate change denial story with the rains and flooding being treated as natural. But it’s really more of a response those who put all the blame and pressure on one person to fix the problem, especially the young being forced to do so by the older generations. It’s not fair for the older generations to create these problems then put all the burden of solving it on the youth. The Jedi council was plenty guilty of that with how they treated their padawans. And it’s okay to live your life to the fullest, even if the world is falling apart.

I’m sure the Jedi apologists will probably respond by saying “Jedi aren’t against love or emotion, just possessiveness” but that’s not what the movies show even if Lucas didn’t intend for it to come off that way. Maybe these movies treat the subject with more sensitivity and nuance because they’re written by someone who understands Shinto philosophy unlike a 70s hippie who blends stoicism with eastern beliefs. Yes, SW was intended to be black and white, but that’s not how real life works. What may not affect one person will affect another and it’s not wrong to need time and unconditional love to heal. You can’t just slap labels like selfish attachment or greed on someone when you don’t know or refuse to understand their circumstances and motivations and it’s not fair to judge or write them off.

[lemonhemlock]

Teenager daenerys sold as a child bride “owned” the slaves that her husband gave her… ok…

She made mistakes in her breaking of the slave trade, but her “profit” from the tax on those selling themselves back into slavery is not used for her own gain, so it’s not really a profit… she is not perfect

Daenerys’s hate of slavery is not just sometjing to make the audience like her, it is an intrinsic part of her storyline and the plot of asoiaf as a whole

when will dany stans acknowledge the intersection of gender, race and class, as well as the intersection of oppression? yes, daenerys was sold as a child bride. yes, daenerys owned slaves. did she have a choice in either matter? no. did she benefit nonetheless from the slaves she did not want to own? yes. is the entire blame for the system of slavery and abusive practices that upheld her khalasar to be placed on the shoulders of a 13-year-old girl? no. should she be criticised for taking power forcefully in slavers' bay and then not bothering to learn how to govern properly and ensure a peaceful transition to a slavery-free society? yes.

is this an important puzzle piece that could help us understand how daenerys will soon react to opposition in westeros, aka when the going gets tough instead of relying on negotiations & compromises & power-sharing i shall fall back on my fire-breathing monsters, squash my enemies violently and 'burn cities to the ground'? also yes.

it's like..... you're almost there.

can you for real stop for one minute and ask yourself why you are so willing to shill for someone whose solution (to the political problems she creates for herself) is violence? i don't understand this aversion to any kind of democratic element being introduced in westeros that might curtail the sovereign's power (or the power other feudal lords have over people). have you ever considered that westeros doesn't even have a parliamentary body? do you imagine daenerys will pull a john lackland when she arrives? does she really strike you as the power-sharing type?

think for a moment of the logistics of dany even getting to westeros in the first place with only two more books to go. homegirl has to sail soon for any of that to happen. there will be no time for her to grow into this wise political theorist you imagine her to be, she has to be gone NOW. which means she has or will have to have the personality of someone who doesn't REALLY care all that much about solving the political unrest she created. there will have to be a moment in the winds of winter when she goes "fuck it!" and decides to claim her "birthright".

and this is not to say that slavery never mattered to her as a concept or that she doesn't truly, deep down, think it's wrong, only that she will rationalize her selfish desires into convincing herself she has done all she can and thus wash her hands of this business. why? from a doylist perspective, because the plot requires it to happen NOW. from a watsonian perspective, because politicking is too difficult, it's too boring and she doesn't like it. "dragons plant no trees". dany is good at conquering, not at governing.

[agentrouka-blog]

Dany will get in the way of Jon and Sansa. She will get in the way of people of Westeros because nobody really wants her there when they have better alternatives. In the show, Westeros would have been better off if she died in Meereen or just stayed there as Queen eating her figs and having sex marathons with Daario. Without her the Wall would not have collapsed that quickly so it really surprises me when I see D stans with their whole chest saying the Starks should have been grateful. One, she's not the only one contributing to the fight against the dead although more points for her for her army and the dragons but then there's the ice dragon so minus pts. Two she's proclaiming herself as the rightful Queen and that includes being the protector of the realm so it's her job to save the Westerosis. She can't rule a graveyard so it's in her best interest to help. Expecting people to worship her because she "saved" them is not very hero like.

Hi there!

That's a very show-centric view, considering the whole Wall Excursion and Ice Dragon plots - even Dany coming North at all - are unlikely to happen that way in the books, but overall I agree that Dany and her invading army will present a challenge for Westeros that mirrors the Northern one, and it will contribute to adversity faced by the Starks, including Jon and Sansa.

Expecting people to worship her because she "saved" them is not very hero like.

Well, that's been her MO all this time, from the Lhazareen city to Meereen.

I think Volantis will present an interesting deviation because the people there want and expect her intervention and she's unlikely to grant it, given her previous experiences in Slaver's Bay. This will make it possible for GRRM to set up her disinterest in helping the North and the risk attached, and to set that in conflict with both Jon Snow (her newly revealed relative and negotiator for the North) as well as whatever information about Rhaegar's hare-brained prophecy is available to her.

One thing I am sure of is that under no circumstances will GRRM grant legitimacy to that prophecy by actually making the Targaryens, let alone Dany's dragons, in anyway significant in saving Westeros. Seeing the prophecy subverted in this way by having the threat resolved without her (by Bran and a Westerosi alliance between North and Vale probably) will further damage her self-image as the default rightful leader of Westeros, which has been her happy ending fantasy all this time. Who will consider her claim to rule to be justified?

Cue escalating paranoia and a fiery downfall.

[horizon-verizon]

I remember when Targ stans mass replying Mattson Tomlin with “please don’t ruin Rhaenys and Visenya”, “do Rhaenys and Visenya justice you have my support” in a response to him calling Daenerys genocidal for killing a Yunkai’i master… I hope HBO butcher every single Targaryen they’ll adapt.

They’re asking him to don’t fuck up the conquerors ijbol do they think a man who called Daenerys genocidal for killing a slaver for demanding to hand over her people to be resold into slavery is going to do do VISENYA justice ?? I’m telling you, Targ stans are not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but these people will crawl back to watch the show anyway.

The thought of other Targs being well adapted after what HBO did to Daenerys left a bitter taste in my mouth but I still hoped they wouldn’t be butchered since I love them and they’re created as setup for Daenerys’ victory but now ? I’m SO happy they’re seeing their favs being butchered on screen. That’s what they get for supporting HBO productions and defending and giggling with an anti Daenerys producer.

I don't want to swing on either side, or swing at all. If some of my fav Targs get as butchered in later adaptations, I'll chalk it up to propel not caring about real storytelling anymore, as I have since....really GoT (before it got really obvious that the show wasn't in the quality it should have been).

I really don't expect this coming Conquerors adaptation to be good or very respectful, and it's as you bc this producer, writer ,whatever the fuck said what he said about Dany...I'm sorry but you clearly don't even understand the most basic of things about the Targs and Dany--they exist to contextualize her and her efforts to use her family's name and power and connection with dragons for the most good possible. To bring to light what "good leadership" looks like, which is acting more often against the status quo and it's compulsions on you to maintain it...which means Danynis not genocidal ANDthe Targs are more complicated than being "evil" AND they are not collectively the "colonizer" villains of ASoIaF.

Such a thesis (the Targs are evil colonizers) both displaces the actual BIG EVIL (the Others and sociopolitical abuses that keep people from uniting and living safely in their everyday lives) and comes from a defense of exploitative "nation building" practices.

[pruneunfair]

Colorism should be a big no

This is why some western audience were super mad when Asian creators introduced POC elements in stories, at first I thought this was normal until I realized they were basically saying: "Darker skin means ugly" and that's just so weirdly rude, I mean as an Asian, I was basically indoctrinated to believe white skin is the best and beautiful and having darker skin is not pretty, even though now it's not as bad for me, but my mom still tells me to keep my skin white by wearing extra covers when outside like coats to avoid sunlight to reach the skin

Which is why in Vietnam, there's the ninja lead culture where women riding their motorbikes wear covers from head to toes like ninjas, basically this:

I can understand why, the sun in certain times of the year is a massive bitch and you can feel cooked alive if you aren't well covered but I myself prefer not so many layers cuz it's definitely stuffy and makes your body feel like a steamed dumpling (Oh that means those sunlight proof protective gears are basically the dumpling skin)

Also the toxic belief of white skin is almost fanatic and unhealthy here, since I saw some ppl who advertise those whitener creams that bleach your skin white and I saw a woman looking like she just got bleached like Jeff the killer and this is bad bcuz it basically just ruins the skin's hard layer that protect the flesh under the skin (I think so I'm not a dermatologist)

So yeah nope, I prefer my normal skin more than bleaching them out with chemical creams, my skin isn't even that dark, it's lightly tanned

ANYWAY, moving back on Asian fiction having POCs, yeah I totally get why actual POCs hate seeing their representations in Asian fiction like manhwhas due to how easily they get racist stereotypes and SOME Asians including readers and authors even think they're being overly coddled victims and thinking they're getting angry over nothing but this isn't that case, you can still make good POC characters without those stereotypes (Can't forget the hot barbaric slaver POC ML), whether intentional or unintentional, those stereotypes are still racist and I don't think the creators know that, they just don't care

Also that FL above can just wear a mask if her grand beauty is such a problem but nope apparently having brown skin is ugly now even though there are wonderful beautiful women in real life regardless of skin colors, no one would have any issue if she wears a mask, even though the masks can turn into those typical "masked ladies everyone thought was ugly is actually a beauty goddess" ahh stories, it's better than this colorism bullshit

Yeah, Asian media isn't really know for their good POC representation, I have watched many anime and can confirm myself that if there is actually a black character, they are drawn in such a racist caricature. Genshin impacts does whatever it can to avoid including POC, a lot of manhwa like this use racism in the form of POC features being considered "ugly" or featuring POC characters as barbaric or underdeveloped civilizations.

A big excuse I hear is that places like Japan and Korea simply don't realize it's racist because they are so used to only seeing members of their own race which is fucking stupid and feels more like Weeabos and THOSE kind of K-Pop stans defending a country solely because it produces a medium they enjoy. Racism shouldn't be coddled just because it's not a predominantly white country perpetuating it.

[1800naveen]

If the IC were real, they'd either be on the US/Israel's side or they're the "Both sides are wrong" kind of people.

Rhys legit believes both sides were wrong when it came to fae enslaving humans and humans resisting. He and his other cult members painted Jurian as the villain for killing off a slaver owner, as bad as amarantha, to free his people. Who's to say he wouldn't be the same in reality?

They could also be on the right side but the "I can't give my coffee up" & "I need a new phone" kind (Mor and Amren especially give me that vibe). They would help Palestine & Congo as much as they help Illyria & Court of Nightmares.

Maybe it's sh*tty of me to involve real life genocides, but your post mentioning that acotar stans would support the IC committing genocide made me realize that the IC would legit support one.

I'm playing with fire here but what's true is true.

YOU SPOKE NOTHING BUT FACTS, MY FRIEND!! WE ALWAYS PLAY WITH FIRE AROUND HERE!!

How they treat the Illyrians and/or how they treated the humans all those years ago is similar to how Israelis treat the Palestinians. What makes things worse is that the symbol of the night court is the mountains with the three stars and what's underneath the mountains are the Hewn City citizens which is just awful.

The night court/Velaris is built on the oppression of HC citizens just like how Israel is built on the true land of the Palestinians. They cornered them or rather, forced them into this small section of the court/state.

Saying that a group of people are in the wrong for fighting against their oppressors is such a disgusting thing to say. It's like those bigots that say black people (either in history or in this time) are wrong for defending their homes/rights as a person. I've seen people get mad at Haitians for the revolution. The Haitian revolution where enslaved black people who successfully fought and overthrew the French. And some people got mad at that??

It's not shitty of you at all, I be doing stuff like that when it comes to sjm.

Anyways, the inner circle would support one. Cassian murdered an entire village and Rhysand let Amarantha slaughter half of Hewn City citizens and Illyrians. Amren killed hundreds and possibly thousands when she was back in her world and Rhysand gave Mor permission to kill everyone in Hewn City if she liked...

So in this situation, it would be:

Velaris - US/Israel

Illyrians/Humans - Palestine

Hewn City - Congo

[esther-dot]

targ stans love book!jon now but will turn on him the moment he thinks dany is kinda weird 😭

Jon looking at the burned remnants of KL,

"Dany did this? What a fucking weirdo" 😂

I just think it would be a shame for all the history between the families to be brushed aside rather than culminating in an interesting way? As in, Aerys murdered Jon's grandad, his uncle, and Rhaegar ran off with Jon's mother only for her to die. In addition to any anger about being lied to about his birth, grief over his mother, the loss is of learning he is not Ned’s son, Jon should feel the full weight of Ned claiming him as his own to protect him -- despite what the Targs did to his family. Shouldn’t Jon then have some feelings about a Targ invading Westeros? Even if his dad was a Targ? It makes it interesting because on the one hand, there’s a unique connection there to allow layers in a confrontation (they’re family!), but on the other, few have greater reason to be opposed.

For Jon "Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three" to have no opinion on a Targ brutally conquering Westeros after Ned tried to get rid of them, well, it would feel like a waste of all that backstory? Also, shouldn’t he have thoughts about Dany specifically after she kills Aegon, after the Dothraki do what she's gonna be incapable of preventing, after the destruction of a city with unimaginable civilian deaths? So not only pre canon puts him on guard, but then what transpires in canon will horrify him?

Even if we take it out of the Targ v Stark context, very early on we learn Ned had to chase Jorah down for being a slaver and Mormont told Jon what a disgrace Jorah was, so Jon got the "Jorah Mormont is a loser" message coming from two father figures. Doesn’t that seem like a deliberate choice by the author? To prime Jon to despise a man he’s written as obsessed with Dany? And of course, there's Tyrion, a Lannister who wanted to hold the North by marrying Jon's little sister who will be with Dany too, so there’s just all sorts of angles to approach a Jon and Dany meeting, none of which bode well.

So much fun stuff to dig into! To ignore it seems like a far less exciting take. But yeah, judging by the reaction to show Jon, I don’t think the fandom will take kindly to his inevitable reaction to Dany.