#would he feel justified in his father’s sacrifice? in his own?

[jattendschaton]

Do you think Adrien sees himself in this new image he has of his father—in the way Chat Noir always sacrifices himself for Ladybug and the greater good, and now he believes his father has done the same? Giving his life so that Ladybug can live, so that Monarch would be destroyed?

[dross-the-fish]

Honestly, can't help but to draw some mild parallels with Elizabeth and the creature because of the 1818 version basically having her dad abandon give her away. Even though that's where parallels kinda seem to stop for me, I do honestly prefer that version, because the angst compels me and kinda sometimes end up thinking about it a lot.

Like,,, did Elizabeth ever think of him, did she even remember him, or is her father only a vague idea for her? Does she resent him for sending her away? Did she ever feel angry? Stay up at night thinking that maybe things could have been better if she didn't live with the Frankensteins…

Hell, does Elizabeth dad ever think of her, or did he ever write? Did he ever hear that she died? Did he really not, even once over the years, check up on her or did he just stop caring the moment she was out of his sight? 😢

Sorry, i just love her and will forever stand in the "Elizabeth deserved better club" 😭

AHHH FELLOW "ELIZABETH DESERVED BETTER" CLUB MEMBER!

Sorry, I have a LOT of feelings about Elizabeth and some potential parallels to the creature and the unfinished bride. Elizabeth is a character who has very little agency or power over her own fate.. Despite being young when she's abandoned she would be just old enough to be affected by it and I would be very surprised if she never stopped to wonder why she wasn't wanted. In the 1818 version in particular her father straight up gives her away because he wants to be re-married and doesn't want her in his and his new wife's life.

Despite what Victor may tell us about how much she was loved she was presented as a "gift" to Victor and basically groomed to be his wife. It's an instant and knee jerking objectification and Victor is so casual about it. Caroline, from the get go, is priming Elizabeth to be Victor's companion for life. When Caroline dies Elizabeth is immediately expected to fill the Caroline shaped hole in the family, taking on parental duties and being Alphonse's companion. She makes a lot of sacrifices, even suppressing her own emotions to make the rest of the family happy.

Her becoming a mother figure at a young age and putting herself second and every other family member first is not sweet or endearing of her. That's a symptom of parentification, which is a type of abuse. We already get hints that Alphonse can be overbearing from the way Victor talks about him but Elizabeth's behavior is also very telling that this "loving" household was anything but ideal. She is never allowed to leave the house without explicit permission from Alphonse and I can practically imagine that every outing had to be meticulously pitched and justified to the last detail before he would grudgingly allow it. There is a pervading sense that this household is controlling of it's children and Elizabeth had even less freedom than Victor.

She's self sacrificing, pure and a source of joy and comfort to everyone around her. But I always got the impression that was because she HAD to be. Because she's never been allowed to be anything else. I often wonder if she struggled with a fear of abandonment and an anxiety that love in her household was highly conditional because that is the impression I got from Victor whenever he spoke of his family.

So, how does she compare to the creature? Another being for whom love and acceptance was highly conditional but who failed to meet those conditions?

Their origins have some similarity. Both are abandoned by their fathers but one is perpetually alone while the other is treated like a treasured possession. Elizabeth is a bride to be, first and foremost and a companion and mother figure. She is not just a woman, she is all women and fills every feminine role for every member of the household. Wife, daughter and mother.

I can't help but feel like when Victor was creating the bride for The Creature he wasn't just making him a companion. He was gifting him his own Elizabeth.

Another creature that victor would abandon to a separate family unit who would be forced to sacrifice her own wants and needs for someone who thinks of her as belonging to him.

"Mine-mine to cherish and to love," -Victor about Elizabeth but it could also apply to how the Creature views his own bride. Victor destroying the bride feels almost like the breaking of a cycle of abuse.

In a lot of ways Elizabeth does parallel the Creature but she's also something of a foil to him. Beautiful where he is ugly, self sacrificing where he is vengeful and while he instantly condemns Justine as another fair face that would surely look upon him in revulsion, Elizabeth never doubts Justine is innocent and even tries to fight for her at the trial. I also feel like of all the characters in the book, Elizabeth might have been the one to see the humanity in the creature.

Unfortunately for everyone, by the time Adam reveals himself to her he's too far gone and nothing can save her. Adam destroys Victor's bride as repayment for his own and Elizabeth's fate is to be martyred. The depiction of a bride as little more than an object throughout the book is a stark one.

[ninchen1909]

The wrong groom II

Pairing: Ivar the boneless x female reader

Word count: ~ 2.700

Warnings: Animal sacrifice, the family abandon the reader

 The words of King Ragnar still echo in your ears, an unknown joy rises in you when you realize that your request has been heard and that you would soon be the wife of Prince Ivar. However, this feeling of happiness is short-lived, a glance at your father shows you that he appears to be anything but happy about your decision. He sits on his throne, a frown lingering on his face, fingers digging deeply into the uneven wood of the armrests, while the corners of his mouth twitch suspiciously. The coldness in his voice makes you wince as he addresses the word to King Ragnar.

"I wish to speak with my daughter in private."

Not a single emotion can be read on his face as he fixes you with his gaze, yet the tone of his voice tells you all you need to know. He is angry. Incredibly angry.

"As you wish. In the meantime, I will seek out my sons to inform them of the changes."

Ragnar gives you a warm, reassuring smile before nodding briefly to your father while making his way out of the throne room, your eyes following his every proud move of his. Only when the heavy wooden doors fall shut and the whole hall is filled with an almost disturbing silence, you turn to your father. He is still sitting on his throne, deep wrinkles cover his forehead and make him look even older.

"Father..."

"Silence!"

Immediately you swallow your words. Never before has your father spoken to you like this, never before has he sounded so disappointed and angry at any of your actions. Your eyes turn towards the floor, but the soft crunching sound of the wooden throne lets you know that your father has risen from it. Just a few seconds later, you can hear his footsteps approaching you. This causes you to lift your head and look at him with feigned confidence. His normally warm brown eyes are filled with a coldness you never thought possible, his whole face contorted into a hard mask.

For a brief moment, you simply look into each other's eyes, and shortly after that , all you can hear is the slapping of skin on skin. Bewildered, you look at your father, one of your hands finding its way to your now reddened. stinging cheek. Never before has your father raised his hand against you. Not ever, until this moment. Tears well up in your eyes, whether for pain or anger you can't tell yourself at this moment. The shock lingering deeply in your bones.

"You ungrateful little brat. How dare you?"

You wince, his frigid tone feeling like a whip is striking down on your skin.

"How dare you embarrass me like this in front of King Ragnar? How can you doubt my decision in front of him?"

Your hands begin to tremble as you remove them from your cheek, yet you try to justify your decision.

"But father, all that mattered was that I marry one of the princes, and that I do."

"You doubted my decision, and you did so in front of the most powerful Northman we have ever dealt with. How can he now believe that I can command our army, and be a fearless reder, when not even my own daughter listens to me and respects me."

"But father, I respect you."

"Don't you ever dare say that again when your actions clearly speak to the contrary. Your mother was right from the beginning, I should not have been so lenient with you. I should have been more strict, more firm."

A brief silence falls over you as your father seems to search for the right words.

"I will tell King Ragnar that you will leave my kingdom this very day."

Your heart begins to pound furiously, one of your hands reaching for the cross pendant around your neck.

"But what about the wedding?"

"You will not marry this prince in the presence of my god. Sigurd I could still have coped with. But not this bloodthirsty cripple. If you want to marry him, marry him before his war-obsessed gods."

"But father..."

But before you can finish your sentence, your father has turned his back on you.

"Go pack your things, I'll let you know when you sail."

Tears well up in your eyes, in a last desperate attempt you reach out your hand to your father, wanting to put it on his shoulders. But as soon as it comes to rest there, he shakes it off in a jerky movement and moves even further away from you in quick steps.

With a heavy heart, you climb the stone stairs to your room, your vision blurred by your tears, but you realize that there is no time to lose if the ship is to leave for Kattegat tonight.

You have already stowed most of your possessions in cloth bags, when all at once the door to your room crashes against the stone wall behind it with a loud noise. Abruptly you turn towards the door.

"(y/n), tell me is it true what my father told me? You want to marry me instead of Sigurd?"

A silent nod from you is all Ivar gets in response. A beaming smile spreads across his otherwise serious face as he approaches you with the help of his crutches. With each step he takes toward you, his smile seems to grow even wider, so that when he finally stands before you, his entire face lights up. This changes, however, when he sees the tears in your eyes. Lovingly, he brushes the remaining traces of tears from your cheek.

"What happened?"

The concern is clear in his eyes.

"My father has decided that I am a disgrace to the family because of my decision to prefer to marry you instead of Sigurd, so I will sail with you to Kattegat as early as tonight."

After your words, the concern in his gaze turns to anger.

"You are not a disgrace just for sharing your desire. I for one am proud of you, and I am honored that I may soon call myself your husband and we will build a life together. You're as strong as Freya and just as beautiful."

His words cause a slight smile to appear on your lips, yet sadness at your father's reaction and words prevails at this moment.

"Thank you Ivar. But I can't really be happy about it right now."

"Of course my love, but believe me, the day will come when you can."

"I hope so..."

Ivar leans his crutch against your bed before pulling you against him in a careful motion, your head immediately burying itself in the crook of his neck as your fingers dig into the soft fabric of his shirt. You feel him press a gentle kiss to the top of your head before resting his chin on the crown of your head.

"Do you want me to help you with anything?"

"No thanks, I'd rather be alone for the last while."

"As you wish my princes, I'll help my brothers get the ships ready."

With a quick kiss on your cheek, he disappears from your chamber. Again, a stifling silence spreads through your chamber, yet this is exactly what you need at the moment.

 Your heart breaks when, you realize that none of your family has come to say goodbye to you, when you find yourself standing in front of the Northmen's ships, a few hours later.

None of them thought it necessary to bid you farewell. With your head drooping, you stride towards the large wooden ship and a short time later, you no longer feel the solid ground of the earth beneath you, but the damp wooden planks of the ship, which is swung back and forth by the waves in slight movements. A gentle arm tightens you  against a firm chest, the sudden warmth making you tremble.

"All will be well, my love."

Ivar presses a kiss to the top of your head as his arm wraps around your stomach a little tighter, giving you reassurance as the boat starts to move in steady motions. With tears in your eyes, you watch as your home becomes smaller and smaller the further you move away from it, as you put more and more distance between you and the people you thought would always love you. But they are your past and Ivar is your future. With these thoughts you tear your gaze away and turn in your fiancé's arms to look up at him. His blue eyes seem even bluer due to the water that surrounds you, a slight smile is on his lips, yet you can clearly see the concern in his eyes. You notice the puzzled looks of the other Northmen upon you as he thoughtfully brushes a loose strand of hair behind your ear, but you don't really pay attention.

"Yes. Yes it will my love."

You intertwine your hands in his neck and pull his face down to you a little to press a tender kiss to his soft lips. All while King Ragnar watches the both of you with fond eyes.

  Life in Kattegat is a marked change from your previous life, but you try to come to terms with it as best you can. The pain of your family's rejection  still deep inside you, but you try not to let it show. In a few days you will be a princess of the Vikings, so it is time to act like one.

Closely embraced by Ivar's strong arms, you lie next to him on your bed, a matter that would have been unimaginable in your previous life. The furs on the bed give you warmth, the closeness to each other security. You run your index finger over the drawings on his now so familiar bare chest. A light laugh escapes you.

"Why are you laughing dearest?"

His warm voice snaps out of your thoughts, a small smile adorning his lips.

"I was just thinking about how I reacted the first time you undressed in front of me."

The memory of that, elicits a hearty laugh from Ivar as well.

"I've never seen anyone press their hands to their eyes as fast and hard as you did at this moment. And all because of a naked man."

"You are the first man I have ever seen naked, I was just surprised."

"I still don't understand what your God has against people seeing each other naked before they  get married and even after that."

"That way, you're not tempted to perform intercourse before marriage."

Not long ago, all of this made sense to you, but ever since you caught a glimpse of Ivar's muscular body, you've begun to doubt it. Yet, in all this time, he has accepted your desire to wait until your wedding night to do so.

Your answer to his question elicits only an incomprehensible snort before he presses a kiss to your nose and pulls you a little closer to his warm chest.

A comfortable silence spreads in your chamber, which you break only a few minutes later.

"How exactly will our wedding go?"

As always when you ask a question about the Northmen's ways, a breathtaking smile creeps onto his lips.

"We will meet under a large wooden arch in which the writings of the gods are carved, to give us blessing. There, the volva will already be waiting for us to confirm our marriage."

"Volva?"

"A volva is a sorceress, Freya herself gave her these gifts, to help us, the gods often speak to us through them. There are also men who practice magic, the Seidmadr. But women are more skilled and powerful at using these abilities, which is why we prefer a Volva to a Seidmadr."

With a short nod you indicate to Ivar that you have perceived his words. After a brief kiss on the top of your head, he continues.

"Before the actual ceremony begins, we make offerings to our gods. Thus, one sacrifices a goat for Thor, a pig for Freya and a horse for Freyr. The animals are bled and later the meat is eaten at the feast. This is how we make sure the union is in the favor of the gods."

Your stomach turns at the thought of having to watch animals being slaughtered, but you try not to let it show.

"Then the man hands the woman an axe or a sword to show her that he will protect her until the gods call them to Valhalla. The woman does this only if she is a Shieldmaiden, which is not the case in our wedding. Then we testify our love before the gods and ask them for their protection and favor. Afterwards we have a great feast, with food and drink and music."

Your voice is quiet as you address the next question to Ivar.

"And what is expected of us on our wedding night?"

Ivar immediately notices that you are having a hard time asking this question, so is especially happy that you are doing it.

"Nothing is expected of us my love. If you want to consummate the marriage we will, if you don't feel ready we will wait."

Relief spreads through your body as you hear Ivar's words. The pressure disappears from your shoulders as you realize that he is ready to take on everything at your pace. With each day you spend with Ivar, you can understand less why so many people are afraid of him.

"Thank you."

Your eyes meet his, light blue orbs beaming lovingly at you.

"For you always."

A few days later, the time has come. Wrapped in a simple, white, floor-length dress, you stand in your shared room while one of the servants stands on her tiptoes to place a crown of white, yellow and purple wildflowers on your head. Anticipation and excitement mix together in the pit of your stomach as you spin around once, watching the dress sway with your movement. The shy voice of a servant snaps you out of your movement.

"It's time princess."

You give her a smiling nod before grabbing the fabric of the dress with your hands to lift it slightly off the ground. Accompanied by your maids, you make your way to the said place.

Even from afar you can see the crowd, all of Kattegat has come together to witness the wedding of their youngest prince, with the unknown princess from a distant land. Immediately you can feel their eyes on you, some of them still reflecting a certain wariness towards you and your God, others giving you a warm smile. The children give you looks of admiration as you walk past them. But the gaze that is most important to you, beams at you full of dignity and love, his eyes gliding over your form again and again, taking in every detail of your shape.

"You are beautiful, my love."

Are the first words you hear when you finally stand next to him. You notice your cheeks heating up, yet you hold his gaze.

"Thank you, dearest."

The ceremony proceeds just as Ivar had explained it to you, the sacrificial animals are brought up to you. Your stomach turns as they are offered as sacrifices to the gods and their blood is collected in an iron bowl. While words in a language not yet known to you are directed heavenward. Nevertheless, you bravely keep your eyes on the events before you, proving to the last doubters that you have it in you to be a true Viking. Afterwards, Ivar hands you his battle axe and with this gesture promises to protect and honor you until the end of his life.

Finally, the Volva takes the bowl with the animal blood in her hand and sinks her fingers into it, before she spreads the blood on Ivar and you. You feel the blood run over your face in warm, thick streams. Afterwards, you and Ivar seal your love with a long, passionate kiss. The gods and the people of Kattegat are thus witnesses to a long and happy marriage, of a union that will last even in Vallahlla.

[jeannereames]

This is something entirely random that I’ve been thinking of a lot, but what do you believe Hephaestion would think if Alexander had kids of his own while he was alive? Or even what he thought of his marriage? This probably isn’t something you have evidence for based on historical fact, obviously, save accounts of their bond and general characters. This is more asking for your personal opinions/beliefs. Or just on the characters themselves in your books.

I know he probably expected him to take wives and have heirs eventually, realistically. But if he truly loved Alexander that deeply, to the point they were thought two halves of the same whole, I always wondered what he may feel about it in those situations, or even how he’d interact with the children/Roxana or his other wives in general.

I dunno, it’s just something that’s always interested me. I know I would probably not be able to take it well, personally, so it’s always made me wonder if Hephaestion did.

Hephaistion, Alexander’s Wives, and Romantic Jealousy

Honestly, I’m of the opinion that Hephaistion may have been one of those who encouraged Alexander to marry Roxana (in order to get the hell out of Baktria).

The issue of Hephaistion’s putative jealousy which movie- and documentary-makers return to again and again, creating (to my mind unrealistic) love triangles, owes to some pretty vast differences between Now and Then, regarding marriage and love.

The Greeks got jealous. We have LOTS of evidence of such jealousy in everything from lyric poetry to curse tablets and love philtres. Furthermore, there was nothing remotely like concepts of “When they go low, we go high.” No, when they went low, you were expected to go lower.

Once more, I repeat the ancient maxim for GOOD men and women: Help your friends and hurt your enemies.

Hephaistion absolutely subscribed to that—both the historical man and my character. The historical man apparently made life difficult for Eumenes, at least. And he participated in the torture of Philotas (whether or not one thinks it justified). Near the end of his life, a high-ranking Macedonian official was so fearful of him (and Alexander), he begged his brother, a Seer, to sacrifice and read the omens—and for Hephaistion first. He feared him more.

He was not a man to cross. But notice who he had quarrels with: his equals (or close enough). If there’s any truth to a quarrel with Olympias (I’m dubious for reasons I’ll go into in the monograph), it involved her influence over Alexander versus his own.

Upper-class men and women in ancient Greece, and Macedonia, simply lived very separated lives. Returning to those curse tablets, the bulk of them that involve rivals involve rivals of the same sex. Women curse other women their husbands may be involved with. Men curse other men who they believe/fear their love interest (not always a wife) might favor. If we’re often unsure WHO these people are relative to each other, as we typically have only names, I’ve just not seen much cross-gender cursing, as least not about love. Now, there are literally tens of thousands of these, so I’m sure there are some, but it doesn’t seem to be common.

And I think the reason it’s not OWES to that very gender-segregated nature of Greek life. Women are threatened by other women—not by men. And men are certainly not threatened by women. These are two different spheres. When we do hear men complaining about another man’s obsession with so-and-so hetaira, it’s the SON (or father) who’s worried their love-drunk relative will squander all his money on her.

This is why Hephaistion as jealous of a “mere woman,” even a wife, strikes me as anachronistic—especially by that point in their lives. Maybe in the first flush, he could be jealous, and I do have him initially jealous of Kampaspe in Dancing with the Lion: Rise. But not only does he get over it, he winds up friends with her! (She’ll continue to be important throughout the series, in fact.) He simply needed to know she wasn’t going to replace him.

A wife isn’t going to replace him, especially not a wife married for diplomatic purposes, which is ALL Alexander’s wives, and even mistresses (including Barsine and arguably, Statiera). It would be the same thing with heirs. Hephaistion sure can’t give any to Alexander, so of course he needs Alexander’s wife to do that.

I think, if anything, Hephaistion would have wanted to be involved in helping raise Alexander’s sons/children…just as Alexander apparently intended to be involved with Hephaistion’s. That’s reportedly why he married Hephaistion to Drypetis, the younger sister of his own bride, Statiera (the younger): so their children would be cousins.

For elite classes, there are just a LOT more people involved in raising children than a nuclear family. Alexander’s (and Hephaistion’s) children would have had nurses, attendants, tutors, etc. There wouldn’t have been any expectation that Alexander would “settle down” with his wife and spend all his time with them, like a Macedonian Father Knows Best. Hee.

Hephaistion’s REAL rivals for Alexander’s affections would be competing Hetairoi who might want to muscle in and usurp his influence, or younger teen boys who caught Alexander’s eye, especially if he seemed to be getting too close to one. Pretty Euxinippos was more of a threat (and maybe why he was packed off with the Scythians as an ambassador, at least for a while) than Roxane.

As I’ve said many times, Hollywood really is missing out with Hephaistion when they have him fuming over Roxane (or Bagoas). SO, so much more mileage could be made of the rivalries AROUND Alexander among his top men. The whole Philotas-hatred thing…it’s *juicy*. Eumenes as a bit of a dick at the court, and Leonnatos’s meat-headed arrogance. Perdikkas and Ptolemy sassing at each other. Krateros and Hephaistion. Kassandros like a little weasel back in Macedon. Kleitos cussing at everyone for getting too Persian. There’s the fun stuff!

But that’s mostly not romantic. It’s still about love though: affection.

[dragon-susceptible]

Lyrennus

So, random post because I've seen some stuff lately about hating Lyrennus, and I just . . . have some thoughts, because I really actually don't hate him. I feel sorry for him more than anything, and I wanted to kind of share my perspective on things.

So, first off, we have to remember that the assassins believed they were doing what was best for the world at large - "kill one killer, and the number of killers in the world remains the same. But kill two-" type logic. They were a highly admirable profession in the Silvergrove, and Lyrennus is obviously a highly respected man in his own position as well. So he's a powerful man with a hot temper with a son who is equally fiery but in a different, equally well-respected position. They pretty heavily imply that Ram is his only family, plus this is his only child who he would ordinarily reasonably expect to outlive him.

Rayla didn't know that sparing Marcos and lying about it would lead to her finding the dragon egg and saving the world. The elves left in the Silvergrove, and the other assassins, have every right to be angry with her, because her actions did condemn them all. If she had been honest, they could have postponed. But she lied instead, and it cost them all their lives, and there was no way to know that she would actually build anything better out of that sacrifice. It's fair of Lyrennus, and whatever family the other assassins had, to be angry still for throwing their families' lives away.

I also think that Lyrennus claiming to be the fifth elf she wronged was . . . a nuanced action. Because see, the most inclusive right thing to do would have been to claim she needed forgiveness from the families of all of the dead. Though also, I admit, that assumes the other assassins still have living family; they might not, we don't really know, they're never addressed. While Andromeda does wear horn cuffs, her husband could be long-dead for all we know, as we see from Ethari that a partner's death doesn't necessarily mean they remove them.

With that said, Lyrennus is an angry, tired old man, who, with his position, is likely used to being a representative of other people. It's fair to remind Rayla that her actions didn't just harm the elves who died, but also their families, and to demand she gain forgiveness for that too. So, symbolically, while it's potentially dodgy for Lyrennus to place himself in that position, we don't actually know if there is anyone else left to fill it and it's fair for someone to represent it. If they want the Ritual done right away, he might also have just been the most convenient person to fill the position. So there's reasons beyond his own anger for this to happen, alongside the anger being . . . not necessarily a good reason, but certainly an understandable reason for demanding Rayla earn his forgiveness.

Another thing that I saw pointed out was the illusion of Ram turning bloodied and broken when Lyrennus lost his temper, and I just wanna point out several things about that.

First of all, Rayla was able to speak to each of the other assassins' core values and validate them. Humans and elves treat each other with honor again, so Skor's strength for honor was justified. Everyone now sees the truth of what happened the day Avizandum was killed and the egg stolen, so Andromeda's eyes for truth were justified. The world is now free from the weight of the lies and the existing war, so Callisto's breath was sacrificed for true freedom after all. But Ram, Lyrennus' son, she just asked him if the duty he dedicated his blood to was true justice. Ram saw her argument and accepted it, but it makes sense for his father to see this as a dismissal of his son's sacrifice.

Also, that wasn't an illusion. That was a (limited, but still) summoned shade like the ones we see in Through the Moon. We know that because their spirits separately forgive Rayla, that's the whole reason for that scene.

We . . . don't know what Ram looked like when he died. All we know for sure is that he had one intact leg, as Runaan stumbles past it to get outside. We don't even know if it was still attached to him. So that moment where he turns visibly bloody and broken could just as much have been Lyrennus' breakdown losing hold on the stability of the connection to the afterlife, and sending the assassins' spirits back to their moments of death. Alternatively, it could have been the spirits fading and Lyrennus lashing out with an illusion formed of his own nightmares. I really don't think he specifically crafted this image to torture Rayla - I think it's either a literal moment for Ram's spirit or an image from Lyrennus' own nightmares that was conjured up by his rage and grief. Moon knows I've had enough nightmares of loved ones i've lost to violence to know that's a thing, and with him already in the midst of using all this magic, it makes sense to me personally.

We know Lyrennus was proud of Ram, based on the credits sketch of seeing him off. We know they were close, because of how he reacts to his grief. We know he loved his kid and that was all the family he had left, and Rayla's actions took his child away from him before she ever had an inkling she would go on to change the world.

He doesn't chase her down when she flees from his anger. She finds him still in there, where his son's spirit was summoned, locked in his moment of grief and anger. She comes to him because she understands that her actions harmed him, too, not just the assassins who died (or mostly did), and she talks him down from that anger. I've said in previous posts that I think he was telling the truth when he said he'd never forgive her, but actually, looking back on the scene, I feel like a dumbass, because the whole point of that scene was that the Ritual only worked if he did.

Which is the whole! point! of the show!

He was reacting understandably, out of grief and anger, which is treated by the narrative as one and the same with the "cycle of violence". He doesn't physically attack her, but actions taken based in anger are the real point of the cycle the whole narrative is condemning. Violence itself is not (as Janai and Amaya still being treated as heroes demonstrates). Rayla breaks the cycle of hatred by forgiving him for his reaction. The unexpected compassion she has for him shatters the anger, and he forgives her.

Anyway. Yeah. I can't say he's my favorite character or anything, but I also think Lyrennus is getting way too much flak for his behavior. When it comes down to it, he was understandably upset, but was willing to give Rayla a chance. She said something that could understandably come across as insensitive - and frankly, so the fuck did Runaan, he should have known perfectly well that Ram was Lyrennus' son. Rayla's "is this justice?" could feel bad to Ram's family, but "Is it not done?" just was outright insensitive - and Lyrennus had one wild outburst of anger and grief that visibly took something out of him as well as Rayla, featuring an image of his son that likely haunts his nightmares whether it's real or not. Then, when she came back, he almost immediately gave in when faced with compassion, apologized, forgave her, and did what he could to fix the harm that he did with that outburst.

He serves as a pretty direct and blatant foil to Viren, who also has these wild outbursts, but reacts with physical violence and never apologizes, takes responsibility, or tries to fix the harm he does. Also, he's doing it in defense of his lost son, instead of blatantly sacrificing his very present son at every opportunity.

So I don't dislike him at all. I actually just think his canon story is really fucking heartbreaking, if well-written. There's no getting over the kind of loss that he's experienced, but I do hope he's able to find a little bit of healing.

[phantomonabudget]

We need to talk, Pham. Stop shaming Christine Daaé.

I have seen this behavior consistently for the 30+ years I have been a Phan. What's worse is that I see A LOT of it from grown women. I see posts calling her foolish for leaving Erik. Slut shaming her or calling her a gold digger. Calling her stupid, weak, or unworthy because a "real woman" (presumably the women posting these absurd notions 🙄) would have loved him better and been worthy of his awesome talent and capacity for love. 😳🤮

It's disturbing, disheartening, and disgusting. And it needs to stop.

First off, none of these characters are real, so perhaps let's take things a little less seriously in general. It's a fictional story. I get it: we all love it, and probably love the Phantom's character. That's fine....I've made a 20+ year career dressing as the dude, for crying out loud. 🤣 Maybe we all identify with Erik/The Phantom to some degree. Regardless of the version of the story, if the actors or authors do their job well, we *should* feel pity and compassion for him. But feeling compassion and completely ignoring the character's dangerous and abusive behavior are two very different things. It has the potential for some severe consequences in the real world.

By shaming Christine for leaving Erik at the end, you are potentially telling young people that staying in abusive relationships is the right thing. You make them think that if their significant other is talented, misunderstood, been abused themselves etc, then they should stay and love them into a healthy relationship. That if they just love their abusive SO harder, sacrifice themselves a little more or for a little longer, or keep putting that person's needs above their own, that the relationship will suddenly become this wonderful, euphoric experience. It won't. As a survivor of longtime abusive myself, I can tell you from experience: it doesn't happen that way.

Celebrate healthy relationships and enforcing healthy boundaries. Stop shaming Christine for fighting for and winning her life and saving the man she loves.

And please stop calling this a romance. It's the antithesis of romance.

I am sick of members of this Phandom completely ignoring Erik/The Phantom's behavior to justify their blind adoration. Erik is an abusive and dangerous character, and extremely toxic. He lies to and manipulates Christine using her trauma from her deceased father. He kidnaps her, multiple times. Threatens her and her colleagues. He extorts hundreds of thousands from the business managers. He endangers dozens of people with the chandelier crash, and effectively holds hundreds hostage for months or years at a time with his reign of terror at the Opera.

Then there are the murders. Several of them. Probably been at that for awhile so we can assume it's far more than the two we see in the show. We don't know his actual body count, but we do know he's adept and comfortable taking human life.

And yet, I see some mature phans out here completely ignoring all those things and still shaming Christine for leaving him. Why? Because he's "sexy" (author's note: PLEASE go re-read Leroux. Please). And he's talented. And has so much love to give. And is misunderstood. And society was terrible to him...so it's all fine. 😳🤮 She should have just stayed and loved him like he deserves to be loved. 🙄

Recently I saw a post shaming Christine and the justification was that Raoul was so much worse. He isn't. Is he a perfect character? No, not at all. Does he make mistakes and try to use Christine? In some versions, yes. Does he run around extorting, manipulating, threatening, and killing others? Also no.

Pleasw don't ever use LND!Raoul's character assassination as some kind of justification, because he's still the most sane, normal human being in that show, and Erik is still 1,000 times worse than Raoul in LND. Also, using LND as justification for anything makes for a very weak and uninformed argument.

"Hurt people hurt people." Ever heard that phrase? Abused people sometimes abuse others, especially if they haven't done the work to heal themselves. Their previous abuse does NOT entitle them to abuse others. That is always a deliberate choice and those choices have consequences. The dangerous, disgusting rhetoric I see in the Phantom community basically excuses toxic behavior because Erik was previously abused and nothing is his fault. That is simply not true. Those that abused me were previously abused. Didn't make my abuse hurt any less. And I made the choice to do the work so that the abuse stopped with me. Previous trauma is a reason for the behavior, but it is NEVER, ever an excuse.

And don't let the fact the dude can sing or that he's a snappy dresser blind you to his toxicity.

We can all enjoy the Phantom character's complexity and love him, while still acknowledging his flaws and holding him accountable for his deeply inappropriate choices.

We talk a lot more these days about trauma, toxicity, and self care. And yet, as a community, we still shame the character of Christine Daaé for doing the healthy, correct thing. The ONLY thing. And in doing so, we set a disturbing precedent for our young or vulnerable Phans who now might think that staying in toxic relationships in the real world is okay.

Please do better, Phandom.

[marvelstars]

Compassion as unlimited love

Obi-Wan and Yoda believed there was no turning back from the Darkside, that´s why Obi-Wan didn´t deny the fact he meant to kill Anakin when Padme asked him and why Padme wanted to take Anakin away from everything and why Obi-Wan kept himself hidden on Padme´s ship instead of going with her to try to bring Anakin back to his senses together.

His mission was to kill Anakin as punishment for his betrayal on the Jedi Order and his attack on the Jedi Temple. Acording to Yoda Obi-Wan´s mission was to "take Anakin out of his misery" because "Darth Vader had consumed him" that´s the Old Jedi Order approach to sith, to kill them because once you fall to the darkside it will forever dominate your destiny and in Anakin´s case as one of their own and member of their Jedi lineage, this was personal, so there was also revenge involved. Obi-Wan left Anakin to die burning alive because he wanted him to suffer and he was sure that was going to be enough to kill him, at no point he expected him to survive.

This is also why Yoda and Obi-Wan keep Luke in the dark about Anakin´s familiar connection to him, they were not sure how to approach the fact they were bassically telling Luke he had to commit patricide to defeat the Sith, it wasn´t something they liked but they thought it had to be done. They were suprised by the fact Vader told Luke the truth because they saw him as a being of complete darkness, inhuman, twisted, evil more machine than man and so unable to feel a connection or a wish for his Son to be with him.

But he survived because Darth Sidious rescued him. Sidious had his own attachment to Anakin, he saw him as something that belonged to him. He also still believed he was the chosen one, in the sense his power could help him keep the force in darkness and support his rule this way.

When Luke told Obi-Wan he could not kill his own father out of moral principle and that there may be a way back from the darkside, Obi-Wan answered him that then "The Emperor has already won" "You were our last hope" this means that Obi-Wan expected Luke to either kill his father or be killed by him because there was no going back from the darkside.

The definition of Compassion as "unlimited love" is Anakin´s personal take to the Jedi principle of "compassion at the center of their jedi life philosophy" in answer to Padme´s question "Are you allowed to love, I thought the Jedi were not allowed to love?" but this wasn´t a generalized view in the old Jedi Order, this was Anakin´s personal take on it.

This is also why when Luke stopped himself from killing Vader, Luke rejects both the darkside the Emperor and his offer of power represents and also rejects killing his father out of a sense of justice as "the ends justifies the means" or to defeat the Sith that he exclaims "I am a Jedi like my father before me"

Vader comes back from the darkside because Luke forced him to remember what he used to believe, his real self, how he once believed in compassion as unlimited love, he believed if he helped enough he could solve the problems of the galaxy, he remembered how much he loved his Son, his family, Padme and Obi-Wan so he decided to sacrifice his life defeating his master, because he was reponsible, personally responsible of the sith becoming as powerful as they did in the Empire even if he also loved the Emperor and he did this out of compassion for his Son knowing this would bring an end to the Sith and the Empire.

Shmi and Anakin with their "the biggest problem in the universe is that nobody helps each other" and showing how helping made the galaxy better, they definitely made a difference for Naboo.

Anakin´s definition of compassion as unlimited love that he practiced during the clone wars is a theme of SW, Padme and Luke are the characters who embody the principle of "compassion as unlimited love" in relation to their compassion for Anakin after he fell to the darkside, is a love that can bring people back from the darkness which the old Jedi Order thought was impossible. When Obi-Wan choose to teach Anakin how to become a force Ghost was to show him he forgave him. In the Star Wars Saga it´s the story biggest message and why the story is about the Skywalker family.

[dukeofdelirium]

This has to quite possibly be the dumbest Anti-Aang I’ve seen on Tumblr. “Aang didn’t go out of his way for anyone”. Like that’s objectively wrong, factually incorrect. Like saying The Earth is flat, you can think it all you want, but it ain’t true. I ask you, I genuinely ask you, how can someone call themselves a fan of this show when they completely misinterpret it and hate the main character this much? This person’s crazy.

Aang never went out of his way for anyone? My god, if this take were true, Zuko would have been dead at the end of season one. Everyone aside from Aang was fine with the idea of allowing Zuko to freeze to death, leaving him to die. Aang was the one that saved him.

Holy shit, the first thing Aang ever offered to do with no expectation of anything in return was to offer Sokka and Katara a ride home before they died themselves stranded in the tundra. He then offered to take Katara to the other side of the world to fulfill her dreams. When he was banished from her village, he left without protest and even said he didn’t want to come between Katara and her family. Even when he was sad to leave because he had just made a first friend in who knows how long (seeing as we know he was ostracized at the temple), he still left.

He then came back not to break the banishment but to save their lives. He offered himself up, LITERALLY sacrificed himself for them, with no expectation of anything in return.

Aang is an extremely compassionate, good natured person. He is the most “altruistic” character in the show, followed only by Katara who comes nearly as close (one of the reasons they are so good together).

He singlehandedly put the fires out on Kyoshi Island that ZUKO SETS, he protects the NWT from invasion in every possible way he can and singlehandedly wipes out their fleet when he gives himself over to the ocean spirit, he demands they search for Bumi NOT because he needs a teacher but because bumi is his FRIEND! He saves everyone in the cave by making sure they don’t get fucking crushed with its collapse, he is willing to sacrifice himself and force himself into the Avatar State to win the war because he is that guilt ridden even when the AS is extremely painful and traumatizing to him, he stops this only when it affects Katara because he loves her, he offers to let Toph run away with them not because he wants to use her as a teacher but because he listened to her life story and wishes to help her feel free, he fucking dies for Katara and sacrificed his own love for her to save her life

he tries to shoulder every burden he feels on his own as a means to protect the other characters

he supports Sokka when he voices insecurities, he is welcoming and friendly to Hakoda and even inquires about how Katara is feeling when he meets Hakoda, he sobs during the eclipse invasion because Katara and Sokka have to be separated from their father again and Aang blames himself for this defeat and is grief stricken because he is so upset they are losing their dad again (and he thinks it’s his fault)

Why the actual fuck would Katara ever “choose” Zuko over Aang?

Katara was never deeply tied to Zuko. She always saw him as an enemy trying to take away the boy she loved. This is why she threatened to fucking kill him.

Zuko helped his sister murder Aang right in front of Katara’s eyes. It was canonically the darkest period of her life.

Katara’s anger and hatred toward Zuko is 100% justified. Of course, Zuko is a self absorbed ass, so he claims her anger isn’t justified and that she’s just projecting. Her anger toward him specifically had far more to do with what he did to Aang and far less to do with what the Fire nation and Zuko’s family did to her mother. Even still, she’s right to be angry about her mother’s murder too, and Zuko’s piece of shit family is responsible.

Why the fuck would Katara magically drop to her knees and suck Zuko’s dick? He’s literally a colonizer for over 2/3 of the show. He didn’t just have a passive role, he was an active player in the war and invaded the NWT with the FN as a means to capture Aang and take him back to his daddy, where Aang would have undoubtedly been tortured mercilessly and kept on the brink of death. He assaulted Katara during this and knocked her unconscious, he taunted her with shitty words and undermined her bending ability and threw some racial/classist remarks as well as some misogynistic ones her way.

When he eventually did get his shit together and join the group, he just used her mother’s death against her and Sokka because that’s all he ever did in regards to Katara and Sokka’s mother. He learned how she died, then had Sokka divulge trauma to then use said trauma to try and force Katara to forgive him by persuading her to go on a suicide mission of revenge and bloodlust. He also literally mocked Aang’s culture and genocided people to his face, when his family committed the genocide. Oh, and he also mocked Aang’s forgiveness despite begging on his damn hands and knees for that very forgiveness like 3 episodes prior.

And then at the end of the episode, Zuko states himself that he legit doesn’t understand Katara or what she needs in life. Cuz of course he doesn’t. He isn’t a survivor of genocide, he hasn’t suffered ethnic cleansing, he isn’t oppressed. For fucks sake, his mother isn’t even dead and he gets reunited with her a few years after the canon shows timeline. Everything Zuko loses, he has returned to him. His honor, his right to the throne, his mother.

But tell me again how Katara and Aang are a bad match when they are the only two who will ever truly understand the other

[bonefall]

I will cry (in a good way) if the theme of the arc is “the love was there. it didnt change anything. it didnt save anyone. there were just too many forces against it. but it still matters that the love was there”

I REALLY hope that I can do something like that. Again, BB really tries to stay in line with where canon goes and follow it while fixing its themes, but like...

With all the fixes I've done for TBC and below, where the last arc left off on Shadowsight giving up something he'd always wanted (his lightning-based connection to StarClan, blasting it back at Ashfur to hold him down) and the sacrifice of Bristlefrost to knock the holy beast out of heaven... something feels really cool about being able to follow that up with an arc that's very melancholic and painful.

Heartstar doing something DRASTIC to try and stop another Clan from falling apart, compelled to get more violent to keep her claws over it, driven by the fear of The Kin repeating itself and the fury of her dead child

Dovewing watching her sister take power in ThunderClan, knowing things are going to get VERY frustrating

Ivypool herself vowing she's not going to use this new status for personal gain... but then she kinda Does, unable to put down a DESPERATION to reconnect to a sister who doesn't want to see her

I kinda hope I can also find a way to explore Bumblestripe's feelings here, too. He JUSt had a whole journey in Ferncloud's Parting, and he comes back and LOOK! A perfect opportunity to justify how much you HATE Heartstar and Dovewing and all of ShadowClan! It would be SO easy to let your heart grow bitter again, wouldn't it? What will you decide, Bumblestripe?

Lightleap struggling with her failure to enter the Dark Forest, feelings of uselessness and helplessness, losing her best friend

Berryheart herself radicalizing a portion of ShadowClan, as Heartstar tries to prevent another Clan from falling apart, her own is pulling at its stitches.

Squirrelflight having saved Bramblestar from the Dark Forest, NO CAT LEFT BEHIND, only for him to show his true colors AGAIN and try to get into petty drama with her, her sympathy evaporating in an instant

Just. Everything with Sparkpelt and her kids. She ISN'T Firekin in BB-- she chose the names Finch and Flame WITH and FOR her mate Larksong.

Nightheart having a new name foisted on him and making himself believe it was a choice-- and then Bramblestar is dethroned, Sunbeam is telling him how much she loves his family, there's a new journey for glory in front of him, and... there's so many things to think about that he just doesn't.

And then he comes home to find they're OUT of chances to give him. And he's traveled far and is able to FINALLY internalize... he blew it. Didn't recognize or appreciate what he had, when he had it

Bramblestar isn't the big strong cool grandpa leader he thought he was, he's a disgraced elder, and he has to wonder... how much of this HATE for his family was Nightheart's own? How much was the Impostor? How much was Bramblestar? How much was his own inability to self-reflect?

Frostpaw's entire family turning on itself

Finding out that Curlfeather was behind the plot that killed her own father, Reedwhisker.

That Podlight, her funny sillyman uncle, was ALSO in on this the whole time, plus her dear friend Splashtail.

Still just a kid, left to agonize over how much of it was LOVE and how much of it was MANIPULATION. Where one ended and where the other began.

The love is there. The love was always there-- even when you didn't know it. It was strong, and it was beautiful, but it's NOT a fix-all. It isn't the hero that will save you. It isn't the medicine to fix you. It isn't the shield that will protect you. Love is mortal.

And when it dies, it dies in pieces. Like a fire in its ashes and its embers. The same love in one heart will burn forever, and for others, its cinders are quickly doused.

A painful arc, of betrayals, broken promises, last chances blown to rubble, and good intentions paving the way to hell.

[eahtheramblings]

If you're still doing the revamp characters thing, can you do duchess?

Sorry for taking so long to answer this! school got busy. But the short version of it is that Duchess gets a whole lot worse before she gets better in the revamp au. 

Duchess is an interesting character to me because there's real potential for her to act as a dark mirror to Apple. You see, Duchess has truly deluded herself into believing she’s a nice, humble person, whose actions are always righteous. And while yes Apple does do something similar sometimes, there is still an effort to be good behind all of Apple’s actions, even her worst ones. But Duchess at her worst doesn’t have the philosophy of “I am destined to be a Good princess, so I will strive to behave in a way that is Good” but rather a philosophy of “I am destined to be a Good princess, so I can never do anything Evil. Every action I take is justified.”. It’s the same philosophy of “you're destined to be Evil, so your actions have Evil intent” that Apple applies to Raven at times except tilted a few degrees to the left and applied to herself. And because of this, Duchess’s worst moments in the Revamp au act as a lesson for both herself and Apple. 

By the time true hearts day rolls around, both girls are pretty desperate. Apple just semi lost the Royal Student Council race and has made little progress in her goal of making Raven turn heel, so she’s been throwing herself into semi-micromanaging those around her to feel a sense of control. Meanwhile Duchess is both internally and somewhat externally losing it over the concept of rebelling. She has a bad ending but you don’t see her throwing away centuries of tradition and stability for something as selfish as a happy ending that isn’t guaranteed. The idea of rebellion tears open a wound in Duchess that was never really closed in the first place. But Duchess stays strictly on the royal's side due to both a sense of duty and a real sense of fear and reverence for the storybook. Towards the end of this post I explained how the storybook changed certain more morbid destinies overtime to become less so out of an interest in making sure a new generation is born from that story. The swan princess is one such story that underwent such a change centuries ago, with Odette no longer dying but rather turning permanently into a swan at the end of the tale. Duchess grew up hearing from her family about how the cycle was so impressed with the strength and moral fiber of the Swans to continue the tale to its bitter end each time that it rewarded them. And so she can’t rebel, because if the storybook can reward, certainly it could punish. Would it send her family back to guaranteed deaths if she rebelled? Would it reward the swans again if she helped it in its crusade against rebellion? She believes it would, which is why when she finds out about Hunter and Ashlynn's relationship, she makes it her mission to split the two up. 

And she goes about this in a pretty brutal way, employing Prudence and Charlottes help to reveal the relationship publicly on the mirror net with the goal of having wider society both inside and outside the school pressure them into breaking up. During this live stream she also releases her own feelings of jealousy against Ashlynn, saying among other things that she's a selfish brat for signing and still rebelling, that she has no space to complain when she’s guaranteed the happy end thousands others aren’t, and most painful of all, how she must be a wretched daughter to throw her own mothers future sacrifice of herself for the good of both Ashlynn and the Cycle in her face by choosing to rebel. She tears into Hunter as well, saying that his “scramble to move above his station” should be taken as a sign that he has betrayed the core of his destiny, but that no one should be surprised considering his own father had his own sins too (there is a prevalent rumor in ever after that hunter’s father had an affair and Cerise was the result). Duchess truly believes that she is doing a good and righteous act by doing this. She digs her heels in and continues to believe she is in the right even as Hunter’s relationship with his father deteriorates even further than it already had, even as the court from Ashlynn’s kingdom drags her name through the mud, and even as Cupid is instructed by her father and Grimm to shoot both Ashlynn and Hunter with lead arrows. It isn’t until Ashlynn and Hunter run away that she realizes she might have truly messed up, especially since they ran into the dark forest. The guilt of her actions spars against her “I have a good destiny, so I am always good” mentality in a brutal battle, especially when Apple and the others confront her about her actions. Her screaming response of “I’m destined to be good, so i can’t have done evil” is something she almost immediately regrets once she actually vocalizes it, especially since it's met with anger from sparrow who considers both her and Hunter as friends in a way and is horrified by how she went straight for the nuclear option when it came to the situation. And Apple is horrified as well in one of her first true moments of self-reflection that she has been using a similar but reversed internal reasoning for her own treatment towards Raven. It forces both Duchess and to a lesser extent Apple to truly sit with the weight of their actions for once, ending in both Apple and Duchess doing their best to stop Grimm from finding the true hearts day dance to atone for their actions. 

After this Duchess grows more and more as a person as the story progresses, staying a royal til the end but considering both the true motivations and consequences of her actions more and more. She doesn’t become nice right away, but she starts trying, applying the same drive she has for dance and her destiny and schoolwork to improving herself as a person. And really, that makes a world of difference.

[girl4music]

I’m on to the ‘Livia’/‘Eve’/‘Motherhood’ Season 5 finale arc in my Xena rewatch and I have a question because even though it doesn’t bother me, I don’t understand why they had to do it. Why did they have to kill Joxer?

I mean it’s admirable that he went out in a heroic sacrifice trying to save Gabrielle and all but I watched the commentary for it immediately afterwards and they said that because they couldn’t figure out what to do with an old-aged Joxer that he had to die. But why?

Why not just never show up in the TV show again?

Why not spend the rest of his life after giving up warriorship with Meg and then dying naturally?

Why does the TV art/entertainment industry think that killing off a character is the only way to let them go?

Again, I’m not saying it particularly bothers me. I just don’t understand the notion that a character HAS to die in a TV show if they suddenly decide they don’t know what to do with the character anymore. Unless there’s a purpose or necessity to them dying, I don’t see why they have to. I don’t see why they can’t just still be part of the world but just never have any screen time again.

Now the question of “Is that what Joxer would want?” Considering he has a wife and children, I would say yes. I would say dying over some heroic sentiment to his best friend and unrequited love isn’t really something he would choose given the circumstances of having never seen them for over 25 years because he believed them to be dead and he started a family with Meg. If he had already moved on, then he deserved to live on. 😕

I just don’t see why he couldn’t have just done that instead of making one last noble gesture to Gabrielle.

Xena could have saved her. Xena always saves her.

Maybe that’s the answer. He wanted to be the one that saved Gabrielle this time. Even if it cost him his life. Maybe it wasn’t a choice more so than it was a knee-jerk reaction after having just gotten his friends back.

Still though, from a writing perspective, I don’t see why this had to be the way it is when they realized that they can’t really do anything with him anymore. That he is redundant so they just put him out to pasture in death.

I mean it’s not like it really mattered from a narrative development perspective either because Eve would turn good by the end of the episode anyway. All it really does is just makes it harder tor Gabrielle to forgive her. But she does because regardless of how she feels about her own domestic relationship with Eve, she loves Xena too much not to forgive her. Did they seriously just kill Joxer just so they could stick The Furies on Gabrielle to feed her deep inner feelings of distrust and anger at Eve’s murder of Joxer? That’s very thin reasoning to kill off a beloved recurring character. It doesn’t justify it.

I’m just tired of the excuses and constant need for creators to do this when it comes to long-form TV shows. It’s especially annoying when it’s queer female characters they kill off for the story and they don’t get any fucking say in it or are even aware of it. They’re just a plot device in the eyes of the creators so why would they? But to be quite honest it frustrates me in general. Queer or not. Female or not. Because they don’t have to do it. They do not have to kill off a character to end that character’s storyline. Not unless dying is the point to it.

It doesn’t bother me because it’s Joxer. It just bothers me that this is the way creators think when they know they’re done with the character. That they have to die.

Especially when they’ve already set up something that honestly requires them to live. Like a whole ass family.

The anger and grief in Virgil’s face was heartbreaking to to see when Xena kept stopping him in avenging his father. You never see Meg’s reaction to it but Virgil tells us in ‘Motherhood’ that “my mother was mad with grief” and that she had to give up the younger ones to relatives while she sorted through the immense pain she was in. While she and Virgil dealt with the affairs.

But he didn’t even get a proper burial, (not as far as we saw anyway) let alone an actual funeral. Virgil took him back home but that’s all we got to see as the audience. His farewell wasn’t important enough for us to witness.

You know the fandom make jokes that he was just “the comic relief” of the show and it wouldn’t matter at any point if they got rid of him. But I don’t think they truly believe that to be the truth. He was still important. Look at all the lives he affected positively. Meg’s specifically.

She was convinced that she could never have children in her line of work. He took her away from the shame and the hardship of being an unwilling sex-worker like he promised that he would and they had three children.

Argo - Argo was probably at a loss without her mistress but at least having a familiar face around in Joxer would soothe her pain long enough to have her own child who would go on to become Xena’s next loyal stead. Argo II.

Last but not least: Gabrielle. Although she never had any romantic feelings for him like he had for her, as she said: Joxer was special enough to Gabrielle to see her through both the best and worst times of her life. He meant a lot to her. She cared very much for him even if sometimes she was tough and cruel about it. Always picking on him. In a way - he was like the annoying but loveable brother that she never had. He was important.

Sure, he was the comic relief primarily but they did a little bit more with him in the latter half of the TV show that made him quite an endearing character and not just one to provide all the laughs. I appreciated that even if I wished they had delved into his backstory a little more than what they did. To show us why he was the way he was initially and why he ultimately chose to give up on warriorship to settle down and start a family.

Because if that was his informed decision to Meg… then he should honestly have had that as his endgame. Not to Gabrielle. Gabrielle was the long lost love that he could never have. Not just because she had feelings for Xena but because Gabrielle didn’t think of him that way. She had no romantic/sexual feelings or attraction to Joxer whatsoever. He was her friend. Nothing more. So having his last moments in the show in service to his love for Gabrielle just doesn’t feel right. But like I said above: It was probably more of a knee-jerk reaction. He saw that Gabrielle was in immediate danger of dying if she wasn’t freed and he reacted on a warriors’ instinct.

Goodbye, you loveable goof. I’ll miss you in Season 6. Your son may be ten times the warrior than you ever were, but he’ll never fill your shoes in the comedic department. That role was yours to own alone. R.I.P.

[adamaramma]

I see so many people shit on Yuri Briar a lot, so lets talk about it

First of all, I just want to say, yes.

The way he acts is weird. Especially toward his sister. I'm not saying his actions are ok, I'm just trying to explain why.

We know (anime + manga) that when Yor was young, she had to take care of Yuri all by herself because both of their parents passed away. Yor is 7 years older than Yuri, and although we have zero clue of how old they both are in the flashbacks or when Yor started her job, I'm going to assume they she was in her early teens since it's a very popular belief.

So based on that, Yuri must have been at least 6 years old when Yor started caring for him. She had to sacrifice everything for him, and basically acted as a mother to him, cooking food, buying things for him, working an intense job, and much more. And that's on top of being an older sister and dealing with her own problems.

It's no wonder Yuri is so attached to her even as they both grew up. Yor is technically both a mother and an older protective sister all in one to Yuri. He has always wanted to grow up to take care of her and to basically repay her for everything she has sacrificed for him. He wants to make the world a better place for HER. This is why he is attached to Yor. Maybe a bit too excessively though.

To Yuri, Yor getting married is kinda the same sort of situation as a child watching their single mother get married to a guy they barely know. It's weird, and of course, they'd be hostile toward that man. It would probably feel as if he's stealing their mother away from them. It is weirder in Yuri's case because we're talking about his sister, but it does make more sense when explained like this.

I also feel like Yuri never really had the chance to grow up/ mature, because he never had a parent/ father figure in his life to teach him how to behave or act.

Anyway, that's basically how I feel about Yuri. Hopefully Endo-sensei can make his character more interesting in later chapters because right now, he's super annoying tbh.

TL;DR: Yuri's actions can be justified because Yor took care of him nearly his whole life and he's super attached to her because of that

[iveseenthatlovebefore]

William Miles Redemption Arc Idea??

Small scene inspired by Bill hate posts which I 100% support--and because it FESTERS in my mind, this came to be. I have super mixed feelings because I hate him as a person, as a father, but that's what makes him a great anti-hero (if he could be called that, haha) and more compelling. He's the opposite of what a father should be but I realize that everyone is the hero in their own story and people like Bill aren't born like that--they're made and this monstrosity was born.

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The alley reeked of piss, damp stone, and blood.

William barely noticed. His arms were shaking, clutching at the dead weight—no, not dead, not dead, not dead—the comforting weight of his son.

His boy.

Desmond.

His chest heaved, breath coming in jagged gasps, but he couldn’t seem to get enough air. His throat burned, tight with something raw—something clawing its way up his ribs like an animal trying to escape. His boy was limp in his grasp, his body burning and cold all at once, but he was here, real, whole—

No, not whole. Not entirely.

William’s breath hitched. His eyes locked onto the ruined mess of Desmond’s arm—where the flesh was torched and corrupted, veins gold like the damned Pieces of Eden, writhing beneath the skin like something alive. Twisted, unnatural.

Not a burn. Not decay.

Something else.

Something he couldn’t fix.

He had nothing. No supplies. No tools. Just the clothes on his back and the son in his arms.

His knees buckled, slamming into the cobblestones, but he barely felt it. His body was locked in the vice grip of shock, his mind still screaming from the impossible shift, the rip through time and space that had spat them both out here.

And yet, through the haze, a bitter thought gnawed at the edges of his mind that maybe this was his punishment.

Maybe this was what he deserved.

He had wasted so much time.

After Desmond had—after his boy had—

(Say it. SAY IT.)

After Desmond had died, William had run.

Not physically. No, physically he had locked himself away, buried himself in a bunker beneath layers of steel and concrete. But mentally? Spiritually?

He had run like a coward.

He had abandoned the Brotherhood. He had turned his back on the war. He had shut himself off from the world—because what the hell had been the point anymore?

He had given everything to the Assassins. His blood. His life. His son.

And for what?

For Desmond to die cold and alone on that temple floor? For the world to move on while William was left with nothing but empty regrets?

He had spent months in that bunker, waiting to die. Wasting away, trapped in a mausoleum of his own making, listening to his own breath in the dark.

At some point, he had realized the truth. The ugly, unshakable truth.

He had done this.

Not the Templars. Not Juno.

Him.

He had trained Desmond since he was a child. Had forced him into the life of an Assassin, into a war he never wanted. Had stripped him of any chance at a normal life. Had objectified him to the sum of his genetics, over and over, justifying it as necessary.

And in the end, Desmond had died for them.

And what had William done? Had he honored his son’s sacrifice? Had he carried on the fight, as Desmond had believed he would?

No.

He had hidden. He had mourned. He had wasted time.

And now—now, after all this, he was here.

Somewhere deep in his mind, he knew where they were.

The air was thick with the scent of burning tallow, damp stone, and life—the distant murmur of voices speaking Italian. Not the clipped, modern cadence William knew, but something older.

Florence.

Renaissance Florence.

He should have been questioning it. Should have been demanding answers.

But all he could think, over and over, was Desmond is breathing.

Shallow. Weak. Unsteady.

But there.

William clutched him tighter, his fingers curling in the torn fabric of Desmond’s hoodie, as if the strength of his grip alone could anchor his son to this world.

But it was too late. Too fucking late.

It had taken his son dying—his only child burning alive—for him to see what had been in front of him all along.

A sob threatened to drag its way up his throat, but he bit down on it, biting down on the inside of his cheek until he could taste blood. Too late, too late, too fucking late.

Desmond had been a boy once. A boy who laughed easily, who pouted when things didn’t go his way, who had clung to William’s fingers with tiny, trusting hands. He had been William’s boy, his first child, his only child, and once—God, once—he had been enough.

William had wanted him. Had loved him.

Where had that man gone? The one who had been so eager to be a father? The one who had cradled a newborn in shaking hands, awed and terrified and so in love?

When had he become this—a man who had used his own son, shaped him into something sharp and deadly, something that could be sacrificed?

Had it been after the first purge? After he lost everyone? After the Brotherhood started dying off, one by one, until survival became the only thing that mattered?

At some point, he had stopped looking at Desmond as his son. He had stopped seeing him at all.

And by the time he realized it—by the time he had woken up—his boy was dead.

A broken, wrecked sound slipped from his throat. He pressed his face into Desmond’s hair, inhaling sharply, trying to ground himself in the scent of him. But all he could smell was smoke.

William forced himself to move, one shaking hand reaching for Desmond’s neck, fingers pressing against too-pale skin. He needed to confirm— to make sure that this wasn’t a dream, a hallucination—

A pulse.

Faint. Thready.

But there.

His entire body shuddered. His breath left him in something like a sob, something wrecked and wretched and feral. He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together hard enough to ache, because if he didn’t, he would scream.

He had another chance.

He would not waste it.

No more Brotherhood. No more war.

He was done.

He had paid in blood.

This time, all he wanted—all he should have wanted, if he had been strong enough to see it—was for Desmond to be okay. To be happy.

If Desmond would have him—if Desmond could forgive him.

Another shudder wracked his frame, and he buried his face in Desmond’s shoulder, breathing in, breathing him in.

‘I’m here, son.’

‘I’m here.’

And when Desmond woke up—if Desmond would let him—he would never leave him again.

‘Sorry it took this long.’

---

...and then sometime after that (blah blah blah) Giovanni Auditore sucker punches William after learning how Desmond got his scar, William tries to be a better dad (hoping its not too late) and IDK enter Yandere!William Miles development???

Forgive these midnight thoughts--i must slep.

[mikami]

"Did Light love his family?" Anon - Catch-All Answer

Since these are six asks that are all about in the same vein, I am gonna just put the responses into one post for organization's sake.

Light begs his father to kill Mello because he wants his father's death to have been good for something. Nothing pains him more than the idea of having let this happen without it even accomplishing his goal.

Light is the physical manifestation of the lost cost fallacy: he needs to keep going because he sacrificed too much to stop and allow those sacrifices to be rendered meaningless.

And Light rationalizes. It's one of his most prominent character traits: instead of acknowledging his own emotions, he tries to filter his thoughts into nothing but emotionless pragmatism.

This is consistently portrayed through the 'hidden eyes' visual key - Light is excellent at lying to himself, in his own thoughts, which is why Obata gave us this clever way of seeing when this is happening even as Light's own internal monologue doesn't reflect it.

I have an incomplete list of these instances here, especially as pertaining to his family.

Ultimately, if we disagree that Light rationalizes his feelings rather than allowing himself to fully feel them, then none of my arguments are ever going to make sense to you and vice versa.

As a short addendum, here's Ohba's own words on this chapter (HTR13 p.80): "Even if there was acting involved in Light's tearful performance, I don't believe the tears are 100% an act." (も し月の涙に演技入っていたとしても、100%演技の涙では到底ないと思います。)

Soichiro already made the eye deal, which is an absolutely horrifying sacrifice to have made. Light wanted it to be as useful as it could possibly be, in order to justify the magnitude of the price.

I hate to say it, but you're really gonna have to take this one up with Ohba himself. On Page 65 of HTR13, he literally says that he picked Sayu as a kidnapping victim because Light loves his family and wouldn't kill her. (Unlike Misa, whom he would have just killed in this scenario rather than letting the plot progress.)

The panel you are thinking of is this one, where he is panicking, but you're not putting it into perspective.

In a previous chapter (62) Ide was about to inform the whole police force that Sayu Yagami was kidnapped. Soichiro was about to agree to this.

If Light had let this happen, he could have killed Sayu without narrowing down the suspect pool at all. They already know that Kira has ties to the police. He would have removed the leverage the mafia had held against them and gotten off entirely scott-free.

He does decidedly NOT do that. It's LIGHT personally who stops Ide from giving him the perfect alibi. EVEN RYUK CALLS OUT HOW ODD THAT WAS AS A MOVE.

And sure, Light says 'oh yeah, now nobody will suspect us!!' but nobody was really suspecting them to begin with.

This is what I mean - Light never allows himself to just feel things, he always rationalizes himself to justify his actions to himself.

His father dying. Dude.

.... literally why would he? Like, even if they don't accept Kira they also pose absolutely no threat to Kira.

I've covered all of this above, but I am including the ask to say that yes, I've seen it. The core issue here is that we disagree on Light's relationship to himself - you take his internal monologue at face value, while I think there is ample evidence that Light manipulates himself most of all. (As made completely manifest in the Yotsuba-Arc where he literally mindwipes himself into an incredibly emotionally and physically painful experience just to use himself as a pawn.)

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Stolas Should Stop Forgetting He's A Father In His Obsession To Find Romance

I notice one thing after his affair with Blitzo Stolas has time and again put aside the needs of his daughter to fulfill his own grand romance fantasy. Despite the narrative trying to plead with us he's a good father who just makes mistakes, he's shown he's really has more and more forgotten his daughter at times in his quest to feel self-satisfaction. The narrative tries to pant it as him deserving a chance to find happiness after sacrificing his own by staying in a toxic marriage to give his daughter a normal life. However, he easily throws away that normal life for his romantic obsession showing what he really wants. The minute he got a chance to have a chance of selfish satisfaction he took it without any mind to how it would affect his daughter because the so-called sacrifice he made was just to give him pity and sympathy so we don't condemn him for cheating.

Again despite saying he's sacrifice much of his happiness so that Octavia could have a functional family. He still sacrificed Octavia's happiness so that he could have his fantasy with Blitzo and is not regretful even taking his boytoy over on a family trip then blatantly flirting with him in front of her. And again he caused so much harm to her by dragging her into a deteriorating marriage and now a messy divorce which he is shown willing to focus more on fighting with her mother (even blatantly insulting her in front of his daughter) , while breaking a promise they made since she was a kid. Even when he's worried she is lost, he still gets distracted by Blitzo and it takes freaking Loona to find her. Again the man has made a big thing about giving that girl a happy life, while a the same time ignorant he's destroyed it.

Even though Stolas says he wants to feel loved and be someone's someone, it really shows me at heart he really has take his status as father for granted and trivialized the familial bond between him and his daughter. He needs to stop being an immature love sick teenager and be there for a child whose home life he's wrecked in his quest for self-fulfillment. Even though Stolitz is endgame, if it wasn't he wrecked his home life for nothing and no the Stela is the devil excuse is bs because it was made to justify Blitzo being the one for him. Ultimately, he would have sacrificed his daughter's home life for his selfishness. That again goes against portraying as the so-called good dad when a good dad wouldn't bring down their child's home life. He's waiting so eager to find his knight that he's forgetting the little princess who should be the center of his world. And that's pretty sad to a dad who previously did that and now thinks he can walk away from those duties because he thinks he's earned a reward for his "sacrifices".

Stolas just seems to be one of those parents who did well as a parent when they were younger, but now that they are teens they neglect them thinking that they are older and they don't need guidance which will never be true. A child will always need a guiding parent, but when a parent is immature like Stolas they will feel like they are being led blind due to how unreliable and self-centered they are. It also shows how lazy Stolas is because he seems to think that his daughter can do okay being by herself while he can go frolic at will with his boy toy when in reality it does affect her. He's pouring so much focus onto Blitzo it cuts into actually spending genuine time with her and being there for her. These days he's not fully with her and is just pouring his energy into getting his dream imp while she can be lucky to barely get a mention in his radar.

[dballzposting]

Mr Satan's championship belt is supposed to be a symbol of courage and strength, of loyal leadership. But instead he uses it as a shield.

Videl has spent her life watching him hide behind it, flaunt it, tie it on right before leaving the house, wear it over his robe when he's feeling vulnerable and in hangover recovery. He brings it with him into the bathroom sometimes. For support.

He uses it as a conversation-ender, to always have the last word; he uses it to answer questions, he uses it as the ends and the means. He summons it as a get-out-of-jail-free-card instead of being accountable.

What impression does that give? It is like talking to a brick wall. What sort of father did Videl grow up with?

If she were honest with herself, I think that within herself she would find a lot of resentment. Her name precedes her, thanks to him, but she delivers her reputation in plain clothes. Unlike her father, her name isn't a costume; it's the name that she is trying to make for herself.

Mr Satan pretends to be the person who he thinks he is; Videl is trying to be the person who she wants to be. She is trying to have some real weight in the world.

I think that exuding that PRESENCE is especially important for her given the lifelong ways that A.) people tend to think they know her before she even gets to speak for herself, and B.) her father has always silenced her.

Don't think that he doesn't silence her; yes, he loves her, yes, he allows her a seeming freedom; but yes, her eyes are sharp, and NO, he does not let her tongue match. NO, he can't have his daughter seeing the dirt on his belt. It's crucial to him that everyone thinks that he's the best, and he will readily sacrifice emotional intimacy to maintain this facade.

That belt is a shield. To Videl, it's been various symbols over her years. It's her family's legacy, it's what she loves about her father. It's what you can achieve if you commit yourself to the stars. It's a goalpost; it's an expectation. It's also his God-given crown. It's proof of his superiority, it's why she can't win an argument against him; it's what's always shining over her and keeping her down. It's a false idol. It's what she needs to rise up against.

It perpetually captures her reflection. And it'll have that on her until she quits looking at it.

It was supposed to be a symbol of strength; but looking at her father in the eyes, she must see his cowardice. The Majin Buu Armageddon ultimately served to break everything down to its essential truths, and afterwards, her father couldn't keep secrets from her anymore. But even if none of that happened, she would have figured him out. She already had some low opinions of him that she expressed when training with Gohan; but she was still under his roof and under the habit to speak well of him otherwise. But habits break! Her spirit would have writhed and roared, eventually! I've no doubt! The cogs were already turning. She just needed an inkling. A clue to follow. Something so that she could JUSTIFY TO HERSELF these doubts she had of her father.

The Golden Warrior was that. The Great Saiyaman was that. He was a personal adversary, because she was the local superhero around these parts; but he was also proof beyond herself that a real hero hits the streets. On some level, she was already building a case against her father by virtue of her coming into her own; but when you're used to being silenced, you're used to not acknowledging yourself as proof. So this other hero was external proof of these budding suspicions about the true state of the world; and she latched onto his trail QUICK.

Videl is inquisitive, and ruthless at that. I imagine that this is nature AND nurture, as she is partly fueled by her lifelong feelings of deep indignance stemming from her father's tendency to embellish and to give false facts. Kids notice! They care very much about how things work, and they notice when things don't add up. To a practical and grounded person like Videl, growing up having to listen to a fantastical and immature man like Mr Satan must have been INFURIATING.

But she's not really allowed to be mad, is she? Again, with an immature and self-concerned parent, she's in the habit of suppression.

But it's in there. The anger. The indignance. The betrayal.

That's why she wears plain clothes, that's why she gives plain facts, that's why she fights on her own merit. She knows the truth but doesn't know she knows it. She looks at Mr Satan with skepticism but doesn't feel it in her own eyes. She stands next to him dutifully and doesn't feel her fists clench. She's 17, she's getting there! She'll figure it out! She's building a case and a place for herself in the world.

And she doesn't need that damn belt to do it. As she grows she feels the title of Champion melt into empty words. She starts to smell the smoke and count the mirrors.

He's just a coward. What kind of man makes a habit out of delegitimizing others' (potentially very viable) techniques, citing trickery? What kind of man only shines when on screen?

What kind of man is afraid of his daughter's questions? What kind of father can't handle his daughter?

What kind of man makes a shield out of a victory and silences any illumination that isn't the limelight?

Her father is all image and no man!

At some other point I'll make a post about how Gohan is the functional opposite of this and how that's a thrilling relief for her to see. Well maybe I don't need to make the post we can all see it...

Videl is so "Leach" by Bones UK