#Wu Zetian Assassin

[edswordsman]

💜 Summoned Wu Zetian (Assassin)! 💜

#Fate/Grand Order #Wu Zetian #Bu Zokuten #武則天 #Assassin of the Nightless City #不夜城のアサシン #Fate/Grand Order: Epic of Remnant #Epic of Remnant #Fuyajō no Asashin #Wu Zhao #Fate Grand Order #FGO USA #Assassin-class #Assassin #Assassin Class #Wu Zetian (Assassin) #Wu Zetian Assassin #Fate/Grand Order Wu Zetian #Fate Grand Order Wu Zetian #FGO Wu Zetian #FGO #FGO Epic of Remnant #fate go #heroic spirit #Takehito Harada #Shiori Izawa #purple hair #Chinese empress #Chinese Heroics Spirit #Chinese Servant

[dummy-dot-exe]

スケブ納品しました～ ふやふやちゃん by あず子@狩猟中@a_ktv0z

#Wu Zetian #fate #Assassin #Caster #swimsuit

[bluespiritfire]

I was not expecting the second interlude for Wu Zetian to make me emotional D:

#FGO #fate/grand order #assassin/wu zetian

[randomstranger27]

...what did I do to get her attention? Where did I go wrong?

#fate/grand order #fgo #Wu Zetian (Assassin) #At least I know who's got my back in a grail war...

[variouspolltournaments]

Next up is the Villain Protagonists Tournament. So long as the protagonist is, was or becomes a villain, they count here.

Submit a Villain Protagonist, along with where they come from and (if you want) propaganda through ask or submit a post.

Submissions will be closing on the 16th of June. Will be doing prelims on the same day, scratch that I'll be doing as many prelims as I can before submissions close, any left over will be done the day of the submissions closing. This is because there a few submissions I'm not sure about.

Top 4 submissions are the ones I submitted myself.

@tournament-announcer

Submissions in bold have propaganda, submissions not in bold do not have propaganda. Whether they do or do not have some already, you are still free to submit some. Those with a line through their name were eliminated in the prelims, those with a * will be going through the prelims again.

SUBMISSIONS:

Ellen: The Witch's House/The Diary of Ellen

Light Yagami: Death Note

Roxie Hart: Chicago

Alex Wake: Beyond Eden

Yato: Noragami*

Koro-sensei: Assassination Classroom

Bucky Barnes: Avengers

Xeno Wingfield: Doctor Stone

Victor Vale: Vicious

Barry Lyndon: Barry Lyndon

Footsoldier D: Go Go Loser Ranger

Medea: Euripedes Medea

Taylor Hebert: Worm

Scourge: Warrior Cats

Tigerstar: Warrior Cats*

Megamind: Megamind

Setsuna Higashi: Fresh Precure

Invader Zim: Invader Zim

Valkyrie Cain: Skulduggery Pleasant

William James Moriarty: Moriarty the Patriot

GoodTimesWithScar: Secret Life.

Shen Qingqiu: Scum Villain's Self Saving System

Nimona: Nimona

Ballister Blackheart: Nimona

Artemis Fowl: The Fowl Adventures

Vegeta: Dragon Ball Z

Hiei: Yu Yu Hakusho

Gru: Despicable Me

Dr. Horrible: Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog

Wu Zetian: Iron Widow

Magneto: X-Men

Catherine Foundling: A Practical Guide to Evil.

Nick: Anna and the Apocalypse

Elphaba Thropp: Wicked

The Batter: OFF!

HAL 9000: Space Odyssey

Anakin Skywalker: Star Wars

Darkstalker: Wings of Fire

Alastor: Hazbin Hotel

Zhou Zishu: Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers

Mr. Wolf: The Bad Guys

Jafar: Twisted

Sauron: Lord of the Rings

Morgoth: The Silmirilion

The Witch of the Waste: Howl's Moving Castle

Dracula: Dracula

Hades: Disney's Hercules

Hannibal Lecter: Hannibal

Heinz Doofenshmirtz: Phineas and Ferb

Raistlin Majere: Dragonlance

Petey: Dog Man

Eric Draven: The Crow

Ainz Ooal Gown: Overlord

Harley Quinn: Harley Quinn 2019

Dexter Morgan: Dexter

Hector con Carne: Evil Con Carne

Mandy: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

Rick Sanchez: Rick & Morty

Rusty Venture: The Venture Bros

Eric Cartman: South Park

Utena Hiiragi: Gushing Over Magical Girls

Yuno Gasai: Future Diary

Lucy: Elfen Lied

Belkar Bitterleaf: Order of the Stick

Tomie: Tomie

Punie Tanaka: Magical Witch Punie-chan

Azazel: Yondemasu Yo! Azazel-san

Lucifer: Sin: Seven Mortal Sins

Venom: Venom comics

Ren Hoek: Ren & Stimpy

Demitri Maximoff: Darkstalkers

Sweet Tooth: Twisted Metal

Slappy: Goosebumps Slappyworld

The Warden: Superjail!

Herbert West: Re-Animator

Joker: Joker 2019

Patrick Bateman: American Psycho

Monami: Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

Sagiri Tengai: Korokoro Soushi

Shion Sonozaki: Higurashi When They Cry

Ai Enma: Hell Girl*

Johnny C.: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

Lenore: Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl

Takuyoshi Masuoka: Marebito

Deadshot: Secret Six

Catman: Secret Six

Scandal Savage: Secret Six

Ragdoll: Secret Six

Bane: Secret Six

Jeanette: Secret Six

Dennis Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Dee Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Frank Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Charlie Kelly: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Mac McDonald: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Zhu Yuanzhang: She Who Became the Sun/The Radiant Emperor

Baru Cormorant: The Traitor Baru Cormorant/The Masquerade*

Penelope Akk: Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain

Li Hongzhang: Towards the Republic

Empress Dowager Cixi: Towards the Republic

Cao Cao: Three Kingdoms

Mapleshade: Warrior Cats

Quenthel Baenre: War of the Spider Queen

Jeggred Baenre: War of the Spider Queen

Pharaun Mizzry: War of the Spider Queen

Ryld Argith: War of the Spider Queen

Halisstra Melarn: War of the Spider Queen

Danifae Yauntyrr: War of the Spider Queen

Valas Hune: War of the Spider Queen

Victor Frankenstein: Frankenstein

Adam,Frankenstein’s Monster: Frankenstein

#villain protagonists tournament #ellen #the witch's house #the diary of ellen #light yagami #death note #roxie hart #chicago #alex wake #beyond eden #submissions

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 1 of the minor bracket

Propaganda:

For Mike Walters and Edgar:

1. They have both either killed someone for their husband /or/ killed someone with their husband (or killed their husband but let's not focus on that-)

2. They met bc Mike was stealing access codes from Edgar in order to break into a top secret government facility. Then they start a time travel assassination organisation together. At one point they get separated and the first thing they do when they're reunited is steal more information and prepare to murder a guy (to quote Mike from memory: "I've been back for six hours and we're already planning to kill somebody")

3.Mike and Edgar are a very cute bear/ twink couple. They both work at the same government facility which has time travel. Edgar tends to be more of the brains while mike does field work but both have and will kill again for each other. There have also been several other various crimes such as breaking and entering into secure locations at their place of work. 

4. i have a million things to say about mikedgar. they met at the government base that mike was being blackmailed into infiltrating and then became the biggest goddamn power couple ever to appear in audiodrama. mike spent two seasons trying to keep edgar out of the fray and protect him and then edgar forcibly inserted himself into the fray. here are some things they have done

Together:

-Blew up a building inside of the top ring of security at their government workplace (they were blackmailed into this but it still counts)

-Assassinated a man inside of his own home in the self-proclaimed center of North America

-Bugged the home of an older iteration of Mike because they thought maybe he might possibly know something about an investigation they were doing (he did not)

-Stole endless amounts of top-secret data from their government workplace

-Kidnapped two guys in order to save a friend of theirs who didn't need saving because she's a badass

Here are some things Mike has done alone but for Edgar's sake:

-Shot his closest friend dead in his own home

-Broke into the highest-security ring of the government facility I keep mentioning in order to save him from drowning in the Pacific Ocean

-Got into a game of Murder Chicken with his Scruff date so he would be free to run away with Edgar

And here are some things Edgar has done alone but for Mike's sake:

-Killed him, and got another guy to kill a second version of him (it was helping in context!)

-Put together an elaborate plot to break apart their time travel base so they'd be free to run away together

-Split himself into two different people using dangerous and unstable time travel technology in order to complete an assassination that Mike had botched

TL;DR the couple that commits time travel murder espionage together stays together

-Blew up a building inside of the top ring of security at their government workplace (they were blackmailed into this but it still counts)

-Assassinated a man inside of his own home in the self-proclaimed center of North America

-Bugged the home of an older iteration of Mike because they thought maybe he might possibly know something about an investigation they were doing (he did not)

-Stole endless amounts of top-secret data from their government workplace

-Kidnapped two guys in order to save a friend of theirs who didn't need saving because she's a badass

Here are some things Mike has done alone but for Edgar's sake:

-Shot his closest friend dead in his own home

-Broke into the highest-security ring of the government facility I keep mentioning in order to save him from drowning in the Pacific Ocean

-Got into a game of Murder Chicken with his Scruff date so he would be free to run away with Edgar

And here are some things Edgar has done alone but for Mike's sake:

-Killed him, and got another guy to kill a second version of him (it was helping in context!)

-Put together an elaborate plot to break apart their time travel base so they'd be free to run away together

-Split himself into two different people using dangerous and unstable time travel technology in order to complete an assassination that Mike had botched

TL;DR the couple that commits time travel murder espionage together stays together

For Wu Zetian x Gao Yizhi x Li Shimin: (propaganda from previous poll here)

They are in a poly and are so morally gray and I love em. The triangle really is the strongest shape

They're gay because they're all bi (literally in Shimin and Yizhi's cases, kinda more implied for Zetian). Zetian and Shimin tortured a man for information (and also because he tortured them first) while Yizhi cooked back in their apartment. They made a plan to destroy their government and take over instead. Yizhi killed his dad because he was talking shit about Zetian and trying to sway his trust in her (it didn't work lmao). Instead of a love triangle (it REALLY seemed like that was what it was heading towards) they all love each other and would (and have) committed atrocities for each other. There's a whole thing about how they're stronger together (like, metaphorically and on the battlefield (Shimin and Zetian pilot a giant mecha together and Yizhi balances them))

They're a canon polyship who are all a bit deranged and down to kill for their goals and/or to protect bae. Two have tortured a man to death together and came home to the third making celebratory cookies for them. 

What's more gay wrongs than trying to take over your country and torturing a man together

#minor bracket round 1 #woe.begone #iron widow #mike walters #wu zetian #gao yizhi #li shimin #woe.begone edgar #edgar woe.begone

[knuckle]

on some more gentle book criticism it's wild that both of wu zetian's love interests in iron widow are highly educated & there are references to the aesthetics and structures of a scholar system, but there is utterly no casual reciting of classics, tactics, nor poetry from anyone. there are references to adapted forms of the classics, but it doesn't inform how characters talk or think (li shimin seems more like a guy who never got education than someone who memorizes poems to the point it destroyed his vision). I understand the whole "peasant frontier girl half literate" thing to an extent (even though it feels an odd choice) but there aren't even like idioms really. it feels very simplistic & uniform in characters' speaking style, and the world, language, and culture all read very flat because of that. tacticians like sima yi, an lushan, and zhuge liang too might have a more creative way to call someone a bitch or what is the point of reimagining them in this world is all I'm saying.

i think there was also a big miss of not even referencing half of the incredibly funny things that a star studded historical fiction cast could provide like zhuge liang never did something funny with a feather fan? no one had to bother him into working? no pranks with corpses? where is his ugly intelligent wife?

why not posture that an lushan's son gave the thumbs up on his murder? historically accurate and hilarious

honestly, every character could and should have just had an original name so i'm not frequently disappointed that, for example wu zetian who weaponized her children to become regent and curry favor views motherhood as the most restrictive shackle on a woman or that li shimin who assassinated his brothers in a tactical power play and expertly maneuvered the aftermath, getting his father to abdicate to him and becoming one of the most competent emperors in history, would just stand by helplessly with a bloody murder weapon while he was carried off to a death row labor camp

the book shouldn't have been marketed as a reimagining of historical or quasi historical figures at all because if you know or care anything about chinese history/culture it's massively immersion breaking & xiran jay zhao should have just leaned into a fully dystopic "fallen" society with only the worst aspects of chinese culture surviving, deliberately so because of the way the populace is controlled and managed, without any dressings of valuing scholars because they clearly didn't feel confident enough or want to put in enough work to actually mesh chinese literary classics or more than a skeleton of historical context with characters that bear the names of legends.

#iron widow

[ineedmorequartz]

Just ranting, after getting two copies of her.

It's not even funny how many copies of Wu Zetian I have gotten in my time in playing fgo. But, seriously speaking if Wu Zetian wasn't a damn loli, she would probably be my favorite assassin. Like, this is how she is depicted in fgo Epic of Remnat: Agartha.

Like, look at her! Now, that's a ruler. if, she looked anything, like that she would've been grailed to 100 and had her skills maxed out ages ago. Not, whatever we got. Her summer variant, at least is more acceptable...

#fate grand order #fgo #fate grand order wu zetian

[artschoolglasses]

Future Assassin’s Creed settings I want to see*:

1920s Harlem Renaissance New York

Affair of the Poisons 1600s France

The Mongol Empire

Napoleonic Wars in Russia

16th Century Philippines

Hadrian’s Rome (with travels to Egypt, England, Greece, etc...)

Joseon Korea

19th Century Mexico

The Mughal Empire

Empress Wu Zetian and the Tang Dynasty

Wars of the Roses England

1900 Ghana

*With the caveat that the proper care is taken, settings and cultures are well researched, there are no more bullshit endings like Kass and Eivor had, they are well written, and I get to play as a kickass lady. (So, probably never. But a girl can dream.)

#edit: oops meant 1900 Ghana not 19th century #I had heian Japan and witch trials england on here but we're getting Japan and witch trials games now so... #little sad the witch game is in Germany so I don't get to assassinate Matthew hopkins #an English witch trials game could have included killing cromwell #but oh well #assassin's creed #artschoolrambles

[whitecatlegend]

Chapter 108 (Taiping temple)

<< First <Previous || Chapter 108 || Next >>

Master post

"I wish you two happiness" - the original doesn't specify two, but it does use plural you. I felt like keeping it to just "you" would kind of muddle the context for the "cheater" comment.

"I'm so tired" - a word specifically for mental exhaustion is used. I don't think English has an equivalent?

It’s unclear when exactly Taiping was born, but she should be in, like… her late twenties during the events of the manhua? She became a Taoist nun in 670, and at some point when the king of Tufan requested marriage to her during peace negotiations, her father refused and had the Taiping temple built, making Taiping its abbess. Princess Taiping was married, twice. Her first husband (with whom she had two sons and a daughter) was executed for colluding with Li Chong along with his brothers – they were beheaded, he was starved to death (agonizing, but more honorable). A short while before officially seizing the throne, Empress Wu had her remarry (by assassinating the guy’s previous wife). So that’s the husband that’s being talked about here, Wu Youji.

(If you’re wondering about the surname – yes, the Wu in Wu Youji’s name is the same as in Wu Zetian’s. Wu Youji was the grandson of Empress Wu’s uncle. Taiping’s first husband was also related to Taiping, being her cousin on her father’s side. I’m not sure why I’m telling you this.)

#大理寺日志 #white cat legend #translated chapters #white cat legend translation

[yuri-is-online]

Thank you for the good luck! I'll need it! 🤗

And Oh no you are DEF right with the game assuming you're a Straight Dude. Like the narrative and characters just treat women a certain way (*cough* MISOGYNY *cough*) so when they don't treat the female MC the same way, for better or worse, it's just very obvious the male MC is the default mode.

I also got wu zetian from that banner too and she's some barely covered loli and i literally said out loud "i hate this fucking game" 😒 automatically

*continues to play it*

wu zetian specifically makes me so mad because she HAS an adult design:

look at this bitch. she has a body count, she is the moment, I would do everything she says and listen to her murder and torture discussions GLADLY but no we get loli because the people who make this game are degenerates who I should be allowed to run over with my car.

so when they don't treat the female MC the same way, for better or worse, it's just very obvious the male MC is the default mode.

I feel like what you said should be common sense but the amount of people who I have seen online just not get it hurts. Like no I don't want to be harassed in a video game, but if the male characters are supposed to be here for me how am I supposed to feel when they don't even acknowledge I exist when they are too busy going after Mash, something you ALSO HATE but not for the reason I wish you would. AND IF I AM GOING TO BE FLIRTED WITH BY WOMEN I WANT IT TO BE ACTUAL YURI AND NOT A STRAIGHT MAN'S IDEA OF IT FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!

I have been riding the high of sassy shin carrying me through the air in 2017?'s halloween event for years now and my one major regret is that I think I missed out on getting his summer outfit because I wasn't playing:

(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )づ♡ i abandoned my boy for another boy with the same voice actor. Literally I got so fed up with fgo and I saw Floyd had the same va as Assassin of Shinjuku and since it was Beans Day and he had an SSR on rate up I jumped ship. And I have yet to look back

EDIT:

(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥) i am so sorry i failed you my love

#<3 asks #fgo #if i am still playing by next week shoot me a dm #i might be able to carry you through the story since i have a bserker arjuna

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Lol bunking off the artillery ask, so we can be a completely deranged sociopath queen and (assuming we keep our capabilities on the ruling part) still rise to sit cozily on our blood soaked throne? Dang that's rad 😈

I hate it when stories punish the MC for being ruthless or crazy. Like it so obviously makes it so you have a "bad" ending. Ruthlessness is a quality that isn't expressly malicious in intent. People like Remiel don't wake up going "Mhm, it smells like a beautiful morning to go sicko mode and ruin the lives of others!" Its more like "Ah shit, lets see...whats the best way to get what i want and return the best investment for my effort?"

Ruthless characters in history have always existed and have been successful. Julius Caesar (you know him), Cao Cao (one of the warlords of the Three Kingdoms era), Augustus (first Roman Emperor), Qin Shi Huang (First Unifier of China), and Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of France and possibly last historical figure to stand with the men above.)

Is this something only linked with men? Fuuuuuck no. Lemme list some women up in here.

Wu Zetian The only Empress in China's 3,000-long history

Her reign was one of the more successful ones that economically benefited the country, militarily expanded the borders, and had an all-male harem for her own pleasure...home girl died at 81 after ruling for more than half a century.

Catherine the Great, Russian monarch who helped modernize her empire and even introduced vaccination to her people by being the first to try it out.

Hatshepsut, a female Pharoah of Egypt who put all the guys in her generation to shame. She launched a successful invasion, went on a building spree that following pharaohs would try to take credit for, and established new trading routes before dying in 1458 B.C. THATS 3,480 YEARS AGO!!!!! Give or take, i suck at math

Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great. Ima be honest. There wouldn't be an Alex if his momma didn't Game of Thrones the shit outta everyone else. She, "insisted she had a dream just before Alexander’s conception where a thunderbolt ignited her womb with an enormous fire." Supernatural street cred, check. She and her husband Philip II were fighting, baaaadly. So Philip married another girl and oh there popped a new baby boy! This of course meant a rival to our Alex since the baby was a full Macedonian. Now, I'm not saying Olympias killed her husband, buuuuut lets say she was quick with the aftermath. She immediately assassinated Alexander's half siblings, including the newborn baby boy, forced their mother to kill herself, destroyed the rival family, and then said, "Fuck it, it was true, I cheated on my husband WITH ZEUS!" Oh god and that's not even all..when her son Alexander finally did die, guess what she did. She marched on macedon with an army. And when an enemy army lined up against hers, she rode out, said "Im Alexander the great's mom, how bout dat?" and they joined her side instead. THEN with this new double army, she finished up killing another rival of hers; the queen famously sent Adea Eurydice a cup of poison, a noose, and a sword…then told her to choose how she would die. Eurydice chose to hang.

And of course Cleopatra, the one who banged Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony...that also spoke no less than nine languages, and possibly upwards of 12, who was also an author. She wrote a medicinal and pharmacological book called Cosmetics which included, amongst other things, remedies for male pattern baldness and dandruff. (I'm looking at Julius and Anthony...) She killed her brother and sister to consolidate her throne, led a fleet, and revitalized an Egypt that was in the down turn until her death.

Hope ive proven that ruthlessness, something all these ladies had to have in order to survive in a world where men traditional held power, is not the shoe in "bad trait" to have that modern writers portray it as.

#kingdomsandempires #questions #choicescript #choice of games #interactive fiction

[waheelawhisperer]

Bottom 5 fate servants

Bearing in mind that I quit FGO after Olympus and am thus not up on the lore:

Astolfo

Chloe

Wu Zetian

Nero

Columbus

Honorable Mentions

Muramasa

EMIYA

EMIYA Alter

EMIYA (Assassin)

Shuten Douji

Ashiya Douman

Any Servant not mentioned designed primarily to appeal to pedophiles

#fate #ask game

[zeravmeta]

Top 5 Fate blorbos NOT including Limbo.

this one made me laugh bc like, yeah limbo is my special little princess but also he is one of my many special little princesses, like i love limbo but im not The Limbo Guy, if that makes sense (i have many guys)

That said there are simply too many fate blorbos i have and no easy way to list them in a perfectly objective top 5, so I shall do something fun instead, listing them in tiers. As expected, the list expands as it goes on (not every servant listed obvs)

5. Characters who I am passively aware of. This is for characters who are somewhat relevant enough for me to like. think about

Gilles Saber, Caesar, Paris Hektor, Circe, Lu Bu, Spartacus, Eric Bloodaxe

4. Characters who I have a light inclination towards. Maybe they were useful for farming or I read their profiles and was satisfied

Jason, Billy The Kid, Oda Nobukatsu, , Tristan, William Tell, Medusa Lily, Janta Lily, Tawaru, Achilles, Wu Zetian, Cleopatra, Darius III, Kiyohime

3. Characters who I just like. I look at them and go "its the guy :)"

Senji Muramasa, Fergus, Robin Hood, Leonidas, Enkidu, Nezha, Anne-Bonny & Mary Read, Bartholomew Roberts, Red Hare, Scheherazade, Anastasia, Kyokutei Bakin, Charles-Henri Sanson, Assassin Emiya/Kerry, Ushiwakamaru, Gray, Huyan Zhuo, Penthesilea, Kijyo Koyo, Asterios

2. Characters who I love. This one is a substantial jump upwards in quality and they only have like 1-2 things missing (to me) that prevent them from being numero uno

Altera, Bedivere, Okita, Beni Enma, Sigurd, Saito Hajime, Artemis-Orion, Emiya, Atalante, Baobhan Sith, Cu Chulainn, Romulus (and Quirinus), Caenis, Vritra, Melusine, Boudica, Marie Antionette, Mandricardo, Habetrot, Dobrynya Nikitich, Hans Christian Andersen, Mata Hari, Charlotte Corday, Katou Danzo, Koyanskaya of the Light, Tezcatlipoca, Sen no Rikyu, Kriemhild, Koyanskaya of Darkness

My special little princesses. Play this song while reading

Mash Kyrielight number one forever, saber classes artoria pendragon nero claudius siegfried void shiki miyamoto musashi ibuki douji barghest archer classes david arjuna oda nobunaga artoria pendragon archer swimsuit james moriarty tomoe gozen calamity jane nightingale santa sei shounagon zenobia lancer class scathach artoria pendragon lancer artoria pendragon lancer alter brynhildr tamamo no mae lancer minamoto no raikou lancer swimsuit ereshikigal elizabeth bathory rider class medusa francis drake artoria pendragon santa alter astolfo sakata kintoki rider quetzalcoatl artoria pendragon rider alter swimsuit leonardo da vinci rider murasaki shikubu rider swimsuit caster class mephistopheles cu chulainn caster tamamo no mae nursery rhyme helena blavatsky xuanzang sazang nero claudius swimsuit nitocris leonardo da vinci shuten douji caster ascelpius chen gong artoria caster assassin class phantom of the opera jack the ripper mysterious heroine x ryougi shiki assassin shuten douji scathach assassin first hassan nitocris assassin osakabehime okada izo yu mei-ren kama berserker class sakata kintoki vlad III caligula tamamo cat nightingale cu chulainn alter minamoto no raikou mysterious heroine x alter hijikata toshizo atalante alter jeanne d'arc alter berserker swimsuit xiang yu arjuna alter mori nagayoshi salome miyamoto musashi swimsuit brynhildr swimsuit morgan sei shounagon swimsuit ibuki douji swimsuit ruler class jeanne d'arc saint martha swimsuit sherlock holmes qin shi huang quetzalcoatl samba santa artoria pendragon swimsuit ruler himiko leonardo da vinci swimsuit james moriarty lily iyo avenger class edmond dantes jeanne d'arc alter angra mainyu gorgon antonio salieri demon king oda nobunaga space ishtar kama avenger swimsuit nitocris alter alter ego class meltryllis passionlip sessyoin kiara okita souji alter ashiya douman xu fu larva tiamat mooncancer class bb bb summer sessyoin kiara swimsuit archetype earth foreigner class abigail williams katsushika hokusai mysterious heroine xx voyager van gogh mysterious idol x alter kukulkan pretender class oberon beast class draco nero

#zerav responds #thanks. i went a little silly goofy with this one

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

Iron Widow, Chapters 1-5

Wu Zetian is a vicious woman and I love it. I adore it.

I can appreciate a main character that's a little bit feral. It's hardly like she's wrong to be so, either. She lives in an extremely misogynist society, her feet have been broken and bound into "lotus feet", and her sister was killed. Used as energy to power a giant mech that fights alien bugs. I think, though, that while these all might be reasons for her attitude, I don't think they're the end-all be-all, as though she were a perfectly docile women enriched in feminine manner before. No, I think her internal drive, her anger, all of it are intrinsically herself.

Important because these are nominally masculine traits that I haven't often seen depicted in a female lead. Usually I tend to see the modern-typical example of fantasy womanhood, that of competence, coolness, a collected attitude over a mental storm. It's anecdotal, I totally admit, but my experience so far with our heroine has been so refreshing for my personal reading life that I can't help but bring it up. I wonder, a bit idly, if Author Zhao's editor often argued with them about Zetian's character. If whomever was overseeing was worried that Zetian would come off as "bitchy" or "unlikable". Something I've seen a time or seven when a lady character expresses herself in any way that is less than perfectly "reasonable".

In a book so steeped in gender and its roles, it's hard not to talk about its parallels in the real world. I expect I'll have much to say about it down the line, as well.

For the rest, the substance of the story, I want to say that I appreciate the kind of earnestness Author Zhao presents their world with. It's a bombastic, vibrant, up-front world. The last thing I would expect from a book is a type chart that shows the five elements' strengths and weaknesses on the front page. The mechs transform in response to spiritual energy, and their forms are shown int he first pages. Ah! It tickles me how unapologetically fucking radical it is. So far there have been no long sermons on why having animal mechs that become bipeds are tactically the best choice for humanity's defense, and I hope there never is. I'm with you, I am along for this ride, my disbelief is liberated from my body by sheer force of my love for giant robots.

For the meat of what's happened, as I've said, Zetian's sister has been killed. Her spiritual energy was used up by Yang Guang to pilot the Nine-Tailed Fox. This is seen as business-as-usual by everyone in society, even Zetian's own family. And it is frustratingly heartbreaking that it's so, everyone seems to be on the page that this was the best possible thing she could have done with her life. To be fuel. Because isn't it? Isn't it better to give up a life to the Prince-class Pilot than let the Hundun threat breach the wall?

No. No, not in the slightest. Not even a little bit. Because the truth is that she never gave her life willingly, the society around her told her, her entire life, that it was all she was worth. That's not a choice, nor a noble sacrifice. It's a tragedy that these women are all doing this, clinging to the faintest hope they'll be a Balanced Match when they're given over as Concubine to a pilot.

Yizhi, ah you sweet boy. He wants nothing more than to save Zetian's life. There's no way she'll ever assassinate Yang Guang and come out alive. But the fact of the matter is that Zetian doesn't want to live under this system anymore, doesn't want to deal with the inevitable pile of bullshit that would fall on her and him. She's poised, hairpin in hand, to strike at everything shes grown to hate. Yizhi can do nothing about it at this point, even if they could have had a quiet life. But of course they can't, and not just because of Zetian's decision, or because Yizhi didn't "fight hard enough" for her. Their entire society set this split into motion, and it's all the more sad for it.

And all the more gross when we meet with the selection process for a new Concubine Pilot. It's exactly what you expect. They're all told to, in essence, be emotionally responsible for Yang Guang. To comfort him, to give him anything he wants, even their bodies. Even their minds. Seeing as how piloting is a melding of minds, after a fashion. Be meek and submit, they all say. I find it no surprise that the very picture of this "ideal submissive woman" was Zetian's biggest obstacle to getting picked. Xiao is everything Zetian isn't, all her fierceness is in guarding the system built to use her, and she folds to the words of authority in moments. It's why Zetian is ultimately picked, she'll be interesting for awhile and then, like all the rest, she'll be gone. Sooner the less fun prettyboy Yang has, I presume.

It might be the very battle that starts now.

#live reading #iron widow #maeve's iron widow readalong

[127-mile]

Hi!! What are some of your fave books you've read recently? I'm really curious pls feel free to ramble

Hello! I got really excited when I saw the notification, so thank you.

I've read "This is how you lose the time war" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, and let me tell you, it was a short book also a ride! A ride mostly because not a lot is explained, you are dropped in a scene, in a world you have limited informations about despite it being our world, you have technology, a war between the past and the present/future.

BUT! It's also a love story, some kind of enemies/rivals to lovers between Red and Blue, two women who belong to different timelines, different sides. And it's epistolary in between the scenes, and the ways the letters are made/found are explained and it's genius.

I become bored quite quickly when the romance is too much, but it was subtle and sweet when the feelings realization happened. It was definitely worth the read and I recommend it if you haven't read it.

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I was in a bit of a reading slump for a few days and because it was becoming frustrating I read a book I already read a few times. It's called, "Quand vient la horde (when the horde comes)" by Aurélie Luong, book that came out last year so there is no translation (something I hope will happen because this book? 10/10)

A little backstory you didn't ask for, I had never heard of the book or the writer, but one day I went into my favorite bookstore and she was there, so curious I asked her to tell me about her book, and the passion in her voice when she did convinced me to buy it. It's also her first book being published, so I hope she goes far and gets more of her work published.

It happens in a medieval Korea with some Russian touch, as they have invaded the country years ago. The main character, Ivan, survives daily. He is poor, lives with his childhood (and only) friend, when, one night, he gets kidnapped by the white horde. The soldiers of the White Whore, a beautiful woman with white hair who has a goal, avenge her little sister and is not afraid to draw blood. Ivan is the bait. He wants to survive, he wants to get back to his friend and for that he has to play the horde's game. He doesn't have a choice. He does what he is told, get money, and plans his escape.

So it's also a enemies to lovers, but with vengeance being the main point of the book.

I think I could talk for hours about this book as I left a big part of my heart inside. The ending is heartbreaking honestly. The book is dark, touches sensitive subjects but it's nicely written.

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I have to talk about Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. It was a book I wanted to read for so long. (and the author is extremely funny, I follow them on social medias and it's always very fun to see them)

The book has as inspiration for the main character Wu Zetian, the first and only female Emperor of China in the late 600s.

The book is science fiction, lgbtqia+, feminist, with pocs, disabled main character, poly and big robots and aliens, another enemies to lovers (trigger warnings to definitely check before reading)

It's hard to explain the book, so let me copy and paste the summary:

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

I'm not that into science fiction, but I was curious. I do have to admit I was lost a few times with some terms used for the robots, and also had a hard time imagining things in my head, but I liked the way her relationship with Shimin changed, and there's also her complete opposite with whom she is friend, a rich man who wants to protect her.

The ending had me on my ass! The second book was supposed to come out in April but it was changed to 2024 and I can't wait.

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Other than that.. I recently started Caraval by Stephanie Garber. The reason is funny, I saw a book at the bookstore "Once upon a brokenheart" and loved the cover, but then I saw I needed to read the Caraval series first, so here I am. I'm currently on the second book and it's pretty okay. I like the universe of Caraval.

I read "The Invisible Life of Addie Larue" by V.E. Schwab at the beginning of the year and it became one of my favorite pretty fast. It was so nicely written that I can't help but recommend it.

I usually only read horror and thrillers but I haven't been able to find much good ones so I've been trying my hands at other books.

What about you? Tell me everything!

#aura's asks #jnyonghoon ♥ #this is so long I'm sorry #please stop by anytime to talk about books it makes me so happy #you made my night