#not trying to say that the way she treats her sons is justified because she's traumatized!

[keepthetension]

been in the Bad Brain place lately, so i've been struggling to finish writing about why chef mhon's character makes sense to me, because of

a) the long-term effects of the WORLD SHAKING trauma of your life partner abandoning you AND of being unable to feed yourself and your children b) being unable to process said trauma much (if at all), as you then hit the ground running to make a living in the aftermath (in a new city with no support and with who knows what marketable skills) c) the stigma of being a divorced woman in a society that will blame you for being the reason your marriage failed in the first place, and will also blame you for any way your children step out of line d) the difficulties of achieving success as a working mother when employers see women as flakier, less-worthy hires, especially in a male-dominated industry

and how no amount of money or stability will ever seem like enough, and how difficult it is to trust anyone plus how easy it is to see everything as a potential danger to the stability you fought tooth and nail for, and how it makes sense for a traumatized person who never had the time and support to work through their trauma to project all kinds of things onto their kids

but apparently she just kinda. walked it off?

#last twilight the series #not trying to say that the way she treats her sons is justified because she's traumatized! #just felt that these aspects of her life were missing from the general discussion about her behavior #and like i WAS kinda disappointed mhok's trauma never came up again so i guess i should be glad that was foregrounded this ep instead #and i didn't think she'd like FORBID forbid day from seeing mhok given her relative chill at seeing them together at the end of ep 10 #just like. would've been nice to get a bit more of the journey she went on #ANYWAY there's no need for me to finish the long-ass post i was writing! so here's a basic summary instead! #again i am NOT saying she gets a free pass because trauma #just fascinating that there's sympathy for some kinds of trauma but not others. and some expressions of pain and trauma but not others #and i get it! she's not just making decisions for herself so ofc the audience reaction will be different! #but i feel like this show is about grief and trauma and support and recovery #and chef mhon is an excellent example of what happens when you DON'T have the support you need for recovery #and your trauma and pain bleed out of you in ungentle ugly ways #(i suppose the other example is rung though that is a COMPLEX situation that is NOT simply about lack of support)

[0luv9]

forlorn || mattheo riddle

Summary: based on this request.

Beware: angst, fluff, slightly aged-up characters, Hufflepuff reader, sweet reader, she/her pronouns used, mostly in second person, jealousy, mistreatment, a little bit of blood, slightly commanding(?) and intimidating Mattheo.

Words: 7.8k (not beta read)

Note: I am sorry luv, I don't think I did justice to the request. I also apologize for taking so long. I still hope you like it, even if it's just a bit. @cat-loves-music

Mattheo Riddle, son of Voldemort, or Tom Riddle if you will—for a more humane approach. But then, there's no humanity in the way he's treated. Always an outsider, always a monster.

There is wealth to his name; after all, he is the only living heir of Salazar Slytherin. However, his blood is corrupt, shunned by the very people who kissed the steps his baby feet took. Looked down on by the blood supremacists and not accepted by the other side, the "good side."

Even he was tired of the same sob story. He doesn't even need to introduce himself; they already have a preconceived image of him in their minds. He could try to fix his image in an ideal world, but even then, what would he say?

'Hello, everyone, I'm Mattheo Riddle, son of the man who once threatened your lives. Please welcome me with warm hands.'

Too cliché? Yes, but it's true and the only truth he knew.

Riddle didn't even know why the name Riddle was cursed and didn't know what his father did that made everyone's hate transcend generations. What made their hatred justified and his hate a crime? He didn't know until it was too late.

Mattheo was raised by the only living relative of his, his mother's aunt—the one who died recently. The one who kept all this hidden away from him hid all the Hogwarts' letters, raised him like her own, and protected him until her last breath. She loved him but all within the vicinity of the manor. He didn't know the world that existed beyond those walls.

He knew about the world outside only through the books she'd let him read. He thought it would feel liberating to step off the lavish floors onto the rich earth. It was everything but that.

"But Nona, why can't I go outside?" he remembers asking that silly question when he was about nine. What he wouldn't do to get that naivety back.

"Because, my dear, there are people out there who wouldn't like you. There are bad people outside ready to punish you," he also remembers crying when she told him that. He didn't understand why people would hate him. He just wanted to try the chocolate frogs he read about.

He just wanted to talk to all the different animals out there, the same way he could talk to the garden snakes.

"But I didn't do anything wrong, Nona. Tell them that I'm a good boy. I can even give them some of my toys. Will they like me then?" If only it were that easy. His Nona cried for the first time in front of him then, looking at all the toys he had set onto her lap, looking at her with teary eyes, pleading, "I didn't do anything wrong, Nona, I promise."

Mattheo didn't understand her tears back then, but now as he stands all alone, those same tears fall out his eyes. It's useless. "They'll know that someday, moon pie. You aren't wrong. They'll know." They'll know? What a fucking joke.

Mattheo tries to enjoy the view in front of him, you know. But how can he? When his batchmates are out there partying and enjoying life, he's been a lone wolf all his life. Yet in moments like this, he seems to forget his old ways of existing.

There's not much he can do anyway; he's not needed anywhere. In fact, they all want him gone. Finding beauty in small things is hard when misery clings to him. There's self-loathing in the way he thinks about the night and himself. There's nothing positive he can say.

You'd think that he must've gotten used to it all by now. No, he hasn't; it only got worse. At least little Mattheo held hope that people would understand someday or the other. Every bit of hope was destroyed by the very people who would've feared him had his father been alive. In moments like this, he wished he could see the man, live as the son they paint him as.

He'd have someone to lean onto then, someone to call his own. At least his father would've loved him. But this last bit of consolidation too was stolen away from him when he got to know that he was a backup plan for his father. Mattheo Riddle was not supposed to exist. His father wanted to live on forever; he was the last option the so-called Dark Lord had, to produce an heir and have them further his cause, and control his life as Tom lived on his last lifeline.

But all of it died with him. Mattheo promised himself that he would never be the man they all expected him to be, the man they wanted to point fingers at. So, he stayed in line. But then he thinks, sometimes, maybe, what if—you know?

He simply stares up at the brightly lit sky, it's a shame that he's the only one out there to appreciate the scenic beauty because he's physically and mentally incapable of appreciating anything, you can't blame him now, can you?

Cold breeze in mid-August, how fucking ridiculous just like this life of his, so unlike his peers, who were out there partying and having the time of their lives, the music vibrating through the walls was like salt on wounds. He'd like to drink a few and chat with his friends but then again, he hasn't got any. And it's the bitter truth that he's not welcome there, he'd be greeted with nasty looks if he tried to enter any such party, they'd all glance his way like the ominous thing he is. It's times like this when he really contemplates it.

Mattheo looks down from the height he's on, no one would care anyway, the fall will kill him, might just give it an actual try unlike those previous attempts- he's been a coward all his life, never ready to face the extremes of life but he has nothing to protect at the moment, he's come far too long, life was never going to be worth it.

He climbs over the railing onto the brick ledge, sitting down for a moment, to take it all in for the last time ever. Mattheo remembers all the whispers that followed him, the suspicious looks passed along the way, those words of disdain- at the same time the thoughts of a happy life enter his mind, it all feels unattainable, in fact, he's so far gone he can't even picture joy, all he sees is bright colours when he thinks of a happy life.

Mattheo had desperately sought relief all his life, but the pain only worsened with time, it's only reasonable to want to end this feeling of hopelessness. The weight of his family's legacy feels heavy on his shoulders. He slouches over and looks down once again, sighing as his eyes shift to the ring on his finger, the other Gaunt ring, he slowly removes it- a pathetic heir he is, he doesn't deserve it, couldn't live up to the name, disappointing both sides of the world.

Maybe they should have destroyed this along with his father's ring but apparently, his dear sweet Nona thought he could change their fate, change the course of history, change the Gaunt legacy for the better, fuck- he couldn't even try and change people's perception about him. Even in this sense, he's nothing like his predecessors, incapable of leaving a mark, of changing the world, be it for the better or the worse. He's just fucking worthless- he fiddles with the ring as he shifts a bit closer to the edge, ready to let go of it.

"Nice ring," he turns around startled, "Mattheo, isn't it?" not Riddle? He hadn't heard his own name in a long time, no one had directly addressed him in years let alone called him by his first name. It all feels foreign, he simply nods not knowing what to say. "Do you mind if I join you?" you don't wait for a response though and carefully bend and climb through the gaps between the two rails, settling down beside him. "Hi, I'm-" he doesn't hear it, he's too focused on your face, you were dolled up, for the party he thinks, but then why are you here of all places? Was this some kind of prank? He steals a glance back at the entrance and the seemingly empty hallway, to see if anyone is waiting for a reaction.

"You know you shouldn't sit so close to the edge, you might fall down," you grab his forearm urging him to move back, your hand feels warm on his skin, it feels unnatural, his hands are always cold. Even though it's on him for a couple of seconds he can't help the multiple emotions going on about in his mind and before he can sort them out, his mouth decides to act on its own, "Why aren't you at the party?" "Oh-" you look disappointed, and he apologises right away, not wanting to upset the only person who had the decency to talk to him, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," he's quick to defend himself, it's a natural response after all but you only seemed amused, "No, it quite alright, I was just surprised by your voice-" "Is it that bad?" "Gosh no! It's just not what I expected, quite rough, it's nice," you are quick to shut him up, "And about your question, I am annoyed at my friends forcing me to try more drinks and all, I just came up here to relax."

"I can leave if you'd like," you add on as an afterthought, but you really didn't want to go, it was the only place with some peace, unlike the loud corridors and dorms, where you were mad at your friends and were in no mood for a party. "No, it's quite alright, I was just surprised," he tries to lighten the mood, repeating your words jokingly, it works, you laugh and properly look at him instead of the waters ahead.

"Haha so funny," you say in a monotonous voice, trying to act like you didn't just laugh but you can't contain your smile, and he finds it quite beautiful. You look down at the ring between the two of you, "it's a beautiful ring I must say," You compliment it again since he hadn't acknowledged it before. Mattheo thanked you quietly trying to think of a response that might not make you run away from him.

It's been only a few minutes and you've said more nice things to him than he has ever heard in his whole life, it's quite ridiculous when he thinks about it, seemingly you find it quite easy to compliment him. He stays quiet not knowing how to take a compliment, but you don't let the silence continue, you look around trying to find something to talk about and soon enough you start talking and he's glad, "You know about those plants right there?" you point to the shrubs at some distance from the castle walls. Mattheo shakes his head unable to recall if he had seen them before. "It's alright but now that you know, you have something to look forward to this upcoming month!" you smile yet again, cheerful that you have something to share.

"What's special about them?" "It's not the plant itself but the fireflies that live there!" Mattheo tries hard to keep up with your energy and pace, "Why aren't they out now? They aren't migratory, are they?" "That's what makes it special unlike fireflies that are present throughout the summer, these ones light up only for the last week of August," "I'll look forward to it," "You should! I missed it last year and then everyone thought I was lying when I mentioned it." Mattheo frowns, "No one knows about them? Not even the professors?" "The professors would know but it wasn't that serious that I'd take it up to them," Mattheo finds it difficult to relate, he always would let everyone know that he was in the right if the facts favour him because no way in hell would he let anyone see him in the wrong light, he couldn't bear to be in the wrong.

And it slips out his mouth, "I would've argued till they knew I was right," "I don't like arguing though, reminds me of my parents, they parted ways because they argued a lot, so I try to avoid it myself," his lips purse trying to think of an appropriate response, "Anyway, you are in Slytherin right?" it wasn't a question, you just knew, "I'm in Hufflepuff, nice to meet you!" you turn towards him and extend your hand with a smile, he can't help but mirror your smile, "Nice to meet you indeed." Your hand feels soft in his, he was finding it hard to let go but you pull your hand back almost instantly- remembering something, "OH right I forgot, do you like chocolates?" Mattheo was quite taken aback by your energetic self, it was infectious, "Of course you do, it's a silly question, I mean who doesn't like chocolate-" you stop midway and fix him with a scrutinising look, "Unless you are some heartless monster-" "Nah I like chocolate alright," "Good good."

You fish through your jacket's pocket and pull out two chocolate bars, "It's muggle chocolate," you place one in his hand, "Muggle? I've never had muggle candy," Mattheo inspects the small sweet in his hand, "You are missing out then!" you chuckle as you take the wrapper off yours, "I'll eat it tomorrow, thank you," He pockets it and looks ahead with a small smile, tonight's beautiful now that he looks at it.

"You are a muggle born then?" Mattheo can't help but want to know more, because how dare his fucking father go after your lot, "Yep, I was surprised you know? To receive the letter, I thought it was some prank but of course, after a few days I realised how real it was, couldn't have been happier, to be away from home." It's funny because all Mattheo wants to do is go back to the gloomy old mansion and here you were saying the opposite, the stark difference between the two of you was obvious to him.

You ramble on and he listens, it's nothing but enjoyable to listen to mundane stories being narrated with such interest, he finds himself smiling a bit too much, to the point where his face hurts but he doesn't care because you are quite the lovely company to be around.

Muggle-born, the same year as him, Hufflepuff, living with your mom- it's not the best back home he gathers that much. You were angry at your friends and were going to hold a grudge if they didn't apologise. He learned a lot about you in that one hour and learned a few things about him as well, he didn't know he had jokes like that OR you were just too kind to laugh at his bad quips, whatever it was he was grateful because you didn't make him feel bad or like a burden. Mattheo was glad that you were the talkative one and that you didn't expect him to share anything if he wasn't comfortable, also the fact that he didn't want to send you running away by talking more about himself.

He admires the fond smile you wear when you talk, the stars reflect a bit too brightly in your eyes, and he inhales breathing in your scent, it's surreal, the moment. Mattheo didn't quite think properly until you left, wishing him a good night, "it was nice spending time with you, Mattheo!" He wonders if you knew how much it meant to him.

...

He finds out your name the next day and sees you everywhere, it's annoying because he was tired since he couldn't sleep thinking all night about you and now he has to see your face again. Now that he knows you, he can't seem to avoid you, earlier it was easy to be blind but now, everything else seems like a blind spot but you. Or maybe it's that his head is not hanging low, avoiding looking up at people.

Mattheo got over the irritation rather quickly, discreetly looking at you, eyes following every movement of yours. But you don't look at him once, he was just like any other guy to you, the realisation both hurts and feels nice, knowing that you don't demonise him but also the fact that he's no one special either. And maybe, he can live with that.

He notices the large number of people you keep around, you are never alone, always surrounded by a group and you are always the one talking, you are clearly popular. How had he not noticed you before? But then again he knew no one in the school apart from the professors, he never tried to get to know anyone because of course his fate wouldn't allow that.

Mattheo seeks out the solace of the library to keep you out of his mind for a while but the plan doesn't seem to work when he finds the chocolate you gave him in his bag. He simply sighs, knowing that there is no escape, unwarps the sweet and pops it into his mouth, shutting his eyes, and recalls your sweet smile. Warmth takes over his body, it feels nice like this, he has to talk to you once again because that can't be the only interaction he has with you, not when it's all he can think about. He breathes out slowly, staring down at the wrapper and mindlessly reading the information on the back, his jaw tightens as he realizes his stupid pathetic feelings. Mattheo puts the wrapper in his quill case and tries to study with a head full of you.

...

Okay, now it was really starting to bother him, he practically couldn't keep his eyes off you, it's like a spell had charmed him in. He wasn't even trying to be discreet at this point, he downright stared at you from a distance, it was creepy, he was aware of that but he couldn't bring himself to give a damn. Mattheo doesn't like this new feeling you've instilled in him, it's sweet and it's fucking uncomfortable. He finds it extremely difficult to get rid of you from his thoughts, so he gives up on trying and lets his mind go on autopilot.

The way you talked to him without any judgement in your eyes that day, the images of you repeated over and over again in his mind. Even when he sees you with someone else he can't help but think you are in front of him telling him a story, with those animated expressions of yours, but then seconds later he comes to his senses and sees the smile that's not directed at him, the one you gave to everyone, him too. He thinks it was your pity, that made you talk to him. He didn't feel like he was burdening you then but now when he thinks of approaching you, he knows he'd be burdening you. Your life looks no different, every day is full of joy, and you aren't smiling any less.

Why would you talk to him of all people? Perhaps, you only talked to him that day because you needed a change of scenery and not because you wanted to, he's wrong in thinking that but he's also deluded. It's the only way he keeps himself at peace, to not see meaning in your words, to not long for your company.

But he's a Riddle after all, some things just run in your blood, he has his eyes set on you and he finds it difficult to look away. New dream of his, and he'd like to have it, no matter how unattainable it feels. Yet he hasn't got a clue, it's all too new, and he doesn't know what to do, he'd like to have a plan but what would the plan even say? Go and talk to her? Yeah, like he's about to embarrass himself in front of her.

...

Your eyes stretch at the sight of him sitting in the library, alone but not in some deserted corner, he had claimed the whole couch in the centre of the room, sitting right in the middle, reading a book leaning back, a frown on his face. He looked intimidating, and to be honest, you were scared of him, the little beer in you that night had given you the courage to approach him, maybe your fate was too kind to let you find him that night but now your nerves were on fire.

It was no secret to you that he had been staring at you the past couple of weeks, but you couldn't understand the look on his face, his jaw was always clenched, eyes narrowed, and not a hint of emotion on his face. Was he mad at you? Was he the planning on-

No. You didn't like to think about it, you didn't want him to be the man they paint him as, he's just a boy, your age, maybe that's another reason why you hadn't approached him. Staying away because you were scared that they'd be right, you'd rather delve into what ifs than actually be heartbroken, your imagination brought you bliss.

But would it really be your mind if it would let you just forget it? You think and think, getting worked up over every little interaction you've had with him. How could he be evil? He talked to you so nicely the other day, even- even though you were a muggle-born, a mud blood. But when you see how he looks at you, you can't help but feel scared.

It really was an intimidating sight, your courage wore thin but you had made up your mind. You approach him cautiously, as you greet him, you start feeling jittery and flushed, "Hey Mattheo."

Mattheo jerked his head up as he heard your voice, surprised, caught off guard in fact, he didn't trust his words just yet so he simply nodded at you, acknowledging your presence, closing the book and setting it aside, all his attention on you. "I came here to study and noticed you," you look around bashfully before continuing, "I just wanted to ask you if you liked the chocolate I gave you the other day, you know the one with dark brown wrapper-" "Yeah I did," He stops you from rambling on, not that he had any problem with it but you clearly seemed nervous, he just wanted to ease your nerves, "Right so-" you quickly pull out a small pack of the chocolate from your sling bag placing it beside him, straightening up, "I'll go then, enjoy-" you are quick to turn away from him, cursing yourself in your mind, blaming yourself for making things more awkward than they already were.

Mattheo stops you in your tracks as he calls you by your name, you turn around, and he speaks in that cold voice of his, "You said you were here to study right?" you nod timidly, clutching onto the straps of your bag, he leans back and with a flick of his wrist, a table and chair are summoned in front of him, "then study," he motions to the chair opposite of him.

You were quite taken aback, you stood there for a bit before actually registering his words, and you quietly sat down, you didn't have it in you to disobey him, he was Mattheo Riddle for fucks sake, he looked and sounded like someone who doesn't take no for an answer.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he watched you carefully sit down, looking down, not meeting his gaze, he couldn't believe it, you obliged his wishes? Mattheo leaned back fully, arms folding as he watched you, brown eyes capturing each detail, amusement crawled over his face as he watched you pull out multiple books all at once, various colourful stationery items sprawled out all over the table. You looked pretty like this, stray strands of hair framing your face, lips pursed in concentration. He knew how creepy he was being, so he opened his book again and tried to read but he simply couldn't not when you were sitting in front of him, he relished your presence and this was so unlike the others, every time he had looked at you- you had been surrounded by people, so it was a sight to behold, only for him to admire. So he did, in secret, glancing up at you, every few seconds.

It's been two hours and not once did he get bored of looking at you, a small smile lingered on his face as you closed your books and looked up at him, "How's that book?" you nod towards the book in his hand- the one he was supposed to be reading, "Good, good" he bites the inside of cheek as he lies through his teeth, "Got everything done?" he sets his book aside, fixing you with a soft stare, "Yes, I just wanted to revise a bit, I forget stuff easily if I don't revise regularly," you tilt your head a bit, his eyes were much softer now, and it made your heart flutter a bit, feeling a lot more comfortable than before, so you do what you usually do when you are comfortable- talk.

"By the way, did you study for the upcoming herbology test?" And before he could answer, you pulled out a piece of paper from your bag, "This is like the holy grail, a senior gave it to me last year, it has all the specifics, of recognising plants and how to make generalised guesses about their uses-" you speak in a hushed voice, slightly leaning over the table, eyes wide as you shared your little secret, "you can have it, I have it memorised haha" You bless him with that pretty smile of yours, pushing the paper towards him, you don't let him refuse the offer and start talking about something else, he gives you a small smile, and it makes your insides turn into mush, you bite your lip trying to contain your smile, eyes shy as you start fiddling with your hands on your lap.

You talked for hours, he was much more open this time, and the conversation flowed smoothly between the two of you, it was you who mostly did the talking but he didn't seem to mind he looked more than pleased, he didn't like talking much, it seemed, so you filled in the gaps, made it look so effortless like it was easy talking to him, maybe it was easy for you but to him, it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. You two stopped only when the librarian came in and told you it was curfew time, your eyes widened as you turned to look back at him, an amused smile on your face, both of you got up, walking beside each other, not uttering a word till you were out of the librarian's stern gaze.

"I made you miss dinner-" your eyes widened further as soon as the two of you got out, stepping into the empty hallway, "it's alright, I don't mind," you playfully rolled your eyes at him, he chuckled at your antics, "yeah sure, but your stomach would, but- we can sneak into the kitchens, you know, sneak some food out," you wiggle your eyebrows at him with a sheepish grin on your face, he scoffs in disbelief, a fond smile gracing his face, "something tells me, this isn't your first time sneaking around."

"No, it's not," you chuckle a bit before continuing, "So, are you coming or not?" you purse your lips, looking up at him with doe eyes and he questions your motives right then because there's no way you didn't have a clue about what you were doing, "would be an idiot to say no," he muttered under his breath shaking his head, "I didn't catch that-", "Yes, I am."

You give him a pleased smile, you looked so happy at that moment, he was rooted in his position as you started walking ahead of him, he had to look away to catch his breath, "Merlin" he exhaled, a hand reaching over to his chest to soothe his loud thumping heart, and in that moment he knew he was a goner.

"Mattheo-?" you turned around since you didn't hear him walk with you but soon he rushed to your side the moment you looked back, you gave him another smile as he walked beside you, he looked straight ahead then, you needed to stop doing that because no fucking way- would he be able to let go of you.

You lead him to the kitchen, both of you cautious, well just you- he was having the time of his life, getting a detention would be worth it, just a small price to pay. Mattheo repeatedly stole glances here and there, the moment you entered the kitchen, you grabbed his arm and pulled his painfully slow self in, "gosh- you sure do walk slow," you glare at him, but there's no malice in your eyes, instead they are just amused, you roll your eyes when he just shrugs in response, moving over to the tables. Mattheo just looked at you with fond eyes, he was just trying to buy more time with you by walking slowly and he didn't feel one bit guilty about it, he felt a bit too proud. 

You sigh dramatically before returning to him with a small tray in your hands, "I didn't find anything else, apart from these blueberry muffins," your eyes wander around once more trying to see if you missed something, "usually there's still stuff left, that's weird- oh well, at least we have these," you give him a small defeated smile, setting the tray on the table, shrugging as you felt that muffins weren't worth the effort of sneaking around and that you only troubled him further. Mattheo saw through you and he hated that you were feeling that way, "didn't I mention this to you? I love muffins, especially the blueberry ones." he gave you a small smile, picking up the muffin, taking a bite, "yeah, that's good, way better than the dry vegetable and chicken pies they make." He didn't look at you as he said that, but you smiled, realising what he was trying to do, you wanted to cry, why was he being so considerate? You were now beginning to go down a spiral, of all the times you thought of him in the wrong light, how dare you even think like that? 

Mattheo caught you staring and it was hard for him to control the heat that rose to his cheeks, he cleared his throat, "What? You don't like these? Well, guess they are all for me-" he teased, taking the tray in his hand and started walking away, "Hey! No-" you rushed after him with an amused smile, "I want one too," and the tray was shoved back into your hands, "better not eat all of them, yeah?" he gave you a small cheeky wink, leaning against the table, finishing the muffin in his hand. 

Mattheo offered to walk you back to your dorm, he didn't have to insist much, after all, you wanted to spend time with him too, you easily agreed after a couple of tries. You two walked in comfortable silence, as you neared the Hufflepuff dormitory, you were thinking about how you'd part ways, overthinking about what would be appropriate and in the mix of it, you just gave him an awkward side hug, squeezing his arm a bit before mumbling a quick "goodnight" and rushing in. 

He couldn't believe his eyes, were you blushing? No way, he must be imagining things. Mattheo could still feel your warm touch lingering on his side, the scene playing over and over again in his mind, he wanted to scream out of excitement- he was getting cuteness aggression, had to be it, his fists clenched at his side as he stared at the door, for god knows how long, if he could- he would've squeezed you into a bone-crushing hug, but you were quick, left him speechless. 

He walked back to the Slytherin dorm without any trouble, he closed the door behind himself and leaned back against it, he was pretty sure his skin was burning with all the warmth that was flowing through his veins. Merlin, he was embarrassing! Mattheo sighed contently, a big smile on his face as he replayed the whole day, your smile- 

...

The next few days, you guys didn't talk at all, he was back to staring and this time, when you did catch him in the act, instead of pretending you didn't see him, you gave him a knowing smile and a wave. Lingering looks, and subtle greetings, were sweet, Mattheo was now on a new high, he couldn't get enough. But for some reason, he maintained his distance, he stuck to looking at you from afar, it felt comfortable this way, not wanting to taint your reputation by talking to you in front of others, he'd talk to you if it was only you but you were never alone. 

Mattheo starts seeing life for what it is, when he looks at the trees outside, the castle in its entirety, he feels like he is seeing it for the first time. How had he missed this? He finds himself back at the astronomy tower, he looks at the lake ahead, it was a sight to behold, and he is starting to appreciate the view, these days he didn't care about much, you were all he could think about and you were more than pleasant, it was as if the grey lens of his life was replaced with a coloured one, and it would be foolish to credit anyone else but you for it, and he was fucking grateful for it. The reason he was here was, that it was the end of August, and the fireflies you so damn wished to see would be out tonight, he came here just in the hope that he'll get to see you alone. 

He was zoning out when some movement near the edge of the lake caught his eye, it was you- with a few of your friends, his smile faltered the moment he saw some blonde Hufflepuff dude pull you to his side, slinging a hand over your shoulder, you all walked towards the shrubs and didn't have to wait long before the fireflies lit up and started raising above the shrubs. He was about to leave, he was mad for some reason, really pissed- but then he took another look at you. You were standing a bit behind your friends, who had all their attention on the flies ahead, you seemed sad, looking down, messing with the soil beneath your shoe, hands in your jacket. Mattheo could make out the pout on your face, the deflated shoulders, you then turned to look right where he was, and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

Your posture straightened immediately, the pretty smile returning to your face as you looked up at the astronomy tower balcony, having spotted him, you waved at him. Mattheo nodded, forearms on the railing as he leaned forward, a smile gracing his features, the anger leaving him. You excitedly pointed at the sky, and he nodded, you turned back around when your friend called you and he couldn't look away, he was staring at you till you left, Mattheo started feeling the warmth creep up to him when he saw you making an effort to steal back glances at him. He felt seen, fucking special- 

...

Mattheo still hadn't talked to you, he couldn't catch you alone really, it was starting to get to him, he longed to hear your voice, hear you talk to him- and yet, he didn't have it in him to approach you in front of others, it would ruin you, you thrived in the company of others, he couldn't snatch that away from you. Maybe if he was a bit more selfish, he'd do it, snatch you away from others, have you all to himself but he wasn't about that life, it was something his father would do, he's sure of it, go after what he wants, not caring what others would think- 

Mattheo feels like passing out when you deliberately look at him just to give him a shy smile, a flushed look on your face. He walks away because he cannot handle looking at you, the urge is too strong, to just take you into his arms, he walks out to the empty hallway, a hand over his chest- it had become a subconscious habit of his, whenever you gave him that smile, the one that felt like it was just reserved for him, yeah that one, he felt like he was in heaven, you sent his heart rate through the roof when you did that, it borderline hurt him since he couldn't do much to satiate this feeling. 

The longing was etched into his eyes when he looked at you, one thing he realised was, that when he had his head up, no one dared to look his way, he was enjoying that power for some reason, it filled his veins with something dark, he liked seeing people look down instead of him looking down, it felt fucking nice, and it felt even better when the only person that did look at him, was you. People averted their eyes when he entered the room, choosing to ignore his presence but the fear was very much evident, so he knew they didn't see him staring at you but at this point, he really couldn't bring himself to make an active effort to look away even if someone noticed. 

It was no lie, that Mattheo wasn't up to date with all the gossip and news, he just lived life passively but now that he was out there more, he couldn't help but hear the words that fell onto his ears, Yule Ball, huh. WAIT- ball dance? That meant having a date, who were you going with? Fuck his mind was rambling shit to him, he could not let someone else take you to a fucking dance as their date, no, he wouldn't let that happen. He had to get to you before someone else did, it was nighttime, and tomorrow's the weekend, approaching you will be the first thing he'll do after he wakes up, he has to plan shit out, you know, make it special and heartfelt, you deserved nothing less.

But his heart nearly broke when he overheard two Slytherin guys talking about you. The way one of them talked about you made his blood boil, his jaw clenched tight, nails drawing blood from his palms as they dug into his coarse skin, "I told you not to ask her out, plenty of guys tried and guess what? She rejected them all." the guy who was being talked to only scoffed angrily, "She's a fucking slut, that's what she is, leading people on-" the other boy just stopped him and Mattheo exhaled, a bit relieved because if it wasn't for him, Mattheo would've smacked the guy and pushed him to the fucking wall, "dude, come on, that's not true, all she did was smile at you when you gave her your seat, she's a nice girl," these guys were in the fifth year, he recognised that much, "sure, whatever," the guy walked away to his room, making sure to loudly slam the door behind him. 

Mattheo then gets up and walks towards the guy left behind, the one who stood up for you, when he stands in front of him, he sees the dude cower into the seat, Mattheo tries to speak in a polite voice but the anger is still radiating off him, his irritated stare didn't help either, "she doesn't have a date, yeah?" his hands were behind his back, over one another, the blood still fresh, "who-o?" the guy stutters out, looking around for help but no one was there- "You know who," he fixes him with a glare, before uttering your name out loud, "no no, she doesn't, rejected them all." Mattheo then nods at him and leans back, then finally he walks back to his room, allowing the guy to catch his breath. 

Mattheo feels relief wash over him as he lets the information sink in, okay good, you didn't have a date but then again, why were you rejecting them all? What if you reject him as well? Yeah, he couldn't handle that wound, he'd fucking die, he contemplates whether he should ask you or not but he's done fucking waiting, waiting for his fate to fuck things over, if things are going to be fucked, he'll be the one to do it. 

...

Mattheo puts on a black shirt and black pants, not caring to tuck his shirt in, the cold metal ring stings him as he puts it on, the feeling is grounding, he's doing something his dad would've done and for some reason that doesn't feel half as bad, he feels like himself, it was like something had possessed him, the confidence was unwavering, even as he stepped out into the crowded hallway, hands in his pockets, looking ahead, people parted, giving him space and Merlin, did that feel fucking powerful. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows as he approached the room you'd be in, you always were there on the weekends, with your friends and he didn't think before he stepped into the room, heads turning towards him in shock, even yours but the shock on your face was soon replaced with a smile, quietly waving at him and that right there, fed right into his ego.

He walked over to you in a few quick strides, eyes zeroed in on you, nothing else mattered at that moment, "Can I talk to you?" To say you were surprised would be an understatement, you were ecstatic, you've wanted this for so long, to talk to him in front of others, you never knew if you should because he might've felt uncomfortable, "Yes ofcourse, what is it?" you nod, a smile still on your face, "Alone," his voice was cold, "oh yeah, sure-" you step towards him, thinking he'd lead you somewhere private but he stayed rooted in his place, eyes never leaving yours, he stayed quiet for a bit, taking in your whole self, the bright clothes you were dressed in, the equally bright smile on your face. Then he looked over your head, to the shocked faces of your friends, "Alone." It came out as an order, he couldn't care less. 

Mattheo liked this newfound authority, he also relished in the fact that you were being so compliant as if you wanted this to happen and he couldn't be more glad, "Guys, I'll be back, you can go ahead, don't worry," you explained, seeing their hesitance, his unwavering gaze was back on you, brown eyes were intense. The apprehensive group slowly emptied the room and just went the last person was out, Mattheo muttered something under his breath, and the door slammed shut, locking itself. 

Mattheo cursed that pretty smile of yours before smiling back, "You have a date? For the ball?" you lowered your eyes to the ground at the question, a shy look grazing your features as you shook your head, the more he looked at you, the more positive he got. "Good."  He finally pulled his hands out of his pocket and suddenly there was a bouquet of your favourite flowers in his hand and a velvet box, he wordlessly handed them to you, your eyes were wide, full of amusement, face warm, you noticed how the lights around you got dimmer, the small mock firefly charms that floated in the air, you didn't have a clue on how he was doing all this without his wand but you couldn't bring yourself to think of it, not when you had him standing in front you, in all his glory, about to ask you to the ball, gosh you felt like you were on cloud nine, the guy you were waiting for had actually approached you? You had to be dreaming. 

Then out of nowhere, you hear your favourite song but on strings, you look down at the box curiously- "It's the muggle chocolate you were talking about, the one you said was hard to get your hands on," he shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal but in reality, he was finding the courage to finally tell you what he was feeling, ask you out. Your brows pinched together, as you noticed that all of it was a muggle, even the flower arrangement- the song, how did he do all of this? You looked up at him with an amused look. "No questions please," he breathed out like he was out of breath, you then smiled at him gratefully, and he quickly averted his eyes, his hand subconsciously reaching over to his chest, "Oh Merlin," he exhaled quietly, not being able to look back at you. 

He then slowly gathered the courage to look back at you, you were just looking at him patiently, the smile still on your face, Mattheo cleared his throat before opening up, "I have never been the one to be graceful but I want to do this properly." he inhaled sharply before continuing, "Ever since that night, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, I think I've gone mad honestly," He lets out a dry chuckle shaking his head, looking into your eyes, "I think I've taken a liking to you, your voice, your smile-" and then he interrupts himself, forgetting the little speech he prepared as he watches your smile widen at his words, "yeah that, more of that please," and that makes you blush, the genuine interest in his eyes, the way admiration shines in his eyes, you are so close to him, that you can hear his heart thumping loudly, "I'd like to have the honour of taking you to the ball," then he says your name quietly, "would you like be my date?" 

"Yes yes!" you couldn't be more excited, you are quick to throw your arms around him, and all the worries leave his body as soon as he is subjected to your embrace, he closes his eyes, pulling you closer, finding everything comfortable in your grip. His heartstrings thrum at the moment, it was embarrassing how quickly you got him flustered but he didn't seem to mind it. He whispered a small "thank you," before hugging you tighter, you just giggled into his chest and Merlin, did he feel like he had just won the lottery.

...

<<prev work: this love || mattheo riddle

#mattheoxreader #matheo riddle #slytherin boys #mattheo riddle x reader #matheo riddle x reader #mattheo riddle #oneshot #slytherin

[vickyvicarious]

"For your mother's sake."

It hits so hard, on multiple levels. First, what this might mean for her. It's her final effort, the most impactful thing she says after religion, superstition, outright pleading on her knees and crying all fail. She knows that she can't stop him from going, but at the very least she will try her best to protect him as much as she can. She places the crucifix around his neck herself, doesn't just hand it to him.

Did she lose a child to Dracula in the past? Is she seeing echoes of her own son in Jonathan's face? Or perhaps there have been brave young men who tried to fight back against him, who deliberately went to the castle and never returned. Maybe Jonathan is the first person she's met who is actually trying to go there, and while she knows it can only end in his death, the idea of letting anyone go willingly to that evil place is more than she can bear. She's giving up a piece of her own protection. The Count has been sending letters to her husband; he was the one who suggested Jonathan stay here. He knows of her. If she shows any resistance it could mean greater danger for herself, and giving Jonathan her crucifix means losing a powerful totem of self-protection. If he actually listened to her warning, she can probably expect a terrible fate of her own; maybe even just giving him the crucifix alone would be enough to ensure that. But again, whether he reminds her of her own lost son or just because he doesn't know what he's getting himself into, she can't bear to do nothing. She places herself in the role of his mother here. "For my sake," she's saying, "let me do what little I can to save you. Please."

Jonathan is an orphan. We don't know the circumstances of his childhood, but it's possible that he never even knew his mother. (It's my headcanon.) Even if he did, she has been gone for a long time now. And yet these are the words he can't argue with in the end. He was already taking her seriously, and trying to treat her with respect. Her warnings were obviously distressing to him, but there's no way he can actually turn back now. His livelihood depends on this trip, he has no actual evidence to justify leaving, and he also wants so badly to live up to Mr. Hawkins' trust in him. He is already "thinking of his father" (or the closest he has) when he says he has to go to the castle. And yet, the care and fear and love this woman is showing for him hits so hard. I wonder if he is thinking of his actual mother when he accepts the crucifix. Whether the concept of her or an actual memory... Or maybe he too is placing her in the role of his mother here. Maybe, in keeping the crucifix (and not just with him, but around his neck where she placed it, even as he rides away) he is saying yes to that implicit request as well. "I'll let you care for me. I'll accept it gratefully." It's the first motherly care he has probably felt in many long years.

In this book, children are placed in terrible danger again and again, and most of the time they can't be saved. Parents and parental figures are equally doomed, leaving our heroes all orphaned in a sense, unable to rely on any greater source of wisdom or comfort. They have to take things into their own hands and deal with the problem alone, despite still being caught up in grief for what they've lost - a kind of coming of age in that sense. There's even a literal version of this happening with both Arthur and Jonathan (and Mina) specifically, when their father figures die and leave them with sudden new responsibilities. And of course, the inheritances from these father figures help in distinct and immensely useful ways, even as they remain absent from the story throughout. They haunt the margins at best until death steals them away completely, and their illnesses tend to serve to divide our heroes from one another when they needed to be united sooner. I personally don't count van Helsing as a father figure really, but if you do then he is the only one who manages to be around and be directly helpful (and even then, he's unable to save Lucy), even though all the fathers we hear from are loved and loving. But we do actually meet a few mothers, and they are usually unable to alter the story despite being more present. Their efforts to save their children are misdirected and only bring about their own death as well, in the end. Lucy's mother seems to mean well but everything she does directly makes everything harder; the mother at the castle later tries to avenge her child possibly against the wrong person, and in any case is unable to succeed. But here, the innkeeper's wife with her crucifix manages what no other mother does. Even though she assumes this to be another wasted effort (in fact, she can't bear to remain in the room with him afterwards; re: Dracula did such a good job with the hopelessness in her voice when she says the 'mother's sake' line), her assistance helps Jonathan to survive. His 'inheritance' from this momentary mother-figure isn't just the physical crucifix, though that is useful (and also the only inheritance a mother leaves for a child throughout the book, even when it would be expected and easy and make complete sense to do so, ahem). It's also the first and the most knowledgeable and the most effective aid given to a 'child' throughout the entire book.

#dracula daily #re: dracula #dracula daily spoilers #crucifix lady #jonathan harker #dracula meta #my meta

[stxrrynxghts]

Subhadra (and Draupadi)

I am gonna be talking about what I dislike on the way this woman is treated by ppl, including shows and stuff. This is just my opinion, don't cancel me over this.

Subhadra is someone who is mostly seen as Krishna's sister, Arjun's wife and Abhimanyu's mother, mostly. She doesn't actually have her own identity when we talk about her. I have seen people downright act as if she is Draupadi's "slave", which is not fair. Subhadra is her own person, who should be seen beyond the tags of a sister, wife and mother.

But then, this specific set of people HATE it when you point out that Subhadra IS Abhimanyu's mother. She is the adult who was with him for the major part of his life, and who was responsible for his upbringing, not Arjun, not Draupadi, not Yudhishthira and definitely not Karna.

The show, Star Plus Mahabharat, did a great job in showing Subhadra as dumb. She doesn't know that it is a diagram of a war formation, she doesn't understand what her brother is saying, and she is stuck in this bubbly, naive, childish character, who is somewhat of a third wheel between Arjun and Draupadi. Now, I like Draupadi aka the CANON Draupadi, not any show's version.

See, I like Draupadi, and it is not wrong to show a relation between her and Abhimanyu, BUT, pls keep in mind that Abhimanyu has not been around these people since 14 years. How can he be this close to Draupadi (and Arjun) out of a sudden?

Abhimanyu, in the show, never mentions Subhadra, not even once. It is a pretty light thing, very minor, and it is a show with many inaccuracies, and their portrayal of Draupadi is not accurate in any sense. Didn't they show her say that she won't marry the son of a suta, an event which is clearly, not canon?

But, what has happened, is part of a "domino effect". I have read many stories, on certain other writing platforms, and there you can clearly see the effects of this type of writing.

Abhimanyu, in these stories, has no regard for his own mother. Draupadi, in these stories, is the center of the Pandava world. She only loves Arjun, Krishna and Abhimanyu, while her own sons, other husbands and brothers are disregarded by her.

Subhadra is accused of marrying Arjun, and of "stealing" Draupadi's son. These writers, who are 12-13 year old kids, with no knowledge of the actual story, try to "uplift" Draupadi as a character but end up villainizing her instead.

Honestly, one story even justified Draupadi snatching away newborn Abhimanyu from his mother. She also pays 0 attention to the Upapandavas in this story. Thankfully , it was taken down a year ago.

Subhadra is vilified for being Krishna's sister, Arjun's wife and Abhimanyu's mother, by many. That is not right. I am repeating again, that I absolutely have no problem with the canon Draupadi, but the one who is shown by some people? No, I don't like her. Because she isn't Draupadi, she is a different version of her.

Even the shows don't do Subhadra justice. BR Chopda barely gave Subhadra any screen time. Radha Krishn did the same. Suryaputra Karna did not even bother including her, as did Dharmakshetra.

And Star Plus Mahabharat? They ruined most all female characters. Most events related to Draupadi are well...fictional. Her birth, her meeting with Krishna, her meeting with Arjun, the circumstances that lead to her wedding, the villification that follows in Hastinapur, the division of Indraprasth, in the Rajasuya Yagya, many parts of the Game of dice, the incognito year, her knowing about how her sons are going to die, and because of which her subsequent reaction in the War, and in the end, Gandhari's reaction to her, are all events which can be considered fictional. This isn't how the main female Protagonist should be treated as, folks. And well, btw, when they aren't paying attention to characters like Kunti and Draupadi, why will they do anything right with Subhadra?

Subhadra's meeting with Arjun, the Kalyavan thing, Subhadra's marriage with Arjun, and her pregnancy are all botched up to the extent that now, after I have read some stuff here and there, I don't even want to watch this show.

Before writing a hate comment, pls re-read the parts where I have stated that I DON'T HATE THE OG DRAUPADI. And as far as I know, any shows portrayal of hers doesn't count as the real Draupadi. This became kind of a mix on both these women, and y'all who are my friends/have checked my other posts KNOW my opinions on Draupadi and Subhadra both. So , pls, I have a mental health too, and I am not trying to undermine any character.

#mahabharat #mahabharata #subhadra #hindu mythology #draupadi #dont hit me plz #i dont want to die a premature dearh guys #i cant believe that i went from worshipping this show to the point of hating it somewhere #when u know that ur show is a red flag but still like it #*sigh*

[dirtytransmasc]

What’s Jake and Neytiris reaction the Absolute scolding Ronel gives them

I feel like there would be a moment of silence, ronal staring at the two with anger and them just looking back so thoroughly shocked that they have nothing to say. tonowari is just behind her, not showing a speck of disagreement within his barely hidden grimace.

neytiri wants to fight back, doesn't just want to take this scorn, but jake is trying to keep her quiet, knowing that it would be better to just talk it out.

"with all do respect, but you can't just take our kid,"

"you do not treat him like your child, you do not care for him, you do not love him."

"you have no right" neytiri would hiss, cause she's being backed into a metaphorical corner and she's not liking.

"did you realize he stopped eating? that he hasn't slept in a proper bed in almost a week or that he barely talks? did you even notice his pain, here" she places a hand on her forehead, "or here" she motions to here heart.

Jake would probably wince, try and pull Neytiri back, trying to calm the situation. "we've all been grieving, we just lost a son, you can't expect us to be perfect"

"and has anyone been there for him, helped him mourn?"

silence from all parties, Neytiri shocked, Jake biting his lip

"Its not that I expect perfection, I expect bare minimum, I expect that your son be cared for. what I expect is that he be loved and by the way he reacted to me and tonowari? I doubt he has had that."

"what are you accusing us of?" Neytiri bites

"he believed being loved was asking for too much, he felt like being offered a bed to sleep in or food he could actually eat, was too much. when he collapsed from hunger while aiding my son in the clean up, he thought being given aid and support was taking too much attention. He flinches from me and my mate's touch, he dismisses any sort of attention, he tried to deny medical care. He is in pain, he is scared, and yet he is more worried about pulling attention off of himself than letting us take care of him. why is a child so self sacrificial? why is he so scared of being loved, of being given attention? why does he feel so undeserving?" her voice was trembling as anger was turning to tears.

at that point both mother's would be falling into their husbands, ronal exhausted, neytiri in shock. tonowari clenching his jaw in attempts to keep his own eyes from water, and jake with his mouth agape, jaw on the floor after hearing of his "son's" condition.

"you will go back to your children, you will love them as you have loved them their whole lives, and you will leave spider in our care, and you will stop questioning me. spider is deserves more then this, more then what he has been given." her voice quiet.

"we understand that your feelings on the boy are complicated and in a way justified after all you've been through; the skypeople, the rda, the people he came from, hurt you so horribly; you put that blame on him because you were hurting. But do not think we will allow this to continue because you selfishly want to hold onto him." tonowari finally speaks, his own voice is just as choked as his wife's.

neytiri looks up at jake, nods, before turning away and back to their hut, something heavy and undefinable written all over her face and body. jake stays back, his whole body starting to tense and shake.

"we never meant to... he was just, I-"

"we know, so do the right thing, and give him up" ronal cuts him off, she doesn't sound like she agrees with her words, but she bites her tongue.

"yeah, right, just... just treat him right, I know you will, but..." the words die on his tongue, and slowly, he turns to leave, knowing that this was the night he lost a second son.

#their reaction would be anger. disbelief. and hostility/bargaining (depending on the person at hand) #but ronal would shut that shit down hard and fast #ficlet style answer because I can #ronal #tonowari #jake sully #neytiri #spider socorro #miles spider socorro #miles socorro #avatar spider #spider avatar #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #spider tonowari'itan #hi'i'tsyil te fkew'weopx tonowari'itan

[sokkastyles]

I'm really interested in knowing your opinion on the power dynamics between Azula and Zuko. Azula's abuse of Zuko seems far more subtle and insidious as compared to Ozai's overt abuse, so I'm really curious as to how exactly she abused him. I really appreciate that you have a nuanced grasp on the topic and I'd love to know your thoughts!

Hello!

I see that you already found this post where I talk a bit about power dynamics. In that post I address some common misconceptions, specifically about the idea that Azula can't abuse Zuko because he is older and a boy, but that's one of the things that actually marks the dynamic as abusive, because Zuko would normally have power over Azula given those things, but he doesn't. You would think he would think of himself as more powerful than Azula, but because of the way Ozai favored Azula and treated Zuko as a scapegoat, Zuko sees his younger sister as much more powerful and capable than himself. And because he's been conditioned to think this way about his sister, he's easily taken advantage of by her.

And yes, it is a lot more subtle than Ozai's abuse of Zuko, not just because it's not typically what we think of as abuse because of Azula's age and gender, but also because it's different than Ozai's overt violence towards his son. Although Azula and Zuko do fight, it's not Azula fighting Zuko or trying to capture him that makes her abusive. Not even when she announces her intention to kill him. That kind of stuff is typical for the genre, so it's not abuse.

Abuse is about power dynamics, and like I said, Azula takes advantage of the power she has over Zuko. The word "gaslighting" is thrown around a lot on this website, but that's what it is when Azula, for example, comes to Zuko deliberately lying to him about her intention to take him back home and that Ozai wants him back, mocks him for being skeptical and mistrustful at first (which he should be), until he finally agrees to trust her, then pulls the rug out from under him and mocks him for believing her. Not only is she playing on what she knows Zuko's deepest desires and insecurities are, she's deliberately playing on his doubt to make him question what's really going on, because it's easier for her to be in control if Zuko can't trust his own perception of what's going on.

Although Azula's abuse of Zuko is more subtle than Ozai burning his son's face, you can be sure that Azula learned how to pull her personal type of psychological manipulation from Ozai, too, because it's exactly what Ozai does to Zuko psychologically right before burning him, by forcing him into an agni kai that he can't possibly win, punishing him for simultaneously being "disrespectful" and for not fighting back. No wonder Zuko has a problem processing what his father did to him. Ozai deliberately messes with Zuko's perception of events to keep him under his control.

Ozai does this to Azula, too. Take, for example, when he makes her stay behind in the finale, letting her be crowned fire lord but in a way that feels like a punishment. She's his golden child, and thus better than everyone around her, but if she can't live up to that exacting standard, she has nothing to fall back on. She doesn't know why she feels empty after getting everything she seemingly wanted. She blames her mother for her unhappiness because it can't be that her father did this to her. That's what Ozai wants her to think, anyway.

We see Azula repeat these same patterns with Zuko. And although Zuko does not believe that Azula is good and justify her treatment of him the way he and Azula both do with Ozai, he does accept it because he's been conditioned to by Ozai. He occasionally tries to fight back, to argue with her, but he never wins those arguments, partly because he's been psychologically conditioned to believe he's inherently inferior to her, and partly because Azula having Ozai's favor gives her power over him. Azula knows she can say or do whatever she wants to Zuko and get away with it. In the flashbacks we see that even their mother's influence is not enough to stop her, and Azula knows that, too. We see Azula treat Zuko cruelly and then outright lie to Ursa about it on multiple occasions, we see her taunt him in front of both their parents because she knows she can get away with it, and when Ursa finally is no longer able to reach her children, Azula very explicitly taunts Zuko with the fact that Ursa is no longer there to protect him and stop her from doing whatever she wants to him. We see Zuko try to defend himself from Azula by telling himself she is lying, that she's just trying to scare him, etc., but when she asks him "who's going to stop me? Mom?" we see his face fall because he knows that he has no protection at all.

I see a lot of people dismiss this as normal sibling behavior, but you have to look at the context in which it takes place. Azula doesn't just say mean things to her brother, she says things that she knows Zuko can't counter against because she has Ozai's blessing - and in fact, his encouragement - to treat him cruelly, and Zuko was raised in an environment where he was told he deserved this treatment. And again, she repeatedly utilizes this power dynamic to make Zuko doubt his perceptions. Which is why I push so hard back against the idea that she was just trying to "protect" him in book three when she holds her lie to Ozai about him killing the Avatar over him and tells him he should be grateful about it, or that she's just trying to protect him by warning him to stay away from Iroh (who actually IS trying to protect him), or that the scene where she belittles him for daring to question the FN propaganda which they were taught growing up is a "nice sibling bonding moment." None of these are nice moments. They are moments of abuse and Azula is complicit in keeping Zuko in a situation that is abusive and keeps telling him he should be grateful to her for it, while constantly belittling him at the same time, which reinforces the idea that he should be grateful because he doesn't deserve or know better. But he does, and he's right. He's right to question the things she says. He's right not to trust her, and he's right to fight back, when he starts to gain the confidence and perspective as the series goes on to be able to do so, and he doesn't owe her for "defending" him to Ozai when she brought him to Ozai in the first place, knowing what their father did to him before. It's not help if you're the reason the situation exists in the first place, but that is a manipulation tactic utilized by abusers, and Azula learned very well from her father.

#zuko #azula #ozai #abuse cw

[suuho]

people treating sangdo as a villain or evil person in welcome to samdalri just because he lashed out when he was hurt, is so beyond bizarre to me because he is absolutely not? intended to be an evil person, or a bad character, or the villain. yes, he is written as the second lead, so obviously he will show interest in samdal, and yes, that includes resenting his best friend for falling in love and “getting” the girl sangdo has loved all his life, too (and by that, rendering the claim of yongpil’s first love irrelevant, which is part of the point and subtext of his tantrum, because to sangdo, and culturally, it means he has as much of a chance with samdal as yongpil—or should have, if she ever would have reciprocated his feelings, or have given him the time of day the way he wanted her to).

sangdo is not evil, and he is not worthy of being treated like a villain. human relationships are messy, and people who have grown up together have a lot of history that informs such relationships, and it will inevitably lead to conflict. people will say shitty things when they are hurt or feel slighted, and friendships are not always easy, and demand work, support, understanding. when one person falls short of that, or feels wronged in a way, there will be consequences, and feelings never make things as cut and dry as they’d preferably be. that is just human life, and welcome to samdalri shows the very real, muddled truth of these sort of relationships. any relationship, really.

on top of it all, in comparison to yongpil, whom everyone loves and adores, and who is written in a way that shows him as a universally good, friendly, caring and down-to-earth character, who is sort of the entire village’s son or care-taker, sangdo would always appear less than. narratively, that is the way sangdo has been framed, and the way he was set up. i personally find it interesting that there is tension between yongpil and sangdo—tension, that, by the way, mostly and quickly dissipated when they started fighting about trivial childhood matters—because it shows a very real relationship, and friendship. sometimes, at your worst, you resent even the people you love, and you love them anyway, and show up for them anyway, and you try for them, anyway. because that's life.

all that said, i am not excusing what sangdo said, because it was obviously stupid and immature and wrong. samdal is her own person, she could have never been stolen by anyone if she didn't make that decision herself. sangdo is speaking from a place of hurt here, and his own personal point of view. that doesn't make it right, but just his own, extremely subjective opinion fueled by anger and hurt in that moment. and he shows up for samdal, and protects and supports her right after that, anyway. with yongpil, even!

the fact that people think he is as bad as the photographer and her boyfriend is insane. the fact that people read him as a villain is frankly alarming. why one would think this man is a villain and not just a multi-layered, very real character, who is capable of getting hurt and saying shitty things, is beyond me. it is just so fucking bizarre because, yeah, when real, actual people are hurt they will act irrational and rash, and say shit they either don’t mean or that is just plainly to strike out and hurt, or justify their hurt. it is insanely human. why is that so hard to grasp. don’t you want multi-layered, well-written characters?

#welcome to samdalri #kaz talks #i’ve had enough of the slander!!!! idc!!!!!

[horizon-verizon]

I get now why Alicent is standing by a lake or frolicing in the grass:

https://t.co/v9ooj39C9t

Based on the trailer, it looks like she’s still trying to be the voice of moderation on the Green Council, the name given to the faction which supports Aegon’s claim to the throne. “Who can she trust? There’s no one around her,” said actor Olivia Cooke. “Everyone, it seems, has been spying on her. It’s this sense of peak paranoia within her own home. That had to really permeate throughout my performance. All of a sudden she’s of no use to anyone. She’s done what she was supposed to do — put her son on the throne — and now she’s discarded. Who is she if she can’t be the person to implement wisdom?”

However, in a way, her new role is freeing: “Oh, I could do whatever the f--- I want and no one cares. All of a sudden I’m not important. I’m not a player,” Cooke said. In a very giddy way, that’s really novel and exciting.”

REMEMBER WHEN HER DELUSIONAL STANS SAID THAT ALICENT WILL CONTROL AEGON, THAT HE’S JUST A PUPPET AND FIGUREHEAD, AND ALICENT WILL BE THE REAL RULER AND THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE 😂😭

I’ver NEVER EVER hated a character as much as I hate her, oh my god, she crowned a man while knowing he’s incompetent, sadistic and unfit to rule, she started a massive and devastating civil war that will result in hundreds of thousands of deaths, her daughter fell into madness after her child was beheaded in front of her, but she happily choose the “Après moi, le déluge” approach, she choose to let everyone down and force them to clearing up the mess SHE created.

"Après moi, le déluge" -- "After me, the deluge". An expression meant to convey a nihilistic view or dismissal of what will happen after and/or in consequence of your actions after your death. Or removal from a situation.

I agree, she's still trying to moderate everyone as if she hasn't been the one to participate in their coming to power out of her own jealousy, and I hate that the show has tried to make us feel sorry for her or think her relationship with Rhaenyra is in anyway real, since it also seeks to validate Alicent's bigoted jealousy against Rhaenyra for not being compliant with "the rules" enough.

Some might say "that's the point"; I'm saying that the way it's written--thus the thing itself as there is no other version of this relationship--we are encouraged to commiserate with Alicent or feel more amenable to her feelings and her role as "peacekeeper" while being as unobservant as her about the state of affairs surrounding and determining Rhaenyra's conditions. I have never seen more people so sexist towards the girl and woman who tries to find her own happiness in this violently patriarchal world than in this fandom, and yes there is illiteracy and bigotry regardless but it is also because:

The show has both made Alicent much younger when she married Viserys AND much less intelligent/scheming--this more vulnerable & genuinely trying to make peace and "girlfail" for sympathy points. We don't witness a pattern (basically not enough scenes of how she regards and treats people around her during the time between the wedding feats and Joffrey's birth) of the jealousy the show claims she has for Rhaenyra.

We've had to had this show explained to us by the actors afterhand AND/OR/BECAUSE some of us have had to really sit and go over the plot holes, inconsistencies, quick character switch arounds, etc. -> to trace how exactly Alicent got to a point where she thinks Rhaenyra "tramples" duty and sacrifice "under her pretty foot" and her resentment for Rhaenyra not being as unhappy as her/not acquiescing to her queenly authority that she hangs onto to justify her own suffering

As for Olivia's words:

However, in a way, her new role is freeing: “Oh, I could do whatever the f--- I want and no one cares. All of a sudden I’m not important. I’m not a player,” Cooke said. In a very giddy way, that’s really novel and exciting.”

....Yes, I know we've only gotten trailers...but nothing we've so far seen from those trailers AND how they have already characterized Alicent as wanting her Queenship to mean something because of her suffering and thus her resentment towards Rhaenyra for not also complying in season 1...this is, let's say, very odd and contradictory.

Yeah, this is good to show TG stans that Alicent is not the power they think she is. It also portents--in my eyes--of more logical inconsistencies in the writing for season 2.

#asoiaf asks to me #house of the dragon #alicent's characterization #hotd characterization #olivia cooke #fandom critical #green stans #hotd writing #hotd #hotd critical

[just-some-random-girl]

It really says something that the Helluva Boss fandom is willing to excuse every evil action Stella does and every evil thing she says, especially her abuse towards Stolas and begging for her to have sympathetic traits, yet not once have I ever seen an HB fan desperately wishing for Crimson or Mammon to be portrayed more sympathetically than they are in the show and call it bad writing when they don't show any redeeming qualities. The fandom just accepts the fact that those guys are pure evil without batting an eye. Nobody asks why they're the way they are. But Stella? Nope, there MUST be a sympathetic reason for her being an abusive bitch to Stolas because it's apparently "unrealistic" for a woman to abuse her husband out of spite never mind the fact that those kinds of women actually exist in real life.

These images pretty much speak for themselves.

Crimson, Striker, Mammon, Andrealphus and Valentino are no less two-dimensionally evil than Stella is. What reason did Crimson have to murder his own wife and make his son experience it? Just to traumatize him? The show never really says why he does it, he just does it so the audience can have a reason to hate him. What reason does Striker have to help Stella try to kill Stolas? None, as far as we know. What is there to Mammon's character other than abusing Fizzarolli and being a greedy asshole in general? Why does Andrealphus flirt with his own sister and participate in her scheme to have Stolas murdered by Striker? Because reasons. Why is Valentino a rapist who takes advantage of Angel Dust and sexually abuses him? Just because he can. What makes Stella any different from these guys other than being female?

Fans are just asking for her to be more sympathetic because she's a woman and they can't accept the fact that women are capable of abuse without trying to justify it. The whole "behind every bad bitch is a man who made her that way" bullshit. People who see a woman beating her husband in public and automatically assume he did something to deserve it even if they have no evidence or context for what actually happened. Even though Stella has been treating Stolas like shit before he cheated on her, and he likely wouldn't be sleeping with Blitzø if she wasn't so horrible to him in the first place. He never even puts his hands on her and allowed her to abuse him so that Octavia could live and grow up with normal parents. (As normal as Stella and Stolas could possibly get with each other, anyway.)

Stella made fun of Stolas for not participating in sex with her and laughed about it while he was standing 2 feet away from her, and knew he was there. Whether or not she raped him to produce Octavia is a discussion for another day. If anything, Stolas cheating on her was revenge for treating him like garbage for so many years. She humiliated and embarassed him in public before getting a taste of her own medicine when Stolas does the same to her in return. She wouldn't even let him divorce her because she enjoys being mean to him. I wouldn't mind if Stella was given more charaterization outside of "abusive wife" but honestly? I don't really care if she's given sympathy or not. I don't want to sympathize with her. If Valentino isn't gonna change his ways any time soon, I have no reason to believe that Stella can. FFS Stella apologists make me mad. Even if you type in the "anti stella" tag on tumblr there are more posts defending and excusing her actions than those actually opposing her and saying "uh, no, she's just a cruel bitch" meanwhile if you type "anti Stolas" that's exactly what you're gonna get, pretty much exclusively.

Goes to show how hyper-sensitive tumblrinas are over female characters rightfully being portrayed as in the wrong when they fucking are.

#helluva boss #anti stella goetia #male victims #female abusers #double standards #fandom hypocrisy

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

Anti-Snape propaganda: his whole reasoning for opposing wizard fascism was ‘oh no, my tragically unrequited crush (who hates me because I called her a slur when she was trying to help me and cruelly married a man who bullied me in highschool) might be in danger!’ If Lily was a Pureblood, he would have no reason not to stay a Death Eater. He’s the one who puts her life in danger in the first place, while spying for the mass-murdering blood supremacist, and he only feels regret and switches sides when it affects him personally.

(In addition, it’s highly insinuated that there was more to the end of the friendship than Snape calling Lily a slur, although, you know, that’s reason enough. She mentions that he’s already hanging out with future death eaters who make her uncomfortable, which definitely presents the possibility he’s already entrenched in the gross racist views whether or not he likes her personally).

This is the quote where he goes to Dumbledore:

“The — the prophecy . . . the prediction . . . Trelawney . . .”

“Ah, yes. How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”

“Everything — everything I heard! That is why — it is for that reason — he thinks it means Lily Evans!”

“The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July —”

“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down — kill them all —”

“If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”

“I have — I have asked him —”

“You disgust me.”

Yeah, he was totally cool with trading away the lives of his high school bully and his supposed true love’s newborn baby (who she died for! But he cares so much about her happiness, right?) as long as he got to keep Lily Potter like a muggleborn pet. Because let’s be honest, muggleborns weren’t considered equals by the Death Eaters, and I can’t imagine the woman who sacrificed herself to save her child’s life would be super fine with just letting her family be slaughtered in exchange for ‘mercy.’ How would he deal with her horrified trauma? Would he be keeping her under lock and key, or…? I think it’s reasonable to assume some pretty fucked-up implications for the whole ‘I asked the Dark Lord’ comment.

Also, lots of people justify his creepy sadman act (where he used his academic authority to bully the abused orphan who dared to be related to his highschool bully) by saying he was abused and bullied himself, like that doesn’t make it worse? He knows what that’s like, and he inflicts that pain on others, while remaining constantly self-pitying. Additionally, as though his motivation for actively trying to make the eleven year old orphan’s life miserable wasn’t stupid enough, Harry is absolutely not the only one he treats this way. He torments a ton of Gryffindors over the years, so either he just enjoys preying on the weak, like Neville (who in no way resembles James Potter, and whose family life was ruined in part due to the prophecy Snape revealed), or he’s taken his childhood bullying trauma to the next level by assigning it to a quarter of the school population! I’m not saying getting bullied isn’t terrible. It’s very traumatising in some instances and I do feel sympathy for his experiences. But Snape is not a sympathetic figure or hero to bullied children, he’s just a hypocritical self-pitying incel who wilfully plays straight into the circle of generational trauma. If anything, the fact that Harry didn’t grow up to bully children who reminded him of Snape makes him the true champion here.

Sorry, this is stupidly long. I guess I have a lot of repressed rage about the TERFiest of books and how much crap I’ve heard justifying poor writing in the past.

#cw slurs #cw racism #cw bullying #cw harry potter #not a poll #ask #anonymous #propaganda #anti propaganda #anti snape #snape #harry potter

[bbygirl-aemond]

Kind of a random question, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts:

Of the children of Jaehaerys and Alysanne (both dragonriders who seem to have hatched cradle eggs) we seem not to get very many dragonriding children.

Even discounting the children who die very young (Aegon, Gaemon, and Valerion) (you could put Daenerys in this category, but she died at 7 and Rhaenyra, for example, was dragonrider by that age so I'm not going to) there are only then three dragonriders (Aemon, Baelon, and Alyssa) out of the 10 children that did make it past infancy. Even moving Daenerys into the died young category, we are still left with 3/9 - only a third.

We could add in Rhaena's children, which would make it 4/12 (or 4/11 without Daenerys), but that isn't a large change.

Comparing that to say, Rhaenyra's children - almost all of them, 4/5, were dragonriders. Even with non-Targaryen women as the mother, Alicent's children ended up 4/4, and Alyssa Velaryon's Targaryen children were 4/5.

Even looking at Jaehaerys and Alysanne's grandchildren, they are 3/4 (Rhaenys, Viserys, and Daemon but not Aemma), discounting the Aegon who did not survive infancy.

(Sidenote that I do find it incredibly sad that Jaehaerys and Alysanne, for all their many children, only had four surviving grandchildren).

Do you have any thoughts on what seemed to cause this particularly low percentage of dragonriders just in that one generation?

Okay so long story short: They probably didn't want any of their daughters to be dragon riders if there wasn't a possibility that they'd be the future Queen. All of the daughters who never claimed dragons were married off to other noble families super young, and would have taken their dragons with them. Plus, if those girls never claimed dragons, it would make it easier for Jaehaerys to justify refusing their children dragons in order to keep the Targaryen dragon monopoly.

(Also, I not sure you should count Daenerys based on Rhaenyra, because we don't have a ton of information on what is the typical age for a Targaryen to claim a dragon; most of the confirmed ages are in their teens.)

Let's look at the three dragon riders out of Jaehaerys and Alysanne's children. We have Aemon, the eldest son, who was the heir and would one day be king. We have Baelon, the second eldest son, who for a long time was Aemon's heir (and was honestly expected to be his heir until he had a son, so remained this way even after Rhaenys was born). And we have Alyssa, who was married to Baelon, AKA guaranteed to remain within the main family, AKA one step away from being a future Queen.

Compare this to the non-riders: Saera, Viserra, Gael, Maegelle, Daella, and Vaegon. Notice how, with the exception of Vaegon who likely never claimed a dragon because of his personality and distaste for his heritage, they're all girls. I don't think it's a coincidence!

Jaehaerys and Alysanne treated pretty much all of their daughters like accessories rather than people, and only gave attention and power to their sons since they were potential kings. I also don't think Alyssa counts as an exception to this rule; I really think Jaehaerys and Alysanne only allowed her greater freedoms because it happened to line up with Baelon's desires, not out of inherent care or respect for her. She happened to want to marry Baelon and to claim a dragon, but if Baelon hadn't wanted to marry her I truly think these things wouldn't have been allowed.

So I don't think Jaehaerys and Alysanne had any vested interest in their daughters being powerful or having dragons. In a time of peace, they wouldn't really feel a need to bypass their misogyny. And since they knew they were going to force all of these poor girls to marry off really young, they viewed dragons as a liability that would end up in other houses' hands. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the girls were discouraged or even straight up forbidden from trying to claim dragons. I mean, think of the reaction Jaehaerys had when Saera tried to enter the Dragonpit to claim a dragon: He accused her of trying to "steal" a dragon, and sent her to be abused, beaten, and starved by the Faith for years on end. (Yes, there were other reasons for this, but it's explicitly said that Jaehaerys would have forgiven her if not for this single action.)

And the remaining girls who aren't mentioned as attempting to claim a dragon either left King's Landing or died when they were young. Maegelle was promised to the Faith at age 10, Daella was married and sent away at age 16, Viserra died at age 16- every single one of them younger than Aemon was when he claimed his dragon at age 17. Gael was 19 when she died, which isn't much older.

All this is to say, I'm not sure that this statistic reflects that none of these girls were capable of claiming a dragon. In fact, I'm certain that Saera, Viserra and Daella would all have succeeded in claiming one if they'd been allowed to. But most of them lost the opportunity to while they were still teenagers, and it's very likely that Jaehaerys did not even allow them the opportunity to claim dragons at all.

#ask #asks #answered #hotd #house of the dragon #jaehaerys i targaryen #alysanne targaryen #jaehaerys targaryen #jaehaerys #jaehaerys i #alysanne

[thekingofwinterblog]

In fiction, especially in fantasy stories, there are several ways in the universe past is treated.

It can be completely explained in detail from a starting point to "present" day, it can be shrouded in myth and legend, with what actually happened being very hard to piece together, like a song of ice and fire, or everything people thought they know about history turns out to be wrong, like the Stormlight Archives.

Dragon Age has elements of all 3, depending entirely upon which part of history we are talking about, and what characters.

However, onebrather unique way it handles this kind of writing is the Story of Andraste.

While the games, books or other media of Dragon Age always keeps the question of whether or not she really was divinely blessed, whether her maker was real or invented by her to justify her message, and whether this maker if he be real was actually the creator god of this universe or just a stupidly powerful spirit, deliberately vague and without an answer, in most other regards Dragon age takes the unconventional approach that it gives us a lot of the answers from day one during the trip through the Temple of Sacred Ashes, and only then has characters in-universe hotly debate the topic of her life, while we, the reader, sit with all the answers and can judge it for ourselves.

Maferath, Andraste's Husband

Maferath is treated astonishingly well by in universe historians considering how badly he fucked everything up.

This is the man who turned his wife over to the Tevinter Imperium in exchange for a poorly planned peace deal, and then rather than at least try to keep the nation him and his wife built together, divided it up amongst his sons, shattering any semblance of unity Andrastianism had after Andraste's death, and setting the stage for the dozen lesser states of modern Southern Thedas, the tyranny of the chantry, and the Tevinters continued existence.

And yet in universe historians try to rehabilitate them, the same way real historians try to rehabilitate objectively terrible monarchs like King John of England, or ancient massmurderers who they claim didn't really commit their murders despite all evidence to the contrary.

Maferath reason for turning over Andraste must have been because he thought their strategic position was terrible as a result of Andraste's actions, and so in the aftermath of Andraste's greatest victory, he made a deal to consolidate their gains, at the cost of his wife's life.

Nope, he did it because he was couldn't handle the fact that for all his military genius, it was Her who rallied the people together, it was her who everyone loved, and if total victory was achieved, it was no doubt going to be her who would get all the credit, while he would be a footnote.

And so he betrayed her to get her out of the way in a manner that would still allow him to become famous and celebrated, all the while making an absolutely terrible peace deal.

The fact was there was no such thing. There was no great plan. No idea of making himself into a target everyone of his own people could hate and rally against.

He was simply a terrible politician with a fragile ego, and a big complex about being seen as the best, biggest, and most impressive man around, who couldn't handle the fact his wife was more important than him, and so he threw everything away on a terrible peace deal, when his wife was at the tipping point of destroying the Tevinter Imperium, and forging a new super state composed of all her followers... And then he stupidly broke the empire apart so each of his sons could be king in their own right.

All so he could attempt to become bigger an more loved than Andraste, when it's very clear that she was the political brian in this union, and he an utter fool in anything that wasn't battle.

Shartan, Thane of all Elves

Shartan is speculated to be many things, his history is forgotten, buried, rewritten and so on.

Some historians try to say he never existed. Others that one, single elf could never have achieved so much success on his own, there must have been more than one man who took the name, a bunch of rebel leaders who created a legacy for themselves.

Some claim he was won over by andraste's charm and converted to the maker. Other's that he must have been Andraste's lover for her to favor him so.

In his death some say he was slain defending Andraste, others that he fought his way to her pyre and died there, while one claim that he died besides her at a pyre of his own is dismissed as obvious fiction.

The reality is that Shartan was indeed a man, did indeed rally the elves to Andraste's cause, but was never a true friend of Andraste. His and the Prophet's alliance was one of convinience, in his own words "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", and they did indeed have a shared enemy.

His motivation had nothing to do with the maker, and everything to do with his dream, his dream that his people would one day have a home of their own... But he was betrayed, just Andraste was.

And through the witness of the spirit carrying the memories of Hessarion's wicked and evil wife, we learn what became of Shartan. He and all of Andraste's Warleaders(Except for Maferath) was publicly executed by fire.

Shartan did indeed die on a pyre, right besides Andraste, but there was not sword of mercy for him. He died slowly, and painfully, and ultimately forgotten, just like the other warleaders.

Another soul lost to Maferath's betrayal.

Hessarion, The Lying Archon

Hessarion claims to have heard the will of the maker in Andraste's final moments, and used that as justification for his converting the entirety of his Imperium to the chant.

But this is a lie.

Whether he truly believed in the maker later in life, or not, Hessarion did not hear a voice from above telling him to kill Andraste. He did it for no other reason than that he could not bear to see the woman in pain and suffering, and so, acting on that impulse, he ended her life quickly and decisively rather than leave her in pain.

Hessarion built his ultimately doomed reforms of the Twvinter Imperium on complete lies about a holy vision from God. Whatever his intentions, it was built on a big, fat lie, not true, genuine belief in a higher calling.

Cathaire, the Witness

Historians claim that Andraste's miracle might not even have happened, that the Barbarian Queen merely took advantage of good fortune, but those who were there knew the truth.

For as the original Cathaire tells, the Barbarian Horde witness the fire of the sun coming doen to the Earth, scorching the land, inflicting such a destruction through fire and drought that the Imperium's entire harvest was gone, and so their armies could not march to fight Andraste's army.

And only then did the heavens open up, and create such a flood, that all that yet remained in the lands they passed were washed away like filth.

Whether it was though the will of God, her own incredible magic, or some mighty spirit's work, Andraste's miracles were real enough, and they brought her and her armies through to victory, all the way to the gates of Minrathous, where the betrayal from inside did what no Tevinter armies or spells could defeat.

Brona, the Seer and Mother

Much and more has been said of Andraste's visions, wheter they were real or not.

But what we do know, is that there was one close to her, who saw her future through the gift of magical and/or divine foresight.

Brona her mother, as her child slumvered beneath her heart, had a vision that told her of her daughter's life, and how it would end... Something she tried, and failed to stop.

The ability to divine the future is not unheard of in the Dragon Age universe, as shown with Flemeth, but as proven by Players chaoice in their actions, the future is rarely set firmly in stone.

Hawke will make the world shake before them... Provided of course they aren't killed fighting a Demon in the Fade.

Flemeth foresees her own death at the hands of the Warden, and takes steps to avoid it, but the Warden can choose to spare her life instead.

Compare the fickle, and uncertain nature of those predictions, with Brona's stonehard vision of her daughter's entire life from childhood to death, and it becomes clear that whatever force it was that defined Andraste's life, it was something with immense power, unlike mayhaps anything else seen in the series.

#dragon age #andraste #dragon age origins #hessarion #archon #shartan #maferath #brona #the maker #meta #historians #cathaire

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda under the cut

Ginny Weasley

Okay hold on I know Harry Potter is bad its awful I KNOW BUT LISTEN- the way drarries have BUTCHERED and KILLED her character is something that truly needs to be studied because its one thing to make her and harry not date but oh my god they treat her like she is the DEVIL for EXISTING.

Tbh only remember the epilogue where they do a time skip and Harry and Ginny are married then they have a Bunch of kids boarding the train. In fics I see a lot of her either becoming psychotic trying to marry Harry and become lady potter or molly Weasley getting a contract to force a marriage. There’s a lot of m/m ships in the fandom but I think Harry and Draco are the most popular? Just wanted to throw someone different in here

The thing is, the deeper I got into the fics, the worse Ginny got? Like I read plenty of good fics where she was cool, but there was the same amount where for some reason she was controlling, or abusive, or dead. Like for Drarry? Come on! If you think Ginny sucks, I have some *shocking* news about Draco

Erina Pendleton

Erina is SO MUCH MORE than just a "Generic Love Interest" that was brought in the story to continue the bloodline after everything that happens (and it's made abundantly clear time and time and TIME AGAIN that she means everything to Jonathan, to a point that she was his exact reason to standing up against Dio for the first time) but without fail she's only ever allowed to be the supportive best friend. Or a wingman for Jonathan and whoever he's being shipped with. Or simply supposed to sit there and allow her husband to have a male lover (the amount of posts I've seen of ppl using the excuse that 'it was very common back in the Victorian Era for men to keep male lovers that their wives were aware of and quietly accepted so it isn't a stretch to say that Erina and Jonathan wouldn't be the same--especially given how progressive she's written". Or of course my favorite when they completely erase her from the narrative and pretends she doesn't exist Jonathan's got their son for some reason, but nope she ain't there! 

a lot of times ppl who ship her CANON HUSBAND jonathan joestar with speedwagon will put her on the back burner of HER OWN CANON RELATIONSHIP in favor of propping up jonawagon, to the point where 90% of the archive for jonawagon/jonawagon(eri) is either erina giving jonathan and speedwagon consent to be happy together while she acts like a #LoveIsLove wingman OR they'll have the audacity to write fics where erina comforts speedwagon at HER HUSBAND'S FUNERAL

Our hero’s hot wife who was the first (and arguably) only person to give him the emotional support he needed. She’s the only person who never expects him to fulfill some mythical role, she just loves him for who he is. She’s been his best friend and the love of his life since he was 12 years old. When it comes to hero/sidekick ship, she’s forced to be a wing woman for her own husband, either nobly letting him go or peacefully agreeing to an open relationship but only for him!!! She gets nothing out of it, she’s just a good Victorian wife who is “ahead of her time”. Usually, just so she can provide a womb so that the hero/sidekick can be dads and she can conveniently be offscreen. OR she’s written as a lesbian in order to completely and “justifiably” take her out of the equation but there’s a.) no other woman in her vicinity to even ship her with b.) there’s vaguely some faceless, nameless woman we’re meant to assume she’s pursuing, not even a real OC for her. 

#round 1 #poll #ginny weasley #harry potter #erina pendleton #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #phantom blood

[ystrike1]

Between Yearning and Obsession - By Karasumashimei (7.5/10)

Sadism is a character trait that is often written as a fetish. It's not used as the main character trait for a love interest very often. I'm not even sure if the sadistic love interest will be the endgame villain or not. Our former lady turned servant heroine has two men to choose from, and the sadistic one is the obvious looking loser. That makes me suspicious. It's a little too obvious.

This is Julia. She pretty clearly used to be a noble woman, but now she has nothing. Her childhood friend is currently "protecting" her. Without his favor she wouldn't have a job or a roof over her head.

Julia is super traumatized by some kind of mysterious incident. Camille is the only person left in the world who actually knows her, and treats her like a person. She also doesn't have a voice by the way, unless she's speaking to him. Camille has blessed magic that temporarily relieves curses.(He's probably using magic to take away her voice so she can't make friends) So, Julia is disabled and she's a low ranking maid. She can only speak to her only friend, who just so happens to be the second son of the man who owns her.

Jealousy.

Jealousy fucking everywhere. All of Camille's servants, including Julia, adore him. He's generous and his magic is gentle. He is their pride, and everyone prefers him over the actual heir. Camille's affection for Julia makes her a target.

This ugly guy is the actual heir. He beats up Julia almost every day. He's pissed off all the time because he knows his younger brother has more power than he does. He hates Julia. She's not actually that great at servant work, but he can't fire her. Nobody can because Camille pities the useless, disabled Julia.

Camille pays attention to Julia. She cries and vents with him. She only speaks to him. Most of the servants believe she's pretending to be mute to get his attention. Jealousy makes people strange. The servants think Julia is the villain, who is taking advantage of their angelic master. They also think she's whore who is trying to seduce their beloved master.

Camille really, really likes it when Julia relies on him. It turns him on. Yuck. It makes him a rather unique sadistic yandere. Obviously, he will never let her die. However, he's more than willing to starve her and let his brother beat her. He's also ok with the other servants constant abuse. I think he's the sort of yandere that sees the object of their affection as a pet. Not in the fetish way. In the literal way.

Julia grew up beautiful because of course she did. That makes the envy even worse. Camille adds fuel to the fire. He invites Julia to lunch. He tells the cooks to feed her pastries. This is a very strict society. The cooks are not allowed to eat the fancy ingredients they prepare. When Camille tries to make them give Julia things he's kind of spitting on them. He's blatantly saying that Julia is more important than them. Naturally, they blame Julia because Camille isn't suspicious. Even Julia doesn't suspect him.

She gets locked in a shed. She almost gets raped. Camille is watching the whole time. Possibly with magic. Julia often goes to bed hungry. She cries herself to sleep alot. She is trying by the way. She's not lazy. Whenever she finishes her work the maids in charge literally dump garbage around her. Just because they cannot stand her. She can't be a competent maid. She has to be a villainess. That's the only way they can justify their own behavior.

Julia adores Camille absolutely. I cannot wait for her to notice his string of betrayals. The second love interest hadn't even appeared yet, but I like this one. The psychological warfare is nice. Camille is an unpredictable yandere, and the servants are to be feared. I truly believe that Julia could be murdered soon. The jealousy Camille cultivated is seriously that bad.

Look at how toxic this relationship is?! Look at it! Are you creeped out? I am, and Camille also seems like a serious threat. Some yanderes are a little too cute, but I don't think Camille can be stopped by anything but force.

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon #Between Yearning and Obsession

[emmafallsinlove]

in lost and found too, lorelei even admits that she’s noticed that jess’s super into rory. and because she’s upset and has built up so much resentment towards him, she intentionally makes a comment she knows will upset him because she knows he likes her!! ie; “she’s madly in love with him” and that her current boyfriend is wonderful so she’s sure jess’s envious. like, lorelei!! you’re allowed to be upset and to not like him but there’s no need to make it that personal. you were both super immature there but he’s seventeen. he’s allowed. and she does the exact same move when he returns in season four too. i love lorelei but man

no because it’s pisses me off as well! like sure, you can say that lorelai is very worried about jess and rory friendship because of the thing she heard about him, and maybe, you know - in a motherly perspective ways she has reason to be. but he didn’t hurt rory yet. yeah, he talked back to her when he first arrived to her house, stole a beer out of the fridge and was very frustrated about her talking down on him and being condescending because he’s a 17 years old kid that has been shipped of to unknown town with unknown uncle because his mother doesn’t want him.

but in lost and found…. the thing is, they both try and make that effort. she offers him lunch, they crack some jokes, she asks him questions about his school life because she genuinely wants to get to know him because she notices how important that is to rory. but the second rory comes back home screaming about dean’s bracelet, all this good effort and good intentions are gone out of the window.

the fact that she automatically assumes that jess stole something from rory’s room annoys me because it’s means the whole deal she made up with luke about jess coming and helping the day before wasn’t even real. the fact that jess says “i wanted to buy that (the book he lied about checking) for her (rory)” isn’t enough to convince her maybe he’s good. maybe he loves my daughter. maybe he cares for her.

instead, she gave him the money he worked on, and attacking him on the porch, a 17 years old. and when jess annoyed, rightfully so, he snaps and say “i wouldn’t call him (dean) son yet” but he is right. rory is 17, she’s gonna love other people, gonna have other relationships and lorelai justifying dean all the time is just wrong.

the thing about him coming back in s4, i get where lorelai coming from, i really do. this boy broke her daughter heart, left her without calling or say anything beforehand, so she wants him out of her daughter life. but it’s not a way for a 40 years old to talk like that to a 19 years old kid. he is a kid! how can people justify the way lorelai treats him? this is just wrong.

i just hate all of it because i think, in another universe, under other circumstance, they could’ve have a good relationship because they are the same basically and she could’ve loved him.

#jess mariano #lorelai gilmore #lorelai x jess #gilmore girls #ask*

[jackoshadows]

There’s two reasons for why the Stark ethos of ‘The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword’ is upheld as custom and tradition, passed down through generations of Starks from the times of the old Kings in the North. 

One is, of course, the reasoning that Ned Stark gives Bran. If one is going to execute a man, one should look into their eyes and understand the weight of that decision. Killing a man or taking a life should not be an easy decision. We see this in practice with Jon Snow twice – once with Ygritte and once with the old man at Queenscrown, where he refuses to kill someone because it’s not right, even if the stakes are high.

More importantly, it is also political in how it firmly places the enforcement of justice in the hands of the Starks. By ensuring justice is meted out by the Starks and only the Starks, House Stark hammers into place their role as benevolent rulers maintaining law and order, peace and stability on their lands. The saying that ‘There must always be a Stark in Winterfell’ is partly connected to the Starks being the personal arbiters of justice. They don’t use executioners or headsmen – they do it themselves. Ned Stark personally went after Jorah Mormont to execute him for selling poachers into slavery. Alys Karstark went all the way to the Wall for help because a son of Ned Stark was there. As the Liddle says:

"When there was a Stark in Winterfell, a maiden girl could walk the kingsroad in her name-day gown and still go unmolested, and travelers could find fire, bread, and salt at many an inn and holdfast." – Bran, ASoS

Passing the sentence and swinging the sword is therefore not only about taking responsibility for a life, it’s also political in nature and about making the Starks one with the North and synonymous with justice. There is little difference between Stark justice and Northern justice.  These themes are important, there’s a story being told here.

The dispensation of justice is also an important aspect of politics and administration in the North. Traditions and customs like Guest Right been set in stone for thousands of years. There’s a reason that the Freys in the North are treated uniformly with disgust and subjected to sneers and jokes.

We see aspects of this in Bran’s ACoK arc with the Harvest Festival where there is a gathering of lords at Winterfell to settle disputes and make alliances. For ex. in Robb’s absence, Ser Rodrik advises Hothor to form an alliance with the Manderlys to get the ships and shipwrights to fend off Wildling attacks. World of Ice and Fire mentions how the Starks arbitrated disputes for the Mountain Clans.

 The clans of the Northern mountains are especially famed for their adherence to the laws of hospitality ... These clans ... owe their allegiance to the Starks, but their disputes have oft created difficulties for the Lords of Winterfell and the Kings of Winter before them, forcing them to send men into the mountains to quell the bloodshed (commemorated in such songs as "Black Pines" and "Wolves in the Hills"), or to summon the chiefs to Winterfell to argue their cases. -- The World of Ice and Fire

We read of some of these customs and traditions when Jon Snow advises Stannis Baratheon on how to approach the Mountain Clans and how his own father, Ned Stark dealt with them.

And finally the Stark most associated with justice in the books is Arya Stark. Arya is justice personified. Her kills are not wanton revenge. It’s punishment for their crimes. She is justice in an unjust world. The only kills that are outside the purview of true justice are the stable boy as she was escaping KL and the thin man/insurance agent’s death ordered by the FM and there we see her spend an entire chapter trying to justify the kill.

Whichever Stark will be taking over as the next Lord/Lady of Winterfell, Warden/Wardeness of the North or King/Queen in the North will have to swing the sword, simply because it is not just about understanding the weight of the life taken, but also politically important and necessary to keep and coalesce power in the hands of the Starks by projecting an image of how the Starks and only the Starks can maintain law and order and are therefore necessary for the good of the North.

#House Stark #Arya Stark #Jon Snow #Northern Justice #Stark Justice #Northern Politics