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thechangeling · 3 years

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Ok so a conversation @littlx-songbxrd and I were having made me remember something I was ranting about to a friend of mine once.

Brace yourselves this is going to be long. I'm sorry.

The sexism, homophobia and racism of the shadoworld straight up doesn't make sense and here's why. So if we start chronologically with the infernal devices. There is sexism towards Charlotte right? People don't want her running the institute and they don't want her becoming the consul because she is a woman. But the Clave has no problem letting women train and fight. This doesn't really make sense in my opinion.

Now you could argue that it's because they believe woman can be string capable fighters just not rational thinkers. Which is weird because in my experience you don't meet a lot of people who are "partially sexist" in that way. Like if a man believes a woman can't do high profile, high paying jobs then they usually also don't want them in the military. Anyways moving on, there aren't any mentions of homophobia in TID, mostly because they're arent any queer characters except Magnus and Woolsey.

But something interesting to point out is that none of the characters who know about Magnus and Woolsey ever comment on it really. And following this point, none of the mains display any signs of misogyny either really. (Except for what Will says to Tessa at the end of CA but that was because of the "curse.") You could argue that this is because they're the protagonists so they are supposed to be better then that. But accidental microaggressions are pretty common especially during that time period. More on that later.

Moving onto racism, this is the interesting part. Jem says to Tessa that shadowhunters believe that you are a shadowhunter first and your nationality or eace second. Actually Jem doesnt mention race but he says this while talking about being half Chinese so it's kinda relevant. Shadowhunters rarely tall about race throughout the books in general except for a few instances. When Jessamine criticizes Jem to Tessa, she calls him a foreigner and says some other racist shit that I can't really remember. Something about the yin fin and calling him lazy. That directly contradicts Jem's statement about them all being shadowhunters first. Also Will and Jem actually constantly talk about being Welsh and Chinese in the books so that statement is kinda bogus in general.

And if CC didn't want her mains being sexist or homophobic to show them as good people then why was it ok for both Jesse and Gabriel to say questionable shit about Jem? Anyways moving on to TLH. Sexism is still running rampid with their cultural customs and people being shitty about Charlotte being consul. Bots have to ask the girls to dance, girls cannot have sex before marriage or else they will be ruined or whatever you know the drill. But again, they let the girls fight. Cordelia is allowed to carry around a giant ass sword but she can't get some????

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE CASSANDRA!!!!!

Sorry I'm losing it. Anyways. Regarding racism. Alastair and Cordelia have experienced micro aggressions from the mains (Matthew and Anna) but it's never addressed. I'm pretty sure if memory serves, the inquisitor makes a nasty comment under his breath about persians when the Carstairs family sans Elias arrive. And then we have the whitewashing of Ariadne/Kamala by her parents.

But none of this stuff ever gets brought up really. Exceot for Kamala talking about her past and who she was before and sharing her original name, but she still doesn't talk about how it effects her potential coming out. Alastair doesnt mention race when he talks about the bullying he went through at the academy and none of the white characters ever stop to think about how Kamala and Alastsir's races play a part in their crappy situations.

There's probably more I could discuss with this but I'm moving on to homophobia. It's a thing in terms of the heteronormativity and people's judgement of Anna but it's not illegal like in mundane societies at this time. But all of the mains are totally cool with it which brings me to, I'm sorry but fucking bullshit! There is no way every single adult would be totally fine with it in this time period. Like I'm not saying outright homophobia but maybe some questionable comments you know? (CC is perpetuating this idea that good people never commit microaggressions which is untrue and harmful.)

I don't think there's any mention of whether or not gay marriage is allowed in the shadowhunter world at this point. Because the issues surrounding Magnus and Alec getting married were about Magnus being a warlock right? Because Helen and Aline got married before them in TFTSA because she was only half fae. So that brings me to when was gay marriage legalized in the shadow world?????

Is there any mention of this because I don't think there is? Anyways moving onto TMI. This is where everything goes to absolute shit in terms of world building with the standards for these things. Misogyny isn't really a problem in tmi anymore from what I remember. Nobody has issues with Jia as consul (from what I remember,) and that's that. But homophobia is still rambid throughout shadowhunter society so much so that Alec is terrified to come out because he believes that he can't be gay and be a shadowhunter in peoples eyes. Also there is pressure to "carry on the family name" which doesn't make sense because if the sexism has died out then women can have babies with whoever and not even be married and carry on their family line. And not everyone needs to have children, ergo there is less pressure on the sons to carry on the family name or whatever. This also doesn't make sense because homophobia literally cannot exist without sexism!!!!

This is because of colonial gender roles being forced on society. And men being with men and women being with woman totally smashes the whole gender roles, "woman do this and men do that" idea. There's more that I could say on that but this is already so freaking long so please just look it up. And speaking of gender roles it's literally mentioned that Maryse didn't teach Izzy to cook because she didn't want her to be forced into a housewife role like she was (although there's no evidence to suggest she was?) But then Maryse is lowkey homophobic?

It doesn't make sense Cassandra!!!!!

CC doesn't get that you literally don't have homophobia or transphobia without sexism. Indigenous societies pre-colonization didn't care about any of that stuff. Literally two spirit people were revered and respected and no one gave a fuck about gender until my ancestors literally came along and ruined everything. (I'm so sorry.)

But anyways there's no mentions of racism amongst the shadowhunters in tmi. Just Maia talking about her experiences with mundane society as a black girl. When Clary confronts Valentine and basically calls him a n*zi, he laughs at her and basically says that shadowhunters don't see race the way mundanes do which yikes @ CC. Granted this was 2007. This kind of sounds like what Jem said in TID. Only it clearly wasnt true.

Anyways I'm just super confused at this point. In TDA there was basically nothing in terms of all the isms and phobias. (Oh we arent even discussing ableism because my fucking head will explode!) But we do discuss transphobia a bit with Diana. But again it doesn't make fucking sense because transphobia exists because of sexism and clear gender roles (and homophobia.)

Society is still shown to be pretty heteronormative though which I guess makes sense but the Blackthorns have multiple queers in their family! You would think that they would be less so. When Livvy mentions all the reasons that Annabel could have a forbidden love she doesnt even think to mention that it could be a lesbian relationship. When Mark finds out that Jaime was in Dru's room he freaks out but I guarentee you, he wouldn't have if Jaime was a girl. I mean you could argue that it's an age thing and not a gender thing but idk. That scene always bothered the fuck out of me. Because Mark is literally half fae like why is he caught up on bullshit "boys and girls can't just be friends" hetero bullshit.

In QOAAD we see Dane Larksoear being sexist so randomly for no reason. Like it's so strange because CC literally created a caricature of a sexist villian with him. And it makes no sense because no one else seems to feel the way he does. Like Zara is basically the leader of the cohort right? And nobody gives a fuck. It makes no damn sense Cassandra!

And finally, why is the faerie world sexist with gender roles WHEN EVERYONE IS LITERALLY BISEXUAL AND THEY'RE FAERIES CASSANDRA!!!???? THEY'RE LITERALLY FAERIES WHY IS THERE A CONCEPT OF GENDER AT ALL CASSANDRA????!!!!

Ok lol now I'm done. Sorry this is so long. But yeah I'm so confused.

Tldr: CC's world building in regards to sexism, homophobia, racism and transphobia is very inconsistent and contradictory and it makes no damn sense.

#tsc #tda #the dark artifices #tlh #twp #the wicked powers #the last hours #tmi #tid #tw mentions of transphobia #tw mentions of racism #tw mentions of homophobia #tw mentions of sexism #anti cc #long post

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nickysescapism · 3 years

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here my thought on Fate real quick:

Things that did not piss me off:

Bloom being extra spicy really mega ultra special² (by now I’m not even surprised anymore)

Silva

the short time we spent with Marco

That one good-looking specialist girl that got killed off pretty quickly (you will be missed)

Terra’s dad

Bloom being the only one with an american accent (because british accents are supperior and also it shows that Bloom does not “fit in”)

Sam aka another white boy (but my feelings towards him were neutral so yeah)

Things that did piss me off:

the blatant whitewashing

unnecessary pop culture references (we get it you watched HP and make IG stories)

pls stop butchering the four houses like that if you can’t get your facts straight

the constant fatphobia

Riven’s obvious biphobia and everyone just accepting it

the 'blond mean girl' trope because what would we do without it

the victim (Dane) falling for the bully (Riven) for no apparent reason

“I hAvE A cOuSin NaMeD FlOrA”

the only black woc being the “mom of the group” because we haven’t seen this stereotype for a hot sec

the boring and repetitive sequences of the specialists training with wooden sticks like children in elementary school

“We DoN’t HaVe WiNgS aNymOrE”

Bloom being super selfish and everyone risking their lives for her constantly because they all love her anyway

the line “you full-creeped on my insta last night and I haven’t told anyone” exists non ironically (Riverdale called they want their awful-cringy-lines back)

"Riv"

fetishizing bi people (because bi’s can only ewist on Netflix if they are doing threesomes because that’s what being bi is all about apparently)

using the word mansplaining in the first episode TWICE in the span of a few minutes and not even using it right

the only healthy relationship (Musa and Sam) is so freaking boring that one had to make up a non existing drama to make it less boring

the unburned slaughtering like 10 specialist who are pros and do this job for years but two first-year fairies were able to get away without a scratch

the non existing friendship between the winx's and therefore it makes no sense that they still keep hanging out with each other

the erasure of our queen tecna!!

all the good specialist were erased too (like Timmy and Brandon)

the outfits making them look like grown ass moms and not like teenagers

the cast looking like they are more likely to be in college than in high school

Beatrix (besides everything she isn’t even a good villain, she is the worst secret “villain” i’ve ever seen like she is like a freaking elefant in mouse town)

and now Alfea basically is Hogwarts 2.0 but a cheaper version of it

changing Musa's powers because we need element powers for some freaking reason and not even doing anything with her powers for like 90% of the show

everything looking so dark and greasy and boring and basically not like Magix or anything magical at all

Stella (she is basically Diaspro but so much worse)

the lowkey abusive relationship between the adoptive parents (mom) and Bloom just to never mention it again

Aisha having no backstory and telling EVERYONE constantly that she swims but we never get scenes of her outside of her "parenting Bloom" sidequests

Terra saying that she misses Stella because she insulted her and was mean to her, because fat girls need this constant body shaming amiright?

they really tried making Stella bullying Terra ✨their thing✨

Aisha struggling with her powers is suddenly not important anymore when it’s inconvenient

the girls hate each other for like 80% of the show and suddenly they have a deep bonding

Musa being useless and stating the obvious and only being there for obvious exposition

"You are sad, aren’t you?"

“Yes, how do you know that? Is it because I’m crying my eyes out right now?”

“No, dummy. I’m a mind fairy. I can feel what you feel.”

the whole changeling plot

erasing the Trix and compromizing them into one character, but then give Beatrix two side kicks so they are basically a group of three again ???

they made it even more straight than the OG

the Sky/Stella/Bloom love triangle because we needed that one

the adults being stupid af

Vanessa apparently almost dying in the fire and having third degree burns but only at places that can be covered by clothes easily (and also they do not look like third dagree burns at all)

Bloom ready to kill her “parents” because they took away her door

“BuTt StUfF” another great literal masterpiece from our all-time favorite Riv

Stella is not only not part of the group for like 75% of the time, the others also don’t like her at all and therefore you don’t care about her problems at all

the teachers being unecessary mean to their students like “oh you just learned to control your powers, well damn you still suck hope you get better soon lol that looks so bad try harder”

Aisha being the only one who has no love interest

^same as Terra who is pining after a dude that doesn’t like her that way

Bloom always playing the victim and always acting like no one suffers as much as she does

using pop music that doesn’t fit the tone of the scene at all (and also ruining one of my fav songs)

Alfea basically turning into every garbage teenage high school Netflix ever had

Everyone acting as if Beatrix is super smart and a good spy even tho she sucks at it without end (why would you try to get as much attention as possible?? and kill your accomplice???)

no other planets but realms and still here everyone knows that California is part of America because americans aren’t full of themselves at all. Just replace California and America with anything else. :)

“You aren’t from Solaria, are you? Where are you from?”

“I’m from California Fer Island.”

“Uh...is that..part of...?”

“America Everix, obviously????”

they tried desperately to be woke by throwing stuff around like “don’t be sexist” and “don’t come at me with this feminist bs” like good job...to the white old dudes who completely missed the entire point of feminism and sexism - performantive feminism if you will - always SAYING the most basic feminist (women can be strong too) stuff but not DOING it

fire is somehow effective against BURNED creatures (e.g. throwing water filled balloons at a mermaids)

all telling and no showing (expositions + no flashbacks = BORING)

Sky being so obessed with Bloom that he doesn’t care that she drugged him at one point

Dane’s character doing a 180 out of nowhere for plot convenience

Stella being a threat to other students but no one seems to care

the good ol’ the bad guys aren’t really bad but in the end turns out they are and the good guys were the good guys all along plot twist that we have seen a million times on netflix alone

Sky not having trust issues after Bloom spiked the water bottle and just accepting that she felt the need to drug him

Sky having daddy issues and that being treated as his main character trait

using phones all the time but when it’s important suddenly no one got a phone with them

beatrix drags a random “bad boy” into her evil plan because that was ever a good thing to do but kills her only partner that already had the trust of FaRa

Sky still persuing Bloom even tho he knows that Stella could blind Bloom because she can’t control her powers and even threatens to do so - again no one saw a problem with that??

Bloom being one of the worst liars out there but Aisha is like “wow, you are a great liar” like no bitch you literally had to help her five seconds ago

Stella blinding her best friend being one of the most underwhelming plots I have ever seen (I mean how can a show fuck it up so bad that a literal girl blinding her best friend doesn’t interest me?)

no one can have an interesting storyline because there is the slight chance that they could outshine the real star (bloom)

^therefore most sideplots are super shallow or just boring

#fate winx saga #can you tell that i didn't like the show?#what can i say no matter how good it is i will never accept the blatant whitewashing and neither should you #if you say that it's a good show if you leave out that it is related to the winx club shut up it's still whitewashing k #anti fate the winx saga

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obsessivelollipoplalala · 3 years

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Yikes to people who try to say SBC’s script was better and that SBC was right in wanting to include all the “amazing stories” (sic!) of Freddie in the 70-80s. some people legit believe that brian’s trying to cash in on his dead friend by “portraying themselves in a better light” and making freddie “terrible and boring”. So what is it now? Apparently brian and roger rejecting that horrible script is a bad decision because “freddie would have wanted to tell those crazy experiences” referring to the cocaine, the sex, the decadent excess of rock n roll blablabla. I told them about the disgusting sex dungeon bit, Freddie basically flashing Brian and roger in a bathroom in their first meeting written as a joke, etc. And they really went “yeah that’s not worse than Borhap, in fact it’s better” ?!?!! And then they went to say how SBC was such a victim for trying to “champion Freddie as the rock star he was” but ended up getting bullied off the project by the evil Queen who wants to whitewash their story and hog the spotlight uwu. Brian and roger literally cant win. I thought it would be a nobrainer that we have been thankfully spared from that horrible version that couldve been made into an actual film, but no, some people WANTED it to be made. It’s either “they’re demonizing gay people” (which is a valid point on its own and the movie did do that), or “they’re making him boring and want to portray themselves in a better light!”.. JEEZ JUST PICK ONE

Wait, people are really saying this? This isn't made up? Man, I guess some people can't stop being dumb.

First of all, I wouldn't even put "boring" on my list of criticisms with borhap Freddie, but even if it were true, making someone boring is better than perpetuating the trope of the predatory gay man by making him whip out his dick in a bathroom with straight guys. I also don't think it's entirely true that Freddie would want everyone to know about his crazy experiences since he was a private person lol. If these people are saying the flashing and sex dungeon is no worse than borhap, and actually better, it sounds like they just have no brain cell capable of critical thinking. I mean, come on. It's self-evident why the SBC script was so much worse. My straight, 57 year-old mother immediately clocked the predatory gay man trope when I told her about the bathroom scene. Plus, those scenes weren't even all accurate. I'd bet good money that Freddie did not, in fact, whip his dick out in front of Brian and Roger or write "Bohemian Rhapsody" with a hard-on! Wilder stories =/= better script or more accurate story.

It's utterly ridiculous to say Brian and Roger hogged the spotlight with borhap when they're barely in the movie lmfao, and the SBC script had more Brian! The whole structure of the script is going back and forth between flashbacks and modern Brian telling the story and the script literally ends with him; if he really wanted it all to be about him, he would've gone with that script. If people are going to accuse Brian and Roger of something, it should at least make an iota of sense.

Next, SBC didn't want to portray who Freddie really was; he wanted to make him a caricature like Borat or Bruno. Freddie wasn't a cartoon character. He was a complex human being who was more than fucking partying, and who was very different in private than he was on stage, and it sounds like the dummies you were talking to can't differentiate the real Freddie from his performance persona. SBC deserved to be called an ass by Brian.

Tbh people like this are exactly why Brian and Roger probably rejected the script; for the past 30 years, they've heard that Freddie was nothing but a wild party animal, despite denying that he was promiscuous or an addict, and they knew the SBC script was the version of Freddie everyone wanted to gawk and laugh at. People don't want to see Freddie presented as a human being, but as a sideshow freak they can laugh at. I'm not saying borhap did a great job with Freddie, but it humanized him more than this garbage.

#queen #replies #Anonymous

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bre-meister · 3 years

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So, I just watched the first 3 episodes of Fate: The Winx Saga and I know I don’t usually talk about Winx on this blog but... girl gotta put her thoughts somewhere. This show was my childhood and Netflix really said “Fuck it”.

I’ll leave it under the cut so if you wanna stay for this rant, feel free

I went into this knowing I would hate it and, honestly, I do and I don’t

I think it is an absolute shit dumpster fire of an adaptation that someone poured gasoline on and then tried to lite on fire with Bloom’s inconsistent control issues and shit just got even worse

But, this could have been a fairly decent show If it was a stand alone- It had no need to be attached to the Winx name because it really is not Winx

There are some problems I had with it that everyone had before the show even dropped - The whitewashing and lack of diversity, the atrocious outfits, the lack of wings (“We evolved” that’s fucking bullshit y’all know good and well that part of the fun of the OG show was the new transformations and the outfits and we can’t even have that)

Also there is def technology here so why the FUCK do we not have Tecna? She’s the straight laced girl of the group but at the same time I feel like she could have added some much needed levity

And my girl would have told it like it is. Sometimes these people (not the Winx because they are NOT the Winx) do dumb shit for the sake of doing dumb shit and Tecna would never have allowed this!

Combining the Trix into one person is still iffy for me, like I get why they did it but I just don’t think it has the same effect as having the three of them

Sometimes she gives me Icy vibes and most of the time she gives me Darcy vibes and almost never she gives me Stormy vibes (even though her powers are most like Stormy) and that shit just gives me whiplash

I also think that having the witches at cloud tower provided the original show with this great idea of “even though we use dark magic and are considered witches we still make the choice ourselves as to whether or not we use that magic for good or for evil” but then again I might be reading into it too much who knows

It’s bad enough they had to go and make Aisha the token black character but then they also make her this mean, black woman caricature (and I know it stems from her frustration that she can’t do this one thing perfect but still, as a black young woman who has seen black women portrayed like this constantly it is damaging as hell)

On that note - why did they have to make the one black and overall minority girl the control freak? Idk it just doesn’t really sit right with me

Speaking of jealousy...we gotta talk about Stella

I know this is supposed to be more realistic and grown up and ya, I get it, girls can be catty but dude, Stella WOULD NEVER

THIS Stella endangered Bloom on PURPOSE because she was Jealous and then she really wanted to dipp on her in the woods after Bloom was trying to help her get back HER ring she shouldn’t have given her in the first place all cause she was a bit scared? Even scared Stella in the original show wouldn’t have done that! Would she have complained? YES! But she wouldn’t be so quick to give up

Need I remind everyone that she almost drained herself completely trying to protect her friends in the Omega Dimension from the Ice Snakes and only stopped because Musa was like “Stella, your hurting yourself. Take a break everyone will be ok”

And this shit show wants me to believe that these are the saem people? I think not!

So I’m only on episode 3 but I can already tell that whatever they’re trying to say happened with Rickie is not what actually happened and that whole storyline is just super annoying like bro, there better be a good ass reason why she is pretending to be such a terrible person and I just don’t trust this show to be that creative

This thing between her and sky is so confusing and makes like, no sense

Moving on...

I love Sam, he is so sweet and cute and amazing

His introduction “uh...I’m Sam...what’s up” made me laugh my ass off and I can’t even tell you why

Truly I love him but at the same time...he’s kinda getting in between Musa and Riven

Like I get that their relationship was not the best at all (and this Riven has even more problems which was kinda unnecessary cause he already had SO MANY!) but at the same time when we’ve only got the opportunity to have 2 of the original couples like... I’m gonna need this show to give me something

Riven - I loved him in the original show because he always had so many issues but then season 4 rolled around and he was genuinely trying to become a better person. And to have the guts to realize later that he was not ok and that he had to leave to figure that out? Respectable. I recognize that this dude had issues (and that Musa deserved better) but I respected him by the end of his journey

THIS Riven? He can eat shit. I know this is kinda supposed to be the whole Darcy arc he had in the first season or whatever but at least then he was being mind controlled to a certain extent which explained a lot of why he was doing what he was. But this dude is just an overall douche.

Isn’t he supposed to be Bi? Internalized homophobia is amazing guys we definitely want more of that - - (just to be clear that was sarcasm)

And I know this contradicts my wanting him and Musa to be together but I think that these two things go hand in hand

I hate that they upped his issues by 100000x because I legit want them to be together and have a genuinely good, functional relationship

But Sam is precious and should be protected

So now Terra

Honestly I think making her say “I have a cousin named Flora” only made the whitewashing more obvious and worse. If they seriously wanted to go this route they should have just committed and not brought Flora’s name into this at all. We the fans are not idiots Netflix! We know what you did!!

This might just be a more personal thing but I kinda feel like they made her entire personality (at least this far) only about her being plus size

And this was FAR more prevalent in the few chapters from the book I could stomach to read

And wasn’t that their defense for whitewashing? That they wanted to have more inclusion in body types?

You can have a plus size character and not make almost 90% of their screen time about them being self conscious about their body- Like this legit seems to be almost 99% of the reason she’s socially awkward

Again, if you’re going to commit, COMMIT! Show her being ok in her own body and her own skin. Let’s fight against the same culture that makes this character feel self conscious

As far as Musa goes... still don’t really like that they changed her powers

I guess they thought her new ones would be more useful in a more “practical” setting but um... they haven’t been? Not really?

I know she said she’s not a human lie detector but... they show keeps making her one whenever it’s convenient

I guess they thought her new ones would be more useful in a more “practical” setting but um... they haven’t been? Not really?

I still don’t understand why they have to sneak around but, idk maybe they’ll explain it later ( like I get that Sam is Terra’s bro but Musa and Terra don’t even know eachother like that for this drama to be such a big deal)

Bloom is alright

That’s all I have to say about her

Her mom though?

Idk why she was acting the way she was, Just why?

Not her making fun of Bloom going to antique shops when Vanessa owns a literal FLOWER SHOP in the original show!

I will say though, “This basic bitch will pull out her PhD and take you to school. Every comeback is another week without your door. Hit me.” with that confidence? BEST LINE IN THE SHOW!

She had my support for like .5 sec there

“Slam the door, loose the door” she was on some Black mother shit right there - the amount of time my mom has threatened me with this?

It wasn’t even a threat it was a promise

Sky seems to be the most in character but then again the bar isn’t set too high

Why are the teachers so fucking shady? And are there only 3 professors in this giant ass school?? (I say that knowing there were only, like 4 in the original - 5 if we count Daphnee)

It also took me a min to realize that they kinda combined Feragonda and Griselda into one person. I don’t really like it that much

I still don’t understand why they had to strip Aisha and Sky of their titles. I felt like that added so much to their characters - Aisha felt the need to be so perfect because she was a princess and Sky had all these increasing obligation through the show that would create conflict (sometimes it was stupid but still)

Also for a show about they Winx they sure as hell don’t spend that much time together

They got their name in the FIRST EPISODE of the original show. It’s been 3 and the only mention of “Winx” was a quick pan of the door label for their suite. Blink and you missed it

And they seem to keep flip flopping between being best friends to being indifferent to each other, to “I don’t really know you” to sometimes hating each other (the emotion flop is mainly Stella but the others seem to have some weird ranges as well)

From a technical standpoint this show has some weird choices

Sometimes cuts will just ...happen? Especially during actions scenes sometimes it’s hard to make sense of what’s happening

And all the fight scenes - especially the training scenes - just seem so rehearsed it hard to watch

and why does Riven keep flip flopping between the worst specialist and a great one?

The utter lack of creativity in terms of the technology and weapons and even just the representation of the magic in this show is sad

The Original was so magical and colorful It was always obvious that this was a different dimension

I feel like I could legit go to Switzerland and find a place just like this and it wouldn’t be anything super different or weird

I also still don’t get why earth can’t know? Are we just gonna pretend that the Earth fairies and Believix and the Wizards of the Black Circle just... didn’t happen?

If this person that Beatrix is working for isn’t Lord Darkar or Valtor like...idk what to do

Again I would just like to stress that this show did not need to be an adaptation

In fact it really isn’t I don’t know what they hell they are adapting cause this is NOT Winx and I cannot stress enough just how utterly wrong this felt while watching it

All most of the characters have the same names but they are not the same people at all - no where close

Also can I just say, Sky’s hair seemed so different (length, part, style) almost every other scene sometimes I would legit have to sit back and be like “this is the same actor right?”

Speaking of I’d like to finish this off by saying: absolutely no hate to the actors and actresses - I can see they are doing their best with what they have been given and most of the more controversial decisions were not made by them

I will say I did think that linking Fairy magic to emotion was a good touch - idk if they did this in the Original show or not. I can’t remember

So far this show...

As and adaptation:

words cannot describe how bad it is

As a stand alone property:

I mean, it’s noting amazing or truly different but I’ve definitely seen worse

I’ll probably make another one of these for the last 3 episodes. I could literally get 0 notes on this and still do it anyway. Sometimes you really just gotta rant

#fate: the winx saga #this was literal shit #rant #not my usual blog content #but it had to be said

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rwdestuffs · 3 years

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That one racism anon could have taken the time to look up my writers crit tag on my blog to see my takes on their shitty writing, but no. They decided to take one look at just a few posts, and assume that I’m a racist. Because I guess research was too difficult for them, I suppose. Why bother looking into the blog of a person who might have takes that would make you go “Oh! This guy has a good point about the writing here,” when you could instead just scream “racist!” at the person. They honestly remind me of brunch liberals. Anon doesn’t want a discussion on the topic, they just want to scream and shout that one person that they deem is the problem, when again, the writers live in Texas. They got a whitewashed education, which is why they do all sorts of shit like this. This is why I lean into them being idiots instead of being intentionally racist.

They think that having a single protagonist that doesn’t have white skin means that they can have all sorts of antagonists without white skin as well. They think that they have the right to tell minorities how to protest, and that they should trust the cops, when historically, we’ve seen how our real-life cops treat minorities. It shouldn’t have taken all the recent cop shootings in the news for them to realize that cops are part of the problem, when we’ve had ones going back decades.

They literally slapped on animal parts onto humans and called it a ”new race.”

We did it as kids too, but when they did it, they decided to throw in a racism subplot. And I get it. They want a message of “racism bad” and they also wanted a problem that wasn’t the grimm. But they didn’t have to lift the struggles of African Americans and paste over the faunus. They could’ve had a different racism, like they’re sexualized and objectified because of the weird fetishes that people have. The racism subplot could have been the quest to be taken seriously, instead of the fight against slavery.

Zootopia took this as a similar example when Judy talks about how bunnies can call each other “cute” but when other animals do it, it becomes strained. That could’ve been the way it was done. Maybe not 1:1, but in a similar way.

Instead, the show (and by extension the writers) treated it like a joke, just like how they did that with Qrow’s alcoholism. Blake likes tuna, Sun eats bananas, Blake also fears dogs, in Chibi, she’s freaked out by the vacuum cleaner, Blake follows laser pointers, etc. The show doesn’t treat serious subject matters as serious until it’s important, at which point it becomes jarring.

Qrow’s alcoholism?- Oh, haha! Qrow’s at a bar. Classic Qrow. Then comes Volume 6, where all of a sudden, Ruby is visibly uncomfortable about it, and she objects to him indulging in it.

Yang’s PTSD?- Oh, poor Yang. So freaked out and stuff.- Then bam! She’s insulted, has her trauma compared to a fear of mice, and is told that the manifestation of her soul is a temper tantrum. Then said trauma doesn’t come up again in a significant way until her confrontation with Adam.

Racism in general was treated as a minor thing, akin to bullying. Hell! Weiss was fucking justified in her assessment of Sun because the guy stowed away on a ship, and stole from a fruit stand because he found it fun. In the same scene where we’re supposed to think that “not all faunus are bad” we’re shown a faunus doing illegal things just for the fun of it.

The faunus racism plot is a mess, and once they showed real-life POC as villainous characters, it becomes even worse. Not only is the stand-in minority told to “suck it up, and just ask nicely” but the actual POC characters are portrayed as the attack dogs of a fascistic dictator who only cares about loyalty and his own country kingdom. The rest of the world could be burning, but as long as Atlas is standing, then who gives a fuck?

Ironwood just wanted to make Atlas great, after all. So who are the ace ops to stop him?- They’ll benefit from Atlas Supremacy, as they are part of Atlas’ elite force. They’ll get perks. From a character standpoint, these guys are basically just wanting to protect their cushy jobs. From a writing standpoint, they’re evil POC, who are following the orders of a white dictator.

tl;dr:

The writers are idiots, and the ace ops are a white dictator’s attack dogs. Metaphorical, of course.

#writers crit #Faunus Racism #rwde

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backupblogforjg · 4 years

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The racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and cruel tropes in Voltron

So, it’s the anniversary of the ending of Voltron. And I’m getting really, really tired of people saying that only shippers hated the ending. There were many issues with Voltron, and they were neither limited to shipping nor to S8.

So, I’ve decided to compile a list.

It gets LONG. Turns out there was a hell of a lot of racist, sexist, ableist and cruel tropes in VLD.

In fact, I had originally planned on writing a list of both the terrible tropes and the plot holes. But there just wasn’t enough room for both. The post is huge as it is, and with the plot holes, it would have been twice as long, so I had to focus on only one thing.

Salt, obviously. So, so, so much salt. I could turn a lake into a sea here. You’ve been warned.

RACISM:

1) The Alteans are genocide survivors. Out of all the Alteans, only the black Altean was used for a Reverse Racism story where she resents a teammate for belonging to the race that exterminated hers. The white Alteans are totally cool with him, and with his race in general, and only hate the bad people. But the black one had to be taught that hating people because of their race is wrong.

2) VLD Allura is also the only version of Allura who is black. In every other Voltron media (several different cartoons and comics), Allura is blond with blue eyes. All the white versions of the character get a happy ending, while only the black version ends up dying to save the world.

While "hero sacrifices their life to save the world" is not a bad trope in and of itself, it becomes bad when it kills off one of the extremely few black female characters in leading roles. You kill off a white male hero, there are 463278462387 more. You kill off the black female hero, you are kinda screwed. Making it worse, Allura had been portrayed as suffering from depression throughout the latest seasons, so that her death comes across less as heroic sacrifice and more as suicide.

3) The brown Cuban kid who dreamed of being a pilot, and never once in 78 episodes ever expressed anything but sheer love for an exciting life, in the final two minutes of the final episode ends up realizing that the place for him is a farm.

4) As told in interviews, Lotor was meant to be a bad example of mixed-race person, to contrast him with Keith as good example of mixed race person. Do I even have to point out how messed up this is?

5) Even before they became Space Nazis, back when they were still on the side of the angels, the Galra invaded and conquered planets. This is portrayed as totally cool when they happily name the prince after a "hero" who invaded and conquered a lot of worlds, and the peaceful Alteans think the guy is just as heroic as one of their greatest scientists. Apparently there is such a thing as ethically killing people to steal their land.

6) They whitewashed Keith, a character who is poc in every other iteration of Voltron.

I’m sure a lot of people are going to get angry here, claiming that I hate Keith. Let me assure you, I don’t. I love Keith, and I hate what was done to him. I hate that they took a traditionally poc character and went to frankly ridiculous lengths to erase that part of his character. Keith should be Asian, and it would be incredibly easy to make him so in VLD (seriously, all they’d have to do is update the freaking bios, an intern could do it right now in 5 minutes). But they refuse to do it.

A lot of people don’t realise that the surname “Kogane” in VLD is fanon.

I’m serious. Check his official bios page. Keith is not actually called Keith Kogane in VLD. Fans started calling him that in fanfiction, and it stuck, but it’s not canon.

In every other Voltron media, Keith is an Asian guy. But in VLD, they:

- went out of their way to always avoid giving him an Asian surname

- gave him a Texan father

- refused to confirm his race, even when every other character had a specific race. Again, check his official bios. All the other characters got a race, Keith gets “human.” It got so ridiculous it would be funny if it weren’t sad. It pretty much went like this:

Fans: Keith is half alien, but about his human half, what is his ethnicity? EPs: oh, we couldn't possibly say, because the story takes place in the future, and in the future, everybody is mixed up! So, Keith is HUMAN, we can't give him a specific race because there are no specific races in the future! Fans: ok. And what are the races of the other characters? EPs: Pidge is Italian, Lance is Cuban, Hunk is half-black half- Samoan, Shiro is Japanese. Fans: but Keith...? EPs: HUMAN! There is no such thing as race in the future!

Some people at least hoped that Keith's Texan father had Asian ancestry because he kinda looked like Shiro, who is Japanese. But the EPs confirmed that the resemblance was just a coincidence, they never meant for the dad to look Japanese.

At this point pretty much the only evidence that Keith is Asian is that he is voiced by an Asian person. But then, Josh Keaton is not Japanese, is he?

7) After whitewashing Keith, they claimed he is the best leader of Voltron, better than his poc predecessor, because he has Galra blood.

So, instead of bringing up any sort of legit reason to justify why Keith should be in charge (like his empathy or pilot skills), they go with "the half-white guy is also half space-nazi and that's why he should give the orders instead of the poc guy."

If you think I’m bashing Keith here, please ask yourself why you are getting angry at the person pointing out the whitewashing instead of getting angry at the whitewashing. Especially when, again, making VLD Keith canonically poc could be done anytime with zero cost and zero effort, and DW just doesn’t want to.

- Hunk, the half-black half-Samoan guy, was going to be killed and replaced as Paladin by a blue alien. The EPs were pissed when DW forbade them to, and complained in the interview about it.

SEXISM:

Every single woman who is ever put in charge ends up going insane, making terrible decisions that endanger her planet, or losing all of her authority.

Allura starts out as co-leader of Voltron and leader of the Coalition. Ends up as a foot soldier who takes orders from the new leader and his right-hand man, and is treated as a cadet by the Earth military.

HOMOPHOBIA:

1) Dreamworks, Netflix and the EPs very, very, very heavily promoted S7 as GLBT-friendly. The EPs gave whole interviews about the past relationship between Shiro and new character Adam, retweeted a ton of posts celebrating Shiro’s homosexuality, and enthusiastically sent tweets like "you are going to see more of Adam in S7! :D" from their personal accounts after they showed the episode that introduced him.

In S7:

- Shiro's homosexuality is so ambiguous that even the Brazilian voice actor didn't realize that he was supposed to be gay. Just by watching the show, without knowing the World Of God, you can’t tell he and the other guy were engaged.

- Adam gets about 30 seconds of screentime after that one episode they had already shown. Then he dies screaming in pain and terror in a fire.

A lot of people claimed that it was okay to kill Adam because Shiro was supposed to be our rep, not Adam, who was a brand new character we knew little about. And, out of context, that would be true. Adam was pretty much a NPC, why would his death matter?

But the problem here is the context:

- Shiro is closeted in S7, you need to read interviews to know he is gay. So, if only Shiro is meant to be the rep, they couldn’t even do that right.

- They very heavily marketed both Shiro and Adam as gay rep, and specifically talked at length about Adam in several interviews.

In THAT context, REGARDLESS of what you ship, killing off Adam revealed a complete willingness to manipulate the audience to the point of outright lying. Even if you hated Adam, even if Adashi is your NOTP, the clear evidence that the creators had absolutely no problem making empty promises was NOT a good sign.

2) The moment Shiro is revealed to be gay in interviews, he is practically quarantined from the Team.

3) Shiro is also given a Totally Not AIDS deadly disease.

Making it even worse, Shiro never actually gets cured in canon. We are told he is cured in interviews, but the show itself drops the topic entirely. Depending on where you lean in the Word Of God VS Death Of The Author debate, Shiro may be doomed to die.

4) A female villain is revealed to be a lesbian. 30 seconds later she gleefully tortures a little girl. Then she, too, dies in a fire.

(Fan outrage about pulling two Bury Your Gays in the Season that had been very heavily promoted as GLBT-friendly caused DW to retcon her death and bring her back in S8, but she was originally meant to die in the explosion)

5) Shiro ends up marrying a random character who doesn’t even get a name in the show.

ABLEISM:

1) Shiro's PTSD magically disappears offscreen. In interviews, the EPs claimed that he "got over it" between S6 and S7 because "he is a professional." Wow! Who knew being a professional magically cures mental illnesses!

2) Shiro is an amputee. The EPs admitted that they never put any thought into his status as disabled rep, they just wanted a character with a cool-looking arm. It literally didn't occur to them that making him lose his arm (TWICE! First up to the biceps, then up to the shoulder) meant anything. Also worth noting that Shiro’s new arm makes him look like the guy who tormented him.

3) Shiro is systematically robbed of his agency.

- He is the only Paladin who never gets to use his bayard.

- He loses his bond with Black for no given canon reason (and the reason they give in interviews makes no sense, they basically say that transferring his soul out of the Black Lion makes her stop loving him. But she still lets Zarkon fly her!).

I know that Keith is traditionally Black’s pilot in Voltron media (although that shouldn’t matter, because VLD made a lot of huge changes to the traditional status quo). But if they wanted Black Paladin Keith that badly, they could have given some non-insulting reason for it. For example, say “because Shiro has spent so much time within Black, their bond is now so strong that he will get absorbed again if he flies her again.” Or co-pilots in Black (if Pidge can co-pilot with Matt, why can’t Shiro co-pilot with Keith?).

- He is defeated not only by Sendak, but also by a bunch of random Alteans. He basically can’t win a fight anymore unless it’s played for laughs.

- His new robot Atlas is bigger than Voltron, but also much weaker, and can only buy a few minutes for Voltron to come save the day.

- Every single enemy he ever defeated comes back to be finished off by somebody else (even the friggin' Gladiator from S1 comes back in S8). In the epilogue, he retires in his twenties.

4) Narti, the disabled General, is fridged shortly after her introduction. For a while at least it seemed like her death had affected the remaining three Generals, but then it turns out that the "For Narti" line was a trick and they never actually planned on avenging her.

CRUEL TROPES:

1) They intentionally baited the fans by pushing the plot thread that Lotor would be redeemed. They named the episode where he defects "A New Defender," they kept saying in interviews that they come from Avatar and they are very familiar with Zuko *hint hint*, they showed his family as incredibly abusive and Lotor himself as desperate, they showed that Lotor was a victim of severe racism (he is mixed race, and as stated above, the Galra are Space Nazis and are pretty obsessed with blood purity).

Then, after revealing him to be a villain, they gave an interview where they practically dislocated their shoulders by patting themselves on the back as they gleefully bragged that "we made them think we would give them a Zuko, but we gave them an Azula!"

(Nevermind the fact that Azula herself was a 14-year-old child, not a monster, and that Aaron Ehasz himself confirmed that he always wanted her to be redeemed).

When fans who are survivors of child abuse told them that the bait-and-switch was really hurtful, they laughed it off, and claimed that Lotor was just beyond redemption. Then they proceeded to redeem Lotor's abusive parents, who were objectively much worse.

2) Shiro’s clone, who sincerely believed he was Shiro and always meant well, was dehumanised, demonised and discarded like his life meant nothing. His short existence was full of pain from literally the moment he first opened his eyes, as Haggar kept torturing him with migraines to manipulate him. In the end, she brutally violates him body and mind, and brainwashes him to force him to turn on the family he was so desperate to find in The Journey. He dies in incredibly questionable circumstances, without ever getting to learn that his family survived Haggar’s plans. He is victim-blamed for the things she forced him to do against his will with mind-control, and is never mourned because the only family he ever had writes him off as a “thing” and “evil.”

In fact, the horrific treatment of Kuron foreshadowed S8. The Medium article “It never stops at one - Why Voltron: Legendary Defender's tragic ending wasn't a surprise and why more DreamWorks' series will follow suit” explains how.

The tl;dr version is that, when a story posits that the circumstances of your birth determine the value of your life, so that good intentions and hard work mean nothing, and long-established bonds can be discarded with zero thought and care, and your very humanity can be revoked over something you have absolutely no control over, and the whole sociopathic disaster is celebrated as a happy ending... it really, really can’t end well. Not just for you, but for the entire cast.

#voltron critical #vld shiro #vld keith #vld lance #vld allura #vld lotor #voltron #voltron salt #takashi shirogane

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valkerymillenia · 4 years

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@animecat33 tagged me for this

Rules: Name 10 characters from 10 different fandoms that you like, then tag 10 people.

I enjoyed this but... At first I thought, do I even have 10 I consider favs? And then I ended up with a list of, like, 25, and couldn’t pick 10 so I chose more or less at random. And I admit I cheated seeing as some kind of fit in the same fandom in some way.

It’s just too hard picking favorites.

Undercut, cause it’s gonna be a loooong post.

1. Morticia Addams (Addams Family)

My tattoo probably makes this one obvious.

I love Morticia so much, not only do I love her aesthetic, I just love her personality and attitude, not to mention her marriage is ‘goals’ and as a mother and matriarch she’s incredibly supportive and loving despite the unorthodox life the Addams’ live. I love a character that can be a mother without having it define her completely.

2. Catwoman/Selina Kyle (DC)

Selina was one of my OG crushes back before I even understood what I crush was or that being queer was even a thing (looking at you, Michelle Pfiffer).

I love her style and strength and personality (when she's well written), her grey morals and competence, and cats are just my thing, ok? Plus bisexual icon.

Have you noticed I have a thing for a dark women with grey morals?

3. Raven/Rachel Roth (Teen Titans/DC)

I kinda share a name with Raven but that's not why I like her. I've always loved the emotional complexity of this character, her incredible power (and how it's also her weakness), and style as well. I'm not too thrilled about some more recent incarnations of her but she'll always be an OG fav.

4. Nightwing/Dick Grayson (DC)

Yeah, yeah, DC again, look the other way, please (they have individual comics anyway).

I couldn't leave out my darling Dickie. I grew up with this dude and I love his backstory and relationship with his family. He's a beautiful ray of sunshine with a dark streak, a competent leader without being a broody bossy jerk like some and he's very well rounded and consistent in his characterization (plus that design is top notch). I know the Romani thing was a ret-con on something just vaguely implied in the past but honestly it was a good one and some much needed rep despite the constant whitewashing (though not as bad as others in his family).

Also, he drinks his 'respect woman juice', he's flawed without being edgy, and has been queer-coded and female-troped for decades which makes him much more likeable as a male character. He actually became an LGBT icon despite the cowards at DC constantly trying to shove heteronormativity into his storyline.

5. Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond (Steve Universe)

Is she problematic? Yes and that's part of the appeal.

I already loved Rose when she was this sweet, compassionate and wise old soul, this rebel and leader and mother with many secrets.

I guessed really early on that she was PD so that part didn't surprise me but when the backstory of her as PD finally appeared to give us so more in-depth knowledge I was surprised by the amount of hate the character got. To me, her flaws, pain, mistakes and growth were part of the allure.

Also, gorgeous and much needed plus-size rep. I loved cosplaying her more than anything.

6. Princess Leia (Star Wars)

Did I like her style or design? Nope, I much prefer her mother's but Leia is an immensely competent, wise, strong female character that takes no bullshit from the male-dominated plot around her, she deserved so much better. Honestly, she deserved her own goddamn movie.

Carrie Fisher was a feminist icon and an advocate for mental illness visibility. She's was also fucking hilarious. All this translated into Leia's character very well and she deserved so much better from society than being sexualized in a metal bikini and remembered that way forever.

7. Hela (Thor Ragnarok/Marvel)

I already loved Hela's character in the comics (except the arc where she sexually abuses Thor, that was shitty edgelord writing and I refuse to acknowledge it's existence) but Ragnarok gave her a whole new meaning.

Firstly, my God is she hot! Just.... Umpf! Step on me, queen.

Secondly, she's dark and evil but she has a goddamn point (people are hypocrites). And in the comics she's not even evil, she's neutral and only a villain because she opposes Thor on a personal level. She's also incredibly competent at what she does and if that isn't a turn-on idk what is.

8. Korra (Legend of Korra)

Korra will always be bae. There's a reason my behemoth of a fic revolved around her.

Not only is she incredibly well-rounded and fun, she's also very competent, has a fascinating backstory and is immensely powerful, plus she grows beautifully through her show. Not to mention she's GORGEOUS.

POC and LGBT rep, plus she showcased one of the most incredible arcs on disability and recovery that I've ever seen in a family show.

9. Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Marvel)

You can pry Wanda from my cold dead hands.

I'm not even the biggest fan of her movie version, I'm all about comic Wanda.

POC rep and an incredibly visceral portrayal of mental illness and trauma. And she's beautiful beyond reason, morally grey, and powerful as hell.

Most of all what I like about Wanda is how loyal and family-oriented she is without letting it diminish her as an individual or as a powerhouse character, so many female characters loose all agency and individuality when they have kids, they get delegated to role of mother and lose their heroics or become extensions of their husbands and children, Wanda was nothing like that. Her relationship with her brother is fascinating too (let's pretend the incesty vibes in certain alt universes don't exist).

I only hate that she and Pietro always get the short stick in adaptations and their origins keep getting needlessly retconned (Magneto's kids with his Romani wife, raised by someone else- that's it, stop trying to change it and then change it back over and over). That and how she's not allowed to have her well deserved relationship with her babies because of stupid old-fashioned comic rules that led to a needlessly convuloted and far-fetch story arc (the erasure, reencarnation and hyper-aging of her sons).

10. Jessica Rabbit (WFRR)

For most people, Jessica's appeal is "she's hot" and yes, this "pinup femme fatale" look really does things to me, I won't lie about that, but that's not why she's my favorite.

Jessica is fav because she's loyal and loving to her goofy husband, she completely turns the femme fatale trope upside down for love and doesn't give a damn about looks, she uses her appearance as a weapon and she's confident but she's clearly not vain ("I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" and "He makes me laugh"). She's also hilarious in her own deadpan way.

Other worthy mentions to this list are:

Wednesday Addams

Mystique (Marvel)

Shuri (Marvel)

Maleficent (Disney)

Vanya Hargreeves (TUA)

Blind Mag (Repo!)

Venom (Marvel)

Lust (FMA)

Evelyn O'Connell (The Mummy)

Alice Lidell (Alice Madness)

Jessica Jones (Marvel)

The Kagamine twins (vocaloid)

Amon (LoK)

Sesshoumaru (Inuyasha)

Loki (Marvel comics)

Liadan (Sevenwaters)

Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Crowley (Good Omens)

Jericho (Titans/DC)

Sadako Yamamura (from the Ring BOOKS)

Susan Sto-Helit (Discworld)

I tag... @dymosara @abnaxus @polyx @bluetalesoftheheart @adka2333 @shinladyanarki @i-have-all-these-freaking-uwus @frank-a-lank @fluffynexu @teddy-fluffnhugs

#tag game #10 fav characters

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whoistori · 3 years

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My first book of this year is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Before we go into the review of the book, I need to say, that I have seen the movie (before I finished the book) and if I forget about book, I must say that I enjoyed the movie (I think the only bigger issue was this whole friendship is magic thing from the start, but overall it was fun). Just after the reading of the book I saw that the first challenge in the movie was kinda stupid and not in the spirit of James Halliday, but let’s not go into movies and begin with the book reveiw...

My overall feeling for it was that, I enjoyed it, but didn’t really identified with any characters. To quote one of my good friends (hey Nick), I could sympathise not empathise. That’s a main reason I don’t think I will return to this book in the future.

I’m glad that I finished this book, because it was kind of escape. I loved all the references author did and I can’t imagine the work he put into it (whole TEN freaking years, I wish I had this dedication!).

!!!Spoilers ahead!!!

My favourite part would have to be how Wade recieved coin with extra life. It just felt right. I know it kinda looked like this huge coincidence, but that’s why it felt real. You know, how you sometimes gain something useful, just because of a coincidence. That was my feeling when Wade found that pizzeria. And then that whole ,,beat me at this game” feel was pure gold. If I was in Wade shoes, I’d too had to just stop doing everything and play it.

Another good thing were litches in games (I’m mainly talking about the glitch in last challenge that gave player extra games). The fact, that the author witnessed those things made it ten times more believable. I read this one article about how he was similar to Halliday and Wade, how he lived in that era and was amazed by games and spend time with them.

Next huge realistic plus was the whitewashing. No, don’t get me wrong here. I mean, the fact that Aech/Helen Harris had to make herself into white man is such a huge thing! And also that her mom kicked her out, because of her sexuality. This happens a lot in real life and I don’t see that often in books (maybe I am uneducated in this field, so forgive me).

!!!End of spoilers!!!

Main issue with tis book for me was, that it didn’t make me feel something deep. I had this expectation of this book. I wish it did. Don’t get me wrong here. It’s really well written, just I think it wasn’t really for me.

I’ll still give this book 7.5/10. I recomend it to everyone, who wants to escape a little. But as I said, I don’t see myself returning to this book.

#ready player one #ernest cline #books #book blog #book review #please dont hate me

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ambidextrousarcher · 4 years

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Sarcastic StarBharat Reviews: Episode 8- The wedding proposal disguised as war (faux-war)

Tagging @chaanv, @shaonharryandpannisim, @medhasree, @avani008, @butchcaroldanvers, @mayavanavihariniharini, @iamnotthat, @enigma-the-mysterious

This episode begins on a dramatic war footing. Since I saw the precap attached with the last episode, I know that a war is not happening, because everyone’s scared shitless of Bhishm, the paragon of perfection. The army of Gandhar rolls out in good order, accompanied by the shouting of orders from the senapati. For some reason, the Rajguru is also walking with the King and the senapati. Aren’t Brahmanas supposed to stay away from war? Except Dron, but he’s a special case. In the background, some dudes are doing push-ups. What for? Idk. “Close the doors! What is the news?” “It’s a huge army, flowing like the Indus. They have food too, they’re prepared for attack.” In what world is an opposing army described like this, really? “Whose army is it?” “I could not see the chariot of a King, Maharaj, but I could see the chariot on the lead.” Okay, obviously, it’s Bhishm. Let’s see how he’s flattered here. “White horsed-chariot, like it’s the chariot of Surya Narayan himself…” Does the Sun God have white horses on his chariot? I’ve never heard of that. Arjun does, though, that I do recall. The camera focuses on white galloping horses. “The chariot has a white flag, too, Maharaj.” The camera focuses on the aforementioned flag. It looks suspiciously like what will be the flag of Indraprastha in the future, I need to check that out again. The man riding on the chariot is as effulgent as the Sun. He’s wearing decorated armor, his arm muscles like trees, his eyes are like twin fireballs, he also has the symbol of the Moon God on his forehead.” While this description is going on, the camera focuses on each mentioned part of Bhishm. You know, I’m not sure if the man describing Bhishm is actually from Gandhar. How can I know he isn’t a spy? I mean, no one describes enemies like this. Seriously, the man sounds like he’s drooling over Bhishm. “This warrior is none but the best of the Kauravas, the son of Maharaj Shantanu and Mahamata Ganga” this from the Rajguru. “Bhishm.” The King. Bhishm theme plays, camera focusing on him and his army. Almost three minutes of the entire episode, more than 10% of it, has been spent on his entry alone. Camera focuses on Gandhari striding through a hall. “Mata, what is happening?” “Have you not heard? Hastinapur has attacked Gandhar.” “What will happen now?” Another lady says “Gandhar’s army can’t stand against Hastinapur. Gandhar’s forts will be breached in days. Rivers of blood will flow. We will be ash.” (Side note: Rivers of blood will flow/Rakht ki daarayen bahengi seems to be a favorite line. Arjun says it too, after Cheerharan, when he does a title drop.) “Admitting defeat before actual defeat is not worthy.” The Queen says. “Forgive me, Rajmata. However, Gandhar has not seen a war in many years…” She goes off on a tirade about what happens to defeated cities in war. It’s too much, as there isn’t gonna be a war anyway, so I’m desisting from writing the whole thing. Oh, that lady is Arshi, Shakuni’s wife in this show, as Gandhari calls her Bhabhishree. “What do we do now?” Gandhari asks. “What women do in war. Wait for darkness, and then…” Gandhari strides to the front and takes a sword from its sheath. “Bhabhi, lift a weapon. I am joining the war. It terrifies me as much as darkness, I was told by Gurudev that to get rid of fears, we must face them.” Why do you sleep in a room full of lights then, lady? “When death is certain, I shall die in the battle field.” Shit. Krishna Gyaan. This is about fear of loss. Skip, skip, skip. “The time to fly a flag is here, Maharaj. Which should it be? Red for war or white for surrender?” “Dishonor or death. Both of them seem blacker than ever to me.” “We have to furl one, Maharaj.” “The army has stopped, Maharaj!” “Amazing. They have furled the yellow flag of friendship.” It is rather amazing that Bhishm came with an army instead of a deputation, the minister is absolutely right. “Open the gates!” The King and his entourage go down to meet Bhishm. “If he wanted to talk, why the army?” Good question, senapati ji. “He must have come to exhibit his talent to us,” But, mantri ji, isn’t that done alone? What does he need an army for? “But why?” asks the King. Good question, again. “We have not offended Hastinapur. After drunk kid’s death (he doesn’t call him drunk kid, obviously), for 25 years, the throne has been empty. Yet, we have not attacked them or made treaties with their enemies. Why the need for this in front of friends?” “The show of strength is done in front of friends only when you need something from them.” This episode is dragging so much. ALL Of IT TILL NOW IS NON-CANON. And there are still 13 freaking minutes left! Aaargh! “What does a warrior like Bhishm need from us?” What else, Mr. Doofus King? Your daughter who has the boon of 100 children. Bhishm theme plays as he dismounts. Saubala joins his hands, his soldiers kneel. Mr. Paragon of Perfection lays a hand on Saubala’s shoulder. “A King should join his hands only to God. He should greet a friend and punish a foe, only in that is his pride,” he says gently. “Your radiance is not less than any God’s, son of Ganga.” NO! Someone please rescue me from this whitewashing, should I call it glitterwashing? Of course, he’s modest as ever. “I am no King, merely the servant of Hastinapur. My place is not above you.” “Your talents are more than any King’s, son of Ganga.” “The question of talent comes when there is war. I am here to meet my friend, for deepening our friendship” What the hell did you bring your army for then? Happy music plays. “To welcome a friend like you is Gandhar’s good luck.” Saubala and Bhishm hug, as the soldiers cheer him. Gandhari runs into a chamber. “Bhabhi, Bhishm is here for the hand of friendship.” “I heard.” “What do you think? Is he pretending friendship and planning war?” “I’ve heard that Bhishm never lies.” “I’ve heard that there is none stronger than him in the entire of Aryavrat.” Aaah! If I hear more, my ears will bleed. “Yes, Sukhda. Even Parashuram couldn’t defeat him.” “A strong man always seems calm, Bhabhi. Let’s see if he’s actually strong or we have heard tall stories.” “I want to ask what he needs from Gandhar,” says Arshi. Scene changes. The men are reclining in thrones, along with the Queen. “Disperse.” The Queen commands her servants. “Such a beautiful welcome and love fills my heart.” Gandhari is at the entry of the room, peeking in. “I am sure you have educated your daughter and daughter in law with such courtesy also.” Bhishm, finally getting to the point, right? Phew. “What can a little country like Gandhar give to a nation as large and powerful as Kururashtra?” “A future. And happiness in the future. You might know that no King has ever attacked you because you have the protection of Kururashtra. If Kururashtra and Gandhar become one, it will be good for both of us.” “Such a thing occurs between two equal Kingdoms. Gandhar serves Hastinapur, son of Ganga.” What kind of a king are you, Saubala? I’m sure canon Saubala is not this much of a doormat. CANON FAIL. “That is why I asked for a relationship, not friendship,” says Bhishm. “A marriage proposal.” FINALLY, after 14 minutes of posturing, we get to the DAMN POINT! Gandhari, still standing at the entry, looks at Sukhdha. The other adults also look at each other. “Your daughter Gandhari is famous for her beauty and virtues in the entire of Aryavrat. We have a marriage proposal for her. Please do not deny us.” “But you have taken an oath of celibacy, have you not, son of Ganga?” asks the Queen. Thankfully, he has. Bhishm looks down, then starts to laugh. “The princess will wed a Prince of Kururashtra, not me.” Happiness blooms everywhere. “Gandhari is like a daughter to me.” “I think this is a right thing to do.” Says the Queen. “Where can we find a better husband than Prince Pandu?” “Dhritrashtra.” Everyone except Bhishm looks stricken. I can kinda understand them. “Where did Pandu get into this? He’s the younger son. Dhritrashtra is the elder. Maharaj, I am thinking of Dhritrashtra. Think about it. Even a sculptor’s wife can have 100 children (wait, how? People don’t live for a 100 years, how the hell can anyone have 100 children right off the bat?) but they will be building sculptures, not a Kingdom. It is not the number of children that matters, what matters is their virtue. Not everyone has the luck of giving birth to 100 sons of Kuruvansh.” Ugh. Even typing out this sentence is making me feel dirty. “But Mahamahim, my daughter is beautiful, knowledgeable and a warrior. Dhritrashtra, you know what he is.” Ah, ableism is the issue. I don’t blame her, tho. It’s kinda a human flaw. Bhishm stands. “Dhritrashtra is also skilled in all things. You do not know his abilities, Maharani Sudharma.” He goes on to give an excessive intro of Dhritrashtra, adding that Gandhari will be very lucky to have him. The scene changes. Gandhari and her maid are laughing together. “Where are you going? It is not time yet to go far away.” “Let her go. My sister-in-law is entitled to her pride. There’s a proposal for her from such a kingdom, after all.” “There’s nothing like that, Bhabhi!” “It’s alright even if it is like that, Gandhari. No Kingdom is as rich as Hastina in the world!” “I have heard the same, Princess. I keep trying to imagine, how Hastinapur shall be…” “Hastinapur…” trails Gandhari. “If you form ties with us, you shall be Emperor Suabala instead of a King.” “You mean, you are here to take advantage of us by showing your strength.” “I am here to make the royal family of Gandhar as my family. There is no question of taking advantage in a family.” Ah, veiled threats. Scene changes. “So what if it’s a big Kingdom?” asks Gandhari. “Our Gandhar is not weak. Regardless, a marriage is not with a Kingdom, it’s with a Prince.” Gandhari bites her finger. She’s clearly said too much. “Already fantasizing about hubby dear?” Ugh. Too sweet for me. “Bhabhi!” Gandhari blushes. Scene changes again. “As I see it, their match is made in heaven,” says Bhishm. “We do not wish to force you.” Ah, hypocrisy too. “Clear your doubts before you make a decision.” Saubala walks to his throne. “So, what do you decide?” Scene changes to Gandhari once more. “The Prince of Hastinapur is like Indra among men.” Indra again. “Kururashtra’s men and women worship their Princes like Gods.” That they do in canon too. Scene changes again, camera focusing on the back of a man. “Bhabi, what’s his name?” asks Gandhari. “What are you going to do knowing his name? Women don’t call their husbands by their name.” “Tell me his name, Bhabhi.” “Dhritrashtra.” “Prince Dhritrashtra”. The camera focuses on Dhritrashtra flexing his muscles. Precap: Dhritrashtra faces an elephant. “How will I tell my daughter that I traded her happiness for the people? When Shakuni comes to know, what will he do?” I am confused. Gandhari seemed happy enough. ANYWAY. THIS ENTIRE EPISODE IS NON-CANON. The only thing mentioned in canon is that Bhishm approached Gandhar for Gandhari’s hand with a deputation (not an army), he got the same. Shakuni was actually happy about it.

I’ve already reached 10k words of roasting StarBharat. Seems this is a longer exercise than Antraatman, which is a literal novel. Imagine the sheer number of canon fails in this thing.

#bhishm #mr paragon of perfection #saubala #sudharma #arshi #reminds me of ipkknd #gandhari #sukhdha #the first episode that's completely non-canon #don't worry there are many more to come #sarcastic starbharat reviews #scribbler gets salty

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rainhadaenerys · 5 years

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Sometimes I like to search for my own posts in other sites, especially because my book vs show meta is shared quite a lot. I saw someone share my meta on r/gameofthrones, and without fail, some Sansa stan came to say that I was biased, that I didn’t talk about Dany’s “dark moments” in the books, that show!Dany was actually whitewashed:

Wow. Wow. I am the one that is biased, clearly *sarcasm*. Also notice how this anti doesn’t provide a single book quote to support their wild claims.

“The only reason Dany took Astapor was for an army”

Then why did she free the Unsullied when she didn’t need to? Then why did she delay her invasion of Westeros to stay in Slaver’s Bay freeing slaves? Then why did she refuse Yunkai’s gold, Xaro’s ships, Quentyn’s alliance, all things that would have been given freely to her if she decided to leave, and instead chose to stay to ensure people’s freedom? Also, see this meta:

https://rainhadaenerys.tumblr.com/post/182893726737/tatticstudio55-i-didnt-think-id-have-the#notes

“She was ok with Drogo selling the Lhazareen into slavery, she said it was the price of the Iron Throne”.

Dany was a 14 years old girl who had no experience on war. Antis like to say that Dany convinced Drogo to invade knowing that he was going to enslave people to do it, but this is not an argument supported by the text at all. When Dany asks Drogo to help her take the Seven Kingdoms, no one mentions the need to sell slaves:

The khal's mouth twisted in a frown beneath the droop of his long mustachio. "The stallion who mounts the world has no need of iron chairs."

Dany propped herself on an elbow to look up at him, so tall and magnificent. She loved his hair especially. It had never been cut; he had never known defeat. "It was prophesied that the stallion will ride to the ends of the earth," she said.

"The earth ends at the black salt sea," Drogo answered at once. He wet a cloth in a basin of warm water to wipe the sweat and oil from his skin. "No horse can cross the poison water."

"In the Free Cities, there are ships by the thousand," Dany told him, as she had told him before. "Wooden horses with a hundred legs, that fly across the sea on wings full of wind."

Khal Drogo did not want to hear it. "We will speak no more of wooden horses and iron chairs." He dropped the cloth and began to dress. "This day I will go to the grass and hunt, woman wife," he announced as he shrugged into a painted vest and buckled on a wide belt with heavy medallions of silver, gold, and bronze.

"Yes, my sun-and-stars," Dany said. Drogo would take his bloodriders and ride in search of hrakkar, the great white lion of the plains. If they returned triumphant, her lord husband's joy would be fierce, and he might be willing to hear her out. - Daenerys VI ADWD

That’s it. That’s the moment Dany asks Drogo to help her take the Seven Kingdoms. There’s no mentions of selling slaves at all in their conversation. We don’t even know if Dany is aware or not of what taking the Seven Kingdoms is going to take. Given how young and inexperienced she is, it doesn’t seem like she gave much thought about the ugly aspects of war at all. Besides, it’s only after the wineseller tries to poison Dany that Drogo mentions that he will rape women and enslave children in Westeros, and at this point, Dany doesn’t have much of a say, because Drogo didn’t decide to invade Westeros because Dany asked. He decided to invade Westeros because the lives of wis wife (his property) and his son were threatened. This is an affront to his honor, his decision has nothing to do with pleasing Dany, so if she asks him to give up on invading Westeros, he won’t do it (just like he wouldn’t invade Westeros just because he asked). Dany didn’t seem to be aware of what taking Westeros back with Drogo would take, and after she finds out, she doesn’t really have the power to stop it.

And saying that Dany was ok with enslaving the Lhazareen is a blatant lie:

I am the blood of the dragon, Daenerys Targaryen reminded herself as she turned her face away. She pressed her lips together and hardened her heart and rode on toward the gate.

"Most of Ogo's riders fled," Ser Jorah was saying. "Still, there may be as many as ten thousand captives."

Slaves, Dany thought. Khal Drogo would drive them downriver to one of the towns on Slaver's Bay. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she must be strong. This is war, this is what it looks like, this is the price of the Iron Throne.

"I've told the khal he ought to make for Meereen," Ser Jorah said. "They'll pay a better price than he'd get from a slaving caravan. Illyrio writes that they had a plague last year, so the brothels are paying double for healthy young girls, and triple for boys under ten. If enough children survive the journey, the gold will buy us all the ships we need, and hire men to sail them."

Behind them, the girl being raped made a heartrending sound, a long sobbing wail that went on and on and on. Dany's hand clenched hard around the reins, and she turned the silver's head. "Make them stop," she commanded Ser Jorah. - Daenerys VII AGOT

Dany has little say in what’s happening here, little agency. She is just the wife of the khal, and what he decides is what happens. This is the very first time Dany is seeing the Dothraki attack anyone (before this, she was just traveling through the Dothraki Sea to Vaes Dothrak). And she is horrified by what she is seeing. Antis love to take the line “this is the price of the Iron Throne” out of context, but looking at the context in which the line is said tells us a very different story: when Dany says "this is war, this is the price of the Iron Throne", she's not saying it because she's ok with slavery. Quite the opposite: she hates what she's seeing, and she says this to convince herself that she doesn't care, to tell herself to be strong. But it doesn't work, Dany can't look past the awful things that she is seeing, and only two paragraphs later, she starts trying to save as many women as she can, in the only way she can: by claiming those women for herself.

By the way, Dany puts herself at a huge risk by trying to protect those women, because she is defying Drogo’s men. When her khas goes to enforce her order, the Dothraki fight, and some men die trying to defend their rights to the spoils of war. Many of the men look at her with cold eyes. These men try to complain to the khal about this, and when Drogo dies and Dany loses the protection of his authority, Dany is in grave danger.

Also see this meta:

https://rainhadaenerys.tumblr.com/post/186687986788/adamparrush-dany-burning-mirri-maaz-duur-alive#notes

“Dany was murdering children in Astapor”

This is just bad reading comprehension, or this person is trying to distort things. Dany didn’t order the killing of children. She ordered only masters and soldiers to be killed, those actively fighting against her to keep slavery. She tell them not to harm any child below 12 to avoid the Unsullied killing innocents. Also, saying “don’t kill anyone under 12″ is not the same thing as saying “kill everyone over 12″, stupid anti.

Also, see this meta:

https://rainhadaenerys.tumblr.com/post/184630644137/hi-i-really-enjoy-your-blog-and-your-meta-i#notes

“Dany didn’t want the entire caravan from Astapor and Yunkai to follow her”

That’s a really dishonest distortion of the facts. This is what Dany actually says:

The raggle-taggle host of freedmen dwarfed her own, but they were more burden than benefit. Perhaps one in a hundred had a donkey, a camel, or an ox; most carried weapons looted from some slaver's armory, but only one in ten was strong enough to fight, and none was trained. They ate the land bare as they passed, like locusts in sandals. Yet Dany could not bring herself to abandon them as Ser Jorah and her bloodriders urged. I told them they were free. I cannot tell them now they are not free to join me. She gazed at the smoke rising from their cookfires and swallowed a sigh. She might have the best footsoldiers in the world, but she also had the worst. - Daenerys IV ASOS

Dany says that the freedmen are a burden. She is simply stating a fact, the freedmen are a burden. But she refuses to abandon them as her advisors urged, because she freaking cares about them, you idiot.

“The pile of bodies was high when she took Meereen”

Of course the pile of bodies was high! A battle to take the city just happened! Usually, when there’s a battle, people die, and there are bodies. I guess this idiot must think that Jon and Robb won all of their battles without killing a single soul. Let’s just pretend that none of Robb’s victories had any pile of bodies. Like, wow. What kind of argument even was this?

“They don’t talk about the torturing of the wineseller’s daughter”

Another blatantly lie. I do talk about the torture of the wineseller’s daughters in my books vs show meta, let me quote what I wrote here:

4) Then, after Dany executes Mossador in the name of a fair trial, she decides to throw “fair trial” out of the window by feeding one of the slavers to her dragons for revenge. This is something that never happens in the books. The closest we have to a problematic action like this is when Dany allows the wineseller’s daughters to be tortured. But this isn’t anywhere near as dark as feeding people to her dragons, for various reasons: 1) because Dany’s actions in the books are inserted in a context in which torture is seen as a normal and legitimate means of investigation by the society. Dany is not the only one that does this, and even honorable Jon Snow considers throwing Janos Slynt in an ice cell to force him to comply, and later throws Cregan Karstark in one. So Dany’s actions in the books are lawful, while in the show, they are not; 2) because Dany was trying to investigate. She was angry about what happened, but revenge was not the only motivation; 3) in the books, Dany learns a lesson from this and becomes the only ruler in ASOIAF to explicitly forbid torture.

Another thing that makes the dragon feeding scene so bad is that Dany tells the masters that she doesn’t care who’s innocent or not. But book Daenerys does care about it:

“We have no proof this is their work. Would you have me slaughter my own subjects?” – Daenerys IV ADWD

Feeding people to her dragons in the show was a criminal action taken by show Dany, and it was made out of revenge, with show Dany saying that she doesn’t care about innocence. This is very different from Dany in the books, and much much darker.

“They don’t talk about Dany enslaving people once she becomes queen”

I don’t talk about this because this never happened. Dany does allow people to sell themselves back into slavery, but only if they want to, and she very clearly doesn’t want to allow it:

Dany was shocked. “They want to be slaves?”

“The ones who come are well spoken and gently born, sweet queen. Such slaves are prized. In the Free Cities they will be tutors, scribes, bed slaves, even healers and priests. They will sleep in soft beds, eat rich foods, and dwell in manses. Here they have lost all, and live in fear and squalor.”

“I see.” Perhaps it was not so shocking, if these tales of Astapor were true. Dany thought a moment. “Any man who wishes to sell himself into slavery may do so. Or woman.” She raised a hand. “But they may not sell their children, nor a man his wife.” - Daenerys VI ASOS

Dany does this because she thinks it’s for the best. Because people convince her that otherwise, those people will live in fear and squalor. But she makes it very clear that no one is allowed to force another person into slavery. And actually, the majority of the former slaves choose to remain free. I write in more detail about this here:

https://rainhadaenerys.tumblr.com/post/182694132667/do-the-slaves-of-westeros-really-want-danys-help#notes

“They don’t talk about how Dany treated Irri”

You mean how Irri started to have sex with Dany on her own free will without Dany ever asking her? You mean how Dany treats Irri wih dignity, respects her consent, and makes it very clear to Irri that she doesn’t have to have sex with her if she doesn’t want it?

"Should I pleasure the khaleesi?"Dany stepped away from her. "No. Irri, you do not need to do that. What happened that night, when you woke . . . you're no bed slave, I freed you, remember? You . . ." - Daenerys II ASOS

Talk all you want about power difference, but Dany respected Irri’s consent, she treated her with dignity.

See also this meta:

https://rainhadaenerys.tumblr.com/post/187867805480/hiya-mindset-love-your-blog-i-was-reading#notes

And they continued on their bullshit:

They repeat a lot of the stuff I already refuted here, but there are some more:

“Jorah killed Rhaego, not MMD”

Mirri Maz Duur admits she killed Rhaego when Dany accuses her:

Dany gestured at Ser Jorah and the others. "Leave us. I would speak with this maegi alone." Mormont and the Dothraki withdrew. "You knew," Dany said when they were gone. She ached, inside and out, but her fury gave her strength. "You knew what I was buying, and you knew the price, and yet you let me pay it."

"It was wrong of them to burn my temple," the heavy, flat-nosed woman said placidly. "That angered the Great Shepherd."

"This was no god's work," Dany said coldly. If I look back I am lost. "You cheated me. You murdered my child within me."

"The stallion who mounts the world will burn no cities now. His khalasar shall trample no nations into dust." - Daenerys IX AGOT

MMD killed an innocent child for revenge, and to prevent a supposed future. She admits it.

"She said to kill everyone in a tokar, this is every freeborn”

No, the tokar is not worn by every freeborn. The tokar is a master’s garment, and it makes it impossible to work. Those who wore it are only those who have the wealth and power and don’t have to work, aka, the freaking slave masters:

The garment was a clumsy thing, a long loose shapeless sheet that had to be wound around her hips and under an arm and over a shoulder, its dangling fringes carefully layered and displayed. Wound too loose, it was like to fall off; wound too tight, it would tangle, trip, and bind. Even wound properly, the tokar required its wearer to hold it in place with the left hand. Walking in a tokar demanded small, mincing steps and exquisite balance, lest one tread upon those heavy trailing fringes. It was not a garment meant for any man who had to work. The tokar was a master's garment, a sign of wealth and power. - Daenerys I ADWD

Ugh. Then they went on:

Again, this freaking obsession antis have to convince people that they loooooove Daenerys. I could go on refuting this idiot, but it can be summed up in “You Dany stans can’t see things objectively, I’m the only one that uses logic, blah, blah, blah”. They go on to complain that Dany killed soldiers (none of their faves ever killed soldiers, right?), to say that Dany killed slaves and freed people (no, she didn’t), that you can’t see things in black and white and divide the situation into slavers and slaves (I guess they’re trying to say that Dany is bad for killing some supposedly nice slavers), blah, blah blah.

Sorry if I went off, everyone. This made me really angry. Apparently, I’m the biased one that distorts things, and not this idiot.

#daenerys targaryen #daenerys defense squad #books vs show #also kinda me defending myself and yelling into the void

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seven-oomen · 3 years

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Hi, Ben! I hope you are feeling a bit better, or that things have at least calmed a bit! (I mean I still hope you’re feeling better, but it’s okay if you’re not yet, too. You know what I mean.)

Wow, Walker sounds…interesting… I remember watching the original series with my mom, because she liked several of the actors in it. I can’t recall much in the way of specific detail, but I’m pretty sure there was definitely a lot of probably-questionable-even-at-the-time cultural appropriation-type stuff going on for both Native American and Asian cultures. And I gotta say, when I think “who can I see replacing Chuck Norris in a role?” JarPad is never the first to come to mind… I’m not even sure why they felt they needed to reboot that series, anyway, given the potential to be highly problematic.

And I’ve never seen any Winx Club, but that show also sounds very…interesting… I don’t understand the general obsession with gritty reboots lately (which is also where I feel DC went wrong). Like, let shit be bright and colorful! The real world is dark enough right now. Also not really here for a plus-size character being the butt of jokes and pranks. We’re well past that sort of thing being okay (and was one of the things I loved most about the Ghostbusters reboot. Realistically built women, and not a single fat joke to be found.)

Omg, that snippet is so cute!!! I wish I could draw, too, or at least photoshop with anything approaching skill, because that visual is hysterical. XD I can just see poor Noah fighting the urge to pick up a Sharpie and write ‘Migraine #1’ and 'Migraine #2’ on Peter and Stiles’ t-shirts. XD (Although between theoretically attempting to look at confidential police files and Mel’s probable reaction to his presence, I suspect Peter is not in for the best afternoon. [As though his outfit weren’t torment enough. XD ])

Also, I love that idea of Stiles making Peter fight a duel for the right to date his dad. Like, just imagine Noah getting home just as they’re about to start, and then hearing an explanation, and just being like “…you know what, what the hell? Let’s see what you’ve got, Hale.”, but like totally giving Peter like his tie or his badge or something to wear as a favor. (He’s totally gonna date Peter either way, but Peter doesn’t need to know that yet.)

And I don’t know if it will help any, but if you feel the need for some fluff, I got the next chapter of IYWTD up finally, complete with only one bed, cuddling for warmth, a bit of hurt/comfort, and massive amounts of pining. ;D (And wow, yeah, that ship dynamic comic fits them so well. Although right now Peter is still stuck on the seesaw between “What is all this FEELINGS bullshit?!” and “I didn’t say STOP!" XD )

Anyway, I’m starting to ramble again. I hope that your day has been good, or at least decent overall, and that tomorrow is even better! Sending lots of good energy for whatever you need it for! Take care! *Hugs!*

Hey my friend, hope you’re doing okay lately and that work isn’t too crazy. <3

My mood today has been, *sigh* well, it hasn’t been great. I think it’s because I did my T-shot at 1 am last night and my hormones are everywhere at the moment while my levels readjust. Which would also explain my moodswings and anger management problems in the last week. I’m gonna resolve that by hopefully getting my boxing bag in tomorrow, though with the Dutch Postal service PostNL you never freaking know. Because of the extended lockdown delivery times have been insane lately. But yeah, there’s that.

I did manage to take the garbage out today, folded some more laundry, and put my groceries away. So there’s that too.

With Walker, idk if it helps or hurts that I’ve never seen the original and have nothing to compare it to. But it just felt really awkward to me because of the acting. (I mean the teenage daughter is a good actress, I liked her, but Jpad is very- off in this show) There’s only one episode out so far and I kinda want to give it another shot but it also just- meh. It didn’t feel that special to me.

As for Winx, or Fate: a Winx Saga, it’s- *groan + sigh* It’s not good. It’s not good writing (the dialogue is horrendous, like a 40 year old man trying to write teenagers), it’s not the best acting, although it’s not awful either. I think the writing and the whitewashing of several characters are the biggest problems. Also the plus sized character and the gay character are bullied and made fun of and urgh.

I personally also never had a problem with the whole girls are fairies and boys are specialists thing in the original show. Because to me, that automatically extends to gender and would include trans people of that gender. But I can see why they would update that. So that, I don’t have a problem with.

It’s just the writing that is horrendous and it’s almost like the people who made it have no idea who their target audience actually is and why people watched the original in the first place.

But yeah, I might “hate watch” another episode just to see if I can poke some fun at it, but we’ll see.

Right? I really like that little paragraph. I’m trying to get this chapter out soon, but I’m struggling a little with a few things and don’t know how to continue it. I’ll figure it out though.

And Noah totally would if he could XD He has an image to uphold but guarantee you that he’s thought about it.

Peter’s having a very bad, horrendous, not so good day so far. That I can guarantee you.

And yeah, I think that image is just really freaking cute. Kinda want to include that prompt into Welcome to the Family. XD It’s adorable.

I think I’m gonna check out the next chapter this weekend. I wanna be in a bit of the right headspace for it when I do read it. And not in my ‘everything sucks and I wanna punch a hole in the wall and break every bone in my hand’ kinda mood.

But I will def check it out soon. I’m sure it’s gonna be an awesome read, it always is <3

Hope you’re having a good day B, Mo and me are sending you good vibes and lots of hugs and snuggles <3

#B #my convos with anon #ben says stuff #submission

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specialagentsnark · 4 years

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Just One Blind Date

A/N: For @d3-iseefire Thank you for all the encouragement today. As you requested, Sigrid on a blind date with our favorite golden-haired prince. I hope you like it!

It can also be read here on A03.

Pairings: Fili x Sigrid, minor Kili x Tauriel

Word Count: 5,404

Warnings: None

Summary: Tauriel drags Sigrid on a blind date with her new boyfriend’s older brother and won’t tell Sigrid anything about either of them.

“Really Tauriel? A blind date? And with your boyfriend’s older brother?”

Tauriel leaned away from the mirror, holding her mascara brush a good distance from her face to avoid accidentally touching it to her cheek. She’d worked hard on this look and didn’t intend to mess it up on the last freaking step. “Give him a chance,” Tauriel coaxed with a patient smile. “I’m pretty sure you’ll like him. It’s just one blind date. One.”

“At least tell me their names,” Sigrid said as she slumped down on Tauriel’s bed. She ran her brush through her ashy chestnut brown hair and did her best not to envy Tauriel for her perfectly straight auburn hair. It had to be so much easier to manage than Sigrid’s own wavy mass. “You’ve been way too secretive about your new boyfriend as it is.” She reached for the bottle of product beside her and started rubbing some on her hands and then into her hair, doing what she could to tame the bush.

“I promised I wouldn’t,” Tauriel said as she stood up from her vanity, carrying her small makeup bag with her. “You’re your father’s daughter and would go look them up the moment I told their names. That would spoil the fun.”

“Oh no,” Sigrid said and leaned away. “No makeup. You know I hate it.”

“Just a little,” Tauriel encouraged. “No foundation, just a touch of color for your eyes and mascara for your lashes,” she started digging through the bag and pulled out a small black cylinder. “Maybe some lipstick as well.”

Sigrid glared but held still as Tauriel started to work, closing her eyes and lifting her eyebrows dutifully as Tauriel brushed on some eyeshadow. “Where are we going anyway?” Sigrid asked when Tauriel started the second eye.

“Open your eyes,” Tauriel ordered and started lining Sigrid’s eyes with a fine-tipped black brush and moving onto the mascara before she replied. “We’ll meet them at the Barrell and Barge,” she said as she picked up the cylinder she’d set aside.

Sigrid obediently opened her mouth slightly so Tauriel could apply the lipstick. “It’s just dinner then?” she asked when Tauriel sat back and put her makeup back in the bag.

Tauriel smiled but didn’t reply. Sigrid watched her suspiciously. “Do I have to go?” she almost whined and followed Tauriel into her own room. She watched as Tauriel dug through her closet in search of something.

“No,” Tauriel said as she pushed clothing aside. “You’re welcome to stay here and bury yourself in your sketchbook and work on clothing designs, like you do every night, and continue to not have any social life whatsoever.”

“Why did I ever mention wanting to get out to you?” Sigrid demanded as she flopped back onto the blue and burgundy patchwork quilt on her bed. “I didn’t mean I wanted to go on blind dates. You know they never work out. And you know I can’t date anyone seriously. My grandfather would have a fit.”

Tauriel seemed to find what she’d been looking for and triumphantly pulled out a bluish-green, above the knee length, off-shoulder dress. Sigrid groaned. “Why didn’t I burn that thing after the last banquet?” she demanded.

“Because it looks fabulous on you,” Tauriel said. “Go on the date and then worry about things being serious.”

“Do I have to wear a dress?”

Tauriel fixed her with a deadpan stare, one eyebrow raised.

“Right. You’re already wearing that gorgeous black thing but you have the legs for it.”

Tauriel snorted and started dragging the dress off the hanger. “So do you, Sweetie,” she said. “Put it on while I find some shoes.”

“Low or no heels,” Sigrid begged as she went to the little bathroom on the opposite side of the hall as her bedroom, making a quick stop at her dresser for her one strapless bra. She shrugged out of the warn flannel and her comfortable sports bra. She gave the strapless bra and the off-shoulder dress a dirty look as she kicked her jeans off into the pile with her other clothes. Sighing in resignation, she dressed and went back to her room.

Tauriel held up a pair of grey boots that would come about halfway up Sigrid’s shins. Two buckled straps went around each boot for decoration.

“At least the heel isn’t too tall,” Sigrid said as she accepted them and pulled them on over her ankle socks. “You do realize it’s autumn, right?” Sigrid asked as she stood up and tugged her skirt down. “We’re both going to freeze.” She looked meaningfully at Tauriel’s one-shouldered black bodycon dress and bright blue heels. “At least I have pockets. Where do you put your phone, wallet, and keys?”

Tauriel rolled her eyes and went out to their front room, Sigrid trailing behind grudgingly. “I carry a purse,” she said. “You know, those bags that most women have to carry their personal belongings?”

“Why bother when you have pockets to carry stuff?” Sigrid asked and started to reach for her red and white snowboard coat. Tauriel slapped her hand.

“You’ll be fine without one,” she said.

“Says the woman that never gets cold,” Sigrid grumbled but followed Tauriel outside anyway, locking the door behind them. She stuck her keys into her pocket next to her ancient flip phone and old leather bifold wallet.

“If you freeze to death, you may blame me,” Tauriel said and leaned waited by the passenger side of Sigrid’s classic black Mini Cooper. Sigrid climbed unlocked the driver’s side and climbed in, unlocking Tauriel’s door before settling in and starting the engine.

“At least you have a cute car,” Tauriel said as she tucked her feet back towards her seat, crossing her ankles.

“Not always the most sensible, but that’s why you have the pickup, isn’t it?” Sigrid remarked and nodded at the little cherry red Ford Ranger.

“Exactly,” Tauriel said. “Now quit stalling. Let’s go.”

Sigrid rolled her eyes and pulled out of the driveway of their little three-bedroom townhouse.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the little pub on The Upper Ridge in Dale. Tauriel looked down at her phone. “They’re on their way but will be another five minutes or so,” she said. “Let’s go wait inside, get a table before the dinner rush hits.”

They climbed out of the little car and Sigrid paused, resting one hand on the top of her car. She looked over it at Tauriel.

“What?” Tauriel asked as she slung her purse onto her shoulder.

“Are you sure about this?” Sigrid asked. “I don’t want to ruin things between you and your boyfriend.”

“What in Eru’s name makes you think you’ll do that?” Tauriel asked and leaned her forearms against the roof of the car.

“My dating history hasn’t exactly been that spectacular.”

“Your dating history has been marred by creeps and jerks,” Tauriel said and tilted her head to the side. “That’s hardly your fault.”

“But-”

“I can assure you the man taking you out tonight is neither. He’ll be the perfect gentleman. Now cheer up and find that famous Bowman confidence that led your father to take down the most notorious serial killer the Three Kingdoms has ever seen.”

“You’re right,” Sigrid said and took a deep breath. “I’m a Bowman and Bowman’s always hold steady,” she recited her father’s favorite saying. She smoothed a hand down her dress. “How do I look?”

“Wonderful,” Tauriel said and linked her arms with Sigrid’s. “Trust me. Tonight will be fun.” She started walking and Sigrid kept pace with her. “Just promise me you won’t freak out when you meet them.”

Sigrid looked at Tauriel curiously but didn’t press, just agreed not to freak out.

The Barge and Barrel wasn’t like most pubs found in Dale. The owner Bombur McAnally had bought the remains of an old, burnt-out office building and immediately started renovating. With the help of his engineer brother Bofur, he’d found ways to open up the entire floor plan, only dividing the dining room from the kitchen with a single wall. Heavy, dark stained wooden beams stood out in contrast to the whitewashed stone ceiling and walls. Two walls had been completely replaced with floor to ceiling windows, making the restaurant seem even more open than it already was. He’d taken the bow of an old barge and turned it into the bar and the tabletops stood on top of barrels with comfortable chairs spaced around them. It was well lit and modern music streamed from hidden speakers in the ceiling. The wall behind the bar was lined with shelves of different kinds of liquor and there were a few beers on tap. The kitchen was behind the bar as well, accessible by a pair of easily swinging doors.

A hostess led Tauriel and Sigrid to a table after Sigrid requested somewhere with fewer people and then told her that they were waiting for friends and would need a few minutes. In the meantime, Tauriel ordered herself some sort of coffee cocktail Sigrid didn’t recognize. When the waitress turned to her, Sigrid ordered her favorite soda with a smile. “I’m driving,” she explained when the waitress raised an eyebrow.

“In that case, your soda’s free,” she said. “Thank you for driving responsibly.” She left to get their drinks.

“Not that you would be drinking anyway,” Tauriel said with a smile once the waitress was gone.

“Oh hush,” Sigrid said and lightly kicked Tauriel under the table. “Now, I’ve been good. Tell me about these guys.”

Tauriel smiled secretly and didn’t say anything.

“I swear Tauriel if this is some type of joke, I’m not bringing you anything from Dori’s Tea Shop for a month. At least tell me if they’re cute.”

Tauriel’s smile spread wider. “Judge for yourself,” she said and climbed to her feet and quickly walked past Sigrid.

Sigrid turned and stood from her chair and…

Made a conscious effort not to gape like a loon. Dimly, she noted Tauriel attaching herself to the side of a handsome young man with long, dark hair left loose to tumble around his shoulders. He wore a black leather jacket, red shirt, dark acid-washed jeans, and a pair of nice black shoes. His smile was easy as he greeted Tauriel with a quick kiss.

The other young man had caught most of her attention. She was pretty sure that even if she weren’t wearing two-inch heels, she’d still be a touch taller than him, maybe an inch or two. But that didn’t matter. Not in the least. What did was that he was absolutely stunning. He wore his mane of long blond hair in a high tail at the back of his head and his beard and mustache trimmed close and neat. He filled out his red henley and black leather jacket better than anyone had a right too and she didn’t even dare study his jeans beyond noting that they fit him well. Really well. Shoes. Sigrid. Look at his shoes. Black boots. Nice, leather black boots. What was with him and black leather? Not that she minded. He made leather look good. Look back at his face, there’s a good girl. Nice strong nose, and oh Eru, were those dimples? And talk about the most beautiful pair of blue-grey eyes she’d ever seen. Maybe his face wasn’t the best idea after all. He better have a crappy personality or she was going to get attached and then Grandfather was going to disown her for breaking his one rule: no dating anyone seriously.

“Sigrid? I’d like you to meet Kili,” Tauriel tapped the chest of the young man she still held onto, “and his older brother Fili.” She nodded at the golden god. “Kee, Fili, this is Sigrid Bowman.”

Her last name helped her snap out of her stupor. Bowman. Right. Bowmans always hold steady. Even when faced with unbelievably gorgeous men dressed in leather that she couldn’t get attached to.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, somehow finding her voice in the depths of her shock. Suddenly, she wished she’d let Tauriel put more effort into her appearance, like doing something with the plethora of hair that was probably frizzing out in despair at the sight of such perfect hair. Or that she’d at least called one of the family stylists.

“It’s a pleasure.”

Oh, Eru. That voice should come with a warning.

Grandfather was going to kill her dead.

They all took their seats and Sigrid managed to discreetly direct a look at Tauriel without the two men seeing her. She gave Tauriel the most astounded, jaw-dropped, you-jerk-you-didn’t-warn-me-he-was-super-hot-with-a-great-voice stare she could possibly muster. Tauriel smirked and winked quickly before sinking into the chair Kili held out for her.

Fili, Sigrid noted, held her chair out for her as well. She smiled at him and sat, frantically wondering if she’d remembered to scrub the back of her neck and behind her ears when she’d showered earlier.

The waitress reappeared at that moment to finish taking orders, saving Sigrid from spiraling into panicky mental reviews of her daily hygiene routines.

“So, where did you two meet?” Fili asked when the waitress was gone. “You’ve been awfully secretive about her, Kee.”

Tauriel and Kili exchanged a grin. “I saved him from a mugging,” Tauriel said.

“A mugging?” Fili’s eyes widened. “Kee, you didn’t-”

“Nothing happened, I could have handled it. I didn’t want to worry you and Mum,” Kili said as he tore his eyes away from Tauriel to give his brother an exasperated eye roll.

“He really probably could have,” Tauriel said. “I didn’t even have to draw a weapon and they went scurrying away.”

“Spiders?” Sigrid asked. Tauriel nodded.

“I’ve missed something,” Fili said. “What do you mean ‘spiders’?”

“It’s cop slang,” Kili said. “Just means low-level crooks that run whenever there’s a threat, mostly police.”

“You’re an officer then?” Fili asked.

“Yes,” Tauriel said.

“And that’s how you two met,” Kili said, glancing between Tauriel and Sigrid.

“You’re an officer too?” Fili asked and Sigrid wondered if she should be insulted by the surprise in his voice. Sure, she wasn’t the perfectly toned, leanly muscled bombshell Tauriel was, but she wasn’t a soft and squishy weakling that depended on others.

“No,” she said, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Tauriel was partnered with my dad when she was a rookie before he started working with my grandfather. She was over at our house all the time, begging him for pointers and tips. Became part of the family pretty quick. Now we’re roommates.”

“What do you do for a living?” Kili asked curiously.

“I’m a clothing designer,” Sigrid said. “I work in a little shop down on East Ridge.”

“She also teaches Aikido,” Tauriel said and Sigrid glared at her.

“Really?” Kili asked, his grin widening. “Could you teach me?”

Sigrid smothered a smile. “Come by the dojo. We can see about starting lessons.”

Their food arrived, interrupting the flow of conversation briefly as they all settled. Once they had, Tauriel turned to Kili, gaining his full attention. Sigrid picked up her fork and winced when Tauriel kicked her in the shin. Right. Socializing. Ask a question, then take a bite.

“So, what do you do for a living?” she asked, turning slightly to look at Fili.

He wiped his mouth on his napkin, chewing and swallowing before replying. “I’m a jeweler,” he said and nodded toward Kili. “That ear cuff he wears is one of mine.”

Sigrid looked over. The silver that flashed around the top of Kili’s ear looked sturdy with tiny, intricate designs worked into it. Before she could say something about it, he continued. “I also do a bit of work for my uncle, busy desk work mostly, working on trade agreements.”

“He’s in politics then?” she asked.

Fili smirked. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it,” he said but didn’t elaborate. “So, Aikido, huh?” he asked, none-to-subtly but she didn’t mind. It was just a first date, after all. They didn’t need to learn everything about each other right away. She ended up telling him how she’d gotten started in martial arts as a little girl when her father had enrolled her in classes and why she’d stuck with it. He, in turn, told her stories about him and Kili. They no longer lived with their parents but in apartments nearby where their uncle worked. He took the jewelry he made to a tiny, little known shop she’d never heard of before but decided to hunt down sometime. They ate as they chatted, barely noticing when they ran out of food and their plates were taken. Finally, Tauriel interrupted their conversation.

“If we’re going to make the show, we better get going,” she said, a sly smile crossing her face when Sigrid all but glared at her. She’d been enjoying listening to Fili talk.

“Show?” Fili asked, glancing at Kili. “What show? Not that I mind seeing something, but you were a bit vague on the details about tonight.”

“It’s at The Bear Theatre,” Tauriel said.

Sigrid could feel the grin creeping across her face. “Arsenic and Old Lace?” she asked. “Really?”

“I should have known you’d know what was being performed,” Tauriel said.

“Arsenic and Old Lace doesn’t come to stage in this town without me knowing about it,” Sigrid said sheepishly when she caught sight of Fili’s amused smile. “It’s my favorite.”

“Then we shouldn’t be late,” Fili said and pulled her chair out for her after he stood. Kili took out his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills, tossing them onto the center of the table. “May I?” Fili asked, offering Sigrid his arm.

She smiled shyly at him. “Thank you,” she said and slipped her arm around his. They left The Barge and Barrel and headed toward the parking lot. Sigrid glanced at the setting sun and silently cursed Tauriel. It was going to be freezing by the time the show ended. Oh well. Perhaps she’d left one of her jackets in the back seat of her car.

“Which one’s yours? Or is it Tauriel’s?” Fili asked, his eyes scanning over the cars.

“The Mini,” she said, nodding at her little black car. “It’s mine.”

He smiled. “I like it,” he said and walked over to the driver’s side door with her. He opened it for her once she’d unlocked it and took her hand to steady her as she slipped into the seat. She couldn’t help the delighted and slightly embarrassed grin that spread across her face. He smiled at her in return, bringing those dimples of his back into existence. Oh Eru, she was in trouble.

“We’ll meet you at the theatre,” Kili said as he gripped Fili’s shoulder. Fili closed Sigrid’s door and the two sauntered down the row of cars.

He even had a nice walk, even if it was a little bit cockier than she typically liked to see. There was nothing wrong with a little self-confidence, right?

Sigrid turned to Tauriel who already sat in the passenger seat, and punched her hard in the shoulder. “You jerk!” Sigrid cried. “Why didn’t you warn me they were unbelievably attractive?”

Tauriel laughed and Sigrid pouted as she stuck her key in the ignition and started her car.

“You like him then?” Tauriel asked.

Sigrid resisted the urge to bang her head on the steering wheel, settling for groaning as she shifted into reverse and backed out of their parking spot. Somewhere behind her, she saw a sleek, red sports car pull out behind her. Fili and Kili? “He’s amazing!” she told Tauriel. “He trains dogs in his spare time, did you know that? Dogs Tauriel. Sweet little puppies. Grandfather’s going to kill me because I’m going to have to break the rule for this guy. He’s too perfect!” She pushed in the clutch and shifted into first, easing onto the accelerator as she released the clutch.

“I told you you’d like him. He’s absolutely perfect for you,” Tauriel said smugly as she settled back into her seat. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. “Should I ask Kili what Fili thinks of you?”

“No!” Sigrid shouted and resisted the urge to slam on the brakes. “At least, not right now. If it comes up in conversation later, you can ask, but not until-”

Tauriel’s phone dinged. “Fili thinks you’re amazing,” she said, “and before you get in a snit, I didn’t ask. Kili’s volunteering the information. Should I tell Kili what you think of Fili?” Tauriel wiggled her phone at Sigrid with a smug smile.

“Don’t ask me things like that,” Sigrid said, “especially when I’m driving and trying to figure out how to get around Grandfather’s rule without getting disowned.” She shifted again and picked up speed, heading through town to the theatre.

Tauriel laughed and turned her attention to her phone, texting back and forth with Kili for the rest of the drive. At some point, the red sports car passed them. Sigrid didn’t have the courage to look over to see if it was Fili and Kili in it.

They pulled into the theatre’s parking lot. Sigrid unbuckled her seat belt and paused when her car door opened without her doing anything to it. She glanced up. Fili stood there with a smile, holding a hand out to her.

With thoughts such as “I’m so screwed,” “Grandfather’s going to have a massive fit,” and “he’s too perfect” running through her head, she took his hand and let him help her out of her car. Behind her, she heard Tauriel and Kili exchange a quick kiss. Fili closed her door once she was out of the way and offered his arm again. She took it and they went inside.

Tauriel had apparently paid for tickets in advance and they took their seats.

“I didn’t take the chance earlier,” Fili said as they settled into their seats, “you look lovely. I hope you don’t mind my saying so.”

“I don’t mind,” Sigrid said. “Thank you.” Deciding to take a calculated risk based on what Tauriel had said in the car, she added, “I was a bit taken aback when I first saw you. Tauriel wouldn’t tell me anything about you or your brother. I wasn’t exactly prepared for how handsome you are.”

Fili ducked his head and his nose scrunched a bit as he smiled. His dimples reappeared too. “Kili wasn’t exactly any help either. He only told me I was meeting his amazing new girlfriend’s roommate for a blind date. No other details until we were in the car and then it was just to tell me to go to the Barge and Barrel.”

“They’re so unhelpful,” Sigrid said and smoothed her skirt down over her legs. Part of her wished she’d worn something a bit longer, but not a very big part.

“Hush you two,” Tauriel said, leaning around Sigrid. “The lights are dropping.”

Right on cue, the theatre went dark. Sigrid settled in to watch her favorite play.

The play gave her two things. First, the time to calm down and relax after she’d admitted to Fili that she thought he was handsome. The other, well, she heard him give a deep, bright laugh at all the right parts. She enjoyed the sound far too much for comfort.

She was sunk.

At intermission they stood and leaned on the backs of the seats in front of them, laughing about the play so far. Sigrid caught Fili watching her closely with a smile when she laughed at Kili’s reenactment of one of the characters charging up the stairs.

They sat through the rest of the play and enjoyed every moment. When it ended, they left the theatre, still talking and laughing. The sun had set at least an hour before and there was a distinct chill in the air.

“Anyone for coffee?” Tauriel asked as they approached the parking lot. Kili agreed quickly and Fili shrugged his indifference.

“You’re a bad influence,” Sigrid said fondly to her friend. “Coffee it is but you’re getting decaf of whatever sugar sludge you drink. You’re not keeping me up all night again with your bouncing around the apartment.”

They piled into their cars and headed to Tauriel’s favorite cafe, Dori’s Tea Shop. The owner was working late that night and because he knew Tauriel and Sigrid (his favorite regulars, he said), he gave them their drinks for free, claiming he was closing up anyway.

They left the shop, drinks in to-go cups. Tauriel led them across the street to a park. She winked at Sigrid and led Kili down the path, away from her and Fili, talking animatedly with her boyfriend while she sipped her cup of sugary decaf something or other while Kili drank a decaf black coffee.

Fili, seemingly ever the gentleman, offered his arm, sipping at his cup of herbal lemon tea as they walked. Sigrid held her hot chocolate and took the occasional sip, enjoying the night and letting the heat from her drink warm her as much as it could. They’d only gone a few steps when Fili stopped and set his cup down on a park bench. He released her arm. “Here,” he said and started taking off his coat. “You look cold.”

“Are you sure?” Sigrid asked.

“I always run a bit warm,” he said and draped the coat over her shoulders.

She slid her arms through the sleeves, discreetly inhaling the smell of leather and that had better be his cologne because if he naturally smelled that good she might as well just crawl into her grave right then and there. Too much perfection in a single body would be the death of her. She took his arm again after he picked up his tea and they started walking again.

“I’ve really enjoyed myself,” he said after a time.

She looked over at him out of the corner of her eye. “Me too,” she said. “More than I expected too.”

“That’s encouraging,” he said. “Does that mean you wouldn’t mind if I asked you out on another date?”

She cursed her grandfather’s rule and threw caution aside. She couldn’t let a guy this amazing on a first date slip away without seeing how things could possibly turn out. “I’d like that,” she said and took a sip of her hot chocolate to try to keep her nervous shaking at bay. Could she blame it on the cold even with his coat? Her legs were still bare from the knee down so probably.

Fili smiled and they continued on. She waited for him to say something more if he wanted, content to just enjoy his presence for the time being.

“There is something I should tell you first though,” he said as they neared another bench. He led her over to it and she sat when he indicated. He set his tea aside and held out a hand. She set her cocoa on the bench behind her and set her hand in his. He laced his fingers through hers.

“What’s that?” she asked. Apprehension and relief fought each other for dominance. Apprehension for what he was about to say and relief that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t as perfect as he seemed and thus a little bit less of a god to her mere mortal status.

He took a deep breath, paused, and tried again. “What do you know of Erebor?”

“It’s the kingdom to the north,” she said. “Dale trades with them, mostly food and textiles for metalwork and fine gems and such.”

“And the royal family?”

Her eyebrows knit together. “King Thorin? I’ve heard he’s a good and fair ruler. Bit of a temper at times but nothing that has endangered relations with any of the nations though Tauriel says he’s not fond of King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm.”

“Anyone else?” Fili asked.

“I know his nephews are his heirs. Prince Phillip is his heir apparent and Prince Killian, the younger brother, is in line after him. Their parents are Princess Dis and her husband Duke Vasile. Why?”

Fili fidgeted, scratching at the back of his neck and then his jawline, fingers rasping in the short strands of his beard. “Have you ever seen a picture of them?” he asked.

She thought for a minute. “I’ve seen King Thorin’s picture,” she said, “and Princess Dis’ and her husband’s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the princes though. Why?”

“There aren’t many photos,” he said. “Dis has tried to keep it that way.”

“I’d imagine she would want her boys to be able to grow up as normal as possible, without everyone fawning over their very presence or paparazzi chasing them everywhere. Why? Are you connected with the royal family? You said your uncle was in…” She trailed off as something occurred to her. He didn’t say anything, just watched her with an odd look in his eyes, almost pleading. She swallowed against the sudden surprise. “I don’t suppose Fili is short for something, is it?”

He nodded.

“And Kili?”

He nodded again.

“Short for Phillip and Killian?”

He seemed to cringe a bit but nodded. “Yes.”

She took a deep, steadying breath. “Why tell me this now?” she asked. “It’s a bit much for a first date. A blind date at that.”

“Kili and I decided a long time ago that we would never lead anyone on under false pretenses. Tauriel knows-”

Sigrid snorted. “Of course she does. No wonder she refused to say anything at all about either of you.”

Fili gave her fingers a small squeeze. “I’m sorry. I should have told you from the beginning but…”

“There wasn’t much of a chance in a crowded restaurant and theatre,” she said.

“No, there wasn’t.” He shook his head and looked down at their joined hands. Tauriel glanced down too but felt no reason for drawing away.

“Thank you for telling me now,” she said. “I really do appreciate it.”

He looked at her from beneath his lashes, head still ducked down a bit. “Would you still consider a second date?” he asked, his fingers tightening on hers just a bit.

She smiled. “I’d best come clean too,” she said. “My grandfather is King of Dale. Girion Bowman III.”

Fili’s jaw dropped. “Sigrid Bowman,” he said quietly and then started to laugh. “How did I miss the connection?”

“Bowman’s a common name?” Sigrid asked.

“Balin’s had us learning the names of all the royal families we’re allied with,” he said. “He went over your family last month. Why do you design clothing and teach Aikido if you’re a princess?”

She raised her eyebrows at him, a smile tugging at her lips. “Why are you a jeweler if you’re a prince?” she asked.

“Touché,” he said and propped his arm on the back of the bench, leaning his head on his fist. “So, second date?”

“Absolutely,” she said and grinned at him. And yep, there were those dimples again.

“Good,” he said and his nose did that little scrunching thing again. His eyes darted around them and he sat straight again, his arm still along the back of their bench. His fingers brushed against her hair resting on her shoulder, winding it absently around his fingertips. “This is going to be very forward and I hope you’ll forgive me but… Geez. This is ridiculous. I’m not a teen anymore. Can I kiss you?”

Sigrid’s jaw dropped in disbelief just slightly even as her grin widened. “Well, considering your royalty and thus probably on Grandfather’s approved list of people I can date seriously, I think you probably can.”

His fingers curled into her hair at the back of her neck and he pulled her forward into a gentle kiss. When he pulled back a moment later, Sigrid couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her. He chuckled and stood, pulling her up with him.

“I never thought I’d go on a blind date that didn’t end in utter disaster,” Sigrid said as she leaned against him a little for just a moment.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Every blind date I’ve been on has turned out pretty well.”

“Oh really?” Sigrid asked as they started their way back toward the cars. “And just how many blind dates have you been on?”

“Just one.”

#my work #hobbit #figrid #prompt fill #blind date #silly drabble #kiliel #unbeta'd #one-shot

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youremyonlyhope · 4 years

Text

Spyfall Part 2

Yay part 2! I’m so ready. Give me more.

While on my lunch break at work today, I nearly opened tumblr on my phone. Then I realized it was after 2pm so the episode was currently airing in Britain. I could have been spoiled if I hadn’t stopped myself.

I see the Doctor is still talking to herself. Old habits die hard. “Don’t panic.” Love Hitchhiker’s Guide. “RYAN.” HUH “RYAN SINCLAIR?” WHAT? This is reminding me of something... what am I being reminded of... BLINK MAYBE??? YES THIS IS JUST LIKE “SALLY SPARROW DUCK NOW.” THIS IS BLINK. IS THIS BLINK? BECAUSE THIS IS BLINK. ...Who in the world is this lady... “Obviously I’m a recording and can’t hear you.” THIS IS BLINK. Also this is throwing shade at Blink with the “Obviously” part... It is his TARDIS!!!! IT’S A TARDIS. THE HOUSE IS A TARDIS. THE FANS WERE RIGHT. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a TARDIS or just the Master making a joke by having the house fly by them. But nope, IT’S A TARDIS. I literally screamed “IT’S A TARDIS” out loud. “Magic Apparrating Man! Lady. Apparrating Lady! Every time...” That made my dad laugh. But I mean, 1100 years at least of being a man, not counting the 4 billion years in the confession dial. It takes getting used to. Marooned in the past. Chibnall, I really hate to say this, but this is becoming a little too similar to Blink. Just because of the being trapped in the past and leaving messages for the present thing. The lace bonnet had looked super.... weird in the other realm. In a cool way. A way that made me wonder what material it was made of and if she was really from the mid 1800s or if she was just an alien with clothing that imitated the style. Because the way the lace glowed was cool. Also. Why does Ada seem familiar to me? OH NO. Lol. “O no.” I didn’t even do that on purpose. That face she made as she realized the Master’s not in control was such a Doctor face. “Ada, I really do not approve.” Aww Doctor. Never change. I like the old lady taking a picture with an iPad. Yaz calling her mom is a very Martha move and I approve. The Silver Lady was in the Master’s TARDIS.... “From his master” oh ok. “Multiple time periods” OOoohhhhh. Not multiple Earth dimensions then. I was gonna say that I was thinking of Weeping Angels earlier in the day today... I’m not saying these are Weeping Angels... but getting the vibes from the time travel and pulling people in and out and stuff. Oh and I was right that they can transport people purposefully. Did I say that in the last post? I can’t remember. But when Yaz was transported last episode I was like “So they can transport people places?” and the answer is a definite yes, and also in time. Also. Ada Lovelace. I know that name... I know I know that name... “Deep breath” ok now I miss Twelve. Of course it’s WWII. This music reminds me of like... Star Wars... Something from the sequel trilogy sounds like this... or at least has this vibe... Also. I don’t know how I feel about an Indian man in a Nazi uniform. That just... they wouldn’t have let him do that, first of all. Second of all, can we not? These are all women so far that the Doctor is bumping into... And I feel like it’s meaningful... Why would he do that to his mom? Noor Khan, I feel like I DEFINITELY have heard of her. Important women in science? I’m guessing Ada was a mathematician I think, but I can’t really remember. “They promised us that a war on this scale would never happen again.” “This is not the first time?” Ugh. WWI and pre-WWI people finding out about WWII always hurts. IT’S THE DOCTOR DOING THE SOUND OF THE DRUMS. Just the sound of the drums gives me chills. Is this a Old Who thing? The mind reading? She said it was classic. “Not exactly the Aryan archetype.” THAT’S WHAT I WAS SAYING. OOoooooh a perception filter. So they think he’s white. Ok. Ok that’s better.

Also, I’m sorta glad they’re actually addressing race affecting time travel to different time periods. They didn’t do it with Martha enough/at all. They tried to do it with Bill, and I did appreciate the “History is a whitewash” and London being blacker than Bill thought it was, but because London was diverse it wasn’t really an issue (besides the racist the Doctor punched). But I’m glad this is an actual situation where being another race is genuinely DANGEROUS since that’s how it was.

“Look after my mum” So is she not dead? Or is he mocking them? They can’t have destroyed Gallifrey again. He’s lying It was probably the Master himself that killed everyone if he’s not lying. “How else would I get your attention?” Awwww. That’s almost sweet. It’s sweet by Master standards ok. Ok... letting Nazis attack the Master... for being a spy... while he’s a person of color... is pretty harsh... Of course the Nazis can’t do much damage... And the Master did willing side with them to find the Doctor... But still... Very harsh... I guess after everything the Master has done... Maybe he deserves to be on the receiving end of racism since he hates humans so much... But still. “Forget you heard that word.... Otherwise I’ve just disrupted the whole of history. Again.” Doctor. Babe. Control yourself. Ok so it was people who were important in the development of computers in general. Cool cool cool. I appreciate that Ada and Noor were the ones the Doctor specifically bumped into. “You kept clicking agree” Yeah... yeah... he got us there. “This is like the Matrix” - My Dad. OH wow the Master came the long way round. 77 years. I’d almost say poor dude. Conversion!?!? NO. NOT CYBERMAN! IF THERE’S CYBERMEN THEN IS THIS A 3-PARTER?! “Oh.” “That’s your name.” HA. HA, good one Doctor. “I forgot the plane!” No you didn’t, Doctor. Don’t worry. You can do it anytime, as long as you do it at some point. “Are we being replaced?” Oh Graham. But also, I want the next companions to be from the past. See in Blink we didn’t get to see the Doctor setting everything up like we’re seeing it now. So that’s cool. Imagine if we had seen Martha standing behind the camera annoyed, then running around to say “I gotta support him!” That could have been fun. I think I just want more Martha in Blink. “The Fascists. Do they win?” “Never” Yeah I really hope not, but time is repeating itself. I guess it will also repeat them not winning. That’s sweet that the Doctor still wants her to know that computers are a thing because of Ada. And I appreciate that the show didn’t try to be like “She helped make computers because of the Doctor.” because no, she made them because she was always going to. Oh wow we’re going back to Gallifrey?? We haven’t been in a while. Been wondering if we would.

I didn’t write anything for the last few minutes because I’m just like... HUH.

First of all, I knew the Master did it. Called it.

Second of all. I was like “Oh no. The Doctor just got Gallifrey back, do we HAVE to take it away again? To make her angsty?” Then we heard the Master’s reason for destroying it and I was like ok maybe there’s justification.

Third of all. The Time Lords have always sucked. We’ve known this forever. The Doctor has said that the Time Lords went wrong at the end of the Time War and that they choose to remember them in a good way and forget the ugly side. So we know the Time Lords suck. That’s not a surprise. What is it that they did that was so bad, the MASTER of all people felt the need to put an end to it? The Master. As in the little boy who was driven crazy because the Time Lords chose to put the Sound of the Drums in his head and use him as a weapon. He didn’t destroy Gallifrey then, so what could be worse than that? Do I even want to know? They’ll tell us, but I don’t know if I want to hear it. We might be going very dark this season...

Fourth of all, yay! They’re asking the Doctor questions and she’s answering! Yay! And Yaz asking “Can we go to your planet?” was the second Martha thing she did.

And fifth, yay! We’re probably getting an overarching theme this season! And maybe the Master isn’t completely evil, since everyone’s so worried about Missy’s redemption! He’s just hurt by what he found, felt he had to destroy Gallifrey, and is still upset about it. When he said the Timeless Child I literally said out loud “OH. OH ok so we’re really doing this then.” because I felt like all the predictions of the Timeless Child being involved were probably right... but not like this.

EPIPHANY. What if he really was just doing all this to get the Doctor’s attention? He wants the Doctor share the burden of the truth, but doesn’t know any other way to get her to listen besides do horrible things. What if he didn’t kill, plot, and plan just for the hell of it and maybe rub Gallifrey in the Doctor’s face, but the ultimate goal was to get that message to the Doctor so the Doctor could find out about Gallifrey.

Honestly I’m concerned about what it is that the Time Lords lied about. What did the Master mean by “who we are as a species” like... I’m scared.

Also halfway through the episode my mom came in (she’s super behind, as in she hasn’t even watched Capaldi’s seasons yet) and she said “You have to stop screaming ‘IT’S A TARDIS IT’S A TARDIS’ of course it’s a TARDIS that’s what she drives.” So apparently my mom heard my freak out over the Master’s TARDIS. She heard me screaming last episode too when I was jumping at the Master reveal.

Anyway. Sorta Blink-esque in that Ryan, Yaz, and Graham being saved is an endless loop if causing itself because of previously planted messages from the Doctor. But also, we got a mini history lesson, which was the point of Doctor Who in the first place. Gallifrey’s gone and apparently Time Lords suck, but what else is new. And we got the Master finding out the effect that race has in certain (or all) time periods. Hopefully the Master’s back soon. We really were spoiled rotten by Season 10 when they gave us Missy in like half of the episodes. I need more Master. Give me more Master.

#hope watches doctor who #ignore me if you want #doctor who #dw spoilers #doctor who spoilers

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