OP commented on yesterday's post:
Still pretty entitled of him. Sansa was forced to marry Tyrion with a knife at her back. Tyrion is actively a part of the House/regime that has made Sansa's life hell. Plus he at one point outright threatened Sansa ''How well they are treated depends of them''. So even within Westeros society Tyrion has a lot of gall to consider Sansa to be false and be angry at her for escaping.
Perhaps it is entitled. But I personally think that a simple word is not enough to capture the intersection of patriarchy, ableism, the particularly toxic class privilege, and abuse Tyrion grew up with. What created that entitlement?
Tyrion has spent his life learning that women are passed into the ownership of men on marriage and thenceforth owe their new legal family their allegiances. He saw his own uncle benefit from exactly this sort of arrangement. Tyrion has spent his life hearing that Lannisters deserve all sorts of good things because they are Lannisters.
Tyrion's got neither of these things due to his disability. So he incorrectly attributes Sansa's unwillingness to be a full participant in their forced marriage as due to his disability.
Nor do I think analysis of this situation that ignores the fact that Tyrion's a victim of both emotional and sexual abuse can ever be sufficient.
It's also telling that these are Tyrion's feelings only. They're not coming from great places. But they stay inside his head. When Tyrion is asked to act, to denounce Sansa:
Yet wherever Sansa was and whatever her part in this might have been, she remained his wife. He had wrapped the cloak of protection around her shoulders, though he'd had to stand on a fool's back to do it. "The gods killed Joffrey. He choked on his pigeon pie."
Tyrion IX, ASoS
Sansa herself will think later that Tyrion tried to be kind to her, in a situation that heavily incentivised him not to be kind. More than Sansa ever knew, because she didn't have that abuse context and she's not thinking systemically about patriarchy and ableism.
GRRM wants us to approach both characters here with compassion. What are the barriers to Tyrion fully understanding Sansa's position? What are the ultimate sources of his darker thoughts? Without knowing these, they can't be treated. "Entitled" just doesn't pass muster as analysis.
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Let me feel your light
Let me speak your name
Goddess of the night
Goddess of the rain
Art: Russell Dauterman, Rafael Domingues, David Nakayama
Lyrics: Goddess of the Rain - Burn the Ballroom
ID below the cut
[ID: A series of comic edits featuring Ororo Munroe in her Hellfire Gala outfit, (black bodysuit, gold necklace, gold bracelets, hair a white cloud, black boots, lightning bolt earrings, lightning bolt hair piece) with a focus on colors of orange, black, red, yellow, and gold;
Edit 1 - Ororo looks off into the distance while using her powers of electricity, a flashing gif of lighting overlays the edit with the words written in small white letters; you spoke once of power. you do not know the meaning of the word. I will show you power.
Edit 2 - Ororo smiles while her head and shoulders are encircled in a shining golden sun with black background.
Edit 3 - orange, red, yellow stiped background with the words of; goddess, weather witch, mistress of the elements, walker of clouds, storm, ororo munroe, windrider repeat under the image of ororo in a lighting bolt cut out.
Edit 4 - Ororo stands and looks off into the distance, her eyes are pure white while smoky black clouds move around her in a animated gif with a gold flecked black background.
Edit 5 - two halves of Ororo's face are on opposite sides of the edit with one being upside down over a yellow/orange background.
Edit 6 - Ororo is flying through the air while using her powers set over a background of a tornado made of light with her name, Storm, in gold script.
Edit 7 - Ororo looks out at the viewer in a haze of circles and light in red, yellow, and orange. The words "am I not Beautiful? and Terrible? Do you not fear me? you should" are scrawled across in light yellow coloring. [/End ID]
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So, your Clear Sky post is absolutely horrifying, but it was very needed, so thank you. What are your general thoughts on tackling his abuse for the AU? Like you've said, pretending he's a good guy is not the way to go, but are you planning on toning down *some* of the situations, just to give some of the cats a break? Clear Sky is a very realistic depiction of abusers, but that seems to come across even without victim number 25, yknow? I'm very curious about how you'd like to go about this.
My most recent big change was bringing Slash back into the fold, because I realized that it was actually a disservice to not address where DOTC's themes dip into Colonialism. It's a hard topic, and I'm still trying to work out the details, but I realized it was important.
With how BB!DOTC is such a MASSIVE overhaul, to properly address abuse and the ways it impacts you, ableism and its violence, and xenophobia broadly, a huge reworking of Slash belonged here too. He's one of the greatest examples of how badly WC demonizes non-Clanborn cats. I shouldn't dance around it.
That's what I need to do with Skystar.
MANY of his victims have happier endings than canon, though. Bumble is one of the most famous, bumped up into a major character and directly responsible for the formation of ThunderClan. Bright Storm is taking most of Gray Wing's roles. Birch and Alder are getting examined, with either a father who wants his kids back or Milkweed as the mate of Misty.
A lot of people will die because of him, even more will be hurt, but I see BB!DOTC as a story about victims and survivors.
Others might grab POVs here and there, but as a response to canon which I feel is Clear Sky's story told in many parts, I center this rewrite around Thunder Storm. The path of kindness he marches down, with love and with anger, and the people he helps.
So BB!Star Flower...
Previously I was playing her as ENTIRELY just manipulating Clear Sky. She was loyal to One Eye and trying to get at Skystar to bleed him dry for 8 lives to sacrifice; but connected to Thunderstar over recognizing him as a victim who deserves her idea of justice. So, she offers Thunderstar the final kill, so her father will be grateful to him and he'll get power AND the death of his abuser.
(When Thunderstar looks upon Skystar, pathetic and neutralized down to one life, he thinks about the collateral damage that will descend upon the forest if he accepts the deal. He decides that he has found the line between Justice and Justification. Of course he wants the power to make his enemies cower, protect his people, and eliminate Clear Sky so he never threatens them again; that's not the problem.
He can still do these things. He wouldn't NEED the power of a war god to do so.
But if One Eye returns, he will be endlessly hungry, ruthlessly dedicated to revenge, and set out to devour the whole forest. Everything would get worse, and even more people he loves would die. It's where his desire to destroy a monster would lead to him BECOMING one.)
Even on its face, it was previously missing an element. There's a step between "Starf decides to bring One Eye back" and "Starf offers Thunderstar the final kill" that was bare. This is the piece that was missing-- That she, herself, is trying to reach out to the only person who's ever really understood her.
But more importantly... I do feel this topic belongs here, in BB!DOTC. Abuse is a MAJOR theme. SKYSTAR is a monster already. He's harmed two wives in BB (Bright Storm and Falling Cry) and played toxic games with all three kits (Thunder Storm, Pale Sky, Tiger Sky).
And I'd avoid Star Flower being abused... why? Because it's uncomfortable to confront the pattern that Clear Sky displays? That in-canon, he tries to cut all his victims into the same ideal shape, from Storm to Thunder to Star Flower? ...it should be uncomfortable. Everything that I described in Clear Sky Is A Monster is rooted in the same desire for control, power, and punishment most abusive people share, he just happens to be a severe example.
Yes. That includes how he treats his child and romantic partners. The parallels that are drawn between Starf and Thunder are there because he wants power in the form of obedience. Starf replaces the son as a narrative award for his "growth" of not killing random people anymore for a while.
A cookie cutter is an effective tool because IT ONLY MAKES ONE SHAPE.
You know what's more uncomfortable? Reading canon!DOTC and seeing someone who hurt you reflected almost perfectly in the character the writers think did nothing wrong. Because of "good intentions" that were not there.
I will say though, just to be clear; I don't see a purpose in being more than PG-13 about serious topics for this project. I promise none of my intentions have changed. Nothing will be more graphic or gorey than canon WC-- just more intentional.
I'm keeping the sacrifice because it's dope. No one is taking this from me. Girl Moment: Killed her awful husband 8 times to count as 8 sacrifices and offered the last life to her buddy as a show of good will. How else do you make friends outside of high school
But I know now that Star Flower NEEDS to keep the canon fact she has very little agency, UNTIL that moment she snaps.
She's sacrificing one abuser to try and bring back a bigger, badder one, because in spite of everything, her father One Eye always made her feel safe. Even though he promised her off to Skystar, and expected her to be willing to die for him. She's followed every command, every order, past the death of his mortal vessel.
The first, and only, selfish choice she's ever made was in reaching out to Thunderstar to offer him the power of her father.
Thunderstar's Justice is a story about a Thunder Storm at the pinnacle of his arc, how the survivors of his Clan are settling into the new normal after the carnage of The First Battle, how Skystar's arrogance brings a violent god to the Forest... and the connection Thunderstar makes with the daughter of a monster.
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