#the grey bastards

[doomed-era]

not "they did nothing wrong" or "they are a horrible bastard" but a secret third thing: they did things wrong and I like that about them but everyone over-exaggerates their negative impact on the story

#this is about rhoam botw #but a lot of characters i like fit this #like technically ganondorf is this for me...and rose quartz and homura and probably half a dozen other characters #gman does lean a bit further on the bastard scale but. yeesh #like yeah they obviously did stuff wrong but the fandom will just give them additional crimes For Funsies. um shut upp #cant like a morally grey or evil character these days #glider rambles

[thewyrdwritere]

The Grey Bastards

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French My rating: 3 of 5 stars If you ever thought that the Sons of Anarchy needed to be cruder, lewder and contain 100% more orcs then The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French is the book for you!! The Grey Bastards are a fantasy version of SAMCRO where half-orcs ride actual hogs, (instead of hogs) hold out in a club-house-cum-fortress and raise general hell with all and sundry. The set up vibes SOA following the upstart half-orc Jackal with Brutish but loyal buddy Oats butting heads with a conniving domineering old gang leader Claymaster. Derivative or ode to it's inspiration, the fantasy setting at least keeps it fresh. The plot builds around this dynamic, colourful members of the Hoof (biker gang) are introduced, loyalties, bonds and the world they inhabit are explored. The POV follows Jackal and his two closest friends Oats and Fetching as a violent encounter sets in motion the plot. Multiple conflicts, both personal and political are hinted at until events conspire to force inter hoof confrontation. For the upstart Jackal gunning for leadership it doesn't exactly go the way it is suppose to, betrayals and revelations follow. Where SOA is the inspiration for the plot, D&D is for the world-building. The standard fantasy creatures; elves, orcs, halflings, centuars feature heavily but there are also some more niche RPG creatures from the giant raptors, the rohks, to disgusting flans called Sludges that bring the brutal and dangerous nature of the Lots Land to life. Each race and creature serve the plot well, either as obstacles, challenges or a means to expand the dramatic conflicts of Hoof life. This helps the narrative to stay exciting and colourful rather than focusing just on the Clay vs Jax...sorry Claymaster Vs Jackal strand. And truly once events realign this strand the story begins to come into it's own in interesting and exciting fashion. The Grey Bastards is also peak Grimdark, brutal and cruel in its misogyny. The half-orcs are hyper sexualised full of phallic humour and lust. They're teen boys really....the comaradery is squalid and filthy but genuine, occasionally funny often ridiculous, definitely not for the faint of heart. The misogyny is not that funny though. Women mostly exist as whore or mothers, or both which is a... err problematic view of femininity to say the least....and the only female character with true agency has to fit masculine tropes to survive...for me the women have it tough trope in Grimdark is past it's sell buy date...but if you don't take the Grimdark dressings to serious The Grey Bastards is rollicking good fantasy. A colourful cast well augmented by a well-plotted narrative with enough action, intrigue and twists to keep you reading lifts the Grey Bastards above it's more scabrous elements. A unique offering for those who can stomach it. View all my reviews

#books #book #book recommendations #book review #reading #fantasy books #the grey bastards #fantasy fic #bookstagram

[sneez]

family portrait :D young sam and sybil are behaving themselves and vimes is throwing a hissy fit because they tried to make him wear the helmet

[id: a digital painting of three people sitting for a portrait in a domestic interior. young sam is standing with his hands behind his back and beaming proudly. vimes is standing behind him with his hand on his shoulder, wearing a shiny military uniform and a surly expression. sybil is sitting on the right with an arm around young sam, smiling at the viewer. a plumed helmet is sitting on a table on the left. end id.]

#discworld #sam vimes #sybil ramkin #young sam vimes #artwork #discworld is inspiring me so much at the moment ive got it on the brain #vimes wore the helmet for 3 seconds and then took it off and refused to comb his helmet hair which is why he looks like that #also idk where the idea of sybil wearing wigs came from (i havent read all the books yet so i am not sure if it’s canon or headcanon) but i #am so besotted with that idea so assume sybil is bewigged any time i draw her #thats why she has no grey hairs here. i imagine her having very short wispy hair underneath #i literally love her so much ive been thinking about her for days she means the world 2 me #this is the first time ive drawn either her or young sam and im so happy with how they came out thats exactly how i picture them in my head #ive drawn vimes once before but i can usually get him close to my Brain Picture without too much difficulty #i just think Grumpy Bastard (affectionate) and there he is #also happy end of the year my friends! may 2024 bring you all the things you desire i love you

[greykolla-art]

Hi, hope your day's going well! I didn't realize you'd read Skulduggery Pleasant! Those books were my absolute favorite growing up, they're a major inspiration for why I became a writer! I'm so glad my favorite artist in the Hazbin fandom also loves my favorite book series!!

Oh BABY it’s so nice to revisit them after all these years!😊💕

They are absolutely the reason I like age-gap friendships and mentors. 👏

Magical Irish disaster duo, I challenge them to go to therapy.

#grey answers #skulduggery pleasant #valkyrie cain #fanart #my babies I’m so close to diving back into their series and catch up! #it was getting a little crowded though #I had to have a notebook with me while reading so I could remember everyone #derek landy #that bastard #I love him

[imperial-nuisance-rudje]

I think my most toxic trait as a Zenos enjoyer is wanting to 1v1 everyone who says that Zenos actively wants to kill his opponents

Like, completely disregarding that it is actively ignoring the text even in StB there (and that he consistently wants the WoL especially to live), he, uh, is written as having a desire for more the opposite to happen. Very, very consistently. His drive to live is solely linked to brief moments of pleasure-from-struggle and when that drops he explicitly wants to die so he can preserve the moment (and like. *looks at the end of 6.0* if he wanted to kill the WoL he would not be disappointed when they fall before the game allows it, nor would they have lived after given his will was strong enough to bring them back if they bite it). He wants struggle and lacks the ability to give enough of a shit to hold back if someone walks up and says they're going to go for his head.

Like, death is a side effect of what he's after, it's not the goal and he explicitly considers it a waste of life. Even fighting isn't the goal, the goal is to struggle, to need to put effort in. The WoL is just the only person to put him in that state as he currently is, hence his obsession.

#final fantasy #zenos yae galvus #zenos viator galvus #like there's plenty of readings i find irritating but ignorable bc it's stuff about the grey areas he lives in #but he's very consistent about... not valuing life in itself but considering needless death to be wasteful #and it's a trait the game takes you aside and tells you directly as part of the msq multiple times #there's zero implication the game comes out and says this #in several places including z's own dialogue #the end result is the same but it matters a lot for discussions of him as a character that the motive is to struggle #the end result is irrelevant to him #vs like. omega. omega's after the end result of ultimate victory #the process doesn't matter to it except as a way to remove flaws from itself #now his definition of needless could definitely use work and he is still a bastard #but getting the motive right means you stop being the people who ignore the game text bc you don't like him

[k-chips]

I firmly think The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a story that needs to be read. Like, it works better as a book than as a movie, I'm 100% sure.

(little spoilers for the book but not too much and it's mostly without context anyway)

And it's not because "books are better" or something, because the Hunger Games movies are all great adaptations and they never missed.

I think that for 2 main reasons:

The first is that people watching the movie will miss a very cool, deep and important detail that only the book can provide, which is the switch between "Coriolanus" and "Snow" at the end of the book.

The narrator stops calling him "Coriolanus" and starts to only use "Snow" to refer to him. Because now he actually is the "young version" of the bastard we know in the trilogy.

Before that he's a "working in progress".

-

The second reason is that the main character can't lie to the readers.

While reading the book we always know when Coryo is lying and when he's being honest because, even if it's in third person, it's still from his point of view. We know what he really thinks and we know when he's actually sincere or not.

And for a story about a manipulative character, this is important.

People who will only watch the movie will always think he's lying because they know "President Snow" and they know he's a manipulative bastard but Coriolanus is actually very honest for the majority of the book:

He honestly cared about his friends, he was honestly worried for Clementia and, at the end, for Sejanus, he very much loves his family, he REALLY loved Lucy Grey and he was really fucking scared of Dr. Gaul, the games and the war.

(And I know there are people who read the book and STILL though he was lying and a bitch for the whole thing but, please, understand the complexity of a character. In Hunger Games no one is black or white)

#am I defending coryo? #yes #do i still think he's a bastard? #also yes #people are too harsh on him in this book only because they know what he will become #without realizing these are almost two different characters #hate him but in the right way #hunger games #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #ballad of the songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow #lucy grey baird #sejanus plinth #tigris snow #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #dr gaul

[viscerism]

my babygirl my pathetic little meow meow man <3

#bsd #scythestuff #art #digital art #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #ango sakaguchi #sakaguchi ango #(heavily) implied odango #ango stop looking so breedable challenge go!! i can't take it anymore #yes i gave him streaks of grey hair i know this man is going grey in his twenties look at the poor bastard #100 #angoposting

[moongothic]

...I... I do not know what on earth compelled me to make this nor why, but I will not be taking criticism at this time

#Moon posting #Break Week is rough y'all #Please I just needed to shitpost a little let me have this #OP Meta #I know this chart is incomprehensible you just have to accept it for what it is #No I was kind of thinking to myself it was kind of funny how of the OG Shichibukai half of them are either dads or borderline dads #And I was like. Can I make a chart of this. Can I make a Dad Chart of the Warlords. #I don't know why I made this nor what to do with this information but. Sure. Let me yeet this out. #Kuma is the Dadliest Dad to Ever Dad in One Piece. Moria canonically adopted Perona when she was little. We love the OG Goth Dad #Crocodad is real TO ME but if nothing else he does have the energy 100%. It's just short of Canon Confirmation at this point #Mihawk is a weird uncle to me. He has no dad energy. This man does not fuck. But he'll look after some kids (Zoro & Perona). Sure. #Blackbeard is like the opposite of Mihawk. He has never looked after a child but I'm sure he has spawned a bastard or two or three #(He may be a father but he is not a Dad) (But canonically as far as we know BB has no kids yet so I'm putting him in Not A Dad) #Jinbei is the new Token Father of the Strawhats according to Oda and so I'm putting him where he is based on that. Also vibes #Law's where he is kind of for similar reasons as Jinbei. This boy is too young to be a dad but dealing with Luffy gave him a few grey hairs #Doflamingo did arguably watch over Buffalo and Baby 5 as those two grew up so he's The Most Qualified in that square #Weevil is baby #Hancock could have Dad Energy in the right circumstances. Like she has THE POTENTIAL #Buggy does not fuck #...Thinking about it I probably should've switched Hancock and Buggy's placements on the chart but whatever it doesn't matter

[witchknightblue]

Me: I'm a very knowledgeable witch, I take it very seriously

Also me, wielding a moon water-soaked tea towel at the bad energies in my house: GO ON, GIT, YA BASTARDS

#grey witch #nature witch #chaotic bastard #lol #watcher #watcher entertainment #witchblr #chaos witch #terminally stupid #mystery files #crack post #banishing #lazy witch

[pigeonwit]

you must embrace mechanic davey. you simply must.

#he has a white tanktop so stained and washed and stained again that its permanently grey #he uses one of those little rolly bastards #he and race dragrace and then he goes home and watches drag race #i havent slept. #but do you see. #do you see the vision #newsies #davey jacobs #fic thoughts

[imjustapoorwayfaringgeek]

some of my favs :3 asoiaf doodles

#a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #fan art #asoiaf art #asoiaf fanart #brienne tarth #brienne of tarth #jon snow #satin of oldtown #they never mention if hes a bastard from the reach but #satin flowers #jaime lannister #post resurrection jon snow #braime #jonsatin #ghost the direwolf #ghost is the best boy #lord snow #i like the idea of jon having white/grey(gray??) hair #because it makes sense #he is a teenage war veteran who overworks himself and lost pretty much everyone he cared about #also i gave him dark circles under his eyes #because it also makes sense #i love jon's smile he needs to smile more #my art.

[canadianlucifer]

While I was reading Blue Exorcist I didn't fully register just how dark the Illuminati arc was, but watching it animated... holy shit.

I could not imagine going through what Izumo has and is going through. And being in the place of any of the other students? Dealing with unkillable regenerating zombies speaking to me in broken up bits saying they want to go home? Having so much pressure to do things most adults wouldn't be able to do? AT 15 YEARS OLD??

I feel like this is the turning point for the series bc it goes from "heehoo funny with epic fights and some character bonding" to "everyone you love is going to die if you don't fight right now. This world is bleak and horrifying under the thin veil we have created and the fate of it rests on your shoulders, all of you."

#pspspsps tokyo ghoul mutuals if ya like half human protags dealing with the horrors of what it means to be their other half #and deep philosophical thoughts and violence and the eternal struggle of good vs evil where there is so much grey #then blue exorcist is for you #10/10 highly recommend #anime or manga they're both really good tbh #though the anime is non canon after season 1 episode 17. The rest of the episodes don't make sense with season 2 or 3 #season 2 and 3 follow the manga very accurately if a bit rushed #I really really hope that since it appears like the manga is getting close to the end that we'll get more seasons sooner than every 5 years #I need to see chapters 120 and 126 animated!! #anyways I'm gonna go draw that pink bastard lmao #blue exorcist #ao no exorcist

[vigilskeep]

the reason i do still want to try fhawke for my red hawke/anders disease sometime is that the visuals of the genuinely intimidating bloodthirsty brash young mercenary and their healer boyfriend who despite all this calls them sweetheart <3 really just get better

#the funniest concept i ever came up with for handers #was seb meeting anders for the first time in like a social situation rather than combat #and in his head anders is immediately just hawke’s boyfriend. like yeah mercenaries usually have someone on their arm #because he doesnt wear armour or anything #and then he shows up to combat and seb has to recalibrate a bit #anyway which half of this couple will commit the biggest atrocity the answer will surprise you #im sorry i keep making this joke but theres something SO funny to me about #anders being characterised as this larger than life villain #and the whole time he was in kirkwall he was this grey warden healer of refugees saviour of mages #and hawke the ‘champion’ was like babe im interrogating some poor bastard in my estate rn but after that please let me kill for you #and he’s INTO THAT

[solradguy]

I am so easily distracted by sad monster men with beautiful hair and claws and perhaps a large sword

#textpost #Hold one out in front of me like pspspspsp and you can get me to do tricks #Siegfried needs to be more fucked up he like drank evil dragon blood and you can't even tell #I can make him worse #I still don't know his lore outside of that lmao but I wanna get to it in the game and not just read it on the wiki #There was untranslated Japanese text on the wiki and they do fan translations on there #I had to close the tab I can't cheat on Guilty Gear sorry Granblue Fantasy gacha game #My grandma used to have an absolute unit of a Maine coon named Siegfried that hated everyone #and it's an uncommon enough name that I still associate it with that cat #We called him Ziggy lol #So when I see Siegfried Granblue I do think of Siegfried Cat pretty often #He was grey with tabby markings and had a huge poofy tail lol #The only time he ever let me pet him was when he got really old. Rest in peace you grumpy bastard [affectionate]....

[heraldofcrow]

There. I defrosted him.

Kind of based off the connection here where Logarius was originally the King of Cainhurst, in which case the portrait would have been his. Also, I think he turned into a homeless popsicle over the time he was stuck in Cainhurst, but wasn’t actually that old when he led the attack.

#Logarius your pthumerian greys are showinggg #evil bastard #anyway do you guys get it now #bro is scary and charismatic and hateful and willing to abuse religious authority for the sake of political gain like #what’s not to like #he is terrible #i love him #martyr logarius #bloodborne #CrowSketch

[haleelah]

Jason glares at Dick as though he has killed him in a past life and they have bad blood between them.

Everyone thinks that. What they don't know though is that Dick knows exactly just how much Jason loves him.

Deep down he's just a whipped simp, easily wrapped around Dick's little finger, so deeply and disgustingly in love with him, a helpless romantic who loves Dick the love of stray puppy plucked from the harsh streets of Crime Alley into Dick's loving home and embrace. Jason is loyal to those whom he sees as family, but oh lord Dick knows that Jason is willing to drop everything at the drop of a hat for him. It would hurt him deeply but he'd rather keep Dick by his side than lose him after getting a taste of what it means to feel his love.

And Dick is so kind he doesn't really use that power against Jason. He knows he can, but he understands it will leave resentment between them, Jason would actually look at him with real bitterness but he'd still adore him. After all, a dog will always be loyal to his owner no matter how badly they treat him.

So Dick takes his glares and scathing words, with smiles and acceptance. People thinks him the bigger person for how he treat poor, angry and unstable Jason. Unbeknownst to them how Dick is going back home to sit in his lap, to kiss that exact frown from his brows, to treat him and pamper him with all of that simple love Jason so desperately needs but is so afraid to ask for.

The smile he bears right now turn into a chuckle.

Oh, just how much they don't know.

#jaydick #jason loves dick so much it's uneven #and loves him too #he never had anyone to love him this way before #sure he had his fair number of obsessed lovers and his infamous morally grey fanclub #but for someone to love him in this simple innocent way for someone willing to chase after him and put him first in everything #it's a first for him #also dick is such a bastard in his love #i love him like this #i don't like how much i used know in this but whatever