#the timing of the revelation is so ironic because imo

[whetstonefires]

Underrated element of where Jiang Cheng is re: wwx after everything is that they always had a sort of dual relationship. Two different relationship premises, superimposed on one another.

There's the one where they grew up together, as close as brothers, beating each other up and complaining and being one another's closest companions, sharing a bedroom as kids and eating at the same family dinner table, actively encouraged by Jiang Fengmian to interact as equals.

And then there's the one where Wei Wuxian was in service to Jiang Cheng's family. Not as a servant--Jiang Fengmian absolutely refused to do that, even if he couldn't adopt him. But as a disciple of Jiang Cheng's father and recipient of his charity, as Jiang Cheng's future right hand and most trusted subordinate.

It's a vertical relationship, intimate in its own way but with very strict expectations about what obligations flow in what directions; they are not identical and reciprocal as between friends and equals.

(It's my opinion that Jiang Fengmian's core deal was a deep-seated discontent with the hierarchies he was at the top of, without access to any way to actually deconstruct them or even coherently articulate his opposition. Wei Changze was his dear friend, and no one thinks that's a good enough reason for him to treat Wei Changze's son like his own, because Wei Changze was also his servant, and you can't make that circle square. That's not a way you're allowed to love.)

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were like brothers; Wei Wuxian served Jiang Cheng.

The personal relationship was always the most important one. To them, in their hearts. But it was the other one that was real, that had weight in the world.

And it's important to understand that neither can be held up as more factual than the other, even though they conflict. Both relationships existed, and had power.

So then when Jiang Cheng chose to hate Wei Wuxian and articulate his grudge against him, he chose to do it in the language of fealty. Because as far as he knew, his case there was secure, watertight, and it wouldn't expose him emotionally or politically.

And those are the terms in which he's been condemning him all this time: for abandoning the Sect, for ingratitude, for lack of loyalty.

For fuckups, too, and poor judgment, but some of that now turns out to have been justified and some of it was mostly the fault of enemies behaving badly, or even Jiang Cheng himself allowing himself to be pushed into making unworthy choices.

And it was all for his sake.

The thing, the thing in my opinion, about what Wei Wuxian did, about the core transfer and his silent self-destruction around keeping it secret, is that that is a hideous thing to have done between two people who love each other, as an act of love. Beautiful, but awful. As the man who was like a brother to him, Jiang Cheng has a great deal of standing to object to it.

But as an act of vassalage, it's basically perfect.

If Wei Wuxian were only what he formally was to Jiang Cheng, if he is interpreted through a lens of fealty and obligation, he did exactly what he should have done, and went beyond what duty actually required. And went to his death silently, allowing himself to be judged, taking all the burden on himself rather than let harm come to his lord.

Like, obviously Jiang Cheng was harmed by the part where Jin Zixuan got manslaughtered and Jiang Yanli walked into the line of fire in situations where Wei Wuxian was resorting to violence and probably shouldn't have, but those are one step removed from the core issue. In terms of Wei Wuxian's intentional choices around Jiang Cheng himself, at the times he was feeling betrayed and abandoned Wei Wuxian was in fact being impossibly, poetically loyal, an absolute cliche about it.

But only in terms of the hierarchical form of their relationship.

Which means that even though Jiang Cheng has a lot of reasons to still be mad at Wei Wuxian, his actual complaints that he's centered for thirteen years are basically wiped out by the revelation of Wei Wuxian's sacrifice.

Wei Wuxian was in fact doing the tragic hero loyal vassal thing, which very much includes being misunderstood and slandered by the world. (Chenqing as a name choice absolutely references this expectation, and the idea that Jiang Cheng specifically will never understand that Wei Wuxian was trying to help him first and foremost all along; he is not subtle.)

The debts Jiang Cheng has been spitefully calling in and considering defaulted were already long paid.

So if at this point Jiang Cheng keeps pursuing that same line of rhetorical attack, now that he knows, he'll be putting himself morally in the wrong, and he knows it. But if he pivots to something else, he'll both be signalling the shape of that secret to the entire world and looking like a prize idiot.

Which is already how he feels.

To actually address the remaining grievances between them, which are considerable, would require releasing those safe, open grudges to Wei Wuxian's face and then reclaiming him as a loved one. Which is, one could fairly say, more than anyone could expect.

Which is why Wei Wuxian told him he didn't have to.

Which leaves Jiang Cheng at something of an impasse.

#hoc est meum #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #mdzs #meta #their vertical relationship was always the secure one #the one they could put into words #the one Jiang Cheng could COUNT on #and it's gone and it's what destroyed everything between them #the other relationship could be salvaged in some form #but jiang cheng would have to WANT to #and ofc he does but does he want it enough to choose to? #when wei wuxian isn't choosing him? #and ofc wwx doesn't feel jiang cheng is his to choose #the timing of the revelation is so ironic because imo #wwx spends a lot of the book processing his grief for himself #and the life he had before #and his relationship with jiang cheng #and he let it go and accepted he could never have it back after the debacle at Lotus Pier #only for jiang cheng to be forced to reexamine everything basically immediately lmao #but like wwx is not in a place where he can meet you halfway anymore jiang wanyin #he JUST got closure #it's too soon to go cutting open scars on a man who never lets himself grieve if he can help it #because if you grieve you stop and when you stop you die

[kusokurae01]

Do you remember the ironic post I made about gatekeeping in this community? I'd like to elaborate more on it and how people treat those who dare to have a slightly different portrayal than the common consensus the fanbase has; this isn't about anyone by the way, just a very specific, slightly toxic part of the community. The thing about Hyde is that there isn't anything special going on with him design-wise, people get rancid vibes from him and attempt to explain that by accusing him of deformity although there isn't necessarily anything wrong with him appearance-wise; but for whatever reason, whenever someone designs an Hyde that's either too tall or doesn't fit the general view the fanbase has of him which is that of "frail awkward twink" (because I want to remind you all that this man murdered someone by beating them up with a cane despite his small/crouched frame) people get mildly annoyed. This especially seems to apply to the fact that some people make Hyde "taller than what he is supposed to be", and I personally do not think that's necessarily an issue while designing an Edward Hyde.

The reason Hyde is shorter than Jekyll is because he is supposed to represent how the potion makes him regress to when he was younger and free from the societal expectations that society would have on a man of his actual old age, and as a consequence Jekyll also regresses mentally (and this is probably also why Hyde isn't really capable of feeling shame for his actions, but maybe I'll elaborate on this another time).

IMO what truly is important about Hyde is that the writer makes sure that it is clear that this man is a younger version of Jekyll, not design wise, because I personally believe it isn't the design that makes the character, but rather the way it is written. Hyde should be upsetting (on a writer standpoint) because of his actions, be young and alive in the way he behaves. His design is irrelevant and, I think we should prioritize creativity over being forcefully overly accurate for the sake of not being vagueposted about.

Another thing I want to point out is that Jekyll isn't necessarily evil, just like he isn't necessarily good; the point is that he was repressed by societal expectations and wanted to be free without his good name being damaged, so he created Hyde. And arguably, Utterson isn't the paragon of goodness that people believe he is too, considering that his curiosity leads him to stalk and harass Hyde much like Enfield has done. There's no "good or evil" character and personally I believe that J&H characters' moral alignments can't be really collocated anywhere on the scale of good-evil, because what is exactly good and what is exactly evil? Hyde was created with the intent to do whatever without any damage being done to Jekyll's good reputation. If I recall correctly, one of the transcripts of the book, apparently Jekyll reveled in certain pleasures to the point where people had pushed him away, meaning that these rumors must've been real nasty if people didn't want to talk with him anymore, that's perhaps when Jekyll realized that he needed a camouflage, and he created Hyde— he could also be doing more innocent things like crossdressing (which was illegal and scandalous btw, for both genders because you could get arrested for public indecency, even a woman wearing pants was looked and frowned upon) or exploring his feminine side more, and at first Hyde could've been created for the purpose of exploring another side of himself, and then things escalated quickly the more Hyde gained autonomy, which is why the experiment went out of control and things ended up the way they did.

Also, pop-culture didn't do anything to "ruin Jekyll and Hyde".

Even in the musical, which is considered the greatest offender for making Jekyll a perfect good doctor: Jekyll isn't a saint, he has flaws; he cheats on his wife with a prostitute even as Jekyll, neglects her, has a short temper, leaves and comes late at his own engagement party for the sake of his work and then goes to a brothel, and generally refuses to acknowledge (these are all blatant signs of OCD/depression btw) that he wasn't alone in this, he is extremely hated by the governors for seemingly more reasons besides his experiments and generally seems to be a controversial figure in the medical field. This leads me to believe that some people just want something they can actively complain and have an hate-boner about because we don't have anything else left to do if not stir up issues which do not exist.

Also I just want to point something out, life expectancy for men in the victorian era was 40 years old, there isn't anything relatively wrong with The Glass Scientists making Jekyll 35 years old, because he basically lived everything that he had to live, as grim as it sounds— and there isn't anything wrong with making him conventionally attractive either, because you guys seem to think that a 50 years old is an "old man" even for modern standards, and that isn't true at all. My parents are in their 50s and I can assure you they aren't decaying corpses, let people have their conventionally attractive doctor, it isn't hurting anyone.

Also you can't talk about "respecting accuracy" when you add historically inaccurate things in your alternative universe, this especially applies to how some of you portray LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent characters but I won't go in detail with this because knowing how people are today, even if I am neurodivergent and queer myself, I'd be accused of discrimination nevertheless. The fact that the story is set IN THE VICTORIAN ERA is a crucial point of Jekyll's development as a character and the reason why Hyde came to life.

TL;DR stop gatekeeping y'all are cringe as fuck

#the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #jekyll and hyde musical #henry jekyll #edward hyde #jekyll and hyde weekly #jekyll and hyde #rambles #txt

[vashtijoy]

That immediately makes me think about how Akechi acts when he shoots Ren/Cognitive!Ren. When he's shooting someone in the head, he seems to be rather composed. Is that just a matter of it all not being a surprise?

I would argue that he's not nearly as composed as he appears in that scene—the composure is an illusion, because it's the first time we've seen him even partially unmasked, and his true manner is much flatter, much more subdued and sinister.

Like, he shoots that guard without hesitation, but then pretty much for the duration of that self-rationalising this-is-all-your-fault speech he gives "Ren", he's fixated on the bleeding, staring body of the guard. Like he can't take his eyes off it; like he thinks it will get up and walk away. He walks through much of the cutscene (though not by any means all of it) looking kind of shocked, IMO.

We get a couple of little smiles, real smiles, I think—one for "Ren", and one as he walks out the door. We get that moment once he can move again after the gunshot—note that the gun is still smoking from shooting the guard at the start of the cinematic, but isn't when we return from the cutout to Sojiro; time has passed—when he looks at what he's done and he's fucking delighted with it, like he wasn't sure he could do it, or go through with it; like he thought he wouldn't win; like he was afraid he might not beat this guy who's threatened him so completely. "Fuck, I did it, I did it! I won!"

And there's the big smirk as he shoots "Ren", of course, which appears to be entirely performative to me—he goes from a :/ face, to the smirk, to the little :c face that he stares at the corpse with, for however long that Sojiro cutaway takes....

But yeah, he's prepared for the interrogation room. He's been preparing for it since October. Ever since he understood he was the only one who could plausibly get down there and take Ren out—what were they going to do, after all, send the Cleaner in there?

And even though he succeeds (he thinks), and even though he wins (he thinks), and despite all his preparation, he's still a bit of a mess afterwards.

but in the third semester...

Of course, there's another moment we see Akechi try to shoot a human being in the head. And that's in Maruki's palace:

It's an interesting little expression, more of a snarl than a smirk, IMO, with his lips slightly parted; bitterly ironic when he tells Sumire "Can't you tell?". But there's not a trace of the deranged Akechi who usually screams and swears and flails his way through battle, who revels in his bloodlust. It's the same guy who follows the rest of them through the palace on the outside of the group—observing, spotting patterns, making connections; the detective at work, quiet, composed, and, if you piss him off, dangerous. Yet who sometimes sounds so strangely like Sae's palace-era Akechi that I blink and wonder if they mixed up the tapes.

Shadows and people aren't the same. And this Akechi knows that; he's taken that to heart. I would actually have liked to see more repercussions for him breaking formation here, lol.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #goro akechi #interrogation room

[catholic-character-tournament]

CONTESTANTS

I will make the bracket soon but if anyone has any reason why X character shouldn't be in the tournament, let me know. (Please no Kristen Applebee discourse, the pro-Kristen is catholic got to me)

Philip Wittebane has been disqualified

The main I'm ??? Idk if they should be allowed is Philip Wittebane/Emperor Belos

Propaganda was:

Okay okay so like he's technically Puritan-coded but like the Catholic background is still applicable imo. This man truly acts like he's a "savior" and really goes full martyr mode where instead of being like "yeah no my actions were reprehensible" he's like "I AM BEING PERSECUTED FOR DOING WHATS RIGHT BY RIDDING THE WORLD OF THESE WICKED VILE WITCHES". He also follows some Catholic symbolism pretty heavily in the last episode: he's posed similarly to Jesus being crucified, in a monster form he strikes a pose reminiscent of the Adam and God painting from the Sistine Chapel, and he even calls the Boiling Isles(a place full of witches and demons separate from the human realm) a "Perdition", which is "a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death." in Catholic theology. So YES he's Puritan coded but I feel there's enough overlap to consider him for Catholic. Hear me out I know I said Philip was probably Puritan so like. Imagine how funny it'd be to be lumped in the Catholic pool. He would be FURIOUS at being called Catholic he would HATE it. It'd be hilarious. Please consider it.

&

His whole villain modus operandi is crowning himself Emperor in what could reasonably be interpreted in-universe as Hell (it's not, but it sure does fit a lot of the stereotypical requirements of Hell in roundabout ways, specifically Dante's Inferno kind of stuff) by claiming that he's a prophet/follower/proclaimer etc. of "the Titan's Will" which is basically just a reskin of God's Will aka the typical uber-controlling religious fear mentality the Catholic church was and still kind of is known for. He claims that "wild" or unrestricted magic is displeasing the Titan (the main, uh, god-figure? sorta? of the show) leading everyone to destruction (sin) and that the only way to "please the Titan" is to submit to "magical purification" aka have one's magic be sealed off to only allow one type of magic to be used at a time. Those that don't adhere to this "purification" are evil Wild Witches that must be eradicated. The whole ideology is just Catholic repentance and crusading with a different coat of paint. Not only that but he literally built himself a castle with Catholic aesthetics, specifically church/cathedral ones—it has tons of stained glass windows and painting depicting his "virtues" and accomplishments in clearly religious ways, similar to how Catholic churches use their stained glass windows. He also cloaks a lot of his actions as being a part of "the Titan's Will" and is the main interpreter of said Will, which is pretty much like being the Pope. The kicker of it all is that he's just using all of this as a ruse to eradicate all of witch/demonkind because he's a witch hunter with a grudge nearly 400 years old and still going strong—the ends justify the means and all that.

This bitch is a radical Puritan Protestant witch hunter (the Puritan part being subtext due to where he specifically originated from, the witch hunter part EXPLICITLY CANON) and he just goes full ham on the Catholic Pope aesthetic when he becomes Emperor—lots of gold, grand regalia/clothing, religious iron fist, the whole bit. Over witches and demons, the very thing he's trying to wipe from existence to "save humanity." He basically becomes the fucking Demon Realm Anti-Christ Pope or something. Something something you became the very thing you swore you would destroy something something. The finale of the show ends off with him BECOMING A DRAGON (Revelations allegory) because he got turned into parasitic green goop. The irony here is so massively ridiculous it's insane. Not only that but HE'D HATE BEING NOMINATED AS A CATHOLIC. CAN YOU IMAGINE? PURITAN WITCH HUNTER BECOMING TUMBLR'S CANONIZED PATRON SAINT? HE'D BE SO FREAKING PISSED ABOUT IT (deserved)

List below cut

Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Daredevil)

kurt wagner/nightcrawler (x-men)

Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun)

Homura Akemi (Madoka Magica)

Vector the Crocodile (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Kirei Kotomine (Fate franchise)

Ronan Lynch (The Raven Cycle)

Temenos Mistral (Octopath Traveler 2)

John Ward (FAITH)

Claude Frollo(The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Eddie Brock (Venom)

Enrico Pucci (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Amon from (Tokyo Ghoul)

Galahad (The Mechanisms)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb)

Johnathan (Shin Megami Tensei IV)

Seeley Booth (Bones)

Doomguy  (Doom)

Pope Pinion IV (Cars)

707/Luciel Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Aymeric de Borel (Final Fantasy 14)

Dana Scully (the X files)

Father Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)

Ky Kiske (Guilty Gear)

Akane Kurashiki (Zero Escape)

Hell boy (HellBoy)

Kristen Applebees (Dimension 20's Fantasy High)

Louis de Pointe du Lac (Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Chronicles)

Pastry Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom)

Sister Michael (Derry Girls)

Wesley Hailoh (Rhyme and Reason)

Abuela Alma Madrigal (Encanto)

The Derry Girls (Derry Girls)

Aslan from (Chronicles of Narnia)

Father Paul (Midnight Mass)

Helena Bertinlli (DC comics)

Jean Valjean (Les Misérables)

Mac McDonald (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia)

Mark Heathcliff (The Mandela Catalogue)

Saint Citrina Rocks (Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy)

Tatsumi Kazehaya (Ensemble Stars)

Belizabeth Brassica (Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy)

Caesar Zeppeli (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Chrollo Lucilfer (Hunter x Hunter)

Father Brown (Father Brown)

Gabriel (Ultrakill)

Hot Pants (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Javert (Les Miserables)

Jeanne d'Arc (Alter) - Fate/Grand Order

Justin Law (Soul eater)

Lady Rhea (Fire Emblem)

Luis Serra Navarro (Resident Evil)

Mello (Death Note)

Ryker | Show: Roleslaying With Roman

Nate Ford (Leverage)

Nico D'Angelo (Percy Jackson)

Patton Sanders (Sanders Sides (Web Series))

Pucci (Jojos Bizarre Adventure)

Puss in Boots

Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

SCP-166 (Just a Teenage Gaia) 

Shadow the Hedgehog (sonic)

Sir Keradin Deeproot (Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy)

The Penitent One (Blasphemous)

Tobias Schneien (Ghost Eyes)

Vito Corleone (The Godfather)

Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series)

Asia Argento (High School DxD)

chuck e. cheese

Bishop Raphaniel Charlock from Dimension 20 - the Ravening War

Blake Langermann - Outlast 2

Brother Cellanus from The Completely Unerotic Adventures of Brother Cellanus

carlos reyes from 911 lone star

Carrie White (Carrie)

Catherine of Aragon (SIX the Musical)

CC from Code Geass

Detective William Murdoch (Murdoch Mysteries)

Double (Skullgirls)

Doug Jones from The VelociPastor

Dracule Mihawk (One Piece)

Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing

Father John Mulcahy- MASH

Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) | Spiderman

Firestar warrior cats

Flayn from Fire Emblem Three Houses

Frank Castle

Gerard from Unholyverse

Gloria Maria Ramirez Delgado-Pritchett (Modern Family)

Ibara Shiozaki from My Hero Academia

Inori Yamabuki/Cure Pine and Fresh Precure

Jason Todd in DC Comics

John "Soap" MacTavish (Call of Duty)

John Gaius (The Locked Tomb)

Junk rat from Overwatch

Knuckles the hedgehog from Sonic.

Kuroe (Magia Record)

Kyoko Sakura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Leliana (Dragon Age)

Lestat de Lioncourt - the Vampire Chronicles (Books/Movies/TV)

Libra (from Fire Emblem: Awakening)

Link - The Legend of Zelda

Maddie Fitzpatrick (Suite Life of Zack and Cody)

Marcy Park (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)

Mercedes - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Michael Carpenter (Dresden Files)

Michael Corleone, the Godfather

Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg from Ride the Cyclone

Philip Wittebane/Emperor Belos - The Owl House (disqualified)

Pontifex Belizabeth Brassica from Dimension 20's A Crown of Candy

Rin Okumura from Blue Exorcist

Robocop

Sasuke from Naruto

Shiozaki Ibara bnha

Shiro Fujimoto from Blue Exorcist

simon belmont castlevania

Steve Rogers

Tammy Edwards from the play Legoland by Jacob Richmond 

Valeria Garaz (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 reboot)

Valery Michailov (Goncharov - 1973)

Zakuro Fujiwara from Tokyo Mew Mew

Kawabuchi Sentarou (Kids on the Slope)

Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Emilio Santoz from The Sparrow

Remy LeBeau (Gambit) from Marvel Comics X-Men

jesus but from jesus christ superstar. i think this should count 

Leon from 8:11

Sister Mary from The Young Pope

Replacement:

Miles Morales (Marvel Comics)

Friar Tuck (Robin Hood)

[bluezey]

So here's something fun to think about. I like Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. I'm also a Christian. I'm sure that's no big thing, I've even found a fan or two that are religious. But let's say I can't talk about the shows on my personal Facebook blog without getting some comments about "the enemy getting into my home" or how I have to cover up the pentagrams on my Alastor standees with electrical tape. I mean I don't like them, but it fits the show, and I guess making them stars doesn't work for my mom 😅

So, why do I like the shows? Well, it's good and funny! Dark humor that I know some would be offended by, especially Christians, but for me, I can look past them being demons and see a funny show with great characters. The designs are great, some even amazing. Helluva Boss is evolving into its own show in the second season, as the first season was more the setup of the premise, but the seasons are still good, especially for an independent production released in YouTube.

And Hazbin Hotel, not only good and funny, but the premise is fascinating! The princess of hell, aka Lucifer's daughter, wanting to save her people by rehabilitating demons so they can get into heaven. This is an interesting concept! Reminds me a lot of iron sharpening iron, or maybe even blind leading the blind. Because, what do demons think is good? What do demons think make a demon rehabilitated? Will heaven accept and work with hell to allow good demons into heaven? It also kinda reminds me of the lost book of the Bible called the Revelation of Peter. It's basically the same thing as the Revelation of John, but with an additional passage where Peter and an angel looked down into hell, and the angel basically said "you know, those sinners aren't trapped in hell, all they got to do is accept Christ and they'll be released into heaven." I find it fascinating and kind of funny that, when deciding between these two books, the people putting together the definitive Bible decided "nah, we don't like people getting a chance to escape eternal punishment, let's go with John's book" 😅

Now there are a few nitpicks that, I'm not gonna say dislike, but more like deal with it. One is realizing that some of the demons and lore of the shows are based on some demonology. So Vivziepop has done her homework, and that respectable and impressive. But, the research is so well researched, I'm a little sus at times about how well she knows her stuff. But, I'm not gonna judge her religious beliefs, so I'll let that slide. The second, and another nitpick, I was excited to see the angels after seeing how amazing the designs of the characters look, only to find that the angels look much like the demons in design. That's a little underwhelming imo, but again, I was personally expecting too much I guess. Also, maybe there's some kind of reasoning or message behind the angels and demons having similar designs. Third, another nitpick, but I think they're starting too soon with the demons fighting back against the exterminations. I mean, I'm excited as hell too, but I feel it's too soon. I want to see them try to rehabilitate demons first. But who knows, maybe the angels didn't take Charlie seriously, and this is their way of showing it. I mean, I'd fight back too. I'm pretty sure when demons double die, there's no double hell, and the demons are just trying to survive day by day in hell. And I feel for them having to live through that, especially cause it's eternal, and they can also die. There's some humanity in these demons, particularly the ones that were humans before, or aren't total evil like Asmodeous or Moxxie.

In fact, I can't help but notice that I do like the least evil characters such as Moxxie and Charlie, then later the more evil but complex characters such as Angel Dust and Alastor. Oh my gosh, I love how nostalgic and awesome Alastor is! And that voice is the best part! Then I find out why he's down in hell, and why he likes being in hell, and I'm like.... why do I still like this guy? Why do I like him more??

Anyway, guess as a Christian, Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are like my guilty pleasure shows. Yes I get why some religious people would hate the show, and why I probably shouldn't like the show. But, I do like the show anyhow. Because I can look past the demons and the hellfire, and try and ignore the glyphs and pentagrams 😅 and see some great writing and animation behind it

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss

[mayaflowerxs]

Hey btw Nayoung does in fact mention Jaemin's name a couple times or so before him and mc meet.

It’s ironic how much she’s mentioned him and yet has never said his name.

Which is why it's kinda weird that if mc knows Nayoung's bf's name that she wouldn't second guess even if its unlikely BEFORE actually meeting him lol

-

why did jaemin have to tell mc that he loved her right after sex 😭 like imo, thats like a heat-of-the-moment thing where its not actual emotion but rather the sex talking LOL

-

“They completely cut me out and I don’t know why! Can you believe that?! After everything I did for them they have the audacity to treat me like dirt? And that’s not even mentioning the weird looks I’ve been receiving from guys. It’s like I’m infected or something.” No but rumors are you caught a case of syphilis

I also was wondering, what was this last part about, who was she talking to and who was she referring to? Or is this just foreshadowing lol

Hello! And wow I’m glad to read some feedback haha, so Nayoung briefly mentions Jaemin in the kitchen I think during which mc was on the phone texting him. Saying she (Nayoung) has a date with him, it was meant to be a moment in which mc would finally get to know the name of Nayoung’s boyfriend. A way to divert mc’s attention from her phone to the sudden name revelation of Nayoung’s boyfriend. Instead mc didn’t catch her dropping Jaemin’s name because she was so immersed on her conversation with the boy himself to put the pieces together.

It was also meant to be a way that mc no longer puts much effort in paying attention to what Nayoung has to say which is why Nayoung frowns because she’s not used to Mc being so uninterested. I’m not sure if I dropped his name at some point after that and/or before their first ever encounter, if I did then that was my mistake !

Also the heat of the moment confession. I had Jaemin say it because it was something he’s felt for a while now but never had the guts to say due to the situation they are in. When mc tells him she no longer wants to continue hooking up behind Nayoung’s back, Jaemin becomes desperate in having her stay and not throw away what they had. Given that emotions were running high, he blurted his confession out without thinking and is why he says he wishes the situation was different.

At the end, it was Nayoung ranting to mc about how her group of friends have suddenly gotten cold towards her. The same way mc’s old friends cut her off out of the blue is exactly what Nayoung is going through with her own friends and she doesn’t know why.

Hope this cleared some things!🤍

[e-b-reads]

saw the post you reblogged ft. diana wynne jones' enchanted glass and was curious what you thought about its framing of aidan's real parentage, which i found to be... tonally very weird?? [spoilers to follow, in the outside chance you were mentioning the book without having finished it!] like, i'm absolutely not opposed to the depiction of creepy/predatory &c dynamics in fiction, even YA; but the last-minute revelation that andrew's beloved grandfather had sex with, and what's more got pregnant, a troubled teenager a good half-century his junior, who'd been entrusted into his care for 'sorting out,' and then on top of all that failed to disclose his role in this ethical shitshow (as per the letters in chapter twelve) to the girl's parent, whose confidant he remained? pretty seriously jarring imo! and then for the only intradiegetic reaction to be andrew's sputtering “well, i’ll be—!” twice, after which the book promptly ends...? i mean, andrew's admittedly a bit of a buffoon, so it's not out of character that he'd duck away from really engaging with a development like this, but. just struck me as an awfully lead balloon to drop on your readers, particularly young ones, without any real in-text acknowledgment of just how heavy it is! anyway, the casual addition of that twist really colored my overall reaction to the book, so seeing you give it a thumbs-up made me wonder if you had any thoughts on that particular aspect. either way, happy hammocking! :)

First, it is probably safe to assume I’ve finished any DWJ book I blog about b/c I have read all those I can get my hands on! (So there’s a few I haven’t read, but not many.) Which does segue into my general response to this, which is that I guess I just discovered DWJ at the right age (Charmed Life at age 10 was the first) to, idk, imprint on her? in such a way that I go into every book of hers determined to love it, and then kind of deal with any qualms as they come. I don’t expect other ppl to do this! But it is both a nice thing for me—any time I read something new-to-me by her, I know I’ll enjoy it, even if I don’t know quite what I’m getting—and possibly makes me not the best person to rec them to others. (I do rec them to others anyways, but I try to be choosy about it!)

more specific response to the rest of this under the cut b/c it got quite long (and also has Enchanted Glass spoilers)

To be specific about Enchanted Glass, I do really like it, probably partly just because (as has been overstated by now) I like her voice; also I like that the humans (as opposed to “them who can’t use iron”) are themselves a force to be reckoned with (OK, so some can use magic, but they’re still definitely human, and I’ve read a few human-vs-fae books where any humans who don’t have some fae ancestry are just collateral damage); I also like that the sides aren’t actually quite as simple as humans vs. fae. BUT I do kind of need to process that ending every time I read. I do wish there was more there, that the characters spent a little more time w/ the revelation. I think that Andrew’s response is pretty Andrew-y of him; particularly, I think he’s been feeling vaguely guilty about claiming Adrian as a relative when he isn’t much of one, so his first reaction is self-centered relief that this part is true after all. And he does at least wonder briefly about what to tell Adrian, so you know (hope?) there will be more considering/processing. But it does sour me on Jocelyn as a character (to put it mildly), and tbh, skimming over some of the end bits, I’m not sure that’s what DWJ intends. It’s possible the reader is supposed to put the onus on Adrian’s mom and decide she seduced this way older man who just sort of succumbed to her. Which (hopefully obviously) I think is some BS; like if you’re sixty or whatever and a 17-y-o you’re responsible for comes on to you, just don’t sleep w/ her?! I wonder if yr also supposed to assume she slept w/ Mr. Brown too, and Jocelyn assumed the kid really was his (Brown’s) and not Jocelyn’s, so that’s why he never came clean…still not great. (Maybe if DWJ wrote the actual interactions themselves, she’d be able to make me, NOT absolve Jocelyn, but sympathize(?) w/ him more, but I’m not sure. And she didn’t, she wrote a kid’s book.) Which also makes me wonder, b/c I read this book for the first time in…maybe high school, but possibly I was a little older than that. So I have no idea what I wld have thought as a younger kid, and I do agree w/ DWJ (from essays/interviews) that kids can handle stuff in books that adults don’t expect, but also agree w/ you that, at least to close-to-adult me, this was a somewhat jarring tone shift at the end of the book, and it might possibly be a bit much for a young reader.

So yeah, the kinda flippant “it’s weird” in my tag was definitely meant to convey some of all this, but I do still love the book myself (without necessarily expecting others to) b/c of all the other stuff in it. Like I saw your post abt Power of Three a little while ago and…I haven’t read it myself in quite a while (it’s one I don’t own) and I hope I wld have picked up on the squidgyness of the fat phobia myself on my next reread, b/c when I read your post I was like “oh…yeah that does happen and I can see now it’s not great;” but I also expect to read it again someday and still enjoy the parts I enjoyed before. idk. I think part of my reaction to all DWJ books is like…I have friends irl who I don’t always agree w/ about everything, but I still like and respect them and we can still talk about the things we disagree on. Well, published authors aren’t that, they are putting out a polished product for ppl (sometimes children!) to consume, but I spent such a foundational, awkward time in my life “getting to know/spending time w/” DWJ via her books that she is still like my friend in the little juvenile corner of my mind that loves her, and I will always give her books more of a pass than I will other ppl’s.

#enchanted glass #diana wynne jones #i thought i wld answer publicly in case others want to see my thoughts on this book #but i am also down for back-and-forth messages (w/ anyone who likes talking abt books!) #(and am happy to delete this post and just talk privately if wanted; hard to know w/ asks sometimes!) #speaking of which: #talking about books!

[itsclydebitches]

...okay, so I know nothing about Dexter except he's like the but what 'if I kill a 100 killers?' meme, but what I DO know is him looking like a homeless lumbercjack in snow cause fandom had a meltdown over it - AND YOU TELLING ME HE'S IN MIAMI CAUSED ME TO QUESTION REALITY! D: [And hey, if you'd wanna advertise me the show my ears are open... xD]

RIGHT? Totally different vibe. Beard!Dexter is a blight on this fandom, for legit reasons other than just facial hair and snow, but those are still unforgivable in their own ways lol. I mean, Dexter's promotional material was a pretty cool mix of playing on his job as a blood splatter analyst (oh ho ho did he cause the splatter?) and playing on his outward image as the supposedly perfect family man (the ketchup he's using is actually blood!), but we also had stuff like this:

The setting is really crucial. If we were set wherever we are at the end of the series (I clearly loved the ending enough to remember where he moved to lol) that would very much mirror the whole serial killer thing; a dark, cold environment to reflect his real self. But by making it Miami, there's this wonderful contrast going on that feeds into both the show's premise — totally normal dude goes about his normal life in this bright, happy, gorgeous weather place — and, by extension, feeds into the show's humor too. It's harder to take Dexter seriously when he's out being all serial-killer-y in a Hawaiian shirt... and alongside enjoying that image, we understand, textually, why no one really suspects him. You know that post going around where OP shows that shot of Hannibal being all creepy in his library and it's like "Oh yeah there's NO WAY anyone would EVER think you're a SERIAL KILLER, guy whose name rhymes with 'cannibal.'" Dexter is the exact opposite of that. At the start of the series one coworker thinks he's shady — presenting expected problems for Dexter — but he's very much the outlier. You don't have to suspend disbelief to go along with everyone trusting, liking, and even loving Dexter. He is lovable.

And that's the cool moral premise. I mean yeah, he's a serial killer. Insert the inevitable tumblr comment about how you can't like the bad guy (/s)... but you're supposed to. Dexter starts the series with a wife, kids, beloved sister, friends at work, and he does love them all. It's not an act put on to get by. The show is very clear that the persona Dexter embodies to not get caught, while inevitably tied up in that Good Brother/Husband/Father lifestyle, is not the sole reason why he created those ties. The premise of Dexter is not "If a killer kills a killer, there are still the same number of killers on Earth, I am so intelligent." It's "What if a cop realized his son would inevitably become a serial killer, so out of love for him taught him to only kill other people who were a danger to the community? And then the son grew up desperately trying to maintain the life he'd built while also keeping his "Dark Passenger" at bay? Would that be fucked up or what?" Dexter is interesting both because he has his code — there are legit conversations to be had both in the story and out about what, if any, merit there is in this kind of vigilante behavior. It reminds me of a similar Criminal Minds episode where a victim hopes a killer won't get caught because he killed her abuser — and because he, outside of the whole killing thing, is a pretty likable guy. You're suppose to struggle with liking him, question what it means to be a monster, figure out what you're willing to ignore for someone you love, etc. Dexter isn't the Joker reveling in chaos for the sake of chaos, nor is his struggle such an angst fest that the show (at least most of the time) feels too edgy. He treats his "Dark Passenger" like a particularly annoying pet he has to take care of. Yeah, it gets dark and serious a lot, but it's also funny as hell.

All of which is made better by casting Michael C. Hall. He's phenomenal in the role.

I don't think any clip encompasses this tongue-in-cheek "He's just a normal dude, doing normal things, definitely nothing to see here ;)" energy quite like the opening does. It PERFECTLY uses the context the viewer has to make everyday actions seem sinister and then contrasts it all with the final shot: how everyone else sees Dexter. It is, totally seriously, one of my favorite openings of anything ever:

Absolutely watch Dexter. Yes, there comes a time when it goes off the rails and the finale is up there with the likes of Supernatural imo, but you can ignore that + the new season might fix some things if we're very, very lucky lol. If you enjoy police procedurals, monster of the week formatting, morally driven storytelling, unreliable narrators, and fantastic ironic humor, Dexter 100% deserves your attention.

#Dexter #mymetas

[butchhamlet]

PLEASE elaborate on how u got to butch sir toby. (also i will be sending this to my (also nb butch) castmate so we can revel in his butch/butch hostility w malvolio)

okay first of all allow me direct you to my twelfth night homotrans staging from january bc it has my scene by scene notes on toby butch

butch/femme toby/maria was proposed in someone’s tags on one of my posts and as soon as i read it i was like. oh i am never going to think about anything else. there is no other staging. it makes toby such a more interesting and sympathetic character imo because everything he does, all of the drinking and carousing, and even the belligerent careless way he acts, becomes a deliberate rebellion against conventional womanhood (plus it gives his relationship with maria more depth imo because rather than just being annoyed by him, she’s legitimately worried he could be in danger because of the way he presents himself). am i biased? as fuck. but it makes him so much more compelling than “idk he’s some random middle-aged man who just gets drunk and causes problems.” number one character i want to butch in-text (butch used as a verb here) (he beats hamlet bc my hamlet is always trans but not necessarily always a lesbian)

in my homotrans staging, i initially thought “okay, so malvolio is a cishet guy and that makes toby, maria, and feste Getting His Ass less awful because it’s like… how the turn tables… perhaps he’s a bit homophobic and they’re mean to him about it by right.” however i fucking love malvolio and You specifically put lesbian malvolio into my head (well. you and ntlive twelfth night with lesbian malvolia holy FUCK that staging is SO fucking good and i think about it all the time) and honest to god that is peak. absolute ideal god tier staging: malvolio, maria, toby, and feste are all lesbians and toby and feste are both played as foils to malvolio (because they ARE they are foils they ARE…) and that makes what they do to malvolio so much more poignant, i think, because the way i read it, feste and toby didn’t really intend for it to go that far. they just got caught up in things. & then we have room for an ending realization that they’ve mistreated someone who is FAR more like them than not, and all three of them have this shared wlw experience and yet they’ve Done This to malvolio. and what do you do with yourself then? what do any of them do with themselves then?

in lighter thoughts. malvolio toby butch/butch hostility is so fucking funny. they are the two opposite ends of the butch fashion spectrum. malvolio irons all of his clothing and probably wears bow ties and cufflinks and toby has been wearing the same rumpled hawaiian shirt for four days straight & also shutter shades

#oh the format of this is gonna be fucked to hell huh i hate mobile sorry #anyway! women. #max.txt #twelfth night #asks #toby #malvolio #feste #and #maria #bc femme maria... >>>> #sir toby butch #which is my butch sir toby btag

[shit-mcu-stans-write]

submission from anon: essay on rhodey

my apologies that this is so long. i had a lot more to say than i realised and this… just kind of happened.

so… lieutenant colonel james “jim” rupert “rhodey” rhodes… i have a lot of feelings about him and his character development and for once… i actually like what i see from the mcu. i love what the mcu has completely unintentionally done for him and i find it absolutely hilarious because i know it’s 100% unintentional, because they’d never purposefully make rhodey’s character development so anti-tony-stark. but that’s what we’ve been presented with. and i love it. hear me out:

in iron man 1 rhodey starts as tony’s babysitter. rhodey says so himself: “you don’t respect yourself so I know you don’t respect me - i’m just your babysitter” but despite the fact he knows tony doesn’t respect him, he’s still there for tony, still supporting him, still showing him as much love as he can no matter how little tony gives back. he puts it down the the fact tony doesn’t respect himself; he’s reckless and childish and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions. rhodey might be being sarcastic and snarky when he’s saying “when you need your diaper changed let me know and I’ll get you a bottle” but there’s some truth to it: he can’t help but mother-hen tony, because someone has to be responsible for the kid (he sure as hell can’t be responsible for himself!), and rhodey has put himself in that position.

i think a lot of that’s to do with the fact they both met really young in mit, with rhodey being a couple (?) years older than tony at the time. they stuck together because they were both in the unique position of being child prodigies, but because rhodey was the older of the two i think he quickly settled into a caregiving role. but by iron man 1, rhodey has emotionally matured, and tony hasn’t. he hasn’t needed to, being a white billionaire boy and all. so rhodey still sees tony as this kid he’s always been there for, always protecting, always giving and giving and giving to, and putting up with. they’ve been friends for so long that he’s used to it.

by iron man 2, rhodey is fed up. tony is being even more reckless than usual because he’s dying but no one knows, so rhodey is being pushed to his breaking point. there’s a deleted scene where rhodey says something which i feel says everything you need about what their relationship has become by now: “hanging out with you is bad for our friendship”. rhodey is starting to realise just how impossible being an actual friend - not just a yes-man and support staff - for tony is. and all that culminates in the fight scene where, upon seeing tony drunk and endangering his party guests in a WMD supersuit, rhodey reaches that breaking point. protects tony from himself one last time by fighting him, then cuts ties.

only, by the end of iron man 2, rhodey learns that taking the suit to the military and letting hammer get his paws on it was a bad idea, and that tony was literally near death the whole time he was being a dick, and then they have to team up to defeat vanko together. so despite having gone through all the shit tony’s put him through and realising how terrible a friend tony actually is, he chalks this all up to a mistake and a misunderstanding on his part. gives tony a second (or, more realistically, hundredth) chance. which is why in iron man 3 they’re best buds again. im3 is probably the healthiest depiction of their relationship tbh, and that’s on im3 tony being the least assholeish depiction of tony in the whole mcu (imo).

but tony’s character begins to sour massively from AOU onwards (not saying he wasn’t an… abrasive character beforehand, to say the least, but clearly all the guilt from causing ultron and inadvertently causing the mess in sokovia is affecting him and his relationships; pepper, another caregiving character that has put up with tony’s entitled, misogynistic bullshit for years, has left him, and i think that’s a massive sign that he’s spiralling in a similar way he did in im2. after all, the writers refuse to develop him as a character, which means he’ll never get help for his mental health and never learn healthy coping mechanisms. i honestly wonder what happened for pepper to leave - we’ve seen the breaking point for rhodey, so what was hers?)

so yeah, anyway, tony is starting to spiral again from AOU. civil war happens - he blames the team and latches onto the accords as a way to absolve himself of the guilt, bla bla bla, you know the plot. and, just like the others, rhodey is given mere days to read, consider, and sign this life-changing document; not only is his best friend vehemently, vocally, and violently in favour these documents, they’re also coming from a position of power that he, as a military man, respects. so it makes sense he’d initially be on the side of the accords.

and then something even more life-changing than the accords happens for rhodey. sam accidentally shoots him down and he injures his legs so bad that he can’t walk without support. and rhodey’s response to that? i know we don’t get to see much of rhodey’s response and recovery, which is a travesty, but what we do get? really sheds some light on the kind of man rhodey is, and how he develops as a person by the end of endgame. 

for once in his life, rhodey is in the position of needing to be cared for - and on top of that, tony is the one offering. we also see that rhodey wants his recovery to be something he does alone as much as he possibly can, because that’s just the kind of person he is; we see the sheer amount of value he places on his ability to handle things on his own, and the skyrocket-high responsibility he holds himself to. and now all of a sudden tony’s actually trying to reciprocate the attention and care he’s shown him without reward for years (and only because of this guilt spiral he’s been on since AOU)… and that must have been fucking jarring for rhodey.

i think the sudden and strange role reversal probably helped him work out a few things about his relationship with tony a lot. which is why, when infinity war rolls around, they don’t interact. rhodey seems closer to and more in alignment with the “rogues”/“nomads” than tony. where once he agreed with the accords, he’s had some time to actually read them and reconsider them, and he’s against them now! he hates ross and greets steve with a warm hug!

and something i love so fucking much about infinity war (dispite all it’s other faults)? sam and rhodey’s relationship. sam shot rhodey down and disabled him for the rest of his life. and rhodey forgives him. first of all, because that’s the kind of person rhodey is (he’s had plenty of practice forgiving all kinds of shit with tony), and rhodey understands it was a mistake (and probably empathises with how horrible it must have been for sam; he’s military too, he understands that specific kind of guilt). interesting to compare rhodey’s response to the mistake with tony’s. and heartwarming to see that, for once, when rhodey forgives someone for what they’ve done, he is given gratitude and a genuine two-way friendship in response. i live for sam and rhodey’s every interaction in iw.

and then we get to endgame. know how many times rhodey interacts with tony in endgame? twice. first interaction: “okay, you made your point - just sit down, okay?” (read: “stop acting like a child before you hurt yourself”). second interaction: *sadly touches his face as he realises he’s dying before moving aside to let peter and pepper say their goodbyes*. what i love about these interactions - and the lack of any other interactions - is what it clearly means for rhodey:

1) tony still means a lot to rhodey. he’ll always mean a lot to him. they were best friends since they were literally just kids at mit. he’ll always, i think, love tony and want to care for and protect him (from himself, mainly). and tony, in his own way, will always love rhodey. but, 2) rhodey has still, nevertheless, cut ties with tony. i think the time away from action caused by the long recovery process he would’ve went through not only let rhodey reconsider his stance on the accords and his superiors in the military such as ross, but it also gave him time (and a wildly new perspective) to realise how toxic his relationship with tony truly is.

and what’s great to compare the way in which and reasons why he cuts ties with tony after civil war compared to the way in which and reasons why he cut ties with tony during im2, is that rhodey hasn’t been pushed to his breaking point this time. he has way more agency in his choice this time. he’s not leaving because he’s been infuriated one time too many; he’s doing it because he’s actually being given the kind of support he himself has been dishing out all these years… and doesn’t want it. not if it’s coming from the place of convenience and guilt that it is with tony. he cannot be guilt-tripped into forgiving tony anymore because he is making his choice this time with clear-mindedness.

and you know what’s so great about him finally genuinely cutting ties with tony this time around? he’s no longer his yes-man. he gets space to breathe as his own character. he jokes around more. he’s not annoyed all the time. he gets involved with the rest of the team. as i’ve said, he interacts with sam and it’s beautiful. he interacts with nebula and it’s heartwarming and they form a bond so quickly. and in all the new interactions he gets you see he is receiving so much more respect and reciprocation than he’s ever experienced with tony. and it makes me so happy.

also i can’t help but think about how it’s also a pretty big deal for him as a black character to go through all of these revelations and developments; black kids are often encouraged/forced to mature mentally/emotionally a lot quicker than white kits, and take on responsibility that shouldn’t be their burden to bear from a young age (which i think was absolutely something rhodey experienced as a highly intelligent black child), and it’s not uncommon for black characters to be portrayed in these caregiving roles to Hurt White Characters. so for him to break out of that box is just beautiful.

tony, on the other hand, is a white billionaire who never learned how to grow up; he’s never had to handle the kind of daily-grind stress that non-billionaire poc like rhodey have handled since they were a kid. not saying tony hasn’t faced other kinds of stress, but for the most part? everything has been given to him on a shiny golden platter. so when responsibility is thrust upon him - when his faults are actually pointed out - he doesn’t know how to handle it. hasn’t learned. it destroys his mental health. he gets destructive in turn. irreparably damages his relationships. spirals and spirals and refuses. to get. help. (you’re a billionaire, tony - you can afford a therapy. and the idealisation/romanticisation of unhealthy guilt spirals and a mindset of powering through despite everything and without asking for help until you crash and burn is not good mental illness/neurodivergent rep, it’s just the only one the mcu knows how to write.) i despair at the loss of opportunity when it comes to tony’s character and what he could have come to represent, but that’s another essay entirely.

when it comes to rhodey, however, the mcu have accidentally created a wonderful character and a wonderful character arc. that’s not to say they deserve any praise though, because this was likely never their intention and it’s purely accidental (again, they’d never purposefully give rhodey such an anti-tony character arc, just like they’d never intentionally make tony a bad role model, but that’s what they did, completely accidentally).

not only is rhodey a character who is unwaveringly kind and forgiving (and is rewarded for these traits later down the line in his new relationships), but we also get to see him learn how his kindness and forgiveness shouldn’t be taken for granted as it has been for years of his life. we see him step away from harmful relationships. we see him take back his life for himself - refuse to be someone else’s nanny. we see his growth and his development, and it’s wonderful, and i love him.

in conclusion: war machine rox. 

#oh my god i love this! #this was the best read #thank you. SO MUCH for submitting this!!!!! #anti tony stark #james rhodes #submission

[esther-dot]

hello again, i'm the last anon. i was not actually the anon to ask you in the first place but i definitely was grateful for the request 😁 thats totally alright, although i definitely already read everything you published😊 i had not seen the prompt that you're planning to write and i look forward to reading it!

(also just wanted to say about that prompt: how ironic would it have been if jorah had actually killed daenerys and then been sent to the nights watch like his father... it reminds me of d&d saying they wanted to see jorah at the nights watch but not knowing how to make it happen😂)

(continuation of this convo)

Thank you so much <3

OMG, those revelations about their plans for Jorah were so strange to me!

"For a long time we wanted Ser Jorah there at the Wall in the very end," Dave said in an interview for the book. "The three coming out of the tunnel [in the series finale] were to be Jon, Jorah, and Tormund." (link)

They said that didn't happen because he had undying loyalty to Dany and for him to end up at the Wall would have meant he had to leave her, so that's why they killed him instead which...I mean, Jon killed her and ended up at the Wall in the finale, so I don't know what they mean. I guess it wouldn't make sense for Jorah to let Jon live after assassinating her? But, it didn't make sense for Grey Worm to let him live either. Idk, it feels like they wrapped everything in s8 around the idea that Dany deserved devotion and was loved which makes no sense considering what they were working towards/the ending. They were so terrified of her fans they imploded the show. 🤦🏻‍♀️

And the idea that Dany is assassinated but all the men who were on her team end up living feels wrong. I accept that it's a possibility, that Jorah might go to the Watch and Tyrion become hand, but that's really gross imo.

Also, I love the fact that they didn't create any logic behind the political endgame that we all know is from Martin (King Bran), and yet, they had a specific visual involving two characters who aren't even mains that they wanted to end on. Let’s think about that for a minute. They cut Bran out for an entire season knowing he was the endgame ruler, and yet, they knew they wanted their last shot to include Jorah. WTF.

I will never understand their priorities! 😂

#ask dot

[reaperkaneki]

and now for my opinions on the individual routes! this is gonna get long so bear with me.

i played through the initial routes in the order of riku (blue) -> amakusa (green) -> yosuga (purple) -> kuroba (black). you could probably swap yosuga and kuroba depending on preference, or even insert tokisada between the two as a breather since purple and black have fairly heavy themes.

again, the game is romance-heavy compared to past localized otome. the structure is like this: the first half of a route is dedicated to ‘how the characters fall for each other’, the second is dedicated to ‘who objects to this relationship and also what horrible little facet of the game’s broken caste-based society are we concentrating on today’. so, romance -> antagonism and lore.

i would for sure recommend doing riku first, since his route has the least amount of spoilers for the other routes. at the very least i would definitely not do yosugas route before his because that has some revelations on the antagonist of riku’s route. i went in expecting riku to be my least favorite, but he was super cute and i ended up liking him way more than anticipated. i want to bully him a little bit. again, great for a first route.

i’ll go ahead and say that i didn’t like tokisada’s route very much. he’s only seventeen, so younger than olympia by a year, so he’s very youthful and fun at first and i enjoyed the first half of his route. his character arc is fine in theory; unfortunately, he didn’t really do it for me. he has a lot of complexes that are relatable, and a lot of genuine flaws that make sense given his trauma, but his route seemed to drag on forever and i was constantly caught between going ‘okay, this is an unhealthy but understandable and realistic trauma behavior, i should give him the benefit of the doubt’ and ‘wait this is an otome and i am not a therapist, i want to grab this little twink by the shoulders and shake him’. oh, one surprising thing though: he has a lot of kisses. for the youngest member of the cast, who definitely has no prior experience, he sure does have a lot of service? which is immediately killed by the fact that he calls olympia onee-san aaaaaAAAAAAA NOT DURING THE SPICY SCENES ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

yosuga is more plot-heavy of a route than i expected. all of the routes have some aspect of ‘certain things happened in the past that were covered up for the sake of maintaining the status quo on the island’ but other than the final two, this one has the most flavor of ‘are you sure you want to know’? while the romance was barely there compared to, say, tokisada’s where he drags you on dates for the first half of the route, i think i liked the antagonist in his route the most—they’re complex and while most antagonists in this game have suffered under some aspect of the island’s caste system and strict societal obligations, i felt the most sympathy here.

i expected either kuroba or akaza, maybe even yosuga, to be my favorite when the game was announced solely based on character design and seiyuu, and was a little hesitant when kuroba was described as an older brother type character. then i played the game and basically spent the three routes i did first pining after him. yes, he’s reliable and good with kids, but he’s actually the flirty jokester type with a serious side, and in many of the routes he plays an excellent wingman. truly the brosiest of bros. now that i’ve got my biased opinion of kuroba out of the way, his actual route? i’ve got mixed feelings. on one hand, the date scenes are really fun. kuroba grappling with ethical concerns as a doctor was handled well imo. on the other, the relationship goes through a lot of ups and downs. there are some moments where i wanted to shake him (and olympia!) by the shoulders because they’re both very. hm. guys. seriously. and lastly but most unfortunately there’s some scenes that. well. heavy content warning. sexual violence. not great. it mostly pulls together in the end, albeit somewhat messily.

speaking of plot heavy, himuka’s route is revelation after revelation about the world they live in. which is why it’s locked. (i actually thought while playing it, “what could akaza’s route possibly reveal that himuka’s hasn’t?”) but since i’m trying to keep this mostly spoiler-free, i’ll talk abt himuka himself. i liked him! he’s cute. he gives me orlok piofiore vibes. he’s very intense and socially awkward, and definitely puts olympia up on a pedestal that she doesn’t want to be on. he has very little self esteem, does a thankless job, and is self sacrificing. in short, he’s very, very similar to olympia in some respects, and utterly foreign in others, which makes him a good parallel for her.

akaza is obviously the ‘main guy’. it’s very hard to discuss his route without spoiling anything. i’ll do my best. he’s known as the iron mask, a nickname kuroba gave him as a joke but it stuck. he’s so serious it almost borders on the comical. he’s aggressive in his pursuit of olympia because she tends to avoid his romantic advances out of…. stubbornness and spite; she had a bad first impression of him because he declared he would marry her out of obligation if she couldn’t find a husband and that pissed her off majorly. this would come off as skeevy and ymmv but i think it’s handled decently well because it’s clear very early on in even the common route that olympia understands that akaza is not a bad person, he’s actually a very good, reliable man who hates injustice. akaza is fairly gentlemanly despite being pushy abt getting her to give him a chance—he explicitly talks abt consent a few times and that he won’t touch or kiss her without her permission. he’s blank faced and monotone but a good cook and a romantic at heart. the rest of his route? without spoilers, again, it’s hard. his antagonist is a hit or miss i think. some people might dislike that they’re inconsistent and hard to understand, and i totally get that, but i liked that said character explicitly states that they’ve got conflicting desires and don’t understand it completely themself. it’s paradoxical and that seems in line with their characterization. WAIT HOLD ON ONE MORE THING: akaza takes off his glasses during date scenes which makes his route a 0/10 booooooo we hate you.

my ranking for the guys based on person preference: kuroba > akaza / riku / himuka > yosuga > tokisada

akaza’s design does it for me over riku and himuka’s, riku’s character is cuter than the other two, and himuka has a certain je ne sais quoi that made me like him more than expected. they’re in the same spot because my favorite of the three changes based on what mood i’m in lol

#olympia soiree #hopefully i avoided any big spoilers. im mostly taking abt each dudes personality #long post

[bigskydreaming]

You said the other day that you don't really like Talon stories. Do you mind saying why?

LOL they’re just not really what I’m here for? Idk, I think people tend to make a bigger deal out of this than it actually is even in my head, maybe because Talon stories have so quickly become such a staple of fics that it just seems weird not to like them? And its not like I’ve never liked one or been intrigued by a premise, I have, though specific recs elude me at the moment, there’s one I was reading on ff.net I really enjoyed, it was YJ verse.....

But honestly its really just that a recurring theme of Dick’s stories in canon - and one of the things I turn to fanfic for in the first place, to get away from, to read something ELSE about him - is dehumanization. Reducing his sense of self, brainwashing or controlling him, making him other than he usually is, even just in temporary ways....it gets old. I come to fanfic hoping to read and write stuff beyond that, and Talon fics are so often even heavier on the dehumanizing him aspect of things, like making him even more mindless than most Talons in canon are ever portrayed, and don’t get me started on how often they just flat out refer to Talon Dick as ‘it’.....its just a no thanks from me. Just not what I’m looking for.

Add to that other incidentals, like, its completely understandable in context of these narratives that the Batfam feel they have to restrain Dick while he’s a Talon and in the Batcave, but again, its just not something I’m looking to read? Because for example, another big theme of mine is how uncomfortable and unwelcome I think Dick’s come to feel in Wayne Manor over the years, given the many times Bruce has essentially kicked him out and how little effort he’s made to make it into a home for him again (like I think there are more reasons than just grief that Dick lived in the penthouse rather than the Manor when Bruce was believed dead and Dick was in charge of his estate)....so when you look at things from that angle, which I’m just kinda predisposed towards doing, the imprisonment angle of Talon fics (and the attitudes of a lot of the Batcharacters as they go about it, like they’re just being pragmatic, Dick will understand - yeah he might understand but that doesn’t mean there won’t be mental and emotional undercurrents of resentment and hurt to that understanding)....like, its just one more way/reason for Dick’s childhood home to be turned against him and made a place where he feels or will remember feeling explicitly unwelcome. I’m not saying its WRONG to take that angle in fics, lol, I’m just saying....its not for me. Its just not what I’m looking for.

Also its a bit of a pet peeve to see Talon abilities viewed as an upgrade rather than something inflicted on him by his tormentors and at BEST somethting Dick would have very conflicting views on - and tbh this isn’t limited to just him, I have similar thoughts about how Cass might feel about her own abilities and how even now that she can communicate well with others, she still feels somewhat different or removed from most people because of this ‘superpower’ that had to be ABUSED into her and that she would have traded for her father’s actual love any day - but I mean, there’s a thing in a lot of Talon fics where alongside the dehumanization angle, which Dick isn’t even just expected to just ‘get over’ once he’s back to his regular mental awareness, because its usually never even delved into, how he feels about the fact that for awhile there, he was nothing more than an ‘it’ even in his family’s eyes, and IMO he’s like, funny, I’m pretty sure I’m still the only person in this body all along, so if it was just an it to you, where exactly did you think I was? But aside from the angst I feel he SHOULD have from thinking about how easily he was viewed as just a mindless tool and pawn and thing by people, there’s a tendency to hop, skip and jump to him being okay with his Talon ‘upgrades’ because they make him so much more effective....and there’s just a WAY this is usually gone about that like, for me, glosses over how effective he was without them, and the fact that none of his family members seem to need or think they need them themselves to be effective....and somewhere in all that, it seems to get lost that the whole reason the Court even WANTS Dick so badly is because of how effective he is even already.

Plus - there’s my personal annoyance with how characters with super-fast healing are treated in narratives across the board. In comics, books, movies, shows, fics, everywhere - I ranted about this a TON in Teen Wolf fandom, its a complaint I have with Wolverine and his family in Marvel comics, etc....I vastly dislike how often its just treated as assumed that just because a character heals rapidly, like....the actual trauma and pain of injuries inflicted might as well not even matter. Like, that’s not how it works IMO? When I think about a time I broke an arm, I’m not thinking about ‘oh it barely matters because it only took a couple months to heal and when I view that in the context of my whole lifespan that’s barely anything, it was so fast’....like no, I’m thinking about what it felt like when I actually BROKE it. There’s a tendency, I feel, when characters get an ability to make an injury disappear out of sight out of mind rapidly, to just view the emotional and mental consequences of injury being inflicted as negligible, and not really mattering anymore, and I heavily disagree with that logic. IMO, these characters throwing themselves headfirst in front of everyone else as a human shield, while practical in one sense of the word, is also like, begging to be examined as oh I see, so basically you’re saying that now that you no longer need to be treated with care because you’re invulnerable, you’re worthless and the pain that goes along with all those injuries you get 100x more of now, that’s like...meaningless and fake news.

I mean, even if you make an argument for Dick no longer having pain receptors (which I’d also be heavily against because uh, if you go that route you’re also inadvertently suggesting things about his sensory input and ability to feel varying degrees of touch across the board and again its more the lack of examination of that as much as anything else that’s things that make me go mmmm no thanks)....the injuries are still being inflicted and there’s still gonna be psychological damage inflicted from processing that no one seems significantly bothered by him being ‘family niche - human pincushion for the prevention of others saying oww’ without so much as commentary.

And lastly, did I mention, I just really really reeeeeeally dislike the dehumanization angle that tends to go hand in hand with these fics.

But for the record, like, I honestly do like the Court of Owls and what they bring to Dick’s stories because all of this, ironically is precisely why they DO play so well into his core themes of autonomy and independence and self-determinism. Its just, I’m here for fics where Dick triumphs over them and their attempts to hijack him and his life for their own agendas, and I feel like a lot of the time we see a Pyrrhic victory at best, when going the Talon route, and a lot of THAT time its not even regarded or treated as such, but rather a full victory with no real examination of how Dick’s life is different now, how he’s changed not just by what was done to him but by how he was treated by BOTH sides WHILE it was done to him? 

And the other element here is like....the Court and their presence in his fics doesn’t HAVE to equal making him a full on Talon along the way, just like it never has in canon. I don’t view the fulfillment of what’s inherently a THREAT to his character as an improvement UPON his character. *shrugs* But also there’s just so many avenues for angst or emotional tangles when it comes to the Court even without making Dick a Talon himself.....just have him picturing or having nightmares of imagining his parents turned into Talons and how horrifying he’d find that, or worry in the wake of revelations about the Court that his family is now looking at him differently, imagining the threat HE could be when he hasn’t even done anything. Or there’s the angle of Bruce knowing but not telling him to try and protect him but that causing conflict OR you could go a route I’ve never seen done before, and like, have Dick and Bruce come into conflict with the Court before any of the others come along and like, save Dick from ever being made a full Talon but the point is years later the Court resurfaces and they and their plans for Dick are a complete revelation to his siblings and there’s perfectly understandable conflict because of that even if the reason is as simple and equally as understandable as Bruce didn’t feel it was his to share if Dick didn’t want to, as long as they honestly thought the Court had been neutralized, and he respected that its a painful topic to Dick that he wasn’t trying to hide, he just flat out didn’t want to talk about so it never came up.

There’s a lot that can be done with the Court, but usually they’re just utilized as a prelude to Talon Dick Grayson and bottom line is that’s just not somewhere I’m usually looking to go, personally.

BUT in the spirit of me being completely contradictory as always, again its like I said, there are some here and there that I really get into, there’s a YJ one that really delves deep into Dick’s emotions on all of this and has a prequel set during Jason’s Robin days, when they first encounter the Court, I forget the title but someone feel free to drop it in the notes if you know what I’m talking about, and @dustorange always does interesting things with the Court and Talons that’s different each time and I’m sure I’m forgetting more, so its not like.....a blanket across the board nope thing. Its just I have particular reservations about HOW a lot of Talon and Court fics play out that I’m just....not the right audience for simply because its not what I’m looking for in fics, personally.

[thebluelemontree]

On this note: “ Another way of saying Littlefinger didn’t bet on Sandor is that he didn’t account for him.” I know people say that Varys was behind the bread riot, but there’s some speculation around that it was actually LF and Mandon Moore was one of his men. Moore abandons Sansa in the riots and I think that was staged. LF didn’t account for Sandor saving her. What he planned on doing to her - maybe an escape? IDK.

People say a lot of things in this fandom, let’s put it that way.  We see in no POV’s account that there is any evidence of attempted kidnapping on Sansa during the riot, let alone a whole conspiracy to commit kidnapping that was thwarted.  Let’s remember, Tyrek Lannister was the one that got snatched here (allegedly, technically he’s only known to be missing).  If anyone was specifically targetted, it was him.

The bread riot was always a powder keg waiting to explode.  No one person orchestrated it.  The Tyrells had cut off food supplies from the Reach when they stood with Renly against Stannis and Joffrey.  Prices are ridiculously high, and basic foodstuffs are scarce.  There’s rampant lawlessness in the streets as well as a bloody flux.  There’s open talk of rebellion among the guilds and merchants. Tyrion is burning down all homes and shops between the water and the city walls in preparation for Stannis’s attack.  This is going to displace hundreds, maybe thousands of poor people.  Joffrey is executing antler men and personally shooting bolts into unarmed, starving citizens.  Begging brothers are preaching damnation of the corrupt nobility, including charging them with incest, birthing monsters, and reveling under demonic influence.  The Lannister-Baratheons could not be more hated than they are at that moment.  We have to remember that at the time of the riot, Littlefinger was well away at Bitterbridge and then went on to High Garden to negotiate with Mace Tyrell for the then widowed Margaery’s hand.  He already has his man Dontos plotting with Sansa in the godswood, gaining her trust, so she leaves willingly when the time is right.  A second kidnapping/escape plot overcomplicates everything is totally unnecessary.  If Moore was supposed to be LF’s man, why wouldn’t he just lead Sansa away to a rendezvous point under the pretense of eluding the mob?  That would have been simple and plausible as her shield.  Just abandoning her in the swarm doesn’t speak to a plan that has to go off without any mishaps.  

On the other hand, Varys is the one official still in the city who was noted by Jaime to be conspicuously absent from seeing Myrcella off to Dorne.  Varys, who claimed to have informants all over the city, yet he never forewarned Cersei of any possible riot.  Again, it’s Tyrek that disappears without a trace.     

Sorry for the long wait.  I actually had to take some time to re-read and reflect on Mandon Moore.  I think it’s a really bad place to start the speculation with the assumption that he must be working for someone at all.  My conclusion is that he’s not working for anyone, and he doesn’t have to be to do what he does.  He is a guy motivated by naked self-interest and personal advancement, and that does not necessarily equate with greed or being in anyone’s pocket.  IMO, I think he has traits similar to a corporate psychopath (though he’s obviously down for murder too) than anything else.  Let’s just focus on how his characterization is described first.

Jaime had once told him that Moore was the most dangerous of the Kingsguard—excepting himself, always—because his face gave no hint as what he might do next. – Tyrion I, ACOK.

He’s described as appearing corpse-like with eyes that are “oddly flat and lifeless.”  He’s cold and emotionless.  Most notably, Ser Mandon has ties to no one.      

Lord Arryn brought him to King’s Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him. Ser Barristan was once heard to say that the man had no friend but his sword and no life but duty … but you know, I do not think Selmy meant it altogether as praise. Which is queer when you consider it, is it not? Those are the very qualities we seek in our Kingsguard, it could be said—men who live not for themselves, but for their king. By those lights, our brave Ser Mandon was the perfect white knight. – Tyrion II, ASOS.

Of all the things said about him, nowhere does anyone suggest it is in Mandon Moore’s character to want anything outside of his career within the kingsguard.  He has a single-minded focus on duty and serving the king in an almost robotic level of obedience.  No one can tell what goes on behind that blank expression.  If a man’s motivations are unknowable, you can’t predict future behavior.  Mandon Moore does not strike me as someone who would fall prey to bribery or blackmail.  He’s not ideologically motivated, nor is he someone a conspirator can confidently rely on to carry out a task without risk of being double-crossed.  If we look at men Littlefinger has taken into his service like Ser Dontos, the Kettleblacks, Janos Slynt, Nestor Royce, Lothor Brune, Lyn Corbray, there’s always a glaring weakness to be exploited, be it greed, excessive/wounded pride, addiction, closeted homosexuality, desperation, debt, estrangement from family, desire to rise from the underclass, lack of better options, etc.  Mandon doesn’t have any of these vulnerabilities.  

So what did I mean by having traits in common with a corporate psychopath, though?  Varys talks about Mandon being “the perfect white knight” and possessing the ideal qualities of a kingsguard.  Certain types of corporate psychopaths can wear a facade of traits that the business world desires and values.  They can seem like the perfect employee that the company leadership can rely on.  They appear to be fearless and unwavering in their drive for success, sometimes even earning praise and recognition for outright ruthlessness.  Their sometimes apparent lack of emotions could be read as having the grit to do what is necessary in times of turmoil.  Most use manipulative tactics to discredit, undermine, or sabotage coworkers and superiors alike just to get ahead, which I will show is relevant in Moore’s case.  Everyone is either a potential pawn, patron, or enemy to be eliminated.  Not all psychopaths have superficial and grandiose charm, and no one would accuse Mandon of being charming, but he does put himself out there to be seen as indispensably valuable to the king.

Let’s go back to the bread riot and why Mandon Moore abandoned Sansa’s side as her shield.

Tyrion pressed blunt fingers into his throbbing temples. If Sansa Stark had come to harm, Jaime was as good as dead. “Ser Mandon, you were her shield.”

Ser Mandon Moore remained untroubled. “When they mobbed the Hound, I thought first of the king.”

“And rightly so,” Cersei put in. “Boros, Meryn, go back and find the girl.“  – Tyrion IX, ACOK.

I see no sign that there’s any duplicity going on here when he’s questioned.  Mandon Moore acted in a way he believed the king and the queen regent (his patrons) would approve of.  The traitor’s daughter’s life doesn’t mean anything to Joffrey, and she is only a secondary thought of the queen’s after they are safe within the castle; therefore, she is not a useful pawn to him.  If Mandon Moore shows any desire for anything at all, it’s this:  Sandor Clegane’s privileged position with the Lannisters.  Joffrey ordered Sandor to go after the peasant that threw the dung.  As Sandor is mobbed (and it would be reasonable to wager he’ll be imminently killed), Ser Mandon seized the opportunity to swoop in as Sandor’s replacement, dropping Sansa like a hot potato.  There is a reason he keeps being ironically regarded as the white knight in shining armor.  He’s a real Johnny on the spot that one.  Even if Sandor somehow isn’t killed, Moore still comes out looking like the kingsguard that did not falter in his duty to protect the king even in all the confusion and chaos.  It’s an opportunistic upstaging of a colleague to discredit his effectiveness at his job.  It proves shortsighted on his part because Sandor not only survives but has Sansa, still a valuable Lannister hostage, alive and in tow.      

This will come up again at the Battle of the Blackwater when Sandor finally breaks from the wildfire.  Tyrion orders Sandor to continue leading sorties outside the city walls, but he refuses.  Guess who chimes in?

Ser Mandon Moore moved to Tyrion’s side, immaculate in his enameled white plate. "The King’s Hand commands you.”  

“Bugger the King’s Hand.” Where the Hound’s face was not sticky with blood, it was pale as milk. “Someone bring me a drink.” A gold cloak officer handed him a cup. Clegane took a swallow, spit it out, flung the cup away. “Water? Fuck your water. Bring me wine.”

He is dead on his feet. Tyrion could see it now. The wound, the fire … he’s done, I need to find someone else, but who? Ser Mandon? He looked at the men and knew it would not do. Clegane’s fear had shaken them. Without a leader, they would refuse as well, and Ser Mandon … a dangerous man, Jaime said, yes, but not a man other men would follow. – Tyrion XIII, ACOK.

Since when has Moore ever shown any deference to Tyrion’s authority before?  Never.  This is a performance for his situational patron, part of Moore’s facade.  What is suggested by vocally taking Tyrion’s side is that Moore wants Tyrion to name him commander.  He would see the opportunity to take Sandor’s place by not only highlighting the latter’s disobedience, but his posturing implies that he wouldn’t hesitate to carry out the Hand’s orders.  It’s also a boon that Sandor’s behavior is quickly tanking any remaining confidence in his courage and leadership ability.  Moore must have thought himself the natural choice to assume command as he is a kingsguard and a capable fighter, but he could not have foreseen Tyrion absorbing Jaime’s counsel.  Instead, Tyrion decides to lead the sorties himself, shaming anyone that doesn’t follow as being less than a dwarf.  Being named the king’s standard-bearer, as Ser Mandon was, is usually considered a high honor.  A corporate psychopath wouldn’t see it that way.  It’s a piss poor consolation to being led around by someone he would consider a lesser man.  Battle is where a knight earns his commendations and honors, which we see in Sansa’s eighth chapter in Clash.  As commander of the sorties and his rival disgraced as a craven, Moore would have been the hero of the day should they emerge victorious.  Tyrion prevented that.  Moore would then be left with only one other option to assume leadership.  Tyrion has to fall on the battlefield.

“MY LORD! TAKE MY HAND! MY LORD TYRION!”

There on the deck of the next ship, across a widening gulf of black water, stood Ser Mandon Moore, a hand extended. Yellow and green fire shone against the white of his armor, and his lobstered gauntlet was sticky with blood, but Tyrion reached for it all the same, wishing his arms were longer. It was only at the very last, as their fingers brushed across the gap, that something niggled at him … Ser Mandon was holding out his left hand, why …  – Tyrion XIV, ACOK.

Ser Mandon’s sword comes down in his right hand and nearly kills Tyrion.  What Moore could not have anticipated was getting iced by Podrick Payne before he could finish Tyrion off.  There’s a simple elegance to Moore’s motivations being strictly his own.  There’s no complicated conspiracy needed to explain any of his actions.  He’s just a shark in a suit of armor.  But what about Varys implying there was a conspiracy to kill Tyrion with Moore as the catspaw?  It seems to validate Tyrion’s suspicions that it was Cersei, or at least someone.                  

Bronn had turned up all he could on Ser Mandon, but no doubt Varys knew a deal more … should he choose to share it. “The man seems to have been quite friendless,” Tyrion said carefully.

“Sadly,” said Varys, “oh, sadly. You might find some kin if you turned over enough stones back in the Vale, but here … Lord Arryn brought him to King’s Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him.

… [the Barristan part already quoted above]

And he died as a knight of the Kingsguard ought, with sword in hand, defending one of the king’s own blood.” The eunuch gave him a slimy smile and watched him sharply.

Trying to murder one of the king’s own blood, you mean. Tyrion wondered if Varys knew rather more than he was saying. Nothing he’d just heard was new to him; Bronn had brought back much the same reports. He needed a link to Cersei, some sign that Ser Mandon had been his sister’s catspaw. 

Let’s not forget Varys benefits by furthering the rifts within the Lannister regime.  He can easily play to Tyrion’s paranoia by suggesting there’s more behind Mandon Moore’s murder attempt than there was.  He smiles and mentions Moore’s origins in the Vale, a gesture at Littlefinger most likely; however, there are no substantial breadcrumbs left behind to connect Moore to anyone.  We’re even reminded twice that Bronn’s investigation turned up nothing except what was already well-known.  There’s just no there there.  Tyrion is doing the same thing as the conspiracy theories by assuming that Moore has to be in someone’s pay, but his reasoning is faulty.

Jaime had always said that Ser Mandon was the most dangerous of the Kingsguard, because his dead empty eyes gave no hint to his intentions. I should never have trusted any of them. He’d known that Ser Meryn and Ser Boros were his sister’s, and Ser Osmund later, but he had let himself believe that the others were not wholly lost to honor. Cersei must have paid him to see that I never came back from the battle. Why else? I never did Ser Mandon any harm that I know of. – Tyrion XV, ACOK.  

He mistook Moore’s commitment to duty and obedience for having honor.  And yes, he did unintentionally cross Ser Mandon. He just didn’t know it because he couldn’t read the guy.  He couldn’t see beneath the surface, and that is why Jaime is correct in calling him the most dangerous.  One can never know for sure if this type of corporate psychopath sees you as their pawn, their patron, or their enemy at any given moment.  There’s no way to mount a defense against that unless you can understand who you are really dealing with.  Tyrion was just very, very lucky that he brought Podrick Payne with him into battle.                            

#valyrian scrolls #valyrianscrolls #ser mandon moore #sansa stark #sandor clegane #tyrion lannister #varys #the bread riots #asoiaf meta #conspiracy theories #asoiaf theories #asoiaf characterization #my meta #anonymous

[minijenn]

Random Keys/UF Crossover Ideas

Because I’m torn between both of my projects right now and I hate myself, here’s something that’ll only really appeal to the very niche audience of people who read both Universe Falls and Keys to the Kingdom. Basically its a list of somewhat spoilery (for Keys more than UF) headcanons of what it might be like if the Gravity Falls world scheduled to be in Keys was a Universe Falls world instead (in the sense that it still takes place in Gravity Falls physically but like... its set in the universe of Universe Falls (oy I’m explaining too much lemme just start rambling off the random ideas that have been popping into my head over the last several days of this hypothetical crossover of my two stupid fanfics):

For reference’s sake, on the UF end of things, this would take place somewhere around the middle of arc10ish, pretty close to Weirdmageddon as the GF world in Keys is gonna take place pretty close to Weirdmageddon too. 

For Keys, the trip to this world would still take place in the same spot the GF world does, so semi close to the end of the story, as one of the last Disney worlds of the fic (guess it wouldn’t really be a “Disney” world here but ehhhhhh) 

Guess I better give some context about what’s going on in each fic around that time; UF’s is easier to do so we’ll start with that; basically without spoiling a certain upcoming arc ender too much, during arc 10, everyone’s sorta frazzled what between all of the interdimensional travel, worries about Bill coming back and causing chaos, worries about the Diamonds possibly getting involved in stuff, shaken by the recent revelation that Rose allegedly shattered Pink Diamond and so on (basically there’s a lot going on in the leadup to UF’s ending hahaha) 

Context for Keys (again without getting too spoilery (gotta tread even more careful here) is that by this point in the story Sora is basically in nonstop Panic Mode about the whole norting thing thanks to a certain encounter with one Bald Old Fuckhead during the Aladdin world immediately before this; so Sora’s on the run from basically his entire support system cause he’s all worried about unintentionally hurting his friends (and he also just doesn’t want Riku or Kairi in particular to see what’s happening to him cause Disaster Bi). 

Cont. Context for Keys cause that last bullet point was Long: Despite all this fuckin Angst, Sora’s still out searching for the Keys on his own in the hopes of securing the final few for the guardians of light before he can be fully norted and forced into handing them over to the Organization instead 

Not to mention those freak relatively dark/light powers of his are alll outta whack cause he A. Doesn’t know how to control them At All and B. Is Emotionally Distraught so that’s only making things worse

And the entire gang is more or less out searching the worlds tryin’ to find Sora (he yeeted his Gummi Phone off a fuckin cliff or something just so nobody could get in touch with him smh what a waste of a perfectly good cell phone); among the teams that are out doing so include the one we’re gonna focus on here, Ven and Roxas  

Back to the UF end of things, I wanna talk about where each of the Mystery Kids are at this point; Steven is sorta all over the place with, again, the revelation that his mom could have been a murderer; Dipper is hella nervous about the idea of Bill getting his hands on the Rift (even moreso after RMD cause PTSD is Somethin Else kids), Mabel is in that mindset of not wanting the summer to end so they can all stay together, and Connie is basically (as usual) the only one with any brain cells as she’s trying to hold the gang together

(lowkey spoilers for the Keys GF chapters start here) So Sora arrives in Gravity Falls, suffering from all the angsts and anxieties and whatnot and just Not Having a Very Good Time Emotionally/Mentally as he starts lookin around for the Key in the woods or whatever

But lo and behold everyone’s favorite Evil Corn Chip just so happens to be spyin’ on him, and before too long Bill makes his appearance and acts all friendly to Sora, claiming that he can basically undo the whole norting thing (which he knows all about because of course he would, this is Bill Fucking Cipher we’re talking about here)

Sora’s skeptical but at the same time he’s sort of willing to do whatever he can at this point to keep his heart from being taken over by Mr. Bald Old Fuckhead and all Bill is asking for in return is for him to nab some sparkly snow globe that he claims already belongs to him but was stolen by some local family who Bill makes out to be pretty bad so hey, why not at least give it a shot? (dumb, the kid is dumb this is something we’ve established many times over by this point)

So Sora sets out to look for both the rift and the Key (while also being harangued by Xemnas who’s the Org. baddie of the GF world but errrrr i don’t have a ton of ideas about what he’s gonna do yet so we’ll just skip over that for now and focus on somethin else)

Something else being the fact that Sora happens upon a bunch of kids being attacked by a group of Nobodies, so he swoops in to save them even though the kids already look like they’re holding their own pretty well against them (two of them are out here swinging swords around, one’s really handy with that grappling hook while another one has some sort of magical shield? Its weird??? But cool imo) 

So they all team up to take the Nobodies out and following that, Sora meets and mostly hits it off with the Mystery Kids

Mabel is super hype (she kinda instantly crushes on Sora as soon as she sees him even though he’s too fuckin old for her); Steven and Sora radiate the same sort of Sweet But Sad energy so of course they’re best friends immediately 

Connie’s a lil bewildered by Sora (who the hell goes around swinging a giant key like its a sword, that’s just not practical???) but Dipper’s distrustful radar is instantly raised for a a number of reasons, but the biggest red flag he notices about Sora by far is that his eyes are yellow (btw by this point his eyes will more or less be completely yellow and his hair almost entirely white; he usually wears his hood up to try and hide that, but it got blown off during the forementioned fight) 

So the kids were out and about in the woods for mystery hunting reasons, mostly cause they were trying to cool their heads from all of the stress they’re under mentioned earlier (and cause hey, the summer’s ending soon and they gotta spend all the time they can together at this point) 

However, they quickly change gears when they learn about Sora’s quest to find some magical Key and they all eagerly decide they wanna help with that cause it sounds hella rad; Dipper would likely be the only dissenter to this plan, but he’d be lowkey about it, kinda deciding to keep a suspicious eye on Sora all the while (he doesn’t really act like he’s being possessed by Bill, but ya can never be too sure nowadays...) 

So they all set out in search of the Key (Sora decides not to tell them about Bill or the rift just yet, but even so right off the bat he’s basically decided “yes I’m adopting all four of these kids as my new little brothers and sisters and no one can stop me”)

So cut to the other end of things and we have Ven and Roxas who have basically only just met each other face to face for the first time (they’re both basically constantly doin that spiderman look alike meme); they’ve been more or less teamed up to look for Sora together tho, and they both got a massive guilt complex about the whole thing cause they used to be able to directly protect him inside his heart but now they can’t since they’re out of it so they’re determined to find him and make sure he’s OK

They also show up in Gravity Falls, arriving much closer to the Mystery Shack and the Gem Temple than Sora did; since its the closest thing nearby, the boys decide to venture over to the Mystery Shack to look first 

After some brief, confused yet fun conversation with Soos and Wendy, they bump into Stan and that initial meeting goes something like: 

Stan: Who the hell are you two supposed to be? You twins or something?

Roxas: No??? What the fuck is a twin??

Ventus, realizing that Roxas has like 0 real world experience or regard for world order at that moment right fucking there: (oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck) Ummmm YES WE ARE WE’RE TOTALLY TWINS AHAHA AREN’T WE BROTHER?

Roxas, immensely confused: What the hell is a brother??

And then Ford shows up and Roxas looks between him and Stan is just like “ooooh ok now I get what a twin is” and Ven is just like “oh my god I think Roxas managed to catch some of Sora’s stupidity after all asdkjalsdkalsd” 

Anyway after all this awkward confusion is over, Roxas and Ven bring up that they’re there looking for someone, and while neither Stan nor Ford are that invested, they do offhandedly mention maybe the Crystal Gems can help

Ironically enough, the Gems happen to burst into the shack right then and there, taking refuge from the surge of strange creatures swarming outside (Nobodies & Heartless); the Gems are rather overwhelmed by them since their weapons don’t work that great on them so they’ve come to seek Ford’s help (since he’s got all those weapons and lasers and shit he keeps stockpiled) 

In this Ven and Roxas end up meeting the Gems and both of them are just like :O (Ven’s lowkey like, “Aqua would get along great with these ladies, they’re total badasses just like her!”) and the Gems just kinda pass the boyos off like “yeah whatever there’s a fuckton of monsters outside meanwhile where are our kids?”

Stan and Ford are like *shrug* cause neither of them are very good at being Responsible when it comes to keeping an eye on these danger-prone kids and the Gems are just like *facepalm* “Morons” so they set out to find the kids and Ven and Roxas are like “well they know their way around here so why not go with them to see if we can find Sora too!” and so they all head out on a lil adventure

Then a whole bunch of stuff happens on both sides of the plot that I haven’t bothered to figure out; bunch of cute character interactions and whatever; insert possible second encounter with Xemnas in here somewhere where he basically shows up just to intimidate Sora but Sora’s like “no way jose, you touch any of these precious kiddos and you’ll Die” 

Somewhere in here, under... some circumstances, Sora and the MK make it back to the shack but like... everyone’s gone? (cause they all went out to look for them, didn’t even leave a note, fuckin rude) 

They search the house for anybody and then, on complete fuckin accident, Sora finds his way down into the basement (the portal room to be exact) and what else does he find down there but that thing Bill asked him to get (the rift)! 

Though he’s a little confused about why its there (Bill did say some awful family “stole” the rift from him, but none of the MK are awful, they a bunch of Good Kids); Sora still pockets it like a desperate dummy dumb anyway and doesn’t say a word about it to the kids because he thinks they might be too innocent and young to know anything about it anyway (he’s wrong of course because much like him these kids are Traumatized with a capital T but we’ll just ignore that for now)

Still on the search for that Key, Sora and the kids head out only to run right into Stan, Ford, and the Gems on the way out; course, Ven and Roxas are still with them and they see Sora and they’re like :D while Sora’s just like “aw fuck” and runs away from his problems like always

So he rushes off into the woods and who else would show up but that Motherfuckin Evil Corn Chip again who’s like “yo kid ya got the stuff” and Sora’s just like “brb having a panic attack rn” but then he ends up obliviously handing the rift over anyway cause again he’s incredibly desperate for any way out of his current horrible situation

Of course because I’m a sap for Drama, he happens to do so just as all four of the MK show up, having followed him into the woods and ohohohoh boy oh boy let’s just say them seeing Sora just up and giving the rift over to Bill would be a Moment (well, at least for Steven and Dipper cause they actually know what the fuckin rift is unlike Mabel and Connie who still wouldn’t at that point) 

So basically Bill is a little shit and takes the rift, but he can’t actually fuckin do anything with it cause he’s a physical object and he’s still intangible (or somethin like that idk I just don’t want Weirdmageddon to happen cause it would make things too complicated) so he’s like “fuck gotta find some stupid sap to possess so I can smash this dumb thing” and he nearly targets Sora (cause the kid was already stupid enough to help him in the first place so why not?) until Steven ends up being the one to fend him off using his shield 

Bill shrugs it off and makes off with the rift anyway (its like... hovering or something? idk I’m running out of steam) and everyone panics of course, especially Sora cause he’s just like “well shit I certainly Fucked Up didn’t i?” and the MK are both a mix of “YOU THINK?” (from Dipper and Connie mostly) and “imo not your fault Bill’s tricked just about all of us he’s an asshole” (from Steven and Mabel)

Amidst this a bunch of lil things also happen; the Stans and the Gems show up (along with Ven and Roxas), basically everyone is immensely confused (aka those who have no idea what the fucking rift is) and alarmed (those who do know what the rift is) that Bill has what he needs to more or less fuck the entire world over 

So everyone just decides to put everything aside and team up all together to track Bill down and get the rift back before he can break it (there’s a lot of heartwarming trust moments in here, mostly cause trust is like... the cornerstone theme of the GF chapters in Keys for obvious reasons) 

They eventually do find him and *insert big epic battle scene here* where everyone teams up to basically beat Bill to death or whatever (don’t ask me how they be doin that if he’s intangible, again I.... I’m tired and this post is long enough as it is) 

Yadda yadda yadda they beat him, get the rift back and effectively prevent Weirdmageddon from happening to begin with (which just does SO much wonderful fuckery for UF’s timeline moving forward but whatever, this ain’t about that) 

Oh and during that Climactic Battle Scene somewhere there’s some bit about Sora learning to better trust others/himself that leads to him getting the world’s Key? I-I I dunno its a work in progress...

Anyway after this there’s a lot of good character interactions all around, reconciliations between the UF characters and the Keys characters, particularly between Sora and the MK (again he’s adopted these kiddos and don’t you forget it)

So with the Key in hand, Sora starts to leave and Roxas and Ven almost convince him to go back with them until *insert Big Keys Spoiler here that results in the Organization getting their hands on that Key Sora just got and also results in Sora running away again cause... reasons*

And that’s the end of the chapters or whatever idk 

There’s probably more ideas I had in mind for this but I literally can’t do anymore my brain is dying 

I might possibly write this for reals someday i dunno I’m stuck in two personal hells here so I might as well combine ‘em

Yes I’m aware this post leans more heavily on Keys than UF but its set in the world of UF so fuck off 

Feel free to add on with any thoughts you might have about the idea

I’m tired

Amen 

#jen writes #universe falls #keys to the kingdom #long post is loooooong #headcanons #ideas #who am i kidding i will literally never do anything with this idea ofther than this very fucking post #then again... i like Angst :) #and UF and Keys both got plenty of it