#the women who get to have complex motivations and agency and

[arostormblessed]

I fucking love the wheel of time show everyone should watch it. Couldn’t understand why so many people were giving it negative reviews and then I came to the realization that it was made specifically for the weird gays on tumblr that actually appreciate interesting storytelling. it was made for the people who love awful women, unconventional relationships, negative character development, toxicity, polyamory, qprs, unhealthy devotion, etc etc

#wheel of time #wot #wot show spoilers #like do you get it. are you seeing the vision #everything they’ve done is just so fucking INTERESTING narratively I want to sink my teeth into it #plus #the diversity.. the banger soundtrack.. #the women who get to have complex motivations and agency and #make bad decisions and fuck up and be awful and have fucked up relationships with each other.. #the gay people. the list goes on #and overall it’s just a fun fantasy show. everyone watch it right now

[secularprolifeconspectus]

Pro-Life Rescue & Direct Action: The Importance of Invading Abortion Clinics

Non-Violent Direct Action is Proven Effective

From Ghandi’s Indian Independence Movement to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Civil Rights Movement, to Serbia’s student-led resistance Otpor! and more, two things are consistently linked with the success of movements: a commitment to non-violence and the necessity of risking arrest. That’s because only when people are willing to take risks and make sacrifices, can the institutional power of an oppressor be challenged and delegitimized. Seeing other people getting directly involved in a movement motivates participation. There is a science to non-violent struggle and social revolution that has been documented by political researchers such as Gene Sharpe. From privileged people interposing their bodies between Black protesters and the police who brutalize them during the Black Lives Matter movement, to tenant networks mobilizing to blockade around the homes of vulnerable neighbors at risk of eviction by their landlords, leftists have proven these tactics save lives and advance change. If we want to see success in the anti-abortion movement, then we must follow proven social science.

Rescue is Necessary to Dismantle Big Abortion

Because we will never outspend the abortion industrial complex, the only way we can win is with people power. Abortion rescue disrupts the progress of abortion violence and applies pressure to those complicit. It viscerally agitates the public to reckon with abortion's violence. It reduces violence on the fringes of the pro-life movement by providing a non-violent outlet of expression for frustrated individuals. Non-violent abortion rescue interrupts injustice against prenatal people without unjust action and disarms the abortion providers without harming them. Parents seeking abortion as a solution to an unwanted or crisis pregnancy have bought into the lies of Big Abortion, and rescue unsettles that narrative. Rescuers hope to save not only the child, but also their mothers, families, and communities. Rescue is intervention intended to free even the abortion workers from the cycle of abortion violence. During the era of the late 80’s and early 90’s, it’s estimated that 60% of mothers with appointments for abortions on the day of a rescue never rescheduled.

Rescues Challenge Unjust Laws

We can’t let the reality that the law is on the side of the oppressors dictate what we ought to do. Our goal is to change that reality, not to live with it! Opposition to rescue implicitly affirms that the choice to kill is permissible. We have no ethical obligation to follow unjust laws; in fact, we may challenge unjust laws with civil disobedience. We must use our bodies as shields to stop the main aggressors of abortion from hurting the babies because law enforcement upholds the violent status quo of the state. When a rescuer is sentenced to jail, it is an opportunity for non-rescuers to hold the entire legal system accountable each day for the murder it protects until it is as safe and legal to protect children as it is now safe and legal to kill them.

Rescuers Save Lives in Prisons

If you are pregnant and incarcerated, you are the forgotten of the forgotten. Pregnant prisoners are either pressured into abortion, mistreated into a miscarriage, or forced to suffer a dehumanizing birthing experience, and predatory adoption agencies lie in wait to take and profit from their babies. Pro-Life activists imprisoned for rescue are presented the unique opportunity to advocate for better conditions for pregnant prisoners, to defend the lives of their unborn children, to organize support for their families from the outside world, and to serve grieving post-abortive women behind bars. Even incarcerated women deserve better than abortion. Thus abortion rescuers continue to rescue even while in prison.

Rescues Affirm the Equality of the Preborn

By taking the risk to rescue, you practice solidarity with the preborn and parents who believe abortion is their only option. You have the power as a privileged born person to put your body between the powerless and their oppressors, between an abortion provider and a helpless child. How do we show the world that fetuses are the same as us when we are nothing like them? The answer is simple: we make ourselves more like them. When rescuers stand in solidarity with the preborn, they become as vulnerable as the preborn are. If we say that a woman needs to sacrifice her lifestyle, relationship, body, and future for her unborn child, then we are hypocrites if we’re not willing to do the same. When we rescue, we are willing to sacrifice the same to prison for her child, ergo rescue is solidarity with moms too. Some people will never affirm the humanity of the preborn. It’s our job to do so by being physically intolerant of abortion through rescue.

Rescue is a Direct Act of Love

The preborn deserve to have someone show up for them. An attempt to rescue a preborn child may be the only act of love they ever receive before they are murdered. They have no one else as they are taken legally to their deaths. The success of a rescue is not determined by how many babies were saved that day; it's determined by how many babies were loved. If you were facing death, wouldn’t you want someone who loves you to stand physically with you to the last possible second as well? Your presence in their moment of suffering matters. The preborn deserve to have someone witness them as full people at least once in their life.

If Abortion is Murder, then Act Like It

Do your actions reflect the reality that the preborn are people equal to ourselves? Rescue fully expresses what it means to understand that the preborn have the same humanity as us. Our sacrifice forces others to see the humanity of the preborn, because if they aren’t people, why would we risk jail and potentially worse for them? If the preborn have the right to life, then we have a responsibility to make sure their right is respected. Rescue offers a final tangible act of love to a child as they are being taken away to be exterminated. If you KNOW the preborn are people and abortion is murder, then ACT LIKE IT!

How to Support Rescue

Not every pro-life person can be an abortion rescuer. Factors like finances, family, disability, and racialized police brutality prevent many folks who support rescue from feeling confident in participating. Luckily, there are many ways the pro-life community as a whole can participate in rescue without being a rescuer!

Sponsor a rescuer financially. If you can't rescue, donate to a rescuer who will do it for you! As rescuer Herb Geraghty said, "let us be your hands and feet". Offer monetary and emotional support to the families of rescuers.

Do jail support. Demonstrate in front of police stations, courts, jails, and prisons that are holding rescuers. Write to the rescuers frequently. If you are on a legal team, offer your local rescuers pro-bono defense.

Share rescue stories on your social media in a positive light. Comment on news stories that frame rescue badly. Make videos about rescue and why you support it.

Do culture jamming around clinics frequented by rescuers. Make posters and wheatpaste them to sidewalks, sharpie pro-life messages to the backs of signs, put rescue stickers on the alley walls around the clinic.

Help organize the rescues. Do research about the clinics for the rescuers. Keep the rescuers updated about police scanners while they perform a rescue. Coordinate supplies, donations, first-aid, and legal defense. Be there with food before and after rescue.

Learn More

Quotes About Abortion Rescues Rescue and Police Violence The Rescue Movement (Documentary) The Brutal Truth Dragonslayers Defenders of the Unborn Wrath of Angels Shattering the Darkness All the Rescues Essential Roles in Social Movements Types of Abortion Rescue Historic Abortion Rescues Media Bias Against Abortion Rescue Joan Andrews

#pro life #anti abortion #bring back rescue #hide #disquisitions

[bthump]

I’m not coming from a place of hate at all, I enjoy your takes on Berserk homoeroticism and appreciate your refreshing ability to make well informed, intellectual analysis so accessible for other fans. It is an important resource to have when dudebros try to make their homophobic bias sound like good arguments. However, when it comes to your analysis of Casca, I find myself disagreeing with almost everything you say. I’m usually only reading your blog quietly because I enjoy the discourse, but I feel like I need to add my two cents. I agree that Cascas writing falls flat to a degree, but I can’t help but think that you’re downplaying her character and arc because you don’t enjoy the parts of Berserk that aren’t about homoerotic tension between Guts and Griffith. Their homoerotic tension is also what is most interesting to me, but it’s not what Berserk is inherently about. We could dismiss Casca by saying ˋMiura can’t write women´, but then again characters like Farnese exist who have an entire complex thematic arc tied to religious extremism, authoritarian character and freeing herself from dogmatism and Berserk as a story is not punishing her or asking for redemption and is instead inherently ridding itself from moralizing judgements of characters. She’s allowed to evolve by herself. As a queer person, I see myself in her. Theres so much queerness and comphet in her story, I’m sad that there’s not many meta posts about her on here. Does Berserk have ideological streaks of conservatism and misunderstands women because Miura has a misogynistic bias? Yeah, unfortunately. But the story and many of the main characters are too complex and ambiguous for me to write them all off based on how some of their arcs are not feminist enough and could need improving. Imagine writing such a complicated and long story with so many characters as just one simple Japanese dude who never leaves his house and who was born in the 70s or whatever. Like, I get separating the story from the author and impact versus intent, but dismissing Casca because of her flaws in writing is dismissing all of Berserk because of some thematic flaws. It sounds like you’re expecting the perfect story for her to be a valid female character and that’s just not possible. I for once made peace with her flaws and am not rejecting her. I think Cascas story works for what it is and I empathize with her as someone who has experienced misogyny and SA. Farny and Schierke working through her trauma magically was a nice metaphor for solidarity between women and it’s rare to see that coming from a male author, I don’t think it’s less valid just because Miura has some gender bias. Casca still experiencing PTSD afterwards is also realistic and shows that Miura is willing to give Casca enough agency to work through that by herself without magic some time in the future of the story. Her story is uncomfortable and her character arc is long and flawed, but that’s what makes it impossible for me to dismiss her. I’m a bit disappointed that so many fans on the tumblr side are willing to basically rid Griffith from all his wrongdoings but then empathize the flaws in Casca and don’t understand that maybe they also have some internalized misogyny that doesn’t make them understand that bias. Especially with the argument that I often see with She Should Have Died. Why? Because she’s uncomfortable? Maybe explore that within yourself. Other than that I am happy to have this queer part of the fandom where we don’t judge each other for liking Griffith and enjoying GriffGuts as a ship. And I hope that you don’t think too harshly of my criticism, for it is only to improve our fandom discourse culture and not to throw stones. Thank you for existing!

Okay look, while I do appreciate the appreciation for my non-casca blog content, I can't look past this coming hand in hand with a lot of pretty insulting, and frankly baseless assumptions about my motives. I'm glad you're not coming from a place of hate, but from the sounds of it you're coming from a place of presumptive judgement, and I want to address that.

I've always been very direct and clear about how I don't think someone's tastes or opinions about a story reflect on them personally. I don't judge someone's character by their fictional interests, I judge it by their words and actions.

If you're going to be interacting with my blog, I'd appreciate being extended the same benefit of the doubt.

You seem to see someone who doesn't enjoy Casca's storyline and make assumptions about why, rather than taking the reasons I provide at face value. I have explained why, very thoroughly, quite often, and quite recently, while constantly referring back to the text and to Miura's comments to justify my conclusions. I literally don't know how I can possibly be more direct about how I am discussing the narrative of a story on its own terms without going full dry academic language lol, come on.

I like to think I'm also very clear about when I'm expressing my subjective opinion (eg i dislike het romance; I'm super into romantic betrayal as a trope, etc) vs when I'm analysing the story based on direct textual evidence (eg casca has no active involvement in the narrative post-eclipse; casca's sexual abuse is eroticized; etc). I certainly try to be. And frankly it is genuinely pretty insulting that you think I'm incapable of judging Casca's story on its own merits or lackthereof, and must be over-emphasizing the flaws of her narrative because I only care about griffguts.

The truth is I genuinely believe that Griffith and Guts' relationship is the thematic core of Berserk, based on the text of the story, and I also genuinely believe Casca's storyline sucks ass in most ways. And it's okay to disagree with one or both of those takes, but yeah I'm gonna take a little bit of offense at the insinuation that I'm too biased by shipping or misogyny or both to analyse the story.

If you love Casca's story despite its flaws, good for you. I'm happy for you. I have no desire to argue with you to make you change your mind. And I don't think it makes you misogynist or ableist or racist, even though I think Casca's storyline contains all of the above to some degree - but if I was going to respond to you in the same vein that you've responded to me, that would be fair game as an assumption. It would also be fair game to assume that you only like Casca and are dismissive of or blind to many of the story's faults because you're projecting or you ship gtsca or you think good feminism is all about stanning certain designated fictional characters regardless of their actual depiction. And I think that is something wrong with fandom culture. I think those are all shitty assumptions to make about someone based on which fictional characters they enjoy reading about most. So like, straight up, you're the only one throwing stones here.

So I want to ask you: why is it that someone discussing offensive fictional tropes makes you assume they are the real misogynist? Why are you equating criticism of writing with criticism of real women, as though media trends and narrative framing don't exist? Why do you think it even matters if I "reject" a fictional character because I don't like how she's written lol?

This strikes me as the same line of thinking that leads to shutting down all criticism of misogyny in media - how dare you say this outfit is unrealistic for a martial artist, some women like to wear high heels! How dare you criticize the average husband/model-esque wife trope, some beautiful women love their average husbands! How dare you criticize comics for fridging the girlfriends of superheroes, women sometimes suffer horrible fates in real life! How dare you criticize the born sexy yesterday trope, some women are naive! etc etc etc.

And this is why it's important to have at least some understanding of narrative framing and greater media trends when discussing media on any level beyond headcanon and projection. Casca isn't real, and as a construct she is not a sensitive or realistic depiction of a traumatized woman, regardless of whether someone identifies with her. She's not a sensitive or realistic depiction of a disabled women either. There are literally "funny" cartoonish background gags involving her shoving random things into her mouth. She gets sexy fanservice while regressed to the mentality of a toddler. She is sexually assaulted by and then shipteased with the protagonist. I could go on all day lol, lbr here. I should not be obligated to brush all that aside and pretend it doesn't irritate me and sometimes offend me in order to valorize a woman who doesn't like, yk, exist.

You and anyone else are free to project on her and relate to her and sympathize with her and love her, and I think that's great and what fandom is all about, but that still doesn't make her writing strong. And I think it's worth discussing how and why her writing fails, the same way it's worth discussing any other flaw of Berserk, like Guts' character flattening with the Eclipse, or Farnese's sudden personality 180, or the awkward pacing, or the prominent scary black man trope, etc, all of which I've also discussed plenty. If you feel like I've disproportionately focused on Casca criticism, then there are 2 reasons for that: 1. I respond to asks 99% of the time, so it's what the people are asking about. 2. Casca's storyline is the most prominent bad and offensive writing in the story, like it's the number one thing that's likely to drive new potential fans away, so of course people are going to want to talk about it.

Also I've written like, a lot of meta and speculation and headcanons etc about Casca beyond criticism of her narrative lol, so if you're sad about the lack of discussion and meta about her it's ironic that you're coming to me with that complaint. Be the change you want to see in the world, start your own Casca centric blog if you want more meta about her to exist, or read more of what already exists. I'd say I'm doing my part as far as I'm concerned lol, but I don't like the way that phrasing implies that anyone has an obligation to focus their interest on any particular fictional character.

I'm glad you enjoy other aspects of my blog, and if you stick around after this admittedly irritable response I hope you continue enjoying them. But if you feel the need to engage with me to defend a fictional character from my criticism again in the future, I'd appreciate it if you engaged with that criticism directly and analytically, rather than speculating about my character and motives.

#and with that i'm closing the book on this casca drama lol i think this says everything that needs to be said as far as i'm concerned #(i mean okay technically i have one more baity ask i want to briefly respond to soon but that's not technically casca related) #(sorry to anyone who prefers these asks to be ignored. i ignore and block most of them tbf but sometimes like i got shit i wanna say) #and i only block really trolly responses not what i think are earnest if misguided and mb unintentionally insulting attempts to engage #ask #anonymous #a #b #theme: fandom #theme: opinion

[mydaylight]

The thing that I appreciate the most about Story of Minglan is how pro-active its female characters are. It’s not just a show meant to highlight the exploitation and vulnerability of women in the context of the Song Dynasty society (although we certainly get to witness that); but one that lets their fierceness and determination and agency shine. It’s so remarkable that the majority of the plots in the show are centred around women and resolved by women. Even when it comes to the case of antagonists like Lin Qinshuang, Xiao Qin-shi, Old Madam Wang, the empress dowager etc, they are imposing figures with complex motivations that contribute to all the important developments. When little Minglan gets orphaned, it’s Hualan’s advice to Wang Ruofu that appeases the Wei family and Old Madam Sheng who steps up to take Minglan under her wing when her own father wouldn’t. When Molan has an affair, it’s up to Wang Ruofu and Old Madam Sheng to take the initiative to speak to the Liang family about a possible marriage. When Gu Tingye proposes marriage to Yu Yanhong, it’s her mother the one who needs to give the final approval and in the end cuts him off. When Qi Heng gets threatened, again it’s Princess Consort Yong pulling the strings. Consort Rong decides to murder the Yong Family (the family of the prince about to inherit the nation, mind you) to get revenge for the rape and death of her younger sister. Shulan’s divorce is negotiated by her own mother and grandmother, and not her father. When Auntie Kang is killed, it’s Old Madam Wang the one going to imperial palace to scheme against Tingye. Minglan gives up on ever expecting her father to give her justice so she steps up and takes extreme measures to get revenge for her mother’s death, and her contribution is what helps Yanran, Shulan, Kang Zhao’er, Zhang Guifen, and finally Old Madam when she gets poisoned. Even Concubine Wei, who always insisted on keeping a low profile, was ready to go to the Kaifeng Court to prove Xiao Die's innocence (so you see where Minglan gets it from). And Lady Bai was ready to divorce her husband and walk away with her children after finding out how she was used. Even that small moment of Mingyue asking to have her family’s slave contracts returned to them so she can escape being forced to become a concubine to a man she doesn’t like is so satisfying to see. It’s just so great to get a show like that that’s not just trying to make a point about the suffering of women, but actually lets its female characters be active participants in their own stories and take control of their lives instead of being subservient to male character, or reducing them to the role of the love interest or a passive sufferer.

#the story of minglan #cdrama #all the credit goes to 关心则乱 and the 2 female writers of the show 曾璐 and 吴桐 #for crafting so many great female characters #minglan rewatch

[ceciliatllis]

I saw someone on here mention how Alys and Elizabeth Woodville do not have any striking parallels and just felt the need to write about how they do in fact have quite a few different similarities. I've always been a huge enthusiast when it comes to The Wars of the Roses and find that period of history incredibly compelling (not to mention GRRM himself has acknowledged how it inspires ASOIAF and his work as a writer which is clearly evident in some of the characters he's created) so I felt compelled to write about this and share my own thoughts.

Both Alys and Elizabeth were polarizing women accused of being devious and using witchcraft/sorcery to "bewitch" a powerful royal who was exceedingly above them in rank; Elizabeth was reviled by the court as she was not an advantageous match for Edward IV politically at all and she and her family’s rise in status caused envy among many. She was older than him, already had children of her own, and was a widow; all of these aspects made her a scandalous woman which the court looked down upon with great disdain and scrutiny. Even now, historians continue to debate whether she actually loved Edward IV and returned his affection or if her primary goal was centered around using him to advance her rank and that of her family. Similarly, the maesters in F&B (as well as numerous people within the fanbase) create a villanious and cartoonish sort of figure when describing Alys as she is perceived as an unsuitable and unlikely match for Aemond - an unusual servant who has had several stillbirths and sees visions is a clear departure from the chaste, agreeable maiden they expected him to fall for. In addition, Elizabeth and Edward were said to have been married in secret whereas Alys and Aemond were ALSO rumored to be married secretly before his death according to Alys (she is referred to as his widow by other characters in F&B so it seems this was an accepted consensus among people and not something she invented). Another detail that stands out and further binds them together is that Elizabeth's father's title was Baron Rivers. Perhaps all of these links are simply coincidental (although I highly doubt that since this is GRRM) but it would be disingenuous to insinuate they do not exist whatsoever because one does not wish to see them.

While opinions vary greatly when it comes to Alys's motivations and true feelings (just as historians disagree about Elizabeth's personality and her relationship with Edward IV), I think it's fascinating to see how the negative reactions to controversial/mysterious women oftentimes mimic how female historical figures were unfairly judged and lazily reduced to common, reductive labels still recycled in the media today (such as forcing them into restrictive boxes where they're either a calculating seductress or helpless damsel). Many people seem to believe that strong-minded female characters can only be written as emotionless caricatures who use their charms (such as their sexuality) to get ahead for their own ambitions and while that trope is commonly seen in film/television and used as a storyline, I believe these ambitious and cunning women can be shown to have agency of their own while still being vulnerable, lonely, and open to love/companionship. That does not make them less empowering or intelligent by any stretch of the imagination; it makes them human. Women can contain a myriad of different traits and motives while still being interesting. That's how I hope the writers will approach Alys and it's also what I believe to be the more intriguing route to go when it comes to well-rounded, complex storytelling.

#alys rivers #alysmond #fire and blood #house of the dragon #history #re: thoughts #re: fire and blood #re: books #re: house of the dragon #re: shows #can’t believe people on here are actually saying there aren’t similarities lol #it’s all there #then again these are the same people who want her to be a seductive witch and actually think it’s empowering and original

[suspicious-of-simple-answers]

I know that Barbenheimer was mostly a meme but I did actually go watch Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day and... They kind of actually complemented each other really well. I'll elaborate on that, but major spoiler warning: stop reading right now if you don't want spoilers for either movie.

Oppenheimer, by itself, was about the atomic bomb and the man who led its development. But in the context of Barbie, Oppenheimer was about what a world ruled by men has done. And, just like in Barbie, the fragile male ego was a big motivator of evil in Oppenheimer. I know that it's a bit silly to compare Barbie to a very serious movie based on an actual historical tragedy, but these are just my thoughts after watching them.

In Oppenheimer, the movie spent a lot of time on the development of the atomic bomb, of course, but also a fair bit of it focused on Oppenheimer's life. In the last 45 minutes of the movie we slowly found out how Lewis Strauss tried to destroy Oppenheimer's life and reputation. And that wasn't because of his involvement with the bomb: no, it was because Oppenheimer had been mean to him. Strauss had all these other reasons he claimed, stuff about communists and whatever, but really the reason was that Oppenheimer had humiliated Strauss.

And in Barbie, Ken turned Barbieland into a patriarchal nightmare world because Barbie had been mean to him. He had all these other reasons too, like finding horses cool, but the real reason was that Barbie had always taken him for grantedand always left him out. It's different from humiliation, but still. Idk, I see a parallel.

Barbie made fun of the meeting room full of men in suits talking about empowering girls (by selling more Barbies). In Oppenheimer, we saw meeting rooms full of men in suits deciding what city gets obliterated, making plans on whether to make bigger bombs or try to work on diplomacy, and so on. The depiction of what happened in Barbieland when the Kens took over - a world where a bit of jealousy, tiny bruises to men's egos, can start a war - wasn't so far off from reality. In reality we have big important men in charge making big important decisions about who lives and who dies - and sometimes the real reasoning is as superficial as "I had my honeymoon there."

Oh and about the women in Oppenheimer: I can only recall five. There was a communist seductress, an alcoholic wife, a friend's wife, a secretary and a female scientist (and some unnamed students but I won't count them, they were barely characters). The one feminist quip the scientist lady made does not make up for the fact that frankly, the women had zero agency. One got killed, one just turned a radio on once, one was just someone to cheat with, and one was passionate and made some great points in a crossexamination (but then that amounted to nothing). This, sadly, is historically pretty accurate, so I won't blame the movie for this. Tbh I'm happy about any little bit of presentation women in science get, and I liked the little quip from the chemist. But still, not a lot of women in this movie.

So, to anyone who might want to complain about the representation of men in Barbie (a movie that is just as much about a woman as Oppenheimer is about a man), I'd like to point out that Barbie had far more (and more complex) male characters than Oppenheimer had women. There were Ken, the other Kens, Allan, the Mattel CEO, Aaron Dinkins, Sasha's dad... and the men in Barbie actually got to do things and affect the course of the movie. In Oppenheimer, just like most movies, women were just a fun accessory with zero real impact.

That's my two cents. Overall both movies were good, very much recommended. But don't go into Oppenheimer expecting much more than a biography. (And if you watch both, watch Oppenheimer first or you'll just ruin the good mood gained from Barbie).

#barbie #barbie spoilers #oppenheimer #oppenheimer spoilers #barbenheimer #oppenbarbie #feminism #equality #movies #movie analysis #women in movies #women in film

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews- A Courtesan of Rome

Welcome to the fifteenth official Cadybear's Reviews post! Ironic that this is the fifteenth. Unfortunately this is about 10 days late for Ides of March this year. Today I'll be talking about A Courtesan of Rome, which I have ranked on the "Platinum Tier" at 9 stars out of a possible 10. My last playthrough of this story was around November-December 2021.

I’m rather fond of this one. 

This is one of the few MCs where it makes sense for them to have a lot of pre-set aspects about them, and for the record they did do a fantastic job establishing it via the flashbacks. And even then, they also manage to give us enough player agency by allowing us to choose her motives, methods, and goals. So it’s a very neat and fair balance between pre-set and flexible. 

This is also one of the few pointfully genderlocked books– while male courtesans did indeed exist in Ancient Rome, they’d likely have had vastly different experiences to that of female courtesans. Chances are, the male MC version would have so many dialogue changes that it’d basically be an entirely new book. Don’t get me wrong, I’d definitely love to see a male MC version of this story, but I can understand why PB would genderlock it. 

Admittedly the story can drag at times, and the “8 years ago in Gaul” flashbacks can be a bit of a trudge (granted they do set up the story well), but it is worth it. My only real problem is that according to some fans who are history experts, this story does stray a lot from historical accuracy. But I guess not every periodical story is gonna be perfectly historically accurate. 

That, and also the way they handled Xanthe is just… not good. Other people have explained it better, but basically, in a general sense, Xanthe isn’t much different from MC. Both are courtesans as per being victims of human trafficking, both are forced to rely on seduction to survive and overpower men– but the story villainizes Xanthe, while MC is pushed as heroic and morally grey/complex for the exact same shit. All because… Xanthe is kind of catty towards MC?

I didn’t think much of it in either of my two playthroughs, but I’ve seen other people bring it up and looking back… it’s too major to ignore. It’s hypocritical at best, and has some very troubling (racist) implications at worst. Especially in a book that’s meant to be an empowering periodical womanhood story. So it did end up bringing the book down a tier. 

We rightfully bitch about the cheap “straw loser villain woman who exists solely to have exaggeratedly bad behaviors solely to make the MC seem better” and “pitting women against each other just because they want/do the same thing” tropes all the time in Choices stories like TNA, FCL, and TBB; and while I do still rank those books much lower due to having more objective problems overall, the trope is much more unforgivable in this book given the context. 

However, while the story does have some pretty major problems, it does also have a lot of good aspects going for it that did make me mostly enjoy it. But who knows, my opinion might change after a replay. 

I will also say, it’s really fun to diamond mine this one for OG HSS Book 2. Getting to stab Caesar and then taking down Principal Isa right after. So I do have a bit of a soft spot for the book in that regard. 

#choices stories you play #choices #choices game #choices stories we play fandom #choices stories we play #acor #choices acor #a courtesan of rome #choices a courtesan of rome

[the-badger-mole]

A is for Ambition

I was having a conversation with a friend on the discord server I'm on about Azula, and this point came up about the sexism surrounding the way she was treated both by the canon reducing her actions to mental illness and by fandom tropes reducing her actions to her traumas. While I strongly believe that both her mental health and her past traumas had a hand in Azula's development, I think a lot of her character and actions (most of them, in fact) can also be attributed to her genuine ambition.

Ambition isn't bad in and of itself, and I think there is a version of Azula that could have used that ambition productively. But she didn't, and narratively speaking, that should be okay. What bothers me most about the idea of a redemption for Azula- and I know I've talked about this before- is that it doesn't take all of her motives for the choices she made into consideration. I don't like the way that dismissing her actions as the result of mental illness and abuse robs her of agency and reduces her to being a puppet. If there was one thing Azula was not, it was a puppet. Frankly, the dismissal of Azula's actions as a result of her mental state and upbringing smacks really strongly of misogyny. As if Azula in her natural state would be devoid of the ambition that made her so deadly. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think all or even most of the people who want to redeem Azula and use her mental health and relationship with Ozai as an easy way to do it are misogynist, but I think the fact that those were presented as reasons to factory reset her and make her a loving supportive sister for Zuko did come from a misogynistic place. And it didn't start withing the fandom.

As a society, we have a problem letting women be villains without explaining it away somehow. There are scores and scores of stories of women who turned evil (or more accurately turned anti-hero) because she was scorned by a man, or abused, or otherwise hurt, usually by a man. Or she turned evil as a result of something happening to her child (obviously not the case here). Then there are the genre of women who turn evil because they feel threatened by another woman. There isn't a whole lot of space for a woman who wants to do evil things simply because they benefit her or because she enjoys them. The best example of a female villain who was in it for the love of the game that I can think of is the original Maleficent, and then they decided that making her more complex meant giving her a tragic backstory a la a very thinly veiled date rape allegory. There isn't a lot of space for a female villain who cursed a baby because she needed to remind these uppity humans who they were dealing with.

Azula was almost definitely abused by Ozai- and possibly even physically abused- but that wasn't all of her motivation. I would go as far as to say that wasn't even most of her motivation. Azula was a ruthless, cunning, ambitious girl, who enjoyed what she did. If there is going to be any redemption of her, that needs to be acknowledged first. But really, does she need to be redeemed?

#atla #azula #let her be ambitious! #we stan a dark queen #azula was highkey scarier than ozai #love that for her #THE YEAR OF CONTENT!!!!

[wishforged]

one who walks in shadow: mahoyaku's zara

the heroine doesn't always want the prince on a white horse to take her away for the sake of eternal love -- sometimes she wants him for the opportunity he presents. "save me from my circumstances. put me somewhere I can live freely, not languish," she insists. I think ariadne pinned her hopes on theseus for a reason like this; living on crete at the time doesn't seem to have been very fulfilling. of course, waiting for someone else to save you tends to not work out too well.

pic related

transposing this to a more modern context, there's the lure of marriage for some women as a way to leave the family home. by breaking free from the control of their parents, they will gain some measure of independence, or so the theory goes.

modern problems

then we have the setting of mahoyaku, a fantasy world separate from our own in which people have magical powers that burden them and grant them agency in complex ways. how does misogyny (obviously interconnected to marriage, female agency, etc) operate systemically in this universe? we don't have much information. we know a few hundred years ago, an associate of murr's (Known Feminist) faced discrimination while trying to open her own observatory. but this is spoken of as a thing of the past.

I'm not sure if anything like this is mentioned elsewhere -- feel free to enlighten me if there's something I'm missing.

with all this in mind, we come to zara, one of mahoyaku's only female characters to have a visual appearance. in part 2, she's given a lot of prominence. zara, a witch, develops an obsession with rustica after her sister becomes engaged to him.

I am tempted to read zara's fixation on rustica in the context of a woman seeking marriage to escape her circumstances. zara is, after all, a woman trapped in a literal tower by an abusive family. there is a repeated emphasis on marriage as an institution. rustica is not looking for not just his lover but his "bride." and zara seethes with jealousy over aria's pending marriage, specifically: "He should have been my husband, not hers."

but this is a bit reductive, because again, we don't really know the deal with misogyny in the world of mahoyaku. and I guess TECHNICALLY there is nothing wrong with a female character being in love with a man and that being her main motivation for why she does the things she does, if executed well... but I think bunta has other motivations here, and I'm interested in looking a little deeper into things.

all this to say, if we're putting aside a reading that looks at zara primarily as a woman living in a misogynistic society, what's the deal with zara?!

first of all, as a result of being locked up in a tower and getting no affection and love from basically anyone ever except her sister, zara hates herself.

zara is a witch -- twins are considered unlucky as a set, but we're led to understand that this is why her parents keep her imprisoned instead of aria. however, she's convinced herself there is something innate in her that's wrong. it's a classic case of a victim internalizing abuse. she's telling herself she deserves what she gets because she is someone who is simply meant to "slink through the shadows." otherwise she'd be allowed to live as freely as rustica does. that's how I interpret these lines, at least.

to zara, rustica is a Thing -- one that aria gets to have because aria is a human and not a wizard. it's not fair! after all, rustica is so great. he's perfect and kind and blessed by the sun and the moon... zara idealizes rustica to an extreme. she wants to have him, and she wants to be him, too.

yeah, rustica's beautiful eyes can only see a beautiful world, much like the naive aria, who probably needs to think a little harder about how things suck for other people.

zara's feelings towards aria and rustica are pretty similar, actually. she thinks of them both as pure beings who have never experienced real misfortune. the difference is that because zara sees aria as a reflection of herself, aria Must have something wrong with her. on the other hand, because rustica is unattainable for zara, his value increases in her eyes. she's placed him on so high up of a pedestal.

zara broods and broods alone in her tower, developing resentment towards her sister, who has never been anything but kind to her. to justify her resentment, and because she sees aria as a reflection of herself, she ascribes malice to her.

it turns out zara is actually right about aria not being "pure," because that's not really something any actual person can be. mahoyaku, with its plethora of deeply human, flawed, morally gray characters, won't let us forget this. thus the curse zara places on aria comes true. rustica kills aria because of the curse and basically loses it as a result.

according to kelvin, he then chooses to lose his memories after "a philosopher" (probably murr) suggests it to him, to save himself the pain. rustica then becomes the charming, forgetful western wizard looking for his bride that we all know and love.

zara decides this is fine. hell, she'll even help him out... by keeping him in a beautiful gilded cage of blissful ignorance.

zara is free of her parents, but she's again confined to the shadows through her own actions. this time she's keeping herself in a cage. this is a really tragic aspect of her character.

why does she do this? so she can atone for her actions.

her fixation on rustica is even greater now. she's desperate to keep him in the dark so he can keep living as the pure, bright person she was so fascinated by when they met. in a way, this is love.

a normal person's room decor

what will happen next? well, rustica is a sage's wizard now, but zara is sure as hell not leaving his fate up to chance after spending 400 years as his evil little guardian angel. so she's planning to kill the strongest wizards and use their mana stones to create some kind of contraption that will defeat the Great Calamity once and for all. don't worry guys zara's handling it

zara says she wants to atone, which would mean she feels guilt over causing aria's death. in some ways this is probably true. but it's also true that aria desperately wants to prevent rustica from seeing the world for what it is -- a place that's often messy and cruel -- and there must be other reasons for that. why is it so important for zara that rustica be kept "pure"? despite everything, she wants him to be happy... the part of zara that loves rustica, and wants to atone for causing aria's death, is probably the best part of her.

as someone who has always lived in the shadows, she must desperately want to be seen for who she is. but after all that she's done, zara is aware that person isn't pretty.

the lyrics to skin-deep comedy, the part 2 theme song, are from zara's point of view. she's lived for a long time; she's colder now, and in some ways more malignant. she's become convinced that the ends justify the means. she wants to change, and she thinks she can, through her plans. she wants to be defined by more than just her mistakes. again, she wants to be seen.

I started this post with a bit of an indictment of mahoyaku's worldbuilding, and while I would still like to know more about the role of women in the world of this game, there's still plenty of room and time for the story to explore this. joseimuke franchises are somewhat limited in scope because they are, of course, first and foremost marketed towards women who like anime dudes, but female audiences are accommodating of and interested in a lot of different things. mahoyaku has already proved itself to be rather progressive-- eg. the ability to choose genders for your player character -- and bunta writes their characters with a lot of love and care. I'm looking forward to more of what the game has to tell us about zara.

----

I cannot read Japanese, so all my thoughts and summaries here are derived from fan translations. translations for the observatory story are by healingbonds. translations for chapters 18-22 of the main story's part 2 are by cainluver69.

#textforged

[transexuality]

rhe thing about kairi is that she is so underdeveloped to an utmost degree beyond any other kingdom hearts character even though she is the POINT of kh1. yes, sora and riku's relationship is in the forefront of kh1, but sora is searching for KAIRI hes mad at riku for what hes done to KAIRI. but she has 0 agency. she is asleep 90% of the game and for the last 10% she does nothing. naminé and larxene are the next original female characters introduced in chain of memories and immediately we see them have more interesting development and storylines and personalities than kairi. naminé suffers a bit from being a female character written by men who dont know how to write women, but she has struggles and she has her own motivations, she is complex. she feels jealous and wants sora to forget everything and stay with her, but she sacrifices those wants because she knows its for the greater good. larxene is an active antagonist and she is a ruthless villain, with agency and power in the narrative. jump to kh2, naminé has become basically a ghost, larxene is dead, and kairi has been captured again. we get moments in kh2 of some personality from kairi, certainly more from what weve seen, but ultimately she still lacks agency and doesnt do much. riku just sort of gives her a keyblade at the end and then shes there to reunite sora and riku, since finding riku is the point of kh2. they had the chance to make her do more in kh3 and while i appreciate that she at least is given a fighting chance it ultimately falls flat because her character revolves around sora. her existence is to support sora and riku's friendship. shes the case that is replace her with a rock and nothing changes. and im saying this as someone who loves kairi! shes fun! shes cute! shes sweet! shes snarky sometimes! but ultimately her personality is Nice Girl Who's Nice :) and there is an untapped well of potential for her to get some depth and it ultimately isnt there as the writers have made her character shallow that pales in comparison to her counterparts. but somehow people hate her EXISTENCE for this and thats what drives me crazy. even with all of these criticisms i have with the writing i still really like her and think that she needs to exist. and yeah sure sora and riku have much more chemistry and are written with such a beautiful bond that its hard to see it as anything other than accidental gay romance but sora and kairi is still there and its still sweet. soriku shippers hate kairi for whatever reason cause it gets in the way of their gay ship and thats whats frustrating. sora and kairi are clearly intended to have romantic undertones and while yes its a shame that kairis character is reduced to this, people shit on it for the wrong reasons. theres nothing wrong wirh sora and kairi's relationship, and its been there from the very start and its not going away. they both care a lot about each other and its sweet! kairi is hated on for merely existing but people dont take the time to step back and critique the way that she is developed and written, they just go for the jugular and perpetuate the misogyny that is already written into the franchise. you can have a problem with the way things are handled, but just shitting on a female character for existing in a male dominated cast written by men is just not cute. Can anybody hear me

#long post #sorry. does this make anys ense

[arkadiaasks]

Vrains is harmless? The show that said you can get over PTSD if someone tells you to man up? The show that said women deserve to be violated and tortured for standing up for themselves? The show that said in the end, suicide really was the answer? But of course, you can’t stop criticizing Go Rush, where the protagonist is an immigrant and the women have agency.

In all seriousness, please go outside and touch grass. You're clearly inventing an Ark that doesn't exist.

That said...

PTSD and Manning Up

If you mean Soulburner, he and Flame found a way past it, some people are able to process and move on from PTSD, some aren't, some people are able to confront and resolve traumas best by exposure (exposure therapy is a thing but yes I realize this wasn't therapy).

I dunno man, I found Soulburner meming on Blood Shepard to be funny as heck.

Women Being Violated

If you mean Blue Angel, she wasn't the sole character to get bounced, a huge point between her, Go and Soulburner is they were chasing heroics and play acting being the hero, and a huge theme of VRAINS is heroism is a dangerous attitude to have. That having a savior complex is dangerous. That life isn't quite that simple and clean cut.

That people will die and get hurt and suffer badly because of it.

(I have argued multiple times Aoi should of gotten to save Miyu even if it was against Bitchy Dominatrix Sexbot Miyu)

Suicide

Mmmm, the whole point in the ending is the whole set of affairs started by Lightning was classic Greek Tragedy? Ai WANTED any other answer than to kill himself and just walk off into the sunset and be with Yusaku.

It's not saying Suicide is always the answer, it's VRAINS commenting on its focus on fate, destiny and the chain of karma and inevitability, that Ai would cause the end of the world because the last person that meant anything to him emotionally would die to protect him, removing his last chain of sanity.

I think that makes his whole arc, you know, actually interesting, that we have a hero who doesn't want to do wrong, but his own positive traits are tragically what are making him suffer.

Like. That's actually interesting writing?

He's faced with the apocalypse, death, ego death and giving birth to a race of AI, or gay marriage. And that's actually, I dunno, I think it's good writing. You've given a character a tragedy and no real easy answer.

Go Rush!!

I dunno man, I like Yudias, I like the women in the show.

I just think the end of the second arc was poorly managed/rushed feeling and Rovian wasn't given any actual motivations/clear chain of logic to oppose THE LUGH. Which I've said are probably victims of Yudias' actor getting COVID.

I'm critical because I think the rest of the show is pretty good (a little weaker than SEVENS outside of SEVENS' last arc), and it disappoints me that it kinda flopped with Rovian or more clearly telegraphing the Space Treasure, when the rest of the show's pretty okay to banger.

#yugiohvrains #yugiohgorush #medialiteracy

[what-is-originality]

thoughts on House of the Dragon ep. 2, from a casual fan.

OK, this is by no means a groundbreaking opinion, but I'm definitely very sympathetic towards Alicent Hightower atm because I do feel like she's being used as a pawn by her father & I don't think she's relishing in the spectacle at all, especially considering the fallout with Rhaenyra that’s bound to follow.

I think by ep. 3 she'll have grown into herself more as a character, and will be a little less anxious since she'll have more agency as the Queen/mother of Viserys' heirs and will hopefully have some say against her father, too. Naturally, being at odds with Rhaenyra & having children of her own will create a *huge* rift between them as she'll eventually have to put the interests of her family above their friendship and will grow into more of a scheme-y character like her father, but I can't really begrudge her that – after all, there's no going back from fucking your best friend's dad lol.

I think the breakdown of R & A's homoerotic friendship is so interesting too because it adds an additional layer of complexity to the story by fleshing out her character’s background a bit more and making her more than just an 'evil stepmother' trope.

Like, the first two episodes have made it apparent that she’s being groomed by her father and, as a result, is essentially being moulded into a villain by Otto (who’s aided of course by the show’s contemporary political climate which sets a precedent for women – girls, really –  to be used as bargaining chips by way of marriage and for men to seek honour and glory as cannon fodder soldiers etc.) because he’s essentially tying her hands by making her ingratiate herself to Viserys, regardless of all of the interpersonal fallout it will result in.

Inevitably, as her brood grows, Alicent’ will want to protect her family/line by any means necessary, even if it means committing horrific acts and going against her former best friend to secure her bloodline. I definitely think it will get to a boiling point where something happens that’s potentially so extreme that there’ll be no going back for the two because should they "wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er".

On the other hand, I don't think she'll be entirely 'innocent' by the time the conflict between the 'Greens' and the 'Blacks' is well underway, because she'll get a taste of the power she never had before her betrothal & lose sight of the parts of herself she'd been manipulated as a child into believing were weak.

Now, I don't think she'll be so blinded by power that she won't be aware that some of the things she'll do are outright wrong, but she'll do them anyway to keep herself from being as powerless as she once was or even just to stick it to Rhaenrys out of spite, which is always a motivator. Either way, I'd love to see some regretful scenes with the two at some point, maybe a lingering glance between the two (or even just a pause when one finds a trinket that the other had gifted them in childhood, something like that) that conveys that they're both sad about how things turned out and wish they could turn back the hands of time but ultimately know that it’s too late to change it now.

 [* = As stated in the title, I am just a casual fan of both shows. I haven’t rewatched GoT since it ended and I only got up to A Storm of Swords in the asoiaf series. I have not read Fire & Blood past the stories of King Aegon I, though I do have some knowledge what will happen in the story, so this is essentially a blind opinion on the story so far as depicted by the show. However, I do have a soft spot for characters that are deeply hated by fans, especially female characters, so this tweet essentially sums the post up:

#hotd #house of the dragon #house of the dragon spoilers #hotd spoilers #thoughts #alicent hightower #have a nice day! :) #my post #why is the screenshot so big? #it looks gigantic on my pc lmao

[beyblaiddyd]

Chainsaw Man Extended Thoughts Edition Under Cut

Denji: Just makes me sad not even on an effective emotional level it’s just a flat ah man kinda sadness that you feel when someone like trauma dumps in another person’s twitch chat and you feel bad for them but are also like dude I didn’t ask. I think theoretically speaking exploring the like Stupid, Naive, Young Shounen Protagonist and how rife that situation is for manipulation and exploitation Could be really interesting and the author’s clear personal investment in the situation could’ve primed him to do something interesting with it but the fact he hasn’t at all come to realize why these things happen in society and is just haunted by the Woman Devil or something. makes it. uhm. He’s sooo scared of the idea of a woman wanting to date him for an ulterior motive he does that plot literally 3 times. At least this final time it’s like another teenage with her own complex motivations and not just literally the USSR’s Bomb Devil Sleeper Agent (real plot point). I will say there is a certain low tier intrinsic satisfaction to seeing his development with Asa where he says he won’t just listen to what he tells him and is going to go do what he wants.

Makima: When she’s not on screen with Denji I did actually find her to be an interesting character and villain. The idea of a devil who by her very nature doesn’t hate humans and instead wants to build a perfect cage for them is like, not unexplored, but certainly less common than villains who just want to destroy shit for fun, so that was at least a little more fresh than the alternatives that could’ve been done. And the thing about her losing because in her egoism she never once recognized Denji as an individual person and only cared about him for Pochita is like a fine narrative cap even if the way that Chainsaw Man obsession was written was fucking unimaginably misogynistic. But my god her writing around Denji most of the time oh my god oh my god this writer hates women so much.

Power: I mean she’s just a joke character the writer got far too invested in. Having her around as the only teenage girl of the main cast to give Denji someone his age to bounce off of was something of a relief though the way the author framed and wrote her also made me want to kill him with a tire iron. Her plot progression ultimately felt so condensed like he realized he forgot to do a narrative for her and needed to do it all at the end. The whole “find me again and make me Power again” thing was I guess cute #besties.

Aki: Only character with an actually compelling story that was told completely. It felt a little rushed, unlike every other plot where I was begging for any kind of development or progression at all he was having progression happen to him all the time in fast forward and then he exploded and died. The snowball scene was horrifically corny but at least kind of emotionally impactful. Predictably his dynamic with Angel is the only thing I actually care about.

Kobeni: I can’t think about Kobeni for too long or I’ll get actually angry. The fact so many misogynistic men who were fetishizing her until the anime and then were like “omg she’s actually so annoying” and people were like “lol that’s the point !!! see it’s not misogynistic it’s feminist” makes me literally want to kill somebody. It’s not even like she’s that bad of a character like she’s being full force blasted by the misogyny beam but I could’ve tolerated her better without knowing the external reaction to her from every source. I think the only way they could’ve salvaged a good gag from her character is if when her car got totaled she’d flipped the fuck out and killed Santa herself like that is the only possible way Fujimoto could’ve salvaged any part of the joke of her character but that would mean letting any female character have a smidgen of agency and he couldn’t do that so. Other than that I think the only tolerable part of her character is that she became absolute besties with the Violence Devil if ONLY that had gotten explored more.

Angel: Not technically a main character but he is in my heart. The fact he was able to break out of Makima’s mind control has so many interesting implications that will never ever be explored. Is it because as a fellow devil who holds no hatred (though still holds malice) towards humans their powers are actually very close to each other? We will never know because the author doesn’t care! The scene with Aki grabbing his hand to save him is the only one that exists in my perfect mindscape.

I guess I HAVE to talk about these guys since they’re main characters now

Asa: I cannot fucking believe that this guy who clearly thinks it’s the ultimate evil to sexually exploit teenage boys is perfectly fine drawing Asa the way he draws her. Her researching fish for hours to go on a fake date with Denji is some kind of maneuver I am mildly charmed by her but the noxious radiation of how she is treated and also the fact this manga is Still Going For Some Reason makes it hard to think about her.

Hirofumi: I’m glad he’s back I found his design so cutie he is like a cat to me. Straight up thought he died in the Hell Devil/Darkness Devil encounter. We don’t know enough about him for further commentary.

#cocoa talks too much

[msclaritea]

"The nation's poorest state used welfare money to pay Brett Favre for speeches he never made

A state auditor says $70 million in federal welfare funds went to Favre, a volleyball complex & a former pro wrestler in a scandal that has rocked Mississippi..."

Sept. 1, 2022, 4:13 PM MDT

By Ken Dilanian and Laura Strickler

Brett Favre earned nearly $140 million as a star NFL quarterback over two decades and millions more in product endorsements.

But that didn’t stop the state of Mississippi from paying Favre $1.1 million in 2017 and 2018 to make motivational speeches — out of federal welfare funds intended for needy families. The Mississippi state auditor said Favre never gave the speeches and demanded the money back, with interest.

Favre has repaid the fees, although not the $228,000 in interest the auditor also demanded. But the revelation by the auditor that $70 million in TANF welfare funds was doled out to a multimillionaire athlete, a professional wrestler, a horse farm and a volleyball complex are at the heart of a scandal that has rocked the nation’s poorest state, sparking parallel state and federal criminal investigations that have led to charges and guilty pleas involving some of the key players.

Favre hasn’t been accused of a crime or charged, and he declined an interview. His lawyer, Bud Holmes, said he did nothing wrong and never understood he was paid with money intended to help poor children. Holmes acknowledged that the FBI had questioned Favre in the case, a fact that hasn’t previously been reported.

The saga, which has been boiling at low grade for 2½ years, drew new attention in July, when the state welfare agency fired a lawyer who had been hired to claw back some of the money, just after he issued a subpoena seeking more information about the roles of Favre and the former governor, Phil Bryant, a Republican. The current governor, Republican Tate Reeves, acknowledged playing a role in the decision to sack Brad Pigott, accusing the Bill Clinton-appointed former U.S. attorney of having a political agenda. But the state official who first uncovered the misspending and fraud, auditor Shad White, is a Republican.

Brad Pigott was hired to claw back some of the TANF money. He was fired just after he issued a subpoena seeking more information about the roles of Brett Favre and former Gov. Phil Bryant.

In his first television interview since he was fired, Pigott said his only agenda was to get at the truth and to recoup U.S. taxpayer funds sent to Mississippi that he says were “squandered.”

“The notion of tens of millions of dollars that was intended by the country to go to the alleviation of poverty — and to see it going toward very different purposes — was appalling to many of us,” he said. “Mr. Favre was a very great quarterback, but having been a great NFL quarterback, he is not well acquainted with poverty.”

Pigott, who before he was fired sued on behalf of Mississippi’s welfare agency, naming Favre and 37 other grant recipients, laid ultimate blame at the feet of top Mississippi politicians, including Bryant.

“Governor Bryant gave tens of millions of dollars of this TANF welfare money to a nonprofit led by a person who he knew well and who had more connections with his political party than with the good people in Mississippi who have the heart and the skills to actually cajole people out of poverty or prevent teenage pregnancies,” he said.

In an interview with the website Mississippi Today, Bryant said he never knew the grants came from welfare money. His lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Millions of dollars of federal welfare funds intended for needy families are alleged to have been used to build a women's volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The person in charge of the nonprofit group Pigott was referring to is Nancy New, a close friend of Bryant’s wife. New and her son have pleaded guilty to state and federal charges and agreed to cooperate. New, a key player in doling out the money, said in a court document that Bryant was among those involved in directing the transactions. Her lawyer declined to comment.

The former head of the state welfare agency, John Davis, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of bribery and conspiracy, and law enforcement officials say the investigations continue.

Favre defended himself in a series of tweets last year against allegations from White, the state auditor, that he accepted state money for speeches he never intended to give.

“I would never knowingly take funds meant to help our neighbors in need, but for Shad White to continue to push out this lie that the money was for no-show events is something I cannot stay silent about,” Favre tweeted.

The state auditor rejected Favre’s defense in a series of tweets that pointed to the contract he obtained and said, “You can continue to use your megaphone as a celebrity to drown out the facts, but it will not change the facts.”

Aruba has all the sun and sand you need, but the best part is how it affects you - it fills you up and sends you off with a lasting afterglow.

The speeches aren’t the only welfare grants tied to Favre. Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today and authenticated by Pigott show that Favre sought a $3.2 million grant for a drug company in which he was a shareholder and a $5 million award that built a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport and where he played football. Favre’s lawyer declined to comment.

The drug company, Prevacus, was touting treatments to mitigate the effects of concussions, although none were approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In some texts, Favre suggested awarding shares in the drug company to Bryant while he was governor.

“Don’t know if legal or not but we need cut him in,” Favre texted a company official in November 2018, referring to Bryant. Following up three days later, Favre wrote, “Also if legal I’ll give some of my shares to the Governor.”

Mississippi has known about this for years. It finally took the water scandal for it to hit the public.

[nabrizoya]

RoW Theories and Things I Want to See

with RoW literally a few weeks away, here’s some theories your way. 

this is Really long. like, really very long; mind you. 

Nikolai might become a disabled character.

It’s just the vibes. If we can take reference from the Too Clever Fox story, there’s a line that says “...and his [Koja’s] fur never quite sat right the same...”, which might hint at it (mostly bc i don’t want him to die). Also if this is indeed possible, it can be used to address ableism if it exists in this universe, especially since Nikolai is someone in the highest position of power. 

Zoya will experiment the shit out of powers. 

Idk why the synopsis says that using her powers might be a great deal, which tbf will be because she is truly the most most powerful atm; but Zoya wouldn’t mind taking the step outside of the old norms and bend the orders until they serve their purpose. That’s the entire goal rly.

But all along, she will consciously keep herself mindful to not hunger or discharge her power in a way that may cause harm. She knows the tyranny of the Darkling and the ways he employed. She knows better. 

More character depth to Zoya. 

Given the excerpts, the book does seem to explore Zoya’s infinite grief. And of course her Suli heritage, which a great part of the fandom consistently wants to shadow what with the talk “white features/ part Ravkan” bs. 

But there’s more. I hope RoW will show Zoya’s dilemma (that was alr hinted in KoS) she has with the power she holds, the responsibility she has with having that power + using it in the way that will not be detrimental to her and the country. It will be a great way to portray her self-awareness and doubt and insecurity. She is a good leader, that much is told in text but not shown. There’s character development from the end of R&R until KoS that makes her evolve from a what she was then to the capable and mature 22 year old she is in KoS. 

Of course all of their capabilities will come to light in RoW but I think Zoya and the agency to her as a character will play an integral part. More so because Zoya is to be the conduit to reversing the current Grisha orders, which runs in parallel with the fact that she needs to go back, go back to the roots of her Grisha knowledge and roots of her i.e. her unending grief and trauma. 

She will need to forgive herself while also dealing with the guilt and anger she may have caused due to her position and power. All of this while dealing with her own complex and contrasting emotions due to her own trauma.

Nikolai is held for treason. 

The word of allying with The Darkling may be out and that is enough reason for the entire country to turn against him. The secret about the monster causes issues more than enough already, and this will plunge the country into deep political turmoil and threats to security. So RoW will be more politically driven. That said...

There’s no overt war. 

By this I mean that there will not be war on the battlefield, both armies or more charging at each others’ enemies and such. Ravka cannot afford one either. The excerpts have already proved that. There will be skirmishes akin to a war scenario, but a complete battle like the last battle in R&R? Like a final battle? That’s not going to be there, I think… What I’m assuming might happen is that the Fjerda and Ravka will take a possible Cold War route, if it isn’t already the case they’re already dealing with atm. 

Ravka’s monarchy will collapse. 

It may become a democracy or any other form of public or majority vote. But the monarchy (as well a possible dictatorship, esp with the Darkling returned) will be eliminated. ...Or so I hope, since it has been alluded to in KoS. 

But that poses many problems. With no one line for the throne, let alone with a crime so dark like a blot on Nikolai’s skill (of taking the Darkling’s help), it is possible that Ravka will shun it, right alongside being torn about it because Nikolai has been, for the best of his ability, a good King. All of this in line with the Resistance rising in West Ravka. 

This ties in with the court matters, especially if I want to hold the further points I make true. The resolution to acquit Nikolai of his charges requires a testification forth a jury which will then make a decision about his motives and future. 

Zoya as the Interim Head. 

After all of this, Zoya’s point about Ravka not accepting a Grisha Queen will be true after all, because there will be no monarchy to welcome such an arrangement. 

But Ravka will need a good and trustworthy leader despite Grisha powers and Zoya is the best person to take care of that. The comment “...becoming a steady leader...” and the “Welcome home, Commander,” were there in KoS for a reason (and this is what I think it will link to). 

That being said, there’s more nuance to this than my summary. Zoya is a character of colour. That—in addition to the already existing threats, objections and possible question of capability in the position—ill play into how she will be able to discharge her responsibility. It’s not going to be convenient.

EDIT: taken from a reblog/addition to the og post:

A smoother/more structured transition

Once after the monarchy collapses and a leader must be chosen, it will not be Nikolai. Nor will it be Zoya, though she might serve as an interim head. What I assume might be possible is that someone older is chosen, someone older and loyal and with the proof of knowledge and service to the country. Possibly by majority vote or elected by a council.

Instead of the sudden change, this can be a smoother (if that can even be said about such a major political scenario change) or more structured. I also say this because a. if Nikolai is indeed charged (and later acquitted), firstly his political career will already hold a blot if the word about using the Darkling as a resource is out and secondly, he’s way too young to serve as the leader (by modern standards, sure, but like, the required age will be set while drafting the constitution? currently its 35+).

Instead, the current cast can become representatives (which Zoya would already be, (mostly the head of the) international committee that safeguards the Grisha all over the world) and the Triumvirate will be dissolved. (it should be, tbh)

And hey, b. after all of this, they can and kind of need to take a step back. Nikolai and Zoya will be able to truly explore their relationship, given how Nikolai mentions how he wouldn’t marry unless he’d have had the chance to court someone and marry someone he barely knows nor knows him. For Zoya’s part, she does know Nikolai but surely probably not the extent of openness that a healthy relationship has, and on Nikolai’s part, he admits he barely knows her beyond as a General except for just little things about her.

They could be able to realize and work on their feelings while alongside being involved with the workings of the country and the constitution.

“One day you will overstep and I will not be so forgiving.” 

Need I say more? Something that Zoya does will cost her Nikolai’s goodwill and we know Zoya knows her practicality and the extent to which she will unapologetically move if there is threat to the country and its King. She will do what was right and required. 

A major part of that line ties in with Magnus Opjer and I think with the confidence in the versatility of her powers, Zoya might as well move w/o any word to the Triumvirate to eliminate the most direct threat to the throne. This will bring splits in Nikolai and Zoya’s relationship. 

How this tension between them will be resolved without compromising either of their values, without playing into fandom stereotypes and others must be carefully handled. All of this while showing the best of their dynamicity, practicality and priority as they carefully pull out just those weak sticks of the jenga without putting the whole country into trouble. And with a war in plain sight, they’d know better than pointlessly argue and would rather see how the two of them are wrong. This ordeal will bring out just how condensed power is in the current scenario, imo. 

Importance on the way women have shaped history. 

Something that KoS has already set precedence for. Zoya being a PoC, Nina taking into account of the sufferings of women she comes across and the consistent ‘Who will remember them?’ will be elaborated on further. As for how it is done and how well it is done, that remains to be seen. 

Baghra is alive but maybe not thriving bc she’s stuck in the Ice Court. 

They entered a chamber where an old woman sat with her hands chained, flanked by guards. Her eyes were vacant. As each prisoner approached, the woman gripped his or her wrist.

A human amplifier. [...] But the Fjerdans used them for a different purpose – to make sure no Grisha breached their walls without being identified.

Kaz watched Nina approach. He could see her trembling as she held out her arm. The woman clamped her fingers around Nina’s wrist. Her eyelids stuttered briefly. Then she dropped Nina’s hand and waved her along.

Had she known and not cared? Or had the paraffin they’d used to encase Nina’s forearms worked?

- Chapter 22. Kaz; Part 4: Trick to Falling, Six of Crows.

Nina will be the one to free her and together they might wage a war from Djerholm together.

This gets even more interesting because we know the anguish and scorn that Baghra feels for her son at the same time; she understands the wrongness that he used to seek and will continue to. Zoya does take Baghra’s name at the Fold when she mourns and rages over how people forget the destruction and most importantly, forget the women. Baghra could be the symbol of the stag as the art piece depicts, or will be shown with relation to the Darkling’s powers.

As for how she will play into the story, perhaps she will be the one to help reverse and find the roots of the orders, in the sense that changes the perception of the Grisha powers for the Grisha as well as the common folk of Ravka. She is the only other person other than Juris and the Darkling to have the age of eras together, knowing Ilya Morozova, and she will be instrumental in giving Ravka an advantage over Fjerda. Either that or she will help in scrubbing the prejudices of Fjerda slowly away with whatever powers she has left. Or both. 

Alina will reappear, but will not contribute to the plot significantly.

Zoya understands that the truth she knows about the Darkling is very minimal not enough to end him for once and for all. It makes sense that she will probably consult Alina for it. So, Malina appearance, possibly at the orphanage. Alina will not directly contribute to this war, but she will play a critical role in defeating the Darkling.

Besides, Alina —and Baghra— are the only ones who know that there has only ever been two Darklings. Zoya did sense, multiple times during KoS, that the Darkling is damn old. Yuri mentions it. And while it is not outright specified, the fact that Zoya thinks that she realizes just how ancient Lizabetha is in context of meeting the Darkling is enough proof for her to seek more information about the age and the older skill of the Darkling. 

And I think it goes without saying that I want to hope that the Darkling and Alina will not meet. Pls, she’s had enough. 

Lada is the lost, other friend that Zoya refuses to bury. 

“She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend.”

Liliyana is dead, we know. But there’s no other mention of Lada except for the “wondering what happened to the pug faced girl.” Lada is possibly a part of the group of women and a Grisha returning to Ravka from Fjerda, exploited by the parem. She might die being unable to withhold the sheer torment of the parem induction, which will devastate Zoya because Lada was also the closest she’s had to a family with Liliyana. 

Either that or Lada is already dead or dies some other way, and Zoya cannot bring herself bear the grief of losing her. 

Cameos: Inej and Jesper. 

The most likely of the crows to appear in RoW are Inej and Jesper and they’ll play equally important roles in the plotline. Here’s a breakdown of why:

Inej

Inej has taken the responsibility of becoming a slave hunter, and it makes sense for Inej to make an appearance in the book, given that there’s going to be a ship taking the Grisha from Fjerda to Ravka. 

The women aboard are vulnerable and require immediate attention, which Inej will immediately zero in on. She will have enough reason to suspect both Leoni and Adrik on the ship, especially when the jurda parem is still a secret. Leoni and Adrik cannot give that information away because they don’t trust Inej (and have no reason to either). Inej won’t trust them either, not until she understands that the reason why the women are being taken to Ravka and for what reasons. 

Which gives her excellent reason to step in, try to analyze the situation and help the women accordingly.

Here’s an exciting thought though. Once after the entire misunderstanding is overcome and Inej understands (esp. if Nina is brought into the conversation and security and secrecy of the conversation is ensured), there may be discussion about how the Grisha might find a safer space in Ravka.

Inej’s appearance might also extend to playing a pivotal role in giving Zoya the confidence to seek her heritage and where she hails from, to embrace the part of her past and forgive herself and others for her mistakes. 

ALSO, 

Grisha finding a safer space in Ravka will mean that Inej can pitch Jesper’s case for him to Zoya. Being the highest authority who takes cares of the responsibilities of the Grisha, Zoya will be the best person to talk about this with. 

And so, here comes Jesper. 

Jesper

For one, I wish Jesper and Leoni interact, talk and just bond like the iconic siblings they would be. <3 But more than that, Jesper plays very integral to the plot for more reasons.

Jesper’s arc will parallel Zoya’s. Both of them are new to their powers in their own individual sense; Zoya is trying to use her new powers in a way that hasn’t been done before, thereby breaking the Grisha orders of powers and Jesper (assuming he has decided that he might want to learn and embrace his Grisha powers) is learning them afresh. 

This journey of them trying to embrace, learn and relearn and reject older norms and experiment really work in tandem.

That will lead us to a further (plot) theories. 

Ties with Novyi Zem 

As of the KoS end, Ravka has no support from anyone atm. Sure the Kerch will provide funds but Ravka has no real allies. Here’s where Novyi Zem and Jesper come in. 

We know Novyi Zem is a new country and also that it is the second safest country for the Grisha in the universe. As of KoS, their agreements are not renewed and they would be since between Kerch and Novyi Zem, Ravka was forced to pick Kerch. Yet Ravka needs their help in acquiring jurda for the antidote. 

So here’s the deal: Ravka will get their jurda but at many conditions that the Novyi Zem will impose on Ravka to not let exploitation get in the way. 

The conditions imposed could be (these are just some at the top of my head but I hope there are more to ensure the safety and security of the Zemeni, in Novyi Zem and in Ravka too) : 

Naval support from Ravka

We know of the Zemeni ships and ofc Nikolai has been hard at work trying to develop plans to use the sea to its fullest advantage. While the news of the izmars’ya isn’t public, Zemeni can place a condition for technical aid from Ravka since Ravka does have the technical knowledge it can dispatch as a condition.

A Grisha School in Novyi Zem

Think about it. Ravka, despite being the safest place for the Grisha, still isn’t entirely safe. Not all Grisha become soldiers in Ravka, they have a choice to abstain but those who are training are still recruited a honed for purpose alike preparing for war, especially the teens and preteens from the time of the Civil War. The training does take a lot of time. Ravka intends to make a home first and then service, but at the moment, while the Grisha are provided safety, it’s not assured in the best sense. Both the facts about a home and service are in precarious positions atm.

TL;DR: Ravka isn’t entirely safe for Grisha therefore the Grisha themselves too are not + Ravka is war torn. 

So what happens? 

One of the conditions as the next best country that serves as home to the Grisha, Novyi Zem may put forth the prospect of building a Little Palace like institution for the Grisha in Novyi Zem. It sounds morally wrong in the sense that the Grisha there will also be trained for war, but the war will end and soon, the Grisha will not be subject to serve for something but engage in economic activities as anybody else with the progression of time.

All of this won’t happen immediately either; learning their powers, honing it in the way that is unocnventional from what it had been pre-RoW and that transition + the building of the establishment in Novyi Zem and laying foundation for the  transnational panel or committee for Grisha that Zoya talks about will all take so much time. 

A few Grisha representatives from Novyi Zem can learn at the Little Palace and by the time the construction of the institution is done in Novyi Zem, these Grisha, along with other willing Grisha who either want to return to the country they were born in (like Leoni) or are offered to teach in a different country can do so too. 

There will be stricter terms so as to not ensure exploitation and possible colonization in these nations. 

Zoya mentions in one of her chapters that eventually there will be a need for the a  transnational panel or committee for Grisha. Jesper can Zoya can make it possible, adding in other countries to the panel slowly as the war recedes. 

Kaz and Wylan? 

Least likely to make an appearance, in my opinion. I think they’ll be mentioned plenty of times or brought up once and given great importance for how they can help in the side plot. 

Shu Support: 

This is more a hope than an actually theory dfbkdhjadfh but Makhi might have to step down from the throne because Ehri will take the place; either as a Queen (no...) or she might oversee the process of strengthening Shu Han and finding a leader (if she doesn’t want to become one herself). 

Ehri is capable, more than capable despite the little we know of her from the last chapter in KoS. All I hope is for an understanding and friendship between Nikolai and Ehri (and the subsequent cancelling of the marriage duH) for this to happen. She has little interest in statecraft but with the time she might spend with Nikolai, she might change her views. Even if not then she still gets the happy ending she deserves with Mayu (which is canon at this point rly).

Emotional Development or Breakdowns

Okay but I really, really, really hope we get to see all the three protagonists lose their shit and deal with their trauma, seek help or trying to stop isolating themselves or anything else they do to cope? Nina, Zoya and Nikolai, all of them cry, all of them get to completely lose it, let themselves be human and healthily cope and learn to rely on the people they trust the most. Like the sheer power and potential to show the myriad of ways to deal with grief, sadness, stress and more and make use of the trio’s backgrounds to show healthy and diverse ways of helping themselves, by letting themselves and others help them is just *combusts* Incredible! 

That being said, can I also ask for moments of fear and desolation from the side characters too? Impending war isn’t small business, it will take its toll on people, and all these reactions just cement their fears and what they value the most so. pls. Humanizing them rly. 

The Saving Each Other 

As much as I mostly kinda hate this trope, there are traces in the KoS that Zoya might be the one to end Nikolai’s affliction. On the other hand, there is talk of Nikolai helping Zoya control her powers which seems counterintuitive when you consider that Zoya knows that there is a line that she must never cross and that she is very, very careful about it and will continue to be. 

They can instead be the ones who motivate each other in times of distress as they always do (as shown with how Nikolai tries to gain control over his monster during the burning thorn ritual in KoS, allowing himself the vulnerability but also knowing that giving up will be unforgivable to both himself and Zoya as well) but I seriously do not wish for each other to be the ones directly ending one another's misery. Or perhaps this is just a fear imo that Leigh wouldn’t even take the route of (in which case, thank fuck).

Stab Stab Stab 

Zoya gets the chance to kill the Darkling with the rest of her friends. After all, Darkling does call them all his old friends. Just Julius Caeser him all the way and put a bow tie on the book. *chef’s kiss* Everybody deserves a second chance... at ending a tyrant when it fails the first time. 

+

So far, this is it. Rule of Wolves is in less than a few weeks and im- asdfghjkl. not Ready. i’m more Worried than Ready.

#zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #nina zenik #rule of wolves #king of scars #jesper fahey #inej ghafa #ehri kir taban #hanne brum #grishaverse #alina starkov #mal oretsev #baghra morozova #the darkling #kos #row #leigh bardugo #row theories #zoyalai #tw ableism mention #tw war #i hope these aren't insensitive. esp the one point about war + the theories about novyi zem #and ofc the disability part too #if the way i've expressed some points are hurtful i sincerely apologize. i will change them and learn better #thanks for reading this super long post lmao #long post // #cw long post #??? #anyw #row spoilers

[funnefatale]

Why was Bly manor racist?

all the poc characters are flat, surface level characters who are all, more or less, defined as selfless and don't get to be complex and messy and selfish the way white characters do. the treatment of Black women is especially horrible.

Rebecca is the closest we see to a messy character and that's mostly because of her proximity to Peter, and most of her character plans/motive are tossed away to prop whatever Peter wants despite him being literally the worst boyfriend ever.

Hannah's husband leaving her and then being "saved" by Charlotte and Hannah feeling indefinitely indebted to her and Bly Manor is literally white savior shit about how the Black employee should be loyal to the white billionaire above herself???

Hannah and Owen's love story doesn't get the same respect that Dani and Jaimie do. Owen never even gets to find out that Hannah loved him all along. They never kiss or hold hands or do anything beyond some light flirting.

Don't even get me started on Rebecca, a Black woman, being in an abusive relationship with Peter, a white man, who blows up on her when she so much as interacts with Owen.

PLUS (and this is where the major spoilers come in)

Hannah and Rebecca both have super traumatic deaths! Rebecca trusts Peter and he literally walks her body into the lake so he won't be alone and she continues to talk to him??? Hannah gets pushed down a well by (a possessed) child and fucking cracks her head open? Like what the fuck.

Compare that to Charlotte who dies off screen while trying to fix her marriage. Or to Dani who gets to have a fucking decade with Jaimie where she lives and loves and gets married and travels. Dani and Jaimie get to have a life together, and yes it's cut short, but Dani gets far more life and agency than Hannah or Rebecca ever did, both of whom don't expect their deaths and die more or less alone.

Not to mention, after all that, the narrative goes out of its way to quite literally say that Hannah is forgotten and that's a good thing because it's better for the white kids? After everything about her was so tied to that family and that Manor, they don't even fucking remember her.

It's just exhausting. It's the same old horror shit that treats poc like shit (66% of the poc die!! 66%! 100% of the Black women die traumatic deaths!!!) and I'm mad literally no one is talking about this.

#the haunting of bly manor #hannah grose #rebecca jessel #owen sharma #bly manor spoilers #tv: bly manor #anti black racism #racism