#(as little interest as I have in canon in fact)
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One thing that I personally find super frustrating about Taylor Swift is the way she plays into the myth of the "lone genius" artist. Without collaboration, nothing gets done; or, if it does, it's typically of low or inconsistent quality. And this is true in pretty much ANY field or discipline you can think of: scientific research, advocacy work, etc. The fact that Taylor considers herself above that and persists in selling the myth of her "lone genius" to fans honestly feels malevolent and arrogant to me.
It's truly ridiculous, at the end of the day, that people call her a "poet" and "genius songwriter" for doing everything on her own. I think it really showcases how little she understands when it comes to poetry as an art form. Most legendary writers and poets have multiple people look over their work and go through many stages of the editing process. One of the purposes of art is to communicate, and it's honestly hard to tell sometimes if what you've written has meaning and communicates well outside of your own brain. Peer review is ESSENTIAL for writers.
I think it's also very telling that she considers herself a legendary poet and actively plays into that mythology by circulating the fact that she's distantly related to Emily Dickinson. As someone who has loved and studied literature for many years, I can honestly say that Taylor Swift's closest comparative when it comes to writing is Rupi Kaur. Pinterest poetry, and nothing more. And she has the arrogance to compare herself to one of the most important poets in American literary canon!
I'm reminded of something I heard Hozier say a little while back (I'm forgetting now which interview) about people praising his lyricism as poetry. He essentially called those claims an insult to poetry, stating that there are structural rules in music (rhyme scheme, beat, etc.) that he adheres to that poets don't have to, and that poets can be much more experimental and revolutionary in form (at least when it comes to the written word vs. the sung word). Only someone who genuinely loves poetry would say something like this; plus, it shows that he thinks about the different impacts that form can have on art the messages it communicates. And this, coming from one of the best singer/songwriters currently working!
TS and Hozier aren't writing in the same genre, but I do think it's interesting to compare them as artists in their respective approaches to lyricism. When it comes to Taylor, I think she cares more about the aesthetic of poetry as an art form than the actual art itself. Her writing doesn't actively interact with the literary canon that inspired it, like Hozier's does (or other great lyricists, like Kendrick/Florence/Mitski/Elton). Her writing feels very hollow and devoid of meaning to me.
i just want to say your ask and analysis was so well written 😭 thank you for sending this in!
Completely agree that Swift's solo songwriting genius is a myth. Only 2/16 songs from TTPD were solely credited to her...which means 12.5% of the album is solely her own writing. That is not a songwriting genius. That's just a songwriter. She already knows her fans are completely sold and convinced on her songwriting genius so of course she would drag out her ancestry.com results and up-play her relation to Emily Dickinson to help sell the aesthetic of the album. Everything for her is another marketing strategy. She has no respect for poetry, let alone writing as a craft itself. If you view her behavior through the lens of another writer, it's absolutely abhorrent, but if you view it through the lens of another capitalist, it's absolute genius.
I love your Hozier comparison because Hozier is only 4 months younger than Taylor yet the quality of their lyricism are oceans apart. Hozier has proven himself to be a talented writer time and time again throughout the course of his career, and the best songwriters often know and understand the power of other writing mediums. (BTW I know what Hozier interview you’re talking about! Here it is :))
What makes a great writer is knowing the canon, and knowing other writing mediums very well. It's why the greatest songwriters incorporate canon not only of their own genre and medium but of other texts as well (I'm biased because I listened to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights today and I know its an adaptation but still its relevant here). Intextuality is the foundation of a great work, and Taylor's work has none.
As the other anon(s) have pointed out, Taylor no longer makes music as art. She makes music for money. I don't think any artist who likes what they do or cares about what they produce would put out an album like that, with lyrics like that, and its content. At least Rupi Kaur's writing impacted poetry in bringing it into the mainstream; I don't exactly understand what ttpd could offer as a text or in pop culture.
TLDR: hozier makes music for people who eat it from the back and then handfeed you grapes afterwards. taylor swift makes music for white girls entering their first day of 7th grade send tweet
#anti taylor swift#notyouraryang0dd3ss#ask#anon#anti swifties#ts: songwriting#emily dickinson#hozier#rupi kaur#kendrick lamar#mitski#florence and the machine#elton john
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In-Depth Character Analysis On All The DR Characters Because What, Are You Gonna Try And Stop Me? Who Are You, My Mom? Yeah, I Didn't Think So- Part 1: Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Yes, I'm aware the title is ungodly long, it's called comedy. Behold, a series inspired by my overwhelming hubris! Despite my better judgement, I love this series and (almost) every single one of its characters, so I decided to do this little series of posts on the side, just cuz!
So part 1 of like, 88 I think?, going through the characters from THH, DR 0, SDR2, UDG, DR3, and DRV3 with as much objectivity as possible, analyzing their character using only canon material from the games/anime/novel/canon adaptation they're present in. So sit back and enjoy while I go feral! Or just scroll, if you aren't interested. Whatever works for you.
Part 1- Character Design
Kiyotaka Ishimaru is depicted as a very aggressive honors student, and is shown as such through his very expressive facial features and his choice of clothing. He has large eyebrows and big eyes, and is given a uniform meant to make him look more like a soldier, reflecting his rigid dedication to the rules and his ethics. This uniform also includes an armband meant to signify his authority within the class as Hall Monitor and as the unofficial class rep. His sprites are very animated, with big gestures using his arm(s) and his mouth often wide open, whether in a wide smile or while yelling. This makes him one of the more expressive characters in THH specifically, as most of those characters are pretty restrained on a day-to-day basis and only become more exaggerated when put under high levels of stress.
Something interesting about Taka is that his talent changes from the original Japanese to the English translation. His official talent is the SHSL Public Morals Committee Member, meaning his original talent was that of discipline and social order. This was translated to Ultimate Moral Compass in English, as most western schools don't have a Public Morals Committee. This change in translation unintentionally shifted the perception of his talent from discipline to morality. This change in distinction has had a bit of a negative impact on the Western perception of his character, as rather than appearing to impose order on the other students, it instead appears at the beginning as though we, the audience, are supposed to view him as a beacon of morality. We're not.
Part 2- Character Introduction
Taka is one of the first characters to actually speak to Makoto directly, berating him for being late on the first day of school, despite the fact that he and everyone else had experienced a strange warping of memory. He also goes on to interrupt your first conversation with Sayaka, stating that their time is being wasted by 'ridiculous back-and-forth'. Despite this, when it's his turn to introduce himself to Makoto, he goes off on a tangent about how cool Makoto's name is. He's described by Makoto as a 'flawless honors student' and is most publicly known for his work on his local Public Morals Committee. He believes in putting 'every ounce of effort' into living, and imposes this belief on those he interacts with, something Makoto finds irritating(This guy is... kind annoying.").
So in short, Taka's first impression on the player is that he's a mildly obsessive honors kid, and a bit of a hypocrite that isn't fully aware of his own presence or the effect it has on the rest of the cast. The game goes on to use this lack of social awareness as a source of comedy, as he takes Monokuma's initial greeting as Headmaster fully at face value. He struggles to grasp the concept of the killing game at first, opening the discussion upon Monokuma's departure from the welcome ceremony with dialogue that sounds like it was pulled from a customer feedback survey("So guys, how would you define what we just experienced?"). He's not a malicious or hateful figure; he wants to work with the class but isn't quite sure how to.
Part 3- Early-Game Events
The game spends the early-game establishing Taka's more negative traits. He's shown to be inobservant and wrapped up in his own ideals and need to command authority to even notice Kyoko is missing and, upon being informed of her disappearance, cares more about her punctuality than her safety. "Not only is she late, she didn't tell anyone she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait..."
He's also established as hypocritical once again, and a bit egotistical, as he has trouble fathoming the others' lack of discoveries but overinflates the importance of his own.
He then goes on to agree to Celeste's suggested nighttime rule for all the boys in the class, without letting them speak for themselves. While ultimately, no one has a problem with the rule, this is the first real instance of him doing something that, on paper, is beneficial to the group, but without considering how the others actually feel about it.
Taka doesn't show up in-story again until the day of the motive, when he goes around to the entire class demanding that they will now all have breakfast together every morning after the morning announcement. Although this is a good idea, allowing for everyone to bond and creating a morning headcount, he makes this decision for the entirety of the group. Leon and Makoto both complain about this if you speak to Leon outside the cafeteria, but ultimately go along with it because they don't want Taka to continue bugging them about it. So we can see that his efforts are perceived negatively by his classmates and go unappreciated.
Already we've seen Taka act overbearing and commanding over and over, inadvertently separating himself from the majority of his peers. He's direct and to the point, forming the breakfast meetings expressly to 'become friends and build trust' with the rest of the class. So we can see in no uncertain terms that he wants to befriend his classmates, but that his lack of social skills leads him to fail at every turn. He doesn't ask the class to join him for breakfast, he tells them. The strategy he employs doesn't leave room for choice, and ends up building resentment from his classmates.
It's not until the first body is discovered and the rules of the class trial are revealed that reality fully seems to set in for Taka. He, along with everyone else, are given the rules of a game they don't really want to play- that should they fail in the trial, all of them will be killed. And it sends Taka to a breakthrough- that some regulations can be harmful to those they're imposed upon.
There's now a shift in his actions- he's still trying to push for the class to follow the rules he's set, yes, but there's a newfound urgency to them. When Byakuya disappears in chapter 2, his concern has shifted from punctuality to his classmate's safety. He's the one to lead the search for Byakuya when he doesn't answer. Despite all his harshness, we can see that his strictness now comes from a place of genuine concern for the people around him, a direct parallel to earlier in the game when Kyoko went missing- "I'd like to think so. But I'm worried something might have happened to him."
This growth of character, though not focused on, is undoubtedly present. The dedication he has to his discipline and his ego are still fully intact, but now that dedication has moved beyond just order. It's an act of protection, for him and everyone else. The invisible threat of death has become all too visible with Sayaka's absence from their last breakfast meeting. If he can keep track of everyone, then he'll know they're still alive. He can prevent another murder. It imposes upon him the responsibility of the leadership he craves.
Part 4- Relationship(s)
Unincluding if the player actively seeks him out through FTEs, Taka only ever develops a real relationship with one character of the other fourteen in-game, though he does have some important dynamics with others. We'll continue moving in chronological order.
4.1- Ishimondo (these bitches gay?)
Throughout the game, whenever Taka is saying or doing something stupid, Mondo is typically the one to call him out on it or shut him down. While this doesn't start to take real shape until chapter 2, it is visible here and there in the early game.
But their connection doesn't really start to take focus until chapter 2, as Taka's failings as leader and Mondo's constant correcting him puts them at odds. Mondo's attitude is the antithesis of Taka's, living a life of complete risk and impulsiveness, yet has a matching level of energy, and despite being more intimidating on a surface level, he's able to actually befriend characters like Chihiro, Hina, and Sakura, while Taka's left on the out. One of the best examples of this is found not in the game, but in the stageplay adaptation, where both characters attempt to help Chihiro feel better about her weakness in the daily life segment.
When Byakuya starts mocking Chihiro for her fear, Mondo threatens him, and insists that Chihiro's weakness doesn't matter because she's a woman. But when this makes her upset and Sakuraoi call him out on it, he offers to help Chihiro train as an apology, acknowledging that his behavior was irrational. But when Taka tries to give her advice by telling her not to be weak anymore and is told to be reasonable, he can only insist that Mondo's words don't matter anyway.
In the game itself, Taka's barely present for this exchange, as it chooses instead to focus on Chimondo's relationship. Regardless, the animosity between Mondo and Taka is still made very clear in-game.
Mondo and Taka are both demonstrating the desire to protect their classmates here, but in different ways. Taka is the more logical of the two, focusing on keeping track of resources and devising a system of check for everyone to keep watch over each other in the breakfast promise. Mondo, meanwhile, wants to push the importance of actually getting everyone the fuck out of there. While their endgoal is the same, they disagree on how to go about it, and both their stubbornness drives them to butt heads as time continues to pass, leading to the sauna scene.
After being slowly built up in the background, Ishimondo's mutual anger finally comes to a head, with both not understanding the position that the other is in. Taka still believes Mondo's value to be what he provides to society, and as a biker gang leader, that's not much to a man that lives by lawful discipline. Meanwhile, Mondo can only see Taka as an egomaniac with a stick up his ass and doesn't know the background to why(and neither does the player without actively seeking out his FTEs). They each follow a different code of ethics, and view themself as the protector of the class, leading them to see each other as rivals. Yet, despite that, both of them still share their core value of total dedication, and so when finding a way to prove themself the better man, they end up with an endurance competition. For Taka, this reflects his belief that men connect by baring their souls, and do so by baring their bodies(something only learned in-game by approaching him for FTEs).
(This also leads to the implication that, while Mondo insisted on entering the sauna with all his clothes on, at some point, he was, in fact, naked while with Taka that night.)
The information as to what happened in that sauna is intentionally left unanswered, remaining fully private between both men in-game. The only thing either of them will say is that a brotherhood was formed between them, and that who won their initial contest no longer matters. Finally, Taka has found someone. Someone he can confide in and lean on, someone who'll support him and that he can support in turn("And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back! That's how you can overcome any storm!" -Taka ch 1).
And then Chihiro's case happens.
At first, when the motives are introduced, Taka is one of the few to vocally insist no murder will take place. He has newfound confidence in the willpower of his classmates, and puts faith into everyone else for the first and only time. Even when presented with his own unknown secret, he finds it ridiculous that anyone would kill over the embarrassing memories and secrets. It's here that we truly see the highest high of this character- when he comes up with the idea to share secrets. When he presents this idea, he moves forward as usual, preparing to be the first one to reveal their secret and take the pressure off. But when his classmates insist they can't (Toko & Celeste) he doesn't keep chugging along, and he doesn't completely shut down, either. He looks around at his classmates, and he asks Chihiro. He actually steps back and asks for someone else's opinion.
And when she isn't yet comfortable, he backs off. He respect her wishes, and he stands with the class, ready to help them face their secrets the following day. Finding a friend in Mondo has softened his rigid exterior a little bit, enough to actually consider the opinions of the others. He's gotten comfortable. All that comes crashing down with the discovery of Chihiro's body the next morning. After finally taking a step back and letting his classmates- his friends- make their own choices, it directly leads to the murder of one of them("Dammit! I'm sorry, Chihiro... It's all because I wasn't strong enough!").
Taka fully blames himself for allowing Chihiro to be murdered, and as the guilt of failure starts to set in on him, he looks to his ethics and order to solve it. Chihiro may be dead, but the murderer will be condemned through the class trial("Justice always prevails! Right, bro!?"). A solution, a path forward, still exists for him. He still has Mondo by his side, and he and the rest of the class can surely prevent this from happening again, right?
The trial only validates him at first, revealing the existence of a serial killer among the group, someone so clearly immoral for her killing obsession. But it's not her. Why isn't it her? "Could such a heinous villain really be innocent!?" But his confusion is quickly stamped out- of course, it's Byakuya, the guy that's been threatening everyone and refusing to cooperate, the guy that has no regard for the rest of their classmates. "He kept calling this a game, right? So he'd totally be willing to do whatever it takes to 'win'!" But no, wrong again- he didn't know that the murder was in the boys' locker room, and was taken aback by Chihiro being AMAB. It should be him, someone so clearly antagonistic, that's how it's supposed to go, right?? But no, it's wrong! Why? And, who could kill someone like Chihiro at their most vulnerable?
He's failed. Taka's failed in every way conceivable. Mondo, the first person he's ever truly felt connected to, a murderer? Chihiro's murderer? That can't be it. Even long after Mondo's stopped arguing, Taka continues to push back against Makoto and Kyoko's accusations. It's a coincidence, that's not actually proof, anything to get them to stop, to save his brother, to save himself from the reality he's about to have to face. When sent into the BTB, it's Taka we fight in his despair, not Mondo. Until the very end, Taka won't acknowledge it. He can't. He can't bring himself to vote his Mondo a murderer, a killer. How could the man who gave him the chance no one else would, ever be so cruel? "I- I refuse to believe it... There's no way... no way he would kill someone! Why!? Why why why why why!? WHYYY!? Why did you do it!?"
He learns the truth of Mondo's story alongside the rest of the class, unable to process it all. It makes no sense. They were friends who trusted each other, who helped each other. And what about the man's promise? Doesn't that count for anything!? This doesn't sound right. This isn't Mondo, not his Mondo, not the man from the sauna. How could he have been so wrong about him?! It just can't be, but it is; the truth is but a slap to the face.
He was wrong. He stood by Chihiro's killer and defended him. He let his brother become the monster he saw himself as. He didn't stop it when he could have. He was blinded by his own beliefs, and as he watches Mondo's death, his spirit dies with him, the game cutting out all music as Taka screams, filling a deafening silence. "As Taka's sad screams invaded our skulls, we were each forced to realize once again..."
4.2- Kiyondo Ishida
Taka enters chapter 3 as a hollowed out shell of himself. He's gone near comatose, staring at nothing and saying nothing. He won't eat, won't speak, won't sleep, and although there are a couple weak attempts to get him back in action from Hiro("It's times like this where the committee chairman needs to get things going with a BANG!"), he's mostly left to grieve by himself, as the rest of cast is more concerned with the expanded school than the bossy guy they didn't like that much.
Monokuma even goes out of his way to torture Taka, to punish him for his grief, lying about the existence of a time machine just to fuck with his head and give him false hope, sending him further into despair- "Hmm... You sound disappointed. But actually, I was lying about the whole thing anyway. There's no such thing as time machines!" He's forced to become Monokuma's most successful project from the class, completely and utterly destroyed.
When he learns of Alter Ego, something in his head clicks. He can still talk to Chihiro. He can repent. He can apologize directly to him. So, with Makoto's help, he's brought to the laptop. His guilt finishes totally consuming him as he asks: "Do you... hate Mondo? And since I couldn't stop him... do you hate me?" His own self-hatred stemming from his failure is projected onto Alter Ego in one last attempt to come to terms with what's happened. The response he receives, unfortunately, is the culmination of all the toxic and unhealthy ideas of manhood the other boys carried with them via an attempted simulation of Mondo.
"You're not letting yourself get crushed under the weight of that responsibility, are you!? A man's only worth as much as the load he can carry! You get it, right bro!? Hell, what am I saying? Of course ya do!"
"So you're just gonna stand there, huh? Just wait for things to get better? Just take your time and get all depressed... Take the time to indulge your regrets... You might even start walking again without realizing it. Sure, that kind of mediocre thing might work for some people."
This speech, while attempting to inspire Taka to keep living for Chihiro's and Mondo's sakes, encapsulates the desperate need to be perceived as strong and untouchable that Mondo himself carried, and that Chihiro admired so much. It sinks its way into Taka, convincing him that the way to respond to his guilt is simple- pretend it isn't there! Mondo has clearly returned to him, and he's never letting him go ever again. He fully deludes himself, and he's fused with this idealized version of his bro. He permanently ties himself to Mondo's memory, and goes from the SHSL Public Morals Committee Member to something else entirely- Kiyondo Ishida, the unholy mixture of both men.
This revelation also leads him to an obsession with Alter Ego, viewing it as the vessel in which his bro was returned to him. He views it as another chance to protect his bro from ever being hurt again, as some divine second-chance he's been granted. All desire to be around the rest of his class is gone, replaced with this obsession. He's put at odds with Hifumi, who's also connected with the AI, and separates himself from the group that much more. When Alter Ego disappears, he can't handle it. He panics. He won't let his bro die, not again. And so he dooms himself, refusing to let go of the shadows of the past enough to see his own death looming before him, and he's killed in the early hours of the morning, led by desperation to his demise. And even so, the class can only worry about the semantics of when he died, barely mourning him.
5- Isolation (What's the point of this guy, anyway?)
Rather than learning from the mistakes both Chihiro and Mondo made by subscribing to the societal expectations of what makes a man, Taka ends up doubling down, burning away the optimism and more reasonable logic Taka used to have. Taka's story is that of a doomed fate to become the symbol of manhood and its self-destructing nature, leeching off of his first and only friend's unhealthy behaviors and sending him spiraling. And it's allowed to happen because of his social isolation.
From the very beginning of the game, Taka is singled out as annoying to be around. He's put in a negative light and viewed as unpleasant to spend time with. Every attempt to befriend or connect with a classmate is written off as a nuisance, a hindrance. Taka doesn't know how to make friends. He doesn't know how to do anything besides follow the rules and regulations he's been taught. He sticks to his regimen, because it's comfortable, and doesn't understand why others can't conform in the way that he does. He's very thoroughly isolated mentally and emotionally from his classmates at every turn, to the point where even in the very first trial he's standing with no one but the dead by his side(as Sayaka and "Junko" were positioned on either side of his podium).
All this is done with the deliberate intention to showcase his solitude, and more importantly, the loneliness that comes from it. It's to the point that when he finally does make a friend, he thoroughly idealizes him in his subconscious, coming to view him as some perfect person who'd even support him. It's inherently contradictory from his established beliefs going into the game, that a delinquent could be kind, but he accepts it wholeheartedly. He gets to know Mondo on some deeper level while in that sauna, and it's enough to rapidly develop a massive codependency on him. So when Mondo self-destructs and dies, so too does Taka.
Taka's purpose as a character is to suffer. He wraps himself in his moral beliefs, remaining steadfast in what he views as right and wrong, making judgement calls he's 100% sure of, and when they're challenged/disproven, he's thrown wholly out of whack. He exists to serve a purpose- what would've happened if Makoto didn't accept the truth about Sayaka? What happens when you let your idealism blind you to the truth? What happens when you blind yourself to the reality of the people around you, of the darkness in the people you care about? You self-destruct. He's tossed aside, killed as an accessory to the plot of someone who does nothing but manipulate the truth. He dies, and that's just it. His story is cut short; he doesn't get to heal or grow or come to terms with the truth. Such is the fate of the failed.
6- Afterword
...I didn't even touch his FTEs for this. Holy shit.
I'm gonna be honest, as much as I love Taka, I never expected this post would become as long as it did, or that I'd uncover such a dark fucking reason for why he gets as totally fucked over as he does. Don't get me wrong, I still really wish he'd lived and gotten to grow after this, but maybe his death was more well-written than I used to think. Good god.
#danganronpa#danganronpa trigger happy havoc#trigger happy havoc#thh#dr thh#dr thh spoilers#danganronpa thh#kiyotaka ishimaru#ishimaru kiyotaka#danganronpa kiyotaka#character analysis#character study#analysis#fan theory#DR character analysis#chihiro fujisaki#mondo owada#ishimondo#alter ego
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Top 10 Animal Comparisons for Near
inspired by this iconic post by @13eyond13 :-)
10. Gecko
geckos made it onto the list because of their round black eyes and solitary nature. i also found it interesting that the oldest known gecko lived to 27, which is the same age we see Near in his last canon appearance.
9. Hedgehog
wary of people and not easily trusting. generally solitary, although capable of forming few attachments, and most content in familiar, comfortable environments. both show tendencies to curl in upon themselves.
8. Squirrel
curious and intelligent with impressive memories and problem-solving skills. also seen to be quite cunning and have a variety of tricks and schemes to deceive potential predators or food thieves. they would have been higher on the list if not for the fact that they are known to be very active and social.
7. Raccoon
not as strong a comparison for Near as they are for L, but they are known to be highly intelligent, cheeky and mischievous, much like Near. the comparisons are similar to those of squirrels, but ranked slightly higher due to their more solitary nature.
6. Rabbit
intelligent and inquisitive but can easily become bored. the appearance is the main feature that made me rank them so high, with reference to the round black eyes, small build and (for some breeds) white aesthetic. they also typically spend their entire lives in the same place and do not move far from their warren, which reflects Near's preference for staying indoors in one place where possible. rabbits probably could not catch a plane by themselves.
5. Seal
much like the gecko, seals came to mind because of their big black eyes and solitary lifestyles. they move in packs for safety but are not typically close with other individual seals, which mirrors Near's preference for working in a team despite having no close personal relationships outside of that. however, seals are much higher on the list because of their tendency to lounge around on rocks or play alone when they aren't hunting, which reminds me a lot of Near. they are also known to be intelligent and cautious.
4. Arctic Fox
quite small and unassuming but sneaky, clever and adaptable. arctic foxes are not as strong or aggressive as other breeds but are very cunning, and sometimes follow larger animals like polar bears while hunting for protection and to find prey. in terms of aesthetic, the arctic fox specifically reminds me a lot of A-Kira Near with its white fur/dark eyes combo, long body and graceful aura. foxes are also commonly associated with the zodiac Virgo, which is Near's star sign.
3. Sheep
a very common comparison for Near based on appearance. both are calm and level-headed with a high level of intelligence, and very strong memory and recognition skills. despite being known for their placid nature, sheep can have a wide range of emotions, much like Near.
2. Cat
rolls around on the floor, plays with toys and is often destructive while playing. looks innocent but is actually a little bastard. my specific choice for him is a ragdoll cat because of their placid temperament, mostly white colour palette and preference for the indoors (and also because i am a ragdoll owner myself, so i am very biased <3)
1. Frog
self-explanatory i suspect. he may not share the most personality traits with frogs, but their overall vibe is too similar to rank any lower than first.
bonus comparison, in case you aren't convinced:
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You are both an Arrowfamily and Jason Todd fan account so I thought you would be the best person to ask this but: What do you think the Arrowfamily members opinion on Jason are?
ooooh i love this question.. i think a lot of people jump straight to "they would hate him" because of his fight with mia but!!! i don't think thats entirely true!!!!! some of them would hate him but not all of them </3 i feel like the people that claim they would all hate him have a fundamental misunderstanding of the arrows and what they stand for, not to mention deliberately misconstruing what the the jason & mia fight actually was and pretending it was a lot worse than what actually happened. but thats just my opinion
ollie absolutely would hate him though lmao. he would never get over the fact that jason kidnapped, fought, & tried to blow up his daughter. no forgiveness ever.
if jason HADNT fought mia though i think ollie would like him or at the very least tolerate him. ollie very clearly has no issue with murdering bad guys (as seen in ga88) and would be completely on board with anyone who goes out of his way to fuck with batman constantly <3 also in my humble opinion ollie shouldve been a cosmic mistake in countdown due to him coming back to life because parallax put him back together, which would have been hilarious and would absolutely have ended in them getting along (until jason goes through like his fifth breakdown in that book, because he would absolutely lash out at ollie after watching that one version of bruce die. but thats a whole separate tangent)
dinah also would hate him for trying to kill mia, but probably not as intensely as ollie. but even without that issue i dont think dinah would like him, mostly because hes the worst and i dont think dinah would have the patience to put up with him. she wouldnt have a huge problem with the killing (she wouldnt NOT have a problem with it but i really dont think it would be an unforgivable issue for her), but she would just think hes kind of an asshole about it and she wouldnt like him at all. i also think theres a panel somewhere where jason says that dinah told him she hates him personally?? idk ive only seen screenshots of it but i think its funny so im incorporating it into my belief system
with roy... i feel like there are so many people that see rhato and swing to the opposite side of the pendulum and say that roy would hate jason but i dont think thats true at all. im a rhato hater because that is Not Roy so we're disregarding that, but i still think they would get along tbh! given that roy is deeply in love with a serial killer i think that the people who say he would hate jason are misunderstanding who roy is. i think when theyre both in character they actually have personalities that would mesh well together and they COULD get along really well. i dont see roy having a Big Problem with jason killing people (he would try to stop him from doing it but murder wouldnt be a dealbreaker for roy) so i think its fair to say they would actually get along!!! but i bitch and complain every time they show up in the same panel because now the damage has been done from rhato so i dont want them to interact in canon. only in the secret world in my head.
in regards to jason fighting mia, i dont know how to say it but,,, i dont think roy would have a huge issue with it. he certainly wouldnt be happy about it but also he wasnt there so i feel like all he would know about it was that jason kidnapped mia one time but mia was fine. honestly i think that he would be more interested in brothers in blood bc dick would def mention that jason murdered people in a nightwing costume then turned into a tentacle monster and tried to eat someone but dick forgave him anyway. and once he hears that suddenly the mia thing seems inconsequential in comparison
with connor... i cant lie im a little biased because connor is a member of my dream outlaws team but i really think they would at least kind of get along! connor is not the type of person to hold a grudge at all so once mia forgives him (which ill get into in a sec) connor wouldnt have a problem with him. he WOULD have a problem with jason killing people but he's close with eddie so clearly he doesnt have that much of an issue with working with people who have killed before as long as they dont kill in front of him. and i think that jason has a healthy respect for anyone who can beat him in a fight and because of that he would not kill anyone when hes around connor. i also think that connor and jason would never fight because connor would never throw the first punch and jason would never start a fight that he knows he cant win (but thats once again a whole separate tangent). basically i dont think they'd be besties or anything, i dont think theres a world where they'd ever even consider themselves friends. but i do think they'd get along well enough to not hate each other
okay now finally mia. kind of a controversial take but i really think she'd forgive him for kidnapping her! she absolutely would not forgive him IMMEDIATELY because it fucked her up so she would be pissed about it for a while, but also? i think she completely understood what he was trying to do. he wasnt really hurting her specifically (like yeah he hurt her but he made it a fair fight and he wasnt beating down on her or anything. she also hit him so it evens out) and he was actually trying to talk TO her and relate to her. and it was working!!! he didnt force her to do anything except fight (in a fight where he untied her and gave her her weapons), so once she got some distance from the event i think she'd forgive him. it would take a while for her to actually forgive him enough for them to actually get along, but i genuinely think they would. theyre extremely similar people and i think they would really be good friends if given the chance, but it would take a looooong time for mia to be comfortable enough to be around him enough to consider him a friend since the fight definitely fucked her up. but it is possible for them to eventually be close, and i think they could be really good friends
honorable mentions:
- i dont know emiko well enough to know for sure (i havent read new52 or rebirth green arrow so i havent read much with her </3) but from what i know i think they would get along
- lian would have no opinion of him whatsoever. at most she sees him as her uncle's brother. i truly dont think she'd care enough about him to form a positive or negative opinion about him
- i dont like sienna so i dont want to acknowledge her but for the sake of the post. she doesnt like jason because dinah doesnt like jason and she says "i hate everyone that black canary hates <3"
- cissie is not a member of the arrowfamily but she wouldnt like him because she absolutely would have an issue with any murderous vigilante given that she almost killed someone one time and had a huge breakdown, so anyone that kills people for the Greater Good and continues to do so would not sit right with her
- i have absolutely no basis for this but shado would hate him for no reason. no specific beef with him about his morals or his actions, she just wouldnt like his vibes. sorry to talk about rose (no im not) but she would see rose hanging out with jason and go "im so happy for you and your ugly fucking boyfriend im serious"
- eddie and jason would get along like a housefire. there is not a doubt in my mind that they would bond instantly (ok not instantly because they both hate everyone and would probably start with trying fight each other. THEN they would bond) and it would be catastrophic for everyone involved 🫶
ok i think thats everyone. or at least everyone that matters. never forget that all my opinions are 100% correct at all times
#listen. i think the arrow fandom tends to try to fight against the arrows being put down by the bats by pushing in the complete opposite wa#so after a thousand posts of 'jason should join the arrows' or 'ollie is the worst because rhato said so' they start saying the opposite#that all the arrows hold a deep resentment for jason#but... the arrows are honestly pretty forgiving#killing isnt a dealbreaker and neither is fighting their family#ollie is not that forgiving* though so he wouldnt get over it ever. but everyone else might#*by this i mean forgiving of people that hurt his kids. he can forgive other people but hurting his kids is a cardinal sin#i think it especially bothers me when people say it about roy#i see so many posts of 'roy would actually hate jason because he tried to kill his sister!!!'#and?? honestly thats a pretty good indication to me that they dont understand roy SORRY#jason todd#arrowfam#<- SORRY i hate to be the person to put jason in the arrow tags but thats my organization tag 😔#dc
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So I’m just going to say it, understanding that people are not going to like it and will in turn, make that my problem.
There is a right and a wrong way to engage with media. That is actually an inarguable fact. And there is specifically a right and a wrong way to engage with Fire & Blood/House of the Dragon. I feel like the divide between history geek tumblr and lit geek tumblr is only as obvious as it is because I spent years actively engaging in these conversations outside of the internet when I was having my ass handed to me in male-dominated academia. You cannot dismantle or properly critique F&B/HotD from a historical standpoint. It is not a history book. The only accurate way to critique this media is through the viewpoint of literary analysis - and there is plenty to critique through that lens! All media is imperfect, that is the point. The author’s preferences and icks and whatever else will shine through in their writing and opinions, which is what drives (or should drive) these conversations.
We see so many people coming through taking F&B and holding it up to this idea of “this isn’t how it happened in history/the real world so I must fix it,” which is very much an interesting conversation, but not the one to accurately judge the writing through. It doesn’t matter that Empress Matilda was fighting her cousin for the throne during The Anarchy. Rhaenyra is fighting her brother and George outlines his clear preferences in the text - which is where people start losing their fucking minds. It’s fine that GRRM has a preference for a specific side of this family. You don’t have to agree with him! His whole schtick in the ASOIAF universe is magical women and succession crisis. We see it over and over with Visenya and Aegon, with Maegor and Aenys, with Rhaena and Aerea and Maegor, with Rhaegar and Viserys III, with Dany and Jon and Faegon. And the focus on the historical accuracy in regard to the time periods that inspired certain events in his story takes away imo from the real conversations that could be had about this content. Rhaenyra represents magic in Westeros (her fertility, her dragon’s fertility, etc), while Alicent and the Hightowers represent the active suppression of magic in this universe (the faith of the Seven being an obvious representation of the catholic church, the obvious church vs paganism element). At its core, ASOIAF is a story about magic! It’s fantasy. It’s not history porn. These conclusions can only really be drawn when you start engaging with the material from a literary standpoint as opposed to a historical one. We’re not meant to strip the magic away from this story - the magic is the story.
GRRM’s work is catnip for history nerds, and as a history nerd who is friends with tons of history nerds, and it’s so fun to discuss the intricacies of our history vs the history we see in Westeros. But to use history to tear apart the work and claim that GRRM is plain wrong for writing it this way is not what this should be about. This isn’t a historical text, it’s a fantasy series. GRRM gets things wrong and as an author asks “look the other way because this is fiction.” We can’t hold the events of the Dance to a historical standard because GRRM created the laws and traditions of Westeros as their own thing. Viserys was not breaking law by naming Rhaenyra heir, just as Jaehaerys was not breaking law by letting a bunch of feudal dork lords name his heir. They were both simply going against tradition and the consequences of those choices is what makes it fun. Embrace the whimsy, people.
And then we have the introductions of headcanon as gospel. This is something that is absolutely rampant in this fandom (that’s what happens when you have two years between seasons and very little promo and people start getting bored and feral). Headcanons are fun. We love them. In a fandom that’s pushed forward during the drought by fic, they abound! But they aren’t an accurate way to judge and measure the canon material. So many people are falling into the boredom trap of a few BNFs pushing their headcanons in fic (which is the place for headcanons). But to take headcanons over canon, over the information that the original author has given us is…well it’s not fucking cool and it doesn’t help. It actively tears apart the fandom and grinds to dust any conversation we can have about the canon material. Canon is where the blorbo comes from, canon needs to be considered above the fun headcanons that are birthed in the boredom. You want to blame all the bad things on Daemon because he’s 100% evil and nothing but a menace? Okay, well, there’s no canon basis for that. You don’t have to like him, he can just be GRRM’s special little boy, that’s fine! But that is a headcanon and not based on the canon material. You blame Alicent for everything that happened in the Dance because she’s a proto-Cersei and it’s all her fault. Well, okay. Again, no basis for that in the text or the show. You’re actually crying on your lunchbreak over the idea of Aemond potentially betraying Aegon in s2 because your special boy that’s been manufactured in the fanfic factory would never. Well, F&B says differently. And the level of upset that comes when people disagree with these takes is just getting batshit bananas because we’re all understandable desperate for content.
You have to have an understanding of the canon material. Without it, what are we even doing here? An understanding of how to engage with any kind of media is necessary. And guess what? It doesn’t take the fun out of it, it just lends to a deeper understanding of the themes that GRRM has been playing with for over 30 years at this point. And those themes, not just the history they are nebulously inspired by or the blorbo that gets you hottest under the collar, are the basis for the material we love and deserve to be treated with respect.
Tl:dr ignoring canon in favor of history porn or headcanons is lame and irresponsible. No one can stop you, but we can judge you.
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I love the way you justify any sick shit just because you like it. Ships with violence against women (Darklina, Reylo) - yes, ships with pedophilia (SebaCiel) - yes, just because you like these particular characters, you are ready to look for "depth" and "complexity" there, but only because YOU PERSONALLY do not like Aegon or Aemond or anyone else, they cannot be complicated and interesting characters in someone's perception. Hypocrisy and stupidity. You accuse people of justifying violence and consider your opinion the only true one, even though you do exactly the same thing yourself, instead of admitting, "yes, I think these characters are hot, so I'll turn a blind eye to what they do."
Darkling and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo = Canonical gray and complex characters. (Oh and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is a real victim of grooming)
Aegon II and Aemond = Canonical villains (besides being rapists).
“The groom was fifteen years of age ; a lazy and somewhat sulky boy, Septon Eustace tells us, but possessed of more than healthy appetites, a glutton at table, given to swilling ale and strongwine and pinching and fondling any serving girl who strayed within his reach.” - About Aegon II.
“Thus did the flower of House Strong, an ancient line of noble warriors boasting descent from the First Men, come to an ignoble end in the ward at Harrenhal. No trueborn Strong was spared, nor any bastard save... oddly... Alys Rivers. Though the wet nurse was twice his age (thrice, if we put our trust in Mushroom), Prince Aemond had taken her into his bed as a prize of war soon after taking Harrenhal, seemingly preferring her to all the other women of the castle, including many pretty maids of his own years.”
What doesn't click for you here in terms of simple differences ? These characters literally have nothing to do with each other. Not my fault if you are not able to understand this simple fact of how they were written. It's not me who ready to look depth or complexity in them. They are literally written like that, but not really the Greens by GRRM.
In addition, what you say is false, because I always said that I liked the original Aemond, as a pure villain within the dance obviously, due to the context of his writing, namely that Aemond is Daemon's foil (the real gray and complex character), a dark reflection of this latter, and that's quite fascinating, complex, and cool for me to analyze (and that is the reason why I don't like Aemond in the HOTD version, because he actually loses that essential narrative feature that basically makes him who he is in Fire and Blood).
But sorry to say, nothing about Aemond's original characterization as a person is deep or complex, much less the rest of his later actions. Literally he is presented as a little devil from childhood and stay like that until the end.
It's Aegon II, indeed, who I don't find interesting at all, even as a villain. He's just pathetic and disgusting, and anyway it seems to me that these are canonical traits of him...
But some people like this type of villain and good for them, it's just not my personal cup of tea.
I prefer Aemond, and more particularly Alicent, in the group of villains among the Greens, especially because as I said, they are more interesting for me to analyze.
I still remind you that Alicent, from Fire and Blood, is one of my favorite villains in all categories. She's that type of villain that you never get tired of loving to hate. She's a rotten woman with rotten motivations, but she's interesting to watch / reading because she's still the one running the whole Rhaenyra usurpation operation, not Otto. Alicent, in canon, is an intelligent villain who will do anything to achieve her selfish ends at the head of operations. And it's always satisfying to have this kind of villain to face the protagonist.
But I have no problem with people liking Aemond and Aegon II for what they are ; which is again villains.
My problem is those who try to turn them into gray characters, or worse justify them, things that happen far too often among stans / fans of these characters what are Aegon II and Aemond.
Because yes, there are fans who actually justify the violence and bad actions of these characters by finding tons of excuses supposed to make them complex for their fans while the original text does not do so. They indeed exist (even though not everyone is like that and I never said they were all like that).
I've already talked about it a thousand times. But you, their fans, seemed incapable of getting these simple facts into your skulls.
Plus it's cheeky to accuse me of "yes, I think these characters are hot, so I'll turn a blind eye to what they do." when all my posts about the Darkling and Kylo are analyzes due to their complexity / actions, and it doesn't even seem to me that I've already addressed their physical. While once again, there is a great sexualization of the characters of Aegon II and Aemond by certains of their fans.
Seriously, how many posts have I seen saying that "Oh my god, they couldn't resist Aegon II because he's so hot !!!" and we're still talking here about a disgusting alcoholic rapist (and pedophile on top of that according to Fire and Blood) who likes to watch children fight in an arena... while then saying first degree next to what they think that "Aegon II needs hugs to better manage his emotions, and that the rape of Dyana is not really a rape because after all we did not see her with our eyes, if that turns out there was not of penetration !" The complete wtf of that...
So don't come and give me this type of speech, with the number of individuals like I have just described who exist in the community of fans of these two characters that are Aegon II and Aemond.
Afterwards, I am not saying, there are surely people who do not understand the characters of the Darkling and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo, seeing them as pure villains and therefore only see their romantic relationships with Alina and Rey as negative, but who, following the fact of finding the actors / characters attractive, one says"yes, I think these characters are hot, so I'll turn a blind eye to what they do." After all, many do it for the Greens, surely others do it for the Darkling and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo, due to a poor understanding of these last two characters. So obviously what you describe probably exists.
But that's not what I do.
Sorry. I don't ignore the horrible actions of the villains I love, or the gray characters I love. I just don't receive them / don't treat them / don't see them in the same way, because their actions as villains and gray characters don't have the same scope. It's just a fact.
Also, I imagine that what you hear complex about Aegon II from Fire and Blood is that he"didn't want the throne in the first place, because he only did it to protect his family, because he been forced" ?
Bullshit reported by Eustace, a pro greens, who obviously will manage to embellish the people he propagandizes, what surprising !
Especially since this stupid speech from Aegon II never wanted the throne... is quickly revealed be bullshit when we see how much he enjoyed sitting there, ready to reign alone and refusing to be controlled by Otto, all while refusing to abdicate in favor of Rhaenyra, who had nevertheless proposed that his brothers and sisters would be safe, and that he insults her of whore in the process for free, it seems to me. Which... oh yes seems so much like the mark of a deep and complex character / person who don't want be king !
And then it's still really cheeky to tell myself that I like "sick shit with violence against women", when you literally like / found deep interesting, complex and complicated, you know... RAPISTS ?! (But who mostly deny being rapists in the Aemond and Aegon II fans / stans community OF COURSE !) Probably the worst form of violence against women ?! Hospital ? charity ? in your speech ?
Although it's again not really a problem that you love them, as long as the problematic aspect is recognized by you fan. (Even if, objectively, I find that there is nothing interesting about Aegon II as a villain, both as a person and in his character construction and his role, but anyone is free to think otherwise)
As I said, I like Aemond, who is a rapist, as a villain for his narrative role, which I find interesting to analyze. But I also like Kilgrave, another rapist, because I find him interesting, in his way of acting in relation to his power, and the way he can be obsessed with something. We are clearly dealing with a particular psychiatric case. Without forgetting the charisma of the actor and the terrifying aura that he manages to exude from the character. Moreover, these two characters have the particularity of dying because of the women who were the victims of their mistreatment, and that is very very enjoyable.
Or the Dracula of 1992, who also rapes Lucy, Mina's best friend, but who remains presented by the story as a figure similar to Lucifer having fallen and who in his love for Mina allows him to find redemption in death when 'she kills him at his request, all without that stopping him from being the villain of the story in the movie.
But is it because I love these villains that I support their evil actions ? Absolutely no. Of course not. They are monsters / villains that I enjoy watching (while hating them for their disgusting actions) at work generally against the protagonists, but I like even more the moment where they are destroyed. It's exactly the same as the Disney villains of our childhood. We love them for different reasons, but we recognize who they are, that what they do is bad, with no real explanation for the most part, and we mostly love seeing them be defeated in the end.
Besides, it's not because I like gray and complex characters that I'm going to defend / justify / agree with their dark actions either, under the pretext that they have a part of light. On the other hand, we can explain their actions, reflect on their complexity. These characters may have good reasons for doing what they actually do, perhaps originally noble causes, like the Darkling, with wanting the protection of Grisha from normal people and the countries Fjerda and Shu Han, because of centuries of mistreatment and discrimination ? Or the fact that they've been groomed since they were fetuses in their mother's womb, manipulated through unbearable voices in their heads to influence them to do bad things, like Kylo Ren / Ben Solo ?
Or those being described as being made of equal parts light and darkness, but who will only direct their dark side against the people they hates / are they enemies and who... let's be realistic, mostly look very little or not sympathetic in our eyes as readers, even if the actions against these ennemies themselves are not very synonymous of kindness on the part of these gray characters either, like Daemon Targaryen in Fire and Blood.
One thing his introduction in Fire and Blood proves :
And that GRRM himself confirms through his words :
It's not as if the author says something about the character and the text doesn't follow. On the contrary, the text of Fire and Blood completely validates the author's words about Daemon.
But hey, if Green stans prefer say that Daemon is a pure villain and monster and therefore to appear illiterate in order to justify liking / preferring Aegon II, that's their problem. People who know how to read and analyze will know what it's all about.
Anyway, all these characters are only gray and complex who in their respective stories have people worse than them, the real villains, whom they generally face with the protagonist.
No, the true problem here for you, is not that you like the villains Aegon II and Aemond, but is that you bother to send me an anonymous message implying the defense of the honor of these horrible villains fictional character by comparing to other characters (who are gray characters, not villains) who have nothing in common, in order to make you appear more morally just under the pretext that you will put them all on an equal footing, even if they are once again not written the same at all...
But again, the difference between these characters is simple. Like I said :
Darkling and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo = Canonical gray and complex characters. (Oh and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is a real victim of grooming)
Aegon II and Aemond = Canonical villains (besides being rapists).
So there is no comparison to be made between these characters, or even that any equality of treatment is applied between them. Period.
And what the hell do you care if I imagine a scenario where an adult Ciel gets fucked by Sebastian after they surprisingly fall in love ?
It's literally an imaginary scenario of a purely fanon ship, therefore which has nothing canon, which in fact does not really fit into the framework of pedophilia, since I imagine an adult Ciel in this scenario, like I already said it to an anti in another post !
It's just as stupid to say that Sareth and Sessrin are pedophile ships, because the characters knew the young lady when she was a child, when literally nothing happens or is even suggested in this sense when they are children, while one is a story about the sexual awakening of an adolescent girl through her fantasies and the other, nothing happens until she is an adult (i.e. the guy develops feelings for the girl), for the norms of the society in which she lives !
I repeat, canonically, Sebaciel does not exist.
Sebastian does not have pedophilic sexual urges for Ciel, and Ciel does not fall under Sebastian's manipulation to do things with him. This scenario simply does not exist (nor do I imagine this kind of scenario when I personnaly imagine scenarios for this ship).
Canonically, it is simply a complex and deep relationship between a human and a demon, which therefore exceeds human norms, due to their pact which binds them.
But there is certainly a homoerotic subtext by the author, which can be fun (or not, it depends on how people feel) to see and understand. It's a particulary choice to make, but that doesn't mean that the author supports a real pedophilia and sexual relationship between a child and an adult since anyway... well that never happens in his work canonically speaking. Demons are often linked to lust / perverse things, and are anyway... inhuman. So obviously they will not have normal / moral thoughts or actions. But once again, in reality, there is nothing happening between the characters canonically, and for my part, I not imagine any pedophile or ephebophile scenario.
Love scenarios are common between human and demon, it's one of the many known tropes that many people love. Much like being an immortal falling in love with someone he actually knew as a child (and this without entering into the domain of pedophilia or grooming as many antis people like to automatically and stupidly think).
It's nothing new.
But if you automatically think that this kind of twisted pedophile scenario come in my head when I think to Sebaciel, well... maybe you're the real problem.
To conclude... I would say that there are two possibilities for the person you are.
Either you see Aemond and Aegon II as pure villains but don't know the difference between villains and gray characters, or simply refuse to see it so as not to feel guilty for liking villains (or other obscure reasons), which is... ridiculous because we should not be ashamed of loving villains. Since the dawn of time we have loved them when they are well written.
Or, you refuse to see Aemond and Aegon II as the villains they are and try to put them on the same level as any type of grayer character who would do negative actions to make them also appear as complex characters, or you try to insinuate that these other characters are actually maybe worse than the characters you prefer and love, trying to forget the fact that you like real bad guys (which again, is not something something that someone should shame or hide).
These two possibilities can be linked to the fact that you wish in all cases to appear morally acceptable.
One because you will put all the characters on the same level under the pretext that they have all done morally questionable actions, although these characters in fact have drastic differences and are not treated the same way in their respective stories. All to give you the impression of being morally good, because you will not try to differentiate any of the bad actions committed by these characters, when once again you have to make the difference. Because we cannot put a villain and an anti-hero / gray character on the same level. Thus avoiding you taking the risk of really defending or showing your love and preference for a character who has done bad actions in particular to a certain audience. You appreciate and enjoy watching these characters, but still make no difference between these famous characters who have committed bad actions and you put them all on the same level of atrocity. You don't differentiate between them, just saying that they are all bad and therefore on the same level. What could be more morally correct than that on the surface ?
And the other, because you're trying to pretend that you're the person supporting the gray characters in the story against the real bad guys (even though it's actually the complete opposite that the story is telling). And isn't it also a way of appearing morally superior to pretend that you don't like the villains of the story, but gray characters with a real share of light ?
Or that you try to pretend that the characters you like, the villains, are in fact misunderstood gray characters, in the same way that their adversaries in the story are the real gray characters, therefore trying to make people believe that they is no real villain in the story you are consuming, bringing us back to the concept of putting everyone on the same level, but in a less drastic way than saying that everyone is bad.
That, or you're simply a person who doesn't know how to properly analyze the media you consume.
And whatever the truth, I have to say that none of them seem very positive.
Anyway, once again, I actually have no problem liking villains, without trying to justify them so I can feel entitled to like them.
Again, I particularly like Alicent and Kilgrave, villains who are not gray characters.
But I also have no shame in recognizing gray characters and not putting / treating them on the same level as villains, especially such as the Greens. Quite simply because it is the logical order of things when we analyze these types of characters.
The Darkling and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo have nothing to do with Aemond and Aegon II. And that's a simple truth that must bother you a lot for you to take the trouble to send me an anonymous message.
I'm not stopping anyone from liking the characters of Aemond and Aegon II from finding them interesting villains, because most people like villains that are well written, and GRRM wrote the Greens well. I've always said that. I just don't like those who try to make it seem like these are gray and complex characters (or complicated, as you like to say, because what the hell is complicated about the Greens ? I'm not saying that complicated and complex villains don't exist, on the contrary, there are, but we can't really say that the Greens objectively belong to this type of villain, whether Alicent loved her children, and whether Aegon II tried to build statutes for his brothers or not. Because yes, caricature villains still capable of love, that exists. And however that doesn't make them gray, complex and complicated. Just watch the movie “The Frighteners” and many other fictional programs to understand that). Because they simply aren't. This is the reality of their writing by GRRM.
Best wishes.
#hotd#anti hotd#house of the dragon#anti house of the dragon#fire and blood#f&b#f&b spoilers#team black#team blacks#pro team black#pro team blacks#anti aegon ii targaryen#anti aegon ii stans#anti aemond targaryen#anti aemond stans#anti greens#anti green#anti greens stans#anti green stans#reylo#darklina#sebaciel#the darkling#aleksander morozova#kylo ren#ben solo#daemon targaryen#pro daemon targaryen#the rogue prince#daemyra
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@buckysleftarm replied to your post:
After reading this, I happened across this video: https://youtube.com/shorts/-X5l5GFeg1k?si=H2lrsmx0pv60wn1h They're not in our camp anymore and I wouldn't know how to view the non companions anyway on PS5, but it feels like she definitely is taking some time off from Selune without breaking her oath full?
I sure did use this reply as an excuse to mash out a giant post! Hope you don't mind.
I do actually love that you've brought this up, because I keep seeing variants of it around and have been wanting to comment on it, if for nothing else than to make me feel better. The gist of it goes something like this: after killing Lorroakan, Aylin's "Child of the Moonmaiden" ability no longer shows up when you examine her character sheet, meaning her immortality has been taken away, she is being punished by her mother, has broken her paladin oath, or is feuding with her in some other way. Now... people in the comments of that video sure have takes on Selûne and on Aylin and on paladin oaths and aasimar abilities in general that make giant question marks spawn above my head.
Personally? I dislike it immensely and think it makes zero sense for a variety of reasons, both in-universe and out! To be fair, as with most headcanons and theories, I'd genuinely love to see someone get creative and do something interesting with it. But I have this knee-jerk reaction to it because so far I've only seen it in the context of people parroting it completely uncritically, just regurgitating it on endless reddit or forum or discord threads and what have you, and actually shutting down or completely derailing Aylin-related discussion. Which frustrates me, obviously, because I want cool, detailed, thought-out takes on my fave, always, and - to be really petty for a moment - since my fave isn't the fandom darling, I only get crumbs to start with! It grinds my gears because so very often I'll want to read this potentially interesting thread about a character I love, but nope, instead here's a dozen comments how "nah man she broke her oath and there's special oathbreaker paladin dialogue with her about it" - no there isn't. That's a very easily verifiable fact, my guy. You made that up, my dude. How dare you just go and make things up on the internet.
A ton of BG3 discussion has been flooded with a weird wave of statements that are just put there as well-known fact but in reality read like "I heard from a friend whose uncle works at the Nintendo Larian department and he told him Halsin went on a special mission and killed Isobel a century ago because he wanted to emotionally compromise Ketheric but then playtesters reacted badly to it and Wizards made them take it out but it's still hinted in the game, and also if you use an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength and do an unarmed attack on the cart at the entrance of the Emerald Grove you can get Mew" and I find it so grating. And then people waste time debunking this and arguing in the same circles and nobody ever moves on to more interesting stuff. I say this, as if I haven't been an active participant of internet fandom for decades and have literally anyone but myself to blame here, hah.
For instance, the way you phrased it here, as Aylin herself taking a break or trying to step away instead of the "being abandoned and punished by her mother" angle from the video and the comments? That's something I think has potential and something I want to rotate in my mind - would she do it? Could she do it? What would this entail and what would it mean for her? What would actually be enough to prompt her to even try? And it's cool that a little gameplay mechanic thingy prompted that! However - and I'm keeping it kinda vague because I don't want to spoil you on things that happen after the point you seem to be at - if we're talking purely established canon things and not brainstorming an AU or a post-game trajectory for this character, there is nothing actually in the game to indicate Aylin is taking a break from Selûne or her duties, especially not to the extent of having any of her abilities suspended. Quite the contrary, in fact. Everything we get from her and Isobel after the Lorroakan situation is handled shows she is, for better or worse, very much resolved to be her old self and very righteously angry and smiting evil in her mother's name as the Sword of Selûne and actively engaged in protecting Selûnites Realms-wide, and she has her full set of powers and blessings while doing so.
In this essay I will In the rest of this post I will try to be less cranky and I'm going to get a bit technical to try to actually explain what is going on with the "Child of the Moonmaiden" ability.
TL;DR: the buff is disabled as soon as Aylin enters the wizard tower, before any fight or backbreaking or feelings of loss and sadness, likely for the purpose of you being able to win or lose the fight no matter if you side with Aylin or betray her. It is a purely mechanical contrivance and has no narrative meaning, nor is its presence or absence mentioned or reflected in the narrative at all.
Here's Aylin in camp just before being told about the wizard:
Here she is at the start of the fight, when she is sided with:
And here she is, when you side against her:
The above is an oversimplification, however, because the actual implementation of Aylin's immortality is a bit of a mess.
There are two implementations of her resurrection active in the game, and both are implemented as a Status: "GLO_NIGHTSONGRESURRECTION" and "GLO_NIGHTSONG_RESURRECTION". Now, I don't know what was going on there and I'm certainly not a Larian dev, but that underscore situation there is... weird. I also don't know enough about BG3-specific scripting yet to come up with an explanation on why there would be two variants of it at all - if anyone does, please let me know! I'm very curious. However, these two implementations of her resurrection ability work very differently, and you can see the effects of both of them in-game.
The first one, GLO_NIGHTSONGRESURRECTION, is named "Moonmaiden's Reconstitution" and is tied to the "Child of the Moonmaiden" Passive (itself called SHA_NightsongResurrection, side note: GLO is the "global" prefix and SHA is a prefix that signifies the Gauntlet of Shar area in Act 2). This ability makes Aylin auto-stabilise when downed instead of rolling death saves, go into the kneeling stabilised animation where she can be helped up or healed just like your party members - you know the one, with the little asterisk hovering above them. Then on the start of her next turn she heals for exactly 1HP (unless she's under a healing-disabling effect, such as Bone Chill, which is why people have trouble with her in the Myrkul fight) and she has only her Bonus Action, the same as any other previously downed character.
Mechanically, it applies the "GLO_NIGHTSONGRESURRECTION_DOWNED" Status to her which modifies what happens when she is Downed to implement the above non-standard behaviour, and also does stuff like turn off her Moonbeam if she had it active.
The "Moonmaiden's Reconstitution" Status itself is completely invisible in-game: it has properties such as "DisableOverhead;DisableCombatlog;DisablePortraitIndicator" aka doesn't show up as that little text popup above the character, doesn't show up in the combat log, and doesn't have a visible indicator icon anywhere.
The description for "Child of the Moonmaiden" is:
"Blessed with the favour of a goddess, Nightsong cannot be permanently killed. When unconscious, [at] the start of her turn she recovers 1 hit point."
The second one, GLO_NIGHTSONG_RESURRECTION with the extra underscore, is a Status called "Nightsong Soars Eternal", and that one doesn't have any other Statuses or Passives tied to it, it simply resurrects her immediately when she dies, and at full health. When it triggers, you can actually see her portrait drop out of the initiative tracker at the top of the screen as if she completely died, and then she gets put in again. This one is active even when the first one isn't, so you can see it in places like camp after she comes back from Lorroakan, and after she comes back for the finale all the way until the end of the game - and by "see it" I mean since it doesn't have any Passive ability connected to it, you have to actually get Aylin killed to see it trigger (I'm so sorry Aylin, it was important for the post, I swear).
The description for "Nightsong Soars Eternal" is:
"Nightsong will be resurrected by the powers of Selûne whenever she dies."
In Lorroakan's tower, BOTH of these are disabled, and if downed, Aylin will just lie there as if she died for real with the little red skull and the "Dead" status until she gets rezzed for a cutscene after the fight or, if betrayed, you go to long rest and then come back to see Lorroakan's progress, at which point she will be up and in the cage with a total of 1HP and that "Soul Caged" status instead.
Note again that she visibly has "Child of the Moonmaiden" disabled as soon as she enters the wizard tower area, betrayed or not, before she does anything to anyone. It's a way of making sure the Lorroakan fight is actually winnable/loseable/concludable without her getting stuck in that revive with 1HP at the start of her turn loop. "Nightsong Soars Eternal" also obviously doesn't trigger. Instead she says her "I will rise again!" line and stays down. She has every other ability and buff active normally, even ones that explicitly mention coming from Selûne, like her iconic following Moonbeam, for example, or her fancy unique Smite.
Again, significantly: she does not have her immortality buffs if you fight against her, either, betraying her and causing Selûne's wrath and desire to protect her daughter to manifest physically in the room, including empowering Aylin herself with buffs that are called things like "Moonmother's Embrace". See what I'm getting at?
Interestingly, she also doesn't have it when you first meet her:
What does this all mean? Well, I'd say that if we took every gameplay/implementation thing about this game as in-universe gospel, Aylin herself would look a lot different and be far more scaly, for one.
(Makes me chuckle every time.)
In all seriousness, though, if something as big as this happened to a side but still fairly prominent character, the game would tell us about it. Or at least make a bigger deal of it than the deactivation of a passive ability visible on the Examine screen that many people sadly don't really tend to look at and read.
And here's the best thing: nobody has to take my word for any of this, you can see for yourself, without actually knowing how to unpack game files or having my frankly ridiculous amount of hard saves! I think this is super helpful in general, especially for people playing on console:
Here's a link to a truly amazing and consistently updated resource - every bit of dialogue in the game, nicely parsed and laid out and super readable (as well as some additional tools to play around with).
Here's a website where you can search inside BG3 scripts and other files and take a look at a lot of the nitty-gritty implementation stuff in a convenient way.
I recognise that I go way too deep into things and overstuff my brain with minutiae, but that's just how I work. I take forever to post anything anywhere on the internet because I just physically cannot click a post button without triple-checking everything and quoting and screenshotting things, even if it's the same thing for the twentieth time, and that's certainly a me problem. I very much don't expect people to do things my way, but I also find the games of telephone these things so rapidly become really frustrating, you know?
But my biggest problem with this particular Aylin thing - beyond the annoying preponderance of it, as I've already whined - is that in-universe it just makes no sense and I, an aasimar paladin enjoyer, personally dislike it.
Oath of Vengeance paladins abide by the following tenets:
Fight the Greater Evil. Exerting your wisdom, identify the higher morality in any given instance, and fight for it.
No Mercy for the Wicked. Chasten those who dole out their villainy by wiping their blight from the world forever.
Putting the rest of this post under a cut because it's long and ranty and you didn't actually ask for it.
My first problem: the common argument that Aylin is in the wrong for killing Lorroakan like she did because he has "done nothing to her yet", and that she breaks her Oath of Vengeance because she attacked him preemptively.
The man put a price on her head and sent violent mercs to beat her up and kidnap her. He tries to (temporarily) kill her and imprison her as soon as she refuses to cooperate by… demurely waltzing into the prison and putting the chains on herself? He knows exactly who she is, what has been done to her, and he wants to do it again - no, doesn't want to, he is actively doing it again. The fact that (if you side with Aylin) he fails mid-attempt doesn't make him innocent of it. He refuses to stop and, if denied, gets violent and murderous.
Player: Have it your way. I'll bring her here.
Lorroakan: Good. I was growing scared for you. The last person who disappointed me is suffering for it still. Do not return without my prize. Do you hear me? Good day.
Player: I'll think about it.
Lorroakan: You aren't the only one who knows what's on offer for the Nightsong's retrieval. Consider carefully whether you'd like to see your fortune in someone else's hands. Someone who might slip into your camp at any moment, or harry you through street and inn until you're run ragged and surrender. The choice is yours: fortune or imminent death. I know you'll choose wisely.
Mark my words: the Nightsong is mine. With or without your help, she will ascend to her grand fate here, in this tower.
Player: You heard me. The answer is no.
Lorroakan: Pity. Then again, perhaps word of your agonising death will draw your little friend to me. Myrmidons - imperatum!
He is fully equipped for it and has set up a whole magical trap and is just waiting for her to show up to trigger it, or for someone to drag her there against her will. He says she will go into the cage "kicking and screaming" and really, this is who she is wrong for "picking a fight with" and "attacking preemptively"? Surely nobody actually thinks that Aylin is at fault here or that she actually overreacted by killing him? I don't really want to go into some people's really, really shitty attitudes towards Aylin for sadly entirely predictable reasons but… man. She went over there and threatened him with violence, demanding an explanation after he sent cronies to attack her in her sleep? Wow, what a weird thing to do. Also, he literally is the one to attack first! She is there threatening and goading him, doing her little "face me charlatan" bit, but he is the one who sics the myrmidons on her (or the player) and actually starts the fight, every time. To be clear, I don't think this is very relevant at all, but people do seem to love bringing it up.
Is Aylin brash and reckless and clearly struggling after her captivity, dealing with rapidly flaring up anger and outbursts of violence - only ever, may I emphasise, towards actually horrid people, and she is really rather shockingly forgiving and tolerant of the player character messing with her? Yes! Does she seem to have that classical aspect of "she might go too far one day" or "she might lose herself in the anger and vengeance if she focuses on it exclusively"? Absolutely! Do I think she could have been, say, a Devotion paladin before her imprisonment and it might have been the betrayal and century in the Shadowfell that made her change to Vengeance instead? I love that idea! I also think it's likely she has just always been a very zealous, very smitey and offence-oriented Vengeance paladin, called Selûne's sword for a very good reason, fulfilling a very important role in the ongoing struggle against Shar.
And the whole problem is… Lorroakan will, as we've seen, not stop trying, and people like him will always be around and never stop coming after her especially now that the cat's apparently out of the bag after Balthazar, and Aylin needs to live with this, forever. That is why she is so messed up about this one rando wizard she's never met before. That is why this specific incident is so triggering for her. She has just escaped torment on a timescale that's not something the normal human mind can really grasp. "In this moment, I want for nothing." ended up lasting, indeed, barely a moment! Her mum is a powerful god and right now it seems that what Aylin actually gets from it is having a target painted on her back and, to quote Isobel, she can be hurt just like anyone else, she just gets to suffer longer! She keeps being dealt these shit hands and, yeah, it'd make anyone go… why? Seems unfair, right? What exactly is the point of this?
The various dialogue options you have while warning her about Lorroakan's intentions and which include trying to convince her to just leave him be include her being so, so frustrated, and so understandably, it makes me feel horrible for her.
She always ultimately goes to confront him, because she has no other real choice. He will keep coming after her, he will keep sending people after her, and she will never, ever get a bit of rest, and she's, what, supposed to go live in hiding somewhere if you convince him she's dead? Until the jig is inevitably up or this guy dies by someone else's hand? And there's also the element Aylin herself will point out if you keep her in the dark about the plot and Aradin and his cronies come to attack your camp: how long until someone hurts Isobel during one of these attempts or actively goes after her as a bargaining chip?
I guess I just genuinely do not understand the arguments about this guy who has been deliberately constructed to be a horrible, hateful piece of shit with exactly zero redeeming qualities, to an almost comical extent. He beats his apprentice and uses his assistant for target practice! He's a sick, sick asshole! His life's dream rests on kidnapping and enslavement! The guy is conspiring and trying to ally with Ketheric and Balthazar of all people:
Lorroakan,
I have responded out of respect to my counsellor, Balthazar, who advises me that you may prove a loyal ally in the coming fight. I understand you wish to know about the soul cage which binds the Nightsong to me. Details, I cannot and will not provide. But the magic itself is necromantic in nature, designed by my aforementioned counsellor. I hope your curiosity is satisfied.
General Ketheric Thorm
This is who people think a vengeance pally will break her oath over? Over what, a technicality of who struck first? "Desecrating a corpse"? No, it was Ketheric she did that to, and nothing happened. She just finished this guy off in a violent and dramatic fashion.
While you can play a paladin yourself and kill so many people in so many ways without anything happening, this is more of a consideration if you play Oath of Devotion or Ancients. It's also one that makes parts of the game harder - comically evil cultists torturing and executing prisoners cannot simply be attacked out of nowhere, and instead you need to announce your challenge first. You need to walk up to them and start talking, establish their villainy, and then fight "fairly". This is also partially an issue arising from the implementation of hostility flags and game logic, by the way. However, Oath of Vengeance gives precious few fucks about this and is a really hard oath to break. In fact, in a very similar situation to the wizard tower, in the House of Grief, you break the Oath of Vengeance if you spare Viconia - at that point lying on the floor soundly defeated and bleeding out much the same way Lorroakan was. Viconia who, may I note, never "did anything to you" but did harm a friend of yours.
Also, and this is a whole separate discussion, but... it's a FR DnD game. You kill bad guys in it. You kill vaguely morally grey, or even good guys in it. You and your friends kill so many people before this point. Multi-act quest arcs conclude with "go to place and kill someone". You mete out "justice" personally, repeatedly, and can harp on that fact, especially if you're playing a paladin. You don't exactly call the guards on people instead, even in the middle of the city. Ludo-narrative dissonance or no, why would this one wizard suddenly be different, and why would this one woman be singled out for a thus far completely typical approach and set of actions?
My second problem: a great big "Selûne wouldn't do that". I understand Forgotten Realms "lore" is a giant unwieldy self-contradicting mess of a beast and I'm not saying people should be scholars of it to participate in the discussion, far from it, but I would like them to engage with what is presented in the game itself at least.
For the most succinct possible example, look at what Selûne does when Aylin is betrayed. She buffs her in order to enable her to violently and zealously win that fight. Literally empowers Aylin to smack her enemies around more and with greater strength and also burn them alive in holy fire. Not after she's imprisoned and well and truly "wronged", but during this fabulously absolving "mere attempt" on Lorroakan's part.
Also, may I point out the sweet little shielding- and healing-focused cleric of the same goddess is actively disappointed that you and Aylin won't let her come with to hit the guy a few times herself! This goes for the entire party of assorted weirdos, goody-good or otherwise, who firmly believe Aylin should just obliterate that guy. Like, c'mon, my man Wyll! (Super sad and touching exception: Karlach, if you've killed Gortash already. When she begs you not to tell Aylin about any of it at all and go deal with the wizard yourselves, just so Aylin can have a bit more peace and keep her sword sheathed for just a little while longer. Ow, my heart.)
In summary, basically, my twofold beef:
"Selûne punishing and abandoning her daughter for over-zealously defending herself" - nonsensical and uninteresting. Stops people from actually delving into and discussing the complexities of that relationship.
"OoV paladin broke her oath by killing an evil wizard who is actively trying to do horrible things to her and attacks her" - nonsensical and uninteresting. Let's instead actually engage with the material and discuss Aylin's trauma and how she might deal or not deal with it in good or bad ways. What would recovery even look like, for her. How does the way she intrinsically ties her entire being into being a smite-happy moon-magic knight play into it. Let's actually consider the weight and role of duty in her life and the wombo-combo of being an aasimar paladin, an existence with a very "purpose-made" aspect to it. You know, the good ol' Being A Sword thing, including being born into it. Combined with being rather suddenly rather intensely humanised by a loving relationship with a mortal woman, with all sorts of ticking clocks, unique challenges, and both past and pending tragedy there.
Or let's talk about the dissonance present in Aylin's cool and badass scenes of smiting deserving evil. Scenes that go into very violent and very over the top territory, that make you both cheer and cringe, that make a point of showing the other characters reacting in shock. Because I genuinely feel so bad for her and deeply worried for her, all while my silly little brain goes fuck yeah smite him shiny lady! Ooooh look, a flashy Aylin scene, ripping a deserving villain to pieces! But at what cost to herself? Feels so good to have someone deliver some justice! But if I think about it for 5 seconds I don't actually want her to - no, no, I do. I don't want her to have to, is the thing. (It's kind of like that one Gundam meme.)
I will conclude this mess by doing a salty little yeah. It's fine, this is fine, this is sadly pretty much part of the standard experience of liking a female character in fandom. God forbid women do anything indeed. Outside of a few select, narrow and highly dedicated circles, half the (scarce) posts about her are something that's either flat-out wrong, or just assumes the absolute worst of her and reduces her to two and a half shitty stereotypes, and half the fics tagged with her are actually about fandom's favourite two dudes and barely feature her at all.
And on that note, I'm off to actually be a positive force and poke at my own fic some more.
#dame aylin#baldur's gate 3#bg3#long post#and i mean it this is one long-ass post wow#also touches on stuff like#lorroakan#selune#paladins#oaths in general (my beloved)#will also put it under#datamine
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what are ur thoughts on all the young dudes man i gotta know
i've never read it, and i can't really see any situation in which i will. not only am i wolfstar-ambivalent, i'm also wizards-knowing-loads-about-muggle-pop-culture-ambivalent - so i'm very much not the target audience.
[although i'm not "what's going on in the 1970s"-ambivalent by any means, so there's that.]
but i suspect anyone who reads this blog regularly knew that - and so i also suspect [even though i wouldn't dare to assume this of you and your intentions in asking this, anon] that it might be presumed that i'm going to pop off about several of the phenomena all the young dudes has set into motion...
and sure, the contemporary marauders subfandom is not a space i'm interested in spending any time in - which is why i don't - but i think it's nonetheless worth saying something in defence of it.
all the young dudes deserves more credit than i think it gets in the fandom more widely - especially in those bits of the fandom which are more interested in canon compliance and canon coherence - for being a genuine pop-culture phenomenon. all corners of the fandom have benefitted from this - i guarantee that huge numbers of people who have returned to the harry potter fandom since 2020 have done so because they've read it [or, at the very least, heard of it], and i also guarantee that many of those people have gone on to make a home for themselves in spaces which seem to have very little in common with the marauders subfandom [such as canon-compliant jily or pro-snape spaces]. many of the things it does - especially the integration of muggle pop-culture into its worldbuilding - have clearly influenced how plenty of authors approach their own work, even if that work is otherwise removed from it in vibe. and its aesthetic is all over the non-fic aspects of fandom too - every "canon-compliant" moodboard or edit or playlist i've ever seen would fit well into the atyd universe. i think it doesn't hurt to acknowledge its influence - it doesn't mean that an author can't disagree with its approach.
[or: my view on all the young dudes is very similar to my view on taylor swift. i've never listened to a single one of her albums, i'm not sure i could name more than about five of her songs - and i don't think the five i can name are any good, i sometimes see flashes of the inter-swiftie discourse and it's like reading a text in a language i can only half speak - but i would be a fool to dismiss her broader pop-culture influence, including on musicians i do follow more closely, or the fact that the fandom which surrounds her is both sincerely interesting, not least from an anthropological perspective, and something in which people i like and respect participate.]
i also don't think the divisions between the marauders subfandom and other spaces are as clear-cut as is often made out. and i think that all the young dudes often gets used as a stick with which to beat this point - particularly because people in the marauders subfandom are frequently accused of not having read the books, and elevating atyd's interpretation of characters [especially sirius and remus] and events over the seven-book series.
that the subfandom elevates fanon and headcanon over canon is a legitimate point. but i think we should all get a fucking grip and recognise that this can disinterest us - or even annoy us - and still not be something any of us should think is that deep.
after all, like anyone, i've encountered people in fandom who write unrecognisable versions of characters, are completely resistant to the idea that their interpretation isn't correct, and believe that it's evidence of deep-seated prejudice to pair their faves with different people... and every single one is someone who believes that their approach is meticulously canon-compliant.
or - as the old adage goes - "people who live in glass subfandoms shouldn't throw stones at roadman remus".
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you say machete has to be closeted then why's he always wearing them little heels
Maybe he thinks he's a tiny bit nicer looking in them.
#no in fact he's just a little ahead of the curve let me try to explain#again I'm not a historian I'm just sharing what I've read I might be misremembering stuff so don't quote me on this#high heels became extremely fashionable in the early 1600's probably just a few decades after Machete's time#and they were originally worn by men#because they were inspired by Persian riding boots#if your shoes had heels you'd have easier time keeping your feet in the stirrups (think of cowboy boots)#Europeans saw them thought they looked snazzy and they became wildly popular in noble circles fairly quickly#for some hundred years or so high heels were the epitome of class wealth power and status and they were essentially genderless#remember that concepts of masculinity and femininity are fluid and change over time#things that were seen as manly a few centuries ago may seem downright effeminate to a modern viewer#it's all matter of perspective neither is objectively more correct than the other#they started to separate into men's heels and women's heels around mid 1700's iirc but the changes weren't massive even then#and only truly went out of vogue when the French Revolution hit in 1789#and people all across the continent were suddenly put off by everything that reminded them#of the frivolousness and extravagance of royalty and aristicracy#so in his canon timeline I don't think people are looking at him and going “hmmm that's pretty gay”#because heels hadn't become gendered yet#maybe he likes how they accentuate his already tiny paws and make his legs look even longer than they are#he's interested in fashion or at least likes to dress nicely in high quality garments#he tries very hard to look his best despite never really feeling comfortable in his skin#he was a real shrimp as a kid and even though he eventually grew up to be a beanpole he might still find the extra height appealing#no one's going to look down on him ever again#I admit the way I draw them is a lot more modern than the true historical style at the time but not outrageously so#artistic freedom and all that in the end I'm not aiming for 100% accuracy#modern au Machete has no excuses though he's just a little bit fruity#if the guy feels empowered by wearing little clip cloppers let him#answered#anonymous#Machete
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theres multiple reasons i dont like s/urgeamy but one of the things ive seen people do with it that annoys me a bit is the idea that surge and kit are going to become good because surge is gonna fall in love with amy and thats gonna be her only motivation to change.. and im sorry but am i the only one who thinks it would suck so bad for such fun antagonists to instantly switch sides just because one of them was "fixed" by romance and no other reason
#that is not an appealing storyline to me at least not for something like sonic where i dont wanna see canon romance#i DO think it could be interesting if amy being nice to surge and kit is gonna somehow be the start of a redemption arc for them#but not in a romantic way . not in an instant ''well i guess i have to switch sides now because i have a crush on sonics friend'' way#and ive seen some people assume that surge and kit are actually being serious when they come to the restoration as if theyve changed#i definitely dont think this is the case i dont think theyre good guys now#at least not yet it is possible they could calm down one day. but i dont think thats whats going on right now#i dont get why people are so obsessed with shipping amy with everyone anyway#shes just a little guy she should be doing average middle school aged girl activities like playing neopets or whatever#not entering serious romantic relationships . come on#especially considering most of her friends are a bit older than her#also the constant ''haha surge stole sonics girlfriend'' posts are getting on my nerves too#like my reasons for not liking the ship + the fact that the joke has already been made a million times aside.#it just always annoys me seeing amy be reduced to sonics girlfriend when theyre not even dating
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mashing together my two teenage years interests for dopamine
#johndirk#dirkjohn#homestuck#john egbert#dirk strider#my art#touhoustuck#just a funny little au because some of the parallels and ways character powers reflect eachother is fun#john is in no way as manipulative or a mastermind as yukari but his retcon powers are a very interesting vessel for yukaris gap powers#especially when his hand stuck out in a bunch of pages lol i like to imagine if he could master the powers it would let him do her teleport#around and spy nonsense but he'd just use it to be a class a prankster and for magic tricks#on the other hand yuyuko and dirk have an interesting parallel but one that is more like...the entire point is the culmination of#their characters despite the way they have these splinters. like yuyuko isnt nearly as fragmented as dirk but#theres a distinction between the yuyuko who was alive and the yuyuko whos dead and what she becomes after#its unclear if post PCB shes aware shes the one who sealed the saigyouji ayakashi away but she also just thinks its better for her#not to go down that rabbithole. she'd probably become worse if she did and with dirk he has that clarity with dave when they talk that like#even if there are worse versions of him out there. the fact he thinks and stops before proceeding separates him and i like to think that#is something he takes to heart with him post canon to stop beating himself up so much. umh also soul powers = ghost powers lalala#just silly and self indulgent tbh like im not extrapolating or translating backstories but in this au its fun to think o#humans turning into youkai like yukari used to be human and so did yuyuko. john and dirk used to be human and went godtier...anyways
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Thinking about how in BL1 Tannis says that “she pretty much built Pandora’s ECHOnet system” herself. And therefore, in that game’s lore at least, it’s Tannis’ tech that allowed Angel to reach out and connect with others (for better or worse) . and also in the process kinda doomed her (though Jack certainly would’ve found some other way to turn Angel into a living weapon) . Hh
#borderlands#Angel the siren#tannis#patricia tannis#bl1#This almost definitely isn’t canon anymore but man#BL1 lore is soo interesting to me I could eat it#I love how you get NO explanation of Angel’s existence AT ALL#not even after beating the game! you never have any idea who she is or what she wants from you#and the creepy little things you might not notice like the fact that she can’t see you once the ECHOnet goes down-#-but she can still talk to you somehow#Tannis do u know theres a creepy teenage girl using your ECHO grid to lead people to their deaths while also drawing cute art of them
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Hi, you’ve probably already addressed this at some point and I’ve simply missed it, but what’s your thoughts on Hera’s ending? (Particularly, how Pryce just removes the ‘I can’t do this, I’m not good enough’ line, and she stops glitching?) Personally it always felt rather… bad, honestly, given the whole “they could’ve made me better, they made me me” thing, if that makes sense?
hi! first: that absolutely makes sense, and i'm also very sensitive to anything that seems to "fix" disability or trauma, so i understand where you're coming from. that was not personally my takeaway about hera in the finale; i'll try to explain why:
pryce didn't remove that loop from hera's head. i don't think she could have - even if it's technically possible for her to do (and she is capable of a lot more than maxwell), she just had her mind wiped and wouldn't have access to that information, and even if she did retain it on an instinctual level, that would require allowing pryce access to the most vulnerable parts of hera's mind. and she would never allow that. there's a reason pryce is still a prisoner.
hera speaks to pryce not for reconciliation, but for reclamation. she's lived her whole life in fear of what pryce (and people like pryce) can do to her, with every aspect of who she is and what she does controlled and dictated by anyone with power over her. the finale opens with pryce telling her life's story from her perspective - at once self-mythologizing and self-victimizing - and, the final time we ever hear from or about pryce, hera is about to tell her own story. we never find out what was actually said, or how pryce reacted, because it doesn't matter. hera gets to take control of her own narrative. hera gets to confront her abuser, and feel in control and safe from harm.
it's worth keeping in mind that hera doesn't glitch consistently. that's one of the things i think also makes it a useful comparison to chronic illness. when, why, and how much hera glitches was an intentionally crafted part of the sound design. it happens more often, and more intensely, when she's stressed out, overwhelmed, or upset.
and, with that in mind... the ending leaves the characters on a generally positive note, because it's the end of the show and that's the feeling it wants to leave you with: that everything will be more or less okay, in the end. but it isn't the end of their lives. once they get back to earth, a lot of things are going to be very difficult for hera. even in the final scene, she says she's not ready to go back, but "when has that ever stopped us before?" when she's able to honestly say she's good, i don't think that means she's good forever. just, in that moment, that's a crucial step in her healing process, and i hope in the future she'll have a lot more moments that feel like that one.
#wolf 359#w359#hera wolf 359#i haven't been tagging asks or. even a lot of posts. but i want to file this one. anyway.#hi! thank you for asking. it's a good question and a topic i care about.#and i always love to talk about hera. she's so dear to me.#i think hera will still glitch post-canon. the fact she doesn't for that period of time is just an indicator of her emotional state.#it makes sense to me that hera would be the most okay she's... maybe ever been. knowing pryce doesn't have the power to hurt her#and i hope that remains true. but ultimately i think that's also why i don't personally want pryce to have a post-canon narrative at all#it feels like it undermines it somehow. when that confrontation is about shifting narrative perspective and autonomy and control.#who gets to tell their story. who gets to be heard.#i don't really care what pryce does as long as she stays away from hera. i'm not interested in a story about anything else.#that's a little tangential but. related.#and i hope this answered your question!!#asks
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Here u can have this screenshot of a...idk a thing I found in my notes app this morning
I'm pretty sure when I wrote this I was considering a post-Endgame fic and I was thinking about the "historians will call them best friends" trope and I was like yes...but when they're actually best friends is that ever important? or is the importance of a best friend to history only when the label can be used to ignore a sexual/romantic queer relationship
So I was doing this thing where Bucky thought about how in a couple of years his legacy would probably be erased from Steve's because he was just his best friend, no big deal right? nobody wants to read about that anymore, they want to read about the epic love story with a female British agent and anyway this is literally all I have I'm so annoyed at myself for not following through more because it looks like it would've been amazing and very sad
#girlHELP they are literally consuming me#taking me over#I've got the gay supersoldiers in my brain#and they have no interest in leaving#(as little interest as I have in canon in fact)#so as you can see they are quite a stuck fixture now#oh well#stucky#Steve rogers#Bucky barnes#captain america#mcu#marvel cinematic universe#marvel#post-endgame#well ok I guess technically it's the absence of stucky but girl u know what I mean#grrrrr#martianbugsbunny ships#martianbugsbunny writes fic#(or a tiny fraction thereof lol)
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UMM okay I have a question for. You: if prism was in some perilous situation and her robots were present, do you think they'd actually do what she says and leave her to die? How would they feel about the whole thing?
i think they would be incredibly hesitant, but ultimately i don't think they would have much of a choice. as lifelike as they are, they are robots, and they follow prism's instructions to a tee when she gives them any. in a best case scenario, they might find someone else who would be able to help prism for them.
i think they would feel very guilty regardless of whether or not prism survives a circumstance like that. for entities who can essentially reanimate as many times as they need to- so long as they have back ups of themselves- losing someone permanently has got to be a very unexpected and traumatizing ordeal for them.
... though, now that i think about it. if prism did die, i think that would be the equivalent of striking a hornet's nest with a baseball bat. canonically, the robots care for her very deeply, and canonically they're physically capable of getting very, very mad. and without prism to tell them to hold themselves back or flee, i don't think its out of the question that they might want to avenge her- even at the expense of some of their lives.
#ieytd#robutler#roxana prism#sort of#ask#the fact that none of the little bobots fear death is a very interesting tool that phoenix (probably) does not have at their disposal#ultimately so long as the proper conditions are met they can come back as many times as it takes#i'm picturing a hoard of seething robots like a swarm of locusts. clawing and charging and firing their beams and such#... though now a part of me is wondering- for the phoenix reanimates headcanoners- why no one's claimed a monopoly-#-on phoenix and any of the robots sharing experiences on coming back to life again. i think they would believe him no questions asked#seeing as they're canonically willing to believe they have a factory they can just respawn from#anyways im digressing. bobot swarm
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My kingdom for a "So you say” (Patreon)
#Doodles#SCII#Helix#ZEX#Dexter Favin#Hhhh they ;; Their ''first'' interaction!#Officially up to three cryings - not that I'm surprised I love Dex <3#My head was fully abuzz during this scene there are so so so many interesting details!#So interesting to see which ''held true'' and which were left behind - which ones became Helix while others didn't!#At this point I almost see Helix as an alternate timeline - kind of like how Defeated is a branching arm off the main body#Not terribly dissimilar but the details that are different are too interesting to let go of so just make it all canon in its own way! Hehe#Especially since Helix is largely from Max's 3rd person perspective so the way he tells it is different than Dexter haha#Very interesting what he leaves out in his retelling hehehehe ♪♫#Anyhow enough of Max he's not even here rn sheesh ♪ ZEX! And Dexter ;;#Hghhghh it's all set up so deviously <3 That fact that up to this point ZEX has been relying on Zelnick especially to give him credence#And then as soon as someone he ''knows he trusts'' comes to throw a wrench into things - Dexter has as much weight or more!#He's specifically engineered to sow doubt and confusion! Gosh what a place to grow his character from <3 <3#ZEX's pride undoes him completely it's So well written ♥ Truly a fatal flaw for VUX and the way he's picked apart aghh <3#And?? The fact that I can hear ''Max's'' voice in ZEX's syntax as soon as he doesn't have a good argument??? Hello????#I know they come from the same base but like!! How!!! Masterful 💖#As I drew it it's a bit out of order - Dexter says he can't protect Max (😭) before ZEX starts crying it all got a bit mixed in my head#I was very emotional at the time you understand haha#It's all so sad! They're so close in some ways to being or having what the other wants but both fall just short#No wonder they took what little comfort in each other they could <3 ZEX comforted by his voice and Dex comforted by caring for his body#They have so little to offer each other trapped as they are ;;#It's all so interesting and distressing!! There's so much to think about as everything falls into place!
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