#like. it's all lies!! it's all to consolidate power!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

unabashegirl · 2 months

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MASTERLIST

ONE SHOTS

Kings of Leon

Wear something noticeable || Part 2

Equatorial Sun

What are you doing up?

My head is spinning over you

Pax Romana

Harry's grammy performance

You lied to me

Chocolate cake

Golden Boy

Nameless

Meeting her || Part 2 || Part 3

INSTAGRAM BLURBS

Dating hints

Pregnancy

Sadie Sink

Elsa Hosk

Lori Harvey

Pudderfly

Deepika Padukon

Dakota Johnson

Matilda Djerf

Gracie Abrams

Bella Hadid

SERIES

if you want to get ahead and get access to all chapter then check out my patreon!

Summary: Harry is a young billionaire and CEO of his own company. He mostly keeps to himself, he is stern and very meticulous when it comes to business. He also likes to keep his personal life very private for the sake of his newly born son Oliver Styles. It isn't until he meets Y/N Y/L/N that everything changes. She becomes his new nanny after his previous one quits due to personal reasons. She is young, caring, and sweet. Will they ignore their feelings? Will Harry's girlfriend accept their love and leave them? Will she be able to cope with his busy agenda? What about Oliver's mother? Where is she? Who is she?

masterlist

Summary: Harry Styles, the cold and calculating son of a powerful mafia don, must consolidate power after his father's passing. He faces challenges from his unpredictable younger brother, Silas, and navigates a complex world of alliances, ruthless decisions, and family loyalty. Amidst the intrigue, the elegant and alluring Y/N Castellano, the daughter of an Italian mafia boss, attends the funeral and finds herself drawn to Harry. As power dynamics shift and the future remains uncertain, the story explores the dark and dangerous allure of the mafia, the weight of family legacies, and the potential for unexpected connections in a world defined by secrecy and ruthlessness.

masterlist

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is forced to return to the town where she was born for extraordinary reasons. Her father is extremely sick and on the verge of passing away. Alsfield has changed and is far from what she remembers and even though she lived in town until her high school graduation she barely recognizes it. The town hides a big secret from a few individuals that live in it including Y/N. The man who maintains the town's secret and protects it is no other than Harry Styles. Things take a sudden twist when they meet. Numerous things will impede Y/N from returning to San Francisco to her somewhat ordinary life, will she be able to abandon the town that she had successfully escaped the first time? What is the big secret that the townspeople are hiding, and what is Y/N's role in it? Who is Harry? Where does he come from? Had she met him before? And what does he want from her?

masterlist

Summary: Harry is just like any other college student. He is a senior in Chicago University. He keeps to himself except when he is spending time with his closest friends, Sarah and Mitch. His world revolves around his future career, friends, and family. His quiet and routine driven life takes a turn, one weekend when he meets Y/N Y/L/N. She is way too different from him. She spends most of her days surrounded by people who care for superficial and materialistic things. Her parents are never home, and they think that with money everything can be solved. They are both from different worlds yet something that night clicks and Y/N can never again get him off her mind.

masterlist || EXCLUSIVE FOR PATREON SUBSCRIBERS

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blorbologist · 5 months

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Re-watching Calamity (for ~research~) and this time around Patia has really stood out to me. Of course Cerrit and Laerryn and Zerxes are showstoppers, but I decided to pay more mind to the other three members of the Ring of Brass, and just... Patia Por'co, guys. Patia Por'co.

Patia's relationship to what she knows (and does not know) is, I think, the pure distillation of knowledge is power.

She carries all her knowledge, all of Avalir's knowledge, with her, levitating, all this power at her fingertips. I think that there's something to be said with her about how generational power and knowledge are so often intertwined - children of alumni having easier access to the same academic leg up as their parents, knowing who to know, having the ins and outs of how this works handy. I don't believe any of the other members of the Ring of Brass come from backgrounds like this, and if not it's fitting that the only one that does is the one most tied to knowledge. On top of being an elf to boot, something which must amplify the consolidation of resources throughout the years.

[Shunting the rest under the cut bc oops this got Long]

I think it's interesting, too, how Patia seems extremely adept at navigating the lies and half-truths of Avalir's politics, yet reserves honesty for her friends. If someone lesser than they knows what they shouldn't, she will take that power away from them. On my relisten, I'd forgotten that one of the memories the Ring of Brass analyzes tries to throw Patia under the bus, and how quickly she shows Nidas memories proving that she did as right by him as she could. And the reveal that she and Zerxes tried to bring back Evandrin, and upon the failure she removed the painful memory at his request.

(Mechanically, too; as a wizard, her knowledge literally is her power. That's the wizard thing, baby, and if Laerryn exemplifies a wizard whose INT is intellectual skill/problem-solving, then Patia is probably INT as memory. Streetsmart and booksmart besties. Also revealing herself to goad Dean Hollow into popping back in, only to immediately Sphere her and cause the bitch to get eaten by her own spell? Maybe that's a stretch of my 'knowledge is power' bit, but it's too fucking cool of a moment not to remind you of it.)

The first time she died, it was for knowledge. Touching the Tree of Names, and she never did let it go (would she, if she could have?). When she died - that first time - did she meet the Raven Queen?

Patia's direct tie to quite possibly the second-most knowledgeable being in the Exandrian mythos (behind Ioun, but I'd argue you know a lot to handle fate and death, on top of being a wizard in life) feels very deliberate to me. The Raven Queen, the mage who did what no other could (except Vecna a long-ass time later, and only for like a day or two), was at least a contemporary. Perhaps a teacher, or mentor, or admired idol. And now Patia can't even remember her name.

It's funny how much knowledge was actually taken from Patia, between that name and her parents'. Just as she removed knowledge from others. No matter how powerful you get, even with a protective ring, you are always at the mercy of your predecessors. What they chose to do with knowledge. And what Patia chooses to do, now.

In her last moment alone, she relates this knowledge to selfishness. Her grandfather's decision to make a city fly because he and others could. The Gau Drashari's decision to keep all information about the Tree of Names secret. While I disagree with her a bit, it really rounds out knowledge is power - because it's hoarded, it's made a tool for selfishness and control. And Patia acknowledges it likely always will be selfish, but for now at least she can break this cycle.

She breaks Avalir, the model of it her grandfather holds, and sends the Librarium with all the knowledge she carries to Maya.

(I'll note that Maya probably doesn't know what the orb is or does, so sending the model library is a great way to help get that message across, too, on top of the meaning of the moment.)

When it comes time to send all of Avalir's knowledge away, it's not some mage acquaintance from another city she sends it to. Hells - she doesn't even teleport herself out, with it, to ensure its protection and proper use. She sends it to a child, a teenager, the daughter of her friend. Someone with no power, who will have nothing but her family in the Calamity. I can't quite pin down why she choose Maya. Because a teenager is innocent, uncorrupted by power? Because she wanted to give the family of her friend leverage, knowledge to rebuild, a fighting chance?

There's so much Patia did not live to know. She points it out herself that she never found love, or became a parent, all for the sake of Avalir, for knowledge, for power. To maintain the legacy that preceded her. Excellent DMing on Brennan's part to take the quiet moment, as the sphere is sent to Maya, to then put Patia in the place of a child, one robbed of the knowledge of who her parents even were.

And yet. As she sends all she has ever known away, she still reaches for it. Almost wants it back. Almost.

Her story begins and ends with a wish: happy Replenishment, grandfather. And on that fateful day, in place of the stolen tithe she and Laerryn and Nidas have been shuffling around the city, she gives her life to save the world. and she gives away the knowledge to rebuild it.

And there's nothing else she needs to know.

IDK. I think we should talk about Patia more.

#idk how much sense this makes I just. am holding Patia like one of those cool glass ornaments in my hands #it's been a while since I've written Meta and I'm still Emotional. Calamity is full of such heavy hitters I Get why she gets overshadowed #but MAN. MAN IS SHE A COOL CHARACTER.#exu calamity #critical role #patia por'co #cr meta

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kaisaniku · 6 months

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wxson au

mostly from the translator: (I wrote this in a very casual and sloppy way.)

[New Energy WH-307] can make the synchronization rate between the human body and machinery reach the highest index, and can also make the decayed human organs or cell tissues get a perfect new life through mechanical grafting. It is undoubtedly ahead of its time and is the pioneering work of the Higgsbury family and a powerful weapon to consolidate its position. This is not only due to its sophistication and irreplaceability, but also due to the "toxicity" that lies beneath the iceberg. The WH-307's energy-using machinery is transferred to the human body as if it were a newborn baby that is always waiting to be fed, and as the energy is consumed, the side effects on the body's functioning increase: moodiness, physical weakness, and an irrational emotional dependence on the energy supplier. In order to keep their bodies functioning properly, users of this energy have to resort to monopolies. ......

Wilson Percival Higgsbury, a fugitive aristocrat who breaks with his family to pursue scientific research in a remote galaxy, meets Woodrow by chance, who has similar aspirations. Woodrow's research into the integration of the human body and machinery is radical, but it's exactly the kind of "fresh blood" that a young lord who's had enough of corrupt stereotypes and deceitful behavior needs. Like Wilson, Woodrow hated WH-307, the "ancestral dregs from the slave society" (they said by their teeth), and vowed to develop a new energy source that was scientifically and politically advanced, which moved Wilson, an idealist, to the point that he wanted to worship him on the spot. Although their temper is a little worse, who can say no to such a peer with a dream and technology? "My name is Wilson ...Percival." A curious coincidence, Wilson did not tell them actually himself is the Higgsbury

Theoretical hypothesis, then collection of raw materials, then experimentation, then theoretical hypothesis, then collection of raw materials, then experimentation... The fun times the two spend together end in a failed experiment. An explosion that left the left half of Woodrow's face down to half of his chest cavity damaged, including his heart. Ironically, the only thing that could have saved them from this kind of injury was the WH-307 ......

Wilson almost cried and brought them home, he really couldn't spare that much thought on other sides, just thinking about how to save his best friend was enough to break him down. Thus, another "energy slave" who could not escape Higgsbury's clutches was forced to be born ......

Wilson's lack of thought on whether the person in question really wants to be saved is reflected in the fact that he almost saves Woodrow and then gets killed by them. "Who the hell are you" "How can I trust you when you've been lying to me all the time" "I don't want to live like this"... ...Woodrow wakes up and strange energies fill half of their body. Wilson had never apologized so many times in his life, knowing that his father had punished him with an "I'm sorry" sentence outside the icy door, he didn't want to say it even if he was freezing his ass off. The two confronted for a long time, Wilson said later and choked up, those tears reminded Woodrow something. The new heart had given them some memories that shouldn't have been stored, and they seemed to remember the sobbing face Wilson had made when he thought they were dead. What to explain those tears if it was all just to control them, the revolutionary. But what if those memories are also artificial? What if the false memories were also a part of controlling them? What is false, what is real, what is the definition of being alive, a series of philosophical and practical questions that make Woodrow feel that he might as well have died in that scientific explosion. But Wilson hugged them even though he knew they could kill him with one hand. "I will never control you, I will never leave you. You're my best friend, Woodrow, and if you really don't believe me, it's the same for me whether I am killed at your hand or die alone in my remorse for you."

Woodrow literally felt as if his artificial heart pumped. It looked like it was him all right, there really was no one else with this foolishness. Finally, they slowly raised that robotic arm and embraced him back, saying SCREW IT, I BELIEVE YOU

The warmth hadn't lasted more than a few seconds when there was a flurry of movement outside the window. Wilson almost jumped up, wiped away his tears and pulled them up, saying I used too much energy to save you, and I would have blurted out a long time ago that I never wanted to have anything to do with my family again, now my dad's sending someone to come after me.

Then Woodrow said, well wouldn't I have just believed you if you had mentioned this from the beginning?

Wilson scratched his head and said it does make sense.

And so began the rebellious career of the two who were doing research while stealing energy to avoid capture.

#don't starve #don't starve together #dst #wxson #dst wilson #wilson p. higgsbury #dst wx78 #wx78 #dst woodrow

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triptomarss · 8 months

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Here's a cover design for a fic that I will never write.

Bound Illustrated by: Redplanet Fleurmione Week - Day 6: Alternate history / Bounty hunters

A mysterious black death struck medieval Europe in the year of our lord 1346.

The plague wiped out more than half of the muggle population and nearly eradicated all magical humans and humanoids while turning particular creatures into mutated rabid beasts with an insatiable hunger for human blood and flesh.

With the severe depopulation of all humans and the constant attack from wild creatures, all magical and non-magical sapient beings were forced into a tense and hierarchal coexistence for survival.

The population was divided into a caste system: the Monarchy at the top, along with the Ministry as their most trusted advisor, followed by muggle nobles, half-bloods, and wealthy sapient creatures (highborn humanoids and hybrids) that the Ministry classified to have "near-human intelligence," like Centaurs, Meer-folk, and Veelas. Squibs, muggle-borns and non-magical folks were at the bottom, along with serfs and slaves.

To appease the non-magical population and to maintain their power, the Ministry outlawed the use of magic and the possession of wands from any magical being that was not a pureblood witch or wizard.

The only way for muggles and creatures to be allowed to use magic was to live outside the Monarchy's protection or become an Inquisitor—the Ministry's henchmen, used as disposable mercenaries tasked to hunt and dispose of rabid creatures all over Europe.

Determined to consolidate and strengthen their rule, the royal monarchs with no ability to wield magic recognized the power of the few surviving pureblood witches and wizarding humans, acclaiming them as the Sacred 28 that would save all of humanity, putting them on a pedestal like a new religion in place of the Catholic Church. Soon, the purebloods took over the Ministry and worked together with muggle knights in controlling the destruction brought about by the rabid creatures for decades, leading with an iron fist.

***

Or, Fleur and Hermione are frenemies bound to each other in an unbreakable curse as huntress and warder under the Inquisitor guild – forced to work together as unwilling partners to fill a quota within a four-year contract to hunt down rabid creatures.

The Veela and muggle-born each had their reasons for signing up for the infamous guild and were eager to graduate as soon as possible to achieve their goals and be free of each other.

However, through their journey, they accidentally discovered the plague's origin and the corruption and deception that the Ministry and the Monarchy perpetuated.

Fleurmione worked together to expose the lies and started a rebellion.

They also fell in love with each other, obviously.

#fleurmione #fleurmione week 2023 #fleurmione fanart #fleur delacour #hermione granger #fleurmione fanfic #redplanetao3 #triptomarss

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yoshizora · 4 months

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Hello!!! I'd like to ask you a few things about Megumu (if that's okay!).

How would you describe her? I think there's more to the "greedy tengu" impression that I'm getting from the wiki and from her routes in UM. Her and Momoyo are friends after all.

Would you say that Momoyo brings out the best in her? (or, at least, better than Tsukasa does).

Thanks in advance!! ^^

THANK U for giving me a chance to blab about megumu because if i was more outspoken i would never shut up about her. warning, this is going to be long as fuck because when i said i wouldn't shut up i MEANT i wouldn't shut up

honestly the first thing to keep in mind is that Megumu isn't human, so human moralities shouldn't be so strictly applied to her. i often see people exaggerating her less palatable aspects, but she's........ not a human!!!! because of this i like to apply more leeway to her personality; she's not strictly black/white in terms of whether she's "good" or "bad", which is what i think the main issue is when it comes to general perception of Megumu (she often ends up being watered down to Mean Greedy Bully Boss). it's also more fun when characters have personality traits that should logically contradict each other.

i think she genuinely does have tengu society's best interests in mind, but it's more about the whole vs the individual which can also be seen as a reflection of Japanese society. ayahatamomi's complaints in altfacts was essentially both a comedy bit and meta commentary on Japan's toxic work culture, but it shouldn't be seen as a 1:1 situation imo. but anyway, i think Megumu does have issues with connecting to the other tengu on a personal level because of her position as middle management, but she doesn't like...... go out of her way to be deliberately cruel to them either. at worst it's indifference, at best it's a "means to an end" sort of situation, which results in disgruntled workers on the lower rungs of the ladder suffering because the higher-ups believe that's what's best for the group as a whole. Megumu sucks! but she's not a deliberate bully. maybe an accidental bully but that just makes it funny.

she does obviously care about the consolidation of power as well, but from her weird villain monologue in LE38 it doesn't seem like she's interested in gaining power HERSELF, but rather having the tengu as a whole being the top dogs of youkai mountain and in control of Gensokyo's flow of information. so Megumu is greedy, but not in the sense that she'd do anything that wouldn't benefit the other tengu as well. idk, we'll see if ZUN says anything about what she used the card market profits for in the next scoow issue, but for now i think it's a big stretch to say Megumu had ulterior motives beyond gathering economical strength for the tengu in 18. she's not the type of antagonist to try to grab the throne all for herself, because that would throw off the balance of tengu society.

she's honest! sort of! i don't think she lies to people's faces like Tsukasa does, but prefers lies of omission. if she says she's going to do something she'll do it, but it's the things she doesn't say that would warrant some alarm. this is more headcanon than anything else, but i also think Megumu is arrogant/strong enough to believe she doesn't have to outwardly lie to get what she wants.

going back to what i said about Megumu being unable to form personal friendships with other tengu, i like to imagine she has a weird interest in outsiders that would ironically go against the tengus' isolationist policies. she readily picked up Chimata off the ground and rekindled their friendship after 18, and is friends with Momoyo, and she even expressed interest and concern for Marisa. she was worried about Marisa!! that's kinda funny! Marizza Kirisame strikes again— but yeah, Megumu may be an asshole but she's still nice, and i think consolidating those two ideas is what throws a lot of people off. she's not a good person by human standards, but she's still courteous in general and wouldn't insult others because... she just doesn't have a reason to. but she would still totally throw hands with Kanako.

since she's directly inspired by Izuna Gongen i also like to imagine she also has a weird charitable streak as well. Izuna Gongen fed humans who were going through a famine and one of Megumu's major motifs is her onigiri. hell, even her ability card is her onigiri instead of something with her star lasers. Megumu once said she's interested in brave, powerful people, but i think she also does take pity on weaker beings and likes to help out just because she can. maybe it's to flex her power but it could also just be a Thing she does as a tengu.

MOMOYO..... ok now we're going into fanon territory LOL but her friendship with Momoyo is SO interesting because there's technically 0 canon interaction between them but we do get tidbits of their dynamic, like the fact Momoyo agreed to work for her and also seemed excited to introduce the humans to Megumu. Momoyo also says that Megumu is a "combat-lover" but apparently they also hang out just to hang out, like when Momoyo implied Megumu sometimes vents about work (Kanako) to her. i like to place importance on those scraps because they do show that Megumu isn't just about work work work work work, she does have hobbies and is strong enough to have befriended Momoyo. granted, Momoyo isn't 100% loyal to her either, but since they're both powerful youkai i don't think that really means much. they're on friendly terms!! that's the basic gist of it!!

i do think that Momoyo brings out the best in Megumu!! again, she's not human, so her "best" is probably something extremely deranged, but i like to imagine she's so close with Momoyo because she doesn't have to put on pretenses as the Daitengu with her; Momoyo dgaf about her standing in that youkai hierarchy, so Megumu earned Momoyo's respect and friendship through her own merit and strength. with Momoyo, who does not care about all that Daitengu stuff, Megumu can be true equals with her, and that's what makes their friendship really sweet to me. and inversely, Megumu doesn't mind that Momoyo is a gross centipede monster, but it seems like ZUN kinda walked back on the idea of Momoyo being a loner since she's described to be popular with other youkai in 18.5. Hisona made a series of momomegu doujinshi that really digs into that idea of their friendship being based on pure personal wants outside of their respective social standings that i draw a lot of inspiration from.

also in 18.5 Megumu is described as a festival-lover so she's totally a raging party animal. Fratboy Megumu is VERY funny to me. y'all can pry Fratboy Megumu out of my cold dead hands.

#im sorry this ended up being so long i have too many thoughts about this big gay bird #megumu iizunamaru #wretchedbirdthing #yoshizorask

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suzannahnatters · 1 year

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Trope Talk #2: Breaking Their Heart To Save Them

OK let's talk about a trope I DON'T like.

As I've started watching a lot more Asian dramas this year, my patience with this trope - already occasionally featured in Western media - has approached rock bottom. You'll know this romance trope when you see it, usually around the start of the third act. The main couple will have overcome every obstacle - but suddenly everything will be too much. Some external factor is forcing them apart, and this time one of them becomes convinced the two of them should break up. But how to convince the other party of this?

Easy! Tell them a bunch of lies. Pretend you never even loved them in the first place. Break their heart because it's the best way to save them. Satine does it to Christian in MOULIN ROUGE. Both leads do it in LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL. Gorya does it to Thyme in F4 THAILAND. (That last one very nearly got me to ragequit with just two episodes left to go.)

So, let's discuss why this trope doesn't work for me, as well as some ways it might be justified, subverted, or deconstructed.

I think the main reason the trope doesn't work for me is that most of the time it feels quite cruel, especially when it acts as the third act breakup. Breaking someone's heart to save them is supposed to occur as a gesture of love and care for another person, but it's pretty messed-up to deliberately wound someone, someone you claim to care for. Let's look at two examples that didn't work for me.

CRASH LANDING ON YOU has a male lead who is always scolding the heroine for her decisions, especially when those decisions lead her to sacrifice herself for him. When she wakes up in hospital after taking a bullet for him, instead of saying thank you like a normal person, he scolds her to the point of tears. Because he's constantly treating her like a child and making decisions on her behalf, it makes perfect sense when he decides to break up with her by telling her he never loved her. The characterisation is consistent and believable; the problem is that this sort of character is a huge red flag, and the show never stops depicting the hero's paternalistic behaviour as a totally normal and romantic thing, actually! This is a great example for what this trope represents even at its most internally consistent - a character making a huge decision without their partner's input, taking away the say that should rightfully be theirs, and never being called to account for it.

Take F4: THAILAND as an example of this trope that doesn't make ANY sense at all. Our two leads kept me fully charmed throughout most of the show, but it all fell apart for me in the final three episodes. Gorya is a wonderful female lead whose strong sense of self-respect, dignity, and tenacity has driven her to challenge Thyme's bullying and inspire him to become a better person. These traits have empowered her to defy his mother's systematic destruction of her family's finances and those of everyone she loves. When Thyme's mother offers Gorya money to break up with Thyme, she scorns the offer. However, when Thyme's mother tells him that she is dying and that she needs to use what little time she has left to consolidate Thyme's leadership of the family empire, Gorya chooses to break Thyme's heart to ensure that he can become CEO after his mother's death. This is pitched as worthwhile because of the good things Thyme could do as a powerful capitalist who puts people, not money, first. Gorya knows that after everything she and Thyme have been through, he's absolutely devoted to her, and that hurting him badly enough to part the two of them will involve returning him to the old, villainous, bullying Thyme. Thyme's mother even encourages her to do just that - because it's only the villainous Thyme who CAN consolidate his control of the family empire. It made no sense to me that Gorya would fall in with this program. Why would this person hurt someone she loves, bringing back the villain she reformed, so that he can keep control of the riches she spurned? I didn't believe it for a moment. It felt like gratuitous cruelty, totally out of character, and militated against the story's themes.

I always find myself asking the same questions when I see this trope: why couldn't the characters have an honest conversation about this? Why couldn't they face this challenge together? Why wouldn't they do literally everything within their power to avoid systematically destroying their loved one's self esteem? Taking a relationship out the back and shooting it just seems like an incredibly disproportionate response to 99% of the scenarios that give rise to this trope.

Still, like all tropes that are used poorly, this one can be deconstructed, played with, or even justified. Let's look at some examples of this trope that work a little better than most.

Look for ways to soften the trope

The more love and trust there is between the characters, the less credible it is that one of them would choose to withold information from the other, lie to them, and break their heart. In the YA space opera romance THESE BROKEN STARS, at their very first interaction the female lead mocks and antagonises the male lead specifically because young men who show romantic interest in her tend to meet with unfortunate "accidents" and she wants to spare him that fate. Since the two of them are strangers, there's less trust to be broken, and by the same token, it takes the female lead less effort (and cruelty) to destroy his interest in her.

Similarly, think about the somewhat similar situation in PRIDE & PREJUDICE where a third party, Mr Darcy, breaks up Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet because he thinks it would be better for Bingley not to ally himself with the embarrassing Bennet family. This is not an example of this trope, but it's a very similar one - two people in love are cruelly broken up because somebody decided they knew best. While Elizabeth at first believes Mr Darcy's actions to be unforgiveable, she quickly learns of an extenuating circumstance: Mr Darcy had no idea that Jane was seriously attached to Mr Bingley and would not have done what he did if he had known.

2. Make sure there are realistic consequences

I don't think it's IMPOSSIBLE for a couple to end up together after a use of this trope, but as in PRIDE & PREJUDICE, in addition to extenuating circumstances, there would ideally be a whole character arc in which the person at fault proves that they are going to stop trying to make decisions for their partner.

I also loved the deconstruction of the trope in ANOTHER MISS OH. In this show the heroine's fiancé, facing financial ruin and prison, tells her just days before their wedding that he doesn't love her anymore and is disgusted by the way she eats. When he gets out of prison early, he's extremely miffed to find that his ex is now dating the very bloke responsible for him being in jail in the first place. He tells the female lead that he just wanted to spare her the pain and disgrace of his prison sentence, and she very properly calls him out on it. He intentionally humiliated her and left her with lasting wounds and insecurities, and although her new boyfriend isn't perfect either, at least he never did THAT to her.

Although this is a deconstruction I think we can still learn from it. After all, this trope is always depicted as a mistake on somebody's part; the important thing is to make the consequences believable.

3. Make sure it's believable for the characters to act in this way

When this trope is played straight, as a major third act breakup between avowed lovers, I almost never find it truly believable. But the story that comes closest is MOULIN ROUGE. Our heroine Satine has always seen herself as the older, worldly wise, cynical one in the relationship. She doesn't believe in the power of love the way her love interest, Christian, does. And she's spent her whole life prioritising money and survival. So, when Satine finds out that her would-be lover, a powerful duke, wants Christian dead, it's credible that THIS sort of person would decide to break up with Christian and tell him she's choosing the Duke and financial security over love.

There are also additional reasons why this works, and all of them are deeply rooted in characterisation.

For one thing, this isn't Satine's first choice. She originally plans to run away with Christian. It's only once she learns that she's dying of consumption that she decides to break up with him instead. We SEE that Satine would rather fight for her love - and we understand why she comes to despair of it.

For another, staying true to Christian won't save him heartbreak because he's going to lose her anyway. On the other hand, if she breaks Christian's heart, she will save him from the Duke and also give the Moulin Rouge's prostitutes a chance at becoming actresses and real artists. We can understand that the price of putting love first is so high, with such little return, that Satine would choose to act this way.

Finally, because Satine's character has already been established as so mercenary, she doesn't actually NEED to work hard to convince Christian that she has chosen the Duke. In fact, one of the things that sets MOULIN ROUGE apart from other examples of this trope is that, from memory, Satine doesn't even lie to Christian. She doesn't try to convince him that their love has been a complete sham - she just informs him that she's decided to give the Duke what he wants. Christian believes it because it's exactly the sort of thing the Satine he first met would have done.

Compare this to the example in F4: THAILAND. In that show, breaking up with Thyme doesn't fit with Gorya's character. She doesn't try to find any alternatives. Thyme finds it so hard to believe her when she says she wants to break up with him, that she has to seriously hurt him in order to make him believe it. And as a member of the audience I wanted to know why exactly it would be so terrible - in a show that is explicitly about the evils of wealth - for Thyme to abandon his family empire.

4. Connect it directly with the themes

The cdrama LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL contains a rendition of this trope that actually works WITH, rather than against, the themes of the story. LBFAD avoids the often sexist and paternalistic overtones of this trope by having both leads at different times break each other's hearts to save them. Best of all, it uses the trope as an expression of the main thematic conflict of the story. This campy fantasy romance dares to ask whether the greater good is more important than personal love and happiness. When each lead character chooses to break the heart of the other, they do so implicitly because they have bought into the lie that they must set aside personal love for the greater good. Their whole character arc and happy ending hinges upon their ability to see that the only way to sacrifice for the greater good, is to learn love and compassion on a personal level. As such, even though it still stretched credibility that two such devoted leads would treat each other so badly, the story used the trope wisely, not to manufacture melodrama but to discuss its central themes.

5. BONUS: Restore agency to the dumped party One of the annoying things about this trope is specifically that it involves one character choosing to deprive the other of agency in their own romance. So, one of the most fun ways to play this trope is by restoring agency to the dumpee.

This happens in the cdrama TILL THE END OF THE MOON. At first, the way this trope was played in this story really annoyed me. The God of War, Ming Ye, has unexpectedly fallen in love with his at-first unwanted bride, Sang Jiu. Now, however, he's about to go off and fight a battle in which he expects to give his life. Rather than let Sang Jiu know about this, he hands her a bill of divorce and tells her he never had any feelings for her. Sang Jiu has been in love with him from the shell, and this breaks her heart. It seemed completely gratuitous to me - why would Ming Ye divorce someone he's about to widow in any case? If he wants to send her to safety, why can't he just ask her to go home for a visit to her beloved family until the danger blows over? However, I was FASCINATED by Sang Jiu's response to this ultimatum: she puts on her wedding dress, marches into Ming Ye's room, and demands her conjugal rights before she leaves. Although there were definitely things about this scene which I, ah, found problematic and would have done differently, it was a terrific thing to see the female lead seize back agency in this situation. I also appreciated how it foreshadowed later problems in the subplot, in which the male lead's inability to communicate and the female lead's tendency to take things into her own hands dooms them both.

Similarly, in one of my books, a character is forced to break up with another in public, which she does, very coldly. But he takes the first opportunity to get her alone, throw himself at her feet and swear that even if she doesn't want to be his partner anymore, she will still have his undying devotion and lifelong service. It was huge fun to defy the common expectations of the trope in this way!

In summary, I do think that this trope can work, but it does need to be fully supported by the story. It should not be overdone; there must be consequences; it must be in character; there must be high enough stakes to make the pain inflicted seem worthwhile; and it must be in keeping with the themes rather than militating against them.

#trope talk #writing advice #writing #romance tropes #lbfad #tteotm #f4 thailand #love between fairy and devil #till the end of the moon #moulin rouge #pride and prejudice #crash landing on you #cloy #another miss oh

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the-daily-dreamer · 2 years

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I am team black, however I am incredibly sympathetic toward Alicent.

Alicent was ‘pimped’ out by her own father to push his desire to have his blood on the throne, asked by her KING to not say anything to Rhaenyra, then punished by her only friend for having married Viserys, which she literally has no say in. Alicent is a child bride at this point, she has been raped and abused in its many forms all for the sake of kingdom and duty..

Then Rhaenyra lied, held truths from Alicent which left her feeling betrayed especially when it results in Alicents only guaranteed ally (her father) being removed from court.

That all could have been resolved over the years, But then come along Rhaenyras bastards. Yes, they are bastards regardless of Laenor claiming them, but it further adds insult to injury because those lies have now become physical and everyone’s ignoring it. And Alicent has sacrificed so much.. she isn’t wrong.

People are constantly up in arms about daemon grooming Rhaenyra, but overlook the grooming of Alicent. Both women are victims of the patriarchal game, the only difference is that where Alicent is a pawn in this game, a game she has played by the rules without complaint of her own position. Rhaenyra is a prize who doesn’t have to follow the rules because her father will always support her, we’ve seen that from how her children are constantly viewed as legitimate when they’re obviously not.

I don’t even like Criston but he was right when he said to Rhaenyra that there are girls who would kill to be in her position, because not only is she heir she still has that sense of freedom and security and we are seeing it in real time with Alicent..

Being a Targaryen fan shouldn’t remove one’s ability to be sympathetic or look at the nuance within these stories. You can back the Targaryens (blacks) while still holding sympathy for Alicent and her family (Greens).

All of this. Just. Yes.

This is the kind of nuance that this fandom needs and I’m so happy to see that there are some targ stans and black supporters that can understand the other side.

Alicent is not the power-hungry demoness that people paint her as. She’s a victim of the society she lives in. Groomed and forced into a role that actively will harm her for the sake of the men in her life. Trying desperately to consolidate everything in her life so that everyone is happy with her, and thus getting hurt by everyone. Rhaenyra is also a victim of grooming and the sexism of her world. She does face disadvantages solely for her sex and gender. I don’t always agree with her but (and I do think her father constantly saving her ass makes her quite privileged) but I can still see the nuances of her case.

I’m just so happy to see a good take. Black or green, we should all be able to see the nuances and not be blind to how a character is mistreated for the sake of bolstering our side.

#this #I’m so happy to see reasonable takes #anon i love you #house of the dragon #game of thrones #alicent hightower #pro alicent hightower #alicent hightower defense squad #team alicent #team green

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thelordofgifs · 1 year

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make their words a doom irrevocable

(On Míriel Therindë, her descendants, and flawed prophecies.)

It's generally accepted that foresight is a particular gift of the House of Finarfin. Finrod has it in spades, as does Galadriel. The House of Fëanor, on the other hand, is often portrayed as the opposite: blindly caught in their own doom, with no foresight or wisdom to cut their way free. I'd like to advance an alternative headcanon that I'm rather fond of: many of the Fëanorians had a sort of twisted gift of prophecy, where they saw parts of the future and, in their eagerness to prevent the events they saw, ended up causing them – kind of like anti-Cassandras, if you will.

Let's start with Míriel herself, who doesn't have a lot to say or do in the published silm (although I understand there's more on her in the Histories). One of her two lines of dialogue, however, absolutely haunts me: "But hold me blameless in this, and in all that may come after." This is what she tells Finwë prior to going to Lórien, where she eventually dies. Míriel knows something of the terrible things her son will do or cause to happen. That's chilling! Is that part of why she's so weary – she's afraid of what Fëanor will do? But if she hadn't died in the first place, would Fëanor have become the person he did? Did Míriel's knowledge of the future, and her reaction to that knowledge, actually cause it? I think so!

Thesis established, we'll move on to Fëanor himself. The text is pretty unambiguous about Fëanor's foresight. A few examples:

On the making of the Silmarils: "For Fëanor, being come to his full might, was filled with a new thought, or it may be that some shadow of foreknowledge came to him of the doom that drew near; and he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable."

On the exile to Formenos: "Thither also came Finwë the King, because of the love that he bore to Fëanor; and Fingolfin ruled the Noldor in Tirion. Thus the lies of Melkor were made true in seeming, though Fëanor by his own deeds had brought this thing to pass; and the bitterness that Melkor had sown endured, and lived still long afterwards between the sons of Fingolfin and Fëanor." (emphasis mine, because !!!)

From his speech in Tirion post-Darkening: "Shall we mourn here deedless for ever, a shadow-folk, mist-haunting, dropping vain tears in the thankless sea?" Hmm who does that put me in mind of, Fëanor? Your own second son by any chance?

After the Valar exile him for his Oath: "Such hurt at the least will I do to the Foe of the Valar that even the mighty in the Ring of Doom shall wonder to hear it." That certainly happens – but Fëanor isn't the one to do it.

Drifting into speculation, why does Fëanor make the breathtakingly idiotic decision to burn the swan-ships? Does he maybe catch some glimpse of a future where his host and Fingolfin's sit divided an opposite shores of a lake, and so seek to consolidate his own position as leader of the Noldor by abandoning those who would betray him? But in burning the ships, he eventually causes the kingship to pass to Fingolfin. Perhaps flawed foresight and terrible judgement strike again!

What about Fëanor's sons – do they inherit his foresight too? Before I drift completely into headcanon territory, I'd like to argue that there is one son who canonically fits this paradigm: Curufin. From the Nargothrond Incident: "And after Celegorm Curufin spoke, more softly but with no less power, conjuring in the minds of the Elves a vision of war and the ruin of Nargothrond. So great a fear did he set in their hearts that never after until the time of Túrin would any Elf of that realm go into open battle". But actually Curufin is kind of right? When the Elves of Nargothrond do eventually go into open battle, the realm falls. Building the bridge was a bad idea. In fact, even the company that Gwindor leads to the Nirnaeth all tragically die there (with the exception of Gwindor himself, who's taken captive)! But, on the other hand, if Curufin hadn't scared the entire kingdom out of fighting, the Nirnaeth might have been won in the first place.

Okay now have some headcanons completely unsupported by anything textual.

Consider Amrod on the crossing to Middle-earth, watching the dark mass of this strange new continent approach. He hasn't heard his mother's prophecy, "one at least will never set foot on Middle-earth"; all the same, he knows with sick bone-deep certainty that Beleriand will be the death of him. He cannot stay here. He has to sail back to Aman, as soon as he can. When they finally come to land, he slips away below deck instead of coming ashore to sleep, and tells his twin that he'll be more comfortable on the ship – how can he say, I will die if I stay in Middle-earth? He doesn't wake up again.

Consider Celebrimbor and Gil-galad talking at the very dawn of the Second Age, as the last remnants of broken Beleriand are swallowed by the Sea. "The wrath of the Valar," says Gil-galad. "How can they dare aid us again, when they know what destruction it has wrought?"

"They will not come directly," says Tyelpë, with a sudden flash of insight. "They will send emissaries instead: Maiar, to guide and counsel us."

He remembers that odd certainty later, when one calling himself the Lord of Gifts comes to Eregion.

And now consider Maedhros, the original maker of misguided decisions, pondering Morgoth's offer of parley. His instincts tell him it must be a trap, but he also has the feeling that it is not strength of arms that will save the Noldor now, but diplomacy and political savviness – all the qualities he was known for in Tirion once. And he is right! It’s his good sense and willingness to compromise that effect the reunification of the Noldor, a reunification that might never have happened had Fingon not rescued him from Thangorodrim in the first place.

Similarly, when he’s putting together the Union of Maedhros, does he know that all his efforts are doomed to fail? Or does he once again see too far into the future, to the plains of Dagorlad and the victory, against all odds, of a Last Alliance of Elves and Men against a Dark Lord in his fortress? “It is only by uniting all the Free Peoples that we can hope to prevail,” he tells his doubtful brothers, and insists that the sons of Ulfang are to join their alliance.

And also consider a time in Himring, not long after the Dagor Aglareb, when Maglor has ridden over for a quick visit and is explaining, cheerfully, that it’s a good thing his captain managed to dispatch that one orc from a recent raid before it could lop his head off: “Nobody else can command the cavalry, if I died you’d have a terrible gap in your defences, you know!”

But Maedhros grabs his wrist with sudden force and says vehemently, “Káno, you will never die—”

—Maglor thinks about that, later, by the Sea.

#silmarillion #meta #my meta #the line of miriel #miriel #feanor #curufin #celebrimbor #maedhros #idk is this anything #I’m attached to it either way

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meimi-haneoka · 8 months

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You know, I really appreciate Syaoran developing independent friendships within the wider friend circle. He was having lunch with Yamazaki, Naoko and Chiharu (forgot the chapter) without Sakura or Tomoyo being present and was clearly in a conversation where he felt comfortable enough to put his point across to Naoko despite his contrary opinion. Plus, I found it so cute that he was worried about 'Yanagizawa' pulling all nighters and asked her to take care of her health (again, forgot the chapter). It really shows how far Syaoran has come as a character. I wish we get a OVA or extra story elaborating how Syaoran changed as a person for the better in Japan. I wonder what the reaction of his former classmates back in Hong Kong was once he moved back to Hong Kong. They would have gone "Li is much calmer now. He even talks to us nicely. I wonder what happened in Japan? Did he go soft out there?" Buhaha. And then Meiling jumps in with "Nah. He just caught feelings out there." Ahahahaha.

Hellooo, thank you for the nice ask! Yeaaaah, this is something I'm 99% sure I've mentioned in my past chapter analysis too, how wonderful it was to see Syaoran interacting and tightening his bond with the other friends, aside from Sakura and Tomoyo. I really appreciated that, especially the interactions he's got with Naoko (so peculiar to see him getting worried over a friend who's not Tomoyo or his girlfriend, right?) and it really goes to show what a tremendous character development he had from the Clow Card Arc days. A development that didn't stop with the end of Sakura Card Arc but actually continues in Clear Card, with the consolidation of the friendships he made in Japan, which are quite predictive of the bonds he will keep even once he enters his adulthood.

Seeing him in chapter 59 stating, all serious and slightly embarrassed, that he wanted to be of help to everyone in the preparations of the play was really sweet, and I also loved that he was able to discuss with Naoko about his role in a very mature way. I really can feel CLAMP's need for these kids to grow up mentally, emotionally and even socially, therefore the decision to "split" the original Tomoeda elementary group and particularly to "split" Syaoran and Sakura, in order to allow them to experience also other bonds and not end up attached to the hips, so to speak. I also want to mention the absolutely beautiful "boys talk" that Syaoran and Yamazaki have in one of the Clear Card Drama CDs, it's one of the "original contents" and something I felt was missing from Syaoran's friendship with Yamazaki: a boys talk about their relationship with their girlfriends 😁 (and Yamazaki proved to be so mature, despite his foolish appearance). Syaoran couldn't talk to Sakura yet about her problem with her powers, and the guilt was eating his soul away, so he seeked advice and reassurance from his best buddy: another sign of maturity (instead of keeping everything inside like he used to do).

All in all, Syaoran really benefited not only from the interactions with Sakura but all the Tomoeda kids, and I'm sure his classmates in Hong Kong noticed too! 😁

#reply #ccsakura #cardcaptor sakura #clear card arc #syaoran li

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thatndginger · 5 months

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A Very Basic Overview of Aeterre

alright, buckle up babes, because my beloved @thetruearchmagos has requested more info about War Witch's worldbuilding, and this is the first time I've actually been able to consolidate some of my work!

(be warned, all this is still in the ideas stage; some ideas are more concrete than others, some are liable to change)

Aeterre: the World of War Witch

I. The History

Aeterre’s backbone, its breath and bones, lies in magic. Called from the ether by the first gods, shaped and guided by the gods that came after and formed the first of humankind, the first animals and plants and mountains. For millennia, magic was a fact of life. Seasons changed, the sun rose in the east, and magic lived in everything. The gods watched the progress of their humans, gifted them the ability to wield magic, and guided them when necessary. Not everyone could wield magic, but then again, not everyone could wield a paintbrush or bake a loaf of bread or swing a sword. Not everyone would see a god in their lifetime, just like some might never see an ocean or the northern lights or an ibex.

In this time of magic, a great empire arose. The Koric Empire, birthed in the fertile rolling hills and sea-side cliffs of Korin, backed by the twin gods Vitalex and Morsex, began a slow, steady consumption of the Chanval Peninsula and western edge of the Eruan continent. The Korics were the first to master the art of construct building, and with an army bolstered by both magic and machinery, very little could stand in their way. Their rule was ended in one fell swoop, however, in an event that would come to be known as the Shattering. In the birthplace of constructs, a mountaintop city called Carigdon nestled in the mountains that bounded the eastern edge of the empire, the witchsmith Caoine killed magic in an act of rebellion against the Koric Empire. In the aftermath of this event, empires and nations fell into chaos, and the world nearly collapsed. Without the help of magic or gods, humankind managed to claw itself back from the brink of destruction and begin anew. They mastered machinery again; machinery fueled by coal and oil and steam instead of magic - though limited by this lacking. Empires rose again, and from the smoldering ruins of the Koric Empire rose the nation of Korin. Once again the masters of machinery, Korin began expanding its borders once more, growing further and faster than the empire of old.

While there are many who have attempted to revive magic, none have succeeded in the 250-ish years since the Shattering. Many have begun to believe that magic will never return. The steady march of progress has shown that perhaps humankind does not need magic and gods anymore. A god could not raze an entire battlefield with bullets and fire, could not send messages across the world in the blink of an eye. But man can.

Modern-day Aeterre, showing the (definitely-going-to-change) borders of it's nations

II. Major Nations of Aeterre

Korin: Referred to also as the Koric Empire, or the United Nation of Korin (UNK). Government by a constitutional monarchy; a monarch descended from the Rocheforth line - currently Queen Hannah and Prince Consort Frederick- is the official head of state of the country and retains certain executive and legislative powers, while a bicameral parliament composed of the Senate and the House of Assembly are responsible for most aspects of government and state. Senate membership is primarily an inherited position, though the current monarch has the ability to appoint or demote members as they see fit. Most Senators are also hereditary nobility of various rank, as monarch-elevated members are not always granted a noble title. The House of Assembly is made up of elected officials chosen by Korin’s citizens in elections held every three years. The number of Assemblymen for a province, territory, or colony is determined by population. An Assemblyman for a given territory does not have to have ever lived in said territory, and since only Korin-born citizens are allowed to vote, territorial and colonial Assemblymen are almost never actually from the place they represent.

Suaythen Empire: Referred to also as Suaya or Imperial Suaya. A directorial republic governed by the Sovereign Council, made up of seven councilors with equal power and head of state status. Each Councilor is the head of one of seven executive departments. Councilor elections are held every five years, and any Suaythen citizen of age - which includes the residents of Suaythen-held territories, who become citizens upon being annexed into the Empire - is allowed to vote. Councilors have no term limits. Below the council is a system of chancellors and vice-chancellors who assist in government affairs and running of the country. Chancellors and vice-chancellors are chosen by Councilors, and are generally allowed to choose the government officials below them. Councilors have the authority to remove any government official from office, though staffing decisions are usually left to chancellors/vice-chancellors.

III. Wait, What's a Construct?

Simply put, constructs were magical machinery. Powered by magic, constructs did not require the intricate internal structures and carefully crafted connections that modern machinery does. The most basic constructs consisted of a copper or bronze ‘skeleton’, a ‘heart’ made of a specific type of quartz, and a sturdy outer casing. The magic and skill required to create and power a construct made them costly to build and maintain, and the limited functionality of a construct’s ‘mind’ made them unsuitable for complicated tasks. A construct’s ‘mind’ was really just the magic instilled in its quartz heart that gave it direction and purpose. These quartz crystals could not contain much magic, so only simple commands could be instilled into it; “guard this door” or “push this plow” or “lift these stones”. Since magic is deeply linked to emotion, constructs were said to inherit some of the creator’s emotion upon being awoken - appearing kind or cruel in the way it performed its commands.

Nearly all constructs were built in the image of some living thing, with humans, horses, dogs, and other beasts of burden being the most common. Constructs meant more for entertainment or symbolic value were not uncommon, but were generally limited to the wealthy and important due to the cost and uselessness of them. Constructs were first and foremost tools, used to do the things living things could not. A horse construct could carry five times the weight of a regular horse, and a dog construct would never tire or become distracted from its job guarding an estate. A construct shaped like a human warrior would fight tirelessly, with the strength of three men, and only stop if its heart was damaged or it was commanded to stop. They were simple machines, but ruthlessly effective in battle.

It was the Koric Empire that perfected the art of construct building, and turned constructs from simple-minded machines into something almost living. All knowledge of their techniques has been lost, but somehow the Korics discovered how to instill complex directions and motives into the constructs. Stories of constructs that seemed almost to think and feel began to appear, and historians of the time mentioned war constructs that were capable of following complex strategy as opposed to the simple machines being pointed in a direction they were used to. Animal constructs made simply for decoration or status symbols were said to act almost exactly like the animal they were made to emulate. Records are few and far between, but it seems that these ‘living’ constructs all seemed to originate from the Tiraillfain valley, from the forges of the Aillan people who’d been consumed by the Koric Empire a century or so before the Shattering.

#wip: war witch #excuse the infodump #i can either do all or nothing :)

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scalamore · 5 months

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Thoughts on Lehan as the 2nd ML

I see a few people trying to justify Lehan’s behavior as something being acceptable, because after all, he’s displaying the behavior of a typical ML one would see in another series, yet he’s getting all this hate. The issue at hand though, that I’m not sure these ppl understand, is that the FL, Lari herself, does not accept Lehan’s romantic advances. I too, enjoy my trashy rofan series where there’s some toxic relationships, where it’s fun to read about the ML being yandere/posessive/obsessive over the FL, shower her with gifts, and aggressively pursue her even if she says no - but even then, she’s usually blushing or something to show that she’s at least interested and accepting of the ML’s antics. IN these situation, that’s the point: readers LOVE to read about the FL playing hard to get, or the ML putting in a lot of effort to woo her over. However, the key is the FL’s response: is she accepting of the ML’s antics, or rejecting it? Because in YM’s case, Lari is the later. She reject’s Lehan’s actions. She doesn’t find it fun, she doesn’t secretly like his attention. She’s very clear: leave me alone, don’t visit me, dont get involved with me, don’t give me gifts. She is clearly rejecting his advances, but he keeps on pushing. Lehan as well, for some reason, is thinking that Lari is playing hard to get or something, and feels that if he continues pushing, she’ll see him in a different light. But that’s the issue: Lari will never see him any differently.

It’s uncertain how much of an influence trash dad had on Lehan, but the point is, Lehan has always been obsessed with Lari. He chose to become a knight to protect her, made it his life’s mission to protect her as her sword, and even made his actual knight’s oath to protect her (he initially made Lari think it was to an oath to protect House Belois, but he later revealed it was to protect her, as her knight). He’s always secretly loved her that much, presumably in both timelines.

But Lari doesn’t want any of that. She wanted to be the one who protects their family, because she is the one who experienced the future. She felt it was her duty to, especially after it became evident that her family didn’t believe in her regression. After witnessing their response to her regression, she was extremely hurt when it’s evident they didn’t truly believe in it. The next time Lehan visited, he said that he ‘always believed her’, to which she accepted his words, but truly inside, she didn’t believe in his words either. (Also, the narrative says point blank that Rupert is the only one who truly believed in her regression). The most hurtful thing of all, is how Lari begged so much for them to to not think of treason because they won’t ever win against Rupert, because she’s experienced it all - yet they took her experience and turned it into a weapon against Rupert by banking on the fact they prepared a stronger army to attack him 3 years earlier. They assumed that Rupert wouldn’t have enough time to consolidate power, and so they’ll strike early and swiftly. Again, that’s not what Lari wants. Being the closest person to Rupert means she knows just how much he prepared for the throne, as well as how much military strength he has. She KNOWS House Belois has no chance at all - and it didn’t take very long for Lehan, as Rupert’s escort knight, to also realize that.

Lari is very clear in what she wanted from Lehan this entire time: a good relationship with her brother, someone who could understand her fears of the future and give her some reassurance, and someone who can help convince the family to not go through with any treason. However, Lehan failed astronomically. He lies to her face even when she begged him to trust her and consider her words, took advantage of her good will/get closer to her even when her feelings were completely familial, refuses to tell her the truth for years, made a secret promise to protect her that she didn’t even want, and most recently, ignoring her wishes when she says she doesn’t want him to visit.

In the end, Lehan dug his own grave. He was NEVER a romantic candidate for Lari. If he TRULY cared for her and wanted to change the status quo, he shouldn’t have hidden her birth right, he should have spoken up about it sooner, he should have protected her from Riche, he should have told her the truth about the family….. he did none of that. — I also think readers forgot that in Ch 111, Rupert also tried to beg Lari to stay, by offering her ANYTHING she wanted, and she could even hurt/hit him as well. At that time, she said she didn’t want anything with him and never wanted to see him again. A little bit later, after she met lehan, she said the same thing: she didn’t want anything to do with him/House Belois, and never wanted to see him again. Only one of them respected her enough to listen to her words, putting her desires over his own.

A novel detail is that Lari truly wanted to move on and forget about House Belois (she never truly belonged, was never a real family member), but she left Rupert because she was afraid of hurting him more. While she easily forgot/didn’t think about House Belois, she had a tremendous amount of difficulty forgetting about Rupert. She would often wonder how he’s doing, and ask Lehan about it, she knew when his birthday came and wanted to celebrate it with him etc… and when she did see him again, her heart is beating to the point it felt like it would burst because she’s that excited (happy) to see him again. so yes, there’s a few differences

#your majesty please spare me this time #rupelali #manhwa #otome isekai #rofan

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goddesstrolls · 6 months

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A Lock More Complex

((Another collab with @nihils-trolls))

Marzic landed among the trees just beyond the camp, and checked his inner pocket to assure the key was still present.

By all accounts, it looked like an ordinary key. Hardly anything fit for the shackles of a godling.

The five keys had been merged into one, and now all that had to be done was to undo Ebidel’s chains. It sounded simple, and Marzic hoped it wasn’t deceptively so.

He kept the key in his hand as he walked into the camp. His lusus stood watch among the trees some ways off.

“Ebidel.”

The godling in question raises his head to look at Marzic. He’d apparently been here for some time, sat at the base of a tree closeby.

Marzic merely lifted the key, tilting his head slightly. It felt odd to be so casual about this. “The keys have been collected.”

Ebidel is quiet for a moment, his brow furrowed in an utterly confused expression. “... What?”

“I have spent the last few perigees collecting them with the aid of two mages. They’ve now been consolidated…So your freedom is at hand.” Marzic did his best to speak carefully.

Looking away, Ebidel brings a hand to his face- seemingly at a loss for words. He clearly hadn’t expected Marzic to find all of those keys so quickly, let alone at all. After another pause, he speaks up again.

“I guess it is.”

Marzic knelt beside Ebidel, turning the key in his hand. “Are you prepared?”

He didn’t care to make any promises that this would work, nor voice his doubt in the abilities of the aforementioned pair of mages that had helped him.

“No,” Ebidel said bluntly. “But I don’t think there’s a moment I will be.” For once, he looked nervous.

Marzic gave him a faint, wry smile. For once himself, he looked weary. “That’s the spirit.” He said softly, as he reached for the first shackle on Ebidel’s ankle and inserted the key. It popped open with a click, revealing several small mouths lined with jagged fangs present on the inner surface.

The shackle falls away and lands on the ground with a soft thud. As it lies there, it begins to disintegrate- leaving behind nothing but dust and a noticeable disturbance in the air.

Marzic felt a dense wave of energy washing over him, giving him pause. His lusus tossed his head and pawed at the ground, nickering nervously. Marzic’s gaze flickered up to Ebidel’s face, and then he moved on to the next shackle.

The second shackle fell away like the first, followed by another wave of power. Marzic continued through, taking Ebidel’s hands and unlocking each shackle. When the fourth and final one fell away, he lowered Ebidel’s hand, and the key vanished into dust in his palm.

Now free of his bonds, Ebidel takes a look at his hands, not used to there being no gleam of metal. He studies them for a bit, as if gauging something, then glances up at Marzic. “Well, I suppose we can do two things while we’re here.”

Marzic was already beginning to stand as Ebidel spoke. He glanced down, genuinely puzzled. “Hm?”

Ebidel moves to stand himself, continuing. “You wanted your curse broken, did you not?”

Marzic’s expression immediately soured. “You are no longer under any obligation to uphold that.” He hissed, his tone suddenly sharp.

“But I’m not wrong there, am I?” Ebidel restrained himself from crossing his arms. “I may not be obligated; however, it’s something I want to do regardless.”

Whatever retort Marzic had seemed to have died on his tongue. He glanced away, eyes narrowed as he appeared frustrated. Habitually, he ran a hand along the scabbard of his sword and curled his fingers loosely about the grip. “...Very well.”

It was strangely begrudging, considering how badly he seemed to want his curse broken. However, he didn’t seem to have any intent of voicing his thoughts.

The rust shifted his weight some, picking up on the fairly obvious clues. “What, is there a problem?”

“No.” Marzic said curtly, though his annoyance made it clear there was some sort of problem. “It was just unexpected.”

Ebidel rubs his temple and sighs. “I’m not stupid. Or oblivious. Could you just… talk to me?”

Marzic flinched slightly, obviously disarmed. His annoyance had fallen into a flat, stunned look, which then shifted through a few emotions ranging from weary to regretful before finally falling on exasperation. “I didn’t think you cared about what I had to say.”

Weariness laced his annoyed tone; He seemed worn thin, too tired to care too deeply about anything. “I arranged to handle the curse myself. That is all.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ebidel’s tone usually doesn’t have much emotion to it, but now borders on strained. He drops his arm down to his side. “I don’t know how you intend to ‘handle’ it, unless-”

He cuts himself off, grimacing at a thought. Marzic was glaring daggers at him, his jaw set as though to say, ‘it’s exactly what you’re thinking’.

“It doesn’t matter.” Marzic hissed.

Ebidel sighs, bringing his hand back to scrub at his face. “Look, I care about what you have to-” He stops again. “I see a place where I can help, and I want to help. Alright? Just- Stand still.”

“And I am allowing you to help. I don’t know what more you want.” Marzic still found a moment to protest before Ebidel reached out to put a hand on his chest. He gave an exasperated sigh, and tried to relax, seeming exhausted.

As Ebidel lay his hand on Marzic’s chest, the sigils inscribed on his skin began to glow, reacting to the attempt to break them. Marzic winced as the curse tightened its grip on his heart, and Ebidel carefully unworked the deep, vitriolic spell.

The sigils glowed brighter, and then shattered into nothing. At the same time, the shackle around Marzic’s neck broke, and the two halves fell to the grass with a dull thud.

Marzic opened his eyes, and ghosted his fingertips along the bruised ring along his throat where the iron shackle had been.

Bringing his hand back down to his side, Ebidel squints, furrowing his brow. “Hm.”

Marzic seemed to have an inkling of what that meant already. He put a finger to his own lips, pushing them up to confirm that his long fangs were still present- Not a natural trait, but one from his curse. Despair flickered in his eyes, but he said nothing.

“Well,” Ebidel spoke up, “The curse is broken, and I was able to revert the changes it made. Except for one of them.” He glances to the side. “It’s… not of your troll nature. I can’t affect that.”

Marzic clearly understood, but seemed exhausted by this turn of events. He dropped his hand and sighed through his nose.

“No,” he said finally. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

He glanced aside, into the trees, raising his head and attempting to regain his composure- But his energy was quickly flagging. “I have- Something to attend to…” Marzic’s voice faded as he struggled to do so much as remain conscious.

Sweeps of going without food, sleep, or so much as water were rapidly catching up to him. His eyes rolled, and he collapsed- thankfully, not onto the cold, hard ground.

#bastdrabbles #marzic ic #marzic monair #the bloodfey #nihils trolls #drops important plot stuff at midnight #its fiiiiine

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horizon-verizon · 1 year

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The Targs may be cool but they are still a bunch of upstart minor nobles from Valyria who only became kings in Westeros due to taking advantage of the fact that they are the only ones with dragons and that the Westerosi do not know how to fight dragons like many Essosi do. The other houses of Westeros have way more prestige than them because they were kings for thousands of years while the Targs were merely minor dragonlords in Valyria. The Targs were just lucky to be the only ones to survive the doom but they aren’t really special. They were not special in Valyria and they are only seen as special in Westeros because they look ethereal and have dragons while other houses do not. Then when the Targs lose their dragons I don’t get why the other noble houses that used to be kings don’t just team up to overthrow the weakened Targ upstarts. I guess they were just brainwashed to believe in Targ superiority and therefore believed the Targs were still the rightful rulers despite their loss of the dragons.

"Upstart minor nobles"... Alright, anon since you made me laugh a little, I will play this game with you.

“Upstart”: a person who has risen suddenly to wealth or high position, especially one who behaves arrogantly

The context of an upstart is that they take power that doesn’t belong to them.

Really it’s about how those who call them this not liking how the transfer of power didn’t go to the persons they wanted it to go to. In other words, it’s usually about themselves feeling inherently superior or envious of the “upstarts”.

First of all, by your own admission, the Targs won. So if the Targs, who were one of the least powerful families of the Vayrian Freehold, could dominate Westeros with only three dragonriders and a smaller army despite the Westerosi kings' many and larger armies....well anon, do you know where I’m going with this?

I’m saying that if we evaluate by sheer power alone, these “upstarts” still managed to overpower the many Westerosi “prestigious” lords. What would have happened if the most powerful of dragonlords of Valyria decided to come to Westeros and conquer it? With 20 dragons? 40? Just 3, the same number?!

And then the Targs are the ones who created a unified state for Robert I Baratheon to even rule. later on and take advantage of that unification/consolidation of power for himself.

Secondly, somehow the many petty kings and lords of Westeros were so impressive, anon?

That's why they couldn't stop their infighting enough to properly fight against a "minor upstart noble" family, and eventually lost? Or that they:

pushed all the giants and Children of the Forest into extreme temperatures to make room for themselves

destroyed all their religious totems and locations

practiced the heinous right of the first night until girls had to run away from home (and never come back) only likely to suffer even more to make a living for themselves and frequently sold themselves into slavery because of it -> in the belief/excuse that these lords were “blessing” these girls and their families with their “spirit” and any child born out of these rapes (ex. Ramsay Bolton) -> despite this being contradictory to their Faith of the Seven official tenets of mutual fidelity of the two genders

thought and still think that people born out of wedlock were innately evil/treacherous/prone to spiritual weakness (even though it was the parents' fault for fucking in the first place and that this is actually blood purism) -> despite Benedict Rivers/Justman?, who existed before the Targs conquered Westeros?

stole young girls and women from their homes to take as sex slaves and "salt wives" out of this belief that it made their warriors “stronger”

probably lied about their own origins (Andals) to make as if Westeros was their "promised land", whereas it was most likely to escape Valyrian dragonlord families (one of whom would have been the Targs)

and their Seven Faith openly allow first cousins to marry--and even the few Stark girls marrying their half-uncles--then going around and saying the Targs are weird incest creeps when each and every one of the Westerosi lords are incest babies

had an extremely patriarchal system that made it easier for one person to usurp another based on gender for their own ambitions and thus diminishing woman-rule and belief in female authority/validity/personhood for several years after Rhaenyra's loss

Thirdly, As if the Westerosi lords also wouldn't take advantage of dragons if they could, or thought they could? Do you know about Rhaena Targaryen and the Lannisters, anon?

Fourthly, the long-term advantage the Targs had over the other dragonlords was that Aenar actually listened to the words of his prophet daughter, Daenys, and paid no mind to those same lords who mocked him for leaving "cowardly". Those dragonlords all died, no doubt, screaming while the entire peninsula drowned in the Smoking Sea years later.

Fifthly, The real-life House of Tudor, Elizabeth I's house, was a house that ruled England after Henry VII took the throne through conquest and after presenting himself as a candidate to those opposed to the Plantagenet York House. The Tudors weren't a "big" house compared to these houses. And yet it produced notable people.... including Elizabeth I.

Same with the Targs: Jaehaerys I who improved several infrastructures for improved living at King’s Landing; his wife Queen Alysanne who had to press him to abolish the right of first night; Visenya the Conqueror, who created the Kingsguard; Rhaenys the Conqueror, who criminalized men beating their fight to death if they found adultery.

It really doesn’t matter how “prestigious” you think you are. If you are at a heavy disadvantage, you are at a heavy disadvantage. If you know how to wield power and can see opportunities, that others don’t or think aren’t there, you have the ability to do something with it efficiently. And if someone or a group of people see an opportunity to grab power, they have the choice to do it or not. Aegon and his sisters had dragons and they used them well enough to establish a dynasty, conquer, and unify whole territories, forever changing history. They were literally the turning point of a long story in "humankind", for better or worse.

This is the name of the game of politics, anon. No one is exempt and everyone is subject to conquest.

(And I love how you say the Targs aren’t gods and aren’t special, but then go on to try to express how the Andal/FM Westerosi lords are this amazing, elite group of fellows, as if you are one of them.)

And if your rule actually brings about more good than the previous fractious infighting between several different lords styling themselves “kings”/“queens”, then maybe we need to change the meaning of “prestigious”.

You: “Then when the Targs lose their dragons I don’t get why theq other noble houses that used to be kings don’t just team up to overthrow the weakened Targ upstarts. I guess they were just brainwashed to believe in Targ superiority and therefore believed the Targs were still the rightful rulers despite their loss of the dragons.”

As if with the right of first night, Westerosi lords didn’t themselves “brainwash”--or try to--their vassals and peasants into giving up their newlywed girls so it would easier to collect their “prize”?!

As if the current Lannisters do not try to actively impress upon every they meet and peasants of their own inborn excellence?! Who do you think Cersei and Tywin are?! The quality of their respective attitudes and identities?

If you actually read b/t the lines of Fire and Blood’s account of Aegon I’s rule over Westeros, you’d see that the lords of Westeros themselves wanted to gain power and influence, accepting the Targs’ rule.

It’s easy to suspect why then, of course. Why after, with there being no dragons?

If you actually can’t think why the nobles accepted Targ rule without their dragons, there’s not much I can do for you. And you're not really asking me, just spitting a diatribe. So you anon are just going to have to figure it out yourself.

EDIT #1: Aegon, Rhaenys, & Visenya all only conquered Westeros for the sake of saving the world. They all had the opportunity to attack for years, yet didn't. Only after Aegon had his vision/dragon dream alluded to in AWoIaF and F&B.

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cazort · 7 months

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I know this may strike some as a cynical take, but I want to point out that Netanyahu and other Israeli hardliners have a direct incentive in seeing their own citizens slaughtered by Hamas, because it furthers their agenda.

Here is how they benefit:

It raises the level of anger, hate, and us-vs-them thinking in the voting populace, increasing the desire for retaliation and thus increasing political support for aggressive military action against Palestinians, including both slaughter of Palestinian civilians and seizing of land, and also for more restrictive policies like tightening of checkpoints, economic isolation, etc. These are policies the hardliners have always wanted and are always looking for excuses to implement.

It distracts from the highly unpopular reforms Netanyahu and his supporters have been doing to consolidate power, remove checks and balances and make the Israeli government less democratic and more authoritarian. Just a few weeks ago there were massive protests against these reforms, and calls for Netanyahu to resign or be ousted, but now this discussion has been totally sidelined by this new "war".

It also distracts from the corruption in Netanyahu's regime, including the large number of Hasidim and ultra-Orthodox who are riding on government welfare payments while avoiding military service, and who then give Netanyahu a large portion of his power.

I'm not saying that Netanyahu orchestrated or planned the Hamas attack. But he has definitely been complicit in actively creating an environment that led to this attack.

The current Israeli government's policies have focused on things that increase suffering for the Palestinian people, the sort of "apartheid" state, and they engage in security theater, but while showing incompetence in actual border security.

I do not think this is a coincidence. Having the appearance of strong security but actual weak security, and then escalating the antagonism and oppression of the Palestinian people is exactly the mix of factors that empowers Hamas and encourages and enables them to attack the Israeli people like we have seen recently.

And then when the IDF does carry out operations in Palestine? They flaunt cruel practices like the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas, banned by international convention. Why? Because this is just going to make the Palestinians even more angry and radicalized, driving more of them to continue supporting and joining Hamas. By making themselves into a demon, the Israeli government draws out the sort of violent, depraved behavior that we have seen in the recent Hamas attack, that gives the hardliners the excuse they want to carry their genocide of the Palestinian people out to completion.

I do not see any evidence that Netanyahu actually cares at all about the Israeli people. I don't know for sure what is going on in his head, if he's a cold, calculating schemer, or if he is a passionate zealot who believes his own lies, or some other depraved scenario, but I do know his actions and the actions of his government drive in that the people getting killed are just pawns in a broader scheme to consolidate power and seize as much of Palestine as possible. I see no evidence that he actually cares about his own people in a deep way. All Israeli lives lost simply serve to consolidate his power and further his agenda, and the more brutal and cruel the loss of those lives are, the better for him.

I think it is time people start holding Netanyahu and his government accountable, and it is time the world starts seeing him and the other key people in his government as the war criminals that they are. They are slaughtering the Palestinians while using their own citizens as fodder in their agenda.

#benjamin netanyahu #israel #palestine #hamas

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genderbinaryisforlosers · 2 years

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ooohhhh here's a thought. acofaf spoilers ahead

there are several ways to consolidate power. i mean regular, run-of-the-mill influence and say, but since this is Faerie we're talking about, i also mean magic. the strength of the houses and courts depends on magic and vice versa. two methods worth talking about here: conquest. and marriage.

until recently, the Unseelie Court was at war with the Goblin Court. until recently, the Court of Wonder was engaged to the Goblin Court. Princess Suntar and Prince Apollo now have their attentions turned elsewhere. to the Lords of the Wing.

to the Lords of the Wing, whose - rumour has it - magic is failing, house is dying. “great!” think Suntar and Apollo. “there's a court house that'll go down easy when Unseelie and Wonder swallow it.” they want all the magic for themselves. according to Andhera, the Unseelie Court treats magjc as scarce. Squak and Chirp throw it around with wild abandon. i think Apollo and Suntar want to keep it in the family. by, ironically, destroying the Lords of the Wing, and ushering in the demise that Grandfather was so eager to avoid. of course, they also want to take magic back from the material plane. but that's not all.

because as Aabria says, the truth potion forcing you to tell no lies does not mean you are compelled to tell the whole truth. and i wonder if that's what actually caught her off guard about Chirp's arcane ibis.

i also wonder what this means for Hob. after all, it was his victories that brought an end to the conflict and a beginning to the engagement for the Goblin Court. why did Wonder and Unseelie withdraw from conquering Goblin? you might say Hob made military conquest too difficult. what about marriage? was there something stopping their access to Goblin magic from that end? maybe it's as simple as goblins not disappearing so easily. it might have turned out as more of a union of houses than a subsumption of one, and that would have only divided the magic further.

maybe this marks the end of the Blooms as they know it because pretty soon it's not going to be a celebration of courts coming together. it's instead going to be... what? the Unseelie and Court of Wonder stockpiling magic in their counting-house while all the other courts starve for it and die off, like Binx's people?

(i find myself pondering who else is in on this alliance. is the Seelie cut out of the deal by the presence of the Unseelie? does Wuvvy’s presence at the salon perhaps indicate an attempt to save Hoof and Claw from Craft’s fate?)

tldr; the villain of acofaf is imperialism, and it’s not choosy about whether it colonises through marriage or conquest. the magic is not waning. the magic is being stolen and hoarded.

#a court of fey and flowers #acofaf spoilers #dimension 20 #d20 spoilers #my theories #riley rambles #my brain decided this was important enough to wake me up at 5:30am for. so here take it

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