lunitadeurano

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Friendly reminder that you're not required to publicly take sides in any geopolitical conflict you don't understand.

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I FUCKING LOVE INFORMATION!!! I WANT TO LEARN EVERY THING AND KNOW EVERYTHING!!!!! I WANT TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ABOUT LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING!!!!!! I AM UTTERLY CONSUMED BY MY THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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relatable

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what I love about catelyn’s characterization is that she isn’t everyone’s mother. she refuses to treat jon like one of her own. she doesn’t have any “motherly instincts” towards theon. even with brienne, she connects with her on more of a woman to woman level than through some mother-daughter dynamic. she never feels obligated to play the angelic “mother to all” figure.

but that’s the best part about her journey as a mother—it’s kind of messy. she has a favorite child, she’s forced to choose between her kids, she actively resents a motherless boy, she dislikes the hostage child living in her home. like yeah catelyn’s love for her children is beautiful and “pure” or whatever, but it also makes her cruel, selfish, impulsive, ruthless, even vengeful.

tbh catelyn’s sense of motherhood is just so unapologetically human, so refreshingly honest. she may be a mother, but there’s nothing romantic or intuitive or easy about it. catelyn stark loves her children, but it’s not that simple.

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I made an updated version

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Webtoon characters I am supposed to hate/dislike but I love/like instead:

1) Rashta Iskua (The Remarried Empress):

Even before we meet Rashta we are suppose to hate her, Laura talks very poorly about her and even the comments call her demeaning names and say how much of an awful person she is.

After we properly meet Rashta the author goes out of their way to present her as this evil mastermind who is out to ruin Navier's as well as all of her allies lives (example, when she smirks as Laura gets drugged away to the dungeon)

And this is pretty much what happens throughout the comic, Navier gets praised for just existing and her flaws are either ignored or are not presented as flaws while Rashta gets blamed for almost anything bad happening in the story with her flaws being exaggerated.

Now don't get me wrong, I am aware that Rashta has done some horrible and unforgivable things (and I am not gonna try and justify them), but so did Heinry, Ergi and other characters who get immediately forgiven.

Rashta is an illiterate, traumatized and naive young girl who got enslaved as a child, she got traumatised by all of the horrible things Alan and his family have done to her and yet I am suppose to scorn her for not understanding how things work in her new life and for wanting a better future for her and her baby, all the while I am suppose to coddle an empress who was born with a silver spoon on her mouth amd cheer for her psychopath husband who commits atrocities in her name.

Rashta is is not a good person and I won't make any excuses for her, but I can't help but feel so bad for her. She deserved so much better, both in terms of writing and how the fandom treats her.

2) Lady Krista (The Remarried Empress):

Krista is another female character from TRE who deserved so much better.

All she ever wanted was to keep her position as a queen,aka the same thing that Navier wanted, but because she doesn't kiss the MC's ass she is the villain.

Yes, working with Kuffman ( or whatever his name is) and trying to go after her brother in law aren't exactly the best things to do, but like as said earlier all she ever wanted as not to be replaced.

This poor woman lost her husband, she got replaced as queen by a foreign woman, most of her ladies in waiting abandoned her and her family turned their back at her to avoid Heinry's wrath. She ended up taking her life just like Rashta did and just like Rashta no one cared.

Hell, people started liking her, so to remedy that, the author turned her into a ped* who went after a much younger man, but even that doesn't mean anything when Navier married said younger man.

This woman deserved so much better, I hope she and Rashta can find peace in the afterlife.

3) Stace (Down To Earth)

The moment we are introduced to Stace we are suppose to dislike him because he annoys the MC Kade and that dislike slowly turns into hate because Stace is trying to get with the FL Zaida (I think this is how you write her name).

People will say that Stace is a creepy weirdo who tries to steal the MC's girl, even though Kade and Zaida weren't dating at the time, the dude just tried to shoot his shot after Zaida herself told him that she and Kade weren't dating.

I see a lot of people bringing up the fact that Stace is a photographer who wanted Zaida to be a model and take pictures of her and therefore he is a creep, completely ignoring the fact that Stace is a manager at Spencers and the reason he is looking for models is because he wants to advertise the shop.

"But he put her in lingerie so he is a creep", again, he is manager at SPENCERS, lingerie is not something unusual in that shop. Besides, Stace didn't force anything on Zaida, the moment she said she wanted to change because she felt uncomfortable, he allowed it without any problem. Stace didn't even force Zaida to take the job, he and Suzy suggested it so that Zaida can be more independent from Kade and have her own life and money.

And speaking of Kade, I'd argue he is the actual creep. The only reason he saved Zaida is because he found her sexy and beautiful, he even said how he would kick her out if she turned out to be a child. He is the one who made the "No feelings rule" yet he constantly sexualises Zaida and is clearly attracted to her. Also, he bought her lingerie as nightwear when they knew eachother for one week. Kade didn't ask Zaida what she would like to wear or if she'd feel comfortable wearing lingerie but he bought it anyway so he can ogle her.

Even so, people find it cute when Kade does these things, but god forbid Stace breaths the same air as the MCs without getting flammed in the comments.

And yes, I am aware that Stace called Zaida a monster, but if the girl I had a crush on suddenly grew horns and his eyes started glowing, I'll freak out as well.

Stace should fire both Kade and Zaida and find some real friends, cause he deserves so much better.

4) Thanatos (Lore Olympus)

People hated Thanatos in the beginning of the story because he tried to get Persephone fired and for exposing her crimes later on.

Honestly speaking I never hated him, in fact he has always been one of my favourites.

Thanatos had every right to want Persephone gone, she had zero experience in the field she was suppose to be working on and she got special treatment from Hades, aka her boss.

Imagine if this was real life for a second, imagine your 40 year old boss bringing in a barely legal girl to work for him, who has zero prior experience in working and gets special treatment on top of that.

Not only is this pretty gross but also very unfair to the other employees who had to work their asses off to get the job they have and never got any benefits form their boss. It's even more unfair to Thanatos who is Hades's adoptive son and never got treated any different than the other employees, but this inexperienced child gets the VIP treatment from Hades.

Thanatos geta treated horribly throughout the comic especially from his so called father. Hades ignores, belittles and in general doesn't care about him. Hades reaches out to Thanatos only because he needs his help not because he cares about his adoptive son. The "apology" Hades gave was Bakugou levels bad and it was basically Hades going "I am a traumatized uwu emo boy so you can't hate me".

Thanatos gets victim blamed because he was a "difficult child" that didn't make things easier for Hades, a grown ass adult. And before anyone says "but Hades was not ready to become a father at the time", true, but he could have at least tried to pay attention to this abandoned child or he could ask for help raising him.

His also has a pretty shitty girlfriend. Daphne tells him how Hades giving Persephone special treatment is not a big deal and he should stop whining about it. She also invites Hades into their home even though Thanatos told her how he doesn't want to talk to him.

My boy deserves a rise for putting up with all of this bullshit.

5) Demeter (Lore Olympus)

I feel so bad for Demeter. She is constantly demonized in every Hades and Persephone retelling and LO is no different.

This woman has done so much and received so little.

She fulfilled her role as a daughter, sister and fighter exceptionally well and yet no one acknowledged her for anything.

Zeus told her that he'll make her queen of the gods if they sleep together, only for him to choose Hera instead. He didn't even make her queen of the mortal realm, despite Demeter being the reason the realm is alive and flourishing, he just tossed her aside and forgot about her. The only time Zeus remembers her existence is when he needs something from her and then throws a tantrum when she declines.

Hades treats her the worst. First, he refuses to give her the volcanos, they are important to him but he never told her why they are so important. Second, he constantly belittles and demeans her because "she is an annoying helicopter mom", because god forbid a mother doesn't want an old, dusty man with bad reputation near her teenage daughter.

Like, Demeter has every right to be concerned and guess what, she was right! Persephone hasn't been to Olympus for one month and she gets drugged, kidnapped and SA'ed. Demeter was right about the other gods being assholes and Olympus being dangerous.

Anyway, I can go on and on about Demeter but I am pretty sure you get my point. This woman should disown Persephone and go live her life with the nymphs and her son, far away from the rest of the gods.

6) Minthe (Lore Olympus)

Ah yes, the infamous Minthe. Even people who have never read the comic recognize her as the "Trashta" of LO.

Minthe is proof that it doesn't matter whether you are the side chick or the main girl, what matters is that you are the main character.

Persephone is a homewrecker but because she is the FL it's ok for her to steal Minthe's man.

Yes, Minthe and Hades's relationship was toxic af and although I am not trying to justify Minthe's abusive behaviour, Hades is no better

He himself financially abused Minthe, he emotionally cheated on her with barely legal girl and never bothered to defend her against his racist family.

Hell, he was going to propose to her until he saw a younger and more vulnerable girl and he completely forgot about his girlfriend.

Minthe exposing Persephone was petty af, but I don't see the problem here. Persephone committed a crime, so even though Minthe did it for selfish reasons I don't see a problem with a mass murder getting consequences.

Again, I can go on an on about Minthe but I have more characters to talk about.

Girl should go and live her life with that one mortal who thought she was a goddess, far away from any god, cause she deserves a good life after what she has been through.

Also, an honourable mention to Leuce, Alex and every other character who got screwed over by the gods, they all deserved so much better.

7) Prince Bavilo (The Princess's Jewels)

Ok, Bavilo is not the same as the others, mainly because you are not suppose to hate him after a certain point, but I still wanted to talk about him.

We are suppose to hate him by the moment we see him because he is mean to the perfect FL Arianna. People call him jealous and spiteful because he isn't as perfect as his sister but Bavilo's anger towards Arianna makes perfect sense.

For one thing, he was right about Arianna setting a bad example to other women. She is a princess who collects men like Pokémon for her harem without caring about anyone else but herself.

She took away a general from another country and she basically kidnapped a dude after she threatened to start a war with his country if he didn't submit to her.

This doesn't just set a bad example for young girls who will definitely try to imitate Arianna but will definitely cause problems for the kingdom, Bavilo has every right to be against his sister.

His life is absolutely shit, his mother physically and emotionally abuses him on a daily basis, she is using him to gain more power and generally doesn't really care about him, his brothers don't seem to think highly of him, no matter how hard he tries to get his father's approval the king will never acknowledge him or love him as he loves Arianna and on top of all of that the queen (aka Arianna's mother whose name I don't remember and don't care to look up) is manipulating him, she wants Bavilo on her side to get back at his mother but just like everyone else she doesn't care about him.

His anger towards Arianna is completely valid, he suffers so much while his spoiled sister gets all the love and attention not only from their father but from literally anyone who knows her.

This boy should run away from his shitty and toxic family and cut all ties with them and marry a woman who would truly love him, become king and start his own family. He deserves a happy ending.

8) Queen Phoebe and Lord Demeter (This Isekai Maid is Forming a Union)

Though these two are pretty similar, so I decided to put them together.

First of all, both are actual villains and not demonized characters like the rest of the people in the list.

And second, both of them are well written characters, with goals and motivations instead of hate sinks to make the MC look better.

Both of them are a deconstruction of manhwa tropes, Phoebe is the MC who dies and gets reincarnated as a scorned young noblewoman and Marinus is the ML who is a straight up a psycho that can only be fixed by the FL's love.

But unlike stuff you'd see in a generic manhwa, these two actually face consequences for their actions and are not glazed by the author.

Phoebe is an elitist and racist woman who abused her power, she doesn't care about anyone other than herself and her family and is a horrible human being who mistreates her servants and will do extremely messed up stuff to get what she wants . This is pretty much how every OI protagonist acts like, the difference is the author doesn't let Phoebe get away scott free just because she suffered, she gets a very deserved karma and is forced into hiding after the commoners started a coup against her and her family.

Marinus is written is a similar way. Despite his tragic backstory,the narrative does not excuse his actions because of his trauma. Marinus committed mass murder, he killed the MC Bridgette in the first timeline and her fellow servants ( who were all minorities btw) after they tried to protect her. Then he pretended to have amnesia so that Annette (the FL) won't be mad at him. He was an awful father, he killed his own wife after she wanted to divorce him and poisoned his own daughter because he liked to feel needed (also he was a huge asshole to his son)

Yet, despite all of this, Phoebe and Marinus are my favourite characters. They are very well written and interesting, they move the plot forward without being plot devices and the author gave them a reason as to why the act and think the way they do without justifying any of their horrible actions.

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hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god

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The most human thing a character can do is contradict themselves.

The cynic who still carries a childhood stuffed animal.

The liar who craves honesty.

The overthinker who makes reckless decisions.

The heartbreaker who believes in soulmates.

The pacifist who holds lifelong grudges.

The tough guy who cries during old movies.

The thrill-seeker who's terrified of commitment.

The grump who’s unfailingly polite to waitstaff.

People aren’t consistent. Your characters shouldn’t be either.

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Me writing a fantasy book: oh no i'm probably making it way too obvious that X character was adopted because their name is from a different language than the names of their family members

Webtoons literally all the time: And then Ivan, Marcel and Ulrich, who are full-blooded brothers, killed each other over their love for the milkmaid Aphrodite, who is from the same geographical area as them, and no one saw anything wrong with it when she ran away with her bodyguard Anakin who is also from the same town and they named their daughter Judith.

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hopefully this will be me.

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can anyone find me that mesopotamian clay tablet telling you to marry a party girl because she'll bring you joy

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the way huan'er visually transforms into consort hua when she returns to the palace, only slightly subdued,, oh it gets me every time. my favourite part has to be her headpiece, which has the same blue and red colours used in the centre, but shilan's was extravagant and large, hanging out over her head, showing her domineering nature, while huan'er's is close to her headpiece, smaller, showing her talent and preference for handling things quietly and staying understated to avoid conflict

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Posted by Steven Payne to Facebook group British Medieval History:

People in the Middle Ages valued sweet smelling breath and bodies, seeing them as desirable, so there is a great deal of evidence from the period of tooth pastes, powders and deodorants. Contrary to the typical Hollywood depiction of medieval peasants with blackened and rotting teeth, the average person had teeth which were in fairly good condition, mainly due to the rarity of sugar in the diet. Most medieval people could not afford sugar and those who could used it sparingly. Archaeological data shows that only 20% of teeth had signs of decay, as opposed to 90% in the early twentieth century. The main dental problem for medieval people was not decay but wear, due to a high content of grit in the main staple, bread. For deodorants, soap was available for the wealthy, but a variety of herbs and other preparations were also used. Soapwort is a plant native to Europe and Asia which, when soaked in water, produces an effective liquid soap. Mint, cloves and thyme were also extensively used by simply rubbing into the skin, and alum (hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate) was an effective deodorant. I am trying to keep to 14th century technology on my pilgrimage to Canterbury, which gives me various options when looking at hygiene. In the middle ages people generally cleaned their teeth by rubbing them and their gums with a rough linen cloth, or the chewed end of a stick. There are various recipes for pastes and powders that could be put on the cloth to help clean the teeth, but I have chosen simple salt to whiten them and to aid fresh breath. I will also be using the stick method, and will be taking along a supply of liquorice root sticks for that purpose. I also have a few blocks of alum, which when rubbed into wet skin has a deodorising effect. Alum, like beeswax, was used extensively in the middle ages for a variety of purposes, also being useful: * in the purification of drinking water as a flocculant * as a styptic to stop bleeding from minor cuts * as a pickling agent to help keep pickles crisp * as a flame retardant * as an ingredient in modelling clay * as an ingredient in cosmetics and skin whiteners * as an ingredient in some brands of toothpaste The photograph shows my wash kit including home made olive oil soap, salt for the teeth, a block of deodorising alum, cloves, a boxwood comb made for me by Peter Crossman of Crossman Crafts and some liquorice root sticks, all on a woollen ‘towel’. Note that the cloves are kept in a ventilated box….this is because insects hate the smell of cloves and so a perforated box will keep them out of my kit and food bag when I am sleeping rough. TIP: If you steep some cloves to obtain the oil and put the liquid around the doors and windows of your house, it keeps spiders and insects out.

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I’ll never forget that in the very first volumes Mahidevran was a fearsome enemy and real threat, now she just exists

i'm reminded of the line from the manga yume no shizuku, kin no torikago's version of mahidevran - "you may have the sultan's love all you want, but you cannot have his children" - right after she has a concubine who became pregnant with suleiman's child killed. and wow i think it's a damn shame that mc doesn't have a character with that sort of attitude. to be fair the show's writing is too sexist for something that realistic, every major woman in the harem has to be in love with her literal slaveowner apparently, but i can dream

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Reading Treasure: And Marie Antoinette Said: “I was a queen, and you took away my crown…”

Did Marie Antoinette really say this popular quote? Let’s take a closer look at its origins and possible authenticity!

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I feel a lot of historical fiction and pop history makes the mistake of confusing a lack of evidence with a lack of personality, even down to a lack of personhood. People who die young, then and now, were real people. They had personalities. They got angry, they could be happy and sad, they wanted things, they cracked jokes, they loved people. Even if this doesn't appear on the historical record, this is true. They didn't spend their entire lives tucked up in chairs or beds and doing nothing but fainting or coughing blood into handkerchiefs like a tragic saint as violins softly played and angels wept. Those who died as a result of long-term illness weren't husks of human beings, they were still people. And that makes the assumption that death at a young age was the result of a chronic, long-term illness when it could just as easily be a sudden death.

I think this fact is particularly lost when it comes to women or girls, particularly those who died from complications in childbirth. I wish we spent a bit of time seeing them as people who, despite the lack of evidence, would have had a distinct personality, instead of seeing them passively tragic victims who were always doomed to die and so never developed a personality.

It's one of the reasons that I really appreciate the survival of two literary memorials to Blanche of Lancaster that showed the impact of her existence on those around her or attempts to build up a sense of what a woman was like outside of her death (Chris-Given-Wilson's discussion on Mary de Bohun was very much the basis for this post of mine). Even if the evidence can't bring give a sense of these people in same breadth as long-lived contemporaries it does tell us something about them. In the case of Blanche, we may never know what she was like beyond the heavily idealised memorial but we know she was valued and missed when she died. That must have been because of who she was.