#A CHANCE AT REDEMPTION...A CHANCE AT LOVE

[madockisser]

cardan/nicasia: why they’ll never happen again analysis/speculation

a while back i saw someone (or rather, a thread of ppl saying that they hope cardan and nicasia don’t get it on in the next book which is supposed to be nicasias book (supposedly) and i even saw someone say they WISH THEY DO ?!

so here’s your fun reminder of what nicasia put cardan through!

I’ve gathered together all the shit nicasia did to cardan: being the first girl he loved then breaking his heart w his friend, allowing cardan to catch them ON HIS BEDROOM FLOOR. (not entirely her fault but she totally had shits and giggles abt it when cardan confronted her) then when Locke screwed her over, she got CARDAN and his power as prince, to harass the girl(s) locke chose over her, one of which cardan liked, then later on was trying to manipulate him to marry her (which i think is when cardan realized they weren’t rly even friends anymore), THEN kidnapping and torturing the girl she knew cardan loved, AND befriending his abusive neglectful mother!

like damn. how u even fumble that bad, not just romantically but as a friend.

also I’d like to add her consistent entitlement, not just the whole “i bully girls bc I’m a princess and i can!” but the “cardan take me back even after i emotionally ruined you multiple times!” 😐

poor cardan

anyway, I’ve read lots of holly black books, and she is VERY mindful w abusive sort of relationships. and cheating relationships. she writes about them a LOT and each time they are pretty irredeemable.

note(the only exceptions):Taryn and hazel (darkest part of the forest) who sorta cheated on accident/ it wasn’t their fault-> but didn’t end well

add on note sorry: “but nicasia cheated on cardan on accident bc Locke was a gancanagh!” false! nicasia admitted that what her and Locke were doing was prolonged, the scene that cardan finds them is not their first time screwing around. nicasia KNOWINGLY cheated on cardan. then she was like “ok but i still care abt u! take me back” ?

now you can say that it could sorta be classified as an accident due to lockes natures (which are actually really disturbing if u think abt it) and that’s true, i never blamed nicasia for that relationship, but i do blame her for all the utter dogshit she not only put cardan thru, but Jude.

and this is cardan we are talking about. he who killed half an army for Jude when madoc tried taking his daughter back (sounds funny out of context).

we must remember that cardan does not want Jude hurt and humiliated and that’s exactly what nicasia went and did to Jude. through all the books bro. nicasia literally kidnapped and tortured Jude in the undersea so there’s 0 chance of cardan touching nicasia unless maybe to turn her into a tree again (but he can always just do that at a distance 😛)

anyway back to the cheating:

which is why i know that holly would never pull any sort of bull w cardan and nicasia, and you may be thinking (well that’s bullshit what do u know?) 3 separate books w cheating tropes, and 5+ diff relationships that involve cheating w no redemption. LOL

anyway black and i certainly agree on that front, and the way she uses the trope so consistently, and makes it so the cheaters are never endgame, or have a horrible death (Locke AND his mom, also Eva Duarte 😭the dude Ben dated from dpotf, and Kaye and that guy Janet was dating, Val and Tom and dave and lolli (modern faerie tales)) is pretty telling!

holly is great at writing healthy relationships, and she knows that tcp is her biggest hit w the media, so she won’t go and fuck that, not just bc she would never and it’s out of her writing style and character and literally moral compass when it comes to writing relationships, but also bc her publishers/editors would NEVER let that slide.

but i can’t wait for her book! i love knowing that nicasia will never have a chance w cardan again, it’s no less than what she deserves 😋

anyway sorry for ranting! I just feel so strongly abt this topic, cardan would never cheat on Jude, since he’s been cheated on before, and it was heart wrenching, and bc of his upbringing, he would never. if you haven’t, go thru my masterlist in my pinned and find the cardan /nicasia thing where i explain why he wouldn’t cheat far better there!

But feel free to add on, i probably missed a few things so lmk!! 🫶

[77ngiez]

hey guys do we realize that the main difference betwen how kai and midori developed is that kai was given the chance to learn what normal life and love and family was like by working with chidouins while midori was kept under asunaros thumb all his life. do we realize that just a few changes could have kai acting just as cruel and merciless as midori. do we realize that midori is a victim of asunaro too, and though that doesn't excuse his actions it does make them more tragic. do we realize this or are we all being serious when we say midori is the only character who isn't worth redemption.

[floralcavern]

It’s incredibly frustrating to me when people say that Catholic faith is evil and whatnot. Because it goes to show that they’ve never actually looked into what we believe. We believe that everyone has the capacity for good. Everyone deserves second, third, fourth, fifth, INFINITE chances. Everyone is worthy of love. Everyone is worthy of respect. Everyone is worthy of change. Everyone is worthy of happiness.

But, instead, people only focus on the bad history of the Church. As if the Bible and Jesus haven’t stated MANY times before that humans are flawed creatures. That humans will be humans and use free will to do bad things. That includes using the name of God to do bad things. And it’s even more infuriating when people act cruelly to Catholics because of our religion because it’s an ‘evil and fascist religion’ (an actual thing I’ve heard way too many times).

Catholics, at least ones who actually know shit about the Bible, know that telling people “You’re going to Hell” is a sin. Catholics know and can acknowledge that the Church has done bad things in the past and that we have done bad things. But we are NOT the past. There are reasons we look up to Jesus and the saints. Like I said earlier. One of the key points of the Church is that we believe in redemption. Just look at Saint Paul.

[welcome-to-clouds-cuckooland]

bases by SelenaEde and Blizzaria-Glacer24 (both on deviantart)

my mlp headcanons and ships!!! no ship for rainbow, celestia, or applebloom (they're aroace). big mac has 2 versions 'cause he's a drag queen! more specifics under the cut ^^

starlight x pinkie x fluttershy

starlight glimmer - audhd, anxiety, bpd, demigirl (she/its), lesbian; starlight is the headmare of the school of friendship, and still the assistant in its friend trixie’s magic shows. starlight truly believed that removing ponies’ cutie marks would solve everything, that they were the reason why everything in its life was wrong, and that when it founded our town, it found real friendship. when twilight and their friends came, it believed that twilight would understand, and fluttershy was so keen and supportive, but then it appeared twilight that had ruined everything. starlight became swallowed up in revenge, determined to dig her grave, and she convinced herself that if she removed the six friends’ cutie marks, took the shackles of destiny away from them, everything would be better. when she was shown the destruction she had caused with her time travel, at first she was hesitant to accept it, to accept that she had hurt people, that she was wrong. it felt like its trauma had been invalidated, yet it was facing the reality right there and then, and revenge was quickly replaced with guilt. maybe it really was at fault for everything. could it heal, did it deserve forgiveness? many ponies did not completely forgive her at first, even twilight remained wary after offering her a chance, but it was trixie, fluttershy, and pinkie who showed her the path to redemption. pinkie threw parties for starlight, fluttershy encouraged her to practice companionship by using animals, and trixie knew what starlight was going through. trixie became her best friend, while fluttershy and pinkie became her partners.

pinkamena diane pie - audhd, bpd, myopia, strabismus, non-binary transmasc (he/its + cake/cupcake), aroace lesbian; pinkie was effectively adopted by the cakes, though he still loves his siblings. it loves playing and snuggling with animals with fluttershy, throwing parties for its friends and lovers, teaching starlight how to bake, and helping starlight run the school of friendship.

fluttershy - autistic, anxiety, transfem (she/they), lesbian; fluttershy loves making lots of gifts and setting up tea parties for her lovers starlight and pinkie, and makes sure to take very good care of gummy. they always enjoy visiting new town, and the little calm spots pinkie makes for them at parties. they think of discord as another sibling, and check in on him every now and then like they do with zephyr.

rarity x applejack

lady rarity - audhd, demigirl (she/her + needle/sew), bisexual; rarity moved to sweet apple acres with applejack, and finding the quaint scenery and life with her beloved the best environment for her work. needle still has a heart for the city, and needs to take trips for business, so she’s also traveling whenever she can, but her home is always by her side, carrying her luggage.

applejack - autistic, ocd, transfem (she/her), lesbian; applejack loves getting her hooves dirty for her lady, whether that be getting materials, or trying to get rarity used to let loose, too. applejack has taken over sweet apple acres since big mac left to pursue his dreams, but she goes with rarity on most of her city trips.

trixie x marble x twilight

trixie lulamoon - audhd, transfem (name only), bisexual; trixie works as as the student counsellor at the school of friendship, and puts on magic shows both for the school and publicly. most often trixie puts on shows in twilight’s castle, in the stage area. marble and starlight are both assistants in these shows, and twilight helps trixie practice magic.

marble tatiana pie - autistic, anxiety, female (she/her), finsexual; marble was just a shy girl from a small farm with dreams of seeing the big wide world, to be brave like her siblings. trixie and twilight took her hoof and gave it all to her, helped her break out of her shell, as they saw the potential in this anxious mare. she’s so much more thanks to them, and little does she know, she brightens up their life as much as they do for her.

princess twilight sparkle - audhd, anxiety, hyperopia, non-binary (they/them), ace-panromantic; twilight renovated their castle with their friends and lovers to make it feel more cozy, and prefers acting as a librarian over their princess duties. they get along well with marble pie for their love of books, and with trixie for her antics and love of magic.

captain rainbow dash - audhd, transmasc (he/him), aroace; rainbow dash doesn’t need no romance, friendship is enough for him! though this hotshot may constantly flirt, he has no real interest in a relationship, and it's all just for fun and to make others feel good about themselves.

pipsqueak x spike

pipsqueak - audhd, male (he/him), gay; he and spike met when spike was accompanying the cutie mark crusaders one day, and they hit it off almost immediately. they relate to each other a lot, and mostly just have a lot of fun with each other.

spike - autistic, anxiety, bxy (they/he/she), bisexual; twilight was starting middle school when they hatched spike, and they took them in as a younger sibling. because dragons age slower than ponies, spike hit teen years when the mane six started teaching at the school of friendship. he sort of still hates rarity for leading them on as a kid, and he’s in a bit of a rebel phase, though pipsqueak keeps him calm. she’s the ambassador between dragons and ponies, and pipsqueak likes to go with her to the dragon lands.

muffins x maud

muffins - audhd, amblyopia, girlfluid (she/its), lesbian; after years of not being sure about itself, muffins has come to terms with its disabilities and knows that it doesn’t need to be fixed. she met maud at a dance, and they fell in love. they’re making it work, in a world not made for them.

maud avery pie - autistic, female (she/her), ace-demiromantic; maud broke up with mudbriar because she realized he was kind of just a carbon copy of her and she didn't really feel comfortable with that, and they were drifting apart after the honeymoon phase. shortly after the breakup, she went to a dance, still a bit shaken. but she was comforted by muffins, and this time the spark of love at first sight didn’t go out.

limestone x zephyr

limestone rosaline pie - audhd, bipolar, genderfluid (she/he/they), bisexual; limestone always knew she was going to take over the farm. maud was off studying, pinkie was off being a hero, and marble never really had the skills for it, not to mention she was frolicking with a princess now. pinkie's friend fluttershy had a brother who needed a place to stay for just a while to get him on his hooves, and they agreed to let him move into the farm. little did they know, zephyr would be staying much longer than they planned, and limestone hopes that it stays that way. they’ve started a great relationship together, to the dismay of many ponies around them.

zephyr breeze - adhd, male (he/him), bisexual; after rainbow dash and fluttershy helped him realize that his talent is being a jack of all trades, he finally moved out of his parents’ place… and in with limestone pie. at first, they were just friends whose siblings were friends and limestone agreed to give him a hoof, but they fell hard for each other. he needed a pony like her in his life, and she finds it cute and fun to have him around. zephyr takes whatever job life hands him, though he actually puts some effort in this time around.

shining x sunburst

sir shining armor - adhd, male (he/him), bisexual; shining armor broke up with cadence on good terms before the wedding, but before it became public knowledge, chrysalis forced cadence to use her love magic for her plans, and the rest is history. long after the wedding, he fell head over hooves for sunburst, the cute, nerdy little librarian.

sunburst - audhd, anxiety, myopia, transmasc (he/they), gay; after sunburst's older sister sunset was selected to be celestia’s student, the family had great expectations for him. the pressure became especially great after sunset ended up running away to the human realm. he wanted to stay and support his friend starlight through a difficult time in her life, but he was made to separate from her, lie to her face. however, at celestia’s academy, they realized that life wasn’t for them; they wanted to be a humble researcher, a librarian perhaps, not a wizard or a prince. they fell for shining armor, the dumbest guard with a heart of gold they’ve ever met, and they tend to goof off with each other. they feel safe around him.

big mac x discord

bigby macintosh - autistic, anxiety, male (he/him), pansexual, drag queen; big mac always felt like he was missing something, and the sisterhooves’ social was the place he first started to get an idea of what that was. he never truly understood his cutie mark, never really understood why he liked dressing up and pretending to be a princess. that was until he met discord on guys’ night, and they ended up getting along really well. discord helped him realize his dream of being a drag queen, and together they brought orchard blossom into the gorgeous spotlight. discord is the little bit of chaos this farm boy’s life needed.

discord - audhd, pangender (any pronouns), demisexual; he was created long ago by grogar to be an agent of chaos, but he was too chaotic for grogar. seeing that she wasn't wanted, she made and went to her own chaos realm. when they discovered grogar was finally gone, they thought equestria would be for the taking, but they were soon turned to stone by celestia and luna. it didn’t have a total grasp on friendship or empathy, as it didn’t have the best parental figures or much experience in life, yet it was persuaded by the kindness of fluttershy, kindness it had never experienced before. chaos can still be fun if (mostly) harmless, as he found with big mac. he helped big mac achieve his drag race dreams, while big mac introduced him to fantasy roleplay, a chaotic fun that discord was missing.

applebloom - autistic, female (she/her), aroace; applebloom took to fashion like lady rarity, who quickly took her under sew wing as an apprentice. however, applebloom focuses on designing practical though gorgeous work-oriented outfits, and repairing and spicing up old, damaged clothes. she often helps out with sweetie belle’s costume designs for her shows, and helps anyone who she finds with a cutie mark problem. applejack has come a long way from her old views on fashion, and no matter what, she’s proud of her lil’ sis, even if its future isn't on the farm. applebloom still looks up to her sister a lot, and values being independent like her.

diamond tiara x sweetie belle x scootaloo

diamond tiara - autistic, female (she/her), bisexual; diamond tiara has found new purpose as a cutie mark crusader. she helps others start up and manage clubs, she manages the cutie mark crusaders as an organization, advertises their services, and more. her banter with scootaloo and sweetie belle has evolved into a close relationship.

sweetie belle - autistic, female (she/her), pansexual; sweetie belle loves singing, dancing, and writing songs, especially songs that encourage and inspire others. whenever somecreature has a cutie mark problem, she always finds herself singing about it to help them. her personal inspiration, singing-wise, is coloratura. rarity is so proud of belle for finding and pursuing her own interests and developing her skills in singing, and how far she's come with it. belle has come to notice and appreciate all of the work that rarity has done to raise her in their parents' absence, and finds her older sister’s work to be just as inspiring as coloratura’s. her banter with scootaloo and diamond tiara has evolved into a close relationship.

scootaloo - adhd, ocd, female (he/him), lesbian; scootaloo is an extremely active stuntpony, and he’s always ready to help those in need with cutie mark problems. they’re an orphan, who was adopted by rainbow dash. he still looks up to dash quite a lot, though less in an idolizing way and more like an older sibling. his banter with diamond tiara and sweetie belle has evolved into a close relationship.

babs seed x cozy glow 

babs seed - audhd, bigender (he/she), demisexual; babs seed has a talent in styling manes, feathers, and fur, and he helps creatures with their cutie mark problems as part of the extended cutie mark crusaders branch. she grew close to cozy glow when the cutie mark crusaders decided to help reform her, and found that they have more in common than they thought. she gives cozy glow free haircuts.

cozy glow - audhd, female (any pronouns), cupiosexual; she didn’t get much affection, nevermind friends, as a foal, so she never had much understanding of what friendship truly meant or felt like. her parents were both incredibly business-oriented, never caring much for her, so she saw them as just another way to move up in the world. after the events that took place in the school of friendship, she was adopted by starlight, pinkie, and fluttershy, and the cutie mark crusaders continued to treat her as one of their own, to help reform her. she was shown what friendship really meant, and that friends aren’t tools to use, rather they are companions. she felt like babs truly understood her out of all of her friends, and she likes to play chess with him.

princess celestia - agender (any pronouns), aroace; princess celestia was reckless, prideful, and self-absorbed in her youth, and failed to understand her younger sister or see what she was doing to them until it was too late. it was only after she fought her sister and banished her to the moon that she realized what she had done, and was struck with grief as she slowly closed herself off from the public for the thousand years luna was banished for. she has since learned from her mistakes and matured, learned to open up again, go out and socialize, and join in with activities. now she has her sister back, she feels whole again, and is much more adventurous than she used to be. she doesn’t desire a partner, and never has.

zecora x luna

zecora - autistic, non-binary (they/them), unlabeled; zecora left their home long ago, having never fit in, feeling like they were never appreciated there. they have since made a home in the everfree forest, as they find comfort in the strange and misunderstood. this is how they and princess luna bonded so well, with zecora in love with the very night and moon herself.

princess luna - autistic, bpd, female (they/she), lesbian; they were corrupted and turned into nightmare moon all those years ago due to their self-hatred, being neglected by starswirl and celestia, and being emotionally manipulated by those around them who they felt didn’t value their feelings or night. they felt trapped inside of a shadow of what they had become, and after nightmare moon was banished from their body by the elements, they felt incredibly guilty for their actions, and tortured themselves with the tantabus. she has since largely recovered from her feelings of guilt, and rebuilt a relationship with celestia. she uses her dreamwalking powers to help anycreature she can from within the castle, as social events make her feel uncomfortable. she fell in love with zecora, a lover of the night who understood how she felt.

chrysalis x cadence

chrysalis - autistic, bpd, gxrl (it/its), ace-cupioromantic; chrysalis and its hive needed love to survive. at first, chrysalis targeted shining armor for his love for the princess, but its focus shifted to cadence’s magic when it realized that shining armor’s love was no more, and cadence’s love magic was much stronger. after being defeated, chrysalis planned revenge on cadence and the mane six, and while they were kidnapped in the hive it taunted the love princess, becoming fascinated and obsessed with her. it saw starlight glimmer change its beloved subjects into something it didn’t recognize anymore, and couldn’t accept the love it was given. it would get cadence back, it would get its hive back, it would get revenge on starlight, it was determined. when it came back for its hive, however, chrysalis found changeling soldiers ready to arrest it, trained by the dragons themselves, and a very unhappy thorax. but they were willing to give it another chance at reformation, with help from cadence himself. hateful obsession has blossomed into hesitant understanding, and the changelings have been willing to accept chrysalis back into their hive. the dethroned queen now happily feeds on the disparate love of its obsession, as a part of the new hive.

princess cadence - boygirl (she/he), pansexual; shortly after cadence broke up with shining armor on good terms, she was kidnapped and replaced by chrysalis, who forced her to use her love magic on shining to keep up the charade. he hated chrysalis with all his being, and hoped that its defeat at the wedding would be the last he would see of it. it was not; he was once again kidnapped by chrysalis, and they both developed a toxic obsession with each other. the worst thing was, cadence had sympathy for the monster, and saw potential for good in it. if only it took starlight’s hoof. this is why, when the time came, she begrudgingly accepted to help reform chrysalis, and she realized she had gradually started to feed chrysalis. a strange love, but a love nonetheless.

radiant hope x sombra

radiant hope - adhd, transfem (she/her), bisexual; radiant hope has been encouraged by sombra to start pursuing her dream of becoming the princess of healing again, but first she wants to accompany them on their journey of redemption.

sombra - autistic, transmasc (he/they), bisexual; sombra was redeemed by radiant hope and the mane six shortly before they opened the school of friendship, and he rekindled his love with his childhood sweetheart. the two are now journeying to find all of the scattered pieces of princess amore. their umbral magic has found new purpose in using the darkness to protect others.

sunset x adagio

sunset shimmer - audhd, female (she/her), bisexual; as the element of empathy, sunset found that she had a lot in common with adagio, even before she helped her reform. as she worked with adagio on her reformation, they fell deeper in love. they are both now lead singers in a new band, with sunset doubling as lead guitarist, trixie on drums, sci-twi on the synth, and aria blaze and sonata dusk as backup vocalists. they have some friendly competition with the rainbow rocks, who are still sunset’s best friends. she still sends her little brother sunburst letters and visits him whenever she can, and it’s the greatest excitement if he’s able to make it to her shows.

adagio dazzle - adhd, girlflux (they/she), lesbian; even before sunset reformed them, adagio had budding feelings for their former rival, and after she showed so much care for them, they’ve completely fallen. this time, she’s actually putting effort into cultivating her singing talent, accepting her mistakes and learning from them, and has founded a great band with sunset in the process.

tempest x moondancer

tempest storm - autistic, demigirl (they/she), pansexual; since tempest’s old friend group refused to reunite with her, and tempest didn’t feel comfortable going back to them, twilight introduced her to their own old friend group. tempest grew an affinity for moondancer, as they shared similar tastes and cynical opinions, and tempest grew protective over the silly nerd. they’ve discovered their talent for creating dazzling fireworks, and they have finally found home and friends.

moondancer - autistic, bpd, astigmatism, anogirl (it/she/they), lesbian; moondancer appreciates the frequent letters from twilight, and her occasional visits, now accompanied by their wives trixie and marble. they enjoy hanging out with minuette, lemon hearts, and twinkleshine. they were introduced to tempest through twilight, and immediately they got a huge crush on her. it tends to fumble around its usually smart words and grow quite sheepish around tempest, in a good way.

[bl-bam-beyond]

OUR DATING SIM (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

- HEY LEE WAN!! HEY, WAN!!

WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO?

SHIN KI TAE

[thefrsers]

requested by: @skatingthinandice: 7.02 + 7.08 "don't deserve a second chance" parallel

[synchodai]

When I say Tyland Lannister is my favorite character...

I am being 100% dead serious. Here is why I prefer this seemingly average nobleman over the many many many fan favorites in Fire and Blood.

Tyland Lannister is a second son in a story about second sons. Whether his feelings on this are as strong as Aemond's or Daemon's, we never know for sure in the books, but it's obvious that he's subservient to a mirror image of himself who only has more authority because of a few seconds separation between twins. It's a great display of both the arbitrariness and rigidity of succession.

His initial role in the Dance is as the master of coin for the greens. He's depicted as a typical Lannister: charming, comely, and cunning. He did what any savvy accountant would do and divided the crown's treasury amongst different allied regions for safe-keeping, ensuring that if King's Landing were sacked, their enemies wouldn't loot their coffers dry and they'd still have plenty of gold for their war efforts.

And of course, King's Landing gets sacked. Tyland is put in the black cells and ordered to be tortured by Rhaenyra to extract the gold's whereabouts. Winter is coming, people are starving and rioting, her army is dwindling, so she desperately needs that gold. Tyland is gelded, maimed, disfigured, and blinded but the torturers get nothing out of him.

Mind you, this man has been a rich, pampered bureaucrat all his life and he endured all that without breaking. When Aegon II releases Tyland from those cells, he has no fingernails, his eyes have been gouged out and/or sewn shut, this man who was once known for his good looks doesn't look human anymore — but he still manages to maintain his wits so much so that he plays an important role after the Dance.

Even with Rhaenyra dead, there are still armies raising their banners for her eldest surviving son, Aegon Trois. Tyland tells Adult Aegon to kill Child Aegon because obviously, the latter threatens the former's claim and Tyland's understandably angry over what his mom did. Aegon Dos is like, nah, I'll keep the boy hostage instead — that'll keep the armies at bay more than outright killing him.

So Tyland volunteers to go to Myr to hire sellswords for Aegon 2 since their armies are pretty much kaput after six years of this civil war. Tyland is blind at this point I remind you — there is a huge chance this man will never get to go home again. But he does it anyway, because even after years of fighting, he keeps his unwavering loyalty to the monarch he declared for.

Aegon II dies while Tyland is in Myr, and Tyland goes back to Westeros just in time to see Cregan Stark use his powers as the new Hand to marry Aegon III and Princess Jaehaera to unite the green and black sides. Cregan dusts off his hands, says my work here is done, warns the boy king not to trust anyone, then leaves for the North for everyone else to sort this mess out.

Now comes the part where Tyland shines as a character. He becomes the Hand of Aegon III and when you see his policies detailed in the book, it's clear that his goal is focused on repairs and renumerations. After what happened to him, he has every right to be spiteful and bitter against the blacks, but instead he "claimed a curious failure of memory, insisting that he could not recall who had been black and who had been green." He abolished the heavy taxes imposed on the smallfolk, sent out gold to lords whose holdings had been devastated during war, and set out to rebuild the Realm's granaries and fleet. Cleaning up is a tedious, unglamorous job — and because of his monstrous appearance and former allegiances, Tyland was looked upon with distrust.

And yet, while other regents grasped for power and tried taking advantage of the 13-year-old King Aegon III, Tyland seemed to be different. If he wanted power he could have married his twin brother's widow and convinced the boy-king to route more resources towards Casterly Rock and the Westerlands. But he didn't.

Instead, he genuinely seemed to be a father figure to Aegon III.

Tyland Lannister, blind and crippled, had always treated the king with deference, speaking to him gently, seeking to guide rather than command.

And for that, many lords saw him as a weak Hand. But Aegon, who cared for very little and never laughed and was always sullen, seemed to care for Tyland.

When the plague ravaged King's Landing, Tyland dutifully prioritized it over quashing the Ironborn raids at Lannisport. He was the last person to become afflicted with the Winter Fever, and the king sat by his Hand's side during his final hours. When the council starts discussing who should be the new Hand, Aegon (the boy who rarely ever speaks) says:

I would have Lord Rowan as my Hand. Ser Tyland thought well enough of him to offer him my sister’s hand in marriage, so I know he can be trusted.

This boy trusted Tyland, the man who only years ago wanted him dead.

So it's easy to imagine that this man saw Aegon III as the boy he was responsible for, as the son he could never have because of what the war had done to him. Tyland Lannister was a broken man who despite losing everything, his king and his brother and himself, kept a broken Realm and broken boy together when everyone else swarmed like vultures just trying to pick at carcasses.

What motivated this man's loyalty for a boy whose mother mutilated him? Did he regret pushing for the death of an innocent child and this was his penance? Did this man who gave everything for his cause think that this boy was something that could still give all that sacrifice and tragedy meaning? Was the mercy and kindness he afforded an apology for the horrifying trauma that scarred this boy — did he feel responsible for his mother's downfall and the failure to save his uncle? Did his disfigurement and blindness allow him to let go of the man he once was and become someone capable of seeing the folly of pride and power?

Here is his obituary in Fire and Blood:

Ser Tyland Lannister had never been beloved. After the death of Queen Rhaenyra, he had urged Aegon II to put her son Aegon to death as well, and certain blacks hated him for that. Yet after the death of Aegon II, he had remained to serve Aegon III, and certain greens hated him for that. Coming second from his mother’s womb, a few heartbeats after his twin brother, Jason, had denied him the glory of lordship and the gold of Casterly Rock, leaving him to make his own place in the world. Ser Tyland never married nor fathered children, so there were few to mourn him when he was carried off. The veil he wore to conceal his disfigured face gave rise to the tale that the visage underneath was monstrous and evil. Some called him craven for keeping Westeros out of the Daughters’ War and doing so little to curb the Greyjoys in the west. By moving three-quarters of the Crown’s gold from King’s Landing whilst Aegon II’s master of coin, Tyland Lannister had sown the seeds of Queen Rhaenyra’s downfall, a stroke of cunning that would in the end cost him his eyes, ears, and health, and cost the queen her throne and her very life. Yet it must be said that he served Rhaenyra’s son well and faithfully as Hand.

Tyland wasn't extraordinarily badass, noble, or even skilled. He was an excellent politician but no way the best. But I think that's what makes him compelling to me — that he's this down-to-earth depiction of a POW, a war veteran by all accounts, trying to pick up the pieces and slowly glue what remains of the Realm and himself back into something vaguely human.

We tell so many stories about the glory, the tragedy, and the losses of war. But I think it's important and beautiful to tell stories of those bravely and optimistically choosing to keep living in the aftermath as well.

[moosethren]

Ash's Fallout AU, made by @pirate-cashoo! I absolutely love how she turned out, thank you so much!

A bad accident combining the Cloud and radiation in the Sierra Madre made sure to seal Ash's fate as a ghoul. She's not a sniper you want to get on the bad side of.

[messrmoonyy]

Molly O’shea | Shady Belle

[arthursfuckinghat]

I will never be normal about the red dead redemption protagonists getting caught in the cycle of revenge for their loved ones

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage Redempton S01E07 The Double-Edged Sword Job.

[faelapis]

what i understand from youtube is that steven universe is actually the most powerful cartoon of all time.

every single cartoon thats ended after SU have killed its bad guy to prove it wrong. they only exist to react to it. SU has also created a powerful time loop, where every youtuber constantly craving a new cartoon to do the bold, new, revolutionary thing of owning SU by killing its villains. it doesn't matter how many cartoons have already done that. its always new, and its always important. its an endless ouroboros cycle of needing a new cartoon to be the first ever to not forgive. the cycle will never end. the youtubers never have the faintest recollection of other cartoons demonstrating how common it is to kill the big bad. its always something new. bold. refreshing.

steven universe is always defeated by every new cartoon, but the defeat never lasts. SU always rises again and must be defeated anew, for the very first time.

steven universe is dead. long live steven universe.

[stillgotme]

had my heart on lockdown and then you turned me around

[leverage-ot3]

time for the obligatory post about what episodes I want to see in the upcoming leverage season(s)

(for reference, I made this similar post in 2020 after the reboot was announced. I'm pasting some from that post bc I still want them to happen lol)

new ideas:

I mentioned a date night episode in the last post (apollo really did bless me with foresight for the date night job on that one) but for considerment: ot3 date night. possibly their first date night after they all get together. breanna and sophie know it's happening (harry is, like, peripherally aware) and some crime hijinks are going down and the three of them are frantically trying to stop bad things from happening that are going to interfere with the date. I want to see them going through it behind the metaphorical curtain. I want to see breanna fighting for her life trying to out-hack the hacker that is going to ruin their ten-part itineraried date. harry has to get in a fistfight and eliot is so proud about it when he finds out after everything is over

tree law episode. harry has been frothing at the mouth about it since it was made. his life has been moving him towards this penultimate moment. breanna thinks it's HILARIOUS and cheers him on 100% of the way. she is VERY enthusiastic about this con

I'm not going to mention certain things because I've seen jrogers posting on bluesky social and I know he might be already writing some of those plots

con that the food trucks have plot-relevance. like, one of his food truck stations is being harassed /victimized by, like, a local gang or something that takes advantage of food truck/cart workers and the team steps in. the actual (veteran) food truck workers get involved in the con. leverage international might just have gained a few retainer members

quinn should come back for an episode. I know the actor is friends with ckane. they should make it happen because it would be iconic and I said so

on a similar note, ckane is friends with jensen ackles and. guys. wouldn't it- wouldn't it be extremely funny if a flame from eliot's past named sean sylvester who is a rugged drifter with a questionable past

episode where tara or maggie (or BOTH, can you imagine how powerful that would be???) come back and there is slight flirting with sophie possibly??? that or very obvious chemistry from a past tryst. sophie has slept with both of them, I know it in my heart of hearts. bonus points if tara and maggie fall in love (I think it would be funny. maggie's taste in men is canonically atrocious, I think she deserves someone like tara at this point)

I just want a lot of side characters to come back, okay? sue me I miss them

gonna put the rest under the cut since this post has become obscenely long

not episode-specific, but I want more mentions of the korean leverage team. and all the other teams too! we know that in canon there is the south korean one, the nigerian one, and one in london (I think that's it for mentions so far, but correct me if I'm wrong!)

episodes addressing issues with american imperialism and its effects on minorities and marginalized communities, specifically within this country (there aren't a lot of episodes where they are actively out of country)

dear fucking god take a more abolitionist stance on policing I'm begging. would it KILL you to not be weird about cops? pls just punch some more cops. take down white supremacist cops, I'm sure you can scrounge something up bffrrn

women's rights episodes. I know it's kind of recent, but episodes about accessibility of stuff like birth control, abortion access, etc. y'all are capable of making excellent episodes on that I know it

more climate crisis-related episodes. god knows you're feeling it in the deep south

taking down a corrupt megachurch pastor (although lbr, there is no ethical megachurch anything and you can fight me on this)

something to do with ace rights bc I think it would be really cool to see the team advocate for that stuff, especially since breanna is canon ace

helping a polycule that is being victimized by X organization/entity (maybe a housing association or medical or something???). breanna is bombastic side-eyeing the ot3 the entire time. it is making hardison sweat. sophie thinks it's hilarious

taking down 'writers' that use ai and self-publish AND/OR people that take original/fan works off of like ao3 and wattpad and publish them for personal profits without the author's consent. breanna would have a field day with this (god herself could try to convince me that girl does not read/write fanfic and I wouldn't believe it)

episode about underfunded public schools. we saw corrupt private schools in the fairy godparents job but I want an episode that would make abbot elementary writers proud

episode addressing native/indigenous. eliot is from oklahoma, I'm sure he is well aware of the health/job/economic/etc disparities on reservations. I will email jrogers about it myself if I have to- it anyone can get people going about native rights through a tv show it would be leverage.

I sent an ask to wil wheaton once asking if he was open to returning to leverage and I think he said he would be down for it. but chaos either has to be a reluctant ally to leverage international and is being handled by quinn as a hitter OR he is just. in jail. bc he sucks.

bpas and/or pfas episode. breanna has mentioned microplastics before but I want more

the team tears the shit out of conversion therapy camp owners and plants the seeds for legislation that will punish parents that try to send their kids to those hellscapes

while we're at it, I'd love to see an ep where they tackle the trans bathroom issue. god knows the news doesn't talk about it nearly enough

something to do with foster care. they end up starting some sort of foster care network that past clients/allies can take part in. maybe a mentorship program for kids that want to do what they do one day (they are very reluctant to encourage kids to participate in crime BUT if that is the avenue that they are going to inevitably go towards, they guide them in the right direction). nana makes an appearance (*insert 'everybody liked that' meme*)

prison industrial complex episode. I KNOW we had the jailhouse job BUT we really need this in our year of 2024

another episode on corrupt influencers. maybe influencer parents? dear god pls take them down a notch

ep where there is an underlying message that tells you how to avoid becoming victim to scams or something, or like is a tutorial for how to identify scams you might fall victim to (sorry, I just have to say this after two separate people tried to pig butcher me in less than two (2) weeks))

not to say I want them to do an ep calling out cop city, but it would feel really good to watch the leverage team rip that concept to SHREDS

the minimum wage job. need I say more? we deserve the catharsis

pls go after goodwill execs, esp the ones in the pnw that have their sector as for-profit and have become millionaires+ because of it while paying their staff (especially disabled staff) fucking pennies

while we're on the topic, pls call out salvation army (the corporation)

I can probably go on for like five hours so I'll stop here

ep that we get to see harry and his daughter bond :)

job where they get to lower the price of insulin (and other drugs)

actually, you know what? an episode where the crew annihilates big pharma and terrible insurance companies

I think that breanna should be able to go off about mass/over consumption as a treat. I 100% believe she has Thoughts about it. like, she will absolutely call out the corporations that are responsible for these trends, but also she should be allowed to mention our tendency for overconsumption as a society. obviously there are a few corporations that are doing most of the world's pollution/ecological damage, but we should be doing our part too and I KNOW it would be in-character for her to go off on it

I bet she has a LOT to say about influencers, tbh. obviously not all influencers are bad, but there are sooooo many problematic ones and problems within the influencer industry

sizing discrimination in the modeling/clothing industry. let eliot talk about how there are no perfect bodies. also while I'm on the subject, can we PLS have more body-diverse background actors on the show? I know this is nitpicky but I'd really love to see some more people that look like me, even if they are just in the background

a thinly veiled writers' rights episode (I'm looking at you media execs and the stupid amount of time it took for you to comply to the WGA demands)

something to do with media companies making entire movies/tv shows and then fucking cancelling them/not releasing them and using them as tax write-offs. every time it happens it baffles me. that is cartoonishly stupid villain shit. I can't imagine lovingly working on a project for a year plus and then the company just going, nah, we aren't going to release it because you suck and it's a good business move

ai art and ai in general. please. let it BURN

okay now I'm done

ideas from the previous post that I still want:

comicon job. I said it before and I will say it again- we deserve it!!! come on, it's the age of the geek after all!!! (in the last post I also said a ren faire ep, but I will let the card game job count for that)

summer camp ep? I saw a tumblr fic about it and I think it could be cute. it could kinda be like the fairy godparents job- eliot in charge of some type of sports (archery, fencing, etc), hardison would be in charge of arts and crafts (this boy might be a genius with tech and in general tbh, but the show did such a good job of showing that he’s also very talented with the arts- sculpting the statue for the miracle job, forging the old diary in the king george job, etc), parker would LOVE to be in charge of a high ropes course. breanna would totally be down for some sort of nerdy kid robotics or simple, traditional camp games (can't go wrong with the classics. everyone loves making bracelets!) I feel like it's too stereotypical to have sophie have kids put on a play but we all know that's exactly what she would do. idk for harry? I think he has the same traditional camp activities vibe as breanna. he's in it for the nostalgia. OR something to do with videogames

please, please, please, please, please make an episode where they take down a cult, im begging. that would be such a good episode. definitely a mindfuck episode like the experimental job (4x11). I’ve seen a few posts about a job dealing with a cult (here’s one) and I think it would be really interesting 

MORE STERLING being DONE with leverage shenanigans!!! give me feral!sterling like in the frame-up job (5x10)!!! give me sterling that protests every step of the way but conveniently looks away and “whoops, the team just disappeared, I have no idea how that happened!!! diddly dang darn it, they got away again!!! sorry guys!!!” bonus points if mcsweeten is there too and also participates in intervening hijinks

the team takes down a circus that is still using and abusing wild animals!!! because first I’d LOVE to see acrobat!parker swinging up in the air like a pro and being in her element, but also because those places are the fucking worst and need to Go Down. give me eliot having to pose as an animal trainer with deep sympathy for the animals being abused, quietly talking soothing words to them when he thinks no one is around (correction: hardison is, in fact, around, and filming his boyfriend’s softness to save for later). give me charismatic hardison playing the role of ringmaster, running and flaunting about and being passive-aggressive to the circus master. give me eliot freeing the animals from their chains when they are finally able to shut the place down and relocate the animals to sanctuaries (his hands shaking just a little as twists the key in the lock, because he too was once an abused, caged animal in his own right and he knows how liberating it is to finally be free). 

[cedarsmoke4]

God’s perfect killing machine has the most luscious lips known to man

[homieswithhades]

So are we all gonna just ignore the fact that 1) Arthur canonically kisses men and 2) the man he canonically kisses has the same name as his alleged cut love interest?