#She follows her rules through to the end. And executes herself

[litnerdwrites]

"We don't treat Elain and Nesta the same because Elain Apologised,"

Elain and Nesta aren't the same people. They can't be compared. While I understand that Nesta said some cruel things in that cabin, so did Feyre. While Nesta could've made things a bit easier on all of them, so could Feyre. They both have reasons to apologise to one another, so if you're going to condemn Nesta for not doing so, then Feyre deserves the same treatment.

But if Nesta did want to apologise, what makes you think it would be the second that Feyre got back? And in front of fae, no less. Nesta is complicated character who carries herself with pride and is considered a very private person, and is described as being queen like multiple times. The two have more issues to work through than just a few mean comments, and the moments they have the most sincere heart to hearts, are when they're alone. Without Rhysand peering from behind a door way, listening in and commentating whenever he feels like.

Looking back, in ACOTAR 1, we learn some of the myths humans tell about the Fae including that they can't lie, and they have to and that if you catch one, then it has to tell you what you want to know. Both of those turn out to be false, since fae can lie, and Ianthe caught the Surreal, but we learn in ACOWAR that it wouldn't tell her anything.

We can assume this means that the rules the fae follow in our mythology are the same ones that humans believe about fae in ACOTAR, meaning it's a fair assumption that one of the many stories about fae include never letting yourself be indebted to them. Saying things like 'thank you' or 'I'm sorry' comes across like as owing them something, and Nesta is, at this point, under the impression that doing so will cause the fae to hold it over her head and use to demand things of her for as long as she lives, if not ask something straight up impossible to make her more indebted to them.

On top of that, Feyre just asked her for a favour that could get her and Elain killed. The Mortal Queens could've just decided to have Elain and Nesta arrested and executed for collaborating with fae, or have them exiled even. It wasn't a small thing that Feyre asked for, and basically peer pressured her into, with Elain. So it's understandable that pleasantries and apologies are the last things on her mind, when her and Elain's life could be forfeit at any moment.

Even if Rhysand offers to protect them, what could he do? Nesta's under the impression that the Fae hate humans, look down on them and would treat them horribly if she crossed into their lands. Moreover, she has a whole life there, that they're suggesting she could drop to move to the other end of the country without so much as a message to their father? Or an idea of what's waiting for them? To abandon their home, friends, family and peoeple?

For what? Potential servitude? Amongst creatures she were taught were slave driving monsters? To live under her little sister's rule (cause even if she wasn't HL at this point, as fae, she has significant power over Nesta. Plus the ruler of said land they're offering to take her too openly favours Feyre, and kind of Elain but hates her, so she'd basically still be living by Feyre's whims) for the rest of her short life? Literally what part of that is appealing?

So Nesta not apologising to Feyre at that dinner, makes sense. Our girl had bigger things to worry about. She probably would have if she Feyre didn't outright abandon her to deal with her trauma alone, only showing up when she wanted to parade Nesta around at parties for her own joy, without considering how it feels to her. Or when her court, who don't like her and whom she doesn't like either, show up to insult her, and blame her for having trauma.

If Feyre and Nesta had more moments like the one in the library, or the one all three had after Az and Feyre rescued Elain, Nesta would've likely healed and apologised on her own. If the IC had just stayed out of it, then all three sisters would've figured things out, on their own. The IC just want something to complain about, so like the CON and the HC, they make a problem, and they complain that it exists.

Also, if I remember right, Feyre herself said she wanted to start over at that dinner. So unless Feyre or Nesta want to bring it up or talk about it, why does any of her family get to hold it over her head for the rest of immortality? Feyre literally just called it water under the bridge and all three of them were going through their own shit at the time, so let them actually work through their own issues privately, and I'll bet that they'll solve it on their own within a year.

[shima-draws]

Rewatching a playthrough of Danganronpa and it actually shocks me how chill Monokuma is. Even when Kyoko goes around stealing his shit and he finds Makoto with it later he's like. Yeah okay. I don't hold it against you or anything it's cool. LMAO

He has every available opportunity to just kill everyone whenever, especially when they break the rules, but he never does. I really love villains who stick to their own rules so it's fair for everyone else :")

[ashdreams2023]

Detention

Summary: So the student reader gets detention by Snape and she has to go to Umbridge for it. The next day, Snape steals a glance at her hand and takes a look at it, not knowing it was Umbridge who did that to her. He then feels guilty because he was the one to have send her to Umbridge. He does go and confronts Umbridge about it, protecting the reader. Something like that?

Requested by: @inner-sparkle-inner-writings

Severus snape x reader

Detentions weren’t something new to you, everyone got them, you’ll have to be a perfect teacher’s pet to avoid them completely, and that was the furthest thing from you.

To be fair you didn’t go looking for trouble, you just happened to find yourself in the middle of it, you tried to avoid it as best as you could but you weren’t that slick.

But this year it was different, you had to avoid them, you’ve seen how some of your friends got punished and it was starting to stress you out, you’ve tried to follow every dumb rule that pink woman threw at you but your patience could only run so far, your breaking point was when Draco pointed out that you were too close to one of your male friends and you just snapped.

After a few cuss words and multiple hexes Professor snape came to end that ruckus and gave you detention with the pink demon herself.

“Sir, can’t I have my detention scrubbing the dungeon floors?”

Professor snape raised a brow at that “as much as that sounds appealing young lady, I have more important things to deal with so off you go” you honestly wanted to cry right then and there, it was unfair, especially since Malfoy got nothing but being sent to help in the greenhouse.

You dreaded that upcoming detention like it was your execution day, your friends couldn’t even comfort you because they knew it was gonna be awful.

And it was, your hand ached for hours afterward, and writing made it even worse, you weren’t a little first year but that thing stung like hell.

By the next day, you were more than grumpy, you didn’t talk to anybody and kept scratching at your wound in frustration.

It was lunchtime when professor snape came by your table strolling, he didn’t say anything at first then his eyes fell on the engraved words on the back of your hand, he was confused, to say the least, you wouldn’t do this to yourself…

“I would like a word with you young lady if you would” he took you to one of the empty halls and demanded you tell him what that was about, and you already had enough of everybody that morning and just threw it at him.

“It’s my detention professor, the same one everyone was getting, the one every adult in this facility seems to find acceptable, even on first-year students!”

Snape paused, he felt his blood run cold, this was the lines that Umbridge claimed to be giving the students! He might be strict and unfair at times but that was straight-up abuse and you had to go through that because he didn’t want to deal with stupid detentions.

“I…I need to speak with professor umbridge and here” he handed you a small bottle “it will help not get it infected” you blinked at him then nodded while taking the bottle.

“Professor…what are you planning to do?”

Snape huffed “what I should’ve done a long time ago” that pink toad has something coming to her if she thinks she can continue doing this while he breathes.

[thecleverqueer]

I don’t know. Maybe I mis-read the story, but I felt like the Ahsoka series wasn’t necessarily anti-Jedi. It felt more like Ahsoka finally accepted that she could actually be a Jedi after years of her believing that she was unworthy of doing that, and thereby giving her the right to pass on what she learned.

To preface, I do think her lineage had a problem with following rules. Obviously. Even Yoda broke rules when he went off on his trippy force adventure with Qui-Gon in the sixth season of TCW. It wasn’t that they all went against the Jedi teachings (save Anakin… which I won’t get into right now; I would possibly even argue for Dooku, but he was misguided and definitely did not go about anything in the right way), they just didn’t follow protocol. Most of them at least embraced Jedi philosophy (once again, save Anakin). They often broke rules and protocol loudly, but I can appreciate that as someone who hates the status quo and stringent rules. I say this to partially explain why Ahsoka often butted heads with Huyang about Jedi protocol. It’s not Jedi critical on a philosophical level as much as it is critiquing the protocols.

Now with that being said, let me talk about Ahsoka... Particularly, where Ahsoka was in her series and how that changes by the end of it:

Ahsoka struggled with the fact that she’d been trained as a soldier. Jedi were not soldiers; they were peace keepers. Ahsoka says as much to Rex on the Venator right before Order 66 was executed. She was incredibly torn by this. Ultimately, I believe it’s what caused her to leave the order in the first place. She listened to the words Barriss said, and agreed wholeheartedly. She couldn’t be part of the order as she was not a Jedi, but a warrior. It’s not that she didn’t want to be a Jedi, she DID want to be a Jedi. She just felt as if she no longer knew how to do that, or perhaps, couldn’t do that based on what she’d been doing.

It’s the main thing that she is stuck on when she had her flashbacks with Anakin in the World-Between-Worlds dream state. She struggled with her past. She was unable to reconcile the actions that she was forced to take during the war with her Jedi training that specifically told her not to do that. She mentioned that it wasn’t what she trained for, and by the time she was fighting the Siege of Mandalore, she only saw herself as a fighter. And, it’s something you saw in her character at the beginning of her series. She’s quick to draw her blades and come at you. She does not hesitate to fight Baylon at the reflex point on Seetos. It had unbalanced her, and that’s why she lost the fight.

Anakin basically told her that she’s more than just a warrior. All of the knowledge that came before him, the wisdom of Yoda, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, lived on through her. She was part of a legacy. Still, she struggled because of what Anakin became, and was hesitant to share the knowledge that she possessed in fear of planting dark seeds. It’s why he told her that she lacked conviction. In Rebels, Ahsoka was trying to convince everyone including herself that she was not a Jedi, and it was a culmination of all of her trauma. This was the moment that she must live (and let it go of said trauma), or die and literally drown with it.

In the end, Ahsoka chose to live, and the white robes weren’t the only thing about her that had changed. In her second battle with Baylon, she’s not as quick to draw her blades. She’s more worried about finding Ezra and Sabine. It’s not that she was completely unwilling to fight, but the fight wasn’t what it is all about. She mentioned this to Sabine as well when she told her that “being a Jedi is more than just wielding a lightsaber.” Ahsoka released the trauma, and embraced her Jedi past. It was not explicitly stated, but it definitely felt implied.

[horizon-verizon]

I was asked by someone to look over a specific post and write what I thought about it...this is an opportunity to group several arguments & point out the pattern for a certain discrepancy.

LINK to the post I will talk about. Quote (the parts I will address):

but how can you judge Aegon for fighting for his (very strong and legitimate) claim on the throne when his family persuaded him to do so for their safety and survival but not judge Luke for taking Driftmark from Beala and Rhaena without blinking an eye which is objectively much worse because he was not forced into doing it by any means, and literally has no legitimate claim. Him not getting Driftmark would not have put the lives of his family members at risk the way Aegon not fighting for his claim would have.

I don't know if this post was about HotD or the original canon, but I'll divide my own thoughts accordingly. This post is in no way an invective against the Tumblr user as a person, just a critique of their thoughts.

Their argument claims four things:

Alicent's greens' main motivation to usurp Rhaenyra was self-defense

Aegon did himself at least feel that the throne/Viserys' regard should have gone towards him over Rhaenyra

the twins were at all in the customary line of succession for Driftmark as if they were part of the Velaryon house or were under Colrys' sole authority

that it is Rhaenyra making the decisions over succession

A)

Book!Alicent, Cole, and the older green adults' main reason for usurping Rhaenyra was always about ambition and power. They both believed in patriarchal privilege/Faith-dominance AND used patriarchal privilege for their own ends. Show!older green adults are motivated differently:

Alicent is motivated by Otto's deception of her kids being in grave danger from Rhaenyra taking authority as well as her own envy of Rhaenyra's ability to at least avoid abuse and wishes to take some of her own by pulling Rhaenyra down through patriarchal restrictions and abuses (but even this is confusing in the show bc Alicent herself, as a character, is not written consistently nor intelligently...she is too reactive)

Cole just wants to destroy a person he pedestalized and at one point expected to pedestalize him back above her own station and role despite the fact that he had no real fear of her taking real advantage of him the same way a man could a woman

Otto is motivated by sheer ambition as his canon self is

Going back to the book characters, here are quotes from the green council for why each green older adult wants to usurp Rhaenyra (keeping in mind that they are also presenting their reasons to the green council and Alicent has left Viserys' body to rot to buy time and has already imprisoned/held hostage several people in the castle):

Otto

Alicent

Criston

Fuller Account

Rundown

Book!Otto cites survival for himself and Alicent, banking on Daemon's hatred for him and subsequent disapproval of Alicent for being his daughter, saying that Daemon would definitely try to execute him for just being someone he hated even after Rhaenyra gets crowned. Following his sentiment, Alicent cites the need to preserve her kids' lives on account that they had "a better claim to the throne than her brood of bastards" and are thus a threat to her. So she amends Otto's statement of Daemon killing them just bc he hates them AND uses the aristocratic disgust with bastards and the social stigma against bastards to make the council people more suspicious of the blacks/Rhaenyra. Again, bastards are regarded as inherently untrustworthy people bc they come from lust, "loss of self-control", and not the "duty" involved in a noble marriage. Finally, coming off of Alicent's note about bastards being untrustworthy and from lust, Cole reasons that if Rhaenyra were allowed to rule, she'd have lots of sex with Daemon and both would sexually predate on various lords' children or wives (note the gendered roles: "wife" of a lord). He's talking about "sullying", especially when he brings up how he thinks Laenor would have influenced the Velaryon boys to be sexually predatory themselves by virtue of the fact that Laenor was gay. So like modern media and persons who claim that gay men & drag queens (sometimes women, too but not that often) will prey on children based on the taboo sexual boundary crossing that queerness is seen to be, Criston uses homophobia to express that Rhaenyra shouldn't rule. Meanwhile, the boys are not supposed to be Laenor's kids--that is the whole argument for them being bastards--and Laenor actually didn't spend as much time with the V boys as people around them would expect for a father since he only went to Dragonstone to put up appearances and maybe the odd purely social visit. Laenor mainly lived at Driftmark with his Velaryon family and never built a household with Rhaenyra. Jace (114) was the only one who was born at KL, Luke (115) seems to have been born at the Red Keep and Joffrey (117) was born in Dragonstone.

Counterarguments to the OP's Post (bc some arguments still cross over to the show by the show's own writing)

Rhaenyra has been able to get others to fight for her even after her and her first 3 sons' deaths. The greens were the ones who always made the first move to antagonize, provoke, or undermine Rhaenyra and the blacks in both the book & the show, not the blacks.

If it was just about surviving, bastardry being made into a moral argument wouldn't be used. Also, we have no proof that Daemon would willingly taint Rhaenyra's and their kids' reputation by willy-nilly murdering not just Otto but the Alicent, the would-be Queen Dowager to Rhaenyra's own father without provocation. His killing of the Braavosi noble boy who was betrothed to Laena was all in Corlys' permission, i.e. the lord of Driftmark. Daemon may be a violent man, but he's not a stupid man.

And he never expressed actual hatred for Alicent, it is far more likely he thought of her as an interloper. Otto is still safe even though Daemon hates him: he never killed Rhea Royce and he could have killed Otto when it was safer for him before Viserys died if only by underhanded means. It's not like Viserys would actually execute Daemon if he did, even if it were exile.

As for how Alicent's kids being in danger:

Daemon largely ignored them

Rhaenyra explicitly said that if her siblings stopped she would spare them and only go after Alicent & Otto (this is after she's been usurped and she crowns herself at Dragonstone)

in the bigger picture sense, they actually had more defenses against other lords' machinations even with Rhaenyra [Posts: #1, #2, #3]

In the show, Laenor and Rhaenyra lived at the Red Keep together for all their boys to be born in the same place and it is very shortly after Joff is born that they leave together. Laenor still was not usually as physically close to Rhaenyra's side, but much more than what is implied in the book. However, Cole doesn't mention Laenor being gay as a reason for Rhaenyra's usurpation in the show and neither Alicent nor her father mentions bastardry or survival for their presented reasons to the council. It was just Otto shifting the conversation to naming Aegon and "discussing" the succession "question", Alicent being upset about being iced out for particular discussions and her trying to get them to not kill Rhaenyra and Beesbury's protests leading to his death plus Harold Westerling's giving up his cloak (who is actually already dead in the book). All because the show changed it to Alicent misinterpreting Viserys' dying words and her losing control over the council's and her father's actions, trying to prevent Rhaenyra's death--as she thought that was assured...tsk, tsk no confidence in one who she at one point was trying to go after her own son....

The show made the usurpation a whole, mere misunderstanding and miscommunication rather than the greens twisting truths, being blood purists and openly misogynists for their justifications. If somehow making the biggest civil war and injustices against a woman reads better as coming from a misunderstanding rather than an intentional perception attack on someone, I don't know if they understand the meaning of accountability nor think that misogyny is a real, palpable evil today or ever was, nor how to identify it.

B)

Since we actually do not have that much evidence for how book!Aegon felt about Rhaenyra as a person before she was coronated, this is my headcanon and reasons for why I think he felt he deserved the throne over her despite his trying to foist off getting crowned until Cole (not Alicent) convinced him to take the crown for pure self-preservation sake. At least according to Septon Eustace.

C)

This post goes into why Baela and Rhaena were not ever above the Velaryon boys in the line of the Driftmark succession.

D)

Viserys, Otto, and Corlys are the ones primarily responsible for their children's misery for how they all contributed/directed to how they will marry. Both and show, except Alicent in the book, very much wanted to be Viserys' Queen Consort and of her own volition formed a faction and harrassed Rhaenyra for most of her pubescence and early motherhood.

[selenestarmoon]

The Fake Fire Lord and The Fake Shogun

I don't know if anyone noticed but Kaido's plan to leave Yamato as Shogun of Wano is the same as Ozai did when he left Azula as Fire Lord of the Fire Nation.

The difference is that Azula agrees to be the Fake Fire Lord while Yamato refuses to be the Fake Shogun and here I will explain why in more detail:

We know that Ozai decides to name Azula as Fire Lord because he knows about Azula's successes so he is entrusting Azula with the Fire Nation, while he is going to rule the whole world as the Phoenix Emperor, having more authority than Azula. Kaido, like Ozai with Azula, trusts Yamato to give him the position of Shogun and in turn, wanted to leave her as Shogun because by wanting and going to become ruler of the world, he would have more power and authority than Yamato anyway.

In Ozai's eyes, Azula is still his most capable general and his own daughter (read an extension of himself) while Kaido is confident that Yamato will follow his will and Yamato is his own daughter (and therefore an extension of himself). So, it makes sense that Ozai and Kaido to give both full powers over their previous domain, now that they can have more.

Also, this feeds the ego of Ozai and Kaido because they give Azula and Yamato more power but keep them both inferior and dependent on them, they give them titles (Fire Lord and Shogun) that mean nothing in the long run because in the end they would be under the rule and authority of Ozai and Kaido.

Azula ended up being a puppet ruler because even though she is Fire Lord, Ozai is the only one with real power for being the ruler of the world while Azula rules over one of the many territories that are under Ozai's command and thus, the Fire Lord title has no real value so Azula had no real authority over the Fire Nation and becomes just a title like any other that Ozai can easily take from her at any time. Similarly, Kaido wanted to appoint Yamato Shogun to rule Wano but any power Yamato would have would be overridden by Kaido's authority as Kaido would rule the world and Wano would only be one of many territories that would be under his command so that the Shogun title becomes empty and becomes a title that Kaido can either take away from Yamato and give to someone else or remove said title, making Yamato a puppet ruler with no real authority over Wano as Orochi.

The reason why this worked with Azula but not with Yamato is because of the treatment and upbringing that Ozai and Kaido gave their daughters which made Azula seek her father's approval while Yamato didn't. Azula was treated like a prodigy by Ozai and was always praised and told that everything she did was fine, she was used to it and Ozai only wanted her for her power and considered her his best tool

while Yamato witnessed Oden's execution and seeing his bravery came to admire Oden to such an extent of emulating him,

and wanting to be him

and Kaido disapproved of this to the point that he beat her and locked her in Onigashima with exploding handcuffs and starved her, killing anyone who gave him food.

Because of Ozai's upbringing, Azula sought his approval, hiding her feelings and vulnerability from herself and others and consequently hiding her desire to be loved and to have someone she could love and trust, resulting in her basing her relationships on in control and fear, causing others to distance themselves from her and ended up as a puppet ruler with no one to trust while Yamato, through Kaido's upbringing, distanced herself from him and managed to create genuine bonds by opening up to others, expressing what she feels and wants without fear and showing vulnerability in a way that Azula wouldn't have done, causing Yamato to choose to defend her friends and her hero's dream by rebelling against Kaido and rejecting his plan to make her his tool by naming her the puppet ruler of Wano.

It should be noted that at the time Ozai names Azula Fire Lord, Azula was very unstable due to losing her friends through her own fault and Ozai was the only thing left for her so Azula agrees to be Fire Lord when her father orders her to because she seeks Ozai's approval since she wants someone to love her and be there for her while Yamato, because of Kaido's abuse, wanted nothing to do with him but still doubted that he was able to kill her but when he saw that the handcuffs exploded it was the straw that broke the camel's back for Yamato, causing him to disown Kaido as a father, calling him only by his name and rejecting any plan that Kaido had for her such as naming her Shogun of Wano as well that Yamato is not so affected by the fact that she distances himself from her father because, in addition to having the closest thing to a good example in her life (Oden's diary), Yamato has what Azula wants: people she loves, trusts and they are there for her

and achieves this by acknowledging his feelings

and being open with her desires

while Azula continues to refuse to acknowledge hers

and as a result, she refuses to open herself up and is unable to achieve what she truly wants.

Azula is a girl whose childhood was taken away and she was forced to grow up and be an adult by her upbringing so she doesn't open up to anyone and can't relate to anyone or do the same things that girls her age do while Yamato is an adult who acts like a child because of the little contact she has had with the outside world, but when she meets people with good values and meets people who value her, support her and encourage her to express her emotions and follow her path, she is able to grow and improve.

[pricechecktranslations]

History of 悪ノ娘　-Album-

The History of Daughter of Evil album booklet content

There are many mysteries left in the history of "Daughter of Evil".

.

Lucifenia's glorious and bloody history.

The aggressive war led by King Arth with the goal of uniting all of the Evillious region under one banner,

Can be said to be its beginning.

.

The armies led by the king's loyal subordinates, the Three Heroes,

Greatly expanded his small country's territory in a short period of time.

The war was brought to an end by King Arth falling ill,

But by that point, Lucifenia had already become the most powerful country in the region.

.

After the king's death, Lucifenia experienced a brief revolt caused by the machinations of its prime minister.

One of his candidates for heir, Prince Alexiel, went missing from the public eye.

.

Lucifenia's governance was transferred to Arth's queen, Anne,

But she too wound up dying young from illness just like her husband.

.

The only one left was the fourteen-year-old Princess Riliane.

She was inexperienced, lacking the charisma of her father and the intelligence of her mother.

.

The country smoldered in discontent.

The political purges she enacted to bring it under control served only to spark the flames of destruction.

.

The assassination of Leonhart, one of the Three Heroes.

An invasion against a neighboring country over the princess' personal grudges.

These wound up becoming motivations for the eventual revolution.

.

The revolutionary army led by Germaine, Leonhart's daughter, surged into the palace and captured the princess.

The revolutinary army's fighting strength was poor, being comprised primarily of regular townsfolk, but their attempt was successful.

We can posit several key reasons for this.

The low morale of the kingdom's army due to their unnecessary invasion.

The loss of the authority of the Three Heroes.

And aid given to the revolutionary army from the nearby country of Marlon.

.

Amidst the people's censure, the princess was beheaded in the town square.

And in this way, Lucifenia's brief time of glory met its end.

.

The country of Marlon attempted to bring Lucifenia under its power through this revolution, and it too wound up following a path of decline due to infighting among the royal family.

Marlon's king Kyle abdicated the throne, and was said to have led a quiet life in another country afterwards.

.

...Well now, there are a handful of scholars that dispute accounts such as this in historical textbooks.

.

The most well-known differing opinions are:

That it was the princess' body double who was executed, and the real princess survived after hiding her identity, living to a ripe old age.

That princess declared the invasion on her neighboring country out of envy towards a diva that was living there, but that diva was actually the apprentice of Elluka, one of the Three Heroes--this was the reason Elluka left the country.

There are many theories as to who it was that carried out the assassination of Leonhart and the diva.

The missing Prince Alexiel, King Kyle Marlon's illegitamate half-sister, etc.

There are theories that both of them worked as the princess' servants under false identities.

That King Arth died in an accident when he was young, and that it was a body double who ruled the country after that.

In other words, the Lucifenian royal line perished long before the revolution.

There are many fairy-tale-esque anecdotes regarding Germaine, the hero of the revolution.

That she wasn't Leonhart's true daughter, but rather a descendant of the royal family of Beelzenia, the country of red.

That she was the one who assassinated the diva in order to stoke the spirit of rebellion in the common people, as well as gain Marlon's aid.

That she contracted with a demon, or a witch, and gained a long life, becoming president of the Lucifenian Republic a hundred years later.

.

There are grains of truth to be found in many of these theories,

And there is also the work of author Yukina Freezis, who was herself involved in more than a few of the events of this time period.

However, as she is herself only a fairytale novelist,

There are many who repudiate her by arguing that there are a great deal of things that are exaggerated or fabricated in the Freezis authorial record, and that it's not to be treated as fact.

.

--We can only pray that this song collection will help to solve some of these mysteries.

[whileiamdying]

Iran Detains Its Most Celebrated Actress

Taraneh Alidoosti is the latest prominent figure to be arrested, as the regime faces the most serious challenge to its rule since it took power in 1979.

By Dexter Filkins December 18, 2022

📸 On Saturday, Taraneh Alidoosti was taken from her home by officers from an unidentified agency, after she denounced the government for executing the protester Mohsen Shekari.Julie Sebadelha / Getty 

The Iranian government’s campaign to crush a nationwide revolt reached one of its most famous actresses Saturday, with the arrest and detention of Taraneh Alidoosti, a beloved movie star known internationally for her role in the 2016 Oscar-winning film “The Salesman.” Alidoosti was taken from her home, in Tehran, by local authorities, after she denounced the government for its execution, earlier this month, of a young protester, Mohsen Shekari. In a posting on her now-deleted Instagram page, which had eight million followers, Alidoosti wrote, referring to Shekari’s killing, that “every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.”

irna, the Iranian state news agency, confirmed Alidoosti’s arrest, saying that she was unable to provide documents to substantiate her public claims against the government. But the dispatch provided no details of her whereabouts or the crime, if there was one, with which she was being charged. “We absolutely have no idea where she is at the moment,’’ a friend, who requested anonymity, told me by telephone.

Alidoosti, who is thirty-eight, is one of the most prominent figures to be arrested in the protests, which began in September after the death of Mahsa Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish woman. Amini, who had been arrested by the state morality police for improperly wearing her hijab, the hair covering required of adult females, was beaten in a police van, according to witnesses. (Iranian authorities deny this.) Following Amini’s death, Iranians across the country flooded the streets, first to protest her murder, then to denounce the hijab, then to call for an end to the regime. The demonstrations, now in their fourth month, pose the most serious challenge to the Iranian regime’s rule since it took power following the revolution in 1979. At least four hundred people have been killed so far and thousands more arrested, according to human-rights groups.

Alidoosti, who has a nine-year-old daughter, is a leading figure in Iran’s internationally respected movie industry; her arrest is a measure of how thoroughly Iran’s leaders appear to have lost the support of the population. She is perhaps best known for her role in “The Salesman,’’ which won the 2017 Academy Award for best international feature. “She’s a hugely respected actress,’’ Nazanin Boniadi, a British Iranian actress and activist who appeared in “Homeland” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” told me. “The significance of someone of her stature being arrested is that it shows how fearful the regime is of artists, because they have a galvanizing effect on the population.’’

When the protests began, Alidoosti paused her acting work to focus on supporting the protest movement. Her actions grew increasingly defiant; last month, she posted a photo of herself on Instagram in which she posed without a hijab and held a placard saying “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Kurdish—the motto of the protests. It was not Alidoosti’s first foray into the political arena; she has also been active in calling out sexual harassment in the movie industry, engaging through a group known as 800 Women. Alidoosti’s friend said, “Taraneh has always used her voice to echo the voice of the Iranian people.’’

Alidoosti is the latest of several artists to be arrested and jailed by the Iranian regime, whose senior ranks are dominated by bearded elderly men. Among those arrested are Saman Yasin, a Kurdish rap artist, who has since been sentenced to death; Hossein Mohamadi, a stage actor, also reportedly sentenced to death; and Toomaj Salehi, a rap artist. Katayoun Riahi, an actress, was arrested in November; two months prior, she had told an interviewer in London that “imprisoning people has become useless, because Iran itself has become a prison.”

Other well-known Iranians denounced the regime, including Sardar Azmoun, a star soccer player for Bayer Leverkusen, the German football club; in September, he wrote on Instagram, “Shame on you for easily killing the people and viva women of Iran!”

Though the protests have mostly been peaceful, Iran’s clerical leaders have struggled to contain them. As the demonstrations have carried on, the regime’s tactics have grown more savage. In addition to hundreds of people killed by security forces, the government put Shekari to death earlier this month, the first execution of a protester. Iranian authorities said he had attacked a member of the security forces with a machete. Shekari was tried and convicted in a judicial proceeding in which he was denied access to his own lawyer; as a result, it was impossible to know whether the charges had any veracity at all. Boniadi, the actress and activist, said: “There’s no justice involved here.” ♦

[beanieman]

What I Think The Dolls Would Be Like In A Floormasters AU

Ranmaru Kageyama 

Ranmaru first comes off as...well boring. The group doesn’t think much of him, but they do find it weird how toned back his personality is compared to the other floormasters. What they don’t know is that when they’re alone, Ranmaru is approaching each of them and offering to help them escape if he can come with them. Some are more tempted than others by the offer, but it’s enough to sow tension in the group.

During the main game, Ranmaru’s mass promise is reveled. This is when he comes clean and admits he doesn’t mind who lives or dies. He just wants to escape no matter who it’s with. This desperation is unsettling to the group, who had come to mostly consider Ranmaru a friend. Though this is proven false at his numb reaction committing execution's.  

Naomichi Kurumada 

Naomichi first comes off as very intimidating. He’s a large man who’s quick to bring up the notion of winning. It’s clear that he doesn’t understand why the group would have allies, and he seems to consider other people as burdens. He’s brisk in conversation, though he does seem content to observe what the group is doing. 

Through this watching, Naomichi starts to see the value in having allies. Before the main game his thoughts have changed, and he’s more much angry at ASU-NARO for putting these people through this. This grows until he refuses to do an execution at the end, and Tia has to step in to do so. 

Anzu Kinashi 

Anzu introduces herself to the participants in full clown attire. She’s holding balloons and preforms tricks to entertain everyone. Obviously because of the circumstances no one is in the mood to joke around with her, much to Anzu’s disappointment. 

During the main game, it becomes clear that Anzu isn’t thinking to hard about this situation because it scares her. She’s just going through the motions and trying to get home to her family. Some participants are sympathetic towards her, escpessally when she tears up with everyone else during the execution's. 

More Undercut 

Mai Tsurugi 

Mai introduces herself by batting her eye lashes and acting flirtatious with the appropriately aged participants. She pulls out her “UWU I’m so cute and harmless” persona that she uses in 3A. She allows herself to come off as dumb and unhelp, even though neither of those things are true. 

During the main game, Mai’s personality first comes to the forefront when she throws a knife into a podium to get everyone’s attention. She drops her fake attitude to clearly lay out the rules in the game that must be followed. It shocks everyone, and they all keep an eye on her while the discuss who to vote for. 

Shunsuke Hayasaka 

Shunsuke at first plays very dumb. He does everything possible to come off as unmemorable in fear the group will find out about his questionable past with ASU-NARO. Unfortunately for him, someone at the top really has it out of him, and clues about his past are laid out for the participants to find. 

This makes him particularly distrusted by the participants. They know there’s more to him, but he won’t say anything. Even during the main game he keeps his mouth shut and refuses to help. By the end of everything, he’s hated for his silence. 

Hinako Mishuku 

Hinako first comes as very unsettling. She speaks very coldly for such a young girl, and she mentions death as if it’s something as casual as the weather. She does tend to leave the group alone, which they appreciate, but a part of her wishes she were closer to them. This feeling grows until she helps the group quite a few times and becomes an ally. 

During the main game, Hinako does her job as a Floormaster to self preserve. However, she does offer hints and sympathy to the group. It’s easy to see that she’s not okay with this, but there’s little she can do to help. 

[daftbitch]

Hi! NSA here! Sorry for the radio silence, I've been going through it in the mental health department. Plus work and all. I haven’t been able to write at all even though I want to. I hope you’ve been well despite, you know (gestures to the general state of the world)

Omg though pinning a post to call out to me u///u I’m flattered!

You wanted to hear my thoughts about Doe's Nekomamushi fic, and I will share them now! I did read it, but I was so FED that I wanted to devote the proper energy to address what I all liked about it, and I was far too tired to do that this past few weeks. And just kind of… not in the mood to engage with something positive when my brain is in the pits. But now I am here.

A while ago, someone sent Doe an ask referring to the drabbles I sent you and saying she had competition–I wanted to scream! Don’t compare us! T_T She’s got far more experience under her belt! The Nekomamushi commission is proof enough of that. Just incredible work.

Here’s my thoughts:

The intro is masterfully set up. Just paragraph after paragraph of vivid imagery of the location and the sensations of running through a tangled wood and the thrill of it all. Like 14 paragraphs before we even see Nekomamushi, and none of it is boring. I’m like hitting my head on a wall from a writer’s perspective because it’s so well done! The sun setting and the following hush are great transitions to the last part of the chase and really set the mood. I especially love when Sterling wonders to herself if Zunesha sleeps!! It’s such a small but poetic detail that really helps ground her in the world she lives in despite that world being so whimsical.

"A daring glance back was too tempting to resist." I love this sentence and how it transitions to the reveal, I love the emphasis on hunting grounds. But I think my favorite part of maybe the whole fic is the end of the paragraph: 

“So in tune with nature here, it made her shudder. It almost flowed around him, with the ease at which he caught up.”

It’s sooo good! I can picture it perfectly and I just love the concept; such a master of his environment that it feels like the forest moves around him rather than the opposite. Coolest shit ever and something I can easily visualize.

And man, Doe is like a master of mood. After the buildup of the chase and the reveal, literally the moment his paw comes down and pins Sterling I’m on the edge of my seat with anticipation. And from the very start the dialogue is fucking hot:

"Well, little kitten, I've got you-gara right where I want you…there is no place in this jungle where I couldn't find you…"

DAMN I mean talk about starting off strong! And their back-and-forth is so cute and hot.

"Adrenaline and heat, all swirling together. I would chase that scent anywhere, kitten. I'd find you anywhere, until I could have you."

OTL I CANNOT, and immediately followed by "I'll always be yours."  !?!? Im GONNA SCREAM!!

“...causing the beast to rumble in approval. That sound was felt all the way to her core.”

Doe hits all of the monsterfucker motifs: the growling of a beast being felt physically, the heat, the strength, the size difference, for some examples. She has an excellent understanding of the draw of the whole thing and knows how to execute those aspects very well.

Also. ALSO.

"They say you shouldn't tempt the beast." - "I think the beast is tempting me. Don't make me wait."

Fucking SUPERB I love the dialogue so much.

"Eyes on me, kitten."

The dominance and being called “kitten” grjgjdfskhfsj. I know I write the same thing but that’s because IT RULES (no pun intended) and Doe does an amazing job at it

The buildup to the actual penetration, the threat of the edging and the dirty talk is drawn out perfectly and is literally so hot it makes me dizzy. And it all builds up to the tipping point/high point/climax (literaty-term-wise) that is making Sterling beg for it, before you even get to the main event. 

“Nekomamushi's Sulong form is always a bit rougher with her than his daytime self. The beast took what it wanted, and thought of her wellbeing later on once the throes of heat had cooled. But Sterling liked the thrill of being at the moon beast's mercy, a cunt to be used to breed and nothing more.”

Again with Doe showing 100% understanding of what the appeal of monsterfucking is. We love to see it. And then you actually have the main event and it’s 6 full sizzling spicy mastercrafted paragraphs before the first orgasm, like. I don’t know how she does it! Then we get 3 more before Nekomamushi’s?? 

Then a perfect resolution and closing line, which is always something I struggle with. The whole thing is Literally 1000/10 work.

Man, I aspire to write stuff like this. I really look up to Doe as a writer.

That’s about all of my thoughts on that. T_T I love fics I love OCs and self inserts and reader inserts I love writing (I hate writing) I love writing. How have you been, KP? I hope things are okay for you.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR SO LONG!!! I WOULD WAIT A MILLION YEARS FOR YOU TO COME BACK TO ME!!! I’M SO HAPPY YOU SAW MY PINNED POST I THINK OF YOU ON THE DAILY!!!

I’m not gonna lie when I saw this at work I literally started jumping up and down and screaming with joy silently, of course, but I did jump up and down. I want you to take your time and reply to me whenever you feel OK there’s no time limit and I’m always gonna be here. Also, it’s OK if you don’t wanna come off anon that’s completely your choice. And I don’t fault you for that at all.

After I read through your message all the way I literally called Doe and I read her this she was literally so happy She said it made her week and she’s never had such an analytical review of one of her works before she knows the time and energy. It must’ve taken for you to write all of this and source actual lines from her story

She said she greatly appreciate you for doing that very much and if you ever want to go over to her blog and just be on anon to just go ahead and do that if you want.

I reread that story a couple of times a week because it’s a literally, my favorite, and that one line with Sterling just being a Cunt to breed literally always sends a tingle through me. It’s literally my favorite line of the entire story. 

My friend I greatly appreciate you so much and you don’t know how much joy that you bring me every time you message me I always get really giddy and giggle a lot that’s how much I look forward to you. 

I’m always here if you wanna talk to me if you even want to make a side blog and keep your self anonymous that way and go into my DM’s. If you just want to talk I’m totally down with that too. It’s whatever you’re comfortable with or we can continue communicating this way it’s literally whatever.

And I have so much more I want to tell you and I look forward to hearing from you once again, it brightens up my entire day. You have no idea !!!

I am doing pretty good. I’m getting over a back injury and Covid. I go see the Barbie movie on Saturday. I’m very excited for that. Hopefully you can see it too if you want. 

 I have so much to tell you and I would like to discuss a bunch of horny stuff with you, but just general stuff in general 

I hope this finds you well, my friend 

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3.5/5

Book Blurb: In this dark and seductive YA fantasy debut, a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal. Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn't struggle constantly against an impulse to kill. As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren't for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince. Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom's brutal creature segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him-especially when they're forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who's plaguing the city. There's only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer. Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.

Review:

In a kingdom where fae rule and all other creatures are considered lesser, a siren must keep her identity a secret all the while finding a way to keep her side job as an assassin hidden from the royal family who would kill her if they knew her kind existed.... and it doesn’t help that she has just been promoted from a soldier in training to the prince’s new bodyguard.... and someone knows her secret and is threatening to out her if she doesn’t kill the royal family. Saorise has lived her life surviving on her lies, keeping her identity a secret in a kingdom that would kill her if they knew about her abilities as a siren. She keeps her family afloat and puts her sister through school by making money killing people for a dangerous group of mercenaries. By day Saorise is a soldier in training but by night she is an assassin. But when her recent examination offers her the highest promotion possible she finds herself now given the job of protecting the people she hates the most, the royal family.... however someone else out there knows her secret of being an assassin is threatening her sister unless she does what they say she knows she has no choice but to get closer to the prince... who is hunting down the killer in the town.... which just happens to be her. Yet the more she learns about the prince the more she realizes he is nothing like his parents, that he is kind and compassionate and falling for her, and that she is falling for him too. Can she unmask her blackmailer and save the prince before its too late? Or will all her lies catch up to her and everything she loves will be lost? Overall, its an interesting premise with a fun overall story arc but it did feel like it dragged at some parts. The romance was okay but I guess I just wasn’t as invested in that as I was in Saorise’s career as an assassin. I am curious to see where the second book goes after how this one ends and how Saorise and Prince Hayes’s relationship goes in the next book.

*Spoiler: she finds out that the blackmailer was her best friend who is part of the rebellion who wants to kill the entire royal family. Prince Hayes discovers her secret and after his father dies he becomes king. They both admit they have feelings for each other but she did murder his best friend and played some part in murdering his father but he says that he does love her more than his kingdom and has sent her off to find someone who was thought to be dead.* 

*Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, Bloomsbury YA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[rabidpomeranians]

AI Jane replacement theory

[Image text: ARQUIUSPRITE: Miss Crocker is now a vessel for a cunning, malicious artificial intelligence whose neural netronix and ontology buffers and stuff like that have somehow managed to far surpass even my own -end text]

Arquius says this as an advanced AI that's been fused with a fully cognizant person through the medium of an (at least) semi-intelligent kernelsprite.

You can argue Hal wasn’t that advanced to begin with since there are obvious exploitable flaws in the programming, which in turn (ironically) drags down Arquius’ overall standing as a complex AI. But. Hal was produced by a 13 year old from a single snapshot of his brain. It’s no small feat, until you see how it stands up to a lifetime of Crocker Corp research and surveillance.

Jane grew up surrounding herself with BCCorp tech, likely infected with spyware hiding under the more obvious subliminal spam. If the tiaratop can fill her head with subliminal messages than it can sneak a copy of her brain. Add to that every thought and conversation, where she goes, and what shes doing. It’s all tracked and collected into a comprehensive profile. Designated research and development plus three extra years of study creates an AI well above both Hal and Arquius in indiscernability.

Case and point: Crockertier Jane isn’t just the “real Jane” under mind control. Shes the AI given full autonomy. Which leads to my main question. Is Jane still Jane?

At the end of her crockertier tirade, Jane’s physical body is knocked out but the AI is still running. She knows she’ll be cut off and shut down, and in a moment of self preservation (possibly prolonged by a sympathetic and morally dubious fellow AI) she migrates herself into Jane’s brain and pushes Jane’s mind into the tiara to eliminate any resistance. Leaving her free to roam while the real Jane is indefinitely trapped with a bunch of shitty popup ads in an abandoned piece of technology.

The next notable time we see Jane, it’s in the epilogues where she’s following very close to the AI’s stated directives: (under the read more because the images and transcript double the post length.)

As a final note, the last time she wears the tiaratop is here [X] where her feelings for Jake had her in a state of intense bitterness and grief. For the AI this is the last point of reference before later being given control.

This happens just before the trickster arc, during the fallout of which is when real Jane ultimately decides to curb her infatuation with Jake. The AI missed this resolution and ended up doubling down on the conflict instead. Hence why Jane seemed to flip flop on her feelings for him the second she goes crockertier. 

[image text:  JANE:  I stand to inherit a new empire very soon. JANE: When Earth has reached its final destination, it will be repopulated with a fresh brood of loyal subjects over whom I will rule absolutely. JANE:  You and I will be wed, and we will rule my empire together with an iron oven mitt. JANE: However, the mitt will be worn by me, and me alone. You will have no executive authority whatsoever, because you are too stupid. JANE: You will always do exactly what I say, when I say it. You will be obedient, cheerful, mostly silent, and scantily clad. Is that understood?

JANE:  You will also provide me with children so my imperial legacy will continue, and the Crocker brand will live on in infamy. JANE:  You will sire as many children as I ask for, and they will all be perfect, obedient little heirs and heiresses.

JANE: Our children will rule the empire when we are gone, which of course will be never, because we will be eternally young and beautiful and immortal and in love, for ever and ever. JANE:  We will travel the galaxy conquering planets and expanding my empire. No alien world will pose any resistance to our forces. JANE: Especially not once I figure out how to unlock all that incredible "Page of Hope potential" hidden away in your pathetic, hunky body. -end text]

so far we’ve seen: achieve absolute rule over the new world/population, take jake as a husband (in a notably disparaging way), and, produce an heir (with little actual value placed on them)

if the theory tracks, the next steps would be space travel (already hinted at by the production of space faring ships) and aggressive imperial expansion (HIC’s ultimate pursuit).

[isobelleposts]

A Unique Perspective into the Marcos Regime from Gina Apostol

Cover of 'Gun Dealer's Daughter' by Gina Apostol

Gun Dealer’s Daughter by Gina Apostol is one of the first Filipino novels I’ve read and has pushed me to further explore and support local writers. As someone who is young and has never witnessed the Marcos regime with my own eyes or lived through those dreadful times—and thankfully so—getting an unusual perspective of the era through the deranged mind of Soledad Soliman immediately hooked me to purchase the book.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr. alongside his wife, Imelda Marcos

THE RICH

Soledad Soliman, as regarded through the book’s title, is a gun dealer’s daughter with close ties to the dictator and easy access to privilege and wealth. What struck me most aside from the fractured consciousness of the main character, which author Gina Apostol puts us through to witness this story, was the privilege that was often pointed out and openly stated for the readers to interpret.

From the spoils of those bloody times, my parents purchased this gilded womb.

Page 45 of ‘Gun Dealer’s Daughter’

Although Sol was only a baby when the bloody times of the Martial Law first broke out, this line alone proves the sheer privilege she and her family has—able to escape and avoid these crimes while others less privileged were given no other choice than to live under the unjust ruling of the dictator, with some even left to be wrongfully arrested and killed.

“We’ll always have our wealth, we will always have our names. There is something suspicious, dishonest, in playacting revolt. We’re cockroaches. We’ll outlast even our crimes.”

Page 139 of ‘Gun Dealer’s Daughter’

Even Sol herself acknowledges this privilege during a talk with Jed in one of the book’s pages.

Victims of the Martial Law

THE TORTURED

This book is unfortunately slow-paced, and although I adore Gina Apostol’s efforts and talent to write so precisely in the blurred mind of the main character, it took me a while to get to a chapter that would push me to read what else may follow. The plot of the book, I would say, arrives near the end wherein Sol’s vision of her past gradually becomes clearer and concise.

It was the severed head of a child. — Her skirt a clump over her waist. A private army aimed at her parts.

Page 193 of ‘Gun Dealer’s Daughter’

It was at this point that the story started taking up its pace as my stomach lurched in disgust and fright over the images that popped into my head with the author’s description of these tortures that similarly took place in real life not so long ago, to innocent civilians and activists fighting for the country’s freedom.

“That corner there, Sol. See that line, that shadow?” Edwin said. I nodded, looking. “That’s a gun, an automatic.”

Page 194 of ‘Gun Dealer’s Daughter’

It was disappointing, that I, along with Sol, only then was struck with the seriousness of her father’s business and her close association with these horrid crimes. To think that she had been so closely linked with giving way for these tortures to take place was something only the most cruel people could ignore.

THE ENDING

Gina Apostol’s writing is one of the most unique ones I’ve encountered and the structure of this story was interesting enough to keep me reading. Yet despite this, it felt as though the story from the very beginning was leading up to a major revelation that never met or come close to exceeding my expectations.

“Why, the Colonel had to go, of course,” my mother exclaimed. “One way or the other, Gianni said, he had to go. He was not following the plan.”

Page 272 of Gun Dealer’s Daughter

The book shares an interesting view into the Marcos regime through the eyes of the privileged youth, and though it may not be the most educational book there is to learn about our sadly almost-forgotten and widely disregarded history based on recent election results, it is a well-written story that has you applauding the author for her clear execution.

[nelithic]

nasturtium :   describe your muse’s relationship with their birthplace ,   or homeland .

▀▀ 　BOTANICAL HEADCANONS　₊　

despite what she would have you believe considering she betrayed sombron during the war a thousand years ago and turned her back on gradlon, ultimately nel is ambivalent, leaning lukewarm.

i consistently find it telling that ( as far as i'm aware; i definitely haven't seen all of her potential post-battle lines, etc. yet ) you never actually see nel speak poorly of sombron or of her experiences growing up in gradlon. as the player, you assume it must have been terrible because of the distress she shows during the flashback sequences in the fell xenologue and the fact that she escaped from it eventually. but nel herself never says that she had suffered there or that she's personally glad to have left it behind; the times she does mention gradlon or anything related to fell practice, she just tells it like it was and doesn't seek to either apologize for it or justify it.

looking at her diamant C in particular:

nel: you are no doubt aware that i am a child of the fell dragon sombron. despite our differences in heritage, you are also a child of royalty. we have this in common. i never understood my father. i thought perhaps you could share some experiences with yours.

right off the bat, nel relates herself to diamant as both being royal children, and the only difference in circumstance she sees is that she's a dragon and he's human. nothing about sombron being a known tyrant and force of evil; there's a notable lack of anything resembling "i know what sombron did is evil / i'm not trying to liken him and your father at all", anything to indicate a moral judgment or even personal desire to un-associate herself with sombron. if anything, she follows it with "i never understood my father", and is asking for diamant's insight in hopes that she might understand him better.

after diamant expresses surprise and says that things are done differently in brodia, she says:

nel: i see. unlike your father, lord sombron preferred to silence all dissent with execution. to object to his decree was out of the question. to survive, there was no choice but to obey.

nel is naturally pretty monotone in her delivery usually, but i think it's still worth noting that there's a lack of anger, frustration, or even particular sadness in her explanation of how things were done in fell!gradlon.

in the end, it's diamant who makes the value judgment:

diamant: i can't even imagine living under such a vile dictatorship. i'm so sorry.

to which all nel has to say, still without much emotion, is:

nel: there is no need to apologize. that is all in the past for me now. hearing your experiences has taught me a great deal. i hope we will speak again soon.

it's left unclear exactly what diamant's perspective has "taught" her in this exchange, though it can be argued, based on the trajectory of their supports later, that it's the beginning of nel understanding the importance of objective third-party observation and assessment on the nature of someone's character, particularly leadership in their specific case.

given that nel spent a war and some time with the fell!cast of engage in her own world after betraying her father, it's unlikely this is the first time she's heard value judgments on sombron's rule and gotten a sense of what other people feel about him and his leadership style outside of the gradlon bubble. i think we do see an objective acknowledgement of that difference in perspective in this scene, particularly in her final "that is all in the past for me now". there does appear to be a recognition that there were elements that could be considered cruel where she had come from. but between this support and the fact that she continues to never speak ill of gradlon or sombron throughout the rest of her in-game dialogue, it feels as though that way of seeing it is something she only became aware of through hearing what other people had to say about it, rather than coming from herself and how she felt about it.

i think her absence of value judgment is particularly apparent when considered alongside rafal, who actually does have lines ( i think it's one of his post-battle lines but i'm not remembering exactly where off the top of my head right now ) where he casts aspersions on sombron.

i could keep going, but it'd probably just be additional discussion around the same point, which ultimately is: nel has since recognized after the fact, after seeing more of the world and realizing how different it is outside of gradlon, that her homeland is a brutal, and even possibly terrible, place. however, i don't think she necessarily feels that way herself fully. for nel, who was surrounded by that consistent environment growing up and saw it as normal, she approaches it more with a " it just was what it was " kind of lens. she sees it as neither good nor bad, sometimes one or the other.

it's notable that, though she aligned herself with the divine dragon's goals eventually, the reason she originally left gradlon at all was because life there threatened the person she wanted to protect, not because she necessarily hated it there or wanted ( initially ) to bring down sombron.

[ellanainthetardis]

Who was the worst, snow or coin?

Why?

Thank you. @curiousnonny

@curiousnonny I LOVE this question.

Long story short, my answer is Coin.

Long story long: Snow is horrible. Like, there's no question. He's a dictator, he's a tyrant, he's a mass murderer, he's probably a psychopath, and he's an embodiment of the powerful white old man monster.

We do have a backstory for him now though and I guess we don't have a backstory for Coin (although I remember something about a husband and a son being dead but is that movie!canon, something I read in a fanfic or something? Anyway not book!canon so not relevant).

Snow is ambitious, cunning and has no moral compulsions left after tbosas. But we do get where he begins though. He's traumatized by the war (not that it's an excuse, right, but there was CANNIBALISM ok and I think we forget that a lot and we should discuss more) and I think on some level everything he does once he becomes powerful is done to never get back to that state of things with the Capitol under assault, with rationing and fear and all that jazz (which makes you see MJ in a new light). Of course, he also wants to be king but I do think that's the bonus not the objective. The objective is to have the Capitol be supreme, to never again be that kid who struggle to find food (yes I know me it pains me too that this was a total rip off of Katniss' story).

The thing about Snow though is that I think that quote when he tells Katniss "we don't lie to each other" is probably very true. Snow is a monster in fine clothing and most of the Capitols worship him as a savior (classic cult of personality stuff for a dictator) and would not suspect him of any wrong doings but for the people who needs to be afraid of him, the people who needs to know he has them on a leash... He's pretty straightforward. For the victors (and probably escorts, gamemakers and even the various government people) he's the big bad you don't want to get mad. If he gives you a warning, you don't ignore it. If he issues a threat, you know he will follow through.

So what I'm trying to say here is that yeah, sure, he's the worst but in a way he owns it and he's open about it.

Coin, however, presents herself as a savior and is sahddy as fuck. I know the movies make it look like power corrupted her and she started good and ended bad but that's not my take when I read the books. When I read the books, I see a ruthless politician with an army who knows what she wants and is now ready to go for it, using kids and whoever she needs to to do it.

Look, it's understandable in a way because you don't overturn a regime and keep your hands clean but she's a hypocrite about it and if given leave to do so she would have taken Snow's place in a hearbeat. Forget elections (or they would be rigged), hello new Hunger Games, hello new terror regime. It wouldn't be long before Thirteen was the new Capitol - or more likely the Capitol would still be the Capitol but under Thirteen's thumb and the whole country would be stuck between them and forced to comply. Would things be better for the Districts? Maybe at first, probably not in the long run.

So the question is was Coin genuine? I don't know. What I know is that she kept her District military with harsh rules and mandatory conscription. You can argue it was done for survival and that's valid. But I also know that she said we don't execute mad girls but would probably not have flinched at executing Johanna and Peeta for doing propos for the Capitols when they were clearly there under duress. She used Peeta as a weapon against Katniss, exactly the same way the Capitol did. She used a weapon behind their creators' knowledge (at least Gale's, I'm going to give him that, i don't think that's what he meant when he had his hummingbird idea) to kill countless kids just so she could put Snow in a checkmate. She killed Prim deliberatey to attract Katniss and have HER killed so she could be the only rebel icon. She suggested new hunger games. (I'm going to give her a pass on everyone involved in the games including prep teams being killed - per mj book - because I don't think that could have been averted even if her intentions had been good)

Coin wanted power and she was ready to do anything to get it. Was she worse than Snow... She was a younger version of Snow. Maybe more dangerous in a way. But at the point of thg, yes, I think she was worse because Snow was the snake but Coin was the wolf in sheep's clothings.

[apollos-boyfriend]

OKAY COOL thank you. I wanna draw her at the red banquet but I haven't really followed the eggpire lore bc im a ctubbo lorehead main. She's possessed at the red banquet, right? But she lied about it? I want to draw her at it and the banquet was murder central but idk how active a participant she was, and depending on that she's either standing over someone or just. Watching. (Also what's her design like? The eggpire fucks with colors but the rules are muddy. I know red goes white so she probably has white roses but other than that I'm unsure.)

Also would a look of dissociated shock suit her during it? What was she feeling? I'd check the wiki but idk how much I trust them with creators other than the dteam because it's proven that they've been weird

oh anon you’ve just tapped into a very niche topic that i’ve been meaning to tackle for a BIT now so i very much apologize for the definite rant that will be unfolding.

hannah was possessed during the banquet, yes! to say she lied about it isn’t technically incorrect, but it’s more accurate to say that the egg lied through her. hannah was not in control of her actions at the time, nor were any of the other eggpire members. it wasn’t a willing betrayal on her end—she had no control at all. it was the egg’s doing 100%, and the same applies to all the other eggpire members.

this isn’t against you personally, but people saying that the banquet was this massacre of killing just. rubs me the wrong way. because it wasn’t! the only two deaths were foolish (killed by a possessed antfrost) and ant (killed by puffy). the only other casualties were MAYBE a few of techno’s dogs, but that’s it. it bothers me because the agenda that ALL of the eggpire were ruthless murderers is exactly what sam has been trying to push, and we know how much i hate his bitch ass. he’s directly slandered hannah’s name by calling her a killer, and it affects her a lot! we see it happen! there were only two killers at the banquet, and even then, ant wasn’t himself—he was just a puppet for the egg.

hannah, mostly stood back during the execution part. the main leaders for it were bad and ant. she acted as a bodyguard of sorts, alongside ponk, holding back the attendants, but never dealt any damage herself. hannah’s part in the banquet came in her snitching on the rest of the invitees and handing over their previously-hidden gear to the eggpire, so after that reveal, she largely stepped back and taller those two handle it. she mirrored the others, and followed the leader before anything else. her expression depends on how you want to interpret egg!hannah! twisted glee, stoic indifference, both of those work ^^ it’s important to remember that while hannah herself is HIGHLY emotional, her possessed self isn’t, which is where most of the mischaracterization of her comes from. she’s very direct and monotonous when speaking, stating things as blunt facts as opposed to her usual emotional nature.

to the left is her banquet fit, to the right is her normal eggpire skin! as she had to be disguised for the banquet, her roses were red, not white. i’m unsure how to describe her dress, but it’s a very loose, off the shoulder type fit? very pink and very normal-hannah, to throw off as much suspicion as possible ^_^ i hope this helped!!!