#and refuse to include emotional needs among them. so like idk if that's your thing i don't rlly give a shit man | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-last-cuddlebender · 4 years

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So you just refuse canon and bumi and Kya were lying or were just dumb not to realize what was really happening and perfect dad aang didn’t favor tenzin so much and he wasn’t the special one who got all the trips and time with him and was the favorite and every air nation person didn’t revere him and his mother didn’t adore the baby of the family who gave her grandkids and youre right I had to look it up but pema was o n l y 16 years younger and a man doesn’t leave a long term partner to hook up right away with a girl if there wasn’t something going on before even if maybe they didn’t get close to f#cking or maybe it was the worshiping from her that he liked and it was enough even if he really didn’t have anything going on with her but for you tenzin is this perfect victim who never done anything wrong like aang and who only suffered by everyone else being mean and wasn’t loved enough for your liking but this is your hc and to be fair you can have any you want. Bumi was the oldest and he was a non bender that must have been crushing but he kept being a good person and loving his family. Kya was the middle child who was gay and who probably was a bit confused and a bit lost and still was the most caring person ever to anyone and was always willing to help and who even went to stay with her elderly mother. tenzin was the miracle child who got all his parents attention, an island and grow up to expect to be special and a leader who was rigid on his teaching and rules and was also sort of a shitty teacher who also treated a girlfriend/oldest friend like crap not because of the break up but how he did it. That’s all tenzin not just poor baby defenseless never done anything wrong tenzin but if that’s what you want I’m glad he isn’t as loved as you think he should be because with the bits we got his siblings are much more interesting and even better people

(I assume you’re referring to this post about a previous ask, and I’m happy to discuss)

Hi, anon! There’s considerably more for me to unpack here, so bear with me. I’ll try to keep my response contained to a few points:

some child (< age 12) psychology

Katara and Hakoda’s relationship

some pretty dang neat-o history facts that explain more than you think (because my diploma has to be worth something lmao)

(I’m trying to be concise, so if I sound short, please know that’s not my intention. I just wanna save this from becoming a novel. I also just burnt myself with NaNoWriMo, so it may kindof ramble idk)

To start, I don’t refuse the “canon” of the Kataang family, so take that as you will. I gave my argument completely within the lines of TLOK canon because I figured that was what you were after. And I can make an argument for something while not arguing against the opposition. A good argument should be able to validate itself. I never went after Bumi or Kya, and I never would. I love their characters to bits. I was focusing on Tenzin.

Nowhere in my previous post did I say that Tenzin is a ‘perfect victim’ who never did anything wrong. I’m discussing the reasons why I think his character should be explored and appreciated more. He is an extremely complex character just like the rest of the cast. To box him in as “the favored one” is narrow-sighted at best. He’s human. There’s more to him. He didn’t ask for his lot, but he makes of himself what he can with it, just like Bumi and Kya. He by no means had a cozy time (and he has the stress-lines to show it).

You say that Tenzin was “expect to be special and a leader.” That alone makes me want to know more about him and how he grew up with that weight on his shoulders. That kind of expectation can destroy a person. It’s very a-la the pressures of the first-born in a monarchy crumbling under the stresses of learning to rule. Tbh, I think that’s why Tenzin was written as the youngest, so that the cliché wouldn’t be as obvious.

I have NEVER said that Bumi and Kya were lying or were dumb. I was discussing kid-Tenzin and how/why kid-Bumi and kid-Kya perceived favoritism (all while remaining within the lines of TLOK canon, too). Perception isn’t a bad thing. It’s just someone’s interpretation of the world. Idk if you think there’s a negative connotation to the word, but there’s not. Person A can look at the sky and see the moon and Person B can look at the sky and see a void that makes them feel small and insignificant. It’s just a difference of perception. Just because they’re different doesn’t make one or the other inherently wrong. Different truths are more than capable of co-existing.

FIRSTLY, about Aang passing:

Kya wasn’t the only one to help Katara after Aang passed. Aang left a void in MANY ways, both as a family man and the Avatar. Bumi, being in the military, guarded the world in his stead. Tenzin took up the mantle in the City and on the island. Kya took on the emotional safety-net.

Katara was Aang’s best friend, partner, and second-in-command. She was just as renowned as him. I can imagine the world expecting her to shoulder his burdens in the wake of his passing. She was the Mighty Katara, after all.

ALL of her kids helped her through his passing, in their own way. Being a shoulder to cry on is just one facet, and all three kids helped her beautifully.

Some psychology:

I’ll explain why I think Bumi and Kya perceived favoritism (which every kid does, myself included. It’s natural and somewhat instinctive for siblings) as best as I can. I’m not a psych major by any means, but I can lay down what I know and remember from my classes.

I’m not saying favoritism doesn’t exist in families. I’m talking about family dynamics in situations where favoritism is subjective because it objectively isn’t there. (Others might define favoritism differently, I suppose. But these are my thoughts)

Children (again, I’m talking <12 here) perceive the world differently than adults. They have incredible imaginations and a pretty tame survival instinct. Give a kid one of those mind-bender jigsaw puzzles, and they’ll have a higher chance of success solving it because their minds haven’t grown enough to be constrained by reality. They’re mad geniuses who haven’t been developed enough to be closed off from the possibilities. That’s what makes childhood so precious.

That’s why even Gyatso wanted to wait until Aang was older to learn he was the Avatar. You have to let the mind grow and fall and dust itself off before you fence it in. This doesn’t discredit or underestimate kids, either. They are extremely capable. I’m just talking about their lesser known psychology.

“Developed” is also a word that doesn’t have negative connotation here. I’m speaking clinically. Some cognitive and executive brain functions aren’t developed until 25. It doesn’t devalue ability or understanding. It’s just a word.

Kids internalize things differently than adults, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Perceived favoritism among siblings (in situations where there objectively isn’t favoritism, of course) is a classic example. Kids need only be a few years apart for this to be seen. If a two-year-old gets a younger sibling, they can regress to breastfeeding because of the perceived favoritism they see being given to the youngest. Mom isn’t going to let the other kid starve, but the kid doesn’t know that.

This isn’t just in infants, though. And as it can be seen with the Kataang kids (they were all kids when Tenzin went on the trips with Aang, and kid-Tenzin is my focus here): Bumi and Kya don’t ‘know’ that Aang is saving time for them, too, when he isn’t there. All they see is Dad gone with Tenzin and leaving them behind. And by ‘know’, I don’t mean to insult their intelligence. They comprehend why, but their instincts don’t. Siblings have a lot of strange instincts, not just Cain Instinct. Object permanence is critical until critical and abstract thinking are properly developed. Before then, it’s a “I believe what I can see” mindset (in the simplest terms...I don’t wanna wax eloquent about the nuances of it rn. I can see people taking this as me discrediting kids, but I’m not. I’m just trying to explain the Point B missing between Points A and C presented in the show).

Katara:

Children don’t start developing abstract thinking until about age 12. It’s part of their cognitive development. That’s when they start developing critical thinking (and scientific method and etc.) and the understanding of relationships between verbal and nonverbal ideas. Before then, seeing dad take their youngest sibling on field trips would 100% feel unfair, no matter how the situation would be explained to them. They literally can’t understand it.

***Katara: If you want an example, look no further than when Katara confronts Hakoda in The Awakening. Katara knew Hakoda had to go when he did (2 years before the show, by the way, making her 12). She really, really does understand, even when she’s older. But it still hurts, and she doesn’t know why. That’s because the damage has been done. She perceived his leaving differently when she was younger and it internalized differently as a result. She feels a little abandoned even though she knows Hakoda didn’t and why he had to go. Its affects don’t go away, though (as seen in the invasion).

I never said that Kya’s and Bumi’s feelings would go away or were untrue to begin with. It was real to them, and that’s all that matters, just like Katara’s feelings being real to her is all that matters. Hakoda understands that. Aang would, too.

Is that Aang’s fault? It depends on what your definition of a good dad is and whether or not you give him room to make mistakes. Personally, I think he’s a great dad to all three of his children, even in the canon of TLOK. He just isn’t given a proper analysis in the show.

Time spent together does not equal time spent loved. Otherwise, school teachers would be more of a parent(s) to a kid than their actual parents.

The acolytes:

The acolytes of The Southern Air Temple being all “Avatar Aang had more kids?” and completely side-lining Kya and Bumi is not in any way a testament of Aang’s or Katara’s characters. That’s the acolytes’ characters. Aang and Katara have no control over what the acolytes do/do not want to believe or think, no matter how many times they would have corrected them. They fangirl over the airbenders in the scene you’re referring to. Even the fangirls in the comics completely side-lined Katara as Aang’s “first girlfriend.” Their behavior in TLOK never surprised me.

Teacher!Tenzin:

Tenzin being a poor teacher was a good thing. It meant he could grow with his equally-poor student so they would become something better together, as mentor and pupil. I found that idea for growth to be pretty darn cool.

Devaluing the opposition:

“The bits that we got his siblings are much more interesting and even better people” objectively, sure, I could agree, but if I met an interesting and awesome person for a short window of time, I wouldn’t believe they were interesting and awesome 100% of the time. Bits of a person do not define their character. Every person has a capacity for just as much good as evil—it’s a variable that stretches equally in either direction.

*********************************************************************

History-fun-time with the-last-cuddlebender woohoooooo

(a.k.a. I’ll address my thoughts on the “Tenzin being given the temple” and Tenzin-Pema situations, as you’ve presented them, as delicately and concisely as I can)

Importance of different generations:

If we go on the theory that TLOK mirrors more than just the industrial shifts of the real-world at the turn of the 20th c., then the age difference between Tenzin and Pema isn’t abnormal. (It wouldn’t be abnormal until even the early 1990s.) I have to use some anecdote to explain this, so bear with me:

Their age gap is strange to us because we’re used to things progressing so quickly. History as it’ll be written about the generations from the mid-90s onward will be very, very tricky. Generations now-a-days aren’t as easily defined because of the colossal leaps in technology from the past twenty or so years.

Loosely, a generation is a group of people defined by relatively the same “changes” that happened in their lifetime (or whose effects affected their early development). There have been way too many changes in technology (which we know has a much stronger effect on a person’s early development now than ever before) in recent decades for that formula to hold up anymore, otherwise there would be a new generation every 4 years.

An age gap like Tenzin’s and Pema’s feels so much stranger to us because our generations are so tightly layered. 4 years could mean a world’s difference when, back then (and I explain what I mean by “back then” further down), it didn’t change much on the dating scene. Life was more or less the same as they both grew up. It was far slower to change. And everyone in TLOK was growing up in the void of post-war for several decades. The technology jump didn’t (arguably) happen until just before Asami (if still holding up the comparison to modern day), so an age gap even in-universe wouldn’t be abnormal at the time they were dating.

(Even my parents got married at almost the exact same ages as Tenzin and Pema, the only difference being that my mom was 26 not 25. Most people I know are in the same boat. It’s just a generational disconnect)

Kya, Bumi, and Katara weren’t kicked out so Tenzin could be “given” the island (needs time period explanation):

I know TLOK says it got its inspiration from the 1920′s (the inspirations are there), but, if I were to date it, I would say that it’s moreso set in the mid 40′s-ish. (Kuvira ESPECIALLY reminds me of a not-as-known-as-they-should-be person from that time).

Among others, the size of the radios and Tenzin/Pema sleeping in one bed are some easy hints to me about TLOK being set in the mid-40s (if we’re using New York City as the template for Republic City).

Even in the time of FDR’s earliest Fireside Chats, the radios were monsters that had to be kept in the corner of the living room. Towards the mid-40′s, commercial radios were becoming compact, and the radios in TLOK are pretty darn small.

The Cathedral Radio used in TLOK wasn’t created in mass in the real world until 1933, and people didn’t have the means or money to replace their massive radios with smaller ones until (arguably) after the New Deal (1933-1939). Thus, I say the 40s.

Tenzin/Pema sleeping in the same bed also supports this time period because it wasn’t uncommon for couples to sleep in separate beds leading up into the “I Love Lucy” era of the 50s (the separate beds were for too many reasons to talk about here because they were a fad--for even medical reasons--for about a century).

^^^setting the time period is needed to prove why I think Kya and Bumi left of their own volition, why they would do it, and why it was actually quite normal

Kya and Bumi weren’t kicked out of the temple. In real life, it was a trend up until the mid-40s for families to stay in the familial home, some even long after marriage. After that, however, multiple factors encouraged the want and fostered the need for young adults to leave their home as soon as 18. Kya and Bumi would be influenced just the same given the parallels with the time period.

Not all families did. The big (mostly industrial) cities were the first to do this. TLOK mirrors this with Bolin and Mako’s family staying together.

Republic City, like New York City, was years ahead of these kinds of changes, so they started the one-bed shift and kids leaving the home just before the 50s. (This isn’t to disregard the cultural influences bellying the four nations. I know that familial homes are a characteristic common to Asian cultures since the US is more oft to sending elderly into nursing homes and such--and I’m having a blast learning about Asian culture since my specialty in college was medicine in Europe and the West--, but, here, I’m working on the assumption that the world in TLOK is migrating towards a Republic City standard, and the comics seemed to be hinting at that from as soon as just after the war, not to mention in TLOK.)

Again, kids leaving the home at the age of 18 is a very new thing that’s pretty specific to the US (in the time the trend first started) because of the new opportunities that were so suddenly afforded to younger people post-war. These opportunities were in all areas of life, not just economic (economic arguably being the least contributing factor imo), but that’s a historical essay for another time.

My point is, kids leaving the familial home began as a choice in a post-war (100-year war, in TLOK’s case) world that encouraged them to do so.

Bumi and Kya were not kicked out so Tenzin could be “given” Air Temple Island. Bumi joined the military, and Kya traveled the world. They CHOSE to leave because there was opportunity to do so (that hadn’t been there for 100 years). They wanted to find their own destinies (and be the nomads they were born as...I always found it to be a great irony that Tenzin, being the poster-child to carry the legacy of the Air Nomads, never really got the chance to be a nomad. It’s sad, really, and potentially another reason why Aang took him on one-on-one trips since he knew Tenzin would be stuck with his legacy?).

Katara (again): As for Katara leaving the island, I believe that, among other reasons, Katara left Republic City because the light pollution made it difficult to see the stars she had grown up with. In real life, the Milky Way used to be visible to the naked eye everywhere in the world, and I think that change would be reflected in TLOK by default. Katara would probably find comfort in something as consistent as the stars and the Aurora lights in her old age. Plus, the city was probably too loud for her, and snow muffles sound pretty darn well.

TO BE CLEAR: This is not a justification. This is an explanation. I’m taking no “side”, here, because I’m not invalidating the opposition to validate my own. These are just my thoughts for how I see Point A becoming Point C in a way that keeps in line with TLOK canon.

*********************************************************************

Final thoughts:

You and I “perceive” Tenzin and his family differently, anon, and that’s okay. That’s just our interpretations of the show. I’m not calling for Bumi and Kya to be torn down so Tenzin can be uplifted. I’m talking about Tenzin (kid-Tenzin) in particular. His character is his character, and his value shouldn’t have to proven by devaluing Kya and Bumi. Likewise, Kya’s and Bumi’s value shouldn’t have to be proven by devaluing Tenzin. Just because they’re “more interesting” than Tenzin doesn’t make them interesting people (meaning that line of logic is flawed. i.e. lesser evil isn’t good because it’s lesser; it’s still evil. They should be interesting if the comparison is taken away, and they absolutely are and for their own reasons). Their characters should able to stand in an isolated argument, and they absolutely do, make no mistake. I love them to pieces, and nothing I’ve said about Bumi and Kya has made them inferior. I love them to death and have written more about them than Tenzin. It wasn’t until I started thinking about Tenzin that I realized his potential.

Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi were never “given” anything, and I doubt they would ever want it to be. They all had it rough, and they all deserve love. Bumi fought for a name in the military. Kya carved out her place in the world. Tenzin dug in his roots and planted the seeds for a garden he thought he wouldn’t be alive to see grow.

Me believing Tenzin should be appreciated more does not mean I believe Kya and Bumi should be appreciated less.

...just like Aang giving Tenzin one-on-one attention does not mean he didn’t give Kya and Bumi one-on-one attention, too:)

Again, this isn’t an attack on any character, person, or fandom! I’m not a psych expert, either, and I apologize if it sounds like I’m delegitimizing kids and their experiences. I’m trying to do the opposite. I can go more into detail about Kya and Bumi, but this post is a novel already and I'm too burnt out to add more.

I’m just trying to give Tenzin as much love as Kya and Bumi🥰 I love all the cloud babies equally (as I should😤), and I wanted to toss out my two cents for discussion because I don’t see the cloud babies being loved equally in fandom (kindof ironic)

If there is some hidden childhood!tenzin content please hmu I beg🥺

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pk-majora · 3 years

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exploring my natal chart like pt 13 i think. found another really great website for a free chart astro-charts.com

I was born during a waning crescent moon and a lot of planets were in retrograde when i was born.

"A Waning Crescent is a wise, aged moon that has already experienced every phase in the cycle. This causes people born under a Waning Crescent to possess special talents or knowledge. Having this unique perspective can lead to a life of success, imagination, and fulfillment."

SOURCES: https://www.yourmoonphase.com/blogs/your-moon-phase/what-the-moon-phase-on-your-birthday-says-about-you#:~:text=A%20Waning%20Crescent%20is%20a,success%2C%20imagination%2C%20and%20fulfillment.

"Retrograde Mercury: These people absorb thoughts and ideas through repetition and osmosis rather than careful, deliberate study. Constantly editing, reviewing, rethinking, replaying it in their mind. Own best teacher. Questions what others accept as gospel. More capable of dealing with abstractions and impressions than those with Mercury direct.

Retrograde Jupiter: These people are capable of taking advantage of opportunities that others ignore or pass by. They prefer to “take another crack” at things others have tried and failed. Their moral and ethical code, religion, and philosophy are their own. They seek answers from within rather than subscribing to the dogma of the outside world. They seek abundance in new, untried, and unproven areas.

Retrograde Saturn: These people may doubt their worthiness as human beings. May avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes and be fearful of taking chances. There is often subconscious fear of rejection and loss. Their limitations and burdens are self-imposed. This may be the most difficult retrograde.

Retrograde Uranus: Here is a natural-born rebel. Strong reformer instincts — for everybody else. These folks have a strong inner need and desire to persistently test their personal abilities against those of others. They must constantly prove themselves to themselves. In seeking greater freedom for themselves, they may limit the freedom of others.

Retrograde Neptune: These people may be confused inwardly as to whether they are “virtuous” or not. Persistently seek to help others, whether their help is wanted or not. They are more susceptible and more easily taken in by others."

SOURCES: https://www.mollysastrology.com/lessons/retrograde-planets/

Some other information about my chart:

"Most of the inner planets are located in the top hemisphere

Mars is on the Midheaven

Ascendant and Mc are in 9 aspects

Venus in Libra and Uranus in Aquarius are in the signs of their rulership.

The Square aspect occurs the most, a total of 11 times

Uranus and Neptune are rising

The bottom right quadrant is empty

The Fixed mode is dominant among the inner planets"

SOURCES: astro-charts.com (they give you all that info if it applies to you when you make your chart super cool website)

Based on my chart from cafeastrology.com I have:

6 masculine/4 feminine placements

3 cardinal/4 fixed/3 mutable mode placements

and my breakdown by element is 3 fire/3 earth/3 air/and 1 water sign lmfao which is my scorpio mars + midheaven lmfao.

Going to see if I can find out what that all means too lmfao.

Also found some really cool websites with info on chiron and lillith placements.

"Chiron is the wounded healer and shows our long-term wounds that often come from a past lifetime. Chiron in Libra is the particular wound of relationships.

We tend to overcompensate in Chiron areas by becoming a bit extreme. It’s natural to try and “fix” the wound, but often I find that we chase a solution to fix our Chiron, instead of uncovering the solution inside of us.

Unlike other planets, it’s hard to ignore your Chiron. It will hit you in the face, over and over, and can make your life pretty terrible, especially if you don’t know how to work with it. The Chiron in Libra wound is especially difficult because it’s all about relationships, something we deal with almost every day.

Chiron in Libra means that you feel like there is something missing from your life. Usually, this “something” is your soul mate.

The Chiron in Libra wound might feel like a hole inside you. You may spend time trying to fill it with things from the outside world. You might also feel as though the world is just a bit off-balance at all times.

With Chiron in Libra, you are hurt by loneliness, but you are also hurt by relationships. Whether you’re in a relationship or are alone, the wound is there. Chiron in Libra shows itself no matter how hard you try to hide it.

There can be a lot of anxiety and guilt surrounding the Chiron in Libra wound. These people typically feel inadequate socially as a child, regardless of whether or not this is apparent to others.

This Chiron in Libra wound can show itself in a variety of ways. Often, these people feel alone and incomplete without a relationship, but they never find the fulfillment that they’re looking for in any relationship, either.

The Chiron in Libra wound usually manifests as conflict in interpersonal relationships. It is really difficult for these folks to have relationships without triggering the wound. This can include conflicts in romantic relationships, as well as partnerships and friendships. If you have Chiron in Libra, be wary of self-neglect in relationships.

Most relationships for the Chiron in Libra person will be karmic. It is important for these folks to focus on relationships in order to heal the wound, but this spotlight must have the intention of learning and working on ways to approach relationships that are more authentic.

It’s not abnormal for the Chiron in Libra person to wear a mask in a relationship. It might be really hard for them to show their true self to their partner for fear of losing the relationship.

The terror of being alone makes it hard for a Chiron in Libra person to get out of a relationship, even if it becomes unhealthy. It’s not uncommon for these relationships to have some sort of abuse involved in them, mainly because the Chiron in Libra person is passive and malleable, so they’re really a prime target.

I find that those with Chiron in Libra tend to give far more than they receive. This is most likely due to their fear of being left alone. There are definitely “people-pleaser” tendencies with this placement; these are the classic conflict-avoidant individuals.

Alternatively, the Chiron in Libra individual can be so afraid of being alone that they refuse to engage in relationships at all. I don’t see this outcome as much, but it is certainly a possibility. These people are often able to give others relationship advice that they can’t follow themselves.

Typically, the Chiron in Libra person gets into relationships with those who show a mirror image of the qualities they can’t see in themselves. They might also give to their partners what they aren’t able to give to their inner selves.

A Chiron in Libra individual might live a double life. It’s easy for them to hide who they truly are inside if they feel that they must put on a face in order to stay in a relationship. Sometimes, these people will do this for years, even while living with a partner.

This really is the classic Romeo & Juliet placement. Chiron in Libra is all about sacrificing yourself for the partner. Often, individuals do this because they are desperately trying to heal the wound, but it doesn’t fix it.

I find that most Chiron in Libra placements are developed in a past life. Unlike other wounds, this wound is about karmic relationships, so Chiron in Libra people will usually meet the same souls over and over until the wound is healed.

Sometimes, these Chironic beliefs are cemented by parents or through other early life experience, but the original wound almost always comes from a relationship trauma in a past life.

The first step to healing Chiron in Libra is to recognize that the true soul mate is within. The Chiron in Libra person is constantly looking to fill that “soul mate” void with other people, but they will only feel truly complete by connecting with the inner self.

You will find with this placement that others reflect your own needs back to you. If you see qualities in others that you feel you lack, then it’s time to try and discover those qualities within yourself instead of outsourcing.

You will need to learn how to be authentic in a relationship, without hiding any part of yourself. You probably feel fear that you might be left alone if you do reveal your true self, but this is fear that you have to process and move through. It’s okay to be afraid. The lesson with Chiron in Libra is to do it anyways!

Unconditional love for the self is something that will be helpful for you to develop. You will learn, by doing this work, that separateness and aloneness were simply illusions. I find that energy work can be especially helpful, as well as meditation and inner work."

SOURCES: https://teaandrosemary.com/chiron-in-libra/

(Lillith in Virgo) "Rebellion against order; provocative humour.

Their sensuality is strongly suppressed by trying to appear calm; emotional conflicts often occur because it is very difficult for these people to feel relaxed. They want to suppress their instincts or they appear to be cold and perverted.

Beware of alcoholism and surgery of the intestines."

SOURCES: https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/lilith-in-virgo-sign-astrology-meaning

I also have something called a yod that i dont quite understand yet lol. it looks like an isosceles triangle in my chart between my MC, North Node, and Saturn and it looks like its pointing at my saturn but idk what that means lol. the chart on astro-charts.com just let me know i have it lmfao.

#my natal chart #pt 13

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thebluelemontree · 4 years

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On this note: “ Another way of saying Littlefinger didn’t bet on Sandor is that he didn’t account for him.” I know people say that Varys was behind the bread riot, but there’s some speculation around that it was actually LF and Mandon Moore was one of his men. Moore abandons Sansa in the riots and I think that was staged. LF didn’t account for Sandor saving her. What he planned on doing to her - maybe an escape? IDK.

People say a lot of things in this fandom, let’s put it that way. We see in no POV’s account that there is any evidence of attempted kidnapping on Sansa during the riot, let alone a whole conspiracy to commit kidnapping that was thwarted. Let’s remember, Tyrek Lannister was the one that got snatched here (allegedly, technically he’s only known to be missing). If anyone was specifically targetted, it was him.

The bread riot was always a powder keg waiting to explode. No one person orchestrated it. The Tyrells had cut off food supplies from the Reach when they stood with Renly against Stannis and Joffrey. Prices are ridiculously high, and basic foodstuffs are scarce. There’s rampant lawlessness in the streets as well as a bloody flux. There’s open talk of rebellion among the guilds and merchants. Tyrion is burning down all homes and shops between the water and the city walls in preparation for Stannis’s attack. This is going to displace hundreds, maybe thousands of poor people. Joffrey is executing antler men and personally shooting bolts into unarmed, starving citizens. Begging brothers are preaching damnation of the corrupt nobility, including charging them with incest, birthing monsters, and reveling under demonic influence. The Lannister-Baratheons could not be more hated than they are at that moment. We have to remember that at the time of the riot, Littlefinger was well away at Bitterbridge and then went on to High Garden to negotiate with Mace Tyrell for the then widowed Margaery’s hand. He already has his man Dontos plotting with Sansa in the godswood, gaining her trust, so she leaves willingly when the time is right. A second kidnapping/escape plot overcomplicates everything is totally unnecessary. If Moore was supposed to be LF’s man, why wouldn’t he just lead Sansa away to a rendezvous point under the pretense of eluding the mob? That would have been simple and plausible as her shield. Just abandoning her in the swarm doesn’t speak to a plan that has to go off without any mishaps.

On the other hand, Varys is the one official still in the city who was noted by Jaime to be conspicuously absent from seeing Myrcella off to Dorne. Varys, who claimed to have informants all over the city, yet he never forewarned Cersei of any possible riot. Again, it’s Tyrek that disappears without a trace.

Sorry for the long wait. I actually had to take some time to re-read and reflect on Mandon Moore. I think it’s a really bad place to start the speculation with the assumption that he must be working for someone at all. My conclusion is that he’s not working for anyone, and he doesn’t have to be to do what he does. He is a guy motivated by naked self-interest and personal advancement, and that does not necessarily equate with greed or being in anyone’s pocket. IMO, I think he has traits similar to a corporate psychopath (though he’s obviously down for murder too) than anything else. Let’s just focus on how his characterization is described first.

Jaime had once told him that Moore was the most dangerous of the Kingsguard—excepting himself, always—because his face gave no hint as what he might do next. – Tyrion I, ACOK.

He’s described as appearing corpse-like with eyes that are “oddly flat and lifeless.” He’s cold and emotionless. Most notably, Ser Mandon has ties to no one.

Lord Arryn brought him to King’s Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him. Ser Barristan was once heard to say that the man had no friend but his sword and no life but duty … but you know, I do not think Selmy meant it altogether as praise. Which is queer when you consider it, is it not? Those are the very qualities we seek in our Kingsguard, it could be said—men who live not for themselves, but for their king. By those lights, our brave Ser Mandon was the perfect white knight. – Tyrion II, ASOS.

Of all the things said about him, nowhere does anyone suggest it is in Mandon Moore’s character to want anything outside of his career within the kingsguard. He has a single-minded focus on duty and serving the king in an almost robotic level of obedience. No one can tell what goes on behind that blank expression. If a man’s motivations are unknowable, you can’t predict future behavior. Mandon Moore does not strike me as someone who would fall prey to bribery or blackmail. He’s not ideologically motivated, nor is he someone a conspirator can confidently rely on to carry out a task without risk of being double-crossed. If we look at men Littlefinger has taken into his service like Ser Dontos, the Kettleblacks, Janos Slynt, Nestor Royce, Lothor Brune, Lyn Corbray, there’s always a glaring weakness to be exploited, be it greed, excessive/wounded pride, addiction, closeted homosexuality, desperation, debt, estrangement from family, desire to rise from the underclass, lack of better options, etc. Mandon doesn’t have any of these vulnerabilities.

So what did I mean by having traits in common with a corporate psychopath, though? Varys talks about Mandon being “the perfect white knight” and possessing the ideal qualities of a kingsguard. Certain types of corporate psychopaths can wear a facade of traits that the business world desires and values. They can seem like the perfect employee that the company leadership can rely on. They appear to be fearless and unwavering in their drive for success, sometimes even earning praise and recognition for outright ruthlessness. Their sometimes apparent lack of emotions could be read as having the grit to do what is necessary in times of turmoil. Most use manipulative tactics to discredit, undermine, or sabotage coworkers and superiors alike just to get ahead, which I will show is relevant in Moore’s case. Everyone is either a potential pawn, patron, or enemy to be eliminated. Not all psychopaths have superficial and grandiose charm, and no one would accuse Mandon of being charming, but he does put himself out there to be seen as indispensably valuable to the king.

Let’s go back to the bread riot and why Mandon Moore abandoned Sansa’s side as her shield.

Tyrion pressed blunt fingers into his throbbing temples. If Sansa Stark had come to harm, Jaime was as good as dead. “Ser Mandon, you were her shield.”

Ser Mandon Moore remained untroubled. “When they mobbed the Hound, I thought first of the king.”

“And rightly so,” Cersei put in. “Boros, Meryn, go back and find the girl.“ – Tyrion IX, ACOK.

I see no sign that there’s any duplicity going on here when he’s questioned. Mandon Moore acted in a way he believed the king and the queen regent (his patrons) would approve of. The traitor’s daughter’s life doesn’t mean anything to Joffrey, and she is only a secondary thought of the queen’s after they are safe within the castle; therefore, she is not a useful pawn to him. If Mandon Moore shows any desire for anything at all, it’s this: Sandor Clegane’s privileged position with the Lannisters. Joffrey ordered Sandor to go after the peasant that threw the dung. As Sandor is mobbed (and it would be reasonable to wager he’ll be imminently killed), Ser Mandon seized the opportunity to swoop in as Sandor’s replacement, dropping Sansa like a hot potato. There is a reason he keeps being ironically regarded as the white knight in shining armor. He’s a real Johnny on the spot that one. Even if Sandor somehow isn’t killed, Moore still comes out looking like the kingsguard that did not falter in his duty to protect the king even in all the confusion and chaos. It’s an opportunistic upstaging of a colleague to discredit his effectiveness at his job. It proves shortsighted on his part because Sandor not only survives but has Sansa, still a valuable Lannister hostage, alive and in tow.

This will come up again at the Battle of the Blackwater when Sandor finally breaks from the wildfire. Tyrion orders Sandor to continue leading sorties outside the city walls, but he refuses. Guess who chimes in?

Ser Mandon Moore moved to Tyrion’s side, immaculate in his enameled white plate. "The King’s Hand commands you.”

“Bugger the King’s Hand.” Where the Hound’s face was not sticky with blood, it was pale as milk. “Someone bring me a drink.” A gold cloak officer handed him a cup. Clegane took a swallow, spit it out, flung the cup away. “Water? Fuck your water. Bring me wine.”

He is dead on his feet. Tyrion could see it now. The wound, the fire … he’s done, I need to find someone else, but who? Ser Mandon? He looked at the men and knew it would not do. Clegane’s fear had shaken them. Without a leader, they would refuse as well, and Ser Mandon … a dangerous man, Jaime said, yes, but not a man other men would follow. – Tyrion XIII, ACOK.

Since when has Moore ever shown any deference to Tyrion’s authority before? Never. This is a performance for his situational patron, part of Moore’s facade. What is suggested by vocally taking Tyrion’s side is that Moore wants Tyrion to name him commander. He would see the opportunity to take Sandor’s place by not only highlighting the latter’s disobedience, but his posturing implies that he wouldn’t hesitate to carry out the Hand’s orders. It’s also a boon that Sandor’s behavior is quickly tanking any remaining confidence in his courage and leadership ability. Moore must have thought himself the natural choice to assume command as he is a kingsguard and a capable fighter, but he could not have foreseen Tyrion absorbing Jaime’s counsel. Instead, Tyrion decides to lead the sorties himself, shaming anyone that doesn’t follow as being less than a dwarf. Being named the king’s standard-bearer, as Ser Mandon was, is usually considered a high honor. A corporate psychopath wouldn’t see it that way. It’s a piss poor consolation to being led around by someone he would consider a lesser man. Battle is where a knight earns his commendations and honors, which we see in Sansa’s eighth chapter in Clash. As commander of the sorties and his rival disgraced as a craven, Moore would have been the hero of the day should they emerge victorious. Tyrion prevented that. Moore would then be left with only one other option to assume leadership. Tyrion has to fall on the battlefield.

“MY LORD! TAKE MY HAND! MY LORD TYRION!”

There on the deck of the next ship, across a widening gulf of black water, stood Ser Mandon Moore, a hand extended. Yellow and green fire shone against the white of his armor, and his lobstered gauntlet was sticky with blood, but Tyrion reached for it all the same, wishing his arms were longer. It was only at the very last, as their fingers brushed across the gap, that something niggled at him … Ser Mandon was holding out his left hand, why … – Tyrion XIV, ACOK.

Ser Mandon’s sword comes down in his right hand and nearly kills Tyrion. What Moore could not have anticipated was getting iced by Podrick Payne before he could finish Tyrion off. There’s a simple elegance to Moore’s motivations being strictly his own. There’s no complicated conspiracy needed to explain any of his actions. He’s just a shark in a suit of armor. But what about Varys implying there was a conspiracy to kill Tyrion with Moore as the catspaw? It seems to validate Tyrion’s suspicions that it was Cersei, or at least someone.

Bronn had turned up all he could on Ser Mandon, but no doubt Varys knew a deal more … should he choose to share it. “The man seems to have been quite friendless,” Tyrion said carefully.

“Sadly,” said Varys, “oh, sadly. You might find some kin if you turned over enough stones back in the Vale, but here … Lord Arryn brought him to King’s Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him.

… [the Barristan part already quoted above]

And he died as a knight of the Kingsguard ought, with sword in hand, defending one of the king’s own blood.” The eunuch gave him a slimy smile and watched him sharply.

Trying to murder one of the king’s own blood, you mean. Tyrion wondered if Varys knew rather more than he was saying. Nothing he’d just heard was new to him; Bronn had brought back much the same reports. He needed a link to Cersei, some sign that Ser Mandon had been his sister’s catspaw.

Let’s not forget Varys benefits by furthering the rifts within the Lannister regime. He can easily play to Tyrion’s paranoia by suggesting there’s more behind Mandon Moore’s murder attempt than there was. He smiles and mentions Moore’s origins in the Vale, a gesture at Littlefinger most likely; however, there are no substantial breadcrumbs left behind to connect Moore to anyone. We’re even reminded twice that Bronn’s investigation turned up nothing except what was already well-known. There’s just no there there. Tyrion is doing the same thing as the conspiracy theories by assuming that Moore has to be in someone’s pay, but his reasoning is faulty.

Jaime had always said that Ser Mandon was the most dangerous of the Kingsguard, because his dead empty eyes gave no hint to his intentions. I should never have trusted any of them. He’d known that Ser Meryn and Ser Boros were his sister’s, and Ser Osmund later, but he had let himself believe that the others were not wholly lost to honor. Cersei must have paid him to see that I never came back from the battle. Why else? I never did Ser Mandon any harm that I know of. – Tyrion XV, ACOK.

He mistook Moore’s commitment to duty and obedience for having honor. And yes, he did unintentionally cross Ser Mandon. He just didn’t know it because he couldn’t read the guy. He couldn’t see beneath the surface, and that is why Jaime is correct in calling him the most dangerous. One can never know for sure if this type of corporate psychopath sees you as their pawn, their patron, or their enemy at any given moment. There’s no way to mount a defense against that unless you can understand who you are really dealing with. Tyrion was just very, very lucky that he brought Podrick Payne with him into battle.

#valyrian scrolls #valyrianscrolls #ser mandon moore #sansa stark #sandor clegane #tyrion lannister #varys #the bread riots #asoiaf meta #conspiracy theories #asoiaf theories #asoiaf characterization #my meta #anonymous

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theharellan · 4 years

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101 DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS | not accepting

for the sake of reducing the number of ooc posts i’m answering these all in one and just @ing the people who asked the questions! thank you for them all!

if you sent me one of these btw and rbed this meme yourself and i didn’t send you something, please let me know! i want to send you things back and must have missed you reblogging the meme. this includes non-mutuals.

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? | asked by @kaaras-adaar & @dreamerlavellan

Sort of by accident, actually. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in university (2011) and summertime is generally a time of inactivity and depression because I cannot tolerate the weather here. My dad happened to own Origins and I picked it up because??? Fantasy? RPG?

Starting the game I saw you could play as a dwarf, who have been my favourites in fantasy since a child as The Hobbit is among my favourite books. Then after that I fell in love with the worldbuilding for dwarves and Gorim, my first actual Dragon Age love. I was more or less hooked after that. DA was actually not my first Bioware game, I was obsessed with Jade Empire as a kid so like Origins appealed to me immediately despite being far less fun to play than literally any other Bioware game I’ve ever played. The characters and world more than made up for it.

I beat it relatively quickly and my dad bought Dragon Age II which had come out earlier that day, actually against my suggestion because I’d heard it wasn’t good. And in this instance my dad forgetting something I said turned out for the best because I ended up enjoying DAII more in some respects. While it took me a while to join the fandom as a content producer I was a consumer and certified DA trash from then on.

2. Have you finished all three games? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

Kskjdfs yes. I’ve beaten each at least 4 times, but probably more like 8. The only thing I haven’t played are some of the Origins DLC because as much as I enjoy my replays I am so ready to be out by the end of the game (and I have the worst luck with Awakening bugs) and I also don’t have Sebastians DLC b/c his never goes on sale individually and I refuse to spend more than like $4 on him.

3. How long did it take you to finish the series? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I honestly don’t know. I think it took me like a week to beat Inquisition without 100%ing it, I’d say my first playthroughs all probably took about that long. I tend not to do everything in my first playthrough. Like shard collecting didn’t happen until round two, etc.

7. Favorite DA:O backstory? | asked by @dreamerlavellan & @fatefaulted

I’ve played through all of them and I enjoy them all except Cousland, but my favourite is Aeducan. I enjoy the politics, the culture, the aesthetic of Orzammar. I love Gorim Saelac and the surprising amount of depth to this character who is designed to be thrown away after the prologue. I love how it ties you to the Darkspawn threat in a bigger way than any of the origins accomplish. I love how it ties you to the Orzammar plot later in the game, and playing Aeducan first is probably one reason why I adore that branch of the game. It’s a good origin that establishes its world really well and has great characters to boot.

11. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game. | asked by @dreamerlavellan

I just want to share pics of my girl and Solas’ future husband.

Ian Lavellan, non-Inquisitor written by @theshirallen

Thora Cadash, dwarven Inquisitor and default Inquisitor for this blog written by... me lmao.

22. Favorite DA2 party combo? | asked by @fatefaulted

My main Hawke is a mage Hawke, so this party is horrendously imbalanced, but: Varric, Merrill, Isabela. They all just like each other and I think that’s neat. Although in act one my favourite is probably Carver, Merrill, Isabela / Varric. Unfortunately the game doesn’t want me to have a warrior in my party.

24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

It’s hard to pick between In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn. I love seeing the red lyrium’d companions and the dark future of Thedas, and speculating on what happened in the intervening year. I love reflecting on what it must do for the Inquisitor to see that and have it be undone. I think it sets up the rest of the game really well, and in ways Champions of the Just doesn’t do quite as well.

In Your Heart Shall burn is a simpler quest but I think the power and emotions in the quest are so raw. Playing this the first time was riveting and I was on the edge of my seat. The triumph of closing the Breach, the strangeness of your first encounter with Cole (whose appearance at the gates is another reason I prefer IHW tbh, I think it’s more tension building than Dorian’s), Corypheus, crawling through the snow. Capping it off with The Dawn Will Come and the journey to Skyhold idk, it’s just such an emotional high point in the series that every time I replay I get goosebumps.

25. Favorite DA:I place? | asked by @fatefaulted

It’s a tie between the Frostback Basin and the Emerald Graves. I love the lore in both, as elf trash I prefer the lore in the graves especially if I can include the Din’an Hanin into that category. But the Avvar lore and Ameridan is also Very Good, and while I adore the giant trees of the graves the Frostback Basin clearly was able to have more resources poured into its design, and as a result the different sections of the map have so much more character.

A close runner-up is the Hinterlands, as I think the quests there are fun and it feels like home. I enjoy returning to it. Which is good, b/c I’ve played through it... a lot... I think loving it might be a coping mechanism, but also I love the vibe of the early game that’s best captured in the Hinterlands.

32. Favorite DLC mission overall? | asked by @fatefaulted

Trespasser is up there with Shivering Isles as my favourite DLC ever produced. Its hits every emotional beat I think it needed to hit, set up the next game with greater detail and intrigue than the initial epilogue, and I’m honestly dying to get to replay it again on Thora despite what it does to my nerves. The first time I played it I could feel my heart beating faster like wtf me.

37. Blood magic: yes or no? | asked by @hopewrought

Would I use it myself? No. Morally I think it can be reprehensible but also neutral, much like any other magic in the game. In certain characters I think even if used for good it may encourage unhealthy habits, but I think it can be learned to be engaged with in better ways.

59. Who was written really poorly? | asked by @theshirallen you can’t hide behind anon I know it was you

Oghren fucking Kondrat. When I think about the reasons Origins is my least favourite game he is among them. With Oghren there was a really good chance to portray an alcoholic abuse victim, suffering from severe mental health issues, and still mourning his wife, with the respect it deserves. Instead he just... is a gross sexist dwarf and his alcoholism is mostly played for jokes. And then he comes back in Awakening and... continues to be a gross sexist dwarf whose alcoholism is mostly played for jokes.

There could have been some really interesting stuff with Oghren, the Warrior caste of dwarves I think would suffer from issues similar to qunari warriors, where when they can no longer fill the purpose society has dictated they must serve, what then? They can’t do anything but fight. There could be comradery with Sten, or perhaps Zevran or Alistair, or any of the companions who have had the path their lives took dictated to them by societal forces they had no say in (even if they are happy with that direction). There are snippets of good stuff in here, the line “let us show them our hearts, Warden, and then show them theirs” is one of the best of the good-byes the game offers us imo. It’s a shame about what came before.

Like there are other characters, such as Sera, who I think were done dirty by their writers, but Sera at least got some growth in the DLC and there were attempts to address criticism of her character. Oghren in Awakening was just kind of a take two of an already poorly-done arc.

60. Who do you wish had been given more story? | asked by @hopewrought

I wish Briala had more, like that she had some impact on the story in universes where Gaspard isn’t crowned with her as his puppetmaster. She and the elves reappears in that but not if you reunite her with Celene or exile her, and I think it would’ve been neat. I also wish she’d had a chance to interact with Solas in some small way given how many parallels were drawn by one of his own agents during Masked Empire.

I also wish we had more about dwarves in general in 2 and Inquisition. We get some great lore in Inquisition that was set up in 2, but with our only dwarf companion being Varric, who honestly has a relationship with his race that at times is comparable to Sera’s, it pulls a few of its punches. I really think they have dwarves set up to be important players in the next game, with their architecture featuring heavily in the dev diary, buuut no dwarves to be seen. So who knows. Just give me dwarves in the next game who aren’t Varric Bioware pls. Let me kiss one maybe.

61. Favorite NPC? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I’m not going to count advisors even though they kinda are NPCs and I’m going to answer one for each game so uhh...

Origins - Anora

DA2 - Feynriel

DA:I - Krem

Bonus - Lord Woolsley, the only unproblematic DA character

63. Best story moment? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

It’s a tie between the journey to Skyhold and the talk with Solas at the end of Trespasser and the resulting disbanding of the Inquisition (if you so choose). I really can’t separate them because I think the reason Trespasser works so well is how it calls back to the very beginning of Inquisition and that moment with Solas in the snow. It’s triumphant and sad, something’s ending, the fellowship is breaking, but you know all of you will continue to work towards a better world apart.

In DA:O I think it’d be saying good-bye before the final battle and in DA2 I think the moment where you can tell the Arishok he was right to take in the elves who killed that guardmen is good. Probably one of the reasons why I think Hawke-Arishok work so well as a protagonist-antagonist combination.

81. Favorite fanfic? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, actually. Save what I read on here, which I do count, but idk if other people do.

My favourite writers to read are @theshirallen, obviously. Joly wants to tweakIan’s personal quest but I think the version they have written now is still very good and you can find it here. I love reading Peace’s stuff and find their smut especially spicy in the best possible way, you can find a Merrill/f!Mahariel piece here! Gaia doesn’t write on Tumblr much these days, but she wrote a wonderful Tug/Sketch (the companions from Leliana’s Song) that you can find here.

I follow so many talented writers and I can’t list them all but here are a few I can fire off real fast: @theshirallen / @ghilannainguideme / @seahaloed / @sabraelin / @valorcorrupt / @mercysought / @hopewrought / @ofrevas / @skyheld have all moved me with their words at some point, be it in fic or rp.

82. Favorite fanart/fanartist? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

Again I just can’t choose jsdfks.

The easiest way is to just link my Solas fanart tag. Obviously this favours Solas artists, however, so also here’s a link to thedaswlw where there’s a boatload of amazing fanart all of wlw.

Of people I’m mutuals with I know @abracafockyou, @kaaras-adaar, @dalathin (currently inactive but I gotta link them), and @syntharts are all very talented artists. I’m also a big fan of destinyapostacy, nipuni, elbenherzart, starscollected (on twitter), and many more.

97. What’s your favorite DA mod? | asked by @ghilannainguideme & @hopewrought

I’ll chose one as many as I want to apparently from each game again, b/c why not?

DA:O - I have to admit I find this game hard to mod because nothing can really salvage the gameplay or look of the game. I need Better Dwarf Model so I don’t have to look at the odd dwarf proportions in the game (the women have arms for days). Mostly I have armour mods. I like Grey Wardens of Ferelden so I can match Alistair in the final batte and have everyone in uniforms in Awakening. I do like Kirkwall Exports because I can put Zevran in the robes of the notorious pirate tho. I haven’t used this mod yet but I also love this mod I retweeted this morning.

DA2 - Again, I don’t mod 2 very much. You could probably make some kind of chart for correlating my enjoyment of a game versus my urge to mod it, with the more I love a game means I want to mod it more. With 2 I enjoy the combat and overall design of the characters more so I mostly use a couple of tweaks, my favourite is Ishs Scarf for Merrill which just adds a cute blue scarf to Merrill and hides the fact that elves in this game have weirdly long necks. Oh and a mod to fix the weird hand dirt.

DA:I - Equal Opportunity Solas mod, I bought the game again on PC just to use it. Being able to play Solas/Ian for screencaps was everything tbh. Other mods I enjoy are More Banter, which while I have better luck with banter it is nice to be able to count on it. I installed it this latest pt and I have heard location comments that have never triggered before. Black Hair for Everyone has changed my life because finally Thora doesn’t have grey hair. No Dirt Buildup is also amazing, as the dirt can cause some really weird blotting on PCs that’s especially noticeable on dark-skinned Inquisitors.

99. Where would you live (Ferelden, Orlais, Free Marches etc?) | asked by @heysales

Probably Ferelden. It is fantasy England and hey if I make it past Inquisition maybe nothing will ever happen there again. Somewhere in the Free Marches might also be chill. Not Kirkwall. Maybe Starkhaven? Honestly tho I just want to live in the Frostback Basin. Have a spirit friend. Shake hands with nugs.

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say? | asked by @dreamerlavellan

If I met Thora I’d tell her I’m proud of her. She’d be confused, but that’s ok.

#( munday meme )#( ooc )#( about me )#( asks )

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flying-elliska · 5 years

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You said it feels cool to have a specific identity but isn't that exactly why we are seen as the special snowflake generation? Not to mention wasn't the whole point to be free from stereotypes and dress however we want, love whoever we want etc? And yet there's now so many identities, labels, flags which create an implicit pressure to define yourself so you'll be included. Idk I think your french friends are right,it still feels like we're pushing people into boxes; they're just woke boxes now.

Hey anon ! Thank you for this very interesting question. I hope you’re ok with getting a mini-essay as a response (that’s kind of my brand now lmao)

So first of all, if you don’t feel like you personally need labels, you are totally valid. And so are my friends. I think you have to find out what you’re most comfortable with. It’s true that labels can be used to exclude, esp in the LGBTQ+ communities. I think we focus our activism a little bit too much on words and online stuff and media representation nowadays, as opposed to practical political action, and that’s an issue. And we focus too much on people not having the correct, latest approved terminology and labels as a way to show you’re a good person, as opposed to what people are actually doing and their lived experiences, and who is authorized to use what label and those debates often just exasperate me to the highest point. It’s like, don’t you have anything better to do ? It becomes very clique-ish, school courtyard drama at times. There should always be a place for questioning, fluidity, no labels, a place for discovery and uncertainty, shifting identifications, multiple labels at once, words changing, and questioning what place they take in our lives.

But, on the whole, I still like my labels, and I’m going to try and explain why.

Labels are words right ? They have the benefits and drawbacks of words. A rose under any other name would still smell as sweet, of course. But we are a fundamentally social species, and words are a way to create bridges between people, between our experiences. It signals that you are not alone ; it’s a way to make visible things that are usually invalidated, ostracized or just plain erased by the mainstream and the status quo. The development of a vocabulary for the queer community was what made their political struggle and pride possible ; before it was “the love that dare not speak it name”, all euphemisms and shame. It honors, too, the struggle of those who came before us ; it places us in the continuity of a history ; it says we have been here before, it gives us memory and context. Of course words are going to betray us, because they can never retranscribe the fullness, complexity and confusion of lived experience. But they’re a conversation starter ; they bring people together ; they create spaces of freedom.

I’m going to give you a personal example : a few years ago I fell in love with a girl for the first time ; after that I seriously started thinking of myself as bisexual. There had always been a thing there but because I had been mostly attracted to boys before, I’d swept it under the rug. But finding the ‘bisexual’ label made me realize - no this is a thing, this is valid, and it made me look back at all those instances in the past of having weirdly intense feelings for some of my girl friends, of being obsessed with certain actresses, etc…that back then I didn’t understand, I just thought I was weird…and I always thought that bisexuality was something that something Hollywood starlets did for attention. But finding a community behind that word that was seeking to reclaim it from the stereotypes and being proud about what it meant, it was so healing.

After that I immersed myself more in my local LGBTQ+ community ; and in particular I volunteered for the European Bisexual Convention - that one in particular was incredible because it felt so…liberating. In the general LGBTQ community, people expect you to be gay until you say otherwise. In the student association I was in, it was cool, but it was also…very normative in a way. Lots of stereotypes about how we were expected to be, what we were expected to like, behave like. So for Eurobicon, to have all of that lifted, it was amazing. And it was also so much more inclusive - of disabled, neuroatypical, transgender ppl, different body types and ethnicities, like you could feel that they had made an effort. I also met several nonbinary ppl for the first time of my life and I was like…oh wow there’s something here that feels very important and real. We shared experiences that we did not have a space before, that were specifically bisexual and that tend to go unheard in general queer spaces because they’re not part of the dominant narrative : the daily hesitations, the lack of visibility, the much higher rates of staying closeted, feeling like you are not really part of the community, but also the really cool aspects too - there was this incredible energy of fluidity too of thinking, here is a space where everyone can potentially be into everyone, there aren’t as many barriers as we usually have to think about. And there was this one party and we were all dancing and flirting in a very sweet kind of way, people of different ages and body types, gender presentations and configurations I hadn’t thought about before, a girl in a wheelchair swirling around and being treated like a queen, guys in corsets and cool butches and just some beautiful people - and there was this euphoria in the room, of recognition and kinship, and it felt so…normal, not freakish like I had been led to believe it would be. Nobody was putting on airs or trying hard or whatever, they were just being themselves. And I was like, wow, this is something I need more of in my life. And this freedom was made possible by people coming together under a certain label, recognizing that certain people have specific needs and experiences. Especially after growing up in environments that never tell you that those things are possible, finding the right label can be like coming home.

I have other labels for myself I am less public about because I don’t want to deal with the social aspect of it, or I’m like this is none of anybody’s business, or I want to give myself the time to figure it out on my own. But they’re tools for self-knowledge, they allow me to think about things, to conceptualize, to research (and lol I’m a nerd so…). And to be less hard on myself sometimes, and to stand up for myself in a ‘I know who I am and it’s okay’ kind of way. Because society tends to pathologize, ostracize or demonize the things it doesn’t understand, and labels can protect you against that.

In an ideal society maybe we wouldn’t need labels - to have a right to exist or survive, and that’s definitely a goal, but I think we would still make some, because that’s who we are as a species, we need to classify certain things in order to think about them. The problem is when those boxes become cages instead of like, beautiful pots to grow seeds in, like art or poetry. And of course deconstructing the boxes we don’t want remain important. But I don’t think we can ever be box-less, it just to me doesn’t compute.

I just wanna come back to the ‘special snowflake generation’ thing. If you don’t want labels, like I said, that’s fine. But I hate hate hate that term, and I don’t want to define myself in reaction to it. To me it’s used by a) bigots who just hate the fact that natural human diversity is becoming more recognized and discussed, and want to put us back in the artificial, stifling boxes that dynamics of power, patriarchy and imperialism have made us believe were normal when they really weren’t. And b) older people who are uncomfortable with increased levels of emotional intelligence and lability among younger generations. It’s a thing I’ve noticed over and over again ; people used to talk so much less. When they had feelings in general, or experiences out of the norm, they were taught that stuffing them down and sitting on them and repressing the shit out of them, was the noble/normal/grown up thing to do. So they did and they suffered in silence. And maybe some of them now feel bitter, or at least bewildered, by younger generations refusing to do so and inventing and or reclaiming all those new ways of talking about their experiences out in the open. And so they’re like ‘it’s too much ! you’re spoiled !’ because they want to believe that their sacrifices had a point. They don’t want to realize they could have done things differently all along. It’s very sad. But I don’t think it should be a barrier to us using them like…just as we shouldn’t refrain from using washing machines because our grandmothers suffered to wash everything in a bucket…There’s nothing entitled about wanting a better life than previous generations… And to me, having more words and more space to express myself will never be a bad thing.

#pride #labels #bisexuality #bi pride #lgbt

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olivetreehugger · 7 years

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RIP EREN JAEGER

Forgive me, everyone.

I’ve been ruminating over how this would go down for some time. I thought of this headcanon/fic about Eren being sacrificed for his titan abilities. And then I was like...why not make it in Mikasa’s POV?

Then I vomited this out.

She hated him.

She hated the way people looked at him, so sorrowfully, so pitifully. She hated the way he held his head high among them, as if proud of himself. She hated that Eren always got his way in the end, no matter the consequences.

Clutching her swollen belly, Mikasa watched as Eren was marched onto the cliff, wrists and ankles chained together. He was accompanied by Captain Levi Ackerman, their close friend and superior. Levi’s face was sporting its usual cold, dull expression, but his body language spoke differently. He had one hand on Eren’s shoulder; he was not gripping the young man tightly, but gently leading him to his destination, knowing Eren would not try to run.

As Eren reached the middle of the cliff, which had been fashioned into a pedestal where he would kneel on, Mikasa found herself worrying that his trousers might be ruined. A small, whimper of a laugh left her mouth suddenly, and her hand flew to her lips.

She immediately quieted herself and thought, “Get a hold of yourself. You’re losing your mind!”

Mikasa was indeed losing her mind. She had been for many years. It only got worse after learning the truth of Eren’s titan nature, and upon discovering that he was going to die because of it sent her into a depression like no other. She had starved and purged herself because now she had nothing left to lose. After all, how would one feel knowing the person they loved was doomed to die so soon? No, sentenced to die. Her pain had been unfathomable. Mikasa had felt that she was doomed as well, to know only loss wherever she went.

She could count the number of times she beat herself up for not being able to save Eren from himself. One of the most harrowing moments that she could recall was the day he was abducted by Reiner and Bertholdt. She’d been hit on the head rather hard, and was unconscious for several hours. When she awoke to Armin caressing her hand, her first thought was Eren. Due to her injuries, she was unable to go after him, though it took some convincing on Armin’s part to keep her from going on a suicide mission.

“I just want to be near him,” she remembered saying, referring to the brown haired boy. She recalled asking Armin why Eren was always leaving them. In that moment, she’d finally recognized his selfishness and nearly given up on him.

Plenty of times she had overlooked his passion as aggression, but as the years progressed, Mikasa watched Eren steadily tame himself and use his furor as a fuel for rebuilding the lives they’d lost. He’d become the hero people doubted he would be. He was the backbone of the weapons they’d used to fight the titans, literally, and because of his skill, humanity was able to see beyond the walls for the first time in ages.

However, Mikasa was very aware of the young man’s struggles to control himself and his devastating titan abilities. Shouldering the dependence of thousands weighed on him significantly. At twenty two, Eren had the appearance of someone much older than himself. His once lustrous brown hair was showing signs of gray, dark circles hung under his eyes, and his wiry frame was constantly bent into a tense form. No virile, young man could ever dream of looking like that. But Eren did not share the same future as most young men.

Today, Eren was sentenced to die.

It was March 30th, year 857—his twenty second birthday and approximately thirteen years since inheriting the titan serum from his father. According to the journal left by Dr. Jaeger, when a person acquires titan abilities, they live for thirteen years before their bodies begin to die, like the original titan Ymir. To prevent loss of the Founder, Eren was to be devoured by another human, who would then receive his titan powers and memories.

Mikasa recounted several heated, emotional, and downright violent debates of who would inherit Eren’s coveted abilities, as he possessed not one, but two of the Nine Titans. The more important of the two was the Founding Titan. This titan gave Eren the ability to control titans, erase a person’s memories and maintain the order of all people. Possessing this power was considered akin to being God, which made Eren all the more valuable.

However, there lay a valid argument that this function was not his to keep. The Founding Titan originally belonged to the royal family, and many argued that it should return to its rightful home. Eren was inclined to agree.

A hand touched Mikasa’s lower back and it caused her to jump, snapping her out of the trance.

“It’s just me,” a soft, deep voice whispered into her ear.

The warm air from his breath onto her cold skin caused Mikasa to melt backwards into her husband’s chest. He smirked and circled his arms around her.

“Jean,” Mikasa sighed. “Where have you been?”

The man stroked one of his wife’s arms, saying, “I was with Historia.”

Mikasa turned to look at him. Not suspiciously, but curiously. “How is she?” She asked. Or growled. Both, really.

Knowing his wife was angry with the queen, Jean tried to placate her. “She’s a wreck, Mikasa. Scared out of her mind, hasn’t slept for days.”

Pleased, Mikasa turned back around to gaze at Eren, who was now chained down and on his knees. Levi was kneeling beside him, and much to Mikasa’s surprise, he was cupping Eren’s cheeks and speaking to him.

Mikasa pulled away from Jean and marched closer to the cliff, straining to hear what the older Ackerman was saying. It was difficult though, with them being so high up. There were also others in the room making noise, including the entirety of the Special Operations Squad, and members of the Survey Corps, the Garrison and the Military Police. Many were friends to Eren, and had come to pay their respects. Mikasa glared in their direction, angry that they had the nerve to show up and make light conversation, as if this was some sort of party. No one seemed to notice her, though. Jean did, of course, and he approached the woman with a sad look on his face.

“Honey, look at me,” he said, reaching out to grab her hand.

Furiously blinking back tears, Mikasa refused to take his hand, instead storming past him. “How dare they?!” She muttered. “All the things Eren did for them, and they’re only here to watch him be… devoured!”

Immediately, Jean swarmed around her and held her shaking frame as she sobbed. This wasn’t the first time Mikasa had cried over Eren, but she hadn’t truly come to terms with his fate until what appeared to be now.

“I-I-I hate him!” She bawled, “Why is he doing this?!”

After discovering the truth about his lifespan, Mikasa made an increased effort to enjoy her time with him. She never wanted to miss another minute. She shared her greatest joys with him, including her wedding, and the birth of her children. And soon, those memories of him would be wiped away with the blood that would be cleansed from the walls of the castle when this was over.

“I don’t…I don’t want him t-to go,” Mikasa sniveled, face buried in Jean’s chest.

“Me either, baby,” he responded gently, stroking her black hair. “He’s gonna be gone, and we’re all gonna miss him. But you know what? We’re gonna remember him, too. He won’t really be gone if we remember him, Mikasa. He’ll always be a part of us.”

Gray eyes looked up at him, filled with surprise and realization. Jean’s eyes were also red, glazed over like a man who’d cried his heart out behind closed doors. Mikasa stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips over Jean’s for a moment, reveling in his comforting taste. He always said the right things.

She raised her head to look at Eren again. This time, he was watching her. His eyes were filled with something Mikasa thought she’d never see again.

It was hope.

sorry about the choppy writing. it’s been a while since I last wrote something sad! i feel like this really needs a part two, but idk. ya’ll want a part two? lmk!

#snk #shingeki no kyojin #aot #attack on titan #eremika #jeakasa #jeankasa #jean x mikasa #eren jaeger #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #should i write a part two?#jean kirschstein #jean kirstein

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exadorlion · 7 years

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GODS AU I MADE WITH PARKER

@theinevitablesense Washington - God of Paternity, Leadership and Time Entire Back Love

Washington is the leader of the Gods. ↳ Having been one of the first two born from nothing ↳ Together, with Martha, he created all life and the major gods ↳ He wanted a happy family, but got a petty, squabbling messes that just makes him sad and tired

Martha Washington - Goddess of Maternity, Children and Space Entire Front Hatred

Martha is a gentle, but firm, goddess. ↳ She was one of the first two born from nothing. ↳ With Washington, created all life and major gods. ↳ Also wanted a happy family, but is happy with her less-than-ideal clan. Looks for the bright side.

John Adams - God of Communication and Compromise Right Hand

No one likes John Adams ↳ The eldest and most powerful of the Washington’s creations ↳ Uses his powers to assert his superiority ↳ Gets pissy when people talk about him behind his back ↳ When pressured, can bring even the most divisive of enemies to reach an agreement

Adams V Hamilton Adams, when he was but a few moments old, invented spoken language and taught it to the Washingtons. When humans were created, Adams taught them the language too, so that way they might be able to communicate with each other. Adams prided himself on this achievement, lauding it above his godly peers. Eventually, Hamilton got fed up with it and claimed that anyone could do what Adams had done, if given the chance. Adams challenged Hamilton to prove his claim, certain the younger god couldn’t. Hamilton, trying to show Adams up, not only created a new language, but created a visual language, writing. Hamilton taught his new language to the humans, proving both languages equally useful. Which is how Hamilton stole Adams’ spotlight and got an extra domain to rule.

Alexander - God of Sun, Writing, and Life Right Arm Quill Hamilton is a salty, jaded bean. ↳ Major Gossip ↳ Messes with Burr at every opportunity ↳ Calls Seabury the God of “Being An Absolute Fuckwad” ↳ Secretly just wants love ↳ Touch-starved and longs for affection ↳ Fights everyone.

Burr - God of Moon, Patience and Death Left Arm Spear

Burr is tired out soul who wants peace. ↳ His job as the god of death exhausts and saddens him. ↳ Doesn’t dislike Hamilton, is just often annoyed by him ↳ Good friends with Jefferson ↳ became one of two gods that Jefferson would speak to after the death of Martha J.

Theodosia and Burr During the early days of humanity, Burr fell in love with a human woman named Theodosia. ↳ When she died, Burr turned her physical body into the stars and scattered them across the night sky, so he might see and be with her forever.

Jefferson - God of Agriculture and Nature Fingers

Jefferson is a pure little bean. Really sheltered and innocent. ↳ Doesn’t know slang (daddy) ↳ Plays with hair when nervous ↳ Hid from Hamilton at first ↳ Wears silky togas

Grows drugs without knowing what they are. (High most of the time)

Death of Martha Jefferson ⇒ Seasons When the world was young, Thomas fell in love with a human woman, who inevitably died. Heartbroken, Thomas shut himself away in his garden. Winter is when the anniversary of her death rolls around and he gets sad. The rest of the time, he manages to distract himself well enough.

Jefferson’s Garden is a Holy Place ↳ No one can die while in the garden. ↳ Laurens cannot enter the garden. ↳ When Martha J was dying, Thomas attempted to save her by bringing her to the garden. ↳ However, she didn’t want to live forever, and was willing to die like humans should. When Thomas turned his back, she walked out and dropped dead before he could stop her.

Legends of Jefferson After losing Martha, Jefferson locked himself away in his garden for millennia, refusing entrance to humans and gods alike. Only his two closest friends, Burr and Madison ever saw him, and soon many humans and some gods began to doubt he even existed. Some claimed the grief of losing Martha caused Jefferson to fade from reality, leaving behind the garden as the only sign he was ever there. Others simply thought Jefferson had abandoned them, and therefore turned their backs on him. It was only once Hamilton happened upon him that people began to realize the God of Nature was not gone or had abandoned them. He was simply very high and very sad the entire time.

Madison - God of Healers, Health and Disease Neck

Madison is a quiet, cold god. ↳ Good friends with Jefferson ↳ Constantly sick ↳ Volunteered to bear the diseases of humanity so that some humans might survive ↳ Secretly loves humanity, though often keeps his distance ↳ Tries to get intoxicated but is unable to get drunk

Madison and Jefferson After Madison took on the illnesses for humans, Jefferson offered to help him find treatments to either cure various diseases or at least alleviate symptoms and pain. The two work together, Jefferson creating plants with different properties and James giving him advice based on what worked and what didn’t. They accidentally created weed together. Even when Jefferson sealed himself away, he let Madison in to continue their work.

Franklin - God of Hearth, Creation Stomach

Franklin is everyone’s grandfather and crazy uncle rolled into one ↳ Born from literal fire ↳ Taught early humans how to harness fire and make tools ↳ Constantly goes down the human world to try out new inventions ↳ It doesn’t always go well ↳ Tries again anyway.

Angelica - Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge Eyes (General Area)

Angelica is smarter than you ↳ Loves her sister goddesses, especially Eliza and Peggy ↳ Hella feminist ↳ Visits Human universities and schools often Swore a vow of celibacy

Angelica v. Humans ↳Angelica is frustrated and annoyed by humans ↳They come to her for advice, and she’s just as likely to point you to another god or lie to you than actually help you out ↳ Eliza tries to get her to be more compassionate, but all Angelica wants to do is learn, read and not be bothered by dumb humans

Jay - God of Judgement and Justice Wrists

John Jay is done with everyone’s shit. ↳ Jay likes going to human courtrooms and watching the proceedings ↳ Very sick

Lee - God of Honor, Deception Left Shoulder Blade

Lee tries his best but always comes up short. ↳ Based on the duality of honor and deception ↳ Lee is either the most virtuous god out there or one of the worst, depending on the day ↳ He oversees human affairs of honor, watching duels and deciding the victor ↳ Liars, manipulators and other conniving individuals also look to him for guidance ↳ Followers of Lee are often very self-centered individuals

Lee v Laurens

Eliza - Goddess of Emotion, Forgiveness and Passion Chest

Eliza just wants everyone to get along, please. ↳ Finds herself cleaning up after the other gods’ mistakes ↳ Healing divides driven between people as a result of godly action ↳ She tries to foster positive relationships between others ↳ Though the friendliest of the gods, often walking among humans openly, when she is crossed bad things happen to those who hurt her. ↳ Her sorrow and anger are just as powerful as her joy and love.

Eliza and Hamilton At one point devoted to each other, Hamilton cheated on Eliza with Mariah, because he’s a hoe and generally slept with everyone at one point. When Hamilton fesses up, Eliza turns from him, leaving him a lonely bitter bean. No one feels bad for him.

James Monroe - God of Information and Prophesy Forehead to Ears

James Monroe is often overlooked, but content to chill. ↳ Hangs out with Angelica a lot ↳ Never answers questions plainly, everything’s in goddamn riddles with this guy ↳ Only tells people as much as he wants to ↳ Chill dude ↳ Either liked or disliked, no in between.

Monroe V. Hamilton After Hamilton’s affair with Mariah, Monroe (having seen this as a prophecy) confronts Hamilton about his actions. Hamilton confesses, but swears Monroe to secrecy. Unfortunately for Hamilton, Monroe had already delivered his prophecy, and the other gods grew suspicious. Hamilton, forced to confess his affair, gets pissed at Monroe, and attempts to go to war. Burr managed to step between the two of them before too much damage was done, but the rift between the two gods has never been mended.

Monroe and Prophecy Being the God of Prophecy, Monroe is gifted with visions of the future. He has always been accurate. When a vision needs to be communicated to humans, Monroe uses human Prophets to speak for him. Monroe has predicted most things, including the apocalypse.

Mariah - Goddess of Seduction, Love and Lust Boob Area idk Chest too?

Mariah doesn’t want to hurt anyone but ends up doing it a lot anyway. ↳ Though often depicted as a seductress, Mariah also rules over all form of love, sexual or not ↳ Honestly has good intentions ↳ Her solutions to problems aren’t always the best ↳ Kind of a sucker for a love story ↳ Despite being the Goddess of Love, Mariah is often the loneliest, searching for her own love.

James v Mariah Once, in her attempt to find herself a companion, she was tricked by a human named James Reynolds. Reynolds lured her into his home, trapped her through some means I haven’t thought up yet, and forced her to marry him. He treated her poorly, abusing her despite her godliness. The other gods searched for her, but is was Burr who found her one night during his travels over Reynolds’ house. Upon being rescued by Burr, Mariah turned Reynolds into a slug.

Friedrich Von Steuben - God of Fertility and Sexuality

Battle Axe

Von Steuben is kind of like that one uncle of yours that isn’t actually related to you but everyone likes him so it’s cool. ↳ Steuben throws the best god parties ↳ Likes to hang out with Lafayette (and his giant harem/party gang) and Franklin ↳ Drinks fire for fun ↳ Doesn’t like pants

Ben Walker Ben Walker was a normal human, just minding his own business, when he happened to run into a disguised Steuben at a festival. The two were instantly taken with one another, but when Steuben brought Ben to one of Lafayette’s parties, Ben was disgusted with the decadence and left. Confused, Steuben pursued Ben, who wanted nothing to do with the gods and their lifestyle. Steuben, determined to win Ben over, promised to give up his partying ways for a year. Steuben courted Ben relentlessly, delivering roses each day to the human man. At the end of the allotted time, Ben had fallen so hopelessly for the god, agreed to join Steuben in the godly realm. Granted immortality, Ben stays by Steuben’s side, though he still disapproves of Laf and his harem.

Lafayette - God of Food, Wine, and Travels Legs Sword

Lafayette’s a good guy as long as you don’t touch his wine or threaten his friends. ↳ Has a giant group of humans, nymphs, other creatures and minor gods that follow him around in a constant party ↳ Likes to crash the houses of the richest humans and take their shit ↳ Has lots of good stories, but is a horrible storyteller ↳ Fell in love with lots of gods, never had his feelings returned ↳ Avoids tough situations (runs away from confrontation, usually consists of people asking for his hand in marriage.)

Lafayette’s Followers Lafayette is always attended by a grab-bag of creatures, humans, and minor gods that follow him around. The group lives in an almost constant state of partying, often drunk or high as well, and sometimes it just becomes an orgy. While with the group, all of Lafayette’s followers are granted temporary immortality, which is only revoked when the person in question leaves. As a result, some of his followers have been around him for centuries.

James Armistead Lafayette A human that travels with Lafayette, James Armistead was a slave to a wealthy but cruel landowner. When Lafayette’s band of merry drunks crashed the landowner’s house for the night, James Armistead was forced by his owner to entertain the group with stories. Lafayette, quite impressed by the man’s skill, mentioned this to the landowner. James Armistead was then offered as payment to get the God and his followers to leave. Offended that another human would be offered as payment, Lafayette turned the landowner and his wife into the first vultures. As an apology, Lafayette offered James Armistead a place in his party as his Official Storyteller. Grateful, James Armistead accepted and took Lafayette’s name as his own last name.

Lafayette and GWash Lafayette adores and loves gwash, above any other god. At the beginning of time, Washington gave Lafayette the sword he chose to be his death weapon. During the apocalypse, Lafayette is sent to kill Washington, as everyone assumes Lafayette might be the best candidate to actually pull it off. It doesn’t work, however, and Lafayette (while happy Washington lives) is devastated. He hands Gwash his sword and is killed on the spot.

Mulligan - God of Spies, Tailors and Weavers

Dagger

Mulligan is an extremely friendly guy for what half of his job is. ↳ Knows how to make just about anything out of yarn, thread and fabric ↳ Hangs out with Martha Washington and sews with her ↳ Doesn’t talk about the other half of his job unless he has to ↳ Has a habit of letting captured spies go free, slipping them away from their captors and back home

Laurens - God of War, Revolution and Righteous Revolt. Half Human // Half God

Gun Laurens is reckless but loyal. ↳ Laurens is a cursed god, forced to ‘die’ everyday, but regenerates pretty quickly. ↳ Really flippant about it. ↳ Does dumb shit because it doesn’t matter if he dies. ↳ Secretly hates it. ↳ When presented with a conflict, Laurens is more likely to take the side of the underdog. ↳ Especially revolutions, it is a rare day when Laurens supports the reigning power.

Laruens’ Birth Laurens was the last of the gods to be born. Washington and Martha, running out of energy to fully form a god, asked Burr to give them a recently deceased human. Using the empty body, the two parent gods used the rest of their power to give life to Laurens, stuffing his Godly soul inside the human body. As a result, Laurens’ very being and his physical body are constantly at war. Laurens is forced to ‘die’ once a day to keep himself whole, but is reborn with each sunrise over the Godly realm.

(I mean,,, unless you can think of a better reason why Laurens has such a shitty existence.)

Laurens and Hamilton Really chill best friends. Laurens and Hamilton occasionally use Laurens’ death curse to do dumb shit, like drop him from as high in the sky as possible to earth. One of the only people that can touch Alex due to his lack of need to keep himself physically safe, Laurens has died a lot from hugging his friend. Though the constant cycle of death upsets them both, they joke around with each other to make it bearable.

Peggy - Goddess of Orphans, Homeless, and Other Forgotten People

Peggy will fight you, whenever, wherever, she’s ready to go. ↳ Like her charges, Peggy is often forgotten by humans, or considered a minor goddess ↳ ↳ Nothing makes her more angry than to be dismissed as ‘unimportant.’ ↳ When people hurt those she’s tasked with protecting, she goes hardcore in her punishments ↳ Can be found in homeless shelters, orphanages and other such places among her people, trying her best to help ↳ There’s too many under her umbrella, though, and her power is often stretched very thin

Seabury - God of Religion, Faith and Priests

Seabury considers himself better than he is. ↳ Only god to have a shrine or statue in every temple, even those not devoted to him ↳ Protects those who devote their lives to service of the gods, no matter which god they choose ↳ Stickler for ceremony ↳ Hates it when the other gods act childish or otherwise ‘tarnish their reputations.’ ↳ Big whiny baby. Actually pretty pacifist comparatively.

Seabury V. Hamilton While King George III was around and doing his false prophet thing, Hamilton and Seabury had an argument about how much harm King George was doing, if any at all. Hamilton shouted at Seabury, threatened war, and Seabury backed down. Humiliated, Seabury decreed that all church proceedings had to take place either at night, in the shade, or indoors. Hamilton just laughed at him and occasionally pokes his head through church windows to mock him.

Philip - God of Poetry, a branch of Hamilton

Philip will roast his dad, but gods help you if you try to do it.

Hamilton’s son, Philip is one of the many Gods Hamilton spawned to take charge of different writing styles. Looks like Laurens because Hamilton wanted his first son to look like his best friend. When humans invented rap, Philip fell in love with the art form. What I’m saying is he rap battles humans. Constantly.

Philip and Hamilton Philip adores his father, but the affair affected him deeply. He sided with Eliza, whom he considers his mom, during the fall out. Since then, their relationship has been healed somewhat, partially due to the Eaker Incident. He will drag Hamilton, but gets highly protective when others do it.

Phillip V Eaker When the news of Hamilton’s affair reached the humans, one young man began to insult Hamilton. Philip took offense to the blasphemous talk, and challenged Eaker to a duel. Though Philip could not die, he agreed he would lose if he took damage that would kill a normal human. Eaker cheated during the duel, however, catching Philip off guard and hitting him in such a way that made Eaker win. Philip, highly upset, turned Eaker into a quill, which Philip uses to write poetry, sometimes about how stupid Eaker was.

Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel Prescott and Sybil Ludington - The Four Messenger Gods

REVERE ↳ ↳

WILLIAM ↳ ↳

SAMUEL ↳ ↳

SYBIL ↳ ↳

OTHER NON-HUMAN CREATURES:

Sally Hemmings - The first nymph. Created by Maria in an attempt to make Thomas feel better after Martha J’s death. Upon gaining sentience, she decided to make her own life, and left Thomas behind.

Thomas Paine - Immortal traveler who wanders, telling stories about the Gods

Ben Walker - Immortal Companion to Von Steuben, was once human.

James Armistead Lafayette - Immortal follower of Lafayette, storyteller that travels with Laf’s eternal party.

HUMANS: Martha Jefferson - Pure Human that Thomas fell in love with. Theodosia - Pure Human that Burr fell in love with. Her body became the stars after her death. James Reynolds - Human Asshole that trapped Maria and got his shit kicked in. Eaker - Dumbass Human shit that gets turned into a quill by Philip King George - False Prophet Sam Adams - Human who introduced Laf to brewery Henry Knox - Human warrior that gained Laurens’ favor by leading a tiny army to victory against a larger force.

IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS

HAMILTON + BURR

Eclipses are Basically Hamilton messing w/ burr and Burr being DONE. Solstices are the one day of each year when one of them sleeps in. Equinoxes are the two days they are pals. Burr is prophesied to do the impossible by killing Hamilton, and thereby bringing about the apocalypse.

JEFFERSON + HAMILTON

SUNFLOWERS. Thomas made Sunflowers for Alex because Alex was sad humans couldn’t look at him.

JEFFERSON + BURR

Hamilton didn’t believe Jefferson existed for a while, tho Burr knew and Hamilton thought Burr was just fucking with him. Burr and Jefferson hang out because shared dead human girls.

PHILIP + EAKER

Philip and Eaker’s duel is because Eaker was being blasphemous and Philip got offended and ended when Eaker cheated so Philip turned him into a quill.

HOW TO KILL A GOD 101:

Each and every god as a weapon/item special to them that must be used to kill them. It is the only object that can hurt/kill a god and each god has a unique item.

#long post #godau

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