#anti revenge

[littlefeltsparrow]

Schrödinger’s Feyre: Where Feyre is simultaneously a cunning and badass girlboss with a mind of steel and a fragile little lamb who doesn’t know any better. When they’re proud, she’s a skilled strategist and competent High Lady, but when it comes to facing the consequences of her actions and the implications of her power, suddenly she’s a little baby waddling through fairy land.

[uchiha-itachi-amaterasu]

Sasuke by Kairyan_zcl on artstation

[mikkeneko]

watching Jiang antis go, as a Scum Villain reader, never ceases to be kind of wild

[alex-dontknow]

The North of Gaza has been declared "successfully cleansed".

I want you all to take a long, hard look at this footage. Do not look away. Soak it in.

Those are people's homes. Schools. Hospitals. All in the North. All gone. They can never return. Nothing is salvageable. Countless bodies left under the rubble.

Look at this and try to say Israel is "defending itself."

Zionism is terrorism.

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I think it's a little bit more complicated than this, actually, especially in ROTS.

At the beginning, sure, the Jedi trust him just fine. But the moment Anakin decides to take Palpatine's nepotistic offer to place him on the Council behind the Council's backs and without their approval, specifically so he can be Palpatine's "eyes and ears" on the Council, and then throws a temper tantrum about them not making him a Master to assert what little agency they've been left in this situation, Anakin loses some of their trust in him. And justifiably so, in my opinion.

They ask him to spy on Palpatine, at least in part, AS A TEST to see where Anakin's loyalties actually lie, whether it's with Palpatine or with the Jedi. I think they WANT to trust him and they give him this task in part also because there isn't anybody else who COULD get them this information, but Anakin has now made a choice that looks really suspicious, especially given that we know the Jedi Council at this point see Palpatine as power hungry and corrupt to the point that they're literally planning treason against him soon. Anakin being Palpatine's personal plant on the Council DOES NOT LOOK GOOD for Anakin. Especially since Anakin doesn't come to it like, "I know this isn't how this is meant to be done, and I haven't earned this position, and he shouldn't be doing this, but none of us are being given much of a choice in this and perhaps this way I can be something of a double agent in the Council's relationship with Palpatine." There's NO recognition of how wrong Palpatine is for taking advantage of his power this way, NO recognition of how Palpatine is clearly using him to spy on the Council or indignation and anger at that even if he did, NO humility and modesty on Anakin's part.

So when, a couple of scenes later, Mace Windu literally says "I don't trust him" when speaking to Obi-Wan and Yoda about Anakin and his assignment to spy on Palpatine, there's a lot of good reason for Mace NOT to trust Anakin at this point, especially with this particular relationship. It's why he tells Anakin that he has "earned his trust" when Anakin comes to tell them about Palpatine being a Sith because, to Mace's mind, it means Anakin passed that test of his loyalties.

In the context of just the films, we know that in AOTC, Mace was defending Dooku against accusations of being a traitor and was proven WILDLY wrong about that. If we take TCW into account, then both Pong Krell and Barriss Offee have also managed to con the Council into trusting them before committing treason and violence against the Jedi and other innocents. So Mace at this point has quite a few examples that he cannot intrinsically trust fellow Jedi simply because they're Jedi and he has to really look more closely at their actions and choices to determine whether he can trust them or not, which makes it a lot more justifiable and more sympathetic that Mace looks at Anakin's choices in ROTS and begins to doubt him and his loyalty.

And the ultimate tragedy is that Mace was RIGHT, not just because of Anakin's choices regarding his Council position, but because of what we know he chooses to do later. Anakin ISN'T trustworthy, he literally kills Mace and betrays the Jedi and storms the Temple and murders their younglings mere hours (at most) after he goes to Mace to reveal the information about Palpatine being a Sith.

So the evidence I have had tossed at me most often by people who claim the Jedi never trusted Anakin is that quote of Mace's where he does explicitly state "I don't trust him." But they will take that one character stated HIS OPINION about this very specific situation and expand that to try to claim that this is proof that Mace never trusted Anakin EVER, or that the COUNCIL never trusted Anakin ever, or even that NO JEDI IN THE ENTIRE ORDER ever trusted Anakin. And this is ridiculous even within just the context of the films, but it becomes even MORE ludicrous when taken in context with TCW where we see him fight perfectly happily alongside multiple other Jedi, we see other Jedi express positive feelings about Anakin, where the Jedi literally trust him with the guidance and protection of one of their CHILDREN. The Jedi are showing their trust in him ALL THE TIME, so Mace's comment about not trusting him in ROTS comes with some very specific context and is only truly applicable to him and also he's fucking RIGHT not to trust Anakin here anyway.

So yeah, don't trust the Stanakins when they say the Jedi didn't trust Anakin, they're just being stupid about it, and even if the Jedi DIDN'T trust Anakin, Anakin's not exactly trustworthy anyway, so who cares.

[confused-much]

Padme is the original delulu because if my husband killed kids not once but TWICE, openly admitted to serving under a Sith and Force choked me, I would not, in fact, say on my deathbed that there is still good in him.

Quite the opposite, I would probably beg Obi-Wan to hide my kids from that guy.

[the-one-and-only-aroace]

What I need people to understand is that Percy will never “open up his eyes” to how bad the gods are. Out of the olympians, Luke and him, he’s the only one who actually understands how and in what ways they’re bad.

Luke, he just feels abandoned. He hates Hermes not because he’s a god, but because he’s a deadbeat father. The gods corruption, the constantly fighting monsters, the just general incompetence, he could care less about. He only even thinks about those things because he’s been manipulated by Kronos. Does anyone at camp care that any mistress of Zeus has been killed wrongfully? No. Should they? Not really. Pretty much every demigod who joined Kronos’s side is doing it for purely selfish reasons. Kronos has just dressed it up in pretty words about overthrowing the gods.

Percy, however? He wants an end to the corruption. He doesn’t just want revenge against his father for abandoning him. He wants change to happen, with or without the gods. He’s one of the only people who knows the titans are worse not because of family loyalty, but because they’re just actually shit. He could care less about Poseidon, they’ve made their peace. That doesn’t mean he thinks the gods are good, he just knows that the titans are worse.

The titans are quite literally worse in every way except not abandoning their demigod kids. Kronos’s army would realize that at a greater scale if they weren’t just kids looking for revenge. Percy recognizes that because his feelings have been dealt with instead of just left to simmer for years and years

[khattikeri]

maybe a controversial opinion but while i really love jiang cheng as a character he is deeply self-centered as a person. and seeing people fight tooth and nail claiming he isn't, or is just misunderstood, or that he has genuine valid reasons to be selfish when plenty of other characters make the difficult choice to forego status and opportunities for what they believe is genuinely right to do (read: wei wuxian, wen ning, wen qing, lan wangji, jiang yanli, mianmian, etc.)

it's just odd to me. especially if they're talking about the novels.

mxtx didn't give jiang cheng the name "sandu shengshou" as a quirky coincidence. there's a REASON she named him & his sword after the 3 poisons of Buddhism (specifically ignorance, greed, and hatred). it's crucial to the story that jiang cheng is NOT selfless and that wei wuxian IS.

it's important to accept that wei wuxian is, by their society's standards, not morally gray; he represents several Buddhist ideals in direct contrast of jiang cheng and multiple people attest to wei wuxian's strong moral character, which is a lot of why jiang cheng even feels bitter about him to begin with.

it's crucial, because by the end of the novel jiang cheng realizes the extent of this and begins to let go!

the twin prides thing wasn't jiang cheng wanting them to 100% mirror the twin jades. he does care about wei wuxian, but he wanted wei wuxian to stay his right hand man, in part the way wei changze was for jiang fengmian.

and if there's one thing you can notice about wei changze in the novels, it's that literally nobody talks about him. he is only ever mentioned when his cool mysterious mountain sect wife cangse-sanren is mentioned, or (even more rarely) when they discuss him as a servant to jiang fengmian. regardless of jiang fengmian's own feelings, wei changze was considered lesser to him and didn't seem to outdo him, since nobody's out there years later still waxing poetry about wei changze's skills.

it may not be the only thing jiang cheng wants out of a twin pride dynamic, but it is a big part of it. regardless of his parents' intentions in taking wei wuxian in and treating him certain ways, this twin pride right-hand man thing is what jiang cheng has felt owed since childhood. he gave up his dogs for wei wuxian, people gossip about his sect heir position with wei wuxian there... jiang cheng wants the reciprocation of what he views as personal sacrifices.

he is ignorant to the depth of what wei wuxian must've suffered for over 6 years as a malnourished orphan child on the streets. he hates how wei wuxian's intelligence, witty charm, and cultivation abilities are naturally stronger than his own. he does care about wei wuxian a lot and want them to be together as sort of-brothers, sort of-friends, sort of-young master and sect servant...

...but if it's between that unclear (yet still caring) relationship and being able to save himself just a little bit more, jiang cheng nearly always manages to clam up in the face of danger and choose the latter, which ultimately benefits himself most. maybe it's a stretch to call that sort of thing greed, but it certainly isn't selfless.

there are of course plenty of justifications for this. it's his duty as sect heir. his home and sect was severely damaged by the wen attack and subsequent war; he had to protect himself, etc.

but doesn't that prove the point?

wei wuxian may be charming, but in terms of pure social standing, he is lower and far more susceptible to being punished or placed in harm's way by people who have more power and money. to protect wei wuxian, yunmeng jiang's long-term head disciple and semi-family member, even in the face of backlash and public scrutiny would've been the selfless thing to do. this is what wei wuxian does for the wen remnants in the burial mounds.

jiang cheng does not choose this. it's not even an unreasonable choice for him to make! nobody else in the great clans is doing such a thing, stepping out of line to take on a burden that could weaken them in the long-run. wei wuxian himself doesn't hate jiang cheng for it; he lets go of these things and focuses on what good he can do in the present.

jiang cheng thinks further into the future - what would happen to him if he continued vouching for wei wuxian and taking his side? what about jiang cheng's face, his sect's face? would wei wuxian even care to reciprocate somehow? everyone expects him to cut off wei wuxian for being dangerous, for threatening his position, for...

do you see what i mean? to call jiang cheng selfless for falling in line with exactly what people expected him to do after the war is not only wrong, it's foolish.

"but they faked their falling-out!" okay. why fake it to begin with, except to protect jiang cheng and the jiang sect's own face? is that selfless? who does it ultimately serve to protect? wei wuxian canonically internalizes the idea that he stains all that he touches, including lan wangji, and agrees to the fake fight because he doesn't want to cause the jiang sect harm. regardless, it eventually slides into a true falling-out, and in the end jiang cheng is more or less unscathed reputation-wise while wei wuxian falls.

that isn't selfless. it's many things! it's respecting his clan and his ancestors, it's making a good plan for the future of his sect and cultivation... but it isn't a truly selfless in the interest of what's right rather than in the interest of duty and what's good for him and his family lineage.

that brings me to my next point: even though wei wuxian hid the truth of the golden core transfer, jiang cheng spent nearly 20 years believing that the golden core "renewal" he was given was a birthright gift of wei wuxian's from baoshan-sanren, an immortal sect teacher of wei wuxian's mother's and a martial elder to wei wuxian.

of course we all know that's a big fat lie, but jiang cheng believed that wei wuxian gave up a critical emergency use gift to him for decades! he was lied to, yes, but jiang cheng immediately agreed without even needing to be convinced. the light in his dead eyes came back with hope the moment wei wuxian even said baoshan-sanren's name. he accepted wei wuxian's offer to give that up to him and take it via identity theft without missing a beat.

with how mysterious and revered baoshan-sanren is, that's obviously not a light sacrifice to just give up to anyone, no matter how close they might be to you. pretending to be wei wuxian to take the gift could even be considered dangerous. what if she found out and got offended? could wei wuxian be hurt by that?

jiang cheng doesn't even hesitate. wei wuxian is the one who mentions that if jiang cheng doesn't pretend to be him, the immortal master could get angry and they'd both be goners. and funnily enough, the day they do go to "the mountain", jiang cheng is the one worried and suspiciously wondering if wei wuxian was lying to him or had misremembered.

of course they've both been traumatized like hell prior to this point. but still: it speaks to how broken he was at the moment as well as to his character overall.

i digress: jiang cheng "gets his golden core back" via what he believed was a gift that should've been wei wuxian's to use in serious emergencies. rather than use it for himself, wei wuxian risked his own safety and gave it to jiang cheng... and jiang cheng still ends up embittered and angry, believing that wei wuxian is arrogant and selfish.

if he truly views them as 100% brothers and equals with no caveats, why would he think that way? it's not like he needs to grovel before wei wuxian for doing that, or to reciprocate... but this is what i mean when i say jiang cheng feels he is owed things by wei wuxian. wei wuxian's actions hold a very different weight in jiang cheng's mind, and jiang cheng himself doesn't ever act the same way, except once.

is it wrong for him to feel like he is owed something? it depends. many asian cultures, including my own, feel that a person owes their family in ways that may not make sense to westerners. for example, it's considered normal for a child to owe their parents for giving birth to them, or to other caretakers for feeding, clothing, sheltering, educating them, etc.

however, something like verbally saying "thank you" or "i'm sorry" to family is considered crazy- why would you owe that? you're supposed to inconvenience your family; saying thank you or sorry is the sort of thing you say to a stranger or acquaintance. i get half-seriously lectured by my elders on this a lot even now, even though they know such phrases are just considered good manners in the US.

this muddies up the idea of wei wuxian being jiang cheng's family vs his family's charge or servant even more. jiang cheng wants wei wuxian to be close... but ultimately doesn't really choose to use what power he DOES have to protect wei wuxian. he considers himself still owed something that in his mind wei wuxian flagrantly never repays.

this isn't even getting into how despite spending a majority of his time with the yiling patriarch he never once noticed that wei wuxian stopped using any spiritual power-based cultivation. even lan wangji, who met them far more rarely, realized that something was wrong and that wei wuxian had taken some sort of spiritual damage, hence the "come with me to gusu".

of course manpain is fun and i'm not immune to the juicy idea of them reconciling and talking things out... but jiang cheng is deeply mired in his own desire to be "above" wei wuxian in multiple ways, and doesn't realize the extent of wei wuxian's actions, the intentions behind them, and the consequences wei wuxian knowingly faced for them.

to not recognize this about jiang cheng, especially in the novels, is really revisionist if you ask me. i reiterate that i really do like him a lot. he's flawed, angry, traumatized and has poor coping mechanisms, an overall fascinating character... but he is not selfless nor ideal, and i seriously draw the line at people saying he is.

wen ning shoves this all into his face at lotus pier to disastrous results. it is the reason why jiang cheng's a total mess at guanyin temple, and the reason jiang cheng ultimately doesn't tell wei wuxian about the fact that he ran towards the wens on purpose.

for that one last act of his to have really been selfless, he needs to not seek anything in return. he did it purely because it was right to do to protect someone else. if that means wei wuxian never finds out about it, so be it.

that moment that ended up causing jiang cheng irreversible harm is not a debt that wei wuxian owes him. it hurts, but no matter how bitter it is, that realization is so important to him changing in the future.

[jedi-enthusiast]

I saw you had thoughts on the Codywan v Anidala lightsaber exchange and I need to hear these juicy details, please and thank you ☺️

Ask and you shall receive!

Everything I'm gonna outline in detail below can basically be summarized as this-

"Anakin and Padme--for all their talk about how much they love and trust each other--don't actually trust each other. Meanwhile Cody and Obi-Wan never really talk about trusting each other, but it's obvious that there is a natural trust between them. The lightsaber exchange represents this."

-----

In RotS and in the later seasons of TCW, it's pointed out or shown multiple times that Anakin and Padme do not trust each other, even on the most basic level.

In the RotS novelization, Padme is talking with some senators about possibly opposing the Chancellor--but one of them insists that they'll need to backing of the Jedi to do that. Padme then says that there is one Jedi who she trusts above all else...and then is promptly horrified when she actually thinks about it and finds that Anakin doesn't make the cut--and then has a mini-crisis about it and puts the blame on others for their shitty relationship ('Oh Ani, what are they doing to us?').

In the whole Rush Clovis arc of TCW, we see how mistrustful Anakin is of Padme--going so far as to put himself in the middle of them every chance he gets.

Now some might argue that it's Clovis that he was mistrustful of but, call me crazy, if I trusted my partner and I was in Anakin's shoes (aka having to let Padme get close to Clovis for the greater good of the galaxy, because it could help them win the war) then I wouldn't be putting myself in the middle of them all the time. I would trust my partner to remain faithful to me or, considering the situation that they were in, only be unfaithful as a last resort. I also wouldn't get mad at my partner when someone else tried to kiss her, even after she said no. Which Anakin does.

All of this adds together to show that, despite what he says, Anakin doesn't actually trust her.

Early in TCW we actually see the seeds of this as well, even though it's not framed that way.

In "Hostage Crisis" we open up the episode by watching as Anakin tries to convince Padme to take a vacation with him, despite her still having work in the Senate. He then proceeds to give her his lightsaber and repeatedly state how much he trusts her, basically going-

"See? My lightsaber is supposed to be a Jedi's life, how can I not trust you if I'm letting you hold it? See how much I trust you?"

then blah blah blah the rest of the episode happens.

It's not framed this way, but to me that actually shows a level of mistrust and insecurity in the relationship. I don't know about you, but the only time I tell someone I trust them, unprompted, is when I don't actually trust them but I'm trying to convince them that I do. Otherwise I don't need to say it, because I show it. That's what I see in Anidala.

Now, in contrast, let's look at Cody and Obi-Wan.

Multiple times in TCW and then in RotS, Cody keeps Obi-Wan's lightsaber safe when he loses it and then returns it to Obi-Wan later--and we can assume that it happens more than is shown because Cody even has a lightsaber clip on his armor which, as far as I'm aware, is never shown on any other clone in any of the shows or movies. It's specific to them.

It's never mentioned between them, though. Ever. The most they do is flirt tease a little (as shown in the RotS novelization), but Obi-Wan never tells Cody "oh wow, I let you take care of my lightsaber, look at how much I trust you" or even has that moment of thinking it to himself. It's never brought up, because it doesn't have to be.

The two just naturally trust each other, Obi-Wan naturally trusts Cody with his life--both his physical one and the life represented by his lightsaber. There's no need for convincing or to make it some big spectacle, it just is.

As @dreamerkath commented under one of my posts, "CodyWan is the balance that Anidala couldn't achieve."

Cody and Obi-Wan are everything that Anakin and Padme try to convince themselves they are...and neither of them burned down the fucking galaxy to show it.

[doomed2repeat]

The people wishing Penelope hooks up with Debling are purely doing it for their own gratification because if they understood anything about Penelope’s character they’d understand she does not want anyone but Colin. She’s looking at other men out of desperation and necessity. But her only desire is Colin. So you want her to hook up with a guy she doesn’t actually want to get back at the guy she does want so…what? So she can feel empty inside because affection from someone you don’t want will always cancel out into something you don’t want? But you, the viewer can feel like she got even with Colin? So Colin doesn’t have a one up on her with romantic experience? Do you think Penelope will feel good after hooking up with someone who’s not Colin, or are you just thinking about how Colin will feel bad?

[hoeplessl0nging]

A Mother's Lament

Helaena takes revenge into her own hands. [2.3k words]

inspired by this post from @sleepwalker-02-artist , i don't normally write these little prompts but something took over and i couldn't not write a little oneshot. || cross-posted on ao3

The air was thin, up so high. High enough her hair was kissed by cotton clouds. The wind was near deafening and cold, yet it quieted the rage in her blood, blew the tears from cheeks and dried her eyes. The steel on her shoulders, silver, shining steel, heavy like death, heavy like the grief nestled under her chest and in her belly, it pushed against her lungs, it hurt when she took a breath. Yet what was the pain other than a motivation?

High over the rivers, green grass and blue waters, carved like an angry god had taken a knife to the lands. How much blood has tainted the water of the trident? Helaena had found herself wondering. Much, certainly, though there would still be more to come.

The woman sniffed and violet eyes grazed the skies again. He had to be here, somewhere. Far below her, near several miles below, a brown dragon flew, surveying the lands, as if searching for something, or perhaps someone. Helaena sighed, it was not the dragon nor rider she was searching for. Absentmindedly, she pulled the reins and whispered to Dreamfyre, an order to fly high and steer clear of the other enemy rider. It was not the conflict she was after.

The pressure on her lungs returned with another breath, the chainmail clinked as she shifted her weight in the saddle. She squinted and felt that familiar burning rage and blue grief, flowing like waves, a thundering storm inside of her. Lightning struck each of her nerves and violet eyes searched through the sky and clouds for a bloom of crimson.

'Twas no revenge, no eye for an eye, nor son for son. It was blood. It was death for the sake of it, that sweet boy she had carried, had birthed, had cherished did not deserve that. That man, that monster, who had held the blade to her throat. The other that had held her precious daughter. The one responsible for it would die. Be it today, or tomorrow. He'd not survive the week. He'd not live long enough to harm another.

"Choose. Choose!" He had screamed, the other jeered almost gleefully. The edge of his knife had kissed her throat.

Too close, too loud, too much. Not her boys, not her girl, not her. "Choose!" The rat-catcher and the sellsword had cried, Helaena remembered crying. Tears salting the stone of the castle. Had it always thirsted for blood as so? Death, death, death, the crow faced god cloaked in shadow cawed, hauntingly.

"Stop, stop," she had shouted. "Stop!" Yet they did not, not until the sellsword had deemed her overcome by grief, mad enough, weak enough to drop the blade from her neck.

Her limbs had felt weightless, boneless, a flop of fabric and skin on the stone floor. He had moved to threaten the squalling babe in the cradle. "Take me, kill me. Not him, not my son, don't you touch him! Not any of them, please, not my Maelor!"

The sellsword had laughed, yet it sounded more like a howl. A feral dog. A blood thirsty hound. "You have named one, then."

Violet eyes had stared on in horror. Her throat had ached - had she been screaming? Why had no one come? Where were the guards? Where was her mother? Or her brothers or her husband?

More tears had bubbled in her eyes, blurring her vision. Her lips wobbled and throat bobbed. Helaena remembered the back of her hand, reached out desperately, as if she could summon the foul blade from the sellsword's hand with some unknowable power. Yet it did not happen.

If she had strained her ears, there was a high howl that sounded like Shrykos. A croaky caterwaul of Morghul. The deep, haunting, angry bellow of Dreamfyre. She could still hear their calls now, along with the crying children.

Death was never pretty, in the few deaths she had been forced to watch, she had always looked away. A delicate lady with delicate sensibilities, a gentle and good woman, she had been told. Quiet and prone to melancholy, but good, a clement Queen, her mother had said as she'd laid her crown upon her head and kissed her cheeks.

She had made Aegon and the war council agree send their half sister terms of peace, she had made them all agree to leave Rhaenyra's title and let the woman and her kin keep Dragonstone, yet what had she received in turn? Death.

The gods had warned her, she had warned them all, ever since she could speak, from the moment she could process more than grief. Yet no one listened, they never did. Close an eye, a dance, a war, the death of the dragons.

Each divine message wrapped in riddles and the visions covered in a haze like layers of chiffon, faces and features warped into unrecognisable humanoid blobs. The death of her son, slaughtered like an animal, by some foul, cruel butcher and rat-catcher.

Not her Maelor, though. Not the babe, not the one that foul creature had tricked into her not her sweet daughter either, brave little Jaehaera, stony-faced and catatonic at the sight before her, frozen as she had been since the rat-catcher had threatened what the sellsword -a man so callously named as Blood- would do to the little girl if she did not hurry and make her choice. An eye for an eye, a son for a son. Debts never paid and twisted.

Yet the look in the little girl's eyes was as if the whole earth had shattered. Helaena couldn't find it within her to bring up his face inside of her memory, not when he was smiling an laughing, not when he had died scared and screaming. Face so cruelly contorted by fear. His little body, those little lilac eyes, lifeless and everything, so so red. Four namedays old. Bloody and haunted. Her first, her boy, named for the Old King, only he would now never grow old, spiders would find their homes where her eldest son had once been.

Perhaps once upon a time, they had taken her warnings. Perhaps it would have been peace. Perhaps if the rot had been cut off before it touched the entire tree. Before the blood seeped into the water and found it's way into the wine. Before the flies feasted upon them all, before crows and buzzards picked their bones dry. She had warned them. Yet the seeds of war had long been sewn, crime unpunished and far from forgotten.

Hadn't her mother and half-sister found peace before Viserys had died? Put down their poisons before it tainted the roots anymore. The woman bit the inside of her cheek, hard enough to draw blood. The taste of iron filled her mouth as the liquid kissed her tongue.

It was foolish to believe that it was enough to stop the ever-growing rot. To expect the scorpion wouldn't sting. It was all the thing knew how to do, all her half-sister's attack dog knew how to do. No matter how gently one handled a creature, it would still bite. But the scorpion had stung the wrong frog, for whilst the grief had confined her, melancholy and guilt twisting her mind into a prison, it had put her upon the window ledge more than once swaying and staring down at the long drop, the spikes at the bottom of the pit.

The anger had found her a way to break free. Anger, righteous and shrewd and vicious, burning like wildfire in her belly. A dragon. A monster taking over where she had once been human, ready to avenge her son, her people, her Hightower uncles and cousins, the families of her ladies and the soldiers that had died for their cause, the smallfolk that starved along with them and suffered at their hands. The lost Shrykos. For her living children, for Jaehaera and Maelor, for her mother and brothers.

Daemon Targaryen would befall the fate of all mad, rabid dogs. The frog would drown the scorpion before it could sting again. She'd cut as many of the rotted limbs from the tree as she could, herself, or she'd die trying.

The beat of Dreamfyre's wings was as soothing as it could be. Like the drums of war. Sure and steady, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Like Sunfyre glimmering gold and platinum and rose, like the light of the Hightower, like the will of the gods. The wingbeats were thumps of a thunderous heart. A lilting lullaby from the only other creature who truly understood her pain, her fury - who knew her better than anyone else did and likely ever would. A gentle giant and an apt listener-. Dreamfyre was certain, she'd ne'er fail her, heart and soul and strength and innocence, grief and mourning. Dreamfyre knew it all. She is as much me as I am myself. She thought.

Her mouth grew dry as the dot in the distance drew ever closer. Dreamfyre rose higher and higher, the air growing thinner and colder. The red dragon and rider had not spotted them yet, and if the gods had woven the tapestry of fate in her favour, he would not until it was too late. Jaehaerys was dead. She was not.

He was dead. She was not, yet a part of her had died with him, a hole in her heart and an aching web of guilt that made it almost impossible to look at Maelor and Jaehaera, unable to meet her mother's gaze nor stomach being in the same room as her brothers for longer than a moment. Would he have grown to look like them? Aegon's messy waves, Aemond's eyes? Daeron's mannerisms? Would he still have her smile? Maybe the gods could reveal it, in another dream.

Another dream, an omen, a wish, a warning - If she lived long enough to dream again. Fire for fire, blood for blood. Like the fear that haunted her mind. Like the words and riddles whispered by some ancient power. Like their house words. Helaena took another breath, deep and slow. There was a change in the air. It smelt of sulphur and fire and rot. A shadow of a beast as large as her own appeared in the distance. Red and lanky, fierce and unfathomable. Near the size of Vhagar and mighty.

Another breath, perhaps soon to be her last. The weight of the shining silver pauldrons unfamiliar and frightening, yet it kept her grounded. A hand rubbed the pale blue and violet and silver scales, they were hot like a fire, warming and electric against the cold.

The deep green of the singular jewel around her neck. The blade at her hip, unused and untainted. Steel shiny and fresh forged and sharp The golden dragon she had stitched herself marked the hem of the blue-green-black tunic beneath the silver ringmail. Blooming gold and yellow like a bruise. The gods caressed her face, cloud-forged fingers raking through her hair, smoothing braids and tangling through the rest that draped loosely over her back and flowed behind her.

Dreamfyre unleashed a low croon, a growl deep and haunting. Musical, tragic like the songs, tragic like the saints. Fingers dug into the tangle of leather reins and rope, "Gentle mother, font of mercy."

The dragon crooned again as if she was singing along with her. Blood thumped in her ears. Dreamfyre's sapphire spines twisted in the winds, sky and silver membranes like the sails on a ship. Seven hells hath no fury like a mother protecting her children, nor the Fourteen Flames mimic the song of vengeance, cold like ice, burning like fire inside of her heart. Aegon had taken care of the rats, and soon enough, the White Worm would be dead too. She'd show Daemon the true meaning of their house words. Fire for fire, blood for blood.

As her violet eyes befell the form of Caraxes, soaring over the Riverlands, crimson and copper. Flown far enough from where he had split from the skinny brown dragon's side. She strained her eyes to glare at the form of black leather and onyx armour. If this was to be her death, so be it. A fall from the sky, to spikes or to earth, burned like her husband had been, it didn't matter. So long as he was gone. Until he faced punishment for the death he ordered.

Helaena called out in Valyrian, leather and chainmail covered chest pressed into the front of the saddle and reins bound tight around her hands. Strands of silver-gold-moonglow hair flying free of the braids she had woven that very morning. The same braids her mother had taught her all those years ago.

Dreamfyre dove. Soaring swiftly despite her size, the scream of the wind in her ears and against the dragon's mighty wings. As they drew closer, faster and faster and faster. If this was the day of her death, she'd face it with a stiff lip. No return, no return, no reason. She had come this far. Regardless, fear coiled in her belly like a viper ready to strike. Death would always be scary, a stranger, a crow cloaked in shadows with leathery wings like a bat, claws like a dragon and the shape of a tall, thin man lingered in the dark corners of her vision, the Stranger - ready to lead them to the world beyond.

She was not ready to face Jaehaerys. The little boy whose body was butchered and head hacked off by a half-blunt blade - Helaena didn't think she could ever be.. Yet, at the very least, the gods would pass their judgment upon his killers. Pass judgement upon Daemon Targaryen and his band of rabid hounds and scorpions. Death, death! The Stranger crowed through the wind.

The Mother's hymn found its way past her lips and into the wind. Flies and spiders and birds. She pleaded for the Warrior's strength, for the Maiden's goodness and the Father's justice. Fire in her blood, rage belly and thunder in her heart, the gods whispered something soft into her ear. Not a riddle, not a vision nor prophesy. Dreamfyre roared. Fire reigned o'er the back of the crimson beast, mighty dragons of blue and red danced.

[leoleolovesdc]

OK HEAR ME OUT. HEAR. ME. OUT.

AU where Steph and Jason joined forces to beat the shit outta Tim on titans tower:

Steph was also dead (according to a retcom that I heavily dislike she was always alive, but still) and returned to comics roughly two years after Jason, so since comics timelines are disproportionate from IRL time we technically could mashup those two “back from the grave” events on around the same time and have a situation where Jason hears from Talia that after Tim Drake there was another Robin that died and he is intrigued. He does a little digging and finds out that Stephanie is in fact alive and hiding. In this AU Steph may either have actually died and been somehow ressurected, been in a coma for a while or just have had her death faked by Leslie without her consent, regardless, Jason finds Stephanie who is also mad to learn she was forgotten by the people she thought had brought her in and after hearing that her predecessor’s plans include ruining Black Mask’s empire, forcing Bruce to confront his code and beating the shit out of Tim she is all in.

[antianakin]

"Padme is so brave for going to face Anakin on Mustafar without a weapon" Sure yeah I guess, but she's not actually brave enough to accept the truth about what he's done when told point blank about it by someone she claims to trust just like a day or two earlier and when she's one of two people in the entire galaxy who knows EXACTLY what kind of violence Anakin is capable of. There are different kinds of bravery and Padme choosing to go find Anakin on Mustafar by lying to Obi-Wan in order to PROTECT Anakin from justice is pretty explicitly cowardly and selfish, not brave and selfless.

[confused-much]

I've just rewatched Revenge of the Sith for like a 5th time and you know what annoys me the most?

That some people think Anakin is the most tragic character of Star Wars.

Like, yeah he was a slave and his mother was killed but most of his other suffering was his own doing.

HE killed the Jedi, including kids (as he did sand people).

HE decided to get married to Padme despite his problem with attachments and hide it from the Order.

HE decided to save Palpatine for his own gain.

HE choked Padme!!! The woman he supposedly loved and couldn't live without!!!

HE chose to fight Obi-Wan and even when Obi-Wan told him it's over, he still chose to attack him.

Most of his suffering was self inflicted and seriously, I don't even feel sorry for him. He deliberately chose to allign himself with a literal Sith Lord just because he wanted to save Padme. And while yes, I could understand the sentiment, he did it selfishly ("I can't live without her!" he screams at Windu before cutting his hand.

When he tells Padme about his dreams, she asked what about their child and he doesn't care about it, he only cares about Padme because HE cannot leave without her, screw her feelings or thoughts on that matter), dooming all of the Republic, not even thinking about other alternatives before.

So no, I don't think Anakin is the most tragic character. But you know who I think is?

Obi-Wan

In a span of a short time he:

- was betrayed by the men he was fighting with for the whole war

- lost his home and family

- had to fight the person he considered his brother

- became a hunted down man

- was betrayed by the person he considered his brother (who also killed kids)

- was forced to go into exile to Tatooine and spend his time alone, guarding Luke, a son of the person who was directly responsible for all of his suffering

- he lost Padme who he valued as a good friend

And before that he also:

- lost his master after said master was ready to throw him away for the Chosen One™ (I hate Qui Gon with passion)

- lost a woman he loved (killed by the same man who killed his master)

And somehow, Obi-Wan till the end was loyal to Jedi teachings and never went to the dark side. And, guess what, none of the points above were his doing! He got dealt with shitty hand all the time and yet he still endured it and still had faith!

Man, I love Obi-Wan.

[x-raz0r-2-the-r0sary-x]

these are so personal to me i can't explain it

[helga-grinduil]

Already said it on Twitter, and gonna say it here too.

The idea that stopping someone from hurting themselves (and everyone around them) and rehabilitating them is 'invalidating' their trauma is truly the most 'what in the actual fuck' BNHA take ever. Huh? Please make it make sense. Do those people also think that going to therapy and choosing not to be miserable your entire life is invalidating your own trauma? 'Oh, you're feeling suicidal due to your trauma and depression lately? Better not accept or ask for help! And if you know someone who is showing concerning signs, don't you dare try to stop and help them, and try to make them feel better, 'cause then you'd be saying that their traima doesn't matter and they should learn to act normal! You're opressing victims! >:('

The point of the bad/good victims idea in BNHA is not that 'bad' victims should be left to run amok, lash out, and self-destruct just because they're victims and this is how they express their trauma. No, the point is that despite their behavior and actions they also need and deserve help just as 'good' victims do.

'But heroes haven't showed any signs of recognising that they were wrong yet' - they literally have, that's the entire point of the hero students from the Savior Squad. And some aspects of the system ALREADY started changing - for example, finally reconnecting heroes and civilians and making the latter to start viewing heroes as just people again.