#aros antithesis

[aros-antithesis]

A new design is up on my store! https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/Surrealist-Antithesis-by-Aros-Antithesis/129500202.EJUG5

[starlit-mansion]

i've actually been trying to think very hard if i've had an actual ship outside of my ocs or incidentally liking a 100% canon relationship as part of the story for the past three years and i'm coming up with like... one??? but tbh that one is 99% fan content and i like it just as much nonromantically as well

[nepcoinz]

SEX DENIER FLAG

[pt: SEX DENIER FLAG]

[ID: flag 1 ID: an image of a flag made up of the colours mauve/purple, white, black, and grey. the white encompasses more of the flag than the other colours. the flag has a thin red "X" (cross) ontop of it. flag 2 ID: an image of a flag made up of the colours mauve/purple, white, black, and grey. the white encompasses more of the flag than the other colours. end ID]

read pinned post before interacting !!

the sex denier flag, can also be called the antithesis of sexual attraction flag is an exclusively ace/acespec term related to this post where one literally cannot get anyone to have sex with them, however much they try. it is against there power to even get anyone to try have sex with them. igot OP's permission to make this.

OP is @abcwordsurge (feel free to ask to be removed !!) (sorry for posting so late !! ive been busy recently !!)

(https://www.tumblr.com/abcwordsurge/750959547026407425/im-not-so-much-sex-repulsed-as-i-am-a-sex-denier)

[pt: the sex denier flag, can also be called the antithesis of sexual attraction flag is an exclusively ace/acespec term related to this post(link) where one literally cannot get anyone to have sex with them, however much they try. it is against there power to even get anyone to try have sex with them. igot OP's permission to make this.]

aro version

(https://www.tumblr.com/nepcoinz/751481806505787392/romance-denier-flag)

[pt: aro version]

keep in mind blog owner of this blog is a minor and does not make sexual terms. thank you.

[pt: keep in mind blog owner of this blog is a minor and does not make sexual terms. thank you.]

pinned post

(https://www.tumblr.com/nepcoinz/750797364194885632/id-a-thin-very-light-blue-divider-end-id-dni)

[pt: pinned post(link)]

[greenbloods]

asexual characters in westeros

vaegon. too based for the red keep, too cringe for westeros (targ genes). antithesis of icky old man jaehaerys' idea of an ideal man [a hyper-militaristic strong man who has the hots for his sister-wife and enacts control over the women in his life]. peaces out of the family drama and becomes an archmaester. he and saera are two sides of the same coin. the only way to outlive the red keep is to escape it

varys. kind of low hanging fruit but cmon. though i guess this is more a show canon thing with the one scene between him and oberyn, but it still applies to book canon

larys strong. all credit to the show for making him a foot freak who mostly uses his sexuality as a power thing over alicent. however. i am just a freak for ace evil advisors scheming and conniving because the only thing they have the hots for is power and the Realm. in fact yknow what? skahaz mo kandaq the shavepate is also ace. and tyland lannister. i would make petyr ace to were it not for yknow *gestures broadly at littlefinger*

maegelle. ok so the only ways to escape jaehaerys and alysanne is to refuse to play the game of marriages, right? and you either do that by being saera, or by taking vows against marriage like vaegon. maegelle was promised to be a septa at a young age so i dont know how much being ace played into that decision, but i think it's a nice parallel between her and vaegon and rounds out the trio

maegor. nah im just fucking with you. but imagine, right?

stannis. ok canonically he does share melisandre's bed willingly and not just for shadowbaby making purposes but to me he is ace. marching off to bed like robert would march off to war, the opposite of robert in every way, ice to his fire. plus it would make the baratheon brothers bi ace and gay respectively and thats something.

cheese of notable gang 'blood and.' yep thats right diversity wins your local ratcatcher childmurderer is ace <3

meera reed. zeroooo evidence for this i just like positing stuff <33

qhorin halfhand. soorryyy to all the manceqhorin truthers out there but when when mance said "the Halfhand was carved of old oak, but I am made of flesh" that was all the confirmation i needed. plus half the watch is gay so i think everyone was looking at qhorin like he was the odd guy out who took his oath to the watch too seriously while everyone else was rolling their eyes at old man Q too proud to get it down in mole's town

blackfish. 100% ace and aro this is literally canon he doesnt want to get married hes not interested in it. in this world where to be a be a woman is to marry and to be a man is to marry and to marry is to consummate he refuses to participate in the system outright!! he takes a nice nepo uncle job with his niece in the vale and settles down for 20 years as the seven intended. aroace blackfish is real to me.

[just-a-carrot]

hiii!! just was wondering as an arospec person !! probably not intended hkdjhek but i just wanted to let you know that orlam and cecil to a certain extent read as very aro coded to me? i think that's why orly also appeals to me on.a certain level because their dynamic is SOO inchwresting because they are each other's antithesis in a way. anyway much love to the game just wanted to let you know !!

fhdhdh I have officially stated that Orlam is grayromantic!! admittedly only in a few posts I think. also iggy is demiromantic. I see Iggy as needing a deep connection before he can develop any romantic feelings or connections. while with Orlam his connection to romance is very undefined (and even he doesn't fully understand it) and can also differ wildly with different ppl or in different contexts

[fuckmeyer]

Do you think the Volturi would ever get desperate enough to make their own newborn army to continue being in power?

yes, but actually no

Yes

the Guide says they overthrew the Romanians by "launching a successful war." really, they just convinced a bunch of vamps to go to war for them for 100+ years on the premise that it was mutually beneficial for everyone to follow certain laws.

here's the thing. the tactic of newborn armies didn't exist until Benito tried to pull it off in the 1800s. end result: the Volturi came in full force & exterminated the newborns. this lil anecdote in vampire history tells us that 1) while the Volturi have gone to war, they have not experimented with newborn armies. & 2) when faced with a challenge to their doctrine, they do attack.

fast-forward like 200 years. in Second Short Life of Bree Tanner, they threaten to punish Victoria for creating a newborn army but give her the chance to destroy the Cullen clan first. it seems, given the right adversary, the Volturi are willing to bend their rules...

they have a history of starting wars, combat, & breaking their rules.

But actually no

their whole shtick is noninterference & secrecy. they've gained power through soft diplomacy & quiet hard diplomacy. (amassing an arsenal of talented vamps, spreading their doctrine, solidifying their reputation etc). potential problems are resolved quickly & discreetly. a newborn army is the antithesis of their mission & their strategy. bottom line, they would lose a lot of power & credibility by openly flouting their own philosophy.

"ok but 'yes, but actually no' is a non-answer"

NO, the Volturi would not get desperate enough to create a newborn army. they would prefer an elite, highly trained team of talented statesmen & gifted vampires over a hoard of volatile newborns. under the right conditions, however, they might wage a proxy war.

imo, they would be at their "most desperate" when they lose everything: the guard, the coven, & the reputation. even then, i don't think they would resort to outright creating a newborn army.

from the Guide: "Aro called his soldiers “the Volturi guard,” making it clear that they were subservient to the actual coven of five." there are 9 permanent members of the guard & more transitory members, all of which he views as his "collection." "Ambition was [the coven's] bonding element. [...] Rank in the guard is decided by power."

there's already tension among the guard fighting for their rank within the system (or to be a permanent member).

post-Breaking Dawn, the Volturi's reputation has taken a hit. covens have lost faith in their ability to lead. morale is down in the guard; perhaps some transitory members take a hike. the Volturi already rely heavily on vampires who modify relationships & mental states i.e. Chelsea, Corin, Marcus. they're all in this stupid club for ambition & power's sake; imagine one of them is dissatisfied with the Volturi's loosening grip on power? imagine the Volturi must quash an exodus in their guard, leading them into a vicious cycle of lost trust & draconian measures? imagine the guard fights with itself as some begin to turn on the Volturi...?

if the core Volturi coven don't have their guard, what do they have? a telepath (Aro), a relationship identifier (Marcus), regular-ass Caius, & two regular-ass wives who don't even want to be there. in addition, they have their reputation & their abilities as statesmen. that's it.

[consider this: "If a vampire remains unmoving often enough over thousands of years, dust begins to petrify in response to the venom-like liquids that lubricate his eyes and skin." Bella notices this milky film over their eyes. she also doesn't notice any vampire scars. it's probable the kings have seen little to no combat in centuries, if ever.]

if the guard turns on them, & they've lost reputation with the other covens, what would they do? the wives might dip bc being stuck at home for hundreds of years kinda soured them on the whole "being married" shit. Marcus would ask for death lmao. that leaves Aro & Caius. (possibly Jane/Alec/& other loyal guards.) considering the guards' experience w/ newborn armies, really the only way out of this is negotiating the kings' freedom. openly creating their own newborn army would permanently destroy their reputation, & their ties with other covens will become their greatest asset when the guard turns.

tl;dr worst case scenario, in response to an existential threat i see them saving their own hides & fucking off into obscurity while they figure out their next moves (which would largely involve diplomacy, rebuilding their "collection," & proxy wars).

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

how would you rank the volturi from least to most cringe (minus afton, of course because Cringe Georg is an outlier and should not be counted)?

I was going to say, you left out the most cringe one.

But alright, let's do this.

Caveat that we don't see much of the Volturi canonically, so this is my going on some major limbs here.

Caius

Look, Caius will light his own witness on fire with 0 regrets. The man defies cringe because there's only brutality and not a single moment wasted questioning it.

There's being certain of your decisions then there's being Caius.

Chelsea

While Chelsea failed when it came to making people like Afton (he was that cringe) she herself can tune relationships such that you don't find a cringey person cringe. That puts her towards the top of the list.

Heidi

By her gift, Heidi is the antithesis of cringe. She is so hot, you want to party with her and buy her timeshare/sketchy vacation package. You don't even question it, you're the one who feels cringe in her presence.

Demetri

Given Demetri's gift and his role and what we see of him, I imagine he's an extrovert and tries to stay on good terms with everybody. It's more or less his job to meet and greet, party, and make the rounds to make sure the Volturi can find who they need to.

To do his job properly, Demetri cannot be cringe.

Aro

While eloquently spoken and amiable from what we see of him, he did spend the entire meeting with Bella and Edward gushing about Carlisle. Neither Bella nor Edward noticed, but it was mildly terrible of him and gets him this spot in cringe jail.

Marcus

Canonically, Marcus is too depressed to function. The man can't say words, he's so depressed. Now, this isn't really cringe, as Marcus is too depressed to be cringe about anything, but it is really weird and probably uncomfortable in prolonged exposure from an outside point of view.

Bella got two seconds of him and she noticed the guy staring into space.

Felix

Canonically, Felix has said cringey things, such as telling Bella she looks hot as a vampire.

That was not necessary, Felix.

(He ranks higher than the others in that we only see him do it once and he's not necessarily cringe by his very nature/position. Had Felix gotten more lines, he'd be bumped up the list).

Renata

We don't see Renata much in canon. We know her backstory from the guide, which has uh some interesting details, and we know she guards primarily Aro.

This means most of her time is spent hanging around Aro, listening into conversations she wouldn't otherwise, and always being there in the room for... awkward moments such as someone's execution or painful conversations.

It's not so much Renata's cringe herself, but her very presence in moments where you'd just want to be talking to Aro, Caius, or Marcus means she's there too.

Corin

Corin isn't so much cringe herself, but she brings cringe with her. Her very power is to get you stoned. Corin is constantly the one sober person at a party, surrounded by people too drunk to function.

Jane and Alec

They're twelve forever. Twelve is the cringiest age in the world. Imagine being cringe forever with no hope of escape while also being two lethal death machines. The only person who will talk to you about pokemon is your sibling.

Eleazar

This one's more of a topic of hot debate, as our narrators think kindly about Eleazar but reading between the lines he was politely shown the door.

Afton

Look, he has to get mentioned. Infamous for being universally disliked and entirely useless.

[queer-queries]

hello all! welcome to my queer advice blog!

this is my blog where i will do my best to give any advice on queer-related topics to those who need some! i know there are plenty of blogs like this already, but i wanted to make my own because i know that if i had had someone to ask these questions to when i was struggling, it would’ve saved me so much pain, so i want the chance to be for someone the person that i wish i’d had! below is some basic information about me and this blog!

about me-

- my name is reign and my pronouns are she/her

- i am a queer/genderqueer aroace sapphic bi lesbian

- i am autistic and have ADHD, OCD, depression, and NPD

- i am not a minor, but i am not really an adult either. i don’t pretend to be some queer expert, especially since i’m young, but i still have some knowledge and advice and want to put that to good use.

- i love music, writing, poetry, songwriting, queer theory, and queer studies

- i am a staunch inclusionist when it comes to the queer community. i think policing queer terms is the antithesis of queer solidarity and does literally no good. sometimes lesbians are bisexual and/or guys. sometimes trans women use he/him pronouns. sometimes your gender is related to flowers. get over it. i will not tolerate exclusionism on my page.

about this blog-

- you can ask for advice on anything queer-related

- you can vent about negative experiences or share positive experiences

- you can ask respectful questions about queer topics/identities you don’t understand

- i will post about queer validation, queer solidarity, and queer joy

- i will occasionally share my own experiences

- i will not give medical advice (so if you need medical advice in terms of transition, i highly recommend the blogs @genderpunks and @transgenderteensurvivalguide )

boundaries-

- do not use they/them pronouns on me

- do not send me discourse. i will delete it.

- do not interact with me if you are bigoted in any way.

- if you are a queer exclusionist but you still need advice on something, you can send an ask and i will still answer you because all queer people deserve kindness in their questioning. but if you bring your exclusionism into it or try to invalidate me or others, your ask will not be answered.

that’s pretty much it for now! could i get a boost? @justlgbtthings @genderpunks @transgenderteensurvivalguide @trans-mom @stopcannibalizingourown @genderkoolaid @wearequeer-andwearehere @makingqueerhistory @1000lesbians @soft-sapphic-love @kenochoric @neopronouns @sapphicspoonie @sapphic-sprite @intersexfairy @queerasfact @queercutlureis @our-queer-experience @aspecpplarebeautiful @genderqueerpositivity @aroace-people-are-lgtbq @aro-culture-is @aroaceconfessions @transenbyconfessions 

[stormfet]

Cracked and ranked the beta trolls by lesbianism

12. Eridan: fascist rule-follower. The antithesis of lesbianism.

11. Gamzee: no.

10. Equius: gets points for being a horsegirl, but is otherwise pretty not lesbain.

9. Sollux: his relationship with Aradia gets him a few points by proxy. Also his motifs tend to stick to a theme, and as we all know, lesbians are dedicated people.

8. Tavros: it's extremely lesbian of him to constantly get pulled into and involved in Vriska's bullshit even though it is objectively toxic for him. Can telepathically speak to animals, which is also pretty queer.

7. Feferi: definitely, to me, the least lesbain of the female trolls.

6. Karkat: feels transmasc ngl. Also, the communist themes, as well as having a blood mutation causing outsider feelings. If he didn't like boys he could for sure be a he/him lesbian.

5. Aradia: the spookygirl vibes are on point. Weird relationship with time, feels disillusioned by the system seeing as she was killed in a toxic friendgroup. The vibe is there, even if she reads to me as kinda aro and sort of has a thing with Sollux.

4. Vriska: Obviously has a Whole Thing™ with Terezi. Strung Kanaya along. The Team Charge vs Team Scourge debacle reads with a lot of underlying tension. Complex, could be a bitchy theatre sort of gay if she didn't also have weird feelings about Eridan.

3. Nepeta: cannonically has a crush on the most lesbian of the boy trolls. Is a furry and an internet fangirl. Girlbestfriends with Terezi. Her heart's in it.

2. Terezi: only dated Gamzee as part of a self-destructive rock-bottom self realization type arc. Very much a weirdo. Leans into it. Has extremely strong and complex feelings about Vriska. Has rapport with multiple silly guy friends (Dave, Karkat). Her wardobe...extremely lesbian.

1. Kanaya: Cannonically a lesbian, and did the extremely gay thing of having an unrequited crush on your childhood best friend, growing out of it, and having a crush on the cute alien girl who you flirt relentlessly with until you eventually go on a date with, make out with, and then eventually make her a tux for her to marry you in.

[aros-antithesis]

Working on uploading a new design! Unfortunately I’m a little late for ace pride week

[dumbpoemjuice]

Mania

So first of all, I know this makes me an idiot, or a fool, for feeling this way at all. For feeling this way about you. For letting these feelings be real, take root in my heart and spread like a plague into my mind, leading in its wake to the most disastrous decaying of any semblance of rational thought.

In that way I suppose it's not much worse or far surpassed by any other inability of mine to act on logic or think with reason.

But in its own way this little thing has become so large, outgrowing my ability to contain it, to keep it bottled in, and now this beautiful thing rears it's ugly head and I still don't know what to feel, how to feel, or what feeling even is anymore.

To call this love would be to laugh in the face of what you are. But to ignore this love is pain, but pain is nothing compared to not knowing what this love is. I know I love you. I know you want to be loved. But what I worry more each passing moment when I don't speak my heart is that my love may never be the right shape, square peg in a round hole, to fill your heart.

But when did this become about you. Your careful tentative sips of an unknown substance and the years that it will take for you to decide. The world always a little too bright and loud, washing out your complexion and drowning out your voice. Weighing down on your fragile mind until it all becomes too much. Your fragmented self put together with parts of these and bits of that, each page in your endless sea of books painstakingly inked and tenderly turned.

But when did this become about you. Just as much I too am made of bits of this and parts of those, though I might face this world a little brighter and louder than you, still my pages are untrimmed, rough around the edges with what I surely save by refusing to discard. My fragile mind has grown a shell, this hollow home to what I know would just as soon be squished without. But now I am a shell, just a home because no longer is it clear to what I call this home.

This is agape, but no, because to me you are worth more. This is philia, but to claim such a grand and consuming thing would come so easily could never be all the truth. So then this is Eros, the antithesis to Aros though, so then I have no choice but to accept the truth. This is Mania. All-consuming love.

[shaaaaaaar]

bah fuck it im rambling here. im doing alright, im just having thoughts and reflections rn and yknow what, fuck it, why not overshare on tumblr

so Dark Shar Lore recap, two years ago i was in an abusive situation with someone (i called him c) who was romantically and most likely sexually attracted to me, which i didnt reciprocate (this was before i knew i was aroace and, unfortunately, is how i found out im aro). it was traumatic, to say the least. hes out of my life now and most likely never coming back, thank god.

i decided to write a definition essay on usernames, prompted in large part by the changes discord is making about usernames. while im uncomfortable people i know irl calling me shar, the name shar has a lot of importance to me so the topic of usernames has been on my mind a fair bit. when i get to my conclusion paragraph, i remember something about what happened with c.

something he did to get power over me is refer to me with my irl name. he knew me by shar but would use my irl name to “speak to the real me”, basically implying that under shar i wasnt being myself and that shar is a persona (enough of a persona to warrant being distinguished from my real name). my gut feeling was i disagreed, but i went along with him on that “speaking to the real me” shit.

i try to be the same person online and irl. i think theres a time and place to not be the person you are irl, you can play a character or have a separate online persona and not have it be a bad thing (it can even be a good or releasing thing! notably when you can express part of yourself online that you cant irl) though theres times where it can also be very toxic and unhealthy. but i want to be authentic and im not the type of person to play a persona for my online identity. what c said to me was harmful because he was telling me, whether he meant the positive or negative connotation of this, that the person i was under the name shar wasn’t actually me, that i’m not who i say i am.

c got back into my mind because the point of my essay is that usernames can be important and empowering to people, and that a name used online can hold genuine significance as a part of someone’s identity. makes sense that a moment where i was told that my identity and my username were separate beings would come into my mind, being that what he told me about myself is the antithesis of what i wrote about. and, with both the extra thoughts in my mind about usernames from my writing and the gift of hindsight, i had a thought.

was c projecting onto me that he doesnt act as himself under his username? part of the reason for his technique was an attempt to control me and my self image but genuinely, was the thing he told me a projection? and if so, i wonder if that projection falls under the more toxic side of the aforementioned spectrum, considering the context behind everything that happened was abuse. its a question ill never have a true answer to beyond my own theories, but… its an interesting possibility.

[nepcoinz]

ROMANCE DENIER FLAG

[pt: ROMANCE DENIER FLAG]

[ID: flag 1 ID: an image of a flag made up of the colours dark green, white, black, and grey. the white encompasses more of the flag than the other colours. the flag has a thin red "X" (cross) ontop of it. flag 2 ID: an image of a flag made up of the colours dark green, white, black, and grey. the white encompasses more of the flag than the other colours. end ID]

please read pinned post before interacting !!

the romance denier flag, can also be called the antithesis of romance attraction flag is an exclusively aro/arospec term related to and the opposite of this post where one literally cannot get anyone to have a romantic relationship with them, however much they try. it is against there power to even get anyone to try have a romantic relationship with them. igot OP's permission to make this.

op is @abcwordsurge (ask to be removed !!)

(https://www.tumblr.com/abcwordsurge/750959547026407425/im-not-so-much-sex-repulsed-as-i-am-a-sex-denier)

[pt: the romance denier flag, can also be called the antithesis of romance attraction flag is an exclusively aro/arospec term related to and the opposite of this post(link) where one literally cannot get anyone to have a romantic relationship with them, however much they try. it is against there power to even get anyone to try have a romantic relationship with them. igot OP's permission to make this.]

ace version

(https://www.tumblr.com/nepcoinz/751374449011572736/sex-denier-flag)

[pt: ace version(link)]

pinned post

(https://www.tumblr.com/nepcoinz/750797364194885632/id-a-thin-very-light-blue-divider-end-id-dni)

[pt: pinned post(link)]

[yammering-salad]

Character Masterpost!

I’ll have to edit this as I go along but in any case here are my characters! They all have specific tags as well that will be listed in well, the tags! I’ll get better screenshots at some point too dw (either that or I’m just gonna straight-up draw them). Putting these guys under the cut cuz i have a TON of characters and nobody wants to scroll through all that lmao

The Commanders

Commander Lysander Ciaran

He/they | Unlabeled Gender/Sexuality | 12 | 5′3″ | Willbender/Dragonhunter

Despite his small stature, Lysander packs one hell of a punch, both in personality and combat skills. He’s been fighting his whole life, even before he was truly “born” and he doesn’t really know anything else. Unlike the other Commanders they’re always off doing something. The mere idea of sitting around and doing nothing makes them antsy. Despite this, they have a love for luxury and will use their charm and flirtatious ways to get out of anything. Their former allegiance to the Order of Whispers helped with that.

Originally, he dated Trahearne, and the two were inseparable until well, you know. Trahearne asked Lysander to be the one to kill him, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Their fellow Commander Xeta took up the mantle instead. Since then it’s taken a while for him to readjust to well, everything. He wielded Broken Caladbolg around like a glorified club before Sol reforged the sword for him. 

Overall, his story follows the canon Sylvari story (green knight, malyck) the closest. He’s also fiercely protective of Taimi.

Toyhouse

Commander Xeta Lionheart

They/she | Nonbinary | Lesbian | 25-35 | 6′3″ | Virtuoso/Chronomancer

Xeta has grown up actively defying expectations. They became a mesmer after witnessing a human traveling performer as a cub. Later on, they left their warband to join the Priory, finding field research and planning from afar to be far more up their alley. 

Later on she befriended Lysander and Aralynn, the three of them becoming Commanders of the Pact and Trahearne’s closest confidants. Xeta didn’t exactly want to be in a position of power again, but her tactician skills she learned in Ash Legion and unorthodox combat abilities made her an integral part of the team. 

They have a not-so-secret love of Quaggans, and she was gifted a backpack as a gag gift from Trahearne. After his death she never takes it off.

Toyhouse

Commander Aralynn Song

She/her | Trans woman | Aro/ace | 20-30 | 3′ | Soulbeast/Untamed

Aralynn never got along with her peers. From the get-go she was ostracized for being “less intelligent” than other Asura her age. In truth, her intellect was better suited for more practical purposes such as survival skills and outdoorsmanship. At the first chance she got, she dropped out of the College of Dynamics and migrated east to Caledon Forest. 

She had heard things about the Sylvari, and where her peers saw creatures to study, she saw a culture to learn everything about. In Caledon she befriended many people and finally felt at home. The Sylvari’s carefree and genuine nature opened her mind to a lot of things, including her own identity. She changed her name to something more befitting of a Caledon local and never looked back. Later on she joined the Order of Whispers after getting caught up in some Asuran affairs with Zojja, using the Order has her escape route after being immediately reminded of why she hated Metrica and Rata Sum. There, she met Lysander and the two became fast friends. The rest is history.

Out of the three, she has the strongest connection with Aurene. She has some self-worth issues, but is incredibly considerate of other people. While Xeta is a fantastic tactician, Aralynn is always the first to think outside the box.

Toyhouse

The Helping Hands

(Basically extra Dragon’s Watch homies)

Sol Shungite

He/him | Male | Unlabeled | 10-20 | 6′3″ | Holosmith/Mechanist

Sol is the antithesis of a lot of things. Sylvari ideology being one of them, a typical Priory Magister being the other. He joined the Nightmare Court relatively young, initially agreeing with the view that the Pale Tree’s influence was suffocating. While in the Court, he mostly used it as an excuse to do what he wanted, conducting small-scale experiments. He befriended a timid revenant named Naoise, being the only one who was nice to him. Later on, the two broke out, Sol freed the White Stag he was credited with capturing, and killed Gavin, his recruiter. Naoise and Sol went their separate ways, but always had a feeling they’d run into each other again.

The Grove rejected his return, Caithe especially. Bitter, Sol left and joined the Priory, connecting with Sieran. She seemed to be the only Sylvari who never looked at him like he was some evil time-bomb, and she brought out the best in him. This was short-lived, however, as her death caused him to sink back into his ways of pessimism and apathy. He continued to be an asset to the Priory, albeit a very very volatile one. The forming of the Pact led him to the rest of Dragon’s Watch, and he slowly became a strange addition to the group.

He much prefers machinery to nature, and is often seen creating some new crazy addition to his armor. He runs on spite, especially when Caithe is involved, and often does petty things to “get back” at her. He’s quick to anger, frustrating to be around, but nevertheless a devout member of Dragon’s Watch.

Toyhouse

Rashaad Abara

He/him | Male | Pansexual | 18-28 | 6′ | Bladesworn

A noble hailing from Divinity’s Reach with a mix of Elonian and Canthan heritage. His ancestors fled Palawa Joko’s oppressive nature, finally settling in Kryta. The Abara family has a great reputation among the city, and Rashaad always felt like he had some predetermined role to fulfil. When his older sister Ikram joined the Seraph, however, his view of the world began to shake. Her subsequent “death” sent a shockwave of grief through the family, but Rashaad was determined to find out what happened to her. 

He ventured out into Kryta with nothing but a greatsword and his noble clothes. He wasn’t amazing with his sword but it came naturally enough. Eventually he did find his sister, alive, and decided to continue on in his escapades of adventure. He joined the Order of Whispers, befriended a rather intimidating charr woman, fell in love, and Oh Gods he’s married to a charr and he didn’t even tell his parents--

He’s a very sweet and sensitive guy, but his ability to manipulate and his battle prowess make him a force to be reckoned with. He has a strong sense of justice and a desire to fight for the greater good, but he can also get overwhelmed very quickly. 

(Rashaad primarily exists in my bf’s whole commander au dealio but he’s also here so meh)

Diviner Axel

Any Pronouns | Genderqueer | Bisexual | 14-24 | 4′ | Mirage

Axel joined Dragon’s Watch much later than the rest, having gone on his own personal journey for a while. After becoming fascinated with divination, they centered their whole thesis on a theory that there was an actual science behind it. The College of Synergetics was less than forthcoming, but Axel was not deterred. 

They stowed away on a ship to Elona, learning the ways of the Mirage and becoming even more fascinated with sand and divination. Unfortunately her personality makes her a bit hard to get along with. She’s full of herself (calling herself a diviner for instance), loud, has no sense of boundaries, and loves pulling pranks. Nevertheless, xyr tenacity caught the eye of Lysander, who was more than happy to let xem onto the team. The rest of Dragon’s Watch isn’t so sure, though. Deep down Axel is truly grateful for Lysander believing in it, but so far he’s the only one it’s opened up to. Her strange personality is mostly a deflection for the scrutiny she faces.

After tampering with strange magics, Axel’s eyes are an oppressive shade of orange, with swirly shapes embedded into the iris. Their hands glow like fire and are hot to the touch.

Toyhouse

The Cinder Warband

Aidoneus Cinderglow

He/him | Male | Straight, Ace | 48-58 | 6′ | Reaper/Scourge

A former member of the Flame Legion, it took Aidoneus a long time to defect. Mostly because it was all he had known. However, he was unsatisfied with his role, and defected to Blood Legion with mixed success. He wasn’t killed, thank the Khan-Ur, but he was reduced to the lowest of the low in charr society. He spent years trying to prove himself in The Bane with no success. Eventually, he left the Legions altogether. 

He formed the Cinder warband, an unofficial group that takes in people from all walks of life who’ve fallen on hard times. Mostly those who deal in death such as necromancers and revenants, but anyone is welcome to the group. The band occasionally crosses paths with the Pact, and is always willing to lend a helping hand if need be.

He’s scarily humble and down to earth, even though he’s super gruff about it. While he’s nice enough, he’s far from a pushover and is an absolute terror in a fight.

Khumbo Cinderglory

She/her | Female | Straight | 29-39 | 8′6″ | Harbinger

Tbh I don’t have much information about her yet. She’s a Norn and a member of the Cinder warband, though! Kind of Bayonetta inspired

Dogwood Cinderstorm

He/they | Trans man | Gay | 15 | 5′10″| Renegade

Dogwood is a super no-nonsense and to-the-point sylvari. Even down to his name. He spends most of his time traveling Tyria alone, taking on bigger and bigger bounties. They usually fight monsters but aren’t opposed to taking out enemy factions either. He’s a sword for hire, and he’s damn good at it.

He channels the spirits of monsters he’s slain, taking on a wild, more animalistic style of fighting. Despite his strange methods he’s incredibly efficient, and pretty well-off as well. He joined the ‘band as a way to get more leads and information for new hunts, and also having some backup is nice. He’s not super used to the company yet, though.

Others of Note

Suibhne Amaryllis

He/they | Genderfluid | Pansexual | 18 | 5′11″ | Catalyst/Tempest

Suibhne owned a popular Sylvari-owned and operated club and inn in Lion’s Arch. The whole business was super chill and well-known for its gossip. Unfortunately, the building was destroyed during Scarlet’s Invasion, causing Suibhne to go on a pilgrimage to rebuild his business. Now that Lion’s Arch has been rebuilt, he’s merely traveling for fun with Canach.

They’re incredibly theatrical and dramatic, rarely taking anything seriously. He’s loud, opulent, and loose-lipped as hell (made even worse considering he has Whispers connections). Although, he’s very protective of anyone he cares about, and won’t hesitate to pull out his giant hammer to prove that theory. He’ll gladly beat your ass, all with a smile, of course. 

Coriander Wolfsbane

She/it | Demigirl | Pansexual | 15 | 5′6″ | Berserker

I haven’t made her yet woops. It’s a chill goth Warden living in Caledon, she’s a good friend of Dogwood and often keeps him in check, making sure he comes and visits once in a while. Mostly to make sure he’s not dead. 

Ikram Abara

She/her | Female | Straight | 24-34 | 5′7″ | Weaver

Ikram somewhat abandoned her noble way of life, finding fighting centaurs far more fulfilling. Her parents were hesitant at first, but eventually she convinced them to let her join the Seraph. Shorty after moving up in the ranks she was kidnapped, thought to be dead, and held prisoner in a bandit camp for the better part of two years. That was until her younger brother Rashaad found her.

She left the Seraph, joining the Vigil instead. She hoped her brother would follow suit so she could keep a better eye on him but he had other plans. While stationed in Elona during the events of Path of Fire she learned the ways of the Weaver, and combined her swordsmanship and newfound elementalist abilities.

She’s very serious, way more than she used to be. Being locked up in a camp...changed her and left her jaded and bitter. Rashaad’s tried to slowly coax her back into the person she used to be, but eventually he’ll have to realize that he’ll never truly have the old Ikram back. 

That’s mostly everyone! I have a couple other characters but I’m gonna flesh ‘em out a bit more before I put them on here hehe

[oflgtfol]

someone : i dont want carol/daryl to be canon in twd bc im aromantic and it means a lot to me to see a strong m/f friendship without romance

literally 20 ppl in the notes writing whole ass fucking paragraphs: uhm actually honey theyre so clearly in a romantic relationship and your aromantic experience makes no sense. be quiet

[therealvinelle]

You've said before that you think Meyer is a good writer. I'm neutral to her myself but you're the first person in the fandom to say that that I've seen and I was wondering what your reasons were.

Sure thing.

First of, some referential links. In this post I explain why I like Meyer’s worldbuilding, and in this one I explain (in the last reblog - you can get away with skipping the previous posts) why I think her character creation is well done, and in this one I talk about why I like Twilight in the first place, though that post got a bit off-topic.

So, let me first do the disclaimer that I do not think Meyer is perfect.

Her greatest flaw, I’d say, is that what she intends to write isn’t always what ends up on page. Edward is for instance supposed to be the ideal man, chivalrous and the very antithesis of toxic masculinity. His relationship with Bella is supposed to be a love story on part with all the classics. Jacob, too, is intended as a dreamboat. Alice is the ideal BFF, Rosalie is the bitchy Regina George, Esme is the ultimate mother, and all the Cullen relationships are wonderfully happy. Aro is supposed to be a sinister villain and the Volturi are all corrupt.

Now, all of the above is how Bella perceives things, and I’m all for unreliable narrators. All narrators are, to a point, unreliable, and inferring things from fiction is one of my favorite things to do (as you can probably tell if you’ve been following this blog). However, so far as I can tell Meyer didn’t intend for Bella to have no clue what’s going on at any given time.

As it happens, I also think this is one of her strengths. This woman is living on a different planet, her mind is on a level I can’t follow at all, only spectate in silent wonder. What I’m saying is, no author in their right mind would write Twilight. No one would write Edward as delightfully unhinged as he is, for starters, not without toning him down significantly (just look at how the movies toned him down). To say nothing of how Bella would be a much more functional person, and in turn much less interesting. Aro would be an actual villain, and Twilight as a whole would not be so overwhelmingly bleak.

Her strengths come through in that she’s consistent about it, and while she interprets things differently than I do, she is still the creator of this bizarre universe and one who knows it intimately well. Does she think Edward is great, yes. Did she also write Midnight Sun without pulling any punches, also yes.

I’d put it this way, the flaw of hers that I’m trying to get at is that she creates this rich and horrifying universe and gets full credit from me for that, but she views it through rose-tinted glasses. Which in turn leads to some interesting writing and plotting decisions.

She has one other significant flaw that comes to mind. She’s not good at cutting things.

This goes for both scenes and plotlines. There’s a lot of filler in these books, from Bella making enchiladas in Twilight, to New Moon taking far too long in Jake’s garage and with Bella’s depression before things start happening again, to Breaking Dawn being 2/3rds filler (the wedding, honeymoon, and vampire euphoria especially come to mind.) There’s a lot of stuff in these books that weren’t necessary to the plot. The Host suffer from this as well.

To say nothing of the bigger things she should have cut, like Jake’s involvement in Breaking Dawn. He’d played out his part, Bella chose to become everything he hated, we were done. The book had more than enough story with Renesmée and the Volturi happening, and Jake’s involvement only served to lower the book’s overall quality. And introduce a pedophilic storyline, which, Meyer no.

Then there are decisions she made where I would have chosen differently, such as Bella returning to Forks at the end of New Moon.

However, this all being said, I am a very difficult person to please. Meyer was never going to tick all my boxes, and while I have points of contention with her, my overall impression is a positive one.

(Just to stress how difficult I am to please: I read Good Omens a few days ago. I liked it very much, but it wasn’t perfect. Shadwell, Madame Tracy, Newt Pulcifer and the Them could all have been cut, for starters.

I’m too critical of everything, and it’s not just Meyer that I think should have cut significant parts of their respective stories and made them into something fundamentally different.)

So, now that I’ve torn her apart, what do I like about her? What, for that matter, do I think constitutes a good writer?

To list a few things I like about her as a writer:

She’s good at writing Her prose is very good, her characters are interesting and engaging people, she’s very good at establishing a scene or a character, and she’s evocative. Her prose never bores me, and it makes me feel things.

She has good ideas Self-explanatory,  really. Her lore is extremely original, her characters are interesting, and she comes up with great backstories and worldbuilding. The Southern Wars, for instance, brilliant.

She’s consistent She’s described this herself - she doesn’t get to decide what her characters do, sometimes they do things she very much does not want them to do and she’s quite put out about it. And that, I think, is the key to why her characterization is so consistent - she doesn’t do that dreaded thing where the author forces a character to do what they must to force the plot along, like cramming a square through a triangular hole, she just lets her characters decide for themselves. As her characters are already delightful people, this works out beautifully (Edward conspiring with Jacob that they should forcibly abort Bella’s baby so Jake can then impregnate her comes to mind. Or Aro, whom she views as a powerhungry maniac, showing up at the battleground and being absolutely devastated about that fact.) as they never do anything they wouldn’t do, and their characterization does not change from one book to another. (Counterexample: look at how Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker turns towards the light when we’re closing in on the end of the movie. It’s unconvincing, to say the least, and runs contrary to what has previously been established about him. The movie does not bother to explain why this happens now, what it is that’s so special about one chat with Han and a duel with Rey that makes him turn his life around, nor why it couldn’t have happened sooner. He is redeemed because the trilogy is nearly over, not because it made sense for his character.)

Her plotting is generally good Her plots make sense, I’m invested in them, and they’re reasonably adapted to her characters’ power levels (The clusterfuck that was the Department of Mysteries showdown in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an example of the antithesis of that).

Of these virtues, I’d place the most emphasis on Meyer’s writing and character creation.

As for what makes a good writer…

It’s difficult for me to pin down.

It’s chiefly whether I think their writing is good, and that means prose, characters, and plot. As Meyer fulfills all of these three, that puts her in my “good writer” box. She’s not perfect, but she has earned her place as a published author.

More, I enjoy reading her books and care about the story and characters she creates. This is a matter of personal preference, but I’m down for what she’s putting out. It would be disingenuous for me to do that and then say “... but of course, she’s a terrible writer”, in part because I feel that’s become a bit of a disclaimer when it comes to Meyer. It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Stephenie Meyer is a bad writer, everyone knows that, if you think otherwise you have bad taste. She has written things, I’ve enjoyed them all, and I’m giving her full credit for that.