#but is condemning her son when she will do the SAME thing for her own purposes

[waldensblog]

Season 1 Baghra: Going after the stag to increase Alina’s power is GREEDY, Aleksander. To make sure you don’t find it, I will attempt to murder the tracker you hired. 

Season 2 trailer Baghra: I will help you go after the rest of the amplifiers, Alina. It’s totally not greedy when I do this. I am a good person, you see. 

[bigfan-fanfic]

My Blooming Rose (Enchantress' Child!Reader x Ben Florian)

@iliumheightnights Hi friend! May I please request a little story? I'd love to read a story about Ben Florian dating a son of the enchantress reader. Reader still is learning magic and Ben helps him when he can and encourages him? All the fluff please?

In some respects, no one would necessarily blame your boyfriend's father for wanting to imprison your mother on the Isle of the Lost.

She did, after all, enchant a young, albeit spoiled, prince and condemn him (an eleven-year-old, mind you) to ten years of suffering and self-loathing in a body not his own.

But no. King Adam and his Queen would never have met if not for the Enchantress.

Besides, they learned well from the example of Queen Leah and King Stefan - don't piss off the magical entity in close proximity.

And so the Enchantress lived within Auradon, and you, her child, were born.

You're not sure you quite approve of the whole Isle of the Lost thing - your mother's punishments tended to get to people before they became irredeemable, so the idea of endless incarceration seems harsh, even by her standards.

But all the same, you are invited to Auradon Prep, mainly to study with the Fairy Godmother to hone your talents in magic. And since you aren't expected to enter a royal line, you don't even have to do some of the more inane Auradon courses.

But who would have thought that without any magic at all, you'd have ensorcelled the heart of Prince Ben.

Ben is just a spot of sunshine in your world, he's so affectionate and lovely.

And supportive!

He's figured out the loophole in the rule that he can't spend all his free time with you by organizing "study dates" in addition to normal dates.

But since magical homework and study is pretty involved, that just means he hangs around in your dorm with you more often than not.

Not that either of you mind.

Except this can sometimes lead to minor mishaps.

You're practicing a spell in the mirror, meant to help disguise someone by changing their appearance.

Focusing on your hair, trying to lengthen it just a little. Just a small test.

But then Ben leaps up to kiss you on the cheek and you wave the training wand just a little haphazardly-

And Ben gets a face-full of your magic.

"Oh my gosh, Ben! Are you okay?"

"Yup!" Ben groans from the floor. "Nothing broken. I think."

He hops back up to his feet, and you gasp.

Your boyfriend's smooth jaw has sprouted patchy growths of hair that are still thickening until they make a rather nice beard and mustache. "Ben... I..."

Ben sees himself in the mirror and grins. "Oh, this is nice!"

"It was an accident."

"If even your accidents are this great, you're gonna be a better wizard than Merlin!" Ben pats your shoulder before stroking his new beard. "It's not even scratchy!"

You blush. "You look really good with a beard."

"Do I look kingly?" Ben asks eagerly, striking a pose.

"You do, but let's try and find a counterspell quickly. Accidental magic tends to corrupt pretty fast. You might end up with the hair changing colors like a chameleon or something."

"That actually sounds kinda-"

"And then I wouldn't be able to see where to kiss you."

Ben instantly gets serious. "Let's hit the books."

"But uh... when you do reverse the spell... Maybe try it on purpose? I wanna see what kissing with a beard is like."

You grin. "Oh really? Why?"

"Cause when you're my Royal Consort, I'll probably grow out a beard and kiss you all the time, so... I wanna see what I'm working toward."

You laugh and then squeeze his hand. "In that case, let's get this thing reversed as soon as we can."

"Love you. My blooming rose."

"Love you. My noble king."

[ipiutiminelle-ec]

Things I loved about Epic the Musical’s Thunder Saga

The siren being so annoyed at Odysseus when he asks questions. The way her tone changes when she answers gave me whiplash and I loved it.

The way Odysseus’ crew sings “he’s a different beast now” at the same time as he says “kill them all.”

How Odysseus doesn’t react to Eurylochus’s confession (and probably already knew) but instead asks him to “light up six torches” and thus condemning them to death. In a way he’s saying he forgives(?)/understands why Eurylochus did it and is begging him to do the same.

Scylla being toxic af but also kinda right.

Mutiny repeating the chorus from Luck Runs Out

Eurylochus and Odysseus’ positions from Keep Your Friends Close being reversed in Mutiny and all the parallels.

Eurylochus calling Odysseus “Ody” after having rebelled bc they’re still brothers.

Eurylochus singing “I’m just a man”

Zeus’s voice

Him getting distracted by his own metaphor of a “damsel in distress”

The lines “enlighten me, King of Ithaca” and “You, or your crew”

“I have to see her” “but we’ll die” “I know”

The nice, happy, instrumentals after the death of the entire crew.

Listening to the first songs and seeing all the things that led to this

(“I would trade the world to see my son and wife”)

[wishesofeternity]

how interesting that when Rhaenyra looks at a maimed boy whose eye was gouged out by her own son and says "he must be sharply questioned" (aka tortured) for repeating things about her that she knows are 100% true, and when Alicent is horrified that an insult to Rhaenyra (which is, again, 100% true) is considered more important than her son literally being maimed and whose broken skin is currently being stitched up as they speak, Viserys chooses to support Rhaenyra. He walks up to his bleeding brutalized son and orders him to tell him where he heard such lies. He offers him no comfort or reassurance as a father, just an order. "Your King demands an answer."

(and frankly, he expected them to say Alicent. Look at the way he looked at her. He was almost expectant. He wanted her to be condemned)

and both of them prove completely unwilling to obey him. they look at this piece of deadbeat shit right in the eye and say: "We know, Father. Everyone knows. Just look at them."

And now that the accusation has turned back to Rhaenyra, does Viserys choose to listen and do something about it? does he? no, lol.

Instead he declares: "This terrible infighting must cease. We are family." How convenient. how fucking convenient. when Rhaenyra wanted justice (aka the further torture of a maimed kid for telling the truth) Viserys is fully willing to indulge her. He wasn't Aemond's family when he questioned him: he said it himself, tell me by the order of your King. But when his children refuse to listen to him, when the issue turns back to Rhaenyra? We're all family, let's reconcile and put this behind us :)

and that is when Alicent asks Viserys for justice of her own.

just look at Alicent's tone. Rhaenyra was the one who flat-out demanded that Aemond be questioned. Alicent isn't demanding anything, she is pleading. You think she cares about taking Luke's eye? (just minutes later, it's Rhaenyra she goes after. and when Larys asks her flat out if she wants him to do the deed for her, she tells him that it won't be necessary). Look at what Alicent says after this: "He is your son, Viserys. Your blood." This fucking asshole has raped her and abused her, and she is begging him to at least care about his children with her. And he does not.

He displays, for the whole court to see, that he does not give a fuck about his wife and their children. His young son has been horrifically maimed, but shielding and coddling his adult daughter from completely justified "accusations" is what he is most concerned about.

"This matter is finished," Viserys says. And right after? "Anyone whose tongue dares question the birth of Princess Rhaenyra's sons should have it removed." So essentially: the matter is over, everyone should make goodwill, but his precious daughter is always right and will always be his first priority. partly to soothe his own guilt over murdering his previous wife, and partly because Rhaenyra is a Targaryen which, to him, will always make her more worthy than Alicent.

and so it is his wife and other children - including the one who is bleeding in the same damn room - who pay the price for that

And thus, all of Alicent's well-founded fears about the life of her children and herself if Rhaenyra takes the throne are completely solidified. She and Rhaenyra do not share equal culpability for this conflict in the show, because Rhaenyra begins by fighting for power and Alicent begins by fighting for survival. The blame is fundamentally unequal.

you CANNOT tell me that Alicent was unjustified in how she reacted. you CANNOT tell me that she wasn't 100% right in grabbing that knife and going right to Rhaenyra (to rhaenyra! not to luke), demanding justice.

"and now you take my son's eye, and to even that you feel entitled" She is right. She is absolutely right. (She has no idea how right she is, actually, because that entitlement will lead directly to Rhaenyra's downfall someday)

Alicent Hightower finally snapped. GOOD FOR HER.

[fvckinaphrodite]

You know those fics where Catelyn Tully Stark is depicted as this evil bitch who disrespect the North, its people, its culture, its Gods? That the Northmen hate her because she's one of the southern ladies throughout centuries that become the Lady of Winterfell and believe in the Faith of the Seven? That she somehow always insists for her children to stay away from their direwolves till the end? Where, I ask? Where tf those craps ever written in canon?! WHERE?!

Because I tell you I'm reading A Storm of Swords right now, and I find nothing of those shits. She's always courteous to the Northmen, even those who are huge-rawdy-closer to wildling type and don't give a shit about propriety like Greatjon Umber. She doesn't look down on Maege Mormont who fights just as good as men like those crap fics suggest. When Robb comes back to Riverrun from his campaign in Westerlands and they learn about what she's done, Maege sympathizes with Cat and tells her that she would've done the same if it were her daughters that's been taken. The Greatjon lifts her in the air and tells her some optimistic motivational words about how Robb gonna beat Jaime again. What else, she's horrified when Robb tells her that Grey Wind is not allowed inside the keep because he doesn't like Jeyne Westerling's uncle. She REMINDS Robb that Grey Wind is part of him, and BELIEVES that the Old Gods has sent the direwolves for her children to be their protectors. A chill literally "went through her" when she believes that Jeyne's uncle is not good for her son, all because Grey Wind also doesn't trust him (or as Robb says, "doesn't like the smell of him). She has to beg Robb to send Jeyne's uncle away.

All I'm saying is that, I won't give any Catelyn haters a minute of my life if I can help it. Just say you are a misogynist and be done with it. The fandom really hates her all because she refuses to mother a child that is not her responsiblity, that she owes nothing of. They hate her because she's just trying to save her remaining children--two little girls whom in the eyes of her eldest son worth next to nothing. Robb refuses to save his sisters, and when his mother takes matter in her own hands, they condemn her, as if they wouldn't have done the same thing in her position. It's so easy to see her as the obstacle to Robb's campaign, yet people tend to forget that any decent parent would do the exact same thing. Especially when ASOIAF universe is filled with murdered children.

[pinkwhalepjs]

I LOVE that the collapse of several character relationships this episode comes down to class at the heart of things. The three who were born small folk have infinitely less agency in their own lives. They rise and fall at the whims of the powerful people they serve.

Amangeaux may see Karna as a daughter figure but as she begs her to let her go Karna can clearly see that her biological son is infinitely more important to Amangeaux than Karna could ever be. Amangeaux doesn’t want to play at being queen anymore and it is Karna who must suffer for it. She then attaches herself to Senator Ariana Gemelli and then again to Delissandro. She is dependent on them and lives ultimately at their whim. She may even love Deli but she must know that their relationship can never truly be one of equals. It is part of the tragedy of her character that she seems to always to some extent yearn for those she serves, admiring and caring for them in a way that is unlikely to be returned in full. And even more so that she seems an unwilling servant of the Hungry One who takes of her flesh in return for power and continued life. Unfortunately a good parallel for her relationships to her fellow mortals.

And this is what breaks apart Collin and Deli too. Collin was born to live in fear of what high born can do to those who cross them. He poignantly rebukes Deli that he does not doubt he will be a great leader of the Meatlands, but he is no leader Collin would swear to. He is a cruel and uncaring lord like the rest. He cares not for the innocent he condemns to death on his road to glory. Collin returns to the home of the man he killed because this life matters to him and he knows it does not to Delissandro even though he took it for his sake. Collin grows sick of being an instrument in the same sort of uncaring violence that killed his own family. He leaves behind the blades he swore in service to Delissandro. His anger is much quieter than Deli’s blusterous rage. It feels more directed at himself than at Deli. How could he have deluded himself into seeing this man as a friend and equal all these years? A man who doesn’t even know who he is after all those years by his side.

Raphaniel is the most scattered and broken because he began to think of himself as no longer a member of the small folk. But he forgot that he lives and dies at the mercy of his superiors still and that which is given him can just as easily if not far more easily be taken away. To gain power takes a lifetime but to lose it takes an instant. He scrambles again and again until it destroys his mind and body to gain some foothold of power or at least some sense that he serves some higher purpose but is met at every turn with empty sound. He was born cursed with visions of something terrible beyond but finds perhaps more horrible than the sense that there is something special wrong with him alone is the growing sense in his old age that his life and acts may in the end be meaningless entirely and when he dies he will leave behind just as little mark as any other poor born radish.

[bonefall]

May i ask why do you think that Brambleclaw wasn't a good father? not saying i disagree if that is what you think, but why do you? just wondering because i like what you say

Again I hope to have time sometime soon to make a big thing like I did with Breeze, but what gets me about Bramble is that incredibly self-concerned. Like, regularly unable to see past his own feelings to the point where he can't consider his effect on other people.

And Po3 in particular is ALSO trying to frame him like the perfect, most amazing dad in the world. It's for the dramatic irony of the reveal, and to make it EXTRA sad that he's going to abandon his children when he finds out they're adopted... but in the process, they just ignore anything crummy he does. Like he can Do No Wrong.

Particular instances I plan to get into;

When he's angry or disappointed, he's NASTY. He isn't this "super supportive papa" that the Three keep saying he is; he's most supportive when they're making him proud.

He fails to notice that Lionpaw's behavior is getting increasingly violent as a result of his mentor physically abusing him. Is that "Great Dad" material? To not notice your son is struggling?

We eventually learn that Ashfur approached him after one of these savage beatings to butter up to Brambleclaw, insisting that this sort of physical abuse is neccesary because it will give him a strong son.

Stress that again; Ashfur appealed to Brambleclaw's ego so he could keep beating his teenage child. In what world is that "Great Dad" material??

When Hollypaw then tries to tell her dad about how uncomfortable seeing her brother being savaged made her, Bramble tells her... ohh she's So smart, and So so responsible, and he relies on her to keep her brothers in line, and what Ashfur is doing is neccesary.

In any other book series, this would have been a MASSIVE condemnation of Brambleclaw. To be manipulated into allowing his son to get beat, and then turning around to tell his daughter he trusts her to understand it because she's so mature.

But because the Erins like Bramble so very much, it's not acknowledged. Then Ashfur tries to murder these kids later.

And like... again, they want him to be seen as so wonderful and amazing so that it's extra painful when he disowns these kids, but AGAIN, Brambleclaw is supposed to be this incredibly loving, unconditionally loyal, amazingly responsible father...

So how exactly is THAT consistent with abandoning his kids during the most upsetting time of their lives?

Does a wonderful father get consumed by his own pain and humiliation and cut off his kids, one of whom is in the middle of a breakdown? Does he take out his divorce on the children? Is being a "wonderful father" seeing the son you let get abused looking at you, DESPERATELY missing you as his dad, and just turning away?

Or, maybe, being a parent is about being mature. Putting aside your own personal anger or pain or ego to be there for your kids. Something like that???

And yet, he continues to act like that for an entire year. Not improving or self-reflecting at ALL the entire time. When it's miraculously revealed that Hollyleaf isn't DEAD, he's STILL wallowing. The kid he raised came back from the dead but FUCK that, who cares, "what about MY feelings?? Why is no one thinking about whats really important. Meeee."

(Mind you, he was willing to help this same person get away with murder in the last arc. But back then, she was his daughter. Now he doesn't care.)

Eventually SQUIRRELFLIGHT has to tell him that he shouldn't throw away his entire family because he's mad at her. Someone ELSE had to shout it down his thick skull that his bitterness is consuming him and he's ruining his life. Even after a year of punishment, she holds his hand like a big baby and guides him away from his OWN destructive behaviors.

But this isn't about Squilf. This is about Brambleclaw.

He enabled his son's child abuse. The abuser went on to attempt murder of his victim. He IMMEDIATELY turned on the kids he raised when he found out they were secretly adopted, because he was angry at his ex-wife. He only changed because the EX-WIFE told him to cut it out.

That's why I think he's not a great dad. I think talk of his Greatly Dadness are narration wank, and when you look closer, you see a FASCINATINGLY flawed character that the Erins hold back out of WEIRD writer favoritism.

[bringbackgoth]

Putting here a note I posted on another pessimistic take regarding the presumed Dem Nominee:

I have been seriously floored by all the pessimism I’ve seen surrounding this extremely predictable and honestly inevitable event. Kamala is a cop, and has participated in unforgivable acts. We should always keep this in mind. With this in mind, she was one of the few Democrats in the Senate that voted against Israel, and, overall as a senator, was very progressive. At times even voting more progressively than Bernie Sanders. As a presidential candidate in 2019 - she proposed more radical federal abortion protections that went beyond Roe v Wade, limiting state abortion laws. As a presidential candidate, she proposed a $10 trillion climate plan. As a senator, she was an original co-sponsor of the non-binding resolution defining the Green New Deal aimed at transitioning the U.S. to 100 percent clean energy within a decade while providing people with job guarantees and “high-quality health care.”(backed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). She also said in 2019 that there was “no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,”. In 2020 Harris said she was “prepared to get rid of the filibuster” (which Biden long opposed) to pass it in the face of GOP opposition to climate action. Harris was an early voice inside the administration advocating for forgiving student debt, even before Biden. Harris’ own plan from her 2019 presidential campaign, which would have offered forgiveness for Pell grant recipients who start businesses, drew criticism from progressives who called it confusing and less ambitious than proposals from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). More recently, Harris was the face of the Biden administration’s decision in 2022 to wipe out all debt owed by hundreds of thousands of students who attended Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit schools that Harris prosecuted as California attorney general. She supports free colleges(including fees) for ALL Americans attending 2-year colleges(and 4 year colleges for middle class students which I'm weirded out by but I'm not going to oppose any 'free college' narratives)

There are a few more things to add, I got all of this from an article on Politco about how the Harris administration might differ from Biden and I encourage you to look into it and check the sources or do your own diligence.

This article is only comparing Harris to Biden which I think is a huge failure and I plan to compare these same points to the Trump administration to really get an idea on what we might be going up against.

Remember that in the USA, in the Presidential Election, we might not be voting for the candidate that conforms perfectly with our own ideology... We are voting for the candidate that we believe we have the best chance of influencing, the candidate that might actually listen to what the American Populace is screaming at them.

That wasn't Joe Biden, clearly, and send a thank you to all of the dems in the senate in congress that pressured him out. Kamala, however, is much more likely to listen to the country, especially when it comes to Netanyahu. She condemned Israel as early as December.

Trump will fast-track the genocide in Gaza. His sons have already spoken out about how ripe Gaza is for premium real-estate.

VOTE

[dragonismo]

SEASON 2 EP.8 SPOILERS AHEAD! Because I just watched the episode and I need to complain.

In season one, Alicent was told Rhaenyra would murder her children to secure her claim to the Iron Throne. Now, Rhaenyra admitted to her she would need to murder her children to secure her claim to the Iron Throne.

A few episodes ago, Rhaenyra claimed she would never condemn a mother to her same sorrow when the cold-blooded murder of Jaehaerys happened. Now, Rhaenyra condemns a mother to her same sorrow because she needs to kill Aegon, despite being assured he is malleable and might be willing to make peace due to his current condition.

A few episodes ago, Rhaenyra sought out Alicent because she was desperate to make peace, desperate to avoid spilling more blood. Alicent had no power to do such a thing. Aegon was mad because the Blacks murder his son, his councilmen listen to her no longer, and the war was raging. Alicent now has the power and is desperate to make peace. Aegon is broken, the council is weak, and Rhaenyra has now grown stronger. Rhaenyra says no.

In season one, Alicent cared about her children. She was willing to take justice into her own hands when Aemond was maimed because he was her son. A son who lost an eye for telling the truth. An injustice that went unpunished (and I'm not talking about putting out Lucerys's eye in retribution, let's be sensible. I'm talking about a lecture at least) by Rhaenyra.

Now, Alicent betrayed her sons. She betrayed him and went to the same woman who allowed such injustice to remain unpunished. An injustice which transformed his son into the ruthless, callous man he is now. An injustice that will mark him for his entire life.

Alicent started a war to protect her people because she cares about her loved ones. Now, more than one person might be beheaded for treason. Her brother, her lover, her sons, and her father could most certainly die because she decided to betray them.

In case you didn't understood:

A mother, who begun a war to protect her children, now allowed them to be killed because she misunderstood.

A queen who sought peace so as not to shed more blood now requires more blood to be shed so she can make peace.

A mother who lost a son claimed she doesn't want to condemn another mother to her same sorrow, but admits to a mother that she must kill her son to secure her own claim.

I might be wrong, but it doesn't makes a lot of sense to me. Was Otto right all this time? Perhaps. I would like to know what the hell happened in the book and if this has an ounce of canon or not because, like—damn.

I really liked Team Green in season one. Aegon is my favorite character because I believe him to be the most complex one, Aemond was easy for me to understand because I could relate to him in some ways, Alicent made sense, and Helaena is adorable. However, I feel like the Greens made no sense in season two. I don't understand what Aemond is doing and Alicent is acting against everything she built in the previous season.

If anyone read the book, please do tell me how much they messed this up because I've seen some of you complaining. ❤️

[whatsaudreythinkingabout]

yellowfang thoughts

the more i think about it, the more i realize how much of a deeply, deeply tragic character yellowfang is. everyone talks about how much she fucking sucks after she becomes a starclan cat, and they’re absolutely correct; she goes from the cool grouchy grandma to a complete fucking hypocrite. and for the longest time i thought this was completely OOC for her, but it recently hit me over the head that it might not be. to say that this change in character was intentional would be giving the erins WAY too much credit knowing who they are, but the more you think about her life and what she went through, the more it makes sense in a twisted sort of way.

starclan forced her into a life she never wanted. she wants to train as a warrior, but she is cursed with the power to feel other cats’ physical pain and badgered into becoming a medicine cat by sagewhisker until she gives in. she falls in love with raggedstar, but as as soon as things go south for her he offers no support. when she dares to go against the destiny that was laid out for her, when she continues to meet with him and becomes pregnant by him, starclan punishes her; not just by having two of her kits die, but by condemning the surviving kit to become a tyrant and a child murderer. he turns against his parents; he kills his father and frames his mother for his own crimes not knowing who she truly is, and yellowfang is forced to watch this all unfold from a distance, unable to tell her son the truth and wondering how things could be different if he knew. and finally, for the good of the clans, she has no other choice but to rip out his eyes and then poison him. her own son, the kit she herself bore, dead at her own claws. a cruel twist of fate for a cat who never wanted any of this, who just wanted her own life.

so by the time she gets to starclan, her experiences have changed her. so many innocent lives were lost and the clans were nearly destroyed because she disobeyed, because she went against their will. she even forgives sagewhisker for being so shitty to her because now she’s convinced that she was the one in the wrong and her mentor, a messenger for starclan, was acting in her best interests all along. she’s become so thoroughly traumatized by everything she went through that she decides she cannot let another cat experience what she experienced. now that she’s a part of starclan, she has the power to prevent something like this from ever happening again. but that’s just the thing. she’s a part of starclan. she’s a part of the system now; the very same system that screwed her over. and the system chews people up and spits them out until they become just another cog in the machine. so instead of going to the root of the problem and questioning the level of influence starclan has over living cats, she not only perpetuates the cycle but becomes an active participant in it.

and because firestar is the son she should have had, she sets her sights on his descendants.

she cannot prevent leafpool from bearing kits, as these kits have their own destiny they must fulfill. so she tells leafpool she must give up her kits, just as she had to. she lies to squirrelflight that she will never have kits of her own and that the three are her only chance to be a mother so that she will take them in. when they arrive in starclan moons later, she and others have the audacity to judge whether they are worthy to join their ranks or should be damned to the dark forest for their actions when they not only did exactly what they were told to do, but did the same things that she did and still went to starclan for (though to give her some credit, she is at least more sympathetic than the other judges and even defends them; perhaps out of guilt?). she allows ashfur into starclan on the basis that he “loved too much,” because her relationship with raggedstar warped her view of what healthy love should look like. she forces the kin of firestar’s kin—namely, jayfeather and dovewing—into destinies they want no part of; they’ll learn to love it, just like she did.

and she thinks she’s doing the right thing. she’s learned the hard way that going against starclan will only lead to more suffering. she’s convinced that she’s helping them, that by acting this way she will be able to prevent them from making the same mistakes that she made. but she cannot see that she is only inflicting on other cats the exact same suffering that starclan inflicted on her.

and if that isn’t tragic, i don’t know what is

[la-pheacienne]

Okay nobody asked for this but I have some thoughts about Anna Karenina. I read that book in highschool and it was a pain in the ass but still a rewarding experience. I remember liking it, but at the end feeling like "okay, an adulterous unstable woman, at the time when it was written I suppose it was really ground-breaking, it doesn't seem that relevant anymore, who would condemn Anna today for wanting to leave her miserable cucumber of a husband for a hot blond horse rider with BDE, relatable, no one would stone her alive for that today, that was then".

Wrong. So Wrong.

It was obvious to me that Anna was unfairly punished by society for being human and the author intended to present it that way. Apparently, it is not so obvious to a big part of the readers. The discourse I saw online is extremely disturbing:

"I felt like she chose her lover over her son? To me she just seemed extremely selfish. She has a loving and rich husband".

"yes, she did ultimately choose her lover over her son. It's terrible that she lived in a culture that forced her to make that choice, but that's the choice she made. Her own happiness was more important to her than her child's. That's not a choice most parents would make".

"She is not even a good mother she hated her daughter when her daughter Anya was sick only thing that was important to her was that Vronsky didn't came home at the time so she started using opium".

"I don’t like her. She made a poor decision that left a child without a mother and a husband without a wife. Any woman who puts their own selfish desires over their family is not to be liked".

"I can not abide women who let themselves be pushed around so much by society and the moralists of the day; I keep wanting to give them a good shaking and say "Stand up for yourself, girl!"

"One of the reason that Anna is so hard to like is that she only defines herself in relation to other people. Wife to a husband. Mother to a son. Lover to Vronsky. Who was Anna? What did she like? What were her passions (besides men)"?

"Vronsky said that while Anna seemed only to have him to care for, he had many friends and many interests and responsibilities. Adults usually do. Anna was an eternal child, wanting gratification, indulgence, entertainment". 

The first observation is of course, how completely off the mark these takes are considering the particular female experience in 19th century Russia. Especially the comments about her not acting like an adult or her being boy-crazy are laughable, as if a woman in that time period could just "stand up for herself" or even define her life and choose her course of action indepentently of men in any fundamental way. As if she would have ever comitted suicide if she could do any of those things. If she could still keep the boyfriend and her son, if she could decide to have a divorce whenever she wanted to, if she could be allowed to simply exist on her own, she wouldn't have committed suicide. A person who commits suicide is a person who doesn't have a way out. She didn't. And it is pretty obviously stated in the text.

The second remark is that in this story we have a (female) character that is so appallingly victimized and crushed, entirely at the mercy of other men, circumstances or even pure chance, while at the same time keeping her personality, desires, and agency intact. This is why this story is so great and this is why these people do not get it. Tolstoy, consciously or not (probably consciously) really outdid himself precisely because he told the story of a victimized woman who was also kind of a bitch, to put it bluntly. She was both. You can't talk about Anna just by focusing on gender inequality. Being a victim of patriarchy is not all Anna was. Anna was selfish yes, she was irrational and obsessive and ruthless and she wanted it all and she wanted it now. It wasn't enough for her just to have an extramarital relationship, tolerated by social norms, allowing her to keep her son and her lover. No, that was not enough, she wanted to live with her lover freely, she wanted to make the rules and she didn't understand why she just couldn't. She felt terribly guilty for abandoning her son, yet she didn't give a single fuck about the kid she had after, the one kid she could actually take care of. Horrendous. Her husband offers divorce, she doesn't want it. He later refuses the divorce, now she wants it. She is not ready to travel and wants to wait, and when her lover tells her they have to wait one day because he wants to see his mother, she suddently wants to leave now. She is strongly advised not to go to the opera because that would bring herself and everyone around her misery, she goes to the opera. She does exactly the opposite of what she was supposed to do at any given circumstance. What she wanted was bigger than what life could give her, and she killed herself.

Now that may be Tolstoy just showcasing what happens to lusty restless adulterous women. Tolstoy, after all, had the misogynistic factory settings of his time. He was also a genius. I don't believe there is anything about this thrilling, vibrant, catastrophic portrait of a woman that came by chance. The inequality, the unfairness of it all is so palpable everywhere in the book, her absolute lack of freedom constrasting with the freedom of her husband lover and brother. All of these men can do whatever they want, they can fuck, cheat, dominate, determine their life and other's without any criticism or consequences whatsoever, and she can't even leave the house without it being a major scandal. She doesn't control anything in her life, she is completely ostracized. She is considered an actual criminal, a pariah, for having human desires.

And yet, despite all that, she has the audacity to want for herself. In her ultimate victimhood, seemingly at the loss of all agency she still does not let others define her inner world one bit. She absolutely defines her life, she makes autonomous decisions, she even defines her own demise by suicide. She chose this, she could have chosen differently, but she didn't want to. The social setting was horrible for women, but if she was slightly more reasonable she could have had a better outcome. She didn't want that. Crazy right?

And that's why modern readers cannot get this book. We are used to media that convey a "message", ready to consume on a plate with a pink ribbon. We are used to passively watching women reacting to horrors imposed on them, and feeling sorry for them. We are used to a Handmaid's tale type of social discourse. We are used to dystopias. We are used to good guy - bad guy dichotomies. We empathize with female characters getting killed, tortured, physically and sexually abused, because they are the victims. But a woman who dares to leave her kid and go away with her lover? Abhorrent. Inconceivable. It is so extremely difficult to empathize with a female character that is just palpably human, it is confusing, she is not victimized enough to deserve empathy from the modern audience. A victim is a symbol, it is an abstraction. Give a victim a mind of her own and human desires, and she is suddenly a whore.

Tolstoy in all his moralizing puritanical 19th century glory, gave us an actually "complex" (as much as I have come to hate the word) female character, and by "complex female character" I mean a fictional woman that maintains her spiritual autonomy while seemingly being entirely determined by other people or circumstances. I cannot say the same for the vast majority of "strong female character" models of contemporary media.

[andreadesantis3806]

Daemon trying to help, to do his wife good, just the way he tried for his brother the King. But the tragedy is that all those are in moments when something horrible has happened, some backlash to his own and others, and the 'help' he does comes out with parts of his vengeful impulse and makes things even worse.

When at the brothel, during his and young Rhaenyra's outing, it was obvious that at the start it was all due to his own greed for the throne, beliving if he sullied the Heir to the Throne, Viserys would have no choice but to wed them which would bring him loads of steps closer to the succession, or it would lead to Rhaenyra's own destruction as she would be labeled as a whore and it would damage her standing in the council.

But when push came to shove, when he and Rhaenyra engaged in that moment of passion, he realized that no, he could not do that. Not to her. The same weakness that had struck him when Rhaenyra came to take back the egg from him on Dragonstone. So he leaves, his mind in chaos.

But as put before, he does her good, tries to do her good from one side, but condemns her from another angle. She was left alone, in a brothel, a princess, half naked and without any protection. Anything could have happened and the whole thing with Criston too could have been possibly averted.

He had left her alone, leaving her to clean up after him.

Same happens in season 2, in B&C. He aims for Aemond, but did not properly specify and as good as said any Hightower head would do, even if he didnt vocally affirmed. He tries to bring her justice, for ther son, for their stillborn daughter, his brother and her father. But it all goes horribly wrong, and he fucks off to Harrenhal leaving her alone, AGAIN, where she gets through an assassination attempt on her and had to see off her kids with him alone, and was left to be alone alone. Again.

This is the prospect that haunts him when he is Harrenhal, single vision affirming his deepest conscience, how many times he had failed her, how many time he left her alone. How many times consequences were explosive, and finally pushed to the edge that had an innocent child's head lolling on the floor.

Their love is tainted, neither can trust the other completely, especially not when it comes to matters outside the warm happy bubble of their family and kids yet loves each other deeply and helplessly to the point it simmers and boils and the heat burns the whole world.

[caspersgraveyard]

y'all really are not able to separate the concepts of quality and morality of a piece of art and even that of the artist and It Ends With Us is the perfect example. Colleen Hoover was damn near universally beloved when she was blowing up and everyone loved her stories - ESPECIALLY It Ends With Us. and then the sexual misconduct case with her son came out (which, let me clarify, I have not looked into, and obviously abhor and condemn (but some of y'all really need that explicitly stated); but you are not a bad person for defending against allegations and a parent is obviously going to want to defend their child, but that is not what this post is about) and everyone immediately jumped sides, suddenly being too good for her mass market writing.

you're allowed to hate the artist and thereby detach yourself from their works without calling said work bad. hating the artist does not make their art bad, bad art does not have to come from bad artists, and the opposites are true too.

everyone now saying it romanticises sexual assault are the same people who used to make edits of the book for the exact same thing. and, while it's been a while since I've read the book, it pretty openly condemned domestic violence and I think even included a note from Hoover herself about her own experiences with it.

look, I don't know what they're doing with the movie or why Blake Lively et al. have decided to go the cozy romcom route, but the almost overnight 180 on Hoover and her work is a direct byproduct of purity culture getting to y'all once again and that is the slipperiest of slopes.

[dragondream-ing]

Isn’t it funny that so many people always seem to accept the least flattering/sympathetic rumors in F&B as pure truth?

Someone made the claim to me that Aenys was a bastard, and not in the “according to Westerosi norms Rhaenys was Aegon’s mistress” way. Not that I agree with that claim (hello, I’m a Targaryen fan) but at least that argument highlights the hypocrisy of the nobles and the Faith. Nope, this person believes Rhaenys (maliciously) passed off a minstrel’s son as Aegon’s.

Obviously I’ve heard many people discuss this rumor, and I never thought much of it because nothing in the book convinced me it was true. I’ve always thought Aenys was Aegon’s actual son (and also Maegor wasn’t a dark magic baby). Tbh though… I liked the idea of Rhaenys living her best life, Aegon being totally cool about his wife having lovers, and, as a fantasy enjoyer, magic babies sounds awesome. I just think there’s a more boring explanation.

So there are several reasons people question Aenys’ parentage. Rhaenys spending lots of time in the company of other men, the time it took for her to conceive (and Visenya, too, but I’ll get to her later). This, of course, also puts into question Aegon’s fertility (which is interesting, usually the women get blamed) but it could also put into question the legitimacy of their sons’ claim to the throne. At the time and with the dragons, that doesn’t really have an impact. Aenys was accepted as king, and even Maegor was accepted by far more of the lords than most fans credit (out of fear and self preservation, of course, but still).

Another thing that comes up is Aenys being weak af while Aegon wasn’t, so how could he be his son? I’m not going to spend time on that shitty argument when Viserys I was the son of Baelon and Alyssa lol

I don’t find the “better” reasons for this rumor that convincing either. As always, this is imo, so take it with a grain of salt.

As to Rhaenys keeping the “company of other males,” I like to keep in mind the F&B sources are pretty obviously condemning her for this based on their own morals. These aren’t exactly people inclined to think well of women that don’t behave “dutifully.”

Rhaenys could literally have enjoyed that company platonically. She liked frivolity, why wouldn’t she befriend entertaining people? She and Aegon and Visenya weren’t committed to all the same morals as their subjects (GRRM himself said the conquerors converted to the Faith of the Seven for political reasons), so they could just be… chill about things the rest of Westeros found strange or condemnable? That’s not to say Aegon would be cool with Rhaenys passing off someone else’s child as his own—I’m sorry, I don’t think even the Valyrians were that open-minded. But compared to the pious and judgmental dorks that wrote about him, Aegon could possibly… trust his sister-wives around other men? Shocking amirite.

I’m not sure why I should trust the sources on this rumor. Why would I assume they’d even be able to understand their rulers—in a realistic manner if not sympathetic one? And how could they understand the relationship the conquerors had? Ya know, plural marriage, women riding dragons and going to war, sitting the throne, ruling in Aegon’s stead. I have serious doubts they would be able to assess women of this caliber with much rationality tbh. It’s not that I think every single thing they say is false, but I do think they’d miss and misread things because of their biases and worldview. Like I’m pretty sure if Rhaenys smiled too long at a minstrel, they’d assume she banged him.

But it’s not actually that important if Rhaenys had lovers or not. If she did, it didn’t matter to the people she was in a relationship with, they never doubted Aenys’ parentage, so I’m on board whatever the truth may be.

However, I think the timeline for her conceiving Aenys is a shit reason to claim she “cuckolded” Aegon. I mean, sure, it took her a long time. And there could be no other reason for that but her infertility, or Aegon’s, and so she must’ve had another man’s child, right? Actually, there’s a pretty simple explanation imo.

I know this is going to sound crazy but… maybe they didn’t want heirs until the conquest was over lmao

This isn’t a “lord secures an heir before going to war” situation. This isn’t pregnant Catelyn safe in her father’s castle or Winterfell while Ned is at war. If the conquest failed, slim chance though that was, the Targaryen heirs would be slaughtered. They didn’t have a bunch of kin or hordes of blindly loyal bannermen. They wouldn’t have had dragons, either, unless they could claim their (in this scenario) dead parents’ dragons before they, too, were assassinated, and considering they’d be quite young, this seems incredibly unlikely.

People seem to forget Visenya, Aegon, and Rhaenys weren’t twiddling their thumbs before the conquest. They planned it for at least a few years, they knew exactly the danger they’d be in, let’s give them some credit here. Plus Aegon spent some time fighting in Essos at the end of the Century of Blood. Why wouldn’t they put heirs on pause for a bit?

It’s not like things were stable in year 1 AC lmao in 2 AC they were dealing with the Ironborn, 4 AC was Dorne etc. They were *busy* establishing a whole ass kingdom from a bunch of petty kingdoms that were used to warring with each other every year. I imagine it was a ton of work 😂

Then Aenys was born in 7 AC, likely conceived in 6 AC. Maybe Rhaenys struggled to get pregnant, maybe they waited, maybe a combination of both. It just doesn’t seem odd to me that heirs came post-conquest. In fact, it seems perfectly reasonable.

So why did Visenya wait to have Maegor until 12 AC? If I was a maester, I’d tell you the poor thing failed in her duty as a woman, that she desperately wanted children but couldn’t. To be fair, this could be the case (not the duty part, but maybe she did want a baby and struggled with infertility. We know she loved Maegor dearly after all).

But let me posit an alternative. This concept may be difficult for some, but… what if she didn’t actually want children? I know, another shocking interpretation lmao

Here’s a scenario I concocted that seems plausible. What if Visenya, Aegon, and Rhaenys agreed that Rhaenys would be the one to have children? What if—and I know this is a wild thought—they had some awareness of the potential dangers of having heirs from two wives, of essentially creating two lines that could come into conflict? Visenya did suggest a betrothal between Maegor and Rhaena after all. I’m sure she wanted her son to have the crown, and she definitely thought Aenys was a weakling, but she could’ve also wanted to unite hers and Rhaenys’ lines to avoid conflict. I think these are reasonable considerations.

I tend to view these characters as relatively rational actors. Their other actions add credence to this, like Rhaenys establishing the rule of six. Do I wish she outlawed wife beating? Yes. Do I think she chose a practical solution with a better chance of being accepted by the nobles that would offer women more protection than they had before? Also yes. What I’m saying is, instead of minstrel orgies and dark magic babies, I tend to lean toward practical explanations.

So back to why Visenya had Maegor so late… Rhaenys’ dies in 10 AC. Visenya and Aegon burn Dorne for 2 years in retaliation. Visenya gets pregnant with Maegor in 11 AC and has him in 12.

What if she was concerned that the dynasty had only a single sickly child to sustain it? Aenys could’ve died in his young age, his health only improved when he bonded with Quicksilver. The continuation of House Targaryen had to rely entirely upon *him.* It makes sense to me that *this* is when Visenya bit the bullet and had a child. It’s even possible Aegon was just as concerned. We can’t know for sure, but would it be surprising considering the circumstances?

At the very least, I find the timing of Maegor’s birth pretty convenient, and the best explanation for me is that after Rhaenys’ death, Visenya (and possibly Aegon) knew they needed a spare, and that spare would have to come from her.

Anyway, I’m completely aware that I’ve spent way too much time thinking about this 😂

[fearlessfairy]

Being jealous is an insult?

Rhaenyra, the Westeros's nepo baby.

So just to be clear, when I'm shopping at Shein and someone else has a Gucci bag is kind of a silly jealousy or envy. But that's not the case with Alicent, is it?

Alicent is not jealous because Rhaenyra had better things, a better father or a better position. Alicent was forced to sleep with and have children with a man who rotted alive for several years. She didn't want any of it, but "duty and sacrifice" was expected of her. She gave up herself, her own happiness, for the realm. Someone decided that she would be queen and she did her duty without a single doubt and that's not just her case, that's the case with most noble women. Yeah, it was her father who pimped her in Viserys bed, she obeyed to her father's wishes, because that's what expected from a good daughter. In their reality a good daughter always does what her father says. A bad daughter has to or she is punished. That's their reality.

Why does she condemn it? Why is she jealous? Because while Alicent endured for several years what women had to do then, Rhaenyra enjoyed herself without worry and for things that deserved execution, she got away with everything. She lied, cheated and demanded her justice even though she knew the truth. Nobody did anything. Alicent was suffering to have an heir to the realm, Rhaenyra wanted to put her bastards at the head of the realm and her father supported it. Alicent was not jealous of wasteful things. Rhaenyra didn't have to suffer any of what she did and still do things that would be considered treason and she thought she was entitled to get rid of anyone who spoke up about it, this bit of a dictatorial practice. I understand why Rhaenyra protected her sons, but that doesn't change anything. Everyone these days is bashing Lily Rose-Depp and nepo babies who get everything easy and are demonized, undervalued and judged for taking advantage of the opportunities they have. Maybe you're just jealous. Or you are a hypocrite for defending a fictional character who does the same thing.

People really think they found a "new" Daenerys, but they are just blindly defending a "new" Cersei.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 15 thoughts without interludes (interludes need their own post):

EVERYTHING IS FIIIIIIIINE

My daughters boss didn't actually try to assassinate her, her just planned to do it and then did it in one reality but kept the reality where he didn't! So it's ok! I'm fine. Not worried at all that Coil knows Skitter was planning on double crossing him and that he found a way to screw with Tattletales powers.

It's fiiiine (eye twitches)

I want to say I'm glad she got her full team on board, but given that there is a chance someone on her team ratted on her it might not be good.

Skitter goes a little bit far at the end with Triumph. Just a tiny itty bitty bit far. Child you almost KILLED HIM! And then you let him sit there dying when the threat isn't that he'll die now, but that you will come back if needed (mayor ain't going to say what you want him to say if you kill his son, the point is if he doesn't say it you'll come back)! I'm worried about you.

Brian I understand why you like my daughter and she seems to like you and I'm glad having someone you feel safe with is helping you process your very valid trauma (important note, you could have done the same with your sister, she was trying to help you but you wouldn't open up to her, you should open up to her). But please don't get in the way of her relationships with her girlfriends. Just understand in terms of long term stuff Chatterbug and Wolfspider 100% trump . . . Darkbug? Fuck what are you guys called?

(I've been informed Shadeswarm, Nightcrawler, Night Biter, Creepy Crawlies, or Carapace. I think Creepy Crawlies might be my preference among that.)

MOAR DOLL LESBIAN CONTENT!!!!!

Parian is one of my absolute favorite characters! Flechette is pretty cool as well. Being a hero hurts her. Stabbing my daughter also didn't build good marks with me, but I understand why she did it. Cause GAAAAAAAAAAAY. I have a hard time being too mad at a lesbian stabbing someone to protect her girlfriend.

I'm glad Parian isn't joining Coil full hog at least, she's too pure to be a villain (or a "hero"). I kinda wish she could just move to New York and be a fashion designer and live her best life, but I do enjoy the idea of getting to see her more.

And to be honest, I don't think anyone on Earth Bet is really going to be living their best life in the long run. Sorry guys.

The fucking shutdown the team gives to the Nazis is AMAZING! Like ya no Hookwolf or Purity this time, that obviously would have made it harder. But still, comparing the previous fight to this just really shows how much the team has increased in power. They didn't even bring Grue.

Skitter and Tattletale being able to work together to find all the people in a few block radius and figure out which groups are Nazis, all while just standing in the middle of the street, is so fucking cool. I fucking love watching them work.

I don't love the girlfriends fighting with the whole "Skitter wasn't told about the plan to have Regent yoink a Nazi". But they seemed to make up pretty quickly.

Skitter fucking running multiple bug clones, with cameras and microphones, all across her territory, and using them to talk to people and check in on things, WHILE getting surgery on her shoulder??! FUCKING HELL. Like ok yes, please love yourself child and let yourself take it easy sometimes. But also holy shit that is so god damn amazing. I am 100% convinced (I mean, I have been since like Arc 4 TBH) that she uses her bugs to basically offload her pain. Or offloads her mind to her bugs so she can ignore the pain in her body. Same idea. Like even if it's never confirmed it is true to me. And the multitasking! Give Taylor a Thinker classification!!

Just fucking attacking the mayor's family to intimidate him into telling people in Washington to not condemn Brockton Bay huh? I mean sure it kinda worked at the end (assuming he does what he said he would) but it really seems like a terrible plan. Like, the people in Washington are gonna hear about the attack and wonder about everything the mayor says. But fine, that's the plan.

Skitter making the bug clones complex enough that Trickster and Genesis don't even notice she's a clone at first is super cool! Also it does drive home that she is always just covered with so many bugs and using swarm speech so much that when a version of her shows up that is completely covered in bugs and speaks fully with swarm speech it doesn't throw anyone off.

Coil had to know that Triumph was the mayor's kid. The fact that he's the one who pushed to have them attack during family dinner.

I'm really proud of Skitter for figuring it out though! I pegged him as a cape pretty much right away and was able to figure out it was Triumph not long after, but she was in the heat of the moment. Also she got the girlfriend pegged as a either Prism or Ursa while I was still uncertain if she was a cape.

Holy shit that fight was so fucking cinematic! Perfectly built for Triumph to look cool by exploding bug clones with his shouts. And with Prism splitting and combining constantly. Just fuck. I'd love to see an animation of that fight. It was super cool.

And again, Skitter got dark there. And sadly I'm worried she's gonna get darker.