#chella ride

[smuttysabina]

Chaelisa "Chella Action

(Lisa x Rose, 800 words) Lisa and Rose have fun at Coachella Tags: Lesbian action, Dialogue, Fisting, brief vomiting, cumplay, harsh language

"Really Lisa?"

"What, Rose?"

"This is the best you could find?"

"Hey, I don't want to hear any complaints, this is the best one I could get that was... unspoiled."

"Where did you even find it anyways?"

"Passed out next to the main stage, I think she missed him since he was unconscious."

"Well judging by the screaming Jennie is still going at it."

"Mhmm, so be happy we don't get her sloppy seconds for once, this one is fresh!"

"I'm surprised you didn't just grab some of her leftovers, considering what a perverted whore you are, you should like cleaning up after your betters."

"Wow fuck you too bitch, at least I'm not a sadistic... oh, shut up, shut up, he's waking up! Ahem- Hello there, how are you feeling, good? Oh don't bother getting up silly, we'll be joining you down there soon enough."

"Ugh, do we really have to fuck him in the dirt?"

"Its COACHELLA, everything is covered in dirt!"

"Well some of us, dislike rutting on the ground like animals!"

"Okay, then go find a fucking clean mattress then, I'll be busy enjoying myself."

"FINE. But I get to go first."

"Um, no. I don't want you to ruin him like you do with all of your... slaves. The last one was literally jizzing blood!"

"Oh please, you were just on your period Lisa, and anyways I don't want your filthy cunt juices smeared all over my... dildo."

"Heh, you were going to say 'slave' weren't you?"

"Its called wordplay whore, maybe you should figure it out before writing another song."

"....Ouch"

"..."

"..."

"Okay, I'm sorry, that was a little too harsh."

"It's fine, that just means I get to go first. God you are so easy to manipulate, its a wonder you manage to domme anyone at all..."

"Hey!"

"Too late! Hello again my darling little pet, ready to make my insides all juicy? Don't mind Rose there, she's just mad about going last! So make sure to fuck me good and proper, if you cum before I do, I'll make sure you get it up again..."

"..."

"What's wrong Rose, still mad that you're going to be cleaning up after me again? You can just stand there and watch as I ride- wait Rose. What are you doing back there with your hand? Wait, no. Get lube you idiot! Get lube! LUBE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

"Oh shut up you slut, I know you love it rough. This is payback for earlier, whore"

"Oh fuck... Rose I can feel your fist in my stomach... oh god I'm gonna! Blooooargh!"

"That's disgusting! Could you not puke everywhere like a cheap whore? You really do deserve to get fucked on the ground you filthy animal."

"Hah- I- hah, I don't want to hear that from the fucking bitch who just shoved her arm up my ass!"

"Lisa, you came like twice from this, don't deny you're not enjoying this."

"Urrrgh, I'm going to force feed you so much cum after this you bitch..."

"I'd love to see you try, by the time I'm done with you I doubt your loose holes will be able to hold anything in them at all!"

"Ghurk Ghurk Ghurk GHUAH! Is that all you've got Rose, I've fucked virgins who could plow me harder than that!"

"...Um Lisa."

"Huh...? What?"

"Look down."

"...Oh, he passed out again."

"...Did he finish?"

"Hmm.... yup I can feel his load in there! I guess he came so hard he blacked out!"

"Pfffft, you really do suck at choosing fuck meat!"

"Yeah yeah I don't want to hear it! Also uh, Rose?"

"Yes Lisa?"

"Want to keep fisting me?

"Sigh, fine. But only if you eat me out afterwards."

"Deal! And you can degrade me all you want and shit while I'm doing it."

"You do know how to push my buttons don't you?"

"Oh yeah, and afterwards, want to try and find some more pets? Surely Jennie can't fuck her way through all of them!"

"With Jisoo helping her out? Seriously?"

"Well I guess we can be on cleanup duty again..."

"Are you fine with sloppy seconds?"

"Are you really asking me that?"

"Fine, as long as you clean them off first for me..."

"Rose dear, I always do. Now shouldn't you be, um?"

"Oh right! Only if you ask nicely though, Lisa."

"I hate you."

"That works!"

"OH FUCK! HARDER ROSE HARDER!"

[istumpysk]

"You’ll share my tent, pour my wine, laugh at my jests, rub the ache from my legs after each day’s ride … and whether I keep you a day or a year, for so long as we are together you will take no other men into your bed.”- Tyrion(ACOK). It reminds me of Dany and her handmaid's situation. I mean she give them illusions that they are free but they are not actually. She even used Irri as her bedslave knowing it's wrong. Jhiqui and Irri fighting for Rakharo but his life belongs to her. She is already projecting a lot on Missandei not thinking from her pov. She killed Mirri like Tyrion killed Shae.

That's one thing they have in common: they're both really possessive when it comes to the people they believe belong to them.

"Rakharo is blood of my blood. His life belongs to me, not you," Dany told the two of them. Rakharo had grown almost half a foot during his time away from Meereen and returned with arms and legs thick with muscle and four bells in his hair. He towered over Aggo and Jhogo now, as her handmaids had both noticed. "Now be quiet. I need to bathe." - Daenerys VI, ADWD

x

And after them came her handmaids, and then the others, all the Dothraki, men and women and children, and Dany had only to look at their eyes to know that they were hers now, today and tomorrow and forever, hers as they had never been Drogo's. - Daenerys X, AGOT

x

"Chataya's?" Tyrion said, annoyed. "It's good to be a knight. No more looking for the cheaper brothels down the street." Bronn grinned. "Now it's Alayaya and Marei in the same featherbed, with Ser Bronn in the middle." Tyrion had to bite back his annoyance. Bronn had as much right to bed Alayaya as any other man, but still . . . I never touched her, much as I wanted to, but Bronn could not know that. He should have kept his cock out of her. - Tyrion II, ASOS

x

Tyrion had seen her only yesterday, climbing the serpentine steps with a pail of water. He had watched as a young knight had offered to carry the heavy pail. The way she had touched his arm and smiled for him had tied Tyrion's guts into knots. - Tyrion II, ASOS

x

"Young lady," Shae repeated, savoring the words. "You're half right, m'lord. I'm young."

Eighteen, Tyrion thought. Eighteen, and a whore, but quick of wit, nimble as a cat between the sheets, with large dark eyes and fine black hair and a sweet, soft, hungry little mouth . . . and mine! Damn you, eunuch.

"M'lord Varys complimented Chella on her ears and said she must have killed many men to have such a fine necklace," Shae explained. It grated on him to hear her call Varys m'lord in that tone; that was what she called him in their pillow play. - Tyrion I, ACOK

You can see where Missandei's storyline is leading.

[stubborngods]

MUSE MASTERLIST (CURRENT COUNT: 137)

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

chilo - oc, non-bender from ba sing se - teens - ??? - they/them

princess lei-yu of the fire nation - oc, firebender - teens -  kyouka izumi - she/her

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

bakugou ikari / atomic - oc - late 20s - quirk: grenade - power - younger sister (adopted child) of bakugou mitsuki / pseudo-older sister of bakugou katsuki - she/her

fukudoka emi / miss joke - canon - late 20s - quirk: laugh - n/a - they/she

kaminari mai - oc - mid 40s - quirk: engines - tsunade - mother of kaminari denki - she/her

kirishima ein - oc - teens - quirk: shark - soma yukihira - older brother of kirishima eijirou - he/him

sasaki yogen - oc - early 20s - quirk: prophecy - haru nonaka - child of nighteye / godchild of all might - they/them

takeda daichi / denkino - oc - mid 40s - quirk: short circut - kakashi hatake - father of kaminari denki - he/him

todoroki eishi - oc - early 30s - quirk: firestorm - mikoto souh - oldest todoroki child - he/him

toga hoshiko - oc - teens - quirk: dream walking - rika kawai - younger sister of toga himiko - she/her

yamada hizashi / present mic - canon - early 30s - quirk: voice - n/a - he/him (trans man)

yamada noizu - oc - early 20s - quirkless - hideyoshi nagachika - erasermic child - he/they

yamada yuuri / mimic - oc - early 20s - quirk: mimicry - marin kitagawa - erasermic child - she/her

BRIDGERTON

gwendoline imogene blythe - oc - late 20s - crystal clarke - closed ship with @bloodymyhand's eloise - she/her

CRITICAL ROLE

cassandra de rolo - canon - late teens/20s - esme creed-miles - rogue (inquisitive)/fighter (champion) multiclass - they/she

INTRO

loquatius seelie - canon - ??? - ??? - bard (eloquence)/warlock (archfey/talisman) multiclass - any/all (he/him leaning)

patia por'co - canon - ??? - ??? - wizard (enchantment) - she/her

the raven queen (@ravensmantle) - canon - old - ??? - wizard (illusion)/prime deity - she/they

vax'ildan "danny" de rolo - canon - teens - chella man - circle of stars druid - he/him (trans man)

INTRO

vesper elaina de rolo - canon - teens/early-mid 20s - lola tung - wizard (enchantment)/artificer (alchemist) multiclass - they/them

INTRO

vilya of the air ashari - oc - teens/early-mid 20s - mikey madison - vaxleth child - rogue (arcane trickster)/ranger (monster slayer) multiclass - she/her

INTRO

DC

aimsey ramon - oc - early 20s - ariela barer - hertz/child of cisco ramon & caitlyn snow (cw's flash) - they/she

calliope cobblepot - oc - teens/early 20s - sophie nelisse - daughter of edward nygma & oswald cobblepott (gotham) - she/her

damian wayna al ghul - canon - teens - emilio sakraya - robin vi - he/they (trans man)

hazel kyle-wayne - oc - teens/early 20s - hailee steinfield - robin vii/child of bruce wayne & selina kyle - they/she

j quinn - oc - teens/early 20s - cameron monaghan - son of the joker & harley quinn & pamela ivy - he/him

martha kyle-wayne - oc - teen/early 20s - hailee steinfield - the stray/daughter of bruce wayne & selina kyle - she/they

orion prince - oc - teen/early 20s - anthony keyvan - artemis/son of diana prince - he/him

yazmin flores - oc - 30s - lauren riddoff - the silent speedster (cw's flash) - they/them

DESCENDANTS

aaron hood - oc - late 20s - darren barnet - son of red riding hood - he/him

aladdin ababwa - canon - 40s/50s - mena massoud - father of aziz - he/him

asmodeus "oz" black - oc - ??? - benjamin wadsworth - son of pitch black - he/they

artemis cat - oc - mid/late 20s - noen eubanks - child of the cheshire cat - they/them

blanche-fleur fee - oc - mid/late 20s (older than the isle) - casimere jollette - daughter of the enchantress - she/her

camelot de luc - oc - 20s - maisie williams - child of lancelot & guinevere - they/she

carmen diablo - oc - teens/early 20s - maya hawke - daughter of the devil (tnbc) - they/them

cassiopeia pan - oc - teens - sadie sink - daughter of peter pan - she/xir

delphi branwen - oc - early teens - raffey cassidy - daughter of diavil & maleficent - she/her

diavil branwen - oc - 40s/50s - oscar issac - father of delphi + pseudo father of mal - he/him

dustin charming-white - oc - early 20s - ross lynch - son of snow white & florian - him/him

wendy evian hook - oc - early/mid 20s (older than the isle) - sophie thatcher - child of capitan hook - they/them

gaston "alexis" legume iv - oc - early 20s - maia mitchell - daughter of gaston & laurette - she/her

jaazi ibn al-kubra - oc - teens - sydney mae diaz - son of jafar - he/him (trans man)

jadee bint al-misbah - oc - teens - aisha dee - child of the genie - they/them

jarin "jordan" bint al-misbah - canon divergent - teens/early 20s - yara shahidi - child of the genie - they/she

jaxon kingsleigh - oc - early 20s - cameron monaghan - son of the red queen/alice kingsleigh - he/him

julius cat - oc - early 20s - camron bicondova - child of the cheshire cat - they/she

laurette "avalon" legume ii - oc - early 20s - maia mitchell - daughter of gaston & laurette - she/her

makaria desponia - oc - late 20s/early 30s - quintessa swindel - child of hades & persephone - they/them

min - oc - teens/early 20s - mark taun - son of mushu - he/him

moenie of pixie hollow - oc - ??? - gideon adlon - daughter of queen clarion & lord milori - they/she

nash of neverland - oc - teens - thomas brodie sangster - son of nibs (peter pan) - he/him

persephone desponia - oc - ageless - teyonah parris - mother of makaria & zagreus - she/her

peter pan - canon divergent - old - ??? - father of cassiopeia - he/him

reed of nottingham - oc - early/mid 20s (older than the isle) - dominic sherwood - son of robin hood & maid marian the sherrif of nottingham - he/him

roland rabbit - oc - ??? - son of the white rabbit - he/they

rosalie rabbit - oc - ??? - daughter of the white rabbit - she/they

samantha "sam" lupin - oc - saoirse-monica jackson - daughter of the big bad wolf - she/her

tiitus lupin - oc - james paxton - son of the big bad wolf - he/him

uma vantis - canon - china anne mcclain - daughter of ursula - any/all

zagreus "hadie" aidoneus - canon divergent - cengiz al - child of hades & persephone - they/he

zephry haddock - canon - laura gwyneth butler - daughter of hiccup haddock & astrid hofferson - they/she

DIMENSION 20

fabian aramais seacaster - canon - ??? - fighter (battlemaster)/bard (swords) multiclass - he/they

prince andhera - canon - ??? - paladin (devotion) - they/them

DOCTOR WHO

amelia song - oc - varies (main: benedetta porcaroli) - river/doctor child - any/all (she/her leaning)

william song - oc - varies (main: lucas lynggaard tonnesen) - river/doctor child - any/all (they/them leaning)

rolandraamilsori - oc - varies (main: zoe kravtiz) - timelady - any/all (she/they leaning)

GREEK MYTHOS

apollo - god of music, the sun, archery, art, prophecy, healing, ect. - mert yazicioglu - he/they

ariadne - goddess of mazes & paths - riley keough - she/her

dionysus - god of wine, theater, insanity, ecstacy, ect. - rahul kohli - he/they

hebe - goddess of youth - chappell roan - she/her

hedone - personification of pleasure, enjoyment, & delight - lachlan watson - they/them

makaria - goddess of blessed deaths - quintessa swindell - they/he

pasithea - personification of relaxation - geraldine viswanathan - she/they

persephone - goddess of spring & the underworld - teyonah parris - she/her

psyche - personification of the soul - bree kish - she/her

styx - personifiction of the river styx & goddess of hate - niamh mccormack - they/them

HARRY POTTER

alice crouch longbottom - canon divergent - yuko araki (younger), karen fukuhara (older) - pureblood gryffindor - any/all

alys longbottom - oc - camila morrone - half-blood hufflepuff - they/she

callisto lupin - oc - diana silvers - half-blood ravenclaw - they/she

draco malfoy - canon divergent - lorenzo zurzolo - pureblood slytherin - he/they

edward "teddy" lupin - canon - xui akay - half-blood hufflepuff - any/all

edward "ted" tonks - canon - tom webb (younger), lee pace (older) - muggleborn hufflepuff - any/all

flora carrow - canon - natashu liu bordizzo - pureblood ravenclaw - she/her

hannah abbott - canon - ariela barer - half-blood hufflepuff - she/they

leander abbott - oc - alberto ammann - pureblood gryffindor - he/him

lucius malfoy - canon - ??? - pureblood slytherin - he/they

regulus black - canon divergent - conan gray - pureblood slytherin - they/he

rodolphus lestrange - canon - aidan turner - pureblood slytherin - he/him

william "bill" weasley - canon - domhnall gleeson - pureblood gryffindor - he/him

walburga black - canon - devon akoi - pureblood slytherin - she/her

MCU

aleksandr "sasha" barnes - oc - cody christian - hydra experiment/son of bucky barnes - he/him

angrboda - oc - zoe robins - giantess/witch/wife of loki - she/her

INTRO

fenrir lokison - oc - eysteinn sigurdarson - bane of asgard/son of loki & angrboda - he/him

hela lokisdottir - oc - charlie murphy - witch/daughter of loki & angrboda - she/they

magni thorson - oc - micki stoltt - god of strength/son of thor & sif - he/him

modi thorson - oc - david schuetter - god of wrath/son of thor & sif - he/him

sigyn iwaldisdottir - canon divergent - stefanie martini - goddess of fidelity - she/her

thrud "torunn" thorsdottir - canon divergent - aleksandra bortich - goddess of power/daughter of thor & sif - she/her

INTRO

var lokisdottir - oc - millie brady - goddess of oaths/daughter of loki & sigyn - she/they

vidar lokison - oc - harry gibly - god of vengeance/son of loki & sigyn - he/they

NARNIA

antiope of archland - oc - queen of archland - golden age - ??? - she/her

bacchus - canon - god of wine, ecstasy, & the wild things - all ages - aramis knight (younger)/??? (older) - any/all

edmund pevensie - canon (divergent) - the just king, of the western woods - golden age/seafarer's age - ??? (younger)/alexander dreymon (older) - he/him

luce pevensie - oc - princess of narnia - seafarer's age - casmund daughter - ??? - she/her

reevi pevensie - oc - princex of narnia - seafarer's age - casmund child - ??? - they/them

julius cavalcade - oc - tisroc of calormen - golden age - romulo estrela - he/him

aliena cavalcade - oc - princess of calormen - golden age - marina moschen - she/her

ONCE UPON A TIME

baelfire / neal cassidy - canon divergent, multiple verses - no origin fairytale - françois arnaud (adult), timothee chalamet (teen) - they/he

INTRO

edmund pevensie / finley cair - oc, s7 based - the chronicles of narnia - aneurin barnard (adult), asa butterfield (child/teen) - he/they

INTRO

flynn rider / angelo dall - oc, main verse - tangled the series/rapnuzel - avan jogia - they/he

INTRO

gideon gold - canon, older verse - tom holland - he/they

INTRO

jacklyn "jack" sparrow / ivory finch - oc, main verse - pirates of the caribbean - zoe saldana - she/her

INTRO

julija "davy jones" smirnova / alecki petrova - oc, main verse - the twelve dancing princesses/the worn out dancing shoes (third princess) - kiera knightly - she/her

INTRO

liam jones iii - oc, main verse - peter pan (sooner) - dylan o'brien - he/him

INTRO

lilith jones - oc, main verse - peter pan (later/red handed jill) - kaya scoldelario - she/her

INTRO

roland hood - canon divergent, older verse - robin hood - harry gibly - he/they

INTRO

wendy darling / sabrina clark - canon divergent, multiple verses - peter pan - chandler kinney - they/them

INTRO

will scarlet - canon, main verse - alice in wonderland (the knave) - micheal socha - he/him

INTRO

PERCY JACKSON

GREEK DEMIGODS

annamarie coleman - oc - alishia wainwright - demigod of thanatos (peaceful deaths) - she/her

gale dunn - oc - jenna ortega - demigod of nyx (night) - they/them

neith cadell - oc - tati gabrielle - demigod of deimos (terror) - they/them

orpheus "troy" petrov - oc - timothee chalamet - demigod of persephone (spring/the underworld) - he/they

pallas egawa - oc - sebastian amoruso - demigod of triton (waves) - he/him

pandora keller - oc - devery jacobs - demigod of dionysus (madness/wine) - she/they

thalia grace - canon divergent - alice pagani - demigod of zeus (the skies/lightning) - she/they

travis stoll - canon - charlie gillespie - demigod of hermes (travelers/thieves/ect) - he/him

MORTAL PARENTS

mercy stoll - oc - emma stone - parent of the stoll brothers - they/them

GODS

ariadne - canon divergent - riley keough - goddess of mazes & paths - she/her

makaria - oc - quintessa swindell - goddess of blessed deaths - they/he

poseidon - canon - toby stephens - god of the ocean, horses, ect - he/him

SHADOWHUNTER CHRONICLES

alexander "alec" ligthwood - canon - matthew daddario - he/him

cecily herondale - canon - ??? - she/her

james "jem" carstairs - canon - shannon kook-chun - he/him

judas stark - oc, warlock - auli'i cravahlo - they/them

THE WITCHER

cirilla of cintra - canon - freya allan - she/her

jaskier - canon - joey batey - he/they

WEDNESDAY/THE ADDAMS FAMILY

enid sinclair - canon - emma meyer - she/they

pugsley addams - canon - ??? - he/him

[thecelestiallegacies]

A glass of red sweet wine on this misty night in San Myshuno. 'Chella week has been a ride and in these quiet moments in the city, Vulcan finds his mind wandering.

[wavehq]

enjoy limitless possibilities here in celestire islands, seymour krelborn ( little shop of horrors ) and ocean o'connell rosenberg ( ride the cyclone ), where you can start the new life you've always longed for. make sure you read the checklist, as we'll be sending the discord link through ims! enjoy your new dream, arrow!

( little shop of horrors , dupes not allowed. chella man, he/him, trans man. ) ——- hey, is that ( seymour krelborn ) hanging around ( celestire arboretum )? i wonder what life is like for them, balancing working as a ( twenty-eight ) year old  ( botanist ) and ( taking long hikes )? they’re notorious for being ( patient ) yet ( people-pleasing ), and i always seem to hear ( come along ) by ( cosmo sheldrake ) playing whenever they walk past. they’re known around the islands for ( tucking his plants in with homemade blankets every night ), and they’re associated with ( mud being tracked in a clean hallway, whipped cream mustaches, mismatched socks peeking through holes in well-worn sneakers  ). last we spoke, they were telling me about a vision they had… something about their biggest regret being  feeding that godforsaken plant ), but it must have just been a bad dream. // — [ arrow, 22 / pst, she/her. ]

 ( ride the cyclone, dupes not allowed.  julia lester, she/her, cis woman. )  ——-  hey, is that ( ocean o'connell rosenberg ) hanging around ( rose library )? i wonder what life is like for them, balancing working as a ( twenty-three ) year old ( law student ) and ( doing crosswords )? they’re notorious for being ( ambitious ) yet ( workaholic ), and i always seem to hear ( little miss perfect ) by ( taylor louderman ) playing whenever they walk past. they’re known around the islands for ( breaking the record for bullseyes in a single session at axe quest ), and they’re associated with ( insincere smiles and flowery language, not taking no for an answer, neat stacks of labeled notebooks ). last we spoke, they were telling me about a vision they had… something about their biggest regret being ( riding the doomed rollercoaster ), but it must have just been a bad dream. //  —  [ arrow, 22 / pst, she/her. ]

[rejectory]

@masteredlegacy​: “it’s not exactly a normal world, is it?”

❛puh-reach.❜

so, traci said she wasn’t meant for carousels, but that was ‘cuz she did two days of ‘chella on a liquid diet and then inhaled a bunch of cronuts right before the pirates of the caribbean ride, thank you—— very much. that woman? don’t know her.

❛i mean, no shade to the secret assassin community, speak your truth, but it’s jus’ not me, y’know?❜

she starts looking for her louboutins—pleeease be here, please, please, you’re week-old babies, this can’t happen to her—and grabs the hunk above his glowy thingies to light her way.

... fine-uh. and to hold herself up, whatever. she hopes he doesn’t start flying again.

honestly, without the gin and tonic, she’d be, like, r e a l l y  feeling it. 

waaait.

❛... are you wongers’ friend?❜

[zayashmaya]

Commission done by @marreeps-art i am so honored to finally commission u, thank youuuu!!! ;-; 

Chella loves one (1) clown above all else (◍•ᴗ•◍)

[toyrylaartblog]

It shows that my traditional art is always in the risk of getting thrown around by my sisters kids ლ(ಥ Д ಥ )ლ Inspired by Dog Blood - Chella Ride 

[dear-indies]

hi! can i please have some recs for what fcs give off cowboy vibes? either male or non binary please! thanks so much!

Sam Elliott (1944) - Supercuts and 1883.

Zahn McClarnon (1966) Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux and Irish - Barskins, Timeless, Queen of the South.

Timothy Olyphant (1968) - Justified.

Brendan Fraser (1968) - Trust.  

Aaron Pedersen (1970) Arrernte and Arabana - Mystery Road.

Josh Lucas (1971) - The Forever Purge.

Idris Elba (1972) Sierra Leonean / Ghanaian - Concrete Cowboy.

Eddie Cibrian (1973) - Country Comfort.

Jimmi Simpson (1975) - Westworld.

James Marsden (1973) - Westworld.

Cole Hauser (1975) Ashkenazi Jewish / German, Irish, Walloon Belgian, French, Scottish - Yellowstone.

Tim Rozon (1976) - Wynonna Earp.

Edi Gathegi (1979) Kenyan - The Harder They Fall.

Jim Parrack (1981) - 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Dane DeHaan (1986) - The Kid.

Scott Eastwood (1986) - The Longest Ride.

Jesse Plemons (1988) - The Power of the Dog.

Denim Richards (1988) African-American - Yellowstone.

Jonathan Majors (1989) African-American - The Harder They Fall.

Raymond Ablack (1989) Indo Guyanese - Maid.

Jack O'Connell (1990) - Godless.

Kiowa Gordon (1990) Hualapai, English, Scottish, Danish, Manx - Reservation Dogs, The Red Road.

Brock O'Hurn (1991) - Close To Home.

Michael Vlamis (1991) Lebanese, Serbian, Greek, English - Roswell New Mexico. 

RJ Cyler (1995) African-American - The Harder They Fall.

Kodi Smit-McPhee (1996) - The Power of the Dog.

Hamilton Morris (?) Warlpiri - Sweet Country.

Vibes:

Andrew Lincoln (1973)

Rodrigo Santoro (1975) Brazilian [Portuguese, including Azorean, possibly other] / Italian.

David Harbour (1975) - has bipolar disorder.

Travis Fimmel (1979)

Sam Heughan (1980) 

Brian Michael Smith (1983) African-American - trans.

Clayton Cardenas (1985) Filipino and Mexican.

Luke Mitchell (1985)

Martin Sensmeier (1985) Tlingit, Eyak, Koyukon, German, Irish.

Derek Theler (1986)

Justice Joslin (1987) 

Casey Deidrick (1987) 

Keegan Allen (1989)

Nyle DiMarco (1989) - is deaf and sexually fluid. 

Laith Ashley (1989) Afro-Dominican - trans. 

Lucas Till (1990)

Trevante Rhodes (1990) African-American.

Adam Page (1991)

Tommy Martinez (1992) Venezuelan. 

Chase Stokes (1992) 

Kofi Siriboe (1994) Ghanaian.

Luke Benward (1995)

Non-binary suggestions:

Nico Tortorella (1988) ¾ Italian ¼ German, English, Irish - non-binary, pansexual and polyamorous - they/them - Fear the Walking Dead.

Eliot Sumner (1990) - non-binary - they/them - lost smell was lost after a brain injury.

Vico Ortiz (1991) Puerto Rican - non-binary and genderfluid - they/them - Our Flag Means Death. 

Chella Man (1998) Hongkonger, Jewish - is deaf - non-binary, genderqueer and pansexual - he/him.

A big thanks to @nicolemaiines and @lewistan for some of these suggestions too! 

[hystericalfeminist]

BUILD ME A CANON

Earlier this week, Delhi University's Oversight Committee removed works by writers Bama, Mahasweta Devi and Sukirtharani from the university's syllabus for undergraduate students of English. Bama and Sukirtharani are Tamil Dalit writers whose work looks at the experiences of the marginalised. Mahasweta Devi, a Bengali writer, was well-known for her Left-leaning politics and for being an advocate for tribal communities and their rights. She passed away in 2016.

I'd suggest one moment's silence for the Oversight Committee committing an oversight, except this is not an oversight. An oversight is an unintentional mistake, but this seems very intentional. As the DU clarified in a statement later, "the syllabus of the course has been passed through a democratic process with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders and necessary deliberations at appropriate forums” (emphases mine). The university claims the English syllabus is suitably diverse and inclusive (suitably being the key word here) and it's interesting that as part of its defence of the Oversight Committee's decision, DU has pointed out the process of coming to that decision was "democratic". What it doesn't acknowledge is that if the committee is full of people who belong to dominant groups and doesn't have members who represent the minorities and the marginalised, then the committee's "democratic process" is critically flawed.

The DU statement came after the Academic Council submitted a dissent note, protesting the Oversight Committee's decision. The Academic Council described the Oversight Committee's functioning as vandalism and alleged it has been harassing liberal arts departments. "It is important to note that the Oversight Committee does not have any member from the Dalit or the Tribal community who can possibly bring in some sensitivity to the issue," said the Academic Council in its note.

There was some noise on social media about the decision to drop works by these three writers. Most of the discussion that I saw was about Mahasweta Devi's dropped short story, Draupadi. (Apparently the Oversight Committee chair complained the short story doesn't show the military in a good light. From what I remember, it's the police. They carry out wrongful arrests and brutally gangrape a tribal woman.) There's been far less discussion of Bama and Sukirtharani's works on English Twitter, who have mostly been referred to as the "two Dalit writers", like an addendum to Mahasweta, which is infuriating in itself. I know that this is probably because not enough people read translations. Particularly translations of literature from Indian languages.

There is also little talk about what has replaced the dropped works. One of the authors who has been included is apparently Pandita Ramabai, identified as an upper caste writer (Brahmin, if I'm not mistaken). I've no idea if her writing continues to feel relevant and/ or engaging, but it is all sorts of bizarre to "replace" a 20th century author with someone who died in 1922. Also, if she was included because she was Brahmin, I hope they have fun reading her book The High Caste Hindu Woman which is, I'm told, deeply critical of how sexist Hinduism. Whether or not Pandita Ramabai voiced any opinions of casteism in Hinduism, I don't know.

Even though translations don't get read as much, the fact is, the writings of Bama, Mahasweta Devi and Sukirtharani have been translated to English and other languages. They're part of different university's syllabi and for better or for worse, DU is not such an influential player in academia. If DU's decision to drop these writers convinces some Indian universities to do the same, we can only hope that other universities (in India and abroad) will start thinking about including them in their syllabi (if the writers aren't in them already). In a not-so-distant future, it's very likely that there will be universities abroad that will have a more diverse, inclusive and representative portrait of Indian culture in their syllabi while institutions like DU remain mired in a casteist, Hindutva bog. At that point, who should decide what will make the canon for Indian literature? The Indians or the foreigners?

It's the second time this week that we've heard conversations about erasure in the Indian cultural scene. Earlier this week, social media was on fire after the Indian edition of the Rolling Stone carried a cover story about the record label and music platform Majja, featuring two artists best known for their collaborations with Dalit rapper and lyricist Arivu. Rumour has it that the Rolling Stone cover was bought by Majja, presumably to promote upcoming albums by those two artists. However, since Dhee and Shan Vincent de Paul are currently riding a popularity wave because of their work with Arivu, many readers — beginning with director Pa Ranjith — expected the cover story would be as much about Arivu as Dhee and Shan Vincent de Paul. People also pointed out that Arivu had effectively been removed from a (disastrous) remix of "Enjoy Enjaami" (the original song is amazing).

Shan Vincent de Paul, one of the artists featured on the Rolling Stone cover, issued a statement on social media saying he had the utmost respect for Arivu and had no intention of erasing him. He clarified that the story was part of his efforts to promote his new album Made in Jaffna, which he's releasing with Majja. "I have no control over how the Press chooses their messaging or what narratives they push," de Paul wrote, which would be an excellent point if the cover wasn't bought. He may not have control over the narrative, but he's hardly an irrelevant cog in the wheel. Instead of attempting to exonerate himself, de Paul could have acknowledged that the story doesn't give as much space to Arivu as it should. I am, of course, presuming he's read the story.

If the rumour about the cover being bought is true then Rolling Stone and Majja are complicit in deciding a narrative that sidelines Arivu, either intentionally or carelessly. More than half of Rolling Stone's cover story is about "Enjoy Enjaami" and there is just one quote from Arivu. This sidelining may not be deliberate — the way DU's Oversight Committee's decision was — and it could be an example of the kind of unthinking oversight that the privileged commit all the time when it comes to acknowledging the contribution of the marginalised. Either way, the impression conveyed by the two organisations is that Arivu is not the person they want to promote. Countering the decision of the establishment — it doesn't get more establishment than Rolling Stone and Majja. One of Majja's founders is legendary music director AR Rahman — is the reaction on social media. The songs being freely available on multiple platforms and the (relatively) free access to the artwork and arguments by Dalit creators and critics on social media makes it difficult to invisibilise Arivu.

A translation of Mahasweta Devi's Draupadi is available online as are some of Sukirtharani's poems. DU has dropped Bama's novel Sangati. I'm not sure if there's an extract that's available online. It is not lost on me that it's easier to listen to a song than it is to read a novel, or a short story, or a poem. It is also not lost on me that the fact you can bob to an infectious beat makes it easier to not register the deep-rooted casteism referenced in the lyric, "Enna kora, enna kora, yein chella peraandikku enna kora? (In what way is my darling grandson any less?)" There are no such distractions when you read, for example, Sukirtharani's My Room Needs No Calendar: "As they write on me/ with their penises,/ I will my body to stop/ slithering away."

Sukirtharani and Bama minced no words when they were asked to respond to their works being dropped from the DU syllabus. "I was not surprised at all. Dalit voices such as myself and Bama’s are speaking for all oppressed women, not just Dalit women," said Sukirtharani. "I don’t see this necessary as an exclusion of just Dalit writers as we have seen how progressive writers whose works speak against caste, Hindutva, fundamentalism have also been removed in the recent past. These things will happen in our society, but we cannot be ignored." She said she wasn't going to ask for an explanation, but believed DU owed her an explanation. At the very least, they should have intimated her about the works being dropped. "When they want to project an image of India wherein there are no caste and religious inequalities, our works point out that caste and religious inequalities exist in our society. So, it is obvious that they want such works removed from the syllabus," she said.

Bama said, "For more than 2,000 years, we have been segregated, our histories have not been written. This government is trying to strangulate our voices, but we will shout. The youth of this nation have understood [what is happening]. Rather than being upset, we are angry. The anger will reflect in our works in future.”

I find myself wondering if the business of building a canon was always so complicated and rife with uncertainties. Will the books, music and art propped up by commerce and politics be the ones that make up our mainstream cultural identity? Could we build a better literary canon for Indian literature if more excerpts and poems were available online for free, if more works were translated? Would we care more if the literature was easier to access or would we still dismiss it because they're translations, because the works are by Dalit women? Can the conversations that we hold in the informal spaces of the internet be loud enough to make the canon more inclusive, to make the mainstream expand its narrow definitions? What is more likely to make it into an archive and survive into posterity — the Rolling Stone Cover image or the many "fixed it" versions that people created online? Is it possible that both can and will be preserved? Does dropping the works of writers like Bama and Sukirtharani and Mahasweta Devi make them invisible? Will the dissent make a few more people buy Bama's novel? Will it make some curious enough to look up Sukirtharani's poems?

The words, the tech, the platforms, the imagery — are all these still the master's tools? How long must one wield them before they can claim the tools to be theirs? Will they always be the master's tools and not "our" tools? Is the master the one who cares for the tools and uses them better? Is the master the one with the loudest voice and the deepest pockets, the one who can bribe the boys and hire the deadliest mercenaries? Who decides when the tools have been reclaimed?

[functionalasfuck]

Tag: Post 5 of your favorite actors/actresses from dramas.

Tagged by @lostinbl​ (thanks ❤️❤️❤️!!!!) over on my main blog ( @whyismybigsistersocool ), but I wanted to put it on my sideblog since this is where I put most of my fandom stuff.

Here are my 5 in no particular order

1. Saint Suppapong

For some reason, I have fallen in love with every single role I’ve seen him in. My two ride or die bl ships are AePete and TutorFighter and I have no idea how Saint did that, but I guess we are unworthy of knowing.

2. Joshua Rush

Okay, I don’t know if this counts as an actor from a drama (are Disney Channel shows dramas?), but I’m putting my boy up here. This boy is absolutely amazing. I first saw him in Andy Mack, where he plays the first ever out gay main character on a Disney TV show. But he is also an activist and posts about politics and is extremely passionate about the world. And very open about his bisexuality and, despite being a literal child and younger than me, I look up to him. We need more Joshua Rushes in the world.

3. Jameela Jamil

I feel like I don’t need to say much about why I love her. She is not only hilarious as Tahani in The Good Place, but an activist. I can only hope I can emulate the amount of integrity this woman has. She is a body positive trailblazer who inspires me every single day. AND SHE’S AN AMAZING ACTRESS! How can someone be so moral, talented, and wonderful all at the same time?

4. Chella Man

A trans deaf genderqueer jewish poc artist who is an advocate for disabled people and ALSO AN AMAZING ACTOR. Istg how are there so many talented activists out there? He plays Jericho on Titans and I was blown away by his performance. Jericho is now one of my favorite characters on the show (I also love Gar Logan, he is my baby).

(I’m noticing a pattern in these actors... 🤔)

5. Freema Agyeman

So, she is just beautiful. And talented. And a glowing person. She played Amanita in Sense8 (literal favorite character and amazing show). And I want a love like her and Nomi have. Where can I get an Amanita? I’ve also seen her as Martha Jones in Doctor Who and Larissa Laughlin in The Carrie Diaries. She just has an energy about her that makes me love everything she is in. So I had to put her on here. 

I feel like there is definitely more, and definitely people I forgot. But here are my 5 as of right now. 

[moonlightperseus]

list 5 shows that make you feel better and tag 5 people to do the same

ty @bookersebastien for the tag sorry this is such a late response

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender my cousins introduced this show to me when i was young and i have been in love with it ever since. it is one of my go to shows when im in need of comfort

2. Killjoys killjoys is, perhaps, one of the very best shows I’ve ever watched. it’s got found family, wacky shenanigans in space, male characters who say “fuck your toxic masculinity!” and its got four canon queer characters. ugh i just love this show so much  (i actually need to see if my two friends who i was introducing it to want to get back to watching it when they’re less busy)

3. Leverage I only just watched leverage pretty recently actually, but it really was absolutely fantastic. i am very excited for leverage 2 and seeing these fantastic characters again.

4. Titans okay, so i know objectively, titans isn’t the best show by any means, but honestly, out of all the dc shows i’ve watched, it’s one of my favorites, and it does hold an especially dear place in my heart (and i really hope we get to see more of Chella Man’s Jericho in season 3, because he was one of the best things about s2)

5. 911  I must confess my feelings for this show are kinda.. on mute right now, but i have thoroughly enjoyed this show and i hope that joy is able to return when the show starts back up again. me and my mom happened across it by chance i think? and we watched the first episode and it was... a wild ride and we were hooked. it has some great characters and found family and occasionally very.... amusing? moments. 

tagging: @zaritomaz @nilefreemans @coffeebeannate @cyaniiderain @even-after-a-millennia

[drunkdumbfucker]

Hi!!! Your Amis netflix series edit is SO AWESOME! The skill!! And the setting being Mai 68 is also so clever!!!! Nuits des barricades!!! And I can totally imagine Jehan holding a "L'imagination au pouvoir" banner, oh oh and what if Javert is the one behind the threats Enjolras has been receiving? — (this isn't even a real series and you got me all excited for God's sake).

Anyways, I looked up the two actors you named in the edit, one is Enjolras and the other Grantaire I assume? But then the face doesn't match with the one in the pannel where Enjolras is talking to him.

Did you give each character a face? And if you did, could you please tell the name of the actors/actresses you chose for each ami?

Thanks so much!

Nonnie I love you so much. Also you are in for a ride, this ask is fantastic thank you so much for all these questions and suggestions and for taking the time to write it all. SO. I’m not very organized, I apologize. 

Idk why I had Montparnasse and the whole Patron-Minette gang for the threats sent to Enjolras, Jehan is the one who finds the necessary clues and entirely falls in love with Mont hehe.

In my mind Javert is married to Jean Valjean and they are Cosette’s foster family (don’t worry I got way too overboard making this edit the headcanons are wild)

for a modern-ish setting, Mai 68 would be perfect and it made complete sense in my head so I’m glad you agree. I won’t get into the whole movement but the way it had an impact on so many fields: working conditions, students representation and voices, the new art groups/pieces that came out of it and the medias’ evolution through the movement etc, all these fields would be represented and analysed in such a perfect way through the characters nngggghghnhnhhg.

Enjolras is indeed Paul Boche (thank you for taking the time to look them up!!)

the other one (Ty Ogunkoya) would be Courfeyrac actually! :D

I have faceclaim ideas for some of the other Amis, I’ll put them up under the read more if you’re curious to hear about these <3 Thanks again for the ask! Jump in my dms if you want to scream about tv show ideas hehe

Combeferre: Sakaguchi Sentaro

Eponine: Aiyana Lewis

Gavroche: Logan Rozos

Bahorel: Danny Davis

Feuilly: Serena Motola

Musichetta: Sabina Karlsson

Bossuet: B.J. Britt

Joly: Chella Man

Marius: Charlie Rowe

Cosette: Natalia Castellar

ETC ETC

(Javert is Jon Hamm and I’m still not sure about Valjean kskss) Jehan is a shapeshifting fae so they have no determined face)

[hergrim]

Estimates of troop strengths in the Wot5K - A Game of Thrones

Introduction

One of several projects I’m working on at the moment is an analysis of the War of the Five Kings from a purely medieval military history point of view, taking a somewhat more critical view of the various commanders and their actions than is usual. Part of the ongoing process has been estimating the troop strengths and, where possible, the composition of armies. Since these calculations would derail any essay, I’ve decided to edit my notes into something resembling coherent thought and post them here, so I can just refer to them when I publish the essays.

Originally the essay series I’m working on was focused entirely on Robb, but it has now expanded to encompass the war more generally. As such, this first post will just be about the troop counts and army compositions featured in A Game of Thrones. As I do more on Renly, Stannis and Balon, I’ll post some estimates for A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords.

Robb Stark and the Northern host

The numbers given for Robb’s army in the ASOIAF wiki are actually what started me on the process of providing my own estimates for the various armies, as I think it makes a few significant methodological errors in the process, which has a knock on effect for how Robb’s decisions need to be interpreted. Primarily, I disagree with the numbers given for Robb at Moat Cailin and the breakdown of infantry vs cavalry.

Robb's initial Northern force consists of 19,500 men (AGOT, Catelyn VII), with slightly more than 1/4 being heavy cavalry (AGOT, Bran VI gives the figures of 3,300-3,400 heavy cavalry out of an initial muster of 12,000). This would suggest ~14,500 infantry and ~5,000 heavy cavalry in his Northern host.

Starting with with Bran VI, I have a slightly different interpretation of Maester Luwin’s breakdown of the heavy cavalry. His explanation of the numbers to Bran is that there are “Three hundred, perhaps four [hundred]” knights “among three thousand armored lances who are not knights.” The original calculator has taken this to mean that there are 300-400 knights in addition to the other 3000 heavy cavalry, and this is a perfectly valid interpretation of the sentence. However, I believe that Luwin’s use of “among” signals that the knights should be taken as part of the 3000, not as an addition to them for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, GRRM uses “among” in an inclusive sense elsewhere in AGOT. When Tyrion thinks on the Field of Fire, for instance, King Mern is “among” the 4000 men burned, not the 4001st man to be burnt, and Ned Stark thinks on the fact that he’d never spoken to Gregor during Greyjoy’s Rebellion because he was just “one knight among thousands”. So, while Luwin’s phrasing can be interpreted as meaning that the knights are there in addition to the other heavy horse, I think GRRM’s general use of “among” as an inclusive term means that they are intended to be included among the 3000 heavy horse, not separated from them.

Secondly, while the proportion of heavy horse gathered at Winterfell would be quite large even with the knights as part of the 3000, the general trend of what individual contingents we see is of very low proportions of heavy horse; just 13% of the Karstark forces is heavy horse (300 out of 2300), Roose has 500 mounted men (14%) out of 3500 men just before the Red Wedding (ASOS, Catelyn VI) and, in spite of having the highest number of landed knights, the Manderlys only send 240 horse (16% of 1500 men) to join Robb at Moat Cailin (AGOT, Catelyn VII). This general trend of low numbers of cavalry suggests to me that, when the numbers of cavalry can be taken in two ways, the smallest option should be taken.

This leads to the second major disagreement I have with the wiki’s army size estimates: the assumption that the 1500 Manderly men in Catelyn VII are in addition to the 18 000 men that Robb already has, not the contingent that brings Robb’s forces up to 18 000. This is a number that I’m more confident of; Robb’s statement that his "whole army” is 18 000 men strong comes well after the Manderlys have arrived, and the use of ravens for communications likely means that Robb knew how large the Manderly force was going to be shortly after they left White Harbour.

The reduction of Robb’s army to 18 000 total men and the reassessment of typical contingents from slightly over 25% cavalry to 13-16% cavalry also requires a lowering of the total cavalry from ~5000 at Moat Cailin to a maximum of 4000 cavalry. The number of foot, however, doesn’t need to be significantly reduced.

There are some references to Robb having 20 000 men (AGOT, Catelyn IX; ACOK, Catelyn II), which would better fit the wiki’s figure of 19 500 men. The problem is that we also hear of there being six thousand men with Robb at the Whispering Woods (AGOT, Catelyn X), which is far too few if we go with the wiki’s number of 5000 Northern cavalry for Robb. Between the Freys, the Mallisters (see below) and the other scattered Riverland remnants who join Robb, he’d have near enough to 7000 cavalry by the time of the Whispering Woods, and he wouldn’t be outnumbered by Jaime by 3:1, but by 2:1 (AGOT, Catelyn X).

My way of resolving this conflict is to suggest that both instances of people saying Robb having 20 000 men were exaggerations, not accurate accountings of size. In the first instance, Catelyn is angry with Lord Frey and is threatening him with the size of Robb’s army. In this scenario, claiming that there are “twenty thousand men” outside of Lord Walder’s walls is easier to say than “eighteen thousand men”, being a rounder number, and is also more threatening because it increases the size of Robb’s army. In the second instance, Renly is summarizing reports he has received of Robb’s strength, and there is plenty of room for errors to creep into these reports and for Renly to be generous in his estimates of Robb’s strength, as it only emphasizes the disparity in strength between Robb and Renly if Robb has fewer troops than Renly allows for (which he does).

On the other hand, Robb’s statement that he has 18 000 men occurs long enough after the Manderlys have arrived for him to have factored their force into his calculations and Catelyn is present with Robb at the Whispering Woods and should have a good idea of his strength. This is supported by Galbart Glover’s estimate of Jaime’s 14-15 000 men outnumbering Robb’s force by three to one. If Lord Glover is assuming that Jaime has 15 000 men, and Robb 6000 men, then Jaime outnumbers Robb by 2.5:1 which, rounded up, would be three to one. Additionally, Catelyn may have been overstating Robb’s numbers in her mind for exaggeration and contrast between his bodyguard of 30 and his army of 6000, neither of which she is certain can protect him from harm. Robb may well have had 5500-5750 men rather than 6000, which pushes the degree to which his is outnumbered by closer to three to one.

I think this proposal reconciles the contradictions in the text and offers support for my “low count” of 18 000 men. After all, if Galbart Glover is rounding up to 3 for effect, then why can’t Catelyn or Renly do the same?

Tywin’s army at the Green Fork

The size of Tywin’s army at the battle on the Green Fork is one of the few armies that we have a mostly reliable estimate for. Chella estimates it at twenty thousand men, “by their fires” and, based on the area the camp occupies, Tyrion thinks that she can’t be far wrong (AGOT, Tyrion VII). This is further reinforced in the next of Tyrion’s chapters where, after having settled in, he calls it a ”vast host twenty thousand strong”.

The one minor caveat here is that we don’t know how many men were with Addam Marbrand scouting Robb’s approach. The Neck is something in the order of 370 miles away from the Ruby Ford and the crossroads, which is 15 days of hard riding and 21-22 days of fast, horse preserving, riding. Marbrand is definitely operating quite near the Neck, as a number of his outriders are killed immediately after Robb debouches into the Riverlands, so there was an expectation that he would be facing down Robb’s army at some point and that means a sizeable force for protection during the retreat downriver to Tywin. There’s also evidence of skirmishing between Marbrand and Walder Frey’s forces, which relates to another point: the scouting force needed to be large enough to give Walder reason to pause and not immediately attack if he saw an opportunity.

Given the speed of communications between Marbrand and Tywin and the distance between the two forces, it’s likely that at least one castle with a resident Maester had been taken by Marbrand near Frey lands in order to reduce the delay in communication. While we haven’t heard of a such a castle being taken, it’s the only way that the message for Marbrand to return to Tywin, burning and harassing the Northern army, so soon after it entered the Riverlands.

Medieval scouting parties could range between dozens of men all the way up to several hundred men, largely depending on how far they were operating from their own army and how much opposition they expected to face. One of the largest forces was William Felton’s scouting/deeds of derring-do party prior to the Battle of Nájera, which had somewhere between four and five hundred men, approximately 200 of whom were men-at-arms and the remainder were mounted archers. This is probably the minimum size of Marbrand’s scouting force, although it would be mostly cavalry as mounted archers barely exist in ASOIAF, and I suspect that six or seven hundred men would be more likely based on the need to capture a castle for communications and then skirmish during the retreat.

Combined with Tyrion’s force, Marbrand’s scouting party might well raise Tywin’s army to 21 000 men rather than 20 000, especially if Tyrion and Chella were being conservative in their estimates of the army size and it was more than 20 000 strong.

This caveat aside, the important thing about Tywin’s army is that, unlike most armies in ASOIAF, we can create a fairly accurate breakdown of the army’s composition thanks to the detail GRRM goes into in describing the Battle on the Green Fork. He lists a total of 6800 cavalry (4000 on the right wing, 300 in the center and 2500 in reserve) and 2500 infantry (in reserve). From these figures, the mention of what the other troop types are and the overall size of the army, we can reconstruct the rest of the army.

Starting with the conventional 20 000 number to be conservative, we can remove 9300 men straight away, leaving us with 10 700 men. Of these, perhaps a thousand form the “swarming mass” that makes up the vanguard, as it’s likely that the “thousand other voices” screaming back at Gregor excludes Tyrion’s clansmen - any fewer and it’s hard to describe it as a “swarming mass” of low quality cavalry. This leaves us with 9 700 men to account for.

The center of Twyin’s army is made up of “squares” of pikemen flanked on either side by “three long lines” of archers, with “rank on rank” of men-at-arms behind the archers and a reserve of 300 knights. This is where we fully enter the realms of speculation.

To begin with, we don’t know what exactly is meant by “squares” of pikemen. Medieval pike columns could contain as many as 6000 men, while early modern squares might have as few as 100, so any size estimate is going to involve a lot of guesswork. I’ve gone back and forward about how to interpret this phrase and have finally decided to treat the “squares” as distinct units for the purposes of command, but tactically in a similar manner to 15th century dismounted men-at-arms. As a result, I’m estimating their strength as 250 men - to be deployed 10 deep - and their total number to be 3000 men (12 pike squares). This allows for a reasonable width of line in the center (300 yards), but also adequate depth to resist cavalry charges.

Estimates for the archers and men-at-arms follow directly on from this. The archers need to be in thousands because, as Philippe de Commynes points out, they’re only useful when employed in such numbers. Given that fully half of Jaime’s infantry are archers, I’m inclined to assign 4000 archers and 2700 men-at-arms to Tywin so that his overall archer to footsoldier ratio is about 1:2. The archers, each occupying a space of three feet, would occupy 667 yards on either side of the pikes and the men-at-arms, each occupying four and a half foot, would have the same frontage, but double the depth (6 ranks).

In all, I believe a conservative estimate of Tywin’s numbers, not counting Tyrion’s Clansmen, to be 7800 cavalry, 3000 pikemen, 2700 men-at-arms, 4000 archers and 2500 other infantry of an indeterminate type.

The Mallister forces

The number of men Jason Mallister can field, in spite of his importance during Robb’s initial campaign and later at the Battle of the Fords, has yet to be mentioned. While I’ve seen a number of estimates, with numbers as low as 1500-2000 men, the best estimate I’ve seen to date has been @racefortheironthrone‘s estimate in his Chapter-by-Chapter analysis of A Game of Thrones. 

However, some interesting information in Fire and Blood has caused me to rethink the relative military power of House Mallister, and I believe I’ve also found a semi-reliable method of estimating their forces. The particular passage can be found in the chapter titled “Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf” and runs thus:

House Tully was unique amongst the great houses of Westeros. Aegon the Conqueror had made them the Lords Paramount of the Trident, yet in many ways they continued to be overshadowed by many of their own bannermen. The Brackens, the Blackwoods, and the Vances all ruled wider domains and could field much larger armies, as could the upstart Freys of the Twins. The Mallisters of Seagard had a prouder lineage, the Mootons of Maidenpool were far wealthier, and Harrenhal, even cursed and blasted and in ruins, remained a more formidable castle than Riverrun, and ten times the size besides.

The main point of interest is that the four military powerhouses of the Riverlands are the Brackens, the Blackwoods, the Vances and the Freys, while the Mallisters are excluded from this list. Instead, they are singled out as having a better pedigree than the Tullys which, although not excluding them from having marginally larger armies than their overlords, does quite firmly give them fewer men than House Frey.

In re-examining the question of Mallister manpower, I was inspired by @racefortheironthrone‘s comment that Jason Mallister must have had substantial forces, as his men covered four fords by themselves. Since we know roughly how many infantry Edmure was working with (8000, ACOK Catelyn V) and the minimum number of fords (12, ACOK Catelyn VI), we can get a reasonable maximum number of Mallister strength by assuming that all fords had an equal number of defenders and that there were only twelve being defended. This provides a maximum number of 2664 infantry and, based on typical Riverland horse to foot ratios, about 890 horse, for a total of 3554 men.

These are, however, maximum numbers. While the ford nearest to Riverrun is very broad and at least 50 yards wide (ACOK, Catelyn VI), it’s likely that the other fords were much narrower and more easily defended. It’s also probable that there were more than a dozen fords, and that Tywin was simply trying to break through a broad stretch of the river rather than overwhelm every ford. 

Based on the number of men stationed at the Blanchetaque by the French during the Crecy campaign (3500) and probable English numbers by that point (12-13 000), I would say that medieval commanders expected that someone attacking a ford needed an advantage of at least four to one to succeed. As Tywin can’t have had above 16 000 men at this point in the campaign and, being a cautious man who preferred to significantly outnumber his enemies, likely aimed to have an advantage of 5:1 over the defenders, the minimum number of men for House Mallister can be calculated as 1070 infantry and 357 cavalry, or 1427 men total.

This means there’s a difference of 2100 men between the maximum and minimum estimates, but I think we can discard anything close to the minimum number. 

Firstly, the Mallisters are clearly a powerful house, even if they aren’t one of the four military powers of the Riverlands. There’s no reason to suspect that they are significantly less powerful than House Tully, which must be capable of raising at least a couple of thousand men, and they may still even exceed the Tullys in military might given House Tully’s typical weakness compared to their lords.

Secondly, the Mallisters saw off what, if not an attack by the main Ironborn fleet, was at least a major assault by the Ironborn during Greyjoy’s Rebellion and were placed in charge of what was probably one of the largest fords across the Red Fork. You don’t fend off even part of the Iron Fleet or get selected to defend a ford at least fifty yards across unless you can bring a lot of men to bear in the defense of these fords.

Ultimately, I don’t see the Mallisters having much fewer than 2000 foot and 668 heavy horse. As I like round numbers and don’t believe the Mallisters have as many men as the maximum calculation provides, I’m going to give them a total of 3000 men as an optimistic estimate, divided between 2250 foot and 750 heavy horse. This makes them quite a powerful house militarily, but keeps them sufficiently under the minimum army size for a Riverlands powerhouse (4000) that they noticeably fall short of this status. 

[loubuggins]

Titans Age Gap (Updated!)

With the filming of S2, this whole age gap debacle has been rearing its ugly head again. Now I’m tired of hearing this ridiculously hypocritical argument, so I’m going to kill it before it has a chance to spread any further.

“Teagan is just a baby!”

“You can’t ship Raven and Gar in Titans because AGE GAP!”

“Shipping Gar and Rachel is pedophilia!”

These arguments stem from a dislike of the characters, not legitimate concerns of safety for minors. How do I know this? Because each one and others like them all center around the characters, not the actors themselves. See if people actually cared about Teagan, they wouldn’t want her to play Raven at all. Raven as a character has always been sexualized across all forms of media. Raven is the DC fandom’s shipping bicycle that every other character seems to get to ride on. There was WallyRae in New Teen Titans, StarRae in Earth One, and every bat boy ever known throughout the rest. So it should come to no ones surprise that she would be shipped with every character that breathes on Titans. If you don’t want a minor playing a role of a character that is shipped with other characters played by adult actors, than say it like that.

Stop saying BBRae/GarRae shippers have to stop shipping the pair exclusively. If you are uncomfortable with a minor playing a character that is shipped with characters played by adult actors, call for a recast. Make the claim that Teagan should not be playing Raven in a cast filled with adults. That’s a legitimate argument.

Now let’s say you are okay with it. Here’s the defense to make. Teagan made a comment on an Instagram post, claiming “y’all forget the characters are the same age, it’s shipping the actual people which is weird; we are not our characters.” This means, don’t ship the actors. But do ship the characters if you want! There’s a difference.

Ryan has said similar in interviews that you all can dig up on your own time if you don’t believe me. Personally, if the actors are okay with us shipping their characters (and subsequently their parents if they are minors), than that’s enough permission for me. So the green light is lit to ship Raven in Titans. Now let’s look at the ages shall we?

Ryan Potter September 12, 1995 (age 24 years)

Curran Walters January 16, 1998 (age 21 years)

Chella Man November 26, 1998 (age 20 years)

Teagan Croft April 22, 2004 (age 15 years)

Chelsea Zhang November 4, 1996 (age 22 years)

Ryan & Teagan Age Gap = 9 years

Curran & Teagan Age Gap = 7 years

Chella & Teagan Age Gap = 6 years

Garfield Logan Born 2003 (Age 14-15 years)

Jason Todd Born 1999 (Age 19-20 years)

Jericho (Age 21-24 years according to casting call)

Rose (Age 18+, exact age not yet confirmed) *picture below is proof*

Rachel Roth Born 2005 (Age 13-14 years)

Gar & Raven Age Gap = about 1 year

Jason & Raven Age Gap = about 6 years

Jericho & Raven Age Gap = about 8 years

Raven & Rose Age Gap = at least 4 years

Now what should these numbers mean? Well, we’ve established that you either A) Don’t want Teagan as a minor to be on the cast of Titans or B) You listen to what she said and feel it’s okay to ship her character with another character. If you fall into the A category, I respect that, but that doesn’t mean others have to follow suit. This is a agree to disagree situation.

If you fall into category B, then you can decide who you ship her with. Now look at the character ages. I used Jason and Jericho in addition to Gar, because these are the other characters I hear people shipping her with. *Update: lots of people are now shipping Rachel with Rose, so I added her in here too. On the rare occasion I also hear her being shipped with Dick, but I think it’s been clear that is not going to be a romantic relationship. For the same reasons I’m about to give, plus the fact that he’s already in a weird love triangle thing with Kory and Dawn.

Going back to the character ages, you’ll notice that the only character that is age appropriate for Raven (Rachel) is Gar. Jason is an adult. Jericho is an adult (and probably going to be gay I think but that’s neither here nor there). Rose is an adult (at least 18). So at this point, the age gap argument applies. No one should be shipping a 14 year old character with an adult character. This has nothing to do with the actors themselves at this point. Just looking at the characters, Raven is a minor. Gar is a minor. Jason is an adult. Jericho is an adult. Now if Raven was 17 and Jason was 18, I could see a legitimate defense. But that’s not the case. Raven and Jason have a 6 year age gap and while I have seen relationships work out with bigger age gaps than that, none of them started when one or more of the partners were under 18. It’s not only uncomfortable, but it’s illegal. It’s this ship that should be criticized for the age gap. If you don’t want to criticize this ship, than you can’t criticize GarRae for an age gap. Update: The same applies to RoseRae. Rose is an adult, while Rachel is still a minor. Gar is the only other minor on the show. I don’t think it is in good taste to ship Rachel with any of the adult characters, but I won’t stop you. This is simply a reminder that if you ship RoseRae or JayRose, you cannot tell GarRae shippers that they can’t ship their ship because of an age gap that also applies to RoseRae and JayRose. All of the ships have an age gap in real life. Only GarRae/BBRae are free of the age gap issue on the show.

Now of course I’m not saying everyone HAS to ship Raven with Gar. Not at all. I’m only saying that there is only one character that we currently know of that is age appropriate for Raven. If you don’t like GarRae, that’s totally fine! Shipping is about taste and we don’t all have to have the same taste. But you cannot call people pedophiles for shipping GarRae when there are people who ship JayRae (Jason/Raven) and those two characters actually have a significant age gap! It’s completely upside down!

Either you ship GarRae (BBRae) or you don’t. Simple. People shipping GarRae are not doing anything wrong. If you have a problem with the ACTORS age gap, than you should be against ALL Raven ships in the Titans universe and want Teagan off the show. At least be consistent, otherwise your argument is mute. But if you just don’t like GarRae being a thing in the show, just say you don’t like GarRae. Be honest. Stop trying to make the ship look like something it’s not. It is not pedophilia! The characters are at most a year apart. Now shipping Ryan with Teagan is wrong! Don’t do that! But shipping their characters? That’s okay and the actors themselves have said as much. If you don’t like the ship, that’s fine, but if I hear the excuse of the age gap again, I’m going to link this post. Because all of this should be enough to kill that argument and if you don’t understand the point of this post, just block me and make both our lives easier. I hope this clears things up for people. Ship it or don’t ship it, but stop calling people pedophiles for it. Cool?