#extremely cosigned to all of this

[qqueenofhades]

The thing that confuses me about the "don't vote" left (not the "I don't want to vote", I'm talking explicitly the "don't vote" left. I don't agree with the "I don't want to vote" left either but I can understand their logic) is they lose me at the final step of the logic. I've tried to connect the logic here, even if I don't agree with a political position I do try to understand where people are coming from (empathy for someones situation is not the same as cosigning it), but I just can't connect the dots here in a way that isn't deeply cruel. Does United States politics prioritize the lives of those in the US (and often white) over those in the Global South? Yes, it's a fucking atrocity. We should continue to make noise about it, cus Biden has used less drones and that shows progress, even if it's not enough. The part where I lose the plot is where the conclusion to this injustice is to let even more people die? Cus that's kinda how I see the idea of not voting: I can pick between shit and more shit, and at the end of the day, I'm picking whoever allows the most people to make it to the next day. Given Trumps stance on everything but specifically climate change, I feel like Biden is pretty significant harm reduction.

I don't think both things can't be true: that every life lost is a travesty we should not forget AND the more people we can save is worth fighting for.

The thing is, I have seen nothing among the "don't vote" far left (and I am talking here specifically about the people who both loudly announce their intention not to vote and try to convince others to do the same) to convince me that they actually care about harm reduction or stopping genocide. They only care about what makes them look the most Correct and/or superior to the Democrats. They yelled bloody murder about Obama using drones, they went dead quiet about Trump using them even more (even when he nearly started WWIII by assassinating the Iranian general Soleimani with one), and then said nothing at all when Biden reduced the drone program to almost nothing and withdrew the US from a failed war in Afghanistan it had long ago lost. Now they will yell all day about Israel/Hamas (something that Biden did not start and has had no direct military role in responding to) but they don't care about Russian genocide of Ukraine and Syria, Chinese threats to invade Taiwan, etc, because those governments are "anti-western/anti-American" and therefore should be defended. Their opposition to human suffering is extremely conditional and rests on whether they can look good out of it, and they never interrogate the hypocrisies of their own ideology.

Likewise: every country in the world prizes its own citizens above those of other countries. It's just a basic fact. Yes, the US has a grim history of intervening in other countries and causing untold civilian damage (especially during the Cold War and then in post-9/11 War on Terrorism). Yes, that legacy is complex and needs to be acknowledged. But literally none of that will be fixed, not to mention all the vulnerable people in America itself who will be punished, by Trump getting into power again. Biden is not just a grudging "lesser evil," but has done a lot of truly good and helpful things, regardless of the Online Leftists' constant lies, misinformation, and misrepresentation. If you spend all your time announcing what a champion you are for non-American marginalised people and/or those undergoing terrible suffering, and then deliberately and knowingly adhere to a course of action that will increase that suffering tenfold not only for those people but your own neighbors, friends, and family, then no, I don't believe you are a brave champion of social justice. You just want to know what categories of people you can gleefully and righteously punish and make to suffer for not believing the same things as you, that makes you just as dangerous as the right-wing fascists, and I can and will call out your ass accordingly.

[cryobabyy]

Husband!Cooper but from Y/N perspective, queen???

Of course pookie mwah😘

Cooper is an extremely attentive husband. He's the glue holding the relationship together and you're not sure how you would function without him.

He's a classic type C. He's organized, on top of things, practical, punctual, and efficient in all aspects. This complements your easygoing, forgetful, and spontaneous nature. You come up with the ideas, and he thinks about the logistics.

Cooper functions as a built-in task manager for you. You would be a mess without him.

"Honey, don't forget to pay that parking ticket." "Remember you signed up for that Pilates class! It's next Tuesday." "Baby, your car is past due for an oil change. You want me to handle it?"

You have a running joke where you refer to him as "The manager". If something goes wrong you're like. "Can I speak to the manager?" and then he's clocked in to fix your situation lol

He cosigns all of your antics. You decided you're vegan now? He bought you a vegan cookbook. You want to reorganize the entire garage? He's installing new shelves this weekend. You want to do some random DIY shit you saw on TikTok? He's driving you to Michaels after work. Whatever it is you're up to, Cooper wants to be a part of it in some way. He's very involved.

When you travel, he runs a tight ship. He makes sure you're packed a week in advance, you're at the airport 3 hours early, he has your passports/IDs/boarding passes. You brought uno to play on the plane and snacks.

He has an 810 credit score and you have no idea how??

He's always touching you. Hand on the small of your back, resting on your thigh while watching true crime documentaries on Netflix, an arm around your shoulder when you're walking.

Hates arguing with you. Sometimes he makes you feel irrational by tackling your grievances with pragmatic solutions when you just want to vent, but you're glad at least someone is thinking rationally.

Sometimes you wonder if he has some form of OCD? Most of your quarrels stem from him going overboard with the cleaning/organization/uptightness. Results in random petty arguments.

"I don't understand why we can't just use one type of olive oil."

"Because extra virgin olive oil is for drizzling and cooking olive oil is for sauteing. There's a difference."

"Olive oil is olive oil, Cooper."

Fights don't usually last long. You might be butt hurt, but Cooper has a sense of humor that breaks the tension. You can never stay mad because he makes you laugh. It pisses you off.

"I can tell you're trying not to laugh, by the way."

"Leave me ALOOOOONEEEE."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for getting a total permanent disability discharge on my loan and leaving my cosigner father fully responsible ?

background: in fall 2020 I started college. not directly out of high school because of mental and physical health problems but a year later. this was community college, but I was very financially unprepared. i honestly didn’t know anything about how student loans or paying for college worked. but the year I spent at home was very stressful as my parents always told me “get a job, go to school, or move out” and all options were extremely difficult for me physically and mentally. I tried to explain this to them for years but they never really listened so I felt backed into a corner. We are also not very well off and my parents have never been able to set aside a “college fund” for any of us and expect us to financially handle ourselves, because there wasn’t much other choice. I got some federal loans and some grants but it ended up not being enough, and I didn’t realize that until halfway into my first semester. I spent a lot of time panicking, feeling suicidal, really unsure what to do and didn’t really know where to even start resolving the situation, all exacerbated by a severe untreated anxiety disorder. Eventually my dad agreed to cosign an $8k private loan. Fast forward to fall 2021 and I had to drop out, because of financial, medical and emotional reasons. I once again (due to a different mistake) didn’t have the funds to continue the semester and this time we absolutely could not afford another loan. In January 2022, my disabilities became more severe and now I could not attend school even if I had the means, let alone participate in gainful employment. Federal loans were on pause but that did not apply to the $8k loan, which is now over $10k due to interest. It has absolutely made my familys financial situation worse and made me suicidal. I am applying for SSI but always knowing i’ll have this massive loan hanging over my head makes life feel not worth living. if I didn’t have this loan (and if my federal TPD gets accepted) I would feel a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. I don’t know if I gain much from taking this loan I cannot pay and putting it solely on my fathers shoulders will help anything…but it does make the end of the tunnel look a little brighter. WIBTA?

What are these acronyms?

[conceptofjoy]

hot take as in take that makes me extremely attractive everyone in homestuck is trans. All of em. They're all trans now

COSIGNED!!!!!!!!!✅✅✅✅✅✅✍️

[momsforroadhead]

Masterpost of Palestinian people who have messaged me asking for help

UPDATED 08 AUGUST DISCLAIMER!!! To my knowledge, the wonderful peope who had been handling the vetting network seem to have stopped, due to burnout and/or extremely poor and cruel treatment from the tumblr community. Some campaigns will be included for which i can't confirm verification. Please ask yourself if you would rather "avoid the slim chance of giving a small sum of money to a scam" or "help somebody who is in need and who you can easily help".

mahmoud1995: Mahmoud Alkhaldi, seeking to escape to Egypt with his fiancé and his younger brother's family. Reblogged by 90-ghost. 6 435/50 000$ THE GOFUNDME LISTED IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS

falestine-yousef: Mr. Al-Haq, seeking financial help to care for her newborn son and elderly parents who are already ill. Reblogged by 90-ghost. 8 619/40 000$

safaamm: Safaa, seeking financial help to care for her newborn. Reblogged by 90-ghost. 6 085/75 000$

tahseenkhazen: Tahseen Alkhazendar, seeking financial help to care for his wife and children, as well as rebuild their home. Verified by northgazaupdates, among others. 8 030/25 000$

free-gaza2: Doaa Jad Al Haq now lives in Egypt but needs the money to restart her career and care for her autistic child. Reblogged by 90-ghost. 3 844/5 000$

nourabd1992: Noureddine needs money to care for his children, including a newborn. Cosigned by roadimusprime. 5 790/45 000$

motaz225: Motaz is asking for money to care for his family. Reblogged by ana-bananya. 9 086/250 000kr

ahmadresh: Ahmed Abu Al-Rish is asking for money to support his family (parents) and continue his studies. 3 026/10 000$

dinamahammed99: Dina is asking for money to support her young children, including a newborn. Cosigned by a previously vetted campaign through dlxxv-vetted-donations. 2 045/30 000$

aboodgaza: Abood is asking for money to help him and his new wife Maria afford basic necessities. 310/40 000$

saveyouseffamily: Yousef Al-Habeel is asking for money to care for his son who is sick with a chest infection and in hospital. Vetted by the Butterfly Project. 9 547/20 000£

bilalassadabedrabou: Bilal Abed-Rabou is asking for money to support his family (parents) and continue his studies. Vetted by 90-ghost. 6 136/80 000€

m0hammed1: Mohamed Hussein Ismail is asking for money to support his parents and siblings. His previous account was vetted but later deleted so this is a new one. 8 414/25 000€

as-maa-56: Asmaa is asking for money to continue her studies. Her GoFundMe is vetted, all three of her accounts promote the same campaign. 2 165/50 000$

doaabassel95: Doaa is asking for money to transport her family (husband and 3 young children) to a safer place. Cosigned by ahmedabuyamin (another vetted campaign). 575/35 000€

olaferwana: Ola is asking for money to bring her 3 children (including a newborn) to join their father in Egypt. 459/35 000€

4-zien-yousef: Yousef Hilles, currently in Belgium, is asking for money to evacuate his children and wife out of Gaza. GoFundMe vetted by el-shab-hussein. 12 483/23 000€

fatensama12: Faten and her husband Ahmed are asking for money to care for their children, one of which is showing symptoms of a skin disease. GoFundMe vetted by nabulsi and el-shab-hussein. 13 213/50 000$

ghaziyounes1967: Ghazi (currently in Egypt) is asking for money to evacuate his aunt out of Gaza. Vetted by 90-ghost. 2 540/50 000$

hayanahed: Haya is asking for money to help her and her family cross into Egypt. Number 26 on operation Olive Branch's list of vetted fundraisers. 65 000/100 000€

[theluckywizard]

In the Shattering of Things, Ch. 67: A Diplomatic Affair

Summary: Rose continues preparations for the peace talks at Halamshiral learning what she can from Leliana, Josephine and Vivienne. The Game. The players. Tailoring fit for a bard. Dancing. And when all the pressure steals away any hope of relaxing, she finds comfort in the familiar.

Fic Summary: Lady Rose Trevelyan's idle, aristocratic life blinks out in a haze of irrelevance when the breach destroys the Conclave. She may be soft and coddled when she joins the Inquisition, but there's a fierceness inside her she's yet to fully recognize. Armed with only a few relevant skills and the mark that makes her a legend, she is thrust onto a path delivering hope where it’s long been scorched away and finds comfort in the grumpy, handsome stick in the mud charged with her protection and training. As she stumbles her way across southern Thedas, she begins to realize she's tangled at the center of machinations she barely understands, and she's not alone in that. Enter Hawke.

Excerpt below the cut!👇

Vivienne gazes across the old table between us, the barest crease of concern marking her brow, but I see it. “Romantic entanglements can be a dreadful inconvenience. But they can also be a source of great strength. Certainly I could have pursued my ambitions confidently without Bastien’s support, but his steadiness has been nothing but a boon. It isn’t romantic relations that’s the problem precisely, it’s managing your disappointments,” she says, a little too pointedly. “I’m well aware of how things failed to coalesce between you and the Commander.”

Of course she knows. I open my mouth to speak but she continues.

“I’m also aware of the liaison between you and Hawke that seems to have concluded.”

I gasp a dismayed laugh. “So the gossip reached you too.”

“Not at all, darling. I would have to have been fantastically blind to have missed it.”

So much for being discreet. “It was a fling,” I explain.

She bears into me with another focused look, her serene expression not quite hiding the turning gears of her calculating mind.

“I need to stay focused.”

“Mm.”

I fidget under her scrutiny. “Obviously.”

“I’m glad we both agree,” she says, an abiding tension in her voice. “There are also the political implications to consider. Choosing a partner or a lover is a reflection of your priorities and values.”

My breathing tightens as I consider what might have been construed from a relationship with my own general.

“Forgive me my impertinence but consider. Publicly partnering with a templar, the man known to have cosigned on years of Knight-Commander Meredith’s mismanagement and eventual madness? Not that he didn’t single handedly hold Kirkwall together in the aftermath, but that’s a stench that will never quite wash off. I’m sure he’d agree. Still, he’s a general. He carries himself with commensurate gravitas. And he refuses to engage in the machinations of politicians. You can guess what conclusions might have been drawn.”

“And the Champion ? Well that’s another matter entirely. His celebrity could be advantageous. But given his relatively apolitical status, his strange associates and disastrous choices are normally dismissed as curiosities than anything worth careful scrutiny. Aligning with him publicly would change that. You’d be associated with someone who supported mage extremism.”

“I think if you spoke with him you’d find—”

“The truth of it matters little. Only the appearance.”

I purse my lips, prickling in his defense. In my defense. And Maker knows why.

Read the rest here!

Start the fic here!

DAFF Tag List:

@warpedlegacy | @rakshadow | @rosella-writes | @effelants | @bluewren | @breninarthur | @ar-lath-ma-cully | @dreadfutures | @ir0n-angel | @inquisimer | @crackinglamb | @nirikeehan | @oxygenforthewicked | @about2dance | @exalted-dawn-drabbles | @melisusthewee | @blarrghe | @agentkatie | @delicatefade

[mooseyspooky]

Why do you think Morrissey has been acting like this lately? Is it because Marr turn down a reunion? I don't think he only wanted the reunion for the money. I also feel like Morrissey feels irrelevant and forgotten and thought that maybe a reunion might give a new life to his career

Darren asked me about this yesterday, and I wrote a whole essay about it. I think just copying it here will be a good answer to this.

Darren: How are we feeling about the moz and Johnny news

Me: Pretty indifferent. Same shit another day. I mean they survived the court case and banged all the way through the early to mid 2000s to 2009

Moz having a tantrum is nothing new

I was very sad to hear Johnny said no to a reunion

But it's not like I don't get it

Andy passed last year

Johnny wanted Moz back in 2008 and Moz ghosted him after promising he was totally on board

Moz didn't show up for the 2006 fundraiser concert for Andy's dad's cancer

Which is pretty ruthless

Moz clearly hasnt opened a single email Johnny sent him since 2018 when Johnny filed the trademark and tried to get him to cosign

Which is insane because Johnny did it specifically to stop Mike Joyce (the Classically Smiths venture that he tried roping Andy into, though Andy backed out at the last minute. Some say because of his cancer, but I'm sure Johnny being so pissed off about it he got lawyers involved was also a part of it)

Which is literally something Moz should be gagging to do at all times 24/7

And meanwhile nothing

And then Johnny continued to try, even sending the paperwork again this year in January and nothing

So i mean why would Johnny want a reunion

Moz wants it to happen a year after Andy is buried, it's too late

Does it hurt I don't get to see them together on stage ever, yes, but I'm not like

Demented

If I was Johnny I'd be so fucking tired

Like beyond exhausted

Sharing a stage with him?

Putting up with him on tour?

Moz canceled over 50% of shows last year

No explanation, sometimes on the _day of_

Just wouldn't do them

I mean Johnny won't cancel a show if his grandma dies

Moz just

Cancels cause it's a slightly breezy day out and that offends him

Yes I love Moz, I am his ride or die, I will go to my grave obsessed with him and everything about him

But I am aware and understanding he is extremely fickle and can be very stupid

This is all happened, literally all of it, cause Johnny made very light fun of him on Twitter

Like barely a joke

Johnny saw some popular girl on Twitter who is a super fan

Saw she mentioned a reunion

Didn't tag him

And Johnny posted a picture of a far right dude in England that Moz protested the treatment of in prison one time like- i don't know. 7 years ago

They put the guy in a prison where he was at high risk, and Moz made a slight offhanded comment saying it was cruel

So now here we are, with Johnny posting a picture of a guy

To a Smiths super fan

Who didn't tag him

Who mentioned a reunion

Because she saw Oasis get back together

And Moz got _so upset_

He decided to throw an absolute shit fit

And now Johnny has to be like literally can you calm down

And in some ways I understand both sides

Moz just

His sort of...recurring thing

Is that he really really hates when Johnny won't stick up for him

Or when Johnny is quiet when people are dog piling on him

Johnny did that a lot in the 90s

During the NME smear campaign, for instance, and the court case

And it really broke Moz up

Like, and I can imagine it did hurt

To be so close and so in love and meanwhile Johnny won't do anything. Just sit there and refuse to say anything

That's probably heartbreaking

Especially with Moz being so. Like. Blindly in belief that Johnny is forever innocent, forever perfect ("the always innocent young cabin boy")

There is no flaw

But Johnny is a human being, too, who has a lot going on

And to then see Johnny, here in 2024, once again. After 30 years not stand up for him

But instead making teasing posts on Twitter

Even if they're not cruel

I could see it causing Moz to have a meltdown

Should he be? At 65? No. He should be over it

But he's not

He still wants Johnny to love him, to defend him

And so yes he did have a total split from sanity for a bit but at the end of the day. I think the underlining thing is is that it stems from Moz being so deeply infatuated with his first love that he can't stand even the slightest notion Johnny isn't still as infatuated with him

Johnny was able to move on, to continue to keep his marriage, he was able to maintain friendships and have a lot of normal stuff that Moz couldn't because autism

Undiagnosed unrecognized autism but all the same

Moz is still, in his mind, deeply entrenched in the belief that Johnny is perfect and slight diversions from that cause major malfunctions

Moz clearly doesn't give a shit about the trademark thing. He's ignored it since 2018. Moz has talked about loathing albums being repackaged (Paint a Vulgar Picture), so clearly the greatest hits thing doesn't really bother him

Moz wanting a reunion, sure. Okay. Maybe that stung but my god he had to expect it

So what does Moz care about?

Johnny

That's it. Period.

He wants Johnny to love him and be obsessed with him forever, and that's the long and the short of it so.

[causesciencethatswhy]

https://www.tumblr.com/causesciencethatswhy/761581966266073088/hes-got-time-to-post-about-those-girls-but-not?

hi!

when i sent that post, i was mostly confused and frustrated at the situation bc it honestly does not make sense to me why he would support them when they've been cosigning everything mhj says or does...

i see your point about staying quiet for yoongi as to not make things worse, even though i was talking about all the members!!

i'm extremely happy that he cares about his juniors and now that it was confirmed (i think?? some people still have doubts bc of the source) that it was about not using younger artists as shields for the ceo or the company, i can understand i bit better why he chose to speak out regarding this issue especially since he's been in the industry since he was thirteen!

Well I'm glad you were able to reflect on your reaction. Look I get it, we've all been on the edge as army's the past few months and the minimal communication with bangtan because of enlistment doesn't help , but we gotta have more faith in the members and who they've always shown themselves to be. I was sceptical of the post being his own at first too until it clicked later on that yeah, this sounds fully like a JK thing to do.

I'm not a big fan of nwjns and their public support of mhj either and this doesn't change that but it's actually quite refreshing to have someone at jungkooks stature recognise that these girls are being played for a fiddle by those around them and are being used as shields to deflect criticism by both mhj and hybe.

[hahaalaine]

Thinking about one of the biggest lies our society is built on, that capitalism relies on, but is not talked about enough is the nuclear family vs self-sufficiency.

Our society places extreme emphasis on independence and self sufficiency, to the point the programming starts in infancy and literally shapes our brain, and expects us to "make something of ourselves" starting at age 18.

Entire industries rely on the precariousness of starting out on your own so young - student loans, credit cards, apartments, retail & food service jobs plus way more- but the reality is the plan for almost anything in life is meant to fall back on the family.

Those student loans are meant to be cosigned by parents; that credit card debt is expected to be supplemented by parental allowance; that apartment cant be rented without the credit score and guarantee of that parent; the shitty job isnt supposed to cover every cost of living because there is an implicit understanding that it will be on top of what is provided by familial wealth. Absolutely no first time home buyer can purchase a house without family connections and/or monetary assistance.

Those parents themselves cannot get any assistance with groceries, childcare, transportation, or other familial needs unless they receive it from other family members.

Yet we deride people who "still live in their mom's basement" even though the highest rates of homelessness comes from people who age out of the foster system and dont have family to fall back on.

We scream, cry, and throw up because we think our lives are ruined because we didnt accomplish everything in our 20s, and we're soooo old in our 30s, despite the fact that most institutions dont even look at you as an adult until youre 25 (and even then penalize you for being so young if you dont have that parent cosigner).

We look upon those parents with disgust that need assistance because "they should have thought about the cost before they had kids" as if they could have predicted the sudden loss of grandparent support or the loss of a job that can't be covered by familial wealth or any number of unplanned emergencies.

The entire care plan for disability and old age is relying on unpaid domestic labor of family members, even those nursing homes are paid by family.

The point of all of this is to say that self-sufficiency, independence, and individualism is a farce propped up by obscuring the role of the family. Its completely intentional that this domestic care is hidden and implicit. You are meant to feel guilt for outright asking for help, or living with your parents, or not being capable of doing everything by yourself so you place yourself in really vulnerable positions and can be exploited more readily.

As long as you continue to operate under the ideology of individuality you wont notice how fucked up it is that you have to run back to your parents for everything because there is nothing else, and you most certainly won't be empathetic towards those that cannot rely on family.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kelby Vera at HuffPost:

Elon Musk accused Vice President Kamala Harris of being an “extinctionist” in a melodramatic post on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday night. Cosigning conservative claims that the left is pushing for fewer people to have kids, Musk offered an extreme interpretation of some of the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate’s comments about families. “Shamala is an extinctionist,” he replied in regard to a post by former President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. “The natural extension of her philosophy would be a de facto holocaust for all of humanity!” In his own post, Donald Trump Jr. shared a clip of Harris speaking at Pennsylvania’s Reading Area Community College last year, which he paired with a baseless claim she was “suggesting that young people should not have children due to climate change.” Donald Trump Jr.’s assertion was a serious distortion of the former California senator’s comments, in which she talked about her empathy for young people who feel anxious about starting families during such an unstable time in the world.

Focusing on the threat of climate change in her speech, Harris told the crowd that she understood why many were wary about their futures and hesitant to have children. “Because young people said, ‘We’re not leaving it to other people to decide how we’re dealing with the climate crisis’ — you know, I’ve heard young leaders talk with me about a term they’ve coined called ‘climate anxiety,’” she said. Harris went on, “Which is fear of — of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home … because what will this climate be?”

Elon Musk is so demented.

[kaddyssammlung]

Take Me Back To Eden-

transcript from the Revolver mag Special Edition

I don't own any of this!

In the cold, slow-moving early days of January 2023, something incredible happened, with

no warning. Sleep Token unleashed a new song upon the world that was, at the time, their

most jaw-dropping offering to date. Chokehold begins omniously with a scratching, grinding buzz and Vessel sings declaratively “When we were made, it was no accident, We were tangled up like branches in a flood”. The soft trill of a piano comes in, the suspense builds and then one of the most dramatic riffs the band have committed to record crashes down.It's just the first twist in a dynamic single full of them.

Chokehold struck a crowd with fans and landed Sleep Token cosigns from some unlikely voices. Lorna Shore, frontman and deathcore YouTube star Will Ramos covered the song and then dissected Vessel's vocal technique with a panel of experts. On the Charismatic Voice YouTube channel. Even Wilder was when American Idol star Chris Daughtry surprised a crowd at London's Royal Albert Hall with a dusky acoustic performance of the single. Yet the most remarkable thing about Chokehold is that, for all the fervor it steered, the song Sleep Token released just 24 hours later had even more profound impact on their career. On January 6th, the day after Chokehold's release, the band dropped a second 2023 single called The Summoning. If Chokehold started a fire, this new song poured kerosene on it. A near 7-minute masterpiece, The Summoning took Sleep Token genre blending approach to new extremes, spanning the divide between death metal-esque savagery and slutty funk. Not only did it work socially, but it somehow made beautiful sense conceptually. The song quickly went viral on TikTok, partly because of the stunning contrast between the styles it plays with and also due to its esoterically charged lyrics. Sleep Token had hinted at lustful thoughts in the past, but The Summoning was easily the most overtly sexual song to date. At this point, over half a decade into their career, Sleep Token were hardly unknowns, and the hype around them had been building in the underground alternative metal scene. But the one true punch of Chokehold into the Summoning sent them skyward.

Sleep Token dominated online conversation, trending on Twitter for days on end, and their streaming numbers shot through the roof. Multiple songs trended on Spotify simultaneously, but it was The Summoning that really took off, rocketing to 15 million plays on the platform in less than two months. As of this writing, it tops 18 million Spotify streams. On January 17th, Sleep Token embarked on a sold-out UK headlining tour, playing some of their biggest venues to date, including the 5,000 capacity Hammersmith Apollo in West London. Befitting the band's grounding audience and the launch of their latest chapter, these rituals were notably scaled up in terms of production. Sleep Token performed amid a stage setup, festooned with plants, and vessels started wearing an elaborate shoulder piece emblazoned with gold to protect him from sleep, for some fans have theorized.

Additionally, the trio of female backing singers from 2022's Room Below Ritual were along for the ride. The three women affectionately nicknamed the Vesselettes in some fan circles, performed in cloaks, their faces covered while they stood eerily stuck still. The tour was made even more special by Sleep Token, debuting two brand new songs during their set, the angsty pop metal exercise Granite and the elegant, chest-infused Aqua Regia. The studio versions were released in the middle of the tour, once again dropping within 24 hours of each other on January 18th and 19th. Respectfully, even before Sleep Token's third album was formally announced, fans understood that this sudden wave of new songs heralded an imminent follow-up to This Place Will Become Your Tomb. After the release of the apocalyptically heavy Vore in the middle of February. That speculation became fact, Take me Back to Eden, was announced for a mid-may release and was set to be the final installment of the band's album trilogy. The group's devotees had already been trying to figure out the record's title from the secret code that had appeared on the band's lead-up graphics. On Take Me Back to Eden, the turbulent hot and cold dynamic between Vessel and Sleep reaches its breaking point. His devotion to and lust for Sleep persists, but Vessel recognizes that he is quite literally in a Chokehold within their relationship, even more so than on the band's previous work. His emotions were conflicted enough on this record. On Granite, Vessel rages against Sleep's uncommunicative behavior, even labeling him aggressive and controlling, while on Aqua Regia, despite the song's undercurrent of desire, he affirms that he is done dancing to alarm bells.

By track 9, Do You Wish That You Loved Me he reaches the firm conclusion that not only is Sleep incapable of returning the love he has craved all along, but perhaps Vessel himself cannot muster the same devotion he seeks from the deity. I cannot hope to give you what I cannot give myself.

By the album's closing track, Euclid, the relationship has finally splintered,leaving Vessel feeling reflective but also anxious to move forward knowing that Ijust need to leave this part of me behind.

Once again, every song to Take Me Back to Eden comes with its own visual identity, but the symbology is Sleep token's most complex and detailed to date.

Each song is represented by its own fantastical character, best described as monsters or demons that are illustrated by Alex Tillbrook in the art booklet that comes with physical copies of the record. Some of the creatures appear in music videos' form as well. Each character looks distinct from the others, but they do share some common features. Many have devil-like horns, and the majority have an unusual number of body parts. The character representing Ascensionism has four arms. The one for Rain has three heads, and the creature for Chokehold has numerous arachnid-like legs.

Meanwhile, the character representing War has arms with two venues, flytrap-like mouths in place of hands, echoing the song's motif of consumption and swallowing, and linking to its title's reference to the fetish voraphilia, the erotic desire to consume or to be consumed by another person or creature. In addition, most of the characters hold at least one weapon, and many wear some form of armour. These accoutrements are possible, reflective of the heightened sense of conflict between Wesley and Sleep throughout the album.

The character representing the summoning, who wears a shoulder piece akin to the one

that Vessel wears on stage, clutches a huge gun, almost as big as the creature itself, while others wield axes and other bladed weapons. In two of its four hands, the floating character in a knight's helmet representing Ascensionism holds a handgun and a three-pronged dagger, like a mini version of Poseidon's trident. There are also a few references to weaponry in the lyrics in Chokehold. Wesley reclaims, I come as a blade, a sacred guardian. When in Aqua Regia,he speaks of a perfect start to a perfect war, putting down the roses, picking up the sword.

One compelling fan theory about these characters is that their sleep previous vessels. Others speculate that they could be a physical manifestation of Vessel's personal demons, or even past versions of Vessel himself. Indeed, there are references to the concept of past lives on the album. In Ascensionism, the line, tell me you met me in past lives,suggests Vessel's and Sleep's toxic bond predates this lifetime, or perhaps that's just what Sleep tells Vessel to create, the illusion that their connection is stronger than it really is. The Apparition reinforces the idea, well I believe somewhere in the past, something was between you and I in my dear. If Sleep and Vessel have been entangled for decades or even centuries across different incarnations, it raises the question of what the weapons are for.

Are they for Vessel to use while defending and protecting Sleep, or tools for him to battle the deity as the toxicity between them worsens? The two song-representing characters who've most intrigued fans correspond to the album's final two tracks, both are quite different compared to their armoured, multi-limbed peers. The figure for the pain-mouthed song Take Me Back to Eden, interestingly Sleep Token's only title track to date, has no face but bears angel wings and a scythe. Their juxtaposed element of an angel and a Grim Reaper evoke themes of death, worship,and immortality. All themes that crop up at the end of the album's story defend consensus as that title track concludes Take Me Back to Eden, while the album's actual closer Euclid wraps up the trilogy overall serving as a sort of epilogue. The character representing that song is a masked figure dressed in a toga-like garment holding Vessel's severed head. What does that ominous image mean about the future of Sleep Token? Some fear it's a signal at the end of the band, while others have wondered if it foreshadows the group re-emerging with a new story and a new look perhaps similar to the way Slipknot changed the mask with each album's cycle, or how Ghost kill-off versions of Papa Emeritus to make way for a successor. At the very least, the figure reflects the song's focus on rebirth throughout the death of the old Vessel proclaims I must be someone now. Musically Take Me Back to Eden is Sleep Token's most ambitious body of work to date.

Its sonic rage is considerably greater than This Place where we come here to folding in sounds and genres. The band hadn't touched before. The extremes are also so much more pronounced.

The summoning and Vore are the heaviest songs of their career so far, while a eerie, almost tropical-sounding deary statue of me is Sleep Token at their poppiest. Meanwhile, the colossal Are You Really Okay feels like Sleep Token's taken a arena-sized ballad, though its lyrics are claustrophobic, dark, and hint at self-harm. Since its corresponding character is holding a baby ( Since its corresponding character is holding a baby and the song mentions Vessel being woken up by a loved one dripping crimson on the carpet, some fans have posited that Are You Really Okay is not about self-harm at all, but rather a miscarriage). The most impressive musical feats on the record, however, are Sleep Token's two longest songs to date. The super-sized pair the 7-minute Ascensionism and 8-minute Plus Take Me Back to Eden unify every aspect of Sleep Token's sound, from delicate piano balladery to crushing heavy metal to bursts of trap-infused R&B (Both notably use autotune to add a disembodied quality to vessel's voice.)

Together, the two pieces feel like a culmination of the band's sonic explorations so far, elevating the music into the heady realm of progressive rock while floating with the long-form movement-based structures of classical music. Even as it marks an incredible step forward for the band, both creatively and commercially it landed at number 16 on the Billboard 200 Take Me Back to Eden and occasionally looks back. It's the most self-referential installment of Sleep Token's trilogy, especially towards its conclusion where the nods to previous songs become most overt in particular lines in the opening verse of Take Me Back to Eden.

I dream of phosphorescence, bleed through spaces, and we drive through crystal waters Perfect oceans can be interpreted with callbacks to sundowning in this place will become your tomb, read prospectively. Later, the titled rap evokes the LP's beginning by echoing the opening lines of Chokehold, creating poeticbookends to the album's narrative. Similarly, the entire trilogy concludes looping around to its start with a section of The Night Does Not Belong to God being revived in Euclid, bringing the story full circle. As for Sleep Token's own story, Euclid's image of a vesseldisembodied hit notwithstanding the band's journey continues. At least for now, Take Me Back to Eden has skyrocketed them to previously unimaginable heights. The latest, this anonymous masked band with their eccentric whip, lashing sound, and dizzying mythology have become bona fide arena headliners. They sold out a breakthrough-year-capping December gig at London's12,500-capacity Wembley Arena within just 10 minutes. We know Sleep Token's story will continue in 2024, too. They already have shows booked, including an April run in Australia, an appearance at Las Vegas' sick New World Festival. We want that. What does the future hold?

Might they scale even higher heights? To sleep, to dream.

[astarab1aze]

"There are monsters in this world, you know."

Bestiary

just some monsters, really, both disgusting and destructive in their own ways. warning for body horror, stuff like that.

Flesh Warden

A Flesh Warden is what happens when you allow a necromancer to dive ever deeper into their obsessions with death and keep them well supplied with bodies - this is a natural consequence, in particular, for necrotic witches and sorcerers, who may become so consumed with furthering their twisted magical sciences that they become their own experiments, falling into the depths of madness and depravity. Cosigned by the Sanguinarian sect, adherents within the International Nightfolk Coallition, and put to task in a number of prisons and ruins long abandoned and forgotten over the ages, left to their own devices, to malice and rage and the cold silence of death itself - ever, ever and always grafting more and more bodies to their withering flesh.

They are, essentially, centipedal amalgamations of bodies and arms draped in filthy cloth, caked in blood and bodily fluids in varying material states. Beyond enormity. The 'core' body is always at the head of these necrotic nightfolk-turned-abominations (which, if you can reach and destroy it, will bring it down), but the majority of their greater body is comprised of countless dead, all expertly surgically parted and sewn back together, grafted onto the Warden by the Warden. Hundreds, even thousands, of bodies so cleanly cut and stitched into place, yet still filthy, imperfect, never so enough, never enough. So they continue, the intensity of their madness persisting, until at last natural rot sets into their own bones, cursed by the wrath of the desecrated dead, their brains putrifying in their skulls until there is nothing of what they once were, not even in memory.

In combat, they begin rather slowly, hulking their mass around, but the echo of hundreds of voices incanting proves their necrotic magic anything but. Booming, loud, haunting voices that deafen, enfeeble, and crush, sickly-hued magical thread tendriling toward their target. They draw in, make their prey weak beyond imagination, grind them to dust mentally and phsyically, then rip them apart, feast upon their internal organs and graft them onto their bodies. More arms, more legs, heads, torso, everything everything everything, ever growing in size and power.

Contortia

A mass of flesh twisted into something no longer recognizable as nightfolk or human. Exposed decaying muscle, what mummified skin they still have threatening to tear at every turn, split and crack to let caustic blood. Its skin is scab-like in appearance, but scarily flexible, stretched and dry as if mummified, yet... Driven by instinctive impulse, throbbing with wretched unlife. Contorting, twisting, wringing, streeeetching, leaping and racing around - extremely fast and flexible despite appearances. When that skin finally rips open, its blood, putrid greenish-brown, burns and eats through everything it touches, including metal and stone as if hydrochloric acid had been spilt instead (which could be turned back on them). They also do not have faces, scrambled flesh where a face should be.

Contortians are pre-existing, once Nameless Things, but relatively few in number as they cannot reproduce or be recreated. While the basic principle above goes for them all, they are all still very diverse in terms of elemental effect, coloration, strength, and constitution; One could be strictly necrotic in nature, where the next could be shadow or blood, or solar, holy, storm, etc. They are extremely difficult to kill, hard to pinpoint, pin down long enough to do any meaningful amount of damage, attuned to their chosen environs deep underground or underwater. As they are also incredibly aggressive, it's best not to go looking for them.

They're hunters, first and foremost, apex predators designed especially to slaughter and destroy, eat and dissolve. Insatiable appetites, indomitable instinct, too much riding on too little and always on the brink of extinction (for better and for worse; what's their true purpose?). These monsters thrive in darkness, picking off people and animals who dare to get too close, and the nameless things deeper within the sea, trenches, forest and desert caves, mines, abandoned silos... They rarely, if ever, come to the surface. They also do not need to breathe.

[marciabrady]

I'm seeing so much disdain for the OG Snow White (film but mostly heroine) in discussions about the remake. I'm floored, almost every popular Disney film has issues, even the beloved 90s era, and they continue to go without much criticism but people are acting like SW is Gone With the Wind level problematic. Even saying Snow White doesn't have fans??

I'm just convinced these are zoomers who have a tendency to think bc something isn't popular with them it's not popular with anyone else. Snow has been beloved for 70+ years, people who got to meet Adriana were excited, Snow has merch and little girls like her toys. This people must live in a bubble.

https://twitter.com/clairelizzie/status/1691275648252141568?t=w3O-dsZPmwxBWHMMhdO_NA&s=19

https://twitter.com/agronification/status/1691653020860207134?t=5SZ5k43I-POhugW7tex5uQ&s=19

And unsurprisingly a lot are men who think any woman who does housekeeping and likes romance is a useless drip.

Sorry Marcia but I had to vent 😭 nobody I know fights for Snow like you. Even Cinderella gets more respect than Snow and I'm happy she gets some but Snow White went through literal murder and being on the run. Could any of the badass princesses handle that?

First off, thank you so much for calling out that "nobody I know fights for Snow like" me because I've literally considered it my life's work and it's frustrating that so many creators have stolen my intellectual content and made a huge audience off of it, while only stealing some of my points and not understanding the heart of what I'm saying and what I've been saying for my entire life (which is well documented on this blog; contrary to what certain people are saying about Snow White defenders, no, I didn't just selectively start to care to cosign on outrage on Rachel; I literally had a reaction to her horrible takes when they came out last year and made several posts about it).

People are defending Rachel in a way that, I feel, is infantilizing her and removing autonomy from a literal millionaire adult in her 20s. A grown woman made harmful comments and was disrespectful about a film whose historical impact is extremely profound (again, feel free to IM me about this because I have so many thoughts and don't love when they're stolen, so I'm being more guarded about what I'm saying now). And instead, people are turning around and excusing her hateful comments- which have even gotten the son of the original director of Snow White to speak out, at 91, saying his father and Walt Disney would be "rolling in their graves"- and they're saying things like "Rachel's just a 22 year old kid, guys, who's parroting what Disney is telling her! Don't blame her for what she's saying, she doesn't even know what she's saying!" and "she's right! Snow White IS old and outdated and awful and no one cares about Snow White!" Which is...

Most of the people speaking out on this and defending Rachel don't like Snow White, so why should their opinion matter? They're displaying that they have no insight or understanding of the source material and then they want to step on the people that actually do like the character by saying we aren't valid. First off, it's no secret I don't like Belle- did you see me running my mouth about how she was misinterpreted by Emma Watson? No, because she isn't my Princess and I'm not a fan of hers. I wasn't telling everyone "who cares, Belle is obviously the worst princess and CLEARLY has no fans" because that's not right and it's not my place. Us Snow White fans have literally always had to deal with people hating on her and misunderstanding her. She's perpetually maligned and the butt of the joke and I think that's why it's all the more imperative that we got someone who understood the character and was her protector, her defender, and brought her value and respect upon her legacy to a whole new generation of people who had been hating on her for years. And instead...we get Rachel who wants to change everyone about the character, admittedly didn't like her growing up, is misinterpreting the source material to an alarming degree (saying the Prince was a stalker is soooo wrong and even her implications that women aren't valid if they are romantic is sickening and misunderstands the movie; it's not called Snow White and the PRINCE it's called Snow White and the Seven DWARFS), and inspiring people to claim the only reason critiques are happening about the horrible comments she made is because the world, in 2023, can't handle a successful woman...like cut me a break

Let me start off by saying this. To all the people who think Rachel's comments are funny and never liked Snow White in the first place, and are calling her just a dumb cartoon character, she is the product of a legacy Adriana Caselotti upkept her entire life. She is the product of blood, sweat, and tears- the basis for which this entire company was built upon. It's one of the most culturally impactful films of all time- without Snow White, there are no Disney Princesses, there is no Disney Parks, there are no Disney Live Action Remakes- there's no Disney. And guess what? She has more value than just being an "outdated classic." In her original movie, she does display leadership qualities, survives years of abuse and forced labor, homelessness, misogyny, multiple murder attempts, and she endures. Both her character and her legacy. No one can deny her, the first female animated character to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, her impact on the film industry, on the Disney company, and on multiple generations of fans- from bonafide Hollywod A-Listers like Clark Gable and Carole Lombard who literally CRIED at a "stupid cartoon character"'s death and countless youngsters trying to get by during the depression, to adults who see themselves in Snow White to this day and a whole new crop of youngsters who find joy in Snow White's song. She isn't just a thing of history and of inks and paints- she is a product of so many people's talented labor and love and input, and if she wasn't, she- like any other material property- would've faded away with the passage of time, long ago.

Again, as much as I'd love to continue going into this, my creative content has gotten stolen so many times. But I do have more to say and I'm planning on doing it in a special project, on a much larger platform. I'll update you all on it when it's ready to be shared, but I'm doing something that will hopefully resurrect love and reverence for Snow White to the mainstream and will make all of the hard work and research and studying I've accomplished, over my entire life, come to fruition in a way I'm so excited about 💗

[adhdo5]

holds out question abt each :]

35. Founder; 4. Startup Arron; 7. CWL; 3. no mekhanism au

35. How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive? 

Extremely dependent on which friend it is and what the thing is. Founder's reputation is generally such that he isn't, because especially settled into the O5 paradigm his support for random unhinged initiatives is usually at best not his problem, but on the rare occasion you DO get his cosign it's a valuable W

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

At this phase honestly extremely. Startup Arron and CWL timeline Arron are at the same stage of like demeanor and approach to social interaction and you saw how quickly Arron was like "This is my comrade and if anything ever happens to it I will kill everyone in this room and then myself" about cVwoop; startup Arron is honestly no different. Validate him one time and you're hired

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?

Clockworklocusts timeline Arron specifically is maybe the best version to ask this about because he most profoundly specifically misses a previous state in a way that doesn't really apply to most other versions of the character. Several other characters' mannerisms usually especially Popcorn's Remind Him; he is really not a fan of this development because he's already stressed and feeling ?randomly profoundly acutely miserable? (bc he is very often NOT clocking the identifier on that emotion in real time) is absolutely a confounding factor

BONUS C!GRAPHITE CONTRIBUTION: It's actually hit way much more by the subtler things? Little things that remind it of its previous point of view. It likes this in a way - it's a form of catching a reference and of reaction it's very much in its element - but it's also indeed Painful

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

Despite all the various articles I've been looking at I think the answer here is actually pretty Founder-typical; this guy is either going to sleep with all intention possible of "[lies down determinedly] time to be unconscious now" or falling asleep at the loom. On account of the horrors they r probably also dissociating as part of the first strategy notably more than mainline Arron tho

[horizon-verizon]

Does Viserys ignore the children he had with Alicent in the book? Although in the series, it's clearly more Viserys' illness that's the cause of less time with the kids, rather than him disliking them and willfully ignoring them.

*EDITED POST* (4/9/24)

House of the Dragon’s Viserys

Viserys obviously favored Rhaenyra (politically). But I feel it is tied to how Show!him had a real romantic connection with Aemma yet killed her without her knowledge or consent so he could have a son who didn’t live long anyway.

Adding to that, from the trauma of losing several of his pre-kids/kids to miscarriages and stillbirths and his wife probably almost dying in some of those pregnancies--a daughter is still better than having no  kids at all because he genuinely wanted kids, and because this is a feudal world where inheritance and lineage leads to pride, identity,  security and power--Viserys would also care for or favor Rhaenyra even more. Rhaenrya s his first child of a series of children who all died; she is kinda his "miracle child as well as the child that officially made him a father.

Like how you hear and read fathers value their child after their mother died giving birth to them, Viserys would see this daughter as his only connection to Aemma as well as try to “make it up” to her by making their only daughter successful.

So he is more attached to Rhaenyra other than her being the only child Aemma ever could bring into being successfully.

(This does not mean that Viserys’ pain matters or is more than Aemma’s emotional and physical pain. The betrayal she would have felt when she realized Viserys was cosigning her final moments to pain--without her knowledge or permission. Because it doesn’t--he is still accountable and I dislike him and people like him. I’m saying that before he did this to Aemma, he did experience lost hopes for an heir as well as pain from having his children die before they could ever be.)

It also doesn’t mean that he doesn’t value Rhaenyra as his progeny or offspring. 

He didn’t fully value her as his potential heir, or as a true, politically autonomous agent in her own right.

In the show, however, I also think that a combination of:

his rotting

Alicent's constant protests against Rhaenyra and her children/his accepted grandkids

his finding out about Otto’s hand in pushing Alicent and Viserys having to even pursue this after Young Rhaenyra told him that Otto overstepped his bounds as someone not even a part of the royal family and having her followed without royal permission and Viseys’ added guilt or confliction about that moment where he did a fuck up himself and tried to go at Rhaenyra, when he was so shortsighted himslef

all comes to him choosing to be more hands off towards his green kids and let Alicent and Rhaenyra's rivalry foment until major events happened.

His determination to keep Rhaenyra in her position that all comes across as him just “loving” Rhaenyra to an extreme to some people watching the show.

In the Book Fire and Blood and by Original Canon Lore 

He had complications with his weight. Over time, he experienced more chest tightness and gout that get worse until he finally dies. Stress would have exacerbated it--his worries with his wife and daughter duking it out constantly, the tension at court, his worries over the succession, etc.

There was no literal decay. And there isn't a solid, or direct indication or quote that shows us he actively favored Rhaenyra more than his other kids.

There is also no indication that he would or did kill Aemma for Baelon (dead son) in the book.

However, we can read between the lines and reason that he valued Rhaenyra differently then his other kids for the same reasons I listed about Show!Viserys, even if Aemma had just died on her own. For being his only child by Book!Aemma, who still dies trying to birth him an heir. Doesn't mean that he didn't love them, in the book, we see he spends time with Helaena and her kids, one of those moment sjust hours before his death When he's telling them stories about past Targ generations ("A Question of Succession"):

Why Viserys Protects Rhaenyra’s Position in Both the Show and the Book/Canon Lore

Other than what I already said about the sort of love he has for her...

1)

Politics: public image and house reputation and what we can hide and manipulate to maintain control. 

If Rhaenyra is revealed to have bastard kids, then the house cannot deny the shame (objectively it is not shameful for a woman to have kids out of wedlock no more than it is for a man to do similar. Shameful in terms of cheating on your spouse if you two did not agree to an nonexclusive arrangement beforehand. But otherwise, not shameful. In the context of medieval politics and patriarchy, it becomes shameful to have this out in the open...and even then, it depends on the political climate of the persons).

But if it is kept hidden, then the reputation doesn’t completely falter, the line of succession goes throuhg Rhaenyra, and the whole house doesn’t face censure.

lt and the people can still work under an image. 

If you don't like this, blame politics and patriarchy.

This is what @the-king-andthe-lionheart says in a reblog:

“With regard to royal children, the only consideration more important than their kingly blood was the monarch’s self-interest.  Many kings acknowledged children they knew had been fathered by someone else. Often, kings did not want to cast doubt on the paternity of older children they knew to be their own.  In the case where the king could not father children, sometimes court factions heartily desired the queen to bear bastards in order to stabilize the throne and cement their own interests.

Fortunately, the queen’s complete and utter disillusionment with her husband usually set in after the birth of the heir.  And so it was not deemed worthwhile to lose international prestige, throw the nation into tumult, and question the paternity of all royal children, simply to deny the one cuckoo in the robin’s nest.  In the early nineteenth century, the last son of King John VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina of Portugal was extremely good-looking and slender - unlike either of his parents - and happened to be the spitting image of the handsome gardener at the queen’s country retreat.  Other than a few snickers behind painted fans, no one said a word.”  (Sex With The Queen by Eleanor Herman)

and

“It was never adultery alone that did in a queen, or the fact that she did not resemble the Virgin Mary, or that she had polluted the royal bloodline.  It was politics.

If the queen followed the traditional pattern of bearing children, embroidering altar cloths, and interceding for the poor - pious duties that the Virgin Mary would likely have approved of - even if she took a lover she was usually left in peace.  There was rarely reason to shoot down a political nonentity at court.  But an intelligent ambitious woman who spoke her mind and built up a faction was always open to the accusation of adultery by her political rivals, whether the accusation was true or fabricated.

Adultery charges offered the accuser many benefits.  The very mention of adultery suddenly cast doubt upon the legitimacy of the offspring of a suspected queen, possibly rendering them unfit for the throne and opening the door to other ambitious candidates - usually the accusers themselves [...] (Sex With The Queen by Eleanor Herman)”

Plus he had already named Rhaenyra heir long ago.

While you are the monarch and can change the heir while the previous is still alive, to change the heir would have come across as revealing or “admitting” Rhaenyra’s not having trueborn sons. 

Defeating the entire purpose of protecting her and going against the need and cultural compulsion to uphold his and his house’s own public image/reputation.

So Viserys wanted to make sure the throne kept his feudal dignity. 

Feudalist power and monarchy.....you know, the thing the Greens canonically wanted just for itself in the first place?

2)

The other reason why Rhaenyra is allowed to get way with her sons’ illegitimacy is because Viserys wants to keep her and the grandsons he accepts as his grandsons alive. Because he loves them.

Viserys is not a good father, but he is not Tywin Lannister--one of the most evil fathers to exist in Westerosi history.

I doubt a father/grandfather who has some real caring for their child/granfchild, no matter their position, would allow his child and grandchild’s lives to be forfeit.

If Rhaenyra is publicly revealed with inscrutable evidence that he can’t just ignore and deny or hide (Vaemond wasn’t enough) to have had illegitimate children, then her kids could die, could be exiled, or face total ruination to the point they can’t live in Westeros without facing worldwide hatred for being illegitmate.

3)

Which, by the way, comes from a bogus Faith belief.  The same religion rules that children who are born out of wedlock (parents who weren’t married to each other) are inherently untrustworthy. The logic is that because these people are born from “lust, lies, and weakness, and as such, they are said to be wanton and treacherous by nature”.

This is blood purity, anon. That one would actually believe that a person is inherently evil, dangerous and lesser than another because their birth didn’t happen within a marriage is to say that people can have inherently traits that define their entire being and value in society forever and ever.

So not only do we had the risk of women all over Westeros losing even more ability to use political power, we also have the seeds of racism/outright classicism and discrimination.

Which affects every single person in a society and would make them define their entire worth according to external, socially-constructed ideology. Creating a divide between those "deserving" and those not.

[library-of-babylon]

House of Night: Chosen - Review

★★★☆☆ Bullshit galore

Craft ★☆☆☆☆ Characters ★☆☆☆☆ Plot ★★☆☆☆ World-building ★★☆☆☆ Utter nonsense ★★★★☆

Triggers?

Homophobia

Victim blaming

Homeless abuse

Religious abuse

Racism

Sexism

Ableism

Implied sexual assault

Grooming

Sexual manipulation

Self harm

Misogyny

Race war(?) I don't like how I'm just collecting triggers

✨Spoilers✨

Birthmas

Do you like contrived conflict? No? Too bad because that's how this book starts. Zoey's birthday is December 24th and literally everyone except Heath and Grandma Redbird decided this meant everything they got her needed to be Christmas-themed. The only person who gets a pass from this is Jack who's known her for two weeks, likes snow globes, and trusted everyone else on the shit decision. These people have known her for about 3 months at this point and not a single one of them thought to ask her about what she'd like for her birthday or how she would feel about birthday presents that are Christmas-themed. This is a very basic thing to do and should go without saying.

And then there's Zoey, Erik, and Heath. As the book points out Heath has known Zoey for literal years and yet knowing this Erik gets pissed at her over him getting her a gift he knew she would like with a card that says he knows how much she hates Christmas-themed birthday presents.

Chapter 18

Why does a chapter finally deserve its own tangent? Because it is the worst. Problems with Heath aside about halfway through some men start sexually harassing Zoey, while with Heath, and these guys are offensively stereotypical black men. The books have always had a problem with racism including using food to describe skin and referring to hair as "nappy" all the damn time, but hoo boy the first black men we see and they are sexually aggressive, have baggy pants, are harassing people, and as if that start wasn't bad enough it somehow gets worse.

Zoey throws them into oncoming traffic, they get hit by a truck, and she doesn't even care. It takes a moment for her to really process what's happened and by then say they might not be dead besides there's a hospital nearby and they were trying to hurt Heath. To all this tells her what she did was mean she shouldn't be mean, Nyx isn't mean. I haven't told a lot of people this but I was in a car accident last month two days before Christmas. We were T boned and sent rolling, I got a concussion and my arm got pinned under the seat belt, my friend who was the driver got several broken ribs. Again we were inside a car that took most of the impact and thankfully were in a residential area so there wasn't as much force as the main road these men were thrown into. They were hit by a truck going at least 40 miles an hour and had nothing to protect them. That's not mean, that's malice and grievous bodily harm to men who catcalled her.

Professor Bad Touch (Loren Blake)

Please god, make it stop. He calls her a woman, compares their relationship to the implied pedophilic relationship the vampire Shakespeare had with a fledgling, gives her diamond earrings, kisses her, manipulates her into feeling bad for him, tells her not to tell anyone about "them", kisses down her shoulder and invites her back to his room to have sex.

This girl looks for a reason to get out of having sex with her teacher that isn't "moronic and juvenile". She turned 17 at the start of this book and he is not only her teacher but in his mid-twenties. This is deeply unsettling to listen to and all I can think is "You are a child" and "Did this really need to be included". The extremely predatory nature of this "relationship" is not being handled at all responsibly by the very fact that Nyx is seemingly cosigning this.

Because we are with Zoey 24/7 there isn't much room for her, the girl actively being groomed, to talk against what is happening being normalized to her by a man with power over her however at no point does Nyx step in, and give her a warning in any kind of way. Nyx is just as much at fault for this happening in the narrative as Blake, by the constant special treatment Zoey gets it is obvious she cares deeply for this girl who is her "eyes and ears" but does nothing while she is in active danger from this man. Nyx in these books is a trusted adult watching her get abused and doing nothing about it. The only thing Nyx does do around him is tell her to shut up and not spill secrets to the man which yeah I wouldn't tell him shit either but come the fuck on.

I hate that he's the one who takes care of her after she finds her teacher dead and mutilated in front of the school. I don't like how the book is trying to make me like him I know what he is and it just gives everything he says or does no matter how kind an insidious nature.

This man is a predator. He takes her virginity and imprints with her while she's an emotional mess, possibly in shock, having thought that she was about to witness her boyfriend die just one month after seeing her best friend die, forcing her to relive it. Even if she wasn't all the other problems this is so fucked up. Yeet this man into the sun he is scum in every way shape and form.

"you're not like other fledglings. And I feel some rules are meant to be broken" 🤮

The only good thing about professor bad touch is that he fucking dies at the end of the book after being revealed to have groomed and abused Zoey on Neferet's order.

Linda Heffer (Zoey's mom)

Zoey's mom is in an abusive relationship and is doomed by the native. Linda is manipulated by her abusive husband into giving her daughter a birthday present that they both know she would not only not like but would find offensive. The gift in question is adding Zoey and her siblings to the family bible. Under normal consonances this would be extremely heartwarming, adding stepchildren to a cherished family heirloom and tree cementing an unwavering acceptance into the family. Instead, it's a knowing insult to her religion and further religious abuse and manipulation from her stepfather.

Beyond that, there is also a very good chance that Linda and Zoey's siblings have been forced by John Heffer to not be in contact with her. Despite realizing how she's being manipulated by her husband, both Zoey and her own mother (Grandma Redbird) instead comment on how she's a weak woman who wants a man to think for her. It's all honestly quite sad.

Stevie Rae

Since dying and becoming Nosferatu Stevie Rae has gone through an almost complete personality change while also falling into a completely different class of more classical vampires. These Nosferatu vampires as I'm calling them in these reviews need to be invited in, think and act like most would assume the soulless would, burn in sunlight, and need to feed on human blood more often than regular fully fledged vampires. Despite these however, there does still appear to be some humanity in Stevie Rae as she is willing to go along with Zoey's plan to hide her in Aphrodite's parents' mother-in-law suite, part of which involves her giving up feeding on the homeless and other vulnerable civilians instead feeding on blood bags stolen from the school.

Aphrodite

It's absolutely wild hearing Zoey call Aphrodite a hoe while juggling two guys + her teacher.

Keeping with the last book's decision to give her more things to do than just hang around being spiteful in this Aphrodite is given an affinity for earth and sent by Nyx to replace Stevie Rae in the dark daughters and sons magic circle. She also gets a good amount of character development with a clear pattern of her opening up and being vulnerable while alone with Zoey, as well as agreeing to not be as antagonistic while being a part of the circle.

"As Mother says dependable illegals are really hard to find" Sometimes I really wish the books would quiet while they're ahead.

Erik Night

Yo, fuck this guy. He finds his girlfriend being groomed and sexually abused by their teacher and thinks she's the problem, calling her a slut. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. Erik was a bland if likable guy in the past two books but his behavior in this one just makes me want to throw out the baby and the bathwater. On the one hand, he's upset about very reasonable things but he takes it out on Zoey in the most unreasonable ways. I really can not overstate how bad Erik is as a person, man found his girlfriend being abused and went scorched earth telling all of their friends the moment he had an opportunity and being such a spiteful vindictive bastard that not only was that not enough he then tried to turn everyone against her. Yeet him into the sun with Blake's corpse fuck the both of them.

Heath Luck

Guess who still doesn't understand boundaries? Heath who has gone from light stalking to full-blown obsession. At this point his only goal is Zoey and if they were normal people I'd be legit worried that he would kidnap her. Props to the book for realizing how unhealthy this is however any good boy point that would be given for this are immediately taken away by him deciding to cut himself when she tries to leave him so she'd be drawn to his blood.

I don't like Zoey but can the books please please please give her one love interest with a minor character flaw instead of being the scum of the earth? Like can she get with a guy whose problem is his car is a mess or who never vacuums his carpet?

Neferet

The duality of Neferet is an interesting one. After the girls find their teacher dead and mutilated she makes a genuine effort to be strong and supportive, the rock they and everyone needs at that moment however at the same time she is the unseen evil behind every door.

I just wish it'd been better done. The book ends with the implication that she killed her pedo boyfriend (for the wrong reason) and a personal friend of hers to start what is essentially a race war with humans. It's obvious that she has some greater plan here other than ruining Zoey's life but right now the pieces aren't adding up to shit and given the general state of things I worry whatever it is isn't going to be satisfying.

Jack Twist

I kinda feel bad for Jack, it's said in the book that Erik is like a big brother to him, and in this one, he completes the change to full vampire leaving Jack who has only been at the school for about a month alone. They were roommates and friends but he already lost him.

I just want to give Jack a hug, he's an absolute sweetheart and I swear to any god that will listen if that ever changes I will riot.

Craft

Said said said would it kill the Casts to pick a new word? Try muttered or chided or hell bit.

Maybe "exotic" isn't the best term to use as a compliment to someone period, let alone right after bringing up native Americans.

Would I recommend this book?

I mean kinda because it's full of utter bullshit like Zoey killing two guys then just forgetting that shit but at the same time this book just kinda meanders about not really knowing what to do, creating artificial conflicts and horrifying implications it has no intention of handling properly, and spending entirely too much time with Blake for even me to be comfortable with.

Mind the warnings with this one. Unlike that last book where you could ignore all implications lurking about in favor of things like fake domestic terrorism and the genuinely heartwarming sleepover after Stevie Rae's death in this one it can't bother to be bonkers enough to give much plot besides the horrors.