#tactus gs

[ashmerra]

Yo!  Remember when I wrote this?

Well I’ve changed up some things.

Tactus’s job didn’t change.  He’s still a private investigator contracted by the Empire who also does pro bono work in his travels.

I originally billed Veabris as some sort of “Inspector” until I recently was thinking about it again and thought that was dumb. In the new version: Vea was, for a time, a health and safety coordinator for the king’s loaned slaves.  Which was good because Vea speaks Nedic and actually cared. 

Estor was also billed as an “Inspector” working with (but not for) the Thalmor.  I was outlining some writing the other day and realized I needed something better.  Estor is now an archaeologist with an art and culture focus who minored in Numismatics (study of currency)

[darrowsrising]

(I know I’m late) things I’m supposed to love, but actually find quite annoying:

I love the concept of the Howelrs, and I find them amazingly funny and cool, but I feel like Pierce didn’t use their full potential, especially after setting them up in RR. In GS and MS the majority of them is unnamed, and even the named ones have surface level characterization. Harpy and Rotback were named just to die; Pebble and Clown are very shallow compared to characters like Tactus and Roque, and yet they were there since the very beginning. I remember that in MS there was a new recruit named Sleepy, but he/she is named only once in the whole book, and we don’t even know if they survived MS. I’m not saying we need Sevro-level deepness, but at least give Darrow’s most loyal followers something to do other than make up the numbers.

In the new trilogy Pierce did better by introducing Calloway, Alex and Rhonna, implying that now the Howlers count more than a hundred members. Still, I didn’t feel particularly sad when Abomination killed Min-Min, Marble and the rest of Luna’s crew. I only felt bad for Sevro because I knew how much he valued them.

I get where you are comimg from, I too wish the Howlers were more expanded on in the first books. The second trilogy seemed a little too late, to be honest. One of the things I disliked about Iron Gold - who tf cares about these other guys and their stupid crews, when we have Darrow and the Howlers? World-building's great, but, again, who cares about it when we can expand on characters? That's of course, just my opinion.

We do have the bits and pieces that should have been in the fiest trilogy - Pebble is the maternal figure of the Howlers, Min-Min has two bionic legs and a pechant for dominating Obsdians, Screwface dedicated his entire life just for this - Darrow and the cause - and he's the only one of the original Howlers who has never abandoned Darrow.

In the first trilogy, other than a bit of Pebble (we should note Pebble forgiving and mourning Thisle and keepsaking her cloak as she has probably did all the other Howlers), Clown and Screwface, there was a focus on Thisle. But, yes, Pierce should have done some more about them. I understand why he did not...he had other characters to drive the plot and he had to handle them, but I wish he had some time to introduce more of the original Howlers.

Howl on!

[sharp-fanged13]

Fun facts about Darrow: (SPOILERS)

- in GS there are rumours that he eats glass; - Lorn au Arcos actually backs up the rumours - he has a very strong moral code, but he always questions it and so he adapts and learns; - he matched Mustang at the party on Luna (they were the only ones wearing black) and Theodora might be responsible for it; - he has many nieces and nephews and is a great uncle; - he is highly skilled in math, logics, strategy and anything which requires dexterity (puzzle boxes, kravat - a martial art, the willow way - lorn’s kind of kravat, dancing etc); - he is not ambidextrous, but right-handed; - he can handle insane amounts of pain (as a Red and as a Gold); - he fell on his arse when he first went ridding with Matteo. He was riding a pony. - he kinda got back at Mustang for laughing at him for falling from that pony by seeing her fine arse in a corner of a locker room while he himself was looking for a private place to put some clothes on; - his right hand is restored at the end of MS, but he has to do therapy, cause he can’t even write with it; - he considers Sevro his ‘little mangy guardian angel’ as well as his brother; - he is 7'1" tall after the carving and he was “two heads shorter than Sevro” as a Red; - he has shoulder length blond hair after his carving until MS when the Jackal’s men cut all of it; (in GS Karnus au Bellona cuts Darrow’s hair, but it is regrown to its former state) - in RR, he ties his hair in a ponytail before going after the primus of House Apollo (and Mustang slaps his fine arse lightly as encouragement to go); - he spent most of his money on buying a Stradivarius for Tactus; - he sold his father’s old watch - the only memento of him left - to a Gray guardian in order to buy medicine for his brother; - his heart stopped after the confrontation with the Sovereign in that ship which left Aegea in GS; he was brought back to life by both Violets and Yellows; - Sevro and Mustang stood at his side during recovery; - he has a sister - Leanna - and a brother - Kieran, the former married a gold; - he is a great dancer; - he is Lorn’s favorite student and could have handled himself in a one-on-one with Aja (but in MS the lack of his right hand one hell of a disadvantage); - he is like 82% of Sevro’s self control; (not fact, but still) - he is not made for political games like Mustang or Adrius or Roque; - he was drunk when he walked Victra down the aisle at her and Sevro’s wedding; - his hands are really powerful: his left hand was enough to rip the tongue out of the Jackal’s mouth; - he is fluent in Nagal - the Obsidian language: Mustang remarks that he’s better at it than she; - he had to go through The Howler Initiation: get kidnapped, drunk and eat living bugs; - he married Eo when he was 15 years old; - according to Pierce Brown, Darrow is a ten, but Cassius and Roque are 11;(I prefer Darrow tho) - he believes his Red eyes suit Sevro better than his carved self; - he literally can’t stand still, he has to do things, anything, it is even hard to sleep for him, unless is beyond him and has to do it; - he has a restful sleep next to Mustang; (in RR) - he fights with the razor Mustang gifted him - the one with the pegasus in flight , the symbol of the house of Andromedus- although he doesn’t go by “Darrow au Andromedus” in MS and could have changed the razor with another; - he cried when he ate a burger for the first time; - he gave Cassius the opportunity to save his honour by arranging a duel with Titus for him so he wouldn’t be known as the guy who was pissed on by his house mates; - Pierce Brown says that in another world Cassius would be Darrow; - he and Mustang did the do in that control room after they spoke to Adrius while Sevro and Victra’s wedding was unfolding; (Sevro gave him hell for that with teasing, but this is just a head canon); - Nero kinda adopted him before hell broke loose at the Triumph; (it is a bit weird that he also kinda rooted for Darrow and Mustang) - he and the howlers took a step back when Lorn made the mistake to treat Mustang like a fragile doll so she wouldn’t think they agreed with him; - he made a single mistake on that admission test for the Institute; - he considers Dancer and the Telemanuses family (Mustang, Pax, his mother, brother, sister, nieces and nephews along with Sevro and Victra are, of course, already on the list) - he was the first to bow to the new Sovereign; - he provides a real help for Mustang, cuz he understands how it feels to have the weight of the world on your shoulders and how important is to have help so you can carry this kind of cross (because he was broken by being The Reaper of Mars and his friends and family put him back together and made him stronger); I might add some things later if there is something I’ve missed. If you remember some cool things about Darrow please feel free to add..

LATER EDIT:

- in Golden Son he gets important character development: he was driven by his rage for Eo’s and their unborn child’s death, but at that party on Luna and through out the books he realizes that he cannot bring anarchy, because nothing good will come from it, and that there isn’t ‘someone’ responsible for what Reds and other Colors endure, but a whole system;

- Victra had a crush on him; 

- his son’s name means “peace” in Latin;

- Matteo teached him everything about how to act and speak like an Iron Gold, he even teached him how to dress and took care of his appereance (he shaved him from neck down to his toes. Including “there”!);

- although he was badly injured from a year and some in Jackal’s “care”, Mickey was able to carve him again, even making him stronger (he reinforced his ribs so they won’t break if he was shot);

- he was the only one in the history of the Institute (like every Institute in the galaxy) to conquer Olympus and the only one to win the was between Houses with an army of “students” from different houses without the being slaves;

- Andromedus means something to him by Andromeda galaxy being the one Eo pointed at in that garden on Lykos, but nothing at all by being the name of that family the Sons killed in the Asteroid Belt;

- Romulus au Raa respects him, despite him being a Red;

- Darrow’s registration number as a Helldiver of Lambda is L17L6363 and it was also used as his registration number in Attica and as Mustang’s password on her datapad;

- only he used the term SlingBlade at The Institute, every other student called him Reaper, because, for them, he was using a Reaping Scythe;

- coincidence or not, The Reaper is also a god which exists in the Red Faith and rules over an infinite Vale and judges those who died;

- he is Howler 1 and Sevro Howler 2; 

- Pierce Brown said that he imagines Darrow has a British accent;

- he can breathe 8 minutes underwater;

- his uncle, Narol, teached him how to dance which proved very helpful when he fought;

[ashmerra]

may i kindly ask you all the oc questions?

Yes, yes you may.

Quick note:  A few OCsI won’t mention by name and a few answers will be vague just as to not spoilanything.  I have an entire fanversegoing on here.

-50 OC Asks-

Quick reference:  Meri is the Hero of Kvatch.  Arrais a Breton mage in Skyrim.  Dreyns is a Dunmer assassin.  Vitiais the Dragonborn.  Sannit is an old, former Ashlander. Veabris is an Ayleid who’saround back before the First Era.  Jaka is the Nerevarine.  Estor isNot a Thalmor ™.  Stigr is a proud Nord boi.  La’Mihr is a smart kitty.  One-Who-Knowsis yearning for the suburban Skyrim dream.  

 1. “Your first OCever?”  

That would be proto Meri. She was really the first that grew into an actual character.  She was also supposed to star in an Oblivionrewrite/webcomic/fanfic thing I drew like one page of years ago.

2. “Do you have a personal favouriteamong your OCs?”

I like different ones for different reasons!  Arra’s dialogue and one-liners, Dreyns’swhole ark of getting old, Vitia’s philosophy, etc.  etc.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Nope.  And I’d neverconsider them mine.  I handcraft them andbake them one-of-a-kind each time.  Butmore seriously, the most I could take is an idea for a character, because Ialways like to twist things on their head and really make it my own.  I don’t enjoy writing NPCs for thisreason.  I can’t get in their head and myheadcanons get a bit much, so I’d rather just write for those I know.

4. “A character you rarely talk about?”

Tactus Gavros Sigilis!  An inspector/investigator for the Empirein Skyrim.

5. “If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?”

I think that’s not really up to me.  I can’t decide who fans will latch onto.  I know who’s the most well-liked at thistime, but that’s no indicator of who would be well-loved by a much wideraudience.  I’ll leave this one to my fans!

6. “Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?”

I do my best to give everyone unique looks andclothing/color schemes, but!  There’sthree that got based on each other and aren’t the same but even I’m confusednow.  I’ll make a separate post to breakit down.

7. “Are your OCs part of any story or stories?”

None of them exist outside of the Elder Scrolls universe,and I have yet to write fanfiction.  

8. “Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!”

Currently Arra, Sannit, and Veabris.  Though I think I’m game to RPing any of them,I already have a few more that I want to add to my RPing blog!  (btw, if you like the idea of RPing with me,all you have to do is ask.)

9. “Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?”

No.  Not give, nevergive.  But that doesn’t mean they can’tappear in your writing/meta/art, just that it’s a crossover, you don’t own themjust like I don’t own yours when I allude to them in RPs.  (Did I ever post that here?)

10. “Introduce an OC with a complicated design?”

All the ones I don’t draw, lol

Okay, more seriously…no, that’s pretty much why.

11. “Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a ‘sunshine’?”

100% Arra

12. “Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot”

Can I say all of them? My favorites are the ones who are woven into the lore and pre-existingcharacters, and ones that feel like real people and not just “ArgonainDragonborn #76”.  I like the ones whotake it as seriously as me, and as I see people do, I feel more confident totalk about and expand them.

13. “Do you have any troublemaker OCs?”

Actually, not really.  Dreyns, Jaka and Stigr can all be at times, though.

14. “Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory”

I want to legit change that to one without tragedy in theirbackstory because they’re all tragic…

15. “Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?”

Sometimes!  But I trynot to go overboard because I’m not sure if people like it.  

16. “Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?”

My Daedric biologist, I would imagine.

17. “Any OC OTPs?”

I’m not much of a shipper, honestly.  And I really can’t think of any at themoment.  

18. “Any OC crackships?”

Read 17.

19. “Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)”

I’ll pass on this one only because my answer would start gettingtoo personal for this ask.

20. “Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details(headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?”

Veabris has a beautiful singing voice that would sound agood deal like Annie Lennox.  Actually,just listen to “Into the West” and you’re good to good.  But you’ll never hear it because Vea is superself-conscious and private about singing.

21. “Your most artistic OC?”

You know, I think I overlook making them artistic justbecause I am.  It would be too obvious.  But let’s say Stigr and La’Mihr are.

22. “Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?”

In world or OOC? That’s a really important distinction! But Veabris’s intentions are usually misinterpreted.  

23. “Introduce an OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what thecharacter would be like?”

Most of them!  I workon them for a while until I feel they’re ready to be revealed.  24. “If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?”

Don’t do this to me!!!!  Ahhhh I don’t know I love them all! But Jaka would probably be the most fun to hang out with?  Then again, a day out with Sannit would begreat.

25. “The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, sharedlike/dislike for something etc?)”

Meri.

26. “Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about themagainst your will?”

Arra and yes, I’m still bitter about it.  I won’t get into it because I’d rather notmake posts like that, but if anyone would like to know feel free to message me.

27. “Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?”

Nah, they come about and the songs fit them after.

28. “Your most dangerous OC?”

Okay!  So we haveMankar Camoran’s kid, Molag Bal’s Undying Champion, a lesser Daedric Prince anda double-memoried Godkiller.  Have funwith that battle royal!

29. “Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at nightwithout telling anyone they’re going?”

Tactus Gavros Sigilis, it’s his literal job.  Wait it’s Estor’s too.  …And kinda Veabris’s.  Well!

30. “Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animalcollection?”

It’s Dreyns.  It’s soDreyns.

31. “Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like(what they reblog, layout, anything really)”

Sannit treats it like a regular website blog and only postsstories from his life or answers to asks. No reblogs and he doesn’t follow anyone.

Meri posts advanced DYI stuff and martial technique.

32. “Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonistand why?”

I don’t play horror games but I’m thinking Estor in creepy,culty fan theory version of Rorikstead. (Should I write this?)

33. “Your shyest OC?”

She’s so shy she won’t let me talk about her.

34. “Do you have any twin characters?”

Not yet!

35. “Any sibling characters?”

Yes but I won’t say just now.  Spoilers!

36. “Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else(siblings, lovers, friends etc)?”

Not currently, but I’m not against doing it.

37. “Introduce an OC who is not quite human”

The Argonian, One-Who-Knows! He’s saving up money to buy a new fancy hat right now.  Rock on, scaly bro!

38. “Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?”

I feel like it would be Vitia for some reason.

39. “Introduce any character you want!”

THESE QUESTIONS ARE TOO VAGUE AGHHHH!!

40. “Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!”

Writing “Arra’s Story” (An RP post).  The power and emotion of it and the approvingly,emotionally shocked reactions of my fellow players made me realize I couldactually write good.

41. “Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or twohere (remember sources & permissions!)”

Here and here  😊

42. “Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?”

Daedric biologist person would be!

43. “Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend tofavour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess!”

We already found out I like investigators, is that my type?

44. “Something you like about your OCs in general”

I like how they all have gotten their own personality andidentity.  It’s taken a lot of work, but Idon’t feel like personalities repeat anymore.

45. “A character you no longer use?”

I have a few in limbo. I’m not sure if they’re coming back or they’re

46. “Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?”

No.  Only because Ihaven’t told them about all the bad things I’ve done to them in the first place.

47. “Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?”

Not yet, there’s still time.

48. “OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure?”

I think they call this a “hot take”, but in my opinion everyperson has flaws and depicting them otherwise is bad character writing.  Like sure, they can be nice and all, but theystill topple the board over when they’re losing Risk (or Axis & Allies).  Showing only one side of a character seriously,(not if it’s just for laughs) is boring to me. Where’s the growth?  They don’teven need to have “flaws” per se.  Whatif the “One True Hero to Save the World” is balled up on the floor crying tothemselves because they don’t think they’re strong enough?  Hot take over and it’s probably little kidDreyns.  (Which breaks hearts because hegrows up into something not pure.)

49. “Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes”

Arra would love meme songs like “SEAGULLS! (Stop ItNow)“He-man singing “What’s up?”, and “mmm whatcha say”.  And Jaka would love reaction gifs and objectlabeling memes.

50. “Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want”

I wanna talk about how long it took to fill this out and howmany characters I resurrected from the darkest depths of my mind to completeit.  You’re welcome.  ♥

[darrowsrising]

I love to speculate about the time between RR and GS. What do you think about the first meeting between Darrow and Victra? some Headcanon ?

I think they officially met while working for Nero au Augustus, as Victra was also a lancer for House Augustus, but I think they didn’t interract that much until the Academy when she went alongside Tactus and Roque to assist Darrow. I headcanon them meeting at his graduation party and the celebration of his winning the Institute.

I think that Victra was intrigued by him and the loyalty he managed to inspire in his friends. As for him...I don’t think he paid her much attention, but he respected her as a fellow lancer. 

They probably had their separate things going on as lancers, as Victra and Leto have been lancers longer than Darrow has and because of that they might have had separate missions from him. 

As we know, Darrow was paraded around by Nero as his best killer and his first mission was a solo one, so that might be a reason why Victra and Darrow didn’t interact much until the Academy.

During the Academy, Victra became closer to Darrow and that’s when she developped romantic feelings for him. I headcanon that his obliviousness was hella funny and frustrating to her. She was probably wondering how someone so intimidating like him be so pure hearted. 

I think she always thought of ways to get closer to him, but as per usual, he found other things to engage in like studying for his classes to make sure he is the best he can be or training his Willow Way in secret. He was always angsty and prefered sitting alone, but she never could figure why, so she just let it on an mild obssession with being the best, which she totally understood. But it was frustrating to prepare a hang out with their circle and plot how to make her moves on him only for him to refuse to show up. Tactus couls only do so much to entertain her. 

I think she let him be and never pushed that much, because he was also fresh from his break up with Mustang and I think she knew from looking at them that they cared a lot for each other (as they do not hide it at all). So that might have been a factor as well.

That’s all I have, as I ever mch pondered on this, hope it’s ok enough.

Howl on!

[darrowsrising]

Did Mustang understand well with Tactus? I can not remember if Darror says something in GS about this. What do you think ? they are quite different

Mustang got along well with Roque and they often went to theatre or opera together. She still has a book from him. Darrow says in GS that he would have joined them, but Lorn's training was truly demanding. He did try to be with his friends in his free time - he went horse-back riding with Mustang and the rest and things like that.

About Tactus, you could say that he respects her and she respects his friendship with Darrow and she obviously trusted his potential to be a better person.

But I think Tactus learnt respect after he got punishes. He obviously started to care (in his own way) about his fellows after that.

Hope this helps!

Howl on!

[darrowsrising]

Hey there! It’s the girl who writes really long posts about Virginia. Feel free to spilt this up if it’s too much to post at once. 

I saw this: You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about this thing: people think Virginia always manipulates people, even the ones she loves, because she said once that it came easy to her (and then there was a lot more stuff) And I couldn’t help but wonder if this was because of what I said? 

Not gonna get too far into this because I think we’ve had a good discussion about Virginia already, but I thought maybe I didn’t write my thoughts clearly the first time around so I wanted to try again. 

Virginia says she’s always been able to manipulate people, so I assumed if she knows that about herself it’s because she’s done it relatively often. But the book doesn’t really make a thing about it so can I say definitely that she manipulates people? No. As to whether you can manipulate someone unconsciously — IDK maybe you can’t. I was envisioning a scenario where you’re nice to someone to get them to go along with you and it’s only after a while that you realize you don’t even like them and it was just a reflex to charm them. Maybe that’s not a thing. 

But I think I got caught up in all this does she or does she not manipulate people stuff and ignored my main point, which was that, for me personally, I found it hard to connect with Virginia’s character because I didn’t have a sense of what she wanted (like, what were her reformist views before she found out about Darrow?) and I felt like I never saw her actually struggling with anything personal or anything that felt like a character arc. One option could have been to dive deeper into this idea that she can manipulate people, but Pierce didn’t go that way and that’s fine. I was only brining it up as something I would have wanted to see. I’m not trying to label her or reduce her whole character to someone who’s just manipulative.

Honestly I feel like I’ve laid out a lot of logical/rational reasons why Virginia’s character didn’t totally work for me and given specific examples from the books and it’s a little frustrating because, maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like no matter what I say it’s just going to be interpreted as, you’re just a hater. I don’t hate Virginia I just didn’t completely love the way her character was handled and I have reasons that go beyond oh I just don’t like her. 

I saw somebody post that you can recognize a character is well written but still not like them (that’s how I feel about Roque lol) but I think the inverse is true, too. You can point to things in the text you did not like about how a character was written and still respect that character and the fact that other people like them. 

Astrea: Ok, contrary to popular opinion, I don't throw subtle shade. If I have something to say I'll say it without 'wanking around the bush' (Sevro would be so proud of this joke, tho). I explained my side of things about Virginia's manipulation skills on the last submission you send and that was that. Trust me or not, there are plenty of people who hate on Virginia and exacerbate some of her traits to make her fit into their hate mold (if that makes sense). I understood where you come from with your argument and I said what I thought about the subject and that was it. I'm not going to make a call out, because I'm not going to start shiteshows in the fandom, but Virginia being a 'manipulative bitch' is all over the internet and I found most in comment sections.

It's fairly easy to make a mountain of out molehills when it comes to 'arguments why I hate x character' and that's what I wanted to critique in that post. That exagerating traits to justify your hate for a character is not cool.

But it had nothing to do with what you said, I understood why you dislike Virginia and I decided it's your interpretation of her character and so, your buissness. You don't try to justify hatred or sometthing equally annoying.

Lastly, Virginia struggling is always implied. Just to name some stuff: she lost at Deimos, she admits she struggled alone (without Darrow), after Deimos she went into hiding in the Asteroid Belt and gave birth to Pax, she soon left him with Niobe and by the way motherhood changed her she was probably constntly worried about Adrius finding him or other 1 million things a mother worries about. I mean, I understand that the way it was handled was not so satisfactory (because we only find out about Pax at the end of MS), but that's because it's Darrow's pov. That's why I want her pov, because it's more to her than what even Darrow gets to see. And her story should be more than just implied stuff.

Anyway, other stuff! 

I think one thing you said you wanted to talk more about was Dancer and the Vox Populi. Honestly? I kind of get where they’re coming from. It seems like life for most low colors hasn’t been great since the Republic was formed, and it does seem like all resources are going toward the war effort instead of things like education for low colors or affordable housing or something. To me the most interesting part of Lyria’s story was to see just how bad the Reds had it. And it does seem like Darrow and Company’s only real plan is, first we win the war and then we start actually taking care of people. I get why people would be mad about that. 

All that said I fully expect it to turn out that the Vox Populi don’t really have the interest of the people at heart. I’m not sure about Dancer. I don’t trust him, but I also can’t see him teaming up with what’s left of the Ash lord’s forces or the rim? Maybe he genuinely believes that they could have made peace with the Ash lord? I mean, I get why they’d want to try. It does seem like they’re stretched really thin and it’s making their military weak. Also Darrow really should be following the laws if he wants anyone to take the Republic seriously (I’m not saying I’m mad at him for making bad choices, I like it when characters make bad choices, I’m only pointing out that it’s a bad idea to break the law so flagrantly). 

On the other hand, I get where Darrow is coming from. His enemies aren’t going to stop until one side gets a definitive win. 

This issue between Darrow and Dancer is really intriguing because I can see both sides of the argument. I expected the Vox Populi to play a bigger roll in Iron Gold but they kind of faded away after the first few chapters. Maybe with the Virginia POV coming in Dark Age we’ll see more of them. I think they’ll ultimately turn out to be bad guys, but who knows? 

Astrea: I dislike the Vox Populi. I do understand the struggles the Reds face now. I understand that the Rrpublic isn't the promiseland they all expected it to be and I understand the anger. But the Vox's side of the argument, although it has very good basis, the rest is hay. Non offence, but peace with the people who want to enslave you back or torture and maim masses so that every last drop of demokracy has dried out? Let them continue to make slaves out of 'your brothers and sisters' as Dancer calls them? What, the Reds on Venus and Mercury don't matter? No offence, but the peace was a scam and Dancer a fool for ever believing in it. Also, since when does Dancer have a say on who is a Red or not anynore? Because he fucking started the trend and the rest of the Reds kept it going.

I understand that resources are concentrated on war, but this is not something you can help. This war ends when someone loses for good. If you try an defensive war that will make the resources even scarcer as it requires more and faster. If you try to make peace...lol! Have you seen these guys having any ounce of honour - enough to respect ceasefires or actually come to negotiate without murdering anyone?

Idk, maybe I'm biased on the issue, but while the core values of Vox Populi are good, the way they proceed about them is bleah!

Darrow mocking the laws, though, is something I agree that must be resolved. He made himself a rogue, though so that the people allied with him won't start some civil war in his name. But he must deal with the consequences of that. And it will suck. But honestly, sitting nice and obedient wouldn't have solved anything. Although the Ass Lord's death wasn't actually the key to winning, I think it'll help in the long run and besides, it's also good news that they found out about Atalantia's plans so they could stop them. If he just sat on his arse, Darrow would have just watched powerless from the comfort of house arrest as the Republic will lose the war.

It's not like Darrow doesn't understand the struggles the Reds go through atm. He blames himself for that. He lets his own people spit on him and feels guilty that he didn't end the war faster. Also, last time I checked, the Senate made those awful immigration rules. Dancer paints Darrow as an enemy instead of pushing for actual reforms that could help Reds.

I think the Vox Populi's brain is actually a villain. But I'll wait Dark Age to see for myself.

I saw those q&a things you posted from reddit — I forgot about those! I had not thought that Darrow viewed his relationship with Virginia in a negative light in the beginning of GS. It seemed like he really missed her wanted to be back with her — very interesting to know that wasn’t 100% the case. 

Err...it always seemed to me that that was a given. I mean, Darrow does miss Mustang, but also reiterates that she distracts him every now and again and he pushes her away a lot until chapter 43. At the gala he pushes away his feelings for her and tells her things even he doesn't believe. After they talk a few times to solve some miscommunication or issues that they have, he still pushes her away and she accepts it before the Iron Rain. Even during chapter 43 they still are pushing each other away, until they can't do it no more.

Their relationship waas far from perfect even in Morning Star...though, that's the beauty of it.

On other topics, I gotta say I feel like it would be fine for the “tone” of the story if rape wasn’t included. Also, the rape that’s actually called rape (so setting aside pinks) is all of women. I get that there are plot reasons why Titus only attacks women, but what about his allies? What about Tactus? The book also doesn’t really follow any of the survivors of rape in any meaningful way. I know Nila (sp?) shows up here and there but she doesn’t have a huge part. So it does feel like the rape was included to show that a) Titius is horrible and b) to set Tactus off on his character arc. And I didn’t need rape for either of those things. I think it’s important to talk about rape because there is still a huge stigma against victims, so I’m not saying I never want to see rape depicted in media. At the same time, I’m fine with seeing less of it. And I think there are other ways to explore power dynamics and abuse of power. 

That's a great take on it. Nyla was indeed present here and there as a commander of her own team in Reaper's Army. And she sometimes sang to her friends near the fire. She was supposed to go to Vienna to study music, but she got an invitation to the Institute and although seen as 'a better offer', we all know she couldn't refuse it for other reasons. Also, Nyla helped Virginia conquer Jackal's Keep by leading her team. Fortunately, Tactus was stopped in time, but I would have liked to see more of Nyla too. What we got was cool, but Darrow wasn't interested in her development after Tactus was properly dealt with.

We should include Pinks, because the abuse they suffer is horrendous and shouldn't just be brushed off. Evey mentions it in Golden Son.

Honestly though, I am not in the position to say what should go about this. I disliked Titus's arc from start to finish and the use of rape was one of the reasons why.

It could have been better handled? Of course! But it is what it is and I'll take it like it is. It wasn't ASOIAF/crime/thriller bad, but it could have been handled better. And I'll expect better from now on and that includes the tv series they plan on doing.

One last thing: I just saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and I’ve never wanted Red Rising to be an animated show more lol. The animation in Spider Verse is sooooo beautiful and while I don’t think that exact style would fit Red Rising, it shows you can have animation without being anime (not that I’d mind that but it seems like a lot of people don’t like that style). I just think animation would solve a lot of potential issues: you wouldn’t have to worry about finding a bunch of 7 footers to cast for all the golds, or casting two different Darrows (one Red one Gold), or doing the visual tricks/CGI to make characters the right size. Plus you could do so much more with fight scenes and space battles. I mean, I watch Game of Thrones and that show has a huge budget, and there are things that still don’t look great. Also, it would really set RR apart from the Hunger Games/Divergents/Maze Runners of the world. I know we won’t get it because ultimately a lot of people straight up won’t watch a “cartoon” but I can dream. 

Astrea: Idk, people do watch Young Justice. And it's not a simple cartoon, it has pretty mature stuff. It's very hard to convince the dudes in entertaintment that a project should be animated, because there is a stigma around what audiences think of animations.

Although I don't doubt Pierce Brown thought of that possibility. Animating Red Rising would be indeed awesome. But I don't want it PG-13. I want Sevro to swear and I want to see blood and gore.

I do love the anime style though...mostly because it's not just one style, it depends on the studio and the manga artist (not all the time, but it happens).

Thank you for your submission!💖

[sharp-fanged13]

Friendly reminders for the RR fandom

1. Darrow is rumoured to eat glass. 2. Sevro has a black wolf tattoed on his entire back which appeared in GS and a skull on his right hand which was presented in MS as being done by Ragnar. 3. Victra likes Petrichior. And men with goatees. 4. For all his hardarse reputation Darrow actually likes Mustang on top of him. 😏 5. Tactus and Pax would have accepted and helped Darrow’s being a Red and his cause. 6. Mustang and Darrow were matchy-matchy at that party on Luna(they both wore black = soulmates). And Theodora might be responsible for that. 7. Antonia and Adrius were a fucked up couple. 8. Roque was in love with Tactus and Quinn. And their deaths was his excuse for betraying Darrow. 9. Cassius had a (kind of) relationship with the following: Victra, Quinn and Mustang. 10. Darrow still fights with the razor Mustang has given him - the one with the pegasus in flight.