#vs saying they SHOULD HAVE been the lead of the existing show

[ladyofthenoodle]

idk what the issue with secondary (which Adrien is not), side, or even bit characters having massive plot important parts is for some people is, it happens in media all of the time.

secondary characters have huge plot importance and interesting backstories all the time, but the only time i see people claiming someone else should’ve been the main character is when the lead is a girl. so i think there must be some unexamined internalized misogyny at play here, that we are so unused to seeing female leads that people like anon are quick to jump to “the boy should be the main character” instead of just accepting that their fave isn’t the main

[naffeclipse]

*Arrives at Internet Explorer Speed*

Hey guys! Those new chapter of Lack of Light, am I right??!

FDKHKFGH Sorry I needed to make a silly entrance back in your inbox Naff XD

But aaaaaa I finally came back to read these and I'm here with a brand new comment!! For the two chapters I was missing no less! :D

So let's get to it!

Ok so first off I don't know if I'm just looking too much into it but I read this line: "You rely on your eyes to adjust to the darkness" from th first paragraph and it just felt significant to the rest of the chapter, you know? Very literal but metaphorical at the same time!

And oooh something I definitely have to praise in this is the amazing description of the anguish through all the physical sensations that the reader is going through. I think I've mentioned before that when I read reader inserts I don't truly put my real self in the story but rather try to imagine it through the main characters eyes, but wow did I feel this one. The way you detail all those physical effects that anxiety has on the body, beautifully described through images and comparisons, just made it seem so very real. I basically could almost feel them myself, just remembering times when I had definitely experienced something similar, even if the causes were different! I will always applaud your descriptions, Naff! Makes me want to take notes!

And AAAAAAA I gotta say that I absolutely love how just, hrrrr, I'm struggling to find the words to describe it, but I would say how there's a clear parallel between what both Reader and Eclipse are going through?

Because ok, first of all, is the matter of hiding right? Reader seems to be trying to hide (kind of like Eclipse does his true self), but through a mask instead of blindness. Even through previous encounters they have tried to present themselves a very specific way. The unshakable one. Unaffected by everything, at least in a way that goes beyond mild funny venting. And it feels like something they force themselves to do in their daily life, beyond the forest. It's just they're so used to doing it, that it became a part of how they perceive themselves and failing to do so feels to them like they're showing a part of themselves that is intolerable. And aaaaa then Eclipse also because clearly he must have enough experience having met other humans to know that even those that dared stay after learning of his presence ran away after seeing him. So both hide and hide while they wish for more and hate themselves for it, and might even think they don't deserve it.

(Sidenote: I love this description: "The mysterious being who exists in pure darkness, cast by the sun and the moon." Obviously because it references his name (be it a solar or lunar eclipse), but also because it reminds of his strange nature. Because an Eclipse is an event! A phenomenon that is not exactly a natural object, but something that can only be seen under the right conditions!)

And oooh speaking about Eclipse and hiding, I just love the contrast between Eclipse's darkness coming from being unseen vs the darkness born from emptiness. Because Reader so far hasn't been daring at all in pushing to see him, because they fear the latter. Eclipse's nature is intimidating, and it's often said that we fear not the darkness itself, but what we might find in it. But here it's the contrary! Both Reader and Eclipse fear that potential emptiness. They have found company in each other thanks to the darkness, but should something go wrong (pushing too much or scaring the other one away), they would find themselves staring into the void and nothing else.)

And that exactly leads into the doubts about what the other thinks once they've revealed themselves! And it's so interesting how they fear so intensely that the "flaw" they see in themselves, which are kinda opposite, is what will make the other regret meeting them. Like for Reader is that vulnerability, that inability to be perfect about everything that hits them in their daily life and dealing easily with it. They fear their "weakness" will disgust a great being as Eclipse. And for Eclipse is fearing that his form, great, strange, intimidating, monstrous, is what will leave him without his dear one. His very nature enough to drive them away. When in reality, it's likely those very things that made them initially appealing to the other! The Reader a precious little creature, that despite not having horns or sharp teeth lives their daily life bravely (enough to befriend a shadowy being). And Eclipse, a fascinating and fearsome creature, that despite it all demonstrates he's gentle and kind and capable of becoming that friend that provides the most comfort in Reader's life!

Ooooh I just adore how two very different beings, with way more differences than similarities, still have this experience in common. That fear and uncertainty about letting themselves be known, because past experience has thought them it's unwise, and yet they find relief from that terrible all-consuming anxiety when they let themselves trust that this time it will be different and that it is worth it, even if it is raw, to open up and let the right person in.

Now for Mothman Moon!

Just starting and the Reader is already turning the headlights on and off repeatedly jfhdsgkh Prime conditions for Mothman sightings! XD

Oooh I love how you build up the paranoia! Different situations, but it makes me think when it's late at night and for whatever reason you need to go out in a hallway of your home and you gotta reassure yourself that no, there's nothing lurking in the shadows of your home, be an adult and walk calmly jghdkfsj The feeling of being exposed and on edge is so very well achieved! But also all the little hints, like the raven falling quiet. And that instinctual feeling of being watched! Related to all this, I adore this line: "Your optimism slips in the slightest before you yank it back up by the throat and continue marching along." I felt that in my soul fkijhdfgkñjh

Aaaa I love how everything falls quiet at the flapping of wings! Everything knows to be quiet and freeze. And I love Reader is part of that everything. Like they are connected to the forest around them by virtue of not wanting to draw attention to themselves, something they share with all the creatures around.

And oooooo such a spooky sight when we finally get a glimpse of him!! Kinda gave me the urge to hold my breath as well as I read! Just the sight of the glowing red eyes coming from a shadow within the fog would paralyze anyone for sure! And then gjhfdkg poor Reader just shifts horror flavor from Creature-in-the-forest-that-could-kill-me to Stranger-Danger. Pick your poison and all that XD But man that instinct does seriously kick in when a stranger gives us bad vibes huh?

(As a sidenote, I love how you've given the different readers between chapters different responses to fear! Like the first chapter with Sun had Fight if I remember correctly, then the second chapter had Fawn, which I think it's trying to please to prevent from being harmed, even if the fear wasn't so much of Eclipse but of abandonment, and in this one we have Freeze! Which we see twice when Moon first appears and then when the car races towards them!)

Oh. My gosh??? The fact that Moon is just able to take on a car that's going full speed though?? Damn! And oooh he was not happy. He does not appreciate assholes/downright murderers in this area. (Btw I can't help but think that he did in fact break that second light slower on purpose to seem more menacing fjkhdaskjh)

Aaaa it's fascinating how he seems so perplexed by the Reader's response to everything that just happened! Like he doesn't quite understand the freeze response. It's something animals do as well, but I'm guessing if it doesn't work then most would ultimately run from the danger. It's probably the first instance of this he has encountered! And poor reader seems to just be very badly affected by it, physically as well as mentally judging by the lightheadedness.

(sidenote: "He looms, his wings flaring out beside him in magnificent flares of warnings and death." Me, helpless DCA simp, vivid image of the majestic view in my head: Um yes, hi, hello? 👉👈 GFÑLKDJHGÑLJ)

And aaaaa I loved the flight scene! I myself am pretty scared of heights so I likely would have screamed gkjhfdksj but! I love that we continue the theme of braving a bit of the fear to discover something wonderful! Despite my fear of heights I've always imagined how wonderful it would be to have wings and this scene just striked me as something terrifying yet beautiful because it really is an experience that Reader wouldn't get anywhere else! And despite the polarizing feelings of fear and safety just warring inside of them, the wonder was just so tangible as Moon carried them through the air!

And ooo I find it so interesting how he refers to multiple things as the "lights", which from his perspective must be the most notable characteristic of the stuff that emanates it! It's clear he's familiar with cars, and likely has witnessed what happens when one hits a living thing. And the light of the gas station tells him that it's a place humans go to. So he knows it's not just lights, but he still seems to perceive it as their most important characteristic. Aaaa I'm so curious about what the world looks like to him because of this!

And ough it's so sweet he keeps watch over them as they go trying to get the help they need. It seems to me he finds them really intriguing and the fact that he gave them his name could mean he hopes it will not be their last meeting!

And that's that!

Aaaaaa everytime I come back to your writing I keep being taken by surprise by how well you manage to make the reader immerse themselves in the story! Your descriptions are so vivid and your use of the language so *chef kiss*! Everytime I'm just dying to know what's the word that follows the previous one, what will happen, and when that tasty tension you build so well will reach it's snapping point! This little series was a delight to read and a very nice journey into what fear and darkness means to different people. And of course, meeting some very strange and fascinating creatures that make the unknown not as bad as it seemed <3

Thanks for this delicious chapters Naff! It's always a delight reading what you make! 

(Sorry if something is phrased weirdly btw, it’s kinda late as I’m writing this fgkjhdsk)

AHHH CHAOTIK! HI, HELLO! WELCOME BACK!!! I'm so glad to see you in my inbox again!!

Oh, I am rattling you so hard right now! I live for your analysis and I especially love that you caught how much Eclipse and Y/N complement and contrast each other—the same fears but different reasons. They are dear ones, your honor!!!

And Moon! My Mothman!Moon! He's so much fun to write! I'm really glad you enjoy his spooky entrance and his descriptions!

Also, with the readers, that's so funny that it changes from Fight, Fawn, and Freeze! I meant for Mothman's Y/N to freeze but I also think it's neat to explore different responses to fear, so I'm happy that stood out!

(He did break the second car light slowly—he's so dramatic lol)

He does have a different view of the world due to lights—humans have lights. Humans drive with them, live with them, and are afraid without them. Lights are just as foreign as those humans! But he does have a particular interest in Y/N—they were almost hit by the lights themselves. It's now every time he sees that, but he was curious from how they froze to how they were terrified yet in awe of flying. He even finds them cute but doesn't expect to see them again! But Y/N has plans of venturing back to the words with the mothman hehe

Gah, thank you so much, Chaotik! I love how in-depth you go and reading your thoughts makes my day, babe! <3

[crowbawt]

I really should be sleeping but my anxiety so instead here's a very long disjointed post with thoughts about the Man in the Wall after playing Whispers

Spoilers obviously

So the climax of the quest was us somehow holding back Mr. Big Indifference using a memory of love. And it makes sense, because what is the opposite of Indifference towards others? Caring about them. Which is kind of our (Tenno) entire thing. To Take Away Its Pain, etc. There's also Rell, who was also able to hold back Wally, and how he was alienated by his peers and even Marghulis, and the Orokin society who feared and shunned him and didn't treat him as a fellow human being deserves to be treated. As some of the Red Veil blood scrawls in his quest put it, "What is evil, but indifference?" It works quite well, thematically. But Warframe doesn't really restrict itself to a singular, direct approach to invoking its themes. Shit's got layers. Which leads me to believe there may be other layers here, too. And at this point, I'm really not convinced that Wally is so simple as the cosmic idea of Indifference towards others, or even a personification of fear and other 'dark' aspects of the human condition. I mean, I believe he is partially that, we do get that dialogue from Sythel "The first scholar looked into the Void and felt fear, and that fear took form. That's how all this started." Albrecht also refers to himself as the "Father of fears" in his notes somewhere (I forgor) But... Fear is not Indifference. And the Man in the Wall not only shows great interest in many things (like Albrecht, and our Tenno) but he also shows a great deal of emotion. He is described by Duviri citizens as hungry, greedy, jealous. He has feelings, and he has a great deal of them. A being born of fear and indifference towards others doesn't really describe what we've seen of him very well. What Wally has been shown as time and time again is instead: a mirror. Our reflection. So here's the rhetorical question I'd like to ask: If Albrecht gazed into the grand cosmic mirror of existence, and his first reaction was fear, well... it wasn't really the Void he was afraid of, was it?

...Which probably doesn't seem like a point worth all this build up, considering how during the quest, Albrecht's flaw of showing indifference to others (Loid, specifically) is brought up a few times. Albrecht looked into the Void, his Indifference and fear seeped in, and the result was Wally. Makes perfect sense. To which I say, look at the scrollbar to the side of this post because I have soooooo much more bullshit to spew about my thoughts on this. Anyway. I've seen some theorizing that we're probably going to "defeat" the Man in the Wall by forgiving him or otherwise reaching out and showing him love, similar to the way we helped Umbra. Love will triumph over Indifference. And that makes sense and feels very Warframe and I do think that will happen. Buuuuut I don't think it's the only thing that's going to happen. Because if something is destroyed or undone by love, doesn't that... kind of undermine the message of loving an ugly, broken thing? Doesn't having the ultimate villain be some abstract space monster elder god representing pure un-love kind of jar with the very personal, human focus of Warframe's storylines? I don't think this is a Love vs. Indifference Pokemon typing match-up here, I don't think the Love requiem word is going to defeat the Indifference requiem word like a game of rock paper scissors. That would be too trite. Besides, it's not Wally's Indifference, really. It's Albrecht's.

And I've seen a lot, a lot of speculation that Wally "is" Albrecht, just a very derived evil alternate of him, and maybe Albrecht manages to convert himself into Wally as some kind of self-fulfilling quantum time-loop, becoming the reflection that reached out to his own self. It makes a lot of sense, what with the "We End as We Began" thing, and us encountering doppelganger smiley Albrecht in the quest. It works, thematically. This very well could be the answer and it wouldn't be bad storytelling per se.

However, for reasons I am not sure how to articulate at 3 am, I honestly kiiiiiind of hate it. It is not an ending to this that I'd be personally very satisfied with. Again, this doesn't mean it would be bad story-telling, or that other people wouldn't find it satisfying, it's just me and how I like my eldritch horror to be. So I choose to speculate other possibilities up until the point I am proven wrong, and if I am I promise to not be too annoyingly butthurt about it. Promise. Here's my preferred take: I think the "Great Indifference" name for The Man in the Wall is a massive red herring. I think it relates far more meaningfully to what he actually is if you instead interpret it as "undifferentiated."

As in, the Void is a massive roiling quantum soup of all possible outcomes that could exist, but don't--to us. Specifically, us, as in our unique conscious POV, or "personal timeline" or "Chain of Khra" or quantum observer "cone of light" or whatever you want to call it. We are a 3rd dimensional ant stuck walking down a Mobius strip of cause and effect, and the Void is everything that we can not perceive from our tiny tiny window of specific probability variables. We are unable to "change the frame," as Euleria puts it, and I interpret that as "frame of reference."

While a lot of the differences are more... semantic than anything, Eternalism is not actually just Warframe's funny in-universe stand-in name for the Multiple Worlds Interpretation of Reality. This is a whoooooole another post worth of word vomit I won't get into now but Warframe did not come up with Eternalism it's an actual established thing that they're referencing.

The Void is everything, all at once. And if something is everything, in a way it is also... nothing. No contrast, no ups and downs, no loss, no birth, no death, no questions, and no mysteries to ponder. Joy is the same as sorrow, alive is the same as dead, "change" as a broad concept is impossible. If there is an opposite of human consciousness, of being alive and having lived, that's the closest thing I can think of.

There's a reason why the Void is shown in stark black and white until we put color into it... and in his original logs, Albrecht speaks of "scintillating vapor pouring out of my very skull." Human consciousness, our "light," (and the meaning of Albrecht's name, and the significance of us accidentally offering to let Wally "take our light" in the New War, etc) interacting with and reacting with the raw potential of the Void. It makes sense with the Wall being a bleak brutalist expanse of unmoving bone and dust, too. That could Wally's original, natural state: a solid block of grey, meaningless everything. It would explain his jealousy of us, why he takes our appearance, echoes aspects of our personalities, uses our voices, picks at our memories and experiences. It's why he's fascinated with us. It is the one thing he isn't, the one thing he can not have. Or--at least, couldn't have, before Albrecht's intrusion. This is a side-note, but I find it very interesting that Wally's missing finger seems to have limited him in some way, that now he's constrained by the Chains of Khra, implying that before Albrecht, he was not. Now I'm going to rewind waaay back to the topic of Wally being Albrecht's fear made manifest, and us defeating Wally by showing him love, not violence. Because... I don't think our love is enough to fix things on its own. It isn't us who needs to show him love and understanding. I think it has to be Albrecht.

The syndicate's plotline exploring a group of animals who had consciousness forced upon them, suddenly and violently and without consent, the difficulties they face grappling with it--I think that might echo the origin of the Man in the Wall. Consciousness being forced on not an animal, but the Void. You know the quote, "We are the Universe learning about itself?" Maybe in this case, the universe had a very shitty teacher.

And imagine this consciousness being thrust into the Void, taking form within it as an out-of-control chemical reaction, how might it attempt to communicate with Albrecht, with the first 'other' it ever encountered? Perhaps mirroring his form, speaking in his voice, using an endearing and personal term from his childhood: "Little Bengel?" What if, for those brief seconds, The Man in the Wall was not actively malicious? What if he was reaching towards Albrecht not seeking to trap him in a predatory "deal," but out of a sincere desire for connection? How would if feel then, to have your outstretched hand met with fear, disgust--a rejection so violent that your very fingers are severed by him slamming shut the door, an injury that leaves you weakened. A missing part of yourself, and nothing on your side of the wall to fill that hole with. Well it would make you a little bit bitter, I assume. And if those fingers are then used to perform miracles of science, to serve as the foundation for the triumph of an entire empire... you might feel a bit like you're owed. That bitterness may be compounded by the hypocrisy of it all, because all that you showed Albrecht was his own reflection. You might start to fixate on that hypocrisy, on those human flaws, on the parts of him that he didn't want to see. The reflection that he ran from, but further warped to emphasize what he tries to ignore. His shadow self. And so you haunt him with his shadow, because you want him to be forced to see. To acknowledge those parts of him he wishes he wasn't, but you're everything: you know. You won't let him ignore you, to deny you. You are now a jealous, bitter thing. A hungry ghost. You shove these flaws and bits of self-hatred back in his face because you want to make him look at them. To look in the mirror. ....To look at you. To acknowledge you exist. To see you as a thinking, feeling being. And I do think our Tenno are capable of this. To see the Man in the Wall not as "The Other," but as Another. The opposite of Indifference. I think that will be an important part of our story. But our story is not all of the story. It was not just any memory of love that drove back the Indifference, it was Albrecht's love. Unfortunately, I don't think Albrecht as we know him is capable of this, at least not as he is. He speaks of Wally as a malicious force, a cosmic evil that must be fought and only he is brilliant enough to figure out how. Even now, he refers to his reflection only with terms of disgust and shame. For all his monologues about guilt and his grand designs of martyrdom... he still thinks only in terms of himself. He thinks he understands his own guilt, and Wally delights in demonstrating all the ways that he does not. "If I must be a demon, may I be an honest one." That statement is, itself, dishonest. Albrecht is not a demon. He is human.

And that's what he's so deeply, violently afraid of admitting, the fear the entire Orokin civilization built itself on top of as foundation. I believe that is the fear that manifested in The Man in the Wall. And THAT is the kind of cosmic horror I want to see, while also feeling very Warframe. Crossing my fingers we get something closer to this and not just Albrecht accidentally (or purposely?) becoming an evil quantum demon. There's actually like. A whole other section to this I was going to yammer on about but it's now 4:30 AM and whooopppsssssssss

[raayllum]

I'm torn with Claudia. The humane part of me wants her to stop walking her dark path before she destroys herself completely and find some measure of peace. The fucked-up part of me wants to watch her to lose it and go on the warpath and cause lots of chaos. Is that last one wrong to hope for?

Not at all! I do think we'll see her warpath arc next season, since as Ezran stated/foreshadowed

We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else.

Given that Rayla cut off her leg and the trio cost her the chance to save her father's life (since if/when Viren survives, I don't think Claudia will know for a while), I think she'll start chasing Revenge. (Which may lead to even more fracturing with Terry, as "I always believed in you because you had a reason" but we shall see...) And then maybe Soren and Viren will work together to try and bring her home, but maybe only in s7 - so who knows?

But yeah, I don't think ever wanting characters to go through "negative character development" or "fail" means we don't like them or don't understand/sympathize with them. Too often, I think, fandoms can have a tendency to moralize, well, everything, but in this case the choices writers make regarding their favourite characters, i.e. "This Bad Thing happened to Character A so therefore the writers hate them / are punishing them."

And don't get me wrong, I've definitely seen shows where a writing team just did not know what to do with a character, so they just heaped tons of pain on them and/or under utilized them, and who is shown on screen with discussed/processed trauma vs who isn't is definitely a discussion worth having, because none of that exists in an apolitical or aracial space.

However... by no means is the "punishing" angle what's happening all the time, either. What I think it comes from is like, some base assumptions and also a lack of literary understanding for some key aspects I'm gonna do my best at articulating clearly:

1) Operating under an assumption that if you like a character you should only want 'good' things for them, and for them to be a 'good' person, because you are also a 'good' person. This doesn't seem super moralized on the surface, but it explains a lot about "how could anyone like that villain" or offense to "how could anyone want that character to fail" and it's like, idk how to explain that failure and therefore conflict and tragic figures are Just Interesting, Brenda, even if they aren't your personal cup of tea. (I say, as a diehard Macbeth and literary Judas enjoyer lmao.)

2) Ignores catharsis and tragedy as elements of storytelling / as its own desirable genre. Sometimes, you want to watch a thing where you know the whole time everything is going to go horribly wrong for certain characters, or all the characters, and that's what's fun about it. The desirable outcome for every story or character is not a happy ending, nor are all characters or stories built for a happy ending, either. It can be upsetting, of course, when a character we like doesn't get the (happy) ending we hoped for, but that isn't necessarily always the same as a bad ending, y'know? Substantially bad things happening to a character doesn't always mean a narrative hates them; a focus on them is still a focus.

All of this to say: I don't think it's wrong at all to want, or be interested in, Terrible Things happening to a character. It's a thought experiment like any other, and pushing characters to their limits, revealing how they respond under intense or painful experiences - whether than pain is physical, emotional, or something else entirely - is fun and interesting. There's a reason there's are entire genres for Horror and Drama and tearjerker films after all.

Like I've been waiting and wanting for Claudia to snap and become a fully fledged villain since S2 because it was very clear to me just how much she was already Skewed in S1 and S2 made it clear to me that, unlike her brother, she would not be getting on a better path any time soon. Sometimes mess and hurt and mistakes is more interesting than healing, and sometimes it's the opposite (and those things aren't mutually exclusive either).

Like going into S6, I want everyone to Fail so badly (except, arguably, Claudia - who still isn't going to be getting what she actually Needs - and Aaravos, who's going to get exactly what he wants). Watching how characters and their relationships can fall apart, how their own consistent flaws and patterns, can lead them to make awful but understandable mistakes? That's my shit. And getting to see how they do, or don't, come back from that in the season, and in season 7? Chomping at the bit, I'm so excited.

I also don't think that hoping for another end, though, is worse than being excited for a tragic end, because while tragedies are about sadness, they are also - at their core - about Hope that maybe it won't end badly this time. If a tragedy cannot provide catharsis to a viewer, for some reason, then they are still fulfilling their purpose in nurturing hope and indignation in the face of perceived unfairness - that a character could try so hard and still be doomed; that we ourselves often take on tasks that feel insurmountable, that we can take on what looks like a losing battle and still, somehow, win. And maybe we don't - maybe they don't. But tragedies, if nothing else, teach us resilience and the merit of telling a story when you already know how it ends, and the skill of it lies therefore entirely in the execution (sometimes literally).

Basically: hope for whatever you want for whatever character you want, even, or especially, when it's 'bad'. It's what we've always done for a reason.

[serenfire]

attention, anyone who cares about the witcher s3's character's motivations with regards to the books but who hasn't then read time of contempt, here is a post for you!

here's some interesting differences between the book and show characters, especially in ep 5 (spoilers for the witcher s3 so far and the books):

since yennefer does not have her s2 beef w aretuza subplot, none of the mages are her direct enemies, and she is a member of the lower circle of leadership within the brotherhood, called the council, with philippa and 3 others who are not in the show. she is also not the one who calls the conclave; she finds out about it while bringing ciri to aretuza, and attends with geralt so that they can draw out the mage who is backing rience. in the book, they're trying to convinced everyone that ciri died at cintra, and haven't been together since then to keep up the illusion, so going to aretuza together will draw out the mage who knows ciri exists and is trying to kill her

vilgefortz is, firstly, the hero of sodden in the books. he's the war hero against nilfgaard, and one of the leaders of the brotherhood. he's also (spoilers for probably the second half of s3) working for nilfgaard now, and not in the way that s1 portrays where he kills his comrade on the battlefield after the battle's over, but in an "even the hero of sodden who singlehandedly saved the north from nilfgaard wants power enough to ally with his enemy" way.

he is the leader of the chapter, which is the highest circle of leadership of the brotherhood. tissaia and francesca findabair are also members, as well as artaud terranova (guy who falls over the champagne glass table in ep 5). in ep 5 he recounts his backstory to geralt, some of it word-for-word, except for an important part: as part of his backstory, he fell in love with an unnamed mage before becoming a sorcerer, and after breaking up with her, decided he should pursue magic. he and tissaia are not together! i cannot stress this enough, in the books the mages are powered by their individual searches for power, and love does not tie them together! it's what sets yen apart: she's one of the only ones willing to sacrifice for another.

FRANCESCA FINDABAIR. member of the chapter/high ranked aretuza member, in the book shows up to the conclave party early, stirring up the northern vs nilfgaardian sentiments by being there. wild that she hasn't appeared there in the show yet. her motives in the show are WHACK. in the books she did not have a baby and did not say she wants to genocide the humans (although that is propaganda against her): she leads the scoia'tael to fight for nonhuman freedom and allies herself with nilfgaard to continue to fight the north, and she will receive a free land for the elves (dol blathanna) in return for the scoia'tael being branded as war criminals and outlawed. in the books she is the catch-22 of stuck between a rock and a hard place: allying with imperialism will save her people but gut her guerilla soldiers who fought for it.

philippa eilhart is so far the best-written character this season (to me) because she is one of the only characters who everyone knows is seeking for power (in the book she's referred to as the one who's really on the redanian throne, backed by dijkstra) and she, directly, says that she's looking to keep power in the north. in the books, most if not every mage's motivations are for power, whether in a king's court or by allying with nilfgaard, and the imperial machinations are what the politics in the books are about, so having a character not be preoccupied with interpersonal reasons and instead directly embody this is refreshing!

however! in the books philippa's position is anti-nilfgaardian invasion, not anti-brotherhood. she's pitted against vilgefortz, who's allied with nilfgaard, instead of against him because he's a leader of the brotherhood. the brotherhood as an institution isn't interrogated as a state (unlike the northern kingdoms and nilfgaard), and her specific grievances against other court mages have to do with the fact that almost every kingdom is goading nilfgaard to attack so they can attack back and vie for power. she's also got redania on a lockdown by killing vizimir right before the conclave party and i don't know how this will play out in the show considering radovid exists as well

also in the books radovid is vizimir's son who ascends to the throne after philippa and dijkstra kill vizimir, and (in the games) he makes it his life mission to kill philippa. he does not physically show up in time of contempt and adding him into the show as vizimir's brother 1) crunches the timeline down to a period of time that makes a bit more sense than the books and 2) allows the show to make up the funniest fucking subplot with jaskier. oh my god none of that happened in the books but wouldn't it have been hilarious. jaskier hooking up with the sweet and sensitive younger prince who's a fan of his music and then smash cut to twelve hours later and he's the fucking king of redania. the comedy potential is unmatched

[theloganator101]

Vent Ask anon is here again! Hello 👋

I have another vent for you in regard to Hori's writing. Something I've seen both you and @mikeellee speak about is how Hori loves his abuser characters. I've noticed this too and I hate it.

Two main examples of this for me stick out.

Bakuguo and Endeavor.

But I'll talk about some other (dis)honorable examples of this at the end.

First Bakugou Katsuki (kind of controversial to label him as an abuser) however with the severity of the bullying dealt to Izuku and the length of time he dealt it - that's abuse. And yet:

He is favoured by the narrative

Izuku is never allowed to think negatively of him or grow out of his mindset of "Kacchan is the best"

Bkg has characters that exists as a 'simp' for him in Izuku, Kaminari and Kirishima.

He has friends despite treating no one with respect, screaming at everyone and giving everyone degrading nicknames.

Said "best friend" Kirishima hates bullies and somehow can't see his "manly" best friend is one.

He is favored by the 'hardass' homeroom teacher since Aizawa is a favored mouthpiece of Hori

He is deemed a prodigy of 1A despite his only prior experience to UA being beating up others who couldn't fight back - which implies nothing good. How severe did he beat Izu and others up to get that good?

All Might thinks well of him despite Bakugou berating and beating up Izuku as well as berating the past OFA holders. (As soon as Bkg did that AM should have kicked him straight out of the OFA talks.)

The apology scene and the 1A vs Izuku scene were all there to act as a gotcha moment to the Anti-Bakugou fans and put him back in Izuku's story.

Yet why does Bakugou have to be in Izuku's story? He adds nothing. He contributes nothing. He is a parasite on Izuku's life. And Izuku is FAR more interesting as a character and would have been allowed to shine if he were allowed to be away from Bakugou - But Hori can't allow that!

Second Endeavor - I hate him. He began the story as an irredeemable trash father, the dark side of heroics yet Hori has now attempted D worthy "atonement" narrative.

He is favored by the narrative

He has a character that exists as a 'simp' for him in Hawks.

Rei is not allowed to think negatively of him despite how he ruined her mental state, physically and (implied SA'd her depending on the reading of the manga - why is Hori giving an implied rapist a redemption arc?)

Only realised his wrongdoings when he got the position he wanted in being the Number 1 hero and realised it was empty. (Fucking laughable, he didn't see it when Touya grew unstable, when Rei burnt Shoto or when Touya supposedly DIED. How am I meant to believe this guy deserves a redemption?)

No hero / hero in training outside the Todoroki's is allowed to say a bad word about him. Hawks acts now as his simp despite his abusive childhood and Jeanist is joining Hawks in helping support an abuser while giving off strong abuse apologist vibes... This leads me to my next point-

Endeavor remains the number 1 hero despite being outed as an Domestic Abuser... What the fuck? I thought being a hero is meant to be more than about power HORI? That was the message at the start of MHA! If it's just about power now - why not let All for One rule and be the number 1!

Then there's the issue with how the rest of the family, primarily Dabi and Rei are handled - Hori's retcons. Smacking Rei for not watching Touya and separating Shoto from his siblings to keep him away from 'dangerous' Touya who attempted to kill him as a baby. But there's also the instances with Fuyumi not understanding Touya and Natsuo telling Touya to tell Fuyumi about his problems because he needs to sleep. These instances exist solely to shift the blame off Endeavor for the established abusive behaviour he committed by showing the other family members had some fault for their circumstamces. That's it. There's no other reason to any of those instances being there.

Some fans claim that there is complexity in abusive situations which is why those scenes (in the above bullet point) are there and that does exist in real life but this is a Shonen Manga. Authorial intent needs to be considered. Subjects like this needs to be handled sensitively and while not leaving any room for doubt (especially when the audience/readers are young children/teens) who is at fault. The fact that Hori muddles the water like this (just take a look at any of the E stans takes on Rei or Touya) isn't good. AT ALL.

Shoto. Endeavor's "atonement" led to Shoto being shafted as a character and powerful in his own right so so bad. There's something so wrong about this. The victim should ALWAYS remain the focus of their story especially their recovery and telling of it.

There's also the fact that Endeavor's victims are so so much more interesting than him. Shoto is a main character and he's great - give me more of him. Give me more Rei, Dabi/Touya, Natsuo and Fuyumi, their mindsets would be so much more interesting to see than Endeavor's "change" the majority of which occurred in his own head.

Now for the quick fire dishonorable mentions.

Overhaul. A piece of trash truly, yet he appears in MHA once again as an willing 'accomplise' to Nagant and broken man. He is also asked if he would like to apologise to Eri by Izuku. Like no. This man deserves nothing, in fact he deserves Shiggy to decay the rest of him. He added nothing to the Nagant arc and there was no need for him to be there. Other than to be someone for Izuku to save which would have worked better being anyone else really.

All for One. Arguable, Hori at the very least doesn't try to shift the blame off of him. However he gets more focus than First and the rest of the OFA holders despite them being his biggest constant threat. AND despite Izuku (our narrator) being an OFA holder and seeing the other vestiges! Hori! Come on Hori! The opportunity to explore all the OFA holders was RIGHT THERE!

Shimura Kotaro - again arguable. However with the way the story treated his abuse to his family, the blame for his abuse seems to be shifted to Nana's abandonment of Kotaro for 'causing him to act that way.' Although he at least is such a minor character most fans seemed to think "wow fuck that guy" upon learning Shigaraki's backstory and moved on.

Your thoughts?

To give a proper response, I'll be talking about each of the characters you listed.

Bakugou: You're all right about this, at this point he literally has the narrative wrapped around his finger. He's the worst of what happens when you give a side character the screentime of a second major character but with no development. He serves no purpose to the plot and just serves to take away screentime to characters that could really use it to make them more important than they are now.

Endeavor: Yeah you pretty much hit the nails why this atonement doesn't work.

I would even like to add Fuyumi to this equation since she chose to forgive him so they could be a happy family. While I get what Hori's trying to convey and having multiple sides to this, but it just comes across as her invalidating Natsuo's feelings without trying to see it from his POV.

Hey Hori, your sexism is showing again by having the females in the family forgive your abuser with implications of r*pe.

And that isn't going into how Shoto is literally made into a plot device IN HIS OWN FUCKING ARC FOR ENDEAVOR'S ATONEMENT!!

Overhaul: Nothing much to say here.

AFO: Nothing here either.

Kotaro: Yeah this guy was a pos. And his family isn't any better by letting the abuse too. I will die defending Nana as she was only doing what she thought was best to protect her family and didn't have any say in the choices that led to her son being an abuser.

[rayadraws]

I had a dream that I wrote a tumblr post on labrador retriever colour genetics for some reason and now I'm like well since dog colour genetics IS an interest of mine, why not. I don't remember what I wrote about specifically in my dream but here's a few lab colour facts.

(N.B. I am not getting into the debate of purebred vs mixed, I am not saying one is better than the other etc, just stating a few facts)

There is only one breed of labrador, the labrador retriever. Yellow/brown/black lab just refers to the coat colour. They share the same breed standard, are judged together and can be interbred, they are not different breeds.

All colours you can find in dogs are created through the interaction of two different kinds of colour pigment, they are eumelanin (black/chocolate brown/blue/lilac) and phaeomelanin (all shades of red from deep copper to off-white). White is absence of pigment all together.

For labradors specifically, black and brown are expressions of eumelanin, yellow labs express phaeomelanin. From a genetic viewpoint, all yellow labs from the super pale cream ones to the deep fox red ones are genetically "red", they just have additional genes that bleach/darken their red shade.

Most (maybe all) labrador retrievers are genetically tanpoint ("dobermann pattern") but almost all of them also have a gene called "dominant K" which overrides that pattern, leaving them solid black or brown. In very rare cases, purebred puppies can be born that show the pointed pattern.

Yellow labs also have a gene that prohibits the expression of eumelanin in the coat, instead they exhibit only phaeomelanin, which is otherwise "overridden" by the dominant K, black/brown -> red.

In very rare cases, dogs can have something called a "somatic mutation" where you can get a dog that expresses two or more coat patterns/colours at once. Try googling "somatic mutation labrador" and you'll see some cool labs that are mixed black and yellow, which is normally impossible. This kind of mutation happens randomly, it is not genetic and can not be bred for. It is not the same thing as merle.

Small white markings such as a chest spot or white toes is something that can randomly happen in puppies if the pigment did not have time to develop fully before birth. Often such markings go away as the dog ages and the pigment fills in. However, more extensive white markings (like white that forms a full or partial white collar, extends pasts the toes etc) is a sign that the dog has another breed or breeds mixed in, the genes to produce that amount of white spotting does not exist in purebred labradors.

"Silver" labradors are labs that have been crossbred with a breed that carries the dilution gene (usually a weimaraner), which turns black to blue and brown to lilac. Unscrupulous breeders try to pass these dogs off as rare and exotic purebred labs to fool unsuspecting buyers. Breed DNA tests are not reliable as they can not spot a mixed in breed after 3 generations. The breeding of silver labs is unethical as the dilution gene is tied to health issues, in particular CDA (colour dilution alopecia) which can lead to itchiness, flaky skin, hairless/balding and skin infections.

Artist bonus: - If you are drawing a black lab, it should have a black nose and brown eyes. - If you are drawing a brown lab, it should have a brown or flesh-coloured nose and amber or light brown eyes. It is genetically impossible for a brown lab (or any other dog breed that comes in dark brown/chocolate/liver colour) to have a black nose and dark brown eyes. They just can't produce that kind of pigment. SO many people including professionals get this wrong and it drives me up the wall, use references people lol - If you are drawing a yellow lab, it can have black OR brown pigment "behind the yellow", but black pigment is most common, so black nose/brown eyes. These dogs sometimes have a flesh-coloured spot on their nose, which is called a dudley nose.

[commenter2]

Radio Killed the Video Star review

Time to see Vox and Alastor go at it then after that, see Sir Pentious interact with the Hotel staff for the first time. Spoilers as always.

I know there wouldn’t be a story if this happened, but how come Charlie is still allowing Angel Dust to work for Val when she is trying to redeem him? It’s counterproductive, so you think she would have given Angel an ultimatum. Maybe later in the series, but after seeing previous Helluva Boss episodes, soon Angel will willingly quit to actually try and redeem himself for his and more so Charlie’s sake.

So Vox is in charge of electronics. He better not be in charge of videogames as that is taken by my OC, Ratchet. But for real it would be boring if Vox owned everything electrical. I wonder if existing Overlords could lose titles for things when someone better appears? That works as I have it written down that my OC beats Vox and Val to save his friends and then becomes the Overlord of videogames in the aftermath.

I know it’s a common thing, but it is surprising when a string bean like Val has the strength to literally tear people apart.

Vox’s VA is good (glad they didn’t go for a Mark Hamill like voice, that SHOULD have been a Lucifer thing) but I’m not liking Velvette’s as I always pictured her having a youngish vlogger/influencer kind of voice. It’s also seems like this updated version of her doesn’t like Vox whereas in the pilot it seemed like she had a crush on him. Hey unlike with Stella, at least this won’t hurt the series. It’s also interesting that Velvette also has a career in fashion, adds more to her then just being a social influencer.

So Vox has the ability to hypnotize people. Interesting, and another example of how both demons and sinners can have powers not related to their profession and such. Good to know as I can see this leading to some fun ideas.

Velvette can change a person’s clothes. I had a similar fun idea about her having such an ability to do that to herself along with changing her hair instantly given her doll like appearance. For all we know, this could be canon.

More moth sinners.

Obvious Helluva Boss reference.

Val confirmed to be the dumb one of the Vs. Hey at least that joke from the ADDICT video about him no knowing basic math seems to be canon XD.

The thing with Vox’s eye reminds me of this show called Daria, as I recall it having a character with a gag where when he got mad one of his eyes would get noticeably bigger.

Again Alastor’s voice changed while he was talking. The line about “what will the papers say” had less radio static then usual and sounded more normal. There must be a pattern, but we won’t know until we get more examples.

This was spoiled a bit for me but yeah both Al and Lilith had a time of absence of 7 years. This could mean many things like they’re working together or against each other. Only time will tell but now we got the 2ndmystery of the season, or part of the series’ grand mystery.

Insert “Vox using pic from one of Viv’s tweets” comment here.

I’ll admit, I didn’t see the reason behind Alastor and Vox’s rivalry starting because he said no to Vox’s offer to join the V alliance. I like it.

Trailer shot. A bit of a relief that this isn’t happening during the finale.

Vox owns techno sharks, but I’m more curious about where that adorable land shark he has as a pet is. Hopefully that wasn’t written out.

Heh, Val is adding rhinestones to his gun.

Also Velvette changed her hair! I’m now counting this and another one of my HH ideas being canon.

Angel got one of Al’s minions to develop feelings for him, and he doesn’t seem to like it. Talk about karma XD.

LOOK AT THOSE PUPPY EYES!!! SO CUTE! :3

While it is sad seeing Angel get bummed out when Charlie said she likes that Pentious is someone (to her knowledge) that is actually trying to redeem themselves, he does deserve it given all the times he’s mocked the idea and of course embarrass Charlie in the pilot. At least after hearing this, it’s possible this will be the first step to eventually make him actually care about trying to be better, if not then to make Charlie like her more than Pentious.

Cute KeeKee moment.

I said this in my Tumblr post about the Husk, Niffy, and Sir Pentious “trailer”, but we can all agree that Niffty’s crush on Pentious shouldn’t be a permanent thing due to how creepy it is.

I do hope throughout the series, we do learn how Lucifer feels about certain things, especially those that use him as a topic. I’m sure the “Devil’s Dandruff” is in the list of things he hates.

“character who made bad life choices, getting jealous and is thinking about going back to doing said bad choices” cliché.

FAT NUGGETS!!!

It is interesting that the artist are still using Val’s smoke (which I’m also guessing represents pheromones, though apparent some moths can make perfume to attract mates) as a symbol for Angel’s addiction.

And here comes the old trope of “people believing the new guy instead of the other character, when said other character was trying to save the day”. Wait they’re actually breaking away from a usual trope? YES! I haven’t seen that happen in Vivzie’s works in forever! Heck they did it twice in this episode if you count the twist with Al and Vox’s rivalry origins.

Even as PJ Charlie wears a suit like outfit while Vaggie’s is in a more dress like outfit. It actually reminds me of the outfit of her old design. Also is Charlie wearing high heel slippers!

Though I am a bit skeptical of Pentious’ quick change of heart, it is nice to now see Charlie have a patient that will try to be a better person. Again could this lead to a rivalry between Pentious and Angel and then one day having Angel actually wanting to try and change.

Also like I once brought up somewhere, I wonder what is going to happen when Pentious runs into Cherri when she arrives to see Angel.

Oh thank god they ended that thing with Niffty. Let’s hope it never happens again.

Wait are they just going to leave that Vox camera there? Never mind, looks like Al will take care of it offscreen.

Hey Vox fans, here is something I bet you haven’t heard in the news, apparently the biggest radio company in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy a little over a week ago. I wonder how Al and Vox would feel about that and what that discussion would lead to!

This was a simple, but good episode. One pro of it was that we got to see and learn more about the Overlords, specifically the Vs, which makes sense considering Val and Vox's connections to the main cast. We also got to learn a bit about Overlords and how much say they have.

I think the best thing in the episode was the pretty surprising twist that Vox wanted to team up with Alastor.

The only negative is again with the ending quickly having Pentious joining the hotel. I know the story is going to be a bit rush here and there given the season only has 8 episodes, but I feel like there should have been a moment where Pentious says he really wants to be better.

Maybe during the song he says he did like Charlie’s positivity while during the exercises, and her offer of a second/real chance has made him want to try and be better, or at least enough she he won’t end up like Vox. Heck maybe he says something related to Alastor’s portion of his own song and realize that trying to stay up with trends/being popular isn’t always that great, possibly making him and Alastor get on better terms, as I can see Al hanging around with anyone just because they hate Vox.

What were your thoughts on the episode?

[bending-sickle]

Fuck, marry, kill

Dean, Castiel, Crowley

Also, your Crowley headcannons! I need more Crowley in my life

*softly* you're killing me, smalls

well i can't kill dean because he's unkillable (or extremely killable but for a limited time only) and i do not want to suffer the consequences.

...or do i?

okay look.

marry crowley. paperwork means something with him, which means i can get it in writing that i won't be [Insert Endless List of Horrible Fates]. plus, fucking all day every day in new and exciting ways. and not to play light of possession but imagine the possibilities. so many different suits to experiment with.

now with the other two it's more a question of "who would i rather hunt me down with single-minded revenge for killing their babe".

i mean, it should be that, but i'm getting distracted by who would be a better one-night-stand and i gotta say, dean wins that competition.

so we're killing cas, i guess, and hopefully i make it out alive once dean figures out what's happened. (or, oh god, sam.)

as for crowley headcanons:

the torture move that finally snapped his soul into demonhood was his jaw getting ripped right off. he doesn't like to think about. (he thinks about it.)

absolutely rampant but sublimated Hell Torture ptsd

because of this, he'll fuck any way there is left to fuck except any way that feels too close to being tied down to the rack in hell. not keen on being the bottom, not happy being underneath, and i think he'd rather swim through a thrice-blessed olympic swimming pool than be tied up.

which leads us to: control. he wants it. if he can't have it, then at least he doesn't want surprises, which works well, because he's good at reading people.

his coat: secret security blanket.

do not believe a single thing that comes out of his mouth when it comes to him, personally. i don't understand why the wiki fandom takes his offhand comments as gospel, like when he said he had dr phil on speed-dial, or had "athletic calves", or has been drinking Craig whiskey since gradeschool* as if a bastard, motherless boy abandoned to the workhouse would be in school.** he likes to play loose, to make quips, and to spout bullshit because it's fun.

and a forced headcanon because the show just fucking decided to make him scottish after he'd been on screen for over a season is that his english accent is deliberately put-upon because [Insert the entire history of England's oppression of Scotland and also the prejudice of local accents vs. Received Pronunciation english]. which also means, in my headcanon, he talks to his mother in his original scottish accent every time he loses a grip of his "I Am Crowley, King of Hell" persona. especially in the face of her own accent. because lots of people who have a Public Accent and a Home Accent shift like that, especially with family (e.g. john barrowman, american accent to most, scottish at home. watch him explain it - and accent switch - here) and it just makes sense, y'know? and when he's Seriously Going Through It, he'll slip back into it. (unlike, for some bizarre reason - and tell me it's not just me - the weird american accent creeping in during his "i deserve to be loved" scene. like, mark, wtf.)

okay i'll stop now.

* some people even tried to use this info as a basic for tracking down said whiskey which...doesn't exist

** which is not to say there weren't schools (which would be dominie since there was no parish) in canisbay in the mid 1600s but...my dude was not going to school and drinking whiskey. he was starving at a workhouse trying to rub two pennies together.

(can you tell i've been researching for a fic?)

[horizon-verizon]

Something that bothers me about DotD is that I feel GRRM doesn't help his case much if he means the reader to sympathize with Rhaenyra's cause despite her shortcomings with the nature of the trajectory he chooses for her downfall. Now I'm not at all saying it's wrong to show her as flawed person, with hints of era-typical bigotry. But her acts against Nettles etc. make a reading that she wasn't good enough to support her after all not uneasy, leading to sexist implications considering the theme.

*EDITED POST* (4/5/24)

Found this lovely post by la-pheacienne HERE, explaining how Rhaenyra's tragedy is an ancient Greek on as well, how Rhaenyra became what she was.

It's strange. The Dance is both very very simple, yet it presents interesting questions.

ESPECIALLY SINCE WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THIS BOOK, IN-WORLD, WAS WRITTEN WITH THE IDEA THAT FEMALE-RULER=BAD RULER=BAD-FOR-THE-REALM!!!

It's a story of two very flawed factions (one still, I think, in the actual wrong) vying for power, but it essentially is the bloody catalyst for the need of sets up the death of the dragons and Daenerys'/Rhaegar's existence in Westeros--Dany's being Azor Ahai!

Rhaenyra unequivocally relied much on on her posiiton and class privilege to carry her through, as many female rulers and nobles would because without it they cannot hope to have the power they often are denied. But bc this privilege comes with the price of some level of compliance with the status quo AND can make one develop forgo looking at things apart from one's survival or dignity, it can also lead us into hurting others like Nettles who would have actually helped us succeed.

"Nature" vs Nurture--Doylist 'nature' vs Watsonian 'nurture'.

What makes a person who they are? Their environment and history (the parameters and foundations for their decision-making), or just their decisions? Where is the line between showing a woman affected by her lack of political training (but still having to self-determine red/black dress moment and her drawing strength from her Valyrian heritage) AND showing her fairly as a person in her own right with many flaws? OR where do we realize that we ourselves are subject to making arguments based on principles we haven't learned are sexist in themselves?

And I am not a mother, so I don't know what it's like to lose not one but two kids in quick succession and under a year. There was a clear choice on GRRM/probably really Gyldayn/the story-teller's, part in making Rhaenyra seemingly "incapacitated" to be involved with politics after KL until Daemon left and she was left with the envious Mysaria (our Iago-figure) to have her fears played on.

We have to remember that this account is the least well-documented in F&B and the one with the most deliberately unreliable narrators with agendas in presenting some characters, esp Rhaenyra, a certain way. Septon Eustace writes Rhaenyra stuffed her face with pies AND that she cut her hand on the throne so the throne must have rejected her after landing in KL. This is most likely a retrospective exaggeration of the real situation out of spite AND plain slander, because:

even if she were eating a lot, it'd most likely be depression/grief/stress-eating and she had a lot to be worried about, her 2 sons died, PLUS she'd maybe eat her fav foods to feel more at the home that always should have been hers

we already heard the writers fat shame her for not putting off her pregnancy weight -- sexist patriarchal body standards ignoring real health & anatomy/medicine to affirm itself -- meanwhile Helaena & Aegon the Elder both were plump-fat, and we hear of no insults or repetitive notes about them?!

Eustace really hated her probably for not using him as he wanted her to or what he was used to as Viserys, Viserys' courtiers, & Alicent most often did PLUS Rhaenyra was ultra-femme, but was not demure nor pretended to be -- again, sexist standards of feminine behavior or presentation

Aegon IV was as unworthy a leader as anything we ever see in Westeros...yet we hear nothing of the throne cutting him...Aenys I? Maegor, and not in his death!; it's a chair made of literal swords...people are going to get cut; OR it never happened bc Rhaenyra was wearing armor at the time -- basically superstition needs to be logically analyzed before we go "that's symbolism!"

A) GRRM Othellos Rhaenyra...Kinda. I just See some Things that Remind Me of the Play

Here, we know Rhaenyra definitely ordered Nettles' death, this isn't a Gyldayn invention or misunderstanding for the "Othello-ing" I name. It is narratively important that Rhaenyra become a tyrant not bc she was an evil person or stupid from the jump, but because she is an example of one who didn't manage to work through her own fear, grief, and paranoia (caused by the system's constant failures against her) to do as Dany did and rely on compassion instead of fear to assure her survival.

1.

Without as much proper or as-much-political/military training as Jaehaerys I's and Baelon and Aemon had--Rhaenyra was that much more vulnerable. BUT she also could have gained a lot of experience in ruling Dragonstone in all thsoe years (15-16, or 20?) alone.

Let's take the first scenario: To not be fully ready or developed enough to put up much of a necessary fight against those that would oppose her and dissolve further than the already shaky bonds between Targ family members that existed since (honestly) either the generation of Aenys' and Maegor or Jaehaerys I.

After adopting much of Andal/Westerosi noble customs and especially male primogeniture, the Targs began betraying its female members and underdeveloping them almost since its dynasty's inception.

So GRRM makes Rhaenyra's flaws a direct result of her generational deprivation and gender discrimination, coming from Maegor and Aenys, but at the same time, it seems he went too hard in the paint to make Rhaenyra a woman without some necessary sense to accentuate her victimhood by making most of the bigger strategic decisions the blacks make come from the men around her BUT he also made sure to clue us in on how Rhaenyra is not like Dany in that she ultimately chooses her class privilege instead of measured compassion to maybe save herself.

A question some may have: Why make your female character so flawed instead of making her more of a great & strategic or very compassionate foe to reckon with, which would further hammer in how unfair it was that she was usurped? However, I mentioned how Rhaenyra serves as a way to re-contextualize Daenerys and the importance of ingenuity & compassion that will really carry one one into both personal and collective success/survival. (HERE is a Tweet by former brideoffires explaining).

Also, they both refuse to bow down to the oppressive standards of their time in their own ways. Even with Rhaenyra fighting for her claim and to protect her kids, she defying patriarchal restrictions of female leadership by refusing to just give up the crown despite the greens' usurpation and crowning Aegon. There is value in that, even with it going to war. Rhaenyra is an aspect of Dany's own struggles. She is where a woman in either position could falter. They share a pride needed to resist against those sociopoilitical circumstances and assert themselves.

Basically, Rhaenyra's most critical mistake and error and moment of self destruction was to accuse Nettles & use her own class privilege against a vulnerable. She relied on a thing that ultimately was set against her (you can't really separate the misogyny of the aristocratic class) to use against her "enemy", in order to feel powerful, even with her having been driven to that state from mainly others' desire for her throne.

After all, male claimants and rulers who are insane, predatory, or just weak are pushed towards the throne (Aegon the Elder, prime example for this story) all the time, so why not have a flawed or "mediocre" woman be the center of this story to accentuate the double standard held against her? To show how people like Cersei get...that, and what Dany as a woman could & has gone up against? Rhaenyra being as she was rather highlights how Misogyny doesn't care if you are a genuinely good person leader, one bad move, you're done. And Rhaenyra--to go back to the scenario abt "training" or if she did obtain "enough" experience, and even then we should wonder how much or if GRRM just wanted her to be that way for plot-sake--wasn't the most strategic, much of it due to her class entitlement. Which the greens share.

Men like Robert Baratheon, Stannis, Ramsay Snow/Bolton, or any of the current male Greyjoys who grew up in the Iron Islands? Even Canon!Jon Snow is better than most men of his time, but he is cruel when he thinks he has to be and has himself executed a child for disobedience and treachery. He also makes emotion-based/involved/inspired decisions (not often, but they exist), and he also makes mistakes. They get to hold positions of power without any added troubles (as Rhaenyra had) to the regular ones of greedy challengers or those resisting their plunder and reaping.

Why should we hold Rhaenyra to a much higher standard than these men, as much censure, as the fandom and canon society does? Especially since it's not really her story (overall), it's Dany's? None of the autonomously ruling female leaders of the story receive half as much censure for character or leadership skills (true or false) as those men I listed. Rhaenyra and Daenerys "Stormborn" Targaryen are usually the subjects, with some other Westerosi women as well, sometimes Catelyn even. All that is obviously due to misogyny, to this idea that because you are not the typical candidate or desired one for the position of power, you need to "prove" yourself to specifically those who get that power without having to fight that hard or experience the doubt of leadership similar to a woman.

In other words, trying to actually 100% buy into what the Westerosi male lords or what we think they'd want in a leader was never going to work for Rhaenyra. She kinda already did, and look where that got her?

2.

How much of her paranoia (actually her breakdown) is understandable and consequential, as GRRM wants us to consider?

Gyldayn would say or think she should have ben better, but considering what she was up against as a woman, does he really think he could do better?

Or rather, how much do we excuse her for in lieu of her victimhood in the face of lifelong concentrated abuse and misogyny at almost every front?

Even if she had somehow quickly overcome her own grief in less than a year after both of her oldest sons died before she took KL, why are we so expectant of that? That's inhumane to me. Or I could be over emotionalizing it, idk & I don't think so.

And with the green having taken the royal coffers before they left, what would someone else have done under the immediate pressures of the lack of money, fear from smallfolk around the executions whose observations are charged and hate against the taxes raised bc of said lost moneys, and then the worst rioting exacerbated/caused by a crazy man most likely sent by the Citadel to turn everyone not just against her but all the Targs and destroy the dragons....

It's a lot all at once and something that not even Jaehaerys had to deal with, since:

Maegor at least was very dead by the time he actually got to KL.

The royal treasury was always intact AND he had Rego Draz (a Pentoshi man) help him develop his strategy of taxation, which encouraged the nobles to spend more....again in totoal PEACETIME.

since he was male, he never had to face widespread and local disfavor or contempt for his abilities (subtle or unsubtle) on account for things he cannot change or of beliefs against his gender, right to occupy a space, etc. as a woman does, esp a woman slotted to rule over other men -- people doubted him for his age/lack of experience, but they gave him more grace than they did Rhaena, his older sister

Finally, Jaehaerys may have lost two brothers (Viserys and Aegon) and a father, but Aenys didn't die by cold murder. His brothers we: A) don't even know he was close to or not, there were big age differences b/t him and them B) they were siblings, not one's children

Even without the losses of her kids, after a lifetime of having to decide how and even if one should try to legitimize oneself as one deserving of the same sort of respect and claims to power that another demographic just gets w/o trying--what does that do to the mind of a person, and under the pressures listed?

For Othello, it was using illusions and misunderstandings of adultery to put his sense of his masculinity in danger (as black masculinity is always put into question as being too "bestial" and inhuman, oversexualized--undeserving of the white chaste woman/high prize/object of white male power/public and political respect or "trust").

For Rhaenyra, it was her gender held against her AND then the betrayals, and she defaulted to feudal classism and misgynoir. Her conformity to that white female chastity of body and mind: what right did she think she had to claim power or herself without doing it in the name of a living "true" male heir/authority? And like Othello, she endured it her entire life, beginning with Alicent. At the same time, enjoying the trappings of a royal dragonrider who grew up believing that Targaryens were awesome beings who quite literally built Westeros the way it is?

That, I think, is what GRRM tries to create, this state of ethical "ambiguity".

It is true that compared to his other female Targ characters, the ambiguity is lacking because Rhaenyra is made too vulnerable to circumstances before her birth without her having quite enough substantial pushback or strategic will.

But Gyladyn wrote this book and we nee dto be careful with how he frames things or describes them.

B)

This will read back and forth, because I think there are other merits in some criticisms of Rhaenyra's character and her characterization.

1. Maybe you can skip this if you have repetition

I think that GRRM does try to write her from that Shakespearean aspect of psychological ambiguity from Othello, but I kinda agree that the symbol of the hysterical woman unfit to decide important matters of community and state fits Rhaenyra too well, whereas Othello actively resisted Iago more than Rhaenyra did Mysaria or her other councilors OR better yet, why not subvert Shakespeare a bit and have Rhaenyra do it better than Othello and last longer?

But that could be bc its' a maester, GYLDAYN, writing this book as propaganda!

And comparing her to Dany, again, "really quick", for a reminder:

Even with Dany still existing and Rhaenyra losing, I'd prefer to see her still be more creative and active--just more engaged before more principal players in her camp betrayed her without her provocation, rather than just two dragonseeds when she had other dragonseeds with her and a full council (even if Celtigar had to go). Again, why not have her make one plan or get inspired once and have others refine that plan/beginnings of a plan? Perhaps make Celtigar the betrayer, so that she is faced with relying more on less conservative mindsets in her council? IDK.

(disagreement w/anon) But then this story would be so much less confrontational, as I have already said above:

the hate against her tells us much about other readers and ourselves as to what expectations we have towards men vs women put into situations like Rhaenyra's, where she's usurped on account of societal sexism AND one of her ancestors (Jaehaerys) making it that much harder for women to be considered fit rulers/inheritors of power.

2.

Aside from her other mistakes:

not keeping close tabs on the greens while at Dragonstone so she'll be alerted to Viserys' worst days so she can travel back to KL and make sure the greens couldn't do anything w/o resistance -> 12/2/23 EDIT: Alicent wasn't planning the gathering the green council so much as improving immediately after Viserys died: her imprisoning Rhaenyra's supporters at court, her gathering the lords for the council, and her keeping it a secret Viserys died were all quieted events that she likely did not share with many people, maybe Otto and that's it. Not even Criston. These movements were what "saved" her the necessary few hours to get the jump on Rhaenyra; she would not have been very vocal or repetitive even if she did share her "plans" that could have been more wishes-turned-into action-in-the-moment than real, detailed, and prepared plans. So it's not that out of possibility to believe that even if Rhaenyra or Mysaria sent spies they'd pick up on this.

*not going to Jeyne Arryn after fleeing KL (this was a very understandable move to make, as she needed dragons & there was nothing left or safe for her back in KL)

Rosby and Stokeworth: for all that we say she was grieving, that Corlys/advisors pressured her, that she felt that the need for supporters around KL for the present dangers outweighed far-reaching ones for her rule later, she was still Queen and it was still a mistake because she needed to shore up female claims for herself and her descendants (two things can be true at once); this I see as Rhaenyra bowing to a real, concerning pressure that you may not think is heavy but is, and one can choose to "forgive" her for it or not and deal with the implications for either scenario because she was b/t having some crownlands close lords on her side while still in KL. Her ability to maintain herself on the throne depended on convincing men like Corlys/as many men as possible on her side. That's just the lot for female rulers of ancient, medieval, early-mod period patriarchal societies.

the dragonseeds & Nettles (nail in the coffin, the actual undisputed wrong)

I think that I can say that Rhaenyra was not the ideal leader in case of temperament or intelligence. She wasn't 100% dumb as hell by "nature" (whatever that is in ASoIaF), indicated by her making fewer mistakes before her sons died, but she still made a pretty dumb one before they died (#3 in the list above). She was purposefully made a bit more shortsighted than Alicent.

And here's another thing. She only started to be hated in KL after the taxes (that needed to be raised after Aegon/Tyland Lannister/the greens stole all the treasury money, even when he himself organized a feast celebrating Aemond and himself for Lucerys' murder and Aemond burned down one of the major suppliers of food in Westeros' "south" regions: the Riverlands and esp their farmer's villages and fields) AND when Larys purposefully spread rumors about her before the Shepherd came along and worsened it with his own misogynist rhetoric. Because all these beleaguered people wanted was to get out of danger and starvation, & when she couldn't immediately provide it, they understandably got riotous.

However, it is also true that with what she dealt with after taking KL--riots incited by Larys and the Shepherd, accusing her of killing Helaena; Larys taking out Maelor in the first place when he was perfectly safe in the Keep; being unsure of how long her followers would follow if she didn't at least comply with the Stokeworth and Rosby incidents.

And her moving to Dragonstone, to me, was not a mistake. She and her family needed their own base, which is psychologically and politically true. But, again...not monitoring her father and waiting for the aftermath of his death at all, if that is in fact what she did? smh.

Why isn't it enough to know that she was unfairly usurped? Why do we look for the ideal leader in the woman during her own disempowerment, and not at how there is a difference in expectation for her versus her male rival in terms of competency?

3.

Let's play a little here. Even if Nettles and Daemon did sleep with each other, it is very clear that the better strategic decision would have been to question her after all her true enemies were defeated and make use of her until then.

But, once more and as I say in this Twitter thread, the deal with Nettles was accompanied and carried by the already existing Targ-Andal sexist paradigm of legitimizing one's rule through blood-purist/sexist principles. In that way, canon!Rhaenyra was not that much more exceptional than other Westerosi women under the condition of pressure looking to shore up their own claims.

AND again, it's a maester, GYLDAYN, writing this book as propaganda against female rulership/autonomy!

The Dance, more than any other account in F&B, is the most unreliably told tale because its sources (Mushroom, Orwyle/Munkun, and Septon Eustace) all seek to besmirch or objectify Rhaenyra for their own ends and are the only ones that provide the "clearest" narrations for Gyldayn, another master, to narrate. And GRRM does it on purpose:

We only get specific events that are told through a hateful gaze; what other traits and behaviors Rhaenyra could have done or said, we do not have access to and sometimes must use context to conclude our best guess. Thus, Rhaenyra also feels, to the reader, as if she could be something more than what's presented. Unlike its male characters, the Dance account gives one-note descriptions of its adult female participants because women already do not occupy or perform the same public activities as their male counterparts and thus are given less attention, unless they are Rhaenys, Alicent, and Rhaenyra. And we aren't privy to their most vulnerable moments (unless they are likely made up to disparage them OR so public as to be noticed). Emphasis on it feeling that way. It is Mushroom who says that Rhaenyra was angry that Daemon disobeyed her about Nettles: "By evenfall, Rhaenyra Targaryen found herself sore beset on every side, her reign in ruins. “The queen wept when they told her how Ser Lorent died,” Mushroom testifies, “but she raged when she learned that Maidenpool had gone over to the foe, that the girl Nettles had escaped, that her own beloved consort had betrayed her ("Rhaenyra Overthrown")". Which I can believe, since it follows her need for backup that she lost in Ser Lorent and the lack of such backup due to Daemon's refusal to follow orders or allow her orders followed. I can see Rhaenyra being angry and feeling betrayed by that. But Mushroom, as ever, also injects himself where it is impossible that he'd even be seriously considered as her companion and confidante: "At dawn, a hundred men attended her in the throne room, but one by one they slipped away or were dismissed, until only her sons and I remained with her. ‘My faithful Mushroom,’ Her Grace called me, ‘would that all men were true as you. I should make you my Hand.’ When I replied that I would sooner be her consort, she laughed. No sound was ever sweeter. It was good to hear her laugh" ("Rhaenyra Overthrown")". So is Mushroom using the hypothetical event where Rhaenyra was angry with Daemon and raged at the defiance, or did he make it all up to aggrandize himself and establish an intimate relationship with Rhaenyra for the audience, what we the readers are faced with? I tend to think the former because my idea of Rhaenyra and her tyranny coming from grief-misogyny follows such.

this is the event (the civil war/the Dance) where the women, the center, the moment of Targ history where the dragons and life-supporting magic were lost and started to die without its matriarch, occurs when the would-be autonomous female heir loses her power? Not a coincidence -> context and ratcheting up the stakes for Dany, bc what would the reception to her be like?

And again, without a closer look at her upbringing, with all these people telling her story in their way and with their own agendas and misogyny....well it's hard for me, the reader, to totally devote myself to writing Rhaenyra's comparative simpleness to just her being her and it not her developing herself to what was available to her.

5.

Another theory is not a theory, it's obvious. Rhaenyra is a character developed after Daenerys was created and Rhaenyra is not meant to surpass Daenerys in military leadership acumen or potential (because she grew up in a context where Targ women lose much power and go untrained) AND he is mean to be her "sword", her "Visenya". Again, GRRM might have gone a bit overboard...but he's not terribly wrong.

Also, once again, they both refuse to bow down to the oppressive standards of their time in their own ways. Even with Rhaenyra fighting for her claim and to protect her kids, she defying patriarchal restrictions of female leadership by refusing to just give up the crown despite the greens' usurpation and crowning Aegon. There is value in that, even with it going to war. Rhaenyra is an aspect of Dany's own struggles. They share a pride needed to resist against those sociopoilitical circumstances and assert themselves.

If Dany didn't exist, I would have preferred to see a more non-motherhood sense of responsibility, a more altruistic side of Rhaenyra (that still doesn't outperform Dany).

6. (inspired by & courtesy of brideoffires's post HERE)

It's not a coincidence that more female Targs display the most pleasure and affinity for dragonriding:

Rhaena (Alyssa's daughter), who after bonding with Dreamfyre came more into herself and bestowed her siblings with dragon eggs so that they themselves would bond with their dragons sooner and thus would be one self-possessed early on to even become rulers

Alysanne, who cried when she couldn't ride Silverwing anymore

Saera, who would have tried to bond with a dragon and ride to freedom

Aerea, who claimed Balerion and also rode to escape her damaged mother

Daenerys Stormborn, who restored dragons to the dynasty with fire and blood (blood magic & bravery)

Rhaenyra, who became a dragonrider at 7 years old

Rhaena (Laena's daughter), who also managed to have her egg hatched when no other dragon existed

Rhaenys (Jocelyn Baratheon's daughter) protested in favor of her unborn child and died with her dragon

Baela, who fight a usurper on behalf of her stepmother and lost her dragon but made sure to give Aegon the Elder much more injuries that turned him inside out enough to be so contemptible to be put down by his own followers

and Rhaenys the Queen, who loved dragon-riding the most of her siblings despite not being a warrior like her sister, yet being the literal mother/direct ancestor of the entire dynasty

Yes, you have male dragonriders but looking at Targ history, who usually has a closer metaphorical relationships with the Targ dragons? And after who, chosen by right, was usurped because she was a woman, and whose kids then continue the line?

Notice how a running theme is motherhood as well? In ASoIaF (all of it, not just the novels) GRRM is fixated on motherhood and a woman bringing forth new/restored things. Or when she's stifled from doing so. Daenerys is a prime example. She brought dragons back when Aegon V tried and failed, when Aegon III tried and failed and when Aegon IV did a mockery of it by trying to take Dorne. Rhaenyra gave birth to accomplished people (Jace, and Viserys II) and became a mother to two more (Baela and Rhaena). Again, it is through her that the Targs can even continue. Yes, Daemon is the father, but he wasn't made heir--Rhaenyra was--and Jace would have been a good king. And she was fertile, having birthed five kids and safely. Unlike Alysanne, who had many miscarriages and stillbirths and infants dying before they got to 3.

Conclusions

Rhaenyra is a good example of a victim who wasn't necessarily a good person or an ideal ruler and neither was she a horrible ruler or an evil person (until Nettles).

GYLDAYN is writing this book as propaganda against female rulers/women having power that men traditionally are granted and have.

Some come away with the feeling that Rhaenyra has less depth because she relies on her heritage and the fact Viserys bestows her: What else, other than her Valyrian heritage and her kids, keeps Rhaenyra going, they may ask? Similar to Dany, Rhaenyra uses the fact that she does come from Valyrian dragonriders and conquering Targs to validate to herself that she deserves to fight for the throne. Differently from Dany, she does this with the fact that her father clearly named her heir and would have given it with his own hands.

Have that in conflict with her motherhood, instead of relying on her motherhood and raiding a capable would-be-monarch being the thing carries the heft of her positive character? I've also felt the frustration with the negligence of some more personal depth that is similar to women like Visenya or Rhaena (the Queen Dowager).

Again, to repeat myself (from point #4), it all comes from the desire for the alternative leader to the conservative type to be morally better than them for the greatest possible change. But we already have that in Dany and Rhaenyra is only mean to serve as to re-contextualize Dany & hammer in how she is so important.

Rhaenyra's one main "flaw" (shaped by society/history) is that she was blinded by her need to self-assert herself above all else in the face of her dissenters...since childhood and never developed past that crutch partly bc that was where she was.

*EDIT* (8/21/23):

THIS is a great post by @mononijikayu about medieval queens, female rulers, the history of how women in leadership positions were made and seen as threats to the very structure of social "order", and contextualizing Rhaenyra thru Empress Matilda. I didn't even know about Matilda's husband being comparable to Rhaneyra's Daemon! PLZ READ!!!!

Excerpt:

just as much, along with these fictitious portrayals, more lies are depicted. these women are considered vixens that cause havoc to men by shifting them into desires and danger. through the written word, we see how women are cast in roles of villains in men’s lives. it is because by their conclusive thoughts, women are the only creatures that are able to turn ‘good honorable men’ into despicable creatures who do shameful, deplorable acts for the sake of women’s pleasures.  [...] it is within this narrative that ancient chroniclers declare that women were in fact the doom of men. if they were not able to control the dangers posed by the wiles of women, then the foundations of the mighty society they had built would be up in flames.  [...] as i mentioned, these factors of community are written down and preserved. and with that, the example of the ancients were the foundations by which medieval society built itself. the same concepts continued to cause the same issue within society and that was the exclusion of women from participating in the bigger picture of community and state, much so with governing states in their own right—without judgment or disapproval. 

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Backpacks - Rook Series

Summary: What happens when you unknowingly mix up your stuff with another player's, and you both play for completely different teams.

Atlas is an OC that exists across some of the AU's I have written, including the football!AU i have a few posts on.

Rook Masterlist

You should have said yes when Millie and Ella both asked you if you wanted a lift.

You should have said yes, because the bus was late, and you were late to the stadium now. Meaning that you were all but running from the bus stop to get there with enough time to prepare for the match.

Manchester United vs Manchester City.

Your bag swung back and forth as you got closer, heading towards the doors when an impact sent you backwards, your bag flying away from you as you landed on your arse on the ground. 

"Shit, sorry!" You scrambled up, grabbing your bag and hurrying inside, barely getting a glance at who you'd run into as your phone buzzed. Your teammates were wondering where you were, and what was taking you so long to show up.

Your cheeks warmed up as you walked into the locker room, your teammates cheering as they realised you were finally there, gaining a few pats on the shoulder and head as you walked over to your spot to change.

Raising an eyebrow as you opened your bag, you stared at the tub of chewing gum that definitely wasn't yours that was lurking on top, a flavour that definitely was not your first choice. Rummaging further into the bag, it felt like cold water had been thrown over you as you tugged out a pair of goalie gloves, followed by a Manchester City logo that had you shoving everything back in the bag.

"Um, changing positions on us, are ya?" Ella jokes, glancing over at the goalie gloves in your hands with a raised eyebrow.

Your face burned as you picked the bag up, glancing around in thought.

"Was that a City logo-" Alessia was cut off as you swung the bag over your shoulder.

"This isn't my bag, I must have grabbed the wrong one when I crashed into someone in the entrance... I'll be back!" You declared, hurrying out to try to find whoever you ran into, or your bag in general.

///

Waiting in the tunnel to walk out, you were glad that the staff had managed to track down your bag, taking the one you had and returning it to its rightful owner.

Your eyes widened as the Manchester City team began to walk over to walk out, leaving you to turn, feeling whoever was behind you poke you in the ribs as everyone began to walk out, the game starting soon.

///

The game ended 2-2.

Sitting on the bench after, you raised an eyebrow at a comment on your most recent instagram post. Usually Atlas was the one leaving cheeky comments, but this time it seemed to be the Manchester City player whose bag you'd picked up.

"'heard it was you nicking my gear' -no i did not!" you grumbled, tapping a reply to the comment, ignoring that the rest of the world would see as you put your phone down, not seeing that you already had a response.

///

Hours later, your phone buzzed a familiar tune as Atlas sent over a text.

Atlas: you nicked the city goalie's gloves? did earps say no or something?

A huff left your lips as you discarded your phone, flopping onto your couch, face down in the cushions.

Your phone buzzed again, leading you to force your head up and glance at the screen.

Atlas: omg pls be goalie. it will make the next netherlands vs england game so much easier.

“That’s just rude, and I’d have to make the england team first…” you spoke aloud as you spent back your reply, rolling your eyes at Atlas’ cheek. (Little did you know…)

Instagram lit up that you were tagged in a post a few days later, your jaw dropping as you looked at the selfie that Ellie Roebuck had taken, wearing the sunglasses that had been on your head before you ran into her on matchday.

“Oh my god, she found my sunglasses! Wait, how am I going to get those back?”

[princeescaluswords]

Narratively, Derek wasn’t the focus of TW, but I wish we’d gotten to see him deal with s1. His own mistakes aside, he found out his sister had been murdered, was arrested for her murder, lived as a fugitive, found out his uncle killed his sister, found out his groomer murdered his entire family and then ended up killing his uncle. With how there’s a lot of focus in TW on the concept of family, I think having Derek deal with all of this would have had interesting results for his character.

I'm not trying to be contrary, but I think you missed a key aspect of the show: Derek's mistakes in Season 1 and 2 were how he dealt with the tragedies that befell him.

As you say, Derek wasn't the narrative focus of Teen Wolf. His purpose was to serve as both antagonist and foil for Scott. Scott may not have dealt with the exact same tragedies, but he did have to deal with being assault and changed against his will, dealt with repeated manipulation and violation, dealt with instances of physical trauma, dealt with being the reason the people he cared about were put in danger, and dealt with the distinct possibility that he would be forced to kill others.

A foil's purpose is to highlight the decisions that the protagonist makes. Derek's mistakes, made in response to the trauma that befell him, served to show that Scott shouldn't make those same mistakes.

Derek justified manipulating and using people in order to get justice for his sister's murder. He didn't stalk Scott because he was worried for him; he stalked Scott to Lydia's party because he was hoping that the Alpha would come for his beta during the full moon. He didn't tell Scott about the existence of the Alpha until episode 3, for the same reason. He told Scott about the supposed cure to keep Scott close, knowing that the bond was his only clue. Scott and his pack learned -- sometimes the hard way -- that "it's always better when they know."

Derek was arrested for murder and lived as a fugitive as a result of his own choices due to guilt over what happened to his family. We know he's actually rich; he has own his accounts. He didn't need to bury his sister's body in the side yard of his family's burned out mansion. I see it as an expression of guilt. (I will never hold Scott and Stiles as wrong to call the police on Derek; it's common sense to call the authorities when you find someone burying a murder victim in their back yard.) Scott and his pack learned -- sometimes the hard way -- that fault is not as important as responsibility. "Ask yourself, what am I going to do?"

Derek hated the Argents, especially Allison, for things that she had nothing to do with, and that led him to an us-vs.-them mentality that didn't serve him well. Kate was a monster; that is very true. But so was Peter, yet Derek's black-and-white thinking led him to be manipulated by Peter repeatedly. Scott and his pack learned -- sometimes the hard way -- that seeing the possibilities of good in even enemies lead to better results.

Derek, after tragedy and betrayal, decided that killing was his first response. But there were people he couldn't manage to kill, and his ruthlessness deprived him of resources that he could have used to succeed. Scott and his pack learned -- sometimes the hard way -- that killing should never be the first solution. "There's always a choice."

It's easy to focus entirely on what happened to Derek, but it's harder to recognize that his untempered reaction to that trauma is what made his life worse. He lost his new pack because he didn't react well to the loss of his old pack. It was only when he learned to let the past be in the past, that he was able to embrace his mother's legacy. I look forward tonight to seeing how he changed in the years between the series and the movie.

[scarfacemarston]

So you’re new to the Vampire Chronicles fandom:

Long post. I know I’m not “known” in the fandom, but I’ve been a lurker and popping in here and there and I just want to share my thoughts. I’ve been a fan since 2004 and this is a very special series to me. I know with IWTV coming soon, there is going to be a huge influx of people. That’s not a bad thing. There has been a lot of people join the fandom recently. A couple things: A lot of the fans are older, but there is a lot of diversity in terms of age and background. Just don’t be surprised to find people over 25 here. Yes, they exist. Scary, we know. The books and the show are extremely different and NOT just based on the changing of race. The setting/time frame, the characters’ ages,  backgrounds and what appears to be some personality traits have also changed so be aware of that when exploring. Even from the trailer, the Interviewer, Daniel, has a completely different age and background. Louis’s personality is already different in some ways from what we’ve seen and his background has changed. Some of these changes are huge and it’s okay for people to point out these changes as long as they aren’t racist,sexist, homophobic and generally creepy about it. I can’t believe I have to say that but this is a horror series. Characters are going to do things that are “problematic” like murder or intimidate, abuse or threaten, or stalk. That is the point. That is a horror series. No one should at all think these things are ok and most people who watch the movie or read the show already know that, yet this still seems to pop up anyway.  The Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles are the most famous vampire books after Dracula, of course it’s going to have all the dark elements to it. But I find it ironic people give the vampires from resident evil a free pass for doing the same thing that Anne Rice’s vampires do  I hate using the word problematic, but I’m using it to quote what I’ve seen.  It’s thrown around constantly and this risks losing meaning . The fandom knows that unfortunately, there are definitely some issues with the series, Anne Rice herself and a few additional ones with the tv series. Racism has zero place in the fandom. This is something that I’ve seen burst through the roof.  People say Lestat and Louis are “problematic” - well yes, that’s the point the books are trying to make. They love each other despite their issues. Again, this is a horror novel about vampires discovering their monstrosity while trying to balance humanity. They’re complex. There aren’t too many “Good vampires vs bad vampires” until later and those vampires that are bad are extremely obvious.  Lestat is an example of this for Louis and Louis has his own “problematic” moments with Lestat.. However, my statement from above changes a bit  with some of the race changes some aspects of the relationship are being looked at through a new lens which does lead to some concerning ideas. We’ll have to wait til we see the show for sure as that does change the dynamic of the relationship, but overall, no one should be viewing this as a healthy relationship and Louis is already clear on that. 

Another example: One of my most interesting ships is between a 500 year old vampire named Armand and Daniel. (Who is the name of the interviewer and is actually a 32 year old who was turned into a vampire instead of an old man.). The relationship can be dark and has abuse, too but the way its written is that Daniel has just as much power in his own way making it a very interesting read.He fights back and can be nasty, too. Yet, some parts are strangely sweet in some aspects. Just because I find the dynamic interesting to read about does not mean I condone something as messed up as Armand/Daniel’s relationship. Never in a million years. This attitude should apply to many aspects in this fandom.  Too many people are getting into the series “just for the gay shit”. Come on. There isn’t an issue with enjoying mlm relationships, but fetishization and watching a show just because “you want to see gay vampire fuck” is your prerogative, but it’s shitty because the series is so much more than that and characters shouldn’t be reduced to just their sexualities. (Btw, Anne Rice's vampires don’t have sex, fyi.) So that’s just a few things I thought I’d point out. I understand not everyone will agree with me, but any sort of abuse will be blocked immediately.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

Ok I just want to put my thoughts on the whole Leon should be with someone “healthier” and “better” for him. &The thing with that is if Leon wanted that, Capcom had so many opportunities to do so. Not to say Leon didn’t try, but there was a 6 year period after RE2 that Ada wasn’t around, and within that period there was a point where Leon believed her to be dead and then finds out she’s alive. Hypothetically let’s say he did want to be with Claire, he had the time & opportunity to and still didn’t, clearly they’re just friends. But generally, that goes for anyone he could have formed a relationship with during that period. Especially for the period he didn’t believe her to be alive, bc I’ve seen people act like if Ada were to just disappear completely now, then all of a sudden he could just totally forget about her, will go running into the arms of someone “better”, and his trauma will be fixed 🤪. That scenario literally existed, he had the opportunities, and it STILL didn’t happen.

Now fast forward to after RE4 where Leon sees her again face to face alive and well, all the relationships he could’ve had 1 year after in Degeneration or 2 years after in Infinite Darkness also never stuck. (I don’t count the scene where Claire falls on top of Leon in Infinite Darkness bc Stephanie Panisello said it was her idea and asked the movie crew to add it for the Cleon shippers as it wasn’t in the original script). And then at some point after, it’s confirmed that in 2009 they spent time together, but who knows how long they’ve been in contact prior to that, I just think there must have been a lot of prior interaction that developed over time before jumping straight into “that night”. Like I know a lot if us can’t help on focus on the “that night” part but in the article where Shotaro Suga mentions romantic dinner/hotel/motel room night, but I’m over here thinking so much about the “romantic dinner” part lol bc it’s beyond just them wanting to sleep with each other, they actually cared to spend quality time together, like what did they eat, what did they wear, what did they talk about ?? I feel like they try to not mix work with pleasure (there’s just simply so much she cannot answer if he tries to even ask). Especially in the behind the scene of the video of the movie Suga says “He shows his real self when he gets in touch with a woman (Ada)”. Which is very important factor with his relationship with Ada vs his relationship with anyone else both romantic and not. We know Ada rarely shows her real self and her puts on a mask, but looks like Leon does too !

HELLO so i had to take my time to read this and formulate a response

i think with the remakes, it's implied that between 1998 and 2004, he was forced to work for the government and possible did not have time to date. during this time i believe he also does not see claire either. (correct me if i'm wrong) i think that the whole baby-girlfication on leon has really rotted into people's brains that think that he's not a man of agency and can literally go date someone if he wanted to. but even with re4r with the "i'm a one lady type of guy," and the complete removal of his flirting with literally any thing that breathes, it seems that capcom is pushing it into this direction as well. with leon not holding ashleys hand, and leon not flirting with hunnigan. it's just on his own it seems.

degeneration was the weirdest film also imo. and he did have a weird thing with angela but then he just never called her again lol. and he did that in front of claire too????

yeah i agree that the scene with leon and claire in infinite darkness was especially weird considering claire has like a face of visible disgust when she falls on him.

"that night" is also followed with the director saying that yes, they spent time outside of their jobs and their lives continued on in the background of re5. it would make sense that they saw each other some how and it lead up to "that night"

i firmly believe that leon thinks of ada as a strong woman, and someone that he doesn't need to protect or feel like he has to "baby" her. she's a woman with her own choices and decisions and he finds her challenging. it's almost like they can be partners that compliment each other and challenge each other.

leon saves the day every day- he doesn't want to do that in his personal life. he needs someone who can stand on level ground with him. someone who can really truly understand him. and im sorry but it's not gonna be self insert civilian here, that understands him.

leon's characterization changes from a bright eyed rookie cop to an agent who sees that the world is shades of grey and that no one is truly good or evil. that everyone has their own agendas and that the government that he works for isn't pure either. he struggles with knowing this and knowing that even though he tries to do the right thing, nothing gets better. we even see this with ada in re6, she has a breaking point

"we're beyond humanity"

also i firmly believe that re6 ada is extremely depressed and traumatized as her smile consistently drops whenever she's not looking at leon.

both of them have lived lives where they were used and abused. and both of them can understand each other in ways that others can not. they even showed this with infinite darkness with leon not only wanting to keep claire safe, but knowing that her line of thinking was going to get her killed or worse.

even then! both leon and ada have made mistakes and that's interesting! they both live with regrets, and god damnit it just want them to be happy together.

people say they don't deserve each other? nah, they do. they should just be together already

they can be true to each other, no facades, and just be themselves.

[strawhatsoraya]

ACE X READER / SERIES: A LOT LIKE SNOW

Ace vs Finch

ACE X READER | FEM! READER, SHE/HER

WORD COUNT: 2.3k

CW: violence, mentions of blood, cutting/slicing, mentions of human trafficking

A SUMMARY: Finch reveals her hand, and Ace isn't surprised at all--at least not at first. At the reveal of Finch's backstory, Ace decides to take a different approach to his end goal.

PREVIOUS ☜

Every story needs a hero.

His steps are quiet, barely audible as he follows you. You blink; your best effort put forward to avoid the stretch of lips. Perhaps, he was the hero you now remember waiting for.

You were not foolish. The moments you dreamt of salvation or escape had long come to pass. You just couldn’t help it. You flex the fingers of a trembling hand, wiping them against the fabric of your skirt. The wolf head of the cane had intricate details, glistening ruby eyes. It dug into your skin as your grip tightened around it with each step.

You had promised you were done. You shouldn’t hold your breath.

As you make way down the hall, you make mindless small talk. It comes naturally, which should unsettle you. Your voice naturally changes. You modify your pitch, your tone. You design inflections on a whim, a character comes to life through improvisation. 

You were an actress, this corridor was your stage and Ace–was not your captive audience. Then what was he?

An enemy, at least that’s what he should be. You worry your bottom lip for a moment, teeth digging into the flesh painfully. “So, Mr. Hilly,” you interject, seeing the darkly lit wing you were leading him to in the distance.  “Have you given further thought into what you’re looking for?” You glance sideways, a small smile on your lips. You take in his profile as he thinks it over.

His hand goes to his chin and he pinches it between index and thumb finger. He tilts head. You can’t help notice the length of his lashes from that angle, the sharp lines of his cheeks. You tear your eyes away and look up at the ceiling, finding the spots you know the surveillance cams to be installed; hidden from view. Your handler took  a sick pleasure in watching you work when he could. You were sure he was gathered somewhere with a circle of yes-men, watching gleefully for the moment you’d strike.

Mr. Hilly remains quiet, even as you step into the wing. You blink, adjusting to the darkness and hear him hum before he starts speaking. 

“I think you know,” he says with a casual shrug. You turn to observe him cautiously over your shoulder. From the slight smug smile on his face, to the way he has planted his feet firmly, you understand that the jig is up–or perhaps, it always was from the very beginning. “What I’m really after is you.”

You sigh, kicking your leg out at your cane. It flips in the air and you catch it, unsheathing it quickly to reveal a thin sword. 

“I was hoping we could talk a little bit longer,” you muse, brows high on your forehead. “It’s been a while since anyone walked beside me.”

He rolls his eyes, and you hold back a laugh. In truth, even to you, your words sounded ridiculous. It was fine, whether he knew if they were genuine or not. You were willing to die by his hands tonight but first, the show must go on. 

“Sorry to break it to ya,” he says, sounding a lot more youthful than before. He mirrors your stance, feet set apart as he lowers his center of gravity. He brings his fists up, elbows close to his body. “You’re not the kinda person I wanna be friends with.”

Some would find it distasteful that you were fighting a weaponless man when you yourself was armed. In your circles, this was inconsequential. The weak were to be crushed, smothered out from existence. Every advantage needed to be exploited, every weakness discovered and abused. You point your sword at Ace. 

“How can you be so quick to judge?” You ask as you begin to circle him. He doesn’t move. Instead, he tilts his head, and digs a finger into one ear appearing bored. “You don’t even know me yet.”

“What’s there to know?” he asks you, as he dodges you when you charge at him. He hears the blade slicing through the air past his left ear. “You’re just scum who sell people like cattle or worse.”

They shouldn’t, but the words almost hurt more than his fist punching against your stomach. You cough, spluttering excuses to yourself. He had gotten way too close. You should have never let him catch you like that in the first place.

“I don’t sell anything,” you correct him, remembering that you had met him under an alias. “Ahh!” You laugh briefly at the stupidity of it all. “That was a lie. I don’t sell,” Your grip tightens on the hilt of your sword as you lunge forward. He rolls away from you, but you see a splatter of blood across the marble floor. “I kill.”

He believes you. His hand touches the stinging wound on his side and feels a wet heat. It coats his fingers. It’s superficial, barely a scratch. He bypasses the idea of cauterizing himself. The bleeding would stop on its own eventually.

“Yeah? You don’t seem like you’re very good at it,” he drawls from his crooked grin. Your expression stays neutral. He points his chin at your current choice of weapon. “Especially if you think that’s gonna do the job.”

He was right, because you weren’t trying to kill him after all, were you? You couldn’t let the handler know, at least not yet, so you dodge his flaming arm when he swings for your head. You slide on your feet, and bring up your leg to kick his side. He winces as the tip of your pointy shoe digs into his wound. His pained cry forces your brows together. 

‘Kick them while they’re down’. You spin on the heel of your other foot, ready to swing your leg again. ‘If you let them back up you’ve inviting death.’

You hesitate, leg frozen in the air. It was enough time for Ace to retaliate. It happens so quickly, you think you might have imagined it. There’s a stinging across your face, and you see a blur of white fly past you. You tumble across the floor before you can place a good enough grip against the marble to stop yourself.

The smell of burnt hair is acrid,  toxically clinging to your nostrils. There’s a low sizzling noise by your ear. You reach up to snuff out little embers in your hair with your fingertips. He was holding back. The way he retaliated to your attacks was almost gentle, a sardonic grin on his lips.

If you wanted to kill him, you needed to do better. If you wanted him to kill you…

You frown, unsure of which path to take. Ace doesn’t give you time to think further. He aims the back of his heel at your chin. You fall back on your ass, skidding across the floor. Your hands reach out, you try to dig your nails into a crook to stop the momentum. All you manage is to tear a nail halfway before you finally stop against a pillar.

“I guess I should admit it,” you say slowly, standing up straight. You ignore the throbbing pain of your ring finger to wipe at your bloody mouth with the back of a hand. “When I got the briefing, I knew I had no chance at killing you.”

Small-time criminals with no devil fruit powers, and out of shape elite had been most of your assignments. A full fledged pirate, with a reputation and a flaming body was well out of your limitations.

“Ah,” he says enlightened. He quirks a dark brow as he looks at you. “So you have a death wish, is that it?”

You don’t answer him. You try to point your sword at him again, but he reaches for it with a fiery hand. Ace holds it in his grap, and heat transpires from his skin to the blade, hot enough to change colors. You try to grip the heated hilt for as long as you can, feeling it a battle of pride but when you feel blisters starting to form in your palms you drop it with a small cry. 

He kicks you, this time on your stomach, and you fold over quickly. You’re on your knees, the taste of iron in your mouth, hands throbbing. You refuse to look at them, not that Ace leaves you a choice. He grips your face in his hand, calloused fingers digging into your cheeks.

“I’m not enjoying this,” he admits, kneeling down at your level. You watch him with a frown, breathing haggard. “This is barely worth my time. I need information. You can die later.”

Frustration bubbles at the mouth of your stomach. It sours the back of your tongue. You’re too weak to finish the job, and too weak for him to even entertain the idea of fighting you further. At this rate, he’d pity you and let you live. Live for what? To go back to your cell and wait for punishment? 

Memories sting the scars on your back.

“You promise?” you ask him, blinking repeatedly. He mimics you, black lashes fluttering as he tries to sort his thoughts.

“What are you talking about?” he asks you, forcefully making your head tilt. He moves your face, as if a new angle would provide him with new information.

“You said I could die later. Do you promise?”

He hates that look in your eyes; dull and apathetic–as if you were already dead. He squeezes your face tighter. “Your attitude stinks. If you hate it so much, why are you here?”

You swallow a mixture of spit and blood lodged in your throat.

“I don’t have a choice,” you start and he cuts you off by tutting. You frown, finding yourself surprised at your own ability to feel offended in this situation. 

“Everyone has a choice,” he says, tilting your head the other way. You wince slightly. 

“No, I don’t think you understand,” you move your hand towards your skirt. His eyes widen and he lets go of your face to clutch your throat instead. He squeezes tightly as a warning. You cough, and gasp for air. Your hand stalls in the air. His eyes watch yours, and when it feels as if he loosens his grip ever so slightly you move again to push aside the fabric of the skirt covering a hip. 

A large red circle, with three small triangles at the top and one at the bottom. Ace sighs at the sight.

“The Claw of the Celestial Dragon,” he mumbles. He drags his eyes away from your marked skin to your face. You look back at him, expecting an answer despite knowing you shouldn’t.  “You’re their slave?”

You try to nod, but his hand is still on your throat so you use your words instead: “I am whatever they want me to be.”

You know they’re watching. You glance at the nearest camera and wonder if the angle showed your hand; the way you revealed the secret. You wonder if they’re panicking–sending someone else to your wing to finish what you couldn’t. You take a deep breath as your heart races.

“There’s not a lot of time before they send someone else here. You should run,” you tell him. He lets go of your throat, and grabs you by the shoulders instead. You hold back a gasp as he pulls you up to your feet. His grip is strong, and warm. 

“I could tell you the same thing,” he scratches the back of his head, perplexed at the situation. He had come all the way to rescue people like you. He didn’t expect the nobles to use you to stop him instead. “I can’t leave yet without having a little fun,” he says at last, adjusting the newsboy cap on his head. “You should escape while I distract them.”

“And go where?” you ask breathlessly. It had been so long you even contemplated it. As a child, while you cried yourself to sleep you wondered what you’d do and where you’d go if you were to escape. You dreamed of all the things you could eat, sweet and savory but there had never been a plan. It was as if your imagination was being held hostage by fear.

“The sea of course,” he says with a smile. “Ever heard of it? You can go anywhere and be anybody at sea.” He leans in and flicks the middle of your forehead. It stings, and you rub at it with one hand. “That’s where real freedom is.”

The stinging between your brows blooms into electrifying warmth. You feel it spread, and dramatically you feel as if your vision clears. Freedom. Real freedom? What would you ever do with that?

“What will I do out there?” you mumble, glancing down at him as he seems preoccupied with his shoes. Your hand is still rubbing at your forehead. “All I know is how to kill.”

He laughs as he stands up. He tries to flick your forehead again but you dodge him this time. His hand hovers mid trajectory still until he relocates it to the top of your head. “I already told you you’re not very good at that.”

There’s a heat not assigned to Ace’s fists that flies across your cheeks. You feel it sit there, crushing your face with its weight. There’s no time to think further on this strange feeling fluttering in your chest. Ace spins you around, and places you on a chokehold, his chest pressed tightly against your back. You don’t resist.

“Play with me, will ya?” he asks against your ear. You swallow as goosebumps run down your arms. “Tell me where this boss of yours is. We need to have a little talk.”

[astroboyanalysis]

5. The Third Magician

STOP! YOURE MAKING HIM SELF CONSCIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

Well this is just fucked

OH FUCK THIS IS THE ONE THING YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO AS A MAGICIAN!!!!!!!!!! About to get blackballed by the magicians guild

Well no wonder he keeps revealing his secrets hes not supposed to lie. thats like, the main thing magicians do.

Ok I'm gonna be honest I think a human would also be concerned about this

Number 3 on my Top 5 things to say to get kids to REALLY want to investigate the house right here.

Kenichi like breathes and Atom is like screaming because it was so loud

Again just appreciate how straightforwardly evil this is

Tezuka had a lot of fun drawing these panels I can tell. It reads like a wheres waldo page.

Really great way to consolidate all the paintings into several easy to transport vans so they can get stolen easier.

Ok I do gotta hand it to Tawashi this is a great hiding spot

On my "'Tis" and "Indeed" bullshit yet again

First calves vs. boots mistake(s) I've spotted since Plant People, but it's possible I missed one in Deadcross. All panels leading up to this have boots, he loses them for 3 panels, then they come back.

I want to stress again that calves vs. boots does not matter. I just like pointing it out.

Okay embarassment may be a little harsh

I hate him but he is pretty relateable. Me trying to escape problems as well.

This type of thing is common at the police agency (as we'll see) and Atom overhearing it is Also fairly common. I can't say its not relatable to have heard people say things they believed were behind closed doors about like. Your humanity and human rights.

Anyway, Ochanomizu is not likely to react well to you asking for that change but feel free to go for it I guess.

Actually so badass.

Atom's very unprepared for a debate like this, and clearly Tawashi is embarrassed he's been caught in being a bigot who pretends not to be one.

This interaction is bringing forward like, memories of the way Blue Knight's (2003 specifically) logical and straightforward but passionate approach was really clear to me as a kid. It was like, so simple that to go against it would immediately make someone look bad. They would have to admit the core conceit that they did not think robots deserved rights, nor did they deserve to Leave or be properly compensated - and from there, it's a different conversation.

This Atom, in this moment, just doesn't have any idea of what strategies to use, what to say, what to do. It's sad! And it's overwhelming. No wonder he's about to cry and resorts to "You're being mean!"

For anyone, myself included, who has been put in this situation while wholly unprepared to advocate for their own rights, this scene might hit pretty hard. Or maybe I'm just not normal about the comic book.

This would just be really scary and humiliating and upsetting. For anyone. I'm glad he has someone like Ochanomizu who can support him and guide him through it, but in an ideal world he wouldn't have to go through it at all.

Then again, ideal worlds don't make the best stories, do they?

I do love these moments when the roles are reversed from what we've seen before, and Ochanomizu is Protecting Atom from something he can't fight (human bigotry) instead of Atom protecting Ochanomizu from a more direct physical threat.

This whole portion of the story just makes my heart ache a little

Here we see a completely peaceful demonstration by robots to defend an ambiguous existing law that allows robots to act autonomously.

Atom's conceit here is that "If we offend the humans now, it'll only make things worse!" does not work - They will make things worse if the robots do nothing. Should they not at least show that they disagree? That they don't want to go down quietly? The human police are attacking a peaceful protest.

This is all stuff we're plenty familiar with. Atom's idealism is the same as liberalism in many ways. Go out and vote, don't disrupt the way things are. It allows the status quo to go almost entirely unchallenged, and all that needs to happen is a workaround for some votes. A system rarely actually listens to its most vulnerable.

This is the angriest we've seen him yet in the omnibus order. "Maybe I'm not in the mood to listen!" speaks to some righteous anger we rarely see from him - he's sick of always listening, always being patient. This is the way he knows to enact change. Fighting and punching work. When fighting and punching are out of the question, he feels helpless.

FUUUUCK YES DOGGY POLICE CARS FUCK YES ITS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm biased but I do especially love how this was interpreted for Astro 2003. That said I can't find an image online immediately so everyone that's reading this please join me in imagining the 2003 dog cars.

...

It's great, right?

Oh good thing there's only one big place for us to check huh?

To be continued in a reblog. For reasons.