#I think it was since one of the pictures was the ‘ultimate white woman’ one and they just responded with

[thedndgoblinwholivesinyourwalls]

getting a comment on artfight is like god herself showing up and being like ‘yo cool art’ and then fucking disappear and you might never see her again

its late guys idk

#SOMEONE COMMENTED ON ADELE’S CHARACTER ART FOR ARTFIGHT AND I NEARLY THREW MY LAPTOP ACROSS THE ROOM #I think it was since one of the pictures was the ‘ultimate white woman’ one and they just responded with #AWESOMEST WHITE WOMAN/POS!!! #and i jsut.fell and theydgehsgskdgksjs #its not much #but shshshshs let me celebrate while being probably sick again and tired yipee #thoughts in the void

[lizzybeth1986]

Drake and Kiara: When You're Fucking Racist

Series - TRR's Alternative LIs - The "Romances" that Didn't Happen

Previous - Hana and Madeleine: When You Reward Your Favourite Bully with One of Her Victims

A/N: Again, apologies for the length. There was a LOT to unpack in this one!! I'm really, really not going to be nice to Drake here. It was harrowing to go through a lot of these scenes again and I honestly don't have the patience or inclination to sugarcoat any of it.

CW: Mentions of gun violence and minimization of trauma. Mentions of racist fan vitriol towards a black character. Examination of the Jezebel stereotype.

Whenever I think about how unhinged the hatred towards Kiara (and especially towards Kiara's attraction to Drake) was, a specific edit comes to mind.

On the surface, it looks quite simple. Kiara in a white wedding dress, Drake right next to her in his blue formal suit. Both of them are smiling at the viewer. The background is a beautiful forest, and the entire picture is bathed in a lovely, muted sepia tone. A sweet, simple wedding scene.

The caption underneath this edit?

Classify under things no one asked for.

Kiara's dream come true!

The tags read "#i barf a little looking at this" and "#i must post to share the suffering". You find out in the comments that the OP created this edit inspired by one of the many fics where Kiara was Drake's stalker, and intended to make her creepy and deranged (but ultimately failed).

The comments are...tbh, things that this fandom has long since normalized and shrugged at when it comes to Drake stans. Multiple puke-face emojis. Multiple gifs signaling disgust. One stan even equates the ship name (Driara) to the word diarrhoea.

"She looks very stalkeresque and white "I drugged Drake so he's marrying me" wedding ready!"

"Well it's close to Halloween so we should expect scary shit"

"THAT is why I made that bitch my Maid of Honor...so she got the message LOUD AND CLEAR...it ain't NEVER gonna happen honey" (right below a barfing gif)

I wish I could say this example of Kiara hatred was the worst of the lot, or even the only one. It wasn't. I'm not sure even an entire essay would be adequate space to explore the sheer levels of vitriol, hatred and double standards dumped on this one character.

Until now, we've seen examples of alternative LIs that were treated with respect. With adulation. Often with kid gloves in case we hurt their poor lill fee-fees. Up until now, no matter what an alternative LI may have done, the LI matched with them wasn't allowed to treat them badly, nor was the MC able to get away with hurting them without punishment.

But in this series, Kiara was, is, and will always be an anomaly.

The Jezebel Stereotype

In most media, black women in particular tend to be subjected to a variety of stereotypes that often have serious, real-world implications. The Mammy, the Sapphire (that over time evolved to what we now know as the "Angry Black Woman" stereotype) and the Jezebel, being the most prominent ones among them. In this essay, I will be focusing specifically on the last.

An article in the Black Then website explains the definition and history of the trope this: "The portrayal of black women as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype. The descriptive words associated with this stereotype are singular in their focus: seductive, alluring, worldly, beguiling, tempting, and lewd. Historically, white women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, and modesty – even sexual purity, but black women were often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory. This depiction of black women is signified by the name Jezebel."

So it isn't altogether uncommon to see stories where black women are juxtaposed against "pure", "innocent" white/white-passing women, and viewed as lesser. PB hasn't exactly escaped these stereotypes in their stories either - though there are a variety of characters and character types, we can't deny that there was a time when a black woman was made the antagonist, often in ways that were meant to measure her up to the MC/another white woman to her detriment.

(VoS screenshots from the HIMEME YouTube channel, ACOR screenshots from Vika Avey's YouTube channel)

Two very prominent examples of PB using this trope are Scarlett from VoS, and Xanthe from ACOR. There are other black women who serve as antagonists but in a more professional space, but these two particularly are measured on their attractiveness, sex appeal and "purity" in the narrative in comparison to either the MC, or someone close to them.

In VoS, Scarlett Emerson and Kate O'Malley are the sisters of the two male LIs (Grant and Flynn), but their treatment couldn't be any more different. Scarlett's role in the book is pretty short-lived. She's very prominent in the first half of the book as Kate's potential MOH who secretly hates her, before it's revealed in Ch 5 that Tanner was cheating on Kate with her (and that she'd loved him since she was a child). Notably, in that very scene, the MC places most of the blame on Scarlett (rather than on Tanner for choosing to betray his fiancée) by labelling the act as her seduction of him.

Thereafter she is either only mentioned, or has blink-and-you-miss-it appearances in one or two chapters. We see her in the "memory" portion of the bonus scene, but we are never shown what her future is like (even as minor characters like Miss Harleney get one!). Her bonus scene shows us how her bracelet ended up on Tanner's boat, and it is an uncomfortable scene to get through. Tanner berates Scarlett for having sex with him a week before his wedding, but it is she who points out that he asked her to come there! Yet the MC and others view her as the temptress who "seduced" Tanner, as if the man had no mind of his own.

The narrative often juxtaposes her with Kate, the pure, innocent, sweet fiancée (and she actually is! No pretence there) and the fandom lapped it up. There were many demands for Kate to be upgraded to LI status, which eventually resulted in PB allowing us to marry her if we chose. As I mentioned earlier, both Scarlett and Kate are sisters to two of our LIs - but one is made an LI, while no one bothers to even imagine what the other's future entails.

An even worse fate greets that of Xanthe, the sole female antagonist in ACOR. The slut-shaming and disgust over her overt sexuality is far more blatant here. And it is extremely ironic for Xanthe to be viewed in this way, because the MC herself is a courtesan and uses wiles to get men to do her bidding. While Xanthe herself is not perfect by any means - she is depicted as xenophobic and callous, going as far as to mock Syphax when he is sent away to a possible death as a gladiator - the MC's targeting of her goes beyond just her "righteous indignation" and develops into a form of hypocrisy. She has no qualms mocking Xanthe for her direct approach or her skimpy red dress (even though the MC herself wears a skimpy red dress and can seduce a man in a temple not too long after).

The end Xanthe meets is horrific in its implications - the black matron of her scholae (who began by promising the MC herself that "you need do nothing against your will") sends her away to sexual slavery in Sicily, while the black man who was one of the few bastions of morality in the book, escorts her, smiling, to the ship that will take her there. As far as the narrative is concerned, the end was well-deserved...even though PB has had no issues allowing white women to do far worse without any punishment.

We cannot view what ACOR did with Xanthe in isolation. They had built up to it early on - from the MC's reactions towards her, her patrons' dismissiveness of her, the MC's LIs' viewing her with derision and zero respect. The MC - despite her own unscrupulousness - is viewed as the "noble whore" to Xanthe, yet it is clear on even a surface read that there is not much difference between the two women.

The Jezebel stereotype, ultimately, is about dehumanizing the black woman it focuses on, so that her actions and choices are viewed as deviant from what is "normal" - feeding into either responses of disgust and derision, or a desire to objectify her. To some readers, it makes whatever awful or comparatively unfair end they meet, more palatable. Scarlett and Xanthe are not viewed as people by the narrative - especially not the way the MC of their books or even white female antagonists are. No one cares for their backstories, coos over their losses, wonders if they are okay. When they meet their inevitable end, the characters and so many in the fandom alike just shrug and move along.

How does a character like Kiara fit into this? Her smarts and linguistic talents are her most prominent traits, and while she does have feelings for Drake, she never really acts out-of-pocket towards him (more on this later). So at least from what we see in canon, there's very little about her that seems to apply to the Jezebel stereotype. Yet, the fandom is not only inclined, but eager, to view her as one. Kiara's feelings have been viewed in a far more predatory light, perhaps more often than any other female character in the series. Why is this so?

A response I have often seen - on reddit, on Kiara's wiki page, at times on Tumblr too - is how there is a "certain something" about Kiara that people "just don't like". Many players who prefer Penelope to her are often very aware of what she has done, but still insist they like her far more than they do Kiara. On a reddit thread about questioning the logic of having Kiara and Penelope as options for the MC's MOH in TRR3, certain players commented thus:

"I don't know why, I just dislike her a lot. Penelope is fine to me, but Kiara irritates me." (said commenter is an Aerin stan)

"I liked Penelope, I thought she was nice. But Kiara got on my nerves."

In her book, The Sisters Are Alright, Tamara Winfrey Harris makes an eye-opening (to me at least!) observation about how misogynoir works:

"Misogynoir, abetted by dehumanizing caricature, is like water. It fills its vessel, taking many forms, and then overflows, creeping unnoticed into the cracks of things, rotting the foundation. It spreads a belief in Black women’s inherent wrongness." (Italics mine).

Now of course, if I were to ask the current fandom, they would come up with a range of reasons. Some that emerged from fandom myths and became more popular than the truth in time, some from PB's excessive pandering to players that hated her. But the root of it all is in a certain "je ne sais quoi" that makes her automatically unappealing, resulting in those readers leaning towards misreading or misremembering her scenes, misrepresenting her motives, or watering down the impact of worse actions from whiter women. It results in a group of writers (who have thus far gone to the extent of retconning the worst of a white woman's actions just to make her look good) leaning into such readings, even when they're not true.

TRR1 Kiara: Pragmatic Courtier or Backstabbing Snake?

"Kiara is fake", "Kiara is a snob", "Kiara is self-serving", "Kiara promised to be friends with us but dropped us like a hot potato the moment we became unpopular". These are some of the most enduring takes about Kiara in the past few years, and readers who say this usually bring up a vague recollection of TRR1 and 2 as proof. Mostly that "Kiara was our friend" in the first book, and left us hanging at the beginning of TRR2.

Is that reading based in fact, though? Let's take a look at TRR1!Kiara and find out.

We are introduced to Kiara (along with Penelope, and standing next to Hana) in TRR3 when we meet Liam's other suitors. Olivia introduces each woman differently, and the descriptor she uses for Kiara is that she is the "daughter of a diplomat and fluent in ten languages" (note: Kiara never boasts of her linguistic skill, Olivia does. Nor are there any scenes of her looking down on anyone who doesn't speak her mother tongue French, unless of course you accidentally ask her to sleep with you).

Both she and Penelope note immediately that the MC doesn't quite fit in - if the MC questions the women about being allies with Olivia, a woman who calls them "harpies", they view that as an overreaction. When the MC tells the ladies at the Derby about getting lost, Kiara finds her tardiness and inability to fit in, a sign that she cannot keep up with the competition. Until the chapters in Lythikos, Kiara's and Penelope's characterizations are almost interchangeable, personality-wise. It is likely the team envisioned them more as European nobility rather than specifically Cordonian (based on Olivia's introductions), and they are both depicted as poised, refined and aware of their place in court.

It's in Lythikos that Kiara, at least, begins to show a more distinct personality (for Penelope it's after the Regatta). Unlike the rest of the court, who watches Olivia's unwanted kiss on Liam with either mild shock or disinterest, Kiara is angered by what she sees as a very obvious power-play - which gives the MC the opening she needs to gain an alliance.

Now this "alliance" scene of Kiara's is interesting, for two reasons. One is that fandom often uses this scene to establish her "double standards" in TRR2, claiming that Kiara opted to be friends with the MC. Yet nowhere in the scene does the MC or Kiara ever suggest a friendship with each other - they both agree to an alliance. Furthermore, this is an arrangement that benefits the MC more - there isn't exactly anything she contributes (or is expected to contribute) to Kiara from her end. Kiara's promise is that she will put in a good word in the MC's favour, and she upholds that promise throughout the social season.

Another is that among the courtiers, Kiara herself is the first person to identify and respond to the MC's potential if she shows it at the Derby and the tea party (though Hana is also a courtier, I view her strictly as an LI in this context - since her support is by default and is founded on a more emotional basis). Not many nay notice this, but there is a distinction between how Kiara responds to an MC in a successful play vs a failplay...in a way that none of the other suitors do. Take note of the screenshots below:

The top two pictures in this collage are dialogues that feature by default. The bottom two, however, are dependent on branch-coding. They only appear IF the MC has managed to win the approval of the King, the Queen and the press. If you don't succeed in the same, she will not mention your performance in the social season at all, nor will she say anything about the value of your alliance.

That is a far bigger deal than most players of this series realize. It means that Kiara has been watching us closely, and has understood our potential over the course of just three court events. Only two other characters are shown tracking our progress this way: Bertrand (who is our sponsor, so he has to keep track) and Queen Regina (who can guess already her stepson's feelings for the MC, which automatically makes her a person of interest). For Kiara to understand the MC's capabilities, and to openly admit she has potential this early in the competition - it takes a high level of rationality, honesty and pragmatism to come to such a conclusion. Unlike Olivia (who lashes out in jealousy at the MC), Penelope (who has to be told why exactly it's good to have allies), and Madeleine (who dismisses us as competition until it's too late), Kiara actually views the MC with a discerning, impartial eye and an objective approach.

So on the surface, it appears as if Kiara is written by a team that likes her! You could almost be convinced that they thought she was cool but were forced to pander to "crazy Drake stans" in their writing later (which is an argument I have heard often). After all, she's established as beautiful, skilled, smart and observant. You wouldn't do that for a character you don't like, right?

But even as early as TRR1, a disdain for Kiara creeps in from the writing that you rarely see for any of the others.

This is especially apparent when you look at how Kiara's proficiency with language is spoken about. It is supposed to be her most visible skill - Olivia identifies her by it, we see her peppering her English sentences with French words (of course, many may argue that she doesn't exactly sound like an actual French person...but let's remember that her writers aren't exactly very used to the language themselves or interested in doing extra research for authenticity!). As we approach the end of the first book, there are at least two dialogue options that result in people doubting her abilities or mocking her for speaking only English and French most of the time.

In TRR1 Ch 16, Madeleine optionally speaks to the MC over phone (believing her to be a reporter taking her interview) about her thoughts on Kiara. Kiara's tendency to speak mostly in French and English is supposed to be a sign that she "exaggerates her accomplishments". Mind you, this is from the same woman who claims to be the best choice for Cordonia despite her poor strategies and her antagonizing potential allies during the engagement tour (TRR2); who complains if the MC doesn't compliment her for mediocre work as a press sec (TRR3). The MC can also choose to diss Kiara in a similar way, treating Kiara like she is a circus performer and her skills as if they are meant for the MC's entertainment. The only solace I could derive from this dumpster fire of a dialogue option, was that Kiara managed to shut the MC up with her multilingual response.

No other time are we allowed to call a courtier's abilities and skills into question. The MC accepts on faith that Olivia is a badass with great fighting skills. Same with Penelope's ability as a seamstress. The MC is never even allowed to have legitimate complaints about Madeleine's work as press sec, besides maybe that she could "be a little nicer". So the fact that the writers not only have other characters doubt Kiara's talent, but also allow people to mock her about it in all three books...is really something.

Another possible indicator of this disdain is the fact that Kiara is the only suitor who never gets a chance to actually interact with Liam on-screen. Even Penelope, a fellow minor character, can approach and talk to him twice...and her gift to him is shown in Ch 18 whereas Kiara's and Hana's aren't. Despite the fact that Kiara is a potential suitor, the story never allows her to interact with Liam. She doesn't exactly have any interactions with Drake in this book either, but honestly nor does any other couple have much time together besides Liam and Olivia.

Drake and Kiara hardly seemed to be a possibility back in TRR1. Drake himself didn't seem to associate with anyone besides the MC and the group in the first book (and even with the group his interactions were infrequent). Kiara herself doesn't have many scenes that aren't related to the court or to the competition, even once she is no longer participating. The closest she comes to any sort of association besides Penelope, is a friendship with Hana that begins sometime before the Fox Hunt. Drake and Kiara never actually have any scenes together, or interactions, or references. It is likely that the idea to pair them up was entirely a Book 2 thing.

On a fandom level, neither Kiara or Penelope garnered much attention or fan reactions. They weren't noticed much, nor did you see their scenes too often. Probably that is why it was so damn easy to remember Kiara's entire equation with the MC wrong. Why certain stans of the book were able to get away with misrepresenting the relationship between her and the MC in TRR1, to hate on her in TRR2. I will not deny, though, that certain dialogue choices from PB (like "I thought we were friends!" in the Fydelia scene) may have had a hand in those beliefs becoming the "truth".

TRR2 Kiara - Pragmatic Courtier or Backstabbing Snake (Part 2)

I plan to get into the way the Drake and Kiara angle is framed in canon, but before that it's important to tackle that one elephant in the room - Kiara telling the MC the alliance is over. Because very often, people used this scene (coupled with their misinterpretations of Book 1) as their "justification" to hate her. Often, people would choose the ruder options (such as the Christmas card dialogue) and assume that Kiara was rude by default, rather than as a consequence of the MC's behaviour towards her.

Kiara and Penelope are the first to express surprise at the MC's return (and their reactions are shown as representative of the rest of the court). Kiara in fact is shocked that the MC dared to return (which is kinda warranted! Several people in these early chapters view that as a risky move, a gamble that could backfire on her. That's why Bertrand gets her a press secretary). Their scene with the MC immediately follows the MC's conversation with Liam and Madeleine (and mind you, in the option where the MC can tell her she was set up, Madeleine herself voices disbelief of the same. Conveniently, this is never used as a reason to hate her). Both women let the MC know of their change in status, and therefore the change in their relationship with her.

What gets missed overall, is that Kiara is a lady-in-waiting (which is an actual role with specific duties) to Madeleine, which means her loyalty now has to lie with this woman whether she likes it or not. For her to even agree to approach the MC and explain the situation, is a risk. In at least two dialogue options in this scene, she tells the MC straight-up that they will be in trouble if they're even seen talking to her (this becomes a moot point by Ch4, mostly because Madeleine herself is shown talking to the MC and allowing her into conversations in public, once Hana arrives).

Penelope is often viewed in a better light in this scene because of her obvious friendliness and her sadness at no longer being the MC's friend, but once you have the reveal of her being a traitor, her behaviour in this scene seems wildly disingenuous, and I'm surprised more people didn't call her a fake when the reveal came out. She had to know the allegations against the MC were fake when she rushed to hug her, having been an integral part of that fabrication. It makes her lament when she's caught, in the failplay, ("I can't do anything right. You were never supposed to find out!") that much more chilling. She is eager to have the benefit of the MC's friendship and emotional support, without ever being honest about her role in smearing her reputation.

The other was that - no matter what you may choose to think of this scene - Kiara was placing herself at risk to let the MC know it was over. Approaching the MC was the right thing to do, but what is never spoken about is the fact that it was also a brave thing to do. Rather than ghost the pariah of the court and never give an explanation, she tells her honestly what the situation is, and strives to protect her impulsive friend (who could get both of them in trouble) at the same time.

When you view Kiara's actions from that lens - when you look at the facts - suddenly the claims that Kiara was "fake", "a flip-flopper", "a backstabber", "unscrupulous and self-serving", sound pretty hollow.

TRR2: The Drake x Kiara "Romance" Begins...and So Does the Vitriol

So...an interesting thing about the general reaction to Kiara in the early chapters of TRR2. I was new to the fandom when this book was released. There was an annoyance at Kiara when the first chapter came out, but to my surprise it didn't exactly become full-blown hatred until she started showing an interest in Drake in Ch 3.

This book is often used as a reference by Drake stans when they speak of Kiara as an obsessed, stalker-type, sex-hungry woman - often in contrast to their "pure", "innocent" MCs. Basically...the Jezebel. But the five scenes we see of this ship in the book itself tell a completely different story:

1. Drake Helps Kiara Lift A Heavy Beam (TRR2 Ch 3)

Chapter 3 is perhaps the first time we see an indication of Kiara's attraction to Drake on a physical level. The scene takes place at the barn raising, but only if we choose to stay with Drake over Hana for the barn raising activities. Kiara shows up in a rather pitiable state - her friend Penelope abandoned her for thirty whole minutes, leaving her to lift incredibly heavy beams alone. Drake helps Kiara and mildly chides her for not asking for his help, and Kiara stares at his bare chest, mesmerized.

She isn't exactly alone in this - the MC herself ogles at his bare chest at one point (if we go by the lines in the narrative that read "his muscles glisten in the sunlight" which is def from the MC's PoV). This scene was meant as fanservice for stans who wanted to drool over Drake's physique for a bit, and belatedly build up an alternative (at least for all three male LIs, they were trying to do this in TRR2).

The MC can either point out Kiara's obvious attraction towards Drake, or suspect her of being part of the plot. This will not be the last time the MC or the group will view her with suspicion, with little to no basis in fact. In the option that calls attention to Kiara's attraction to Drake, she is shown covertly sneaking a second look at him. Drake is shown with a visible discomfort at even the idea that Kiara could like him, one that only the MC notices considering she is working in proximity with him.

The reaction to this was instantaneous from several Drake x MC shippers. One or two glances at Drake's chest was enough for Drake stans to begin typing posts in capslock, screaming "BACK OFF KIARA HE'S MINE". The excuses given at the time were that the MC didn't get much opportunity to romance him (Drake was trying to refrain from kissing her in Ch 2 because he felt guilty), and largely-inaccurate judgements of Kiara's character. Jealousy of this kind is sometimes seen as the norm when you have a popular ship and a third angle is created, but this was about to take form in some...very disturbing ways in later chapters.

2. Kiara was Once Savannah's Friend/Kiara's long-standing crush on Drake (Ch 4)

A misconception I often see in the fandom (particularly in relation to how Kiara's feelings for Drake aren't given the same level of consideration that Olivia's for Liam is) is that Olivia's are "more genuine", and Kiara's are "mere lust" or "only physical" and this is probably why she's not given as much respect as Olivia was. Even though, tbh, Kiara was far, far more respectful of Drake and his personal space, than Olivia was of Liam in TRR1.

Leaving aside the obvious problems with that train of thought (viewing sexual feelings as "lesser" just because they're not rooted in some intense emotion), this is not even true, and the first part of the Driara garden party scene is proof enough. Kiara says, straight up, that Drake had been "such a good friend to [Liam]. It's part of why I always liked you." (Bold mine). If the MC voices doubts about this (likely incorporated for readers who would question it as a retcon...and it was a retcon since they didn't interact in TRR1), Kiara tells her that she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve, which actually matches her practical approach to most things. In fact just a few scenes earlier, when the MC questioned her about wanting a husband (when she'd mentioned earlier about wanting to join the ministry), Kiara informs her that it would never hurt to have both. So it makes sense for her character if she's someone who kept her feelings for Drake a secret, especially while in a competition for winning the Crown Prince's hand. But we cannot, in any honest capacity, claim that Kiara's feelings for Drake weren't deep enough, or lasting enough, or genuine enough. At least based on the evidence we have.

Another point this scene brings up is Kiara's friendship towards Savannah. Up until this point, the only people who did reference her were Olivia, Drake and Maxwell - and Olivia's mockery of especially seemed to imply that the ladies of the court weren't very nice to her. Kiara's account is very different from this, and actually quite affectionate ("she was one of us", "she was coming along so well in learning French"). It's not the closest friendship, but Kiara did care enough to tutor her in the language and clearly missed her. It is possible that this scene was positioned to both build up to the alternative romance and foreshadow Savannah's presence in Paris. There is a lot more that could have been done with this angle, but perhaps that is a discussion for another section.

3. Never-Have-I-Ever (Ch 9)

This is a small option in a drinking game - the MC can get to say "never have I ever had a crush on Kiara", and loses, because Drake says she isn't his type (ironically he claims he isn't her type in the next chapter). It's interesting that he does consider her as not as bad as some of the others in that group.

3. Flirting with Drake in Paris (Ch 10)

For five chapters, we don't see any more hints of this romance. We see Drake in plenty, and we see quite a bit of Kiara. But none of it shows them together.

Kiara's scene with Drake at the tea party, is in some ways a continuation of his diamond scene with Savannah. He knows now where his sister is and what her big secret was, but this scene is where he realises how little he actually knew about her, if even her "noblewoman friend" knew she had intentions to go to Paris and he, her brother, didn't. This scene also takes place at what I call a "rest period" in the story - the group has just come out of a high-intensity altercation with Bastien, and it is one chapter before the major reveal about Constantine. So the MC can relax a little, some of the loose ends of previous stories can be tied up, and we get a vibe check on at least two alternative ships.

Drake is rather civil to Kiara in this conversation, mostly because he's trying to get information about his sister out of her. There isn't much he contributes besides this - it doesn't seem to matter much to him that Kiara was a rare friend among the court to Savannah (tho TRR3 would later retcon this), and when she talks about herself he doesn't pay much attention. Kiara does make an attempt at a light flirtation which goes largely unnoticed.

The MC's response when she first sees them goes three ways - a neutral comment about the petit-fours, a "matchmake-y" comment that points to them that they "look cozy", and a "jealous" comment about interrupting them. The third one especially results in Drake inadvertently confirming he doesn't think of Kiara in a romantic light, and Kiara appearing disappointed. Remember, at this point she doesn't see much evidence that Drake and the MC romancing him are an item.

The follow-up conversation with Drake, too, follows along similar lines. The neutral comment just asks him about the information he gathered from Kiara, the "matchmake-y" one points out she has feelings for Drake and the "jealous" one is... something.

The third response is very obviously crafted for the more possessive Drake stans to get satisfaction from dissing Kiara, perhaps in a more aggressive way than the Maxwell stans could. While the Maxwell MC can pass an insult or two to discourage Penelope, the Drake MC will go as far as to tell him he belongs only to her, and can threaten to "push her into the petit-fours".

Ironically, this scene follows a scene with Olivia about her lingering feelings for Liam - and Olivia's grief, the MC's clear sympathy and Liam's concern for Olivia are all by default. There is a certain level of sensitivity the Liam MC is required to have for Olivia that is never once expected of the Drake MC, and that plays out in very dangerous ways in the next book.

This scene, again, brought forth rather violent reactions, and in fact the language of the MC's responses itself seemed to encourage that kind of response. A poster later compiled an entire set of these responses ranging from mocking, to "back off, Kiara!" to straight up demands for murder (I couldn't link to this post because the names of the people involved were included in it, but I do have quite a few of those screenshots for reference).

After this point, you don't see any more scenes where Kiara actively flirts. In fact for most of the second half you see her and Penelope very rarely. So it does feel really wild in retrospect that "obsessed Kiara" became such a popular interpretation, after one checking-out scene, one flirtation and one rather sweet and genuine compliment of him as a person.

4. Pranking Kiara (Ch 17)

A pattern you would have noticed by now is that there is a bit of a mean streak in Drake for Kiara that is either very dominant or latent, based on whether the MC tries to encourage him, or shows jealousy towards her.

And this isn't necessarily an indicator that he can never be interested in Kiara. A distrust for nobility is almost a norm for him at this point, and let's not forget that Drake's first few interactions with the MC too didn't exactly leave her with the best impression of him either. Kiara initially being on Madeleine's side at the beginning of the story could be a factor in some level of disdain too. Such complications could - in a good story - add layers to a potential romance in the future if that was the direction the writing was going for.

Around the MC who doesn't mind them as a pair, he shows a small sliver of an inclination towards Kiara herself. His response if the MC points out that Kiara was flirting with him (Ch 10) is that he doesn't believe he is Kiara's type, not the other way around. In this scene, a drunk Drake who is encouraged to write a "nice note" to her as a prank, can write "your hair is pretty and your French is totally not stupid". Both of these lines present a sign of a possibility that a romance could happen. His behaviour when an MC casually hints at this possibility, is of someone who may like this woman deep down, but show it in very strange ways (akin to the age-old metaphor of the "boy who pulls the pigtails of the girl he has a crush on"). They wouldn't have even needed to show his responses in this way if they weren't trying to hint at a possibility.

His response to a "jealous" MC is to delightedly bask in her possessiveness of him, and to go hand-in-glove with her as she insults or suggests violence on Kiara in any way. Now one could perhaps headcanon this as a behaviour that comes from being unused to female attention focused on him, coupled with his affection for the MC - but when you take into account his behaviour towards Kiara herself in TRR3 as well, there seems to be a blatant lack of consideration or compassion towards her as a human being. Compare this, again, to the way Liam's behaviour towards Olivia is written in canon, and interpreted by the fandom. Liam is expected to be kind to her, even if he's clueless about her feelings or if she is harming him (eg. Even when she kisses him, he cares enough to opt for a reaction that will not publicly humiliate Olivia).

Not so for Drake. He is very happy to follow in the MC's lead, even in hurting Kiara. And in this scene, he pretty much kickstarts it with the suggestion of a prank.

Drake knows where Kiara's room is (thanks to a nameplate on the door, and the familiarity of the hallway, which he likes for the view outside) and wants to prank her. The MC can either accept or refuse. If she accepts, there is one nice option, and two distinctly mean-spirited ones. The first proposes to mess up her book organizational system, and the narrative describes the attempt as "ruining any semblance of order to Kiara's bookshelves". These are materials she likely requires for her career as an aspiring diplomat, or even books she uses to update herself on the world. But to this MC and Drake, her work and interests are little more than a joke.

The second one is not only aggressively mean - it also is an attempt to ruin her personal space with her personal items. Going by the array of haircare the narrative mentions, maintaining her hair is very important to Kiara (I am not equipped enough to speak about black women and their relationship with their hair, but this option did make me very uncomfortable, because of the little I've seen on how essential regular haircare and good products can be for many black women). Not only does the MC suggest using all that product to render Kiara's bed practically unusable, she also insists Drake waste the full bottle of said product. Because, yknow. "It's a prank. Go big or go home". Drake has one moment where he tries to be less mean in this option (when he attempts to use less of her hairspray), but the moment the MC encourages him towards a crueller direction he does not hesitate. In fact, when the MC first suggests this option, he regards her with something approaching awe, and praises her as "an evil genius".

There's a mean streak in Drake here no matter which option you choose. If you do go for the nicer one, he complains at first that it's not exactly a prank and in fact does claim that they "could still put glitter in her cupboard" as an alternative prank. But the other two options encourage the player to give full vent to whatever underlying frustration/enmity/hatred one could possibly have against Kiara, goading a drunk Drake to be merciless towards the things in her room, in her absence.

Maybe, perhaps, one could just view this as a "fun vent" for the "possessive stans". It allowed the Drake MC and her LI the chance to gang up on her, mock her and cause her discomfort through things that were clearly important to her, treat her like the butt of their joke, and get away with it. When you encourage that kind of hatred with your writing, it can go into some very dark, disturbing places. And it did, especially in TRR3.

The overall response to this scene didn't show much, since it was just one small sequence in a larger scene - and most of the focus was on the heartfelt bonding between Drake and the MC when he takes her to his "special hideout" and his reveal about his motives behind calling the MC by her surname.

Many Drake stans, however, took note of this specific section, and took their interpretations in a completely different direction. Questions were asked about why Drake knew about Kiara's room - completely ignoring that he frequented the hallway regardless for its view and her nameplate is literally placed outside her door - and several fans suspected the two to be involved in an affair just on the basis of him knowing where her room was. These suspicions, again, would crop up from the fandom in a more dramatic way in TRR3.

5. Drinks at Homecoming Ball (Ch 19)

This scene takes place in the finale, just before Kiara and Penelope apologize jointly to the MC for their comments in the beer garden.

Drake is, quite predictably, at the bar in this scene. In some ways one could draw a parallel between this one and the "bar" scene between him and the MC in TRR1 - the only differences being that the two were alone in the first, and that he and the MC are free to romance each other now. However this time, the two ladies of the court could also communicate with him about drinks, and he could use his knowledge of alcohol to guess their preferences.

The scene with Kiara is, again, written to be both a possible sign of familiarity and a diss (mostly the second, I think). With Penelope he just vaguely mentions cocktails and focuses on the decoration for the drink - with Kiara he is able to name the specific wine even though in TRR3 he has no idea what tannins are. There are ways one could envision that as a sign that he notices more about Kiara than he lets on.

The diss, of course, comes with his claim that no matter how top-shelf the wine is, it will still always be "old grape juice" (which is a very strange thing to say because most alcohols are fermented from basic ingredients be it fruit or grains - where did he think his high-quality whiskey that he regularly carries around in his personal flask came from??).

Kiara's attempt to impress him is pretty obvious, but the diss isn't something that weighs too much on her mind. There are less indicators here of a dejection if he brushes her aside, unlike the scene in Ch 10 - she just looks a bit surprised he could guess the exact drink she wanted. Kiara in this scene is more likely to shift gears to something more important. In this case, that is apologizing to the MC for what she views as poor behaviour that sprung up under the influence of alcohol, and offering her an olive branch (the specific apology is for her asking the MC if she came to gloat, not for telling her the alliance was over at the beginning of the tour. In that scene specifically she feels she has nothing to apologise for, and I'm inclined to agree for the reasons I stated in that section).

The overall pattern for this ship seems to indicate that it's...kinda there in case the MC doesn't want to pick Drake, but I always feel like they focused a lot more on the jealousy options and didn't spend enough time to see what a possible relationship could look like. They do claim later that Kiara's affections were supposed to be one-sided, but the buildup at least seemed to indicate some small baseline of interest from Drake's end, even if shown in some rather bizarre ways. However, because there seems to be very little respect for this character already, having the MC threaten violence and having her and Drake overreact over what were essentially harmless interactions from Kiara's end really does indicate that the writers didn't mind taking potshots at her whenever they felt like it. Like I've said before, the trashfire that was Kiara's treatment in TRR3 didn't develop overnight.

Smart, Skilled...Disliked?: Kiara and the Writing Team in TRR3

On 25th Sept 2023, PB released a two-chapter series on Storyloom called "Choices Secrets", which involved at least three writers (Andrew, Kara and Chelsa) talking about ideas and plots and backstories that didn't make it to the released book. In one section, Kara Loo speaks specifically about the ending of TRR2:

According to this account, the original idea was to kill off Olivia and possibly use that as a segue into the Nevrakis plot of the book, since her aunt and Justin were the real villains at the end of the series. When they decided to keep her alive in the series, Kara mentions finding "more members of your group get injured, like Drake".

Interestingly, Kara referred to "members" in the plural, and Drake is the only person from the core group to get shot. So it's just as possible that the choice to have Bastien, Justin/Anton and Kiara sustain injuries, was made once they decided to do away with the storyline about Olivia's death.

Olivia got spared because her writers cared for her. Kiara was likely one of the people injured in her stead, and probably the only one out of them (except for the one who was the main villain) who wasn't getting a prominent scene that focused on her being a survivor of the attack until some readers protested (the entire intro of TRR3 was dedicated to Drake recieving tender care from the MC, Bastien gets showered with concern and care from Constantine, Liam and optionally the MC. The MC comes to the estate, makes a perfunctory mention of the injury once and proceeds to emotionally blackmail Kiara into joining the tour. Let's not even talk about Lythikos. That shit warranted its own essay). No matter how much you downplay the situation, the truth is that Kiara got grievously hurt in a terrorist attack and her writers didn't think it was important enough to address.

I often wondered in the beginning, why Kiara was chosen for this. A close friend at the time theorized that perhaps it was done to ensure Madeleine would become our press secretary, because there was no way the MC would be considering her for this position if someone less hostile (like Kiara) was around. Another wondered if we might get opportunities to address palace security through the experiences of the survivors. Being a Drake x Kiara supporter at least by the end of TRR2, I wondered whether it was a coincidence that they both were injured at the same ball, and the possibility of the two bonding over such a painful experience.

Well. Boy was I about to be disappointed.

Because why did Kiara have to be so badly injured, if it was going to amount to nothing? If they weren't even going to address it in her own home? If - after even players who didn't care much for her, noticed the silence around that attack - the best you could offer was a scene that followed the MC and her friends suspecting the victim of this attack??

Had I looked at Kiara's narrative treatment (from TRR1 onwards) closer back then, perhaps I wouldn't have expected so much. It would have occurred to me that maybe they hurt Kiara the most, because they cared for her the least. Kiara is viewed as smart, poised, talented. Madeleine even calls her "one of the more competant courtiers" at some point. But that doesn't always mean that the team that writes her deems her worthy of respect.

For one, the writers tend to lean more into fandom perceptions of her in this book, rather than looking at their own canon. Kiara being a snob is not canon - that is ridiculous considering that she was such good friends with Savannah, and her support of the MC when she fits in well. Kiara acting like her linguistic skill makes her better than anyone else isn't canon either - nor is she obliged to speak in all ten languages on a loop just for the MC's or Maxwell Beaumont's entertainment. Kiara being perpetually mean to her best friend is inaccurate at best - she is often frustrated by Penelope, sure, but she spends far time and energy helping her than anyone else in that court.

Yet the narrative gives both these statements as dialogue options for the MC, where she can bitch about Kiara...but somehow only ever allows the same MC to be nice and caring and loving to Penelope - never once reminding her of the hell she'd put the MC through in the past. And because the fandom expected the Kiara-Penelope friendship to focus only on Penelope, PB got away with having Kiara's "best friend" stay conveniently silent as the MC berated her in her own home. The narrative even threw Kiara under the bus in TRR3 Ch 16, in order to make Madeleine look better in Hana's memories of the TRR2 bachelorette, claiming falsely that Kiara shouted at Penelope so much while drunk, that the latter was brought to tears. There is way more energy spent in painting an inaccurate and negative portrait of Kiara, than there is in showing the truth.

For another, the way the courtiers' and their parents' agreement to join the tour is coded...is extremely suspicious. When you compare both a successful and a failplay, you will find that all the parents have the chance to reject the MC's proposal to join the tour...except for one. Kiara's father, Hakim. In a failplay where you purposely do all the wrong things...out of the entire group of people who are still doubtful about supporting you, only Kiara and Hakim join your tour by default, without any expectation of a reward (Madeleine demands her own department after the wedding). They will be a part of it no matter what you do, no matter your failures, no matter how badly you treat them.

Hakim may have joined mainly to confront his old friend the King, but he still stays on even after Constantine dies. The writers made sure to branch-code things in a way that Kiara and Hakim could never drop out even if the MC was awful to Kiara, and never once acknowledged what it must take for them to do that. After Kiara herself had been fucking stabbed!!!!

Joelle, Kiara's mother, and Ezekiel, Kiara's brother, can reject the offer if they aren't impressed with the MC, but out of these two characters only one is viewed with respect - the one they were going to pair up with Penelope.

The narrative doesn't mind letting the MC mock Joelle for her passionate support of the arts if she doesn't win her approval, and her insistence that it is the sign of a thriving kingdom...and they make her sound petulant and churlish in response to that mockery. This despite the fact that in a successful route, she says one of the most profound political statements in the books:

"Hakim and I don't just want Cordonia to remain stable and peaceful. Those are blessings, naturallement, but our kingdom can do so much more than just survive."

In contrast, when you look at the same failplay, Emmeline and Landon are treated with far more respect from the narrative, even though Hakim and Joelle's plans for the country would benefit Cordonia as a whole. Drake looks up to Penelope's parents as an inspiration, especially if he's going to become a duke. Meanwhile Hakim actually acknowledges Drake and his bravery in a way that none of the other dukes and duchesses did, and Drake never gives a shit.

Emmeline can accuse the MC of not taking their situation seriously, if she does a bad job at the polo match, and the MC only has the grace to look contrite rather than lash out at her. Landon himself is never judged for coddling his daughter the way he does. Their focus on Portavira rather than the country is respected, and the MC not meeting their demands is viewed as her weakness, not an overreaction from their end. They never get the snarky responses Joelle gets, where the MC can outright call her "a handful" in front of her own husband.

And then there is the matter of how PB deals with the problems of all the court ladies.

(Screenshots from the Skylia YouTube Channel)

The period of the Unity Tour isn't exactly an easy time for anyone. The LIs each deal with their own shit, and the ladies of the court themselves have their own reasons for being reluctant to return. The entire point of this tour is to address their specific concerns as well as that of their families', because without the courtiers themselves we wouldn't have as strong a court.

In Madeleine's case, we have to talk to her through a diamond scene and then educate her mother on her ways of mourning lost opportunities, among other things. In Penelope's case we are required to give her complete protection and emotional security, for her to even bother joining the tour (there is branch coding where she can refuse to be a part of the tour at all). Even for Olivia - who is already an ally - the diamond scene encourages us to stand up to her aunt, by letting Olivia know that it is valid for her to lean on others for support without being considered weak.

But for Kiara? The best we can come up with, while in her duchy, is some version of - "You're smart. You'd know that if you left now, people will say bad things about Cordonia and then it would be your fault". You either manipulate her, or insult her as being a useless excuse of a diplomat. As I mentioned in another essay, Kiara's comfort is a non-factor. The gap between the care we were expected to give to Madeleine and Penelope, and what we deign to give Kiara in Castelserraillan (which is...well...nothing), is massive. And this gap would only increase - not reduce - in the books to come.

It might seem a bit irrelevant to talk about this, especially when this essay is about Drake and Kiara. But it's important to take note of this inherent disdain the writers had towards this one character - and people close to her. Because it is only too easy to pretend that the writers "got scared of the crazy stans".

Of course the stans had a huge, huge role in this. Of course their vitriol and racism succeeded in bringing about (what I consider) one of the most disgusting dialogue options in this series...or perhaps in any series. But I doubt those "crazy stans" would have gotten this far, without a team that didn't mind being cruel to Kiara.

When the Fandom and Canon are both Heartless: Drake and Kiara in TRR3

As I've mentioned in previous essays in this series, playthrough divergences truly begin in TRR3 (eg. While the playthroughs acknowledge who you chose as endgame by end-TRR2, you can still access diamond scenes through a small tweak that allows you to romance other LIs). And whichever LI didn't get engaged with the MC had indications of a new romantic possibility coming up. These were scenes you wouldn't find in your own playthrough with that LI as your fiancé/e.

Kiara doesn't appear in TRR3 until Ch 7, when the entourage comes to her estate Castelserraillan. There aren't a lot of Drake and Kiara scenes themselves, and I will get into why, section by section.

1. Kiara Greets the Group at Castelserraillan (TRR3 Ch 7)

Many Drake stans - once they found their MCs engaged to Drake in TRR2 - seemed to be practically giddy at the prospect of showing off their newly-engaged status to Kiara, and hurting her through the news. They were perhaps more excited about this than their upcoming wedding.

Well, they got that chance in Ch 7. In every other playthrough, she still holds the same feelings for Drake, and compliments his suit as Drake awkwardly fails to meet her eye. In his specific playthrough, Drake defiantly shows off his relationship with the MC, and Kiara shows a slight wistfulness before she forces herself to be normal then wishes the happy couple well. You'd think that would be enough to satisfy the stans who had been baying for her blood all of the previous book.

A throwaway line about Drake knowing where Kiara's room was, had already raised the heckles of a whole bunch of his stans. Kiara's "wistful look" in her first TRR3 scene somehow added fuel to that fire. Suddenly, you got to see a raging torrent of posts demanding to know if Drake had had an affair with Kiara. Fanfic had already been written about Drake cheating on the MC with Kiara by this point - and some of those headcanons and fanfic hinged on making Drake the innocent/vulnerable one, taken advantage of by this sexy, obsessed woman who would be either a danger to him or would be juxtaposed with the "pure", "virginal", "perfect" MC. Drake would never be the problem here, and none of the stans screaming over the possibility of Drake sleeping with Kiara would dream of blaming him for it. No, Kiara was predatory, Kiara was obsessed, if anything happened between them it would be likely Kiara's fault.

This is where it's important to note, again, that none of the more obvious signs of the "Jezebel" stereotype seem to be used in canon for Kiara. While cruel in her own way, the TRR MC doesn't exactly slut shame her or believe Drake will be unfaithful to her, Kiara isn't accused of seducing (or even trying to seduce) anyone, and she actually places respectful personal boundaries for herself in her attraction to Drake, that she never crosses. She may indulge in a light flirtation with him, try to impress him or simply talk to him - but you will never catch her forcing her sexual attention on him like Olivia did with Liam. Yet in popular fanlore, even Olivia's feelings were often cast in a far more noble light in contrast to Kiara's.

In her essay, The "Offending" Breast of Janet Jackson: Public Discourse Surrounding the Jackson/Timberlake Performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII, Dr Shannon. L Holland explores the historical and contemporary uses of the Jezebel stereotype in depictions of Black women in popular culture and discourse, especially in contrast to white masculinity (which in these contexts, is often viewed as innocent and blameless - and much of the blame lies with the Jezebel figure). The "Jezebel" stereotype "has come to symbolize both a malign, cunning sexual object and an autonomous, liberated sexual agent" - she is at once an independent sexual being making her own choices, and someone who is "incapable" of reining in her sexual appetite...and is therefore often depicted as not only a threat to the "purer" (and often "whiter" or "lighter skinned") woman, but also dangerous for whoever she is "obsessed" with. And we see this time and again in the discourse around Kiara - the fanfic that depicts her in a range of scenarios (stalker, obsessed lover, abusive girlfriend who will break a bottle over Drake's head, at times even descending into murderer to get the man she wants). Which is how we wound up in a position where Kiara even breathing the same air as Drake was viewed as a threat.

It didn't matter that he was flaunting his love for the Drake MC in that playthrough to send a message to Kiara, or that he stayed silent with the others as his wife badgered her into joining the tour. It didn't even matter that Kiara never got a diamond scene the way the two other women did, despite being the most harmed among the ladies. What mattered was that Kiara existed. Her damn existence was the threat.

2. Cheering for Drake's Victory (Ch 10)

Ch 9 of TRR3 was released to players on April 27th, 2018. Immediately after, a mid-book hiatus was announced, mostly to work on some new art (very possibly the red pandas), work on the wedding, and make changes (such as shifting diamond scenes from character-centric ones to LI specific - they'd already started making changes to LI diamond scenes). The book would return 2 months later, in June.

In a livestream before the hiatus ended, the writers had made it very painfully clear that Kiara's feelings for Drake was one-sided. And by that I mean they really emphasized on the one-sidedness of her affection, almost as if to reassure the panicking stans. This would manifest in any future interactions between the two - both in Drake's single and engaged playthroughs - and any hope that such a pairing would even be hinted at was over. But there was one variation that the team had perhaps neglected to edit out.

A small one-word depiction of Kiara cheering Drake when he wins his duel against Neville, joining his friends to praise him. It really isn't much - just Kiara saying "bravo!" before Savannah rushes up to hug him, which is replaced by a scene of Drake himself going up to the MC and passionately kissing her in his own playthrough. What is definitely striking about this depiction is that Kiara was clubbed with his close friends and his sister, rather than the second group of people that largely represented the larger court (Rashad and Queen Regina) who offer their congratulations.

Given the way the writers wrote any remaining interactions between Drake and Kiara, and the fact that this small appearance doesn't really amount to anything, it is possible that this variation was part of an earlier draft that involved other hints, that the writers failed to notice when they put up Ch 10. If they had, I'm pretty certain it wouldn't have stayed in the book.

3. Leaving Court + Wedding Conversations

Remember how I kept stating in this essay that the narrative was going to take their enthusiastic pandering of the "possessive stans" end of the fandom, to some dark, disturbing places? Well, here we are.

Tbh, the writers could have just stopped showing any interactions between the two, or given Kiara another boyfriend if their aim was simply to show that Drake and Kiara would never be endgame. They had done that with Maxwell and Penelope already...oh. I forgot. They actually wanted us to care for Penelope.

Up until this point, Drake's mean streak re: Kiara was present, but not really as obvious as it gets here. PB takes that cruelty several steps further in these two chapters, starting with Ch 11. Ch 11 was fanservice to the people who shouted abuses and "joked" about killing Kiara in every chance they could get. Ch 12 showed this sentiment at its worst, covered it up with enough fluff so it would be harder for people who liked Kiara to notice...and let those players get away with it.

In Ch 11, Kiara approaches the MC and her group to inform them that she is withdrawing from the tour. Drake is the first to respond to this, remaking at the suddenness of the departure. The MC can speculate on a couple of things, ranging from sympathy (that she might be afraid), selfishness (that she is "bailing out" on the MC) and suspicion (that she is hiding something).

In all three options, a pensive Hana expresses sympathy and encourages the group to "reach out". In all three options, Drake will only view Kiara as a suspect.

Mind you - according to Ch 12, Drake is saying this knowing Kiara was injured at Homecoming Ball...and knowing exactly which weapon she was injured with. Aware that she has gone through an event as traumatic as that (if we go by his "just one step at a time" monologue to Kiara), better aware than most how it would feel...he still opts to act like her motives should be suspicious.

This is further emphasized in the Drake playthrough, through the armory scene that the MC takes with Maxwell.

As I've mentioned in the post on this scene, it is divided into three halves. The first half deals with whoever the MC rejected (either Liam, or Drake in Liam's playthrough). The third is buildup to Lucretia's plans to usurp the throne. The second is supposed to be about the excitement among the members of the court for the wedding, and of course as the only people who come for the tour by default (and Madeleine is already taken for the first scene), Kiara and Hakim are used for this scene!

I will only focus on the Drake version of this scene today. There are a few things you notice straight off the bat:

1. Since this is Drake's playthrough, the narrative seems to do away completely with any lingering feelings Kiara may have had are done away with. In this scene she is quite happy about Drake's wedding - in fact, practically chipper. Literally nothing about her behaviour here serves as a reminder that she once had feelings for him.

2. Drake's response to Kiara attending his wedding ties in pretty well with his earlier default suspicion of her. Unlike Hana who is surprised but also happy that Kiara is attending, he seems to voice it as a doubt or a question. While that makes sense and there is continuity, it's pretty awful that he is allowed to suspect her like this and feel no remorse when the truth about her is revealed.

3. Now as I said in the post, this scene is meant to be a buildup to Drake's ice-palace scene. He speaks about wanting a private, country-style wedding in a natural place there, and Kiara's gentle teasing in this scene is supposed to be an indicator of how much he dislikes the usual fanfare. Okay. Fair enough. You're uncomfortable with the fancy decorations and the insane planning, fine.

4. But it's Drake's attitude towards Kiara in this scene that leaves a bad taste in the mouth (unless you were one of those Drake stans that liked to threaten murder on this character ig). The narrative really went out of their way to make him sound uncommonly angry with her, just for asking about his wedding. He angrily hisses at her to keep her voice down the moment she asks about the wedding, and then lashes out the moment she teases him about his love for the MC and his reluctance to be very public about it in that context. Of course, people who either liked Drake or hated Kiara would downplay this scene - either blaming Kiara for not magically knowing his likes or dislikes, or acting like Drake's behaviour in this scene is no big deal.

And his explanation in the ice palace scene really doesn't cut it as a reason for why he should be this pissed off at Kiara's excitement. There is no real bitterness or resentment tied in with the fancy trappings that are mentioned in that specific scene - it's just that he likes simplicity better. If Kiara doesn't know him well enough to understand that - it's because he has never properly talked to her. She made attempts to converse whenever she could. You can claim he never owed her a conversation - but in that case she doesn't owe him a complete understanding of his wants either. He could have just politely answered the question and changed the subject, or quickly took his leave.

He is well-versed enough in court etiquette by this point that he could have managed to sound civil enough. That he could have made a quick, polite exit. But no, he gave her the kind of anger that one reserves for someone who is kicking a puppy or stealing candy from a child, instead. And it was Kiara's grace that allowed her to view that awful behaviour in a more positive light.

It's pretty clear this scene - and to some extent the framing of the next - was made specifically for those Drake stans who were screaming and throwing tantrums about a possible affair. It was to highlight that there was no way Drake could ever return Kiara's feelings - and the only way they could do that was by making sure he treated her as rudely and inhumanely as possible.

I didn't think it could get any worse than this, when I saw this version of the scene...but then I saw Ch 12.

The Talk

If you were to speak just about fandom reactions to this scene...the responses to Kiara chronicling her trauma after Homecoming Ball, were pretty positive. Plenty chose the middle option "You're suffering from the trauma of the event. You need help", and cooed over Drake's touching little monologue about "taking it one day at a time".

I admit at the time I was fooled too. But one thing did niggle at me as I played both this option, and the "understandably cautious" one (I would later understand that the latter was not very good either - it has a thin veneer of "validating" Kiara's feelings, but it still has the MC and Drake expecting her to put their needs before her own safety and sanity).

Drake was reassuring to an extent in both options, sure. But why were his responses so different? Why was his answer to Kiara so closely tied to whatever point the MC was making, rather than independent of it? After all, he was the one who should be able to better relate to Kiara - wouldn't he have thoughts of his own here? If the MC chose that horrible final option, Drake would correct her and comfort Kiara instead, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he???

It was only when I (reluctantly) pressed that third option ("not as driven as I thought you were") that I understood what Drake's role in this scene was.

He wasn't going to be there for Kiara. He wasn't even sympathetic to her! It wasn't even going to be about two traumatized people connecting over their trauma. Drake was a puppet. He was there to parrot whatever garbage came out of the MC's mouth.

Because in the third - and most horrific - option, the MC is allowed to minimize Kiara's trauma, and mock her ambitions in the face of what she has just gone through. Drake is allowed to agree with her ("sometimes ambassadors have to work in dangerous areas"). Kiara is forced by the same narrative to find value in these words.

And all of this, stems from a scenario where Drake and the MC go in suspecting this woman from the jump. Where Maxwell is happy to make jokes about her being a suspect. Where the only two decent people in this group - Liam and Hana - are conveniently written out of the scene, ensuring that these ghouls can act the way they want around Kiara, and get away with it.

Not once is Kiara herself ever allowed to know that the group suspected her by default, nor is she allowed to go through with her intention to leave court. The very roots of this scene are rotten.

Very often, when this scene in particular is addressed, not many people actually address Drake's behaviour here - or in the previous chapter. Stans will vaguely, and conveniently, blame the group as a whole rather than their favourites. Such a tactic allows them to never name the specific people or specific actions, and therefore the main people involved in speaking to Kiara the way they did never have to be held accountable. This is particularly relevant in the case of Drake.

It was Drake's idea to interrogate her. He was the one constantly harping about her "suspicious behaviour". He was the one aware of what happened to her yet chose to think of her as shady. He was the one who should have known better, yet was absolutely game to minimize her trauma or engage in emotional blackmail. And neither he nor the MC came out of this conversation feeling anything resembling remorse. Because, apparently, they never did anything wrong.

They got what they wanted. At best, Drake and the MC manipulated this woman (again) into returning to their court. At worst, they badgered and bullied her into that decision. Either way, she was going to return, and the narrative was going to pretend that the MC and Drake were great people for making it happen.

I have heard some justifications over the years for Drake's behaviour here. One is that he "tends to act like an asshole to everyone". Another is that Kiara is a noble so he was never going to see her in a positive light. Which is hilarious to me, honestly, because in the same book you have Drake reassure Penelope - the woman who had made the MC the target of a reputation-ending scandal - and comfort her when she sees Madeleine. If this was really about the chip on the shoulder he had for nobility, why was he so kind to Penelope? And if Penelope's mental health warranted a change in mindset and behaviour from Drake's end, why was Kiara not worthy of that as well?

The truth is this. Drake was allowed to express his mean streak to a black woman, bully a black woman (the pranks), lash out at a black woman (the conversation at the Lythikos Ball), suspect a black woman, and finally minimize her trauma if the Duchess he had a crush on wanted to. While being overly protective and chivalrous to the white woman who actually did harm her. No matter what way you spin it, that is what Drake's behaviour - especially in TRR3 - is.

The way the team trampled over this "pairing" post that miniscule hint in TRR3 Ch 7, would make a rampaging elephant look like a ballerina in comparison. They wanted to make it clear after the hiatus that Drake x Kiara would never happen, in any eventuality, in any future, in any universe. And no matter how much we pin this on "crazy stans" (who do hold some responsibility for sure, for their own veiled racism), it's a fact that the writing team was comfortable doing this. They had already found other ways to pile disrespect on their sole recurring black female character - what was a little more?

TRH and Beyond: Taking Away What Was Left of Kiara's Remaining Fanbase

Given all the narrative back-and-forth and shadiness, I'd have to say the end Kiara got in TRR3 was comparatively...decent. Not great...not exactly satisfying...decent.

Her fighting off the assassins at the boutique ("not again...not again!!") was the highlight of that scene. In Hana's playthrough, Kiara was her MOH by default, and the lines the MC could give if you chose her in other playthroughs was pretty sweet. At the end of the book, her father would make Kiara his heir, after her older brother Ezekiel abdicated. There were still things I was always going to hate (such as the fact that we could lie about "having Kiara's back" - we absolutely did not) about the aftermath, but all in all as a fan...I could maybe envision a fairly happy ending for her with what we got.

The next series, The Royal Heir, would debut on June 2019, almost a year after TRR3's own debut. This would be the first series that would go completely LI-divergent, spanning four books. It started out as an attempt to envision the future (and pasts) of the main characters, as well as tie loose ends...but descended into an incoherent, retconning mess with each book.

Kiara doesn't feature much in Book 1, but is pretty prominent in certain chapters like Ch 7 (Savannah's bachelorette), Savannah's wedding, and the Apple Ball in the finale. You'll often find a marked difference between the way she is looked at for most of the book, and how the MC speaks to her in TRH1's finale.

Savannah's bachelorette, for instance, features all the ladies of the court in Texas, with new "country" looks and engaging with Texan culture. Here, too, you see a sign of PB leaning into popular perceptions of Kiara rather than remembering their own writing, when we see how Savannah praises the MC by default but has very little to say about her former friend Kiara. Since Savannah's return to court in TRR3, the team seemed to have forgotten that other ladies of the court weren't very nice to her, and Kiara was the only one concerned for her. They have Olivia act sweet and caring towards Savannah in both TRR3 Ch 17 and TRH1 Ch 7, conveniently forgetting the insults she piled upon Drake's sister in the first book. Savannah never has to talk about Kiara's friendship at all, other than a teasing comment hinting at her French lessons. Savannah was never expected to have any gratitude or affection towards Kiara even though she was the only woman who cared about her in court before she left.

An interesting thing to note in the diamond scene of the bachelorette is the way the courtly ladies' previous/current "romances" are framed. Kiara's, in particular, warrants a lot of discussion. Unlike Olivia (who can address her feelings for Liam regardless of playthrough, if asked, and can actually show some level of resentment towards him for not picking her), Kiara's feelings are addressed only if the MC isn't married to Drake. If she is, Kiara mentions a fondness for "rugged, down-to-earth men" (which the MC and Penelope perceive to mean hunky and muscular), and avoids mentioning his name at all.

There are two very interesting things to note about this sequence. One is the pattern of how, and how far, are Olivia and Kiara are allowed to address their feelings for these men. Not only is Olivia allowed to be open about her feelings and her bitterness (despite Liam actually romancing her in TRR3!), the narrative demands our respect for her position and plight. The Liam MC lauds her honesty and her decision to move ahead, unfazed even by her anger for something Liam didn't even owe her. In contrast, in the Drake playthrough, the writing makes sure Kiara never mentions him by name. And not only that, when the MC and Penelope tease her about her romantic preference, she is shown to stammer and seems downright afraid of the MC.

The fact that there is such a gap in how Olivia and Kiara are allowed to act about the men they love, and the fact that this gap was normalized so much in fandom discourse that it didn't even warrant a discussion, tells us plenty about the fandom too. The fandom position has almost always been that Liam owes Olivia love, appreciation, kindness. And that Drake owes Kiara nothing, not even common human decency. Which is why the fandom wants Liam punished for the high crime of not loving Olivia back. Which is why Drake is allowed to treat Kiara like an irritating pest at his best, and like utter garbage at his worst...and almost no one so much as bats an eyelid.

Since most of the story of TRH1 seemed to revolve around the ranch, the ladies of the court made minimal appearances and most of those were in keeping with patterns established in TRR3 (except for maybe Olivia's spy scenes). Some of their parents - too - feature in Royal Council scenes: Godfrey and Landon are part of this council and are seen during the MC's announcement - no one from Kiara's family, besides her brother Ezekiel who is dating Penelope, make any appearances in this book. Towards the end of the book, however, you suddenly find a scene or two where the narrative is suddenly, and inexplicably, syrupy sweet to Kiara:

(Screenshots from the Skylia YouTube Channel. 1-5 are from Ch 18, during the council meeting. 7-10 are also from Ch 18, at the start of the ball. The last two are from the finale as buildup for the pregnancy photoshoot)

There are indications of Kiara's diplomacy and good advice in other parts of the book too (such as her suggestions for dealing with the foreign royals at the baby shower) but never were the praise and compliments as obvious as they were in the last two chapters of TRH1. Kiara was given a quippy dialogue to spout at Godfrey, who would later be revealed as the murderer of Queen Eleanor. All three of the MC's dialogue options in response would praise Kiara by default (a rarity). King Bradshaw would shower her with compliments too about her talent and expertise. And when Kiara approached us with an offer for a pregnancy photoshoot, the MC could cheerfully say "for you, Kiara? Of course!" as if they'd been bffs from the beginning.

There isn't any obvious reason why we saw this sudden change, but I can make an educated guess or two. A pattern that commonly emerges with attempts to address something that would benefit Kiara, is that the writers often only do it when enough people complain; that was how we got the horrible Lythikos sequence. Midway through TRH1, I managed to put up an essay exploring Kiara's treatment (centered around the Lythikos sequence in TRR3 Ch 12) in comparison to Penelope's and Madeleine's. It did not receive an immediate fandom wide response, but several readers did come away from that essay feeling like Kiara really got the short end of the stick, compared to all the other court ladies. I'm not sure whether that essay had a direct impact, but those three scenes PB added to the finale chapters do make me wonder. Was the team trying to prove to the fandom that they did like Kiara and wouldn't personally sabotage her, either for their own enjoyment or to pander to a section of the fandom?

If they did, then that plan didn't last beyond these two chapters.

Another possibility of course was to give Kiara something slightly positive before they did her dirty - again - in TRH2 and 3. Because in those two books, they managed to first make her - along with the rest of the council - party to a vote (that everyone was involved in, including the LIs!) that would later prove detrimental for the country. They would then have her be the only heir involved in the notorious Coventus Nobilis, which ensured that anyone who wanted to hate Kiara could tie her to her vote in favour of Bartie Sr, without ever asking any further questions. This was a far more successful attempt, because most of the fandom already believed the misconceptions of Kiara's characterization to be truth, and these storylines simply added fuel to the fire.

Kiara's biggest supporters tended to be a section of the Liam fandom, as well as wlw stans who tended to like most of the courtly women. Having her vote for Bartie at the end of TRH2, and her explanations in TRH3 about the "MC's ruling style" (which was really canon's way of making sure she did more a silent diss on Liam) was written specifically to place a serious dent among her fans who liked Liam. And sadly, it worked in part. Because even if one considered Kiara's thoughts on "reactive ruling" accurate, it was a fact that the nobility (she included) would have to be blaming Liam for something that the entire Council voted for, and that Liam and his friends fixed on their own.

Making Kiara the lone person to voice this argument, made her a target in this fandom. I mean, people were ready to praise Madeleine and speak of her as loyal (eagerly ignoring that she was actively involved in the child's kidnapping if you didn't coddle her enough), and badmouth Kiara in the same breath, claiming that Kiara wasn't worth forgiving and people should just get over Madeleine's deeds in the past.

This resurgence of hate didn't just erupt out of nowhere. Once they finished spending two chapters on two-second compliments to Kiara, PB reverted in the next two books to some of their usual patterns with her. For instance, remember how I mentioned that PB had an obsession with never letting Kiara and Liam interact? In TRH, they repeated this pattern, but with the Heir. The only scene Kiara has where she can so much as touch the heir is in the last part of TRH3, if you choose for Kiara to read to her. Penelope is regularly allowed to hold her even though she has often placed this child in dangerous situations (on one occasion, Kiara herself had to stop her) - even Madeleine is given an entire babysitting scene to win her favour. But Kiara is the only lady of the court who is made to stay away or care for the child from a distance.

Kiara's family (besides Zeke, and just because he is Penelope's fiance/husband) is subject to disrespect in this book too. Hakim and Joelle were both conspicuously absent from the pregnancy announcement presscon in TRH1 (where Landon, Godfrey and Bartie Sr somehow featured!!), and future books would either retcon the family or force them to do things the other families didn't have to do. In TRH2, the MC takes a tour of the Great Houses with her newborn daughter, and each house is expected to pledge loyalty to her and the crown in different ways. Hakim is written as "bending to his knees" for the child. This is something only Adeleide and Madeleine - whose house, might I remind you, are considered the house of traitors at this point - have to do. Landon and Emmeline are never expected to express their loyalty to this extent.

In TRH3, the narrative callously pushes the Therons under the bus to make the Ebrim family's reluctance to help the MC make sense - the Therons are now "traditionalists" who frown upon scandals and may not allow Zeke to marry Penelope on the account of her past annulled marriage (this makes no sense when you take a closer look at the Therons themselves in TRR3 - they're a far more balanced, far more progressive family than any of the other Great Houses. They even took Zeke's abdication well!). Furthermore, you'll notice that the framing of Penelope's past with Guy is worlds apart from the disdain the narrative shows for the Therons during the flower festival. It is notable that in the latter, the black women are depicted very negatively - Kiara is shown unable to manage her own competition, Joelle is depicted as pompous and incapable of losing gracefully, Drake gets to take sarcastic potshots at Lerato for trying to charm the MC into voting for her and Drake into convincing her to vote. Meanwhile white people like Landon and Marguerite are presented in a just as humourous but less mocking light (eg. Landon moving his table courteously before flipping it in the flashback).

Even into TRF (Ch12), the narrative gives us choices where we can stand up to people criticizing Landon and Emmeline's parenting ("Duke Landon and his wife raised a kind, generous daughter..."). We are allowed to be far less critical of the Ebrims overall, we are allowed to be more charitable even in the dialogue options for suspecting Landon than we are of Kiara (think of how Maxwell can suspect that Kiara was planning to betray us all along). At the end of the Flower Festival, Kiara is made to appear contrite as the MC can choose to either demand she make this right before the latter can forgive her, or indicate that she never will. Ironically, a Penelope who can choose her fancy wedding over the safety of the MC's child never has to face words that harsh.

You will also notice if you look more closely, that the narrative continues to frame events surrounding Penelope and Kiara in opposing ways. Penelope is perpetually viewed as a victim, and Kiara constantly as a suspect.

We are expected to support Penelope, and to mistrust Kiara. And even though Kiara's feelings had long since become a thing of the past, Drake still maintains his animosity towards her and her family. And like everything else, it is so normalized at this point that you barely even notice it anymore.

In TRH2, Drake is allowed to tar all nobles with the same brush because of Godfrey's actions. Though his statement about the nobility ("We can't trust any of them to have Liam's back...not unless it's in their own selfish interests") is about the entire nobility, it is striking that he says this just before they go to Castelserraillan. The Therons are also the only noble family that Drake makes sarcastic comments about (in reference to Liam informing us that their province is a trade hub, Drake quips that "they are going to want to trade babies with us"). These snide comments he rarely makes about other noble families, and serves as a sharp contrast to how he treats the Ebrims (during Penelope's wedding festivities, he is unnaturally invested in Penelope getting a happy ending with Ezekiel). We can't even claim that his behaviour towards Kiara is in line with his disdain for nobles, because Penelope is proof that he is perfectly capable of showing compassion to most of them!

TRH3 ends with Kiara doing an apology tour of sorts - diplomatic missions aimed at improving Cordonia's international relations. TRF finds almost all the ladies of the court - even Olivia - in very minimal roles, as the focus shifts to the Via Imperii. Still, the narrative makes more references to Penelope than to Kiara, to the extent that the epilogue ends on both the MC and Penelope celebrating their pregnancies (Penelope's first and the MC's second) together.

Overall, you will find that the narrative repeated certain patterns with Kiara - the tendency to find her suspicious, purposely limiting scenes with important characters like Liam (TRR) and the heir (TRH) while the white courtiers get almost unlimited access, the discrepancies in expectations for her vs other ladies (eg. Madeleine is hailed for being "good" even though that is solely dependent on how you treat her. Kiara is largely ignored whenever she does help, and attacked when she is written to support the enemy). Drake - even as a former alternative to her, who should have gotten over whatever nonsense beef he'd had with her earlier - is allowed to make snide remarks about her home and family.

It's pretty clear they could do this because they could get away with it... because most of the fandom made it so easy for them to get away with it.

Fandom

When I look back at how the perception of Kiara in the fandom progressed over the years, I find it half-amusing, half-sad how much of it is rooted more in fanlore, and how little in actual fact. And this is something you couldn't just pin on "crazy Drake stans" - they were the biggest promoters of these lies and misconceptions, sure, but normally analytical, commonsense readers often believed that Kiara was fake and a snob and awful to Penelope too.

I get some of it, given the timing of Kiara and Penelope's scene at the beginning of TRR2. It takes place at a low point in the MC's story, a time when she isn't even sure the LIs want to support her. Coupled with that is the lasting image of Penelope hugging you and complaining about Madeleine, making you feel like she's more willing to give you a sliver of solidarity. Coupled with that, is Olivia's newfound popularity in the fandom - once she emerges in Ch 5 of that book, fans believed they found their wildcard who would stand by them in complete solidarity among the ladies of the court (did they ignore Hana's already massive contributions to the investigation? Yes they did. Yes they did). Madeleine herself is shown giving quotable quotes about female solidarity and Tariq's guilt in TRR2 Ch 7, which - coupled with Justin's high praise of her - made people want to find things to like about her too. Penelope's own betrayal was overshadowed by an expectation to support a person with serious mental health struggles.

Kiara's the only one who doesn't get such backstories or explanations. So at least in the heat of the moment, in reading those chapters between weekly gaps, it makes sense that a false impression of her got somewhat solidified.

But when you build your interpretations out of lies and misinterpretations, how does it become so valid that even the writers bend to it and prefer to show that?

Every fandom has its "crazy stans". And this instance wouldn't be the first or last time they are pandered to. But when the same stans get backed up by the "saner", more commonsense members of fandom; when even neutral readers promote versions of a story without actually looking at the scenes in question - that's when a fandom is in danger of turning a "headcanon" into canon.

Kiara being a horrible friend to Penelope wasn't canon. Kiara being a snob was not canon. Kiara being creepy towards Drake wasn't canon either. Especially when you take the fandom response to Olivia's forced kiss on Liam into account.

And that brings me to another point. I had been asked once why I felt the need to compare Kiara to the other ladies in my defenses of her. It's important, when we speak of the kind of hate Kiara received, to understand how a lot of flaws that the entire court has (eg classism) is often pinned onto a lone person, and how several white female characters could get away with worse behaviour while Kiara alone was slammed for harmless interactions.

This is most apparent when you look at how Olivia's violation of Liam's consent is perceived, vs Kiara's harmless flirtation with Drake in TRR2. Which woman had fans foaming at the mouth and wanting to kill her? Which woman was given dozens and dozens of fanfic and content that depicted her as creepy, desperate, downright obsessed with their man? Which woman got the "oh well, he doesn't owe her anything ����🏽‍♀️" vs a "he doesn't love her back?? WHAT AN INSENSITIVE ASSHOLE!!1111"?

Perhaps this Olivia/Kiara comparison is where the fandom's tendency to cast Kiara into the Jezebel stereotype is the most visible. Kiara's very act of talking to Drake sometimes is registered as a threat to those stans, and it reflects in the way they speak of her, the way they speak of their MC's own relationship with Drake in association with her (eg. the number of posts rejoicing at the thought of showing off their "engaged to Drake" status at Kiara's estate), the way they're allowed to dehumanize her and villify her (eg. The edit I mentioned at the beginning). This is often encouraged by their friends who are fans of other characters, and you can see that in sharp contrast, Olivia - despite her actions in Book 1 and her resentment of Liam for not loving her back in other books - is still often viewed with sympathy and respect. Her feelings - still viewed as genuine, even pure. To the point where PB eventually allows Olivia to constantly address her feelings about the MC's and Liam's relationship, while forcing Kiara to not even utter Drake's name in his playthrough.

But you see this with other characters, and in other contexts too. Particularly how Madeleine can be duplicitous, hypocritical, and power-hungry, and it's Kiara who is called these things despite her actual honesty in canon. Madeleine can get away with actually helping Bartie Sr kidnap the MC's daughter in TRH3 without a murmur, in the same fandom where people can curse Kiara for voting for Bartie Sr "to take the child away" (despite her telling the MC and spouse that she was promised they would have custody of the child, therefore the claim that she "voted to take the child away from their parent" is inaccurate).

You saw some of these discrepancies in how Penelope and Kiara were spoken about too - Penelope's crime in TRR2 was considered easily forgiveable, while Kiara's innocence is constantly called into question. Kiara was often viewed negatively for what the fandom perceived as "meanness" to Penelope (when it was in fact Kiara worrying about how Penelope would fare when she wasn't around) while Penelope herself was never expected to be a good friend to Kiara. An interesting thing to note about the fandom response to Penelope and Kiara showed that often when posters wanted to hate on Penelope, she and Kiara would be clubbed together, almost as a unit. This was especially prevalent in TRH3. It was easy to express hatred for Kiara independently, but most posts that showed a dislike for Penelope (besides from specific Kiara stans) would often tie her with Kiara, as if there wasn't much to hate about her otherwise.

It is important to line up whatever hate Kiara gets with the responses to the other women - especially in the face of what the latter are allowed to get away with. In doing so, you get a better sense of what is allowed for a certain subset of women, and what isn't allowed or permitted for black women specifically.

Often, the fans who would not hesitate to call her alone fake, opportunistic and creepy were WOC, and there have been cases where some would use their identity as WOC to shield themselves from the criticism concerning their vitriol. It would often descend into "I don't hate her because she is black, I hate her because {insert inaccurate/false/convoluted justification here}". It didn't matter that much of this information wasn't based in fact, or had a heavy bias that they never applied to anyone else. It only mattered that because they were WOC, somehow that meant that they couldn't possibly be racist. That their unfounded hatred for Kiara had to be legitimate. As if there was no chance that someone who was WOC couldn't be antiblack too. I mean, the ultimate proof of this could be found in TRR itself - the two head writers of the TRR/H/F series' are Asian women - who have a pattern of liking mean (white) women, and who didn't mind throwing the black woman and her black family in their story repeatedly under the bus, who didn't mind minimizing and retconning the abuse and childhood trauma that the darker-skinned Asian woman in their story went through.

Overall, it is possible that the fandom did take some of their cues (for their impression of Kiara) from the inherent disdain found in canon itself. But many of them also misinterpreted several things about Kiara, then didn't bother to revisit those biases with a critical eye, or even try to see if they were wrong. And that baseless hatred fed the already-existing disdain that Kiara's own writers had towards her. Resulting in the kind of horrific, racist garbage that we got to see in TRR3, and the constant attempts in canon to pull her down in TRH.

Did Drake and Kiara Ever Have A Chance?

There have been various opinions - from both Kiara fans and haters - for why a Driara ship would never work. He hates nobles, she won't like his disdain for art and culture, he likes the simpler life, she's a snob...so on and so forth. Many people will agree it's not a great ship, but of course with differing opinions on why.

I, however, often wondered at possible scenarios where such a pairing could work. The magic of shipping is often that you can play around with personalities and pair almost anyone, and find enough reasons to explain why they would tick. And in Drake and Kiara's case, personally, I do feel like it's a complicated question to answer - primarily because I feel like the authorial intent at the beginning may have been very, very different to what finally happened in Drake's story.

A lot of Drake's early writing focused on the reasons behind his mistrust of the court and his tendency to view the people he loves who are part of it (eg. Liam and later the group) as anomalies. There are two ways you could take such a story in TRR2 - you could either get him to admit to the flaws in his own thinking (thereby providing a more nuanced insight) and allow him to grow from there, or you could just have him double down on his biases and never change beyond the superficial. The team of TRR - esp the head writers, Kara and Jen who were both v fond of him - definitely seemed to go in the latter direction.

Drake's prediction in Coney Island does indicate that he should let go of the past, and I honestly feel like the sequences where he learned about Maxwell straining House Beaumont's finances to help her, and Kiara and Savannah's friendship, could have been turning points for him if the writers weren't so obsessed with proving him right all the time - even when he was supposed to be wrong. Maxwell and Kiara, in their own ways, were proof that not every noble was the same, nor would every noble treat the commoners around them all the same way. However, the narrative trampled all over this possibility in TRR2 Ch 9, where Drake could optionally claim that the Beaumont brothers (among others) were "just looking out for themselves, no matter the consequences", or later when the narrative had Savannah be grateful to him for breaking her confidence to Bertrand, and have Maxwell try to earn his forgiveness in Ch 12 rather than the other way around. It allowed Drake to be selective about the nobles he admired or defended, while still free to treat certain others like garbage.

I could easily envision a Driara pairing for most of TRR2. I could even see it as potentially salvageable in certain parts of TRR3. But the moment they had Drake readily suspect her, the moment the team thought it would be okay for Drake to even suggest minimizing her trauma...that option was no longer worth seeing. Not for Drake, but for Kiara. Drake would have to be the worst possible guy I could find for her, in such a scenario.

But I could see potential in a storyline that had Drake understand that some of these people weren't the monsters he so desperately wanted them to be. In one where he could hear about Kiara's friendship with his sister, and learn about a whole new side of her. One where he maybe felt insecure ("I'm not her type") and could be reassured by a woman who had likely held a torch for him since they were teens/young adults. One where they could reach out to each other in their pain and trauma, and find solace. One where Drake knew that the family he may be marrying into would respect him, and his father too. There were possibilities there.

It would still take more work - his mean streak for one would need to be reduced by more than a half. A lot of it, of course, was kept for the Drake stans, but it really doesn't add much to Drake's character besides making him a mean-spirited, hypocritical bitch who only targets the lone black woman this way (and Olivia occasionally, if she goads him). If the narrative did want to keep a characterization where Drake acts weird around the girl he likes, they could - but that story would need a lot more work to be palatable.

All of this is to say that regardless of personal bias, there were possibilities there. There was a sliver of potential. And if they wanted to let go of that potential midway, they didn't have to go about that the way they finally did. They could have just worked on creating another love interest for her. They managed to create a brother for her overnight just so Penelope could have a boyfriend; they could have easily done the same for Kiara.

Multiple factors went down that explain why the Driara ship didn't take off. But many of them boil down to one specific root cause - the white women (whether they caused actual harm or not) needed to be protected, needed to be cherished. The black woman who dared to ask for the same things from their pet LI, would be viewed as a threat, a villain, a creep...just for breathing in his direction.

And her writers cared so little, that they took the fanon perception for her and stamped it onto their canon, like it was the truth.

They didn't do any of this for the woman who forced a kiss on a prominent LI. They didn't do this on the woman who betrayed the MC and set her up for assault. They didn't do this to the woman who bullied the lone female LI, and swore to continue doing so till she broke.

They did this for the one woman who was fairly innocent of most of these crimes, actually respected the LI and treated him well.

They did this because they could get away with it. Because they were confident that the fandom they wrote the story for, would let them get away with it. And tragically...they were right.

--

Resources I used to learn about the Jezebel stereotype:

The "Offending" Breast of Janet Jackson: Public Discourse Surrounding the Jackson/Timberlake Performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII by Dr Shannon Holland

Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, the Jezebel and white masculinity by Khadija Mbowe (I actually got the recommendation for the first paper from this video essay).

From Mammy to Jezebel: The Portrayal of Black Women in American Cinema from the BlackThen website

#kiara theron #anti drake walker #anti the royal romance #essay series: trr's alternative lis #long post

[sugarandspisces-writes]

for a possible suggestion/request: reader is being silly and teasing melissa, melissa gets playfully annoyed and threatens to "get" the reader; reader sees it as an empty threat because melissa would never hurt her and cheekily pushes her buttons further, which ultimately results in the reader losing a very one-sided tickle fight 😭❤️ (though perhaps still "winning" to the reader because 1) physical affection and 2) they got melissa to be silly with them too 🫠🫶🥹)

Speaking From the Heart Pt. II

Pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x reader

Summary: Melissa is trying to get some work done, and r just wants her attention

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: Thank you for the request, nonnie. I hope I did your idea justice!

P.S. I'm just now realizing that I already wrote a physical touch headcanon. Oops. But this one is cute and fluffy and silly and I loved writing it. I hope you all enjoy reading it. Okie bye!! <3

Physical Touch

You were big on physical affection and luckily so was Melissa. It took some time for you to figure it out, but she was a huge softie. At any given moment, Melissa was likely to display her affection through touch. She was observant and enjoyed learning all the things that made you melt. At home, you loved when she would wrap her arms around you and place kisses on your neck. In public, she would be discreet with her actions, but she still made sure her adoration was evident. If you were walking side by side she would link your pinkies together. If you were in an unfamiliar place, she would place a hand on your lower back and guide you around. She always made you feel utterly safe and cared for, and while you appreciated the heartfelt gestures, you liked to have a little fun every now and again.

✦ ✦ ✦

The steady pitter-patter of rain held your attention as you sat on the couch. You watched the raindrops as they hit the window and made their descent to the ground. Sometimes one droplet became two, creating a large bead that would race down the pane faster than your eyes could keep up. The light rapping of precipitation on the roof was soothing and almost relaxing enough to make you fall asleep.

There was just one thing missing: Melissa. She was right there with you, sitting at the coffee table grading her students' worksheets. For some reason, though, it felt like she was miles away. Her back was facing you (maybe that had something to do with it), but you could almost picture what she looked like. Red reading glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, eyebrows scrunched, and lips in a small pout as she deciphered messy handwriting. You watched as she tapped her pen on the stack of papers – something she did to help her think. She was deciding which encouraging note that student would receive.

“Oh, I know,” the redhead murmured once she figured it out. She was always attentive and deliberate with her feedback, firmly believing that her positive comments helped her students’ confidence. 

God, she was so cute. You let out a sigh, becoming painfully aware of the space between you two. Maybe you could distract yourself for another thirty minutes. Her stack of papers seemed to be slimming down, and you were certain she’d be done soon. You picked up your phone, choosing to scroll through the messages you’d received. Seeing a Tik Tok from one of your friends, you clicked the link before remembering you’d sworn to a vow of silence. Melissa had been hesitant to let you keep her company, knowing she’d be running the risk of you interrupting her. You could only sit with her if you were going to be quiet because she’d lose focus otherwise. 

She was already a week behind on grading, and you let out another sigh at that realization. Really, your only options were to sit there and watch the rain or to read your book (something you already grew tired of since you’d been doing it for the past hour). You truly just wanted Melissa’s attention at this point.

“Something wrong back there?” The woman asked as she scribbled dark ink onto stark white paper.

You startled at the sound of her voice piercing the quiet, “No, why?”

“You’re doing a lot of sighing,” she noted, not bothering to look back at you.

“I’m just bored.” You answered truthfully, a slight whine in your tone.

“I’m almost done,” she updated you before murmuring, “What the hell?”

You assumed that wasn’t directed toward you. She must have read a crazy answer on one of the worksheets. Her kids were known for writing down some wild things. 

You decided to watch that Tik Tok after all. You came to the conclusion that it wouldn't bother her too much if the volume was low. However, as soon as the video began to play, the teacher noticed.

“Hon,” she said in a cautionary tone.

“Yes?”

“If you don’t turn that phone off, I’m gonna break it.” She huffed.

Any other time you’d feel the effects of her words, but that particular statement didn’t have her usual boldness. She wasn’t the best multitasker, unable to grade papers and be stern at the same time. She’d have to stop one thing to do the other and you knew that. So, you continued to play the video, turning the volume down lower in hopes that it would fix the issue. If she really wanted to stop you, she would.

“Y/N.” She whipped her head over her shoulder giving you a sharp glare.

“What?” you asked, a smile playing on your lips as your theory was proven to be correct.

She put her pen down and moved to face you. “Turn it off. I’m not kidding.”

“Okay, Mel.” You smiled sweetly, with the intention of not giving her any grief.

Then your finger slipped and you accidentally scrolled down to the next video. Your eyes widened and your mouth rounded in surprise. Unbeknownst to Melissa, you had meant to exit out of the app, but your phone seemed to take its own interpretation of your actions.

Melissa got up from the floor quicker than you expected her to, and before you knew it she was walking over to you. The same look from before took hold of her face, and you tried not to focus on how pretty she looked in her glasses. A smile planted itself on your lips as you admired her and that seemed to provoke the woman.

“Something funny?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“No,” you shook your head as she walked closer to you. “It’s just– that was an accident. I was trying to close the app.” 

She’d made her way onto the couch, placing her legs on either side of your body and angling herself so she was leaning over you. Funny how a few minutes ago you were dying to be near her, but now you felt nervous under her gaze.

“Mhmm,” she nodded, “I bet you did.” Her hand reached out to snatch your phone.

 You were quicker than her and swiftly moved your hand before she could catch you.

“Y/N, come on.” She tilted her head and reached out for the device again. “I don’t have time for games.”

“I’m not playing games.” You laughed. “If you want it, you’re gonna have to try a little harder.” 

Moments later, you found yourself in a struggle trying to keep your phone safe. Once she realized where things were going, Melissa resorted to the only thing she knew would give her the upper hand. 

“Melissa, I swear to God if you tickle me.” You gritted through heavy breathing.

She grinned at you before moving her hands down to grab at your sides.

“Melissa! Stop!” You tried to wriggle out of her grip, legs kicking and hands grabbing at her, but it was no use. She had you pinned down to the couch and you were too weakened by laughter to fight back.

“I’ll stop,” she paused when you looked at her with hopeful eyes, “if you apologize.”

“I-It was an acc–” you giggled and gasped through her attack. “An accide–”

She didn’t even give you the chance to finish what you were saying. If the words weren’t “I’m sorry”, then she didn’t want to hear them.

“Melissa!” Your eyes started well up with tears as you used your last bit of available breath to let out a laugh. “Stop, I can’t breathe!”

“Apologize,” she smiled, knowing that she was going to win this fight. Your phone was long gone, had dropped out of your grip once she laid her hands on you.

Your breathing troubles increased and the muscles in your stomach were burning, so you caved in. “Okay! O-okay! I’m s-sorry.”

After your confession, she stopped as promised. You were breathless with tears streaming down your face from laughing so much. Melissa was laughing nearly as much as you, and it was probably because you looked like a hot mess.

“That was so uncalled for.” You pouted as she loosened the grip her legs had on you.

“It was so called for,” she mocked. “You wouldn’t turn your damn phone off.”

“I tried!” You exclaimed. “Clearly my phone has a mind of its own.”

Melissa reached up to wipe your tears away. “You’re strong. I thought you were gonna fling me off of this couch.”

“I thought you were gonna let me die on this couch.” You looked at her with wide eyes.

She threw her head back in a cackle, “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“I couldn’t fucking breathe, Melissa!” You emphatically motioned to your lungs.

“Poor thing,” she cupped your chin with her fingers. “Maybe next time you’ll keep your phone off.” She moved to get off the couch, but you reached for her arm to stop her in her tracks.

“I think I deserve a few minutes of cuddling for my troubles.” You proposed the idea hoping she would give take pity and give in.

“Your troubles?” she looked at you quizzically. “I’m the one who has to spend the next hour grading.”

“Please,” you whined as she started to move off of the couch again. “Just for a few minutes.”

“No, because a few minutes always turns into a few hours.”

“Please, baby.” You gave her puppy dog eyes. “I’ll help you finish grading.”

At the sound of you calling her baby, her eyes softened and you knew you were about to win this debate. She may be the queen of coercion, but you were also pretty good.

“Fine,” she conceded, “but only for ten minutes.”

She laid back on the couch and held her arms out to welcome you. You happily took the invitation and snuggled up to her chest. You placed a kiss on her collarbone to show your thanks, a chuckle escaping your throat.

“What?” She asked, her fingers already making circles on your back to calm you.

“Nothin’.” You continued to laugh quietly.

“Tell me.” Melissa couldn’t help but join in on the laughter, finding it infectious.

“You’re such a softie.”

“No I’m not,” she grumbled.

“You are.” You looked up at her. Even though she disagreed with you, you could see the twinkle in her eyes.

“You sure you wanna talk to me like that? When my hands are this close to you?” She asked, alluding to the fact that she wasn’t afraid to start a tickle fight again. 

“Hey, let’s not get crazy.” You eyed her cautiously.

“I’m not soft.” She scrunched her face in disapproval.

“Whatever you say, Lissa.” She was soft for you whether she admitted to it or not. “You know we're gonna be here for more than ten minutes, right?”

“Yeah, hon, I know,” she laughed. “If you wanted my attention you could have just asked.”

“Well, where’s the fun in that?” You winked at her. “Plus, you were busy.”

“I’m never too busy to cuddle.” She placed a kiss on the top of your head as you moved to rest on her shoulder. “I love being close to you.”

At that confession, you looked at her with raised eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe I see what you’re saying.”

“You big softie.” You teased again.

“Stop it.” She poked your side. “Or I’m gonna get you.”

“It’s okay. I love you just the way you are.” You smiled, sealing the deal with a kiss.

Previous Chapter

#melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti x reader #abbott elementary #sugarᥫ᭡writes

[chaoticbindery]

Here's Looking at You Kid

By Messermoon(@sophsicle )

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world..."

George wanders into a bar. Nothing is ever the same.

Thanks to Soph for accepting a copy of this story. Apologies for the delay and ups being trash 💀

Thanks to @upthehillart for approving my use of their art for this fic.

Special thanks to the @renegadepublishing server for all your support, advice, and encouragement during the making of these books.

To ups, I hope you never feel the gentle touch of a woman, that your child never hugs you again, and that every time you enter a room, you forget the reason you are there.

Below, I will discuss the process, which will include a lot of spoilers. (But also more pics 😈)

When I heard this story was set in the same universe as choices, I lost my shit a little and read it. Slowly, however, this story began to mean a lot more to me than I could put into words. George's grief over the lost of his soul mate, the struggle to find himself, and Blaise's love, passion, kindness, and confidence in himself resonated to me in such a way that I knew I needed to hold it in my greedy little hands.

I started to think about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to bind this story. I struggle a lot from picking the font for the body text to picking the chapter titles. I finally, after fucking around with canva for more time than I'm willing to admit , I was able to come up with these:

(If you would like the files for anything I used, please dm me, and I will send them to you! I will eventually set up a google drive)

In the story, there is this moment where Blaise casts a spell that creates a constellation, of which George got the inspiration to make a mood ring that created a little sky, and depending on your mood the sky changes to reflect how you feel. He gives it to Blaise, and they have a picnic under the sky, indoors, later at Blaise's party they have such a cute moment at night and so I wanted to implant the sky in some way.

I also wanted to use constellations in this bind. I didn't know how or where. I just knew I needed them in my life. So while i mop over my inability to impelent them, I took a break. So one day, I was reading a book with these very cute corners, and then it hit me. (No, I didn't finish the book i was reading. I was busy stalking the internet, trying to find the perfect image)

After that, picking the page breaks was easy. I wanted something simple since I didn't want the typeset to look so busy that it took away from the most important element of the bind, aka the story. I added a few little things for me in Draco and Harry's 2 chapters because I'm weak, and that's for soph to find all on her own 👀

I will put this here, tho.

Lastly, because Tumblr won't let me post more pictures, here are the endpapers I used for 2 of the 3 books.

As some of you may have notice, there are blues, pinks, and whites in this bind. It's a subtle yet very loud depiction of the Trans flag. It was very important to me to show that this story is of a Trans man that, as soph, puts it, saved himself.

I added all the chapter notes, trigger warnings, and more information about this bind on the typeset itself. Ultimately, to me, this is a form of archiving stories I think matter, and if for whatever reason, technology dies on us, this story will still live on.

The info that's only important to the binders 💀:

Materials list:

Bookcloth: Colibri in color Cornflower, this cloth has a silk like finish.

Htv: I used siser's htv easy weed vinyl with a bit of a pinkish undertone to it.

Endpapers: they are from paper tree nook in the uk

Endband: 2 mm 100% leather with blue viscous thread

Textblock: I used standard 20lbs cream color paper. I used toner to print. To sew the textblock, I use blue linen thread and remie bands gifted to me by my friend duranbinding. I painted the edges using golden acrylic paint, and the charm and ribbon are both from Michael's

Typeset:

(I will edit in this bit later since I made so many changes its hard to recall them all)

#hlayk #regulus black #jegulus #draco malfoy #harry potter #george weasley #blaise zabini #choices messermoon #fanbinding #fandom #bookbinding #my first post #blaise zabini x george weasley #draco x harry #colibri #ups sleep with an eye open

[tomyo]

A long examination of Amy and her character treatment.

This was initially a YouTube comment lol.

I truly loved the Sonic x dub cast but it really always came down to an issue of script and possibly the voice director. It always stung to me how much vitriol Amy used to get and while I like how she is better treated (being more recognized as one of the core 4), I do miss the sassiness she was given in the 00s. Sonic is meant to be kinda edgy and often in the anime he’s portrayed with immature traits because he’s a teenager, Amy often was the counterpart to that, a modern posh girl who was stubborn about what she wanted but not solely defined by that. I don’t think it was revolutionary but I do think compared to the Japanese ideal woman, Amy would be more akin with trickled down gyaru culture (Mat[ure] gal, something in line with the image of posh spice). It’s unfortunate that headstrong translated probably somewhat to boy crazy and desperate to an English audience and where Sonic’s immaturity was toned down removing that feeling they were on the same level. Often my biggest issue with her modern voice is she comes off as a knock off mini mouse (more so in the earlier games with her current English VA).

Maybe ironic is it sounds more alike to her Japanese portrayal which also ironically I’m very conflicted about since it somewhat aligns her more with cream age wise. But what I do like about it is the difference in character portrayal. If I were to guess Sega’s stance on Sonic and Amy it would be two people loosely dating, similar in the way Mickey and Minnie are a couple but that validity fluidly changes depending on the situational need. Keep in mind that Amy’s first portrayal is as a version of Sonic’s girlfriend. Given that there was apparently a valentine’s plush bouquet of the two I think to some degree they’re meant to be as such. When it comes to the Adventure era to just before generations, the context of this relationship is greatly changed between languages. American Sonic often gave off the feeling of a laid back but heroic guy who puts up with a girl because he is too kind and she’s too pushy. And I think even just the voice direction plays into that perception because of how they sound a different maturity than the Japanese portrayal. In Japanese, Sonic is often more playful and less uncomfortable than he sounds in English. A great example is adventure 1’s park segment when Amy gets excited for free couple entry, in English Sonic is clearly annoyed and calling her a pain while in Japanese he’s caught off guard but going along with it. I’ve only just been digging into the Sonic X sub but the comparisons I see give off more the feeling that Amy is casually dating Sonic and regularly fighting with him to take her on dates (gonna point to Goku and chichi in this case). He cares about her enough to go to her place first at the end of the first season but reflexively avoids responsibility, she’s the scary girlfriend always mad at him. Specifically pointing back to episode 52’s ending, they use a song associated with specially the relationship between Amy and Sonic that also is explicitly romantic (and in terms of the song presumably reciprocated) when she asks him to tell her He loves her and the lip flaps of his unheard response *could* match up to “Aishiteruze Amy” (my conjugation isn’t that good and google isn’t helpful but to me vague knowledge a more casual masculine way to say I love you) and a white rose which symbolizes “chaste love”.

Ultimately I read their relationship being Amy trying to find compromise with Sonic’s free spirit. They’re by no means official and probably never will be because it’s not in Sonic’s priority (in his game portrayal). The most I think that would ever become of him being with someone would be almost completely out of the picture and light hearted at best.( But that is also due to him eternally being 15/16 as for now. ) Amy trying to get him to spend time with her and show some reciprocation is I think all Sonic X Amy is looking for. But going back to my thoughts on why Amy got so much backlash for the longest time is I don’t not think the first wave of Sonic fans in America understood that. The image of who Sonic is was completely treated different and even before Amy (who you could technically call the second character created in game universe) could appear stateside, the U.S. already created the answer that “Yes, Sonic is interested in romance and here is the type of girl he likes.” My feelings toward Sally always lie in, I did not hate Sally but I hated the way fans pointed to Sally as the reason to hate Amy. It doesn’t help that when Amy was introduced, she was defined by being young, bratty and blind to Sonic not loving her back. She was the little sister trying to steal your boyfriend and the age gap they share was even more so focused on. Even with just the English dub of Sonic media, it was leaning into the concept that boys should feel disgusted at the ideas of romance that isn’t as prominent in Japanese media. It paints the picture to the average 90s Sonic fan that “Amy will never be his type because he’s more interested in a cool mature girl like Sally.” Of course the same comic that particularly created that shipping divide collapsed leaving Amy once again to be the sole main girl that now had a fandom known for hating her. Already doing a whole reset with Colors on scaling back the grand stories and cast, by the next time we really saw her in generations she was just…….dainty. I remember being very effected by her Disney princess hand posing in Lost World. To be honest she hasn’t been that deeply tied into any mainline stories too much, at least not in her modern styling but to also be fair, I’m trying to enjoy Forces despite being late to the game (There was a decade gap of buying a major console) and while I have seen pretty much the full extent of her rep in Frontiers, I’m holding off on dream team currently(also want to play the murder of Sonic on my own time). From the way I look at it, this has lead mainly western media to define her character and often working off said issues that previously arose with her portrayal. As much as I love Sonic Boom, I see Amy’s straight forward pursuit to awkward denial of even feeling that way as nothing less than an absolute failure of her character. That mixed with making her the “The girl annoyed with the boys because she’s just so much more smarter and sophisticated than them” just switching her to a different girly stereotype that ultimately pacified her, then further extending into prime emphasizing how nature loving she is in a way that again really just feels like a Disney princess cliche. Ultimately she’s become “The nurturing homebody who is a little annoyed at the brutish guys she’s around and doesn’t want to address having feelings for her guy friend because that would just bother him.” Maybe it's just aging to that point but its come to a girl minimizing herself is more frustrating that a girl obsessed with a guy. I get why they chose to pivot her in that way but it often also feels directionless.

Actually looking back at all the media that sparked this, even Sonic X doesn't feel that bad as she was made out to be. Granted I'm only a 7th of the way in but she's not often making a huge deal about sonic as much as sonic is the heavy hitter especially with knuckles gone and he's not taking his duties seriously. But it's also interesting to try and see what's going on in the Japanese dubs of the games now that I also have a decent hold on the Japanese language. Sonic adventure 2 gives the impression of her being a part of the crew just constantly not caught up in what's going on. Naturally she'd be invested getting her beloved out of prison but he is so tied up in what's going on that he (and tails) don't stop to fill her in before she's also a wanted criminal. Notably as well, when the island is set to explode, where sonic says "I got to warn the others!" Others is addressed as "Amy-tachi". The word the Japanese use for we is "Watashitachi" which is the word for I with Tachi denoting people with them (watashi can also be replaced with of pronouns if you don't use watashi). It took my by surprise that between tails and Amy, sonic refers to any instead. Something about Japanese sonic makes Amy feel more a part of the group and part of me cries the many ways English sonic fans did not get it.

Edit: I have now played The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and the writing team GETS Amy. I'm starting to wonder if Amy's Disney princessness is due to most of the media being kids shows right now and this was a steam game (mainly aimed at an older crowd). What's best is if plays well into the whole "Sonic is a bad boyfriend" concept I was talking about, he forgets her cake and is panicked. But Amy is also much more aligned with her old portrayal, she's excited and a little hot headed. Clearly she's had to organize a lot but also lavishes in it being her birthday. She doesn't over obsess on Sonic but she's definitely happy that he supposedly brought her cake and she gets to avenge his "murder". At the same time she's happy to be with all of her friends who clearly care enough to go along with this, even people you wouldn't expect like rouge and shadow. I know Blaze travelling dimensions is a joke but yeah it is crazy she did that for Amy who I think she only really knows though the Olympic games(I've only just started Rush). A murder mystery feels also such a good take for her, it's something extravagant but also a little occultish. Aligns really well with someone into tarot.

#tomyo says shit #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #sonamy #sonic x

[artistsfuneral]

The Road to Kaer Morhen - p.2 (there's an ao3 link now!)

Ultimately Jaskier decided on buying a long coil of rope and use the leftover coin to invest in a little Good Luck charm – not that he necessarily believed in the gods, but he liked the tradition. Given the fact that he had no idea what would await him on the path it really seemed like the best choice, but in the end only time could tell how much that was the case. Purchasing the rope went without any complications. The vendor clearly eyed the puffy sleeves of his favorite red and teal doublet, but decided not to comment on it further than a raised eyebrow.

The second stall though was tended to by a young woman, who had been staring at Jaskier for quite some time now. Like most sisters of the temple of Melitele, she wore a carmine dress and white shawl to resemble the goddess. Their eyes met and the bard immediately broke into the wide smile of a professional charmer. “A wonderful morning, isn't it, sweet lass?” She giggled, holding up her hand to hide how her cheeks reddened from Jaskier's gaze. “You're not from around here, are you?” she asked, busying her brown eyes by looking anywhere but Jaskier's face, who had yet to figure out if she was indeed as shy as she acted or simply a performer like himself. “Oh you are correct indeed, I am a humble traveler on my way south,” Jaskier lied with a flourish bow. “I certainly would have remembered the name of such a bewitching young lady as yourself, had we met before.” A delighted little sound escaped her mouth and she smiled down at her fidgeting hands. “My name is Josi. I was named after a cat.”

Each and every day Jaskier was reminded why he chose a life traveling the country over sitting in an estate all day and ruling over one. While he could very vividly picture Geralt's confused face in his mind, unexpected conversations like this brought him nothing but pure joy. Meeting new people, getting to know the most random facts through a conversation and being able to connect with them one way or another made the bard happy. “That is a wonderful name, Josi. I am Dandelion the Poet, I was named after a flower.” She giggled once more, “I like dandelions. They're yellow and puffy.”

“I like them too,” he agreed, imagining for a moment how he might look in a yellow doublet with puffed shoulders and a matching hat. It had been a while since he last tailored his own stage clothing but if he was spending an unforeseeable time in a fortress in the mountains it'd indubitably give him something to do during the awfully long summer days.

“Would you like to buy something?” Josi asked sweetly, pulling him away from his thoughts and back into the town, where he was standing at a market stall. “I'd love that,” Jaskier said, smiling when the young woman nodded her head in excitement. “Say, I've been eying that blue charm ever since I saw it, would you sell it to me?” Mimicking his smile she carefully held up a beautifully crafted sachet for the bard to inspect closer. Jaskier, who was drawn in by everything bright and colorful, gently took hold of the bag and openly marveled at it. It was a saturated, bright blue and had little golden flowers and a green vine stitched into it. The embroidery was of excellent quality and the little bag carried the soft smell of lavender and lemon grass. “You can pay less for it,” Josi offered, meeting Jaskier's eyes for a short moment as if to make sure he knew that she was being honest with him. Normally he'd accepted her goodwill in a heartbeat but Jaskier would have no use for coins if he was hiding away in the wilderness. “It is quite alright, dear, I can see that this was put together with a lot of care. It's only fair I pay you the full price.”

“You're very kind, Dandelion,” Josi spoke quietly, making Jaskier's stomach swoop.

“I try to be.”

After paying with the last of his coin, Jaskier bade Josi farewell with a gentle wave of his hand and the promise to think of her the next time he saw a colorful cat.

The way back to the inn wasn't extraordinarily long, but the streets had filled with the town's people and Jaskier had to carefully navigate his way through the crowd without bumping into anyone more than necessary. Meeting the eyes of the baker he winked at the man through his shop window, before opening the wide door to the inn and slipping inside. The air in the entrance was already warm and stuffy, promising an even warmer afternoon. Much like he did with everyone else, Jaskier greeted the innkeeper with a warm smile and a wave of his hand, before making his way up the stairs and to his room.

Upon entering the bard was met with a loud yawn and the view of his companion, sitting up in bed and arms stretched towards the ceiling. He chuckled, “Finally awake, sleepy head?”

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#the witcher #witcher #artistsfuneral about the witcher #road to kaer morhen fic #jaskier #jaskier the bard

[taneysha-pictures]

I adore bards...

Haarlep x named tiefling Tav (Lyra) SFW except for a couple of rude words. A few warnings: English is not my native language so be prepared. Haarlep is he/him here. (If you can accept that for a short time, then enjoy reading)

Here it is – another deal with Raphael. It's hard to call Lyra satisfied, but Zariel was a common enemy they would have to fight in the future. It was surprising Raphael wanted to deal with the young tiefling again. She was absolutely sure that during their joint adventure he had a few gray hairs on his head. Apparently his mood was greatly lifted from the moment he received the crown of Karsus. Long conversations with Raphael in his House of Hope didn't lead to anything, but only caused a headache. She hoped the discomfort would go away on its own. But now for the second hour the pain does not subside. The heat of Avernus takes her breath away, which doesn't help at all. Leaving Raphael, she went to the healing spring.

After washing her face, she felt pleasant relief. It would be great to always have access to this fountain.

A quiet giggle was heard from the direction of the bed.

“Here she is. A little nimble mouse who escaped the tenacious claws.” Lying on the silk sheets of the elaborate bed was a devil that looked incredibly similar to the one she had just left in the main hall. “I was so hoping to meet you in person.” The devil lay in an imposing pose, which with all his appearance showed who was in control of the situation here. The smile did not leave his lips, and his tail slowly waved in an inviting gesture. It took her a few seconds to organize her thoughts. “Oh yeah, you're that devil who can't keep track of his things.” The tiefling's emotions were as feigned as possible.

“The little thing robbed me.” Raphael's copy was no less pretentious. “How did this happen?”

"Potion of Invisibility." She concluded calmly. “Cheater.” The creature literally spat out these words. The tiefling had already turned to leave when the feignedly seductive voice was heard again. “The more contracts you sign, the more impossible to stop, right, little mouse?” "Wrong!" "Is this so? Remind me what are you doing right now?” He changed his position to a more comfortable one, leaning back on the pillow.

“This is a different case.” The young woman answered too quickly, which showed her anxiety. “Sure...” He drawled the sounds so that the word began to resemble the hiss of a snake that was about to bite. “Let me introduce myself: I am Haarlep, Raphael's personal incubus, glamoured and transfigured to look like him.” His speech became more animated. His monologue made no impression. However, many things have become clearer than before. Lyra didn't understand what this whole performance was for, and only raised one eyebrow. “So, all standards of decency have been met. Since you’re here, does that mean there’s a new doll for us to play with?” It was difficult to define from the incubus what he was thinking about now, but the guest themselves hoped that Haarlep was feeling irritated at this moment. “Deliver me from yourself. I'm untouchable" “It’s funny to hear that from a small creature who gives himself up to Raphael’s amusement over and over again.” The incubus smiled, showing off his sharp, snow-white fangs. “You are changing concepts, incubus. Don’t confuse business cooperation with carnal corruption.” To her surprise, she remained very calm, although the situation screamed that she needed to leave as soon as possible. She didn't hear this reasonable voice. Perhaps she liked to admire the picture presented, but didn’t admit it to herself. “Everything starts small, little one. Ultimately, you’ll give all of yourself to the Devil without a trace, it’s a matter of time.The only thing that depends on you is the amount of time. Cheap whore of Baldur’s Gate.”

It all seemed like a challenge that the tiefling couldn't let past her pointy ears. In anticipation of battle, she took out her lyre. The incubus looked surprised, but only for a second. Immediately after, he let out a booming laugh, which, it was assumed, was heard outside the boudoir. It seems he even cried. "Oh no! What are you going to do? Will you strum me to death?” He continues to chuckle. “Do not underestimate bards and the power of their musical instrument.” Her face remained serious despite the fact that she was openly mocked. “Mmm…” The incubus’s expression became even more pleased. “Bards are my favorite. They are so unconventional. Such inventors. So delicious.” Haarlep moved his groin just a little, which already seemed to Lyra to be an action that went beyond all boundaries of decency. She looked away, hoping the incubus wouldn't notice. But he did. “Let me see.” Haarlep took a deep breath, as if tasting the air, savoring every note of the smell. “Enchantment spells? Oh my dear little mouse, I am already enchanted.” With every word the incubus seemed to become even more seductive. How is this possible? The young woman gathered all her will into a fist. “I'm not interested in incubi. So you can stop trying.” It's time to leave before it's too late. “Hmmm...Then maybe a cambion would be more to your liking?” Too many emotions washed over the tiefling at once. Outrage, shame, anger, denial. She took a deep breath, keeping her emotions under control. It was clear the incubus was just having fun. So let's have fun together. She giggled quietly. “To my regret, the cambion’s slut position has already been taken, Haarlep.” Lyra deliberately emphasized his name. They looked into each other's eyes, giving the opponent killer smiles. The tiefling walked away under the gaze of a pair of eyes filled with hellfire. “I adore bards...”

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #oc #tav #haarlep #haarlep x tav #drabble

[aegor-bamfsteel]

It's almost funny how anti-feminist fire and Blood actually is. All the female characters either have cartoonish characterization (the evil stepmother, the tyrannical queen), or have no personality whatsoever. Rhaenys is the "Queen who never was" but actively supports the murder of her son and the daughter of her 'usurper' cousin? Laena is the rider of Vhaegar and... brave? Baela and Rhaena love their stepmom and stepsiblings, have no ambitions, character defining traits or resentments.

GRRM actually goes out of his way to mock American feminism in Fire and Blood. He has Mushroom, a crime and sex addicted (male) jester, refer to the Maiden’s Day Ball of 133–in which Aegon III was to choose a bride amongst the maidens of the Kingdoms—as “the Maiden’s Day Cattle show”. This is a reference to the radical feminist protest of the 1968 Miss America contest at Atlantic City, which included signs such as these:

Although maybe not as well known today especially outside the USA, the protest had a profound effect on the image of second wave feminism. The protesters claimed in a 10 point manifesto that the pageant judged women like animals at a county fair (to the point they mockingly crowned a sheep Miss America), was racist (having only crowned white women so far), supported the military-industrial complex, was consumerist, led to double standard stereotypes (“both sexy and wholesome, delicate but able to cope, demure yet titillatingly bitchy”), celebrated mediocrity by elevating beauty rather than intelligence/ambition as the goal for girls to aspire. They also set up Freedom Trash Cans in which to throw away makeup and bras (the inaccurate report that they’d burned these items gave rise to the stereotype of feminists as bra burners), among other tactics.

All right, so I think it’s obvious that GRRM intended the “Maiden’s Day Cattle Show” to be a reference to the 1968 “Miss America Cattle Auction”, since women were judged based on their appearance and perhaps a brief interview for the ultimate benefit of a young man, Aegon III. There are a few things I found annoying about the reference. One, is that the narrative does not criticize the pageant, quite the opposite; the great lords forced the cruel Lord Peake’s hand in letting Aegon get a chance to choose his new bride, rather than be betrothed to Myrielle and thus give the Peakes long-lasting power. Two, is that it’s Mushroom—who, as mentioned, delights in telling us about the sexual exploits of especially noblewomen—who mocks the ball as a Cattle Show, rather than a woman of any social class; this takes the criticism of beauty standards and women reduced to objects for the pleasure of a male audience (as it was in the original protest)….and turns it into a sassy remark by a man who loves to talk about women as sexual objects. It’s not the families or House Targaryen being criticized for having the ball take place (in fact, Rhaena and Baela presenting Daenaera with a “found your queen” is presented as a dramatic, triumphant moment over the grasping Lord Peake) and parading their daughters around, it’s Mushroom mocking the women as objects only worth their carnal beauty and riches (“Each maid seemed lovelier than the last…. It would be hard to picture anything more beautiful, unless perhaps all of them had arrived naked”. Btw yes, he does wax lyrical on Daenaera’s beauty even though she’s 6). GRRM was so proud of this reference that he partly named the chapter after it: War and Peace and Cattle Shows. Knowing that it comes from an iconic USA feminist protest against beauty standards for women, and how he used it as a joke for his favorite character Mushroom to mock women, I can’t find it funny. Just annoying, and maybe a little insulting.

tl;dr yes I agree, F&B wrote many female characters lacking in nuance (either evil stepmothers, Mary Sues, or tragic victims. Not to put the blame on victims, but that GRRM uses these types of characters to just suffer and then die horribly, with little attempt to treat the issues they face from their POV). The author mocked feminist iconography in a few instances in this book. Not just with the “Maiden’s Day Cattle Show” (though that just seemed the most obvious) but with his one-note stand-in (whose role in the story is to get hundreds of Faith Militant killed in an unsuccessful rescue from a public execution) for Joan of Arc “the Maid of Orleans”, who has been an icon of Western feminism since the contemporary writings of Christine of Pisa.

#anti fire and blood #anti grrm #ask #rants #anti asoiaf #history #parallels #united states #second wave feminism

[kevinskorner]

Blonde Movie Review: Marilyn Deserves More

In the 2022 film Blonde, Ana de Armas plays a fictionalized telling of Marilyn Monroe's life from birth to deathbed.

It is pretty obvious to many why a Marilyn Monroe biopic would be interesting. She’s arguably the most famous woman of all time, who was adored by many and critiqued by more, she had a whole different name before being famous, and she sadly died young which led many to speculate and ultimately left a lasting impact on the world. So there is many reasons why going into this film, one would be excited and have high hopes but it ends up making you feel indifferent in the end. 

Within the first hour, you see a rape, an abortion, multiple suicide attempts and more relentless trauma unfold in Marilyn’s life. Due to all this trauma being unfolded, you cannot help but feel like it is an exploration of her and it doesn’t attempt to try to show her any respect. However, I cannot help but try to figure out why a biopic based on arguably the most famous woman of all time would be made this way? All of this to say this movie is based on the factionalized novel of the same name but still you would think that when someone wants to make a movie on a true icon in every sense of the word, they would do it out of admiration and maybe even love. The film did do a good job of making me consider why someone who do a film like this on a real person in the spotlight. Is it to show how horrible our media was to her and all the trauma we have to witness is to remind us all what we, the public, did to her? Or is it just an inconsiderate director who wanted to make a film but did not show any care to its subject? No one would ever doubt the amount of trauma Marilyn had to go through as Norma Jean and again as Marilyn but when it is made into a film, the audience can easily get drained and it is not enjoyable. I do believe that Ana de Armas came to this project with a lot of admiration for Marilyn and tried to give her a genuine dedication. Nonetheless, her performance comes up short because it does not feel very connected to Marilyn in my opinion and she did have some trouble with the accent. Since the film is using a fictionalized novel about a public real person as its back bone, it struggles harshly with accuracy and telling a true story. If you want to watch this movie to learn something about Marilyn, you most likely will not, even though it is a two hour and forty seven minute long film. Coming in at close to three hours, the only way I can see this film be appreciated is as an art piece. This film could have been a true success if it was about a real person. I would have honestly enjoyed this film much more if it wasn’t trying to depict a real persons life because it would just be another well made dramatic film. My favorite part of the movie and the only reason why I would recommend anyone to watch it is for the cinematography. The cinematography is done very artfully and unique which is great to see since many biopic films are usually one note. In Blonde, its cinematography is chameleon like because it changes aspect ratios often and goes from black white to color often. It’s pretty to look at definitely and some of the scenes of Ana as Marilyn do look beautiful.  I admire the artistry of the creation of the film but it fails at what the big picture should be. It seems that we probably never will know the truth when it comes to the most known woman of all time, and maybe it should stay like that. 

The film seems desperate in its attempt of her longing for a father figure and making men be the heroes of her story. Even though her life ended shortly, she got to the success she attained alone. The film makes me question a lot when it comes to how the story was told. I can’t help but think maybe if the film was directed by a woman instead of a man would it be better or different? Since this storytelling of Marilyn is done where she is exceptionally vulnerable, I can’t help to think a female director might be able to show the vulnerability in a more accurate way. It contradicts itself constantly and that’s my biggest problem with it.

#blonde #movie review #2022 #2022 movie #2022 film #2022 film review #biopic #netflix #Netflix movie #marilyn #marilyn monroe #ana de armas #blonde movie #blonde movie review

[ahalal-uralma]

Joyofsatan.org (JoS) is ran by people of color, they aren’t white supremacists. JoS follows non-white Pagan Gods. JoS has a black high priestess, Asian high priest, Hispanic High Priestess, etc. Josafrica.com was created by Shannon Outlaw whom is a black woman and the high priestess of JoS.

The JoS websites have repeatedly stated that people of any race can join them. According to ancient-forums.com which is the official JoS forums, there’s thousands upon thousands of non-white and mixed race JoS members that have their own spaces on the forum.

The Abrahamic religions are anti-Satanic, anti-Pagan, anti-women and anti-gay so why can’t JoS be anti-Abrahamic? JoS supports women’s rights and gay rights. JoS was founded by a woman and worships Pagan Goddesses.

Disclaimer to anyone reading: I am going to attempt to address this response with all of the patience and researched nuance I can. This response has been sitting in my drafts for a month or so, because I did not have enough energy to fully tackle this subject up until this moment in time.

If I do have any information mistaken regarding any mentioned cultures, feel free to correct me with credible sources and links. But, not YOU Nazi. You can kick rocks. I don't take criticism from bigots and manipulators.

First of all, the person who originally founded Joy Of Satan is a white, European man by the name of Clifford Herrington.

He was part of the NVM (National Socialist Movement) and his wife is Andrea Herrington aka Andrea Maxine Dietrich.

She has since his passing used different online aliases in addition to altering info on who the original founder of JOS is; but, it was him.

This is a picture that was discovered online of your cult’s founders. You can see clear as day they’re white. JOS is not and has never been founded/owned by a priest or priestess. They do not have that level of authority. They are only tasked with teaching sermons.

Going forward this is straight from the JOS site:

Anyone coming into this practice from a negative background may look at this kind of sentimentality and think, "wow, they're so open-minded and enlightened!"

But they’re not.

Of course, if you're coming from a religion of strict tenets, you'll think of this as a breath of fresh air. They're promising you everything the old religion didn’t offer you, "self expression," "freedom of thought," "self-betterment" it is all buzzwords to draw your attention. You must look at it from this perspective: if it's offered along with "we believe in the self expression of everyone EXCEPT a specific demographic of people" it's not factually based or empathetic to what is needed. This isn’t liberty. It’s just more oppression with an aesthetic label.

"For a hoax to succeed there has to be a lack of knowledge on the part of the victim" is a red flag when it is accompanying disparaging racial-fueled rhetoric and isn't backed by facts/credible sources. Yes, it is racial fueled. It's not progressive or inclusive behavior.

These groups don't want you to see Jewish people as a race of people. They hide by the generalized sentiment that it is only about the animosity for the Abrahamic practice that they potentially follow, but not every Jewish person adheres to Judeo/Christian faith.

You might think, well "I'm not Jewish, so this doesn't concern or bother me," but, you need to realize this type of racism goes beyond just hating Jewish people. It's just the starting point and back-bone of the problem. These oppressive groups never stay satisfied with hating and controlling just one group of people--it transfers to other people over time, because it's ultimately about power for the race they believe to be ideological.

Jewish people were not the only victims of the Holocaust--that the Nazi's were massively responsible for--it became other marginalized people and their cultures, the LGBTQ+ community, women, children, the disabled, etc. // These people are part of the same ideology that once saw new born babies killed in concentration camps.

And where the HELL do you see mention of a Pagan Goddess being worshipped? It wasn’t bad enough y’all are trying to make Satanism into Scientology 2.0 mixed with Nazism, but you are trying to imply that it is something akin to the appropriating practices and white-lighting energy of Wicca? How hysterical. You are accepting and non-judgmental of everyone EXCEPT Jewish people and anyone else you desire the mass genocide of. Admit it. You are not better than any type of Abrahamic religion. You're not just more of the same negativity that tarnishes these faiths, but you're worse.

JOS have mentioned it plenty: they worship Satan. It’s all over their site and forums. Maxine herself preaches about Satan being blonde-haired, blue eyed with Nordic features (not biased 🙄).

She alleges that he is referred to as being one of the Greys (omfg); for anyone else reading and wondering what she means by the Greys—aliens. Most of what she writes about sounds like the excerpts of a disturbed teenager’s dream diary. She's treating an entire branch of religion with the same sympathy as fanfiction.

I’m rolling my eyes into the void at the very superificial tale about deceased souls, too. Good news everybody! We get to go to the bar and destroy our lungs in the afterlife. Why would be need to smoke in Hell? Aren't we supposed to be breathing in the flames of damnation? She needs to admit she is a chain smoker who needs reassurance about her addiction along with her repressed sexuality. That's her damage right there. She needs professional, medical attention.

I don’t even think she knows what plane or dimension she is talking about being in, to be frank. She is that non-committed to her own insanity. She’s afraid of her own shadow talking back.

And yes, I’m mentioning Wicca because they’re the Neo-Pagan religion that likes to appropriate the worship of Gods belonging to many closed off religions. I’ve done some dumpster diving and see that y’all like to include appropriation of other God’s, but not in the context that you are trying to imply in this ask.

Don’t think I don’t know about your groups appropriation of the Yezidi and their practices. They’re a closed community and do not want people touching their beliefs! You are appropriating Melek Taûs who is a Yezidi God. He is not Satanic!! He is not Satan. He is a semite God and angel associated with peacocks.

As for Enki, that’s an ancient Sumerian God associated with water and fertility. He has nothing to do with Satan or Satanism.

Lucifer is not Satan, either. He is Roman/Greek predominantly and associated with enlightenment and marriage. He is known by other titles like Phosphorus and Vesperus. If we want to get technical there is also some separate mythologies that point him to being the Pagan God of the Fair Ones (aka Fairies). He is the dawn bringer or evening star depending on who you ask. All of these Gods are separate forces with differing origins.

I am not surprised by Maxine and her follower’s ignorance since the very usage of the swastika is appropriated from other cultures. It’s origins are tied to Indian, Chinese and Egyptian cultures. I don’t really expect Nazi’s to have education or respect for that.

Some of the JOS links to pages like this btw:

Also, thank you for bringing up your bullshit forums, because let’s talk about the stuff people are saying on there:

“The actual Nazis are on the March.” 💀 Egos.

Going back to a part of your ask: "there’s thousands upon thousands of non-white and mixed race JoS members." Nice mention of using other races and cultures as tokenism to seem less bigoted than you are; even though, we have historical evidence of the Japanese being manipulated by Nazis for which there is even photo documentation:

And please, if you're reading this, do not assume all Japanese people think or behave like this, because they DON'T. There is accounts of Latinos and other groups being involved as well. Most of them did not do it to be evil. They didn't get involved necessarily with the logic that many White people did--they were under illusions of military ideologies and amenities until they realized they weren't genuine, or that's how I'm observing it.

And coming back to the features of the JOS main site we have this:

aka “Please help us scam you.” Like...for real...you guys are trying to dodge properly filing taxes with Bitcoin, huh? It's too bad the IRS is starting to track that, now. It's probably not even a reputable Bitcoin company or safe link, though. It could be a p*** or phishing site. A lot of them are staged to appear as real businesses when they're really stealing people's money and identities. I just think it's peculiar there are no links to charity or any type of alternative payments being offered. Sounds very on brand to the rest of your unethical mentality.

Satanism doesn’t need money to advance; because that is not how religion works, and insinuating so suggests it exists purely for the benefit of extortion, which you may as well be saying it's a fake belief system that thousands before you didn't really die believing in. Not saying extortion doesn't often happen within dogmatic systems, because that is too often the case and it is a real problem--but, the practice itself doesn't dictate the faith.

Satanism and Luciferianism in their own ways date no later than the 1800's, but really go back to the middle ages. Mind you, you'll have to do extended research on this topic.

Devil Worship, outside of any religions, dates itself back to the Late Paleolithic era in addition. It's taken me 22 years and counting of fact-checking and I'm still learning--so if it's not easy for me, don't expect the knowledge to arrive to you on a silver platter.

I'm already self-conscious I could be leaving out data or spreading my own misinformation and that's not my intention. I always tell people they need to read everything with a grain of salt and to use their own discernment on everything they study. Information does not need to be absorbed indiscriminately like a sponge. Don't believe me that I'm some authority of power or knowledge, and least of all, they shouldn't believe that the JOS are ideal and honorable and should be given it.

Just admit y'all don't really respect Satanism and and only use it as a distraction to hate on an entire culture like the edge lords you are.

You know Satanism already gets a bad rep and exploit it to your convenience--because, I've seen it too many times when one of you gets legally apprehended by the authorities for crimes like murder, it's always with the reasoning that it's your religious right or some other variant of argument. No...it isn't.

Before you guide others about self-improvement, put your bitcoin where your mouth is or fall into a pit of fire.

#ask #asks #answered #tw genocide #tw nazis #joy of satan #beware of this group y'all #stay safe

[cruelsister-moved2]

if it's not much trouble and I only trust whatever you have to rec since your posts are great! but essays/books would you rec if i want to know more about top bottom history regarding lesbians?

tbh, no... like if this is about arguing if lesbians "can" say top/bottom or whatever then i dont think u need to read historical essays or something bc the insistence lesbians 'can't' use those words doesn't come frm history, it comes from the homophobic and misogynistic notion that lesbians don't penetrate eachother, and the erasure and desexualisation of lesbian sex (I know!) by men, very much including gay men. the men who are arguing this, it isn't ABOUT history, it's about indignance to the idea of women as sexual beings, women as "real gays", women as party to an exclusive boys club. the dynamic between us and gay men ISNT symmetrical, bc they hold power over us (misogyny) but we hold nothing in return, you get the picture.

the words top and bottom arent sacred history, they aren't a community or an art form that one group worked tirelessly to establish and another group with power over them came and took out of their hands. so I think lesbians "can" say top and bottom because well. we can BE tops and bottoms, and there's no reason not to use the language that exists for describing that. i can give you books where lesbians penetrate eachother and essays where lesbians communicate their desire to either penetrate or be penetrated to other lesbians, but ultimately i would just ask why you need to see that.. what IS ‘top/bottom history’ ?? you mean you want to know more about the history of women fucking? you need historical proof that women fucked eachother? or you need to see specific usage of the terms top and bottom?? 

I would really encourage young lgbt people to question this notion you have been given that historical justification is necessary for anything to exist. we aren't christians and stone butch blues isn't the bible. if you think about it for a second this both creates a paradox where nothing is allowed to happen for the first time, and also means that ig bigotry and nonsense is fine as long as you can find historical justification?? plus what even happens if you find contradicting historical accounts which you know, you will constantly..... history matters inasmuch as it affects the present, when it comes to honouring the labour of marginalised people - for example, its significant that poor black gay people were instrumental in the development of vogueing and it was subsequently ripped off by rich white straight people; its important to honour the black trans women who were instrumental in the modern gay rights movement that we all benefit from, etc. HOWEVER, if there hadn’t been a single black trans woman at stonewall it WOULDNT mean black trans women in the modern day arent an incredibly vulnerable group that the lgbt community needs to support.  whats the difference if the first lesbian to call herself a top was in 2010, or 2000, or 1990, or 1960??? at what point in time do gay people’s lives stop being scripture and start being fraud? i dont believe in the segregation of useful language over some kind of weird intellectual property thing....the issue is terms being misused & the only cases where a term can only be used by a certain group is when it describes an experience exclusive to that group, like white lesbians cant be studs bc it describes a relationship to black masculinity that nb people simply dont have any experience of. lesbians calling ourselves tops/bottoms correctly is not the same thing bc like we do have access to the experience of penetratively fucking eachother in a non-normative way, the dynamic of which cant just be assumed by default, and that being important to communicate... the direction of privilege is also important bc when a privileged group appropriates terminology from a more marginalised group, they often become the new authorities over a term they did not create because their voices are more prominent than those they took the term from - and it often results in the warping of its meaning especially in cases where it was coined to describe a specific experience of that group, leaving them without a term to describe that experience effectively. lesbians using a term coined by gay men is NOT that because .... men are not a marginalised group. lesbians calling ourselves tops and bottoms is in literally no way hindering gay men communicating their sexual preferences to other gay men. i feel like im starting to repeat myself here but omg this weird dogmatic insistence on historical evidence for everything feels straight up reactionary at this point & feels no different than american conservatives needing to find a clause of the constitution or christians needing a bible verse for everything. like none of this is definitive its just gay people who existed in the past just like i am a gay person who exists today.... some gay people in the past were wrong, or bigots, or stupid, and so are some today. theres no magical historical document u can find to prove ur point, ur just going to have to argue for it on its own merits. like in 10 years this post will be history so ill be right then?

#ask #anon #sorry if this is mean i dont mean to be mean #but i dont understand why ur asking me this question like what would i have to give you #like no i dont have a BOOK all about lesbians using the word top bc thats such a nothing subject to write a book on and no one would do that #faq

[skwonkk]

Her Second Autobiography

False memories tell the brain something else.

Maybe memories will come together or the person will remember and appreciate you.

I was there in 2007 and I remember 5 trees with cute but slightly fanciful names. The Grace Point Puppy Hearts observation deck is located behind the lush gardens. Or suppose there are lizards around the pizza, overheated by puppy hearts.

If I do nothing - 7 In the snow, a woman tries to find a black pigeon at the university. The squirrel's name is Oreo. The statue of a gray dove was so dark that he recognized Didus. I had to have her walking around campus like a bunch of lunatics, compared to the grayness of the road that gave the world more legitimacy.

Since the theme was the sea, the teacher sang a cappella about the sea, so there were lots of props.

Like maple leaf talcum powder, go for white Radcliffe and create a Halloween look. They remember the scary face that scared them because I had to look like a "cat" as a masked clown. It started with me and Alison, but there were also vampires. I've been living mostly adult music for years, but I can't get rid of it. Dad sometimes eats sweets and follows me. ○ Treatment.

I made friends in the summer and talked all day in our secluded cabin, reading naked when Maggie was little, the little ones fascinated me too, except. We talk about it on YouTube. Say "Bangs" on YouTube. In My Little Pony Adventure, she thinks she's getting old, but she's soon embarrassed. You may be the king of the net, but the soul of the net king probably sent beer to the user who posted that user's video.

Most of the 8 pictures I seriously draw sometimes aren't people, but one day I tried and drew an 8 in my head.

It's been a while since I've been there, but it's great.

Last holiday I decided to play Christmas music in class. Remember, we can have a house

I know my name is April Ellison. The old man rests there. Few people are happier than my father. His name is Cycle. Lots of memories on Tumblr.

I started my career when I wanted to make cartoons, even if they were fake.

If the food is not dirty, I try to be busy even if there are leftovers. Even if I didn't feed him, he would rest.

Vesna Mess finally got help, I wish I needed it, but I'm not that strong, I'm overweight, I thought I needed a thief, not a volunteer meeting, and I thought this was our story, and I was very curious and in what is happening in the room even though my parents were not there. Yes, as I said before getting into shape, I do a lot of physical work. Really or not, I will not take this woman with her mother. Universal rights to food support the ultimate ethical diet.

Some people call it a hallucinogen, but that name is crazy poison, and I guess it's back because it makes a poison that's supposed to be a tooth. She became a virgin at a young age. The house is beautiful and full of charm when you are not home.

[softlytowardthesun]

Fictional character ask: Louliyya, daughter of Morgan?

Favorite thing about them: The joke answer is "her name", but honestly, she's one of the few fairy tale heroines who goes through something resembling a character arc. She starts off timid and completely willing to let her father rule her life, and she ends the story as an active agent in her own destiny. She's a heroic part-ogre with magical abilities who fights tooth and nail for a happy ending that she ultimately secures through compassion and gentleness.

Least favorite thing about them: I wish we knew more about her relationships with the other characters aside from Yousif. Frankly she could support plenty of stories of her own aside from being Yousif's destined bride.

Three things i have in common with them:

I've had some bad luck with tambourines.

I like dogs.

Depending on the situation, I can be very thoughtful or extremely careless.

Three things i don’t have in common with them:

I have a much better relationship with my parents.

I have no magical abilities.

I've never run off with any romantic partner.

Favorite line: "Get me some sugar, and I will get Yousif back." Her confidence at the end of the tale is really satisfying, especially since she was so doubtful of their chance at a happy ending when they first met: "The distance we could cover in a day my father the ogre would cover in one step."

brOTP: She'd probably get along with other maidens in towers like Rapunzel, Maid Maleen, Persinette, and so on. Then there are others in the "transformation chase" cycle, like the couples from "Sweetheart Roland" or "The White Dove" or the hero of "The Fox Sister".

OTP: Because the plot demands it, Yousif. (see "unpopular opinion")

nOTP: her father, I guess?

Random Headcanon: I imagine that the other ogres Yousif met on his journey know about Morgan and Louliyya, and the ogress especially cares about her and wants to see her get a better life outside of her prison in the desert. I wouldn't be surprised if the old woman who "cursed" Yousif to learn of Louliyya was the ogress in disguise, setting in motion her plan to get her out.

Unpopular Opinion: Louliyya and all the characters in this story have so much potential, but even by everyman hero standards, Yousif is a total blank slate. All he really provided was the confidence boost she needed to leave her prison. I can admire his devotion to her when they're turned into animals, but it's clear she's carried the relationship this far. There are probably much more interesting stories to be told about her and the ogres.

Song i associate with them: ?

Favorite picture of them: I don't think any exist.

#ask response #fairy tales #louliyya daughter of morgan #ariel seagull wings

[brewedblooms]

a eulogy that no one asked for.

How do you think a twelve year old would define a crush?

The word "love" for a twelve year old, whose socks are mostly mismatched, is a word to describe a familial affection or a kiss Snow White received to wake her up from food poisoning. While a "crush" is not too much, no exaggeration. A twelve year old me would define a crush as thinking your chest is way too small for your jumping heart every time the tip of his hair is visible among the crowd. Filling any empty space on your notebooks with hearts, and his initials, paired with your initials. Screaming at your parents to buy the green t-shirt from man section at the department store because you swore you saw him with the same exact one the other day. Paddling out your bike one afternoon 20 minutes away from your neighborhood only to see how his house looks like. Everything is your first time, everything makes you nauseous.

I had my first silly, twelve year old non-sense crush with the nicest kid at school. Man, I was lucky. He never been a jerk about it, though everybody would make fun of me. He texted back, he waved from across the soccer field, he said hi. It was pretty delicate, one single blow would probably traumatize me for as long I could remember because the whole process was there for me to learn. I began to "see" my reflection on the mirror, and Nikka Costa's First Love was my ultimate anthem. Everybody remembers their first crushes, and I definitely kept mine like it's an aged collectible—so precious, but since it's for a safekeeping I don't go back to it ever again. For years, and years, I never thought of that nice little boy in 6th grade who once gave me his water when I forgot to bring mine.

Until his obituary appears.

At this age, it is both an extreme optimism and being realistic to think it's still early to ponder about death. It could also be a false assumption, of course, because death occurs all the time in no chronological order. There are days where I could find myself thinking about deaths and its instruments—the afterlife, or the ones who get left behind—more than usual. The funny yet vicious thing is no matter how often you ponder about death or you definitely have the knowledge that every single living thing will eventually be buried underneath the earth, when it happens it's always caught you off guard. Too sudden, too soon. A sickly dark surprise no one seems aware of. Then, sometimes, the death of those people whose presence somehow leaves a mark in the timeline of your life, be it big or just a little dot, puts you in such confusion—Do I have the right to grieve? Do I have to mourn? Should I go to the funeral? I do feel something but I can't quite describe it. I was stunned. And of course I'm in no place to write a eulogy because we were practically strangers despite the fact that I have two diaries from when I was younger filled with scribbles about him. After all, I made up my mind, and I think I'm allowed to eulogize his twelve year old self version—the one that I used to know by heart.

I woke up this morning seeing they began to put your picture everywhere on social media—they mourned, though it was obvious most of them hadn't heard from you for quite awhile. I sent a prayer on your way last night, though it took me some time to process the news. I secretly hoped that you had grown into a decent human being, was an amazing father to your child, and your wife used to be the luckiest woman in the world. I prayed that your shadow would encourage them to get on their lives on ease, because the life you used to lead was glimmering with faith and love.

When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun. — William Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet

#mine

[casterlygldcs]

when: continuation of this thread between tyland lannister and his hand, lord eren marbrand of ashemark why: because tumblr can suck it's nan and i couldn't trim the other thread anymore sigh

there were only certain elements of a reformation that were entirely centralised: it would be too black and white to argue that the lion king had not consulted a variety of septons and scholars on the great matter which had plagued him since the ending of his marriage to the late tyrell princess. a wilted rose that had turned out more rotten than anything else, nothing but a burden: the picture of being lavish without having a valid essence of duty. though, there were parts of the process where consultation was not had with the council or with the hand. the aftermath of the union with the hightowers had brought a pressing matter to the lands of the west, and it was the fact that marital unions were seemingly shakeable - when they should not be.

there is no use in putting money into dowries to forge alliances that could be broken down upon going through enough legal loop holes and bureaucracy - ultimately being burdensome, but obtainable.

it should not be so easily obtainable. otherwise, what was the incentive for such a match, rather than it being merely for providing heirs? making alliances and strategic partners was not the issue, but maintaining them was - or at least, so it appeared. the hours he had spent thinking regarding his own great matter, which had circulated in whispers around the hallways of the mighty rock when trial after trial, hearing after hearing, had taken place. then, it was the glass crown that determined whether a king could put a legal and religious end to a marriage - now, there was no such obligation. that did not mean matters needed to be frivolous.

"there are matters that need be implemented in writing to be presented at the next meeting of the privy council." tyland instructed, remaining seated in the chair; there was a time the lion would walk, back and forth, his ring scraping against the wood of the long desk which was always kept clean. entirely spotless. presented, not discussed; new legislation and acts to be drawn up preserving the sanctity of marriage. all in the room would understand the merit to such action - his hand rested upon the rest, a regular knocking of his ring against the wood.

"divorce remains abominable in the eyes of the gods." he spoke, in the language that was the one of their ancestors: the ancient language of the west, in which their prayers were now being conducted in all public acts of mass. there was no using the common tongue for prayer, or any other prayers, in a public setting; all private worship was to be done behind closed doors in languages that were not of the west, including even the common. "one only need see the fracture and tension that stems from it. there is little use in forging strong partners for matters to end with the stroke of a quill." his hand came down, slightly more forcefully now.

"and it too is abominable according to my judgement." he would not speak on his own personal experience in undergoing the divorce from the tyrell princess, but with all it's credit, tyland did believe it were done out of necessity. she were incapable of providing him with a living, male heir, and her demeanour had cast enough of a shadow over her. her reputation, rumoured to have been tainted, was something he had never bothered to even ask her. "all who live in the west need understand the sanctity of the union said. understand what it means not just for their soul, but for their lives."

he looked upon eren marbrand pointedly. all. he knew the old way were given the liberty to begin hearings of divorce, regardless if it were the man or a woman - and it quite frankly, was abhorrent. a clear overreach in what role a woman was supposed to not only conduct herself within, but excel in. it would not be considered within the lands of the west; something he knew could cause some backlash towards. which is why he knew the opportunity could not be scrapped entirely - no. "that is not to mean annulments are unobtainable. legitimate. valid."

#c: eren #eren 003 #my fave lil repressed virgin i need more of him on the das #dash oops #mr ankles himself!!!!!

[nicetrynicetry]

85

Friday is a write-off, spent sleeping and waiting for the eurostar and then eventually waiting to get off the eurostar. I walk through King’s Cross at sundown smiling, even though someone on Twitter is saying I should be executed for signing an open letter asking for a ceasefire in the Middle East. I love my cluster of friends who suffer the wrath of the platform now known as X on my behalf and send me the headlines, but occasionally ignorance is bliss. I know this from systematically deleting every story I’m mentioned in that houses footage of me playing on stage. My weird body and pained singing face, though competent, have no place in my periphery. Picture a woman leading shabbos, which it happens to be as I walk home in the last sliver of sun, covering her eyes to sing the prayer: that’s me

I hear from N sporadically, who has travelled to LA to officiate a wedding. At busy times like these we write each other during bowel movements, from the safety of the stall. “If things are going so well”, we say, “why do I feel so shitty?” I round the corner to my house, the first time I have arrived to it from abroad, and am looking forward to having more time with N. I worry for her family in Israel and that the online hate and pressure got so grim that she deactivated Instagram. I find myself checking the app looking specifically for her newest photos and remember they are gone. E asks to call about our music video and after I’ve showered we talk. Halloween is coming up and I suggest that as a renowned makeup and prosthetics artist this is her time to shine. “That’s true, it is”, she says, and has tasked herself with doing the face paint for two kids who live in her building

The next couple of days are obligation-free, and I enjoy this for exactly 12 hours before crying out for structure. I dunk my body into cold water each morning and work as usual. I face some bureaucracy: home insurance, collecting royalties from my album, check that my taxes are up to date after last month’s terror. I update my laptop, my Google chrome, and finally walk to a local community centre to collect my free recycling bags. C comes over on Sunday and I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier to see him. He asks my thoughts on a Facebook mystery: a friend of his posted a framed black and white photo of her 4 year old daughter with candle next to it on the mantelpiece. “Forever in our hearts”, says the caption. 11 likes, 6 comments. Is this child dead or not? asks C, and says he sees none of the hallmark Facebook responses to grief on the photo (crying emojis, RIPs). The plot thickens when he shows me that the woman posted, 6 days later, a photo of a pub in Winchester with Halloween decorations littering its facade: a friendly inflatable ghost, two pumpkins. We debate whether there is a version of grief after the premature death of one’s child that includes the celebration of Halloween, whether the Facebook post was accidentally maudlin when it meant to be sincere. I tell him I still think the child is dead, but that ultimately I don’t know how death works on Facebook because I haven’t had an account since 2013

By Sunday evening, C has been on a first date with an art lecturer and thanks me for mentioning Phillip Guston when he came over because it made him sound cultured. V texts to say an art advisor who recently flipped my work died in her sleep. We agree that this is a nice way to go, and wonder whether drugs were to blame. The email announcement asks that the family be granted their privacy as though the advisor was famous enough to be hounded by reporters. It reminds me of when content creators issue apology videos to their small number of followers to make it seem like they are addressing a global audience

At night a squirrel who attempts to access my garden’s new bulbs 24/7 approaches my open palm and touches my finger before scurrying away. This is the second time this has happened, and both are magical. The nuns two door down from me have been feeding the squirrels peanuts in their shells for decades, making for a more brazen genre of critter. The foxes at my studio, too, are outgoing. Though this is more out of desperation than of greed. I wonder whether the universe is telling me to attempt pet ownership again, or whether it’s telling me that this is as close to animals as I should ever get. Life is nuts, and then you die in your sleep