#realizing that this war isnt worth fighting if they dont have each other

[shakespeareintellectualbadass]

What is your favorite shakespeare history play? 😊 im just starting on them and find all the Henry's a bit daunting!

Shakespeare anon my beloved, thank you for your patience. I got so excited about this ask I wrote you a whole essay. Bear with me, I know it's a lot of information, and we're mostly talking about the history Shakespeare is writing about rather than his plays themselves.

You have come to the right place! The history plays can be tricky. The language is often more difficult and not as well written as the comedies and tragedies, and the plots rely on the audience understanding political intrigue of the last 200 years or so. While Shakespeare's audiences were all familiar with these pieces of their history, we dont usually have the same level of understanding about it today, and that means we can miss important plot points without realizing we have. But don't worry! The history is super interesting (it's what Game of Thrones is based on!), and the plays are still well worth the read.

I'm partial to Richard III. The character of Richard is one of Shakespeare's most complex and compelling villains - he's charming and ruthless and brilliant. He deceives everybody, and in classic shakespeare protagonist fashion he speaks directly to the audience and tells us everything going on in his mind. I did my undergrad thesis on his monologue that opens the play ("Now is the winter of our discontent...") so if you're interested, I can do some text analysis of that.

But Richard III tells the very end of the War of the Roses. While it was one of the earlier history plays to be written, there are eight in total for which the War of the Roses is the overarching plot (King John and Henry VIII are the only history plays not included in this arc) - Richard II, Henry IV part 1 and part 2, Henry V, Henry VI parts 1 2 and 3, and Richard III. Understanding what's going on with this is key to making sense of the history plays.

A brief history of the War of the Roses:

The War of the Roses is basically one giant family all fighting each other. All of these contenders for the crown are descended from Edward III, who had five sons, and different branches of the family split off from different sons - in the family tree, found here, you can see the Lancasters in blue, the Beauforts in green, and the Yorks in red. The "houses of Lancaster and York" are the major players of the War of the Roses between Henry VI and Richard Duke of York (you can see them both in the middle of this family tree), but first, let's talk about how we got there, and I apologize in advance for them all having such similar names.

Edward III's oldest son is Edward the Black Prince. He's the heir to the throne, but he dies before his father, leaving his son Richard II. Richard II inherits the throne when Edward III dies because his father was the first son, rather than the crown going to one of Edward III's younger sons (as it would've if the Black Prince didnt have any children). The problem with this is that Richard II isnt a particularly good king, and he doesnt have any children. So the Lancaster branch of the family, headed by Henry Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt the Duke of Lancaster, leads an uprising against Richard and takes the throne, becoming Henry IV. This is the first move in setting up the War of the Roses, though nobody knows it yet.

Henry IV is a pretty good king, but his son Prince Hal spends most of his time drinking and goofing off with his friends when he should be learning how to inherit. I'll let you discover what happens there, as it's the plot of the Henry IV plays, but Hal does eventually inherit and become Henry V in a smooth succession. All seems well.

Meanwhile, England and France are at war - The Hundred Years' War, to be precise, which actually lasted from 1337 to 1453. This has been going on since the reign of Edward III - Edward III's mother Isabella was French, and the only remaining relative of the French king, so there was some dispute in France about whether Edward III should be allowed to claim the French throne through Isabella (the French nobility decided not, as there had been president that women had no claim to the throne, and also Edward III was still a child at this time and his mother and her lover were widely suspected of murdering his father Edward II - see Marlowe's Edward II). France was divided over inheritance rights, and fighting surged up and was repressed multiple times. Wiki details this all pretty well.

When Henry V inherits the English throne, England and France are at peace; Henry decides to hell with that and invades France in 1415 (the Battle of Agincourt), and they win! Henry takes a bunch of land for England, marries the French king Charles VI's daughter, and signs a treaty with him that names all his heirs also heirs to the French throne. The french Dauphin (Charles VII) is disinherited.

Henry V spends the rest of his life traveling around France conquering bits and pieces and visiting French court with his wife. In 1422, Henry V dies, leaving his infant son Henry VI to inherit the throne. Charles VI dies two months later. Now a baby is king of both England and France, and things start to fall apart.

The English start losing in France. In 1429, a girl named Joan of Arc makes her way to the exiled Dauphin, the disinherited Charles VII, and convinces him that she will win back France for him. And she does. With Joan leading the troops, the French take back Orleans and a series of other cities, and Joan personally crowns Charles VII king of France. Unfortunately Joan got too confident for the men surrounding her to be comfortable with, and when she was captured by the English in 1430, her French friends made no move to save her. After Joan's death, the English continue to lose dramatically to France. The financial cost is attributed as one of the causes of the War of the Roses, along with Henry VI's weakness as king. (Shakespeare fudges these dates a bit - he tends to smoosh events together so they can all happen in one play).

While Henry VI was a weak ruler, his wife Margaret of Anjou was not (shes the inspiration for Cersei Lannister). She and Henry's advisors handled most of the actual ruling of England. (If you'll remember our family tree, this is the Lancaster branch in blue). Richard, Duke of York and son of Edward III's fourth son (the red branch), sees Henry VI's weakness and decides he'd be a better king. He does technically have a claim (remember, they're all one big family of Plantagenets), but he's certainly not next in line, especially as Henry VI has a son. But Richard of York gathers his sons and his supporters, decides his emblem is the white rose (to contrast the Lancasters' red rose - this is where we get the roses in the name of the war), and leads an uprising. Richard of York dies in 1460 during battle (Margaret captures him) and his claim is carried on by his oldest son Edward IV. In fact, the crown gets stolen back and forth a few times, and things are shaken up by the Earl of Warwick (thee guy to have on your team, his nickname was The Kingmaker) changed his support from the Yorks to the Lancasters. Henry VI briefly held the throne again, but in 1470 Edward IV returned, presumably had Henry VI killed, and reigned peacefully until his sudden death in 1483.

Edward IV's younger brother is Richard III. When Edward dies, his son Edward V reigns for 78 days before being deposed by Richard III. This sparked a lot of controversy, and many York supporters deserted to the Lancastrian side. It wasnt a particularly organized rebellion, but in the chaos, Henry Tudor, son of Henry VI's half-brother Edmund Earl of Richmond and the leader of the Lancastrian cause, returned from exile and eventually defeated Richard III in battle, becoming Henry VII and starting the Tudor dynasty. Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two houses of Lancaster and York (the Tudor emblem is a red and white rose) and ending the War of the Roses.

Shakespeare takes a lot of artistic license with the history - we have no evidence that Joan of Arc was a witch nor that Richard III was an evil hunchback (historians actually think now that the appearance of a hump was due to a combination of scoliosis and using a battle axe as a preferred weapon). But we cant attribute all these changes to Shakespeare! As we're well aware of today, the media affects how we perceive history and current events, and back then was no different. During Henry VII's reign, there was a staggering amount of propaganda written to defame Richard III and cement Henry's right to the throne. This is where we get the evil hunchback image Shakespeare made so famous, as well as the suggestion that Richard had his nephews murdered in the Tower of London. Equally, all the talk of Joan of Arc being a witch was spread by her enemies to cause her fall from power (Joan is fascinating and one of the medieval figures we have the most documentation from the time for; I studied her at uni, pls feel free to ask more questions). Shakespeare's portrayal of her in Henry VI part 1 is fascinating because she starts out seeming as good and noble as she appears, and then three quarters of the way through the play shes suddenly summoning demons. This is weird because Shakespeare's characters dont lie to us the audience; they lie to each other, and usually tell us they're going to, but they dont deceive the audience. There's some debate about whether Shakespeare was co-writing the play, hence the sudden change in characterization, or if someone reading a draft said "Will mate you cant make Joan a hero, shes French! We hate the French!" but either way I find it fascinating. All this to say, Shakespeare takes artistic license with the historical facts, but as always the record keepers are also taking license with the facts.

That's a lot of information and names and dates to keep straight, I know. You may find it easier to watch the plays as you read them - I did! There are lots of good versions on film, though theyll all have cuts from the text. Here are some of my favs:

The Hollow Crown (covers the whole arc from RII - RIII and has a ton of british actors you'll recognize)

Kenneth Bragnagh's Henry V

Ian McKellen's Richard III

If you can find these stage productions online, Antony Sher as Falstaff in Henry IV at the RSC and David Tennant as Richard II are well worth the watch.

If you're interested in Richard III as a character and/or have interest in how actors bring characters to life, I highly recommend Antony Sher's Year of the King; it's his journal from when he was in rehearsal preparing to play Richard at the RSC in the 1980s, a production that skyrocketed him to fame in British theatre because he revolutionized a character that had been pigeonholed by Laurence Olivier's portrayal. Sher played him on crutches, researched with both doctors and physically disabled people about Richard's disability, and did extensive psychological work; he's brilliant, and his journal is a really interesting delve into Richard as a character and Shakespeare's depiction of him.

Anon I know I just threw so much information at you, but I hope this helps you feel like youve got more of a grasp on what to expect, and please come back if you have questions or want to chat!

#shakespeare anons my beloved #shakespeare #shakespeare history plays #the war of the roses #the hundred years war #the plantagenets #the yorks #the lancasters #richard iii #richard ii #henry iv #henry v #henry vi #joan of arc #this is an Essay #ellie speaks #asks #anon ask

[wickedpact]

I saw someone comment that if nicky and joe actually had a speed-run version of a romance it wouldn't be much better than rey/kylo (ie: nicky's redemption should be a *process* and not a single act; it'd take more than just "i'm switching sides and fighting with you" for joe to truly forgive him... which is ENTIRELY reasonable/understandable) - do you think the comparison is fair? (I mean, Nicky wasn't a space nazi but he WAS an indoctrinated religious radical)

well..... no, for a variety of reasons (allow me to say beforehand that i dont really... hate r*ylo or r*ylo in general but im.. hm, not a fan of the ship or the sequel trilogy)

edit: i am actually going to put this under a cut bc its longer than i thought it was when i wrote it

first of all i think theres something to be said abt the fact that ben (im just gonna call him ben so this post doesnt come up in search) is a space nazi. hes part of a fictional group of people who oppress a different fictional group of people, despite having some inspiration taken from rl. nicky was part of an invasion force that existed in real history, a part of a war that has had far-reaching effects in the real world to this day. as much as nicolo himself is fictional, neither the crusades nor the ideologies that had a part in fueling them are. so it feels a bit crass to compare the two.

(also like.. man, the sith blew up two (three?) planets. thats like several billion people each, how are you supposed to compare almost cartoonish villainy like that to real life?)

secondly ben had like... presumably more power over the situation than nicky did, idk what the situation is for ben’s backstory in canon terms rn, (its been more or less retconned a couple times i believe), but ben was the child of two powerful and privileged people and likely received all the education in the world on why Murder And Fascism Bad.

he was like? supposedly groomed by snoke, but what does that even mean? anakin went to the dark side bc he valued the life of his wife more than the lives of all the jedi. simple as that. he was manipulated but he still willingly assisted in a genocide to achieve his own personal goals, how can you just step back and say ‘ben was manipulated into it its not his fault’ when he no doubt knew better that Blowing Up Planets Bad. but then even on top of that.. .we dont really know nicky’s exact situation prior to the crusades which brings me to the next point,

what we know abt nicky’s mindset in the crusades era:

greg said once that ‘it was a time of religious hatred’ which is. vague.

one of the promo vids said nicky was ‘ a young knight who had left the priesthood behind to follow the crusade ‘ which is.. vague

nicky himself said ‘he was taught to hate’ joe’s ‘people’ which is... vague

the comics shows a dialogue-less couple of panels of joe and nicky killing each other which is..................... vague

we really dont know that much about nicky’s situation other than he was ‘taught to hate’, which is how all hatred works, hatred isnt a biologically ingrained behavior, its always taught. ‘taught to hate’ can mean everything from someone slapping him on the back one day and going ‘hey those muslims suck’ to full ass brainwashing, who tf knows. we can only guess based off historical information, and tog has proven itself to not be historically accurate several times over now. so you really cant compare nicky’s mindset to ben’s bc we dont know what nicky’s mindset was.

but even then theres a difference between ‘i was taught incorrect information and i formerly believed i was doing a good thing and i now am beginning to realize that i am not’ and ‘ive been knowingly evil (literally red lightsaber and all) for literal years but ive just decided to change my mind bc i had a vision of my father (whomst i murdered) asking me to be good again’

(i mean come on, ben was actively resisting his good impulses. ‘forgive me i feel the pull to the light again’. )

lastly i also dont think thats fair to tog bc i wouldnt count r*ylo as a ‘speedrun’. it was set up in tlj, the problem with r*ylo is that it was bounced between two directors who not only had different visions for the franchise, but conflicting visions for the franchise and? seemingly they didnt collaborate at all. so if it feels like ben and rey were ping pong-ing back and forth between being enemies and borderline-lovers, its bc they were created by two men with completely different ideas of what the relationship looked like + they were at the mercy of a company which has pretty singlemindedly dedicated itself to lowest-common-denominator media that offends Nobody and thus tried to pass them off as pseudo-canon so neither the shippers nor the antis would get Mad. tog doesnt have these problems.

i think the idea of joe and nicky blinking once at each other and just immediately falling in love is, while fun and hilarious, a bit silly realistically bc thats generally not how feelings Work (I Dont Believe In Love At First Sight). going on a 24hr murder-bender and immediately going ‘oh wait im actually in love with this person who just brutally murdered me’ isnt comparable to two people who have a couple hours’ worth of content focused around essentially being inside of eachother’s brains and learning why the other Is The Way They Are. r*ylo didnt come out of nowhere, it was lead up to (just really poorly)

realistically, i think joe and nicky would like. at least have to get to know each other a little before they could convincingly fall in love imo, but theres rlly nothing comparable there with ben and rey to me

#Anonymous #so dont get me STarted on the subject that when nicky goes thru his redemption arc or whatever you like to call it #the endgoal Should Not Be joe's forgiveness and as a matter of fact joe has no right *to* 'forgive' nicky for what hes done #forgiveness shouldnt be the endgoal at all its literally unachievable #something something the catholic ideas of atonement and penance are unhealthy and unrealistic af when it comes to most kinds of wrongdoing #but honestly either way i think joe would forgive nicky pretty quickly considering his reaction to booker

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

oohohoho you just opened the deepest can of worms on the planet

-mod dave, who wrote a fucking ten mile essay

first off, addressing the second anon, no theyre all humans. h., half humans at least. cause yall know me i fucking love my humanstuck aus off my ASS

(that would be funny as hell though. a troll from space walking into a camp on earth going “I AM THE SON OF ONE OF YOUR EARTH GODS. BITCH” like... holy shit)

so first things first their parents. im gonna lay this out, the beta kids and trolls are all greek (EXCEPT sollux hes roman cause his parent has no greek equivalent), and all the alpha kids and trolls are those gods roman equivalents (,,EXCEPT dirk cause he kinda balances sollux being roman out). i havent figured out how thatd happen like 16+ times yet cause in the percy jackson books theres only ever been one instance of two siblings of the same godly descent being greek and roman respectively in HISTORY so like.. i guess th. i guess thats just not a problem in this au

anyway this gets really long so im gonna talk about the beta kids and trolls cause i havent elaborated on the alphas at all ((peep the tags if you wanna see their parents though))

johns the son of zeus, rose is the daughter of athena, dave is the son of apollo, and jade is the daughter of demeter. they were all raised in their respective states, all had to come to new york for various reasons. jades been there the longest, shes been there 9 years and shes been on a couple quests. her biggest accomplishment so far is how she protected the camp from this big vicious angry hellhound that got past the barrier. naturally the girls fluent in Dog Training, so she steps up and instead of trying to kill this thing, she reaches out and tames it as fast as she can. it ends up actually working, and ever since that day she, her cabin, and the camp have a whole bodyguard sleeping right outside the demeter cabin! hes her steed in battle and hes a Very Good Boy. and his name is becquerel

johns the newest kid at camp, he has no idea who he is or why the fuck his school got attacked or why in the hell those anemoi thuellai were so fixated on him or HOW in the hell he absorbed the lightning one threw at him and ended up fine,,, hes just a big mess right now. a big enough mess that when he got claimed by literally zeus, no one else was around, he shrugged it off as some basic magical happening, and he stayed in the hermes cabin far longer than he should have cause no one! fucking knew he got claimed! by zeus of all people! dumbass. he ends up figuring it out though. like an off-hand mention about how this “weird lightning thing appeared above my head a couple weeks ago, haha weird right?” once he figures it out he realizes “hey i might be able to fly” so he sneaks off into the woods to try it. he succeeds fairly quickly but god almighty everyones face the one day the dude just yote himself off a small cliff without warning,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

dave and rose are really tight, theyve been there roughly the same time length, and since their cabins are across from each other they just bother each other all the time. daves the resident Doctor even though he really doesnt look it cause hes got the apollo powers. apollo is the medicine god. so if you wound your stupid ass in battle daves in the ER room patching you up with his glowy hands. rose on the other hand is a very good strategist. shes one of the only athena kids ever recorded to actually have a power - telekinesis. she has no idea how she developed it, she thinks its from birth, but it freaks her out. shes training it though.

so the beta trolls, are also all human(ish). aradias hades kid. but i pulled a pjo trope on her based on one of my favorite characters (im not saying for spoilers, but if you recognize the situation, You Probably Know Who Its Based Off) and aradia died. her mom, the handmaid, had been pulling some Shady Ass Shit and ended up getting herself killed, but aradia tried saving her and ended up going down with her.

so handmaid gets sentenced to the fields of punishment in the underworld, and aradia gets sentenced to elysium, heroes paradise. shes like “no i want my mom to be okay” so they take that away from aradia and they put them both in the fields of asphodel, the neverending grey space for Not So Good But Not So Bad people. her mom becomes a shade (shadow spirit, no human resemblance), as all people do, but aradia. doesnt? and she gets dunked in the fucking river lethe and if you dont know what that does it erases your memory. so she just. comes out of the river like “hello? wgat tae fukc goin on??” but she still remembers one thing. there was an “a” in her name.

tavros is the son of hermes, hes just kinda taken on the role of backup counselor for when the actual cabin counselor is out. hes in a wheelchair, but he also has prosthetic legs for when he needs to actually stand up and fight. hes really good at it too. also catch him in winged converse cause he Owns Those and Uses Them To His Advantage. hes trying his best to keep focused on the camp, cause aradia was his childhood friend, he misses her a whole lot, she never got to camp in the first place. and to his knowledge, shes still dead.

sollux is a janus kid. thats a problem cause janus is roman, and this is a greek camp. he grew up with dave, he showed up with dave, hes been at camp as long as dave. but hes been unclaimed since he showed up so he thinks hes unwanted by whatever parent he has. he knows hes a demigod, he got through the camp barriers, so what the fuck is wrong with him? he also feels shitty cause hes shit at the greek lessons, he cant read a lick of it which literally every demigod without exception should be able to do, he cant name any gods- well, he can, but.. he gets their names mixed up. why does he keep calling poseidon “neptune”? and he has a much, much different way of natural fighting than other kids. they slice, he jabs. he wasnt taught to jab. 

karkat is an aphrodite kid with vitiligo, and to make matters worse, hes ace and on the aro spectrum. to make matters WORSE, the aphrodite kids are kinda notorious for being really shallow, really materialistic, and really mean. karkats been dubbed the “runt” of the cabin, he gets made fun of for his spots to the point where he uses make up and magic to conceal them. worst of all? hes the kid of the goddess of love, for fucks sake. being reminded that “loveless people shouldnt be able to stay in this cabin, mom must have made a mistake claiming you” is kind of.. a blow to the self esteem. long story short he hates aphrodite for claiming him, and would have rather stayed in the hermes cabin. but he eventually goes on this big quest thats vague as fuck right now but Its The Main Plot, he ends up proving to himself that hes worth something and that his siblings are wrong, and my FAVORITE LINE IN THE WHOLE THING i came up with is HIS when he deals a final blow to some big monster: “REMEMBER MY FACE THE NEXT TIME YOU REINCARNATE. MY NAME IS KARKAT VANTAS, I’M THE SON OF APHRODITE, AND LOOKS CAN KILL.”

nepeta isnt anywhere near developed as others are unfortunately, shes a daughter of ares and shes really really good at hand to hand combat. shes small but she leads groups of people in things ranging from camp volleyball games to actual literal wars. shes a tough little shit

kanaya isnt really developed either, i have yet to figure out most of her powers too actually, shes a daughter of iris, the rainbow goddess though. (blatant reference to both kanayas vampirism and. h. her. sh. es ga. gay) ONE THING SHE CAN DO THOUGH is iris message at will without water or drachmas so really shes just everyones go to cell phone and its fucking hilarious cause people just come into the cabin like “KANAYA I NEED TO TALK TO [X]” and shes like “You Better Fucking Pay Me I Am Not Your Personal Cell Phone”

terezi is the daughter of nemesis and she has this really peculiar power she hasnt really gotten the hang of yet. she has synesthesia, so while she cant see she can smell and taste the colors of her surroundings and its really helpful. sometimes though she gets messages from her mom. they dont even come as dreams half the time, they come as almost a different plane altogether. tez has the power to literally tip the scales, pretty much. and when she gets like that, she can see. shes not on earth though, shit on earth stops when shes like that. shes just kinda In Her Own Head, i guess? and in her head she holds the two scales in her hands. she is the arms of the scale. and depending on which one she lifts up, she can literally alter the fate of the battle or happening thats going on By Herself. once she chooses she just whooshes back to real life though and nothing has changed. the only downside? it takes a LOT of energy and cant be exploited for little things. her one thing on her bucket list is to tap into said powers while getting something from a vending machine so like three things will fall out but it hasnt happened yet and shes upset

vriskas a daughter of tyche, the luck goddess, come the fuck on you knew i was gonna, i havent really elaborated on her either and im upset about that. but hey now you get a break from all those fucking paragraphs

equius is a hephaestus kid, and he kinda stays in the background. hes a range fighter, he spends a lot of time in the forge, and even though its been a project looooong since forgotten, hes been excavating the tunnels under cabin nine for years. by himself. he has no idea where they lead, but dammit hes gonna find out where. he has no idea about a certain bunker in the woods though...

gamzees just there for a fucking laugh tbh hes a son of dionysus and i love that cause hes the god of wine and parties and insanity. usually gamzees just zoning out somewhere hes Not supposed to be, and hes not affected by the maenads FUCKED UP BULLSHIT that goes down the forest sometimes. also hes so fucking scared of tavroses wing shoes he tried them on once while he was high and JESUS CHRIST

eridan is the son of kymopoleia, a SUPER obscure goddess. lets just say dont fuck with eridan cause his mom is the goddess of violent sea storms,

and naturally, feferi is the daughter of poseidon. cause who the FUCK else would she be the daughter of. WHO. NAME ONE GOD

OH AND JUST CAUSE I FORGOT CALLIE AND CALIBORN ARE SATYRS IN THIS AU. CALLIE HAS PAN PIPES. and caliborn still has a gun

#LONG #LONG LONG LONG LONG LOOOOOOOOONG #god DAMN this took a minute and a half to write #okay here are the alphas parents #jane - jupiter // roxy - bellona // dirk - hephaestus // jake - mars #yes that does mean dirk and the zahhaks are godly half brothers #damara - pluto // rufioh - mercury // mituna - janus // kankri - venus #meulin - mars // porrim - arcus // latula - invidia // aranea - fortuna #horuss - vulcan // kurloz - bacchus // cymopolea // meenah - neptune #not a quote #mod dave #homestuck #demigodstuck #john egbert #rose lalonde #dave strider #jade harley #aradia megido #tavros nitram #sollux captor #karkat vantas #nepeta leijon #terezi pyrope #vriska serket #equius zahhak #gamzee makara #eridan ampora #feferi peixes #calliope #caliborn

[uvjellyfish]

hi i wanna talk about bonana’s evolution throughout each expansion :3 (warning for story spoilers obviously)

ARR: (LNC / DRG) very new, very hopeful bo, definitely at his most "innocent" i guess. as a refresher he had literally just broken free of a rather strict household & doesnt have a very good grasp on like, anything really. his motivation is simply helping others in the best way he can: attacking things, and learning how to do it better. when he first learns about the echo and the scions of the seventh dawn, hes VERY relieved to finally have an answer for what had plauging him his whole life, but all the stuff about slaying primals and ascians and getting involved in politics just kinda went way over his head. i think the attack on waking sands was when he finally realized the gravity of what he'd been pulled into, and in all honestly he probably wouldnt have gotten through it at all if he didnt meet and befriend another echo-bearing scion (grammy smith). which leads us into...

HSW: (DRK, DRG) the rise of emo bonana...after the bloody banquet of ul’dah and the crystal braves betrayal, he took it upon himself to be the rock for the group during their stay in ishgard. but deep down he was just as, if not more desperate for SOME kind of guidance, which is what drew him to investigate hearings about a dark knight that had been slain in trial. all of a sudden he finally found an outlet for all that pent up turmoil within himself, a voice with which to speak his true mind....though maybe he leans a little too hard into it at first. after some deep soul searching & encouragement from friends and allies, he ultimately pushes through, and before he knows it he’s helped put an end to the dragonsong war :D! but a hero’s work is never done, and he never would have expected what would come next

STB: (DRG, DRK) generally he’s calmed down a lot at this point, and ever-eager for the next adventure. at least he was until the attack at rhalgr’s reach, and his crushing defeat against zenos. the true weight of the losses didnt even catch up with him until he found his dark knight’s crystal had torn asunder and he was left chasing the whims of a strange kid obsessed with doing good. um...i honestly dont have much more to say here i think ive mentioned the weird kind of detachment the wol ends up having in stormblood. he tracks a dragon to the far east and fights it, its really cool. the whole bus clapped. onto shadowbringers,

SHB: (DRK) i believe ive mentioned before bo actually gets pulled to the first shortly after thancred, along with oranje. though its worth mentioning since they WERE some of the exarch’s intended targets their bodies did get pulled. but only their bodies (and whatever they were wearing skjfkgl). and ive talked before about how he fucks up and accidentally becomes a menace bc of huge misunderstandings, and how the two of them end up rolling with the dwarves for a couple years and all that. needless to say, that combined with being pulled in the middle of directly fighting the imperials, it left bo feeling VERY annoyed, and frustrated, and honestly very helpless. which is why when the last of the group to be pulled (sasabe) shows up, he is all the more eager to leap straight back into action....perhaps too eager.

for reasons unknown to them, and even to himself, he ends up absorbing *all* the lightwarden’s aether by himself. which plays out exactly how it does in the game. by the time he’s absorbed innocence and All That happens, he is all but defeated. he finally has the realization his greatest boon would be his downfall, and that he cared too much for others...and not nearly enough for himself. but, after some pep talks from a few scattered friends, he resolves that at the very least he could go down in a blaze of glory, and hopefully take emet-selch with him. by the end of it all the best way to describe him is...at peace with himself. at least a little. until mr elidibus comes in preaching about we are ALL warriors of light and everything, and how the echo isnt actually hydaelyns blessing but the reawakening of an ancient power the person has as an amaroutine. bo stumbles a little and starts believing his role to be a mistake somehow again, but its not nearly as bad as before because he knows at the end of the day hes got friends behind him and theyre always a snap away :3

#bonana bonanza #god bless you if you read all this KSJDLKJFLKGDLKHNGLKGLK

[howlitecritical]

New character arcs and new back story because canon sucks again

Main 4 cast with notes on characters that need notes for changes to make sense  Garnet: yesyesyesyesyeysyes everything good about this show. There’s not enough garnet centric things where she’s just herself and not about ruby and sapphire. More information on Garnet. Shes stoicly funny and just murders people with words sometimes. show her being rose’s top tactician. turning the tides of the war that were never in the crystal gem’s favor. maybe theres a fun earth thing shes into. Her room is the heart of the temple for a reason now. Its a balance between pearl and amethyst. The bubbles are organized, but she has her own side space with things she does as hobbies. She has a collection of antique books that she likes to read lava side and she often meditates to see corrupted gems and a future in which the CGs encounter them. maybe she even draws them out to combine ruby’s need to Do with sapphire's need to Know. Fusion is still very important to her, but not she has plot relevant interests that make sense with her character. Her character arc involves her being the first of her kind. shes something completely new! just like steven is. and for that not to bind them together is silly. She wants the best for steven and he makes her want to be an even better leader now that rose is gone and shes the only one left. she makes him think about his actions and slows down his hyper activity when he or amethyst are trying to do something reckless. From him she learns that it’s okay to let her guard down more. Homeworld might come back, but it’s not all on her shoulders. the CGs are a family and they’ll protect everyone together. Garnet in jailbreak is the first time we know shes a fusion and before that we get more about her character not just from environment around her, but her reactions to things. Maybe she feels like she needs to be in control because shes afraid that without rose, homeworld is more a danger than ever.

Amethyst: I like most of her progression actually!!! a few things I’d mess with is when she’s unnecessary hurtful to people she loves, like greg, when she shape shifted into rose, and peridot when she all but threw her stuff into the ocean. these things need to be gotten rid of, or addressed by the narrative. I’d also like to see her hanging around Vidalia wayyyyy sooner or to have a reason why they dont. As for reasons, maybe Amethyst did or said something hurtful toward her, lashing out at her for whatever reason that made their friendship strained. while a decade is a long time for a human, for a gem its nothing. so while she feels bad, Am’ isnt going to apologize herself!!! she didnt do anything wrong!!! and maybe Vidalia is the first person steven convinces her to apologize to. Steven teaches her compassion and is, in return, the gem he can relate to the best. He goes to her first with gem issues and she acts like an older sibling, trying to teach him or cover up mistakes so pearl and garnet dont find out. I think i’d like a progression of Am’ refusing to apologize to Vidalia, realizing that she was wrong and apologizing to greg, but he breaks down and can’t move past that, rendering their friendship difficult and strained as a “sometimes apologizing isnt enough and you have to change your behavior“ and then the third beat with peridot either not happening at all, where she doesnt throw someone’s comfort items into the ocean which, i think steven shouldve realized and stopped her from doing anyway, BUT if you just NEED that mistake on her part, i feel like this could be a “sometimes, you dont know how bad you hurt someone and you should apologize when you find out“ with peridot being hurt and not talking to her and amethyst has to do a big gesture to show shes sorry. I also feel like that fleshes out amedot as a ship and while i dont care about who peridot ends up with, i care about story and the way im going to make this story go, lapis will be in that fun moral grey area and i want more options in terms of story telling and of fan choice. Also!!! explore the possibility of her being deep cut and thats why shes a runt. she only looks smaller but has all these strengths because of it!!! it fits in really well and bismuth or peridot maybe because she was made for kindergardening, could tell her about it and watch her get excited because shes not ”wrong“ she never came out “wrong“ shes just different and thats okay!

Pearl: Was white diamond’s pearl, first of all! that makes every interaction more interesting, because no only did she defect from homeworld, but she defected from the Queen of homeworld and everything it stood for basically. We learn more about how homeworld operates and what places in society each gem fits from pearl, because while she doesn’t believe it herself, she isn’t kept from talking about diamonds now and what one she served. in this funky fresh au, she is sent by white to make sure the new diamond they’re cultivating from earth comes out properly (aka where the fuck did russia go) and getting her equipped with all of the technology she would need to properly rule. this is where she first meets a quartz soldier. at first she’s taken aback by the quartz’s forwardness, no one had ever talked to her like... an equal before. shes not sure if shes allowed to speak, though, she knows theyre waiting for a response. Their first interactions always begin with her requesting permission to speak. They have to wait a few more years for pink to emerge and while they’re there they slowly become friends as the life is leeched out of the area. we could have a snapshots of them waiting for together, rose getting bored and convincing pearl to come do things with her, slowly breaking her out of her shell. Pearl’s difficulty and character arc comes from not just rose and getting over her feelings, which is perfectly fine, but doesnt need to be her only trait, but finding out who she is now, not just after rose, but with humanity as a whole. with the war well and truly over. she wants to learn about what rose thought was so important to fight for, to die for, and because of that, we get her partaking in human activities that arent eating or drinking, because she still dislikes them. While Garnet reads and collects books, i think pearl being really into her weapons collection is a good idea to flesh her out more. Where did she get her swords from? Well thats a mystery. She mentions someone she cared about a long time ago made them for her and thus we get some fun bismuth foreshadowing.

Rose:  And rose..... god... we could of had it all by adele plays in the background anytime i think about her. Here we have a very beautiful fat woman. Shes framed as elegant and regal by the show time and time again and i LOVED that. however after the pink diamond reveal, I have such mixed feelings about her. No more diamond bullshit. Shes the first gem that popped out. Technically she’s too early and she goes to stand guard around the birthplace of her diamond. That is where she and pearl first meet. Pearl is the first gem she ever talks to and while she innately knows stuff about home world, shes pick up a lot from the humans that live nearby. theyve shown her kindness and given her furs to wear and in turn she helped them heal their wounded by crying on them. (yes she still has healing powers sue me) she loves the humans and takes to befriending them before pearl shows up. The two of them get close and after pink diamond pops out, rose realizes what the creation of gems truly means for the world around her. They’re killing what was here before them. This isn’t creation. It’s an invasion. Being the only quartz out so far, shes forced into the role of commander for pink. Her favored soldier. And the more she does what she was “made for” the more she hates it and the more she hates the diamond authority. she convinces pink that some humans are worth keeping. As a curiosity, my diamond. they could prove useful to terraforming other planets or moons to accept life and in time, gem cultivation.  She gets poofed while trying to save someone from the group of people she first made friends with. Maybe pink shatters whoever poofed her for not following her orders because of course Rose wouldnt defy her. rose is Loyal, unlike the rest of you lack luster garbage. Rose comes back with her iconic dress and shes here and queer and shes fucking Done with this shit. she hears about the shattering on her behalf and she goes to pink and asks why and she feels sick to her stomach because star, my diamond, she isnt Worth it. she isnt worth the cost of someone else’s whole Life!!! Oh rose... you’ve always been soft hearted. in this time, Pearl is quietly there. waiting to be called back by white as pink pearl has just been sent to take her place. And this is it. This is the moment rose decides to rebel. according to homeworld, her life should be no more than any other quartz. her life shouldnt be traded for that of others. So why? Why did pink do this? Do the gems in her court mean nothing to her? This is the first time a gem has ever summoned two weapons. A Sword and Shield. A knight turning on her master. She tried to attack pink. to poof her. to send a message right here and now that gems are all equal. that a lowly rose quartz is strong enough to take on a diamond! She fails, but only partly. she manages to strike a blow, but pink stays in tact long enough to strike on of her own, sending rose retreating into her gem. This is when pearl has to make a choice. No matter what she’d be shattered. Pink’s wrath when she reforms, white’s when she finds out about what happened. This is a death sentence. But if its a death sentence, its one she’ll choose for herself. she takes rose’s shield and uses the face of it to shatter pink herself, scooping up rose’s gem and getting as far away as fast as she can. This is the start of a war.

Steven: Oh boi. So i love steven, but theres moments where hes just... not good and the story doesnt stop him from doing that. So if were gonna say hes a kid with emotion based powers, we know hes soft and sweet and excitable. sometimes he pushes people too far because hes trying to do what he thinks is best. I want him to wrestle with the fact that his mom, this person everyone says is good, killed someone. she did something so horrible and she never killed anyone again, but she still did it once. I’d like him to get bits and pieces of his mothers memories and so we get to see the world and flashback things that happened in real time. Maybe he tries to talk to pearl about it, but she still wont instead of cant. He feels like an outcast and everyone would rather his mom be there, but they have him instead. basically a lot of his earlier character arc stuff before garnet and pearl talk to him about how homeworld was. They dont think hes old enough to hear about war, but it seems war is coming back and hes unprepared to face it without learning more. he facilitates more interactions with the townies and now its not just a war of gems against gems, they have humans on their side too and they’ll win!  

#su criticism #su rewrite #su #su critique #su critical #steven universe #i hate the pink diamond reveal so im just Salty #cw long post

[battlekidx2]

Voltron Season 8

There are spoilers for season 8 so proceed with caution.

I want to start off by saying I love Voltron and there is something I love about each season of Voltron. I have been seeing quite a bit of negativity towards this season, so I want to start off talking about what I liked about this season before getting into what I didn’t. I will recommend Voltron to other people because I believe over all there were a lot of good things that it did with its characters and stories.

I liked Allura’s arc throughout this season. We got to see her struggling with the lengths she would go to to end the war and come out better because of it. She also comes to understand that not every choice in war can be without sacrifice which is something the paladins seem to struggle to understand up until this point. Allura has been consistently developed throughout the seasons and has grown into her own in this season. She has had to overcome so much and is a character I felt was developed well and will be a character I look back on fondly.

I also liked that they clarified Lotor’s character within the show. Before this season there were multiple ways that lotor’s character could be interpreted and now they have a definitive version of him. The clarification also accentuated the tragedy of the character. His eventual downfall is tragic because he did deserve better. He fell victim to his upbringing after trying to be better and being punished severely for his efforts. This is a character that while I may not be the biggest fan of the execution of Lotor’s story I liked the idea behind it. I liked how they did redeem Lotor in the eyes of Allura and it was acknowledged how his childhood and upbringing affected him, his choices, and his downfall all without erasing the mistakes he made. It also acknowledges that he wasn’t given a fair shot by anybody and despite his attempts to be better he was always thwarted or shunned at every turn. There is only so much someone can take before they break.

Haggar was a great villain and her arc was somewhat of a Greek tragic hero and was almost Shakespearean. Her unquenchable thirst for knowledge led to the destruction of both her old and new homes, the creation of the galaxy’s most infamous tyrant, and her son living through a neglected and abusive life that meets a terrible end. She realizes too late what she missed out on and works to undo her mistakes without care for the destruction she causes because she believes that with the end of her quest everything will be perfect. It’s only once she gets to her desired outcome and her son and husband recognize the monster that she has become that she reaches her lowest point and is able to be convinced by Allura of the error of her ways. That Haggar herself is to blame for how her life turned out not the universe or anyone else. That this outcome isn’t what Lotor would have wanted despite what Haggar kept telling herself and that while she can’t get back what she lost, but she can give back what she took from the universe in her desperate bid. This season wrote its villains really well with Lotor, Haggar, and Zarkon and while I didn’t agree with all the choices made with the characters I do believe the writing was well done and Haggar is the pinnacle of this statement.

I appreciated that all the character’s that lived got their happy endings. Keith has found his purpose and continues to help people. Shiro finally leaves the battle after years of nonstop fighting and suffering and gets to settle down with his husband. Pidge and Hunk both get to follow their dreams and Lance surrounds himself with what he loves and lives a quiet peaceful life. I honestly just wanted to see these characters be happy. They have all been through so much so seeing them get to be happy in the future made me happy.

I was sad that my two favorite Voltron characters, Lotor and Allura, ended up dying. Allura had been through so much loss, suffering, and pain on her quest to bring about peace and grown so much only to finally be able to bring about the peace she strove for and not even be able to see the it. Allura had lost so much and when she finally has a means to restore peace the only way to bring about peace is through sacrificing herself. I know I was upset with the season in the past for the lack of true sacrifice or lasting death, but I’m sad that this was the sacrifice that ended up happening because Allura deserved to see the peace she helped create. We finally got to see Lotor’s past and have his character in hindsight be redeemed, in showing he did truly care about others and Allura but was misguided in his methods, and bring him back from the rift only to have him be dead the entire time. This means he ended up having arguably the worst and most painful ends of anyone on the show. He died after the only real trusting relationship he had was destroyed and believing that no one cared for him while his mental stability eroded and his body was overloaded with quintessence. I would have liked to see him be alive and have him carry on doing the best he could instead of everyone admitting that he wasn’t given a fair shot, that he deserved better, and really did care and wasn’t a monster. The second colony is completely forgotten and is never explained. The second colony honestly just feels like a plot device to trigger the paladins turning on Lotor and Lotor’s subsequent descent into quintessence poisoning instead of an actual thing that happened because the reasoning behind it was never explained so it feels as though it was unnecessary.

I’m sorry to every Allurance shipper, but I didn’t like how it played out within the series. They made Allura uncomfortable with Lance until season 5, had her look upset when she found out he liked her in the same season, made her suddenly romantically interested in Lance at the very end of season 7, and then in season 8 showed hints that Allura still wasn’t completely over Lotor (the most prominent examples are when Lotor emerges from the rift and she panics saying she can’t do this and when Lotor is the vision she sees to convince her to use the rift creature). I honestly think this ship could have played out really well if they hadn’t had Lotura and had Allura a lot less visibly uncomfortable with Lance in earlier seasons. I am happy for whoever shipped Allurance and got to see their ship sail in cannon. Allurance just wasn’t my cup of tea with the way it was written. I personally would have preferred if Lance hadn’t gotten Allura and could have continued with his journey of self discovery and learned who he was without a girl because his character the last few seasons had a lot of him pining for Allura instead of focusing on his growing self-confidence and worth. With him ending up a farmer and probably sad over Allura for the rest of his life. Lance was a character I wish had gotten an arc of episodes to himself that didn’t involve a girl because he was set up as incredibly relatable with problems that everyone faces.

I may have been disappointed with this season, but I still like voltron and hope to see more of it in the future. I can understand the issues people are having with the season and can empathize with the disappointment, but I hope that people don’t attack the creators and cast. They’ve worked for years to bring us this series and they don’t deserve to be harassed. I hope that others can find the enjoyment I found out of the series and I hope there are many great fanfics to read. It was an honor to see this series to completion.

#vld #voltron #Voltron legendary defender #allura #lotor #lance #keith #hunk #pidge #haggar #the villains were written fantastically #season 8 #spoilers #review #my thoughts

[maureenbrown]

spy au w/ saphael

war with love

so simon is a spy and everything

he gets sent to be roomies with raphael and befriend him

and then to go to a wedding where valentine will be there and take him out

and at first everything is cute! and domestic and fluffy!

like they meet in chapter one and backgrounds are established

and in chapter two they get a little bit more domestic where simon is a night owl and raphael has these late shifts and falls asleep on simon

and then theres a city tour!! and near the end there is this open mic singing thing and so obviously they go bc simon and raphael sings and simon is just w o w

meeting!! raphaels!! friends!! and learning more about the past. and this wanting to learn spanish for raphael and also a fancyish meal

raphael learns that simon is learning spanish and teases him lke a lil loser but is also really happy. then they find vida mia snow and sim gets sad bc he doesnt wanna leave raphael ever

then theres more opening up (via viddia atta girl) and their first kiss and stuff. or maybe that hapens in the last chapter idk. simon also gets a job at a flowers place NERD

he gets flowers for like. everything

they go out shopping and also they go out clubbing and simon gets drunk and he makes out with someone who isnt raphael and has sex by mistake

bc now they’re exclusive and raphael is sosososo upset and that trust is betrayed

and they fight and simon feels like shit and he almost leaves bc valentine isnt worth this pain

but he stays. raphael is worth it. vidia is worth it.

its super awkward tension bt it slowly defuses down and raphael finally is willing to talk

and he forgives simon bc he will always forgive simon

and they fall into a familier patter and simon finally meets raph’s family

and then its the pre wedding days where again flower everywhere and theres a job loss confession on raphael’s behalf poor bby

they get matching outfits and simon is reminded of his mission and so he does it well and thats good

and wedding day huge slurs are also thrown around a possible fight but its all okay.

and then simon finds out raphael is an assassin and his next mark is simon so he runs with vidia.

end of war with love.

relationships with other characters

magnus bane

magnus knows both parties and will not take sides

he consoles raphael and his heart goes out to simon

when raphael decides to leave the orginzation magnus supports him and gives him lita

raphael spends years looking for simon but he never asks magnus bc he would never pressure his friend like that

he also knows about lita and loves her and is like a father to her

lightwood siblings

alec finds out thru magnus and after a while he listens

and he realizes that yeah raphael is a lil shit but hes alsoa good person

not all monsters do terrible things and so he develops a relationship and in actuality he also uses raphael to make sure simon and his family stay safe

eventually izzy finds out bc alec can never keep anything fro her

and izzy and raphael!! have a great friendship!!

they speak spansh to each other and are so comfortable with each other and are so good in fighting and sparring

and its so awkward when simon finds out that they knew this whole time but never said anything

but neither of them would betray the other bc friendship

clace

they never knew about raph

and are super pissed with simon

but they work with him and as time goes on they get a little bit easier with him

mydia

so this is in another universe and like mia and raphael have a pretty damn good relationship

and he tells her and she comforts him when hes at his lowest

she and lydia have a thing and its so secretive no one knows [but raph, and magnus. and simon shh]

and lydia is besties with simon in this universe and kinda found out on accident??

shes a spy ffs she overheard some shit and investigated

it led to a h u g e mydia fight

regardless they made up and they also kinda know the story individually and arent taking sides

they just love both people want want the bet i love them

mia and vidia get along great once the initial shock is over tbqh its awesome

and like mia and lita already besties so its a+

vidia mia rose [backstory]

so saphael fund this poor baby girl all abandoned and obviously took her in

simon wanted to name her after a disney fairy FUCKING NERD but raphael wanted to name her after his sister and so they came to a compromise where her first name would be vidia and her middle name mia after IZZY!! SISTER! OC!!! and her last name snow bc they found her on a bench and she was so delicately wrapped she looked so soft

they took her in and raphael is really good with kids with and simon is so!!

her mother couldnt take care of her she left a note and its so movie-like its almost sounds fake.

since they dont know her birthday they decided it would be on the day they found her.

gay. as. hell.

BIRTHDAY:

FANCAST: zendaya

vidia mia rose [personality]

nicknames include: dia, viddie (it was a dumb nickname by jace bye) and mini mia or mm! by raphael and lita calls her snow (no one else)

shes likes a gryffindor - ravenclaw

like a hanna marin x aria montgomery

shes extremely stubborn in her eays and refuses to back down even if she knows that shes in the wrong

and like really reckless and does dangerous things just for the fun of it

she also would die for her friends and family (she hates that raphael is a part of that)

and like really quick witted which is why she and lita clash so much at first

and shes so lazy but knows randm facts about random things

shes so into history and loves analyzing things bye

shes also really gifted musically wise like she can sing and since simon always sang and played guitar she did too

but there s some raphael in her like she ended up playing piano instead. and like i said really protective and quickwitted

she wants to be remembered for something and wants to do great things but also?? nothing is special about her (or so she thinks)

tales of a fairy;; vidia mia snow

lita aubree snow [backstory]

she was in the system and it sucked

so she ran away and tried to pickpocket magnus bane and obviously failed

but he saw the potential in her and didnt wanna turn her into a spy so he gave her to raphael and she became like his right hand man

shes met all of his family and has trained with him and honestly?? there is no one she trusts more

she doesnt see him as a father figure tho. like a teacher yeah mentor would be the better word

and she thinks that she owes him everything

raphael sees her skill set bc obviously she can thieve p well and he hones in the pick pocketing better. and shes also a grifter

she loves raphael, she loves the family that she found on her own

even tho shes hella insecure about who she is and why her parents dont love her

BIRTHDAY:

FANCAST: janella salvador

lita aubree snow [personality]

nicknames include: lina, las, or any of her other identities, bree (usually raphael only), and when she and vidia are going at it, mine or reeree [aubREE] bc nERDS

shes like raphael and magnus a huffie slytherin

like sophie deveroux but more sarcastic x alison dilaurentis?

shes really patient and can wait to get what she wants. and can enetrain herself for hours/days

shes really charismatic people are just drawn in, and they /want/ to meet her

and thats where her manipulative side comes out like gets people to trust her and then uses it to her advantage

she teases and knows how to use people. shes so cunning and also doesnt know who she is

shes a grifter and has so many facades but who is she really? is she a good person? lita is so insecure about herself and its the worst she gets really bad

shes hardworking and puts her heart and soul into things and also will defend the people she loves

and thats where she and vidia clash so much

shes also really flirtatious (thanks to magnus) and flirts with everyone bc secrets and she likes to hook up

it takes a lot to get her trust and if you break up you done son.

she wants to be someone people whisper about years from now but. is she a good enough person?

pansexual and hooks up with anyone cute

flowers blooming in winter;; lita aubree snow

fairys and flowers destroy each other

battlescars  young god  anything you can do i can do better  give your heart a break  

#clearing out drafts

[lokbobpop]

Enemy

1 : one that is antagonistic to another especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent. 2 : something harmful or deadly alcohol was his greatest enemy. 3a : a military adversary. b : a hostile unit or force

The Latin word inimicus, meaning "hostile, unfriendly," is the root of enemy, and it comes from the prefix in-, or "not," and amicus, "friend:" an enemy is "not a friend." When two armies fight each other, they both think of the opposing army as the enemy.

Enemy en emy ene my e nem y

Writing the word enemy

The enemy within i know its a moving but how true is those words the enemy within me i have so many i have created for myself to live by to believe in and have not questioned there vitality and just let them be me and only me to believe this would be thr only me and not see realize and understand there was so much more im so glad im walking out of me like this seeing what i have created if i went the way of ping like before it just happened I couldn’t help anyone as it just happened in a moment I couldn’t assist anyone to change i wouldnt know how like the people who are like this they cant help another they can only say what it is like they can’t actually do it well i think there has been the rare case but we need all to know not just the few this should be for all.

Reading enemy

War time fighting to so called enemy we were lead to believe is true by our governments by our banks all for money and power over all people because thats what we have all wanted up until now money and power over others because we thought this is what was to be to win to survive to be the best better than another and it was all wrong we dont need to be that we dont need this at all.

Who is my enemy no one is i am my own what i create out of this point is what i will live unless i change myself and who I believe myself to be in this last life of mine i will make it worth it the best i can.

How we hate the enemy how i see many hate white people as they see me and all others the white people and how i see white people hate black people why do we all hate each other why do we need ot be like this theres no need only self love is needed now we are so separated from others from ourselves

I an my worse enemy so i now my enemy i know what it is thats doing this i need not look outside of me im facing my own enemy right now of separation of myself.

Saying enemy

To make enemies like at school you have enemy’s well i dont know is i had that many but some people really do im sure i didnt like people and visa versa and im sure many women have hated me i can see a couple right now wow may be a few i dont want to see so lets see them Sarah Jackie and another Jackie boys girlfriend ive stolen a few there Cathy school im sure i pissed them off a few girls plip yes ther has been many i see but is it worth punishing myself right now i think not i have bigger purpose now than to sit about and think how many people didnt like me who didn’t actually like them selves really that’s all it was they didn’t like themselves thats no to say im off the hook i have offended others for the same reason i didnt like myself so were were all in reaction just to ourselves and that was it we all make mistakes maybe a few more than many but nothing to bad i hope and im sure they will see this it was an energy within me that attached to an energy within them that brought about a certain event that happened and that was it really thats was all thats it nothing more our fighting energy within us it wasnt really is our true selves it was a lie and i forgive myself for all the lies i have believed about myself all the energy’s i thought was me but wasnt me which was just an energy and and a belief to survive thats was it and im sorry for all the energy ive let out onto others and made them for bad about what i have but on them within living energy and hope they forgive me as i have forgiven myself for what I have done and allowed to happen to me, it was only energy it was only me misguided by my own created fear it wasnt me it was that of fear survival wanting more than another and i sorry for them and myself to this all to have happened but i not longer allow this within me and i love all that i have offended as me and parts of me you show me me.

Sf

Does this definition support me no fear of my won enemy and the enemy of another came up which were great points to open up within me to see this was just energy and not real i am real energy isnt real

Enemy end me

Enemy

To embrace myself and all i face with confidence stableness to see realize that its only a personality i need not fear myself and what goes on within me its only thought

To see my self as one and equal to all.

I will live this word taking on my enemy myself within me the mind enemy which is the only enemy on this planet we are all living with the enemy within us we just need to see and realize and I realize so i am freeing myself of my own made at home enemy

[jinae-escape]

THATS IT

If you dont see the wrong in canceling Gone With The Wind...than your as lost and confused as the next milleniums or genz blah blah fools ,because gone with the wind was the first movie to to win and give an oscar to the FIRST BLACK WOMAN !!!!!! like your canceling it for black lives matter organization ( do people even realize who funds and are behind black lives matter organization soros,clinton, and hey fact all your donation is going to the most racist president candidate ever joe biden funds for his presidency campaign but ima stop thats a whole different rant post) when it was a very first great achievement for black woman in film? great job you morons ,by the way all those white liberals screaming cancel gone with the wind are the real racist retards and isnt it funny everyone ignores the black voices saying NO WAIT we dont want this ....wasnt this the movie that got the first black woman an oscar ect.....YALL ARE BE PLAYED THE FOOLS AND YOUR GO RIGHT ALONG WITH IT SO EASILY

If people really care about history here the amazing woman that won the oscar for this movie: Hattie McDaniel

dont you find it really odd theyre trying to destroy good images of black people( gwtw,syrup reallllly.....,uncle bens rice ect just completely blow over the good in black history like the elevator,microphone,carbon lightbulb,... funny how they dont teach the black inventors or all the good black people have done good for us and they focus on these sellout celebs and over payed sold theyre souls athletes “achievements” ) when I was in high school i had to look up black inventors myself in BLACK HISTORY MONTH....

...even negative or bad history good history.......ITS HISTORY we need to know this stuff so we can pass it on and learn and learn from it or know what really happened....its to wipe the black history clean....this is democrats plans since the beginning of the demoncratic party creation 

fun fact not alot of kids or adult know this fact cause it was a plan in the 70s to cover it up but....ima open your eyes

The south in the civil war who wanted to keep slaves and treat black people like less than humans started this party we know today as THE DEMOCRATS the democratic party and with hundreds years later THEY STARTED THE KKK organization

The North was well as we know people wanting to end slavery (black and white fighting side by side willing to fight for the thought we are equal and free) ..and the biggest fact they try to hide is 

a small group of BLACK PEOPLE STARTED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

 NOW PUT THIS ALL TOGETHER you notice these democratic owned states and city are saying go destroy your cities and black communities (ever notice these poor black communities are democratic owned decades of poor and badly took care of community THATS THEYRE PLAN were democrats your black your have to vote for us were the answer gargabe lies repeated)  destroy statues with racists past (once again its history it wiping history clean away we wont know the sorrid past bad and the good ) cancel syrup with kind black woman as image bass ,cancel uncle ben rice its racist somehow ,ect major moments for black people lets tell easily led foolish youth to destroy black history  CAN YOU SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE NOW 

they got you destroy statues of good people who were for freedom and were for equality , you get 10 years now you get caught destroying the statues....they wont tell you this cause they dont care about you....DONT DESTROY PROPERTY dont waste your life away in prison IT AINT WORTH IT

FACTS FACTS FACTS ,should’nt lead with emotions ( its hard to do it yourself ) but always go on facts before you get riled up,it takes time for the full story to come out...or the full picture to be seen

all this from democratic cities oh and hey go destroy Abraham fu**in Lincoln the man who WAS FOR BLACK PEOPLES FREEDOM (was assassinated for that very belief)freed slaves...

 people PEOPLE please tell me your not this stupid and lost come on

hillary clinton super racist white woman trash funded black lives matters ( and you have a black woman as the co founder yea right she just a fake image Patrisse Khan-Cullors and this rancid a@@ woman wants to segregate black and white people again) geroge soros (look this devil up) funds you to go destroy your communities and others oh and hey HE FUNDS ANTIFA (you know the terrorist group) and all the good intentions we had to send our(yes I was played too) money for donation to the cause right? black lives matter organization? right well guess what all that moneys been going to the democratic party evil slimy hands and TO JOE BIDENS PRESIDENCY CAMPAIGN so he can run for president ,he needs money to run for president which means ads,rallies,ect and he getting from the suffering of black people and well meaning people ...PEOPLE WAKE THE FU** UP

dose’nt even anyone realize hillary clinton is...was..is in court for her treason against the united states (emails evil against against humanity) and riots broke out and protests (ego THE BIGGEST DISTRACTION IN THE HISTORY OF DISTRACTIONS) and the mass media never not once covered her in court to the BIG NEWS TO HAPPEN TO THE U.S. since I dont know 911 and not one media outlet covered it???hmm obama was/is in court weird no americans know about it...hmmmm 

oh and perfect just perfect the evil snakes behind the curtains ACTUALLY are trying to actually convince you some lost sheep to defund our police or take them away YOUR TAKING AWAY OUR ONLY PROTECTION in our communities taking our real heros forget these fake movie heros these ARE OUR REAL HEROS (you signing away your life if you stay silent or not speaking out that you want to keep  your police or protect them) you take away the police in your city or whatever armageddon is and will be in your neighborhoods they have nothing to fear you sighing you and family lives way (these evil celebs and politicians saying defund your police ect they have theyre own personal security to protect them whenever they dont need to fear BUT YOU SURE AS HELL DO) WAKE * THE * F* UP

theres thousands and thousands upon thousands of GOOD COPS out there and the cops (3 4 shi**y cops out of those thousand of thousand upon thousands good cops) that were not cops or human in my mind were arrested and are going to jail for good 

dont attack the good cops who live day to day to protect us

look this up yourself if you dont wanna take my word for it always best for yourself to look up both sides of the story and come to your truth

dont be gas lighted dont fall for the lies ,the media and celebs and evil disgusting politicians them all scheming and lying and diverting out attentions to separate us and fight among st ourselves to ignore whats really happening in the background DONT LET THEM

black white asian mexican indians any race its true LISTEN TO YOUR HEART  ignore what celebs and mass media tells you WE CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER other we love each other , yea we sometimes get into fights or arguments in stores but you dont need to see their color theyre just an asshole not everyone in that color is that way jesus tells us to love one another were equal in his eyes ,believe what your taught since your little ,dont listens to the demons working for the devil to separate us DONT LET THEM

wise words (and to the people misquoting or adding edited pictures of martin luther king jr to fit their agendas I wish you the worst possible out come in life) and to the people falling for it the rev was about peace and love if and any images or quotes comes off any other way against his life mottos ITS A FAKE look up his speeches theyre beautiful and youll know the fake from the truth 

stop  

we need a leader among our communities who for us all to be in this together (black,white,asians,mexican,indian,ect) we need someone like martin luther king jr not these leaders(black,white) for hate ,segregation,and violence its against everything right and YOU KNOW IT

delete later just cant take this outright lying and scheming anymore ,praying and praying I just gotta rant sometimes

JUST PRAY YOUR GOVERNORS HAVE A BACKBONE who dont give into the lies and plotting - 

#hattie mcdaniel #scam blm #we need to protect black lives but stop supporting this organization with these three devils thriving off black pain #black lives matter #black lives matter is a massive cover over the eyes to destroy black lives and profit it #jesus help us #why are black conservative or black republicans called coons and uncle toms or bed wenches...hmmm wonder who started that?

[roseinrapture]

I want there to be a coup with in the main su cast and steven caught in the middle. Pearl tries to stay true to Rose's vision but Garnet is like her vision is accomplished there is more to accomplish out side of this. There is a schism, amethyst sides with Garnet, and steven is like no there has to be some other way. And Garnet is like, we know we tried to make you Rose but it turns out we dont need her, to do good things, and she apologizes Pearl leaves, and Garnet and Amethyst start doing actual cool shit like trying to rehabilitate the corrupted gems and Steven sort of goes to live with his Dad for awhile. Pearl goes to Lapis finds out Lapis is just drifting, and Peridot is too so they side with her. Since this is the group that basically are just lost. Peridot leaves tho because she actually does want to do more and be an actual rebel and help. Steven goes to Garnet when e realizes this is for the best to help rehabilitate gems. Bismuth and Centi come back and Jasper and we get actual archs to characters swept aside. Bismuth and Garnet basically co lead and modify the galaxy warp , and start actually taking the fight to the upper crusts. Amethyst is in charge of recruiting and the first thing they do is use the lovely earth buddies on blue diamonds ship to spy and figure out what is going on empire wide to strike attacks and recruitment on the fringes. They are called the Ruthless Rag Tags and together they build each other up and amethyst gets confidence and trusts in herself and healthy coping mechanism! Jasper is the Ruthless in Ruthless Rag Tags They eventually remodify the old base and it extends into the sea and more of the cliff side!! (They also modify other magical places on earth into bases again) They also with bismuth and peridot working together remove the cluster from the core of the earth into space. They are a big friend. Diffrent pearls join the rebellion when they realize they have self worth and can do things. They often work together to get the wlites seperated and out the way with fake appointments. Pearl visits and realize how well everyone is doing without Rose and their accomplishing stuff and she actually starts to let go of Rose, and lets the obsession rests. And she breaks it off with mystery girl, and finds love again with Jasper Jasper who was the hardest gem to rehabilitate finds love and healing with Pearl healing with grief. Jasper the Quartz that Could becomes the Quartz Conquerer, known for her ruthlessness in combat against higher ups. We finally have an arch were Lapis and Jasper air everything out since everyone keeps forgetting Lapis held her in a traumatic fusion for a long damn time. They both apologize for the respective fuck ups and seperate on like nuetral terms Jasper also apologizes and tries to make up to the gems she imprisoned and in one case forced fusion with while they were corrupted, she isnt always forgiven but she is often on the battle field and if you wanna avoid her its not that hard. Lapis gets an arch where her beef with the crystal gems is adressed fairly and she gets an apology. She decides to join after coming into contact with other gems traumatized by the previous war, and are corrupted. Her, steven and peridot actually use roses healing tears and manage to make more to keep the rebellion and rehabillitation efforts goin. Lapis becomes your Jaded War Nurse the gems being rehabilitated dont find their forms the same but thats ok, they are who they are and are valued members of the resistance, and aren't babied and seen as child like just cuz they aren't like others! Steven meets a whole bunch if new characters that arent immediately disappeared to nowhere, connie joins the show and there is an arch where Pearl adresses the hurt she did on her, and joins in the fight as well. Greg helps with like interstellar trading for materials with rebel gem colonies, and in turn they give him chunks of rare materials so he can stay rich on earth to further aid the cause. The crystal gems become something i can watch and cry to again, while also dispensing good advice to rebel against the upperclass/crust :)

#su #abuse m #steven universe #jasper #lapis #Rose #Garnet #Bismuth #Can we actually have a cool scifi show where it does good representation for us #and is more for fighting against ur opressors

[onewillbringsnowsfall]

SIMON SNOWS BIRTH WEEK

SUMMARY: Baz is the sweetest boyfriend ever.

AUTHORS NOTE: This is my first fic ever ever and I’m nervous about it. Hope you like it.

Baz

To be perfectly honest, last year was the most irregular year of my life. Coming back to Watford for a whole other year was a difficult decision. A necessary decision. The business with the humdrum and the mage and the war was so strange and felt so large and all-consuming at the time. It now feels like a distant dream that still hovers at the surface leaving marks and scars that make you know that this isn’t that. It’s your reality. Simon Snow is my reality. He lives with those scars more than all of us. Something broke in him that day he gave it all up. I know that more than anyone. He’s still Simon Snow, though and I am and always will be hopelessly in love with him. Being without him for a whole year has made me realize how much I need him around and how much he needs me. Crowley, he needs me. When Snow was my enemy I thought I would never get a moments rest without having him show up everywhere. Now the moment my bags hit the floor of Pitch manor at any break. Snow is right there, holding my hand like his life depends on it. Always. And then he’d kiss me like he’s a dying thirsty man in a desert taking a dip/sip in/of the purest of pools of water. That’s what snow makes me feel like I am. I kiss him back and let him drain me, I let him drink from me as I drink from him. Even without magic he’s still so so warm. He is the sun and he is so bright and his kisses warm my cold hard heart.

I have to snap out my Snow trance and try to prepare leavers day speech. I have just this left. And then the ball and then I can go back home to his hands and his curls and his eyes. Get a hold of yourself, Baz! I do. I write my speech and know exactly what I want to say. I visited my mother’s grave earlier and I just get the feeling that she’s okay with it and even that she’d be proud of me.

Simon

Okay so this has been the most wonderful week. Baz came home for my birthday and he gave me a gift. I thought it was unnecessary because he being here was genuinely enough. But he said something cryptic and now six days and six gifts after, I get it.

“This is only the beginning, love” he had a glint in his gray eyes and he looked so pleased with himself when I opened the velvet box. It was heavier than it looked. At the top there were homemade sour cherry scones and I excitedly pulled them out and stuffed one into my mouth. Below that was a watch. It was silver and looked expensive. As I started to refuse his gift he leaned forward and kissed me. I immediately forgot what I was going to say and got lost in all the things I’d been waiting to do to Baz when I saw him. We made out for an hour in his bedroom and fell asleep on the couch like that first night and all I could think of is how much I didn’t want this to end. He would have to go back to Watford and graduate and attend leaver’s ball and then finally come home to me. Seeing Baz on my birthday and having to wait five days is like torture. It’s like when you’re hungry and you eat a little, it only makes you hungrier because you haven’t had your fill. (Not that I can ever have my fill of Baz.) But maybe that’s why he made my birthday a six day event. Every day for the past six days I’ve received a box filled with scones and a ridiculously lovely gift. He told me that immediately after the ball he would come home and he wanted me in the four piece suit that summed my birthday gift. Also the Troye Sivan album must be playing in the back and we’ll have our own ball. The git is so controlling it’s no wonder he ended up class rep. little does he know that I’m coming to surprise him myself at the ball. Penny’s helping me get ready. Just a few more hours and I’ll be in his arms again. I’ll be home.

Baz

He came. I told him not to but he came anyway. He looks lost. Like this place is full of ghosts that he’s not prepared to fight or to run from.

“I was hoping there would be sandwiches”

He looked damn gorgeous and I did not try to hide how impressed I was when I when I turned around. But I realized he wasn’t supposed to be here and instinctively felt protective of him.

He stares at me and I stare back and he smiles just a little. He comes near me and for once I take his hand. I can’t stop looking at him. After some talk about how he got here and why he takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor. It’s a slow song. And Snow can’t dance to save his life. We just sway in each other’s arms and he starts talking,

“Baz what you did for my birthday…I don’t know if I….I just…”

“Use your words, snow”

“It’s just that you and penny can do so much and I’m useless to you”

“That’s absurd,” I sneer. “You are everything that makes my day worth waking up to.”

“But I…I’m the cause of all this, I’m a disaster!”

I can feel a few people watching us but all I can really see is the golden head in front of me. That’s all that matters to me. He’s all that matters to me.

“We’re a disaster, together, why do you think it took so long for us to figure out how we felt about each other?”

He smiles at this.

“When I was kidnapped…”

“By Numpties,” he’s laughing at me.

“By Numpties, I was in a dark coffin for six weeks, the only thing that kept me from losing my mind, Simon, was you.”

He looks up at me and searches my eyes for something. I think he finds it because his eyes flutter shut and he kisses me. I kiss him and we keep kissing until the song changes and even then he pushes me and I push him back and we’re challenging each other and we don’t care who sees us. It’s a disaster really. We’re a disaster and that’s okay.

#snowbaz #snowbaz fic #basilton grimm pitch #simon snow #ummm #fluff #i did a thing #once

[tesalionlortus]

LMAOF - those ought to be my fave comments about TFA...

“How did you get so many likes which such an inane and asinine comment? That sentence meant nothing, and even if it had it would have only done what you think it did because it was copy-pasted from ANH. You also talk about how no one really cared about Alderaan's destruction (aka you're critical of the fact that it wasn't fleshed out) but you ignore that this wasn't fleshed out at all either. After "the Republic was destroyed" no one cared either, they immediately just went back to finding Luke and crying about Han rather than even truly mention the Republic's end. Also, it's "destruction" doesn't even make any sense. How does the largest, (nearly) completely galactic government get destroyed just because it's capital planet was blown up? It wasn't even like a centralized capital planet, they voted on which one they wanted to be the capital all the time so it's not even like that system was really important. Every planet would have representatives to replace deceased senators and were supposed to believe this one act destroyed the whole government? Also, how was their entire fleet destroyed? I don't care if the New Republic limited their Navy there is no way they actually stationed 90% of their fleet in one system... Also, there's the whole fact that StarKiller Base lacks any creativity and is stupid, and the fact that it makes no sense the laser would break up into pieces, and the fact it makes no sense that that many habitable planets were that close to each other without being uninhabitable at best, and the fact it makes little sense everyone could see its destruction that well. Sorry for being pissy with you, but the new trilogy is utter garbage is makes my brain not feel like it has increased intracranial pressure if people realize that. P.S. The concept is dark but the execution was not one of the darkest scenes, it was fucking hilarious because of the distractingly blatant Nazi similarities that they pushed so hard and for all the reasons I gave before. Good day, sir. Lmao“

“Assuming the New Order has the resources to build such a weapon - which throws any reasonable assumption of balance out the window between them and La Resistance, if they were so superior in resources certainly they shouldn't have been fought to a stalemate. Furthermore, if we get past all that silliness the New Order loses this weapon in Episode VII along with whatever personnel and materiel were on Starkiller Base at the time of its destruction. Certainly, the loss of such a weapon and resources, already ridiculous in scale, would cripple them going forward, but we all know it won't. The Empire was the continuation of a Galactic Republic which had been building its weapons and forces with no real competition for three decades. The New Order is the remnants of a pack of dudes who were beaten - or at least tied - by a New Republic that has fewer weapons and resources than the old Rebellion. It requires a dozen excuses by see-no-evil fanboys to be even nominally feasible and EVEN PAST THAT it's still a lazy creative idea.“

“Maybe JJ Abrams sat down with his creative team and decided that fans need a third Death Star which can be blown up again, so as to invoke a feeling of nostalgy, which is good for ticket sales, and fans are now creating numerous theories as to how to place this enormous piece of bullshit in the SW universe. Basically, if Abrams had decided to come up with a giant piece of poo as the new superweapon of the new empire, fans would've created a backstory for it the next day, uploading it to the Wookiepedia and youtube as well. There goes your canon. You can come up with a backstory for everything. 'Snoke'! 'Kylo Ren'! 'First Order'! Of course, the SW universe can be expanded as we like, but I hate it, when the creators abuse this right and give us poorly devised, stupid and cheap random stuff that will sell very well among children. The original story deserves so much more than this. Take a look at Yoda (the original one), how much effort they put into his uniquely peculiar personality and his wisdom. And the jungle planet he lives on. Or Cloud City. Or Han's and Leia's relationship as it developed before our eyes. Or the conflict btw Luke and Vader. Or Vader's suit. Everything was original, everything was carefully designed, everything had enthusiasm behind it. I don't feel any of that with the new episode. They just copied everything from the old trilogy, giving everything and everyone a cool-sounding new name, and that's it. I only felt a bit of redemption when I saw Rogue One. That movie again dared do something new and use a lot of creativity.“

“Rogue one, although not even needed since it plays during the old triologies time period, featured a way greater diversity of new and starships in general than Episode 7 which plays aproximitly 30 years in the future. As far as i remember Episode displays 5 different Starships: "The Falcon" "X-Wings" "Tie Fighter" "Star Destroyer" "Kylo Rens Drop Ship", well reagrding the fact that 4 out of 5 featured ships were part of the old Triology that is  absolutly sad and is one thing that shows up the uncreativity which spreads throughout the film. That movie is supposed to play 30 years after Return of the Jedi, yeah cool story does look like the Galaxy just went on a quick nap to skip those years. Leia Organa a politican is the "General"(wtf) of a Resistance consisting of a dozen X-wing(wtf) and which appears to be hunting the First Order. Main tactic could be to destroy the shield generator of star destroyers and smack 1 or two X-wings right into the Brigde to disable them or something like that, pretty effective fighting style isnt it?... wait, huh well something seems to be wrong... list goes on btw Swamp planet, X-Wing support arrives shoots down 10+X Tie Fighters, dont scratch the main targets Drop Ship which is parked stationary at the ground. Damn those undisciplined "Rebel" Pilots, they rather want to show off their skills than to follow their mission objectiv. No wonder Ren got away, the resistance seems to really be a massive threat to the First order which reasons the destruction of multiple planets for that the New republic will stop supporting the Resistance with... wait with what actually ? 1 X-wing per year ? Well i dont think the Resistance even has 30 X-wings, i guess its only political support then, well and of course the First order cant allow that ! Good Idea to blow up planets worth i dont know massive amounts of credits in infrastructure whithout negotiations btw, really good plan tbh. This movie simply consists of made up uncreative shit.“

And finally:

“A new hope's plot hole of the Death Star exhaust port suddenly became the most clever plot in all of Star Wars while diminishing TFA to a child's tale.“

#star wars #the force awakens #anti tfa #dumbass writing #nostalgia exploit

[mllemaenad]

Personally... I feel that WEaWH tries to remove itself from TME because it realizes that TME is fucking irredeemable garbage, and tries to make its WLW representation less appalling. So I'm entirely willing to overlook continuity errors for the sake of one relationship between women in the entire series that can go well.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that. I’m not going to argue with you on the merits of The Masked Empire, as you’re entitled to like or dislike any media you choose, but I don’t think Bioware is trying to distance itself from the novel. I also don’t think their motive is positive representation, or that they’re seriously suggesting a happy ending. However, even if they were I would call the choice to reunite Celene and Briala without any serious examination of the issues that drove them apart … disquieting.

1) On distancing themselves from the novel.

To begin with the obvious, several of the Dragon Age novels provide not only context for the quests in Inquisition, but also promotional material maintaining audience interest between games.

It’s hardly an accident that Asunder is a prequel to In Hushed Whispers/Champions of the Just, The Masked Empire is a prequel to Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts (as well as giving you a roundabout introduction to Solas) and Last Flight provides you with some context on why Weisshaupt is just no help at all during Here Lies the Abyss.

They do kind of want you to buy all their stuff. And if you started with Inquisition and liked what you saw, they want you to run back and buy all the earlier stuff for context. Video game tie-in novels aren’t generally considered high art, so they’d need serious reasons to want to reject the novel as part of their canon. Just in case, I checked The Masked Empire’s Amazon page, and it’s currently got 4.4 stars – so it doesn’t look like something they’d be particularly desperate to ignore. They’d rather you bought it and gave them money.

To move more to the specific, the game references the novel constantly. In addition to devoting a whole main quest to resolving its plot, it also includes cameos from Mihris, Michel and Imshael, which really serve no other purpose than to provide a bit of closure to the people who read the novel and wondered what became of them. This is actually more than it provides for, say, the characters of Asunder: Rhys and Evangeline appear only in a war table mission, Adrian doesn’t appear at all – and who knows where Shale has wandered off to.

It also references the murder of Briala’s parents directly:

Cole: She’s still behind the curtains in the reading room, watching the blood pool on the floor.

Briala pulled the red velvet curtain aside. Her hands shook as she did. There was a pool of red on the floor of the reading room, staining the rich Nevarran carpet. It had spread almost to the curtain.

At the other end of the pool were Briala’s parents.

– The Masked Empire

If they really wanted to distance themselves from The Masked Empire, they wouldn’t put that in there. If they wanted to say that that this didn’t happen, they’d have retconned the story – or at the very least not mentioned it.

In fact, the choice of words is particularly distressing. Cole senses pain. When he says Briala is ‘still behind the curtains’ he’s emphasising that the trauma and anguish are still very much with her, making a reconciliation, particularly a reconciliation that utterly fails to address a thing that they have confirmed happened, even stranger.

 I would say that one motive for their choice to reconcile the two characters is simplicity. I like parts of Inquisition, but honestly it’s over ambitious. They set up a series of continent-wide catastrophes, each one intensely political: the mage rebellion, the Orlesian civil war, the collapse of the Chantry.

Each one probably requires its own game for a satisfactory solution. I realise they were probably going for something similar to the galaxy-wide political collapse in Mass Effect 3, but the Dragon Age games are at a serious disadvantage because they lack continuity of characters.

Mass Effect 3 had its own problems, of course, but for example – I think most people have fun curing the genophage for the krogan. But what they remember is Mordin Solus and ‘There’s a reaper in my way, Wrex!’ When it worked it was able to build on characters who were present across the series.

Inquisition is faced with trying to find resolutions for groups of people that have no direct connection to each other, and whom the protagonist has never seen before (even if they player has). This is hardly the only time their attempt to fix everything in a single quest ends up making no sense.

2) On positive representation

I’m afraid I don’t think what we get in Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts is especially positive. I think it’s … kind of infantilising, really, and has a whiff of sexism about it. I mean – again, I’m not asking you to like The Masked Empire. But this:

“It would have been a locked suite in the palace for a few years, nothing more!” Celene kept her voice low, aware that Michel and Felassan had stopped planning and were looking their way. “It would have changed nothing for us.”

“Your hair still stinks of the smoke from the people you burned,” Briala said. “That is a change.”

The dead leaves crackled under Celene’s feet as she stepped forward. “How many wars can our empire survive in such a short time? I wanted my legacy to be the university, the beauty and culture that made us the envy of the world. Instead I may be known as the empress under whom Orlais fell. You have the luxury of mourning Halamshiral’s elves and holding my heart hostage. Sitting on my throne, I see every city in the empire. If I must burn one to save the rest, I will weep, but I will light the torch.”

Briala swallowed. “You’re not weeping, as far as I can tell. Nor are you sitting on your throne. She stepped away, her movements fast and jerky. “With your permission, Your Radiance, I shall go indulge myself in my luxury.”

– The Masked Empire

… is at least an argument between adults, with the details of what they believe laid out. Celene honestly believes that the empire and her legacy are worth 'a few thousand elven lives’: she believes that maintaining the strength of Orlais is worth thousands of lives in sacrifice, as is the vision she has for the country’s future. Briala is facing up to the fact that this is the bargain she’s made: stay with Celene and she might see an elven scholar graduate from the university – but she’ll likely also see elves burn every time there’s a crisis, because elves are the most expendable people in the empire.

Briala wavers throughout the novel, obviously, because there is genuine feeling between herself and Celene. But the discovery that this has all happened before, that this is not the first time Celene has shed elven blood to impress her rivals and gain power, and that her own parents were among the victims, brings her to a decision.

You don’t have to like it, but these women are serious about what they want and believe.

But in Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts we get stuff like this:

Sera: Elves-elves-elves, but it’s really a pissing match with an old lover. Don’t know the rest but that explains a lot.

It’s hardly coincidental that they chose Sera to say this. Sera the commoner, who despises the nobility. Sera the Red Jenny, with contacts in every corner of Thedas. True, Sera’s background has led her to reject a lot of elven culture, but her biggest objection is usually to ‘moping’ about the past. This:

Briala thought for a moment. “Celene and Gaspard saw an army, but that would be fighting their fight. With the paths, I could get food to alienages where elves would otherwise starve. They would let me move ahead of an oncoming army and warn the target, or move behind them and attack their supply lines.”

– The Masked Empire

… sounds more like the practical stuff she favours: she’s said getting revenge would be a preferable option, and this is getting food to the poor, terrorising the nobility and giving little people a shot at being part of something bigger. But now we can’t take it seriously, because Sera has reduced it to a lovers’ tiff.

That isn’t meant as a criticism of Sera, to be clear. They do this when they want a mouthpiece. This is the equivalent of having Cole approve of Cullen.

And as for it going well, this is their epilogue slide:

Where once war raged, there is now a shaky peace. Orlais is resurgent, the empress a patron of arts and culture.

Many attribute this recovery to her lady love, though others wonder how long their reunion will truly last.

– Epilogue (Inquisition)

I mean – maybe they’ll forget about this. They have been known to forget their epilogue slides. But it doesn’t read as though the intent was to write a strong and loving partnership. Rather it looks as though they are selling the relationship as tempestuous.

That’s one place where I am very uncomfortable. This is the revolt of an oppressed people, and the politics an empire. And there’s a sense that they’re saying ‘Oh, those women and their emotions! Today they love each other; tomorrow they’ll hate each other; the day after they’ll probably love each other again. You never know, with women.’

I appreciate that Bioware is fairly progressive, for a game company: the character choices, the romance options, the NPCs – they are trying to represent a variety of races, genders and sexualities. But it doesn’t mean they never fuck up. I mean, there’s a bit in Mark of the Assassin where Isabela tells Hawke that Gamlen has been sexually harassing her and two responses blame her (You find something inappropriate?/Break him. And wear pants.).

Given that they are already struggling to resolve a massive plotline in a ridiculous amount of time, I’m not surprised they fell back on this. It’s narrative shorthand, and that can be handy for desperate situations. But it’s still sexist shorthand, and I very much wish they hadn’t done it.

3) Removing The Masked Empire from the equation doesn’t solve the problem

I mean, it makes some of the bigger issues like Briala’s dead parents a little easier to miss, sure, but it doesn’t make the problems go away.

I appreciate that representation is important. I do. But romantic relationships between women are not the only representation issue at stake, here. There’s no single source for the elven people, of course, but it’s easy enough to see that Bioware has borrowed from the experiences of Jewish, Romani and aboriginal peoples living under empires and/or colonialism.

And have we ever established that it is shit to be an elf. The city elf origin story in Origins is an abduction/rape/murder combo. The Dalish clans in Origins and DA2 can be slaughtered. It’s terrifyingly easy to kill off clan Lavellan in war table missions, and even though this is the protagonist’s family the game doesn’t make a thing of it. There’s a whole side quest in DA2 about a serial killer who targets elves, and who keeps getting away with it because no one gives a shit. We are up to our eyeballs in codex entries on the treatment of elves.

And here we have Briala, the leader of a rebellion in Orlais – one of the nations best known for oppressing the fuck out of the elves and trying to destroy their culture.

Even without The Masked Empire this is:

a) providing only the most minimal description of the nature of her rebellion and what she hopes to achieve.

b)allowing her to be dismissed as primarily involved in a lovers’ tiff.

c) pairing her with a woman the game actually says massacred the Halamshiral elves.

d) using the massacre as evidence against her because she was sleeping with Celene, rather than as evidence against the woman who actually committed it.

That’s … all pretty shitty, even at the simplest level. The game doesn’t address any of this. It doesn’t even force the characters to discuss what happened before throwing them back together. It spends as much time tsking at Briala for destabilising Orlais as it does Celene and Gaspard. It loves the idea that they’re all as bad as each other – which allows the player to justify just about any ending.

And this is a thing they do repeatedly: they tsk at the mage rebellion as well. They seem to be very good at describing the sufferings of the elves, the mages, the casteless dwarves … but don’t approve of them actually doing anything about their oppression. At least not anything more forceful than writing a stern letter of complaint (for those lucky literate characters!) to the local lord or revered mother.

And so minimising the problems of Celene and Briala’s relationship, and waving a locket around (which, even out of context, does not seem like a forceful enough declaration of love to startle Briala) does … not strike me as very respectful of peoples who have suffered under empires, and who have had to fight tooth and nail for every sliver of justice.

It’s not that I want to exclude a healthy, positive romance between two women in order to have Awesome Revolutionary Briala. I just don’t understand why we couldn’t have both.

Couldn’t Briala show up with a new girlfriend? Do it properly: give her a codex entry and make her active and important in the quest. Show the two of them both being affectionate and working together for the cause. Make sure that at least some of the possible quest endings leave them alive, together and continuing to better the lot of the elves.

I can understand that you may not like The Masked Empire and may want to exclude it from your personal headcanon. That’s absolutely fine, obviously. But I do not believe that was Bioware’s intent in writing the the Briala-and-Celene reconciliation, and I still have serious issues with it.

#Anonymous #dragon age #dai #briala #empress celene #celene critical

[springwolf08]

“I cant wait for the day that civilization crumbles and all peoples are brought back to the roots of life. Focus on things that matter because the materialistic items are gone and all we have is ourselves. In humans' own desire to prosper and survive, we have put others beneath us like an unfair game of natural selection. We have tied ourselves down that we keep searching and searching for bigger things when what we really need is some sweet love and a slap in the face to realize that life was what we were looking for the whole time. Where suicide is linked to true inner struggle and not the malevolent nature of others. where wars and genocides don't exist because society's judgement cant exist without society. Where the people who die are the people who dont try, and the people who try are reward with life and all its positive attributes. Where value isnt assigned to paper and we can live and love and cry the way we please. Where we mind our own business because there is no mutual force of public interaction that we expect to occur. Where people stand up for themselves and punish as they see fit. Where people develop a better sense of what is right and what is wrong because they themselves are put through the throws of injustice. Humans were not made for this life. Humans where made for happiness and madness on a smaller scale: amongst themselves. Fighting each-other in large groups is pointless. Humans were made to survive, not dictate. We belong in nature amongst the chemical compounds that places us here. Humans might have high intelligence compared to other animals, but we clearly cannot handle what we've created. People are ridiculous to think that they are more than another species of animal, to think they are more than the grass they tread on either with their bare feet or the marching of followers behind them. How pathetic and childish people seem retreating to their cubicles or cars and wherever when their ancestors fought to survive and lives every moment for what it was worth while you wither away doing nothing. Your efforts for other people in turn for currency are pointless screams into the void of history. Live life the way it created you to god dammit.”

-GSW