...

a blog. of stuff. my art doodles (art tag) -- EVERYTHING IS TAGGED BECAUSE I AM A COMPUSLIVE CATERGORISER(?) aka i over-use Xkit tag bundles and auto-tagger like no tomorrow -- note: side blog of rewind-replay-repeat

[ifyouknowmeirlgoaway]

SPOILERS FOR BUGONIA.

LIKE THE END AND ALL THAT.

The Andromedans are bad. They're colonists. They fucked up Earth and blamed humanity for it, and when their own attempts to "fix" it failed they killed all humans but claimed moral superiority for being sad about it.

Because okay, taking Michelle at her word for the history of the world, they arrived at Earth and found a place that they loved and was in harmony but they accidentally introduced a virus that killed off the dinosaurs. Which is a basic bitch mistake that humanity knows about and tries to prevent even when it comes to going to planets that might maybe have microscopic life. But do the Andromedans learn from their mistake, realize that their actions have consequences that they can't predict, and leave it be? Or at least try to exist alongside the current inhabitants?

No, they colonize Earth and create an intelligent species based off themselves that they then reign over as gods. Which clearly humans didn't like, because they created a version of themselves that could fight back. Unfortunately, that version was more aggressive (or so she says, because to a people who want to be worshipped anything but docility and servility is aggression) and lead to a nuclear war, erasing all evidence of what came before as well as the version of humanity that worshipped the Andromedans.

And the Andromedans still don't recognize that they're causing problems they don't know how to prevent and leave Earth alone. No, they come back and experiment on innocent people. They don't do it in a way that avoids the suffering of their test subjects and of their loved ones, and they certainly don't get any kind of informed consent. When it causes someone to act out violently, does Michelle consider her place in the system her people caused, if not created? Of course not, he's just an aggressive ape to her.

Then finally the Andromedans kill every human alive. The people in charge and their victims, adults and children, the people doing harm and the people trying to stop it. Everyone is dead. The Andromedans--and the audience--can pretend it's for the good of the Earth, but the Andromedans show no interest in actually protecting the Earth, we're just bringing in our own bias that the Earth would be better off without us. We're all just pretending along with the Andromedans that a species wide genocide is somehow beneficial.

Even if we disregard the history she gives, Michelle, as our biggest representative of the Andromedans, is an awful person. She doesn't take steps to ensure that her employees have a work-life balance--she just tells them that they should. She doesn't have policies to protect her workers, they get injured and can't report it for fear of retribution. She lives in luxury on their backs. She is callous to the suffering of the people hurt by the experiment. Even if she is trying to fit into the role of a CEO, she has the ability to be better and she's chooses not to be.

Michelle claims that humanity made her that way, but that just means the Andromedans are not so different than us. They have the same potential for evil. She can claim that she became something she didn't want to be because of humanity's influence, but we don't see true regret for her actions. She never considers that if she could be better in different circumstances, so could humans. And we don't see the other Andromedans push back against her. Nobody argues for more time for people to change, or for a different path. If she's not a representation of them, they let her make choices for them.

So yeah, I liked Bugonia because I really dislike stories where aliens are just better than humans, like it's some kind of fantasy that humans are uniquely fucked up. Bugonia's aliens are an evil, conquering empire and we only get to see their point of view because they annihilate anyone who disagrees.

[igoontotwinks]

sooo i came back from seeing bugonia for the second time about 3 hours ago and im still buzzing about it

but i really wanna delve into just how terrifying and tragic teddy is??? (also shoutout to jesse plemons you da goat)

SPOILERS FOR BUGONIA BELOW + TW FOR MENTIONS OF KIDNAPPING, SU*CIDE, VIOLENCE, MENTAL ILLNESS, AND SA

.

.

.

there's so much stuff going on with his character and you can't help but feel a bit sorry for him tbh;

his mom was in a coma until he injected that antifreeze in her iv drip which would eventually kill her

his dad was seemingly pretty awful and just vanished

he works a crappy warehouse job (and speaking as someone who used to work one, i definitely understand hating said job)

the only person close to him, his cousin and confidant, don d1ed and he never got the peace of knowing what truly happened and just thinks that michelle was behind it

AND piecing together the dialogue between him and casey, he was probably sa-ed or overall taken advantage of in some sort of way as a child

it really is just so tragic, because when he blames all of this on aliens, it's not even really too far from the truth (aside from casey f him frl) but it can also be read as a way of trying to cope with everything by blaming it on some sort of higher being

however, don't let that distract you from the fact that he is genuinely the most terrifying one in this film (imo anyway),, more so than the aliens themself

at first when he's setting out his plans and whatnot, you obviously know he's gonna kidnap michelle but there's still a sort of silliness and sincerity to his character, as shown through how he treats don (which I'm still debating on whether or not he was serious of just being pushy) and the fact that he's just seen doing funny things! the scene of him 'training' with don really reflects that when he's doing the high kick and is laughed at for it looking stupid

even down to the scene where he's trying to actively kidnap michelle, he keeps spraying a spray and just overall failing miserably, and you cant help but just laugh at it a little bit because damn he really sucks lol

this carries on into the first basement scene where he is talking to michelle and while getting pretty angry just keeps it pushing and him and don share a sort of cute-in-a-messed-up-way scene of the two jumping with joy over their kidnapping being a success and it's just like haha

however, what makes him interesting is that he has these silly scenes, a sad backstory, and a shift that gave me a bit of whiplash tbh

kidnapping a person seems to already show that teddy is a bit of a violent person, as well as him saying michelle should be glad he didnt "gut her" (crazy ik), but for the most part, he wasn't shown to really be doing much

or this is the case until the second basement scene, where (as per usual) things arent going to well

michelle is basically ragebaiting him and, like last time it worked, a lot

but what makes this scene different is that we see the first big portrayal of teddy outright having deep rooted hatred and violence inside, 1st when he starts banging the chair on the floor and against the wall before throwing it in michelle's direction (she luckily dodged) and finally striking her in the face

THIS was where teddy's true nature becomes apparent, showing that he really is a deeply traumatized, mentally unwell, and VIOLENT man, as opposed to just being the first two, which creates an air of tension for every scene he interacts with michelle in

michelle could literally say one wrong thing and he'll just explode

he's quite literally a ticking time bomb waiting to explode at any minute (pun intended ifykyk)

this is made worse when he decides to strap michelle to the chair and turn up the voltage all the way

although there is a slight hesitation before, he's genuinely so far gone that he's still willing to go through with this torture method

even with don begging him to stop

even with michelle screaming her lungs out (phenomenal acting btw)

he just keeps going and the only thing that really stopped him was don physically unplugging the power

(+ i feel like basket case by green day was an elite song choice)

after this, teddy seems to be so far gone in his way of thinking that he's actively becoming more aggressive and letting his calm facade fade

you can especially see it when he's saying that the plan to save earth by kidnapping michelle was all his work as if don didnt help him AND when don asks to go to the bathroom he's just like "stay here" and as an autistic girl, i just know all of the conflict don had to witness and be involved in was soul crushing

(+ when don first says sorry, teddy says 'dont apologize' but he eventually stops saying that)

BUT IT GETS WORSE

despite already being terrified of this man, the scene that really brought it home was him quite literally SPRINTING towards michelle across the table on all fours to begin to fight and try to kill her for speaking of his mother, because in this moment you really wonder if this is going to be it until the roles reverse, and i feel like this isn't just a simple 'haha michelle got u back' scene but also where the shift in power dynamics begin

throughout his life, teddy seems to just never have power over anything, and so when he captures michelle and can physically take out his anger on her, this gives him power over something for once

when he believes that capturing this alien will help him save earth, it gives him power over the way his life can go on, but also humanity

so when michelle takes power back from him and begins to fight back, it makes her dialogue of her being the winner and him being the loser all the more important

she represents the giant corporations so much through her fake care for her employees work-life balance and also with her seemingly not really providing many reparations for the condition of teddy's mother

when michelle starts fighting back, it (on a VERY meta level) seems to feel like a commentary on how even if you're on top for a while, capitalism and corporate greed will always prevail

(or maybe im reading too deep into this idk)

this flipped power dynamic is later pushed when a grieving teddy points his rifle at michelle, thinking she killed don, and michelle is able to save herself by providing a cure to a problem she essentially created (the cure to teddy's mom waking from the coma) by saying that teddy needs to give his mother antifreeze

now, back to teddy, who at this point in the film, is just completely over the edge

at this point in time, he had just killed casey (good riddance) for catching on and lost the closest person to him to this 'alien' and despite everything he still believes her words and is a babbling mess and even with all the chips down and everything pointing to him being the problem he's deflecting in a weak voice and blaming the alien scum, making things easier to process

like a child, basically

which feels like a reference to earlier in the film when he tells michelle how he isn't a child anymore, much like what an angsty teen would say to their mother

this childishness aspect of his character is further built on by the fact that michelle talks to him as though he is one and is now donning his mother's old gown, obviously he'd listen to her

as predicted the antifreeze, kills the mother and teddy has a new resolve, to kill michelle

as this is happening, michelle ventures through the basement and finds out the truth, with the truth being that she wasn't teddy's first victim, and that there were others

some taken photos of and kept in scrapbooks, paired with mad journal entries, and some who have been kept as wet specimens in jars

teddy returns to an enraged michelle and despite teddy being the one with the rifle, michelle is the one in power here

she monologues about how humans are ruining their planet and how her colony experimented on a handful of humans hoping to make them better

one of them including teddy's mother

this scene blew me away upon watching because it shows just how domineering michelle truly is, using her ceo prowess (if thats even real) and doesn't try to be cordial towards him anymore, with her asking him

"how many were andromedons"

to which he replies "2"

which i feel like is where things get serious, because if michelle was just a random ceo, then why would these dead people make her truly so enraged? was it her humanity speaking, or something else?

to keep things short, crazy stuff happens, michelle IS an alien and decides to pull the plug on humanity, and oh yeah, teddy has a bomb strapped to his chest which goes off (tying back to that ticking time bomb comparison)

back to teddy, because this jusy turned into a plot summary

what starts off as a bit of a wacky character, delves into showing the true psyche of a man who is not just deeply disturbed but also insanely violent and what makes him so interesting is that for every scene he's in, not only did i flinch, but he's also just so unpredictable and wild that you really just are always guessing how much worse it can get, and this is made even worse when the only anchor he really had (don) dies, he gets so extreme to the point where he's willing to ride around on a bike in broad daylight with blood splattered across him and straps a bomb to his chest, on the WHIM that michelle might try something funny with him only for him to be right

teddy was essentially right

michelle was the alien sent to destroy humanity that he was so worried about and in a grand attempt to change fate for the better, his declining mental health and violent tendencies only ended up making things worse and dooming humanity, when michelle returns to the council and makes the decision to pull the plug on humanity

oh teddy they could never make me form an opinion on you....

[ifyouknowmeirlgoaway]

I feel so dumb for just now connecting the theme of bees and colony collapse with the events of Bugonia.

Because the whole colony collapse disorder thing had me a little bit rolling my eyes. Not because I don't care about bees and their place in the environment, but because, like Michelle said, people want to have one enemy doing one evil thing, and the real problem is actually so many problems that we can't fight by banning a few chemicals and blaming a few CEOs. It's not a big conspiracy, it's how our societies are structured. So I wasn't thinking about why it was included in the movie because I don't like engaging with conspiracy theories designed to give comfort.

But really, humans are the bees. Michelle says she likes bees because they're industrious little workers, all doing their jobs without complaint* (I wish I remembered this part better, but that was the gist of it). And Teddy explains colony collapse disorder as the bees abandoning their queen and dying out because of it. Which fits so well with the Andromedans creating humans as servants and subjects, and then humans turning on them because they're not just mindless workers. And not just historically, Teddy kidnapping Michelle is another example of it. He is in so many ways her worker bee. Literally, he works for her, but also his mother was a test subject in a test that she couldn't have consented to, because to Michelle her consent doesn't matter. When he turns on her, it's like the bees turning on their queen.

But like how the conspiracy about colony collapse makes a complex situation simple for comfort, Michelle makes humanity and her kidnapping simple. Humans are flawed because they made themselves flawed, and they can't be fixed because they broke themselves too much, so they need to be eradicated. That's simple and comforting. But Michelle ignores that the Andromedans killed off the dinosaurs, created humanity, created the situation where humanity felt the need to make themselves stronger and more aggressive. She ignores that she personally created the situation where Teddy felt like he needed to kidnap and torture her to protect the people and the planet he cares about. He wouldn't have done it had she not turned his mother into a test subject, and likely wouldn't have done it had she treated him better after putting his mother in a coma. She and the Andromedans are no better than humans, she just gets to pretend that they are because she killed off everyone who would disagree.

What a fucking great movie.

[frazzledrazzled]

The Truman Show must've been so boring if you were in the wrong timezone. All the Americans would be like "wow look at his day to day activities" and the Australians just get a live feed of Truman sleeping.

The memes woulda been like "when you tune into The Truman Show but he's just sleeping again:

Like???? Imagine waking up the next morning and finding out you slept through Truman escaping

[usersitcom]

Shrinking (2023-present) Happiness Mission (S03E02)

[jackabbot]

SHRINKING 3.01 • My Bad

[jackabbot]

SHRINKING 3.02 • Happiness Mission

[laurelindorenan]

A funny moment in creative writing class today:

Someone's story involved Character A believing Character B was terminally ill. In their initial draft, Character B deceived Character A – but that results in Character B coming across as super twisted, which doesn't really fit the vibe of the story. We discussed alternate possibilities and I said "You know, it's actually plausible that Character A could think that Character B was terminally ill without any deception required. In fact, my fiance thought I was terminally ill for several weeks at the beginning of our relationship."

It was like a bomb went off at the class. Everything exploded. The professor collapsed in his chair and laughed so hard that he cried for a long time. I got bombarded with a million questions. The professor could only get the class back on track by intentionally avoiding looking at me for rest of the class because he was in danger of hysterically laughing again at any minute. No one left after class ended because once the bell rang I was called upon to give the full story.

[greater-than-the-sword]

Well now you have to give us some explanation of how that happened

[laurelindorenan]

It's been nearly 3 years since I've told the story on my blog (and even then, I think it was in the tags of some other post?) so I might as well.

Spring of 2023, my fiance and I were going on super casual dates. Emphasis on super casual, because most of the time they were like grocery store trips with dinner attached, and I thought they were platonic hangouts. I hadn't had so much as a crush by that point, so I was pretty clueless.

He was totally in love with me though and just playing it cool, because the guys at our school have an unfortunate reputation of practically proposing marriage on the first date (which kills the chance to organically get to know a person) and because he knew I would be easily spooked (unfortunately true).

After we went on a hike together (I invited the whole friend group, but only he came), I realized we were becoming good friends. On the ride back, right as he was dropping me off in front of my dorm, I told something that I told my good friends: I have a chronic illness called fibromyalgia. He was very quiet. I said goodbye and got out of the car and we didn't speak of it again.

From then on, I was pretty open about my chronic illness. I made a billion jokes about it and such. He always got weird and quiet when I did. I was sad about that. "Great," I thought, "yet another person who is weirded out by my health issues. I hoped he would be better than that."

Once I started suspecting that he was in love with me, I used that as evidence to gaslight myself into believing that we were just friends, because clearly he was too freaked out by my crazy illness to be in love with me, right?

But then he started hardcore pursuing me and asking me to hang out with him in some small way every single day, and in general being very kind and thoughtful and caring for me in every mundane way he could.

Then, several weeks later, he confessed his love. The story of the events leading up to that love confession are also very funny (involving migraines and an impassioned rant about Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy) but I will not bog this narrative down with the details. The next day, we had a good old-fashioned DTR. I told him I reciprocated his feelings and then, because I was still bothered by how weird he got whenever I brought up my chronic illness, I said "Oh, by the way, I'm super open with talking about my fibromyalgia, so feel free to ask me any questions if you're curious about how it works!"

He said, very earnestly, "Are you dying?".

Rewind to the day we went on that hike. I say I have a chronic illness. He completely misses what it's called (I guess "fibromyalgia" doesn't stick in the brain) and just hears chronic illness. I was the first chronically ill person he had met before and the wires got crossed in his mind and he mistook it for terminal illness. He didn't want to ask, though, because he assumed it was a very sensitive matter.

A couple days later, he overheard me have a conversation with another chronically ill friend about death and suffering and Christian hope. In that conversation, I said (quoting Sarah Sparks) "you know, with this chronic illness, every day I'm learning how to die."

He took that as confirmation of his suspicions: I was dying. He told no one. He just bore that silently for weeks. When I made jokes about my terminal illness, he thought I was being very brave, but did not have the heart to joke along with me.

Fast forward back to the DTR conversation. After I find this out, I laugh in his face for like ten minutes (poor guy). I ask follow-up questions, like

Q: How did you cope with the fact I was dying?

A: I just decided I wanted to spend as much time with you as I can, for the time I had left, and then when the time came I'd cross that bridge when I get there.

Q: When did you think I was dying?

A: Well, I figured there was no way you would move to [UNGLAMOROUS COLLEGE TOWN] in your last year of life, so I figured you had like...five years, maybe?

He was so matter-of-fact about it. After I stopped laughing, I was deeply moved. Here I was, thinking that this guy was freaked out by my chronic illness, when all along he was quietly preparing to weather my terminal illness with me for the rest of my life.

A week later, in a follow-up conversation, I asked, "So is the reason why you've been so kind to me was because you thought I was dying?" and he replied, "Nope! My behavior was not conditional. I wasn't kind to you because you could die. I was kind to you because I could die at any time, and I want to be like Jesus in whatever time I have left."

Anyway, that pretty much convinced me I had to marry him and now, in a little over six weeks, I'm going to get that taken care of.

[shastafirecracker]

eridian children in Grace’s class interested but slightly disappointed to learn that much earth life is bilaterally symmetrical with even numbers of limbs

Grace going “oh!! But!” and teaching them about starfish, to their absolute delight

new eridian schoolchild trend of starfishing aka flopping flat down with all legs out and moving by wiggling and squirming around, giggling. parents hooting at Grace in despair. why did you teach them this

[asparklethatisblue]

Human Grace finds out that Eridian Grace grows and gets heavier very fast

[altorinaart]

«A Patchwork of Hope» 👎

[woodsywarbler]

you know those videos of tortoises getting brushed? yeah

[lesbiansforboromir]

Alright, I was holding off for journalistic integrity but now that I've seen the WotR film I can make posts about it without restraint.

Jesus christ the racial politics of this film are atrocious. Some character might as well just tell Wulf 'not to play the race card'. Wulf is a liberal snowflake who blames racism for all his troubles and can't pull himself up by his bootstraps and he is also brown-skinned and obsessively pursues our PORCLAIN white dainty-drawn female protagonist with both romantic and murderous intent. Oppression of dunlendings by the Rohirrim exists only in Wulf's head apparently, though it can be tasted in every spat 'dunlending' perjorative that comes from Helm or Haleth's mouth. But Hera has absolutely no racism within her of course! She refuses Wulf because she doesnt want to marry anyone and Wulf just assumes it's because his dunlending blood disgusts her, so entitled of him!

But also maybe the racism is '''justified'''? If it exists? Which it doesn't! But IF it did, don't worry because ONCE AGAIN all the dunlendings are just greedy, clutching, unwashed, skull wearing, violent barbarians with no unique culture to speak of and no reasons to be making war on Rohan except to sieze what isn't theirs (ignoring the fact that it totally was theirs until Rohan seized it from them and OH BOY are we ignorin' that) And the only dunlending we see not frothing at the mouth for violence or showing any introspective depth at all is General Targg who is the mouthpiece with which we get to hear 'the girl (Hera) is right' whereupon he is promptly killed by Wulf.

Oh but of course, what else could Helm have done? Freca was some greedy FAT man (boy does everyone love calling him fat, happy to lean into THAT aspect of canon) whose lands were too prosperous for his own good (hang on isn't keeping your lands prosperous the platonic ideal of lordship?) And he called a 'Witan' (no he didn't, he came to one of the regular councils of lords that Helm called himself) just to make a scene about how Helm was going to marry Hera to a lord of gondor which is bad because Gondor has some nebulous hold over Rohan so Hera should marry Wulf instead (literally none of that, Freca simply asked Helm to wed his daughter to Wulf, his son, a completely normal and legitimate political strategy to secure a better relationship with the King's family since Helm already mistrusted him for having dunlending blood. Freca is a lord of Rohan, he is rich, he traces his ancestry back to King Freawine, this could not be a more reasonable suggestion in canon.)

SO OBVIOUSLY Helm had to get angry and call Freca fat again (true he did do that) and THEN claim that Freca only wanted his throne (there was never any suggestion of this in the books, it was just the offer of marriage which insulted Helm) to which Freca answered "Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on their knees," and Helm is like okay lets take this outside.

And now THIS change is actually so important in understanding the extreme nature of the Rohir/Helm favouritism that is the main focus of this film. In the film Helm pretty much immediately takes Freca outside, he reassures Frealaf that Freca just needs to be shown his place, this is the only way to settle the matter, if he doesn't embarass him here then Freca will try to take his crown and slay his family apparently, his hunch ig etc etc. Freca punches Helm three times in full view of the whole of Edoras including Freca's two men who came with him, then Helm punches him back and he is knocked out cold and dead by the time he hits the ground. Film!Helm does not realise he has done this and tells Freca to get up, Wulf realises his father is dead and threatens Helm with revenge, swords are draw against him which he tries to calm before Wulf attacks him. Helm incapacitates Wulf, his sons draw THEIR swords and Helm exiles Wulf for drawing his sword on his king. Messy right? Like not a good thing to do, generally brawling with your lords is a bad idea full stop, but if you fear for the lives of your children then idk maybe it's excusable? And then it's just an unfortunate series of events right? And Freca was rude and insulting to a king in his own halls, heat of the moment etc etc

I feel so comfortable in telling you that Helm murders Freca in cold blood in the books, fully intending that to be the outcome.

He does not take him outside initially, Book!Helm tells Freca that this marriage dispute isn't important and they will deal with it later. And then;

When the council was over, Helm stood up and laid his great hand on Freca’s shoulder, saying: "The king does not permit brawls in his house, but men are freer outside"; and he forced Freca to walk before him out from Edoras into the field. To Freca’s men that came up he said: "Be off ! We need no hearers. We are going to speak of a private matter alone. Go and talk to my men!" And they looked and saw that the king’s men and his friends far outnumbered them, and they drew back. "Now, Dunlending," said the king, "you have only Helm to deal with, alone and unarmed. But you have said much already, and it is my turn to speak. Freca, your folly has grown with your belly. You talk of a staff! If Helm dislikes a crooked staff that is thrust on him, he breaks it. So!" With that he smote Freca such a blow with his fist that he fell back stunned, and died soon after. Helm then proclaimed Freca’s son and near kin the king’s enemies; and they fled, for at once Helm sent many men riding to the west marches.

(Appendices, 'The House of Eorl', emphasis mine)

I think we can all agree that forcing someone out of your city, isolating them away from their fellows with threats of violence, telling them you will break them, killing them in one blow and then proclaiming their kin your enemies and forcing them to flee to escape a murderous pursuit, is pretty clearly premeditated murder. There is not much nuance here, Freca tresspassed over a line with Helm that Dunlendings are not allowed to cross and Helm killed him for it.

And listen like, the description of this whole story within the appendices is barely more than three pages. This is not an obscure missable aspect of the tale, nor is it outside of what rights they had to adapt. The choice was made, actively, ONCE AGAIN by the Warner Bros cinematic universe makers, to drastically alter book events in order to sand down any immorality within Rohan's narrative, especially where the Dunlendings are concerned. And in the end the only 'mistake' Helm is allowed to learn and grow from is some nebulous and trite 'not believing enough in his daughter' schpiel, which needs to be the subject of a whole 'nother post actually.

And what's agonising is they COULD have done it like they were so close, there are multiple moments where me and my friend watching were like struck!! With grief! Over how impactful this moment could have been if only the racism actually existed as an acknowledged theme in the story. If only it was something Hera had to come to terms with, if only IT was the true driver of these horrors to the point where it's Avatar, Hera's father, a man who loves her and whom she has loved all her life, turns into a cold icey ghost of brutality, far more vicious and barbaric than the people he so reviles, and reveals to her the terrible truth of his actions and motivations. It's agony I tell you.

Anyway I did not like the film.

[detectiveperspectives]

what was wulf on about when he said “I knew you’d be the end of me when we first met” or whatever. you met as children. you were like six. what do you mean you knew she would be your downfall. why were you thinking that. you were in middle earth kindergarten

[mhevarujta]

Having finally watched Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, Héra was a genuinely good protagonist.

She was courageous and perceptive. She didn't take lives lightly. She loved her family dearly and she valued her friendship with Wulf more than he ever did. I particularly enjoyed her scenes with Háma and Fréaláf and wish we had gotten more of them.

I LOVED that she is aroace coded and that she doesn't want to rule. I feel that so many female characters are written as not wanting marriage until they find the right man, but those who don't want it at all are still not represented enough and I loved that Héra had other aspirations and wanted freedom.

I also adored the gothic element of her story. Finding a moth-eaten dress of a bride who died the night before her marriage and choosing to wear that to face Wulf was such a slap on the face to him and a symbol of Héra pledging herself to death for her people.

[starshadeemilyart]

Wulf son of Freca

Help why is the pathetic wet racoon man so hot

[melandrops]

the aroace read of ryland grace is so personal and haunting. "you don't even have a dog." was it not enough to love the world for the sake of living in it. was it not enough to live for the thrill of discovery. was it not enough to smile at your students. was it not enough to be afraid.