My Pride Month post is the slight disappointment I feel when a Bloodymary fic has a section about Grace needing human company right before Simon is introduced.
I really want more writers to take to heart the movie commentary about Rocky adding waves and trees in Grace's biodome to make it feel more like Earth, but Grace doesn't need any of it, because all he needs is Rocky.
It's the difference between "oh, a human who loses the ability to have even brief contact with another human would be Different" versus "you cannot thrive without people who are Like You", and I feel like the whole premise of Project Hail Mary is specifically that that is untrue. Species membership =/= belonging, and Grace belongs with Rocky (and possibly Eridians) more than he did on Earth.
I feel like there would actually be More spice to Bloodymary as a ship if you have a Ryland Grace who is actually like, yeaaaahh I don't actually need another human around, but bonds with Simon-as-Simon and not Simon-the-human.
(SPECIFICALLY in the case of Simon who is not So human anymore, maybe, and who maybe wouldn't want a relationship that's about his shady humanity.)
This is inevitably about aroace-ness because a lot of Bloodymary romance fics are tagged with aroace Ryland Grace, which is Fine because that shit's a spectrum, but it hits bitter when there's a section that Does read as belittling Grace's relationship with Rocky because even though it is framed to be about human touch, it does ping as "platonic love is not enough" especially when you know that human touch is gonna be romantic.
Inevitably YMMV, but those are the thoughts I've thunk about it.
@sockdooe, I apologize in advance if you're as clueless as I am, but I genuinely want to know.
What is the L/K "queerbait" I keep seeing people complain about? Did something major happen between Lance and Keith in seasons Five and Six-- like, they leaned in toward each other as if they were going to kiss only for it to be a gag/fake out?
I watched five seasons of this cartoon and saw absolutely no hint of anything baity with those characters.
Though I do see the validity in claims that fans were baited by Adam's significance in the show being hyped up
only for his actual role to not amount to much more than another means of hurting Shiro, this, in my opinion, is the closest the show got to genuinely baiting its audience:
There's no reason to animate Keith moving in for a hug this way, other than to give the impression that he was about to kiss Shiro like he's the fairytale prince to Shiro's Sleeping Beauty.
Continuing to interpret two teenaged boys butting heads and competing with each other as "sexual tension", even after, from what I read, the voice actor for one of those boys confirmed that his character is exclusively attracted to women, does not count as legitimate queerbaiting.
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ the long and short of it: 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧, and this blog's main verse.
tw: mentions of character death, brief suicidal ideation.
he does not die at ostagar. he is scooped up by dragon flemeth just like alistair and the warden are and they’re taken to safety. cailan is intentionally kept separate on the edge of life and death as a bargaining chip once flemeth realizes that morrigan’s departure and her want of the grimoire & her death will be inevitable .
his status is revealed by flemeth during morrigan’s companion quest once the warden and companions arrive at her home in the wilds. if alistair is not present, he will die despite efforts to save him. if alistair is present in the party, alistair has the option to perform the joining on his older brother as the only warden alive in ferelden who knows the ritual as a last ditch effort to save the king’s life. whether or not the warden still kills flemeth is up to the warden.
if yes to conditions in #2, cailan survives the joining. jazz hands. cailan is now a grey warden.
if no to conditions in #2, cailan informs the warden of the location of his belongings at the ruins of ostagar, emphasizes that is imperative that they find the chest, and asks them to apologize to alistair and anora both. he does not elaborate before his passing.
after the joining, cailan’s physical appearance has changed somewhat. see the changes in this post. & this piece of commissioned fanart, though this does depict him some considerable time after the fifth blight.
additionally, cailan does cut his hair to aid in disguising himself at first glance (somewhat). most outside of the battle of ostagar, denerim, and the circle of fereldan nobility would not know cailan at first glance, as most did not attend his coronation and have only seen his countenance either at a distance or through the velvet cailan paintings (lmao), but the hair (if kept long) would be a giveaway.
upon the grand reveal of his presence at the landsmeet, he does openly acknowledge that he was a poor king and a poorer husband, and that anora always held the country together. it is there that he will abdicate and move to annul his marriage to support anora's bid as the sole sovereign. it is a deeply personal decision that he discusses with anora in advance.
after his abdication, cailan can accompany the warden-commander to amaranthine as a fully recognized warden recruit, or report to weisshaupt with alistair.
eventually, as years pass, cailan grows into himself, becomes a warden-commander (still toying with this), and eventually, first warden of the order of the grey.
important note: keep in mind that cailan’s motivations + demeanor are in flux and rapidly cycling during the events of origins; he has experienced several ego deaths in the span of months, almost died, is now a grey fucking warden, and is watching the aftermath of his poor calculations as king not only in battle but personally and politically unfold around him. he is fine one moment, and practically non-verbal the next. suicidal ideation is rampant in the beginning, especially around the assassination attempt by zevran. his feelings are complicated and contradictory. there is going to be some whiplash, and this will likely influence interactions.
if there is anything i am missing or that you have questions over, feel free to dm me! i promise i do not bite. 💛
prev - clearly i am also a guy who is a theronmancer at my core and i have also talked at length about how much i love romancing him and his relationships to potential love interests because guy who likes exploring characters through the lens of their romantic relationships.
and, it will never not drive me up the fucking wall that theron is as popular as he is because he's a love interest, and for the content of his romance route. and it will never not drive me up the wall the fanon characterization of him being stupid or unthinkingly reckless it makes me want to grab people by the shoulders and scream that theron shan is a man who makes a lot of insane decisions that look, on the surface, like carelessness, but are actually so intentional.
theron's got a fierce independent streak. he makes his choices based on what he thinks the right thing to do is, not necessarily the practical or safe thing. he's not the sort of person who will forsake or sacrifice others for the Greater Good. he doesn't compromise when it comes to other people.
theron has had to depend on himself for most of his life. he was raised by a guy who refused to ever see the person standing in front of him, only some legacy that theron was meant to live up to, or an obligation to a former pupil. no fucking wonder he's got attachment issues and is not a team player usually. but he can be, and he has been, even before we meet him.
and even though his background would completely understandably make him the kind of person that doesn't bond to others and prefers to go it alone, he does connect with people. very much so. he goes out of his way to help teff'ith - even when she really wishes he wouldn't - because he cares. he cares so deeply.
theron charges headlong into danger, not because he doesn't know the risks or thinks himself invincible, but because he believes someone's gotta, so he's going to.
i just. collapses to the floor. theron shan. theron shan if you can hear me, i love you.
if s/pn had been a little brave then castiel would have looked like straightotron 3000 for a season before starting to present more and more androgynous the more his connexion to heaven lessened
scenarios where lyonel " cowering like a maiden on her wedding night " and " kingsguard in their pretty white gowns " baratheon is emasculating and feminizing other men and asserting his own masculinity! he wears bright colours and rich fabrics and jewels and perfumes and he is indulgent and theatrical and sexually shameless and he perfectly contrasts that with the stereotypically hypermasculine image of manhood he embodies in the lists/in combat! he's loose and over the top with his relationship to gender and gender expression while adhering firmly to the toxic virtues and values of medieval europe's masculine ideal! varys once described renly and stannis as the silk glove and the iron gauntlet and that applies for lyonel baratheon as well. posts inspired by another post.
