Pinned
This blog unequivocally stands with the rape victims of October 7th and with the hostages who have since suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their captors.
Reblogged minisa-whent
hotd fandom getting mad at emma and olivia for expressing their opinions on the characters they play on interviews and hotd events where they are required to express their opinions on the characters they play
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22 year old Gazan anti-Hamas protestor Oday Nasser Al Rabay was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by Hamas last night.
There is no hope for peace and mutual prosperity while voices of dissent in Gaza end up murdered brutality.
Anyway, I wish a very fuck you to all the American college students complaining about how Khalil was “disappeared” for “peacefully protesting” and staying predictably silent as their favorite terrorist group disappears and murders a 22 year old protestor in Gaza.
this is a very important story, please read it:
Members of a prominent Gazan family in Deir al-Balah on Tuesday executed a man who they said was a Hamas operative responsible for the deadly shooting of one of their relatives earlier in the day.
The gunmen were members of the Abu Samra clan of central Gaza. They said they killed the Hamas member after he shot their relative Abdulrahman Sha’aban Abu Samra while he was waiting in line for flour in Deir al-Balah.
Members of the family said they managed to track down the Hamas operative responsible and brought him in front of the entrance of Deir al-Balah where several relatives opened fire.
Footage of the execution was shared widely on Palestinian social media and appeared to highlight growing fury with Hamas among Gaza civilians.
Gaza has dozens of powerful families like the Abu Samra family, who function as well-organized clans. Many do not have formal links to Hamas. They derive their power from controlling businesses and command the loyalty of hundreds or thousands of relatives. Each family has a leader, known as a mukhtar, or chieftain.
Some of the larger clans in Gaza are believed to be well-armed, and have a long history of clashing over rival interests, as well as with Hamas.
Last spring, a conflict arose between Hamas and the Doghmush clan, a powerful family in Gaza City, due to disputes over aid distribution and reports that the family was being contacted by Israel for a possible role in post-war government, an idea that Jerusalem floated at the time.
Hamas reportedly killed the leader of the clan, with reports on Arab media saying that he was “executed” in a family compound along with two others.
A wave of protests against Hamas has swept the Strip for the past week, with thousands participating cumulatively, revealing cracks in the iron grip that the terror group has over the Strip.
Participants have come under threat from Hamas and other Gaza terror groups, who have warned that they will be treated as collaborators with Israel.
A Hamas official commented on the wave of protests last week after a few days of silence from the group but insisted that the protests were directed against Israel and the ongoing war rather than against the terror group ruling the Strip.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told the Qatari channel Al-Araby that “demonstrations are expected from people facing extermination, against war and destruction.”
Despite multiple media reports, images, and videos from protests, as well as media interviews with Gazans to the contrary, Naim claimed the rallies are being misrepresented as criticizing Hamas’s de facto regime.
The terror group has violently cracked down on previous protests. However, this time, no outright intervention was apparent, which some saw as a sign of its waning power in the wake of Israel’s military campaign.
However, over the weekend, Hamas operatives kidnapped, tortured and executed a 22-year-old Palestinian man who participated in last week’s protests against the terror group, according to his family.
Oday Nasser Al Rabay’s body was left in front of his family’s home, and on Saturday, many dozens were filmed participating in his funeral procession, shouting, “Hamas out!”
Reblogged agentrouka-blog
video where a Gazan dissident explains he has heard he’s been issued a red classification and is “on the kill list” here:
he knows this is not an idle threat:
Reblogged jewishlivesmatter
I will just never ever ever get over the way the left went on and on about fighting Nazism and then immediately started championing a terrorist organization who's political platform is quite fucking literally "kill all the Jews."
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Several released hostages were interviewed for a @60minutes segment that aired tonight, including Yarden Bibas, Keith Seigel, and Tal Shoham, who shared their harrowing experiences in a bid to fight for the safe return of those still held hostage.
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I think the symbolism of the moths is pretty clear because both times Shauna sees them when shes being faced with that small, boring life shes so afraid of. When Melissas talking about how excited she is to go home and live a normal life, Shauna sees the moth for the first time. Shauna's dream of Jackie in the grocery store, with Jackie clearly older, dressed in pink and green. like on some level (even tho shes also acknowledged as dead) this is the Jackie who went to university and made a good life for herself, even if it wasnt something exceptional, vs the Shauna who never went anywhere, never went to Brown, never did the things she wanted to do. Shauna sees the moths gathering in a flurry, searching for the sun in a fluorescent light. Wrongly looking for life and purpose in this ugly, man made, dead-end version of the real thing.
This is how Shauna sees the other girls. The girls who want to leave. They aren't true yellowjackets, they aren't on her team, they're imposters. Like the imagery is a death hawk moth specifically. A moth that invades beehives and mimicks the bees so it can feed off their resources. This is how Shauna is going to begin to see the girls who want to leave. This girls who wont accept her as the "queen". They will become intruders, outsiders, and we've seen the way Shauna (and Lottie) feel about outsiders.
"He's not one of us," and "They don't belong," like Shauna and Lottie have already used 'othering' as a way to justify killing people. Now all that has to happen for them to start killing yellowjackets is an othering of them too. All it's going to take is one "you're not really one of us" and suddenly it'll be justifable to kill literally any of the girls just for the crime of threatening the status quo.
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merging my two obsessions to let you all know that the jersey number choices for jackieshauna are actually insane. Jackie being a number 9, the striker, forever the goalscorer, because of course she is. she's the name everyone remembers. the one everyone praises after a win. and then of course Shaunas a 6. defensive midfield. considered the silent position. usually one of the most technically and tactically gifted players, a number 6 will often be the best player on the field and yet go completely unnoticed because you have to know the game inside out to see how they silently pull the strings. imagine Shauna sitting back in the midfield for the set plays, almost never the goalscorer. like ofc one of the last things Shauna yelled at Jackie was that she doesn't even like soccer lmao like i dont really believe her but is it any wonder she said it? her very position on the field is a reminder of everything she isnt and Jackie is
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Since I’m on the topic of Corlys and Rhaenyra these days, it’s relevant to add Alicent to the equation here as well because she is Corlys’ narrative foil.
The space Alicent occupies in Team Green is juxtaposed with the space Corlys occupies in Team Black (I promise I’ll finish making the gifset of their similarities one day). Though Alicent works against Rhaenyra to achieve her goal, Corlys is willing to work alongside Rhaenyra.
I think the most notable difference between the two is that Alicent holds onto resentment in a way that proves self-destructive. Her antagonistic relationship with Rhaenyra trickles down into the next generation and even the one after that (eg. Alicent urging her granddaughter Jaehaera to kill Rhaenyra’s son Aegon). Contrast that with Corlys and it’s a very different story (eg. going out of his way to protect Aegon even after he’s had his falling out with his mother Rhaenyra).
Corlys also believes in adhering to all the same traditions and laws that Alicent likes to uphold. So while he may disapprove of Rhaenyra and is bound to have reservations about her bastard children, he is ultimately willing to put his own feelings on that aside in order to uphold peace in the family. He does not poison his own children against Rhaenyra and even comes to hold a certain affection for Rhaenyra’s children.
(Though Alicent works against Rhaenyra to achieve her goal, Corlys is willing to work alongside Rhaenyra.)
But if we're also being honest its because Corlys had something to gain from Rhaenyra's ascension and by extension- Jace's in time- both of his only grandchildren were betrothed to Rhaenyra's eldest sons. Whatever questions there might be about the boys' parentage, ultimately wouldn't matter because Velaryon blood would still sit the Iron & Driftmark throne through Baela and Rhaena. Both Corlys and Alicent had valid reasons for acting the way they do.
(I think the most notable difference between the two is that Alicent holds onto resentment in a way that proves self-destructive. Her antagonistic relationship with Rhaenyra trickles down into the next generation and even the one after that (eg. Alicent urging her granddaughter Jaehaera to kill Rhaenyra’s son Aegon).
I mean that's definitely true in the end I would say but her antagonistic relationship with Rhaenyra definitely wasn't one-sided because the text doesn't really give anything by her that shows us making any sort of efforts by her with her half-siblings. Viserys and Daemon definitely contributed to this, of course. Rhaenyra's father would have held the fact that if he wished he could undo her as heir at any moment over her head and Daemon hated Otto Hightower even before Alicent married Viserys and started having sons which notably as the text states - pushed him further and further down the succession.
Contrast that with Corlys and it’s a very different story (eg. going out of his way to protect Aegon even after he’s had his falling out with his mother Rhaenyra).
I mean.....are we also going to be honest about the fact that Aegon the Younger wasn't just some random kid, though? He's obviously going to have an invested interest in protecting the only male Targaryen apart from Aegon II and a Targaryen whose own heirs for some time would be Corlys' own grandddaughters. Furthermore, he would also become of Aegon III's regents and thus got to help rule the 7k the way his own wife -who had a much stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Rhaenyra ever did- never would.
Additionally, sparing Aegon II's life wasn't just enough for Corlys - in exchange he wanted Aegon betrothed to Jaehaera as his uncle's joint heirs, and more importantly, he wanted to save Baela's life. Therefore this does raise the question - if forced to choose between Aegon III and his own granddaughter, most people will choose their own.
(He does not poison his own children against Rhaenyra and even comes to hold a certain affection for Rhaenyra’s children.)
I mean going back to what I said, the antagonistic relationship definitely wasn't one-sided, though.
This also overlooks the fact that Alicent does try to reconcile things before its too late. She's the one who proposes the betrothal between Rhaenyra and Aegon, tying the two competing claims together.
Viserys of course shuts this down, arguing that Alicent only wants her blood on the throne. The way he talks ("the boy", "her own blood,") instead of something like ("our son") is arguably meant to demonstrate that Viserys did encourage some of his daughter's ill-will towards her siblings. It's not all down to Alicent.
And of course Viserys was right in part - but that's why she was married to him in the first place. There's no indication anywhere that the Hightowers were led to believe before the marriage - just like the Velaryons when they tried pushing for a Laena match - that Rhaenyra would still remain the heir.
The betrothal also shows that Alicent would have been willing to accept Rhaenyra's claim in the right circumstances. She was willing to accept her as queen regnant if her sons would also be Alicent's grandchildren. Marrying Aegon to Rhaenyra also would have protected him and by extension his own brothers.
In this I think Corlys and Alicent aren't that much different - when circumstances work against them, they are willing to be adaptable.
(So while he may disapprove of Rhaenyra and is bound to have reservations about her bastard children,)
I mean the lives of Alicent's own children/grandchildren are already a threat to Rhaenyra's claim, but the illegitimacy of her sons make it even worse. Rhaenyra has all the more reason to get rid of Alicent's sons abd something the fandom doesnt seem to understand is that she doesnt need a justification -ie them directly challenging her which is what Aegon II thinks will keep them safe if avoided - her sitting the Iron Throne will make it all the more easier for her to do so.
(he is ultimately willing to put his own feelings on that aside in order to uphold peace in the family.)
Except that we also see Alicent willing to do the same at several points, too. She's the one who raises the idea of a match between Aegon and Rhaenyra, which benefits both parties. She's the one who along with Helaena encourages her son to send peace terms to Rhaenyra which if accepted would have avoided the war.
She's the one who when Rhaenyra takes the city, proposes that a Great Council be called. She's the one who presents the idea of splitting the kingdoms.
Let us not forget that from Alicent's position, Rhaenyra is responsible for the brutal deaths of her grandsons, one of whom Alicent was a witness to, and for the current mental state of Helaena. But she is still willing to look past for the sake of solutions that could bring peace.
I definitely agree that Corlys and Alicent will have some similarities but I think this difference between them is ultimately because the circumstances allow Corlys to be in a way that Alicent never could. In another timeline, she could have just as easily been just as affectionate towards Rhaenyra and her boys.
Reblogged minisa-whent
Rhaenyra’s claim is weak and should be dismissed for the peace of the realm. She was named heir solely as a precaution to keep Daemon as far away from The Iron Throne as possible because he would be dangerous as a ruler. Now she’s married to him and her becoming Queen would mean Daemon becoming Prince/King Consort, the exact thing she was named heir in order to avoid happening. Rhaenyra being named heir was always meant as a placeholder in case Viserys died before having a son come of age. Even Viserys knew that but he backed out of replacing her because he was crippled with guilt over butchering Aemma in his pursuit of a son that when he got that son, he was too full of self-hatred to even love him. Viserys got all this “chosen one” shit in his head and put it in Rhaenyra’s head too but really it was all because of his emotions that he couldn’t make Aegon heir as he knew was planned when he married Alicent and had him.
(Obligatory, yes, it’s misogynistic that only male heirs are accepted - and its also unfair that one inbred melanin-deficient family holds absolute power by virtue of their birth while 99% of society has no say in anything. Its not fair that Smallfolk get crushed to death the second one of these white-haired narcissists wants to make a statement, and is starved by a blockade caused by one of the more powerful, privileged people in the world who has never once known what it feels like to worry about accessing food being angry she doesn’t have even more power and privilege. That’s the world of Westeros, and Rhaenyra becoming Queen wouldn’t make Westeros any more equal and fair for anyone but herself.)
Reblogged minisa-whent
Not show related, but adding tags just in case people don't wanna see any negativity I guess
So I just went to look at the new Funkos and are people for real pissed off about the knew Rhae Funko NOT being in the center of a promo photo while Alicent's is?
I'm sorry, how many Funkos of her ARE there at this point? Who does her not being in the center hurt?
Meanwhile we still don't and maybe never will have a Helaena pop, and while they did announce Aegon, that seemed like an afterthought since they announced him after people started getting angry there are new Funkos of the main 3, but literally none of him, and he's not in the announcement with photos, so...
LIKE MY DUDES
Haven't they got enough merch, how are they never happy? Why do they need to bring Alicent down even when she's just central in the damn Funko announcement ahhhh
I'd be over the moon if we got Hel Funko in a nightgown, WDYM they aren't happy with a tenth or whatever Funko of Rhae
Like I swear I just started hating Rhae a bit more, nothing, no amount of bad writing can make anyone hate a chacter as much as said character's unhinged fans
LIKE DAMN if y'all don't want that Funko, I'd happily trade for Hel in anything, just saying. But then they'd be complaining there's a Hel Funko, and not a new Rhae's one so... No matter how much HBO, Condal&Hess, merch companies and whatnot bend over backwards to cater to Rhae fans, they're never happy.
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almost three years since house of the dragon came out and i have NOT yet read one single intelligent take from people whose favorite character is… alicent hightower (including ryan condal and sara hess).
no offense if you like her character and you’re chill, but most of you are very delusional and constantly spew takes that set women back 50 years… like genuinely salivating about how stupid and victimized she is in the show.
she’s not “a closeted gay loser who yearns,” she’s written as a hypocritical abusive imbecile, who is the writers’ punching bag and also hogs the screentime.
nothing nuanced or complex about most of the characters, especially alicent, since the writers simply AREN’T GOOD.
you got 1-2 things right. she was the shows punching bag, and the shows writing IS subpar.
otherwise, tag your shit properly and stay the fuck out of her tag.
Reblogged minisa-whent
the bond between helaena and dreamfyre.
art by me, 5ish hours on procreate.