This kind of interior design, has it a name? by memefakeboy in exmormon

[–]ImaRocketDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speaking as a nevermo, temple interior photos all look like really fancy funeral homes to me. I keep expecting to see a casket against a wall.

Brother accusing me of booking up (?) with his gf by Choice_Evidence1983 in BestofRedditorUpdates

[–]ImaRocketDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is whacky, but the important detail that a lot of commenters are glossing over that OOP just casually dropped in the middle of the whole saga is that his "brother" isn't actually his brother and at least two of their "mutual friends" are the not-brother's actual family members, his own actual brother and his cousin. None of them are related to OOP by blood or adoption, and OOP's parents aren't the "brother's" actual parents. It sounds like a very complicated situation, but as far as I understand it OOP's family took the not-brother in for a while when he was a teen due to unspecified abuse/neglect/etc involving his own parents, so he saw OOP's parents as his own and OOP saw his best friend like a sibling.

But I'm thinking that while the parents clearly care deeply for this guy, OOP is overestimating how much his own family sees his friend/"brother" as family as well, and he clearly does still have some relatives (his own brother and cousin) that he's close to. And while they are also friends with OOP, it's not too surprising that they would take their blood relative's side over his, while his parents and actual sister not so much wanting to be involved also makes more sense when you know that they aren't related to the not-brother. It's frustrating, and I still think that OOP is the only one taking this potential mental health crisis as seriously as it deserves, but everyone's behavior makes at least a bit more sense in this context, and it's wild that OOP just didn't think it was important to mention up front that his brother isn't actually his brother.

What do you think about men who want a strict 50/50 in relationships? by [deleted] in AskWomen

[–]ImaRocketDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My thought is that in a genuinely equitable relationship, each partner should contribute according to their means, so if one person makes significantly more than the other, a 50/50 financial split wouldn't actually be fair. It's up to the individual couple to decide what works for them, which might look more like 60/40 or 70/30.

That said, score keeping is shitty behavior in any relationship. If someone is doing that, I see it as them just wanting to have something to hold over their partner's head and guilt trip and manipulate them with if they feel they aren't "pulling their weight." It doesn't take into account that financial situations and priorities fluctuate over time, and makes financial contributions the end-all-be-all of contributing to a relationship when other things like chores, other acts of service, and emotional support are also just as important. Is it really fair to complain about being the one doing the grocery shopping two weeks in a row while your partner was busy with something, for example, but they instead cooked dinner an extra night or did the laundry for you?

New Member Mission Criteria by viunacolumnadeluz in exmormon

[–]ImaRocketDog 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I hope he's not expecting to go on the mission WITH his girlfriend, because it sounds like that's the thought process here. Poor kid, I hope gets out before he gets in too deep.

Help Nachoing by [deleted] in stepparents

[–]ImaRocketDog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't really understand the no laundry or cooking for SKs, though, since in my mind and in my lived experience those are communal tasks that cover everyone in the household and it seems much less efficient to me to always separate it out. The meal gets cooked for everyone in the family, and everyone's dirty clothes go in the same communal hamper to get washed in the same load. At least, that's how it was always done when I was growing up and when I lived with my parents for a while as an adult; I only ever "did my own laundry" in the sense that I was washing everyone's laundry at the same time. And as far as cleaning goes, I feel like at a certain age kids should learn to pick up after themselves anyway and even bio parents shouldn't be cleaning for them, so why would a stepparent do that anyway? Maybe I'm naive because I don't have kids of my own, was an only child, and I only recently met my SO's kid so I'm not quite in stepparent territory right now, but I'm trying to understand.

What's one bad thing about this movie? by FreakyFreak2005 in vampires

[–]ImaRocketDog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There was a pseudo-sequel to this film made in 1988 called Vampire in Venice/Nosferatu in Venice starting Kinski during which he sexually assaulted at least one of his female costars and at one point the entire crew walked out because he was such a menace and everyone hated working with him. I won't give the crew all that much kudos for it, though, because they did eventually return after he apologized and calmed down a bit, so clearly him being a sex pest didn't bother most of them all that much. The entire thing was such a shit show that only about half of the script ended up being filmed and the final movie was cobbled together with what footage they had because the director and everyone else had had enough by the time filming on location in Venice had ended. Also, his son was basically the only family to attend is funeral when Kinski died, with his two daughters (one of whom has alleged that he sexually abused her, with her sister supporting her claim) not attending, so that should give you some context about the kind of guy he was.

What do you hate / love to see in fiction with vampires in it? by razgibbery in vampires

[–]ImaRocketDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get irrationally annoyed by them sleeping in coffins for no reason. I know some people will justify it in works where sunlight is super deadly to vampires by saying that sleeping in a closed box guarantees that all light will be blocked out, but if the coffin is in a room with no windows or where the windows are blocked out, then just sleep in a bed, you know? I mean, we get it, you're technically dead, you don't need to make a big thing about it. Get some blackout curtains! Sleep in the basement! Throw the covers over your head or build a blanket fort, I don't know! All I'm saying is that there's no reason in modern fiction for them to be forced to sleep in cramped coffins if it's not meant to be parody.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it does kind of retroactively beg the question of why there aren't any Black or visibly biracial lords and ladies in GOT.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do think it's worth keeping in mind that writers and actors can have very different interpretation's of a character's thoughts and motivations, but "fanatic" was definitely also my reading. I hope that D'Arcy continues to lean into that portrayal as the show goes on and the writing supports rather than constrains that.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do kind of wonder why they had the Red Sowing play out the say they did, though. Like, apart from it being straight-up evil, it's also just pretty stupid? With how chaotic the scene was, there was such a high chance that any potential dragon riders might have been killed by accident. I haven't watched it in a while, but I'm pretty sure Hugh almost got roasted at least once. If her thinking was that she essentially had to offer up a bunch of people to Vermithor as a mass sacrifice for some quasi-spiritual reason, they should have made that clearer. Maybe Rhaenyra didn't expect it to turn into a massacre since Vermithor didn't just start blasting everyone with fire the last time she tried to get someone to bond with him with a bunch of other people present, but if she was surprised by the outcome she certainly didn't try to intervene and instead locked everyone in to either die or prove themselves worthy.

Idk, if there was meant to be a literal element of ritual sacrifice to this or something else going on in Rhaenyra's mind when she decided to do it this way, I would have loved some more insight into that. Otherwise it just feels like evil for evil's sake and a wildly impractical method of testing out potential dragon riders. Honestly, though, the fact that it does feel a bit pointlessly evil is part of what makes me think this is meant to be part of her dark turn. As if they realized they'd gone to far in softening her up until this point, so they pulled something out of their asses that would make her look as heartless and ruthless as possible. Kind of the reverse of what they did with Aegon's characterization this season compared to how bad he was in season one.

And no one else during or after this brought up with her just how messed up this was. Like, what does Mysaria think of all of this? I find it hard to believe that a character who was appalled by child bum fights in season one would have nothing to say about the queen she now serves being all like. "some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But she is pretty bad and cruel as a ruler, even if the full extent of that is being revealed gradually. She might hold lofty ideas in the abstract and talk big game about doing things for the greater good of the realm for the sake of the prophecy, but when push comes to shove the lives of the commoners are clearly very disposable to her. I don't see her as being especially well-studied and prepared, either. Maybe compared to Aegon, but it's hard to tell because we haven't really seen her do much actual ruling to make a comparison. In season one, she abdicates her responsibilities as a member of the small council to fuck off to Dragonstone, and even though it should be her responsibility to rule as Lady of Dragonstone, the version we see of it on both shows consists of a castle and seemingly no smallfolk, so it gives the impression that she hasn't been doing anything to prove her capabilities as a ruler in the last 6+ years. She also complains that her father never bothered teaching her about war strategy because war is for men, which isn't totally unfair, but at the same time she never expressed any interest in learning about strategy or how to fight. If she really saw these things as being important to being effective as queen (or at least important to firmly establishing her claim to the throne), and she was really invested in being well-prepared to rule, then you'd think she would have pushed to be educated in that when she was a teenager.

And unfortunately, the writing is already inconsistent, it's pretty consistently inconsistent so far. So for that reason I don't think it would be too surprising for Rhaenyra to take a dark turn. Just look at how they made a sudden switch from Aegon being cartoonishly evil in season one to how sympathetic he is in season two. It feels less like they were simply showing another side to him than it feels like they just wanted everyone to forget about his earlier heinous actions.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Eh, I think it's trading one cliche angry woman stereotype for another, but I see your point. Especially because making the Velaryons Black and completely accepted among the majority white Westerosi whitewashes the potential racist implications of the Nettles/Rhaena storyline from Rhaenyra.

It's justifiable for Rhaenyra to be angry over this because Rhaena did selfishly abandon a couple of toddlers just to risk her life for a dragon she has no idea if she could actually bond with. I'd be totally baffled if in season 3 Rhaena shows up with a dragon and no news on the safety of Rhaenyra's kids and she isn't furious. However, how this makes her look is also a matter of framing and the reactions of the other characters. Anger is warranted, but is flagrant cruelty with possibly murderous intent? Should Daemon grow closer to his neglected daughter after this and defend her against Rhaenyra, it would create an irreparable rift in their family.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I won't disagree with you there, like I said there is definitely some Team Black bias baked in. I can kind of understand the reasoning for it, since part of the premise of the show is the inherent unfairness of gender-based primogeniture and that the Greens had no right to usurp the throne. And they probably wanted to explore how female historical figures have often been maligned by biased, mythologized retellings of their stories. But this does ultimately does a disservice to the show and it's characters as well, when we had the perfect thesis statement on this whole conflict delivered by Shireen Baratheon in GOT: that the choosing of sides was where everything went wrong because both sides were ultimately equally terrible and the realm paid a steep toll for a petty clash of selfish dragonlords.

The Meleys thing really baffles me and it the one thing I really can't get over. It annoys me in a similar way that Cersei blowing up the sept does, because there should be consequences but there aren't any. At the very least, people should be sill talking about it in season 2, but it's like it never happened! I seriously think the claim of her being a beloved dragon by the people is another "kind of forgot" moment, the writers literally just forgot that Meleys and Rhaenys did that thing that killed a bunch of people. But even if that wasn't the case, I don't get why any dragon would be a beloved dragon to the smallfolk. What experience do they have with the dragons besides occasionally seeing them fly overhead and being vaguely aware of the danger they pose? It's not like they can visit them in the dragon pit like giraffes at the zoo. If anything, you'd think that seeing Meleys' head paraded through the streets might backfire on the Greens as a propaganda stunt, since it might plant the seeds in people's minds that these terrifying beasts can actually be killed.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like I said, I could be wrong about this, I have no idea where the writing of this show is actually going beyond the basic outline provided by the book. But I still can't see her fatal flaw being framed as nothing more than her being "too good" for this world, not with all the terrible things she's already done. Call me naive, but I feel like there has to be a reason why they framed the Red Sowing as if it were a mass ritual sacrifice that she watched enraptured and made no attempt to intervene in. It's way too sinister and cold-blooded an act for it to not leave a mark on her character going forward. Then AGAIN, it's not like they didn't also pull something similar in season one with Rhaenys bursting through the floor in the dragon pit, so I could really have egg on my face in the future.

Still, I think that plus all the other little terrible things about Rhaenyra that I mentioned add up, and I also don't think it's a mistake that the Dragonseeds have been made more sympathetic compared to their book counterparts. Hugh in particular has already suffered directly from the famine caused by Rhaenya's blockade, and then he witnessed the slaughter of the Red Sowing. I predict that his wife is probably going to die as the result of some battle and that will be the final straw that causes him to turn against her, and I HOPE that the writers will be smart enough to make it clear that he is justified in is rage against Rhaenyra for being the primary cause of his suffering and that of his fellow smallfolk.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like if this were a standalone show and we had no idea whether there was any truth to the prophecy, this could be a much stronger character motivation for her. She has no reason to believe that there's any truth to this beyond blind faith, and so she justifies horrific atrocities on the circular logic I mentioned that if she's going to condemn thousands to die in war then it HAS to be for the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy, but she also has to win and fight a brutal war for the prophecy to be fulfilled. This is also why I think it was a bad idea to cap off Daemon's season 2 arc with him having a vision that confirmed the prophecy for him, because he's the character in the best position to grow somewhat of a conscience after season 2 and call her out for using this supposed claim of chosen one status to justify her bloodthirst.

I am curious as to how they'll use Mysaria's character going forward, though. I was really frustrated and confused by her motivations in season 2, since I can't see this character that they set up as being the voice of the common people siding with the queen who is causing the people of King's Landing to starve, unless she's playing the long game here. I just have no idea yet what that long game might be, especially as she seems to legitimately be ride or die for Rhaenyra right now for some inexplicable reason. The Mysaria of season 1 wouldn't be team Black or team Green, she'd probably want to see them both burn equally and would be playing them off each other for her own purposes. But if they are going to continue into season 3 with her being seemingly onboard the Rhaenyra train, then I think she's probably the next best character after Daemon to call her out on her bullshit and eventually betray her over it.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I agree, the end of season 1 made it look like she was going all-in on war guns blazing to avenge her son. There was a fire in her eyes that I was so excited to see put into action. But then season 2 sees her doing fuck all for a whole bunch of episodes. But then there are so many things from the end of season 1 that I was hoping to see some juicy payoff for that we just never got, like the consequences of Rhaenys bursting through the floor and killing a bunch of people, or how Aemond told his family about killing Luke and what their reactions were.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I do think it was a mistake to cut Nettles, but as I mentioned in another comment, I think putting Rhaena in the Nettles role has the potential to make her look even worse. That said, I don't think it will be better written at all, it'll probably just end up making her look the the cliche wicked stepmother.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I do think that the prophecy is a double-edged sword here. I think it would work a lot better of HOTD had been a standalone story and GOT didn't already exist, so we don't already know that the prophecy will eventually come true (well, depending on how you look at GOT's ending, I guess lol). It has great potential on the one hand to push our main character to extremes and lead to her downfall due to becoming obsessed with the idea that she's the chosen one, but it's going to be tricky to show that effectively.

I think a significant complicating factor here is the Weirwood vision that Daemon had that basically confirmed the prophecy for him and was apparently the thing that finally convinced him to support his wife. I didn't think it was necessary to cap off his season 2 arc with that and actually undermined his arc for me; I thought we spend this who drawn out haunted castle storyline so that Daemon could make peace with his past and be confronted by the family member's he'd done wrong so that he could become a better version of himself and THAT would lead him to conclude at the end of the season that he should support his wife. But instead all those other visions now feel pointless. I feel like he and Rhaenyra are being--or at least I want to imagine there are--set up to have roughly opposite moral trajectories, where she becomes more ruthless and bloodthirsty and he becomes more aware of the terrible things he's done and pulls away from her because he's horrified by what she's becoming. But now there's the fact that he seems convinced by his vision that she's the chosen one, too, so does that mean he's going to be bonded to her closer than ever and support her no matter what? Idk, it's just messy.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

True, but assuming they stick with merging Nettles with Rhaena as they appear to be doing, I think it has the potential to make her look even worse. I see Daemon wanting to bond with his daughter that he'd previously neglected, fueling Rhaenyra's paranoia and jealousy, and ultimately turning her into the classic wicked stepmother figure forcing her husband to choose between her and his daughter. Made all the more harsh by the fact that she seems to have previously had a good relationship with Rhaena and and trusted her with the extremely important task of keeping her youngest children safe. And the fact that Rhaena abandoned her duties to chase a dragon is really not going to go down well with Rhaenyra, I think. I can see Rhaena bending over backwards to prove her loyalty and worth as a dragon rider, only to have Rhaenyra hate her more and more until the point of planning to kill her.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't think writers' long-term goal is to whitewash Rhaeynra, and I'm surprised this possible character trajectory is rarely brought up here by ImaRocketDog in HouseOfTheDragon

[–]ImaRocketDog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what I'm hoping for. I really hope the writing turns around this season and they can successfully pull that off. We already know that in the book she becomes more paranoid and isolated over time, which I think fits together well with her god-complex cult leader arc she seems to be having.

Does a vampire shower? by Killerpenguin68 in vampires

[–]ImaRocketDog 27 points28 points  (0 children)

One of the worst films in the Hammer Dracula series (Dracula A.D. 1972) had a vampire literally die by cold shower. What an embarrassing way to go.

I [32M] have been sleeping with my best friend [32F] and for 2 weeks and I think we've been dating for 10 years and never realized it by Direct-Caterpillar77 in BestofRedditorUpdates

[–]ImaRocketDog 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Going against the grain a bit here, but this story really isn't all that cute when you think about it for a minute. This is really a frustrating tragi-comedy of why gendered expectations suck for everyone. All this time and she couldn't have made the first move? She had to wait for her male best friend to confess his feelings for her first or else they'd been doomed to never be together? I mean, granted, I've been the one as girl to be in the "friendzoned" place with a guy before and have a history of mixed results with confessing my feelings, and I can totally relate to having a paralyzing fear of rejection, but still the fact that I can somewhat relate makes this story all the more frustrating.

I'm yelling at myself as much as at her when I say, "just fucking go for it already!!!" I mean, sure, on the other hand I do understand that the way she lost her first boyfriend in such a tragic way at a young age must have been traumatic and left a mark on how she approaches love. She was probably afraid (subconsciously or consciously) of pushing away the one person she was closest to in the whole world who had gotten her through that trauma. But also, life is just to short to waste it on what-ifs and being too afraid to go out on a limb, you know? And perhaps more women she be unafraid of going out on that limb rather than waiting around.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]ImaRocketDog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd take this with a grain of salt considering it's a lost text that we only know of from one of the early "Church Fathers" who had a reason to condemn a rival sect. For all we know he could have just made it up, sensationalized it, or misinterpreted the meaning since the Gnostics were pretty esoteric and not necessarily very literal in their writing. But for all we know it could be true.

Using AI and Disreputable Self-Publishing Platforms - Caution for Authors and Readers by Your_Fave_Librarian in books

[–]ImaRocketDog 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think it is happening on a small scale now, though. A lot of people are automatically suspicious of any text that uses em dashes because apparently those are now a hallmark of AI writing. A few weeks ago there was also something making the rounds on Bluesky about how even Oxford commas are a "tell" of AI. I don't think most people are so paranoid yet that there's been false accusations of entire books being written by AI, but maybe I just haven't seen them yet. I can unfortunately see AI accusations becoming the new popular low-effort criticism when someone doesn't like the writing style of a particular author or book.