#HE ALSO REMINDS ME OF SOREN

[wormmilker]

if we don't see the funny needle man again I'm burning down the entirety of serbia (I FUCKING LOVE HIM HE'S SO UNHINGED AND AND AND SO FUCKING WEIRD HE'S SUCH A FREAK)

#tmagp #HE ALSO REMINDS ME OF SOREN #also hes soo he'll use me for his needle show coded #tma #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #tmagp episode 6 #tmagp needles

[kradogsrats]

Schrödinger's King in the Bird Box

Time for a return to the single topic that most torments me in this entire franchise canon: is Harrow in the goddamn bird or not?

Except not really. I'm not going to go over the evidence again. I've done it before. Almost everyone has done it before. It has only gotten stronger. At the absolute minimum, an attempt was made to put Harrow in the bird. That's not really disputable. I admit it. It's over.

This is actually the second time that I've struggled with narrative cognitive dissonance regarding a real core factor of this show (like not "what's the deal with Archdragon reproduction," but something that is clearly supposed to be thought about with the intent that it will eventually make sense), and eventually managed to rotate it so hard in my mind that the way I wanted to see it slipped out of my grasp and I saw it the way it's actually intended. Ironically, I think I may have been thinking about the Ocean arcanum at the time.

Anyway, what previously always bothered me about this question was mainly two things:

It would have a devastating impact on Ezran's character development if Harrow reappeared during s1-s3, but the timeskip and arc of s4-s5 made it so it would also be deeply weird for him to reappear before the show ends.

If Harrow is in Pip's body, both Viren and Pip's subsequent behavior, as well as how Pip is treated by the narrative on a meta level, make absolutely no fucking sense.

But... if Viren doesn't know whether the spell was successful or not? If we are meant to not know whether the spell was successful or not, because it's not going to get resolved in the show itself?

If we accept that the earliest point with any chance of the hooks for this plot being set is late s7—because yes, Aaron Ehasz would do an exact beat-for-beat repeat of Zuko and his mom—that both puts Ezran far enough in his growth for it not to be threatened by the "real" king returning, and keeps Harrow out of the loop for long enough that it doesn't really make sense for him to do anything but step down from the throne in favor of Ezran, anyway. As for Viren and Pip's behavior, if the show isn't going to advance that plot much further during its runtime, there's no reason for us to be constantly reminded of it. The setup has been made, and they can just let it stew because it's not actually relevant.

That being said, Viren's behavior actually does make a lot of sense if "is Harrow in the goddamn bird or not" is a question that is also tormenting him. To that end, I'll be doing some digging here on the nature and context of the body-switching spell, Pip/Harrow's behavior post-swap, and what the hell is going on in the Harrow section of Viren's dark magic dream.

The Spell is Made Up (Unlike All Those Real Spells)

First of all, I think there's been some long-term incorrect assumptions made about the body-switching spell. It's not a known spell: this is Claudia and Viren essentially flying by the seat of their pants... but we rarely stop to think about how that contextualizes the rest of the discussion around it.

The initial plan is to find the assassins and ambush them before nightfall. As Soren points out and Viren himself confirms: if they fail, the assassins will be unstoppable under the full moon and Harrow is as good as dead. Claudia decides to put her mind to that problem, so naturally she stops to flirt with Callum in the library and gets the inspiration for the spell from something he says.

(Fun fact: none of that happens in the novelization. Zero amount.)

She brings the idea to Viren, and they develop the spell from there. It's not really clear if Claudia actually knows whether something like that would be possible, but Viren does know that transferring the essence of a person can be done—he's got a nice little coin collection that proves it.

As for the snake, there's no way Viren "acquired" a two-headed soulfang serpent because he has a book somewhere on how to use a rare, malformed specimen of a dangerous Xadian creature to switch people between bodies. He probably thought "that's weird, but could be useful," or maybe whoever sold it to him just had a great sales pitch. A non-trivial amount of success at dark magic is in having access to rarer and more powerful reagents than your competition.

Anyway, what this means is that Viren has absolutely no idea what success looks like for this spell, particularly when using it on subjects of different species. When he describes it to Harrow, he is 110% talking out of his ass. He sounds like he knows exactly what the spell will do and how, and I think a lot of us kind of fell for that. He needs to sound confident, because if he admitted that he doesn't know if it will even work, with a possible failure condition of "snake eats your soul," well... a) Harrow rightfully wouldn't go for it, and b) he'd look incompetent, which is the worst thing ever.

When he goes to Harrow's room, he casts the spell... but did it work? I think that whatever it did, it did it in a way that Viren can't tell whether it worked or not. Maybe both Harrow and Pip passed out. Maybe Viren just didn't want to hang around for the aftermath—in the novelization, when he exits the room and runs into Callum, his eyes are still black from spellcasting.

Activities of Dr. Pip Harrow, Ph.D.

Probably the thing that has always bothered me the most about the entire Harrow-Pip theory is that yes, literally everything in the lead-up and immediate aftermath of the assassination points to that being exactly what happened... and then the narrative lens of the show completely drops the rope. Pip doesn't even appear in the novelization until Viren's pre-coronation scene, which is funny given his looming presence over half the scenes with Harrow in the show.

Pip appears exactly twice after the assassination—once in s1 and once in s2—otherwise he goes completely ignored. He's not in the background of Viren's office, or the throne room, or Harrow's bedroom. No one ever mentions him ever again. Ezran never mentions him again, in the show or in any supplementary materials. You'd think the boy who can talk to animals might have some interest in his dead dad's beloved pet... but who knows, maybe Pip has always been an asshole and Ezran's actually like "thank goodness I never have to speak to that dude again."

Anyway, in all of Pip's appearances, he behaves like... a bird. A trained bird—Harrow can rely on him not just fucking off—but he doesn't demonstrate human-like intelligence the way Bait does. That being said, Bait is essentially a main-cast character (at least as much as, say, Corvus... maybe even Soren) while Pip is a plot device, and even then it takes until well into the first arc for Bait to show the kind of complex reasoning and initiative that separates him from an unusually smart dog. Pip's human is also a stressed-out king, rather than a rambunctious ten-year-old, so he's probably a bit more sedate overall. I would personally bet, given the way the show has progressed with regard to Xadian creatures, that Pip is as intelligent as Bait.

The point of that is: even if Harrow's consciousness is occupying Pip's body, he's not really doing anything with it. He's pissy, sure:

But is that Harrow's pissy-ness or Pip's? Even if Pip is only as intelligent as a trainable bird, that's plenty intelligent enough for both grieving/confusion that their human is gone and holding a grudge against obvious assholes. Viren cages him, but is that because he flipped out and got bite-y? And was it Harrow flipping out, or Pip? Or is he caged just because Viren's of the general attitude that animals belong in cages? Those who fail tests of love... We just don't know.

A lot of us also, to circle back to assumptions about the spell, have tended to think of a body swap between Harrow and Pip resulting in Harrow flailing his arms around wildly and screeching... but again, we know literally nothing about this spell, nor do we actually know anything about Harrow's behavior after Viren leaves his room. Maybe his body sat catatonic on the bed until Runaan came in and shot him. Maybe Pip, being intelligent, was able to maintain the facade—once everyone's in the heat of battle, it would be hard to notice even significant deviations from normal behavior. Even if "Harrow" appeared to fight only halfheartedly, or give up entirely... well, he hasn't been the same since he lost Sarai. Maybe the spell only partially worked, and only half of his soul is inside Pip, with minimal or no influence over the bird body's behavior.

Viren does appear to take some precautions in case Harrow is alive inside Pip. The cage, for one... but he also has nearly all subsequent important conversations outside of his office. Like I said earlier, Pip's cage isn't rendered in the background of any scene, but since he escapes from Viren's office I'm assuming that's where he's been. Even if Pip was just out of frame in every scene in Viren's office post-assassination through end of s2, the only things he's seen are... Viren eating butterflies, and the conversation between Viren and Claudia about the mirror and her side mission to bring the egg back at all costs. He doesn't know about Soren's instructions to murder the boys. He knows about the mirror and Viren's obsession with it (which he could have known before), but he doesn't know about Aaravos. He may know that Viren stole his seal but only if Viren was stupid enough to stamp the letters with it in front of him (which... look, he could be). The only things he's really learned are that a) his sons are alive, and b) Viren lied to him and the egg is alive.

Now, realistically, if we were meant to hang on to the is-Harrow-in-the-bird plot thread because it's going to be significant within the scope of the show... I'd be expecting to see at least one cut to Pip glowering at some point during all these machinations. If it weren't for the mirror and Aaravos, I'd expect Viren to be yelling all his monologuing at Pip, too. But the show does none of that. Instead, the next time we see Pip, we see him peace-ing out of the show for at minimum the next three seasons, and possibly the remaining two, as well. If Harrow's in there... why? Did he go to find Callum and Ezran himself? It's not actually clear that he knows Ezran can understand animals, so it would be reasonable for him to think Viren is his only chance at ever not being a bird again. Maybe he thinks that chance is gone with Viren's arrest and would rather not spend the rest of his life in a cage. Maybe he really isn't in control of the body.

Back to Viren, though: since Pip refuses to demonstrate any behavior that could be taken as distinctly Harrow's, Viren actually has no idea at any point whether Harrow's in there or not. He doesn't know if Harrow lived. He doesn't know if he succeeded or failed. It's a constant reminder that he's almost, but not quite, in control. Almost, but not quite, good enough to achieve what he wants.

It probably drives him absolutely insane.

Did You Think You Were Somehow Getting Out of This Without Me Mentioning Kpp'Ar?

Just kidding, it's finally time to talk about Viren's dream. We've gone two entire seasons and a two-year timeskip without any mention of Harrow or Pip (though those maniacs dropped the fucking snake basket on us as an incidental but obvious prop early in s4), and then suddenly we get punched in the face by Viren's subconscious.

First, though, I do actually need to point something out in the scene with Kpp'Ar. Bear with me, I promise this is relevant.

Viren sealed Kpp'Ar's soul in a coin 12-ish years ago, and the coin has been sitting collecting dust in his secret dungeon for... some amount of that time. Now he opens the door and finds Kpp'Ar standing there, free—and I will note that I don't believe Viren actually knows how to free people from the coins, or whether it can even be done. His reaction is surprise, followed by suspicion and wariness:

When he encounters Harrow—dead—his reaction is horrified shock, which is fair since the last time he entered the room that way there was no surprise body chilling out waiting for him in it:

Then, when Harrow speaks to him, suddenly alive and unharmed, he drops straight into relief:

Some of this is undoubtedly due to the differences between Viren's relationship with Kpp'Ar and his relationship with Harrow. With Kpp'Ar, after that initial moment of confusion, he's absolutely determined to not show a single hint of ignorance or weakness—this is a trick, or a test, and a passing grade in "light verbal sparring with the mentor you're pretty sure you remember betraying" is a thing that is both normal to want and possible to achieve. For Harrow, who he wants so desperately to call him brother, who he walked into this very room ready to die for, before everything went horribly awry—he not only immediately and willingly goes to his knees, he literally prostrates himself.

... I'll give everyone a moment to get all the innuendo and suggestiveness out of their systems, because that's not the point. This time.

What is the point is that Viren's reaction to Harrow isn't disbelief, but relief. Hope. Kpp'Ar is supposed to be in a coin, and Viren immediately questions how he got out. Harrow is supposed to be dead but Viren doesn't give a second thought to how he's not. Fortunately, Harrow helpfully explains:

Fun fact: back in s1, we don't actually see Viren actually taking action against the assassins. We don't even see evidence that he re-entered the room at all—it's only Soren and Claudia who participate in Runaan's capture.

I haven't actually touched a lot on the complex shit going on for Viren, emotionally, throughout all of this—I mentioned it's was probably driving Viren insane over the course of the first two seasons, but let me elaborate. If Viren successfully switched Harrow and Pip, that means Harrow survived... but he expressed his feelings on the proposal in no uncertain terms, and there's a good chance he will literally never forgive Viren. I don't think Viren thought far enough ahead to consider how to get Harrow into a human body again, but I do think he's dragging his feet on it a little because if he can work things to his advantage—unite the Pentarchy against Xadia and follow through on the war Harrow was avoiding—he'll prove to Harrow that he was right all along. Any chance of that flies out the window with Pip at the end of s2.

If the body-switching spell failed, it means Viren essentially killed Harrow himself. That's the reality I think he grows more and more resigned to over the course of s1 and s2, when Pip remains unresponsive. He had no choice but to take the best chance at saving someone he loved—but this time, instead of saving Harrow, he murdered him.

In the dream, Harrow has not only survived, but credits Viren with his survival. He doesn't just dismiss Viren's show of remorse, but makes his own apology to Viren. He calls Viren brother. After an impossibly long nightmare, everything is okay. All is forgiven. Maybe there was nothing to forgive, in the first place. Maybe Viren was right all along.

Then it all turns sinister with the callback to the coin incantation, and we have a sharp return to reality:

The cinematography here treats Pip a lot more like how I would expect him to be treated in s1/s2 if we were meant to know he was actually Harrow. There's focus actually on him, instead of just other characters' reaction to him. He "speaks"—as I noted in another post—in raspy sounds very unlike his songbird chirps from s1. This is absolutely Harrow as Viren actually left him—even if he's not dead, he's in a warped prison of dark magic, a perverse mockery of himself.

Oh wait.

Harrow-who-is-both-human-and-alive was never an option, and what we've got now is mirror images of Harrow-the-dead-human and Harrow-the-live-bird, and they're going to do to Viren what he did to them.

Now, it's not that none of this makes sense if Viren knows for sure that Harrow is in the bird... but it makes a lot less sense and has less emotional resonance. If Viren knows Harrow survived as Pip, he'd be more likely to question Harrow's human form than his survival—the way he does with Kpp'Ar. He might be more guarded, expecting hostility—which, I will note, is what he gets when Pip enters the scene. Instead, because until now he believed that he actually killed Harrow in his attempt to save him, he's so relieved to see Harrow alive that for that one moment he loses all pride and is ready to beg for forgiveness at Harrow's feet.

Since legitimately none of this makes sense if Viren didn't at least attempt to put Harrow in the bird, we're left with Harrow maybe or maybe not alive, Viren having maybe or maybe not been the one to actually kill him (gonna be a fun one with the Runaan context), and a plotline that is definitely not going to be resolved in the remaining two seasons of the show. I'd be kind of surprised if they even did any more setup for it (like Callum/Ezran finding out it's a possibility, or even a hint drop like Runaan being all "it was fucking weird, he just sat there" or something) outside of future supplemental media.

Conclusion

Either Harrow is alive and in the bird, with the future intent being to do a spinoff story The Search-style, or we're in for a huge bummer of a "actually, it was Viren all along who killed Harrow, therefore Runaan is a good guy and we can all be one happy family" pile of absolute bullshit. Yes, they said Harrow's dead. Harrow's body is dead, we knew that all along. There's a note in the artbook that Viren was actually going to rip the shroud off at Harrow's funeral in order to publicly prove it's his body, because that is an extremely normal thing to do.

The show just treats it extremely weirdly because, even as the only person with any chance of knowing, Viren is in the same uncertain boat as the rest of us. (Actually more uncertain than the rest of us, since he's not genre-aware.) Also it's another chance to torment Viren emotionally, and they'd never pass that up.

Thanks for coming to my absolutely ridiculous TED Talk on this topic, I hope this screenshot now does as much psychic damage to you as it does to me:

#the dragon prince #viren #harrow #pip #for once i was wrong... but now i'm right #oh my god this is so long i'm so sorry

[nonbinaryspy]

Meta: Timerra and Tellius

Timerra’s (belated) birthday gives me an excuse to talk about one of my favorite Engage topics: the parallels between her and various Tellius characters.

(Spoilers for FE9/10 and FE17.)

The obvious place to start is Ike. As Timerra’s personal Emblem, his build and paralogue in Engage focus on turning defense into offense to endure and protect others. This synergizes with Timerra’s Sandstorm ability as well as her priorities as Solm’s future queen.

Compared to other Emblem summonings in the game, the scene where Ike is summoned is quick and to-the-point. The Solm royals are highly competent, with a wide spy network, and already had a plan in place for when Alear shows up. They have a healthy wariness they don’t immediately display, as they welcome Alear with open arms while secretly testing if they are the true Divine Dragon. By the time Timerra meets Alear, their identity has been confirmed and bandits are already attacking, so she jumps straight into action to get Ike’s help and protect the village.

I’m sure Ike would approve of her no-nonsense approach and her focus on keeping people safe, especially after all of his own bandit fights. He has no patience for bureaucracy or noble trappings, but he understands the need for discretion when danger and politics are involved (see: his own ‘sometimes you have to fool your allies’ maneuver in RD part 2), so I think he would appreciate how the Solm royals handle this.

But you don’t have to take my word for that. Between Timerra and Seforia saying they always wanted to meet him, Timerra calling him family, Ike telling Fogado that Solm castle reminded him of being with the mercenaries, and his first Somniel dialogue saying that he already misses Solm, I think it’s safe to say there’s a lot of natural fondness between Ike and the Solm royals. Is there any wonder, when one of Solm’s main norms is accepting people regardless of their origins, possibly Ike’s defining ideal?

My favorite example of this is when Alear’s origins are revealed, and Timerra and Fogado have some of the most affirming reactions:

[ID: Four screencaps with the following dialogue toward Alear: Timerra: What matters to me isn’t how you were born. It’s what you do with the life you’re given. Timerra: If you choose to live as a Divine Dragon, then that’s what you are! Timerra: Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned. The you that’s in front of me—that’s all I need. Fogado: The people of Solm don’t care about origins. We care about the you NOW. And you are amazing.]

This aspect of Timerra shines throughout her supports, most notably in her relationships with Merrin and Panette. Their love and loyalty toward her stems from a time before they even knew she was a princess. They both see her as a beacon in their lives, as they wished to escape the confines of their pasts and find new futures for themselves. Timerra saw them for their ideal versions of themselves—Merrin as a chivalrous knight, Panette as someone who isn’t caught in a destructive cycle—rather than the situations they came from. Her acceptance helped them create those realities for themselves.

Anyway, unrelated to the above, just a completely random pair of images that don’t make me cry at all:

[ID: In a screencap from Engage, Timerra is saying, “No matter what’s happened, you’re still you. Let’s go save the world, Ike!” In a screencap from Path of Radiance, Ike is telling Soren, “No. It doesn’t change anything. You’re still you, Soren!”]

Another example is Timerra’s attitude toward Veyle. In the main plot, she’s one of the few main characters to express distrust toward Veyle even after the truth is revealed. However, once Veyle has proven herself as an ally, Timerra is extremely friendly toward her in their supports, with Veyle appreciating how Timerra treats her like any other friend rather than a Fell Dragon’s daughter. Again, this is reminiscent of Ike’s blend of skepticism and treating everyone the same.

I think it’s also interesting that Timerra struggles with conflicting desires for freedom vs. connection, as shown in her S support. Despite Ike’s love for people, he doesn’t always deal well with the responsibilities and expectations that get placed on him, and his ending shows he shares some of her wanderlust.

Timerra: When we connect with people─you know, really bond with them─those bonds make us stronger. Timerra: I mean, our closest allies help us do things we could never do all by ourselves. Timerra: That’s powerful stuff. But those bonds─those friendships─can feel like obligations too.

Finally, one of my favorite parallels between Ike and Timerra is a shared charm point: the fact that they live as they please, regardless of what others think, while also acting like everything they do is super obvious. An extremely ‘have your cake and eat it too’ mentality that I can only respect. 

Alear: Still, you never cease to amaze. You take it upon yourself to help root out bandits… Timerra: What, is that not normal? Timerra: I’m just protecting my people. I thought that’s what royalty was supposed to do. Alear: You say something completely radical like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Timerra: Hahaha! That’s my charm!

Ranulf: Well…a little crazy, yeah! I’ve never worked for a leader who’s as blunt and straightforward as you. It’s pretty shocking to have a commander who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, no matter how powerful they are. Ike: Well, that’s just my style. I don’t have to be like someone else, do I? Ranulf: Why are you so confident? I don’t get it. Normal beorc just do what people tell them and try not to make a fuss. But not you. I heard you even yelled at the apostle! Ike: Yeah, that wasn’t my brightest moment. Ranulf: Then again, worrying about a beorc like this is definitely not normal laguz behavior. I guess I’m a fish out of water myself… Wait, did I just call myself a fish? Ike: Wha–? Ha ha! You’re a cat, remember!? I thought you ate fish. Ha ha ha!

Okay, that last bit isn’t relevant, but I just want to highlight that while Timerra and Fogado talk about how serious Ike is compared to them, they would definitely enjoy his secret love of bad puns. Here’s a bit of Timerra’s own sardonic humor that brings Ike to mind:

Alear: What?! How do you eat that much?! Timerra: Oh, you know. Open my mouth, bite, chew. I won’t bore you with all the details.

Of course I have to mention their love of meat, even if I don’t find that to be an important part of Ike’s character. What I will say is that Ike is shown in his supports with Oscar to have a genuine appreciation for artful cooking, so I think it’s neat that Timerra is one of the best cooks in the army. It’s also endearing that she feels bad for cooking around Ike when he can’t eat, though he tells Fogado the smell is enough.

Next, I want to talk about a couple of characters who aren’t in Engage: Mist and Elincia. I adore that the focus on Timerra protecting Ike flips his dynamic with both of these ladies on its head. Speaking of protection…I believe that Mist and Ike’s relationship mirrors Timerra and Fogado’s, with their fond, casual banter. It makes sense, since both duos are close in age.

Interestingly, despite Timerra being Fogado’s older sister, he is as protective of her as Ike is toward Mist. In Fogado’s case, he seems to almost see himself as Timerra’s retainer, given that he will one day be her advisor. He travels around to prepare himself for this role. Timerra, however, doesn’t always like this, as she wishes they could hang out more and that he would be more candid with her. While they’re clearly close, the distance still leaves her lonely.

Though it’s a different situation, Greil’s death puts Ike in the role of Mist’s protector at the same time that he gains dangerous responsibilities. He also takes it upon himself to get revenge on their father’s killer. She stresses that she does not want him to do these things if it means she’ll lose him, too, and as the game goes on, they lose some of the lighthearted dynamic they had at the game’s start. Having already lost her parents, it’s easy to assume Mist feels lonely in this circumstance. She even has her own protective streak toward Ike, such as in her battle conversations with the Black Knight and Ashnard. Like Timerra, Mist wants to stay close to her loved ones and protect them, and she joins the fighting to that end, even learning swordplay despite being a healer.

Despite their troubles, Mist and Timerra share a bubbly personality. They tend toward optimism and try to hide their cares them. Their sunniness gets them and others through tough situations. However, those around them still want to be able to support them even when struggle with being vulnerable.

In my opinion, some of Mist’s designs evoke Timerra’s, such as in the colors and flowing accessories. While the clothes aren’t super similar, I think the two of them would definitely enjoy going clothes shopping together. I also think they’d like to sing together. Timerra’s silly songs may be a far cry from the galdr that Mist and Elena safeguard, but that would suit Mist just fine.  

Possibly my favorite character to compare Timerra to, though, is Elincia. Timerra’s bangs and the fact that her hair is tied up even follow in the character design traditions of Elincia and other characters in her archetype, such as Nyna and Guinevere. Granted, Timerra’s ponytail is a lot looser than those other characters, which is an excellent design choice as she has a much more free-spirited personality.

Still, Elincia once upon a time was not so different. She grew up in secret, frolicking in the countryside with no expectation of becoming queen. As a result, she did many things most princesses didn’t do, such as chores, horseback riding, and sword fighting. It’s commented many times that due to cultural differences as well as Timerra’s own personality, her lifestyle and activities are often at odds with what others expect from a princess. While their allies might find both princesses strange at times, they end up trusting and supporting them due to their approachable natures.

Elincia is shown to have a playful streak in PoR when she is reunited with her retainers, around whom she feels comfortable enough to drop her more stately personality. On the flip side, while Timerra is more frequently playful, she never forgets her role. Even her more casual supports show this, such as when she susses out Ivy’s weakness during a camping trip, or interrupts a training session with Diamant to ask if he believes peace is possible. Many of her exploration quotes show this as well, with her referencing the other nations’ politics and even in her response if her allies die.

“My brother, my stewards…gone. It’s so cruel. But as the future queen, I will not crumble!”

Elincia and Timerra’s upbringings contrast with each other, since Timerra has always known she would be queen. Her free-spirited nature stems from Solm’s ideals and the role of its government. After Daein invades, Elincia has to travel incognito, giving her a chance to learn about the world. She develops a strong desire to protect her people. The endpoint of her character development in PoR is where Timerra is already at when we are introduced to her—Timerra has been training and traveling incognito and is ready to defend her country. Regardless of where they start, Elincia’s compassion and resolve are reflected in Timerra, who only wants to make her people happy and believes the best way to do that is to get to know them, so she can better understand and protect them.

The games’ plots present challenges that test both characters’ resolve. While Elincia has to make a variety of decisions, the one I want to highlight comes at the end of RD part 2, when Lucia is taken hostage. Elincia is told that Lucia will die unless she gives up the throne to a usurper. However, she refuses. Despite the sacrifice of someone dear to her, she will never give up on protecting Crimea. In the end, both Lucia and Crimea are safe, but it has nonetheless been demonstrated what Elincia would do under that pressure.  

I thought of this when I got to one of my favorite moments in Engage, when Timerra and co. have to take back the palace from the Elusians. Hortensia holds her mother hostage, assuming Timerra will bend and hand over the Emblem rings. However, doing so would doom Solm along with the rest of the world. Timerra refuses to back down, and she saves her family along with her country.

[ID: Five screencaps alternating between RD and Engage. Elincia and Timerra look resolved, while Lucia and Seforia as hostages look on proudly. Elincia: But I will see Crimea through this trial. I will give my people the future they deserve, no matter the cost. Timerra: So threaten us all you want. Take my whole family hostage, if it makes you happy. Timerra: But I stand for Solm, and I always will. Lucia: People of Crimea... Behold a true queen! YOUR queen! Long live Queen Elincia! Seforia: There she is, the future queen of Solm. And her ally, the Divine Dragon.]

Back to characters who are in Engage: the other Tellius Emblems. As with Elincia, Micaiah is presented with a series of trolley problems throughout RD. There’s a big focus in the Tellius games on making decisions for personal vs. political reasons, and whether to prioritize a loved one/a situation that is right in front of you over the bigger picture, and I think this is most complex with Micaiah’s story. This is highlighted when Sothe is held hostage and she is told to stand down to save him. This recalls the situation I already discussed with Timerra.

Like Timerra, Micaiah is a tactical thinker who has to foresee long-term plans as well as use strategic approaches in situations where she’s outnumbered. Micaiah ends RD as Daein’s queen, despite not being brought up for that role and having traveled in disguise, getting to know and love Daein’s people. Again, this fits with Timerra traveling around incognito and being passionate about protecting Solm.

Timerra expresses that Solm didn’t reach out for help when Sombron returned because they’d have to return other nations’ support when it was taking all of their efforts just to keep Solm safe. This brings to mind Micaiah’s conflicts, as she has to make difficult decisions to protect Daein from Begnion’s occupation and the blood pact, which sometimes involves rejecting outside help when a situation is too complicated, such as in her 3-13 battle talk with Ike.

Unfortunately, Emblem bond supports don’t have the scope for these sorts of complexities. However, I was tickled by the fact that Timerra invites Micaiah to sing with her, as a reference again to the Galdrs.

Speaking of bond supports…I don’t have anything deep to say about Timerra and Soren, but just look at how precious they are:

[ID: Two Emblem Bond screencaps. Soren is bowing with his hand over his heart, and he and Timerra are smiling at each other. Soren: You’re the princess of Solm, is that right? I thank you for protecting Ike. Timerra: He’s told me so much about you. I expect big things from you, talented advisor!]

Her careful approach to protecting Ike’s ring won the trust of someone with deep trust issues and a protective streak toward Ike, aww. They’re friends in my files every time. It’s also sweet that she wants to understand him and Ike better by learning about the mercenaries. I know she loves her moodier Emblem pals, but I’m sure she’d feel right at home with the whole rambunctious crew, like how Ike felt at home in Solm.

While this post is long enough without going into depth on Yunaka, as Micaiah’s guardian she also has a combination of Tellius influences, between her obvious parallels to Yune and Sothe as well as some of the themes of Micaiah’s character. Micaiah’s introduction, with her calling out to Yunaka, even mirrors Micaiah hearing Yune’s voice. For these reasons, I really wish she and Timerra had talked. I think Timerra’s simultaneous hidden wariness and acceptance of people regardless of their backgrounds would definitely play well with Yunaka’s arc. Fogado, as someone who shares Timerra’s ideals, certainly had a positive influence on Yunaka in their supports with his compassion. Plus, can you imagine the silly phrases Timerra and Yunaka would invent together?

I’ll end this before it strays too far from the main point, but I hope someone else enjoys these observations! Timerra is my favorite Engage character, and since Tellius is so dear to me, noticing these connections definitely made her character even more special.

#fire emblem #fe17 #fe: engage #tellius #path of radiance #radiant dawn #timerra #timerra fire emblem #ike fire emblem #elincia ridell crimea #mist fire emblem #micaiah #soren fire emblem #yunaka #fogado #fe9 #fe10 #fire emblem engage

[yanderu-deredere]

could you please write something about a darling worried about being too clingy? boyfriends always ask me to loosen up, that i need to give them room to breathe, that im too clingy often. id w9nder how your ocs would deal with a darling that has decided that this relationship will be different! even though she wants to be clingy, she tries her best not to!

a/n: another grouped up thing LOL! if you want more specific ones, send the request again and i'd be happy to rewrite it! thank youu for the request!

also, this request is Big Mood™ and i relate so so much to this. anon, i want you to know that you're not clingy. you're not too much. and you should never settle for someone who doesn't enjoy being around you, okay? there will be someone out there that will love you in all your wonderful gorgeous clinginess.

you belong to them and, last they checked, they weren't telling you to doubt yourself, were they? if you ever come to them with your concerns or they ever notice you pulling away, they'll address it immediately. in their minds, they own your entire being and, if they haven't told you anything about hating how you act, you should use your pretty little brain to worry about other things. plus, they'd like a clingier darling anyway because it shows how dedicated you are to them and it reminds them that you really are all theirs.

liam, fujio, ayaka, mel, ryouta

awww, poor baby. they'd definitely reassure you that it's fine, that they prefer their darling to be clingy. if you ever give them room to breathe, they'll just pull you back in. they don't want space! they want you all over them 24/7! and, of course, anyone who told you that you were too much suddenly disappear. but that's not something you should be concerned with! what you should be concerned with is them; paying attention to them, being glued to them, always being near them. that's what they want and they'll make sure you never forget it

gavin, ryuu, soren, casimir

what? clingy? you haven't been clingy at all! in fact, they'd tell you that you're not clingy enough! they'd be a bit shy to tell you but they'll steel their voice and try their hardest to come off confident and sure. they want to reassure you that they love you, that you're theirs and they're yours and there's nothing in the world they'd love more than for you to lower your walls for them. they want you to treat their relationship like home. they want you to be comfortable, happy, safe, warm. their love for you is unconditional, darling, so be as clingy as you want, okay?

gawain, yeong-bae, eun-jeong, emm, isamu

Yeah, bitch, you are clingy and it is annoying. Is that what you want him to say? Shut the fuck up! If he thought you were too clingy, he would've told you! Don't fucking thing he's some passive aggressive asshole that would imply things instead of just being straight with you. He loves you for you, in all of your entirety, and he'll literally be so pissed off if you even think about holding something about you back, no matter how small you think it is. And, anyway, he's the clingier one of the two of you so he doesn't know what the fuck you're talking about.

leonard

#yandere oc x reader #yandere x reader #oc x reader #yandere #male yandere #male oc #female oc #female yandere #male werewolf x reader #werewolf x reader #werewolf oc x reader #drabbles #liam #gavin #eunjeong #ayaka #ryuu #fujio #gawain #ryouta #yeongbae #soren #emm #casimir #isamu #leonard #melchior

[silverpelt3600]

(Halo 2x4 spoilers)

ALRIGHT NOW, this is a stream of thoughts and was typed as I watched so this is a little incoherent.

- First of all, new intro??!?&??!! His helmet slowly covering his face while he looks at the camera?!!?! THE HALO IN SPACE?!?!!??!

- John tackling the invisible covenant was sick af, and taking him out without armor was even better (I love him he’s so awesome)

- The scene with the woman in the shop is such a good reminder of the time difference between the events of Halo and today. Puts it in perspective tbh. Also her refusal to leave was reminding me so much of the woman in the glassed planet at the start of this season. Harder to leave someone behind when it’s in your own city.

- Okay everything going on just in those like 10 seconds of seeing Cortana again was insane. Like WHAT

- Okay the part where everyone is in the bunker, the Corporal is such a good character to help humanize the situation more, especially when placed next to John. The contrast is crazy. Also “the suits are gone”, um, sorry, excuse me? This has been so stressful without anyone in their armor and now they straight up don’t get it??? Just give me a heart attack and knock me out now. And the “you were right” was SOOO satisfying. HE TOLD YALL SO!

- Watching John’s face during the speech to the marines breaks my heart. Seeing him truly take in the amount of lives in that room, and then when he got called up? Not to speak but just to let them see him??? Whole scene damn near made me cry.

- Lmao Soren “Small business owner” my ass.

- the moment I saw the gas come out from the fuel line disconnecting made my heart drop. Knew exactly what was gonna happen :(

- John fighting the covenant like a badass? GRABBING THE SWORD?? MAKEE???!? VANNAK???!? Forever cursing that they didn’t have their suits >:(

- And then the episode just ends because the writers are mean! What the hell! D:

The amount of liked characters dead at the end of this is hurts my feelings, and I am personally offended. Good episode tho 10/10

#halo #halo tv show #thoughts #john 117 #master chief #i deserve financial compensation #the writers knew what they were doing #the writers are fake ass bitches with no sympathy

[raayllum]

And of course even when Soren tries to cheer Rayla up by including her in the protective task he's been given, it only works temporarily. She wants to protect her friends and hates that she can't be out there right now just because of her 'dumb' fear.

It also really reminds me of the framing in 2x01 with a similar sad look away

#raylangst #dragons liveblogs #5x09 #also makes me wonder when soren learned she was afraid of water #cause i don't get the sense he knew pre s5 but he seems to know before this ep #cause he doesn't seem Surprised

[enbyleighlines]

TW for mentions of disordered eating

I imagine that Soren has a rather complicated relationship with food. I mean,

He nearly starved to death as a child, after eating all the food in the old mage’s house.

While living in the streets, it’s likely that Soren had to scrounge for scraps, meaning that he really could not afford to be picky.

His first memory with Ike involved Ike giving him a sandwich, which was also the first time Soren can recall anyone showing him any kindness.

Oscar mentions in his support with Ike that Soren “doesn’t like anything” in regards to food, and

In Engage, Soren mentions that there’s no particular food he likes, nor any particular food he dislikes, and also that it’s unwise to be picky during a war.

All of this suggests, to me, that Soren’s relationship to the food is (at least on the surface) very utilitarian. He refuses to be picky, and while he will eat anything, he does not exhibit any sense of enjoyment while eating (at least, not that Oscar can see). To him, food serves the singular function of keeping him alive.

Yet I cannot help but wonder if there is something more than that.

This is all conjecture, but I think it would be fitting if Soren actually enjoyed food quite a lot, nearly enough to compete with his foodie boyfriend. Only, Soren has some hang-up’s in regard to expressing this.

I imagine that, once he first got access to regular meals, it took him a while to get out of the habits he learned while he lived on the streets. For example, not eating food as quickly as physically possible.

He probably had to be taught to slow down, to not eat too much in one sitting.

So it’s my headcanon that, while Soren does enjoy eating nearly as much as Ike, he is also hyper-conscious of the way he eats. He might force himself to eat slowly, to take small portions, for fear of being seen as too greedy. And so eating in front of others can be stressful, because he’s so focused on what others might perceive.

Which would explain why Oscar thinks that Soren doesn’t actually enjoy eating.

But, to end on a fluffier note, I like to think that, when it’s just Soren and Ike eating together, Soren feels comfortable enough not to worry about how fast or how much he eats. After all, Soren really can’t compare to Ike, whose stomach might as well be a bottomless pit.

Additionally, Ike probably catches on that Soren eats more when it’s just the two of them, so when he notices Soren taking small portions, he makes sure to take extra for himself, and subtly sneak bits of food onto Soren’s plate when he thinks no one is looking. Of course, Ike really isn’t all that subtle, so people do notice. And Soren notices them noticing.

It’s a little embarrassing, maybe. Soren’s really not a fan of PDA. But he can’t find it in his heart to complain.

Every time Ike shares his food with Soren, Soren is reminded of their first meeting, of the kind-hearted boy who saved him from the brink of death and, more importantly, who treated him like a person.

#soren #ikesoren #tellius #headcanons #tellius meta

[authortobenamedlater]

E3 deep dive, brought to you by illness and cold medicine, you are warned.

I maybe should start just doing the highs and lows of each episode, because these take forever to write and I’m not sure how interesting they are for the rest of you. I was going to do highs and lows at the end of this post but it got too long.

We open up with Silver Team going rogue at Visegrad Relay, looking for their Cobalt comrades. It’s becoming increasingly clear that not only is this mission off the books, but John hasn’t told his team this. Not great for unit cohesion, Master Chief.

The base is eerily empty and there’s a rhythmic thumping sound. The Covenant? No, just a door opening and closing. Somehow that doesn’t feel much less scary.

Instead of the Covenant, we meet a swarm of Marines led by an impressively gutsy and likely ONI officer who puts herself between Silver Team and the ominously thumping door. She accuses John of stealing a Condor and falsifying a flight plan. This is news to the rest of Silver. John doesn’t care and barges through the door expecting to find Cobalt. He finds a whole lot of nothing. This doesn’t look like a cover-up at all, nope.

Next we whiplash to Ackerson having a touching and mundane moment with his father, who’s senile but not so far gone he doesn’t know he’s senile. Evidently Ackerson has been spilling classified information to his dad. In light of everything else going on, that’s pretty far down on Ackerson’s list of misdeeds. We also learn that “Julia” the mysterious flash clone was Ackerson’s sister. Why did he clone a bunch of her for Halsey? Ackerson Sr. reminds his son “You promised not to let them [the Covenant, presumably] take me alive.” Once again, nothing ominous here.

Then we have Dadmiral Keyes dressing down his overgrown children for ripping through the UCMJ like it’s wet toilet paper. You also get the feeling Keyes is getting squeezed into this and has information he should have shared with Silver, but was ordered not to. John asks if Ackerson is behind this, and everyone knows the answer but can’t say it.

John’s team is rightly furious with him for lying to them. Kai at least tries to reason with him but John’s not hearing it. The audience knows John is right and the UNSC-ONI machine is gaslighting him into thinking he doesn’t see what he knows he’s seeing. However, he’s still being a jerk about it and turning his own people against him. He doesn’t help his case when he mops the floor with his ONI babysitters like Steve Rogers taking out the Hydra guys in The Winter Soldier elevator scene.

Laera is trying to escape the Rubble and go after Soren, only to get wrapped up in Soren’s crew’s plot to steal the “Madrigal money.” Kwan continues to prove herself both useless and useful. With Madrigal glassed now, one has to wonder what role Kwan has to play. At the same time, she’s tough and resourceful, I have to give her that. She also tries to do what’s right. She knew Laera would die and went to rescue her, probably thinking she could reunite mother and son at some point but mom has to be alive for that to happen.

Laera, too, shows herself to be more than just a pretty face, resisting Antares’s interrogation even with a gun to her head. And the part where she says “I can usually reason with my husband” 🤣 it takes a real woman to hang with Soren-066. Plus, Laera always looks fabulous! I want to look that good if I ever get shoved in an airlock.

Got ahead of myself there, but some things work best tackled as a big chunk.

Riz seems to be increasingly disenchanted with Spartan life, not that I can blame her after how John treated her last week. Never mind that she’s been in constant pain for six months. She ends up at Louis’s place where we learn he and Danilo the PT are married. Riz asks Louis what “other things” there are to be besides a Spartan. We don’t get the rest of the conversation, but it looks like Riz might be getting ready to jump ship. She may find her options more limited once Reach falls, though.

Back at the ranch, we discover what actually happened to Cobalt. They were in fact at Visegrad, and ran into the Covenant. We don’t know if this happened before or after Silver Team showed up, but it confirms what we all thought: There’s some conspiracy to keep Covenant activity on Reach under wraps.

Keyes is clearly distraught over the four (remarkably intact) bodies in the morgue. THE DADMIRAL LOVES HIS OVERGROWN EMOTIONALLY STUNTED SPARTAN CHILDREN I am not taking questions on this. The exchange between him and Ackerson here is top-tier. When Ackerson tells Keyes to leave and Keyes says “I won’t run”? I don’t think you’re going to be in season 3, Jacob.

Kai goes to Ackerson, who admires her for defending her “CO.” John isn’t her “commanding officer.” He’s not an officer. I don’t know what they’d call him, though. “Your team leader”? I won’t bug you all with nitpicking terminology. Kai is so stir crazy that she asks to be deployed alone until John is cleared for combat. This, I suspect, is how she ends up with the S-IIIs.

John takes his concerns to Parangosky, who to the surprise of no one, has not really left ONI. He tells her the Covenant is on Reach and no one is listening to him. Parangosky doesn’t give him the help he’s looking for. She tells him to go back to FLEETCOM and lay low, and she’s brought a cadre of spooks to ensure his compliance. This does not placate the increasingly agitated Master Chief.

Ackerson visits Halsey in holo-jail and gives her a speech about how she made the Spartans “fragile” by implanting those pellets. He tells her that “these things [she] made, broken as they may be” will be the foundation for something greater. I suspect this is the Spartan-III program. It’s also what Adun says to Halsey’s clone right before he kills her and dissolves her in acid.

Then the bomb drops: Julia, Ackerson’s sister, was a Spartan who died from the augmentations. Suddenly everything about Ackerson makes sense.

But the bombs aren’t done dropping. Ackerson leaves, then walks back in with none other than Soren-066. He tells Halsey “I didn’t want you to be alone” and walks out. Halsey looks legit TERRIFIED when she sees Soren.

Finally, John goes to see Talia and finds her in church. I’m going Gaga over the religious references this year, you all don’t even know. Talia has a recording of the “interference” on Sanctuary, which we find out is also a prayer offered by the Arbiter not named Thel ‘Vadam, stating his intention to offer Reach as a burnt offering and place the Demon’s head on the altar.

While Talia is translating the prayer, we see a montage that notably shows us Ackerson giving his father a pill, probably cyanide, reiterating his promise that he wouldn’t let the Covenant take his dad alive. He tells his father “I have to go away” which is the third time he’s said as much in two episodes. As he’s walking out, Ackerson brings in a final Julia clone, and his dad thinks he’s seeing his little girl one last time. A teary-eyed Ackerson walks out, and the next time we see him he’s strapped into a troop transport. Going where, we wonder?

Then an explosion shatters the church’s windows and the episode ends.

All this sets us up for…next week it’s all going down.

#halo #halo tv show #halo spoilers

[bloodgulchblog]

Alright fuck it, s2e1 liveblog.

I'm watching this with people later so the goal is just to get through it enough to sate my impatience, so I'm back to ye olde standby of watching it at high speed with subtitles on. (...Only I guess I'm gonna be slowed down by making comments, huh?)

Spoilers and uncharitable opinions and unfunny jokes will follow.

Not going to talk about stuff in the episode opener until it comes back bc there's not enough to say anything about.

5 minutes in and we're already doing whatever this is huh?

6:30 - Alright okay, fuck, Vannak took his spine pellet out and gets to have one (1) personality trait and it's animal facts and I kind of don't hate that. TV Chief is very unlikable but characters like Kai and Vannak playing the angle of having very youthful quirks bc having emotions is new is cute.

~10:00 - I have nothing to say yet about spooky shapes in the fog but I think this shot of Chief back to back with a marine is fun. Also I wonder if Corporal Perez (this character) will still matter 5 minutes from now.

Also looks like the foggy sword fight from the trailer is here, too difficult to get any kind of cap that doesn't suck out loud. I'm thinking about how I heard someone making a big deal about how Season 2 feels "less like a video game" (whatever that means), meanwhile "fog full of stealth sword guys trying to kill you" feels very very video game level.

~13:00 - Man, and I really thought that sword fighting stuff in the trailer was a solid indicator they were dragging Thel 'Vadamee into this mess. Hey guys look, Arbiter's in this season. 4,000 of him!

Additionally, if a bunch of people decide this is a ship the fandom owes me twenty dollars.

~15:00 - Congrats to Perez for surviving five minutes. Also, we're still doing whatever this is:

16 minutes in we finally get the show's opener. (It has the Halo in it now, I don't think it was there before but let's be perfectly honest it's not like I cared a lot.)

~17:30 or something, reminded once again that a lot of people are attracted to this actor

Also guess what, Keyes is an Admiral now I guess????

Do we think he still gets to get eaten by the Flood eventually? Do we think the Flood will even be in here? Place ur bets at the counter.

Anyway, they're basically diving into a big timeskip here where a bunch of planets have been glassed since last season (including Madrigal). This whole AU is weird to the bone in terms of how its timeline is shaking out.

Anyway anyway, aww here we go

"I'm not here to replace Dr Halsey, I'm here because I believe in you!"

Ohhhhh he knows all the Spartans' names already, ohhhhh they want the audience to like this mf so bad, they want it to be such a tweest that he sucks shit-

Moving right along, at 22:30 we have the Rubble having a crowd decide whether various refugees should be spaced or taken into indentured servitude, because of course we do.

tl;dw the nebbish redhead knows where Catherine Halsey is and there's a big bounty out for her and he's trying to use it as a bargaining chip to not die and everyone thinks that's very funny, also Soren is here. I guarantee he decides to go after her, but first we have to have a scene cut back to whatever TV Chief is doing.

Man I'm really noticing they haven't shown the weird ridged rubber tech suit yet this episode, I wonder if they decided to replace it.

Anyway here's Perez, I still think they want people to start shipping:

Then Jimmy Rings has a meeting with tv show's new guy they want you to like so bad.

Also he says "The O-N-I" like a complete tool. (This is how you know he sucks.)

And while I'm talking trash about him: Ackerson stop flirting, didn't they tell you nobody's allowed to be gay in Halo? Get your shit together.

Thus ends the dream of the funniest possible universe where we just had Cortana: The Show forever. Someone get the penny whistle. My heart will not go on. 😢

Fuck, I was doing timestamps, right? I'm like half an hour in.

THEY STILL WANT YOU TO THINK ACKERSON CARES, BY THE WAY, IN CASE YOU DID NOT NOTICE

They're laying this on so thick so fast there's no way he's not a shitweasel in this AU, but also that would be the funniest possible thing to me.

(If anyone ships this, the fandom owes me forty dollars and therapy.)

ANYWAY... Action figure time. (Remember to boycott Jazwares!)

Soren's kid is playing with a MASTER CHIEF ACTION FIGURE and being weird, meanwhile Soren's wife is calling him out on shit and reminding him that refugees being turned away is, you know, bad.

Congrats to Soren's wife for continuing to be the most unexpectedly sympathetic supporting character I guess, but they made Soren so unlikable off the 1st season it's hard for me to feel investment of any kind here.

35 minutes in: the Spartans are watching a space TV broadcast. They have Ca-ADMIRAL. Admiral. Admiral Keyes presenting the Colonial Cross to Corporal Perez for blah blah blah you saw the start of the episode. The shape of the ceremony and the hovering tv drone thing are obvious H2 references.

(Does this mean Perez is our Sergeant Johnson now? Vote with your phones.)

Get your face out of here, Ackerson, I know what you are.

Oh god there's another team of Spartans (Cobalt) and having adult Spartan-IIs call each other names like children is fucking weird.

Aaaaand tumblr is capping the number of images I can post here and I'm still only about half way done. Fuck. I am not doing this this way for Episode 2 I can promise you that.

(Also hey look the tech suit is back, I guess Silver Team doesn't use it so much anymore to show you they're more human now or whatever?)

#paramount halo negative #halo tv spoilers #god....

[that-disabled-princess]

Fic Reader Highlights from this year! Thanks @mostlymaudlin for putting this together! This is such a lovely idea.

Fic that made me laugh: Worst Disney Princess Ever by @hushed-chorus.

So technically I listened to Demi read this in the discord, but who's counting. This is such a cute and fun fic in the absolute best way. The pigeons! The undead plotting rats! Baz's resignation to being the Disney princess with his undead animals 😂 Demi, hearing you read this was my first time reading (or listening) to this fic, and it was INCREDIBLE.

Fic that made me cry: you never quite say (but i hear) by @that-was-anticlimactic.

Yeah, this fic made me sob. It reminded me so much of my best friend, who also has ADHD and a loud voice and loves talking about their special interests. I adore them so much and love listening to them talk, even if I don't really get DND. I remember immediately sending them this fic after reading it. This is such a special fic. I absolutely adore it, and Zuko is the best boyfriend.

Honorary mention to He's Cruel But You Don't Have to Be by notanotherfanficwriter. Definitely made me cry. Soren's character arc, especially in Finnegrin's Wake, is incredibly cathartic.

Fic that gave me a story hangover: None Of Those Tiny Fluff Monsters In The House by @roxan1930.

Whatever a story hangover is, this definitely gave me it. I ended up naming one of my micropets in the Finch self-care app Poof because of it. I sometimes go back and reread parts of it because it's just That good and fun.

Fic I want to discuss book-club style: The Gay Bar by @scone-lover.

I think the Carry On discord actually has discussed this one before! It was very very lovely. Both the discussion and the fic. I ended up making a cover of this fic. The fic is so lovely and a very real depiction of queer experiences. Sconey, you are a gift to this fandom.

Fic that got me a lil flustered: Symbiotic by @thrandilf.

Um, yes. Hello. I am very very bisexual for a slutty gay practically-a-god elf tying up another slutty gay pretty-much-a-vampire elf and letting her drink from him. Thank you.

Fic by one of my favorite authors: Blooming by @hoothalcyon.

If you only read one neurodivergent ruthari fic, read this one. It's a collection of oneshots with autistic Runaan and supportive husband Ethari, and is so SO sweet and wonderful. Each chapter is a little slice of warmth and happiness to cut through the difficulties of life. And it's just so lovely seeing autistic adults being written about.

Fic I reread more than once: Keep You Safe by Tragicomic_Warrior_Poet

Just... Hakoda being a good dad to Zuko. Yeah. I love seeing that in zukka fics. I come back to reread this one a lot. Hakoda is such a good dad, and you can definitely tell how much he loves his kids. (And how much he cares about Zuko.)

Fic I sent to everyone I know: On the Edge of Morning by LassieLowrider

I love seeing the Carry On characters being disabled. I don't agree with Baz's leg being healed, and I really wish Simon being neurodivergent was touched on more in the books. So you better believe I sent this to the Carry On discord when I found it! It's such a wonderful slice of life fic <22

Fic that made me fall in love with an author: how familiar the danger by LiterallyThePresident (so sad I don't know if this author has a Tumblr)

So cheating a bit by doing a series for this one. But eh, rules were made to be bended. This series is SO DAMN GOOD. GO READ IT. AND THERE'S ART BY @sefarlen!!! Knight Ambrosius helping out slutty flirtatious commoner Ballister and them having an enemies to reluctant/tentative allies to lovers? FUCK YEAH, SIGN ME UP.

Gonna go ahead and tag some folks if you're interested in participating! Tagging everyone who's tagged above plus @bazzybelle @stitchyqueer @valeffelees @imagineacoolusername @artsyunderstudy @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias @theearlgreymage @confused-bi-queer @no-cinnamon-for-synonym @yeonjunenby @yurayuramiharin @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @youarenevertooold @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @beautifulterriblequeen @cutestkilla @wellbelesbian @nightimedreamersworld @iamamythologicalcreature and anyone else who wants to! 💖💖

The blank templates 😊

#i'm on the couch suffering so i may come back and add things i forgot but these are all giant fic recs #fic rec #fic recs

[newtthetranswriter]

hii can u write a cuddle session with yuuta?

Summary: Just a lazy day cuddling and watching The Dragon Prince.

Paring: Yuta x gn!Reader

Word Count: 874

A/N: Thank you for requesting this. I love cuddles with Yuta, he’s just so sweet. I couldn’t help but use the dragon prince as the show they watch while cuddling because it’s one of my favorites right now and if you’ve watched you should understand my comparisons, if you haven’t watched it I highly recommend, it has such diversity and has the same feel as Avatar the Last Airbender, plus there are a bunch of easter eggs for atla because one of the creators was also a writer and producer on Avatar. Anyway, enjoy this lovely piece and let me know what you think. MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT

Dating Yuta has been a dream come true. He is the sweetest guy I have ever met and it feels like he understands me better than anyone. It’s almost like he can sense when I’m having a bad day because today he suggested that we skip hanging out with our friends to just stay in and watch one of my favorite shows. So, that's exactly what we are doing right now, we’er cuddled up on my bed with a bowl of skittles on my lap watching The Dragon Prince on netflix.

I just really enjoy laying with him and commenting on the little jokes each character makes or judging Viren for being a horrible father. We also like to try and figure out which character reminds us of each other and our friends, that’s the current debate we are having.

“There is no way Toge is Claudia, if anything he’s Zym. Because one, he can’t talk, and two he likes to cause trouble. I don’t think any of our friends are evil enough to be Claudia.” I said completely flabbergasted that he would insinuate that our best friend would be able to do such horrid things to people and animals.

He laughed and said “I wasn’t saying that because I think he’s evil or something, I was saying it because in the first few seasons Claudia is a complete dork, yeah she sucks for doing dark magic but she does dumb stuff as well. Anyway, now that we have Inumaki picked, who would Maki be? I personally think Rayla is an exact copy of her; they would both roll their eyes and slap someone for being an idiot.”

I chuckled at his defense, “I completely agree. Maki is also too stubborn to ask for help when she really needs it. Panda is Ezran, I will not accept any argument, he understands Toge and encourages his dumb behaviors.” I started with no room for argument.  “Also you are Soren, don't try to fight it, that's my final decision and I'm sticking to it.”

“W-what how am I Soren?” My boyfriend looked at me obviously confused by my statement. “I’m not disagreeing, I’m just curious why you think that.”

“Well for one you both use swords to fight. But most importantly, you are both extremely kind in spite of the fact you have both been through a lot. Soren spent years being gaslite by his father into doing horrible things, and when he tried to make his sister see it she also tried to gaslight him. Once he finally realized his family was doing horrible things he made the hard choice to leave them and change for the better. Now I’m not saying you have the same past but I know you struggled and suffered for a while. Having Rika lash out everytime something even came close to threatening you and not understanding it had to have been difficult, but instead of giving up, you decided to keep fighting and try and make it so no one else has to go through what you did.” I pointed out the major similarities between the two swordsmen. “Also I think you are both adorable.”

He just watched amazed by my reasoning, thinking I was just gonna say it was because they both use swords and are dorks, but no it was like I had thought about this alot. “I-i- Wow, you’ve thought about that a lot haven’t you?” he asked with a light blush.

I smiled up at him. “ Yeah I have, you have been through a lot and I'm proud of you for it. Now the most important question, what character am I?” I asked, trying to see his brain work.

“Oh definitely Bait.” He said confidently as I looked at him in shock.

“Excuse me, I just gave a college dissertation level speech on why I think you are a handsome swordsman, and all I get is a toad.” I said sitting up and turning to fully face him.

“Well yeah you are both adorable when you’re grumpy, both love shiny things, and you have a massive sweet tooth.” He said, defending his choice, reaching to try and pull back to lay with him. I begrudgingly layed back down resting my head on his chest, I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders as he placed a kiss to the top of my head. “Now shush, one of your favorite moments is coming up.”

I just nodded and snuggled closer to his side as I turned to watch as general Amya accidentally ruined her own engagement. I always find it funny, like yeah I get wanting to propose in a flashy way but seriously. Amya is a high ranked general who doesn't seem like someone who enjoys random surprises, what else would you expect to happen ambushing her with what look like flaming whips. I chuckled at the scene before closing my eyes, just enjoying the time I get to spend cuddling Yuta. I whispered a quiet “I Love you” as I drifted off to sleep.

Right as I let sleep take over, I heard Yuta respond with his “I love you too” before we both feel asleep to the sounds of dragons, elves, and magic.

#jjk x reader #jujustsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen #yuta okkotsu x reader #x reader #fluff #jujutsu yuta #yuta okkotsu

[fyregrayfong]

overall thoughts on tdp??? Now that you’re done watching, which season/story-line/character (besides our iconic queen General and Aunt Amaya 👑) was your fave? Any moments throughout that you really felt or really spoke to you?

The dynamic of characters in this show is so interesting. The theme throughout the whole show is something that resonates with me because it's how I live my life. Despite what you hear about a certain group of people you should have an open mind. This is just some of my thoughts and opinions on some of the characters. There might be spoilers so read at your own risk.

I love Seasons 1-3 and if it wasn’t for the wedding preparations and scenes with Amaya. I wouldn’t have watched season 4. I felt like the whole season was complete filler. The series could’ve ended at the 3rd season and be solid. Season 4 didn’t really get my attention compared to the previous seasons. I hope the story picks up in season 5. I just need more Amaya 😭 lol

Callum starting as a kid who doesn't know where he belongs because he isn't a fighter or have anything useful to help the kingdom. He is the stepson of the king. Turns out he is a mage and he instantly knows that he wants to be a good light mage and nothing like what his former crush, Claudia is. Speaks on his character and reminds me a lot of his mom.

Ezran, such a baby doll, is quirky and awkward. Has a difficulty talking to people and has a special connection with animals. He has a kind heart and sees the good in people. He doesn't allow outside comments deter his judgement on a person. He reminds me so much of Antonio from Encanto. He is a fave for sure. He is a type of King that I would love to see in the real world.One that rules with kind and compassion instead with a drive for power or holier than thou.

Rayla being a moonshadow assassin. While Rayla claims to despise humans, on the inside she doesn't truly hate them. She doesn't see them as lesser beings than herself, unlike the rest of the elves. It causes this inner turmoil on her belief as a moon shadow assassin verses her morals. She constantly checking her morals and doing better. Willing to put her life on the line to do the right thing.

Claudia, her development was scary, I know there's some good but she continues down this dark path, that its sad. I was so hoping that she would run away with Soren. I really hope there is some way she can redeem herself in the upcoming season but I feel like she's so far down the rabbit hole that it's too deep a hole for her to come out of. The reason why I say Claudia's development is scary s because she knows she is becoming darker. Each season she is at a point where she pushes that morality further. She crosses that limit and instead of realizing ok that's enough. She knows it's bad and accepts it with no regret. Only to surpass it again the next time. There is nothing that will stop her to get what she wants.

Soren, at first I didn't care about him because he was this jerk who constantly picked on Callum, but Soren definitely grew. The first season I feel like the creators wanted us to see Soren as this idiot jock that heavily relies on his physical strength. It also didn't help that Viren and Claudia also treated him as such. As the series goes on he is so much more than that. His development throughout the series is one of the best, imo. He has this emotional intelligence that came to a surprise. He does have silly moments where he acts first but then he realizes his mistakes and changes. When Soren realized how he was manipulated by his dad. He went against his dad. This is so hard to do. He loves his dad and his sister so for him to renounce his loyalty from his family and follow the crown. Then on top of that having to go to war and the person you're fighting is your own father and sister. That hits the heart in more ways than one. His redemption arc is honestly chef's kiss. Soren is a good boi.

Amaya, my my my Amaya. She is wife. Once she appeared on the screen I had heart eyes immediately. Like I was already shopping for rings! I think I have a thing for strong stoic types who are really big softies. She's both an immovable object and an unstoppable force in battle. Amaya is thoughtful, honorable, compassionate and smart. Brutal, driven and capable. Pragmatic and adaptable. Her character design and fight choreography is stylish af. I could watch her fight it's like watching a dance. Her shield is honestly really cool and interesting design. Even though she's a tough person that flips switches so fast once she's with her nephews. She turns into this big softy that is so adorable and honestly is why I fell hard for her. She has a heart of gold and isn't afraid to jump into the line of fire to protect the people she loves. Her nephews, Gren, Janai, her soldiers, her kingdom. I could go on about Amaya.

Bait, Bait is the best. I can't get over him. He has a range of emotions and is the bestest boi. He deserves all the tarts.

Bonus:

I can't get over the fact that Amaya threw Bait in a perfect spiral throw. Bait is beauty. Bait is grace.

#tdp #callum #callum tdp #tdp ezran #ezran #claudia tdp #soren #tdp soren #tdp rayla #tdp claudia #tdp amaya #tdp bait #general amaya #Amaya #the dragon prince

[jelzorz]

Crack quartet timeline 2: electric boogaloo

BC I'm bored and waiting for a) the 6x03 answer and the 6x04 clue, and b) my last two essays to be released

Some housekeeping for those only just now stumbling on the concept of the crack quartet:

The tdp post-canon crack quartet refers to rayllum and the following set of insane sounding ships: corterry, sorpeli, and claudiez

Yeah I know I'm a nutcase, it's cool

In my defence, I got talked into the other three by @raayllum but when they're right, they're right

Part one of the crack quartet timeline and hcs is here!

A reminder to everyone that the crack quartet can only ever happen years and years after canon when everyone involved is significantly older and able to consent, so please keep that in mind before y'all come at me

Also I share some of these hcs with @raayllum but they also have their own hcs and would be absolutely thrilled to talk about them so please go and encourage them so I'm not the only one in the sorpeli tag

Now that that's out of the way!

When we last left the crack quartet timeline, Viren had returned to Katolis castle and was causing absolute mayhem in the crack quartet family unit. At this stage, Ezran's council consists of Ez, Callum, Rayla, Soren, Barius, Opeli (resigned from High Cleric but still on the council as per Ezran's request) and Clio (the new High Cleric). By now, Callum and Rayla have a little girl called Sarai, Ez is formally courting Claudia, and Soren and Opeli have been told they're expecting twins.

If you haven't read the snake (which I swear I'll finish), our gang agrees (for a very loose definition of agreeing) to give Viren a trial. Callum is furious and has been an absolute asshole about it but it goes ahead with Callum prosecuting and Soren begrudgingly representing his father (because if it's not him, it's Opeli and she is heavily pregnant at this point so...). Viren is found guilty but Ez refuses to execute him (he Doesn't Want To Be That Kind of King) and exiles him instead.

Claudia finds herself with a decision to make: she has always wanted to keep her family together and now it's being torn apart again. The others are SUPER CONCERNED for a hot minute, because if she leaves and breaks Ezran's heart and chooses her father AGAIN after everything that's happened, they will not be able to forgive her a second time. In the end, it's not that difficult a decision to make. Ezran is here. Soren is here. She will have two brand new nieces in the summer. She chooses to stay.

Callum is not happy about Ez's decision but he can't keep disagreeing with him like this either, and together they agree that they both might benefit from a little bit of space. Callum never really wanted to be a prince anyway, and Ez needs the space to come into his own and find his own way, without being parented by his brother. It's tearful, but ultimately for the best, and they're still going to be brothers no matter what. It's the end of an era, but the beginning of a new one too. Callum and Rayla pack up and head for the Silvergrove. Ez et al see them off and promise to come and visit once they've settled in.

Callum and Rayla run into Corvus and Terry on the way who are, to their surprise, living happily together in a partnership no one expected and have been quietly keeping up with the Katolis Castle soap opera. They're glad everything's settling down and gladder still to meet baby Sarai. They catch up before Callum and Rayla continue on their way.

Soren and Opeli's twin girls are born the following summer. It's a tough labour, but the three of them come out fine and Soren heads out to Temple Hill in a rare show of faith to thank the goddesses his wife had once devoted herself to for keeping his family safe. Callum and Rayla return to the castle to offer their support and so Sarai can meet her new cousins. Ez and Callum are reunited and happy to be together again. Tentatively, Ezran tells his brother that he is considering marrying Claudia. Callum takes it well! He's just happy that Ez is happy, even if he's still a little apprehensive about Claudia's presence in the castle.

Claudia takes it less well. She knows what she is and what she's done. She knows how this will look to people who know of her crimes but don't know her. When Ezran asks, she says no. Then she disappears.

Callum is Fucking Furious. How dare she. How dare she hurt his brother like that. How dare she leave. This isn't digging up any old wounds At All. And although he promises Rayla that this has nothing to do with what happened when they were kids, Rayla still remembers how much she hurt him and can't help but wonder if he still feels that sting, even after all this time. And she wants to fix this! She can't stand seeing her boys hurt like this. And who would know where Claudia went better than

Soren. The poor man is exhausted. Y'all thought one newborn was bad—try two. He and Opeli take turns with the girls but the added stress of Claudia disappearing isn't doing them any favours. But he has enough brain left in him to guess the one place Claudia might have gone.

He reaches out to Corvus and Terry who are a hub for information at this point, and they point him the direction of a small town in the Independent Isles. There's an ex-mage over there that they keep hearing about. Apparently he was exiled from Katolis last winter. Does that help at all?

Sure does. But who to send? Ez can't go, and Callum shouldn't go, and Rayla can't go by herself. Soren doesn't want to leave Opeli but, in her words, their duty is to Ezran, and Ezran needs help. Claudia is his sister too and Opeli insists she'll be fine with the twins. He should go with Rayla. Reluctantly, he goes, and they're halfway out to the Independent Isles when who should they find stowed away in the back of their carriage but Ezran, who is sick and tired of having other people deal with his problems for him. If anyone's going to convince Claudia to come home, it's going to be him.

They find Viren helping to rebuild a village on the coast of one of the Independent Isles. It's awkward, but Viren is definitely better than he was when they saw him last, and he's glad to know that Soren and the twins are doing well. He hopes to meet them one day but won't hold Soren to that if he doesn't feel comfortable with it, but Soren surprises them both with "maybe one day". Viren tells them that Claudia was here but left again not long after. He asks Ezran what happened. Ezran won't say. Still, he tells them Claudia went to Del Bar and wishes them well.

@raayllum and I have discussed this At Length, but they find Claudia hiding in Del Bar and seeking guidance from Lissa. Lissa is more surprised than anyone to see the King of Katolis at her door with her son and an elven ambassador, but ultimately, whatever happens next is Claudia decision.

What happens next? I don't know yet! But Claudia does eventually come back, and everything does eventually work out. If I ever finish the snake, I'll write this too. And I might be crazy but the Katolis Castle soap is never ending and full of drama and I love that for them.

#canon crack quartet #rayllum #sorpeli #claudiez #corterry

[theredhairedmonkey]

People keep talking about the similarities between Viren/Claudia and Callum, but what are the differences?

The differences are, well, different for each of them.

Callum is different from Viren because, while Callum is motivated to support and protect those he loves out of compassion, Viren's love for his children, while genuine on some level, is really a smokescreen for his real motive, which is power.

This isn't even a headcanon, he's called out on this bullshit in the show:

Viren: I didn't have a choice. I did what I had to do. K'ppar: Hah! No choice? You made the choice you've always made. The one that gives you power.

Viren is basically TDP's version of Walter White from Breaking Bad: Walter starts cooking meth ostensibly to pay for his medical bills (he's dying of cancer), and also to financially support his family. One of his oft repeated lines is "I did X for the family."

It's not until the end of the series that Walter admits the truth ("I'm in the empire business" / "I did it for me"). And much like Walter, Viren comes face to face with the truth several times during this season:

Viren realizes that he had been hiding from the truth, that he had pursued power for himself, and that doing so had brought Claudia on the brink with him.

Callum, on the other hand, doesn't care about power. He may care about agency and identity, sure, but not at the expense of those around him. Whereas Viren's goal of protecting his family was a thinly veiled excuse for his actions, for Callum is is 100% genuine.

Now as far as Claudia is concerned, her motivation really is about love, but it's a selfish kind of love driven less out of compassion and more out of a desire to keep the idea of her family together and intact, even if it goes against said family's wishes:

And not to mention some deep seated animosity towards Xadia, but that's a story for another time.

Callum is, as you might have guessed, quite different. The idea of the family matters less to him than the family members themselves. And since Callum believes in other ideals besides loyalty to family, those family members aren't just blood relatives, but also like-minded individuals like Soren and Rayla, with whom he shares a lot in common.

Because of that, he respects those he loves as individuals, not as units part of a larger picture.

Now, I should wrap this up with a reminder: Callum does have foil relationship with Viren and with Claudia, and narratively this is very important to the story. But not for reasons you may think.

For Viren and Claudia, the similarities they share with Callum are important because it humanizes and grounds them. Showing that they do have aspects to them that make them more than just mustache-twirling villains.

But for Callum, the differences are more important to the narrative than the similarities because the differences are what tell us who Callum truly is. Why, despite being a mage like Claudia and Viren, he makes a different choice from them at nearly every critical interval.

#tdp #the dragon prince #callum #rayla #rayllum #viren #claudia

[rexthefox]

Just got hit with the best AU idea I've had personally so far. It's gonna be a long post so be prepared!

An au that combines both Murder drones and the dragon prince! Focusing on the characters from murder drones placed in the universe of the dragon prince because yes.

The disassembly drones already remind me of moon shadow elves, with the white hair and how most are trained to be assassins! And the worker drones are obviously humans, however absolute solver could be viewed as dark magic! You see where I'm getting at?...there's also the blood moon clan of moon shadow elves that drink blood so like

It depends on your preference for the au but elf vampires would be closer to canon!!

The plot and characters so far would be similar to both.

Uzi is a rebellious human princess who researches dark magic but believes it's wrong, her mother nori passed away due to over using it or got too corrupted or smth, maybe they could have a dark magic curse running in the family that horribly shifts their body after using dark magic too much, mayyybe a curse placed on several human family's by a specific corrupted Arch-Elf?~ (Cyn not aaravos.) I'd like to think Uzi would be lore like Callum in this case as she does take over that role, age adores stories about Xadia and primal magic and probably thinks the elf human war is bull crap

Her dad, Khan rules the kingdom of copper 9 alone, Uzi often sneaks our to town to cause mayhem or be free of her princessly duty's much to her father's dismay.

However everything changes when 3 moonshadow-skywing elf hybrids..(thinking about having them magically made that way due to several curses..and also arch elf Cyn.) Show up in town and start killing some people, Uzi ofc wants to stop this, but her dad ends up forbidding her from leaving the castle, she does it anyway leaves and meets N after he tries to kill her and she successfully over powers him via weird magical weapon her mom gave her, boom railgun knife wand. I'm working on that bit.

It goes about as well as the pilot, Ns vision gets blurred because she hit him in the head, he thinks she's another elf, patches up her hand he cut with his blades and they end up becoming weird friends before Uzi runs off back to the castle before J and V return.

I want to connect the dragon prince story points more to this au as well but I'm out of ideas currently- however some plot points I am considering are:

Uzi is more attuned to the star and moon arcanums at first and struggles with the rest

V ends up tagging along on her and Ns journey to find a way to stop dark magic and because Uzi wants to go to Xadia to learn about the weapon her mom had stolen.

N is constantly a sweetheart as always and tries to befriend humans several times while in disguise, much to Uzi and Vs dismay

Thinking Doll and Lizzy may be the Claudia and Soren In this au (But lesbians instead of siblings....plus like dolls parents are dead-) at least for the first half?? Doll obviously could be a dark mage.

I don't know what to do with Tessa yet but she would become important when J returns later on in the story

But hey if people have ideas feel free to give them to me! Or other feedback on this weird lil au!

I wrote this at 11pm so excuse my grammar mistakes and spelling errors if there are any

#murder drones #glitch productions #murder drones uzi #Rex's rambles #the dragon prince #Au ideas #no but seriously think of the simalarities to tdp and murder drones #N and Uzi are also simaler to callum and rayla in a weird way

[baatarthefirst]

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know what to send with you."

"Callum loves everything about Xadia. You could give him a blade of grass and he'd be bouncing off the walls."

"Very funny." she rolled her eyes. She didn't know Amaya's nephews as well as she would like, but with Ezran at least she could count on his love of sweets. For his birthday, she had the cooks pile together their best dessert recipes (and because he was a king and it seemed proper, she'd also sent a chess set). There was a chocolate smudge on the letter that had him claiming the black pieces and giving his first move. They'd been playing a game by mail ever since.

But Callum was harder, he liked books, so Kazi would be her best bet, but...she couldn't give up the few books they had, even if it was a children's book, it was culturally important now; virtually irreplaceable.

"What are you giving him?"

"Nope. You have to think of something."

"I can't...I don't want to send him something he hates... I want him to like me."

"He likes you already, and so do I." Amaya kissed her cheek, "Just pick something."

....

"I mean," Callum lifted the heavy present as he considered it, "it's....nice."

"I like the color." Ezran offered, trying to look on the bright side, as always."

"I just don't know why Queen Janai would give me a sunfire shield..."

"It's my fault. She was a nervous wreck trying to chose the perfect gift and I finally told her to just pick something. Next thing I know, I'm hauling an extra shield half way around the world."

"What's to be a wreck about?"

"She wants you two to like her."

"Ohhh...are things getting serious, with your elf not-friend?" Callum asked with a grin that reminded Amaya of Sarai. She tried to cover a blush by flipping his hair.

"They are! She's blushing, Callum! " Ezran pointed at his aunt and started to sing while signing, "Aunt Amaya and Queen Janai sitting in the mist, it still won't hide the fact they ki-rrrphhh." Amaya pulled him in close with one arm and covered his mouth with the other.

As Soren and Corvus playfully tackled her to save their king, Callum heaved the shield over to the shelves to the left of the covered mirror, "I'll just send a thank you note telling her how much I like it. It's the thought the counts, right?"

There was no answer from the dogpile.

#why does Callum have a sunfire shield in his office? #janai's even worse with gifts than she is with flowers #tdp #the dragon prince #janai #amaya #janaya #callum #ezran