#admittedly he was a good king we presume

[applesandpavenders]

#like #admittedly he was a good king we presume #I rooted for him #it’s such a Narnian thing to do #narnia #the chronicles of narnia #long live king frank and queen Helen #the cabbie #tmn #the magicians nephew #aslan #meme

[wordstome]

kingdom come - ii

king König x princess & assassin reader

2nd person, no y/n, she/her pronouns, afab reader, romance, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, kind of age gap because König has been king for a good chunk of time but it's not really much of a factor, fantasy/medieval setting

4.4k words

tw: none

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Let's have something lighthearted and playful after the absolute Week the cod fandom has had, shall we?

“What do you mean he’s letting you kill him?”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Calliope, I thought I made myself quite clear.”

“But…but that’s mad!”

“He is mad!” You shove the sleeves of your blouse over your arms. “But I’m still alive, so I’m not complaining.”

“Of course. Should I send word to your father about these new developments?”

You bite your lip. “No,” you say. Something catches your eye outside the window, and you move closer to have a look. König is outside, walking with one of his advisors while eating an apple. It’s a strange juxtaposition between the relaxed boyishness of him throwing the apple in the air and catching it, and the stark, emotionless expression of the mask covering half his face.

As if he can feel your gaze on you, he looks upwards, eyes locking with yours. You shudder and quickly shut the curtains.

“I can do this.” You say, determined.

“You’re not eating.”

You stare resolutely at him from across the table. “I’m not hungry.”

He sighs, as if you’re a difficult child he’s being forced to babysit. “I heard your stomach growl. The food won’t bite back.”

“To be frank, I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“Who the fuck is Frank?”

You glower at him. “I know this is all a game to you, but I’m trying to stay alive.”

“By not eating?”

You look down at the food dubiously, and your doubt must be written all over your face, because König laughs. “Surely you do not think so lowly of me that I would poison my bride at the breakfast table,” he taunts. “That wouldn’t be in the spirit of the hunt.”

“You’ll have to forgive me for presuming otherwise of the man who asked me to eat a nightshade berry.”

He rolls his eyes. “One berry can’t kill a full-grown man. Or woman.” He takes a sip of wine. “And besides, that wasn’t the point of our little encounter in the garden anyway.”

Your hunger wins out over your apprehension. “Enlighten me,” you say, tucking into the food.

“Isn’t it obvious? I was testing you to see if you were going to try and kill me.” He points a fork with a piece of sausage on it at you. “Quiet, secluded place with nobody watching, plenty of exits. You surprised me by staring at me like a startled doe.”

“You caught me off guard,” you mutter. “You’re a very off-putting person.”

He gives you a bemused look. “You’re not a very good assassin.”

You bristle. “I assure you, if my target was anybody else, they would already be dead.”

“Tell me, princess. Have you ever killed anybody?”

“I’ve killed.”

“A human.”

“I know how to kill someone!”

“So that’s a no.”

You’re fuming at this point, your meal long forgotten. “It’s not to my advantage to let you know what I can and can’t do.”

He studies you, twirling his fork in an admittedly mesmerizing motion. “And your father sent you here, to kill me, having never spilled another person’s blood before.”

“My father prepared me my entire life for this.”

“Not sure that speaks highly of your skill.”

You’re already tired of him. “What’s the point of this?” you demand. “A smarter man would have either killed me or thrown me in a cell by now.”

“Not a smarter man, a boring one,” König corrects.

“So you have a death wish.”

“Of course not. I have much to live for. Eating, killing, fucking. Great fun. But not enough on its own.” His grin is near wolfish as he stares you down.

“You are vile.”

“You could be doing something about that.”

You look at him in mortified disbelief. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“I was referring to killing me, but it is interesting that’s where your mind went first.” He looks entirely too pleased with himself, as if he’s caught you in a clever trap.

“Fuck you.”

“Now we’re talking!” He stands up, and for one fleeting moment, you fear he’s about to make good on the offer, but instead he just wipes his mouth and makes to leave.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed this little bout of verbal sparring, I have somewhere to be.”

“You seem in quite a rush to leave my presence, for a man who seems so convinced I won’t be able to kill him.” If he wants to be a smart little asshole, you can too.

“Ah, believe me, princess. I would like nothing more than to spend all day in your lovely, murderous presence. But unfortunately, I have responsibilities.” He runs a hand through his tousled hair, and you studiously ignore the way your stomach flips a little at the motion. “I’m obligated to hear petitions.”

You stand up. “I’m coming with you.”

“Why? It’s fucking dull.”

“So I can have more opportunities to kill you.”

“Yes. Of course.” Again with that smile. You’ve never met anyone half as pleased to be in your presence as he is. (The only exception is Calliope, but she kind of has to be near you.) This man simply refuses to act in any normal manner whatsoever, and it’s starting to get on your nerves. You throw your dagger at the back of his head more out of irritation than a dedicated effort to kill him.

He catches it in the air with casual precision and keeps walking. “Too predictable, little one.”

You should be concerned by his razor-sharp reflexes, but it’s difficult to feel anything but annoyance right now. And…respect?

You get up and follow him before you can give yourself a chance to dissect that.

König was right. This is dull.

At first, the concept of receiving petitioners seemed like an amusing prospect. But in practice, it’s all politics and people complaining about taxes.

You entertain yourself by watching König. He seems just as bored, if not more, as you. He appears to be intrigued by your dagger: examining it, testing the edge, handling the heft.

Some man is talking animatedly with his hands, bemoaning some property dispute with his neighbor. You’re sure that if König rolls his eyes any harder into the back of his skull, he’ll go pigeon-eyed. Admirably, he manages to push through—if it had been you, you would have just told the man to get out and stop wasting your time. As loathe as you are to admit it, König is a good leader.

“Alright, we’re done here. Tell them to go home,” König says, dismissing everyone with a flick of his wrist. The guards begin to push the doors closed when one last man runs in, near crazed, and throws himself on the floor, babbling incoherently.

“What is the meaning of this?” König demands, immediately standing up. The guards begin to approach the man, hands on swords.

“Wait! Please, your majesty, I beg of you,” the man pleads. “I have journeyed many days to come here and beseech your aid.”

König heaves a sigh. “Spit it out then.”

“Thank you, my king,” the man pants, pushing himself up to a standing position. “There’s a beast. In the south.”

“A beast?”

“It’s ravaging the countryside. It follows the flocks, but it doesn’t eat them. It’s…” The man swallows hard. He looks weary, run ragged no doubt by his arduous journey to the capital. “It’s taking our children, sir.”

König’s eyes narrow. “And you haven’t attempted to track it down yourself?”

“We’ve tried, your majesty. Our most skilled hunters have gone after it.” The man sways unsteadily on his feet. “None of them have come back.”

“Has anyone laid eyes on it? Is it a wolf?”

“None who have seen it have returned to tell the tale.”

König leans back, looking contemplative. One of his advisors speaks. “We’ve received reports about this already, sire. We’ve dispatched soldiers already but had no luck.”

The man shakes his head frantically. “It doesn’t leave anyone behind to tell the tale, sir. Not many people dare to go into the woods anymore, and the ones that do…they don’t come back right.”

“How so.”

The man’s voice betrays his naked fear, trembling. “They go mad, sir. Some think…some think it’s the fae’s doing.”

That seems to finally get König’s interest. He leans forward, his entire demeanor stiffening. A hush falls over the people gathered as the man invokes the fair folk’s name.

Everybody knows the fae exist. In hushed whispers, people tell the old stories: of when the fair folk lived among men and ruled over them with cruelty and trickery. There are some forests people know to stay out of. And when a newborn babe fusses just a bit too much, or a child grows up a little too quiet, the rumors fly in secret.

The fae are cruel, beautiful, and nearly impossible for a mortal to kill. If they’re involved in this matter with the beast, then that village is as good as dead.

Before König can say anything, the man fidgets and turns. You watch as his attention lands on you, eyes widening. Something his gaze becomes unfocused, misty, his chest beginning to heave as he visibly panics.

“You…they’re here…THEY’RE HERE!” With a crazed look on his face, the man lunges towards you, moving at a threatening speed. Your hand goes instinctively to your hidden sheathe, but your fingers close around air. Shit! König still has your dagger. You brace to defend yourself as the man draws even closer—

Like a deadly blur, König is on the man in an instant. The force of him knocks you backwards, watching in shock as König subdues the screaming, flailing man with cold, expert precision.

As if in slow motion, you watch with a mixture of horror and fascination as he turns to look at you. His eyes, usually a tranquil pale green, are blue. Vivid blue, with an unearthly glow to them that makes you wonder if you’re hallucinating. You feel like a butterfly pinned to cork by that stare, simultaneously trapped and admired.

He blinks, once, and his eyes are green again.

With what looks like no effort at all, he turns the man on his stomach and pins his arms behind him as he struggles and hollers. “Put this one in a cell,” he says with a deep growl. “We’ll see what he has to say for himself when he’s in his right mind again. If he ever is.” The guards rush forward to haul the man away as König stands back up.

He gives the rest of the room a cursory glance. “Well? Back to your duties.”

The gawking staff quickly gather themselves and scatter. König claps his hands together as if dusting off some nuisance.

“…Why did you do that?” You ask, unable to help yourself.

He gives you a skeptical look. “Why did I defend my queen from an attacker?”

You take a deep breath. Gods preserve you. “I’m not your anything.”

“Technically untrue. You are my wife, which makes you the queen.” He strides over to you and offers you your dagger, holding the blade so you can grab the hilt.

Its weight soothes you as you put it back into its rightful place. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve already said I have no intention of killing you. Besides, it wouldn’t look good for me if I allowed you to be attacked in your own home.”

This isn’t my home, you almost say, but stop yourself. You’re starting to sound too much like a whining child, and you don’t like it.

You surprise the both of you with what comes out of your mouth next. “Thank you.”

He’s looking at you that way again, like you’re a puzzle he’s trying to solve. “You’re welcome.” He averts his eyes, hesitating for a moment like he wants to say more. Then he evidently thinks better of it and strides away from you.

“My lady!” Calliope rushes forward, concern written all over her face. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, just…shaken,” you say, still watching König leave. “I’m fine.”

“Simply outrageous. I can’t believe none of the guards got to that man in time,” she fumes, fussing over you in her way.

“Yes, well. König got here in time. So no harm was done.”

Calliope follows your gaze, eyes narrowing at König’s retreating backside just as he turns the corner and vanishes from sight. “I don’t like that one.”

“Neither do I,” you snort.

“No, pet. Listen to me.” Startled, you turn to look at her. You haven’t heard her take on this tone in quite a while: the last time was when you had broken your wrist trying to scale one of the abandoned towers back home. You can’t quite recall why you had been trying to do that, but you do remember the worried look on her face, and the sternness of her words.

“He’s not right,” she says. “Something’s wrong about him.”

It’s a foregone conclusion to say that König is no ordinary man, but something about the furrow of Calliope’s brow tells you that more is happening here than she’s letting on. “Are you going to elaborate?”

A strange look passes over her face, like a cloud briefly blocking the sun. “No.”

You wait for a few moments before nodding. Whatever it is, you trust her to know what’s best. “I see. Though I didn’t need a warning on how dangerous he is, you know.”

“You are a smart girl,” she says wistfully, straightening your ruffled clothes a bit. “But there are some things that are not for you to understand.”

“I have to understand, if I’m to kill him.”

She frowns. “I think you should put that out of your mind for now.”

“What?”

“I mean, you may have to play a longer game with this one. There’s too much we don’t know.”

You open your mouth, then close it. She’s right. There was something bone-chilling about the way he looked at you just now, but instead of feeling afraid, you feel something different. Curiosity. Fascination.

Not for the first time—or the last—you feel drawn to him.

König’s been antsy lately.

You’ve gotten quite good at reading his moods, even when he’s wearing the hood. The rest of his body betrays him: his shoulders are tense, and his fingers are constantly toying with a phantom knife. He prefers to be fidgeting with an actual one, but it tends to make him too intimidating for that to be practical.

You’ve taken Calliope’s advice and taken to studying your target rather than trying to end him and be done with it. There’s a lot to notice, which is surprising: you’d taken him for some mindless hulking brute upon first impression. It’s clear that he’s intelligent, with a cunning quickness to his thinking that both impresses and chills you.

Shame he’s still as much of a raging pervert as he was in the beginning, though.

“You know, I wasn’t sure about you in pants at first, but now I think you should wear them more often,” he says, surprising you during target practice. He startles you enough to throw your shot off, the arrow clattering uselessly to the ground below the target.

“Can I help you?” you demand, giving him a venomous side eye.

“Not at all, princess. Just admiring the view.” He leans against a nearby post, watching your confused expression. It takes him shifting his gaze downward for you to realize what he means.

“Ugh!” Without hesitation, you nock another arrow and shoot it at him, aiming right between his eyes. He dodges it, of course.

“You can’t expect me to marry a pretty woman and not look at her,” he says smugly.

It’s an unfamiliar situation, being desired. You don’t have much experience with this sort of thing: not only are you the king’s daughter, but you tend to give off a chilly, hyper-competent aura that keeps men with fragile egos away from you. You’ve only had one encounter with a man: a shy kiss behind the stables, featherlight touches that sent tingles through your whole body.

König has never touched you, but the way he looks at you is enough to make you blush. You should be indignant, but instead you find you don’t mind all that much.

“Why are you bothering me?” you say instead of responding to what he said.

“Bothering you? I’m hurt,” he says, placing a hand over his heart as if you’ve physically wounded him. “I came to inform you of my departure.”

“Your what?” you ask, gawking at him. “Where are you going?”

“Do you remember that man who came to tell us about the beast?”

“You mean the man who attacked me? I’d forgotten,” you say drily.

“Your wit is as alluring as ever,” he responds. “I’ve decided to enlist the help of the most competent man I know to deal with the threat.”

“And who would that be?”

“Me, of course.”

You shoot him a confused look. “You’re leaving to deal with something personally?”

“It’s too perilous of a problem to continue throwing my men at,” he says, taking on a more serious tone. He’s toying with a knife again: a hefty, aggressive-looking thing with a jagged edge. “If you want something done, you need to do it yourself. Or at least lay eyes on the problem yourself.”

“You’re not worried at all about dying and leaving your throne empty?” you ask disbelievingly. This is beyond reckless, verging on foolish.

“Don’t start,” he sighs. “I just got out of a hours-long meeting with my advisors. Anything you could say to me, they’ve already told me a dozen times. It won’t change my mind.” One look at him tells you he’s dead serious, and won’t be persuaded otherwise.

“Well, when do we leave?”

“We?”

“Yes, of course. I’m coming with you,” you say, puzzled at his confusion.

“You are not.”

“Yes, I am.”

“It’s too dangerous. And besides, the journey won’t be pleasant. I’ll be traveling without guards or servants.”

“Why on earth not?”

“Too much of a hassle. I’ll get there faster if I’m traveling alone. Emphasis on alone. Besides, I would prefer not to be sending any innocents to their deaths.”

“You’ll need someone to watch your back.”

“And you think you qualify?”

“Yes!”

He chuckles at your indignant tone. “With all due respect, my queen, I doubt you could take care of yourself out there, much less be of use to me.”

You wish he wouldn’t call you that. It makes your chest feel strange. Which isn’t helpful when you’re getting mad at him for doubting your competence.

“If you go alone, you might not come back,” you retort. “If I come with you, I can ensure you don’t come back.”

He looks at you, startled, and proceeds to let out a hearty laugh. “You are full of surprises,” he says. “It won’t be like a vacation, you know. We’ll have to travel light.”

“I can handle that.”

“I’m sure you can. The question is, can you handle whatever beast those villagers are so worried about? You may not worry about my wellbeing, but I would worry about your own first.”

“You don’t think I can hold my own?”

“To be honest? No.”

“Then let me prove myself.” You step right up to him, so close that your face is nearly pressed to his chest. God, he’s so big. And broad— “Let me show you I can hold my own in a fight.”

A sly smile crosses his face. “Alright. Let’s spar.”

You blink. “Excuse me?”

“Let’s. Spar.”

“You want me to fight you?”

“What were you expecting?”

“That’s not a fair fight.”

“You came here to kill me.”

“Assassinations don’t usually happen during prearranged one-on-one fights.”

“Touché. But I’m not asking you to beat me. If I think you’re competent, then you can come along.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“I actively do not want you to join me, mind you.”

You let out a quick, angry breath through your nose. Infuriating. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you after lunch, then.”

You turn away from him and trudge over to a tree to pick up some fallen arrows. “What’s the rush? Are you leaving so soon?”

“Tomorrow morning, in fact. Just before dawn.”

“I can wake up that early.”

“No need to put the horse before the carriage here. If you’re going.”

“I’m not concerned.” You bend down to pick a few arrows out of some scrappy tough grass, and when you straighten, König is right there, looming over you like a threatening shadow.

“What—” You gasp as the knife König was fiddling with rushes past your face and embeds itself in the tree trunk behind you.

“I don’t think this is quite getting through to you, so I’ll only say this once,” he mutters darkly, leaning over you to whisper directly into your ear, his hand firmly gripping the knife above your head. “You have nothing to prove to me, and I don’t know what you’re trying to do by insisting you come with me. If you change your mind now, we need not speak about this again.”

You glare up at him. “You’re not going to change my mind. And it’s quite suspicious that you’re trying to.”

“Is it really so difficult to believe that I’m concerned for your welfare?”

You don’t understand him. Being this close to him isn’t helping you think straight, either. There’s no other way to describe it, but it’s almost like you can feel the intensity radiating off him. He smells like pine needles and lye, and some distinctly manly musk that you don’t dislike. And when he’s up close like this, you can see every detail of his eyes, the green streaked with blue and brown.

“It would be easier if you weren’t,” you whisper.

He snorts. “Don’t I know it.” Before you can process what the hell he means by that, he’s pulling his knife out of the tree and stalking off, suddenly in some sulky mood.

You stare at the deep mark left in the bark, wondering what just happened.

“Again,” calls the swordsmaster.

You scramble to your feet, exhausted and sore. “This isn’t fair,” you whine. You’re twelve years old, and the man who’s been teaching you how to fight has just dropped you for what feels like the millionth time in a row.

“How so?”

“You’re bigger than me!” you pout. “And far stronger.”

“That isn’t always an advantage, you know,” he says, doing a flourish with his practice sword that you vow right there and then to master someday.

“How? That’s all fighting is. It’s just big people beating up the little people.”

“Being smaller just means you have to be nimbler.” He gestures for you to come at him again. “Don’t focus on trying to hit me in the chest. Use your size to your advantage and focus on weak points.”

You brandish the practice sword again and ground yourself, steeling yourself with a deep breath before charging. You go for the knees, smacking them so hard that they buckle, bringing your instructor down with a shout.

“I did it!” you beam proudly.

“A little unorthodox, but the job is done,” he pants. “Remember, there is no decorum when you are fighting for your life. It is imperative you intuit your enemy’s weak points and exploit them. Even the strongest enemy can be brought low.”

You nod with determination. “Always go for the knees.” That draws a laugh out of your instructor.

There’s something deeply unnerving about the way this man moves.

König is so big, but he doesn’t move like it. The way he paces reminds you of a big cat: all intimidation and quiet, deadly strength on light feet.

“I’ll let you make the first move,” he says with a crooked smile. He looks deliciously rumpled, the sleeves of his shirt pushed to his elbows. You’re only looking at the swell of his biceps for tactical reasons, of course. Of course.

“How generous,” you reply. Without hesitation, you lunge at him.

He’s ready for you, of course. He matches you hit for hit, parrying you effortlessly. If you thought he was fast before, there’s something downright inhuman about it now. You doubt he’s even breaking a sweat.

He pushes you back, sliding on your feet a little. “Do you seriously have one hand behind your back right now?” you hiss.

“You’re as difficult to fend off as a feather,” he shoots back.

It’s like having a conversation, sparring with him. More than just the banter, of course. You trade blows, each unable to move in too closely to the other. He may be strong, but you’re fast. And you can tell you’re wearing him down.

“Getting tired, big boy?” you taunt.

“Of waiting for you to give up? Perhaps,” he grits out. “Don’t try my patience, princess.”

“I want to watch you squirm,” you respond. You watch as König’s eyes widen slightly. You jump at the opportunity, taking advantage of his moment of shock to knock him off balance and pinning him underneath you.

“That wasn’t so hard,” you purr as he pants under you. “Feel familiar?”

“Last time we were in this position, it didn’t end so well for you,” König shoots back. He can say whatever he wants, but you’ve visibly winded him.

“This time, I went for the knees.”

“Oh?”

“You have buttons that are very entertaining to push, your highness.”

“You little—”

It’s quick. One moment he’s pinned underneath you, and another moment some supernatural strength has him rapidly reversing your positions. He catches you off guard, and you spot a flash of blue in his eyes as the wind is knocked out of your lungs.

“Next time you have an enemy pinned like that, finish the job instead of crowing about your victory,” he hisses.

You wheeze a little before shooting him a coy look. “Struck a nerve, did I?”

“You are an infuriating little minx,” he says, visibly frustrated. He stands up, offering you a helping hand.

You take it, springing up with a little bounce to your step. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Am I coming with you?”

He sighs in consternation. “I suppose you are.”

You give him a little pat on the face. His exposed cheek is warm underneath your palm as he looks at you with an indecipherable expression.

“Glad we sorted that out. See you at dinner,” you say sweetly.

You prance off without a look back. You could use a bath.

MOOOOOOOM THEY'RE FLIRTINGGG

I started out unsure of how this chapter was going to turn out, as it's mostly just setup for the plot to get going. But I ended up having a lot of fun, and some pretty important things are set up in this. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Comments and feedback are of course always appreciated <3

@crowbird @poohkie90 @cumikering @iytatsworld @papaver-decervicatus @anxietyrain @riotakire @ax0lotly @cookiepie111 @kacchasu @no1runawaymilkdad @chthonian-spectre @backwards-readings @yxllowtxpe @garbau @hexqueensupreme @queenthorin1 @violetstyless @her-majesty-theking @vegan-peppermint @peonytarian @ghostslittlegf @euuuuuuun @e1x03 @kokonoiwife @deaddainish @dragonfang @teehee-47 @catluvwr @keiva1000 @waves-against-a-cliff @channelsoph @cutiecusp

#threw in a teensy whisper of switch König at the end there lol #könig #konig #könig cod #konig cod #konig x reader #König x reader #konig x you #König x you #cod #cod mw2 #call of duty #mw2 #fic: kingdom come

[valeriefauxnom]

Unintentional Comedy - Dragalia and Feh Artwork Edition

So, remember Alfonse, from FEH?

Y'know, this dude?

For an okay crutch for those without Gala Euden or Albert or other handy light swords they didn't want to invest in, he was rather popular, only partly owed to any pre-established fondness FEH players had since they already knew him. People liked the more expanded personality we got than FEH's bare-bones story, additionally before they started trying to spice Alfonse up in more recent books.

In his story, however, one of the events that happening is Euden falling off a cliff, shortly followed by Alfonse.

Miraculously, cliff-falling isn't quite as dangerous in Dragalia Lost as in real life (also demonstrated by Leonidas in Stranded Scions, etc...), and the two survive. Alfonse has some sort of injury to his foot, however, conveniently hampering his ability to move but not much else.

Euden, being Euden and unwilling to throw anyone to the wolves, comes up with this idea:

Nothing atypical here, right?

...Well, as it was revealed in a book published two years later than his debut in Dragalia, Fire Emblem Heroes Character Illustrations, Volume 1...

Alfonse is 180cm tall, AKA 5'11.

...Is it any surprise coming from 195cm/6'5 and 180cm/5'11 parents? Someone check the Askran royal food for steroids that Sharena has apparently not been consuming, presumably because she's instead dining with heroes in the barracks.

I digress.

Now, as I've gone over before here, here's where it gets hilarious in retrospect.

In short, Ranzal, the resident big buff burly dude of Dragalia...is stated to be 6'1/185 in the joke comics.

...And while literally nobody else got an even vaguely-official number to their height, Dragalia instead opting for a 'comparison heights' to keep track of who's shorter and who's taller in a pair... Euden often seems to wind up in the 150-155cm/5'0-5'1 range or even shorter when in illustrations with Ranzal:

At most, I've seen him crack about 5'9/175cm in the comics, which aren't exactly a stable source of art, as demonstrated by these two panels, in which both seem to be on flat ground and standing pretty straight:

I need to stop before I mindlessly repeat the other post, but my point remains:

Euden, by most depictions, is tiny. A literal short prince/king.

And yet, no matter what way you slice it, he's trying to carry a dude that seems to be quite a bit taller, let's say. How much, we'll never know, but the fact remains he'd likely need to pull out a dragon phone to search 'how to carry people much taller than you?' just in case and hurriedly read a wikihow 10-step article explaining some strats, were it not for the fact that dragons would have destroyed smartphones in Dragalia a long time ago (good move, dragons....?).

I will admit that there are a few arts that frame them as the 'same height' but I would more point to the fact Euden, when drawn with crossover characters for promotional art, is usually portrayed on an 'equal footing', so as not to have one take up more space/attention. Also, the Feh team might not have even decided on a height for Alfy boy before!

Even then, he's still portrayed as shorter than 5'9/175cm Joker in some art:

So yeah. Crossover art is not exactly consistent, and all I can do is look to the general trend in the 'canon game' of him being absolutely dwarfed by Ranzal.

Now, it's one thing for Euden to be lugging about Alfonse for a while.

The idea he might have done so with such a potential height disparity is pure comedy.

No wonder he's so tired after a while, lugging about another human who is both taller, heavier, and also wearing armor!

Not only that, he later tries and partly succeeds in fighting heavily armored soldiers (who are admittedly aiming to capture him and kill Alfonse) with Alfonse 'draped across his back like a sack of potatoes'. Talk about determination, adrenaline, and/or the simple principle of 'small but mighty'!

Maybe that's why Alfonse was saying "I don't think that's wise" at the start there before he quickly found other rationale besides 'you sure you can give a piggyback without my feet dragging along the ground the whole way?'

My case rests, Your Honor: they unintentionally made part four of Alfonse's personal story a lot funnier to envision by publishing an art book 2 years after he first existed in Dragalia Lost!

#dragalia lost #fire emblem heroes

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: Lacrymaria olor 2

In which a talk with Jimin clears up some very important questions about Jungkook.

Tags/Warnings: Alien AU, Alien!Jungkook, Human!Reader, Angst, Blood and Violence, Strangers to I don't know?

Additional Chapter Warnings: human!Jimin makes an appearance, Namjoon being forced to babysit lol, some talk about JK, lore?, soft JK oh my

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"You better take care of her, or I will pull your throat out of your neck, got it?" Jungkook smiles as he hugs you, eyes closed while his words are directed at Namjoon who clenches his jaw for a second, presumably biting back any comment he might have.

"Jungkook you're gonna be late-" you say, and he whines for a second before he parts from you, a pout on his lips while his hand caresses your cheek.

"I'll be back before the sun sets, promise." He tells you, and for a second, your breath stops when he leans in, to press a kiss to your forehead.

You're almost disappointed.

The moment he leaves, someone else puts a hand on your shoulder, friendly face coming into view next to you the moment you turn to check who it might be. "I'm Jimin. Namjoon has told me about you already." He offers, and you smile, relaxing now that you know there's no danger around.

"I've heard about you too." You mention a bit shyly, following him into the small home Namjoon owns together with the human.

"Only good things I hope!" Jimin chirps, leading you to a seating area near large windows, where he invites you with a pat on the blankets. "So, you're the king's obsession. Can't say I was surprised when I heard how infatuated he is with you." He chuckles.

"I.. honestly don't know why." You admit. "It's odd to me."

"It really isn't." Jimin responds, offering you something that looks like chocolate. "Temian people always follow strength. That's how society works for them." He shrugs.

"But.. then it makes even less sense." You say, surprised at the odd but pleasant taste of the candy. "I'm literally nothing but a bug compared to him. He basically crushed a guy's face in with his knee last week! And it didn't even look like he put much effort into it!" You argue, eyes wide while Jimin cringes a bit.

"Hm, I can imagine." He shudders. "But, they don't define strength as solely physical. You've survived on your own on a foreign planet for years after having the intention to sacrifice yourself for a friend. Dont worry, Namjoon dug up some things about you." He says. "So it makes sense he sees you as attractive."

You cough at that, looking at the fellow human as if he'd just grown a new head. "He what?!"

"Temians don't care about visual attractiveness, or even gender, you know? They only care about actions and character." He says. "Namjoon, for example, sees me as a partner just because I don't shy away from speaking my mind with him. It's weird how that works."

"So.. he's got a crush on me because I was homeless and illegally living on his planet?" You raise your eyebrow, making another person laugh- Namjoon, who sets down two steaming mugs of something herbal smelling.

"Jungkook deems you platonically and sexually attractive, yes. It is very obvious by the admittedly disgusting behavior he displays around you." He chuckles. "He's impressed by your past achievements. No other human would've dared to do what you did." The Temian explains.

"But.." you become a bit uncomfortable now, unsure.

"Dont be worried about any forced actions taken by him. I know that he can be.. a lot, especially in the departments of affection, but don't worry about accidentally saying something that could harm you. Against what your race believes, we're not animals." Namjoon tells you calmly. "A no is a no. The act of intertwining isn't one we take lightly."

"What he's saying is that sex is an almost sacred thing." Jimin explains rather bluntly, making your cheeks heat up a little.

"And Jungkook has been betrayed once before." Namjoon offers, his gaze a bit distant. "To see him like this again, fills me with comfort. For a long time, this side of him had not been seen by anyone." He says.

"He.." you start, and Jimin shrugs.

"His past lover left for a human mate she'd been screwing around with for a while. Jungkook knew, after all their senses are pretty sharp- but he always thought that she at least always came back to him." He tells you. "Until she didn't."

"Thays horrible." You say, unable to imagine the emotions that the king must've gone through. Until now, you had only seen him as either a carefree, impish young man or a very determined king - but this changed your perspective a bit.

Maybe you've judged him too quickly. Maybe there's more to him than what you've assumed.

You don't know when exactly you fell asleep, but after that tea and the warm conversations with Jimin, you simply couldn't help but nap away the rest of the day, knowing that Namjoon would watch over you, and Jungkook would pick you up later.

The young king in question is heard laughing a bit under his breath as he carefully looks at you, and you act asleep to find out what he might say if he was to think you weren't conscious yet.

"We spoke to her about Hana." Namjoon speaks somewhere in the background, and Jungkook's hand instantly leaves your body.

"Why? She doesn't need to know about that snake." He spits, and for a short moment, it's quiet before he speaks again. "And it's not like it concerns her anyways."

"You're clearly more than infatuated with her. She deserves to know you, and not just the you that stands here right now." The older Temian says.

"I do not pry at her past either, do I?" Jungkook bites back, clearly sounding irritated now. "Since when do we ever care about things that we can not change anyways? Is your human spoiling your brain?" He jokingly stabs.

"You're right." Namjoon caves in. "I'm just happy for you."

"How so?" He wonders, carefully removing the blanket you snuggled under.

Namjoon chuckles. "You seem happy."

"I am happy." He chuckles. "I receive honesty from her." He hums, carefully picking you up.

Bringing you home with him, back where you belong.

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook imagine #jungkook x reader #jungkook imagines #alien jungkook #alien!jungkook

[girlfromenglishclass]

The reunion of Penelope and Odysseus at the end of the Odyssey is the culmination of a romance that's kind of grand in scale, so it makes sense that it's been fixated on in artwork. But in the scene, there is the question of the whole slaughter that just happened. There are plenty of relatively moral justifications for it, but there remains the question of Penelope's reaction.

Penelope's reaction to the bloodshed changes the interpretation of the ending, and it's often skipped over in favor of the classic romantic fade-to-black ending. We have three options.

Option #1) Penelope has no reaction to the slaughter/doesn't care. This is the one favored in more cinematic/simpler looks at the story. It's also the closest to what you will find in-text, as they don't necessarily have a discussion about it. Admittedly, it does work best if you're focusing on Odysseus as a romantic hero, fighting to return to his wife. A ten year voyage to get back to her should end in their touching reunion, and a moral debate dampens the climactic end of the story. However, this ending removes Penelope's agency from the plot.

While Odysseus has been outwitting monsters and seducing a goddess, Penelope's role in the story is fixed in her home. (This is entirely fair given the original audience's perception of female virtue) So this means that the suitors and their occupation of the palace is basically her primary concern. We learn about her cleverness and cool head by her ability to outwit them, same as Odysseus with his trials. So for her not to react to the killing of the suitors takes her opinion out of her own subplot. So, verdict: good for a romantic climax, bad for Penelope's character.

Option #2) Penelope is angry about the slaughter. This option does cast a pall over the idea that Odysseus has been toiling away trying to return to his lady love. It says that he'd do unspeakable things for her, but she will cease to love him for it. However, this option definitely offers the most drama. Odysseus returns, but not the same husband she once knew. In fighting his way back to her, he has become a creature of violence. This also could add to the tragedy of the maids who were hanged simply for cooperating with the suitors. The downside is that it completely changes the tone of the ending. Odysseus is given a kind of pyrrhic victory. Also, this is the least in line with text, since Penelope is quite happy to have Odysseus back in canon (once she knows it's him). So, verdict: the most bittersweet ending, most drama, least in line with Homeric canon.

Option #3) Penelope is glad the suitors are dead, and that her husband killed them. Not to be biased, but this one is the most fun. It also is compliant to a canon interpretation, for the same reason listed above. This makes sense with Penelope's predicament. As a woman in Bronze Age Greece, her home is where she has the most influence and power. With her husband away, she has more authority over it than ever. (See Clytemnestra's control over court in Agamemnon's absence) However, the suitors exist as an occupying force. They have taken away her authority, plotted to kill her son, and made her life miserable. In her position, she cannot take revenge, but Odysseus can. In this interpretation, Odysseus frees Penelope and in taking his place as king, returns her dignity as queen. Many readers presume that the primary motivation for the slaughter was that the suitors were, well, suitors. They were here to marry his wife, which he's understandably displeased with, so off with their heads. But really, the suitors are closer to an invading army. One houseguest is annoying; one hundred and eight houseguests is an occupation. The downside? It solidifies Odysseus and Penelope as a murder couple, and depending on your opinion of the morality of it all, implicates her in the crime. So, verdict: the bloodiest, possibly most fun, keeps Odysseus the hero, but does give both characters a sense of brutality.

#the odyssey #odysseus #Penelope #tagamemnon #I'm on tumblr because I miss writing essays for college

[greencheekconure27]

Thinking about Sorsha and how terrified of magic she must be (even if she'd never go as far to admit it) and how it impacts her decisions in the show.

Bavmorda was her mother.I don't know if she was already too far gone when she had Sorsha or if Sorsha witnessed her slip further and further into evil .Either way I do think she sees magic as a corrupting force that pretty much destroyed the first half of her life. She watched it ruin Tir Asleen, her mother*, Nockmaar, just everything around her as she grew up.On top of that, from what (admittedly little but it's there) we've seen of their interactions in the movie it seems likely Bavmorda used her magic to punish/force Sorsha into obedience, either directly,by proxy, or both.

Sorsha isn't magic herself (probably another way she disappointed Bavmorda) but she did inherit the potential as well as the knowledge of just how dangerous and powerful and messed up it can be.She loves Kit and Airk, but she's also afraid and constantly looking for signs of their grandmother's evil in them.I think protecting them from that is one of the main reasons (other than the stated one) she decides to ban magic in her realm.Because by doing so she also prevents her children from studying it and thus getting corrupted even if they do turn out to have magical talent,or so she believes.Willow already told her that magic dissipates if not trained and encouraged, and we know she was willing to do that to Elora (and she does love Elora!)for the sake of her having a *normal* life, so why not the twins as well?

Which also brings me to her interaction with Willow in episode 2. I think there's more to her telling Willow he's not a great sorcerer (rude !!!) than meets the eye.It's not just her not believing in him or trying to win the argument about Elora's fate.I think that for her, Willow's is a great man Despite, not Because of him being a sorcerer.And yes she refuses to believe her friend, whom she definitely admires, is a "great sorcerer" because who had been the main and only *great sorceress* in Sorsha's life? Right.Bavmorda. Maybe Fin Raziel too but a) she was past her prime at that point and b) we'll probably never know,but I suspect she didn't trust Raziel much either.So I think that deep down she both can't really reconcile "good man" and *great sorcerer* in her mind (and since Willow is definitely a good man in her eyes he can't also be a great sorcerer) and is trying to discourage everyone around her (the twins, Elora, Willow himself) from what she genuinely believes is a dangerous path.

(* and presumably her father as well- he was supposed to be the king of Tir Asleen whom Bavmorda cursed in the movie but those scenes got cut)

#willow thoughts #sorsha tanthalos #not saying she's right about what she did but she needs a hug #also Elora probably turned out a lot more stable than if she had been raised as some kind of Divine Child Empress #willow 2022 #willow 1988 #willow ufgood #queen bavmorda #fin raziel #kit tanthalos #airk tanthalos #elora danan #willow series #ramblings

[afterdarkprincess]

Aftershocks Part 6

One last update before we get to the goods!!! This section is a little short but we're just catching up with Jey's thoughts on our recent developments,

Thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with this story so far!

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Tags for @feelschicken and @southerngirl41

Lets GO

Jey can’t say that he was in a hurry to get his bags from the locker room and head out, other than his obvious exhaustion, but his body seemed to be in a rush all the same.

The few guys still hanging around knew better than to try and chat with him, and before he knew it, he was putting the address Sami had sent him into his rental’s GPS.

He probably should have blocked Sami’s number ages ago, in fact Roman had demanded the whole family do so, but ultimately he’s glad he ignored the order.

Jey took a steadying breath. There was literally nothing to be nervous about. In fact he should be grateful and relieved that Sami had offered. He certainly wouldn’t have gotten much sleep on his own, especially if he hadn’t talked to Sami at all.

He still didn’t feel great about what happened tonight. Jimmy’s betrayal still stung deeply in ways he hadn’t even fully explored yet. But he doesn’t feel the crushing weight of loneliness that he felt immediately after the match.

It had been him against the world. And he’d lost. But there had been someone in his corner after all. And that meant more than he could put into words.

And that someone was, presumably, waiting for him in a hotel room.

Nothing would happen, obviously. Jey proved himself to be chicken after not taking the shot back in the med room. He’d been close, but it just wasn’t the right time. He wasn’t ready.

And Sami had gotten the hotel room initially for him and his tag partner. It’d be two beds, some easy conversation and then they’d both go to sleep. Like old times.

The drive passes quickly, he gets a text from Sami with the room number, and before long he’s standing in front of the door.

It should be easy, nothing new for him to just knock on the door. But despite what he keeps telling himself, this feels like an important choice.

He could walk away, he has his credit card in his pocket, he could get a separate room, or drive to the hotel his reservation for tonight had been for, though admittedly the rest of his family would be there and that was something he’d rather avoid.

But he’s wanted this for far too long. Time alone with Sami. More time than just a few stolen moments. Kept that desire close to his heart like a secret.

He knocks on the door.

It takes only a few moments, and the door swings open. And Jey smiles at the welcome sight of Sami’s disheveled hair.

“Hey Uce,” He latches on to the first thought that wouldn’t cause him to cringe if he said it out loud. “You sure you got rid of KO?”

Well that was still pretty cringey, but its better than telling Sami he wants to swim in his eyes.

God he needs to get ahold of himself.

Sami laughs him off, reassures him that its just them in the room and points him off towards the beds.

Jey spots Sami’s bag a few feet in the door. Some things never change, he chuckles to himself as he picks the bag up to take it into the bedroom.

The suite is large, similar to ones that Sami and Paul usually booked for him and his brothers, with a large living room and kitchen area and the beds hidden in a partitioned off room.

Or the bed. Singular.

There’s a rush of thoughts to his head. Sami had booked this room for himself and KO, so why was there just one bed? It could have been a fluke, sure, or maybe. Maybe Sami and KO had something planned, something that Jey had intruded on, and Sami was just too nice to say no.

His traitorous mind started to imagine all the ways that Sami and Kevin could have used this spacious king sized bed and he felt sick.

“Uce?” He hears himself call to Sami, stock still in front of the bed.

He hears footsteps from behind him, tries desperately to play it off cool, “Somethin’ you forget to mention about you and KO?”

Sami’s face looks dumbfounded. It would almost be funny if he didn’t feel a pit in his stomach.

“Jey, I hadn’t even looked- wait, no!” Sami’s face turns bright red. “Kev and I aren’t- I mean we’re friends but I wouldn’t, I don’t-“

Jey feels all the muscles that had been tensed relax. Sami may have lied to him before about some things, but he certainly wasn’t lying about this.

“Alright, Uce. Chill, okay? I believe you.” Instead of dissipating, the blush on Sami’s face deepened and spread to his neck.

Jey wonders idly how far that blush might spread.

Sami starts muttering about going downstairs for a new room, and the enormity of that hits him.

Jey had been so worried about Sami and Owens sharing a bed. He hadn’t considered the possibility of sharing this bed with Sami himself.

Maybe this was a sign from the universe, a blessing.

He reaches out for Sami’s shoulder as the redhead turns away, calling his name.

“It’s okay. We’ll make it work.”

Sami stares at him, his bottom lip hanging open to reveal the pink of his tongue.

Oh this was definitely a blessing. The doubts and fears that plagued Jey earlier in the arena seem so far away now.

Jey drops Sami’s bag on the far side side of the bed near the window, and moves to put his own on the other side, and tries not to feel giddy about the entire situation.

Sami stalks back to the bathroom, face still beet red.

Jey thinks it looks quite lovely, and if given the chance he’ll do what he can to recreate it later.

For the first time all day, Jey’s feeling lucky.

——

NEXT TIME- Jey’s gonna do his best to be a tease ;)

#samijey #jeysami #jey x sami #jey uso #sami zayn

[josefavomjaaga]

Brun meets Napoleon in 1813 (1)

In the appendix of the "Cahiers" written by Soult's aide-de-camp Brun, there are various documents that describe events from the perspective of Soult's staff officers. I thought some of it might be quite interesting, for example the account of an audience (I believe, his third) that Brun had with Napoleon in Paris in January 1813 – i.e., after the Russian campaign, after the evacuation of Andalusia and after the mutual accusations between Soult and Joseph. Among other things, Soult once again asked to be relieved of his post.

The report is rather long, so I will have to divide it into several posts.

Colonel Brun de Villeret to Marshal Soult, Paris, January 1813

I was announced to His Imperial Majesty at 7 o'clock in the evening on 30 December. He was at dinner, He immediately deigned to order that I be introduced, and I found myself in His presence, while He was at table with the Empress, with the King of Rome on his lap.

Which, admittedly, was already one reason for me to post this. I’ve so often voiced my doubts about those happy father-son anecdotes featuring the King of Rome that I feel obliged to post about me being proven wrong by Soult’s favourite aide 😁. (Though I also would like to state that this obviously is not a truly private occasion and that the presence of the Imperial heir may have served a political purpose as well. So there.)

I was greeted in the most gracious manner. His Majesty began by asking me for news of Monsieur the Duke of Dalmatia with the greatest interest, and immediately getting down to business, he asked me to give him details of our last campaign.

Because nothing whets the appetite more than a tale of battlefields with lots of corpses. Right, Marie-Louise?

I spoke in the presence of the prefect of the palace, the women of the King of Rome, pages and servants, and I confined myself to reporting what could be published in the gazettes; I spoke of our situation in Andalusia, the scale of our operations, the good administration of the country, the regrets caused to us by the loss of such a beautiful province, and finally of the advantage we had gained from our depots and the eighteen months' pay which Monsieur the Duke of Dalmatia had given to the army.

Because carrying the money with us to Valencia, only to hand it over to Joseph and his Spanish administration, was out of the question, of course. - Well, at least the soldiers under Soult’s command had received their salaries, from what I have gathered from Joseph’s correspondence, that was not always the case.

I described the difficulties we had encountered in the mountains of Murcia, the dangers of crossing the rivers, our good fortune in escaping yellow fever after being slightly affected by it, and finally the satisfaction felt by the Duke of Dalmatia in having left only 300 or 400 hopeless sick men in Andalusia and in having brought 6,000 of them to the first places occupied by the army of Aragon, nine-tenths of whom should now have recovered perfectly.

And presumably Brun talked about the retreat, its problems and eventual success at such length because he correctly assumed that Joseph had complained to Napoleon and to Clarke and anybody else who would listen about Soult’s retreat from Andalusia having taken too long.

During my account, the Emperor gave me several signs of great satisfaction. He asked me where the King was, and on my reply that I had heard, on leaving Valladolid, that he had arrived in Madrid on 3 December, he asked me: "Wouldn't it have been better for him to have stayed in Burgos?"

Which is probably Napoleon’s way of saying: "Okay, yellow fever, mountains, rivers, got it. Let’s get to the juicy stuff. Have your marshal and my brother already come to blows yet?"

I replied that I had many things to say to His Majesty on this subject; He understood that I could not explain myself in the presence of so many witnesses, and, changing the subject, he asked me various questions about the siege of Burgos, to which it was all the easier for me to reply, as during the four days that I had been forced to stay in this town, I had examined in the greatest detail the place, the work of the besiegers and that of the besieged. I paid a tribute as glowing as it was disinterested to the defence of the garrison, and as dinner was drawing to a close at that very moment, I was able to spend a few moments with the King of Rome, with whom His Majesty wished to amuse himself, and whose form and constitution He deigned to have me admire.

And that’s a nice way to end. I find it interesting that Brun mentions Napoleon’s son so often in an official report to his marshal. But I guess he saw the fact that Napoleon talked to him about the little king as an additional honour, which in turn reflected well on Napoleon’s attitude towards Soult.

Or maybe they just loved to talk about kinds, like apparently all French militarymen 😊.

#napoleon's marshals #and their aides #jean de dieu soult #brun de villeret #paris 1813

[wildshadowtamer]

Ok wild theory but what if the skull guy we think is king's dad in the mural is actually a titan trapper, and the bigger black figure breathing fire is king's dad?

My reasons:

(Sorry im on mobile dunno how to do a read more, its not too long but j is the skip button on computers)

1. The guy has no fur, king has fur and- if the modern titan trappers fake outfits are accurate- so do adult titans. The guy clearly has no fur, and the wings look very much strapped on with the x on his chest.

If their called *titans*, i dont think theres gonna be any creature bigger than them, especially not *that* much bigger.

2. The titan trappers introduced in Edge Of The World dress like titans and hunt them down, presumably to basically exctinction, especially if they once had the collector's help. Those fingers look awfully clawless and round.

3. The other figure has a staff. The bat queen states in one episode that she was the palisman of a giant, and the so-called "titan" on the left has a spear, why would a titan need a spear? The figure- the real titan- is clearly holding a staff, and that makes more sense. Personally, i think the bat queen may have been made when the titan was young- not as small as king, but big enough that the bat queen was proportionate at the time, and she became too small to use once he reached full titan height. But thats a headcanon, still, the titan may have had a staff and a paliasman, and his hands are clawed.

4. The fire the figure is breathing could be an artistic depiction of the sound waves, perhaps they look more intense when their adults.

5. The mural is partially destroyed, but the figure seems to also have a beastly skull-like head. And the mural is specifically destroyed the most around the figure and its face, perhaps trying to make it less obviously a titan?

And 6. Theres a shooting star above the so-called "titan" on the right. Whats the collector called? Child of the stars. Whats their motif? Admittedly, mostly suns and moons, but stars are close enough to the moon that i think it counts. And whats their opinion of the titans? Well, they hate king's father, and are worshipped by the ones that hunt titans

I dont have a reason for all of it, like why the figure is shown skeletal, but as for the reason its in the tower? Its supposed to be a titan's defeat of a titan trapper, but its broken apart so it shows the opposite by showing the trapper most clearly. Like i said, i dont have all the answers, but i think theres good proof and im gonna hold onto this until the hiatus is over and the show says otherwise.

Last minute addition: taking a look at the picture again, the figure does seem to have fur on its arms, legs, neck, and lower back/spine. Also, its an artistic depiction, could be inaccurate or simply their style.

And i know its almost definitely not connected in the slkghtest but in king's "retelling" of how he was the demon king, hes shown with a skeletal bottom jaw,clike the figure

#edge of the world #toh #the owl house #collector #the collector #titan trappers #titan #the titan toh #is this spoilers? im not sure

[ghostsandtoasts]

The Flare/Lysandre Labs Library

(+my completely unprompted analysis/comments)

The library is a hidden away area in Lysandre Labs that contains a lot in terms of lore. It's presumably all written by Lysandre, who not only delves a bit deeper into AZ's tale, but seemingly gets a bit retrospective at the end.

Note: While the English localization is overall rather faithful to the source material, I cannot guarantee that nothing was lost in translation. If you have access to a direct translation, feel free to contact me or add on to the post :)

The Man Who Was King (Lysandre's research on AZ)

These are separated by three colours; red, purple and blue. Each colour is also separated into three parts.

The Red Bookshelves

"The king's name was AZ and he was both the beginning and the end. He used technology unlike any seen during that era to unite Kalos for the first time.

The King was proud of the technology he had used to bring Kalos prosperity, but he couldn't help but use it in a way that had never been intended… AZ, the man who was king, disappeared.

When AZ, the man who was king, vanished, he took the key to the ultimate weapon. That is the item required to activate the weapon."

-

Red covers a lot we already knew; AZ was a king, he built the weapon, and vanished with the key. But it also implies that AZ was Kalos' first king, and explicitly states AZ was an inventor able to create things unlike anything else at the time (which you could admittedly gather from context)

The Purple Bookshelves

"The king couldn't escape war with those who targeted a wealthy Kalos. The war grew so violent and ugly, the King was forced to send his own beloved Pokémon into battle.

AZ had a younger brother. It's said that he led a legion of greedy souls who wanted to siege the Kalos region. His dark intention was to make it his own. But when he saw how Kalos had been ravaged by the war, he took the weapon his brother had created, and he buried that weapon deep underground.

The king's younger brother told his progeny the location of the ultimate weapon and died. That is something to be used by sophisticated powers, not by humans. Human beings must create a world where such a weapon is unnecessary…"

-

AZ's brother started a war against his own brother, recruited another region for said war (presumably Galar) , the war was incredibly drawn out and violent claiming many lives, and this is all before the weapon was built.

Also congrats on telling your kids where you hid the dangerous superweapon, this is surely a good idea and no one in the Kalosian royal family would ever attempt to use a device that is literally comparable to the power of the fucking gods.

The Blue Bookshelves

"Full of sorrow AZ built the ultimate weapon. When he did this he left the following words. "What's wrong with bringing something you love back into this world? Without my beloved Pokémon, no other Pokémon have any meaning!"

The mountains will never know one another, but people can encounter other people. And people and Pokémon mix together.

Over the ages, people and Pokémon worked alongside one another and created many things. As a result of this, a leader appeared among the humans. That leader sought to produce even more goods. Increased production of goods created a gap between haves and have-nots."

-

Lysandre's gotten contemplative, I see. It's kinda tragic that he can't possibly fathom that the issues he wishes to fix are systemic due to the way he was raised.

To me, Team Flare isn't some Cipher level conspiracy who's secretly pulling all the strings. Team Flare is Kalosian cultural at it's most extreme, the classism and nepotism on full display for the world to see. It's why basically everyone turned a blind eye before Lysandre said he was going to kill everyone.

There's a Report on the Desk (Lysandre's note)

"When I was young, I went on a journey around Kalos with my Pokémon. I reached out to help those suffering because they had nothing. At first, they were grateful, but eventually, they began to take my help for granted and demand more and more…

Will fools like those people consume the Kalos region? This world is stable and secure. So the population of people and Pokémon continues to increase unabated. But there was a limit to the amount of money and energy the world is capable of producing.

Either everything is lost or only a handful are saved. This is something best not left to man… I must use a tool of higher power."

-

Predictably, Lysandre doubles down on his beliefs. Perhaps even hinting at some kind of savior complex, or a straight up god complex.

I lean more towards the former interpretation, this is the man who preemptively cried over all the pokemon he was going to kill, after all.

#ghosts n rambles #lysandre #flare boss lysandre #trainer az #az pokemon #team flare #kalos #pokemon #pokemon xy #pokemon x and y #kalos musings

[littlemisssquiggles]

So…about the Collector from the Owl House…

The more I think about and watch the Owl House as its story unveils, the more I’m starting to wonder if there might be a huge misunderstanding on the way regarding its antagonist: The Collector. Here’s my theory:

You ever thought that maybe…the Collector is no different than King?

What if…the Collector that we’re seeing currently in the series is in fact the offspring or…successor to a previous Collector that was the former adversary of the original Titan a.k.a King’s father?

And similar to how King’s father locked him away in the Boiling Isles as a means of protecting himself until he was ultimately found by Eda, perhaps it’s a similar situation for the Collector or rather the current Collector.

I say current since, given his rather child-like demeanour, I’m starting to wonder if this Collector is actually a child. A baby Collector or rather Kid Collector, as I’ll refer to him and his name isn’t actually Collector but rather that was the name of his species or race from long ago.

What if…before the creation of the Boiling Isles, the magic lands were home to two warring magical races that have long gone extinct---the Titans and the Collectors? 

And much like how King is the last of the Titans, my assumption is that this Collector whom I’m going to dub: Kid Collector (or “K.C” for short) is the last of his race as well.

And much like the people of the Boiling Isles worship the Titans whose remains built their world, admittedly it’s the same thing on the other side for the people from Edge of the World, who worship the Collector whose remnants possibly created their world as well.

I know the episode “Edge of the World” revealed that the Collector is far more “dangerous” compared to Belos but…guys, imagine if much as how Belos has been manipulating the people of the Boiling Isles, what if it’s the same for the Collector?

Hear me out with this one.

What if…Belos has been using the Kid Collector too, taking advantage of the poor child’s loneliness and longing for companionship after being locked away for so long and not understanding the full reason why?

Could the Kid Collector not be all that bad? Just a misunderstood and naïve child who genuinely doesn’t know any better because the only source of friendship and guidance he’s ever had was Belos since he discovered him.

I know this concept may seem like a huge stretch and I could mostly definitely be very much wrong about my perception of the Collector. But I dunno…the beginning of today’s new episode—O Titan, Where Art Thou---really got me thinking this thought?

“Almost free. Almost free.  …I won’t be alone. I won’t be alone anymore…”

What if…the story may be leading towards the Collector and King being mortal enemies when they really don’t have to be? 

Ultimately King and the Kid Collector are not so different from each other. 

Both presumably are the last of their kind. Both were probably locked/sealed away for their “own good”/protection. 

And both, despite the sheer god-like beings they’re meant to become, are just kids at heart as we see them in the show. The one noteworthy difference between King and the Kid Collector was who eventually found them.

Remember…King was found alone by Eda and eventually adopted into her home and raised as her son.

On the other hand, remember who found the Kid Collector all alone?

May I remind ya’ll that UNLIKE King who was found by Eda and learned the love and companionship of having someone to call your family, Kid Collector on the other hand was found by Emperor Belos---the same fine gentlemen who past history when it comes to family involved him not only killing them but also resurrecting them multiple times only to kill them over and over again without so much as batting an eye.

King had Eda. The Kid Collector had Belos. Let that sink in.

Makes you wonder now how much differently things might’ve played out if the Collector was actually found by Eda and raised as her child, just like King.

Heck, if Eda has found both the Collector and King then the two could’ve been raised like brothers (or…just siblings in general since I’m not exactly sure what the gender of the Collector is).  Think about it.

At the end of the day, what if …King and the Kid Collector are both just children---the last of two races that were long at war and whose destiny is to probably fight each other when in actuality, they don’t have to.

If the Kid Collector really is just a baby who sincerely just wants to have friends and play all day---y’know like how a child would behave--- then imagine if…he and King become friends?

If the Titans and Collectors were formerly enemies from ancient times then what if…King and Kid will be the two to finally break the cycle and become the first Titan and Collector in existence to become the bestest of friends; using their combined magical powers to further help the Boiling Isles, working together instead of against each other like their fathers before them. Or something like that?

Again, this is all just one big speculation from yours truly but it does make good food for thought, right?

~LittleMissSquiggles (2022)

#squiggles talks: the owl house #the owl house #king the owl house #the collector the owl house #toh theories #toh belos #o titan where art thou #eda clawthorne

[magsdomino]

19, Shinsou and Ibara.

Hitoshi Shinsou was too tired for this. Between training with Eraserhead and finally getting into the hero program, he had been keeping busy. Class B was certainly a lively bunch, though he wouldn't have minded being in the same class as Midoriya or Todoroki.

At least then he wouldn't be getting the cold shoulder from that vine girl. What was she called again? Oh. Vine. He hadn't picked his hero name yet, so he couldn't exactly judge.

At first, he didn't mind. He wasn't there to make friends. That's what he told himself at least. And yet, he still didn't want there to be hard feelings. Between their first year Sports Festival and the joint training towards the end of first year, he hadn't exactly made a good impression.

But in his defense, he was encouraged to use his quirk both times, which he did so with gusto in service of his goal. And yet, something about her thorny reception stung in a way he couldn't place, as if judgement was coming from on high. Maybe he made a crack about her faith. She could be overbearing sometimes, to the point he was convinced it was an act. That was when he had spoken his mind and when the cold shoulder became Todoroki tier.

This had not gone unnoticed by Vlad King, as they had been assigned to take part in a research assignment together. They were supposed to think up a plan for a hypothetical scenario they were given and present it as if it were a mission debriefing. Theirs was a hostage crisis involving a cult.

"Hey. I get it...but you should try reaching out again. She's really not that bad," Yanagi had told him. That's just the thing, however. He had been trying to make small talk, even apologizing for the brainwashing and the remarks about her faith.

The assignment was due in a week and nothing had been done of it. They would be graded as a pair, so they needed to work as one. This made the silence agonizing as the two sat alone together. Shinsou had finally had enough.

"Look. I'm sorry. For using my quirk on you. And for insinuating stuff about you. I don't know you that well and I shouldn't presume to. We have this assignment though, so if you could hurry up enough so we can pass, I would be grateful. "

Once again, he was met with silence, as well as a cold gaze. The boy felt his frustrations bubble up, but he stopped himself. Instead, he continued more calmly and rationally, as his mentor would suggest.

"Please. Stop ignoring me, at least for this assignment, Shiozaki. Then you can go back to your barely disguised disdain for me."

She looked at him, eyes burning with curiosity but also hurt. Her lips trembled as she spoke, her gaze meeting his.

"Is that how you see me?"

"I mean...We haven't gotten off on the best foot. Part of that is down to me, admittedly," Shinsou sighed, his eyes flickering and darting between looking at the ground and at her. He steeled himself and continued.

"I want to get along. I'm not exactly a warm person. I've made that much clear. I don't want there to be animosity though. So I'm prepared to work with you if you'll work with-"

"Listen!" She shouted, freezing the boy in his verbal tracks. Pink tinged her cheeks in frustration and her vines writhed like agitated serpents. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had done.

Ibara continued in a more relaxed, yet anxious tone. "Shinsou...I don't fault you for your actions. We were all out to win. The comments about my faith...they hurt way more. I suppose I can be one note...overbearing...alienating. It's something of great personal importance to me but perhaps I have been very rigid." She looked away for a moment. "None of it has made things easier, especially this assignment. But you must understand. I'm not supposed to have these feelings, especially one with a tongue of silver!"

Tears filled her eyes as she clutched her chest, pleading with the boy. He looked at her, puzzled and concerned at her emotional outburst before it hit him all at once. It was like his quirk had been turned on him.

"Wait…What kind of feelings? I think there's a mistake."

She shook her head in disagreement. "There is no mistake, you cruel boy. You showed a lot of courage in admitting your faults. And valiance in fighting for your dreams against the odds and landing in our class. I...look forward to getting to know you better if you'll allow me. I was just...not used to any of this "

Shinsou sighed and shook his head, a tender laugh escaping his lips. "Well, can't say I expected to receive those kinds of feelings. Least of all from you. I'm not exactly used to this…Nor am I really your type."

Ibara huffed. "I don't have a type and I am not pursuing anything. I seek honesty in all things, as the lord intends…but I suppose that includes honesty with myself."

The atmosphere was tense and awkward, shaken at best. Finally, after a few moments, a clumsy hand patted Ibara's.

"Well I can't make any promises or holy declarations, but um…After we finish this assignment, do you want to go for a walk…the two of us?" He bashfully ran his right hand through his thick purple hair as he shot a smile her way.

Her dark eyes fell upon him and the slightest hint of flowers could be seen in her hair. She smiled back gently and responded.

"A kind offer. Very well. I humbly accept. But first, the assignment."

Shinsou nodded, taking out his book, then slowly gave her hand another pat.

"Alright. The covenant is sealed. Now let's give this assignment hell."

He smiled at her, and she at him. And from there, the most fragile of flowers had bloomed.

#bnha #my hero academia #my writing #drabbles #ask memes #shinbara

[comradekatara]

people on this post being like “eventually someone would figure out that sokka is the one man illuminati and try to assassinate him” are honestly onto smth here like what if the red lotus gets its start not through disapproving of the returned avatar, or the usurping boy firelord, or the incompetent all-powerful earth king, or the grand-lotus-general-dragon-of-the-west, but sokka, who actually wields immense influence over all of them (except for maybe iroh, who just considers him his weirdly younger friend/ideal son—no offense zuko).

as a new member of the white lotus, xai bau realizes that fellow order member sokka is an advisor to every single world leader, including the avatar, so he isn’t even necessarily wrong to be like “what is this guy’s agenda??? what game is he playing???” (it is, after all, known that sokka is a pai sho grandmaster). but what he didn’t account for is just how difficult sokka is to kill. presumably, a relatively unknown nonbender would be easier to take out than a heavily guarded politician or the fucking avatar, but since sokka is actually the most paranoid person on the planet, not to mention he is constantly hanging out with world-class fighters who spent their childhoods at the vanguard of a world war, it’s just foiled attempt after foiled attempt (even with sokka trying to keep the info that there are assassins after him hidden from his friends & family, bc he really doesn't want them to worry over nothing!!)

eventually sokka finds xai bau and is like “I can’t believe you want me dead!!! we played pai sho together!!!!! does that mean nothing to you????” and xai bau is like “I mean yeah.... it’s just a board game......” and sokka’s like, “excuse you pai sho is NOT just a board game it’s a WAY OF LIFE oh fuck I sound like iroh.” he asks xai bau why he’s so intent on killing him (and if it’s because xai bau’s feelings were hurt after sokka fucking demolished him in pai sho) so xai bau simply explains, “you have unchecked power. any reasonable person who realizes this would want you gone. it’s nothing personal.” and at first sokka’s like, “okay well actually you’re thinking of aang. bald, arrow tattoos, adorable dimples? I know he seems harmless, but TRUST ME WHEN I SAY—“

and xai bau’s like “okay yes ideally the avatar shouldn’t exist either but I decided that getting you out of the way first was gonna be my priority,” and sokka’s like, “okay that makes sense. it’s a good plan. other than that it’s stupid because we’re never gonna live in some utopia where no one has to be in charge, and wouldn’t you rather have smart, kind, responsible people in charge than incompetent, power-hungry idiots??” which admittedly is a fair point but xai bau's just like, "well of course you'd say that. you have all the power."

sokka wants to debate how much power xai bau perceives him to hold in the first place because even his assessment of the situation seems iffy just on that basis alone, but also there's the more pressing matter of the fact that xai bau is a very dedicated attempted murderer, which means he'll probably have to go to foreverprison, which isn't really a thing sokka likes doing to people, because he doesn't even really believe in prisons in the first place. but also people shouldn't just be allowed to murder people they don't like. so it's complicated.

eventually they come to a compromise that he'll be held on kyoshi island and do lots of community service supervised by suki (who fucking hates his guts, and never stops hating his guts) and if he ever tries to make a run for it they'll kill him on the spot. but he actually really likes kyoshi island, because other than the whole "avatar worship" thing, their society is way more communal and tolerant than the rest of the earth kingdom, and he actually doesn't mind doing community service. he doesn't understand what suki, who seems very cool, is doing dating an oligarch though. to which suki is just like "stop calling my boyfriend slurs or i'll beat you up." and then she beats him up anyway. they have fun :)

whenever katara, aang, toph, and/or zuko (the people sokka absolutely refuses to tell about xai bau because he knows they'd overreact; suki, mai, and ty lee, and the other kyoshi warriors knowing about the whole ordeal is more than enough for him to feel safe) visit kyoshi island they just hide xai bau away and guard him the whole time. unfortunately xai bau's manifesto had already made the rounds among the white lotus before his arrest, and the red lotus begins to organize around his ideology, even if xai bau himself is not actually present for any of this happening. they think their society is so secret that even sokka doesn't know about it, but really he just doesn't care because "as long as they don't kill anyone, their ideas are sound," and if they do try to kill anyone, well. then and only then will it be his business (obviously he still keeps frequent tabs on them just to be safe, but he doesn't actually find any reason to interfere).

it all only really comes back to bite sokka in the ass when he finds katara reading xai bau's manifesto and he's like "ok where did you get that." and katara's like "oh have you read this? the ideas in here are pretty interesting, right? the abolition of world leaders, the dissolution of borders and nations? i don't agree with all of it, but it gives you a lot to think about, huh" and sokka is like "well let's see now. you are the chief of the southern water tribe" and katara's like "oh don't be so literal it's not like this guy actually wants to kill me, or aang, or zuko" and sokka's just like "right...... no..... of course not....."

#red lotus #this is the prequel to my lok outline basically :) #sokka #postwargaang #xai bau #is that a tag i have?? #suki #katara #white lotus #also yes oligarch is an antisemitic slur. stop accusing sokka of shadowrunning the world just because hes a jewish king!!! smh #its not like sokka WANTS to run the world #he just wants to be left alone to write his books and invent his little machines #UNFORTUNATELY he is SURROUNDED by idiots and he has to hold their hands thru every single step of the political process #fucking SUE HIM. #i also think sokka putting a guy who tried to kill him in the custody of his warrior gf is actually a fate much worse than death #but it still couldve been so much worse. he couldve been put in KATARA's custody #or zuko's #or toph's #well not toph she doesn't want that kind of responsibility #sokka could've given him to aang but then inevitably katara would've found out so obviously he couldn't do that #anyway. red lotus political history #lets. get. into ittt

[onesunofagun]

I shall now yell about Ingo, please stand by:

Ingo’s transformation from the underappreciated backbone of the ranch to an absolute ruff-wearing cantaloupe of a man is also pretty interesting (if you’re the kind of person who absorbs the Zelda series through your skin like a frog to live).

I’ve bolded the key points for skimmers.

Granted, the manga has it that Ingo just gets brainwashed by Twinrova into being a staunch follower of Ganondorf. That’s not canon, but it’s not informing any of this thinking, either way. 

In the beginning of OoT we meet Talon by waking him up from a nap, and we learn pretty quickly that he’s lazy and often yelled at by his daughter for slacking off like this. Ingo at the ranch confirms again that Talon doesn’t pull his weight around there, and since Malon’s still a child, it’s pretty obvious that Ingo’s settled with the bulk of the work.

Ingo is grumpy, he’s resentful, and he complains a lot. But he does do the work, and you can find him (presumably) in the process of mucking out the stables. 

Let’s examine what he does at the ranch:

Epona really liked that song... Only I could tame that horse... Even Mr. Ingo had a hard time...

Now, Epona is established in game to be a real winner of a horse. She’s fast, she’s smart, she’s got a lovely sorrel coat and white mane that seems to be quite rare or highly prized coloring. The catch is, she is notoriously wild. The only people she tolerates are Malon and Link, due in large part to being soothed by the song Malon’s mother taught her.

Ingo had to really try to crack this horse, which Malon’s observation suggests is unusual. 

Epona is very young when we first see her, so it’s never really revealed if she was caught wild, or bred at the ranch with a very headstrong temperament.

Ingo’s clearly the guy that’s breaking them in, though. The most Talon is doing is... sleeping in with the cuccos. We never see any organisation of the cuccos, in terms of egg collection or poultry farming, but nevertheless, Talon has the much less physical jobs even if he was doing them. His focus seems to be cuccos, deliveries to the castle and book keeping between naps (and to be fair it’s probably a little depression related, given the dead wife).

Malon gives us a cow later on, and she’s got the egg for the crowing cucco that wakes up Talon, so I’d like to assume for simplicity’s sake that even as a kid, Malon was up at dawn most days helping Ingo with the cows and milking them. It’s never really implied that she has amazing skill in dealing with horses, just that Epona has a special connection with her specifically. Other than that, Malon is simply kind and respectful of her animals (though I’ve got no idea how she got that cow to Link’s treehouse and that’s worth investigating). 

Later on, Ingo is also shown to be a competent rider. Enough that he has absolutely no qualms in challenging Link to races for wagers, and was quite confident of his ability to win.

The takeaway is, Ingo is usually VERY GOOD with both caring for and training horses, if not breeding them for the ranch.

That kind of lends to his grumbling, when he is referring to himself as ‘the Great Ingo’ and comparing himself to Talon, who is a ‘bum’. His claim to greatness may not be undeserved, at least in horse circles, and especially if he’s not getting particular credit for it, his bitterness and frustration (alongside envy, exhaustion, and dreams of recognition) would be quite deeply run.

So it seems that his friend and employer is clearly taking some advantage of him, especially after the death of Malon’s mother.

So now, let’s examine his feelings, and how he changes.

The feelings Ingo has about that are pretty textbook for the sort of thing ‘evil takes hold of and twists’, in the Zeldaverse.

Focussing on the game itself, Malon says this as an adult:

Since Ganondorf came, people in the Castle Town have gone, places have been ruined, and monsters are wandering everywhere. Mr. Ingo is just using the ranch to gain Ganondorf's favor... Everyone seems to be turning evil...

We do see other characters in Hyrule become influenced by the ‘darkness in their hearts’ as byproduct of Ganondorf’s reign. 

A prominent example of a character who was visibly dissatisfied with their lot, and then notably changes (while praising Ganondorf for what he’d done), is the Castle Guard who is heavily implied to have become the Poe Dealer. Even if by some slim means it’s not the same person, the Poe Dealer does still express that they could not do the work they do without Ganon as King, and that they now benefit from him being in that position and are grateful to him.

The Kakariko Carpenters seem to have given into their fantasies about living among the Gerudo women, and gone out to the Valley and gotten themselves taken prisoner. Following work near the fortress, the team chooses to act on their selfish desires and go for broke, chasing their dreams. They weren’t previously prepared to act upon these fantasies when Link was young, admittedly much milder in their still very prominent obsession, but seven years later, they’re quite happy to risk it all and piss away the stability of their careers (and nearly their lives) at the first opportunity.

Anyway, the trend is, those across Hyrule who are unhappy with their lot before Ganondorf’s coup tend to be ‘corrupted’ by seven years later, and appear to have given in to a twisted version of whatever they most wanted. 

This is noteworthy especially because the language in the game revolves around the Sacred Realm being opened and corrupted, too, by Ganondorf’s unbalanced heart and selfish goals. It is unable to be ‘sealed’ again while Link has the Master Sword. In aLttP, we know there is a mirror like effect to do with the sacred turned dark realm, in which it reflects the hearts of men. 

So it is very reasonable to say, that for OoT in particular, much of this evil influence plaguing the land and preying on the darkness an people’s hearts is a result of the corruption of the Sacred Realm. It is an indirect byproduct of Ganondorf’s acquiring of the Triforce, but not necessarily something he himself does to people on purpose, unlike the brainwashing of Nabooru.

Mr. Ingo is just using the ranch to gain Ganondorf's favor... But Dad... He was kicked out of the ranch by Mr. Ingo... If I disobey Mr. Ingo, he will treat the horses so badly...

This explains a lot of the more callous and greedy behaviour that Ingo shows later on, and why it seems to disappear when he is truly humbled by Link. 

Link’s win serves as a reminder of Ingo’s stagnating skill with horses, the very thing that made him feel so deserving of praise and recognition in the first place, in that for everything he now has control of at the ranch, he still cannot control that horse. He has become as much of a bum as Talon ever was, relegating Malon to do all the hard work while Ingo struts around uselessly. He’s even lost his touch with the Horses so much, in his arrogance, that now he has taken up mistreating them and using harsh and abusive methods (according to Malon’s concerns).

The humiliation and shame takes hold, his pride shattering with the loss of Epona-- not only as a valuable asset, but also as the horse he could never truly tame.

The dark feelings he was holding onto are let go of, as he regains a sense of humility, and the corruptive influence upon him dissipates. He even seeks out Talon to bury the hatchet and invite him back to the ranch.

Oh, I have to tell you about Mr. Ingo... He was afraid that the Evil King might find out that Epona had been taken away... It really upset him! But one day, all of a sudden, he went back to being a normal, nice person! Now my dad is coming back...I can't believe it, but peace is returning to this ranch!

But what about his obsession with Ganondorf in particular?

When the coup happened, Ingo watched the King of the Gerudo unwittingly play out a sort of grand parallel to what Ingo felt should happen on the ranch. To Ingo’s perception, I think Ganondorf was representing an ideal version of Ingo himself. 

A man of the desert, where hard work and grit are as second nature to survive the harsh conditions. A man frustrated with the King of Hyrule’s shit, and forced to swear fealty to him despite being a King himself. A man resplendent with wealth, with fine and flashy clothes and plentiful jewelry.

And perhaps the most important note of all, the Gerudo in OoT? 

They’re horse people. 

They love horses. Ganondorf’s horse is reputed to be a purebred Black Gerudo Stallion, which is obviously a specialty breed, that is fully armoured and as flashy as he is. When the Gerudo cut the bridge leading to the valley, the only way in and out is to have a skilled horse jump the gap. 

They also have a huge horseback archery range, and prowess in the sport is an incredible source of respect amongst the Gerudo, and many of the guards possess bladed polearms suitable for mounted use. From this, it can be assumed that during the recent civil war, Gerudo weapons, war tack and military tactics were probably built around mounted cavalry archers foremost, with a lesser focus on light and heavy cavalry aside (iron knuckle armour springs to mind).

Anyway, Horses are very important to the Gerudo in the era of Ocarina of Time.

So Ganondorf is also unique in the sense that he is the King of a people who value what it is that Ingo does very highly. He, of all people, stands to immediately recognise the knowledge and skill that Ingo possesses in rearing horses.

So this is a man who successfully stages a coup of Hyrule, who clearly inspires Ingo to do much the same of the ranch, and who Ingo also feels is very likely to take his side should he appeal the matter.

And Ganondorf does.

And if that’s not a great compliment to Ingo’s actual skill, I don’t know what is, because Ganondorf is not a man that suffers fools. He’s got a limited patience when it comes to shit that is beneath his notice. Clearly, he recognises that Ingo is indeed the backbone of that ranch-- and the main reason for the quality of its Horses-- and rewards this accordingly.

And for Ingo, being on decent terms with the big scary goth King is a very, very good place to be. But it’s more than that!

What a guy! Not only did he deliver on Ingo’s long due validation, he gave Ingo everything he’d ever dreamed of having to his name, and the authority to kick Talon to the curb. He gets it! Ganondorf, this great eight foot beacon of freshly sought divine power and topaz-encrusted glory, this absolute unit of a man, this great underdog horse-lover after Ingo’s own heart; he really understands how great Ingo is. Ganondorf is paving the way for people like them! Oh, to rub shoulders wiht such greatness when the rest of Hyrule is scorned. 

Ingo feels seen. The Great Ganondorf made all that thankless time spent shovelling horse shit while Talon slept mean something. The Gerudo appreciate Ingo’s talents.

And all Ingo has to do is keep turning out really good horses, and promise to present the King with his finest.

So Ingo knows he’s in deep shit when he gets cocky and loses Epona to a wager, who at this point, he’s prepared pretty well and sunk a lot of money into on the idea that she’s going to Ganondorf. 

Who he’s probably bragged to about how fast she is.

He lost her to some jerk in tights who’d barely ridden before, too. And then when Ingo tried to cheat him out of the win, the kid jumped the damned fence an in ass-bustingly cool move that really just drove home how excellent and rare Epona was.

One does not promise the King of the Gerudo a fast horse and then fail to deliver, let alone for such a stupid reason.

Honestly, by the end, the man’s just happy to be alive.

Also I’d like to think he and Talon had a much fairer delegation of work and forgave each other, each really learning to appreciate what they have and what’s really important.

how the fuck did the Kokiri leave the forest for this scene anyway, they don’t even have their faries???

#tloz #tloz oot #Ocarina of time #legend of zelda ocarina #nostalgia #ingo #malon #talon #lon lon ranch #hyrule #zelda meta #legend of zelda #gerudo #ganondorf #zelda discussion #zelda theory

[therealvinelle]

How many people do u think the cullens have killed?

A lot.

I’ll try to answer on a Cullen to Cullen basis, and make my estimate as conservative as possible. Also, for this estimate I'll look only at direct kills, complicity doesn’t count, which for example means I won’t add Royce King II & friends to Carlisle’s count, even though he made himself complicit when he helped Rosalie plot their murders.

Without further ado:

Alice has had her accidents, plural, so 2≤ humans. After joining the Cullens, mind you, we don’t know how she lived as a newborn. I’d guess her visions told her to feed from animal blood early on, to accustom her to it sooner rather than later so life among the Cullens would be easier. The interesting thing about Alice having a body count is that her gift should be helpful in avoiding these kinds of situations, meaning that Alice’s accidents have caught her unawares. So, we have at least two humans, and considering the newborn army the number might be higher. Might. Jasper tried his damndest to keep Alice safe in that fight, so it stands to reason he killed anyone who got close to her. Alice might not have had the chance to kill any newborns. If she did, and counting kills she helped with, then I’d put my estimate at a conservative 0-1. Then we have Rosalie, who says she has the second best streak in the family, second only to Carlisle. Rose killed 5 humans (she corrects herself a bit later to 7, but this doesn’t make a difference. She’s still second best to Carlisle). She admittedly doesn’t mention Alice, but if Alice had a better record than her she likely would have. Which jumps Alice up another few steps, to 8≤.

Bella hasn’t killed anyone. 0.

Carlisle had a perfect record until the newborn army attacked. So, no humans, but most likely newborns. When Carlisle attacks Bree in “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”, it’s a fast and brutal attack. I’ll just paste the scene: A blond vampire glanced at me, meeting my gaze, and his eyes flashed gold in the sunlight. (...) I turned and really ran for the trees (...) I was a few feet into the trees when a force like a wrecking ball hit me from behind and threw me to the ground. An arm slipped under my chin. (The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, page 91) For the record, holy shit Carlisle, that was so brutal! I can’t believe that the minute Bella steps off screen the guy rips off his shirt and becomes the Terminator. Damn. ... Point being, Carlisle was an active participant in that battle. It makes ethical sense for him to be, the newborns had to die, it would have been hypocritical to tell his family “you guys go roll in the mud, I’m too saintly to get my hands dirty”, and if he didn’t pitch in his family and the shapeshifters would be in danger. It becomes morally just to join in the battle, and with a zeal at that. Or at least that’s how he appears to have reasoned, because holy shit, Carlisle took the gloves off. So, Carlisle can reasonably be assumed to have killed at least 1 newborn, likely more. I’d say 3 at the most, though there’s the possibility that he co-opted some kills with the others. (I have more thoughts further down).

Edward left for four years to eat people. At first he ate junkies and homeless people, they did not taste good. Would this have motivated him to eat more than one every fortnight? Alas, I’m keeping my estimate conservative, so let’s wager no. So, one human per fortnight for four years. 26*4=104. That’s the lowest possible estimate of people Edward killed, though I’m inclined to think higher. Given his mission to stop evil, if Edward found a rapist it’s not like he��d go “aw shucks, I can’t kill him yet because it hasn’t been a full two weeks!” Add Victoria to that count, and we’re at 105≤.

Emmett killed his two singers, but considering Rosalie’s statement he too falls under the 8≤ number. He helped kill James, which adds +1 to the vampire tally. Then comes the newborn battle. Bree sees him kill one of the newborns, so we know he got some action. I’ll make the same assumption as I did for Carlisle, which is 1-3. So, 2-4 vampires total.

Esme is explicitly stated to have a worse record than Rosalie. She has killed 8 people or more. As for the newborn army, I’m not sure I can picture it. If Esme did kill anyone, I imagine it was along with others. Let’s put her down for 1.

Jasper my poor guy, he’s in another league. Turned in 1863, he lived with Maria until 1938, then met Alice and became a vegetarian in 1948. He’s had a few accidents since. From 1863 to 1938 I think we should assume one person per week, as strength was paramount in the world of newborn armies, blood was a reward for soldiers, and Jasper won Maria a lot of territory. They would not want for blood, and he recounts she rewarded him often. So, 52*75=3900 dead humans. Jasper then runs off with Peter and Charlotte, presumably eating at a normal rate of every other week. We don’t know when he split off from them, but let’s assume an even split and that he left after five years, leaving another five years of lone wandering where he tried to starve himself. So, 26*5=130 for his years with Peter and Charlotte, then assuming he made it a month each fast before surrendering, 13*5=75 for the lone years. We then have accidents. He’s had more accidents than any of the other Cullen children (I don’t think it’s every actually specified that he’s had more accidents than them all, meaning Esme could still have slipped more), putting him at 9≤ accidents. Then comes the vampires he’s killed. We know he killed Nettie, Lucy, and James, so that’s 3. Newborns take time to train, but to make up for that we have a lot of armies. Let’s assume Maria’s army got into one battle every six months. Let’s assume Jasper always killed at least 1 vampire. (See what I meant by conservative? In my defense, Victoria’s army was huge and not at all representative) That’s 130≤ vampires. Jasper also mentions that as a newborn he kept getting into fights with his brothers-in-arms, he killed several. So, let’s assume 4≤, since it sounds like it was certainly more than 2. More numerous are the vampires he executed. Jasper’s gift meant Maria could have a lot more soldiers than most, and he doubled her army’s numbers. His first major accomplishment was to make her an army of 23 newborns. Assuming he kept up this good work, knowing as we do that Jasper was the only vampire Maria never replaced, and assuming some newborns were lost to infighting or battles, we can assume a replacement cycle of Maria needing 20 vampires executed on a yearly basis. 20*75 = 1500. Which... does feel a little high, but Jasper’s backstory is extreme. As for the newborn battle, let’s assume 4.

Renesmée hasn’t killed anyone either, 0.

Rosalie we know for sure, 7 humans. Let’s assume as with Carlisle and Emmett that she took out 1-3 vampires.

(NOTE: When it comes to how many newborns from Victoria’s army each Cullen killed, all we can do is estimate:

The Cullens divided evenly with the shapeshifters. There were 16 newborns at the battle, giving us 8 newborns per Cullen. There were 6 Cullens present, meaning at least 1 each. Jasper did more than his fair share, and Alice and Esme can both be speculated to have been smaller parts in this battle. I think it’s fair to assume Carlisle, Emmett, and Rosalie killed at least 1 newborn each, though likely more, especially if we take shared kills into consideration. I think 1-3 is a fair assumption, and I’m tempted to assume Jasper killed was everywhere and it feels like lowballing to estimate 4.)

Total:

Alice: 8≤ humans, 0-1** vampire. 9 total

Bella: 0

Carlisle*: 1-3**, all vampires.

Edward: 104≤ humans, 1 vampire. 105≤ total

Emmett: 8≤ humans, 2-4** vampires. 10≤ total

Esme: 8≤ humans, 1 vampire. 9≤ total

Jasper: 4105≤ humans, 1638≤** vampires. 5743≤ total

Renesmée: 0

Rosalie*: 7 humans, 1-3** vampires. 8≤ total

*with both Carlisle and Rosalie we have an upper limit. Carlisle’s body count can’t be higher than 15, and Rosalie’s can’t be higher than 22 (I get the number 15 from 16-1 newborns, as there’s one vampire we know for a fact was killed by Emmett alone) and that would be in an extremely contrived scenario where he or she was somehow everywhere at once.

** when adding up the total of vampires killed by Cullens at the newborn army, regardless of the composition of who killed who, the sum is (assuming an even split with the shapeshifters) 8.

Added together, this gives us:

4240≤ humans and 1643≤ vampires.

If we remove Jasper’s past from the equation, because newborn army George who spent 75 years in a newborn army killing every day is an outlier and should not have been counted, then the tally becomes: 

144≤ humans and 10 vampires.

If we remove Edward’s rebellious era from the equation, as he was not a Cullen at the time, the human tally sinks to: 

40≤ humans. (This is counting Rosalie’s revenge. There have been 33≤ accidents.)

This is the lowest possible estimate. The number is likely higher.

Special thanks to @theunexpectedness​ on the Twilight Forever discord for digging up her copy of “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” for me so I could get my quotes straight.

Also, feel free to point out errors in the math. I’m sure I’ve made some.

#alice cullen #bella swan #carlisle cullen #edward cullen #esme cullen #emmet cullen #emmett cullen #(no i still haven't decided how many t's) #jasper hale #rosalie hale #renesmée cullen #twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight meta #Anonymous #ask #long post

[iamanartichoke]

I'm creating my own post in order to avoid adding negativity to someone else's, but I will link the post that inspired this one for context. This post talks about the theory that King Loki is the one pulling the strings, and it's mostly a theory that I can get behind as laid out by OP, but I have a serious problem with the role Sylvie may play in it, which is what this post is about.

So, okay, I was with [OP] right until this part -

Except, King Loki never met Sylvie. King Loki is everything Show Loki could’ve become if he hadn’t met her. Who he still could be, because it’s possible for him now to kill King Loki and take his place. But he won’t do that, because meeting Sylvie set him on a different path. Because she taught him how to love himself, he can let go of his need to grasp at power to feel special and important and in control of his life.

I'm not saying this is wrong (and my criticism is no reflection whatsoever on OP's theory in general, which is pretty sound overall), but I am saying that if the show chooses to go this way, I'll probably rage quit. It's a lazy trope to fall back on - that the only thing that could prevent Loki from becoming an evil mastermind and/or supervillain is meeting "the one" (in this case, Sylvie) and falling in love with her. It's so over simplified.

For one thing, I don't see how Sylvie taught him anything, let alone how to love himself. They may have a bond even after knowing one another such a short period of time; I'll give them that, since they're variants of one another and that strips away some of the layers and allows them to connect more easily. But Sylvie's existence isn't a lesson and while Loki may admire her for what she's accomplished, it doesn't automatically mean he can see himself capable of the same things. Whether he is capable or not isn't the point. He clearly doesn't hold himself in as high regard as he holds Sylvie (which is super in-character for him, to downplay his own strengths and potential even while recognizing the value in someone else's). Maybe he can learn to view himself as favorably as he views her, but to me, that's not what "teaching someone to love themselves" means.

(It's worth mentioning - but I won't digress too much - that at this point in the show, Sylvie shows no indication that she returns Loki's feelings, nor has she gone out of her way to build him up or show him that he's worthy of love, so it really is just Loki's feelings for her that we're relying on, that this point, to carry the love story.)

To be honest, I don't think he even necessarily views Sylvie as a variant of himself, as much as he views her as a separate person. She may know what it feels like to be a Loki, but her experiences are so different from Loki's and her path is so far diverged that it's more akin to meeting someone who knows what it's like to struggle with depression (or mental health in general): their perspectives are similar, and their emotional cores may align, and meeting may make each of them feel like they're not so alone - but she is Sylvie and Loki is Loki and neither one of them can step into the other's shoes and know exactly what it's like to be them. The way that he interacts with her implies that Loki is aware of this - that is, he's aware that they are two separate people, even as Mobius insists that they're the same.

So my point is, even if Loki admires Sylvie or falls in love with her bc of reasons, I would still fail to see how that put him any closer to loving himself. But say it did, for arguments' sake, since that's what the writers are going for. I still feel like it would be lazy to say that this is the one thing that stops Loki from becoming the most evil version of himself. It undermines Loki's legitimate trauma and layers of issues, like his fear of abandonment, his crippling lack of self-esteem, his belief that his worth has never been equal to that of Thor's, his identity crisis and struggle with the idea that he is "a monster," figuratively and literally. By virtue of all of these things being major contributing factors to Loki's fall and his villainy and his need for power to feel in control - which I believe that they are - it would naturally follow that, unaddressed, these would be the major contributing factors to Loki becoming more and more evil until we have a King Loki masterminding the TVA (and, by extension, the timeline, the multiverse, and free will itself - like, that's some pretty significant evil, or at least power).

(Again, it's worth acknowledging that it didn't go that way for Prime!Loki, who proved more than once that he was a good person at heart, and he never met Sylvie either - but, that's beside the point right now.)

But Sylvie can't be the sole person who inspires Loki to address these things, nor would these things just go away or fail to hold the same weight once Loki meets and falls in love with her. Loving Sylvie doesn't change that Loki is a frost giant and has never come to terms with that. It doesn't mean he's suddenly not afraid of abandonment, or of being alone. It doesn't fix the complicated twist of emotions (understatement) Loki feels when it comes to Thor and the concept of worthiness and the truth of their parents' love for them.

At best, one could argue that Sylvie may act as a support system that Loki might not have otherwise had, which would allow him to then confront and untangle his way through these issues to ultimately suceed in becoming the best version of himself. This still renders her role in Loki's life a supporting one as opposed to the one thing that can stand between Loki as he is now and Loki as he has the potential to be (in this case, a full-fledged supervillain).

Loki's issues are issues that will not go away until Loki faces them head on and does the work. Which is a journey, admittedly, too long and complex to be accurately portrayed on-screen in a limited series, but the narrative can either imply that Loki's journey is one of self-love with his feelings for Sylvie acting as a catalyst to his working through the things standing in the way of that self-love - or, it can skip all of that and say that Loki's self-love journey begins and ends with his love for Sylvie, and not only does this "fix" him but it's also the one thing that prevents him from becoming a supervillain who presumably controls all of these things - the TVA, the timelines, etc - without remorse.

I, personally, would have no interest in the latter option, so if it does go that way, I think that'd be it for me. And I realize that a lot of my argument here is focusing on Loki ending up as King Loki, which is still speculation and it may not go that way at all. But I think that - since the show has confirmed it's going to explore self-love through a romance - my points about Sylvie's ultimate role in Loki's journey of self-acceptance are still worth mentioning, I think.

#loki tv series spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki spoilers #loki series negativity #since i'm criticizing a theoretical aspect of the show and not anything concrete #the negativity tag would apply