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vivelegalite · 2 years

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im having what may be the worst week in my whole 20 years on this earth, so here's a few byler thoughts i commented on someone's post and thought deserved their own post!!! if i got some things wrong, sorry im extremely mentally drained and my wifi literally stopped working halfway through this <3 feel free to correct me or join me in my delusion in the comments/tags/asks/dms though!!!! i need a distraction desperately so don't hesitate to interact!!!!

without further ado, here it is:

why the "i told you, joyce has this telemarketer job. mike won't stop whining about it" line is definitely about will, as evidenced by literally what the show tells us.

it's not exactly clear when watching season 3 what el's status is with the us govt following its finale. she's searched for throughout seasons 1, 2 and 3, but it's clear she was discovered following her role in fighting the spider monster and stopping the soviets. it's assumed some sort of deal is made following the battle of starcourt, allowing el to live as a normal teenager after the byers family relocates to california — dr. owens is said to help them settle in lenora, in a house they most likely wouldn't be able to afford without help.

i've seen points made for both will and el being primary reasons for the byers family leaving. will, obviously traumatised by the upside down and thus the whole town of hawkins, most likely wouldn't stand to stay there much longer without his mental health deteriorating. el is very much the same — the lab, upside down, the mall where she lost her dad are still fresh in her mind.

however, we also later find out about an apparent divide between the government and hawkins national lab, namely dr. owens and brenner. we learn that el is indeed still a fugitive, and she is still actively being searched for by authorities. that's the real reason for the move.

we've finally arrived at our point — letters, calls, and how mike kept in touch with both el and will.

in seasons 1-4 we are shown numerous times that phones are not to be trusted, and that phone lines are not safe. we know the people who were initially wiretapping hopper's and joyce's phones are the same people who then helped them escape, but after season 3 (timeline wise) and season 4 (when we are shown), this changes. dr. owens and brenner are no longer working with the government, instead operating in secret, meaning the means of communication they used to once take advantage of is no longer viable for el.

although this is only speculation on my part, i would venture to say it's pretty obvious.

government taps phones, it's a thing they do —» can no longer trust government —» knowing they tap phones, you shouldn't use them anymore.

this, however, isn't speculation: el is never mentioned in association with calls, only letters. season 4 opens with a letter from el to mike being read out, when she and mike fight she pulls out a stack of letters to prove he can't write that he loves her, and finally, will's line at the rinkomania:

"you've called maybe a couple of times. it's been a year, mike. meanwhile el has like, a book of letters from you."

will thinks mike is no longer interested in whatever he has to say because mike only called a handful of times within the timespan of a year (actually closer to 8 months, but...). he also pairs that sentiment with the fact that mike does keep in touch with el, exchanging letters regularly.

letters, because of the phone lines not being secure, are an El Thing™. we can gather from this line that calls are a Will Thing™, or at least they used to be before joyce got that telemarketing job (the timeline of which is unclear, honestly, given how the last letter el sends to mike in march mentions the job as though it was a new development, which does nothing to explain why mike failed to stay in touch with will since october. but that's another can of worms we don't have time to unpack now. my bet is on internalised homophobia btw).

thus, the line about mike whining about joyce's job? he regrets not being able to talk to will.

bonus: why doesn't mike want to write will letters, too?

i'd bet on a mix of the fanfiction staple aka "i couldn't write because i would constantly pour too much heart onto paper and/or sign the letter as love, mike" and (arguably more plausible) mike finding will's voice comforting.

i mean, come on, their whole thing is being afraid of losing each other. season 1 and 2 are literally about mike losing will and trying to get him back, first physically then mentally. season 3 is mike losing will metaphorically, growing apart because of his actions. in season 4 they acknowledge this — will saying he'd prefer to rip off the bandaid if he were to lose mike, and mike recognising that he lost will because he worried too much about el.

i feel like after all of this, ESPECIALLY seasons 1 and 2, it would be comforting to mike to actually hear will and know that he's safe and sound. if your best friend disappears for days and his voice is the only thing giving you hope about him being alive, i think it's understandable to prefer being able to hear him when he's gone from sight.

i keep imagining season 1 mike calling out to will on the walkie talkie, and can't help but think letters simply wouldn't cut it for them.

#byler #miwi #wiseheart #st #stranger things #st4 #stranger things 4 #byler analysis #will byers #mike wheeler #don't let this flop begging #byler tumblr #byler endgame #mike wheeler i know what you are

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rrasado · 3 years

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Are you comfortable with uh- doing the obey me demon bros reacting to an MC who has DID having the bros as an introject alter? You dont have to if ur not comfy tho ofc

Which You Are You

I’m telling you all now I am no way experienced in writing about themes like this, nor do I experience this myself/know someone who does, I'm only relying on what I have from research so if you happen to find any offenses, mistakes and or misconceptions please don’t be afraid to tell me so I can fix it! Thank you dears. 💙🌒💙

Mentions of: Mental Illness

When you have Dissociative Identity Disorder: (under the cut)

Lucifer

Whether it was listed in your document in preparation for the exchange program or not. The first born will also be the first one to actually catch on to your condition.

But the How part is a bit...slow even for him. At first it might've started when he'd hear small talk from Mammon his brothers concerning the exchange student. Given your blank nature during first impressions he was not expecting to hear words of comparison between you and him.

Initially he was at least delighted, another responsible figure in the House of Lamentation instead of another person to look after? His wishes have been granted- that is...until he realizes he rarely sees these so called similarities between you two when he himself is with you.

After nitpicking whether he's being pranked by his brothers or you. He'll come to decide that observing you himself will be the best course of action. And in his observations did he find out what's truly at play.

"You humans tend to succumb to all sorts of hindrances... we must tend to this efficiently"

He'll ultimately end up being your personal tracker in some sense, especially with you having alters akkined to his brothers, he's the best at dealing with every single you. He may not voice it as much but he's come to grow a soft spot for you, after all... you make him remember what it's like to deal with his brothers when they aren't busy talking behind his back. A bittersweet mutual benefit noh?

Mammon

If Lucifer wasn't the fastest to catch on, Mammon would've been the next contender. The guy spends the most time with you, so expect him to actually vocally point out the eerily different behaviors you display in different times. Especially when your certain Lucifer alter comes out to scold him.

Only when he ranted to the poor avatar of wrath did he consider that this little quirk of yours might actually be more than just, well...a quirk.

Tries making it a game on which alter is currently out, he's correct 50% of the time. But hey at least he's trying-

Will not hesitate to put any lower level demons at school back in their place for making fun of you.

"OI! Ya'll are just cowards hiding behind the damned walls! Well newsflash you bastards wall can talk!-"

Believe it or not, he'd be the first one to actually get used to your condition. And whe that fact comes to light god- he won't shut up about it. Who else would understand the human most? None other than the great mammon of course!

Leviathan

Levi...surprisingly thought of the possibility the fastest- but he's one of the last ones to actually let it sink in. He probably thought of the possibility because he saw it in an anime once, the main character used their multiple personalities with different powers and- wait he's ranting.

on a more serious note, the only reason he doesn't get the hang of you the fastest is because he kept comparing your alters with character he know, which would sound helpful but- he misses his shot when interacting with you a lot, easily slipping and thinking you're the character and not- you.

But once he does, it's as easy to him as completing a cunning minigame puzzle in a video game. As long as he executes the right keys he'll be fine, right?

Ah levi...that's only if you know which one you're talking to. But when he hears of one alter that oddly acts like him? He'll finally learn how to slowly deal with, himself..?

"Eh? This is like dealing with a mimikyu...hm? ah-"

Overall he's on the "finds your condition dope" side of the spectrum, but that doesn't mean he dismisses the struggles that come with it, he may not be the first person you'd go to when seeking help but when you do...he'll at least open his door for you.

Satan

In his case the only reason he wasn't the first to pin point what's really at play is because he doesn't spend as much time with you as the others. His only basis for making a conclusion are your short morning greetings and when you see each other at the RAD halls.

And since he only has little basis, the realization only strikes him when he hears talk from his brothers how you acted in class with them. Cue to the fourth getting confused because hey you just said good morning to him and you didn't act that way- wait a damn minute..

"I hope this doesn't come too sudden but, would you like to hang out more?"

His hypothesis gets confirmed the more he spends time with you, and unlike the first born, he smartly deals with you via logical reasoning, especially when your more childish alters come out? He'll squint to see any patterns he can concoct counters for in any given situation.

In short, the man is a living breathing clip board of your situation. The others know they can't ask lucifer for advice despite knowing he's the one who absentmindedly deals with you the best, so they turn to the avatar of wrath much to his dismay for insight on you.

Asmodeus

The Avatar of lust is the last to adjust to you, most likely because he doesn't really pay attention to your behavior and mannerisms unless it's posture and if it affects your overall projection.

Deals with it the... least effectively, no asmo you don't- give special clothes and makeovers per alter- though the sentiment is very much appreciated.

Asmo is asmo he'll deal with it in his own style, which again isn't the best way to deal with it but- He's trying, trust me he really is. It shows when he finally gets the tick to ask satan.

And as such expect slow subtle changes with how he treats you, he doesn't wanna make his favorite human uncomfortable! But I think he's the best at relaxing you after a draining experience with one of your more energetic alters.

"Dear you should sit down for a bit- Here let me take care of you"

Depending on where you manifested your disorder from, he'll try to take it slow and easy for you, besides, he knows that there's more to you to unpack, but he's determined to fully accommodate you! no matter which you.

Beelzebub

The way Beel finds out is so odd and yet so unsurprising...and how you may ask? Food.

I meant- with him associating 90 percent of everything with food, he might find out when he takes note of what and how much you eat. He'll have a variety of snacks at the ready, depending how or even if you approach him for some, he'd be initially confused, except for when your alter similar to him comes out. He doesn't question your enthusiasm.

The thing that puts the final nail in the coffin is actually when Belphie points it out to him. He was prepping well trying to not eat food for you when belphie asks him what he's making, he says your favorite food and belphie would grumble how you have so many favorites.

Beel initially dismisses it because hey he has so many favorites to but here he was. But the more he thinks about it the more it connects- which led him to seek none other than the avatar of wrath himself.

"Hey...what are you craving for right now?"

That question doubles as his test for figuring which you is out, depending how and what you answer, his choice of treating you narrows down. Suffice it to say despite being the weirdest method- he's the third one that deals with you the best.

Belphegor

H...he actually accepts it the fastest- despite not being the first to figure it out, he comes into terms with it in the shortest timespan compared to all his brothers.

And just like his twin, he finds out how to deal with you with the most uncanny test- your sleep schedule.

There may be times where you sleep like a log, other nights you stay up longer than the first born. No matter what he'll deal with you to best he can in the moment...assuming he's awake.

He only concerns himself even more when his pillow ended up with you, your alter similar to him opted for that black and white pillow which ultimately ended up with you two napping and sharing said pillow.

"Hng...you're..awake..? How did you sleep..?"

Yes, there may be times he wishes to talk back to mammon's claims of dealing with you the best. but as long as he can interact with whichever you without hitch, he's content.

As I’ve said at the top, please don’t be afraid to tell me any mistakes. I wish to provide without offending nor demeaning anyone. And I won’t mind taking this down if it’s called for, thank you again dears. 💙🌒💙

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #swd obey me #obey me!#obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #rras writes #writings from the eclipse #tw mention of mental illness

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thatfilthyanimal · 3 years

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Maybe you can help me a bit. I have a hard time placing parts of the timeline of the movie. I know there is a calendar that says June for the Tighten battle, and when Megamind becomes Defender there is a newspaper that says something about a winter storm. But do you have any idea when Metroman Day is supposed to be, when Hal gets powers or when Minion finds Bernard? (1/2)

“ The part for the powers is maybe around Christmas, because Hal makes a commend about it, but that could also be him just talking nonsense. But Christmas is also Metroman’s birth/adoption day, so maybe Roxanne’s focus on him for that report wasn’t just random. I have no real idea for the other two parts of the movie. I just don’t believe that Bernard was dehydrated for months. Minion should wash Megamind’s clothes more than once every few months. (At least I hope so.) (2/2) “

Well, this made me look back at the Prequel comic to double-check, and sadly no, there’s no indication of when Metro Man Day is, but I doubt it’s in winter anywhere near Christmas, given then the citizens of Metro City aren’t wearing winter clothes. Michigan in late December would be way too chilly for warmer clothing, and there’s no way a city like that wouldn’t be decked out in garland and lights for the holidays. At best, it’s in Spring or early Summer? I assume Metro Man day was created more in response to whenever his first “big win” would have been with Megamind, but that’s speculation. While he’s likely older than Megamind (given how he looks as a baby) I doubt he’s months older or anything-- Metro Man seems to visibly age much faster. (On this note, Minion is potentially also older than Megamind, but who knows by how much, again. Megamind’s birthday would be Dec. 17th or earlier, depending on how long the space travel takes them. Roxanne is likely close to Megamind’s age.)

Given the available info of the dates we see Megamind and Roxanne having, the timespan here could be only a few weeks, or could be a couple months. It doesn’t seem like a horribly long amount of time. Megamind quickly gets bored of messing around in the city before depression and regret sets in, and his known casual dates with Roxanne are few, but enough for them to be close enough for Megamind to open up, and for Roxanne to be trusting enough to kiss him. Everyone seems to vary on how much time they feel has passed here, but I’d guess maybe a month and a half since Metro Man was defeated to the point Megamind fights Tighten in June. Meaning Bernard would miss about a month and a half of time, minimum.

Between the Tighten battle in June and the paper at the end of the movie, it can’t be much later than Oct or Nov. Any later than that, and Metro City would be too cold for people to dress that warm, again. That said, winter storms don’t tend to hit until later, like late November or December? I think? (I speak as a Floridian who’s lived in the midwest for a few years, now, so maybe not?) So a winter storm would have to be pretty large to be predictable so early. Or some kind of freak weather event.

A couple of other timeline notes:

Button of Doom seems to happen somewhere between where Tighten is defeated and the movie’s end, as Metro Tower is still not fixed, but Metro Tower isn’t even fixed by the movie’s end sooo We don’t know when Bernard gets rehydrated in this. For my fic I put it literally the day after Tighten is defeated (because the whole thing annoys me omg) but it again, could be wherever you feel comfortable putting it. Who knows where Megamind was keeping the cube before it ended up in the wash :x

In the prequel comic, Megamind mentions being aware that Roxanne has used the same perfume since high school (implying he’s known her at least that long). I don’t really count the other comics as canon beyond that one so if he’s known her longer in those (I deadass don’t remember) you could count that. But I really don’t want to suffer through those again to check right now lol. I’m sorry :x

The prequel comic also shows one of Megamind’s past evil plans being plan 654. If we assume, as a random nonspecific example, that Megamind is maybe 35, and has been at these battles since possibly his teens (lets say 15) that means he’s been having these battles for 20 years (maybe) and that that would mean he averages at least 32 evil plans a year. Meaning 2 or 3 evil plans a month. At minimum.

Okay that last one is me reaching but I just really love this movie okay

#Megamind #Dreamworks #Dreamworks Animation #timeline #listen idk it's all guessing here #unless I'm missing something #DWA doesn't love us so who actually knows

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enithinggoes · 3 years

Text

The witch’s teachings, lesson 6: Some planning, some action

Lesson 6- Some planning, some action

The next weeks were full of urgency, I was attempting to gain as much mastery as possible over the benefits of my pact in a short timespan. My lessons with the witch turned mostly to this subject temporarily, I discovered I could see perfectly in the dark, and over much longer distances than ever before. With the right amont of focus, I could even perceive the surface thoughts in people’s minds, but I found that if they became aware of it they could obfuscate intentions with proper concentration, something that Morgana already seemed to have some experience with. She proposed that I try and combine my enhanced vision and mind-reading to read an opponent’s movements, though I was still not nearly fast enough to parry her strikes consistently with my dagger.

On the more direct side of things, if I envisioned myself manipulating an object a few translucent apendages of iridescent coloring, apparently invisible and intangible to others, would manifest and delicately follow my instructions, incredibly precise(I wager I could even sow some injuries as well as with my hands through them) though not very strong, unable to lift more than a few kilograms.

Once I had some control over these abilities we went on to gathering information to take down the duke, “He’s clearly not a complete stranger to magic if he could send a demon after me before, so we should know more about his capabilities before we strike”, explained my master, “so It’d be best to have a plan when we confront him.”

We commandeered another inquisitor wagon, and after defeating the knights on it, the driver was scared enough that even without the watcher’s powers he probably would have told us what he knew, still the insurance about his honesty was useful. Once we were done speaking to him, the witch told me to switch clothes with him, so I’d have a good disguise, and then we let him go, to flee to the nearest town.

While Morgana compared the wagon driver’s description of the Duke to what she had written down on different creatures and their characteristics, I decided it was time I had a talk with Lyssa. “Hi, seems like our next quest will be quite dangerous, are you nervous at all?”

She turned to me with a smirk, “to be frank, cat, not as much as you’d think. I mean, this is what I’ve been training for, right? Stopping the inquisition and taking down the people who think they can just kidnap and kill whoever they find threatening or strange. I’m happy the time seems to have come earlier than I expected.”

I chuckled, “alright, I have something to thank you for, I imagine it’s impossible you didn’t notice these.” I pointed to my changed eyes.

“Hey, if you didn’t want to tell me, felt there was no reason for me to ask,” she answered.

“Well, I don’t know what’s about to happen in the coming days, so I figured I should at least tell you where these come from, and also something about our master…” I explained to her my pact with the watcher, and the story behind master’s black hands and powers.

Lyssa seemed somewhat forlorn, she looked down and said “I see, so, she doesn’t trust me, thinks I’ll go mad for power huh?” Though her lips stayed rigidly straight, I guess she didn’t want to seem as bothered as she was.

I wanted to better explain my master’s thought process, and why she’d chosen to keep this information from Lyssa for the time being. “Look, I think she knows your heart is in the right place, and she trusts you enough to make you a powerful warrior. She might just not trust pacts in the first place, my encounter with the watcher was a complete accident. And she did plan to tell you so you’d be prepared, but she didn’t want you to seek it out.”

“I know!” she half-snapped at me, throwing the stick she was holding to the ground “ I just… I just don’t like her assuming I’d make those choices. Even if she didn’t see it as malice, she’s still thinking I’d make those mistakes and you wouldn’t.”

I didn’t know what to say, I couldn’t really refute her complaints at all, so I just tentatively put my arm on her shoulder and brought myself close, saying “I’m sorry.” As softly as I could. Her whole body was tense, like she’d gone into an instinctive defensive state without anything to fight against.

We sat there for a while, not saying anything, before she pat my back lightly. “Thanks, cat, for trusting me with this, you’re a good friend.”

Soon, Morgana came back, she seemed agitated, but at the same time there was an electricity to her, like the euphoria people could experience in moments of great danger, both of these feelings bubbled under the surface of her voice and gestures when she explained: “Alright, here’s what we know, duke Lucius has his inquisitors head out about once a month, they usually bring back 2-4 people, usually women, accused of some form of “witchcraft”, all but one are publically executed, one is taken into the castle to “repent” in the chambers. The duke attends the executions by but he doesn’t go out for anything other than that, he stays in his room during the day, signing treaties and writing laws, and demands to be left alone during the night,” she gave a knowing smirk, “You may already suspect this, but I’m quite certain we’re facing a vampire.”

The witch raised her left hand, putting her fingers up as she enumerated the steps of her plan. “Here’s what we’ll do: you, familiar, can take us in the stolen wagon into the town, keep your hat over your eyes and don’t let anyone get too close lest they notice too much. We’ll head to the castle in the late twilight, early enough that the duke won’t suspect the time of his “meal” but late enough that we may have the advantage of the rising sun on our side, I don’t think it’ll outright kill a powerful vampire, but it might weaken him. We’ll need to stop by some other town to grab some stakes, maybe a torch or two, he’ll be very adapted to darkness.”

Lyssa had clearly listened as intently as I had, though she still had questions, “alright, but what should we know about the vampire’s abilities, what should I watch out for?”

“I’ve only heard stories of battles against vampires so I am not entirely sure, but I know he’ll have superhuman speed, reflexes and strenght, as well as limited shapeshifting and mind manipulation abilities, though if you both keep your focuses I’m sure it won’t be enough to control you, since I don’t intend to have you fight him directly, it’s too dangerous. I only need you two to distract anyone at the entrance so I may sneak in and confront him” answered Morgana, her expression becoming deadly serious by the final sentence, so I felt a bit too intimidated to argue.

I got up from where I was sitting, raising my hand timidly to ask, “alright, despite the vagueness of this plan, I don’t doubt your ability to defeat the duke, but are you sure this will solve everything? I mean, even if their true goal is just to feed the duke and keep anyone too wise down, doesn’t mean the inquisition will stop if he dies, the ideology used to justify it might live on with the people in power left, and we can’t just go around killing every member, they might total at the hundreds!”

The witch clenched her fists and her lips stiffened, as she turned away slightly for a moment before answering, “I can’t solve everything, truth is, the power vaccumm that will follow could have dire consequences. But the thing is, we can’t just let duke Lucius keep his power. Every month we delayed this would be another group of people slaughtered! He may even extend his reach to other communities like…” She clenched her teeth, though she’d stopped speaking I could clearly hear “Like he did with me.” After she composed herself a bit she continued, “the point is, I’m not sure what will happen after I take him down, but it’s gotta be better than this. We’ll figure it out from there, I’m sure people will eventually learn that the man was a parasite and these towns can and should run without him, if we train more witches there’ll be less reason to fear what’s out there and therefore less reason for people to blindly follow the inquisition. We can’t plan everything out beforehand, but we’re not going in blind either. You’ve both shown me that others can and will pick up the cause when given the chance.”

I nodded in agreement, and Lyssa said “let’s do this then, wipe him off the face of the Earth.”

“Thank you”, said Morgana, “and one more thing, familiar. I think you’ve learned enough to be your own witch, even without me from now on, so it’s time you get a name, what do you think of Cato?” she suggested with a proud smile.

I was surprised, but very happy, hearing that had made me realize how much I’d learned over my travels with the witch, and I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it was that moment that inspired me to compile her principal lessons in this text. When I answered her, my voice carried joy I’ve seldom felt in my life, and true appreciation for my teacher, “I’ll wear it proudly”.

#the witch's teachings #magic #fantasy #original writing #original work #original story #weekly

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icecoldflames · 4 years

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Chapter 5 - The Mystery of Sanders Castle

Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

***

1820, England

The rest of that day seemed to fly by and, too soon, it was the next morning. Logan felt slightly disappointed that Virgil and Philomena would be going back home to Betrug that evening. At least at supper time yesterday his mother had told them that she had made plans with Queen Isolde (Philomena and Virgil’s mother) for Logan to visit their castle sometime in the coming weeks.

It seemed that now Virgil and Logan were on good terms, Virgil and Philomena’s visit was now almost enjoyable. In fact, when the three of them had gone horseback riding last evening and watched the sunset, he had forgotten that he was expected to marry Philomena.

It was rather dangerous, to be honest. How easily he could forget about all his issues when he had to be on top of everything and be the perfect prince. It was irresponsible to forget everything when everything was so important.

Virgil hit his shoulder with his own as he passed by. “Stop thinking so much,” he said, dropping the bag of flour on the table. “Just knead.”

Logan rolled his eyes and began kneading the dough again.

Once Philomena had seen the little kitchen on the top floor she had insisted on teaching Virgil and Logan how to make bread.

“It’s not like I can stop,” Logan said. Thinking was a part of him. It wasn’t like he could shut it off just like that. It was a blessing and a curse all in one because, while he loved solving problems and thinking intricate ideas, he also enjoyed sleeping.

“Make sure your hands are well floured,” Philomena told them, “or the dough will stick to your hands even more.” She then turned to Logan. “You just need a break from daily life. Where you don’t need to worry.”

“Easy for you to say,” Virgil said. “You don’t have to worry about becoming a king.”

“I’d much rather be a king. At least it would be more acceptable to not marry,” Philomena shot back at her brother before glancing at Logan once again.

“I’m just saying,” Philomena continued on, still kneading her bread. “Logan just needs to forget about his problems for a bit. Have some fun.” She paused. “Like baking bread! That’s what me and mother always do when we need some good fun. It also helps out the cooks.”

Logan couldn’t help the small smile from forming on his lips. He didn’t want to admit to her that these past couple of days had been the best break he’d ever had in a long time.

“Oh my gosh, he’s smiling!” Virgil exclaimed, pointing at Logan and covering his eyes. He pretended to faint and, in the process, tripped on the flour that Virgil had spilled earlier and landed flat on his butt. “Oof.”

Philomena sighed and crossed her arms. “I thought I told you to bring a broom with the extra flour.”

Virgil shrugged and chuckled a bit. “I guess I forgot.”

Philomena walked over to Virgil and began rubbing her floury hands over his head. It fell like snow onto Virgil’s hair, little bits of dough rubbing off as well. “That’s your punishment.”

“Hey,” Virgil exclaimed but he was grinning. He pulled himself up and shook himself off like a dog. He scooped up a bit of flour off the counter and began flicking it at Philomena.

Philomena shrieked with glee and ran back to her space on the other side of the counter, beginning to collect her own handful of flour off the counter.

Virgil began throwing little bits of flour over the counter and Philomena retaliated by throwing her own. Soon, above the counter was a massive flour cloud and the three of them were all coughing.

It was like seeing a snowball fight in his own kitchen. Logan began inching away, he didn’t really want to get flour on his clothes. Besides, what would his mother think if she saw him engaging in a flour-snowball fight? Her perfect prince. Soon to be wed.

But then a flour-ball hit him square in the chest. His head shot up. Logan wasn’t sure who threw it but he didn’t care. His competitiveness had been provoked and had snapped free from its chains. “Oh, it is on,” Logan said, a slow grin beginning to spread onto his face. He ran to take cover at a free end of the counter and began piling excess flour off of the counter into his cupped hands.

Seven minutes later, Logan had flour down the inside of his shirt, Virgil’s hair was covered in flour, and Philomena’s face was full of flour that made her look like a crazy ghost.

All three of them decided to stop the game before someone walked in on them. They were playing a dangerous game and, the longer it lasted, the higher the probability one of Logan’s parents would just so happen to walk down this hall.

They decided to clean up the kitchen before taking a secret passageway only Logan (and Irwin) knew to get to his bedroom so it would be easier for Philomena and Virgil to get to their own.

They all voted for Philomena to go find a broom as she was the least dirty. All she had to do was clean her face with some water whereas Virgil needed a deep hair-clean and Logan needed a new outfit. She wasn’t perfectly clean, but she was definitely better than them.

Virgil and Logan watched as Philomena went off down the hallway, following Logan’s instructions as to where the nearest broom would be (in a guest room a couple of turns away and in the closet).

Logan was amazed at how his and Virgil’s relationship had changed in just a day. If Philomena hadn’t intervened yesterday, Logan would’ve dreaded being alone with Virgil. In fact, Philomena probably wouldn’t have left them alone in the first place.

Logan glanced over at Virgil who was beginning to kick some of the flour on the floor into piles so it would be easier to sweep up.

A long, stretched out, piece of dough hung to one of Virgil’s hairs and dangled down, just out of Virgil’s view.

It bothered Logan and he swiftly walked over to him. “You’ve got something in your hair,” he stated. Virgil grinned like a cat and bent down very dramatically so they were the same height.

Logan scowled and rolled his eyes. “You aren’t that much taller than me,” Logan insisted as he began pulling the dough string out of Virgil’s hair.

Virgil chuckled. “Sure. Whatever you say, my infinitesimal professional.”

Logan didn’t know why the blood began to run to his cheeks or how, for a second, he stopped thinking. But then his thoughts began again, whirling like a steam-powered machine. “Doesn’t infinitesimal mean very large?” His eyebrows drew down in confusion, still trying to pick out the dough. He hadn’t known how sticky dough could be.

“Are you joking with me?” Virgil laughed a bit. “Infinitesimal means small. Have you ever read a dictionary?”

“Obviously,” Logan said, genuinely serious. “I used to read it before bed every night when I was younger.” He had wanted to expand his vocabulary when he was around nine and even wrote down words onto paper and cut them out, pocket-sized, so he could carry them around.

Virgil barked out a laugh. “Of course you did,” he said and Logan loved how he laughed. It was somewhere between a scoff, snort, and chuckle and he wanted to make him laugh again. “But I’m positive that it means small, not large.”

Finally, Logan pulled the string of dough out. “There,” he said, placing it on the counter. “It’s out.”

Virgil began to straighten up and Logan was aware of how very close he was to Virgil. While trying to get that piece of dough out, he had subconsciously moved closer. Logan took a quick step backwards to let the usual amount of space go between them.

However, he must have stepped onto the pile of flour Virgil had been creating because his foot slipped out from underneath him and suddenly gravity was doing its job and he was plummeting down, down, down. He shut his eyes, waiting for impact.

Before Logan landed on the pile of flour, arms swooped underneath him and began to pull him up.

Logan opened his eyes and came face to face with Virgil’s unblinking eyes. They were stunning to look at, like a cat’s. They were brown with little flecks of gold. Logan could feel his whole body heat up and his heart begin to race.

“Are you alright?” Virgil asked. He began lifting Logan's torso up but seemed to think for a second before stopping.

Logan’s legs were dangling and, while he felt safe in Virgil’s arms, he was acutely aware that he was inches off the ground.

Virgil’s face was incredibly close to Logan’s own and he noted that this was the second time in a 24 hour timespan that they were very close to kissing. But it was soon gone again and, surprisingly, no other thoughts replaced it.

His mind was absolutely silenced. So peaceful and uncommonly still that Logan wondered if he had actually hit his head on something.

Logan didn’t remember what the question was and didn’t know exactly what to say. His brain was trying to recover and he attempted to recall if he had said anything or if Virgil had said something. His brain drew a blank for the first time in his life.

But then there were footsteps and Virgil almost dropped Logan back on the floor at the sudden sound. They both blinked, as if waking up from some stupor, and Virgil yanked Logan up so suddenly that Logan lost his balance and slid down Virgil’s arms. Virgil tried to make up for this and moved his arms down and bent forward, still trying to heave Logan up. But, with everything happening all at once, Virgil fell forward and Logan fell backwards into the pile of flour so that everything went up in a puff of white.

The footsteps drew closer and Logan could see Philomena in the doorway, holding a broom. Her eyebrows drew down and she instantly dropped the broom. “Oh my goodness. What happened here? I leave for five minutes and look at what’s happened!”

Logan was under Virgil and he could feel Virgil’s racing heart like a fast drumbeat. He assumed his own was similar.

“Don’t ask,” Virgil muttered, beginning to climb off of Logan, lending a hand down which Logan took graciously.

Philomena looked at the two suspiciously for a couple of seconds before bending down to pick up the broom. She shoved it into her brother’s chest. “You sweep. Me and Logan will form the dough and put it in the oven.”

Virgil took the broom and immediately began sweeping. “Let’s catch them on fire,” he said, nonchalantly. Philomena glared over at her brother. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

Logan's cheeks were so hot that he was sure they could have cooked the dough on his cheeks instead.

***

“So you’re telling me you never go for walks around your kingdom?” Philomena asked, aghast. “Even with guards around you?”

The idea was so unbelievable to Logan who only took walks in his own garden or into the woods far away from his own kingdom. “No. Of course not. My kingdom isn’t safe for royalty to take walks into the kingdom. I could be killed or kidnapped.”

All three of them, freshly cleaned and changed, were out in the garden, under Logan’s favourite gazebo.

When he had turned 19, his parents had insisted on a portrait being done. He had only agreed if he could choose where he was placed. He didn’t want to be in some stuffy room in the castle. If he was going to be sitting anywhere for long periods of time, it would be under his favourite gazebo.

“Your kingdom would try to kill you?” Philomena asked. “I mean,” she amended, “I knew there was unrest in kingdoms but I didn’t think here. What do the townsfolk have against your family?”

Logan really hated talking about his own kingdom. Especially to Virgil and Philomena who’s kingdom sounded so drastically different from his own. But it was necessary. Philomena had to understand what kind of kingdom she was marrying into.

“Oh, plenty of things,” Logan said with a roll of his eyes. “To name a few: tax is too high, my parents are too lenient with the criminals and too severe on everyday citizens who commit small criminal offences, they hoard the money and food, they don’t import enough goods, they don’t care about the citizens, they aren’t expanding the kingdom yet the population is steadily demanding it.” He listed these off on his fingers and watched as Philomena and Virgil gaped at him.

“Do you think it’s factual? That your parents are actually doing those things?” Virgil questioned. Logan still couldn’t get the scene of him and Virgil in the kitchen, faces so close to one another, out of his head.

Logan bit his lip in thought. He had always wondered this, alone in his bedroom when he probably should have been asleep. Which side was he on? Did he agree with the people or did he agree with his parents who claimed to be unaware of half of the things the citizens alleged?

To be honest, he always fell asleep before he came to a conclusion or he just came to the conclusion that that decision would be for another time. Another night. Another year.

And now two people were curious to know his opinion on something he had been putting off for years.

Virgil and Philomena looked expectantly at Logan.

Logan chose his next words very carefully. “I’m not quite sure…” he trailed off slowly.

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked.

Logan let out a little breath of air before responding. “Some of the things my parents do definitely aren’t the people’s choice but I see how they are helpful and I understand both sides. Like the higher taxes. People are paying more but everyone’s houses are pretty much stable and won’t crumble at the first signs of a storm or a hard winter. But other things just don’t add up. They just don’t make sense.” He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses. “Like the import thing—I don’t understand it. We import around the same amount of goods as any other kingdom near us yet the people are adamant that we import less than them.”

“Has anyone looked into it?” Virgil asked worriedly. “Maybe people stole it.”

Logan pursed his lips. “They did look into it, a couple of years ago.”

“And?” Philomena prompted.

Logan rubbed his face. “They found the missing goods in one of the castle’s personal food storage buildings. We interviewed all of our staff and they swore that they didn’t know how it got there. The people were furious.” He paused. “After that, we stopped trying to find the missing imports. And we don’t use that storage building anymore.”

Philomena was playing with her skirt and she looked deep in thought. “Could your parents have put it there, not the staff?”

“Philomena!” Virgil exclaimed.

“No,” Logan said, shaking his head. “My parents may be cold and calculating but they aren’t thieves. Especially taking things from their own kingdom.”

“Sorry, but you’re right. It doesn’t make sense,” Philomena said thoughtfully.

“Could your people be doing it, trying to overthrow your parents?” Virgil suggested.

All of these ideas Logan had thought of before. And every single time they came through his mind, he always hit a brick wall. “No. Our people wouldn’t do that. They’ve been unhappy for some time now. I doubt they would keep up the hoax for over ten years. They would probably try to assassinate one of us before planning something in the long run.”

“Has someone tried to reason with your people?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. A while ago, perhaps three years into the missing goods we showed a couple of the lords proof that we had imported these things but they didn’t believe us and thought we had created the proof just to silence them.”

“That’s horrible,” Virgil said.

“It’s going to be so different travelling to Betrug,” Logan said honestly. “It’ll be a nice change of scenery.”

“I can’t wait for you to meet our parents and siblings,” Philomena gushed.

“Oh right, you have three other siblings, right?” Logan asked. “Exactly how young are they?” Being an only child and not ever interacting with other children around his own age (except maybe the odd royal who visited) meant that he wasn’t exactly the best with children or with meeting new people. Which worried him since he was expected to have an heir and raise them.

“Well, there’s Philomena, obviously, then me, then Mabel at 17, then Lillian who’s 14, and then Peter at 9,” Virgil explained, listing each sibling off on his fingers.

“Wow, I can’t imagine having that many siblings,” Logan said. He would probably be fine with maybe one sibling although he wasn’t sure which he preferred—a sister or brother.

“It definitely gets rambunctious at times. Especially Peter. He’s a little rascal,” Philomena said, wrinkling up her nose.

“Yeah but Lillian taught him everything. She’s worse than Peter because Lillian is actually smart,” Virgil argued.

“I’m sure that when Peter grows up, he’ll be plenty smart. He’s nine. Of course he isn’t as smart as Lillian. Just like Lillian isn’t as smart as Mabel and so on and so forth.”

Virgil rolled his eyes playfully. “You’re just saying that because you think you’re smarter than me.”

Philomena opened her mouth, “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that, as people get older, people get smarter and wiser.”

Virgil pointed to Logan. “So you think you’re smarter than Logan?”

Logan intervened before the lighthearted argument could take a plummet. “I think everyone’s smart in their own way.”

Philomena laughed. “Good point.”

***

Lunch passed way too quickly and soon Virgil and Philomena’s carriage was on its way to take them home. Logan would have to wait another month before seeing them again.

He didn’t want them to go. Logan knew the castle would be too quiet. Too lonely. There was no Irwin and now Philomena and Virgil would be going home.

Logan put those thoughts away for now, they weren’t gone yet. Currently, they were in the guest room that he had directed Philomena to in order to find the broom earlier that morning. It had a view of the road to the castle so all three of them would know when the carriage would be arriving.

All three of them were oddly silent.

Everything just seemed to be sinking in. What this whole meeting was supposed to be about. It was just supposed to be a couple of days for Logan and Philomena to get to know each other.

But Logan felt like it had been much more than that. He didn’t know what his feelings were. They were like a massive knot and he didn’t know how to unravel and make sense of them.

He felt guilty that he wasn’t thinking about Irwin. Shouldn’t he be thinking more about him? Shouldn’t he be thinking more about his fast approaching wedding? But, instead of this, all he could discern from his knot of feelings was that he didn’t want Virgil to leave.

Philomena broke the silence. “This isn’t the last time we’re going to see each other.” She tried to put on a smile but it wavered. “We’ll see each other in a month.”

Logan and Virgil didn’t say anything.

Philomena rolled her eyes. “You two are acting like it’s a funeral.”

Logan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck while Virgil slipped his hands underneath him and stared down at his feet.

Philomena sighed and finally stood up from the rocking chair she had been sitting on. “I can’t just sit here anymore. I’m going to do a sweep of our rooms in case we forgot anything. Virgil, just come get me when the carriage arrives.”

Virgil nodded absentmindedly as Philomena walked out the door.

Once Logan could no longer hear her footsteps, his mind wandered to earlier that morning, when he had been in Virgil’s arms. And the two almost kisses.

He didn’t know what he was feeling about the other prince. It felt so similar yet incredibly different than his feelings towards Irwin. Perhaps if he could figure out the differences, he could understand himself better. It felt like such a massive task that seemed so impossible that Logan wasn’t sure if he was up for it.

The galloping of horses made Logan snap his gaze up. His heart fell and thoughts of Irwin disappeared as he stared over at Virgil who stared back at him. Neither of them moved from their places in the bedroom.

It was only when Logan thought that maybe the carriage was halfway down the road that finally Logan stood up, feeling like weights were tied to his feet. He could hear Virgil slowly follow.

Logan thought back to his conversations with Irwin and, with a start, realized that almost 98% of their conversations was Irwin advising Logan. Whether on feelings or just regular advisory. And then Logan tried to think if it had ever been the other way around. He thought long and hard, making his way to the wing where Philomena and Virgil’s rooms were, but drew a blank.

Looking back at their relationship, objectively, it had been rather one-sided. Logan’s palms were beginning to sweat. What did this mean? Was their whole friendship a lie? What did his feelings mean? Did Irwin feel the same? Their whole friendship was based around the fact that Irwin helped him get through life. Did Logan know the intricacies of Irwin’s feelings and opinions like Irwin did him? Did he do that on purpose or was it more of a subconscious thing?

And what about Virgil? Whatever was happening between him and Virgil was definitely not the same as him and Irwin. He barely knew Virgil yet Logan felt a similar warm, fuzzy, feeling that he did with Irwin.

Did Logan even like Irwin? Of course, his feelings seemed to argue. But his mind wasn’t so sure. Was Irwin just a person he depended on to unknot his feelings? It made him uncomfortable admitting it to himself but he couldn’t deny the facts.

Then Logan’s mind went to Virgil and how he didn’t want him to leave. Was that because he depended on him like Irwin or was it because he genuinely liked him?

His heart rate quickened and he could feel his cheeks go hot. Maybe he didn’t have to decipher his feelings in order to answer that question. All he had to do was watch for the signs.

Maybe a part of him still liked Irwin—he was his very first friend, after all—but Virgil was nothing like Irwin. And he seemed to really like him whereas he might have just depended on Irwin because he was more of an advisor.

They were almost to Philomena’s bedroom when Logan barely registered the sound of Virgil’s pace quickening. And Logan’s wrist flamed and tingled when Virgil grabbed it and pulled him around to face him.

“Logan…” Virgil’s eyes were wide and Logan’s brain malfunctioned again and went quiet like earlier that morning in the kitchen. But this time his brain didn’t immediately recover because suddenly they were kissing.

Had he been the first to initiate it or had Virgil? Logan didn’t know, he couldn’t remember. All he knew was that he was kissing Virgil and it was definitely wrong because he was supposed to be marrying his sister but he couldn’t help but feel that this was it. This was how it was supposed to be.

Virgil pulled away after a moment, looking frightened. Logan worriedly wondered if he had initiated the kiss and Virgil didn’t feel the same way about him. But, if that was the case, Virgil would have pulled away as soon as their lips touched.

Virgil blinked and Logan was close to running away and never showing his face again. “Are you…alright?” Virgil asked hesitantly, his eyes searching Logan’s face for something.

Logan held Virgil’s forearms, still slightly in shock—his heart was beating rapidly and his face felt like it was on fire.

“Yes,” Logan finally said, pulling Virgil into a hug. And, after a long moment, Virgil settled his head atop Logan’s.

#the mystery of sanders castle

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vuelie-frost · 5 years

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Living in the woods

aka, vuelie-frost verbally babbling why Elsa lives in the forest instead of Arendelle. This is still a part of the ending that flickers my unease, even this morning after having slept on it. This isn’t a post to convince anyone, but literally just my own thoughts and processing. Hopefully by the end I’ll be more accepting, or even excited about Elsa’s development. I don’t like it, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad or the wrong decision. Separating the part of me that has desires (ie that Elsa would be queen in Arendelle forever and ever) and the part of me that recognizes cinema as a series of complex character arcs (ie what I desire might not actually be best, or in character) is REALLY HARD. But I posit it’s essential to interpreting media in a healthy way. I 100% trust Jen Lee and Chris Buck, not because I idolize them, but because they so obviously care about these characters and this world. Maybe I’m too starry-eyed, but I don’t get the sense that they did this sequel for the cash cow. Now Disney execs probably pushed them in this direction for that reason (Disney is a corporation at the end of the day,) but Jen has stated that they didn’t want to make a sequel if there wasn’t a story to tell. They still felt parts of the story were left unsaid, and that’s why they pursued this film. That said, the movie takes on a LOT, and I have a hunch that’s why it feels so fast paced. Not only is it a kids’ movie and therefore has to hold your attention at all times, but it packs in a lot of plot and character development into a short timespan. The sacrifice of a fast pace is the realism of some situations. Is it realistic that Anna would process her grief over Elsa so quickly? In the real world, no. Probably not. Is it realistic Elsa would so easily hand over the throne when it was something she enjoyed and was good at? Probably not. But (and the first movie had some similar issues too,) we have to suspend disbelief a bit. This isn’t exclusive to Frozen; it happens in all movies. You see it in small bits where someone hangs up the phone without saying “bye,” or when people make eye contact and something spoken goes unsaid. That doesn’t really happen in real life. But we turn a blind eye to those details because the larger purpose of the story is more important than those details. And as these details in Frozen are only rushed, not invalid or stupid, we can still accept them. The idea that Elsa belongs in the forest/among nature is hard for me to accept, but again, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It just means my vision for her wasn’t what the writers thought was best. And the writers know her better than I do. They did her such justice in the first film and even in this film (her poor skills at charades? GOD RELATABLE.) I’ve often fantasied, albeit unconsciously, about the Elsa I’d like to see. I realize that in the 6 years since Frozen, I’ve loved the idea of Elsa as a mysterious, snow-bound sorceress type, living a somewhat solitary life. Still as human, flawed, and precious as ever, but becoming “larger than life” figuratively. Someone revered, respected, maybe a little bit feared upon first impression, but ultimately gentle and warmhearted. Loved by all. Feared by her enemies. (In fact, I write an RP character who is partially inspired by Elsa and partially an infusion of my own personality, and to my own surprise, this character is on that exact path. Unconscious channeling much?) Maybe.. that’s exactly what she is now. The fact that I’m uncomfortable with this just development testifies that 1) she feels out of my control, which makes me feel vulnerable, which makes me feel angry and 2) I’ve at least partially idolized her for her job (queen) instead of her as a whole person Note that I’m not using the reasoning of “she belongs with Anna all the time” as a cause for my uneasiness. This is more about Elsa as a standalone character than their relationship. One, I’m not an Elsanna shipper, so the physical dislocation of two siblings doesn’t scream “heartbreaking” to me. It’s incredibly normal to have family you love with your entire heart and not live with them full-time, if at all. Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest sibling and can see this dynamic more clearly. Two, Elsa could not step into her new role if she didn’t have the unbreakable support system that is Anna behind her. If there was ANY doubt of their relationship’s strength, I’m positive Elsa wouldn’t leave her baby sister to rule alone. It’s not that they don’t need each other. On the contrary, and perhaps paradoxically, they need the other so much that the epilogue could not come to fruition if their bond wasn’t ironclad. I’m still going to miss Elsa as queen. I’m not..... totally unconvinced that she’s not still a “queen,” someone with political leverage in Arendelle, as she’s still its protector and a royal by birthright. It hasn’t been ruled out that they’re co-rulers, just operating in different spheres. I’m waiting for more interviews/podcasts with Jen that I hope will address this detail. If not and Elsa’s technically a princess again, that’s cool too. She’s still part of the royal family and therefore can’t be a commoner or anything. But I wonder why I’m so hooked on her status as a queen, and I realize: it’s just a role. It’s not who she is. I’ve enjoyed it for the inflation of my own ego- seeing someone who’s like me in a position of leadership and reverence is incredibly validating. Watching her walk with beauty and grace as a beloved queen lets me live vicariously. But I have a working hypothesis that escapism in fictional characters is actually our attempt to connect with the real world better. I’ve so badly wanted her to remain queen because it validates ME. It helps ME believe that someone with her set of quirks and nuances can succeed. The issue isn’t with Elsa abdicating the throne- it’s with me assuming that she’s not herself if she’s not in a position of power, and then it throws my own identity into question. And it admittedly has to do with the ambiguity of being the “fifth spirit.” I was worried Elsa would transform into a spirit being, or ghost, or ethereal creature that was no longer human. That doesn't happen, to as much as I understand the movie (she transforms her dress, steps onto a symbol that unites the four spirits, and then unfreezes after the dam breaks.... but there isn’t some spirit-world complete transformation of her essence.) The part of her that’s magic IS inhuman, which is self-evident (no other human in this universe has magic abilities LOL), but that’s not to say she’s inhuman. I’ve also mentioned that I interpret this role as descriptive, not prescriptive. She was a gift to Iduna and Agnarr from birth. This is who she was meant to be from day 1- the potential was inside her the whole time, manifesting in the form of ice magic. I theorize she’s awakened into the 5th spirit role, but it was never something where she had to change in order to become it. (Now deeper lore, like how a 5th spirit existed when Agnarr was a kid and what subsequently happened to it, is still a mystery. I’m interpreting it to mean that the 5th spirit is a role of unification, not a spirit in and of itself. And once the forest became trapped, it dissipated by definition. Elsa was born to fulfill that lost role again, OR to be the first physical catalyst to hold it. Not to mention Anna is imperative here as well- they’re both the bridge.) Someone else mentioned that since their mother was Northuldra, Elsa’s actually among her own people. This is important too, I think. Imagine if Elsa went back to the castle canonically after all that happens. They’d be leaving a huge part of their family history out there, not to mention Ahtohallan which Elsa obviously has a mysterious connection with. I think if Elsa did go back to Arendelle permanently, we’d be having similar conversations in reverse by claiming that she really does belong near Ahtohallan and in nature with the spirits. We can’t win. She belongs in both places- among her family & among her predestined purpose. And she’s able to come and go among them both whenever she’d like. That’s her true independence. She’s FREE, wholehearted and integrated. I also mentioned in a previous post my penchant for a savior complex, probably stemming from my own issues with codependence and infatuation. I won’t get too far into those here again except to say: I liked “needy” Elsa because I wanted to envision myself as the one saving her. That’s my own thorn. It originates from a total infatuation with her that I’m still working on letting go (ha.) But I’m sure I’m not the only one who experiences this. It’s because she’s a character so meaningful to me that I care so much about her, even to an unhealthy degree. I know she’s not real. I know the fantasy of knowing her and “fixing” her is irrational, weird, unfounded, and impossible. But that’s ME, not her. Show Yourself, which is beautiful and emotional, unexpectedly made me feel a little sad to know she’s no longer aching to find herself. Maybe I want that kind of certainty for myself, especially as I’m on the cusp of finding a new job & moving. Maybe it’s my unhealthy fixation on her that wants her to remain insecure so that I can feel validated as her “protector” (again, weird and irrational. I can’t explain my brain’s projections.) Maybe it’s not as clear cut as I want it to be, and I just need to- brace yourselves- let it go. ; ) Granted I still have reservations about her new role, like how someone who was pampered all her life & is known for her pose & grace will adjust to essentially camping 24/7, but those are details and inherently flexible. You can’t say she doesn’t belong in the forest just because she’s not acclimated yet. Now what I feel a lot of people feel unease over is the loss of the first movie’s ending. And by that I mean, we have to disregard our previous headcanon that Elsa remained queen for her lifetime. I mean, we assumed that for 6 whole years and had all that time to flourish in our creative exploits built on that premise. So it undoubtedly feels a little dissonant to have a sequel that goes “nope, not true.” I think that’s normal, and it’s the kind of thing that becomes accepted with time. Shifting our mental framework of Elsa & Anna’s respective futures will take some getting used to. Again, it doesn’t make it a bad ending (you’re free to think that, of course! But something unexpected =/= something bad.) tl;dr vuelie-frost has a lot of feelings and concerns that are pretty indicative of her own issues, not the movie’s. Frozen 2 isn’t perfect but a lot of my grief could be alleviated by focusing on my own projections and expectations, and shifting my perspective to be more open and accepting. You know how people say attitude is everything? It’s annoying but it’s true. And I mean, I still love this movie and want to buy all the merch and draw Elsa endlessly, so my love for the franchise is obviously still THRIVING

#frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #elsa #rambling

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cptn-stvngrntrgrs · 5 years

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[fic] that’s my wife!!!

Relationship: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff

Title: that’s my wife!!!

Summary:

Detectives Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are rumored to be dating despite being married to different people. Well, at least they got the married part right. Wanda really should’ve asked first.

aka the b99 au no one asked for.

for @scarlettjuicehansson, thank you for sending this prompt! i really enjoyed writing this and i hope you like it! i’m so sorry this took so long ;-;

The detectives’ floor of the 72nd precinct was buzzing with activity as usual. However, instead of getting actual work done, the detectives were merely entertaining themselves with anything but work.

Instead of its usual place in the middle, the desks were pushed to the side to make room for a bucket. A few of the detectives were sitting on their desk chair a good 20 feet away from the bucket, next to a bin full of crumpled paper. The game they settled on for today is fondly called “trash basketball”. The participants were to shoot papers crumpled into a ball into the trash as much as they could in a span of two minutes.

So far, the competition was a tie between Detectives Tony Stark and Scott Lang, who both managed to land 12 into the bucket.

“Now get ready for your minds to be blown,” Detective Sam Wilson challenged, rolling his chair to the spot Tony just moved away from. Tony and Scott moved to the sidelines, smug grins all over their face, as the timer for Sam’s turn to start rang out.

Detective Natasha Romanoff let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, shifting her weight from one leg to another as she stood on the other side of the commotion. She doesn’t mind the fun things they do, she really doesn’t, but their boss will be back soon and they should really get started on work.

She heard a laugh beside her and turned to look at Wanda Maximoff, the secretary of their boss, looking at her. “Don’t give them that look. You know they’ll only make it longer if they notice you’re getting impatient.”

Natasha huffed a breath of air out, letting her lips curl into a smile after. “I just have a feeling that this is going to take them a while.”

She felt someone stand beside her and smiled at Sergeant Maria Hill as she faced the game in front of them. “I can tell them to stop, if you want. Knowing Tony, though, it won’t be pretty," she said with a chuckle.

Natasha and Wanda joined in on the laughter, both shaking their heads as they continue to watch the game. Although things like this are the norm in their precinct, admittedly, it is still very much an inappropriate waste of time. However, they were lucky to have a very understanding boss who lets them get away with this sort of things.

A couple of minutes later, just as Scott was chanting something along the lines of rematch, the elevator dinged and out came Captain James Rhodes and another man next to him. Captain Rhodes, called Rhodey by everyone, stopped and stood behind the bucket and cleared his throat.

“Fun morning?” he asked, his voice serious. His eyes, however, betrayed his tone, as everyone can see the teasing glint and look he threw his officers.

“The best. We’re sorry you missed it,” Tony shot back, winking at him. The two have been friends since joining the force together all those years ago - meeting at the academy.

Rolling his eyes fondly, Rhodey held a hand up. “I have an announcement to make. As you all know, we had to rearrange our staff when Detective Daisy Johnson asked to be moved to another department,” Rhodey nodded at the empty desk. “Her replacement is Detective Steve Rogers, who came from the 88th precinct. Please make him feel welcome and at home,” Rhodey eyed everyone pointedly, clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder, indicating for him to say something.

Steve gave everyone a warm smile and stepped forward. “As Captain Rhodes said, my name is Steve Rogers and I’m really excited to be working with all of you from now on. I look forward to getting to know everyone!” He bowed his head slightly as he took a step back again and looked at their captain.

Rhodey just shrugged and dismissed everyone, walking back to his office. Steve followed along for his briefing while everyone cleaned up the floor.

“He’s so hot,” Natasha heard Wanda fawn and watch the girl stare at Steve through the blinds of Rhodey’s office. Wanda looked back at Natasha, who just gave her a shrug.

“How’s your day going so far?” Natasha asked as she approached Steve who was eating his lunch in the breakroom.

Steve smiled. “I didn’t get as much work done as I usually should have in the same timespan, but it was actually pretty great.”

Natasha snorted and finished chewing her sandwich before answering. “Stark bothering you?”

Steve shook his head, pondering over the question. “Not bothering, per se. I think he’s just an energetic man. Scott too.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“Definitely better than the old guys at the 88th though,” Steve assured her. Natasha chuckled.

“Of course we’re better! I’m surprised the city still haven’t forced half of those guys to retire already,” she joked. A comfortable silence fell upon them as they continued eating their respective food before someone approached them.

“Hi Steve! Welcome to our precinct! I’m Wanda, Rhodey’s secretary,” the girl extended a hand and Steve stood up to shake it. “Oh, what a gentleman,” Wanda gushed, shaking his hand a bit too long before taking a seat next to Natasha, who eyed her weirdly.

Steve sat back down as Wanda did. “Rhodey has told me about you! It’s nice to meet you.”

Wanda chuckled, nodding. “Likewise. So Steve, how are you liking it here so far?”

Having neatly putting his lunch away, Steve leaned back on the chair before answering. “I really like it here. I think this is one of the most fun days I’ve had in the office,” he confessed.

“Really? Nothing much really happened today, though. You should’ve been here when Natasha and Scott arrested a bunch of guys selling fake drugs. The ones who complained were so mad -” she cut herself off, giggling and shaking her head. “You should’ve seen it. It was a complete circus…” she trailed off, a happy glint in her eyes.

Steve chuckled. “Well, I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy my time here a lot,” he teased, winking at Natasha before standing up. “Wanda, I’m sorry to have cut our introductions short, but my break’s over and I have to go.”

Wanda pouted playfully. “Til’ next time I guess.” She smiled and waved at him as he went around the table and out of the break room. Once he was out of sight, Wanda breathed out a sigh and slumped in her chair. “My statement still stands - he’s so hot.”

Natasha laughed in acknowledgement and took another bite of her sandwich, pulling out her phone to look through it.

“Such a shame though, he’s wearing a ring - I think he’s married,” Wanda continued, a dreamy look on her face. Natasha hummed in agreement, used to Wanda’s fawning over the detectives. She almost cried when Sergeant Thor Odinson moved to Special Crimes; her favorite eye candy slash human puppy slash office sweetheart being gone. It seems that she’s moved on to Steve to fill those roles.

Two months into the working at the precinct, Steve found his transfer to the 72nd to be superb move. First of all, he gets to be with Natasha for a huge part of their day - and although they’re not really the type of couple who’s into PDA nor are they partners on the job, he enjoys seeing her when they’re both in the office. It also helps that they carpool every morning, though he does miss taking his bike.

The people he works with are also very warm, welcoming, and fun. Tony, Scott, and Sam took it upon themselves to brighten up the precinct everyday. He knows not to mistake their fun nature, though - he’s worked with them as a team, and boy, are those three brilliant detectives! Natasha and Hill’s duo, Steve assumed, is the most productive in the precinct. They’re focused most of the time, and keeps the boys in check. But of course, they let their fun side out once in a while to join in on the fun.

Steve took the morning off to go to the dentist and arrived at the precinct at lunch. He brought Chinese food for Natasha, knowing it’s her favorite. He dropped it off at her desk and she gave him a tired smile, only then glancing at the clock and noticing that it was past 12.

“You haven’t eaten yet?” Steve asked, nodding at the pile of papers in front of her.

She shook her head and leaned back in her chair, looking up at him. “Nahhh, I haven’t got the time. I need to finish these to give to Rhodey by the end of the day.”

“Come on, I’ll sit with you while you eat your lunch. Take a small break then just come back for the rest,” he encouraged, holding out a hand. She smiled, rolling her eyes, and took it, walking to the break room. Steve smiled at Tony and Scott who were sitting at their desks and waving at him, briefly glancing at down at Natasha’s hand in his.

Steve sat with her as she ate, neither of them in a rush to go back to work. Sam is still out from his stakeout that started that morning and hasn’t returned yet, so he doubted that he’ll be on a case with his partner gone. “I’ll help you with some of your paperwork, if you want. Sam’s not here yet.”

Natasha thought about it while chewing her food before nodding. “Hill’s supposed to help, but she and Rhodey has been on some meeting the whole morning, I’m not sure what time they’ll be back.”

Steve nodded along and ate some of the shrimp Natasha fed him, listening to her talk about filing the paperwork for a meticulously long case that she and Maria just solved.

“Oh, I didn’t see you guys there,” Wanda’s voice rang out, in a tone that meant that she definitely saw them in the break room. She was standing in front of the vending machine, but looking at them.

“Hi Wanda! Rhodey back yet?” Steve asked nicely, smiling at her as Natasha continued eating her food. Wanda shook her head and looked at her watch.

“He should be back soon, though. Do you need him for anything?” she tilted her head and took a step towards the vending machine, glancing at it while waiting for Steve to answer.

“No, not really. Just wondering,” Steve replied and Wanda hummed, choosing to get M&Ms and paying for it.

“If you do, just let me know!” Wanda smiled sweetly at them before walking out of the room.

Steve and Natasha stayed in the break room while waiting for their partners; neither really in the mood to work just yet. Natasha was feeding Steve shrimp and laughing when he’s moving around, making her chase him, when someone cleared their throat. Steve promptly ate the piece Natasha was hovering over his lips as Natasha cocked an eyebrow at the person at the door.

Maria Hill was standing there with a smirk, arms crossed over her chest. “Oh, you’re back. Give me a second and I’ll be with you; we’ll just clean up here,” Natasha told her, smiling.

“You go ahead, I’ll take care of this,” Steve said. Natasha tilted her head at him, about to protest, when he shook his head. “It’s okay, really. Sam’s not here yet anyway.”

Natasha shot him a grateful look as she stood up and joined Hill, who’s still standing at the doorway, an unreadable look on her face. “What is it?” Natasha whispered as they made their way back to their desks.

Hill just shrugged, looking down at the files on her desk. “Nothing,” she replied, her tone teasing. Natasha rolled her eyes fondly and took a seat at her desk, both of them starting on their work.

Steve was loading the precinct’s van with equipment that is needed for his week-long stakeout with Sam. He’s been getting along very well with Sam after working with him for a while now. This stakeout requires that they stay in their hotel room the whole day for a week, and both of them prepared for this with tons of video games and movies since they’re not allowed to bring phones or contact to the outside world unless it’s for an emergency. The criminal they’re tracking down is known as a paranoid, and the last thing they want is to be ambushed after showing up on some kind of radar.

“It’s kind of a bonding experience, really,” Steve told Natasha the night before, which got him a snort in return.

“I bet by the end of the week, you guys will be ready to rip each other’s throats out,” she teased, making Steve roll his eyes.

“I’ll miss you,” Steve said softly after a few minutes of silence as they watch TV. Natasha turned to him, a sad smile on her face, and cuddled close to him until she fell asleep. Steve secretly likes it when she falls asleep on him on the couch because that means he gets to carry her - bridal style - back to their bed.

Steve slammed the doors of the van shut and just stood there, panting. “I’ll miss you too,” he heard Natasha whisper behind him, making him turn around to see her. She was hugging herself with her arms, a small smile playing on her lips.

He stepped closer to her and took her in his arms and felt her wrap her arms around his waist and her falling on his chest. “I’ll be back before you know it,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. This would be the first time either of them would be away on an assignment for this long, and although she hates to admit it, Natasha is feeling a bit anxious about it. The criminals they’re trying to catch has been on their radar for so long but kept managing to escape, making them dangerous.

Natasha hummed and pulled back, standing on her tiptoes to peck Steve’s lips before stepping away. “Just… be careful, okay?”

Steve chuckled and stepped closer to her to kiss her one more time. “Always, babe.” He gave her a wink, making her smile and roll her eyes as she turned around to go inside the precinct, nodding at Sam as they passed by each other.

“What’s up with Romanoff?” Sam asked as he approached Steve.

“She’ll just miss me, is all,” Steve laughed, getting into the driver’s seat as Sam went in the passenger’s side. Sam narrowed his eyes at Steve, who returned his look with confusion.

—

“Psst, Natasha,” a voice called as Natasha was walking to her desk. She frowned, looking around for the source of the voice. Truth be told, she’s tired. Steve has been away for four nights already and she’s been getting more and more restless each night without him. She saw the door to the evidence room to be ajar and decided to check it out.

When she got in front of the door, her arm was yanked in by Wanda, who shut the door immediately once she’s inside.

“What the hell, Wanda!” She whisper-yelled. She loves Wanda, she really does, but she’s just not in the mood for her antics right now. She leaned down on the wall opposite the other girl, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I’m only telling you this because I love you, so don’t be mad okay?” Wanda said in a low voice. Natasha stared at her, trying to decipher what she’s going to say, before nodding. “I think you should stop seeing Steve.”

Natasha stood up straight, frowning. “Wanda, I’m-”

“He’s married, Nat!” Wanda cut her off, eyes wide. “We don’t know to who, though. Rumor has it that Steve doesn’t bring her here because, well. She’s either ugly or she’s a bitch, maybe both,” Wanda shrugged nonchalantly, chuckling.

Natasha’s mouth fell open. What have they been talking about in the precinct?! And where have they been getting this from? Who in the world started the rumor that Steve’s wife - her - is ugly? And a bitch!

“Wanda,” Natasha said slowly, trying to recover from her shock. “Where did you hear this from?”

Wanda merely shrugged a shoulder. “People talk.” Natasha shot her an unamused look, making her sigh. “Okay, fine! Me and Fury’s secretary downstairs may or may have not looked him up on Facebook and we saw a photo of him with this blonde. It’s old, I think, because he looked younger. But that was his profile photo so we just assumed that he married her or something,” Wanda explained, looking down at her nails to hide the blush that spread on her cheeks.

Natasha pondered that for a minute. Steve doesn’t use Facebook anymore, not since he and Sharon broke up around 7 years ago. Huh. That photo is probably her with him then. Natasha can’t help but to let out a laugh - they really thought Steve is married to Sharon. And that she’s ugly and a bitch! Which aren’t true, of course. Steve and Sharon had a mutual breakup and occasionally, the four of them - with Sharon’s husband - would go to brunch together to catch up.

“And aren’t you married as well? To a cop, right?” Wanda piped up, as if she forgot about that information until that moment. Natasha didn’t answer, thinking about what to do. She could tell Wanda the truth, of course, or she could play with it. She doesn’t really talk about her personal life all that much - her coworkers mainly know about the basics. They know that she’s married - not to who, that she has a house - not where, and that she has a cat - who they probably know more about from the pictures she shows them.

Natasha didn’t really realize that her relationship with Steve is not public. Looking back to the couple of months Steve has transferred here, the two of them didn’t really bother announcing their status to the precinct; they just went on with their normal lives and routine. However , she really is curious as to what lengths her friends are willing to go to stop the two of them from dating. So she decided to play with it.

“Yeah, I am.” she admitted to Wanda, who threw her a disappointed look, shaking her head mildy. Natasha sighed dramatically, “Why did you even think that I’m dating Steve?”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Everyone practically saw you two being all lovey-dovey the day he left, you know. Seriously, kissing in the open! What if both of your spouses see you! Tsk-tsk,” Wanda crossed her arms. “And do you really think we don’t notice how you two are always together? You guys aren’t even partners yet you spend a lot of time together here.”

Huh. Natasha didn’t even realize that last part. And she kinda feels bad by playing along - Wanda looks thoroughly distressed with their situation. “But Wanda, I love him,” Natasha confessed, biting her lip. “He just… makes me happy, you know? He completes me.”

Wanda sighed, striding across Natasha to put a hand across her shoulder. “That’s good and all, but I don’t know… maybe talk to him? It’s just, you guys are married to different people. I’ve been cheated on before and I hated that feeling. So please, do something about this, okay?”

Now, Natasha feels really bad. But alas, she’s already in too deep; might as well finish it.

Day six of Steve and Sam’s stakeout was surprisingly quiet. They’re both tired and anxious for the 24 hours left to finish so they could go home. So far, there has been no activity on the criminal they have under surveillance, so sadly, it looks like they have to complete the entire 7 days.

Steve sighed, lying on the bed after his shift of watching. Sam, who’s now perched next to the window with the binoculars, glanced at him. “I can’t wait to go home,” Steve groaned into his pillow.

“Mhm, must be nice. Going home to a loving wife and all,” Sam quipped.

“Yeah, I miss Nat,” Steve said with a dreamy look on his face, trying to imagine Nat’s reaction when he comes home tomorrow. Sam frowned at him, walking up from his spot to stand in front of Steve. Steve looked up at him. “Yes?”

“You know, Rogers, I never perceived you as someone who would cheat on your wife. How could you say that! You miss Natasha more than your own wife? Have you really no respect for her at all!?” Sam’s voice was low but he was seething. Steve gets to have someone to welcome him home - his wife - and he should be grateful! All that’s going to welcome Sam is a stack of unopened mail.

Steve opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. After pausing, he sat up straight, trying to stop himself from laughing. “Hold on, hold on. Are you saying that I’m cheating on my wife with Natasha?”

“What’s so funny, you bastard? Of course that’s what I’m saying! Unless you have more side-chicks we don’t know about!” Sam blew up. He’s getting crankier and crankier by the minute.

Steve tried to compose himself. Clearing his throat, he motioned for Sam to sit on the edge of the bed, and he did. “Sam,” he started, “I’m marriedto Natasha. Natasha is my wife.” Steve confessed, saying the words slowly so they could sink in. Sam stared at him, unable to form words.

“No way, she’s married too!” was all Sam could muster up. Steve rolled his eyes and grinned.

“Well, I better hope so because she’s my wife,” Steve teased.

Sam blinked at him. “For real? You’re not shitting me?”

“Sam, when have I lied to you, man? I told you - I don’t lie.”

“Oh, so you just hide the truth, then?” Sam retorted.

Steve thought about that for a moment. “I don’t think we hid the truth, per se. We’re not really big on PDA and obviously, office PDA is inappropriate. I don’t know why we never got around to telling people about us. Natasha’s very private, and even though she loves all of you guys, you’ve never been to our house, right?” Sam shook his head. “Yeah. Now that I think about it, I guess that was one big detail we didn’t get to announce when I transferred. We really just went on with our normal routine and I guess we just didn’t get to telling you guys about it,” Steve smiled.

“You think?” Sam replied, finally smiling. “If that’s the case, then I’m happy for you. You guys are so cute together.”

Steve laughed, patting Sam on the back. “Thanks, Sam. And for the record, I would never cheat on Natasha - god , no, I can’t even think about it - and I never did with my past relationships.” Sam nodded, feeling a whole new kind of respect for Steve - he knows he’s a man of his words and he felt bad for thinking so negatively about him in the first place. Well, can’t blame him - he didn’t know; and those two are so cute, what was he supposed to think about!

Thankfully, a couple hours after their little confrontation, the suspect showed up and a deal was about to go down. From what they learned over the past few days, this is the big transaction they were supposed to stop. They immediately called for backup and proceeded with the bust.

When the rest of the 72nd got there, they went on with the raid and successfully stopped the transaction. They got to confiscate a whole container van full of weapons ranging from guns to small bombs - smuggled by the man they were hunting for.

“Good job you two. Take the day off after this,” Rhodey said, walking past Steve and Sam and squeezing their shoulders. Steve and Sam patted each other on the back and chuckled. The six days and a half were rough - they had tense moments, but after it’s all over, they were good and ready for their day off.

Steve saw Natasha talking to Hill and Wanda, who for some reason, came with them. He walked away from Sam and went towards Natasha, hugging her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to kiss her cheek before perching his chin on her shoulder. “I missed you,” he whispered to her ear.

Natasha giggled and tilted her head to the other side so she could peck his lips. “I missed you too,” she replied, threading her hands into his that were resting on her stomach.

The look of shock and confusion on Wanda’s face made their display of PDA so, so worth it. “Natasha, didn’t we already talk about this?” she gasped in horror. Always the drama queen, Wanda.

Steve raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s wrong with telling my wife that I missed her?”

Wanda stared between the two then at Hill, who’s very calmly watching with a smile on her face. Wanda waved a finger between Steve and Natasha. “You two are… married… to each other?”

“Wait, wait, wait, who’s married to who now?” Scott interrupted, joining the group with Tony and Sam trailing behind.

“Steve and Natasha! They’re married to each other!” Wanda exclaimed.

Tony looked taken aback. “Red’s married to him? I thought you said Steve’s wife looks like a bitch .”

“And ugly,” Scott added, much to Wanda’s chagrin.

“Natasha is neither of those things,” Tony concluded.

Steve straightened up but kept his hold on Natasha. “Who said that?” he asked. Everyone looked at Wanda.

Wanda looked like a doe caught in the headlights. “I swear, I didn’t know you’re married to Nat! I saw a girl on Facebook-”

“Oh, that’s probably Sharon! And hey, she’s nice and pretty! She’s an ex, but we’re cool now. That photo was years ago. I don’t even use Facebook anymore.” Steve chuckled. “Anyway, we’re sorry; we really should have informed you all sooner. We didn’t really think too much about making a big deal out of it. We really try to separate ourselves from each other when it comes to work because we have different systems and routines.”

Wanda slowly nodded. “Wait, but your last names-”

“Legally, my name is Natasha Romanoff-Rogers. I just go by Romanoff to make it easier for everyone.” Natasha answered with a shrug. “And Wanda? I’m sorry for lying to you.”

Wanda pouted for a moment. “It’s okay. It’s my fault that I gossip,” she threw a shy smile. “And I’m happy you guys are together, you’re really cute!”

“Alright, now that that is settled, we have to go back to the precinct. Come on, let’s go,” Hill spoke up after a minute of silence. They laughed and everyone made their way back to their cars.

“You can ride with me, I drove myself here,” Natasha told Steve. He still has his arm around her waist, with Natasha tucked to his side as they were walking.

“Okay, I’d love that,” Steve replied, leaning down to give her a kiss. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the key of the van and threw it to Sam. “You drive.”

Sam caught the keys and made a face. “Aw man. Now that we all know about them, they’re going to be all sweet now and I’m going to be the only single one left.”

Maria bumped Sam’s shoulder with her own. “You’re not the only one,” she whispered suggestively as she made her way to her car with Wanda.

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comradekatara · 5 years

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the other day, I was thinking about an insane piece of discourse I saw back in '14/'15 once the lok finale had aired. a lot of people reacted negatively to the conclusion of korra's arc. not just due to korrasami, but because just before the scene wherein she and asami all but confess their feelings to each other, she says the following to tenzin:

"I know I was in a pretty dark place after I was poisoned. But I finally understand why I had to go through all that. I needed to understand what true suffering was so I could be more compassionate to others, even to people like Kuvira."

now, I can understand why people reacted poorly to that line. for one thing, the implication that she needed to suffer, which a) she already had suffered (amon & unavaatu), and b) no one deserves to suffer; paired with the implication that she needed to become more compassionate, when she was already plenty compassionate, is troubling. admittedly, this line could have used a second draft.

but here's why I don't think the sentiment behind this is faulty: empathy has no limit. there is no gamut of human experiences, and you will never run out of learning new things. korra's arc is all about having her identity as the avatar being tested, constantly being questioned by the people whom she so desperately wants to help. amon strips away her bending, essentially undifferentiating from everyone else. unalaq violently rips raava away from her, intending to leave her only human. but zaheer doesn't just want to incapacitate korra as the avatar. he fully intends to end the avatar cycle, by killing korra full-stop. of course, he cannot, because even when poisoned and in chains, korra can still kick his ass.

in short, korra is amazing. not only is she unbelievably powerful, but she uses that power to help others, and she has genuine kindness and compassion for everyone she meets. this has been true since book 1. it was never in question. and yet, another aspect of korra's character that is often glossed over is that she comes from privilege. she grew up in a thriving society, and being the avatar only exacerbated her access to everything she could ever need. of course, she was lonely, and antsy to leave the white lotus compound, and who could blame her, but compared to mako and bolin, whose childhoods would put oliver twist to shame, she lived like a fucking king. mako even points this out, and she acknowledges her privilege. so why couldn't the fandom? i have two guesses: a) it's inconvenient, especially when trying to pit her against asami, to acknowledge that she never had a tragic backstory. both her parents are alive and love and support her unconditionally, she's never had to worry about money, and she led a very sheltered childhood. b) the idea of an indigenous woman not growing up in poverty is inconceivable to some people, even though the southern water tribe is clearly thriving. (.........because racism.)

korra had indeed known suffering before zaheer, but only in temporary bursts. her fight with unalaq happened in a shorter timespan than a lot of women go through labor in. losing raava was traumatizing and horrible, but it was only temporary. so was losing her bending. we can say that these developments were both a deus ex machina, and lazy writing, and I certainly wouldn't disagree, but literally everyone has experienced traumatic incidents for short bursts of time. this is not the same thing as what korra later goes through, and I will continue to explain why. furthermore, I think the writers agree that these were dei ex machina, because they course correct in book 3. (plus, they knew they had another season in the bag this time. so nick is, once again, at least partially to blame.) korra doesn't just bounce back, like she did in the previous seasons. in fact, after the violence she endured, she becomes so incapacitated she requires the use of a wheelchair.

(I'm going to try not to make this too personal, so please just trust me that I know what I'm talking about here, and that I have an intimately familiar perspective on this situation.) in the episode "korra alone," we see korra at her lowest as she struggles to recover. a trip back home that she anticipates will only be two weeks ends up with her ultimately leaving republic city for the next three years. due to her past experiences, she does expect to bounce right back. she knows herself to be exceptional, and powerful, and she has no reason not to assume that she won't heal quickly. but it takes her much longer than anticipated to regain mobility, and even longer to build up her strength, both physically and mentally. she struggles with being physically disabled, as well as with ptsd and depression. this episode portrays all of this masterfully. as much as people claimed they did her dirty in book 4, avatar has always been exceptional at subtly portraying the effects of trauma, and this episode.... honestly felt like looking in a mirror.

the episode title "korra alone" hails back to an episode of atla titled "zuko alone" in which zuko also struggles with his ptsd regarding the loss of his mother. incidentally, it also takes zuko three years after suffering a grave injury at the hands of a man who values the power of destruction over the inherent value of human life (especially your CHILD jesus ozai) to arrive at a place where he comes to terms with what happens to him, and even though he is not completely "healed," he ultimately finds value in the hardship he endured because he can retroactively appreciate the empathy he developed. like korra, zuko has always been empathetic by nature. in fact, it is his empathy that got him in trouble in the first place. but by having endured unknowable suffering, once he finally accepts it, he develops even greater empathy, and in doing so, saves the world. korra willingly sacrifices herself to save the airbenders. for the next three years, she lives in denial, her obstinate pride resisting the notion that she is human, and is allowed to be weak and hurting, and this only pushes her deeper down into her spiral. but ultimately, she finds strength in her suffering, and instead of fighting kuvira, she talks to her, person to person. even though she is a fully-realized avatar, more powerful than anyone could imagine, she recognizes that she is still human. this arc pattern sound familiar? hell, her hair cutting scene is a direct parallel to zuko's in 2.01. it's not subtle.

and yet, here is something troubling. I have seen someone say that to think that what korra concludes from having suffered is acceptable, is agreeing with the same rhetoric as ozai. that saying, "I needed to understand what true suffering was so I could be more compassionate to others" is the same as saying, "you will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher." for one thing, compassion and respect are two very different things. zuko learns the opposite of respect for ozai; he learns to (rightfully) resent him for the abuse he put him through. and yet, zuko would agree that his suffering was not in vain, because it allowed him to grow as a person. was zuko a good person before the suffering he endured? yes, in "zuko alone" we see that he has always been gentle and kind, to his detriment no less. had zuko suffered before the agni kai? undoubtedly. the disappearance of his mother caused him great pain, not to mention his father's abuse. and yet, he still claims that his banishment is what "set [him] on the right path," because it allowed him to realize not only the humanity of others, but his own as well.

everyone endures pain. some pain lasts longer than others. recovery is not a linear path, and being hurt can be difficult to accept. but accepting your pain is the only way forward. you cannot change the past (capturing the avatar is a perfect metaphor for this because of course, ozai had no intention of zuko ever returning home, and yet zuko is determined it is his destiny). you cannot alter what happened to you. accepting this is the first step, and it's hard. the next step is even harder: appreciating what happened to you. experiencing unimaginable pain that lasts years on end is something that can (and does) alienate you from your community and your peers. and yet, it also tethers you to humanity in a way you otherwise wouldn't. both my parents are alive and healthy, and though many of the people closest to me lost their parents far too young, I fundamentally cannot understand the grief of that. but I know that if it happened, I would make it through, because you just do.

people often tell me I'm "so strong,” and “so brave,” and “so inspirational" for dealing with my illness the way I do. for presenting myself as poised and charming, for forcing myself to work as much as I possibly can, for surviving this. but what else can I do? we do not know what we are capable of until we are tested. no one needs to suffer. no one is inherently deserving of suffering. korra and zuko certainly weren't. and yet, I do believe that to have empathy—true empathy—one needs to suffer. empathy is developed through experience. you will never truly know how another person is feeling. you can never access another person's consciousness. but if you see someone wince at having received a papercut, you will feel their pain if you have received a papercut at some point too.

TLDR. it is literally the healthiest possible mindset after experiencing trauma to acknowledge that you accept what happened to you, and can find merit in having developed empathy due to that experience. korra's recovery arc may not be perfect (because literally nothing is) but it's poignant, and powerful, and affirming. (especially for qwoc. im js!) to claim that those who see themselves in her suffering in any way agree with ozai is an insanely bad take. you will continue to develop your empathy until you die. being kind is good, but you could always be kinder. korra's accepting of her suffering is not her thanking or even forgiving zaheer, it is her forgiving herself. the legend of korra is a story about a god contending with, and ultimately learning to accept, her own humanity— and for someone as powerful and incredible as korra, acknowledging your weakness and vulnerability is no small feat. there is true strength in humility. as iroh says, "pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source." so instead of resisting, let's allow ourselves to develop a new understanding, and learn to heal.

#korra #zuko #analysis #......................................yeah #i now we are an atla blog but. fuck i just love korra so much #i know this is kinda incoherent but. ugh #i just had to . say it best i could #korra&zuko

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bladekindeyewear · 5 years

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Boots reads Homestuck Epilogue part... one..??

Alright, let’s do this. As I’ve said, the page after this one is all I’ve seen, I’m diving in unspoiled. Also I gather from some of the non-spoilery chatter I’ve heard from my friends -- one of which warned me this sort of thing was coming a couple weeks ago, and I believed them (but didn’t want to) -- that this first epilogue-upd8 may not be the only epilogue-upd8, which isn’t surprising either given how Andrew works.

Alright, let’s go. Hope my stomach can take it!

So, Page 1, the mock-AO3 page that’s the only thing I’ve seen before posting this. The content warning is EXCELLENT, and gives me hope that this will be the usual Hussie-caliber and more humorous than heartwrenching. :)

It also makes some serious sense that there would be multiple epilogues; from the sound of the summary, this one might focus more on John and then leave ample opportunity to discuss the others.

Let’s click page 2 -- oh, or contents: “Prologue”, this being a chapter list for this is another way to do it. Clicking Prologue.......

Okay wow, this is novel format for the moment. Good chance it won’t stay that way.

These first two paragraphs are well-written and ominous, sure -- describing stuff we pretty much already knew was happening, in different words -- but even though the writing isn’t really pretentious, there’s still a good chance Andrew *views* it as pretentious enough to find cutting away to art-style instead hilarious. Onto the third paragraph...

Music and Calliopes the other Calliope is conducting, yeah... Oh, there’s a garbage disposal reference. In regards to a black hole. Like the one I kind of pointed to during Dave’s intro sequence in the Third Scratch theory and stuff in all those big theories. The ones I was, er, wrong about... ahem. Moving on.

“Your name is John Egbert, and you have just had a terrible, deeply pretentious nightmare.”

Pfffffffff :D

I love you Andrew Hussie. Reading on...

YES I see chat colors. Chat colors!!! I need chat colors. Reading reading reading let me get down to them let me

Absolutely nothing of note has ever happened here in the entire history of the planet, which you would know, because you created it.

Baahahahahah. :D

Okay yes I’m at the phone-sterlog.

Uh oh.

I am reading elevated levels of angst compared to usual pesterlogs in this log. Which is to say, virtually any at all, really. THAT doesn’t bode well for the outcome/overall tone of this epilogue. :X --Not to say it isn’t *appropriate*, given they still haven’t fixed/resewn Paradox Space together, but... yeah, *future feels* are popping up on the radar, that’s what I’m worried about. I loved the tone of the snapchats and the feeling that everything was going to be fine, especially given how the ending “not being what I expected” shook me a fair bit, but to look forward to when that may end... D:

Yeah, Rose having some serious visions about some unfinished business they need to get around to instead of just fucking around and living their lives makes sense. :X --or at least some timeline version of them. I’m imagining they’re living varied, excellent lives in a whole TON of timelines of promise that commit our imaginings of their potential futures to virtual canon, really, with the main thread that ties off Caliborn’s stage play almost irrelevant in comparison... that was kind of the whole point of the Ending of homestuck earlier, of that final anime flash, the fact that the victory and planet and *lives* they won meant a whole lot more than whatever Lord English’s irrelevant machinations were.

So... returning to the tail end of that main thread and seeing how *serious* it might be....... yeah. Kinda mildly panic-inducing. :XXX

You move the phone away from your ear and assume an expression you haven’t practiced in years. It is the look of a man who actually has something to do.

Okay that was good.

Ah, he’s twenty-three now!

Let’s click the next link. ==>

Fuck let’s not recount Rose’s substance abuse.

Oh, cool. Er, “cool”. Rose is getting some of Rosejaspersprite^2′s awareness of all her alternate-timeline doomed selves and their lives. No wonder she’s worried about the substance abuse she technically mostly *avoided* in this timeline.

Light explicitly relating to knowledge, good. That’s a nice aspect tidbit to have reiterated.

ROSE: There’s a different scale I’ve come to understand. Another dichotomy that’s less... emotional, I guess? ROSE: Consider, instead of the word “good,” using the word “essential.” ROSE: And what exists at the opposite polarity from essential is... ROSE: Something that is best not to contemplate.

ooh. oooooh. holy shit.

okay NO, BOOTS/BKEW. DON’T GET FUCKING EXCITED.

DON’T get excited.

It only SOUNDS like she’s learned to recontextualize the whole adventure in the rich context of the classpect system, that’s just your wild fanfic-y theoryimagination talking. Shoosh. (Even though she IS very, very, *very* clearly referencing the Light/Void dichotomy with the above quote.) Just... tamp down your hopes, Boots. Leave it at MILD hope. Like cool porridge.

Reading on.

Alright, yeah, this universe exists beyond the timespan of the Green Sun’s influence. Unsurprising, since it was heavily implied. And she doesn’t have access to her expanded Green Sun powerset while *in* such a universe, which was also heavily implied by alt!Calliope or her denizen or I forget the exact conversation where it said she’d have to make the final journey without Green Sun powers or whatever. That’s cool. (Though having it spelled out more explicitly than usual does make it more awkward to have her use her powers for humorous purposes on MXRP in the future.)

OOOH DAVE KARKAT AND JADE ARE IN A PERPLEXING SOCIAL ARRANGEMENT YESSSSS :D

Best news. Okay reading on.

ROSE: You will need to travel back into canon and defeat Lord English.

Yeah I guess.

Again, the way the ending sort of put it was that..... our heroes did have to defeat Lord English eventually? Or set right some prior stuff like doing the stage play? But that part of the point of this whole story -- the Ultimate Reward -- was that it didn’t really matter, because they had earned nigh-infinite branching timelines of promise in a brand new universe where they could go YEARS AND YEARS living their lives in many of the ways they wished, richly enjoying themselves and starting civilizations that would last billions of years, loving and living and experiencing, only “needing” to go finally check off these other responsibilities in a single timeline of promise at the end of an extended period of vacation they chose with no particular urgency. Branching years-and-years of essentially heaven as long as they EVENTUALLY fulfilled that particular endpoint, and they knew it. More or less.

Rose phrases it pretty explicitly, though. John’s powers are the only thing that can warp people through canon like that without restriction, so he was always to be involved, but... *he* needs to defeat him? Does that mean alone?

JOHN: yeah, i had a feeling that was going to come up again someday. ROSE: I’m sure we all did. That is, even those of us without visions. JOHN: i was doing my best not to think about it. i guess we can’t put it off any longer then? ROSE: Now is the time. We are rapidly approaching a point of no return. If the decision isn’t made soon, it will be too late. The issue will no longer matter. JOHN: when exactly is the point of no return? ROSE: Today. JOHN: wow. JOHN: ok then.

Ouch.

That’s slightly more abrupt than the picture of branching bliss I just painted.

JOHN: fine? ROSE: Of course everything is fine here. ROSE: We’re outside of canon now. JOHN: yeah, i know. what does that actually MEAN though? JOHN: are you saying this isn’t really happening? ROSE: Of course it’s happening. ROSE: Just because certain events take place outside of canon, it doesn’t mean those events are non-canon. JOHN: oh. ROSE: In other words, there is an important distinction between events which can be considered to occur inside canon, outside canon, and those which are not canon at all. ROSE: The day we went through that door and claimed our reward, we passed a threshold between continua marked by differing degrees of relevance, truth, and essentiality.

Well okay then. I was wondering why she used the word “canon”. They literally DID escape the narrative literally as *well* as figuratively with that Juju, then, Neverending Story style.

Also, Light being highly tied to canon and Rose having spent so much time outside of it... yeah, I can understand the headaches more, too.

Alright, reading on, it seems Andrew is using Rose to more explicitly explain how he intends all the non-canon stuff he’s presented to us to “matter”, for those who didn’t quite get or fully believe the implied explanation from context towards the end of the story.

Heh, so the idea is that the urgency comes from “it’s been too fucking long since the story ended, and this epilogue needs to come out when an epilogue would still matter to anyone”. That’s kind of brilliant.

ROSE: As long as we live outside canon, everything that happens will technically be “real,” but only conditionally. ROSE: There are certain crucial events inside canon which must happen in order to continue to prop up the legitimacy of events here on Earth C. ROSE: And you specifically, John, have a responsibility to make sure those events take place.

Closing threads closing threads CLOSING THREADS :D !!!!!!

FUCK is this epilogue going to be mostly devoted to TYING UP LOOSE ENDS and clarifying stuff??? :D Like the HUNDREDS OF LOOSE ENDS that were left unanswered because the ending tried to paint it all as sidelined/irrelevant regardless of the fact that they hadn’t been answered/fulfilled, which had previously pretty much traumatized me around Homestuck’s end because I was (1) so used to Andrew expertly tying up almost every loose end eventually and (2) was a theorycrafter with explicit investment in the idea that Classes, Aspects, and most of these loose ends actually DID matter??? :D

Sign me the fuck up!!! :DDDD

...I know it’s doubtfully going to be anything close to all I hoped for, but still. Answers, contextualization, and John tying up loose threads. Like that final frog warped in front of Jade as a child. That’s good, that’s VERY good. I’m excited instead of nauseous. :D

--and yeah, reading on, Rose makes more explicit what I said earlier that the justification Andrew’s painting for this is “we have to wrap up all these loose ends before everyone forgets about Homestuck.” That is hilarious.

Okay, so the juju is a big plothole. Heheh. We’ve heard it called that earlier.

...Oh. Oh huh.

Rose is pretty much explicitly talking about the stage play consisting of a bunch of non-canon ALTERNATE VERSIONS of themselves that mean the original versions of them living happily in the new universe won’t actually die. Holy shit. I mean we theorized that for a TIME with some of them but THOSE loose ends (like Roxy still having her mask on) were closed up toward the end... So instead, having it put THIS way (preserving our ideas of them living full lives post-victory), and not only that but having John DO all this stuff RIGHT NOW to fix things retroactively with some really well-written contextual clarification we’re bound to get to help with the closure... god DAMN. This is really good. This is going to make a LOT of people feel a whole lot better about Homestuck. Like me. :D

...Pff, some other girl is getting punched by John in the face again. :D Don’t worry, Rose isn’t saying that this is the Vriska punch at the beginning of the whole Retcon arc and that this epilogue somehow happened in the middle. (I hope.)

...Yeah Rose implies heavily that John is gonna die his heroic death if he does this? Or it’s meant to make us THINK she’s implying that. Yeah. And she feels pretty fucking horrible about what she’s asking John to go through regardless, so. (Yeah, everyone looked pretty genuinely dead but a few at the end of the stage play, but it was pretty uncertain.) Either way, she’s acting like John isn’t going to “come back”, even if he lives through this.

Stupid feels.

Clicking the next link. ==>

Hiiii roxy and callie!!! :D

Yes how polite of them.

“Ultimate self”? Yeah, a sort of synthesizing of all the offshoots of her Heart and Mind, pulling it all together and realizing the full person she is and sum of her whole experience across all timelines, pasts and futures. Yeesh. Pretty uncomfortable for someone who ain’t a hypersprite.

...Roxy and Rose aren’t as close? Is it because of the substance abuse, because of the Light/Void dichotomy literally-or-metaphorically distancing them (with how disparaging Rose just was about anything that isn’t relevant), or something else?

Ah, Kanaya hogged her until she got “sick”, that explains some of it too.

A bell tower? (DOOONNNNGGG)

Fffff interpersonal relationship mildangst. Fuck

You and all your friends have dispositions affected by your classes and aspects. You think you know what that means in your case. But what about her? You can only speculate. Void is a place where things sink and disappear. Where they linger forever, but cease to exist. You aren’t actually sure if your feelings for Roxy ever really faded, or if they just grew numb with time and distance. Is it the same for her?

Holy fucking shit. What a big middle finger to everyone who told me aspects didn’t matter to their personalities. :D

...Though, I think he has it kind of backwards, since he still doesn’t totally understand all this business. It’s easy for those in canon, introduced to this subject, to think that the classes and aspects affect their dispositions, to an extent where the reality (at least I contend) is that it was their natural dispositions in the first place that the classes and aspects were actually describing. The power that was latent in their very personalities and tendencies to action all along.

Reading... Ah, yeah, a choice. Was pretty sure this terminology would be important earlier. It depends on what SORT of choice this is though... see, so far, Rose hasn’t given John a lot of really EXPLICIT motivation to go through with this, other than some mumbo-jumbo that would supposedly be “bad”. And it doesn’t even address the black hole in his nightmares. And here, we have Roxy and others explicitly encouraging him with regard to the fact that he can choose NOT to do this if he wants to.

The main question it brings up (to the future of this epilogue, how it’s going to be considered afterward, etc) is if this is the sort of Choice that John would always say yes to -- in which case it’s more canon than anything else -- or if he will end up being on the fence enough for a Terezi-style Mind-split. Because this would be the PERFECT out to have him “die” in canon. See, if he’s on the fence ENOUGH about going, then he creates two timelines that even both potentially have promise within the confines of this universe (since universes hold more than one timeline of promise, according to one of the Calliopes I think)-- One where he lives here, happily ever after with everyone, and another where he completes his Heroic death in canon to fix everything. It would let Andrew kill John in this epilogue while still letting him live out eternity with everyone else outside “canon”.

He’d get to have his John-death and keep him too! Seems plausible enough.

Anyway. Reading... it looks like they know more about this decision that Rose has told them, including the consequences Rose might have been dreading. And likely know that IF John might die doing this, that it won’t be in a way that he regrets.

Oh wow, that whole Meat or Candy sequence is GREAT. Silly to the core, and yet perfectly emphasizing the debate that... well, I mean, think about what Andrew’s been telling us all along.

He keeps TRYING to tell us that non-canon stuff is fine. Trying to use that huge ending sequence of Homestuck to try and tell us that the fact that everyone is FREE from this story and its confines, free for everyone to imagine COUNTLESS ways things played out afterward for ALL these lovable characters in carefree futures, is almost MORE important than any of these stupid loose ends. But some of us were really cut by that ending, the insistence that the actual final battle “didn’t matter” and that this escaped-from-canon existence was the true victory. But if Andrew just upped and drew a bunch of bonus pages to start explaining more story, THAT would cheapen the escape-from-canon ending he wanted even as it satisfied those of us who wanted ends tied up, who wanted questions answered. He had to find a very careful, very well done way to give us BOTH. To write out the real “ending” of “canon” for those of us who needed it, without compromising the ESCAPE from the very necessity of it that was the essential point he WANTED to make with Homestuck’s story from the very beginning. To carefully keep the endless branches of post-victory possibility and play intact while still, separately and with explicit hedging and qualifications, give us the potential results of one last canon thread to tie up the lingering questions that he so dearly wants us to recognize still “don’t matter” as much in the vast scheme of things.

And he’s doing it. And it’s WORKING.

Holy SHIT.

I am excited for Homestuck. I am excited for Homestuck for the first time in years, and my nausea is gone.

I’m not going to start theorizing again; that’s over. But I’m definitely going to keep reading as the new Epilogue chapters come out, and do so with a spring in my step.

To Be Continued. :D

#Homestuck #Homestuck Epilogue #Homestuck Liveblog #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots

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tk-duveraun · 5 years

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I finished!

FINALLY! All four routes are complete in FE:3H

For anyone new here, the ground rules are thus:

1) We love OCs/Self-inserts/???

2) Canon is only what you can explicitly learn in game

3) Fuck canon

Spoilers below! Spoilery ones! For all routes! I suggest you play in this order:

Blue Lions, Black Eagles, Your Decision Will Drastically Change the Story and then Golden Deer.

( Your Decision Will Drastically Change the Story starts from Black Eagles; have the C+ support conversation with Edelgard BEFORE starting Chapter 11, talk to her, and you’ll see the dialogue)

What the actual fuck is Hegemon Edelgard? From her dialogue just before the transformation, she was expecting it to come, like some blast of magic from the slithery boys, but what?

I’ve been told that random what the actual fuck final bosses is de rigueur for Fire Emblem, but I am not used to this many plotholes and nonsensical just WHAT.

Also, what the fuck happened to Claude in the Church route? Where is my son? What did you do to my son?

Someone on reddit postulated a post-apocalyptic setting because of the Agarthans and their magitech (funfact “agarthan” is the unobtanium-esque word for people who moved under ground during the apocalypse). I can buy it from the explanation Rhea gives in GD about Nemesis and Slithery Boys.

Since Rhea collected the remaining Children of the Goddess after the massacre of Zanado and built up her forces in Enbarr before the final battle with Nemesis, I think we can assume that’s how the Cethleann, Cichol, Indech and Seiros Crests got into the blood lines.

Anyway.

Earth or something, but if you zoom in in Shambala it looks like Cyrillic writing

Sothis comes from Space(tm)

Sothis makes her children and they chill, sharing their alien tech and maybe introducing magic or something

humans fuck everything up

Slithery Boys go under ground

Sothis rebuilds the world

Sothis passes the fuck out in the Holy Tomb (with magitech defenses)

The Children of the Goddess live in Zanado to not fuck up the humans again

Nemesis is picked up by Slithery Boys and steals the “remains” of Sothis

Slithery Boys make the SotC, put Sothis’ blood in Nemesis, slap him on the butt and tell him to slaughter everything in Zanado

Slithery Boys make “relic weapons” for the 10 Elites

Seiros collects Macuil, Seteth, Indech, Flayn, presumably also Flayn’s mum and they give their blood to the budding Imperial humans to power them up to fight the Slithery Boys

Seiros defeats Nemesis, but is too weak and without enough forces to take back the other weapons

Rhea designates the relic weapons as “holy artifacts” in hopes they won’t be used against the Church and to keep track of their locations

Why don’t the humans notice that the Archbishop literally never ages?

Flyan tells Byleth “It’s hard to remember after your first sleep.” This implies that CotG regularly do a long sleep kind of thing (see also Indech and Macuil being sleepy shits) so Rhea probably takes generational breaks to sleep and let the humans forget what she looked like.

This is also supported by the fact that Byleth’s mother was only attempt 12 in some 1100 years. Rhea is batshit trying to resurrect her mother, there’s no way there’d be that few attempts in that timespan if she wasn’t sleeping. You could maybe guess that these attempts lived a little longer than humans so she waited ~100 years for one to die before trying again with the Crest Stone, but naps makes more sense. (Note: Rhea is what we’ll call Fantasy Insane, not to be confused or conflated with real life neurodivergence or mental illness)

If Rhea’s story of the Zanado Massacre is correct, why does Edelgard never mention it? She acts like everything Rhea’s done with the Church and over history is all just to grab power.

I see two possible options:

1) She is an incredibly damaged, severely tortured young woman who either forgot about it or believed that Rhea was lying when she told the first Emperor

2) The Slithery Boys have spent generations tweaking the story that the Emperors pass down in order to fit their own narrative

I think it’s more a case of unreliable narrator to create a “villain route” that has a sympathetic leader. Everything about Edelgard’s route is slap dash. Fewer anime cut scenes, worse writing, it’s markedly shorter, etc.

Not to say there isn’t an astonishing amount of overlap between Church and GD, but anyway.

tl;dr: Claude is the best and I’ve already got three damn OCs for this godforsaken game.

ps. Felix’s romance scene was much better than I was expecting, though I still think Felix/Sylvain is where it’s at. Is Felix/Sylvain/Ingrid OT3 too weird with Glenn? It’s too weird.

#fire emblem: three houses #fe3h spoilers #spoilers #Sothis #Seiros #slithery boys #shambalalala

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siderealsentinel · 5 years

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“How long has it actually been since the Age of Fairy Tales?”

I hear this question get asked a lot, especially within the RPC, where timelines can be vital to character development. I’ve heard a range of suggestions, some people assuming as high as 2000 years. After some digging, the conclusion I’ve come to is somewhere within the range of 100 to 200 years. How? I’ll explain below. Warning: Minor KH3 spoilers will be included.

Let’s start from where it all began, the events that lead up to the Keyblade War, the dubbed Age of Fairy Tales. It was then that hundreds, if not thousands, of young keyblade warriors, sorted into factions known as Unions, worked together to defend the light. But over time, they came to fight over it, and thus the Keyblade War was waged. Since we have no clear indication as to the years this all came about, let’s use the beginning of the Keyblade War as our ground zero. It’s at this time that the only (thus far) known survivors of the Keyblade War, the Dandelions, made their escape to evade the war.

Jump to Birth by Sleep, and we’re given the Keyblade Graveyard, a veritable resting place of scores upon scores of keyblades, dead and powerless without their wielders. Whilst the game itself gave no clear idea as to how much time had really passed, in an interview with Tetsuya Nomura it was discovered that it was at least 100 years before Sora gained his keyblade, this being in KH1. Already we have our baseline, and knowing that 10 years pass between BbS and KH1, that puts us at around 90 years between the Keyblade War and the events of Birth by Sleep.

So where do we go from here? Fast forward to KH3, specifically to the endgame content known as the Secret Reports. Within one of these documents, we find this passage: “Eraqus is a blueblood, descended from the very first Masters in the Age of Fairy Tales.” With the mention of ‘Masters,’ it would be easy to assume this line refers to the Foretellers themselves; but at the end of KH3 we discover that not only are they still alive, but appear to have aged very little if at all. The one hitch is the Union Vulpes leader, Ava, who is not present in this scene. It’s not yet known what became of her, but for now let’s assume she’s involved in a grander scheme. This leaves us with our previously known survivors, the Dandelions. Among them were the succeeding Foretellers, whom could also be referred to as Masters.

To our knowledge, these are the only people who could go on to have families later. But of course, most of them are still teenagers or young adults at the time. So, using the Keyblade War as ground zero, let’s add ten years to give them time to begin families. Now? Back to Eraqus. Blueblood, as a term, refers to someone being of or descended from royal or noble birth. To claim blue blood, or really any special heritage by blood, one must be at least 1/16th of that blood, or a great great grandson/great great granddaughter of the original blood. That is, within four generations. The average timespan of a generation is 30 years. Assuming Eraqus sits at the 1/16th mark, the fourth generation, this would give us 100 years already by the time he is born.

There’s nothing to say exactly how old Eraqus, or Xehanort, really are. In KH3 we’re shown that they were friends as students, roughly the same age, despite how they appeared later in life. (Clearly, time was much kinder to Eraqus.) This in mind, it’s pretty clear their physical age is less than 100 years. Already this puts us under the 200 year mark. Apologies to anyone thinking it was longer than 200 years - it’s just not possible! We don’t have any way of knowing exactly how old Eraqus is, or exactly what generation he is descended from the first wielders. Assuming he is around 60 years old, he could be anything from the second generation, giving us 100 years, to the fourth generation, giving us 160 years. My best guess would be somewhere in the middle - the third generation, putting us at the 130 year mark. In conclusion, it was very roughly 150 years between the Keyblade War and the Events of Birth by Sleep.

And that’s it! Feel free to share this if you found it interesting, and if you have any questions or additional thoughts, you’re welcome to add them in your reblogs. Thanks for reading!

#𝄡 𝑶𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 || OoC #kingdom hearts #kh #kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts theory #kingdom hearts timeline #foretellers #dandelions #eraqus #xehanort #keyblade #kh1 #kh3 #birth by sleep #bbs #keyblade war

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darkspellmaster · 6 years

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Voltron Theory: The connection between Romelle, Lotor and Allura

So something that has been bothering me for a while now regarding the situation with Voltron since Lotor’s been introduced is the connection between him and Allura, and now that we have Romelle introduced I think it’s time I tackle this issue.

Let me begin by saying that I don’t hate Lotor. I think he’s an awesome villain and one that has been under loved for a long time. While, yes, he was a cackling 80s villain there was still a lot of nuance to him, and, because it was the 80s it was missed, or looked over, in most cases. Now with the new series people have seen how awesome a bad guy he can be, and yet, they’re defending his actions even though, and again, let’s be honest here, Lotor’s plan was dumb from the beginning. The thing about Lotor here, and why I feel I need to start with him on this post is because he’s the connecting link right now between our two ladies: Romelle and Allura.

While a lot of people are complaining that Romelle is lying or that she’s spreading misinformation about Lotor, I think that we’re missing the big picture here. We don’t have all the pieces yet, and I don’t believe she is lying at all. On the contrary I think she’s telling what she believes to be true, and that I have to point to Lotor for causing her to have that misinformation in the first place.

What do I mean, well, put simply, I don’t think that Lotor was the founder of the colony, nor do I think that Romelle is just a simple Altean, and I think the three: Romelle, Lotor, and Allura are connected through one major factor, that being Allura’s mom and her side of the family.

Allow me to explain. See I’ve been going over and over again in my mind just how the hell Lotor knows anything about his Altean heritage. It’s really baffeling because of the fact that the Galra would want to wipe the Altean’s off the face of the Universe. And yet, he knows how to read Altean, how the language works, how they shape shift, even about stuff that Allura doesn’t, which is weird and has been since he’s come into play.

Now one may argue that Lotor gathered his info from Honerva. The problem with this is how that could have been done, since Honerva had become Haggar. We know, thanks to Season six, that Honerva didn’t remember anything about herself, nor that she fully had a kid (or rather she kind of did know she had a kid but didn’t, it’s still not fully clear on that). It’s only been recently that she’s been able to understand all of it and put things together. Yet, Lotor knows a ton about her and her works and about being Altean.

One could assume then that maybe he found some videos of her working, which would explain him knowing about her experiments. Maybe he found books in her lab, but Haggar wouldn’t have let him in there as a child, even if he were to sneak in. Also, given that we know she didn’t remember her past, it would be hard to believe that she would keep anything on record about Altea. Also, again, the videos wouldn’t cover the history of Altea. Maybe her desires to go to Orianda, but probably not about how Altea ran and about it’s history. Sure Alfor is probably mentioned, but I would think that’s about it.

So how does Lotor know about the Alteans so well? One could say well he traveled a lot and found ancient books on it. Sure, okay, but how would he know how to read it? Honerva’s vids? I don’t think so. Again that doesn’t fit in with the work she was doing there at the time, and anyone watching the recording would have had to have had an understanding of the science behind what was being done and the language to read the reports. Remember we saw Pidge actively trying to learn Altean so she could fix things better, and it would make sense that Lotor would do the same. Except that we know that the Galra were actively destroying Altean history as part of Zarkon’s mad plans.

So where does that leave us? Well I have two ideas both of which are connected to Allura, since right now that’s the largest connection we have for Lotor (and I will get back to Romelle’s connection to this in a moment). The first one is a bit harder to prove since we don’t have anything to rely on, but the second, I think there’s enough out there in the show in regard to markings that we could make some serious guesses.

Let me start with the first one, that being Lotor learned what he learned from Allura’s Mother.

Now before anyone goes, “But How?” let me point out that we don’t know what happened to her mom. We saw her pre Allura’s birth and then post Allura’s birth, but then only memories of her dad during season one. The thing is that Allura never indicated that her mother died. We know that she misses her, but if she did pass on, we don’t know when. We do know that she was apparently around when Alfor had a beard and everything. So it’s clear that she didn’t die young.

Allura’s statue of her parents show Alfor as an older man with his wife. This brings up how long Altean’s live, and my guess is that it’s longer than standard earth life, given the implication that we see how long Alfor looked young for regarding the birth of his daughter. I don’t think they live as long as Haggar did naturally, but I don’t think it’s beyond conceivable that the life could be partly elongated and maybe naturally longer than what we consider earth life. Think Elves vs Humans, but shorter timespan than the elves.

Anyway, we can now safely assume that Allura’s mother did not die off early in her life. So what could have happened to her? We have been going on the assumption that Zarkon killed them all off, but that’s not true, as we’ve come to see with Romelle and the colony. Given that Zarkon killed Alfor in battle, we can assume before he blew up the place he probably looked around for things. Now, you may say, “Why keep the Queen Alive?” Well for the very purpose that having the royal hostage would mean no one would be willing to attack Zarkon so long as one of the royal family members are alive. This would mean that he was blackmailing all the rest of the living Alteans would could possibly start a fight. And we know that they were around in disguises.

An example that we can point to is the member of the colilition last season that has Altean markings. We saw when Lotor approached some random Alteans in disquise that they were using their shape changing abilities. This would mean that there are those out there that, out of fear for their own lives, probably kept the ruse up and taught their children the same. Meaning that there’s probably more Alteans out there than just the colony.

So how does Allura’s mother come into play? Zarkon, as shown, is cruel but also not Cruel. What I mean is that on the one hand he’s a monster when it comes to taking planet life, but, for the most part, he’s left races alone that have agreed to stay under the Galra banner. He’s mostly let them live in peace, and he’s shown, at points, to not be as crazy as his wife. As we’ve seen he can be benevolent, and while he probably hated Alfor, he more than likely had no ill will for the Queen, and would have kept her alive.

We’ve also been assuming that Alfor was the one that did all the magic in the family, that he’s the one that had the skills. But the only time we’ve seen Coran speak of Alfor doing this level of magic was with the Balmara. Also Coran, who was Alfor’s best friend, didn’t know about his trip to Orianda. But what if this was all backwards, and Lotor’s been painting the picture wrong for Allura this whole time because of the fact that he knew of her love for her father? What if the real Alchemist of the family is her mother?

Humor me here for a second. Let’s say that Alfor married the Queen and knew she was someone who was an alchemist. Lotor’s been the only one that has been pushing this factor about Alfor, and yet, in the flashbacks with him, we’ve never seen him exhibit that level of power before. So what if, Alfor wasn’t the one that imbued the lions with Altean magic. What if, during the time while they were being made on Altea (and before they were brought to Daibazaal) Allura’s mother used her skills as an alchemist to make sure that they had connections to Orianda so that they wouldn’t be used for nefarious purposes, by later pilots.

So, perhaps Zarkon learned of this, between the time that he was still good and the point where he went crazy. Recall that Zarkon told them to save Lotor after he was born, and people assumed that he was put in that weird place where the two of them got their power. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if, and again humor me, Allura’s mother, who was being held captive, was the one that saved the baby since Haggar was too weak at the time. It would explain also why Lotor turned blue the first time he tried to access the rift as, perhaps, some of Allura’s mom’s power still is part of him.

Excluding that aspect of Lotor having some power from Allura’s mom, we can probably guess that, if she was the one that saved him, she may have cleared him of his illness.

Now we know that Lotor was taught about the Galra from his governess Daiack (Dyack? Diak?) who, as we’ve seen, knows a lot about Galra history, but nothing about Altea. So we can cross her off the list. But what if during that time that Lotor was growing up, he went to see Allura’s mother who told him of Alfor, Honerva, and maybe of her daughter even. Remember, Lotor certainly wasn’t surprised to hear Allura’s name, as it seemed he heard of her. It could be possible then that her mom taught him about his Altean side, and maybe started, unfortunately, in his mind the process that later turned him into what he is now. I’m assuming she passed on, but maybe she gave him clues as to how to look and learn about the Alteans.

Then, over the years as he grew, he studied about them and came up with his plans, as a means of creating the world that Allura’s mother wanted to return.

This would then connect Allura and Lotor via her mother and deepen their connection there.

The other option is another Altean played the same role to Lotor. In this case this person gave him more info in regard to the history on a less personal level and let him build his own view point on Altea. But the same ending transpired in this case and Lotor, wanting to create a haven where he could feel loved and accepted for being the Halfling that he is, started his search for the Alteans. I’ll get more into this in a moment.

And then there’s Romelle.

One of the things I noticed about the story that she was telling was the way that she told it. She said that people were taught this version very young, meaning that Lotor didn’t give the whole version of the story that passed down over the generations. Now, again, assuming that Lotor was taught a lot by Allura’s mom, most of what he would have created for the Altean’s would have resembled what she most remembered about Altea. And, like Allura, we can guess that she loved the flowers and the fields there. However something about the whole thing just feels off to me in regard to the idea of the story itself. A lot of the technology we see there is based on the castle and also the fact that there are really old crafts that are Altean. Remember these crafts usually hold up to four people, so how was Lotor able to squirrel them away. We heard his story about how he lived for a year with a culture that was destroyed, replenishing the quintessence and once he was sent away he decided to learn about his heritage. Which again, brings back the question of who explained what he was to him?

Again there are two options here in regard to Romelle’s story. The first is the one that she tells. That Lotor discovered the Alteans and brought them to the location they were at on the colony and over the next several generations built the colony we see today. However there are a lot of issues if it’s just Lotor’s doing. How was he hiding the material they needed from the Galra? When was he able to keep out of Zarkon’s view? And, again, where did he learn all this stuff if a lot about Altea gets destroyed?

Which again brings me back to my two options. I’m going to simply option one, that being that it was a Random Altean that did all this and that they were not that important to the story at hand. Basically what option two and three give are pretty much what Option one would be, minus some of the significance here.

So option two. Assuming that Lotor did not have Allura’s mom as his teacher back when he was younger, we can then cover the possibility of option two here. That there was someone else from Altea that escaped at the time due to travel. We haven’t seen anything of Allura’s mother’s or father’s family. We know from the original series that Allura did have an Aunt and that she did have a distant cousin in King Kobra. Now there is that option here. Let’s say that either Allura’s Mom or her Father Alfor, had a relation that was part of the royal family but not high rank (a cousin or something) who worked as part of the Trade area of the country. This would mean that the person, male or female, could have easily been off planet when the destruction occurred. If we assume that the queen was either captured or killed, then it’s not that hard to see this person, who isn’t a fighter, setting up a plan to help protect as many altean’s as possible. They got the word out to hide and, in the meantime, tried to find a place to set up shop for the Alteans.

During that time they found a world that was beyond the Abyss that could work to build a colony, or had been creating little pockets around so that it could happen later. Long story short, said person later met with Lotor whom they taught all about their altean heritage to, and he later, after his mentor’s passing, went on to create the colony based on the plans that the person had. Or the person helped him with it and together they created the haven for the Alteans, and only after the person’s passing did Lotor start his plans.

This person could easily have been directly related to Romelle as we’ve seen two Alteans who have had a lot of prominent shots in the episode of the Colony and they match up the order that Romelle mentions her parents leaving, mother than father, and also both bear the right sort of markings. A darker pink color for the male who is a lighter shade, and a green blue marking on the female. Now, you may say. But they have the wrong hair color, and indeed they do. But outside of Allura, we haven’t seen the color of hair of children of two Alteans of different hair color. We see a child in the flash back with green hair, but her mother’s hair is white pink. The outfit colors also match the outfits that Bandor and Romelle wear and are similar in nature to their children’s. It’s also kind of clear that both Romelle and her father are wearing a unique sort of belt that only one other male character in the back is wearing, but we’ll get to that later.

Why I bring any of this up is because we see these two people as some of the early settlers on the Colony and the fact that they are standing out so much, makes me think that the female may either be related to Romelle and Bandor, and given the color schemes of the parents, it’s not that hard to wonder if there’s some relation to Allura’s parents on Romelle’s mom’s side.

The other option is a bit trickier but makes sense as well, and may have a stronger hint. At least until we get some moments regarding Allura’s Mother.

So assuming that she didn’t die on world, nor that she was captured by the Galra, one could assume that the Queen got spirited away. Now, if she did get off world, how exactly was she not captured? Well she is a shape shifter too, so hiding in plain sight isn’t that hard. And, given what we see on the colony in regard to how the Altean’s age, and if they have a natural type of Quintessence that allows them to age more slowly, then one can point to the idea that the Queen was around for quiet a long while.

Naturally of course she would want to protect her people, but as she’s an alchemist and not a fighter like her husband, she probably didn’t want to stand out, so she hid. During the next several years, I doubt she was sitting around and doing nothing. So my theory goes like this. After escaping and if she is the Alchemist, she slowly rounded up others in regard to finding a safe place away from the Galras. We know that Coran was Alfor’s assistant, but it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Queen may have had her own (family or not) that helped her out.

One can assume someone with her level of Alchemic magic may have gone and set up the colony and brought people there slowly over time. It seems odd that Lotor could easily get past the dangers there as we saw that the ship that Keith and Krolia were on was wrecked, and the Galra do not have the same skills as the Alteans in regard to magic to keep creatures at bay. So exactly how did he find this place without being wrecked, it doesn’t add up.

Unless, that is he was helped.

Let’s say that the Queen ended up on the same world Lotor did. During this time they became friends, though he didn’t know she was Allura’s mother. Over the year he spent there with her he came to learn about the planet and it’s culture and everything seemed okay. Until Zarkon ruined it. Allura’s mom would have known and realized that Lotor was part Galra and told him the story about Honerva, and her past. Of course Lotor would want to know everything about his other side and the Queen probably provided him with that info. The two bonded and she taught him about the Alteans and their history. Eventually the two became close enough that she told Lotor about her plan to hide away her people, and he agreed to help, wanting to be in a place where he could feel at home.

The two worked together to find the Alteans, Lotor doing a lot of the leg work as she was probably a lot older at the time, and eventually helped to create a ship to transport the Alteans to the location of the Colony. Hiding transports and other things so that, if shit went down, they could leave to find a new place. However, probably after her death, something happened that caused Lotor to decide to pull his scheme. Now my guess is that it may have been some sort of vision in the Abyss that showed him as being a ruler in the future of the Alteans (and I think that may have ties to him going through the rift to the other side and hooking up with Merla).

This may have lead to his plans. As for the connection to Romelle on this, well, it could be that again, her family may have ties to the queen, either through friendship or via family. It would make sense that she would want to keep what remains of her family safe, and where else would be better.

Now, it’s not hard to assume that Lotor eventually altered the story, removing his mentor so that he could have the lead in all this. But honestly this seems to fit the most.

TLDR: Allura’s mother somehow has a connection to Lotor and could be a relative of Romelle, which is why she was able to open the hanger as well as the fact that Bandor was able to make a communication device like that, even though it’s prohibited.

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kinonoranove · 7 years

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Kino no Tabi (2017) episode 4 review

The Ship Country

I’ll be frank, as someone who have read the original light novel, I found this episode downright disappointing. This episode fell into the trap that rushing adaptations tend to fall into, cutting a lot of meaty parts that only the not very delicious barebone be left. However I did read other discussion threads in other website and find the large portion of new viewers okay with this episode, so I can see that as a standalone story it managed to convey some meaning to the audience.

The core story about the Ship Country is already straightforward enough like all other stories they picked for this season, so I just want to go right into what the anime cut out that make this adaptation not work with me. If you are a new viewer who like the episode just fine, then you could stop reading here if you are tired of adaptation vs original source debate.

To give you a general idea, in the LN normal-lengthed chapter is usually 20~40 pages, longer chapter like Colosseum (adapted in episode 2) is 60~80 pages, and then there are a few behemoth chapters over 100 pages like the Ship Country. With such a length it should take at least 2 episodes to fully adapt “The Ship Country”, but the 2017 anime gave itself a difficult task of cramping the whole story into a single episode. The thing is, I’m fine with anime shortening and modifying the given material to fit into a 20-minute timespan as long as it still managed to tell a coherent story. This episode didn’t give me that impression, as the final scene between Shizu and Ti became very out of left field given the underdeveloped relationship between them due to the anime rushing the buildup.

I have reread the original story in the LN just now, so I will list what the anime have rushed and changed from the novel below:

1) The whole chapter was narrated by the dog Riku. Riku noted early on that Ti looked very foreign among the ship’s residents because the residents tent to have brown or black hair hair, while she had white hair and green eyes. Ti guided Shizu around the ship for 10 days and they have developed some sort of routine and emotional bond during this time. Ti took a liking to Shizu, voluntarily followed him around and found joy in eating Shizu’s bland portable rations. Riku also noticed that none of the ship’s residents want to associate with Ti. Ti didn’t speak at all and she even shook her head when Shizu asked her if she can write, all of this should be because of her complete isolation from the residents, so nobody taught her anything about communication. Despite that, Ti had very good memory and observation when she showed them around the ship and pointed out 143 locations in the map, which impressed Shizu and Riku.

2) Shizu was concerned that the residents look much older than their age as their meals mainly contain seafood and nothing else. It was also reported that the population on the ship highly decreased in recent years. Shizu asked some people worriedly about the ship’s shaking and poor condition, but despite that they said it’s normal and they are completely content with their life. Their denial to Shizu when they tried to go back to the Ship Country at the end also stings more as the Elder pointed out that travellers are wanderers who have lost their homelands who could never understand about the love people have for their own countries.

3) I just really like this piece of dialogue between Kino and Shizu after Kino’s identity was revealed, which showed these two’s clashing viewpoints, so I leave this here:

"In any case, I'm working for the rulers of this land until we reach the western continent in exchange for being allowed to stay here. I don't really want to do this, but I have to live too. Would you please go back?" Kino got straight to the heart of the matter. "I refuse." "You're not a citizen of this country. I don't understand why you're doing something for a stranger's land without even being asked to." Kino declared calmly. It was certainly like her to coldly point out the logic of the situation. Normally, of course, she would be right. A traveller must worry only for his own safety. He has no obligation to concern himself with the matters of other countries or people. To risk his life for them would be insanity. However, Master Shizu's answer was immediate. "It's because I realized something. If I can do something to give all these people a 'future'…" "…" I felt like I could hear Master Shizu tighten his grip on his sword. "I feel like I just have to try, you know?" I could not see Master Shizu's face, but I'm sure he must be laughing from his heart. "I see… Then it can't be helped. I will do my job."

Even after Kino’s identity was revealed, Kino and Shizu’s fight still happened and in the end it was Kino’s victory again. Kino tried to announce the result to the Tower Clan, but because they were deep inside the ship, moving far from their original fighting location, so the Tower Clan didn’t hear Kino, and assumed that Kino lost. Then they decided to not board the land anymore to stop Shizu’s plan, much to Kino’s shock. So Kino had no other choice than to assist Shizu in overthrowing the Tower Clan and driving the ship to land.

4) In the middle of the way to the control room the group stopped by the weapon storage in the Tower and took some weapons (including grenades) to fight against the ruling class. It was also implied that Ti could have took the knife here for self-defense (as it was specifically said that for a short while Riku didn’t really notice what Ti was doing).

5) Ti stabbing Shizu might have been a shock to readers but thanks to all the buildup in point no.1 & 4 above that it didn’t come out of nowhere like the anime. Shizu might not know about Ti’s situation, but he didn’t even pick up the obvious hints that the ship residents clearly didn’t care for Ti and the fact that Ti stubbornly followed him everywhere because she wanted to follow him and get away from the residents. Furthermore, Hermes revealed that the ship residents regarded Ti like a bad omen or demon because the ruling class used her to spy on the residents. Ti following Shizu at first was also spying, but then she truly took a liking to him, if the scenes when she refused to leave Shizu in bedtime as well as showing him beautiful sea views were any indication. Now with the AI ruling class gone and with the ship residents detesting Ti, Shizu telling her to go back to the Ship of Doom was like a death sentence for her, so she vent out her desperation by stabbing him.

6) When observing the situation unfold, Kino drew out a gun and asked Riku “Which one?” (as in which one should be left to die), meaning if Riku chose to save Shizu, Kino would shoot Ti, and if Riku wanted to spare Ti, Shizu will die. It was pretty clear from the outlook that Riku wanted to save Shizu and Kino was very down to shoot Ti, then Shizu suddenly shouted out ��Neither” meaning he didn’t want anyone to die, showing his determination in saving Ti. It was a very emotional scene in the novel.

7) When Shizu collapsed and looking like dying, Ti was even more devastated and took the grenade from Shizu’s body for a double suicide. Finally, Kino shot the grenade away. (Things wouldn’t have been this bad if Ti had spoken up about herself before, but her communication skills were non-existent and her spyche was fucked up due to long-time isolation so Shizu really got involved in a real mess here.)

8) In the aftermath, Kino took care of Shizu for a while and intended to leave while he’s sleeping, but Shizu woke up. They shared another conversation which showed their different purpose and outlook on traveling, which I like so I leave it below:

“Could I just ask you one more thing?" "What is it? "I feel a bit bad for interrogating you like this, after all the help and support you've given me, but… Don't you ever think about settling in one place to live, Kino? Don't you want a safe, secure life where you're surrounded by loved ones, never having to worry about where to rest at night?" "I don't know. At the moment… well, I don't think I'll ever think about it." "That's completely fine with me. After all, it's a motorrad's jay to be able to always be on the move." "'Joy', right?" "Yeah, that." "… Isn't it… painful?" "It's not all fun." "…" "But it's not all pain." "I see. I guess everyone has their own perspective on things." "That's right."

Phew, that was long. If anyone was confused about Ti, I hope the long infodump answer your questions. Some more notes about Kino:

- I’m not thrilled with the anime’s choice of stories. They should have marketed this as a sequel (with a few remade backstory episodes for new viewers) rather than an unrelated reboot to previous anime. Ep 2-4 just have to pick specific stories from different volume (vol.1, 5, 8 respectively) where Kino became proactive, which is not Kino’s norm.

- In the novel, Kino also rarely broke 3-day stay rule got involved in the countries’ matter, unless Kino is requested to use marksmanship skills by the countries and is offered food, shelter and payment for it in order for Kino to cover traveling expense like ep 4, or due to unexpected circumstances like ep 2-3.

All translation credits go to Untuned Strings.

#Kino no Tabi #Kino's Journey #anime #review

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schoolofartsgent · 4 years

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Information on Federal government Legislation

Supply: Money Convey

As a result of differed new and reconsidered rules, The task of bookkeepers has In addition modified. In the year 2020, recognizing the stray pieces of such progressions can get principal for bookkeepers. As indicated by experts within the bookkeeping business, new federal government principles and compliances might be constantly actualized to progress straightforwardness in business enterprise. In this manner Will probably be A great deal less complicated for the bookkeepers to get the knowledge on new and current govt policies and tips. Therefore, it is usually recommended to makeover your current mastery time allowing, and to boost a vital most popular posture in excess of Some others.

Relational Abilities

Resource: Jarvee

You should have the option to liaise with diverse divisions, investors and The shoppers. For this, bookkeepers are predicted to acquire good relational talents, as an example, shopper the executives, arrangement aptitudes, compassion, and so forth.

Presently, the exercise of the bookkeepers are not restricted to the calculating, it contains customary gatherings with industry experts, consumers, and associates to fit their preferences. In this manner, having every one of these talents will consist of inside the function usefulness and accomplishment of the bookkeeper. By way of example, it is prescribed to not make use of inside abbreviations or specialised language though responding to inquiries of The purchasers. Owning terrific relational aptitudes will assemble solid connections and to hold customers and to draw in new purchasers. This is certainly a significant aptitude to obtain.

Information and facts Analytics

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Source: brilliant info mixture

Smarts are definitely the individuals who can fathom the information, even so more astute are the ones who can make it getting used. To analyze the data and to think about a plausible arrangement, it is significant with the bookkeepers to be aware of the intricate specifics of the information. Possessing Each one of those aptitudes can make you mindful of the existing interest with the clients and buyers. Grasping the innovation and embellishment of our arrangement of skills as per the need of time will almost certainly assistance.

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