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bitsandbobsofwriting · 3 years

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Oh shit, I never told you that Merlin isn’t my actual name??

Igraine reveals… one hell of a secret, and not the one you’re thinking of:

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4(final part)(coming soon)

TW: Uther being a Jackass I guess?

Arthur knows about his dumbass servant’s magic. He wasn’t best pleased, in fact, he was furious when he first found out; how is supposed to protect his servant-turned-best-friend-except-that’s-super-secret-even-from-himself if he’s off doing stupid shit like Sorcery in Camelot?!

He was a lot more sympathetic when Merlin explained that he’d been born with it, and that his destiny was, literally, tied to Arthur’s. That, mixed with the fact that Arthur tended to get himself into a LOT of trouble, without even realising it most of the time, means Merlin has no choice but to be doing stupid shit like Sorcery in Camelot.

Merlin is currently giving Arthur the silent treatment, not that Arthur seems to notice. The two of them were waiting for Morgause to finish whatever it is she was doing to, apparently, allow Arthur to speak to his mother.

She doesn’t take long, and though Merlin keeps his distrustful gaze on her the whole time, he still can’t quite tell what it is Morgause has done. She looks to them with a blank expression, though her focus is mainly on Arthur as she gestures him forward:

“It’s ready, Prince Arthur. Close your eyes, both of you.”

Arthur frowns briefly but does as told. Merlin raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms, and staring Morgause down; she rolls her eyes and huffs quietly when she realises that he isn’t going to take his eyes off her, but gives in, turning away and performing some sort of simple looking (though Merlin gets the distinct impression that it isn’t simple) ritual.

The Witch lets out a deep breath and steps back, and Merlin’s hard stare is finally drawn away from her when a shower of golden sparks materialises in a cloud in front of The Prince.

Arthur opens his eyes to see Igraine standing there, practically glowing, looking every bit the glorious Queen she once was. She gives him a soft smile, and Arthur can only stare, his mouth moving of it’s own accord:

“Mother?”

Merlin stares on in suspicion as Igraine’s smile grows:

“My son.”

She pulls him forward into a tight hug, and though Arthur had started off forcing himself to be wary, he falls into the hug easily, struggling to hold his tears in. They pull back after far too short of a time, and though Merlin was still distrustful, he wishes she had held Arthur just a little longer.

Merlin’s heart breaks as Arthur goes on to apologise for being born, but his feelings quickly turn to anger as Igraine explains the truth, how his people were being hunted, burned, vilified, all because Uther was too much of a hypocrite to admit his mistakes or listen to reason; but he couldn’t lash out now, this time was for Arthur, not him.

Igraine’s face falls even further, and she grips Arthur’s shoulders tightly:

“But we do not have time to talk of this, I can feel the other side pulling me back, I must be quick. Arthur, my son, you have a brother, and you must find him.”

Merlin’s eyes go wide and he tenses in place; this had better not be some twisted trick on Morgause’s part to destroy Arthur, because he would destroy her in return if it was. And he would do it in a far messier way. Arthur just looks shocked:

“A brother? How?!”

Igraine smiles mournfully:

“A twin. He was so small when he was born, I thought he wouldn’t make it, but though I can’t see his face, I know he lives, I can feel it. He had hair dark as the night sky, a complete contrast to your golden wisps-”

She lifts a soft, gentle hand, and runs it through Arthur’s hair with a smile:

“-but his eyes, oh his eyes were just as golden as your hair, before they faded to the colour of the sky.”

Arthur gasped but Merlin tensed even further, certain that this must be some sort of trick:

“He was magic?”

Igraine smiles again and nods:

“It’s not common, but not completely unheard of for people to be born magic. Your brother was, and it was beautiful.-”

He smile falls into something more angry, though she’s clearly trying to hide it:

“-Your father... did something. I do not know what; by the time my soul was restful enough to be able to look back upon the world, it was too late, he was gone somewhere I could not see. I know he still lives, your father was too much of a coward to admit his mistakes, but too much of a hypocrite to keep to his convictions and destroy the child, which I can be grateful for. I feared he had been sent far away, but you must find him, restore his heritage.”

Arthur nods vigorously, his eyes wide and desperate, and Merlin finds himself desperate to believe that this spirit is true and genuine:

“What else can you tell me about him? Do you know where he is? What he looks like now?”

Igraine’s face falls into a soft smile again, though she shakes her head mournfully:

“He is powerful, extremely so. I worried he was dead until I suddenly felt him; he appeared in Camelot, around three and a half years ago. His power is vast, I can sense it stretching for miles and miles, though I can not pinpoint the epicentre; he is somewhere within the Kingdom, you must find him.”

Merlin frowns in confusion, stepping forward to interrupt, though he desperately doesn’t want to:

“Did you name him? Your son?”

Igraine looks to him suddenly, as if she weren’t aware they had company, but quickly turns almost her full attention to Merlin with a soft smile:

“You. You looked after my boy, thank you. Thank you for all that you have done. And yes-”

She looks back to Arthur:

“-I named him, though I whispered it with my last breaths, Uther would certainly not have used it, and I do not know if Gaius heard me.”

Arthur responds quietly, his cracking voice heavy with too many emotions to name:

“What is it? What’s my... my brother’s name?”

“Myrddin.”

Merlin takes in a quiet gasp, and Arthur, always with at least one half of his brain focused on his manservant, turns to him:

“You know that name?! Merlin, do you know someone in Camelot with that name?”

Merlin just stares at Igraine, his eyes wide and his hands shaking:

“How... how do you think he got out of Camelot? How would Uther have sent him away?”

Igraine’s face is confused, but mostly curious as she takes a step towards him, still with one hand on Arthur’s shoulder:

“Gaius and Balinor possibly, perhaps Nimueh, though I imagine she fled rather quickly. They were Uther’s closest friends before the purge, and they all practised magic, they would have been... sympathetic, tried to help the child. Why? Are Arthur’s questions relevant? Do you know my son??”

Merlin’s eyes flickered between the two of them, but when Arthur says his name again, his voice nothing short of desperate, his gaze fixes on The Prince:

“Arthur, I... I never told you, because I didn’t think it was... relevant, but... Merlin isn’t my real name.”

Arthur recoils, shocked, and utters a dumbfounded “What?!”. Merlin gulps, and looks to Igraine briefly before resuming his fearful, and slightly confused, stare on Arthur:

“When I was young, my magic was still strong, but I had no control over it. I would subconsciously summon animals to my side constantly. Mostly small things, but the occasional stag or bear would wander through the village to find me. But... but what came most often where the birds; the village is essentially in the middle of a forest, and... and there were thousands of merlins. So I got that as a nickname, Merlin, and it just stuck.”

Arthur just shakes his head, caught off guard but mostly just annoyed:

“You heard my mother, Merlin, we don’t have much time, what is this-”

Merlin interrupts him:

“Just listen!! My real name.... it’s Myrddin.-”

Igraine takes in a quiet gasp, mumbling more to herself than anyone else “Gaius heard me.” but Arthur just stares. Merlin holds his gaze, but after a few moments, he looks back to Igraine:

“-My mother... she... she wouldn’t lie to me, nor would Gaius... this... it’s a mistake. It’s... it’s a common name, right?!”

Igraine responds in a hushed tone, though Arthur barely moves, still staring at Merlin as though he had gained a new head:

“Show me some magic, my boy.”

Merlin stutters and shakes his head, laughing incredulously before he notices her pleading face and looks to Arthur, almost for permission. The Prince gulps before nodding, just once, and Merlin lets out a deep breath. He holds his hand out in front of him, palm up, and without even needing to mutter a spell, a single flower grows; a Camelot-red Tulip, it’s petals dipped in gold.

When his eyes fade back to blue, he looks up to see the others’ reactions: Arthur is smiling softly, always eager to see Merlin’s magic, as if he had forgotten the situation at hand, but Igraine... oh, Igraine was staring at him with such wonder, tears slipping down her pale cheeks.

Merlin drops the flower without a second though and shakes his head minutely, but Igraine just nods, allowing the hand on Arthur’s shoulder to slip down to his hand so she could tug him forward, towards Merlin:

“Myrddin, my boy, my son. You came home all on your own.”

Merlin just shakes his head again and steps back:

“No. No this... this isn’t real, this is a trick, or... or something. How do we prove it? How do we know you’re not lying or some trap laid by Morgause?!”

Igraine sighs, but nods, understanding:

“Ask Gaius and your... your mother, and thank her for me, for raising you with so much love. The doorway is closing, I can feel it.-”

Her gaze moves lovingly between then two of them, and when she steps forward once more, she takes Merlin’s hand before he can move away, pulling the two of them into a tight hug:

“-I am so endlessly proud of you both, and I love you, always.”

She fades from the air, and within seconds Arthur’s arms are falling in on themselves, nothing under them to hold their weight and forceful pressure.

The Prince’s head whips towards Morgause, who until that point had been completely forgotten about:

“Bring her back!”

Her stare is fixed on a frozen Merlin, though she slowly looks to Arthur when he takes an intimidating step towards her and goes to open his mouth again:

“I can’t. The doorway closes of it’s own accord, I can’t bring her back again. But that was... unexpected. I apologise, you shouldn’t have had to find out like that.”

Arthur shakes his head angrily at her denial, but quickly refocuses and looks to Merlin, who still hasn’t moved an inch. He puts a soft hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly until the other man looks at him; Arthur isn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but Merlin’s eyes to be filling with tears definitely wasn’t it:

“I... this can’t be real. My mother, Gaius, Kilgharrah, they all would’ve known. Why wouldn’t they tell me?”

Arthur pulls him into a hug, silently vowing to stop Merlin’s suffering as soon as he’s possibly able, that they would discover the truth no matter what. Merlin’s arms just hang limply at his sides, though he does push his face into Arthur’s neck as The prince responds:

“I... I don’t know, Merlin. Maybe they thought it would get in the way of that destiny of yours, maybe they were waiting for my... for The King to pass.-”

He pulls back, but keeps his hands on Merlin’s shoulders:

“-Lets just... get back to Camelot, and we can figure it out. We can go downstairs to talk to Kilgharrah.”

Merlin shakes his head, stepping back and wiping his sleeve over his eyes roughly before walking purposefully towards the horses:

“No, he’s the least likely to be honest, we’ll talk to Gaius. Though if any of this is true... I’m having some bloody harsh words with my... with Hunith.”

Arthur flinches slightly at the anger in Merlin’s voice, but after a quick glance to a slowly retreating Morgause, he follows him to the horses and they start the fast paced journey back to Camelot. The only words exchanged, around an hour in, were Merlin’s quiet, humourless:

“Gwaine’s never going to believe this.”

And Arthur’s responding snort of derisive amusement.

They manage to stay out of sight when they arrive back in the city, which is good really. Arthur’s lowly simmering rage had been reaching taller and taller heights with every pound of the horses’ hooves against the hard ground. But before he confronts his father, they need confirmation, in the form of Gaius.

They stalk quietly through the castle, using servant corridors and hidden passages to avoid being seen, but all bets are off when they reach the Physician’s chambers.

Gaius looks up with a quiet gasp when the two men burst in, locking the door behind them. Arthur’s blank stare and Merlin’s barely concealed anger force his shock and relief to morph into confusion:

“Merlin, Prince Arthur, where on Earth have you been? The King has been panicking, sending out patrol after patrol to search for you.”

Arthur’s face remains blank, and when Gaius looks to him for an answer he just moves his gaze to Merlin, allowing him to determine the pace of this much needed conversation. Merlin’s dark gaze is now fixed on the floor, though his jaw and hands are tightly clenched, and his breathing is shaky in his anger. His voice comes out lethally quiet, and Arthur can tell that it’s only a matter of time before he explodes:

“Gaius, what’s my name?”

Gaius just looks slightly taken aback, like he hasn’t quite grasped Merlin’s meaning despite its plainness:

“My boy, whatever are you-”

He’s interrupted when Merlin looks up at him sharply, his eyes blazing and his face turning slightly red:

“It’s a simple question Gaius: What’s. My. Name?-”

Gaius’ eyes flicker to Arthur in confusion, but Merlin breaks from his near frozen stature, moving with a speed that Arthur had never seen in him before to slam his hand on the table:

“No, don’t look at him, look at me. What’s my name, Gaius?!”

Gaius nods, his eyes sad as he gulps before answering quietly:

“Myrddin, but you already knew that.”

Merlin takes a deep breath and nods, his fingers tapping rhythmically, though a tad aggressively, against the table. Arthur goes to step forward to put a calming hand on his shoulder but Merlin shoots him a withering look and he stays back. Merlin’s hard stare returns to the resigned physician:

“And my parents?”

Gaius gulps again but straightens his posture, putting up a confused façade, though it’s easy to see through:

“Hunith is your-”

Merlin slams his hand on the table again, much harder this time, and a voice in the back of Arthur’s head—the one at the forefront was spitting obscenities and planning rather gruesome ways to murder his father—makes a note to check his hand later, a hit like that had likely broken something, though Merlin was clearly too furious and confused and upset to notice:

“DON’T LIE TO ME!”

Gaius is taken aback at Merlin’s bitter yell, but he softens again at the tears on his ward’s cheeks; he collapses into a chair on the other side of the table, rubbing his eyes tiredly before looking up at the distraught man:

“Uther and Igraine Pendragon. You are a year older than your mo- than Hunith led you to believe, and you are Arthur’s twin brother.-”

Arthur turns away angrily, vocalising the curses that had been playing on a loop in his mind, and Merlin nods, pushing his injured hand into the table without even realising:

“-I am so sorry, my-”

Merlin shakes his head and holds a hand up to stop him but doesn’t say anything, not pulling away this time when Arthur steps into place beside him and puts a hand on his shoulder, waving the other one aggressively at the elderly physician:

“You had no right, no right to keep this from us. I grew up being taught to hate magic, miserable and alone, and Merlin grew up hating himself, just as miserable and alone, if not more so. You had no right to take us away from each other.-”

Gaius goes to respond, but Arthur stops his excuses before they even make it past his throat:

“-No. There is no excusing this, you and my father took my brother from me, and there will be no forgiving that. I’ve known about Merlin’s magic and our entwined destinies for over a year, you’ve had every opportunity to tell us, but you didn’t. That’s not even mentioning the nature of my... our mother’s death. You are a coward, and in your cowardice you have been cruel; I will not stand for it. Where is my- where is The King?”

Gaius nods slowly, standing on almost wobbling legs before gesturing to the door:

“The King is with Sir Leon trying to figure out where to look next, they’re in the council chamber. You are right, and I am sor-”

Arthur cuts him off with a sharp gesture and a dark look, taking Merlin’s uninjured wrist and pulling him towards the door. The servant (Prince?) follows easily, unable to meet Gaius’ gaze and allowing Arthur to drag him briskly through the corridors towards the council chamber.

By the time they reach the chamber, Merlin has broken out of his stupor, wiped his tears, and pulled his wrist from Arthur’s grip, instead walking alongside him and using just as much force when they both push the doors open and stride in.

Uther and Leon both look up rapidly, startled at the sudden intrusion, but whilst Leon looks relieved and sends the two of them a small smile, Uther looks angry:

“Arthur. Where have you been? I have had search parties out looking for you. Arthur?”

Arthur doesn’t answer for a few moments, but a glance at Merlin by his side gives him the confidence boost he needs and he straightens his back, draws his sword, and stares The King right in the eyes:

“I know what you did to my mother, and I know what you... what you took from me.”

Uther stands tall, glancing to Leon briefly as he announces:

“Leave us. No one is to enter.”

Leon looks between the three other men, but doesn’t make it to his second step towards the door before Arthur has his sword pointed at his chest, though The Prince’s gaze stays on his father. Leon knows it’s less of a genuine threat and more of a way of emphasising his words, but that doesn’t stop him from taking a slight, wary step back:

“No, Sir Leon, you will stay.”

Leon glances nervously to the red-faced King, but doesn’t move. Uther looks furious at Arthur’s denial of his orders, but The Prince pays him no mind, finally turning to look at Leon with a slightly softer look in his eyes:

“Sir Leon, do you bear witness?”

Leon frowns slightly, looking between Arthur, Uther, and Merlin once again, frown deepening as he spies the unshed tears in Merlin’s eyes and the purple bruise forming over one of his hands. He finally looks back to Arthur, moving to stand to attention with one hand held over his heart and the other resting on the hilt of his sword:

“My Lord Prince Arthur Pendragon, I, Sir Leon, bear witness.”

Uther just splutters angrily, but Leon pointedly keeps his gaze on Arthur until The Prince nods at him and is the first to look away. Merlin had stayed silent the entire time, but visibly relaxes when Leon swears to stay, and that just makes the knight even more curious; this seems to be just as much about Merlin as it did Arthur’s parents.

The Prince moves his gaze—and his sword—to be pointed at The King once more, and he takes a deep breath before forcing the words from his mouth:

“You used magic, against my mother’s will, so that you could conceive. Is this true?”

Uther huffs angrily, gaze dashing to the other two men before it settles on Arthur again:

“This is preposterous, Morgause has lied to you.”

Leon is practically holding his breath at the side of the room; he can clearly tell that Arthur is moments away from striking his own father down, but does he interfere? Does he let it happen? And he still has no clue what’s bothering Merlin so much, other than the obvious pain in his hand.

Arthur takes slow steps towards Uther, inching the blade closer and closer to his throat:

“You are the one that’s lying. You started a genocide because you insisted on blaming magic for your own mistakes, and that’s not even the worst thing you did.-”

Arthur lets out an incredulous laugh, and Uther takes a step back as Leon tenses and Merlin stays blank:

“-I had a brother, a twin born with magic. You were too much of a coward to admit your mistakes but too much of a hypocrite to stick to your convictions, so you sent him away instead of killing him.-”

Uther goes pale, taking another stumbled step back as Leon’s eyes go wide, his gaze jumping to Merlin with a sudden, dreaded clarity.

(Perhaps Leon had picked up on Merlin’s magic a few months ago, and perhaps he had come to the conclusion that the younger man was the best protector Arthur could have.)

“-Do you even know his name? Mother said you would likely refuse to use it, but do you even know what it is?!”

Uther quickly regains his anger, his fury snapping into place as he gestures threateningly and thunders:

“It was an abomination! A creature of magic that destroyed your mother and almost tainted you! I should have slaughtered it where it lay-”

Merlin takes in a sudden breath at his words and Leon clenches his jaw; itching to comfort the younger man, but knowing that he wouldn’t exactly be welcomed right now. He’s meant to be here as an impartial third party.

Arthur throws his gauntlet down before Uther can finish his aggressive assertion, and Merlin gulps, moving properly for the first time since he’d entered the room. He grabs Arthur’s arm and pulls him back slightly:

“Arthur you can’t, he’s your... he’s The King.”

Arthur glances to him:

“I don’t care, he took you from me, he had no right.-”

He looks back to Uther, who is now staring at Merlin with a shocked venom. No one notices the way Leon quietly draws his sword; impartial his arse, he’d protect Arthur and Merlin to his dying breath:

“-You are the abomination, and you will pay for your crimes. Perhaps you should’ve sent Myrddin, that’s his name by the way, further afield, perhaps I’d have been more inclined to keep you alive until I found him. Pick it up.”

Uther’s gaze doesn’t move from Merlin as his face grows redder and redder. He doesn’t look down to the gauntlet, nor does he look at Arthur, nor does he notice Leon creeping closer:

“You. You foul, hellish, beast!”

Without another second’s of hesitation, he lunges forward and draws his sword all in one move. Arthur reacts too slowly, not expecting The King to attack Merlin instead of him, and Uther pushes him out of the way, swinging the sword down harshly toward Merlin’s chest before Arthur can block him. Merlin is too shocked and angry and scared and upset to even think of using his magic, so just stumbles back helplessly, falling and landing harshly on his already broken hand, yelping slightly.

Before anyone can even blink, Leon is there, stood over Merlin with blazing eyes and his sword raised. He parries the King easily, and by the time Uther has processed one of his own knights turning against him, Merlin has scrambled back, injured arm held to his chest, and Arthur has moved to stand at Leon’s side, sword raised.

Uther can only stare in furious bewilderment, but it doesn’t take him long to concede that he has been outmatched. He calls for the guards, though once they’ve spilled into the room, six in total, they stutter to a confused stop when they see The Prince and The First Knight seemingly defending a servant (a well-loved, well-known servant), from The King.

Arthur, without looking away from Uther, speaks harshly, his voice controlled and forceful and, frankly, Kingly:

“Arrest The King and escort him to his rooms. Remove all weapons and bar the windows and doors, I want him under constant guard.”

Uther screeches angrily, both at Arthur’s words and the fact that the guards make no moves to detain The Prince and the knight, like he clearly wants. Before he can actually say anything, Arthur speaks again, his voice even louder than before, first to the guards:

“NOW!-”

And then back to Uther:

“-You will either be arrested for your crimes, both against our family name and humanity as a whole, or I will kill you where you stand.”

Uther tries his best to stare Arthur down, but there really is no competing with the fire in his eyes, and it only takes one short nod from Leon for the guards to step forward and confiscate The King’s sword before they pull his arms around his back and push him towards the door. He digs his heels in and begins screeching again, though they can only make out the odd word, it’s mostly just “BETRAYAL!” and “SORCERY!” and “HOW DARE YOU!”. Arthur pulls Merlin to his feet gently, frowning at his purple wrist and knuckles before sighing and rolling his eyes, nodding to Uther and muttering, just loud enough for Merlin and Leon to hear:

“I don’t suppose you could do something about that, could you?”

Merlin looks shocked, but huffs out a gentle laugh when Arthur just raises his eyebrow in question. He looks to Uther just as the guards struggle to open the door, muttering a quiet spell under his breath, his eyes flashing golden. Leon takes in a slow breath at the obvious display of sorcery; he’d been constantly on edge since he discovered Merlin’s talent, desperately fearful that someone would find out. Thankfully, the guards are entirely focused on the task at hand.

Uther quickly goes quiet, his head drooping, and Arthur grimaces as the guards struggle to hold his sudden dead weight. He has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing aloud when they turn to him with questioning looks; he just nods and gestures regally for them to keep going.

Soon, the room is quiet again, only the three men remaining. Leon looks between them apprehensively but Arthur just takes a fortifying breath before focusing his attention on Merlin’s arm, holding it gently in front of him and frowning worriedly:

“I’m guessing you haven’t gotten any better at healing magic since the arrow incident?”

Merlin scoffs and rolls his eyes:

“That wasn’t my fault, you’re the one that yanked it out of my shoulder and left the damn head in. And for your information, yes actually, I’ve been practicing. But I really think we have more important things to deal with at the moment, like the fact that the council is going to freak out when they find out you had The King arrested.”

Arthur shakes his head, giving Merlin a firm look:

“Merls, I just found out that you’re my twin brother, you are the important thing right now. Heal your hand, I don’t care how long it takes. Leon will take care of the council until we get there.”

He looks pointedly to Leon, and the knight nods, clearing his throat with a confused frown as he replies:

“What... uh... what would you like me to tell them, My Lord? Before your arrival? And where would you like them?”

Arthur smiles, grateful that Leon knows to take cues from him, knows what to focus on, knows that he is being trusted:

“Take them to the Throne Room. Tell them that Uther has been forcibly removed from the throne, that I have discovered the existence of my magical twin brother, whom I intend to have announced as Crown Prince within the week, and that I plan to legalise magic.”

Merlin, already pale and shaky, flinches, starting up with a “But I don’t want-” but Arthur cuts him off with a harsh, though fond glare, looking back to Leon to see the knight’s face shocked and pale. He purses his lips, before humming thoughtfully and speaking again:

“Actually... that probably wouldn’t be for the best. Just inform them that it’s an emergency, reassure them we haven’t started a war or anything, and tell them I’ll be arriving shortly.”

Leon visibly relaxes and nods, giving Merlin a soft smile and ruffling his hair quickly before striding from the room. Merlin huffs at the affection, but Arthur can tell he’s secretly pleased and copies Leon’s fond smile. Merlin looks to him confusedly:

“Why will the council have to wait? It’ll only take a few moments to heal myself.”

Arthur raises an eyebrow, nodding at Merlin’s hand pointedly and crossing his arms as if he were expecting failure. Merlin just rolls his eyes before looking down to his injury and muttering a few words, grimacing as his knuckles realign, and the bruise recedes. It doesn’t disappear completely, but the bones and deeper muscle tears have obviously repaired themselves, and Merlin looks very proud of himself as he looks back to Arthur:

“That’s the best I can be bothered to manage-”

Arthur huffs disapprovingly but knows he isn’t going to get any better than that:

“-so why are the council waiting?”

Arthur sighs, putting a hand on Merlin’s shoulder and leading him to the door:

“Well, you look one stiff breeze away from keeling over, and I imagine you’ll want to speak to Gwaine?”

Merlin looks to him suspiciously, but allows Arthur to lead him through the castle towards where Gwaine was almost certainly pacing worriedly in his rooms:

“I thought you didn’t approve of Gwaine?”

Arthur grins wolfishly:

“Oh, I don’t, especially now that I know that you’re a Prince, and my brother, but it’s my duty as the oldest to threaten him more than I already have.”

Merlin stops suddenly in the corridor and pulls Arthur back:

“Hang on a minute you prat, first off, when have you ever threatened Gwaine? And second, who said you’re the oldest?”

Arthur’s smile just grows and he grabs Merlin’s uninjured wrist to start pulling him down the corridor again:

“Literally the day I found out he was attempting to court you, which was about a month before you figured it out by the way,-”

Merlin grumbles, but doesn’t argue:

“-and I’m the oldest because I said so, and mother said naming you was... was one of the last things she did, so you obviously came out second, idiot.”

Merlin rolls his eyes yet again, but doesn’t say anything as they come to a stop outside of Gwaine’s room. He takes a deep breath, and Arthur moves his hand up to his shoulder again, giving him a small smile and a supportive nod.

The Warlock knocks on the door, and Gwaine opens immediately. The knight relaxes significantly when he sees that it’s the two of them back from God knows where, though he tenses again as his eyes run over them; he takes note of Merlin’s red eyes, injured wrist, and generally shaky demeanour. He also quickly catches on to the protective way Arthur is standing behind him, and the way The Prince’s loose hand shakes slightly with left over adrenaline.

Despite himself, Merlin relaxes and smiles when he sees Gwaine; with everything that had been going on he hadn’t really had a chance to think about how much he missed him, about how much he needed his support.

Gwaine pulls them into the room quickly, shutting the door behind him and turning around to see Merlin looking at him sheepishly, and Arthur staring at him with a predatory smile:

“What happened? Where have you been? Is everything ok?!”

End of Part 1!!

Hope y’all enjoyed this!! I probably could’ve fitted more in, but I figured this was a good point to stop. Part 2 and 3 are out (link @ top), part 4 won’t be too long!!

Drop comments and things lads, I love y’all!!

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eternaldrukkarii · 2 years

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the eternals as atla benders because why not

ajak: water bender

I considered she’d be an earth bender because of her grounding presence but then I thought water would suit her because she’s fluid and adaptable. Then the obvious stared me in the face. Healing abilities.

kingo: earth bender

Let me tell you, I very nearly put air. He has the famous air nomad sense of humor and playfulness, however I don’t think you could say compassion is one of his noticeable qualities that’s very obvious in Aang. And the scene that really separates him from air, in my opinion, is on the plane when he tells Sprite that he grew tired of wandering around. Going from place to place. Air nomads are, quite literally, nomadic and long for freedom. Kingo, instead, displays more of a very “feet on the ground” type personality even if he indulges himself in fantastical fantasies in the form of movies. When it comes down to it, he’s able to get serious and he’s shown to be stubborn while standing up for his beliefs and refusing to budge.

sprite: water bender

I first thought fire bender because of her temper but it’s not like non-fire benders can’t have tempers. I settled for water because I feel she’s sneaky and would just wait for the right time to strike and use her water offensively. Though, I think one could make a good argument for air, I feel water suited her more.

ikaris: fire bender

Not to build upon the ‘fire benders = bad” agenda at all but I just think this fits him. Aside from the fact that he can shoot lasers that result in fire out of his eyes, I think Ikaris is a good mix of impulsive (killing Ajak after only taking one moment to consider the consequences and inadvertently getting Gilgamesh killed as well) and cunning (tricking the eternals for the majority of the movie in order to distract them) to be a fire bender. But more specifically, I see him as a fire bender who would be able to bend lightning despite the level of difficulty and discipline that takes. At least, until present day and he has to go against his family.

phastos: water bender

I considered air for him as well but I think the combination of community, creativity, and discipline that’s associated with the water tribe is more up his alley. He uses his creativity to turn this defensive element offensive.

thena: fire bender

I really had a hard time picking between fire and earth. To be frank, I genuinely think I have the loosest grip on her personality than the rest. Including Ajak. However, I think she’d be more like Azula in her skill set. She’s precise, she’s quick, she’s strategic. She’s not impulsive but in the heat of battle she can be ruthless. She’s exacting. However, she also has a soft heart that gets brought out around Gilgamesh, who—romantic or platonic—provides a compassionate, unconditional, and grounding presence for her. Also, her and Azula both losing their minds is something to take note of.

gilgamesh: earth bender

I went with earth for Gilgamesh for the same reason I considered it for Ajak. Gilgamesh is very much an immovable object. He’s steady and constant and grounding for everyone, not just Thena. He’s strong and dependable and confident in his beliefs without being stubborn.

sersi: earth bender (maybe earth bending avatar)

Like Gilgamesh, Sersi is a grounding presence. She’s responsible and reliable and always there when you need her. Moreover though, I relate her powers in the film a lot with this element. Her turning rocks in water and her turning dirt into water to help with farming. If I were to pick an avatar for the group, I think it would be her but she would have been born into the Earth Kingdom and thus learned and mastered that element first.

makkari: air bender

I went with air bender for Makkari because air benders can canonically run really fast. I think the show said as fast as “the wind” or something, I’m not sure. But also because she has this sort of mischief yet wisdom about her that just screams ‘playful air bender’ to me. And even though she always went back to the Domo, she very clearly traveled the entire world.

druig: fire bender

I went with fire bender for a very specific reason. In canon, Druig is constantly told not to use his power (by Ajak because they can’t interfere but by others because controlling people isn’t really right). His “gift” is very dangerous in the wrong hands and capable of so much destruction if used wrongly or selfishly. In the show, fire is presented in much the same way. It can very easily be taken out of control. For the majority of the show it’s even seen by many to be inherently bad. Yet Druig wants to use his powers for the greater good in spite of this. So, hence fire bender.

extras!!

karun & dane: non-benders :))

#druig #mcu the eternals #the eternals #atla au #sersi #makkari #kingo #ajak #sprite #ikaris #marvel the eternals #phastos #dane whitman #karun patel #thena #gilgamesh

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mojjisxng · 3 years

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dance, baby! | prince!niki au

requested

pairing- niki x gender neutral reader (there is a mention of a dress, but anyone can wear dresses, not just girls, sooo yeah)

genre- fluff, angst if you zoom in with a microscope, forbidden love

warnings- literally one swear word (if that counts lmao)

word count- 1.5k

a/n- correct me if i’m wrong, but this is the best piece of writing i have ever done, probably because i spent a bunch of time on it. i feel really proud of this au, so it would be very very very appreciated if you gave it some love🥺😘 -issy❤️

mellifluous sounds from the string orchestra rose in volume, from a soft murmur up to a clarion call, which seemed to penetrate every nook and cranny of the Ume Kingdom; the ball was about to begin.

for palace servants like you, the annual new year’s ball is a taxing and mind-numbing event. the truth of the matter is that you had to rush from handing out drinks, to taking guests’ overcoats, to then clean up after everybody, all the while being treated like shit by most attendees. however, there was an upside; you were actually allowed to wear A GOWN this year. the dress appeared to gleam every time the dazzling lights of the ballroom caught it, and it’s blush pink satin with intricate gold detailing soft to the touch. although you felt gorgeous in your new getup, the wisps of hair falling from your updo due to the labours of your work, got on your nerves nearly as much as the pompous guests and the clanging music that hurt your overworked brain. after about two and a half hours of attending to the royal family and their acquaintances, you finally found a slot of time to stand and take in the jovial atmosphere of the party. weeeeell that was until you felt a faint tap on your shoulder….

now, the beloved prince niki was on the opposite end of the ballroom to you at the start of the ball, where he had to interact with all of his parents’ ‘friends’ (more like people they can use to boost the status of their kingdom). these tight-lipped exchanges usually surrounded the topic of arranged marriages, as an irritated niki had to listen to a plethora of noblemen’s daughters blether away about how great they were. all the poor boy wanted to do was let loose a bit and dance, but he knew he’d get severely scolded by his parents. you see, rumours circulated (very true rumours in fact) that niki had a passion for dancing and would always be seen leaping down the grand palace halls- giving him the immensely unfortunate sobriquet, ‘the pirouetting prince’. when he eventually escaped the clutches of the desperate and power-hungry party-goers, niki sprinted with superhuman speed to a secluded corner of the room. that’s when he laid eyes on you; not for the first time though. in actuality, you and niki had established an unexpected bond, which had started when you were mopping the floors of the palace’s spacious corridors and happened to trip right onto niki’s patent leather shoes. you thought he was going to yell at you, just as any other member of the royal family would, yet the kid only started howling with laughter. you were utterly shocked by his easygoing behaviour, mainly because you always thought that he purported the same air of regality as his strong headed parents, even at such a young age. nevertheless, that’s how your friendship, aaaand maybe some other feelings blossomed. this led to secret conversations away from the prying and disapproving eyes of the other staff, the monarch, and his wife. sometimes you two would sneak out of the palace to go on late night adventures in the city, strolling along the cherry blossom avenues, too engrossed in your own little world to care about anything else.

all of the air left niki’s lungs as soon as he saw your ethereal figure in the distance. even though your hairdo was as good as ruined, you had sweat lining your brow and your resting bitch face was at its highest level of ‘i want to die and i also want all of you to die’, he thought you exuded the most magnificent energy in the room. even the classical music, which honestly constantly ground on his gears sounded marvellous when he looked upon you. so he bounded over to you like a puppy to their favourite human, and lightly patted your shoulder.

you pivoted around when you felt the tap on your shoulder, and was faced with a dashing prince niki. a deep blush immediately tainted your cheeks and crept down your neck, at the realisation that niki was talking to you in public.

“h-hey prince niki, do you require my service?,” you stuttered.

“uhhhh yeah i do require your service,” he mocked your politeness, “i require you to come and dance with me. what’s with the formalities all of a sudden?”

“well i didn’t expect you to come and talk to me with all these people around; you know that your parents don’t like that we’re friends.” in fact, the king and queen despised that he was friends with a lowly, working-class servant like you.

“anyways, i can’t dance with you, i have a job to do unlike you,” you continued with a hint of jealous spite in your voice.

niki shot back with nonchalance as he grabbed your wrist and tugged you along behind him, “well i’m the prince, the future ruler of the Ume Kingdom, so what i say goes, which means you’re going to put that tray down and dance with me.”

and that was that.

gracefully, you and niki almost floated around the dance floor in time to the bounding waltz that enriched your ears. what you failed to notice as the both of you stared into each other’s love struck orbs, was the king muttering to his guards, commanding them to separate his son from you. it was a good thing that niki detected the shifty and brisk movements of the palace guards just in time to instruct you to run. swiftly, the pair of you manoeuvred through the swarm of people, bolted into the vast, luscious gardens and made your way to the centre of the hedge maze, built on the wishes of a five year old niki many moons ago.

when you reached the middle of the colossal maze, you both fell onto a marble bench, catching your breaths as though you had ran a marathon. finally, your heart rate decreased and you turned to face niki, who was already observing your every move, “niki, when they find us, i am soooo going to get fired, maybe even exiled. i’m terrified of losing you at the best of times, never mind us being caught interacting right in front of a bevy of your female suitors!”

“yeah i’m scared too, but even though i’m afraid, i strongly believe that we should do our best with the situation; let’s just try. it should be obvious by now that i like you, i like you a lot, so i think that we should change their outdated attitudes on the relationship between stupid social class and love,” niki declared with conviction.

“i like you a whole lot too, but it’s not that easy. maybe your parents are right to judge, i’m just a poor scullery maid, who has no parents and nothing to offer,” you replied dejectedly.

“listen to me y/n, you are the most fair and precious person i have ever laid eyes on. you are intellectual, generous and you have the best sense of humour that even the jesters are jealous of-”

“wait- are you calling me a clown?” you teased.

“n-no i didn’t mean it like that. i told you to just listen didn’t i? i’m not finished. you’re eyes hold the andromeda within them, you’re lips outshine the loveliness of the roses in these very gardens and the brightness of your cheek would shame those stars up there.”

the poetic words that spouted from the boy in front of you brought a tear to your glittering eyes. no words could leave your mouth, too choked up to utter a word, so you engulfed him in the warmest hug niki had ever experienced and smashed your pouty lips onto his porcelain cheek. that was confirmation enough of your feelings towards niki. even so, he whispered words of comforting optimism into your fluffy hair, “we don’t need the approval of anyone, we should be able to run for our hearts, run for our lives, run for our dreams.” he paused to press a tiny kiss to the crown of your head, but continued with all the solemnity he could muster, “we can make this work, we will make this work.”

so as the new year materialised into view, the young lovers could be seen under the pale moonlight and twinkling constellations, huddling close to avoid the light pinches of the winter zephyr and dreaming of their future together.

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aurora-the-kunoichi · 4 years

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For the Love of Shell - Chap 42

Next chappie for those who are reading this!

Here it is from the beginning for those who want to start! Filled with smut my loves

Chapter Forty Two – Betrayal of the Son

By now the palace was now overrun with guards searching for the Daimyo. The sound of the clanging metal of their armor was almost deafening. It had taken Ue-Sama far too long to order the palace searched for Aurora’s liking. Since she had shown up at the palace this morning Ue-Sama had been acting very bizarre. Particularly the kiss he forced onto her after the tournament. He was planning something, she could tell and now with the Daimyo’s disappearance it seemed to solidify her speculation. Now Mikey, Donnie and herself were slipping silently through the palace on their own mission, one being done under Ue-Sama’s nose.

There was no sign of Ue-Sama when they pasted the dining room on their way to the lower levels. It was still in disarray with a few servants trying to clean up the damage. There was a knot forming in her stomach, she did not like this one bit. With the door to the basement in sight Donnie hurried forward and brought his giggles down over his eyes. His hand shot up and waved back signaling them of guards coming up the stairs. The three disappeared easily into the shadows waiting for their opening. With a loud clamor five more guards barreled up the stairs heading to the main hallway. Slipping silently down the poorly lit staircase to the basement and the dungeons, she noticed Mikey and Donnie staying close to her keeping her between them as they descended. They stopped at the first level scattering to cover more ground faster.

“Be careful, yell for us if you find anything or need help.” Donnie gazed down at her with a worried look while his large three fingered hand rested on her lower back.

“Will do.” With a half hearted smile she nodded to the two turtle brothers and ran in the opposite direction in search of any clue of the disappearance of the Daimyo and Splinter.

~~~~~~~~~~

Master Splinter groaned in discomfort as he came too. His skull felt like someone had cracked it open with a sledgehammer. He needed to rub his temples to release some of the pressure but found his arms immobile. In fact when he finally opened his eyes he found he was hanging from a brick wall in a dimly lit room by his wrists that were stretched painfully tight on either side of him. Due to the lack of height he was hanging suspended off the ground. His weight was pulling at his old limbs making the predicament even more excruciating.

A soft cough next to him alerted the old rat he wasn’t alone in his dilemma and his mind went to his dinner companion and the series of events that lead them to this dark musty room. They had been enjoying each other’s company about to start dinner when he tasted something foreign in his soup, something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Dropping his spoon his hands thrust forward disengaging the spoon from his friend’s hand toppling the bowl of soup with it.

Before he would warn the Daimyo about the unknown substance in their food they were attacked. Dark shadowy figured came from everywhere and converged in on them showing no mercy. They fought them as best they could but in the end there was too many and were knocked unconscious. Now in the present they found themselves at the mercy yet again of their captors.

“Splinter?” the groggy voice of the Daimyo hit his fury ears.

“Yes, my old friend I am here with you. It looks like we have found ourselves in quiet a predicament. I wonder who our host is?”

As if on cue a large hooded figure emerged from the shadows with bright red eyes glowing under the heavy hood.

“Who are you? Why have you done this?” The Daimyo scowled yanking on his confines. “Release us at once!”

Rough as gravel, a deep twisted laugh rumbled from the mysterious cloaked figure. The movements so smooth it seemed their captor floated across the room on air, stopping a few inches from the old rat. Two large scaled hands emerged from the large sleeves pushing back the hood.

“Draco!” Splinter hissed through clenched teeth.

“Yes you sniveling rat! How long I’ve waited for my revenge against you and this old fool. Years of planning and now my patience will be rewarded. I will take from you what you love the most in this life and rip ripe apart your son’s bodies using their bloody hollow shells as foot rests. And then after I’ve shown you their mutilated carcasses I will end you!” the red dragon spat at Splinter, his face mere inches from his.

The usual gentle features of the old ninjutsu master hardened and an ominous growl rolled from his lips, “You will not touch my sons.”

“Oh on the contrary you old fool, as we speak they are scattered around the grounds looking for you, two with that little bitch the young daimyo has his sights set on and your two eldest heading to the falls and right into my trap. I have several of my shadow minions at my disposal all ready to attack and dismember each and every one of your sons.”

“What of the woman?” the Daimyo quickly cut in, trying to pry a little more information out of Draco. “And why do you call my son young Daimyo?”

The dragons head snapped to the old man hanging from the wall just next to the giant rat, “Your son seems to have plans for her. He talks about some sort of power that she possesses that could help him. He covets your throne old man hoping having her at his side will solidify his place upon it. Either way it doesn’t matter. I will have my revenge then that brat can have his kingdom.”

The Daimyo’s eyes widened in shock, letting the dragon’s words roll over him. Again his wrists pulled at the metal shackles holding him to the wall. “M-my son……. Is behind this? How can that be?” the sorrow apparent in the old man’s voice trying desperately to hold onto the hope Draco was lying.

“Your son is an idiot; he couldn’t orchestrate this by himself. He is an overgrown child throwing a tantrum that he can’t have the throne right now. The woman is something new though, he fell for her a year ago when she quiet literally fell into your laps. But there is no way she would be persuaded to go along with his plans; she’s too smart for his games and won’t do anything to hurt you. He just refuses to see it. So she will need to be eliminated as well. Which is a shame really, someone with powers would be convenient to have on my side. The idiot already tried wooing her by kissing her after the tournament today but she rejected him. He’s too blind to see she only has eyes for his son, the one in blue, Leonardo is it?” Draco’s red eyes shifted to Splinter. “But that is neither here nor there now and makes no difference. None of them will survive this. I need your son compliant so a strong headed woman is out of the picture.”

“They will find us and foil your plans. You will not succeed.” Splinter smiled; with Aurora at his son’s sides once again they would defeat Draco and Ue-Sama. He was sure of it.

“We will find out now won’t we, because the party is about to begin.”

~~~~~~~~~

Aurora turned down another hallway searching the final group of rooms coming up with nothing, yet again. Each room she had checked her fingers skimmed over every nook and cranny for any hint of a hidden door. Someplace someone could hide two unwilling victims. Finishing with the last room she headed back to the stairs to meet up with Mikey and Donnie.

With her mind spinning with worry she didn’t hear the shadow ninja creep up behind her. By the time she sensed it’s presences it was too late. A hand reached out grasping her long hair pulling her back and down to the ground. Her shriek of surprise echoed through the halls reaching the sensitive ears of Donnie and Mikey but unfortunately they too were in their own battle for their lives. Surrounded by several dark shadowy ninjas Donnie reached for his com calling for his older brothers.

“Don?” the familiar calm voice of their leader came over the speaker on his shoulder.

“Leo we’ve been ambushed in the bowels of the palace. We need back up.” Donnie called into his com anxiously blocking a blow with his bo staff. “They came out of nowhere and have no faces! They look like shadows!”

Knee deep in the falls high above the palace Leo and Raph stopped in their tracks listening to their genius brother in distress. They had come up empty, no tracks or any kind of clues to the whereabouts of Master Splinter and the Daimyo, when Donatello’s frantic call came over their coms.

“Donnie are you alright? Where is Mikey and Aurora? Are they with you?”

After a few seconds Donatello came back over the com, his labored breath telling them it was imperative they hurry. “Mikey is just outside in the hallway with his own party of ninjas. And I don’t know where Aurora is but we did hear her scream a few minutes ago. We can’t get to her! Mikey!!!” then the com went eerily silent.

“Don! Donnie! Are you there?! Donatello!!” Leo felt his heart jump into his throat and looked to Raph with terror in his eyes. They were in trouble and needed their help.

Raph heard the fear in his brother’s voice making the already burning rage inside him increase to an uncontainable inferno. The grips on his sai tightened and he caught his brother’s eyes that held the same wild fury. Someone had kidnapped their father and now were attacking their two younger brothers and Aurora. But then like a light switch Leo’s demeanor changed and lunged forward tackling his larger brother into the water.

Bursting from the surface Raph tried pushing Leo from him, “What the shell Le…..oh!” his eyes immediately narrowed in on the kunai now rooted deep into the top of Leonardo’s shell. Leo had just saved his life for the thousandth time. Reaching up he pulled the offending item from his brother’s shell and they both scrambled to their feet pulling their weapons out. Just like Donnie had described them, they looked on in shock at the weird shadow figures surrounding them. There had to be at least 40 of them closing in on them fast and it didn’t seem like they wanted to play nice.

“Shell, looks like they’re not getting the back they need.” Leo growled readying his katana.

Raphael readied himself as three of the figures launched themselves at him bringing down their weapons on his waiting sai. With a grunt he took the brunt of the force faltering on the slimy rocks below the surface of the water. “Looks like we might need that back up now.”

Reeling back Donnie swung his electrified bo staff forward connecting with two of the ninjas sending them flailing against the wall disintegrating like a puff of cigarette smoke in the wind. The last of his attackers were beside him but with expert balance his long leg shot up colliding with its head making it explode in a cloud of smoke. Without skipping a beat he headed out to help his little brother who was on the ground holding off three of the shadowy figures with his nunchaku.

“DONNIE?!” they both heard Aurora shriek from farther away then they’d like.

Mikey’s gaze snapped to Donnie and they both took action. With a swift kick of his legs Mikey sent the three assailants over his body crumbling to the ground. With the momentum of his legs coming down and his pelvis rolling up into the swing he was on his feet. Then Mikey and Donnie took care of the rest of the dark ninjas with a swift determination to get to their friend in trouble.

Taking off towards the sound of Aurora’s worried cry, they hurried through the halls in search of her. They could hear sounds of metal on metal and exasperated grunts from beyond the bend. Before they rounded the corner two of the shadowy ninjas came sailing out into view colliding with the wall. Taking the corner, they saw her pressed against the wall, eight figures on her ready to drive a tanto blade through her heart.

“A little help guys!” she cried out ripping a hand from one of the them punching it in the face.

They were on them in a second ripping Aurora’s attackers from her body one by one. Mikey lurched forward grabbing the blade poised for her heart and threw it down the empty hallway, the sound of the metal clanging across the ground echoed in the large halls.

Aurora took advantage of the distraction and placed her feet on the wall and pushed forward taking three of the ninjas with her. The back of their heads slammed into the hard surface of the wall behind them making them disappear beneath her momentum. She caught herself before she fell to the floor getting her feet under her. “They’re skilled but break easily. I’ve never seen anything like them; it was like I was fighting shadows of smoke. What the hell are these things?” Aurora groaned picking up her blades taking care of another ninja.

Donnie electrocuted the last one ending their current fight. Mikey went to Aurora making sure she was alright. His eyes moved over her body assessing damages, touching and pushing at her skin.

Her fingers found his quickly easing his overzealous attention to a halt. “I’m fine Mikey.” Aurora tried her best not to be too cold with the two brothers but didn’t want to act like them being together in this moment felt right. She couldn’t let herself get used to their presences; this was a temporary mission to save the Daimyo and Master Splinter. After this was over Leo would no doubt end this as well.

“They put up quite a fight, we must be getting close.” Donnie calmly stated using his goggles to scan for heat signatures on the level they were still on.

“Agreed, let’s move to the lower level.” Aurora moved around Mikey who was still looking at her hopeful. His baby blues tore at her soul, she wanted to tell him all would be alright but time was of the essence and they needed to move.

The three of them descended to the lowest level of the palace, this time sticking together. The silence that hung around the dungeon was a bit unsettling. No guards what so ever nor any prisoners. The uneasy feeling within each of them grew. This was too easy.

“Shell!” Donnie broke the eerie calm. “I called Leo for back up a while ago; he should have been here by now.” His fingers flew to his com calling for his older brother. No response came so Donnie called again this time for Raphael. Still nothing, a deafening silence that made the already chilly dungeon seem suddenly colder. “I don’t like this.”

~~~~~~~~~

Draco landed another blow to Splinters jaw continuing his unrelenting assault on the old rat. With each strike the metal chains moaned from the sudden movement of the body it held. Blood was running down the dark fur of the old sensei’s mouth but showed no sign of discomfort. The Daimyo beside him pleaded with the large dragon to stop his assault but if fell on deaf ears as another hit connected with Splinters gut.

Without warning several dark cloaked ninjas appeared behind the angry dragon. His attacks ended as one whispered in his ear. The smug smile slipped from his face into a frustrated scowl.

“They’re down here already?! They took out how many of you? SIMPILTONS!! Yes, send more to stop them! I can’t have them ending this plan just as it begins!” as quickly as they came the ninjas vanished into the shadows leaving the dragon with his two helpless prisoners. Reaching to the wall he grabbed the cloak he had removed when he started his assault on Master Splinter and swung it back around his shoulders lifting the hood to conceal his face once more. “You’re lucky I have other things to attend too you old fools, but I will be back to finish this. I have some turtle flesh to filet.” His wicked eyes flashed and retreated out the hidden door in the wall leaving them alone.

“My friend! Are you alright?” the daimyo immediately called to his battered friend. A soft cough alerted him to fact the old rat was still in fact breathing. The chains creaked when Splinter shifted uncomfortably spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“Am I my friend, a little worse for wear but I am alive. Do not worry my sons will free us, they will stop this madness.”

“They have too.” The daimyo started. “If they try and use the war staff without proper training they will bring upon destruction to this dimension and all who reside here.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The pull for air made his lungs burn as Leo fought the many hands that held his body submerged under the current of the river feeding the massive waterfall several feet down stream. There was far too many of these shadow ninjas for Raph and himself to defeat. They seemed to come out of nowhere like the never ending flow of water they fought in.

It had been almost an hour since Donnie had called them for help and they were ambushed on top of the waterfall. He hoped all three of them were alright. They had to be, he didn’t know what he would do if he lost his two younger brothers and Aurora. But the way things were looking they might lose him, there were so many on top of him keeping his head below the water drowning him. The strength was leaving him as the lack of oxygen to his brain began to affect his dexterity, he was losing this fight.

~~~~~~

Aurora could feel it, something was horribly wrong. More wrong then what was happening in the dungeon with Donnie, Mikey and herself fighting off an infinite flow of these damn ninja. Every cell in her body was on alert, something else was happening, something was happening to Leonardo and Raphael.

“Guys!” she screamed over the thunder of clanging metal and grunts. “We have to get to Leo and Raph! Something’s wrong!” Blocking another tirade of attacks Aurora flipped up landing just behind the shadows slicing through them with her katana.

As Donnie fought his goggles scanned the walls for false walls and air drafts. They had to be down here judging by the massive assault they were receiving. Then something flashed in his goggles when he turned to deliver a shock from his bo staff. Quickly turning back he saw two warm bodies behind the wall, a large form and a smaller one hanging midair.

“There!” Donnie screamed pointing to the small wall just a few feet from where Aurora was.

Immediately Aurora sprang for the wall feeling with her hands for anything to open the hidden door all the while keeping the growing mass of ninjas as bay. Out the corner of her eye she saw the blade gliding through the air aimed for her throat, determined to hit it’s mark with extreme prejudice. Before it could find its target the hilt of Mikey’s nunchaku stopped its momentum pushing back the assailant.

“I got your back angel cakes!” the orange banded turtle smiled at her while taking down anther ninja with his band hands.

The battle in the dingy basement was deafening, she couldn’t hear herself think. A shove behind her sent her sprawling against the cold brink of the wall she was searching. But with a stroke of luck the hit brought her fingers in contact for the latch for the door making the brick door shift open revealing the entrance to the hidden cell.

The heavy scrapping of the brick door opening brought the Daimyo’s and Spinsters eyes to the entrance of their confinement. Expecting the tall hooded dragon to appear they were surprised by two spinning blades followed by Aurora as she fought her way in.

Her eyes snapped to the old men hanging on the wall. The state Master Splinter was in sent her blood boiling. Battered and broke he was bleeding from several parts of his old furry body; someone had worked him over pretty good. Thankfully the Daimyo looked unharmed for the most part besides a busted lip and his white hair askew. “Donnie! Mikey!” she bellowed ending the five ninja currently before her. Whoever had hurt Master Splinter would pay, would pay dearly.

@imthegreenfairy88 @bluesakurablossom @ravn-87 @alonia143 @tmnt-bucklover

#tmnt #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt raphael #tmnt michaelangelo #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt fandom #tmnt fic #TMNT TMNT fanfiction #Fortheloveofshell #chapter 42 #aurora-the-kunoichi

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kitsoa · 3 years

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So, about your Theory ...

So, we talked on Reddit a while ago, Kitsoa, and I have some more thoughts about your theory. It’s more rambling and longer than what I previously intended – my apologies for this.

Kitsoa- Hello again! I’ll reply in brief through quotes though I’m not interested in doing a solid defense of my theory. Mostly it’s a lot of creative stretching using the crumbs of the narrative and I’m not feeling particularly impassioned to bring out the counter citations nor do I think it necessary.

Also: I have written and re-iterated upon this meta theory of mine multiple times so if I am not referencing the correct Original Post in question that’s probably because I never bothered to do a big manifesto and I will take the fall for that confusion.

It’s certainly very interesting but parts of it seem to not only be unsupported but outright contradicted by the games. For instance, take your surmise that Xehanort’s villainy is motivated by his knowledge of the KH world as fictional and his self-knowledge that he has to play the role of the villain to create a conflict and thus sustain the universe. His actual speech in Re:Mind after Dark Road’s world tour points to something else:

“All around the world people live seemingly peaceful lives. They believe themselves to be moral and virtuous, but it’s all an act. Darkness lurks in the pit of everyone’s heart. Their light is a total farce. Those who are weak, and who desire greater power, simply strip the strong of their power, and convince themselves they’ve earned it. That’s how people become tainted by darkness. They believe what they want them to believe, using hollow reasons as justification. They repeat this cycle, and their darkness grows. No, its better they be ruled by darkness. People carry delusions of having power, but it’s a lie. They are but sheep pretending to be wolves. Though I can admit, I can understand why.”

This edgy little diatribe isn’t about the nature of the universe or Xehanort’s own origin … it’s about his view of human (or talking animal, w/e) nature. It’s a similar theme to his final speech in KH3, and ends not with him concluding that he needs to play the role of a villain to create conflict ,,, but that to prevent the KH universe collapsing into chaos, he needs to become its absolute godlike ruler. Which is what sets up the conflict, yes, but his goal isn’t explicitly to create conflict to keep the universe going.

Re: Xehanorts motive aligning with a meta-awareness on his ‘role’ as a villain. This is a theme I was definitely playing with. Xehanort is clearly symbolic of the corrupting pursuit of knowledge and we have a god-like encounter spark stranger behavior yet. It’s a fascinating trope yes? Corrupted by the Truth. Saving the world by sacrificing the world. That was my angle. The World Tour from Re:mind had him summarizing his villainous disdain and I’ll agree that it gives him no direction towards a ‘role’. But I also take note of the fact that this enlightenment comes directly from the actions of the chessmaster MoM who could feasibly manipulate Xehanort towards a conflict-sparking war. If Xehanort isn’t directly and consciously responsible for fulfilling the metacontextual requirements for a ‘story’ then MoM is. And as I’ve stated it probably comes from a more experimental god-mode type motive.

And again, your argument that time doesn’t really exist in the Disney worlds until Sora arrives and this is related to them literally being stories that he’s diving into. I don’t know where you get this from, at all. We go into Disney worlds and experience plots unrelated to the films (KH1 Olympus, Halloween Town); we go into Disney worlds in medias res (too many to count); we go into Disney worlds before the movie’s events take place (BBS Deep Space, Neverland); we even go into Disney worlds in-between or after the movies’ events (KH3 Toy Box, San Fransokyo). Which rather gets in the way of a simplistic “Sora arrives in the Disney world, time starts flowing forward and the movie starts” look at things. You’d previously characterized this as “every world has its unique story” which IMO would be a more reasonable way to look at things rather than the stronger “the worlds literally are the stories and nothing else”.

I’ll defend this a little. The entire concept of the Worlds as Stories demands only that we recognize a higher reality. A reader/audience/ creator relationship with the happenings. When I say ‘time doesn’t exist’ I’m saying it doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is the time spent there by Sora (or his subsidiaries). Time is going to move between visits but not at a pace that runs independently of Sora (and co). And all of the events within those worlds are unique to the source material-- on the virtue of having Sora. But when I say the worlds are the stories, I mean it... metaphysically. The relationship between the greater kh multi-verse (and no greater) and these literal planet world island things is that of stories given form. Most all of my KH musings come from the very simple concept that formless metaphysical concepts like love, bonds, imagination, memories etc are literal, tangible things. Tangible. In this, Worlds are not so much another universe equal to other universes. They are a story, fictional and potentially subservient to a greater reality. It’s only from that understanding that I add the extra layer upon KH (and Quadratum by later extension) itself.

The exact logic behind this reasoning is cyclic. KH is a fictional story to the literal higher reality (us) and seeing how there's a parallel within the narrative, I just applied that logic within the universe and used my understanding of the ‘literal metaphysics’ theme going on with other lore concepts.

Power of Waking ejecting Sora into “real reality”: This analysis is based on the idea that Sora is “waking himself up” out of dream states until he “wakes up” out of KH reality into “real reality”. But YMX tells him (and implicitly us, via the conventions of this kind of villainous exposition) that Sora is repeating the same error he made in 3D and sending himself into the abyss at the bottom of the Realm of Darkness, not doing the opposite thing and “waking himself up” out of KH reality.

I’ll just punt Power of Waking stuff. There is a lot of stuff with the power but I take most of the speculation from the name and the results. There’s a big interweave of darkness that can support or deny my thoughts within the next sentence and I’m electing now to wait and see. Sora abuses the power of waking-- ends up in another reality. Waking--> realities--> dreams--> sleep. Run with the word association. I like to think the ambiguity with sleep and the darkness of abyss has more to say about the nature of reality as a whole ergo: “everything is a dream” concepts that are hard to swallow. What is waking up, if you find yourself deeper in sleep? Nonesense stuff like that.

MoM as Creator of the KH universe/Quadratum as the “higher reality”: Not only is he presented as a clear villain figure; given that the rest of the Foretellers are based on the Seven Deadly Sins, MoM as their leader would clearly represent the sin of pride. We also have him saying in Back Cover that he “might” disappear from the KH world, suggesting that it was beyond his control; and Luxu’s report suggests that the KH3 Keyblade War was engineered to open a means for him to return to the KH universe, presumably via Sora going to where he is in Quadratum/”unreality”.

I believe strongly in this still. MoM can be a villainous figure and at the mercy of universal laws while still being the Creator and denizen of a higher plane. I try not to dig into scenarios too much but follow me here: Creator of the world, literally self-inserts himself into a world of his own creation. He’s a verified Mad Scientist who of course likes to experiment and test his creations and he does so directly, physically, to them. There, he put them on auto-pilot and is watching Characterization carry on. I am not claiming that he is breaking the rules of his own universe and traveling in and out with ease. Nor am I saying if he is exercising any sort of Creator-granted power over their will. He’s there, he’s interacting with them, and he’s watching them. I find it to be an intentional obstaining of power. Self imposed limitations OR an understood sacrifice for this meddling (think, giving up ‘divine’ form to live amongst his ‘mortal’ creations in divine parallel. he is at the will of his universe but not out of control.)

When he says he ‘might’ disappear not only is he being vague on purpose to terrorize his high-strung apprentices but he’s made no indication that it’s something against his intention. And the actions taken by Luxu in formulating his return mean nothing to his plan or his ability or his potential Creator status. I can’t stress how Long Game I perceive MoM’s actions to be. All in the effort to observe, toy, and curate the perfect... something. And since I am talking about the literal nature of stories, I mean the ‘perfect’ story.

Also, we may note that if it was truly a “higher reality”, Quadratum wouldn’t be noted as the fictional Verum Rex video game in KH3 – there’d be no explicit sign at all of its existence, as it would be the higher reality generating the lower one. Which suggests that what may actually be the case, if the series is going meta, is that KH-verse and Quadratum view each other as fictional – in which case MoM would be somebody falsely claiming or believing to be the Creator, which makes sense in relation to the sin he represents.

Not that I’m saying KH-verse isn’t generated by a higher reality/being; but I don’t feel that the higher reality is Quadratum or that the higher being is MoM. There was a fairly interesting post on Reddit comparing KH to Plato’s world of the forms; in which case Kingdom Hearts would be the higher reality from which both regular KH-verse and Quadratum are generated. Or “unreality” really is a “lower reality” than the regular KH-verse, which TBF seems a bit less likely than “’reg. KH-verse’ and ‘unreality’ view each other as mutually fictional but are actually ontologically equal”.

I think my theory posts predate most of the Quadratum reveal so the details of the reveal haven’t been accounted for in my words but I did call it when breaking down Remind’s Yozora scenario. That said yes, I think there is a higher reality and I feel like you mentioned it outright. I see KH and Quadratum as equal fictional realities, segregated but connected through creator. Some of my earlier meta posts before re:mind saw Quadratum as the “higher reality” (or like “host reality”) until the presence of an author between them became apparent enough. We can potentially consider MoM=the author as a separate subject in this respect as it’s not entirely dependant on that reveal. Ultimately, my point in this caveat of the theory is that the relationship between KH and Quadratum strikes an intentionally meta-referential parallel to the actual creator Nomura. That’s an angle that is very audacious and I have full understanding in the denial but it’s my supporting evidence to a higher power within the re:mind secret episode alone. As for the ‘unreality’ I literally think that is just a way for them to say ‘fictional’ without saying the word, not necessarily an indication of ‘rank’ (for lack of a better word). I use a little reverse logic on the reveal in Melody of Memory when I claim they are ‘equal fictional realities’. No one thinks to assume that they themselves are also “fake” so it;s not a stretch to believe that the reverse assumption could be true. This putting KH and Quadratum on the same level and almost guaranteeing a connection through a mutual creator.

Now, you also talk about the Whispers in FF7R, but in that they’re in-universe contextualised as “guardians of destiny”, essentially manifestations of the Will of the Planet. Which just goes to show what I talked about earlier – the meta-level of a story can’t exist without a surface-level narrative. We know that the Whispers out-of-universe represent fan anger at changes to the plotline; but they’re presented as something in-universe, which can be defeated by in-universe forces (another reason I doubt it as it seems to leave no room for our heroes’ victory in the confrontation with MoM that’s being teased as the next saga).

I bring up the Whispers to note a synonymous use of the words ‘destiny’ and ‘fate’ to ‘story and ‘narrative’ Not explicitly of course, that would break the 4th wall, but its a subtext that's easier seen in a ‘remake’ because of direct references and deviations being drawn. I think the same synonymous use can be applied when brought up in KH because of their common creative entity.

Finally: How do you see this “metapocalypse” of yours playing out as an actual KH game? We know the conventions well enough by now – a trip through Disney worlds fighting monsters and villains in flashy shonen-style combat, being stalked and looked over ominously from afar by a council of villains with mysterious schemes. Then an invasion of the villains’ lair by the heroes with a final serving of flashy, SFX-heavy boss battles, a number of dramatic plot twists and arc resolutions, and an ending with the villains’ schemes having been at least forestalled. Then we get the ending credits; with an epilogue, a superboss and a secret ending all hinting at more to come.

Well I’m glad you asked! Honestly, I’m basically writing a fanfiction about it. I’m writing the story in part to engage some of these theories/speculations into a serviceable game narrative. So I’ll be vague:

Thematically: This breaking the 4th wall has the power to thematically drive home concepts of free will, defining your personhood and defying expectations. Furthermore, you have questions like... what makes something real? What makes it matter and what’s important? With growing up and the sanctity of youth being a constant struggle as the series and the characters age, the reverence in imagination and growing connections to things that aren’t stereotypically ‘real’ is a strong concept. If I were to break down the big message simply: As long as it’s real in your heart it doesn’t matter.

Overall, the reveal doesn’t really have to impact the basic formula. You can have Disney World Hopping and Villainous characters scheming and manipulating a greater force. I personally think the world-hopping parallel can become more direct with the context of it being movies/stories adding a different understanding of the process of visiting those worlds and meeting those characters. The episodes can be more about fate and predestination and can speak directly to the importance of the connections to those worlds. And the dramatic stakes are the literal threads of reality and godhood!

If I am to be more detailed and imaginative (without substantial evidence) I might say... MoM’s experiments in manipulating his own created world(s) are aiming to shape Sora (or 2nd favorite son Yozora) into some kind of perfect conduit for the marraige of reality and fiction and the success or failure of that process might weaponize his ability to connect with other hearts... real and not, all to the greater ascention of one chessmaster.

(That’s not even mentioning how I have a personal reason to dislike it as it reminds me of an old theory that the KH plot was actually SRK imagining it all up in their childhood games or to put a darker twist on that idea, Sora dreaming it all up in a coma or while dying. I hated reading those ideas when I was younger and still do.)

I’m gonna sympathize hard with this. I hate ‘it was all just a dream’ theories. They are cheap and they trivialize the journey. That is not what this theory is saying. There is a higher reality in this concept and that is used as a proxy for our relationship with the series. The imagery of dreams is only a small facet of the reality/unreality theme so there is no ‘waking up’ or ‘end of story, goodbye’ attitude. The commentary is broader and it can potentially speak on the power of dreams and reality. The ‘realness’ of fake things. I’m sort of calling out KH for what it is: an imaginative story that expands upon what it means to truly experience stories. Anyway, I rambled more than I thought. I haven’t written anything about KH in months so this was a little caffine shot for me. I’m not gonna be too stuck in the details and nor do I care exactly. I’m a story teller first and I just so happened to have predicted some things not so much because of the hints being dropped but because I understand some of the thematic intent behind the lore and certain narrative beats. The rest is just me having fun and finding the best reading. Sometimes I’m right.

#kingdom hearts #kh meta #submissions #kh speculation #kh theory #long post #submission

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thecurseoflife · 4 years

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CHAPTER 16 - Once upon a time, there was Saporia

On their way back to prison, Camalia was ecstatic. She kept jumping everywhere, spinning, dancing, sometime just stopping in her track to enjoy the moment.

Her mind was free from that dark pressure it had been under all those years. She felt finally completely in control, liberated from that thing that had restrained her for so long. She could run, jump, feel the wind in her hair, the grass uner her feet, everything was... brighter. Like an invisible curtain had been lifted.

Behind her, walking at a much more reasonable speed, Varian and Captain were distractly watching her, deep in thoughts. They both realized something during that terrifying episode.

For Captain, it was to fully understand how wrong he had been, and how dismissive of the girl's pain. He felt a big shard of guilt in his heart. He hated how close to death she- they had to be for him to embrace the danger the snakes, her curse, actually was. Cap' was conflicted, and all of his beliefs were shook to the core. He didn't like that.

For Varian, if it was close to Cap's realization, it wasn't the same. He wrapped his mind around what Camalia had been trying to tell him all this time. That she wasn't completely in control of her choices, of anything she had ever done. But he couldn't help but to feel hurt. No matter the girl's excuses, or what happened, or how hurt she was, he had been hurt too. And he shouldn't... No, he couldn't close his eyes on his own pain in order to help her feel better. He had to listen to himself, take care, take more care than he used to. So, he wasn't going to be this... agressive, violent person he had been impersonating for a year, whenever he felt hurt. But it didn't mean he had to forgive her, close his eyes on his own wounds.

And he was damn right, people. You see all the aspects of Camalia, and you know that she doesn't mean anything bad, but she still hurt people in the process. If someone, as nice and good as they might be, hurt you, don't close your eyes. Don't brush it off like something minor. Take care of yourself, 'cuz no one is going to do it for you. You don't have to hurt the person back, actually please don't hurt the person back, but . I know you guys are probably internally being aggressive toward Varian whenever he prioritized himself over Camalia, and told her to stop. I want to set this right and explain once and for all this is no one's fault. It's not Camalia's, and it's not Varian's. But this far, their relationship has been mainly portrayed as toxic, even if there was a few nice moments between them. It's just people, in the wrong situation, at the wrong time. They need time to actually build up a healthy, good friendship, and at their current state, it couldn't be rushed, it couldn't be suddenly besties. Of course they immediatly held to each other, like their lives depended on it, but it doesn't mean it was good.

Life doesn't have bad and good people. Nothing is white and nothing is black. Everything is grey. Sometime lighter, sometime darker, but always grey.

Camalia stopped in her track and yelped. Varian and Cap' immediatly snapped their neck back up, a drop of sweat running down their spines. They looked around, throat tight, expecting to see a giant snake emerge from the bushes and attack them. But the girl, unaware of their fear, ran straight forward, to the horse that fled the scene earlier.

Scared of that hyperactive human rushing at him, the horse back down a little. But the mage slowed down before reaching him and pulled out her guitare, hastily playing the melody of heal, effectively calming down the horse and easing his pain coming from all the tiny wounds he had all over.

Once they got the horse back up and running (literally), it was much easier and faster to go back to the kingdom... and to jail.

Of course, after what he saw, and maybe also to ease his guilt a bit, Captain decided to put them into a cell together, refusing to leave either of them alone.

-Look, he explained to Varian when he started complaining, I'm a grown man, a captain of the royal guards, I have fought and seen many things, but those things ? They terrified me, and for the first time in my life, I realized I had no chance in a battle against them. I only saw them twice, and they're going to haunt my nightmares. Now, imagine you, an already broken, misguided kid, and her, that had to endure this for 10 years, alone in cells at night, the shadows waving, making you believe the curse and the snakes are back. What now, hm ?

Varian closed his mouth and didn't open it again.

And here they were, the mage, the alchemist, and the elephant in the room.

Varian wanted to talk about the Saporians, and the plan, but he feared he would be left alone. Even if he didn't forgive her, he still wished for her support. Camalia wanted to talk about her behavior and the brutal way she handled the situation back in Old Corona, but she feared that it would only make him upset.

So they sat awkwardly on their respectives couches, sparing a quick glance at the other from time to time. Varian felt incredibly alone, and the disapperance of Ruddiger left an empty, dark and cold spot next to him and in his heart. The girl catched the sad look on her friend's (yes, for her they were friends whatever he said) face.

-I'm sure he's okay.

The alchemist sighed and hugged his legs.

-How can you be ?

-Well, I know for a fact that Witheria wouldn't kill anyone or anything out of rage. So he's safe from her. I also know that despite Decaiera's tendencies to torture and slowly murder her victims, she has a soft spot for everything that isn't human. Even if they were angry, I'm sure Ruddiger is fine.

Varian didn't answer, but held on her word with all the despair he felt in his heart and soul. He hesitated, shifted a bit, bit his lips, shifted again, turned to Camalia and put his legs down, hesitated, opened his mouth...

A loud noise under the cell made them both jump. They looked into the well, a bit nervous, but overall curious.

-Once you kids are done whining on that rodent, maybe we could start making the plan.

Varian's eyes widened, while Camalia huffed in shock and annoyance. She didn't know who that man was, but she already knew she didn't like him. But her friend didn't seem bothered by this thug rude manners. He bowed more, trying to decipher the darkness of the cell under them.

-Andrew ?

-Hello, jailmate. How have you been with the cursed girl ?

Varian stood up, blinked once, then twice, and a huge grin spread across his face.

-Heh ! This is great ! It will be so much easier to work on the plan like this ! Right, Camal-

His smile abruptly disappeared as he remembered the cause of their argument back in Old Corona. She wouldn't help him. She didn't agree. She was an obstacle, an ennemy. Unaware of the thoughts crossing the alchemist's brain, Camalia sighed and got up as well.

-Look, Varian. I know the way I acted back in your house was... very violent and... not... What I mean is I shouldn't have done what I did, and I'm really, really sorry about what happened. However... I don't really have any good reason to not help you anymore. I mean, the curse is gone, I don't really WANT to stay in jail for the rest of my life. Plus, you're my friend, and I think... I think friends should support eachother, so I want to help !

She looked more confident than she felt. She was inconfortable with Varian's plan, and didn't really want to participate in that, but maybe it was for the better... He did have more experience of the outside world than her, he knew what he was doing. Right ?

The boy felt guilty. Not to make the girl his accomplice, but to have made the assumption that she was an ennemy, and making a... plan to sort that out. She already helped him so many time, even if she did screw things up, but he was sure that even if she decided to not aid him, she wouldn't have confessed everything to Cap. He just knew that.

Varian hesitated, then looked down the well. He needed a second opinion.

-What do you think, Andrew ?

-I think that we already have a mage.

Camalia squatted down, and when she spoke her voice was cold and harsh.

-I am not just a mage. I am a music mage. Your people slaughtered mine because you were scared of our power. I am not some wand wielding, trick making maniac. I make actual magic, don't compare our art with your pathetic replica.

The alchemist looked at his accomplice in disbelief, surprised that the sweet Camalia would speak like that, then brushed it off. An offended scoff was heard beneath them, then the cells felt silent for a minute. Andrew's voice finally rose.

-It's your friend, kid. If she joins us, you will be responsible of her.

Varian winced. The music mage was way too impredictable to assume responsability for her. For all he knows, maybe tomorrow she would have burned the kingdom to the ground. Who knows ?! Not him. Maybe he had to consider not-

-I can be responsible for myself. I don't need a babysitter, I just got rid of two. You want me in, or out. No inbetween. And why do you want the downfall of Corona so bad ?! I've read nothing about it.

When words rose again, it wasn't Andrew's voice. It was sharp, broken-like, but definitely a woman voice. Camalia concluded there were at least two people under them, probably more.

-Once upon a time, there was Saporia. It was a thriving kingdom, strong and happy. We had our own culture, our own food, legends and magic. We had a festival, each year, that took place in the middle of winter, and it seemed to have been really important to us. But we, the separatists of Saporia, the descendants of those people, we can't remember why. We can't remember what happened at that festival, what people did there, why it was OUR festival.

-Why ?

Another voice took over. It was deeper, a male voice, probably strong judging by the tone. It was different, yet it ringed in the same soft, sad, low pitch.

-One night, in the middle of summer, Corona attacked. That wasn't really important in itself. Saporia was used to attacks of their sworn ennemy. We prepared ourselves for battle, again. None of the proud Saporians would admit it, but they were tired of that war. Tired of fighting, of being half-awake every hour of the night and day. We wished for peace, but were scared of how it would come.

Silence fell again in the prison. Through the tiny windows, the sun was going down, making the shadows longer and the lights warmer. The animosity that was piercing in Camalia's heart was gone, and both her and Varian had sat down around the well, religiously listenning. The music mage heart was drumming in her chest, and she could feel the tightness of her throat. Their story felt familiar. It hit home.

Like they were hesitating, the minute of silence became two, then three. When the story continued it was a woman, pretty young, that told it.

-That night, our queen told the soldiers to stand down. At first, no one understood why. Then, we realized we weren't getting attacked. The coronan army was there to escort someone to us. The king. That night, the war ended, and everyone was happy. Absolutely everyone. We were all thrilled, coronans like saporians ! There was a huge party in Saporia that night, were kingdoms and borders didn't matter. The problem is, they never did anymore.

Another voice took over, with quite a strange pitch, much higher than expected, but definitely male. Still holding that sad tone with every word.

-Not long after that, our queen and your king got married. It was a time of celebration and happiness. We didn't understand at first why it was not right to have taken the borders down. We were simply relieved to be at peace. Then, it started. It was small at first. We took in Corona's festivals and parties, then we moved closer to them, leaving behind our ancestral temples, then we stopped making our food, and made Corona's. At that point, people were noticing how our culture was being wipped out. We spoke out to our queen, that tried to convince the king to make the coronans interested in Saporia's culture. But we don't know how, he convinced HER that Saporia's culture didn't matter.

-And from then, Andrew continued, they destroyed everything, completely eating us without any trace of what we had been left behind. They took our books but never showed them on shelves, broke our temples pretexting to need stones for the new houses, destroyed everything we were, and no one said anything. When most of the saporians realized what was going on, it was too late. They gave up fighting, and today, saporian's descendants have forgotten who they are. But we haven't. Facing that cultural genocide, some of us rose and tried to fight back, but we were painted as the villains, the ones that were against love and union. But we wanted peace and union. Mutual respect, the merging of our cultures, not the downfall of one for the benefit of the other.

Destruction of a culture. Of what it was. Erasure of their past. To nothing but a line in a forgotten history book. Yes, their story ringed home, because it was. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Corona was built on lies, pain and suffering. She still didn't agree with their plan but... Maybe she could make a difference. She would try.

-So, music mage, are you in or out ?

A grumble answered, in the same cell as Andrew's.

-I say we left her out... She insulted my magic.

Camalia flinched but knew it was fair. Unlike what their people had been through.

-I'm in.

WHAT’S THIS ?

First / Previous / NEXT

#the curse of life #tangled the series #tangled #disney #fanfiction #chapter 16 #tcol #camalia #oc #ocs #original character #varian #varian the alchemist #saporia #saporians #the separatists of saporia

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neptunevasilias · 4 years

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So I watched h/bomber/guy’s rwby video a few days ago, and I’ve had some time to sit on it. And while most of his video is pretty good, there were some smaller parts that I thought were.... off? Like they were leaving things out or were painting something in the wrong picture. One of those things is where he compares everything to avatar: the last airbender. Now, yes, rwby does pay some homages to shows/other stories, or take inspiration from shows/other stories(in fact the latter is like. The whole point of rwby but I’ll get to that), and he’s right that some of the things probably do take inspiration from avatar, but only leaving it at that does rwby such a discredit because it leaves out how rwby takes inspiration from so many things, from recent stories like avatar and from older stories like beauty and the beast and journey to the west, and makes it something new and original. Also, some of those parallels between rwby and avatar that he made I thought were just him grasping for straws, like the one where he compares the entire basis of rwby which is everything being based on legends and fairy tales and saying it was based on one line in a version of the avatar opening that’s only seen in the first episode(“my grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days”). Like, dude.

But anyway, these comparisons really bothered me, because it’s not like avatar owns the idea of “the rule of 4.” Hell, just to come up with another story that uses it off(heh, get it) the top of my head, look at the indie rpg OFF. And to be honest, I think rwby uses the rule of four better than avatar. In avatar, you’ve got the four nations, the four elements, the four mentors/members of the gang and that’s... it, unless I’m forgetting something. But rwby uses it religiously. You’ve got the four kingdoms, four members of a team, four schools and four headmasters, four maidens, four relics, four base types of dust, four subordinates of cinder, four subordinates of salem, four members of ozpin’s inner circle, I could go on and on. The rule of four is so prevalent that whenever it’s broken, it’s clear that something is off or even suspicious. For example, the ace ops, where the fact that there’s five of them is the biggest hint that something’s not right with them(aside from, you know, everything else).

The other things he compares to avatar that don’t have to do with the rule of four just made me go... “so what?” For example, he compared the maidens, ozpin, and silver eyed warriors to the avatar(ozpin reincarnating, maiden powers transferring to someone else, and eyes glowing). Even if those were all inspired by the avatar, none of them are carbon copies of it. None of them can be compared to the avatar much beyond one, maybe two similar traits. And they all use different traits of the avatar, and not only that but are their own separate things. With the avatar’s glowing eyes in the avatar state, that’s hardly similar to SEWs at all. Silver eyes are a genetic trait that came from the god of light(the brothers are another thing that might have been inspired by avatar, but if you ask me the gods of light and darkness were handled WAY better than raava and vaatu), coming from his own eyes of light, which means they’re handy against grimm and magic(the god of darkness’ creations) but not much else. Or Ozpin, probably the most likely to have actually been inspired by the avatar? Sure, he reincarnates into another person whenever he dies, and is an important political figure in keeping the world at peace, but he reincarnates into an already living person and has to fuse with them over time. His reincarnation is also not a widely-known thing, in fact it’s a secret. He’s also not very successful at his job, and views it as a curse because he retains the same consciousness in every reincarnation. So really, trying to critique rwby by comparing it to ways it was possibly inspired by avatar and then implying it didn’t do as well as “the original” is a useless critique because rwby’s not trying to be a carbon copy of anything. Maybe it took inspiration from some things from avatar, but it took that inspiration and made its own unique story. Oh, and I’m not even going to touch on that “books” and “volumes” thing. That’s just nitpicking.

Other stories are the basis of rwby, but that’s not a bad thing. You wouldn’t critique one upon a time for being unoriginal, so you certainly can’t do it for rwby. Rwby even goes one step past shows like ouat(or at least what I understand it to be since I haven’t watched it), because it’s not a literal mashup of legend and fairy tale characters. It’s its own world with its own story, it just makes strong allusions to these other stories. It does this in many different ways. It does it by taking the surface plot of a fairy tale and translating that into a personal character arc, like with blake being both beauty and the beast being representative of how she needs to learn to love herself after years of abuse(YES blake’s allusion is genius, I am so mad at h/bomber/guy for spending so much time acting like it’s terrible and then not even explaining that opinion once in his two and a half hour video). It might also do this by having characters be a “failed” version of their allusion, doing this especially for villains or morally gray characters, for example leonardo lionheart being the cowardly lion who lost his bravery. There’s also of course the fact that some characters will have multiple allusions, for example adam being both gaston and the cursed rose, or summer rose being both “the last rose of summer” and dorothy from the wizard of oz(a failed version of dorothy - the girl who never came home), or as mentioned earlier blake being both beauty and the beast. Jacques technically has three: jack frost, the snow queen, and snow white’s evil stepmother.

Lastly, and this can sometimes tie in with the last method if the character has their own allusions, but (usually main) characters will sometimes have their story’s allusion bleed into the other characters around them. Blake is the best example of this - she is beauty and the beast, but with yang has her love interest(fite me) she also becomes both beauty and the beast. And adam becomes gaston and the cursed rose, sun becomes chip, etcetera. Or weiss and her family, she is snow white(AND prince charming, she saves herself), her dad is the evil stepmom, her mom the king, winter the huntsman, whitley the magic mirror, and klein the seven dwarves. It even applies to villains, like cinder, who is based on cinderella. Salem is her fairy godmother, ironwood the prince charming(cinder leaves behind a glass chess piece so he knows who she is), the rest of cinder’s faction are arguably her stepsisters, and probably atlas as a whole is her evil stepmother.

My point is, while most of what he says in his video is right, I thought some of his critique was, uh, wrong. And this time I wanted to talk about the section of his video where he compared things to avatar, because I don’t think that’s a critique at all, and he wasn’t accounting for how rwby as a whole operates, which is taking inspiration from other stories and making their own intricate world out of it.

#meta #ok gonna get ready for angry anons in my inbox bc that happened on my main when I critiqued this video

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miso-vicious · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 2 & 3

SPOILERS

Greetings. Due to me staying up for the full 24 hours for Rooster Teeth Extra Life and surviving on 5 hour energy, chocolate, and water, I got real sick. I lost the will to write an analysis of Chapter 2, especially for an episode that was fairly slow, but still full of information. Which is why I will be reviewing both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 this week. So for like the 20 something people that will skim read this post, strap in. This was a pretty heavy week.

Same as always, this post contains several SPOILERS. Do not read unless you are completely caught up on the show.

Love Will Thaw A Frozen Heart

We had a beautiful reunion between our second favorite sister duo, which was very heart warming, but we still have to wait for the big Schnee reunion.

And now that Ironwood possesses the first Relic, the group now has the upper hand on Salem. Salem has lost her only Maiden, the Spring Maiden is in the wind, and apparently, Ironwood has the Winter Maiden secured and in “stable” condition. According to Qrow, “She’s no spring chicken.” So that must mean that she’s an elderly woman with declining health. That means we’re back to where we were in Volume 3, they have to secure a new vessel for the new Winter Maiden. Either they will take the gamble and hope that whomever the current Winter Maiden chooses to inherit the power gets the power. Or they will do the soul merger machine plan that they tried to force upon Pyrrha. If we were to take a guess as to who would be Ironwood’s Champion, it would have to be Winter. While Penny does have a soul, there’s no telling what would happen to the power if she were to die. The only other person Ironwood trusts just as much as Qrow or Ozpin is Winter. It’s unclear if the machine could transfer the Maiden power to a male host, but that would be an interesting thought.

I Have No Heart, And So I Must Be Very Careful

Now, Irondaddy has been making his own plans since we’ve last seen him. With Ozpin “gone”, Ironwood has been his own moral compass. The embargo and recall of the Atlas military was only the first step of his master plan. Now that the Relic of Knowledge and Creation and the Winter Maiden are secure, the next step is to reestablish communication between the Kingdoms.

By building a new CCT tower on top of Amity Arena, it will act as a form of satellite. It will float above the clouds, higher than any Grimm can reach, and will still provide global communication even if another tower were to be destroyed. The next step is to tell the world about Salem.

That isn’t one the best plans this show has thrown at us. Ozpin has kept Salem a secret for hundreds of years. Beyond keeping his own shameful part of her evil reign a secret, the other reason was because of the inevitable chaos that would occur if the people found out there was this all powerful Goddess out there hell bent on the destruction of the world. But that’s a gamble Ironwood is willing to take apparently! His military are supposed to run damage control once the inevitable chaos breaks out among not only Atlas and Mantle, but the whole world.

Ruby made the executive decision to keep certain truths from Ironwood. Including Ozpin’s true past with Salem, Ozpin’s disappearance, Jinn being out of questions, Salem being allegedly unbeatable, and her Silver Eyes. With good reason, we have no idea what Ironwood would do with this information. Our heroes almost quit after hearing all of this, Ironwood has the world’s strongest army at his disposal. He might have a more violent reaction, and decide to go after Salem with everything he has. Ironwood is already in a volatile state, Dr. Pietro has already testified to his current paranoia. And based on the opening alluding to Jacques Schnee adding fuel to the fire, Ironwood is being manipulated into putting the needs of Atlas above the rest of the world. Of course, he seems completely level headed now. He even gave the Relic back to Ruby, offered them safe harbor in the Academy, and has basically gave them his blessing to be unofficial Huntsmen.

Ironwood even gave Qrow a super awkward hug, like a man who has never been hugged his whole life but has always wanted to try it.

A New Plan

So the next step is to reclaim an abandoned dust mine that has been taken over Grimm. (It’s insinuated that this is the same Schnee Dust Mine cave in that killed several Faunus, including Ilia’s parents). The dust mine will serve as a launch sight for Amity Arena and the dust inside is needed by the science team, until it’s clear, the CCT tower cannot launch. Why that is, why they can’t just find a new launch sight is not made clear. But this is what we have to work with.

That’s when we get our big glow up reveal, and they all look fantastic. Like, Yang’s detachable pant legs, Weiss’ excessive belts, Ruby’s steel toe boots, Blake’s new hair, I am literally living for this.

Now our team is outfitted with new tricked out scrolls. The scrolls track their vitals and aura levels, and are synced up to one another. So everyone can check on each other on the field. And if Ironwood hasn’t outfitted their scrolls with listening devices to eavesdrop on them, I will be severely disappointed in him. In this episode alone, they have talked about literally everything they’re hiding from Ironwood. Imagine all of the recordings of them being thrown back in their face.

One of the moments is between Ruby and Oscar.

Oscar was left behind at the academy, but before they leave, Ruby entrusts the Relic to Oscar. Claiming that it isn’t a good idea to be toting around an ancient Relic on her hip like a key chain. Good point. Oscar decides to let Ruby know that he’s uncomfortable with the idea of lying to Ironwood, saying it’s just like what Ozpin did to them. While the lies will probably blow up in their face, I still feel that Ruby’s hesitation is validated. She doesn’t know Ironwood, or what he will do with the information, or if he will try to claim Jinn’s last question. Only time will tell if Ruby will come forward herself, or if someone else will do it for her.

Team Chemistry

It’s not totally relevant to the plot currently, but there was a lot of onscreen chemistry between some of our team members. I’m sure aaaaaallll the shippers are losing their minds with the Bumbleby scene. Yang gets all flustered over Blake’s new look, and Blake gets all blushy. While I personally ship Blake/Sun, it’s just nice to see some LGBTQ representation. It means a lot.

Of course, Nora is still pining after Ren, who is either completely oblivious, or just isn’t ready to see his surrogate sister as a potential romantic partner, even if he does reciprocate her feelings. Ren isn’t exactly known for being upfront with his feelings. After losing Arkos, I really hope they get together, and not five minutes before one of them dies.

I’m not crazy, right? There was definitely a vibe here. Maybe Clover is just generally a flirty person, but he was sending those flirty vibes towards Qrow.

You Have To Go Inside

The inside of the mine is full of Grimm, but the main target is a Geist. It has already claimed the lives of several Atlesian soldiers.

They follow it down to the deep depths of the mines, where the Geist merges with the surrounding terrain, which includes big chunks of Gravity Dust. Which means that they have to be weary of attacking it, or they could set off the dust in the Geist, which would have a chain reaction and set off the rest of the dust in the mine, effectively killing them.

So Team RWBY, JNR, and Qrow take a back seat and let the ACE ops take over.

It was a great action scene, the ACE ops got to flex their abilities, and the Geist was effectively dealt with. But there was a very interesting scene between Harriet Bree and Ruby Rose. Ruby notes that Harriet’s semblance is speed, just like hers. But when Harriet tries to run and catch a falling shard of dust…

Ruby beats her by an inch. Harriet makes it a point to tell her that Ruby’s semblance is not speed related, but something different. I always assumed that Ruby had two semblances, the first being her Silver Eyes, and the second is her speed, which mirrors her fast paced personality. Perhaps her speed is merely an extension of another power. Only time will tell.

The Scorpion and The Frog

It was revealed in Chapter 2 that Watts and Tyrian have rolled into town. Watts reveals that while the codes have been updated in Atlas, none of it has been updated in Mantle. He easily takes control of all of Mantle security cameras and traffic lights, which is probably only a fraction of the destruction he can cause. And of course, Tyrian is already causing his form of mayhem by killing people. Even in a place like Mantle, he’s gonna raise some red flags. But subtlety was never Tyrian’s strong suit.

Now, Tyrian has tracked down our friend Forrest, a man who was in the police vehicle when the ACE ops apprehended our team last chapter. Forrest, as we know of now, is just a regular guy caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I don’t think Tyrian is going to care very much. Killing him after finding what limited information he has is just gravy.

Yaaaaaaas, Queen

Now, onto our team’s upgrades.

Aside from Ruby’s more aerodynamic look, Crescent Rose also got an upgrade. It probably has been a long time since this fine weapon has had some fine tuning, what with Ruby always being on the road. And since Ruby makes all her upgrades herself, and it’s only been one episode, the only visual change to Crescent Rose is it is now able to rotate its scythe. Thus giving Ruby one less step to do when slaying Grimm. And the fact that the haircut is slightly reminiscent of bird feathers, much like her uncle’s hair, is so cute.

Weiss is looking like a fucking Winter Queen with her new look. If she doesn’t at some point use that ponytail braid as a weapon to slay Grimm, it would be such a waste. I don’t even care that she has so many unnecessary belts, she looks fire. Aside from her new outfit, Myrtenaster does not seem to have any visual upgrades. Since most of her fighting technique comes from her semblance, I’m looking forward to see if she develops any new skills. Especially now that Winter, her mentor, and Weiss are back together again.

Now that Blake has liberated the White Fang from Adam’s tyranny, as well as conquered some personal demons, Blake has undergone a big change. She chopped off her beautiful long hair, and now has a cute bob. It’s most likely symbolic of her being ready to stop hiding who she is and being more open with people. She also has a newly fixed Gambol Shroud, which has a very noticeable gold streak where the blade was once broken. I’m sure that the scientists could have rebuilt Gambol Shroud with no evidence that it was ever broken in the first place. Meaning that this was a cosmetic change that Blake specifically requested. Again, Bumbleby shippers have been waiting years for actual evidence of Blake and Yang’s feelings for one another. Good for them.

Of course, Yang is living her truth. She is wearing a jumpsuit with detachable pant legs and an aviator jacket. Now I feel the overwhelming urge to buy pants with detachable pant legs. Her prosthetic arm has gotten an upgrade too, now fitted with a matching Ember Celica, balancing out her whole look. But that wasn’t the only thing she got done.

Ember Celica is now capable of releasing small bombs, which Yang can activate from a safe distance. Of course, that means that Yang is toting around bombs on her wrists. Hopefully that doesn’t become a problem.

I went into what Jaune’s upgrades would be last time, but now we’ve seen him in action. His shield, Crocea Mors, now acts as a make shift para-glider, can expand to an even larger shield, and can release shock waves that can knock back large Grimm. Crocea Mors also magnetically attaches to his forearm, much like Pyrrha’s shield did. Ren’s dual pistols, Storm Flower, now has the ability to shoot the blades that are now attached cables, giving Ren the power to move more aerodynamically. There are no visual changes to Nora’s weapon, Magnhild, please leave a comment if I missed something there.

Aces Wild

Clover Ebi, he wields a sort of fishing rod that doubles as a hook sword. His semblance is Good Fortune, the exact opposite of Qrow’s semblance. Good things happen around him. Which did make me suspicious as to how his missed the Geist when he seems to have no problem aiming that fancy fish hook. Maybe it was simply a way to bring up his semblance, or he missed on purpose. Why? Maybe to allow his team an opportunity to flex their abilities and instill the fact that they’re supposed to be the good guys and can be trusted.

Harriet Bree, rocking the classic All Might bunny ear hair style, wears robotic gauntlets to fight hand to hand. But her main feature is her speed semblance. She runs so fast, she is literally charged full of electricity. She ran fast enough catch a falling piece of dust all the way on the other side of the cave, and delivered the final blow to the Geist. She is most likely based off of the Hare from the Tortoise and the Hare.

Vine Zeki, a more mysterious member of the ACE ops. He seems to be the no nonsense type, and doesn’t lay his cards on the table. He currently wields no weapons, relying on his semblance. He is able to project his aura and create elongated arms and hands. Very useful for getting around or holding onto struggling prey.

Elm Ederne, a very overzealous woman, who seems to have good intentions. She immediately befriends Ruby once the dust settles on their fight last chapter, and compliments Team JNR a few times too. She wields a giant hammer, and her semblance appears to be being able to literally plant herself like a tree. Her aura wraps around her feet and attaches to the ground beneath her, making her a somewhat immovable object. For a powerhouse like Elm, I’m sure her semblance makes her a tough opponent to fight.

Marrow Amin, a dog type Faunus who likes to put up a tough front but seems to actually be more puppy than wolf. Being the only Faunus on this elite team, I’m sure that he’s barely tolerated by the Atlas aristocrats. He is astutely aware of how his species are treated as subhuman, and are dispensable to the people in Atlas. But that doesn’t seem to affect his ability to do his duty. Marrow’s weapon is some sort of chainsaw boomerang-rifle. It does not obey the laws of physics. Nor does Marrow obey the laws of time. His semblance seems to be a form of time dilation. With a snap of his fingers, he froze two Grimm centipeetls in midair, but it only affected the Grimm. That must mean that his semblance has a certain range of effectiveness. But it’s still a really powerful semblance.

Agents Of Chaos

As the viewer, who knows just how dire the situation is, everything else seems small. When you see Whitely Schnee screwing over Weiss to get her spot as heir of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee’s charade to be the top of the societal pyramid, and just the entirety of Atlas just seems so petty in the grand scheme of things. We are literally the brink of the end of the world. Do they really think Salem will care who has the most money, comes from the oldest family, or has the most dust if she gets all the Relics? We’re finally making some headway. They have two Relics (one in a vault), one Maiden (but still know who the Summer Maiden is), and a girl with the ability to turn Grimm into stone. Leaving us with Watts and Tyrian to worry about. The two of them will be stirring the pot in Mantle, while Atlas will probably be a big enough headache on their own.

If you made it to the end of this post, you are one very determined individual. Please leave a comment if I missed anything, got anything wrong, or if you have your own theories. I’d love to hear them.

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searchingwardrobes · 5 years

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Until the Day Breaks and the Shadows Flee: 7/8

The overwhelming consensus after the last chapter was “fix this!” - lol! I heard you, believe me, but I just want everyone to understand that we still have one more chapter left, and it’s a legit chapter, not an epilogue. The last chapter will be one of the longest ones, actually. So don’t expect much to get fixed just yet. Hang with me, everyone!

Much thanks as always to my beta @snowbellewells, my artist @hollyethecurious, and @kmomof4 for heading up this event.

Summary: Every night she traces the contours of his body as Killian whispers words of love against her skin. But can Princess Emma ever be fully happy with a husband who only comes to her in utter darkness? A Captain Swan AU of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

Rating: M for sexual situations

Words: ~3,500 in this chapter

Tagging: @jennjenn615 @welllpthisishappening @let-it-raines @kday426 @nadine200179 @teamhook @bethacaciakay @profdanglaisstuff @distant-rose @shireness-says @mythologicalmango @wellhellotragic @branlovestowrite @xhookswenchx @optomisticgirl @winterbaby89 @ultraluckycatnd @vvbooklady1256 @resident-of-storybrooke @spartanguard @thislassishooked @whimsicallyenchantedrose @tiganasummertree @snidgetsafan @ohmakemeahercules @delirious-latenight-laughs @nikkiemms @gingerchangeling @revanmeetra87 @cocohook38 @effulgentcolors

Chapter Seven: Jealousy as Strong as the Grave

Emma had never been the type of person to fall apart under pressure. She had faced her heartbreak over Baelfire, the plague that struck their kingdom, and the prophecy of the oracle all in the same way: with tenacity. She hadn’t even reached out to her family and friends to lean on. She could take care of herself and refused to be a burden to anyone. With Baelfire, she had also felt a heavy dose of shame and humiliation, constantly chastising herself for being so naive. Ruby, Lily, and Elsa only knew what little they did because they had aided her in the clandestine relationship.

Emma wouldn’t say she was falling apart in this moment, either, yet she also knew she had never felt so completely out of her element. Something significant had also shifted in her since her marriage to Killian. Handling things on her own no longer seemed like the strength it once had. Ironic, really, because never had she been so completely alone as she was now on top of this mountain.

No, that actually wasn’t true. Her husband was the god of love! Venus may be powerful, but surely their union was strong enough to withstand her jealousy. Killian wasn’t a demigod; he was the son of Venus and Mars. She was confident in his love, even in the face of his mother’s wrath. Emma threw back her shoulders and tilted her chin. A Princess of Misthaven may not be much against a goddess, but she was no shrinking violet.

“Venus!” she cried out. “Venus, I beseech you! Please, oh goddess, allow me an audience!”

Emma sank to her knees in the damp earth, bowing her head reverentially. She clasped her hands in her lap, her skin starkly white and chilled against the bright royal blue of her nightgown. Her teeth chattered as the cold wind sliced across her skin. Her hair tangled around her head, blocking her vision.

“Venus, I beg of you,” she said again on a whisper.

The words had scarcely left her mouth when the wind cutting through the satin of her garments shifted instead to a warm zephyr. Emma could smell a sweet perfume enveloping her, and she swooned at the headiness of it. She felt herself falling, but gently, and when she sat up but a moment later, she found herself in a large room, ornate, yet warm. Boughs of cedar, interwoven with flowering vines, made up the walls and the ceiling. The floor was a glassy marble in a shade of softest pink unlike anything Emma had seen before. She was in the middle of an opulent, round bed piled high with furs and pillows. She took in her surroundings in awe for a moment before her eyes landed on another bed sitting atop a small dias. Emma gasped when she saw who lay upon it.

“Killian!” she cried, leaping up and racing across the floor.

Her wardrobe hadn’t changed, and the rosy marble was cold beneath her feet. She raced up the four small steps leading to Killian’s bed, but when she reached the top of the dias, something unseen halted her. She took a step forward, trying to reach him, but was once again shoved back by an invisible force. He lay there, so close that Emma could have touched him if not for the magic protecting him. He looked so similar to when she had gazed upon him by the light of her candle - was that really only an hour ago? - that it broke her heart. His cheek rested on his pillow, one arm flung out as if reaching for her - his wife.

“Killian,” she choked out, tears coursing down her cheeks.

“He can’t hear you.”

Emma spun at the sound of the voice. Standing there in the middle of the room was the most beautiful woman Emma had ever seen. Her beauty wasn’t even something a person could put into words. Unlike him, Killian’s mother had light colored hair. Emma had many a suitor claim her hair was the color of gold, but seeing Venus, Emma knew what an empty compliment that was. Venus had hair that was truly golden, shimmering in such a way that Emma was mesmerized by it. Her eyes were the color of the seafoam legend said she was born from, such a sparkling blue-green that they literally drew Emma into their gaze. Her skin was flawless, her lips the color of deep red wine, her eyelashes dark and thick. Her figure was flawless too, her curves on perfect display through the soft white garments that clung to her frame. Emma knew she was gaping but couldn’t stop herself.

“Oh my dear,” Venus said in tones that dripped with condescension, “you see now how foolish you’ve been, don’t you?”

The goddess strode across the room, a natural and easy sway to her hips, and sat before a vanity with a gilded mirror. She lifted her hand casually towards her perfect face, her fingers fluttering near her cheek bone.

“What have you done to him?” Emma demanded, marching down the marble steps with her hands clenched at her sides.

“Oh,” Venus replied with a casual wave of her hand, “a long, refreshing sleep is all that it is.” She caught Emma’s gaze in the reflection of the mirror. “He’s a god, after all. Unlike you.”

“So . . . he’ll waken?”

“Eventually.”

Emma let out a breath of relief, yet her eyes still narrowed as she gazed upon Venus. “What’s the catch?”

Venus gasped exaggeratedly as she spun upon her stool to face Emma. She pressed a perfect, slim hand to her breast. “Why my dear, I am only looking out for my son’s best interest as any mother would. I’ve been concerned from the moment I learned of this . . . infatuation of his.”

Emma didn’t really know how to respond to that, so she merely kept a suspicious eye on the goddess as she rose from her vanity and crossed the floor. She strode past Emma and to the dias where her son lay, a look of tenderness upon her face that Emma wasn’t completely certain was sincere.

“He’s always been much too passionate for his own good,” Venus tsked, “but I suppose it’s to be expected considering his lineage. His father has a tendency for rashness.”

“Killian said you wanted to kill me.”

“Of course I did.”

Her cool manner as she said it, so casual and matter of fact, sent ice through Emma’s veins. She strode towards Emma, and it was all Emma could do to stand her ground and not flee. Venus came toe to toe with her, taking Emma’s chin in her hand.

“I suppose I can see your appeal,” Venus scoffed as she studied Emma’s face, “for a mortal.”

“I never did anything to -”

“Silence,” Venus snapped, releasing her roughly. “I don’t care to hear you defend yourself. The fact of the matter is; princes, dukes, sultans, military leaders, even peasants were suddenly all begging me for the same thing: that they would win the heart of Princess Emma. After every one of the balls your parents threw, I would then have to hear the heartbroken pleas of the men who had fallen under the spell of your beauty.”

“But I didn’t -”

“Foolish girl!” Venus raged. “That’s the point! You didn’t do anything! You’re nothing! Yet no one was exulting the beauty of Venus anymore, only yours. I’m the goddess of beauty. I couldn’t let a mere mortal girl receive praise over and above me!”

Venus took a deep breath and released it, her exquisite features settling once again into a serene expression. When she resumed her story, the calm timbre of her voice was more terrifying than her previous rage.

“I sent my son to kill you. Did you know that?”

The blood drained from Emma’s face, but she refused to answer.

“I gave him a vial of poison,” Venus continued casually, lifting bottles of perfume from her vanity one by one and idly sniffing them, “but he hesitated.” She frowned as if Killian were a disappointment to her. “The first time he saw you, you were in the castle courtyard getting a sword fighting lesson from your father. Your mother was there too, teasing you both about archery being the superior pursuit. You were in breeches, sweaty and flushed, your hair messy and pulled away from your face, yet you mesmerized Killian for some reason.”

Venus shrugged dismissively, and Emma’s temper flared. “Unlike you, he sees more than what’s on the surface!”

“He’s also infuriatingly monogamous. It’s embarrassing, really. What’s the point of immortality? Eternal youth and vigor? I ask you.”

“And you’re infuriatingly shallow and selfish. Killian told me what his childhood was like, you know.”

Venus’s eyes widened threateningly. “Be careful, mortal. Forget not to whom you speak.”

Emma swallowed nervously. When she spoke again, she forced humility into her words. “Forgive me, I beg you. I am a mere mortal, as you said, but I love your son with all my heart. He’s my husband. He is my beloved, and I am his. I would do anything to prove my loyalty to him so that we might be together.”

Venus was leaning closer to the mirror, admiring her own reflection, as if she weren’t paying a bit of attention to Emma’s impassioned speech. “Why should I care about your insignificant happiness? My son is immortal. When you’re old and gray, he will still be young and virile. And when your body turns to dust, he’ll have to find another anyway.”

“Then why deny us this short time of happiness? If I’m distracted during the flower of my youth by his love, then I’ll be out of your way.”

“Or a constant thorn in my side,” Venus bit out, “even my own son favors you over me. And don’t you think I care at all about the pain loving a mortal will cause my son?”

Actually, no Emma thought, but she held her tongue.

Venus spun away from the mirror to regard Emma. “No. My plans for you have changed, and they are so much better than your death. So much better than ravaging your kingdom with a plague. So much better than dressing you up in a wedding gown to be fed to a monster.”

“That was all you?” Emma gasped.

“Of course it was! My soft-hearted son just had to get in my way, but unintentionally he has given me a much better punishment for you - a more fitting one.”

Emma hadn’t noticed that Venus was stalking ever closer, pushing her closer and closer to the dais upon which Killian slept. Emma stumbled into the bottom step, falling backwards, catching herself before her back could collide with the marble.

“To love someone just out of your reach. To forever long for a husband that you can’t have.”

Emma shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“My son will slumber until your death.”

“No!”

“Unless,” Venus amended, casually examining the nails of her left hand, “you can do as you swore and prove that your love for him is true.”

“I told you I’d do anything.” Emma hated that she was begging, but she couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

“Good girl.” A sadistic grin curled the goddess’s lips. “Bring me the flower of eternal beauty. It is currently in the possession of Persephone in the Underworld. I want it back.” She gestured to Killian with a shrug. “And it just so happens to be the cure for my son’s enchanted slumber.”

Emma swallowed nervously. “It shall be done, but . . . how do I get to the Underworld?”

Venus’s gaze snapped to Emma’s. “That isn’t my problem, mortal,” she bent down to stroke Emma’s chin, “though I wouldn’t tarry if I were you. Every moment my son remains in the arms of Morpheus, the closer he is to forgetting you.”

Emma couldn’t prevent the gasp from leaving her lips. “How long?” she managed to ask.

“Days? Weeks? Months?” Venus cooed, her hand drifting to tuck an errant hair behind Emma’s ear in a mockery of a motherly gesture. “I’m not entirely sure.”

The sweet nectar of Venus’s breath against her face left Emma dizzy and disoriented. The room began to spin, her vision to blur, and Emma felt herself falling once again.

*********************************************************

“Is she dead?” a voice near Emma’s ear asked in a hushed tone. Emma tried to open her eyes, but her lids felt weighted, and her head pounded.

“Of course not, Ariel,” another voice above her snapped.

“Would both of you get away from her?” Emma recognized Tiger Lily as the third voice. “Venus’s magic will have left her queasy, and the last thing she needs is the two of you in her face.”

Emma managed to peel her eyes open, yet her vision was fuzzy. A flash of red swam before her.

“We can’t let her sleep long,” Ariel said worriedly. “We don’t know how much time Killian has.”

The fairy’s words caused reality to slam into Emma, and she struggled to a sitting position despite the pain that threatened to split her skull. She moaned and clutched her temple with both hands. The three fairies rushed to her side with words of comfort and concern, and Emma realized she was surrounded by the thick branches of a tree. The night sky, blinking with stars, was visible through the canopy of leaves above.

“Wh-where am I?” Emma asked through dry lips. Her mouth tasted like cotton.

“Drink this,” Tiger Lily said gently, offering her a cup of coconut milk.

Emma drank eagerly, and as the sweet liquid filled her, she felt herself strengthened, her mind less muddled.

“This used to be our home,” Tink told her, the tone of her voice much too chipper for Emma’s frayed nerves, “before Killian got us our wings back. Of course, now his house has been poofed out of existence or something by Venus, but -”

“Tink!” Tiger Lily snapped. “Not. Helping.”

“Sorry.”

Emma shoved aside the soft fur that the fairies had draped over her, and rose quickly to her feet. She was second guessing that decision the minute the tree house around her seemed to sway and spin.

“Easy there.” Ariel hurried to her side. “A lot of magic has been used on you in a short amount of time. You’re going to be disoriented.”

“I don’t have time for you to coddle me,” Emma snapped, brushing Ariel off. “Killian’s memory of me will be lost forever if I don’t hurry and get Venus what she wants.” Emma sank back down to the creaking bed of woven reeds, moaning as she buried her face in her hands. “Though I have no idea how to even get to the Underworld, much less persuade Persephone to give me some magical flower.”

“The first part’s easy,” Tink enthused, plopping down next to her and wrapping her up in a side hug, “you’ve already seen the entrance to the Underworld.”

Emma lifted her face to look at Tink in astonishment. “You mean that cavern Killian was trying to convince me to enter?”

The fairy nodded her head enthusiastically, and when Emma turned to Tiger Lily and Ariel, they too nodded their agreement.

“But . . .” Emma said, rubbing at her temple, “Venus destroyed our home.”

That final word - home - made Emma’s chest tighten as realization of its truth washed over her. All the weeks she had resided in the castle, she had missed her home and her family. Yet now, all she wanted were those marble halls, the exquisite gardens, the warm and welcoming library. And Killian. Most of all, she wanted her husband by her side.

“She destroyed the castle,” Tiger Lily clarified, “and even that only temporarily. Cupid - Killian, I mean - is a god too, remember. He can rebuild our home in all its glory, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about our house, I’m worried about him! Are you saying that the entrance to the Underworld is still on the mountain?”

The three fairies nodded, and Emma surged to her feet once again. She didn’t sway this time, and she counted it as her first victory, albeit a small one. “Then let’s go!”

The fairies exchanged dismayed glances.

“What?”

“We . . . “ Ariel trailed off, wringing her hands, “can’t go with you.”

“But you have to! I don’t know how to get back there, much less how to navigate in the Underworld.”

“Fairies are immortal beings, so we aren’t allowed in the Underworld,” Tiger Lily explained gently.

“But we can give you gifts!” Tink put in, her face beaming as if this ought to make everything better.

“Gifts?” Emma asked with a wry arch of her brows.

“It’s a fairy thing,” Tink said with a smile and a shrug, Emma’s sarcasm going completely over her head.

Ariel wrapped her arm around Emma’s shoulder. “Really, Emma, we can help you. The journey must be yours, but we can point the way and aid you through our gifts.”

The redhead flicked her wrist, and there in the palm of her hand was an ornate, golden compass with markings in a mystical language Emma had never seen before. She took it and lifted a questioning gaze to her new friend.

“It’s enchanted,” Ariel explained, “instead of pointing north, it points to the object you seek. In your case, Persephone’s flower.”

“Thank you,” Emma whispered. Ariel’s other arm came up to wrap around Emma, enveloping her in a warm hug.

Tink bounced forward, pulling a vial free from the leather cord around her neck. What was inside glittered and caught the light of the moon above. Emma cocked her head.

“Sparkly dirt?”

Tink giggled, “No, silly, pixie dust! As you can imagine, it’s almost unheard of in the Underworld. Charon, who ferries the boat across the River Styx, will want payment to take you across, especially since you’re . . . you know, alive?”

Emma couldn’t help smiling as she took the vial. “And let me guess, he really likes pixie dust?”

Tink’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed a small “o” of surprise. “Pixie dust is a very versatile and powerful magical substance.”

Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Thank you, Tink.”

Emma grunted as the petite fairy launched herself at Emma for a fierce hug. After relinquishing the blonde fairy, Emma turned to Tiger Lily. She especially valued Tiger Lily’s steadiness at such a time, and felt certain that her gift would be the most important. So when Tiger Lily pressed a stack of thick discs wrapped in brown paper into Emma’s hand, a furrow creased Emma’s brow. They smelled of ground beef.

“Are these -”

“Dog biscuits?” Tiger Lily nodded. “They are. Surely you’ve heard of Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the castle of Hades and Persephone?”

Emma blinked rapidly. “And I subdue him with . . . dog biscuits?”

“Infused with pixie dust!” Tink whispered.

“Works like a charm,” Tiger Lily insisted.

“How would you know? You just said fairies can’t go to the Underworld!” Emma felt panic rising suddenly. She had a bad feeling about this . . .

Ariel took both of her hands, forcing their green eyes to meet, and in the fairy’s gaze, Emma found solace. “But that doesn’t mean we haven’t helped desperate souls like you. We love you, Emma, and we love Killian. More than that, we believe in your love for one another. You can do this.”

Emma’s lips tipped up in a wobbly smile as tears welled in her eyes. The fairies stepped forward to embrace her in a slightly awkward group hug, and Ariel’s words filled the depths of her heart, lending strength for the quest ahead.

*************************************************************

Emma did not hesitate this time as she approached the cold and foreboding opening of the inky cavern. She stepped through boldly, Ariel’s compass pointing straight ahead. She made her way through a tunnel of vines that swayed like bony appendages, catching in her hair and brushing against her bare arms, yet she soldiered on. She exited the passage of thick foliage, and there before her were the viscous, black waters of the River Styx.

She walked with steady purpose towards the hooded figure that piloted the small ferry. She clutched Tink’s vial of pixie dust which hung around her neck. The golden compass and the dog biscuits rested in the satchel at her hip. Nothing but firm resolve radiated from her.

“Stay strong, Killian,” she whispered, “I’ll never stop fighting for us.”

#cs ff #cssns #cssns 2019 #captain swan supernatural summer #enchanted forest au #cupid and psyche au #slow burn #myth

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floatingcatacombs · 4 years

Text

I Write About Fate

12 Days of Aniblogging 2019, Day 10

One of the coolest things about Fate/stay night is that it’s divided neatly into three separate, linear routes. First the Fate arc, followed by the Unlimited Blade Works arc, concluded with Heaven’s Feel. Each story builds upon the rest, with Shirou learning from his past mistakes and trying his best to keep the Holy Grail War from ending in disaster. His end goals stay relatively the same, but his philosophy shifts and grows each time. While it isn’t often brought up directly in the dialogue of the shows, Shirou’s relationship to women is an omnipresent theme, and it evolves throughout the show. With its historical Servants, Fate asks us to look back through time and learn from the past. With this perspective, we find that it’s possible to map each of Fate’s routes to a historical wave of feminism. Through this, we can see not only how Shirou’s attitudes towards women change over time, but how the world responds and reshapes itself as a result of each feminist revolution.

But I Am

The Fate arc sees Shirou first entering the Holy Grail War, with all of his historical prejudices fully intact. He gets paired up with the iconic servant Saber, a lady knight who has a lot of Gender Stuff going on on the side. But that’s unnecessary for now. She’s obviously strong and capable of handling herself in combat, but Shirou insists that because she’s a girl, she’s feeble and must be Protected By A Man. In fact, Shirou internalizes this down to the gendering of weaponry. See, in JRPGs, physical attacks are often masculine-coded, and magic is more feminine-coded. Shirou literally tells Saber that instead of fighting physically, she should be handling the magic attacks. It’s the Nasuverse equivalent of telling her to stay in the kitchen. At this point in the series, Shirou has misogyny so deeply embedded that he can hardly even begin to change it himself. Through laborious dedication, Saber manages to prove herself as capable of masculine-coded fighting, and Shirou is forced to let her continue fighting and starts changing his ways so he isn’t so forcefully overprotective. This directly parallels first-wave feminism’s goals – not to change the minds of men, but to grant themselves the legal right to have a say in what they do for themselves, such as voting. Unfortunately, bad things happen, the timeline rolls back, and now we’re onto the second arc/wave.

The Unlimited Blade Works arc presents a more weathered Shirou. His philosophical development at this point has left him a utilitarian, which means that he believes the ends always justify the means. Shirou has a new girlfriend now, the tsundere Rin. A powerful caster, she believes that women are just as capable as men and should be given the same opportunities. She exemplifies this by having Lancer kill Shirou when he’s not looking. Was that justified? Well, Shirou’s dead now, so he doesn’t really get to comment. With pesky wannabe male philosophers out of the way, Rin is free to enter the Holy Grail War herself and live out her liberated fantasies. This is largely similar to second-wave feminism’s goals! The women’s liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s believed in women’s rights to work instead of be housewives, have sexual autonomy and reproductive rights, and overcome oppression. Ironically, the shortcomings and downfall of second-wave feminism match up with Rin’s failings. In bettering herself, she leaves her Lancer and Archer servants disenfranchised and unable to gain the benefits of her freedom. She’s defeated by a moral backlash – just like how Phyllis Schlafly manages to topple women’s liberation by simply arguing “what if I’m happy enough as a housewife?”, Rin loses to female servants who are happy to be spellcasters and never anything else. The timeline fails and we’re back to the start again.

Finally, the Heaven’s Feel arc. This is the final chapter of the story, and boy is it a doozy. Shirou is back again, meets up quickly with Rin and Saber again, having finally fully opened his mind up to women’s rights. He notices that Rin’s Archer and Lancer servants struggle from dual combined oppression. You see, Rin frequently has the two of them join up and fuse to become the Greatbow class. Within this fusion, Greatbow experiences the aforementioned disenfranchisement of both Archer and Lancer. It’s not just their disenfranchisement combined though – that specific combination compounds Greatbow’s oppression, making it far more than just the sum of them alone. What Nasu is grasping at here is very clearly the concept of intersectionality. Coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality refers to how the interactions of oppressed identities exacerbate their discrimination. For example, the oppression of Black women cannot be understood solely by looking at the oppression of Black men and that of women – there’s an additional axis of oppression that occurs from the intersection of blackness and womanhood. Intersectionality can apply to race, trans identity, socioeconomic status, and in Heaven’s Feel’s case, class struggle. Shirou solves the oppression of the Greatbows by throwing himself into the fusion, gaining empathy and solidarity through shared experiences. As a powerful Master-Servant synthesis, Shirbouw easily sweeps the rest of the Holy Grail War. Crowned the winner of the war by Elohim, Shirou is instantly struck dead and sent to the titular Heaven’s Field. Judged to be good and holy, because he respected women and never drank coffee during his lifetime, Elohim gives Shirou the highest glory. The series ends with him entering the celestial kingdom with his 7 sealed wives, destined for an eternity of bliss.

The Fate series has always had a somewhat complicated relationship with gender. It’s very easy to tell that the creator Kinoko Nasu is learning alongside Shirou what it means to be a good ally. At the end of the day, though, Fate/stay night serves as an effective metaphor for feminism in the 20th century, and one hopes that the current adaptation of Grand Order Babylonia will further this exploration to the modern era.

Disclaimer: I have never consumed any Fate

#12 days of anime #12daysofanime #fsn #fate stay night

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normal-thoughts-official · 5 years

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HEY SO u didn’t wanna go on a trans!magnus tangent in ur sexuality post but *I* want you to go on a trans!magnus tangent! Tell me more about him coming to terms w/ his identity & how it’s influenced his life and all that. Essentially just give me all the trans!magnus content in ur brain. Love u ❤️❤️❤️ ~cursedlightwood

here’s my hot take: magnus’ gender is Tired. and yes, i will elaborate, because Ive spent the last 2-3 weeks doing research for this ask, so this is probably the most well-informed theory you’ll see on this subject. yeah, we’re doomed

EDIT: i was gonna say this from the get-go but i forgot, so: english is not my first language and i’m unsure about the usage of some terms that i found during research, particularly those referring to traditional javanese religions and customs; so, if you spot anything that is problematic, racist or colonialist please let me know and i’ll change it.

ok, so i want to start this off by saying that, although javanese society had a binary gender system, they had pretty egalitarian views on gender, and from what i’ve seen the division of labor wasn’t really set in stone - although they were less common than male ones, there were female warriors, for instance. both men and women could be the sovereign and were equally respected, both could ask for a divorce, etc. the most important part of their gender views, to me, seems to be that they believed women were better for diplomatic roles and trading, because they believed men were too emotional and not as good as debating and making compromises as women were (same source)

so i’m just gonna say this, here and now: AFAB!Magnus makes a lot of sense because Magnus is the most diplomatic person you’ll ever fucking see, and in this context, if he were AFAB, he would have been socialized to be for a very young age. and i dont mean hes diplomatic just on the sense that he’s literally keeping most of the characters together and preventing fights (remember when he had to stop a Raphael VS Simon catfight? ugh), but also in the sense that out of everyone hes the one who best handles the seelie queen, for example. he’s good at Wit Battles, negotiating, building bridges and dealing with power relations when its needed.

and i mean, this would also be a pretty good start on why he’d be like “no thanks” when it comes to this whole Womanhood thing, because yeah, Magnus is good at that, he has to be, but does he like it? to me it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t, that he’s absolutely uninterested in anything involving power and negotiations and this whole ridiculous dance it involves. also he’s constantly giving himself the short end of the stick so y’know. honestly, at heart, magnus is an inventor, an explorer; he likes to create things, he likes to learn, he likes to explore the world around him, meet people, help them, build relationships - but on equal grounds, not this whole give-some-take-some thing diplomacy entails. and as a Woman™ in pre-colonial java society, it’s pretty much that, be a farmer, or a concubine - we’re gonna get to that a little bit later on.

so i think in this context little magnus would be like “no thanks” and wanting to go around and, i don’t know, look at plants and learn their properties and figure out why apples fall, or something. it’s not exactly a Man’s Role™ either, although to be fair i found it a little hard to figure out what exactly were men’s roles in javanese society because gender studies usually just focus on women and treat men as the standard and don’t really explore how manhood is construed. but anyway. i know that they were warriors more frequently than women (same source), but women could be warriors as well. like i said, gender roles in javanese society weren’t really set in stone. [alec voice] they’re not rules, they’re suggestions.

add to that the fact that magnus lived in a port city - he had to, since in the early 1600s the dutch were only settling in important ports and trading centers - and the ports in java were very important trading centers that had been attracting people from all over Asia and Europe for centuries, and had a quite good share of migrants and immigrants living there, including quite a good share of Buginese, aka the people who had a 5-gender division. jakarta, which is in java, has like the 10th biggest buginese population in the world, not to mention the countless other societies that had their own views on gender relations; and you have a pretty good and accepting environment when it comes to differences. the javanese were flexible, they were well aware that culture isn’t set in stone, and they were very prone to syncretism. the kingdom allowed people to have any religion they wanted, even if its “official” religion at the time was buddhism. so really: the javanese were actually not very into the whole “imposing cultural constructs” thing, especially the coastal javanese. so magnus would have likely had the freedom to explore and to not really want to conform to any gender stereotypes without that being a HUGE deal, in my opinion.

and then there’s the fact that the concept of womanhood was a pretty disputed one at the time; yes, the javanese had their own views, but it’s important to note that by the 1600s most of the coastal javanese population had converted to Islam, which led to a few differences as well; when compared to other southeast asian communities, for example, the rate of women in trade was a little different - while it was a steady 50% in almost all countries and cultures, in indonesia it was around 30%, because muslim communities had more of a “women stay at home” view. however, when compared to other asian societies such as the chinese society, where the rate was of 1-5%, you can see that the javanese’s egalitarian views on gender stood a fair amount of ground. also, in indonesia, precisely due to their more open views, Islam mostly syncretised with local religions and customs, including the gender views; in Bugis, for instance, the 5-gender system was kept, as were traditional customs such as “ritual transvestism” and homosexuality. so, yes, it was disputed, and people had many views on what people could or couldn’t do, but that mostly ended up becoming a kind of “live and let live” thing. which is the perfect environment for 1- AFAB!Magnus be Very Tired of this whole womanhood thing that no one can even decide what it is anyway; 2- Magnus to say “fuck this” and live as a masc-leaning genderless entity that just wanted to make some goddamn potions.

but then there’s the colonial relations, right? how do the dutch come into this already very complicated and delicately balanced equation? that was honestly the main point of my research, trying to figure out just how much influence the dutch had at such an early stage of colonisation, and also what it would be like to live in a mixed-culture household such as magnus’. here’s what i have:

during the first century of dutch colonisation (aka the part we’re talking about) the dutch and the europeans didn’t really have a big influence in javanese cultural and political relations. the javanese were pretty well organised and had a powerful and strong society so the europeans didn’t really manage to invade them successfully - even the portuguese, the most powerful european nation at the time, tried and failed to invade them for the whole 16th century (get rekt lmao). so what the dutch did was, they simply established themselves as one of the many companies that settled in jakarta to trade, and slowly built their power and influence from there. don’t get me wrong, the dutch were very violent colonisers and in other parts of indonesia they were doing the european thing of mass genocide as much as any other country. they weren’t a “softer” version of colonisers, they just didn’t have the power to subjugate the javanese, so they had to try a slower approach. during the early 1600s, the only dutch people in java were the VOC workers (VOC is the dutch east india company - the acronym is in dutch. basically the company that was there to get some nice spices to sell to the rest of europe so they could shove it all up their assholes or smth since up to this day their food is bland as shit), and they weren’t permanent settlers; they could only stay in java for the duration of their contract with the VOC and they couldn’t bring their wives and children with them, and they couldn’t bring any wives or mixed children they had while in java back to europe, either (same source).

this weird relationship meant that magnus’ “stepfather” and his mother probably had a relationship of concubinage (told you we’d get back to that), which was not uncommon in java neither before nor after the arrival of the dutch. in short, his mother was supposed to take care of his house, make him food and all that jazz, and also have a sexual relationship with him, in exchange for money (same source). it was not prostitution and it worked pretty much as a marriage, except it was temporary and contractual. BUT it meant that magnus’ mother would have to have converted to christianism (same source) and due to the fact that she was in a temporary contract, she couldn’t divorce him, and in their home he would treat her as, well, europeans treated their wives - with the particular western brand of sexism that they so kindly forced unto the rest of us. so that makes the whole thing even more disputed and complicated.

but as a VOC worker, magnus’ stepfather wouldn’t even be home for most of the day, and he couldn’t really keep magnus or his mom from, like, leaving the house and doing their things. i think he wouldn’t even try because that would prolly be very looked down upon in java; spousal abuse in southeast asia as a whole was pretty rare, since anyone could divorce whenever they wanted and women were politically and financially independent, so i think if he tried to pull something like that he would be in trouble - again, the dutch were the minority, and for the most part, they lived as the javanese did, in their villages, in their homes, eating their food and mostly adapting to their customs (same source). they even mostly spoke indonesian in their homes, since most indonesians didn’t speak dutch, and indonesia was kind of the universal language at the time, since there were many languages spoken both in and outside of java (this also explains why magnus speaks indonesian instead of javanese; that would have been the language spoken at his home. you have no idea how relieved having an explanation for this makes me). also there’s the pressing question of, would he even give a shit what magnus does or doesn’t do? magnus wasn’t his biological son, and most of these guys didn’t care about any biological children they might have had with these women, since they were women of color and they would leave them eventually anyway. honestly this is all the more reason for him to treat magnus like shit - he was javanese, he was brown, and he wasn’t even related to him by blood. this was also probably grounds for him to treat magnus’ mom even worse, since in his christian eyes the fact that she had a child outside of marriage made her even lesser than other indonesians.

so honestly, what i’m picturing is something like - most of the time it was pretty okay, there were certain expectations and a certain kind of female socialization but it was okay that he didn’t really fit in there, and then with his stepfather the whole thing was just shit.

also, the fact that his mom was probably a concubine means there was a fair chance that his stepfather would have other concubines, and listen, yes i may be flexing, but you can’t stop me from imagining that maybe magnus was raised in a multicultural home with lots of other southeast asian women and children and maybe even buginese because again you can’t fucking STOP ME.

but either way, even if his home wasn’t like that, his city was - we don’t know which city he lived in, but it doesn’t matter, really; all cities with dutch settlers were port cities and therefore followed pretty much the same pattern of being a cultural tapestry with all sorts of influences coexisting in peace.

so really, little magnus lived in a pretty rich environment when it came to exploring his identity. he and his mom lived in a pretty egalitarian society gender-wise, he had the space and the opportunity to explore the world and figure out what he liked and didn’t like. am i going crazy imagining a tiny magnus with his mom, running around in other farms and listening, enraptured, stories of people from all over the world, about their cultures and lives, and learning there is so much to see and wanting to just go wherever he could, getting himself a passion for travelling that would later fuel his want to invent a quick way to go anywhere he wanted to, going to the port and seeing all the stuff they had available, from plants with healing properties to spices, and just loving to figure out their properties and how they could be mixed together to create new things, loving this world full of wonder and possibilities? maybe. god.

but anyway, what i’m trying to get at here is that it’s really impossible to think of a cis magnus in this context, no matter if you think AMAB or AFAB trans magnus - i know ive been focused on AFAB magnus here but really that’s mostly because 1- Projection; 2- thinking about AFAB magnus brings in new layers of complexity that need further exploration in my opinion; but really this applies to any magnus. what would being “cis” even mean, in a context where the very concepts of manhood and womanhood were so disputed and complex? and that’s not even going into the fact that after so many centuries, complying to gender roles of that time looked nothing like complying to our modern gender roles. really, it’s a lost cause. magnus kind of has a culturally-specific gender that…. no one but other warlocks born in similar situations could, really? there’s no word for it. there’s no explaining it with words. it is [REDACTED GOOD OMENS REFERENCE]

the closest we have is masc-leaning enby, since somewhere along the way he seems to have decided to use male pronouns and have a mostly masc-presenting body, even if paired with a more fem-presenting appearance fashion and mannerisms-wise. but again it’s too unique, there are way too many influences here.

and honestly that’s kind of beautiful! i love imagining small magnus having contact with people with all kinds of views on gender and society throughout his childhood, exploring, trying on their clothes, learning about their religions and customs, having elderly friends from different backgrounds and also young friends who were raised in very different ways, and sharing all of that, and learning about who he is amidst all of that, and being able to explore that and talk about that to his mom and friends and close people because they are used to these differences. even if when at home he was probably met with some kind of transphobic rhetoric and violence because of his stepfather and the imposed christianity that came with it - and that unlike other religions, didn’t syncretize at all.

which brings us to a second, very important point on the whole trans magnus ordeal, which is how deeply tied to racism the transphobia he’s suffered and the general understanding of his gender was. of course, this applies to every single of-color and non-western born person, but magnus has lived that through history. from a very young age, the blunt of the violence he was met with came from a racist standpoint that believed his very identity and existence made him lesser and in need to be corrected - because that’s what, after all, the colonizers were doing. their whole rhetoric was that the colonized were barbaric and needed them to learn the right ways through violence. it is worth noticing that the javanese have been referred to as “the most inhuman of all people” by dutch colonizers, and amongst the reasons for that was the fact that their views on gender were so different from the european’s (same source).

so really we’re mixing in the fact that he was a “bastard” child in his stepfather’s eyes, a warlock, and trans… and yeah, oof. there’s no way he was treated with anything other than violence from way before his mom’s suicide and the subsequent drowning attempt. in his stepfather’s eyes, everything about magnus’ existence was demonic, impure, and all the more reason why he and his mom were dirty and needed to be corrected.

it’s also worth noting that sorcery was a very big part of javanese culture that was also syncretized with pretty much every religion. the javanese believed in sorcery, believed everyone could do magic, and the dutch, of course, despised that. the source above is a pretty interesting article that argues that the european’s so-called “skepticism” on magic and “rational-based” culture was actually part of a construction of whiteness that hoped precisely to differentiate them from the “savage” others. i mean, the guys were burning women at the stake because they were “witches”, but every other culture’s religions, rituals and magic were just bullshit and couldn’t be trusted because the europeans were too rational and knew better? okay buddy. it also features an amazing story about a dutch colonizer who got hexxed because of his racism that is, quite frankly, heartwarming. but i digress.

so yeah listen i know i already talked about this on the other ask but there’s really no way the reason his mother killed herself was because she found out magnus was a warlock or a demon’s son or whatever. magic was part of their culture. it was what they believed in. it was a part of nature to them. it’s way more likely that the reason she killed herself was the constant violence she was met with in daily life that she couldn’t get away from, and his stepfather simply blamed magnus because, to him, he represented everything that was wrong with their culture - and that makes even more sense if we think about trans!magnus, because that makes him an even deeper abomination. it’s very likely that most of the violence and belittling his mother had to face was related to magnus as well - look what you created, what you do, your culture is an abomination, this is unacceptable. but magnus was way too small at that time, and he believed what his stepfather told him, because i mean, what else would he believe in?

i also think that asmodeus kind of messed with his perception of how the whole thing went down, telling him that he “murdered” him when really it was clearly self defense, erasing the violence his stepfather directed towards magnus and focusing on the end to convince magnus that he was evil, unredeemable, that no one would accept him but asmodeus, that he had no other choice. so that’s super fun! but yeah i do believe that asmodeus spent enough time gaslighting magnus and rewriting this whole story for this to be considered magnus’ worst memory, seen by him as a reminder of his “ugly side” that doesn’t really even exist. asmodeus weaponized this, which served the double purpose of convincing magnus he had no choice but to follow asmodeus, and teaching him that violence is normal and there’s nothing wrong with it, and that retaliating makes him bad.

this is all i have to say about the asmodeus years, really, because like i said before i don’t think he gives a shit about gender, he’s way older than it and who cares. but the trauma that the whole thing put magnus through is easily weaponizable. @thesorrowoflizards also wrote this amazing fic that features the headcanon that asmodeus used magnus’ transness to manipulate him as well, using spells that made him more masculine and stuff but only if magnus obeyed him. fun! especially considering that he was with asmodeus through his puberty (or at least that’s likely) when his body would have begun to change, so for him to have such a masc-presenting body…. yeah. this is very plausible. i love pain.

and then we get to england, where again, everyone is an asshole, about everything, all the time. like holy shit, he thought the europeans cared too much when he was in java, but that is nothing compared to the brits and their casual sentencing people to death for being gender non conforming. also, to the europeans, asian men were seen as emasculate and their gender relations as a whole was unnatural, and listen, i know that in 18th-19th century england men also wore makeup and stuff, but i mean, magnus was probably seen as exotic in his “effeminate” mannerisms and non-compliance to gender roles, even if people didn’t know he was AFAB or just trans in general. he was probably objectified in that sense, kinda like a human-zoo sorta thing. fascinating, these emasculated asians with weird bodies and customs. ugh.

so yeah gender got particularly exhausting at that time, too. thankfully there were the warlocks, who were old enough to know all of this was bullshit and who had people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds, thousands of people with culturally-specific genders, as well as other people who were raised in similar environments as him. so in there he finds a home of sorts, a place where this doesn’t matter and where he can be himself and nobody cares, and also has access to different cultures and views and knowledge, and really it’s like the good parts of his childhood again. he learns more about magic and potion-making, about other cultures and places, travels the world, learns about science and the workings behind his magic. creates new potions, new spells, continues his education, learns and remembers how much he loves this, the cultural effervency, the chances to learn and explore and create. really the warlock community is so amazing and it’s like, golden era.

but he’s also living amongst mundanes and to some extent he likes them - not to mention, he likes travelling and learning about different places and cultures. and they seem to care more and more about differentiating genders as time goes by, and to be getting more and more violent in their never-ending quest to force people to fit into these roles, and it’s. tiring. exhausting. who cares. it makes less and less sense to him, and this alienation from the whole thing only solidifies his non-conformance and general inability to fit. sometimes he feels old, and alone, even if he has other people who are Like Him now - the shadow world can get tiring, sometimes, and there’s also the shadowhunters racism thing going on that’s also inevitably trying to subjugate their spaces and looks down on their culture - so it also has the downsides of his childhood. sometimes it’s like there’s no word for who he is, no one that can understand it, no place where he can be fully himself and loved for it. and this only intensifies by the middle of the 19th century, when suddenly makeup and colorful clothing is not for men anymore, and he’s even less conforming than before - he was a pretty respectable Man™ to their standarts up to that point, but from then on that is lost. it doesn’t matter too much, because even if he is masc-leaning, he still doesn’t really see himself as a man in the sense that he seems to be expected to. but that furthers the alienation, and the feeling of loneliness and of being old and unfit for this world.

that is also when he meets camille! and that’s canon because there was that one picture of him with camille and ragnor and the clothes they are wearing are very much from the 1840s (i talked about this here), which is precisely when the whole men’s fashion differentiating from women’s fashion thing was starting. so in the context of his gender this makes it even easier for camille to manipulate him into thinking that she’s the only one who will ever understand and accept him, and that he’s naive, and that he doesn’t fit into the world and doesn’t understand what’s best for him, and really he should trust her judgement better because he is a man out of his time, but she can help him, and- yeah. that good olde cis-girl-abuses-trans-person routine, with even more elements than usual. ggghhhghh

and it’s not until the 1960s and 70s that these notions start to actually be challenged. of course, trans people have always existed and were building their own communities and helping each other as well as they could, and magnus certainly was a part of that, because, well, that’s who he is. he doesn’t leave people in need and he knows how painful it is to go through all of this alone, so he does his best to help and adopts pretty much everyone he can. but for the most part, they are a diaspora, and the cissexist society that alienates and tries to kill them goes on unchallenged.

that gives him all the more reason to get so involved with stonewall and the subsequent building of the queer neighborhoods and communities, that feeling that maybe he can belong after all, that things might change and his life doesn’t have to be an infinite cycle of violence, isolation, abuse, and repeat. seeing these events unfold, helping keep people safe, meeting Sylvia Rivera and all the other trans people of color who were part of this, who had stories so similar to his, who were also bisexual (!!), who knew what it was like. that was healing, and that was important to him, and gjfdkafaskfa yeah.

and of course not everything is a sea of roses, because then the community starts to divide and trans and bi ppl, particularly of color, particularly those who are like him, start to be looked down on. Sylvia is arrested and even booed at Pride, suddenly he’s drawing the short end of the stick again. and then there’s the AIDS crisis, and he sees so many people die, and for a while, it feels like there’s no way out after all. and he even loses a lot of his warlock friends, the people who really understand him in his entirety, because sometime around that there’s the Circle massacre, as well. it’s a dark time for him, and honestly it’s a good thing he’s sworn off romance after the whole camille ordeal to clear his head, because after losing so many people he’s never felt this alienated, this alone, and to fall into the arms of another camille or asmodeus would have been just too easy.

but god, he heals. it’s crazy, but he has raphael, he has cat, ragnor, dot, elias, and he somehow builds himself up and relearns to trust and starts to believe that he has the love he’s always believed himself unworthy of having, that he believed impossible to him. and he starts to open up, and to feel more confident in his own skin, right in time to meet alec.

and look, trans!Magnus just makes malec all the more powerful. not only is this shadowhunter showing up and fully trusting a downworlder, giving him his strength, caring about him, cleaning his home (!) and taking care of him, something he hasn’t allowed himself to have for so long, something he didn’t believe he could have and that alec does so easily even when they’ve barely met. he shows magnus so much care and respect from day one and magnus doesn’t get that from anyone, let alone a shadowhunter, let alone a shadowhunter that’s there with jocelyn’s entitled daughter who treats him as a tool - and look, i know he loves clary, but she is entitled and magnus unfortunately enables her and other entitled shadowhunters to treat him as such, because even he treats himself as such most of the time, and it’s something he needs to work on, and probably has been at least since he broke up with camille.

but he’s also a white, gay man, and magnus has seen firsthand that these people can be nasty to people like him. yes he tried to help alec come to terms with his sexuality, and yes he’s surprised him before, but it’s also not like alec didn’t fuck up and wasn’t entirely… well, shadowhunter-y and had a lot of trouble believing that things didn’t have to be the shadowhunter, bigoted way for a while. but alec doesn’t give a shit if magnus is trans, it doesn’t lessen his attraction or love to him in any way, and it’s just. ugh. beautiful.

and yeah this has gotten too long and it already took me like 3 weeks to answer it because of the amount of research ive done and general tiredness so im gonna end this here, and on a positive note for a change! magnus is happy and learning to take care of himself and accepts himself and trans rights. hell yeah.

#it's FINALLY here god damn it i have answered this ask!!!!!!!! holy fuck #ask #cursedlightwood #necromimetics #i know who u are skyler pls #sh #shadowhunters #magnus bane #trans magnus bane #meta #magnus meta #sh meta #malec #overflowing trashcan

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khtrinityftw · 4 years

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The Good, The Bad, and the Cards - A Brief Look Back at KH: Chain of Memories

It’s been 15 years since Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories was released, and while I adore this game, I want to look back and highlight 7 specific elements worthy of praise that still hold up to this day and 7 specific elements that aren’t so good and helped derail the KH franchise going forward, the “Franchise Original Sins” as it were. So without further ado, here they are:

Positive: The Card Map System - I really love the usage of cards when it comes to exploring each world. Through the different cards, you get to create your own customized dungeon to crawl through, and the incentive to battle in order to collect cards you need to progress further in the level is a good one.

Negative: The Card Battle System - Unfortunately, using cards in combat isn’t done nearly as smoothly, and they complicate battles way more than they should. This is especially bad in the original GBA version of the game, where the cards are hard to make out on the small screen and the tiny, cramped arenas that you fight in make it all too easy to get backed into a corner while trying to shuffle through or reload your deck. This game could’ve done better.

Positive: Sora’s Story - The main scenario of the game is superbly written by Daisuke Watanabe. Like I said in my video review, he took what he was given, which was virtually nothing, and turned it into something. Sora’s character has never been explored in as much depth as it is here, with all of his raw strengths and weaknesses on full display. His bond of friendship with Donald and Goofy, his strong romantic interest in Kairi, his tortured clashing with “Riku”, his animosity toward Organization XIII, and the interactions he has with Namine toward the end are all handled perfectly. It really reminds you of just why you love this guy.

Negative: Riku’s Story - Reverse/Rebirth, otoh, doesn’t hold up so well. It tries its best to give Riku good character development, but too much of it is focused on practically everyone but Riku, the lack of anything occurring in the Disney worlds means that the story feels too light on content, and the conclusion Riku’s character is ultimately brought to contradicts what was established in the original KH and only creates further problems down the line. What’s more, this was the start of forcing Riku down our throats as the deuteragonist of the series, which is a role he was never suited for and that he only gets worse in overtime. So yeah, not a fan.

Positive: Organization XIII - Primarily the members introduced in Sora’s story; Lexaeus and Zexion are more useful as plot devices than as characters. Not only are Axel, Larxene, Vexen and Marluxia all excellent villains in their own ways, but the villainous arc they are part of is the best-written one in any KH game. Watching them work off each other and against each other in this dark but easy to follow political intrigue plot is one of the game’s highest points.

Negative: The Riku Replica - Don’t get me wrong, this was a decent character with a decent arc, but the execution was way too over-the-top and overstayed its welcome. Between Sora and Riku’s story, you have to fight this asshole six times! That’s just ridiculous for any boss in any game! And then there’s what the whole “replica” concept he introduced was used for in subsequent games, since Nomura just loves taking the simple and making it convoluted.

Positive: The GBA Graphics - This is one of the best-looking GBA games ever, hands-down. The fact that full cutscenes with PS2-style graphics were actually able to fit on the cartridge is simply incredible, and Square should really be commended for pushing the system to its absolute limits.

Negative: Console Spread - COM marked the first time that a KH game was put on an entirely different console than before, being a GBA game released and set in between two PS2 games. This wasn’t too much of a problem back then, since COM was only needed to fully understand the purposefully confusing prologue of KH2 and it ended up getting a PS2 remake anyway. But after a while, the sheer amount of consoles that KH spin-off games that are necessary to understand KH3′s story with became ridiculous. At this point, the only way you can actually get the full KH series is to own a PS4. If you don’t, then you’re out of luck.

Positive: Disney Expansion - Because this game re-uses Disney characters and worlds from the original KH, Daisuke Watanabe got to expand on things that weren’t really delved into in that game. We get more on Aladdin’s character, more on Alice’s character, more on Peter Pan and Wendy’s characters, more on Belle and the Beast’s characters and relationship…and perhaps most notable of all, more on Jiminy Cricket’s character. The Disney worlds and characters that we saw in KH are all enriched by their memory-based appearances.

Negative: An Influx of OCs - The original KH only had four original characters: Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ansem (five if you are counting Xemnas from Final Mix). COM introduced nine new ones: Namine, Axel, Larxene, Marluxia, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Riku Replica, and DiZ. Again, this wasn’t a problem with the game back then, especially seeing as two-thirds of those characters get axed before the game is through. But it started the trend of Nomura introducing way too much OCs that come to overshadow all the Disney and FF characters. Worse still, he refuses to truly let any of them go, as all six of those dead characters end up coming back to life later on, as do the two who went on to perish in KH2. This results in an overly cluttered canvas by KH3, to the point where no FF characters can appear.

Positive: Set-up for KH2 - This game’s existence did for KH2 what the later Dream Drop Distance should have done for KH3 but didn’t: it effectively set the stage for the following game. It gave all of the necessary foreshadowing for things like Nobodies, the Organization’s true goal, Xemnas, Roxas, Twilight Town, Namine being Kairi’s Nobody, and DiZ being the true Ansem while the Ansem we knew being an impostor. It also removed five members of the Organization from the board, with the sixth slated for removal in KH2′s prologue, which left the villain roster at a much more manageable number for the game’s main scenario. COM truly feels like the middle installment of a trilogy: the shit that happens in it actually matters.

Negative: Too Much Rehash from KH1 - There is so much from the original KH that is on repeat in COM. Beyond the same Disney worlds and characters being re-used, the stories in those worlds and with those characters match the original KH’s beat for beat, except with themes of memory inserted in and all context to the larger narrative removed so that they feel like filler. Both recycling from the first KH and Disney world visits being filler were not so bad in this game, but when it kept happening throughout the rest of the series, players grew sick of it. Furthermore, beats from the first KH still transpire in the main storyline of the game: Namine is in a role like Kairi’s, the Riku Replica is in a role like Riku’s, Marlxuia is in a role like both Maleficent and Ansem while Ansem himself comes back for more fun darkness times in Riku’s story, and we get sequences of Sora being separated from Donald and Goofy (this time it’s flipped and he’s the one who turns on them), the trio making an “All for One, One for All” promise as they put their hands on one another, and Sora making a promise with Namine that has Kairi’s good luck charm at the center of it. It’s all a little too much familiarity.

Positive: Atmosphere - As much as this game rehashes the previous one, it has a markedly different tone. It’s darker, more foreboding, more eerie, more psychological and uncertain. The white walls of Castle Oblivion and the creepy music playing as you go through them floor by floor really helps to sell this, as does a lot of the dialogue, memory-based insights into the characters’ hearts, and twisted machinations of the villains. It makes COM, well, memorable.

Negative: Convoluted Writing - That’s right, it all starts here. The writing for the original KH was smart enough to not actively dwell on the more ponderous elements of its story, keeping the narrative to a simple presentation while leaving the deeper lore as stuff for the player to think and speculate about it on their own. But in this game, it starts getting pushed to the forefront. Memory and darkness are the central themes of Sora and Riku’s story respectively, and yet neither of them quite make sense the way they’re explored. Memory is repeatedly said to be an aspect of the heart, to the point where removing it altogether would shatter a person’s heart completely. Except that this is not only confusing to basic logic that says memory is an aspect of the mind, but it gets contradicted by the following game, KH2, where it states that Nobodies that have no hearts act upon the memories of when they had hearts. Then we have Namine’s powers and how it relates to memories, which is nebulously defined here and ends up ballooning to ludicrous godlike degrees in order to make certain plot turns happen in later games, and you end up retroactively questioning why she didn’t just fuck with the Organization’s memories and shatter them in order to escape captivity all by herself.

Meanwhile, darkness is completely rewritten so that it can be a good thing if Riku isn’t afraid of it and uses it for a good cause...except that this is literally what he did in the first KH and it corrupted him. Darkness was unambiguously bad and something that should not be used in that game, but now it’s being revamped just to make Riku into a special snowflake with uber-awesome darkness powers. Future games continue going back and forth on darkness on whether it’s good, bad or neutral, whether it’s a natural force that needs to co-exist with light or whether it’s the source of all evil in the universe. And I again must remind you that this is only the start of how convoluted the series gets with its stories! By KH3, the series has become an absolute clusterfuck where nothing really makes sense or amounts to anything. There’s no real depth anymore, just pretentious nonsense that Nomura confuses for depth.

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maddmuses · 4 years

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The Lion Sin of Pride: Escanor

(Art Credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NanatsunoTaizai/comments/aj7578/nanatsu_no_taizai_escanor_drawing_hope_you_enjoy/ )

Age: 40 Aliases: Escanor of Castellio, The King of Castellio, Lion’s Sin of Pride, Master of The Sun, The Strongest Holy Knight, The One, Cursed Child, The King of Nothing Date of Birth: July 1st Place of Birth: Castellio Capitol City, The Kingdom of Castellio Rank: Diamond (Formerly; taken away 10 years prior when declared an enemy of Liones) Species: Human (Unique Magical Manifestation)

Appearance In his natural appearance, Escanor is a man of small size and slight build. With ginger complexion and hair, and blue eyes, Escanor often wears a mustache that curls at the ends, keeping an otherwise very clean and proper appearance. Complete with his need of glasses to see, Escanor doesn’t strike an imposing figure in any sense. He often keeps himself dressed nicely as well, giving others the impression that he is a librarian, rather than a warrior. This size and weight is more indicative of his appearance when the sun is down, with very little change either direction, though reaching its peak and bottom at 5’5” during midnight.

As the day progresses, Escanor’s body experiences a change, as he steadily grows larger and taller. In fact, his body even seems to take on a greater natural density, as his weight doesn’t increase ordinate to his height. While this change is progressive from the times of midnight to noon it grows more rapid and extreme during daylight hours. With this transformation comes the tearing and ripping of his clothing, unless it’s been designed with his change of size in mind, or otherwise is manipulated magically to work with this. His muscle’s mass, as well as his actual height, experience the most dramatic undertaking, causing his head to seem poorly proportioned to the rest of him.

Adorned on Escanor’s back is a distinct crimson tattoo depicting a roaring lion, the symbol of his sin of pride.

Personality The nature of Escanor’s existence is one of duality, much like his physical stature, the two versions of the strongest knight are fairly far removed from one another. The change in personality is as drastic as his change in strength, being skittish and passive during the night, not wanting to fight anyone, and actively being a coward, often finding himself in positions where he would avoid battle altogether, or delay it until the sun had risen. The nighttime Escanor is judgmental of his counterpart, not approving of both his attitude and behavior, often fearful of the repercussions of the daylight Escanor allowing his power to run too rampant.

During the day, Escanor is valorous, developing an attitude that matches his sin. As the day grows long, he will grow arrogant and domineering, looking down on others, and not even taking certain courtesies into mind that the nighttime Escanor wouldn’t dream of forgetting. This personality change becomes so intense that he cannot even bear ill will towards another, only feeling pity for their weakness compared to himself. Oftentimes he will even speak condescendingly to an opponent when playing with them, chiding them gently as if they were a child who had stumbled, rather than being hit by a literal embodiment of strength. The daylight Escanor sees his nighttime counterpart as a person who isn’t especially sympathetic to others, particularly to the nature of daylight Escanor’s situation. Objectively Escanor is aware of the change his power incurs in personality, but is ultimately helpless to it, and no longer bothers to fight against his prideful nature in the day.

Both versions of Escanor are aware of each other, and are simultaneously different people but yet the same person. They share many qualities, such as honor, a lack of desire for anything (in one case through being so humble as to not dream of asking while the other understands that with few exceptions he could simply take anything he wants), a penchant for writing poems, and a deep and unending love for Merlin. These qualities, along with his sense of duty and honor remain consistent and help define Escanor as one of the knightly ideals, even if his point of pride is viewed as a serious short-coming by others.

Biography [Same as in-canon, I am currently anime recognizing to prevent spoilers]

Skills and Abilities Ax Specialist: Escanor is capable of using a single-handed axe that is so large that only he could use it appropriately. He has some small amount of skill in the use of weaponry, though he’s especially capable with the axe, despite not having to make great use of his technical skill.

Poet: While not an accomplished writer, Escanor does enjoy reading and writing poetry, being able to improvise stanza on the spot.

Superhuman Powers Magical Ability: Sunshine -Size and Power Modulation: Based on the position of the sun relative to Escanor’s current location, his power and size are varied. Generally he is at his absolute weakness at about midnight, bottoming out at a cumulative power of 15, 5 in each category. However, it’s accepted that generally, at night time, he stays at this power, not receiving any change that matters until the sun begins to rise, at which point it’s estimated that his power level rises by about 5 per second. This power peaks at high noon, and surpasses that of any other Holy Knight, including his fellow Sins.

--Daytime: During the daytime Escanor’s strength and endurance steadily grow until they become practically immeasurable by even the metrics of Balor’s Eye. As he grows stronger his magical energy radiates as pure heat from his body, becoming more intense until it can reach a point that it melts metals, and will eventually leave his surroundings reduced to ashes. He can exert some control over this to protect others, but ultimately at peaks he cannot do anything to prevent himself from burning others up.

---The One: During the peak of noon Escanor becomes “The One” a state in which he is so powerful that he’s essentially invincible. This power is so significantly different between the last minute and the one to follow that he’s able to go from on his heels to defeating the same foe in a single strike. The power of The One is essentially Escanor releasing years of magical power all at once, fighting during this minute will actually injure him fairly extensively, and require a fair bit of healing and rest to recover from.

----The One: Ultimate: Essentially an even greater version of The One, following the typical time limit Escanor is able to convert his life force into even more magical energy, causing him to grow even more powerful in the following time. Using this power makes him become truly invincible, but will actually kill him following it, as the life energy necessary to use this ability will burn out Escanor entirely.

Possessions -The Divine Ax Rhitta: An off-balance ax of a monstrous size, designed in such a way that only someone as strong as Escanor can properly wield it. This ax is able to serve as a means of storing Escanor’s magical energy and heat, both keeping his power in check, while also giving him a source of magical power to draw from if his current power is for some reason insufficient. While Escanor is able to draw all of the power he has stored from the ax at once, Rhitta does have its limits, and essentially becomes useless when attempting to keep Escanor in check during the minutes leading to The One, as well as his time as The One itself. Magic released from Rhitta can also be done with precision, so as to not act as a simple bomb. Escanor is able to call Rhitta to his hand from wherever it is, being able to appear in his hand in moments, even when called from across the continent.

-Glasses of Control: A pair of spectacles with a cancellation enchantment placed upon them. When Escanor wears these his daytime form is suppressed, and he appears as he does at night. The removal of these glasses will immediately allow Escanor to appear in his time-appropriate form.

#Who decided that? The only one who gets to decide such things IS ME! (Escanor Castellio)

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hopelesstvaddict · 6 years

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A Case for Boromir

There is never enough praise for Boromir so here are some thoughts :

First and foremost, he’s not a villain. He was never portrayed as much. His character served as a living example of the destructive power of the Ring.

He was a good man, good-natured with plenty of qualities.

He was a skilled warrior with good experience in leadership. Among the members of the Fellowhip, he was probably the one who was the most versed in the art of commanding men, strategy and battle planning, having done it for most of his life. He would have been a formidable asset during the Battle at Helm’s Deep or at the Pelennor Fields.

He is most probably familiar with Gandalf already since Faramir says he took lessons with him when he was younger.

Boromir starts off as a very skeptical man, hesitant to trust other races for his own fate and the fate of Gondor. That’s because he was always alone in defending both Osgiliath and Minas Tirith against Mordor; they never got any help from anyone and they were left to fend for themselves essentially. That certainly takes a toll on the mind. Plus, Mordor was literally their neighbour so the Gondorians must feel a little pressured. That probably hardened him to the point of second-guessing everything and being just a tad cynical.

As a result, Boromir has learned that he can only rely on himself in life BUT at the same time, his role as a commander implies that he bears responsibility for the men he leads. See the contradiction here ? And Boromir must have lost countless men.

That’s how he knows how Frodo must feel after Gandalf’s death and why he tries to tell him not to blame himself. He has been there before. Countless times. Not to say that the others haven’t - Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli probably have lost friends too - but Boromir probably was the one who had the most experience in death and mourning because he was a leader of dozens of men. That’s also why he begs Aragorn to let the Hobbits rest and mourn right after they exit Moria. He has been there before.

His military background also makes him practical and quick thinking. After Gandalf falls, he is fast in retrieving the Hobbits and forcing them to move on - while Aragorn is still in shock - because he knows that seeing men die does not mean those who still live are safe. He only thinks of mourning once they're out of Moria when he thinks they're safe - which Aragorn points out is not the case.

Speaking of the Hobbits, he loves them so much. Merry and Pippin especially. Perhaps because he feels they’re the ones that need protecting most. And that speaks about Boromir’s character so much. He takes it upon himself to teach them basic swordfights - meaning he’s a patient man. He probably has done this before.

He would have been good with children.

He loves too much in general but he has had to learn not to show it.

And like mentioned beforehand, he was a skeptical man at first but he gradually has to change his mind and learn to respect, value and rely on the others as they are all forced to do. His mind opens gradually and he accepts that he can count on others in life.

This is perhaps Boromir's first real adventure that's completely different from the military campaigns and battles that he is familiar with. As he goes through this journey and is forced to rely on this group of strangers, he can't help but appreciate them more and more and admire them for skills and resilience he didn't think they could necessarily have.

He is an honorable man. He doesn’t like to lie and tries to speak the truth whenever possible. When Denethor sent him to the Council, he was not willing to go and it was Denethor who put the idea of using the Ring for good in his mind and to bring it to Minas Tirith. So he went to the Council and joined the Fellowship with kind of a double purpose - because if we’re being honest, he was all about protecting the city so his joining a quest he doesn’t really believe in and leaving the defense of his beloved city to ... ? “Ah baby brother will take care of it, Father will be so happy about it” - anyway, a double purpose, but he was never really ok with it. Thus why he kept suggesting going to Minas Tirith so that maybe the others would agree and then he’d feel better about it. Not the best way to cope with secrets and lies, but hey, he was only human. Headcanon that the more he travelled with the Fellowship, the more he became against the idea. Basically he struggled with this internal conflict during the whole time he traveled with them.

But the pressure from his father was too much so that’s why he could never go against his wishes. I’m not going to dwell very long on the relationship between Denethor and his sons because he loved them for sure, but the pressure he put on both was detrimental to their mental states.

He loved his brother to bits. Above anything else. Always defended him against his father and called his father out when he judged he was being too harsh.

Though his father was the prominent parental figure, Boromir didn’t take after him and grew into his own person and had the sense of loving both his father and brother even though his family was completely dysfunctional.

They lost their mother when they were very young. They had to grow up very fast and the hard way. They had no choice but becoming men before their time, no choice other than becoming strong, brave and valiant.

His whole relationship with Aragorn. He never disliked the man. At first, his initial reaction is totally understandable - I mean, when you think about it, you’ve been fighting your whole life for your city on your own, you’ve probably learned when you were younger that your role as Steward was to wait for the King to return ONE DAY but that said King has never appeared in what? Centuries? And then, a stranger is suddenly revealed to be that King ? Are you really going to say ‘Well, here are the keys to the kingdom” ? No. Of course you’d be wary of the whole situation. He needs to judge and feel the man before making a decision. His very nature called for that reaction.

But he doesn’t stick to that view. Like I said, he is not close-minded. His journey with Aragorn shows him that yes, the man is capable, a good man, a skilled warrior and a potentially great leader of men. That’s why he comes to bond with him - or at least tries to - about Gondor and the strength of men. Because he thinks that Aragorn would do well with his role. He sees this, and Aragorn, though he respects Boromir, doesn’t want/isn’t ready to assume the role he is meant to have and that frustrates Boromir because he knows what Aragorn can be. He doesn’t realize that Aragorn has been raised by Elves who are a little more on the downside when it comes to what the race of Men can still do and bring to the world. So he is honest with him and tells him in his face - “I know you’re more than up to the task but you refuse to see it yourself, wake up man”.

I think what’s potentially even more frustrating to him is that in Aragorn, Boromir probably saw a kindred spirit with whom he could share the burden of taking responsibilities in wartime. Headcanon that though Boromir was the most skilled warrior between him and Faramir, he sometimes was just like his brother and dreamed of peacetime and retiring quietly to sit back and enjoy life. Headcanon that he sometimes suffered little bouts of semi-depression when the pressure of war and the pressure from his father became too much and headcanon that with Aragorn, he thought “maybe this is someone who can understand what I’m going through and who can help me, share the pain with me and maybe ease it". Split the leadership if you will. And when Aragorn refused he felt rejected and that he was alone after all.

He feels alone - yes he has his brother - but he has lost too many men and too many friends and he has had to learn to harden himself but he feels alone.

He is blunt and a bit tactless. Not at all like his brother who handles wording a bit better than him.

He has hope for Men because as a leader of men and a captain, if you don’t have hope, that’s just not going to work so he just HAS TO cling on hope; otherwise what’s the point ? And then, of all people, the potential King throws it back in his face that no, he personally doesn’t hold any hope for the race of Men. Like OK...

And even with that, when the Fellowship breaks apart, he has already decided that Aragorn would be his captain and King. That’s not just some redeeming words uttered just for the sake of peace of mind. He really meant them and he’d probably come to that conclusion at some point before Parth Galen. Headcanon that had he lived, he would have become that annoying voice that whispered to an increasingly amused Aragorn “King”. OK maybe not.

He was burdened all of his life by having to protect his people. Because that’s what he wanted to do first and foremost, to fulfill what he felt was his duty. And because his father put immense pressure on him. All his actions stemmed from this desire to protect.

The Ring took advantage of these deep insecure feelings, the pain and the fear of having to defend Gondor alone, the pressure from his father and turned it all against him.

He still realized right after, when his madness spell was over, that he had made a grave folly and he tried to redeem himself by fighting hard for Merry and Pippin.

The man was strong as hell. Two arrows in and he still had the strength to get back up and fight some more. That’s how powerful a warrior he was. His prowess on the battlefield was a known fact among Gondorians and that extended to the Rohirrim as well, with Eomer praising him highly. Can you imagine if they had met?

#lotr #boromir #lord of the rings #aragorn #the lord of the rings #yes i rewatched #and i have a lot of thoughts #but i love boromir ok #lotr headcanon #tolkien headcanon #jrr tolkien #tolkien #middle earth #gondor #faramir #frodo #frodo baggins #denethor #text

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loyalflutist · 5 years

Text

History Repeats Itself (Rem x Deuce, slight Machina x Ace)

Rating: Teen and Up Audience Archive Warning: N/A Words: 4,183 Summary: After hundreds of years from the great war in Fodlan, a new era of peace has arrived. However, history repeats itself to an extent when it comes to relationships. Machina and Rem find themselves thrust into Garreg Mach Monastery as transferred students from Suzaku Peristylium in Orience, facing their teachers who they learn are from an all-too-familiar background.

A/N: Eh.... Forgot to upload this up here. Still working on my Edeleth stuff, so for now, enjoy another Rem x Deuce OS! Wanted to pull in the concepts from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and use it with this pairing. Might plan out a longer series with a genuine crossover of these two series.... but I digress.

---

Garreg Mach Monastery is known for its peculiar history. Hundreds of years have passed since the time of the Great War between the three nations in Fodlan. The Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance squared off in a vicious conflict that spans roughly five years. Legends of an Ashen Demon and an Adrestian emperor, their actions left marks upon the land. The results? A new era of peace.

However, history is known to repeat itself.

The existence of Crests still exists to this day with discriminations and olden lifestyles rule over the population. Those Who Slither in the Dark are still present, their experimentations and foul play disrupt the country. Civilian unrest rumbles society as political corruption began to unveil itself to the public.

It was never about the pen beating the sword. It was those who wield the sword that decides who would wield the pen.

“Rem? Are you okay?”

Rem Tokimiya blinked. She found Machina Kunagiri staring at her, his concern bubbling right above the surface. The two students were spotted inside the carriage. Having hailed from a respective part of Orience, the Dominion of Rubrum, their travel long and arduous since the early morning, it was no surprise that her childhood friend acts this way. No… Perhaps he asked not about their exhaustive state. She moistened her lip and glanced through the glassed window. Pine trees sprinkled with shades of darkness by the sunset’s orange rays crawled by as the horses continued their throttles. Not far from their destination, the famous monastery stood miles away, its huge structure both inviting and intimidating.

“…I’m okay.”

Dressed in the new school uniform provided by the monastery weeks ahead, the student unconsciously rubbed the back of her hand.

“I’m really okay.”

“Rem…”

Machina extended his hand but stopped halfway. He stiffened his lips. The young boy slowly retracted from Rem and felt an additional weight plop on his shoulders. Machina could not bear to look at his friend’s eyes. Then, under his breath, he whispered,

“I’m sorry.”

After all, he could do nothing but watch the horrors that befell upon her when they were young. The war between the Milites Empire and Dominion of Rubrum wasn’t enough. Those Who Slither in the Dark had strong ties with the Empire’s leaders. How the two managed to interact and align their ideals was a mystery. Not that it mattered to the male student. His jawlines were outlined, Machina gazing through the opposite window.

He witnessed the horrors of their parents dying by the soldiers’ hands. What he did not forget was the horror of watching his friend undergo experimentations to implant a Crest into her body. Cruel experimentation devised to test the hypothesis of a person not only not from nobility, but from another country altogether and their adaptation with the Crests was given the green light by the two communities. Those Who Slither in the Dark wish to rise their power in another country. The Milites Empire hopes to use this to their advantage for the current warring state.

Machina and Rem were two of the many unfortunate souls, and they were the sole survivors of the non-consensual surgeries.

Recounting those days always caused a shudder to run down his spine. He dryly swallowed, his elbow now rested on the carriage’s door, and pressed his chin against his palm. Occasionally, Machina would glance over at Rem. His friend still sat upright, the black magus drumming her fingertips along the uniformed skirt. A cough ripped through her tranquil state. Machina nearly bolted up from his seat as the female covered her mouth, a violent fit shaking her entire figure.

“R-Rem!”

She shook her head in the midst of her hacking. It went away after a few seconds, but not without consequences. Rem leaned back against her seat, breaths fast, the smeared blood present from the corner of her opened lips. Machina immediately took out his navy handkerchief and offered it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Stern tonality trickled in his words with hopes of some honesty from Rem. Rem simply nodded after wiping. He chewed his lip, retrieving the soiled cloth, his stares becoming dagger-like.

“Why are you still—”

He stopped himself. Then, his eyes softened and felt tears welt from them. Machina glanced away with a silent grimace. When he spoke no more, the female softly called out to him.

“Machina?”

No response. Rem didn’t push him to speak. A moment of observation told her plenty about his reactions. She stifled a long exhale and reverted her gaze elsewhere.

‘ He’s beating himself up again… ‘

And there was nothing she could do to stop him. (The last time she did, he unintentionally hurt her in the process.) Machina had crawled back to their past once again. Back to the time when they were held prisoners by the two organizations. Outcries and screams echoed in the back of his skull. The knives that plunged into his friend’s arms without anesthetics, the blood transplants, the forceful insertion of a Crest into her chest cavity… Rem was always the one to save him, and she always did. Even now she’s hiding the side effects from the surgeries to alleviate his guilty conscious. The handkerchief trembled in time within his whitened grip. The rest of their rides were basked in utter silence.

-----

Two hours ticked by and nightfall switched with daylight. Stars shone in the clear sky, the flames from lamps flickered in-sync, and the lack of students notified their abnormal arrival. Despite the lonesome arrival, they were greeted by a Gatekeeper. The young man saluted to the two students, his eyes brimming with excitement.

“Greetings, Rem and Machina! I hope your trip from Orience went well.”

“It was,” Rem clasped both of her hands, her smile shining to the security guard. “It was worth the trip.”

“Excellent. I was afraid the both of you would never come since it has gotten late.”

“Don’t be silly,” Machina motioned. “No matter the time of the day, we’ll come here.”

“Aren’t you both in good spirit,” the older male chuckled. “Now that you’re both here, I’m happy to inform that your assignment to a house has been finalized too by Lady Flayn.”

Machina crossed his arms and faintly hummed.

Garreg Mach Monastery’s Officers Academy was known well for providing resources and a community for students from all three nations in Fodlan. As the two were foreigners, they would be placed by random chance into the three houses. Their alliance would lie in whatever nation they belonged to. Even though Fodlan was known well for its unification, the three countries were still divided based on their ideologies and people. It was literally the same situation as Orience minus the current conflict it undergoes. The only difference is the lack of a unified academy from Orience, the academies all under a nation’s flag.

The Gatekeeper looked at Machina.

“Machina, you have been assigned to the Blue Lions House.”

“Huh… I guess we’re both—”

“Rem, you have been assigned to the Black Eagles House.”

“Wait, what!?”

The male student felt his posture falter. Ever since they were young, they were inseparable. After the incidence with their past traumas, Machina and Rem stuck closer to each other, always as a pair… Though this was more so from the male’s dependency. He straightened his back and coughed audibly into his fist.

“You’re telling me that we’ll be separated?”

“I… I suppose so.”

“But why?!”

“Please, don’t ask me!” the older male wildly pushed his hands outward, beads of sweat flying out of his head. “This is all under the discretion of Lady Flayn!”

“I demand that one of us transfer to the other house!”

“You can try talking to her, but… I don’t think she’ll change her mind.”

“I’ll try!” Machina glanced over at the flabbergasted Rem… though flabbergasted for reasons other than class placement. He huffed. “I will speak to the archbishop. I will be back soon!”

And off he goes… with a cloud of smoke too behind his heels! It was almost comical had it not been for the circumstance that prompted his dash. Both the adult and student stared in awe after Machina. They exchanged looks. Then, a forced grin bore on their faces. Words would never be able to describe their feelings about this.

“I suggest you visit your classroom,” the Gatekeeper said. “Knowing that Lady Flayn wouldn’t make any immediate plans, you might as well familiarize yourself. I also believe the professor is still in the classroom.”

Rem tilted her head. “At this time?”

He nodded.

“Yes… her name is Deuce. She’s a new professor here at the monastery.”

“She is?”

“Indeed. It’s her first time teaching, but I’ve heard many good things from the other professors,” the Gatekeeper cupped his chin. “If I recall… she’s from Orience too like the other professor.”

An imaginary exclamation point popped over Rem’s head.

‘ Someone from Rubrum?! ‘

Learning of this new fact urged the student to visit the lecture hall; a quick thanks and farewell were given before leaving. Of course, a bit of time passed as Rem found herself losing track of her place in the large academy. Vague directions on top of the dark environment hardly posed clarity. (There was an incident with crashing into a wall, but that hardly warrants an explanation.) The student, fortunately, found the premise… with a little help from a white hooting companion.

Rem popped her head into the empty classroom. Well— Somewhat empty. There was a petite brunette standing in front of the lecture hall. The young girl, dressed in a familiar dark uniform from Suzaku Peristylium and vermillion cape, drew a couple of arrows and notes on the blackboard. Light taps and scratches emitted from the chalky utensil with occasional pauses. She didn’t seem to notice the brown-haired newcomer.

‘ She’s wearing the peristylium uniform… ‘ Rem mentally shook her head. ‘ She can’t be the professor he spoke about. She's too young. ‘

Perhaps there were a couple of students that came from Rubrum this academic term. It was worth noting that some students from all four nations had transferred out of the country for various reasons. Most of them were for a political movement. Some were due to familial circumstances. Others were a little more on the enigmatic side. In Rem’s and Machina’s case, they were transferred for a multitude of reasons. Could this be the same for this young girl?

“Hello?” The brunette’s hand froze and glanced over her shoulder. Seeing as how she didn’t move from her position, Rem decided to approach the girl. “I’m looking for the professor. Do you know where she is?”

“That’s me.”

The speaker's tone was so soft, she could have mistaken it for a whisper. Rem blinked.

“I… I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

“I’m the professor.”

“…”

When greeted with silence, the brunette sighed. She placed the chalk onto the nearby desk and properly looked at the student.

“My name is Deuce. I’m the professor for the Black Eagles House,” the professor finally cracked a smile. “I’ve been expecting you. Though I must say, I’m a little surprised to know there are more students arriving from Rubrum. It might be a small world after all.”

“You’re so young to be a teacher.”

Rem, after much silence, blurted with unintentional disregard for the instructor’s comments. There was a pregnant pause. Eventually, Deuce lightly scratched her flushed cheeks in response, her eyes briefly shifted elsewhere.

“People say that all the time to me.”

“You must be very smart.”

“I don’t think so,” the youngster now giggled and frantically waved her hand. “The archbishop must have seen my talent in music and pitied me… or maybe it’s because I’m not from Fodlan…”

“Um, you studied in Suzaku Peristylium, right?”

“Yes, until last year when I transferred here with some of my classmates.”

Rem clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward. Due to their proximity, Deuce found herself unconsciously examining the girl’s face. Those long eyelashes, those pair of curious eyes that twinkled with optimism, those soft lips— Heat burst into Deuce’s head. It took a great effort to resist the temptation to hide. The teacher placed a hand over her chest, her heart rapidly thumping. Just what is this feeling that tugs at her heartstrings?

‘ Mother never told me about this. Am I sick? ‘

Unlike the brunette, Rem was not oblivious to the source of her reaction. She giggled. How innocent of her teacher. It would be best she holds back the teasing and gets back to their original topic.

“What class were you from?”

It appears that it had snapped Deuce back to reality. The pink tinges lightened as the ex-cadet lowered her hand.

“Class Zero.”

“Class Zero…?! It’s no wonder why you were chosen to be a teacher!”

“Is it? I didn’t know it was that important.”

Rem immediately grabbed ahold of the girl’s arms and gently shook her.

“How could you not know? Class Zero was always known as a legend… No one has ever spoken about being from that class!”

“That’s not what Mother said…”

“Mother?”

“It’s a long story. I might have to tell you about sometime tomorrow.”

Their exchanges were brief as nightfall hardly allowed much time to spare. However, the two girls instantly clicked. Could it be from their shared homeland? Or could it be due to their age? Whatever it was, what Rem could attest to is the comfort she finds in her new professor… even if she is a little younger than expected.

Deuce was left in the classroom to complete her preparation for tomorrow’s lesson. Although Machina came running towards her with tears flowing down his cheeks about the inability to transfer later on that night, Rem secretly thanked Flayn for keeping them in their respective houses. It never hurts to have a breather from her overprotective friend. Besides, after getting to meet Deuce, she wouldn’t want to transfer to another house.

-----

The next day came quicker than ever for Machina and Rem after settling in. It was a whole new setting to experience. Students had flourished the monastery’s grounds. Some of the guards and warriors that patrol the premise seem to be from the same class as Deuce.

“It’s nice to find some folks like us!” Nine playfully slugged Machina’s shoulder. “Ya know, we gotta stick together, yo!”

“Nine, could you please leave the students alone?” Queen adjusted her glasses with a stack of files at hand. “We have to deliver these to Seteth.”

“Oi, why do I have to go with you anyway?”

“I hope you understand we have to report our results to Lady Flayn.”

“Ugh… of course… Well, hope ya’ll have fun with your new class.”

Though they arrived a month into the school year, the students were approachable and welcoming to the newcomers.

It turns out… Deuce might be one of the best professors out there. Young as she may be, her intelligence, coupled with the battle knowledge gained from her time in Orience and Fodlan, made her a valuable faculty. Many students, though older than her, generally find her loving and humble to an extent.

“I thought she would be clueless,” one of the students whispered over to Rem’s direction. “Turns out, she’s not all bark. Kinda scary.”

Scary? Rem didn’t think so. Throughout the days that came to pass, she had not seen the young girl raise her voice at her students. Exceptions were made when they were out on the practical field trips, but they were from protecting her students rather than to belittle them. Still… despite her gentle demeanor, the status of being one of the youngest professors teaching at Garreg Mach Monastery shook the students to their core. Deuce was an abnormality alongside her classmates from Class Zero.

As for Machina… turns out, he’s got a young teacher too by the name of Ace. His professor has a similar background as Deuce, albeit slightly different from the way he handled his classroom. He wasn’t as soft nor much of an introvert as his comrade. Ace was known to be calm and collected, but his emotions ran deeper than his reasoning. This caused Machina and Ace to butt heads at times despite their associations. Still, Machina has a newfound respect for the blonde. Ace was never one to mislead his new student in the right direction.

Days soon turned to weeks, and weeks soon turned to months… Varying seasons flew by at a steady pace. Rem and Machina were able to make new friends. They’ve become acquainted with members from Class Zero. They were able to get closer to their professors. Teatime was exchanged, their past traumas unraveled to the prestigious instructors. Rem could never forget the response she got Deuce after explaining her reason for being in the Officers Academy.

“I was hoping to find a way to live with the Crest inside of my body. I don’t know how much longer I have left to live, but I came here to find out how. It would be better to find a way to stop my coughing fit too.”

“Rem…” the brunette grabbed ahold of her hands, squeezed them, her voice having dipped into a broken whisper. “I promise, I will find a way. I promise from the bottom of my heart.”

The same could be said for Machina and Ace. Ace was surprised to hear that the young male struggled to cope with his PTSD. Someone like Ace and Deuce, who were vigorously trained as child soldiers for Arecia Al-Rashia, never understood the disorder. This was a first for the card wielder.

“I couldn’t protect her!” Machina hollered and weakly shoved Ace. “They should’ve chosen me first! Why!? Why did they choose her!? Why did they spare me!? WHY!?”

“Machina…”

It would be a lie to say Ace didn’t tear up. He had to embrace Machina with hopes of keeping the student from having an irreversible meltdown.

Both teachers were there for their students, especially for Rem and Machina. It felt as though they had strengthened their bonds. The connection they had for one another was as deep as it could get.

For Machina, his bonds grew even stronger with Ace after spending time caring for a baby chocobo with his teacher, their lifestyles slowly formatted to that of parental care for the creature.

“Us? Like parents? You could say that,” Ace said without much thought. “I think Machina would fit the mom role well.”

“Aceeeee—! What are you trying to imply here!?”

Rem finds it amusing to see her childhood friend, who was always so clingy to her, let loose… especially at the cost of his embarrassed features. His red face was a comedic sight to see. Yet from a mile away, one could tell that Machina didn’t mind the implications. Machina did confess during their time at the monastery about his romantic interest towards his young instructor.

What about Rem and Deuce? It was also clear as day that Rem was crushing hard on Deuce… Very hard, in fact. Machina felt bad watching his childhood friend struggle with an oblivious professor like Deuce. Whenever they were out on a date, Deuce had always seen it as if they were friends. Regardless, their relationship became clearer in the following month. It was a bit more dramatic than what the two males had.

“Rem, look out!”

“!”

A flash of white beam was shot at the cadet’s direction. Rem, her bloodied daggers having been pulled out of a bandit’s body, found herself as its target. At least, until Deuce slammed against Rem with her shoulder. The rough shove caused the injured student down onto the ground. An “oof” slipped out of her cracked lips as she slammed face-first onto the wet greenery.

“ARGH!”

Rem snapped her head up, the bruises beginning to form from her cheek, her eyes widen at the unfolding scenario. Deuce’s silver flute had been tossed to the side. The teacher curled into a fetal position, her hands impressing themselves onto her chest. One of the faculty, Queen, rushed to her aid.

“She’s been burnt!”

The self-proclaimed secretary cast Heal as another student tried to flop their professor onto her back. Deuce’s facial features were twisted, the pain all-too prominent. Hearing her whimper surged forth newfound energy into the sickly student. Rem got up onto her two feet. The red daggers were readjusted, the female immediately kicked forward to the assaulter.

It was all a blur. Rem’s vision was completely red. She was not one to fall under the spell of vengeance nor unnecessary violence, but something had snapped in her the moment her professor succumbed to the attack. A battle cry erupted from her throat, the daggers slashing at the enemy in a flurry. What should’ve been a simple mission from Lady Flayn to defend a village from bandits turned into a bloody mess.

Crimson stained her school’s uniform, the magma-red blood splattered onto her exposed skin. The tips of her blade sunk into the tough bandit’s armors. No steel could prevent the magically infused weapon from piercing into its thick layer. Rem tore the weapon away as she lost breath. Then, she fell to her knees, her vision beginning to narrow.

‘ No, no! Not right now! ‘

Rem stabbed her daggers into the soft earth. She lowered her head, her eyes squinted, and blood beginning to drip from her chin. A coughing fit shook her entire achy figure. The Crest was taking a toll on her frail body. It provided her strength on the battlefield, making her a one-man army, but at what cost?

‘ Deuce… Deuce! ‘

The young student struggled back to her feet. She slowly dragged herself towards the fallen bard. Deuce, who acted as support for their battles, was unconscious. Queen shot a glance at the wounded student.

“Deuce is fine if you’re wondering,” she mumbled. “The laser didn’t break through her muscles. Some luck she has…”

Seven from nearby immediately caught the wobbly student. Arm over her shoulders, the tall soldier directed another Class Zero member, Trey, to cast a healing spell onto Rem. Though Rem managed to keep herself awake throughout the rest of the day, Deuce wasn’t that fortunate. The student had mostly healed from her bruises and lacerations in the aftermath. The same could be said for her teacher. However, the professor was in a coma for a week.

“Oh, Deuce…”

Completely dropping the formalities, Rem sat by her side on the seventh day, her hands clasped together into prayer. She watched the same scene happen over and over. Chest rising and falling at even intervals. Occasional twitches from her fingers and brows. The silence that hung in the air between the two girls. Rem lowered her head and wept tearlessly.

“When will you wake up?”

If anything…

“How could I tell you how much I love you?”

As expected, there was no reply.

Time ticked by until the sun began to set. Machina and Ace came by, their visits brief and acting as a reminder to return to the dormitory. Rem had gotten up from her seat. However, compared to the previous times where she would say her farewells and leave the premise, she found herself hovering over the brunette’s face.

“…”

It was the heat of the moment. Rem didn’t think twice about her actions, letting her instincts run freely. She closed her eyes and planted a kiss on her professor’s lips. Those luscious, soft lips were as delicate at Deuce was. Guilt settled into Rem’s stomach once she retracted. Heat overwhelmed her head as she bit the bottom of her lip. Kissing her professor was already overstepping her boundary… How could she do that?! She didn’t even properly proclaim her love to Deuce!

Right when she was about to pull away, Deuce reached up to caress Rem’s cheeks. Then, as if on cue, the brunette returned a kiss of her own.

“!!!”

She couldn’t even call out to her teacher’s name. Rather— She was thunderstruck! Rem opened her mouth and closed it like a fish gasping for water. Deuce, on the other hand, could not resist a weak giggle from her end.

“Why are you acting that way, Rem?”

“I—I… I-I mean! You’re… You’re awake!”

“Rem…”

“I’m so happy! I didn’t know what to do if you haven’t awakened—”

“Rem.”

“Yes?!”

Deuce eventually reached up to pat the flustered girl’s head. With a smile of her own, the professor whispered,

“I love you too.”

Turns out, Deuce finally sorted out her feelings during her comatose period. A week in a dream-like state gave her plenty of time to straighten her thoughts out. As she soothed the crying student, the ex-cadet thought back to the times of history from Fodlan. This situation eerily reminded her of a certain couple found in legends... A flashback of Byleth Eisner and Edelgard von Hresvelg transparently overlapped the two girls. Not all of history was to be repeated, but in this case, the blooming relationship of a teacher and a student from special circumstances began anew.

#final fantasy #final fantasy type-0 #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fic #os #oneshot #one shot #loyalflutist #rem x deuce #rem tokimiya #deuce #Machina Kunagiri #ace #machina x ace

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