#to save him! and they do this by staging a coup and killing the king! the prince is the one who actually ordered them to kill the king. he

[lullabyes22-blog]

Im not sure if this was answered already but what do you think was going through silcos head when Finn tried to stage a coup? More specifically the part where Finn got sliced and silco had a small heart attack cause the possibility of him dying in that moment was NOT low.

That's honestly one of my favorite scenes, and showcases so many complex dynamics, on so many levels<3

Like - on the surface, it's obviously a taste of the day-to-day pressures of leadership Silco contends with. He's King of the Hill in a snake-pit: everyone vying for his position, his second-in-command's loyalties suspect, his own seat on the throne forever precarious.

It's a reminder. The Undercity is a dog-eat-dog world - and Silco has made it ten times worse with the strife and suffering his Shimmer empire sows, even as he's created leeway for more economic and social opportunities by changing the Lanes into an enterprise.

And on a deeper level, it symbolizes the cost of power he's coveted since episode one, and the price he must pay to hold on to it, while his own priorities are increasingly veering off in the direction of a little Blue Bundle of Booms. Who, need we add, by the simple fact of her existence, actively makes his day-to-day governance of such a large operation that much more difficult.

And yet she's his Ace in the Hole - his literal Kingmaker - who's stolen a goddamn Hex-gem from Topside to arm his cause, and who is inadvertently the reason Talis decides to request a parley, because the Council are coming to grips with the chilling possibility that the Undercity may declare war, and that there could be mass casualties on both sides.

Then the whole scene is just a flawless summation of the mounting chaos that is engulfing Silco, and how it reflects in his personal relationships. Because he is being left behind by the breakneck pace of change that Jinx now symbolizes, and because he did screw up, and let his allies down, and because he is growing older, and less adept at the game, because fatherhood is slowly unfitting him for the 'survival of the fittest' mold he'd once been so gung-ho about.

And of course, playing into the whole scene is the fluid power dynamics between him and Sevika. Ostensibly, she's his right hand, and therefore his subordinate. And yet, in that moment, she's that thin line keeping him safe from a literal coup under his nose. All because, in that moment, he's reduced to his core components: his words, his most potent weapons, and the spiel about loyalty, where he actively appeals to the impetus that drives Sevika as a character:

"Brothers and sisters, back to back, against whatever the world threw at us."

On one level it's a deeply manipulative statement. And on another, he's making sides, and making plain he's on her side. Literally: Look how much we've suffered, look how far we've come, look at this callow whelp threatening to undo it for his own ego.

That bit of dialogue is almost a plea, and puts his cards on her table. It also puts the onus of whatever comes next on Sevika, and gives her the choice: Kill me, and doom our cause or Kill Finn, and we'll stay to fight another day.

And you can tell by his expression that he's not sure what the outcome will be. It's a flip of a coin, and he's inwardly prepared to meet his maker if the gambit fails.

And then, ofc, Sevika shocks us all by choosing to side with Silco.

Not only that: she cuts Finn's throat with the same arm she lost by saving Silco's life in the Cannery.

The narrative symmetry is just... mwah~

My favorite part is the way Silco transitions from "Oh shit I lived?!" to "Hmph. Of course I lived."

Because it gets down to what makes Silco such a compelling character. It's not simply his strategic mind or his cunning. It's his talent to think on his feet, and to adapt to the shifting currents.

He's succeeded in a volatile environment like the Undercity because he's not fixated on The Plan to the detriment of all else. Rather, it's because he finds new avenues to execute The Plan each time there's a change in the larger environs, which remain beyond his control because this is not a character in a position of privilege.

This is a ruthless man at the mercy of progress' black underbelly, as much as any other character in the story.

There's so much more I could say about this scene. But it's truly the moment I came to adore both Silco and Sevika as a terrifying duo, and to understand that there is so much history and so many layers between these characters that the series never gets a chance to explore.

<3

#asks #arcane #arcane league of legends #arcane silco #silco #arcane sevika #arcane finn #arcane meta #silco meta #sevika #finn

[scienceoftheidiot]

I’ve been thinking. 

I see a lot of people saying that what Roy’s planning with his whole « I wanna be the head of this state » thing is a coup. 

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about coups, which is in fact the abbreviation of the French expression coup d’état : 

A coup d'état (/ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/ ( listen); French for 'stroke of state';[1] plural coups d'état (same pronunciation)), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers.[2][3] Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, military, or a dictator.[4][5]

I will add that the French entry for it underlines the BRUTALITY and VIOLENCE that goes with a coup d’état. The English doesn’t. Bad. Bad English (that’s probably because we know those better. When do you get rid of the King, dudes? anyway I digress). 

What Roy wants to do and is doing when we first see him and carries on doing through the story is not planning/staging a coup. He is painstakingly climbing up the ladder, to get to power legally, and change the whole country from the inside by complying to the law. Sure, he’s trying not to be recognized as such type that want to seize power and will hide behind his womanizer/lazy façade. 

But he’s efficient. He’s still climbing the ranks extremely fast because he’s GOOD. And the point is that people see him as not a threat to their power so they will give him more of it. He might even act as if he’s easily manipulable, since all that interests him is to bed random good looking girls and work the less he can. That sounds like an easy man to make happy, and when you make people happy, you can make them do what you want. So the higher ups will run to promote this type of guy in the kind of country they are in. Thing is, he’s actually good at his job. It’s even better. Hence why he’s a damn colonel at 29. 

To go back to the coup thing. A coup is violent. While Roy does not shy from violence nor from actually killing people (which we actually very rarely see - don’t see at all if we talk people and not Homunculi, after Ishval??? in the manga he actually doesn’t hurt the terrorist in the train, just stuns him. No burns.) 

I think here the chess allegory is important to keep in mind. Roy is trying to change things for the better with minimal loss and minimal violence. Which is definitely not something you can do when you make a coup. 

If he's going for the “from the inside” route, it's because the whole country is a fascist military dictature. And the people of Amestris, save from a couple of oppressed people/poor people, are actually SUPPORTIVE of the army. Or don’t care. And he knows it. He has drunk the propaganda so well that he eventually ended up exterminating people. He knows how brainwashed the people are and how that can turn. 

A coup means outright violence - physical or political. Outright violence, in this kind of state, with this kind of people, will be met by violence, will be repressed in blood, and fail pitifully. 

Roy wants to win with minimal loss – which I headcanon is why he always loses to Grumman when they play chess, btw. 

But in this specific case, he is right. Not even counting all the corrupt generals who are in on the homunculi stuff, the whole country is corrupted, the whole country is brainwashed, and Roy knows better than to throw oil on a fire. 

Even when he is eventually forced to commit something that is indeed a coup, he dresses it as something else, keeps the memory of the fallen dictator instead of trying to expose him, and makes his damn best not to stir things the wrong way. 

Roy is smart, he is patient (yes, he can be lol), he knows what he’s playing with, and he wants to protect people above all. It has always been his goal, even when he was brainwashed and enlisted in the Army, and it still is now. 

Roy is not staging a coup. Roy wants to upturn it all from the inside, the most peacefully as he can, because he knows violence means war and war is awful and ugly and glory doesn’t mean shit.

#i'm just thinking a lot do not mind me #meta #fma #fma meta #roy mustang #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist

[soraeia]

Family.

[The evening after the abduction of Princess Allisae and her children, aboard royal Namodian airship heading westward for home.]

Yukaine looked on as the Aegis grew smaller and smaller in the distance, until the very image of it could fit in his palm. Enough to crush it, and all the secrets and misery it's held. He was certain speaking to his grandfather in the matter, wasn't the wisest choice, but he was through with forcing the pleasantries and politeness. Tere was no reason for it, anymore. That, and....he was too frustrated to just keep on smiling any longer.

"...I'm going to look for Tahariel." There were a few locations, he remembers, that he'd gone to to meet with Tahariel in the past. Safe and neutral locations or hideaways that the Ahnian had in place likely for coup operations. The question is, which one did Tahariel bring all of them to?

"Is that safe?"

"Tahariel wouldn't hurt me." At least Yukaine was hoping he wouldn't, at this stage in the curse. But he cared little for the danger to himself; he needed to figure out how to get his mother and siblings away from Tahariel. Without a fight. Without the struggle of constantly having to fend him away.

"You have your coronation."

"I--" Right, he was a king. There was so much more he could do. He had power. And, from what he could recall of past conversations with the man he would have once called father, the cursed Tahariel wanted claim over Ahnia. What could be more intriguing to him than the aid of a nation like Namodia? "...I need your help---you permission."

".....For?"

Yukaine placed a hand on Hatius' shoulder. "...I need to bargain with him for my family. Right now, as he is, there's little he values more than getting an advantage for his goals. He wants Ahnia's throne. With your permission, I want to offer him Namodia's support and---"

"No."

".....What...?"

"Yukaine, are you mad? Backing Tahariel's claim means openly opposing Lierik and Kalliah. That means painting a target right on our backs if the coup festers into war. And we do not. Need. War."

"Hatius..." Yukaine pulled his hand back, looking almost broken. "...this is my family."

"And the goal was to see them free of the Aegis, no? That's what they are."

"But with how far gone Tahariel's curse is, I can't trust---"

"Did I make a mistake in trusting you?" Hatius turned to face his brother, fully. The whites of his eyes darkening to a pale red as his nose wrinkled in a grimace. "I did not make you king so Namodia can become collateral for the absolute dysfunction in your family."

"What can we do as kings if we can't even save our own families!?"

"Family is not everything. Family can fail you. I thought we have both learned that. What is always constant are the countries that need a proper ruler to see it thrive. To see it survive. Your mother is kind, but I am not risking the well-being of my nation for a woman I met yesterday. Especially not the one responsible for my father's downfall."

"................."

At the abrupt silence...the sudden look in Yukaine's eyes, like a predator about to tear our the throat of its prey, Hatius only stared back with quiet indifference. A part of him wishes he could take back the last bit he said, but there was no changing what Yukaine heard.

"....You and I both know your father brought what he did down on himself. If it hadn't been you who killed him, then it would have been me. Perhaps it should have been that way."

#{ gilded cages } imperial au #{ Hatius } ic #{ Yukaine } ic #((

[sheliesshattered]

Cataloging all the HotD Daemyra fic ideas floating around my head that I definitely have zero time to write right now. In no particular order:

-First Of His Name: Realizing that he murdered his wife in pursuit of a male heir that died only hours later, that same night Viserys tells Daemon to look after Rhaenyra and restore the glory of their house, then khs in front of witnesses by stepping out the window Tommen Baratheon style. Suddenly Daemon is King, and the last line of support to Rhaenyra who lost her entire family in one day. The political mechanizations of those who want to see the Targaryen dynasty fall, a brewing war in the Stepstones, and the need for one or both of them to marry and produce heirs complicate Daemon’s long-held dream of being King. Slow burn from grief-comfort to ruling power couple.

-The Bed Is A Battlefield: One-shot set between eps 7 and 8, Rhaenyra explains to Daemon that she’s always had to keep her lovers secret for fear of what discovery would mean. But now that they are married and settled on Dragonstone with their children, she would like him to actually share her bed and not slip away in the small hours of the morning. Domestic fluff by way of Rhaenyra demanding what she wants like the queen she is.

-Vanity and Frustration: AU where Daemon and Rhaenyra marry in ep 5, and early in their marriage Daemon decides to start growing his hair out again. And as anyone who has grown out their hair knows, there are awkward stages to endure. Harmless harassment between newlyweds as Daemon grumbles about the state of his hair.

-The Last Dragon: 15 years ago, shortly after Daemon took Caraxes and fled to Essos to avoid a forced marriage to Rhea Royce, a coup executed by the Lords of Westeros resulted in the murder of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne and all their descendants, as well as nearly all of the dragons. There are rumors that a few Targaryens may have escaped, and some of the unclaimed dragons fled across the Narrow Sea to save themselves -- but all Daemon knows for certain is that he’s the last of his family he knows of, possibly the last living Targaryen anywhere in the world, the last dragon rider, and the rightful King of Westeros. 

But he knows he can’t take revenge all alone -- he needs heirs, he needs more dragon riders, he needs to rebuild the House of the Dragon to a force that can burn down all those who murdered his family. And for that, he’s in need of a wife. There are no legitimate Targaryens left, at least none living openly, but there are pale-haired violet-eyed descendants of Valyria to be found all throughout Essos. He simply has to find one he can craft into a queen and the mother to all future Targaryens.

After years of searching, his sources in Essos bring him “Neera”, an orphaned young woman raised in Pentos who has the right look and strength of will to fill the role, if only Daemon can convince her that she should want to be his wife and queen, that he is different from all the other men who have offered to pay someone else money for her maidenhead. Slow burn enemies to friends to lovers, to a complication as the truth comes to light -- the truth of Neera’s birth, and the mother who gave everything to save her from the fate that befell the rest of their family.

-Her Protector: A few years after Viserys marries Alicent, Rhaenyra is kidnapped from her bed in the Red Keep late one night. She is held captive by rough men who cannot seem to decide if they should ransom her or kill her or do something far worse, and in their indecision merely leave her locked up in a cell for long weeks -- until the glorious day that she hears the screeching of dragons overhead. Her uncle Daemon has come to save her, and kills everyone who took her, then carries her back to King’s Landing himself, never letting her out of his sight.

In King’s Landing, the people rush into the streets to see her, weeping to see the Realm’s Delight returned home alive, calling her Queen and throwing flowers at the feet of Daemon’s horse as they ride through the city with Rhaenyra curled in his arms, too weak to ride on her own, too anxious to get home to wait for a wheelhouse to be summoned. It is only then, at her insistence, that Daemon reluctantly reveals that Rhaenyra is in fact Queen -- her father was killed the night Rhaenyra was kidnapped, along with her step-mother and half-siblings. If only Daemon had been there, perhaps he could have stopped it, but he had been banished by Viserys yet again. Rhaenyra swears she will never banish him, and in fact she would make him her King Consort, if he will agree.

Years pass, and Rhaenyra recovers from her ordeal and grows into a strong, just Queen, with her husband Daemon always at her side. She has borne princes and princesses, the next generation of their house, and all in life seems to be exactly as she would want it. Until a sellsword, sentenced to death for his crimes, levels an accusation that it was Daemon who planned the kidnapping all those years ago that resulted in the death of King Viserys and Queen Alicent and their children. Who is Rhaenyra to believe? The convicted murderer seeking to gain her ear by spinning an unfortunately true-sounding story? Or her husband, her uncle, the father of her children, the man who rescued her all those years ago? And even if the sellsword’s story is true -- even then, could that possibly change how she feels about Daemon?

-Yet Another Mob Story: When the Targaryen mob family split over her father’s decision to marry outside the family, Rhaenyra sided with her uncle Daemon against her father and his new wife (her ex-best-friend). Years pass in a stalemate, until one day Rhaenyra sees Daemon’s new lieutenant Criston having lunch with Alicent and realizes that Criston is a spy sent by the Hightowers. She and Daemon devise a plan to get rid of Criston without letting the Hightowers know that they’re onto them. Really just PWP, with a little murder on the side, as a treat.

-Jane Austen Emma AU: The age gap is the same! I have no solid ideas for this one but that little detail makes me crazy!

-The Last of Us AU: I’ve posted about this once before, but the basic idea a modern apocalypse AU where Rhaenyra and her gay husband Laenor and their mutual husband Harwin (and their three sons) have to try to make it to the isolated bunker house of Laenor’s sister Laena and her husband Daemon (and their two daughters), and bad shit happens along the way but Laenor and Harwin are so determined to protect their sons and their wife that they sacrifice everything to keep them safe and get them to Daemon and Laena, up to and including their lives. Eventually Rhaenyra shows up on Daemon’s doorstep in half-feral mamabear mode, absolutely willing and able to kill anyone or anything that threatens her sons, only to find that Daemon has recently lost Laena and is similarly ready to murder to protect his daughters, and they have to come to a hesitant and wary understanding and then eventual partnership and co-parenting of their collected children. Maybe Targaryens naturally run hotter than most people, so are immune to the zombie fungus?

-Dragonriders Of Pern AU: Meleys, queen dragon of Weyrwoman Rhaenys, has laid the golden egg that signals the impending birth of the next queen dragon. Daemon (or D’mon for you Pern purists), rider of bronze Caraxes, is sent on Search to find young women to be candidates for the hatching of the new queen. In the company of other bronze riders, including Corlys and Laenor, he returns to the Hold where he grew up, where his older brother Viserys is now Lord. There he meets his niece Rhaenyra for the first time, a young woman of strong will with a natural talent for the telepathic communications of dragons. When she speaks to Caraxes as though his rider hardly existed, Daemon knows that Rhaenyra is destined to be the next weyrwoman. And as he trains her in the ways of being a dragonrider, it slowly dawns on him that he would allow none but him to stand beside Rhaenyra when Syrax’s first mating flight finally comes.

Edit: omg I forgot one! This one is so clear in my head but so difficult to describe in brief, so I’ll keep it short:

-An Eye For An Eye: The night Aemond loses his eye, when Alicent comes at Rhaenyra with the Conqueror’s dagger, her downward slash hits higher than it does in canon, striking Rhaenyra in the neck in a life-threatening wound the maesters scramble to stitch before the Crown Princess’s life slips away. With what she fears might be her last breaths, she commands Daemon to protect her sons, and he swears to hear he will protect her family -- or avenge them if he cannot. While the maesters try to save Rhaenyra, Daemon sits vigil with Rhaenyra’s sons and his daughters, watching over them while they sleep and talking long into the night with Laenor. But when Rhaenyra, only barely mended, asks for Daemon to be brought to her bedside, Aemond decides that his mother’s attempt at justice falls far short of his standards, and moves to exact his own revenge while Daemon is away...

#Daemyra #Daemon and Rhaenyra #Rhaenyra Targaryen #Daemon Targaryen #House of the Dragon #HotD #my writing #my fanfic #or rather the ideas I hope to maybe turn into fanfic eventually #right now I am so busy with work and cosplay sewing that I've barely been able to do more than jot a few words down here and there #please DON'T use these as prompts #or at least message me to talk about it first if something strikes an idea in your mind #some of them are general enough that there's plenty of room for other interpretations #but some of them are pretty specific and I'm really attached to #you know how it goes #tho honestly how there aren't more Pern AUs in this fandom is a mystery to me #but do feel free to message me! #either about writing something similar or to talk about these ideas or to chat about Daemyra in general #I'm full of Daemyra brainrot and short on time to write #2023 mood #I suppose

[irishanimefan]

One Piece Anime Watchalong: Alabasta Saga 4/5

Drum Island (Eps 78-91):

Started 30/7/23 Finished: 6/8/23

After their stay in Little Garden, the Straw Hats are off again towards the kingdom of Alabasta, and upon hearing the news that the kingdom could have more casualties, Vivi desperately wants to get there as soon as possible. However, Nami has fallen ill to a fever which, if not treated in time, could kill her. So they take a detour to Drum Island where they hope to find a doctor to cure her illness. The only doctor on the island is Dr. Kureha, often called a witch. Whilst the Straw Hats look for Dr. Kureha to save Nami, the country's former tyrannical king, Wapol, returns to take back his throne.

Now this is what I'm talking about! This is the OP that I was waiting to see again.

Firstly, I want to talk about Vivi. I liked Vivi beforehand, but I was just waiting for her to do something substantial at some point during this saga. Something that proves to us that she is befitting of being a princess, not in the damsel needing to be saved, but somebody with actual authority and agency in their own story. In this arc, we finally get that from her. We know that she needs to get back to her kingdom, and upon hearing that the coup has escalated further she desperate to get there as soon as possible. However, despite the gravity of the situation and Alabasta being her top priority, she still insists that Nami needs to see a doctor in order to progress to the next stage. Another moment that was very effective was when the crew arrive to Drum Island and they are threatened by the townsfolk to leave or else be gunned down. Vivi is shot, accidentally, in the arm by the townsfolk, but just as Luffy begins to recklessly attack them, Vivi stops him by using her words instead of violence to persuade them to let them on the island. In moments where Luffy can be so narrowminded in terms of protecting his friends from danger, to the point his point can only be conveyed by physical violence, Vivi's reasoning actually gets through to him and follows her example. This demonstrates that, even though she is separated from her kingdom, it doesn't diminish the influence she has on others outside of her royal duties.

But those moments where Luffy's philosophy about protecting his friends from danger really come into effect in this arc, it's so powerful. Even before that scene (which I will get to in a bit) we had him helping out the Lapins, giant sized killer rabbits. The Lapins are seen as obstacles for Luffy and Sanji in order to safely escort Nami to see Dr. Kureha at the top of the mountain. Even despite the trouble that the creatures caused for them, including starting an avalanche that further disrupts their plan by knocking Sanji out cold, when Luffy sees a baby Lapin struggling to save their parent from suffocating under inches of snow, he doesn't hesitate to help. Even if it wasn't necessary to help the Lapins for how much trouble they've caused him, even though passing on the opportunity to help them meant that he would reach the castle and treat Nami sooner, he still insists on helping the parent Lapin out of the snow. All without a single piece of dialogue being said. That was so powerful. But that's just the end of it, there's also the scene where Luffy climbs the pillar to get to the castle, with his bare feet and bare hands, in the blistering cold, and also carrying the weight of Nami and Sanji. It's not an easy task, even seen struggling as the cold catches up with him and even slips and his fingers and toes are bleeding against the tough cliff face. It was such a nail-biting thing to watch. However, despite everything that he has endured and the pain he inflicted, he is determined to get to the top, and it's with that determination that brings him all the way to the top. Luffy is just one of the best protagonists in all of anime and manga, for real.

Now, let's move onto what was probably the best thing about this arc: Tony Tony Chopper. I can't tell you how much I adore this little blue-nosed reindeer! In the first half of this arc, when he was with Dr. Kureha, he intrigued me with his design and form. I then heard what his voice and at that moment he was just adorable (same voice actor who does Pikachu in the Pokemon anime). The way he was so tsundere And then we get to his backstory... fuck, this destroyed me. Chopper being casted out by both his reindeer family and by human society just for eating the Human-Human fruit, him being saved by Dr. Hiriluk and Chopper forming his first ever connection with him, learning about Hiriluk's life goal of making the town's forest bloom with cherry blossoms, and then, when Hiriluk finds out that he doesn't have long to live, he regrettably pushes Chopper out of his life. But it was goddamn episode 86 that broke me, from Chopper, all battered and bruised from an unfortunate encounter with the leader of the reindeer pack, bringing back an Amiudake mushroom for Hiriluk to cure him of his disease, to Hiriluk's speech about when a man truly dies, that episode was the hardest I've cried at OP so far. After Hiriluk dies, he's taken into the care of Dr. Kureha, who taught him everything he knows about medicine. Their relationship bares similarities to Chopper's relationship with Hiriluk, in that it's that doctor/student dynamic, but unlike Hiriluk, Kureha lacks the warmth and whimsicality. She's a lot more direct with her diagnoses and her tone is more blunt from the outset. It may seem that she only took Chopper as an apprentice out of obligation to her late colleague, but under that cold expression, she does actually care about him, as she's the one who recounts his scarred past. After Chopper announces to her that he plans on joining the Straw Hats, Kureha is angered by this and proceeds to chase him out of the castle with an arsenal of weapons. This would normally have a damaging effect on his mental state, as it would trigger the trauma he has faced in the past, but having made friends with Luffy, who accepts him, not as a monster, but as a living thing with thoughts and feelings, it perhaps may be a little easier on him because, no matter what threats come his way, he at least has his friends to protect him from danger. Even though Kureha may not seem to care for what Chopper does, she does in fact care for him deep down, realising that he's growing as a person and accepting the fact that he wants to explore the world. She was probably expecting this to happen as well because, not wanting their goodbye to be sour, she plans one last farewell by bringing the cannons out from the arsenal room, pointing them up to the sky, and firing them to reveal that the powder loaded into the cannons was the formula Hiriluk had spent 30 years of his life trying to make. It results in a gigantic waft of pink smoke, that turns the white snowflakes into something that resembles pink cherry blossom leaves. Hiriluk's dream had finally been accomplished. What a beautiful ending.

If there was a low point to this arc, and it isn't that much in the grand scheme of things, but Wapol as a villain was kind of pathetic. Granted, this is supposed to be the point, and the fact that somebody that entitled and obnoxious could have the power to rule a kingdom can be terrifying (if Helmeppo actually succeeded in becoming a tyrannical leader after Captain Morgan), taking the twenty best doctors only for his own care and exiling the rest. In fact, this exemplifies the dichotomy between Wapol and Dalton, who served as former captain of the guards. Dalton having this crisis within himself about wanting to serve and protect the people, but having very little power to do so because he's at the hands of a king who only looks out for himself. But taking Wapol as a character at face value is probably the least interesting aspect of this whole arc. At least his Devil Fruit power was memorable in that goofy, almost macabre sense.

Other thoughts I had about the arc: that "To Be Continued" title card being written in the snow for a split second was so cool to me! Usopp and Zoro didn't get that much to do during this arc, but their interaction with each other throughout was pretty sweet, with my favourite being after being swept up by the avalanche, they both shared the exact same dream, which was pretty funny! I don't have too much to say about Dalton, but he was pretty cool, and him putting his ideals first and foremost, even to the point where he was willing to die for the safety of his people was really powerful.

So yeah, Drum Island is my favourite arc of this saga so far. So much about this arc is just absolutely wonderful, and while it may not all be perfect, it is still a massive highlight for the series. I'm looking forward to see how Chopper slots into the arcs and the stories going forward. Speaking of which, the next and final arc of the saga is the eponymous Alabasta arc. This arc is longer than any arc I've encountered so far, so bear with me if there's a gap in activity here, especially when I have real life stuff to deal with as well. I'll see you all next time!

#one piece #one piece anime #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #straw hat pirates #drum island #watchalong

[blueiight]

the battle of vermillion is the best of the spaceboys bc it relies on all the peopling shit. yang relies on the sociopolitical position reinhard occupies: duke lohengramm is all but king, but he also has no family or the definitive title of emperor yet for his admiralty to cohere around yet in the face of his death. if reinhard died at this juncture, the empire could fall into civil war (reuenthal). yang also recognizes and manipulates reinhard’s (+ his npc dummy subordinates) impatient personality.. yet what sways the battle isnt what muller did but hilde exploiting yang’s fundamental flaw that would otherwise be a merit in any other setting: his loyalty to his ideology. she also recognizes the sociopolitical position yang occupies: a man who is in the ideal situation to stage a military coup of a failing government (as has occurred many times in history) but refuses to do so for reasons hilde is not privy to (but we, the audience, who knows yang’s struggle btwn his morals vs. his military skill). hilde is savvy enough to exploit this by asking mitt+reue to make the fpa surrender so that vermilion ended how it did… a hollow victory that neither satisfied reinhard’s boorish ego (in that someone else had to save him & he could never beat yang 1v1) nor yang’s sense of justice (in that so many people wanted yang to kill reinhard in this juncture but he couldnt betray what he believes in)

#yn. #lotgh #this & the marr adetta battle. is the series thesis id argue #maybe yang’s real rival is hilde not rein lolz

[monstersnmayhem]

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

The ice planet barbarians series by Ruby Dixon is the blueprint for popular alien romance stories.

For those who have yet to dip your toes into the deceptively small abyss of sci fi and monster romances, Ms. Dixon’s books are a great place to start— filled with some of the representative tropes of the genre; forced proximity, language barrier, fated mates, and big blue aliens with really big pogo sticks. It has it all.

Now, the photoshopped covers might scare you, but settle into a bubble bath with a glass of the alcohol of your choosing and play some jazzy music and give it a chance.

Our heroine in book one is Georgie, a level headed, analytical lady who discovers her talent for leadership alongside her enjoyment of blue dicks.

The book starts out with Georgie abducted by horribly unattractive aliens (it’s how you know they’re the bad guys) and locked up in a tight cell with many other human women.

The group of women admit to being in that cell from as early as two weeks ago, and the one that’s been there the longest, Kira, was fitted with an earpiece that allows her to speak with the aliens.

For the next several days, Georgie is trapped there, sitting in her own filth, watching as a new girl screams and screams until she’s dragged away and raped.

A gruesome start to an otherwise wholesome series.

Georgie convinces the girls to stage a coup. The ship crashes as they kill their oppressors and the main ship jettisons them onto a frozen planet.

Stranded in below freezing temperature, the girls lose all hope of rescue or returning to earth.

Without food or water, they agree to send someone out into the snow for recon, and Georgie, one of the few not gravely injured, volunteers. Because she’s cool like that.

An alien story would not be complete without an alien male lead, and Georgie finds hers when she is caught in a big blue aliens hunting trap. Vektal. The horned chief of the small group of barbarian people that reside on the planet.

He unwittingly captures his human mate, shocked that his khui resonates for her.

Taking her back to a hunting cave nearby, he checks that she is uninjured, undresses her and just can’t help but go down on her while she sleeps. If noncon is a trigger, I would be wary of this part, but let me tell you, Georgie wakes up while he’s licking her and loves every second.

Post nut clarity is a bitch, however, and she freaks out.

Of course, the two can’t communicate, resulting in hilarious misunderstandings. The “who did this to you?” trope is fulfilled even with the language barrier.

And despite herself, Georgie is attracted to him. But she is also cautious and conscientious of the women huddled in the wreckage of the space ship. Many times she tries to get him to come with her to save them, but he doesn’t understand her.

I won’t spoil the rest of it, but they do eventually learn to communicate and the girls are rescued by an entire clan of mostly male aliens hoping for a mate.

They’re set for life.

One of the sellers of this series is how wholesome the story is. These big blue aliens revere women and cannot fathom that anyone would hurt them with malicious intent. All they want is to take care of their mate and lick her for as long as she allows.

Who wouldn’t see the appeal in that?

The biggest strength of this series, its simplicity, is also its biggest weakness. It is not the next Steven King novel of alien romances. It is not lore-filled like the Lord of the Rings. It’s a quick and easy read about ridged dicks and aliens who just want to love their human mates.

If you are expecting some superior writing and believable romance, I’m sorry but you’re in the wrong place.

I started this series with zero expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. It marked the beginning of my alien and monster rabbit hole. Lucky for you.

And despite its quality, this 50+ book series has a massive fan base. Why? Because it is peak escapism.

Who wouldn’t want to live a more primitive life with a hot and hots for you big guy who fucks like a champ and eats pussy even better? This book is like the safe space for alien romance. It got me out of my five year reading slump.

I hope that you will give this series a try and enjoy the lovable aliens and distrustful humans who will inevitably get swept off of their feet.

#ruby dixon #ice planet barbarians #scifi #romance

[clementines-writing-corner]

plot!!!

Hello friends!

This week’s post is less scattered and more focused as I actually set aside time to sit and work on my story instead of just snatching a few moments here and there!! ᕱ__ᕱ Now that I have fully committed to expanding on my failed summer writing and finally fleshing out the story behind it that has existed in my head for at least a year, I had so many directions I could go with this week's work. Since I am indecisive as heck, I asked my sister what I should do: character creation/development or worldbuilding? She chose worldbuilding which I was really excited for! When I sat down to write, however, plot spilled out. So, in this post I’m sharing a basic plot outline for either the background to the story or first part of the story. (I haven’t decided whether I want to actually write this out or have this be the set up scenario for where the story begins though I’m leaning towards the latter.) I hope you all enjoy! ᕱ__ᕱ 

Backstory/Plot:

Queen Blondie and Prince Pretty Boy are in love

The have the cutest backstory which involves their parents being allies/friends, them being childhood friends (puppy crushes), and then demanding a betrothal when they were like 12-13 so that they can make sure they end up together

Then they dont see each other for like 4 years cause prince pretty boy’s mum got assassinated and queen blondies mum got sick and dad passed away from a broken heart

queen blondie had just turned 16 so she was to be coronated as queen (16 yo = of age) but her “advisors” (the corrupt peeps who kinda underhandedly took charge when her dad was worried over her mum) were planning a coup and she found out and reverse uno carded them 

It's been a year and she's been cleaning up her kingdom when she gets an invite to prince pretty boy’s coronation 

They had been exchanging letters most of the years they were apart but had faltered when the whole coup thing went down

She is still super busy with adjusting to queen stuff but she misses him desperately (puppy love has grown) and she wants to support him so she sends one of her closest confidants and friends Main Character 3™: Hot Spy Lady

Prince Pretty Boy is getting coronated

Unrest in his kingdom and queen blondies had been growing for a hot minute

His mum was assassinated a few years earlier while viewing the kingdom and his dad got uber protective (queen blondie has heard all about it via letter)

King (his dad) just got assassinated and now his Uncle (chief advisor to his father after his mum died) is pushing a whirlwind coronation 

Prince Pretty Boy wants to wait to contact Queen Blondie because the betrothal still stands and him being crowned king and her queen much sooner than they expected to and before their marriage may complicate the merging of their kingdoms (which had always been the plan but)

Uncle pushes through and all he is able to send is a standard invitation to the coronation (which Uncle thought they could do without but pretty boy insisted on following the proper traditions)

Many important figures could not make it to Prince Pretty Boy’s big day because of the rush but Hot Spy Lady made it in time along with a few others

But SURPRISE Uncle has staged a coup!!

Working for/with the Big Bad™

Attempts to kill Prince Pretty Boy

Hot Spy Lady ends up saving his tush and they flee the castle before pretty boy can be coronated

Before he flees Prince Pretty Boy is able to send one of his closest friends and confidants Main Character 4™: Classic Knight out to spread the news of this betrayal to his allies and neutral parties to hopefully gain new allies and reclaim his kingdom

Queen Blondie (17), Prince Pretty Boy (18), Hot Spy Lady (19), Classic Knight (19) are the 4 main characters of this beginning plot

~*~*~

I’m so excited for this story! ᕱ__ᕱ If I get enough background, worldbuilding, and plot outlined by November I may seriously consider partaking in NaNoWriMo this year!!! (For those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is: https://nanowrimo.org/national-novel-writing-month.) Anyway, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. As I have been working out and stretching my creative writing muscles this past month, actively thinking about and doing creative writing work, I have started to find it easier and easier to get into the proper headspace and whip out a couple hundred words when I have the time to sit and do it. It’s like I’m rediscovering my love for writing and story-crafting again. ᕱ__ᕱ It’s truly the best feeling!! 

Remember to dot your j’s and cross your t’s, friends!

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

PS. I listen to music a lot, especially while I write, so for your listening pleasure, a couple songs that made me happy this week:

✨ Hot Tea by Dalia Dargazli

🐸Yes I'm a Mess by AJR

🎶The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives

✨All American Bitch by Olivia Rodrigo

#creative writing #writers on tumblr #amature writer #amature #author #writer things #writerscommunity #rambles #ramblings #here for the plot #stay for the tunes #frog #plot #love #original character #original characters #ocs #my ocs #this tagging thing #work in progress #thanks for putting up with me #love ya babes

[yisanged]

i finished jennifer government. the book was good i thought but it was crazy too and like none of it was wrapped up in the end. i started going into the last appearances of the characters to emphasize how none of it was wrapped up at all but it got so long sorry

the main villain of the entire story that killed 14 people for marketing purposes and then assassinated the president and tried to stage a military coup against the government plus the competing companies only went to jail for 12 years and he got out again in the very last chapter. and the first character to be introduced that first had the killing marketing campaign assigned to him and was just involved in so many things started dating his ex's sister and then became a socialist ...terrorist? i guess. and violet the ex went sort of crazy because she thought she was gonna be paid 3 million but never got it because well nike was staging a coup against the government and everything was just kinda crazy but she got all nasty and paranoid and kidnapped a child and tried killing people for her money and i don't even know what happened to her she tried to shoot a guy that was trying to save the girl she kidnapped and then she never showed up again. i felt kind of bad i liked violet even when she was sort of evil. the girl that she kidnapped was jennifer government's daughter btw and the guy trying to save her was the guy that gave 5 grand to a girl to buy the nike shoes she wanted which made her get shot because of the marketing campaign and he tried to call the ambulance for her but it wouldn't come until he told them his credit card number and the girl died on the floor in front of him and then he tried to kill himself. but he couldn't figure out how to get the safety off the gun he bought so he called jennifer government and then they had sex and he didn't kill himself and then he was asked to babysit her daughter while she tried to catch the nike guy which was why he was going after violet when she got kidnapped. and this one random guy named billy who just wanted to go skiing on vacation but ended up getting mixed up with the nra which was the company doing all the killings for nike and was the military power behind the coups john tried to start but then also got mixed up with jennifer government and tried running away from both every chance but failed cause he's kind of dumb as shit met a cute burger king employee who gave skiing lessons in colorado during the winter while they were both getting shot at because there was a coup against the government happening and that was the last we saw of him. the last thing jennifer government did was call the dad of one of the girls that got shot for the nike thing to tell him she caught the guy behind it. and we also find out that the barcode tattoo under he eye that was mentioned a few times that was hinted at to have some sort of dark past was just the barcode for the malibu barbie because she used to do advertising for barbie dolls and she lived in malibu and it was like a trend to get that kind of tattoo. i kind of assumed that maybe there would be reforms at the end of the book like maybe they would bring back taxes and worker's unions and unprivatize the government or something but none of that happened. it was just this one guy that was crazy and evil just went to jail for 12 years and got out and nothing was different except now no one will ever hire him to be a marketer ever again. ok. it was good though in general i liked it

#sorry. i like books. i don't read books as much anymore which is sad i should read more

[boygirlctommy]

Help girl I’m making another story!

#madineau #my post #the wondrous oc tag #the lore is stored in the tags #listen up friends bcus ive got some LORE DUMPING TO DO #not really I don’t have much figured out yet #so there’s this group of people that were sorta...... adopted? kidnapped? taken in? by this giant god thing #and so they’re a Very Strange and Fucked Up Family #one of said family members was the prince of a nation. the nation is in GIANT trees. like Endor or Lothlorien style. and he ran away bcus #the pressure was killing him. BUT ONE DAY. WHILST VIBING. HE GEYS RECOGNIZED AND SENT BACK 2 THE NATION! and so the other 3 people go n hav #to save him! and they do this by staging a coup and killing the king! the prince is the one who actually ordered them to kill the king. he #doesnt wanna be in charge tho. so he puts one of his bros in charge and heads home. one bro goes home w him and the other 2 stay. the new l #ader bro is hashtag struggling and keeps actin like an ass to the other one. the cabinet is Not very helpful. like at all. Other Bro gets t #red of being treated like trash so he runs away. the bro at home not prince is kinda sus about leader bros leadership skills n is watching #im from home. there’s another nation that sees that the tree nation is weak and wants to take over. there’s also some kid w a parasite atta #hed to their face n are. they r kinda part of the cabinet but not really. just kinda there lol. none of them have names #the bros r 1 2 3 n 4. 1 is prince 2 is the one who killed the king 3 is the one who stayed w the leader n 4 is the leader #5 is parasite. 6 is the Giant God Dude. a and b r the cabinet members. c is the other king #it’s fun!!! I love writing!!!!! #I’m not actually writing lol I’m just drawing out concepts as I watch rwby #1 is a weird moth thing! 2 is a weird deer thing! 3 is a weird bird thing! 4 is a human! 5 is also human #Idk what the rest r. except Giant God Dude. it’s like 40 ft tall and has massive black wings and deer antlers #super pog

[redrobin-detective]

Ok, I’ve tried and tried and tried to write this fic because I see it so clearly in my mind but it’s just not going no matter what I do. But I don’t want the idea to die with me. The closest this came to being written was exile which was an attempt to bleed out some of the energy of this au.

Anyway, so it starts off vaguely similar to canon only more aggressive. There had been underlying tension between ghosts and humans for a while, the dead jealous/angry at the living for disrespecting them. The successful creation of the Fenton ghost portal (and another halfa) was considered an act of war and so the ghosts responded in kind. So basically all of S1 occurs fairly close to canon except ghost attacks are more violent and have increasingly more consequences as time passes. Also the attacks aren’t just in Amity Park with ghosts becoming a worldwide issue but Amity is a focal point. Regular people know the ghosts hate them though they don’t know why. Phantom is very much a controversial figure as he is a ghost but also clearly is fighting off the more violent ghosts. 

One day, not long after the events of Control Freaks, Amity Park wakes up to find three of their own are gone. Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley are nowhere to be found. There’s a massive manhunt, the parents go on TV and beg for information but they cannot be found. Curiously enough, town hero Phantom was also missing. There’s some evidence they left of their own volition so the Mansons and Foleys eventually relent that the kids fled on their own. The Fentons are 100% certain the kids were stolen/killed by ghosts as a statement. And the fact that Phantom went missing around the same time means he was the one who killed them. Jazz knows Danny was Phantom but had no idea what was going on and knew her parents wouldn’t listen she just, kept quiet and privately tried to piece together what happened. 

Three years pass and finally it looks like the Ecto War is coming to a close. Young, naive ghosts attempted to raise Pariah Dark in a bid to win. It went disastrously but Phantom (who was periodically spotted around the world, deep in the worst battles of the war) and group of loyal allies subdued the king. By the law of ghosts, Phantom was named heir apparent and he declared that the fighting would stop. Humans and ghosts would have to negotiate and co-exist in peace. But he’s not king yet, no he needs to be crowned at the place where it began, Amity Park’s Fenton portal (”where it all began” has a double meaning of the beginning of the war but also symbolically where Phantom began as Kings assume the crown where their living life ended to show their abandonment of their first life and the commitment to their second). Amity is NOT happy to hear that their former hero is coming home.

Amity has been through the wringer, ghost attacks got pretty bad. The Fenton’s throw themselves into their work to cancel out the grief, they create a group of ghost hunters nicknamed the Reds (for their red blood, ghosts are nicknamed Greens) to control the threat. Valerie heads the young adult division and is considered one of the best, she drops out of school to devote herself to it full time. Oh also her dad is now the Mayor as most have died or didn’t want the job. There are still people who like Phantom and see him as a hero (a lot of Casper Kids) but it’s generally an unpopular opinion in town. Maddie and Jack are ready to obliterate the ghost that took their son’s life the moment he’s within city limits. It’s a powder keg ready to blow. It all comes to a head when Phantom and his entourage arrive.

First off, Phantom looks very different, much less human looking than when he left. He’s clearly aged like a normal teen but his eyes look much, much older.  His skin is dead white with a blue tinge to it from his ice core and his aura is super cold. His hair is longer and is very misty that kind of swirls around him and his has fangs and claws. When he’s deep in battle or his obsession, his sclera turn black and he looks scary af. His entourage is ghosts who have sworn loyalty to him, who he picked up along the way after battling beside them for 3 years. Fright Knight, Skulker and Frostbite are recognizable allies. They are not happy that their future King is back in Amity (secretly fearing they’ll lose him once more to his human life). J&M have a shot and are going for the kill when they see something that shocks them; Sam and Tucker are in Phantom’s entourage.

There had been whispers that Phantom interacted with humans, that humans were in his inner circle but this is something else together. And so are Sam and Tucker. Sam is Phantom’s General, she is talented and collected and half feral. She used to be a pacifist but the trials of war and understanding that peace sometimes needs to be fought for made her compromise. She’s covered in scars and an extremely talented fighter. She’s missing her right hand up to her forearm, she can form a ‘phantom limb’ (basically borrowing ectoplasm from her future ghost) to do some things with some powers. Tucker is the support, he uses human and ghost tech to organize, weaponize and generally keep things running. He’s covered in homemade tech (shields and weapons and computers) and he rarely removes. Both he and Sam have kinda forgotten how to interact with and really BE human after so long among the dead. They had attempted to conceal themselves but they had forgotten how strong parental love and recognition is. J&M want to know about Danny, the teens don’t know how to respond but assure them he’s alive. Phantom can’t bring himself to look at them.

This is where I start to lose track of things but there will be parallels of Valerie/Maddie vs Sam as female warriors on opposite sides who are willing to go behind, possibly compromising the things important to them, for victory. Tucker will be contrasted against Jack/Jazz as the one making weapons but also generally keeping the human parts of the team mentally/physically afloat. *Severe* PTSD for all three of them. They’re also unnaturally codependent on each other, get super anxious when one of the trio is out of sight and sleep in a big cuddle pile. They will fucking Kill You if you look at one of them wrong. Vlad will be involved, he had been jailed for war crimes but convinced Walker to stage a coup to overthrow Danny and take the crown before he’s actually declared King and is too powerful. Vlad is more unhinged here, more ghost than human (a hint on what could happen to Danny if he’s not careful). He is eventually defeated but he sacrifices his life for ghost power which, in the end, is what makes him able to be beaten.

 There’s lots of ideas on what it means to be live or dead and where the divide really is, is it a heartbeat or it is how you choose to use your existence. On how duty shouldn’t mean you need to give up everything. Because Jack and Maddie believe that Phantom killed their son and, in a way, they’re right. Before they left, the ghost war had gotten so bad and the rumors of Dark being resurrected were going around. Amity attacks were at an all time high, people in their school were being killed just because Danny went there. He realized he had to choose between Fenton or Phantom and he chose to protect the world. He abandoned his human identity and went off to fight in war. Tried to convince Sam and Tucker to stay but they followed him through hell and back. Because Danny spends so much time as Phantom, Fenton is severely neglected. His long hair is cool and floaty as Phantom but is unkempt and stringy, hanging in his face as Fenton. He’s wan and underweight and looks like a walking corpse. He knows his human half will give out soon if he doesn’t give it more attention but he just can’t there’s too much to do, too many people to save.

It would end with Danny being outed to the town, not the world, just the town. Jack and Maddie need to recon with the fact that their boy DID leave of his own choice but only because their failure to protect him (from both the portal and ghosts) made him feel he had to take all this responsibility on his shoulders. Danny also has to recognize that he (and Sam/Tuck) can’t do all this on their own and they can trust and rely on the people around him. Phantom is crowned King but he decides Amity will be his base. The trio eat more, sleep some, catches up on school all the while continuing their duties as King and court. The ghosts also see that Phantom’s humanity isn’t a weakness but a strength and will bring peace to the Earth/Zone so they also take some of the burdens off his shoulder. 

Basically I load up heavily with angst at the beginning and end with all the love and comfort imaginable. I just can’t fucking figure out the middle and my motivation will not let me write this shit out. But I can’t let this AU die bc it fucking keeps me up at night.

#behind me dips eternity #god I want to write this but its just not going #Ive been trying for over a month #I cant finish the outline #I've only gotten a paragraph into actually typing #but there are so many vivid images from this fic that live rent free in my head #was lowkey thinking of comissioning an artist to depict Danny bc I've tried and its not coming out right and it drives me INSANE #bc this world is very vivid to me #i love it even if it hurts me #anyway here's wonderwall

[thenerdyindividual]

Okay so yesterday @sterlingdylan made this awesome analysis post about BBC Merlin, stating that it was neither Arthur’s nor Merlin’s fault that Merlin didn’t reveal his magic, something I 100% agree with.

Unfortunately, this post also got derailed by a discussion comparing Arthur’s attitudes to homophobia. Now, to be clear, I do think there are some parallels there. Writers will look to real world bigotry in order to write their fantasy bigotry better. For BBC Merlin, the bigotry does feel a lot like homophobia because magic is: a part of the characters and not something they chose, something the characters must hide or be put in danger, something characters worry makes them evil/monsters, etc. However, parallels are not the same thing as an allegory.  If we try to take BBC Merlin as a direct allegory for homophobia it falls apart because there are genuine reasons for people to be afraid of magic in the canon because it can and has killed people, controlled people, and hurt people. Queer people can’t do any of that with their queerness. Our queerness is fundamentally harmless, whereas magic is not. Also, as sterlingdylan discussed last night, if we take it as an allegory it sets up a concerning narrative about “closeted” Merlin being good, and “out” other characters being bad. Which is injecting a really extreme and problematic moral into the show, and not something we as an audience should be placing on the shoulders of the writers.

I don’t think we need to take BBC Merlin as an allegory for anything, It is enough to discuss parallels to our lives, and examine how the bigotry functions in the context of the show itself. But If we are going to be comparing it as directly as possible to something in our daily lives, then it would probably be more accurate as a narrative about extremism and essentialism. It is still an imperfect comparison because usually extremism and essentialism are not founded on genuine concern, but stick with me. It gets long so the essay is going under the cut.

Uther experienced the death of his wife at the hands of magic. Now, we know that he and Ygraine asked Nimueh for help conceiving. Whether they fully knew the cost or if Nimueh downplayed it is neither here nor there. What is relevant is that Uther was given proof of magic’s ability to harm him and the people he loved. Now, someone who did not hold the black and white “The King is always right” attitude might have taken this instance and pushed for regulation of magic rather than a ban. However, as we witness in later episodes in which he locks up his own children for defying him, Uther can never admit he was wrong so rather than say it was a bad idea to use magic in the way he did, he convinced himself that it wasn’t him who made the mistake, but that magic itself was an inherently evil corrupting force, and started the purge. He took an extreme oppositional view towards magic.

On the flip side, much of the narrative of the magic half of this battle is also about extremism. They are, rightfully, infuriated by and afraid of Uther, but they also let their anger at Uther shade their perception of Arthur. Morgana, starting in season one, was already set against Uther, but was not yet set against Arthur. However, when she met Morgause her train of thought went from justice, to revenge against Uther, to a desire for power, and finally a deep desire to see Arthur dead. Perhaps in some way Morgause really does care about creating a just world for magic users, but she clearly also has a desire for power (as seem when she encourages Morgana to stage a coup and take the throne for herself instead of try to teach Arthur, when he’s demonstrated before a willingness not to lock step with Uther) which are two things that aren’t compatible.

Morgause encourages Morgana to see the worst in the people around her, and encourages her to give into acts of extreme violence against people who don’t necessarily deserve it (ie all the peasants she was prepared to starve when they disagreed with her when she took the throne at the end of season three. A move remarkably similar to something Uther would have done). Morgana no longer stops to consider the times that Arthur stood against Uther, and comes to view Arthur not as someone who can be shown the bigger picture, but as someone inherently against magic rather than the violence it can do. This cycle does not stop with Morgana either, it also reaches Kara who refuses to see the good in Arthur even though he has shown his willingness to make peace with members of the Old Religion (druids), and was prepared to let her get away with attempted murder simply because Mordred and Merlin asked him to show her mercy.

Kara and Morgana both have come to view Arthur as inherently violent and set against magic the same way Uther came to see magic as inherently violent and set against Camelot. Neither of which are accurate views on the situation.

Arthur is the one who was prophesied to break this cycle of extremism and essentialism, and we can see him attempt to try. There are multiple occasions in which he considers that magic may not be evil. Off the top of my head there is the scene after Morgause reveals the true circumstance of his birth, the scene in which he allows Dragoon to attempt to heal Uther, and the scene where he asks Merlin if he should legalize magic in order to save Mordred. In all of these cases someone (usually Merlin) prevents him from exploring that thought deeper. Even so, he does make great strides towards taking up the proper nuanced view needed for this situation. He takes Camelot from a kingdom that relentlessly hunts down and persecutes magic, to a kingdom of fair trials and peace with druids.

Sadly, no one can meet him in the middle. Morgause and Morgana’s insistence on trying to take him down and harm the people closest to him prevents Arthur from learning the good aspects of magic just as much as Uther’s propaganda did. Merlin is the only sorcerer in the entire show not to be set against Arthur, and therefore the only one who could show Arthur how to break this cycle, but doing so presents no small risk to his own and Arthur’s safety. If Arthur took it badly and either banished or executed him, it would effectively prevent Merlin from protecting him. This leaves Arthur trying to draw his own conclusions, and he never gets the additional information that magic can, and is, used for beauty and healing. He can only operate on what he has seen, and what he has seen is magic being used against himself and Camelot repeatedly.

Arthur can’t be held responsible for not incorporating information he isn’t given into his view on magic, and Merlin can’t be held responsible for not risking himself to teach Arthur. We can, however, hold the people around them responsible for creating an environment that prevents Arthur from learning on his own, and prevents Merlin from teaching him. The fault lies primarily with Uther for kicking this whole chain of events off in the first place, and in Morgause who co-opted a genuine struggle in order to gain power. Morgana is also responsible for letting her view of Arthur (someone she has seen stand for justice) be corrupted. In the end the fault lies neither with Arthur, nor with Merlin. The fault lies in the very human tendency to view the world in black and white, and react with violence against those deemed dangerous (despite how much that title is or is not earned).

#bbc merlin #christ this turned into an essay #merlin bbc #merlin

[themadauthorshatter]

... I’ve already made a draft of this and deleted it, but I’m going back in. 

This is an AU of what would happen if Mareven was healthy and the end game. 

I apologize in advance for any and all MareCal shippers, including myself. 

SO! What happens? 

Simple. 

Everything remains mostly the same in the story except we get more of a doubtful and uneasy Maven as the story progresses, as in he hugs Mare a little longer and is genuinely perturbed when he hears about the ‘bomb’ that went off and looks terrified of Cal when he returns and orders Farley to be tortured. He’s also more hesitant to listen to his mother. 

He still offers Cal’s legion to the Guard, but is a little sadder to say it. 

THEN WE GET TO THE PLOT TWIST OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!!

Maven plays along, but, as he stands by his mother’s side, he mouths, “sorry” to Mare and goes for a gun on Arven’s belt, shooting him in the leg and warning him not to try silencing him or he’ll aim for something more vital. 

It catches EVERYONE off guard, especially Elara, who’s about to risk having Cal or Tibe out of her whispers to get Maven back in line. 

Instead, Elara asks what he’s doing and why, as she thought this was what he’d always wanted. 

“It’s what you want, Mother. Not me. None of this is right. You’re already the Queen. What else do you want!?” 

Elara bares her teeth. “Are you saying you want to live your days with a Red rat?” 

Maven pulls Mare to her feet and pushes her behind him, keeping the gun at them, nodding. “I’m saying I'm not following your plans or listening to anything you have to say. I'll die before I let you in my head again!” 

Well, wish granted because Mare senses the cameras turning back on and Elara lets Tibe and Cal go.

Only to force Maven to shoot her and Tibe, though Maven actually misses him.

Mare breaks free and they make a run for it, Elara shouting that they are traitors and to arrest them, though she does force Tibe to play the part of concerned husband.

Cal isn't in the room because he races after Maven and Mare.

Speaking of which, Maven leads Mare through the castle and finds a hall that goes toward a servant's passage, so they can escape.

Too bad there are guards that round the corner and take aim at them, not only for staging a coup de ta, but also for attempted regicide.

Cal's there too, aiming a handgun at them and telling them to submit to arrest.

They do and are sent to the Silent Stone cells.

Mare is confused and livid and doesn't want to talk to Maven, who keeps pacing and clutching his head and telling someone to be quiet. 

Mare mentally tells him to maybe practice what he’s preaching, but wonders what the hell all that was when they were captured. 

Maven sighs and sits down, back-to-back with Mare, and asks her how good she is at picking locks. 

Her hands are for picking pockets, not locks. 

Maven lets out a semi-bitter chuckle and regards that he shouldn’t have bothered asking because of course she’s better at pockets. he then admits that he’d been so scared of the cells as a boy, his young mind tricking him into thinking that there were monsters or prisoners in the cells. 

Speaking of the cells, Mare breaks her silence and asks why it’s so hard for her to use her powers, even asking if Arven is close by listening to them. 

Maven admits it would be useful to do that, but no. The cells are made of Silent Stone, which is basically Arven being there without him really being there. 

Although she already knows what’s going to happen, Mare wonders what will happen to them, in the Bowl of Bones. 

Maven lists off a firing squad, some Silvers, maybe some animals, and the fact that no matter what, the show will not be short; the people want blood and Tibe is going to give them blood, even if it’s his own son’s. 

“Not if he can’t find you.” 

Both Mare and Maven stand as Cal walks in, dressed formally and holding a set of keys to the cells. 

Maven asks what this is and what Cal’s doing as he opens both Maven’s and Mare’s cells. 

Cal explains that he’s already had to give Julian a head start and hopes that Maven and mare can do the same, can vanish into thin air before their execution. 

Mare asks why they should accept the help, seeing as Cal’s the one who arrested them, but Cal counters by asking who’s idea it was to get them arrested, glaring daggers at Maven. 

Maven has his own question: How does Cal know they won’t be seen? 

Cal looks away and admits that he hopes there aren’t any Red servants that know how to fix the security system.

Maven and Mare exchange a glance and start walking, but Cal gets between them, shackles them, and grabs their arms, telling them to play along and make it convincing so no one questions anything. 

They both do their best reluctant prisoners act up until they pass by Sonya, who inquires as to where Cal’s taking them. 

Cal states he’s just taking them to get some cardio before their execution, seeing as how they’ll need every ounce of strength they’ll need. 

Sonya spits that they shouldn’t and should actually fight with nooses around their necks so they’re easier to grab and throw around, but drops it anyway, eying Cal before she leaves. 

Time’s almost up, so it’s a good thing Maven leads Cal to a servant passage, where they stop and get free, Maven getting his flame-maker bracelets back. 

Maven opens the passage, but Cal stops him and Mare, telling them to be careful now, because if they manage to escape, they’ll be fugitives and will get hunted like deer for treason, Maven for attempted regicide, from what narrative that now exists. 

They nod and thank him for the help. 

Before Mare can follow Maven, Cal grabs her arm again, which makes Mare turn to him. 

The two stare at each other, realizing what’s happening and what’s going to happen. 

The royals will figure out that Cal helped them escape and will probably have him killed for letting two traitors run free. 

Cal is the one who helped her in the first place by getting her the job at the Summer Palace, and now he’s saving her life again, this time also saving his brother’s and risking his own. 

Maven shouts for Mare to keep it moving and Mare pulls out of Cal’s grip, backs away, and races after Maven, Cal watching her leave before closing the passage. 

His face contorts with sorrow, regret, anger, and pain and he clenches a fist as he hears a sentinel shout that Mare and Maven are missing. 

Cal shouts, “They’re this way!” and races down the hallway and away from the bookshelf, trying to make it look like they outran him. 

In the passage, Maven leads Mare by the hand as they soon find themselves underground and under the streets, overhearing an announcement to keep an eye out for the two of them because both are armed and dangerous, Mare especially. 

Maven groans at his father’s words and muses that at least they’re out. 

Mare isn’t as relieved and asks what he was planning with his mother. 

Maven stops in his steps and states that she already knows. 

Mare does know, she just wants to hear Maven say it. 

Maven bites his tongue and clenches his fist at his side, not turning to face Mare as he asks what will happen if he doesn’t tell her. 

She’ll make him tell her, make him talk or she’ll shock him until he dies. 

Maven  tightens his fist but then drops it, admitting he and Elara planned on killing Tibe and using Mare and Cal as scapegoats, sending them to the Bowl of Bones, and having them executed to wrap up the story and solidify Maven as the new King, with no Scarlet Guard and no loose ends to ensure the story of Mare being a Red would slip out. 

Mare demands he define ‘loose ends.’ 

Lady Blonos. The servant girls who dressed Mare as a Silver. Lucas. Julian. Sara. Mare’s family. Kilorn. Cal. Mare herself. All the Reds on the list Julian gave her. 

Mare gasps at that last one, sliding down a wall as Maven explains in increasing panic and with his eyes growing teary that he was along with the ride and all for getting the throne the way his mother planned, but then he began to feel genuine feelings for Mare and her plight and no matter how much Elara tried to take those feelings away, they always came back. She did the same with Tibe, making Maven lose his love for him, and had semi-success with Cal, but didn’t fully remove his love for his brother. It also changed when they killed Blonos and the servant girls, and when Tristan died. It opened Maven’s eyes and made him realize that he was going to kill someone he didn’t want to die. he’d already lost Thomas and it was his own fault, but if he was the reason he lost Mare, too, he’d lose his mind. 

Maven stops his rambling and joins Mare against the wall, admitting that he knows he deserves whatever comes next, but whatever does happen, he just asks that mare know that he is sorry for all of this, for putting her in such danger that now they’re on the run and risk execution if they’re caught. 

Mare turns to him and asks if Elara has the list, if he told her about the Newbloods. 

Maven shakes his head; the raid was going to happen in a few hour hours, so there wouldn’t have been enough time for Elara to look through his mind, write down all the names, and the find them in the blood base, so they have a good head start there, too. 

After a minute of collecting themselves, and a glare from Mare, the two stand up and keep walking until they reach a fork in the path and wonder which is safer.

The only answer they get is a gun pushed against the back of Maven's head and a certain blaonde telling him to go right or she's painting the tunnel Silver.

Mare turns and sees Kilorn and Farley, with the addition of a certain Barrow we all still mourn, don't lie.

"Shade!"

Mare and Shade reunite, though Maven voices confusion as he thought Shade had been executed.

Shade explains that they tried and failed, making an example by teleporting in front of and behind them, saying with pride that no one's faster than him.

Mare is a mix of happy and sad at the news, but Farley brings them back and reminds them they need to keep going or they'll get arrested and killed.

Maven also gets put back in shackles, but acts as a good sport and doesn't burn them off.

They continue throught the tunnel until they reach a train, climb aboard, and get to riding, merrily on their way to nowhere in particular.

Back in White Fire, Elara slaps Cal HARD in the face and demands to know what he was thinking and where Maven and Mare are.

Tibe gets between them, but Cal admits that he didn't fully know what he was thinking, just that he couldn't let his brother be forced to fight when he's still in training. It would be a bloodbath.

Elara asks if that's the same reason why he also let Mare go, or if there's something he's not telling them.

Tibe also wants to know. He understands letting Maven go, but why a Red rat like Mare? If the people see her lightning powers and Red blood, there will be Hell to pay.

Cal's silent, but Elara solves that with a quick look into his mind, seeing all the moments of Cal and Mare being close and friendly with each other.

Elara asks Cal if he's more interested in dirt than diamonds and Tibe gets the picture instantly, upon seeing Cal's reaction.

Change of plan: Cal is getting his legion back in action, and an additional two hundred soldiers to locate and either capture or kill Mare and Maven. No more catch and releases or else it's Cal who fights in the arena and he'll have nothing but his wits to defend himself.

Cal pales at this and gasps that they can't kill him, because then Norta has no heir.

Tibe only glares at him and tells him not to fail before leaving to let Cal get his army ready.

Cal watches his father leave and is broken by the fact that he legitimately screwed up and that his father, as King, needs Maven, his own son, executed with Mare, someone who never should have had her powers to begin with.

Elara glares at Cal for a moment longer and also walks out of the room, leaving Cal on his own.

#red queen #mare barrow #maven calore #tiberias calore vii #cal calore #tiberias calore vi #elara merandus #au #ua #mareven #healthy mareven #I'm making Cal the antagonist and I'm so sorry #sorry to marecal shippers everywhere

[theonceandfutureking6481]

BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 4: The Poisoned Chalice Analysis

This is one of my favourite episodes, in this season, mainly for Merlin and Arthur. They are wonderful in this episode, and this is the first episode where you really see them starting to truly care about each other. This is a show fundamentally about love and the relationships between every character, and Merlin and Arthur are at the core of the show. Everyone in this episode though is so brave, and I admire them all so much. I talk a lot about a lot of different elements of Merlin on here but what I really love about this show is how much the characters inspire me, how much I admire them because I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as these characters, but I'd like to be.

Merlin's courage

There's not much in detail I can say about this but Merlin is so brave at the start of this episode. To burst into the king's hall and publicly accuse another king of attempting to poison Arthur. It's funny but one of the parts of Merlin's courage I most admire isn't his bravery to die for Arthur, it's his willingness to speak out when somethings wrong, his willingness to publicly embarrass himself, his willingness to be brave even when he could be wrong. It's a reachable form of courage, I don't think any of us frequently (or ever) have the opportunity to die for others, but in many ways the fact that we could all be as brave as Merlin in this way, that's what makes it feel so much more unattainable and thus more admirable.

The bigger courage though really is when Merlin drinks from the goblet, honestly even though Uther made him, Arthur probably would have drunk it but Merlin didn't let him. Merlin knew he would die if he drunk from that goblet, because he believed Nimueh to be telling the truth (which she was), but (as Arthur says) "he did it anyway." To meet death so willingly, it's not like jumping in front of someone in the moment in a battle, he had to make the choice to drink that poison because he is willing to sacrifice his life for Arthur's. And it hasn't got anything to do with destiny yet, he cares about Arthur, Arthur's his friend and Merlin's a good person. It's just a very noble moment for Merlin, Uther was making him but at the same time you could see Merlin choosing to drink from it, that's a choice and that was incredibly noble.

Arthur and Uther

There is tension between Arthur and Uther in this episode, between their views on the world and honour. It is, I think essentially summed up in.

Arthur: Because his life's worthless?

Uther: No, because its worth less than yours.

It's funny, you can see Uther's perspective here. He is right about one thing, Arthur is the future king, even if he's not inherently worth more than Merlin the stability of the kingdom rests on a secure succession and Arthur is Uther's only heir, there is more at stake here.

But Arthur's also right, a world in which any single person's life is protected more than others because of their social position is not a good place. It is not something Arthur believes in, but in Uther's world its just a given, it's not even a question that people ask.

Uther: This boy wont be the last to die on your behalf

Arthur: I can't accept that

Arthur never accepts this inevitability, he always seeks to risk his life first before any one else's and people follow him because of that, people (even his enemies) see the nobility in him because of that. His refusal to accept what to Uther appears to be an inevitability of kingship (Not a welcome one granted but one nonetheless) is what's going to make him a better king than Uther. As Morgana emphasises when she's persuading Arthur to go.

Morgana: And what sort of king would Camelot want? One that would risk his life to save that of a lowly servant, or one that does what his father tells him to?

Isn't this really just the point, Arthur will be a better king than his father because for him his right to rule is in some way always premised on his fulfilment of what he sees as right. Arthur is always trying to prove himself, especially in the early seasons. In Season 2 Episode 2: The Once and Future Queen when Arthur is fighting in a tournament under an alias so people don't know its him (and they will hopefully not let him win), you really see this.

Gwen: You have nothing to prove, least of all to me.

Arthur: I have everything to prove, to myself.

This is the fundamental point, Arthur is always trying to prove himself often to his father or others but always primarily to himself. Because he needs to prove to himself that he can rule Camelot, that he is deserving of it, so for the fact that he's going to be king to hold any weight he needs to do what he thinks is right, because if he doesn't then what sort of king would he be anyway?

This ties I think into what I mentioned in the last episode about Merlin and the greater good. The idea that Merlin never really makes the choice to kill Morgana or Mordred, except for in a moment where it was Morgana or Arthur, where it was a certain in the moment choice. Yes, he reaches a point where he tries to let them die but this is different to outright murder, and I think perhaps a Merlin who would have killed them is not a the Merlin we know, it is not a Merlin that could have formed Camelot. Arthur and Merlin's goodness comes from always trying to do the right thing, whatever the sacrifice to themselves, and if they hadn't been those sort of people then there is no way they could have been people who made a better kingdom.

Gaius: Arthur may give you a hard time, but at heart he's a man of honour. Not many people would have risked what he did for a servant

Uther

Uther's interesting in this episode, he has one of his worst moments in the show, not the worst thing he's ever done but certainly one of the worst things we witness. He purposefully lets Merlin die, we could understand it when he wasn't letting Arthur go after him, but to try to destroy Merlin's only hope for a cure to teach his son a lesson, that is cruel and so wrong. This takes valuing Arthur's life more than Merlin's to a whole other level, he values Arthur's obeying of him more than he values Merlin's life.

This goes to another feature of Uther's character I was just thinking about. He constantly mistakes control for love. He seeks to control both his children, he wants them to obey him, and if they openly defy him or disagree with him he punishes them. But he does love them, probably more than he loves anything else. When Morgana stages a coup against him and tells him how much she hates him he is broken, and he literally never recovers he does love them that cannot be denied but he spends so much of his life mistaking his controlling them for an expression of his love. It is an expression of his fear, he is scared of being out of control as he was when his wife died. Magic can be dangerous but mostly it caused him great suffering (although really it was him), so he seeks to control it absolutely, there is no nuance there and this is how he behaves towards his children. Hate and fear are terrible things to be motivated by, and Uther shows that. His hate comes from his fear, and his cruelty comes from there as well.

One thing, Uther does accept his fault at the end of this episode. It's not really adequate but its better than nothing and in its own way shows that Uther is capable of character development, and the fact that he will fail to do it in the most important ways is sad. His moment when he says to Arthur that Nimueh "is evil", it is so clear he is talking more to himself than anyone else. Isn't that a sign of trying to persuade yourself, he has to tell himself that Nimueh's evil cause ultimately she was just doing what he asked, and if he doesn't villainise her absolutely than its his fault too.

The one moment that really does redeem Uther a little in this episode is when he tells Arthur that "You did the right thing... I'm proud of you Arthur, never forget that." The last comment is telling, Uther knows he's not the best father, he knows that Arthur probably doesn't realise that Uther is proud of him. So the 'never forget that' is a reminder, I think, for when Uther inevitably forgets that himself. It is a reminder, for us, in its own way that Uther is trying to be a good father, and at least in this realm Uther realises that he very often fails.

Morgana

One interesting thing I noticed in this episode was how frustrated Morgana is with her life. I've never really noticed it before, but its in everything she says and does, even in the episodes before this. Even before she turns against Arthur and Uther and Camelot she is angry, not just at them, she's angry at her life. You can tell she feels like she doesn't have the power to do anything, like she's being controlled and perhaps like she isn't able to anything good or right because of Uther and her position, she feels pity for all the magic users but she is a part of the body that persecutes them. How do you reconcile that?

Morgana: Sometimes you have to do what you think is right and damn the consequences

There is so much frustration in that, and everything she says in this scene. I don't know exactly what this says about Morgana's character or her eventual place in the story but its interesting to note. Perhaps its to say her hatred of Uther and eventually Arthur isn't only because of her sympathy for magic users and eventually her own fear and feelings of being unloved but perhaps has its roots in her anger at this time, in Uther's control and her own powerlessness.

Merlin and Arthur

This is Merlin and Arthur's episode, so its kind of funny it took me so long to get to them, but there's really not that much to analyse in the wider scheme regarding them. They just are, and they are wonderful.

This is the episode where you see they do truly care about each other and they are truly good friends They risk their lives for each other with barely a second thought, and yes that is partially their own honour and decency but it is also fundamentally their care for each other that motivates them. You can tell when Merlin's thinking about destiny when he saves Arthur, it becomes such a huge part of his characterisation later on even though he loves Arthur more by that point he also admires him more so Arthur's destiny seems more important. Merlin doesn't really admire Arthur that much yet, he respects him and cares about him but the sheer admiration he will have for him comes later, and it is that admiration that makes him care even more about Arthur's destiny, because he believes in it far more. Right now though it is just their goodness and their friendship that motivates them.

The final moment between them though is beautiful. The moment when Arthur goes to Gaius' chambers just to check that Merlin's all right, even though he's obviously been told he is. He brushes it aside as usual, brushes how much he does actually care about what happens to Merlin (I mean Arthur did just go on a perilous quest that could have led to his death for him so I think Merlin gets it). But the moment at the end of that scene is lovely. There is just such mutual respect and recognition of each other and what they've done for each other, and the way they look at each other is just so wonderful.

Merlin: Thank you

Arthur: You too

Nimueh

One quick note about her. We will find out eventually what her motivations really are, that she's obviously not just evil. That she is angry at Uther and understandably so. And I wonder if in her there is a parallel for Uther I hadn't considered before. Both of them were involved in Igraine's death and Arthur's birth. And it was as a result of this action that Uther outlawed sorcery and began the great purge. She out of everyone knows best how hypocritical Uther really is. And in her own way, though it is obviously not her fault, it is her actions that set off the great purge. Uther made the choice to blame her and all magic but nonetheless it was a spell she cast that was the trigger, and I wonder if in her own way she feels guilty (just as Uther feels guilty about his wife's death) but like Uther she takes it out in anger rather than guilt. I'm not saying she should feel guilty, perhaps over Igraine's death but certainly not the great purge. However, she most probably does, and like Uther I think she's refusing to feel that guilt, and to avoid that guilt she chooses hatred and anger instead.

Bravery

Everyone in this episode though, is so brave. Gwen, Merlin, Arthur and Gaius all do risky, brave things that could get them killed, though maybe not killed in Gwen's case but certainly in huge trouble. Gwen sneaks into the dungeons and Gaius does magic. We will learn more about Gaius' character later but he is in many ways not a brave person, he is the sort who witnesses injustice and stays quiet, he's not brave. But he's brave here, he does magic, for Merlin, because he loves Merlin like a son. All the courage and bravery in this show comes from the love people have for others, and that's an important message, that the people we love and our own ability to love others can inspire us to be better people and to be brave.

Their immediate response to Merlin's apparent death moreover is guilty, they have nothing to feel guilty about, it's Uther's fault, but they blame themselves anyway. There is in that a contrast to Uther, who refuses to blame himself. They don't take their pain out in anger, they accept it and even though they have nothing to be guilty for the fact that their immediate response is guilt does say they are better people, braver people than Uther.

Other things

Morgana holding that butter knife ready to fight Bayard's men is the funniest thing ever. Like its an impressive butter knife, but it is still so clearly a butter knife.

Also so many bad guys plans in this show rely on Arthur or Merlin being fundamentally good people, like when your plan involves using people's goodness against them you need to re-evaluate your choices in life. I suppose its part of the point though- that they are willing to harm the innocent or take advantage of goodness in their anger. Uther punishes goodness in this episode.

My new motivational quote—> Gaius: "As the Old proverb says: Hard work breeds..........a harder soul." Merlin: "There is no way that's a proverb. You just made that up."

#merlin analysis #the adventures of merlin #bbc merlin #merlin #merlin bbc #arthurian retelling #arthur pendragon #arthur's character #merthur #morgana pendragon #gwen pendragon #bbc gwen #guinevere pendragon #bbc gaius #uther pendragon #analysis #character study #courage #nimueh #love and hate #friendship

[fantastic-nonsense]

So uh, I’m new to comics (started reading in March) but wtf happened with the batcat wedding? I don’t understand why’d they hype that up only to go psych and cancel it (in like a really shitty way). Like, were the fans not happy, did higher ups not like the end result, or was it just because the writer left/got fired?

*bitter muttering* wouldn't be the first time it's happened......

Okay, so we don't know for sure what happened and we probably won't know for another 20 years when we finally get all of the BTS drama from a deluxe edition of the run or an interview with Tom King (that's what it took to get all of the BTS drama for Dick Grayson and Starfire's failed wedding from 1993), but what I suspect happened is that the marriage got nixed at the last minute by antsy higher-ups in editorial who thought Batman being married would "change" things too much or make him boring (which of course is ridiculous; Clark and Lois have been married pretty much continuously since the 90s and it's never harmed their storytelling).

What we know is this:

Tom King, the writer, didn't leave in the middle of the wedding arc nor was he fired during it. In fact, he mostly finished his run (though he left that particular book early; if I remember correctly he had a narrative plan in mind that would end at Batman #100. Instead he left the run around issue #85). He's actually even writing a Batman/Catwoman miniseries that's publishing right now.

King seems to have been wholly on board to actually have Bruce and Selina get married, to the point where he was perfectly willing to screw over other characters and their romantic histories with both of them to emphasize just how great they were together.

Dan Didio, who was at the time co-publisher, notoriously dislikes the concept of the Batfamily; he likes "Batman and Robin" but beyond that he wants Bruce as a loner hero. He’d been gunning to kill Dick off since literally 2005 (when Geoff Johns, Marv Wolfman, and Mark Waid staged a mini-coup by refusing to write his mandate to kill Dick in Infinite Crisis), he was ultimately responsible for not letting Kate Kate and Maggie Sawyer get married, he’s on record explicitly stating that he doesn’t believe that heroes should have “happy personal lives” (see here for all the couples he broke up)…why I ever even considered the concept of DC actually going through with a Batcat wedding while Didio was in charge is beyond me.

(the 'Bob' mentioned above is Bob Harras, DC's former Editor-in-Chief and all-around piece of work. I'm thrilled they're both gone, honestly)

I'm pretty sure that this bit from Batman #50 accurately describes editorial's feelings on the matter of the wedding (which is absolute bullshit in every way possible, but it's probably the best glimpse we're going to get into their reasoning for a long time):

"If we're happy....and we could be so happy....if I help that lonely boy with the lonely eyes....I kill that engine. I kill Batman. I kill the person who saves everyone. And how can I do that? How can I love you so much and look in your eyes. Into that endless blue, that gorgeous blue, that blue that calls me. Knowing...to save the world, heroes make sacrifices."

Again, absolute bullshit, but imo that doesn't read like Tom King, that panel reads like editorial going "If Batman gets married, why would he still want to be Batman?" and nixing the wedding from on high. We'll probably never know for sure, but that's my personal opinion.

#dc comics #batman #catwoman #batcat #dc fanwank #dc meta #batman meta #asks #tom king #dan didio #selina kyle #bruce wayne

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

uh, yea we do kinda want to hear more

Listen I am a woman of science and I’m usually not one for conspiracy theories...but that guy? He’s probably evil or something, or at the very least attracts a whole lot of bad luck. I mean, the whole nickname, Asivus "Asunder," is like...sCREAMING creepy bad guy vibes. Right?

So, when he was younger, two knights were coming through town, passed by the abode of High House Hartell, probably on their way to a bar, and Asivus was around. 

I guess something inside him snapped that night, cause usually he just keeps to himself, while only verbally insulting people he doesn’t like. He’d never shown he’d have the spine to actual act on any of his grudges before. Despite being a noble, his distain for those connected to the royal family is very obvious. On that night, he ambushed those knights unprompted, there was a fight, but the knights prevailed. And although no one was killed, there was a lot of blood, as Asivus has cut off one of the knight’s entire forearm...people even say he was laughing after he did.

Then a day or so later, supposedly after the head of House Hartell pulled some strings, the situation was resolved with it being ruled an “accident.” Although, leads you to wonder how much of an accident it was considering after that, his entire family basically just cut him off like he never existed. I’m thinking they just covered him to save their own skin.

Probably for the best...if that situation had been dealt with any less swiftly, it’d probably ruin the Hartell Family’s reputation forever. The golden, knightly family with the criminal son, Asivus “Asunder?” They’d be sent down the drain...

And oh my goddess, get this. So the royal orator has always been Asivus Hartell right? Well...the day orator was supposedly hired is like, exactly on the anniversary of that “asunder” incident. So...the king or whoever it was that recommended him and put him in the castle, did it near the anniversary of him literally chopped off some knight’s arm those years ago without repercussions. You can’t tell me that’s now weird...

Do you think maybe he wanted the job? Maybe he’s scheming something. Maybe he already did?!!? I mean, a lot of stuff has happened ever since the updater job’s been filled all those months ago. First the Queen dies in the first month he’s here, and then after mroe time passes he’s charged with manslaughter when some Guardians mysteriously go amuck, but somehow gets off scot-free again?!?! Then his weird fortuneteller pal stages a coup? Then he steals some Sheikah parts and soon enough a little egg guardian threatens the king? And then even later he basically helped spread Yiga propaganda during their attack at the castle? Not to mention he kinda just...stole an ancient artifact’s power for himself. I’m telling you, the guy is e. v. i. l.

#director purah #updating the updates #asivus hartell #grievances and peasant input