#i have apparently gained a reputation as The Book One | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yanderechagny · 4 months

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Do you remember the ironic post I made about gatekeeping in this community? I'd like to elaborate more on it and how people treat those who dare to have a slightly different portrayal than the common consensus the fanbase has; this isn't about anyone by the way, just a very specific, slightly toxic part of the community. The thing about Hyde is that there isn't anything special going on with him design-wise, people get rancid vibes from him and attempt to explain that by accusing him of deformity although there isn't necessarily anything wrong with him appearance-wise; but for whatever reason, whenever someone designs an Hyde that's either too tall or doesn't fit the general view the fanbase has of him which is that of "frail awkward twink" (because I want to remind you all that this man murdered someone by beating them up with a cane despite his small/crouched frame) people get mildly annoyed. This especially seems to apply to the fact that some people make Hyde "taller than what he is supposed to be", and I personally do not think that's necessarily an issue while designing an Edward Hyde.

The reason Hyde is shorter than Jekyll is because he is supposed to represent how the potion makes him regress to when he was younger and free from the societal expectations that society would have on a man of his actual old age, and as a consequence Jekyll also regresses mentally (and this is probably also why Hyde isn't really capable of feeling shame for his actions, but maybe I'll elaborate on this another time).

IMO what truly is important about Hyde is that the writer makes sure that it is clear that this man is a younger version of Jekyll, not design wise, because I personally believe it isn't the design that makes the character, but rather the way it is written. Hyde should be upsetting (on a writer standpoint) because of his actions, be young and alive in the way he behaves. His design is irrelevant and, I think we should prioritize creativity over being forcefully overly accurate for the sake of not being vagueposted about.

Another thing I want to point out is that Jekyll isn't necessarily evil, just like he isn't necessarily good; the point is that he was repressed by societal expectations and wanted to be free without his good name being damaged, so he created Hyde. And arguably, Utterson isn't the paragon of goodness that people believe he is too, considering that his curiosity leads him to stalk and harass Hyde much like Enfield has done. There's no "good or evil" character and personally I believe that J&H characters' moral alignments can't be really collocated anywhere on the scale of good-evil, because what is exactly good and what is exactly evil? Hyde was created with the intent to do whatever without any damage being done to Jekyll's good reputation. If I recall correctly, one of the transcripts of the book, apparently Jekyll reveled in certain pleasures to the point where people had pushed him away, meaning that these rumors must've been real nasty if people didn't want to talk with him anymore, that's perhaps when Jekyll realized that he needed a camouflage, and he created Hyde— he could also be doing more innocent things like crossdressing (which was illegal and scandalous btw, for both genders because you could get arrested for public indecency, even a woman wearing pants was looked and frowned upon) or exploring his feminine side more, and at first Hyde could've been created for the purpose of exploring another side of himself, and then things escalated quickly the more Hyde gained autonomy, which is why the experiment went out of control and things ended up the way they did.

Also, pop-culture didn't do anything to "ruin Jekyll and Hyde".

Even in the musical, which is considered the greatest offender for making Jekyll a perfect good doctor: Jekyll isn't a saint, he has flaws; he cheats on his wife with a prostitute even as Jekyll, neglects her, has a short temper, leaves and comes late at his own engagement party for the sake of his work and then goes to a brothel, and generally refuses to acknowledge (these are all blatant signs of OCD/depression btw) that he wasn't alone in this, he is extremely hated by the governors for seemingly more reasons besides his experiments and generally seems to be a controversial figure in the medical field. This leads me to believe that some people just want something they can actively complain and have an hate-boner about because we don't have anything else left to do if not stir up issues which do not exist.

Also I just want to point something out, life expectancy for men in the victorian era was 40 years old, there isn't anything relatively wrong with The Glass Scientists making Jekyll 35 years old, because he basically lived everything that he had to live, as grim as it sounds— and there isn't anything wrong with making him conventionally attractive either, because you guys seem to think that a 50 years old is an "old man" even for modern standards, and that isn't true at all. My parents are in their 50s and I can assure you they aren't decaying corpses, let people have their conventionally attractive doctor, it isn't hurting anyone.

Also you can't talk about "respecting accuracy" when you add historically inaccurate things in your alternative universe, this especially applies to how some of you portray LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent characters but I won't go in detail with this because knowing how people are today, even if I am neurodivergent and queer myself, I'd be accused of discrimination nevertheless. The fact that the story is set IN THE VICTORIAN ERA is a crucial point of Jekyll's development as a character and the reason why Hyde came to life.

TL;DR stop gatekeeping y'all are cringe as fuck

#the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #jekyll and hyde musical #henry jekyll #edward hyde #jekyll and hyde weekly #jekyll and hyde #rambles #txt

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evangelinesbible · 2 years

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VENUS RETURN CHART

VENUS RC THEMES

- How to go about making/saving money

- what hobbies to prefect/learn

- creative outlets to do

- how you should style yourself

- Potential change in looks and style

- What your love life looks like

THE PLANETS

SUN - where you’ll feel the most confident

MOON - how you should feel about yourself and how you feel about your current relationships/ relationship status in the year

MERCURY - flirting and how you’ll charm others, your thoughts on love/your love life

VENUS - what pleasures and self care you need to focus on/ where you in a sense “glow up” in the year. How you might find love. Also can indicate how you’ll make money

MARS - what you want to work on physically and how you’ll approach sex

JUPITER - your luck in relationships and your luck in love that year

SATURN - what will be long lasting or limited in your love life and how you view yourself

URANUS - what potential lovers will find unique about you or a niche/weird thing you’ll come to appreciate about yourself. Could also indicate how you’ll appear on social media

NEPTUNE - illusions in love this year, types of people you might have crushes on or who might have crushes on you, your secret admires, can also indicate where you might glow up

PLUTO - karmic lessons in love/self love, the themes your shadow work might involve, where you’ll feel the most sexy/alluring this year

HOUSE PLACEMENTS/TRANSITS

ASC/ 1H PLACEMENTS

Main theme of appearance, where you’ll physically “glow up”/ what will change in your physical appearance

Pleasurable things/materialistic interests. These specific things could make you some money as well.

More insight to how you’ll charm, communicate and mainly flirt with others

4H/ IC

Loving yourself privately and what you need to focus on to build self love

How you’ll have fun and how you’ll look at flings/short term fun relationships. New hobbies you might find pleasing.

Pleasures and material things you’ll gain in the work place. How you’ll take care of yourself at work. How your co workers might be attracted to you/flirt with you

how your long term partnerships might see you during this transit. Someone with this placement might want a relationship with you.

How you’ll see sex this year. What you’ll want from sex. The main themes your intense/sexual relationships will have. More insight into the money you might make (specifically investments and inheritances) from loved ones/partners

Pleasures you’ll find in education/school/languages and traveling. The beauty you’ll see in certain book genres or educational subjects. How optimistic you might be about the idea of love or your current relationships

MC/ 10H

- a specific beauty aspect you have will be noticed more by the public. How the public views your style or aesthetic. How your reputation may effect your appearance. What you’ll love about your job this year.

11H

- what your beauty will gain you this year, how your friends will see your beauty, pleasure duo and fun activities you should do with your friends this year. What social media might find beautiful/pleasurable about you

12H

- what you may be insecure about this year, what you dream to have in love/ relationships, pleasurable things you enjoy in private/keep hidden from others

Ta da! Done! Finally 😭 my Venus Return started around June and it’s themes have been pretty apparent. I haven’t looked at it in a while tho. What about yours? 💋

-⚜️💫⚜️

#venus return #astrology #astro observations #astro placements #astro notes #astrology notes #transits #Venus #love astrology #sex astrology

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queerbarb · 7 months

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Okay so... Is it just me or Lockwood from Wuthering Heights sounds queercoded?

This might sound crazy, but there are a few moments while reading Wuthering Heights where I thought to myself "wow, Lockwood compliments Heathcliff a lot!", for example on the Edgar Linton's Portrait scene:

"Mrs. Dean raised the candle, and I discerned a soft-featured face, exceedingly resembling the young lady at the Heights, but more pensive and amiable in expression. It formed a sweet picture. The long light hair curled slightly on the temples; the eyes were large and serious; the figure almost too graceful. I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could forget her first friend for such an individual. I marvelled much how he, with a mind to correspond with his person, could fancy my idea of Catherine Earnshaw."

Does that imply that he thinks Heathcliff to be physically appealing? Well, at least he thinks that Heathcliff is more handsome than Edgar, which is weird because the only person that seems to compliment Heathcliff's appearance is Catherine.

I thought that I was maybe too much obsessed about my beloved queercoded characters, but then I found some other interesting parts of the book to support my theory:

"But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman: that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure; and rather morose."

Okay, this seems normal since a compliment between gentlemen may be completely platonic. But there is some hinted stuff about Lockwood that seems to be inherently queer, such as his failed attempts to flirt with women and the fact that his own mother said he would never have a family of his own, which is weird since he seems to come from a wealthy family, he does not seem too off puting besides his social awkwardness, so there is no apparent reason to why his mother would say such thing... EXCEPT FOR WHAT IF HE WAS A BIT FRUITY AND SHE KNEW!

"Let me hope my constitution is almost peculiar: my dear mother used to say I should never have a comfortable home; and only last summer I proved myself perfectly unworthy of one."

"While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature: a real goddess in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of me. I 'never told my love' vocally; still, if looks have language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over head and ears: she understood me at last, and looked a return - the sweetest of all imaginable looks. And what did I do? I confess it with shame - shrunk icily into myself, like a snail; at every glance retired colder and farther; till finally the poor innocent was led to doubt her own senses, and, overwhelmed with confusion at her supposed mistake, persuaded her mamma to decamp. By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I alone can appreciate."

Anyways, Lockwood is an awkward guy, and I find him rather amusement. He seems very much homoaffective to me, and I am enjoying trying to understand more about his personality.

#HEATHLOCK????#WAKE UP BABE NEW QUEERCODED VICTORIAN CHARACTER JUST DROPPED #wuthering heights #heathcliff #wuthering heights heathcliff #wuthering heights lockwood

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perhaps-in-anotherdream · 1 year

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[CN] Victor’s R&S: Between Silence (Eng Translation)

“Every choice he makes inevitably leads to the right path.”

⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for a R&S, 无声之间, that is yet to be released on the global server. ⌚

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

[Subbed Video: Fully Voiced]

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This R&S accompanies Victor’s S2 CH 41-44 karma.

Victor’s dialogue’s will be in bold and italics, and the others’ dialogues will be only in bold.

【Chapter 1】

The events of the first three chapters took place when Victor was around 22-23 years old. They elaborate on the beginning of Victor and Ronan’s friendship.

A small recap for those unaware: Ronan is one of Victor’s closest friends. He was a young director looking for opportunities to start his career, and young Victor was just building up LFG back then. After proper evaluation, Victor invested in Ronan’s project. Ronan’s project later won several international awards, and with that, the still learning to walk LFG also got its first base for spreading its wings. Ronan later became a world-renowned director (the CANNES winner apparently), LFG became “LFG,” and Victor became “Victor.”

Ronan appeared in Victor’s Taste of Life MQ, Garden Date, and 5th Birthday Story, and was mentioned by Victor in the R&S Finally, We Meet Again. Victor and MC also discuss “Ronan x Victor” friendship in the S2 CH 41-44 call~

—

Victor’s gaze was indifferently fixed on the only source of light in the dimly lit study room–– the movie playing on the computer screen. His face was partly illuminated by the flickering light, and he seemed a little lost in thoughts.

A few days ago, when Victor returned from a business trip to a neighboring city, he was stopped by a young man as soon as he stepped out of the taxi. He enthusiastically helped Victor retrieve his luggage from the trunk and immediately began “confronting” him in a familiar manner as if they had already known each other for a long time.

“CEO Victor, your company is not that large. Why do you still use an appointment system? It seems frivolous.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Victor bowed slightly and took the suitcase back into his hands, not intending to pay much attention to the stranger’s rudeness. Although it hadn’t yet been three years since LFG was founded, it had already gained a reputation for its sharp and cutting-edge investment strategy. This visitor was not the first young person to show up uninvited.

“Moreover, I couldn’t find any way to book an appointment online. So I had no other option but to wait here patiently. It’s been five days already, but luckily, I finally managed to secure an appointment.”

Victor’s gaze toward him was crystal clear, indicating, “Let’s talk business.” But the young man seemed to be oblivious to the implied meaning.

“Ah… I understand. There must always be sales promoters swarming at your door, and that’s why you guys have this regulation, right?”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

The space between Victor’s eyebrows knitted into a frown,

“Your behavior has served as a good example of the necessity of this regulation.”

Seeing that Victor was about to leave, the young man blocked his path with a grin on his face,

“Sorry about that. I tend to think in a scattered manner. Please don’t take offense, CEO Victor.”

Following this, he extended his hand toward Victor,

“Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Ronan, and I’m a film director. I have a feature-length movie script that I’ve been polishing for a long time, and I hope that LFG can invest in producing the film.”

Victor didn’t lift his gaze and simply dropped one word in a concise manner,

“Reason.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Although I don’t understand business, LFG is different from other companies. They have already shown their ambition to venture into other industries even in their early stages, which aligns with my aspirations.”

Victor detected a hint of arrogance in Ronan’s words that seemed to come from nowhere, and his brows furrowed slightly,

“What I’m asking is, why should LFG invest?”

Seeing the youth frozen in place, Victor walked around him and continued on toward the company. However, he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him from behind, “Wait a minute!” The young man ran up to him again, rummaged through his belongings, and finally handed a hard disk to Victor,

“My answer is in there.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

The hard disk contained nearly 20 short film works that Ronan had shot previously as practice pieces.

As the end credits of the last short film were displayed on the screen, a flicker of keen interest emerged on Victor’s previously impassive face. The short films, though, had some roughness and immaturity, but they couldn’t overshadow the unique talent of the creator. He got up and walked to the window, pulling open the heavy curtains. The gentle morning light filtered through the gauzy curtains and poured into the study. It turned out that without even realizing it, he had actually stayed up all night watching those clips.

Victor took out his phone and dialed a number,

“Prepare a report on the development of the film industry in the past five years.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

In the afternoon of that day, an investment decision meeting was held in the conference room of LFG.

“Although there haven’t been any mistakes in CEO Victor’s decisions so far, the profits of the high-speed railway industry have only just begun to show. Given LFG’s current circumstances, it won’t be appropriate to hastily jump into a new industry.”

“A film production cycle is time-consuming, and even aside from the question of whether or not the investment will be profitable, it will take a long time for the money to flow back in. With LFG’s current financial situation, we likely won’t be able to afford this gamble.”

“While the policies may have become more favorable recently, it would still be unwise to stake our all in the investment of a single movie.”

….

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

This investment decision was seeing the most unified opposition since LFG was founded. However, everything that was happening now was well within Victor’s expectations. After listening to all the opposing views, he responded to everyone’s concerns with perfect composure.

“Currently, there is indeed not sufficient data to support this investment decision. The sole convincing factor is that every investment decision made by LFG in the past has yielded good returns. And I believe that this time will be no exception, although the process may be relatively long.”

“Aside from the budget sheet displayed on the big screen, I’ve already asked Goldman to send the script of this project and the director’s past works to everyone’s email. Perhaps the works will be more persuasive than my empty talk.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Rather than whether or not this movie will bring financial gains to LFG, I’d rather see LFG seize the right opportunity to set foot in the film industry. The film industry will soon enter a period of rapid development, and by grasping the current opportunity, LFG can establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the entire industry.”

Victor’s tone was unhurried and measured. But as it fell into the ears of the investors, it was akin to an indisputable judgment.

A few days later, the investment resolution for Ronan’s film project was approved by LFG.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 2】

Ronan’s first movie stirred a small sensation after its release, and after gaining recognition from many industry veterans, he grew rapidly at a breakneck pace. With the constant flow of inspiration, he created two more films in quick succession, while LFG continued to firmly occupy the top spot as the producer of his films since the beginning. When he was almost wrapping up the shooting for his third film, Victor received multiple invitations from Ronan to visit the set under the guise of “guiding the work.”

A faint sense of misgiving arose in Victor’s heart. Although Ronan had an unconventional personal style, as a director, he had always maintained enough professionalism and aesthetic sense and would not be swayed by the opinions of the investors. At that time, he happened to be on a business trip near the filming location and drove to the set on the outskirts of the city.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

However, he wasn’t expecting to be greeted with the sight of Ronan exploding on the props team as soon as he stepped onto the set.

“The precondition of all you guys’ work here is to respect the film! Respect the audience! Your small mistake has directly caused five scenes to be re-shot, not to mention going over budget. Now the entire crew is spending extra time and effort to mend your error!”

Signs of anger loomed on Ronan’s face as if he was trying his best to restrain himself from smashing the script in his hand onto the other person’s head.

The Ronan in front of him was a far cry from the unconventional and unruly image he had in his memory, causing Victor to inevitably be a little flabbergasted. He stood there waiting on the side for quite a while until Ronan came rushing over.

“Ahh... sorry for making you wait! Would you like to have something to drink?”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Water.”

Ronan wiped off his sweat and took Victor to the RV, where the director’s crew took a break. However, upon opening the freezer cabinet, nothing else was inside except cans of beer packed to the brim.

“Will this do?”

“...I drove here.”

As if oblivious to Victor’s speechless expression, Ronan put the beer back into the freezer and sat down opposite him in a carefree manner, gesturing animatedly with his hands.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“I had originally calculated the exact time and wanted you to witness the grand finale. But you also saw the situation just now. Things don’t always go according to the plans.”

“How do you plan to handle this situation?”

“We have no choice but to reshoot. But don’t worry, I’ll ensure we do it in the most cost-effective method possible. Rest assured, it won’t go over budget.”

Ronan shrugged his shoulders in feigned nonchalance, but Victor’s keen perception picked up on the subtle traces of putting on an act in his tone.

“If the method you’re talking about is to film it all in one take using a long shot, then I suggest you ask for a budget increase from me.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Hearing Victor’s words, Ronan was a bit taken aback and stared with widened eyes,

“Have you been taking film courses? How do you even know about cost-effective filming methods?”

“How much budget do you need for the reshoot?”

Seeing Victor’s serious expression, Ronan cupped his fist in the other hand, an expression of gratitude written across his whole face,

“About 3 million yuan. Thank you so much in advance, CEO Victor. You are the godparent of this film! I’ll definitely put your name at the top of the director’s acknowledgments!”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Victor remained stone-faced in the face of his teasing:

“No need. You may have misunderstood. For me, achieving the expected goal takes precedence over everything. Economizing the cost is only a small number, but compromising the quality of the film would affect the expected return on investment.”

Probably aiming to appease Victor’s concerns, Ronan gave him his sincere assurance,

“Don‘t worry. I won’t be careless with any of the shots.”

Not receiving a response from Victor, he took a brief pause and jokingly said,

“Hehe, do I need to win a major international award for you to have faith in me?”

Victor didn’t continue that conversation and left with the parting remark, “Make sure to not just talk the talk. Let me see your capability with the finished project.” But Ronan knew that Victor had faith in him.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Victor was just about to start the car when he heard a knock on the car’s right window. He turned to the source of the sound and saw Ronan outside the car, panting heavily, holding a bottle of water as if he had just run a great distance to reach him.

“Thanks.”

Victor took the water after opening the window,

“By the way, your acting skills are really poor. It’s best if you just stick to being a director.”

Despite being called out, Ronan remained unperturbed and smiled instead, resting his hand on the window frame,

“I’ve been dedicated to being a director all along. Earlier, when I mentioned winning an award, I was dead serious. So if that day ever comes, how about treating me to a drink at a bar, CEO Victor?”

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 3】

The film that Ronan had placed great expectations upon encountered a strong setback in the local theaters even before receiving the results of its entry into the international film festival. Due to the mismanagement in scheduling by the theaters, the film was forced to release earlier than planned. The marketing and promotion team was caught off guard, having no time to prepare, and many people were unaware that it had already been released. As a result, the film suffered from poor box office performance and received a lackluster public reception, which was not surprising considering the circumstances.

The following day, Victor was reviewing the box office prediction trend chart as he prepared in advance for LFG’s next weekly investment meeting. After the weekend drew its curtain, the film’s already disappointing performance experienced a sudden and drastic decline, reminiscent of a fall from the cliff. It seemed that the film’s box office failure had become inevitable. Recalling Ronan’s spirited demeanor when talking about his aspiration for the film winning awards, Victor decided to go and watch the movie to experience it firsthand.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Due to a scarce number of screenings, Victor could only manage to buy a ticket for a late-night show. By the time he walked out of the theater, it was already dawn, and he found himself to be the sole audience member in the entire screening in the empty cinema hall without the sight of any other viewers. Coincidentally, as Victor entered the elevator, the projectionist in charge of the screening happened to be getting off work and shared the elevator with him.

“Ah, the movie has a high level of artistic quality. It’s the best one he has directed yet. It’s a pity that it’s not commercial enough to make money.”

In response to the projectionist’s remark, Victor nodded politely and replied:

“Mm, it’s indeed remarkable. As for whether it’s a pity or not, each film has its track suitable for only itself.”

With a “ding” sound, the brief conversation came to an end as the elevator doors opened.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Just as he stepped out of the elevator, Victor’s phone in his pocket vibrated. He received an MMS from Ronan, containing a screenshot of an email confirming his film’s selection for the CANNES Film Festival. The message was accompanied by a grinning face emoji.

Just as Victor’s “congratulations” message was successfully sent, Ronan couldn’t contain his excitement and immediately called him,

“Reporters are all waiting in line to interview me. But I wanted to call you first. Isn’t that very thoughtful of me?”

Without waiting for Victor to respond, Ronan carried on excitedly,

“I’m actually booking my plane ticket right now. After the film festival wraps up, it’d be the perfect opportunity to reward myself with a long vacation! I’m planning to visit Île Saint-Honorat near Cannes. Ahh, the sunshine! The beach! The sea! I already can’t wait to melt away in the Mediterranean sea breeze!”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

His irrepressible excitement flowed from the rising inflection of his voice.

“If I remember correctly, that e-mail was just to notify you that you’ve been nominated.”

“Being nominated is the first step to actually winning the award. When I get back, you better be ready to take out for a drink. I’m gonna need at least a whole case of beer.”

Ronan continued in a dissatisfied tone before Victor could respond,

“Come on? You’ve invested millions in me, yet it’s so difficult for you to treat me to a simple drink? Forget it, I’ll just…”

“Sure, we can have a drink. But since I’m the one treating, I’ll choose where we go.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

After hanging up the phone, Victor found several new emails expressing their interest in collaboration in his inbox, all from astute film and TV companies.

“It seems that tomorrow’s investment meeting will go smoothly,”-- Victor thought to himself. Although he didn’t hesitate when making the decision initially, he could not help but feel a sense of joy as the dust settled and everything fell in the right direction in the end.

As these thoughts circled his mind, Victor walked towards the vending machine outside the movie theater. He inserted a few coins, and moments later, a chilled can of beer dropped from the dispensing slot.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 4】

Chapters 4 & 5 of the R&S cover the events between S2 CH 38-39. It begins with the scene after he had replaced the twelve main gods of BS, and the ending scene of the R&S, yes, is the “Stop time for me, Victor” scene of S2 CH 39 after clearing all split routes; the most crucial junction~

—

The waning moon sinks into the dense clouds, and the night sky is bathed in a blurred, pale luminescence.

The comet remains suspended midair, framing the entire Loveland City in a treacherous and enchanting ambiance. The city has lapsed into a state of deathly stillness.

In the depths of the BS Hall, the cascading dark red curtains appear eerie and terrifying under the reflection of the thick, dark night. The central seat in the hall remains unoccupied. Numerous figures stand scattered throughout the hall, engaged in discussions. The sound of conversation fills the air, giving the impression that the main gods seem to be working intensely. Despite so, there’s an underlying current of restlessness and turmoil in the air.

As Victor descends the stairs, his composed footsteps draw the attention of the crowd, causing their gazes to converge on him in unison.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Victor walks towards Poseidon and asks,

“How is the progress?”

“We haven’t been able to reach Helios yet.”

Victor’s gaze sweeps across the faint golden arc of light beneath the hall’s dome. A thin layer of frost seems to settle on his face as he says,

“I hope I don’t have to emphasize once again how tight the time is.”

Poseidon nods and exits the hall. Another tall, short-haired youth swiftly walks up to Victor and says,

“BOSS, multiple calculations have consistently proven that our estimated countdown time is indeed relatively accurate, with an error margin that can be kept within 2 minutes.”

“It’s not enough. It needs to be precise down to the second.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Understood.”

The young man nimbly turns around and returns to the side of the woman wearing glasses. In front of them, a massive depiction of the development history of civilizations on Earth is displayed. Each key milestone of the birth and extinction of civilizations is illuminated, shining brightly. The two people close their eyes, and countless lines weave through the points of light. They interconnect in an orderly and systematic pattern, and gradually, numerical values representing units of time emerge on the line segments.

As the main gods return to their tasks, everything appears to be the same as it was earlier. However, with Victor’s presence, the restlessness that was lingering in the air before has unknowingly melted away, vanishing into thin air.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

The mechanical sound of a violin suddenly resounds, piercingly echoing throughout the hall. Standing by the door is an unexpected guest. Victor looks up and, upon recognizing the visitor’s face, dismisses the twelve main gods, leaving only the two of them in the spacious hall.

“Zero, I believe we’ve made our point very clear already.”

The other party seems oblivious to the implied urgency in the words and remains unperturbed as he says,

“We have observed new omens appearing along the world-lines.”

Victor raises his eyebrows, indicating for him to go on.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“There might be different potential futures for this world. It remains uncertain which path the new future will follow, and perhaps it could be even worse than the current situation.”

Victor’s eyes are filled with indifference as he responds,

“Time is precious. You can just state your purpose in coming directly.”

Zero pauses and looks straight into Victor’s eyes, speaking slowly,

“The SpaceTime Bureau welcomes powers formidable enough to confront and observe the unknown. Therefore, my invitation to you still stands. You and I both know that venturing into the unknown is not the optimal option.”

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Whether an option is the best has never been the basis for my decision-making. For me, the one and only valid prerequisite is whether or not I desire to make that choice.”

Victor speaks in an indifferent tone, yet every word carries the confidence of having victory within his grasp,

“And once I make a choice, I will ensure it becomes the most correct one.”

Zero chooses not to persuade any further, and as he departs, the gates of BS close behind him. Even though Victor has never had any regrets about his decisions, he cannot, however, escape the realization that even the right choice sometimes comes with an unbearable price. For instance, there is one such image that remains etched into his memory and which he still refuses to recall to this very day––

The utility room of the cruise ship. The bewilderment and perplexity in her gaze as she looked at him.

[Tidbits]: Reference to [S2 CH 31]

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Even if her forgetting him had lasted for only a brief moment, the shock it brought to Victor’s heart might outlast even the longevity of his own life.

The sound of bells chiming outside the building reaches Victor’s ears and brings him back to reality, jolting him out of his tangled thoughts. He walks towards the window and pushes open the heavy panes, allowing the chilly wind to fill his nostrils. Gradually, he regains his composure.

He takes a deep breath and directs his gaze toward the bell tower of the church. The hoarse tolling of the bells startles a flock of crows into sudden flight. They circle above the church for a while, adding another layer of desolation to this already lifeless city. The church spire blends into the profound darkness of the night. The entire city seems to be silently awaiting the arrival of doomsday.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

But in the next second, from a distance, Victor spots a familiar figure breaking through the night, running towards his location vigorously.

The darkness of the night intensifies, and a cluster of blazing flames has already flared into existence in the silent void.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

—

【Chapter 5】

Victor is not surprised by the scene unfolding before him, and a small smile forms at the corner of his lips.

The church bells continue reverberating, but by the time the sound travels to Victor’s ears, it carries a much brisker tone.

Unbeknownst to him, a gauzy layer of starlight has cascaded upon the church’s stained glass windows at some point. The soft halo of pale light gently dances, casting swirling and elusive shadows that can be seen even with eyes closed.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

The running girl closes the distance more and more, with her long hair casually flowing down in loose waves, drawing a beautiful arc in the air. Despite there still being a considerable distance between them, Victor feels as though he can see the girl’s face clearly. He is certain that her eyes now are sparkling with a resolute glimmer, powerful enough to pierce through the darkness of the night. With this thought, a wave of fervent sensation surges up from deep within his heart.

Suddenly, Victor feels as if he has been blessed.

It’s not about whether every decision he makes ultimately leads to the perfect outcome, but rather the fact that he has always been granted the opportunity to make choices.

It’s as if, at this moment, he can cast aside all social roles and simply be “Victor,” allowing himself to be there for the girl wherever she needed him and creating a space where she could find him at any time.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

The feeling of being needed by her, of being able to help her–– these aspects bring Victor a profound sense of happiness. It seems that this happiness is enough to make the long days ahead, in which he may be forgotten by her, a little less painful to endure.

Victor nods slightly in the direction of the church, solemnly expressing his gratitude for this blessing within his heart.

Victor turns around and ascends the steps, summoning all the main gods to take their positions,

“Suspend all matters at hand.”

A murmuring commotion rises among the main gods, as they are puzzled about why BOSS has chosen to halt their activities during such a crucial moment when the end of the night is just about to descend.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

Before those impatient inquiries can escape their lips, though, Victor’s cold and commanding demeanor instantly silences them.

His gaze sweeps over the crowd, ensuring that every main god is present, before finally settling on the entrance not far away. The main gods, following his line of sight, turn their heads toward the entrance as well.

A few seconds later, the BS door is pushed open with a resounding sound.

The girl appears at the far end of Victor’s unwavering gaze, gasping for breath. He, with a stern and proud expression, leads the main gods toward her until she can see him. It’s only when the girl has a clear view of him does Victor halt his steps.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈

As those bright, sparkling eyes gaze at him from afar, and their eyes interlock, Victor’s heart is flooded with a myriad of complex and indescribable emotions. There is a sense of relief that the situation has unfolded according to his expectation, a deep sense of gratitude that she is standing before him at this moment, and a profound pride for her that emanates from the depths of his being… just as these emotions are about to pour out of his heart sincerely, he casts his gaze downward. He leads the main gods to step aside in the shadows, creating the path for the girl to ascend the platform.

As he watches her walk step by step toward the long-unoccupied seat, Victor knows that regardless of what she might ask for, he has already prepared himself to do all that he can and give his everything for her.

—

#??? he was actually tearing up when she was walking up to him!!! was saying last night too - that scene still sends shivers down my spine.#i honestly can’t recall for the life of me?? how can a person who is willingly on the brink of sacrificing himself for millonth time—#HAVE SUCH GRATITUDE in his heart!!! like honey no. yes if it were a normal situation i’d consider that a blessing too. but being burdened—#with the responsibilities you never asked for and having a sword hanging up your head and asking you to choose – IS NOT A BLESSING #cause you’re gonna be killed either way!!! BAOBEI COULD YOU FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE BE NOT SO GOOD? SO SELFLESS??#i have so much to say and there’s so much to unpack!!! gonna keep it for after being done with exams LOL #also!! RONAN!! OMG HE IS PRACTICALLY MC HAHAHA. i absolutely love that we got to know more about him and such precious friendship 🥺❤️#mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc #mr love victor #mr love queen's choice #恋与制作人 #李泽言 #love and producer #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc translations

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tailsbeth-writes · 9 months

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Would love an evak fic. I have this idea of Even being a paparazzi and Isak is a celebrity and they have this forbidden/secret relationship with complications and softness and pining 😬😬

'Isak! Isak! Over here!'

The shouts, the flashes, all far too familiar now. Isak is at least prepared this time, being on the red carpet means striking an obligatory pose. His jaw line remained stoic. Until he saw that familiar quaff of hair amongst the cameras. His lips quirk at the corners, thinking back to where they were only an hour before.

** One hour earlier **

Isak had ushered away the make up & hair team, he wanted some rare privacy before tonight's event. He was an academic who happened to have a social media presence, this wasn't the lifestyle he expected. But several viral videos, guest lectures, a TED talk and book deal later, he had gained celebrity status.

The door knocked. There was the other, maybe the real reason he'd asked for privacy. He opened the door with a click, Even stood with an arm leaning by the door frame. There were camera bags piled up on his side. Isak flexed his hand into a fist momentarily before pulling Even by his shirt and into the room.

Even quickly caught on, losing his bags and jacket.

'Hello to you too th-' Isak launched a kiss at Even.

'I missed you.' Isak finally replied. His arms hang around Even's giraffe neck, Even's hands fit around Isak's slender waist.

'I missed you too. You're too busy these days.'

'I could say the same about you,' Isak closed the gap between them, forehead leaning on Even's.

'Well you've only got yourself to blame. I've got a reputation for getting the best photos of Isak Valtersen apparently...'

Even teased Isak, his lips ghosting his own. Isak tried to connect them but Even wouldn't let him, enjoying the chase. The roles reversed behind closed doors and it made Even giddy.

'It helps to have something to smile about. I don't see all those other idiots when you're around.'

Even put a hand on his chest, opening the space between them to act offended. Isak rolled his eyes, backing Even into the bed like he'd planned all along.

'How long do we have?' Even asked, using his elbows to prop himself up. Isak studied the smile on his face. A smile he could never be angry with.

'30 minutes. Maybe 35.'

Even pulled Isak on top of him by his tie, Isak realised an involuntary giggle which Even noted to remember for the rest of his days.

'Get ready for your close up then...'

[hope this is okay, I might be a bit rusty! Find it on Ao3]

#skam #evak #skam fanfic #skam drabble #evak fanfic #evak drabble #isak x even #isak valtersen #even bech næsheim #request #tailsbeth writes

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collarximagines · 6 months

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I was so excited to write this since I got this ask in my inbox!

This was so much fun to write, so I hope it will also be fun to read!

Adolphe and Yves had been at the orphanage with Mother when they had received a request from Scien asking for their help with something.

“Don't do it. I absolutely refuse to let you do anything for that despicable old man” She huffed as she looked at the two kind men, with such strong desperation in her eyes.

Despite the woman's feelings, neither Adolphe or Yves wanted to refuse the request. Perhaps out of curiosity. Both men were interested in what the supposedly God-like scientist could need their services for.

Besides, surely Scien must have had quite the important job for them.

Perhaps he needed their opinion on something? That one seemed unlikely, but still possible.

Perhaps he needed strong men like them to do some heavy lifting for him. He may have been intelligent, but it didn't mean he had strength.

Or perhaps he wanted to experiment on the unaware men. But surely that was a worst case scenario, right?

Regardless of the reason, the two men promptly made their way to Scien’s laboratory. Both of them walked faster than usual, even if they wouldn't admit to ever being eager to see Scien.

But who could blame them? It was a curious thing to be asked for assistance from Scien and they'd be damned if they weren't going to get their answers as fast as their legs could possibly carry them.

Standing outside of Scien's office door, Yves looked at Adolphe. Adolphe looked at Yves as they both mentally steeled themselves.

Their hearts pounded heavily in their chest.

Were they nervous? Scared even?

Maybe. After all, Scien didn't have the kindest reputation….

After a few moments longer, Yves finally knocked on the door.

No response….

Once again, Yves looked at Adolphe. Adolphe looked back at Yves. And finally they decided to enter the room for themselves, despite not being told to do so.

Maybe he was busy?

Eyes widened the instant they saw the room.

It was an absolute state. And that was even an understatement.

Books were carelessly strewn around everywhere and anywhere. Lab coats had also been tossed haphazardly and some looked rather stained to make matters worse.

Adolphe and Yves couldn't help but to be worried that the room may have even been classed as a hazard to their health.

“Ah, you're here. Took you long enough” a lethargic voice suddenly spoke.

Adolphe and Yves jumped back, surprised to hear a voice and not able to see a face to match that voice.

That was until they saw a body suddenly appear from behind one of the biggest messes in the room. Could it be? Was that where Scien's desk had been before?

There was no way to even tell that there was still a desk in the room.

“Yes…. You needed our help with something?” Adolphe asked, being the first one to overcome the surprise of Scien being actually in the room and being the first one who was able to gain the confidence to finally ask Scien about the thing they were both curious about.

Scien nodded as he began walking over to the door of the office.

“Dahut is gone for a week so I called the two of you here to clean my room. Now I don't imagine that either of you are capable of cleaning up to my standards. However, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt, against my better judgment. So try not to let me down too much” Scien explained, without even so much as glancing at the two men in the room.

He soon left the room entirely, leaving behind two very surprised and confused men with their thoughts.

It took a while for them to get their heads round the request from the scientist.

It then took a much longer time for them to get the room even slightly clean.

It was only when they realised the sky was getting darker and Scien entered the room again, that they became aware of how long they had been cleaning the room for.

Speaking of Scien re-entering his office.

Let's just say, Adolphe and Scien had apparently been unable to meet even a fragment of Scien's expectations.

And that lead to quite the unwanted earful from Scien and a lesson learned; never agree to do a job for Scien.

I would definitely be happy to do any scenario type requests along with the usual headcanons and stuff.

Again, this was so much fun to write!

,Neko

#otome imagines #otome headcanon #virche evermore #shuuen no virche #adolphe #yves #Scien Brofiise #omg this was fun

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burnwater13 · 1 month

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Boba Fett speaking to Fennec Shand (out of frame) while standing in the burned out hulk of Garsa Fwip's Sanctuary. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 6, In the Name of Honor. Calendar from DataWorks.

Grogu wondered why Boba Fett felt so strongly about Mos Espa. Was he really worried about the people there or was he worried about his reputation? He’d decided, when he met up with Bib Fortuna, according to Fennec, that he wanted to retire from bounty hunting because the clients were a lot of trouble for a small amount of gain. Bib Fortuna apparently being a good example of that.

Grogu could understand the problems that any bounty hunter had with bad the clients. The really bad ones. The ones that asked you to bring children in and the truly evil ones that asked you to bring them cold… you know… permanently cold. Uff. What kind of bounty hunter would take a job like that? A droid maybe? Or someone who was just evil.

As far as Grogu could tell, Boba Fett was about the least evil bounty hunter he’d met, next to his dad. And Fennec. Grogu understood from the stories his dad had told him about Fennec that she had a heck of a reputation, but it seemed like the people she dealt with would have ended up that way sooner or later. He counted that in her favor, although he was sure that his masters would have scolded him.

Jedi did not become bounty hunters and they did not hire them. If there was a person they needed to find… well… they found them. The Force was very useful for that sort of thing if you knew what you were doing. That was one of the first things that Grogu learned to do. He had too. It was the easiest way to find his way around the Jedi Temple.

Imagine, if you will, being less than a third of a meter tall. If you were walking, and Master Yoda certainly thought that your character would be built better if you were walking, everything that might be useful as a landmark for you, was of no use to all the people there who were significantly taller. Since there were no Anzellans at the Temple, everyone was taller than Grogu. So asking for directions from any of the other younglings, padawans, or masters was complete waste of time. Take for example this exchange with Master Obi-Wan, one of the most sympathetic and considerate masters.

“Grogu, I need you to bring this data pack to Master Drallig. I believe he’s at the exterior training ground at this time of day.”

Grogu took the data pack, which was half his size and began to trot off.

“No, Grogu. Not that way. Master Drallig is at the exterior training ground. Go south down this corridor, turn left at the statue of Master Draebeert, and then proceed to the doors at the end of that corridor.”

Grogu, knowing that Master Obi-Wan meant well, nodded his head, turned around and began to trot down the corridor, also knowing that the tall human was watching him every step of the way now.

“I appreciate you doing this for me, young one. It is very important that you don’t delay bringing the data pack to him. Thank you.”

Of course he hadn’t planned on delaying giving Master Drallig the data pack. That’s why he wasn’t going to the exterior training grounds because Grogu knew it was pouring rain outside. He’d seen the rain while he’d been doing work in the arboretum. When it rained, Master Drallig conducted classes in the small basement area of the gymnasium which was meant for practicing the physical arts, like wrestling, boxing, and martial arts. Grogu often went there just to watch the padawans train because everyone had already agreed that Grogu was not going to taking advantage of physical strength to win any argument. At least the kind that didn’t depend on the Force.

So off he trotted and dutifully went down the hallway looking for a statue of someone he’d never heard of. Grogu suspected that Master Kenobi thought that Grogu would simply glance at the plaques that had been positioned on or near each statue. Of course they were all placed approximately 1.5 meters above the floor. For Grogu to be able to read them he’d have to across the hall from them and standing on a plinth that was about a half a meter tall. Needless to say, those plinths did not exist in the temple.

So there he was jumping up every time he reached a corridor and statue to see whose it was. After doing that three or four times, Master Drallig came up to him from the cross corridor and asked him what he was doing.

Grogu had replied that he was looking for the Master to give him a data pack from Master Kenobi.

“I see. I think. In the future, simple close your eyes and reach out with the Force. Think of me and you will know my location. This works the same way as when you are ‘somehow’ locating any spare snacks in the training rooms.”

Master Drallig was almost smiling at him and Grogu returned the smile as he handed the tall human the data pack. He’d just thought he’d been lucky finding those snacks. Now that he knew it was the Force there was no end…

“And do not use that technique to avoid people or get into mischief with Ian. The two of you remind me of one of my padawans from years ago. If I didn’t know better I would say one or the other of your was Seb’s child. Now, back to your lessons.”

Grogu had tried not to laugh at the notion that any one padawan could out do Grogu and Ian at any sort of mischief, but if there was one, he wanted to meet them. Which brought him back to thinking about Boba Fett and why he became Daimyo of Mos Espa. It was the people. He’d met them. Listened to them. Promised to help them build a better life. Much like Master Drallig who had helped Grogu that day, so long ago. A life devoted to helping others.

Grogu sighed. The people of Mos Espa had no idea how lucky they were.

#calendar prompt a day #din djarin #grogu #the book of boba fett #boba fett #fennec shand

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daryfromthefuture · 1 year

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this is my 40s doc headcanon post

because i CANNOT get him out of my brain. i'm going to yell about him for a while now sorry not sorry

have another lovely image of him before we begin

general headcanons:

he is shy. even at work he's one of the most quiet people and prefers to do his research by himself. he is NOT the type of person to actively work with his teammates. bear with him he's just very much socially awkward and a massive introvert

like he pretty much always was, he's a bookworm. he definitely took his entire jules verne book collection to los alamos you can NOT convince me otherwise

a lot of people smoked in the 40s and i can see him being convinced to try it. he genuinely doesn't like it and thus never develops a habit

what if los alamos was the place doc discovered his alcohol problem. i watched the show "manh(a)ttan" because of this interest and it was commonly shown that the people there were going out in the evening and stuff. now i don't know historically accurate the show is but i like the idea of doc going to drink some wine and feeling miserable to the extent that he swears to never touch alcohol again. at least not until 1885

no matter how many times he tries to style his hair so it's slick, it is absolutely no use. he has messy hair and it's kind of become a thing where people recognize him because of it.

ah yeah about the hair. the work on the project causes him a lot of stress and the end when he goes through a lot of emotional turmoil does too obviously. which causes his hair to go white/light blonde at age 30. damn.

also apparently exposure to radiation can cause hair to fall out so doc probably goes through that kind of episode too (he's super sad about it)

he's one of the only people on the base who don't have a family or at the very least a spouse. he's super lonely but overall absolutely the kindest person you could possibly meet there

i think, other than gaining more scientific knowledge and helping the war effort, one of emmett's main motivations to join the manhattan project is the wish to restore his reputation in hill valley. which sadly goes wrong as we all can imagine.

coffee is the only thing he runs on. he barely sleeps because he has no one to tell him to go to bed at a reasonable time

when he's invested in some sort of calculation or problem he wants to solve DO NOT DISTURB HIM or he'll snap. this is not 80s doc and this emmett has quite the pride despite it not showing on the surface

in my head he becomes one of the most important scientists credited for the results on the project. people respect him and go to him for advice even though he's still fairly young when he joins (28). the whole thing allows him to gain knowledge on plutonium and nuclear physics in general, eventually allowing him to build the delorean time machine forty years later. but it comes at a cost and doc has moments where he'd rather throw his life's work and his family fortune away in exchange for never having lived through the painful memories and guilt.

headcanons about 40s doc & marty:

while marty never visited him in canon, there might be a timeline where he did, and in that case i think doc would find this boy strange. like. even more strange than 50s doc.

depending on the timeline (post telltale game or no telltale game) doc knows him from the 30s and is like. hm. something is odd why hasn't this boy aged

if doc did not know him beforehand, he'd think he's weird for a few days, but then let him into his life as a result of deep loneliness

he and marty would form a bond stronger than he did with any of the other scientists in los alamos. why? because marty's actually interested in his life outside of the project and asks basic things such as "how are you doing" while his colleagues would most likely just suck up to him to make use of his high position

marty would punch everyone in the face who even dares to utter an insult about doc, especially post-bombings

while 50s/80s doc acts more like a father towards marty, 40s doc would be a mixture of father and best friend. 40s doc is more mature than 30s emmett but certainly resembles him in more ways than 50s doc does. he's naive and sometimes just too kind and super stubborn and thus sometimes is more interested in his own needs than in marty's.

he acceps the nickname "doc" with no hesitation

marty is the only person that doc allows himself to let his guard down around after probably wearing a stone face for a while. marty makes it clear that he would never judge or blame him and allows doc to be vulnerable around him as much as he wants/needs

they are best friends. their friendship works in every decade what else did you think

ANYWAY that's it for now

i may or may not eventually write a fic about him and his experiences (without marty, basically twin pines doc timeline) but we'll see. i make no promises

#bttf #back to the future #doc brown #emmett brown #i wish we had more 40s doc content #all we got was that one comic and a few of his journal entries fron 1946 in the delorean user manual #i want MORE #bob gale make me ur comic artist pls pls pls i'd do him justice #manhattan project

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horizon-verizon · 1 year

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Aemond who was described as "fierce from birth" , who also called his sister a whore in the day his father died , shown sociopathic tendencies from his childhood , these sociopathic tendencies have developed much worse in his adulthood to the point he was able to commit heinous crimes like genocide without a single fuck in the world. And all the sources in the book have similar characterization of Aemond , so that's means that his personality and his actions were all on display for everyone to witness it . But according to Ryan the historians are too biased and they've properly misunderstood everything.

So Aemond was turned into a poor mew mew in the show that didn't mean it , that's makes me wonder actually if Ryan will ever adopted Maegor's reign, would he make Maegor this big softie that everyone in westros misunderstood? All of Maegor's cruel actions are nothing but propaganda from Jaehaerys to destroy the reputation of Maegor the softie ?

No anon, Ryan would have Visenya and Maegor have a really close relationship where Visenya is jealous of her sister Rhaenys for having all of Aegon’s love and affection.

Visenya plots against Aenys I from the beginning because of that vendetta against Rhaenys, and people love Visenya because she is the “official” wife, or the “first”/”prime” wife in Aegon’s “harem”.

Because Valyrians had full, stratified harems like you’d imagine from the Ottoman empire, you see. The canon historians don’t have enough information to tell us about Valyrian culture, but this is definitely what existed in Valyria.

But she’s actually being honorable; she only usurped Aenys (because it’s not Aegon, Aenys I’s son, who gets usurped, it’s Aenys himself this time, this is in canon you see) and we find out her “true” intentions in episode 4 (while in episode 2 we saw her looking like she wanted to stab Rhaenys and never mentions the succession and the realm’s “well being” at all).

So she forces/manipulates Maegor into marrying all the women he marries, even the Black Brides of Jeyne Westerling, Elinor Costayne, and his niece Rhaena Targaryen. She despises Tyanna, but finds her magic useful and tries to confiscate her potions, etc. for herself on some pretext.

Except Tyanna of the Tower is the only woman he ever loved, you see, because she was his only real choice. Ryan calls Tyanna Maegor’s “mail-order-bride” and “only true lover” in one interview and another. Her Lyseni pussy puts Maegor into a tizzy, from all her “training”. People online also call her a mail order bride and says this proves how evil the Targs are for being white people taking advantage of poor Essosi (Essos is a place of only vacation-locations) peoples for self gratification.

Tyanna, in order to gain back power and make sure his attention is always on her, poisons all of Maegor’s other wives and botches their pregnancies. Maegor, in order to eliminate this threat to his family, orders her execution, and he tears up or cries as he turns away from her for the last time. (The “rumor” of her heart being ripped out is just her personal writings that some maester re-recorded inaccurately, and then another maester [because some parts were too deteriorated to read] wrote down as if her writing Maegor “ripped her heart out” was literal instead of her complaining about him having sex with other women.)

Alyssa Velayron cheats on Aenys with Rogar specifically because Aenys is a little baby bitch boy and Rogar was a man who “did what needed to be done”, even when he tried to usurp Jahaerys for Aerea (Rhaena’s daughter by Aegon “the Uncrowned”). She enlists his help to overtake Maegor (pussy power enslaves men), and Visenya (who apparently survives her canon death and stays the puppet of her son). In all this while, Rhaena lives in the Keep with the other poor brides and abuses Tyanna or dismisses Tyanna’s low birth. Her nose is always up, you see.

Maegor dies when Elinor Costayne pushes him into the Iron Throne, finally drudging up the muster to address him killing her husband while he burned down the holy Sept. Because, you know, he did that and her husband was one of those that were burned alive while praying. *Tear.

#asoiaf asks to me #hotd critical #ryan condal #anti ryan condal #maegor the cruel #maegor's wives #maegor i #hotd characterization #visenya the conqueror #visenya targaryen #asoiaf

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blood-darkened-moon · 11 months

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The Ashford Family is Resident Evil's Tragedy of Summerhall: An aristocratic family obsessed with restoring their past glories ends up burning down due to them meddling with things they don't truly comprehend.

I haven’t read House of the Dragon, and most summaries of The Tragedy of Summerhall weren’t that useful. They were short and often only listed some key points. Aegon V Targaryen wanted to hatch dragons using a ritual and somehow caused the death of most of his family members. The book is apparently vague about the exact occurrences in Summerhall anyway. I have watched a video with various speculations. According to fan theories, it could have been an accident, a ritual sacrifice, or an assassination. Without further knowledge of the source material, I can’t tell how similar these two events are. Therefore, I only concentrate on the downfall of the Ashford family instead.

The Fall of the Ashford Family

I think external factors are more significant in the fall of the Ashford family than internal ones, but Edward, Alexander, and the twins still contributed to it. However, before I come to that, we need more background information since the games did not elaborate on the situation.

First, I start with some issues I have and the reconstruction of possible events. What we do know is that Edward was considered the most successful Ashford after Veronica and that the family’s reputation suffered massively under Alexander as he was unable to continue his father’s virus research. How exactly these things are connected was not explained in the game and left me with many questions.

The initial situation is rather strange. Edward died in a lab accident in 1968 in which he infected himself with the Progenitor virus. The accident was orchestrated by Spencer. The question is, why would Spencer kill Edward shortly after Umbrella’s foundation? Of course, the answer is to expand his power, but why then? Umbrella was still in its early stages. Why not wait first and see how things are going? Edward shared the same ideals as Spencer. He wasn’t an immediate threat to his plans, and if Spencer wanted more power, he could have founded the company without Edward, to begin with.

I already mentioned in another post that Edward’s great success could only be the foundation of Umbrella, but due to his death shortly after, he never profited from his company. Additionally, I would assume that Alexander’s failure involved a significant financial loss, but that can’t be the case. In fact, Alexander must have made more money with Umbrella than Edward did. Edward only profited from Umbrella for a few months at best. It was still a brand new pharmaceutical company without or very little reputation during his time. Alexander, on the other hand, gained money from there for 15 years! And considering that Umbrella gained more importance over time, the profits he received must have been much bigger. Even if he initially lost a greater amount of money, it wasn’t existential-threatening to the family and was recoverable. Later, Alfred is doing well financially. He built a mansion on Rockfort Island and owned two Harrier Jets and a rare tank. (In 2020, you could buy a Harrier Jet for 1.5 million dollars, btw.) Alfred wanted to restore the family’s reputation. He wouldn’t throw away money that he needed otherwise for fancy shit. So he must have paid for it all with money he could spend (approximately 5 and 10 million dollars). I would estimate his wealth to be in the three-digit or at least upper two-digit million range. He’s filthy rich. A lack of money is definitely not the problem of the Ashfords. A (possibly) ruined public image can’t be the problem either. Who cares if you could use bills as toilet paper for a year, and in the end, you would still own more money than most people will ever see in their entire life?

Back to Alexander and more issues I have. What is his failure, and when did it happen? Alexander’s Memo mentioned his father’s death and the planned construction of the Antarctic Base. Therefore, he must have written it between late 1968 and early 1969. Whatever Alexander did must have happened shortly after Edward’s death. This leads to more questions.

It is suggested that Alexander’s failure is linked to his lack of research results and great competition. The first breakthrough in the Progenitor virus research came from Marcus when he discovered the t-Virus in 1977, 9 years after Edward’s death. Edward’s demise would indeed have a massive impact on existing research projects and slow them down, but Alexander still had plenty of time to recover from this. In 1969, no one was even close to any promising results.

Regardless of how the virus research was done before Umbrella’s foundation, Alexander doesn’t have to do everything himself anymore. He can hire suitable people until Alexia is ready to take over. In his position, Alexander wouldn’t be the one standing in the lab anyway. He would mostly coordinate other researchers and do administrative work. As long as his team is competent enough, they should be able to compensate for Alexander’s lack of expertise.

Progenitor virus research is fundamental research. Fundamental research is important for further applications, but it rarely produces results for immediate practical use and is expensive. All kinds of results are valuable in fundamental research, even negative ones. They narrow down the range of possibilities and may help understand certain mechanisms. This means it’s hard to produce no results if you actually work on the project. Maybe the results aren’t what you want, but it’s something.

The money for his employees and the research, in general, is not his private money but the company’s money. If Alexander doesn’t produce good enough results, it’s Umbrella’s loss, not the loss of the Ashford family. However, these financial losses were a calculated risk. The whole reason Umbrella was founded was to compensate for the costs of the Progenitor virus research.

In conclusion, unless Alexander wasted money en masse or caused a massive fuck up that would threaten Umbrella as a whole, there is no way that anything research-related affected his family directly within less than a year after Edward’s death. There must have been more to it. (Note: This situation mainly arises thanks to later lore additions in the RE universe, though.)

Here is my speculation of what could have happened. The three founders did not contribute equally to Umbrella’s foundation. Marcus invested the least money and Edward the most. In return, Edward received the most company shares. He would be a controlling shareholder. Maybe he was even the CEO after Umbrella’s foundation. So Umbrella was more or less his company. The idea came from Spencer, though. I think Edward negotiated much better than Spence expected, and he had to give him more power than he wanted. But Spencer didn’t have much of a choice since he lacked the financial means to found the company with less capital investment from Edward’s side. Having limited power in the company that was supposed to be his would most likely enrage Spencer. Thus, tricking Edward into getting the money and killing him as soon as possible before he had the chance to expand his power even further was the best option for Spencer. I assume Edward’s shares would go to Alexander after his death. His position (if Edward was the CEO) is not heritable and would likely go to Spencer. Alexander was less experienced and less competent than his father was but still dangerous with so many shares. And he was young, which means he could improve his weaknesses over time. Replacing one rival with another one makes little sense. Spencer must have done something else to deteriorate Alexander’s power. Maybe he used his newly gained position and Alexander’s vulnerability after his father’s death to convince him that the “accident” in which Edward died must have consequences. Alexander, the one with the second highest position in his research group, is the one who has to accept them. Another possibility would be that Spencer orchestrated a different situation that would lead to Alexander fucking up on a big scale. Though, I think the first scenario is more likely. As a consequence, Alexander had to sell most of his shares and was forced to give up decision-making power regarding company policy. Losing his father’s company shortly after his death would explain how Alexander disgraced his family and why he wanted to make up for it so badly.

Here are some additional speculations, though these aren’t supported by canon. Spencer could have offered Alexander a deal to prevent him from leaving. He had insider information, after all. Maybe it was something like if Alexander produces good enough results, he would get his power/shares back to a certain extent.

It is also possible that Spencer directly or indirectly sabotaged Alexander’s research to make sure he wouldn’t get up on his feet again any time soon. He could have paid someone in Alexander’s research group to manipulate the experiments. Or he did use Alexander’s lack of knowledge in the field and sent him the least competent scientists he had.

I think the situation of the Ashfords is more complex than just a family fallen from grace. The Ashfords never held political power to a greater extent, as far as we know. Their strength was probably economic in nature. Under Alexander and later Alfred, nothing has changed in this regard. Despite what happened after Edward’s death, Alexander held a high position in Umbrella, and Alfred was even in charge of two of their facilities. Both must have had a very good income and, as I said above, a lot of money. Maybe they did not live up to their potential of what could have been under Edward, but aside from their personal problems, I would objectively say the Ashfords were doing better than ever before in certain regards. The only real problem I see is that they were heavily dependent on Umbrella, as you can see in the Antarctic Base and Rockfort Island. In both cases, their private quarters are integrated into the facilities. Even if they want, they can’t just get away so easily. The Ashfords were basically at Umbrella’s mercy. So “restoring their past glories” would, later on, correspond, in their case, to becoming independent from Umbrella again. It’s a pretty grounded goal, not chasing nostalgia-ridden dreams of better days.

Internal Factors

Edward

Edward was the one who doomed them all by making a deal with the devil. But could you blame him for it? He had known Spencer for years and likely knew how ambitious he was. Ambition doesn’t necessarily equal being ready to kill, though. Edward and Spencer also shared similar ideals and had the same goal. It’s not that they were direct rivals. Unless there were obvious red flags, I think Edward couldn’t have avoided his fate which dragged his family into the mess.

The bigger problem is, in my opinion, Edward approving the Veronica project. He indirectly signaled Alexander that he wanted someone to continue his research, which left him no other option but to stay at Umbrella, even though virology was not Alexander’s field of interest. There were so many uncertainties regarding the project. Was cloning humans a thing before? How could they be sure that it would be successful? They apparently never thought about anything but the technical aspects. Ethical issues aside, the clones from this project are still fully functional human beings with a mind of their own. What would have happened if they didn’t want to continue Edward’s research? Or if they aren’t good enough in virology? Forcing them? That didn’t work for Alexander. Producing clones until one of them goes for it? Sounds time-consuming and impractical. Alexander was lucky that everything went as he intended (until it didn’t). Still, Alexander spent a lot of time on the project, time he could have used to focus on his strengths, preferably far away from Umbrella. Edward should have been the voice of reason. At least he should have discussed an alternative with his son. I think this would prevent the worst.

Alexander

Alexander was the one who contributed the most to the dependency on Umbrella. I said he had no choice but to stay, of course, that's more figuratively than literally. He could and should have left Umbrella after his father died or after the incident that disgraced his family. It would have hit the Ashfords hard, but in the long run, this would have been the better choice. I assume Spencer would have been a problem, but during these early stages, Alexander probably still had a chance to get away. Instead, he stayed, built his mansion into one of Umbrella’s facilities, and later “sold” his daughter to them, deepening the dependency further and further.

I think he stayed mainly for two reasons, personal ambition, and his father. The goal of the Veronica project was to find a worthy successor for continuing Edward’s research. Alexander must have thought very highly of his father and his achievements if it meant so much to him to please him. Losing his father’s legacy must have hit him twice as hard. He disgraced his family, and he disappointed his father. His reaction to stay and try to make up for it is perfectly understandable, but he should have reflected on his chances. Alexander knew that Spencer was a greedy bastard and a serious danger.

But he had personal ambitions as well, as you can see in the Veronica project. Instead of choosing the easier alternative, cloning and genetically engineering himself or Edward, he cloned Veronica. It seems that he wanted to be remembered for a big deed, and “reviving” Veronica was his way to achieve that. However, he should have directed his ambition to different matters. Alexander was a brilliant genetic engineer. He could have sold this knowledge to another company to make a career. Too bad for him that he apparently saw genetic engineering only as a tool and virology as the more promising approach. Umbrella happened to be the company that offered him the best prospects in this regard.

Since he didn’t intend to leave, Alexander’s strategy to reduce the dependency was to increase his power again. Alexander couldn’t do it on his own, so he made Alexia speed-run her education and hoped she could do it for him. Overall, his plan was an utter failure. Not only did he miss his goal, but he also turned Alexia and Alfred against him with massive consequences.

Alfred and Alexia

The one who contributed the second most to the dependency was Alexia. She had no intention of restoring her family’s reputation. Alexia wanted to rule the world as a queen. Her world-domination dreams were purely selfish.

She never thought about the consequences of her plan for Alfred, only if he was capable of doing what she wanted. He was 12, still a child. He had very few legal options to help her. Alfred likely had to give in to unfavorable deals to keep her safe, which worsened the interdependency with Umbrella. How else was he able to keep the Antarctic Base at that age? Alexia was trapped there for 15 years. Alfred could not wake her up earlier, nor could he move her. The Base belonged to Umbrella, and the secret lab area was connected to the regular facility. If they had given someone else control over it, Alexia’s plans would have ended at that moment.

In Alexia’s defense, she was a child as well. She grew up in an isolated sheltered environment and had little life experience. And who knows what Spencer would have done with the twins once the t-Veronica virus was complete? I think he would have tried to win Alexia over for his personal projects, but if he had failed, he would likely have killed her (and Alfred?) as he did with Edward and later Marcus. Alfred alone wasn’t a threat to Spencer, though. So maybe Alexia actually saved him by removing herself from the equation.

Alfred ended up in a difficult position. He was forced to play with the cards that were given to him. Nevertheless, I think he did it remarkably well. What we should keep in mind about Alfred is that he wanted to restore his family’s reputation, but this was secondary. His main goal was protecting Alexia.

Protecting his sister meant he had to stay at Umbrella for 15 years and keep the Antarctic Base at all costs, which likely worsened the situation initially and resulted in losing parts of Rockfort Island to them (but that’s just speculation). It also meant that he had to do his job without attracting too much attention, neither in a positive nor in a negative sense. And whatever Alfred did to reduce the dependency on them must be subtle. Alfred solved that by not integrating any notable research into his facilities. The Antarctic Base became apparently a storage and logistic center, and Rockfort Island was mostly a prison camp and the UBCS training ground. While these facilities had their importance to Umbrella, I think the higher-ups didn’t care much about what was going on there as long as everything worked well enough. It was not where the money came from, after all.

I think Alfred actually prepared for leaving Umbrella after Alexia’s awakening. It seemed like he didn’t like working for them. He made mistakes, took out frustration on his employees, did not always follow the protocols, and abused his position for private pleasure. The Mansion in the Antarctic Base looks largely abandoned. Rockfort Island is filled with his personal military-related belongings. In the Antarctic mansion, there isn’t anything that looks like he purchased it recently. The room from the dragonfly video hasn’t been touched within 15 years, even Alexia’s now dead ants are still there. Alfred probably just slept in the mansion when he had to stay for a couple of days.

Here are some of my speculations about Alfred’s plans. Despite Claire’s remarks, I think Alfred enjoyed a very high level of trust from Umbrella. The prison camp is used for Umbrella’s enemies. They don’t mind killing people or using them for experiments. So the people that ended up there still had (potential) information Umbrella wanted (What are their intentions? Whom are they working for? What do they know? Who else knows about it?). Alfred had access to all the information through the prisoners, likely including some restricted or even top-secret things. Things Alfred could use against Umbrella if he wanted to. If Umbrella wouldn’t trust Alfred 100%, they wouldn’t have given him the position.

Then there is the UBCS. I know the game isn’t canon, but in Operation Raccoon City, it is said that the UBCS isn’t loyal to Umbrella. They are mercenaries who work for the one who pays the most. The game also makes it clear that Umbrella doesn’t care about the UBCS soldiers (they don’t even care about their elite soldiers particularly). If the soldiers turn against them, they simply send others to deal with the situation. Umbrella doesn’t negotiate. Alfred had enough money and direct contact with the UBCS. He could have hired a good amount of the soldiers if he wanted. Not to forget, if Alexia’s plan would have worked as intended, she could have used the virus to control them. In some way, you could say he raised his private army on Rockfort Island. And it isn’t just the soldier, he had access to weapons, military equipment, and BOWs as well.

I think Alfred had all the necessary puzzle pieces to leave Umbrella to his conditions, not theirs. He could have blackmailed them with the information he had or sold these to a rival company for protection. He could have even risked an open war with Umbrella, using the UBCS. The trust they had in him could have become handy for a surprise attack. Alfred was on the best way to get his independence back, but he had to wait for Alexia to wake up.

External Factors

What broke their neck, in the end, weren’t internal factors but external ones, specifically the implications of Raccoon City. I can’t remember anymore where I’ve read this theory, but I agree with it because it makes sense. Wesker choose to attack Rockfort Island because of the Raccoon City incident. Many UBCS soldiers were sent to Raccoon City. They were injured or died there. Rockfort Island was critically understaffed at the time of the attack. Without the Raccoon City incident, more soldiers would have been on the island and likely could have defended it, or at least Wesker’s attack wouldn’t have had the same devastating consequences.

And, of course, if the Raccoon City incident never happened, Claire wouldn’t have been on Rockfort Island, and without Claire, Alfred would still be alive. In that case, Alexia had no reason to avenge him, so she wouldn’t have died either. As long as the twins were alive, there was a chance to recover what was lost.

Conclusion

I think the fall of the Ashford family happened mainly due to poor decision-making for various reasons. Choices weren’t thought through, and risks were underestimated, but I can’t find anything that would classify as something they didn’t truly comprehend. Quite the contrary, most consequences were foreseeable. The “fall” is a relative term anyway, since they were still doing quite well.

Also, the only one who really clung to past glories in some sense was Alexander, who indeed bears a large part of the blame. Alexia had different intentions, and Alfred had different priorities. In addition, Alfred was probably on the best way to drag the Ashford family out of the mess Alexander had started. The death sentence for the Ashford family was the Raccoon City incident and what followed. But this was an event out of their control. They hardly could have done anything about it.

#resident evil #alexander ashford #alfred ashford #alexia ashford #edward ashford #meta #ask #🩸🌙#ashford twins

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josefavomjaaga · 2 years

Photo

@northernmariette asked me to compile a list of houses the Soults owned, preferably with pictures. That list will be a lot shorter than I wished, because outside of Soult’s home region almost nothing seems to be left.

Still there, but from the looks of it probably somewhat changed: The house of Soult’s mother Brigitte in what used to be called Saint-Amans-la-Bastide (rebaptised Saint-Amans-Soult in 1851, in honour of the village’s most-renowned son). Today’s adresse: 8 Rue du Maréchal Soult (what else)

Saint-Amans, as somebody has recently noted, even today is in the middle of nowhere. This particular region of nowhere is called »la Montagne Noir«, and its inhabitants apparently had a certain reputation for being taciturn, severe and on their guard. Which might explain why Soult got along best with folks from his natale region later.

Anarchasis Combes describes the village of 1769 like this:

In the flat part of the village, between two mountain slopes, stood the church, with its bell tower from the end of the 14th century, an entrance on the south side, surrounded by the cemetery. On the sloping ground, while gaining the edge of the Thoré, one saw, separated from each other by pàtus [I’m not sure of the meaning, sth like a small courtyard?] or by small unpaved streets, five houses with a first floor, with windows and shutters painted with red ochre; they were thus made distinguishable from the lower dwellings, which were reduced to a simple ground floor. Three of these houses belonged to some bourgeois, who oversaw the cultivation of their meager estates, the other two were inhabited by the local notables, the priest and the notary.

So, young Jean-de-dieu, being the son of said notary, definitely belonged to this metropolis’ upper class. After all, his home had a first floor! And judging from the picture above, his birthplace has improved a lot since then, because by now the building even has acquired a second floor, and so did the neighbor houses!

I would have loved to smuggle in a picture of 1796 Solingen and Louise Berg-Soult’s house at this point. However, with Solingen’s town center completely destroyed during WWII, that’s out of the question. Wilhelmine Berg and her daughter Louise lived in a street named »In den Casernen« that does not exist anymore, though I suspect today’s »Kasernenstraße« may still refer to it. The closest thing to a reference I could find is an old photography showing the house of Louise’s uncle Abraham Knecht, the so-called »house on the stairs«, where the wedding took place [to be found in the book »Alt-Solingen und Dorp« by Axel Birkenbeul, the house itself being demolished in 1900]:

From Solingen, Louise followed her military husband around for the next three years, through Germany and Belgium to Switzerland, until the end of 1799, and joined him whenever he stayed in the same place for some time and could make sure Louise would not be in immediate danger. In January 1800, he for the first time could visit Saint-Amans again and introduced Louise to his mother (the two women apparently liked each other immediately). Soult’s home leave was cut short, however, when a courier from Masséna urgently called him to Genoa. Louise remained in Saint-Amans, but when she learned of Soult being wounded and taken captive during the siege of Genoa, she immediately left and reached upper Italy precisely at the time when Soult was exchanged. From now on, she stayed by his side again, first in Turin, then in Taranto, Apulia, until on June 12, 1802, General and Madame Soult finally reached Paris, that neither of them had seen yet. It was also the first opportunity for them to give up their nomad ways and to acquire a home. Particularly as Louise was pregnant for the first time.

But at first, it seems they merely rented an appartement in Rue Caumartin No. 742, from where they at some point moved to Quai Voltaire, No. 3. That’s where their son Napoléon-Héctor was born. As to buying a house, it seems the Soults acquired a »maison de campagne«, in September 1802 before even thinking about a house in Paris. The estate was called »Villeneuve-l’Étang«, close to the parc of Saint-Cloud. It’s gone today, destroyed around 1880. There are some paintings, however:

Both Soult and his wife were very attached to »l’Étang«, and the castle is an important topic in their correspondence. However, during the Restauration, after Soult’s return from exile, they had to sell the estate to the Duchesse d’Angouleme, in December 1821. Apparently they never attempted to get it back later. (I’ve found an interesting detail on this website: apparently, Soult demanded the castle be attached to another parish as he found the way to his church too long, meaning that, unlike some of his fellow generals, he actually did go to church. And Madame Soult had – sheep. Even a couple of merinos. Lannes’ enthusiasm seems to have been contagious. Somehow I now picture all the marshals walking their priced merinos on a leash, like Marie-Antoinette…)

According to Nicole Gotteri, the total price for the estate of Villeneuve-l’Étang was 270,000 Francs. The Soults made a down payment of 135000 francs in September 1802 and paid the remainder in two installments, on February 16 and August 26, 1803, at five percent interest. At which point Gotteri inserts quite an interesting list of income per annum for an officer in Soult’s position:

until 1798: général de brigade: ~12,000 Franc per annum

1799 – 1800: général de division: ~18,000 Franc per annum

1801: lieutenant général in Taranto: ~24,000 Franc per annum

Assuming Soult saved just about everything he had in income since his marriage (1796), that’s still only 96,000 Francs. So where did you acquire the rest of those 135,000 Francs in September 1802, Monsieur, hm? (Just because I have a soft spot for you doesn’t mean I’m not watching you! - Nicole Gotteri vaguely invokes »gratifications«, a term that may very well refer to the same thing that was seen as »French extortions« by those locals of occupied countries who through their war contributions had to finance the extra payments to French soldiers.)

Soult now being one of the four commanders of the »Garde Consulaire«, he also needed a representative »hôtel« in Paris and thus acquired a house in Rue de l’Université, No. 291, later No. 57, though it seems the entrance to the appartements where the family really lived (the rest of the house was rented to tenants) in the beginning was Rue de Lille, No. 498.

Soult bought the Paris house on the same day he paid off his first installment for Villeneuve-l’Étang, 16 February 1803, for 120,000 Francs – not a bad invest, considering that in 1865, the town of Paris had to rebuy it from Soult’s heirs for 1.47 millions, just so it could be torn down to make room for the reconstruction plans of famous baron Haussmann. Yes, this house is gone, too. I could not find any picture but would be very interested if somebody else manages to.

Update: I may have found something, even if it’s called No. 67 here:

Even Gotteri admits that the Soults acquired these very imposing houses before Napoleon truely installed his imperial court and ordered his militay chiefs to become gentlemen and even nobility. They clearly did not mind this development.

It’s quite likely that Soult over the years acquired more estates, particularly in his home region and for his family, but his main residencies (even if he barely ever saw them) were Rue de l’Université and Villeneuve-l’Étang. So let’s fast-forward to the time after Waterloo, when Soult was exiled and nolens volens had to find a place to live. This place was Alleestraße 7 in Düsseldorf, close to the Ratingen gate (»Ratinger Tor«) where, according to a newspaper, he rented a seven-room appartment for his family, lived a very retired life and did not even have his own carriage. (He did at one point join a local club, however.)

I do know there exists a drawing of the house as it looked back then, but I could not locate it online, sorry. In case anybody wants to check the quarter on Google Maps, please don’t get confused, the street has been renamed to »Heinrich-Heine-Allee«.

Which brings us back, full circle, to Saint-Amans. As stated above, finally allowed back to France in 1819, Soult sold his estate of Villeneuve-l’Étang to the Duchess of Angouleme in 1821, for a whopping 740,000 Francs! This decision still cannot have come easy to the family, but with Soult being effectively in disgrace and his income vastly diminished, upkeep for this ostentatious estate would soon become impossible.

Assuming that his days of fame were over (Soult had turned fifty when he came back from exile), he stayed in Saint-Amans longer and longer. From 1827 on, he built his house »Soultberg« on a hill about fifteen minutes from the village church of Saint-Amans.

This is the place where Soult lived most of the time during his remaining years (he probably had not expected there would be so many of them), even when he became minister of war during the July Monarchy. According to Anarchasis Combes he did not want people to refer to it as a castle, because…

A castle, he said, is a fortified building, and I had no ambition to imitate Vauban, by building a pavilion in the middle of a park.

So, this is what a pavilion à la Soult looks like. It is also the place where he died.

And then we have the very last building. Yes, Soult had his own funeral place planned and built during his lifetime.

I think I have already posted that apparently, from this chapel on the side of Saint-Amans’ village church, one can see both the house that Soult was born in and the one that he died in. As if he wanted to overlook his whole life from his last resting place.

On a lighter note: That possessive »S« on the door of the chapel, hooked into the »B« of (Louise) Berg makes me smile every time I see it. Obviously, just because he was dead did not mean he would let go of her!

#napoleon's marshals #jean-de-dieu soult #louise berg-soult #saint-amans

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darkdeadlylove · 2 years

Text

The Rogue Prince Chapter 3

Ao3 Link // Masterlist // Wattpad

Daemon Targaryen x OC (Ellaria Ambrose)

Disclaimer: This is more of an AU. This is nothing at all like the show or book. I am mostly taking the characters and putting them into another situation. This has very little game of thrones lore and I will probably get a wrong or have misinformation. If you don’t like that, don’t read.

Summary: I was meant to marry the thing and become the next queen. That's what I was meant to be doing here. Become queen and bear more heirs, that was it. My whole life planned out by my father wanting to be a united front with the Targaryen's. What no one planned for was Daemon. It is hard to plan for chaos. It’s even harder to plan who you fall in love with? Daemon has a bad reputation. One he has earned and is proud of. That should be enough to make me stay far away from him and in the safety of who I supposed to be wed to. Too bad, I couldn’t help myself.

Series Trigger Warnings: Age gap, violence, arranged marriages, cheating, love triangles, lose of virginity, cnc, just all around bad ideas.

Chapter Triggers: Daemon being an asshole

Daemon

I left her standing there in shock. She needed to learn. She needed to learn that she was not welcomed here. She wasn’t wanted here. She wouldn’t be earning my blessing for marrying the king and gaining Aemma’s spot as queen. I didn’t care if it had been a couple years and the kingdom needed to move on. She was the rightful queen and always would be, not this little girl. She had no right to think she could be the queen and just take her place like that. Stand where Aemma stood. Sleep where she slept. She had no rights. And she was going to learn that.

I was walking back to the castle when somebody stopped me. I didn’t realize I had watchers. I wasn’t surprised to see that it was none other than Rhaenyra. I knew she was upset, maybe more than me, about the new girl’s presence. I didn’t bother to really learn her name. It wasn’t going to be important. I would make sure she knows she less than nothing to me.

“Is that her?” She asked looking back to where the girl stood. “Is that who my father is suppose to marry?” I scoffed softly as I rolled my eyes. “Apparently so. He is supposed to marry her not too long from now.” I turned back at her with a mischievous smile. “If she makes it that long.” Rhaenyra smiled as she looked at me. She could tell there was something behind my eyes. Rhaenrya and I had a bond unlike other uncles and nieces. It wasn’t inappropriate as others thought. I was just fond of the child. She reminded me of myself at that age. She had a fire behind her eyes just like me. That’s why even though she had been named heir, I don’t really want to kill her. I want to keep her around for a bit. Maybe some of my power hunger settles just to see what she would do with the crown on her head.

“What do you have in mind, uncle?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “Or should I say, what are you planning?” She asked the second question in High Valyrian. A language she and I speak sometimes to hide what we really are saying. You never know who is watching you and not many spoke the dead language so it was a good tactic to use.

“I will make sure she goes back to where she came from with her tail between her legs. I will make sure her life is a living hell and she will regret the day her father tried to marry her off to the king.” I spoke back to her in the same tongue. I was ready for the plan to go into effect. I couldn’t wait to have that poor girl crying as I pushed her back in the carriage and sent her back to where she came from. She didn’t belong here and that was what she was destined to learn.

❤️~❤️~❤️

Rhaenrya was on board with my plan to make the new girl’s life a living hell. Of course she was. This girl was supposed to replace her mother and was yet barely older than Rhaenyra. It was a damn shame. He couldn’t believe his brother had agreed to this mess. He thought he knew his brother better than that. He was so madly in love with Aemma. He didn’t think that he could even bring himself to find himself someone new. Of course duty came before that and a young queen would look more fertile for heirs. I can’t deny that. He needed more. He needed a boy. We all knew it even if we didn’t say it out loud.

She arrived at dinner that night with her friend in tow. The one who had came with her. I knew it wasn’t her sister. The other girl had raven black hair while the rest of the Ambrose’s had sandy blonde hair or the golden that the girl my brother was meant to marry had. I wondered if she had told her friend about what had happened in the garden between us. If she told her about what I had said to her. By the way, she is avoiding my eyes, I could tell she didn’t.

I looked over at Rhaenyra with a wicked smile on my face. This was going to be a fun little dinner. We were in the middle of eating. The dinner had been filled mostly with small chatter. The girl didn’t say much as she sat next to my brother. She was a shy little thing. Poor thing had no idea she had just walked right into the lion's den.

“So, how old are you?” I asked facing her so she would know I was speaking to her.

She looked at me nervous as she took a deep breath. My brother looked over at me in questioning look, but he didn’t say anything. “I have had eighteen name days, sir.” She said softly.

“Wow, that’s mighty young.” I say. My brother is already giving me a cautionary look like I would actually take it as a warning. “How does it feel to already being married when you just started to bleed?”

Her cheeks turned red at my words. She couldn’t believe I had openly said something so vulgar. She opened her mouth and slowly closed it again looking down. My brother looks at her reaching to hold her hand. “Daemon, stop.”

“I am just asking the girl some questions. I want to know how she truly feels and her true intentions.”

“I don’t think right now is time to question her intentions.” He snapped back at me.

“It is an honor,” she said before I could retort back. “It is an honor to marry someone as great as king Viserys. I can already tell he is going to be a great husband.”

I couldn’t help, but roll my eyes. She was lying through her teeth. She barely knew the man. He could be a horrible man, but she was still trained to say what an honor this was. “Yeah, I guess it would be a great honor, not having to worry about anything. I know your father’s house was doing horrible. He needed something to elevate his position. So why not marry off his young daughter?”

“Daemon!” Viserys yelled with a stern tone. He wanted me to stop. I could tell I wasn’t just embarrassing the girl. I was embarrassed by him too. I didn’t care. I loved to see how dark I could make those girl’s cheeks. It was thrilling to see how dark they were. Also the shock on her face. She didn’t know about her father losing power and basically selling her off to regain that and more. She couldn’t have by the look on her face and how fast she wanted to get up. She was too easy. This was going to be fun. “I am sorry, my king, but I think it would be best if I retire for the evening. I am very tired.” She was faster than he could speak as she left out the door.

I chuckled watching her fast feet as she fled out of there. Viserys glared at me as I tipped my drink and took a long drink. Satisfied.

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