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vendetta-if · 11 months

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craving some angst because i like hurting my own feelings 💀💀 how would sequel MC family (luka, jackal, older brother of sequel MC) react if sequel MC were to fail an assassination and as a consequence end up losing their life?

This is so cruel, especially for Luka 😭😭 This is, of course, assuming your MC has good relationships with all three of them 😰

Also, this might not be fully final for now, but I'm pretty confident I'll end up choosing Konstantin as the sequel MC's big brother's name 😉

I spent too much time writing out a drabble for this ask, but there are just some ideas that immediately made me wanna write something for it 😆 Well, this one's one of them! Enjoy the drabble!

“They dropped their body right in front of the gate. It was dark and we couldn’t really see the people in the car nor the car’s license plate,” the guard informs you nervously. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

But the words feel distant to you. “Leave,” someone commands the guard. Wait, it’s you. You can barely recognize your own choked voice.

There’s a rustle of clothes—the guard bowing, you suppose—before the door opens and closes. Stepping closer to the dining table, where they laid the body, you feel your stomach sinking and the familiar and cold fingers of grief and sorrow closes over your heart once again.

You stand over the drenched body, looking down at your now-dead child. It’s hard to kill a haemokinetic in battle. For every drop of blood leaking out of your body, they can heal the wounds you dealt them.

Except, of course, if you manage to wound them so severely without bleeding yourself, or a killing shot straight through a vital organ. In your child’s case, it’s a clean shot straight through the head. Probably wouldn’t have even felt it… You hope…

A choked sob tears through your throat. Maybe it’s better to cry it all out before Tyoma and Kostya hear of this—

Suddenly, the door is thrown open, jolting you a bit. Snapping your head up, you’re ready to lash out against the intruder, but your gaze softens immediately as you see that it’s your husband and son who walk in.

Kostya lets out a scream of anguish as he quickly runs to the table you’re standing by. He kneels and grabs his siblings cold hand in his, muttering something that you can’t make out. You know how painful it must be for Kostya. Despite his lighthearted teasings, he actually cares so much about his little sibling and always tries his best to protect them.

You feel a familar touch on your arm and you turn to see Tyoma. He looks sad and determined at the same time, but when he lays eyes on your face, his face soften into a concerned one immediately.

Huh, do you look even worse than you thought? You feel numb right now. Must’ve been the shock. In the next few hours, as the realization starts to dawn… Shaking your head, you try to dispel the thought.

You don’t really want to leave this numb spell right now. You don’t want to break down in front of your grieving husband and son. You want to be strong for them, like your father was when your brother died. Become an anchor, a tower that they can lean on in this hurricane.

Once they’re okay, and then you can grieve again. But it seems you can’t. You’re not as strong as your father was and as Tyoma reaches up to cup your cheek gently, the tears start to flow down.

You lean against the comforting touch, bending down as Tyoma brings your head to his chest, and strokes your hair lovingly. You sob against his clothes, “I’m so sorry, Tyoma. I failed my brother, and now I fail all of you again.”

Kostya lifts up his face, his light blue eyes glisten with tears. “What are you talking about, Dad? It’s not your fault.” He shakes his head before looking back at his sibling’s body. “I’m supposed to be the big brother—”

Your dear husband's hold tightens around you. "Stop it. The two of you. It's none of your fault." He cups your cheek gently and raises your head so you look up at him. "Luka, you're a perfect husband and I would never be able to picture being with someone else but you," he says softly.

"Yeah, you're a great dad, Dad," Kostya says, looking down at his dead sibling again. "And I know they also felt the same."

Tyoma nods. "We'll find the ones responsible and we'll have our revenge," he says coldly and Kostya's eyes harden as he snarls.

"Who," he growls out. "I'll hunt them down."

You want revenge as much as they do, but you don't think you can handle it if either your husband or your eldest child got killed because of this endeavour. You've lost too much in this life.

Gripping the front of his hoodie, you plead him, "Please... Just let the lieutenants and their soldiers handle it."

"But, Dad!" Kostya exclaims but quiets down when Tyoma sends him a look. Sometimes, you hate how they can communicate with each other with just a look.

"Okay... Okay," Tyoma reassures you softly. "I'll send them to try poking around to find out who did this."

"I'll reach out to the Aikawas and all our other contacts," Kostya says, promptly standing up and pulling out his phone before stepping out of the room.

"Tyoma..." you say, straightening back to your full height. "I know Kostya... He's gonna try find the ones who did this himself... I can't... I can't lose him or you or anyone. I don't think I'll be able to take it."

Your husband steps closer and lays his head on your left shoulder. You instinctively bring your arms around him. For a moment, the two of you just stand there, drawing comfort from each other's company.

"There's no use trying to stop him," he sighs. "I won't let him get out of my sight, so try not to worry too much, okay? Last thing we'd want is for you to get sick."

He lifts his head and looks up at you with such love and devotion, it manages to soothes the pain racking through your heart slightly.

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kybelles · 9 months

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in which babianos gets his heart broken

read on ao3 | check out this amazing art by @cxinis which i adore

A peal of laughter, quickly followed by the sound of running; distract Theomedes from the report he’s been reading for the past ten minutes. He blinks and casually leans off the balcony. The noise belongs to a sight he became accustomed to recently.

Next to him, Konstantin makes a tiny noise of disapproval. “I can warn them off if you wish, Exalted.”

Theomedes huffs a slight chuckle. “What is the point? They will behave for five minutes and then it’ll start over again.”

Konstantin looks a bit exasperated. “I assure you, I didn’t expect this kind of behavior when I brought my boy to the palace. He is usually much more serious.”

“Well, my boy has the ability to charm even the toughest people,” Theomedes says, pride coloring his voice. “So I can’t say I’m surprised.”

After a brief moment of Damen whispering something into the ear of Nikandros, they start running barefoot again; this time in the direction of trees.

Konstantin isn’t merely lying about his son’s character to excuse his recent adventures with Damen. The first time Nikandros arrived to be presented properly in front of Theomedes, he introduced himself with perfect manners and showed utter respect. Then Damen, who was almost vibrating with excitement, stepped forward and caught Nikandros’s hands.

“Greetings, Nikandros of Dice!” he exclaimed in front of the whole palace. “You and I are going to be best friends!”

Thus, they quickly became best friends indeed. Theomedes felt a bit of guilt when it became crystal clear just how much Damen needed someone closer to his age. They became so inseparable that it almost felt like they blurred into one child: Damen and Nik. Nik and Damen. Damenandnik.

It also brought warmth to his heart to see the affection Nikandros held for Damen was genuine and not borne out of some obligated loyalty. Theomedes knows his boy made a friend for life.

“Gods help me,” Konstantin is saying when Theomedes focuses on the present again. “Are they climbing on a tree?”

Indeed, they are climbing on one of the larger trees with the easy elegance of lions who survey the land for prey. Konstantin lets out a long sigh. “Should I put an end to this? If they fall–”

“No need.” Theomedes points at the muscular slaves who are standing nearby. “If they fall, they can be caught easily.” He raises his voice. “Damianos?”

Both children whip their head to look at the direction where the noise came from. Nikandros’s arms wobble considerably when he realizes it’s the king who spoke but he regains his balance easily. Damen is, unsurprisingly, unfazed. “Sire?” he calls back.

“May I ask what the two of you are doing?”

Damen gives him a look like he thinks his father is particularly dense. “Looking for Veretian soldiers, obviously.”

“Care to elaborate?”

It’s Nikandros who speaks this time. “We’re making a plan to take back Delpha, Exalted.”

“Oh?” Theomedes asks pleasantly. “Now that is something I must certainly listen to. Would you soldiers want to join me for supper?”

Nikandros has to leave, eventually.

Damen handles it with all the grace that can be expected from a five year old. He doesn’t cry when they bid Konstantin’s family farewell but his lower lip wobbles repeatedly. Once it’s time to say goodbye to Nikandros, he throws all the properties Theomedes knows Hypermenestra and his tutors taught him before aside and wraps his arms around Nikandros, clinging. Whatever he’s murmuring to the other boy has Nikandros patting his back gently, his own serious face creased with a frown. They stay like that until Kastor takes a step forward and touches Damen’s shoulder.

At supper that night, Damen barely touches his food. Even when they bring his favorite juicy apricots.

Hypermenestra takes a look at his full place, face concerned. “Your food will cry after you if you leave it untouched, Damen.”

Damen is slouched in his chair, looking absolutely miserable. “I know you’re lying to me, Nessa. I don’t believe you.”

Kastor takes a crunchy bite from a pear. “You’re right. What will happen is that this apricot’s soul will visit you tonight in your sleep and haunt you if you don’t eat it.”

“I don’t believe you either.” Damen says quickly but his hand sneakily snatches up a piece of apricot.

Theomedes rubs his temple briefly, wishing it would erase the headache he can feel building. “Kastor, stop frightening your brother. Damen, eat your food. Nikandros will come back in a few months.”

Apparently it was all it took to set Damen off because he swallows his fruit and looks at Theomedes with accusing eyes. “Six months! That’s half a year, baba! How am I supposed to endure it until then?” His lip quivers again and this time, a sob escapes from his mouth. He turns his teary eyes to Hypermenestra. “I feel like my heart is breaking into pieces! Can a person die because of a broken heart?”

Keep him safe, a woman’s raspy voice whispers. Love him. Love him so much.

A memory. Egeria, untangling herself from his embrace in the middle of the night and stepping into the balcony for some fresh air. Theomedes, following after her like a sailor follows a siren. Egeria’s belly swollen with their unborn baby, her thin silk nightgown clinging into her skin, her skin glowing with both sweat and health.

You never looked more beautiful, Theomdes said unthinkingly as he stared at her. Egeria smiled cheekily at him, her dimple showing, hazel eyes shining with mischief. Flattery will get you nowhere when I’m this big, Exalted.

And then. The baby came too early.

Promise me he’ll be okay, Egeria whimpered as she continued to bleed and bleed. One of her hands was clutched in Theoemedes’s hand and his tears were blurring his vision. He kissed her knuckles, over and over again, until her last breath. I promise.

Theoemedes doesn’t recall a worse heartbreak he’s experienced than Egeria’s death but in the end, he survived. For his country and his family. For his motherless infant son.

He rouses up from his memories and notices Hypermenestra’s pained eyes on him. He can’t help but wonder if she remembered the same thing just now.

It was her hand, after all, the one who held Egeria’s other hand.

“No, you won’t die from a broken heart, my prince.” Hypermenestra says softly yet firmly. “Feeling upset is a natural part of growing.” Her face softens. “However, you may go to sleep tonight earlier, if you don’t wish to dine anymore.”

He’s out of his seat the second she is done with her sentence. Theomedes sighs heavily as he makes a move to follow him, or at least send someone after him, when Kastor raises a hand and gets up as well. “I’ll deal with it. Curse of being an older brother.”

Every friday, Theomedes takes Kastor and Damen with him for a ride around the capital; to see how the cityfolk are doing, to listen to their issues and requests. He’s been doing it with Kastor since his oldest turned three and two years ago, he started to bring Damen along as well. Next year, Damen will finally have his own horse instead of sitting in front of Theomedes.

Today, only Kastor shows up for their planned outing and just like Theomedes, he looks puzzled by the lack of Damen around. He rolls his eyes a moment later. “That silly boy cried into my lap for hours last night. He’s probably still asleep.” A frustrated sigh. “I’ll go get him.”

“No.” Theomedes says, barely missing a beat. “After the tantrum of yesterday, it’s best if he gets some sleep. It’s not the end of the world if he misses one day.”

So they set off together; him, Kastor and a handful of soldiers. Theomedes doesn’t know if it’s vanity, but he never takes a lot of protection with him when he does these weekly outings. His people love him as a leader and he wants to believe he can take out a few assassins if it ever comes to that.

It’s going smoothly, as it always does, when a ruckus breaks out behind them, prompting the soldiers. Tensing, Theomedes extends a protective arm in front of Kastor.

Everything happens so quickly. Out of nowhere, a small hand clings to Theomedes’s chiton. His horse startles so badly that it makes a move to rear up. Horrified, Theomedes realizes the hand belongs to Damen and his boy will get hurt badly in a–

A pair of strong arms snatch Damen from the ground in one rough movement and Theomedes hastily moves away his horse, petting his neck to calm him down.

“You idiot!” Kastor exclaims in pure fury, shaking Damen’s shoulders. “Why would you do–”

“Why did you leave me behind?!”

Damen’s entire riding outfit is messily worn, as if he’s dressed himself in the dark, with no help from his slaves. His face is as red as the royal Akielon color and his eyes are wide with anger and disappointment. Distantly, Theomedes realizes almost half of his household have followed him and are now panting as they try to catch their breath. The chaos is mostly settled.

Kastor sends him a deadly look. “What?”

“Is this what duty means to you?” Damen’s furious eyes are going between Kastor and Theomedes. “We’re supposed to do this together and you left me behind!”

For a moment, nobody speaks. Then, Theomedes runs a hand over his face. “Damianos. You’ll be the death of me one day.”

Immediately, Damen’s righteous anger disappears in a smoke and he makes an upset noise. “Baba, don’t say things like that.”

Theomedes reaches out and takes him from Kastor’s arms, putting him in front of the horse like he always does. “We won’t leave you behind again,” he says as Damen sinks into his arms. “But if you do something like this again, I’ll forbid you from eating an apricot for a week.”

“That’s fair.”

#i really liked writing this one ngl #baby damenik is a concept i adore #captive prince #babianos #idil writes

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jpriest85-blog · 3 months

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It was a bit early, but I came up with some concept art of @vendetta-if sequel MC. Including portraits of my MC, Akami, Luka, Jackal, and my interpretation of her older brother Konstantin. While Konstantin does share Luka's height and eye color, I headcanon he inherited most of his features from his late Uncle Viktor. This probably triggers a lot of bittersweet memories for Luka when he sees his children playing and getting a very vivid sense of deja vu at how much his son looks like how he remembers Viktor as a child. Either way, he's glad Akami has such a close relationship with her older brother... although it worried Luka at first how many times she tried to bite Kosta as a toddler. Here's some more info about Akami

Vendetta sequel MC

Name: Akami Morozova

Nickname: Ai-chan, or норка (norka).

Gender: Female

Sexual preferences: Lesbian

Birthday: April 8

Zodiac: Aries

Face claim: Mikako Tabe

Body claim: Maika

Height: 5ft.2”/158cms.

Ethnicity: Japanese

Hair: long, straight black hair with blunt bangs

Eyes: Black

Complexion: Pale

Tattoos & distinguishing features: A long thin scar that starts on the left corner of her mouth going down her neck to her collar bone. An Irezumi tattoo on her right shoulder depicts a mink drawn like a kamaitachi wearing a jackal skull on its head.

Personality: Akami tends to come across as a Stoic and intense person, which can be expected considering her role in the family is to assist her older brother,Konstantin, and take out any threats to him or the family. Although many people tend to underestimate her at first since she's rather petite and baby faced. They're quick to regret it, though, as Akami is very brutal. Adopted or not, Akami is still a Morozov, and one of her fathers’ is an infamous hitman, and she very much is Jackal's daughter. She is also intensely competitive and hates to lose. While it did help motivate her to improve during combat training, it did cause problems in less high stakes situations. Such as Akami attempting to bite her brother when they were young children whenever she lost against him playing board games. Thankfully, Akami has outgrown the habit of biting people…mostly anyway.

Despite Akami's history of aggressive behavior, she does have a fondness for cute things and even used to dress in Lolita fashion clothes as a teenager. She also tends to get flustered easily around beautiful women turning bright red and attempting to hide behind her longer hair. While Konstantin will often tease Akami about trying to hide her soft side, he does look out for his baby sister and often tries to play wingman for her. While it does embarrassed Akami, since she's not good about dealing with feelings, other than rage. She does appreciate that her older brother is one of the few people she willingly confides in with personal matters. Besides, it's not like she can ask their dads for advice with girls, and Konstantin is the only other relative, besides their cousin Katerina, with actual social skills.

Her older brother also helps Akami rein in her temper since she's also prone to active impulsively. Having grown up together Konstantin knows his sister well enough to intervene early before she does something reckless, although sometimes he does have to physically restrain Akami, and he's one of the few people with both the physical strength and trust with her to be able to pull it off. While Akami's relationships with her brother have grown more professional since he became the new family head, it's not always completely serious. They will still affectionately tease each other and get into childish arguments with each other when in private. They're still siblings, after all. Once in a while, Akami and her brother still indulge in the same dumbass stunts and games they enjoyed as kids. Like Akami convincing her older brother to use his laser vision to blow up a watermelon or pumpkin filled with fireworks! From a safe distance and with safety gear, of course, they don't want to risk their father, Luka, freaking out and putting them both on house arrest again like last time.

Additional info & Headcanons

Akami didn't speak until she was an older toddler. It worried both Artyom and Luka when they first brought her home. They had many doctors and specialists check on her, and they didn't find any physical impairments to her delayed speech. The doctors tried to assure her fathers that she's still within the windows for her first words. Unfortunately, the first words they would hear from their daughter weren't Dada or Papa. It was hearing Akami telling Takashi to “fuck off” after he annoyed the little girl by fawning over her too much and pinching her cheeks. Thankfully he wasn't too offended after the initial shock of hearing baby Akami cursing at him, and most of the family found it funny. Luka took a bit longer to find the humor that his youngest daughter's first words were cussing out an ally and family friend like she was a tiny Samuel L. Jackson.

Akami had a hard time making friends with other kids her age growing up. So her older brother Konstantin was her only friend for a while since he was one of the few people who always figured out how to get her to open up.

Akami has a stuffed Axolotl plushie Konstantin won for her at Carnival game when they were kids. She was upset she was too small to ride anything fun, so her brother made a point to win her the giant salamander plushy to cheer her up. It was her favorite toy, and she still keeps it even as an adult but would never admit it.

Konstantin was also the first one to take Akami out drinking when she was old enough. While it was fun Akami did give her brother a heart attack the next day when he went to check on how she's handling her first hangover by crawling out from under her bed doing a very convincing impression of Sadako from The Ring. It's not like she did it on purpose, but the fact Akami is naturally pale with long dark hair combined with her bloodshot eyes, and unsteady gait while hung over gives her an eerie resemblance to the iconic ghost girl popular in Asian horror films.

Akami received the large scar on her face and neck from an early assination mission that went sideways. She narrowly avoided getting her carotid artery cut but thankfully survived. Both her fathers and brother were furious that someone would dare scar Akami's pretty little face but they were proud to learn she did worse to the bastard who cut her, by tearing out his lower jaw…until she asked if she could keep the piece of jawbone as a trophy.

Akami has an affectionate nickname based on an animal. Her family calls her норка (norka) since it's the Russian word for mink. Her grandfather was the first one to use Nickname since, like the animal, Akami looks small and soft but is quite an aggressive predator. She even received a mink coat from him as a gift, and even as an adult, Akami prefers wearing mink coats when it snows.

Both Akami and Konstantin have a close relationship with their older cousin Katerina, to the point she's become a maternal figure to them. Like how Aunt Cara used to be a mother figure to Katerina when she was young.

Akami and Konstantin are also raised in a multilingual household. They both grew up speaking English, Russian, Cantonese, as well as Japanese considering their close relationship with the Aikawas.

Likewise, they are also close to Katerina's SOs Ash and Rin. All three of them had some influence over Akami in some way. Kitty would often take Akami shopping and dress her up, which is partly why Akami is fond of cute clothes. Rin helped instill a love of music with her, and Ash helped Akami with combat training.

Ash also unintentionally inspired Akami's arsonist tendencies. As a toddler, Akami would always giggle and get excited whenever she saw Ash create a small flame. Granted, Ash is usually more careful about using her abilities around the kids, but how could she say no to little Akami pleading to see her make fire appear on her finger tips. Especially with how cute the little girl is when she giggles and claps like she's watching a magic show. Until Akami starts trying to make her own fires. Thankfully, Luka is experienced in dealing with short tempered girls who start fires, although he makes sure to check that Akami isn't taking any flammable materials with her before she leaves the house.

While Akami also grew up close to the Aikawa family, both as allies and in-laws, since Rin married her cousin Katerina. Rin also helped influence a love of music in her. Akami was a very aggressive child, and Rin noticed early on that music had a soothing effect on her, which came in handy whenever Kitty volunteered to babysit her cousins. Akami does wind up taking music lessons growing up and does develop a beautiful singing voice, although she rarely sings in front of anyone outside her family. Akami has a preference for R & B, Soul, Jazz, and Blues music and even took up playing the drums as a teenager.

While Akami shares both her fathers distaste for large formal parties, she does try to restrain herself. Unfortunately for Akami, that restraint means punching a man in the crotch instead of stabbing him when he incessantly asked her to dance after she already said no. Thankfully, Konstantin knows his sister well enough to prevent such incidents by introducing her to groups of pretty women. Sure, Akami doesn't say much, but she's more likely to come across as adorably shy by being flustered around a group of socialites. Instead of insulting a potential ally's family by punching someone (although that one jackass did deserve it by not accepting his sister's refusal).

#vendetta sequel mc #rough concept art #Akami Morozova #Luka #Jackal #Konstantin #mc info #poor Luka is going to grey before Akami even finishes 4th grade

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hee-blee-art · 6 months

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parallels

[image ID: a four panel comic featuring king cyrus, wren jester, prince sebastian, and sir konstantine.

panel 1: cyrus is at a table with his head hung, saying, "I think my son is gay and in love with the knight I assigned to be his bodyguard." wren pours him a goblet of wine and pats him on the back as he replies, "there there, sire."

panel 2: sebastian and konstantine are seated next to each other at a tavern drinking big mugs of ale. sebastian looks contemplative and says, "I think my father is gay and sleeping with th3 court jester." konstantine calmly replies, "I know. and?"

panel 3: sebastian whips his head to look at konstantine. "you-? what do you mean you know?" konstantine: "about your father and th3 jester." sebastian: "how??" konstantine: "all the castleguard knows. they're no exactly discreet."

panel 4: sebastian, angrily: "and you didn't think to tell me?" konstantine, raising his mug: "king's business ain't mine to be tellin." sebastian: "are you kidding me??" konstantine: "we're in public sebastian, calm down." sebastian: "no!"

end ID]

#art #comics #fantasy #gay #queer #lgbt #oc #ocs #the grey circle #fantastic #prince sebastian #sir konstantine #king cyrus #wren jester #sketches #sebastian

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graceofromanovs · 7 months

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GODPARENTS OF GRAND DUCHESS OLGA ALEXANDROVNA

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia, was born on 13 June 1882 at Peterhof Palace in Saint, Petersburg, Russia. She was christened on 23 July (Saint Olga's Day) in the Grand Palace Church, Peterhof by the Confessor of Their Imperial Majesties archpriest Bazhanov. Her godparents as listed:

KING CHRISTIAN IX OF DENMARK - her maternal grandfather, the Danish King was among her godparents. His initial unpopularity at the start of his reign, and the many years of political strife, where the king was in conflict with large parts of the population, his popularity recovered towards the end of his reign, and he eventually became a national icon due to the length of his reign. He was absent at the christening of his Russian grandchild.

PRINCESS LOUISE OF HESSE-KASSEL, QUEEN CONSORT OF DENMARK - his maternal grandmother was another of her godparents. Louise became the Queen consort of Denmark upon her husband’s - King Christian IX - accession in 1863. Through her six children, she was a grandmother of not only the future Tsar of Russia (Nicholas II, Olga's eldest brother), but also that of King George V of the United Kingdom; King Constantine I of Greece; King Christian X of Denmark, and King Harken VII of Norway. Like her husband, Louise was also absent at the christening.

GRAND DUCHESS OLGA NIKOLAEVNA OF RUSSIA, QUEEN CONSORT OF WÜRTTEMBERG - her great-aunt was one of her godparents. She was the younger sister of her late grandfather, Alexander II. Attractive, cultured and intelligent, she had been considered to be one of the most eligible princesses in Europe. In 1846, she married Crown Prince Karl of Württemberg. She was absent at the christening of her namesake.

GRAND DUCHESS OLGA KONSTANTINOVNA OF RUSSIA, QUEEN CONSORT OF GREECE - her aunt and namesake was named as one of her godparents. Olga Konstantinovna was the first cousin of her father Alexander III, being the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich of Russia. At 16, she married King George I of Greece, the brother of her mother Maria Feodorovna. Queen Olga was a popular figure in Russia, and in Greece. She was present at the christening.

GRAND DUKE ALEXEI ALEXANDROVICH OF RUSSIA - her uncle was another listed godparent of the young grand duchess. A naval officer for most of his life, he had a significant contribution in the equipment of the Russian navy with new ships and in modernizing the naval ports. He was present at the christening of his niece.

Source

#olga alexandrovna #romanovs #godparents

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tarisilmarwen · 9 months

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Rebels Rewatch: "Zero Hour"

Thrawn's master plan pays off in a devastating season finale.

I calculated out once approximately how many onscreen casualties we had on the Rebels' side from this battle. I'd like us to keep those figures in mind while we watch as a reminder of how well Thrawn's attack actually went.

(People tend to selectively forget that part when talking about how all the main characters managed to survive.)

One of the Imperial musical motifs to open us up and even covered in smog and pollution Capital City is still pretty.

Unlike Tarkin's big entrance two seasons ago, there's only Konstantine and Pryce and a couple rote Stormtroopers to welcome Thrawn's shuttle. Because Thrawn does not bother with the flashy shows of force, with the politics and pomp and circumstance. All he cares about are results.

"Thrawn's Web" is in keyboard synths now instead of organs, for his first appearance, btw.

It's kind of adorable how Kallus repurposed the mouse droids to be spy cameras for him.

Our premise is set: Thrawn has figured out--from their sorties and surveys and smaller attacks, most likely--that Phoenix Squadron are preparing to move to attack Lothal's TIE factories. Tarkin doubts in their audacity, but Thrawn has seen Hera in action and knows she very much would dare.

This meeting with Tarkin is twofold, on the surface level a strategy conference, but also another attempt to bait out Fulcrum. Just as he used the map back in "Through Imperial Eyes", he uses this covert meeting to entice Kallus into warning the Rebellion, into taking action that would expose him.

I don't think they ever followed up on this plot element they introduce here, that Thrawn apparently had spies tracking Dodonna's group? Unclear if they were in that Rebel cell or just had good eyes on them. My vote is the latter because Yavin remains undiscovered by the Empire both before and after this battle and the remnants of both Dodonna's group and Phoenix Squadron flee there safely.

Tarkin puts a single leash on Thrawn for the upcoming pre-emptive strike: Capture the leadership alive. If not for this one condition, I'm pretty sure Thrawn would have just slaughtered both Rebel groups in full. Thrawn doesn't seem particularly bothered by this condition, in any case, not a single sign of annoyance or displeasure on his face, but a soft smile instead.

Leaning hard into these OT feels with Luke's Theme and what sounds like ambient noise lifted directly from the Yavin scenes in New Hope.

There's a distinct feeling of optimism here. Ezra is happily gushing about how much everyone else has done for the Rebellion. (Love that cute little wavering gesture he does with his hand to qualify Chopper's contributions lol.) And then Kanan says some of it was Ezra too and ugh my heart.

He immediately deflates and dismisses his own contributions. "Kanan, I... I didn't do any of this." and my brain goes immediately to his soft guilty, "I didn't do anything." from all the way back in the pilot and the self-esteem issues he's shown throughout the series, how he has trouble believing in himself, how he doesn't think he's anything without Kanan and the others, that there's nothing special about him. He thinks he would have been stuck on Lothal "waiting to be rescued like everyone else".

(This is one of the reasons Ezra's grief over Kanan later turns largely self-pitying.)

Kanan's "Ezra, you have never been like everyone else." stabs me right in the gut, hgn. This whole conversation about how Hera saw something special in Ezra, and he did too (eventually), how he wonders if there's even anything left he can teach Ezra... even with the death flags all over it it's still pure heartwarming, basically an open acknowledgement of Kanan as Ezra's father figure.

"He commands one of the largest Rebel cells I know of." HA. HA HA. HA HA HA HA HA. HAAAAAAA. *cries*

It's... adorable that Kallus was using Ezra's old comm tower to send his Fulcrum messages. Kind of stupid, because of course that would be the place to check for a Rebel spy heavily associated with a former Lothal-based group, he may as well have put out a big welcome mat for Thrawn, but it's cute nonetheless.

This fight has been analyzed a few times by people much more keen to this stuff than me but I do like how blunt and precise Thrawn's every move is. Also I did notice that Thrawn targeted Kallus's bad knee (the one he broke on Bahryn).

*grumbles* The "heart of a Rebel" line would have been just that much more awesome if it was a bit more earned. *grumbles*

You know I think this blather about Kallus providing the last clue Thrawn needed is a bunch of bullshit, Thrawn already knew the planet was there, he saw it in the artwork he was studying and realized it had been deleted off his map.

Man just wanted to gloat.

Kallus's face tho. :((((

Continuity callback to "Legacy" and the Empire flushing them off Garel.

The slow build-up of this ambush is great. Fulcrum cutting out, Ryder mentioning the fleet above Lothal just vanished, Hera and Ezra realizing with horror what that means, Sato called away to see the Star Destroyers dropping out of hyperspace, Ryder's holoimage vanishing...

And that final nail of dread when you realize Thrawn brought Interdictors to the battle to cut off their escape.

And there's the flagship in all her glorious splendor.

Thrawn's theme creeping in eerily here as the man himself decides to call in and gloat some more. With any other character this might be empty bravado but we know by now that Thrawn can back this threat up.

And so the stage is set.

Hera quickly realizes she can't brunt force her way through Thrawn's fleet without suffering heavy casualties, so her plan is to try and open the formation up enough to get a ship through to summon reinforcements, basically a Gondor Calls For Aid ploy. They hold out until help arrives behind the Imperial vanguard to distract them, hopefully allowing the Rebels to slip through.

"As Jedi you have the best chance to escape." Oof, Hera knows just how small their opening is going to be, going to need an assist from Force-imbued quick reflexes. And she knows the Alliance responds stronger to calls to action from Jedi, because Jedi are the inspiration, the standard bearers, Jedi make people hope.

Kanan planning on enlisting Bendu and Hera having no idea what he means lolol.

These goodbye/good luck shoulder touches mean everything ghkjh.

Luke's Theme struggles to break in, but the note progression is wrong, ascending to shorter heights than it should be. The heroism of the theme is hesitant, uncertain.

Thrawn's already pegged Sato's strategy, recognizing it by name and implements countermeasures smoothly. The plan to try and spread out the Star Destroyers is dead on arrival before it can get started, Thrawn closes formation and relies on the fighters to batter the front guard of the Rebel forces.

Konstantine whines about why aren't they charging in at full strength and Thrawn shuts him down, warning that the Rebels are going to do something unexpected and that it's only his strategy that's going to win out, shut up, sit down, and follow MY orders. Kallus, who has worked with Konstantine for years, knows exactly how Konstantine is going to take being told to stay put, exactly how he'll see it--as a petty fight for glory.

Thrawn dismisses that. He's not interested in glory, only results. And this is where his lack of political acumen is going to come back and bite him.

Hera enters the battlefield herself, and we see Wedge too. Kanan, meanwhile, is trekking it out to the Bendu hollow to go be a nuisance and give an excellent deconstruction of why neutrality in the face of evil is not only less than helpful it actively harms the righteous cause because With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, if you can act to defeat an evil or work against it you should. This is why Empire stans' crowing about how there were good decent people working for the Empire holds very little water, at a certain point Joe the Average Stormtrooper is going to either witness or be asked to participate in some type of atrocity or injustice, and what they do when confronted with the knowledge "Oh, the organization I work for is actually Really Terrible And Evil." matters. If they bury their ears in the sand and declare, "Not my problem." they're complicit in the daily tyranny and oppression of the system they uphold.

"But when I saw innocents harmed, and knew I had the power to do something about it, I couldn't just watch it all burn down around me!" *CRIES IN "THE JEDI CODE IS LIKE AN ITCH, HE CANNOT HELP IT" FEELINGS*

Ezra's job thus far seems to be to help pick off Imperial fighters and stay out of enough dogfights to watch for his opening. He looks stressed.

Sato changes strategy, ordering a charge. It's disastrous immediately, they lose like three big ships in the space of thirty seconds. And Ezra can't edge around the battlefield far enough to get access to the hyperspace lane opening.

Frick, the frustration in his voice...

This pushes Sato to attempt the Rebel Alliance's favorite tactic: Ram a ship into another ship. This kind of heroic self-sacrifice happens all the time on the Alliance's side, a kind of lighter version of a kamikaze attack, an "If I gotta die I'm taking you down with me!" kind of desperate bravery.

The two pilots that stay behind out of loyalty to Sato says nothing really about them and everything about Sato and the kind of man he is, that people would willingly elect to stay with him to the bitter end.

Sato has them head on a course that seems like they're attempting to escape. Konstantine sees it and takes the bait, defying Thrawn and moving out of position.

Ho ho man the shock on Thrawn's face.

At the last second Sato has the pilots swerve course and plow into Konstantine's Interdictor and THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT TIME TO HAVE A REACTION SHOT FROM MART, GUYS, JUST SAYING.

Godspeed sir. *sobs*

Ezra slips through and Thrawn has his fleet tighten once again, repositioning his remaining Interdictor and you can hear the vaaaaaaaaguest hint of irritation in Thrawn's voice here lol.

Organs punctuate this cue, hints of Thrawn's theme overhanging, threatening.

Back down on the ground Kanan's Persuasion Check isn't working so now he switches to insults.

Bendu ah... does not take kindly. I think it's actually kind of hilarious that the whole terrible "It was the will of the Force that the Jedi get genocided!" take is put into the mouth of Bendu after he got pissy for being called a coward. I feel like that maybe was deliberate. Like, "You wanna be like this asshole, fandom? Yeah, didn't think so."

Ezra is having similar trouble getting help from Mon, who feels like sending any of their limited forces to the battle would just reveal them further to Thrawn, alluding to some kind of disagreement she and Bail had about this matter. Bail apparently thought it was too soon for open war. (And that's why he's still in the Senate and Mon abdicated to shore up the Alliance.) I think it runs deeper than that, though, Mon is many things but she's not a strategist and she knows it. In a way she's almost a foil to Thrawn, skilled in politics and people but ill-adept at battle, whereas Thrawn does not understand politics but is a devastating war general.

Ezra's not ready to just abandon Phoenix Group though, so he beelines straight for the person who's been missing from things this whole time.

For Sabine. <3

She's talked about a lot in the opening scene in the next episode, too, reminding us she's not been here. Thrawn's fleet has now made a blockade cover directly overhead of the base, and they're preparing for orbital bombardment.

The worry in Hera's voice when urges Kanan, "Faster... please?" <3

Heeeeeeeeeey remember that time the holonet referenced Base Delta Zero and I told y'all it was basically a bunch of Star Destroyers holding in orbit and glassing everything on a planet's surface?

NOW YOU GET TO SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE DIRECTLY UNDER ONE! :D

Frick that's terrifying.

Thrawn's theme plays in brass, an overwhelming drama to the score as the batteries fall. I love the way this is shot, with close-ups on Thrawn and Hera's faces as if they're staring at each other from across the battlefield. Thrawn doesn't order the ceasefire until Hera flinches, turning her eyes and bracing.

This Base Delta Zero was not solely an intimidation tactic, however. Thrawn likely weakened the localized shield enough for the ground forces to be able to penetrate. He does have his directions from Tarkin and a ground assault will more likely yield him living prisoners than continuing the bombardment.

"I'm getting the feeling Thrawn's actually trying to kill us this time." "Ohhh-ho that is only funny because you're still alive. Now please, come home, love." <3333333 They are so married. So so married. It's actually been a while since Hera called him "love" so she must be feeling Some Type Of Way right now.

HER FACE.

SHE WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM. <3

They're both immediately in front of Ursa together to petition her. And they are this close to holding hands sssfdsrrrhfhghh.

Kallus cackling because he knows he can get under Pryce's skin like he can't get under Thrawn's.

Thrawn still sounds just a smidge annoyed. :)

Ezra preparing to leave by himself empty-handed until Sabine declares, "And Rohan will answer!"

Curse this photo limit I'm going to need to make a separate post of just their interactions there's so much good subtle stuff here.

SABINE THINKS THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BECAUSE EZRA BELIEVES THEY CAN, CRIPES I AM UNWELL.

Sabine thinking strategically and figuring out the obvious target. <3

Meanwhile Rex has set up a choke point to hopefully slow the ground forces down, buy Ezra enough time to come back with help.

Nnghhghkh I didn't think the AT-DPs were capable of freaking me out but that whole big cluster of them all advancing slowly is uh... a good contender.

Thrawn apparently sent the AT-DP company to sus out the Rebels' defenses, so now he's sending in the big bois, the AT-ATs. Not the first or last time he would sacrifice lower level troops to a specific objective. This also serves to prime us to expect multiple waves from Thrawn, which would be used to devastating effect next season.

Love this Big Damn Heroes moment from Kanan here. <3 One Jedi, one nice slice with the lightsaber, felled a whole walker.

The build-up to the Bendu storm is great too, the clouds keeping on rolling in and darknening. Atollon doesn't actually seem to get storms very often, the only two times we've seen it storming were in "Visions And Voices" and now. It does make Thrawn look very intimidating.

EEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

And the first thing our Mandalorian reinforcements do is jam transmissions. Not sure from where to where, from the Interdictor to the other Destoyers? From the Destroyers to the ground troops? Just trying to figure out how much of Pryce not telling Thrawn about the Mandos was her failure versus she literally couldn't call him.

Right so Pryce's first mistake was moving the capital ships, Thrawn had them smack over the base for a reason. Now there are gaps in the formation that the Rebel ships can slip through. The Fang fighters were sent in as a distraction while Ezra and Sabine bring the gauntlet in to attack the Interdictor.

AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER TO HEAR THE HEROIC VARIATION OF THE "SHENANIGANS" CUE.

AT-ATs firing up through the coral overhangs from below, at the landing platforms the Rebels have made on one of the big leaves.

Hera sounds like she was getting ready to make a last stand, she was insistent on being in the Ghost when she went out and she sounded astonished to hear Ezra.

ANDTHENTHERE'STHISASSHOLE.JPEG.

*pillows hands* It is fascinating that Thrawn specifically threatens Kanan first to get Hera to surrender. Methinks he has discerned the "special relationship" the two have.

He keeps his hand on his own sidearm, too, makes me wonder if he was planning on doing some of the executions personally.

Thrawn was all ready with some type of comment about not being afraid of the weather and then the lightning struck a liiiiiiiiiitle too close lol.

He's already looking up at the sky like, "Okay that ain't natural." and Bendu's face hasn't even emerged yet lololol.

Angry god face in the clouds and and everyone basically just scatters ha ha. Troopers go that way, Rebels go that way, this is a little awkwardly staged so yeah it does kind of feel like the Imperials just let Hera and the others go.

But again. Angry god face in the clouds hurling lightning bolts down on you. I feel like they don't cover that scenario in training lol.

Sabine with faith in Hera to get the others out awww.

HELLO YES, MY SHIP BE BATTLE COUPLE NOW Y/Y?

"Shenanigans" coming in again, grimmer and more serious than ever, such a far cry from its original instrumentation.

"Hey, I don't have a jetpack." "You have those little thrusters!"

*raises finger, opens mouth*

Was... was that supposed to sound like some kind of "size joke" innuendo?

<333333

"I might have made him angry." Lol just a bit, Kanan, just a bit.

A very atmospheric last look at Atollon.

Don't think we've ever heard Thrawn shouting before, he's trying very hard not to be unnerved lol. And amazingly his, "Shoot the hell out of whatever that is." idea works. Props to Thrawn he took down a literal physical god.

I love the whole fight atop the Interdictor it's just so visually interesting. And Ezra is awesome throughout.

Kallus makes his move once Pryce is sufficiently rattled and flustered by the Interdictor blowing up, sassing her into ordering him out the airlock.

Even with the second Interdictor gone, not all the ships make it through.

I love the way the Stormtroopers Kallus takes out just slowly slide down the wall ha ha. Also love that his escape plan was basically, "Eject myself into an open battlefield, send coordinates, and pray."

I love this music cue, it captures the drama and pyrrhic nature of their escape.

Aaaaaah yes, the Thrawn-Bendu conversation of Foreshadowing. I love this. Thrawn once again trying valiantly not to show how disturbed he is by all of this, Bendu sounding astonished that he was actually hurt by something and then the prophetic words:

"I see your defeat... like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace."

Fandom had a hard time puzzling that one out I tell ya.

SINGLE TAKE SHOT.

This shot is so good, how we slowly track Kanan as he moves through the Ghost, pausing to listen to important conversations, how he puts a hand on Zeb's shoulder as he passes. THE MUSIC.

Underrated and undeveloped friendship, I want so much more interaction between these two. Fic recs? Anyone? Bueller?

Kanan makes his way to Ezra in the nose gun, who is dejected and somber. Losing Atollon is not just a blow to the Alliance, but a blow to him personally, since it was the attack to help Lothal that got interrupted by Thrawn's ambush. He'd just spend the whole previous episode getting his head back right about his purpose and true goal and place in the story and now it seems further away than ever and that much harder to accomplish.

For some bizarre reason fandom took Kanan's, "There's a future for us, one where we're all free." as much more literal foreshadowing than I think it merited. Mostly after the fact, to complain that it was some kind of broken narrative promise after Kanan died. Guys c'mon, this is meant to be taken in context, as Kanan comforting Ezra with promises of hope, just like Hera did at the end of "Visions of Hope". This is not a prophecy, the "us" is a general us not specifically Kanan-and-Ezra us and the repetition of "I've learned to see things differently" is about reorienting your perspective, not Kanan saying he's literally getting visions.

Anyway, on Kanan's note of optimism in the face of defeat, the remnants of the fleet jump into hyperspace and close us out.

"Zero Hour" definitely has a bit of that Empire Strikes Back pyrrhic victory feel, we escaped and live to fight another day, but the cost was high, the attack on Lothal's factories was delayed and will remain off sometime in an indeterminate future, we lost a major Rebel base and were dealt a severe blow to morale. The Alliance moves more hesitantly after this, afraid to tip its hand too far and attract Thrawn's attention. The camerawork is fantastic throughout and there's a feeling of homecoming as our scattered characters come back together. With a few quibbles, this finale is very very good.

Overall Season Thoughts:

Season Three is the most uneven in quality of the show. The standout episodes are among the more fantastic of the show's run, but the duds fall even flatter. There are episodes that are solid but just "okay", plot threads and elements that are introduced only to receive no follow-up, and overall it feels just a bit messier than the previous two seasons.

That being said... it's still my favorite season. XD I tallied it up and the majority of my favorite episodes were here so what ya gonna do?

Coming to the final stretch here, one more season to go. I expect to breeze through this one since I've already done liveblog reactions to the whole of Season Four so I'll mostly be rambling meta about music and themes and character arcs and of course commenting on my favorite bits and pieces.

See y'all at the finish line!

#star wars #star wars rebels #agent kallus #ezra bridger #grand admiral thrawn #rebels rewatch #spoilers #liveblog #sabezra #kanan x hera

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