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fantastic-rambles · 3 years

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Random BSD Thoughts: “The Untold Origins” and The Decay of Angels

WARNING: Spoilers for “The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency” LN (Brief spoiler for Chapter 91 near the end.)

So I’m still plodding my way through the light novels and making notes on the various things that catch my interest. For those who have read the third novel, saying that I’m going to discuss the Decay of Angels in relation to it might seem odd, but there’s a method to my madness (in my own head, at least).

Right now, we’ve been introduced to the five members of the Decay of Angels in the manga, which seems to have rounded out the group. And the light novel, as the title suggests, refers to events that happen a long time before the events of the manga. But I think that the novel could be hinting toward the existence of the Decay of Angels even back then, with Ranpo and Fukuzawa briefly catching its tail.

(My thoughts/reasonings are pretty tenuous, so there’s a very good chance that I’m wrong/will be proved wrong since I’m no Ranpo who can solve a mystery by looking at it, but this is just where my brain went and I felt like sharing. xD)

“V” and the Decay of Angels?

(I’ve learned how to use headers instead of having enormous walls of text, go me!)

The lines that caught my attention and sent me spiraling down this rabbit hole are these, which appear near the end of the light novel:

Behind it all was a domestic underground syndicate known as “V,” whose goal was to rid the country of skill users.

And the battle against them was only beginning.

Of course, it doesn’t name the Decay of Angels explicitly, but there are a few things just in the first line that caught my attention:

They are a domestic syndicate. Of course, the Decay of Angels (currently) has skill-users from several different countries, but their leader is very much Japanese. And maybe back then, they were primarily Japanese, with Fukuchi recruiting the others in the years since (more on this later).

“V”: the Roman numeral for 5, which could refer to the five “signs” of the impending death of an angel (one of which is the “lack of delight in their heavenly seat” or something along those lines that the ADA fulfilled--I think I’m mixing up the Mouryou no Hako description with the BSD description, but you get the point). It could also refer to the number of members, but I find that unlikely given that “V” does seem to have more than five people at this point in time.

Their goal, to rid the country of all skill users: isn’t that literally what Fyodor wants to do? Though on a slightly larger scale, as he apparently wants to rid the world of them altogether. But again, if he were recruited later, that would have provided him a strong incentive to lend his support to the DoA.

We also learn that this organization is willing to use any methods in order to achieve their goals, which is rather reminiscent of the methods of the DoA, especially Fukuchi orchestrating an enormous terrorist plot in order to gain control of an international, non-affiliated army and destroy all of the countries.

Plus, the member of the organization who is caught by Fukuzawa and Ranpo is a police officer, Jun Mitamura. Was he an early member of the DoA or the Hunting Dogs under Fukuchi? Yes, he doesn’t seem to be a skill user, as is the case with both organizations now, but it’s also established that back then, the knowledge of skill users wasn’t well-known, and the government seemed to be trying to collect them. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable that some of the earlier iterations of the groups might have had non-skill user members, and it would make most sense to recruit them from law enforcement and/or the army.

To prevent him from talking after he was captured, Mitamura was stabbed by a blade that disappeared (as was Kurahashi); I don’t know when Fukuchi obtained Amenogozen, but it certainly seems like something he could have done if he did have it then. Especially since he was also affiliated with the military (and maybe was starting to get a reputation?) and could probably walk around a police station/jail without raising suspicion.

Angels in the Light Novel (an aside, mostly)

Another interesting tidbit is that “angels” feature prominently in the story, most particularly in the play that is performed early on that has a minor mystery for Ranpo to solve, including the death threat that is received:

An angel shall bring death, in the truest sense of the word, to the performer. - V.

Although this is part of the plan to fake Murakami’s death, it seems clear that “V” and Murakami and/or Kurahashi were in contact in order for this note to be written. After all, it would be a wild coincidence for them to have randomly chosen “V” to be the anonymous sender of the letter and then for this organization “V” to show up later in the novel.

Of course, the “angels” in the play don’t actually have great bearing on the story (as far as I can tell), and the depictions of skill-users in the play are considered inaccurate/dramatized in general (again, since they’re not well-known about at this point), but it is noted that it’s very unusual to include them since they’re generally considered some sort of urban legend. But if “V” had a hand in writing the play through Kurahashi, they could have provided information about skill-users (possibly to pique Natsumi’s interest and get him to show up?) as well as influenced the theme of the angels.

Overall Timeline of Events

So with this information, I’ve organized a rough (theoretical) timeline of events for the development of the Decay of Angels. Starting from three facts:

14 years ago (prior to the present shown in the manga), Fukuchi joins the army and comes to hate war.

12 years ago, the ADA is founded.

8 years ago, Fukuchi defeats Bram Stoker and forces him to join the DoA.

Presumably, around those 14 years ago, that’s when Fukuzawa left the army/being a government assassin and found employment as a bodyguard instead. But Fukuchi did join the army and was caught up by the horrors of war, which led him to start forming plans to destroy all of the countries and establish world domination. So by the time Ranpo meets Fukuzawa two years later, possibly Fukuchi has formed a proto-Hunting Dogs/DoA organization that is called “V” with his charisma and growing fame.

Then, in the following years, he goes on being the world’s hero, fighting against highly skilled and dangerous skill-users. With his reputation and image of reliability, trust in him grows and he’s able to freely go almost anywhere, which would give him opportunities to meet and recruit people like Fyodor and Gogol. Gogol seems to be close friends with Fyodor, so they probably came as a package, while Fyodor may have agreed to the cooperative relationship so that he could get the Book and erase skill-users, while Fukuchi would be able to benefit from Fyodor’s malicious and thorough ability to devise complex plots to achieve their goals. Also:

MANGA CHAPTER 91 SPOILER: “One Order” is apparently an ability that “frees soldiers [people] from the yoke of sin”/takes away their guilt (over committing murder). Sound familiar??? This might just be a coincidence, though. But if Fyodor is also interested in this, it could further explain why he joined up with the DoA.

But not all of the collaborators are working with Fukuchi willingly, as is seen by Bram Stoker. But when he defeated Stoker, Fukuchi clearly thought that he would be useful (either his own idea, or possibly Fyodor’s if they’re working together by that point) and kept him secretly for 8 years. So this is a plan that’s been in the works for a very long time and only coming to a head now, since the ADA has grown enough to be able to realistically pin the terrorism accusation on them.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

How does Fukuzawa get his ability of “All Men Are Created Equal”? If he does have this ability, at the very least, he doesn’t recognize it at this point of his life. Possibly it’s again due to the dearth of knowledge/interactions with skill-users (especially any that would be under his leadership since he’s very much a lone wolf), but is it actually possible to develop a skill later in life as is mentioned in the play, and which Fukuzawa uses to convince Ranpo that he’s a skill-user? (I’m inclined to think not, and that it just becomes applicable after he establishes the ADA and skill-users join, but still curious.)

Little Oda! When the assassin with two pistols showed up, I hoped he was Oda, and he was! Which means that Ranpo and Oda met (ish) before Oda decided to stop killing, and again when Oda decided to start killing again. And Little Oda still likes curry. D:

#bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #bsd light novel #bsd decay of angels #bsd hunting dogs #fukuzawa yukichi #yukichi fukuzawa #edogawa ranpo #ranpo edogawa #fukuchi ouchi #ouchi fukuchi #random thoughts #analysis #mine

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erazonpo3 · 3 years

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Lost Legends

Okay so I read Lost Legends: The Rise of Flynn Rider and general thoughts? It was cute and fun, and I have gripes here and there but I can still recommend it. I don't want to compare it to WOWM because it's like apples and oranges but Lost Legends wins points for me by actually acknowledging the TTS storyline and characters, even though it's kinda brief and not quite as... entertaining.

And before I go into the in-depth spoiler review I'll jot down a few thoughts here: there's a lot to be said about tie-in media and 'canon', but where I think it becomes contentious is where two pieces contradict each other, and whether those contradictions necessitate a canonical hierarchy or cancel something out completely. And the reason I'm bringing this up is because while LL borrows TTS lore it also contradicts it? which is. ironic.

but i'll get into that. Spoilers ahead

Basic Summary of The Plot

Our story starts at the Dark Kingdom, with a short prologue. It's all stuff we already know from the series: King Edmund tries to grab the moonstone, his wife dies, Eugene gets sent away for his own safety. What's funny is that Ms Queen still doesn't get a name, but her Lady in Waiting/Handmaiden gets a name (Maeve), and it's Maeve who really drops the ball on dropping Eugene off at an orphanage instead of raising him as Prince Horace. Go girl give us nothing

And from here the LL timeline begins, as Eugene and Arnie are now twelve year olds (I think?) in an orphanage in Corona. Which is the first contradiction to 'canon' but shelve that thought for now. Eugene and Arnie are good little boys but they're getting too old to keep hanging around and the orphanage needs money for the evil Tax Man, so they decide they'll go off into the world and send some money back when they're rich off their famous adventuring. What happens instead is that The Baron's circus rolls into town (yes that Baron) and Eugene and Arnie decide to try their luck signing up for that gig.

To prove themselves to the Baron, Flynn and Lance have to perform a hazing ritual a heist. The heist is literally just to buy a key from the Weasel but it plays out as this huge dramatic thing with a guard chase which is eternally funny to me because two kids walk into a bar, buy a key and then leave, and it's treated like fucking ocean's eleven. The Stabbingtons try to betray them (those guys are here too) but Flynn and Lance outsmart them, beginning a rivalry for the ages. Also, the pub thugs are all part of the Baron's circus crew. Don't think about it too much.

Anyway, as this has all been going down, Eugene is really interested in getting to talk to this guy with a tattoo of (what we as the audience know is) the brotherhood symbol, which Eugene recognises from the note left with him as a baby. He wants to talk to this dude in the hopes he'll get a clue about who his parents are, but this dude keeps eluding him. He also hasn't had a chance to tell Lance about this yet, so when Lance finds out about it he assumes Eugene only tried to rope him into the circus so he could find his parents and ditch him. Cue an ongoing silent treatment.

Eugene eventually does talk to this guy and he learns that the Brotherhood symbol is from the Dark Kingdom but the Dark Kingdom is gone so he shouldn't bother looking for it. Bummer. And now the Baron is planning a huge heist of the reward money for the Lost Princess' return, and Eugene is getting cold feet. He's been okay with a little bit of thievery so far but this feels like too much for him, and he's not okay with pulling it off but Lance still won't talk to him.

As the plan unfolds, Lance and Eugene reconcile and then they work together to betray the Baron and return the stolen treasure that they stole back to the King and Queen. They get caught by the Baron, escape, then get caught by the guards, but it's okay because they're presented to the King and Queen and when Eugene explains that they felt really sorry about it and promise not to do it again they're let go. And so the story ends on a high note.

My Thots™

Okay so here are the thoughts

Canon Compliance?

The obvious takeaway here is that this story offers you a beautiful pie in the form of the characters you know and love and the established lore, then shoves the pie in your face with things like "Eugene already knows the Dark Kingdom and the Moonstone exist but he never brings this up" and "Eugene betrays the Baron in a very significant way but somehow they'll make up and he and Stalyan will get engaged". Which means that if the integrity of the series is important to you, you'll probably just mentally cross out Eugene knowing about the Brohood/DK/Moonstone.

And imo that's fine! My own approach to this story is a kind of general 'if it works it works, if it doesn't I'll leave it' thing to work my own headcanons around. Because there's a lot of fun things to pluck from, like a new ex-Brotherhood member and other characters that could pop up from Eugene's past and other worldbuilding details.

The Story

The story was pretty short and obviously very tailored towards a younger audience, but it still felt kind of... slow? Mostly because nothing particularly exciting is happening until the big heist and even that feels pretty underwhelming. And of course I don't expect a story like this to be particularly complex and can appreciate its simplicity, but I felt like if it had been longer there could have been more twists to keep things interesting.

For example, the Baron is set up as a character not unlike Gothel, who lavishes praise upon the boys and goes on about how they're 'family' but is obviously just manipulating them and would throw them to the wolves in a heartbeat. Eugene underestimates just how criminal the Baron is, but at no point in the story does the doubt we have in the Baron's sincerity ever amount to anything- Eugene only turns against him because he has a morality crisis, which I'll get to in a minute.

Misc. Thoughts

Okay so one thing I thought was really cute was that each chapter has a little 'quote' from a Flynnigan Rider book, and I wrote them all down so if you've read this far and want me to post those separately lemme know. Anyway I just thought it was a very cute touch.

An honourable mention goes to every time Stalyan shows up, she doesn't really do anything in the story yet still is somehow the only character holding the brain cell. Rapunzel gets an indirect cameo by Lance and Eugene stumbling upon her tower and going "Whoa that's Crazy. Anyway. " which is amazing, and Cassandra even gets a little mention by the Captain! And to answer the question nobody asked, there's a chameleon running around Corona because she's an escapee from the circus, and Pascal's mom's name is Amélie!

Characters - okay really just Eugene

Eugene/Flynn is the title character of the book and we get the story exclusively from his POV, so there isn't a lot to say about Lance. On the one hand while I can acknowledge that this is a story about Flynn, not Lance, there's a few choices that feel like a missed opportunity at best given that this book really was an opportunity to explore Lance's character in a way the series never really does.

And it feels extra egregious when the plot demands conflict between Eugene and Lance, because while the emotion between them is engaging when it's happening, at other times it just feels like a convenient way to shove Lance offscreen again. (As a side note, as contrived as the conflict is these are also two twelve year old boys so. Can't blame em too much).

Also, Eugene coming up with the name "Lance Strongbow" on Lance's behalf while he's unconscious is one of those backstory things I'm not going to be acknowledging, thank you.

The Robin Hood Dilemma

Something I touched on after reading What Once Was Mine is that Eugene's characterisation prior to the movie isn't something writers seem to really like... dealing with. And it kind of makes sense that the author received a lot of characterisation notes from Chris Sonnenburg, because little Flynn does feel very similar to the Eugene we know; only the Eugene we know is an adult man who has since grown out of his Flynn Rider persona. But the Flynn Rider persona he needed to grow out of isn't something that ought to be cast aside entirely!! Stop being cowards!!

Taking a step back, the whole premise of the book is kind of a paradox- because Eugene needs to become Flynn Rider before he can learn to embrace his authentic self, but Flynn Rider isn't hero material, he isn't a good guy, he's not the right protagonist for a story for kids. So what we get isn't Flynn Rider, it's really just Eugene trying on a new name. That works for the beginning of the story, because he is just Eugene trying on a new name, but he doesn't grow into it.

At the beginning of the story, Eugene is an orphan in a poor but still functional orphanage run by a kind old lady, and he is surrounded by nice little boys. Eugene is motivated to leave and get a job by a desire to send funds back to the orphanage, and when he joins the Baron's circus he's taken aback to learn he's among thieves. Here's where I thought: okay, this might get interesting. We might be getting a G-rated 'angel falls from heaven' story about Eugene being morally corrupted by the Baron, of learning that the world outside is tough and he needs to look out for himself first and foremost-

but no. The Baron shares his plan to steal the reward money for the Lost Princess, because all the people he's surrounded himself with are already criminals who don't give a shit, but Eugene thinks that this is going too far! What about that poor lost princess who people need an incentive to search for? (he's like, projecting about his own parent issues which is fair, but still). And so the story ends with Eugene turning on the Baron to return the money to the "right" people (aka the king and queen of a kingdom?? okay) but he takes a single golden egg for himself so he can send it to the orphanage.

Which is all sweet and nice but. He still has to become Flynn Rider, asshole extraordinaire. He still has to lose his morals to the point where he'd take an inexperienced young woman to a pub that he, in this book, recognises is a dangerous place in the hopes that he can ditch her. He still has to go and become a wanted thief and rejoin the Baron and then ditch Stalyan on their wedding night.

The reason I'm going on about this so much is that the appeal of Eugene to me is that he is this good guy who wants to be a better person for the people he loves, but that means recognising that he has behaviour he needs to change, and his development is meaningful for that. Watering him down to a righteous Robin Hood hero does him a disservice.

The Real Villain Was Capitalism All Along

I will not elaborate nor should I

#hi i do book reviews now #sorry if you came here for anything else this is who i (cringe) am

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glorytoukraine2022 · 3 years

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Hey everyone! I’m back with another analysis! This time I’m going to do a comparison of reformed villains from Elena of Avalor and Tangled the Series. The main reformed villains I will be comparing is Cassandra, to four reformed villains from the two aforementioned shows. If you’re a fan of both shows, you probably might know who they are.

First up, will be Cassandra vs Varian. I know this is an obvious choice I’m starting off with, but given that these two are from the same show, they’re the easiest to analyze. TTS does everything it can to push comparisons between Varian and Cassandra and make them seem like parallels. However, these two couldn’t be more different.

Varian didn’t want to turn to crime. He only became a criminal because he was pushed to it. When Varian lost his dad, he asked for help not only from Rapunzel, but the entire kingdom as a whole. But because of a false rumor going around the kingdom claiming that Varian had attacked Rapunzel. Rapunzel never cleared the rumor, nor did she follow up on Varian’s request for help. The King sent guards to chase Varian out of his home in order to cover up the destruction of the rocks, isolating Varian from society and any possible aid. Varian was still wron, but he literally had no other options left.

Cassandra, however? She was faced with no such situation. Her life was pretty stable when she stole the moonstone. Was it perfect? No, but if she was so unhappy, than she could have left anytime. She was even offered an opportunity to become a warrior of the kingdom of Ingvarr, but chose to stay because of her friendship with Rapunzel.

Like Varian, Cassandra too was mistreated by Rapunzel. I don’t blame either of them for wanting to leave her. Yet the show didn’t use any of these valid reasons as her motive for Cassandra stealing the moonstone. Instead, they decided to have Cassandra victim-blame Rapunzel for her own kidnaping.

The entirety of season 3, we see Cassandra gaslighting an abuse victim. Gothel didn’t kidnap Rapunze because she loved her more than Cassandra. She only cared about her magic hair.

Varian realized his actions were wrong long before the events of season 3, but nobody in Corona gave him a chance, leading to him turning to a Terrorist Leader. But when the Saporians revealed that they were going to destroy Completely using Varian’s chemicals, Varian turned against the Saporians to save Corona and it’s citizens, despite how the kingdom mistreated him, because it was the right thing to do. Cassandr, on the other hand, was about to rip the Sundrop straight from Rapunzel, despite her clearly being in pain.

For my next comparison, it will be Cassandra vs. Victor and Carla Delgado. One could argue that Cassandra saw the power of the moonstone as a power conduit and a means of respect, similarly to how Victor and Carla saw being Malvagos. However, given that TTS does seem to give a clear or specific reason for Cassandra’s theft of the stone, it’s honestly hard to say if power, respect or anything, for that matter, is Cassandra’s motive. “Destiny“, is also given as a motivation, but it’s hard to tell. Whereas Victor and Carla’s motivations for becoming Malvagos is clearly stated that they saw it as a means to gain power, in order to gain respect, which, quite frankly, makes more sense than anything that came out of Cassandra’s mouth throughout her entire villain arc.

Yes, Cassandra and Carla were both abandoned by their naristsstic, power-hungry mothers, but the way each of them reacted to it couldn’t have been more different. When Ash betrayed Victor and Carla by turning Victor to stone, Carla was devastated, and who wouldn’t be? Yet in that moment she saw her mother for who she truly was and turned against her, standing by her father when he needed her.

Now Cassandra? Let’s see, she went on a rampage to hurt her friends and others innocent people and ATTACKED her father. See the difference? One could argue that Cassandra was four when Gothel abandoned her whereas Carla was 19, but Cassandr’s memory of Gothel’s abandonment was repressed until Zhan Tiri showed it to her in The House of Yesterday’s Tomorow. Even though it happened when Cassandra was at a young age, when she remembered it, she was a 24 year old woma, and should have handled it with the maturity of a young adult.

Nobody is saying that Cassandra isn’t allowed to feel hurt. Nobody is saying she isn’t allowed to react badly. That she isn’t allowed to confront her father on the truth if she feels that he kept it from her. But you’d think she’d react in a mature manner. That she’d be willing to hear her father out and talk to him about it rather than straight out attack him!

Carla clearly wanted her mother in her life. She wanted a relationship with her. Cassandra also clearly wanted to be raised by her birth mother, but their mothers made their own choices. Ash and Gothel chose to abandon their daughters for selfish purposes. They can’t change who their mothers are, as much as they might want to. The difference is, only Carla has the maturity to realize that. She also realizes that she has her father, who loves and cares about her more than anything in the whole wide world. Cassandra disregards all of this.

From what we know about Victor and Carla’s childhoods’ Victor had fun days at the palace racing Esteban down the halls, playing hide and seek and cooking with him and Elena. Carla had fun cooking with her father as a child. But some of their lines from “Don’t Look Now”, tell us that their childhoods weren’t exactly peachy. According to Victor, if you had seen him as a child, he would have “always had a frown” because he was put down by others and was “treated like a clown” whenever he tried to stand up. And let’s not forget that him and his family were banished by Shuriki while Victor was still in his teens.

According to Carla, she and Victor were “always on the move“ and that the only thing that never changed was that she would “always feel alone.” The reasons she and Victor could never settle down was probably because they survived as theives and con-artists. If they were alwlays on the move, than Carla probably nevertheless had the chance to make friends growing up. And we’re suppoesd to feel sorry for CASSANDRA?!

While it’s possible she might have felt looked down upon like Victor, Cassandra had a pretty stable life growing up. Growing up inside a CASTLE! She was even allowed to train for the Royal Guard at age six! Victor and Carla had to resort to becoming con artists for a living, and Cassandra is pouting just because she didn’t get the job she wanted?!

When Carla nearly fell to her death after she was knocked over a ledge, Victor was terrified that he was going to lose Carla right then and there, causing him to realize that power wasn’t worth the price of losing his daughter. This gave him the incentive and courage to stand up to Ash for Carla’s safety, and end dark pursuits right then and there. Ash responded to this by turning him into stone. Heartbroken and angered by Ash’s betrayal, and realizing her mother’s true nature, Carla stands against Ash and reforms as well.

Victor and Carla may have once believed that power would gain them the respect they’ve always wanted, but in the end, realized that they never needed power. All they ever truly needed to be happy was love and family. Each other. That’s what I call a true, remarkable redemption. Cassandra didn’t seem to learn or realize anything based on her experience. To this day, I still don’t understand just what new insights and changes resulted from Cassandra’s “redemption.” All Zhan Tiri did was take the moonstone from her. There should have been more than that to her redemption.

Now, last, but not least, Cassandra vs Esteban. Now, I saved this one for last, because Esteban is the one I’ve heard people compare Cassandra to, and while I understand where they are coming from, I still have my objections. I’ve heard people compare Esteban to Cassandra based on the fact that they both had a desire to be noticed. While I understand this comparison, I still feel like Esteban is the more sympathetic of the two.

As much as Esteban wanted to be listened to, he always loved his family deeply. But he always made the mistake of trusting the wrong people, first Shuriki, then Ash, and then the Four Shades. He trusted them, only for them to go after the people he loved and wanted to listen to him in the first place. Cassandra wanted to be listen to, but she didn’t care if it cost her everyone that had ever cared about her. We see this early on in season 1, during “Challenge of the Brave”, when she tries to sabotage Rapunzel’s chances in “Challenge of the Brave” by stealing her weapon of choice, and in “Great Expotations“, when she breaks her promise to Varian that she would be his assistant at the Science Expo if he completed her Handmaiden duties for her, just so she could be on guard duty.

Both Cassandra and Esteban are ambitius and have sought to undermine their family/friends if given the oppourtunity, but I felt that Esteban was always more misunderstood whereas Cassandra was just willing to screw over anybody in her way. Think about it, even after Esteban joined up with Ash, he NEVER EVER wanted to hurt his family, and was always going out of his way to protect them and migiate harm. Cassandra, on the other hand? Went on a killing spree to murder her friends and cause as much destruction as possible.

I have also heard people comparing their redemptions and complaining about how they were both “last minute.” While I would agree in regards to Cassandra, I would NOT say the same about Esteban. As I pointed out in previous paragraph, Cassandra was still hell bent on hurting Rapunzel before Zhan Tiri grabbed the moonstone. Just before that scene, Esteban had just sung a duet with Elsa about how remorseful he feels for everything he’s done and all the people he’s hurt.

Iv’e also heard people comparing their “deaths”, claiming that Cassandra dying was a self sacrifice. NO. I REPEAT. Cassandra’s death in the TTS finale was NOT a self sacrifice! A self sacrifice is when you knowingly put yourself in harm’s way for someone or something else, knowing that you’ll be killed, or seriously injured in the process. Esteban teleporting in front of Elena to take Cahu’s time grain, was a self sacrific. Anna choosing to save Elsa from Hans in Frozen was a self sacrifice. Cassandr’s death was NOT self sacrifice. Cassandra and Rapunzel didn’t believe they were going to die or suffer any consequences by uniting the stones. The only person who they bellived would die was the person who United the stones, that person being Zhan Tiri. Cassandra’s actions were not self sacrificial, in any way, shape or form. What Esteban did for Elena in that moment was more powerful than anything Cassandra did in the finale.

All of these people I talked about above were better villains than Cassandr, with much better motivations, and are More worthy of redemption as have becom better people than she ever will be. If Cassandra ever grows in the futur, sh’ll be lucky if she ever gets at least half to where all these wonderful people are today.

I’m sorry if this analysis isn’t as good as my others so far. I stayed up until 3:40 AM writing this, so I apologize for any sloppiness or spelling mistakes you might see. I still hope you enjoyed my thoughts!

#elena of avalor #eoa #Carla Delgado #Victor Delgado #tangled varian #chancellor esteban #anti cassandra #tts #tangled the series #rapunzles tangled adventure

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argentdandelion · 3 years

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How to Speedrun the Infinity Train

How to Speedrun the Infinity Train: Part 1

1. Can you exit the Infinity Train without ever fixing your problems?/Summary of the “Expected Course”.

“Every passenger is important. Their well-being and progress is what the train is all about. All aboard the growth train! Toot-toot!” (One-One’s note to Amelia)

The Infinity Train’s purpose seems to be quantifying the severity or complexity of Passengers’ problems via numbers on their hands and sending them to a train car so they can progress through cars’ scenarios, which will eventually lead to emotional growth. Commonalities in Passengers’ character arcs suggest one gets one’s number to zero and therefore leaves by a combination of right thought and right action, to the end of giving up, letting go, moving on, or otherwise no longer caring about the particular issue that got them aboard the Train. It seems people are intended to deal with their problems by emotional growth through self-understanding or introspection, not, say, gaining emotional skills in unrelated fields and suddenly no longer caring about an issue for reasons one can’t explain.

In a way, the Infinity Train is like a video game in which the end goal is going home after achieving sufficient emotional growth to deal with one’s “boarding problem”. But is it possible to “speedrun” this game, without ever taking the expected course of going through cars, introspection on one’s problems, and conscious personal improvement?

Absolutely. And the methods to do so can get really weird.

2. Can You Ignore the Infinity Train’s Resources?

“The Train is filled with all sorts of things that can help you learn about yourself and grow as a person!” One-One, in an informational video

Judging by what One-One says and the commonalities of different passenger arcs, it seems it’s expected Passengers will travel through cars, have a denizen companion, interact substantially with Denizens, and know that their numbers exist and their function. However, it is possible to ignore or bypass these expectations and still get one’s number down to zero. Indeed, it's likely: if One-One's description of how people are assigned numbers ("numerical algorithmic judgment") also applies to how they lower. After all, algorithms can be tricked.

Skipped: Going Through Cars

It seems Simon stayed with The Cat for months in just one car and his number got very low. It may be that just being in one car for the entire time can lower one’s number to zero if just one car can provide sufficient opportunities and incentive to deal with one’s problems. For example, if Simon’s initial problem was something simple, like some low-level manifestation of “fear of abandonment”, it could be treated by having a dependable parental figure who always came back. In such a case, it seems plausible that living in Le Chat Chalet and waiting for The Cat to come back after her lengthy trips outside would gradually lower his number. (Since little of Simon’s backstory is shown, it’s unclear whether he boarded with a small number, his number gradually went down just by being in one car, or his number went down rapidly after a short time period of traveling through cars)

Skipped: A Denizen Companion, or Any Denizen Interaction

"Always remember - there are lots of denizens along the way to help you on your journey! Don't be afraid to reach out!" One-One, in an informational video

Judging by One-One, the Flec Mace, and observing the episodes, Denizens and especially “companions” (friendly denizens who travel with Passengers), seem to exist to help passengers with their emotional growth in some way. They can help by being friendly, presenting challenges, or even being outright antagonistic or threatening: Marcel of The Map Car could have been designed to give people the courage to stand up to harmful people or dangerous situations, for example.

However, in Tulip’s case, one of her companions was One-One, who’s surely not a denizen as the Train’s Conductor, and some of her number-dropping can be attributed to interactions with him (e.g., in “The Unfinished Car”). It’s also probable Grace’s number dropped prior to “Le Chat Chalet” because of the time she spent being friendly with Hazel, a denizen, despite not knowing Hazel was a denizen at the time.

Most convincingly, interactions between passengers can lower numbers. Amelia’s number drops when she thanks Grace for her help, Grace’s number drops when she confronts Simon in “The New Apex” and when talking with the Apex kids, and the Apex kids’ numbers change (likely dropping) when Grace tells them they can’t be Apex anymore in the aforementioned episode. Given how quickly a number can increase within seconds (e.g., Tulip walking away from Ghom-Atticus), Grace’s rate of number increase between meeting Simon and the memory flashback in her memory tape is actually very low, and it only progresses past her palm and later to her elbow some time after founding the Apex.

Keep in mind numbers can go down just for doing basic nice things (e.g., Amelia thanking Grace for help), though numbers going down for basic nice things isn’t guaranteed. (At age 10, Grace’s number is 148 both before and after comforting Simon.) It’s worth mentioning they would still have to deal with their problems, not just live a comfortable and stable life: if just having a dependable friend would have been sufficient for Simon to deal with his (probable) abandonment issues, Simon’s number would have gotten to zero long before he was 18.

Skipped: Knowing the Numbers Exist, and Their Function

Tulip’s number was 89 during the first DolphWorld flashback in The Cat’s Car. It’s last seen in that episode at either 45 or 15, depending on the length of the vertical line in the first number, which isn’t fully seen. By the time she checks on it by the end of The Chrome Car, it goes down only briefly, and ends at 3. Judging by how the number flickers only briefly by the end of The Chrome Car, it’s probable Tulip’s number lowered during The Unfinished Car and The Chrome Car, strongly suggesting passengers don’t need to know their number values for them to lower. The fact Simon’s, Grace’s, and Amelia’s numbers are so incredibly large would make it difficult to recall the exact numbers, anyway, and yet Grace and Amelia did get number drops.

Jesse's number doesn't increase when he supports the “new Alan Dracula” or orders Alan Dracula to laser away the vines (not expecting him to actually do it).

This would suggest not every instance of behaviors or attitudes away from emotional growth or fixing problems causes numbers to go up. That might explain the very slow pace of Simon’s and Grace’s number-raising, despite being on the Train for years.

#Text Post #Infinity Train #Meta #Analysis #Tulip (Infinity Train)#Tulip Olsen #Jesse (Infinity Train)#Jesse Cosay

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sepublic · 4 years

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Ideas for a Blight Twins Episode

Continuing off of some ideas from a previous ask;

Jerbo and Edric isn’t a very popular ship (not disliked, just not widespread), and I know there’s no canon basis whatsoever for Vinira, alas... But I really do like the idea of Edric learning to be his own person, apart from Emira, WITHOUT necessarily finding this through romantic love? It’d be a way of showing that other forms of love are perfectly valid… And it kind of reminds of some of those aroace headcanons I saw for Ed, a while back!

Maybe it could even tie into his insecurity of not wanting to be alone… Thinking that because he’s aroace, he’s somehow unlovable, and incapable of feeling loved; And his clinginess is a desperate way to avert this view of himself and his identity! So having Edric find meaning and identity by hanging out with, say, Lilith, Luz, and King… I think it’d be a great way for him to learn that not only is romance not required to ‘be your own person’, that you’re not somehow less grown up for not being in love… It’d also make him finally getting a ‘pet’ for himself more meaningful, too!

(And I see Edric as a kid at heart who never really got to be himself and had to grow up fast, and even as a rebel he still doesn’t let himself relax.)

And Edric is able to find solace in multiple different relationships at once, instead of clinging extremely to the one he has with Emira… Relationships with different meanings, with Lilith being a surrogate mother, Luz being a regular friend/sister-in-law, and King… Well, I’m not sure WHAT King is, a little brother? Regardless, it’d really expand Edric’s horizons and allow him to experience ‘love’ in a different way that isn’t necessarily related to just being a blood sibling… Which could alleviate his concerns about never having a bond as close as his with Emira.

THAT could then tie to Edric realizing and understanding Emira’s desire to be her own person more… As for Emira and any interactions with Viney, she might simply recognize how Viney and the other Detention Kids found solace through solidarity and shared similarities, and interactions; But still manage to be their own people! Though, they aren’t siblings, so there might be more of a desire to meet someone who can make it clear to Em that, no, you aren’t going to lose your identity by being close with your sibling…. Again, this ties back to my idea of Eda being a good mentor to Emira as well.

At the very least, being around Viney, Jerbo, and Edric, who are understandably more sensitive, could lead Emira to being a lot more mindful and understanding of how others feel, and not necessarily steamrolling over that like her mother Odalia would… THAT could translate to her paying attention to Edric’s concerns and at least respecting them, instead of just casually throwing them to the side; Even if she still disagrees, at least she considered his side of the story first!

Emira is someone who got defensive, in her attempts to be ‘herself’, by feeling like she had to push Edric away and become closed-off… When Edric suggests discussing their worst fears, Emira looks away as she says something that shuts him down- Even if it WAS likely honest, she low-key discouraged any further openness between the two at that point. And while it’s important for Emira to be her own person… Perhaps by opening up to Viney and the others, she could realize she’s still her own person, and better able to appreciate that- Especially since Emira opening up allows herself to be, well, herself around Viney, instead of just the confident mask she’s put up as a charming Blight!

And because the twins are more honest and open with each other… It could lead to them being even closer, as again- They no longer fear having to hide or suppress parts of themselves, in fear of jeopardizing their conformity (which they mistake as synonymous with their bond), and in turn, they can enjoy one another while being happier individuals… And NOT worry about losing themselves in the process, because they know who they are, they know the other twin respects that, and they have other connections as well!

…Legit, I have to wonder how Amity would react to all of this. If she may feel obligated to step in, or just stand back and let the Twins figure themselves out… Obviously she’d CARE for the two and be concerned. But at the same time, they ARE closer to one another than Amity… And I can see Amity being afraid of either twin singling her out as a new sibling-bond to form in the absence of their other one, for Emira to get away from Edric’s in her case, and Edric to replace the one he can’t back with Emira. Maybe it could lead to either twin trying to be more appealing to Amity, being less themselves to get her approval; And Amity, who initially may find it amusing, quickly shuts them down because she sees herself in them… And she does NOT want to make others feel obligated to change themselves for her approval, because they feel like they have nobody else!

Which, that’d likely lead to Amity either participating in encouraging either sibling to mature, to grow… But given how she’s got her own issues, more than likely she’d recognize that it’d be mutually health for them both to split off for now. At the very least, she doesn’t want to risk taking advantage of Emira or Edric… And either twin might feel disgruntled at Amity, but then remember they were also cruel to her in the past ‘for her own good’, but on the other hand, THAT hadn’t been for her own good after all- So who was to say that Amity was correct, pushing away the other twin and not accepting their friendship (laced with dependency) ‘for their own good’?

Regardless- It’d probably make Amity feel worse if one twin, or both, began to depend on her. She already feels like she has to conform to what her parents expect of her, what Boscha and the others expect of her as the top student… So it’d just put more pressure on Amity to take care of others, VS herself; Especially since she admittedly is not responsible for Emira and Edric’s identity issues this time, unlike with Willow. Plus, she may not be in the right mindset to help them either, as she’s still figuring herself out with Luz…

Not to mention, Emira and Edric may or may not have reservations about having to depend on their own little sister for help; And they might be too aghast at forcing Amity to take care of the other. Maybe they wouldn’t want to keep bothering her after everything else, after seeing how much they already hurt Amity, who tried to be both like AND unlike them, paradoxically, at the same time (tried to have the same talent but not be a rebel). There might be the insecurity from Ed and Em both that as lonely individual who barely have their own identity, they might just screw over Amity further… Amidst some pride and shame at being seen like in front of their little sister.

Though, I can ALSO imagine a hilarious scenario where Emira and Edric viciously compete for Amity’s affection, offering incentives and favors, maybe aggressively downplaying the other and holding a bit of a grudge… Until for her own health, Amity tells them to STOP, and leave her alone and figure their own issues out, on their own- Or with literally anyone else!

I can totally see them going to Luz for help, though… Or again, maybe not- They might see Luz as too cool for them by this point, since Emira and Edric DO seem legitimately fond of Luz, as someone who is likely their only friend outside of the family, and the only person who actively reciprocated friendship with them and wanted to earn approval! Emira and Edric might feel obligated to still be those too-cool-for-school twins, so they may avoid telling Luz about their own problems to ‘live up to her expectations’, afraid Luz would no longer like them as much for being so ‘pathetic’… When in reality, Luz likes the twins as whoever they are, whoever they choose to be! She’s interested in getting to knowthem, whether or not that identity matches the façade the Twins have put up or not; It makes no difference to her.

Still, I can see Emira and Edric trying to start ‘fresh’ with a total stranger… But as I said before, Edric isn’t identical to Emira and vice-versa. So ultimately, while I think Emira would have more of those reservations about opening up to Luz, as I mentioned earlier; Edric is someone who’d just want companionship, and thus be more liable to others’ opinions for approval. In this scenario, this could be good for him, as then Edric would be more receptive to genuine, positive feedback from Luz… as well as Lilith, etc.

Like, I’m just imagining a hypothetical episode of the Blight Twins doing some soul-searching, beginning with the separation and following Emira and HER misadventures with Viney… Emira assumes it’ll be oh-so-easy, that she can rely on that charm and confidence and just that, no being open or honest and vulnerable… Which then leads into that fan concept of Emira trying to connect with Viney, but because Em refuses to be up-front about her feelings because she thinks she has to be ‘cool’ to get affection from a stranger, Viney just thinks the girl is out to murder her!

Emira gets more and more frustrated, ends up accidentally tormenting Viney while Jerbo and Barcus are forced to defend her… And eventually Luz or somebody else, maybe Willow, just throws in their two cents and tells Emira to be straight-forward; Exactly like that ‘Stop lying, stop manipulating, just be nicer’ meme, and Emira is just utterly lost and baffled; But she finally obliges and it works out! And after experiencing happy, formulating relationships, Emira appreciates Edric’s concerns more, and then wonders what happened to him and how he’s doing…?

And then once THAT ends, we immediately cut to see what Edric was doing; And how alone and dejected after she basically ‘ditched’ him, we have a humorous montage of Edric wandering Bonesborough like a traveling vagrant without a home, connections, or identity…Even though he’s not, but he’s being dramatic! And as he sits by himself alone, he ends up picking up a pet or two that he befriends, because it just strolls up to him and sits down besides Edric in mutual solidarity, as he starts talking to it… Openly appreciating the company, and then maybe projecting some of his own insecurities regarding him and Emira.

Then maybe the ‘pet’ leaves him by that point, and Edric starts crying out in abandonment! A mean yet hilarious wake-up moment, perhaps alluding to Edric pushing people away for being too clingy and projecting his needs onto them. Maybe Ed DOES find a proper pet, then or later…! Either way, his wandering leads him to the Owl House- Either he sees Eda and the others selling stuff and follows them, he just ends up there on his own, or he deliberates on his other connections, dismissing going to Mittens as ‘too desperate’, even for him; And then he brightens up and remembers Luz, remembers how she always makes people happy, including Mittens of all people! If Luz can help Amity, she can help Edric… And somewhere along the way, Edric is surprised to find himself valuing an unexpected bond with Lilith, and maybe the other Owl House residents as well!

Certainly not Hooty, though, even if him and Edric may share issues of being ‘desperate’ for companionship. Hooty is a freaking war criminal. Actually… perhaps like Eda in Episode 9, talking to Hooty will help Edric realize where he messed up, and/or come to an epiphany of what he might become, or do to others! In turn, he appreciates Emira’s decision more… Maybe Ed bolts off, understanding how Emira may have viewed him, but he also still needs to figure out how to value himself, and Emira’s desires VS Emira just not wanting to be with someone so ‘desperate’, as it leads to Edric thinking he needs to be more confident just to win back his sister. Either way, Hooty is left in the dust mid-sentence, RIP. Maybe Edric even narrates his realization aloud, ending on him declaring that he doesn’t want to be like Hooty, right to Hooty’s accursed face!

As Edric gets along with everyone, maybe he picks up a pet, possibly with Viney’s help… And he learns to respect wild animals as their own creatures with their own lives, and not just toys for him to kidnap and take into his own possession! Edric respects the autonomy of these animals, that they don’t owe him anything and he can’t just force a bond… And like with Emira, he better understands how his sibling felt!

The two meet again, talk awkwardly, mention to their individual journeys in passing, possibly with the others watching- And they have a tearful reunion hug! Maybe Amity even joins in, because why not- She’s happy to see her older siblings healing like Luz did for her, and this could make all three Blight kids better with one another. Of course, Ed and Em ‘ruin’ the moment by teasing Amity but messing with her, but in the end everybody is happy, and Luz does that ugly-crying face from the end of Understanding Willow, reveling in and appreciating wholesomeness.

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house emira #emira blight #the owl house edric #edric blight #the owl house amity #amity blight #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house viney #vinira

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tatticstudio55 · 4 years

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Jon and Dany – both beyond the Wall at the end?

DAY SEVEN (Sunday, August 2nd) Leadership | Free Choice | DoS: Royal Retirement / Passing the Torch

This is less meta-ish and borders more on the speculative side, but I’d like to discuss a Jon and Dany (potential) ending I’ve never seen anyone talk about before: them ending both beyond the Wall, living with the free folks/as free folks. So, basically, the ending Jon got on the show, but with Dany by his side. I would even go as far as to say that the showrunners might have considered it.

This is not by any means “my ideal” Jonerys ending. That would be Jon and Dany settling on Dragonstone with a bunch of targlings and wild dragons. I do not, alas, think this is where the story is going. I do not expect either (or both) of them on the IT either. On the other hand, an ending with them both beyond the Wall seems to me like it could work with the overall story. There is already some book evidence/foreshadowing pointing to Jon’s endgame there, notably in ASOS when he (forgive my French) “finds himself” beyond the Wall:

“On the edge of the haunted forest, where the tents had been, Jon found an oakwood stump and sat.

Ygritte wanted me to be a wildling. Stannis wants me to be the Lord of Winterfell. But what do I want? The sun crept down the sky to dip behind the Wall where it curved through the western hills. Jon watched as that towering expanse of ice took on the reds and pinks of sunset.

[…]

He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. A hunger . . . he could feel it. It was food he needed, prey, a red deer that stank of fear or a great elk proud and defiant. He needed to kill and fill his belly with fresh meat and hot dark blood. His mouth began to water with the thought.

It was a long moment before he understood what was happening. When he did, he bolted to his feet. "Ghost?" He turned toward the wood, and there he came, padding silently out of the green dusk, the breath coming warm and white from his open jaws. "Ghost!" he shouted, and the direwolf broke into a run.

[…]

He had his answer then.” Jon XII, ASOS

Dany is more of a wild card, but even the show gave us SOME reasons to believe that D&D played with the idea at some point: the pregnancy bait, Dany’s comment in 7x07 about King’s Landing and how “constrictive” the Dragonpit felt, Dany’s “we could stay here a thousand years. No one would find us” line in 8x01. Most importantly, back when I was watching season 7, this is the impression I was getting (from the showrunners):

Dany is a good person at heart, but she would not make a good queen nor would she like being queen.

I do not wholly agree with this, especially if we are talking about bookDany, who would make – and is – a much better queen than she is given credit for, but it looked to me like this is where the show was going with her. Or, at least, this is the message they were trying to communicate. They were not trying to “hide” Dany’s dark turn from the audience by making her or trying to make her bad-good-bad-good-bad-good, they simply had another endgame in mind for the character. I do not want to make this about the show but had to get this out of the way.

Now onto bookDany:

A while ago, I posted a meta where I discussed a pattern in Daenerys’s story: twice she succeeded at something magical, highly dangerous and related to dragons, and twice after she ended up in a desertic environment, thirsting, starving and nearly dying from exposition. Following the rule of 3 (which is especially predominant in her arc), it will probably happen again and – since there is no Great Grass Sea in Westeros – the “desertic environment” swallowing her afterward will be the frozen lands beyond the Wall. It could mean that she will die there, but it could also mean that she will simply disappear there. Her fate could also be revealed to the reader while remaining unknown to most characters. This would fit with Dany’s current representation in the story so far: she is an enigma, a rumor; nobody really knows her whereabouts, who she is, what she is, what she wants, what she has, if she is even real.

There are numerous parallels to be drawn between Daenerys and Mance Rayder, which I covered here. I would love the irony of Dany coming to Westeros thinking she is reclaiming her family’s lands, only to settle in the only part that was never conquered by the Targaryen. There is the (disputable, ok, but) fact that the only region in all of the continent where dragons could turn up useful for tree planting would be beyond the Wall (so frozen soil can be thawed and warmed up for plants to grow there again). Martin hung a pretty riffle on the metaphorical Wall when Silverwing refused to fly across in Fire and Blood. There is this pattern of wildling women making up Jon’s romantic prospects; first a wildling “commoner” (Ygritte), then a wildling “princess” (Val), then a wildling “queen” (Dany, eventually, if this theory proves to be correct). So of course, you will ask –

If this is Martin’s intended ending, why couldn’t the d’s just go with it?

Well, because the d’s never gave Dany any incentive to go beyond the Wall, apart from a brief rescue mission back in season 7. If Dany must end up there, something has got to bring her there and the show scrapped or discarded all of it : no Lands of Always Winter, no curtain of light, no this, no that, no nothing. And once she gets there in the books, because I am quite sure she will, she will not come back. The North is Dany’s ultimate destination. No yoyoing back and forth North and South like what the show did. That was just dumb. Travel time and distances should mean something, even if you have dragons (plus, Dany’s armies would have to travel on foot, horseback or by boat, like everybody else). The closest of yoyoing we have ever gotten in asoiaf was probably with Catelyn, it spanned three books, and she never made it back North anyway.

Did the d’s consider going with that ending? They might just. The clues were certainly there (see above…) but at some point, they must have realized that it would not work with the hole they had dug themselves in.

Now about the elephant in the room

I know some people will think that Dany ending beyond the Wall does not make much sense for her story, which technically (so far) does not have much to do with the lands beyond the Wall. In a way, I agree. Some people would also find such an ending anticlimactic to her arc and a waste after everything she has learned about leadership and politics in Meereen. I also agree. On a watsonian level, an ending with, say, Dany as a queen in Westeros – I think it works. Of course, I do. Where it does not work is on a doyalist level. Dany already had her arc of becoming queen. She achieved that by the end of book 3. Then she had to learn all the nit and gritty and dirty work of ruling over the rubble of a corrupt system while trying to make the lives better for everyone. If Dany becomes queen in Westeros, the same thing will happen again. Different setting, different people, same story. Some people have criticized the underlying message of Dany’s fight against slavery as “only a preparation” for what comes next in Westeros, saying it would undermine the real value of Dany’s work in Essos. I agree. However, the same problem applies if Dany becomes queen in Westeros: then her time in Essos is reduced to a prop up, a preparation, as if ruling Essos were somewhat less important than ruling Westeros. Furthermore, I cannot imagine an ending where Dany, still in possession of significant military forces – significant enough to secure her a crown, anyway – could choose to settle in Westeros without being plagued with guilt over leaving Essos’s slaves behind. I am sorry, I just cannot.

This is also, I think, where part of the “Dany is not a peace time queen” mentality comes from. Dany will never be a peace time queen, not because she prefers war, or because she does not want peace, but because what she is trying to achieve, in these times and places, means a lifetime of war. You cannot undo and rebuild an entire system that is rotten at its core in a single lifetime (heck, even show!Tyrion said this to her, for what the show is worth now…), much less in a few years. Dany is not a peace time queen because she is not a queen that is interested in maintaining the statue quo. At least that is how her time in Meereen revealed her. Arya would not be a peace time queen either. Jon would not be a peace time king. They could never be, less they abandoned their ideals and their ethics for a more comfortable life.

Then you might say that an ending where Dany goes back to Essos works too. It does – once again, on a watsonian level. What is the problem with this on a doyalist level? It turns Dany into a deus ex machina, coming to Westeros just in time to save it, then leaving it right after, as if neither the Others, nor her had ever been there.

The two remaining options are: either she dies a queen in Westeros, most likely during the Great War, or… the queen, Daenerys Targaryen, dies, while Dany lives.

That means that all reasonable possibilities, or choices, to keep on fighting as a queen are taken from her. Maybe her forces were severely depleted during the Great War. Maybe her dragons died. Maybe both. Maybe her function, not as an individual, but as a character in a specific story called A song of ice and fire, was to destroy an old system (AND to inspire others to follow in her footsteps, ensure that her efforts were not in vain, that the first steps will not go wasted, that the work she started will be taken up by other peoples, and others after them, and others after), not to rebuild the new one. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. Frodo Baggins’ role in The Lord of the Rings was to destroy something evil. His gardener Sam was the one who planted the trees and went on to become a mayor afterward. One was a destroyer and the other was a builder, but in the end, they were both heroes.

Not to mention that Frodo did not die at the end. You could say that he went on to live beyond the Wall too.

#ADOS speculation #jonerysweek2020 #jonerysweek #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #jonerys #bookjonerys

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akitokihojo · 4 years

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Delicate - Chapter 3

Inuyasha was unsuspecting of his own actions as time steadily progressed. Without realizing, he'd begun to scan the school grounds for Kagome, feeling a little less edgy when he'd spot her walking along or standing by, listening to her friend rant about something. Instead of appearing unaware and self-involved in the corridor, if he caught her scent or her voice, he'd glance over at her. She was almost always looking back. The real kicker that knocked the air from him was his unconscious reaction to her greeting. When did he go from brooding grunts to smiling hello's? Where was the shift? How was it suddenly so natural to respond to the upturn of her lips when she traveled over to him with a grin of his own.

He was beginning to panic.

Clearly, she was a dangerous creator of emotional turmoil. The same witchcraft Sango casted on the flirtatiously-smooth Miroku must have been casted on Inuyasha. And she was cruel enough to do that idiotically cute cock of her head when she greeted him after her seance had been completed. The audacity of this woman. There was no evidence of ritualistic activities in her room, though, sans for a scented candle on her nightstand which could potentially pass for something, but with how often his dumbass of a friend went on about that being the only feasible reason to his own problem, it had somehow weaseled its way into Inuyasha’s head that it was a tangible possibility for his, too. What else would explain the half demon suddenly growing mushy and nice after claiming from the get-go that he wasn’t worried about developing any sort of connection with her? So, he made it a point to check for clues when he visited for their study sessions. Nothing. Not a gothic, ceremonial, sacrificial, or satanic thing in sight. She was the epitome of bubbles and flowers - until she was mad. It was bullshit. Because all that meant was he was becoming just as fucked in the head as Miroku.

He'd told himself, just stop reacting. Mind your business. Keep your head down and go back to grunting, and the sensations will eventually go away for good. This isn't anything to worry about. But, then his eyes landed on her right after school one day. Koga stood a little too close for his liking, and she was giving the wolf that same smile that made his brain a little foggy. He didn't like it. It was a stiff awareness that crawled up his esophagus, that heated him unpleasantly, that tensed his jaw and sharpened his sight. He was jealous, and unwillingly so. He was wrong to think opening up even the slightest was harmless with Kagome. It was always the other person he had to push away; it was never - not once - himself that he had to hold back.

Every day since, he had to swallow his growl when he saw the jock joke around with Kagome, give playful touches to Kagome, ask Kagome if she wanted to go somewhere with him. Especially when the stupid wolf grasped for any excuse to talk to her while she was hanging beside Inuyasha. He had to remind himself, and he hated that he actually needed the reminder, that if he didn't want anything from her, he was in no position to give anyone else shit. Nor did he plan on giving anyone any insight on the feelings he was currently attempting to subside. It was irrational. He felt utterly foolish.

That was as far as he'd allow things to go.

Hey, gotta cancel tomorrow's study session. I'll let you know the next time I'm available.

Kagome grew increasingly disappointed the longer she stared at the text message. He'd been coming over every week for the past three months, multiple times a week more often than not. It was easy to grow accustomed to, and if anyone asked her, she'd be willing to admit she enjoyed the time they spent together. She'd learned how to bounce off of his attitude with her own, how to get him to admit little things he was reluctant to at first, how to read his sloppy handwriting - which was a feat on its own. She liked his presence most of all, because he wasn't as hostile or grumpy as looks would deem, but she also liked when he came over during the weekend and he wore one of those casual, v-neck shirts that didn't sink too low but showed the edge of his clavicles. She liked the way cotton sweaters hugged him, and how, no matter the weather, he still rolled up the sleeves of the shirt of his school uniform. She liked the way he leaned a little closer when she had questions about a problem, and how she could catch his pleasant and unnerving scent. She only had to deal with the rampant fluttering in her belly during the first two minutes of being with him - yes, she'd timed it - and then things would calm and everything flowed rhythmically from then on.

He was busy, he had a life, she totally got that. She was just bummed that she didn't get to see him this weekend when it had been something she’d been able to look forward to for a while now. Even when she caught the drift of her studies and he didn’t necessarily have to help her with anything, they’d sit and do homework together, and sometimes watch a movie in her room if they finished before he had to get home.

No worries! Have fun doing whatever!

She meant it. She really did. No one had to know she was ready to turn on anything emo by Avril Lavigne to drown out her exaggerated letdown. She wasn’t so selfish that she’d act like he owed her his time or anything. Just dramatic enough to wallow in self-pity with her bedroom door closed while absolutely ignoring every freaking thought that told her he might, might, be out with another girl.

Kagome wasn’t oblivious to the exact moment she’d sunk so low that she couldn’t convince herself into thinking she didn’t care for him passed study buddy material anymore. It happened rapidly; like the Twilight Zone’s Tower of Terror dropping six stories kind of rapid. He’d come over after school for not the first time, he’d greeted her mom and brother for not the first time, he’d carried the waters up for the umpteenth time, but then once the door was shut and the books were out, he brought up a picture on her bookshelf in the far corner of her room. It couldn’t have been the first time he’d seen it, but he acted like it was. He asked who was hugging her, and she told him that it was her dad. She could see the question on his face, how he hesitated to ask, how if she didn’t proceed on her own accord or changed the subject, he probably wouldn’t have fought her on it. Kagome didn’t have a problem talking about it, though. She’d come to terms with what had happened, and she trusted him more than enough to tell him the truth. About how her dad had gone missing when she was seven and found dead a week and a half later. Truthfully, she didn’t know the nitty gritty details of the incident, nor did she want to. She preferred that the last image she had of him in her head was the framed photo there on the shelf. Furthermore, she’d explained that that was why and how she’d learned her mom’s little habits of making sure she was home by checking for her shoes or her keys or little displacements of items in the kitchen or bathroom. And, it served as incentive for her to be a little less discreet about those indicators, while also not being obvious that she knew her mother’s secret, overprotective habits. It helped soothe her worries. This was also why she’d often walk her brother home from practice after school, or why she’d head to wherever necessary if her mom was working late to pick her brother up from his friends. Sota was only eleven, and the boy couldn’t hurt a fly if he tried. To spare her mom the ulcer, she played backup guardian to the twerp with minimal complaint.

When you tell someone a story like that, it’s reasonable to expect a bit of awkwardness to linger. Kagome was fully prepared to wave off the subject and give him the perfect setup to return to normal and call her dumb for not understanding the chemistry assignment she’d been given. It’s perfectly understandable for a person to not know how to respond to the subject, but Inuyasha was different. He was watching her almost the entire time she spoke; his eyes not drifting down or to the side in the air of discomfort. He was tense, but in a sympathetic way. And, when she shrugged and smiled at the end, concluding her explanation, Inuyasha shook his head and stroked her hair, apologizing for bringing it up in the first place.

Of course, she’d dismissed his apology. There was nothing to be sorry for. His hand had landed on her shoulder, his fingers threaded through her hair, and that was it. She remembered feeling hot in that moment, short of breath, lost and found in succession. That was the first time he’d touched her, and it was unbelievably tender.

Did he feel the same way towards her? Yeah, right. Kagome was on a one-way train to Painsville no matter what, and this was just the beginning if she didn’t get a grip. Sango liked to feed her hope, and Kagome would be lying if she said she didn’t appreciate it. That didn’t give her any reason to be obvious with her stupid, crippling crush, though. Anytime she wanted to get close to him, maybe graze his hand in a way she could pull off as casual, or even flirt like she had on that very first day, Kagome froze. Having feelings for someone was terrifying. You’re vulnerable and susceptible to unbelievable amounts of humiliation, and while Kagome was bold with her words, she wasn’t quite the same with her actions. At least, not in regards to this field.

Guys were supposed to make the first move, anyway. Not girls. Not her. And until then, until Inuyasha miraculously sprung some feelings for her too, she would be moping face-down on her bed.

Inuyasha only made it to her house once in a two week span. He hated admitting it, but it was hard to stay away. Kagome didn’t ask when he’d be able to again, and a small part of him wished she would. It was this nagging twinge in his heart wanting to know if she’d even cared or wanted him there, but no. He didn’t bring it up and neither did she. Of all the times for her to mind her business, this was when she chose to. So, he caved. He asked if she still sucked and needed help, and it seemed like her face lit up, his nerves grasping at any little cue that could spark needless anticipation. As if he wanted anything more to fuck him over. The original objective was to spend less time with her, and cut the chord he’s disturbingly developed. The former he was succeeding with; the latter was a different story, which became evident to him when she didn’t show up to school one day.

Kagome never missed class.

He told himself she’d probably caught a cold, but it didn’t help any. Answers were easily attainable, but seeking them out was too conspicuous; Sango was too clever not to immediately figure out his motive, and he could see her having too much fun taunting him before giving up an answer. Getting Miroku to ask Sango would send Miroku spiraling into a wild panic attack on the floor. Texting Kagome and asking, himself, was just purely out of the fucking question for no good reason other than preserving what was left of his sanity.

Throughout the day, his worry increased. Fuck if he knew why. He figured if Sango was fairing fine without her, he should be too. Right? But, her best friend most likely knew the reason she was out. He didn’t. He didn’t like that he didn’t know, either. Inuyasha liked knowing things. Kagome was fairly open with him. He should have just texted her. Chances were probable that she would have answered without skepticism. If he had just sent the damn message, he wouldn’t have felt so stressed right now. Yet, here he was, tapping his nail against the surface of the desk in his bedroom, knee bobbing erratically, completely frustrated - with his irrational mood more than anything.

“I’m going out real quick. Be back in twenty.” Inuyasha announced, throwing his jacket over his shoulders at the door. His uncle gave him a small acknowledgment from the living room, the words as horse and wheezy-sounding as usual, and the half demon slipped out the door without another word.

Kagome bounced around the center of her bedroom, light on her toes, swaying to the intro music of her favorite show on TV while she scooped small spoonfuls of ice cream from the pint in her hand. A couple soft knocks had her stop, the taps sounding like they’d come from glass but her common sense saying that wasn’t possible. She waited to see if she’d hear it again, willing to dismiss the noise as a creak in her floor, but when it did happen, she turned toward her window, a chill shooting up her spine as she saw Inuyasha staring through. Her gasp was loud and high-pitched, but the swear she let out was murmured between other swears beneath her breath.

The hanyou gestured for her to open the window, perched on the small roofing available from the first story.

“What are you doing?” Kagome hissed after dropping her pint on her desk, opening the frame for him to come through.

“I forgot something here. I wanted it back.” Inuyasha stated, keeping his tone casual.

“You forgot something here? Four days ago? And, you decided now is a good time to come get it?” She crossed her arms over her chest, watching as he twirled around the room to look for his object.

“Yup.”

“It’s eleven o’clock.”

“Yup.”

“What did you even forget?”

“My,” He delayed for a second, thinking. He’d rehearsed this the entire way here, yet he still blanked on his excuse. “Pin. Must have fallen out of my pocket.”

“Really? I haven’t seen any pins.” She mentioned, doubtfully.

“Oh, there it is.” He pointed to the small, golden crown pin stuck in her cork board. “You even made a home for it, liar.”

“That’s because it’s mine.” There was something off about him. Nothing that tipped her concern, but strange was strange nonetheless. She cocked a brow, and her lips inadvertently curved upward in response to it all. Even as he leaned over her mattress and stole the pin right out of the cork board.

“Oh. Well, does it have any sentimental value to you?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll just keep it to replace my own then.” He twiddled it in his fingers, shrugging resolutely.

“You’re being weird.” She pointed, entertained. “What’s wrong?”

“I told you, I forgot something.”

“Except you didn’t.”

“Except I did, and you weren’t at school for me to ask for it back. So, I took it upon myself to come get it.” His tone was slightly rougher than usual, gruff, and not cooperating to conceal his main purpose in the least. Was he worried about her, or just courageous enough to sneak over in the dead of night? “Speaking of which, you don’t look sick.”

“I’m not.” She disputed, a little surprised. “Sota tripped during soccer practice last night and broke his ankle. I stayed home to watch him so mom didn’t have to take off work.”

“Oh, shit.” Inuyasha’s brows pinched together. “Is he alright?”

“Yeah, he’s fine for the most part. Until he learns to crutch his way upstairs, the living room is his new bedroom for the time being.”

“Need any help taking heavy things down for him?”

“Nah, we got the important things down there so he’s comfortable. Besides, mom may not appreciate us making a ton of noise with that right now. But, thank you.” Kagome softly raked her teeth over her bottom lip.

He gave a slow nod, feeling a little stupid, wishing he’d just had the guts to text her. Seeing her, though, was so much more satisfying. His eyes travelled over her, taking in her camisole and flannel pajama bottoms, her bare feet, her messy waves, her makeup-less skin, and the glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. How did she still look beautiful? It was time for him to go.

“Alright, gramps, go to sleep. It’s passed your bedtime.” Inuyasha said huskily, brushing her shoulder on his way back to the window.

“Oh, wait.” Kagome went over to her nightstand, pulling the only drawer open and rustling through the miscellaneous belongings until her fingers pinched a small, rubber top. Turning back to him, she took the crown pin from his hand, pushing the sharp end through the top of the chest pocket of his jacket and fastening it there with the rubber. “There. So you won’t lose it again.”

“I’m not keeping it there.” Inuyasha shook his head, unamused. Still, she giggled, perfectly happy with her little stunt, giving it a pat for good measure.

“By the way, I won’t be at school tomorrow, either. Just in case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t.” He lied, slipping through the window frame.

“Just in case.”

“And, even if I was to begin with, is there any problem with me coming over to find out!?” There was the lick of defensiveness in his tone.

“Not really. Feel free to use the front door next time.” Kagome smiled.

“Yeah, because your mom would be so cool with me showing up this late at night.”

“Window’s fine, too.” She said, bobbing her head back and forth to agree with his point.

“Lock the hatch. And, get some better dance moves.” He said, though his small grin robbed his joke of all harshness. The half demon was light on his feet, easily scaling a nearby tree to reach the ground silently, walking through her front yard and disappearing passed the neighbor’s house.

It was comforting to know he cared. It was warming to think that he’d worried about her to the extent that he had to come see her. The joyful smile on Kagome’s face cramped her cheeks, her face hot and blustery as she shut the window.

—

He smelled the wretch before he’d even walked through the front gate, his chest clenching and abdomen going uncomfortably rigid. It was like anxiety instantaneously washed over him, making him angry, his fingers furling into fists, and his upper lip curling in a snarl. He was so fucking tempted to slam the gate shut and turn around to leave right then and there, but the scent of someone else along with their uninvited guest had his curiosity rising. To top it off, after all these years, Inuyasha wanted to know what the fuck this bastard could possibly want.

Upon entry, his stomach was almost in complete shambles. It was like he could physically feel his blood coursing rapidly through his veins, boiling, hot.

“Inuyasha, that you?” His adoptive uncle called, his elderly voice ringing from the living room. He didn’t answer. It was too fucking difficult to open his mouth without the threat of a fearsome growl coming out instead. “Come in here. I’m sure you’re aware that we have some visitors.”

The hanyou dropped his book bag in the entry hall, taking a deep breath that filled his tight chest as he moved his feet forward. Turning the corner, amber eyes immediately collided with matching amber before the opposing shifted away, utter disinterest marring his straight expression. His hair was nearly matching Inuyasha’s style, long and worn high, silver, straight, and making Inuyasha want to cut his length off entirely. Looking at him sitting there at the small table, the shape of his shoulders, his matured facial features, their numerous similarities, he realized how unforgivingly powerful their father’s genes were. He was glad, among all else, the big differentiation between the two of them were the ugly fucking facial birthmarks Inuyasha was spared.

“You’ve grown up, little brother.” Sesshomaru claimed in his monotonous voice. It was insane to notice that despite their separation, the asshole still hardly seemed to have changed.

“Yeah, that happens when you haven’t seen a person in eight years.” Came Inuyasha’s venom-laced reply. “What do you want?”

“Now, now, Inuyasha. Civility.” The old man said from the nearest end of the table.

“I come with news. I’ve already told Totosai, but he insisted I stay for dinner and tell you, as well.” Sesshomaru still wasn’t looking at him. It didn’t even seem like he was looking at his uncle. The arrogant bastard was looking through the old man; like they were beneath him.

Before Inuyasha’s relative further explained, small footsteps padded down the opposite end of the hall Inuyasha had just come from, walking toward them, humming softly and attracting one of his ears to twitch in their direction. He turned, seeing a small girl no more than five enter the room, large eyes looking up at him with curiosity and ample amounts of excited wonder. Her hair was messy, wavy, and a deep brown, long but half tied back to keep loose strands out of her face and at bay.

“Rin.” Inuyasha’s brother beckoned, and the little girl didn’t hesitate to follow the call, crossing the room to sit next to him. “I am getting married. This is my fiancé’s daughter, which I treat as my own. Though, I couldn’t care one way or the other, Kagura, my soon-to-be wife, finds it important I indulge you two in our happenings and introduce you to your niece.”

“Isn’t that nice, Inuyasha?” His uncle asked, his tone one that pushed for pleasantries from the hanyou.

“Yeah, sure. It’s nice that you’ve found someone to whip your ass into a family you won’t desert.”

“It’s hardly desertion if I had no responsibility to you.” Sesshomaru coldly replied, now looking through Inuyasha.

The little girl’s smile had faded, obviously picking up on the animosity in the room. He whole-heartedly pitied her for the guardian she’d been bequeathed. Sesshomaru was flaky and more emotionally constipated than Inuyasha could ever be accused of. Children deserved love and attention, and from his own experience, he just couldn’t see the plausibility that his brother could ever be capable of giving that to anyone. Then, as he focused on the innocent more intently, details became a little more clear.

“She’s,” He paused, a heavy disappointment sinking into his stomach. Betrayal began to crawl its way up his spine, through his muscles, into his throat to create weight in his words. His eyes flickered back to Sesshomaru’s. “She’s human?”

“Mostly.” He responded with a single nod, not a shred of guilt in his tone. His hand rose to land on the top of Rin’s head, softly stroking her hair. “Her biological father was such and she did not inherit much of her mother’s demonic traits. But, that is unimportant.”

“Unim- Like hell!” Inuyasha barked.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Inuyasha.”

That was all he had to say? For all the years of shit he’d put him through for the blood coursing through his veins that he had no control over, that was all he fucking had to say? Like, it was no sweat off his back. When he said it was unimportant, what he actually meant was “unimportant” had two different definitions here. In terms to Rin, it didn’t matter that she had human blood. In terms to Inuyasha, he didn’t matter.

“Go fuck yourself.” Inuyasha growled. Without missing another beat, he left the room, heading out the front door and slamming it shut on the way. Knowing the bastard, he had no intention to stay overnight, so he’d wait him out for as long as it took. Totosai would text him when the coast was clear, so until then, he’d walk it off. He’d get as far away as necessary until he didn’t smell either of the intruders anymore, until his justified anger was calmed, until Sesshomaru was long gone with his happy fucking family.

The sun had set, his feet carrying him to a part of town he often hung out in. One mostly populated with college students that drank coffee late at night for fun while hanging in The Square below strung lights. Hardly anyone was out at the moment. Anyone he knew, at least. He was thankful for that; the last thing he wanted was to socialize. It was unintentional that he’d come this way to begin with, he just needed ample amounts of air that still weren’t helping to quell his surging frustration. He was safe to go home; he’d received the green light already, but the fact that his breathing was still ragged, and his chest still felt heavy, and his nose crinkled with disgust every time he thought back to that brief conversation told him he was better off staying out.

With a dragged inhale, Inuyasha took in a lungful of Kagome’s scent, feeling a minute percentage of his stiffness falter. He thought he’d imagined it, but the further he walked, the more powerful she became. He looked over the surrounding area, trying to pinpoint her when she appeared from an upcoming corner, aggressively locking her phone and shoving it in the front pocket of her pullover hoody. As if she’d sensed someone coming - or heard his footsteps approaching, which was the more feasible option here - she glanced his way, her lips parting slightly as she focused on him.

“Oh, hey.” She smiled softly. “Fancy seeing you here.”

He couldn’t even bring himself to return anything half as welcoming as she’d mustered, his nerves still on edge and his agitation still roaring. “What are you doing out here?”

Kagome sensed his rigidness and noticed the way his ember eyes swept left and right over her head, landing on her momentarily only to do the same sweeping motion. His hands were tucked in his charcoal pant pockets, and he still donned his school uniform telling her that he hadn’t even been home. He seemed upset, but thankfully there wasn’t any visible evidence of fighting to serve as the purpose. For the moment, she brushed it off. She could be wrong, and if she jumped the gun and started prying too soon, she’d only make him mad. “Well, my friend, Ayumi, is going out with this guy for the first time. She wanted me to hang back and spy to make sure everything went smoothly, and if she gave me signals, I’d move in and give some lame excuse to end the date. But, she gave me the wrong address for their meetup spot, which is nowhere near here, so she’s on her own now.”

“This isn’t a safe part of town for girls to be alone. Go home.” Inuyasha ordered. She was sure he didn’t mean for the ice in his tone, but it was there. It was disconcerting.

“I - I was heading home.”

“Good. Head down the block and make a right at the crosswalk, and you’ll be on a straight path to - no, fuck it, I’ll just walk you.” He stepped to the side so their shoulders wouldn’t brush as he passed her, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

“Wait, are you okay?” The question was properly warranted now. It was clear that he wasn’t. Far from it, she presumed.

“Fine.”

“No, you’re not. Stop for a second.” Kagome sped to catch up to him, walking at his side with bared hands. He did as she said, irritation evident in his eyes as he looked down at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” It wasn’t believable in the least. There was no conviction in his voice, the word coming out forced and gruff. “Can we go?”

“No. Talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you, Kagome. I want to fucking get you home.”

She wrapped her fingers around his exposed forearm just as he began to continue walking, halting him mid-stride, his skin heated. If he didn’t want to talk, fine, but she didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of him being alone after dropping her at her doorstep. Most importantly, she could tell by his heightening levels of aggravation that being in the public’s eye wasn’t the best option for him. She knew if she were emotional, on the brink of losing her temper, and under the pressure of onlookers, her anxiety would spike and she’d end up in a preventably-critical state. So, she gave him a tug in the direction of the park.

“What are you -“

“Just come on. Trust me.”

Surprisingly, he hardly resisted. Surprisingly, he didn’t pull his arm from her hold, allowing her to guide him through the trees and along the cemented path, around the empty play area for kids and toward the large pond. Not a person was in sight to disturb their time. As far as she was concerned, Inuyasha was free to let it out. They stopped at the edge of the water’s barrier where she finally released him, the fingers of her right hand dragging down his skin to drop at the hem of his pocket.

“Something’s clearly wrong, so don’t lie to me about that. You don’t have to tell me what happened, but the option’s there. I’ll listen. If you’d prefer, I won’t even say a word while you tell me; I’ll stay completely quiet. But, if you’re not comfortable talking about it, I’ll just stay with you until you feel better.”

“I don’t need you to babysit me.” Inuyasha sneered, rolling his eyes.

“It’s not babysitting. It’s company. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

He knew she wasn’t going to give in. The girl was fucking stubborn and relentless. The trouble was, he didn’t have a good enough excuse to not open up at the moment. Her presence was already helping his tension levels decrease, and his brain was muddled enough not to fight anything more than he already had to.

“Don’t talk.” He grumbled, giving in. Kagome gave a nod of understanding, watching him walk passed her to pick some twigs off the ground, breaking them apart and tossing small pieces into the pond. “My half brother decided to pay me a visit. We’ve got a shit relationship. Always have. We’ve got the same dad, but different moms, and his is demon so that makes him full-blooded and better than me by default. When our dad died, our moms still attempted to help us establish this brotherly bond, but there’s a considerable age gap between the two of us so it was a struggle. Man, I still remember the first fucking time he said he never considered me his brother.” Inuyasha chuckled cynically. “I was, like, seven or something. He calls me ‘half demon’ like it’s disgusting. He looks down on me. I’m pretty sure he blamed my mom and I for dad’s death at one point. And then when he hit eighteen, the fucker was gone. Mom got sick and died when I was thirteen, and the only blood relative I had left was him, but where the fuck was he? I was in the system for half a year before my dad’s old friend showed up and took me in. Haven’t seen my brother in almost a decade, and he just waltzes in today like it’s an ordinary Friday playdate. Tells me he’s getting married to a woman with a daughter whom he considers his own now. And the kicker is, she’s mostly human. The kid’s mostly human!” The laugh that time was laced with his concealed pain, and Kagome’s heart was dropping, sinking, weighted with the grief he tried to swallow. “What’s even better is he hasn’t changed or anything. He didn’t come around to make amends, he doesn’t look at me any differently. Fuck, he doesn’t even look at me! I’m still this low-life half demon to him, and he’s still a piece of shit. The kid - it’s not her fault. I know that. But, for some reason, I can’t help but hate her, too.”

Because she’s getting everything he was robbed of. Inuyasha was an orphan. He’s had it so hard. Where he should have had familial ties and support, he had prejudice and heartbreak and scar tissue. He was left alone only to have it rubbed in his face.

Even if she was allowed to talk right now, what could Kagome possibly say to make him feel better? She didn’t understand the half of what he felt, and pretending like she did could potentially only serve as salt in the wound. He didn’t deserve that. She’d promised she wouldn’t speak, but allowing him to roost in the pain he felt, undisturbed, wasn’t okay with her. She wanted, among all things, to comfort Inuyasha. As he swung his last stick into the pond, Kagome stepped forward, gently grabbing his arm so he’d turn her way.

Years. It had been so many fucking years since anyone had hugged him. Kagome walked into him slowly, almost cautiously, her hands sliding from his waist to his back, holding him so securely as she tucked her face into his chest and pressed her body firmly against him. It was almost like he didn’t know how to respond to the gesture anymore, his muscles stiffening, his arms hanging at his sides. He felt her fingers clutch the back of his shirt, bunching the cloth, her breaths so deep and calming that they inadvertently began to guide his own. Three years since anyone had touched him so affectionately. He’d had his rendezvous, he’d kissed, he’d lost his virginity, but none of it meant anything. It was empty. To him, and even the girls on the other end of it, it was a way to kill time, none of them knowing how to fill the void inside. There was no touching outside of hookups. There was no security. There was no emotion.

Yet, with a single hug, something he hadn’t experienced in so damn long, Kagome had successfully breached every one of his defenses in the most peaceful of manners.

Inuyasha’s shoulders gradually lowered, his chest aching, his fear rising, his arms wrapping around her body - not quite holding but not quite hovering. He suddenly realized how much he trusted her, and he detested it. Trust could be broken. Bonds were indefinite. People leave on a whim. They could get into accidents and leave their families behind, they could be careless and get themselves murdered, they could get sick and die, or they could just decide they’d had enough of you and disappear. Relationships, in any variation, would always be seen as fragile and pitiful and pending for disaster to him. There was no stability. The farther he kept himself from all of which, the less disappointment the future carried.

He felt a numbness expand over him, dulling all sensations as his decision solidified. Kagome couldn’t matter to him anymore. Sesshomaru’s little visit helped magnify Inuyasha’s reasonings for always keeping people at a distance. He wasn’t going to go through it again. He was stupid for allowing it to have gone as far as it had.

“You should get home.” He said, gently pushing her away from him. “It’s getting late.”

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#inuyasha #kagome #Kagome higurashi #inukag #miroku #sango #mirsan #Inuyasha fanfiction #inuyasha fanfic #inuyasha fic #inukag fanfiction #inukag fanfic #inukag fic #high school au #coming of age #delicate #my writing #akitokihojo #:))))))))))))

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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 4 years

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Rating: G

Summary: It comes down to Viperion and a kazoo to save an akumatized XY. Hopefully Bob Roth will be the only one who gets hurt. A Luka/XY fic

Word Count: 4154

Notes: Written for @janaikam through the @mlbforblm charity drive! The donations go directly to Color of Change, an organization for racial justice. I highly recommend checking them out and reblogging/donating the mlbforblm posts if you’re able! I have two fic request slots left as of 7/10/2020, and many other talented writers and artists are offering incentives as well!

XXX

“Lyre, I am Hawk—”

“Liar?” XY scoffed. His vision had gone all pinky-purple, which was weird. Wasn’t anger supposed to be red? Maybe all the tears in his eyes were blurring the color. “I didn’t lie. It was Dad who lied and said it was my idea to steal music again. It wasn’t even my idea the first time! He knows I never have any ideas!”

Hawksloth sighed in XY’s mind. Weird. XY didn’t know that telepathy could include sounds like that.

“I meant lyre as in the instrument.”

“But it’s a pun on liar. And that’s Viperion’s weapon, anyway. It’s probably copyrighted or something. Which I would know, because I don’t steal music anymore.”

Luka had offered to collab with him. And Dad had liked Kitty Section’s music before, so why did he throw such a fit when Luka and XY made something together now? Dad had told him to go back to his algorithm-generated music, but that didn’t have half the sexy vibes of his new tracks.

“Fine,” Hawkbroth growled. “Your name can be—”

“Ooh, ooh, let me pick! I’ve got the perfect one!”

“Somehow I doubt that…”

“Synthpathetic!”

Hawkmoth’s voice went silent. Was XY’s akuma name so amazing it had intimidated the supervillain?

“You know, because your stupid butterfly flew into my synth?” He pressed down on the keys, which had gone all purple-black and bubbly, like toxic ooze. Ooh, that might make a good idea for a song…

“I’m beginning to regret this already,” Hawkmoth muttered.

“Hey, no take backs! At least not until I deck my dad.” This day had already mega sucked, but he was gonna get something good out of it.

“And then you will bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculouses.”

“Sure, sure, whatever. Think you’ll need a bit more jewelry than that to make up for your ugly wrestler costume though.” XY has never seen Hawkgoth in person, but the animation in the Larybug movie made him look stupid. Did Hawkflop’s teeth really look like that? They’d given him nightmares.

“Ugly—! No, let’s just get this over with, and then I can drop this facade.” Hawkroth seemed to be talking to himself, but XY could still hear him. Awkward. “Synthpathetic! I give you the power to expose your enemies as the liars they are. In return I ask for—”

“Yeah, yeah, some tacky jewelry. You sure you don’t want Viperion’s bracelet? That thing’s way cooler and has a better power than, I dunno, making polka dot desk lamps.”

Somehow XY had the image of Hawkfrost’s eye twitching.

“I will show you tacky.”

Then the purple-black swallowed XY up, leaving only Synthpathetic in his place.

XXX

“Synthpathetic. Hawkmoth must really hate you, huh,” Luka deadpanned while watching the Ladyblog stream on his phone. The screen showed a villain in a short gray coat and tall hair and… Luka pulled his eyes away from those tight golden shorts. He refocused his attention on the keyboard that seemed to be growing out of the akuma’s forearm. Wires connected the keyboard to a metal cuff over his bicep. Was one of those objects where the akuma was hiding? Or maybe it was in the sharp pink sunglasses. Heck, it even could’ve been in the hot pink XY-themed boots.

Even if it weren’t for those gaudy pumps, Luka would’ve known it was XY. No one else could pull off such a ridiculous outfit.

And of course, there was als the fact that Bob Roth had just gone on live television and “announced” that XY’s latest music was stolen.

Luka’s chest felt hollow. He should’ve been there for XY. It was Luka who’d told him to stand up to his dad, that XY should be able to express himself through whatever music he wanted. Clearly, that had backfired.

“Yo, Bob Roth! Does this sound stolen to you?” Synthpathetic stared into the camera as he pressed a chord with his left hand, and music burst from the instrument attached to his arm. The camera shook, and Alya’s hair whipped across the screen as she was blown across the street.

“Okay, so we have confirmation of this akuma’s target,” she announced, breathing heavily. The camera refocused; she must have stood up. “That’s weird, I’m feeling kind of—”

Suddenly her voice cut off. And then she burst out singing.

“Rena Rouge is my hero name, I said it out loud! Nino is my boyfriend and I love his Soundcloud!”

That didn’t sound right. Not that it wasn’t true—but why would Alya say that on her Ladyblog livestream, much less sing it? Unless—

“Oh no,” Alya whispered. The camera flipped around to show her face. “I wish I could say that was a lie, but I’m committed to bringing you only the truth. It seems like Synthpathetic’s power makes you sing something important to you. Maybe even something secret. Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t yet on the scene—”

Luka clicked off the screen and jumped on his bike. He just hoped he’d be able to make it downtown in time.

XXX

“Ladybug!” Luka shouted, leaping off his bike. It kept going and crashed into the side of the hotel. He winced. Hopefully Ladybug’s miracle cure would take care of that. Not that the state of his bike was important compared to saving XY.

“Luka?” She gasped before handspringing away from one of Synthpathetic’s musical blasts. “What are you doing here? I already told Alya to clear the area!”

Luka had biked past the Ladyblogger to quickly for her to stop him. No one else had gotten past though, not that they’d want to. He’d briefly noticed Bob Roth cowering against the side of a building, Nino standing guard over him.

In the street Synthpathetic had already ravaged, it was just him and Ladybug, and Chat Noir and the villain. Chat was currently distracting him by waving his baton in a ¾ time signature.

“Not cool, man! That doesn’t match my 4/4 beats at all!” Sythnpathetic pouted, but Luka couldn’t focus on him yet.

“I need the snake miraculous,” he told Ladybug.

She yanked him around the corner of the hotel as a wave of music notes nearly struck them.

“If he hits you, you’ll be forced to give up your identity, just like Rena Rouge,” he continued quickly. “You and Chat Noir can’t risk that.”

He didn’t bring up the other reason why he was here. He wasn’t sure he could’ve put it into words, anyway. He just… he needed to be here.

If only he could’ve Second Chanced and stopped himself from giving XY that stupid advice in the first place.

“I know. That’s why I just got back from asking the Guardian for this.” She pulled the bracelet out of her yo-yo. “I was planning on giving it to Nino as soon as he took care of Bob Roth, but since you’re here—”

“Great.” He slipped on the bracelet. His kwami barely had the chance to materialize before he shouted, “Sass, scales slither!”

Ladybug gasped as the bright turquoise light washed over him. He barely heard it over the sound of Synthpathetic’s beats. Was Chat Noir doing okay? Luka hadn’t heard him sing yet, at least.

“Did anyone see that?” Ladybug’s brow furrowed beneath her mask. “I think we’re hidden enough behind this corner, but if anyone saw you transform, you won’t be able to be a hero again.”

That hardly mattered. Ladybug could always find someone else to wield the snake miraculous. She’d planned to give it to Nino, anyway. No, what mattered right now was making sure XY didn’t reveal the real heroes’ identities.

And making sure that XY would be okay when all this was over.

“Do you have your Lucky Charm yet?” He asked.

She spun her yo-yo in the air, and a polka-dotted kazoo fell into her hands. What she was going to do with that, Luka had no idea. But that was why he was Viperion and not Ladybug. His job was just to stay out of the way and buy the real heroes some time.

“Second Chance,” he whispered, tugging at the snake bracelet’s tongue.

Five minutes. Hopefully they wouldn’t need it.

XXX

They needed it.

Hawkmoth must have given XY extra agility on top of his magical music. Synthpathetic backflipped through the air as he blasted out chord after chord, even some arpeggios and scale for good measure. The melodies reminded Luka of the time they’d spent writing songs together in Luka’s room, humming back and forth. XY would make up senseless lyrics that made them both laugh. Luka would improv a harmony, while XY put each note in careful place.

They made a good team. It was too bad they were fighting on opposite sides now.

Each time a wave of translucent music hit Ladybug or Chat Noir, Luka was forced to reset before they began to sing. He couldn’t risk learning the heroes’ identities, even if they would never know he knew.

Through it all, Ladybug never seemed to find a use for her kazoo. She tried playing it, but Synthpathetic couldn’t hear over his own music. She tried throwing it, but it just got stuck in Synthpathetic’s tall mass of hair. She even strung it on her yo-yo, which made Chat Noir laugh and get hit with a musical blast.

She’ll come up with something. She’s Ladybug.

“Why don’t you guys attack Bob Roth instead of me? I’m way more sympathetic!” XY whined for the eleventh time. Sometimes Luka found XY’s nasally voice endearing, but right now it just made him grimace.

“I’m still surprised he knows what that word means,” Luka muttered before scooping up his lyre and scrambling to his feet. The most recent blast of notes hadn’t hit him directly, but it had taken out of a corner of the hotel and knocked him back. Dust made it hard to tell if Ladybug or Chat Noir had been hit. But he’d already reset so many times; he didn’t want to waste any more chances than he had to, especially since every time he had to explain to Ladybug what tactics they’d already tried.

Every time, she insisted that he stay hidden. He’d be too much of a target for the villain if he was in the open, she said. And besides, what else could he do? His weapon was a lyre. Even a guitar would’ve been easier to attack villains with.

Not that he really wanted to attack XY. Synthpathetic. They weren’t the same—he had to remember that. This blue-skinned villain wasn’t his friend. Luka had come to help Ladybug knowing that he would have to fight him, so why did the thought of it turn his stomach?

“Don’t worry, XY. We’ll save you… somehow.”

XXX

“We need a new strategy,” Ladybug said after Luka (for the twelfth time) explained what went wrong. “The time we defeated Desperada, you used your lyre to distract her. XY was a musician too, right? Maybe that will work again.”

Luka swallowed. “So you want him to know I’m here?”

“We don’t have anything to lose. He’ll forget once you Second Chance if this doesn’t work. Do you think you can do it?”

“I… yeah. I can.” He tried to sound more confident than he felt.

“Perfect. Chat and I will hide on two of the hotel balconies, where we can drop on him when he’s not expecting it. Here.” She pressed the kazoo into his hand. “I have a feeling this is supposed to be for you.”

“Um… alright.” He pulled off one of his lyre’s strings, then used it to string the kazoo around his neck.

She didn’t give him any more instructions other than “Good luck, Viperion.”

With that, she swung towards Chat Noir and scooped him up in her arms. The faint sound of their banter drifted in between Synthpathetic’s blasts. Then they were gone, disappearing over the railing of a high balcony.

“What the—hey! Why are you running? You finally realize how scary I am?” Synthpathetic shouted up from the street.

“In that shade of pink and those shorts? Terrifying,” Luka deadpanned while stepping out from behind the corner.

Synthpathetic’s pointed shades slipped off his nose as he gaped. Beneath, his blue eyes were practically bulging out of his head.

Guess that’s not the akumatized object, Luka mused as the glasses cracked on the pavement.

“Viperion!” Synthpathetic ran forward, clapping his hands together like he’d just won tickets to a concert. “You’re like, my favorite superhero! Can you sign my forehead?”

Luka’s jaw went slack. This wasn’t part of his plan. He was just supposed to distract Synthpathetic while Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped on the villain from above.

“You know it’ll just wear off once we beat you, right?”

XY—Synthpathetic—pouted. Geez, it was hard to remember this wasn’t his friend when his eyes looked like that. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to do it, aren’t you? Of course you wouldn’t like me. I’m still just a villain, even if I’m a sympathetic one.”

He crossed his arms, accidentally pressing a few keys on the synth plugged into his arm. A soft minor chord blurred the air around his feet.

“Hey, I never said that,” Luka replied, but Synthpathetic just frowned.

“Did you know I always wanted to fight on your side?”

Luka blinked. “No, I can’t say I did.”

“Yeah. I never thought I’d meet you like this.” He chuckled sadly before wincing and digging a finger in his ear. “Hawksloth is yelling at me again. He wants me to take your bracelet. I think it looks better on you than me, though.”

Warmth coursed through Luka at the compliment, even if it shouldn’t have meant anything coming from someone wearing such eye-stabbing colors.

“You’re still in there, aren’t you? XY.”

“You—you know his name?” His eyes sparkled. “I mean—of course you do, he’s famous. But no, I’m not him. I just want to beat up his dad.”

You and me both, he wanted to say. But siding with an akuma probably wasn’t the best strategy.

Distraction. That was his only job. Where were Ladybug and Chat Noir? He scanned the side of the hotel, but didn’t see either of them. Better keep Synthpathetic talking, then.

“What did he do to you—I mean, to XY?”

Synthpathetic groaned. “Man, he was not cash money at all. He hated XY and Kitty Section’s collab cause it was like, too awesome and gay or something, I don’t even know. So anyway, he told everyone XY just stole the songs when he wrote them himself and—ngh!”

Synthpathetic clutched his head. “Hawkbroth—shut up! I’m trying to talk to my idol here!”

Luka’s heart felt fuzzy in spite of himself. He should take a note from Hawkmoth and start fighting too. There was no telling how long Chat and Ladybug were going to take, and his miraculous only showed two minutes left.

Suddenly Synthpathetic straightened. “Sorry, bro. I hope this doesn't hurt.”

Luka twisted his bracelet right before the keyboard bashed into his head.

XXX

“Viperion! You’re like, my favorite superhero! Can you sign my forehead?”

Luka couldn't help laughing. Even hearing it for the second time, XY was just too cute.

Not XY. Don’t get distracted this time.

“Sure. I’ll just need to know where your akuma is in return.”

“Deal! The dumb butterfly flew into—” He cried out and clutched his head again. Guess Hawkmoth wouldn’t let Luka win that easy.

“You’re mean,” Synthpathetic said, but Luka wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or Hawkmoth.

Either way, Luka had to act on his distraction. He lunged forward, crashing his lyre against the keyboard. The resulting blast of music blew them both towards opposite sides of the street.

Luka gritted his teeth against the song building in his lungs, and he twisted his bracelet.

XXX

“Viperion! You’re like, my favorite superhero! Can you sign my forehead? Wha—hey!”

This time, Luka ran in swinging. A lyre wasn’t as useful a weapon as a baton or yo-yo, but it could still hurt if it connected right.

Unfortunately, Luka didn’t know how to make it connect right. He again wished he could replace his weapon with a guitar. But as it was, Synthpathetic parried easily and leapt back.

“I wanted to fight with you, not against you!”

“Hawkmoth didn’t give you much of a choice, did he?”

Luka ran in again. It was a stupid strategy for him—Chat Noir was the only one who could carelessly run into danger and get away with it.

But by now, he was mad. XY was his friend. Luka had never seen him get more upset than when Luka had eaten the last slice of pizza. Bob Roth’s betrayal must have cut deep.

Really, Luka would rather be fighting that sleazebag than this akuma, but XY wouldn’t come back until Synthpathetic was gone.

So he punched, and kicked, and ignored Synthpathetic’s pleas to leave him alone.

“Give him a left hook! No, a right elbow! Come on kid, who taught you how to fight, some little Tinkerbell?”

Luka glanced over his shoulder, where Bob Roth had shoved past Nino and Alya.

“Sorry, I tried to stop him!” Nino said.

“LIAR!” Synthpathetic shouted, sprinting at full speed towards the older man.

Nino and Alya dove out of the way just in time for Synthpathetic’s fist to connect with Bob Roth’s jaw. Luka winced appreciatively at the crack.

“That was for insulting Viperion’s fighting.”

Then Synthpathetic kicked Bob in the crotch.

“And that was for calling XY a thief.”

Bob dropped to the ground with a high-pitched whine.

“You’re not going to play your music on him?” Alya asked. Her phone was out and filming again despite being a mere meter from the akuma. It wasn’t surprising that Ladybug had picked her to be Rena Rouge; she certainly had the guts for it.

“Nah.” Synthpathetic picked at something between his teeth, and the keyboard attached to his arm knocked against his chin. “Wouldn’t do any good. He’d make up some kinda lie later, like he did to Lu before.”

Synthpathetic had a point there. More importantly, though, he was still distracted enough for Luka to slice his lyre through the wires connecting the keyboard to his arm.

“Ow!” Synthpathetic cried out as sparks flew from the wires. Unfortunately though, no black butterfly flew out with it. “Look, I really didn’t even want to fight you. Hawkcrotch doesn’t care about your bracelet that much. Plus, you’ve got a cute face. Wouldn’t want to bruise it or anything.”

Luka blushed at that, but shook it off. He didn’t have much time. The responsible thing to do would be to Second Chance now, but the selfish part of him didn’t want to undo Bob Roth’s humiliation.

Plus, he finally caught sight of Chat Noir perched on the roof.

“You don’t have to hurt me, you know.” Luka spread his arms wide. “You could always just play your music. If you like me so much, you’d want to know my deep, dark secrets, wouldn’t you?”

Synthpathetic’s grin showed all of his perfect white teeth. “Great idea! You’re hot and smart!”

Luka’s bracelet began to beep, but he didn’t flinch. Ladybug, you better be ready…

Synthpathetic’s fingers flashed across the keys. The chorus from Mr. Brightside boomed like a shot from a canon. It took Luka in the chest, but he dug his heels into the concrete and remained standing as he skidded back.

The song built in his chest. Chat Noir jumped from the roof.

Right before Luka was forced to sing, he shoved the kazoo in his mouth.

“What? No fair!” Synthpathetic whined as a rhythmic buzzing was the only sound from Luka.

The only sound out loud, anyway. In his heart, Luka felt the words that Synthpathetic couldn’t hear.

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir shouted. Synthpathetic barely had time to look up before the hero’s outstretched hand pressed down on the keyboard.

Everything happened at once. Ladybug’s yo-yo caught Chat Noir by the ankle, stopping him from splatting into the pavement. The synth disintegrated around XY’s arm, and violet light bubbled around him. Ladybug lowered Chat to the ground before snapping up the dark butterfly. Then, finally, she swung herself down the street.

She landed between Luka and XY and held out her hand. Luka stared at it blankly for a moment before spitting out the kazoo and handing it over.

She grimaced as Chat Noir’s cheeks puffed with laughter.

“Ah, er, thanks… uh, Miraculous Ladybug!”

Pink light exploded in the sky. Buildings repaired themselves; chunks of rubble disappeared. Bob Roth was still lying on the ground, but Chat Noir hefted him up and deposited him on the hotel’s front steps.

That taken care of, Luka crouched down beside XY, who was rubbing his head.

“Ngh, what…? Viperion!” XY’s whole face lit up like Christmas. “You’re like, my favorite superhero! Can you sign my forehead?”

Luka laughed. “Of course, XY. Do you have a pen on you?”

“You know my name!” He beamed at Ladybug and Chat Noir, who was jogging back already. He probably didn’t want to be around Bob any longer than he had to. “Did you hear that? My favorite superhero knows my name!”

“Seems like he’s got you taken care of then.” Chat Noir winked at XY. “What do you say, my Lady? Should we leave them to it?”

“Don’t forget about your timer,” Ladybug told Luka. “And meet me around the corner when you’re done.”

“Right.” He nodded. One minute left. He could handle that, even if he wished he had more time.

Particularly now that he knew what truth had been buried so deep in his heart, only the akuma’s magic could release it.

XY giggled as Luka accepted his pink sharpie and signed Viperion in curling script across his forehead. He left a second signature on his purple headband for good measure.

“I’m never washing my face again,” XY swooned.

“You know, clean faces get more kisses,” Luka replied seriously.

XY’s eyes widened. “You—wait, would you actually—?”

Luka smiled and pressed a kiss to XY’s cheek.

“Please don’t forget to wash that, too.”

Then he saluted and dashed towards where Ladybug had disappeared. As he ran, the synth-driven song still beat in his heart:

My real name’s Luka, that’s not new. But did you know I’ve got a crush on you?

XXX

XY replayed the Ladyblog footage of Synthpathetic punching his dad. Each crack was like music to his ears. Maybe he could remix that into a new track.

“I wonder if Ladybug’s magic dust fixed that.”

Luka snorted, strumming his guitar from where he sat on his bed. It was a relaxing tune, one XY hadn’t heard before. “I hope not. He deserved it after he lied about you.”

XY smiled. It was nice to have a friend on his side, for once. Luka had been there to pick him up and take him back to the Liberty after Viperion had left. Dad had tried to stop them from leaving together, but there wasn’t much he could do when XY sat on Luka’s bike handlebars, stuck his tongue out, and let Luka pedal them away. It wasn’t quite as romantic as being carried by Viperion would’ve been, but it was a close second.

Luka’s quiet music faltered, his hands fumbling on the strings. “Hey, XY…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I gave you that advice. To stand up to you dad, I mean. I should’ve known he’d just end up hurting you.”

XY shrugged. “Honestly, man? I’d do it all again. I got to punch him and I got a kiss from Viperion.” He touched his cheek, sighing dreamily. That kiss had been after he was brought back to normal, so he could still remember it perfectly.

Of course, having replayed it seventy-eight times on the Ladyblog helped, too.

“I’m glad you’re happy, but… what are you going to do now? Aren’t you worried about your career?”

“Nah.” XY leaned his head back against the side of Luka’s bed and closed his eyes. “I’ve made enough money to break off from Dad, even if I have to get a slummy apartment. But I bet Viperion’s gonna fly me off into the sunset before I have to worry about that.”

Luka laughed. “Viperion doesn’t fly, you know—”

“He would for me.”

“—and he doesn’t always have his miraculous. Maybe he wants to come rescue you, but he can’t.”

XY frowned. With the power of Second Chance, he doubted there was anything Viperion couldn’t do.

“Doesn’t matter,” XY decided. “I’ll wait for him. I know I’ll see him again.”

Luka’s melody picked up again, bringing another smile to XY’s face. Could Viperion play the guitar that well? XY daydreamed that he could.

Luka’s whisper blended with the music.

“I know you will, too.”

#tali writes #miraculous ladybug #luxy #luka #xy #ml #fic tag #mlbforblm

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bltngames · 4 years

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Review: Lloyd the Monkey 2

Back before TSSZ News imploded, I would often do write-ups for many of the games at the Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE). SAGE is an annual online expo that I started all the way back in September of 2000. I personally ran SAGE for over a year, and remained deeply hands on for at least another two years as it continued to grow. The main focus of SAGE was primarily to showcase fangames, in particular Sonic fangames, but the event never limited itself to any one type of game. It's never been uncommon to see original games appear in the lineup -- especially now, given the modern indie scene.

One such original game was Lloyd the Monkey, a bit of a strange game, written in Javascript of all things and run through a webpage. That by itself was notable enough to stand out from most of the games at SAGE, but Lloyd was also a completely original product created by someone who possibly seemed to be young and new to game development. Making games is no easy feat, especially when they’re written in Javascript and you’re doing tons of original artwork yourself. Taken as that whole, the game impressed me, even if it was more than a little rough around the edges.

Now we have Lloyd the Monkey 2, written in Unity. The developer, Noah Meyer, sent me a Steam key in order to review the game. Up top, I just want to say how I think it’s kind of brave to go all the way in putting the game on Steam and everything. It felt like just a few years ago, newer indie developers sort of had to work up to releasing their game on Steam, usually getting a few releases under their belt first. People view games differently when they’re asked to pay for them, and critics may not be so willing to let circumstances influence their review. It can be a harsh world out there for a beginner.

Lloyd 2 is a much bigger, more ambitious game than the first. Whereas the original Lloyd didn’t even have sound effects, Lloyd 2 introduces voiced cutscenes, some of which are full-on animated cinematics. Quality is about what you would expect -- I would assume the developer sought out friends and acquaintances to voice characters in Lloyd 2, leading to wildly varying audio quality due to differences in recording hardware. Lloyd himself sounds fine, but some of the other characters are a bit quiet, while others have clear background noise. Nothing I heard was unlistenable, however.

The story is also a little hard to follow. Not much is done to refresh our memories as to who anyone is or what’s going on, we’re just kind of thrown into the middle of things and turned loose. On one hand, it’s nice that the story doesn’t slow the pace of the gameplay down too much. On the other, you’re given a map screen with different objectives to clear but there’s very little context as to what you’re doing or why. At one point I made my way to the end of a Power Plant level only to confront what appeared to be an evil monkey. Despite a whole cutscene involving a conversation between four or five different people, this evil monkey never seemed to say a single word. He just stood there in total silence with a sinister smile. Then I killed him.

I suppose maybe I missed something, however. With greater ambitions comes a number of unfortunate bugs in Lloyd 2, one of which happened not long after our monkey and his crew landed on planet Grecia. I entered what appeared to be a castle to talk to the Queen, but I think the game expected me to take a lower route, where I was apparently meant to overhear the Queen making secret preparations before my arrival. Instead, I took the direct route straight to her chambers, and triggered the cutscene with Lloyd standing in front of her while ominous music played, even though the camera was still clearly focused on the next floor down. I apparently still had some amount of control, because midway through her dialog I touched a teleporter that sent me to the game’s map screen before she was done talking. If that cutscene was meant to give context to what I was doing, I didn’t get a chance to see it.

That was one of the more harmless bugs in my time spent playing Lloyd 2. Harder to ignore was the fact that, within the first 30 seconds of getting control, I soft locked the game. Lloyd 2 opens with a short prologue section where you play as a man with black hair. If you decide to ignore the obvious and go left instead of right, you quickly run out of solid level tiles and begin falling indefinitely. Later areas feature invisible walls presumably to prevent this exact scenario, but for whatever reason they weren’t implemented in the prologue.

For the most part, Lloyd 2 seems to be a co-op game. Many levels see Lloyd teamed up with an alien princess named Lura, with gameplay vaguely reminiscent of Mega Man X crossed with the tag mechanic from Sonic Mania’s Encore Mode. At the touch of a button, you can switch between the Swordsman Lloyd and the more projectile-based Lura… assuming your partner is still alive, I guess. While playing alone, your partner is controlled by artificial intelligence, but it’s incredibly basic and prone to accidentally committing suicide. That wouldn’t be such a big deal (considering Tails in Sonic 2 never acted in self-preservation either), but once your partner dies, they stay dead. Your only option to bring them back is to either restart the stage or hope another cutscene triggers, since they’ll magically spring back to life in order to say their dialog (though, again, usually only seconds before they fall back into the next death pit).

This might not be much of a problem, depending on your viewpoint. There’s not much incentive to switch between Lloyd and Lura, so once you pick whoever you think works the best, chances are, you’ll just stick with them. You do unlock special team-up attacks after beating each boss, but this just reinforces the idea that Lloyd the Monkey 2 is meant to be experienced with another person holding a second controller, as most of the team-up attacks require both characters to do something specific that the single player artificial intelligence usually can’t interpret. Regardless, the team-up attacks never seem strictly necessary to progress, so they can be safely ignored if you’re playing solo.

I understand this is a pretty negative review I’ve written here. Lloyd the Monkey 2 aims high and tries to the best of its ability to get there. I assume it was a struggle to get even this far. Making games is hard work, and like any skill, takes practice to get good at. Just because this is Lloyd the Monkey 2 doesn’t mean Noah Meyer, its developer, is automatically an expert. I'm sure he's doing his best, and, quality aside, this game has a lot of heart put into it. This isn’t something cheap, quick, or lazy. It’s really, genuinely trying, and that matters.

I’ve said a few times here and there that I see pieces of myself in the releases of Lloyd the Monkey, and I still see them here. I remember, for an early SAGE event, I was working on a fangame project of mine called The Fated Hour. I was probably already a year or two or maybe even three deep in the game by now, and after a lot of hyping up the community, this was their first chance to play the game. I spent months and months coding this iteration of my engine, and by my standards back then, it seemed like bleeding edge technology. I felt like I was going to blow everyone's minds.

It was a mess. Few were impressed. Even worse, the game straight up didn’t even run correctly for some people. What followed was multiple patches, and even rebuilding some entire areas from scratch. My ambitions got the better of me and I unintentionally cut corners -- not because I was trying to cheap out on doing proper development, but just because I simply didn’t know any better. I may have done the best I knew how to do, but I was running faster than my body could keep up with and I stumbled.

When I see things like the missing invisible walls in the prologue, or how easily partner characters commit suicide by accident, I think back to that demo for The Fated Hour, and how I've been in this exact place myself. There’s even a side quest in Lloyd 2 where you have to track a floating girl as she drifts through a level -- there was a nearly identical set piece in The Fated Hour, where you were chasing a robot. It’s a very strange feeling to see something like that and think, “I’ve been here before.” Like looking through a window at a younger version of yourself.

It’s true that I stumbled, but I didn’t let that stop me. I learned by doing. I kept going. Three years later, a game of mine was featured on TV, leading to more than a million downloads. The mistakes of past projects did not weigh me down and I soldiered onwards, newfound knowledge in hand.

So where does that leave us with Lloyd the Monkey 2, then. Well, it's not exactly a game to compete with Super Mario Odyssey, but given the circumstances in which it was created, I don't think that's necessarily the point. As a learning experience clearly made for the fun of its own creation, I think it's a success. And who knows what awaits in the years to come?

#writing #review #lloyd the monkey 2 #steam #noah meyer

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ticktickblog · 4 years

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Stop Being the Last-Minute Person

Everything You Need to Know about Procrastination

Understanding procrastination

Usually, we think of procrastination as a bad habit, but this might not be the case. Research by Burka and Yuen, authors of Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now, have found that procrastination is not a bad habit, but a psychological syndrome caused by one’s fear. In other words, procrastination is not purely a problem of time management. Instead, it concerns people's inner fears, expectations, doubts and pressures.

There might be some people, like myself before, who’d always leave their tasks to the very last minute before the deadlines and look forward to a suddenly-bursted extraordinary performance, or a very best luck ever. Some even say the closer the DDLs are, the more productive they are.

So, is the deadline really a force to drive us forward in a positive way?

My answer is negative, although from the surface it may seem harmless to some people, and can to some extent be converted to motivator. However, deep inside, procrastination brings more harms than good for most of us.

Consequence of procrastination

1. On top of all the damages caused by procrastination: mental sufferings. Even though relaxing first brings instant joy, it’ll soon be replaced by overwhelmingly negative feelings: e.g. anxiety thinking, nagging pain, a guilt of not starting earlier, and etc. Not hard to imagine how painful it is to be trapped into this situation for a long period of time.

2. From the view regarding one’s physical health, there’s also detrimental consequence. Chasing DDLs usually means overworking at a late point. For example, burning the night oil in a row. If this continues as a habit, it will threaten one’s physical health as well.

3. There might be consequences to other people as well, because people who procrastinate a lot may be bad at time management. For example, being late for a date because they’ve not started dressing up earlier, or being unable to submit a task on time because they’ve wasted a lot of time thinking. These could then make them easy to not be trusted by others, and people around them may also sometimes feel disappointed.

Then, what at root drives us to procrastinate? What makes people consciously or unconsciously choose to procrastinate?

Reasons for procrastination

1. Excessive perfectionism

People who are perfectionists normally have very high standards to themselves and to the work they do. Therefore, they easily fall into the fear of not being able to reach these standards, or making mistakes on the way which will lead to undesirable results. By not getting started, the mistakes/failures will not happen, which means at this procrastinating point at least, they don’t have to worry too much.

Also, many perfectionists may waste too much time thinking how to do instead of actually doing. They choose to wait till a perfect plan is ready. However, in fact there is neither a flawless plan nor a perfect outcome. Plus, it’s extremely hard for excessive perfectionists to be fully satisfied with what they’ve achieved no matter how good it is.

2. The rewards are too far away.

Studies have shown that the farther the due date is, the less binding force it may execute on us, and the easier it is for us to feel unmotivated to start. Compared to gaining rewards from a not-so-recent future, instant gratification is obviously much easier.

This might be the very reason why many people choose to enjoy first and do later. For example, if the deadline for an assignment is 2 weeks from now, then spending 2 days watching a new series on Netflix doesn’t seem like a big deal.

3. Fear of difficulty

Reason for this fear is we know the goal is too big and require hard work. Sometimes when we are given a big task, e.g. dissertation, we might be very likely to feel overwhelmed, not knowing where to start or how. The motivation then downgrades to 0. Similarly, when a monthly personal KPI has been given, even just thinking of it brings a lot of headache already, let alone start doing.

4. Lack of awareness and skills of time management

Sad but true, I know:(

For these ones, getting so used to an unstructured work/study style makes it even harder not to procrastinate. Never thinking of organizing or not knowing how, is a big hindrance to their productivity. But, it’s totally fine if you just enjoy the flow and do not worry about getting things done. However, for these who crave progression and success, then tackling procrastination and learning how to manage your time and organize things well is extremely important. Let TickTick help with that 🙌

5. Dislike of taking orders

As some of you might feel relatable, deadlines and dues are set usually by other people, either our professors or team leaders, to the tasks assigned. For those who have strong self-awareness and do not want to be tasked by others, they consciously or subconsciously resort to procrastination as a way to resist the order. Meanwhile, they try to declare some autonomy and freedom by refusing to do things at this moment and ignoring them till later.

Ways to fight against procrastination

The most painful part of procrastination is not working on the task, it is starting the work. Therefore, to beat procrastination, is actually to find out ways to get us started.

Where to start

1. Set a realistic goal and fairly evaluate your ability

Make sure your goal is inspiring but also attainable, based on the evaluation of your ability now and its potential to grow, plus the time and effort needed in achieving your goal.

For example, if I have three free weekends this month, then I probably establish a goal: finishing reading a book this month. Many procrastinators are too optimistic about their ability in the future and underestimate the time needed to complete the task. When deadlines approach, it’s just frightening and frustrating.

2. Divide the goal into more achievable ones

If the goal seems too big to reach, then cut it into smaller pieces to reduce the fear of a sudden commitment.

Going back to that book-reading example, to finish reading a book in a month, I may divide the task into reading ¼ every week, and then 10 pages each for working days and 20 pages each for unscheduled weekends. Compared to 1 book, 10 pages just sounds like a breeze.

3. Trim the unnecessary and only keep the priorities

According to Pareto Principle, 20% of the things in life can determine 80% of the results. Therefore, when facing multiple tasks, sort them out based on urgency, importance, necessity and other indicators. Next, take the lead in dealing with high-priority things. This method can effectively help us abandon those low-value and insignificant activities, and rationally allocate limited time and energy for the maximum return.

4. Start from a small task

Some may argue that starting from a hard task is better for time management. However, for a lagging person like myself before, starting is the most difficult part as I said. Therefore, an easy task can first “allure” me to start, and when finishing this, the rest of my day is then kept in a feeling-productive momentum.

Long-run strategies

1. Increase incentive mechanism

The best way to do that is to bond the completion of a certain task with an instant reward. For example, if I finish writing my blog draft today, I’d be rewarded with 30 mins to play with my dog. If reading through all literature within scheduled time when writing a dissertation, I’ll treat myself with a big meal or an outing day. In this way, before each task starts, motivation will replace stress to activate your enthusiasm.

P.s. Please remember, what the reward for is always your hard work and progress, not the results.

2. Reduce the task aversion from a mental side:

Go deeper into the given task and find/develop some parts you feel passionate about from it. If you’ve found out the joy of doing things, then a task will not be a task anymore, but a daily trivial, something like teeth-brushing. Those who work out consistently no matter how busy he/she is, are actually regarding working-out as a daily activity. This sounds a little bit like self-brainwashing, but believe me, it brings positive results in the long run.