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stylesharrys · 5 months

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reason to stay [mafiarry]

summary: you come across a little something that harry’s been keeping from you.

warnings: mentions of the mafia, descriptions of a gun and violence, swearing

word count: 2,819

a/n: wow, it's been a hot fuckin' minute since I did mob!harry but hey, here it is!! next couple of weeks you guys will also be getting a new mob!harry series, so keep your eyes peeled!!

He knows the rules by now. Head down, shoulders high. Let them know you by a name, never by yours.

Harry thought he was slick enough to pull that over your head, too. He should’ve known better. He can’t live two separate lives, can’t keep you in the dark from the main life he lives. He can’t have you believing this fantasy forever.

But you knew, you knew since the beginning something was wrong – there was something he wasn’t telling you.

All the “security” he has to follow you when you want to go out without him, the personal driver, and the random stop-ins from three “friends” in particular. And if that wasn’t enough, the constant phone calls and change of phone numbers were enough to make anyone suspicious.

You trusted him, and never really had a reason not to. You’ve known Harry for years, as far back as you can remember. Even then, he was slightly shady, never giving much information about himself willingly.

But things are different now. You’re moved into his home, riding in his cars. Harry knows your every move, claims there are too many bad people out there, and that he could never live with himself if something happened to you and he couldn’t get to you in time.

Now, staring at the wad of cash that’s been stuffed into the hollow wood of the foot of the bed, all of your suspicions are confirmed. Not a doubt in your mind when your eyes catch glimpse of the silver barrel of a gun peeking from beneath the money.

There’s at least five grand there alone; tied together with elastic bands, and a separate wad wrapped with your hair tie.

From what you’re aware of, it’s not typical of a hotel owner to stash cash and a handgun in the foot of his bed.

You can’t help but chuckle to yourself. Harry has a safe just six feet away in the back of the closet. You know why the gun’s in the foot of the bed – easy access, just in case anything happens.

There’s an unfamiliar feeling in the pit of your stomach, and you can’t quite tell if it’s your gut telling you to run, or simply confirming that you were always right – you always knew there was something else deep down.

Harry’s not supposed to be home for another hour, you don’t know what to do with yourself in the time between.

Do you wait at the table for him when he gets home? Sitting there with the gun and cash laid out with your hands crossed? Do you put everything back and leave the top of the foot of the bed slightly out of place, so he knows that you know?

Or do you just pretend you didn’t see a damn thing?

You can’t live your life in a relationship with someone who keeps an entire lifestyle a secret from you. You can’t be engaged to a man you barely even know.

Harry can’t seriously have thought you wouldn’t find out, right? That someone somehowwouldn’t accidentally split up, or you wouldn’t start asking questions or start snooping for answers?

Because you weren’t snooping – not exactly.

An accidental knock at the foot of the bed when changing the sheets is what uncovered the truth. How pathetic. Not even a big reveal as to the secrets the man you love has been keeping.

Just your own accidental clumsiness.

But nothing is truly an accident, you believe that. Your intuition told you to lift the board and look into it, you could’ve just straightened the board back up, but you didn’t.

Curiosity always kills the cat. But you can’t be sure if there’ll be any satisfaction to bring it back.

“I don’t give a fuck if you have to pull his teeth out one by fucking one. Get the answers I want, or you’re the one to pay for Lopez’s fuck up.”

Harry raises a brow, tongue prodding at the inside of his cheek. Tommy never did have any chill when it came to hearing things he didn’t like. It shouldn’t surprise Harry anymore, not after all this time.

“I thought I told you, we’re sweet with the Solados'?”

Tommy turns around, lips pursed with rolling eyes. “So ‘cause we’re sweet with them, they get to walk all over us? I don’t think so. They work the corners, we run the shit. Keep ‘em in their place, no?”

Harry holds his hands up, a chuckle slipping from the side of his mouth and Tommy grins.

“Don’t tell me Y/N’s making you all soft now… just a few years ago, you would’ve threatened worse and cut off half their pay.”

Harry remembers exactly who he was before he met you again, remembers how reckless and money hungry he was. He barely recognizes himself as ever having been that person. Meeting you again made him realize there’s more to life than drugs and money.

“Not going soft in the slightest… though the less you say, the more your threats mean. Might wanna give it a try sometime.”

Tommy scoffs as the car pulls up to a stop outside Harry’s building.

“Kavin, I’ll need you to pick me up at 8:30 tomorrow morning, got a few bits I need to take care of.”

The driver looks up through the rearview mirror as Harry talks, and he nods his head, a timid smile on his face. “No problem, boss.”

Harry turns to Tommy.

“As for you, try to stay out of trouble ‘til morning, please?”

Tommy flips Harry off as he gets out of the car and makes his way inside. Shoulders slumped from exhaustion, Harry’s still beyond excited to get home and see you. To get straight in bed and hear all about your day while your head lays on his chest.

A smile tugs at the corners of his lips as the elevator takes him up to the penthouse. However, Harry doesn’t have to move far into the apartment before he finds you.

Expecting to see you already cozied up in bed, he’s confused to see you sat on the kitchen island in the dim lighting, body adorned in white lace and a pair of black heels.

Harry’s almost certain you’ve never looked so stunning, but he thinks that every damn time he sees you.

He can’t hold back the choke that breaks past his throat, and he can’t hide the tightening tent that begins to form in his fitted trousers. Harry grins sheepishly as he makes his way over.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

You eye him, heart beating heavily in your chest. Unfolding your legs, you spread them open to allow Harry to close the space between you.

You guide his hands to your hips, a hum slipping past your lips.

“I thought seeing as we were doing surprises today, this would be a nice one for you to come home to.”

Your hands slowly cover the expanse of his chest. Feeling and groping the muscles beneath his white shirt. Harry's eyes are too focussed on the way your tits bulge from your bra to look you in the eye, but your words to cause a quirk in his brow.

“And what surprises might those be?”

He’s too in his fucking head, too into your body and the taste of your neck to notice you reach for anything, to even notice you move or shift. You’re going to be his fucking downfall.

“I don’t know,” you hum seductively, keeping your grip tight on the handle, pulling off the safety. “Maybe finding this little thing.”

Harry hears the click as the cold barrel of the gun meets his temple and his entire body stills. He pulls back slightly, eyes cautious as he meets your eyes.

You’re stoic, solid. You’re not about to break for shit.

“Where’d you get that, sweetheart?”

“You tell me, honey.”

Harry doesn’t say a word, doesn’t let his eyes leave yours.

“Did I find it behind the freezer? Or was it at the foot of the bed? Or, maybe I found this one in the tank of the toilet.”

Harry begins to realize you’ve been on what appears to be an Easter hunt today, finding all sorts of his little gems dotted around the house. But what he can’t figure out is why or how you started finding them in the first place.

“Tell me, Harry,” your free hand reaches between his thighs, cupping the bulge that sits heavy. “Why does a hotel owner have four guns hidden in his penthouse, with wads of cash stashed in the walls and floorboards, hm?”

Harry’s mouth grows dry, hands are slightly clammy. He works exceptionally under pressure and knows there’s always a way out, but with this, he isn’t so sure… Harry’s never dealt with this situation, he’s never even anticipated this would happen.

How stupid does he think you are?

“Put the gun down, and we’ll talk.”

Even though you’re the one with a gun to his head, he still speaks with such power and control. You won't budge though, and neither does the gun.

“I’ll put the gun down when you tell me the truth.”

He huffs, but you don’t give him chance to try and worm his way out of it.

“It’s drugs, isn’t it? That’s what’s always blowing up your phone, why Tommy is so secretive when he’s around me… why I can’t go anywhere or do anything without you knowing about it.”

There’s silence from Harry. In all honesty, he’s never seen you like this before and with a gun to his head, he’s not entirely sure how you’ll react if he tries to speak.

“What, did you think you could live this other life and not tell me how you really make your money? Did you seriously think I’d never find out, Harry? Do you think I’m that fucking dumb?”

“No, Y/N. I never told you to protect you! The less you know about this shit, the better. I don’t want you involved in any of it, okay? Now put the fucking gun down and we’ll talk.”

There’s desperation in his eyes but you can’t quite put your finger on what he’s desperate for. Surely he knows you’re no good with a gun, there’s no way you’d shoot him. Maybe it’s desperation that this doesn’t make you get up and leave.

Could he blame you if you did? He’s kept a whole life of his completely secret from you. Does he expect you to just stay and forget about it? Act like everything’s okay?

Nonetheless, despite your inner battle, you lower the gun and take a shaky breath as Harry slowly pinches it from your hand. He puts the safety back on and slides it across the island.

Harry’s eyes never leave yours as he takes off his jacket and rests it around your shoulders. With the chat you’re both about to have, it doesn’t sit right with him that you’re almost completely naked.

That’s when you finally break eye contact and the reality of everything starts to really sync in.

Not only has Harry been living an entire life secret from you, but he’s been living an illegal one. One with drugs and guns, and no doubt blood and pain.

As he leads you to the sofa, you begin to rake your brain for any times he’s ever come home scratched or bruised or bloody. It’s not like you fall short, either. There are a good few instances that pop back into your head.

He always claimed it was a rough night with training, or he and Tommy were fucking about and he clipped him with a black eye. You feel like a fool for ever believing a word that came out of his mouth.

As you’re staring at the coffee table you can’t help but question everything he’s ever said to you, everything he’s ever done. How did he even afford to buy a hotel? Was that with dirty money? And this apartment?

“Babe.”

“Don’t babe me, Harry. Sit down and explain right now before I walk out that door and I never come back.”

He huffs and takes a seat, reaching for your hands but you don’t let him. You won’t let him touch you, not until you know the truth. And even then, maybe not.

“Look, I’m happy to be open and honest with you. But there are some things you can’t know, some things I won’t tell you. To protect you. You have to understand this entire thing is bigger than us, bigger than me and Tommy.”

You raise your eyes to meet him, your face as stoic as you can muster but Harry can see you crumble behind your wavering exterior.

“You know me as Harry, and that’s who I am, who I always will be. But there is another part of me, another life I suppose I live separately. To keep you and my family safe. I’m not just a drug dealer, baby. I work for one of the biggest distributors in London. Tommy and I, we’re two of the most powerful men in the city. We run a gang of 13 corners, we sell big, not small. It’s a dangerous fucking business we work in Y/N, so dangerous I’m known by name never by face. To protect you, to protect my family.”

You blink, trying to take in the information he’s giving you. You figured most yourself, though hearing it come from his mouth? You’re not sure how to take it.

“I got myself in a mess when I was 17, I started working for a local dealer to make back the money I owed. That’s when I met Tommy, we were both in the same boat. After a while, we realized we were pretty good at it, and we got bigger and bigger. Made names for ourselves on the streets, but it came with a price. We lost a lot to get to where we are, Tommy lost his Mum, I lost my Uncle… I’m not prepared to lose you, too. That’s why I kept you out of it.”

Everything starts hitting you a little too hard. It’s too painful to hear Harry confess everything you've already assumed. In the six years you’ve known him, everything feels like a lie, like you don’t actually know him at all.

You’re engaged to a complete stranger. A dangerous stranger no doubt capable of murder, and you can feel your chest begin to sink.

“I can’t be here, I need to go.”

Harry shoots up as quickly as you do, hands gently on your elbows to steady you from making a hasty move.

“Darling, I know it’s a lot to take in but please, just hear me out.”

“Hear you out? Harry, you’ve lied to me for six fucking years. I got engaged to a man I don’t even know and you expect me to sit here and hear you out? This is too much, I can’t be around you right now.”

Panic sets in for Harry, his heart frantic in his chest and he doesn’t know what to do. You do know him, he’s Harry, yourHarry. Even if you can’t see that right now.

“Where are you gonna go? Stay here and I’ll leave, I don’t want you roaming the streets.”

You huff. “I’m going to pack a bag and spend the night at my Mums. You can call Kavin and have him take me if that makes you feel better. I just need to be away from you for a while. I need to think, Harry.”

He doesn’t say a word, just sits back on the sofa while you scurry to the bedroom to change and pack a bag. It feels like you’re in there forever, when really, only a few moments pass.

It takes everything in you not to collapse to the floor in the closet, chest heavy and you struggle to gasp for another breath. You refuse to break, not while you’re here anyway. You need to get out of this apartment, out of Harry’s presence, and think.

When you leave the bedroom, Harry hears and stands again, eyes glued on the overnight bag you’ve only ever packed to spend the weekend away with him.

With a deep sigh, you clear your throat.

“I just need the night to think and wrap my head around this. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Harry nods, swallowing back the lump of a cry that’s fighting its way up his throat.

“Kavin’s downstairs waiting for you.”

You make your way to the elevator, every step an effort for your tired body, and you can’t bring yourself to look back. As you step into the elevator, Harry gets a little closer so he can still see you.

“I love you, baby.” He whimpers out as the doors begin to close.

You look away, eyes closed shut.

“Goodnight, Harry.”

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #imagine harry styles #harry styles x you #harry styles smut #harry styles x reader #harrys styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles fic #harry styles oneshot

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infizero · 9 months

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Why Ambrosius and Ballister’s Relationship Feels So Different in the Movie (Nimona)

As someone who read Nimona countless times growing up, I am very familiar with the story and these characters. Which is why when I watched the movie, I was struck by how different Ambrosius and Ballister felt. They seemed like totally different and unfamiliar characters to me, and it didn’t have anything to do with their designs.

After rereading the original Nimona graphic novel recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that the main reason they feel like completely different characters in the movie comes down to one thing: the removal of the joust.

When I watched the movie, I was surprised by the fact that they changed the circumstances that drove these two apart. But it didn’t hit me just how much this one event shapes both of their characters and their relationship to each other until I reread the book.

The joust is CRUCIAL to their dynamic. It pervades every interaction they have with each other, they bring it up constantly, it is literally the crux of their collective storyline. We learn about it on PAGE 5 of the whole book, and their big heart-to-heart when Ballister is captured near the climax of the story is based around Ambrosius finally admitting the truth about what happened. Honestly I’d say that him finally coming to terms with what he did and apologizing for it is probably what allowed these two to finally find peace together by the end of the book.

We get something similar to it in the movie. Ambrosius still is responsible for Ballister losing his arm, but it is under WILDLY different circumstances. So I want to talk about how the joust affects them in the book, and then explain why the movie’s version of events, while similar on the surface, has a completely different effect on everything. So let’s get into it!

(All images of the book are via pictures of my own physical copy btw, so apologies if they’re not the best quality.)

(Also I want to make it clear that I don’t hate the movie nor its adaptation of these two. I do personally greatly prefer the book, but this post is not here to tear down the movie and exclaim that the book was way better. I just find it interesting how changing one event can have huge ripple effects!)

Part 1: The Graphic Novel (AKA: “My Boyfriend Shot Off My Arm Because of His Wild Ambition!”)

Like I said before, we learn about the joust very early on; Chapter 2, page 5. It is told to us first via Ballister’s perspective. Nimona asks if she can kill Ambrosius while they’re making evil plans, and Ballister says no -- if anyone is going to kill Ambrosius, it’s going to be him. We then get a flashback to the joust itself.

Ballister explains how they were friends and how the joust was the first time they had been pitted against each other. Ballister won fair and square, but in his words:

BALLISTER: “but Ambrosius hates to lose.”

BALLISTER: “He always claimed it was an accident. No one could prove otherwise.”

BALLISTER: “Turns out the Institution had no use for a one-armed hero. I took the only other viable option.”

Ambrosius used a weaponized lance and blasted Ballister’s arm off. After the incident, Ballister was rejected by the Institution, and became a villain instead of the hero he had originally set out to be.

In Chapter 3 we see Ambrosius appear for the first time, and he and Ballister have a very relaxed sort of cartoon hero-villain dynamic going on. There’s definitely real animosity between them, but they don’t hesitate to simply talk casually to each other or help each other when things go south. It’s all pretty lighthearted and lowkey.

They fight briefly, but after Nimona triggers the building they’re in to self-destruct, Ambrosius doesn’t hesitate to help Ballister escape and Ballister doesn’t hesitate to accept his help. Ambrosius even tries to reassure him that Nimona will be fine. After they make it out, with Nimona presumed dead, Ambrosius puts a hand on his shoulder and tells him to go before more guards show up. They may be “arch-nemesises”, but they certainly don’t act like it.

AMBROSIUS: “Haven’t you missed our fights? We haven’t done this since you tried to clone the king’s daughter!”

BALLISTER: “Ambrosius, I really don’t have time for this.”

AMBROSIUS: “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

BALLISTER: “You’re an idiot.”

By the way, I’m not going to be doing a full breakdown of every single scene with them, don’t worry. I just think that their first interaction shows off their dynamic very well. This is presumably how they’ve been with each other since the incident, as it’s made clear both here and throughout the book that they’ve both been doing this for a while at this point. They have a very established dynamic, which is important as that is one of the big differences between the book and the movie. (I’ll get into that more later.)

Whenever these two interact throughout the book, it’s clear that they have very different opinions on the incident that drove them apart and how their relationship functions now.

Ambrosius tries to act like it was simply an accident and that it doesn’t matter. Ballister became a villain of his own volition, and now they are arch-nemesises who have to fight because that’s their job -- though he doesn’t exactly act like he hates Ballister.

Meanwhile Ballister saw it as a deep betrayal, and while he definitely still cares deeply about Ambrosius, he cannot get over the incident as easily as Ambrosius can.

Their respective feelings about what happened are shown perfectly in the scene in Chapter 7 where Ambrosius invites Ballister to meet with him in secret. Ambrosius tells him that the Institution has ordered him to kill Nimona and begs him to send her away, both so he doesn’t have to kill her and so things can go back to “normal.” Ballister then says that Ambrosius gave up normal at the joust.

AMBROSIUS: “I can’t believe you’re still hung up about that. It was a long time ago, you know.”

AMBROSIUS: “Besides, it was an ACCIDENT.”

BALLISTER: “I bet you’ve said that so many times you’ve started to actually believe it.”

Ambrosius insists it was an accident, and Ballister claims that he blasted off his arm because he couldn’t stand that Ballister was better than him. This sets Ambrosius off and they begin to argue.

AMBROSIUS: “You can’t blame me for how your life turned out! You made the choice to turn evil!”

BALLISTER: “Choice? I never had a choice! The Institution needed a villain. That lot fell to me. I never chose it.”

BALLISTER “And it could just as easily have been you, had that “accident” happened differently!”

AMBROSIUS: “Oh please! Do you really believe that?”

AMBROSIUS: “You never had it in you to be a hero! Everyone always knew that you were going to be the one to go bad!”

Ambrosius has convinced himself that Ballister chose to become evil, and that he isn’t responsible for what happened because it was an accident. We later learn that it wasn’t an accident though, which means that this really is him just making excuses so he doesn’t have to accept responsibility.

Ballister brings up the idea of Ambrosius becoming like him again after they fight, in one of if not my favorite scene between them in the whole book:

AMBROSIUS: “uugghh”

BALLISTER: “What if I cut off your arm right now?”

BALLISTER: “Then you’d see how fast the Institution would cast you aside. Just like they did me.”

AMBROSIUS: “You wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “No, I wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “And I’m the villain.”

BALLISTER: “What do you suppose that says about you?”

Ballister and Ambrosius are both very complicated individuals, and I think they lose a lot of their moral grayness in the movie. (Which I will get to later.)

Ambrosius is the “hero”, but it was his ambition that drove him to blast Ballister’s arm off, and he’s never accepted responsibility for it, instead trying to convince himself that Ballister turned out this way because of his own actions. But he doesn’t disagree here that the Institution would throw him out if he were to lose his own arm, which I think is very telling. He knows deep down that he is not a good person, and he is not working for good people. But he doesn’t want to admit it.

Ballister is the “villain”, but in many ways he is better than Ambrosius. He abides by his own rules of never killing unless it’s necessary, and goes out of his way throughout the book to make sure that as few people are harmed as possible. He knows that the Institution is corrupt, because he was one of the people it failed. And he works to try and bring it down.

Ambrosius cannot accept what happened, and because of that they aren’t able to get anywhere. They both know it wasn’t an accident. But because Ambrosius cannot admit it, they are stuck like this.

It’s a fascinating part of Ambrosius’ character that though he is adamant about Ballister being the one to destroy himself, he still cares about him. Much more openly than Ballister does in return, in fact. Ambrosius consistently does whatever he can to avoid having to kill him and always seems to have his wellbeing in mind. While he initially refused to kill Nimona, revolted at the idea that he should be ordered to kill “a little girl”, he eventually agrees to do so, but only under the condition that Ballister would be spared.

THE DIRECTOR: “Your motivations are quite transparent. I KNOW what the nature of your relationship was. I made it clear at the time that I disapproved. If your fixation on him has impeded your ability to do your job, then he truly has outlived his usefulness.”

THE DIRECTOR: “We’ll find you a new nemesis. Perhaps you will be more competent without Blackheart as a distraction.”

AMBROSIUS: “I won’t kill him. If you demand I kill the girl, I’ll do it - but I won’t kill him.”

Despite him and Ballister’s separation being his fault, he is the one who wishes most for things to go back to the way they were. And this is likely why he refuses to accept responsibility about the joust. If it were truly an accident, then there shouldn’t be anything preventing them from continuing to be together. By painting it as an accident, Ballister becomes the villain for refusing to move on and let things go back to the way they were, not Ambrosius.

But finally, after Nimona disappears and Ballister lets himself be captured, we get probably the most important scene between these two. Ambrosius has been demoted due to his failure to kill Nimona, and is now forced to guard Ballister’s cell. Ambrosius is at his lowest that he’s been throughout the story, disgraced and discarded by the Institution who he had always been so loyal to.

It’s notable that Ambrosius says here that they both know Ballister is not evil, since he has been paddling that idea this whole time that Ballister made the choice to turn evil. By admitting that he is not, it shows that he is both starting to turn against the Institution, and starting to be more honest about what really happened.

Naturally, after Ambrosius wonders how things ended up like this and reminisces on when they were together, Ballister once again brings up the joust. And finally...

AMBROSIUS: “I- I never wanted to hurt you. I- I didn’t- It was-”

BALLISTER: “Don’t you dare try to tell me again that it was an accident.”

AMBROSIUS: “It wasn’t.”

...he admits the truth.

Ambrosius shares his side of the story, letting both us and Ballister in on what really happened that day. It wasn’t fully his fault -- the Director had called him into her office the night before the joust and told him that he had promise, that he was her choice out of the two, but that he had to prove himself against Ballister or that opportunity would go away.

On the day of the joust, Ambrosius received a weaponized lance instead of his regular one, which he instantly noticed. He asked what the Director expected him to do with it, and was told that she expected him to win.

To Ambrosius’ credit, he had no intention of using it, as he was confident that he would win. But the weight from the weaponized lance threw his balance off, and he ending up losing. And so...

AMBROSIUS: “I wanted it, more than anything. You never wanted it as much as me. You were just BETTER, without hardly even seeming to try.”

AMBROSIUS: “I don’t even remember- but I must have-”

[...]

AMBROSIUS: “I’m sorry, Ballister. I’m so sorry.”

To be fair, Ambrosius is not entirely to blame here. I doubt he would’ve come up with this idea on his own; he only acted on it because the Director had already given him the weaponized lance, and stressed the night before that the opportunities she dangled in front of him would not be given to him if he did not win. He was manipulated.

But he still made the decision to do it. He could’ve simply not used the lance. But he chose to. It is his fault.

It’s fascinating that the version of events Ambrosius had been swearing by this entire time is the exact opposite of what really happened. He claimed that it was an accident, he didn’t choose to do it, he had no choice, and that it was Ballister’s choice to become evil that caused all of this. But in reality, Ambrosius was the only one who got a choice here. And that choice is why their relationship was destroyed.

Ballister then brings attention to something even more damning:

BALLISTER: “You’ve never said it before.”

AMBROSIUS: “What?”

BALLISTER: “You never said you were sorry.”

AMBROSIUS: “I- didn’t?”

AMBROSIUS: “Oh god.”

I feel like you could interpret this in a lot of different ways, but the way I see it, they probably didn’t see each other much right after the incident. Ambrosius was catapulted into stardom as the kingdom’s beloved knight, and Ballister became a villain. I don’t think they really interacted much until their hero-villain antics started up, so I don’t think Ambrosius really had a chance to apologize. And if he did, he didn’t think to. Regardless of why, I do think it is messed up that he never apologized, and it goes to show just how much this event destroyed the bond they used to have.

From here, there’s not too much, as Plot Stuff starts getting serious around this point. Ambrosius ends up betraying the Institution after they continuously attack Ballister to provoke Nimona, attacking the guards who are holding him. This is when Ambrosius finally chooses Ballister over the Institution, which is great for his character, but there’s not really much more than that to say about it.

He and Ballister plan together to try and save the kingdom, with Ambrosius being adamant that they have to kill Nimona while Ballister refuses to. It’s during this conversation that Ambrosius mentions that he “never did anything good [his] whole life”, which is really sad but also kind of accurate, and it goes to show how he’s finally accepted responsibility for everything he’s done and had a part in up to this point.

Eventually Ballister is able to find a way to nerf her and they split up, with Ambrosius wanting to tell him something in case they don’t see each other again, but Ballister shuts him down.

BALLISTER: “We can’t do this now. Just... just promise me you won’t get yourself killed.”

It’s easy to assume this was something romantic and it likely was, but I imagine Ambrosius could’ve also wanted to say sorry again for everything. Perhaps it would’ve been a mix of both.

Regardless, they split up and climax stuff happens: Ambrosius attempts to kill Nimona but gets seriously injured, Ballister tries to reason with Nimona, etc. etc. Eventually at the very end, we see that these two have made peace and are together again, living on after everything. And that’s these two in the book!

Whew. I know that was a lot, but don’t worry. I won’t be going into as much detail about the movie’s version of events, as Ambrosius and Ballister have a much more cut-and-dry dynamic there than in the book. Their relationship in the original is very complex, so I wanted to make sure I covered all of those little nuances.

The joust is what defines their relationship and a lot of their respective characters; it is unimaginably important. Ballister became a villain because he lost his arm and was cast aside by the Institution. Ambrosius became the kingdom’s hero because he took Ballister out of the picture. They are unable to be around each other normally for very long because of their divided views of what happened. It is only after Ambrosius finally faces the truth that they are able to find peace together once more.

All of this is to say that it’s extremely hard to imagine what their relationship would be like in the graphic novel had the joust not happened the way it did. Which brings us to...

Part 2: The Movie (AKA: “My Boyfriend Sliced Off My Arm Because I Literally Killed Someone!”)

Before we start, I want to again stress that I am not trying to argue that any changes made here are inherently inferior. I am merely pointing out the differences between the book and the movie that contribute to the overall dissonance I and many others have felt when it comes to these two across versions.

Right off the bat, we are greeted with the movie’s version of Ambrosius and Ballister’s backstory. Like was implied in the book, they appear to be together (or something along those lines) which is great to actually see. But it quickly becomes clear that the events here are far different.

Instead of a joust, it is a knighting ceremony. There is no competition between Ballister and Ambrosius here. Ambrosius is knighted and cheered for, and then it is Ballister’s turn. He is knighted and everyone is silent before breaking into cheers as well. And then...

...his sword suddenly turns into a cannon and kills the queen. And in retaliation...

...Ambrosius chops his arm off.

Now if you’ve listened to ANYTHING I’ve said so far, this should immediately set off alarm bells. Because this one little difference changes everything about these two’s dynamic.

In the book, Ambrosius shot off Ballister’s arm in order to win his position. It was an entirely selfish and evil action spurred on only by his uncontrollable want to be the winner.

But here, Ambrosius is debatably justified in his response. Sure, he didn’t have to be as drastic as slicing his whole arm off (and I know there’s symbolism there with how the kingdom has taught people to get rid of problems), but Ballister -- to him -- literally just shot the queen. The queen who Ambrosius has sworn to protect. It is completely reasonable for him to respond in this way. And that’s a huge difference.

By changing this, we already have a completely different situation. Ambrosius here didn’t particularly want to cut Ballister’s arm off, it was a reflex, a response to a sudden danger. (Not saying he wanted to in the book, but there he made the deliberate decision to do so. In the movie it seems much more like an actual accident -- an overreaction that he immediately regrets and, as we’ll see, continues to regret.) And there was justification for it. There was no justification for it in the book.

Instead of an Ambrosius whose ambition caused him to commit an evil act of betrayal against the man he was closest to, we now have an Ambrosius who, in the heat of the moment, overreacted like he was trained to after Ballister seemingly betrayed him. We’ll see over the course of the movie how this affects things, but that’s not the only major change here.

As we figure out shortly afterward, the movie makes a huge change when it comes to how the story functions, and that’s the timeline of events. In the book, the joust and the subsequent fallout between Ballister and Ambrosius happened years ago. We don’t know how long, but it’s clearly been a while. Enough time has passed where they are fully settled into their roles as hero and villain, and they look significantly younger in the flashbacks as well.

Like previously stated, book Ballister has been a villain for a while. He is completely settled into this role and has been making schemes and having fights of the week with Ambrosius for a considerable time. He knows what he’s doing. He has his own way of doing things, and when Nimona inserts herself into his life much of their early dynamic is him teaching her how he does things. In the book, Ballister is the teacher, Nimona is the student.

But in the movie, this incident just happened. It's unclear how exactly long it's been, but judging from Ballister's arm being created and his wounds healing it's probably been around a month.

Regardless of exactly how long it's been, the point is that these events are still very fresh. Ballister seemingly has just been laying low, not villain-ing it up, and he and Ambrosius haven't seen each other since the knighting ceremony. This changes literally everything about Ballister’s character. This post is specifically about Ambrosius and Ballister’s dynamic and not a Ballister character analysis so I’ll try to keep it brief, but movie Ballister seriously could not be more different from the book.

Compare this to movie Ballister, who I’m pretty sure never knows what he’s doing ever, at any point. He was training to be a knight. He has seemingly never once questioned the Institution. Now he has suddenly lost his arm and been thrust out into the unknown of being treated as a villain, and he has no idea how to handle it. Then Nimona shows up, tells him “hey, the Institution sucks”, and eventually he ends up believing so as well. In the movie, Nimona is the teacher, Ballister is the student.

Book Ballister actively resents the Institution and has no doubts that what they did to him is wrong. He has been plotting their downfall for a while. Nimona, on the other hand, seems to be out of the loop when it comes to the Institution and seemingly only starts hating them after she finds out how they threw Ballister out. Again, I’d just like to stress how completely and totally opposite their dynamic in the movie is compared to this.

There’s also Ballister being a scientist and being much more jaded in the book, but that’s not really important for the purposes of this post. So alas, I shall move on.

This different timeframe greatly impacts Ambrosius and Ballister’s dynamic, and obviously it would. There is a huge difference between a falling-out that happened years ago and you’re both still bitter about, and a falling-out that happened very recently. This, along with the different course of events resulting in said falling-out, is what causes their dynamic to feel so alien.

Also while talking about their early interactions in the movie, I’d just like to point out that while here Nimona is the one to assume Ambrosius is Ballister’s arch-nemesis and call him such, which Ballister doesn’t agree with, they were actually arch-nemeses in the book. Just something I noticed.

Something else I find interesting is later on, Ballister seems to be almost in disbelief about Ambrosius cutting off his arm and makes excuses for him.

BALLISTER: “He didn’t cut off my arm. He disarmed a weapon.”

BALLISTER: “It’s how we were trained.”

(Side note, but I wonder if book Ballister ever felt this way right after the joust? Did he try to convince himself it was an accident too, once upon a time? Did he try to make excuses?)

And to be fair, he is sort of right. Like I said before, Ambrosius’ reaction to Ballister seemingly killing the queen was debatably justified. While we’re obviously supposed to side with Nimona here and agree that Ballister should be more upset at Ambrosius for what he did, the movie definitely paints Ambrosius as more sympathetic overall. We see him freaking out internally about cutting off Ballister’s arm, and there is a lot of emphasis placed on how he and the others were trained by the Institution, inviting the audience to place more of the blame on the system that taught Ambrosius to act this way rather than him as a person.

And again, I’m not saying this is a bad thing! I love a good "taking down a corrupt system” story, and with the different circumstances of the movie it definitely makes more sense to play it this way. But in comparison to the book, Ambrosius is much easier to sympathize with. His character is changed from a very morally gray person who did something horrible and won’t admit it, to a pretty okay person who did something horrible and wholly accepts and bemoans that fact. He’s almost the opposite of what he was in the book.

So we have an Ambrosius who accepts what he did to Ballister and feels awful about it, and a Ballister who has no idea what he’s doing and is basically just being dragged around by Nimona. With both of them being basically the complete opposite of how they were in the book, is it any wonder that their relationship with each other feels so different when they themselves are so different?

Also, once again, the circumstances are very different. There is no Queen murder plot in the book, nor is their any attempt to clear Ballister’s name. A significantly different setting makes a difference too.

I don’t see a need to go into further detail about specific scenes in the movie as I think I’ve made my point clear. But going back to the movie’s lack of Ambrosius and Ballister’s already established hero-villain dynamic, I think these differences are made quite apparent just contrasting how they talk to each other. I mean, just compare these two scenes:

AMBROSIUS: “What? You’re gonna kill me now too?”

BALLISTER: “You believe that?”

BALLISTER: “Then you never knew me at all.”

AMBROSIUS: “uugghh”

BALLISTER: “What if I cut off your arm right now?”

BALLISTER: “Then you’d see how fast the Institution would cast you aside. Just like they did me.”

AMBROSIUS: “You wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “No, I wouldn’t.”

BALLISTER: “And I’m the villain.”

BALLISTER: “What do you suppose that says about you?”

Their relationship in the movie is much softer and healthier than it was in the book. Their dialogue in the movie tends to lean much more towards tried-and-true “friendship betrayal” stuff; the wound of Ballister’s “betrayal” may be fresher, but it’s clear both of them love each other far more than they resent each other. In the book, it is the opposite. The movie could NEVER have the bar fight scene. It’s too ugly and bitter to fit these softer versions of Ambrosius and Ballister.

Part 3: Conclusion

So, that was a lot. I hope it’s a little clearer now how big the differences are between these two’s dynamic in the book and the movie! Especially if you’re someone who is only familiar with one or the other. While I prefer the book due to me tending to prefer more complex and messy relationship dynamics, I totally understand the appeal of the more loving and healthy relationship Ambrosius and Ballister have in the movie.

To summarize, here are some of the main takeaways:

Ambrosius causing Ballister to lose his arm is completely unjustified in the book and happens due to Ambrosius’ wild ambition, while in the movie it is a debatably justified reflexive action in response to an active threat.

Ambrosius overall is portrayed as much more sympathetic in the movie, with the system itself being more to blame for what happened.

In the book, the main thing keeping them apart was Ambrosius’ refusal to take responsibility and admit what he did. In the movie, it’s a misunderstanding about Ballister seemingly turning evil.

In the book, Ambrosius and Ballister have a very established hero-villain dynamic with the joust having happened years ago. In the movie the “betrayal” is still very fresh, which leads to very different interactions between the two.

And that’s about it! Thank you for reading this very long post. And if you haven’t read the original graphic novel or watched the movie, go do that!!! Much love to ND Stevenson and the rest of the people who made this story come to life.

Let me know your thoughts in the tags or the replies! Which version do you prefer? Are there any other factors you feel have a significant role in why their relationship feels so different? Or do you think I’m totally wrong about this and they feel basically the same to you?

Either way, thanks again for reading and goodbye!

#nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #analysis #meta #ballister x ambrosius #ambrosius x ballister #nimona movie #nimona graphic novel #nimona analysis #ballister blackheart

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adhdnojutsu · 2 months

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"Stop making them gay"

The main reason a lot of male characters in Naruto didn't have a chance with each other despite being written like lovebirds, is because Shonen doesn't do "gay". Itachi was canonically more attached to Shisui than to Izumi and Naruto more to Sasuke than to Hinata, but Shonen insists to be traditionally masculine, and traditional masculinity rejects what it assumes of homosexuality minus its allowance for "manly tears" or flamboyant outfits. Instead, it exaggerates male friendships/brotherhood to a point that is far from credible and has to screech "no homo" as a constant disclaimer. The Naruto franchise may have started "low key shipping" SNS as a joke, but it's not a baseless one at all.

ShiIta are so similar to Romeo & Juliet, it's ridiculous. While they weren't from warring clans, they were loyal to warring entities and bound to be pitted against each other in the coup if it had gone down and Shisui been alive. The conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha was in the way of them being as close as they wanted to be, with Shisui being tasked to spy on Itachi and Itachi tasked to spy on the clan Shisui was loyal to, so they had to meet secretly. Ultimately, they were both sacrificed for peace and for what was left of their respective allegiances (Sasuke and Konoha).

Naruto stepped in repeatedly when Itachi was beating up Sasuke, but kept pushing Hinata to fight Neji against whom she clearly stood no chance and who was intending to kill her, because he is pathologically ready to disrespect Sasuke's wishes to save him, but projected his own, naive ideals onto Hinata with no regard for her life, just because it made HIM mad to watch. I mean, he was visibly shocked when Hinata confessed to him 16 years into their lives... She was never a priority in his life before The Last, and he probably would have equally lost it if Pain had beaten up Moegi that way, because he was already livid over Jiraiya, Kakashi, the village etc. and wasn't about to stand for one more friend getting killed by this terrorist. Hinata, at that time, meant little more to him than his other classmates, Sasuke did and always has. He literally asked her why she'd risk her life for him because he did not see or feel anything that would make that question redundant. Izumi wasn't mentioned once post-mortem except vaguely, by Obito, while Shisui's influence on Itachi, both ideological and emotional, is canon gospel. It's so great that I can't help but wonder if he used Kotoamatsukami on Itachi before giving him his remaining eye. "Friendship" and "brotherhood" are NOT "emotional co-dependency and self-destructive emulation". Neither is a healthy romantic relationship, but people in fiction more typically go insane over or sacrifice their authentic self for, (lost) romance than (lost) friendship or siblings.

There's also nothing platonic about stalking your "friend" to a point where he feels compelled to kill you while you're screaming that you're gonna break all of his bones if that's what it takes to keep him by your side. Nothing cute or sane either, mind you. Sasuke and Naruto are a lot like Sarah and Setsuna of Angel Sanctuary. Sure, they're meant to be siblings or sibling-like, but DAMN that's not a sibling-appropriate degree of obsession.

Shonen has a tendency to exaggerate the importance of bonds and convictions, but Kishimoto took it to a level that has licensing companies make jokes in the form of couple-coded merch or fan service scenes. Even if he didn't do it on purpose, he clearly did it on such a blatantly obvious level that you get shit like this:

#Naruto shipping #pro shipping #sasunaru #narusasu #sns #itaizu #itachi x izumi #shiita #shisui x itachi #shisuita #itashi #naruhina

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david-talks-sw · 1 year

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Okay so I watched Inside Man on Netflix. It's interesting. More importantly, it's a masterclass in crafting likeable characters and how the POV we follow in a scene affects the way we see a character. Also, this somehow relates to the Star Wars Prequels, I promise! 😆

The moral of the series is that "everyone is a murderer, all it takes is a good reason and a bad day." The main characters are:

A vicar who - through a huge misunderstanding - has now locked his son's tutor in his basement and doesn't know how to get out of this situation, played by David Tennant.

A convicted murderer and ex-criminal psychology professor who solves crimes from his cell, as he waits for his execution, played by Stanley Tucci.

So a man who locked a woman in his cellar and a guy who murdered his wife. In any other movie, these guys are the villains. Yet, both of these characters are extremely likeable!

This is achieved through how relatably they behave in their relationships (kind, humble, humorous)...

... and through the emotion and/or charisma brought by the actors playing them (it's THE DOCTOR/CROWLEY and Stanley Friggin' Tucci)... but also through the amount of screen time they get.

We're with them for most of the show. There's other characters (the journalist, the trapped tutor and the vicar's wife) and subplots, of course, but they're our two anchors.

So when I'm watching David Tennant lock his son's tutor in his cellar and consider if he should free her - only to see him and his wife make things worse - I'm not thinking "you monster" like I do when I see Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs for example.

No, I'm thinking "goddammit vicar you're making things worse, it'll come back to haunt you, there's still a chance to turn back, please!" I'm rooting for him to make the right choice because I'm seeing him struggle and despair and hesitate throughout many scenes.

When I'm watching Stanley Tucci guiltily say he deserves death, after being so darn charming, humble and in clear possession of a moral compass, my instinct as a viewer isn't to go "he's right".

It's to go "aaaw, no it's fine, everyone makes mistakes."

And these characters remain likeable and/or relatable for a huge chunk of time... until, every once in a while, the show reminds you that, "remember, these guys are criminals."

"One of them's killed his wife then decapitated her, and the other one is contemplating murder, so they did/are doing evil stuff, they're the villains and you shouldn't grow fond of them."

Then it goes back to making you empathize with them again.

It's quite the emotional roller-coaster, very intriguing yet frustrating, which I have to guess is exactly what the show is going for.

But the point is: the amount of time we spend with these characters is partially what elicits this emotional reaction out of us.

If we consider the tutor's character:

For all intents and purposes, we should feel sorry for her, or full-on fucking love her. Objectively-speaking, she's:

smart but obviously scared,

we establish early on that she has a brave heart and stands up for oppressed women,

she thinks she's trapped by a pedophile or a man defending a pedophile, figures he'll inevitably try to murder her, yet manages to stay resourceful, determined and cool-headed despite it all.

She's an absolute superhero.

But that's not how the narrative frames her.

She's framed as an antagonistic force, in the vicar's subplot.

She may be the one tied up in a basement, but she's in control and the vicar is not. She's almost framed as being in a position of power (when she's really not), which leads the audience to view Tenant's vicar as an underdog.

When the vicar is trying to look for alternatives to end this situation so that he doesn't have to kill her, she's unhelpful,

and even starts pitting the vicar and his wife against each other.

Again, in-universe, she's scared shitless and in "fight-or-flight" mode. She's putting up a front because she's just trying to get outta this alive. She's the victim, here, not the vicar who captured her.

But as a viewer, you don't feel that, despite objectively knowing that. Why and how?

Because we barely see this character, compared to Tenant's vicar. So we have more time to grow to feel for him. There's "why".

Also 90% of what we do see of the tutor is her being aggressive, manipulative, sometimes downright merciless and we're seeing her from the POV of the vicar or the vicar's wife. There's "how".

Result: the viewer feels sorry for the captor and frustrated towards the captive.

This isn't a rational reaction, it's an emotional one (the goal of any visual artform being to get an emotional reaction out of the viewer).

Which means the series and Stephen Moffat effectively did their job.

How does this relate to the Prequels?

Well, a lot of people see the Jedi in a negative light in the Prequels, and Anakin in a more sympathetic one.

Even though the Prequels are about how a good man becomes bad, and even though the Jedi embody one of the major Star Wars themes (selflesness) as opposed to Anakin who clearly displays the anti-theme (selfish)... a majority of fans feels more for the latter than the former. Why?

Because the Prequels unintentionally do what Inside Man does purposefully. You react to Anakin like you react to the vicar. You react to the Jedi like you react to the tutor.

Simply put: Anakin has more screen time than the Jedi. And we don't just see him more, we see him struggle, we see him about what he knows to be morally right vs what he really wants, we see him be overtaken by his own fear...

... and just by contrast, that makes him more relatable than the Jedi, who have already overcome their character arcs and mostly all learned to keep their flaws in check.

The narrative doesn't intend to frame them as antagonistic. We do see them talk about how worried they are, we do see them emote.

And if you think about it, it's easy to see why:

their entire way of life is going to crap,

their values are being corrupted as they're forced to fight and die, alongside their clone brothers, in a war they wanted no part of,

they sense that the Force is close to the breaking point and that the galaxy's inhabitants are suffering on the daily.

But, for example, when Mace or Ki-Adi Mundi are shown expressing concern in the Prequels... as worried as they are, in-universe... out-of-universe, their measured reactions doesn't emotionally impact a viewer as much as Anakin's intense ones do.

So a big chunk of the audience will sympathize more with him than them. But like the tutor in Inside Man, the Jedi are objectively the victims and Anakin is objectively an unstable space-nazi who betrayed and destroyed them.

Just because we're not shown these characters be worried beyond just monotonously saying "I'm worried" doesn't mean they're not actually worried as Anakin is in Revenge of the Sith (if not more).

However we don't see it.

Because these three films aren't about the Jedi Order, they're about the Republic and about Anakin and about how each of these two beautiful things were corrupted (by Palpatine and by themselves) into becoming the very thing they stood against.

The Jedi aren't a factor in either of those two themes set up by George Lucas.

They became a factor when fans - who despite not liking the Prequels, still admirably chose to engage with the material - made the Jedi be more important to the narrative of the Prequels by re-framing these films as "The Failure of the Jedi".

Now, should Lucas have recognized that most fans wouldn't give two shits about why a Republic falls or the "matinee serial" format, and would've rather he focused on the Jedi, and developed them accordingly? Probably.

But good luck telling an indie filmmaker with a bunch of money how to tell the story he wants to tell.

Could Lucas have done more with the Prequels to highlight the fact that the Jedi are the underdogs of the story, not Anakin's oppressors? Yes.

But, firstly, he probably didn't think that was a point that needed explaining. And secondly, as he explained at Cannes, in 2002, feature films are a very limiting format to tell a story, especially one of the Prequels' scale. If it doesn't directly contribute to the story you're telling... it's gotta go.

A limited show would've been better to cover every aspect of the Prequels more in detail and avoid confusing the audience re: who they should be rooting for.

Which is why it's interesting, to me, that Stephen Moffat used his limited show to INTENTIONALLY confuse the audience! 😃

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nolongerapileofashprobably · 9 months

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When director Hidemaro Fujibayashi said that Zelda in TOTK is “going through growth, experiencing things, and ultimately figuring out what kind of a person she’s going to be,” how would you say that is reflected in the game? What kind of person do you think she realizes she wants to be? What scene(s) reflect her overall growth?

Zelda’s growth in this game is all about choosing her role, becoming a leader for a freshly healing Hyrule, and about finding her place in the past. For so many, I think we misinterpret growth and development, as Zelda’s main growth in BoTW was directly tied to her magic and her narrowed outlook on life.

In botw, Zelda disregards the reason she needs a knight, naively travels by herself for research purposes, cannot understand the magic supposedly within her, detests the magic, and ultimately detests herself. She’s constantly bottling up her emotions, to the point that she lashes out and it is even commented by Daruk that she “can’t quite see the ranges” because she was incredibly sheltered and stubborn as a result from the constant pressure to do as she is told, not as she thinks. We do see Zelda working on this, as a result of finally seeing Link for who he is, rather than what she has assumed of him. On top of that personal development, she is pitted against a prophecy that TELLS her what she has to do. And when she finally unlocks her magic, in a moment of pure love and selflessness, she is forced to adhere to the prophecy, to do as the sword’s spirit says, to play her part in this prophecy.

I think so many people think Zelda’s development is shallow or barely there in ToTK because we don’t see that personal development piece we get with Zelda and Link’s relationship. And the reason for that is simple— Zelda is now an adult, she has matured and grown from the development we got to see in botw. She’s at peace with herself and with the fact that her magic is basically gone.

The thing she spent the entirety of her life focusing on— it’s gone. Zelda no longer has that pressure on her shoulders. There’s no prophecy to live up to. There’s no kingdom to protect.

But there is one to rebuild.

*spoilers for totk and the ending*

We see through Princess Sightings side quests how Zelda has truly traveled the world of Hyrule and gotten to know her people. She is beloved by all— she did NOT immediately reclaim a throne abandoned for a century. She did NOT make it a priority to rebuild castle town and the castle. I have seen people actively BASH these things, but it makes so much sense when you consider who Zelda is.

Zelda is this legendary Princess that has been holding back Calamity Ganon for a century— everyone knows of her (which is confirmed by talking to NPC’s, one of the most notable being Manny from Hateno). And from ToTK, we see that she has formed research teams, a Guard, presumably (with the shared opinion of Robbie and Purah) cleared nearly all traces of Sheikah tech from Hyrule, built a school to ensure education is properly taught, and invigorated Hyrule’s kingdom through COMMUNITY and CULTURE. Zelda could not just sweep away the rubble on her throne in the Sanctum and start ordering shit around from the castle.

She integrated herself back into Hyrule, learned the people of NOW and grew to love them. Zelda acted as a symbol for a long time and she finally got to show everyone exactly who she is. A kind, compassionate, incredibly smart girl who lived in a village just like everyone else. She put the focus on healing the kingdom and rebuilding it. Which brings us to the world we see in ToTK.

One question in general helps us pinpoint Zelda’s development in ToTK: What is her purpose of being in the past?

This question is first introduced through Rauru, who posed it as a “why”. Why did Zelda’s magic bring her back to this point in time? Why is she here, at the moment in time where Hyrule is currently under the rule of its first King and Queen. Now let’s take a look at this— Zelda went back in time. A newly developed kingdom. The first King and Queen. So that + that = fuckin parallels PEOPLE!!! PARALLELS!!!! Ooh man do I love parallels.

ANYWAY. This introduces Zelda’s main development in ToTK. Whereas in botw her character constantly expected to act as she is told, do as is prophesied (is that a word? … I have a degree in professional writing but that word looks so incorrect… sorry, carry on), and ultimately accepts that the thing she vied for her entire life has been drained, her character in ToTK is now given the chance to DO as she wants, to find her own role, to make her OWN choice.

It’s foreshadowed with Zelda unlocking her magic in botw by way of her own, deliberate, selfless choice to love and protect Link that grants her a path to save everyone else. Zelda’s entire CHOICE is a key focus in her journey.

Zelda chooses to train her magic, to learn about the Zonai, to befriend the sages, to immerse herself in the culture of a Hyrule long forgotten by time. There was no one telling her what she HAD to do. Instead, she was guided. Zelda is supported by Sonia and Rauru in ways she was never granted as a child.

And in this, she learns that even having EVERYTHING she was deprived of in botw, they will fail. They couldn’t save Sonia. They won’t stop Ganondorf.

Zelda, through all of this, develops as a LEADER. She acts as a Sage and ultimately finds herself confused at Rauru’s steadfast determination. She knows he will die if they face off with Ganondorf. He knows he will too. But.

“Maybe so. But it is my duty to try.”

Rauru is the King of Hyrule. He made the choice best suited for his kingdom, to be the sacrifice in order to let the world continue on in his absence. He did what was best for the kingdom— not what was best for him as a person. He was secure in his role as the King of Hyrule, he knows the type of leader he is and wants to be.

Zelda… has not yet figured that out for herself. She is beloved, known to the people of Hyrule for his compassionate deeds and lovely personality, but she has yet to cement herself as the Queen of Hyrule. Naturally, she was born a Princess and remembered to be, but she is not a Queen. She is the Princess of a newly developing kingdom, one being rebuilt from rubble. But she is not the Queen. She is the only royal family member left.

Zelda’s character in ToTK develops to be a QUEEN.

Her actions and assured choices speak VOLUMES over the ones she took when she was listening to the words of others. Instead, she CHOSE to TRY. She embraced the duty to her kingdom, even if it took EVERYTHING she had to offer. Her sense of self and her life. Gone. She expected to NEVER wake up as she does in the end of totk. She knew precisely WHY she found herself in the past, in that era, and with Sonia, Rauru, and the sages.

Zelda chooses to have faith in Link, to heal the sword, to lose herself… all for her kingdom. The one she was rebuilding. The one she was healing with. Zelda becomes her own, mature leader in ToTK. And this is even FURTHER established at the very end, with the extra cutscene of Zelda, Link, and the new sages. They vow to support ZELDA.

The last vow was the serve the King of Hyrule. Zelda now finds herself in the same position, albeit different circumstances and new people.

Zelda’s development in ToTK is establishing the leader she WANTS to be, the person she matured TO be, and ultimately the Queen she WILL be.

Zelda’s story is so emotional and there are so many layers to dig through that I am so so thankful to have the opportunity to discuss this. She is absolutely PRECIOUS and I am so proud of her and the journey from botw to the end of totk.

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hornetposting · 1 year

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ok whoops i ended up being a bit busy so i wasn’t able to write this immediately!

we all know that the pale king wasn’t a good father to the vessels because, well. mass infanticide to the point of having an entire pit full of your dead children’s corpses isn’t really a sign of good parenting. but what was he like to hornet?

it’s honestly really hard to tell what their relationship would’ve been like just because there’s not a lot we encounter in game that reveals that. so! i’m gonna do a bit of theory crafting here so take what i say with a grain of salt. this is my personal interpretation of the text in game.

first, hornet never actually talks about the pale king. despite guarding the wyrm corpse, she never mentions anything about her relationship with him. contrasting to this, after breaking herrah’s seal hornet is there, mourning her mother. and while i would like to point out this isn’t exactly a fair comparison because the wyrm corpse isn’t actually the pale king’s dead body i just wanted to put this observation here.

in fact, the main reason why we know hornet is the pale king’s child is because of a line from the white lady

but again, it emphasizes more on her relationship with herrah than anything. (the other clue is hornet’s dialogue in regards to the hollow knight, in referring to them as “siblings”. and since we know herrah is her mother it would just be process of elimination as to who their shared parent is)

also small side note, it looks like hornet doesn’t have that great of a relationship with white lady, or at least not a deep one, if how she refers to her as just “the creature” is anything to go by.

it’s honestly odd how hornet never mentions herself why hallownest is so important to her. she’s the princess of it! she’s the king’s daughter! and she’s spent all this time protecting it, and yet we don’t actually know why she’s doing it. she could leave, nothing is stopping her. we know that the weavers left hallownest and that they still cared about hornet if the weaversong, a charm that was most likely meant for her, is anything to go by. there was nothing that could’ve stopped her from leaving with them. who cares about this rotting kingdom anyway? we know who did, the pale king

the entire reason why the vessels were made was because he desperately wanted to stop his kingdom from falling into ruin. and we know his plan failed. we know hornet is at least a little knowledgeable about the vessels, the seals, the infection. she knows the hollow knight is her sibling, that her father is not above such dire sacrifices. she was raised with a mindset of being indebted. she felt indebted to her mother for being born. could you imagine how indebted she felt to her father too?

knowing this, it’s no wonder why despite all this time, she’s still trying to keep together the pieces of a kingdom long lost to infection and ruin. she’s trying to keep her father’s legacy alive still. to the point where she’s willing to essentially stand by while her mother fades away, gone for good, just for a chance that the kingdom could still be saved.

and this is a bit petty but i think it’s a pretty asshole move to have your child protect your kingdom then just peace out to the dream realm leaving her to fend for herself :/

to summarize: hornet’s relationship with her mother is much more emphasized than the one with her father, despite his kingdom being the one she’s protecting. hornet was raised to basically idolize self-sacrifice, her sibling being the hollow knight, the pale king “sacrificing” his child to be a vessel, her mother sacrificing herself so hornet could be born. this makes for an unhealthy mindset that hornet carries to this day.

#hollow knight #this got long. whew #catty.txt #long post #idk my thoughts are a lil over the place #but i cant think anymore

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my-rose-tinted-glasses · 5 months

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Friday Ramblings

I don't normally do this but I have a couple of thoughts going on in my head regarding the last couple of days week in BL that I just wanted to collect them all instead of just doing it in tags.

Shadow

I'm pissed. I am a big fan of anything horror or supernatural themed stuff so I was really looking forward to this. (Don't even get me started of how disappointed I am at the disappearance of the other horror themed show I could be watching) And the first part did not disappoint. It was a strong first half, good set up of the different story lines and all the players and I was really excited about it. There was such good meta written about the show, and it turned out to be superior to what the show eventually gave us. (@wen-kexing-apologist specially gave us such excellent meta on this show that I wish they were in charge of the second half of this show) I agree with @lurkingshan about everything they said here. Something which I thought was interesting was that I think in this second half the show purposefully made the fake arm really obvious. I don't know if it wanted us to know before Dan but I also don't think it was an accident. But I'm also not gonna theorize about the reasons because I really don't care that much. The "BL" bait was just another thing that pissed me off. I'm not upset it's not BL, I'm upset because it was sold as such and no one will convince me otherwise. For a couple of episodes, at least, the show wanted us to think that Dan was falling for Nai. The prom moment was just fucking ridiculous. The parallels with October 6 could've been really interesting if there wasn't so much going on that it kinda took the weight of it away. One of the questions I like to ask myself when watching any media is - what is it trying to tell? Sometimes nothing and that's fine. It's pure escapism and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It can still be excellent. And sometimes it tries to say too much that it ends up not having a cohesive message and it all falls flat. Religion, communism, family trauma, homophobia, mental health, infidelity, teacher-student relationship, pregnancy, murder, police brutality, friendship, bullying, the oh so many supernatural elements, I could go on. You get the picture. So in conclusion, I am not happy.

VIP Only

It's cute. I like both of them enough and it's a good mellow way to start the friday madness.

Last Twilight

This show is surprising me so much. In the best ways. As I said before this pair didn't do much for me in the past but I've surrendered completely, specially to Jimmy. He was so good in this episode that I felt obligated to gif it just so I could keep watching his expressions.

That whole final scene just floored me. His eyes just carried that moment and that whole scene so well that by the end a lonely sunflower brought tears to my eyes. ( and I do not cry easy). After all the cute dates, this scene was a gut punch.

I'm just really stuck on this show, and it holds my attention all through the episode.

My Dear Gangster Oppa

This episode was silly, I couldn't care less about the gangster side of the story at the moment, I'd rather spend more time with the gamer friend group. Wahl got a bit of a redemption but I still don't like him. I liked that Guy stood his ground with Wahl and Tew, but hated the stalker behaviour. If you wanna go dude, just leave!

Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun

Japan my beloved. They just keep giving me all I need. Toki is giving me some Aoki vibes and I could not be happier. And Toki now has got two friends in his corner and I'm so happy. This one and Kinou Nani Tabeta are currently my main sources of joy and my heart is full.

Pit Babe I'd like to thank @pharawee for giving us the novel commentary because it makes it a bit less confusing while I watch this. I have no clue about omegaverse so a part of me is confused, sometimes bored, another part of me is just waiting for Jeff and Alan to be a thing and all of me is happy that Pavel is on my screen weekly.

Twins

This show is dragging and I'm officially bored. I don't mind a slow burn if the rest of the show can hold it together. But the team animosity is just tiring and annoying at this point, the side couples are not engaging ( a bj in the shower does not a side couple make) and for a show named Twins, I would like to see more of them.

Middleman's Love

I'm 99% here for the sides. They are cute, they give me some Ram/King vibes and I wanna see more of them. I was super happy to see Ngern again and the family dinner was a good moment. I don't have the patience for this sort of misunderstanding anymore so that ending annoyed the hell out of me.

(I'm watching For Him too but I have nothing nice to say, so I'll say nothing at all. And yes I know I just did that with Shadow but I was never that invested in this one)

Really looking forward to Kinou Nani Tabeta tomorrow morning and The Sign in the afternoon.

I wish all a great weekend and thanks for reading💜

(because I needed a good cry)

#rose rambles #last twilight #shadow the series #twins the series #bl series #thai bl #pit babe #sahara sensei to toki kun #my dear gangster oppa #middleman's love

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melodygatesauthor · 6 months

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The Dark Side of the Moon - Chapter 5: Losing Control

Vampire Marc Spector X f!Reader

Beta Read by @xbellaxcarolinax - Masterlist - AO3

Chapter Summary

About a week after Ammit's departure, Marc learns that Khonshu has been invited now to see Ammit in the mountains. His desire for you grows.

Tags/Warnings (for entire fic)

Major Tags/Warnings Major Character Death - Non-con - Dub-con - Violence Minor Tags/Warnings NSFW, smut, Khonshu is human turned vampire, Ammit is human turned vampire, sex with characters other than the main pairing (Marc X f!Unnamed Character - Khonshu X f!Reader), p in v creampie, furniture grinding, scent kink, blood kink, vampire/human relationship, blood drinking, rough sex, oral sex, coming untouched, coming in pants, panty sniffing, angst, fluff, smut, forbidden relationship, secret relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, Marc does NOT have DID Dead Dove Do Not Eat - This means that what you see in the tags is what you get in the fic. If you read the tags and see "non-con" and then see non-con in the fic, don't be surprised!

Word Count: 3.1k

Marc brought your panties back to you that same night while you slept soundly. He’d left without a word because he didn’t want to make things more intimate than they already were. He didn’t even know you, and he already wanted you so badly. He breathed deeply while trying to imagine…what if he actually cared about you on a personal level?

He didn’t…but what if he did?

There was no way he’d be able to just sit idly by and watch while another man drank your blood, and touched you the way Khonshu did. In the week following that night, Marc made a point to avoid going to your room. It was far too risky, and Khonshu was keeping a closer eye on things ever since Ammit had taken her leave. It was obvious his master was suspicious, so it was best he kept a healthy distance from you.

Marc thought he would never know the nature of Ammit’s visit until Khonshu called both he and Arthur to his study to meet. The only reason he looked forward to seeing Khonshu anymore was because you were often there at his side, but not this time. Marc felt a pit in his stomach when you weren’t there. The only time he got to see you was when you were with him. He was determined to avoid going to your room again…ever again.

“Looking for something, Marc?” Khonshu teased, knowing exactly why Marc’s eyes were scanning around the room, as though he might see you hiding behind a curtain or perhaps you might pop out from beneath the desk.

“No, sir. Just making sure the room is secure,” he lied, watching Khonshu to see if he bought it.

If he didn’t buy it, he wasn’t making it obvious. Khonshu sighed, looking between his two knights, crossing his arms over his broad chest. He had that smug look splayed over his face while he looked them both over. Marc’s stomach turned, knowing what this look meant. Their master was plotting something.

“Ammit has invited us to her home in the mountains to discuss her plans with the upcoming annual cattle auction, and to review our peace treaty,” he scoffed, “she thinks I don’t know her true intentions.”

“Why didn’t you two discuss this when she was just here?” Marc asked, not keen on the thought of walking into the lion’s den to discuss something so trivial.

The other part of Marc, the selfish part, didn’t know if Khonshu intended to leave you here while they traversed into the mountains. If that were the case Marc didn’t know when he might see you again, and despite himself, he couldn’t bear that thought. What was he thinking? He’d only known you a few weeks and he was in a chokehold by your scent, your body, and everything that made you…you.

Dumbass, he thought to himself.

“Does it matter? Do you have duties other than serving me to keep you busy, Marc?” Khonshu looked at him with his brow furrowed in aggravation.

For fear of his fate should he continue questioning his master, Marc took a deep breath and nodded.

“Sorry I was just wondering, it could be a trap,” he proposed, trying to think of a more logical reason than his emotions to keep them in Khonshu’s mansion.

“I’ve already considered that,” Khonshu retorted.

“That’s why I’ll stay behind, Marc. You and Khonshu can go to Ammit, and I’ll keep an eye on things here,” Harrow explained with more attitude than was probably necessary.

Marc couldn’t continue protesting without looking suspicious, so he nodded, accepting defeat. Khonshu sighed, running a hand through his black locks, sauntering to the window to stare out at the moonlit bay. His face looked calm while he took in the view, and for a moment Marc wondered about Khonshu’s past. He didn’t know the man well, not on a personal level anyway, and yet he felt himself obligated to defend Khonshu with his life, all because he’d saved Marc so many years ago in Cairo.

“Marc, instruct the servants of your wing to ready your cattle, we’ll be leaving at dawn.” Khonshu spoke without turning to face either of them. “You may go now, Harrow, you can stay. We have much to discuss before you take over for me.”

Marc left the room and closed the door behind himself slowly. The light click was deafening in the otherwise silent hallway. He trudged toward his room, hands tucked into his pockets. Marc stopped in his tracks, right at the junction of your hallway and his. All the high-ranking vampires’ cattle were in your hall, doors lining the walls where each one had a lovely room with spacious quarters. It wasn’t practical, but Khonshu was nothing if not excessive.

“Master Spector,” a soft voice came from behind Marc, forcing him to jump.

Frightening a vampire was a near-impossible task…while they were focused that is. But since you’d arrived, Marc couldn’t focus to save his life. He spun around, seeing the head maidservant of that wing there to greet him. She gave him a friendly smile, as she often did.

“Uh, I was just looking for you. Would you ready my cattle for travel tomorrow? I don’t know when we’ll return, so we’ll need to spare a few maidservants as well.” He said, still trying to catch his breath from the start she gave him just a moment ago.

“Of course sir. Anything else?” She waited for him expectantly.

“No, no thank you.”

~~~~

In another couple of hours, he’d given up trying to fight with himself and Marc was climbing up to your window to see you. He didn’t know what would happen while he was away, and he needed to feel you again before he left. If he could just take in your touch, and that sickening scent one more time, he could get through until the next time he saw you. At least, that’s what he’d hoped.

You were sleeping, which made him somehow feel like less of a freak. If you weren’t conscious, then you wouldn’t know he was standing there awkwardly, watching your shoulder rise and fall with every breath while you slept with your back to him. He sighed in contentment, knowing that you would be safe while he was away, safe from Khonshu…and safe from himself.

“Are you going to join me or are you going to stand there?” you asked softly, turning around just enough to look at him.

Marc froze in place, feeling embarrassed for, once again, being caught red-handed by you in your bedroom. It took him a moment to process your words fully. Join you? Not a chance that you were asking him to join you.

“You don’t want that,” he said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes I do,” you turned over to make your seriousness known.

“You want me to lay in bed with you? Why?” Marc was so confused, unable to understand why you, a human who knew what his kind was capable of, would want him to lay in your bed.

“You’ve felt what you do to me,” you started sliding off the bed, standing on your bare feet and gliding toward him. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you I…”

Marc’s body was rigid as you trailed off and walked closer, soft hands reaching out to grip his forearms just below his rolled-up sleeves. You weren’t even looking him in the eye anymore, your pupils were dilated, and staring at his parted lips. Marc sighed out a soft breath just before he let you kiss him.

Your lips were still delicious, and your mouth even more so. Marc’s hands found your hips, fingers squeezing just hard enough to claim possession, but not hard enough to do any damage. He couldn’t leave a mark on you, despite wanting to desperately. In a sick way, Marc was willing to accept his death just to see the look on Khonshu’s face when he saw the way his servant branded you.

“Take me, Marc,” you whispered against his open mouth before he closed it over yours once more.

Fuck he wanted to.

Marc’s lips stole a loud gasp from you as he pushed you backward, landing on top of you as your knees gave out at your bedside. He felt his cock pressing incessantly against his jeans, desperate for you once more. He fumbled with his buckle, the obstacle only serving to make him want you more. The leather against denim whooshed as he pulled the belt free from the loops, beginning to work on the button.

He could feel you spreading your legs even wider, as though you were trying to pull him into your body. Marc was the only supernatural creature in the room, but your moans called him to you like a siren song. His breath quickened as he finally found freedom from his pants, pulling them down below his knees.

“Mm, help…” you whined, tugging at your shorts and trying to get them off, but to no avail.

Marc leaned back, pulling your shorts and panties off quickly, tossing them aside before caging you between his elbows once again. His breathing was labored, leaking cock so desperate it was like nothing he’d ever felt before. The anticipation alone was almost enough to make him come without any friction at all. He tasted your sweet lips again, both of you moaning into each other’s mouths with such hunger.

“Marc…” your voice sounded so small, so insignificant compared to the obnoxiously loud thoughts plaguing his mind.

Fuck her, bite her, kill her, fuck her, fill her, drink her…

He brought his lips to your neck, kissing your skin and tasting the salt of your sweat. His cock twitched and his hips jerked forward involuntarily, fat tip brushing against your slick entrance. You spread your legs more, your body telling him in a thousand ways the same thing you’d been saying all along, ‘take me, Marc’.

He could do it. He was right there, leaking head sitting just barely in your needy little hole. You whimpered, hips arching upward and forcing a little more of his length inside of you. Marc shuttered, feeling his teeth graze your neck as he lost control. The part of him that wanted to drink you dry was winning.

“Marc, no!” You said just over a whisper.

He woke from his trance, hearing your words break through the internal struggles of his mind. He growled in frustration and pulled back, feeling the disappointment in your airy exhale. He was disappointed too, but he couldn’t risk hurting you. Marc slid off the bed onto his knees, gripping the space where your hips and thighs meet, tugging you toward his face. Your pretty cunt glistened by the moonlight coming through the window, juices dripping down your lips and into your asscheeks.

Marc felt his eyelids drop in arousal while he stared at the beauty before him. He leaned in, pressing his lips softly to your folds, kissing them once and feeling your thighs tremble in response. Your sensitive reaction made Marc’s cock twitch again, inciting a deep, low rumble in his chest. He breathed out slowly, licking his lips and tasting your sweet juices. If your blood was even half as delicious, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to resist emptying you completely.

He dragged two fingers between your soaking lips, collecting a small pool of your arousal in his palm before bringing it down to his leaking cock. Marc wrapped his fist around himself, letting your slick guide his hand easier along his length. A growl escaped him just as he covered your needy cunt with his mouth.

Marc’s brain went blank.

He had to stop pumping his fist before he came too quickly. The taste of your body, - your wet slick - was maddening.

“Mm, put your l-legs on my shoulders,” he managed to say before your alluring scent pulled him back in.

He was biting back the urge to moan as he felt your legs wrap around his head, thighs brushing along his ears gently. Using his free hand - the hand that wasn’t choking the life out of his aching dick - he pressed against your stomach, keeping you firmly in place. A sharp gasp shot out of your lungs, making his cock leak even more. He sighed, dragging his tongue between your folds, moaning into your mound as though he were savoring every drop your body fed him.

This was the first time Marc ever truly felt powerful in all his life. He wasn’t hurting you, and instead, he was simply enjoying you. He was enjoying your sounds, the little breathless whines that slipped through your parted lips. He enjoyed the smell of you, that sweet scent that held him in a chokehold every damn day since he’d met you. And dammit if he didn’t enjoy that taste, the distinct flavor, unlike anything he’d ever felt on his tongue in all his days.

You were too good to be true.

“Oh, M-Marc,” you breathed, reaching a hand up to grip his slicked-back curls.

He exhaled with a low groan, slowly starting to jerk himself again while you tugged and pulled his face tighter against your center. Your legs were vibrating against his ears, heels digging into his back while you pulled him in deeper.

Needy little thing, he thought, as if he weren’t twice as desperate.

The wet sounds of his slurping tongue mixed with your cries. Marc started rutting into his own hand, imagining he was fucking the cunt he ate from. He dragged his tongue down between your crevices, cleaning each fold before dipping his tongue into your fluttering hole. If he moved his head just right, he could brush the tip of his nose over your swollen clit - just right -.

“O-oh, Marc!” You rasped out in a high-pitched whisper. “Y-yes oh god f-fuhh…”

The hand Marc had on your stomach worked together with your hand in his hair to bring your bodies as close as possible. He couldn’t get any closer to your cunt unless he broke his nose and for a moment he thought it might be worth it. He could feel your thighs tense a bit, and your hand grip his hair harder. You started gasping as if you’d run out of air. Part of him wished you were stronger so you could really hurt him.

“Why do you taste so–” Marc murmured against your mound before cutting himself off, going back in to slurp more from you.

Marc jerked his hand faster, the sensations surrounding him becoming too much to handle. Your scent, your taste, the way you pulled his hair, it was all driving him mad. He breathed against you, moving his tongue faster so he could hear you too. You shook, pretty voice wavering with every moan that left you.

“Marc, you’re so g-good at this I…oh god I’m…”

Marc felt your pussy contract around his tongue, moving the tip of his nose in faster circles to make you squirm more. Your juices were coating his tongue and he felt an unimaginable euphoria burst through his mind. He panted, sounding more pathetic than he cared to acknowledge but he couldn’t help himself. You were writhing now, trying to get out from under him. He knew he should stop because, as you kept shrieking, it was ‘too much’, but he couldn’t.

Marc’s hand pushed down on you harder, and with one more sharp inhale of your delicious little cunt, he finally felt it. His orgasm washed over him like soft velvet, bringing him the sweetest relief he’d felt in ages. Marc let go of you quickly, holding his palm under himself to catch the white ropes spilling from the fat head of his twitching cock. He was loud, louder than he should’ve been, but he was sure no one would hear him, and he couldn’t keep his composure anymore.

He caught most of it in his hand, but a few stray drops landed on the floor. He would’ve just let it go, making a mess all over your bedding without care, but if the maids found out, and if even one of them breathed a word to Khonshu, it wouldn’t end well for either of you.

Marc leaned forward, pressing another soft kiss to your pussy lips before pressing his cheek against your inner thigh. For a moment you both lay there, the room filled with nothing but the sound of both your breathing returning to normal. If he could die like that by choice he would, eyes closed with his face next to your scent, your fingers idly carding through his hair. Marc sighed using his free hand to tuck his dick back in his pants before standing up on shaking legs.

“Just gonna…gonna use your bathr–”

“Wait,” you said, grabbing his wrist tightly, looking up at him with eyes that said ‘can I taste you?’

As if he could read your mind, Marc nodded, watching with mixed awe and adoration as you brought your lips to his hand. You pursed your lips into an ‘O’, sucking in and slurping his cum right out of his palm. Marc felt his cock coming alive once more, but he didn’t want to press his luck by staying in there much longer. It wasn’t only the constant looming threat of Khonshu discovering you both that frightened him, but the lack of control he might experience if he lingered in your scent for too long.

“God you…you’re something huh?” Marc asked, mouth hanging open while he watched you dart your tongue out, lapping at his palm. “F-fuck.”

Marc watched you drag your lips over each finger before lowering your entire mouth on each one, making a show of your task. You always looked so meek and innocent with Khonshu, but the way you sucked on his fingers, he could tell you were a bit more experienced than you pretended to be. You moaned as you went down on his middle finger, and before things could go any further, Marc pulled his hand from you.

“Enough,” he said coldly.

He hated that disappointed look in your eye, the one that begged for more; that begged him to stay just a little longer and to fuck your brains out. Marc zipped and buttoned his pants before darting for the window, taking off before he could change his mind. He couldn’t stop smelling your aroma on his nose all night, and he couldn’t decide if it was a good thing, or if it was just torture.

Who was he kidding? Everything about you was torture.

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frc-ambaradan · 7 months

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A few thoughts on Thrawn’s portrayal in Ahsoka

First thing first: I think they absolutely nailed him.

Lars Mikkelsen is perfect and I don’t think there could ever been another actor fit to bring Thrawn alive. We’re talking about the same man who got an Annie Nomitation for his voice performance in Rebels. He knows the character, he knows how Thrawn speaks, the way he moves, he knows how to use silence... and he absolutely kills it!

And, let’s forget about the new canon for a moment, shall we?

This Thrawn looks like he just jumped out of “Heir to the Empire”.

Looks like Filoni’s going for the more Moriarty-like, more evil Legends Thrawn. And, as much as I love the new books, that’s the Thrawn we first met and loved, the character who became the standard bearer of the Expanded Universe, one of the greatest villains of the franchise second only to Darth Vader and one of the best characters in Sci-fi fiction. That’s a guy who’s politely conferring with you a moment before and the second later he’s having a tractor beam technician be dismembered by his bodyguard.

Pellaeon never even saw Rukh move. Pieterson certainly never had time to scream. From farther down the crew pit came the sound of someone trying valiantly not to be sick. Thrawn glanced over Pellaeon's shoulder gain and gestured, and the silence was further broken by the sound of a pair of stormtroopers coming forward. "Dispose of it," the Grand Admiral ordered them, turning away from Pieterson's crumpled body and pinning Colclazure with a stare. "The error, Ensign," he told the other softly, "has now been corrected. You may begin training a replacement." Timothy Zahn, Heir to the Empire (1991)

The infinite pauses Mikkelsen makes, with Thrawn just staring at his interlocutor in silence, are so unnerving and so perfectly in character. Pick any page of the Thrawn trilogy where the Grand Admiral’s talking to Pellaeon and you’ll find the same feeling of fear and malaise.

And guys, Thrawn was never meant to be likeable. He’s not a puppy, he’s a wolf. He’s someone to be admired for his tactical genius, to be respected for his abilities; you can understand his reasons and his way of thinking but still he’s someone to be wary of and to be feared. You can talk with Thrawn. He will listen and will understand your point, but once you find yourself between him and his goal, you’re dead.

Not surprisingly, Grand Admiral Thrawn was inspired by General Rommel. And they indeed are very similar (I might say they’re basically clones ^^): both military geniuses coming from the lower ranks of society and raising to the highest ranks of the army by sheer talent and yet pretty much naive when it comes to politics and highly opposed by other high ranking officers driven mostly by pure envy (hell! Rommel was taken in higher regard by the British than by his fellow German high ranking officers! In fact, Rommel kept his rank only because Hitler liked him, just like Thrawn did because Palpatine liked him).

Erwin Rommel and Mitth'raw'nuruodo are basically the same person in two different universes...

Both Thrawn and Rommel are well mannered, honourable and very professional officers, considerate to their troops and respectful of their adversaries and as such highly esteemed by both their men and their enemies. That doesn’t change the fact that they both have their fair amount of atrocities on their shoulders, they work for the most evil governments of their age and both have pretty close personal relationships with the Emperor and with Adolf Hitler. And still. You can fight on the wrong side of history and still be an honorable man.

That said, I’ve read complains about Thrawn's physique and yes, I didn’t like his belly either when he first showed up but that was just for a fraction of a second ‘cause the moment he opened his mouth I was totally sold.

Why? Because physical prowess isn’t Thrawn’s main characteristic. Yes, he’s a very well trained warrior and a martial arts expert, but the reason why he’s such a great character is his charisma, it’s his brain and, if I'm right, the Thrawn we have in Ahsoka is the evil cat- ops, I mean ysalamiri-petting Thrawn ^^.

And guys, people do age, even chiss. Thrawn’s 70 years old, he has every right to get old and look old. And that belly looks like a very deliberate choice to me.

Ten years separate Rebels Thrawn from Ahsoka Thrawn, ten years and an inter-galactical hyperspace jump. People change. And get old.

Also, you must consider the fact that Thrawn was wrapped in the purrgill's tantacles when they jumped into hyperspace, so it's safe to assume that he substained heavy injuries and that his body was heavily affected by it. We also don't know how well he fared while stranded for ten years in an unknown galaxy, meddling with stuff he should stay kilometers away from (let's face it: it never ends well when he starts meddling with the Force or anything he has no real grip or power on).

I don't know, but I don't think chiss are made to fly in hyperspace.

So, on a closing note... is Thrawn's make-up perfect? No.

Is that such a big problem? No. What the make-up doesn’t achieve, the actor’s performance will.

And hear me out, there is room for improvement and I’m sure they will fill the gap. They did with Ahsoka… remember how everyone criticized her lekku in The Mandalorian? That was because of an actual, practical reason, but they did manage to correct it and they did improve it. Ahsoka looks great now. And just how they did with her, they will improve Thrawn’s appearance as well.

It’s impossible to nail something at first try. And it's impossible to appease everyone.

I work as a digital artist and I can tell you that sometimes you just can’t do the best you can, because maybe the budget doesn’t allow it or there’s just too little time to do it (or people just keep asking change after change 😒), but once you’ve got the basis, and I think they’ve got pretty solid basis with Thrawn, to improve the look of him adding details and correcting those little errors is gonna be a much easier job and you’ll, see, he’s gonna look much better in the next season.

Sometimes things don’t need to be perfect to work. And Mikkelsen’s Thrawn works, because it’s Mikkelsen and because it’s Thrawn.

#omg #forgive the screed #i just need to talk #i need to vent my excitement somewhere #sorry ^^'#thrawn #mitth'raw'nuruodo #grand admiral thrawn #lars mikkelsen #my thoughts #heir to the empire #star wars legends #erwin rommel #star wars rebels #lars mikkelsen is an absolute monster #and his thrawn is perfect <3 #ahsoka #star wars

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mammothartist · 9 months

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Reasons why Ijin is great :)

This is going to be partitioned In sections because actual essays are for school. :/

All this is gonna be my opinion and what I see, so yeah.

Reason #1: He is so genuinely kind.

What I’ve seen is that it’s a common theme that the main characters of manhwas are kind, but it feels like Ijin wishes the best for people. For example, he never brings down others emotionally. What I’ve seen is that people make MC’s inherently jealous to add flaws to their character, but with Ijin his flaws come from his inability to be vulnerable ( we’ll come back to that later). It’s really refreshing.

Reason #2: He cannot lie for his life.

I just find it so funny that he is only able to lie by omission and when he actually gets a ‘good’ lie out , they see right through him. That leads to our next point

Reason #3: He has no poker face.

Sure, he is able to hide his past, but by other characters he is extremely easy to read. Like how Maya was able to find out that he didn’t kill the numbers just by his face alone. I just find it funny because of his non- existent poker face it we get those bulging eyes shots.

Reason #4: He is pretty.

Do I have anything else to say ?

Reason #5: He is so hot .

I swear my heart skips a beat anytime we get a handsome Ijin shot.

Reason #6: He has androgynous features and Characteristics

To be honest, he has so many ‘feminine features/Characteristics’ that aren’t his strength,skill in fighting, and like- his hair. I swear if you were to turn him into a woman he should serve that exact same purpose in the story. He has such a gender neutral role in the story. But tbh,I think it’s my bisexual ass speaking but 🤷‍♂️

Reason #7: He’s so traumatized

I have a love-hate relationship with this fact because yes, it’s the main reason why he is a pretty 3 dimensional character but also it’s like , :’( . He acts the way he does throughout the story because of his grueling past, for example…

his food insecurity- food was probably not a main concern to the camp.

His constant paranoia- when those girls asked for his number in the most recent chapters, even when they did nothing wrong, he still had that jolt of fear before they asked.

His inability to be vulnerable- not allowing people that aren’t hospital staff to tend to his wounds, was taken advantage of by the people in the camp.

His stare- he’s gained as a way of warning people to not harm him.

He seems to dissociate when under stress- I noticed this when we where showed the first time he got a nightmare while he was in Korea, and instead of crying or reacting strongly ( What I would’ve probably done) he blanks out.

He has trouble rationally thinking when under intense stress- when his grandpa and sister was kidnapped and he was pitted against the numbers, instead of killing the numbers , he just squeezes his eyes closed like he is a child waiting for a bad thing to pass.

He has an extremely emotionally damaged inner child- We’ve seen Ijin get sentimental over things that would be considered the bare minimum ( it’s a bit of a stretch but eh) but we as the readers know that he has experienced one of the worst things that could happen to him at a young age . But, he never grew up with a frame of reference of what a normal life is . I believe this also leads to how he never matured at a normal pace, he is just allowing his inner child to have some fun, we’re told this by the other characters.

( This is the ones I could list off the top of my head) He becomes an inherently ‘flawed character’ due to how emotionally stunted he is. He gets a lot of character development that revolves around him being more honest. That leads me to my next point.

Reason #8 - Character Development

He gets a lot of character development, like him progressively opening up to his family, him making deeper connections to the people he cares about. Not being on edge all the time. One that I’ve seen the most is his ability to be merciful. He progressively becomes better at determining who deserves mercy or not and I think he’s awesome for that.

These are the reasons why I think Ijin is pretty awesome. I could write down more but it’s 11:55 and my brain is melting. Let me know if I got anything wrong about trauma response stuff. And if you disagree I’d like to know why! I don’t bite :) ( sorry the grammar sucks, I have no excuse ).

#teenage mercenary #mercenary enrollment #I think of Ijin to much 😭

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the-arkhamwolf · 5 months

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Reverse Robins Tim Drake

I have a lot of Reverse Robin Aus so I thought it would be fun to compare the different versions of Characters in each starting with Tim

Falling in Reverse

My first ever Reverse Robins deals with Tim's many self-worth issues. In this version Tim dies due to his fear of failure.

Tim was a neglect child that felt he had to earn every thing including his place as Robin. After his Parents died he moved into Wayne manner. Damian wasn't much help making Tim feel like he didn't belong.

Things got better between them but Tim's never got over that feeling of not belonging. He never spoke out on this just worked hard to prove himself. Believing Robin was the only reason he wasn't tossed aside. So when he was benched, due to him "Not being fit to be on the feild", he took that badly and went out to prove himself. Overworked and paranoid he walked into a trap that ended his to short life.

Tim then takes a dip in the pit and wakes up cold and reserved. Ras is amazed believing that the pit had no affect on him, that was indeed far from true. The pit gave Tim a different kind of rage, a quite rage, something Ras would come to realizes was far scarier.

For a while Tim stays with the league learning and waiting. During this time Ras tries to brain wash Tim and he plays along. But the truth is Ras never had Tim under his control. When Tim is ready to leave he sets off his plan basically destroying the league. He then confronts Ras and kills him. This is Tim's first kill and while Ras doesn't stay dead (Thanks to the pit) He becomes fearful of Tim.

Tim is able to control the pit (for the most part) making it safer for those around but deadly for those he deems as a threat.

He goes back to Gotham and despite Ras best efforts Tim doesn't hate the bats and even feels relieved Bruce took another Robin. After all Tim wasn't really suppose to be Robin.

Tim blames himself for his death and thinks he has brought great shame to batman and Robin. Tim sees himself as a failure that does not deserve to rejoin the bats, this is reinforced by the pit. So he works to protect the bats doing the dirty work to keep their hands clean.

Some people deserve to die and that's where he comes in. Because Batman doesn't kill and Damian should never be put in that spot again, not after how far he has come. Tim sees himself as a necessary evil.

He actually has a great relationship with his replacement even if he didn't mean to. He works hard to make sure the kid is safe. Jason is a great kid and will never go through what Tim did. He and Damian have a complicated relationship but both still care for each other.

He gets along with Cass pretty well even if they disagree on killing. He thinks Steph is the funniest thing ever and loves to watch her annoy Damian.

Tim leads the outlaws which is him, Roy, and Rose. Tim doesn't need friends he needs to focus on his work. Roy refuses to let that happen and somehow sneaks his way into being friends without Tim realizing it.

Rose flirts with Tim at first because it always flustered him but slowly they grow to like each other.

Tim is touch starved and he is the only one that doesn't see that as a problem. He also is a workaholic so Rose and Roy have to keep an eye on him and make him take breaks.

Tim has a deep love of photography even as Red hood. It a way to connect him to his past and Robin.

(Spoiler- When he becomes a dad He leaves the role of Red Hood and becomes a new paper photographer)

Something I love about this version: Tim has deep love of Fnaf that drives everyone crazy

The Watchers

The Watchers is a much more darker take on reverse robins and the main reason is because Tim doesn't die. Watchers switching things up a bit with Tim having a good relationship with his parents. Tim is still a little sneaks out and becomes Robin.

Damian and Tim's relationship is much worse in this version. With Damian being jealous of Tim and his family. After Tim's parents die he moves in with Bruce and Damian becomes angry. (Damian is a lot more resentful due to stuff that happens to him but this is about Tim right now)

One night Damian cuts Tim line and he crashed into a building. It doesn't paralyze him but it does give him permanent back problemsAfter that Tim became stayed on for another year as Oracle, A whole year of putting up with Damian's harsh insults and mocking unable to do anything. Finally, Tim had enough, quit the hero game altogether.

He leaves Gotham only to be brought back a few years later by an un expected visitor. Batman has stepped down and Gotham is full of crime and the Court of owls is at the center of it all. There is going to be a purge on Gotham Tim hates this city but it was his home. He and this guy name Jason team up to take back Gotham.

As so as he moves back Tim started having nightmares. He doesn't get much sleep and his back is not going to let him go into the feild so He becomes SkyWatcher. The court finds out about him and sends a talon after his. Turns out it's a child (Dick Grayson). He decides he's going to bring him home and raise him. It takes a while to earn the child trust.

Tim comes across Rose and the two ends up have a relationship sort-of like batman and cat women.

Tim has a deep resentment for photography because it reminds him of Batman and robin. He also hates Damian and this gets worse when Damian takes Stephanie under his wing and makes her Robin.

Something I love about this version: Tim trying to raise a kid that is constantly trying to stab him

Falling Slowly

Falling Slowly is not exactly a Reverse robins set up as Tim is actually the oldest. While Watchers is the darkest version I think this is the saddest.

Tim parents weren't around much so he would sneak out at night to take pictures of Batman. Batman gets injured one night and Tim is forced to reveal himself to help Bruce.

After Alfred patch Bruce up he imminently takes Tim home telling him to not sneak out anymore. Of course, Tim didn't listen because someone needs to be there to help Batman when he's in trouble.

Eventually, Bruce gave up and started training him, not to fight but to protect himself. Tim started helping Bruce with cases and spent a lot of time at the cave. He was given the code name backup but he's not allowed to join in the fighting.

Everything was great until Tims's parents got killed during a robbery. Bruce took him in ahd tried to help him. Feeling guilt about his death Tim tried to go out and avenge his parents but Bruce stoped him. He made Tim his side kick hoping it would help Tim the same way Batman helped him. And it did Tim became less restless and more focused.

Tim become Cardinal but because of how tiny he is the media started calling him Robin. Tim hated this but he got tired of correcting people. While Robin Tim and another sidekick he was freinds with got attacked. Tim only got minnor injuries but the friend was nearly killed and lost the ability to walk. Tim blamed himself and started to spiral lucky someone was there to pull him out.

After Tim graduated he moved out to go to college. He came home for the weekend to find that he had a little brother.

Tim is beyond thrilled, he always wanted a little brother. Jason was a little standoffish at first but eventually warms up to him. Tim spends his weekends training Jason and eventually passing down the mantle of Robin to Jason once he's ready.

Tim couldn't help but blame himself because he gave Jason the suit. Tim dropped out of school and moved back to Gotham to keep an eye on Bruce. He gets a job at W.E. and becomes Redwing. Tim is in a spiral and no one seems to be able to pull him out until Selena goes a talks to her. She manages to convince to get therapy.

Therapy ends up helping Tim still has a long way to go but there's diffently an improvement.

The therapist advises him on getting a therapy dog. Tim's skeptical after all his mother had taught him dogs were fealty creatures that would chew him up.

However while working on a case he finds Ace a poor German shepherd that has been mistreated and hurt. The dog tries to tear him to pieces so He brings it him. Slow he earns Ace's trust after taming him some work he takes to a class to get him trained. Ace doesn't care for other humans or dogs but he has gotten to the point where he chooses to ignore rather then attack.

Ace complete trust Tim and Tim complete trust Him.

One day while walking in the cave he was attacked by a child assassin aka Bruce's son Damian. Damian doesn't like Tim at first but Tim keeps an eye on him because the kid is his little brother.

One day Damian walked up to Tim and Bruce and demanded the Robin mantel. Tim puts his foot down before Bruce could say anything reminding him of what happened to Jason.

One night Damian steals the Robin suit and sneaks out. He runs into Red hood and somehow the villain knows his every move. Luckily Tim comes to the recuse, unlucky Tim isn't prepared to deal with this.

Something I love about this version: Tim loves to skateboard and even teaches Ace how too

Brand new Au

While my first Reverse Robins has Tim having a bad live and then dying this newest one has Tim being happy then dying. Okay Tim's parents are still neglectful and he still gets a ruff start as Robin (or whatever name I use) but the rest is pretty happy.

It all starts when Damian gets shot. He's not killed but he's is paralyzed from the waste down. Damian had been Robin Tim's hero and Batman's sidekick. After getting shot he left Gotham leading to a much darker Bruce. Batman needs Robin, Tim didn't sign up for this but here his is.

Bruce is better but he and Damian still aren't talk. Tim decides to put a stop to that. Damian and Tim get off to a rocky start with Damian finding Tim annoying and aslo having an underlying resentment for the kid Tim doesn't care.

Slowly the little brats grows on him and Damian does come back to Gotham. The two become pretty close. Damian convinces Tim's Parents to let Bruce adopt him and Tim moves in.

Tim is a people pleaser so Damian makes sure no one takes advantage of him. And Tim makes sure Damian doesn't bet himself up over mistakes.

Tim effectively becomes friends with a villans daughter and takes her under his wing. Stephine trains under Tim to become the next Robin

Tim plans to leave the mental to start his own team but is to nervous to tell anyone by Damian and Stephanie.

Tim gets hurt bad on a patrol trying to help someone. Damians on the headset the entire time talking to him as Tim lays bleeding out.

Tim's death spits the family apart and cause Steph to leave. L

Tim comes back via Lazarus pit plays Ra's, destroys the Lazarus pit, leaves the league in shabbles than starts up his own team with Roy and Rose.

He can't control yhe pit messes with his head making him cold and dangerous so he stays away from the bats to protect them.

Cass is sent to kill Tim instead he takes her and trains her she in return becomes his unrequest body guard. He trys to give her as normal a life as he's can.

One big difference between this and Falling in reverse is that in FR Tim had his own run down apartment. Where as her all of the outlaws live together in an abandoned building.

Something I love about this version: Tim ands Cass's siblings dynamic I just find this adorable

Wrap up

Falling in Reverse: Ashamed Red hood in desperate need of a hug

The Watchers: Tired dad with back problems and a murderous child

Falling Slowly: Guilty older brother trying to make up for the past

Brand New Au: Scared Red hood who pushes everyone away

What character would you like to see next?

If there's you have any queston or want me to to talk more something of one of these drop it in my inbox

Also I need a name for my band new au if anyone has a suggestion

#batfam #reverse batfam #reverse robins #Tim drake #The wolfverse #red hood #damian wayne #batman #fanfic #au #Robin #dc

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thephantomcasebook · 2 years

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Team Green Highlights for 1x09 “The Green Council”

As usual - well, newly usual - here are my “Spaghetti Night” notes and observations for the current episode.

Note: As I’m writing this the site I usually use does not have the screencaps for the opening - which you’ll see is very important below - and the backup site I use has not updated with screencaps yet.

So if I post this and there’s no screencaps of the opening credit sequence than that’s why.

Alright, let’s get on with the music.

1.) A Sapphire for Aemond.

We see - for the first time - Alicent’s dial in the opening credits. Viserys blood lines meets with hers and we get three blood lines (No not four, LET ME FINISH!)

We see a spider sigil for Helaena’s dial, A bound naked woman for Aegon, and a sapphire for Aemond which - if you read the book then you know - he wears instead of a fake eye.

A little hint of what’s to come next episode.

2.) Enter the Hero - Daeron Targaryen.

Right off the bat we’re introduced to a new character via the Opening Credit’s sequence - probably the first time any show has ever introduced a character in such a way.

We see a dial placed all the way to the left of Alicent’s sigil.

This is Daeron Targaryen, youngest son and child of Viserys and Alicent who has not appeared or been mentioned in the show.

Apparently there was behind the scenes infighting which Miguel Spotchnik did not want Daeron to be a part of the show - but Martin insisted on it. And once Spotchnik was fired, George announced Daeron’s inclusion in Season 2 - which is still two years off.

youtube

A quick overview of Daeron. He is Alicent’s favorite child and person in the world. Though, with that being said, the book does not go into detail why, but he was sent away at a young age to be raised by Otto as a ward in Old Town and is nearly a man grown when he returns to King’s Landing.

The reason I suspect that Spotchnik didn’t want Daeron in the show is because he is very much cut from the Jon Snow and Robb Stark cloth of being a clear cut classic fantasy hero archetype. He is the bravest of all the Targaryens - Green and Black - and is extremely honorable and just. He is a contrast to most of his family, but all of the Greens are very protective of him - Criston and Aemond basically puts him on Alicent guard duty for most of the war to keep him out of danger. Daeron is also fiercely loyal to his siblings - and to Alicent - to the very end. There are two times that the Greens (and the realm) offer him and insist that he take the Iron Throne. But both time he refuses out of loyalty to Aegon.

He also has a very different relationship with his dragon Tessarion, because, he hatched and raised him away from the Dragon Pit and Valyrain dragon tamers, with only ancient books in the High Tower and Citadel to guide him. So Tessarion and Daeron’s bond will be quite different than the other Targaryens with their dragons. His relationship is much more akin to Daenerys and Drogon than the usual Valyrian way of doing things we’ve seen in the show.

At the end of the war, he is the last man standing on the Greens, and becomes an incredibly important and almost main figure in the finale of “The Dance of Dragons” conflict. He is also considered one of the greatest battle commanders in Westerosi history - King Daeron II “The Young Dragon” is named after him and “Daeron the Daring” and his legacy is still held in reverence nearly two-hundred years later by knights and soldiers across the Seven Kingdoms.

In the books he is Jon Snow’s childhood hero.

My guy loves his mommy, his books, and kicking ass.

And Rhaenyra is gonna learn that the hard way when she takes his mommy away.

3.) A+C=D confirmed?!

Alright!

This is kinda big and I’ve been hyping this up.

So, when we see Daeron’s dial it is strangely placed in juxtaposition to Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond. Daeron’s dial is on the extreme left of Alicent’s dial, above and away from her other children.

(As you can clearly see there is more than enough room for four dials at the bottom of the ravine.)

Also, a big reveal is that the blood line that comes to activate Daeron’s dial trails off from Alicent’s dial, not Viserys blood. You can see where the blood splits off and that the angle is clearly coming from Alicent’s dial.

I take this to mean that the graphic is showing clear ambiguity of not being entirely sure that Viserys’s blood is activating the dial or if it is purely Alicent.

More over the placement of Daeron’s dial on the far left, away from his siblings looks like a family tree in which a said member has a t-shape branching for children with multiple partners.

(Exhibit A)

If you look at the way this official promotional family tree is placed notice how Rhaenyra is placed versus, Alicent and her children. How it is a direct line from Viserys to Rhaenyra.

This is exactly how Daeron’s dial is almost directly under Alicent’s with a weaker trail of blood that is coming directly from Alicent.

Now, I know the argument people will make.

“Fuck you, Matt! You Alicole son of a bitch! This is just the show showing that Daeron is away from home right now!”

I hear you unreasonably angry Tumblr user. But, the problem with your theory is that never - not once - has the show used someones’ geographic location to move their marker. Viserys, Daemon, and Rhaenyra’s markers have stayed absolutely consistent from the Pilot and onward no matter where they went.

So, logic dictates. Daeron put on the left of Alicent and away from his clear Targaryen siblings is the show trying to introduce the concept that there are clear questions of if Daeron is actually Viserys son. And it could be that he is far on the left, because there is a missing dial of his true father to mix with Alicent’s blood who remains a secret.

in the immortal words of Aemond Targaryen ...

“Mm”

4.) The Waifu Protection Squad: Fuck Around and Find Out Division

So we see an immediate call back to 1x08 with parallels to Daemon and Criston protecting the honor of Rhaenyra and Alicent.

Like Daemon with Vaemond, Criston does not immediately react in violence to Lord Beesbury’s rant.

But when both Vaemond and Beesbury start crossing the line, that’s when Criston and Daemon both make up their mind about what is going to happen next.

And just like when Vaemond calls Rhaenyra a whore and Daemon cuts his head in half. When Beesbury accuses Alicent of murdering Viserys - impeding her honor and integrity - Criston responds in anger, smashing his head into his attendance sphere.

Both Rhaenyra and Alicent are momentarily shocked by these violent displays, but quickly brush it off as the price for insulting them.

Also both Daemon and Criston are confronted by the Kingsguard for both murders - but are summarily exonerated under the royal clause of “Fuck Around with the women we I love’s Queen and Princess’s reputation and find out” code of chivalry.

Just like they drew the law up.

5.) The Beast Under the Boards

Alright, we cut to Aegon and Helaena’s apartments where Helaena philosophizes to the nanny that she thinks that people basically want what they can’t have and often take it from others that have it.

I think we’re led to believe that she’s talking about the twins ... but, uh, well, we’ll get there.

So Alicent sits by Helaena to break it to her gently that Viserys is dead - of which I’m pretty sure Helaena knows already, and probably has known for years. And Helaena interrupts Alicent snarling “There’s a beast beneath the boards!”

Now, while, I think that we’re supposed to infer that she means the Dragon at the end of the episode ...

Uh, rap for me a moment.

What if she’s talking about Aemond?

Remember, what she tells Nanny about wanting what others have.

We know that Aemond wanted Helaena from early in childhood.

And even as an adult he’s visibly pined and longed for her.

He also tells Criston later that he should be King.

It seems to me that Helaena is channeling Aemond and his inner turmoil, perhaps sharing in his anxiety through some psychic connection between them.

This would not be the first time in the show that Helaena and Aemond were connected.

Remember the first time we met her, as a tween in 1x06 the very first scene - before Alicent even had a chance to ask what happend to Aemond - Helaena looks up worriedly and say in distress “He’s done it again!” as if knowing already what’s happened to him.

Also, deeper cut, is that the dragon that Aemond approaches in the Dragon Pit in 1x06 is Dreamfyre ... Helaena’s Dragon.

And of course we know the famous line.

“He’ll have to close an eye.”

It seems that all of Helaena’s prophecies are always connected to Aemond in some way.

This brings it all around that I pretty sure that “The Beast Beneath the Boards” is Aemond and his ambition and desire for what Aegon has been given but never earned.

And I believe, this look when Aemond comes in ...

Is Helaena realizing for the first time that all the emotions and anger she’s been feeling has been Aemond. I also believe in this realization is the sudden dawning that Aemond had been in love with her for years and maybe ...