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myrskytuuli · 4 years

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Please share the receipts about Harry Potter being a colonial fantasy! Reading stuff like that is so interesting 🙈 have a good day

I’m glad you both asked!

This argument will be divided into threemain parts. The subject of magical creatures in the wizarding world, thesubject of humans other than English wizards, and the subject of Harry’scharacterization in the novels. But before I can discuss the novels andRowling’s (probably mostly unintentional) colonial fantasies, we must look atthe background information of those colonial fantasies. To do that, I willoutline and explain certain elements of the 1800-century cultural and politicalsituation, reflected in the literature of the time. (See! This is why you don’tdismiss history as the unnecessary boring subject Rowling!!!!)

(In this text, I use the word wizard akin tothe universal man, as in mankind. I do this, because Rowling herself does this,referring to unisex groups of witches and wizards as “wizards”.)

Racial thinking in the British empire was heavily influenced by pseudo-scientific theories like phrenology and race classification theory. Humanist sciences like sociology were heavily influenced by “hard sciences” and there was a strong demand to find a scientific justification for the existence of the empire. This justification came with race classification, that was divided into two different equally racist branches of theory. The idea that different human races were actually subspecies inside the human main species, and that these subspecies had evolved to fulfill different functions and behave in different ways. Roughly divided, the Anglo-Saxon subspecies had evolved into a rational thinker and a natural leader, the Asian subspecies into servile and effeminate role, and African subspecies into manual labourer. Now, in order for society to live in perfect harmony, that society has to be built in a way that each human species can follow their natural predilections and follow their species-natural behaviour.

The other branch of scientific sociology argued that all humans had the same potential for civilization, but that all human societies were also in different evolutionary stages. Human societies were seen to evolve in a neat line, from promiscuity-matriarchy-transitional patriarchy-patriarchy. All human societies therefore started from hunter-gatherer tribes and would eventually turn into enlightened British style modern societies. As the British already had reached the top of the societal evolution, it was also their right and burden to protect the societies that had not yet reached this top evolutionary form. It is very important to remember that while the British empire was filled with straight up hateful and vile racists that saw genocide as a fun past-time, there were equally many people who believed the science of the time and condemned the mistreatment of the empire’s subjects believing that the empire was in truth necessary in order to help their less-evolved human compatriots.

Another important note to make about the imperial mindset is how these rational leaders were created; in boarding schools. The future leaders of the empire were all sent to a boarding school, somewhere around the age of 10. These schools, rampant with bullying, pressure and straight up rape, were not places that a young boy was supposed to become a scholar or an athlete; his job was to make connections and learn to become charismatic. Doing too well in your subjects was not desirable, as a book-worm is not what the empire needed. Being good at sports was good, but not if you had to sacrifice time to practice too much. Sports and sciences were there to support the student’s growth into a proper English gentleman, not as an educational goal themselves. Debating, public speaking, and aggressive confidence were much more important skills to master for the future overseer of a colony. Your job as a student in, for example Eton, was to network and grow a stiff upper lip. A terrible educational system for sure, which caused damage to the British psyche that people today are still trying to understand; with Boarding School Syndrome and its consequences important when trying to understand the problems in British politics today

How do these facts then relate to Harry Potter? Well, let’s start working our way through from magical creatures. In the Harry Potter universe, the world is filled with creatures with human-sentience that however do not, at least in Britain, mix with the dominant human population. We know that there are house-elves, working as servants, goblins, working as bankers, centaurs, keeping away in their forest, as do merfolk in their lake. Dwarves were employed as cupids (entertainers) in Hogwarts by Lockhart, and there are veelas that work as exotic dancers in the quidditch world cup.

At first glance, you might think that Harry Potter and Dumbledore are on the side of the creatures. Dumbledore is noted for being a great advocate for non-humans when defending their right to exist, as opposed to the more genocide-minded goons at the ministry. Voldemort is happy to employ creatures that he deems “dark” and ignore the rest. At first glance it would even look like the narrative is advocating for tolerance, and it is, but it is not advocating for equalitybetween humans and non-humans.

The centaurs and the giants have lost their native lands to humans, and have been forced to live in reservations, as most notably pointed out by Dolores Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix. “Ministry of magic permits you certain areas of land.” (p.665) At the same time, the books do not take the time to portray either the giants or the centaurs in particularly sympathetic light from the point of view of our characters and this point of view is never questioned. Centaurs are shown to be violent and even unreasonable towards any humans who would want to have contact with them. Giants are shown to be stupid and hostile, killing themselves into extinction. (Order of the Phoenix p.377) Meanwhile, the races that do mingle amongst wizards all have something to offer to humans who allow them in their society. Goblins are useful to have around because of their hold over the banking industry and their superior metal-working. House-elves are useful as domestic servants. The creatures that wizards label as “dark” are all creatures that do not have any filled role that they can perform for the benefit of humans, (vampires, hags, werewolves), segregated from the wizarding society proper, and are therefore shunned as undesirables. Veelas on the other hand are blatantly fetishized, and they are only shown in two roles in the books. Either as entertainers or as married to wizards. The narrative does not even hint that a veela might have any non-sexual role in the society. It would seem, that all the magical races have either been pushed out of the wizarding community, or they fill some niche purpose in society that the wizards find useful, and that the wizards themselves do not want to perform.This structure of society, built upon the assumption that there will always be creatures fulfilling certain roles for the society, is not questioned by any of our heroes.

Dumbledore is happy to advocate for tolerance, but not inclusion. He is happy to create a dialogue between humans and centaurs- as long as it is not humans who have to make any concessions in their relationship. Same goes for merfolk. Dumbledore advocates for their right to exists in their own segregated patches of land, and in return they will help Dumbledore. Merfolk will allow themselves and their home to be used as obstacles in the tri-wizarding tournament and the centaurs will let wizards traipse through their forest.

Inside the centaur society, we are supposed to see territorial Bane as the “bad guy” and the meek Firenze, who argues that centaurs should take sides in a human war and make defer even more to the wizards. Firenze eventually accumulates into the human society by becoming a teacher in Hogwarts, but only after he has been banished from the Centaur society. Therefore Firenze becomes completely subserviant to Dumbledore, as his own people do not accept him anymore and Hogwarts is the only place he can go. He does not have the backing of his own community that could allow him to make demands towards his human peers, which makes him a good ally for Dumbledore. Firenze placed the needs of humanity above the needs of his own species and that makes him the ‘reasonable’ centaur.

The same happens with goblins. Their prioritization of their own people is at every turn equated with them being unpleasant, unreasonable, and impossible to work with, and when Harry Potter shows the bare minimum of respect- acknowledging that goblins have their own legal system that defines ownership of an object differently than a human would, it is framed as the greatest height of progressiveness that anyone could ever show towards a goblin, instead of the bare minimum. Never-mind the fact that the books explicitly mention that goblins are denied the use of a wand by the dominant human government, and actively have to fight for the rights they have even now, which is neither an interest nor a concern to any of our heroes.

Note of interest is also that most non-humans taking action against the status quo are antagonists. There are no creatures in the order of the phoenix fighting against the dark lord, (Remus Lupin identifies as a human with an unfortunate condition.) but there are several under the command of Voldemort. (Order of the Phoenix p.88) The most positive attitude towards non-humans comes from the heroes who show tolerance towards non-humans, but who also do not try to reach any deeper understanding about non-human experiences in the wizarding society.

The house-elves are the most blatant piece of yikes when it comes to the issue of creatures. The enslavement of house elves is explained away as a natural order of the world. At the end the series, even the protagonist Harry Potter accepts this natural order and becomes himself a master of the house elf Kreacher (Half Blood Prince p.55). Harry’s slave-master position is accepted,because we trust Harry to treat his slaves decently, there is never anyquestion what the condition of being a slave-master can psychologically do tothe master, or that slavery as an institution is too immoral to accept, nomatter the conditions. The reader is shown that the elves are not capable oftaking care of themselves without a master by examples of Dobby and Winky, the only freed elves shown in the books. Winky, after being freed, becomes an alcoholic. (Goblet of Fire, p.564) Dobby, while enjoying freedom, would be unable to support himself without the help of benevolent Dumbledore, to whom Dobby works in the same way as the other slaves in the castle, even if he is namely free. (Goblet of Fire p.400) (Both alcoholism and “frivolity” were anti-abolitionist talking points in the southern states in the antebellum era). Theimplication is that some races are simply born subservient, and the morally decent thing to do is to keep them in slavery but treat them kindly.

Hermione Granger, who in the books argues that slavery as an institution is by itself something that cannot be accepted, is presented with her views as ridiculous and misguided. On the other hand, those who argue for the institution of slavery appear as rational and reasonable. There is no way for anyone to think of her S.P.E.W badges as anything but childish and stupid, a phase for Hermione to grow out of. In Chamber of Secrets, the readers do see Harry freeing the house elf Dobby, after Dobby has personally helped Harry. However, the implication is that Dobby suffered from an unfit master, not from the slavery itself, and that his freedom came as boon after he had done a personal favour to Harry Potter. In the world of Harry Potter, slaves are happy to be slaves, as long as their masters are decent masters.

But if you stop and think of all this, it should not be rationally possible for a society like this to exist. If the giants truly are so stupid and violent that they are accidentally killing themselves to extinction, they should also not be sentient enough for humans to breed (and even create emotional bonds, as Hagrid’s family) with them. If these creatures have managed to create a society, it should not be possible for them to be unable to “understand complicated matters” or “kill anyone who uses too big words” (Order of the phoenix, 429).

Same with the centaurs. Segregating an entire culture to a small reservation is not pretty, and it does not happen peacefully. Still there is never any indication that the wizards were actively doing anything to keep the centaurs in their reservation. Even though, overtly and less-overtly violent actions and policies are in reality always working to keep indigenous populations at check. No creature segregated in their little reservation wants to leave that reservation, choosing to rather waste away amongst their own kind than pushing for their species to either be integrated into the wizarding world, or gaining more land from the wizards. And assuming that the centaur population is too small and weak to do anything but accept their reservation, the heroes do not see anything wrong with this arrangement either. The mythical tale of the noble savage who quietly goes into the good night is real in the wizarding world.

Those creatures who do live and work alongside wizards are equally content with their narrow roles. No goblin wants to work anywhere else expect the bank, no house-elf wants to open a business, no veela wants to study in Hogwarts. Half-breeds might be allowed in, if the headmaster is eccentric enough, and as long as they are able to “pass” as humans. The fact that their creature parents would never have that change is not even acknowledged as the tragedy that it is. It is easy for the heroes to appear as progressive, when the only thing the creatures want is to be allowed to exist in their pre-ordained roles and be treated with the most basic decency.

We don’t know what Dumbledore’s answer would be if a young goblin wanted to apply as a student at Hogwarts. We don’t know what any of our heroes’ reactions would have been, if the centaurs demanded compensations for Hogwarts’ rights to use the Forbidden Forest. Or if Dobby would have started campaigning alongside Hermione for abolition. We don’t know, because the wizarding world is in perfect harmony, as long as the creatures are allowed to exist peacefully in their roles, without corrupt, dark wizards abusing them needlessly.

What about humans then. Not all humans are created equal either. We don’t really see about the state of the wizarding world outside of Britain, but we are given the implication that the political situation in Britain is equal to the fate of the world. Harry Potter is not fighting for a political cause in UK, he is saving the world. British politics are world politics. The international wizards we do see, are also almost as much stereotyped as the creatures are. The French boys and girls from Beauxabatons are vain and frilly, while the girls and boys from Durmstrang are brutish and coarse. And in the European stage, UK and France gets their own wizarding population, while the eastern Europe is apparently lumped together in a way that makes you suspect that the Soviet Union never fell in the magical world. (considering when Rowling was creating these stories, that is not impossible. Rowling started writing Philosopher’s stone a year before the Soviet Union was dissolved). In the world politics, these three are the only ones important enough to be included in the tri-wizarding tournament, (tournament that the British dominate easily), and therefore clearly hold the political cards of magical Europe. What we do know is that British wizards have no trouble finding work overseas, while we do not see any foreigners living or working in the British wizarding world. Britain’s importance as the centre stage of magical world politics is simply a given fact of the world.

(Note that I have decided to omit all nonsense that Rowling has added to Pottermore in her effort to world-build but rest assured that it makes the situation simply much much worse.)

There is also the clean divide between muggles and wizards. The wizards once again are honour-bound from their superior position to protect the muggles. The books make it clear that it was not for the safety of the wizards that the worlds were divided. It was simply that muggles in their ignorance kept burning other muggles during the witch-hunting times. The idea that muggles, if confronted with an existential threat like the death-eaters and their genocidal tendencies, were to win the fight, is not even floated as an idea. The moral implications ofkeeping the muggle world ignorant about a part of UK population that wants to kill them, and has succeeded in several terrorist attacks against the commonpopulation, is not discussed at all. The wizards simply have the right to sacrifice the lives of muggles in exchange of keeping their society hidden from the “common folk”. The wizards who do show any interest in muggles, do it in the most condescending way possible. Arthur Weasley, who has spent years working in the ministry of muggle-affairs, cannot pronounce the word electricity or know what a rubber duck is. How exactly does someone work for muggle-affairs if one is completely ignorant of said affairs? Why are muggleborn’s not automatically working for muggle-affairs? How is it, that muggleborns all simply choose to embrace the wizarding culture without there being any underground muggleborn culture running counter the pureblood establishment? Hermione Granger wants to be seen as one of the witches, not as someone whose cultural knowledge of muggles could in on itself be a strength. Rowling really wants you to believe that the British wizarding culture is naturally so desirable that no counter-cultures have born inside it, or that there ever could be any other problem expect that muggleborns are restricted from accumulating into it.

And then we come to Harry. Our hero. At first look, he appears to be the underdog fighting against the unjust establishment of the wizarding world. However, if one takes a closer look at the story, Harry Potter is not an underdog at all. In the beginning of the story, he acquires a great inheritance from his exceedingly wealthy parents. (Philosopher’s Stone p.85) In every other character exceeding wealth seems to be a negative trait, but curiously Harry’s status as an heir to a fortune is never properly addressed in relation to Harry’s moral character. Harry is also a son of esteemed and powerful magical parents, both highly regarded in the wizarding society. From his father’s side, Harry can claim a connection to an old pureblood house, giving him a claim to the pureblood wizarding establishment. Both the wealth and the bloodline inherited from the Potter family guarantees a place in the upper class of the magical society for young Harry. Even the extremely racist Draco Malfoy in the first book seems eager to make friends with Harry. (Philosopher’s Stone p.120). It is only Voldemort who has robbed him of his natural heritage and privileges and forced him into hiding with his brutish and cruel (muggle) relatives.

The story of Harry Potter is not of someone who fights for acceptance, but of someone who returns to his rightful place on top of the wizarding society. characters who do not naturally have this privilege, gain prestige by being helpful and loyal to Harry. It is a deliberate choice by Rowling to make Harry a heir to an prestigious family fighting for the rights of muggleborns and those lower than him in the wizarding societal ladder. He is the archetypical English gentleman hero, because he has both the privilege and the proper character to carry that privilege. Voldemort, Malfoy, and other “dark-siders” from the pureblood establishment have abused this privilege and are therefore unworthy of it.

Another important part of Harry’s character is that all his powers and abilities that help him champion against Voldemort are either inherited or inherent. Harry does no need to labour for his victory. His mother gives him “blood-protection”, his father and mentors give him magical items to help him on his journey, and he simply has skills that others don’t. His flying abilities making themselves known the first time he hops on a broom, and his inexplicable talent to resist the imperio-curse is never explained expect with “a strong will”. He even learns the patronus, a spell that for adult characters is explained as a very rare and impressive talent, in a matter of days. What he is good at, he doesn’t need to work for, and what he is not good at, he doesn’t need to improve on. If there is something he doesn’t have the innate talent for, he has friends who will do it for him. When Snape claimed that all of Harry’s successes were due to luck and more talented friends…he wasn’t wrong. And the kicker is, that that’s the point. Harry’s main strength is the fact that he is good at networking and having a brave heart. That is the ideal that thousands of young Englishmen tried to mould themselves into during the imperial days. Harry doesn’t need to be the “smartest wizard of his age”, he needs to be charismatic enough that others will follow him into the battle. He doesn’t need to be shrewd, or ambitious, or smart, or even kind, he needs to know how to apply his inheritance correctly and how to manage those in the lower position than him, in order to return the status quo of the wizarding world to what it was before Voldemort.

When both Harry’s already existing place in the magical society, and the question of how the books treat the magical creatures are considered, the main conflict in the book seems to be reduced to an inner struggle between the higher classes of wizarding society. Voldemort and the death eaters are evil because they misuse their power over the lower classes, and because they discriminate against other witches and wizards. Therefore, it is the duty of Dumbledore and Harry Potter to return the wizarding world to its former and rightful order. The narrative supports the idea that now that the proper people, the naturally noble-minded heroes, are once again in power all the social issues of the wizarding world will disappear. Those on the top of the social pyramid will treat those under them with tolerance, and those at the base of the pyramid will stick to their place.In other words, the world of Harry Potter has fulfilled the colonialist fantasy of the British empire, where everybody has their place in society, and the inferior races truly are without ambitions or nuances.

The wizarding world has the structures that the British empire had, but none of the problems that come with those structures. In the end, the wizarding world returns to peace. “all was well.” The house-elves are given laws that punishes a master that mistreats their slave. The goblins continue in their segregation. The centaurs and merfolk are given a promise of no genocide. The British muggleborns are promised a place in the dominant society, as long as they perfectly emulate their pureblood peers and don’t bring muggle culture (or values) with them. The superiority of British wizardingkind has been proven, and they benevolently reside over their less evolved subjects, making sure that they are allowed to fulfill their roles in the society, as they naturally desire, in peace. There are no troublesome creature-rights activists causing havoc on streets. There are no muggleborns who would wish to side with muggles against the wizards. There is no empire, there is only the natural order of things.

Bibliography

https://www.academia.edu/26667941/Crowning_the_King_Harry_Potter_and_the_Construction_of_Authority

https://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/162/161

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/24083/H_and_F_book4print_final.pdf;sequence=1

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-phrenology-2795251

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-victorians-empire-and-race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Bachofen

https://kenanmalik.com/2014/05/15/the-forgotten-roots-of-the-first-world-war/

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478

https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo-tableau-to-accompany-professor-agassiz-opening-sketch-on-the-image01388344.html

https://until-darwin.blogspot.com/2012/09/darwin-slavery-species-question.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/Scientific-classifications-of-race

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/11/hitchens200811

https://newrepublic.com/article/151232/britains-boarding-school-problem

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/boarding-schools-bad-leaders-politicians-bullies-bumblers

https://anotherwasteland.blogspot.com/2008/05/robinson-crusoe-colonialism-and.html

https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/colonialism-in-victorian-literature/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3141t.html

#harry potter #Anonymous #long post #literary analysis #ask and you shall receive much more than you ever wanted

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astxlphe · 3 years

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SO this is going to be a bit unorganized because I had a sudden idea but please bear with me.

Okay so I think that the Innocence comes fr the same world as the Noah, and that Pillar could be connected the Heart

1. The cube Komui talked about at the beginning of the manga said that while they defeated the Millenium Earl, the world was still destroyed.

2. With Night 234 and Cross and Road's conversation, we know that the Millenium Earl turned into the Pillar and destroyed the previous world, which is likely to be what the cube referred to.

At least I think it does because in Night 7, on the same page Komui presented the cube, there is a little bit of text that looks like newspaper articles.

It's hard to read but if you zoom in it could be okay. Still, I've written a bit of what the text says under the image :

The full column on the left starts with "Eurotunnel worker Colin Kirkland, said: "I can hardly believe it, that after all this time we actually have come to the point where we can walk from England to France.." and the next paragraph goes on with "a month ago a guiding probe broke through the approaching halves of the service tunnel...."

The Eurotunnel construction did not start until 1988, and would have been, at the time they found the cube, barely even an idea, and at the time of the story (late 19th century) far from being successful.

And as far as I can find, Colin Kirkland was also a real person who was technical director on the tunnel.

The panel is also just under two dialogue bubbles that said "there was a prophecy from the ancient civilizations and the instructions to use a certain matter."

Said matter is Innocence, but the prophecy ? They, besides the one warning of the Earl's return, are apparently history from a world that is similar to theirs but more advanced, further in years than they are.

(which by the way would also explain why the order is so technologically advanced for their time period, and why the rest of the world isn't this advanced. they are using information from another world)

And the Noah's world, destroyed by the pillar, had skyscrapers and modern road lights and so was indeed further in history.

So the Innocence, the prophecies, came with the Noah as they moved to this world. Road tells Cross, specifically, that this world was created for the purpose of being destroyed. In the official French translation it's explicit that the Noah created this world to destroy it.

And yet the Innocence, supposedly their greatest enemy, came with them ?

3. Back to the Pillar. It's is a huge cross made of white light, reminiscent more of Innocence than the Dark Matter that the Earl supposedly uses. Actually, the general shape, when seen from far away, reminds me of what Fallen Ones would look like if you watched them from very far away (there is a little curve under the "arms" of the cross that make it look a bit like a torso imo)

Cross says in Night 234/235 that the Pillar may not exist in this world. But if the Earl is there and it was him that turned into the Pillar the first time around, then it obviously does, because the Noah brought it with them.

And Innocence, which also comes from their world, was brought along with them. And they either let it happen or couldn't stop it, even if it's their world

4. In Night 236, we see Apocryphos observing Red and Mana, and he says that Red will one day destroy the Millenium Earl and that this will allow the Heart to be reborn. Actually the French translation is worded like this : "you will be vanquished by this child, Millenium Earl, and then Its Excellency the "Heart" will come back to life"

This implies that the Heart is not the Innocence that will destroy the Earl, but that it will "awake" when the Earl is destroyed.

And what happened the last time the Earl was destroyed ? The Pillar appeared and the world was ended regardless. Either :

- the destruction had already started at the time which is unlikely because, if we go by the "three days of darkness" phrase, it happened in three days which is fairly short timeframe to kill the Earl

- the Earl's defeat is what turned him into the Pillar.

(This would mean that whether the exorcist win or lose the war, their world will still end anyway. It would be quite a way to make them suffer as the Noah did, wouldn't it ? You cause your own end by doing what you thought would save the world.)

5. I would also like to add that Road's reaction to the mention of the Pillar is to me pretty revealing because the only other thing that the Noah hate so much is Innocence.

Actually all of this is bringing me to my point which is that the Earl and the Heart are intrinsically connected if not both one facet of the other.

The "Pillar" is a manifestation of the Heart.

That's why the Innocence came here as well : their connection to the Heart means they can't exist without it, so they followed it to another world. The Noah, voluntarily or not, brought the Innocence along with the Earl.

#dgm #d gray man #dgm spoilers #(to be safe)#dgm theory

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author-a-holmes · 3 years

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Underwing Challenge Day 3

"Who is your main cast? Describe as many of your OCs as you can cram into one post."

(Event Link) - (Day One) - (Day Two)

As many as I can cram into one post? Whooo-boy, you have no idea what you've asked for <3

Because Stolen is a Fantasy Romance, it's written in Third Person Close/Limited from the points of view of Stella Korazon and Reilly Mosswolf.

Stella Korazon

"Loving someone forever is the easy part, so long as you actually love them in the first place." - Stella

At the start of Stolen, Stella is a young but very talented thief. She was raised by her Da', Colm Korazon in a wagon that they used to travel the East Coast caravan route of Moryann.

Her greatest skills include being able to read a persons body language, and her pick-pocketing. She was taught how to fight, but her preferred reaction is to evade, dodge, run, or a mixture of the three.

Physically she's small. Short, and very slim, and with long blonde hair to her waist/hips and large blue eyes that make her look younger than she is, a look that she often uses to her advantage.

Stella's also a very good mimic, she can copy people's patterns of speech and behaviors as long as she's given sufficient time to study them.

Her biggest disadvantage is innocence. While Stella isn't naive to the dangers of Moryann, or the darker sides of the world she lives in, her Da' always encouraged social isolation. Teaching her to trust him, herself, and no one else. This makes for a strange dichotomy to her character that I enjoy playing with where she might be able to flirt with a mark and fluster them enough to rifle through their pockets unnoticed, but blush and stumble when being on the receiving end of genuine thanks or kindness.

Reilly Mosswolf

"You're in trouble, and I can help. Do I need more of a reason than that?" - Reilly

Reilly's parents were murdered when he was very young. He's elven, so very young for him was around 22 years, the developmental equivalent to mid-teens.

After his parents death, Reilly had his younger sister to look after, so he took to stealing. He was rather bad at it, and was caught. Luckily, for him, but the Guild Master of the Antillune Thieves Guild, Aldune Lamuird.

Instead of turning Reilly over to the guard, he took Reilly and his sister into the guild and looked after them, training both siblings himself when they expressed a desire to learn the trade.

At the start of Stolen, Reilly is 252 years old, and the current guild master having inherited his position from Aldune. Despite that he, and the guild, are in trouble.

For the previous year or two, there has been a rival guild from the Western side of Moryann beginning to encroach on the Antillune Guild's territory and while it hasn't yet escalated to an all out war, tensions are building.

Not least because around 6 months prior, Reilly's sister was found dead, having been clearly tortured. While Reilly is sure that the rival guild are responsible, he has no evidence and won't put the thieves under his protection at risk for a personal vendetta.

Physically, Reilly has the black eyes and sun-burnished skin of his mother's Desert Elf heritage. He also has black hair that he keeps shoulder length, and a scruff of a beard that helps give a messy edge to a face that would otherwise stand out in a crowd. He also has the traditional Forest Elf tattoo's that span from shoulder to wrist along his left arm; His family history written in elven.

His strengths are his experience, and his willingness to listen to opinions and advice other than his own. Reilly is a strong fighter, and Aldune taught him to carefully balance the racial specific talents of both his parents bloodlines, and to use them to his advantage. He has the powerful blows that belong to the forest clans, but the speed of the desert elves, making him a formidable opponent before he even picks up a blade.

Reilly's biggest disadvantage is his fear of losing people. Over the years, Reilly has lost almost everyone he's ever loved or cared for. His parents, Aldune, his sister Eryn, even a lover or two. He has an inner circle of people he relies on within the guild, six people he trusts above all others, but his best friend and the only one truly able to get through to him is Dara Brookor.

Reilly uses nicknames and pet-names to distance himself from his guild members, giving the illusion of closeness, but using the affectionate names to distance himself, and make sure he can't put a real name to a face should one of the people under his protection turn up dead.

It's when Reilly begins to use a person's real name, that they've truly begun to worm their way under his armor.

***

Stella and Reilly are surrounded by a small supporting cast, each of whom has a very important part to play in either the main characters lives, or the main plot, although that may not come to fruition within the first book...

Dara Brookor

"So you're trying to tell me that, when you realised you were developing a meaningful connection to a person you have known for less than a decade, you didn't panic, pull back, and avoid them like a complete moron?" - Dara

Dara runs most of the administrative side of the Antillune Thieves Guild. She handles all the records, job allocations and thief payments, and is also responsible for pairing up thieves whose skills will compliment each other.

She's also the best friend to Reilly Mosswolf. She met Reilly, and his sister Eryn, when they were attempting to steal from one of her clients. Before joining the guild, Dara ran a brothel in Antillune, and when Eryn Mosswolf tried to disguise herself as an employee to get close to her target, Dara interfered in an attempt to protect her staff.

Once the situation was explained, she ended up helping Eryn and Reilly with their job, and occasionally passing along information on good targets if a client tried to skip out on their bill.

Dara is over six feet tall, and almost half as broad, which is the only sign of her part ogre heritage. She has honey-blonde curls that she keeps cut to her jaw, and dark blue-green eyes.

She made good use of her imposing form to keep her staff protected and her clients in line, but eventually her establishment was set on fire by a competitor, which is when Reilly asked her to work for him instead, in the administrative side of the guild.

The fact that it meant Reilly got out of most of the paperwork was, he swears, simply a bonus.

Dara's strength is her ability to connect with people. While she isn't a thief, her long history in Antillune has given her a network on contacts across the city that feed her a steady supply of information, and Dara can quickly utilise those contacts to seek out any specific leads she or the guild needs.

Her weakness is that she doesn't want to think badly of anyone, and it can cloud her judgement. She doesn't automatically look for deceit and deception, which has often led to her finding herself in dangerous situations.

Thankfully, Dara strikes an intimidating form, can curse like an Antillune sailor, and knows how to wield blades well enough to back up her threats.

Myris Orinan

"I am not the youngest graduate from the college of Wizardry in nearly two centuries for nothing." - Myris

Myris Orinan is, simply put, a genius.

A forest elf in possession of extremely powerful elemental magic, Myris is one of only 3-4 people in Moryann who can control all four branches of elemental magic and manipulate them simultaneously to access the rare Kurro or Healing magic.

He completed his training at the College of Wizardry in less than 100 years, making him one of the youngest graduates to ever complete the training and he is also passable-to-fluent in over ten languages.

Myris is also entirely mute.

Married to Tanar Orinan, the pair met when Tanar had been hired to steal something from the library in the College of Wizardry. Myris discovered the thief, mid-job, because he'd been working late into the night and bound Tanar before demanding an explanation for his presence.

Tanar agreed to surrender the book, and forfeit the contract, in exchange for being allowed to court Myris and the pair were quickly inseparable.

Due to this close association with the Antillune Guild, however, Myris was attacked, kidnapped, and tortured for information on the guild, and on Reilly Mosswolf in particular.

Even though, at the time, he had no knowledge to give, his attackers punished him for withholding information by forcing an alchemical mixture into him that burnt away his vocal chords, effectively rending his magic useless as it's commonly accepted that without the ability to speak a spell, spellcasters and wizards are rendered powerless.

Myris proved everyone's theories on elemental magic wrong however by slowly developing his own language using hand positioning and finger shapes to communicate words and phrases, and with practice and strength of will he gradually taught himself how to cast spells with a non-verbal trigger, instead of a spoken one.

While Myris has physically recovered as well as he can from the experience, and his magic is as strong as ever, despite requiring more effort to cast non-verbally, Myris has been left with a powerful hatred of Vine, and an ever encroaching fear that such an attack will happen again.

After his recovery, and several assessments by the College to prove that he could continue to retain his Wizard title, Myris moved to the Antillune Thieves guild to work as their wizard in residence, providing wards and magical services to the guild in exchange for a modest fee and even working to create unique items to help the guild function better and to keep its members safer.

Myris does not leave the Guild grounds without Tanar by his side, and even then only in exceptional circumstances. If he is required to leave the guild for any reason, it also tends to leave him with nightmares for several weeks.

Honorable Mentions

I had some others I was going to do but this is so long already, and I'm already 7 hours into Day Four that I'm pushing them into an honorable mentions section instead.

Tanar Sotor Orinan, Indre Larieth, Lurall Penrith and Nilion Kurez are all additional members of the guilds Inner Circle.

Tanar is half plains elf and half human, and is married to Myris. He used to be the thief partner to Eryn Mosswolf after Reilly was made guild master.

Indre Larieth is a half-elf who was recruited by Nilion Kurez, but has remained steadfastly loyal to Reilly for many years. Due to her Snow Elf heritage she can appear stand-offish and cold, but she cares deeply for her chosen few, and will go to extraordinary lengths to do whatever she thinks is nessecary to protect them.

Lurall Penrith was once trained by the Ikhari guild of assassins. It wasn't a path he chose, but instead of running her decided to become good enough that the guild would have no choice but to allow him to leave. After he met Reilly, he leveraged the backing of another guild to convince the Ikhari to let him walk away. Lurall now runs the Guild Outpost in the Western Desert, but frequently visits Reilly in Antillune.

Nilion Kurez is a Forest Elf, and has been a member of the Antillune thieves guild since Aldune Lamuird founded it. He helped write many of the guilds laws, and has known Reilly most of his life, having watched him grow up inside the guild, and in many cases been one of Reilly's teachers.

Hawk Denill is the face of Vine in Book One, and the person who hires Stella to break into the guild and steal from Reilly Mosswolf. He is a dark character who I intend to be a thorn in Stella and Reilly's side for at least the first three books. Once a member of Reilly's own guild, Hawk was banished when the guild discovered he was responsible for a series of grisly murders in Antillune. Hawk has returned to the city only recently, confident with the backing of a new guild.

Liandra 'Andy' Jenkin is a bright but brash young thief who Dara partners with Stella once she settles into the guild. Andy is Human, but makes up for the disadvantages this gives her in speed and strength by sheer enthusiasm, and stubborn determination. Andy has a grudge of her own against Vine, since their people laid an ambush on her last job that injured her and killed her previous partner.

Colm Korazon is Stella's Da'. While Colm is also a thief, he's not a particularly good one. He raised Stella in a travelling caravan, using it as a base to sell all sorts of false herbal remedies, imitation magical items, and any other junk he could con people into purchasing. All the while training Stella to do what he could not. By the time she was old enough to blend in with the crowds that gathered around his stall, the items he attempted to sell were merely a distraction to allow Stella to silently search through pockets.

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pl-panda · 4 years

Text

Damienette aranged marriage: part 3

Whoa... Two parts in one day. Sorry if this one is worse, but yet again I wrote this instead of sleeping.

Warning: there will be some cursing from Jason, but can you really blame him? Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1

Damienette arranged marriage: Part 3

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“And why would you tell her everything?!” Jason screamed, still hidden behind Batman’s towering posture.

“Because she is my wife Todd!” Damian screamed. The silence in the room was thick enough that if the assassin swinged his sword, he would be able to cut it in half. Finally, Bruce was the one to break it.

“Fuck.”

This worked like detonating a bomb. Immediately, Red Hood, Red Robin and Nightwing pushed their way into the room and surrounded the two teens.

“You were gone for less than forty-eight hours!” Dick

“How did you manage to get married!” Drake

“You are just fifteen demon spawn!” Todd

“And who is she!?” Drake again.

Talia watched this whole ordeal with no small amount of amusement. That is until Bruce suddenly appeared next to her. His frown was downright scary even for her. “Explain. Now!” The growl was low and emotionless, but it was enough to yet again put the room in dead silence.

“Beloved. It is good to see you too.” Talia smiled seductively.

“I am not in the mood. Now talk!”

“Fine.” She dropped all illusion of niceness. “I made peace with old enemy of the League. Or even a shaky alliance. But to seal the treaty, an assurance was required.”

“And that assurance was?” Jason asked confused, earning a facepalm from Dick.

“The Royal Marriage. An heir of the League and future leader of the Order.”

“And that leader would be… her?” Batman asked, not fully convinced.

Marinette was standing there the whole time, greatly uncomfortable with the attention Bat Family was giving her and Damian. She did read a bit on them, but it was always Alya who never shut up about heroes. For the most part, she preferred talk about Ladybug, but lately there was slowly forming a rift. The aspiring reporter was falling into Lila’s lies, posting unreliable videos on Ladyblog. Rossi had it for Ladybug and Alya, together with the rest of Marinette’s class, was falling for her machinations. They still hanged out with Marinette, but there was this distaste forming around her. She was no longer their to-go person with personal problems, being replaced by Lila who was awful at helping others unless it benefited her. But now Marinette had more pressing matter than a pity little liar. She looked at Batman, then at the bat-kids and finally at Damian. They were all looking at her expectantly.

“Oh right! Sorry. I did it again…” She gave them a sheepish smile. “I am Ladybug, hero of Paris and Great Guardian of the Miraculous.” She stated. Most of the heroes (bar Damian who knew a tidy bit about the Order of the Guardians) were confused.

“Paris doesn’t have heroes. There aren’t even any supervillains there.”

“Excuse me?! How does nobody knows what is going on in Paris!” Ladybug shouted. “Ugh! Seriously?!”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Forgive me, Ladybug, but the Justice League would know if there was a threat in Paris. So who are you really.”

“Then ask Green Lantern. He was the one who laughed at my plea for help.” She scowled, but then her demeanor changed. She calmed down and gave a sheepish smile. “But guess I should thank him. I can only dread what would happen if Superman was akumatized. Or Flash. Or anyone really. I don’t think I could win.”

Batman frowned. He would have a talk with Hal once he dealt with this. If there was really a threat like that, ignoring it was not only stupid, but dangerous. And the girl was at best Damian’s age. She was dealing with this for how long? The way she spoke suggested that she was in charge. A child fighting in a war all alone.

“For now beloved, it should be enough for you that the two of them are legally married.”

“Like hell!” Jason shouted at her, waving his gun. “They are fifteen. No court would accept this.”

“Actually,” Tim started, “under some laws they can be married. For example ‘The Personal Status Law of Muslims’ in Sudan sets the minimum age at ten.” He spoke like he was reading an encyclopedia.

“But we are somewhere between Nepal and China. I don’t think there are such laws here.” Dick said, but his confidence wavered.”

“Tt. First of why don’t anyone ask me or Marinette about our opinion?” Damian asked irritated.

“Shut up Demon Spawn. Adults are working here”

“If you don’t shut up, Todd, I will make you eat your dirty socks until you choke on the stench.” The young boy threatened. Marinette cringed at this, not really wanting to imaging such situation.

“The marriage stays.” Talia stated coldly. “Otherwise, I will not be able to stop League from going to war against Order of the Guardians.”

“You are their leader.” Batman pointed out.

“That may be correct, beloved, but I am but a regent. Only after Damian finally assumes the leadership, his word will be law. I do try to reform the league, but there is little I can do in this situation.”

“Bullshit!” Jason cursed. “You are just manipulative bitch.”

“Jason!” Dick hit the back of Red Hood’s helmet, causing him to almost tumble. “Language. There are minors in the room.”

“Don’t worry Mousier.” Marinette noted that the whole debate shifted to English. She learned it years ago when she first got interested in fashion. Some of the greatest fashion critiques wrote only in English and she didn’t want to be left behind. And other foreign critiques and designers were always translated into English. “After today, cursing is the least of my worries.” During the talk, Marinette pulled her yo-yo to check the situation in Paris. The good news were that there was no Akuma attack since her confrontation with Hawkmoth. Bad news: she was gone for over forty hours already.

“What exactly is the deal?” Bruce sighted. He loved his boys, but he could practically feel his hair graying. At least the girls didn’t go around marrying total strangers. “I want the full story Talia. Don’t even try to deceive us.”

“As you wish Beloved.” She smiled and sat back at her chair. Jason was about to hop onto where Marinette sat, but Damian ‘accidentally’ tripped him. Ladybug detransformed and Tikki flew out.

“What is this flying mouse?!” Dick screeched upon seeing a kwami.

“My name is Tikki. I am kwami, or if you prefer a small god, of creation and luck.”

“Okay… I’ve totally seen weirder.” Jason shrugged and Tim was too busy trying to plug in his pocket kettle to make himself some coffee.

“Ekhm.” Bruce faux-coughted to get their attention. “Begin Talia.”

“Many centuries ago, magic jewels bestowing extraordinary powers were created. These were... the Miraculous. Throughout history, heroes have used these jewels for the good of the human race. Order of The Guardians was responsible for protecting and distributing the Miraculous for the good of all humanity. Some time in the past, League has learned about the existence of this artifacts, more powerful than even Lazarus Pit. A secret war began between two organizations. There was a constant stalemate until the Order was mysteriously destroyed without a trace. We believed all miraculous to be lost until two years ago heroes and villains using them appeared in Paris. Initially, we ignored them, long since abandoning this war. But then, some month ago a temple of the Guardians suddenly reappeared with the Order in chaos. The League attacked, but they were strong enough to withstand the initial strike and turn it into a siege. In time, we would have succeeded and wiped them once and for all. But instead, the Guardians understood their situation and reached to us with agreement. A truce and alliance, in exchange for sparing them.”

“Yeah right! Only an idiot would take such offer!” Red Hood kept arguing with the Assassin woman.

“Or a strategist. Either way, the League wins. They no longer need to worry about threat, but this way they also get an ally.” Batman remained expressionless, but he kept sending Damian and Marinette side-glares. He wanted to know how they are coping with this. The girl was a bit shaken, but that was to be expected. He would talk more with her later. What surprised him was that Damian seemed to show concern for her. The kind he usually reserved only for his brothers and father.

“Yes. While our methods differ, the League and the Order have a common goal: prosperity for all humanity. But to ensure that neither side would go against the other, there needed to be a more tangible symbol of this union.”

“Marriage of the heirs. In the past such method was often used to symbolize an alliance. It symbolized equality of both partners and parties they represented.” Tim acted as an universal encyclopedia again, which Jason did exploit to tease him mercilessly while the others focused on the discussion.

“And let me guess” Dick frowned. “If they break the deal, it means war?”

“Yes.” Damian simply nodded. The memory of his mother’s threat hanging over the girl’s live was still fresh. Now that he got to know her better Damian was surprised that someone so brave and strong could at the same time be such emotionally unstable or open. It was almost refreshing. His family was awful with emotions and beyond that women only saw his last name. Many times he dealt with liars who tried to use him to get into the pockets of his father. But with Marinette he was sure that she was genuine with her feelings. He could not find any reason for her not to be at the moment, especially after she revealed her secret to him.

“So what? We are just supposed to roll with it? What will press think? You will give Alfred a heart attack Damian.” Dick rambled. Youngest Wayne decided to ignore him and turn to his father.

“While this might be a bit inconvenient, I believe it is the best course of action for now.” Damian spoke with cold and calculative voice.

“And what about you?” Batman turned to the girl, who for the most part lately was busy discussing something with the kwami in French. Bruce was proficient, but he was too focused on Talia and Damian.

“I… I accepted that my duty as Great Guardian comes with certain responsibilities. If this is what it takes to preserve peace, then I guess… I guess I will roll with it.” She smiled at Dick, almost daringly. Damian smiled too. Anyone who teased his brothers like that earned some points in his book. “But I can’t just leave Paris. For now it’s peaceful, but I don’t know how long it will last. And there are my parents… Oh Kwami! What will I tell my parents! Or my friends! Or my class! What if they reject me for this and I will be kicked from home, then I will not become a professional designer and I will never fulfill my dream and I will be forever lonely…” She unintentionally rambled in mixture of English and French while walking in circle and waving her hands. Damian grabbed her by her wrists to stop her before she accidentally knocked someone out and then cupped her hands with his. She was still talking random stuff, which made absolutely zero sense. Damn. She is cute when she is rambling. What!? He shut down the intrusive thoughts and focused on the girl… his wife.

“Calm down. Take deep breaths. You will not be alone.” He hoped it would work, but she barely slowed down. He sighted. Damian looked her deep in her bluebell eyes and she saw the two whirlpools of jade green he had. They were more prominent that Adrien’s. “Listen to my voice. All is going to be fine. We will not leave you.” This time, it did work and she calmed down.

Rest of the Batfam watched in shock how Damian has acted. It was most unusual for him to initiate physical contact at all, much less act this gentle. They looked at Talia, but she shrugged.

“I didn’t do anything if that’s what you think.” She smirked. “But I don’t think I needed.” Two newly-wed were just standing there, starring in each other’s eyes.

“Robin!” Batman finally got him to break out of this. “We gotta go. We will figure out exactly what to do later.”

“Fine. But we are taking Marinette with us.” Damian stubbornly stated.

“Yes. She should not stay here. And I have more questions for her.”

The flight to Paris was surprisingly fast. They traveled in perfect silence, but she felt rather uncomfortable with how everyone (bar Damian) sent her a suspicious glares. Finally, they landed around 8 PM on the rooftop of local Wayne Enterprises headquarter. She walked out first, happy to finally get back onto her home turf.

“Now there are some questions that needs to be answered.” Batman spoke.

“Uhm… Okay?”

“Stop intimidating her Father.” Damian scowled.

Bruce reluctantly nodded. “Maybe it would be the best to discuss it in private of my office.” He pressed some buttons on his glove and the bat-plane camouflage. Well, it was probably more of Bat-cargo plane since it could fit six people comfortably and still have much space free.

They got into the office, where Bruce had a total of five armchairs set around the coffee table. Immediately, Damian and Dick took two of them, leaving the head one for Bruce and one in between the two Waynes for Marinette. Tim didn’t bother trying to fight with Jason over who gets the last place, instead opting to just jump onto computer chair at the desk and activating a holo-screen. He quickly connected to Batcomputer and started to pull various files (mostly on Marinette and her close ones, but she didn’t see it).

“So tell me. What is our young couple planning to do now?” Dick teased them.

Jason was standing next to the alcohol bar, pouring several glasses of whiskey. Before Bruce could protest, he brought five and placed them on the table. His reaction to disapproving glare from the other adults was to just shrug. “What? They are married. I think underage drinking would be the least of the problems. Oh! That reminds me.” Jason grinned maliciously and pulled his wallet. He tossed something square and silver at Damian. “I don’t want any demon spawns junior running around soon.”

Once Marinette realized what was that and what was he implying she turned redder than Tim’s outfit. Damian scowled. “I have a sword on me Todd, so watch what you are saying. I might not have chosen her to be my bride, but I will not let you embarrass her just for your fun.”

Jason saw an opportunity and he would be damned if he didn’t take it. “Which sword are you talking about?”

Damian hissed like an angry cat and drawn his sword, lunging at his brother. Todd initially wanted to block the attack with his gun, but fine steel cut right through it. Seeing murder in Damian’s face he did the only plausible thing: started to run.

Marinette was inventing new shades of red with her blushing. Bruce gave her an apologetic look. “Please, don’t take his comments to heart. Jason is…” before batman could find a right word there was a sound of something crashing, followed by a painful yelp. In just a moment, Damian returned happy, his sword a bit bloody.

“Please tell me you didn’t kill him…” Dick begged. Marinette was not sure whether this was a joke or not, but the longer she stayed with the batfam, the less sane they appeared.

“Nah. But he didn’t look where he was running and toppled the stack of boxes and I ended up stabbing him in his left calf. He will live.” Damian assured them. And true to his words, a limping Jason appeared in the doors. He grabbed a fresh bottle of whiskey on his way to the armchair and slumped resigned. “Demon spawn!”

“Idiot!”

“Enough!” Bruce wanted to pull his hair out. “We came here to discuss a certain situation not stab each other. Marinette?”

“Yes monsieur Wayne?” She asked, still stunned with what happened. She had to admit Damian acter chiviliarus protecting her honor, even if his way was pretty violent.

“I was trying to ask you, what do you plan on doing now?”

“I… I don’t know. This all happened so fast…”

“It’s okay. I don’t think anyone would have a plan for such situation.” Dick reassured her

“Bruce does. It’s inside the safe in the batcave in folder labeled ‘Talia never gives up’.” Tim chimed in before returning to his research.

“Well, no one sane has such plans.” Dick tried to cheer her up. It did work even if just a bit. “But ask yourself what do you want.”

“Well… I would wish to finish my education and I always dreamed about becoming a professional fashion designer.”

“And how is this plan working so far?” Bruce inquired.

“Well, I do run a small internet boutique, where I take commissions and uncle Jagged refuses to wear anything that wasn’t personally designed by me.” She said casually.

“Wait a moment… Uncle Jagged as in Jagged Stone, the world-class rock musician?!” Tim suddenly shouted.

“Uh… yes?” She got confused

“But his only designer is the mysterious MDC! That would mean you are MDC!”

“Uh… yes?” Marinette had no idea why Tim acted like that.

“Oh god! Oh god! I got to meet MDC! Can I get your authograph?” He was suddenly next to her, holding a copy of the her first album cover she made for Jagged.

“Sure.” She signed it and handed it back. It read: ‘Good luck TD, MDC’.

Tim Fainted.

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Taglist (sorry if I missed you)

@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64

#fanfic #fanfiction #crossover #marinette x damian #order of the guardians #guardian!marinette #maridami #maribat #damienette #maribat au #league of assassins #arranged marriage au #batman

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hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong · 3 years

Text

The Century War of Wyverns, Prologue, Part 2

Cris: We're actually getting into France this time, we swear.

Jeanne: I don't think there's anything CW worthy this time, though there are a few things that come up rather obliquely.

Kat: Anything in one of our colors is coming from us, and anything in the <pointy brackets> isn't being said out loud! Roll tape!

(The previous part's over here if you missed it.)

(Now the next part's here!)

I woke with a start, my sheets drenched in a cold sweat. Suddenly, there were three sharp knocks on our door. I peeled myself out from the covers and felt my way over to the door. It rose at the push of a button.

Mash: Senpai, please hurry up, we’re going to be late fo- um…

Agh, we’re gonna be late!? I rushed over to the dresser and threw on one of the uniforms. A little bit of hair brushie, and… done! I ran out the door, grabbing Mash’s hand as we went past.

Mash: S-Senpai? Woah!

April (Kat): Come on, Mash, let’s go! You’re gonna be late too if you just stand there!

-------------

Dr. Roman looks so professional right now! Wow, we’re getting our first mission already!

Cris: <Jeez we woke up early. Where’s the fire?>

Jeanne: <Literally the entire history of mankind, Cris. Now can we please pay attention?>

Romani: -Once you rayshift into the singularity, you will have two main objectives. Objective one: Locate and eliminate any alterations to history. You don’t have to worry about stepping on any butterflies, history is a lot stronger than that, but if you see anything like what happened in Fuyuki- rogue servants summoned, monsters that should not exist at that time, and so on- it will be your job to eliminate the problem, and in doing so, fix the singularity.

Romani: Objective two is more theoretical, but based on our current data it is the most likely solution.- You must find and either retrieve or destroy the source of the singularity. As far as we know, there is only one object powerful enough to cause a disturbance of this magnitude- a Holy Grail.

April (Kat): Isn’t the Holy Grail like, one thing? How is it in seven singularities?

Romani: That’s right, you’re unfamiliar with the larger world of magic, aren’t you, April? Generally, a “Holy Grail” is more of a classification than a single artifact. They are any kind of immense mana battery, granting their wielder enough energy to perform otherwise impossible miracles. But the only time a mage will ever see a Holy Grail outside of the Age of Gods is at the end of a Holy Grail War. If they were distributed freely, it would cause no end of chaos.

Romani: Getting back on topic, once you are in the singularity, you should set up base on a leyline. Then we’ll be able to send you supplies and contact you more easily. You’ll also have to find or summon servants while you’re in the singularity. Every body we rayshift increases the difficulty of maintaining connection, so your rayshift team will be April, Mash, and Spartacus.

April (Cris): Spartacus is coming with us? Why not Artoria?

Romani: Because the load his rayshift puts on the system is less than the danger of letting him run around here without his master. The coffin is a very delicate device and having a servant who takes “please don’t touch that” as a challenge would make it very hard to do my job.

April (Cris): That’s fair.

April (Cris): …Wait, how safe are these things, exactly?

Romani: Under normal circumstances, I’d say they’re perfectly safe, but “normal circumstances” would require about ten times the staff we currently have available. I am the only person here with enough training to confirm your existence, but I swear as long as I’m here you won’t have to worry about a mistake on this end of things.

???: Ahem?

A very pretty woman standing behind Dr. Romani cleared her throat. She had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a short brown and red dress with blue socks and gloves. Her whole outfit had gold decorations, and- is that a robot bird? That’s so cool!

Romani: Oh right, I’m sorry. I’m the only human here that can confirm your existence while rayshifted. This is Chaldea’s second experimental summoning, also kno-

???: I am the great inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci! You may just call me Leonardo though. It is a pleasure to meet you. I’m usually busy in my workshop, but I am perfectly capable of taking over for Romani for short periods of time. I hope we work well together.

April (Jeanne): I hope so as well, it is good to meet you, Leonardo.

Da Vinky looked almost… shocked? At that? Weird.

April (Jeanne): Is something wrong?

Da Vinci: I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve almost gotten used to the first words out of the mouths of people to be “Da Vinci? Isn’t he a man?”, or something to that effect.

April (Cris): We’ve already seen all of history get turned to ash and watched two female King Arthurs beat the crap out of each other. Finding out Da Vinci is a girl isn’t too much of a shock at this point.

Leonardo suddenly got very smug.

Da Vinci: Ohohohoho! An entirely new mistake! Who said anything about me being a man or a woman? A universal genius knows no boundaries! I merely made my spirit origin into the most beautiful form possible. Of course, I mean I copied my greatest work, the Mona Lisa!

Leonardo leaned onto her left arm and smiled faintly.

Da Vinci: So, what do you think? Is it a good likeness?

Several seconds passed.

April (Cris): They were just waiting for us to screw up, right?

Roman: Yeah, Da Vinci was in here for the last hour practicing that speech.

Da Vinci: Oh please Roman, it was only the last 45 minutes! If I had been in here for an hour, my ornith- Ah! I must get back to my lab, I’ll talk to you all after you’ve rayshifted!

With that, Da Vinci rushed out of the room.

Roman: Ha ha, she’s quite the character, but you can trust her. She seems rather flighty, but she can be incredibly focused when she needs to be. Now then, let the first mission of this grand order begin!

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Three coffins were prepared for our departure. We corralled Spartacus into his with minimal difficulty, but when I tried to step into mine, I just… couldn’t. What happened in Fuyuki stuck with me. The fire. The dead. What if-

Mash: Senpai?

April (Jeanne): H- Oh, sorry, Mash. I’m just… worried. What if something goes wrong, if we get stuck in the past, if we rayshift into a rock, or-

Mash: Senpai, you don’t have to worry.

April (Jeanne): What makes you say that?

Mash: Because the worst is already over. You were there for me, and now I’ll be there for you.

Mash held out her hand, and I took it. It felt warm. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding and sank into my coffin. We had to let go as the coffins closed, but I still felt calmer knowing she was next to us. And then a little bit worse knowing she hadn’t truly been saying that to me. And before I knew it, the coffin didn’t exist. We didn’t exist. An eternity passed in a single second, and then.

We were sitting in a field.

Humanity Foundation Value: C+

First Singularity: Hundred Years’ War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans

#fate grand order #fgo #mastersona #fanfic #singularity 1

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lilhawkeye3 · 4 years

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An Overdue Chat About Harry Potter

...because no fandom is safe from Tea Time with Hawk.☕️🦅

Oh boy. Harry Potter. Where do I even start? This is just a summary of the things I know/remember, so I apologize if I miss anything major. Warning: this is a long one.

•Described the only black female character’s hairstyle as “worms.”

Pansy Parkinson to Angelina Johnson in Order of the Phoenix: “Hey, Johnson, what’s with that hairstyle, anyway?” shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. “Why would anyone want to look like they’ve got worms coming out of their head?”

•Had Seamus Finnegan, the explicitly stated Irish character always blowing things up due to his nature. (This is troublesome because it feeds into a stereotype influenced by bias against the IRA).

•Also had the Irish-coded Weasley family be: all ginger, lots of kids, and in poverty (partly due to them having so many kids). This also leads them to be Catholic-coded, as they are in the minority of how the rest of Wizarding Britain is presented.

This stereotype was so well known in Protestant UK that Monty Python even made a whole musical sketch making fun of it. (Context: Ireland is majority Catholic. The UK (England, Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland are majority Protestant.)

•Personally, as a BIPOC: I’m fine with JKR supporting a Black Hermione Granger being cast in the stage play, but she lied when she said she never described Hermione’s race... especially considering she went out of her way to describe the skin color of her non-white characters. Further, she described Hermione’s skin more than once.

Prisoner of Azkaban: “Hermione’s white face was sticking out from behind a tree.”

Half-Blood Prince, after Hermione got a black eye: “Hermione was sitting at the table in great agitation, while Mrs. Weasley tried to lessen her resemblance to half a panda.”

•Kingsley Shacklebolt is a mix between the “Magic Negro” and “noble savage” stereotypes. For those who don’t know, the noble savage is typically seen as an outsider who is untouched by corruption of ‘civilization’ or the society they find themselves a part of. The “Magic Negro” is a term coined by Spike Lee and refers to a Black character that has deep spiritual knowledge, enlightened and selfless, and of course, powerful-- but cannot save the day because... he’s not “fit” to be the protagonist. Kingsley is a Black man, portrayed to be African in the movies by his accent and dress (so doubly an outsider), who is part of the “noble and good” Order of the Phoenix, which fights against the corruption in Wizarding Britain. He is powerful, wise, and beloved enough that he becomes the first Minister post-war.

And then this essentially happened again with Seraphina Picquery. Yeah.

@cobaltexpositor also pointed out that Kingsley’s name including “shackles” is also extremely tone deaf and they’re right.

•The Patronus is a blatant bastardization of the Native American belief of spirit animals. (Link is to a Native American blog post explaining spirit animals.)

Let’s not forget that time JKR rewrote Native American history to suit her needs and in the process belittled their spiritual beliefs, healing practices, and medicine... and also made them white saviors. And, y’know, used real cultures as props for her imperialistic, fictional history.

Oh yeah, and thunderbirds are sacred to some tribes/Nations, so fuck her.

•Nagini. Oh dear, was that some racist, misogynist content right there. Someone decided it’d be a good idea to have Voldemort’s pet snake, who he used as a soul vessel, start out as an Asian woman who is cursed into an animal form. A South Korean woman was really made into a white man’s pet. I... I have no words. It was so unnecessary and so incredibly racist.

And then JKR explained herself by saying she got the idea from Indonesian mythology, and that Indonesia includes “a few hundred ethnic groups including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi.” Except... the actress, Claudia Kim, is Korean. Which is easily Googleable. (And she’d also previously called Nagini Albanian. And Nagini is actually a spiritual Sanskrit name. Oh, how the list goes on....) So JKR is either stupid, or racist. At this point, I’m inclined to go with both.

•Leta Lestrange is a tragic mulatta stereotype (”mulatto” is an old term for someone who is mixed white and Black. Please don’t call anyone this now. It’s racist). This caricature was prominent in 19th and 20th American century literature, where a mixed-race person was depicted as sad or suicidal because they didn’t fit into the white world or Black world. It was used to make slave characters more sympathetic to white readers. With Leta Lestrange... her white aristocrat father used a slave spell (Imperius) to kidnap and rape her Black mother. I cannot even begin to explain how fucking racist that is. She’s shown to be bullied at Hogwarts over being an unwanted child. And then on top of that, Leta dies to further the plot and emotional climax of the white male protagonist.

Y’all... I’m so livid about Leta Lestrange. It’s fucking disgusting.

And then, some tea for the fandom:

•The Death Eaters are literally modeled after the KKK, so please stop saying the main conflict in Harry Potter is not an allegory for race.

(I also don’t understand the fad with fans tattooing the Dark Mark permanently on your arm when there’s so much more positive symbolism from the series to choose from besides what’s essentially an Burning Cross tattoo, but... whatever.)

•And finally, many fans of a certain character need to hear this one: Severus Snape emotionally abused Neville Longbottom to the point that he was Neville’s greatest fear. He tortured a child under his care (plus used his teaching position to bully nearly a generation of students). That’s... so not okay.

Well. That was quite a bit longer than I expected. Feel free to add on anything I’ve missed.

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themoonandhersun · 3 years

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thinking about.........

two years into zuko’s banishment, iroh decides: “i am going to teach this incredibly hurt child the truth about the fire nation and the harm that it’s done to the world.” because while he doesn’t want to break the news to zuko that his father sent him on a hopeless goose chase, he wants to teach zuko that the fire nation isn’t as great as he was taught to believe.

as first, zuko is angry at iroh—“this is treason, uncle!”—but then, weeks later, he slowly starts to ask questions... because while his teachers taught him that the air nomad genocide was justified, there was always doubt in his mind that the air nomad genocide was actually necessary like he was told it was.

so, zuko learns and grows—once he started to learn about the truth, he couldn’t stop.

uncle iroh takes him to places in the earth kingdom so zuko can see for himself how the fire nation is hated by the world (perhaps king bumi talks to zuko about life before the war and zuko learns from that—even though king bumi is crazy).

and somewhere, when he’s back on the ship, zuko realizes that his father never wanted him to come home. and he takes it, hard, but with uncle iroh by his side, it’s manageable, it’s easier. (he would realize it because king bumi would mention how his airbender friend was the avatar, and it would make him think about how th avatar hasn’t been seen for a literal century.)

a year of growing and learning later, he heads to the south pole after thinking about how, since he isn’t going back home, he should at least try to make nice with places hurt by the fire nation. (again—the fire nation would teach them that the raids were justified, that taking away the waterbenders from the south pole was the right thing for the fire nation to do.) he found scrolls about southern water tribe waterbending, cooking, hunting, and dancing from a pirate ship and bought them. he intends to give it to the tribe and give them supplies as well. (he feels as if it’s the least he can do, since he’s from the nation that caused the south so much pain.)

(by the way, when zuko loses his anger and his aggression, that’s when uncle iroh takes him to see the dragons, and zuko learns: fire is life. and then his firebending is stronger than ever.)

then he sees the blue light in the south pole and turns to his uncle, eyes wide.

uncle iroh isn’t sure what he should expect zuko to say, but—“uncle!” zuko turns to iroh, excited. “do you realizes what this means? we can teach the avatar how to firebend!” is definitely not what he expected to happen.

just... imagine the pride iroh would have in zuko. that all the learning, the growth he had, would not go to waste.

and then they go to the south pole, and zuko is wearing earth kingdom clothes mixed with his fire nation armor. (my headcanon is that the ship crew is just, like, down for whatever, they don’t care.)

and sokka, katara, and aang are confused because it’s a fire nation ship—yet the captain seems to be young, scarred, and a mix of fire and earth? and then... they have supplies for the tribe? the three of them are all apprehensive and reasonably so—then zuko gives them the southern water tribe scrolls he found on the pirate ship and while they’re still on guard, they don’t think zuko wants to hurt them.

then zuko goes on about how he’s a different person than he was before. how he decided to change his destiny (with the help of uncle iroh ofc) and help the avatar. he tells the tribe elders how, even though he’s banished and doesn’t have any connections to the fire nation, he wants to help them and make things right. and that that’s why he bought the supplies and scrolls and etc.

(also—zuko sees how excited katara is to have waterbending scrolls, and thinks she’s pretty. he’s still an awkward turtleduck, though, so he struggles to talk to her. and katara is still not ready to talk to the banished prince of the fire nation, but she thinks he’s cute. imagine “i’ll save you from the pirates,” in a completely different context. imagine “you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun,” in a completely different context. because they won’t be enemies. they will be friends..... or more?)

(also—imagine “growing up, we were taught that the fire nation is the greatest civilization in history, and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. what an amazing lie that was!” except zuko doesn’t do it during the day of black sun. he confronts ozai when the sun is shining and redirects that lightning so fast and ozai is shook to his mf core.)

basically this au is just b1 zuko learning what he knew in b3 and being a different, better person because of it and he is just being a big ol’ sweetiepie and wanting to do right by the world by helping the gaang. and yes in this au zuko gets rid of the ponytail early. because he wants to cut ties from the fire nation and how it threw off balance in the world. woo.

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random-thought-depository · 3 years

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One of the things that’s interesting about Space Seed is the way it makes the Star Trek universe a de facto alternate history setting. Based on the bits dropped there and elsewhere in TOS, their later twentieth and early twenty-first century looked very different from our later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries!

The Eugenics Wars supposedly happened in the 1990s. The Star Trek original series ran from 1966-69, so this would have been about 25-30 years in the future at the time; the 1990s were for 1960s people what the 2050s are to us in 2020. So, not a bad time frame for events that were supposed to be near-future-ish but not immediate.

Or, another way of looking at it, from the viewpoint of 1960s people, the Eugenics Wars would have been about as far in the future as WWII was in the past. I get the impression history felt faster in the ‘60s, because of proximity of the great upheavals of the earlier twentieth century, and because the space race and the counterculture were ongoing big things, and because after 1970 or so technological progress slowed because a lot of the technological “low-hanging fruit” was picked. Think about how much the world changed from 1940 to 1967! People expected that pace of change to continue in the future. Thus all the middle twentieth century expectations that we’d have moon colonies and commercial fusion power and so on by the early 2000s; the sort of expectations you see in science fiction like 2001. The original Star Trek series was very much part of that trend, projecting manned space exploration of the other solar system planets and suspended animation technology and genetically engineered superhumans in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. There’s a line in Space Seed when Kirk, Spock, etc. are first taking a look around Khan’s ship, that went approximately “Yeah, they used suspended animation in exploration ships back then cause back then it took years just to reach other planets of the solar system, interplanetary travel with faster ships that didn’t need suspended animation only started in 2018.” As somebody sitting in a timeline where it’s now 2021 and Luna is still the most distant world a human has walked on, hearing that sure made me feel something!

I remember somebody once commenting that Star Trek TOS’s vision of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries reflected an idea, common during the ‘60s, that very soon we’d either get our act together or blow ourselves up. And I think what that comment was getting at was... There was an expectation that failure to do the former would quickly result in the latter so it was going to be one or the other. Something like our timeline, where we just sort of muddled through for the next fifty years, wasn’t expected; they’d have expected a scenario like that to have ended in the blow ourselves up outcome by now.

I think later Star Trek tried to kinda soft-retcon the timeline of the Eugenics Wars but never committed to explicitly changing it. According to First Contact, the “Third World War” happened around the 2050s (and this was building off stuff we saw in TNG). I think the implication is supposed to be that WWIII was the Eugenics Wars, but that requires ignoring some very explicit statements of dates in Space Seed and Wrath of Khan, and as I said, they never explicitly committed to a retcon. If we take what we see in the show at face value we’d conclude the Eugenics Wars and WWIII were two separate conflicts separated by about 50 years. Which makes it seem a bit weird that the Eugenics Wars apparently weren’t counted as a world war; based on the descriptions of them in Space Seed they were very destructive! Maybe the United States and the rest of the Americas and Australia and the Oceania nations stayed neutral, so they’re considered technically not a world war? Maybe they were less a single big war with two clearly defined sides and more a big mess of smaller interconnected conflicts like IIRC the Hundred Years War and the Thirty Years War?

Which... Star Trek has a reputation as the big optimistic science fiction, but this is making Star Trek Earth’s history from 1950 to 2070-ish look rather dystopian! We won’t be able to fully judge their history against ours until 2070 or so, but so far our post-WWII history looks more peaceful than their post-WWII history! One of the defining and good features of the post-WWII age is that it’s a long period of relative peace; it doesn’t sound like the people on Star Trek Earth would be saying the same thing from the vantage point of their 2021. I guess civilization blowing itself up every two generations would still be an improvement on the early twentieth century pattern of civilization blowing itself up every generation...

I think there have been some Star Trek novels written about the Eugenics Wars, and they squared it with real history by portraying it as a covert conflict that most people are the time were completely unaware of, kind of like the stuff that happens in Stargate and Men In Black? Eh, the descriptions of the Eugenics Wars in Space Seed really don’t fit with that idea. And I’ll just say that I don’t really like that “it’s all secret and the regular people have no idea any of this happening” trope; it’s OK in the right context but it’s got implications that limit storytelling and undertones of elitism I don’t like and I think a lot of the time it’s kind of lazy. If I were to just roll with the dates given for the Eugenics Wars, I’d take the approach of just leaning into the Star Trek universe being an honorary alternate history setting; I’d headcanon Star Trek Earth’s later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as being 2001-ish, with commercial fusion power and moon colonies and crewed expeditions to the other planets of the solar system and lots of “futuristic” stuff (like, y’know, the process that created Khan) by the ‘90s and ‘00s. Admittedly I’m not sure how to square this with Star Trek: the Voyage Home, which mostly takes place in a 1980s that seems real-world-ish; it’d take some creative interpretation to reconcile them.

And, y’know... In some ways, Star Trek Earth’s late twentieth and early twenty-first century look better and more interesting than ours. Their world is clearly much more technologically advanced! Their space program is far more advanced than ours! On the other, looking at the descriptions of the Eugenics Wars ... if we had to choose, I think it might be a good thing that we got our history and not their history. Khan Noonien Singh sounds like a guy who’s inflicted a lot more death and suffering than Donald Trump and COVID19 ever will. Compared to Star Trek Earth’s late twentieth and early twenty-first century, our late twentieth and early twenty-first century is kind of boring, and sometimes boring is good.

And all this makes me think of something Chris Wayan (the Planetocopia guy) said about the Randomia principle:

“Let's say you're contemplating Randomia, an alternate Earth no better or worse than ours, with roughly the same biomass, same amount of arable land, about the same population... just re-distributed. Now, what regions will you notice the most? First, your home, of course, and then, other well-known regions--and well-known means inhabited.

Randomia will always look inferior! For, by definition, most readers will be from our world's high-population zones. Random changes will, on average, degrade them. And the lands that improve, that become the heartlands of Randomia's civilizations, are likely to be barren obscure lands in our world, mere names (if that) to non-Randomian readers. The Turnovian version of Europe is cold (millions of European readers groan), while the green Sahara nurtures great civilizations (a handful of Saharan readers cheer). If you love civilization, Randomia will probably kill or cripple the ones you love, and plant its greatest civilizations in places you associate with backwardness.

So the grass always looks browner in a parallel world--because what you value most, what you KNOW to value, is generally lost. This principle makes it hard to see alternate worlds fairly.”

The long post-WWII peace is something that hadn’t happened yet in the 1960s, therefore when Star Trek writers wrote a future history that didn’t contain it, they didn’t know they were writing a history that didn’t contain something important and good about the real history that was actually going to unfold. From the vantage point of 1967, it was optimistic to assume there wouldn’t be a nuclear war in the 1970s or 1980s! We, in 2021, can look back on the post-WWII period of relative peace that stretches 70 years long behind us, and know that our timeline contains this important good thing.

On the other hand, my perspective is also influenced by this Randomia effect; the more advanced technology of Star Trek 2021 Earth likely implies less poverty and more advanced medicine, which over a few decades might have saved more lives than the Eugenic Wars ended, making their timeline net better than ours (though containing great tragedies we avoided). One could certainly choose to imagine their world as being that way!

#Star Trek #warning: long

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im-the-king-of-the-ocean · 3 years

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Rose Puppetry Ch4: Rose Red

Summary:

A century ago or so, Atlas set out to conquer the world. Penny was built to be a spy, an infiltrator meant to find weaknesses in Vale’s defenses before the invasion.

She did. Then she fell in love. And rebelled against the kingdom that had created her.

Ch1. Ch2. Ch3.

Let us step away from the scene of a heartbroken mechanical girl as she learns of the fate that has befallen her love. Allow our attention to attend to events so long ago now they risk becoming history. Perhaps, to some, they already are. But the significance of these events should not be diminished or overlooked merely because of the time that has passed since their occurrence. For they shine out like a beacon star, guiding weary travelers home and igniting hope in their hearts.

The Kingdom of Vale is ruled by a kind and just king. One whose compassion is known throughout his own and every other kingdom. Some would consider his Royal Majesty, Ozpin, weak, for the softness of his heart. The wiser are able to recognize the guile behind his gaze. They know Ozpin’s kindness comes not from the naïveté of someone born into a comfortable and luxurious life, but from continuously choosing, after seeing the horrors of the world, to do everything in his power to make it better.

One of the greatest accomplishments of Ozpin’s reign, future texts will claim, is the establishment of his Huntsman Academy. It is not, as most would assume, an institute of military indoctrination like similar-appearing schools established in every single Atlas-controlled territory. The Huntsman Academy does not require its graduates to swear everlasting and unyielding loyalty to its patron royal. All it asks of them is that they should consider going out into the world and lending a hand whenever and wherever they are able.

Though not every single Huntsman or Huntress has chosen to align themselves with such noble goals, enough have that the public perception of the academy’s graduates has become one of legendary heroes. Enough of that perception is true that, when the first overtures of invasion and war spread across Remnant from Atlas, it was those same Huntsmen and Huntresses who willingly rose to come to the aid of their besieged neighbors.

Children in Vale have grown up on stories told of their brave protectors. Of course, the grizzlier details of how the battles go are kept away from their innocent ears. They’ll learn soon enough, the adults murmur amongst themselves. Let the young keep their purity for as long as they can.

Ruby Rose, in a way, was one such child. One of her earliest memories is sitting on her Uncle Qrow’s lap, clutching an expanse of silky white fabric in her small, chubby fists, and listening to him tell the tale of the most daring huntress who ever lived, her mother, Summer Rose. Like other children her age, Ruby was awed by the story given to her. Unlike them, she wouldn’t be so innocent by the end. For it wasn’t just a story, it was also a reason why her mother never came back home.

Ruby was never alone for long in that regard. As war crept closer to Vale’s borders, more and more of Ruby’s peers came to have tales of brave parents who never returned too. Her school even started a program for those orphaned or displaced. That’s how Ruby came to know her childhood friends, Ren and Nora.

Nothing she heard, however, could dissuade Ruby from her dream of following in Summer Rose’s footsteps. She told everyone she came across how she would become a hero, one who would save people and come back home. Not many believed her, but none could bring themselves to try and extinguish the small, flickering fire they saw within her. Such a hopeful thing was rare, and had to be protected.

It came to be that Ruby gained a reputation long before she was ever to be allowed near a battlefield. During her initiation to the Huntsman Academy, she stepped in front of one of her classmates, a young heir to the renown Arc family, Jaune, and defended him from bullies who thought him unworthy of upholding his family title. Rather than taking up a sword or a rifle, the commonest of weapons chosen among her peers, Ruby chose a scythe, one she crafted herself, to fight with. Most scoffed at that, or her perpetually cheerful demeanor. They called her brazen attitude, hubris, and her determination, silliness born of inexperience.

Then, they saw her fight. Saw the swift ruthlessness of her attacks. Only the most stubborn would refuse to change their minds about Ruby Rose.

Ruby could never bring herself to actually wear her mother’s old, white cloak—the only relic of the parent she never got the chance to know. Rather she commissioned one similar to it in all but one detail. Hers was ruby red. Others would make jokes about the cloak and the blood of her enemies, but never Ruby. For all she could be considered a brutal fighter, she was never a heartless one.

It is this attribute that made Ozpin take notice of her. He had seen many brilliant fighters pass through his academy before Ruby, but he found not many would reach a genuine hand out and help their defeated opponents stand up again. More than that, even less could inspire a spark of hope in those around them quite like she could.

Ozpin observed Ruby from afar all during her academy years. A plan began to form in his head of what he could do with her, but he did not wish to impose it on her. The ability to choose is something he regarded too highly to take away from another. So, he waited, and watched. When Ruby graduated, and fully came into her own, that’s when he approached her.

War hadn’t come to Vale yet, but it was going to. Ozpin had attempted prevention with peaceful overtures, but he knew they wouldn’t last for long. It was time to make preparations for his people.

It is said, once upon a time, there existed four great Relics in the world, one in each kingdom, of untold power. Not many believe the tales anymore. Years have passed without sighting or word of such great devices. If they truly exist, people wonder, why haven’t the kingdoms’ monarchs used them to save them from Atlas?

In truth, attempts were made.

The rulers of Mistral regularly sought guidance from the Lamp of Knowledge. It is what they learned from asking it questions that most aided them in forging their treaty with Atlas. Though they kept war from their doorstep, they now live in constant fear of it returning. They have used up all three of their questions and have to wait a hundred years to have another three.

The last Vacuan King rode into battle against Atlas with the Sword of Destruction firmly held aloft in his hand. He cut down innumerable automated foes with its power. For a time, it was believed he and the sword would single-handedly push back the invaders. But utter Annihilation proves tricky to control, and there are rumors that the destruction of Vacuo’s oasis may not have been completely done by Atlesian hand.

The Staff of Creation was once the prized possession of Atlas. The only reason it did not remain so was the actions of a simple soul. An assistant in the palace’s kitchen, with the aid of his family, stole the staff and smuggled it out of the kingdom. No one in Atlas or Mantle knows where Oscar Pine went, but they do know what happened to his family at the hands of Hazel Rainhart, for refusing to give his plans up.

Ozpin remembers the day Oscar came to him clearly. The worry and fear in the young boy’s face. The knowledge of everything he had given up to get such a powerful relic away from where it, or at least what remains of it, would be abused and corrupted weighing down on him. Ozpin had done his best to help Oscar, but there are some wounds that no stranger can help heal. The only thing he’d truly been able to do was swear he’d protect what remains of the Staff of Creation from further harm. And so he had done his best.

The Staff’s condition continued to deteriorate with each passing day. Ozpin couldn’t say he knew exactly what the General King of Atlas had done to it. How he’d managed to split its crystal, or what he’d done with the missing part. Ozpin only could know of the results, the broken state of the relic in his kingdom that did not truly belong there.

For the first time of his reign, Ozpin consulted Vale’s relic, the Crown of Choice, in the hopes it could help him understand the best course of action. It didn’t. The Crown simply showed Ozpin the decision he already knew he was going to make.

He could not repair the Staff of Creation. Not without recovering its missing piece from whatever fate had befallen it. What Ozpin could do was reforge its remains into something new. A final act of creation by the broken relic, and a mechanical device known as the Silver Eye was born.

The Silver Eye did not function like the relics. The only way its power could be used was if it were bonded to a person. Someone chosen and deemed worthy of the monumental task of protecting and preserving life. Ozpin made the choice, and he chose Ruby to be its guardian. She accepted.

Tragically, Ruby, to the present day, has not gotten the chance to use the Silver Eye. It was successfully bonded to her and turned her pale blue eyes the most brilliant of silvers. Yet, before she could full understand it, her girlfriend’s past caught up to her and stole them both away.

Ruby knew who Penny was before she came to Vale. On the night they admitted their love, Penny told her everything about where she came from and what her mission was in Vale. Ruby held Penny as she admitted that what she was meant for and what she wanted to be were two entirely separate things. Ruby promised Penny she loved her regardless. She would help her. They would forge a new future together.

The chance was stolen from them.

Later, Ruby wouldn’t really remember the attack itself. Her recollections of the event, and most of the time directly following it, would come to be vague and murky at best. The one thing that would come back to her would be being forced to kneel before the General King, as he gazed down at her like a prize.

Long had Ironwood desired to have one of the Huntsmen or Huntresses of Vale. What better weapon was there, he thought, than one plucked directly from the enemy itself? What had a better chance of outsmarting Vale’s forces than one of their own? Of course, she would need some convincing, but that was hardly an issue.

Once upon a time, Ironwood had sliced off the hand of the King of Vacuo and stolen the Sword of Destruction from its failing grasp. His kingdom may have lost their original relic, but that hardly mattered to the General King. Not when he’d gained something that could aid his kingdom’s conquest far more than it.

And Ironwood’s scientists had been successful in manipulating the powers of Destruction. Watts, in particular, was able to augment soldiers considerably with the dark substance the sword provided them. Controlling their newfound Grimm forces did prove difficult. Until the forging of the Salem Device, that is. A mysterious, dark, twisted crown that afforded them such an ability as to command the forces of Destruction.

It was never really a question of if they’d transform Ruby, their prized, prisoner huntress, into one of these denizens, so much as it was a matter of when. And so, soon after her capture, Ruby Rose was lowered into one of the deep, dark Pools of Annihilation, and Destruction consumed every inch of her it could.

But, it should be known, Destruction could not consume all of her.

For even then, unknown to the Atlesians who watched her transformation, the Silver Eye remained with Ruby.

It is slowly beginning to wake up.

#rwby #rose puppetry #nuts and dolts #ruby rose #whirls writing #in honor of my birthday today #have a fic update

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movie-magic · 3 years

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Everything to know about the ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon’

Will fan disappointment over the final season of “Game of Thrones” subsided enough by 2022 that the world will be ready to return to Westeros? HBO is banking on that outcome. The cable network has a “Game of Thrones” prequel series called “House of the Dragon” in production now.

“House of the Dragon” will expand the world of the megahit fantasy series, telling a story about the golden-haired, dragon-riding royals of House Targaryen – the family that produced Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) – centuries before the events of “Game of Thrones.” It’s based on “Fire & Blood,” a novel by George R.R. Martin that was written as a companion to his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. The first season will be 10 episodes long. It’s the first project to make it to series out of a number of “Game of Thrones” spin-offs HBO has in development. Back in 2019, HBO actually shot a pilot for a “Game of Thrones” prequel set to star Naomi Watts. But the network decided not to move forward with that one. The day the series was scrapped, “House of the Dragon” was announced.

When does ‘House of the Dragon’ premiere?

“House of the Dragon” will start airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max in 2022. No specific premiere date has been set yet. The show recently began production in Cornwall, England, according to Watchers on the Wall, and will also film in London, Spain, and California, per Productionlist.

Who’s in the ‘House of the Dragon’ cast?

The prequel has a strong cast with a higher number of recognizable names than “Game of Thrones” had in Season 1. HBO has announced much of the show’s main cast already.

Paddy Considine – who’s most recently known for “The Outsider” but to us will always be the dad from Jim Sheridan’s “In America” – will play King Viserys Targaryen, a good man whose decency makes him perhaps ill-suited for the task of ruling Westeros. He was chosen by the Great Council of the lords of Westeros to be the king after his grandfather Jaeharys Targaryn died.

“Sound of Metal” star Olivia Cooke plays Alicent Hightower, the beautiful, politically adept, and ambitious daughter of Otto Hightower (“Notting Hill” actor Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King.

Emma D’arcy (Amazon’s short-lived horror-comedy “Truth Seekers”) plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Rhaenyra is the king’s first born, but she’s not a man, so the Iron Throne is not her birthright — even though she has pure Valyrian blood and is a dragonrider.

“The Crown” and “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith will play Prince Daemon Targaryen, King Viserys’ younger brother and the heir to the throne. He’s a dragonrider and a brave warrior, but he’s unstable and has a cruel streak a mile wide. Otto Hightower really, really doesn’t want him to be next in line.

“Doctor Who” actor Steve Toussaint is Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as “the Sea Snake.” He’s leader of House Velaryon, a rival house to House Targaryen, and the greatest seaman in the history of Westeros. He’s married to Princess Rhaenys Velaryon (“Nurse Jackie” co-star Eve Best), a Targaryen dragonrider who was passed over by the Great Council for the monarchy in favor of her cousin Viserys because he’s a man and she isn’t.

“Ex Machina” actress Sonoya Mizuno plays Mysaria, a former slave who has worked her way up to becoming Prince Daemon’s most trusted advisor.

And “The Serpent” star Fabien Frankel will play Ser Criston Cole, a common-born Dornish swordsman (remember Dorne? That’s where Oberyn Martell [Pedro Pascal] was from). He’s climbing his way up in the Westerosi social order thanks to his skill with the blade. Later, he’s known as “Criston the Kingmaker” after he plays a pivotal role in one of the story’s most important moments, according to Inverse.

Who’s working behind the scenes?

“House of the Dragon” is co-created by “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “Blood & Fire” author George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal, previously best known for creating the sci-fi series “Colony.”

Condal and Miguel Sapochnik – director of some of “Game of Thrones’” biggest episodes, including “Hardhome,” “The Battle of the Bastards,” and “The Long Night” – will be co-showrunners. Along with Martin, Condal, and Sapochnik, executive producers include Vince Gerardis, Ron Schmidt, and writer Sara Lee Hess.

Sapochnik will direct the pilot and additional episodes. Other directors include Clare Kilner, Geeta V. Patel, and Greg Yaitanes, the latter of whom also gets a co-executive producer credit. According to Insider, the show’s writing staff reportedly includes “Colony” writer Wes Tooke, “Watchmen” writer Claire Kiechel, and Ti Mikkel, who has worked as Martin’s writer’s assistant.

“Game of Thrones” and “Westworld” composer Ramin Djawadi will provide the score.

What will ‘House of the Dragon’ be about?

“House of the Dragon” is set 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and “tells the story of House Targaryen,” according to HBO’s simple plot description. More specifically, it’s about a period of internal strife in House Targaryen that set the table for the house’s decline, which was complete by the time of “Game of Thrones.”

“Fire & Blood” is a faux-history book covering the reigns of many Targaryen monarchs, and “House of the Dragon” seems to be adapting only one section, which is about the reign of King Viserys I and the Targaryen civil war called the “Dance of Dragons.” At the start of the story, Viserys has no male heir, so the Targaryen next in line for the Iron Throne is his brother Daemon, who has inherited the infamous Targaryen madness (“It is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air…”). Viserys doesn’t want Daemon to be king, he wants his daughter, Rhaenyra. When Viserys officially names her as his successor, it leads to infighting and backstabbing that over the course of years develops into the “Dance of Dragons,” where Rhaenyra fights her half-brother Aegon II – Viserys’ son with his second wife, Alicent Hightower – for the throne. But that comes later, and Aegon hasn’t been cast yet. Season 1 will likely be a lot of setting up of the larger conflict to come, like Season 1 of “Thrones” was.

Will there be dragons in the ‘House of the Dragon’?

You know it! In fact, there will probably be even more dragons than there were on “Game of Thrones,” because dragons had not yet gone extinct and all the great Targaryens had a fire-breather of their own.

On the show, there will likely be at least four: Daemon’s Caraxes, known as “the Blood Wyrm” for his red color and fearsomeness; Rhaenyra’s Syrax; Rhaenys’ Meleys, one of the fastest dragons in Westeros; and Aegon’s golden dragon Sunfyre. And there will probably be more as the series goes on and the Dance of Dragons begins.

HBO released some dragon concept art last year. The “House of the Dragon” dragons seem like they’ll look a little different than their “Game of Thrones” counterparts – a little sleeker and more colorful, if this concept art holds true.

Will Travis Fimmel be in the ‘House of the Dragon’?

Fans of “Vikings” were ecstatic last year when a rumor emerged that Travis Fimmel – best known for his role as Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrok on History and Amazon’s beloved historical drama – was being considered for the role of Daemon Targaryen. However, that rumor didn’t pan out, as Matt Smith is playing Daemon. Travis Fimmel is currently on another HBO Max show, the weird sci-fi series “Raised by Wolves.”

Who will play Daemon Targaryen in the ‘House of the Dragon’?

Daemon Targaryen, a fan-favorite character from “Fire & Blood” due to his swaggering, swashbuckling time spent away from King’s Landing forging his own destiny after being denied by his brother Viserys, will be played by Matt Smith, an actor already well-known to audiences for his roles in two British institutions.

Smith played the Eleventh Doctor on the long-running science fiction series “Doctor Who” from 2010 to 2013. He’s the youngest Doctor ever. He’s also known for playing Prince Philip in the first two seasons of “The Crown.”

As the Doctor, he was famous for his swoopy brown hair, so it’s quite striking to see him with his blond Targaryen wig.

How did Daemon Targaryen die?

Spoiler warning! In “Fire & Blood,” Daemon met his end during a dragon battle at Harrenhal, a castle that appeared many times on “Game of Thrones,” including the time Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) saved Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) from the bear pit.

During the Dance of Dragons, Daemon flew to Harrenhal on Caraxes, and waited for his nephew Aemond, Viserys and Alicent’s second son, to come fight him. Aemond showed up with his tremendously powerful dragon Vhagar, and they had a spectacular aerial fight that ended with the deaths of all four participants when the dragons plummeted from the sky into the Gods Eye lake. No one could have survived a crash of such speed and force, but Daemon’s body was never recovered, so there are stories that he survived and went to live out his days in peace elsewhere.

Some version of this fight will probably happen on “House of the Dragon,” but not until late in the show.

- Gold Derby

#game of thrones #house of the dragon #got #hbo #matt smith #emilia clarke #prequel #movie magic

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themirthfulroadrunners · 3 years

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D.C. - His and Hers

Debbie’s View of Planet D.C. & Beyond:

Unlike Sparky, (read below) I am not steeped in the subjects of history and politics. When in a so dedicated place, I tend to look for other things that attract my interest, and in many cases, find bits to point and laugh at.

As Wayne describes below, our visit to the nation’s capital/capitol was done in very unique societal circumstances which was actually fine and dandy with moi. I loved the fact that most tourists chose to stay away and await a future time when normality returns, if there even is so much as a hope for such. The fact that we could drive our car safely and efficiently into and around the Mecca of Democracy and Tourist Magnet thrilled me.

We did, however, take a ride on the city’s Metro train. At one point, we were the only riders in our particular car. Zounds! The train was clean and felt very safe, affording us several minutes to watch our fellow man going through the paces of what was likely an ordinary day in the life (I read the news today, oh boy …). I didn’t capture any funny or blog-worthy vignettes from these rides but low-drama is desirable on subways anyway, especially in these politically-charged times.

East Coast food disappointed both of us. Maybe we merely chose wrongly, but we awarded zero 5 star reviews. In the category of Grossest Thing EVER there is Scrapple. Feeling a bit uncharacteristically adventurous, Wayne ordered some with his breakfast at an Annapolis, MD deli (Chick & Ruth’s Delly). Myself, apparently osmosing some of the above-mentioned adventurousness, tasted one bite. My taste buds immediately sounded an alarm, sorta like the one that the robot in Lost in Space blared continuously to Will Robinson: WARNING!! DANGER!! Every part of my being wanted the hateful stuff REMOVED FROM THE AREA IMMEDIATELY. A gag SO wanted to happen, but I comported myself as a lady should when in public and the alien substance safely went down the correct cavity, followed by a long gulp of water. You’ll have to Google scrapple’s recipe, but when asked, our waitress replied that it is made from “pig.” Most everything else I tasted in this region was bland, but that beats gag-worthy, huh?

The offensive scrapple is the brown block on the upper plate. Closer plate is a ginormous crab cake.

Annapolis was, um, Claustrophobia Central, at least to me. Beautiful and historic houses, but streets about 6 inches wide with parking on BOTH SIDES had me holding my breath to somehow magically shrink our Ford Edge to Matchbox Car size in order to squeeeeeeeze through. Streets everywhere, going every which way. They’ve never heard of an urban grid, I guess, but these neighborhood houses are roughly 400 years old. Apparently, SUVs were much smaller back then.

Delaware was a destination one day, just because, why not? We get a kid’s kick out of dipping into nearby states merely to check them off the list. So … we went there, ate lunch, went back to Maryland where we were house sitting. Sorry, nothing of interest that would fill up a paragraph.

D.C. was heavily guarded, or at least it sure looked that way to me. Very understandable in light of January 6, but access was almost not to be had, though we did see all the pertinent exteriors and the monuments. We did enjoy a boat ride on the Potomac, past the infamous Watergate Building and a couple more sites of interest to politics/history junkies, blah blah. Not technically D.C. but we walked a bit in Arlington National Cemetery. Barricades kept us from actually seeing JFK’s grave, but we did see the eternal flame, which is kinda the bigger icon, at least to this Baby Boomer.

The Watergate Office Building

Robert E Lee’s home in the background.

Our housesit was in a tiny burg on the west coast of the Chesapeake Bay. It is very low there, just plain swampy in some areas. We had one unseasonably warm day before a storm when the humidity rivaled anything I’ve felt in Arkansas. The trees in the region are rather unimpressive in circumference, but grow to towering heights, making me fear a bit for their sturdiness during a very windy day/night. Maybe they’re slender but elastic; there was no news of massive tree loss afterwards.

That’s it for me, folks. Take it away Sparky …

Wayne’s take on Washington D.C. –

This was my third trip to D.C., and somewhat disappointing in that our visit was while Covid19 limits were still in place, and it followed the January 6 insurrection.

We were restricted not only from visiting and touring the Capitol, but even from getting close enough to have truly said we were there. Thank you very much you “Big Lie’ Insurrectionists.

I can’t/won’t say that I’m proud to be an American because after all, that is just a matter of the fortunes of birth. I could just as well have been born to anyone else, anywhere else on the planet. I have done nothing American to be proud of, even if pride was a notable quality. I have voted, and I have honorably served in the United States military. So there is that.

The Capitol building is where our elected representatives decide whether to go to war, or not, who does, or does not, get healthcare protections, who pays taxes, and who does not, whether we protect the environment, or not. This is where our representatives determine who won our democratically elected president. And thanks to the battle of January 6, democracy prevailed over autocracy. The flag above the Capitol is the one that all flags flown from every Post Office to every front porch represents. This is the flag of our nation. This is the flag of America.

The White House has been the home of our elected leader for well over two hundred years, the virtual leader of the free world for a century. It was burned up in 1814 by the soldiers of England, our present greatest ally. Residents of the White House have ranged from the awe-inspiring to the heinous. Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court, refusing to comply with their ruling on the Cherokee Indians, and then compelled all Indians to forfeit their lands, despite legal treaties and in many cases total adoption of the American culture, and to remove themselves to the Oklahoma Territory. Other presidents started wars while yet others saved our country, and even the world with military involvements. Our president(s) live/lived here.

We toured all the memorials – memorials to our national heroes, and to the servicemen who fought and died in our wars. I expect most of our true heroes remain unsung. Some might say that too many of our infamous remain unhung.

Forrest Gump’s spot

Supreme Court Building

America Bless God

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kalyan-gullapalli · 4 years

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Post # 121

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's caste...

On 16th February, 2015, Govind Pansale (then 81 years of age) and his wife, Uma Pansare, were shot by a couple of assailants on a motor bike, while they were taking their morning walk. On 20th February, four days later, Govind Pansare died in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Actually, Govind Pansare was a left-wing CPI politician, whose murder is suspected to be a political assassination and is still unsolved. But this post is not about him, it is about the bestselling book he authored.

In 1988, Govind Pansare wrote a book in Marathi - Shivaji Kon Hota?, which was subsequently translated into English as Who was Shivaji?, and into other vernacular languages like Urdu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bengali. Till February, 2015, it had sold about 1.4 lac copies. Post his assassination, there was a renewed interest in his book. More than 3 lac copies have been sold since. I read the book only today.

This book is not so much a biography of the great Maratha ruler, but an insight into the kind of ruler he was - his benevolent, caretaking attitude towards his subjects, especially common folk - ryots, the respect he showed to women, his foresight in building an empire constituting each segment of the society - untouchables, lower castes, brahmins and muslims, and his fair and efficient administrative policies. It is a truly inspiring account into the character of the man.

But I was stunned to read the chapter where Govindji takes us through the challenges Shivaji faced in getting coronated as Chatrapati.

Did you know that no brahmin in Maharashtra consented to perform his coronation ceremonies? A brahmin from Kashi was invited to do it. Why? Because it was believed that Shivaji was a Shudra!

Therein lies a tale.

In the 17th century, the whole of India, north of Vindhyas, was ruled by the Mughals, and the south of Vindhyas was dominated by the Sultans of various Sultanates. In such times, in 1630, Shivaji Bhosale was born to Shahaji Bhosale, a principal officer in the Sultanate of Bijapur, and Jijabai.

Right from childhood, Shivaji stoked flames of freedom within himself. So he made friends with simple, sturdy, like-minded boys of the Sahyadri mountains, created an army of his own, and started nibbling into the Sultan's territory by capturing one fort after other. Soon, he became a force to be reckoned with.

Having had significant success with victories over Afzal Khan, a powerful commander of the Sultanate of Bijapur, and over Saishtha Khan, a powerful general under Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, he was ready to proclaim himself as the Chatrapati of the Maratha kingdom that he had founded and formed.

But it was not that simple. First, the brahmins in his kingdom didnot support him - for multiple reasons. While Shivaji was building his kingdom, he had enlisted the support of all sections of the society, irrespective of caste or creed. In fact, Shivaji was probably one of the first equal opportunity employers in Indian history. He had grown up with a large number of enterprising folk from the Shudra or Ati-Shudra jatis and had provided them with numerous opportunities for upward social mobility. Amazingly, Shivaji had 13 Muslim commanders in his Army. His Chief of Navy was a Muslim. This was unacceptable to the staunch, conservative Hindu culture of those days.

Also, Shivaji did not give Brahmins any special place or privileges in his kingdom. He had proclaimed that a Brahmin, who does some mischief, would be punished commensurately and not be spared punishment because he is a Brahmin. They did not take it well. It is funny that today, Shivaji is proclaimed to be a Go Brahmin Pratipalak, a protector of Cows and Brahmins.

Third, the Brahmins claimed that Shivaji's maunji bandhan (thread ceremony) had not been done, and that his marriage had not happened according to proper rituals. So how can he be king?

If you think all this is ridiculous, listen to what happens next. Aurangzeb wanted to crush Shivaji once and for all. So he sets his ablest general - the Rajput Jai Singh - on the job. But Jai Singh is not so sure that he can defeat Shivaji. So he organizes a three month Yagna, spends 2 crore rupees (in 17th century) and invites all the Brahmins of the land to perform the invocations. He calls it the Kot Chandi Yagna. Incredibly, many brahmins from the Maratha lands attend the Yagna, as an opposition to Shivaji!

While the Brahmins were busy branding Shivaji a Shudra, he wasn't having an easy time with the Kshatriyas as well.

The Maratha Kshatriya noblemen belonged to 96 families - Kulas. Even though they had no kingdoms, they would call themselves Rajas or Patils - Shinde Raja, More Raja, Landage Patil, Kolhe Patil, Kale Patil, Vikhe Patil etc. These 96 Kshatriya families also didnot support Shivaji.

Chandrarao More Raja of Jawali was one of the 96. Shivaji tried to enlist More. Emissaries went to More, who did not respond to these genuine efforts. Shivaji then warned him - if you don't join me, Jawali would be captured. Shivaji had referred to himself in the letter as King. More arrogantly replied, “You, a king? You become a king because you choose to call yourself one. If you are eating your meal, finish it and come to Jawali to wash your hands. Let’s fight!” Shivaji fulfilled More’s wish. He went to war and captured Jawali.

In short, high-caste Brahmins or Kshatriyas were not prepared to accept Shivaji Bhonsle as their leader and King. Not a single Brahmin from Maharashtra was willing to perform the rituals associated with his anointment as Chatrapati.

So, a Brahmin from Varanasi, Gaga Bhatta, was called to anoint Shivaji by performing the Vedic rituals. Gaga Bhatta’s family had roots in Nanded (Maharashtra), but his reputation was built in Benares. But Shivaji had to reward him with so much gold that it was too heavy for him to carry it down the Raigadh fort.

And so it came to pass that on 6th June, 1674, at the age of 44, three decades after Shivaji started his fight for freedom or Swaraj, he was coronated in a grand ceremony in Raigarh, his capital, that went on for very many days.

But all the ceremony didn't help Shivaji much. After his coronation, a series of deaths took place: Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, died on the thirteenth day after the coronation; his Chief of Army, Prataprao Gujar, died shortly afterwards; one of Shivaji’s wives, Kashibai, also died.

A Yajurvedi Tantrik, Nishchalpuri Gosavi, then came to see Shivaji. He told him that these tragedies took place because Gaga Bhatta had committed certain errors in the ceremonial rites for coronation, including holding the coronation on an inauspicious date. Shivaji accepted Nishchalpuri’s word and had another coronation three months later!

Shivaji survived a mere six years as king after his coronation and died at a very young age of 50 years, in 1680. A century later, the Maratha Empire had touched Delhi in the north.

So, was Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of India's greatest rulers, a real people's man, a builder of a true welfare society, a great administration, and most importantly, one hellava human being, a Kshatriya or a Shudra? Here is an interesting take.

It doesn't really matter. But what saddened me was to read that, "Even today Marathas who arrange marriages on the basis of caste, treat people having the surname Bhonsle as lowly." To me, that's a sad way to remember one of the truly great sons of this soil.

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hotbrownmourningpotion · 4 years

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The Dragon Prince and History

There’s not a lot of historical references in The Dragon Prince, but I am stuck at home and bored so I may as well put my history degree to good use. I studied European history, and my specialty is the Wars of the Roses, so mostly this is from around that era. Some of these are stretches, really big ones; but if nothing else I hope that this encourages you to read more about these fascinating men and women throughout history. And if anyone has other ideas about historical references in this show please let me know, I would love to open a discussion and hear your thoughts.

Harrow - Edward the Fourth

Edward the fourth was King of England from 1461 to 1470 and then again from 1471 to 1483, until his death. Edward’s father was leader of the York faction of the War of The Roses, who tried to depose Henry the Sixth. But his father was killed in battle and Edward took the throne. Now is when the parallels start to come in. Edward enjoyed military success against the Lancasters during the War of the Roses, a feat we see in Harrow as he did take down a dragon and a magma titan. Like Harrow, Edward’s wife had been married before. However when Edward decided to marry the young widow instead of the woman he’d been betrothed to, his allies turned against him. They deposed Edward and Henry the Sixth was briefly returned to the throne until Edward returned with an army and took back his throne. The remainder of his reign was said to be peaceful, but when Edward died a new conflict arose. Edward’s son was twelve years old when he was set to take the throne but the child king was never crowned because of Edward’s brother, Richard the Third.

Harrow could also be based on King Henry the Fifth for his military prowess and untimely death.

Viren - Richard the Third

Richard the Third was king of England from 1483 to 1485. After the death of his older brother, his twelve year old nephew was set to take the throne. Richard, however, deposed his nephew on the grounds of illegitimacy, as Edward had been betrothed to another young woman before he married the widowed Elizabeth. Richard locked his two young nephews in the Tower of London and neither were ever seen again. It is said that Richard killed them but the bodies were never found. While on the throne, Richard personally drowned his older brother and married the widow of Henry the Sixth’s only son (who he killed.) Like Richard, we see Lord Viren as manipulative and conniving, he is smart and knows how to take advantage of a situation so that things go in his favor. Similar to Richard, Viren locks up the heir to the throne in order to take his crown. Of course he didn’t murder anyone to get to his position (that we know of) except for the creatures he’s used for dark magic, but he is a power-hungry narcissist who did conspire to have his son kill both heirs to the throne. Richard is often regarded as one of the most evil Kings in English history, he was defeated by Henry the Seventh, who then married Edward the fourth’s daughter, Elizabeth of York, and the two of them joined the York and Lancaster houses to end the war of the roses and began the reign of the Tudors.

Callum - Henry Tudor

Okay so this is actually for Callum and kinda Rayla. Don’t worry, I have some for Rayla separately but there are a few parallels in their relationship that I can’t ignore. Symbolically, Rayla and Callum remind me of King Henry the Seventh and Elizabeth of York. The War of the Roses had been going on for generations between the Lancasters and the Yorks, and these two joined the houses of Lancaster and York together with their marriage and ended the War of the Roses. After the defeat of Richard the Third, Henry became the first Tudor King and Elizabeth became his consort. But being consort, she didn’t have the same power as her husband, which is where our second couple comes in.

King William the Third and Queen Mary the Second.

I’m gonna leave the War of the Roses behind now and talk about the couple who co-ruled England. Mary was the older daughter of King James the Second and she insisted that her husband rule alongside her, not as her consort but as her equal. I mention this only because even though I don’t think Callum will ever become King, I think that if he hypothetically ever did he would want Rayla to rule alongside him. Just hopefully no one dies of smallpox this time.

Rayla - Æthelflæd

Before anyone asks no, I am not sure how to pronounce that, so for simplicity sake we’re gonna call her Ethel. A lot of different historical figures come to mind as potential influences for Rayla, Joan of Arc being a pretty obvious one but I feel everyone knows her story so I am going to tell you about an Anglo-Saxon queen who killed a bunch of Vikings. Ethel was born to Alfred the Great, who was known for being great, around the year 870. Usually women were not allowed political roles but Ethel said fuck that and learned how to fight, which was a good thing because her land was being invaded by the Vikings. She fought against the Viking invasion and won because she was strong and intelligent, avenged a bunch of deaths, and was just an all around awesome badass queen. Her crown was passed down to her daughter, who was later overthrown by some particularly awful male relatives. I feel Rayla embodies the spirit of a woman who could outsmart and kill a bunch of Vikings, as we’ve already seen just how smart and badass she is. However as I've said before, a lot of historical figures could also easily fit into Rayla’s character; some of the others include Grace O’Malley, Black Agnes, and some pretty fierce Scottish queens.

Claudia - Lady Jane Grey

The nine days queen was named heir to the throne by her cousin, Edward the Sixth. Edward was the son of the famous Henry the Eighth and his third wife, Jane Seymour, and he feared that his older sister, Mary, would return the country to Catholicism if she took the throne so a plan was drawn up to skip both Mary and Elizabeth and place Jane on the throne. The fifteen year old Jane fainted upon hearing that she’d be queen. This plan was doomed however, as Mary was popular with the people and was already raising an army. After nine days on the throne, Jane was arrested by her own father and Mary beheaded her cousin. Now you might be wondering what this has to do with Claudia. Well like Claudia, Jane had a father who cared more for what his children could give him than he did for their wellbeing. Claudia is also just a teenage girl who wants to make her father proud and doesn’t realize she’s his pawn. That’s not to say she’s naive, she’s smart but she’s scared and will do anything to ensure her family doesn’t fall apart again. In the end, like young Jane, she is fiercely loyal to her father and wants to do right by him. Do I think this means Viren will abandon his daughter the way Jane’s father abandoned her’s? I actually don’t know. I think Viren loves his daughter very much, but he is taking advantage of her love and her loyalty. I also don’t think that Claudia will ever be beheaded (it is a kids show after all) and I don't think she will be queen but there is another parallel as she was heir to a throne for a very short time when Viren crowned himself King.

Amaya - Marguerite de Bressieux

(and Christina of Sweden, pictured below)

Wanna hear about the awesome lady knight who killed rapists during the Hundred Years War? Of course you do, so allow me to introduce one of the coolest women of the 15th century. Marguerite was a Lady whose castle was captured by the Prince of Orange (not to be confused with the prince of banana) who assaulted her and other ladies of the castle. So she donned knight’s armour, rode into battle and killed her assailants, making sure to remove her helmet as they were dying so they’d know exactly who’d killed them. It was a proud moment but she unfortunately did not survive the battle. Amaya will never die in battle (we will rise up and kill the writers if that happens) but the rest of her story fits pretty well as it is about a woman overcoming hardships and wanting justice. Amaya is just as badass and awesome as a lady knight who leads armies and such. Of course, this isn’t the only historical parallel with Amaya’s character but it is the most badass. Another historical badass woman she could embody is Christina of Sweden, who lived how she wanted, dressing as a man, loving women, and smashing the patriarchy.

Ezran - Queen Elizabeth the First

Okay so obviously Ezran isn’t a girl but just stick with me for a second here. Elizabeth grew up in a time of great political turmoil and wasn’t seen much as a princess as she was seen as a pawn. She was locked in the Tower of London by her sister Mary, who was a devoted Catholic who earned her nickname “Bloody Mary” by burning an estimated 300 Protestants. When Elizabeth came to power she promoted religious tolerance, and today we remember her as one of the greatest monarchs in history. Ezran has the potential to be a great monarch, one that Katolis will remember. By working alongside Elves and Dragons in Xadia, he is promoting a message of equality that the human kingdoms have yet to see.

As for the rest, I’m not really sure. I mean, lots of really awesome assassins have existed that could be Runaan but none of them really feel right. And Janai, I’m not too sure who her historical counterpart could be, possibly Arawelo (another awesome queen who said fuck the patriarchy) but that might embody her sister more. Sarai could be Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was granted a divorce from her less than favourable first husband and became Queen consort of England but she could also embody aspects of Isabella of France and Cecily Neville. Soren I actually don’t have any ideas. I mean, he could be Richard the Lionheart but I’m not too sure. Ultimately I’m stumped on Soren and Janai.

So there it is, my personal analysis of The Dragon Prince characters and their potential historical counterparts. If anyone has any other theories please share them, I would love to hear other opinions.

I hope that everyone is having a good day. Stay safe out there friends.

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whiskeyworen · 3 years

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Thoughts on Kralkatorrik

Fair warning. Gonna be dealing with lots of spoilers from Season 4. These are just my musings and thoughts, so feel free to reject them. Most of this is coming from mulling a lot of stuff over and over in my head to make sense.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Kralkatorrik lately, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s possibly one of the most utterly tragic entities we’ve ever encountered in Guild Wars 2. The Elder Dragon of Rage and Crystal...being the most tragic, pitiable, and sad beings I’ve ever seen. I was thinking about how Glint mentioned that at some point in the past, Kralkatorrik had approached her, driven by a vision he wanted her to confirm or deny. It was the vision of a world without Elder Dragons, without him. She claimed that the concept terrified him and drove him into a rage, and whatnot. But I’m wondering about that, simply because of what we know from War Eternal, from his final confessions to the Commander and Aurene. About not fearing death, not fearing anything. So why did Glint say that he WAS afraid? It made me wonder.... when did he have that vision? Was it shortly before he spoke to Glint about it? Or was it further back in history, in the forgotten, unwritten ages? Which made me think further; Glint had the gift of prophecy. To look through the skeins of fate and see particular outcomes and work towards them. But she couldn’t see past a certain point, because that point did not include her in it. In fact, from the memory crystals we find in Path of Fire... when she met Destiny’s Edge, she was surprised: “These heroes are...not what I expected. Do they have the courage to endure what's coming? The will to drive it back? “ I think that’s because the group she DID expect was Dragon Watch...from further down the timestream. She knew it was a group of mortals coming, with a sylvari, a charr, a human, and an asura...among others perhaps...but the group before her didn’t look quite right. She misinterpreted her own vision, and as a result, Destiny’s Edge tried to fight Kralkatorrik too early. Glint and Snaff died as a result. But... Kralkatorrik, for all his size and power, could have easily smeared or branded Destiny’s Edge. He didn’t though. Rytlock talks about having been close enough to ‘blow kisses’ to Kralk, but Kralk didn’t end up killing them in the end. Because that wasn’t part of the grander Vision. Back to the point, we know Aurene has prophetic visions, and looked through multiple outcomes to try to find one where she and her allies didn’t die against Kralk. And failed. Because that was a historical point that HAD to be met and bypassed by something not shown. Which made me wonder... if Aurene is prophetic to a degree, and Glint moreso, to the point of seeing decades, centuries down the road with some degree of accuracy (not perfect but pretty good)... did that mean Kralkatorrik could as well? Could he, by extension, see extremely FAR down the road, but perhaps not have the refinement to see any other paths? I suddenly had this idea that Kralkatorrik, in the far ancient past before he became the Moving Mountain Range of a Dragon, possibly when he first evolved up to a more powerful state, had had the greatest, deepest, and longest Vision. One that he saw all the way to the end of his own life, so many millennia down the road. And that it didn’t terrify him. It didn’t anger him. It just was. It was unavoidable (because he didn’t know HOW to avoid it, without wrecking the balance of the world himself, which he would have been very aware of), but it was tremendously far off. He could do almost anything and easily avoid it... but yet he didn’t. He took on the role that had been set for him. Perhaps he’d been granted a vision of where someone referred to him as the Elder Dragon of Rage and Crystal. Seen his own, enraged actions in later millennia. So he put that on as his image, projecting a false rage, but one honest enough to convince generations of mortals. Maybe even mixed in a bit of actual rage, because who likes being shackled to a fate they can’t alter? To be denied choice? With his Brand, over the passing of years, he could have easily reworked all of Tyria every time he awoke. But we see little if any of his influence other than in the Brand itself. And the Brand is a pretty permanent mark on the landscape. Pretty sure something like that doesn’t fade in a century or two. There should be entire swathes of landscape still bearing Brandmarks from the previous Risings, but there doesn’t seem to be. What if, just maybe... he was following a long list of events he had to make sure happened, to ensure that particular future came to pass. The one with Aurene, the Commander, the Pact, and Dragonfall itself? Every other Elder Dragon (barring Jormag, who claims to want only to be left alone, just ignore the ice minions) when they awoke tried to expand their territory as far as possible, and conquer and devour all in their path. But when Kralkatorrik awoke, he only burned a path straight south, and parked himself near the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. For YEARS. He drove south, and then sat somewhere. The only time he left that spot was to ‘confront’ Destiny’s Edge. As the Long Vision said he must, because he HAD to. He had to let Glint be un-linked to him for years, only to be forced to re-take her and her ending up dead because of it and the resulting battle. He had to watch as essentially his daughter died, knowing he could have left her alone and alive. But having to do it because if she lived, the Vision would go off-path, and the end result would be less-than-acceptable. So Glint dies, Snaff dies, and Kralkatorrik nurses a long, painful hurt that he knew was coming for ages. Imagine knowing that someone you cared about would turn on you, and you had to kill them. Imagine knowing, even worse, that that was the GOOD outcome. The one that HAD to happen. Mortals knew of him as the Crystal and Rage Dragon, because that was the image he had to plant in their minds. They HAD to hate him. They HAD to fear him. Fate needed them all bound together in a force strong enough to take him down, and he was the needle that sewed it all together through dozens of smaller, unseen movements over the years. Towards the end, after he’d absorbed all those toxic magics that he had no hope of containing, no hope of filtering and releasing in the ways that Aurene had been taught, because no one had ever taught HIM how to do it in ages past... He’d been almost insane with pain. But even then, he was still trying to follow the script. He knew he had to do...things... even if he wasn’t truly sure what they were. After such a long life, there must have been moments of ‘is this the part where I....’ by the dozens, but he probably knew his time was up, and knew he HAD to resist hard enough for everyone to be fully convinced of it. He had to fight back against us, because the script demanded he do it. So that there would be enough anger that we (the Commander, Aurene, the Pact) would not hesitate, not pull any punches, show no mercy.... Because it was the right thing to do. Kralkatorrik knew ages before that he was going to die, where, and how. Maybe not When, but one only needed to look to the events that would unfold to pick the proper time. He knew he would be hurt every stage of the path. From the loss of Glint, and possibly Vlast (the grandson he’d never properly met), to having to Brand Aurene to set her on her proper path. From Branding Ascalon and countless living beings to make the Charr, and by proxy Tyria hate him enough to fight him hard enough to make the Future possible. To facing down Balthazar when he frankly didn’t need to, even knowing Aurene was in that Warbeast, and being injured by it. Even chasing Aurene through the Mists, and into Thunderhead Keep, and then retreating back into the Mists to recupe some strength...that was only so there’d be time for Aurene to recover and gain her true abilities. He could have easily levelled the mountain, and instead he left...because Fate demanded he do so. There was no anger in him at the end. Only love for Aurene, regret for Glint, and possibly even those he’d Branded (I’m interpretting it that way because it’s very possible he did like Mortals, but because of his role in Fate, he HAD to kill and Brand them, and that hurt.), relieved resignation that he was at the end, and gratitude. In a way, all the horror, all the pain he caused... all the destruction, as oddly limited as it was compared to other Elder Dragons... was all FOR Tyria and the world. He played the role of mindless villain, because it was his destiny, and he could not shirk it. Could not see another way out that was beneficial to the world. So he took up that dark mantle, and wore it, and never let anyone else know, not even his own kin. Right till the end. Even Jormag never caught on. That’s how well he played the role. It’s impressive...and haunting. To knowingly do horrible things even though you don’t want to, but because it’s absolutely, 100% necessary. And to know it’s going to cost you Everything, right down to your own life... but everything will come out better for it afterward. I’m not even sure I’ve explained the scope of this thought properly. But it digs at the back of my mind now when I play through PoF, and Season 4. I can’t un-think these thoughts, not after hearing him at the end of Dragonfall. Hearing that he KNEW, and had always known, and was unafraid of it.

#gw2 #gw2 Season 4 #gw2 season 4 spoilers #War Eternal #Kralkatorrik #Fate #Personal thoughts #musings #LONG POST WARNING

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