#he's the only one to do a king adaptation i considered perfect after watching and 'salem's lot is one of my favorite of his books

[pickalilywrites]

Zeke is secretly a fan of No Name would be an interesting fic to read lol

thanks! hope you like it :)

for a friend

eren jaeger. zeke jaeger. high school au. 2562 words. read on ao3.

Despite being the younger half-brother of one of the smartest people in the world, Eren Jaeger has never been the best student. In fact, some might consider him to be borderline abysmal. Eren’s aware that traits like being studious and reading comprehension skills are not necessarily inherited, but it’s almost insulting that Zeke is on the track to being valedictorian just like their father was and Eren is always half a point away from getting a C- on his exams. It’s as if their father had poured all his impressive academic prowess into Zeke and left Eren with nothing. Even borrowing Zeke’s old notebooks and hoping he absorbs some of Zeke’s skill by osmosis doesn’t seem to help Eren. 

“Zeke, can I borrow your copy of King Lear?” Eren asks, already inside of Zeke’s room. He doesn’t hear an answer but he wasn’t expecting one anyway. He had heard Zeke enter the bathroom earlier and the sound of the shower running followed soon after. There really wasn’t any reason for Eren to put off asking Zeke to borrow an old (hopefully note-riddled) copy of a Shakespeare play since Zeke tends not to mind either way, but Eren has a habit of doing things too late especially if they’re trivial such as asking for a book.  

Eren bounds across Zeke’s pristine room and towards the smaller bookshelf holding Zeke’s literature books. Eren’s older brother has an interesting way of arranging his books. It’s not enough for him to simply file them away in alphabetical order by last name. No, he has to have them divided into categories: biographies and autobiographies, science fiction and fantasy, historical fiction, classic literature, reference books, etc. Even those might have subcategories and only after each category and their subcategories have been separated properly are the books arranged accordingly by last name of the author and then title (with the exception being series or reference books).  

Eren sits down on the floor to get a better look at the penultimate shelf where the classic literature books are. His eyes scan the spine of these well-worn books, no doubt read lovingly by Zeke. He’s the type of person to do the assigned reading and actually enjoy the book. Eren would rather read the SparkNotes or watch a movie adaptation if possible, but he’s so far found that they’re not substantial equivalents to reading the book, at least not according to his essay grades.  

He sighs and runs his fingers across the top of the Shakespeare section. Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Julius Caesar. His finger finally falls on King Lear and he pulls it from the shelf. The spine is bent and the pages are thin and riddled with notes taken in Zeke’s neat handwriting. Perfect. If only the shear number of notes Zeke had taken weren’t so daunting, but it’s better than having nothing at all.  

Eren shuts the book down with a sigh and returns his gaze to the shelf. Zeke has undoubtedly read all the books on this shelf. From the looks of it, Zeke has Shakespeare’s entire body of work on the shelf. They’re only required to read Romeo and Juliet and King Lear in high school, but it seems Zeke has taken a liking to the famed British playwright and his works. Eren reaches out to take out the copy of Romeo and Juliet, curious as to what thoughts his brother might have scribbled in the margins. It’s then that he notices something strange about the bookshelf.  

Eren stoops down lower to get a closer look at the collection of Shakespeare. They’re all published by the same publishing house and are in the same collection, so their height and width are all the same. They should be sitting evenly on the shelf, but some stick out a little more than others. It’s not something Eren would normally notice, but in this case it’s impossible for him not to notice when Zeke is impeccable with his organization. Seeing the books sitting on the shelf unevenly should annoy Zeke to no end.  

Eren decides to be the sweet, younger brother that he always is and begins to press the books against the shelf so that they all sit evenly the way they should. He’s towards the end of the historical plays (where Shakespeare had apparently lovingly documented the life of many different Henrys) when he notices that he can’t push them as far as the other books. It’s like there’s something stopping it from moving any further.  

Intrigued, Eren pulls out one of the books — a copy of Henry VI Part 1 — to see what is preventing him from pushing the book back against the shelf. He sees a jewel case, but he can’t tell what group the CD belongs to or the name of the album. It’s strange to see an album hidden behind the books, both because it’s not sitting along the other CDs that Zeke owns and because Zeke doesn’t listen to anything except for classical music as far as Eren knows. He only sees an inch of the cover, but just based off the artwork it doesn’t seem like anything Zeke would listen to.  

Eren reaches in and plucks the CD out from behind the books and examines it, eyes widening as he realizes that he recognizes the cover because he has the exact same copy in his own bedroom. Even if Eren didn’t have the album in his room, he would have recognized it. It’s the debut album of the alternative rock group No Name, a group that had risen to prominence after the recent release of their third EP Requiem of the Dawn. That’s not the only reason why it would be recognizable for Eren, though. It’s also because the lead singer of No Name is Levi Ackerman.  

Levi Ackerman is a senior that attends the same high school as Eren and Zeke. Levi and his friends, Hanji and Mike, had started No Name in the garage of Mike’s house and hadn’t intended on skyrocketing to success. They had uploaded a few demos on SoundCloud and captured the attention of the alt rock scene, although you wouldn’t know it just by looking at them. Aside from the number of listens on their tracks climbing steadily upward every day and the shows and radio interviews they book occasionally, all the members of No Name seem relatively unaffected by their fame. Hanji makes a few jokes about it here and there, but otherwise remains as humble as ever as do the remaining bandmates. Levi in particular doesn’t seem interested in his newfound fame, choosing to keep to himself even when crowds of people flock towards him when he’s doing mundane things like walking to school or stopping by the convenience store to pick something up on the way home.  

For reasons Eren can’t comprehend, Zeke despises Levi. Eren has only encountered Levi a handful of times. He’s found that Levi isn’t very friendly, but he’s not an asshole either. He’s just kind of grumpy and not very conversational. He doesn’t run in the same circles as Zeke, who chooses to network with other top students like himself, so Eren doesn’t know what Levi has done to offend Zeke. From what Eren can tell, Levi doesn’t have any feelings, positive or negative, towards Zeke, but it doesn’t stop Zeke from glowering whenever he hears any mention of Levi’s name. 

The CD seems to be in mint condition. There aren’t any scratches or cracks in the jewel case, and the lyric book inside looks new when Eren opens the case to inspect it. He pops out the CD and inspects the back. It also looks new, hardly played if it was ever played at all, without any scratches in the back. There isn’t any chance that Zeke doesn’t know that Levi is the vocalist of No Name. Everyone knows that Levi’s the lead vocal. Eren wonders if Zeke is planning on taking the CD out to burn it later.  

“What are you doing?” a voice says, startling Eren into nearly dropping the CD. 

Eren had been so intrigued in his discovery that he hadn’t noticed the shower had stopped running earlier. He hastily jams the CD back into it’s case and closes the case. He turns back to face his brother, hiding the CD behind his back although he doesn’t know why. Zeke was the one hiding the CD in the first place for reasons that are still unknown to Eren.  

“Eren, why are you snooping through my stuff?” Zeke asks, stepping towards his brother. His hair is still damp from his shower, making his golden hair look almost brown. He’s squinting a little through his fogged up glasses as he tries to see what Eren has hidden behind his back. “If you’re going to borrow something, you can always ask me. You don’t have to go sneaking around.” 

“Oh, you know,” Eren says with a laugh that sounds false even to his ears. He slips around Zeke, keeping his back to his brother so that the CD remains hidden. He gives Zeke a bright smile to keep his brother off his trail. “Just borrowing your copy of King Lear for my English class. Your notes are always super useful, so I thought I’d take your copy instead of getting one from the school library. I asked you, but I think you didn’t hear me over the shower.”  

“King Lear?” Zeke repeats.  

“Yeah, and I got it, so I’ll be going now,” Eren says hastily. He’s almost got one foot out the door — so close to freedom! — and he’s about to bolt for it when Zeke asks a question that makes his blood freeze. 

“If you have my copy of King Lear, then why is it lying on the ground?” Zeke asks, and Eren follows his brother’s gaze to where the Shakespearean play is sitting on the floor beside the bookshelf where Eren had forgotten it. Zeke looks as if he’s about to pick it up when he turns back to Eren, his brow furrowed in confusion. “If my copy of King Lear is here, then what do you have behind your back?” 

“N-nothing,” Eren stammers even though there’s nothing sinister about an alt rock album. He still feels the need to hide it behind him, stumbling backward as his brother approaches him. He laughs nervously and before he can stop himself the confessions spills from his lips. “I was just looking through your Shakespeare collection and I noticed that they weren’t sitting on the shelf right, so I was going to fix it but then I found this CD and I thought it was weird because I didn’t know you listened to No Name.”  

Zeke stops, frozen in place. His lips are pursed together in a thin line and then his shoulders begin to relax as he says a bit too calmly, “It’s for a friend.”  

“Okay,” Eren says slowly. The CD comes out from hiding and he offers it out to Zeke, but he’s not sure why he feels Zeke’s explanation is hollow. “Why are you hiding it behind your bookshelf then?”  

“It’s a gift for a friend,” Zeke says. He snatches the No Name CD from Eren’s hands and glares at his younger brother. “I’m hiding it so they don’t see it if they come over. It’s supposed to be a surprise.” 

Something still doesn’t feel quite right. Eren can’t see Zeke buying a No Name album for a friend even if the friend was the biggest No Name fan in the world. Zeke hates Levi Ackerman too much and wouldn’t want to support him in any way even if it was buying an album for a friend. He could have found another suitable gift. Also... 

“The shrink wrap was already torn off,” Eren points out. “Why would you gift your friend an opened album?”  

Maybe there is an explanation for it, one that doesn’t involve Zeke’s secret affinity for No Name, but Eren doesn’t think there is one based on the way the tips of Zeke’s ears redden and how he’s spluttering to find a plausible defense.  

“If I look behind your other books, are there going to be more No Name albums behind them?” Eren asks as a mischievous grin grows on his face.  

“... No,” Zeke says, but he paused too long and Eren dives towards the shelf.  

Eren ignores his brother’s shouts and pulls the books from the shelves haphazardly, looking for more No Name albums hidden behind them. Zeke attempts to pull him away, but Eren shoves him aside and continues to dig around the shelves, letting the books drop to the floor. Zeke can always organize them later anyway. 

“Do you have all the albums?” Eren says giddily, pulling another album from the shelf. It’s the second EP from No Name, Dedicate Your Heart!. He looks over at Zeke who looks absolutely mortified. “You know you could have just bought their music digitally if you wanted to keep it a secret that you like their music.”  

“It’s for a friend,” Zeke snaps even though he doesn’t have to keep the lie up now that he’s been completely exposed. He snatches the EP from Eren’s hands and glares at his younger brother. “And besides, physical albums are more meaningful than digital albums.” 

“Alright, alright,” Eren snickers. Zeke does seem to be the type to prefer physical copies over digital ones. He doesn’t think Zeke’s ever read an eBook in his life even though it would allow him to have a plethora of literature at his fingertips. Curious, Eren steps towards Zeke’s dresser. He wonders what else his brother is hiding from him. “Do you have any other No Name stuff hidden somewhere?”  

“Don’t you fucking dare go through any more of my things,” Zeke says, pointing a warning finger at his brother. He sighs and sets the album carefully down on his desk before picking up all the books Eren had tossed carelessly on the ground. “And do not tell anyone about this.” 

“I don’t see what the harm is in telling people. No Name is getting really popular,” Eren says, but he quickly shuts up when Zeke shoots him another glare. He leans back against the dresser and watches as his brother continues to pick up the mess he’s made. Eren does think it’s fun to have something to hold over his older brother, but he thinks it’s even better knowing something about his brother that nobody else knows. It makes him feel closer to Zeke in a way. “You know, I can probably get you a signed copy of these albums if you want.” 

“Really?” Zeke asks, his head snapping towards Eren. Realizing that he’s too excited for something he had claimed to have no interest in, Zeke clears his throat and says, “Oh, well. That would be nice. For my friend, I mean.”  

“Of course, for your friend,” Eren says with a grin. Even if he’s not exactly friends with Levi, he’s friendly enough with Hanji and Mike to ask their whole band to sign a few albums. He has a feeling Zeke will appreciate it more than he lets on. “And who should I tell them to write out their message to?”  

“Just … a friend, ” Zeke says weakly. 

“A friend named Zeke?”  

Zeke scowls.  

#snk #eren jaeger #zeke jaeger #high school au #asks #answered #requests #anon #anonymous

[cynthia39100]

@themerlinlibrary August Writing Challenge

Prompt 3: Royalty

Merlin & Arthur

Arthur x Gwen (They break up at the beginning.)

AO3 link

(A little Modern Royalty AU fic. I had little knowledge and imagination of royalty so bear with me... and I swear I'm not purposefully using Gwen and Arthur's broken relationship as an opening every time. )

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

Arthur should have seen this coming. 

He was in his bedroom in Windsor, holding a sobbing Gwen. She was saying how she loved him and how hard she’d tried and that she couldn’t do it anymore. 

“ I’m not royalty, Arthur. I thought I could learn to become one, but I will never be. You deserved a better wife who can support you through all odds. People… ” She trailed off, but Arthur knew what she didn’t say. People deserved a proper queen. They always did. Arthur was born to serve the people after all. 

Arthur comforted her with random words while feeling hollow and unreal. Everything was like a scene in the movie. He was just an observer. 

His whole life was like it, wasn’t it? There were always rules, traditions and scripts to follow. Every word, every action was properly designed and calculated by a group of “writers”. Because there is always someone watching. Because it’s his duty to be the perfect Prince people expected. 

It’s better now, of course. Rules became more flexible, and some old traditions no longer applied. He could date a peasant girl and even consider marrying her, as long as she adapted to the culture and duties of a royal family. 

He didn’t realise that was the most difficult part. 

Whenever Gwen stood by him, He felt that he finally had a little freedom and control in his life. Gwen must have felt the contrary. Arthur could only offer her wealth and title, neither was what Gwen needed in life. 

And so he let go of Gwen, told her it was alright, and sent for staff outside the room to escort her out. Arthur didn’t bother to chase out Merlin who silently sneaked in. He just lay on his bed, determined not to react to any of Merlin’s comforting words. Surprisingly, Merlin didn’t do his usual cheering or rambling to distract him, only standing beside the door like a security guard. 

Arthur supposed Merlin still knew when to leave him alone. Or he for once just didn’t know what to say. 

“ Don’t stand there like an idiot. Don’t you have more productive things to do? Writing my break-up announcement for one.” Arthur finally spoke up, couldn’t tolerate the silence. 

“ I already asked George to do it.” 

Another silent moment passed. Merlin was still standing beside the door, and Arthur was still lying on the bed. 

“ Am I wrong not to listen to Father and marry Elena?” 

“ It’s 21 century. Even the prince is allowed to choose his partner.” 

“ Gwen backed off. I’ve refused all the legitimate noblewomen in the country. What if I can’t find another one? What about the succession?” 

“ I’m sure Morgana will be happy to succeed. Actually, it should be Mordred. Have you met him recently? He has grown quite a lot.” 

“ And I’m just going to become this lonely old king?”

“ Well… on the bright side, you still got me.”  

Arthur finally surged up from the bed, looked at Merlin incredulously. 

“ Is that supposed to cheer me up?” 

“ Thought it might.” Merlin shrugged unapologetically while showing his iconic goofy smile. 

“ You really are an idiot,” Arthur said exasperatedly, but he turned to cover the smile he couldn’t quite suppress. 

Merlin seemed to sense the smile anyway. His voice became lighter and more cheerful. 

“ Since Your Highness feels better now, your father wants to meet you whenever you are ready. Do you want me to notify His Majesty?” 

Arthur sighed and got off the bed. He didn’t want to face his father, but the sooner it was done, the better. 

Merlin opened the door and was about to leave, but Arthur called him back. 

“ Aren’t you coming with me?” 

Merlin winced. “ The King is horrifying.” 

“ And you’re going to leave me alone? Right after you swore to serve me forever?”

“ I did not!” 

“ Yes, you did. Anyway, It’s your prince’s order.” 

Merlin mumbled some inaudible insults under his breath, and Arthur smiled again. It seemed that whether he could find a new love or not, he would always have his best friend hanging around. It made the future just a little less horrifying.

#bbc merlin #merlin fanfic #merlin prompt #august writing challenge #merlin #arthur pendragon #arthur x gwen #merlin & arthur friendship #my merlin fanfic

[poorlymadesockpuppet]

Thanks to Midnight Mass, I now have a strong need to see Hamish Linklater in the role of Father Callahan in an update on ‘Salem’s Lot Thanks, Flanagan, for ruining my life again

#midnight mass #netflix #hamish linklater #father callahan #donald callahan #paul hill #father paul #'salem's lot #stephen king #fancast #what i wouldn't give for an adaptation of 'salem's lot headed by flanagan #he's the only one to do a king adaptation i considered perfect after watching and 'salem's lot is one of my favorite of his books #(king's) #my edits #my gifs #my stuff #poorlymadesockpuppet

[tempenensis]

philosophy of “moving forward”

Human civilization as a whole is something that always changing. Culture as part of civilization construct adapts and evolves together with human who creates it. In the evolution of ancient to modern culture, believe in myth and words of mouth on the nature of unknown things changes gradually to studying them using science; in this science is the driving force of culture change and the old believe is the opposing force.   

A subtle theme that slowly surfacing is the clash of old tradition to the new, more progressive thinking. Old tradition and rules are opposed and changes are happening gradually - and while it’s been bubbling for long, it's now culminated in one controversial life of Itadori Yuuji. 

the old and rotting : the Great Three Families

One of main undertones during student fights in the Kyoto exchange goodwill arc is how old jujutsu tradition underlined to be contrasting with the more modern principles most Tokyo students follows. This especially prominent in the fights of Momo vs Kugisaki and Fushiguro vs Kamo, and secondary drive in Maki vs Mai.      

In one of elite jujutsushi bloodline, the Zen’in family, perfection is a must.  “Possessing inherited curse technique of Zen’in family”. Other than that, they are failure in starting life as jutsushi. Even among them, women are not allowed to stand in the starting line. 

Looking at these alone, it implies on how old tradition put manifesting inherited technique among anything else and especially the discrimination towards women. It reflects the view in our real history, where women used to be banned from doing works and jobs considered masculine -- a view that has largely abandoned since women rights to be in the same level with men gained approval worldwide. 

Momo’s saying this to Kugisaki is not wrong per se, since she herself probably experiences this; emphasizing Kugisaki’s naivety to old tradition that a lot of jujutsushi still largely follow. Kugisaki herself is also not in the wrong; she’s someone who puts her ego over everything - she has her own individualistic view that keeps her apart as her own person.

Another view of old tradition is the bloodline over everything else. It’s understandable if you consider the way they prized inherited technique over everything. To ensure that the inherited technique can manifest along the bloodline, one of the way is to keep the bloodline ‘pure’, to say. That’s why marriage among blood relation is probably the norm, even though the only clue of this is Naoya in the latest chapter, who considers which one of the twin is “good”, further emphasizing how little women is respected in this household. 

Ironically in bloodline with a lot of inbreeding, it’s not the strength that is accumulated, but rather the weakness. For example, in Habsburg dynasty who used to rule Europe in the past, their long history of inbreeding caused their offspring to manifest a lot of genetic disorder - one of which is a physical disability named as their own, Habsburg jaw. Charles II of Spain was the most famous example of this. As a result of inbreeding along the Habsburg bloodline, Charles II inherited a lot of genetic disorders including the Habsburg jaw. He was even know as “the Bewitched” because of his appearance. 

In line with this are Kamo Noritoshi and Fushiguro Megumi, who were born not out of inbreeding, but possessing the inherited technique of their respective clan. Noritoshi manifests Blood manipulation technique despite being a mistress’s son. While we don’t know Megumi’s mom, it is implied that she was a normal person since Touji had left the Zen’in and would be hard-pressed if he was to marry a woman from the same bloodline since he hated the clan. And I would not be surprised if Satoru is revealed actually to be a mistress son too in the future.

As if to condemn this believe, Heavenly Restriction sometimes manifest in these clan. Touji and Maki are bound with restriction of having reduced curse energy in exchange of superhuman strength. If you think about it, superhuman strength is actually way more effective weapon to be used in exorcising curse than innate curse technique that is usually simpler and weaker. All they need is some cursed tools to use. But of course, old tradition condemns them since barehanded, both Touji and Maki can’t exorcise curses.

Women being lesser than men, bloodline purity and inherited technique obsession, twins being bad omen, and the heavenly restriction being a viewed as a curse rather than a gift -- all of the believe that composed the old tradition is actually more harmful for the jujutsushi society as a whole. Theirs is an industry who is always chronically short-handed, so you would think that if there are more people available to do the job is better. But they don’t think so just because of outdated tradition. And Zenin Naoya is created as the poster child of it. He embodies everything old that Gojo Satoru discards and loathes. 

education as driving force : Kyoto vs Tokyo

Back in vol 0, Getou calls Kyoto to be holy land of jujutsu and Shinjuku, Tokyo to be crucible of curses, where large number of curses can be found.

If we look over the history of these two places, it’s quite reasonable. Kyoto used to be the old capital of Japan, used to be named Heian. As we know, Heian period when Kyoto was designated as Japan capital is known as jujutsu golden age, when jujutsu developed rapidly, curses ran amok, and Sukuna trumped over everyone as the King of curses. We still don’t know where each of Great Families (Osanke) designated locations, but as the remaining of old capital, it is actually not surprising if the Osanke is located mainly in Kyoto, especially the Zen’in and Kamo. This also implies in Naoya speaking Kansai dialect and how Kyoto school shaped.   

The influence of old tradition is prominent in Kyoto Jujutsu school. First, most of the students are somehow connected to jujutsu families. Noritoshi is Kamo clan’s heir. Mai is one of the Zen’in. Momo with her way of speaking seems also to be raised in a jujutsu family. Kokichi has Heavenly restriction which we know is inherited among children of jujutsu clan. Other than them, Toudou and Miwa seem to be not from jujutsu clan, but they are probably admitted because of influence of their mentors - and the two of them have different mindset compared to the rest of the students. 

Second, when the Kyoto principal asked the students to kill Yuuji during exchange meetings, the four agreed to it readily since that’s how their custom dictates. Todo did not like that idea and Miwa is reluctant, but she still goes along. However she then apologizes to Tokyo students via Maki.  

Contrasting to Kyoto school, the Tokyo school is a bit departed from old jujutsu custom. Most of the students are not affiliated with jujutsu families. Maki and Megumi does have Zen’in blood, but the two of them hate the clan and everything it represents. We still have not much information on Toge and Inumaki clan in general. This also applies to students in previous generation too. Nanami, Haibara, Getou; the three of them are not from jujutsu families. Gojou is from one of the Osanke, but he loathes their custom and tradition, which might  be his main motivation to go to Tokyo school. Other than them, we still don’t know about Mei Mei, Shoko, and Utahime.

If I have to name one main characteristics that drive Tokyo school foundation is that they learn. Different from Kyoto whose philosophy influenced largely by traditional value set in stone, Tokyo school learns from mistake, learns how the era changes, learns how jujutsu changes so that they can be more humane, then develops to be an unique entity. This is largely due to Yaga’s influence.

But because of him (Itadori), there are certainly lives that was saved. In fact this time he cooperates with Todo to drive away the special-grade (curse spirit). This is not limited on the students, but after this they will accumulate a lot of regrets. Aah, I should have done that, I wanted it to be like this. Aah, I should have said it, I wanted to say it. 

Whether the decision regarding Itadori is correct, truthfully I don’t know. But for now, how about we watch over him?

Yaga Masamichi is one great educator. Rather than binding them to the existing tradition, he let the students have their own view and act responsibly. This is the wisdom that build the foundation and general philosophy of Tokyo school. And his view influence Gojo, who used to be his student, in teaching the new generation. For example this; when he asks of  Megumi’s opinion of what they should do with Yuuji. And because of it, they bends an existing law to let Yuuji alive; a very blatant opposition to old custom. 

In addition, Gojo rather tends and teaches the new generation despite wants to kill the upper management; this might also largely because of Yaga’s influence. The two of them accumulate the same regret from the incident that makes Getou to stray and learn from it -- and that regret is what shapes the learning and teaching in Tokyo school in the current time.

While the two seemingly cut from the same clothes, Tokyo school can afford to be different from their Kyoto counterpart in their teaching because of several things. First is their location. As the capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, Tokyo’s population grows. More human means more negative emotion, meaning the curses also evolved to be stronger. The reason why Getou called Shinjuku the crucible of curses is because Shinjuku is red-light district, where negative emotion is probably the strongest, making curses found there also stronger than any other place. As their enemy grows stronger, jujutsushi themselves also needs to be stronger than them to be able to exorcise them. In addition, the school is where Master Tengen planted his root so to speak, and they also need the strength to protect him too. They can’t afford old tradition to weaken and hold them back, so the Tokyo jujutsushi’s thinking start to depart from old custom. The second reason is because of Gojo; that in itself is self-explanatory. 

All in all, education as a whole system is not only designed to merely giving knowledge, but also to give the young the necessities so they can develop into a proper member of society. Good education system adapts to the current era and relevant view on the development of society. In the real world, modern society aligns largely with science, so science and its philosophy are integrated as fundamental parts of modern education system. And character building is also important as part of the system -- for example being critical, to be curious and question things, is an important traits to have because human curiosity is what makes us study things we don’t understand and makes science develops in the first place -- subsequently modernize human society as a whole. 

But of course, it’s all not without repercussion. Since old tradition still prevails and holds tightly by the authority, it’s no wonder that Tokyo school is now facing difficulty after the chaos that is Shibuya. 

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk meta #brain vomit #jjk manga spoilers

[manikas-whims]

Shadow & Bone, The Crows & everyone's complaints

So now that I'm on my 2nd watch of the show, I wanna speak on certain things about the Crows in the show, which have made many people mad and some of which I didn't like either..but which I can still see as tying up with the canon.

⚠ Spoilers for both the Books & Show ⚠

Here we go:

• Kaz accepting the 1M Kruge job

Now ofc we all remember the book Kaz who bargained with a Mercher and raised his prize to 30M. But Leigh, Eric & the Crows Cast has been pointing out since day one that these aren't the same people we know from what we've read. This is a sort of prequel to those characters and just them figuring out their dynamic with each other.

Remember, the book opens with Inej saying Kaz is a feared man in the Barrel without hesitation, she introduces herself as the Wraith who can't be stopped even by gravity on certain days and Jesper as the amazing sharpshooter and charmer.

Now as a new reader, I found that chapter sort of funny because how are you claiming all this without showing me their process of becoming these formidable people? But as I read through, the thought that inded these are 6 dangerous outcasts, settled in my mind.

But before that 30M job, they must've had many smaller conquests too right? Ones which slowly built-up their experience, confidence and relationships.

Since this is a prequel, consider this as another day in their Barrel life, as them going on another of their regular jobs. And just think of this as a learning experience for Kaz. That its the dangers that they got into travelling to a different country that made Kaz learn his and his crew's worth. And prepared him for the negotiations he did with Jan Van Eck in SoC.

• Kaz brought to his knees by Pekka

While Kaz being bested by two mere lackies of Pekka was kinda annoying to me as well, why do we believe that Pekka can't harm him or the others? PEKKA ROLLINS WAS THE BARREL KING BEFORE KAZ.

Remember on the Ferolind when Oomen tells them he was ordered by Pekka Rollins to take down the Dregs? They all were shocked and somewhat worried. And it was brought up later on when Jesper said they were going against Pekka Rollins and Wylan explains for Matthias sake how Pekka is not to be messed with.

It was only Kaz who wasn't concerned at all, who consoles Jesper by saying Pekka is just another Barrel Boss.

And what were we even expecting Kaz to do when Pekka brought him to his knees? Didn't Kaz express in the books enough how a simple beating won't make it up. He promised to take his revenge in small steps— building up his gang, stealing customers from Pekka's clubs, etc. BRICK BY BRICK.

So Kaz can be brought down to his knees too. And Pekka can easily do it if he wishes so. But no one wants outright Gang Wars; Pekka because he is far more experienced and knows when and where to put pressure or when to let go of a job. He even advices Kaz to forget Inej and drop the idea of going against a Mercher in SoC last chapter, because it is a foolish thing to do.

And Kaz wouldn't want gang wars because he knows the Dregs aren't big enough to face the whole of Dime Lions. Besides he already plans to bring down Pekka brick by brick.

But no one threatens Kaz Brekker, so consider this "on his knees" scene as a set up and another reason for Kaz to strike back and pay back tenfold.

It will also serve as an amazing parallel if we get to see him make Pekka beg on his knees.

• Kaz and Inej are too obvious

Are they? Haven't they always been like that when in each other's company or when around the other Crows? So of course they're expressing alot in front of Jesper.

But note that there are was no incident in the show where Kaz expressed his slowly developing feelings in front of his enemies, namely Pekka. In fact all Kanej moments happen only between them or in Jesper's presence. So there's nothing wrong with that.

Are they too obvious? No. As I said before and as we all know Kaz and Inej ALWAYS share deep conversations whenever together even in books— "i will have you without armor", "i would come for you", etc.

So show Kaz telling Inej "no saints have watched over me like you.." was not much different from their canon alone conversations.

Have they shown too much already? NOT AT ALL.

We only saw Kaz putting the Crow Club on collateral but his reason behind it wasn't shown at all.

We only saw Inej kill a man to protect Kaz. We don't know why she chose to kill for him. You can't immediately translate that to love. It can very well be considered her trying to pay back because he saved her from the Menagerie.

Remember in Crooked Kingdom Chapter 4, Inej says: "their lives had been a series of rescues ever since, a string of debts that they never tallied as they saved each other again and again."

So consider these moments as their endless back and forth of saving each other.

*Another thing to note in the show is when Inej gave her knives to Kaz. She says: "as a friend once said".

She has started considering Kaz a "friend" and she knows he feels the same way even though he won't say it. They're only starting to open up and give way to friendship. And not just Kanej, Jesper too.

People can care for and have each other's backs without it having a romantic aspect. The show gave the viewers a peek at what Kanej are willing to do for each other and showed that there's obviously sparks flying but no clear motto. We still didn't see Kanej's first encounter at the Menagerie or Kaz staring at Inej sitting on his window. These are just small moments to set up the ship.

• The Crows only there for comic relief

NO. I don't agree to this at all.

I'm gonna go back to SoC Duology. Now we know both the books have a sort of a dark setting. But both of these books also had hilarious moments.

Right in Chapter 2 of SoC, Jesper joking about spelling with his bullets and Kaz joining in on the joke. There's also the "this whole shoot me thing is starting to worry me". Inej & Kaz's banter about "greed is your god".

Almost every chapter had atleast one moment that was either comical or to lighten the mood or just straight up banter between the Crows. And all those moments were all always entagled with serious ones.

The show did exactly the same. We were given their crime life because they were after all, on a job to capture and sell off a person. But the show lightened it by adding the Crows banter and certain comical moments. And for the finishing touches, they sprinkled in some vulnerability.

• Kaz not being ruthless enough

I AGREE. I DO.

What the fuck is wrong with us all wanting a sinister man being ruthless? 😂

There's not much I can say about this but that even in books, Kaz isn't always ruthless.

He is mostly giving out orders and scheming schemes. But in those rare moments in the book when we get to see Dirtyhands, we are given a view into some really intense moments.

When Kaz dislocates a man's arm in the Ice Court Prison, he himself admits it that he didn't do it as much to make himself look intimidating to the other criminals but more to remind himself that he can do it, that he isn't some helpless man.

The only such thing we got in the show was the brief scene between Kaz and that Inferni where he had that scary look on his face as he crushed that inferni's arm and slammed his face.

WE DID DESERVE MORE OF THAT.

But maybe it was a good moment to set him up for more violence in the coming seasons. *crosses fingers*

• The Crows not stealing from Alina

Okay whilst Inej wouldn't do it, Jesper may only consider, Kaz would definitely do it!

Remember Kaz kazually conversing with Van Eck and Pekka but also stealing their stuff in those moments with his slight of hands?

Yeah, the showrunners had a perfect chance at the end to do it but they missed it 😐

This is probably the one thing that I'm unable to settle with 🤧

So..that's it!

I don't want everyone to agree with me but I hope everyone can be a little less aggressive and more kind to the show. It was still amazing, if not a proper adaptation then at least good as a standalone show. And the showrunners already did say "high budget fanfiction"

#shadow and bone spoilers #six of crows #shadow and bone #the crows #kanej #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #crooked kingdom #grishaverse

[tcm]

The Spirit of SPARKLE By Constance Cherise

A precursor to the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, SPARKLE (‘76), a film about three young Black sisters in late-1950s Harlem with dreams of stardom, is commonly believed to be loosely based on the story of The Supremes (rest easy Mary Wilson). Like THE WIZ (‘78), initially, SPARKLE did not do well in the box office, and like THE WIZ, it also became a classic Black film garnering fan loyalty. If the sizzling 1992 rendition of “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” by En Vogue wasn’t proof enough of its endurance, the 2012 remake of SPARKLE (tragically Whitney Houston's final film) should be sufficient evidence.

Directed by Sam O’Steen, with music by ‘70s producer extraordinaire Curtis Mayfield, SPARKLE shares notable ties to classic film. One of its screenwriters, Joel Schumacher, whose extensive portfolio includes the film adaptation of THE WIZ, noted Billy Wilder as his favorite director. In a 2010 interview, Schumacher recalled a mischievous youth, watching black-and-white films in a theater near his home. “I was watching the Golden Era of Hollywood...watching Elia Kazan and John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, I could go on…” Schumacher stated. Although Robert Stigwood is not credited on screen as the producer, the film was made under the banner of his production company. The all-around entertainment impresario, called by Newsweek “the Ziegfeld of the disco age,” also released the everlasting SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (‘77), GREASE (‘78) and SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (‘78).

Another Classic Hollywood tie is Lonette McKee, who portrays Sister. McKee had her breakout role in 1983 as the first mixed-race woman to portray Julie, starring alongside Donald O’Connor, in her Tony-nominated performance of the Broadway musical Showboat. The character was previously depicted by white actresses, most famously Ava Gardner, who won the role over her best friend Lena Horne in MGM’s 1951 film. The decision was made by the studio due to Horne’s race, which she maintained cut her deeply. If you haven’t seen Horne’s rendition of “Can't Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” in TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (1946), watch it and you will understand Horne’s justified frustration.

Although SPARKLE is a story about three sisters—Sparkle, Sister and Delores—and their short-lived rise to fame, the catalyst of the tension in the story truly begins with Sister (McKee). Well aware of her unique beauty, she becomes involved with Satin (Tony King), whose focused attention towards her further inflates her ego cause her to not see him for who he truly is: an abuser and gangster. He openly engages Sister with another woman at his side, and Sister witnesses him punch this woman in the stomach and pull the fur coat from her back. Yet Sister’s reaction seems to be more of excited intrigue. In that moment of silent acceptance, she seals her fate. Not only is it apparent this cannot possibly end well, the resulting repercussions on her and those who truly love her soon come into grave focus.

In the scene where Satin is introduced to Effie (Tony Award-winning Mary Alice), the mother of the three hopeful sisters, and sits beside her, Effie’s expressionless glare takes over, all her years of wisdom instantaneously coming to the surface. Everything Satin is flashes in Effie’s eyes. Instinctively, Effie knows – and Satin knows she knows – that Sister is headed in the wrong direction. When Effie arrives backstage to congratulate her daughters after a successful show, she straight-talks Sister, cradling her face, looking into her eyes almost as a lover. With precise articulation, she tries to ensure her daughter comprehends her words of wisdom.

“I’ve lived in Harlem all my life. I do know a rat when I see one.”

Considering Effie’s domestic employment, when her white employer notices her sullen mood and states that she hopes Effie considers her “enough of a friend to confide in,” there are multiple takeaways. We can conclude that Effie’s employer is wholly oblivious to her authentic identity and her role as a maid, and we get a snapshot of Effie’s sacrifice for her daughters. Powerfully poignant, Alice's performance embodies a silent strength present in many of her performances. As she quietly endures the deconstruction of her family, you have to wonder about the substantial weight she holds within.

A youthful Phillip Michael Thomas is as gorgeous and equally as captivating in SPARKLE as he was during his days of palm trees, Miami pastels and pink flamingos, portraying the character Ricardo Tubbs in the TV series Miami Vice. Although the film’s main characters are all beautiful women, you simply cannot take your eyes away from him; when Thomas is in the scene, he steals it every time.

Most famous for her role as Coco in the film FAME (’80), which caused a measurable rise in attendance at performing arts schools internationally, Irene Cara’s career began at the tender age of 3. She was only 13 years old when she played Sparkle, but her performance is so spectacular, she competently rivals her elder co-stars. In a role that could easily escalate to excessiveness, Cara underplays. Her scene with Thomas, after a funeral, is a perfect example. Years in the entertainment industry expertly result in a stellar performance.

With a time-capsule quality much like other Stigwood films, SPARKLE seems like two separate yet cohesive stories – a tragedy that is unexpectedly a comforting diversion. In the end, the abiding spirit of SPARKLE satisfies.

#Sparkle #Fame #Lonette McKee #The Wiz #Dreamgirls #Supremes #Irene Cara #Lena Horne #MGM #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Constance Cherise

[hermits-that-craft]

In My Dreams (Will You Remember Me?)

Flower Husbands Fic - Chapter Eight - Stay a While, Stay a While

Ao3 in the comments

“Aeor give me guidance.” Scott prays, kneeling in the back parlor. “Because if you give me strength, Rivendell will lose her allies to my hand.”

Scott leans back on his heels, fighting not to push his head into his hands. “I know you chose me, as your champion and the king of Rivendell, but we have been allied with idiots.” Scott grumbles. “And they want to attack Jimmy for being your champion, so I’m pleading with you for guidance.”

Scott sits in silence as dawn breaks over the mountains, listening to the serenity that the break of dawn brings.

Or what is supposed to be the serenity of the break of dawn, because one of his guards is fighting with someone. Not a physical fight, from the sounds of it, but a verbal one. Scott stands from his position on the floor, leaving an apple under the golden deer that he parents claimed represented Aoer as an offering. Scott adjusts his cape, putting his crown on his head, ready to aid his guards in getting rid of whatever disgruntled merchant decided to go straight to his house instead of his council to air their grievances. 

“You cannot demand council with our ruler, even Rivendell’s closest allies cannot do that.” She snaps, and Scott shivers. Eloise is always harsh, preferring to terrify potential threats away than calm them. Though, its not often that she has to bring up their allies to send merchants down the hill, towards town.

Scott opens the door, ready to call Eloise off, when he sees him.

Jimmy stands in the doorway, nervously holding his hands in the air. He wears the stupid codfather head, but he also glows in the light of the early morning golden hour. The snow glitters around, and the fish hybrid shivers in the wind, but Scott can’t help but to blink. It’s too early to form thoughts about this.

Aoer he’s got it bad for this man.

“Stand down, Eloise.” Scott says, finally find his voice, though its stuck in his throat and he’s not going to be able to speak to Jimmy in private if he’s asked to. “He’s a guest here.”

“Of course, your highness.” Eloise says, lifting her hand from her sword. “Shall I escort him to your office?”

“There’s no need, we’ll be in the front parlor.” Scott smiles, and Eloise glares at him for a split second before she steps aside.

“Enter, Codfather.” She says, her voice saccharine. 

“Uh, thank you?” Jimmy says, walking into Scott’s home. Eloise rolls her eyes, shutting the doors behind him.

“I’m sorry about her.” Scott says. “She’s at the end of her shift. I assume your night guards are like her?”

“Um, sure.” Jimmy says. “They’re certainly something.”

“If they’re rude to you, you ought to fire them.” Scott says, but Jimmy doesn’t seem to be listening to him.

“It’s beautiful in here.” Jimmy’s voice is barely audible, a breath on the wind, but Scott’s filled with pride anyway.

Jimmy looks over the intricate carvings on the archways, the gilded railings that lead to the higher levels. The codfather runs his hands reverently over the embroidered tablecloths, as though nothing in his home is worth even the silver stitchwork. It fills Scott with a subtle pride, though his house doesn’t look lived in - what with the maids and cleaners ensuring that nothing is ever out of place, that dust never settles on the rafters, let alone the tables - Jimmy now knows that Scott could afford to take care of him, to give him a life that's more than comfortable.

“What’s this?” Jimmy asks, and Scott walks towards his potential partner. “It’s beautiful.”

The golden statue of Aeor rests on the mantle, glittering in the light. Jimmy holds onto his clothes, as though he doesn’t want to touch it. Scott fights back a soft smile at the gesture, its kind of the man to do, even if unnecessary. Aoer would not care if one of his statues was touched, even if it were touched by someone who knows not of the god.

“It’s a statue my parents gave me” Scott says. “It’s supposed to keep me and my loved ones safe while I’m at home.”

“This is your house?” Jimmy gawks. “These two rooms are as large as my entire house.”

Scott winces, turning to avoid offending Jimmy. Why would the founder of an empire live in a hut? Sausage and Fwip built their castles outside of the town that they were given to rule over, why didn’t Jimmy build himself a castle, something fit for someone his stature.

Jimmy deserves better.

“It is my house.” Scott admits. “I built it myself, when my parents told me that I was their heir.”

“Did they?” Jimmy asks, something sad infecting his tone. “That must be nice, your design skills are impeccable.”

Scott flushes a deep crimson, blinking a few times as Jimmy giggles. That damned giggle, that mad Scott stumble over his feet as they danced during the ball, the one that makes the words solidify in his throat, that he can’t get a single syllable out. He can’t even think, just focusing on that giggle.

“Do people not compliment your builds often?” Jimmy asks, cocking his head to the side, and Scott catches a glimpse of Jimmy’s eyes.

Ocean blue, and full of mischief.

“Not to my face.” Scott lies, not wanting to vocalise the words that fight to escape his throat. “Can I ask why you’ve come over? I’m fine with this being a social visit, of course, but we’ve never exactly had those.”

“I wanted to apologise for the ball.” Jimmy says, so quietly that Scott’s heart shatters.

“You have nothing to apologise for.” Scott says, softly, ever so softly. He needs to reassure Jimmy. No one should sound that upset with themselves over a party that they didn’t even ruin. “You made my night, it was nice to dance with you.”

“I promise that I would see you soon, after that dance.” Jimmy says. “And I didn’t. I’m sorry, King of Rivendell, please accept this gift as an apology, even if you do not accept the apology.”

And Jimmy offers him a flowering blue orchid, growing in a small, hand painted pot. It’s a strong plant, the soil is wet and the flowers bright. The pot has green paint around the borders, and a silver ribbon is wrapped around the pot, tied in a neat bow.

“It’s beautiful.” Scott says, carefully taking it from Jimmy. “How do I care for it?”

“Strong light, high humidity, periods of dry soil altered with periods of heavy watering and airflow around the roots.” Jimmy says, and Scott can hear the smile in his voice. “I’m sure you’ll be able to care for it well.”

“What if I kill it?”

“Then I’ll bring you a new one.” Jimmy offers, watching as Scott carefully puts it on one of his tables. Scott watches the cod hybrid rub his arms, as though he was cold, but its rather warm in Scott’s home - kept a perfect temperature for everyone, so why would Jimmy be cold?

“You alright?” Scott asks, looking at Jimmy. “You’re rubbing your arms.”

“It’s a bit cold in here.” Jimmy sounds embarrassed, and Scott watches as he nervously shifts his balance. “It’s alright though, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re from the swamp.” Scott realises aloud. “Take my cloak, as recognition of my forgiveness.”

Scott takes his cloak off, handing it to Jimmy. Jimmy holds it as though its made of the most precious material, running his fingers over the stitching in a way that screams reverence. As though this cloak means something else, something more to Jimmy. 

Scott didn’t just intrude on some Cod Empire custom, did he?

“I can’t accept this.” Jimmy says, pushing the cloak back into Scott’s hands. “It’s too good for you to hand away. I’ll be alright, keep your cloak.”

Scott frowns for a moment, the cloak in his hands. Jimmy is a guest, not even an elf who could adapt to the cold quickly, and he’s a cod hybrid. He needs the warmth, he’ll get sick rather quickly if he doesn’t accept the cloak. Then Lizzie would kill Scott, and take back her blessing. Not only that, but it could take months for Jimmy to heal. So Scott needs to improvise.

Without thinking, Scott wraps his cloak around Jimmy’s shoulders, pulling the other man close to him as he does the top button up, taking care to ensure that he doesn’t damage the silk thread that keeps the button on. He can hear Jimmy’s breathing hitch as he does, and Scott looks down into the man's eyes, watching as something unreadable passes through them.

“Now you’ll remain warm.” Scott says, slightly breathless as he steps back.

 Jimmy looks up at Scott, and pulls the cloak closer around his shoulders. The cod hybrid steals Scott’s breath away, even though Scott can’t see his face. The cloak pools at the floor around Jimmy’s feet, the arm holes slightly too low to be practical, but he looks stunning anyways.

“Could I offer you tea, or breakfast?” Scott asks, standing in front of a plush armchair. It’s his favourite chair, though due to the fact that it’s situated in the front parlor he doesn’t use it often.

“I had breakfast before I came, but tea would be nice.” Jimmy says. 

“I’ll have that arranged, if you want to take a seat?” Scott says, smiling. He waits for a moment, as Jimmy chooses a seat, before he walks into the back parlor.

Scott quickly crosses into the kitchen, watching as one of the chefs jump in surprise. He’s already had breakfast, and it’s far earlier than he would normally arrive for a snack or a break from meetings with stuffy officials. Scott offers them an apologetic smile, and they roll their eyes, smiling at him.

“How can I help you, your highness?” They ask, turning away from kneading the bread.

“Could I bother you for some tea?”

“Meeting’s going that poorly?” They ask, washing their hands in the sink as they turn on the redstone kettle.

“I have a guest over, and he asked for some?” Jimmy deserves nice tea, and Scott hopes he’ll like it.

“The codfather’s over for a social visit?” They ask, incredulous. “You never have social visits, let alone with one of our allies' enemies.”

“He’s nice.” Scott says, watching as they pour the tea into two tea cups. “I’d like him as an ally.”

“Considering how Arel saw you put your cloak on him, I think you’d like him as more than just an ally, your highness.” They smirk, putting four biscuits on a tray. “Are you able to carry this out yourself or do you need someone to supervise the pair of you?”

“You aren’t my father, Cyran, nor my mother.” Scott says. “I can carry this, and we don’t need a supervisor.”

“Don’t make a mess of the front parlor, my lord.” They tease, passing Scott the tray. “I may not be your parents, may Aeor guide them, but I am your eldest member of staff. You were so young when I was bought onto the staff, you’re still the boy who hide behind my skirt from your tutors.”

“Please stop telling people about that.” Scott mumbles, embarrassed.

“Stop leaving your guest unattended. It’s rude.” They say, ushering Scott to the door. “I don’t want you back here until your guest has left, Scott.”

And they shut the door on Scott, making him laugh silently. Of course they kick him out to attend to the guests, they’re so stubborn. He should give them a raise.

Scott carefully carries the tray of drinks and biscuits through the back parlor, silently opening the door to navigate to where Jimmy sits. Jimmy’s looking out of the front window, watching as Rivendell bustles about as families take their children to school and adults attend to their jobs. The sun beams down, reflecting off of the snow and casting a glow into the front parlor, just as Scott intended when he designed the build. Scott places the tray down, startling Jimmy.

“Thank you.” Jimmy says, as Scott passes him a cup. “I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”

“Not at all.” Scott lies through his teeth. His guards will inform the advisors that he’s busy, after all. Potential allies are more important than sitting through another meeting that leads to nowhere. “Am I keeping you from anything?”

“Nothing that I can’t get done later.” Jimmy takes a sip of his tea. “This is amazing.”

“Thank you.” Scott smiles. “Are you doing anything important tomorrow? I have a meeting after lunch that I must attend, but I would love to give you a tour of Rivendell.”

“I have a meeting with Fwip tomorrow.” Jimmy says, and Scott’s heart stops. “I’m going to his base to arrange a trade agreement, but maybe next Wednesday?”

“Did Fwip arrange the meeting?”

“He did.” Jimmy nods. “I don’t want to spark a war between us by entering the Grimlands uninvited.”

“Do you know what you’re going to ask him for?” Scott says, ignoring the pit beginning to form in his stomach. Fwip is something, an enemy of the Cod Empire and someone who believes that Jimmy is Aeor’s champion, which means he could harm Jimmy.

But it’s just a trade meeting, and Fwip has honour. He wouldn’t harm Jimmy during a peaceful meeting.

“Probably some gunpowder.” Jimmy shrugs, before a ring sounds from his pocket. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Jimmy pulls out his communicator, looking at the caller id before wincing.

“Something the matter?”

“I was supposed to meet with Joel now.” Jimmy winces. “I should go.”

Jimmy moves to take the cloak off, but Scott stops him, gently moving the other rulers hands from the button. Jimmy looks up at Scott, and though Scott can’t see Jimmy’s face, he can tell the codfather’s surprised.

“Keep it.” Scott murmurs. “You can return it when you come back for the tour.”

“Thank you.” Jimmy says, taking his hands from Scott’s. “I’ll see you next week.”

“I’ll see you then.” Scott smiles, walking Jimmy to the door. “Fly safely.”

“I will.” Jimmy says, walking away from Scott’s home.

Scott shuts the door, leaning on it with a sigh. Something isn’t right about this, something is so intrinsically wrong with Fwip inviting Jimmy to his empire for a meeting that Scott’s stomach turns with fear for the other man. Jimmy’s naive, the ruler of the youngest empire in this world. Even Shubble’s empire is older - just from a different dimension. Scott needs to ask Aeor to protect Jimmy. Surely they will.

Scott wonders if Jimmy liked the bouquet of roses that he left for him.

#in my dreams (will you remember me?) #imd(wyrm) #flower husbands #empires smp fic #longer chapter pog #calm before the storm

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Happily Ever After - 2

The Tower: Happily Ever After An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist | Character Refrence PREVIOUS //

Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 1849

Warnings:  Pregnancy and minor language on chapter.

Synopsis: Almost 40 years after Elise Cooper first crashed into Natasha Romanoff outside the library at Columbia University, she and the Avengers are adapting to a near-immortal life together with their large brood of children.  Yet things aren’t perfect.  Life is moving on without them and they’re starting to discover who isolating being immortal can be.When Angela comes and asks Thor to take the throne of Asgard once more, the group leaves Earth in the hopes that they will find their Happily Ever After there.

Chapter 2: Anger Issues

When Marya returned home from school that day we were all ready to meet her.  Marya was sixteen years old, a little taller than I was, with dark hair and light brown eyes - just like Bruce.  Those weren’t the only things she’d inherited from her biological father.  She was extremely intelligent and had been skipped ahead a grade in school.  There had been talk about skipping her ahead more than that, but it wasn’t something encouraged in schools due to the strain it has on children’s emotional and social development.  So instead she was finishing up high school with her peer group while taking college courses as electives.

She also had her own little green problem.

Her powers worked differently from Bruce’s.  She could turn into a hulk, and that transformation could be triggered by extreme negative emotions - not just anger, but when she was really sad or anxious too.  Unlike Bruce though, she never had to worry about sharing her body with another person.  When she changed she was always herself and generally she had such precision control over the transformation that she could do it on command, much as Bruce could after the bonding ceremony all those years ago.

She looked around suspiciously at us as we called her over to the couches by the large window, typically the place where we had family meetings.  It was usually where we spoke to the kids if they had done something they probably shouldn’t have.  We took an approach with our parenting where they didn’t usually get in trouble for misbehaving.  Rather we tried to think of a real-world consequence for what they’d done.  For example, if they were fighting they had to sit down and listen to each other’s grievances and then work out a way to both come to an understanding about how the other feels and try to make each other feel better.  It didn’t always work, but we figured it was better than arbitrarily making them go sit in the corner.  So it made sense that she’d think she was in trouble for something.

“What’d I do?”  She asked, dropping her backpack on the ground while she stood looking at her gathered parents.

“Why don’t you tell us?”  Sam teased.  “And we’ll tell you if that’s it.”

“I’m not falling for that,” Marya snarked, folding her arms across her chest.

“Honey, sit down,” Steve said, gently.  “You’re not in trouble.  We just need to tell you something.”

Marya sat down carefully, looking at everyone with deep suspicion.  “Is someone else pregnant?  Are you trying to populate Earth with just our family?”

“No,” Clint laughed.  “What the hell?”

I rolled my eyes.  “Honestly, honey, I sometimes think the same thing,” I said.  “But that’s not what this is.”

“Your Aunt Angela came to visit today,” Steve explained.  “She’s giving up the throne of Asgard.”

“Does that mean Riley’s going to be queen?”  Marya asked, looking over at Thor.  “I can’t believe my sister’s going to be the queen of a whole other planet.”

Thor shook his head.  “Riley is still too young to rule by Asgardian standards.  My people - our people - would consider that the equivalent of having Zak as their king.  I have to step up and take the lead.”

“Which means, we are moving to Asgard,” Steve finished.  “I know that...”

“What?”  Marya yelped, interrupting Steve as she blinked at us.  “When?”

“Within the month,” Steve said.

“But I have school!”  Marya shouted.  Her fists clenched and she started to turn green at the edges.  “And what about my friends?  You can’t just take me away from everyone I ever knew!”

“Mar,” Bruce said, gently.  “Deep breath.  Get that under control.”

“Don’t tell me how to feel!”  Marya shouted, slamming her hands on the coffee table and sending a large crack through the heavy wood.  I jumped a little, startled at her violent reaction, and the green started to creep into her arms starting at her hands, making her muscles swell and double in size.

Sam moved forward and crouched in front of his daughter, taking both her hands in his and looking into her eyes.  “Marya,” Sam said with a gentle yet commanding tone.  “I know you’re upset, but you need to talk about this rationally.  If you can’t talk about it, you’re gonna have to go to your room to cool off first.”

She started crying and pulled her hands out of his.  “It’s not fair!” She cried.  “I don’t even get a say about whether or not you take me away from my friends.  My whole goddamn planet?”

“Honey,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Marya’s shoulders.  “I know this is tough.  I really do.  But we’re partially doing it for you.”

“I don’t see how taking me from my friends is somehow supposed to be good for me,” she grumbled.

“Alright, kid,” Natasha said.  “I’m going to give you some harsh truths here.  You’re going to lose them anyway.  Maybe not all of them anytime soon, but the ones you would have kept in your life you’d have had to watch age and die.  Just like we all have done and are with our friends and family.  We want to save you what’s happening with Rose.  We don’t want you to have to fall in love and then watch them fade out while you’re stuck looking like you can’t buy a beer.”

Marya started crying harder and fell into Steve’s side and Wanda glared at Natasha.  “You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Wanda snapped.

“Well babying her wasn’t doing it either,” Natasha argued.  “She needs to hear it.  She might not like it, but going to Asgard is what’s best for her.”

“Can’t I even finish school?”  Marya begged.  “I could stay with Eddie - or Rose.  Or one of my friends.  And then… then I’ll come.”

“There will be school for you on Asgard,” Thor said.  “And it will teach you things that far outreach anything any of you have learned on Midgard.  Riley and Pietro both attend and they learn of the world tree, and alien languages, advanced mathematics, and magic.  You are already holding yourself back to fit in, daughter.  You would never have to hide any part of you in Asgard.  Not your intelligence, and not this -” he tapped her arm where it was still tinged with green.

“And I’ll make it so you can talk to your friends here.  We’ll set up a line of communication,” Tony added.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure my kids don’t go without Tumblr and Instagram.  Imagine how many followers you’ll get posting selfies in Asgard.”

“I already have a tonne of followers, dad,” Marya sniffed.  “I’m a Skjodbærer.”

“Yes, you are,” Tony said.  “And don’t you forget it.  The whole universe is yours.”

“We’ll make sure we come back to visit,” I said.  “We all still have friends here, and places we like to spend our time.”

“Yeah, who’s going to annoy Katie-Kate if I’m not around?”  Clint joked.

Marya let out a small laugh that was still more tears than actual laughter.  “I’m sure she’d hate not being annoyed by you.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Clint said and patted Marya on the thigh.

“We aren’t doing this to punish you, Mar,” Sam soothed.  “I promise.  We’ve all been talking about this for a long time, and we were going to wait, but your dad can’t anymore.  He has to go and rule his kingdom.  And sometimes we have to give up what we want to do for what we need to.”

Marya let out a long slow breath and nodded.  “I know.  I know, dad.  They’re still my friends though and I’m still sad about it.”

“I know,” Wanda said.  “Being sad is normal.”

“Can I have a goodbye party?”  Marya asked.

“Look who you’re talking to,” Tony teased.  “The biggest.”

She sat silently for a moment and nodded again.  “If I really hate it, can I come back again?”

“You need to give it a proper chance,” Steve said.

“I will,” she assured him.  “I just… I don’t…”

“If you really hate it, you can come back,” I said, cutting Steve off before he had a chance to reply.  “We won’t like it, but our kids being happy and healthy is the thing we want most.  We just think… in the long run, this is the best option for that.”

“I know,” Marya said.  She looked around at anyone and kicked at her bag.  “Can I go now?”

“One thing first,” Steve said, tapping the table where she cracked it.  “What are we going to do about this?”

Marya sighed and looked at it.  “I’m sorry,” she said.

“And…?”  Steve pressed.

“And… I’ll go see if I can find someone who can repair it.  If I can’t, I’ll shop for a suitable replacement.  And… and I’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen for the Sundays before we leave as a stand-in for the fact I don’t need to earn money to pay for these things.”

“Good girl,” Steve said.  “Dinner will be at 6.30.”

Marya stood up and grabbed her back.  “Okay.”

“Marya,” I said.  “We love you.”

She smiled a little and nodded.  “I love you all too.”

We watched her disappear up the stairs and Bruce sat back and ran his palms over his scalp.  “I really need to help her deal with her anger.”

Bucky patted his arm.  “It’s usual teen stuff.  We’ve seen it before -” he gestured to me “- we’ll see it again.”

“Yeah, but when any of the others got upset we didn’t have to worry about them breaking the building,” Bruce said.

“Umm… do I need to remind you about that tantrum Riley had that meant we had to remodel her room,” I said.

Bruce chuckled and nodded.  “Right.  I guess.”

“It won’t hurt to work with her more,” Sam said.  “But don’t think that her having a temper is on you.  She’s hyper-intelligent and smart kids often deal with anxiety because they’re always thinking ten steps ahead about all the potential terrible outcomes.”

“Tell me about it,” Tony snarked.

“Yes, Tony, you’re a genius, we all know,” Bucky teased.

“I do not like that I am the reason for her distress,” Thor said.  “We could always go back to how it was before Angela took the throne.”

“And barely get to see you?”  Clint said.  “I don’t fuckin’ think so.”

“That’s not going to happen, Thor,” Steve said.  “We’ve been talking about this for a while.  It’s time.  Sometimes kids have to move because their parents are.  It’s not fun for them.  But she will adapt and it is better it happens sooner than for her to fall into this society's expectations for when she should be doing things.”

Thor nodded, though he didn’t look completely convinced.  

“Alright,” Clint said, clapping his hands.  “Enough about moody teenagers.  We have a lot to work out.”

“It’s going to be a big change,” I said.  “But we’ve gotten really good at those, and in my experience, they always worked out for the best.”

// NEXT

#the avengers #steve rogers #bucky barnes #tony stark #natasha romanoff #bruce banner #clint barton #wanda maximoff #sam wilson #avengers fanfic #avengers x oc #steve rogers x oc #bucky barnes x oc #tony stark x oc #stucky #clintasha #natasha romanoff x oc #wanda maximoff x oc #clint barton x oc #bruce banner x oc #sam wilson x oc #all caps #thor x oc #thor #fanfic #fanfiction #smut #pregnancy #the tower

[shezzaspeare]

Pilot/Episode 1: Patching Things Up With Pastiche & Fanfiction

Hi, hello, and the wait is finally over! My name is Blessie, and welcome to the first episode webisode log installation I've decided to call these things an episode for now because why not also let me know what do you actually call these things episode of The Science of Fanfiction, where we take a closer look into our beloved works of fanon because we've all got plenty of time to spare till Season 5. Before I continue, I would like to thank everyone who's liked and reblogged the last few posts before this one. It means a lot for a small and growing Tumblr user like me, and your support is something I cherish more than my modules. You guys rock!

Anyways, like with most things, we have to talk about the boring and bland stuff before we proceed with the fun stuff. For today, we are going to settle the difference between a couple of things: first being the confusion between pastiche and fanfiction; then the distinctions between tropes, clichés, and stereotypes, which we'll tackle the next time. It's important for us to establish their true meanings in order for us to really understand what fanfiction truly is, even if it's merely just a work done for the fandom. I know – it's boring, it's something that shouldn't be expounded that much, but I believe that all forms of writing (unless it's plagiarised) is a work of art — and fanfiction is not something we always talk about. I hope that by the end of this, you'll learn about what they really are as much as I did. Let's begin to talk about the—

[Image ID: A flashback of John (left) and Sherlock (right) finding an elephant (not in the screen) in a room in The Sign of Three. End ID]

. . . I did say that this GIF will always have to make an appearance here, didn't I?

So, just as with Sherlock Holmes, all other works of fiction have their own pastiches and fanfiction, and many more original works out there have taken inspiration from them to create their own books. Although they've gained popular attention, this will not be possible if they did not have taken inspiration from the materials their writers had at the time.

[Image ID: Various actors as Dracula. Jeremy Brett in 'Dracula' (1978) (upper left), Adam Sandler in a voice role for 'Hotel Transylvania' (2012) (upper right), Gary Oldman in 'Dracula' (1992) (lower left), and Bela Lugosi in 'Dracula' (1933) (lower right). End ID]

For instance, Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (the second most adapted literary character, next to the consulting detective himself) has been portrayed on the screen over 200 times — from Gary Oldman to Adam Sandler — and has spawned off numerous books and pastiches of its own such as Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot'. Its cultural impact served as a basis of how we see vampires today, since some characteristics of the Count were made by Stoker himself. Stoker's creation is the brainchild of his predecessors and inspirations.

[Image ID: Vlad the Impaler (left) and a book cover of 'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (right). End ID]

Other than the ongoing hysteria over dead back then and the existing vampire folklore, Stoker also took his inspirations from the published books on vampires he had at hand. He is said to have taken inspiration from Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian national hero known allegedly for having impalement as his favourite method of torture. He is also said to have been inspired by the J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla', a Gothic lesbian vampire novella that predates Dracula by 26 years. I could go on, but hey, we're going back to Sherlock Holmes now before I deviate any further. However, if you want to know about Dracula's literary origins, I suggest you watch Ted-ED's videos about the subject matter such as this one or this one.

Very much like Stoker, ACD didn't just conceive Holmes on his own. He took his own inspirations from what he had available at the time.

[Image ID: Dr Joseph Bell (left) and Edgar Allan Poe (right). End ID]

As we all know, ACD's biggest inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was one of his teachers at the Edinburgh University, Joseph Bell. He was famous for his powers of deduction, and he was also interested in forensic science — both characteristics which Holmes is greatly known for. He also drew inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's sleuth, C. Auguste Dupin ('The Purloined Letter' & 'Murders in Rue Morgue'). As ACD himself has said at the 1909 Poe Centennial Dinner: "Where was the detective story until Poe breathed life into it?" Some other writers he took after are Wilkie Collins, Émile Gaboriau, and Oscar Wilde.

Now, what does this say about us Sherlockians/Holmesians (depending if you're the coloniser or the one that was colonised)? Basically, ACD laid the groundwork for us with Sherlock Holmes: his humble abode 221B that he shares with his flatmate Dr. John Watson, his adventures, memoirs, return, casebook, last vow, and all that. Now that we have this material at hand, we can now make our own versions, takes, or even original stories featuring the characters of the Canon. Our inspiration comes from ACD's Sherlock Holmes, and we now get the chance to make our very own stories/conspiracy theories about them.

As I have mentioned earlier, Sherlock Holmes is the most adapted literary character in history. He has been adapted in over 200 films, more than 750 radio adaptations, a ballet, 2 musicals; and he's become a mouse, a woman, a dog, even a bloody cucumber. On top of all that are numerous pastiches and fanfics, and finally, we have arrived at the main topic of our post!

Fanfiction and pastiche are often confused together since they have three common elements: they take after the original work, they usually use the characters in that original work, and more often than not do are they set in that same time frame/period or not long after that. The common misconception is that pastiche are printed fanfiction, which is only partly true. While pastiche is definitely fanfiction in some ways and vice versa, there are fanfictions out there that aren't necessarily classified as pastiche that have been published.

Let's get on with our definition of terms to clear up the confusion a little more. Pastiche, according to Literary Terms, is:

. . . a creative work that imitates another author or genre. It’s a way of paying respect, or honor, to great works of the past. Pastiche differs from parody in that pastiche isn’t making fun of the works it imitates – however, the tone of pastiche is often humorous.

A good example of a pastiche is Sophie Hannah's 'The Monogram Murders', which is her take from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

[Image ID: A book cover of 'The Monogram Murders' by Sophie Hannah. End ID.]

Although this was a commission from Christie's estate, it's still considered as a pastiche as:

It's takes after Christie's writing style;

It is set in the early years of Poirot's career (1929), which is still within the time frame that the author wrote him in;

It features Poirot and;

It pays respect to Christie in a sense that it stays true to her (Christie) characters and way of storytelling.

Meanwhile, our good and slightly unreliable friend Wikipedia defines fanfiction as:

. . . is fictional writing written by fans, commonly of an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other intellectual property from the original creator(s) as a basis for their writing. [It] ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can both keep the creator's characters and settings and/or add their own. [ . . . ] [It] can be based on any fictional (and sometimes non-fictional) subject. Common bases for fanfiction include novels, movies, bands, and video games.

To avoid any copyright infringement issues if I ever use a popular fanfic in the fandom, we'll use my (unfinished and unpopular) Sherlock Wattpad fic, 'Play Pretend'. You can read it here.

[Image ID: The second self-made book cover of Blessie/shezzaspeare's 'Play Pretend'. End ID]

Why is it considered a fanfiction and not a pastiche?

It takes after an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes (BBC Sherlock) which is a TV show, not the ACD canon itself;

The author (in this case myself) uses her own writing style and does not take after the original story's style;

Although it is set well in modern-day London and after Season 4, it also features scenes decades before the actual fanfic is set and outside of London;

I added a considerable number of characters, i.e. siblings to canon characters;

I had my own take some of the canon characters' personality especially after the events of Sherrinford;

It is written by a fan – myself. It is a work of fan labour and;

It is only a work of fanon, and isn't likely going to be considered by the show as its writing style is different from the actual show.

To put it simply, you can have more freedom in a fanfiction as it does not necessarily restrict you to follow or take after the original stories. Alternate universes (AUs) such as Unilock and Teenlock are perfect examples of this thing.

So can a pastiche be classified as fanfiction? Yes.

Can a fanfiction be classified as pastiche? Not all the time.

What's the difference? While yes, they share the basics, pastiche is technically leans more onto the original work's fundamental elements whereas fanfiction is a broader range of works inspired by the original work but doesn't necessarily follow all or any of its fundamental elements.

In order for us to understand it more, I'll give another example.

[Image ID: The 'Enola Holmes' title card (upper left) and Henry Cavill as its Sherlock holmes (upper right). Underneath it is a a scene from the opening titles of BBC Sherlock (lower left) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal In Belgravia. (lower right) End ID]

Most of you are familiar with these 21st-century adaptations of Holmes: the 2020 adaptation of Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books and BBC Sherlock, which needs no further explanation – but for those who don't know, it's basically Holmes and the gang if they were alive today. I specifically chose these two as they are the ones that I believe would get my points across best. Though both are considered as wonderful pastiches with a well-rounded cast and awesome visuals, if we break them down bit by bit, we'll see which one is more of a pastiche and which one is more of a fanfic. (Yes, I know they're both screen adaptations. However, as Enola Holmes was based on the books and BBC Sherlock's fanfiction has the show's scenes written out in most fanfics, hear me out.)

They share these characteristics of a pastiche:

They feature characters from the Canon (Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, and Lestrade);

They have additional characters added by the writers (Including but not limited to Molly Hooper, Eurus Holmes, and Philip Anderson for BBC Sherlock while Enola Holmes has Lord Tewkesbury, Eudoria Holmes, and Enola herself) and;

They pay respect to the original Canon as their stories are based on the cases (BBC Sherlock) or simply what was going on around them (Enola Holmes).

They also share these characteristics of a fanfic:

They are made by enthusiasts of Sherlock Holmes (Moffat has called himself and Mark Gatiss 'Sherlock Holmes geeks', while Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books are not just one or two but six);

They follow a common trope (we'll discuss these tropes in the following episodes) that goes on in the fandom (Sherlock's Sister & Modern AU)

They are based on a fictional subject (Sherlock Holmes);

They used characters and story elements that are copyrighted by the author/author's estate (fun fact: prior to the production of Enola Holmes, the Conan Doyle Estate filed a lawsuit against Springer & Netflix over Sherlock's emotions since he was more 'sympathetic' than he was portrayed in the Canon – this was later dismissed by both parties) and;

Their writing styles don't necessarily follow ACD's.

Despite these similarities, there are very obvious differences between the two that separates them from being a pastiche and a fanfiction.

Enola Holmes embodies pastiche more as it doesn't stray far away from the original elements of the Canon. It's still set in Victorian England. While Springer added characters of her own and definitely twisted the Canon to suit her series, she didn't necessarily place them out of the social construct that was going on around the characters. It follows ACD's writing style more as Enola Holmes' setting still remains within the Canon's original setting.

Meanwhile, we can safely say that BBC Sherlock is a work of fanfiction. While it did give us The Abominable Bride, the main series focused on Holmes and Watson in 21st-century England, which is drastically different from Victorian England. There are phones, black cabs, and cellphones — things which ACD Sherlock Holmes doesn't have. It also diverted from the Canon in the characters themselves, which is mostly seen in the names: Henry Baskerville became Henry Knight, Charles Augustus Milverton became Charles Augustus Magnussen, the H in Dr Watson's name stood for Hamish and Sherlock's full name is actually William Sherlock Scott Holmes. They also changed the personalities of some Canon characters: Mary was actually an ex-assassin, Mrs Hudson was an exotic dancer who drove a kick-ass sports car, Irene Adler is a dominatrix, to name a few. Moffat and Gatiss created a world of their own featuring the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which is really what most of us fanfic writers do with Mofftiss' rendition of Holmes.

In conclusion: while pastiche and fanfiction could have been the same thing, they're actually not. There's more to them that just printed fanfiction or pastiche e-books, and we all should take some time to see and observe them in a closer perspective.

And that's it for our first episode! I hope you enjoyed it. It was a lot fun for me to write this, especially now that I'm only starting. I would also like to note that while intensive research has been done on this series, some parts of this comes from my own observation and opinion, which may vary from yours. I am very much open to criticism, as long as it is said in a polite and civil manner. I'm still young, and to be educated as I go is something that could really help me with this series.

Like and reblog this you like it. It helps out a lot. Be sure to follow me as well and the tags underneath if you want to see more of TSoF.

See you soon!

Blessie presents – The Science of Fanfiction: A Study In Sherlock (2021) • Next

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SOURCES • Pinterest, Google Images, Wikipedia, Literary Terms, Conan Doyle Estate, Definitions, The Sherlock Holmes Book, and Google

#the science of fanfiction #sherlock #sherlock holmes #johnlock #bbc sherlock #dracula #enola holmes #lord tewkesbury #jeremy brett #shezzaspeare #bram stoker #acd #canon #fanfiction #pastiche #holmes #adlock #sherlolly #molly hooper #greg lestrade

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About “Separate Tides” from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...>A-hem< F**KING CALLED IT!

I said that the earliest that The Owl House would return would be late June and early July. And some of YYYOOOUUU sons of witches doubted me by saying it would be fall or winter. Well, guess what! "Separate Tides'' has come and gone, the show is back and better than ever, and we are all happy about it! You see how it pays to be optimistic, you persistent PACK OF PESSIMISTS!

...Sorry. Got a little hot there. I'm just so happy it's BACK!

10 MONTHS! It's been nearly 10 months since this show began its hiatus, large in part because of the pandemic. It was painful. BOY, was it painful. But I can already tell that the new season is going to be well worth the wait just by this episode alone.

But beware you mangey sea dogs! Thar be spoilers ahead when discussing such a premier.

And I swear to you that it's only spoilers for "Separate Tides." I haven't seen "Escaping Expulsion" either, and I promise you will be safe from anybody ruining it for you. But maybe don't read any responses from this post. Thar may be d**ks in these waters. So let's review, shall we!

WHAT I LIKE

Mirroring Season One’s Opening Scene: First off, this is a neat callback to what is the perfect first impression of the series. That scene perfectly introduces us to the type of show The Owl House is, while this one acts as a reintroduction to the world we left for way too long.

Second, this is also a well-hidden character moment. Luz is finally living the life she dreamed of, but it isn't exactly all that she expected. It's a great showcase that despite literally running away to a fantasy world, Luz is still getting a regular dose of reality. And I still love the irony in all of that.

(Plus, King eating the bounty is just funny).

The Recap Recording: This is a smart way to recap events from the season finale. It might be weird that Luz says things that the audience already knows, but she's not talking to us. She's talking to her mom. So she's going to explain all that she can in a way for Camila to fully understand. Besides, not every fan had repeatedly watched The Owl House Season One over and over again like a bunch of frickin' lunatics...You know who you are.

Plus, as an upside, Luz gets to explain new events and concepts for how she and the rest of the Owl House are making a living. In no way does it feel like forced exposition because, again, she's trying to describe as much as she can to her mother. It's a reasonable and natural way to talk to the audience in order to catch them up while also showing what's been happening since we've last left this show.

Luz Can’t Send Texts to Her Mom: ...Well, Texts to Home, it was fun while it lasted, but the current canon has decided that you're done. I'll miss you and appreciate all that you've done for me, but, yeah, this is the end. Sorry.

Alright, now that I got my jokes out of the way, allow me to explain how this is really a heartbreaking moment. Because the fact that Luz is forever cut off from her mother, even through texts, is an idea that just twists the knife in your heart when you really sit down to think about it. Luz's little goodbye at the end of her video does nothing but makes it worse.

On the upside, we get some solid character development as Luz doesn't even hesitate to send the video to Camila, learning her lesson from "Enchanted Grom Fright" about being more honest. She finally faced her fear, even if it was a fruitless effort.

They’re Doing Odd Jobs Now: This is a smart workaround for how the Owl House residents are making money. Some fans guessed that maybe Eda had so much junk piled up that they wouldn’t worry, but this seems more of a logical direction. Even if Eda had enough garbage to sell, she’ll can and will eventually run out at some point, meaning that they will all have to take the odd jobs anyway. So I appreciate the writers used that plot point sooner rather than later, as a fun romp as bounty hunters is something you want to do early in the season instead of later on. Especially with how Dana Terrace confirmed that s**t’s gonna go down in the future.

Lilith: ...I'm still willing to hold off--What the f**k did I say his name was? *looks up past review* Frederick Ulis--Frederick Ulisinsburg!

I am willing to hold off Frederick Ulisinsburg, for now, because Lilith is...sort of on the right track. I mean, I don't like how quick she was to playfully mock Eda or rudely yell at Hooty. But I do think that there is potential for her character. She feels genuine guilt for what she's done, and there's a chance that the new season will explore that further if the writers are smart (which they are). On top of that, there's a possibility that every time Lilith tries to act cocky or full of herself, she will be treated as a proverbial punching bag because of it. Like how her poster got burned down after boasting how impressive she looks. Or how Golden Guard's poster magically sealed itself to her face when Lilith tried to throw it away. It's the latter that primarily got me cackling like a madman due to how deservingly hilarious it was.

And, well...she happily clapped like a schoolgirl! Which was adorable! I can't hate characters who have the potential to be adorable! It's not in my nature!

So, while I am a little hesitant in liking her, I think there's a chance for improvement in her character in the future that I look forward to. We just have to wait and see if the writers pull it off.

(By the way, to the person that came up with Lilith wearing a "battery low" shirt...you're a genius in visual gags/storytelling.)

Greg’s List: Have I ever mentioned that this show is funny?

Who's Greg? Why does he organize a list of perfect bounties?

I don't know, but the idea of some random person in the Boiling Isles is putting it on himself to set up a list to make bounties...I'm sorry, but that's funny to me. It's also probably for how Craig's List was made, but when you really think about it, Craig's List is a funny idea as well.

Eda Isn’t Feared Anymore: I sort of guessed that this would happen, but seeing it is a whole different level of sympathy to feel for the character. Eda's main schtick was being the most powerful witch on the Isles, and that's gone now. She's forced to adapt to this new normal, which she's quick to do, but still. Tt's got to be a rough kick to the ego now that no one even cares about who she is anymore.

It's a low moment for her character that hopefully sets up her own arc for the rest of the season.

Luz Feels Like She’s a Burden: I will demolish her with love and kindness if she even CONSIDERS talking so poorly about herself again! Because Luz is not a burden. She is a beam of light that literally brightens up the lives of nearly everyone she meets. Eda already explains how her life is better because of Luz (through a heart-tugging speech that almost got to me, by the way), but it's not just Eda.

King now has his first real friend who admires him and treats him like the king he wants to be.

Willow has become much more confident and cheerful because Luz was always in her corner.

Gus learns more about the humans he appreciates with his whole heart while also having a friend that treats him like an equal rather than a kid.

And do I even have to say ANYTHING about Amity?

The Boiling Isles wouldn't be better off without Luz. It's better because of her. And shame on this girl for thinking otherwise...even though I fully understand where she's coming from.

I'm about to get personal for a second, so strap in. Because I am a twenty-somthing-year-old who is currently living with his mom. It's as pathetic as it sounds. But it's because I'm still attending college, and she says school comes first and jobs and apartments come second. Despite that, I feel like trash for just...living here as she still takes care of me and pays for the food I can't afford. She says that I shouldn't worry about it, but I still wait for the day I can finally pay her back for everything. Not some things, but everything. And that's Luz's mentality in this episode. The overwhelming guilt she's feeling for thinking she's inconveniencing Eda's life is something that hits really hard for me. It doesn't matter if it's true, but that she believes it's true. It's a heartbreaking character arc she's forced into for this episode that also adds more to why she's one of the many characters I heavily relate to.

Lulu and Hootstipher: Whoever thought of this idea...I f**king love you.

This is similar to when Noah and Owen became friends in Total Drama World Tour. Seemingly one-sided at first, you see a cute friendship that you would have never expected, but it works! Hooty is this happy and naive character who hardly understands what's going on half the time, and Lilith is...Lilith. Their chemistry is instantly fun as their dynamic is quick to understand.

This also shines with potential for character growth, for it could give Lilith a chance to be more caring and Hooty a chance to be more than just the comic relief. If you were to tell me that this is what was going to happen when the season premiered, I would have thought you were crazy. But now, after seeing it in action, I'm genuinely excited to see where this cute friendship between these two goes.

(As long as it doesn't involve fans shipping them. Because Hooty can do better)

Luz Getting Better with Her Magic: Our little bisexual princess is growing up! And, man, is it awesome to see. Luz going from just barely knowing how to do magic to full-on using her spells like second nature just warms my heart with all the character growth it presents. Now, some people might want an explanation for how she's able to do said spells, to which I say: "Who the f**k cares?"

If you ask me, Luz's magic is one of those things that doesn't need a direct answer because it doesn't matter as much. But if you're going to be a baby about it, here's what I can offer: As far as I can tell, it's equal parts having the glyph and mentally picturing what the spell should do. It's much like how Willow draws a spell circle and can either make giant jungle vines or a patch of flowers to land on. Luz's glyphs are her own spell circles. As long as she concentrates hard enough, she can make the glyph do whatever she wants it to.

There. You have your explanation. Now let's just all appreciate the fact that Luz can now throw fireballs and make vine whips like the superpowered teenager she most likely fantasized of being. Ok? Ok.

A Pirate Losing His Head...Literally: ...And I'm gonna go ahead and add that to the list.

I mean, for f**k's sake, WE SEE BONE! He puts his head back on, but we still see the bone!

Eda in a Pirate Outfit: ...That is all.

The Golden Guard: This guy shows up for only a few minutes, and I'm already beginning to like him. He seems just as threatening as Belos while also coming across as a guy who loves his job and being a ton of fun to watch because of it. I adore villains that find that balance of being funny and terrifying. The result is a character who makes me laugh on top of making me scared of what they could do to our protagonists. So far, that's the Golden Guard in a nutshell, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store with him. Whether it involves seeing him play with food as he did with Eda and Luz in this episode or seeing him getting kicked in the crotch like a little punk like him deserves, I am all for it.

(Bonus points if it's Amity who does the crotch kicking if he ever makes an advancement on Luz)

Eda Wanting to Protect the Selkidomus: I love this. It plays into the idea that Eda cares about things being wild and free and despises how Emperor Belos would want to control everything, including the most insignificant of animals. It shows just how kind Eda really is rather than someone motivated by greed...even if she does end up filthy rich in the end.

Emperor Belos’ Brief Cameo: Yup, still terrifying!

And if it turns out that Belos can see the Scrying Potion that Lilith made...we're going to have some problems.

Much like the actual problems that I have with this episode!

(Like that transition?)

WHAT I DISLIKE

King Being Stupid: King has two different personalities in this series. Either he's a pathetic wannabe ruler who seems intelligent or an idiotic Disney comedic sidekick. That latter version of King is what we get in "Separate Tides," and I don't like it (obviously). I don't care how cute it is to see him cling onto Luz's leg and exclaim how he won't let her leave. The same character who helped Luz break into a prison to save Eda shouldn't be the same one who falls asleep when a sheet covers him like a dumbass parrot! King's at his best when he's as intelligent as the rest of the characters. And not as dumb as someone like Hooty.

Eda Being Too Nice Around Lilith: This one bothers me the most. After being cursed for thirty years and having her life ruined by the person she thought she could trust the most, Eda is still all smiley and jokey when talking to Lilith. Yeah, sorry, but I don't buy that. No one in their right mind would be that cool with a person who did all of what Lilith did. It's a major misstep that squanders what could have been a fantastic overarching story of Eda learning to forgive her sister and Lilith trying to earn it. We'll at least get Lilith's guilt, but as is, I feel Eda showing genuine anger towards her would elevate that story by a lot.

IN CONCLUSION

But that's about all the bad things I have to say about "Separate Tides." As is, it is a well-earned, solid A of a season premiere. It introduces new concepts and characters I can't wait to see more of, continues old storylines and character development instead of ignoring them, and still proves that The Owl House is as charming and funny as it always was. Maybe the rest of the season could continue to be great, or maybe things might get worse. Time can only tell. For now, all I can tell you is that "Separate Tides" is a great and fun episode that makes me excited as we set sail to this new season.

(And Scared. Mostly scared)

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #the owl house review #luz noceda #edalyn clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #the golden guard #king of demons #toh hooty #what i thought about

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

bittersweet netflix shadow and bone finale (s1 e8) rewatch; accoutrement: white wine with ice cubes in it (no YOU'RE a mom drink shh)

my wine's like fruity I love her

light and darkness title card we love to see it

Inej looking at Alina before she goes below deck to hide <3

okay that 'what can you really do on your own' was like not fun that shit hurted

okay but Jesper's 'not enough'? <3

oh no my baby Zoya's first inkling that Darkles does not really care

omg Helnik just appeared and I remembered how much heartbreak I have to face in this episode

gods I love Danielle as Nina so so much

'this can't be it' said she with her pleading smile with downturned eyebrows MA'AM I-

don't break my dumb little heart

I might hate Calahan's little accent but they're making me tear up

oh gods I literally cannot keep a hold on myself when Dani's accent bleeds through with full force, it's like she comes more alive or smth

'I will keep you warm' SIR WHAT-

I am surprised they showed a leaning in for a kiss so soon but I'm not mad about it

her little eyebrow twitch at 'what are waffles'

when that rando said 'i hunt slavers now' a dread settled into me because I knew what was about to go down

Matthias looking somberly at the stuffed wolf's head </3

I am so incredibly entranced by this exchange between Fedyor and Nina and what it represents, it's very interesting that they pushed up their storyline to match with the timeline

damn it's kind of jarring to be back in the Fold

'REMEMBER WHO'S DRIVING'??!!!! *you better stop* meme, *i am, disgusted* meme, *oh wow, oh wow* meme

Mal you fucking idiot you could never take the crows by surprise

the music rising as Kaz starts explaining his thought process, fucking perfection

haha Mal bitchass Inej caught you

'Because if he isn't with Kirigan's crew, he's with ours' WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED

'And why would we destroy the Fold? It's the greatest weapon we've got' valid point at the moment but you know I don't necessarily agree with your methods

the use of the light tunnel in the show instead of Alina just being a super flashlight in the books is quite an interesting addition as well

is this an inappropriate time to point out how pretty Ben Barnes is

okay I kind of love the depiction of the shadow powers okay sue me

'they are traitors who tried to kill you' why are you suddenly making valid points despite having kind of committed low scale genocide

'i never said I was smart' YES MAL BE THE VOICE OF HIMBOS EVERYWHERE

Kaz's face going from 'can you believe this idiot' at Mal to 'fuck me I'm gonna do the same thing aren't I' at Inej

'For who would oppose us now?' *himbo romantic rival appears out of nowhere and shoots at him* god I love this show

him standing calmly in his ridiculous all black attire after nodding at his soldier to stop the himbo in his tracks, i fucking can't

could she summon light without the Darkling making her after he put the collar on her until the uhm moment in the books? idts but in the show she can hmm

'only because I'm not in the game' you tell him Jesper

not me snickering at 'you'll be seen not as a saviour, but as a heretic' LMFAO

'Shame. I'll have to give that speech again now.' THIS SHOW IS A FUCKING COMEDY AND YOU CAN'T PROVE ME WRONG

YES LET'S FUCKING GO SULI SOLIDARITY

Darkles casually whipping the Cut out like a shuriken or a throwing knife at Jesper because he shot at him lmao I can't

INEJ FUCKING GHAFA STABBED ONE THE OLDEST AND MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THAT WORLD AND THAT IS VERY TELLING OF HER POWER

that moment where you actually think that affected him despite having read the books and watched the show

and then he has to go and fucking say 'it will take more than this' and I can't be help but be a little bit impressed at this old fool's resilience

throwback to when he said 'the king is a child' sir you make some valid points sometimes and it does make it difficult to hate you

I would just like to inform everyone that it is currently 6:09 am IST and I am sipping my second mug of wine while watching netflix sab for the second time instead of doing my three papers that are due tomorrow

I'm sorry but Inej jumping to check on Zoya after she gets knocked over by the volcra? first class display of solidarity and sisterhood as well as Inej's inherent kindness

Kaz jumping in front of a FUCKING VOLCRA AND STABBING IT WITH HIS CANE to save Inej, you best believe love is true, kids

god the volcra are so ugly and gross, they did such a good job with them

they kind of remind me of these creatures (I think they might have been called Hollows or smth) from the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie

STAG VISION TIME

despite my dislike for the callous nature with which the stag plotline was handled, I kind of dig the stag vision scene

'It's just me and you now, Alina. And we're all we need, anyway.' I actually feel bad for this old fool simping for this wonderful gorgeous powerful woman despite lying to her and manipulating her and exploiting her power

okay 'I never needed you' *stabs the bone fragment out of his hand* beautiful power move I fucking love you so so much

alright ben looking like ✨ that✨ not only in physical pain but also emotional pain at what the Darkling clearly considers another betrayal from this girl he wants to give the world and maybe? loves? maybe? or at least has feelings for makes my fucking heart hurt while simultaneously soar at Alina taking back control and reclaiming her power as her own and stepping into her own

'how do you claim such power' okay could have had better dialogue there writers

the fucking score lifting as she says 'you cannot claim what was not given to you' good people my heart is full

one day I'll talk about my defense of the chosen one trope because god damn I kind of love it

hmm I wonder was that brief hesitation that we saw on Alina's face due to her thinking about the 'you chose to betray our people' comment or the 'i was trying to save us' comment because that will define some of her actions in the later seasons (hopefully god if we get some, I honestly don't know what with this stupid brownface debacle)

I'm not saying talking about brownface and pointing out that it is wrong (for further context, I am actually brown) and harmful is stupid btw I'm talking about the incidents involving brownface in question

I don't wanna talk about this anymore but I might feel like I need to and end up posting about it idk

goodness Ivan actually believing in this cause makes me so sad because he too has been victimized by the system that ostracizes Grisha and he has every right to feel the way that he does

Ben actually fighting in that ridiculously heavy cloak and kefta when he's about to turn 40 this year makes me super impressed because I as a 19 year old sometimes wake up with muscle pulls after weeks of inactivity it's weird idk

also I understand that this Mal Darkling fight is completely fanservice and serves nearly no purpose to the plot in general but like I? love it?

'I don't have to kill you Darkling. Your past will do it for me' YES HIMBO GO OFF YOU TELL THAT OLD MAN GODS THAT WAS SEXY AS FUCK

maybe it's because I know Darkles will survive and will come out of it more powerful but I can't get myself to feel bad for him at the moment

Inej and Mal tearing up at Alina's condition made me almost feel something despite it being super obvious she was gonna be fine and save their asses at the last moment

HER POWER

a solitary Kaz in spotted on the western side of the newly expanded fold in his signature all black emo boy look

okay but the crows with zoya and malina is such an adorable team? I literally love them so much?

INEJ'S FUCKING SMILE AT ALINA GIVING HER THE DAGGER AND KAZ LOOKING AT HER AGSGSGSHSJSJSK MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

SHE KNOWS JUST WHAT TO NAME IT WELL GIRLIE I KNOW IT TOO AND MY FUCKING HEART IS LITERALLY GONNA BURST

okay I know they had one interaction but Mal and Jesper would be besties in another universe

Kaz glaring at Jesper when he answers ''course not' to Alina's 'will you still be trying to kidnap me?' tell me one fucking adaptation that got the dynamics between characters this perfectly

okay why do I love that Alina kept the jewellery as maybe a small nod to she has the wits to, um, you know, I don't wanna say steal, but, um, yeah, steal it because she knew she would need money to survive on the run

oh Jessie I love you so much I wish you hadn't said those things on you ig story about the brownface

it's like every single celeb I grow attached to god's like nope that one is going to do or say something problematic (hey btw im not reassigning blame to god for stuff people have done out of their own free will, 'twas a joke)

AAAAAAAH them saying 'the deal is the deal' in the show even though they didn't have to but like they did and I love them for it

Inej literally not being able to not stare at Kaz's face and smile after this <3

'I didn't expect it to burn at all. But it can be destroyed in the end. Just like him' babe you're not wrong but like um just you wait

god Mal being on supportive boyfie mode is well, absolutely adorable, obviously, but I wish we got to see more of him as a person outside of his attachment to Alina

kaz my little demjin I wish you hadn't have had to suffer so much to meet the crows and find your calling

fastforwarding Zoya's arc is also an interesting choice to me

I wish the hug hadn't been done though, it didn't feel earned

maybe Alina awkwardly and half-heartedly (remember, at this point the alliance is fresh and they still don't entirely trust each other) reached for a hug and Zoya avoided her? and then the rest of Zoya's lines followed? that would have made more sense to me at least

I love Sujaya as well, she brought life into Zoya with whatever little screentime and scraps of writing she got

inej asking kaz 'what's your angle?' beep bop bleep morp I sense another incoming embarrassing love confession

'but we do need you' *stares at her face intensely* 'I need you' ah look at the clock, look's like it's time to screech and flap your arms like you're a volcra because you're incapable of containing your emotions

NO YOU CAN'T GO DIRECTLY FROM KANEJ PROGRESS TO HELNIK BREAKUP (TEMPORARY, MIND YOU)

helnik my loves you don't deserve this I'm so sorry for both of you

Matthias fucking smiling ruefully while he says 'this was... just a cruel joke all along' THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY

omg hellgate

AAAAAAAAH NINA IS ON THE SAME FRAME AS THE OG CROWS I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

CAMERA PAN FROM KAZ SAYING 'JUST HOW THIS ALL STARTED... WE'RE GONNA NEED A HEARTRENDED' TO NINA OVERHEARING HIM AND LOOKING OVER?????!!!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THIS TO ME?!

Nina genuinely being curious as to the status of the sun saint because she obviously still cares

Also, 'But she is a Saint' okay Kaz trying to earn brownie points you have succeeded

DID THAT SAILOR JUST SAY 'GOED MORGEN FENTOMEN' TO MALINA BECAUSE I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM JUST THROWING THAT IN MY FACE ALL OF A SUDDEN

gods I know I'll probably see them again but my heart is full of sorrow as my eyes drink in the sight of my crows for the last time for a while

I know people were annoyed at the meadow flashbacks but guess what? as a darklina, I loved them

'now that the Darkling is dead' could have phrased that a little differently my dudes that line needed to hold more weight

am I glad that they showed Darkles in this state with his nichevo'ya as a tasty little cliffhanger despite not being entirely true to the source material? maybe but only because Ben Barnes saying 'follow' and the nichevo'ya doing exactly so sent a chill down my spine

well, that's it for now, I'll have to move on I guess, get back to my real life which I'm obviously not ready to do

thank you to whoever actually read these things

I probably should have just made reactions or commentary videos instead but I'm lazy

my tumblr will probably go into inactivity once more as I emerge from my stint in the grishaverse

it was quite short (less than 2 months), considering the length of my other obsessions but it was definitely more intense than the other ones

#netflix shadow and bone #shadow and bone #grishaverse #grishaverse spoilers #six of crows #sab #soc #tgt #the grisha trilogy spoilers #netflix shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone spoilers #six of crows spoilers #sab spoilers #soc spoilers #tgt spoilers #alina starkov #jessie mei li #ben barnes #aleksander morozova #the darkling #general kirigan #darklina #malyen oretsev #malina #zoya nazyalensky #sujaya dasgupta #fedyor kaminsky #julian kostov #ivan no last name #ivan

[carewyncromwell]

Judging by this picture of what looks like a stained glass slipper, I’d say we’re about to continue the Cinderella AU!

One of the best ways to deal with an anxiety attack is to ground oneself in the present situation. A common technique is the 54321 Method, which Carewyn doesn’t display here, but she does end up (without realizing it) evoking the idea of grounding by accenting her physical presence and encouraging Orion to take deep breaths. 

All of the lines Orion spouts while Carewyn runs away are ones the Prince in Disney’s animated version of Cinderella cries, when his mysterious lady love runs from him. It amuses me to no end how in so many magical Cinderella adaptations, it takes whole minutes for the clock to strike twelve -- in the case of the animated/live action Disney versions, so many that we even get a full chase scene for the pumpkin coach in that time. 😂

Trigger warning for a brief mention of suicidal thoughts. 

Previous part is here -- whole tag is here -- Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee -- and I hope you all enjoy!

x~x~x~x

Orion led Carewyn down the hall at a run, unable to break free of the happy adrenaline that pulsed through him. Some people in the hall outside the ballroom eyed the young king and his enchantingly striking partner curiously as they passed, but neither of the two paid them much mind. Orion rounded a corner with Carewyn, passing a large gold-trimmed grandfather clock as it tolled 11. Once they’d gotten around the corner, he opened a wall and pulled her into the secret passage behind it, out of sight from anyone who might pursue them. 

Once through the passage, Orion dashed up a flight of stairs with Carewyn, up, up, up, toward the upper levels. At last, when they reached the top of the stairs, he opened another passage, which opened up onto the landing of the battlements on the top floor of Florence’s castle. 

The cold winter wind gushed around them, tiny traces of snowflakes trailing through the air as Carewyn and Orion stepped out. As soon as they were outside, Carewyn gave a start at the odd smell that touched her nose. Curious, she moved out to the edge of the ramparts -- and she gasped.

The sea. 

The odd smell was the salt of the spray from the Southern Sea, only a few miles from the back of Florence’s palace. It was so dark out that Carewyn could hardly see the lightless buildings between the palace and sea, and yet she could still make out the ethereal white sea foam in its grayish black depths. Its waves rushed at the shore, sounding like some kind of resonating whisper that never needed extra breath to sustain itself, and its growing and shrinking waves sparkled in the moonlight. 

Carewyn exhaled, her lips spread into a wide open smile of awe. Orion came up behind her, watching her. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” 

Carewyn couldn’t take her eyes off of it. “It’s...it’s breathtaking.”

Orion slowly approached her, his eyes trailing along her shoulder and down her back with an oddly unreadable look. Once he’d come up just behind her, he very slowly extended a hand. It lingered uncertainly in mid-air for a moment, before it tentatively made contact with her back, exposed by the cut of her dress.

Carewyn flinched, unable to hold back a gasp of both surprise and pain. Orion pulled his hand away at once.

“Forgive me,” he said. His voice betrayed some anxiety.

Carewyn looked at him. Orion’s unflappable face had lost a lot of its color under his mask and his black eyes flickered the way her white horse’s would when it was nervous. 

“I can't see any injuries,” he explained, “but I can feel them there all the same.”

His eyes narrowed a bit upon her face.

“...Who...who delivered those lashes to your back?”

Carewyn’s blue eyes rippled with sorrow. “Orion -- ”

“Who?” Orion asked again. His voice was tenser than she’d ever heard it. 

Carewyn couldn’t look him in the eye. She tore her gaze away, looking out toward the sea again as she clutched the railing with both hands. 

“...My grandfather,” she said at last, very softly. “I...‘acted inappropriately.’”

Orion did not respond. The silence dragged, to the point that it had become deafening. When Carewyn finally felt brave enough to look back over at Orion, she saw that he’d migrated to the railing himself a short ways away, clasping his hands very tightly together as he looked out at the sea. His head was bowed, his face largely obscured by the darkness, but he was taking very deep, heavy breaths. 

Carewyn’s heart clenched. She moved to him, bringing a hand to rest on his shoulder. 

“Orion, I’m -- ”

“Don’t say you’re all right.”

Orion’s voice was very soft, but harder than Carewyn had ever heard it before. It made her stiffen, her grip on his shoulder faltering -- her partial withdrawal seemed to affect Orion, making him whirl around and seize her hand in both of his, as if desperate to keep her close. 

“A whip is a tool only used to cause pain -- a tool with no other use besides that,” he said. He spoke in a faster, tenser voice than normal: one that, although misty as ever, was turbulent in a way Carewyn had never heard. “Therefore it can never be used to spark any good in this world. It leaves scars that never heal -- that designate you as subhuman and your suffering as insignificant -- that make people cringe at the sight of them, wondering what crime you’ve committed or what lowly status you must be, to have earned them, when truly it says more about the person who inflicted them on you than it ever could you -- ”

“Orion...” Carewyn whispered.

Orion’s eyes were flashing with an odd emotion, one hard and blazing like a flame under a shell of hard black diamond. It took Carewyn a moment to realize it was anger. 

“You’re so strong,” he said, his shaking voice very hushed and rambling even as his breathing grew more irregular. “You’ve always been so resilient, and I don’t want to demean that, but -- but you shouldn’t have to be that strong! You shouldn’t have to downplay the suffering you’ve gone through! You shouldn’t have to stay locked in the dragon’s keep and endure, and I shouldn’t have -- ”

He choked. His black eyes pulsed with emotion as he clutched more desperately at her hand and he gasped for air. 

“ -- I never should’ve left you to him! I should’ve taken you away, far away, regardless of what you told me, regardless of the consequences, regardless of what your family or our countries or anyone else might do or say -- ”

“Orion!”

Carewyn pulled her hand out of his and brought both of her hands up to his face, cradling his cheeks. Orion trembled in her hold, breathing very heavily and his hands clutching at the air in front of him. 

“Orion,” she whispered, “shhh...shh, shh...”

She moved in, placing her forehead against his.

“Breathe,” she said as gently as she could, slowing her breath and speech down to try to  subconsciously encourage him to follow suit. “Breathe...I’m here...I’m here...”

Orion inhaled and exhaled shakily. At first his eyes were locked on hers, flaring with more of that anger, anguish, and anxiety -- then they fluttered shut, and he threw his arms out to wrap both of them around her, cradling her against him with his arms crossed over her back and clutching at her shoulders. He breathed in and out deeply, trying to follow her rhythm as he focused on the softness of her skin and the warmth of her voice. 

Finally, after a few minutes, Orion had finally regained his center of balance, his breathing softening and returning to a normal rate. He exhaled heavily through his nose, opening his eyes again to look at her. 

Carewyn offered him a weak smile, both feeling relieved that he looked better and wanting to comfort him, but Orion’s face -- although once again calm -- still looked very grim as he pulled back only just enough that their foreheads were no longer touching. His gaze trailed over her smile and then around her eyes, dipping into the corners. 

“Can you ever forgive me?” he murmured. 

“Forgive you?” repeated Carewyn, upset. “For what?”

“Everything. For not fighting for you, for not being able to help you fight off your beast, as I promised...for being the son of the man who led the army who killed your brother...”

“Orion,” Carewyn said very firmly, “your father had no hand in Jacob’s death. He died long before he ever saw battle. And I told you to go. It’s a good thing you did. If you hadn’t gone, then you wouldn’t have been able to convince the King and Queen to come here, to consider peace...”

She trailed her thumbs gently along his cheeks. 

“I should be the one apologizing to you. I should’ve told you what I really was a lot sooner.”

“I don’t think you lied anymore than I did, my lady,” Orion said rather coolly. 

“It’s not the same thing,” Carewyn insisted. “Every lie you told you told so that you could pursue diplomacy and peace. Every lie I told...I told out of shame. I’d only pretended to be a lady to help get you out of trouble, at the start, but then afterwards...well...I didn’t want you to look at me differently...even though I knew deep down you would, once you learned the truth.”

Orion reached out his hands and, mirroring Carewyn, took hold of her face tentatively in return. 

“You’re right,” said Orion. “I do see you differently.”

He leaned in, touching her forehead with his again. 

“Before, I merely saw you as a wonderful contradiction -- a lady who was born to a family of wealth and cruelty and yet was kind and selfless almost to a fault. Now...I see you as akin to a diamond: a sparkling, precious gem, fashioned only under the hardest, most unforgiving pressure and more resilient than nearly anything else on Earth.”

Orion moved in even closer, so that their noses touched.

“A gem symbolic of purity and light...of perfection itself,” he murmured.

His gaze flitted from her eyes to her lips and back. Although he’d moved in close enough to kiss her, however, he hesitated. 

Carewyn could sense his intent, and her cheeks darkened with a blush as her gaze fell down to his lips. 

“I hardly think I’m perfect, your Grace.”

Orion sighed, his lips spreading into a slightly tired smile. “Your standards truly are exhausting, my lady. If you cannot meet them, I know that I surely never will...”

He made as if to pull back, but Carewyn held his face in place. Her eyes met his again, rippling with an intensity they didn’t have before. 

“You needn’t worry about meeting my standards, Orion Cosimo Amari,” she said softly. “You clear them...easily.”

And before Orion knew what was happening, she’d leaned in and placed her lips up to his jawline in a tender, lingering kiss.

She pulled back after about five seconds, her eyes shining warmly up at him despite the seriousness of her face. 

“I cannot stay,” she murmured, “but -- ”

Before she could say another word, Orion -- his black eyes shining with a desperate kind of longing -- tilted her head up and swooped down to cover her lips with his own. His breathing through his nose was soft but heated as he cradled her face in both of his hands, cherishing the feeling of her lips on his and being enveloped in her arms. 

He broke the kiss after about thirty seconds, his black eyes half-lidded on her face.

“Carewyn, I...”

Carewyn briefly rested her forehead against his, her own face tinged with a warm flush under her robin mask, before reluctantly pulling back.

“I can’t stay,” she repeated even more gently. “The illusion the Baroness gave me will fade at midnight -- so just...just stay here. Away from the ballroom. At least until after midnight...by then, the spell Rakepick cast on you will have worn off.”

Orion’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“When the lady dressed as a lioness ‘mistook me for someone else,’” he said slowly, “she’d placed a spell circle on my back. Is that so?”

Carewyn nodded. “The spell’s terms were that you’d be targeted by every weapon in the ballroom. So long as you don’t return there until after midnight...you’ll be safe.”

“But I was there with you before, and I was not harmed,” said Orion with a frown.

“The spell can only affect you. Jae guessed that if anyone else would get hurt when the weapons attacked you, then the spell wouldn’t activate...so he and his comrades, and Talbott and Badeea, they served as human shields...”

“...As did you,” Orion whispered, his eyes widening in realization. “When you kept stepping in front of me and staying close to me, while we were dancing...you were protecting me.”

Carewyn offered a rather self-effacing smile. Orion’s hands quickly returned to the sides of her neck, cradling her jawline. 

“Carewyn....” he said, his calm voice touched with both adoration and the slightest edge of anxiety, “you saved my life. All while not knowing for certain that you throwing yourself in front of me wouldn’t result in you being harmed...”

“Well, I certainly hoped I wouldn’t be,” said Carewyn, attempting dry humor. “I couldn’t exactly make sure that Lord Malfoy and my grandfather wouldn’t hurt you if I’d died...”

Seeing the look on Orion’s face, she then became much more serious.

“Orion...after I learned the truth about Jacob...when I was back at the Cromwell estate...I lost myself. I lost my drive, my spirit...my reason for living. Everything I was, and everything I thought I knew, both about myself and about the path I’ve always walked.”

Her eyes fell down to Orion’s shoulder, becoming darker.

“Knowing that Jacob, the only thing in my life that gave me a reason to keep fighting and keep enduring, was dead...I lost all will to live. I didn’t just feel like I deserved to die...I actually wanted to. I deluded myself into thinking that at least then, the pain would stop. At least then...I could be with Jacob and Mum again.”

Her lips then spread into the saddest, softest smile. 

“...But when your note arrived...when I read your words, reminding me of the song you taught me...even after all of the lies, even after I pushed you away, even though you were set to be crowned King and I’d never see you again...it reminded me of how much joy I’ve known, even without Jacob there with me. The memory of you, and my friends, helped pull me out of that despair. And then when I found out what Grandfather wanted to do to you -- found out that he planned to destroy you and everything you’d ever dreamed of, for Florence and Royaume...I couldn’t do nothing, I just couldn’t.”

Her eyes gained a stronger, more passionate glint as she met his again. 

“You saved my life, Orion. You helped me fight my beast, just like you promised. You gave me hope when I was most ready to throw everything away.”

Orion’s black eyes were very wide upon her face. As he stared at her, his eyes softened, melting in a strange blend of sadness, affection, and pride. 

“Carewyn...”

Carewyn leaned in to kiss him chastely on the lips. 

“I know it’d be impossible for us to make a life together,” she said seriously, “but I told you I’d fight for you...and I always will.”

Orion considered her for a long moment. Carewyn found herself straining to hear any sound from below -- any marking of the time -- it had been 11, before they’d headed upstairs --

“I must go,” she said yet again.

But when she made as if to leave, Orion clutched her hands in his.

“Please,” he implored her, “stay.”

“I can’t,” said Carewyn. 

“You will be safe here in Florence. I wouldn’t allow Charles Cromwell to get within ten feet of you again -- ”

“Grandfather can’t know I’ve been here,” Carewyn said very firmly. “The King and Queen of Royaume have treated him as a confidante for years -- he’s invested a lot of money to make sure they rely on him. As long as our family’s money and status are intact -- as long as Grandfather’s place at their side is intact -- he will have their ear, and they will trust his word. And I know Grandfather will use every penny he has to sabotage your efforts for peace, until his dying breath. Imagine how he’d twist you ‘kidnapping’ his precious granddaughter and turning her against her own family. Don’t forget: the last time Florence harbored a fugitive from Royaume, we got a War that’s lasted fifty years.”

Her eyes narrowed. 

“So...I must return to Royaume. I must make sure that the King and Queen have no idea that Bill and the others helped me get here with one of their coaches without their permission. I must make sure that Grandfather has no idea I was ever here.”

Orion’s face was full of pain as he squeezed her hands. “Carewyn, I can’t let you return to him -- ”

“I won’t,” said Carewyn. Her lips spread into a smile. “Don’t you understand? You gave me my life. The Baroness and Talbott broke me out of my tower, and I’m never going back. As far as Grandfather will know...I simply escaped while he and my family were away.”

Orion’s eyes widened. Then they softened visibly. “...Just as KC and Bill Weasley originally planned.”

Carewyn beamed. “And just as my mother did, before me. It might not be easy for me to be on my own, but I know I’ll find a place somewhere, to make my own way. And maybe when you and King Henri are able to make peace...I’ll be able to find my way back to you again.”

Orion’s black eyes melted, gaining a proud warmth. In a spontaneous move, he swept in again and kissed her fully, heatedly. Carewyn brought a hand up to the back of his head, cradling the base of it under his ponytail -- after a wonderful, soft moment, she used the grip to gently break the kiss. 

Orion smiled almost shyly. 

“Forgive me,” he said. “In that moment, you just looked so beautiful.”

Carewyn raised an eyebrow. “I'm under an illusion, Orion.”

Orion shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. However surreal your appearance is, your eyes blazed with such courage...like a wild stallion, fearlessly running through an open field with no fences.”

He kissed her again, more chastely. 

“It was stunning.”

Carewyn smiled through a dark blush, her eyes closing modestly. 

“...How do I look to you, exactly?” she couldn’t help but ask. 

Orion beamed, his black eyes sparkling under his magpie mask. “Like Artemis.”

Carewyn blinked in surprise. 

“Shining white hair, a smile kissed by mischief...paler than the moon, with eyes that shine like stars.” Orion’s grin broadened. “You look how I always imagined the goddess Artemis to look, when I heard the tale of her and the hunter Orion as a boy.”

Carewyn’s lips spread into a broader, emotional smile. Somewhere down below, she just barely caught the sound of a bell, and her smile flickered and died at once. She immediately bolted for the door to the secret passage, but Orion stopped her again.

“11:45, my lady,” he said soothingly. 

“It took us a good ten minutes to get up here,” said Carewyn. “I must go now -- ”

“Then we’ll go back together.”

He took her hand and followed along behind as she ran back down the stairs of the secret passage, back toward the ground floor. Despite herself, Carewyn kept trying to shake him off. 

“Orion, you should stay here -- I can make it back to the ballroom by myself -- ”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Grandfather and Lord Malfoy will be looking for you -- if you stay here, in this passage, they probably won’t find you -- ”

“Probably.”

Even with his placid agreements, he remained at her side. Once they reached the end of the passage, Carewyn whirled on him, putting her hands up to his chest to stop him. 

“I must go on alone from here,” she said very firmly.

“Must you?” asked Orion. 

“It’s nearly midnight...just wait until the twelfth strike, and you’ll be safe -- ”

“And yet you will not be, if you’re still here,” Orion said very solemnly. “I can’t let Charles Cromwell or Lord Malfoy stop you from leaving -- they’ll know it was you, who kept me from the ballroom...”

“Orion, there’s no time!” said Carewyn anxiously. “The only way I can get back to the coach in time is through the ballroom. I won’t be able to shield you -- if you enter the ballroom before midnight, you’ll die.”

Orion’s eyes had grown very small and dark with thought. Then, little by little, they lit up with an idea. 

“Carewyn,” he said seriously, “run away from me.”

Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Run away, when I pursue you. No matter what I say or do, while I chase you...no matter what happens, just keep running for the carriage. Ride back to Royaume, and don’t look back.”

His black eyes were very serious. 

“Promise me.”

Carewyn was stricken. Her face had lost a lot of its color as she clutched the front of his white-feathered doublet. 

“No! No, I can’t -- ”

“It will be all right, Carewyn,” Orion soothed her. 

“It can’t be all right!” she argued. “If you follow me, you’ll die -- !”

“The weapons in the ballroom will target me, yes,” said Orion. “But I’ll have a keen eye open for them, and I shall dodge them...just as you helped me dodge them before.”

“You can’t possibly dodge them all, even if Jae and the others are still in there!” Carewyn was beside herself, her hands clasping desperately at his chest. “Orion, I can’t let you -- ”

“It must be done, Carewyn,” whispered Orion gently. 

“Orion, I can’t lose you!” Carewyn implored him. Her eyes were flooding with tears. “Orion, please -- I can’t -- ”

Orion, mirroring a gesture Carewyn had used before, clutched the back of her head, cradling it gently, and he placed a tender kiss to the crook of her neck. 

“It will be all right, Carewyn,” he murmured against her skin. “Trust me.”

Carewyn felt sick. She knew every second she hesitated was one less than she needed to get back to the coach, where Bill, Charlie, Talbott, and Badeea were no doubt waiting, and yet her fear for Orion’s safety threatened her very stability. She’d done everything she could to try to protect him, the way she couldn’t for Jacob -- if she lost him too, she didn’t know what she’d do...

She looked into his gentle, calm eyes, vainly trying to fight back her tears. Despite the painful lump in her throat and the clenching of her heart, she saw the lack of fear in his features -- the man who, not long ago, had been so anxious he could hardly breathe was absolutely fearless in the face of Death. 

Carewyn Cromwell didn’t trust anyone. She’d never had faith in anyone...not since she’d lost Jacob and been enslaved to Charles Cromwell, a man who trusted and believed in no one but himself...

And yet in this moment -- as impossible as she knew it would be for her to do -- she knew she had to try. 

And so, her eyes streaming with tears, she swept in and kissed Orion fully. She caressed his face, trailing a hand through the bangs under his coronet, as he clutched the back of her head tenderly. 

After a minute, they broke apart, and Carewyn pushed open the door of the secret passage, dashing back out into the hallway, straight for the ballroom. After giving her a minute’s head start, Orion started his pursuit, calling after her. 

“No, wait -- come back!”

Following Orion’s instructions, Carewyn didn’t stop. She ran down the hall, right through a crowd of people and back toward the ballroom, as he chased after her. 

“Please come back!”

Orion’s voice sounded odd in Carewyn’s ears. Such words would normally have sounded tense, breathier, anxious -- but instead, every word rang out very clearly. 

As Carewyn made her first step into the ballroom, she couldn’t stop herself from looking back. Seeing her hesitation, Orion raised his voice.

“I don’t even know your name -- how will I find you?”

The completely out-of-character sentence shocked Carewyn back to her senses. 

This was an act. This was a ploy -- another lie, for them to get them to their goal. He wanted everyone to hear him. He wanted to make it sound like he didn’t know who she was, but that he didn’t want her to leave, like he was trying to stop her from going. Carewyn just wasn’t sure exactly why...

In that moment, however, she knew that didn’t matter. And so she ran, even despite the fear thumping in her chest. She could see Jae pushing through the crowd, trying to reach Orion’s side -- from the other side of the ballroom came Barnaby and Tulip. 

As Orion dashed through the ballroom, Carewyn could see many figures all over the room stiffening abruptly, their eyes glowing red as they faced Orion. Her heart seized up with terror as she ran, looking back constantly despite herself.

Jae, please -- please, reach him -- !

BANG. 

The first gunshot came from the far left side of the ballroom, fired from one of Royaume’s lesser lord’s pistols. Orion was able to dodge it by ducking around a pillar. 

As the ballroom devolved into terrified screams and Jae and the other bandits tried to hold off and overpower as many of the armed Royaumanian lords and ladies as possible, more gunshots rang out from other sides of the room. 

BANG. BANG. BANG. 

Orion dodged both the gunshots and the fleeing masses with artful grace by sliding underneath the refreshment table, his eyes returning to Carewyn.

“Wait! Please, wait!”

Carewyn’s heart clenched at the sight of Orion avoiding the shots. Once again, he proved himself to be so much more than he first appeared --

Still, though, he was catching up -- and, Carewyn realized, the faster she could get across the ballroom, the faster she could get Orion out of harm’s way. 

And so she pushed through the crowd, running as fast as she could. She pushed right past KC and McNully, both of whom gave her confused looks, but nonetheless seemed to have caught on. Thanks to Jae, they were enough in the loop to know Orion was in trouble, and although they didn’t understand Orion’s ploy, they knew better than to prevent Carewyn from leaving. 

BANG. BANG. 

As people ran to try to avoid the gunshots that would never have hit them anyway, Carewyn tried desperately not to look back. She couldn’t afford that hesitation. 

I can’t let him die -- I can’t -- 

“Halt!”

In the midst of all the mayhem, someone seized Carewyn’s arm, yanking her back. Carewyn whirled around, her face losing all of its color at the sight of white-blond-haired, albino-peacock-dressed Lord Malfoy. 

“His Majesty ordered you to stop,” he said in a very dangerous voice, his gray eyes flaring with loathing. 

Carewyn’s heart flared with terror and she wrenched against Lord Malfoy’s grip, desperately trying to get free. 

“Let go! Let me go!”

Orion, seeing Carewyn’s distress, tried to dash over. Unfortunately his distraction had caused him to ignore his surroundings.

“NO!” screamed Andre. 

It was only thanks to the Prince of Royaume that King Henri’s ceremonial blade was not plunged through Orion’s chest. Instead it slashed his side, causing him to hunch in on himself with a sharp hiss of pain.

Orion getting injured, even superficially, made Carewyn’s eyes lose all of their light. 

“NO!” she screamed. “NO!”

And to make matters worse, somewhere underneath the sound of panicked screaming, there was a terrible BONG of a clock tolling the hour.

It was midnight. 

Carewyn lashed out against Lord Malfoy’s grip, but he held fast, his teeth bared. 

“A lady with the ability to enchant a King enough to lead him to his doom,” he hissed, as the clock made its second strike. “Clearly you are behind this conspiracy -- ”

BONG. Carewyn could feel her face tingling, and she fought harder against his grip. As Malfoy glared down at her, his eyes seemed to slowly widen -- the illusion around her face was flickering like a candle, making her real hair and eye color at points easier to see.

“What...?”

BAM. 

Out of nowhere, Bill Weasley -- his face obscured by his antler-decorated stag mask -- had appeared and punched Lord Malfoy right in the face. The strike was so strong that it knocked him completely off his feet and forced him to let go of Carewyn. 

Andre had successfully put the King of Royaume in a headlock to restrain him. Erika, who KC and McNully had both flagged so as to prevent her from being affected too, pulled out her own ceremonial sword to forcibly disarm the King. As King Henri blinked rapidly and shook his head, Erika shouted at Orion over her shoulder as loudly as she could over the fifth stroke of midnight. 

“Get out of here, King Cosimo!” 

Orion, his hand sliding off of his side, turned his focus back to Carewyn and plowed after her just as before. 

“Wait!” he cried again, echoing his earlier sentiment as if nothing had happened. 

Bill grabbed hold of Carewyn. “We can’t wait -- the Cromwells already left, but Malfoy and Rakepick -- ”

“I know!” said Carewyn, her voice fiercer than she meant. “Come on!”

Carewyn broke back out into a run out of the ballroom, Bill at her heels. Bill pushed and shoved their way through the hallway full of people, clearing a path for Carewyn as the clock struck eight. 

Despite the shallow wound to his chest, Orion kept running after them, continuing to play his ruse. Lord Malfoy, having recovered from Bill’s punch at last, likewise tried to pursue, but before long he found himself circumvented by Skye not-so-subtly tackling him to the ground. 

“Don’t want you getting shot, Lord Malfoy,” she said in a voice that clearly communicated that she wouldn’t have minded one bit if he had been. 

Bill and Carewyn finally made it out the front doors to the top of the grand stairs when the clock struck ten. It was also there that they were halted again, this time by Rakepick stepping on the wide skirt of Carewyn’s gown. The movement made Carewyn lose her footing, making one of her stained glass slippers come off as she stumbled down the stairs. Rakepick then took advantage of her disturbed balance to grab her by the wrist and hoist her back up onto her feet. 

“And where do you think you’re going?” said Rakepick, her voice dripping with disdain. 

Carewyn brought a hand up as if to smack her, only for it to be caught too. Bill halted and backtracked back up the stairs, his brown eyes flaring. 

But when Rakepick looked Carewyn in the face, the illusion flickering and dying before her eyes, she stilled, her face losing all of its color.  

“You,” she whispered in an oddly fragile voice. 

BONG. 

At long last, the final stroke of midnight had come. Carewyn was exposed, recognized, by the magician her grandfather had hired, even despite her best efforts. 

But before Carewyn could even think of doing anything, Bill wrenched Rakepick off of his friend with one hand and threw her to the ground. Then he looped an arm around Carewyn’s waist, hoisting her up as if she were his little sister, Ginny, and ferried her right off her feet to the coach. Once he’d handed her off to Talbott and Badeea inside, Bill leapt up onto the boot. 

“Go, now!”

Charlie in the driver’s seat barely needed any encouragement -- he flicked the reins and set the horses off at a run before the coach door was even securely closed. 

Rakepick stared after the coach from her place sprawled out on the stairs, stunned. She didn’t even see Orion watch it go himself from the top of the stairs with a smile. 

Once Carewyn’s coach was out of sight, Orion looked around, and a sparkle of orange diamond and shimmering paint caught his eye. When he looked down, he found Carewyn’s discarded “stained glass” slipper sitting innocently on its side at the top of the stair. He wiped the small amount of blood on his hand off on his black doublet sleeve, before he gingerly bent down and picked up the hand-painted shoe, his smile spreading into a full grin as he headed back indoors. 

His improvised plan had worked all right so far. Maybe...just maybe...the Fates might favor him and Carewyn, after all. 

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #cinderella au #orion amari #carewyn cromwell #my art #my writing #bill weasley #charlie weasley #badeea ali #talbott winger #lucius malfoy #patricia rakepick #andre egwu #erika rath #katriona cassiopeia #murphy mcnully #skye parkin #*sighs dreamily* #the ball is finally through!! #now what orion? #are you gonna get justice? we gonna go get the cromwells even if they left the ball early for some reason...? #this whole thing isn't over yet

[fatefulfaerie]

Missed Connections (Christmas Wrapping)

Day 10 of the 12 days of Christmas prompts orchestrated by @zelink-prompts

Incarnation: Breath of the Wild pre-Calamity

Link was invited as a guest to the Hylia’s Day ball and honestly, he didn’t know how to act, how to not be on guard, how to walk without the weight of the Master Sword. When the King of Hyrule invited him to relax the night away, he likely considered that the prospect of relaxing was even more stressful for the knight with the sword that seals the darkness.

He would only admit it to himself, but Link actually liked being the knight attendant to Princess Zelda. Mostly, he kept it secret because his charge was the complete opposite, absolutely hating his assignment to her. Link also feared that being honest with her about enjoying her company would lead to accidentally being honest with her about his growing feelings for the princess. Link was thus glad that he had adapted such a habit of being stoic all the time, of course borne out of always being expected to be the perfect hero.

Sometimes, he wished he could be himself.

“Master Link,” he heard a servant say near him, Link immediately turning his head and taking a step. “You inquired after Princess Zelda.”

“Yes,” Link said. “Where is she?”

“She has fallen ill in her chambers,” the servant said. “I assure you she is well-guarded but she will not be attending the Hylia’s Day festivities tonight.”

“I see,” Link said with a nod. “Thank you.”

Link’s gaze was distant as he stood in the crowded ballroom, thinking upon his next actions with what looked to everyone else like an expression with no emotion.

He looked out at the ballroom again, all these people he felt more and more alienated from. Somehow, he felt more at home with the person who regarded him with barely a glance.

Link summoned his courage and made his way through the crowds, trying not to bump shoulders but inevitably doing so as he reached the large doors.

The hallway was refreshingly empty of ballroom guests, Link feeling as though he could finally breathe, although his royal guard uniform he wore for special occasions such as this still restricted his freedom horribly.

Link had memorized his way to Zelda’s chambers by now, it, after all, being part of his job. In fact, before he knew it he was standing in front of her closed doors with a closed fist ready to knock.

He hesitated, stopping in his tracks to consider simply letting her rest. After all, igniting her anger towards him didn’t seem the neighborly thing to do. Even though he meant to help, he was likely the last person in Hyrule she wanted to be consoled by.

But then again, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that she felt as unbearably alone as he did. Perhaps she didn’t suspect yet as he did that they were each other’s cure.

So, perhaps a bit impulsively and with a great amount of fear in his heart, he took a deep breath and knocked on her door thrice.

“Your Highness?” He asked. “Are you all right?”

There was a bout of silence where Link thought of turning himself back around, surrendering this waging battle. Perhaps she was ignoring him.

“Yes,” he finally heard, her voice softer and more angelic than he’d ever heard. “Yes I am. Are you one of my father’s men? Has he sent you to come check up on me?”

It suddenly occurred to Link that Zelda had never before heard him speak. Although cordiality towards him wasn’t something he should have gotten used to, he couldn’t help not correcting her error. Talking to her without the odd rift between them seemed the best Hylia’s Day present of them all.

“No, I…” Link responded, only imagining how angry she would be if she learned he had tricked her in the way he was about to. “Well, technically I am, but I heard you were sick and came to check up on you.”

Zelda took a pause, Link not knowing that she had graced a smile.

“That is very sweet,” she said. “Only, I…I wouldn’t call myself presentable enough to be seen by just any other soldier. I hope you don’t mind.”

Link breathed a sigh of relief knowing the doors wouldn’t open, that the charade of peace would be kept up longer. But at he same time, he stood at the door on edge, watching everything he said. She just wanted her to not feel lonely, even if just for a few moments. 

“No,” he said. “I don’t mind. Are you feeling better?”

“Not really,” Zelda replied. “Actually if I’m being honest, it’s only small headache. Really, I…I just didn’t feel like celebrating.”

“Why not?” Link asked.

Zelda laughed at the question but she didn’t seem amused in the slightest. Link’s blue eyes melted with concern

“Oh, I get it, now,” she said. “You were dared to come up here. ‘See what the Princess thinks of her inadequacy,’ how ver—“

“No!” Link insisted quickly. “No! I don’t think of you as inadequate at all! I think you’re under a lot of pressure and…and I understand you not wanting to be in that ballroom tonight.”

Link felt a great sense of relief at finally being able to get those words out and into her ears. He worried in the following silence that he had spilled it out too abruptly.

 “I don’t think anyone could ever truly understand having the kingdom’s weight on your shoulders,” Zelda said quietly, Link mouthing “really” and laughing inaudibly. “But, then again, I don’t think anyone has tried to understand my hardships, not even my father.”

Link slid down the closed door before sitting with his back pressed up against it, his head leaning against it. He hated that she needed him and yet refused to acknowledge his existence and yet he loved talking to her so openly.

“Isn’t there supposed to be a guard here?” Link asked, finally noticing the absence of one.

“New orders from the King,” Zelda explained, before almost saying mockingly, “Her Highness is to be protected from the inside of her chambers. I didn’t think it applied as an at all times thing but of course it does. There are guards in here as I speak”

“But it isn’t at all times,” Link said a bit more forcefully before panicking, realizing that some random knight wouldn’t know her schedule so well. “I…I mean you’re obviously not always in your chambers. Don’t you have a knight attendant?”

“Oh,” Zelda said. Link could hear hear spite loud and clear. “Right.”

Link felt something in his chest, something sour and bitter. Not only had he reminded her of his existence, but the way she talked when thinking about him was so hopelessly cold. He didn’t know what to do to convince her he was on her side, thus resolving to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Are you still here?” Zelda asked.

“Yeah,” Link replied cautiously. “I can leave, if you want.”

“No,” she replied. “That’s all right.”

A silence fell between them. Somehow, Link didn’t know how, but somehow that was okay. It was a comfortable silence.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” She asked, soon correcting herself. “I mean, I know you are a knight but originally…your voice. I’d guess somewhere to the south, the Necluda region.”

“Yeah…yeah I am.” Link said, turning his head to his shoulder and smiling. “You’re smart.”

“It only goes so far,” she said with a reclaimed sadness that sank Link’s heart.

“Your Highness, I…” Link started. “Can…can I be honest with you?”

“Sure,” Zelda said, Link able to hear her smile. Perhaps after such a civil conversation, him revealing his identity would work to his advantage.

“I…” he said nervously. “I want…I want to be a comfort to you. In these times of great stress…I feel like no one cares about the people they are placing their stress upon. I feel like you may need someone like me and that…that…th-that I might need you too.”

“Why would you need me?” Zelda asked calmly. “I don’t understand.”

“Because…” Link tried. He was more nervous than he thought he would be, his pulse racing and his heart running in circles that were too fast for him to keep up with. He took a breath in, closing his eyes.

“Because I’m Link,” he blurted out loudly, expelling the truth onto her and immediately thinking of a million different ways he could have said it better.

The doors swung open immediately, revealing a Princess that Link gazed upon as he stood up slowly, her elegance ethereal and her anger restrained.

She wore a white nightgown that exposed her shoulders and her ankles, that was a light fabric that floated with the incoming breeze of the near window.

And yet her furrowed brow and the ignited fury in her green eyes seemed to contradict her beauty as she glared at Link, frozen in fear and yet standing his ground.

#zelink #zelda #link #missed connections #twelve days of christmas #christmas wrapping #tloz #the legend of zelda #botw #breath of the wild

[witchesoz]

After Oz: Legends of Oz

I hesitated before doing this one, because this movie is mostly based on the book "Dorothy of Oz" by Roger S. Baum, and I haven't read said book. It is something that tends to get on my nerve, when people actually don't care about the original material an adaptation was based on, and consider the adaptation as its own entirely original piece of work, when in fact, a lot of it was taken from somebody's else work. I mean, the perfect exemple is Shining. Some people praise Kubrick for being a pure genius for inventing this story from A to Z, and consider Stephen's King television series a "poor attempt at a remake of the movie", when... you know, King originally wrote the Shining and Kubrick merely adapted it. In fact, people tend to forget most of Kubrick's movies were adaptation. Dr. Strangelove? Loosely based on "Red Alert". Lolita? Everyone knows it is Nabokov. A Clockwork Orange? Anthony Burgess. 2001: Space Odyssey? Inspired by shorts stories of Clarke, the co-author. Eyes Wide Shut? A 1920s German book, Traumnovelle. And so forth and so forth...

  Hum. Sorry for the rant. I just needed to explain why I always want to take in consideration the original material when tackling an adaptation.  But since I haven't read and can't get this book, I will mostly rely myself on the Wikipedia plot and other reviews I read. If you wonder, yes, Roger S. Baum is Baum's great-grandson (or great-great-grandson?), and he wrote "Dorothy of Oz" as a direct sequel to the first book, "The Wizard of Oz", ignoring all of the others, and... apparently he is not a really good writer. But anyway... I still decided to do a little something about this movie, because... well just because I wanted    Oh yeah, another thing... an elephant in the room I have to adress right now. I only discovered it this year, by doing research about the movie (because before I only saw it at the time of its released and then forgot about it). You can know it, or completely ignore it - yes, I know that this whole movie was the result of a huge scam that robbed hundreds of people out of their money, and that the case has been even brought to trial. But... well the movie is still here, people still saw it, it is still around, will be for still quite a long time, and it is now part of the Oz inheritance, that you want it or not. Anyway, a lot of Oz movies had a dark and troubled production. It seems almost like a pre-requisite: if you do an Oz movie, you'll never end happy. Maybe it is a curse? Who knows.

       So... let's get into the subject. Is "Dorothy's Return" a bad movie? (I'll use this name, because "Legends of Oz" was the name of the intended franchise of three, maybe ten movies). I wouldn't say so. A lot of people said it was crap, or worthless, but I wouldn't call it bad. People also said that it is a bland movie, and I would say yes - but only partially. I think a good lot of the extreme bad reactions were caused because of 1- people who just disliked the idea of more Oz adaptations, 2- people too old for this movie, because you have to remember that this is a movie aiming at children and 3- people who are hard-die fans of the MGM movie and not so much of the original Oz books. It may also play in account that Dorothy's Return was roughly released the same year, and played as a "rival" to "Oz the Great and Powerful".

    Now, note that it isn't a memorable movie (except for a few bits). It isn't an excellent movie. It isn't a cult classic (even though it may become it with the whole scam background, who knows?). It isn't something I would watch again and again with pleasure. It isn't something exceptionnal or groundbreaking, it is even quite generic. But, it has some good parts, and it manages to be entertaining, and honestly as a child I could have sit in front of it and watch it with no problem. Because, yes, it is a children movie. The action is rushed, the characters lack depth, some moments are too sugary-sweet or even cringy (for exemple the song "We'll work together". Seriously, I just looked away and sped up a bit because that was too sickening-sweet for me.) As a result, as a child movie they missed things that could have been really good (the old tree agreeing to be use for a boat, which is played straight up as him being killed, the characters even say so, but then it turns out he is still alive as a boat? You could have had a great, deep, fascinating almost philosophical moment, but you just waste it for a happy ending). Anyway, what was I saying? Yes, a children movie. As a result, some people called the movie "too simple". On the other side, people called the story "too confusing".

  To an Oz fan like me, it isn't actually confusing. It isn't at all - but indeed, for someone with a limited knowledge of Oz, it will be confusing. Because, while they base themselves on an Oz book that re-uses many elements from the books (the Queen of the Field Mices, the Sawhorse, the China Country...) it also decided to include a lot of elements from the MGM movie (the Wicked Witch of the West is the one from the MGM, Glinda is also quasi-identical from her MGM counterpart, the Winged Monkeys work with the evil people...). As a result, yeah, it may be confusing. But the inclusion of the MGM elements actually managed to correct some flaws of the original story. For exemple, in Roger S Baum's book, the Jester was merely a normal jester possessed by the ghost of the Wicked Witch of the West, through her magic wand. Wait, magic wand? There wasn't any magic wand mentionned in the original book! But in the movie, to use the broomstick of the Wicked Witch makes much more sense.

      I'll take a short time here to comment on the character of the Jester, who is, I think, the highest point of this movie. He is a good villain. A cliché but interesting backstory cashing on the idea of Oz vilains as siblings, a clear shout-out to the Joker which isn't so bad, interesting plans. He is also the provider of many nightmarish elements (the fate of Dorothy's companions, which I think was a very good idea, or the people turning into puppets and being used for a creepy dance) that made this Oz movie feel... well Ozian. Because a good Oz work is a work that will traumatize your kids! I guess a bit part of why the Jester works so well is that he basically repeats and remakes all his sister, the Wicked Witch, did in the MGM movie, and let's be honest, she was a great villain. (And this again makes sense when you remember the Jester is originally supposed to be possessed by the Witch's ghost). But at the same time he has his distinctive signature and style, with his Jester persona, his circus-related punishment and his personal plots to conquer Oz. [People noticed obviously the sweet irony of things in this movie. You have a double-character that, on the Earth world is a cheater and criminal trying to steal people of their houses and using several fake identities, while in Oz it is a villain that turns people into puppets he can manipulate and relies mostly on cheating and misleading Dorothy to her doom. Which is eerily similar to what the creators of the movie/franchise did with their financers and investors.]

  Talking about the Earth side... The whole "earthly" parts are all bland and not memorable. Just like Dorothy, who isn't really... anything to be honest. The songs sung aren't memorable either. All of that is a fail. A lot of people also considered the Earthly animation uncanny, or even disturbing, but I personally wasn't bugged by it at all. I saw much more uncanny animation.

    When it comes to the Oz part, I actually think they managed to create a perfect "Ozian story". As in, the general schema of the girl entering in Oz through an uncommon mean (here a people-eating rainbow, that I have to say was quite a scary scene to look at), then passing through many small kingdoms, meeting new friends, forming a team, discovering the villain and fighting him off - this plot was repeated by Baum times and times and times again, and probably comes from the original novel Dorothy of Oz. But it still works, as simple as it can be. Plus, the use of the China Country and the Candy County (I think its their name?) was quite a good choice. The China Country was one of Baum's earliest invention, while the Candy County (originating from the Roger S Baum book) is eerily similar to the Bunbury village, an invention of Baum, inhabited by living baked goods that also get angry at the protagonists for trying to eating them. Yes, all in all, the characters feel really Ozian. As for the other member of the team, "Wiser the Owl". Well... he had the potential to feel an interesting and Baum-ian character. But it falls flat because he just becomes one living fat joke. I mean, fat jokes can be funny. But when the character is mostly the joke itself well... yeah, not really working. He had a much interesting role in the prequel comic book.  

   Because yes, there is a comic book associated with this movie! As I said before, originally the project was to create a franchise of several movies, with toys, goodies, applications and video games. (Or at least that was the project the scam used). The comic is however found under the original title for the movie "Dorothy of Oz". I don't have much to say about it, outside that is was quite pleasing (even though it sometimes doesn't make sense when put in direct relationship to the movie), and that it introduced one interesting idea: that the magic of the broomstick/Witch relied mostly on manipulating the weather and nature. The Jester causes a flood to destroy the Munchkin town, he causes an earthquake to break the China Country, he uses heatwaves to melt the Candy County... And another interesting point, the role of Wiser. Indeed, in the movie he is presented as a "motor-mouth" that keeps talking about everything, knows a lot of stuff and has the tendency to finish other people's sentences. But it gets quickly overshadowed by the fat jokes (cause a big part of his character is that he used to be able to fly but now, because of his love for candy, he is too fat to fly). However, in the comic book he has rather the role of the one voice of reason and intelligence that offers down-to-earth, simple solutions to problems where the other Ozians search for more extravagant and magical possibilities. Exemple (SPOILERS: when trying to create a rainbow, the team searches everywhere, thinks of asking witches, wizards and candy makers. Wiser has to remind them that anybody can create a rainbow with just a good crystal and some light. SPOILER ENDING.)  

   (I actually read the comic book before looking at the movie, which may explain why I consider it better than the movie.) To return to my opinion on the movie... Not the greatest Oz movie, but certainly not the worst. Average, but on the good side. Entertaining and interesting, even though bland and generic. They got the feeling of an Oz story but they just didn't found a way to freshen up or make the story shine on its own. A good villain for a heroine easy to forget. Simple. Ideal for children, or to kill time, or just to inspire one for more Oz work.

#oz #review #after oz #opinion #animated movie #legends of oz #dorothy's return #legends of oz dorothy's return

[risthebrave]

day 02; “knight”

free-form; knight harry, prince louis

happy birthday @brickredtoe (i hope you don’t mind historical aus dhjkd)

Harry settles in his post to the right of the door, nodding a greeting to the knight he’s replacing before he takes his leave along with the other guard.

He flicks a glance at Liam, his constant patrol partner, who’s stationed on the other side of the door, staring ahead stonily. Harry likes to think that he takes his duties seriously, even the tedious ones like guarding the prince’s quarters at night, but Liam is on a whole other level.

It took him only a few days to realize that any attempts at conversation would go ignored, the determination to remain completely on guard for the entirety of their shifts blatantly displayed in his solid stance and set expression. Harry finds it rather amusing considering this job has been assigned to them as the newest recruits to the castle garrison and hardly requires such an intense concentration, but he doesn’t dare say a word.

Time passes by slowly, but Harry stays silent, ignoring the feeling of his sword weighing down in its sheath and the itch grating at the nape of his neck. Scratching it would disrupt the still atmosphere they’ve created. Not to mention, tolerance and endurance are vital qualities a knight must master, so Harry ignores as best he can and tries to focus on anything else.

His eyes drift to the lanterns hung from the stone walls in intervals down the long corridor, flickering weakly. The pale glow from their candles do little to illuminate the hallway but Harry’s sight has long adapted to the darkness after years of training deep in the night.

Every hour, a patrol of four knights will pass across the corridor at the end of the hall, one of the many precautions taken by the king to ensure the safety of the castle and of the royal family. Harry is feeling the familiar stiffness in his neck and legs when they finally appear, symbolizing one hour completed of their five hour watch.

It’s also a sign for something else.

The telltale sound of a bolt sliding echoes in his ears and he tenses, biting his lip to suppress a small smile as the door creaks open.

Prince Louis peeks his head out of the door, immediately directing his gaze to Liam. Even so, Harry can see the flush coloring his cheeks and it ignites a familiar warmth inside him, fingers twitching around the hilt of his pollaxe and the urge to reach over and cup Louis’ chin so he can see those glorious blue eyes getting more difficult to resist.

“Sir Liam,” Louis murmurs in greeting. Liam breaks his rigid focus to bow to him, always the picture of perfect etiquette.

“Your Royal Highness,” Liam says, voice crisp and coated with respect.

Louis nods to acknowledge him, before finally turning to Harry. He moves slowly, lips quirked up at the side as he drags his gaze over Harry’s face and armor. “Sir Harry,” he says, voice soft and fond.

He has to bite his lip this time to tamp away the smile, struggling to maintain his cool. “Your Royal Highness,” he murmurs, but he doesn’t bow. Louis doesn’t want him to anyway.

They stare at each other for a minute and Harry memorizes the softness in Louis’ sparkling eyes, storing it in a safe of a thousand other glimpses that he can draw strength from in his most trying times. But mostly, he just admires.

The prince snaps out of it first, clearing his throat before saying the same words he always says. “I’m going to bed soon, and I’d like to request the presence of one of you gentlemen to keep watch until I fall asleep.”

Liam wouldn’t dare offer, so Harry proceeds with his usual, “I’d be honored, your highness,” and Louis smiles his usual pleased smile.

Instead of protesting or alerting one of their superiors, Liam just rolls his eyes and stays quiet, letting Harry leave without conflict like he’s been doing for the entire six months they’ve been seeing each other. He hasn’t said a word about it to anyone else either, allowing them to keep their secret. It’s why despite the lack of companionship in their rounds, Harry considers Liam to be someone kind and trustworthy.

The man doesn’t even falter when Harry breaks the number one rule that’s been instilled in him since he’s been knighted, and abandons his post.

He breaks away from the wall as Louis opens the door wider, making enough room for him to slip inside. Then he breaks the second most important rule that’s been instilled in him: he steps foot inside the prince’s private rooms.

Even though the prince gave him explicit permission to do so, it’s considered consequential. Knights aren’t meant to interact with the prince - aren’t meant to be the recipient of the prince’s affections either. But Harry cannot find it in himself to feel ashamed.

What he and Louis have, while forbidden, is something tender and honest. It doesn’t matter that he’s just a knight and Louis is the heir to the throne - none of it matters because they are in love.

So, he enters the room without hesitation, propping his pollaxe against the wall as Louis gently shuts the door behind him, sliding the bolt back into place. Harry settles his hands on his hip, making him jump before sighing out and slumping back into Harry’s chest. They stand like that for a bit, and Harry inhales the sweet smell of berries in Louis’ soft hair, letting it relax him like it has every day.

It had been difficult abandoning his post the first few times when Louis suggested it, even when he reasoned with himself that it really is true that Louis is much safer in his arms than anywhere else. But half a year past, Harry has forgotten any of his grievances, content to savor every moment he has with the prince because their time is always finite.

One hour. One hour every night and a sprinkling of minutes between Harry’s jousting practice and Louis’ daily garden stroll is all they have, but Harry wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Louis eventually breaks away from his hold, humming to himself as he turns and tilts his head up to appraise Harry with a frown. “You look tired,” he notes.

“You know it’s rare that I get much sleep,” Harry says. Especially when you aren’t laying against my chest, hand pressed to my heart.

Huffing, Louis rolls his eyes. “They need to stop making you patrol for so long. You’d think Father would be wise enough to realize that he needs his men well-rested in case of an attack rather than half-dead.” He reaches up and thumbs at Harry’s dark under eyes and Harry catches his hand, sliding it up to circle Louis’ wrist and squeeze before letting go.

“Your father just wants to keep you safe,” Harry says, “and I want that too. If that means I have to stand guard outside your door for five hours every night, I’m glad to do it.”

“Four,” Louis corrects, “only four.”

Harry smiles because he’s right. The fifth hour - or rather, the second - belongs to them. Harry remembers when he resented the system in place that meant younger and less-senior knights were given the most brunt work - the monotonous jobs of keeping watch and patrolling. But now he’s grateful for them, because it’s what finally brought him Louis.

Like many knights in the kingdom, Harry spent all seven years of his apprenticeship from fourteen to twenty-one at the castle as a squire, assisting and learning and training. Though it was only when he received his official title as a knight that he’s been honored a place inside its walls, freed from the cramped apprenticeship dwellings far out on the grounds and given a bigger, though still gloomy, room alongside the rest of the garrison and personal guard.

It’s also the first time he had the pleasure of laying his eyes on the crown prince, but it wouldn’t be until he was tasked with the first rotation of guards for Louis’ quarters that Louis would lay his eyes on him in return.

Louis smiles softly at him now, flattening his small hands against the chest plate of his armor. He doesn’t have to wear his full set when he’s patrolling but the chest plate and leg plates remain, a layer of chain mail underneath them. He doesn’t have to wear his mask either though, which means he’s free to lean down and press his lips to the crown of Louis’ head.

Harry intertwines their fingers when Louis’ hand curls into his, squeezing. “I love you,” Louis whispers then, and Harry’s heart swells with the declaration.

“And I love you. My little prince,” he murmurs back, before ducking down to seal the words with a kiss.

december word prompt challenge 12/02/20

#dwpc #word prompts #freeforms #knight au #it's not a wip tho #...unless?? #shout out to sarah for reading this over for me #and chelsea for helping me come up w the idea #though you don't have tumblr :(

[wisteria-lodge]

Character Analysis: Sorting Pirates of the Caribbean

So @sortinghatchats is brilliant. Absolutely my favorite character (and person!) analysis system. Instead of one house, you get two - a PRIMARY (your motivation, why you do things), and a SECONDARY (your toolbox, how you get things done.) Here is a very stripped down refresher, and here is my explanation for why I am saying Lion, Bird, Badger and Snake instead of the names of the Hogwarts houses. 

IDEALIST PRIMARY Lion - I do what I feel is right. (MORAL) Bird - I do what I decide is correct. (LOGICAL) LOYALIST PRIMARY Badger - I do what helps my community (PEOPLE MATTER) Snake - I do what helps me/my inner circle (MY PEOPLE MATTER)

IMPROVISATIONAL SECONDARY Lion - Charge! React! Smash the system! Snake - Transform, adapt, find the loophole. BUILT SECONDARY Bird - Plan, make tools, gather information. Badger - Community-build, caretake, call in favors.

Now let’s talk Pirates of the Caribbean! I’m mostly focusing on the first film because it’s the best and my favorite, but I do mention 2 and 3.

***

Jack Sparrow is the classic Snake secondary. He’ll improvise an escape, improvise a weapon, wait for “the opportune moment.” He’s never fought fair in his life and doesn’t feel the tiniest bit bad about it. He’s silver-tongued. When he’s in a tight spot, he’ll tell you exactly what he thinks you want to hear. And if he knows you don’t trust him, he’ll reverse-psychology you on purpose.

It’s hard to see past his theatrical, charming, over-the-top way of doing things, and that’s on purpose. The last time Jack told someone what he actually wanted, he got himself marooned. No wonder he “plays things close to the vest now,” living in his secondary, and making people guess his motives. 

At first he appears totally pragmatic, always on the side of the person who can give him the most stuff. But I don’t buy it. Jack Sparrow has a weird code of honor. Maybe not one he’s comfortable with (“you can never predict when an honest man is going to do something incredibly… stupid.”) But it’s there. The way he’s introduced - alone, respectfully saluting hanged pirates – that’s letting us know it’s not just his own freedom he values.

I like that little moment after he rescues Elizabeth when he makes it clear that she doesn’t owe him anything. “I saved your life, you saved mine, we’re square” implies that there’s a right way to do things, and that the wrong way is making people feel obligated. Jack has similar moments with Gibbs. Every time he says “keep to the Code,” he’s reaffirming that no one has to save him. When his crew abandons him, Jack shrugs and says, “They’ve done what’s right by them. Can’t ask for more than that.” 

This means that Jack Sparrow has a Lion primary. But he’s a pirate, so his felt morality is less right vs. wrong and more free vs. trapped. Apart from that he’s actually kind of a classic Lion - perfectly happy on his own, so long as he doesn’t have to compromise his morals. In a deleted scene we learn that he turned pirate because he refused to be a slave ship captain, and that’s in character. He only wants the Black Pearl because the Black Pearl is freedom. That’s the message he teaches, as an unconventional mentor. He cuts Elizabeth out of her literal corset, and prods Will out of his figurative one.

(and a magic compass that points to whatever Jack wants most is a gorgeous metaphor for a Lion primary, guided by their feelings and intuition. Their internal compass).

Elizabeth Swann has a pirate’s soul. She ends the story as Pirate King. But when we meet her, she is a high-class lady deeply suspicious of the rules. She’s not on board with the latest fashions, eager to ditch her table manners, and she’s real friendly with Will - even though it makes her father bluster, “The setting is not entirely proper!” Miss Elizabeth Swann is stifled by her situation (her corset is too tight.) She’s got a whole life planned out for her, and it’s a nice life. Port Royal is a nice city and Norrington is a nice guy. But still. The thought that this is where things are going makes her uncomfortable. 

Elizabeth wants to be able to act based on her gut responses. And as long as the pirates are also doing this, she’s on board. But she ditches the Pirate Code the moment it contradicts her own internal felt morality.

ELIZABETH: All of you with me. Will is in that cave and we must save him! (…) GIBBS: There’s the Code to consider. ELIZABETH: The Code. You’re pirates. Hang the Code, and hang the rules. They’re more like guidelines anyway.

She’s been using the pirate way of life as a way to justify and explain the way she’s always felt. And when you put things in that order (I like this system because it supports what I already know to be true) that’s a Lion primary. Also, the advice her dad gives her is just so perfect for a Lion: “Even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision.” You’re doing the smart thing Elizabeth, not the thing you feel is right. It’ll make you miserable. Stop it.

When it comes to secondaries, Elizabeth definitely has some Bird skills. She collects data (about pirates), and can put a plan into action. But it’s a model. When she’s in trouble, when things are serious, she goes improvisational Snake secondary all the way. Elizabeth lies to Barbossa, tells Norrington what he wants to hear, pretends to be drunk to put Jack off his guard. She improvises weapons, and she plays into “proper lady” stereotypes so people underestimate her. Gibbs actually recognizes this, and calls Elizabeth “daft like Jack.”

Elizabeth and Jack do house-match, which is why they always seem to get each other. Elizabeth can pin Jack down and make him give her a straight answer. She’s the only one who can consistently trick him. And when she kills him – well, he forgives. Easily. It’s never even a thing. If he had been in Elizabeth’s place he would have done exactly the same thing, and he knows it. And he knows she knows it.

(it’s kind of neat how at the end of the first movie, the two of them are trapped by Norrington, then freed by Norrington, and go off to form the core of their respective pirate crews.)

Will Turner is a charging Lion secondary who deals with challenging situations by laying all his cards on the table and throwing his sword at something. This makes him a really good foil for the Snake secondary leads, and I will never get tired of watching Jack make faces, and say variations of “how about this time we don’t just run in screaming, yeah?”

JACK: Do us a favor. I know it’s difficult for you, but please, stay here. And try not to do anything… stupid.”

WILL: Let her go! BARBOSSA: You’ve only got one shot, and we can’t die. JACK: Don’t do anything stupid… WILL: You can’t. I can! JACK: … like that.

JACK: So what’s your plan then? WILL: I row over there, search the ship until I find your bloody key. JACK: And if there are crewmen? WILL: I cut down anyone in my path.

To be fair, Will does start off with a Badger secondary model. Badgers care about things being fair, and Will gets annoyed at Jack for cheating, and annoyed at Elizabeth for stealing the medallion. He’s also really leaning into the hard work aspect of the Badger secondary by practicing sword fighting three hours a day. But this doesn’t seem to be a secondary that’s especially good for him. It makes him tense and uptight, and by the end of the first film he’s completely thrown it off.

I really considered a Snake primary for him, based on how single-mindedly he goes after Elizabeth. Movies 2 and 3 just keep throwing Loyalist conflicts at him. (Will can stay with Elizabeth or save his father, but he can’t do both!) But I think he’s actually a Badger primary.

This boy cares about his communities a lot. He doesn’t think he can be with Elizabeth (even though she clearly likes him) because of “propriety.” He believes society when society tells him she’s out of his league. He covers for a boss who spends most of his time passed-out drunk, probably out of a sense of loyalty, or because he feels that’s what he’s supposed to do. He starts off the film completely dehumanizing pirates, but slowly learns his lesson –  a very Badger primary character arc. And then, when Will rescues Jack at the end, it’s not because Jack is his (the way a Snake primary would parse it) but because Jack is a good man who isn’t being treated right.

(also the “part of the ship, part of the crew” refrain that Will’s new crew chants as he takes over for Davy Jones is very… dark Badger magic. You are becoming part of the whole.)

Hector Barbossa is the definition of a Burnt Primary. He can’t want. He can’t allow himself to want. Wanting is off the table. (because he is an undead skeleton.)

However, I do think that when Barbossa is healthy and y’know, not cursed, he’s a Snake primary. His beloved monkey is a little nod to the sorts of Snakey bonds he would like to form, but isn’t able to at the moment. Apart from that, he values self-care, and is a bit of a hedonist. He likes pretty things. He likes putting Elizabeth in pretty dresses. He likes elegantly prepared food, antique furniture, and nice hats. (Things start getting serious in the sword fight after Jack cuts off his feather.) This is why I think his redemption arc is so funny. Once his primary unburns, and he’s able to want things safely, he pretty much becomes a happy-go-lucky good guy overnight. And you know, I completely buy it.

As for secondary, I’m going with Badger. Barbossa community builds (he’s a much better captain than Jack.) He gives morale raising speeches. Leader of a mutiny is pretty classic dark Badger stuff. Marooning Jack, and dropping Bootstrap Bill into the ocean tied to a canon are both very ruthless, very public acts that are all about weaponizing community as a way to dehumanize your enemies and cement your power.

James Norrington starts out very Establishment (like Elizabeth.) But unlike Elizabeth, he seems to enjoy the way he can just see his life all laid out. Work his way up, become Commodore, marry the governor’s daughter. He proposes the second after he gets his promotion, it really is like he’s working from a checklist. It’s a very rigid Bird primary.

And he follows the law: “One good deed is not enough to redeem a lifetime of wickedness.” But more than that, he is comforted by following the law. When Jack tempts him into going after the Black Pearl, Norrington is clearly feeling it – but says there are things he values more than his own gut responses.

JACK: Think about it… the last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up? NORRINGTON: By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself.

This is such a great illustration of the difference between a Lion and Bird primary. A Bird’s higher power lives outside of them (and as we see here, that can make them really hard to tempt, bribe, or corrupt). But a Lion’s higher power is inside them, always. At the end of the film, Norrington adapts his system into something that looks a lot more Lion primary (this is a universe that likes Lions, and Norrington likes Lions too). But he’s still very, very Bird.

Governor Swann tells him that “perhaps on the rare occasion that the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself might be the right course,” and Norrington takes that in, sees the actions of Elizabeth, and says - okay. Maybe hunt all pirates always isn’t the perfect system I thought it was. Jack Sparrow tends to leave the world better than he found it, so it’s best to let him go. This change doesn’t seem upsetting to him, he doesn’t need to justify or explain it. It’s just obvious. Norrington reacts exactly the same when he learns that Elizabeth is not in love with him. He absorbs this new information, tells her that he understands, and walks away. When Lions change their minds, the process is a heck of a lot more emotional.

Then in the next film, the people around him don’t support his new Truth, and force Norrington to continue doing things he has discovered that he finds morally objectionable. And so he resigns his commission, burns, and goes into freefall, grasping at the systems he sees around him, trying to find something to hold onto. He seems like he might be beginning to build a more stable Truth – but dies before he can manage it. The sequels did Norrington dirty.

I actually want to say he’s a Badger secondary. At his most desperate and lost, his instinct is to join Jack’s crew. At his most powerful, he’s quietly calling in all his favors and getting the entire Royal Navy to look for Elizabeth. These are both versions of the same thing – leveraging community and connections to get things done. 

tl;dr

Jack Sparrow – Lion primary that sees “freedom” as the ultimate good, with a bit of an amoral, pragmatic Snake primary performance so people don’t find that out / Snake secondary

Elizabeth Swann –  Stifled Lion primary living in a situation where she’s not allowed to act on her instincts. Runs after pirates every chance she gets, because the ‘pirate life’ allows her to do just that / Snake secondary, Bird secondary model 

Will Turner – Badger primary / Lion secondary, Badger secondary model that Jack gets him to drop.

Hector Barbossa – Burnt Snake primary that un-burns when the curse that doesn’t allow him to want things is lifted / Badger secondary

James Norrington – Rigid by-the-books Bird primary that changes to something that looks a lot more Lion, before it burns in the sequels / Badger secondary

#sorting hat chats #sortinghatchats #pirates of the caribbean #pirates of the caribbean: curse of the black pearl #curse of the black pearl #jack sparrow #captain jack sparrow #elizabeth swann #will turner #hector barbossa #captain barbossa #commodore norrington #james norrington #gryffindor/slytherin #hufflepuff/gryffindor #slytherin/hufflepuff #gryffindor primary #ravenclaw primary #hufflepuff primary #slytherin primary #burnt slytherin #slytherin secondary #gryffindor secondary #lion primary #snake secondary #lion snake #badger primary #lion secondary #badger lion #burnt snake primary