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#i'm not sure if anyone has done this with the ot

riddlerosehearts · 4 months

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thinking about how people who watch the emperor's new groove and somehow come out of it shipping pacha and kuzco, or thinking yzma only became evil when kuzco fired her and that she would've been a better ruler than him, are both so wrong in so many different ways and are also missing one of the things that i absolutely love about the movie. which is that, the way i see it, pacha and yzma are counterparts. as parental figures to kuzco.

like, just to get this out of the way first, yzma was a dismissive asshole to a peasant whose family was starving. and yeah, if kuzco had been in her place he definitely would've also done that, which... is why she would not be a better ruler than him. she'd just be the same because they're both horrible people in the exact same ways. her reaction to being fired is to plot murder, and as soon as his funeral is over she sets everyone to work on replacing paintings of kuzco with paintings of herself and covering the palace with imagery that makes it clear that it's all about her now. i'm not even sure why this is a discussion tbh.

and also, kuzco is literally a teenager. he's barely 18 years old. source: in the movie, yzma says at his funeral that kuzco was "taken from us so tragically on the very eve of his eighteenth birthday." she also claims in the movie to have "practically raised" him, to which kronk replies "yeah, you'd think he would've turned out better". and sure, she could be exaggerating, but what evidence do we have that she is? we learn absolutely nothing of his parents, who are never mentioned even once in the movie, or of anyone else who could've raised him, and she's his advisor who for some reason sees no problem with attending to royal duties in his place. most likely because she's his regent. also, i'm not exactly a fan of the sequel tv series "the emperor's new school" but it does have something that backs up my point: kuzco is revealed to be an orphan and just before his father went and got lost at sea, he asked yzma (who was also his advisor) to take care of kuzco if anything happened to him. so, yeah, the writers who worked on the series clearly thought that yzma genuinely did raise kuzco, and nothing in the movie contradicts this.

and i find the idea of her being his only parental figure for pretty much his whole childhood incredibly interesting because, and this also goes back into why she wouldn't be a better ruler than him--she mirrors him as a reflection of what would've become of him if he'd never met pacha. they're both incredibly arrogant, power-hungry, selfish, and cruel, with a tendency to blame their problems on everyone but themselves. yzma was even originally going to have her own reprise of kuzco's theme song "perfect world", which i really wish had been kept:

[ID: Lyrics that read:

I'Il be the sovereign queen of the nation And the chicest chick in creation I'm the cat with all the cream and ooh-la-la This deadly concentration Will put an end to my frustration Now this perfect world begins and ends with moi

What's my name? Yzma, Yzma, Yzma Yzma (what's my name?) Yzma, Yzma (What'd you say?) Yzma (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!) Yzma. End ID]

(this song can be fully heard in "the sweatbox", the documentary about the making of the movie, and is also on youtube btw)

anyway, i'm sure yzma would not exactly have been the most nurturing or hands-on guardian, especially given that she and kuzco don't exactly treat each other like family. but it makes a lot of sense to think that her behavior influened kuzco's throughout the years. and for the entire movie, she remains determined to kill him. when he tries to reason with her and admits that he should've been nicer, she says the same thing to him that he originally said when he fired her. she never grows or changes and in the end, she hurts the one person who was willing to stand by her (and even then, kronk had never fully been on board with her plan) and he ends up trying to crush her with a chandelier. kuzco on the other hand is able to realize the error of his ways, come to regret who he was in the past, and start taking steps toward being a better person. his theme song gets a reprise where it's changed from a song about one person being the center of the world to a Power Of Friendship song. why? because, as i've already mentioned, he has pacha.

pacha, who similarly to both yzma and kuzco is in a position of authority as the leader of the village but unlike either of them is gentle and humble. who isn't afraid to stand up to kuzco and be honest with him even though he's the emperor, who agrees to take him back to the palace but has no obligation to be so helpful, kind, and caring toward him--and just about every reason not to be--and still chooses to be anyway. pacha who is 45 years old (also stated in the sweatbox documentary) and can see that kuzco is practically still a kid, not a single day over 18, who has time to grow and change. pacha, who already has a wife and two kids with another on the way, but practically treats kuzco like one of his own. who acknowledges that if kuzco dies all his problems will be gone and then still worries about him and goes out of his way to rescue him after he wanders into the jungle. who sees kuzco shivering at night and covers him with his poncho, who carries him when he's genuinely too weak to keep walking, who refuses to give up on him even after repeatedly being betrayed by him because he believes there's good in everyone.

also, while yzma ends up repeating kuzco's harsh words of dismissal as she tells him of her plans to kill him, kuzco had previously repeated pacha's words that "nobody's that heartless" after he saved pacha's life. and as the movie progresses kuzco and pacha's relationship becomes more and more equal and is constantly contrasted by moments of yzma being cruel and unappreciative of kronk's kindness. a good example of this is how kronk is constantly being forced to carry yzma everywhere on his back while yzma literally walks all over him and steps on his hands when she gets down, whereas when pacha briefly carries kuzco after the latter collapses he tells him he'll have to walk the rest of the way later and kuzco doesn't even protest.

idk if i'm even explaining well what i'm trying to say here. but basically, if yzma actually raised kuzco and contributed to his current behavior, then she and pacha both are figures who guided him and helped him grow. only yzma helped him become the tyrant that he was at the start of the movie, who was selfish and callous and saw everyone else as beneath him. whereas pacha helped him see the value in being selfless and considerate of others. and in the end, yzma is stuck as a cat and nobody is concerned about her. kronk has found a new job that makes him genuinely happy, while kuzco has decided to build a hut on the hill next to pacha's and effectively joined his family. in the sweatbox documentary it's even mentioned that chicha and the kids were at risk of being removed from the film, but it was decided that they needed to be there because having just pacha as a single guy who lived alone wasn't interesting enough--kuzco needed to go from having basically an empty world where he had nobody to being able to come together with pacha's whole family. and i just think that's incredibly satisfying and beautiful. it also leads up to one of the few things i really do enjoy about the emperor's new school, which is the fact that during the show kuzco moves in with pacha and chicha and pretty explicitly thinks of them as basically his parents while he's like a son to them.

idk. i feel like my mind went in a million different directions while i was writing all this. but i guess i just think that for all of the praise the emperor's new groove gets for its comedy and for how hilarious yzma and kronk in particular are as a duo, the movie also has a lot of genuine heart that gets overlooked. kuzco's character growth and his unique dynamic with pacha is, for me, really what elevates the movie from just a funny movie that i like to one of my favorite disney movies. and i wish more people appreciated that aspect of it and saw it as a found family story in the same way that treasure planet, brother bear, and lilo and stitch are all found family stories.

#disney #the emperor's new groove #help i wrote a whole essay about this movie #and i didn't even mention how much i love the way kuzco's home life is contrasted with pacha's #ugh. they have one of the most interesting and unique dynamics ever in a disney movie. i love them #love how kuzco gets away from yzma's toxic influence by way of accidentally being adopted #by the guy whose village he almost destroyed for a theme park #they're ENEMIES to FOUND FAMILY.... sobs #kuzco #pacha #yzma #kronk

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stuffforme2 · 19 days

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Okay listen I lvoe the pjo books and series with all ym heart but.. everyone talks about them like they're perfect WHICH THEYRE NOT any problems are kinda brushed under the rug and I find thst kinda werid? Like you'll see other books and TV shows get dragged and canceled for the stuff in Riordan books and yet pjo doesn't?? So.. uhhHHHH yeah that's jsut something I noticed.

The weird relationshipd ynamics. Rick is like allergic to someone bring okay with being single or jsut aromantic like you can say Reyna but her having a crush kn Jason?? Yes she rejected Apollo but her relationship with Jason deterioted brcuz she had a 'crush' on the guy and that doesn't really amke sense to me (I can go into so much detail kn this)

AND LEO AND CALYPSO OMFG that is a toxic relationship. The age gap. The way calypso treats Leo. The fact Leo SHOULD NOT be with someone like this man hasn't dealt with his attachment and Abandonment issues like st all?!

The literal only black character in the pjo books being beckendorf.. then he dies. Then the Korean/Asian (I'm not sure sorry) character dies, Ethan. And like I understand Percy is hinted st being Hispanic (have seen many ppl talk about this dont mnow if it's common knowldhe) but it's never confirmed or added??? I know Rick fixes it later but it's still weird to me lmaoo

Rick unable to keep consistent personality. Woobigying Nico OH MY GOD NICO HE BECOMES GAY AND THSTS WHDT EVERYONE FUCKING FOCUSES ON AND HE SHOULD'VE NEVER GOTTEN WITH WILL ATLWAST NOT THAT QUICK it's not healthy. Their relationship was rushed and didn't make sense I felt like people only like ot becuz it's a gay relationship??

And oh mygods— Samirah. I am not Muslim and I am not an expert on the Nuslim religion but there is so much shitbthatbeas wrong in thst book that I even knew was incorrect and jsut weird to happen?! The AMOUNT OF TIMES HER HIJAB CAME OFF and I'm also like "yaayyyy representation" but it could've been as easy as one Google search. one.

Jason. Jason as a whole. He had the most potential out of ANYONE and personally I think he had more potential then Percy like his story is so INTERESTING and then.. Rick knocked him iut with a brick multiple times, didn't work kn his sotry or trauma at all, then KILLED HIM. Same with Ethan. I am so Vitter about these two.. HELL EVEN LEO AND FRANK.

Also the way he made Annabeth first quest (first quest SHE IS LEADING AND IS HER PROHECY) all about Percy. I was reading it and I was like "bitxh— this is Annabeth Quest?!" LIKE he it pissed me off that Annabeth was swept to rhe side as Percy's lvoe interest giving her knly enough personality and stary to make her jnteredting enough to eb loved but never delving jntk it into Mark kf Athena and even at Mark of Athena it all rounded back tk her and Percy's relationship LIKE JESUS CHRIST DO THESE MFERS PASS THE BELLDAN TEST?!

The low key incest at the beginning ricj writing that all the demigods had the same impish features at rhe start and then.. jsut.. CHSNGING IT?!

Not letting a virgin goddess who has no history of having children have.. children.. NOW you may be wondering 'but then how would we get Annabeth?'— JUST GiVE ATHENA HER FAVOURITE CHOSEN PPL LIKE SHE DID WITH ODYSSEUS let her stay childless. Jsut let her choose some children she'd like as hers wonce they're Bron and she then blesses them as her heroes, that's how she treats them any way and it also gets rid of the incest?!

Also the fact it's implied that Annabeth is only smart becuz she's a child of Athena.. Rick made a virgin goddess technically have children so he can have a smart women character and that's just.. EuGGHHhHHh JUST LET HER BE SMART IT NOT THAT HARD "Oh, no, I'm not smart because Athena chose me.. Athena chose me because I was already smart" Smacks you with common fucking sense.

Also Annabeth ALWAYS needing to eb saves and its always done by a man. OMFG AND GROVES GF DHE HAS NO PERSONALITY OUTSIDE OF BEING SOEM GUSY GF EVEN THOUGH HES GONE FOR MKNTHS AND BAREKY CONTAXTS HER?!

The whole apheodite cabin. The whole aphrodite cabin. The whole aphrodite cabin.

The fact it's clear Rick doesn't think girly girls cant be strong or into fighting or able to wield a fuckign weapon. The way he makes nearly every girly girl into a total mean bitch or ruins their characters.

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rosehxnt · 6 months

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i’ll scream when no one’s around

character: cater diamond summary: he's having a bad day but won't let anyone know he's struggling warnings: angst, heavily implied depression and anxiety issues, slight body dysmorphia

As he snapped what felt like the thousandth picture, he zoomed in to inspect his expression. Not perfect enough. He tried well into the morning to capture a happy enough expression to show the world, but something was always off. He wouldn't settle on any photo, always finding something off with his appearance. Was one ear always slightly higher than the other? Did his nose always look like that? Were others embarrassed to be around him? Finally he was able to find just the right angle and lighting after making himself late for the day's activities. Rushing through his dorm, he felt himself grateful it was a weekend and this wouldn't make him late for class.

He could feel their eyes though. He could feel their stares as he arrived late for breakfast. He could feel their judgement as he sat down, their annoyance, their hatred. He was dizzy and he felt like his uniform was filled with his own sweat, drowning him. Was his hair a mess? Has he done irreparable damage to his image within the dorm? Was the picture earlier that morning the problem? Did he mess it up somehow? "Cater!" A hand waving in front of his face broke him out of his trance. He looked up to see his best friend looking at him. "Did you make sure to brush your teeth well?" He laughed off Trey's antics and reassured him that his teeth were a-okay. He didn't mention how the rest of him was doing. He never did, he wouldn't. His best friend knew something was wrong, but likewise didn't say anything. He had someone else to care about, Cater knew that. Still, he made sure to show a bright smile. He made small talk with his fellow third years sitting around him, showing them his favorite Magicam posts from that morning, scrolling faster once he knew his was coming up. He didn't need any more judgement from the others. Cater continued his day as normal. As normal as he could at least. It felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he left hearts and replies on whatever his latest favorite celebrity was posting. Although there weren't any classes, he'd agreed to meet with the pop music club that afternoon. He threw his snacks down on the table and plopped in his seat, waiting for Lilia and Kalim to show up. Cater allowed himself to slouch for the first time that day, letting out a deep sigh. He found himself staring at the ceiling, blinking away incoming tears. He couldn't cry here. What if someone saw? What if he was caught vulnerable around someone? Would everyone grow tired of him after that? Would they see beyond the image he had so carefully curated? Cater straightened his posture when he heard movement by the classroom door. He quickly checked his face in the camera on his phone. Good enough for now. As his clubmates entered the room he greeted them happily, offering some baked goods from Heartslabyul. Kalim had brought some snacks his vice housewarden had made for them. Lilia had brought some of his own creation, which the others narrowly avoided by letting him eat all of them first. Throughout the meeting they did what they usually did. That being nothing to do with playing music. They told anecdotes from the days they had been apart. Cater felt himself talking less than before, though. Paying more attention to his phone than the situation around him. Soon he wasn't even paying attention to his phone and his breathing was becoming faster, which he also wasn't paying attention to. Unbeknownst to him, Lilia and Kalim had noticed and were looking at him with concern. "Cater! Hi! What's going on?" Shit. "I'm fine, no need to worry about Cay-Cay. I gotta go, though. It was, uh, nice meeting with you! See you next week, yeah?" Cater stumbled over his words as he stumbled over his chair, rushing out of the room. The others stood up to follow him but stopped once they saw his expression. He didn't want to be seen like this, that's why he darted out so quickly. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, balled into fists. He slipped up. The façade was over. He passed Trey in the Heartslabyul hallways, who noticed the small tears in Cater's eyes. Once again, the vice housewarden said nothing. He was glad he was able to have his own room as a third year, as solitude was something he needed right now. He'd tried his best to keep it together, to keep up his perfect act. He'd failed. He was a failure. Cater screamed into his pillow and finally let go the waterfall of tears he'd been holding back for weeks.

a/n: i, um, yeah there's a lot of emotions i put into this and definitely a lot of words i’ve said to myself oof. i hope you liked it! m.list & rules

#ediewrite #twisted wonderland #cater diamond #twst #twst imagines #twst angst #twisted wonderland angst #cater diamond angst #cater diamond imagines

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walkawaytall · 8 months

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Oh no, I’m participating in Star Wars discourse.

Uh, so there’s a post floating around that I’m not reblogging mainly because it’s just this person’s headcanon and, whatever, people can have headcanons, but the main points they make in the midst of talking about their headcanon that I’ll be addressing are:

Leia and Han getting married and having kids is the most boring thing you can do with Leia

Leia should be a Jedi like every other dang Skywalker because somehow continuing an assumed dynasty isn’t the most boring choice you can make for her

Leia is more cut out to handle lack of attachment than Luke which we know because of her lack of response to Alderaan being destroyed

Leia and Han shouldn’t get married or even be around each other much because Han is a wandering soul and needs to travel and go places

Leia never expresses a desire for marriage or children in the OT, so removing these things won’t contradict George Lucas’ canon

And, look, these are just…missing the point of the character growth that occurs in these two during the OT.

(there's just a whole-ass essay below the cut if anyone cares to read about the many thoughts I have on Leia Organa and Han Solo.)

So, I'm not saying existing or past canon/EU has done it right, but I disagree with the statement that having them marry and live kind of basic lives is the most boring choice. If that's all there was to it, sure, but those two choices by themselves show a monumental amount of character growth for both Leia and Han. (I mean, frankly, I think "Skywalker = Jedi every time no matter what" is a pretty boring choice storytelling wise, but I also think the Jedi on the whole are incredibly boring characters, so, uh...I'm biased.)

Leia was never going to live a quiet life even if Alderaan hadn't been destroyed. Like, she did not have that option, period. She would have either remained in politics or taken over as queen, may or may not have had to marry for political reasons, and may or may not have been involved with the Rebellion. Her life was chaos starting as a teen and she had no reason to believe she wouldn't die living a hectic and chaotic life.

And then she loses everything. This isn't emphasized in the movies obviously because they are fun family romps and not gritty dramas, but, good night, in a single second, she loses every family member, nearly every person she knows, every place she finds most familiar and comfortable, everything and to top it all off, the guilt that it's happened because of her unwillingness to give up the Alliance will probably always be there. She was tortured, they lost lives in battle, and, yeah, they destroy the Death Star, but at the end of that day, literally all she has left is the Alliance and those three pilots who managed to unlock her cell door without too much trouble.

I don't know about you, but I'd be straight-up shut down emotionally at that point. Like, I don't think PTSD even covers what Leia probably has going on in her head. And I think that's kind of what we see in ESB (I know the filmmakers weren’t thinking in terms of PTSD, but there are still hints of it there regardless). She's angry, she's afraid of losing people (she's obviously pissed Han is leaving after he said he'd stay, but also, there's a scene that was cut -- a good move in my opinion because the dialogue is beyond dramatic and Carrie seems out of it, but it stands that this was the intended source of Leia’s frustration -- where Luke is telling Leia he's leaving the Alliance for Dagobah and she is extremely upset that both he and Han are leaving, goes on a whole rant about how she should know better than to trust anyone but herself, etc.), and when she finally lets Han in, she promptly loses him and nearly loses Luke.

And then the events of ROTJ happen and she finds out that the man who tortured her, who stood idly by while her entire planet was destroyed, who tortured the man she loves and handed him off to the space mob to be murdered, who cut off her brother's hand and nearly allowed him to die, who has terrorized the Galaxy in general, that guy is her bio dad. And that guy is the entire reason she's Force-sensitive.

Leia stopping her Jedi training in the new canon was for a dumb reason, I agree there. Leia not wanting anything to do with the thing that, from her point of view, nearly ruined her life and the lives of those she loves about a thousand times over...I dunno, I think that's way more interesting than her just going, "Ope, I'm a Skywalker! You know what that means! Gotta be a Jedi!" And as far as her being more of a natural at it...do we know that Leia is better at healthy non-attachment than Luke? Like, any response to a planet being destroyed could easily just be a trauma response. Is shutting down like that good, actually? Or is it just going to cause problems down the road, Anakin-style?

I don't know, I just think that after living through all of that as well as a freaking war, girly might want a quiet life -- that she gets to choose -- with a husband -- who she gets to choose -- and kids -- who she gets to raise without the threat of the Empire or her nightmare of a biological father looming over their lives. And the very fact that she's able to open herself up to that sort of love and affection when the fear that it might all be ripped away from her is likely ever-present is a big deal. Her having kids knowing they'll likely be Force-sensitive even though that aspect of her biology terrifies her is a big deal. And as far as her not expressing a desire for marriage and kids in the OT...I mean, Leia isn't given the opportunity to express her desire for much in the OT, let's be real (she also never expresses a desire to become a Jedi in the OT either. We can't use what Leia didn't express in the OT to dictate whether she wants or doesn't want something is what I'm saying). They're at war. She's a military leader. She probably can't even hazard wishing for anything beyond waking up the next day. But that's not to say she didn't want such things or grow to want such things once she felt it was safe to do so. We literally don't know, but I don't think the absence of that expressed desire is indicative of anything.

As far as Han goes, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure in every iteration of his story, his itchy feet weren't like...a part of his personality. He had a highly traumatic childhood that left him with few options and ended up living a transient lifestyle out of necessity. He actually seems remarkably easy to keep around if you don't treat him like garbage. I mean, he's given exactly one day of friendship, and he sticks around with the Rebellion for three years before some run-in with a bounty hunter makes him realize he needs to take care of his debt with Jabba. He's not leaving just for funsies or because he's bored or just really needs to be a smuggler again...and he seems legitimately sad have to leave when he's not busy getting pissed at Leia for not having the emotional response he wants her to have (first half of ESB Han is being a big ol' baby and I'm perfectly fine admitting that). And what character growth to see Han "I'm in it for the money" Solo learn to care for his friends, learn to support a cause, learn to love Leia when he's spent so much of his life unattached. Han making boring life choices is indicative of character growth and learning to care about others more than himself. What a lovely thing for this man to learn.

The call for Leia and Han to remain living separate lives but still committed to one another kind of demands that they move backward in character growth in my opinion. We have two people who are in rough places due, by and large, to trauma, who eventually open up to one another and seem better for it and then they...just go back to what they were doing before except they occasionally see each other? Why would they want that? They've grown as people, they've won a dang war, and they're finally able to live somewhat securely. Why wouldn't they want to live basic lives when they were denied the privilege of such choices for so long? And how is them making choices based on their love for another person — love that they had a heck of a time coming to terms with — boring?

#leia organa #han solo #star wars #star wars meta #star wars discourse

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borzoilover69 · 11 months

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> BORZOI: READ HOMESTUCK LIKE ITS 2011 (PART 3)

We are so fucking back. (4178)

Idiot captchalogued things one by one point and LAUGH. One soup can. One bullet. Bro would be horrible at unpacking.

Never getting over the fact how damn much Jake mentions Dirk in only the FIRST FEW PAGES that we meet him properly like damn dude you got something going with him or what..

And he seems so insistent on finding answers, even if its just backing up his own conclusions, rather than Janes stubborn pushing of the point. This is semi-tragic. Knowing that in their time, they were never considered heroes, but lords.

4184 YOU. *grips and shakes you* STOP IMPLYING FLIRTING YOU DARN QUEERS. Jake just CAAASUALLY mentioning how much he compliments strider, Dirks ar (but in this case a pretty accurate representation of Dirk) just CAASUALLY MENTIONING THAT THEY'VE DONE THIS TANGO BEFORE LIKE HELLOO?? FLUSTERED AMBIVALENCE? HAH??

Iconic line.

I need to think on this for a while. Speaking wise that's true, I'm sure it's fooled his friends before when Dirk just didnt want to talk. I'm rather fond of how Dirk and Jake call each other out on being annoying and hard to work with. Because they are, but that's what makes their relationship all the funnier and real to me LOL. They're ribbing at each other in a way that motivates each other to one up because they. They get it i guess. Thinking now, I don't like relationships where it's just adoration and softness... Nah i want them to beat the crap out of each other. I like ot think they used to bitch at each other for HOURS as kids, but all in good favour.

This idiot is changing from the casual to the formal desktop point and LAUGH. But also it brings up another strange contradiction where Jake "catches on" without being actually.. told to catch on.

From page 4183: You put on a few of your more ostentatious devices. Luckily (or unfortunately) you grew up alone, so there was never anyone around to point out how ridiculous you look.

And then from page 4186

You shed this ridiculous outfit because you look like an idiot. It's time to get serious here.

Maybe I'm reading too into it. I probably am. But it always astound me the awareness Jake has to some degree. I deadass want to get in his head and mess with his brain a little to see what's up. Its like he'll always go "Oh cool, neato, its this thing!" and then go "This thing is fucking stupid" later. From what im gathering >HUSKTOP: Clunky, too hands on. Good for casual use and movies (I'm assuming)

>COMPUTER OUTFIT? Comfortable, but it looks stupid. And an idiot.

>SKULLTOP: A real businessmans computer. Probably one of the most used ones of the bunch and the ire of Jakes shitty vision.

Also I just got done reading this conversation AGAIN, and I remeber in my previous reading, someone commented that they always took it as Jake defending the autoresponder, but if anything other than Dirk hes probably the most frustrated with it at times outright putting it down and demeaning its presumedly simulated built on feelings, which Hal will proceed to call him out on MULTIPLE times. Which backs up my conclusion that he knew Dirk really just didn't like the thing. My boyfriend saw me reading this out and said something along the line of "Jake has libra coding they can't bring up their point w/o including a third party in the matter" or something. It was a few days ago. I don't know zodiacs so take that as you will.

Along with this, I guess I see where Jakes frustration is coming from, this guy is running on canned food, frustration at being taunted and poked at by Dirks ruddy autoresponder, and he has no times for japery and lighthearted fun from Jane gadzooks hes on a mission!!

4189

There it is again!! That- *waves hands* THAT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE!! YOU SCALLIWAG!! HOWD YOU DRAW THAT CONCLUSION?? HOOOW DID YOU DO IT WITH SUCH LITTLE EXPLAINATION OR BACKING HOW DID YOU FUCKING KNOW?? LIKE JANE WAS FUCKING VAGUE AS SHIIIT ABOUT IT AND YOU JUMPED TO.. THAT CONCLUSION?? WHAT IS YOUR DEAL??

4190

You telling me they slept in the same house together dawg i thought Brobot powered off somewhere remote. Arguably a stupid conclusion but I FORGOT its been a while OKAY.

Operation U-235 Brocurement. Codename: Big Man Hass the Rock.

Heh.

I mean it's reasonable. Given growing up in a hellmurder island, defeat can equal great bodily harm or even death, being cautious about getting too far outside of your comfort zone and quote being a hero endquote will kill you.

A lot of people fail to realise how Jake was affected by living in such circumstances because it just comes down to gungho boy wonder who loves adventure!! And is. A coward. When flight is the thing separating you from living to dying etc, it can affect a lot of life choices like that. For example, hes perfectly up for the idea of plundering tombs, because its territory hes familiar and accustomed to. But he doesnt deal with being tossed a curveball or into new circumstances well.

And yet again Hal brings up a good point. If you bank on victory or defeat and not about the journey it gets to take there which leaves you stranded at the starting line overcompensating for the lack you never worked hard to make, you won't get anywhere, which is why Page class suits him well. Dirk and Jake have this thing in common where they are often too future thinking to the point of being narrow minded, they think they're being realistic when realistically.. these personal pursuits are needed to be fought with undying human spirit so as to conquer and further their self journeys.

Like yes, there's always the prospect of failure. Dirk feels resigned, doomed to the fact he will turn out terrible and therefore he should fuck off. Jake feels daunted by the task of actually living up to the expectations he feels are built upon him by his friends and himself, and chooses to isolate himself rather than build on the hope that maybe he can be known and loved regardless, and acknowledge the hurt he may undoubtedly cause. But with every prospect of failure comes a prospect of success and sure being resigned to failure doesn't hurt but even so you should still strive and claw your way to a happy ending otherwise whats it worth more than pointless self suffering and guilt? Because if you look at it everything is doomed everything is going to fail or fall out of touch eventually but if you turn it on its head, you see that means that unequivocally for a brief moment in time everything will be okay, that bad things will turn out for the better (somehow) in the end. It's the chicken and the egg question, which came first? It's a neverending circle. I got carried away there. Whoops. Anyways.

"Thing". He doesn't acknowledge him as a person it's a "thing".

So you, Jake english (totally straight guy) decree the brobot as bane of your existence (its your company in this hellscape) and is pointed out that you can CHANGE that, that is something YOU can control, that has been brought up to you MULTIPLE times by your BEST FRIEND by his AUTORESPONDER and yet you REFUSE to change it because when given it too easy it feels almost. Almost..tender you say? You proceed to get flustered and.. change the subject? Boy. Boy speak to me boy. You are COMPLICIT in your own downfall because you hate it being too easy, you FEAR it being too easy. For what?

Look at him go.

4195

Hopefully your dad is still out back washing the car. Ideally this is one of his legendary infinite car washes. What can you say? Dad fancies his automotive ablutions.

4191

GT: Man where IS he anyway??? GT: Is he taking one of his legendary infinite showers? TT: What can I say. TT: Dude fancies his ablutions.

4195

While he is preoccupied, you should be able to sneak downstairs and grab the mail undetected. The perfect crime? You bet.

You slip the HALLWAY CERA a furtive wink for good luck.

Jane you are the silliest girl to ever grace this earth never ever drop your dramatics and joyous whimsy. Your relationship with your father is endearing and sweet. Given this it's a safe bet to say Johns would've mimicked this, its just nice to see a pretty sweet goddamn family.

4199 Imagine walking downstairs and seeing this of course their families cant be reasonably normal about anything.

And another sort of outward representation of struggle with the kids environment. With how harsh and how thoroughly restricted Jane is in her household, despite being so far up she might as well just serve as a figurehead to the cooking empire than of anything remote. All backdoors, front doors, windows are closed, which also draws to her general ignorance to actual things. You could even say shes.. whats the word? Oh yes. trapped. In her views. Yes. *The crowd starts seething at me as I click my little device to change slides.*

4202 READY FOR WHAT??

YES, I am going out with this book! No, I will not go get an unabridged copy! No, I will not take yours! I can hardly even lift it! Oh, that is so preposterous. Do you even hear what you're saying? I will be fine! This is a perfectly funny book and it contains many incredibly funny jokes! Oh, will you just stop it. I am going now. Good day!!!

4207

Do you think this was the mystery of johns childhood that he could never solve. Do you. Cus i do. He didn't have a nanna he was raised by the condesce.

The message has always been a fascinating mystery to you, and probably was to him as well. From the way it's written, it seems it was intended for him to receive after her death. She talks about a journey he is supposedly meant to go on.

In any case, this message to poppop from his sweet old nanna is the best evidence you have to dispute all this evil batterwitch nonsense. She clearly cared for her grandson very much, and would never start a company responsible for the things it's accused of, let alone be alive today to perpetrate them. But then, what if she wasn't the one who wrote it? This thought makes you very nervous.

Big ole fucking SIGH. And he was never able to get that faaar at all. With that in mind I'd be interested to see anyone analyse the post scratch versions of the betas. Would John Crockers deal deem him a failure to his classpect? What about the others? I don't know, food for thought.

4215

Damn. Ok well I just reached the end of an image allowance so i guess. I wrap up here?

GG: I care very much for you, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you both in my dreams, and here in this world. GG: So for whatever good it does, just please be extra careful out there today! GT: Roger that janey! GT: And um same goes for you about being careful what with these various rogues accosting you with foul play lately and whatnot... GT: Because well i sure do care a lot about you too you know that. GG: Hooray! Will do. ;B GG: Now let's get this silly old adventure off to the races before the coat of dust it's growing gets any thicker. GT: Booyeah! GT: Ok good luck jane and keep me posted! C ya.

Yet another goddamn reminder that they give a whole fucking damn about each other.

#hom3stuck #homestuck meta #borzoi reread #dirk strider #jake english #jane crocker #borzoi talks #borzoi meta #homestuck

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cloverofhope · 5 months

Note

I’m asking, tell us abt ur au pls

Ohohohoh gladly

putting a keep reading thing here bc this is gonna be a longish post lol

Quick backstory

Okay, so a little backstory of the au itself. It was originally a roleplay plot that I made to cheer a friend up bc he was upset about something in another roleplay chat, but the plot then was very different to what it is now. Haive didn't exist at the time, nor did most of the characters that are going to be from Haive (aka Berks equivalent.) It was originally called "The Flipped Universe" or at least that was the second version of the plot was. I genuinely cannot remember what the original version was called anymore.

An argument happend and the second version was effectively dropped before we went onto the third version which was effectively the same plot except we switched who played hiccup and boy oh boy are they a good runaway!hiccup player. Most of the times we started the roleplay it, it took place after httyd2 so I'm writing what would've happened from httyd on.

Characters that are important right noW

Clover- she's the main character in this story. She's effectively the Hiccup of Haive. She's a little bit shorter than Hiccup and doesn't grow much past her height in this part of the story. Clover has red hair that goes to about her upper back when she lets it down, and emerald green eyes that could pierce into your soul if she's pissed off. She's pretty artistic, spending any free time she can find drawing something if she's not already focused on something else. She's got a heart of gold and stubbornness to go with it. She's fairly inventive, and she has a lot of spontaneous ideas that do work a fair amount of time

Iris- She's the light fury in the cove. She lost her right tailfin. She's mostly white with spots along her back and head that are grayish purple, but they look more gray than purple. Her ears have pastel blue spots along the top. She doesn't trust easily but once you've earned her trust, there's almost nothing she won't do. She's not the most playful or chatty at first but after she meets Clover and some of the other dragons she really opens up her shell

Rollo- She's the dragon rider that Clover convinced to help. After being raised by dragons, she DOES understand Dragonese and will eventually teach most of the others in the group, one of them being too stubborn to learn. She's the most ruthless of the group in this and sometimes has to be physically held back so she doesn't hurt someone who doesn't need to be hurt. Rollo doesn't understand some traditions at first, and Clover isn't the best at explaining why things are done the way that they are. She's got black hair that's been dyed with flowers that primarily grow on Haive and on islands near it, especially at the nest Rollo grew up on. She's a little bit taller than Clover

Rou- He's the most playful and silly woolly howl anyone could meet. He loves to sing songs for those he loves and is fiercely protective of his family. He's got blue scales and his 'fluff' is a milk chocolately brown. (I'm pretty sure- Its been so long since I've seen his ref sheet lol). Him and Rollo are effectively siblings after being raised together.

Wilder- Clover's younger brother. He's about five years younger. He's a clever little guy who wants to be just like his sister when he grows up. (Or at least he will eventually lol). He's got red hair and freckles galore. He cares a lot, sometimes too much.

mm i think thats all the characters imma do for now- at least in this post- I don't need it being 5000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 characters long lol

The 'What Ifs' that this AU is based off of that don't really spoil anything

What if Toothless was a light fury instead?

What if Dragonese existed in the movie universe?

What if Hiccup and Toothless ran away before Astrid ever found out?

What if httyd was more gay?

What if hiccup had help while training toothless?

As I'm thinking- I'm realizing that most of the other 'what ifs' spoil a lot- so that's all ya get for now

Headcanons! These won't spoil much- right?

Furies bond with other species by mimicking behaviors

Light furies are great swimmers

Dragons have a whole ass culture, some things can vary from nest to nest, but most things are pretty similar

not exactly sure how to explain this one, but an alpha's command isn't like spoken words- its more a sense only a dragon can feel, and isn't something humans can possibly learn

fury eggs don't explode- nor do woolly howl eggs-

hmmm not sure what else i can add that doesn't spoil a whole lot- so enjoy this!

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foster-the-world · 2 months

Text

WFH

Still sitting around at work. Apparently waiting on some logon before I can start doing assessments. Boring but I get my at home logistic stuff. Today I sent a bday invite for Rebel's bday and finalized a grant submission for the school.

I sat in on a nurse union zoom. It seems work from home is not out of the question. Which would be such good news. It would be two days a week. At least two other days I would be doing assessments in the field. One day a week in the office is not a big deal.

Baby boy was super tired tonight. He passed out while I was reading bedtime stories. I love when that happens. I rarely get to hold him anymore - so its such a joy.

Talked with the special ed consultant. Every time it stresses me out - so I'm not sure why I do it. I guess I forgot as its been a long time. She thinks we need to take him to several schools and they can tell us if he qualifies for their program. I expressed my skepticism about continuing to take him to one hour assessments. I don't think children can really be understood in an hour and he's no exception. He has done five separate 1 hour evaluations - which required trekking all over the city. So more of those don't appeal. Will do the one at the school near us and see how it goes. Blah. Blah. Blah. I want them to call us and say they've found a SEIT so I can stop spending time trying to get services. He's already owed over 100 hours of SEIT services alone.

My head actually doesn't feel itchy for the first time in a while. Its such a relief. I took an allegra and tried a more medicated shampoo. I'm not sure which one is doing the job but really hope it continues.

I miss my girls. I'm still enjoying the only child parenting but want to see their sweet faces. Every time they call it sounds like they are having the time of their lives. My MIL fell down again. No real injuries but it must be scary for everyone. Poor lady. I know I bitch about her but she honestly is an extremely kind person. Next level kind. Literally NEVER says a mean thing about anyone. She is going to start using a cane. They want her to go to an OT. I'm not exactly sure that will fix the issue. I worry this will be the last year she can do three months in California visiting her daughter. My FIL and her are NEVER apart. In eight years with my husband I've seen them not together maybe 4-5 times. I cannot imagine one without the other. Hurts my heart to even think about it. Send them good vibes. They deserve only good things.

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beatrice-otter · 7 months

Text

Fic: Chenelo Zhasanai

auexchange 2023 has finally revealed, which means I can tell you what I wrote! Those of you who guessed "Chenelo Zhasanai" are correct! I thought it was an easy guess because it was very on-brand for me: a longer-than-average fic about an underloved character (particularly a woman) which sticks close to canon even for an AU.

Title: Chenelo Zhasanai Author:beatrice_otter Fandom: The Goblin Emperor Length: 13,593 words Rating: General Audiences Written for: Gammarad in AU Exchange 2023 Betaed by: Irina

On AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Dreamwidth. On Pillowfort.

On good days, Chenelo did not take a sedative before bed, and her sleep was light and restless. She would spend the next day tired, but clear-headed.

Chenelo would later give many prayers to Csaivo that the day her former husband—and his elvish sons—died had been a good day.

So it was that when Othallo Neälu shook her gently in the middle of the night with the news that a courier had come on an airship, and Maia had read the message and called for her, Chenelo's mind was fogged with sleep but not with opazhin.

Neälu helped her into a dressing gown and Chenelo walked from her room—which had been a sitting room, when Chenelo could still reliably climb the stairs to the bedchambers on the floor above—into the hall. Maia sat on a bench by the fireplace; he rose at her entrance and bowed properly in the Elvish style. "I'm sorry for waking thee, mother. I hope thy sleep was restful."

"It is as it ever is," Chenelo said with a wave of her hand, sitting in the chair that had her cushion.

"Father is dead," Maia said, resuming his seat.

Chenelo swallowed, and bit back her first response, which was finally. It had been her father's consolation to her, when sending her away; Varenechibel was an older man, and the chances were that her widowhood would come early, and then she could return home. (Always assuming that her father was still alive, or that one of his allies had become Great Avar after him; if not, she would be able to remain in the Ethuveraz safely.) But they had not known, then, that her health was so precarious; Varenechibel had buried two wives before her, and she almost made a third. But none of this would be appropriate to speak of with Maia, who was Varenechibel's son, little though he liked that fact. "And thy brother Nemolis sent a courier immediately, instead of waiting for morning? But no," she said with a start, "he must be Varenechibel the Fifth, now."

That would be hard to reconcile; the name of the husband who had banished her now given to the step-son who maintained a courteous correspondence with Maia. "Has he recalled us?" He had hinted that he would, in his letters; the first time, Maia had had stars in his eyes for days, regardless of her reminder that any such event would be years in coming and for all they knew he would change his mind in between.

Maia handed her a letter. "Nemolis is dead, as well. And Nazhira. And Ciris. They were on an airship which crashed yesterday, returning from the wedding of the Prince of Thu-Athamar."

Neälu gasped, and lowered herself heavily down to the floor in that ridiculously servile prostration the Ethuveraz required for those in the Emperor's presence. Chenelo had done it only once, when she first arrived at the Untheileneise Court; after she was Empress, a curtsey was all that was required. Would they expect her to prostrate herself before her son? She doubted she would be capable of it without assistance.

"Please rise, Othalo," Maia said courteously. "We do not require it of anyone; and—" he smiled "—we would definitely not require it of our dav. Certainly not of one whose knees are as creaky as yours."

"Thank you, Serenity," Neälu said as she clambered to her feet.

Chenelo read the letter. It was from the Chancellor, regarding funeral arrangements. No matters of state were discussed, she noted. "Loyalty, he says. Yes, I'm sure he was very loyal to thy father; Varenechibel would not have tolerated otherwise."

"Didst thou know him?" Maia asked.

"No; Chavar did not rise to that office until, oh, about ten years ago, I think? He was undoubtedly at court when I was, but I did not make many friends, then." And none of those she had befriended had condescended to write, after her relegation. "He will be as like thy father as two peas in a pod; Varenechibel did not care for sycophants, but he also did not care for how powerful the Corazhas had become, that they were able to force me upon him. He would have wanted someone he could absolutely rely on, to shepherd the Corazhas in the direction he wanted."

"And a friend to my father is no friend to me," Maia said grimly. "He shall have to be replaced, and probably soon. Know'st thou … how an Emperor goes about replacing a Chancellor?"

Chenelo laughed. "Oh, no, my dear. It's not the sort of thing I needed to learn in order to wed thy father. Elvish systems are so different from Goblin ones. And of course I had no opportunity to learn after."

Maia sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Who would I even ask? I know so little of my father's court, and the only people I do know are my brothers, who have just died."

"Were thy sisters on the journey?" Chenelo asked, surprised. She wouldn't have thought so, but perhaps Vedero was a friend of the bride.

"I do not know," Maia said. "Perhaps?"

"Vedero, as an unmarried daughter of the house and thus under thy control, would probably be the safest to ask." Chenelo cocked her head. "But he'll have enemies in the court; any Chancellor would. I'm sure they would be quite happy to advise thee; the trick will be finding the ones thou canst trust." That, at least, she understood very well; growing up in the Great Avar's court had given her a ringside seat for the sort of status-climbing and jockeying for power common in any court. Elves liked to claim that they were above the sort of maneuvering common among the avars; in Chenelo's limited experience, the difference was merely that the avars were open and honest about it, whereas Ethuverazeise nobles were not.

"I'll have the rank," Maia said slowly, and Chenelo knew he was thinking of the stories of her father's court. "But he will have the allies. I'll have to consolidate my position before removing him, unless he does something very blatant that can't be ignored."

"Yes," Chenelo said. She rubbed her face, tiredly. "Thy first step, of course, should be securing the Alcethmeret both physically and legally."

"I was planning on taking the airship that delivered the courier," Maia said. "The passengers can easily wait here in comfort while waiting for a replacement airship to continue them on their journey."

"Good," Chenelo nodded. It would certainly be better than the trip to Isvaroë had been, on a boat down the Istandäartha, still mired in pain and grief from childbed, and cold and wet the whole time to boot.

"Legally … I suppose the coronation must be a priority," Maia said. He made a face. "It feels like stepping on Nemolis' grave."

Chenelo shrugged. "I doubt he'd begrudge thee. And even thy father would understand the realities of power. In his way, he was devoted to his view of what an Emperor should be. He would hate that thou succeededst him, of course … but he would also acknowledge thy right to do so."

"Yes," Maia said. He changed the subject. "I would like to have as much planned as possible before we arrive, and we'll have no privacy on the airship, so. The coronation must be my priority, of course, and the funeral; and consoling my sisters and sister-in-law." He grimaced. "As to my step-mother…?"

"I doubt she'd wish consolation from me," Chenelo pointed out. "She would doubt my sincerity, at the very least. On a related note: households. Will we have one dav, or two?"

"One, of course," Maia said in some surprise. "Why should we have two?"

"Two reasons, one political and one practical," Chenelo said. "Elvish noblemen in full control of their titles and estates—especially the Imperial family—do not generally live in the same household as their mothers. Or mothers-in-law. If I live with thee, it will be seen as odd, and people will grumble about goblin influences."

Maia waved a hand. "They'll do that anyway."

"There's no need to intentionally court it," Chenelo said. "And in any case, there is the practical reason. The Alcethmeret is a tower. With the public spaces below, and the living quarters above." She spread her hands.

Maia sagged. "I'm sure the Emperor of the Elflands must be able to command scores of strapping young men to carry his mother up and down staircases all day."

Chenelo flicked her ears to show what she thought of that idea.

"Separate quarters, then," Maia said glumly.

"It isn't as though we shan't see each other daily," Chenelo said with a smile, little though she liked it herself. She turned to Neälu. "Would you please wake the dav and explain to them what has happened? Some of them may not wish to come with us, and if it is more people than is necessary for a caretaker staff here, we will arrange for funds to tide them over until they find employment elsewhere." And oh, with her husband dead she would have full access to her dowry! There would be no scrimping to find the funds to properly run her household! "For those who wish to remain in our dav, please decide who will come with us immediately and who will stay to shut the house and grounds up and send on all the things we cannot take with us now. We'll want to leave as quickly as possible—within the hour, if it can be done."

Neälu glanced at Maia for approval, then curtseyed and left.

Chenelo felt her face heat. "I am sorry, dear one; of course it should be thy order."

"Thou art still my mother, even though I am emperor," Maia said. "I care only about the scandal it would cause at court."

***

They were not off within the hour, but close to it; Chenelo boarded using the basket they loaded baggage with. It was not dignified, but it was safer than being carried up the stairs. Maia was invited to view the sunrise, and stayed up with the crew to watch; Chenelo lay on a bench and tried to sleep.

It was no use; the stress and the change in the air had done their worst. Neälu gave what help she could, which was not much. Chenelo needed to be awake at the end of the journey to walk to whatever rooms were given to her before she could allow herself to be sedated. She wished she could be with Maia for moral support in that first meeting with the Chancellor, but knew her own limits. Besides, she consoled herself, gritting her teeth at the pain, Maia would make a better impression without her there.

***

It took Chenelo a full day to recover from the travel, and it was only through the competence of Neälu and Merrem Saveschem, her housekeeper from Isvaroë, that Chenelo had appropriate clothing for both the coronation and the funeral, and edocharei to dress her and style her hair.

"Thank you," Chenelo said, as the gown for the coronation was being fitted. "You have both done far more than you could have been expected to. We are grateful for your service." Merrem Saveschem had been hired by Varenechibel to manage Isvaroë, which was nothing to a dav in the Untheileneise. And Neälu was a treasure to whom Chenelo owed her life many times over. Acting as a waiting woman was beneath her skill as a cleric of Csaivo, but Chenelo's access to her dowry had been severely limited in relegation, as had been the number and type of people she was allowed to have in her dav, and the people she was allowed to write to. Fortunately, the local Archprelate at Sevezho had been one of them, and he had produced a cleric who was willing to come and be both doctor and servant, and paid (though not treated) as the latter.

"Of course, Zhasanai," Neälu said. "It is a time of crisis, and if we can but get through this initial time of confusion, everything will be easier."

"You must have had help, to learn the latest fashions and get such fine material, and we do not know how the sewing was accomplished in such a short time," Chenelo said, marveling at it.

"Your son's Master of Wardrobe was very helpful in providing both material and recommendations for dressmakers," Merrem Saveschem said. "And there is a new machine that sews seams very quickly."

"I should like to see it," Chenelo said.

"Of course, Zhasanai," Merrem Saveschem said. "Now?"

"No," Chenelo said. She smiled down at the woman adjusting and pinning the bodice to fit properly. "We would not wish to get in your way, for we are sure you must be very busy."

"Yes, Your Grace," the seamstress said, a little uncertainly. No doubt unused to being treated like a person by her employers.

***

Once the fitting was done, there was correspondence. A great many people Chenelo had never met, or met only briefly two decades ago, now wished a moment of her time. "We'll need a secretary," Chenelo said with some dismay. She hadn't when she'd been at Court the first time.

Neälu made a note of that while Chenelo read the return addresses to see if there were any that needed immediate attention. One in particular caught her eye. It was a scroll in the Barizheise style, with a delicate Corat' Arhos nesecho. She smiled at it and pulled the bead to unwrap it.

It had been almost twenty years since she had read her native tongue, or spoken more than a few words of it, and it took her a few minutes to remember the language of her heart. She started with the signature, to see if it was from someone she knew. It couldn't be; there had not been time for word to reach Barizhan, and yet … "Nadaro Gormened?" Had her cousin Nadaro married? She had not heard, but then, she wouldn't have.

To our most serene imperial kinswoman, Chenelo Zhasanai,

We express our great joy at being once again allowed to communicate with you, and at the end of your exile. We offer you condolences on the death of your husband exactly proportionate to your sorrow, and look forward to exchanging all the gossip and news of what has happened at home since last we spoke. We are here at the Untheileneise Court, as our husband Vorzhis is your father's ambassador. If there is anything we can do to make your transition easier, we beg of you to allow us to provide it, to make up for our silence even in this small way. With greatest love, Nadaro Gormened

Chenelo clasped the nesecho in her hands and closed her eyes with a sigh. She had never blamed Nadaro for her silence, any more than she had blamed her when they were girls and a new-flowing enmity between their families tore them apart. But her heart overflowed, and she could not answer it now.

She checked the clock. Maia would have been ensconced in the deep well of the earth beneath the Alcethmeret for some time now, standing vigil; she asked Neälu where her prayer mat had been put, and went to join her prayers to those of her son.

***

It was a long day, waiting for the coronation; Chenelo spent most of it either in prayer and meditation, or sleeping, to gather her strength for the night's activities.

Her part in the coronation did not begin until nine o'clock, and then it was only to wait in the grand entrance chamber of the Alcethmeret while government officials were ushered into the Emperor's presence to take oath to him. They had chairs to wait on, but it was drafty and there was little conversation. Half of those waiting stared at her; the other half pretended not to, but cast sidelong glances when they thought she was not looking. The government officials she did not know by sight, but most of the Drazhada she knew enough of from Maia's correspondence with them—and from newspaper reports—to guess who they were.

Csoru, her husband's most recent bride, was small and pretty in the Elvish style, though she spoiled her looks with frowns and sighs and fidgets and petulant glares which she cast at Chenelo when she thought no one was looking. No power in her own right, no skill at politics, all influence gone with Varenechibel's death. Chenelo pitied her, but otherwise dismissed her; there was neither help nor hindrance to be found in that quarter.

The other widow of Varenechibel present might be another story; Arbelan Drazharan, Varenechibel's barren first wife, had been recalled from exile as well. She'd been a force to be reckoned with, in her day, or so said what few stories Chenelo had heard of her; and from the cool, amused looks Arbelan was giving Csoru, that might still be the case. Whether help or hindrance was yet to be seen.

Unlike her fellow widows, Chenelo recognized Vedero and Nemriän from her previous time at court. Vedero had been a gangly girl twenty years ago, and now she was very tall and broad. She was worn and even paler than usual, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Their only correspondence had been a series of perfectly correct, perfectly impersonal notes exchanged at appropriate occasions—birthdays, Winternight, Midsummer, and the like. Despite her obvious grief, she gave Chenelo a gracious nod of acknowledgement before returning to her own thoughts.

Nemriän had been a graceful young woman, not terribly attractive but with the position and stylishness to make up the lack. She was now an ordinary-looking matron, and if she were suffering from any great grief Chenelo could not see any symptoms of it. Then again, Varenechibel cared little for his daughters and had never given her reason to love him, and if she were close with her brothers, there had never been any evidence of it that Chenelo saw. A decade of living in her husband's primary seat at Ashedro had undoubtedly weakened her affection for the family of her birth.

If Sheveän had been at court during Chenelo's brief stay, she hadn't noticed her; the marriage with Prince Nemolis had happened a few years after Chenelo had been discarded. And the notes Chenelo had exchanged with her had been even more perfunctory than those with Vedero. But Nemolis had described her in his letters to Maia, and so Chenelo had no trouble identifying her as the proud woman with deep blue eyes who was clearly offended by both Arbelan and Chenelo. Unlike Vedero, Sheveän's edocharei had used cosmetics to skillfully cover up as much of her grief as could be done; but there was a redness around her eyes that could not be hidden.

The last of the adult Drazhada was a sheep-faced woman so bland that Chenelo's eyes skipped right over her. By process of elimination, that must be Ciris' fiancée, Stano Bazhevin; Chenelo had sent a note of congratulations at the announcement, but if Stano had replied, it had yet to reach Isvaroë.

There were only three children of the Drazhada present; Prince Idra, Maia's current heir, was quiet and drawn. Nemolis had written a great deal about him; he had been proud of his son, and boasted of every accomplishment. Ino and Mirëan, the two younger sisters, sat on a bench and cuddled sleepily with a nursemaid, who murmured quiet stories to keep them awake and quiet. They, too, had featured so prominently in Nemolis' letters that Chenelo felt she almost knew them.

Then at last it was the turn of the senior Drazhada to make their oaths. Chenelo had practiced the words, and did her part perfectly.

Once the private oathtakings were done, the whole group processed out of the Alcethmeret to the Untheileian at the heart of the court. The sudden shock of cold as they went through the great public courtyard set Chenelo to coughing, and she tried to muffle it with a handkerchief. The relative warmth as they re-entered the court itself was a relief, though it was still not warm enough for Chenelo to be comfortable.

The Corat Dav' Arhos, her father's palace, being half-underground, was well-insulated from both heat and cold. She did not understand how a people who lived in a clime so much colder would be worse at building palaces to handle it.

Chenelo was tired and her joints ached, and she would need opazhin to sleep tonight, but it was a thrill to see the whole court of the Ethuveraz bowing before her son. She was partial, of course, but she thought him a much better man than any that had worn that crown in the last hundred years, at least. He deserved all their adulation, and more.

Ceremony over, she went back to her apartments, where a heated dressing gown was waiting for her as her new edocharei helped her ready for bed.

"You look like you need opazhin," Neälu said, bustling over to the cabinet that held her supplies.

"Yes," Chenelo said with a sigh. She hated taking it two days in a row; but there was nothing to be gained by lying awake in pain. "I don't remember the Untheileneise Court being this cold, when I was here before."

"When you were here before, you were a healthy weight," Neälu said. "Quite aside from the rest of your symptoms, that alone would give you more protection from the chill. But these rooms are drafty, and I have noticed that the glazing in the windows needs to be redone; we shall have to see what can be done."

"Yes," Chenelo said. "Don't let me forget." As the edocharei finished with her and left, she dictated some notes on what she had noticed of the other Drazhadeise women, and the tentative ideas she had for managing them. Then she took the medicine and went to bed.

***

Chenelo woke late the next morning, and could not muster the energy to get out of bed. There was little reason to; previous experience and the long stretch of time it took her to realize she should get out of bed told her that she would accomplish little, if anything. And it would be better to put off dealing with the court than to do so when she felt this foggy.

She remembered last night's coronation, and her mind wandered to her childhood memories of her father's palace. Climbing up on benches to see out of the windows, standing with her father on the upper-story balconies to watch the waves crash on the rocks below, during storms. The wind here sounded different than the wind that came off the sea; at least, she remembered thinking that, when she first came to court. It was nineteen years since she had last seen the sea.

Maia was older now than she had been when she left the Corat' Dav Arhos for the Untheileneise. It was not the first time she had realized that, but it never became less strange.

Neälu sat in the corner and knitted, passing on what gossip she had learned from the Ethuveraseise servants, until a message came from Maia that he wished to have lunch with her.

Chenelo's head had cleared a bit in the meantime, so she dressed and had some tea and sat in her sitting room with blankets piled on her lap reading a novel until it was time to go to the Alcethmeret.

She could write her father. The thought had been swimming in her head all morning. She was out of relegation; he might answer a letter from her, now.

He had not once answered a letter to her in all her years at Isvaroë. She had stopped writing when she realized that he was never going to answer, no matter how she pleaded. No matter what she asked.

In the beginning, she had asked for him to intervene, and have her recalled, or sent back to her father's household. Towards the end, she had asked only for him to respond to her. If not for her own sake, then for Maia's, so that he might at least know his grandfather in some way, even if he would never know his father.

She had stopped writing, eventually. She didn't know if he even read them.

He would respond now, she was certain; now that she was no longer a shame to the family; now that she was no longer a woman set aside by her husband, but the mother of the Emperor of all the Elflands.

Now that she had learned to live with his silence. Now that she no longer needed his help.

What would she even say?

At last it was time to leave for lunch. The Alcethmeret was only a short distance away, which Chenelo was grateful for; today was not a bad day, but too much exertion could make it so.

A table had been set for them in one of the few private rooms on the ground floor, which Chenelo approved of. Maia was not waiting for her; as Emperor, his time was too valuable.

He charged in exactly at noon, trailed by his nohecharei. Chenelo rose to curtsey to him, but he reached out to stop her with a laugh and a hug. "Know'st thou, this might be the longest we have gone without seeing each other in my entire life?" he said. Isvaroë was not large.

"Oh! Of course it isn't," Chenelo said. "When thou wert thirteen or so, would'st occasionally get moody and refuse to emerge from thy bedroom."

"I'd forgotten." Maia's cheeks darkened with a flush. "I hope thy rooms are comfortable? Hast thou been well?"

"They are trifle draftier than I would like, and the windows need re-glazing," Chenelo said. "That can be fixed. It's no worse than Isvaroë was when we first arrived there, and it will be easier to adapt."

"And thou?" Maia said. "Thou lookedst pale and wan last night, and I could not tell if it was the late hour, or something … worse."

"Mostly it was the hour," Chenelo said. "Although the brief time outside did not help. Do not worry about me; I know to pace myself, and I have been much worse off than this, as well thou know'st." The whole year he had been eight, she had been unable to sit upright without assistance; she had truly thought she was going to die then, and without Neälu's care she probably would have. "Tell me what thou hast been up to, in my absence," she said as a serving girl brought in the meal.

"This is Isheian," Maia introduced her. "Isheian, this is my mother, Chenelo Zhasanai."

She nodded politely at Isheian, who bobbed a timid curtsey and scurried out. Even out at Isvaroë, it had taken her quite some time to get Elvish servants used to the idea of the dav; and that was much closer to Barizhan than Cetho was.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Maia said with a blush. "How terribly rude of me. Mother, these are my Second Nohecharei, Dazhis Athmaza and Lieutenant Telimezh."

"Hello." She smiled at them. "We are honored by your service. We are sure we could not trust our son's safety to anyone more dedicated." They bowed, and Telimezh thanked her.

Mindful of Neälu's constant admonitions to eat, Chenelo filled her plate, though one side effect of the opazhin was a poor appetite. Maia loaded up his plate and told her of everything she had missed: that he had had to send messengers to the Adremaza and the Captain of the Untheileneise Guard to get his nohecharei, because Chavar hadn't done it; how Chavar had dismissed the courier in a fit of pique and Maia had given him a place in the household, and now he seemed to be a secretary (though Maia was a little unclear on the man's exact role in the dav).

"A courier, for a secretary?" Chenelo asked. "Not a place in the undersecretaries, but the head? That is … quite a position of seniority."

"He knows what he's doing," Maia said stiffly. "Indeed, he has been very helpful in explaining to me all the current political and social maneuvering of the court, and he knows how to handle Chavar."

"I am pleased he has been helpful," Chenelo said. She wasn't quite convinced, but this was not the time or the place to say more; in any case, it was Maia's decision. Either it would work out, or it wouldn't, and if it didn't the man could be put in a position more suited to his talents then.

Maia described how Csevet had gotten Chavar fixed on the idea of a large panel of Witnesses, and Chavar's outrage that Maia had already petitioned a clerical Witness, and ordered that that Witness be part of the investigation.

"Though I don't know if it will make any difference," Maia admitted. "He examined the bodies of my father and brothers yesterday, and none of them knew anything. The other Witnesses confirmed it was sabotage; someone put a device on board that ignited the hydrogen. Unless one of the other dead placed it aboard and remembers doing so even now…."

"If they don't, then thou'llt know to look elsewhere for answers," Chenelo said. "And it sounds like this investigation is a worthy endeavor for Chavar; he will make sure it is done, in honor of Varenechibel, and while he is thus occupied, he shan't be interfering with thee."

"Yes," Maia said. "Which will leave me to deal with … all the audiences and letters that people keep sending me." His ears sagged, and he pulled a comical face.

"Surely thy secretaries handle most of the letters," Chenelo said.

"Yes, but I must at least know what's in them," Maia said. "And I know so little of the … the background and the history that each letter takes a very long time to understand and make a decision about, if a decision is necessary."

"Still, thy father had a whole flock of secretaries, each more efficient than the last," Chenelo said. "Some of them will have died with him, but they can't all have gone to the wedding with him. How many are left?"

Maia frowned. "I do not know."

He called for the courier, and introduced him to Chenelo; Csevet was his name.

"Serenity," Csevet said when Maia asked him what had happened to his father's secretaries, "it was not one thing but many. His two most senior had just retired and had yet to be replaced. Four were with him on the Wisdom of Choharo, and died there. Of the three left, two have no ambition to be anything other than undersecretaries, and one resigned to take a position in the chancellery."

"Why didn't they wish to be promoted?" Chenelo asked.

"We believe that they … were content with the lower workload and responsibility, and did not wish to come to His Serenity's notice," Csevet said carefully. He spread his hands. "They are very good at their job, and we would be lost without them, but there are only two."

Given what it must have been like to work intimately with Varenechibel, Chenelo couldn't blame them for wanting to stay in the background. "Surely it should be the Lord Chancellor's job to see that the Emperor has an appropriate staff. He has to have known Varenechibel's secretaries died with him."

"It should," Csevet said. "But the Lord Chancellor does not … often consider matters of staff. It may not have occurred to him yet."

Or perhaps it had, and he was simply trying to hamstring his Emperor. There was no way of knowing. "So either he is not doing his job on purpose, or he is not competent to do it," Chenelo said. She turned to Maia. "When the time comes to replace him, thou wilt have plenty of reasons; I would start compiling a list, an thou needst convince the Corazhas."

Maia nodded. "Of course." He turned to Csevet. "Please see that it is done. And also, begin hiring enough people to bring your department up to full capacity; we shall certainly need them."

Csevet bowed, and Maia dismissed him.

***

Varenechibel's funeral began precisely at sundown. Chenelo stood with the other Drazhada, Maia up above them in the Emperor's balcony, and concentrated on looking appropriately solemn. The Elvish rites required so little from the congregation that it was easy for the mind to wander, but they did require enough participation that she could not simply meditate or lose herself in prayer.

And then it was over, and it was time for the wake. Chenelo danced the first with Maia, and then sat herself along the edges of the ballroom to listen to the music and watch the dance.

Princess Sheveän approached with an insincere smile. "Chenelo Drazharan, welcome to court. We hope the funeral was not too taxing; you look quite ill."

"We are ill," Chenelo said, hiding her irritation with a smile. Her daughter-in-law had all the subtlety of a rock. It must be quite a handicap in court politics. "We have been for quite some time. But tonight we are no more so than any other night."

"Surely the death and funeral of your husband must give some trouble," Sheveän pressed.

"Grief is not the same as illness," Chenelo said. "And we knew him so little it is not a personal loss. Indeed, we know more of your husband, through his letters to our son Edrehasivar, and we are very sorry for his death and the deaths of the whole family. Nemolis was an excellent brother to Maia, and I am sure he was even better as a husband and father. You must miss him very dreadfully. As for Varenechibel, he was a good emperor, and his death is a loss to all of the Ethuveraz."

"He was a great emperor," Sheveän said stiffly, "and the loss is catastrophic."

Chenelo nodded. "We grieve with you, and are happy to hear any stories you might have of him or your husband or the others."

But Sheveän had said her piece, and excused herself. Chenelo pondered whether Sheveän had few feelings for her husband, or such a deep grief that she could not bear to speak of it in public. Or if, perhaps, she simply preferred anger to sadness.

Chenelo was not left alone to enjoy the music for long; Csoru Zhasanai was next.

"Csoru Zhasanai," Chenelo greeted her affably.

Csoru's ears flattened slightly at the reminder she was now a dowager, though her smile never slipped. "Chenelo Zhasanai," she said, taking a chair next to her and lounging gracefully in it. "We hope you are well? You only danced once! We are not used to seeing goblins so … thin, and we hope it is nothing serious."

Chenelo smiled instead of wincing, controlling her ears quite carefully. "Our condition is chronic, not acute. We feel no worse tonight than we ever do. You need not fear that we shall usurp your place at court; we intend to live a quiet life, and you may rule the social scene with our blessing. Until our son Edrehasivar marries, of course."

Csoru shot her a poisonous glance. "Of course. We do hope that you are feeling well. We understand that you spent very little time at court, as a girl, and have spent the intervening years … well. Living a quiet, retired life. The court must be such a confusing whirlwind of people."

"We were only in the Untheileneise Court for ten months, it is true," Chenelo said, "but we grew up in our father the Great Avar's court, and it is larger. Only in the winter, it is true, when the avars congregate for the political season; but we were not bewildered by the Untheileneise when we came to Cetho the first time."

"Of course," Csoru said. Elves never liked to be reminded that Barizhan was richer and at least as populous, and its court even more magnificent than the Untheileneise. "But still, it cannot be easy to be a stranger; your only acquaintances were the Drazhada, most of whom have died. We would be happy to introduce you; We are sure there are many who would be honored to dance with the Emperor's mother."

"What a kind offer," Chenelo said. And at least she was a bit subtler than Princess Sheveän had been; introducing her around would put Csoru in a position of authority and show off that she was the center of court and Chenelo the interloper. As well as ensuring that Chenelo talked to the people Csoru wanted her to. "We thank you most sincerely. But we are enjoying the music. We never had musicians of this quality at Isvaroë, of course."

Csoru pouted, and whined for a few seconds, before retreating into honeyed cooing over Chenelo's health. Chenelo responded with courteous obstinance, refusing to give the girl the satisfaction of responding to her childish tactics, and in short order Csoru gave up and retreated to her circle of young, fashionable ladies. It was not, Chenelo noted, a very large circle, even given that Csoru was no longer Empress and thus close to the reins of power.

Over the course of the next half-hour, a few courtiers approached to give condolences and introduce themselves; a wake was not a place to discuss business, but it was a place to start laying the groundwork for future business. As the only person currently at court who might be assumed to have the new Emperor's ear, she was of interest to everyone.

Arbelan joined her eventually, without the condolences. "It is such a pleasure to hear musicians of this quality," she said as she sat down next to Chenelo. "Although neither the dances nor the tunes are the same as they were in our day."

"Oh?" Chenelo asked. "We did not have time to become accustomed to Elvish music, in our day; and though there are many similarities between Elvish and Goblin dances, there are also differences."

They spent a pleasant few minutes discussing different styles of music and dance, before Arbelan glanced over at Csoru and her friends. "The youngest Zhasanai is glaring at us."

"We have already told her that our health will not permit me to become the glittering star of court functions, even if we wanted to," Chenelo said tranquilly, "and so her position there is safe … until the Emperor marries."

Arbelan's ears didn't twitch. "We imagine she was quite relieved."

"No doubt," Chenelo said. "We expect to have many of our evening meals in our apartments, and not with the larger court."

"That would be much better for your health than trying to keep up with the feasting and the revelry and the noise of the larger court," Arbelan agreed.

"Though we may perhaps invite a few people to join us, from time to time," Chenelo said. "We would hate to be lonely."

"People such as your son," Arbelan said, "and possibly members of the Corazhas? The Princes, while they are at Court?"

"Just so," Chenelo said. "Quiet affairs, that will not tax our health. We are sure you would find them restful, as well."

"Oh, indeed," Arbelan said. "We are sure we would. Dancing half the night is the province of the young, we fear, though we did enjoy it in our day." There was a hint of wistfulness in her voice, at that.

"We only had that pleasure a few times," Chenelo said, with matching wistfulness. She had only barely been old enough to attend dances when she had been married away from her father's court; and an empress publicly despised by her husband had few partners willing to risk his disapproval for a mere dance. "Do you do needlework? We are fond of embroidery, when our hands are steady enough for it."

"We do, of course,"Arbelan said. "Though we have always found lacemaking or painting to be more to our taste."

"We would love to see your work," Chenelo said. "Perhaps we might have tea together, and discuss it further."

"That sounds delightful," Arbelan said.

***

That night, Chenelo required opazhin to help her sleep, but only a half dose; and she rose the next morning refreshed and only slightly cloud-headed.

"There was a great deal of speculation about Stano Bazhevin and our step-daughter Vedero last night," Chenelo told Neälu. "Apparently there are rumors that Vedero is on the cusp of being engaged to Dach'osmer Eshevis Tethimar, but nobody knows for certain; and then there is the question of what to do about Osmin Bazhevin, given that her marriage contract was signed but the marriage was not sworn. She is half-in-between the Drazhada and the Bazhevada, poor girl. We think we should invite them to tea."

"Together?" Neälu asked.

"We think that would be awkward, don't you?" Chenelo asked. "Given the delicacy of their situations. And we've no idea if they're friends or enemies."

"Mind you don't overdo it," Neälu said. "It's no good running yourself into the ground straight away. Also, as you're making plans, we will be looking for another physician skilled in ailments such as yours; we should like to have a consultation."

"You've been such a great help, and you've been taking care of me for years," Chenelo protested. "We can't imagine that another doctor would be more knowledgeable about my condition than you. We wouldn't be alive without you."

Neälu smiled. "We are your physician because we were the only cleric of Csaivo in Sevezho who was willing to come and live in Isvaroë as both physician and companion. When that was all you could afford, it was sufficient; but now we have more resources, we want a consultation at the very least."

"All right," Chenelo said. "As long as you will stay with us—we don't wish to lose your support and care."

"Of course, Zhasanai," Neälu said with a pleased smile.

***

Stano Bazhevin was available for tea that very afternoon; apparently, she was rather relieved to be out of the Bazhevin apartments. It took very little time and a few sympathetic noises for the poor thing to pour out all her fears and frustrations.

"It's all such a nightmare," she said, clutching her teacup and staring into it. "It seemed like a dream just a week ago."

"We're so sorry, my dear." Chenelo sighed. "Your situation is nothing like ours was, of course …."

"No, but it may yet end up worse," Stano said. "Our father would like to see us sent to a cloistered order for the rest of our life, just to make the whole tangle go away. We'd rather be relegated! At least there's a chance that relegation will end. Yours did."

"You may not be entitled to Ciris' properties, but surely your dowry cannot be counted as such?" Chenelo said. "We could only access a small portion of our dowry when we were relegated, but it made life in Isvaroë far more comfortable than it would otherwise have been." Knowing that Varenechibel had already relegated one wife, her father had made sure there were provisions in the marriage settlements to provide for Chenelo in case she, too, would be set aside. She had been very grateful for those provisions.

Stano's ears drooped. "We—our dowry is … very small, Zhasanai. Our family has a great deal of prestige, and connections with every noble house in the Ethuveraz, especially in the East, but little money these days to back it up. Our marriage was supposed to remedy that. There are certain trade provisions and government positions Varenechibel bequeathed to our family in exchange for support now and in the future for various political plans—we don't know the details. But our dowry would not support a household. Or, at least, not one we would be happy in."

"Ah," Chenelo said, chagrined.

"Princess Sheveän has offered us a place in her household," Stano said.

Chenelo raised her eyebrows. "That is generous of her." She wouldn't have thought the Princess was much given to charity.

Stano shrugged. "She likes people who will agree with her and do as she says. We can do that; indeed, it's mostly what we do at home already. Except that Sheveän will not recriminate us for every penny spent clothing and feeding us. And there will be only one person to please, and not … several."

"We see," Chenelo said, and she did, although it seemed rather bleak. She supposed that she could offer the girl a place in her household, but that was a rather permanent commitment. Chenelo was not sure she liked the girl enough to want to live with her permanently. She would talk things over with Maia, and see what he said; he was the head of the Drazhada now, and thus the one with ultimate authority over Stano's disposition—and over the funds that used to be Ciris's, but which had been folded back into the general coffers of the Drazhada with his death. Something might be possible there.

On the other hand, if Stano did go into Princess Sheveän's household, and Chenelo kept up a friendship with her, it might prove a useful insight into that woman's maneuverings within the Untheileneise Court.

***

Vedero was rather more straightforward.

"The problem with alliances based on marriage, of course," Chenelo said, examining the cuffs she was working on to see if that stitch was well enough or if it would need to be ripped out and redone, "is that while the marriage is permanent, the alliance often does not prove so. And then what are you left with? Nothing good for either party."

Vedero looked at her with extreme skepticism. "The fact that your marriage set back the very alliance it was trying to create does not mean that that was typical." She had her work basket with her, but had yet to pull anything out.

Chenelo fished out another strand of silk embroidery thread and went back to work. These were for Maia; it would please both of them for him to wear her work, but she was finding white-on-white more challenging than she had thought it would be. "We may have little experience of the Untheileneise, but we spent our childhood and youth in the Great Avar's court," Chenelo said. "Alliances sealed by marriage were only slightly more permanent than those sealed by other means; and when they worked out, it was usually because the husband cared for and respected his wife, and wished her to be happy. If he didn't, what cared he if changing political winds severed her from all she loved?"

They fell into quite an interesting debate about politics and alliances for a few minutes, before Vedero laid what she obviously considered a trump card: "And anyway, we were raised to be loyal to the needs of our father's politics."

"So were we," Chenelo reminded her. "But it matters whether the aim is worthy, and whether the means chosen are likely to achieve those ends. Or all your dutiful obedience gains you—and your male relatives—no more than it gained our father."

To that, Vedero had no answer. It was clear that she wanted to believe that, but distrusted it.

"So!" Chenelo said. "We have two questions. First, what goal of Varenechibel's would be served by your marriage to Eshevis Tethimar? Second, is marriage likely to achieve that goal?"

"The Tethimada are the most fractious of the Eastern lords," Vedero said. "They are always causing trouble ranging from minor headaches to serious upheaval. Our father was trying to get them under control once and for all by binding them to him as closely as possible."

"And is Eshevis Tethimar the sort of man who would be guided in any way by his wife's wishes?" Chenelo asked.

"No," Vedero said.

"Would he be over-awed by his greater position at court, and fear losing it? Or grateful to the one who gave it to him, and wish to return service for service?"

Vedero snorted. "No. He would take it as his due, which he should have had all along."

"Is there anything you could do, as his wife, to make him do what the Emperor wants? Or that the Emperor could do through you?"

"No, obviously not," Vedero said.

"Then it sounds to us as if marriage to Tethimar would not benefit the Drazhada—or the Ethuveraz—at all," Chenelo said. "Rather, it will benefit him, by giving him a sign of his favor with the Emperor that he can use as he wishes."

Vedero opened her mouth, and closed it. "He will make a great deal of trouble to have his prize snatched away," she said at last.

"Is that any difference from the normal state of affairs, where the Tethimada are concerned?"

"Not really." Vedero looked as if hope was beginning to dawn in her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.

"Well, then," Chenelo said. "It sounds as if Edrehasivar would be better served finding you a marriage that might actually have the long-term consequences he desires for it, than wasting you on a man who won't be appreciative of you."

"You cannot make that promise on your son's behalf," Vedero said.

"No, but we can make suggestions, and he'll probably listen," Chenelo said.

***

"I'd just decided not to marry her to Tethimar, anyway," Maia said that evening as he visited before heading on to the court dinner Chenelo was missing. "Awful man. Even if a marriage would control him, I don't know that it would be worth it, to have him closer. The only way for him to be content as my ally would be if I always did exactly as he wanted—I do believe he'd see anything else as a betrayal and an affront."

Chenelo pursed her lips disapprovingly. "Yes, I know the type. Father always said they were the ones to watch most closely, and ally with least often; they were more likely to stab you in the back for a moment's gain—or a moment's pique—than anybody else."

***

Since her arrival at Court, Chenelo had been thrilled that she could now see Nadaro again, for the first time in well over two decades. But she had not been able to find the time to do so.

Her health, as always, was the major culprit; she only had so many hours per day that she was capable of doing more than lying in bed or on a couch. Even sitting in her own sitting room having tea with a visitor took more than she had to spare, on a bad day. And, as the weather turned cold, she had many bad days. She had as much coal as she could use, but it did not stop the drafts. The windows could not be re-glazed until summer, but the windows were not the only source of chill; Neälu consulted with Maia's house steward, Merrem Esaran, and found a series of large tapestries belonging to the Emperor that had not been on display for some time, and decorated Chenelo's apartments with them, which cut down on drafts considerably.

Still, the bitter cold could not be entirely shut out. Neälu brought in a few other doctors to consult, and though they did have advice (some of it good), it brought only negligible changes to her health and stamina.

And of the few hours she had every day that she could do things, there were so many things the mother of the Empress needed to do, at least when the Emperor was as new to the throne and precarious as Maia was. Every friendly conversation with someone influential was important. Every tea or embroidery session with high-bred ladies, every conversation over dinner, every dance with an Elvish noble, all of it made Maia's job just a little bit easier, his throne just a little bit more secure.

And people were watching her for Barizheise taint. They were looking for any goblin habits or preferences to use as justification for whispers and scorn. There were some things Chenelo was not willing to give up, but others … private meetings with the ambassador's wife would be too large a fodder for gossip. And Nadaro would understand.

Thus it was that the first time they met since their youth, it was at the dinner planning for the Great Avar's visit this Winternight.

Maia and Chenelo discussed the choice of Imperial bride which had been made that day as they waited for their escort. Chenelo had met all three of them, but only spent time with the Tethimadeise girl and Chavar's niece—those two families being the ones most likely to give Maia serious trouble—and she was relieved to hear that it was not either one. Paru Tethimin was not a bad girl, but too young to see what she was really like, and completely under the thumb of her brother. Loran Duchenin was ambitious in the worst way, and scornful of Maia and Chenelo to boot; she had not managed to successfully conceal that disdain. But none of this could be said in a public corridor.

"Well," she said, "if she is anything like her Aunt Arbelan, she will do very well for you indeed. I shall have to invite her and Arbelan Zhasanai to tea some day soon. And perhaps thou as well. Thy sister Vedero would also be a good addition—or perhaps we should just have a dinner party?" Though that would require inviting Dach'osmin Ceredin's parents, as well, which would make it harder to really get to know the girl.

"I would very much like that," Maia said with some relief. "I would like to get to know her at least a little before the marriage."

"It is quite awkward, to marry a stranger," Chenelo said. "Never fear, my dear, I shall see that the two of you have at least some time to get to know each other before your wedding."

And that was the last thing they had time to say, as their escort to the Ambassador's apartments arrived: two goblin pages and a pair of soldiers from the Hezhethoreise Guard in full dress uniforms.

It was lovely to be surrounded by so many goblins, and Chenelo basked in it as she and Maia chattered with the pages and guards on the way.

The dinner was even lovelier, and Chenelo's spirit was warmed even as she needed to hold a cup of tea in both hands to keep them from aching in the chill. Maia gave a very pretty speech—he was getting good at them—and once she had spoken with everyone she needed to from the Elvish contingent, she was free to sit with Nadaro and exchange news from home. Some of it she already knew—her father was not the only one in Barizhan that she'd written to; the permitted contacts had been few indeed but they had included her sister and a few aunts. But some of it they had not told her, perhaps because it was a bit shocking.

"My father, Maru Sevraseched, acknowledged his bastard daughters?" Chenelo said in some bewilderment. It had been almost twenty years since she had been allowed to speak her native language, and she was a bit rusty, and was not quite sure she understood. Surely she must have misheard?

"He did," Nadaro said with a nod.

"Wasn't their mother a low-born member of the Vazhekhada?" Chenelo said. That had been why he couldn't acknowledge them even as bastards; if the mother had been of higher rank in her clan, a diplomatic marriage would have been possible, perhaps even stabilizing relations with the Vazhekhadeise. But under the circumstances, acknowledging the relationship existed at all would only be considered an insult to his rivals.

If one of them had been a boy Maru might adopt as heir, it might have been different, of course.

"Oh, yes," Nadaro said. "I think partly it was because he missed thee and grieved thy circumstances."

Chenelo raised an eyebrow. "Then he could have responded to any of my letters at any time. After the first few years, I was not even asking for help. All I wanted was to hear from him, to know he still loved me. And he ignored me."

Nadaro acknowledged that with a flick of her ears. "The other reason, of course, is because he is old enough that he has given up hope of a son and heir. Even if he had a son, at this age, he would not live to see the son mature enough to hold the allegiance of the avarsin. His alliance will collapse with his death, and the avars will have to fight it out; what do the long-term consequences matter at this point?"

"I suppose," Chenelo said. Her memory of her father was as a giant in his prime, but twenty years … she had certainly changed; of course her father would as well.

***

Chenelo had not been able to host very many dinners, but there had been a few. This would be the last for a while; her father was arriving in state, soon, and that would take up all the time Chenelo had to give it.

It was a small dinner; the highest-ranking guests were Lords Berenar (of the Treasury), Deshehar (of Parliament), and Bromar (of the foreigners), and their wives. Arbelan Drazharan was there, as was Count Pazhis Nethenel, of Thu-Tetar, and Lashavis Erimar, whose daughter was one of those passed over for Maia's bride. If Chavar hadn't been blocking so many in the hopes that his niece would be selected, Dach'osmin Erimin would have been a serious contender, and Chenelo was hoping to soothe any ruffled feathers.

Conversation was light and pleasant over the first two courses, but as the fish was served the conversation turned to the subject of the Wisdom of Choharo and the investigation of the crash.

"And they are truly not any further in finding out who set the incendiary?" Dach'osmer Erimar said, ears flattening in surprise.

Maia pinched his lips together. "No," he said. "They have ruled out any agent within the crew setting such a device as a suicidal attack. But they have no further leads."

"Lord Chavar says the Worker's League of Cetho did it," Lord Deshehar said, "and that proof will be forthcoming in a matter of days."

"Lord Chavar … very much wishes that to be the case," Maia said carefully.

"And he says that your pet Witness is … unreliable," Deshehar said. He spread his hands. "We do not disbelieve you, Serenity, but Lord Chavar is … very adamant."

"Pet witness?" Erimar said.

"Osmer Celehar, a prelate of Ulis and Witness for the Dead in the clerical style," Chenelo said. "Lord Chavar was against his inclusion from the beginning."

"Lord Chavar does not believe in the powers of a priest to hear the dead," Berenar said.

"We do not blame him." Deshehar wrinkled his nose. "It seems … outlandish."

"When we were a girl, we once visited a cousin on a country estate," Chenelo said. "One of the local petty landowners turned up dead, and nobody could figure out who had killed him. Nor could anyone find the fortune the man was known to have had. (He was old-fashioned and paranoid and did not keep his money in a bank.) By chance, there was a prelate of Ulis who could Witness for the dead—not all of them can!—passing through on the way to the benefice he had recently been assigned. He agreed to Witness for the landowner. And, in short order, not only found out who had killed him, but also found the money. The man, in his paranoia, had buried them in chests in the forest. Buried them himself, mind, not had any of the servants do it."

"But you have not told the full story," Maia protested. He turned to Lord Deshehar. "She usually tells it much better than that."

"Thank you, dear heart," Chenelo said, smiling at him. "But the point is, the prelate had never been in that part of Barizhan before, and had never met anyone in town before he arrived, and it took him all of five minutes with the body to know exactly what he needed to know—and even if he had known anyone ahead of time, nobody living knew that the money had been buried, or where it was."

"If a clerical witness is so magical, then why hasn't he solved the case yet?" Bromar said.

"If the dead do not know, they can't tell him," Maia said. "And none of them knew what set the hydrogen alight. Therefore, they cannot have done it—and they also cannot tell the witness who did."

Berenar took a sip of his wine. "And in any case, whether you believe the clerical Witness or not, the judicial Witnesses have been through the lives of the crew and everyone in the Cetho Worker's League with a fine-toothed comb, and have found no evidence of any plot or scheme to build a device such as the one which destroyed the Wisdom of Choharo."

"Really?" Bromar said. "But we spoke with Chavar earlier today, and he said—"

"Have you spoken with the Witnesses themselves?" Berenar asked. "Because we have."

"We have not spoken with the Witnesses, despite requesting Chavar arrange for us to do so," Maia said. "He has a font of excuses as to why it must wait."

Bromar sat back, looking disturbed.

"How long before his delaying tactic becomes outright refusal?" Berenar asked.

Maia's eyes flicked to Erimar and Nethenel, whom he knew the least. Chenelo thought he was judging how frankly to speak in front of them.

"That is an excellent question," Maia said. "We are sure he was an excellent Chancellor for our father … but he is proving remarkably obstructionist for us. In any number of ways. At this point, our secretaries are doing as much as possible to handle business so that we can meet in person as little as possible."

"Why haven't you replaced him yet, if that is the case?" Arbelan asked. "You need Corazhas approval to appoint a Chancellor, but not to dismiss him."

"We do not wish to disrupt the government so soon after our father's death," Maia said. "It does not seem wise to have a new Emperor and a novice chancellor at the same time. And aside from the matters where he must work directly with us, he seems to be doing a decent job."

Berenar's ears flicked, as if he disagreed but did not wish to say it. Chenelo noted that; perhaps replacing the Chancellor could happen sooner than Maia thought. But she did not let that thought show on her face.

As people seemed to be done with the fish, Chenelo signaled for the next course to be laid out, a curry that was made in the Elvish fashion—that is, bland and very little like the dish of the same name she had grown up with. As she had hoped, servants passing around them provided a change of subject.

"Ah!" Bromar said as he tasted the curry. "You have done your research, we see, Dach'osmerrem Drazhar. It is our favorite curried lamb."

"We are pleased you approve," Chenelo said with a gracious smile, and Osmerrem Berenaran made a comment about recipes which led Nethenel to talk about the pheasant in lemon-garlic sauce that was traditional instead of curry among the Nethenada. Maia asked a question about trade routes and seasonal availability and if citrus trees could be grown that far north even in a greenhouse.

"Normally we could not grow them, your Serenity," Nethenel said with a nod. "But there are several hot springs on the Nethenada lands, and one of them we use to heat several large greenhouses, in which we grow several varieties of citrus and other fruits and flowers that cannot normally be grown in Thu-Tetar—or, indeed, anywhere in the Ethuveraz."

"Oh, very interesting," Maia said, and asked several questions about practical details of how they accomplished it.

"Your Serenity is very well-educated," Arbelan said when that discussion was wrapping up. "We congratulate your mother, because it could not have been easy to accomplish in Isvaroë."

"We had our pick of the Alcethmeret library," Chenelo said. "There were limits on how many volumes we could have at any one time, and how long we could have them for, but we were very grateful for it, as it allowed us to educate Maia as he should have been. We could not give him experiences in the wider world, but we could see that he at least was well-read."

"You had access to the library?" Arbelan's ear's flattened. "How?"

"Isvaroë is very close to the Istandaärtha," Maia said. "And there are always Drazhadeise barges going up and down it. It was a simple matter to have them carry an extra parcel on their way to or from Cetho."

"As for the permission to do so, it was in our marriage contract," Chenelo said. "Our father the Great Avar was concerned that he had already relegated one wife. He could not prevent Varenechibel from relegating us, but he could require thought to be given to our comfort. We had access to a portion of our dowry, and the quality of the house was specified, as was our access to our husband's library and any furnishings the Drazhada were not currently using."

"That was well-thought-out of him," Osmerrem Berenaran said approvingly.

"If he thought relegation a possibility, we wonder that he agreed to the marriage at all," Bromar said.

"He did not think it likely," Chenelo said. "But he did not become the Great Avar—or maintain that position this long—without learning to plan not just for what is probable, but possible."

***

Chenelo often invited the other Drazhadeise women over for tea, along with a few select other ladies of the court. Arbelan was always there; Csoru always sent flowery excuses for her absence. Sheveän did not bother with excuses; she simply never showed up. Stano Bazhevin came occasionally, though. Vedero's attendance was irregular but frequent. Since her engagement, Chenelo had invited Csethiro Ceredin, and she came more often than not.

Two weeks before the Great Avar's arrival, Stano came to tea, and seemed … less at ease, than usual. Since Stano was usually a placid girl, this was notable. Delicate questioning during the gathering brought nothing but the usual platitudes, so Chenelo contrived an excuse for her to remain after the others had gone, and dismissed Neälu with them. If Stano needed someone to talk to, it certainly wasn't going to happen in Sheveän's household.

And, as it happened, a bit of sympathy and attention in private did win an admission that there were things that were weighing on Stano's mind and heart, that she didn't know what (if anything) to do about, and she could not ask her benefactress for guidance because her benefactress's actions were the problem. A bit more sympathy and a promise that Chenelo would not be angry at her for not saying anything earlier (and a promise that Chenelo would protect her from Sheveän if necessary) resulted in an admission that Princess Sheveän had been having meetings with the Lord Chancellor that Stano did not think were quite correct.

By this point, Chenelo had a pounding headache. She had started the day worn and slightly ill, but it had not been bad enough to cancel the tea. The concentration needed to soothe Stano and get her to speak had been more mental effort than Chenelo really had to spare at the moment, coming as they did after an hour's worth of playing hostess.

But if Stano was a bit disquieted, Chenelo was horrified and fearful. Showing that, however, would spook the girl, and so she gathered the threads of her composure and played the gracious lady as well as she could.

When finally Stano had no more to tell—and she knew a great deal about Sheveän's comings and goings and who she was meeting with—Chenelo thanked her prettily. "You are certainly right to be concerned," Chenelo said, "and we do not blame you for not wanting to believe your patroness —or the Lord Chancellor!—could be doing something so improper. But surely you see that this must be dealt with now, before things progress further?"

Stano's ears drooped and her skin turned a sickly shade of grey, but she did not protest.

"We promise you that we will see you are protected and taken care of." Chenelo took her hand and squeezed it. "You have nothing to fear. Will you leave it in our hands? And repeat what you have told us to the proper authorities?"

Stano nodded.

"Good," Chenelo said. "You may leave it in our hands." She rang the bell for Neälu, who popped her head in the door from where she had been waiting outside. "We require our writing desk, and several discreet and trustworthy servants to carry messages," Chenelo told her.

Neälu nodded and left.

"You will be needed here to give testimony," Chenelo told Stano. "And by the time that is done, it will be obvious to Princess Sheveän that something is wrong. You should stay here; we would be pleased to host you until this matter is resolved."

"We would not have to face Her Highness?" Stano asked, sagging in relief.

"No," Chenelo said. At least not immediately; there would have to be a trial, and Stano's testimony would almost certainly be needed then, but at least for now, she need not face Sheveän's wrath.

Neälu returned with the writing desk, trailed by two pages, a scullery maid, and one of Chenelo's edocharei. All but the edocharei had been with Chenelo for years, before coming to the Alcethmeret, and she trusted them absolutely.

"Maia is hosting audiences at the moment, yes?" Chenelo asked. She could not be sure she was remembering his schedule through the pounding in her head.

"Yes," Neälu said.

Chenelo dictated messages for Csevet to pass on to Maia, for Maia's nohecharei (two notes; one for the on-duty pair and one for the off-duty pair), one for the captain of the Untheileneise Guard at the Alcethmeret, one for Captain Orthema, and one for Lord Pashavar, the Witness for the Judiciate. Chenelo did not think that any of them were treacherous; but if one was, the warning going to multiple people would prevent any villain from suppressing it. Chenelo handed out the notes to her messengers with strict instructions to place them into the hands of their recipients, and no one else.

Then she instructed that Stano be made comfortable, that the Drazhadeise guards assigned to her be particularly vigilant, and laid down to wait for responses in what comfort she could get.

Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for Captain Orthema to arrive, with a full squad of soldiers. "Why are you not guarding our son?" Chenelo asked him.

"We have reinforced his guard with our best men, and he is in the safety of the Alcethmeret," Orthema explained. "We are here to examine the evidence you have gathered. We have sent for Lord Pashavar."

"We have done so, as well," Chenelo said, "when we sent the message to you. Osmin Bazhevin is willing to give testimony, but she is frightened and uncertain, and we do not wish to spook her."

Orthema nodded. "We shall let Lord Pashavar do the questioning, when he arrives."

In the end, it was not Chenelo's note that reached Pashavar, but Orthema's; the Witness had been neither in his apartments nor at his office, and by the time her page had tracked down his whereabouts Orthema's note had already reached him.

Pashavar arrived, with a secretary and an escort of soldiers, and Stano was brought in and questioned. Pashavar was gentle with her, but Stano could barely speak above a whisper, and clasped her hands to keep them from shaking with fear.

"You did very well, Osmin," Pashavar said when she was done. He had her sign the deposition, and the rest of them signed it as witnesses, and then she was excused to go back to the room that had been found for her.

"It is certainly enough for an arrest warrant," Pashavar said grimly. "For both the Princess and the Lord Chancellor. We would not have thought him so lost to all reason and integrity, whatever her feelings might have been." He set his secretary to filling out the paperwork for the several warrants needed—for Sheveän and Chavar were not the only ones named—and signed them, and handed them over to Captain Orthema, who saluted and departed with one of the squads.

"We will need to attend on His Serenity, now," Pashavar said. "We should not need anything further from you or your guest today, at least, and both of you should stay in your apartments where your guards are most effective."

"We have no intention of stirring, Lord Pashavar," Chenelo said.

He bowed, and departed, and Chenelo had to be carried to her bed. She refused the opazhin that Neälu offered; today, of all days, she could not afford to be drugged insensible.

***

The next several days, Chenelo kept mostly to her bed; Maia made sure that she was informed of what was happening, but had no time to spare for her; and the tension did not help Chenelo's health.

It also did not help her peace of mind that she could not light incense for Cstheio Caireizhasan, Maia's patron goddess, for the wisdom she had granted in this case; the incense would make her head worse. And her mind was not collected enough for meditation to be of much use.

Stano kept mostly to her room, and crept about when she was out of it; Chenelo wondered what they were to do with her now. Chenelo did not dislike her, and was glad she had befriended the girl; but if she were going to take on a lady in waiting, she would prefer it to be one she liked and who could be of social and political help in ways that timid, easily-led Stano could not be.

By the time things were stable enough for Chenelo's normal routine to be resumed—and for her health to recover as much as it ever did—Lord Berenar had been confirmed as Chancellor, and Maia had a nohecharo to replace the faithless maza. Chenelo approved; Kiru Athmaza was a treasure, both knowledgeable and kind, and between them she and Neälu figured out a way to use Kiru's mazeise talents to encourage her body to stop attacking itself, when things were particularly bad. It did not provide long-term relief, but at least it proved useful in mitigating the symptoms in the short term, for which Chenelo was very grateful.

***

And then came the day she had dreaded and anticipated: the day of her father's arrival.

Chenelo awaited him in the suite which had been set aside for his use. If it were not so far away from the Alcethmeret (and Maia), she would have claimed it for herself, for it was blessedly warm and free of drafts. It was very like what she hoped her suite would be, once it was remodeled—at least part of which (the windows) would have to wait until summer. She was considering moving here until her own suite was finished, after her father left.

And that, she realized, was a distraction, something to think about that wasn't her father's arrival. She stilled her breathing, the low and slow and even breaths of meditation, but she could not quiet her mind to focus on even the simplest of mantras.

The reception would not be here, of course, but at the Gormened apartments. Properly, it should have been Chenelo, as the Great Avar's nearest blood relation, who hosted the welcome party. But while her apartments had reception space enough for it, Chenelo herself had not the stamina for so large a party. Thus it fell to Nadaro and her husband the ambassador.

But that also meant that she could see her father for the first time in twenty years in private.

She had dreamed of this day since she had been sent on a ship down the Istandaärtha to Isvaroë, Maia in her arms. There had been a thousand variations: some filled with angry recriminations for ignoring her letters; some filled with laughter and joy; some filled with tears of sorrow as he begged her forgiveness.

Those last, she knew for pure fantasy. Never once had she ever heard her father admit to a mistake.

He was like Varenechibel, that way.

The thought was bitter, and she acknowledged the pain of it, and set it aside. There would be few moments of privacy in this visit, and when he left, who knew if they would ever meet again? He was old, she was ill, and there was a vast distance between the Untheileneise Court, deep in the heart of the Ethuveraz, and the Corat' Dav Arhos on the cliffs above the Chadevan Sea.

She was not in the suite's main entrance; rather, she was in one of the sitting rooms off to the side, that they might be completely private, even from the dav.

Chenelo heard the hustle and bustle that always accompanied her father, and his booming voice, and clasped her hands in her lap, before taking the arms of the chair she sat in and gathered her strength to stand. Today was a good day; but she felt oddly unmoored by her body, and did not trust it.

The doors burst open, and he strode across the floor. He hadn't changed, she thought, and then he swept her up in his arms and kissed her cheeks soundly, and she closed her eyes as tears started to fall. "Papa," she said.

"Chenelike, let me look at you," he said, holding her at arms-length. She was grateful for the support.

"Thou hast not changed," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Thou hast." His voice was steady, but she could read the grief in it. "Look'st very ill."

"And yet, not so ill as I have been in the past." As he would know if he had read her letters; in the deepest part of her illness, when Maia was eight, she hadn't yet given up hope that he would respond.

She'd resolved not to ask him whether he'd read them; it wouldn't change anything now. Now, when she and Maia were safe, and had allies and friends, again, through no action of his.

"Sit, sit," he urged her to a settee, and sat next to her without letting go. "Thou art very thin. Do they not feed thee well enough, the elves?"

"My cook is Barizheise," Chenelo said. "But I am not often hungry, and when I am sick it is hard to eat."

"I am glad thou hast the taste of home, at least. How art thou, besides thine illness? They tell me thou rootedst out a traitor among thy son's government." He gave a sharp nod of approval.

"I am as well as I can be," Chenelo said. "I'll be better, when my apartments have been properly updated—I get cold very easily, and this is a cold winter. When the news first came, it was a relief that I would no longer have to worry about Maia's future … and yet now I have different worries."

"As a parent, wilt always worry about thy child," her father said. "Even when they are safe. There are merely different things to worry about."

"Thy negotiations with the marriage contract protected me, a little," Chenelo said. "But they didn't protect Maia. That was what I was terrified of, until Varenechibel died: that I would die first, and Maia would be left alone and friendless, and without the protections I had. Varenechibel wouldn't have let him keep my dowry, not even the little bit I had access to at Isvaroë. Nor the books, nor the furnishings, nor any other thing that made our lives easier."

"I did not think he would hate you so," her father admitted, using the plural. "I thought, even if he put thee aside, he would do right by any children. He was a proud man, and they told me he was fair and honorable." It was as close to admitting a mistake as she had ever heard from him.

"Only when being so did not remind him of things he disliked," Chenelo said. "But I did outlive him, in the end, though it was a near thing. And now Maia is Emperor."

"Thou must be very proud of him, he seems a fine young man." His voice was warm with approval.

"He is," Chenelo said. "For all the pain and heartache—I wouldn't change anything, if it meant I couldn't have him."

He patted her hand. "I am glad thou art content."

"I am," Chenelo said. And for all the pain—for all the things she still resented her father for—she was content, these days, and happy. Maia was safe and secure, and she had things to occupy her time, and here was her father, whom she had missed so much. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

AN: I am using jacquez's timeline for Varenechibel's wives. It assumes that Maia's numbers for how long Arbelan was relegated for are wrong, because the math doesn't work. He says Arbelan was relegated for 30 years; Vedero (daughter of Varenechibel's THIRD wife Pazhiro) is 28 years old at the time of The Goblin Emperor. And the second wife, Leshan, had two children, Nemolis and Nemriän. When?!? Even assuming that 30 is being rounded, and it was more like 35, that is an awfully tight timeline for Varenechibel to have married Leshan, had two kids, been widowed, and remarried. And there's also Idra's age. Idra is 14. If Arbelan was set aside thirty years ago, then Nemolis (Idra's father) can't be more than 29 when he dies. If you figure "rounding error" and the relegation was 35 years, he's still only 34 at maximum, which is kind of young to have a 14 year old son. (If he was 29 at death, he would have been 15 when Idra was born.) It all makes ever so much more sense if you assume that Maia was a decade off and Arbelan was relegated forty years ago, not thirty.

#fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #the goblin emperor #au

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yan-sideblog · 2 years

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Strike one? Literally everything Y/N told him about their ex before he even met the guy.

Joseph knew they were the type to pretend they were ok and that everything was fine. So for them to get emotional when telling him how Caleb acted he knew it was bad. From destroying things around them it futs of rage, setting unrealistic expectations, being completely selfish and belittling their interests. Just thinking about it makes him wanna smah up his office.

"Can't leave evidence i was in here though. Now where has he hidden his stash?"

Strike two? Showing up at their apartment.

Now just showing up was ebough to make Joseph mad, he's just glad he answered the door and the guy left before Y/N got ot of the shower. Though he did feel a little smug at how obvious it was that Jo and them had a very intimate night. Though his previous annoyance turned into genuine worry when Y/N told him he shouldn't know where they lived.

"Yeah i broke up with him twords the end of freshman year. I didn't move in here until right before sophomore year started.".

"Fucking stalker probably asked around to find out where they lived. And that's why I'm putting powdered drain cleaner in his coke."

Strike three? Showing up when the group was hanging out.

Now he didn't actually know about this one until the day after. Thankfully Jorge intercepted and told the guy to fuck off without anyone noticing. Still this just ramped up his concern and extreme hatred of the man.

"There it is. What kind of moron hides his drugs in the top drawer of his desk at work?"

Strike four? Y/N having a breakdown over remembering something he did.

Did Caleb do anything? No. Is it still his fault? Yes. Y/N had just been reminiscing with an old college buddy when she brought up one memory in particular. Unbeknownst to her that memory came not long after Caleb threw a massive rage fit and destroyed one of their projects.

Once they hung up they had an anxiety attack and started bawling in the kitchen. It took them ages to calm down and they were utterly exhausted by the end of it. Remembering how they blamed themself broke his heart.

"Only person to blame is this jackass. Both for everything with Y/N & whatever this does to him."

Strike five? Showing up on set.

Once again he didn't know this happened until after abd he's so mad at himself. Apparently he approached them when Y/N popped outside for a break during filming. They were freaked out but luckily Kimmy was hot on their heels and started raising cane. Which also drew the attention on Jorge & Gene, the former scaring the guy off.

The whole ordeal left Y/N frazzled and embarrassed, who wouldn't be over their ex showing up at their work?

"And if you survive this I've no doubt Gene is gonna follow through on his threat of firing your ass."

Once he was sure his work was done he carefully snuck out of his office to head back twords the set qhere he belonged. Anyone he passed on the way would be met with a smile and warm hello leaving them none the wiser.

After all who would ever suspect Joseph of all people of doing something like attempting to kill or maim a man? He's such a nice fella.

#joseph #something's wrong with sunny day jack #sunny day jack #swwsdj #sdj #sdj fic #sdj showtime au #yan-sideblog

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too-destiny-panda · 5 months

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Wyllvember Day 19: OTS/BroTP

A/N: My favourite hellish duo! I don't take Karlach with me nearly as much as I should. Anywho, as usual credits go to @sagscrib, and I'm additionally tagging @commander-yinello WC: 527

Wyll made friends easily. Even in his youth where many children were intimidated by his father’s status, he still managed to befriend people from various backgrounds. Of course, the quantity and quality of friends diminished as he grew older, but he still had some peers to make fond memories with. Still, his closest friendship would blossom during unimaginable dangers.

When he first met Karlach he was dead set on killing her, his view of her skewed due to Mizora’s words. But her memories overall attitude suggested other wise and turned his world askew. Once they had taken care of the so-called paladins, he witnessed the remnants of her rage, and understood that the state she was in was in no way her own choice. Who would wish to burn so hot they were practically unable to touc anyone or anything? He personally couldn’t imagine not patting someone on the shoulder for a job well-done or grasping it for support as he laughed.

After that, they quickly grew closer, bonding over their home as Karlach had an infinite number of questions about how much Baldur’s Gate had changed since she was traded off. Her sense of humour and overall energy, almost puppy-like at its core, made proverbial warmth radiate from her. She was always excited over the small things, and though she sometimes veered into ‘fuck around and find out’ territory that was mostly just encouragement for Tav to do stupidly absurd things, she wasn’t naïve. She simply learned to derive happiness from whatever scraps she could gather in the Hells, and Wyll supposes he wasn’t so different when he was exiled and trying to find himself.

They became extremely good friends, their humours so similar in nature it almost seemed like they were constantly laughing while in each other’s presence. When Dammon gave Karlach her second engine upgrade, the second person she hugged after Tav was of course Wyll. And although it was clear it has been a while since she had to control her strength while hugging someone, shown by the minor bruising she left him with, he wouldn’t have her hugs any other way. Because her physical touch embodied her. The way she is both eager, sometimes too rash but always making sure everyone she cared for was comfortable. It warmed his heart to see her slowly gaining back her old self she locked away for her safety for over ten years. It warmed everyone’s heart to watch them interact with each other.

When the final battle was over, the tadpoles expelled from their eye sockets as they perished, the remnants of the mind flayer forces gradually being destroyed, there was only a split moment of happiness and relief before concern came back full force as Karlach groaned in agony at the docks. She was fully ready to die, but her friends were not. So, in only a few moments and understanding glances from his lover, the trio set off into the Hells, determined to find a way to help the fiery tiefling back to normalcy. And she was certain that with the Blade of Avernus and the Hero of Baldur’s Gate, they would succeed.

#baldur's gate wyll #wyll #wyll ravengard #bg3 wyll #wyllvember #blade of frontiers #blade of avernus #bg3 karlach #karlach #karlach cliffgate #blue writes

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popculturebuffet · 1 year

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Valentine's Superhero Wedding 2: Electric Boogalo

Yes folks, I decided to take one of my most succesful poll (and one of the few that was succesful at all ) and make it a yearly tradition. So to explain for those of you who weren't around for last year: I love wedding stories in any form of media, and I love superhero comics, so I decided to take both and mash em together, and let my patreons and myself each pick one from the very weird and wonderful halls of comicdom and let you fine folks pick one for me to review. The poll is above if you just want to jump into it but if you need a tad more context, here's a quick summary of each nominee! Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) and Hulking (Teddy Altman) (Empyre #5 and Empyre Aftermath Avengers #5): It's a classic love story: Android Boy meets Witch Girl, they fall in love, they have two children, an evil demon makes them into his baby hands, boys somehow get reincarnated back in time, boy meets other boy whose son of two aliens, they fight crime, they fall in love and then hurridely marry each other before the other boy becomes king of space. Billy and Teddy are one of the biggest queer couples in comicdom and due to a combination of weird comic aging, being out of focus for some time and general shenanigans it took the two a while to finally tie the knot as the only intresting part of a fairly dispaointing event. While said event involves Billy having ot save his husband from his grandma and also a bunch of plant men who want to do a genocide, long story that, the real focus is these two crazy kids finally getting married and getting to be happy. Not every major event comic has a gay wedding but it should damn well be a requirement. The Thing (Benjamin Grimm) and Alicia Masters (Fantastic Four #5 and Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special): Look let's be blunt here: Dan Slott's run on fantastic four was mostly a shit show, with lots of good ideas.. but the execution of a man who knows his past brilliant works have given him carte blanche to half ass it even with a job he seemed to be a perfect fit for and even while doing some of his best work AT THE SAME TIME THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED. But even with my bitterness toward a lot of Dan Slott's run very present.. I can't deny having Ben Grimm marry Alicia Masters was not only long overdue after a string of failed attempts to pair him with anyone else, but done beautifully. Outside of a near interpution from doom it's a wonderful wedding and the accompanying tie in nicely handles the bachelor and bachelortee festivites. The run may be .. a lot that i'll have to deal with some other day, but I can't deny one of my faviorite marvel characters got a lovely wedding. Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Catwoman (Selina Kyle) (Batman #50): This one.. is painful for me and something I avoided reading. After a year of well done build up, and one storyline with Booster Gold being character assinated I thankfully also avoided.. I found out said wedding wasn't going to happen for the very stupid reason of "batman can't be happy". I mean it is a problem for him sure.. but it'd be more intresting to explore that through the marriage than have Selina's completely destroyed character wise in this reboot best friend Holly Robinson tell her that as part of an overly complicated plan for revenge by Bane and his legion of doom consiting of girl whose doing this because reasons, Psycho Pirate, and Bruce's alternate dad. You know normally I like when comics get weird, but this is just hilariously dumb. Will this actually be a good issue despite what came before and after? Guess you'll have to vote for it because I don't know.

Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) and The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) (Avengers #59-60):

I haven't talked about it a lot on this blog but i'm a massive fan of the Ant-Man family: Hank, Jan, Scott, Cassie, Bill, Razz Nadia, even Eric. So it's a touch weird i've never read Hank and Jan's wedding.. or maybe not given it involves hank developing a second personality who claims to have killed hank, Jan protecting him by planning to marry him, and then holding Hank to the marriage despite the fact he wasn't at all cognizant. Also snakes and crime circuses are involved. That and ya know, said marriage ended in horrible tragedy and one of the darkest moments in avengers history, but the actual wedding itsel fis messed up enough to warrant my nomination.

So vote now! Voting closes in one week from today so vote asap to see your wedding of choice get a review this valentine's season!

#young avengers #fantastic four #batman #the avengers #wiccan #hulkling #the thing #alicia masters #hank pym #janet van dyne #catwoman

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antiterf · 2 years

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Okay so to make sure no ones surprised, here are some beliefs on discourse and morals.

I'm generally open to talking about them, but please do not fight me on the morals aspect. You can ask for more info but I may get meaner than I'd like if you fight me on morals, I hold them very close to me.

People generally want to do what's best for themselves and for others. Human beings inherently want to be good.

Every human life has value, one life lost is years of experience, knowledge, love, and care lost. It is never just a statistic, as only ten 60 year olds dead is 600 years love and experience of life lost.

Even with this belief I feel that if the rich don't do something about the enormous amount and wealth and power they hoard, their death is more valuable than their life like how a piñata is only beneficial when it's broke open.

Making fun of someone based on a minority status only hurts the entire group of oppressed people. Making fun of someone for their appearance will do harm to people who've done nothing to you.

Hating someone for something they have no choice in isn't going to help shit. So don't do it.

You cannot only fight for one minority because you'll end up ignoring the less privileged parts of your own minority.

No one owes you an explanation to anything, you don't owe an explanation to anyone. This doesn't mean that the person is simply obligated to believe what you say.

Your worth is not dependant on how much you're able to work and produce.

No one is worth any less for needing assistance, whether it's for an hour or for life.

Now to the not morality stuff

If the people in power are going for one minority, prepare to be next.

You can be trans without having gender dysphoria (I am dysphoric btw)

NPD and ASPD don't make people inherently abusive and to hate someone solely because they have those disorders is ableism.

Narc abuse is just emotional abuse with some specific aspects. Please stop calling every abuser a narcissist or armchair diagnosing your abuser.

Having a multisexual identity other than being bi isn't biphobic

The ace and aro spectrums exist and ace and aro people shouldn't even have to deal with the question that they belong in the LGBTQ+ community or not, they do.

Intersex people are a part of the LGBTQ+ community if they want to be.

Being a bi lesbian is valid

Having an identity that seems contradictory is valid

It/its pronouns are valid (I have had them used on me in a derogatory manner btw)

I am uncertain about transandrophobia or the other commom terms for it. I believe that afab trans people can and do experience oppression because of their agab and sex characteristics (otherwise abortion rights and healthcare wouldn't be an issue for us). But at the same time I feel like trying to make a term that centers around trans men will exclude nb people who experience the same. I have also seen many transandrophobia fighters be blatantly transmisogynistic and it doesn't sit right with me.

ACAB and BLM

Basically, I'm not against transandrophobia but I'm not for it either.

To say I don't get uncomfortable with the people who are heavily against it would be a lie though.

No person is illegal

Religion is important to many people and we can address the harm it does while still respecting the help it does as well.

I'm a psychology major but recognize that the field of psychology has a major role in determining what's "abnormal" for someone to be and is usually ableist.

Queer isn't a slur, but you should still respect people who don't want it used on them. I will use "the queer community" when talking about issues because I'm an LGBTQ studies minor and that's how we usually speak.

I believe that trans men and nb people can reclaim the T slur. Mostly because reclaiming it myself has helped a lot with my internalized transphobia.

TERFs hurt trans women the most out of anyone. I usually do not say things like that but trans women are usually their main obsession. This doesn't mean that other groups aren't hurt a lot.

If you're still in the Harry Potter fandom then you're not a trans ally. You really shouldn't be putting a book series over the millions of lives being fucked over by the writer.

You will become disabled eventually. If you're ableist then I mean this as a threat.

I'll add more as they come

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oh-munda-kukkad-kamaal-da · 1 year

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Idt the other anon is wrong, you made a inappropriate joke about an artist and before that a human and you shouldn't have done it. Even though you had no intention to hurt anyone's emotions you should have thought that there are people who can't take a joke.

I get it when so many others said it's not just about Taylor Swift anymore, it's about how make a ‘joke’ on someone's appearance. I have idols whom I love more than anything and wouldn't take a single word against them but I would even consider whom the word was coming from.

To them anons and fans, I understand why you are offended and hurt but did any of you for once atleast think why would Voiz even do this? I'm always in his inbox, I always check his asks and posts. He comforts people, understands them, he never looked down on anyone and never has been rude to anyone for no reason.

I am not denying he made inappropriate joke but is he really someone so arrogant who'd deny and be rude to you if you said him it hurt you and not to do it again? Just for once did any of you say him that before sending all that hate?? I know him enough to say if you just said it once he would never do it again even as a joke! Can you recall a single time before he's done this? He's always been so considerate and thoughtful about his anons. He messes up for once and y'all make it unforgivable?

Ykw he's sensible enough to know he's done wrong and correct it himself. Only if it wasn't for all that hate you sent and made him feel so sad that he believe he's lost all his friends he made over here. Okay you were standing for a human but why did you have sent hate to make someone else feel this shitty? I don't understand the purpose of all those hate anons. If you loved your idol so much you should've made sure to correct the person so it doesn't happen again instead of making someone feel so miserable!!! If you would've asked him to apologize, say you're hurt ot take down the post he would not disappoint you. He's always been so understanding. He was wrong with that joke but I'm even more disappointed in everyone else who got involved in spreading hate.

Idk what to say. Its just that i have dark humour and sometimes my ways of joking around can sound harsh but i never actually mean it. The thing that matters is that everyone here thinks that i judge people on the basis of their looks.

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mdverse · 2 years

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thoughts on middle blocker santana? <3

oh god i'm so sorry to that author but middle blocker santana is the worst glee volleyball take i've seen so far and maybe i just have strong feelings about which positions the glee kids would play but also. no. to quote bob the drag queen, "mama this is garbage". santana would not be a middle blocker and let me tell u all why i say that because i really need to get it out of my system.

the first glaring issue there is that santana is rather short. canonically, at least, she's about my height and while i may make them all slightly taller in my own fic, i don't think that's what ote's author did. and even when playing with a women's height net, I feel pathetically short when i'm up close to it, which middle blockers often are. i don't want to say for sure that she would be too short to be a good middle blocker, but being taller would certainly go a long way. especially because if you look at most teams, the tallest players there will most likely be MBs (and they can be huge). and sure, short people could probably still be decent middle blockers (ie hinata in haikyuu) but it just does not make sense to put a short person in that position. middle blockers, more than anyone else at the net, are constantly switching between offence and defence. you pretty much always have to be ready to block the ball, or to go in for a fast-paced spike. it's a very hectic position to be in and, because you're jumping more than anyone else, height is crucial in getting to blocks quickly. a short person could in theory keep up, as hinata does in hq, but they'd be using a whole lot more energy running around everywhere, they'd have to jump extra high and get the timing right, etc. it's a lot of hard work. and they'd probably be suited to other positions anyway. and i'm not saying santana couldn't do it - i'm sure she could if she really wanted to play MB. but that leads me into my second point.

santana would hate being a middle blocker. maybe i'm biased as someone who has played mb maybe once or twice in games and absolutely hated it lmao but also. i see santana as someone who has much more of an offensive playing style. girlie loves sending a good, strong spike right past the opposing block, and having the time to wind up to it. you don't really have that as a middle blocker because things can get so hectic in the middle of the court. she'd hate having to make that switch right at the net. i also reckon she wouldn't be a great blocker generally, y'know? like she's not a terrible blocker, but it's probably her least favourite play. not to mention middle blockers don't actually play in the back row - once they're done serving, they get swapped out and the libero plays defence in the back until they've rotated back to the front row, and then the MB comes back onto the court. and i just don't see santana liking that. if anything, she wants to spend as much time on the court as possible and she loves the opportunity to attack from the back row. she's great at receiving, too. being a middle blocker would just end up being really frustrating for her. honestly, if i didn't see santana as more of an offence-leaning player, i might've considered making her a libero. clearly that didn't happen but it is a possibility i'd be more inclined to think about than middle blocker santana.

for what it's worth, if i had to rank the positions based on how likely i'd be willing to give them to santana, i'd say:

outside hitter (left side)

opposite hitter (right side)

setter

libero

middle blocker

1-2 are interchangeable, and 3-4 might be as well. but either way middle blocker is always dead last. like i never even considered it for her because it's such a weird choice, so imagine my shock and horror when i found out that was the position she got in ote. so much disbelief and a lil bit of rage.

in conclusion, MB!santana is garbage and anyone who tries to tell me otherwise would need a really compelling argument bc based on both her physical attributes and her personality, i could never see her enjoying it. thank u for coming to my ted talk <3

#ask md #mist <3 #vb au asks #can u tell i think about all of this way too much lmao #the technicalities of choosing vb positions for the glee kids are actually so interesting imo #like would they be good at it? would they like it? what kind of playing style would they gravitate towards?#many thoughts for them all #anyway u know who could've been a solid mb? brittany #but i much prefer her as a setter and tbh i don't think she'd really love being an mb either #but mb!santana... i'd say it's the worst thing to come out of ote but we both know that statement is false #it's easily the worst volleyball take to come out of that fic but there were many worse aspects to it all

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darklingichor · 2 years

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The Sactuary Sparrow; The Raven in the Foregate; The Rose Rent; The Confession of Brother Haluin, by Ellis Peters

This is literally the first series since I read The Babysitter's club when I was a kid, that I have no problem reading out of order.

I had a week at work where the only respite I got was having books playing in one ear while I managed chaos... poorly. I'm out of credits and I needed something that made me feel good, the library always has copies of Brother Cadfael books available and so here we go!

I have no idea what I'm going to do when I run out of this series. I think I have seven of them left.

First I listened to The Sactuary Sparrow

In this one, night prayers are interrupted by a small and thin young man running into the chapal crying Sactuary as a mob chases him

He's beaten and bloodied.

Lilliwen is a jongler who was performing at the wedding party for the son of the goldsmith. During his performance he broke a wine jug. The goldsmiths mother, a formidable woman of 80 years old, smacked him over the head with her walking stick and sent him out, shorting him his pay.

N ot long after, the goldsmith was found with his own head bloodied, and a chunk of hos treasure out of his lock box stolen.

The drunk party goers cried murder and chased down Lilliwen and beat him, would have continued to do so if he hadn't gotten a head if them and into the chapal.

Well, in the morning it is reviled that drunk dudes don't have the best judgement,, because the goldsmith is alive, but Lilliwen is still facing charges of theft and assault.

He was granted 40 days of Sactuary but is under a cloud of suspicion.

This one was interesting, because even though we do end up with a murder, it's not really the focus. The focus is mostly on the goldsmiths family and the complex hierarchy within it, and on Lilliwen and his time in the Abbey, trying to clear his name.

Honestly it sort of ends in a bittersweet way, but it was still a good story.

The next was The Raven of the Forgate

This one had a bunch of stuff about the ongoing civil war that factors heavily into the plot, but is mostly about an asshole managing to piss off an entire neighborhood and getting himself killed.

The parish outside the Abbey had recently had their beloved priest pass away. Father Abbot brought another back from a journey to Westminster.

The problem is, this priest expects absolute perfection from his flock and puts his own soul before anyone else's.

He refused to interrupt his own prayers to baptize a baby, not expected to live long. By time he had finished, the baby had died. He then refused to bury the baby in consecrated ground because he hadn't been baptized.

He beat the children who he was teaching to read, for any mistake, and he shut out a girl he didn't feel deserved absolution, from the church. When he was killed, many people showed up to his funeral just to be sure that he was dead.

So who killed this guy? That's the mystery. This isn't the first time that the series had a throughly unlikable victim, and I consider it a sign of good writing that you still really care, and even have conflicting feelings about someone being brought to justice.

There is usually a love story in each book, and while the one in Sparrow was very sweet, I had to think pretty hard just now to remember the one in Raven, and to be honest, I kind of preferred it that way.

I don't mind the romantic side plots, but the way this one was done, almost in the background, meant that there was truly some good character development for the two lovers that occurred outside of their falling in love, that was really cool.

The Rose Rent is probably one of my top three of the series that I have read so far. It has a really interesting premise.

Judith Pearle is a young widow. Her husband died after only three years of happy marriage. Grieving, she gave the house she shared with her husband to the Abbey, on the condition that she be given a rose from the house's garden, once a year on the Feast of St. Winfred. There was an official charter drawn up.

Her husband was a prosperous man in the making of cloth. There was no kin to take on the business, so she runs it with her aunt and her cousin. Having given away the house, she lives above the shop, and the town bronzesmith lives there an an Abbey tenant.

Judith runs the shop very well and is highly sought after by the single men of the village. She says no to all of them, and is in fact contemplating taking the veil.

As the date of the rose rent comes due, so weird stuff starts happening. The rose bush is attacked, a couple of people turn up dead, and Judith herself disappears.

So there's the mystery, who tried to kill the rose bush, is it the same person who killed these people? Where's Judith?

And the love story is wonderful, it's clear from the start that the bronze Smith (a widower himself) is in love with Judith. But knowing some of her pain, has never tried to make suit, or even said anything. It's also clear that Judith is fond of him, despite herself. It's sweet, and I like how it played very little into the murder mystery thing.

The Confession of Brother Haluin

This one is... weird. Very much like a soap opera. And like a soap opera, hard to describe without giving away everything. There are twists and surprises right from the first couple of chapters.

So, here's what I can say: Brother Haluin is a monk at the Abbey, and one of the most devoted. An accident leaves him at death's door and his deathbed confession leads to Brother Cadfael being both observer and sleuth in a Labyrinthtine family drama.

It was a fun read, but far from the regular mold.

As always, I enjoy the flow of words and the plots of these books. I especially enjoy the characters . There are so few that are down right bad or mean, it makes every murder that much more shocking because, in a world where neighbor helps neighbor and everyone is more than willing to sit and have a civil discussion, why would anyone *need* to kill someone else? It would be very easy for this setting to fall into the trap of being sacrine, but it manages to avoid it by simply having the people be people. No need to make them grittier than nessesary. In some books you wonder who *couldn't * be the bad guy because even the mailman must surely like to torment small animals as a hobby.

Not so with these books, and the plots feel organic because of it.

#books #book #book blogging 2022 #ellis peters #Brother Cadfael #cozy mystery

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