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indie-ttrpg-of-the-week · 3 months

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Game Garage: Lancer

Hello! Welcome to what I hope to be the first instance of a series about Game design and clever usages thereof in Tabletop games! We'll be talking about lancer, it was the first post on this blog so I felt it was fitting, we'll be going through standard character creations from License Level 0 til License Level 3, and showing how our mech, and pilot, grows during that time while playing out a theoretical game. Is this just like the example of plays in the actual books? Yes! But I wish to go for some more mechanical depths than those often do, and try to theorize around certain decisions made in a specific game.

I'll be using Comp/Con as a visual for this guide, I'm aware there's other ways to do mech building but basically everyone agrees you should just use Compcon for it, also while I'll avoid using expansions too much, I'll still assume you at minimum have KTB as it adds some pilot-side customization

LL0: Beginnings

You are immediately prompted to give a portrait, name, Callsign, and a background to your character, already just giving your character a callsign adds that little bit of personality to them! Lancer is primarily focused on the tactics side, rather than the roleplay side, but these little things do really help in fleshing out a character's personality, as that's still a factor.

I'll also give a quick shout out to Comp/Con for having the sickest UI of any webapp for a ttrpg i've seen, intuitive and strangely immersive, I really like it

Thracia was a project by a shadowy, now defunct, corporation to create a spokesperson for their gene editing services, the company went defunct before she turned 3, so she was just thrown away into some bin somewhere. She was eventually picked up by a gang of mercs who brought her back to base where she was effectively communally raised before joining the corps proper at age 20.

Now that we've filled out some simple flavor, lets move on to proper stat creation

We're brought to a stat creation screen, these don't matter too much in combat, but outside of them they're what your character specializes in, their role outside of the mechs. Don't sweat these too much, you can respect at any level up in lancer, and this won't matter too much outside of on the floor missions, which barely happen

For now, Thracia's good at fighting, investigating, and leading and inspiring, its what she was built for after all!

Now we get to talents, these are vaguely intimidating at first glance, but don't worry, you can respec at any time RAW, and they're pretty easy to decode once you get the hang of the system. For now, just think of what your role within the party will be, I want Thracia to be an artillery Pilot with a side of support, so we'll be taking Crack shot (which lets me give up my movement to become better at aiming each turn) , Leadership (which lets me add leadership dice dice to allied rolls as long as my fellow party member is within range) and Technophile (which gives me a Servant-Class NHP, a form of AI that controls my mech if I'm away, not too useful right now, but gets better benefits later on)

Now we get to the part I don't like, Mech Skills. Mech Skills are... theoretically really fun, but practically speaking you always want at least one level in Hull, and the other level in whatever your main stat is, in this case we'll be taking Engineering, you'll see why later.

Now we have our full pilot card! but there's still a little bit left to do before we Level Up for our first time.

First lets pick out our equipment, this is basically purely flavor so just pick what you think your character would logically have

NOW! we finally get to the fun part: Building your Mech... kinda

see right now, you're stuck with default configurations, you're not licensed for anything more complex than GMS mechs, the Great Value store brand of Lancer. So we carry on with an Everest, a basic if not a bit underwhelming mech, its reliable, customizable, and handy, if not a bit underwhelming and a lot less flashy and optimized than later mechs you get, I'd still keep an everest in your backpocket though, never know when you might need it

Someone playing with all official products would have a choice of 3 different GMS mechs, but I still recommend just picking the Everest, its the handiest option. though for reference: the Chomolungma is a Hacking frame, and the Sagamartha is a tank

You're prompted to name your mech, Thracia's gonna name it A farewell to Arms, after an ancient book she read once

Booting into your mech screen, it may feel a bit overwhelming at first but don't worry, these all aren't too complex to understand Traits are just that, what your mech has that makes it special from other mechs, its just that genesequouis that makes them cooler than other mechs.

Attributes are derivative stats that take your skills, Grit, and base mech stats into account, in our case the Everest is pretty middling in everything, but has a decent heat capacity due to our investment into Engineering.

and now for the fun bits, Core System and Mounts

Core Systems contain two things: your ultimate move, your signature play, that special power that you use once per duel and spare only for the most dire moments! the other thing is your Core System itself, Everest doesn't have any, but for future reference these are what your build is entirely based around, your core gimmick

Mounts are what you put your weapons into, and Systems are non directly attacking abilities that you use to gain advantage during battles, we once again only have GMS tools to go with for now. Something clever about the mount system is that it adds an inherent balance to mechs, a mech could have incredibly powerful abilities, but lack specific mounts that could make it overbearing, as an example the Gorgon lacks a heavy weapon mount, and Heavy weapon mounts are in general sparsely distributed, as giving them to the wrong mech could break the balance, this is a problem I see a lot of lancer GMs and homebrewers run into, underestimating the power of a heavy slot, even some who were contracted by Massif themselves!

For now, we'll give ourselves a shotgun, to dispatch enemies at close range, a Mortar, to deal with large clusters of enemies, and an Anti-Materiel Rifle to be our primary weapon.

Now for the systems, you have a budget of SP to use on buying systems for your mech from the ones you've unlocked, the GMS systems, outside of some standouts like the Flight System are... underwhelming mostly, you'll usually dumpster these pretty quick, but we might as well pick them because hey, its just free advantage, right?

We'll be mounting our free NHP we got from our talents of course, as well as a shield, a turret drone as we're not doing much with our reactions right now and they allow you to expend a reaction to deal some extra damage, Personalizations and a Custom Paintjob, these are basically just flavor but they both have to do with adding some extra bulk to your mech, in our case the Personalization is a built-in winch, adding a +1 to relevant Hull skill checks, and the Paintjob is a tasteful pin-up of an older looking woman, a fling from a past mission.

And that's it for LL0! It might feel like a lot, but I promise its a breeze in actual play. Now onto: LL1: Your First Taste of TRUE power

Thracia Schrader Came back to home base, sweaty and tired after a long mission, nothing big, just dispatching some pirates, but it was her first truly serious one, only to receive a ping on her terminal: she'd gotten a promotion, she'd be given budget to buy new parts for her mech, a raised paycheck, and some free time to work on new skills, she was over the moon, finally she'd be getting recognized!

Now onto LL1, so far your mech has had decently high customization, but from here on out? the world's your oyster honey, pull it open and devour its flesh, show the world that it's gotta be scared of you!... I think I lost my train of thought there, sorry about that.

Anyways, when leveling up you'll be given the down-low on what you're getting, an improvement to your skill triggers, more talents, more skills, more grit, your first license unlock, extra sauce on your eggs, and a complementary chocolate bar... OK those last two aren't there, but I'm sure most merc companies add them in

Skills don't matter too much so we'll skip over that, but for reference I took a boost in Leadership

You get an improvement in one talent, in my case I'll take the second tier of Technophile, which lets me reroll one roll per scene, very useful. You can also take a 4th talent at this point, but I recommend holding out a bit before doing that, your build is too weak to really afford big moves like that right now. You could also actually delevel one of your talents and level another to level 3, if you have a talent that you don't really need or want, but again, not recommended unless you know what you're doing

Now onto mech skills, you just get a flat +1 to any skill, right now I'd advise taking whatever you picked as your second skill after Hull, but if you wanna boost hull even further because you don't wanna get hurt too bad, I don't blame you, but we'll be getting that engineering boost for now

NOW to the fun part, the part we're all looking forward to (I think), getting more mech parts! now, people familiar with the system knows that the Engineering boosts and Artillery focus probably means we'll be taking a Harrison license, the 4 licenses in the game correspond roughly to the 4 mech skills in how they're built, they do end up mattering for something called Core Bonuses, but that's for much later, for now just treat them like a way to split playstyles. IPS-N likes Hull, Smith-Shimano Corp likes Agility, HORUS likes Systems, and Harrison Armory likes Engineering, choose accordingly.

We'll be unlocking the Sherman first, its a cool mech that I think often gets overlooked in this game's cluster fucks of eldritch mecha nightmares and othersuch things. You don't get the mech itself until LL2, so for now just slap on the parts you got into an Everest

The first level up is always kinda underwhelming in lancer, but trust me it'll get better from here! for now, we'll just replace our shotgun with a Sol-Pattern Laser Rifle, and our Personalizations and Custom Paint Job with a Reactor Stabilizer, a useful tool for keeping us nice and healthy when melting down

That's about it for LL1, yeah as I said its kinda boring, but it only gets better with LL2: You know what they say: Find what your niche is, that leads to riches!

Thracia Schrader comes back home, tattered, bruised and beaten, the promotion obviously meant more dangerous missions, this she knew, but she didn't expect to deal with enemies of that caliber just yet, turns out the pirates were more equipped than she thought at first, they seem too organized to be pirates actually... Well, she's being paid to dispatch rabblerousers, not think, she goes back to sleep in her cot, while browsing mech licenses for sale, she got a big bonus, she can splurge a little bit

While you get the same benefits as from LL1, this is where the fun really begins because if you take a second level from your frame you obtain:

A frame! You can finally get out of that dinky everest and get into something COOL! Frames in lancer essentially serve as your classes, they're what you mount your other obtained abilities into to create your unique playstyle, but overall they're probably the most important aspect of your character. Frames can have different sizes, HP thresholds, armor, and so on. the Frame system leads to your creativity being effectively limitless, while I'm doing a fairly basic artillery build, I'm sure a melee Sherman build could be fully possible! anyways, if you're using this as a build guide for some reason, I took Crack shot and an extra point in Hull alongside the Sherman frame

Now lets build our new puppy shall we? Our new mech will be called... how about Mr. Blue Sky? its Thracia's favorite childhood song

Now you'll have to rebuild your mech, but with a few considerations in mind 1: Your mounts are all different now, you can't rely on the weapons you did previously most of the time, Sherman's actually an exception to this, it has largely the same mounts as an everest, with the main difference being a built-in laser gun which charges while stabilizing, hm, maybe taking some stabilization talents could be worth the time... 2: Your new mech has new traits! the traits in the everest were pretty simple, just some bonus actions once per scene, "More of what's good" is the unofficial GMS Motto

The sherman's a bit more complex, it can keep you in the danger zone (which benefits not just the sherman but most Harrison Armory mechs really), give you soft cover by throwing steam at your enemy's face, and makes it better at engineering (handy, since you'll be trying your best to not take too much unintended heat)

For equipment, we'll be using some old tools and the new ones we just got

Sherman just got the incredibly powerful Andromeda-Pattern heavy laser rifle, but don't worry kids, this isn't the peak of laser power, oh no no, that comes a bit later. We're also using our handy shotgun, she needs to defend herself from nearby enemies somehow.

For systems, we're dumping the reactor stabilizer, its served its purpose but we can manage our heat better now, and we're picking up a deployable cover, useful for long drawn out gun fights, personalizations (a huge library of ancient and modern texts, useful for SYSTEMS checks), and turret drones, we're still not doing much with that reaction and our sensor range's pretty dang strong. Now a word of advice, at LL2 is where your build will branch most, you're comitting to an entirely new mech after all! but always remember: you can respec at any time

LL3: True Power!

Thracia comes back home and brews herself a cup of tea, so it turns out that the pirates she was dispatching were just locals defending themselves against the corporate agency paying her, she was offered a contract by them, lower price, but less price on the conscience, she urged her boss to take it, and she did take it in the end, she thanked Christ the Buddha she didn't need to betray the closest thing she had to a family. Tomorrow, Thracia would dispatch a corporate HQ, the locals were calling the Union for aid, and they promised aid would come in the form of supplies, but they'd need to fend for themselves, and supplies did come, she took some of the mech weapon supplies for herself, she was fighting for them now, might as well right?

LL3 is where your chosen frame's power peaks, many people actually skip the third level of a license, the items given are usually fairly niche, we won't be doing that, this is a pretty standard build so i don't think its worth it

you know the drill for skills

Talents, I'll actually do something a bit weird here, if anything to demonstrate one of the more interesting RAW decisions of Lancer, I'll take away crackshot. Most of the laser rifles of the sherman are AOEs, and Crackshot assumes one target. Instead we'll be taking two levels of Grease Monkey, they make our stabilizations stronger, and give us some nice bonuses during rests, and we'll also be capping off Technophile, you'll see why soon.

We'll be leveling up Engineering for this level and taking the final level of sherman, but more on that later because now, we have the first sight of our Core Bonuses

the 5 companies of lancer like to reward brand loyalty, so if you stick with one company for 3 levels, you unlock their "Core Bonuses". what are these? these are powerful abilities that you only get every 3 levels, and you need to have 3 levels in a company to unlock their respective core powers, GMS powers are unlocked by default of course. We'll be taking Superior by Design, the premiere Harrison Armory ability

the boost to heat cap is what we're looking for, anything that makes us less punished for taking too much heat is a good thing. the Impaired immunity is a good bonus

Now at this point, your mech should have unlocked their most powerful weapon and system, these are often "Super Heavy" weapons, which means they take up two slots to mount, but sometimes they just may be a powerful control ability, for example the Kidd unlocks their ability to build misc structures at that level.

We'll be installing our brand new and shiny Tachyon Lance, a massive motherfucker of a weapon that just emits a line of destruction and a cone of destruction behind you

we'll also keep the shotgun, its a handy weapon

for systems, we'll be equipping our brand new Asura-Class NHP, what does it do?

well, once per scene, it just lets you take another turn! No caveats, and the only real cost is a bit of heat on your end, but other than that? you just have two turns that turn, incredibly valuable in a build that often wants to stabilize, wasting precious actions

Oh, as for the third level of technophile? I can't have 2 NHPs in a mech at once unless I take that level, its just not possible, NHPs are incredibly powerful resources so I understand wanting to limit them like that.

That's about it for LL3, its your peak of power... for now, but soon enough your mech might be having some... foreign intrusions

LL4: The Crossover nobody wanted

Thracia was broken. She wished she'd never signed up for this mission in the first place. Children and women running from corporate mechs way better equipped than them, farms being abandoned by people who lived there for generations, good people sacrificing themselves to keep their loved ones safe. Terrakis had gone from a quick buck by dispatching pirates, to a nightmare. She was always told it was a dirty business, making money from blood, but she never expected it to be this bad. Looking to calm down, she calls up a friend, a warehouse worker from IPS-N, and wonders if she could maybe hook her up with something

You know the drill by now, the only thing of note is I'm going to dump Leader to take 2 levels in Siege Specialist (lets me take down structures more easily and lets me knock down adjacent enemies), we're picking up another level of Hull, and now, for the interesting bit: your 4th license

At this point, you've found your niche and made your mech plenty strong... but it could always be better, right?

Thracia picks up a level of the Drake, giving her the powerful Assault Cannon, a handy, if not low ranged, weapon that can grow in strength by spinning its barrels before launching, as a bonus its also a cannon allowing for our Siege Specialist to trigger. She throws away her nostalgic shotgun for this weapon

Thracia had also been feeling protective of her fellow backliner, a clumsy goblin pilot named Lika whom she borderline had a crush on, while Thracia's mech isn't bulky by any means, its bulkier than xer goblin, so she gives up her redundant systems to pick up the Argonaut Shield, a tool that lets her take half the damage her fellow pilot would take instead.

Conclusion: You got your tools now! Thracia was tired of seeing people dying, she was tired of the war, of the bastards in suits puppeteering it, she wanted it done and she wanted it done now. Talking to the leaders of the locals they decide on a final plan of attack: destroying the HQ of the corporate settlers

SimpleCorp must fall

Terrakis must be free

From here on out, you have your own tools to make your own builds, remember to focus on your roles, pick up abilities that complement your allies' playstyles and positionings, and most of all: have fun! a bad build in lancer isn't a huge deal, you can always try and try again until you get it right.

Oh, you wanna know how Thracia's story ended? Alright then, here you go

Mr. Blue Sky stood atop the ruins of SimpleCo's elite pilot: Fear, Thracia was no longer afraid, she was no longer broken, she was now only filled with pride, and joy. Terrakis was free, and she had been a part of its liberation. She hoped this would send a message to any bastard trying to take it over, she looks upon the pictures hanging inside her cockpit, complimentary drawings given to her by small children, of her mech as a hero of legend, of SimpleCo goons being burnt by her Tachyon Lance. That day, Thracia knew she had for once in her life done the right thing. After all of this, she decided to stay, War was not her business, and the locals of Terrakis wished for her to stay to help with any future intrusions.

She and Lika lived a peaceful life together, no one wanted to fuck with Terrakis after SimpleCo's downfall

Too cheesy? well, sometimes that's just how careers end, in the duty of a lancer, you either leave before you die, or you die before you leave. Go play your own stories! I'm sure there's some GM out there struggling to find new players who'd love to have you in their group

oh fuck i completely forgot to talk about bond-

#ttrpg #ttrpg community #indie ttrpg #misc indie #ttrpg design #lancer rpg

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

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sannyo-appreciation-posts · 5 months

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A ridiculously extensive critique and analysis of Sannyo Komakusa Touhou Lost Word art.

the time has come to analyze and critique the Lost Word art for Sannyo Komakusa.

[This also gives me an excuse to show select angles from Lotus Eaters, her Alphes style art by Dairi, stuff like that ]

Love it or hate it, the Touhou lost word gacha game could potentially be someone's first introduction to a given touhou character, so it's important that character portraits leave a good first impression. So with that in mind, I'm gonna critique their art for the booker Touhou cutie that, honestly, just from her profession alone she deserves their utmost respect.

(I can only hope she pokes fun at gacha within a gacha game in the same way she pokes fun at gamblers within her gambling den)

I'm gonna be zooming in to each part of the outfit to discuss the benefits and downsides of each design choice. I'm gonna be comparing pieces to the Zun art or Lotus Eaters for references and also generally to showcase things for comparison.

Since it surrounds the whole design I think I'll need to mention the smoke dragon and pipe first. On the whole, it's cool, and her pipe does match her zun art. Unfortunately it covers up a lot of her outfit and pose. And lastly regarding this there is definitely one detail that's remarkably annoying.

The smoke isn't coming from the pipe.

Its just coming from around her feet

but you will notice an important detail while looking her feet

she's got painted toenails like in Lotus Eaters.

Next, I will move up to her skirt

All in all, it's a pretty good version of her skirt, it has a crease on the side thats catching a little too much light though. it's got the pretty pattern she has in her zun art, but they lowered her coat so it's all an even line of pattern. It even ends up lining up with her sleeve for some reason. It's pretty, but I think it makes the transition from her skirt to her top look a little more drastic, since there isn't a fresh line of coat pattern to break it up. Frankly, it just looks really cool as a long or mid length jacket like in Lotus Eaters and the Zun art instead of a big skirt length coat like they did.

(Yes, I realize Lotus Eaters doesn't feature color or her intricate coat pattern, [presumably since it'd be a nightmare to keep track of. Though I like to imagine it's just yet another outfit of hers]

but anyway, it at least demonstrates my point about a coat with a different length then her skirt creating a cool contrast.

Next is the chest, first I must say her buttons and clothes look perfectly fine. Though they generally pin to the side in Lotus Eaters as well as in her Alphes style art by Dairi (Though these buttons do look like they are struggling)

There are many different different ways people draw Sannyo's chest, but eventually they can be categorized a bit, because at some point there is a tempting result to what the size can make you want to do with her outfit

Naturally, if someone wants to draw her breasts in a larger size, like in Lost Word, it makes it more difficult to draw her coat over her shoulders. The reason being that when you get into the much larger anime sizes, the cloth from a coat would start to just drape over the lower sections of her body from her breasts. So I think people try to avoid that in different ways, often she often ends up with her coat lowered and hanging loosely above her elbows, which can actually serve a double purpose and give her a ton of personality.

As an example here is some gorgeous art by "syuri22" I found here

Syuri22 even extended the line of her skirt up into a bow to make her breasts pop out a bit more, which was really clever.

sometimes fan artists part her coat around her breasts which is a clever way to have her coat over her shoulders without hanging over her breasts too, sometimes she tucks the coat under with her arms in a pose. Sometimes they have it drape a bit but ultimately return to her waist. My point is there are a lot of creative ways artist do it. To lostword's credit the way they did it does kinda accentuate her smug energy. Though adding it together with how thick and soft they made the hem of her coat does kinda make it look like she has a comfortable blanket draped over her.

As for her face. It's good, of course. I mean it's Sannyo's face, hard to go wrong with that. It's got her cute bow. She's got a good expression mixing cute and smug energy. Her ponytail is looking good. No complaints there.

looking at the art as a whole, it's fine. Sure, it looks more like she's wearing a blanket than a coat, but I guess it does make her look kinda soft and huggable. Oh, and I completely forgot to mention her fan is freaking massive. But She's ultimately got the right energy. Though I honestly think it would be better if she had her coat line up a bit less. The way her sleeves and coat and skirt all make an even arc along the design sound like a interesting idea, but it kinda makes her design have less interesting stuff going on.

I do prefer her Alphes style art by Dairi by quite a bit tbh

Even still i hope some day they do her winter outfit, I'm curious what that would look like. it's actually got the fuzzy energy they were going for.

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darkestprompts · 10 months

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DD2 Shrine Rewrites Part 3: The Tragic Tale of Lady Audrey

I live! But Audrey’s husband doesn’t. It’s grave robbing time!

From here on out we start to deal with the meat of DD2’s issues. I decided Audrey was a good place to start, because the problems with her story are less about radical deviation from previous canon or poor characterization and more so about a bunch of things that don’t make sense when put together and add up in the most infuriating manner. I will argue that placing that backstory in the context of DD2’s redemption narrative in this particular way does Audrey a huge disservice when there were plenty of other solutions at hand.

Audrey as we knew her

The Grave Robber is presented to us as the most archetypical of the game’s rogues. She’s sneaky, agile, precise and deadly, although somewhat frail (and I will die on the hill that someone graverobbing should not be). Compared to the fully offensive Highwayman or the sturdier Bounty Hunter and Shieldbreaker, she’s the quintessential thief in the dark. Her work is dirty, yet her design and manners are elegant. Her tactics are underhanded most of the time: poison (Poison Dart), ambushes (Shadow Fade), mobility and range; but she’s perfectly capable of direct violence (Pick to the Face). She has fallen from high places to the lowest depths.

Her comic shows her past as a lady, alone in a dark mansion with the news that she’s about to be evicted. The camera focuses on a portrait of a couple. It suggests that the man, most likely the husband, is responsible for her present predicament. He looks unpleasant and smug. The woman, who is none other than Audrey, looks aloof, maybe a little despondent. The real Audrey is struck by an idea as she stares at the image. She lets down her hair and turns to the mausoleum inside her property, a wicked grin on her face.

The Grave Robber’s CC set isn’t very enlightening, except for the hint that she may have a drinking problem, probably caused by either the man on the portrait, her destitution, or both.

The contrast between class and brutality is at the core of Audrey’s character. When push came to shove, she showed she wasn’t just a pretty thing. She will desecrate the dead if she has no other means of making money. She may prefer to keep her hands clean, but she will not hesitate to dirty herself when it comes to her survival.

One piece at a time

At first glance, Audrey’s shrines operate a lot like Baldwin’s, adding context to the comics ambiguities without making anything up wholecloth. Her personality stayed largely unchanged, the main events line up. So why is it such a mess?

We start off on a good note. Audrey is a rich party girl, as expected. However, we get to see her independent streak and her active nature. She wears beautifully tailored but still sensible riding clothes. I really appreciate the hint of physicality here. No dainty lady could become a grave robber overnight without some grit to her.

Our lovely Audrey gets hitched for money, cause that’s that’s what you do in aristocratic families, you either marry for fortune or prestige. As suggested by her comic, her husband turns out to be a supermassive turbocunt. He’s a drunkard, he’s abusive, maybe even physically so, considering he goes to grab her in inebriated rage. Audrey has had it with this bitch. She will kill him and inherit all their joint fortune.

I won’t lie, I greatly enjoy the husband battle sequence despite the horrible situation it depicts. I find the selection of skills for Audrey very clever and real to what one would do in this situation. More importantly, there’s great satisfaction in the fact that I’m about to kill this motherfucker. It’s the last time Audrey will have to deal with him and, girl, I’m here for it.

Now, note the difference between the backstory portrait and the one in DD2. The guy in the comic looks arrogant, but in DD2 he grasps Audrey’s shoulder like she’s property. His original design looks like a regency jackass, the new one is straight-up Henry VIII. You know, the guy known for killing, harassing and generally making women’s lives hell. Here I want to take a moment to draw attention to a line she says before a shrine: “He meant to leave me a pauper or a corpse eventually. I’m certain”. This is important, regardless if it’s true, because it tells us that present Audrey believes that not only her financial ruin was inevitable once she married, had she done nothing, her husband would have killed her, deliberately or not. Whether you read physical violence into her husband’s demeanor or not (I certainly do), Audrey sees her act as one of self-defense. We will go back to that in a bit.

You know what is coming. Upon his death, Audrey discovers her husband left piles of debt. Our noble lady turns to the most inviting occupation available: graverobbing! I kind, of course, and I do think that she was so easily drawn to that path because she wanted to metaphorically piss on her husband’s grave. Maybe literally too. I wouldn’t judge.

Things get weird in this section. One gets the impression that this family mausoleum is a vast, byzantine labyrinth, since she can’t find the right grave even though she buried the guy what, last week? Why are there guards and booby traps? I could see a rich landowning family keeping some servants active during the night for security reasons, maybe a few dogs and a lookout that is ultimately a housekeeper, but holy shit. These are armored soldiers! And why would they all be stuck inside the mausoleum and not, you know, beating the grounds around the walls and fences where someone actually might come in? And boy, if Dismas, a convicted murderer, beating an army of those guys bothered you, get ready to watch young lady Audrey slaughter them without a hitch as well. I know I emphasized Audrey’s latent ability to be ruthless and her physical aptitude but she went from killing her husband in a sneaky, indirect manner, to hitting innocent bystanders in the face with a pickaxe. If she’s that unfazed by the sprays of gray matter in her neat little coat, I expect the narrator to comment on it! Again, holy shit.

The end sequence is… confusing. Did Audrey lose her marbles after her bloody rampage? Did she turn into the Shrieker and start a nest of loot? If her motivation was greed, like the narrator insists it is, why did she leave valuables behind? This reads like my undergrad papers before I learned to write conclusions, weird and devoid of content.

Rest in pieces

Up to the midway point, the Grave Robber shrines match the old comic, although it makes some bold decisions. We could always infer that the man on the portrait was a husband, that he was kind of an asshole and that she wasn’t happy in marriage. But I want to highlight this: asshole does not mean abuser. He could easily have been the traditional husband that gets a trophy wife with a huge dowry, doesn’t think much of her and her activities, but largely leaves her alone as he goes out to drink and gamble. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad that Audrey has an abusive relationship in her past, but this was DD2’s deliberate decision and it needs to be dealt with properly.

The game’s tagline is “face your failures”, the past is invoked in the boss fight so the heroes confront those it. So tell me, what was Audrey’s failure? Getting married for money? That’s ignoring that, even if her family cared about her feelings, society would still constrain her to make a good economic match. There was no deception involved; they both knew it as a match of convenience. Not marrying for love isn’t a moral failure, especially since the concept of marriage for romantic purposes only is something very modern. Was it murdering her husband, then? You mean the Henry VIII cosplayer that abused her, who she believes would have led to her death? Let’s not go there. Killing your abusers may not be the glorious solution to every evil in the world, but for fuck’s sake, there ain’t no protective services in this setting. Before divorce was a viable option for women, voluntary widowhood was the alternative. Was it the grave robbing? Could be, but it’s a hard sell when you show her bankrupt and breaking into her first tomb to retrieve the rings of the aforementioned shitfuck who left her destitute. And again, he’s dead. Deservedly so. He got no use for those rings. Is it killing the strangely placed and conveniently clueless guards? That’s a background event at best.

The narrator speaks of greed, but that’s only Audrey’s primary motivation when it comes to her marriage, before any crimes are committed. Afterwards, her actions are dictated first and foremost by self-preservation. Noble upbringing or not, losing your house isn’t a joke. She’s selfish, no doubt, greedy, perhaps, but to frame this as her failure gives off the impression that her desire to marry for wealth is responsible for the disaster that follow and not, you know, the fact that a chucklefuck spent all of her money while yelling at her and throwing up on the carpet. It’s an even tougher pill to swallow since there isn’t a single indication that Audrey feels regret about her actions that isn’t shoehorned by the metanarrative.

Rise from your grave

I can see two main ways to fix the Grave Robber story. First, abandon the whole “heroes have one great failure in their past to atone for, except for Baldwin, who would happily stab his advisors all over again” thing. You don’t even need to rework the Face your Failure theme, just make it about DD1. Isn’t that the game about inevitable failure? Wouldn’t it make sense for the destruction of the Heart of Darkness to break reality? Couldn’t this dying world be the exit point of the DD1 timeloop? But I digress, we’ll get to DD2 as a whole in due time. This is about Audrey. So we can keep Mr. Turbocunt as he is, as long as he isn’t linked to Audrey’s journey towards redemption. The alternative is to make his murder morally questionable. As I said above, make him a neglectful but mostly harmless guy with a gambling problem or poor financial management. Maybe someone got the better of him because he’s stupid and inept. That’s not something that warrants death, especially if Audrey too was happy to spend without worrying about finances. Let’s be real, we would still cheer for her. The DD fandom enjoys fucked up characters.

That’s the biggest problem taken care of, with two neat alternatives to pick from. But I’m still unsatisfied with the grave robbing bit. Compared to the murder or Barristan’s desperate charge, it’s almost goofy. We can do better. How about this: the combat section is pure stealth. No guards spawning from the ground. Audrey is simply trying to avoid a few servants on the way to the mausoleum. When successfully sneaking by them, the servant de-spawns and the next one shows up, for a fixed number. Why would she want to leave a trail of blood, anyway? Better to get away without suspicion of a much greater crime hanging over her head.

Or, all right, we decide we must really enforce the drama and have some drastic event happen. Let’s say she gets caught just as she’s leaving the mausoleum. The day is about to break, it’s much harder to hide, she’s carrying noisy jewelry. She gets seen by a gardener or and, in a split second decision, kills him so he can’t rat her out. Only then it sinks in what she’s just done. On the back of her first murder, she commits her first robbery, then goes on to her first violent crime. It’s a bit similar to Dismas’s story, I’ll admit, but I think the theme of one crime leading to another one, plus the fact that she would have killed deliberately to cover her own ass, give it some novelty exclusive to her narrative. You can even have her as an unrepentant asshole in this version. Make her regret that the murder put a bounty on her head, while she could probably have gotten away with simple robbery if she changed her name and laid low for a bit. It would make her into an Anti-Dismas, in a sense.

Ultimately, the variants I present here depend on how much of a victim or a jerk you want Audrey to be. I think they are all fine options. DD2 could have gone with abuse survivor Audrey, but it made a blunder when it tried to show perfectly good reasons for her actions and still require her to be redeemed of them.

The woobification tendency will continue to rear its ugly head again as we proceed with the rewrites. I still haven’t decided who will be next, but it will probably another one of our girls. We’ll see.

#darkest dungeon #dd2 shrine rewrites #dd audrey #dd grave robber #darkest dungeon 2 spoilers

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tobiasdrake · 6 months

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Flashback o'clock with Valere and Zale.

Staff Girl and Sword Boy are pretty standard tropes but I appreciate that Valere and Zale think they're being clever by coming up with it. Credit to Valere all the same for using her staff for martial arts instead of spellcasting.

I mean, we're supposed to learn to "use magic without using magic" so I assume they'll both be spellcasting at some point. But my point is, Valere isn't slotted in the Dedicated Caster role. By her own admission here, she picked the staff because she wants a beatstick to bludgeon her enemies with.

She's in the box, but she's being innovative about it.

NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH, you don't get off that easy. What's your weapon gonna be, Garl? We've got beatstick and slashy blade covered so might I suggest something long-range like a bow?

Is that our plan? Because I gotta tell you, I've been down that road before. And while the magical kingdom of Disney Animation is indeed a treasure trove of wonderment, it comes packaged with. Just. The wildest bull crap you've ever heard in your life.

She's nice, but a bit shallow in terms of personality. She was an early character when the writing wasn't all there. Her villain, however, is one of the all-time most popular in the brand.

Ohhh, you mean the Midgard Serpent.

Yeah. No. Don't frick with that. Bad things happen if he wakes up.

Somebody's going to block those holes at some point. I know it. You know it. Any sedative that relies on a geographic feature is easy to interfere with.

Um. Are. Are they.

Did we already harvest most of them? Because this is an awful lot of space for nine crops.

Does our village have problems and no one's telling me about it 'cause I'm just a little one?

And what the hell are these? They are not in the designated crop field.

Is our farmer skimming off the top? Are we going hungry so he can have his own secret blue melon stash?

I found an adult!

These two look like the Pokemon Legends ancient past leaders for Team Magma and Team Aqua.

Oh, she looks terrifying in sprite portrait. Any human being that has more bones outside their skin than in is not to be fucked with. General rule of thumb.

Are we about to see the "Zale smacks a sunball with his bare hand" incident? Because I'll be a little miffed if they repeat that joke but I'll also be too busy laughing to care.

I love her confidence. Valere only wants one thing out of life: Validation for how hard she can hit a person with a stick. She has feral goblin energy and I'm here for it.

Fucking rude. I hate this guy already. I'm going to drown him.

OMINOUS. Erlina has some damage that she's not talking about, on account of the fact that we're like ten. I'm starting to get the impression that this whole Solstice Warrior thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Do they pair a Sun and Moon person for every mission? Or do Sun people and Moon people have their own stuff they do on their own, and they only get paired up sometimes? I'm very curious to understand how that works.

Oh, sweet! THIS IS MY HOLY TIME. Sorry, Zale, but as a Moon person, the night of the full moon is my holiday. That means you have to do whatever I tell you to. Those are the rules that I just made up.

Go fetch me a blue-melon soda.

That sounds like a wonderful place to visit multiple times. I'm there.

Oh, shoot, this is the mistake that cost us Garl, isn't it?

Wait, that's our plan? B&E in a place literally called Forbidden and then run straight to the authority figure and brag about what we've done?

Yeah, I see that ending super well for us. This is a great idea. I'm happy to be a part of it.

Hahahahahaha we're so going to get banished. Well, I guess we might as well--

EVEN MORE SPARKLE MELONS in another random patch! Okay, so maybe he's not skimming off the top. Maybe he just doesn't freaking know how to plant them in the gosh darned field.

#sea of stars #drake plays sea of stars

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vivithefolle · 2 years

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The thing about Rowling is that she bases a lot of characters on people she knows or knew irl. So you have these perfectly decent characters and she just doesn't have a clue how they work internally.

Exactly! I've answered a Quora question on that, previously.

Below, the text of said answer:

Did J.K. Rowling base any of her characters on herself or people she knows personally?

Pretty much all of them?

She said there was “a bit of her in every of her characters". Which tends to happen naturally when you write.

(For example, being autistic, I tend to write characters as very introspective and remembering small details about a lot of stuff and being able to perform literary analysis in the middle of conversation. I've been informed that this is not how the “average" human works. So when I write a character, I often end up making them autistic because that's literally how my brain works. It's unfathomable to me that you wouldn't be paralyzed with fear by the idea of making a decision. Taking an opportunity on the fly, throwing your whole world off-balance with just one gratuitous action? What folly is this??)

According to Rowling, “I married Harry Potter. I married a very brave and gutsy person. And that's who Harry is”. Okay, so before Sauron and Acidic Virtuesignaller come crawling out the woodwork, I would like for us all to consider the implications: so Harry is “a very brave and gutsy person", and that's all. That's the only qualifier for Harry. To be Harry you need to be brave and gutsy. It's not like there's a construct in this series that's literally called The House Of The Brave. With a magic sword that only comes to those that are brave and gutsy enough to wield it. Which three people in the books have used that sword? Harry, Ron, and Neville. If only Harry was “very brave and gutsy" then what are we calling Ron and Neville? Hermione? Ginny? Luna? Snape? Dumbledore? Ok so there we go, if the requirement to be Harry is “be very brave and gutsy" then I can point to half a dozen characters that have the same characteristic ON TOP OF having an actual personality.

Ron was based on Rowling's childhood friend who owned a blue Ford Anglia. Based on Rowling's later comments about having “dated Ron" in her youth, we can infer that Rowling wrote into Ron some of the bad behaviours of guys she'd dated, probably with the idea of having him outgrow them (but considering how much she seems to enjoy writing Ron getting punished for these behaviours…). Some of the things she'd felt about poverty are spoken from Ron's mouth in GOF, and the Locket's tirade is a dead ringer (albeit with the genders reversed) for what she reported her father told her about how he'd rather have had a son.

Hermione is according to JKR a caricature of how she was when she was younger. “I wasn't that clever, but I was that annoying on occasion". I doubt JKR got invited to a ball by a super famous athlete though.

Snape was allegedly based on her chemistry teacher, John Nettleship, who was autistic and I can believe would have made jokes that wouldn't necessarily land as such (solidarity 😔✊). However I believe Snape was very much a caricature and an exaggeration instead of a “100% authentic" portrait of John Nettleship, even if he later came to call the character “me". Rowling needed her Mean Teacher archetype after all.

Cuthbert Binns, the ghost teacher of History that is excruciatingly droll and boring, seems to be a summation of Rowling's thoughts about his subject. Also a convenient way of forgoing worldbuilding.

Mothers are a very important part of Rowling's world. Lily's sacrifice defines the entire series, Molly Weasley is a strong presence through the books and sends Bellatrix's fanatic arse to Hell, Merope Gaunt's refusal to live shapes Voldemort into who he is, Narcissa Malfoy lies to Voldemort in exchange for her son's safety, even Barty Crouch Jr's mother made the ultimate sacrifice by switching places with her son in Azkaban. The only mother figure that isn't positive is Walburga Black, and even she gets to have a humanizing moment when Hermione theorizes that she was kind to Kreacher in DH. All this takes on a whole new meaning when you learn that JKR wrote the first Harry Potter in the wake of her mother's death.

By contrast, father figures are much less revered, and again it is directly a result of JKR herself: she had a notoriously bad relationship with her father, Peter James Rowling. One can postulate that Peter Pettigrew's name wasn't all a matter of alliteration, and that James Potter's redemption was the sort of thing Rowling might have wished of her own father.

Pansy Parkinson was a conglomerate of all the girls who bullied Rowling at school.

Umbridge was based on a work colleague - though she's apparently another conglomerate character - who hid nastiness behind a syrupy sweet exterior. Umbridge is often said to be the worst villain in Harry Potter - because while few people ever experience a genocidal terrorist stalking them, many have met someone like Umbridge who abuse their power just because they enjoy feeling in control of others.

The Death Eaters in general were based on the IRA, but took more cues from Nazi Germany in Deathly Hallows.

#vivi answers #harry potter #hp meta #harry potter meta #meta #jk rowling #ron weasley #hermione granger #molly weasley #peter pettigrew #james potter #severus snape #dolores umbridge #death eaters

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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mokonahapuuuuuu · 4 months

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Freedom - Chapter Two - Rescue (ALTA/LOK AU)

Neil’s father was at the Fire Nation embassy on business, and he brought his wife and Neil.

It didn’t go according to plan, and Neil got kidnapped for random by political extremist along the way.

Who else to rescue him than a bunch of teenagers his age… and amongst them was his supposed fiancee.

Once the bag was off his head, Neil’s eyes widen. “Belle…?!”

Atlanta, another fellow airbender looked to her. “You know this guy.”

She looked down, ashamed. “He’s my fiancé…”

Ever since leaving home, she ran into these interesting people, and decided to join them on their journey to stop Cronus, a power hungry warlord.

There was Jay, a waterbender. Odie was a non-bender, but his inventions and clever wit helped the team more than ever. Herry was a powerful earthbender, and Archie could firebend.

Atlanta and Theresa were glad another girl was in the corner. Atlanta was glad there was another airbender she could spar with. Theresa’s ability was more unique. She could spirit bend. It was actual quite beautiful to see.

From what Belle knew, Neil was probably a non-bender.

“Your parents are out looking for you, you know.” Neil’s arms were crossed. Everyone else thought this was a more private conversation, so they went to a room.

She could tell by the posters with her portrait on them as she traveled around towns with the gang.

“Guess my letter didn’t exactly get through to them…” She rubbed her hand against her neck.

“You know, I didn’t want to marry you either, but the least you could have done was talk to my parents about it. They’re trying so hard to keep this under wraps. Do you know how embarrassing it was when you left home? And my parents are trying to say that you were kidnapped for ransom.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the parallels of the situation.

If his parents were hurt that badly by her leaving, they would have called off the engagement by now, which would be a great thing for Belle. Though with Avatar Gyatso as her great-grandfather, that was probably the reason why they didn’t do it.

Bottom line was, Neil was just concerned in how the engagement and her walking out made his family look bad. Not the fact of her wellbeing or the engagement at all. And they wondered why she left them and the upper crust world in the first place.

“I know what I did was stupid and reckless, but I just couldn’t put up with it anymore,” she began. “How my parents only cared about status and used me and my sister as marriage barters. I had to get out of it all.”

She breathed, feeling her chest grow heavy. “Why did you think I left?”

Knowing someone like Neil, he probably wouldn’t understand her. His face didn’t change emotion at all, but she didn’t care.

“What’s going to stop me from telling my parents that I found you?” The only time that Neil ever accomplished something in his life aside from sitting there and looking pretty.

“The embassy is still in between a blockade,” a smile was on her face. “Didn’t think that far ahead, huh?”

Then again, when did Neil ever think things through.

“Either way, somehow I’m going to bring you back to the Earth Kingdom with my parents, but there is no way I’m going to marry you.”

An angry smile was on Belle’s face. “Gladly.”

She left the room. She ached all over inside, and just had to get out. Usually airbending dance calmed her down.

#class of the titans

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onlyzhuyilong · 10 months

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So, about 消失的她//Lost In The Stars -

I have seen this film three times total - in the cinema (for science) - and it has been a while and I have some thoughts. These aren’t a play by play of the film though.

He Fei man oh man oh man - look at this - I feel it would be easier if I wasn’t a xiaolongbao

The scuba pics of Long Ge as WuXie Im threw me off like what Easter eggs are these. The portrait his wife drew him was a promo photo of WuXie xD lord help me.

Tuxedo beach scene on the big screen legit gave me chills it wasn’t hot it was the opposite of hot- yet I’m addicted to that scene? Like I want to fan vid edit it with some sort of song like Psycho by Red Velvet. I made a playlist for He Fei cuz man he’s a lot. Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo is there cuz lyrics. But anyways…

Without knowing I felt for He Fei, like his twitching and outbursts and episodes I figured okay…he need help. He needs lots of help.

But as soon as I found out he was a gambler, had a gambling addiction, it was game over. I was 80% done with him, because he’s definitely responsible for this somehow. I have seen what gambling addiction does from family members and it isn’t pretty.

Casino He Fei made me super uncomfortable - because I kept thinking he is going to destroy himself.

I felt like I had been played by him & the trailers because I felt sorry for him for months during the build up to this I was all “aw poor He Fei”. I needed a shower.

Just personally I found the film empowering? Because NiNi & Janice Man’s characters were so brave and intelligent in a way that was clever and super cool. I was cheering for them.

The hospital scene and Zhu Yilong speaking English being all “I’m okay, I’m okay,” and taking deep breathes - I was like “Aw baby you’re doing really well, I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

(I knew he was gonna be bald for this film during their filming thanks to youku paparazzi leaking pics on weibo).

I found the head shaving scene too much the first time because Zhu Yilong is just that good - the tears? Sir is incredible - I don’t think he even planned it. It is still intense.

Then comes the revelation - Chen Mai (NiNi) in her nurse’s disguise - getting the truth out of him in the best scene. My favorite scenes in this film are when Chen Mai and He Fei are arguing or having intense conversations because the way they bounce off each other. It’s so entertaining like get out the popcorn 🍿 I’m hear for the back and forth.

But the hospital scene is so intense when she has grabbed him by the collar, literally screaming at him “tell me where she is” as the clock is running down and finally he says the lighthouse. She has tears in her eyes at this point and He Fei is like “I left her under the lighthouse” (paraphrasing). He knew where his wife was the entire time.

The entire honeymoon was his plan to end his wife, why? She’s a billionaire- he’s a gambler - he thought she was gonna divorce him after he broke his promise of “never gambling again” and ended up 1) being 10 million rmb in debt 2) throwing a Chen YiMing worthy tantrum on being cut off from the company bank account in the deleted scenes, 3) her refusing to bail him out again. If he doesn’t pay the debts he’s gonna die - so he thinks she doesn’t care I’ll just stage her disappearance by killing her and then inherit everything.

And he had the audacity to say “she left me no choice - what happened to fulfilling marriage vows - for richer for poorer… she didn’t love me - she just cared about her money. Now if she just gave me 10 million rmb and been a good wifey we’d be cool.”

The only time I have been this furious at a Zhu Yilong character was Chen YiMing and I’ve seen most of his filmography. Although his Chi Rui role comes close but he was literally the worst and did the most horrible thing ( you can’t even guess what he did because it was that bad)- he comes close to He Fei. But Chi Rui got a nice happy ending (undeserved but ya know Chinese soap operas). He has played a con man years and years ago but redeemed himself by coming clean …his character has a bad ending too because obviously.

YeZun would look at He Fei and be like “you sir are trash…” and YeZun is also bad, but bruh.

So He Fei finds out one of the people at his diving school is rich, young and single - he wants a “sugar mama to fund his addiction” and to give him a nice life - so basically he cons his way into her life, into her heart, with Van Gogh and his damn cute face and mannerisms. But his eyes - there is an icy coldness and cruelty in them - it’s haunting tbh.

And he has a great life - she paid off his debts the first time which I was like “girl, if you gonna do that and give him your freaking credit card then you better send his cute assets to rehab abroad.” But nope - he swears in writing to quit gambling - so he works for her company, he enjoys a rich life of luxury, but he can’t stop gambling he’s an addict and he gets into big big trouble. And his wife is done with him.

I find it shocking that in the divorce papers he finds whilst stealing money (e.e while she was sleeping) he didn’t read the part where she would pay him 2 million rmb allowance after their divorce like she loved his dumb assets so much she would do that.

And so He Fei is like “welp I better do the worst thing ever”. So he sets it up - a one year anniversary honeymoon trip to fulfill the promise he made her when they met “see a starry night under the sea” and he will get all her money. Gross, He Fei, you’re so beautiful and ugly at the same time sir.

He promises her this cute trip over a home cooked meal and a candle lit dinner.

She was gonna tell him something over dinner but decides to wait until they’re on honeymoon. I kept thinking if she had told him beforehand none of this would have happened - but he already planned it out - how was the knowledge of her big surprise gonna change anything. Other than welp she won’t leave me now?

Back to the hospital scene and Chen Mai’s gone, He Fei is now very bald and alone in his pajamas - he breaks free, escapes and finds out he wasn’t the only one putting on a show.

This next revelation of Chen Mai being Shen Man - Li MuZi’s bestie from school - setting it all up with her theater trope to bamboozle He Fei into such a position where he was confess. Because she knew something was sus.

Sidenote Shen Man’s best director award looking like the palm d’or from Cannes …ahh could have been for this movie (or Only The River Flows but nvm)

And he learns it all, laughs and then his face is serious, and goes after NiNi and co, but they are standing there like 1000% done with him. I was done with him.

The police come, and his wife was in a cage under the sea. The scene is so sad - but I’m still furious at He Fei - but his poor wife just gave up and took off her oxygen mask and enjoyed the starry night under the sea. And we see what He Fei does - the whole lot - he locks her in, he sees her use the signals he taught her, we sees her reach out to him and twice, he looks back at her twice, and twice he swims away. And I’m like “no He Fei, what the fudge how can you swim away.” And in her one last attempt she tries to show him something but he’s swimming away. No matter how many times I see that scene it hurts.

But the surprises aren’t over yet. Oh no.

We cut to prison - He Fei laughing in jail when Shen Man asks if he regrets anything and he was like “yeah so I’m just pissed I didn’t find out about you earlier so I could have got you, too hahahahaha.” And I thought “ooh Long Ge got to be like the Joker like he always dreamed oh yay! Also boo you He Fei. Are you pretending to be crazy now? You’re just the worst.”

Shen Man is just broken at this point and she shows a photo she found with his wife under the sea. And oh it is just the Cherry on top of this nightmare sundae.

The scene cuts to Shen Man (NiNi) walking away, and such. I held it together until the revelation that He Fei didn’t just lock his wife in a cage under the sea with a bunch of toxic jellyfish to end her for her money.

But she was also pregnant with their child and we find out when He Fei does looking at the sonogram photo of it and I thought “oh my God He Fei!!.”

I lost it I was crying so hard - the ost (Cage) didn’t help - He Fei crying didn’t help because it’s ZYL’s dumb face crying - acting so well. I couldn’t even be angry anymore I was simply broken.

The end credits written saying He Fei met his end as punishment - I knew it was gonna happened but it felt like he got off too easily. Though my brother said “the best way to end him is to lock him in a cage under the sea with a bunch of jellyfish cuz it’s only fair.”

Yeah, but then we wondered what if he knew she was pregnant but judging by his reaction I really don’t think he did. Because it was rough. There is an end credits scenes which I was like ??? Basically, He Fei wakes up on the beach, he takes a photo of his wife and then runs into Janice Man’s Jane and Officer Zheng asking them to take a photo of him and his wife just having fun on the beach, and the scene ends with them holding hands, being cute on the beach. I felt so weirded out like no - commit to the nightmare don’t give me cute He Fei on the beach. 🤣

Zhu Yilong’s acting is sensational, like he was so good - I was and still am super proud. NiNi was excellent, Janice Man was great - everyone was so good.

Back in China some of the reviewers mentioned they couldn’t look at ZYL after seeing this film, cuz he made them so angry, but my brain was like He Fei looks nothing like Zhu Yilong. I have decided - the man is a chameleon. He Fei is He Fei and Zhu Yilong is Zhu Yilong - as he says.

And I needed to see him being just himself at the roadshows and stuff.

This film incredible - it’s a heartbreaking story - but brilliantly acted, directed.

#zhu yilong #朱一龙 #lost in the stars #消失的她 #tw spoilers

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total-drama-takes-takes-2 · 11 months

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tti episode 16

“Last time, on Total Takes Island: The contestants competed in a treasure-themed scavenger hunt- in the middle of a blizzard! Ass kept up their winning streak by accidentally tricking Kelly, turning most of the remaining campers against them when they tried to win Max over by kissing him. Michael was totally not jealous, but formed a brief alliance with the other girls and such to vote for Kelly, including a reluctant Julia. Patrick won immunity, despite his… um, shortcomings. Will anyone be safe from Chef’s wrath today? Will Courtney and Bonnie finally team up to kill Ass? Find out now on Total! Takes! Island!”

McLovin listens intently as Staci talks to themselves, pacing around the picnic table the two are situated at. Every few minutes, she takes a seat and tries to regain her composure when she gets too dizzy.

McLovin’s attention is divided between Staci and the bird’s nest sitting on the intercom speakers a few feet away. Half of the paper he’s scribbling on is devoted to a Kelly portrait for Staci, and the other half is a sketch of the birds.

“So, if I go for Ass next, I’ll like, be totally eliminated. They’ll catch on! But who can I get that’ll weaken Ass’ advantage?’ Staci asks, scratching their chin as they walk in circles around the table.

“Um… you should start an alliance with Courtney,” McLovin offers, using a blue crayon to color in the belly of the songbird drawing. “They hate Ass.”

“I already tried, they said they're really sorry but they’re doing things on their own now,” she sighs. “Bonnie said the same thing, but told me if I got enough support against Ass they’d vote with me. But it’s not enough!”

“What about… Patrick? He could be a good ally,”

Staci sighs. “I’m not really looking for allies so much as I am hoping Ass doesn’t win immunity today,”

“That could be pretty easy. But you should find out who’s on Ass’ side first,” he says merrily, using an orange crayon to fill in Kelly’s hair (he lost the yellow).

They pause and think for a moment. “You know, that’s not such a bad idea,”

“Campers!” Chris’ voice blares over the intercoms, frightening the birds away from the nest just as McLovin was about to finish the drawing. “Get your sorry butts in gear and grab some breakfast before today’s challenge. You have twenty minutes!”

---

Julia watches as Chef fills her tray with a mysterious bean-like brown slop and sends her on her way. She surveys the remaining tables- Courtney and Bonnie are sitting at opposite ends of the former Fujoshis, Staci and McLovin chatting idly between them. Michael is sitting in her usual seat, Scary under the table, Ass on the opposite side of Michael. Max is sitting by the garbage bin on the floor in the corner of the room, likely still embarrassed from yesterday.

Julia takes a seat next to Ass, diagonal from Michael. “Good morning, girlies!”

Michael rolls her eyes, standing and leaving as soon as Julia sits down (much to her annoyance). Ass clicks their tongue. “Trouble in paradise much?”

“She’s just mad about the Scruffy thing. Total hypocrisy,” Julia says, glaring as Michael scrapes off her plate into the garbage. “Like she wasn’t all over Max.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t really matter now that you have me. Let’s talk strategy for today,” Ass smiles. “Now, I’m not sure what the challenge is gonna be, but I say we go for Staci next. I don’t like the way they’ve been looking lately- total sleeper agent.”

“I have no idea what that means,”

---

JULIA: “Is it weird that I miss Scruffy’s input on everything? I mean, yes, we had the upper hand because they knew all the challenges, but Ass really isn’t that funny or clever and it’s starting to get hard to follow.”

---

Max watches Michael curiously, but doesn’t bother to mention the odd display at the table he just witnessed.

“Hey, Michela,” he says, causing Michael to jump a little.

“Jesus, where did you come from?!”

Max stares, slightly annoyed. “I’ve been here the entire time. I wanted to ask you something,”

“Um… is it going to be degrading to answer?”

“Likely. Courtney and Bonnie said you were… pretty mad about yesterday. Kelly,”

Michael goes quiet for a moment. “I was just like, disgusted. Um, you know? Don’t believe everything you hear on this island!”

Before Max can answer, Patrick comes through, shoving Michael backwards. She falls onto her butt and glares at him. “That guy really likes pushing. Jerk,”

She stands and walks away just as Chris’ voice returns, though this time through a megaphone outside.

“Alright, campers! Your next challenge starts in five, and you’re gonna wanna be ready for it- so get your asses out here, pronto!”

Ass rolls their eyes, standing and grabbing Julia’s wrist to drag her out of the mess hall alongside them. Both Courtney and Bonnie watch the interaction nervously.

---

BONNIE: “Ass by themselves is bad enough- it’s still a mystery to me how Courtney and I are still here. But Ass and Julia? Yeah, bad news,”

---

“Today’s challenge is a classic game of hide-and-seek. I’m giving you each ten minutes to hide before Chef Hatchet hunts- I mean, finds you,” Chris chuckles. The campers look at each other nervously. “The lifeguard chair is the home base. When he finds you, you can run out here for sanctuary. Be warned, he’s armed.”

Chef walks out, holding a water gun.

“Is that supposed to be scary?” Ass scoffs.

Chef cocks the gun and aims it at them, pulling the trigger just in time for them to duck as it hits Patrick behind them, sending him through the wall of the mess hall. Everyone stares in terror as Patrick walks back outside, dazed with his teeth grit. “This is a Valentino suit!”

Chef rolls his eyes.

“You got bigger things to worry about, dude,” Bonnie says, crossing their arms over their chest as he stands next to them. He rolls his eyes.

“You have three ways of winning this: Don’t get found- unlikely- run to home base before getting shot- basically impossible- or tag another player after you’ve been caught. Your ten minutes start now!”

Each camper looks at each other and runs while Chef stands with his back to the island and counts. Courtney, Max, Bonnie, and Patrick run towards the main parts of camp. Julia, McLovin, and Staci run into the woods. Scary jumps into the nearby water with a loud splash. Ass grips Julia’s wrist again and drags her towards the cabins. Michael stands, arms crossed while looking around.

“Um… nine minutes, dude,” Chris says.

“I’m thinking,”

---

MICHAEL: “Joner had a phase where he got really into competitive hide-and-seek. He even reached the national championships. He practiced with me until I got locked inside a washing machine and almost died of suffocation- never got found, though!”

---

Courtney shifts around the kitchen, opening the fridge and various cupboards to find somewhere they can fit. They open one near the end and see Max crouched inside.

“Hey!” he whisper-shouts. “Back off!”

“Oops,” Courtney says, just before hearing a click from the doorway. They turn just in time to see Chef cocking the water gun with a wicked smile. He aims and fires, though Courtney somersaults away just before the blast of water hits her- dousing Max instead.

“Oh, come on!”

"Sorry!" Courtney jumps out an open window and scrambles to their feet, running into the woods behind the cabins as Chef pulls Max out of the cupboard like he weighs nothing.

“Listen, I don’t mean to be rude,” Ass shouts from outside. “But can’t you walk any faster?”

"I'm walking!" Julia shouts back.

Chef gives a wicked grin and drags Max outside with him, approaching the bickering duo without them even noticing. Ass manages to catch some movement out of the corner of their eye and drops Julia’s wrist, abandoning her while running into the woods. “See! This is how you’re supposed to do it!” They shout as they sprint away.

Julia watches them go and then swallows a lump in their throat before screaming and running in the opposite direction, followed in close pursuit by Chef and Max.

---

Bonnie stands on one of the confessional toilets, locking the stall door and crouching to stay small and quiet. They hold their breath as the door opens, and a set of slow, methodical footsteps follow.

The footsteps stop right outside the stall they’re hidden in, and they begin shaking as someone tries the door.

“Relax, it’s not Chef,” Patrick’s voice rings out. “Bad hiding spot, huh?”

“I was betting more on the running part than the hiding part,” they whisper.

Patrick chuckles and steps into the stall next to them, locking it and standing on the toilet as well. “Well, you stole my idea anyway, so it's not so terrible,”

“Your first idea was the women’s restrooms?”

A brief pause. “This is the women’s? I’ve been using it all week,”

The door flies open and both immediately fall silent. Both doors are immediately kicked open and Chef stands outside, laughing evilly. Bonnie ducks and rolls, avoiding the spray while Patrick gets blasted backwards again.

He sighs, stepping out of the stall and wringing out his blazer. Max- standing behind Chef- rolls his eyes.

---

Ass walks through the woods, scanning the space around the trails for a suitable hiding place.

---

ASS: “It’s so hard to hide out there! I mean, it’s all just rocks and dirt and stuff! Granted, I don’t really get out much, but still!”

---

They step into a warm clearing and see a large dead tree with a hollow center- perfect. They grin and step up to it, attempting to climb in before a hand shoves them away.

“What the hell!” they shout.

Courtney’s head pops out of the trunk and they put a finger over their lips. “Find your own spot!”

Ass rolls their eyes for the millionth time so far this summer. “Oh, don’t be a tightwad, there’s plenty of room inside for both of us!”

“I was here first!”

“Jeez, I liked you a lot better when you were more of a pushover,” Ass says. “Just did what anyone suggested without thinking twice, huh? No wonder Mal got you to come here with a stupid post.”

Courtney grits their teeth. “You weren’t there,”

“But I saw it. Off the island, you know? Mal showed everyone,”

Courtney steps out of the tree to shove Ass backwards. They land on the grass with a thud and look up at Courtney with a glare.

“How’s that for a pushover?!” Courtney shouts.

Ass stands, growling, and they shove Courtney back. The two begin fighting, mostly throwing punches that never land and scratching each other while pulling the other’s hair.

The two momentarily pause as they both hear a scream, and then turn to see McLovin running on the main trail, Patrick in close pursuit. The two disappear for a second before the sound of a stream of water is heard and McLovin shrieks.

Courtney and Ass look at each other and let each other go before running in opposite directions.

---

Julia steps through the woods, her legs already covered in scratches and thistles from the plants as she walks off-trail. The sun is beating down, causing her to sweat and turning her cheeks a slight rosy-red, sure to be a sunburn later.

“The one day I run out of sunscreen…” she murmurs as she approaches a large rock formation.

She sighs, sitting on a nearby boulder and resting for a moment as the birds chirp and squirrels chitter. An eight-legged toad hops by and Julia takes a break from her break to record the sighting on a tiny, flimsy stack of sticky notes.

The sound of a mechanical whirring catches her attention and she immediately dives behind the boulder, looking around nervously.

Instead of Chef, though, something even stranger appears- a side of the rock formation slides into the earth, revealing a dark tunnel inside, and Scary steps out. Julia squints, and then her eyes widen in shock.

The large, rock-like door slides back up and Scary skips off into the forest. As she watches, Julia feels a hand on her shoulder and screams.

“Oh, relax. Don’t raise your blood pressure on my account,” Ass says. “Sorry about dumping you back there- panic mode, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it,” she sighs, standing alongside them as they walk into the woods.

“Is that where you were hiding? Behind a boulder?”

“No, I was just resting,”

Ass sighs. “Shoot. I was hoping you’d found a good spot,”

“Hehehe,”

Julia blinks. “What’s funny?”

“Um… I didn’t say anything,”

The two turn as a large shadow is casted over them, and Chef cocks the water gun once more. They both scream and run in opposite directions again.

---

Courtney sighs, finding a third hiding place in a small cave somewhere near the base of the big cliff. The opening is just big enough for a person to climb into, but the inside is wide and cavernous, if a little dark.

They blindly walk through the interior as the drips of condensation from the stalactites overhead echo along with their footsteps.

As they walk through the dark, they bump into something warm.

“Hey!” Bonnie says. “Who’s there?”

“Just me,” Courtney responds. “Bonnie?”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, good,”

A silence falls over the two as they look around the darkness awkwardly, though there’s really nothing to see.

“So… um, I wanted to tell you something,” Courtney says.

“Shoot,”

“I wanted to apologize for kinda icing you out like that. I was just… so tired of being everyone’s doormat, I thought the only way to win was to isolate myself,”

Bonnie sighs and shakes their head in the dark. “I feel the same. After Caesar left, I mean… I was barely able to function. I couldn’t handle getting close to someone and having them taken away again,”

“I understand- that’s how I felt about McLovin. He was the only person who treated me like a human instead of an accessory, I guess it kinda got to me,” Courtney sighs. “I don’t really have a ton of friends back home.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Bonnie says. “So... Friends?”

Courtney smiles through the darkness. “Friends,”

The two hug for a moment before an artificial light shines on them.

“Beautiful,” Chef’s voice rings out. Bonnie and Courtney stare as he wipes away a tear before both are doused in water.

---

CHEF: “Yeah, I was there the whole time. I didn’t want to interrupt!”

---

The two follow Chef outside, hand-in-hand while Max, McLovin, and Patrick stand beside the two.

“Who’s left?” Patrick asks.

“A lot of people,” McLovin sighs. “Split up?”

Chef rolls his eyes and shrugs. The captured competitors walk off, Bonnie and Courtney still together while the boys go on their own.

McLovin steps through the brush, eventually making his way back to camp. He walks around the cabins first, looking under beds and the porches before walking over to the confessional. He opens the door and sees Staci inside. She looks nervous, holding a finger to her lips.

McLovin smiles compassionately. “Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out!”

“But I will,” Patrick beams, stepping out of nowhere. “Oh, Chefy!”

Chef runs over and blasts Staci before she can even move. Patrick chuckles as they step out of the confessional, though his smile drops when they grab him by the tie and pull him down to their height.

McLovin and Chef wince as she beats the shit out of him while he squeals and screams.

---

Julia tails Scary as they scamper through the foliage. They’re insanely fast, forcing Julia to run after them, her sticky note collection in hand.

Scary leaps over a log and skitters into camp, which Julia trips and falls into, right onto Scary. Chef’s shadow looms over them and he chuckles as he blasts them both with freezing cold water.

---

Ass’ head ducks away from watching Julia and Scary get shot as they roll out of the woods, and they tiptoe away from the mess hall, looking for a final hiding place as time runs out. If their calculations are correct (and they usually are), there’s somewhere around three minutes left- perfectly enough time to win themselves invincibility.

“Not so fast,” Chef’s voice chuckles from behind them.

Ass whips around and sees him standing directly behind them, water gun aimed. They gasp and run for the docks in a zig-zag pattern, avoiding the blasts of water until they trip and slide down the docks, managing to grab a leg of the lifeguard chair just in time.

Courtney boos, earning them a glare as they pull themselves up again. “I guess I have immunity, huh?”

“Patrick, too!” Julia shouts, informing her ally. “But everyone else is here.”

Chef nods as Chris’ voice blasts over the intercom. “And that’s our time! Congratulations to Patrick, Ass, and Michael for winning immunity!”

The caught campers turn to each other, and Chef’s eyes narrow. “Michael,”

The boat of losers- docked nearby- bobs in the water as Michael steps out of it and right onto the docks. “Is it over?”

---

MICHAEL: “I really didn't think about it much. I just asked myself, “where's somewhere no one would think to look?””

---

A few campers cheer as she walks over, though Ass glares.

---

Michael sits outside the mess hall as the sun sets over the lake, admiring the sky. She’s not particularly hungry, and doesn’t want to deal with everyone inside, thus she feels a sinking sensation in her stomach when she hears the door open and someone step next her.

Julia plops down, looking her over. “Good game today, huh?”

“Cut the crap,”

“Alright, have it your way,” she rolls her eyes. “Last elimination, you said you’d vote with me. You owe me for voting Kelly even after Ass said not to. I got into some deep shit cause of you.”

“Okay, fine. Who do you want me to vote for?”

Julia leans over and whispers in Michael’s ear. She sighs.

Patrick steps out of the confessional and sees the two on the grass outside. He straightens his tie and attempts to fix his hair, still covered in scratches and bruises from Staci’s earlier attack.

He stands in front of the two. “Discussing votes?”

Julia’s eyes narrow. “None of your-”

“I’m voting with her,” he points to Michael. “So I’d like to know who.”

Michael raises an eyebrow while Julia stares in shock.

---

“Campers- you played hard, but ultimately did a very bad job at it. On this plate are a collection of delicious, perfectly fluffy marshmallows- all but one of you will be getting one tonight,” Chris says, holding up the platter.

“Patrick- Ass- Michael. You won immunity today,” he says, tossing them their marshmallows. “The following are also safe:

Staci

McLovin

Scary

And Bonnie,”

Max and Courtney look at each other, both a bit nervous and both trying not to show it. Michael and Bonnie watch in anxious anticipation nearby.

“And the last marshmallow… goes to…

Max. You’re safe. Courtney- sorry, my guy,”

Courtney sighs, but stands with decorum and walks down the docks confidently.

---

COURTNEY: “I may not have won, but I accomplished what I came here for, and got to punch a few people along the way. I would consider that a win in and of itself,” they pause, suddenly looking sad. “I just hope Bonnie is okay without me.”

---

Courtney steps onto the boat, taking a seat. Chef turns from the captain’s cockpit and salutes them. “Good work, soldier,”

They salute back with a smile.

“Who will go home tomorrow? And who will stay to play? Find out next time- on Total! Takes! Island!”

#tti #total takes island

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grandmaster-anne · 1 year

Text

Camilla The down to earth Duchess

Words by Juliet Rieden, Photography by The Duchess of Cambridge | Published 13 July 2022

It’s early afternoon on the first day of Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London and the Duchess of Cornwall has had a frenetic, thrilling and at times unexpected morning. Just a few hours ago she was seated with her stepdaughter-in-law Catherine and the rambunctious Cambridge trio – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – in a magnificent horse-drawn barouche, the royal children barely able to contain their excitement as they waved furiously at the tens of thousands lining the route from Buckingham Palace down The Mall. On horseback behind them were the husbands of these two future queen consorts, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, resplendent in full military regalia.

In the week leading up to the event, the two duchesses had also been together, this time at Camilla’s private home, Ray Mill House in the rural county of Wiltshire, where Catherine turned photographer for our very special garden shoot. The Duchess of Cambridge’s prowess behind the lens is well documented in her many photos of her children, but this is the first time she’s taken an official portrait of her stepmother-in-law. In her royal life the Duchess of Cornwall has had to get used to being constantly photographed, but it’s not a comfortable place, so having Catherine take these birthday celebration photos is very welcome.

The bond between the two wives of Windsor is evident and the shots capture the Duchess off-duty and relaxed in one of her favourite places: her garden.

Back to today, and after the pageantry and crowds of the parade, all is calm in Clarence House’s elegant Morning Room, where the Duchess and I sit down for a wide-ranging and surprisingly personal interview. “I’m still in Trooping dress,” she apologises, looking down at her outfit, its striped pastel shades blending in with the soft blue of the famous room which was the Queen Mother’s favourite when she lived at Clarence House and which today is bathed in sunlight. “It’s lots of ribbons sewn together. Very clever. I can’t sew anything,” she chuckles. “I did mean to change into something more casual, but I thought I would keep everybody waiting.”

I first met the Duchess at Clarence House a decade ago. She was preparing for her inaugural visit to Australia with Prince Charles, and in advance of the tour I was invited to spend a week shadowing her. Since then I have continued to follow the Duchess as her royal work has burgeoned along with her profile, but this is the first time she has agreed to a private interview.

Casting her mind back to that first taste of Australia, Camilla smiles. “I think he [the Prince of Wales] always wanted to take me there and show me what it was like. He was proved absolutely right. I love Australia,” she declares.

Prince Charles’ unique connection with this country began when he was 17 and went to school at Geelong Grammar, his first major visit overseas and a chance to escape the royal bubble at a very formative time for the young heir apparent. “He’s always spoken about it, his time at Timbertop, which he said was pretty hard but he loved it. Probably after Gordonstoun [the Prince’s school in Scotland known for its “character building” regime and where he was bullied by some of the boys], it was light relief to go to Timbertop. He said everybody was very kind and easygoing and I think it toughened him up.”

The Duchess says that, like her husband, she appreciated what she affectionately calls the “take it or leave it” spirit of Australians. “I like that everybody’s down to earth and they say what they think. I’d much rather people were out there saying what they think than beating round the bush, telling you a lot of porkies. And I like the Australian humour. You have a jolly good laugh with them. I just think it’s a lovely country. This year we were ready to go back again, but we just couldn’t fit it into the Jubilee schedules. But we’ll be back soon, I hope.”

In the meantime, the couple closely follows what is going on in Australia, and during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019, GIVIT charity CEO Juliette Wright OAM was blindsided when out of the blue she received a message from the Duchess’ team. “I was giddy with excitement,” confesses Juliette. “The Duchess was devastated by what she was witnessing on the television, her heart was going out to people affected by the bushfires, and she said she would like to give a personal donation to support an animal charity and also a charity that’s helping people on the road to recovery.”

In the interests of raising awareness, the Duchess allowed GIVIT to mention her support on social media. The response was immediate – a 46 per cent increase in traffic to the website. “I’ve never seen such a spike in donations. It was like she created a cyclone of giving just by her act of generosity, so more donations were flowing to those in urgent need,” says Juliette who, seizing the day, asked if the Duchess would become their patron. “They came back a day later and said she would be honoured.”

Queen Consort

The Duchess celebrates her 75th birthday on July 17 – a milestone not least because, at a time when most of her peers are kicking back and smelling the roses, she is preparing for the biggest job of her life. When the Queen used her February Platinum Jubilee message to express her “sincere wish” for Camilla to be known as Queen Consort “when my son Charles becomes king”, she rubberstamped the monarchy’s future and her daughter-in-law’s title. Public opinion, which had vacillated on the topic, noticeably shifted. While Camilla has never sought the limelight, her quiet and dedicated service was there for all to see. She would be our next Queen.

“Obviously it’s a great honour and I was deeply touched for Her Majesty to have given me this role,” says Camilla, who as Consort will be following in the footsteps of the late Duke of Edinburgh. It was the Duke, she says, to whom she often turned for counsel while learning the royal ropes. “The Duke of Edinburgh was always a very good ear. He was a role model to me and a very good person to take advice from because he always told me what he thought, which was very helpful, especially with things about the army because I took over the Rifles [regiment] from him.

“He was always two steps behind the Queen, which for a man must be much more difficult than for a woman – and somebody as macho as he was, who’d commanded ships. So I think [from the Duke] I learned that your place is several feet behind the monarch. You’re there as a back-up.”

It’s a role she could never have imagined when growing up in rural England playing with her ponies. But I suspect it’s that practical, carefree country childhood which gave Camilla the stable basis to cope with the roller-coaster of royal life in the spotlight.

“I was one of the very lucky ones. I had the idyllic childhood right in the country, sitting on the South Downs with my brother and my sister and our pets and our ponies. I think it was a very simple childhood,” she says, casting her mind back. “Sometimes in the summer we used to ride to school on our ponies, probably something that’s more Australian than English, but we used to ride and then tie them up and ride back again. It just shows how things have changed, because in those days there was nothing on the roads. Can you imagine now letting a child ride to school with its satchel on its back? I mean it wouldn’t happen,” she laughs.

Young Camilla Shand was nine years old and in heaven. “It didn’t happen very often, but when it did it was lovely. We just pottered along this very pretty road with two or three cars going past. Life was very laid-back. The awful thing is, I suppose I thought life was always going to be like that … It certainly gave us all a very good grounding, because we could start off with a smile on our face. As far as I remember it was perfect.”

Camilla was the eldest of three and she, Annabel and Mark were a tight-knit unit. “I never took the lead very much, we just did things together. My brother had a very bad temper and was quite spoiled sometimes, but it was very evenly shared out.”

Life lessons

Their mother was the glamorous and well-connected Rosalind Shand (née Cubitt), who hailed from a wealthy aristocratic family and was ‘Debutante of the Year’ in 1939. Camilla was very close to her and says the greatest lesson she taught her children was the art of small talk, something that certainly prepared her for royal life.

“My mother was absolutely brilliant at making us speak to people,” the Duchess recalls. “She used to have people to dinner; it didn’t matter who it was, old or young, some of them we thought were incredibly boring, but she used to sit at the end of the table and say: ‘Talk! I don’t care whether you’re talking about your pony or your homework, just talk!’ She was also quite forthright and never minced her words.”

Putting people at ease in formal situations is now part of her daily work and something the naturally gregarious Duchess enjoys, but she notes that taking the lectern for speeches – which she is called to do with increasing regularity – is torture. “I get petrified making speeches,” she says. “I hate every moment of it. People always say it’ll get better and sometimes I find it’s all right if I really know my subject, but sometimes [I get] that awful thing beforehand of really shaking and feeling seriously sick.

“The first speech I ever made was about osteoporosis in Lisbon, before I was married, and the night before I was out of bed tying my sheets together to see if I could escape and go home. I’m never going to enjoy it.

“My husband is very good; he loves it. Because he’s a very good actor, I think. You’ve got to have a bit of acting experience. I was the worst actor in the whole school. If I was given one line to say, it always came out backwards. So I think speeches – no, they’re never going to be my favourite things.”

Camilla’s father, Major Bruce Shand, was a dashing officer in the British Army who was captured by the Nazis in World War II. He married in 1946 and left the army in 1947, but growing up Camilla knew very little about his war years. Then decades later he started to open up to his grandchildren.

“We couldn’t get him to talk about it. Yet when my children [son Tom and daughter Laura] and my sister’s children came along, especially the boys, he started to,” she says. “He was captured at El Alamein and was very lucky, really, because he was shot. He was in an armoured car, about 100 yards from Rommel’s encampment, when my father opened his mouth to shout a command at his wireless operator and the bullet came zinging from the German, went through one side of his cheek, out the other and killed his wireless operator. It was extraordinary because it missed all his vital organs, his tongue, his teeth, but obviously his face was blown to pieces. Then a second bullet got him through the leg.”

Major Shand was held captive. “He remembered Rommel in his greatcoat walking off and climbing aboard a tiny aeroplane. That was probably the last time he was seen!” As an injured prisoner of war, Camilla’s father was taken to a hospital in Greece, where “there was the most brilliant plastic surgeon. Nobody had ever sewn up anybody from the inside [of their mouth] before. You would have never known my father had anything wrong. Afterwards he was shipped back from Greece to Spangenberg Castle in Germany, where he was a prisoner for two and a half years.”

The Major, who died in 2006, a year after Camilla married Prince Charles, would undoubtedly have loved to have seen his daughter playing such a key role in the Trooping the Colour parade. “He’d be so pleased knowing that I was Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifles now. I don’t think anything would have made him more proud,” she adds wistfully.

Losing Rosalind

Camilla’s mother didn’t live long enough to see her daughter marry into the monarchy. She died “far too young” in 1994 at the age of 72 following a long battle with osteoporosis.

“She was in her mid-60s when she got it,” says the Duchess. “Nobody in those days knew anything about osteoporosis. So when she suddenly used to scream, which she did if somebody touched her, we thought, ‘Why is she making such a fuss about this? It can’t be that painful.’ She was a strong woman, capable of anything, but she shrank and she shrank and she started bending over like a croquet hoop. It affects your stomach and lungs, so her breathing became very bad. She couldn’t eat much food and was in agony the whole time.

“We were at such a loss to know how to help. She used to go to the doctor who would say, ‘There, there, you’re old and frail, all old people get the dowager’s hump, that’s what happens!’. She gave up in the end. She was a wonderful gardener, but she couldn’t garden, she couldn’t do anything at all.”

The pain of losing her mother to this cruel but preventable disease is with Camilla every day. “It was terrible, because we felt so helpless,” she adds.

That experience inspired her 21 years ago to become President of the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS). Increasing bone strength is crucial, she says, to preventing the onset of osteoporosis, and one of the latest initiatives she can’t get enough of is the Silver Swans, a dance class for over-55s launched by the UK’s Royal Academy of Dance, whose president is ballerina Darcey Bussell, and Camilla is now the Academy’s Vice Patron.

The Duchess tells me she will never forget the first time she saw some “Swans” in action. “They were taking me around [the Academy] and said, ‘We’ve got a Silver Swans class.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ ‘It’s ballet for people getting on.’ I said, ‘You must be joking’ and thought to myself, ‘Oh dear, we’re going to have to sit through a lot of very old people crashing about all over the place. I don’t know how I’m going to keep a straight face.’ I went in with my teeth gritted, biting my lip, mustn’t laugh – but some of these people, I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

Camilla was so impressed she decided to join. “I said to the dance teacher, ‘Would you ever take a private class? I’ve got a few friends who’d be very interested.’ So she comes here when I’m in London and we crash about very happily and it’s great fun.

It’s jolly hard work – you get really involved and I find it’s a really good way to exercise.”

The Duchess’ support of the program has had a huge impact, Darcey tells me. “She’s very happy to talk about her own experience. She’s very funny, too. When we had the opening of the new headquarters of the Royal Academy of Dance recently, she came into a class of Silver Swans. There were men there as well, some in their 80s, and she was like, ‘Oh gosh, they’re much better than me’, and I suddenly saw her competitive spirit coming through.”

I ask the Duchess if she has managed to recruit her husband yet. She shakes her head, laughing. “He’s a very good dancer and loves ballet, but I’m not sure how good he’d be on his tippy-toes.”

As a young girl the Duchess had lots of dance lessons but never ballet. “At school we had once-a-week dancing, rather like Strictly [Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s version of reality TV show Dancing with the Stars]. We learned the waltz and the quickstep, the cha-cha-cha and the Charleston, but I was always the boy so I always pushed people around the floor. Even now I find it quite difficult going the other way.”

Strictly is one of the Duchess’ favourite TV shows and also – apparently – a hit with Her Majesty. “I love seeing people who can’t dance at all. They arrive with no sense of rhythm, and then you see them progress and they end up as professional dancers.”

The Duchess has now developed a friendly bond with Aussie dancer and Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood. The unlikely couple met in 2008 working on a “Boogie for your bones” campaign for the ROS. Camilla came to an event and they ended up on the dance floor together.

“I thought she was going to be terribly posh and aloof,” says Craig. “But actually she was so down to earth, so full of beans, such a great dancer and totally up for all of it. I never thought for one moment we would ever get into holds and start doing a cha-cha-cha in front of everybody, but we did! My family was sitting around the six o’clock news at home in Ballarat, Victoria and then suddenly I came on dancing with the future Queen of England!”

Over the years Craig has been a regular at royal functions and says the Duchess and Prince Charles are a fantastic couple. “They have a laugh, and they care about people,” he shares. “I think it’s taken people time to get used to the fact that they are together, but their relationship has really shone and that’s what people pick up on.”

Darcey Bussell agrees with that. “Obviously there were tough times with Diana and that whole transition, but marrying Charles and realising what a bond they have and a force of positive strength [they are] together, I think that has really resonated with the public.”

Finding her voice

In her royal work Camilla talks to strangers from every walk of life, and while she is naturally a shy person, her ability to connect with those she meets, no matter their background or circumstances, has become her secret weapon. It’s something Jude Kelly, CEO of the Women of the World Foundation, has watched unfold. “The Duchess has a clear sense that she has a powerful voice and she wants to use it for people who don’t have a powerful voice. She’s chosen to use it for women who are dealing with horrendous levels of violence.”

This work has become a significant focus for Camilla, who will never forget the moment that sparked her involvement. “It was when I first went to a meeting of SafeLives – in 2016 – of which I’m now patron. It was unbelievable. We all sat around in a circle and six women told their stories. I remember sitting opposite this woman who was about my age and she wasn’t talking, but her daughter’s friend got up to talk and I watched this woman’s face, which was tragic, and I knew something awful was going to come out. Her friend told the story of Jo, who was married to a British Airways pilot, very wealthy, they lived in the middle of Ascot, two children, and he’d been abusing her. Eventually the police came in, he had a restraining order and he wasn’t supposed to visit her.

“For some reason he was allowed to see the two children, so he took them out for the day and instead of dropping them where he was supposed to, he brought the children back into the house, took out a cleft hammer and beat his wife to death. Fourteen blows on the head, with the children in the next room.

“We all sat there in complete and utter silence. Nobody could breathe, desperately fighting back tears. It shocked me so much. I watched this woman, who was my generation, aged 70, and was going to have to bring up her grandchildren because her daughter was dead and that father was in prison.”

The Duchess knew she had to act, and while the SafeLives charity is a long way from usual royal patronages, issues of domestic violence, rape and coercive control have become a calling. “I think they were very surprised. But it’s just something that gripped me. I couldn’t just let it go. At least I can try to do something that might help others by standing and shouting about it.”

Away from her public life, Camilla’s favourite role is grandmother. “I’ve just said goodbye to several [of the grandchildren] who’ve been staying here for Trooping. That’s the best role there is,” she says, beaming. “The girls are becoming teenagers, which is a bit of a worry. I’d quite like to put a lid on their heads and make them small again because they’re all sweet and scrubbed and nice. Now they’re quite keen to have a good argument!

“They’re just fun to be with. I love being with them, eating together, going to see a film or a play. They’re great enthusiasts. And it’s always nice to be in touch with that generation because it keeps you abreast of young people’s feelings and ideas. It also makes me think how much has changed between their childhood and my childhood. Things are so different. The idea of us having these phones full of games and everything else they can do with them, and then they seem to get on aeroplanes and go here, there and everywhere. We hardly knew what an aeroplane was. I think it’s a much more difficult world that they’re growing up in than the world I grew up in.”

If Camilla has wisdom to impart it would be, “Be yourselves. Just do what you think is right, but if you’re worried in any way about it, take advice from somebody older and wiser because I think young people can help old people. That’s why we get on so well. We’re different ends of the spectrum. They can learn a lot from us, but we also can learn a hell of a lot from them. I remember I always went to my grandmother to get advice, so I rather hope they might come to me.”

And finally to 75, a number Camilla is not celebrating. “Nobody particularly wants to be 75, but I can’t do much about it. I think you’ve just got to get on with life and make the most of what you’ve got left.”

See page 181 to discover The Duchess of Cornwall’s favourite Australian novel, reviewed exclusively for The Weekly.

SHONA WILLIAMS. DESMOND O’NEILL. SHUTTERSTOCK. STEVE SOLOMONS/PA WIRE. GETTY IMAGES.

#queen camilla #i loved reading this!#should've read it sooner #The Australian Women's Weekly #article #interview #princess of wales

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carewyncromwell · 1 year

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Ben and Charlie relationship with mama bear?

Ahhh, two of Carey's closest companions at school! (Yay Circle of Khanna!) This'll be fun... This took so long to write out, I had to wait until the following day just to finish it, hahahaha 😂

How Carewyn Feels About Ben:

Oh, gosh -- of all of Carewyn's friends, Ben and Carewyn's relationship has changed the most dramatically over the years. Carewyn's very first impression was that he was a meek boy with an unbelievable talent for Charms. Upon meeting him formally, though, Carewyn almost immediately felt some protectiveness toward him, upon learning about how Merula had been bullying him. Throughout their first three school years together, Carewyn and Ben were peers, but with Carewyn taking on an encouraging, protective affect around her less confident friend. This affect was magnified as Carewyn got older and became more of the "Mama Bear" we know her as, making it so that Carewyn fussed after Ben not unlike how she does other friends like Barnaby: placing her in a position almost slightly above Ben, where she took care of him but never asked or wanted any support from him in return.

All this changed, though, after the whole fiasco in the Portrait Vault in their fifth year, after which Ben went through an incredibly dramatic transformation. All of a sudden, Ben was a blunt, reckless, aggressive risk-taker who acted unafraid of anything and was determined to get Rakepick before she could hurt anyone else. Carewyn was incredibly disconcerted and troubled by this change, particularly when the trauma of the Vault's events made her start shutting her friends out in an attempt to keep them out of harm's way, and it made it so that she and Ben butt heads several times, over the course of their sixth year, not able to communicate how they felt. Carewyn felt like this fearful, unconfident, but incredibly loyal and clever friend had seemingly disappeared over the course of one summer, to be replaced with someone she hardly knew. It was only during one particularly heated blow-up where Ben took her to task about how much she always takes everything on her shoulders and how both grateful and hurt he feels about that where Carewyn could see the flickers of her old friend inside of this young man who'd so seemed like a stranger. Unfortunately, though, those more tender feelings didn't prompt Carewyn to open up, instead fear for Ben's safety more...which ultimately made her still try to shut Ben out, only for both Ben and Merula to follow her out to the Forbidden Forest, after finding a note supposedly meant for Jacob.

And well...everyone knows what happened in the Forest, that night. Rowan's death was yet another heart-and-soul-shattering trauma for both Ben and Carewyn, one that resulted in Carewyn nearly committing suicide by nearly starving herself to death and shutting herself in a closet in the Astronomy Tower with the intention of coming out again. After Bill, Charlie, Merula, and Ben recovered Carewyn at the base of the Astronomy Tower stairs, Carewyn finally broke down in front of them, and it was here that both Ben and Carewyn -- sobbing openly -- finally came together from their respective extremes and, afterward, were able to lean on each other again like equals. Ben ultimately became one of the main ringleaders of the Circle of Khanna and later on worked with Carewyn at the Ministry. Even though as adults, their personalities and attitudes couldn't be more different, they're closer friends than ever, and Carewyn is so proud of how much Ben has grown. Carewyn has also become a loving "aunt" to his and Wendy Gordon-Copper's @drinkyoursoupbitch children, who exclusively refer to her as "Aunt Carey" -- Matilda Copper even ends up becoming Carewyn's protege in magical law, when she gets older.

How Ben Feels About Carewyn:

When Ben first overheard Carewyn standing up to Merula, he pretty instantly admired her for her confidence and bravery. That admiration only grew once he plucked up enough courage to talk to her and he saw how sincerely kind she was as well. Being a Muggle-born who had been rudely welcomed to school by the likes of Merula Snyde insulting him for his ancestry, he was really encouraged to meet someone who not only reacted with righteous anger upon hearing what Merula had said but also sincerely complimented him for his talent in Charms. It was through his and Carewyn's shared love of Charms that they talked more, and it was after Carewyn stood up from Ben against Merula that Ben felt comfortable calling them friends, however truly lucky he felt that he could do that. His second and third years at school, being friends with Carewyn, Rowan, Penny, and Bill, ended up being the happiest times of Ben's school life, and some of the fondest memories he's kept into his adulthood.

When Carewyn and Ben started their fourth year, though, Carewyn went through a dramatic change -- one that ironically enough Ben found just as disconcerting as Carewyn would find his own change, two years later. Carewyn had become more popular and self-assured, sure, and Ben had no problem with that...but along with that, she'd stopped coming to Ben, to ask for his expertise, about the Vaults. She'd stopped talking about how she felt about things -- stopped getting angry or crying or showing any vulnerability at all. She'd stopped confiding in anyone: not even Rowan, her best and first friend in the world. She'd become Slytherin's resident Mama Bear and Cursebreaking hero, who took care of everyone else's problems...and it made Ben feel adrift. On the one hand, he admired his friend more than ever and knew she was happy, being able to help others...but on the other hand, Ben couldn't help but mourn the fact that she seemed to now only see her friends like a responsibility: people for her to take care of, but never let them help her the same way. And Ben especially felt like that -- there were times he didn't feel like her friend, but her child. And although Ben still cherished Carewyn's friendship and knew taking care of others was just how Carewyn expressed how much she loved them, he still couldn't help but lament that he wasn't her friend and equal anymore...and worse, that she wouldn't let him even try to be...all because she was so determined to suffer in silence.

All of these feelings came to a head when Ben went through his dramatic year 6 transformation, at which point he finally gave up trying to be gentle about how he felt. He was going to protect Carewyn and the rest of his friends from the likes of Rakepick, whether they'd let him or not. He was not going to be the "weak link" that R could target and take control of, to try to scare everyone else. He was not going to be a burden on anyone again -- this time he was going to act, not just react. And unfortunately in that time, Ben hurt a lot of his relationships, due to his bad expression of these feelings. He even ended up getting into a full-on wand and fist fight with his dormmate Charlie, at one point. Finally, toward the middle of sixth year, Ben finally pushed Carewyn enough over the edge that she broke down and started yelling angrily at him, and Ben -- rather than back off like he might've when he was younger -- actually yelled back. However clumsily, he was able to voice that discontent he'd been bottling up for so long, about how much Carewyn took everything on herself and suffered in silence, and how conflicted Ben felt about it. How much he appreciated Carewyn's selflessness, and yet also hated it, because it made it so he could do nothing, while she bit her tongue and stoically endured all of the pain she took onto herself. Although Carewyn ultimately didn't open up after this, Ben could see that she was more afraid that she'd likely ever been and -- sensing that something was truly, deeply wrong -- decided he wouldn't let Carewyn go off by herself again. Even if it meant following her into the Forbidden Forest.

Ben blamed himself first and foremost for Rowan's death. Rowan had thrown herself in the way of Rakepick's Killing Curse to protect him, and although Carewyn went mad with grief to the extent she wouldn't let anyone get near Rowan at first, Ben couldn't get within a foot of Rowan's body, let alone touch her. The sight of one of his first friends, dead because of him, shattered him in two, starkly reminding him that however brave and aggressive he might be able to act, he was still helpless in protecting his friends from R. Ben was unable to cry or talk for days afterward, too numb with pain. It was only when Carewyn abruptly disappeared too that Ben -- terrified at the thought of losing Carewyn too -- lost all control of his emotions, tearing through the school looking for her. It was toward the end of the day that he, Bill, Charlie, and Merula found her, and Ben -- absolutely beside himself with relief, shame, and grief -- collapsed to his knees next to Carewyn on the floor and began to apologize profusely through a stream of tears. He and Carewyn cried together for a long while, both of them blaming themselves for Rowan's death -- and as painful as the emotions were, it ultimately helped mend the rift that had grown between them. With Ben as one of the ringleaders of the Circle of Khanna and Carewyn as de facto leader, Ben became all the more determined to stand by Carewyn and bring Rakepick and R to justice, for not just killing Rowan, but for terrorizing his friend and her family. Even as adults, Ben remains very protective of Carewyn, serving as security during Carewyn's trials of ex-Death Eaters and even baring his fangs a bit toward Orion, when he first learned he was interested in Carewyn romantically. This protectiveness, though, is fully reciprocated, with Carewyn just as passionately protecting Ben from the Muggle-Born Registration Commission during the Second Wizarding War. However different they are as people, Ben still loves Carewyn like few others, not just for her being one of his first friends, but how they've grown both as friends and people over time.

(Charlie under the cut!)

How Carewyn Feels About Charlie:

Carewyn had originally only known Charlie in passing as one of Ben's dormmates, as well as the talented new Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in their second year. Carewyn really got to know Charlie in their third year, after she'd already become close friends with his older brother, Bill, and when she started her journey into the Quidditch world. It was through Quidditch friendlies that she interacted more with both Charlie and Andre Egwu, and Charlie in particular really helped welcome her into the fold and immediately invited her to join his team in her first friendly. Whenever Carewyn came over to play in a friendly, Charlie would always ask to play with her, and they had a lot of fun playing together. Charlie was even one of those most excited at the prospect of Carewyn joining the Slytherin Quidditch team and was pretty disappointed to learn she'd left after Slytherin's previous Chaser made a full recovery and he woudn't fly against Carewyn in the match against Gryffindor VS. Slytherin. Being a prodigy at Seeking, Charlie just about always robbed Slytherin of their chance at the Quidditch Cup every year except for Carewyn's sixth, even though Ravenclaw would ultimately beat Gryffindor each time thanks to Erika Rath. Despite this, Carewyn never resented Charlie or his talent, however disappointed she was on Orion's behalf about Slytherin's loss.

As Carewyn and Charlie interacted more in their third year, Carewyn also learned about Charlie's love for magical creatures, especially dragons. Carewyn loves how passionate Charlie is about dragons -- she could easily listen to him talk about them for hours, just because of how happy they make him. Although she isn't as passionate about dragons as Charlie is herself, she does think they're beautiful creatures, and she likes most other magical creatures too, so Charlie and Carewyn became creature buddies pretty quickly, before they added Barnaby and Liz to the mix in future years. They then bonded further when Charlie came to pick Carewyn, Bill, and Merula up for Christmas break in Carewyn's third year via Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia, when Charlie helped Carewyn explore the Forbidden Forest and deal with the Forest Vault in their fourth year, and they both became Prefects in their fifth year. Whenever they had to do Prefect rounds, Carewyn and Charlie would often pair up so they could talk and get their work done at the same time. By the time they suffered through the Portrait Vault together, Carewyn saw Bill and Charlie like the brothers she'd never had, and from their sixth year on, Charlie would refer to Carewyn as his "twin" and both he and Carewyn started referring to themselves as a pair as "Fireballs," a reference to Chinese Fireballs, which is the one dragon breed known to settle with their own kind.

Despite this, though, the trauma of the Portrait Vault did also throw some rocks in their way though. When Carewyn decided to shut her friends out and lie to them that she wasn't going after the Vaults, Charlie reacted with immense concern and disappointment, feeling like Carewyn had lost some of her confidence and fire, after what had happened. Despite this, he tried to offer support, but over time, he started to see that Carewyn just wasn't in the place to accept it. She would counsel Charlie and persuade him not to run away from Hogwarts -- but she wouldn't accept help from Charlie in return. And worse, she was actively hiding stuff from him and the others -- dangerous stuff, like the Wizard in White, Shiratori, supposedly targeting Carewyn and her friends' lives. This prompted a rather hot blow-up from Charlie at one point, who in the heat of emotion compared Carewyn to Rakepick for acting shady and keeping stuff from them. Ben retaliated against Charlie for this by magically sealing his mouth shut, and soon the two were in a full-on fight that Carewyn had to break up.

Not long after that, though, Rowan Khanna tragically died in the Forbidden Forest while tailing Carewyn to try to ensure her safety. As a result, Carewyn became a ghost of her former self, never speaking, neglecting her own health, and barely eating or drinking. Charlie was one of the first who saw just how bad of a state Carewyn was in and tried to snap her out of it, apologizing for the terrible things he'd said and begging Carewyn not to fight her demons alone. Carewyn, however, was in too much of a grieving, self-hating fog to listen, and not long later, she disappeared altogether. When Charlie, Bill, Merula, and Ben finally found Carewyn at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, Carewyn sat crumpled up on the floor in Charlie, Bill, and Ben's arms, all four of them sobbing harder than they likely ever had.

Ever since then, Charlie and Carewyn's "twin" dynamic has only been strengthened. Carewyn writes to Charlie nearly as much as she does Bill and Jacob, and whenever Charlie needs a place to stay while visiting London, he can always ask to stay at Carewyn's place, if he doesn't want to stay at the Burrow for whatever reason. It broke Carewyn's heart when she had to distance herself from the Weasleys during the Second Wizarding War to stay at an advantageous position with Fudge and provide covert assistance to the Order, but once the War was over, Charlie and Carewyn resumed their friendship like nothing had changed, even though the death of Fred and Carewyn's new role as Erik Apollo's guardian clearly did have an effect on both of them. Even after many years and despite a lot of physical distance, Charlie remains one of Carewyn's closest confidantes and friends.

How Charlie Feels About Carewyn:

Charlie first took notice of Carewyn after she defended his dormmate Ben Copper from Merula Snyde's bullying. He was so touched by how she defended Ben that he even went to Dumbledore's office to speak on her behalf, when rumors started swirling that she might be expelled for dueling on school grounds, at one point even colorfully comparing Carewyn to a Chinese Fireball defending her eggs. Charlie also told his older brother Bill, who he'd always been very close to, about her, and the following year, Bill even ended up befriending that same girl upon her reaching out to him for help with the Ice Vault. Charlie's second year was thrilling not just because he became Seeker, but also because his brother ended up teaming up with Jacob Cromwell's sister to break the curse on the Ice Vault terrorizing the school.

The following year Charlie decided to more actively try to get to know Carewyn. After everything he'd seen of her and Bill had said about her, he felt the rather universally "Weasley" instinct that made him want to befriend and look after her...and fortunately, what made this really easy was just how much Carewyn and he had in common! She was a talented flier, just like he was, and Quidditch friendlies with her as Chaser and him as Seeker were lots of fun. They both loved magical creatures, and it was fun listening to Carewyn sing songs to the creatures, especially Muggle songs Charlie had never heard before. Carewyn loved the Weird Sisters' music just like Charlie did, but she also introduced him to other cool Muggle groups like Bon Jovi and Queen, the second of which ended up becoming one of Charlie's favorite bands. Carewyn was largely disinterested in dating or romance, much like Charlie was -- even when she did date their mutual friend Andre briefly in their fourth year, she was very understated about it in public, and both before and after they dated, she was perfectly happy just spending time with her friends, just like Charlie was. Carewyn even loved dragons! Not as much as Charlie did, but she still really liked them, and she would always listen to him talk about them however much he wanted with sincere interest painted all over her face. As they played in friendlies, worked toward breaking the curse on the Forest Vault, and completed Prefect duties together, their bond only grew stronger, to the point that both Charlie and Bill saw Carewyn as akin to family. Charlie thought of Carewyn as the twin he'd never had and would refer to her as his "twin" constantly around his other friends as well as the rest of his family.

The Portrait Vault, though, did cause problems, even though both it and Bill's departure did initially bring Carewyn and Charlie closer together. With Bill gone, Carewyn and Charlie had both lost the person they each trusted more than anyone else, so Charlie knew that Carewyn would understand what he was going through better than anyone else. And she did. The problem was that even if Carewyn would comfort him and counsel him about his feelings when he needed her, she was also withdrawing more herself, spending less time with her friends and disappearing from school more and more with no explanation. And soon Charlie was hearing very troubling things -- that Carewyn was leaving school to visit Knockturn Alley, that she was meeting her brother in secret...even that there was now an assassin who was after both Carewyn and Merula who ended up attacking Carewyn and Beatrice Haywood at the Lakeshore. Wounded by the lack of trust on Carewyn's part, Charlie confronted her, and when Carewyn refused to explain, he lashed out in a combination of both anxiety and righteous anger, at one point even comparing her to Rakepick for keeping secrets from them. They were words Charlie would regret for ages afterward -- especially right after Rowan's death.

As soon as Rowan was brought back to the castle, Charlie saw how mad with grief Carewyn truly had gone. Never before had he ever seen her so quiet, so pale, and so haunted. The fire that he'd worried that she'd lost some of at the beginning of the year had been completely snuffed out, and Charlie -- overflooded with guilt and concern -- desperately tried to relight it, however he could. The thought of losing Carewyn like they all had Rowan, especially after he'd lashed out at her, was one Charlie couldn't bear...and when Carewyn disappeared, Charlie was one of those who rang the alarm loudest, even going so far as to send an owl to Bill begging him to come back to Hogwarts and help him and the others look for her. When he did finally find her with Bill, Ben, and Merula, Charlie was crying harder than he ever had in his life, just relieved that his surrogate sister was alive and safe...and, for the first time in Charlie's memory, Carewyn was crying just as hard herself.

Over the years, Charlie and Carewyn remained close, writing to each other constantly and visiting frequently. Charlie even ended up connecting with Carewyn's old Prefect, Felix Rosier, at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, and it's through Charlie that Felix and Carewyn ended up staying in touch with each other's lives, since he's always telling one about the other. It was after graduation, though, that Molly Weasley really started dropping hints that she thought Charlie should pursue Carewyn romantically -- a prospect that made asexual/aromantic Charlie both cringe and scowl. At several points, out of misguided affection for both her second son and the friend he and Bill already saw as family, Mrs. Weasley tried to arrange it so that Carewyn would be visiting the Burrow right when Charlie was, so as to "put them in a room together" and hopefully encourage them to get closer. It was something that made both Carewyn and Charlie incredibly uncomfortable, and they both explained to Mrs. Weasley multiple times that they didn't see each other that way (Charlie in a much more irritated manner), but it didn't stop Mrs. Weasley from hoping anyway, liking the thought of Carewyn being part of the Weasley family "for real." When Carewyn and Orion became romantically involved post-Second-Wizarding War, though, Charlie actually had some trouble coming to grips with it at first. This was partially due to his brotherly overprotectiveness toward Carewyn and partially because he'd taken some solace in the fact that Carewyn -- like him -- was much more interested in her career and her friends than a romantic relationship, and when Mrs. Weasley still had trouble at times coming to grips with Charlie's aromanticism, that had been incredibly validating. Fortunately Charlie got over these feelings pretty quickly, just seeing how happy Orion made his twin, and eventually he ended up admitting to Carewyn at one point that if he did ever get into some queerplatonic relationship with someone just so he wouldn't be lonely, he could see it ending up like hers with Orion, in the sense that they'd live their own lives with their own homes and privacy, but still come together and spend time alone together whenever they wanted company.

Alongside his older brother Bill and his mentor and friend Felix, Carewyn is one of the most important people in Charlie's life, and he wouldn't trade their bond for anything in the world.

How does Carewyn feel about these HPHM characters?

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm ask #carewyn cromwell #ben copper #charlie weasley

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fireworkss-exe · 2 years

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Constance Hatchaway hcs because admit it, you're in love with her too

tw for death, murder, etc. this IS Haunted Mansion after all

She hates it when people portray her as bloodthirsty, and panic that she's going to kill them when they're in the mansion. Sure, she loves the attention, but she thinks it's demeaning that people think she killed her husbands because she's "crazy." She's completely evil, no doubt about that, but she had strictly monetary and social reasons for committing murders- she's actually completely mentally stable, she just didn't care about taking people's lives

Mortals always ask her why she killed her husbands and when she isn't in a dramatic mood she'll just say "I didn't care about them and they had money. Honestly who wouldn't kill someone like that😐"

When she actually loves someone romantically, she is SO sappy with them to the point where it's unbelievable

The Hatbox Ghost was her accomplice in many of the murders- he was her family's caretaker and he helped her cover up the evidence as long as she gave him 30% of the money she inherited from her deceased husbands. Now, they're bitter rivals and hate sharing the attic, but they're also best friends and know every dark secret the other has

She doesn't hate the other brides, not even Emily or Kiomi, as much as fanon says she does. She coexists pretty peacefully with them even though they distrust her (although the OG brides, the one that looks like a skeleton and the one with the glowing eyes, absolutely adore her and think she's a #girlboss)

Emily thinks she's weird but doesn't really pay any mind to her, Kiomi couldn't care less about her, and Melanie just thinks she's untrustworthy and undependable (which is completely understandable)

You know she hates it when people just call her "The Bride." Calling her that is just as bad as when people don't acknowledge her at all

She's actually not the old woman in that one stretching portrait- that's actually still Abigail Patecleaver. Constance does enjoy spreading that rumor that she lived a long life, though, because she's embarrassed about her early death- she died at age thirty-three in 1884 of tuberculosis

Does she flirt with other ghosts to get her way? Definitely. For example, if she wants an annoyijy guest banned from the mansion, all she has to do is say something sweet to Master Gracey, and she immediately gets her way. Some other ghosts call it manipulation, but she calls it clever, strategic business tactics. She knows she's hot and uses it to her advantage

She's even funnier than Regina George when she wants to be

She's pretty good friends with Leota and often asks her favors like "Leota I really don't want to see living people today, can you not make me visible to the mortals when you cast your spell? K thanks"

A mortal once showed her Florence + The Machine's music and it fundamentally changed her. Partially because she's from the 1800s and can't really comprehend modern music and technology, but also because,,,, it's really really good music

Sometimes she'll "accidentally" push Master Gracey down the stairs, but he always forgives her because. well. she's pretty. and she's also like the main selling point for visitors

One of the mortal waitstaff introduced her to the concept of memes and showed her how to make one. She made one with a stock photo of a dollar bill and the caption "kill yourself… bottom text"

#the haunted mansion #haunted mansion #Constance Hatchaway

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sarcasticsweetlara · 1 year

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Sparkling and Serene Mauve Eyes

'It was weird', Aegon thought.

His daughter Rhaena had the sparkling and serene mauve eyes that his first wife Jaehaera had.

It was a rare shade of the Valyrian eye colors.

Rhaena was Daenaera's daughter, but still, she reminded him of what he could have had with Jaehaera.

His firstborn daughter Daena had the same willfulness of Jaehaera. Jaehaera had been stagnant in her belief of redemption and in wanting silence, and Daena was stagnant in defying conventions, just like Jaehaera had before.

Rhaena however, Rhaena had Jaehaera's dreamy disposition.

Whenever Aegon had time, he went to talk to Rhaena and listen to her, paying special attention to her prophecies.

He wanted to be a good king and a good father.

He had heard from Jaehaera how Viserys, despite being a good grandfather to Jaehaerys, Maelor and her, did not actually pay attention to his children by Alicent, as he was haunted by Aemma's memory.

Aegon had loved Jaehaera and he still loved her, as well as he also loved Daenaera, but those were different kinds of love. Aegon was determined to not be like his grandfather.

Aegon had come to power through the will of his grandfather King Viserys I Targaryen as he was his grandson through his daughter Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen or how others preferred to call her, the Black Queen.

In his wedding to Jaehaera, the High Septon gave Jaehaera the crown Queen Rhaena the Queen in the West wore in her wedding with her brother Prince Aegon The Uncrowned, as a sign Aegon had the superior claim as the male heir of the female line rather than the only living heir of the Greens.

It was the same crown Rhaena often played with. Rhaena used to play with many of Jaehaera's things.

Sometimes Aegon wondered if Jaehaera had come back to him through his children, he certainly felt she did.

Rhaena was the one who kept peace between Daeron and Baelor when they disagreed, as well as she also kept Daena and Elaena from danger when they played, she also sometimes took it upon herself to scold her cousin Aegon when he misbehaved. She even had gone many times to High Tide to spend time with her maternal relatives to keep them from feeling they were overlooked by the Crown when they declared Alyn Waters as legitimate and gave him Driftmark.

King Aegon was proud of his daughter.

Rhaena made the progresses Aegon refused to participate in, she made many experiments and spent time with the smallfolk and sometimes visited the Sept to spy upon the septons.

Rhaena was clever, so, Aegon really shouldn't have wondered how Rhaena came upon Jaehaera's portrait.

Jaehaera and Aegon had been painted together and individually two months after their wedding, he chose to keep the portrait in the room that once had belonged to Jaehaera and he moved to another one.

Aegon couldn't bear being in that room more than an hour, however he still kept coming back to it.

Jaehaera's presence haunted him just like his grandmother Aemma had haunted his grandfather.

"What are you doing here, Rhaena?" Aegon asked when he found his daughter in his first wife's room.

Rhaena turned around and Aegon gasped. She had been looking at Jaehaera's portrait.

"She was very pretty." Rhaena's dreamy voice echoed on the room.

"Yes, she was" Aegon said.

"Queen Jaehaera had my same eye color, I did not know that." Rhaena was smiling, and soon Aegon was smiling too.

'She also had your kind spirit' Aegon thought.

Something wet touched Rhaena's shoulder. Aegon had not realized he was crying until he saw Rhaena touching his hand and he quickly wiped his tears.

Rhaena hugged him and Aegon allowed himself to be vulnerable in front of his daughter.

Edit: 27 November 2023

2nd Edit: 20 March 2024

I really wanted to edit it.

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chloe-spade · 2 years

Text

To Be a Princess

------

Yaz immediately rushed inside the Film Studies Club Room, looking around. He took a sigh.

"Vil!" He gasped, alerting Vil and Ortho, both busy looking at the newest script.

"Oh my, Sweet Potato," Vil sighs,"what happened to you? You look shocked."

"And your heart rate is increasing by the minute!" Ortho added. "What happened to you?"

"Ok, run down." Yaz took a breath. " I started to date Kalim and after maybe a month of dating, he asked me to meet his family! But I don't know how to act around his family and I'm incredibly nervous and.."

"You want to impress them?" Vil chuckles, walking over to him. "And why, pray tell, are you asking me for this?"

"You...you are the closest person to ask how...to act royalty.."

"Royalty?" Vil asked. "My, you are going way to far with this, Sweet Potato. However I suppose I can do my best."

"You asking him? Really, herbivore?" Leona chimes in, walking in. "Don't get me wrong, sweetheart but you don't know the 1st thing about being a prince."

Vil scoffs."Oh really? As compared to one who sleeps all day and repeated 3 years?"

"I'm still a prince regardless, sweetheart. I think I have a bit of knowledge of royalty."

"Are you sure," Vil smiles."Are you challenging me?"

"Of course, I never back down a competition, especially those I'm interested in winning in."

"I should be scared, right?" Yaz mumbled.

"You should be." Ortho says.

Before he know it, Yaz was sitting in front of Leona and Vil, preparing Yaz for the longest lesson he has ever been in.

------

Remember, No nagging, bragging,

sweating, fretting,

slipping, tripping,

slurping,burping,

twittering or frittering allowed.

-----

"That's a lot.." Yaz mutters to himself.

"I think there's a lot more than that.." Ortho sighs,"Even I don't know much of this stuff..."

"Nice to know you're on the same page as I am.*

-----

Stay present, stay pleasant, stay proud.

To be a princess is to know which spoon to use, ("But Yaz isn't a princess?")

To be a princess is a thousand pair of shoes. ("Thousands!?")

To maintain a regal gait,

leave the parsley on your plate,

and be charming,

but detached and yet amused.

To be a princess is to never be confused.

-----

"I must say I'm impressed," Leona says.

"You think you can do better?" Vil challenged. "If so, show me."

"You two are talking this way to seriously." Yaz groaned.

-----

Do a plie and never fall,

Dont ever stray from protocol,

All through the day there's just one way you must behave.

Do keep a grip and never crack,

Stiff upper lip and arch the back,

Bend from above,

and always wear your gloves, and wave.

----

"Get up, Herbivore, this is where things get hard."

Yaz, with major hesitant, stood up as Leona began to circle around him.

----

Shoulders back and tummy in,

And pinky out and lift the chin

And slowly turn the head from side to side

I see now

Breathing gently, stepping lightly,

Smile brightly, nod politely

Never show a thing you feel inside.

Glide.

----

"You look very pretty, Yaz!"

Yaz was in a new sea green outfit, matching the ones seen in Scalding Sands, face decked in simple make-up, absolutely beautiful, but Yaz was so incredibly embarrassed.

"I question how this is necessary!?"

----

To be a Princess is to always look your best,

To be a princess is to never get to rest,

Sit for a portrait, never squirm,

Sleep on a matteress extra firm,

Speak and be clever,

Never at a loss for words.

Curtsy to every count and lord,

Learn how to play the harpsichord,

sing lullabies,

and always harmonise in thirds.

Thirds, thirds!

-----

"I'm definitely learning a lot!" Ortho giggles.

"Lucky for you, Ortho. However I feel like a doll."

Leona smirks and grabbed Vil's hands.

-----

And he has beautiful eyes, ("Leona!?")

Your spirits rise,

when he walks in the room,

("We See!")

Doors close and the chemistry grows

She's like a rose thats forever in bloom.

----

"Your attempts at flirting are absolutely futile.." Vil murmurs.

"But I can tell they worked." Leona remarked.

"Hey, lovers, I'm glad I'm not a result of a feud, but can please get back to the lesson?"

"Recap!"

----

Do a plie and dont

Ever, ever, ever fall

Never show dismay

And be there when people call

Be prepared, whatever royal life will bring.

Do keep a grip and don't

Ever, ever, ever crack

Take a dainty sip

Never, ever turn your back

There's a time and place and way for everything.

To be a princess is to never make your bed ("Of course...")

To be a princess is to always use your head!

----

Yaz was now resting. On the floor, absolutely defeated.

"Was that too much for you?" Leona laughs. "I don't we were that harsh towards you."

"I agree, I think our lessons weren't that hard to follow, right, Sweet Potato?" Vil said, helping Yaz to a chair.

"I'm fine," Yaz mumbles,"It's not as bad as I thought it would be. However, that was a lot of remember."

"I have everything memorized." Ortho reassures. "So you can ask me anything."

"Aw, the show's over." Complained Cater. "But, it was hell of a show!"

"Yeah," chimed Lilia, laughing. "Though Kalim definitely went silent after the outfit change."

"That's why I took a photo!"

"And...how long...were you three sitting there?" Yaz gasped in embarrassment, sinking down in his seat.

"Maybe since Leona walked in? I can't remember! So we walked in and saw a free show, and Yaz looks absolutely stunning!" Cater laughs.

"I thought drama was going to happen! By golly, I was so wrong!"

"And what I am here, Kalim's with you?" Ortho asked.

"Yup! You couldn't tell as he was silent since Vil gave Yaz such a beautiful makeover!"

There Kalim was, flustered but had a hugs smile on his face. "I'm ok! I was just stunned by Yaz's beauty! He looks so gorgeous!!"

"Yaz is hiding behind the chair if you want to see him." Ortho cheers.

"Don't say that!!"

Kalim laughs and goes over. "You look amazing!" He held Yaz close."I mean, you look beautiful regardless, but-!"

"I get it...."Yaz mumbles.

This was the most embarrassing day of his life.

#twisted wonderland #twst #vil schoenheit #leona kingscholar #twst mc #ortho shroud #songfic #leovil #kalim al asim #cater diamond #lilia vanrouge #kalim x mc #yazari sinclair #yazari sinclair(oc)

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sagesorrows · 11 months

Text

So it took a lot of rewriting and completely changing my original draft but I think I’ve done it

Why do I think Doki Doki Literature Club is one of the best horror experiences I’ve ever had

I spent a lot of time going through the game and dismantling the experience in order to break down what I was feeling due to which specific part (like a weird therapy session)

(Also for the sake of not making this too long I’m going to assume you know the plot of DDLC)

The game’s facade is really well done and goes on for a pretty big portion of a 4 hour game, allowing you to really understand all the characters and grow attached. It’s mainly to heighten the horror later, not just the twist. As Salvato himself said, if all DDLC had to offer was the “haha gotcha” twist moment it would be pointless. DDLC is so much more than one shocking moment, it’s a constant slow dragging of a feeling of unease for the rest of the playthrough. It’s kind of like being hit by a truck but after that you’re swung at by several baseball bats repeatedly.

How is this unease achieved? Well after the shock of Sayori’s death you are on a one way ride to pure insanity as the game falls apart before your very eyes. Glitches and scares happen at any moment leaving you constantly on edge. When these things do happen it’s never acknowledged by anyone and the game moves along as normal…well whatever normal is for act 2. At no point does the game ever pull the brakes on the horror. It just rises in intensity, giving you no time to digest what’s happening before hitting you with something worse. It’s like an over boiling pot that you just have to sit and watch.

Given that it is a visual novel and involves a lot of reading (who could’ve guessed), Salvato takes advantage of the medium by filling it with all kinds of clever foreshadowing. Wow the game that involves reading rewards you for reading. Anyway, the writing does increase the fear factor of act 2 but also it makes a second playthrough much different than the first. In act 2 the subtle changes in dialogue really add to the “something’s off” feel as the cracks emerge. A lot of it involves Yuri since she’s kind of the star of the act. The description of Portrait of Markov becomes dramatically different and far more gruesome. Even Monika who was surprised by Yuri’s interest in horror in act 1 says it suits her in act 2 (also her line about horror: “Isn't it amazing how a writer can so deliberately take advantage of your own lack of imagination to completely throw you for a loop?”, Salvato you self congratulatory bastard). As for a second playthrough, the foreshadowing in act 1 becomes much more obvious. It makes even the most innocent lines subject to speculation as to what it might be referring to. “You really left her hanging this morning” still gives me chills every time

I think what really makes the horror however is in it’s main theme: The illusion of choice/lack of free will.

There’s not a lot of gameplay in DDLC. You can choose which girl you want to write a poem for, which girl you’re siding with in the argument, and which girl to spend the weekend with. Typical dating sim stuff. You are met with one big decision in act 1: accept Sayori’s confession or not. This is where the game begins to show you that you’re not in control of this story. No matter what you pick Sayori takes her own life, and no matter what you pick the protagonist second guesses his actions, saying it was his fault for doing the wrong thing. Having a major event like this seemingly be a result of the players choice shortly beforehand is very unsettling. During act 2 the player’s choice has completely vanished. The protagonist is sort of dragged around, forced into uncomfortable situations without much of a say. You can’t choose who you’re writing a poem for because you’re spending time with Yuri if you like it or not. You can’t choose who to side with in the argument since nothing works and then Monika pulls you away to spend time with her instead. You can’t choose who to spend the weekend because it’s Just Monika. You’re mostly a silent observer watching as the insanity unfolds. And just like act 1, you’re met with an important decision: to accept or decline Yuri’s confession. Unsurprisingly it goes just as well as last time and either way Yuri stabs herself. Then you’re forced to sit there with her decaying corpse for the whole weekend as a consequence of your action (though forced it still happened because of a choice you actively made). Act 3 isn’t any better as it’s just you stuck in an empty room having a one sided conversation with Monika that you aren’t really given any sort of say in. But it is here we learn that we’re not the only one who’s trapped in this

Monika expresses the pain that comes with being aware you’re in a game. The emptiness and the agonising psychological torture. It’s hard to relate to such a situation but it’s not a bad thing, it leaves it up to the players imagination to consider what that must feel like. Monika was forced to not have a route in the game. She’s forced to be aware of the world beyond the screen (according to DDLC+). And she’s forced to stand by as you, the only real thing in her life, get to hang out with everyone else in the club. Her conversation topics usually discuss the lack of free will and a pretty nihilistic world view. It’s a little bit of a Green Goblin scenario but like actually emotional.

Even the ending in all its exceptional bittersweetness is forced. There’s no ending that doesn’t result in the end of the literature club.

Anyway time for some miscellaneous things I like about the game:

Monika’s design and sprites purposefully make her stand out so that’s cool

Random unsettling easter eggs for funsies really adds to the brain scrambling of it all

The music is fun, I like it when they do fucked up corrupted versions it’s pretty spooky

I like how every member has a distinct unique writing style, it really helps build their personalities

When Yuri says “stagnating air is common foreshadowing that something terrible is about the happen” and someone died twice was cool

I think it’s great that this game allowed the game grumps playthrough to exist

Anyway I hope this was coherent enough that you don’t have a migraine now, laters alligators

#ddlc #doki doki literature club #indie horror #horror #video games

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careful-please · 1 year

Text

A story about a crow

The crow, all sleek, black feathers and clever mischief. Is searching for a new nest to hide his growing hoard. He soars lazily on the breeze over trees and hills, rocks and streams. Until he spots a little dale, tucked away next to a valley stretching between two tall mountains. A nice big oak tree standing lonely in the center of the dale with wide, long, reaching branches holds much promise for the little crow.

But as he sails closer he spots a human. A young female sitting in the dappled shade with a notebook in her lap and charcoal sticks on a little flattop stone beside her. She has long auburn hair plaited out of her face, head bent over her brown leggings as she scribbles away. Her light blue tunic is smudged with soot and her fingertips are black from the charcoal.

The crow alights on a branch above her head and curiously observes her work. He recognizes the shape of a crow slowly appearing on the paper beneath her hands. He cocks his head. The crow is white like the paper and he thinks this is wrong. This human does not know what a crow looks like. How dreadful that she has never witnessed the beauty of a crow. But he is a busy bird. He needs to inspect the tree to make sure it is safe and has room for a bigger nest.

He returns the next day and finds the female still drawing under the tree. He looks to see that she has finished the drawing and it is now a proper black color. As she works on a different sketch the crow admires the paper crow. It looks just like him and is very handsome indeed.

The more he looked the more he liked this portrait. He found that he wanted to add it to his hoard. So he flew quick as he could back to his overcrowded nest to find the dullest and shabbiest of his treasures to trade with. When he returned he landed beside her, just out of reach and flapped his wings to get her attention. But she hardly spared more than a glance. He hopped a little closer and dropped the little trinket beside her sticks. It was a dirty shard of clear quartz, glittering in the sunlight as he nudged it towards her. She smiled fondly and itched the features atop his head before turning back to her drawings.

This confused the crow and he tried to tell her as much. But humans can't talk to crows, so he returned to the nest, leaving the crystal behind. Days passed in similar fashion, with each gift he presented to the girl being ignored. The crow's frustration grew. One day he was bringing a shiny coin to tempt her with but when he arrived he noticed all the treasures that had been scattered around the tree were gathered in a little nest of moss, twigs, and bright blue cloth. The crow was delighted to see his treasures nestled in his favorite color. He danced around the nest as he inspected it. It was rather well made, with a solid bottom and the twigs were twinned in the moss to keep them together; the cloth made it warm and soft. A finer nest the crow had never seen before. But he was confused. The trinkets were for the female and instead she had built him a very lovely nest. Why did she give him a nest if she did not want his treasures?

The human was very strange indeed. But the crow was determined to offer something the girl would accept. So he began searching high and low. He talked to all the creatures asking if any knew about the talented female and what she liked. Some said females like flowers, others suggested pretty clothes, and still others recommended he sing to her. But non of these things earned him more than a smile and a gentle pet. As nice as the pets were, he really wanted the picture. So he kept looking.

As the days stretched into weeks and weeks stretched into months, the other creatures came to investigate the female. They watched her draw portraits of themselves and the homes they lived in. They sat beside her and allowed her to touch and pet them. Some even sang or chatted at her while she sketched away. And they all brought little gifts, trying to find out what she liked. It became a game for them, seeing who would figure it out first.

Until one day a coon darted into the dale with the last of his latest spoils. A raid on the local baker was very successful indeed. He sat next to the female clutching a bread roll.

She stopped drawing to stare at the coon.

He stared back.

She held out her hand to him and he placed his front paw in it. She was still for a moment before she dropped his paw and pointed a the bread. She held out her hand again and the coon slowly and gently placed the roll in her hand. She grinned wide and began munching on the bread. Offering her other hand to pet him behind the ears.

The crow was sitting in the tree looking down at the scene. Finally, an answer! The female liked food more than treasures. Soon all the creatures were offering all kinds of food to the girl.

They began to work out what she liked and what she didn't. Anything she did not eat was offered to the creatures who all enjoyed sharing a meal with her.

The crow began indicating her notebook. He tried to interrupt her work and find the drawing of himself. It took several more days where she patiently defended her book and he stubbornly tried to get to the portrait. Finally he tugged the book right off her lap and it landed open on the picture he had been looking for. Immediately he set a foot on it and squawked at her, trying desperately to tell her. She watched curiously as he prodded the picture and flapped his wings.

Finally she reached for the book and tugged the page free, tearing it gently from the spine. She held it up for the crow to admire. After a few moments she pined the sketch high on the trunk of the tree. Close to his colorful nest that had been moved to a low sturdy branch. The crow stood on the branch to inspect the placement and fluffed his feathers in pride as he declared it perfect. He finally had what he wanted after so much work. It was neither shiny nor glittery but it was his most precious treasure. He was the only crow with such a treasure and would become the envy of all other crows.

And so it went. The female sat beneath the tree, drawing. The creatures gathered to watch and give her gifts of food and berries and nuts. The crow watched from his beautiful nest above his most prised treasure. The dale was full of peace and life and all was right with the world.

#carefulwrites #crow #idk #what do you guys think #is it okay?

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