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botanybulbasaur · 5 months

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Schneider's family ; The significance of Marian

REVERSE 1999 SPOILERS AHEAD : FOR CHAPTERS 1 AND 2 ! Please tread carefully and make sure you only read about what you're willing to know.

I know we're all still completely in shambles from Chap. 2, but I wanted to make a speculation about Schneider-- and a comment about how well she's written !

Let me start with this: In many pieces of media, viewers, listeners and readers alike are told that a character has people they care for. They're told a character has a lover, a wife, kids, a family, a sister. We're told the same about Schneider: that she has 11 older siblings, and that she works in the mafia to support them.

However, it's very rarely that we're given a name and a face for these supposed loved ones. And even rarer is it that they're written well, not just as a ploy for empathy, but as their own character: Ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed guests: I present to you, Marian.

Marian is one of my favorite characters just as a stand-alone: she's realistic, she's anxious, she clings to Schneider like a lifeline-- but she's brave, too. I'd love to do an in-depth analysis on her another time, but we're here for another reason.

Marian, first of all, shows us what Schneider's family is like. How they were raised, what they believe in, who they depend on. Soft topic, I know, but as someone of Italian lineage, it's very important to me that I point this out: Marian is extremely religious.

Immigrants of every kind tend to be religious. It gives them much more faith than they ever could have: a new lifeline. They managed to make it across such a winding sea? Oh, thank the lord. They haven't been kicked out of the Americas for emigration? Thank you, holy one. There's so many more reasons for this than "they need something they don't have"- maybe the fact that the rendition of god in every religion is said to love everybody, not just those who were born into wealthy families with the bluest eyes and the blondest hair.

When in a moment with no reason, and all different kinds of desperate measures being needed.. Schneider does what her family coaxes her to. She prays.

(I can't find a screenshot, but please refer to the iconic "I didn't know you prayed" scene, and the screenshot directly below this sentence.)

I also want to point out a large difference between Schneider and her family: Schneider's perspective on a 'god' differs so, so much from her family's.

She looks to whoever may be above, in her world, scornfully-- at least, in the present day. In her past, there is a particularly impactful line I want to debunk.

"The god there ... loves the world." Schnider's family seems to believe that god was the one guiding them, the one who will forgive them-- Schneider believed that it was a whole different entity. This kid believes that the god in Sicily, whoever they may be, does not love the world-- and mio dio, if that's not fucked up, I don't know what is.

And, when Schneider comes to America and sees that shit isn't as it's cut off to be, she's resentful of whoever this god may be. She gives a pray as her last bet-- what her family wants.

And it's not that she doesn't believe in this god-- no. She just doesn't believe they love her.

"Finally forgive me" -- Finally being the key word here. She's lived all her life never being treated to mercy or being 'forgiven for her sins' -- and at her most fragile, exposed moment, she relents to what her family has taught her. To what she truly believes-- to Sicily, to Marian, her sorella. Maybe even all 11 sorelle and her parents.

And, again, they're different at face value. Marian is calm, kind. She dresses modest and has her hair grown out: she's timid, too, not befitting of a mafia boss. She's different from her younger sister.. but she's still important. She shows us another side of Schneider: and, more importantly, she shows us what-- no, who Schneider is fighting for.

Marian provides us with extremely beneficial background context of where Schneider comes from-- and, in that process, gives many of us someone to empathize with. Yes, I too know somebody at least a little like her. You do too, likely.

Maybe, you're even like Schneider-- maybe she's someone you'd aim to protect.

,,aaand that's the little lore rant. Whew! Now to study for my math finals. I hope you have a good day :)

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sobeautifullyobsessed · 2 years

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Thank you for this wonderful prompt @paperclippedmime - here's my best shot for now, chapter one of two.

The Language of Love

a Defender Strange x Sorceress Reader romance

rating: general audience; fluff and pining

word count: 1.7k

Oh, sii ancora il mio cuore! Words that sprung to mind as Stephen watched you approach him from across the courtyard. Of all the languages at his command, he most often fell back upon Italian when he allowed himself to give into the softness that filled his chest in your presence. Oh, be still my heart! Il mio cuore. You had laid claim to it months ago--without even trying--and he had done his damnedest since that time to keep his love and unfulfillable longing, secret. Especially from you.

Initially, Stephen had questioned himself ‘why Italian?’, rather than one of the other dozens of languages in his repertoire. Yes, it was a romance language in the classical sense—as were French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian—but he soon realized there was more to his choice than that.

Though you didn’t look at all like her, you somehow evoked the image of his first serious crush, the woman who had subtly set his standard for feminine beauty when he was still a boy. Sophia Loren as Dulcinea in the film Man of La Mancha.

The movie had been one of his mother’s favorites (as she adored Peter O’Toole) and she had taken him along to a 20th anniversary showing at The Rubicon, the local 99-cent theatre that often featured oldies which catered to a mature audience. Beverly Strange had thought young Stephen might enjoy the tale of an idealistic knight tilting for justice in a world grown cynical. She couldn’t have anticipated he would view the leading lady with stars in his eyes. Stephen ended up crushing on Loren and crushing hard until his heart moved on to another big screen icon--Jessica Lange—a year or so later.

The bright, midday sun lent additional luster to your thick, dark hair, worn in a long, loosely woven braid over your shoulder. He had never seen you wear it unbound, though in his fantasies when you came to him at last to confess your love and desire for him, you gladly loosed it to lavish upon the bare skin of his arms and chest and…

Stephen closed his eyes a moment and took a long slow breath, re-squaring his shoulders. Cool it man; these are the exact thoughts you can’t give play to outside your quarters! You are the Sorcerer Supreme, and such musings compromise your ability to properly perform your responsibilities. Yet when he opened his eyes, they immediately sought yours. Exotic, almond-shaped, deep jade eyes, made pale and crystalline by the sunlight. Your precious lips pursed in a mischievous smile when you realized he saw you drawing near. He dipped his head in greeting, admonishing himself not to gape at the grace of your movements and your unapologetically voluptuous curves; the simple robes you’d selected when you had achieved the rank of Master couldn’t hide the supple fullness of your figure.

Intellectually, Stephen understood he saw you with the eyes of a man hopelessly in love, but found no fault in his idealized view of you. Of course you had become the most beautiful woman in the world to him; wasn’t that as it should be when a man’s heart had fallen irretrievably for that one special person? Few in his life today knew he was at heart a genuine Romantic, and it felt like half a lifetime at least, since he’d allowed that part of his nature to breathe and return to life. It felt so damn good to feel this deeply in love again—especially in the wake of his failures with Christine Palmer—but it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune stage of his life. As Sorcerer Supreme, his commitment to the protection of humanity and the universe at large was absolute, and he could see no path forward that would allow him the glorious distraction of building a future with the woman who felt to him like a soulmate.

In the initial flush of his infatuation, Stephen had toyed with the idea of assigning you to serve at one of the Sanctums, so to remove the temptation to confess that his feelings for you had grown well beyond the friendship you shared. But each time he resolved to send you away, he couldn’t carry it through, for he couldn’t bring himself to give up the exquisite torture of having you near—though you remained perfectly unaware of how keenly he wished for you to see and know what you meant to him. Let alone return his feelings in kind. And so now as ever, he composed his face and braced himself to greet you as his friend, and nothing more.

You smirked as you looked him over, head to toes, and nodded your approval. “Welcome back, Stephen. That was a quick trip and I see you’re no worse for the wear. For a change.”

“Guess I got lucky this time…” he conceded with a wee grin, daring a fresh endearment, this time in Romanian, “…porumbelul meu dulce.” My sweet dove.

Planting your hands on your hips, you rolled your eyes, daring him, “Hmmmm. That’s a new one. Care to share what it means?”

If only you knew, he thought opting for the little white lie, “By sweet fortune blessed.”

You narrowed your eyes a moment as if testing the truth of his statement, mulled his translation over a few moments more and then answered, “I’d agree with that, Stephen. Every day you return safe and whole from your battles are blessed ones.” Your gaze fell askance, and Stephen felt breathless; his instinct at such times—when your voice grew softer than ordinary speech and you suddenly couldn’t hold his gaze--insisted that you bore at least an echo of the affection he felt for you, though the hopeful moment passed too quickly. Eyes still averted from meeting his, you added modestly, “And I…I mean we…the ranks of those committed to the same mission are…are blessed to have our brilliant leader back among us…” The slight blush that filled your cheeks was pure and softly becoming, and of course his heart seized upon it, as another hint that you cared for him beyond the strictures of shared service and friendship.

“It’s good to be home,” Stephen nodded, his fingers tingling with the urge to cup your jaw and draw your face close and finally put an end to the façade he’d built between you two. One of these days I won’t be able to keep this secret any longer. That day is coming soon, my darling. Just give me one little sign…a single nudge…that you want me to claim you as mine.

But that day was not today, it seemed, so instead he exclaimed heartily, “And I’m famished—feels like it’s been a week since I’ve had anything decent to eat! Have I missed lunch service?”

Your shyness passed—on his behalf, as he knew it would—and you grinned up at him. “I think you’re in time to catch the tail end, Stephen.” You slipped your arm through his to pull him along to the dining hall. “And if not, I’ll scare you up a meal fit for your victorious return.”

“I was counting on it, mon chouchou,” he replied, patting your hand as the two of you strolled back across the courtyard. Stephen sometimes wondered if you had a clue that this endearment meant more than ‘dear friend’—but if that was the case, you gave him no indication. “And I expect you to fill me in on how life in Kamar-Taj has been going in my absence, so I hope you don’t have any pressing plans this afternoon.”

“As I’m free for the next couple of hours, I’m sure I can catch you up,” you assured him, and it seemed to him that you had subtly nestled against his side (unless that was just wishful thinking), “And I expect to hear all the details of your latest exploits. Which Defenders joined you this time?”

Stephen cleared his throat, preparing to tell his tale. If he painted himself the hero of his adventures with the Defenders, you never seemed to mind, and rarely questioned if he had exaggerated the role he played in victory over the enemies he faced as their leader. You were wise enough to allow him to wear the hero mantle, but also bold enough to remind him, when necessary, that though you accepted his tall tales for the sake of your friendship, he needed to remember to temper his retelling when it came to recounting it with any other Master. “Well, it was almost a solo mission,” he began, silently reveling in your undivided attention, ready to prolong the tale however he might, just to remain in your company. “But lucky for me, I managed to convince Banner, Sam Wilson, and Valkyrie to join me. Without them…well…I probably would’ve needed to portal straight to the Infirmary.”

You gasped softly at that, and Stephen could have sworn you shivered. As much as he prized your concern for his safety, he vowed right then not to give you cause for worry. At least in this telling, as you sat him down in the empty kitchen and busied your hands by making him a heaping plate of leftovers and cool cup of fresh squeezed lemonade, he softened his tale enough to ease your mind that he had faced any real danger.

He had never known an interlude of true domestic bliss in his adult life and given his current responsibilities, he never expected to--but for that brief while in the compound kitchen, Stephen got a glimpse of what it could be like to be a simple man bound to the woman of his dreams. Wherein the only service they would be committed to was to love and comfort and cherish one another. Oh amore mio--he was thinking--se solo potesse essere cosi!

Oh my love, if only it could be so!

(to be continued)

tagging some fellow Defender fans: @paperclippedmime @fanartka @harlekin6 @strangelockd @doctorstrangeaskblog @cerene-ciderr @wolfstarhufflepuff @veryladyqueen @wint3r-h3art @ironstrange1991 @sanctumsanctorumshenanigans

buy me a coffee?☕

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xemobladechromicles · 1 year

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Ok, I'm rank the Xenoblade 3 protags from favorite to least now.

1. Mio

Cutely presses the dodge button. Cutely presses the dodge button. Cutely presses the dodge button. Best class. I liked the part where she cutely pressed the dodge button against the concept of aging by body swapping with herself. We all talk about chapter 5 but chapter 4 was the mio moment that made me cry. Mio whyyyy. Fucking iconic. Definitely the character I was most invested in getting a happy ending. Also. She's a cat. Fucking perfection.

2. Eunie

Yass Eunie's the bass. Feather's are a bitch to dry. Queen's knees. Up, up up up up. The Chad who responds to "no more killing ppl" and immediately goes "ok.. but why?" The ultimate character. I wish I was a fraction of Eunie's power. Let Eunie say Fuck. Tragically I didn't actually care for her much beyond her status as a meme queen, but consider: Eunie is the ultimate meme and I enjoyed every moment she was on screen. I also really like the idea that Eunie isn't naturally a healer but learned the role after Joran's death (I forget whether that's a theory or straight up canon but I do really enjoy that). I also have to say that a lot of her high affinity classes are a ton of fun to play as. Very satisfying to watch Eunie fucking eviscerated someone off the face of the aionios. Pretty funny how both Eunie and Taion would run you over with an ambulance.

3. Noah

Def my favorite protagonist. He's so soft spoken. Also pretty funny that his magic laser sword is literally just a sheath for a really sharp katana. Pretty good of him to be the first Xenoblade protagonist to canonically have sex (consider that we didn't get proof of Rex fucking until after we learned about Noah fucking). I like how he's the quiet and thoughtful type, has the best romantic subplot in the series easily (or at least the only one I gave a shit about). I will say that N was a pretty underwhelming antagonist. Man's backstory brings me to tears, yet I still just don't care for a single moment he's on screen (except for "Mio wHYYY" memes those can stay, thank you Henry McEntire for your contributions to this series). As far as protagonist powers go, Shulk sees the future, Cross is mute, Rex gets all the girls, and Noah turns into Evangelion. I think the only conclusion here is to stick Noah and Shulk in a pit and make them fight for who gets to be the Protagonist tm. Also, Noah wears his hair similar to me, therefore he's hot. +10 points for that.

4. Taion

Someone should make the virgin/chad meme with Taion's class in gameplay vs Taion's class in the story. Like, every other character in story is using their class like they would in gameplay, but then Monolith had negative ideas how to translate a swarm of paper airplanes into tangible gameplay. So Taion's class feels very bad to use. That said, love his banter with Eunie. Also love that one H2H where he says he wears practical clothing, then Eunie calls his scarf lame. Poor man acts like a kicked puppy lol. Also has the vibes of that kid who lost chess against Eunie because she ate all the pieces when he wasn't looking. Tries to be the adult of the group, is still, like, 9 years old. Energy of being the one kid in the group project who's trying to lead the other squad of 8 year olds in any given direction. 10/10.

5. Sena

Ngl, I do not relate to her on a single level and also may or may not have forgotten half the scenes about her. Not the character's fault, I just wasn't paying attention. It does feel like Sena's arc wasn't treated with as much importance as everyone else's tho. Also I really didn't get to know Shaniya well enough for her to act as an effective foil. Tho I do think it's quite funny that Sena is Brighid's kid since Brighid is all elegant and shit while Sena just beats you to death with a really big stick. Definitely the character I imagine to have the most different personality between Alrest and Aionios (mostly because she's so concerned about fitting in and stuff). Tho her arc about learning to express herself just comes across as false due to her in-game dialogue contradicting that (and that being the dialogue players will have bludgeoned into their skull). Kinda hard to see Sena as someone who's insecure and feels the need to fit into the group when she shouts "I'm the Girl with the Gall" every other encounter.

6. Lanz

Feels too much like Reyn but not as iconic. Most interesting part of his character was the guilt he felt over Joran's death because he was a dick to Joran and never got to apologize but then Joran sacrificed himself to save Lanz anyways because Joran felt like his life was less important than Lanz's. Sadly, all of this good shit got completely derailed when Joran showed up as an antagonist. Kinda sucks that the villain writing ruined Lanz for me. Lanz's best moments were definitely in his ascension quest. I liked it when he showed his no shit side. Sadly never found a comfortable role for him in the gameplay because evasion tanks are way more fun than block tanks and I don't particularly love any of the classes Lanz specializes in (why does he keep getting S affinity healer classes when his healing power is literally shit?) Tho I will say that I love seeing Miyabi and Fiona class become w i d e on him.

#xenoblade chronicles 3 #xenoblade 3 spoilers #noah #mio #lanz #senna #eunie #taion #ok there was definitely a drop in praise once i reached the muscle duo #im mostly impartial to both characters while i really like everyone else #i look at those two and im like what do i do with you #doesnt help that i have trouble figuring out a comfortable role for either of them in team comp

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