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linkspooky · 3 years

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The Hands that Will Save the League

In chapter 321 we're reminded once again of the reoccurring motif of hands reaching out to save someone in need, especially with the double spread close-up of Iida's hands reaching for Deku's hands. I couldn't help but think how this could apply to the league of villains. Hand symbolism has always been associated with Shigaraki (duh), both in the fact that his hands destroy everything they touched, and also his reason for being a villain stems from the fact that not a single hand reached out to save him that day. However, we've also had another character in the league with hands drawn up close and personal reaching out to save the others: spinner.

1. Just an Empty Cosplayer

I'm not the first one to make this observation. @codenamesazanka pointed this out long before me, especially in regards to Spinner's importance to the league, but basically, Spinner's role is that despite being a teenage mutant ninja turtle he's also the everyman of the league. He's not connected to the main conflict of the story by bloodline or legacy, the way Shigaraki, Dabi, and Compress are. He's not someone with an incredibly powerful or deviant quirk like Twice or Toga. He is a victim, but he doesn't have the elaborate villain backstories of Twice, Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga.

He literally is just some guy with a lizard quirk. He has the weakest quirk in the league and the weakest reason for why he joined the league. Spinner faces societal abuse because of his quirk, but what spurred him to action was seeing Stain appear on TV, and a desire to be a less empty person than he was before. Spinner was pushed, he was rejected by society, but I would say as an inverse to the league who are driven by extraordinary circumstances, Spinner is basically an every man who drives himself to keep up with the rest of the league despite seemingly lacking everything "special" they have.

And I believe this every man quality, and this drive Spinner has is what's going to be the key to piecing the league back together. It's because Spinner sees himself as so far behind the rest of the league, and so much less special than they are, that he's driven to try to understand them.

Not only is Spinner a member who has tried to understand every member of the league in one way or another, Spinner is also someone who similiar to Sihgaraki foils every single character in the league despite just being an everyman.

2. Spinner and Toga

While Spinner and Toga may not have the same level of development to their interactions as Twice and Toga, Spinner reaches out to her once but not twice, and there are a lot of parallels you can draw between the characters.

Both Spinner and Toga joined the league for the same reason, an empty admiration for Stain, without really caring about Stain's ideals. Toga admires Stain because he's covered in blood and fighting for something and she wants to become more like the people she admires, Spinner because he saw himself as pathetic for hiding in his room all day and when he saw Stain taking a stand trying to change the whole world on his own he wanted to become that way too. Which means both of them have a tendency to want to become more like the people they admire, because their own sense of personal identity is so weak.

Himiko and Spinner both define themselves by the way society has rejected them. Spinner has internalized the idea that he's an empty person who can't accomplish anything on his own, every terrible thing other people said about him due to his heteromorph quirk he accepted it. At the same time, Toga was somebody born with a "dangerous quirk" who was told to repress it and then did that living under a fake identity as a normal school girl that would please her parents and the people around her for as long as she could. Both Toga and Spinner are taught by the society around them to be self-loathing and to repress themselves because of their quirks. They're also characters who are both defined by a desire for release.

When Spinner asks if Toga still wants to be in the league because of Stain and she responds, Now I wanna become everyone I love. Spinner comments, "You're so free."

Spinner and Toga both claim they joined the league because of love for another person, they both loved and admired some aspect of Stain, but their real reason for joining, or at least the reason they stay is that deep down both of them desire the freedom to be themselves. Toga wrapping her desires up in language like love for other people, and wanting to become them, is because deep down she believes because of her quirk there's no one who would accept her for herself, as the normal girl she believes she is, no one will let her live as Toga thus she tries to become other people. It's the same for Spinner, who believes he can't be anything other than the Lizard Freak, so he too tries to dress himself up and become a Stain Cosplayer. It's only through the league's acceptance that Toga and Spinner slowly begin to learn that they are good enough on their own, just as themselves, and their priorities begin to shift.

3. Spinner and Twice

Twice and Spinner have several backstory parallels already. They are both characters affected by poverty, Spinner lived in a backwater town plagued by old views of heteromorph quirks, Twice lost his parents and began working to support himself at a young age before becoming homeless. Spinner and Twice were also both labeled in a way that stuck with them, after Twice got a criminal charge in an accident on his permanent record he couldn't find another job after being labeled deviant. Spinner was labeled as a deviant because of his quirk and the idea that he's a lizard freak has always stuck with him the same way that Twice has internalized the idea that "bad people don't get saved."

They also both chose to isolate themselves because of the circumstances they faced. Twice's first response to homelessness was to decide to never trust anybody but himself, and he became a criminal who pulled off heists with only clones of himself as team members until that stopped working for him. Spinner's response was also to shut himself away in his room and become a NEET. They both cut themselves off to the society that labeled them as unacceptable, but in the process they also cut themselves off from other people and became unable to trust others.

While they have major backstory parallels, I believe the greatest parallel between them is going to be that Spinner will inherit that role that Twice had for the league. While Shigaraki is the leader, Twice more than anybody else believed the League to be a family, and encouraged everyone to be friendly with one another.

It's Twice more than anyone else who emphasizes the bond of the league, that they're all strays, that they need to take care of each other and save each other. It's Twice who urges Shigaraki to save Giran because he's one of them. He makes the unspoken bond of the league as a group of miscreants into a spoken one, because Twice wants those things, he's well aware of the fact that he wants trust and acceptance and came to the league to find those things. This is the greatest thing that ties Spinner and Twice's characters together, because they both view themselves as worthless, they define themselves by how they help the other members of the league.

Twice's death so far isn't something that has been really capitalized on by the plot, Hawks has yet to face consequences, we haven't gotten to see much of the league's reaction because they were scattered soon afterwards. However, if Twice's death is going to cause development eventually I believe it will be in the vacuum in the league created now that Twice is gone. There is no longer someone who is urging all of them to be together. Twice's death causes most of the league to become less stable. Toga goes on a killing spree, Dabi attacks Hawks, Compress tries to kill himself in a heroic sacrifice, Shigaraki hasn't gotten the chance to react yet but he's also gotten worse considering he's currently possessed. You could even say that Twice's death has caused other characters to double down on their worst habits.

Dabi's worst habit is that he acts separately from the league and refuses to participate in the group dynamic, believing himself to be a solo avenger. Dabi not trusting or telling the league what he was planning on doing with Hawks, as a consequence of his decision to play solo avenger, caused Twice to trust Hawks which led to his death. Hawks was the one who killed him but Dabi played a part, and when Twice dies Dabi obviously reacts to it, but also his decision is to double down on his bad habit, insisting he's only using the league and he doesn't care about the rest of the group. Toga also doubles down on her bad habit, she runs away from the rest of the league and insists she's only doing this for the freedom to do whatever she pleases, not because you know Twice got killed right in front of her. Compress's arc is less pronounced, but he also does, in fact, try to kill himself in a grand heroic sacrifice for the rest of the league.

When twice dies the league begins to fall apart and everyone acts on their individual worst flaws, ignoring that they were always stronger together as a group. However, there is still one person who wanted the exact same thing Twice did, to be trusted, to belong to a group. This is most likely the role that Spinner is going to grow to, someone who is trusted by everyone in the group.

Notably, when Toga is about to run away it's Spinner who reminds her that the league is a place for them to come back to. Toga who was probably the closest to Twice and spiraling the worst because of his death, and Toga and Twice's friendship was the first time we really saw how much of a "bond" the league had formed with one another, because in the camp arc they barely cooperated, only begrudgingly. It's Spinner who who emphasizes that even though everyone in the league is doing this for individualism "doing what they want" that they are also together as a group. Spinner is set to inherit Twice's role as the heart, because one he tries to understand other people in the league making the effort to reach out, and two Spinner is aware of what he wants just like Twice he wants to be trusted by the rest of the group.

4. Spinner and Dabi

This one is a little bit harder because Dabi's character arc really hasn't started yet. We have just now gotten to the reveal of who he is and what his motivations are, after it being a mystery for so long. However unlike the rest of the league, we haven't really seen how Dabi has reacted and changed by becoming a part of the group. Even if his motivation isn't "I'm only using them" and deep down he really does care, I don't think he's even realized yet that he does care or that he's not just using them. Dabi still believes himself to be alone, and therefore he's still isolated from the rest of the league and flying his revenge quest solo even though he's really not.

In that case, the biggest parallel between Spinner and Dabi is that they both had to be won over by the league. They both joined because of admiration for Stain, probably because Dabi genuinely believed in Stain's ideals of taking down impure heroes because it fit his own agenda so well, whereas Spinner is a self-proclaimed empty cosplayer.

Spinner, however, has already gone through an arc where he was dissatisfied with his reasons for joining the league and didn't believe he belonged with the rest of the group. He didn't have anything to love like Toga. He didn't know yet he wanted friends he could trust like Twice already did. He doesn't have a strong backstory motivation like Compress, or Dabi or even knows what he wants out of society. However, the entirety of MVA is Spinner letting himself be changed because of his interaction with the group.

Spinner failed at life, his quirk is worthless and only good for sticking to walls. He also internalized the idea that he himself was a failure, and locked himself inside believing he couldn't accomplish anything on his own. Spinner says he has nothing he loves, and nothing he wants to do. Not only that he feels unloved and unwanted. However, Spinner finds something to love in Shigaraki, even if he can't find a strong sense of individualism and still believes himself to be worthless he becomes motivated to help others. Spinner, the most normal person in the group with the most worthless quirk, becomes the greatest help to Shigaraki, basically once he gets over himself and his preconceived notions of himself. Because, you don't actually have to be a special person or have a strong quirk to be a hero, you have to reach out a hand.

The same way Spinner was won over by the League, Dabi has yet to be won over. However, if that does happen, it's probably going to look like Spinner's arc. Dabi antagonizes Spinner a lot, but they actually have more in common than they do differences. They both have failure quirks, while Dabi has an overwhelming fire quirk he wasn't allowed to use, Spinner is literally just a gecko. They both also were labeled as disappointments and given up on, Enji gave up on Touya, Spinner never had any potential from the start and locked himself away in his room. However, their paths so far have been opposites, Spinner let Shigaraki reach him and became a part of the group, Dabi at every possible opportunity insists he's doing this all alone. He takes every chance he can to separate himself from others. If Dabi's arc is going to be a mirror to Shoto's arc eventually, then someone has to reach him and convince him he can't do this all on his own, and Dabi can only truly find himself when he's part of the group once more. After all, so far Dabi is the one most resistant to change. Toga's goal has changed, Shigaraki's changed, Spinner has changed, even Compress now admits that while they're just a gang of thieves that he cares more about everyone else's dreams than his own. Dabi is still nursing a ten-year grudge against Endeavor and doing everything he can to take him down on his own because he hasn't let the group in. And he won't improve or change until he does let others in.

5. Spinner and Shigaraki

I love Compress but I'm skipping over him because his arc hasn't been elaborated on yet. If you want a quick summary though, both Spinner and Compress didn't believe the group to be anything more than a gathering of selfish criminals, however, both of them changed because they wanted to see Shigaraki's dream come true. Not only was Shigaraki the one who inspired both of them to change, but also Compress is the one who first sees how close Spinner is to Shigaraki more than anyone else in the group was.

He also sacrifices himself BECAUSE he's come to realize that what he wants more than his own dreams is to see everyone else's dreams come true. I know Compress's backstory is rushed as all hell, but it almost... almost... works because Compress isn't actually doing this because he's Oji Harima's grandson. His motivation changed a long time ago, he just didn't realize it until he was about to lose the league.

There are a few more parallels, they're both dropouts. It's implied that Compress was literally just a retired and failed stage magician before he decided to become a villain. Hopefully we'll become more on that later because the idea of Compress sucking in showbiz so he decided to follow his grandfather's legacy is really awesome. Spinner was a Neet before he saw Stain on television. They also both have more minor quirks, Compress just shrinks people, Spinner sticks to things. They both also are characters who don't seem important at first, but consistently hover around in the background constantly making sure everyone in the group is okay. Compress calls to check up on people, he talks to Dabi a lot, he tries to keep up with everybody in a melee, it's the little things he does that make Compress same for Spinner. They're both cosplaying as legendary villains who are greater than they are, Stein is cosplaying his grandfather, Spinner is cosplaying Stain, but it's unknown whether Compress really cares that much about his grandfather's ideals, I think he cares about the league more. Compress and Spinner are also people who question and try to understand things, Compress lectures the kids that they had their ideals handed down to them for adult, Compress realizes Spinner's importance to Shigaraki before Spinner even did, Compress and Spinner also both try to understand other people's dreams because they're lacking in their own. Spinner doesn't even have a dream, but he's the one who listened to Shigaraki's dream first.

Now it's been directly said by canon that Spinner and Shigaraki's connection is the most developed, and they are the closest to one another. By developed I mean, it changed over time, when it started out they had almost nothing to do with one another. Spinner was just a rank and file league member that Shigaraki used on the hideout raid. They didn't even get a character introduction scene like Shigarki did with Dabi and Toga.

However, Spinner and Shigaraki's characters are extremely closely tied together. Shigaraki's like the main character of the league, his backstories parallel everyone else's, including the main character of the entire story Deku. He's the one who makes the plans, goes through training arcs, he's the one who the league unites around. However, Spinner actually has all of that too. I just spent a very long time showing how Spinner despite not having an overly complicated backstory has strong parallels to everyone in the league. If Shigaraki is the main character, then Spinner is the everyman / the perspective character, hence why he's the narrator of MVA. Shigaraki is a person of extraordinary circumstance, the symbol of society's oppression who everyone in the league deepy relates to because he's suffered the same way that they have and he accepts them. Whereas, Spinner has suffered because of Hero Society too, he's more like a normal guy who makes an effort to understand everyone around him.

However, Deku wasn't saved by his love interest, or even his childhood friend who is apparently his destined rival, he was saved by Iida trying his best to keep up with him.

Spinner and Shigaraki are both the emotional core of the league in different ways. The league all respects Shigaraki, they rally around his ideas, his dreams are what inspire everybody. However, more and more it's looking like Spinner, ordinary, average, Spinner is working to build emotional connections to everyone in a much more normal way. He talks to Toga and tries to understand her love. He even consoles Toga when twice is gone. He challenges Shigaraki directly to his face. Compress who is always sort of watching the league in the background and checking up on them in little ways notices how hard that Spinner is trying to take care of Shigaraki.

Shigaraki accepts people at their worst and gives them a place to belong, but I think by Spinner's efforts to get to know and understand others, we as an audience are shown how humanizing of a presence that Spinner is on everyone else. Spinner, just being a normal guy, brings out the fact that the rest of the league despite their extraordinary circumstances are deep down just normal people to, who want to be loved normally, and live normally. Spinner literally wakes up Shigaraki, because he remembered the one time that he opened up in front of all of them, and cares enough to try to understand Shigaraki's hurt feelings and what he cares about.

If anything from the last arc in the manga, we're shown at great length, how understanding, reaching out, it all takes effort and it's not as flashy as defeating a villain or rescuing someone from a natural disaster.

Spinner is so important to Shigaraki, because while Shigaraki has given everyone in the group a place where they can be individuals, Shigaraki hasn't realized he himself can be an individual yet. He ultimately, shares the same character flaw as Deku. It's because he's decided that he's going to carry out his dreams for the sake of the league and to create a better future for them, that Shigaraki no longer cares what happens to himself, or about his own future. Everyone talks about Dabi's suicidal nature, but this is something that Shigaraki is challenged on over and over again. What are your motivations. What are your reasons. What do you want to accomplish. He always responds with nothing. There's nothing that he wants, there's nothing worth living for, he only wants to destroy and make a better world for the people who are around him. Shigaraki is the most thoroughly dehumanized character, to the point where he just straight up accepts "god of destruction" because that is at least an identity. Shigaraki needs Spinner and his normalizing influence, because Shigaraki can't see himself as a normal person.

Shigaraki shares the same character flaw as Deku, he does everything for the sake of others, with no regard to himself, which leads to extreme bouts of self-harming and fighting alone. Shigaraki faced off against Endeavor, and basically all the heroes alone even though he did call for backup. However, even before that Shigaraki made the decision to get dangerous risky surgery that would be like hell, because he believed deep down he wasn't good enough alone. Shigaraki just does not care about himself and is unable to see himself as an individual, which is exactly why he needs someone to care for him and see him that way.

Shigaraki's greatest challenge to date is that he's been dehumanized so thoroughly, and lost sight of himself to the point where he's lost even his own body autonomy. When Shigaraki is battling for possession of his body as AFO attempts to take total control and make him into a symbol again, denying him his personhood, we're set up directly with Spinner being the one who reminds us that Shigaraki is just a person, who likes video games, and gets along with his friends. It's Spinner who notices right away that AFO is different from Shigaraki and challenges him the same way that he challenged Shigaraki directly in the My VIllain Academia arc. This is all set up most likely, for Spinner being the one to reach out a hand the same way IIDA did, because what Shigaraki needs the most right now, is not a hero who will save him, but rather a normal person who will understand him and remind him that deep down he was just a normal kid too before all of this happened. What Shigaraki is most in need of is a hand that will reach out to him, and Spinner has already done this once putting Nana's hand back on his face when he couldn't wake up, but what he's failed to realize is that it's his own scaly lizard hands that should be doing the reaching out.

#mha meta #lov meta #league of villains #league of villains meta #spinner #shigaraki #toga himiko #higuchi iguchi #shigaraki tomura #dabi #touya todoroki #twice #jin bubaigawara #compress

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glassessence · 3 years

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Elriel Hint and Analysis - includes analysis of Feysand & Nessian (ACOSF Spoilers)

I’m pretty new to the fandom, but I am currently obsessed with Elriel. This is my ship and I will go down with it until the day I die. As a fairly casual reader, I honestly had zero doubts the next book would be Elain’s and that the couple would be Elriel.

Then I discovered the existence of the extra POV chapters and Azriel’s threw me in for a bit of a loop. Especially with the ending (which I genuinely believe is a red herring. I lean very heavily into the lightsinger Gwyn theory).

However, stalking Tumblr made me come across this again:

Life and death and rebirth

Sun and moon and dark

Rot and bloom and bones

Hello, sweet thing. Hello, lady of night, princess of decay. Hello, fanged beast and trembling fawn.

Love me, touch me, sing me.

And then my brain accidentally vomited an essay on the symbolism in each sister’s journey...

Life and death and rebirth so clearly symbolise Feysand’s journey. Feyre leaves behind her life of poverty for a brand new one with Tamlin. She journeys Under the Mountain for love of him and ultimately succeeds in saving not just him, but all of them. In the process, she dies. Not just in the physical sense, but spiritually too. Feyre the human perishes, giving rise to Feyre the High Fae. In a purely physical sense, this is definitely a rebirth. But it’s stilted, incomplete. She’s the newly born phoenix - young, fragile and yet covered in the ashes of its fiery death. Her spiritual rebirth lags behind her newly changed body. Like a bird in a cage, she is trapped in Tamlin’s realm, unable to finish developing, to spread wings and fly.

That all changes when she is whisked away to the Night Court. She learns to read and some of the ash falls from her body. She makes friends and some more ash is brushed away by the Inner Circle. The final remnants of ash are blown away by the taste of freedom and the kiss of wind, and Feyre’s rebirth is finally complete. Spiritually and physically, she is changed. She becomes Feyre the High Lady. From life back to life, she is returned through the power of love. Take note that while love is important in all the sisters’ journeys, it is the focal point and highlight of Feyre’s. She is someone who has never been loved in that wholesome, selfless way Rhysand loves her. Tamlin was possessive and abusive; Nesta was barbed and sharp. Elain was fragile and ethereal. Love was something she had never really known and consequently something she desperately, desperately needed. That’s why the phrase that symbolises her is love me.

Sun and moon and dark refers very much to Nessian. Nesta is the sun and she is burning. Has been burning for a long, long time. She is aflame, nothing but ashes inside, and her words are fire. She scalds anyone who dares approach, just as everything melts before the sun. Like Feyre, she has had her physical rebirth, but not her spiritual one. She is trapped in her own head, locked behind her own self-hatred, her own raging inferno that yields to no one. Like Feyre, she is also a phoenix, but one whose fire never stopped. In that sense, she has never died. Her spiritual rebirth is not simply incomplete; it has never happened.

Until she starts training with Cassian. Until she starts befriending Emerie and Gwyn. This is what marks the death of Nesta the human and the emergence of Nesta the High Fae. (I use the term ‘human’ loosely here, mostly as a way of conveying my point about her spiritual journey rather than the state of her physical being). She loses her solar flare, that inner blaze that was killing her and blackening her soul. She mellows from unapproachable sun to a softer moon. It’s here that she stays a while, seeming to progress and regress in her healing journey as the moon waxes and wanes. It’s not until the hiking scene that she finally breaks. She weeps despite Cassian’s expectations to the contrary. Through her tears, she finally extinguishes the long-raging fire and hatred that has been destroying her. No more blazing sun, no more wavering moon. Only darkness to cradle her, and acceptance. Through Cassian’s ceaseless efforts and her friends, her journey reaches its apex. She finally becomes Nesta the Valkyrie.

Her journey hinges heavily upon the fact that nobody could reach her through the flames. Nobody had kept trying after getting burned again and again. Nobody except Cassian. He reaches out, time after time, even when she hurts him. Even when she burns him. Until he succeeds and touches her soul. That’s why the phrase that symbolises her is touch me.

Of course that leaves only the last line: rot and bloom and bones. I wonder who this could symbolise! Surely not the Archeron sister who is associated with roses and has a complicated romance dilemma with someone from the Autumn Court (rot) and someone else from the Night Court (bones)! Surely not!

Jokes aside, I strongly believe this line reveals Elain’s journey. If we continue thinking of the words as a progression, I think it makes a lot of sense. Keeping in mind the theme of life, death and rebirth, this is how I think of it:

Life / Rot / stagnation, the start of the journey

Death / Bloom / change, the start of healing

Rebirth / Bones / ascendance and acceptance, the start of the future

There are several interesting things to note about the sentence:

The word bloom is nestled among rot and bones

Elain’s two potential love interests both have strong associations with those words

I’ll address each point as we delve into Elain’s analysis.

Let’s start with Elain the human. As previously established, this is when the character is at their worst, blind in the dark before the dawn. I see this as Elain’s forced transformation by the Cauldron. Everything she knows is ripped away from her and her marriage crumbled to dust. She is thrust into a world both unknown and at war. She emerges changed and cursed with powers she cannot control and does not understand. Her life, once a slow-blooming flower, has just rotted into nothing. She is lost, confused and deeply depressed. Her physical rebirth may be complete, but her spiritual rebirth cannot begin until she gathers the shattered pieces of herself back together.

This happens slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it’s hard to notice and easy to dismiss. She befriends Nuala and Cerridwen. Begins gardening again. Talks to the Inner Circle and buys them gifts for Solstice. Slowly, so very slowly, she is starting to piece herself back together. Off-page, she quietly unravels Elain the human and emerges from her cocoon as Elain the High Fae. Like a wilted flower that has dropped its petals, a new season has come, bringing with it new buds. She is blooming, opening herself to new possibilities for companionship, love and for a new self to rise to the surface. But blooms are fragile, newly born things. Elain hasn’t dealt with the full force of her trauma, of her lifelong lack of choice (I’m not going to delve into this as there are so many amazing analyses out there!). She is a trembling fawn, still trying to learn how to walk.

But her spiritual rebirth will remake her. Bones. It’s so different from the previous two words that it really leaves an impact. Blooms rot and fade. Flesh breaks and dies. But bones are strong, the frame that holds up our entire beings. Bones are unyielding and solid, taking no other shape like blood nor bruising like flesh. I see this as Elain standing up for herself, unswayed by external forces that have always governed her life and breaking away from the fragile flower people have always thought she was. By cutting away the rotting flesh, she will reveal the backbone beneath and ascend as Elain the Kingslayer/Seer.

Of course, closely tied to each sister’s personal growth arc is her love interest. For me, I don’t see it going any other way than Azriel.

SJM chose rot not only to represent the ‘life’ section of Elain’s personal journey, but also to represent Lucien. He has connections to the Autumn Court, a season that is often associated with decay and rot, but also with harvest and bounty. Highlighting the negative aspects of autumn invokes a strong sense of wrongness. Lucien is not right for her. Not to say anything bad about his character; he’s just not right for Elain. His presence in the books eats away at her newfound boldness; he rots away the path she is trying to carve for herself.

On the other hand, Azriel is closely tied with death, with blood and bones and shadow. He’s not only Rhys’ spymaster, he’s also his torturer. His association is with bones, a word that invokes a sense of everlasting, of persevering beyond death. Bones is also used to describe the ‘rebirth’ section of Elain’s personal growth arc, the final aspect that leads to ascendance, and acceptance of one’s past and present. Meanwhile, bloom represents Elain herself and the ‘death’ portion of her story, the aspect that heralds change and healing.

Rot, bloom and bones represent both her personal journey and her love interests. It’s all intrinsically linked. Lucien is ‘life’ and stagnation, Elain is ‘death’ and change, and Azriel is ‘rebirth’ and acceptance. As a progression, this is how I interpret the sentence:

By rejecting the bond with Lucien, she is stepping into herself and forging something everlasting with Azriel.

Lastly, let’s not forget that the phrase symbolising her is sing me. This didn’t make much sense to me until I read Azriel’s bonus POV. In it, he confesses to Gwyn that he does sing. Why include this if it’s not a subtle callback to this prophetic paragraph in ACOMAF? It feels like a treat to hardcore fans who like finding all the little connections (since they’re the ones most likely to have read the bonus chapters). The fact that Gwyn also sings signals to me there’s an important plot point regarding song. Maybe homegirl Elain will be forced to throw a hardcore metal concert to save Az XD Wouldn’t that be a plot twist HAHAHA.

I don’t know when SJM started planting seeds for Elriel in any serious capacity, so perhaps I am reading WAY too much into this. Either way, I am super keen for the next book!

Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts! I am desperate for Elriel right now hahaha. Thanks for reading!

OH, BUT ONE MORE THING.

The greetings are really interesting. Sweet thing obviously refers to Feyre. Lady of night and princess of decay are clearly meant for Nesta.

Fanged beast and trembling fawn are left for Elain. It’s easy to write this off as being about her LI and herself, respectively, but I don’t know. The sentences build upon each other. A single moniker grows to two - the first separated by a comma, the second expanding to use an and. It’s something you see a lot in poetry, generally used to emphasise a point. I’m not entirely sure what the point is; it might just be a nice writing flourish, but wouldn’t it be interesting if both those statements were referring to Elain herself? Wouldn’t it just be juicy?

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prfctparis · 3 years

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In a Sweet Sunshower

AO3 Link

summary: He Who Brings Rain and The One Who Shines Bright are siblings. It’s fitting that there’s a sunshower during one of the campaigns when their legions team up.

a/n: a few things about Tatooine Slave Culture in this is borrowed from fialleril here on tumblr, so all rights go to them for that. except for the sunshower thing, i came up with it while driving and wrote this as fast as i could and actually kind of proud of the concept ngl. fun fact! zariza’s name mean ‘gold, brilliantly bright’ in hebrew so obviously it means something similar here in this star wars universe.

There’s an old phenomenon, here on Tatooine – from thousands and thousands of years ago back when this place wasn’t all dirt and sand – where the suns shone high in the sky, and voluminous clouds did little to darken the earth below, and rain fell from them, soaking the life on the ground.

It never lasted long, a few or so minutes at most, but it always happened during the hottest season of the year. It was said to be a beautiful sight to behold. The down pouring rain and the bright shining suns, together. Apparently it looked like liquid gold.

Everyone called it a sunshower. All of the Depur took it as a sign for there to be tricksters coming their way. Some of the Amavikka said that it was a sign of hope from one of the ancient prophets – Ekkreth, or Maru, or Tena, or Ebra – or even Ar-Amu to the slaves.

But most said that during it was when slaves became Free for good.

…We haven’t had rain in ages.

Zariza huffs and grimaces. Every single part of her is sweaty and sticky, and the humidity of this planet’s region might actually end up being the death of her. No, not the droids they fought earlier, or the damn Separatists, or even a stray blaster bolt. But the humidity. She knows that hate isn’t a good thing for a Jedi to feel, but she hates it, through and through. The air feels suffocating – the exact opposite of what it should be – and makes the heat of the sun feel hotter than it actually is.

It’s horrible. She says as much to her Jedi Master.

“Yes, humidity does make what we’re doing harder. Unnecessarily so,” Mace agrees, sounding less annoyed and tired than his padawan but Zariza can hear the edge of the emotions in his voice. He isn’t fairing so well in this weather, either.

At least the battle is over. Now they just have to clean up everything.

The leaders of the planet had asked for clean up help once the fighting had ended and they had verbally agreed to officially join the Republic. Of course the 187th and 501st easily promised they would do so. Neither of the legions have somewhere important to be, except for maybe Coruscant or a High Council meeting, and so here they are. Sweating their asses off in the humid heat that somehow feels like a murder attempt.

“Take a break if you need it, Zariza – I don’t want you overworking yourself in this heat. It could be dangerous,” Mace says after a few more moments. Then to Commander Ponds, “Same goes for all of the one-eighty-seventh, Commander. Take as many breaks as you need.”

Zariza sees Ponds nod out of the corner of her eyes, followed by, “Yes sir, General. Lieutenant Spite and a medic squad are collecting bottles of water and setting up tents for shade. I’ve heard that the five-oh-first are doing the same as they work as well.”

“Good.”

Wiping her brow with the bare skin of her bicep, Zariza is glad that she had the foresight to leave her black cloak and outer tunic on the venator-ship. She now only wears the black boots, leggings, and the sleeveless white under tunic, which is now stained with dirt and a few specks of blood but she could hardly care. The troopers did earlier, though, especially at the beginning of the fight – lack of armor meant danger but Zariza wasn’t about to give herself a heatstroke. She at least still wore the braces for her forearms, and the chest plate that she has since taken off.

One of the troopers – Mayhem, she recognizes the armor – hands her a container of water hardly ten minutes later. She smiles gratefully at him and takes it, taking a few sips, and then hands it back. He caps the container, clips it on his belt, and they both get back to work cleaning broken droid parts and other various debris from the fight. Mayhem never strays too far from her. Zariza might have been annoyed by it if she didn’t know that he’s looking out for her.

On the other side of the large area that had been used a battle field against Seppie droids, are the 501st – her brother included. Like her, he has darker robes than the usual Jedi, and had also foregone the outer tunics because of the planet’s heat before battle started. Zariza won’t be surprised if he’s currently completely shirtless by now – a risk for a sunburn, no doubt, with skin much paler than her own, but that’s his problem. She also knows for a fact that Ahsoka is wearing the tube top outfit she wore constantly before Anakin corralled her into wearing something more covering, a few pieces of armor included, just a month ago.

Hell, even Master Mace Windu is shirtless right now, the weirdness of it be damned. Some troopers have started to disappear regularly, leaving in full gear, only to pop up again with the top half of their blacks and armor gone.

Yeah. Humidity karking sucks.

Needing a break, Zariza leans against a lone tree nearby. She can feel the Living Force flowing through it and focuses on that as she catches her breath. Mayhem spots her and brings her more water without question.

“Thanks,” she sighs, and takes another sip.

Mayhem nods, undoing a second bottle from his belt, right next to where his helmet it clipped. He’s shirtless just like many of his brothers, curly hair frizzy as hell. “You’re welcome, sir,” he says. Once he’s had a few sips of his own, he asks, “How much is left in there?”

She shakes it, and shrugs. “Half, maybe?”

He nods again. “I’ll go back to one of the tents and refill it for you soon.”

She smiles thankfully. “Don’t forget to get yourself some.”

Mayhem chuckles. “Of course not, sir.”

After taking another drink, she hands it back just like before. But she doesn’t move to get back to work just yet. Master Mace nudges her in their bond, asking if she’s okay, and she tiredly pokes back to confirm that she is, all the while eying what’s left of the field to clean up. They’re getting there, but it looks like it will take forever. At least Anakin, Ahsoka, and the 501st are tackling the other half; and they’re getting closer, slowly but surely.

Her eyes flit up to the sky, and she spots grey clouds nearby. But, ugh – they aren’t close enough for them to get rained on.

It causes a frown to tug on her lips. A pout, if she wants to be honest about it.

Mayhem chuckles for a second time, more amused than before. “Finally saw the clouds, huh, verd’ika?”

Another trooper nearby stops and looks as well. A wounded noise escape them. “It’s so close but so damn far,” they say, forlorn. What a Force-damned mood.

“This humidity will be the death of me,” Zariza mumbles.

“That’s not happening on our watch,” they say, firm yet exhausted, the sadness about the clouds suddenly gone.

“Damn straight,” Mayhem agrees.

She can only groan.

Once Zariza has rested for a good few minutes, she stands up straight again, but instead of getting to work, she unties the knot of the yellow bandana at the nape of her neck. The wild, dark waves of her hair are no doubt frizzy and wilder than ever; earlier she was positive that she felt the waves grow in size because of the friz and the humidity, and she honestly doesn’t want to know what she looks like because of it. Quickly, she works on putting her long hair into a nerftail and ties it with the bandana.

What feels like ages later, the planet’s sun is beginning to finally lower in the sky and the 187th has done most of their half of the battle field. Through the bond, Zariza can tell Anakin is close by yet she stays lying on the ground, taking yet another much needed break. The clouds are closer, too. Yet still no rain.

The sound of boots crunching the dry, summer grass as someone walks gets closer and louder, up until the person stops right at Zariza’s head, casting a shadow over her. She blinks and tilts her chin to get a better look at who it is despite already having a pretty good guess. Anakin stands over her, sweaty and shirtless, with red tinting his shoulders, chest, and nose. His dirty blond hair is matted with sweat and it sticks to his forehead and the nape of his neck, a few of the short curls frizzed up, and his face is contorted into a scowl.

“I cannot believe I’m saying this,” he says, “but I miss Tatooine’s dry heat.”

“Agreed,” she grunts.

Anakin huffs and steps to her side. He then sticks out his flesh hand, and Zariza forces herself to sit up so she can grab it. He pulls her to her feet and almost immediately lets go once he’s sure she’s balanced well. The humid heat has made the brother-sister who hug every time they see each other, want to not be touching another body in any way for the foreseeable future.

Anakin runs a hand through his hair, grimaces at the sweat, and wipes it on his pants. Disgusting. “Been drinking enough water?” he asks.

She sighs. “Yep. You?”

“Yep.”

“Ahsoka?”

“Yep.” A beat. “Master Windu?”

She almost says ‘yep’ again, but decides not to. “Yeah, him too. Don’t worry.” She smirks. It’s no secret that before Master Mace took her as his padawan, that Anakin couldn’t stand the man. The feeling might have been mutual, but honestly Zariza doesn’t know and doesn’t care to. For now.

Anakin just rolls his eyes and flips her off, walking off to help Captain Rex and a few more guys of Torrent Company.

Ahsoka comes up to her a second later. The younger teen doesn’t say anything, and neither does Zariza. Usually energetic and happy to get her to know her Master’s little sister better, the heat has zapped the togruta of most of her energy. So in silence, they work together on a particularly large piece of debris, and then immediately head to the nearest tent for some much needed shade. Breaks are becoming more frequent, and Zariza thinks that maybe she will have to stop helping if they don’t finish up cleaning soon.

Anakin is already in the tent, along with Master Mace, Captain Rex, and Commander Ponds by the time the girls get there, and the two padawans wave a short greeting to the men before beelining where other troopers are giving out fresh water.

It’s when one of the Boys In Blue (as the GAR has started calling the 501st) hands them both a fresh container when it happens.

The sound of rain pelting the top of the tent makes everyone freeze. It’s obviously still sunny, but that doesn’t stop Zariza or any of the others to turn to check for themselves. And it is – no clouds directly above them at all – yet the rain is falling down, gradually increasing to a steady downpour. She blinks a few times and inches closer to the edge of the tent, and hardly a second later Anakin is at her side, looking out as well, mouth parted in shock.

“A sunshower,” Anakin whispers.

Zariza numbly nods.

Her mind conjures up a faint memory of being told of a phenomenon from hundreds of thousands of years ago on Tatooine. Of sunshine and rain, together. Of liquid gold. Of tricksters visiting Depur. Of a sign of hope to slaves, or a celebration for the Freed.

It doesn’t look completely like liquid gold like Amu’s tales said, but it was close to it. It’s still beautiful. A stunning phenomenon that neither Anakin nor Zariza believed they would ever get to see.

“They don’t last long,” she finds herself saying.

The Skywalkers turn their heads in unison to look at one another. Matching grins of excitement and mischief form, and without any prompting Zariza is taking off into the rain almost as fast as a blaster bolt, Anakin hot on her heels.

Zariza jumps into an already formed puddle. It’s right next to one of the 501st troopers, Jesse, and it splashes him. Zariza may or may not have used to Froce to make the splash bigger, but that doesn’t exactly matter. Just that there’s a sunshower, that her and her brother are both Free, and there’s a fucking sunshower and it’s amazing!

Jesse lunges at her, wanting to retaliate for getting splashed at, but she slips away easily with loud laughter.

From him, anyway – Anakin catches her a second later with water from a puddle cupped in his hands. He promptly dumps it over her head with laughter of his own, then misses up her hair just for the heck of it.

“Wha– ugh, Anakin!”

“Tag, you’re it!” he shouts, as if they’re eight and twelve again in the Room of a Thousand Fountains instead of sixteen and twenty in the middle of a field post-battle.

Zariza gapes at him, but it quickly turns into grins and she chases after him without a second thought.

It doesn’t take long for Ahsoka to join, or even for the troopers. Within seconds, there’s a large game of tag, troopers splashing in puddles, and almost everyone running in the rain with the sun shining down on them, laughter ringing out into the open and so much Light seeping into the Force that Mace can’t help but shove his Commander into the rain as well.

…Yes, we haven’t had rain in thousands upon thousands of years.

But it is said that one day, when the twin suns shine hotly over Tatooine, that clouds will form once again yet they will not obscure the twins from sight, and a downpour of rain will wash over everyone.

All the slaves will be Free, and Depur will no longer have power over us.

We will have a sunshower once more.

#anakin skywalker #tatooine slave culture #star wars #star wars oc #star wars fanfiction #clone wars oc #mace windu #my writing #oc: zariza #take the fear that i don’t need

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whispersafterdusk · 3 years

Text

Prompt #1: Foster

There were always new and missing faces when Revkr visited home; the Stormforges were known for two things: producing especially skilled craftsmen, and fostering or adopting needy children.

Two faces he'd only seen a handful of times before were both supported in his right arm as he walked at the rear of a small procession; Revkr, along with his mother, two of his sisters, and his youngest brother along with a scattering of their children had descended upon the market to purchase the food needed for a full family gathering tonight (what most would consider a feast tended to be just another evening dinner at the Stormforge house, considering the number of mouths to feed). While everyone else had a basket or bundle of something in their arms Revkr had offered to tote his sister Finia's two youngest for the trek across the city and Finia had gladly handed the boys over and taken a lighter basket of freshly baked bread in their place.

The twins had been born three summers ago and, as elezen tended to be, were tiny compared to their hyur cousins. Eugennoix had his head pillowed against Revkr's shoulder, sound asleep, while his brother Nolanel was fascinated with the clasp that held the warrior’s cloak closed tightly at the neck and often he had to carefully de-tangle the boy's fingers from it before he managed to click it open. The other children - a mix of hyur and elezen, blood and adopted, the same as Revkr's own siblings - milled about, excited that their 'favorite' uncle had come to visit, and it took the full attention of all the adults present to corral the group and keep them on course for home.

"You always do make quite the sight on family outings.” ((Continued below cut))

Distracted as he was with again shooing Nolanel's tiny fingers away from the clasp it took him a moment to first register the voice and its identity, and then to locate where it had come from; there, standing at the foot of a ramp that eventually wound its way up to the Pillars, was one Lord Edmont de Fortemps, whose gaze quickly glanced over the group as a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Revkr had served beneath the Fortemps banner for nearly thirty years before being swept up in the realm’s problems where he’d gone from humble knight to Warrior of Light; while he had unofficially retired from his post there was a part of him that still thought of himself as Ser Stormforge, Fortemps knight, and seeing Edmont prodded at that wistful ache deep inside for those simpler days. He slowed and let his family continue, waving them on, and once the throng had moved out of earshot Edmont approached.

"My Lord. Tis rare to see you by yourself," Revkr said.

Edmont's lips twitched at the title. "Old habits, old friend."

Revkr chuckled; as his main hand was full he offered his left awkwardly, which the Count nonetheless clasped firmly. "Someday the knight in me will retire himself. Until then the formalities will slip out as they will."

Now it was Edmont's turn to chuckle, then he gestured with his head for Revkr to walk with him. "Which of your sisters do these two little ones belong to?"

"Finia. Just turned three this year." Revkr fell in beside him and the two began to stroll away from the market in the general direction his family had just departed in.

"They are quite precious at that age, are they not?"

"I wouldn't really know, I'm so rarely around these days..."

Edmont nodded. "An unfortunate necessity... Would that I could lessen your burdens in any way but I shall consider it a good sign that I happened upon you and yours tonight. There is a matter I was considering and I believe I know the path I should choose."

"Oh? Has something happened?"

They walked a few steps more in silence before Edmont sighed. "You of all people know I strive to take care of those that serve or seek the protection of Fortemps. It so happens that a knight you may recall - Alistaire - was killed recently. He left behind a young daughter and even younger son, both of which I took in as wards of the house to keep them out of the orphanage."

At the name Revkr closed his eyes and took a deep breath -- he'd known the man, of course. The number of hyur who both called Ishgard home AND served Fortemps was very small. Alistaire's wife had barely survived the birth of their daughter, and then had succumbed to bleeding and fever with the son despite the best efforts of the chirugeons. "What of his mother?"

"Passed last spring. The children were staying with family friends but they...lack the space."

Revkr opened his eyes to see Edmont giving him a knowing look. "Ah. And I imagine your wife believes you both too old to be rearing children."

Edmont took in a deep breath through his nose. "I do miss when my sons were young, though I scarcely had time for them then. I would have the time now but there is... There is a question of bonding. Whether they could ever see me as a father, or my wife as their mother. The girl is old enough to remember both her parents, and does not know me as anything other than a lord."

Nolanel took that moment to shove chilly fingers into Revkr's beard and then give it a hard tug; with a grunt (accompanied by a quiet laugh from Edmont) he carefully pulled the hand free. "If you're asking us to take them in instead, we've certainly the room. Five of father's most recent apprentices have since struck out on their own and their quarters are empty. And I know my siblings always stand ready to welcome yet more into their respective households."

Edmont's face took on a look of relief. "I realize I've been remiss in my social calls to your family lately so I pray I am not imposing...but to hear that you still are willing to take in those who need it is heartening."

"It's not imposing - our doors are always open. Stick around long enough and no doubt someone would attempt to adopt even you," Revkr grinned, very lightly nudging the noble with his elbow.

"Now wouldn't that be a sight," Edmont smiled. "May I ask that you arrange a meeting, between myself and whoever would be willing to take the two in?"

"I can, or you can simply follow me home and take care of it now."

"You're certain?"

"I am. My parents certainly wouldn't make YOU of all people wait to speak with them."

Edmont nodded with a faint hum. They were already walking in the correct direction anyway, and a comfortable silence fell between the two as they moved along through the darkened streets of Ishgard. As always the front windows of the house were lit with a warm orange glow, and as he opened the door he nearly collided with Finia.

"THERE you are, I was beginning to wond- oh, goodness, Count Fortemps!" Finia quickly backpedaled to get out of the doorway to allow the two to enter, stepping back toward Revkr long enough to grab Nolanel from his arm. "Welcome, my lord. Please, allow me to show you to the parlor to warm yourself."

"Thank you, my dear," was Edmont's reply as Finia led them from the entryway into a hallway that stretched from the front of the Stormforge residence to the back where it ended in a set of stairs that carried one to the second and third floors.

To their left a great deal of activity could be heard - voices, laughter, the scrape of chairs and sounds of cutlery and plates. Technically only Revkr's parents, Finia along with her husband and four children, and his youngest brother Erik with his wife and two children, lived in the family home with the others having their own dwelling nearby but Halstein and his family had also come to visit this evening so the kitchen and dining hall behind that particular door bustled with the sound of an enormous clan come together to prepare and share a meal. The kitchen, dining hall, and his parents bedroom took up the leftmost side of the bottom floor (his mother couldn’t really handle stairs well anymore) and then the doors on the right-hand side of the hallway opened to the grand parlor and a pair of smaller, more private sitting rooms.

Finia led them to the grand parlor where a fire roared in the hearth and saw them settled into the cushy armchairs before its warmth before hurrying away with a promise of returning for Eugennoix once she had Nolanel settled. Not long after Finia had departed a young hyur woman came in with a tray with wine glasses - four of them, meaning his parents would soon be attending - and a bottle of a deep red wine.

Edmont looked the girl up and down curiously. "Apologies but you are an unfamiliar face - I do not believe I’ve seen you among this house before."

"N-no, my lord. I am only come to the household within the last few months," the girl replied quietly, face flushing. She gently sat the tray down on a small side table and deftly uncorked the bottle. "I mean to study and become a seamstress."

"Ah, I see. Gylda possesses a remarkable skill - you will learn a great deal from her."

The girl smiled and poured the glasses, handing them to the two men before bowing and departing the room. Edmont watched her go, and then turned to Revkr. "How do you manage to keep up with who belongs where?"

"I don't," Revkr answered flatly, then laughed and gently adjusted Eugennoix who still slumbered away on his shoulder. "I am at least finally old enough to be able to claim memory problems with names and faces. When I was able to visit more regularly it was a lot easier."

Finia came back for Eugennoix then; soon after Revkr's parents came in and Edmont had hardly gotten the whole proposal out of his mouth before Meriel had clapped her hands and hurried (well, hobbled) off to go prepare one of the spare rooms. Bayard looked a bit embarrassed at his wife's eagerness but politely excused himself to go assist her, leaving Edmont and Revkr to silently sip at their glasses of wine in the comfort of the fire's glow.

About halfway through his glass Revkr noted that the bustling and activity across the hall seemed to be dying down. "Would you care to stay for dinner?"

Edmont shook his head and delicately returned his glass to the tray. "I must decline, unfortunately, as my own house will no doubt be wondering where I've gotten to. How long will you be in Ishgard? It has...been some time since we've had a moment to simply talk for the sake of catching up."

"That...is anyone's guess," he sighed heavily. "Assuming no metaphorical - or literal - fires spring up, I had intended to stay three days, possibly longer."

The count stood, lightly tapping the end of his walking cane against Revkr's boot. "Then I will cordially invite you to join me for dinner tomorrow evening, if nothing else demands your attention. And if I may impose a bit further, I feel it would do my sons's spirits some good to see you again as well."

"What could they want to hear from this tired old man?"

Edmont shook his head with a smile. "What indeed, Warrior of Light."

Revkr rolled his eyes and stood, placing a friendly hand on the man's shoulder and gesturing for the door. "Go home, Count Fortemps, before your family turns the city upside-down looking for you."

He walked him to the door and then stood to watch as he disappeared from sight down the street. Just as he'd closed the door Finia came sweeping in behind him.

"Ah, I was too late to wish him a good evening. Did he know we set a place at the table for him?"

"He declined as he needed to return home but was grateful all the same, I'm sure."

Finia looped her arm in his and pulled him toward the dining hall. "Well, come along, dear brother. Dinner is ready and you've a table full of children excited to hear about your latest adventures."

Revkr made a face. "I'm not sure they're exactly child-appropriate."

"Then make something up. Come on."

"Did mother mention to you...?"

"She did. We'll be gathering, all of us, to discuss it in the morning, but I'm more than willing to take on the pair... Poor dears."

Most everyone was seated at the tables and waiting for Finia and Revkr to take their seats; if his parents and siblings would be otherwise occupied in the morning then that would give him time to spend with however many nieces, nephews, and fosterlings were about.

In hindsight he probably should have asked Edmont for the children's names...but then again, they would fit right in with the rest of the family so far as he was concerned as he already could barely keep names straight as it was.

#ffxivwrite2021 #ffxivwrite #edmont de fortemps #WoL

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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years

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Miraculous Ladybug/DC - Adoption AU

There seems to be a lot of Miraculous/DC crossover ideas, often with Adrien and/or Marinette getting adopted into the Batfamily.

Here is my take:

So it turns out that apparently Gabriel had family he tries to avoid and altogether pretends don’t exist.

And it turns out the family in question he’s particularly wanting to keep out of his life and away from his family is Harley Quinn.

To be fair, they weren’t close to begin with. Then there was the whole thing with Joker and her stint as a villain. After that, Gabriel cut off all contact and moved to Paris.

Harley gets why. She doesn’t like it, but she gets it. She’s made mistakes and is trying to do better. She understands if Gabriel isn’t feeling all that forgiving or willing to reconnect. And she is fine with that, really.

What she is NOT fine with is discovering Mr. No-fun lost his wife in mysterious circumstances and has responded by not only isolating himself, but his son as well. His son who is a genuinely sweet and wonderful kid, and deserves so much better than being kept trapped in a quiet and lonely old mansion every day.

So she does what any good aunt would do if they’re a psychologist who used to be an underling and abuse victim for a psychotic clown whom she’s recently escaped from, found herself a girlfriend, and is past the point of having kids of her own.

She steals Adrien.

Well, from the mansion at least. Only from there. Not wanting to take him away from what little social life he’s managed to make so far despite Gabriel’s best efforts, Harley has them all stay in Paris. She even buys a nice house in a good district with money that was totally not stolen from Gabriel on her way out *coughcough*. Once set up in the new home, she proceeds to take Adrien there where she can dote on him like proper family and give him some of that affection he’s been so desperate for.

The wax figure of Adrien has been left in his place in the mansion.

Gabriel has yet to notice.

As has anyone else. (They’ve had at least 3 photoshoots so far with just the wax figure.)

Ivy finds the whole thing questionable but comes to see that Adrien is a sweet boy with a desire to do good even if he doesn’t necessarily know how or the best way to do so. She decides she can “raise him right” and mold him into a proper young man who uses his resources to help the environment. So she starts having him do gardening with her.

Adrien is...actually okay with this whole setup. Plus he went from no mom to TWO moms! Who spend time with him! And are involved in his life! And let him see his friends! And he actually gets to leave the house without a bodyguard tailing his every move—which turns out to be because Ivy is able to use her plants to keep an eye on him in a much less obtrusive manner, but eh...details. He’s essentially not-so-reluctantly kidnapped. He COULD escape at any point. He’s Chat Noir after all. But even if he wasn’t, it wasn’t like Ivy and Harley were going out of their way to keep him locked up or anything. The worst they did was give him a curfew—which when comparing a few hours of free time with an expectation to return by a set time vs a set schedule with only one hour of free time maybe worked in somewhere, was hardly something he was going to fight.

The fact is that he’s doing well under their care. Harley shares his sense of humor. Pamela nurtures his creativity. He gets support and encouragement to be more assertive. They actually WANT to talk to him and hear about his day. They WANT to be affectionate with him and have dinners together. And he just soaks up their attention and affection like a sponge and responds in kind.

Under their care, Adrien changes a bit. He speaks out more and makes it known when he’s unhappy or uncomfortable with something. He does not let people just touch him when he’s uncomfortable. If anything, he’s doing more touching and initiating conversations without fear of appearances. Nino gets bro hugs. Kim gets bro hugs. All the guys in class get bro hugs. Marinette also gets bro hugs—though he doesn’t hug her for too long since she seems to overheat easily.

Adrien is really enjoying this.

Even better, his moms somehow get jobs in the area.

Pamela either becomes a biology teacher at the school or opens a nursery. If she does open a nursery, Marinette becomes a regular customer on principle. She and Ivy bond. They trade gardening tips. Marinette is surprisingly helpful in keeping pests away from her plants for reasons Ivy doesn’t quite know. All around, Paris suddenly starts becoming a bit more green…and without the eco-terrorism. It helps that Adrien’s social media starts featuring him planting trees and taking care of plants, which is encouraging other people to follow suit.

Harleen becomes a school counselor. At Adrien’s school. Where she takes full advantage of the opportunity to embarrass him in full “overly affectionate mom” mode. Adrien is too happy to be embarrassed. Anyone who actually ends up laughing at him comes to regret it when Harley picks apart their psychological issues.

The new moms evaluate his friends.

Nino passes. Flat out. He got akumatized trying to throw their boy a birthday party? He also arranged an impromptu house party for Adrien the one chance he got? YES. THIS is someone he needs in his life!

Alya gives them concern given her Lois Lane levels of getting into trouble mixed with sheer lack of self preservation. Her tendency to jump into matters and reveal things or trust things without thinking also has them concerned.

Chloe has potential, but needs a good few months of therapy as far as they’re concerned.

Lila is banned from coming within ten feet of Adrien. It would have been fifty, but Adrien refused to take a killer plant that big and risk anyone thinking it’s an akuma.

Marinette passes after they have a sit down talk with her to get to know her better. Harley notes her anxiety issues and helps her to be able to avoid panicking. Ivy likes Marinette’s energy, and her garden is impressive. She gives her approval of Marinette courting their son.

Marinette: Wait—what?

And because they’re actually good moms, they figure out fairly quickly that their new son is the leather-suited catboy running around protecting Paris.

Harley: HOW DO PEOPLE NOT KNOW THIS?!

Adrien: Magic?

They have a bit of difficulty for the next few fights with the rather overprotective mothers trying to interfere in akuma fights, causing more confusion than anything until Adrien asks them to stop. They don’t, of course, but they at least let him try to handle things.

All in all, they make for a nice little family.

But there’s only so much two moms can do. And with Gabriel pretty much not involved, they’re limited in options. So after a while, they decide that Adrien needs a good father figure.

Adrien: But I have a father...

Harley: I said a GOOD father figure.

But who to choose?

Bats? “Oh god, no! Why would you inflict that level of broodiness in our child?”

Joker? “Sure! The best way to teach him important life skills is to have someone to test them on as an example. Like the best weak points! And the effects of blood loss! And how to hide a body!” “We could just use Gabriel for that and save on travel time!”

Superman? “The world isn’t ready.”

They finally come to a decision.

Which is how Nightwing finds himself tied up and dragged off to Paris to be made part of this weird little makeshift family.

Pamela: Why him?

Harley: He got the killer Robin from ‘murdery’ to some semblance of being an actual semi-healthy child with only some violent tendencies. He’d make a good father figure!

Pamela: But wasn’t that an alternate timeline—

Harley: A GOOD father figure.

Pamela: ...fine.

Nightwing: Wait—what?

Naturally, he’s confused. He tries to contact Batman to let him know what’s going on and what Ivy and Harley are up to because they’re in Paris for some odd reason and they have a kid he’s pretty sure isn’t theirs. Batman, on the other hand, is more concerned with all the crazy magic shenanigans in Paris that the League somehow doesn't know about and can’t get any accurate information on. So he pretty much tells Nightwing to stay with them since he’s already there and they have room for him anyway so it’ll be easier.

Nightwing: I'm telling you, they've captured me, dragged me off to Paris, and they have this little house with a kid—

Batman: Good, then you have a place to stay while you investigate the anomalies in Paris.

Nightwing: Bruce, I don't think you're hearing me...

Adrien: (Just pats him on the arm sympathetically)

Harley: (Hugs Nightwing) Looks like we've got Batdaddy's approval! You're part of the family now!

Nightwing: I will do whatever you want. Just don't call him that again.

To be fair, it is Batman, so he probably knows Harley and Ivy aren’t an issue at this point, but still!

…At least he gets his own room…

Nightwing isn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he knows he shouldn’t be encouraging this. On the other hand, Harley and Ivy aren’t actually doing anything bad. And if anything, taking care of the kid has been good for them. Plus the kid seems happy with them, at least. It’s...weird, certainly, but he goes along with it. (Read: He folds to the kitten eyes.)

Then he finds out said kid is a superhero in a city regularly attacked by a supervillain who transforms and controls people by manipulating their emotions—which the League somehow has not been aware of despite it happening in PARIS.

Needless to say, he isn’t pleased.

I'm just imaging Dick Grayson interacting with other adult figures in Paris. And really, just Dick's response to everything in Paris and how things are being handled.

"So...you're telling me no one has tried to track down where the magic butterflies are coming from?"

"Um..."

"The governmental body hasn't initiated any policies to try to prevent akumas?"

"Well..."

"Set up an alert and evacuation system so people know where to go or not go?"

“…”

“Do I want to know what you people actually do in case of an emergency?”

“Probably not.”

Much like Ivy and Harley, he gets a day job to help out. There are two potential options for him.

He becomes a teacher at the school and takes over running gym class, which he uses to keep the kids in shape, teach them self defense, and help them work out some of their tension and emotions through physical activities and a good listening ear. His interactions with the kids would be something to see. Even better for his interactions with Damocles and Bustier. Because no, the events of the Ladybug episode would NOT have happened if he was there.

Lila: (Sobs) Ow! Ow! The pain! How could Marinette do this to me?

Dick: I’m not seeing any injuries.

Lila: I don’t bruise easily. They just haven’t appeared yet.

Dick: Even so, there are no abrasions. No swelling. No indications of a broken bone or sprain. Not even any marks to show where you fell.

Lila: It’s internal!

Dick: Then you need to go to a hospital to be checked out and have the extent of your injuries noted.

Lila: I wouldn’t go that far—

Dick: And your mother will be contacted and told to meet us there.

Lila: Well—

Dick: And of course we’ll be holding off on any punishment until we have a list of your injuries and a thorough investigation is completed.

Lila: But—

Dick: And just to keep you safe, I’ll be staying with you the whole time. We wouldn’t want anymore “accidents”.

Lila: ….Dammit.

He joins the police force. Just for shenanigans in his interactions with Roger. Maybe helping the force to be more effective so they can actually HELP during akuma fights instead of simply serving as a temporary distraction.

Either way, he’s a positive role model for Adrien. The three of them working together help Adrien to maintain a positive and altogether healthier state. They give him more jokes and puns to work with—because that has long since been Nightwing’s area of expertise. They give him advice in wooing his lady love. They address the “just a friend” issue. They teach him self defense and helpful fighting techniques. They curb the “self-sacrificing” tendency he’s developed. They encourage him in his goals and self discovery now that he has the freedom to actually try.

Despite the weirdness of the situation, Adrien is actually happier than he has been in a long while.

Which is made ever more clear at a particular moment when he’s leaving for school one morning.

“Bye, Mom! Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!”

Harley sniffles and wipes a tear with a tissue she pulled out of her sleeve. “It feels like just yesterday that I stole him away from the mansion.”

“Then what does that make your kidnapping me?” Dick asked, sardonically. “This morning?”

“Don’t act like you’re not proud.” Ivy snarked.

Oh, he was. Immensely so. But of course he wasn’t going to admit it and give them the satisfaction.

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dianapocalypse · 3 years

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Kieran Shepard - Character Profile

(Systems Alliance vector by Deviantart User Karlika)

I got extremely carried away so let’s go under the cut

this only goes thru about the halfway point of Mass Effect 2 right now because I’m still working thru the game! I’ll update it when I’m done with ME2 and after ME3 probably.

Pre-Mass Effect 1

Kieran Shepard was born on Earth and grew up in the slums of Chicago. She was shuffled around various foster and group homes for her childhood, and the only sense of stability she knew was in the gang she was recruited to at a young age, the Tenth Street Reds. She was part of the "Clubs" suit of the organization, specializing in hitting hard and fast. She was outfitted with her biotic amps by the gang to make her more effective in close quarters combat. She grew up very distrustful of law enforcement and authority in general.

After a job went south when she was 16 and she ended up tied up in a homicide, she was given the option by the courts to go to prison or go to an 'alternative education' school funded by the Systems Alliance. It was her first taste of structure outside of the gang life, and she adapted to it better than expected, eventually falling in line with the Alliance’s way of doing things despite her initial resistance to trusting the authority of a large military organization. Upon her graduation at 18, she joined the Alliance military. She served under Captain Anderson on the SSV Tokyo, and was one of the Alliance marines on leave when the Skyllian Blitz hit Elysium. Leading the charge to defend the colony and using her years of experience of fighting dirty and coordinating disparate people in the Tenth Street Reds, coupled with her military education, she and the colonists beat back the invaders and she was awarded the Star of Terra.

After this point, Kieran’s dedication to being the Perfect Alliance Soldier intensified; there were eyes on her now, and expectations to meet. The impostor syndrome began setting in. She fought back against it by overworking herself to be better than the best, taking even the slightest mistakes as evidence she was worthless and going to be discovered as the fraud she was. This only got worse when Captain Anderson hand picked her to be his XO on the SSV Normandy.

Kieran kept a fairly stiff outward appearance and did her best to emulate Captain Anderson, thinking this was what was expected of her. Despite this, she, Jenkins and Joker managed to develop a sibling-like banter while the Normandy was being prepped for its first mission.

Mass Effect 1

Eden Prime was her first mission officially having a command, Elysium having taken place before she was promoted. Losing Jenkins so quickly was terrifying, proof that she wasn’t fit to be here. But, no time for that, she carried out the mission, recruited Ashley, was sucked into the Beacon, etc. No one seemed to blame her for Jenkins’ death, which only served to make her feel more fraudulent. Like now that she had authority, there was also a lack of appropriate consequences. Her old disdain for authority tried to breach above the water, but she forced it back down. She found some solace in Kaidan’s logical, clinical way of explaining things, including Jenkins’ death; it helped the Subjective feel more Objective, and she came to trust his opinions.

The Council’s reaction to Saren was, as it is for all Shepards, infuriating. Again, her old reasons for distrusting authority had one more ‘point’ in their corner. Still, she did her best to stay in line, to be the Soldier she needed to be, and eventually to be the Spectre she needed to be. Losing Captain Anderson to politics, though, shook her. Before, she had at least someone higher than her on the food chain to turn to when she was in over her head. Now, she was on her own.

She came to lean more heavily on Kaidan’s advice during this time, and on Joker for levity. She didn’t take well to Garrus; his history as a cop and constant complaints that red tape kept him from getting justice done ‘his way’ smacked of crooked cops on Earth. Still, when they clashed, he tended to back down and consider what she said. She enjoyed Wrex’s company, though, his old war stories reminding her of the senior members of her gang on Earth. She also enjoyed her talks with Ashley and Tali, the former because of her candor-- Kieran could at least be sure Ash was always honest with her--and Tali because she was the only person on board who seemed as out of place as Kieran felt. Plus, Tali’s a delight, who wouldn’t like her? She was fairly ambivalent to Liara, not sure if she viewed her as more of an extension of her Prothean research as a person, and they had their fair share of awkward conversations, but there’s no malice there.

Kieran’s next Major Event takes place on the Citadel, when a member of the Tenth Street Reds tries to blackmail her into using her newfound power and influence to release one of their own from prison. In the time since she left, they became an even more outwardly xenophobic organization, which rubs her the wrong way. Doing her best to be a Model Soldier, she immediately reports him to C-Sec, leading to a confrontation. In the heat of the moment, Kieran panicks. Her past is a matter of public record, but she can’t have him dragging her thru the mud, spreading lies, hurting her reputation and the Alliance’s. Her position is too precarious. They’ll find out that she’s a fraud, even if he’s lying. She shoots him, intending it as a warning, but killing him on the spot instead. (I wrote more about this here when I played that part of the game!) The Turian cop is impressed. Kieran is horrified, both by her actions, and by the cop’s approval of her killing him in cold blood. She returns to the Normandy and throws up.

I’m fudging the canonical timeline a little bit here, but I think this event is what leads into Kaidan telling Kieran the story of how he killed the Turian ‘teacher’ on Jump Zero as a way of helping her contextualize what just happened. They Bond. The rest of the game unfolds without too many more Major Character Moments that are unique to Kieran versus All Shepards. Wrex survives Virmire, Ashley doesn’t. Ash becomes the second to die under her command, the first to die as the result of an explicit choice she made to save the man she has feelings for. The guilt threatens to rip her in half, but we have a galaxy to save, so she does. She manages to talk Saren into realizing he is indoctrinated, but it’s too late for him. She leaves the council to die on the Destiny Ascension, not willing to risk losing firepower to use against the Reaper, and is infuriated when the political spin on the story becomes that she was ‘protecting human interests over galactic ones’. She does not understand why the lives of three politicians should outweigh thousands of soldiers or millions of civilians on the Citadel, and she never will.

Having never trusted Udina, Kieran nominates Captain Anderson to lead the new council. She spends the ensuing months cleaning up pockets of geth resistance with the Normandy crew before getting spaced by the Collectors, as all Shepards do from time to time.

Mass Effect 2

Kieran wakes up in a Cerberus facility and is horrified. She ran into Cerberus plenty in Mass Effect 1, and her impression of them is bad to say the least. After fighting her way through the facility under siege and being horrified by Miranda’s actions killing Wilson, she heads to Freedom’s Progress, all the while trying to figure out a way to get out of this, even tho she suspects The Illusive Man’s statements that she’s free to do as she pleases to be lies. No one invests that much without expecting returns, or demanding them. Her only solace is in Joker, who at least seems not to have changed much, and Dr. Chakwas. She tries to communicate to Tali on Freedom’s Progress that she doesn’t want to be here, tries to get her to come along for the mission, but at least for now, she can’t. She goes to Captain Anderson on the Citadel to try to bring the mission to the Alliance, the Council, anything to get away from Cerberus, but he cannot help her. Her old crew is unavailable, Kaidan’s location is classified, she can’t get messages out to any of her old crew without risking Cerberus reading them and someone has to stop the Collectors.

Even though the two had never been close, she is elated to see Garrus on Omega, in as bad shape as he is. At least he’s a familiar face and someone who doesn’t trust Cerberus. She bonds with Zaeed for similar reasons to Wrex; she likes his old war stories and he reminds her of the people she grew up with. And, he doesn’t treat her any differently because of her status. She’s still guarded around Jacob and Miranda, she doesn’t trust EDI, and she immediately gives Jack access to all of Cerberus’s files. The two don’t exactly get along, but they at least have hating Cerberus and their colorful backgrounds in common. Grunt at least is easy to understand for her; prove you’re strong, and he’ll respect you. Good enough for now.

Horizon hits Kieran like a truck. Seeing the Collectors in action is traumatizing enough; then she sees Kaidan, who she’s been wanting to talk to since she woke up, who she hoped would understand that she’s trapped, and he lays into her for a situation she feels she cannot control. He says she betrayed the Alliance, betrayed him, wonders if their relationship meant anything to her. She’s stunned. Until this point, the fact that she was gone for two years never really felt real, never sunk in. But now it’s undeniable. It’s changed her, it’s changed the people she cares about, and she feels like she truly lost everything. Even after getting his follow up email (which I highly recommend listening to the voice actor read), Kieran’s mental health is in shambles. It’s not enough to undo her self doubt spiral. He thinks she’s a bad guy now? That she’s a traitor? Fine. No point in fighting it, then. (To be clear, I personally don’t blame Kaidan at all for Horizon, nor Shepard, it’s just a shit situation, but Kieran’s self esteem is SHOT)

Kieran starts getting reckless in the ensuing missions. She starts taking a lot more renegade actions, in a gameplay sense, things she would never have done when she was trying to be the Perfect Soldier. Now, everyone already thinks she’s out of control, and she falls back into old habits. If everyone already thinks you’re bad, it’s easier to just become what they say you are.

I’ve only done Miranda’s loyalty mission so far, and the first exception to her current downward spiral into Renegade is Niket. His logic reminds her of Kaidan, as does how Miranda describes their friendship; she tells Miranda not to shoot, has a brief moment of clarity that oh, yeah, killing someone you were friends with is traumatizing, probably. Don’t do that. She and Miranda bonded a bit over that mission, I think; she still doesn’t like Cerberus, but she likes Miranda, and I think that counts for a lot for her.

That’s as far as I am in the game at the moment! Her current attitudes to the rest of the crew are: Jacob she is indifferent to but respects his honesty; she doesn’t like or trust Mordin due to his treatment of the Krogan and the sense of racial superiority over the Krogan; she likes Kelly and the engineers fine; she has a respect for Jack even if Jack doesn’t like her; she likes Garrus more now that he’s not so into his “justice by any means necessary” bit but we’ll see how his loyalty mission goes; she likes Kasumi; she is really glad to have Tali back, esp because she’s SO OUTWARDLY HOSTILE TO CERBERUS and it’s great; she likes Grunt and views Zaeed as kind of a fucked up father figure; she likes and trusts Chakwas and Joker; jury is still out on Thane but she at least can see he does his job well; and she CANNOT STAND SAMARA. Might end up going with Morinth on this playthru!

If you made it this far, holy shit, why???? Also thank you!!

#mass effect #mass effect legendary edition #commander shepard #femshep #kieran shepard tag #diana draws sometimes

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ts-unpopular-opinions · 4 years

Text

Side Tracks opinions part 2: Virgil

(Here we go again! I think I may have less to say about Virgil’s than Janus’, so I’ll try to make this one shorter)

1) Sunrise, Sunset: This ones about Virgil when he was with the darksides. Virgil is beginning to get tired of his life as a darkside and the monotony of it (“sunrise, sunset, swiftly go the days. Sunrise, sunset you wake up then you undress, it always is the same”). He feels like something is changing in him, but doubts that he will ever be able to escape the routine that he’s been living in for so long (“Because you've changed, Yeah, you've changed” “from a cradle to a casket, there is no way to escape” “The sunrise, the sunsets, you're hopeful and then you regret, the circle never breaks”).

2) Let’s Kill Tonight: Some of Virgil songs can be very vague and it can be hard to pinpoint who the song is focused toward (this is one of them). My interpretation of the song is that this takes place during Virgil’s first appearance with the light sides (“Make room we're taking over here” “Show them all you're not the ordinary type”) Perhaps the dark sides were aware of Virgil leaving and so Virgil’s initial view of the light sides was a bit more spiteful and angry than we thought. With this interpretation I like to assume that it was Janus’ plan to let Virgil out, perhaps in an attempt to get all the dark sides accepted, but it backfired when Virgil realized that the light sides weren’t as bad as he was raised to believe.

3) Sally’s Song: After the last song, this song shows Virgil’s realization that perhaps he does want to be with the light sides. He really cares about Thomas and wants to be with him, but he’s worried about whether or not he’ll be helpful and worthy (“And though I'd like to stand by him, Can't shake this feeling that I have” “And will he see? How much he means to me. I think it's not to be” “All though I'd like to join the crowd, In their enthusiastic loud. Try as I may It doesn't last”)

4) It Ends Tonight: Virgil is starting to be accepted, woot woot (“When darkness turns to light, It ends tonight, it ends tonight” “A weight is lifted on this evening”). Virgil seems to start to feel a lot of anger towards the other dark sides at this point. He feels as if he’s been tricked by them and that Thomas needed him all along (“A falling star, at least I fall alone”). He’s now showing anger and frustration towards the dark sides that really hasn’t been prevalent in the playlist up until this point. I think he’s realized that they’ve either been using him, lying to him, or fooling him (“I look at you with such disdain” “Now I'm on my own side, It's better than being on your side”).

5) I’d Hate to be You When People find out What this Song is About: Now that Virgil is with the light sides, he’s worried that he may not be good enough or helpful enough for Thomas (“Well, I'm thinking of the worst things That I could say to you” “But I'm tongue tied and terrified of what I'll say” And I'm sorry that this wasn't easy, When I asked you believe me” “I could only sing you sad songs”). He’s so worried about hurting Thomas because of his dark side origins that he doesnt understand why Thomas is trying so hard to accept him (“You never let go, But I let go”). He also refrains from telling Thomas about his true past probably out of fear or worry that Thomas won’t want him anymore (“But I never told you everything, I'm losing hope and fading dreams”).

6) A Decade under the Influence: Virgil is anxious™️. Despite how worried he is about his ability to help Thomas, he knows that he has to try and that he has to protect Thomas from the other dark sides (“Well, I've got a bad feeling about this, I've got a bad feeling about this” “To hell with you and all your friends, To hell with you and all your friends” “I’m a nervous wreck”).

7) Thnks fr th Mmrs: HUGE, SASSY middle finger to Janus. Honestly, thats it. Virgil has been fully accepted by Thomas and the light side gang and he is LOVING it. This song is just Virgil rubbing it in Janus’ face how much better off he is without him and the dark sides (“Who does he think he is?” “Thanks for the memories even though they weren't so great”). He also flaunts the fact that Patton is a much better parent/authority figure than Janus ever was (“He tastes like you, only sweeter”).

8) Be Calm: This ones cuteeeee. Virgil has been with the light sides for some time now and has begun to understand that he can be helpful to thomas (“As I walk through the streets of my new city, My back feeling much better, I suppose”). The entire song just feels like Virgil helping Thomas through an anxiety attack or some panic of sorts. He relates to Thomas on the feeling and tries his best to help him relax (“I close my eyes, I tell myself to breathe” “And be calm. Be calm. I know you feel like you are breaking down. Oh I know that it gets so hard sometimes. Be calm.” “Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times.” “You hate your pulse because it thinks you're still alive” “It just gets so hard sometimes”). Theyre starting to bond and finally understand each other and that is just super sweet 💜💜💜.

9) I’m not Okay (I Promise): Honestly... I’m not super sure about this one. It’s another vague one as to who it is aimed toward, but I’m just gonna assume it’s either Thomas or Patton. Virgil is feeling like he isn’t being listened to and needs to be taken more seriously (“I never want to let you down or have you go” “I told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means” “I held you close as we both shook for the last time” “You said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed” “But you really need to listen to me, Because I'm telling you the truth”).

10) Imaginary: Despite now being a light side, Virgil still worries about the darker sides that are hidden within Thomas (“In my field of paper flowers And candy clouds of lullaby. I lie inside myself for hours And watch my purple sky fly over me”). He knows that they will try to get out at any moment and may be harmful to Thomas, so he has to keep his guard up. (“Don't say I'm out of touch, With this rampant chaos your reality” “I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge” “Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming, Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights”).

11) Soft Shock: Oof guys... I really, really don’t know here. This song is SO romantic that it’s hard to even imagine why it’s on Virgil’s playlist to begin with. There is also a vague “you” referenced like in most of Virgil’s songs and I frankly have no clue who it’s supposed to be. I’ll just list some lines that I think are important and maybe you all could help me figure it out. “Well it's a shock, shock to your soft side” “Summer moon (this is like a period of summer where its very warm and things are in bloom)” “Better, back together” “Catch your shut eyes in my room”.

12) The Good that Won’t Come out: Virgil is still worried about his dark past and how that will affect the others and Thomas. He knows that he needs to tell Thomas, but he’s worried that if he does, Thomas will only be able to see the bad things that Virgil brings with him (“I do this thing where I think I'm real sick, But I won't go to the doctor to find out about it 'Cause they make you stay real still in a real small space As they chart up your insides and put them on display. They'd see all of it, all of me, all of it” “All of the good that won't come out of me And all the stupid lies I hide behind. It's such a big mistake, Lying here in your warm embrace”). He finishes the song out by comparing himself to his past, dark side friends (“Let's talk about all our friends who lost the war” “It's all of the good that won't come out of them And all the stupid lies they hide behind”).

13) Sick Sad World: Again... I’m sorry guys but this song doesn’t seem that deep to me (at least nothing stood out. Basically, all I got is that Virgil knows he makes a lot of mistakes, but he does his best to fix them (“My head's a permanent mess And I can't think for the stress” “I close my eyes and pretend That the ground beneath me has disappeared” “Rewind and overwrite, Hope life begins at twenty-nine”). Virgil also still seems to think that he isn’t being listened to enough and that he isn’t helping as much as he wants to with the light sides (“So what, is this is as good as it gets?” “So won't you let me in”).

14) Ignorance: Another Janus song! Whose shocked? Anyone? Yeah, me neither 😂. But this one is SUPER interesting as it gives us some insight into what Janus and Virgil’s relationship was like before Virgil left. The two seemed to be very close and perhaps had similar pessimistic views on the world (“Yeah, the friends who stuck together. We wrote our names in blood”). Virgil knows that the change in him was for the better and he wants Janus to realize this too, but he isnt about to feel bad for Janus if he refuses to see the truth (“But I guess you can't accept that the change is good” “If I'm a bad person, you don't like me, Well, I guess I'll make my own way” “This is the best thing that could have happened. Any longer and I wouldn't have made it. It's not a war, no, it's not a rapture. I'm just a person, but you can't take it” “The same tricks that, that once fooled me, They won't get you anywhere. I'm not the same kid from your memory, Well, now I can fend for myself”). Now, a line that I’m sure people will see as confirmation of Ignorance being the next side, has a different meaning to me: “Ignorance is your new best friend”. To me, this proves that Ignorance is a part of Janus. Virgil believes that Janus will be stuck in the dark forever because he is ignorant to what the real world brings. Janus is so stuck in his hatred for society and his lack of trust for others that he ignores information that could prove his thoughts wrong. That is ignorance at it’s core, and Janus is being intentionally ignorant to the fact that Virgil becoming a light side was a good thing.

15) The Ice is Getting Thinner: Another song that solidifies that Virgil and Janus were actually friends at one point (“We're not the same, dear, as we used to be. The seasons have changed and so have we”). Virgil knew that him and Janus were growing apart back when he split from the dark sides and he knew it was for the better, but it still hurt him (“There was little we could say, and even less we could do, To stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you” “And it saddens me to say, But we both know, well, it's true. That the ice was getting thinner Under me and you”). This perhaps shows that the ill-will between the two is not really due to Virgil hating Janus, but instead a sort of broken heart dynamic. Virgil knew he needed to leave, but Janus may not have been ready and may not have understood why someone he cared so much for would just leave him for the others.

16) Overkill: This one seems fairly straight forward to me. Virgil is scared of the dark sides and the implications their acceptance may have for Thomas. He can feel them lurking close by and is on edge because of it. He wants to protect Thomas from them, but at the same time thinks that he may be overreacting (“I can't get to sleep. I think about the implications” “Especially at night. I worry over situations. I know we'll be alright. Perhaps it's just imagination” “Day after day it reappears. Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear. Ghosts appear and fade away” “Especially at night I worry over situations that I know will be alright. It's just overkill.”

17) Under pressure: This ones a bit hard to decipher, but I’ve got an idea. Virgil really respects and values Patton as one of Thomas’ sides, but the other dark sides seem to disagree. Virgil wishes that they would be able to see Patton in the same way that he does and perhaps then they would be accepted by Thomas (“Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out!"” “Can't we give ourselves one more chance?” “Why can't we give love that one more chance?”). Basically, I think the reason that Virgil was accepted by the light sides was because he understood Patton (love and feelings) and what he means to Thomas. Janus has now shown after being accepted that this could be the case (seeing as he was accepted only when Patton accepted him, the other sides didnt really play a part).

18) Everything is Alright: When reading my thoughts on this song, keep in mind that it is connected to the next song. Virgil basically is very anxious about menial things in life that he shouldn’t be anxious about (“Because I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes, Talking with strangers, waiting in line..”). Virgil doesn’t feel like things are okay and he doesn’t feel safe, but he asks the person in the song to tell him that everything is okay anyways. Now a while back, I remembered Joan mentioning in a livestream that Janus would be the one to lie to Thomas about things being alright even when they’re not, so this got me thinking. Perhaps Janus and Virgil got along so well in the past because Janus would lie to Virgil whenever he was having a panic attack in order to calm him down. Virgil may have found comfort in this as lying to himself may have been the only way to escape his episodes (“‘Someday you'll be fine..’ Yes, I'll be just fine.” “Tell me that you're alright, everything is alright. Please tell me that you're alright, everything is alright.”). Idk It just feels like Janus trying to calm Virgil down to me.

19) The Middle: (remember how I said this was connected to the above song? Yep, keep that in mind) So right after the last song, this song began to play and at first I thought the two songs were basically about the same thing. Virgil is anxious and needs reassured that things are okay. This song seemed to have a different tone though. The speaker is reassuring Virgil, but in a different way. They’re not lying to Virgil and telling him just what he wants to hear, but they are feeling with Virgil and comforting Virgil with truth and honesty (“Hey, don't write yourself off yet. It's only in your head, you feel left out” “Don't you worry what they tell themselves When you're away.” “It just takes some time, Little girl you're in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright.” “You know you're doin' better on your own” “Live right now, just be yourself. It doesn't matter if it's good enough For someone else.” “Don't worry what their bitter hearts Are gonna say”) That’s right. This song is about Patton doing the exact same thing that Janus once did for Virgil only better. Not only that, but he’s reassuring Virgil about his worries regarding the dark sides. That must sting for Janus...

20) Vindicated: I think this song takes place right after Virgil confessed his past to Thomas. He’s scared that Thomas will reject him, but he explains that he’s trying his best to be better for Thomas despite the many flaws he may have (“I am selfish I am wrong. I am right, I swear I'm right. Swear I knew it all along And I am flawed, but I am cleaing up so well”). Despite his fear of rejection he has hope that Thomas will accept him as he’s begun to see things in himself that someone (probably Patton) has seen all along (“Hope dangles on a string, Like slow-spinning redemption” “I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself”).

(And there you have it guys! I realize this one is probably just as long as the last one, so I’m sorry about that 😂. Please let me know your thoughts 💜)

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #ts sanders sides #ts unpopular opinions #ts virgil #virgil sanders #virgil playlist #ts side tracks #side tracks #sanders sides tracks #long post #ts sidetracks

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funkzpiel · 4 years

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How To Care For Your Witcher: Cat Eyes

Hello, dearest reader. If you have found this then you, like I, must be in the habit of sharing your Path with a witcher. It is my pleasure to share with you what findings I have made during my journeys with my own witcher. May the knowledge gleaned from my struggles spare you in the coming days from the sheer stupidity you are about to experience. Because witchers, as masterfully trained and clever as they are, utterly lack any capacity for self-interest. They were trained to hunt, to kill – to be a perfect solitary predator. However, their training has one very distinct hole…

And so, I wrote this book.

When it comes to caring for one’s witcher, it must be first and foremost noted with the utmost urgency that witchers, the bloody fools that they are, do not communicate. That means many a one-sided conversation is ahead of you, dear reader, but furthermore, it means simply this: do not trust your witcher to tell you he is hurting.

He won’t.

Jaskier was no stranger to the very wide, very strange collection of potions and decoctions that witchers carried on them at any given time. Things that helped them hold their breath underwater past human comprehension or limitations. Tonics that made their blood poisonous to creatures that might bite them. Potions that helped them heal quickly and others that gave them energy or made them immune to noxious gases. Witchers were nothing if not highly prepared for nearly any situation.

But that did not mean they were infallible. And it did not mean that their potions and decoctions came without a price. Jaskier just wished he had known that before Geralt had driven himself to such a sorry state.

It had started off benignly enough. Geralt had taken two of his famous potions – although, like usual, he did not precisely narrate to Jaskier which ones. Squinting in the shade of the cave’s mouth despite the kindness of its shelter from the sun, he told Jaskier to stay put and disappeared inside the earth’s yawning maw, slipping away into the darkness. He was hunting a poisonous toad, based off the stories from the villagers. A thing roughly two and half stories tall, going off their tales – which meant it was likely only one story tall. But one story was more than enough toad-mass to crush a man. It was a toxic thing. It breathed dangerous green fumes and made a bed in noxious plants that were constantly releasing a steady spew of poisonous fog into the creature’s den. Jaskier assumed that one of the potions had been to combat that, of course, though he was still unsure of the other.

It also meant that Jaskier – all too human and unable to safely consume a witcher’s potions – really had no choice but to wait. Geralt had originally insisted he stay at the inn. But where was the adventure, the story, in that? What if Geralt forgot something! No, best to be there while it was still fresh in case Geralt forgot. For the story, of course. No ulterior motives at all.

Jaskier had paced the cave idly for two or so hours. He’d take a few steps into the darker stretch of the cave, listening as hard as he could, before pulling back again. He babbled anxious nonsense to Daisy and Roach, both who merely snuffled at him appeasingly. Over and over, until finally his witcher emerged covered in goo and dragging an oozing toad head behind him. Jaskier nearly rushed to him before stumbling to a halt at a brusque gesture from the pale haired man.

“Still noxious,” he said bluntly, “Wait.” Before dragging the head off in the direction of the river, face screwed up into an unpleasant twist, as far as witcher expressions go.

Jaskier was grateful, he supposed. The man certainly smelled noxiously, covered in guts and who knew what else. It was another hour before Geralt returned to him and the horses looking impressively cleaner for a man who had once returned to a bar slathered in creature guts from head to toe. It was… unlike him. He carried the head in a burlap bag now, the thing trailing the occasional clump of dirt or herbs or muddied ooze now and then. Geralt had explained it made the head safe to travel with for Roach and Daisy. Which meant for Jaskier too, of course, the emotionally constipated stick in the mud. But Geralt could have just as easily insisted Jaskier simply find his own way home, the road too dangerous to travel with Geralt and his poisonous toad head, so Jaskier took that for the olive branch of compassion that it was, even if it went unsaid.

He hadn’t noticed the way Geralt still squinted so obviously despite the overcast day or the way he kept his gaze distinctly downward away from the bright blue of the sky or the glare of the sun. He missed how large his pupils were, how they didn’t contract as they should – too high off the possibility of a new story and Geralt’s safe return.

Jaskier had blathered on as they begun their journey back to the village alderman, of course. He asked questions about the creature, about Geralt’s fight. What had the cave looked like? Had it been damp and sickly? Dark like the deepest paths to hell? Did it smell of sulfur or rich, wet earthiness? Geralt never answered, but then again Geralt rarely humored his questioning for finer details. He had offered up the basics though – in as few words as possible – poisonous toad, slick floors and moss everywhere. No bites, no dramatic wounds. Toad’s dead, nothing more to it.

It wasn’t until they were nearly halfway back to the village that Geralt began to show any true symptoms worth noticing. He was sweating, for starters, and pale as a sheet – and yet the day itself was brisk and pleasant. He kept snorting softly, like a dog trying to clear a scent from its nose, and occasionally he’d sneeze dryly – which just made the witcher wince something unpleasant. That was finally enough to make Jaskier comment and look closer.

“Geralt, are you feeling alright?” Jaskier asked.

Geralt had grunted, but the sound was soft by comparison to normal. As if Geralt was loath to make much more sound than a gruff whisper. Jaskier drew his horse to a stop beside Roach, their flanks brushing, and offered a hand to Roach’s long neck to steady her to a stop beside him as well. The fact that Geralt let him without so much as a word was more than a little worrisome. The witcher just furrowed his brow, mouth a taut line as he kept his eyes down on Roach’s neck.

“Geralt,” Jaskier said plainly, dipping his face to try and catch Geralt’s stubbornly averted eyes. “We’ve talked about this. Use your words, where does it hurt?”

It was a barb. A somewhat mean one at that, but Jaskier was scared, and unfortunately his silver tongue had a terrible way of getting ahead of him when he was scared. Geralt bared his teeth at him, a flinch caught sharp and tight in the muscles around his eyes and in the taut stretch of his cheeks.

“Jaskier,” Geralt warned, but his hands were shaking. He wasn’t leaving, wasn’t forcing Jaskier away. Which meant only one thing for a witcher as deadest on never admitting his weaknesses as Geralt: he couldn’t leave.

“Geralt, I can’t help if you don’t—”

“—I don’t need your help, I need you to move,” Geralt snapped, each word as vibrant as the bared fangs of a snarling wolf, cornered and agitated. Geralt turned to glare at him then, more out of habit than anything, and that was when Jaskier finally noticed the explosive width of Geralt’s pupils, the way they didn’t quite land on his face, but rather slightly over his shoulder. They left the thinnest ring of amber around them, flooding the man’s eyes with light, making him squint – and no doubt unable to see much of anything. He had been trusting Roach to stay on the path, then. And he had been trusting Jaskier to redirect her instinctively if she strayed. What with the time the two of them had spent together, Roach and Daisy had bonded in that way working animals sometimes did – keen to follow one another if there was no lead from their rider. He realized now that Geralt’s hands were largely on his pommel, reins loose in the tangle of his trembling fingers. He had been struggling to stay in his seat, deferring their journey’s navigation to Jaskier all this time, and the bard hadn’t noticed.

Witchers don’t get sick – not easily. But they weren’t immune to everything, and their mutations certainly left them susceptible to quite a number of things. The genetic enhancements that gave Geralt his gift for tracking – his keen sense of sight, smell and sound – also left him vulnerable to overstimulation. It rarely became a problem, but even witchers had their limits; even if they would rather die than admit it.

“Geralt, this is important,” Jaskier said softly, voice lower, and felt the twist in his stomach ease when that removed some of the tension from Geralt’s face. Whatever was going on, it was definitely tied to his senses. “Was it the toad that did that to your eyes? Or was it you?”

Was it one of your blasted toxic potions?

The question went unsaid. Geralt knew well enough Jaskier’s opinion on those potions. Amazed by the feats witchers could perform with them and yet constantly wary of the repercussions he knew Geralt would suffer in secret.

Geralt licked his lips – dry and cracked, another side effect of some of his potions, Jaskier had noticed over time. The bard reached for his canteen as smoothly as he could without jarring the other man. He unscrewed the top slowly, quietly, but not entirely, and gently pressed it into Geralt’s hands. The witcher appeared as grateful for the bottle as he was for the fact that Jaskier had left the littlest bit of it left for him to unscrew on his own; the smallest illusion of self-control. Jaskier watched the way he drank from the skin of water and realized with a feeling akin to a stone dropping in his stomach that all this time Geralt had been thirsty and had not been able to see enough to find his own canteen in his pack. He had likely quenched the worst of it while cleaning himself in the river, but he had never asked for help after. Not once. And Jaskier had missed the significance of the few times the witcher’s hands had subtly fumbled around his saddle, searching for it.

Eventually Geralt handed it back – still half full – before Jaskier urged him to keep it in his grasp with a soft, “It’s not a long ride, go ahead and finish it. I can refill it when we’re back in town.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt croaked, frowning. Geralt didn’t like taking from Jaskier. Something about the fact that humans were fragile. Limited. Whether it was food or water, the bard had quickly picked up on the root of Geralt’s reluctance with resources. Jaskier didn’t let him argue.

“I can take yours if I need any, Geralt. It’s fine.”

There was a pointed statement between those words; I know you had looked for it and didn’t ask for help. One Geralt caught easily enough, eyes darting away again, mouth drawn tight. Caught. Frustrated. Bristly and edgy, and the slightest bit embarrassed.

“Toad or potion, Geralt?” Jaskier repeated.

Geralt held up two fingers, unwilling to speak; second option then, it was a potion. It was hard to tell how much of his discomfort was due to the situation that left him so mute or sound sensitivity. Jaskier assumed a bit of both. Geralt was acting not unlike a man hung over, after all, and the bard had no end of experience with that. Unwillingness to open his eyes, a desperate yearning to be somewhere dark and quiet. Jaskier had no doubt that the witcher might have stayed in the blessed darkness of that cave if not for the noxious clouds and the guts and the fact that his potions that granted him immunity to gas did not last forever. And they certainly carried a hefty price to ingest more. Namely blood poisoning.

“Can you take something to…” Jaskier gestured vaguely before he remembered Geralt couldn’t see before continuing softly, “Clear the effects of whatever caused this?”

Geralt rubbed his thumbs into his eyes and shook his head. He did have something for that though. Jaskier had seen him take it before, particularly on grueling hunts that required three or four potions at a given time. If Geralt hadn’t taken it, that meant something had happened in the cave. The beast must have hit him somehow – into a wall or even just a glancing blow – that had damaged his reserves. No wonder.

The story was beginning to come together now, pieces slowly falling into place. Geralt had taken a potion for the gas, this Jaskier knew, but one other as well. Dark as the cave was, even Geralt’s mutated eyes could not compete with complete darkness. It must have been a potion to further dilate his eyes and although them to capture more light than humanly possible. It was a powerful potion and a useful one at that – but Jaskier knew from experience that the times Geralt had taken potions like that, they had lasted the entirety of his time in the caves and had always needed another potion to clear the effects upon exiting. It was an advanced potion, after all; one Geralt had mastered to perfection. It could last hours, even longer. A good thing, if you didn’t know how long you’d be exploring the dark recesses of the earth.

Terrible if you had to return to the light of day before the effects had worked their way out of your system.

“Fuck, Geralt, why didn’t you say something?” Jaskier breathed, giving Roach and Daisy room between them so he might slide down onto his feet as quickly as he could manage and search through his pack attached to Daisy’s saddle. Thank god they had begun to explore other pastimes when sharing each other’s company intimately recently. He found the satiny texture of the thing he had been looking for and pulled from his pack a long strip of fabric – long enough to bind a man’s eyes with. It was black as pitch, enchanted to absorb light rather than simply deflect it. What fun was tying a witcher to his bed if the man could see through a standard threadbare blindfold, after all? When he had bought the blasted thing, he had never guessed that his kinky purchase would become such a practical item toward the care of one’s witcher.

He remounted Daisy so he could reach Geralt easily and at first reached for the witcher’s face without warning the man – making him flinch back from the sudden sensation of hands near his face, muscles moving tightly to prevent himself from falling at the last moment. Jaskier stuttered out a broken breath and said softly, “Sorry. I’m going to blindfold you. It should help.”

Geralt’s lip curled at that, exposing one pearly incisor.

“You already can’t see,” Jaskier frowned, “How is this any different?”

You were already trusting me to lead the way.

He watched Geralt clench his jaw, almost thought he could hear the man’s teeth grinding – but ultimately the witcher agreed with a tight, short little nod.

“Alright, good. I’m going to put it on now,” Jaskier said, more so that he wouldn’t surprise the man into another dangerous flinch again than anything else. Geralt sat atop his horse, stock still, his back ramrod straight, like a wolf scenting the air – certain something was about to go wrong but unable to tell how or why. But he allowed Jaskier to ease the fabric around his eyes and when the bard murmured softly, “Look away so I can tie it properly,” he dutifully exposed the back of his neck and head to him. Jaskier was careful not to twist any of the witcher’s fine white hair into the knot – taking his time with placing it, adjusting his hair so it fell comfortably around it.

“Snug? Too tight? Too loose?” He asked, not really thinking the witcher would truly answer but asking nonetheless.

“M’fine,” Geralt said, and that was about what Jaskier knew he’d say regardless. Geralt could have a spear in his gut and he’d say he was fine. The idiot. But before Jaskier’s very eyes some of the tension eased from Geralt’s face. His shoulders were hunched, uncomfortable with his total blindness now, and he still looked very much like a wolf with its ears perked – but much of the pain had washed away from his face. Geralt let out the faintest breath of relief and Jaskier felt something pleased bloom in his own chest.

This was, after all, no small feat. Who else could say Geralt of Rivia had trusted them enough to allow himself to be blindfolded and led? Geralt didn’t speak with words. In many ways he was Jaskier’s polar opposite. And there was a time Jaskier feared the two of them would never find common ground; that the witcher would never warm to him, never speak with him.

But in moments like these, the witcher spoke volumes. Jaskier just hadn’t been listening before.

The bard was a nervous talker. He yearned to speak, to blather – anything to fill the painful silence. But with every blessed moment of quiet, a little more tension left Geralt’s face, and while Jaskier normally had no qualms with ruining the witcher’s very limited idea of a peaceful journey – now he couldn’t bear to do it. Geralt needed silence. So Jaskier bit his tongue. It allowed Geralt to see with his ears rather than his eyes. It was also less strenuous by far.

And if Geralt occasionally reached for the bard to assure himself Jaskier was still there? Well, Jaskier didn’t mention it this time, though it did put a small, fond, surprised smile on his face. He shifted his thigh closer when Geralt’s fingers couldn’t quite find him. Even brought Daisy to a closer pace beside Roach so they might brush more often, more organically. And since, to a degree, Geralt did not seem to enjoy his total silence, Jaskier would occasionally do something to make noise. A deeper breath, a soft scratch to his hairline, hum a very gentle, short tune. Anything to assure Geralt he had not disappeared.

For a moment Geralt had blessed peace. The water, the darkness and the quiet had done wonders to ease the man’s sweating and return some of the color lost from his complexion. But the closer they got to town, the more of that progress they lost. They weren’t even in sight of the place before Jaskier noticed the change in the witcher – pale again, fingers trembling lightly, tense and scowling. Jaskier drew Daisy to a stop and Roach obediently compiled as well, head tossing, searching for Geralt’s guidance in the reins.

“What’s wrong?” Geralt croaked, his body transforming from tight but moderate peace to alert in an instant, ears no doubt straining for any sign of trouble.

“We can’t go back to the village like this,” Jaskier said softly, eyes on Geralt; watching him plainly. “You’re already reacting to the sound of that place from here.”

Geralt scowled at that, but added, “And the smell,” and suddenly Jaskier realized he had not bathed purely because the fumes may still be toxic. It appeared his sensitivity to light had also affected and overstimulated his other senses terribly. Jaskier gestured to him and said, “Precisely my point. We can’t go back.”

“The notice—"

“—Can wait. It’s not as though another hunter is about to beat you to the kill, you have the head in hand. We’ll go as soon as whatever you swallowed wears off. In the meantime…” Jaskier trailed off, twisting in his seat to look around them. There had been an abandoned bandit camp along the way. He remembered discussing it with Geralt on the way there – theorizing why the men had left their tents and gear behind. A monster? A rival group of thieves? Geralt had taken one look at the place and said, “I’ve been here before,” and that was all there was to it.

It hadn’t been far from here.

He reached over the reins toward the corner of Roach’s mouth and gently urged her to follow as he guided Daisy into a tight u-turn.

“Jaskier,” Geralt groused, stock still in his saddle.

“We’ll make camp in the woods,” Jaskier said simply – and surprisingly, Geralt did not argue.

A part of Jaskier still fretted whether or not he was making the wisest decision. They could go to town, buy whatever ingredients Geralt was lacking to recreate the potion that would remove the effects of the Cat’s Eye from his system – but that was a plan that hinged on the town having a herbalist, said herbalist having the ingredients in stock, and Geralt being able to see to make the blasted thing. He didn’t exactly carry around recipes, well, at least not his go-to ones; not when Geralt knew them by heart. There would be recipes in his pack for untested potions, sure, but that’d likely prove to be wildly unhelpful now. And Jaskier was not about to try and make one himself, lest he kill Geralt (or himself) by sheer accident.

Returning to town had its advantages though, advantages that weighed heavily on the bard’s shoulders as they rode away, deeper into the woods. In town he could at least urge Geralt to rest in a bed, even if he couldn’t control the sound or the smell of the place. They could rest in peace for however long they needed without having to worry about a bandit group or a creature happening upon them in the wood when Geralt was vulnerable. Not that villages didn’t get attacked – they did – but it was less likely.

But the sound and smell of the place would worsen Geralt’s ailment. And no doubt the village alderman would want to speak with him the moment he rode into town. They’d have to store the head, negotiate coin – because villagers almost always tried to walk back on their agreed-on price after the deed was done. It ran the risk of getting them run out of town if negotiations soured, even if Jaskier was confident he could outsmart a village alderman into giving them their deserved coin.

That would just land them right back in the woods, likely closer to dark. Better to set up now, somewhere Geralt could process the remnants of his Cat Eye’s potion in peace, than to worsen their situation hoping for reprieve in the village. They found the bandit camp easily enough, tucked away a stone’s throw from the road and nestled in the security and privacy of a nook of trees and underbrush.

“Is there any reason why we shouldn’t stay in that old bandit camp, Geralt?” Jaskier asked gently, stopping their horses on the road where he could just see it through the foliage. If Geralt had ‘been here before’, he likely had ‘killed here before’.

“Corpses should be long gone,” Geralt said disinterestedly. As if that were the same as saying ‘everything will likely be freshly laundered and clean’. Jaskier wrinkled his nose, but it would have to be enough. It helped to see that Geralt was obviously keen to the idea of staying somewhere he had been before, somewhere he was somewhat familiar with. He knew it was somewhat hidden amidst the forest. Close enough to the road to flee if needed and for beasts to mostly avoid it, tucked away enough to be passed over by the untrained eye.

“Then that’s where we’ll stay.”

He let Geralt get down on his own, lingered near enough to help if needed but knew that ailing witchers needed assistance (as much as they might deny it) just as dearly as they needed some measure of independence. A man simply didn’t survive on his own for decades and walk away from that with a healthy perspective on accepting help. Geralt had been doing this alone for longer than he even knew Jaskier. He had survived decades of traveling alone. Sometimes it helped for the bard to remind himself of that.

Other times, it hurt to think that surely in those days the witcher must have suffered. He didn’t know to know how many times Geralt might have almost died in the woods alone. He avoided lingering on the thought too long, afraid that thinking about it would invite that fate into his life somehow.

Jaskier did a cursory check of the little encampment, just as he might do if he were traveling alone and making use of abandoned lodgings. Geralt was right, the corpses had long been dragged off. There was a patch of bald ground still ruddier than the rest – blood – but otherwise the place was remarkably clean, considering. No scent of death or decomposition. It must have been some time since Geralt came through.

There were two tents, both threadbare from the elements, but still more than nothing – though Jaskier hoped they wouldn’t be camp-bound long enough to need them. The remnants of a fire pit sat empty and unused between them. One of the bandits must have dragged a log between the tents to sit on, because it was there – convenient and idle. Jaskier nearly thought fate was being kind to them for once.

It took everything in him not to ask Geralt how he felt, how long he thought he might need before they could leave. It would help to plan ahead, but it would also serve to remind Geralt that here and now, he was the weak link in the party. It would drive him deeper into his stoicism. That helped no one.

Jaskier settled the horses, set them up with their feed harnesses, and watched all the while as Geralt blindly picked out a spot to kneel in the camp. The witcher went down to his knees gracefully, curled either hand into a fist to rest upon his thighs, and tilted his chin up – as though facing the sky despite the trees that blocked it.

Then he stayed that way, deathly still and silent, swayed only by the minute rocking of his heartbeat. If Jaskier had not seen it before, it might have frightened him. Meditation. Witchers could pass enormous amounts of time through sheer meditation alone. There was something strangely beautiful about it; the straight curve of Geralt’s back, the pristine nature of his posture. It reminded Jaskier of the women he once met in a teahouse in his travels, framed in expensive silks and fabrics that swallowed them in stunning ways, always moving around through the slightest motion of their feet beneath their kneeled legs. It took extensive self-control to maintain posture like that for long periods of time, even more so to fall into meditation that was both wholly consuming and yet utterly aware of one’s surroundings.

Geralt was waiting out the worst of the Cat Eye’s potion in the way he knew best now that he was free to do so – no longer bound to the road or to returning to the village. Jaskier could see in the lines of the man’s body how much it helped to fall into such a practiced exercise. His shoulders fell not so tightly around his neck anymore, and the taut muscles of his face had smoothed out. This was the best way for him to self-mitigate what stimuli he couldn’t control, the best way to filter it.

And once again Jaskier was struck by the fact that Geralt trusted him enough to fall into such a state of mind in his presence. That he trusted Jaskier to handle the horses, to mind the camp and watch his back while he focused himself of controlling as much of his recovery as he could.

It meant more dreaded silence for Jaskier. But sometimes love meant being quiet so one could better listen to their partner, their needs. Jaskier settled himself atop the log and contented himself in watching Geralt at peace. That had been the goal, after all. Peace.

At some point Jaskier must have dozed off, because when he woke Geralt was beside him, leaning back against the log, his thigh flush with the bard’s – warm and steely. His blindfold was gone, his pupils thin slits again. Dusk approached., casting the woods in a muted half-light. Jaskier’s mouth felt tacky from his nap and silently, Geralt passed him a canteen – the witcher’s canteen. Jaskier drank from it gratefully, then wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and asked, “Better?”

Geralt nodded.

“How long were you waiting for me to wake?” Jaskier asked, feeling a bit abashed for having fallen asleep somewhere along the way. But the woods had been so peaceful to listen to. Between the birdsong around them, the hush of the wind in the leaves and the reassuring rhythm of Geralt’s breathing, he had just… slipped away. Would explain why he was leaning back against the log now instead of on it. Must have shifted down at some point. Better that than falling over like a graceless lout.

The pleasant day was waning. A chill was beginning to creep into the air, and yet with Geralt beside him, Jaskier found himself to be comfortably warm. The man was like a furnace. Jaskier couldn’t help but press in a little closer.

“Not long,” Geralt said.

Jaskier didn’t bother to ask how long it had taken for Geralt to recover. That wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was that Jaskier had been able to make the right decisions that led to this: Geralt, peaceful and without pain. And that Geralt had trusted him enough to let him try. More and more Jaskier felt as though he were no mere tag along or convenient company. More and more, he felt he earned his keep.

He had never used to worry about such things. His life had been devoted to the pursuit of art, the telling of stories and merrymaking. He went where the wind blew him, drank with however caught his attention, loved fast and moved on just as quickly. This was new. Strange, even. To have responsibilities and like it. Yet here he was, thigh to thigh with a witcher. For once, he found himself in a place he’d rather be more so than a tavern singing. It felt important to be there in that moment.

They enjoyed the silence – sleepy and soft as the light faded from the wood. Neither seemed eager to go. Reluctantly, after a time, Jaskier said, “We should probably head back before it gets too dark.”

Geralt grunted and said, “No… I think we should stay. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

That was witcher speak for gratefulness, Jaskier had learned. They cared not for coin or trinkets, their only utility to purchase them food or board or sex. Witchers therefore didn’t give physical gifts (other than weapons, occasionally) and rarely spoke their gratitude. Instead, witchers appeared to give gifts through experiences rather than items. Memories. Shared time.

That night Geralt showed Jaskier the stars in a way the bard had never been quite so bold as to experience alone in the woods. Took him out to a field not far from their camp where they could hide in the tall meadow reeds and make childish beds in the blanket of their cover. They laid flat on their backs like boys, thigh to thigh and shoulder to shoulder, and quietly Geralt pointed out the constellations that Vesemir had taught him as a lad – similar and yet so different from the way it had been explained to him in Oxenfurt. Witchers had different purposes for the stars and different stories to go with them – and yet Jaskier found his love for knowledge suspended instead by an even greater discovery: Geralt loved to talk of lore, of the things that had been trained into his very bones. He quiet witcher who rarely spoke was detailing each star almost animatedly, explaining the monsters that correlated with them, how the stories came to be. The moment Jaskier realized it, recognized that spark in the witcher’s eyes for what it was, he saw in hindsight all the times Geralt had been eager to share his knowledge of lore or monsters and Jaskier just had not understood the significance of the act. This was Geralt’s life, his everything – and he was sharing it with Jaskier.

Geralt’s smile as he recalled Vesemir’s teachings, his gestures, the fire in his eyes, all of it made the stars look pale by comparison. A ‘thank you’ that Jaskier would not soon forget.

#How To Care For Your Witcher #The Witcher #geralt of rivia #jaskier #gaskier #light sensitivity #sound sensitivity #migraines #fic #competent jaskier #hurt/comfort #witcher writing

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codegemini · 3 years

Text

Memory Retreats - Part 1

(( @argonas / @thefugitivemango for character mention ))

~*~*~

Talador - Draenor

The young Draenei stuck her tongue out as she found a hold for her hoof and lifted her weight further up the tree. Steadily, she climbed a bit longer before perching herself up on a branch. Her luminous white eyes fell on another branch from the neighboring tree. She stayed there, crouched down a moment as she evaluated the distance, and then looked down toward the ground with a tilt of her head. Finally, she nodded to herself. Seemed safe enough.

Slowly, she stood, a grin on her face, arms outstretched to either side and tail swaying carefully behind her for balance. Her brown hair was tied in pigtails, flapping in the wind. Indeed, this was a MUCH better thrill than sitting around and listening to elders speak.

Sinafay wasn’t very good at listening. Her father, Rhaoth, had hoped that it would be a passing thing, a phase that she would eventually outgrow. Yet, as other younglings grew and became more obedient and attentive, his daughter had become increasingly difficult to control. She was stubborn, rash, impatient, curious, insubordinate, and much too adventurous for her own good. She respected the Light, but did not spend more time in meditation and prayers than was required of her. She had no interest in academics, hunting, or combat training. The girl’s parents had thought that she might take an interest in becoming a provider, like Rhaoth, since she seemed to enjoy nature; yet she would wander off every time her father attempted to teach her anything. By her age, most had an idea of what path they wanted to take, but this girl seemed to have none. No plans, no path, not a care in the world! It was as though she were refusing to grow up. She avoided responsibility at every turn and seemed attracted to trouble.

Her brother, Rurik, had caught her spying and following the brown skinned residents and Ogres on more than one occasion. While the ones called ‘Orcs’ were peaceful through their few encounters with the Draenei, it was also not seen as wise to interact with them more than necessary. Orcs would most likely bring her no harm, but Ogres… dangerous all around. Observering them the way she did with next to no training was nothing short of idiotic.

By now, someone had surely noted her absence, but she didn’t care.

With a leap, she flew through the air, reaching out just in time to catch the branch she had been aiming for. Success! She hung there for a moment, giggling happily. Sinafay could easily waste away the whole day in the forest.

As she prepared to lift herself up and attempt the feat again, however, her pointed ears picked up loud cracks and heavy shuffling. Quickly, she swung her legs and tail up to wrap around the branch as animals scattered about. The tree she was in actually shook as the creatures approached, and it became clearly obvious to her what they were before she saw them. Ogres. She couldn’t make out their language, but recognized their speech. There were two of them, arguing from the sounds of things. She looked down as they passed just below, holding her breath so as to not make a sound. Ogres usually weren’t seen in these areas. They must have been lost... and hungry by the looks of it. One seemed to be looking about for prey, clutching a club that could have very well been the trunk of a tree. Sinafay couldn’t help but smirk. Luckily for her, the two creatures were too stupid to bother looking up...

...which is when a new cracking sound startled her, and the branch she held onto suddenly shifted. Had she remained still, it would have held her weight long enough for the danger to pass, but the girl panicked and lost her grip. With a yelp, she bounced off the second Ogre’s large shoulder and landed hard on the ground.

So much for not being noticed...

She shook her head and blinked up, both creatures eyeing her hungrily now, drooling even. They had found their meal! She scrambled up... they raised their weapons...and the chase was on as she took off running.

Sinafay’s head was still spinning from the fall, but she didn’t stop, picking up cuts and bruises from stray branches as she went. The wounds would heal, but if they caught her, she was as good as dead. The girl had speed on her side, but they had size and brute force. A few sharp turns gave her a bit of a lead, and she was almost out of the forest when sharp pain shot through her right ankle and a force held her leg back, tripping her. Again, she fell to the ground, this time with a pained cry. She tried to get up but that same pain shot through her lower leg once more. Tears filled her eyes and she grit her teeth as she looked back and realized she had run right into a hunter’s trap.

Desperately, she tried to pry the thing open, but lacked the strength to force it. The earth trembled, branches and trees cracking as her death approached. She fumbled with the trap’s mechanisms... Rhaoth had tried to show her how they worked. Light, why hadn’t she listened?!

Her heart sank as the ground stopped shaking, and she looked up at the club that was being raised. She whimpered. Out of time. Eyes shut as she braced herself.

“Sina!”

… and opened again as the club came down, but a large hammer swung in to deflect it. A group of five Vindicators rushed in, making short work of the two big brutes. Sina looked away from the scene, eyes shut tightly. When the noise died down she felt a large hand fall onto her shoulder. She couldn’t help but flinch, but opened her eyes and turned her head to look into Rurik’s angered gaze.

“What did you think you were doing?” Her brother asked her sternly, his voice was low and he controlled himself well, but she knew just how upset he really was.

Rurik was a few thousand years older in age, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and bright piercing blue eyes. He was the pride and joy of the family; a strong, faithful, obedient Vindicator, worthy of all the Light’s graces. He valued the elders and heeded their councils. Sinafay tended to wonder if he ever fell out of line…

Despite all his successes, however, he was also the first unfortunate soul to be dispatched when his little sister caused trouble. No one would blame him if he saw her as an inconvenience, as a black mark on the family. But no. Somehow, he always appeared to be the most understanding of her rash actions. He would get angry, upset and disappointed, of course. He always did... but it always turned into concerned brotherly love soon enough. No matter the situation and their differences, their bond always remained strong.

For now though, he was angry. He stared at her, waiting for a response as a smaller male freed her ankle from the trap.

“I... I was not following them...” she wrapped her hands over the wound, blue blood oozing down over her hoof.

“What were you doing in the forest?”

Sinafay sighed as he slapped her hands away and brought his large hand over her ankle. She watched as he quietly invoked the Light to heal the worst of the damage and stop the bleeding. Once done, he scooped her up effortlessly in his arms, silent as he made his way back towards Shattrath, leaving the others to deal with the Ogre remains.

“You cannot keep doing this! I will not be there every time you attempt to pull these impromptu outings!”

“Bah, I don’t always need your help…”

“You were told there were Ogre sightings in the forest near the city. Repeatedly. Or were you not listening, as usual?”

“So I am to stay in the city at all times now?” She whined, crossing her arms over her chest and looking off to the side with a huff.

“While you are supposed to be in class? Yes. Yes, you are. Today was your history lesson, Sina.”

“A boring subject...”

“But useful.”

“For what?”

“Your future.”

“We have escaped the Legion and found a world to live on. A peaceful one,” she huffed, “What else is there to know? We began anew here, yes? We should be interacting more with the Orcs. I believe we could learn much from each other. Have you seen how closely they are in harmony with the land? It is truly a sight to see!”

He gave her another stern look, “And when the Legion finds us again?”

“IF the Legions finds us--”

“No.” He cut her off, “It is only a matter of time, Sina. They have followed us everywhere we have gone thus far, destroying worlds and civilizations in their wake. They -always- find us eventually. What makes you think it is different this time? You are fortunate to have never encountered them in your lifetime so far, but that does not mean they have given up the hunt. We must live, yes. But remain ever vigilant!”

“They would have shown themselves by now.”

“You think so?”

She nodded her gaze remaining stubbornly averted, “Mhm.”

He sighed, the anger fading to concern. Worry pierced through his gaze as he looked down at his foolish little sister.

“Then I pray you are not proven wrong too soon.”

Sinafay opened her eyes upon the horrible sight the Tremaculum offered. Spirits, mostly innocent, as far as the eye could see, bound and tortured. The screams and wails were worse than the sight. Retreating into her own memories had been the Shaman’s only escape from this place. Back to a simple time… a simple life.

A life she’d taken for granted.

The Draenei had been caught not long after Argonas’ brief brush with the Maw. Both the surge of emotion the two lover’s had felt finally seeing each other after so long, as well as the scent of a fresh soul, had caught the hunters’ attention. There had been no time to run, or hide… so she fought. But in the Maw, the more you fought, the bigger a target you became. It was only a matter of time before she was overwhelmed and brought here to be broken all over again. A harder task for her tormentors this time around. Seeing her husband had been a boon to her spirit. Knowing he was doing everything in his power to find her made her will unbreakable. She smirked, looking up from her chained position to a robed figure that glided over to her.

“Back for more, yes?” she couldn’t help but taunt, before pain seared through her ethereal form.

~*~*~

#{warcraft} → “either it brings tears to their eyes”#{Story Logs} → “The pleasance of our fairytale”#{Argonas} → “Only a few find the way”#{Private Files} → “Pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale”

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 4 years

Note

Do you think quintessence exposure prolonged Allura’s life and she would’ve lived an unnaturally long life for even an Altean if she’d lived? I think about this question a lot because this girl got blasted by and was exposed to insane amounts of it.

Hi, asennnaa. Ah, those are good questions! I’m not sure I have a perfect answer because I’m still grappling with how to handle some of the holes or contradictions in this show. I do think VLD’s entire universe confirms that infusions of quintessence into a body, as you suggest, can unnaturally prolong a life. But what counts as “enough” quintessence exposure to really make one immortal? Just “how immortal” can Allura get? Because other characters are shown to require multiple infusions of quintessence in order to remain even marginally immortal.

It looks like Zarkon was still aging, even with quintessence infusion. Here is a fresh Zark:

And here he is again ~10,000 years later with the wrinkly lips, sunken-in cheeks, and big eye baggies that are all standard signs of aging.

Old zarkturtle status achieved.

So despite standard access to quintessence infusions, and even being overcome with quintessence in the rift itself, both he and Haggar seem like they’re fighting a battle with the clock and still losing. Could their lack of immortality and constant need to infuse with quintessence be because they were accosted by rift creatures (so not experiencing “pure” quintessence infusion in the rift)? I suppose it’s possible.

And a lack of ongoing access to pure quintessence might also be part of the entire Galra Empire’s continuous desire to get to purer and larger amounts of quintessence. Because it’s not just power on the line.

Zarkon himself confirms what he hopes to achieve through quintessence in s3:

Desire for immortality is a huge motivator for the entire empire harvesting quintessence in the first place. Zarkon wants to live forever with his friends and family. But oh nu, he’s still aging. And even Lotor?? What is ten or one-hundred-thousand years in the face of a universe that is billions of years old? Is anyone technically immortal in this show? How long can anyone actually live?

An “imperfect-immortality” would also explain the strange reality of Lotor. He is a beautiful boi and is also 10,000 years old as well. Executive Producers Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos suggest in a Season 5 AfterbuzzTV interview that Lotor’s infusion with quintessence in utero results in him aging very, very slowly.

(Here’s the dialogue from the interview if you want it, from around the 13:30 mark:

JDS: It’s pretty safe to say that Lotor’s kind got that Daywalker kind of thing going on.

Interview: —Little vampire—

LM: Being in…in her womb, as [Honerva] was being exposed to all of this quintessence—it’s part of his DNA. It almost puts him on a level with Allura, pretty much who her quintessence is a part of her DNA. So it’s interesting to see.

JDS: And it’s allowed him to stay so beautifully young.

LM: He’s aged at a much slower rate than your average Galra.

Interviewer: So he IS a vampire.

LM: I think all Galra are kinda space vampires.

JDS: They’re kinda space vampires, yeah. Safe to say. You’re getting instead of blood, you’re getting like…planet juice.)

And it just so happens that, in the active plot of VLD, we’re introduced to Lotor at a point in time where he’s aged physically and mentally to the point of, what, maybe early twenties? The canon’s not clear about it. Despite the lack of a canon-backed “mental-to-physical human-age equivalent,” Lotor appears to careen between a tricky mastermind and a boi who’s still a bit embarrassed about his nanny:

(While I tend to think he’s early 20s in physical and mental agility, you could probably even argue Lotor acts like an older teenager still sometimes, lol. Quality eye-roll and pout right here. Does anyone else get, “Mom, shut up” vibes from this gif? And even his idealism, his unshakable belief that simply giving the empire what it wants will result in peace--it lacks a critical foresight about other people experiencing quintessence madness, dangers from within the rift, and the inevitable wars to “control the gates” and such technology. And there’s some things to be said about humans obtaining full brain development around age 25, as the prefrontal cortex, which inhibits impulses and assists with critical decision-making, is the last section to develop in full. So it makes me think, for all his intelligence and schemes, that he’s mentally a bit younger than he’d like to appear. And obviously doesn’t want to appear, considering how embarrassed he is about his nanny in front of his new-found friends, lol.)

But I digress. So just based on the evidence and the extra-canon commentary from EPs, it seems that if we panned out 20,000 years in the future, we might see a significantly aged Lotor, with the deep face lines and lip wrinkles and gaunt cheeks. Because he’s never stopped aging. His body clock is just totally and utterly creeping along, lucky boy.

If you want to trust the extra-canon text, then you might be able to extrapolate that like Lotor’s DNA, Allura’s DNA gives her an extended life. Although unlike slow-age Lotor, Allura appears to have had a more accelerated childhood. She can’t be more than Kova’s 28 decaphoebs (years), given that the season 3 finale shows Allura was born after Kova’s introduction. And yet, unlike Lotor’s strange history of taking forever to grow up, Allura presents as physically mature within a fairly normal timeline.

This would actually suggest that something is a bit weird about Allura’s DNA. And its something that makes her quintessence more intense than even Lotor’s own quintessence signature, if you want to go by the interviews where LM says, “It almost puts him on a level with Allura.”

So what was this mysterious event?

Allura certainly could still infuse herself or be infused with quintessence to prolong her life, but that wouldn’t prolong her life indefinitely or put her even within range of what’s naturally going on with Lotor’s DNA.

Is there something inherently unique about Allura’s lineage or species, then, that could answer this?

Let’s look at Alteans first. The canon seems oddly contradictory about the natural age of Alteans. Coran is at least 600 years old because he was alive with the Castle of Lions was being built. But yet executive producer LM states that there’s something inherent in Allura’s DNA that makes her even more special than the average person, and even more strangely…Allura’s father, Alfor, doesn’t seem to fall into either of these two categories.

Despite Alfor understanding the deep secrets of the universe via Oriande, and having personal direct exposure with unlimited pure quintessence through building and even fighting in Voltron, he ages. Hard.

Here’s Alfor as a young man:

Here’s Alfor, only decaphoebs later, not long before he died.

So here we have an aging Alfor. And oof, in less than 28 decaphoebs, with no explanation as to why Coran would be doing so well in comparison. (Feel free to speculate!)

So whatever is wrong with Alfor’s life cycle, it would seem to be an isolated incident that not even exposure to Voltron or to the rift could undo. In which case, it’s hard to know if Allura’s DNA would naturally have the same weaknesses from her lineage. If not, then she should at least be able to reach 1,000 years naturally, if the spunky Coran is any measure to go by.

But Alfor did do something that I think places Allura as entirely unnatural and probably the most likely candidate to have a form of true immortality in this entire show:

So right in season 1, episode 1, Coran admits that Alfor has done some pretty wild alchemy. He physically connected Allura’s essence with the essence of Voltron—the single source of self-regenerating, infinite quintessence throughout the whole of the entire universe.

I’m not sure if this alchemical forge-bond would protect Allura from physically aging, but it would suggest that Voltron’s life force and Allura’s life force are intimately tied on the material plane. There is no other canonically shown bond like this in a living person, in the VLD universe. It makes Allura entirely unique as a character and likely helps to explain why she is so consistently over-powered compared to even Haggar/Honerva.

Because unlike ANY other Altean, including Honerva, Allura has an infinite, massive battery of pure quintessence to pull from at will. And it’s tied to her very life force.

I don’t know if a person’s life force being personally connected to Voltron would confer physical immortality, but I do think there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that as long as Voltron exists, Allura’s essence would be preserved within it. And as we saw in season 6, Shiro was capable of interacting with other paladins despite his physical death, because Black Lion had preserved his essence.

So I guess all of this is to say, it seems there would be a lot of reasons for why Allura could live a very long life. It does seem that if she infused herself with quintessence in an ongoing fashion, and she quite often has, then her already long Altean lifespan would become longer. And even in physical death, Allura could still “exist” like s6 Shiro to communicate and interact with the living, in a way that not even her father could.

(Which makes you wonder about that s8 ending with the Lions mysteriously flying off for an unknown reason and Lance’s Altean marks lighting up like a homing beacon, but oof, that’s perhaps another topic.)

Thank you so much for the ask! I hope my winding ramblings help to answer your question or encourage further thought about the possibilities!

#Voltron #Allura #Lotor #Zarkon #Alfor #Haggar #Honerva #Quintessence #Space Vampires #Quintessence Aging #Imperfect Immortality #Alchemical Bonds to Machines #Thanks for the ask!

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kendrixtermina · 4 years

Text

The Team Dynamics of the Three Houses

Essay time! =D

Part One: Team Makeup and Thematic Framework Blue Lions

Overarching Theme: Classic basic fantasy archetypes but with a dark twist (We have Prince Charming/ Guilt-ridden softboy standard-issue JRPG protagonist, Handsome Lech/Idiot Friend, Standoffish Rival, Gentleman Thief, Lady Knight, Sweet nice healer, Adorable spellcaster Girl, the Gentle Giant etc. )

Composition: Has the most people with crests, and the one guy with a naturally occurring major crest. Foreshadows how the crest obsession is particularly bad here, due to Faerghus’ harsh environment and a society that’s both religious and has a serious element of hero worship

History: Notably the most tight-knit group. Everyone knows each other already. It’s basically Dimitri, Dimitri’s longtime best friends, the daughter of Dimitri’s former instructor who heard lots of stories about him and her super nice BFF who gets along with everyone... and Ashe, who didn’t know the others until the academy, but since he is a honest sweety who loves cooking and knight stories, he hits it off with the others right away.

Atmosphere: Everyone has kind of the same hobbies (cooking, handicrafts, weapons collecting, knight stuff) and a lot of history, some posters have remarked on missing the “family ambiente” in the other routes but since the bonds are stronger they’re also more charged, it’s also been said that it’s the group with the most inter-team drama, especially when you feature in their relatives - You have Dimitri’s whole character arc, all the family drama between the Fraldariuses and the Dominics, Ingrid’s hangups regarding poor Dedue etc.

As expected if you recruit any of them they’ll kinda have a hard time going after their old home, even the tsundere ones.

The Leader’s position: For all that Dimitri’s friends refuse to drop his honorifics they really are his friends. They’re just all kinda polite with the obvious exception of Felix, and he’s largely tsundere. Despite the afore mentioned drama we see plenty of Dimitri just hanging out with his friends and even coming to them for help, he’s really just one of the bunch .

Since Faerghus is in chaos everyone’s pinning a lot of hopes on Dimitri and it’s not like he’s completely unaware of that or doesn’t have the corresponding sense of duty, he’s always torn between that and his revenge plan which eventually just takes over. He pursues this entirely on his own, too, with not even Dedue knowing what he’s sneaking around the library for.

How this “flavors” part one: Gives it a very “personal” touch. Faerghus, it’s culture, recent past and current state of chaos are fleshed out a lot (we learn plenty about the Alliance and the Empire but Claude and Edelgard have greater scope plans) and since a lot of the part I missions concern the instabilities in the kingdom they affect the characters directly. Basically since they’re more “regular” fantasy protagonists we gotta hit em all with the Drama hammer to keep things fresh. And that’s how it continues - They follow Dimitri because of personal loyalty (both toward him specifically, and because it’s in their culture), and Dimitri just wants to protect (or avenge) the people he cares about.

How this Ties into The Themes: The Kingdom route eventually becomes very much a Power of Friendship story where they all stick it out with Dimitri in his time of need because he’s their friend and they want to be there for him and that makes a lot more sense if there was a big emphasis on friendship/ found family before that, and of course their friendship is what eventually helps him turn his life around.

How does Byleth fit into this: Dimitri, like Hubert and Leonie, can be filed into the box of those who aren’t immediately awed by their heroic charisma. He doesn’t really get people who aren’t as outwardly expressive as him (eg. Edelgard) But unlike, say, Leonie, Dimitri has no settings between crushkilldestroy and stilted politeness and seldom expresses or responds to overt hostility most of the time. On the one hand there’s a side to him that’s a bit judgemental and vindictive, but that extends to himself too so he’s very ashamed of his flaws and is afraid that he won’t be accepted, so he projects outward that same acceptance that he likes to receive.

So the end result is that he goes out of his way to befriend Byleth, he encourages everyone to speak with them in a familiar manner, insists that they join the victory celebrations etc. Then of course he gets to see that they’re actually quite supportive and so in time they become, as Dimitri puts it “the heart of the group”.

By the time they find out that Dimitri ever disliked them, that’s long past. He’s a very high-empathy, emotional person so once he likes you he really likes you and will regard your troubles like his own. Some ppl might say that maybe the bond feels more special since it took longer to “earn”. He’s practically ready to swear a blood oath with them once Jeralt dies. There’s an unappreciated Symmetry here like he goes through the trouble to ‘defrost’ them, and then they return the favor by supporting him through his difficult times when they perhaps get to see the ugliest side of him.

Further Dynamic Notes:

So you have a dynamic of working past/ understanding and accepting each other despite one’s flaws and differences. (whereas Claude and Edelgard are interested in Byleth right away, because they’re unusual, but in slightly different ways - Claude can kinda relate to the experience of sticking out itself but is still stumped by being unable to read them, whereas Edelgard sticks out in the same way so you’re actually on the same wavelenght to begin with)

“opposites attract” specifically in the way that they balance each other out. A cool steadfast leader type certainly has a grounding effect on Dimitri as a very reactive person, but he also pulls them into the ‘normal’ world a bit after they spend all this time just wandering the world like all places are the same to them. They basically put the magic destiny on the backburner to help him out. They still become archbishop and all to fit the standard fantasy look of it all but not like full messiah like on the church route

Even after the timeskip Byleth kinda plays the mentor role or at least that of the dominant person/ big spoon in the relationship (though Dimitri ends up waaay taler than them especially fem Byleth), “Excuse me this is my emotional support mercenary”

If you go the platonic route you very much stay at „mentor“, Byleth is basically the brains of the operation post timeskip ‘cause the old Mitya can‘t come to the phone right now and Gilbert and Rodrigue would follow him off a cliff

Plot wise, their contribution is to stop the revenge trip when it gets to be a too obvious kamikaze stunt, which they, as a relative outsider to Faerghus and experienced, pragmatic fighter, would do when someone like Gilbert would not

Character journey wise, they refuse to give up on Dimitri and still see the good in him so that he eventually comes to a point where he could envision his own redemption/ come to accept/forgive himself and learn that its okay to move on and live his own life

Byleth can be said to somewhat even out the flaws in everyone‘s leadership styles (while the house leaders help Byleth find their own direction – i didnt come up with this alone there was a brilliant post a while ago that i cant find rn) – In Dimitri‘s case, he has authority/credibility/integrity („Pathos“), being the rightful king with many loyal followers, and emotional/ personal leadership as an emphatetic person who inspired respect for his character („Ethos“) but is lacking in plans („Logos“)

Golden Deer

Overarching Theme: Ragtag Bunch of misfits /Unlikely Heroes (let’s see, we have trickster turned lying politician, upper-class twit turned opportunistic conservative, lazy rich girl, shy glasses boy and his best friend dumb muscle, cursed werewolf girl, stuckup teen genius and the mean money obsessed one )

Composition: Has the most honest-to-goodness commoners - and they largely got in on their own merits, too, while almost all the others had connections. You have a few peeps from the Alliance’s prominent merchant class and one completely ordinary village person whose father was a simple hunter.

History: Bar the two merchant kids none of them know each other and even they’ve been a little estranged since the demise of Rafael’s parents. There are a few backstory connections (Such as Lorenz’ dad basically having murdered everybody’s dead relatives, or Leonie’s village being in his territory) but they’re largely indirect. They come from a range of different backgrounds and life experiences. Even Claude just showed up the year before and doesn’t know anybody. Of course this is all so you can watch them grow into a team on-screen all leading up to Claude’s epic speech about how they got along despite being from different backgrounds (or be surprised if they show up as one post-timeskip)

Unlike Dedue or Hubert, Hilda can still be napped early on because she doesn’t really become Claude’s right-hand person until halfway through part oneIf you recruit any of the deer they’ll say that they didn’t have that much ties to their homeland anyways.

Atmosphere: These are definitely Garreg Magh’s party animals. Or like a bunch of theatre kids. They’re tremendous fun. “Less complicated” as Claude puts it though some have missed the intensity/drama of the other bunches. The Alliance itself might be full of political intrigues but this younger generation is fairly chill with the important exceptions that are Leonie and Lysithea but Leonie’s lack of chill is largely Byleth-specific, she’s plenty chill in her other supports, and though Lysithea probably donated all the extra chill for the other deer and hence doesn’t have any left, the others love her anyways wether she wants to or not because try as she might she can’t really get an argument out of them.

This certainly jives well with Claude’s “friendly surface level extrovert” gimmick they all get along on a surface level and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an ounce of social skills in the Black Eagle house, and the Lions have the Drama Moments, but some have also perceived the deer as not quite as open.

At the same time they’re not superficial. We have a large abundance of Artsy Ones, we have Ignatz, Claude and Lorenz both write poetry, Leonie isn’t good at it but she does draw etc There’s enough insightful ones for depht and insight to be a significant undercurrent in the group dynamics. They all have different sortts of insight - Hilda can read people well, Ignatz has this sort of intuuitive thoughtful understanding, Lysithea is observant and logically astute, Leonie has street smarts etc.

The Leader’s position: Precarious. No one knows him, no one trusts him. He just showed up one day, very suspicious timing, not long after his uncle dropped dead (that was Lorenz’ dad but it’s not like anyone knows) and then he’s a shifty weirdo who cannot help being slightly unnerving despite his friendly extroverted demeanor.

Still he’s a big believer in teamwork, appreciates the value in everyone’s perspective and he can do the friendly extroverted charm well enough to eventually win over most people based on that, though its not until waay after the timeskip that he even considers letting anyone past the soft outer layer. (In Recruited, Raphael remembers him mainly a lover of feats and merriment)

The longer the story goes on the more the Deer transition to being “Claude’s jolly detective bureau” in which he pulls on all their individual insight for maximum info collection.

How this “flavors” part one: It’s taken up largely by Claude’s search for information with the various events being seen in that light.

Claude’s first reaction is often to ask questions and be curious with the emotional response hitting him somewhat later, though it’s definitely also that he keeps up a cheerful face for the team.

Ironically he’s the only one who came to Garreg Magh for it’s intended purpose: To get a ruler’s education and do networking. Dimitri and Edelgard were already onto Thales courtesy of his having killed their families, him searching on his own, her making preparations for her takeover, and Claude doesn’t know - it’s probably a game balance thing because Claude is the smartest person in the game and if he started out with all the info there would be no plot.

How this Ties into The Themes: It all builds towards Claude’s big speech about people from different backgrounds coming together. It’s like a microcosm for what he wants to do with the world, to bring people from different places and backgrounds together and have them understand each other.

Lorenz takes until halfway through part II to come around, but come around he does. (markedly, this happens only on Claude’s route, otherwise he sticks with the empire out of self-preservation and opportunism, though he gladly jumps ship to join the kingdom. )

How does Byleth fit into this: Now I‘ve seen some people saying that Claude initially didn‘t like Byleth or just wanted to use them, but I don‘t think that‘s true. I do think he actually liked them, found them interesting and wanted to befriend them. But Claude, on principle, doesn‘t trust easily, and will in any interaction look at how he can use it.

It‘s a habit born out of both natural curiosity and intelligence (What the 12type eneagramm calls a „Mercury“ Personality type) and the need to survive in a hostile environment where people tried to kill him as a child, and as such it‘s automatic second nature. He has a strong overruling self-preservation instinct. Claude is suspicious and will interogate people completely independent of how much he likes them. No amount of like makes him trust implicitly.

He doesn‘t have a bad impression like Dimitri, but he doesn‘t immediately click like Edelgard and the curve is pretty nonlinear: With Dimitri we have a clear progression from dislike to like and then the reversal where Dimitri had defrosted Byleth and now Byleth must defrost Dimitri. With Edelgard she likes them immediately out of similarity (like Felix likes Byleth, or like Edelgard likes Lysithea and Petra), and the difficulty/drama only comes later when Byleth‘s connection to the church and Edelgard‘s plots become apparent, but mostly she‘s sad that she‘s „destined“ to be enemies with this person she likes, her level of like never goes down. Claude meanwhile – you might compare him with Dorothea. He‘s used to being able to charm people as well as read them, and Byleth is not only a brick wall, but remains one upon closer examination. They really don‘t know about their past – but Claude takes that as evasions and becomes more and more suspicious.

A big turning point here is the Jeralt situation, where Byleth finally opens up and tells him everything, and Claude realizes they‘re not hiding. And that‘s something I really love about their dynamic – Byleth tells him all and Claude is so interested in them and looks out for them.

Though you could assign each of the three a „turning point“ after which they open up - The diary for Claude (which shows him that Byleth really isn‘t hiding anything) Flayn‘s dissapearance for Dimitri (which convinces him that Byleth cares) and the holy tomb scene for Edelgard (which shows her that Byleth won‘t betray her)

Further Dynamic Notes:

Claude and Byleth relate because they both stick out, but it‘s notably about the experience of sticking out in and of itself, whereas in Edelgard‘s case they stick out in the same way. They’re also alike in that they only found out some secrets about themselves when they were already young adults, Byleth’s magical destiny, and Claude finding out he was related to the ruling house. From how he mentions “not being raised in the lap of luxury” and how his royal connections in Almyra are also “distant”, he might in fact have been raised in a normal village and not known he was the king’s bastard son for some time, though once the secret was out he definitely got some princely instruction like training with Nader.

The dynamic both interpersonally and as an action duo is very much a complementary one. Dimitri is very different and has that sorta morality chain dynamic going on. And though they each have their specialties that the other is lowkey jelly of Edelgard and Byleth actually fill a fairly similar niche as the charismatic superhumanly powerful field commander. Meanwhile with Claude there’s a division of labor: Claude’s the planner and Byleth’s the enforcer. He repeatedly observes that his plans would be way less effective without someone of Byleth’s caliber to carry them out.

Out of the three lords Claude is the only one where you get the sense that Byleth works for Claude post-timeskip or that Byleth becomes his subordinate. Dimitri’s lost without them, and while Edelgard offers them a formal position as royal advisor after the mock battle and gets this line about how they can’t yell orders at her in public now that she’s the emperor, but it’s phrased in such a way to suggest that she just wants them to yell orders at her discreetly. They certainly balance out Claude’s presentability/trustworthyness problem the way that Hubert quickly puts them in charge of morale to patch Edelgard’s PR shortcomings, but Hubert pretty much says this to Byleth’s face whereas Claude is the only one who knows where the ship is going for the majority of verdant wind. And in the end he’s like “Babysit fodlan for me while I finish world peace” He’s also the dominant one on an interpersonal level, he gives Byleth this speech about how they should use their position more confidently and promise to detective out their mysterious past for them. He also tries dropping hints that maybe Rhea’s not to be trusted though Byleth’s dialogue options are written to suggest that they bought her maternal act and want her back – some ppl said but this way really expositions that „well meaning deception“ aspect of Claude‘s character. He frequently steers ppl toward something they don‘t want but with the hope that they‘ll want it eventually. Perhaps he could be said to have a very fluid/dynamic view of things and people; The other two lords view them more as fixed, hence „I respectfully disagree… lets settle this by stabbing each other“

The platonic end result is your basic Epic Friendship, tell each other everything, very supportive, look out for each other, take down a zombie warrior together in an epic team attack, what more could you want I think I‘ve made a whole post about what a good friendo Claude is, initial ulterior motives nonwithstanding… He certainly had strategic advantages in the back of his mind but I don‘t think he ever faked liking Byleth

Plot wise, having The Messiah on his team gives Claude a bargaining chip to seize control of the church with its greater influence. On the other routes, he wisely refuses to touch that particular hot potato with a ten foot pole.

Character wise Byleth‘s influence largely serves to mitigate his jaded cynism. He starts to actually believe his far-flung dreams might happen, so he plays far less defensively than on the other routes.

Claude is smart and charismatic („Logos“ and „Ethos“), his main problem is that nobody trusts him. This is a bit more dimensional than just a flaw though, because he hides his real goals (though they are not truly sinister) both to avoid fights with people who would oppose these goals (contrast Edelgard who declares her intentions openly and deals with the fallout, so she has to fight the knights whereas claude manipulates them) and get the chance to gradually convince them and reveal the truth once ppl agree, also he‘s more a tactician than a strategist and often changes his plans in accordance with what he thinks is doable under the circumstances, and not telling what his plans are gives him the freedom to do that – either way, a downside of that is that no one trusts him. He lacks credibility and, having shown up out of nowhere, has less loyalty and support. Byleth, as a chrch-sanctioned charismatic figurehead, naturally mitigates that.

Black Eagles

Overarching Theme: Subverted Villain tropes. We have Emperor Evulz / mad science supersoldier, Black Mage classic, Seditious Chancellor Junior, Sexy Mage, Eccentric Scholar, Pretty Barbarian, Fighting Obsessed Blood Knight and Antisocial Sniper

Composition: It‘s nobles all the way down, even the one commoner used to be famous and is from the capital where all the wealthy ppl live (as opposed to the decentralied alliance and the very spartan kingdom nobles) – The capital‘s a heaven for culture and sophistication but you also see the evident elitism/corruption/inequality problem going on. In keeping with Adrestia being more secular, Ferdinand‘s the only one who‘s explicitly stated to be a believer (in the Marianne support) and he‘s not even super devout

One should also appreciate the irony that the side with the ‚saintly‘ crests is now against the church whereas Faerghus, ruled by the descendants of Nemesis‘ former allies and where he used to have his stronghold are now fighting for the church. But should you go with the church route it also makes a kind of sense as they‘d be goig back to the empire‘s distant origins in a sense.

History: They all vaguely know/ have heard of each other due to their parents being co-workers or living in the same town, many have at least met each other but at the same time they‘re not BFF like the Lions and many take a bit to warm up to each other.

Another thing of note is that while many of the Lions‘ families were also friends and have been associates since the days of Nemesis, many of the backstory connections for the adrestian studenrs would seem to predispose them to being foes rather than friends, half their dads‘ essentially dethroned Edelgard‘s and are various degrees of complicit in what happened to her siblings, Petra was basically taken hostage by the previous administration, Dorothea has good reason to have beef with the local rich people etc

Atmosphere: I‘ve seen some ppl who played the other routes first say things like how they were struck by how individualistic they are and how there‘s far less team cohesion, or how they „all seem to hate each other“ - I don‘t think that‘s correct assesment but they definitely are quirky, independent-minded or both. They scamper off in all directions when introduced and definitely don‘t bother with formal politeness or friendly facades, if they‘re annoyed with you most of them will probably say so. Even Bernie gives Ferdinand a lecture once XD They‘re basically goth. Though I do think it‘s sorely underappreciated that there definitely IS friendship and admiration between them esp. later in the story, admiration & appreciation being key factors especially since they‘re none too easily impressed.

Of course being independent minded makes it likely that they wouldn‘t blindly follow a leader who‘s up to no good, but it would make them just as suitable to participate in a rebellion

Another thing of note is that while the Kingdom nobles all learned to hold sharp objects in the nusery and many of the deer have street smarts or survival experience having had to live through tough circumstances most of the Eagles are complete greenhorns when you first deploy them – sure many have seen their share of effed up stuff but not in a warlike setting. And you have many of the sensitive/reluctant ones like Bernie, Linny and Dorothea. This of course could either make you think twice about the church sending them on missions or predispose you toward Flayns brand of pacifism.

Of course this just leads to Hubert and Edelgard (and to a lesser extent Petra) to clearly stand out as the experienced ones. El-chan and Hubie dear have most definitely killed a man before. The rest of them will definitely have to measure up to pick up the slack after the two of them leave.

The trajectory certainly goes differently, in CF they all return notably more confident after the timeskip (most notably with Bernie) perhaps in keeping with how Edelgard believes in & promotes self-reliance whereas in Silver Snow they never quite stop being like „AAAAA“ though I suppose the point is that they get their act together and do the deed regardless.

The Leader’s position: Absolute both in terms of power (sorry Ferdie) and dynamics. Definite ‚student council president‘ vibe, she largely interacts with them as a taskmaster/ to make them do their homework. She markedly doesn‘t like this and would like to be one of the bunch but genuinely finds it hard to step out of boss mode.

She does try her best to cultivate an equal atmosphere and for what it‘s worth most do drop the honorifics and tell her when they disagree.

How this “flavors” part one: The emphasis is certainly on expositioning how much everything in the setting sucks especially on the church‘s horribleness, I mean in the end if she‘s essentially like „We‘ve all seen it this past year“ but of course there‘s also definite foreshadowing that sHE is up to something, there‘s certainly peeps who picked her ‚cause she‘s pretty and she looked more put-together/less obviously dodgy than the others but then didn‘t personal taste wise jive with her character. The whole scene after Jeralt‘s death is definitely a point where you either decide you hate her or love her forever; You get both „WTF“ and „I get it“ type of dialogue options.

How this Ties into The Themes:

No matter what route yo pick you essentially get a story about going your own way and putting right what the previous generations done fucked up – wether they do this by leading Adrestia back to its holy origins, or by backing Edelgard‘s revolution.

On a political level they either go against their homeland or the previous administration, and personally they‘re all sorta expected to take over their parents‘s job and follow these expectations of proper nobility that they have no interest in and many of them renounce their titles or cut ties with their folks. Only Ferdinand particularly wants his fathers job and even them he means to do it very differently. The happy ending, for most of the eagles, is getting to choose their own paths

How does Byleth fit into this:

Mostly, they shift the team dynamics from Edelgard as the absolute leader in a lofty, distanced position to her coming closer to being „one of the group“ working under Byleth.

There‘s a reason she later names her elite troop the „Black Eagle Strike force“ in honor of their time at the academy. This is almost the bigger difference, because Byleth isn‘t there for the timeskip. The big change is caused by creating this situation where all the black eagles leave with Edelgard, so she knows she can trust them and having real allies needs the slithers less.

It‘s very hard for her to step out of boss mode for reasons ranging from her personality, backstory, monarch obligations and fear of vulnerability, but having Byleth be the boss for once helps. Some of her most formative experiences were a) Her family betrayed by almost all its allies including her own uncle b) being helplessly dragged around as a hostage. She wants to avoid being helpless ever again at all costs and thus grew to be a very proactive decisive adult which is mostly a good thing but can cause her tome come off blunt and unyielding at times. I mean when she‘s worried that Hubert, her best friend, is hiding some worrysome secret from her she‘s like „Tell me that‘s an order!“ and when he expertly sidesteps that (since he knows her well and understands that she wouldn‘t actually force it out of him) she‘s stumped and doesn‘t know how to tell him that she‘s worried about him – and this is a guy she knows since forever. With the other eagles she really looks out for them but can only really show it through her „leader“ persona, she has this one trick, and when it doesn‘t work (like with Caspar or Linhardt who don‘t really want anyone to boss them around or talk politics) she‘s stumped.

This is hugely mitigated when another person of her caliber shows up with whom she can share the responsibility or even leave it to them so she learns to allow herself to be soft and do stuff like admit her doubts, this starts with Byleth but also radiates into the other relationships. See Caspar and Linhard revising their bad first impressions of her later in the support chains

Further dynamics notes:

A recurring theme is being misunderstood (outright stated in the introduction and that one quote by ladislava – and also in the church route dialogues where Seteth says that „the people will never understand her ideals“ ) and finding someone who understands, which is different from Claude and Dimitri who ultimately want the world at large to understand and accept them. Edelgard has given up on that long ago - her version of the „pep talk“ scene implies she thinks its impossible to truly understand anothers sorrow – I like to think that after her siblings died she found great comfort in Hubert being „not much for condolences“ and talking plans rather than sympathies while everyone else was showing pity for something they couldnt understand. Dimitri is basically traumatized (he relates to Dedue about losing everything and thats why they‘re so tight knit), Claude is basically an outcast and relates to all that dont quite fit in, but Edelgard… yes her family‘s dead much like Dimitri‘s, but in addition to that, she has been through an indescribable science fiction fantasy thing that no one has any context for. She views herself as so altered that she considers herself a whole different person and her past self basically dead. Hence someone like Byleth or Lysithea who could relate to all that is very, very tempting to her – we‘re not told if that‘s the truth or just her perception though, Hubert doesn‘t note her being extremly different, and later on she kinda admids that she herself distanced herself from other people.

Likewise the ship dynamic is ‚birds of a feather‘. Edelgard tells you right away: She feels that she and Byleth are similar and is drawn to them because of that. It‘s not just the mad science background, both are stoic natural leaders with a bit of a dorky side. This goes both ways – While others are often mildly stumped by Byleth, she can read them pretty well and gets a lot of dialoue like „wow you‘re telling the truth“ or „I can tell you‘re lying“ - that happens so often that it‘s even used to hint that she‘s the flame emperor.

If you had to name a dominant person it would probably be Byleth but overall this combination is disntinguished by being relatively equal and balanced. She likes having Byleth‘s support but repeatedly mentions wanting to support Byleth as well - As she says after the big mock battle, „sometimes its better to have someone to rely on to support each other through the darkness“. Team dynamics wise they feel a similar niche – the abnormally powerful, stoic charismatic leader who inspires many followers and is a gifted field commander. When they‘re not allies they are foils after all. But as pointed out in their A support despite their similarities each of them have their own particular strenghts that the other envies – Byleth is a better tactician and ultimately better at moral support (though their time powers help). On the flipside, Edelgard is more proactive whereas Byleth struggles with that, and at least her 22 year old self probably has more raw strenght (judging by her stats total and how they‘re evenly matched in the church route reunion cinematic though she isn‘t using her preferred weapon)

If you don‘t marry her then the note the A support ends on would suggest that Byleth sorta gets adopted as a honorary big sister/brother with how El asks them to use her childhood nickname and just lampshading the sense of kinship between them – the platonic outcome is a family bond, which buils as much on similarity and alikeness as their romantic outcome

Plot wise, Byleth‘s presence gives Edelgard something that she wouldn‘t otherwise have: Reliable allies. This means not just Byleth themselves, but the other Black Eagles whom she feels are more firmly on her side as they never defended Garreg Mach from her assault. As she puts it when she tries to recruit you as the „Flame Emperor“, the slighterers will go around causinga strocities but with the sword of the creator on her side she could courttail that better and generally has less need to coorperate even for purely pragmatic reasons so she is free to weaken them ahead of time, kills Cornelia right away rather than work with her etc. Interestingly this is why the front lines are actually further back when Byleth returns than they are in the other routes, but then the war ends the quickest.

Character journey wise, Edelgard goes from being convinced that she has to give up everything to be a tough leader to allowing herself to just be a person, cummulating in the ending where she pulls a washington/cincinatus, abdicates and gets a normal life.

In terms of leadership style, Edelgard has „Logos“ and „Pathos“ to spare, she‘s described as a remarkable leader who inspires remarkable devotion and has a cause/ rationale – but she‘s got her weakness with inspiring loyalty on an interpersonal level. The followers are loyal to the cause – Edelgard herself is perceived as unapproachable and shady/unsavory, see Dimitri‘s rant about how she‘s „strong“, or statements by herself and Ladislava that people tend to misunderstand her. As a superhuman science experiment she is by definition not a „relatable“ leader. So once Byleth proves trustworthy Hubert immediately puts them in charge of morale and of support/pep talking the reluctant recruits.

(In part II we‘ll get into decision making processes but I think here we have to separate by route rather than house since it’s most evident post-timeskip and dependent on plot events.)

Team Dynamics and Decisionmaking

Empire Route

Here, there is a very clear distinction between inner circle and outer circle. Edelgard and Hubert have their own thing going on and once you prove loyal, you’re in, and you get to see a whole different side to both of them, Edelgard lets down her guard, Hubert acts polite and sympathetic where he was previously suspicious and mocking, and they basically tell Byleth everything, including the unsavory pursuits that they keep secret from everyone else – but overall the secrecy, maintained for realpolitik reasons, never truly stops. Basically those three make all the decisions.

Notable is that if you’ve recruited Lysithea she hovers on the threshold between inner and outer circle. She was fed the cover story of the nuke being a church weapon (though she did’t buy it) but WAS told about the secret assault on Arianrhod. This is prolly cause Edelgard likes her, she can become her main advisor in their paired ending.

Kingdom Route

Dimitri describes himself as as someone who thinks change should come from the people and that the leadership should serve them, for all that he prefers to uphold the basic order of society, and this is reflected in his leadership style – though this also reflects that he is a ‚people person‘ rather than a planner, so the plans are left to his advisors like Byleth, Gilbert and Rodrigue. He is more the emotional/ spiritual lynchpin than the mind or will of the group.

In Azure Moon, especially later on, the decisions are really made by the entire group and you see them considering their next step together. Dimitri spills the backstory as soon as it comes up, telling everyone about his relationship with Edelgard for example.

In early part 2 this is at an extreme in that Byleth, Rodrigue and Gilbert are de facto making the decisions and Dimitri is at best a grumpy figurehead that they‘re putting up because they need him as a symbol, but at the same time he doesn‘t really compromise on his revenge obsession and is just dragging the whole team along/ not really reacting to how they are making him the lynchpin for their hopes. (though it is important to note that he didn‘t ask him too either – they decide to follow him out of friendship or loyalty to his house) yet inwardly Dimitri too is blindly following what he believes are his obligations.

A huge turning point is when he returns after the whole rain conversation and Byleth gets to ask him some variety of „What do you want to do“ in which Dimitri makes a step toward both inner and outer self-directedness, but precisely because of that becomes are more complete/better consensus leader.

I also want to stress that Claude and Edelgard LOVE togetherness and cooperation and equality as concepts every bit as much as Dimitri does they want to be one of the team but they find it difficult. And of course Dimitri’s style has its own flaws too

Alliance Route

While the Blue Lions decide everything together and either variation of the Black Eagles setup has an „inner circle“ that makes the decisions, in the Golden Dear that inner circle is basically just Claude.

Even Byleth doesn‘t find out his plans until part two, and it‘s later still till he comes clear with the team (and still doesn‘t reveal all but points to Cyril as a stand-in) Hilda and Lysithea are discernable as preferred right hand people, and Byleth and Marianne as special confidants, but in the end Claude rarely shows his real self and only he knows the plan. If Hilda and Lysithea pick up alot about him and his true self it‘s because of how observant THEY are and how much Hilda is basically a lot like him.

Claude does all the thinking and motivates followers (from Lorenz to the random merchans who support him) by promising them things they want – because even if he can‘t trust peopöle, he can trust their self-interest.

Church Route

Since you are with the church that is ideally a sort of benevolent parental authority under the supposition that people need guidance and that‘s a good thing it is perhaps fitting that though Byleth winds up the nominal leader, this is actually the route where they are more of a follower. They do watch Seteth says, who is doing what he believes is his duty and mission, and we have Flayn as an innocent, pacifistic voice.

They lost their dad, and the Nabateans are a sort of surrogate family. (wether its one that youre born into or marry into, the wiord „family“ is stressed) – they are the „inner circle“ making the decision and the empire kids, ragtag misfits estranged from their homes, follow. On the one hand they‘re going against their home country on the other they have the saint‘s blood and Adrestia USED to be church aligned so it also makes a kind of sense.

Among the Adrestian kids themselves, Ferdinand and Petra get a chance to shine as the ostensible leaders. They are stalward, competent leader-like people in CF too , but there they are more overshadowed by the much more experienced Hubert and Edelgard. - Though when you think about it they are like „pure hero“ versions of them who were never forced to become as cold and pragmatic. Ferdinand, like Hubert, is a nobleman from a storied family who is proud of it but wants to fix its tarnished reputation from his corrupt father. Petra, like Edelgard, is a former political hostage who experienced hardship at a young age and worked her way up all on her own, being very serious and competent despite her young age. I prefer the version where they stay buds rly.

It‘s worth noting that Seteth, ‚Heir of Purpose‘, sees it as their families duty to protect Fodlan and is the only one really doing that – his brothers noped out, and Rhea, uneknowst to him, twisted „protect“ into „rule/subjugate“. One might question who gives him the right to decide things because his mom is magic but on the other hand he really is 100% benevolent and I see no sign that he has any greedy intentions especially in in Silver Snow, all the countries collapse and someone needs to keep order, he doesn‘t understand what the empire‘s doing and why just sees their agression and really is rising to the challenge of upholding peace because something needs to do something about the violence. He had withdrawn to protect his daughter but then in the end he‘s the last one who is really doing what Sothis would have wanted. He looks most like her too having the slightly darker, ‚spikier‘ hair.

Further Thoughts

I’m curious to see how Yuri, the Ashen Wolves, and Cindered Shadows compare/contrast to this and i theyll manage to make the dynamics sufficiently different so that its neither a carbon copy or a blabk mary sue ish superlative.

I mean the other routes are so interesting to dissect because its a tradeof and all have their own flavor so really CS would do better to try to be “different” or, better yet, “complementary” than “better” or “cooler”

#three houses #fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #blue lions #golden deer #three houses meta

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ga-yuu · 4 years

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Ikemen Genjiden ‘Sweet Drunk tonight’ story event- Yoshitsune route summary

P.S: MC and Yoshitsune haven’t fallen in love yet....this event is before Yoshitsune’s main story.

Story starts by showing an open field where MC, I think she is resting, IDK. Anyways, she was on a three-day workshop with another doctor, so she could learn about some rare medicine or something. It was Yoritomo's suggestion to do so. Yoritomo also asked her if she needed a guard to be by her side, to 'protect' her. But she refused the offer. She was thinking of what gift she should buy for him when she returns, when she heard some footsteps behind her. Several men came towards her and starts to bully her. Actually they were trying to take her somewhere so they could assault her. MC tried to find someone who could help when suddenly they hear a voice saying them to get out of the way. When they all look at the direction from which the voice came, it was Yoshitsune. Those men tried to challenge Yoshitsune but he gave a threatening glare which was enough for those men to run away.

After those men ran away, Yoshitsune and MC looks at each other. MC starts to remember some scenes in the prologue when she first met Yoshitsune. She starts to think that since she is a threat to him because she made a contract with an ayakashi, he might kill her. Yoshitsune still kept his hand on his sword and kept looking at her without saying anything. Then they hear someone calling out to them. Yoshitsune thought there were more of those men and clutched his sword, but it was the villagers. The villagers told them that they saw what happened and that those men were actually thieves who always causes problems in their village. They asked both Yoshitsune and MC if they are staying here in the village for the night. Yoshitsune looks up and realizes that it's going to be night soon and then looked at MC. He tells her that he is going to rent a room for the night and orders her to come with him. MC was about to reject the offer thinking that his plan will be to kill her once they enter the room, but Yoshitsune quickly cut her off saying that he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. MC was tries hard to think what was going on in his mind since she can't read his face but eventually agrees because she has no other choice.

Once they both entered their room, MC was scared and sat far away from him. He asks her what she was doing here in this village and tells her not to lie. MC didn’t have a reason to lie so she just told the truth. After hearing her story, Yoshitsune settles down saying that he will not kill her today. MC asks the same question back to him and he answers that he is here to use the hot springs. She asks if he is sick or anything and he replies that he has a wound to be recovered. Some samurais tried to attack Hiraizumi and he fought them, it was an injury from that time. Since he was the only one passing by then he fought them.MC asks him why didn’t he use his ayakhasi powers, because he can use his wind blades to kill all enemies at one go without even getting injured. Yoshitsune says that there were small number of people watching them so he didn’t want to disturb their work. Hearing his words, MC can clearly see how much the people of Hiraizumi means to him. Yoshitsune continues his story, where he says that those samurais were small in number so he finished their business quickly even before his vassals came for helping him. He also tells her that he didn’t realize he was injured because he didn’t feel the pain. MC asks if he was serious and Yoshitsune says that she sounds just like Benkei. He tells her that it was not a big deal, and Benkei scolds him all the time. This hot springs trip was only to reassure Benkei. Even Yoichi told him that he could use some break. MC starts to understand his deep bond with his vassals and starts to think that he might not be scary according to what the other people say about him.

Next she asks why she is brought here with him and he tells her that, those men have already seen MC’s face and there might be a chance that she will be attacked again if he left her alone. She asks why because they are enemies and he--

Y: “Because I’m planning to kill you on the battlefield. I have no intention of letting you die by the roadside today because of I incurred the hatred of men.”

Y: “we can sleep under the same roof. By tonight, I’ll be able to get rid of all my sins and get out of here.”

MC: “ are you.....going to kill those men tonight?”

Y: “Yes, I’ll find and destroy these men tonight.”

Out of curiosity she asks why he is putting himself in danger for a village that does not belong to him .

Y: “Those men’s fate is also brought about by his fate. Like you, the villagers may become embroiled in the scandal.” (basically he wants to say that, he wants to kill those men so no more problem like this happens anywhere)

Hearing his serious words and looking at his icy cold glare, MC couldn’t find out which is the real Yoshitsune. Whether he is the kind person that his people and vassals cherish or the cold blooded demon who is sitting in front of her.

MC: “ um, do you really have to kill them?”

Y:(0_0)” ........”

MC: “even if these men are criminals, there might be an another way. Like catching them alive and handing them over to the villagers.”

Y: “That’s not wise.Those men are guilty for a huge crime.”

MC: “but, what’s good in taking someone’s life? I will do everything I can to help you. So please, lets not kill them.”

Yoshitsune tells her not to be naive and not to take risk. But MC clutched her fists and looked straight at him saying that she is a doctor and as a doctor she can’t see people dying even if they are good or bad. And to why she is cooperating with Yoshitsune to catch those criminals is because, he saved her despite having an injury. After saying all this Yoshitsune’s reaction was like--

Y:(0_0)

MC after hearing the villager’s stories about what those men did to them, she really wanted to do something for the villagers. MC felt the temperature in the room starts to warm up and when she looked at Yoshitsune’s face, she could see that he didn’t have that icy glare now.

Y: “.....you do speak a lot, quite straightforward.”

Then he stood up and took his sword and looked down at her. He asks, since she decided to cooperate with him, if she is scared. MC told the truth that she is but tonight she decides to believe in Yoshitsune. They come up with a proper plan in how to catch them to take them by surprise. MC decides to take the role of bringing those men out in the open so Yoshitsune can attack them. Suddenly she felt a warm hand touching her cheeks. When she looks up--

Y: “ let’s fight together, MC.”

MC: “yes!”

Y: “You said you will believe me for the night, so I’ll protect you tonight no matter what. Even if we return to being enemies tomorrow.”

That night, MC and Yoshitsune got many info about those men from the villagers. The villagers were happy that they were helping them out. According to them, the reached the place were those men usually gather. MC found Yoshitsune in deep thought and questions him. He tells her that the villagers decided to reward them with wine as a gratitude for helping them out. Yoshitsune somehow feels funny about the thought of drinking with his enemy but before he could say something they reached the cabin where those men were hiding.

After finding them, things went according to their plan, where MC brought those men to the place where Yoshitsune told her to and those men didn’t see her face so they didn’t recognize it was MC. Yoshitsune defeats them and their hands and feet where tied. Yoshitsune ensures if MC is fine and she reassures him that she is. She could see a relief expression on his face. MC was happy that he kept his word about protecting her tonight and that raised the warm feeling inside her heart.

MC: “...you worked hard.”

Y:*smiles* “yeah, you too...”

Seeing a brief smile on his face for a second, she couldn’t help but her heart started to beat fasts.

Y: “I’m glad they are giving us alcohol.”

MC: “Why?”

Y:*smiles under the moonlight* “MC, I can talk to you bit more.”

Premium end:

Both of them return to their room where, the villagers give them their rewards- wine and some food. Those villagers thanked them once again for their help but Yoshitsune told them that they just did what they could. The villagers tells them to enjoy and leaves the room. Yoshitsune and MC were both surprised to see the food that they prepared, it was some new kind of dishes they haven’t seen before. Also the alcohol was special one because it was specially prepared by the villagers. Both of them poured liquor in each other’s glass. MC somehow feels this ‘pouring sake for the enemy’ thing awkward, and took a quick glance at Yoshitsune. Seeing his beautiful face and eye lashes lowered, she couldn’t help but admire how beautiful he looks. When she realized how much her heart was beating at that moment, she starts feeling nervous. However Yoshitsune started talking to break the awkwardness between them. He smiles,tells her not to be shy and its normal to pour sake for each other. She relaxes and they both started drinking the sake. While drinking the delicious sake, Yoshitsune tells her that he will be leaving tonight. MC, after hearing that, somehow felt lonely. Is because they joint hands together to defeat those men or something else, she don’t know.

MC: “Thank you again for today..”

Y: *smiles* “you don’t have to thank me.”

MC: “why?”

Y: “we fought together and they thanked you for it. That is more than enough for me.”

MC realizes that Yoshitsune is a type of person who likes to do things without anyone knowing and also doesn’t like to be thanked. MC couldn’t really figure out what was in his heart because his face completely lacks expression and his eyes were quite. MC realized that she was drunk and was staring at him.

MC: “I don’t know what to say....but I think you are a reckless person.”

Y: “how so?”

MC: “you don’t like to be hurt nor thanked. Its like you’re throwing yourself away like breathing.”

Y: “......”

Y: “this is how I live.”

MC starts to feel sad about what he is saying about himself. She got curious about what kind of lifestyle did he lived till now. He childhood and also his bond with Kurama, since he has known Yoshitsune for a long time.

Y: “why do you have that look?”

MC: “what look?”

Y:*comes closer* “you look sad.”

Yoshitsune’s face was so close enough for her to touch, but she instantly looked away. She starts to feel shy and moves away from him quickly.

Y: “why are you running? It gives me an animal instinct to chase you.”

MC: “animal? but Lord Yoshitsune....is a human right?”

Y: “Men can also be animals. If I say more.....even ayakashi is so.”

Y: “But sure humans sure are more complicated.”

Y:*sad face* “Even though they are the same race, they are divided into enemies and allies to kill and compete with each other.”

MC starts getting frustrated seeing his sad face and tells him to do something else than simply fighting. He says that he has nothing else to do other than fighting to his death, with an expressionless face. Then he smiles and tells her that he never say things like this to anyone else. MC realizes that he is again putting a lid on his feelings, and that she is not going to hear anymore from him. But she still tells him that he is a kind person according to her from looking at today’s events and she doesn’t want ‘sad things’ like this coming from his mouth. She tells him to value his life and not to throw away like its nothing. Yoshitsune gave a surprised look, with his beautiful round eyes wide open but then he smiles at her.

Y: “.....you’re beautiful”

He gently touches her cheeks.

Y: “I don’t why, but I want to touch you.”

And their sweet night starts which will be a secret only among them. Not to forget this story is before they released Yoshitsune’s story and the epilogue is full of fluff

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Benkei route

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

#ikemen series #cybird otome #ikemen genjiden #ikemen series spoilers #cybird ikemen #ikemen series story event #ikemen genjiden yoshitsune #ikegen yoshitsune

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westeros-rp · 4 years

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asteri of lys.

Near the end of the Prince’s life, Asteri of Lys vowed that she would oversee his passing into the next world. Guided by her faith, the foreigner vigilantly kept watch over the dying man, listening intently to his labored breaths as she muttered prayers late into the night and into the early morning hours. Asteri sat at his bedside, completely still, as servants frequently passed through with eyes fixated on the former Red Grace. Despite the bond she had developed with Nymeria in the short time she resided in Dorne, others were hesitant to fall behind the Princess on the matter. Inhabitants of Westeros, in their own strange values and traditions, maintained distrust of magic, foreign gods, and foreign whores. Despite some discouragement from the Prince’s council, Asteri defied their discomfort by seeking residence at his bedside.

“You,” the Prince wheezed, suddenly overcome by a violent coughing spell. The air around him was putrid, the sickly sweet stench of death lingered in his immediate vicinity. The air around him was hot, moist. His paled fingers were gripped around her wrist; they were frigid, his fingertips black from lack of circulation in his blood. The former priestess found herself on her feet instantly, startled. She instinctively whipped her hand back, only the Prince would not let go.

“My Prince, please, don’t say another word, let me fe—”

Asteri, shocked out of her typically serene disposition, could not find it within her to call out for someone. Prince Elric’s eyes were wide, dulled to an almost greyish yellow hue, and glazed over with disease—locked on hers. Asteri remained fearfully still. Through his clenched jaw emerged a hoarse sob as he fell back onto the bed. He pulled her close. “Such eyes you have, my child,” he cried tearfully, and began to wail loudly. The servants rushed into the chamber, Asteri finally finding an opportunity to break free of him. She thought the man delusional, mindful that his time was drawing near. The god of death was awaiting him at the threshold.

“I-I’ll fetch Lady Nymeria,” she told a servant, trembling. She stumbled into the hall in a daze, pale as if she had looked into the eyes of the god of death himself. However, she composed herself and sauntered down the halls to Nymeria’s bed chambers.

The Prince would lose his life that very day. And for weeks, Asteri resided at Nymeria’s beck and call despite her rather brief mourning period.

It was a peculiar time to say the very least. In the passing days and weeks, Asteri was plagued with the images of the night of Prince Elric’s passing. She would contemplate his final moments in her own time, quite frequently in fact. She grew quieter than usual, devoting much of her idle hours to her practice. There was a part of the young foreigner that grew quite detached; the privileged life Nymeria had so generously offered her soon became mundane, despite the small joys that seeped into the monotony of the days.

That is, until the day both she and Nymeria’s company were requested by The Queen in Blackmont. She saw the two alone. The Queen tucked a sealed note into The Princess’s hand, “I will leave you both with this. It arrived a few weeks ago in King’s Landing. I had my own letter which instructed me to not open yours. Again, my condolences, dear niece.”

The silence offered nothing to the passing minutes, until they were left alone in each other’s presence. Asteri sorted through her own emotions to find the right words to speak to Nymeria. Never had Asteri anticipated having audience with The Queen of Westeros... and, never in her greatest nightmares could she even fathom what followed.

She searched Nymeria’s face as she read the letter aloud, confusion overtaking her expression.

“Asteria Sand, bastard daughter of Prince Elric Martell,” she uttered aloud, her mind toyed with the strange name, now hers. “My name is Asteria Sand.” There was grim laughter in her voice, all on account of disbelief. “Asteria Sand...” Nym repeated. Nymeria felt numb and hollow. Memories of her beloved father were tinged a little differently now. He had never said anything. He had barely even seemed shocked when Nym had brought Asteri into their home and had her stay. Nym began, “I’m not quite sure how I feel. Father never—he loved my mother....and we are around the same age....I think I may faint.” Asteri echoed similar sentiments, fighting the tremors through her body at this realization. “But this letter says that Sand is your name. This is Father’s writing and his symbol authenticated the letter. He just never told us....after all this time.”

Asteri had never known a father’s love; and such a circumstance brought her a sense of relief, though she was knowledgeable of what it meant for Nymeria, what it meant for her place in Dorne. She was a bastard, no doubt, though she still retained a place in Dornish court. The very idea of such a responsibility loomed over her head. She stared at the ground in contemplation. “No,” her voice riddled with dismay. “This name does not belong to me, it never belonged to me. It is not mine to claim.”

“We can go back to Sunspear and figure things out....look through his journals...” replied Nymeria.

Asteri hesitated before speaking, sighing deeply. “Forgive me, Princess Nymeria, for what I am about to do.” Tears began to pool in her eyes, her voice shaken through clenched teeth. “I thank you for taking in a stranger, a whore from a foreign country... for giving her a home and an opportunity to serve at your side.” Asteri couldn’t bare look at her sister, her eyes downcast. “I do not belong in a court, nor Sunspear—nor Dorne. I am, and will always be Asteri of Lys.”

“Asteri... you’re not leaving. Of course you belong in Dorne. Even before all of this—or rather along with all of this. You’re Asteria Sand—”

“A name which does not separate me from any other Dornish bastard—” She swiftly tore the letter from Nymeria’s hand. The Red Grace ripped the parchment in two, then again—and again. “—wait, what are you doing Asteri, that’s the last thing my father possibly wrote—”

“What of a document when his blood courses through your veins, through our veins? You are the rightful heir to Sunspear; this piece of parchment serves you no purpose.” Her voice was raised, as she stepped toward her.

“Eventually my memory will fade, Asteri. I’d like to keep everything of him I could. He is my, our father. This is everything.”

“How sad for you,” Asteri began, her voice somber, “that your memory must be defined by things. Will you erect a palace for everything The Prince has touched, then?” Asteri instantly regretted what she had said, however she bit her tongue. She wouldn’t take it back, conscious it would be the final push she needed to sever the ties which bound them.

“How—” Nymeria shoved her, her voice filled with rage. “We took you into our home. We made sure you were entirely comfortable. That you would not have to spread your legs like the whore you’ve been. All I’ve ever asked of you is to keep one sheet of parchment and you insult me? Me?” There was a pause, and suddenly, Asteri’s head whipped sideways from the force of Nymeria’s palm as it struck her face. A hot sting lingered and dulled. There was a moment of silence. “Forget it. Do what you will.” Asteri remained frozen, her eyes locked on the ground with brows furrowed as tears streamed down her face. She grazed her burning cheek with her fingertips, then stood straight, and strode past her.

“Until we meet again, my dear sister,” Asteri murmured as she passed.

At sunrise, she departed Blackmont on foot, with only the clothing on her back and a pouch full of coin.

weeks later, king’s landing.

The streets were astir in King’s Landing from the moment she set foot onto the Street of Silk.

Asteri, for the life of her, could not call to mind the occasion. However, the bustling cavalries with their noble banners flown overhead signaled the coming of new clientele. In her time at King’s Landing, Asteri found her place, a brothel known as Chataya’s which upheld quite the reputation discreetly catering to highborn ladies and lads from all reaches of the seven kingdoms; with a carefully curated selection of foreign beauties and their exotic talents. Why, the Madame hadn’t even looked twice before extending an invitation to join their collective. The wages were promising, though the gentleman and lady-callers were of a particular demographic Asteri possessed little interest in.

The Red Grace followed the sea of the city’s inhabitants toward the Red Keep, armed with curiosity of the events at hand—a grand tournament of the great houses was among the day’s topics. Still, she remained on guard, as the emblem of Sunspear danced in the distance—and only gods knew what Nymeria would be planning in retaliation for her destroying the last confession of Prince Elric. She imagined the outcomes could be grim. However, Asteri had no interest in such interactions, far removed from the frustrations she experienced last she saw the Princess of Dorne.

Clad in a barely-there gown, she settled within standing room among the commoners and drunkards near the jousting pit. “How much for you, two-bit Sally?”, a drunk called out, his breath and sweat wreaking of stale alcohol, piss and shit. “Not for sale, bugger off,” replied Asteri with venom in her tone. “C’mon, fancy a copper?”

“Fuck off and let me work,” she replied listlessly, jabbing the man in the ribs with her elbow as she made her way toward the front of the crowd.

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corinthbayrpg · 4 years

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NAME. Ana Cavallero AGE & BIRTH DATE. 564 & August 9th, 1456 GENDER & PRONOUNS. Female & She / Her SPECIES. Vampire OCCUPATION. Lounge Singer at Hypnos FACE CLAIM. Nathalie Kelley

BIOGRAPHY

( tw: death, murder ) The dawn of the Inca Empire might still be considered one of the greatest historical feats of all time, let alone the early fifteenth century. Rising in the Peruvian highlands as if eternally destined for greatness, Machu Picchu had already been successfully constructed by the time a young woman bore her first child in 1456. Within what would eventually become Lima, Peru, Nayra came into existence. No surname, they simply hadn’t been concocted yet, but she was rightfully gathered by her Ayllu as a member of the larger community as a whole. They say that it takes a village to raise a child and the Incan people most certainly adhered to that sentiment.

By the time she reached her tenth year, Nayra garnered favor with the elite due to her beauty and was selected for removal from her family to become an Aclla Cuna, or Virgin of the Sun. An honor above all else, chosen as a servant to the sun god and tribute of the state. They locked her away in a temple to train and instruct, to mold their perfect chosen woman, and in that time she did not witness daylight for nearly six years as she and the other girls were placed under impossible scrutiny. Yet it was a blessing and she did not sour in these conditions, more than prepared to accept her role however the prominent leaders deemed fit: as wife to a nobleman, priestess of the empire, or a worthy human sacrifice to the gods. Perhaps all three.

Upon becoming ordained as a priestess, the state opted to marry her off into a dynastic union with a young nobleman who had proven himself exceptionally loyal to the emperor and whose first wife had passed in the year prior due to sudden illness. Despite their arranged union, Nayra and her husband were wedded rather blissfully for many years. They bore no children, which might have been grounds for their marriage to dissolve, however the pair grew quite fond of one another’s company and did not mind their misfortune. Her husband would not risk the loss of another wife and Nayra discovered that her additional time made way for further ventures into weaving and religious rituals.

Yet even the most peaceful of arrangements could not last for eternity and a disagreement between her husband and an advisor to the emperor led to the swirling of untruths, rumors spread by the offended party as he instilled a detriment to her partner’s reputation. The crimes leveled before him included an assortment of minor infractions, with the most prominent being crimes against the empire itself and even Nayra: laziness, adultery, and massive theft. The punishment for the one accused of such claims? Public execution through the lost art of cliff-tossing. Their society held a no tolerance policy for any transgressions, which set forth low criminal activity and one unjustly murdered man.

The resulting position as a widow devastated Nayra, who faithfully believed that she and her husband shared such a deeply honest connection and it now became irreparably severed. No one would assist the former wife of a supposed lawless criminal, and the state refused to sanction a second marriage due to her barren womb, leaving the priestess alone and withdrawn. Inevitably, the grief manifested into an unspeakable rage and she desired nothing more than revenge for her loss and humiliation, but was uncertain how to gain it without succumbing to the same circumstances. She prayed to her sun god for guidance, but pleas fell upon emptiness and her faith wilted alongside them. The following year she met with an ostracized healer in the capital, desperate for some variation of respite from her own fury and dreams of vengeance. Half anticipating that the other would report her animosity to those in command, she discovered herself curiously surprised when the medicine woman instructed that she wait beyond the city’s edge for the one who came at night. The enemy of the sun god, the man who only walked in darkness.

She saw him arrive after the last light fell beneath the trees–– only one, but he seemingly stalked the grounds of the capital in search of those who were wandering alone. From first glance she knew him to be wicked and predatory, yet Nayra approached without reluctance. Amused at her bravery and intrigued by the offering of her knowledge regarding what lay untouched in the temples, the unholy one who called himself Hektor agreed to a widow’s request. Taking her to unconsecrated ground, she became a vrykolakas that very night and upon waking from her untimely death, knew that the transformation could only be completed once her loosest end became tied. Nayra returned to the mystical healer and fed upon her blood, stealing one mortal life for an eternity of her own depravity… The guards and statesman who destroyed her life never anticipated the nightmare she unleashed upon them under the following moons.

From that moment onward, well over 50 years passed in a blur during which she spent most of her nights stalking the villages along the coast of Peru and stealing away unsuspecting stragglers before continuing on to the next. Devastation and bloodshed were left in her wake, chalked up to demonic entities or even animal attacks by the locals; humanity never truly changes, does it? Eventually she began to migrate north through what would become the lower half of Central America before finally arriving in Acapulco, Mexico. A trade route had been established here, enormous vessels docked from far off lands and it was one evening as she lay in wait for the emerging merchants and sailors to de-board that she saw him. Ramil.

Fully intending to steal him away and satiate a bloodlust which never quieted, instead Nayra spared the life of this strange man whose skin ran too hot and whose smile echoed with a kindness unfamiliar to her cruelty. Over time, their bond grew quite extensive and once both were fully exhausted by the shaded nature of their union under the cover of darkness and pretense, they opted to migrate north in search of a solution.

For a century, the duo meandered their way along the various villages and settlements until they reached what would inevitably become the southeast United States, but was only known in this time as New Spain. There they assisted in changing each other’s titles to something with a modern twist. Not because they found their given names to be shameful, but the pair knew this cover would assist in their deception amongst the scattered Spanish outposts. Thus they became Lucas and Ana Cavallero, donning a mutual last name despite their lack of conventional marriage. A ring was placed upon her left hand by someone who revealed himself as not quite human, but not quite something else either. Certainly as immortal as Ana, yet Lucas refused to divulge his species. She did not inquire any further, too blissfully happy to shatter their shared illusion.

A small coven of mystics gathered near to their village, those later known as witches, with whom her love bartered for a transformation of her ring. To walk in the sunlight once more had long since become a fantasy of Ana’s, yet these powerful beings made it into a reality. With the ability to exist in normalcy granted, she foolishly believed that they might stay in this life forever and ride out the impending centuries in their new world. Unfortunately, eternity preferred to remain elusive. The pair only enjoyed a bit over a century together in total when her kind, mysterious husband was destroyed as retribution for one of the countless misdeeds accumulated from Ana’s past.

At her lover’s final request, she fled the scene without a gruesome fight, choking upon the knowledge that he so willingly sacrificed himself for her unworthy life. Practically widowed again and sent spiraling into oblivion over the agony of witnessing slaughtered love for a second time, Ana never fully recovered without the closure of vindication. Her harrowing escape that evening landed the vampire along the gold coast of California where she remained for several centuries before migrating to Europe in the latter half of the 1900s. Every positive facet of her personhood lost to boundless time and apathy, she spent far too many decades wrapped in violence whilst compelling others out of money and resources to supply her own selfish desires. Now a resident of Corinth Bay for two years, Ana has built a comfortable life for herself and holds little intention of ceasing her malevolent ways.

PERSONALITY

+ versatile, charismatic, vigilant - chaotic, scheming, duplicitous

PLAYED BY MARTY. PST. She/Her.

#marty

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