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6blackfilin9 · 1 year

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you've unlocked a rothbart crush from my childhood i completely forgot i had... thank you... and odette/rothbart is so INCREDIBLE, FASCINATING, NOVEL! precious to me. i tried to look thru ur tags but did not find like, a synopsis of how u envision that happening? so how do u envision that happening? if u dont mind me asking :3c

I hoped to draw some of the key scenes to give you the insight, but it seems that my schedule isn’t currently fit for this. Sadly.

So, there is a very short answer: it took a lot of work, time and dead nervous cells. The latter goes mostly for Odette.

For as long as they were on the Lake they could not have formed a proper romantic relationship, this is absolutely impossible due to the circumstances. But they could still make some personal bond, even though slightly twisted and antagonistic, the “frenemy” kind of thing, and therefore create the ground for forming a normal relationship afterwards, when they’re married and have matching interests.

In my opinion this is very much possible, taken how these characters are written. I mean, Odette is a sweet, endearing, soft and gentle pain in the ass that can flip your world up and down for how keen she is in getting what she wants. And Rothbart is both a dark bloody disaster and the Einstein in the fields of magic and running things, wether it’s a kingdom or a fanfare show. Both are ironic and sarcastic clots of energy integrated into their overall calm demeanor but revealed if need be. Perfect.

Furthermore, as egotistical and stark his actions and character may appear, they don’t make him the ultimate evil, only for William’s supporters and family, maybe. The only thing that distinguishes Rothbart from any other noble people is him knowing magic

So maybe, maybe, with time, they’d manage to make good relationship and family, but only with time, and only when the circumstances change from that they’ve been like on the Lake

I mean, initially Rothbart had zero interest in her as a person, she was naught but a tool for him to get what he wants with impunity, so he couldn’t have been genuinely sympathetic or caring when it’d come to picking on her.

And initially for Odette he was naught but an enemy. I mean the mortal enemy kind of thing

She didn’t see her father die, but it’d be perfectly clear for her that did die. It’d be perfectly clear what kind of role she played in the coup.

Key and minor at the same time

Actually i have an intention to somewhen discuss the issue of the movie not following the rules it itself had set in its beginning, and what it could have been once it followed these rules. But for now, to clarify myself I’d like to point out just that the writers were trying to sit both on the chair of realism and the chair of a fairy tale

And, appealing to the realistic one, I’d like to say that Rothbart wouldn’t have laid all his hopes on Odette’s will

He was not just an aristocrat coming from the kingdom he wishes to take, but the chancellor, which not only gives him access to the court and all his old acquaintances and connections, but provides him impressive amount of experience as a politician, economist and diplomat. Even being banished, he still would have kept some of them, and, most importantly, used them

So, by the time he kidnapped Odette, he’d have comparably firm basis of support in the kingdom, which would allow him to both wait long enough and keep the situation hanging in the air in one case, and to go in and take the power right away in another

The only reason the first option is much, much more appealing is that in feudal order you better do stick to the linage. Common people viewed the monarch as a viceroy of god on earth, and therefore the only legitimate ruler is the heir to the currently royal house. So if you don’t by blood belong to this linage, your position is.. quite shaky. Maybe there will be a riot. Or maybe not and it will go fine and dandy. Or there may be a major bloodshed

But once you marry the legitimate heir, you can avoid slaughtering your taxpayers people

They both understand this. They both know that the only thing that would change depending on her decision is the the number of complications Rothbart would face with proving the legitimacy of him taking the throne. But most importantly, the risk of bloodshed, which considerably decreases once Odette accepts the proposal

But there’s the thing, responsibility

Once she accepts right away, she commits the betrayal. She’d betray the memory of her father, her family, her pride, her kingdom, which is both the legacy of her father and her responsibility as an heir.

But the longer she declines, the weaker Rothbart’s control over the situation becomes

I believe it’s clear that he is not the only one drooling over the opportunity to take the empty throne and make their house the reigning one, to set it above all others. His alliances may be firm, but people don’t really fancy hanged up situations and loss of opportunities. And once he does lose control, the bloodshed is inevitable. The only issue is wether it will be within the walls of the palace only

Odette knows it as well as he does. That life won’t wait for her to make up her mind

Which makes her torn apart between her personal good and her country’ good. Which is, in fact, enough of a reason for her to accept Rothbart’s proposal even without him pushing. Initially she’d, indeed, be seeking for the ways to free herself, either by trying to physically get away or to fool Rothbart, maybe trying to haggle with him at some point, but in the end of the day, she’d still have to make the choice and take responsibility for any of the two decisions.

And here is the second thing, time

Rothbart, being the wise and very patient old asshole he is, knows it’s just a matter of time and he just has to wait for it. So there is literally no need to push her. And he would not even really wish to push her, for it would only worsen her antagonistic attitude. I mean he wouldn’t like to get a knife under his ribs in his sleep after a wedding night, right?

Again, initially he didn’t care for her at all

But the desire to at least try to get things done quicker (and enjoy his revenge just a tiny bit) would drive him into interacting with her. Mostly in the way of picking on her and toying with her

Odette does make an impression though. There are certain things to respect her for, certain things to like, certain things to be curious about. It’s unwise to speak of true romantic interest on his side at this point, but there may be some sympathy for her, which would lead him to pay her more and more attention. As much as her own attitude towards him would allow

With Odette being all alone, having nothing to do, sooner or later she will get used to his monologues, and there will be a point when she’d start piping up just to try piss him off. Which would give him room to make a pause in this routine and give her a few days to enjoy her space, and, as a little bonus, realise how he really makes her days by just letting her have a daily intellectual acid-filled badass banters. There will be moments for him to provide her some more things to make her feel better, such as books or a few games maybe. I bet he plays cards magnificently

But no matter how possibly comfortable she can get around him, and no matter what he does for her to feel so, for as long as she is his prisoner there is no way their relationship can be deprived of antagonism. There is no way she’d trust him, or genuinely sympathise with him. She might be suffering being deprived of social interactions, but she remembers who’s to blame for it, you know. She will come to respect him, greatly, both as a person and as a foe, but respect doesn’t really have that much to do with sympathy. It only serves as a basis for it.

At that point there is no way he can get to her through personal connection.

But, there’s the third thing, experience gap

Once he’s careful enough with that tiny little bit of sympathy Odette will have for him, he still could do so through the sexual one. Keeping in mind that plenty of time has passed, all the passions has settled down in a complacent stubborn slumber, and that for Rothbart her liking of him at that point is naught but an additional bonus, even though very flattering and pleasant, he will be damn patient and careful

And he does have the ground there

With everything in her life now depending on him, with him being the second key-importance figure for her now, (read: all her thoughts and intentions are somehow linked to him), all he needs to do is just to draw some of these thoughts this way. Being mature, experienced and quite charismatic, charming man... Rothbart can do that. Even though It might take even longer than making that tiny first step of at least getting used to each other

For Odette it will be catharsis though

Now not just she’s torn between what she desperately doesn’t want to do and what she is ought to do, but also facing the fact that she feels attracted to a man who killed her father

And it can very possibly lead to uh

Pretty harsh things

And thoughtless actions

Which can possibly send both Rothbart and Odile rue the day he’s come up with that ingenious kidnapping plan of his

You know, actually, she could have avoided such situation, and keep the feeling at bay, not let it grow and bloom from all attention paid to it, if not prevent it from appearing at all

But there’s the fourth thing, maturity

Even being both emotionally and intellectually smart, Odette doesn’t really have the sense of responsibility but only the picture of it (that’s what the exposition of the movie suggests, basing both on fairy tale canons and on how the character acts like. I mean openly speaking of ruining the medieval arranged marriage AKA state contract in front of many people, worst of all from an ally country with which this contract was made, and therefore disgrace your medieval dad AKA your sovereign by showing everyone how poorly you were brought up by him is beyond irresponsible. Wars got started for even lesser flaws back then)

The whole thing is literally about growing up as a person, both Derek and Odette. Of taking responsibilities and obtaining control over themselves. Back at the day, she is indeed just a few steps from doing so, yet still is not there

Though I don’t really think that Rothbart’d heat things up to the point where they get laid, but he’d certainly give her a glimpse of what he is like in this guise. Maybe not once. Or not really subtly, either. What i do think is that around this time of directing things into the intimate field is when he’d start to develop something for her, to start liking her not only as a person but as a young woman

There are plenty of things to like there, let’s say. Odette is not only intelligent but also smart, keen, witty. Over all the time spent on the Lake she’d also become very inventive and calculating, forged in cat-mouse games with him and Odile, and patient, thanks to all the banters with him. I guess I don’t have to mention that she is very beautiful, also

And she has an overall endearing image

If Odile is pure evil of a devil with mind and heart of a martyr, Odette is a delightful, sweet little angel with an impish drive and rebelliousness

The one that corresponds with the one of his, really, even though his is that of a more mature one

They both are latent daredevils (or not so latent). Overall they have plenty in common

So yeah, he’d form some sort of infatuation for her. And at this point he’d be god damn interested in it becoming something more as they get married

And it rather would than not, why I’ve typed a lot above. Whether they do get married or not.. I don’t know, as well as how complicated this would be. Because Derek is still in the picture, no matter how useful it’d be to just forget about him. Whether Odette accidentally finds him on one of her desperate tries to escape while he roams the right forest in it's right part in the right season in the right month, week, day and hour, I don’t know still. Depends on the plot, as fell as the events that followed their meeting. What I can say is... that would be real awkward for her. I mean real awkward.

But, back to the marriage, sadly there would still be consequences, inevitably.

Odette may forgive him for imprisoning her, for it was only for the matters of the coup and not his personal joy. She, if gets to know of the details, after some long-long time may even close her eyes on the connection between his little bonus-revenge, on that “everything you own and love will be mine” thing, and the marriage with him quite literally owning her. But for killing her father? I doubt it

Even if we imagine that she would, would he, now that he cares for her feelings? Making the cause of your loved one’s suffering is hell of a burden, and doing this mindfully makes it dreadful, even though done prior to getting close with each other

And while Odette will get over what happened with time, live her life serving her people and put some of the remaining pain aside in a dark corner of her mind, leaving the place for the better future instead, Rothbart until the end of his days will be stuck with this shit. It won’t crush him, for he is rather wise and he won’t get fixated on the past, especially when his actions weren’t some kind of mistake, he’d rather concentrate on being a good king, husband and father.

But the knowing of what exactly he has done will never leave him, and haunt him, at times. At times like, for example, William’s birthday, it would be exceedingly palpable

To sum up

It’s a thing with an extremely rocky start and an outcome with the firm union of the two snarky daredevil dumbasses, the one cute and subtle and the other harsh and sardonic, which has a very bittersweet and kind of heartbreaking connotation to it

#rothbart #princess odette #swan princess odette #swan lake odette #swan lake rothbart #swan princess rothbart #von rothbart #sorry for such a huge text and a delay #i have a habit of stuffing too much into answers to simple and local questions

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