#triton made them so unhappy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cecaeliana · 3 years

Photo

UMA NAUTICA : arcs. ( including divergences )

inspired by @zzozo ( psd )

arc one : pre - descendants ( you gotta fend for yourself )

uma atlantica, the only daughter of ursula, the sea witch. born on the isle of the lost, a place where the sun never shines and the food is never fresh. she is raised by her mother, a firm hand to keep her in line- and a protective one to keep her out of trouble. for a small girl on a small prison island, uma can’t help but feel like queen of the world. she gets away with everything, loves pulling pranks and is best friends with the other isle bigshot, mal- daughter of maleficent. the pair terrorise the isle and its residents.

but nothing good ever lasts and at the age of ten the girls fall apart, mal initiating aggressive action against uma, publicly shaming her and defeating her, marking her as public enemy number one. to make matters worse, ursula doesn’t want anything to do with the fight, barely lifting a tentacle to help out her daughter- it becomes obvious to the entire isle that uma is no longer protected by anyone, not mal, not her own mother- and she becomes a target.

the bullying is ruthless, people calling her names is the least of her problems, but it stings just as much as the rest. aside from name calling, she undergoes constant public humiliation, with rotting fish guts and shellfish being thrown at her. everyone is desperate to prove that there is someone they can overpower and uma’s an easy target. to make matters worse, she used to think she was above it all. so call it revenge if you will. people love to see the mighty fall. and they’re more than willing to help her on her way to rock bottom.

there isn’t much one girl can do, she’s weak, underfed, small for her age, and the bullying keeps coming. but not all is lost, she finds solace in the hook children. harry, her friend from an early age, and harriet, a caring hand in a cruel world. she has something, someone. they give her reasons to fight back, and better than that, they give her lessons in doing it.

uma picks up a sword and never looks back. she defends herself with brutality. she doesn’t care who gets in her way, or who calls her names anymore. she makes an example out of all of them. and people start paying attention once she’s demonstrated why they should be listening. she makes a show of strength, of power. she takes it for her own. pushes herself back onto a winning streak and then keeps fighting. no longer content to just be second best, she’s determined to outshine mal in every way.

it starts with a bid for territory. under her own name and her own power. there’s no hiding behind her mother’s name anymore. she adopts a new one. UMA NAUTICA. she doesn’t belong to her mother, doesn’t belong to a sea-kingdom outside the barrier. she belongs to this world, her world. she belongs to the sea. she’s a pirate. she’s a sea witch. she’s a goddess. but most importantly, she’s a faction leader in her own right. people are falling in line, agreeing to follow her, agreeing to work for her.

captain hook announces a chance to win a ship he needs rid of, and uma takes that challenge too. she races against hundreds of other isle residents, but importantly, against harry- under the caveat that if she wins he’ll work for her, and if he wins, she’ll work for him. uma wins the race, not by much, but it’s still a win and for the first time she gets herself a real ship. THE LOST REVENGE.

it’s a rotting mess that doesn’t even float properly, but it’s a base, and a home away from her mother. she takes on only the most loyal people she can find and makes them a crew. with herself as captain and harry as her first mate. he does his best to get the ship working, but with the limited supplies they’ve got basically no chance. that doesn’t matter, though. it’s theirs and it’s home and it’s perfect.

arc two : descendants - descendants two ( the revolution is coming the have-nots are gonna win this )

and then at age sixteen, the worst thing happens. mal and her cronies get chosen to leave the prison, to leave the isle of the lost and travel to auradon, to go to school there alongside all the princes and princesses. a reminder that there is life outside the barrier- that there is more to the world than simply stealing territory on a forgotten island in the middle of the bay. that there’s a whole world out there that they could be exploring.

she’s filled with rage and unhappiness. all the feelings she’s been trying to push aside come flooding back and uma finds that more than anything she wants to be free of the barrier, free of the prison. and, more importantly, she’s disgusted that mal got there first without ever having to do anything for it. she got picked and uma is left to wonder why her, what makes her so special. it only causes her resentment to fester and grow.

it only gets worse when mal defeats her own mother at the king’s coronation. she had been meant to free the entire isle, but instead she turns maleficent into a lizard and the barrier is closed- leaving the residents inside to turn their frustrations on each other. there are mass riots all over the isle and uma and crew have to defend themselves and their territory from the insurgency. and then they have to start looking for a new way off the isle.

so when word comes that triton’s trident has crossed the barrier somehow and is sitting in the water around the isle, uma is left with no choice but to go after it- so she can use it as a bargaining chip to get herself and her crew off the isle. but her own boat doesn’t float, so she has to strongarm someone into letting her borrow one that does- and she has to blackmail yen sid’s apprentice into giving up the location of her mother’s lost necklace. and she takes her crew to retrieve first the necklace, and then the trident.

the necklace is well guarded with traps and the pirates almost die escaping a collapsing cave, but they get what they need and they rebuild ursula’s shattered necklace. it responds to the trident, both godly gifts from poseidon himself, and the crew set off in search of it. a storm whips up around the isle, though- and outside the barrier mal and co are racing to save the trident from falling into the hands of a villain. specifically, uma.

it ends in a showdown, with a small hole in the barrier allowing uma her first taste of real magic, but mal still wins. she uses her magic to turn back time, allowing her a chance to get to the trident before uma can lay her hands on it- leaving uma confused and angry that she’s been cheated out of her freedom once again.

this only cements the idea in her mind that mal doesn’t care about anyone but herself, that she’s so eager to hold onto her life in auradon that she’ll happily leave the rest of them imprisoned permanently. so it’s up to uma to hatch a plan to bring down the barrier.

fortune favours her, it seems, when it drops the king of auradon straight into her lap. and she uses him as a bargaining chip to get mal to bring her fairy godmother’s wand, the only thing powerful enough to bring down the barrier from the inside. only mal brings a fake and escapes with the king, and the barrier intact. or so she thinks.

uma in a last-ditch effort, jumps through the barrier as mal and co are leaving, throwing herself into the waiting arms of the ocean and swimming her way to shore with a gift brought to her by one of her followers- mal’s spellbook. she seeks out a spell and performs an enchantment on the young king, causing him to publicly spurn mal and choose her. she’s incredibly close to getting him to drop the barrier when mal figures out her plan and stops the whole thing.

uma throws herself into the ocean again and turns, for the first time, into a cecaelia. a brief fight ensues, but in the end she’s left with no choice but to flee into the sea, alone. but for the first time, free.

arc three : the lost year - descendants three ( if you stand for nothing what’ll you fall for? )

freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, really. not when there’s no-one to share it with. uma spends her time exploring the depths to avoid guards of both the land and sea variety and, when she’s sure they aren’t looking, trying to bring down the barrier.

but it’s difficult. the auradon guard are searching and so, it seems, are the merfolk. so she has to be careful and crafty. she spends a lot of time in the darkest depths, meeting creatures thousands of years old. or on the surface, on remote islands or the backs of whales that are willing to carry her. she discovers an aptitude for disguise that allows her to search auradon for spells that might bring down the barrier.

and she spends her free time staring hopelessly through the magical wall at her crew, wishing she could be with them. she does find a small crack in the barrier, not big enough to get through but she finds she can talk to someone on the opposite side. specifically, hades. and she finds she can work just a little bit of magic through the hole too.

together they come up with a plan. mal returns to the isle again, to try and sell the idea of VK day- and construction begins on new buildings, so clearly there is some amount of effort being made- but uma isn’t content with that and she enlists hades to help her try and get the barrier remote from mal.

they end up battling it out in a dreamscape, and when uma almost has the remote, mal is snatched away by her friends and the hole in the barrier is closed. leading her to believe that hades double crossed her and once again leaving her with no way onto the isle, and no way off it for anyone still trapped there.

she spends around a year outside of the barrier. and as the people get more complacent, she spends more time around the isle, watching for her moment. it comes a week after vk day, when mal and co are forced to travel back to the isle and as they leave, harry and gil jump through after them. uma, watching from below the water, sees something fall from the bridge, hears mal’s cry and immediately snatches it out of the air.

it’s hades’ ember and it’s full of power. mal declares she needs it and so uma decides to use it as a bargaining chip, threatening to destroy it if mal doesn’t agree to release all the vks. knowing better than to trust a simple agreement, uma follows mal to auradon to help her save it and make sure she keeps good on her promise.

though it becomes clear the situation is more dire than expected and that if the gem isn’t returned to mal there won’t be much point in freeing the villain kids because they’ll just be turned to stone. so uma returns the ember to mal. only to be told that mal had been lying the entire time about the vks and that the intention is actually to close the barrier for good, so that no-one can ever go in or out again.

betrayed and angry, uma abandons the mission, refusing to try and help re-light the ember after celia douses its flame. but another problem presents itself, celia gets kidnapped by audrey and mal is losing the battle without the ember, so uma is left with no option but to re-ignite the spark. it drains her very quickly, but the ember sparks back into life and mal wins the battle. but audrey is dying and there’s nothing that anyone can do. except hades.

uma has a choice to make, she can go back to the isle for good, with no hope of leaving and no chance of escape, or she can stay in auradon while everyone left behind suffers. it’s not a choice at all. she volunteers to go back to the isle, to watch out for it, to look after it once the barrier is closed. she returns willingly to captivity- with harry and gil in tow, even though she had tried to convince them to stay.

arc four : queen of the isle of the lost - main verse ( every action is an act of creation )

back on the isle, a week passes- the residents and uma all believe that the barrier is closed permanently, that there’s not going to be any way off from now on. uma starts really planning for the future of the island, wanting to keep people as safe and as happy as possible, despite the dire situation. and then she spends the lesser part of her time still contemplating how to bring the barrier down.

until the unthinkable happens, and the barrier disappears anyway. mal, having had second thoughts, brings down the barrier completely- freeing everyone. though it is later made clear that the adults are being tracked and placed on probation, since they’ve already served a life sentence in inhumane conditions. if they reoffend they’re getting sent back to prison, only one slightly less geared towards violating all the basic human rights.

with the barrier gone, many residents take their leave. around half of the population decide to go and live in auradon- but there are some who still think of the isle as their home, some who don’t want to leave. uma amongst them. she wants to see what auradon has to offer, of course, but living there doesn’t really feel like her thing.

not to mention that she’s determined to see through the betterment of the isle now that she’s started. she names herself unofficial queen of the isle, though six months later they hold an actual vote on who should get the title and she wins in a landslide.

she turns her focus to making the isle a flourishing economy in its own right. together she and ben work on building lasting structures, on putting in the right infrastructure- water pipelines and electricity. magic is used to turn the soil from a contaminated mess into land that can actually be used for agriculture and they begin farming their own crops. residents who want to learn skills are given the opportunity, with a focus on skills needed to keep the isle going, building and farming etc.

ships are built and trade links are created between the isle and other parts of auradon. slowly, they build a working community. people work, they have enough food, clean water. the isle begins to flourish, until eventually, it’s a place people want to live. and a place people can live quite happily. and uma, queen of it all.

she takes time, between creating plans and laws and building a better future, to explore auradon properly, to travel up and down the country and see it in all its splendor alongside her crew. they explore thick jungles and forgotten caves. they get to experience real freedom.

arc five : emancipation and secession ( raise a glass to freedom - something they can never take away )

in the far future, once the isle has established itself as a state in its own right, with everything it needs to rule itself, it’s not long before the idea spreads that maybe they don’t have to be a part of auradon, to be beholden to the country that had shunned and imprisoned them for twenty two years. they have everything they need to control themselves and that’s what they should be doing.

and it’s hard to disagree. auradon is not just an overbearing ruler, but a constant threat- the fear that the barrier could go back up at any moment is an ever present fear in people’s minds. and more importantly, the isle never signed into any treaty with the united kingdoms.

so the answer becomes obvious, secession. but done peacefully and not through revolution. the citizens on the isle are given the chance to vote on whether they want that or not. when the vote comes out a yes, uma enters negotiations with ben- and the rest of the leaders in auradon, to try and find a peaceful, amicable solution.

it takes time, as with anything related to politics, but eventually the isle comes out as a solo nation, not technically part of the united kingdoms of auradon, but a close friend and trade partner nonetheless. it stands as its own country and the residents no longer feel like they have to live in fear of the control from auradon. for once, everything is at relative peace.

#⤪ 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 ⊰ headcanon. ⊱#⤪ 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆? ⊰ meta. ⊱#do you ever just write nearly 3000 words?? no? just me?#if you read this whole thing you get a cookie ig #⤪ 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ⊰ queen of the isle verse. ⊱#⤪ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ⊰ isle verse. ⊱#⤪ 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒍��𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎. 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 ⊰ future verse. ⊱#⤪ 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 ⊰ pre descendants verse. ⊱#⤪ 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 ⊰ lost year verse. ⊱#i am once again very sorry to miss china anne for trying to colour her hair teal and failing #my edits.

21 notes · View notes

365days365movies · 3 years

Text

March 12, 2021: Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Part Two)

Probably shouldn’t have talked so much in the first part...

Well, it’s all good. Epic-length Recap for a movie about an epic tale! Greek mythology, man, what can I say? Other than, of course, let’s keep going! Part One of the Recap is right here!

Recap (2/2)

OK, so where were we? OH RIGHT, Heracles fucked up!

See, Talos is a bronze giant with various origins. In one case, like in the movie, he was built by Hephaestus. He was built with a single vein, which ran from his neck to his ankle, and contained a golden ichor that sustained him like blood. Said vein was protected by a nail in his ankle, and he would bleed out and fall to the ground useless if it were removed.

So, sure, I could talk about the fact that Talos only encountered the Argo on the return journey, after they’d gotten the Fleece already, and that all he did was throw rocks at them as they passed the island of Crete (which he protected), only for...somebody who’s coming in later...to put him to sleep, allowing the group to pass. But, uh...

Yeah, that’s cool as shit. Which the Argo basically FUCKED for now, Jason speaks with the figurehead of Hera, and asks for some advice. She simply says to look to his ankles. I like where this is going. She also tells him that this is Heracles’ fault, which I’m sure pissed her off even more, given their history. That’s confirmed when Jason and the remaining Argonauts make it to shore, and Heracles is still holding the staff, the great idjit.

Jason quickly formulates a plan, and the Argonauts keep Talos’ attention while he gets close to observe his ankles. He notices a large stopper in the back, and sneaks up behind him to remove it. And once he does, the ichor releases itself. And it looks...awesome? Holy shit, it looks awesome.

And Talos falls to the ground, broken and dead, but at a cost. He falls on top of the frail Hylas, almost certainly killing him. Damn, poor dude. They repair the ship, and also try to find Hylas amongst the rubble and on the beach. An extremely guilty Heracles pledges not to leave the island until he finds Hylas, alive or dead.

The rest of the Argonauts aren’t happy about this, and refuse to sail without the guy who’s inarguably the most powerful amongst them all. Jason decides to burn his last bit of help from Hera, who informs ALL of the Argonauts that Hylas is dead, and that Heracles is not fated to accompany them any further. Which, yeah, is similar to how that plays out in the myths. And so, off they go to find a blinded man named Phineus, on Hera’s command.

Phineus (Patrick Troughton), meanwhile, isn’t having the best time in the world. On the island of Thrace, the seer Phineus is being attacked by the vicious Harpies, pictured here as demonic women with the wings of bats. Phineus, see, was punished by Zeus or revealing the future to mankind, and was both blinded and beset upon by the Harpies for all of his days.

The Argonauts save him from the Harpies’ recent torment, and Phineus agrees to help them IF Jason can permanently free him from the Harpies. Jason agrees, although Zeus is seemingly pissed off by this promise. The deed is accomplished by having Phineus serve as bait to the admittedly badly composited Harpies, and the Argonauts capture them by using nets to trap them.

And no, that’s not how it goes down in the original myth. But, since the Wind Brothers aren’t in here, there’s not an option for an aerial chase between them and the Harpies, which...holy shit, I NEED this to be in a modern movie, can we remake this? Please? PLEASE??

Now that they’ve completed their side of the bargain, Phineus feasts and gives them directions to Colchis: go through the Clashing Rocks, and head from there to Colchis. Without the protection of the gods at this point, Phineus offers them a clay token of some kind, and they part ways. The Argonauts make their way to the Clashing Rocks, which seem totally fine. But Argos is suspecious of this, not trusting Poseidon and other gods of the sea. They observe another ship coming through the Rocks. And it initially seems fine...until...

The rocks tear the other ship apart, and also cause the deaths of one of the Argonauts as well. The other ship sinks, but Jason insists on going through despite this. He says that the gods want their entertainment. Zeus overhears that, and says that he’s going to far with that comment. However, and unhappy Hera agrees with Jason, that the gods themselves are going to fair with this gambit.

In their little game in Olympus, Hera is left with only one movie, which she enacts as Jason throws the clay token into the sea. And from it...

Holy shit, it’s Triton (Bill Gudgeon)! A merman (and eventual father of a Little Mermaid), Triton was the son of Poseidon and the sea goddess Amphitrite. A messenger for his father, Triton is one of the most prominent symbols of the sea gods, which aren’t limited to Poseidon. And while he had absolutely nothing to do with the Clashing Rocks, he did encounter the Argonauts on their journey back. But yeah, not much to his appearance there that warrants mention.

What DOES warrant mention is what happens afterwards. See, the Argonauts row like hell, and they make it through with Triton’s help. But Jason sees a survivor of the other ship’s destruction. That survivor is...Medea (Nancy Kovack).

WHAT

Um...no. Medea, see, is the daughter of the King of Colchis, Aeëtes. She’s the head priestess of Hecate, and a powerful sorceress in her own right. She meets Jason on Colchis, and definitely had no ability to leave the island on her own, or even with other people in general. Once meeting Jason on Colchis, she quickly fell in love with him, and agreed to show him to the Fleece IF he pledged to get her off of the island. He agrees, and the two get married.

But Jason DEFINITELY doesn’t rescue Medea from a shipwreck, that’s for goddamn sure. Still, OK, I’ll deal with it. Jason and Medea introduce themselves, and the group heads towards Colchis. In the process, Jason decides to scout on the island alone, to the anger of Acastus. However, Jason’s now learned exactly who Acastus and his father are, and accuses him of trying to kill him. A fight ensues, and Acastus is thrown overboard. Son of Poseidon Euphemus (Doug Robinson), is sent after him, but the traitorous Acastus kills him, and disappears beneath the ocean waves.

On Colchis soon after, Medea heals Jason’s wounds with the nectar of a native flower, then invites him and the Argonauts to the performance of a ritual to Hecate, goddess of sorcery and magic. Also attending this ritual is Medea’s father, King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim). There, he waits to meet with Jason, whom he invites to dine with them that evening, along with the Argonauts.

Jason is a bit caught off-guard by this, but they accept. At dinner, Aeëtes reveals that he knows he’s come for the Fleece, to take or steal it from Colchis. He’s been warned of this not by Medea, but of Acastus, who managed to make his way to the island after all. Dick. Jason and the Argonauts are imprisoned by Aeëtes and his men.

That night, Medea goes to pray to Hecate, the goddess of darkness who gave her the gift of foresight. In love with Jason, she decides to betray both Colchis and Hecate’s will in order to save Jason and his Argonauts. And as she goes to free Jason, this is a great time to talk briefly about one of the most complicated characters in Greek mythology: Medea. This is gonna be a little long, so you can skip it if you wanna just get back to the movie.

See, here’s the thing about worshipping a chaotic evil Greek goddess: you've gotta be a little chaotic evil yourself. And Medea...oh boy, Medea. In order to escape her dad, Medea distracts him by killing her brother. Yeah. She made amends for that act with the gods, and then helped to heal Atalanta, and defeat Talos. She also helped Jason’s dad, and Jason eventually fell in love with him, with some...help from Hera. That help resulted in Medea helping to kill Pelias, then fleeing to Corinth with Medea, where they married.

But 10 years of being married, Jason decided it would be a good idea to cheat on the terrifying chaotic evil sorceress for a younger woman. Which is when Hera, the GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, finally abandoned Jason. Medea, meanwhile, LOST it. She gave Jason’s new fiancée a poisoned wedding dress. She killed the bride AND her father in one fell shot when she hugged him. In front of him, she KILLED THEIR TWO SONS, then took the FUCK OFF FOREVER, leaving Jason a broken fucking husk, partially because of his own stupidity.

So, you can see why this little union here is a...mixed bag of emotions.

Medea pleads with Jason to flee with his men, without the Fleece in hand. Seeing that she can’t convince him away from it, she forces him to bring her along, and she will help him steal the Fleece from the tree where it rests. Jason and Medea free the Argonauts, and Medea tells the how to escape. They then head out to obtain the Fleece.

However, Aeëtes figures out pretty quick that Medea’s betrayed him and Colchis, and sends his men after them. Acastus, meanwhile, has headed out to get the Fleece for himself. Dick. And unfortunately, he finds it before Jason and Medea get to it.

And yet...when Jason arrives there to get it, the Fleece is still intact. And that’s because Acastus wasn’t able to take it, having been killed by the Fleece’s guardian...the Lernaean Hydra?

Um...wow. That’s a few hundred miles out of its natural distribution. Also, it’s alive? How? Hercules killed the SHIT out of it, a long-ass time ago! And in case you weren’t sure, no, this isn’t in the original myth. However, it’s a dragon guarding the Fleece instead, so...I guess they made a compromise? Shame, too, because the Colchian Dragon has the ability to create soldiers when its teeth are buried in the earth, similar to the Ismenian Dragon that was used by Cadmus.

...Sorry, went a little overboard. Anyway, Jason kills the Hydra (with no help from Medea, by the way), the Argonauts arrive to help him grab the Fleece, and Aeëtes and the Colchians follow after them, pissed off. Aeëtes prays to Hecate to deliver...the Hydra’s teeth. Interesting. If this is going where I think it’s going, then I will be VERY happy.

Aeëtes and his men collect the Hydra’s teeth, and set off after the Argonauts. They catch up, and they shoot Medea with an arrow, KILLING HER? WHAT? But then, Jason uses the Fleece to heal her wounds, and brings her back to life. OK, fine, fine, you can give the Fleece that bullshit superpower if Medea gets to live. Just then, Aeëtes shows up, bearing the Hydra’s teeth. He preys to Hecate once again, and throws the teeth onto the ground. And...

HELL YEAH, IT’S THE SPARTOI, BABY!

These undead soldiers created from the Dragon’s Teeth were originally sown by Cadmus, on command by Athena. He made them defeat each other, and therefore escaped their wrath. The Dragon itself was sacred to Ares, so this whole thing had some other implications.

In the Jason myth, Aeëtes made him sow the teeth in order to win the Fleece, and he did. Jason also defeated them in the same way that Cadmus did: he threw a stone amongst them, confusing them enough that they fought each other to figure out who threw the rock. But in this movie...in the movie, they’re just fighting. And I love it.

Look, I can never claim that Harryhause’s effects aged particularly gracefully, but this shit is still pretty goddamn awesome. Honestly, I’m having a ball watching this climactic fight between the skeletons and Jason’s crew. And this fight has consequences! The Spartoi here actually do kill some of Jason’s men, and end up forcing Jason himself off of a cliff into the water!

He escapes, and makes his way to the ship, just as Hera tells Zeus that the game is now over. He claims that it isn’t at all, and Hera looks on as Jason and Medea reunite on the ship. He gives the a reprieve, and...

WAIT WHAT??? That’s IT? It ended so...abruptly! We don’t even properly get a resolution, or see Jason return to Thessaly, or...THAT’S IT” ARE YOU GODDAMN KIDDING ME? WHAT THE HELL?

...See you in the Review, I guess. Damn.

#jason and the argonauts #don chaffey #ray harryhausen #todd armstrong #nancy kovack #honor blackman #ary raymond #laurence naismith #greek mythology #argonauts #argonautica #apollonius rhodius #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #movie recap

7 notes · View notes

tilbageidanmark · 3 years

Photo

Movies I watched (and books I read) this week - 29

The Lighthouse, an ominous story about two lighthouse keepers who descend into madness as they are stranded on a remote island. New England horror gothic of the 1890s. Stunning acting and black & white cinematography. Dark and crusty as the soul.

Willem Dafoe’s crazed Hark Triton, Hark monologue.

✴️ 2 animated shorts:

✳️✳️✳️ One Small Step, from Taiko Studios: My most favorite not-Pixar animated short about a little girl and her old dad. I watched it 20 times, and I’ll watch it 20 more.

10/10 - Perfect eight minutes of heartbreak and love.

✳️✳️✳️ Nothing happens, a Danish short: on a snowy field on the outskirts of town, a mysterious group of people gather to watch a flock of ravens.

✴️

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep, an epic 2014 Turkish adaptation of Chekhov’s short story "The Wife".

3+ hours long, dialogue-rich and slow exploration of an ambiguous hotel owner in Cappadocia, who is challenged by all the people around him, including his unhappy young wife and frustrated sister. Lyrical, refined, and cerebral - I’ll check out Ceylan’s other films.

✴️

I didn’t remember that Chekhov wrote many hundreds of stories before dying young at 44. In order to better understand the narrative in ‘Winter Sleep’, I read his story ‘The Wife’ (full text here).

And indeed, the opaque, meandering film left much to interpretation. This short story made much clearer that this was an unhappy marriage, a misunderstood couple who couldn’t communicate any more without both feeling slighted and hurt. I couldn’t see why was the husband so disagreeable to everybody around them. But it helped bringing this broken life into focus.

✴️

The Lure, a weird Polish horror-musical, very loosely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's ‘Little Mermaid’. Combining siren sisters, cannibalism, kitschy vampires, MTV and trashy nightclubs in 1980′s Warsaw. The opening scene was the most promising - and it went down from there.

2/10

✴️

Charly, adapted from the sci-fi story ‘Flowers for Algernon’. A “retarded” Cliff Robertson is selected for a miraculous surgery that triples his IQ & makes him a genius. It starts innocently enough trying to address the plight of the mentally challenged, but once he falls in love with his teacher, it gets dated ridiculously fast.

The only lasting part of the movie is Ravi Shankar’s beautiful score.

Charly was the only movie my ‘teenager me’ saw together with my mother: I don’t remember how come we went to the theater and why she picked this one, but I was 15 then.

✴️ 2 by Bob Nelson:

✳️✳️✳️ The confirmation: ‘The Bicycle Thieves’ in small town Washington. Clive Owen is a divorced, down-on-his-luck, loser father, who gets to spend a weekend from hell with his 8 year old son. The first half is gloomy and very hard to watch as all the daily things that can go wrong, do. But he gets to bond with his church-going son, and they both find redemption at the end.

This was directed by 60 year old first-time director Bob Nelson.

Best film of the week!

✳️✳️✳️ Before Confirmation, Bob Nelson wrote the script for Alexander Payne’s Nebraska: another soft story about an estranged parent. This one has old, senile Bruce Dern and his son on a black and white road trip to claim an illusory million-dollar sweepstakes prize. Simple, austere, heart-breaking. 8/10.

✴️

Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 stage production of Mozart’s masonic The Magic Flute.

First re-watch in 40+ years - what joy!

✴️

Hilda af Klimt, The Life of an Artist, a short bio of the spiritualist and world’s first abstract painter. By educator Paul Priestley on his ‘Art History School’ YouTube channel.

✴️

The Little World of Don Camillo, 1952, based on a book I loved as a kid. With toothy Fernandel as an activist priest in a power struggle with his frenemy the Bolshevik mayor. “In a small village in the Po valley”. Nostalgic throw-back to late 40′s Italy.

✴️

The Insult, a 2017 Oscar-nominated Lebanese story about a cuss word that escalates until it engulfs the whole country. A Palestinian construction worker calls a hot-head Christian mechanic ‘A fucking prick (ARS)’ when he behaves like one, and - like the good middle-easterners they are - neither one can let it go until it nearly destroys both of them.

It would have been even better if it didn’t turn into a traditional courtroom drama in the second half, but still... 5/10

✴️

David Fincher’s masterful The Social Network, about young hateful asshole Mark Zuckerberg stealing the concept of facebook from the Vinklevoss brothers. Terrific drama, crackling dialogue by Aaron Sorkin, and moody, tense score by Trent Reznor.

Not exactly sure how truthful the story is, but it helped establish the notion that he was always a despicable person, as confirmed in all his actions in the last 20 years,

✴️

I can’t believe I just watched Long Shot AGAIN, a month or two after my last re-watch! Despite its cliched tropes, I can’t get enough of the romantic chemistry between drop-dead beautiful Charlize Theron & the schlubby guy she once babysat. (Photo Above).

And, O'Shea Jackson Jr. is a carbon copy of his dad, O'Shea Jackson Sr.

✴️

Flesh Gordon, a cheesy “sex comedy” from 1974, cheap spoof of the 1930′s Flash Gordon serials. Gratuitous, unfunny soft-core stupidity.

The concept of ‘No Consent’ was central to many of the early sexploitation movies. Not camp!

✴️

Sons of Denmark, a misfired political thriller, about a growing anti-emigrant, white power movement in Denmark and its effects on the local Muslim population. 3/10

✴️

The HBO documentary Catch And Kill, Ronan Farrow’s new series, based on his podcast, which was based on his book which was based on his reportage (Talking about milking a story).

Farrow was a hero, Weinstein was a super-creep, and I must stop watching HBO-type documentaries.

- - - - -

(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

5 notes · View notes

dreamsapphire28 · 3 years

Text

Yuji in Shinjuku academy headcanons

I wanted to write this for the simple reason that I just love Yuji and Fantastic Boyfriends.

Yuji and Mc have been inseparable since the day Yuji transferred to Shinjuku Academy.

Yuji and Mc can’t say they remember meeting each other before but they feel like they have been through a lot together.

He hangs out with Mc the majority of the time, that is not to say that Yuji doesn't spend time with Orgus, Sol, Bacchus and Nekros.

Being with Mc for extended periods of time Yuji is bound to get involved in whatever situation Mc manages to get themselves into. Yuji has gotten to the point where he just rolls with it, he is still surprised when it happens though.

Yuji is almost as flirty as Mc, he isn’t as flirty because he sometimes is a little insecure and is not too keen on flirting with people who show aggression towards him.

Yuji has some problems when it comes to standing up for himself if someone is harassing him this has made Mc a bit protective of him.

Yuji keeps his true feelings close to his chest, so even if he is feeling sad he will just smile and say he feels fine, he manages to convince most people, but not Mc in fact it bothers them to no end because they can tell Yuji is unhappy.

He joins the Summoners after Mc explains the game and the app to him, for some reason the app was already installed on his phone when he got to Tokyo. He gets along with all of the Summoners.

Nobody is allowed to use his phone NOBODY.

Out of everyone he gets along the best with Kengo to the surprise of almost everyone because they think their personalities don’t match, with Kengo being hardheaded and brash while Yuji is more easygoing and a bit cowardly, those two just seemed to connect in some way, so most of the time if Yuji isn’t hanging out with Mc in their free time odds are he is with Kengo.

Shiro likes him well enough, sometimes Yuji doesn’t understand half of the words Shriro is saying when he gets excited and starts rambling, Yuji just listens to him, he thinks Shiro just looks so happy he doesn’t want to ruin it for him.

Both Ryota and Yuji have a sweet tooth and Ryota is more than happy to take Yuji to his favorite places to eat desserts.

Yuji and Hanuman are very into video games, Yuji is very good at RPGs, so it’s common to see them playing when they are together in the Summoner’s safehouse, obviously Tsathoggua joins them whenever he’s there (which is often) and he has even invited Yuji to play video games at his place.

Agyo really appreciates that Yuji doesn’t treats him like a child, Yuji understands what is like for others to try to shelter you because they see you as smaller or weaker even worst to bully you because of it, so he makes sure to not treat Agyo like he is a little kid, even when Agyo does act in accordance to his age Yuji is happy to not bring it up and just let him have fun.

Mr Mononobe grows to care about Yuji very quickly since he reminds him of a certain troublemaker in his class, Mr Mononobe even shows affection to him by petting his head or ruffling his hair, the same way he does to Mc. He knows that Yuji hides his emotions very well because he doesn’t want anyone to see how much he worries about the way others think of him.

If Mc sees Mr. Mononobe petting Yuji’s head or ruffling his hair they'll look at Mr Mononobe like a kicked puppy and he will have to show affection to Mc in the same way or he will feel guilty for the rest of the day. Mc seems to be unaware of the face they make when that happens.

As it is to be expected Mr. Jinn and Mr. Triton dote on Yuji the same way they would to any of their beloved students. Yuji really enjoys the attention.

Ziz always makes sure to keep an eye out for Yuji, she knows how stress can affect him so Ziz made it a habit to check in with Yuji from time to time so she can make sure he is okay. Ziz can tell that Yuji has been through some difficult stuff in his life even if she doesn’t know exactly what it was, the way sadness sometimes tinges Yuji’s smiles is awfully familiar to her.

At first Yuji felt very intimidated by Behemoth’s appearance but after seeing how sweet and nice he actually is Yuji came to really enjoy his company.

Yuji insists on spending time with Furufumi, Furufumi has tried everything he can think of to get Yuji to leave him alone, he has not succeeded. Furufumi doesn’t know what to make of Yuji, at first he just considered him a very annoying person Furufumi even saw him as someone very simple, but now he has his doubts since Yuji sometimes says things like he can perfectly understand what Furufumi is feeling or what he is going through and when questioned Yuji just goes back to smiling like he didn’t just read Furufumi like a book.

Yuji is not particularly experienced when it comes to fighting but he makes up for that in enthusiasm.

His sword seems to work differently than the sacred artifacts granted by the app since it doesn't appear to contain any memories for Yuji to use in battle.

He joins the kendo club to practice his swordsmanship.

Yuji also practices his sword fighting with Toji and Moritaka, as long as they are not training at ungodly hours of the morning.

Toji respects Yuji’s wish to improve himself, still he is bothered by his flirting, Toji is glad he isn't as bad as Mc but Yuji has his moments of being completely shameless.

Moritaka admires Yuji for being so diligent in improving himself to help others.

Yuji has an aversion to most physical activities. He is fine with practicing kendo but that’s the most he does outside of app battles. Once Mc invited him to go hiking with the mountaineering club, Yuji looked them dead in the eyes, smiled, said no and left without another word.

Yuji sometimes suffers from panic attacks, Mc found out about this when they walked in on Yuji in the middle of one, after Mc helped Yuji calm down he told them that those almost never happen giving Mc a strained smile, Mc didn’t buy it, he also made Mc promise not to tell anyone. Mc has made research about how to help a person during a panic attack just in case.

#tokyo afterschool summoners #Yuji fantastic boyfriends #Tokyo afterschool summoners Mc #Mc #fantastic boyfriends #housamo headcanons #TAS #housamo

12 notes · View notes

officialleehadan · 4 years

Text

Sky Battle

Hello darlings! Today was a fun one. I love it when you prompt me for Lore ,and today was just one such Prompt.

Today's story was brought to you by Jon! Thank you so much for all your support, darling. Your comments are so much fun!

Prompt: Blaec and Hoshi meet for the first time.

+++

Blaec had never been so far east. It was strange, the way the world spread out below him and turned form the gold of his home sands to the lush green beyond, punctuated by mountains so high that even he, pumping his wings, battling the winds for dominance, could not reach their peaks. He roared his defiance even as the air beneath his wings grew thin and painfully cold, but it was a battle he could not win, and sulkily, he folded his wings in and plunged down into warmer, thicker air below.

The mountains would not outlive him.

He would challenge them again, when his wings were bigger and his fire hotter.

Today, he was hunting for a new lair.

On and on he went, tasting the air for the hot-stone he sought. For the warmth bubbling up from the Earth below. He needed heat, he understood now. For all that he enjoyed his lair deep in his own lands, the waters there were rising fast, and soon they would wash out his comfortable lair, dug into the cliff with a fine basking spot above.

He might be taking the floodwaters more personally than he strictly should, but it was a good lair, and now he had to leave it, find somewhere new, and move his horde. All without the humans figuring out where he made his new home.

Humans were an irritant, but it didn’t take long to convince them that, while he might not be that much bigger than they were, he could certainly eat a good few of them if they bothered him.

Honestly, they were easier hunting than most things, even if they did sometimes shout and shoot things at him when they saw him.

So he had buried the entrance to his current lair and taken to the skies to find a new one.

North, so far, had been a disappointment. There was great sheets of ice and heavy snow covering all the good warm spots, and while the warm spots did seem very pleasant, Blaec hated snow and ice.

So north was out.

West was water. A lot of water. He might be able to cross it, saw immense creatures, his size or better, cutting through the waves. They would make a good meal if he could catch them. But even when he flew as high as he could, there was no end to the waves, and he didn’t trust his chances. If a storm blew in and caught him, he would be defenseless.

South… had options. He found a valley that might do, although it wasn’t as stable as he might like.

And now he was flying east to see if there was anything better. Somewhere warm, and comfortable, with good basking and good stone for digging out a lair.

It wasn’t until he was winging his way over the great, towering mountains that he heard it.

A challenge scream.

Pure instinct folded his wings and he plunged downward as something white exploded out of the clouds, raging and trailing air so cold it burned when it caught the tip of Blaec’s tail as he passed.

He rolled in the air and sucked in a breath, magic pooling on his tongue until it was thick and heavy and hot. A scrape of his spark-tooth ignited the heady magic, and he filled the air around him with flames. It bought him the time to catch the wind again, and he kited high above the clouds, trusting in the thin air to protect him. If he couldn’t go any higher, nothing would be dropping on him from above.

The clouds blazed silver and twisted into a funnel that reached upwards for him, winds shrieking. Blaec fought his way higher until his lungs begged him for air, and higher still, before he steadied himself, folded his wings in tight, and dropped like a stone.

A glimpse of icy white and deepest blue caught his eye, and he flicked his tail out. In such a steep dive, the barest change had immediate effect, and his dive angled steeply.

The creature writhed, too cold to bite, and too strong to hold onto for long, but the primal forces of the world could not be denied. Blaec didn’t bother fighting, and instead let his weight and his prey’s carry them down, through the clouds into harsh mountain wind, and into a nearly-frozen lake. At the last moment, he snapped his wings open to catch his fall. His prey had no such wings, and rocketed straight into the water. Blaec, already unhappy and cold, fought and failed to keep from doing the same.

At least it was deep enough to keep the long fall form turning them both into bug-splatter.

By the time he dragged himself out of the chilly lake, hissing furiously as he breathed flames into the rocks below until they were hot enough to chase some of the ice from his wings, his prey was doing the same.

She, and he didn’t know how, but he knew she was she, was a dragon. She didn’t look anything like him, ice-white with blue under, and a heavy mane of darker blue. She also, he noted, did not have wings.

When she spotted him, she coiled like a snake ready to strike. White flames dripped between her teeth, and Blaec could already tell that a fight between them would end in one of them dead, and the other terribly wounded. Maybe dead themselves.

He didn’t want to fight. Not when he thought he was the only dragon. Not when he saw for the first time that he was not alone in the world.

So he tucked his wings in tight, and dropped himself down onto his heated stones.

She watched him cautiously, head tilted when he ruffled his wings to shake the ice off, and carefully heated himself through before he could go into torpor.

When fire billowed between them, he almost leapt for the skies again. He didn’t want to give in. Not when he thought he might be able to win a challenge between them, but he also didn’t want to fight.

But the flames weren’t hot. Weren’t more than a summer breeze, really, and when he looked at them, he realized the missing piece of the puzzle.

“Who are you?” she asked cautiously, still cocked to fight, but now curious as well. The words were familiar somehow. Speech, Blaec realized. Speech he broke shell knowing and long thought a creation of his own to drive away the terrible loneliness of being the only one of his kind. “This is my place!”

The humans sometimes called him a word that he thought meant the color of his scales, but it wasn’t his name. His never-spoken name, that he now knew only another dragon could speak and be understood.

So with a careful, cautious puff, he spoke his name aloud, and added; “I thought I was the only one.”

She repeated his name carefully, billowing flames shaded with the deep purples that meant his scales, and the heat of his desert hatching. She seemed pensive, and finally curled down, apparently unbothered by the cold and ice. Blaec took it as a sign that he could heat up his stones again, and did so until he wasn’t quite so cold. After a while, she replied with her own name, white flames and slow, windblown wisps shot through with pale blue. Blaec repeated it back to her, although the concept of speaking another dragon’s name was new.

“You are not here for my territory?” she asked when her name faded into the air. “Why are you here? I am not yet able to lay a clutch.”

“I’m looking for a home, not a mate,” Blaec hurried to assure her uncomfortably. “My lair is flooding. I need a new one.”

“Oh,” she said with a rumbly purr of thought, suddenly much friendlier. “Well, you seem to like heat. These mountains are cold.”

“I see that” Blaec muttered, and warmed up his stones until they popped warningly and glowed red. “I was hoping for deep hot sand.”

“None of that here either,” She said, and coiled in on herself until she built up a nest of snow. “Unless you go further east and north. There’s sand up that way.”

“Sand with earth-hot under?”

“Just sand.”

Not what he needed. Ice take it. He might have to settle for the lair he found south of his own. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do. “Have you found any others like us?”

She thought about it for a while, and rested her head on her front feet. “No. Nothing like us. I thought I was alone too.”

Sad for them both, Blaec reached out carefully and bumped the side of her head with his nose. She hissed at him, annoyed by the heat radiating of his scales, but it seemed the good-natured kind of hissing.

He didn’t know how he knew about good-natured hissing either, but now he was too curious to leave. Also, too hungry. Their short sky-battle burned off the energy from his last hunt.

“I don’t want your territory,” he repeated carefully, and settled down on his rocks. “Or a mate. I think I would melt you. Or you would freeze me.”

“Probably,” she agreed with a crackling laugh that sounded surprised. “You can hunt here. But you have to tell me what you saw as you came to this place. I want to know everything. And after, maybe I can tell you about places to make a good lair.”

+++

HGE - The Others

Tales of before the Human Galactic Empire became what it would one day be.

Sea and Sky

Triton’s Daughter (Subscriber Only!)

Blast and Burn

The Oldest of Friends (Free on Patreon!)

Forward to Treasure (Free on Patreon!)

+++

More Stories!

+++

#dragon #dragons #cool #flight #flying #asian dragon #asian representation #egypt #egyptian

22 notes · View notes

nothingelsematterswrites · 5 years

Note

omg i neeeed more mermaid smut please!

lol I had no idea that you guys were going to like this so much

(Warning, below cut is smut based on non-human biology and yes, I’m still making this up as I go.) This follows immediately from the previous one.

“Bri?” Roger asked softly. “Are you unhappy?”

Brian whirled around from where he’d been taking a drink by the fire, his eyes wide.

“God, no. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

“Then why are you over there, and not mating with me again?”

Brian laughed as he made his way back into the water.

“Because humans can’t stay in water forever, Roger. I just needed a drink. I’m here now.”

“Good. Because I don’t know how I can bear to be apart from you with the moon so full in the sky.”

Brian pulled Roger close to him, kissing him gently, and Roger sighed happily.

“I have an idea,” Brian whispered, and tugged him towards the ledge that acted as the wall of their little pool. The ledge itself was a little under water, enough that Roger’s body would be submerged, that he’d be able to breathe through the fine gills decorating his ribcage.

But shallow enough, as Brian proved, for Brian to straddle the merman’s tail.

“Oh? Is this closer to the position that humans usually mate in?” Roger smiled, his eyes sparkling as he pulled Brian down for another kiss.

“You could say that,” Brian murmured, letting his tongue dance along Roger’s lips. He hoped this would work - that Roger’s body would in just enough water to make him able…

His fingers sank easily behind the soft scales, probing the depth of Roger’s warmth and making him whimper and sigh.

“God, you look so beautiful like this,” Brian found himself transfixed, the golden waves of Roger’s hair floating around him, the haziness of the drooping blue eyes, the little glow of the silver mark in the hollow of his throat.

Roger could only reply breathlessly, “And you look so beautiful like this,” as he stared up at the dark curls framing the handsome face, the hazel eyes warm and bright and fixed on him, and the matching silver mark.

This time Brian’s cock sank easily into Roger, his back arching, tail flicking so that the fins brushed Brian’s ankles. Brian felt the prick of claws against his skin again and managed to say, somewhat breathlessly, “I didn’t know you had claws.”

A little flush crept across Roger’s cheekbones. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you? I can usually control when they come out, but at full moon it is difficult -”

“No,” Brian whispered, closing his mouth over Roger’s. “No, I love it.”

Roger’s claws dug deeper into his skin, sending jolts running all over Brian’s body, and he drove his hips forward as hard as he could.

Roger cried out, his body rising to meet Brian’s thrusts, his eyes flashing silver again, and they moved together, fiercely, Brian feeling a tightening in his spine as his orgasm rushed up on him again.

“Bri - Bri, please,” Roger begged, and that was all it took. Brian’s hips stuttered and lost their rhythm as he came, white spots flashing behind his eyes as he felt Roger’s claws dig even deeper into his hips and heard Roger’s high wailing cry, the way he convulsed around him.

There was a long moment where no sound could be heard but the movement of the ocean around them, and their harsh breathing. Slowly, Brian became aware of how much the rock ledge was hurting his knees, so he pulled back reluctantly, only to have Roger whimper and hold on tighter.

“No.”

“I have to move, Rog, my knees -”

Roger simply rolled them over so that Brian was on his back. Pressed right up against Brian, his gills were only just under the water, but he didn’t seem to mind, laying his head on Brian’s chest happily.

“All right, then,” Brian smiled. “You want a cuddle, I get it.”

They lay together for what felt like hours, Roger whimpering whenever Brian tried to draw away. Just as he felt like he was going to drift off to sleep, his head propped on an oddly comfortable rock, he heard a faint splash.

Drawing his arms protectively around Roger, he peered into the darkness -

- only to come face to face with another merman who could only be John.

Brian had only ever seen John up close once before, the day he had rescued them. After that, the bodyguard had stayed well away. The looked at each other for a moment. John was handsome, not in the same way as Roger, Brian thought, but handsome all the same. There was a silvery sheen to his green eyes - was it the full moon wreaking its magic on John, too?

A little thrill of excitement raced up his spine as he realised John might have been watching them.

“Rog?” John said, his voice a little lower than Brian had expected. “Rog, come on.”

“No.” Roger’s tone was sulky. “Not yet.”

“Think you are the only one with the moon in his blood tonight?” John snarled impatiently. “I wish to be home before it is gone from the sky.”

“Don’t you and Freddie have enough children already?” Roger shot back, amused, and Brian suddenly realised that John, too, bore a small silver mark. So John was mated, then, presumably to another merperson. What was all this talk about children?

John rolled his eyes. “It’s not the point, Rog, and you know it.”

Roger frowned. “I am your Prince and you may not command me,” he said haughtily, which brought a rather frightening scowl to John’s face.

“No, but I am your friend and I may ask you.”

“John,” Brian said shyly, “if you want, I’ll keep him here with me and protect him. I’ll protect him until morning and you can come back then. If you like.”

John gave Brian a suspicious look.

“I just…I don’t want you to be apart from your mate because of us,” Brian said even more softly. “I…I know how that would feel, now.” He glanced down at Roger with a smile.

When he looked back at John, John was smiling too, the first time Brian had ever seen such an expression on the bodyguard’s face. It was quite dazzling, he thought. Whoever John’s mate was, they were a lucky merperson.

“I have underestimated you, hu-Brian,” he corrected himself, and Brian felt a surge of warmth. “Very well. I will hold you to your promise, and return at dawn. May Triton smile on you both.”

And with a flick of his tail, he was gone, leaving Brian and Roger alone to snuggle on their shelf.

#answering asks #my headcanons #maylor #deacury #mermaid au

49 notes · View notes

azuremist · 5 years

Note

As someone that lost both of my parents at a young age and a questioning Lukekin, I heavily project into Luke having a happy relationship with his parents and them being alive as it makes me feel that I can get their love and afection. I know other kins have trauma and abuse, but the anti-Triton stuff has made me feel isolated from the community, as I feel that my opinions don’t matter to anyone it’s all “they are awful and should die” or “they are dead” and that’s so so triggering to me. Sorry

I never said you can’t project onto the Tritons in your own way. As long as you don’t get angry at abuse survivors for projecting onto Luke’s family dynamics (and that includes saying what people ‘can’ and ‘cannot’ do, saying things like ‘take your projections elsewhere’, calling the headcanon ‘awful’, assuming who does and doesn’t have PTSD, ect), then you’re fine.

If the stuff about the Tritons being abusive or dead makes you unhappy, then block whatever artists do it so that you won’t have to look at it, and make your own content or commission someone else to do it. If you like someone else’s art but they draw the Tritons that way, shoot them a PM or an ask, asking them to tag it as something so you can block the tag. Something like, “Seeing Clark and Brenda portrayed as abusive triggers me. May you please tag content with that dynamic as ‘#tw triton abuse’?” Artists are very often happy to tag things that make their followers unhappy.

You use the Tritons to cope with the loss of your parents. Don’t be insensitive to other people with trauma who use the same exact characters to cope, but in a different fashion, and you’re just fine. Unfortunately, all of the asks that I referenced in the post that I made were all extremely insensitive. It’s the fact that they were rude and bordering on ableist that made me angry, not the fact that they didn’t like how the Tritons are portrayed.

For those of you who may be wondering, this is the post that this anon is referring to.

#professor layton #ptsd #trauma #asks #actuallyptsd #triton family discourse

2 notes · View notes

bloojayoolie · 5 years

Photo

Alive, Ariel, and Bad: waltdisneyconfessions It bothers me how male characters like Triton, the Sultan, and Chief Tui can all act very overprotective and try to stop their daughters from leaving home, but it's only Mother Gothel whose a villain because of it. It feels like a sexist double standard. takashi0: rainbowloliofjustice: lethal-cuddles: a-salty-scythe-meister: kayrowhitesyrup: someoneintheshadow456: valarie-lynn: waltdisneyconfessions: It bothers me how male characters like Triton, the Sultan, and Chief Tui can all act overprotective and try to stop their daughters from leaving home, but it’s only Mother Gothel whose a villain because of it. It feels like a sexist double standard. Triton was afraid of humans because his wife was killed, Ariel also had pretty much free range of the ocean if she had time to amass that massive collection. Sultan was…a sultan? Also probably kept Jasmine inside for her own protection. Chief Tui was terrified of the ocean because of past experience. Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel and only cared about the magic that kept her young. Yeah, totally the same situation and the only difference is sexual bias. Also…Frollo? Also Sultan said “I’m not going to be alive forever, I want to make sure you are provided for and taken care of” as the reason for why he wants to get Jasmine married. And he even says to Jafar “Jasmine hated those guys, she can’t marry someone she hates.” That shows he didn’t want her to be unhappy in her marriage. Triton and Chief Tui know that life is dangerous. As someone who is an older sibling and helped raising her younger siblings I know that very powerful overprotective feeling. You know the dangers of the world. You know the world is uncaring and unkind. You know people aren’t afraid to play dirty and to hurt innocent people to get what they want. So you try to shield your children/siblings from such a scary world because you don’t want them to get hurt. You don’t want your child/sibling dying because someone was so uncaring of another life. Could triton and Chief tui be more understanding of their children’s dreams and passions? Yes! But again these are parents who faces the harshness of the world and wanted to protect their children from that. Jasmin is a princess, royalty are always going to have someone try to kill them, invade their lands, etc. at least sultan was allowing his daughter to choose the man she loved. He was aware of the dangers she faced but still wanted to make her happy. A lot of Disney parents are loving and caring and they want the best for their children, though sometimes like all parents they mess up along the way. Raising and caring for another human is tough. Frollo and mother Gothal are seen as villains because they aren’t trying to protect their “children” from the harshness of the world. Oh yes they say they are but it’s a way to control them. It’s a way to keep their “children “ under their thumbs. It wasn’t done out of love and care and a protectiveness. But control. Gothal only want repunzal for her magic hair to stay young forever. And Frollo didn’t think twice about killing a BABY! ^^ Disney dads truely only wanted what they felt was best for their daughters (sans Frollo). Mother Gothal kidnapped a baby and emotionally and mentally abused her for 18 years. ALL TO STAY YOUNG FOREVER BY USING HER HAIR! fucks sake The reason that mother Gothel is treated like a villain is that she has no actual care towards Rapunzel other than her magic hair. Literally none. Every other time, she’s emotionally and mentally abusive towards Rapunzel, lies to her, and gaslights her. She’s manipulative and everything she did was for her own benefit, not out of genuine love and care for Rapunzel. That’s why she is treated like a villain. It isn’t a sexist double standard when she is genuinely abusive. Meanwhile, Chief Tui, Sultan, and Triton have made mistakes dealing with their children but what parent doesn’t make mistakes? It shows them being people. People who wanted the best for their children even if they were overbearing or overprotective. One thing that has been relatively consistent among Disney is that they show parents as people who are not as understanding as they should be towards their kids but ultimately still good people who just want to do the best thing for their kids rather than showing them as ungodly saints who never make mistakes and never do anything wrong. Hell, even though she isn’t Disney per se, you could easily include Merida’s mother as a counterpoint in all of this. Elinor behaves in similar ways that Chief Tui, Sultan, and Triton do regarding their daughters. Elinor is overprotective and overbearing, she destroyed Merida’s bow out of frustration and immediately regretted it, etc. Yet she is never shown to actually be a bad person. She’s shown to have made mistakes, just like they did, but not an awful person or villain. #tldr; the reason mother gothel is a villain is because she’s emotionally abusive#me thinks the person who submitted this didn’t really watch the movie#because you can see every moment of abusive that she puts rapunzel through…#STARTIGN WITH KIDNAPPING HER

#funny #lol #humor #memes #meme #memehumor #dank memes #funny pics #rolf #lmao #Alive #Ariel #and Bad

1 note · View note

khstoryanalysis · 6 years

Text

Chapter 9: The Ideology of Light and Darkness (Part 4)

Since light and darkness are two sides of the same coin, and they are dependent on one another, should darkness be seen as a good thing? Well, not really. You can accept the darkness, but you are discouraged to give in to the darkness.

Light and Darkness are never enemies – they just have their own ideologies. Darkness may be normal in people’s hearts, but it is something that you must be cautious with. Due to its nature, Darkness has the tendency to seduce people to do what is considered as “bad” things. If one gives in to darkness or anything related to darkness, he or she may become corrupted in the mind and blinded by their actions. With so much darkness sweeping into the heart, they may not be able to control it, leading them to a path of destruction.

After watching some videos about Disney theories by Wotso Videos, I decide to analyze the Disney villains who have made it into the Kingdom Hearts series.

Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil, is well-versed in Dark Magic. She likes bringing unhappiness and destruction, which is shown by cursing baby Aurora because she is not invited to the princess’ christening. Maleficent is a powerful fairy, and the act of not inviting her purposely is seen as a disrespect to her status. This hints that Maleficent has a great desire for power and authority. She even tries to prevent Princess Aurora from ever waking up so she can rule over Aurora’s kingdom as she sleeps. I theorize that since young, Maleficent is driven by her desire for power and authority, leading her to use Dark Magic. Since fairy magic originates from nature, which consists of both light and darkness, Maleficent have no trouble to master Dark Magic. She is able to keep her heart in control so the Darkness will not overtake her.

After Xehanort tells her about Kingdom Hearts, Maleficent sets out to gather the Princesses of Hearts so she can find the Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts. She wants its power to gain immeasurable knowledge and be able to rule all worlds. Even though her plan does not succeed in Kingdom Hearts 1, she and Pete continuously find ways to conquer the worlds.

As for other Disney villains, they are not as powerful as Maleficent. For example, pride and the lust for power in the hearts of Clayton and Gaston lure the Heartless. The two emotions of darkness overtake them, leading to become blinded by their own actions. They both are reduced to nothing more like animals. Ultimately, the darkness in their hearts leads them to their demise.

Lady Tremaine and her daughters are no different. Their jealousy on Cinderella’s beauty, kindness and light lead them to summon a giant Unversed to attack her. However, the darkness overtakes their hearts and they end up blowing away by the Unversed they have created.

Greed is a darkness that must be controlled. Jafar, Ursula and Oogie Boogie all have this darkness. Jafar wants to be Sultan of Agrabah and will do anything to get Jasmine to fall in love with him. Ursula is banished from Atlantica by King Triton, possibly due to her actions of trying to replicate the power of King Triton’s Trident. Oogie Boogie is a gambler and believes that he deserves more respect, especially from Heartless, which are seen as lower life forms.

All three of them easily succumb to darkness. Realizing he will always be second-best, Jafar wishes to become an all-powerful genie. Although he gains tremendous power, he loses his freedom and gets trapped inside the lamp. After witnessing the death of Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula is blinded by rage and uses the Trident’s power to turn herself gigantic so she can finish off Ariel, who is the one that causes the death of her beloved minions. She is so distracted in getting her revenge from Ariel that she fails to notice Prince Eric sailing a ship to impale her with the ship’s splintered bow, which eventually causes her death. As for Oogie Boogie, he is blinded by anger at being disrespected by Heartless due to his ability in summoning only a few of them after swallowing the artificial heart. His anger and lust for power blind him so much that he succumbs to darkness, leading him to his death.

At times a being can become a Heartless without losing its heart, but this seems to only happen on animals or beasts. In Kingdom Hearts 2, Scar, who is the King of Pride Rock, transforms into a Heartless after Simba, the rightful heir to the throne, almost throws him off a cliff. His lust for power as a king leads him to succumb to darkness, allowing him to become a Heartless without losing his heart. In the same game, Xaldin attempts to psychologically manipulate the Beast to turn him into a Heartless. Xaldin knows that the Beast has an issue in controlling his temper, and he takes advantage of that. He makes the Beast to think that Belle will never love a beast like him. This results the Beast to become angry at Belle and distrusts her, placing his heart close to darkness.

youtube

There are two Disney theories discussed by Wotso Videos regarding to the Evil Queen’s magic and the Magic Mirror. Even though we can’t say for sure that Chernabog is the one who has provided magic for the Evil Queen (though Chernabog is somehow equivalent to the devil), it seems possible that the Evil Queen does sell her soul to the evil spirits in exchange for dark magic.

As regarding the Magic Mirror, the entity trapped within the mirror being the soul of the Evil Queen’s Father who has become a demon seems plausible in the Kingdom Hearts universe. The Evil Queen’s Father is a narcissist and will have a high amount of darkness in his heart. After he perishes, his heart gets lost in the darkness and he becomes a Heartless (since Heartless are portrayed as demons constantly). The Evil Queen then traps him in a mirror in hopes of using such power of darkness to assist her.

The theory about the entity inside the Magic Mirror as a demon will make a lot of sense in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. When the Evil Queen commands the Magic Mirror to destroy Terra, the Magic Mirror replies that he cannot do that as his sole purpose is to provide truths. Furious, the Evil Queen throws a potion on it, which is most likely made from dark magic. The dark magic gives the Mirror the power to suck victims into the mirror and attack them inside (or in some versions, the Mirror gains this power through the Evil Queen’s anger). Being a demon, its powers will certainly be enhanced by anything related to Darkness.

After Aqua defeats the Magic Mirror, the entity inside the Mirror declares that the Evil Queen is dead and that his purpose is fulfilled. It then leaves the Mirror, possibly returning to the Realm of Darkness. When Snow White’s world has been lost to darkness in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage, the Magic Mirror exists separately from the castle. Although the entity is no longer inside, the Mirror somehow retains its demonic abilities. The Magic Mirror sucks Aqua into its world and creates phantoms of her that constantly taunts of her failures and despair. Aqua’s fight inside the Magic Mirror is like a fight against your own demons.

youtube

In the Kingdom Hearts universe, all beings, aside from the Princesses of Heart, have darkness inside their hearts. This will have included gods and goddesses. After watching the Moana theory regarding to Te Fiti transforming into Te Ka due to succumbing to darkness by Wotso Videos, I think it fits in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Take Hades as an example. He is the Lord of the Dead and the Underworld. His duty is to ensure none of the souls of the dead will leave the Underworld. This duty is similar to the other gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus – they use their powers to maintain the balance of the world.

However, Hades grows to despise the conditions of the Underworld and his duty, leading him to devise a plan to take over Mount Olympus and rule over other gods. In addition, Hades has a higher amount of darkness in his heart compared with other gods because he is the Lord of the Death. Death is associated with Darkness. His hatred for his living conditions and his work darken his heart further, but just like Mickey says, there is always light within darkness, and that light can try to stop Hades from taking the wrong way. Unfortunately, Hades gives in to the darkness and continues to find ways to destroy Hercules as he is prophesized to be the one who will thwart Hades’s victorious takeover of Mount Olympus.

The ideology of Light and Darkness constantly shifts throughout the games, which makes it difficult to draw clear line on it. But this is my conclusion: Darkness is something that you must accept, but try not to give it into it; Light is something that you are encouraged to follow, but do not be blinded by it. It is all down to moderation.

29 notes · View notes

lilacmoon83 · 2 years

Text

Finding You Always

Chapter 256: Political Ambush, Pt 1

Also on fanfiction.net and A03

Goldie looked around, as she traipsed the jungles of Neverland. It was the least inhabited place in the United Realms since Pan had been killed. In Snow White's United Realms, there were no unhappy, unwanted children. Even the ones in the Storybrooke orphanage were happy, healthy, and well cared for by the fairies. It made her sick, but the mostly abandoned Neverland made the perfect base for her and would soon be a barren wasteland as all the fauna began to die in her presence. Skull Rock was the perfect Throne of desolation and she used her new magic, to make the inside of the cavern a lavish, comfortable, a modern place, still void of color and happiness to anyone but her. She smirked, as she sat upon her new Throne, of which the base was made of dead fauna and bones. She looked at the constellations above her and smirked.

"Orion the hunter…I suppose I am much like you now. You hunted the seven Pleiades sisters, Gaia's brightest stars, just like truest loves and their five magical children, Gaia's darlings," Chaos mused.

"But where you failed, the Void will succeed. Then we'll all have what we want. Death, destruction, power and rule, Snow White and her precious family dead at our feet, and then the Enchantress can have her warrior. He would be a handsome and entertaining prize. Those that do survive the war and reckoning will be enslaved."

~*~

Snow mewled into his kiss and almost whimpered at the loss when he rolled onto his back. But he didn't go far and spooned her close to snuggle. Her head was still hazy and she swooned, as he entwined their fingers and kissed her hand, just above her ring. Time had done nothing to dull their love and passion. In fact, it had only increased with time. He kissed her lips with tender passion and then trailed short, open mouthed kisses along her cheek, her jawline and down to her ear, gently sucking on the lobe, before kissing down her neck. She sighed and hummed as he did. There was nothing like being with him and being able to literally feel his love for her in every fiber of her being. It wasn't just physical, though that part was incredible. She remembered all the romance novels she had read when she was just Mary Margaret and she had read them all, and nothing in those could compare to the lovemaking they had. Or being able to always feel him. She knew a part of her would die if she couldn't feel him the way she did, thanks to their soul searing connection. She heard his phone chime and she groaned in annoyance.

"Why did we agree that we only needed three days before going back to work?" she whined. He chuckled and she felt his lips vibrate against her neck as he did.

"You did…remember? The big heads of state meeting later today," he reminded her, as he kissed her again.

"Mmm…no, I wanted to postpone it, but Triton threw a fit and Regina was going to kill him so I agreed," she replied.

"Mmm…well, it won't take long and I'll be right by your side," he promised.

"Oh, you're so cute thinking that it won't take long. These quarterly heads of state meetings are only bearable, in both length and company, because you're there, my handsome, Supreme Sheriff and King," she purred, as she drew his lips into another kiss.

"Well…we could always continue this in the shower since we have to get ready," he suggested. She gave him a naughty smirk.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, my love," she agreed, as they got up and their lips met again, as they stumbled to the bathroom.

~*~

Emma arrived at the prison and entered the visitation area, where she saw the two night guards, both nursing an ice pack. She sighed, wondering how this kept happening. This prison was state of the art and magically reinforced by Chalice magic, Aphrodite's magic, and the Dark One's spells. Somehow though, they had one missing prisoner and one dead one. Her father must not have heard his phone this morning, because they had called her instead.

"How did this happen?" she asked the two guards that were looking a little lost and bewildered.

"We don't know…one minute we're fine and the next we started feeling really weird," one of them explained.

"Weird how?" Emma asked.

"Like all the energy was just drained from us in an instant," the other explained. That struck Emma as familiar and she looked at the report. Goldie was gone and Grimm was dead. She made her way back to the infirmary and entered the medical bay. Bashful and Doc had already arrived to bag the body and prepare to take it back to the morgue for an autopsy.

"Any early theories?" she asked. Doc and Bashful looked at each other.

"One…very clear one," Bashful said, as Doc pulled back the sheet and she saw that Grimm's skin was gray and shriveled up. Even his eyes were gray and she now knew exactly what this was.

"This is the Void…" she realized.

"We know, but we thought Bobby killed him," Doc said. She sighed.

"He killed Runeard…but it looks like the Void survived and found a new host," she realized.

"And a sadistic one at that. Goldie has a taste for murder. Not that Runeard was an angel, but he liked to lurk in the shadows and surprise his victims," Bashful said. Emma nodded.

"Yeah…Goldie is more showy and brazen with her kills. I need to get Dad in on this before she goes on a killing spree," Emma said, as she pressed the speed dial on her phone.

"Get him back to the morgue. His autopsy is top priority," she said, as she walked out.

~*~

Rose looked at her glowing red hands and saw the hellfire coursing through her veins. She had made it through the night without incident, but she was incredibly nervous about the heads of state meeting later that day. She was sure word of her new plight had spread like wildfire and though she never cared what others thought, she had never had anyone look at her as though she was evil. And she knew there were a few that would. She felt Fandral behind her and instantly worried that she would burn him. But he took her hands on his own without fear and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

"Breathe, my angel…nothing about you in your heart has changed," he soothed. She saw a bit of the redness in her hands recede and she sighed, as she leaned against him.

"Do you really think hellfire can be used for good?" she asked.

"It is only hellfire if you use it for evil," he responded.

"Hermes is already consulting those in my home realm about your powers and Hyde is already hard at work with Hiram to find a way to extract the fire from you," he said. She nodded.

"Now…let's go have breakfast with our little ones and you will see that everything is going to be fine," he promised, as he kissed her again. She smiled and let him lead her downstairs.

~*~

Snow put the eggs and bacon down on the table, while David placed a heaping pile of pancakes next to the rest of the food. Summer, Bobby, and Flynn immediately dug in and started eating.

"I could definitely get used to breakfast like this," Flynn said. Snow smiled.

"Well, get used to it then, sweetie…because you are part of the family now," she said. He smiled and took another bite.

"If I keep eating like this, I'll need to start working out," he commented.

"Well, I can help with that if you're interested in Knight training," David said. Flynn looked up and his eyes widened.

"A Knight? Me?" he asked.

"Of course…I mean, you don't have to and we'll be supportive in whatever you decide to pursue for your future. College, Knight training, backpacking through Nottingham," he joked.

"College?" he asked.

"Sure sweetie…you're ours now so you're going to have all the opportunities that your siblings had," Snow answered.

"Wow…I guess I'm not sure, but I think I like the idea of Knight training," he said.

"Well, you can shadow us today, kid and see what being a cop or a Knight is all about," Emma said, as she entered and snagged a piece of bacon.

"Is your phone off or something, Dad?" she asked. David pulled his phone out and looked at it.

"Oh sorry Em…looks like I silenced it last night and forgot to turn the volume back on," he said, as he made the adjustment.

"What's up?" Snow asked.

"Well…in short, Goldie has broken out of prison and Grimm is dead," Emma revealed.

"What?" Snow asked in disbelief. David shook his head.

"No…that's impossible. We made sure another prison break couldn't happen," he said with vehemence.

"We did…except I think there is one exception," Emma said, as she showed him a photo of Grimm's body.

"Whoa…that looks like the Void did that," Bobby said, as he caught a glimpse.

"That's what I thought and the guards said they were fine one minute and the next, they felt like all their energy was just drained from them," Emma explained.

"But Bobby killed the Void," Snow said.

"Well…I killed Runeard. Maybe enough of the Void's essence survived. I mean, we don't know what the heck it's even made of," Bobby replied. Emma nodded.

"Those were my thoughts too and it's chosen a new host," she said.

"Bashful and Doc are doing an autopsy now, but we need to find Goldie," she added.

"Yeah…an unhinged sadist like Goldie with those kinds of powers is really bad. We'll be lucky if she doesn't go on a killing spree," David said, as he grabbed his leather jacket and his Chalice sword materialized in his hand, before he sheathed it in the scabbard on his belt.

"I'm coming," Bobby said.

"Me too," Flynn said.

"I need you to go with your mother," he told Bobby.

"With Goldie on the loose, you may deter her from going after Mom," Emma added.

"Or…maybe he doesn't and we draw her out with me as the bait," Snow suggested.

"I hate every word in that sentence," David said. Snow smirked.

"I know, Charming…but if I'm unguarded in a room full of dignitaries at our heads of state meeting, she may not be able to resist," Snow replied.

"And then we'll be ready and confront her head on," Emma said.

"Hate to say it daddy, but it sounds like a pretty good plan," Summer added. David sighed.

"Yeah…I guess it is. Okay…I'll call the twins and we'll set up an ambush," he said, as he put his arms around Snow.

"I'll announce at the meeting that you, Fandral, and James are attending to a police matter. If she's floating around, assuming she can shape shift now, she'll be too tempted and then we'll have her cornered," Snow said.

"Still hate it…but it's a good plan," he replied, as he kissed her tenderly.

"Maybe I could go there with you? She probably won't see me as a threat and I can see what this is all about. I mean Knights have to know about all the political stuff too, right?" Flynn asked. Snow smiled.

"They do indeed. I'd love for you to come with me, sweetie," she replied.

"Yeah…I'd feel better about it too, because you, my love, are a magnet for trouble," he teased.

"I suppose, but so are you, handsome," she replied, as she kissed him again.

"We'll see you later," she said, as she and Flynn headed downstairs to the situation hall where the meeting would be held.

"Okay…I'll call Fandral, James, and Dad. You call the twins," David said. Emma nodded and made the calls.

~*~

Nubia primped at her vanity table, while her two most loyal guards stood watch. She was excited for the heads of state meeting, as always. While some rulers may have seen it as a chore, Nubia adored socializing and rubbing elbows with the other rulers, which was understandable since Mu had been isolated for so many years. She had been to a few since they had been a part of the United Realms, but she was especially excited this time since she was going with her beloved, who was now essentially, King of the Mu. It was important that they made sure they had an equal voice in the United Realms and more importantly to make sure the Children of the Sun kept their guarded secret that she was Atlantean by birth.

"Are you ready for the meeting, my love?" she asked, as she saw him in a chair in the sitting room, reading one of the ancient scrolls.

"Hmm…oh yes, of course. This heads of state meeting is quite intriguing. I remember my son loathing politics and these kinds of gatherings, but I always found them quite enthralling," he said.

"You are a brilliant political mind," Nubia praised and he offered his arm to her, as they prepared to leave.

"Tell me, my sweet…do you think the truest loves would ingratiate us into their circle?" he questioned.

"Oh…I'm not sure. The only invites I get are to these official business gatherings, but I'm sure we could invite them to dine with us," she suggested.

"Yes…that is a splendid idea. It is high time that Mu becomes noticed and respected. After all, Cibola's tallest tower could provide clean energy to the entire United Realms with the right conditions," he said.

"Oh yes…it is past time that Mu is given a fair spot at the table," she agreed. He smirked and they boarded the ferry once it came around, which would take them to Misthaven.

~*~

"So…we're bait?" Regina asked. Snow wrinkled her nose and winced.

"Maybe a little," she replied. Regina smirked and shook her head.

"You continue to amaze me with the things you'll get Charming to agree to with the batting of your eyes," she teased. Snow smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said coyly.

"Sure…anyway, thanks for letting me in on the plan, but I suggest we don't let Triton or Midas in on it. They will both have a temper tantrum," she replied.

"Way ahead of you…this is just a normal meeting," Snow said, as they took their seats at the very large round table that would soon be filled with other rulers.

"No sense in riling everyone up in case a certain entity doesn't take the bait," she added. Regina saw Flynn standing guard at the doorway and smiled.

"Someone has certainly taken to you quickly enough," she mentioned. Snow smiled.

"He's the sweetest boy…I feel like he's my own already," she gushed.

"Did you ever find out anything about who his biological parents might be?" Regina asked curiously.

"Not so far…Milo and Kida were going to look into it, but there was so much chaos during that time that we might never know. And to be honest, I'm not sure Flynn wants to know and I'm fine with that too. He's ours now," Snow replied, as dignitaries began to file in. Fortunately, Triton would be attending remotely since he refused to be on dry land with quote, savage fish eaters. Snow was sure between him and Midas, she'd have a headache by the end, as usual.

"Ah Queen Snow…I'll have you know that my Casino and hotel is in the black, despite all your attempts to sabotage it," Midas boasted. Snow sighed. She could already feel the tension in her forehead.

"King Midas…I never tried to stifle your business and you know it. You are in the black without running a gentleman's club that would only marginalize and exploit young women. This should be a lesson that honest business can be just as successful," Snow said.

"Feh…save your bleeding heart nonsense," Midas grumbled, as he took his seat. Of course, as usual, he brought an entourage of guards, like he was some important, highly sought after dignitary. At one time, the lure of Midas' ability to turn things to gold might have made all the security necessary, but that time was long past, much like Midas, who was well past his prime. Abigail and Frederick exchanged pleasantries with them as well and Snow longed for the day when Midas finally fully turned over the reins to his daughter and her husband.

"That is a lot of hot air…it makes the room feel smaller," Regina joked. Snow smiled, as they both bowed respectfully to the Emperor of China and Mulan, who was attending as his guard. Aladdin and Jasmine arrived next, without the Sultan. While Jasmine's father had responded well to modern medicine for his condition, he had no qualms, unlike Midas, about turning over many duties to his daughter to prepare her for her future duties. Next came the new rulers of the Southern Isles. After Edward had been killed by Seth and the Evil Queen, the second brother in line took over and Snow hadn't had much interaction with King Jerome and his Queen.

Glinda and Dorothy arrived next as representatives from Oz and behind them were Tiana and Naveen. Ariel and Eric arrived at the same time as Philip and Aurora, while Rose was escorted by Fandral. There were immediate whispers from older royals like Midas and she tried to ignore them. Fandral had decided to attend with her, refusing to leave her side, but was ready for the ambush they had planned if it became necessary. Tink arrived as representative for the fairies with Neal beside her, followed by Belle and Rumple. Belle had inherited her father's castle when he retired and stepped down and as the Dark One, Snow and Regina insisted he attend as a magic expert, despite protests from some like Midas and Triton. Elsa and Leo were next, along with Aphrodite.

Finally, Queen Nubia arrived with Atanos and Snow bristled slightly. She wasn't sure what about him made her so on edge, but she certainly did not trust him.

"Oh Queen Snow…congratulations your victory in the outside world. I hear it was quite the spectacle," Atanos said. She forced a smile.

"Thank you…we're just glad Mephisto is no more," she replied.

"Atanos and I are excited to attend a meeting of such importance, but we talked and hoped that you and your beloved would agree to have dinner with us, perhaps tomorrow evening?" she asked.

"Oh…" Snow said, wanting so badly to decline, but she knew it would come off rude.

"I…I can't think of a good reason why we can't," she said, hearing her step-mother attempt to swallow a chuckle beside her.

"Excellent…we quite enjoyed the Galaxy Rose. We can dine there, perhaps 7pm?" Atanos asked.

"I can't wait," Snow fibbed, as they went to take their seats and Regina chuckled.

"You shush," Snow scolded.

"I just can't wait to see David's face when he hears and then I think Robin and I might go there just to see you two attempt to handle a dinner with them," she teased.

"Why don't you just join us?" Snow pleaded. Regina smirked.

"No…I think we'll get our own table and watch from afar. They clearly have no interest in us," she replied. Snow sighed, as they took their seats and prepared to start.

Since most of what they discussed was of public record, they did make these meetings open to the public, similar to how they used to when it was just Storybrooke and they held town council meetings. Any sensitive things that needed to be discussed were always done in smaller, private meetings. So they were not surprised to see August in attendance, with a couple of his reporters and writers, now that he ran both the Storybrooke Mirror and the Enchanted News Network. Some citizens were in attendance and a few more were probably tuning via television, as they were filmed meetings by the network. It was an effort to maintain full transparency to the public and when they had first established the United Realms and this process, Midas, Triton, and a few of the other older rulers fought her on it, of course. But she had more than enough support from her friends and other younger rulers. Henry was also in attendance with Ella to record the events of each meeting, joking that if Star Wars could have CSPAN with monsters, then they could have CSPAN for fairy tale characters.

Among the citizens that were attending were the usual wealthy constituents from various Kingdoms that considered themselves the elite. Snow, of course, hated that anyone would refer to themselves or even her family as elites. She had always tried to retain her humble nature. They had been through so much that it wasn't hard to do this as she didn't take what she had with her husband and children for granted. Most of these wealthy elites still irked her though. Many of them were from Rodmilla Tremaine's circle and then Andresia had its own version. Many of them were once a part of Rose's court and she inherited them from her Uncle's lazy, yet tyrannical reign. She had eventually kicked them all out of their positions within her cabinet and replaced them over the years. But they were still wealthy, always had criticisms, and always attended any political function, if only to sow dissent. Fortunately, these particular meetings were only quarterly and Snow was glad, because they could be tedious.

"Okay…I think we can bring this meeting to order. David and James had some police matters to deal with, but should be along," Snow announced. They were hoping that Fandral's presence wouldn't deter Goldie in her new form from trying something. They suspected that the Void was arrogant enough not to see him as a threat and so many heads of state in one place would be too tempting.

"If it is a matter of our defense, then we should all be read in on the situation," Midas said. Snow took a deep breath to calm herself. As usual, Midas was going to be unbelievably difficult.

"If it is something that my husband feels the public needs to know, you know that he'll explain. As you know, there are many sensitive matters that cannot be discussed if court proceedings have not yet taken place," Snow said, sidestepping his demand. He reluctantly seemed to accept that and she moved on to discuss that meeting's main topics.

~*~

"Anything?" James asked, as David monitored the meeting on the television at the station in Storybrooke. They had a bean and the ability to portal into the room at a moment's notice.

"Nothing yet…other than Midas being a giant pain in the ass, as usual," David replied.

"When is that guy going to step down and let Abigail become Queen?" James wondered. Xander smirked.

"A guy like Midas is going to die on that golden Throne," he quipped.

"Great…how long do you think that will take in a land where aging is slowed down?" James asked, making them chuckle.

"Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and he'll accidentally touch himself one of these days," David joked, as they kept watch on the room.

"Anything?" Emma asked, as she peered in the room.

"Not yet…why is Bobby bored?" David asked.

"Yeah…he's listening to Drake tell him about his weird duck people comic," Emma replied.

"But I gave him ten dollars to go raid the vending machine," she added. Xander shook his head.

"I don't know where that boy puts it all," he joked.

"So you think it has potential? I mean, young people are obviously my target with the comic," Drake stammered along, as he followed Bobby from the vending machine.

"Uh sure…it's great. But I mean, why duck people?" he asked.

"Oh…I guess I never thought about it, except kids like when animals live like people, right?" Drake asked. Bobby shrugged.

"Guess so…I mean little kids would probably like it," he said, as he munched on some chips.

"You think so?" he asked, as he hung on Bobby's every word.

"Maybe…" he said, as he looked at his big sister for a rescue. Emma smirked.

"Drake…get back to work," she said.

"Yes ma'am," he replied quickly, as he scurried off.

"Wow…nice guy, but he's a little weird," Bobby said.

"He is…harmless and a good clerk, but weird," Emma agreed.

"He's a lot weird," James quipped, making them chuckle.

"Wait…I think we have movement," David said, as they saw a ghostly silhouette appear on camera.

"I can't tell what that is…it could be a glare," Emma said.

"Let's not take any chances…" Xander said, as David tossed the bean down and they all walked through the portal.

~*~

"Okay…since we're through everything on this meeting's docket, we have time to open it up to discussion on any matter any ruler would like to bring up," Snow said, cringing when Midas was the first one to rise from his seat.

"I'd like to discuss the profitable numbers that my Casino has earned this quarter and revisit the discussion of a Gentleman's club being added to it," he said.

"No," Snow refuted.

"You are not the final word on this, Queen Snow…it must be brought to a vote!" he bellowed.

"Normally yes, but since I have been granted the executive seat on this council, I retain executive privilege and though I rarely use it, I am using it here," she retorted.

"You only use your executive privilege against me! You've always held a grudge! Ever since your beloved Charming almost married my Abigail, you've harbored a hatred of me!" he claimed.

"Oh shut up, you pompous windbag!" Leo shouted, as he rose from his seat.

"How dare you…" Midas said.

"You're screaming at my mother…you bet I dare and if you don't sit back in your seat, I'm going to poof you right into the lion's den at the reserve!" Leo replied.

"You heard him! He threatened me!" Midas said, as Leo rolled his eyes and sat back down.

"So much for a peaceful discussion," Elsa murmured.

"King Midas please…take your seat," Regina said in a measured tone. He seemed a little frightened by that and did as she asked.

"Thank you…any other business?" Snow asked.

"Why, so you can use your executive privilege to tell them no?" Midas grumbled. Snow took a deep breath to calm her temper and saw Atanos rise from his seat.

"Oh dear Gods…" she mumbled, wondering how she was going to make it through this.

"I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself if that is acceptable to you, Queen Snow?" he asked cordially. She nodded.

"Of course," she agreed.

"I am Atanos…King of Mu and former High Priest of Cibola," he said.

"I am also the father of Esteban, the Dragon King and one half of the former Children of the Sun, or Truest Loves, as they are known now," he continued.

"I was locked away in the pages of a manuscript and probably rightfully so, for I acted quite foolishly in those days. However, now that I have been given a second chance, I have seized it and am looking forward to this new life. I have seen the error of my ways and am inspired by the Truest Loves," he said, as he looked at Nubia and she blushed.

"I have promised to give my bride much more care and serve my people's best interests," he added.

"Cibola is a magnificent place and I want to share its wonder with all," he announced.

"Feh…a golden city is not so impressive. I can make anything gold with a simple touch," Midas refuted.

"Yes…but can you supply the entire United Realms with an unlimited supply of clean energy?" he asked. The room became abuzz at that and Regina leaned over to Snow.

"Don't you need the Chalice to do that?" she asked. Snow was stunned.

"Yes…" she answered. Before they could shut him down though, a ghostly silhouette appeared in the room and finally became solid, revealing it to be Goldie.

"A meeting of all the rulers of the United Realms…and I wasn't invited. How insulting…considering I will soon be the Supreme Ruler," she mused.

"Guards!" Midas bellowed, as he sent his men after her.

"No…wait!" Snow called, trying to stop them, but they didn't listen and Goldie grabbed them both around the throat. Gasps of shock and cries of fear reverberated through the room, as the two unfortunate guards were drained of their lifeforce and fell dead to the floor. Fandral stood up and drew his sword, before climbing over the table and extending his blade toward her.

"You will leave here now…demon," he ordered.

"Oh Fandral…is that any way to talk to your former lover?" she asked. He frowned and gazed at her with scrutiny. She smirked.

"That's right…Snow White and her prince may have banished me from the physical plane, but the Void found me and we became one!" she revealed.

"It matters not…you're going to be destroyed," he declared, as a portal opened, depositing David and the others. Bobby rushed her with his sword and she growled, backing away from his weapon.

"Catch me if you can, young one," she taunted, as she disappeared beneath the floor. Bobby disappeared in a puff of peridot smoke and the others watched, as a battle they couldn't see raged. Snow watched with bated breath, fearing for her son. She cried out when the floor exploded and Bobby went sliding onto it on his back. Goldie smirked and hovered over him.

"Time to die, brat…and without you, the rest are doomed," she said.

"Nooo!" David shouted, as he swiped the Chalice sword, but she blocked the strikes from it and reached for him.

"DAVID!" Snow cried, fearing for her husband. But it was Goldie that suddenly cried out in pain, as a beam of fire struck her and singed her violently. She seethed and turned to make the culprit pay, expecting it to be Regina or the Dark One. But her face was marred with shock, as Rose Red stood there.

"Get away from him…" she said, breathing heavily from the exertion of power.

"You stay away from my friends and my Fandral!" she warned. Goldie smirked.

"Well, well…perfect little Rose Red thinks she can play in the big game now. You're out of your league, sweetie," Goldie said in a condescending tone. Rose surprised her again, by grabbing her around the neck and lifting her off her feet. She cried out, as she was burned by Rose's touch.

"You were saying?" Rose growled. The Void morphed from its physical form back to its ethereal form and seethed.

"You haven't seen the last of me…and you will pay, Rose Red!" it hissed, before fading away. Fandral rushed toward her and hugged her tightly.

"You were right…" she said, as she looked at him, just as Snow rushed to her and hugged her.

"You saved my baby and my husband…thank you," she said. Rose smiled.

"You know I love Bobby too…I wasn't going to let that horrible thing take either of them from us," she said, as she looked at her hands and the fire had receded. Bobby hugged her too.

"You were great…guess you can use it for good," he said. She smiled.

"When there was danger…something came over me and I didn't have time to think about fearing my powers anymore. All I could think about was delivering justice to the one committing evil," she said, trying to explain it.

"That's the nature of this power," Sif said, as she arrived with Hermes.

"You came," Rose said. Sif smiled, as she hugged her.

"Of course I did…and it would seem that you have figured out the key to this power," she said.

"They key?" Fandral asked. She nodded.

"This power may have come from Mephisto, but when he gives it to someone good, the opposite happens. A good person becomes compelled to use the power for good," Sif replied.

"Like the Ghost Rider," Henry mentioned, having read the stories. She nodded.

"Yes…it would see that Rose is able to keep her own form and even more of her faculties while using the power though. That's very positive and it may be due to the fact that she didn't receive it directly from Mephisto and from one of his minions," Sif explained.

"Looks like it enhanced her strength too," David mentioned, as he put his arm around Snow.

"If I can use this power for good and help defeat the Enchantress or Void or whatever she is now…then I want to do it," she said, looking at her husband.

"I still need help with all the training though," she added. He smiled and caressed her face.

"Look no further, my love. Sif and I will help hone these new skills," he promised.

"The Void is running scared by this though and since Goldie is now a part of her, that means we have someone who is prone to murder when she doesn't get her way," David said.

"Then we use all our resources," James said, as Aphrodite stood beside him.

"We can watch from the sky," she said.

"We can activate our militaries to do regular patrols," Mulan suggested.

"Perhaps a curfew is in order?" Phillips suggested. Midas slammed his fist on the table.

"Feh…curfews are useless. This requires martial law!" he demanded.

"Charming…I'm not comfortable with martial law. That has to be a last resort," Snow whispered to him. He nodded.

"I'm not either…we won't go there unless it's necessary," he whispered back.

"We cannot infringe on the freedom of our citizens, even if we think we are doing so for their own safety. We will not become tyrants who issue orders from our ivory towers," he refuted.

"More weak leadership from the Charmings…it's not surprising," one of the former Dukes from Rose's Kingdom said.

"What's more is that we are still allowing Rose Red to sit upon her Throne now that she is a demon!" he announced, causing commotion among those in attendance. Fandral drew his sword and prepared to march toward the man.

"Fandral no…" Rose pleaded. He stilled for a moment and glared at the man.

"She is still your Queen and utter such nonsense again and you will face consequences," he warned.

"This meeting is definitely adjourned for today," Snow announced, as the guards saw to people being escorted out and she sighed, as David put his arms around her. She saw Atanos and Nubia begin to leave and she called out to them.

"You two need to stay…we have to discuss what you revealed to everyone before the Void showed up to make chaos," she said. They agreed and stayed behind. Atanos' little stunt had not been forgotten, even in the chaos created by the Void…

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #OC Charmings #AU #original season 10 storyline #Fandral the Dashing #Rose Red #dashing rose #Prince James #Aphrodite #Prince Goddess #Regina Mills #romance #adventure #family #Finding You Always #the epic continues

1 note · View note

mozart-and-mocha · 4 years

Text

Rafaela

After hanging out with F major and F minor, I felt excited. I could barely keep myself from smiling as my dad drove me home. The next day, I went to school and immediately remembered my behaviour the previous day when some of my classmates started laughing at me.

“Shut up!” I hissed.

“Woah, someone is angry,” Janice said in a mocking tone. Janice was rich and pretty, and sometimes she acted like her parents hadn’t bought her manners. Right now was one of those times. In a fit of rage, I lunged at her. She ducked to the side, but I managed to grab her hand. “Oooh,” she managed, trying to smile. “Fierce.”

I glared at her, ready to yell at her. Before I could think of what to say, I thought I heard a voice whisper to me, “She’s not worth it.” The voice seemed familiar. I glanced around, but didn’t see anyone else apart from Janice and some of her friends from my class: Jerome, Daisy, Oliver, and Henry. Those 5 annoyed me and enjoyed picking on me. But something told me to ignore them for now, even Janice whose hand I was gripping. I let go of her and gave her one of my angry looks. “Try laughing at me again, let’s see what happens,” I growled.

That voice...where had I last seen the person whose voice it was?

Later that day, after classes had finished for the day, I saw A major hovering around the area just outside my school. “You’re back on duty,” I said. “F major said you were busy yesterday and he took your place.”

A major smiled. “I had to discuss something with A minor.”

“Discussing as in just talking or nearly yelling and scowling at each other like you did at the train station a few weeks ago?” I was trying to be funny, but I guess my attempt backfired, because instead of laughing, A major frowned.

“Not funny, Rafaela.” A major looked like a sulking teenager, which she would have been if she were human.

“Sorry,” I shrugged. Normally, I would have felt bad, but after dealing with Janice and her friends during this morning and again during math and English literature, I was in no mood to feel bad for any faux pas I might have made. “I guess humour doesn’t always work on you...um...musical personalities.”

“Look, right now is a stressful time, so we’re less likely to laugh along at comments that might once have amused us. And since C major and A minor are on the frontlines of this battle, some of the stress that A minor faces passes on to me.” I heard the exasperation in her voice. I turned and started walking towards the music library as I didn’t want another unhappy conversation, and I needed to borrow books for my music essay. To my annoyance, A major followed me.

“That’s it, you’re leaving your post?” I asked. “I walk out of school to go home and you’re following me, just like that?”

“Actually, I’m supposed to look for you today.”

“Then what about other possible synaesthetes who might pass by? I’m sure I’m not the only one in this area, considering we’re near a music library and an arts performing centre.” As we crossed the road, I glanced at the aforementioned buildings a few blocks away.

“That’s where the rest of my trio comes in,” A major grinned. “There’s a reason we work in groups...”

“Yes, yes, I know,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear the explanation again. I found myself looking around for F major and D minor.

“Are they around here? Your trio, I mean.”

At that moment, I heard a voice I had heard enough of for the week. Janice.

“Hey Rafaela, no wonder you talk to kids! You look like one yourself, maybe they think you’re one of them!” Janice yelled. Daisy and Henry were with her, and they started giggling.

I rolled my eyes. “Ugh. I really should have punched her and decked her friends this morning.”

“They sound like they’re the childish ones,” A major said. “But in any case...did you hear a voice telling you they weren’t worth worrying about this morning?”

I stared at A major. “How did you know that? Was that you?”

She laughed. “Nope, wasn’t me. But you forget, we keep one another updated.”

“So that was another one of you keys,” I grumbled. “Am I allowed to know which one it was?”

“Definitely one you’ve personally met before,” A major promised. “Which rules a lot of the keys out.”

“That’s helpful,” I said sarcastically. I was in no mood to spend my brainpower guessing which key had chimed into my thoughts without being there this morning. “Really helpful.”

“Okay, fine. It was F minor.”

I mentally slapped myself. No wonder that voice had sounded so familiar.

“How did she manage that when she wasn’t even there? Is telepathy one of your secret powers, aside from manipulating people’s emotions?

“Well, yeah, I guess you could call it that. Though I prefer to think of it as tuning into your mind.” A major tugged on a strand of hair absentmindedly. It wasn’t fair. She looked 14 and yet she was the same height as me, or maybe even taller. Was there any of the keys I was taller than?

“That’s creepy. I don’t like my privacy invaded, especially if it’s my head,” I said aloud, hoping A major didn’t hear my thoughts. “Wait, did you just hear my thoughts? Please say no.”

“Honestly? Nah.”

I sighed in relief. But A major wasn’t done talking. She launched into one of her lengthy explanations.

“That’s because for us to tune into a synaesthete’s thoughts, we have to do it intentionally. Since we’re, well, personifications of music keys, we can channel our thoughts into music that’s playing in our key, which is how we sometimes fight our battles against those officials trying to snuff everything out. If we want to communicate with a musical synnie but we aren’t physically near them, we find someone near our target who is listening to music. Classical with a small c is preferred, but as long as the music is tonal and not using synthesized instruments, it works. If the key of the music is the same as the one who wants to communicate, let’s say F minor, she channels her thoughts into the music and it reaches you. If the key is different, we get that key to mix in their emotional influence with the key who wants to talk. In some cases, if it’s really urgent, we teleport ourselves through the music to within 25 metres of the target.”

“Sounds supersonically supernatural,” I said. “Do you actually become sound for those few seconds? And how do you materialise after that?” Now we were in front of the library but I didn’t feel like going in and having to keep silent right when A major was explaining the intricacies of her world to me.

“You forget, we ARE sound, Rafaela,” A major chided. “But yes, I see what you’re asking. We concentrate our thoughts and imagine ourselves travelling through sound waves to the musician we need to talk to, and when we feel physically closer to them, we lighten the concentration and appear in our human forms near the target. Of course, this is how we call for backup in a fight. Phone calls and texts are way too obvious and time-consuming. With this, we channel ourselves into one another’s thoughts to get their attention. Faster and more discreet. I should mention, it’s easier to channel into another key’s thoughts if they are more related to you on the circle of fifths. Relative and parallel keys, easy. Dominant and subdominant keys, easy but less so. Tritones, like me and E-flat major, are possible but they’re rather hard and painful. So we do that only if necessary. In most cases, we hardly work with keys with which we’d form a tritone with anyway.”

“This sounds like stuff only a supernatural being could do,” I remarked, as I saw down on a bench. A major sat next to me. “I mean, tuning into people’s emotions, travelling through sound waves to communicate with them? Not human.”

“Some people have joked about us being gods of different themes or ideas we are associated with. For example, C major would have been the god of childhood, simplicity, and new beginnings if we were a pantheon of 24 gods, with some of us having multiple forms. Kind of like Greco-Roman mythology - the gods had a Greek form and a Roman form. Well, some of them, anyway,” A major looked lost in thought, like the idea had suddenly occurred to her.

“So what would you be?” I asked.

“What do you mean, what would I be?” A major asked. She seemed distracted.

“If you were a pantheon rather than personifications of music keys, what would you be god of? Or goddess, should I say?”

A smile tugged at the corner of A major’s lips. “Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Maybe playfulness and youth?”

“How about the goddess of mood swings?”

A major smacked me in a friendly way on my wrist. “Hey!” she protested.

I laughed. “You are capricious, you know. One moment you’re smiling, the next you’re frowning or even scowling, with or without a reason. Does Dave know?”

“Dave was introduced to this whole musical synaesthete business later than you were, so I’d say it’s unlikely, unless the keys he’s been in contact with have told him.”

“Okay, this has been a very educational conversation, but I need to go in and borrow books for a music essay,” I said as I stood up. “Are you done with me?”

“No.”

“Bossy,” I muttered, walking towards the doors of the library.

“Excuse me?” A major pouted, and if I had been a passer-by, I would have thought she was a teenager about to have one of her temper tantrums. As it was, I decided I had to go in and ignore her.

“I’m busy.” With those words, I entered the library and the heavy doors slowly swung shut behind me, allowing me to hear a response.

“Rafaela,” A major hissed. Her voice had a tone of urgency in it.

“What?” I knew I sounded exasperated, but I was honestly done with this musical battle for today. I turned around and looked through the glass doors, not quite sure what I was hoping to see. I opened one door slightly to hear what was going on.

A man dressed like a security guard was walking to A major. She looked...irritated. “You,” she growled.

The man laughed. “Finally, I’ve stumbled upon one of you musicians. Not much for fighting, are you? All you do is practise making sounds to manipulate emotions. We can’t have that.”

A major lunged at him, and for a moment he looked surprised. I expected A major to knock him to the ground, but instead he caught her and pinned her arms behind her. I was about to yell when A major glanced at me through the glass door and shook her head, mouthing, “No.” I realised I was watching a fight in real time, and since the man didn’t seem to notice me, maybe A major wanted it that way.

F major? I thought. I need help. Well, A major actually. Did this channeling of thoughts work if it was initiated by a human? Apparently it didn’t, because there seemed to be no effect. A major was struggling and kicking against the guard, who was grunting with the effort it took to hold A major in place. I looked around and realised that there were only two people nearby, and it didn’t look like they saw anything.

I wanted to help A major, but I was afraid of making things worse. Help, I pleaded silently. Then I made a decision worthy of my ADHD. I quickly put my laptop in my schoolbag, chucked my bag under a seat by the wall, and went to help A major.

I stealthily went behind the guard, keeping some distance so he wouldn’t suspect anything. As he and A major struggled against each other, I inched towards him. A major was spouting some of her insults, which only seemed to make her captor angrier. “Silence!” he snarled. “We can’t have musicians and their helpers, like you, wreaking havoc in society!”

Helper? That’s all he thought A major was?

“The ones wreaking havoc are you and your butt-faced goons!” A major yelled back. “Stinky slimeballs you lot are!” Trust A major to insult people even during a fight. As her captor shot back an insult in reply, I seized the opportunity and kicked the guard in the back of the knee. He yelped and loosened his grip on A major, who nearly fell but managed to steady herself.

“Wha-” he turned around and looked at me. “This is not what you think!” he said. “You think I’m kidnapping a girl, is that right? What if I told you she’s the harmful one and I’m keeping society safe from her?”

“A likely story!” I snorted. “You really expect me to buy that?”

“You don’t understand.” The guard turned to look at A major, who looked slightly shaken and angry. “She messes with society by introducing this thing we call emotion, and my job is to keep her in check. Now back off.” He walked towards her and away from me.

"You really think a young child like her can be that powerful?” The lie tasted bitter in my mouth, but I had to trick the guard into thinking I was ignorant of the whole situation. Let me be clear: I do not stand for treating kids as lesser based on their age. “Why are you wasting your energy attacking a helpless girl?” I hoped he forgot that A major was not helpless in the least. Unfortunately, the guard hadn’t forgotten that capturing A major wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

“I don’t believe you truly think she’s helpless,” he growled. “You’re trying to confuse me, but that won’t work! I’ve been sent to capture her and her friends, and if you are one of them, you’ll regret it.”

I stepped back nervously, and the guard laughed. “Not much good at fighting, are you? I can sense your fear.” He grinned at me.

I closed my eyes and I wished I had F minor with me to take this goon down in a fight. I tried to imagine her power and energy, and instead I got a snippet of the first movement of Beethoven’s Appassionata sonata playing in my mind. Before long, however, the music switched to the fifth piece of Schubert’s Moments Musicaux. Rage and determination suddenly filled me, and I heard F minor’s voice like I did this morning: Failure isn’t the end of the world. You’re too hard on yourself.

You know what, I thought back. Watch me.

The guard was focusing on A major again, apparently convinced I wasn’t a threat. I yelled and charged, distracting him. As he turned to face me, A major seized the opportunity to punch him in the jaw. He howled in pain, and as he swivelled to face her again, I punched him in the back where his kidneys were. It wasn’t as hard as I’d have liked, but it did the trick. He doubled over and sank to his knees. “Curse...you!” he wheezed out.

Adrenaline rushed through me, and I realised F minor had channeled into my thoughts again, filling me with the emotional state I needed at the moment. Telling me that failure was an option worked wonders, compared to the times I told myself I could do it and I ended up being even more stressed. I wondered if the keys had some knowledge of human psychology. Trust them to know a bit of everything.

A major smiled at me, though she was sweaty and red in the face. “That was awesome,” she said. “Didn’t know you could fight like that.”

“It wasn’t much of a fight,” I said modestly. “All I did was distract him.”

“Say, did F minor channel into your thoughts again?”

“How do you know that?”

“She did the same to me. Well, since our key signatures are different, there was another key involved, or maybe even more, but it filled me with the energy I needed to win this fight.”

“Oh. Anyway, I need to go to the library. It’s been an hour, and I still haven’t done what I needed to do. See you another time.” I walked towards the library where I had left my belongings. I hoped they were still there.

“Wait!” A major called after me. “There’s something I think you should know.”

“Again?!” Then I covered my mouth. What if it was concerning my friends?

“You’re too hard on yourself,” she said, eerily echoing what F minor had said to me. “I know you’re worried about schoolwork and your personal life, but as long as you’re doing your best, you’re fine.”

“I don’t recall telling you about my troubles,” I said.

“Yesterday, when you were with F major, I heard what you said. Someone nearby was listening to Festive Overture by Shostakovich, and I used that to listen in on your convo.”

“Oh.” I felt the blood rush to my face. Being eavesdropped on by a 14-year-old was embarrassing. At least she had explained how she knew what was going on. “You did the channeling thing?”

“Yeah, but that’s besides the point. Doing well in school isn’t what determines your worth as a person. It doesn’t mean anything apart from you being able to follow instructions. You’re so much more than that.”

My face felt very hot. Here’s a tip: if A major starts lecturing you about things like personal worth, it’s best to walk away before you die of embarrassment.

“Point taken. Now, I really need to borrow books for my essay.”

To my relief, A major disappeared and left me alone.

#a major #rafaela

0 notes