#mostly because they have magical powers and live in a palace

[little-fae-hero]

Linked Universe, The Hero of Legend

My headcanons/aus

Art by Atro

Colored version.

Long talk/Ideas under the cut, warning for slightly dark topics. (Note: I may add stuff over time, but nothing will be deleted from the list)

Twilight. Wind. Time. Hyrule. Four. Sky. War. Wild.

Legend (A link to the past, Link’s awakening, oracle ages & seasons, A link between worlds). Other nicknames: The veteran, grumpy pants, Mr. Hero, Hylia’s bastard, Zelda’s Twin.

Hero’s title: Hero of the past, Hero of Koholint, Hero of the Oracles, Hero of Holodrum, Hero of Labrynna, Hero of Lorule.

God that has claim over his soul: Hylia

Part of First’s soul: Caution

History:

The first adventure was a Link to the past, after defeating Ganon it was revealed to Link that he was not only Zelda’s twin but the biological child of Hylia, the golden goddess. Link didn’t want to believe it so he hopped on a ship and left, leading him to koholint. The wind fish picked Legend for his divine blood to help wake him.

Both saving the orcales came from Link not wanting to be home, however after the second one he was convinced bad stuff would happen where he went so he opted to go home and retire.

Later, hyrule was attacked leaving Link alone to rescue it. He also meets a mysterious merchant called Ravio who basically becomes his roommate. It’s revealed Ravio and his sister, Hilda are Link and Zelda counterparts with their mother being a goddess, the Lorule version of Hylia. The humans of that world wanted to get rid of their triforce, basically destroying and corrupting the gods that once protected them.

Link uses the triforce and wishes for their triforce back, saving Lorule. Originally they destroyed their ability to travel between worlds. However, both Link and Ravio wishing for the other plus their demigod blood allows Ravio to travel back to Hyrule. Link tried to avoid doing another big adventure after that, just helping people like you should before he ripped away to LU. 

Death: Legend lives a longer life then most heroes because of his demigod nature, he’s able to see Fable’s granddaughter start to grow up. However his grandniece was curse and the palace taken over by a prince, hell bent on power. Legend at 70 years old ends up running away from Hyrule, taking many magical items with him. Eventually his age catches up with him and lays in a cave, where he passes.He stays as a spirit to give Hyrule his sword to help him survive.

Interest stuff/Headcanons:

Being a demigod is stained on Legend’s body, mostly by his hair which will flow like water when magic is used or high emotions, or faint tattoos that cover his face and body.

All gods have those tattoos when posing as humans, hence why their children have them. However, most are so faint, only about a shade lighter than their skin tone that they are unnoticeable unless in the right light. But they glow when their natural magic is used.

Because of this, Legend refuses to use any of his natural magic, often relying on magical items and jewelry, playing himself off as a lucky adventurer.

He loves jewelry also because of how shiny it is.

The mermaid tail he can get was because of his mother, as one of her domains is water.

Because of the Mermaid tail thing, he can’t really wear pants sense there's a risk of them being destroyed if he hits water.

Legend despises being Hylia’s son and technically a prince, especially since most see male children of the royal family as a curse waiting to happen.

Legend really loved Koholint, he wasn’t a demigod, he didn’t have any weird powers or random quest. It was so bad that if it wasn’t for his mother’s blessing he likely would have drowned.

The only reason Legend woke the Windfish and broke the pocket realm that he came to love was because of Marin.

Koholint was a pocket realm, populated by people that was close enough to the Windfish resting place. Legend doesn’t know this and spent his next couple of adventures looking for Marin, as he physically had some items given to him by her.

Because of Marin he actually uses what little magic leaks out around him and grows the flowers she kept in her hair, always keeping one on him. 

You can follow Legend’s path with ease as the flowers mark where he has rested.

He can play any instrument you hand him.

Legend form in dark areas, a pink rabbit, because rabbits are one his mother animals. He despises this of course.

Legend normally is very untrusting after his first two adventures, however something about Ravio made the hero trust him.

Ravio looks exactly like him, same weird faint markings, same face, same body. It’s just the colors that are wrong.

Legend keeps everything from his adventures with the mentality of ‘I rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.’

Because of his mother, Legend picks up on languages and puzzles very easily. It only takes him about a week in a new area before he can speak and read it.

Despite having the Triforce of Courage, Legend’s counterpart Ravio, actually has the Lorule Triforce of Wisdom.

All his adventures have him plagued by nightmares; Legend has to use a bit of magic to get a restful sleep.  

He’s good at finding maps and keys, as well as places to eat.

While it’s really hard to poison him, he can still taste the food. So could he eat rotten food, yes, will he? no.

Legend has joint pain, mainly from refusing to use his magic to heal wounds and waiting until he had potion or fairies, the time left its mark.

He has a soft spot for rabbits and seagulls. 

Legend is the one who gave Hyrule his first sword. After his death is spirit remained trying to save Hyrule, and ending up looking after the hero as a merchant.

---

Legend is done, let me know you thoughts.

[rose24207]

hey girlie, I have a brain itch and I love your writing so it's where I've come to get an idea scratched.

how about a fantasy!au with oscar or lando where they were a villain (if you've ever read assistant to the villain, I'm thinking like that kind of villain) and they end up married to a princess and years later when they have kids, they tell a story of a princess and a villain and they kind of reminisce on their lives together.

The best part

Summary: Years after marrying a princess, retired villain Lando tells their daughter a bedtime story about “a fearsome villain and the beautiful princess who ruined everything.”

villain!Lando x princess!reader

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Once upon a time, in a kingdom draped in twilight, a little girl with a head full of curls sat cross-legged on her bed, clutching her stuffed dragon.

“Daddy,” she whispered dramatically, “can I have a story? But not a boring one. Not the one about the nice prince who plants flowers.”

Lando Norris—retired villain, infamous sorcerer, devoted husband, and, apparently, expert bedtime storyteller—arched a brow.

“You don’t want Prince Everhart and his magical tulips?”

“No,” she groaned. “He’s boring.”

“Alright then,” Lando said, settling on the edge of her bed. “How about a story about a villain?”

She gasped. “Yes! But not too scary. Mama says I shouldn’t have nightmares anymore.”

He smirked. “Don’t worry, little dragon. This one has a happy ending.”

And so he began.

“Once upon a time, there was a villain.”

He was feared across all the kingdoms—powerful, clever, charming when he wanted to be, but mostly known for stealing things that weren’t his. Crowns. Secrets. Magic. Hearts.”

“He lived in a castle built into the cliffs, surrounded by stormclouds and shadows. Everyone said he had no heart. And he was fine with that—until one day…”

“…a princess wandered into his lair,” their daughter whispered, eyes wide.

Lando grinned. “Exactly. She wasn’t supposed to be there. She’d escaped her guards, climbed the cliffs herself, and marched right into the villain’s domain just to yell at him.”

“What for?”

“For kidnapping her court mage. She said he was a coward and a tyrant.”

“Was he?“

“Very much,” Lando said with a wink.

His daughter giggled.

“But the princess wasn’t afraid of him. She was clever, stubborn, and wore a crown like it was a sword. The villain should’ve sent her away. Should’ve locked her up. But instead… he let her stay.”

“Why?”

“Because he was curious. Because no one had ever called him a ‘spoiled, self-important goblin’ to his face before.”

“You were the villain,” she said, pointing a tiny finger.

“I never said that,” Lando replied, mock-offended. “Maybe I was the princess.”

“You were definitely the villain.“

He gave a lazy shrug. “Guilty.”

“So the princess stayed. And over time, the villain changed. He laughed more. Slept better. He taught her how to duel with daggers and she taught him to dance. He let her paint sunrises on his grey stone walls. She sang in his hallways. And when she left… he realized he didn’t like the silence anymore.”

“She left?”

Lando nodded softly. “She had to. Her father was ill. Her kingdom needed her. But she left something behind.”

The little girl leaned forward. “What?”

“Her heart.”

“And what did the villain do?”

“He gave it back,” Lando said gently. “In person. Wearing his nicest cloak and a rose he stole from someone’s garden.”

“Did she take him back?”

“She kissed him in front of the entire court.”

The girl squealed. “That’s the best part!”

Lando smiled—but there was something soft in his eyes now, distant and warm. He was no longer looking at the walls of a nursery carved into a palace.

He was seeing a torch-lit corridor in a crumbling tower. A girl in a torn ballgown throwing a dagger at his head.

He was hearing the laughter echoing through his old fortress when she tripped him into a fountain.

He was feeling the moment she said, breathless, “You’re not a villain. Not to me.”

He blinked.

The little girl touched his hand. “What happened next?”

Lando cleared his throat.

“They married, of course. The villain became a king—not the kind who wore golden robes or ruled with laws. But the kind who stood quietly behind the throne, making sure no one ever touched her crown without permission.”

“And eventually…”

“There was a little girl,” she said proudly.

“Exactly.”

He leaned down, brushing a kiss to her forehead. “The princess and the villain raised a daughter who was braver than both of them.”

“Is it really true?” she asked sleepily. “Was Mama really a princess?”

“The fiercest,” he murmured.

“And were you really a villain?”

Lando paused, eyes glittering.

“I was,” he said softly. “Until she ruined everything.”

“Good,” the girl whispered, already half-asleep. “She saved you.”

Later that night, you found him on the balcony—his arms folded on the railing, gaze lost in the stars. The wind tousled his hair.

“You told her the story,” you said.

He nodded. “She hates the prince with the flowers.”

You laughed. “So did I.”

You stood beside him in silence, letting the breeze carry memories between you. The tower. The blood-soaked cloak he’d thrown at your feet the day he gave up his empire. The way you said I do with a dagger strapped to your thigh.

You reached for his hand. “Do you miss it?”

Lando glanced at you. “The castle? The chaos? The absolute fear in every noble’s eyes?”

You raised a brow.

He grinned. “Not even a little.”

You smiled. “Not even the lightning crackling every time you walked into a room?”

“I get the same feeling now when she calls me Daddy.”

You kissed his cheek. “You’re a softie now.”

“Only for my girls.”

He turned to you, eyes darker now, hand at your waist. “But if anyone ever threatens what we built—what you gave me—I can be the villain again.”

You leaned into him, heart full. “We don’t need villains anymore, Lando.”

He kissed your knuckles. “Maybe. But I’ll always be the man who would’ve burned the world just to see you smile.”

Thank you for reading!

Taglist: @ipushhimback, @ladyoflynx, @lewishamiltonismybf, @cmleitora, @same1995, @amatswimming, @llando4norris, @dr3wstarkey, @hurtblossom, @ernegren, @esposamultifandom, @darleneslane

[mayakern]

If you don't mind sharing, what happened to vanetta's ex Edmund and his new saintess gf?

oh boy, so, a LOT has happened here so BUCKLE UP.

(and here’s a picture of vanetta for context for the maybe 2 other ppl who will read this huge post, which i have tried to summarize)

TLDR: after vanetta “died” and was yeeted into time travel, edmund died and charlotte saved the world. but edmund got brought back… and he came back wrong.

but the full story is so much weirder than that:

the core conceit of this game is that we are time (and place) hopping every time the party levels up, and mostly this is pretty normal—someone who’s from an ancient time visits a future date and finds out their country no longer exists, someone from the future goes to an earlier time and is shocked by the severely lacking technology, etc etc

except for vanetta, who is not from the past or future. she is from a book series. and she has JUST discovered this.

our most recent time hop has taken us to a dystopian capitalist future that takes place in a big mall in outer space (think a combination of tron, zenon: girl of the 21st century, wall-e and other similar media), where our wizard comes from.

and as soon as we materialize there, vanetta is recognized as a “really high quality and authentic cosplayer” of, well. herself. the book series she is from (the briar path) is popular on a level that basically combines twilight, harry potter and the bible all in one. it is fantastically popular, but also pretty old, and also is continually getting remakes and re-releases and right now they are currently making a manga adaptation of it. and it has a very active fanbase that writes a lot of fan fiction. this is, somehow, incredibly plot relevant.

an npc shows vanetta the comic, which currently i think covers 2 of the books in the series, and it shows her being depicted as basically your typical shallow, unsympathetic villainess character. and it depicts her death: the moment when, on the ramparts of the palace she was meant to preside over, she is faced with an angry mob seeking her death on one side and the crown prince (edmund, her former fiance) and charlotte (the saintess, his new woman, who in the fiction of the book was isekai’d into the world of the briar path) on the other side. vanetta climbs onto the rampart and makes a big impassioned speech (aka a villain monologue) about how pathetic and horrible they all are and when charlotte makes a swipe at her, vanetta chooses to let it unbalance her, forcing charlotte to live on with the guilt of her death.

only, the real vanetta doesn’t die. she gets yeeted out of time and space with three other time travelers. and our story continues

anyway, back to present day, the manga adaptation has just reached the part of the series where edmund dies—something vanetta did not know about. but just because he died in the book doesn’t mean he died in real life.

see, edmund had some pretty devoted fans. and one of them, who thought edmund was robbed by the narrative, got into some ancient, evil magics and combining this with the immense power of FAN FICTION, he tried to bring edmund out of the novel and into real life, and in the process ended up fusing with him and also with a force called The Hunger, a roiling miasma of despair that was the ultimate evil in the novels.

and so they all fused together and became a new thing. a god. in fact, our yuan-ti paladin’s snake god. who uhh subjugates and eats all non-snake people. the creation of this god also uhh was a huge cataclysm that basically started the earth apocalypse that lead to everyone ending up in the sky.

vanetta has JUST managed to secure annotated copies of the entire series that include academic commentaries and notes on historical context and the first chance she gets she is reading them so hopefully i’ll get more info soon lol

[contacthigh520]

messy nuca time travel thoughts

i’ve been thinking about what a nu carnival time travel fix-it might look like (the thoughts happened mostly before chapter 16, i should preface so no huey stuff (although would any huey stuff really be a fix-it if it would eliminate the existence of eiden??)). anyways. the thing with nu carnival is there aren’t an abundance of ‘key points’ or like Singular Terrible Events. things tend to happen in a slow collapse that are hard to circumvent.

for example, you can’t really ‘fix-it’ quincy because his big problem is that everyone he has ever loved (plus, in his eyes, will ever love in the future) will die before him. and the cause of that problem, him becoming a clan member to defend his tribe, is difficult to get around. even now, we can tell that he stands by that decision, to some extent, because unlike other older clan members, he hasn’t chosen to die. (i think maybe i’d read it as a sort of what-if path rather than a fix-it? a bittersweet thing where he died surrounded by family that loved him, lauded for his feats of strength and protection.)

(in going through the process of rethinking what might be a ‘fix-it’ option for everyone, i’m realizing it might just be eiden giving any given clan member a friend while they struggled through their lives. because really, the biggest absence most of them have is a friend that could stand by their side. anyways, that’s not what i initially thought of— so i’m tucking that away for another time.)

ok. so. right. thinking about a Big Event that caused a Lot of Cascading Stuff that could be changed via time travel (i love time travel). who would be sent back? what would the event be?

well… (<- guy who has a very strong bias), there’s the riot that killed dante’s parents…

the thing is, the initial issue is still there: the riot was caused by numerous decisions from dante’s parents that they really stood by! like dante, they had very strong convictions that would be difficult to sway, even with the interference of a time traveller.

if dante was sent back in time into his puny kid body before the riot happened, he probably couldn’t convince his parents to fight off bandits or not waste money on his happiness. like, they might fortify the palace or make contingency plans for their safety, but they wouldn’t stop being Really Committed Pacifists in the Bandit-Death Desert.

so like… what would dante do? he’d be in a very similar situation to his original kid self where no one would listen to him and he had no power.

well, he’d try to get back to his original solaria.

though there are numerous things he’d probably like to change, his ultimate commitment is to his Solaria. it’s what he built, what he knows, and what he wants to protect. there’s no telling what changing the past would bring and there’s the very real chance that this is all just… magical shenanigans.

it’s kind of obvious that no one in solaria can or will help him. his parents love him, which is a problem, because that means they won’t let him leave the palace (an age-old problem). and dante is still Super Sick.

but, hey, he stopped being ill after he went through the trials of the elemental spirit of fire so… that’s one piece of the puzzle

and! he has a rough idea of the people who could potentially help him: the other clan members. the level of sorcery that this time travel nonsense would take is probably beyond the average magic user, so clan members are his best bet. plus, there’s a chance he wasn’t the only one impacted by whatever is going on.

(this is also my ploy to make it a group adventure…)

so, like, dante sneaks out with a horse and, with a whole lot of difficulty, manages to get to and pass the trials of the elemental spirit of fire. (i imagine it’s easier because he knows where he’s going. it’s potentially harder because there’s no riot to distract the bandits around town. cest la vie. the trials are probably as difficult as before but!! i imagine the content would change because time travelling dante doesn’t have the same concerns baby dante had.)

dante running off leaves solaria in a panic (despite the note that dante thoughtfully left behind) and dante in better health with his trial markings.

so where does dante go from there? aster, maybe, since he knows that aster is connected to the grand sorcerer, even if eiden isn’t around…

i didn’t actually come up with a plan for how dante got back to the present or what sent him back.

in my initial planning, i thought it would be very funny for dante to go to quincy. quincy’s a good option because he’s strong (dante kind of needs that) and he’s reliable (unlike many of the other clan members).

the idea of pre-eiden quincy (incredibly tired + depressed) having to deal with an pompous, demanding baby foreign prince is a fun image, esp. because its so baffling to quincy.

looking at the map of klein… dante probably picks up blade and garu (and maybe even gramps!) while he passes through the dead zone? he’s probably pretty blatant about picking up clan members. it would be difficult to override huey’s ‘orders’ to blade, but maybe blade could be convinced to come on the basis that it was ‘for the grand sorcerer’? and gramps would probably not leave this rambunctious child on a horse to travel alone.

man… and baby karu would still be fully hidden in garu… (also i wonder how gramps feels about potential future knowledge that garu’s ‘master’ actually does come to be?)

so blade + garu (+ gramps(?)) and then quincy.

kuya probably comes along uninvited because its not his circus, not his monkeys, but he is an intrigued audience member.

from there maybe they put together some puzzle pieces about needing all the clan members?

going in map order, that’s like: yakumo (baby snake!) -> aster, morvay, edmond (baby edmond!) -> olivine (baby…) -> rei (rei!)

tbh, they probably bullshit to get baby yakumo along, if his grandma and grandpa even let him go with the strange group of people. gramps probably does a lot to help smooth things over.

a big bid in their favor is that they know about yakumo’s gem and tell him about it? let him know that he’s not so alone in the world…

aster and morvay are probably the MVPs in letting the group progress in their research. dante leverages his knowledge about aster and the grand sorcerer Super Hard. plus, aster and morvay wouldn’t let any remotely trustworthy lead about their master fall through.

i think aster would maybe help them get into the sorcerer’s trials? for the library or w/e…

and that’s how they meet baby olivine

laying out the ages:

dante: ~8-10 years old

garu: ~15-16 years old or ~5-7 years old(?) (he doesn’t get a younger looking sprite in his flashback since they just use n-r rarity sprites for those. and he doesn’t act much younger? so i’m leaning towards him being pretty similar to how we see him in canon) (of course, i might be fudging the timeline a lot to even have him be around at all instead of in kolt’s clutches. ah well…)

yakumo: ~9-11 years old (he has a kid form iirc? and that’s the form his grandparents picked him up in)

edmond: ~11-13 years old

olivine: ~12-15 years old

and then this is fun because of Conflict!! dante doesn’t really know much about the past of the others to have any real insight on them during these time travel shenanigans. BUT! he does know about olivine cutting himself which makes things Interesting

honestly, i think it would be super cute if olivine acted as their guide during the group’s visit because he has a gemstone? and he also turns out to be pretty helpful because he’s pretty deep into technical and theoretical magic.

and then they whisk olivine away for their group adventure because 1) he’s a clan member and 2) they need his brain. (dante’s pretty informed on essence and elemental spirits but i wouldn’t say magic is his forte)

and then, finally, around the water territory, they meet up with rei, who comes to them because what are garu and gramps even doing there??? and then we get some semi-rare olivine and rei discussion as they discuss The Situation…

it’s just so fun to see how different these half-formed versions of everyone are before the present…

- quincy’s so much sadder (but hey! he still has topper… who is not named topper yet)

- blade is still quirky but much harder to communicate with (unless it’s with other members of the old guard who are kind of used to him)

- yakumo’s a nervous baby (but maybe has his anxiety less in-grained in him? less convinced that all these people like him would reject him thoroughly? esp since they came to see him)

- edmond is still prickly but more transparently because he’s been hurt before? i feel like he makes pretty fast friends with the other kids (he shores up yakumo’s shyness (little knight behavior), he responds well to dante’s taciturn but earnest nature, and well… garu is garu (puppy friendship power!)).

- kuya is probably pretty mean but less mean than i would expect, esp w/ the promise of curiosities and the novelty of (ahem) getting the band back together.

- rei is similarly intrigued by the gathering of clan members and is even more intrigued by dante’s issue and the possibility of time travel… (he probably has some things he’d like to time travel about but the canon i’ve read for him so far is vague enough that i couldn’t pin it down). (im also maybe fudging his timeline bc idk if he’d even be in klein with father 10-13 years ago…)

[calisources]

𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋, 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒.

All sentences on this meme have been taking from different media and sources. They all touch on the topics of romance, difficult and forbidden love, mostly setting in the political schemes of war and peace and royal court. Change names, locations and nouns and you see fit. Some lines might have foul language.

Sometimes we hurt the ones we love, but hurting ourselves to avoid it doesn’t make it better.

Could someone treat you badly and still love you? 

Even so, in the midst of this complicated love, there is a holy union.

Love is complicated. It’s sticky. It’s bliss and it’s a mix of emotions. It’s not easy.

I hated him now because I has loved him then.

 I'm not like you. I can't afford to be reckless.

When have I ever, since the first instant I touched you, pretended to be anything less than in love with you?

Are you so fucking self-absorbed as to think this is about you and whether or not I love you, rather than the fact I'm an heir to the fucking throne? 

You at least have the option to not choose a public life eventually, but I will live and die in these palaces and in this family.

She wears a crown that never should’ve been hers.

Your wish is my command, my queen.

You can always leave my service.

Don’t you see, Diana? If I did that, I’d break not one but two hearts. For I know you love me, though you haven’t said it yet.

You do know me. I love you so much, it sometimes terrifies me.

You are going to regret that, Your Magical Regalness.

Just because I am  a prince doesn’t make my life a fairy tale.

So kiss the others for all I care, but don’t hold back with me.

You are enough to drive a saint to madness or a king to his knees.

He didn't marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.

I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.

 I believe we are what we make ourselves, and as such, you, Crown Princess, are nothing.

You, what are you? The brat of lucky parents who were related to a childless king.

Rule with the heart of a servant. Serve with the heart of a king.

There’s a fine line between gossip and history, when one is talking about kings.

You can't treat royalty like people with normal perverted desires.

We kings do develop a certain ability to recognize objects under our noses.

...alone is such a nebulous state when one is queen.

I respect you as my king, and I respect you as my father, but I do not respect you as a man.

You're the most important person I've ever met.  And I should have never met you at all.

Desires are what can most easily ruin us, lovely.

I find that happiness can always be recollected in tranquillity, Ma’am.

It's almost impossible for those who have had an intimate relationship to return to a formal one.

I question if within you is any magic.

You’re my princess, right? You were always going to be my princess, no matter what you were born.

The king is a saint and cannot rule, and his son is a devil and should not.

For kings, the world is extremely simplified: All men are subjects.

A king deserves reverence when being addressed.

Yes, she had abused her title and station before, but for minor stuff, not to steal a warship.

You are a king worthy of their allegiance . . . with a queen full of fire and promise.

When God calls you into His Kingdom, your way of life will reflect royalty if you serve Him with loyalty.

My royal status is both a shield that protects me and a sword that impales my heart.

You know, for a pampered princess, you have a certain gift for violence.

I have to be seen to be believed.

Kings needn’t raise their voices to be heard.

That is your very own myth. The idea that how you are born or the name you are given dictate the sort of person you really are.

I know that names have power. That is why I cannot let her forget hers. 

You’ll have to face it, Princess. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon enough. And you can’t be this scared when the time comes.

A bad king revels in his importance. A good one hates his office. 

Crowns belong to those that serve.

She was their witch queen, and they adored her.

Beatrice is going to be queen someday.

Kings are only kings because one ancestor was quicker than another to place a crown on his own head.

Queen, do not allow a commoner to dethrone you. Own that throne. You are royalty.

A throne won in blood will soon be drenched in it.

My mother once told me that everything is fuelled by either money or sex, because both lead to power.

Even when she's dethroned by hardship, she still wears the sun as a crown.

She holds a nation’s fate within her shaking hands. She wears a crown that never should’ve been hers.

My reign has been anything but traditional. Let’s not start now, shall we?

Oh honey, someday a real man is going to make you see stars and you won't even be looking at the sky.

Every girl thinks about growing up in a palace. Few ever ponder living in a cage.

Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you’ll find a commoner who dared to take a chance.

Am I forbidden to do what all may do?

My arrival saved the kingdom, while his only reiterated that his blood would fill the throne one day.

Slow down there, princess. How do you know what kind of first impression you gave me?

So none of the young men we encountered during our season gave you hot pants for them?

If stubborness were all that was needed to be a good queen, I'd rule the world.

I’d decided that I was going to stop dressing like a princess and start dressing like a queen.

Don’t touch me. Don’t tell me how beautiful my eyes are, how soft my hair is, how you love to hear my voice. Don’t. Don’t pretend you are falling in love with me. 

I know you are lying, and every word you say hurts even more. 

Before the wedding, and the bedding, when I will have to take you as my lord and husband?

I may not be a king or a queen, but I'll be damned if I'm not treated like royalty.

He is fragile, like a prince of ice, of glass.

It is natural that men are going to gather round me, hoping for a smile.

Men only treat women like princesses when they want to use them like prostitutes.

You can smile when your heart is breaking because you're a woman.

I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't do anything but think about him.

Anyone can attract a man. The trick is to keep him.

To save my son, I would plot with the devil himself.

Only fools wait when their enemies are coming, to see if they may prove to be friends.

When a man wants a mystery, it is generally better to leave him mystified. Nobody loves a clever woman.

I wanted the heat and the sweat and the passion of a man that I could love and trust.

I am a fool to own it, but I am in a fever for your touch.

And you are the sort of mistress a man doesn't bother to marry. Sons or no sons.

[tarnishedxknight]

"Who are you? I do not believe we have met." (for Xenos because reasons)

It had been Gabranth's duty to show the Emperor's new sage around the palace and the capital city, helping to familiarize her with important locations she may need to know during her stay. If she was to assist His Eminence with war strategies and grant him advice on what direction to take the Empire in the future, she would need to know what was going on there. Thus, one of the stops on their tour was the Draklor Laboratory.

The Laboratory was a massive seventy-floor building within which all sorts of research important to the Empire was conducted. Everything from airship design, to weapons development, and magical pursuits were studied there, and at some of the topmost floors were the offices and lab of Dr. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, known by most as Dr. Cid. He was not only the head researcher of Draklor Laboratory, he was also the chief writer of science, technology, and magical policies for the Archadian Imperial Army, which funded the Laboratory. Dr. Cid was also one of Vayne Solidor's main go-tos for secret nethicite research serving the prince's agenda.

Gabranth took Wanda up to Dr. Cid's offices, but the man was not there. This was typical, for Cid was always something of a free spirit, and he often went out in search of materials for his experiments. He took Wanda on to see Cid's laboratory anyway, explaining to her that this was where the Empire was attempting to safely study the effects of nethicite. Even as he said it, though, he scarcely believed his own words. Cid was anything but safe. If rumors were true, and Gabranth had at least some evidence in support of them, then Cid's might was slowly beginning to slip. Regardless, Gabranth gave Wanda a superficial look at the lab, for she mostly just needed to know where it was, in case she needed to talk to Cid at some point, and not so much its intricate inner workings.

When she seemed to stop by a rather ornate looking set of double doors - doors with a strong magical ward for a locking system - Gabranth was soon tasked with explaining that, no, Cid did not experiment on living beings. His research was mostly chemical, magical, and technological. He wondered why Wanda would fixate on the doors and ask such a question, but none of his spies or his own reconnaissance had indicated that Cid was experimenting with live creatures. "It may be a storage room for nethicite or other highly dangerous magical components," he explained, feeling the Mist within him stirring, and not just because of the magical lock on the doors. In his mind, that was the only explanation that made sense.

Oh, but there was a living being inside the room, and he was quite tortured, frightened, and sad. His emotion was so thick and heavy, it came off him in waves to one who was even mildly empathetic like Wanda. Even through a magically locked door, the imprisoned and enslaved being Xenos gave off a heartbreaking and desperate amount of suffering that permeated the room and even beyond it. His magical power also branched out into his surrounding environment, even magically bound such as he was.

When Wanda returned later without Gabranth, that same energy and emotion was apparent the moment she got within the near vicinity of the doors. For someone with magic as unique and versatile as Wanda, the magical locking glyph placed on the door was certainly no match. Once the doors were unlocked and opened, a sorrowful sight met her eyes.

The room was bare, sterile, with no sign of warmth or kindness. A marble floor, two pillars made of a different type of stone, and a man kneeling between them, slumped where he sat, a mess of chains tethering him to the pillars. He was barefoot and shirtless, wearing only a pair of linen pants and a tattered cloak, the hood of which was draped over his head. His wrists were shackled, connected to chains that were rooted in the stone pillars on either side of him. Those shackles were then also chained to a third shackle around his neck. Small glowing glyphs of warding, suppression, and control glowed on each of the shackles.

When Wanda entered the room, Xenos slowly lifted his head, feeling her presence even if he hadn't heard her first. Her magic was significant, he could feel it, but he didn't know who she was. Was she here to hurt him? Probably. Everyone else here was. He shakily rose to his feet and backed away slowly, until the chains pulled taut and he couldn't go any further. Trembling and a bit folded in on himself, Xenos stood there, clearly afraid of Wanda.

He was very lean, probably too thin for a man of his height. And there was an unnatural blackness to his hands and feet, continuing up his arms and likely his legs too if they could've been seen under his pants, until it brightened into a bronze skin tone. Red glowing eyes could be seen peeking from underneath his hood.

Her question, though... was strange. Usually people just came in and started ordering him around, inflicting pain with magic if he did not comply. They didn't usually want to chat with him, or ask his identity. Did she not know who he was? Was she not told? If she didn't know, then why was she here? Maybe she wasn't here to hurt him after all.

Xenos slowly moved to one of the pillars, his left arm being harshly pulled in the direction of the other pillar by the short chain even as his right hand softly touched the pillar before him. He huddled against the stone, partially obscuring himself with it, feeling safer when he wasn't standing entirely out in the open. "Xenos..." he answered her, his voice a raspy whisper from lack of use. "I... am Xenos..."

[nikibogwater]

Y'know what? Screw it. I'm coming back to bat for Cinderella (2015) again because I just finished re-watching it for Valentine's Day and I have a bunch more stuff to say about it. Mostly about how well it fleshes out the main characters.

I've heard people complain that the first 20 minutes are boring because it's "just telling her backstory as slowly as possible to fill up run time" (paraphrase). And it's true that the movie does take its sweet time establishing Ella's family, their living situation, their values, and their relationships with each other. That's because these things are actually really important to understanding Ella's motivations and struggles later in the movie. We can't get by on an impersonal, two-minute summary of Ella's backstory, not without sacrificing a ton of the character depth that makes this particular adaptation of Cinderella so good.

Showing the audience Ella's past serves a few purposes. First, it explains where her core values came from and shows her actively living them out. Ella isn't just a kind and courageous person out of some inherent goodness within her. She was brought up in an environment where those two virtues were the center of her family's life, and ultimately the source of their happiness.

When Ella's father broaches the subject of him possibly remarrying, you can see that Ella isn't thrilled by the idea. But she encourages him to go through with the marriage, which establishes her selfless and loving nature in a concrete way.

Side note: MAJOR kudos to actress Lily James for this moment. She was able to communicate Ella's discomfort to the audience, while still keeping it subtle enough that you can believe her father wouldn't pick up on it.

The second purpose of showing her backstory in detail is that it strengthens the emotional gut punch that is seeing all of this goodness ripped out of Ella's life. And the third, and arguably the most crucial reason, is that it makes what Lady Tremaine does to her so much more despicable.

Lady Tremaine doesn't simply treat Ella badly. She also manipulates Ella into forgetting her own self-worth, into fearing that perhaps she actually deserves the abuse she is suffering--which is a very real and all-too-common occurrence in abusive relationships. The movie makes a point of directly telling you that Ella is beginning to struggle with this via the Fairy Godmother's narration: "Cinderella. Names have power, like magic spells. And of a sudden, it seemed to her that her stepmother and stepsisters had indeed transformed her into merely a creature of ash and toil."

I've seen this movie at least a dozen times now, and my heart still absolutely shatters every time I watch Ella staring at her dirty and distorted reflection, and realizing she has begun to feel ashamed of herself. This moment just wouldn't hit as hard without the setup of the first twenty minutes.

For the rest of the movie, we see Ella fighting to keep her faith in both herself, and in the values her parents taught her. But it's an active battle now that she's surrounded by people who relentlessly tear her down no matter what she does. And in some ways, she fails. She's afraid to tell Kit who she really is. She's afraid no one at the palace will believe her if she comes forward as the "mystery princess." Ella doesn't get out of this situation unscathed. Lady Tremaine's abuse actually damages her. Not enough to change who she is as person, but enough to make escaping her stepmother much more difficult than simply getting out of the house.

That's why the ending is so much more of a triumph for her. She tells Kit the truth, even though part of her is still scared that Lady Tremaine was right, and he could never love who she truly is. And LAWD, the way Kit tearfully says "Of course I will," when she asks if he will take her as she is, just makes me MELT. 😭

Also I don't think it's ever directly stated in the movie, but this version of the Prince is canonically a soldier who fought in a war prior to the events of the film (they confirm this in the behind the scenes). So he and Ella are both people who have seen the darkness of this world up close and personal, and both of them still chose courage and kindness. I don't think I can understate the depth of my adoration for these two, they are one of the truest OTPs to ever exist.

On a final and only semi-related note, I feel like reviews of this movie never give the Captain of the Guard the credit he deserves. This guy is hands-down the best side character. He has Kit's back every step of the way, even when he's being a little quippy. If Disney cannot be dissuaded from this dreary path of remakes and sequels, can they at least give us a sequel to Cinderella (2015) that is all about this guy?? Like, he's just having a good time babysitting his new niece/nephew, unaware that meanwhile the kid's parents (Ella and Kit, obviously) are trying to set the Captain up with a reformed Anastasia and there's a bunch of fairy tale shenanigans and maybe some references to the cult classic that is Cinderella III: A Twist in Time??? Please, Disney, can we at least have some FUN again?????

[twotangledsisters]

Cassandra as The Royal Mage :D

This is Cass in 'Gothel, Guardian of the Sundrop' btw, an AU fanfic I wrote and update every Sunday :D

More info about the AU below 'keep reading' as well as a version of the art with a background!

My reward for several hours of making art is some rambling about my fanfic and some of the design choices in this art piece!

So for those who aren't into fanfics and want to know what Guardian of the Sundrop is, it's an AU in which Gothel volunteers her services to the crown to heal Arianna and Rapunzel rather than letting the Sundrop be turned into tea.

In this AU Gothel lives in a cottage in the palace garden and is Corona's Royal Healer. She is highly respected by most, especially the king who is forever grateful to the woman who saved his wife and daughter. To heal she requires privacy and will only heal those on the verge of death (obviously unconscious).

Cassandra grows up near the palace in this AU and is a Lady of the Palace (not lady-in-waiting, not a servant, she is high nobility as is her mother). Everybody expects her to grow into Corona's future healer so at eighteen she starts studying magic and is pretty proficient. While she still can't heal she is Corona's Royal Mage and a symbol of power for Corona.

(The fic goes on with Eugene coming into cause chaos mostly for Gothel but also a lot for Cassandra).

Cassandra using magic is very much influence by old storyboard of Tangled in which Gothel used magic btw.

ONTO THE DESIGN DETAILS:

I've had this dress designed for a long time... I think I posted an image of it ages ago on here but I'll go find it (this art is over a year old so do forgive me):

The design mixes Cassandra's Lady-In-Waiting dress with some of Gothel's style. There isn't actually that much more to say about the dress...

I gave her more jewellery in this updated version to represent her rank, she's not a Captain's daughter in this, even if she does train with the guards when possible, Gothel definitely taught her appearances matter and she obeys those expectations.

(she does own other outfits for when training or going out on the horse)

She wears Corona's symbol because one aspect of her in this AU is she is constantly grateful for the life she got in Corona. She grows up beside Rapunzel, gets a very good education, her studies are fully funded, and she is determined to pay her kingdom back which is why she works so hard trying to learn magic and hopefully one day how to heal.

The pearls are to represent Arianna's influence on her. As in this AU Arianna very quickly realises Gothel isn't... the caring type, and she makes sure Cassandra isn't lacking in love or care. (Rapunzel helps a lot, her and Cass are very tight even from a young age).

Also, if you pay attention her right hand.......... I might have done her left hand by mistake, my right.......... one of her hands has a glove on it! This is important because she actually burns her hand at one point in the story and as you can imagine, Gothel doesn't heal it. Cassandra is very much ashamed of this and hides it with a glove. She will wear two gloves like a normal person for court and stuff but can be seen more often with just the one cause she likes to feel her magic.

Anyway here's the version with a background, I think it looks worse but it does show the interior of Gothel/Cassandra's cottage with the Sundrop in it! (the background doesn't exactly match how I imagine the cottage but I'm really bad at backgrounds which is why I removed it XD)

[mysticlael]

So, y'all voted on this poll, and MID hcs won!

So, I'll do it by characters first, order they got to the palace in my hcs.

Rhys:

• Yep, got there first. He's older than Asch by 3 months.

• Was conceived via two underage servants messing around, and was going to be raised as a servant

• Then a plague came around, hit the palace hard, and his parents died when he was 4. Leaving him to just be a servant.

• Lady Grandma took him under her teaching after he started teaching himself to read, and Asch started getting attached to the only kid his age.

• Very possessive of his role as advisor.

• The only one with a staff because they can take magic and transforms it. Was chaos when Leif got hand of it.

• Has no memory of his parents, just aware he's two servants' child.

• Second tallest in the group.

• Glasses need to be adjusted to his face, leading to them slipping a lot. He doesn't complain, just chalking it up to their spell having a small price. Adjust them constantly, you get to see.

• Enjoys journaling. Has old journals in his room that he filled under his bed.

• Enjoys historical fiction books, because they help him learn more about Earth.

• Scared of heights, due to at first not knowing how far falls were, and now not enjoying that he can see it.

• Gets cold faster than most due to ice powers.

• Demiromantic and bisexual.

Asch:

• Mother died not long after his birth.

• Has no memory of his grandfather, and never knew his mother's parents.

• Used to be more polite (mainly due to Rhys refusing to hang out with him if he demanded) until his father got into his head.

• Used to hang out with Rhal, but that was also discouraged by their father.

• When Rhys and Rhal refused, he'd help Lady Grandma make potions (aka getting ingredients) while she told him old Daemos stories.

• When him and Rhal fought/sparred, very rarely won.

• Had lessons with Lady Grandma (unlike Rhal, who freaked out every time).

• Used to care for Mirage (the spirit) to help him overcome his fear of them after being "embarrassed" by Pierce interacting with one fearlessly. (Not really, ego just fragile).

• Had the longest "edgy" phase.

• Was raised mostly by servants and Lady Grandma.

• Kind of likes ballroom dancing.

• Fears and loves his dad at the same time, no matter how badly he treated him.

• In contrast to Rhys, gets hot faster, also gets worse sunburns due to fire magic.

• 4th tallest in the group and the 2nd oldest. Insists he's taller than Leif.

• Bisexual.

Noi:

• Was born to two people who were in a resistance against the throne.

• When he was 10, his mom was caught and executed. Then when 12, his dad was also caught and killed by a hunt led by Rhal. Noi was going to be executed too, evidence being that he'd tried to attack Rhal (meaning he was like them).

• Necklace is last thing his mom ever gave him.

• Had electricity magic that drained his energy, hence why he never used it, and minor healing magic.

• Was taught mostly by his parents, and then aided by Rhys.

• Learned Japanese to be better at something than the others.

• Smallest of the group, and the youngest (still an adult when they meet Ava).

• Pansexual, and doesn't care if people call him they/them.

• Enjoys Disney movies (not the current shit being put out).

• Lived on a farm with his parents before his mom died.

• Scared of needles.

• Touch starved as hell

• Rainbow baby of his parents and is an only child.

Pierce:

• His father worked as a guard for the palace, and his mom stayed at home to raise Pierce.

• Used to help his mom around and played in the forest.

• Befriended an injured spirit when he was 6 after patching it up, fed it, and fought off sports trying to pick on it. It died two years later, and he was sad for a week and buried it.

• Used to be very talkative.

• Has a genetic condition that keeps his magic from sorting itself into a category.

- Not overpowered I promise. Like, using fire magic would cause him to burn him and possibly Ava's entire apartment down. Using ice magic = scene from Frozen. Teleportation = teleporting random objects with you and not full control of where you're going.

• When he was 13, his mom got pregnant, and his dad got an infection. At the same time, all the family got sick, and his dad died and mom was bedridden. Mom and unborn sister died.

• Went into hiding in the forest, and was found by Rhal and two guards. Pierce was then brought in to train to be a guard.

• Then went borderline nonverbal.

• Befriended Rhal, and Noi liked him. Hence how he met Rhys and Asch.

• Was not taught how to read or write.

• Likes drawing to get his thoughts out.

• Feels guilty for killing so many people, and sometimes wonders if he should've just risked execution to make everything right.

• Rhal made him a war general, and the king later demoted him after Pierce failed a mission to hunt down a bunch of humans and made him Asch's knight when he was 19.

• Like Nat Geo. 92% for animals and 8% for the narrator's voice.

• Long hair and his tattoo run in his father's side

• Questioning sexuality (gay, suffering comphet)

• Tallest, and 3rd oldest.

Leif:

• Abandoned at the age of 5 by his parents. Then picked up by a child gang.

• Has pointy teeth from another condition that is coveted on Daemos.

• Was left by his group when he was 15, and then he took up assassin work.

• Got the scar over his eye after fighting one of his targets.

• 3rd tallest of the group and 4th youngest.

• Broke into the castle after being paid to kill Asch. Evaded all the guards, and almost made a fool out of Rhys, Pierce, and Noi. Only taken down when Rhys made a plan to catch him.

• Was going to be executed, but Asch was impressed, wanting him in his group. Rhys was about to risk execution and kill Asch right there.

• Can read and write a little, but not as good as Asch can.

• Pansexual.

Ava:

• Biological parents gave her up for adoption after she was born.

• Was adopted when she was 7 by Andrew and Devon.

• Has anxiety (as well as social anxiety) and depression.

• Was also nonverbal for some time.

• Adopted Johnny from a shelter when he was a kitten.

• Missed a lot of school due to mental health issues and had trouble making friends. Lorelai, the extrovert, just adopted her, the introvert.

• Is bisexual and once had a crush on Lorelai when they were young.

• Andrew and Devon did take her to the doctor's to figure out why she kept fainting when scared (worried she was going to get a concussion one day), but never got an answer.

• Once got expelled for fighting a homophobic kid.

• Hates Valentine's Day. Mainly because she's a little salty about being single.

• Used to do art when she was little. Mainly with crayons and then colored pencils when she got older. She quit once she was in highschool because a bully went through her sketchbook and she was discouraged from them on.

[ravenwriter16]

Star's Don't Shine They Burn, Info!

I wanted to post about each of the MAIN characters in my fic! SOOOOOOOOOOO, HERE WE GO!

Y/n:

YOU are THE main character of my fic. I won't get too deep into your past (Spoilers) but what you should know is that you are a Mage, you had a crappy childhood before being found by the three Automatrons, and a MAJOR incident caused you to finally run away from your Royal Life with Sun, Moon, and Eclipse.

You ran away, caught a one-way boat out of the capital, and hitchhiked a wagon. There you meet a 'Straight-to-the-point' Ogre, who lets you stay with him for a price.

There you learn all kinds of new skills, skills that don't require magic. For eight years you live a peaceful life, taking over the land while the Ogre-Ivan-went off to travel the world.

You also have a stutter that only comes out when you're very scared or uncertain of something.

Sun:

Sir Sun is your (ex) Dad. He's one of the three emperors that rule over the land.

He can wield Mana, just like his two husbands can. He mostly uses it as during combat, either as a defense or an offense.

Sun is the leader of the Celestial Guard, an order of Knights he founded when he was crowned emperor.

He LOVES to do arts & crafts with you. As well as teach you how to use a sword, how to size up an opponent, and how to use your wits during a battle. He also encouraged you to be adventurous and would often get you both in trouble

He was the one who lead out scouting missions himself to find you when you ran away. He's also the one who finally tracked you down after meeting with an informant

Some things he would say: "Out a bit more elbow grease into your swing, Bunny! There you go! Look at you! A born natural!" "You're doing great! Just DON"T LOOK DOWN!...AND DON"T TELL YOUR PAPA OR FATHER!!" "It'll all be okay in the end, sweetie...Someday you'll see..."

Moon:

Mage Moon is your (ex) Papa. He's also one of the three emperors.

His mana is more potent than Sun's and his knowledge of the Mystical is second to none.

Moon is the Head Mage of the Academy of Mana, where he also leads an elite group of mages called the Order of Lunara. All mages that serve in the order are trained by him personally.

He was the one who found you in the first place, sensing an unknown and unheard-of power in you (Which I will explain in later chapters). After a few more trips to your run down home, he decided to take you to the palace, were you met Eclipse and Sun.

Moon was also the one who taught you to read and write, as well as how to control your Mana and cast simple spells, such as creating a small flame, or making something levitate.

When you ran away, he locked himself in his study, trying all kinds of spells and runes to see if he could find you or any trace of your Mana from any complicated spells you might have used.

Some things he would say: "The pen is mightier than the sword...But a Mana infused Stone Golem trumps any pen you use." "Shh, it was only a nightmare, Starlight. I'm here and I'll never let any nightmare touch you again. I swear." "The pain is only temporary...Know that this hurts me more than it hurts you...It'll be okay...just a few more minutes..."

Eclipse:

Alright...This Automatron...is basically the one in charge of the WHOLE empire. He's the main emperor because he does ALL the Royal stuff. He doesn't have an order he teaches or guards he trains.

He just does all the paperwork and goes to meetings and such and such.

His Mana is WAY more potent than his husbands. And his knowledge on the dark arts is astounding. In his free time, he even does small experiments, jotting down results in one of his many journals.

He instantly fell in love with you when your first met. After that he immediately called you his heir and gave you everything and anything you could need and desire.

You would mostly spend your days with him, since Sun and Moon were busy with other people and Eclipse was bored with paperwork.

You both would have tea together, go shopping in the city market, settle down in the library and practice your reading. You would learn everything there is to know about being a princess and he even taught you how to dance and play instruments.

When you ran away, he went...well MAD. He searched for you high and low, paranoid that someone would know where you went, or was keeping you prisoner. He would imprison and torture anyone who he thought was keeping you from him.

Multiple times Sun and Moon had to calm him down when he took thing sway too far. Like attacking a visiting royal for no reason.

He was fuming by the fact that he couldn't go out there and search for you himself, but his husbands convinced him to stay and run the Empire.

Some things he would say: "One, two, three. One, two, three. Excellent work Starfire! At this rate you'll be the best dancer in the entire Empire! HaHa!" "I know, I know. I'm sorry I can't play with you right now, love. But I have to look over these reports...hm...Why don't you sit down at the piano over there and play me one of your songs?" "I. Regret. NOTHING! Everything I have done; I have done for YOU!" That's enough of my info dumping! Hope you've enjoyed!

[hheartsdramas]

legend of zang hai episodes 36-38:

whether i’m right about my prime minister theory or not, the answer to your question about whether it was right to put this on a traumatized child is FUCK NO

you should go live the life you want zang hai. also nothing about this noble speech is dissuading me from my theory

oh yeah zang hai and i are on the same page!

is this translation accurate? it’s a weird thing to say and makes me concerned about his value system

i’m really glad zh let antu in so he has someone outside of zbw’s immediate influence to talk and scheme and decompress with

i am trying to figure out zbw’s end game. sometimes it seems like a twisted patriotic/altruistic thing and other times it seems like a pure hunger for power

i am so stressed

i was stressed for a reason

“do you know how it feels to be an emperor?” probably not as bad as it feels to be a starving commoner while you sit in your gilded palace with your ring of power gui seal

i don’t trust the emperor and feel zh gave up the fishes way too easily. and i’m unsure if it’s a deliberate acting choice or not but he comes across as a whiny little baby

walking around in the dark carrying around the gui seal like it’s your precious* baby is not helping me stop with my mental isildur and gollum comparisons (*see what i did there?)

i’m not going to use it! i’m just going to play with it. and test it out. and maybe use it.

oh my god i hope zang hai takes this absolute bastard down in a satisfyingly bloody way. you owe my blood pressure that much, drama!

*op imagines smashing a cast iron pan over zbw’s head*

cmon shifu that’s all you have to say? brownie points rescinded

holy shit that is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE way to die i am going to have nightmares

oddly enough i’m not worried about him actually being dead right now because no one is killing xiao zhan with 3 episodes to go. i am mostly curious about how he’s surviving when he’s apparently dead on the table and FUCKING HELL YOU CAN’T HAVE MORE THAN 40 EPISODES BUT YOU CAN FILM A SCENE LIKE THIS??? *smacks censors with the cast iron pan*

also, abolish the death penalty

i don’t even know what to think right now but i’m crying

actually what i’m thinking is that we’re running out of time before his big beautiful brain is officially deprived of oxygen for too long for cdrama magic to do anything about it

gao ming can have his brownie points back and a whole lot more. but i’m worried he won’t survive

shit it was poison. we’ll bury you with your brownie points and more, shifu

look how happy antu is to be home! i hope she gets to survive and enjoy it

i think i jinxed it, i’m so sorry girl

oh no i have to smack antu’s sister with the pan too! good thing it’s sturdy, it’s getting a workout

impending showdown with final boss is stressful enough, now we have to deal with another horrible person? who’s horrible why?? because she didn’t have to go be a hostage princess? fuck you very much queen bitch.

[godsholyhat]

KCD Characters in Dragon Age

So I'm a big fan of Dragon Age and always enjoy a good crossover, so I thought I'd work out what fighting style some of the main KCD characters would have, and where they'd fit in the world of Thedas...

Setting: Obviously this is an AU, but I'd set it somewhere in the Blessed Age, around the time that Nevarra was actually trying to expand into the Free Marches. While it's tempting to have Henry and co. be Ferelden, it's fairly obvious that Ferelden is representative of Northwestern Europe, while the Free Marches have a stronger parallel with the Holy Roman Empire, so I've set it there (and also because DA2 is my favourite Dragon Age game). In this world, the King of Nevarra, Sigismund, seeks to expand over the Free Marches, loosely held under a coalition spearheaded by Wenceslas of Markham (his half-brother).

—

Henry — Mage (Knight Enchanter/Arcane Warrior) Born to an elf mother and human father in the Free Marches, raised as the son of a blacksmith in a small mining village in the foothills of the Vimmark Mountains. His magic only manifested itself when he was a teenager, and mostly through his skill as a blacksmith. His village was destroyed and his family killed in a raid by the King of Nevarra who was aiming to expand his territory over the Free Marches. Learned to channel his magic in battle, but has developed a talent for healing magic as well.

Hans — Rogue (Royal Archer) Spoiled heir to the throne of one of the smaller city states of the Free Marches. Expert marksman and warrior. Disliked by his town's nobility for his habit of spending time with the elves and ordinary folk of Rattay. After Henry saves his life with an act of magic, Hans stops him being taken away to a Circle by insisting that Henry is his new arcane advisor.

Godwin — Warrior (Templar) Former Knight-Captain of a small village chantry. Removed from his post after the discovery of a long-standing affair between him and the Revered mother. Drinker, gambler, womaniser. Struggles with lyrium addiction.

Theresa — Rogue (Assassin) Proved herself in the raid on Skalitz as a capable assassin of Nevarran soldiers. Capable of disappearing into the shadows. Her time spent with her uncle in Rattay has taught her a variety of new skills relating to lockpicking and other forms of subterfuge, though she doesn't like to use them unless absolutely needed.

Žižka — Warrior (Champion) Former heir to some small castle in the Marches, since sold off to pay off debts. Trained as a warrior and served as a soldier under various Marcher lords. Has won the Grand Tourney twice.

Katherine — Mage (Spirit Healer/Vengeance) Like Henry, grew up in a remote village not aware of her magical powers. Fortunately for Katherine, she learned early how to hide her magic and was able to live a normal life, up until her village was attacked by Nevarran soldiers, killing her husband and family. Though she remains a healer, she struggles with vengeance, and has come close to allowing herself to be possessed by a spirit of that emotion.

Rosa — Rogue (Artificer) Although her mother and father never let her train as a warrior like she wanted, Rosa developed a keen interest in mechanics and built her own crossbow at a young age. Growing up in Kirkwall, she became very capable at navigating the city's underworld, and the passages to the Ruthard palace in the city are lined with traps of her own invention.

Sam — Warrior (Spirit Warrior) Like Henry, Sam was born to an elf mother and a human father. His grandfather, the hahren of Kirkwall's alienage, was ashamed of his daughter's union and sent her and her unborn son to live with a friendly Dalish clan for some time. Sam received training as a spirit warrior under the Dalish before returning to Kirkwall and working alongside his grandfather to better the conditions of his people.

Dry Devil — Warrior (Reaver) Renowned as a bandit lord and dragon hunter. Widely suspected to be a demon in human form due to his bloodthirsty nature and skill in battle.

Kubyenka — Rogue (Tempest) Born into a Carta family, Kubyenka took to the life of a rogue with ease. As a dwarf, he has no skill for magic, but compensates with a skill for alchemy that grants him near-magical powers in battle, assuming he's sober enough to make the elixirs he needs.

Janosh — Mage (Necromancer) Janosh grew up near Perendale in Nevarra on the Orlesian border and discovered his magic at a young age. He spent time in the Circle of Cumberland, but his skill in magic was never particularly good. His skill as a cook, however, was far better, and he was granted leave from the Circle to go work as a chef. Has an affinity for spirits and the Fade which grants him a degree of control over them in battle, but spends most of his time trying to find the best wine and food in his vicinity.

Adder — Warrior (Berserker) No one is sure where Adder's from, but the best guess is a lost Dalish tribe. Only Janosh can really understand his language through Fade magic. Wherever he is from, and whatever his story, he is bloodthirsty, unpredictable, and utterly irresistible to many women and a good deal of men.

Musa — Healer Born in Rivain, Musa is neither fighter nor mage, but has honed his skills as a healer and diplomat. Though born into a noble family, political upheaval forced him to flee, first to the Tevinter Imperium, then to Orlais, and finally Nevarra, where he was employed by the King of Nevarra as a physician in the army. While he is not a mage, his skills at healing are remarked upon even by spirits of the fade, who often gather around him to help his patients.

Brabant — Rogue (Duellist) Brabant is an Orlesian noble from the Dales who claims to have travelled the length and breadth of Thedas. He often boasts about the many duels he has fought in capitals across the known world: from facing down the Arishok himself in Seheron to settling a dispute with an Avvar chieftain with his blade.

[firefern6]

Poseidon’s Son: (cw - torture, mentions of gore)

Basically starts when Polyphemus goes to Poseidon. 

Dies because getting stabbed in the eye causes a lot of bleeding, so he just gets out Ody’s info before flopping over.

After Ruthlessness, Poseidon watches Ithaca and finds out about Telemachus (kid’s like 11/12)

He decides to change the tactics of his revenge.

Po steals Tel and gouges out one eye out of principle and then uses magic to corrupt him (mostly memories) to basically turn Telemachus into his own son.

Between Different Beast and Scylla, Poseidon shows back up and shows off his new “son”.

After a minute or two Odysseus recognizes Tel and goes apeshit (being held back by Eurylochus and Polites -who lives-)

Knowing Po won’t bother them anymore, Ody gets the rest of the crew home without going through Scylla.

Penelope is frantic at this point, and Ody hardly hits the shore before hopping onto a one man boat with an oath that he will return with Telemachus.

Telemachus is under the guise that Odysseus killed one of his brothers, and is perfectly content with drowning Ody. Poseidon watches this go down and when Odysseus tries to remind Telemachus of his past, Poseidon strengthens his power, causing Tel to have a mental breakdown, which causes a giant storm, which forces Ody to Calypso.

Back at Ithaca, Penelope, Eury, Polites, and Ctimene fend off the suitors (many of whom have decided that finding Telemachus is key to marrying Penelope). After some time, the four allow this to be a challenge since they know the details (and that Ody is coming home with Telemachus)

Love in Paradise to Get in the Water happens the same (though the seven years, Ody stays near the water and sings lullabies and other things with hopes that Telemachus can hear them and be reminded. Telemachus is constantly watching and whenever the reminders reach him, he has a similar reaction to the first time and it rains.)

In 600 Strikes, Odysseus sings the one song he’s been holding off from: a special lullaby that Ody had sang to Telemachus. 

This reaction mixed with the storm from the bag brings the ultimate hurricane, and when Odysseus tells Poseidon to call off the storm, it’s revealed that the storm was all Telemachus, so the stabbing is to get Poseidon to release his son once and for all. 

Telemachus is left half blind.

Back in Ithaca, the squad see the mega storm, put two and two together, and realize that if the other suitors catch on to this, then they’d try to win the challenge. Penelope sets up the archery challenge to distract the suitors.

Beggar Odysseus sees this, catches wind of the situation, gives Polites the rundown (who passes the news to the others) then heads back to a recovering Telemachus.

Once he’s well enough to move on his own, the two of them make for the palace.

The suitors catch them and a fight ensues.

Telemachus has a small amount of power left as he uses water to fend off the others

A big happy reunion and a happily ever after.

[vaiyamagic]

Vi rereads Elfquest, Issue #20

It's the end of the original quest, and a lot happens. This will probably be multiple posts, due to the image limit.

Probably one of the more tragic scenes. Poor Ekuar. (And Mekda)

Oh, Rayek.

I've just always liked this scene.

At this point, do the trolls know they came from the same place? I can't remember if that's been established. (And I'm just. Not going to talk about Firstcomer Troll. I'll save that for the Final Quest.)

I wonder, if the Palace leaves the world, and takes all the peices with it, would the non-wolfrider elves spirits still go to the palace? And she said "soul and flesh." Does that mean something bad would happen to those living left behind? If the little palace had not been left behind, what would have happened?

Do we think there's a door only the trolls could open too?

You know, for something that couldn't fly just a minute ago, Petalwing is sure doing a good job of flying now.

So, Summary (mostly for my own understanding): Ancient High Ones lived and evolved on their world, much like we have on ours, relying on technology so much that their magic never manifested. They used up resources, and overpopulated the planet, and so left it for other planets.

Millions of years later (a star's age), some came back to the original planet, which was old and dying, and tried to help it go peacefully. Here, their powers awakened, and they nearly became incorporial beings, but decided not to because they liked feeling things. But they could only experience so much on an old nearly dead planet, so they split up into groups, using their own planet's soil, to make their "spaceships" and took the last animals left on their planet besides them, (what would become trolls and preservers) with them.

I do wonder what happened to those original ones: the ones that left with technology before they learned magic. Sure, she said they came back, but surely not all of them did. Not with millions of years in between.

To be continued....

[honourablejester]

A small collection of D&D characters on a vague theme of ‘1920s-style urban fantasy crime shenanigans’. Also somewhat on the theme of ‘proud, vicious, ambitious, angry ladies’:

Kosj Kethend (kobold soulknife rogue). Relentlessly and remorselessly practical, Kosj is a numbers woman, a bookkeeper for a mid-sized outfit, who prides herself on steel nerves and a steel mind. Her name is self-chosen, meaning ‘small gem’ in draconic, and it has a dual meaning to her. First is pride, that she truly is a ‘small gem’ that only those who understand true value might recognise. Second is heritage, because Kosj is convinced that she has a true dragon in her ancestry, a gem dragon of great power and wisdom. The small fact of her psionic ability might lend some credence to this conviction. A woman of some ambition, Kosj has fought long and hard to work her way up to a position of relative respect, and she doesn’t like to be reminded of her less-than-salubrious origins among the street kids of the slums. There are very few people left who remember her original name, and she’d very much like to keep it that way. Even if it costs the one true friendship that she had as a child, her sworn brother, now a beggar prince …

Merla Jaymis (triton land druid). Stunted and stained, Merla is a scion of the Jaymis clan of river tritons, a lineage that bears very visible marks of the centuries of magical and physical pollution that the city’s waterways have endured. No longer beautiful as their ocean cousins, the Jaymis are remarkably unconcerned, for they have traded beauty for something richer and darker: power. The Jaymis rule the waterways of the city from dockside warehouses and sunken barges, and those who displease them had best be very careful straying too close to the river. A young priestess of the river, Merla has been raised with Jaymis tidal values. Those who are good to us? Be generous, be brave, be loyal. Those who disdain or betray us? Drown them all. The city lives by the river’s mercy, after all. Though relatively young and untried, Merla’s happy to remind the rest of the city that the riverfolk make excellent friends and deeply unfortunate enemies.

Elhana Mourne (aasimar ancestral guardian barbarian). Around 30 years ago, there was an infamous massacre on the south side of the city. Euphemistically called a ‘slum clearance’, it was intended to make way for a large public project, but not everyone in the area was content to move out of the way. So someone moved them. Mostly into the lime pits already prepped for construction. And out of those pits crawled a young child with a scarred lip and skin stained the burnt white of lime, and all the ghosts of the lime pits crawled after her. Now a cynical, embittered woman in her thirties nursing a deep well of seething rage towards the city around her, Dahlia’s an enforcer for hire. But one day, she hopes, she’s going to get close enough to the halls of power to introduce one particular councillor to all her many ghosts.

Myrhiam Teliathim (drow creation bard). A gambling den chanteuse, a reluctant creature of the night, Myrhiam lives by two rules, both bitterly won: never give your heart to the wrong man, and never accept debts that aren’t yours. Beautiful and bitter, she holds the very song of creation trapped in her chest, but spends her nights singing sultry songs at Tymora’s Palace for the city’s gambling kingpin while drunks dream illicit dreams of her. And she wants out. She wants her debt paid. She wants her freedom. She wants her songs to have meaning again. And, most of all, she wants several gentlemen, two in particular, to wind up very, very dead. But those are difficult things to achieve, when you have to be careful not to owe anyone anything ever, ever again. Myrhiam’s learned her lessons well. She’s never going to be stupid enough to trust to love, friendship or charity ever again.

[awkward-sultana]

Scenes I would have liked to see in Magnificent Century (always being updated)

These are just things I would have liked to see, or honestly just hyper specific scenes I’ve envisioned in my own head. Don't come at me about realism. That's not why any of us are here.

Would love to hear everyone's opinions and what you would have like to see in the show!

A more intense ending to the dark magic plot point in S3 It was kind of just...forgotten? Hatice literally murdered Nazli in cold blood and then poisoned Hürrem. I think Hürrem should have killed the witch and like put her in Hatice's room or something. So many good plot points are just abandoned with no real or satisfying resolution.

Hürrem telling Suleiman about Leo and him accepting it A big part of Hürrem’s power in the harem in the show is that she got away with a lot of things, whether it be through manipulation or Suleiman’s love for her, but mostly it was through being smart and manipulative. That’s a huge part of her character, but it would have been nice to see a moment where she doesn’t win and has to come clean to Suleiman. His acceptance of Leo would have made their love more genuine in my eyes. He knew she was a slave and had a life before him.

Hürrem's past as a priest’s daughter When Hürrem went to Edirne, it would have been great to see her open the palace to the sick and nursed them instead of sitting there helplessly in literally one spot the whole time. We saw her help Hatice medically in seasons 1 and 2 and she was a priest’s daughter so we know she saw a lot of sickness and has some basic idea of giving aid.

Hürrem seriously going off on Suleiman at least once Again, a big part of Hürrem's legacy was how nuts Suleiman was for her and how she could get away with things other concubines couldn’t. I would have liked to see her really loser her temper at him at least once. Maybe go off about how difficult it is in the harem, being a woman battling for her life and her kids’ lives. It would have made their relationship seem deeper than it was in the show.

Generally seeing Suleiman's absolute obsession with Hürrem That man was nuts about her in real life. True Gomez and Morticia Addams.

Some good moments between young Mustafa and Hürrem Like thanking him for saving Mehmet from drowning in the first season or saying, “Thank you for being such a good big brother to my son.” She protected him during the janissary riots, but we didn’t see much day to day interactions between them. It would have made the distancing between them more impactful.

Another grown sultana in the family, like Mahidevran’s daughter Raziye It would have been great to see the dynamic between Mihrimah and another daughter, especially one that was older but still within her age range. The aunts were older than her and she constantly had to show them respect, so it didn’t feel like a fair fight. And Esmahan had to defer to Mihrimah too because she was the Sultan’s daughter. Another daughter who is equal to Mihrimah in most ways would have been fun.

Hürrem pulling away during the whole Firuze thing Hürrem had to stay on Suleiman’s good side because he’s the sultan, but I would have loved to see her pull away from him in small ways, like not spending time with him or choosing to eat alone and not with him. I’m a sucker for a good grovel.

Suleiman actually apologizing for things he’s done Again, I love a good grovel and it never happens in this show.  He always just got sick and woke up and told Hürrem how much he loved her. This goes into Hürrem pulling away during the Firuze arc and showing Suleiman her love is reasonably conditional. Again, real life Suleiman was whipped for Hürrem.

Ibrahim and Hürrem bonding at least once over being slaves and considering what their lives might have been like at home This kind of goes into my last point of Hürrem pulling away from Suleiman when he was with Firuze. I always thought that would be a great scene when they’re having dinner with the dynasty members when Firuze was in the picture. I envisioned Hürrem mulling about her “home” in Eastern Europe and confusing the dynasty about what "home" to her seems to mean now that's she's pretty unhappy, then asking Ibrahim in front of all of them what he thinks his life might have been like if he hadn’t been taken. This could have given way to a deep scene between Hürrem and Ibrahim as well as a sweet scene later on of Suleiman asking Hürrem to share her memories of her home.

Firuze slowly losing favor instead of an instantaneous decision There are so many deus ex machinas in the show that act as resolutions to issues and the Firuze thing was one of them. I would have liked to see her slowly lose favor, like treating Cihangir without permission from Hürrem or Suleiman, being disrespectful to Hürrem in front of him, or butting in on the family grieving Mehmet’s injury. 

Hafsa and Hürrem bonding over something other than hating Mahidevran, like the loss of Hürrem's unmentioned son It was great to see her realize  Mahidevran’s manipulations, but I hoped for a deeper resolution between her and Hürrem. We only see Hafsa acknowledging Cihangir’s illness like once or twice, which is so out of character, but I know they were trying to keep her firmly in the area of antagonist (crappy writing). Hürrem had another son, Şehzade Abdullah, who died as a toddler. Losing a child would have been a good bonding moment for them and brought them back as mothers.

Hurrem’s kids speaking Russian(?) One thing I always found wholesome is when children speak the language of both parents. It would have been a great homage to Hürrem's roots, since we didn’t see it a lot, especially in season 3. On that note, I would have liked to see Hürrem revert to her native tongue when she lost her temper, since that’s super common.

Mercan going over to Hürrem's side and staying in Season 4 One of Hürrem's best character traits was her ability to make her enemies her friends and Mercan was a great enemy. Convincing someone who was so zealously devoted to another dynasty member to come over to her side? Iconic. His and Sümbül's dynamic was also great and watching them being forced to work together would have been fun.

A reunion between Hürrem and Gulnihal, maybe Hürrem meeting Gülnihal's kids and husband and seeing Hürrem's kids grown Characters tend to disappear and never be mentioned again in this show despite their big influence on characters and their development. She should have gotten a kiss on the hand like Hatice and Suleiman did for Afife. She raised Hürrem's kids.

Ibrahim telling Suleiman to stay out of his marriage during the Nigar affair This is probably the most unrealistic thing I envisioned, but I love when one character beneath another in rank or station stands up to that person as a friend. And Ibrahim was getting bolder throughout the seasons so it wouldn’t have been totally out of character. 

Hürrem helping Nigar escape with her daughter instead of Firuze The whole Hürrem helping Firuze escape thing made no sense but it was in there to prove that Firuze was a spy. I think I speak for everyone in this fandom when I say I would have liked to see Hürrem help Nigar and Esmanur escape instead and the whole kidnapping Mihrimah’s baby thing not happen. But it would not hinge on the writer's hating Nigar's character and making her lose her mind and betraying Hürrem for a man.

Mihrimah being Selim’s valide sultan Mihrimah was well aware of the fratricide law, it was the whole reason she worked with Hürrem to kill Mustafa. She wasn’t so naïve to think her own brothers wouldn't get caught in each other’s crosshairs. Kösem forgave Osman for killing her own son, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of realism to see Mihrimah and Selim get back on good terms. It’s one of my favorite parts of her real life legacy.

Suleiman letting Hürrem do something really shady for him at least once He couldn't get his hands dirty, but he knew at least to some degree how cunning his wife was, even if he was willfully blind to it. Would have loved to see a "I won't ask questions" kind of conversation between them and Hürrem strolling from the room like a hitman for hire.

Cihangir seeing some sort of consequences for his naïve support of Mustafa As wise as he was, he was so painfully naïve when it came to Mustafa, seeing him face some consequences for that would have been satisfying.

Suleiman seeing more negative ramifications of sending Hürrem away in S3 Suleiman tended to send Hürrem off willy nilly because he could and not really take into account for the ramifications, especially in such a charged atmosphere. Seeing consequences to those choices would have been satisfying and would have reinforced Hürrem's importance as a partner, parent to adolescent children, harem ruler, etc.

Mihrimah’s trip back to the palace in S2 after Hürrem was ambushed being more difficult, like an actual kidnapping I really like antagonists being taken down by their own hubris and it would have been fun to see Hafsa suffer real consequences for her fake ambush. 

Hatice going off on Hafsa about how she treats Hürrem at least once in S2 She questioned her a few times in season 2, like when Hürrem's horse was stabbed. She did it a few times in calm ways in season 1 and once or twice in season 2, but seeing her lose her temper even a little would have been satisfying. I think this could have more happened if they had stuck to actual history and Hafsa had come as a slave and not a princess.

Suleiman seeking more comfort in Hürrem Suleiman was described as “weak” for Hürrem and it wasn’t really shown in his more emotional moments. The show expected us to be fine with his speeches and poems and see basic expressions of affection as “weakness.” When Ibrahim died, I would have really like to see him break down with Hürrem, his face in her stomach, the whole nine yards. He really just glared at her in that scene.

Hürrem and Suleiman being more of political and personal partners In the show a lot he tells her to “mind her business” and “don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you.” He also blew her off and treated her like a child when she voiced certain concerns (his condescending little smiles made me feral). A big part of her legacy was being an advisor to him and their abilities to share with each other what they couldn’t share with others.

The real importance of Hürrem's new haseki status and what that meant This was such a thing for me. Hürrem being the first with the haseki status was HUGE in the harem at the time but that whole story line was abandoned for the sake of rivalry between her and Mahidevran, which would have been there regardless. I hated seeing Hürrem curtsy to the sultanas in later seasons, especially in season 4 when Vahide was the actress. It was like having to watch Hafsa curtsy to anyone.

Mihrimah pulling away from Hürrem more during her engagement/marriage to Rüstem "Yeah, I'm doing this for my brothers but do you expect me to happy about it? Gush and fawn over having a kid with a man who kind of repulses me? I have postpartum depression? I'm super unhappy so I can't imagine why." Like I've mentioned before, big fan of having a character's ego come back and bite them and I think Hürrem should have suffered more consequences for basically telling Mihrimah her happiness doesn't matter. She was a little delusional in S4, acting all coy, telling Mihrimah she still loves Rüstem and they would find their way back to each other. Girl...she never liked her husband, stop trying to act like her homegirl and push her to be happy in a marriage she would have rather died than be in.

Gülfem standing up to Hatice at least once Hatice had a real high horse sometimes and even if she was insulting someone else, I could tell it made Gülfem feel a certain way because she was also a slave. This is yet another character I would have liked to see lose their temper in a more aggressive way. Like, girl, have some character development.

Some sort of resolution between Mihrimah and Esmahan Mihrimah had pretty much know other girl her age to lean on, I think it would have been easier to invest inheritance character if you saw her break down maybe once with Esmahan instead of trying to be tough. Like when Esmahan went to comfort her before her wedding. Mihrimha’s fake tough persona in that moment seemed hollow and just like a young bratty kid. Or when Humasah was kidnapped.

Bali Bey manhandle the sultanas a little bit during their questioning about Hürrem's disappearance I’m going to get a lot of flack for this one. I don’t mean him really putting his hands on the actresses, I mean like grabbing Şah's arm when she leaves. I like seeing haughty characters being taken down a peg. They would have seen they’re not as infallible as their status makes them feel.

More bonding between Gülfem and Hürrem at least once Gülfem lost a child and saw what Mahidevran and Hürrem had to go through fearing for their own sons. Hürrem had the chance to pay Gülfem some sort of compliment on the balcony when Cihangir was sick, like "I'm not as strong as you." Out of character, but this is basically an OOC post.

Hürrem let some things take their natural course Like when Mahidevran discharged Esma when she took charge of the harem. Suleiman would have caught on eventually that Hürrem was constantly unable to spend time with him due to taking care of 5 kids, or having to train brand new concubines.

Hatice being happy with her new husband I really liked him.

Hatice getting some closure about Sadika A big part of Hatice’s early character was her empathy for those below her (most of the time). She liked Sadika and wanted to see her happy and I’m sure Sadika had grown some affection for Hatice. I would have like to see Sadika write a letter to Hatice before attempting to murder Suleyman saying something along the lines of “I’m sorry for lying to you, my friendship with you was real but this was more important.”

Hürrem coming together with one of Suleiman's's sisters just as a fellow woman Maybe when Lutfi hit Şah, Hürrem was there and Şah let her pull her up off the floor. They were all women and mothers stuck in a patriarchy.

Mahidevran give Helena permission to clap back at Fatma In that scenes when Fatma was like "Did you really think you were going to marry him?" Saying something like, "At least he wanted to marry me" and Mahidevran laughing.

More affection between the concubines and other harem members and the royal kids They were all raised in the same harem, I'm sad we didn't get to see some found family-ish dynamics. Those kids must have had a lot of "aunts and uncles" in the servants. I'm sure Mihrimah saw more than just one or two of the concubines as mother/aunt/sister figures, especially as the Sultan's only daughter.

A better ending for Gülfem Because what the fuck was that?

Mihrimah going off on her aunts at least once While she had to defer to them because they were older and was an unspoken respect thing, she could get away with talking to them a certain way more than maybe Hürrem could. "I know you're trying to kill my mother and that can't happen because then what happens to us?" or "I know you killed Nazil, who raised us, and you thought we'd never find out and see you differently? Stop acting like you give an absolute flying fuck about us when you know what will happen if our mother is killed or Mustafa becomes Sultan. This is war."

Hürrem showing more affection to adult Mihrimah She absolutely had to defer towards her sons' safety, but sometimes she acted like she actively disliked her only daughter in S4.

Mihrimah not being a brat when she was young (S2) It would have made her rise to power more impressive and more endearing. Sometimes older Mihrimah just seemed like a princess who had never been told no so she always expected to win.

Mahiedvran and Hürrem sharing one sincere hug They had more things in common than not. They were both women, mothers, slaves stuck in a patriarchy and both could lose their sons with one decision from a man who has complete control.

Hürrem having more quietly pervasive PTSD symptoms. She displayed plenty of symptoms like hyperarousal, emotional over-stress, emotional dysregulations, hypervigilance, etc, but a lot of symptoms can be more quietly sinister and they missed that chance. The symptoms they did display first and foremost took away from her character because we couldn't differentiate all the time between angry Hürrem and traumatized Hürrem. "She's angry and violent and irritable? Oh, that's jUsT HüRrEm."

More rank-opposite hand kissing One trope I will forever and forever always live for is shows of deference opposite of rank. When Suleiman and Hatice kissed Afife's hand? Loved it. Suleiman kissing Hafsa's hand? Not totally the same, but kind of still love it.

Afife telling Şah and Hatice she was ashamed of them at least once Would have rocked their shit. And you know she for sure was.

Mihrimah being happy with Taşlıcalı in the end Probably the second most implausible head canon. They had both lost a lot and know what war costs, why not end up with another person who can empathize with your unique pain?

More of Gülfem and Hürrem's real historical relationship Always going to touch on sticking to historical accuracy when I get a chance. Leslie Peirce touches on the fact that Gülfem was probably more of a mentor to Hürrem than she was in the show, guiding Hürrem through what was an unprecedented rise in the harem and, therefore, a huge and probably shocking rise in responsibilities that Hürrem didn't know how to manage on her own. Suleiman trusted Gülfem with Hürrem when he was on campaign and Gülfem was most likely there when Hürrem died. Instead of being the dynasty's emotional support pet in season 3, we should have seen her turn coats for the better.

Women lashing out at each other for their children and not for a man The real reasons Mahidevran and Hürrem probably lashed out at each other the most was because the fratricide law dictated every facet of their lives. Love, sex and jealousy were not half as much on their minds as the show made it out to be. Let me see vicious mothers, not jealous girls.

Hafsa and Hürrem having one good hug Self explanatory

More about Suleiman's late children He had I think 2-3 children before Mustafa that all died of the plague that we never really heard about. And it would have given even more credence of the severity of Mahidevran trying to poison Hürrem when she was pregnant.

More about the entire royal family's grief and trauma with Sultan Selim I That man was batshit and you hear offhanded comments such as "I see your father when I look at you" when Suleyman does something cruel. Go more into that. What was it like to fear for your life, your son's/brother's/uncle's lives? Selim I literally hunted half his family down and executed them. It would have given them so much more depth as characters.

Leo haunting Ibrahim In the back of scenes, the blurry character the audience only just notices, the specter standing over this shoulder in a quiet room, the beating heart beneath the floorboards. The start of the death of his innocence given form, standing at the end of the hall as his body is being carried away. Fucking art.

Nigar being on Hürrem's side in season 3 and being totally psycho about it I would like like to see Nigar regrow the brain cell she had in season 1, but maintained her scorched earth policy in season 3, but on Hürrem's side. Would have been great. Snapped: Harem Edition.

The Development of Esma and Hürrem's relationship Esma was one of the harem girls Hürrem didn't like at the beginning of the first season and then she was one of the only people Hürrem ever trusted with her children. I would have liked to see that development, or at least the moment Hürrem chose Esma to be her kid's nanny.