#[ i hope you don't mind me continuing !

[chirpsythismorning]

Fun fact: In the original pitch for Stranger Things, El had a little brother.

After being rejected by almost 20 studios for the Montauk pilot, the Duffers were finally green-lit by Netflix. It was at this time that they began casting and then writing the first season officially, which included reworking a lot of that first episode.

This led to the removal of the brother reference, and with it, removing any sort of arc El could have had about her apparent brother.

But the thing about this moment, is that it might not have been scrapped entirely...

Going into the final season, no one can explain why or how El recognized Will back in 1x02. And while there are plenty of things on the show that are left unexplained, with a small portion likely left that way with the intention to uncover it later, what sets this moment apart from the rest is that there are very few possibilities here.

Because for starters, the story presents El's ability to see people in the void in s1 as requiring either a picture of that person for reference, or having met that person before.

But when El see's this picture of Will, she's never met him before. Or maybe she has, but we wouldn't know because they never showed us. They could have just not done this scene at all, given that it's clearly a copy/paste/edit of something scrapped from the pitch. Or they could have even still included it, but explained it.

One explanation could be that the lab had shown El a picture of Will before, similar to what they did with the Russian agent they wanted to spy on. But then that begs to question, why would the lab show El a picture of Will? Why would they want to see what he was doing? That alone is incriminating in and of itself, implying that Will is more connected to the lab than we realize.

The only other, and frankly most likely explanation, would be that El stumbled across Will at some point on her journey between escaping the lab and Will going missing. This is actually something that happens in The Other Side comic, which explores all the things Will may have experienced during his time in the Upside Down.

Though it’s worth noting the comics aren’t technically canon, and I highly doubt they would outright spoil everything in relation to Will’s time there, years before it was intended to be revealed. But still, let's humor this for a moment given that I do think Will's time in the UD is going to be very relevant in s5, which means it's highly likely they will finally address how exactly El saw him.

Basically, in the comic, Will see’s El walking through the woods, almost apparition like, glowing as she passes by, while also sporting the Benny’s burgers shirt. This means they would have crossed passed within a short span of time, between when El escaped Benny’s when the agents arrived, but before she was found by the boys.

Though it’s worth noting that we’re seeing this all from Will’s perspective. This means from the UD, Will was capable of seeing El on the other side, despite them being on different sides. And not only that, but she also looks back at him.

What confuses me about this, is that it doesn’t make sense for El to be in the woods, only to randomly decide to pop in to the void for a moment. She was trying to escape the lab and everything that came with it. I doubt she had any desire to lurk back there for some reason, not until someone encouraged her to. Not to mention, it would make no sense for her to go there and see Will if she wasn't even looking for him in the first place. And so this would mean Will and El could see each other, with Will being in the UD, and El being on the other side.

While it does seem pretty far off, given that you would think Will and El wouldn't be able to see each other from different sides, it is true in the story that El not only recognizes Will, but knows that he is in danger. She mentions that he is hiding specifically.

Which means she has likely seen him within the last 24 hours regardless.

This, in combination with Will being able to respond to El in the void at the end of the season in Castle Byers, when no one else outside of Terry and flayed-Billy have been able to, seems to imply that there is indeed something special about Will that makes him capable of communicating with El from the UD. Not only that, but El also seems to have an ability to be in this constant knowing state of how Will is doing, without even checking again to confirm. She's just certain of it. And she seems terrified about it.

Going forward, El never uses a picture of Will to find him. She never did. And more often than not, they don’t show us what she see’s either, not until the very end. And that’s the moment they reveal that he was able to communicate with her.

Again, there was really no reason to have El recognize Will. If anything it complicates things. But the fact that they chose to introduce this concept, with a scene from the original pitch that was related to El’s younger brother, with her pointing at his name cryptically, startling Benny, only to revamp it and have El not say anything at all while pointing at the picture of Will, startling Mike��� It just really makes you stop and think.

Which brings me to the other aspect of this that might have people doubting, which is that El’s brother was originally younger than her.

We know Will is not younger than El, so how could this apply to him?

Well, it might be helpful to consider that in the original script, El was actually 10 years old, while the boys were always 12. Meaning that for some reason, they decided to age her up to the age of the boys, aka the same age as Will…

Ever since @erikiara80 shared this brother discovery with me, I have been sort of reeling. It then led to other little discoveries of changes they made between Montauk and Stranger Things.

It’s important to understand that the Montauk bible and the original script precedes what we ended up with in the final product, with it finally changing and evolving months, maybe even a year since that original vision. Even casting occurred before writing started for the first season. We know this because casting announcements were made in June and August of 2015, with writing not starting until August going into early 2016, simultaneously while they were filming.

And believe it or not, what I've discovered is that a lot of the changes they made between their original plans and what we see in the final product, have to do with not only Willel, but also Byler.

If you've read the original script for Montauk, you'll know that Mike's crush on Jennifer Hayes was focused on right from the jump, along with the birthmark on his face being focused on, which was the main cause of the bullying he experienced.

This has actually been talked about recently, and some of the claims people make do fit with what I am genuinely starting to consider here, which is that the initial plan for what makes Mike an outcast shifted.

I think when they completed casting, and started actually deep diving into what they wanted this world to look like, both from a short-term and long-term standpoint, they were presented with some pretty interesting discoveries, arguably already hiding in their initial plans without realizing it.

And this is where it sort of becomes a 'chicken or the egg' situation. Because which one came first? Byler or Willel?

I can't say for certain, because obviously this is all just speculation. But in the case that Willel came first, I think Byler would come very naturally after that.

The Duffers themselves are twins. Then they hire Noah, who is a twin. Then they're thinking and planning for El's past and how her family all fits into this, and they're thinking... wait a damn minute... We could totally Star Wars this bitch!

And then when they think it couldn't get any better, they uncover another layer that they hadn't planned or really considered in their initial plans.

While Will was always going to have sexual identity issues according to the Montauk bible, meaning that the writing process for him likely involved sitting down imagining scenarios that encapsulated this arc for Will from the beginning, they were simultaneously now finding very interesting aspects of Mike's character that made it hard not to at least consider the possiblity that Mike is not exactly straight.

Just think about it. The Byers and Wheelers are basically polar opposites on the spectrum of what a family looks like. While Will's discovery and acceptance of his queerness is interesting to explore because he comes from a low-income, single-mom household, all while having been bullied for years based on his perceived queerness, he also has a mother and brother constantly reinforcing that they will accept him no matter what. They've been sort of hitting us over the head with it for years, and so it wouldn't be very satisfying for his entire arc to merely lead up to something we've known all along. It's pretty much a given at this point.

On the other side of the spectrum, Mike comes from a more upper-middle class family at the end of a cul-de-sac, more aligned with what a nuclear family looks like. Mike's family is also presented as being more conservative, and while Karen does give that very queer-coded speech to Mike in s1 (I'm convinced they only wrote this after deciding to explore queer-coding more heavily with Mike), it also comes with comments from Ted and even still Karen that hint that they are probably not as open-minded and accepting as Will's family is to him. Which means Mike's arc would be a lot more about acceptance around him from his loved ones who we have been led to believe might not be as accepting of his queerness in contrast to Will.

And so as they're putting this story together, and they're being presented with something very interesting. Two similar experiences that play out in different ways because of the characters circumstances.

Will goes missing, and his twin sister with a buzzcut pops up and has the ability to help them find Will.

This leads to several moments where El is being compared to as not only a boy, but Will as well.

Now suddenly, their initial plans to have Mike's arc be about having a girl be interested in him and to hopefully have his first kiss and feel like less of a loser, starts to look a lot like what the experience a queer kid in his position might encounter growing up in the environment that he did.

And if you don't want to take my word for it, just hear the Duffer's themselves hinting at what they initially planned for Mike and the fact that it changed.

The changes don't stop there.

Believe it or not, 'It was a seven', did not exist in the initial pitch. When the boys went outside bickering over Nancy, they leave right after that.

Another thing that changed from the first script, was Scott Clarke's introduction:

And so you might be thinking, who cares? What does that have to do with anything?

Well, it's interesting because the line we end up with on the show is arguably one of the most on the nose Twelvegate proofs to date. Mind you, this is from the first episode:

Why chuck the original version, which was arguably more interesting and fascinating in terms of it hinting at the mysteriousness surrounding this story, only to replace it with him listing off tips about their upcoming test?

Well, I think it's the irony of it all. Here Mr. Clarke is practically telling us where to look to figure stuff out for ourselves what is going on, with all the kids filing out and ignoring him...

I relate to Scott a litttle too much in this shot here, any time I try to drop Willel evidence.

And the changes go on, as they obviously would.

Things like Terry Ives not even being El's mom, but actually a man who more so aligns with the characterization of Murray.

And one very interesting one I almost overlooked was in Hopper's introduction, where instead of a kids drawing done by who we assume to be Sarah, we actually see a picture on the wall of him and his wife and daughter... Interesting that they decided to switch it something that is a lot less definitive in presenting what Hopper's past looked like...

If you've made it this far, congratulations.

If you still think I'm out of my mind, just remember that El was going to have a brother in the original script, but they scrapped the scene and gave a near identical one to introduce her connection to Will instead 😘

[essenceofarda]

Of Blessed Thyme and Thistle - Chapter 1 | Page 1

Faramir's cousin, Lothiriel, comes to Minas Tirith to become a companion of his new bride, Eowyn, something that he hopes will ease Eowyn's rough transition into Gondorian Society. Eowyn, for her part, decides her new companion would in turn make the perfect bride for her brother Eomer, King of Rohan. Matchmaking shenanigans ensue 😏

Yayy I finished page 1!! I plan to do at least another page this weekend, but do let me know if you'd like me to continue!! I survive on encouragement 😆

Also yes i know i Know "Black" is the color of Sauron, shhh let's just pretend that now that Sauron is out of the picture Normal people can be goth or wear black without moral issues lol

[crowroboros]

That "probably" is doing a lot of heavy lifting cause I know for a fact that @civilotterneer is aware of how semiconductors work, thus proving that statement wrong.

In fact, let me revise that image...

[incorrect-koh-posts]

Your knowledge of medieval stuff is really impressive! You said in the tags of that ask you answered that you majored in literature? I would love to hear more about your passion for medieval literature and just medieval times in general. Did it start with Kingdom of Heaven or were you interested in it long before watching the film?

Ahh, I'm glad you think so, thank you! ☺️

I did my BA with a major in German literature and linguistics and a minor in English lit. For my MA (which I'm almost finished with save for my thesis defence), I switched to English full-time. My interest in medieval literature is really something that came with my studies - I've always had a general interest in history and read lots of historical fiction while in school, but I'd had basically no exposure to medieval texts (or the knowledge to engage somewhat meaningfully with them) until I had to take my first compulsory "Introduction to Medieval Literature" class at uni. From then on, I just kind of fell in love with the subject. We had a great prof - a really cool older lady who gave the most engaging lectures and with whom I later took seminars on topics like the medieval idea of monsters or animal depictions in chivalric romance.

Within all things medieval, the area that perhaps fascinates me the most is medievalism studies, which is a sort of sub-discipline of medieval studies that investigates, broadly speaking, the reception and depiction of the Middle Ages as well as medieval texts and topics in post-medieval media. Idk why it had to be that field in particular, but there's just something so beautiful in finding parallels and continuities between our world and the medieval one, especially since misconceptions about the Middle Ages are still so prevalent. Unsurprisingly, I wrote both of my dissertations on such medieval/modern overlaps: In my BA thesis I looked into the portrayal and function of mentor-mentee relationships in medieval literature and modern adolescent fiction (lots of commonalities there, interestingly enough!), whereas in my MA diss I focused on the construction of dystopian scenarios in recent British Arthurian fiction and how these respond not only to the older Arthurian material but also to present-day environmental and political anxieties. (Sounds a bit complicated but it makes sense, I promise.)

Perhaps this is why KoH has had such a chokehold on me these past 4 years. It's such a flawed piece of media that it makes me want to dig my teeth into it, in an academic as well as a fic-writing sense. There are so many moments in it that could be right out of a chivalric romance, yet also so many others where the film blows its pretence to historicity to all hell; there are so many interesting characters who only scratch at the surface of the historical figures behind them, and simply so much wasted potential. It's just ... ahhh.

The funny thing is that my growing interest in medieval literature kind of coincided with me discovering KoH, which in turn made me dig even deeper into the research side of things (a vicious circle lol). I think I wrote another post on this about a year ago, but me discovering - or rather re-discovering - Kingdom of Heaven was basically the result of the following chain reaction: I somehow stumbled upon an old novel covering the same events as KoH (Graham Shelby's The Knights of Dark Renown) > something in that book's depiction of Raymond of Tripoli scratched my brain in the right place > I investigated further and found KoH > I saw that skrunkly Mr Irons was part of the cast and decided I had to watch it immediately. In such matters I'm a simple girl - nothing will incite me to watch a film more than an old history man being hot 😂

And then half-way through the film I remembered I'd actually seen it before - with my former best friend during the early years of secondary school when she was obsessed (and by that I mean obsessed) with Orlando Bloom and made me watch literally every film with him that she could get her hands on. Which was a good thing only insofar as it made me discover Lord of the Rings. Though in hindsight it's very funny because she clearly intended for me to join her in her Orlando insanity, whereas confused 11-year-old me instead stared at Aragorn and Tiberias like this: 😳. Yes, I've always had impeccable taste, obviously.

And thus, in the spring of the year of our Lord 2020, I entered my KoH era, and so far the brainrot is still thriving.

I do wonder, though, how many people in the fandom have a similar background? The handful of people that I know or have interacted with seem to skew that way, with mostly history- or literature-related fields of study, but I wonder how representative they are of the overall fandom 🤔

In any case, thank you for the fun ask that did not flatter me at all!

[merrilark]

Went to a flower festival with my girlfriend tonight. It was over Discord because we're long distance, but they showed me all the flowers and we sat on a bench and admired the lake. They told me about the bees and what the air smelled like, and showed me the little arts and crafts shops and ducks and cool flowerbed arrangements. We imagined what it would be like if we could sit there together, holding hands, and soaking up each other's company.

It was sooo nice. One day I hope that it won't be over Discord and there won't be any need to imagine it because we're there together.

[swordluck]

⚘ @thcdoomed // cont.

Dronia’s protest was a brittle shield, and Anri was determined to cleave through it.  Moving as swiftly as her armoured form would permit, she knelt beside her companion, reaching out to touch the hand stubbornly sealing the wound.  

Behind ivory ribs and steel plating, Anri’s heart clenched.  Dronia’s battle-ready and capable body had betrayed her, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her skin clammy beneath the streaks of dirt and blood.  Her gaze darted away, evasive, as if ashamed of her vulnerability.  

“Enough,” Anri murmured, her soft voice carrying a stern undercurrent, one rarely heard.  With hands gentle and deft, she carefully pried Dronia’s fingers away from where they plugged the wound.  Blood bubbled hot and immediate against Anri’s palm.  Too much of it, too quickly.  Her throat tightened with a familiar, second-hand pain – one that always pierced her whenever she witnessed another’s suffering.

“You would never permit another to press on in this state, and I will not permit it of you,” Anri continued, her attention sliding to their surroundings.  They were alone, walled in on all sides by dense forest.  Hardly ideal, but they would make do.

“Allow me to tend to you, to make you comfortable,” Anri implored, her focus settling back on Dronia.  Through the leather of her gauntlet, she was aware of that raw heat, of the life’s blood that soaked her. In its loss, there was an urgency that could not be ignored.  “We can make camp here, you can rest.”

[meteorshcts]

@sephaeroth || continued from [ x ]

Zack did not call back. Instead, a few hours later...

[PHS]: sldkdkfkdfffdssf;kkj [PHS]: The answer is a lot .i hate life a lot

[flagellant]

I once killed a coyote by poisoning a tub of ice cream with anti freeze.

And that coyote? Was Alan Turing. You homophobic monster. You should be ashamed of yourself for being Catholic since you hate crimed Alan Turing.

[leaderbond]

@konkuurito continued from here

"Ah..."

Dwight took a step back, drawing in a sharp breath as the katana was drawn and exposed to the moonlight.

"No, I didn't really think so..."

He took off like a shot, taking care to go the opposite direction of where the other Survivors were working on a generator. He had only seen two of the three other people; there had been a hope, however slight, that the intense-looking person in the mask was a Survivor he had never met. Of course not. There was still yet another victim of the Entity trapped in this hell, but it couldn't at least be someone on Dwight's side.

Dwight tried to collect his thoughts as he made for the nearest building, intending to vault through the window. New Killer. Well, he didn't seem new--he seemed well aware of how this worked, as a matter of fact--but he was new to Dwight, which was the worst case scenario all around, actually. Dwight had no idea what this guy was capable of, which meant he had the element of surprise, which meant everyone was basically fucked unless Dwight could keep him busy while he had his attention. And the Killer was getting awfully close behind him. No pressure, Fairfield.

[cartelheir]

continued.

she wants to snap at @sharpsuite; what kind of advice is that? does the woman really think breathing never crossed her mind? however, her chest is too tight to get any words out, and as she finds herself following the advice ━━ in for four seconds, out for another four ━━, her once erratic breathing begins to slow down. though she's far from calm, soon she doesn't feel like she's on the brink of passing out anymore. it's probably the best she could hope for.

" no, i ... i don't think so. " patricia looks down at herself just to make sure, but finds no injuries other than a few scrapes on her skin. she was one of the lucky ones. she doesn't know how many others survived the game, and she's afraid of finding out.

" what the fuck was that? i don't━ " her heart feels like it'll jump right out of her chest, so she focuses on breathing again. it's her first time in tokyo; a work trip that wasn't supposed to last longer than a weekend, maybe a few extra days to explore the city if she could take the time for it. suddenly, she was sucked into whatever this nightmare of a world is. " i don't understand. "

[mintleafkitty72]

I'm so sorry for not doing the tag games you tagged me in, I really appreciate you tagging me :) is it okay if I don't do them? I don't want to seem like I'm ignoring you I just can't right now

Hey, it's all good Eda! Don't worry about it 😊 You absolutely don't have to do them. Whether that's because you don't want to or because you just can't at the moment, both are valid. And you don't have to apologize for either whatsoever :] Whenever I tag you, it's always an option for You if you want to join or not, it's up to you and there's absolutely no pressure. I appreciate and care about you a lot and you not doing the tag games is not gonna change that at all. And I can guarantee you that I won't feel ignored if you don't do some of the tag games I tag you in, no matter the reason you choose not to do them. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know <3 🫂

[mndstom]

continued from here with @vicletnight

Fingers laced together, a smile playing on her lips, Jiyeon walks next to the man who has recently brought her happiness and has started to give her butterflies with the smallest actions he does. It sometimes causes her to chuckle when she recalls the days when people would warn her about him, and he has proven those people wrong. Or maybe it's a big game for him. The female slightly shakes her head to get rid of the thoughts, and her attention turns to the building they have arrived at when she hears his quiet voice next to her ear, a somewhat amused smile tugging onto her lips because of his question. Even when the setting was a date, she wouldn't call it their first date. At least not an official one. But she still nods to his questions. How can she forget such a day when she was treated like a princess? Dark hues follow him, eventually turning back to the store that seems to sell luxury brands, her eyes widen out of surprise when Jaeseong reveals his plans. "Huh?!" She should have expected it, but it still surprised her. "Anything?"

[sillymuses]

@peculiarbeauty {Link}

"Oh uh, sorry about that. I didn't see you there." That's what she gets for having her face buried in her own book at the time. Ruby does perk up however as she tries to get a glance at the others book.

"It looks interesting. What's it about?"

[cinghialefedele]

@dirtymist cont. from here:

Tesla exhales sharply through his nose, a sound bordering on amusement. Loly and Menoly were almost a unique sort of nuisance, even in the volatile environment of Las Noches. He wasn't surprised that Val had a particular distaste for the girls, as well.

"...I suppose, yes, they're definitely a particular flavor of companion that I can't quite understand. They're useful in their own rights, though, but how Lord Aizen chose them may be eternally a mystery to me. ...Not that it bothers me."

Clear intentions. It sits with Tesla for a moment. Did most people really just speak to Val to get info out of him or to him? How boring... how...rude.

"...Thank you. I believe the sheer amount of games played between our kind can be rather tiresome, is all. It's best to be transparent in some cases, rather than conniving."

A roll of his shoulders, and Tesla's head tilts.

"...Are you happy, doing this job? Or is there something else you wanted to do...?"

[windsfavored]

she's  not  from  sumeru  —  that  much  is  obvious.  not  that  the  wanderer  is  too  terribly  different  in  that  REGARD;  they  both  stick  out  like  sore  thumbs.  (  ren  simply  happens  to  be  one  with  enough  of  a  reputation  to  be  recognized.  )  arms  cross  at  the  peculiar  stranger's  response.  him?  up  to  something  wicked?  aha  —  if  only  she  KNEW.  ❝  maybe  i  am. ❞  ren  replies,  deliberately  exaggerating  his  ominous  undertone.  he  likes  to  purposefully  cast  himself  in  the  role  of  a  VILLAIN  from  time  to  time,  even  if  few  souls  are  actually  privy  to  the  truth.  (  and  for  those  who  are,  the  context  only  makes  it  all  the  more  amusing.  )  taking  a  few  steps  forward,  lavender  gaze  sweeps  carefully  over  the  board.  he  doesn't  usually  accept  many  commissions  —  delivering  food  and  flowers  are  largely  beneath  him,  and  even  most  combat-related  tasks  are  far  too  SIMPLE  to  be  of  any  interest.  yet  occasionally  something  may  pop  up  that  catches  his  eye.  ❝  fortunately  for  you ...  it  seems  crime  doesn't  pay  today. ❞  the  wanderer  murmurs,  turning  away.  or  to  put  it  plainly,  the  available  tasks  are  all  too  BORING  to  bother  with.  what  a  shame.

❝  in  all  seriousness,  i  don't  see  what  the  big  fuss  is  about. ❞  ren  says,  attention  flicking  to  the  funeral  director.  perhaps  it's  because  DYING  has  never  been  an  option  for  him.  he  was  built  to  last  forever,  after  all.  ❝  when  you  really  think  about  it,  death  is  a  problem  for  the  living  more  than  it  is  the  dead...  they  have  no  way  of  knowing  one  way  or  another  what  happens  to  their  bodies  after  they  die  —  you're  just  offering  to  grant  them  a  little  peace  of  mind. ❞  he  eyes  the  coupon  curiously  for  a  moment,  before  exhaling  an  amused  little  huff.  beyond  the  price  of  tea  and  books,  ren  doesn't  waste  his  time  agonizing  over  MORA  —  he  has  no  real  need  to.  even  so,  he's  known  humans  to  spend  their  funds  on  less  practical  measures.

❝  you  might  have  better  luck  making  your  sales  pitch  to  those  idiot  tourists  the  forest  rangers  have  to  babysit. ❞   he's  only  HALF-JOKING.   ❝  i've  heard  enough  stories  about  travelers  trying  to  pet  the  rishboland  tigers  that  they're  all  starting  to  blend  together ...  of  course,  retrieving  those  remains  might  be  easier  said  than  done. ❞

@papilio-anima &&. from HERE.

[swordluck]

⚘ @confessthysiins // cont.

Strange comfort radiated from that scaled hand, from the features pock-marked with pin feathers.  Child he called her, and for a moment it was as though that young and reluctant acolyte lived again.  Quiet, wide-eyed girl, a church mouse who had collected memories and mementos, who had suffered in anguished silence, whose every prayer had gone unanswered.

Still the crow-man’s hand lingered on her forearm, talons glinting against her armour.  Although it was the lightest of touches, it held within it a weight of kindness that threatened to undo her.  Grief clawed its way up her throat so viciously that Anri could not hope to suppress the sob that shot from her, a brittle sound blending both sorrow and relief.  Some absurd, half-wild part of her longed to be small and precious, fit to be carried in his pockets.  She imagined they would be warm, lined with down-feathers.  There she might feel safe, listening to the holy man’s wisdom, his ancient dialect a rook-sung lullaby.

This man was no stranger to devotion.  His altar gleamed, lit by carefully placed candles, scented by the heavy-headed flowers spread at the goddess’ feet, her stone effigy polished to cast out any trace of lichen or decay.  Anri, force-fed a diet of dark sermons, understood little of other faiths, but she recognised love when it presented itself. Seeing it first-hand made the wiry threads of her heart ache anew.

“My apologies,” she whispered, lifting the visor of her helm to dab at her eyes with leather-tipped fingers.  “I cannot recall the last time I was spoken to with such gentleness.”

What she withheld was the deeper truth that she could not remember a time she had felt safe.  Now, the promise of it seemed near and Anri clung to the possibility, letting hope wash over her aching bones.  Here, in this small and sanctified space, his invitation was a benediction, his hand upon hers a permission – she need not prove her worth, nor fight, nor mask her tears.  

“I should like to stay awhile,” she continued, almost ashamedly.  “I should like that very much.”

Corvid eyes watched her, dark and unfathomable.  Under their weight, Anri laid down her strength.  With trembling hands, she placed her shield on the ground, then her sword, each an act of surrender and blind faith in the man at her side.

“I only hope that someone is there to shoulder your burdens, as you do for those who find their way here.”