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caliburn-the-sword · 3 months

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how come ONLY mal's parentage was ever important enough to have BOTH her parents name dropped in the movies, and not only that, both MAJOR antagonists and not just sidekicks or goons?? cause like. i get that carlos and jay aren't that much of main characters as the girlies, but c'mon after mal and ben, evie was more or less THE main characters. like. when mal was getting all angsty over her dad i whole heartedly believe that evie would've been "hey i get it. yk my dad ________ was also super absent in my life. i understand you <3"

anyway here are my theories on the unknown blank parents of some of the VK's, in order of how much i believe it to be true. shoutout to @piraterefrigerator who heard me out on this and let me bounce ideas off him to try as i tried to figure out who was whose parents

evie

now, we all know that the evil queen is the gold digger of all gold diggers. now, i believe that unlike most other villains and their henchmen, the second that snow white became queen, all of the evil queen's staff would've started serving snow white, snow white is beloved, and none of the evil queen's staff actually had anything to do with her vendetta against snow white OTHER than the huntsman, who i actually don't believe is on the isle since he was good and maybe?? died?? i can't remember

while the evil queen has a killer reputation like the rest of the parents of the core4, since she has no loyal army, no threat of magic to hold over peoples' heads once they all escape the island (i believe she was a potionsmaster/alchemist rather than someone with innate magic like maleficent or jafar), and we don't really know HOW those core 4 ever actually came to power, but we do know she came to power last out of those 4 on the isle since the maleficent exiled her for 10 years

... the place that i'm going with this, is that the evil queen MAY have seduced jafar to be able to share in his power on the isle. but to prove this, i'm going to have to dive into jafar as an individual

the only 'romantic' subplots we ever see jafar in are when he's pursuing jasmine. jafar may have soley wanted to marry jasmine for legal purposes (becoming sultan) and the pedo implications were a complete accident on disney's part. and since he has no claim to that throne through jasmine anymore once he was defeated

his plan getting with the evil queen COULD have been to take back her kingdom and become the king of that kingdom once they escaped the isle, especially because we NEVER actually see jafar complain about aladdin or jasmine, whereas maleficent wants to take over auradon, the evil queen gets pissy over snow white, and cruella harps on about the dogs. not only that, the evil queen is also the ONLY formerly royal woman on the isle that we're aware of in canon

i think. jafar would have ditched eq the second that maleficent banished her because he's more afraid of maleficent than he would have feelings for the evil queen, and he took jay since he wasn't in the immediate blast range (jay isn't eq's son) which is how that all worked

i also think that evie might be one of the only girls that jay doesn't flirt with??? i could be wrong. since i haven't read the first book in a few years

but like. evie is quite racially ambiguous, so while i don't think that makes or breaks this theory, i do think it supports it

a crackpot theory for another candidate of the evil queen's baby daddy is

but that's a furry, and evie has no furry qualities

dizzy

lady tremaine and her daughters are, you guessed it, also gold diggers, and i think that they, like all villains on the isle, would have clawed onto whatever power they could, especially given that they had none of their own legions, magic outside the isle, any reputation that they could stake their lives on (in the grand scheme of things, making a girl clean the house isn't all that grand compared to people that tried to conquer kingdoms)

now. we never see the tremaines in descendants so i'm inclined to believe that they look exactly as in the animated/live action cinderella movies, aka european descent, but dizzy herself is portrayed by a wasian actress

while the descendants casting was more or less raceblind for the vk's, i'm still inclined to believe that dizzy is actually the daughter of shan yu, which effectively would grant that evil stepsister a bit of a leg to stand on in the isle

carlos

now, carlos has NO magic, and is also noticeably paler than his mother. which means his father could be any white disney antagonist, which is *check notes* a lot of them. cruella is a nepo baby, so i don't think she would've been a gold digger like others on this list. especially because, as "the bitch that wanted 101 puppies dead for her fur coat" i don't think she needed anything for her reputation as the scary crazy bitch that wants 101 puppies for her fur coat

... narrowing down her baby daddy's identity to "possibly white" and "not magic" does not narrow it down by much since i don't have any other personal taste i could attribute to her, other than perhaps hunters

the candidates are, in most to least likely, are:

because i think only a catnapper would get behind cruella's batshit dognapping plan

however, there is also this guy:

cause i think she would appreciate his hunting of an exotic animal

this guy, because i think she would like the idea of a fox fur coat

this guy, because he does animal abuse and cruella would get behind that

or, my most crackpot theory yet:

"but cal, that's a wolf!! and cruella fucking hates dogs!!"

i could argue that cruella wanted to skin that guy for a coat and was gonna get him while he was a asleep, failed, and then raised carlos to believe all dogs are bad because fuck that guy in particular. also, carlos DOES run fast enough for the sport team as like. their canonically fastest player, despite him being a little computer nerd. that boy has never run in his LIFE. so like. you could attribute having a wolf father to him being a fastboi

harry hook

as for harry, i honestly think his mother is a milf. because those good looks had to come from SOMEWHERE

also, if we're following punnet squares, harry has light coloured eyes and hook has brown eyes, so one of hook's parents probably had blue eyes, and i imagine either hook's mother or his grandparents on that side of the family would have to have blue eyes. for simplicity's sake, i'm gonna assume that it was his mother so that i can narrow it down

harry ALSO doesn't have magic, so i'm running with the assumption that his mother has blue eyes, maybe dark hair (unimportant), and no magic, and is presumably white. one woman that fits the bill is mother gothel

jay

i will be referring to this post quite a bit

i need to start this by saying, there is a popular theory that jafar swapped out his actual child for aladdin's son, and jay is actually the son of aladdin and jasmine. i think that this is a stupid ass theory, because the barrier had already been up on the isle for 4 years at that point, and if jafar had managed to SOMEHOW get off the isle, travel all the way to agrabah, swap out their similarly aged children, do you not think he would have just STAYED off the isle instead of returning with his new son to stock the store??? he wouldn't need to stock the store if he WASN'T ON THE ISLE is all i will say. also, you don't just genetically inherit your parents' ability to steal, it is a learnt skill. jafar learnt how to do it, and then taught jay, plain and simple

however, unless jay is more than 9 months older than evie but less than 12 months older than her, then his mother would be some other woman, especially because the two were raised completely separately. i DON'T think that the evil queen is jay's mother, but i still think jafar would've gone as close to royal as possible since we know he values economic status

there aren't many female villains, so the main candidates for this would've been yzma (kuzco's royal adviser, very close to successful to stealing his throne), or the other tremaine evil stepsister??? since that was a reasonably wealthy family considering their inheritance

as for yzma, i don't think she has any inate magic of her own, just alchemy, which accounts for jay not inheriting any magic like mal. yzma is also, i assume, an albino latina, but whether jay has a european mother or a brown mother i don't actually think that matters too much since he's fairly ambiguous

sidenote, i always knew that booboo stewart was indigenous but i didn't know he was also asian omg

now for the son of jafar, obviously they couldn't be raceblind when casting him and had to find someone not white for the role. and hollywood treats brown people as quite interchangeably and just casts whoever as whoever (see the oscar isaac joke that in the 'a priest, rabbi, and imam walk into a bar' joke, he can play all three), but i'm using this as my proof anyway that jay is (possibly) a son of yzma

uma

uma is unfortunately at the bottom of this list, because i actually have no idea who her father would be. like sure, it would be easy to just go and say "well the only other Black villain on the isle is facilier so it must be him" but he is SO present in celia's life and has such a good relationship with her that i refuse to believe that he would in the same beat be completely absent in uma's life. unless there are other disney villains that got racechanged in the descendants universe that we're unaware of, i actually have no idea who uma's father would be, ESPECIALLY because the only comment ursula ever makes on men is in poor unfortunate souls, but that was more her gaslighting ariel than her actual proper view on men and romance. the only thing i can say is that since ursula is in squid form on the isle naturally despite the magic ban, but uma is naturally in human form, i definitely think that uma has a human father rather than a father from an undersea kingdom. if any uma stans want to weigh in here, please go for it because i'd love to hear who you think is uma's father

#disney descendants #evie descendants #mal bertha #mal descendants #jay descendants #carlos de vil #dizzy tremaine #harry hook #uma descendants #descendants #descendants theory

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sarnai4 · 6 months

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Betrayal

I was going to make this a fun post, but then I discovered that there are Dagur gifs on here and...yeah, that light topic didn't happen. So, here goes a little sad something.

I think these frames of animation are very interesting. Actually, this entire scene is to me. It's in "The Night and the Fury" and is right after Dagur learns that Hiccup lied. I love how this occurred because it would have been so easy to just have him be like, "You have dragons? Okay, now I'm about to kill you." They didn't do that, though. Even as Dagur is connecting the dots, he harps on the fact that a lie was told. "Your father lied to me...YOU lied to me!" If you go back to Dagur's threat from "Twinsanity," he never even said that he'd attack Berk if they had dragons. He specifically said he would if he found out they did after they denied it. Technically speaking, Dagur could have attacked immediately if he wanted to, but he still had the intention of keeping the peace. These expressions in the gif are right after he says, "You could've been my brother, Hiccup. Now, you're my enemy." When he says this, he actually sounds sad. His expressions match that. Dagur, Mr. Gets Angry At The Drop Of A Helmet didn't immediately respond with rage. He's hurt and I think I know why.

Dagur doesn't perceive things like other Vikings to put it lightly. When he has his first episode, he's talking about how he and Hiccup had great laughs after he tries to drown the poor Berkian. He calls Hiccup his old friend when they see each other again in the episode with the gif. I think he genuinely believes this. For the strange things Dagur does, he doesn't see it. So, it's not just someone lying to him, it's his best, his ONLY friend lying to him and making him looking like a cool in front of his tribe. That's why he sounds sad instead of angry. That's why he has to look away and think through what his next move is. Yes, he attacks, but what are his options?

Hiccup doesn't give him any more time to think. He tries to leave with Toothless, so Dagur has to act then. Regarding his options, they all are bleak. If he attacks, then you have war and what we got. The alternative is that he doesn't then, right? Well, that's not great either. As soon as he gets back to his ship, one of the Berserkers says that he wants to kill Hiccup himself. Dagur has to make it clear that no one besides himself will go after Hiccup. This shows how the Berserkers really can be vengeful. They're not even an aggressive group (as shown in "Something Rotten on Berserker Island"), but they have tempers. So, if Dagur holds onto the friendship that he just realized didn't exist, he has to go back with his tail between his legs and admit not only that he was played, but that he doesn't want to do anything about it.

Dagur already was worried that no one would respect him as chief. They never would if they found out he was tricked and didn't even want to get revenge for it. He would be the young chief who was too foolish to see through lies and too weak to defend his people in case the liar decided to lie again and actually attack. So, yes, Dagur attacked. Was it a mistake? Oh most definitely. He could've caused the deaths of many people and was arrested for this. So, I'm not saying that Dagur is in the right for his war, but I'm saying that I don't think it's a black and white as the show tried to portray. We see it from Hiccup's perspective with Dagur being this wild kid who just likes killing. Dagur's so much more than just some angry or deranged Viking. I just wish we got to see more of his side of things.

#HTTYD #RTTE #Dagur the Deranged #Theories #Berserker Life #False Friends

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legendl0re · 29 days

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A Court of Peace and Ire: Chapter 2 in full

Fuck it might as well post it here as well as AO3 xD

Summary:

Nesta, changed by her experiences with the Asteri, Bryce, and other worlds, has since resolved to get Prythian to where it needs to be should it have to face another threat. Stuck in a another dick-measuring contest between Eris and Cassian, the re-appearance of Tamlin offers her a chance to set things in motion.

Notes:

This one's for the Neris fans, and yes, Nesta is going to be the core of everybody getting their shit together over the course of this fic. Trigger Warnings: Mentions of ab*se, depression, and self-hatred (mainly on Nesta's part)

Nesta Archeron picked a small dandelion from the meadow, finding its vibrant yellow frills infinitely more interesting than the conversation going on behind her.

Once again, Rhys had urged Cassian to keep tabs on Eris, and once again, they had opted to take the risk of meeting in the Spring Court.

The two males yammered and bickered like they always did, Cassian’s incessant sneezing being the only thing to snap her out of her frequent distraction. Even with the risks that came from meeting here, Spring was a nice change of pace, a chance to get away from the Night Court’s chilling winds and the even chillier attitudes of the Inner Circle.

“Just keep us informed if Beron makes any new moves. If he tries to contact Koshei or the other mortal queens, or anything else.” Cassian was so tense veins were popping at his neck, but Eris seemed as unbothered as ever.

“Perhaps your little Shadowsinger should retire, since you’re so keen on having me do all of his work as of late.” The Illyrian practically snorted in anger, Eris chuckling to himself as he imagined himself conversing with a bat-winged bull. “As tempting as the alliance has been, I’m not privy to all of my father’s counsel. He’s become withdrawn, paranoid, and I have my own things to protect should he fall off the deep end.”

Nesta twisted the dandelion in her hand; it was just as likely that Eris was referring to his mother and brothers as he was to his hounds. She could never tell what he really valued despite these years of verbal sparring, but it was true that the High Lord of Autumn had grown volatile…unhinged even.

At the last High Lords meeting, the bruises they all knew he left on Eris’ mother had begun to peek out from under the collar of her dress. He was getting sloppy, or maybe he just didn’t care anymore. Perhaps he was going senile, or the constant stagnation of Autumn in comparison the Night Court’s burgeoning power was starting to worry him

Power that she herself had bought them.

Keeping the Trove’s presence in Velaris was a fool’s errand; their power could not be dampened, and legends don’t operate quietly. Everyone felt it when Nesta beckoned the harp, wrestled with death for her sister and nephew, and bargained with the cauldron itself.

“The next time you come trying to spigot me for information, you better have something worthwhile. A dagger and the occasional dance is not enough.”

Out of her peripheral vision, Nesta could see that Eris’ pointed look had been thrown her way. “Oh I’m sorry, were you addressing me?” She droned, her boredom clear and blunt. “I thought I was just supposed to stand here and look pretty while you two squabble. And we haven’t danced in months if I remember correctly.”

“Perhaps if I weren’t conversing with an oaf, we could get a lot more done.” Eris preened, turning his eyes to the treeline. Cassian growled and turned away, shadows already coiling to winnow back home.

“You do what you want, Eris! I’m tired of this holier-than-thou, my-wants-are-greater than-yours attitude.” The heir of Autumn chuffed.

“Hmph, and yet you still serve Rhysand.” The winnowing energy shot to nothing, Cassian getting inches away from Eris’ face in a flash.

“Keep it up and I’ll finish what Azriel started.” Eris didn’t balk an inch, still as ever even in the great shadow of the Illyrian Commander.

Nesta dropped the flower, and interposed herself between the two.

“Enough.” She ordered, meeting the gazes of both men before she sighed. “Cassian, I want to talk to Eris alone.” Her mate’s eyes went wide, brow furrowing so deep it threatened to crush his nose. But she laced the words with just enough venom that he halted, thinking of the myriad of ways she would dress the Autumn heir down.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“I’m sure.” Nesta smirked, appreciating how far he had come from feeling like he needed to always be there. The Blood Rite caused him to be around her almost every second of everyday, often bursting into arguments about how he was suffocating her. But then he remembered the Bog, and the sheer power of death that turned the hag queen Briallyn to dust.

Even with the bulk of her powers given back to the cauldron, Nesta Archeron was touched by death eternal, and he was ever her devout servant.

“Go, I’ll finish up here. Rhysand will probably want to hear about this sooner rather than later.” Cass nodded, kissing Nesta on the head and lips before vanishing into the shadows. Then Nesta let the smile fade, and armed herself for a different dance.

“Nice job, mentioning Rhys to put a pep in his step.” Eris crooned, earning himself a withering glare.

“Shut. Up. You’ve been doing nothing but antagonizing him from the moment we got here. Wasting all of our time.” Nesta watched as Eris slipped his hands in his pockets.

“I thought you weren’t paying attention.”

“That makes one of us.” Eris rolled his eyes, trying to weave past Nesta’s bladed words.

“What can I say? It’s fun to poke the bear. Especially since I can’t get any actual diplomacy done with him. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Was it fun when Azriel was pounding your face in?” Eris frowned at Nesta’s barb. “Because I promise you, Cassian hits a thousand times harder.” The heir kept his scowl for a moment, then burst into a laugh.

“Trust me Lady Acheron, I’m not worried. Rhysand has him by the back of the neck and you have him by the balls. He won’t jump unless either of you flick the leash.” Nesta crossed her arms, half wondering how bad a slap to the face laced with silver flame would hurt.

But she reeled her thought back in. “And now he isn’t here, which means that we can actually get down to business. Unless you're keen on pressing the issue.” Eris, with his back to her, let his fingers interlock behind her.

“You know what? I do have an issue I’d like to address. Your cowardice.” Nesta blinked, unimpressed but mildly curious at what he meant.

“This will be good. Go on?”

“I thought we had a good rapport at Rhysand’s little party at the Hewn City. You know, the one where he let the masses scent Feyre nice and deep?” Nesta felt her anger crackle, but kept her lips pursed. “I heard what you had said about me, about deserving me because of how horrible a person I am. A brute and a piece of shit I believe were the words used?”

“How do yo-?”

“Rhys thinks he's the only one with a spymaster worth a damn.” Eris’ withering glare would have left a lesser woman prickling, but Nesta just clicked her tongue.

“Oh. Did I hurt your feelings?” She mocked.

Eris sighed, his face donning a weary smile. “No. I just would have figured the woman who stood up for the humans so fiercely wouldn't have fallen for cheap Night Court gossip, nor would she have such a low opinion of herself.” Nesta almost winced, remembering the comparison she had made.

The harshness of those days came soaring back to her: the back and forth with Cassian, the rage and hatred she felt for herself, and of course, Rhys’ sudden willingness to put up with her if it put the Night Court in a better position.

With how good he was at staging her for his political gain, she had thought he’d broken into her memories and taken notes.

Still, Eris had an immense amount of nerve to whine, and Nesta stepped forward with her teeth bared. “Let’s not pretend you give a damn about my self-esteem Eris, and you hunting after my sister and your brother isn’t gossip, and neither is what you did to Morrigan.”

“Since when have you ever given a damn about Mor?” The fae laughed, shaking his head. “Although, it’s good to know that she still hasn’t told the truth.” Eris let that hang in the air, taking in a deep breath of the spring wind. Nesta’s arms fell at her sides, watching as the viper’s mask Eris Vanserra wore slowly chipped away, as if blown down by the softness of the air.

“That did hurt your feelings, didn’t it?”

“I suppose I was more disappointed. I thought you were different from those sycophants Rhysand surrounds himself with, your sisters included. That you knew, there is always more than meets the eye.” Eris turned to have her and swallowed, and Nesta actually narrowed her eyes. He was nervous; genuinely nervous…

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I would marry you in a heartbeat, Nesta, and it’s certainly not because you look excellent in black or because you somehow managed to learn expert-level fae dance routines in a few weeks. I wouldn’t have made it this far if I was that vapid.” Eris had closed the distance between them, his eyes intense with smoldering flame.

“Males of Autumn are taught to be frank, not to waste our time when it comes to our true desires. We say what we feel, and we take what we want, and I very much want you.”

“Even after I insulted you so?” Nesta scoffed, feigning mild interest despite actually being shocked.

“I’m a big boy, Nesta, and unlike Rhysand, I understand that the image I’ve cultivated for myself comes with consequences.” Eris began pacing around her in slow, playful steps. “From that first meeting, I could tell you took things seriously, fought with every word you had to keep your people safe. While Rhysand and his High Lady pleaded and appealed to some misplaced sense of heroic morality, you were pragmatic, used reason, and looked to our self interest to guide our decisions.” He leaned in, letting Nesta feel the warmth of Autumn in his presence. That’s what a true ruler does.”

“How observant of you.” Nesta replied, taken aback by the words but remaining guarded all the same. Autumn was a home to many a sly fox after all.

And of course, ever the sly fox, Eris changed his tactics to keep things interesting. “You were supposed to rule your own little court once, correct? An inheritance waiting for you in the mortal lands.” Nesta rolled her eyes.

“Please. Continue to remind me of what I lost.” Eris raised a brow, ignoring the bait. “The humans would never have a fae rule over them, and I’m pretty sure the other nobles have worked with the queens to cannibalize my father’s fortune.”

The ships and soldiers he bought were the last Nesta would ever see of it; her father’s presence in the world reduced to a gravestone and the memories she and her sisters would carry forever.

“A shame. I would have loved to have seen what you could have done with such wealth and power on your own, unshackled by the chains of family.”

Nesta narrowed her eyes at the word; did Eris know what happened to her? About the House of Wind and the tensions between her and her sisters. And why in the Mother’s name was he bringing it up now in the middle of what was essentially a love confession?

“How do you know all this anyway? You’re spies can’t be that good.” Nesta prodded.

“Trust me. They are, but it certainly helped that Bryallin was quite thorough in her research of you. I got a peak at her thoughts while she ‘had me under her spell’.” Eris grinned as he unbuttoned his coat, moving the lapel to reveal the dagger—her dagger—strapped at his hip. “I should thank you, but the way. Your blade kept my mind from breaking under the weight of the crown.”

Nesta tensed as the heir of Autumn reached for the knife, but relaxed as he unbuckled it and handed it to her. “You can have it back if you wish. I took it out of respect for Rhys’ attempts at winning my favor, but it very much wishes to return to its maker.”

More questions roved over Nesta’s mind. Did he know that she had lost the majority of her powers too? The weapons she had Made each still carried great amounts of that original essence, yet only Ataraxia remained hers. This offering could be both an implication that Autumn knows Nesta lacks her past strength, but maybe it was also genuine.

“Keep it. You might need it again.” It was true, but also Nesta didn’t want Rhysand to have all of the things she had made. They thought they were being subtle but the Inner Circle had always been keen to pry what was hers away for their own benefit, be it the weapons, the Trove, her identity.

She supposed that things had improved with them since she and Cassian officially ordained themselves as mates, having a small ceremony whose mix of extravagance and modesty was a careful negotiation between the two of them: small enough that Cassian wouldn’t be teased by his brothers for eternity, but big enough that Nesta felt like she would remember it forever.

And she would; it was the first step towards accepting her role in all of this, towards making peace with the fact that she was now fae, and no longer human…

Yet still, she couldn’t entirely shake the stares, the judgment. Amren had opted for an indifferent peace between them, but their old days of training and dropping bits of thousand-year-old wisdom had long since ceased. Azriel was always his kind, quiet self, always reaching out and checking in when he could. Then there was Morrigan, brown eyes alight with fury every time she glanced at her and Cassian together.

Mother forbid both Cassian and Azriel talk to her at the same time, lest the blonde’s head go up in flames.

Nesta had long since resolved that she was good enough for Cassian, that she did deserve his love and her peace despite what she had done. But between Morrigan’s clear disdain, Rhys’ constant shifting between hot and cold, and her mate’s often blunt refusal to defend her in most situations, it seems the family that this Circle claimed to be was only for her sisters.

She supposed that was why she opted to make her own, with Gwyn and Emerie.

“My offer still stands.” Eris boasted, snapping Nesta out of her rumination.

“What? Of marriage?” She guffaws. “Please.”

“Already fully bonded to the brute then?” Nesta turned to him, letting a little silver blaze through her eyes.

“You call him anything but his goddamned name one more time, this conversation is over.” Eris paused, then backed off, taking her seriously.

Perhaps that was the strange appeal of it all, this little dance they did. He actually took her at her word.

“Is it so hard to envision?” He said. “You, in vibrant autumn red, a crown of gilded leaves on your head.”

“Your father spending every waking moment plotting my demise?”

“I never knew you to be one to back down from a challenge, and my father would be a fool to even hope to wrestle with you.” Eris gently took her hand in his, and watched as she let him bring it to his lips. “I myself would find it the utmost pleasure, and in truth, I believe you would be an exemplary queen, no matter whose court you ruled. I humbly pray to the Mother that you would grace mine.”

He pressed his lips to her knuckle, and Nesta couldn’t help but stir slightly at the heat of his lips warming the skin. Perhaps she should have let Cassian stay. “There’s not a single humble thing about you, Eris Vanserra.”

“True.” He said, letting go of her hand. “I very much will enjoy bragging about being one to kiss the hand of death.” The two stood there for a moment, eyes locked like two fires struggling to snuff the other out. Nesta’s hands had balled into fists behind her, embarrassed at how Eris of all people was getting to her.

It was just words, grand claims he would never live up to, all to worm his way deeper into the Night Court and get whatever it was he really wanted.

Nesta had Cassian—loved Cassian. He may not have been willing to stand up to Rhys, or actually said that he loved her. But it was more real than whatever dream Eris Vanserra was trying to sell her, and she would not be another Lady of Autumn.

No, silver flames would rip the Autumn Court apart before she ever let that happen.

Eris’ gaze broke first, whipping to something behind her, something that had urged him to unsheath her dagger and call an orb of flame into his other hand. Nesta turned to see, and lumbering through the trees in gilded, horned splendor, was the High Lord of Spring.

“I warned you about what would happen the next time you trespassed into my lands.” Tamlin growled, green eyes spearing the two as his claws dug into the earth beneath him. Eris just smirked.

“If you’ve finally set on cutting your life short, High Lord, I do appreciate that you’d do it in a fashion that grants my Court a lovely expansion.” Tamlin’s lips parted, revealing ivory teeth the size of daggers.

“An expansion you wouldn’t live to see.” He snarled, taking a step forward that thundered into the earth, sending birds fleeing from the trees. Heart pounding, Nesta shot a hand up, turning to face Eris with a grave scowl.

“I’m not dying in the Spring Court because of your stupid fucking remarks.” She muttered, before turning back to face Tamlin. “We were just leaving.”

“Until your next little get together, witch?” He replied, tail still swishing in anticipation of Eris’ next barb. It nearly left his lips, until Nesta blocked his way.

“Leave, Eris.” She demanded. “I’ll deal with this myself.”

“You think Cassian would let me live if I left you here alone, with him?” Nesta scoffed, the modicum of respect she had just developed for Eris vanishing.

“Did you not just profess your undying respect for me, or has that all gone out the window now that a monster has shown up? Are you going to protect little old me, Eris?” Nesta laid the mockery on thick, and the Heir of Autumn indeed found himself in an awkward position. Leaving Nesta with Tamlin was unwise, and Cassian would indeed flay him living if he found out he left her here with her sister’s tormentor.

But if Nesta believed she could handle it…

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” He whispered, sheathing the knife and winnowing away in one fluid movement. Nesta sighed, relieved that she could now dictate the conversation without pig-headed males puffing up their chests.

What was it Bryce had called them? ‘Alpha-holes?’

“Protecting your little alliance?” Tamlin growled, emerald eyes now trained firmly on the eldest Archeron.

“You’re operating under the assumption that I want to deal with you at all, much less fight you.” The beast narrowed his gaze at her. “I don’t need Eris riling you up, and frankly, this is actually a good opportunity.”

“For what?” The High Lord prodded, head tilting to the side in confusion.

“I know what you did for Nyx.” Nesta stated, keep her tone neutral and her hands at her sides. Tamlin paused, caught off-guard with denial already poised on his lips. Quickly, she cut him off. “Feyre was searching for him for hours. She knows that house like the back of her hand and still couldn’t find him anywhere. That, and you left shavings on his pajamas.”

Tamlin grunted at himself. How could he be so stupid as to leave his gods-damned sheddings about?

“And what do you have to say about it?” He grumbled, bracing for Nesta’s near-mythical rapier wit.

“How about thank you?” He blinked again, half inclined to check his ear to ensure nothing was in it. “Rhysand might be knocking on your door sometime soon, so I figured I’d show my gratitude before he mucks it all up.”

“Gratitude for what? He’s not yours.” Tamlin replied, looking down as he scraped his claw against the ground.

“He’s my nephew.” And a chance to have someone in the family who doesn’t despise her on some level. At least, she hoped that would be the case; Rhysand was a master of pouring just the right amount of honey and poison to craft a specific vision, and she often found herself lamenting about how one day, the happy Nyx—who she gave up her powers to save along with Feyre—would disdain her for all the Inner Circle held her accountable for.

But that worry was reserved for another day.

“You’re…different.” The High Lord noted, finally shifting from his prep to lunge to a seated position. “You’re not as…bad-tempered.”

Nesta practically laughed; what a nice way to say ‘not as much a vicious bitch’.

“Things change, High Lord. I’ve recently learned the world is much bigger than we think, and that all this scheming and politicking on this pitiful little continent is nothing more than a waste of time.” Nesta thought back to just a short time ago, about Bryce and her world, the Asteri, her time with Ember and the small kindnesses Bryce’s mother had offered. The squabbling here in Prythian left it weak, vulnerable, and it was by Nesta’s blind faith alone that Bryce had the chance to take on the Asteri and save both of their realms.

She had resolved to start getting things back on track a long time ago, and if that meant dealing with her sister’s vicious ex-lover—be it solving things diplomatically or mowing him down for someone else to take his place—then so be it.

Gwyn and Emerie urged her to give the former a try before the latter; taking on the Blood Rite was one thing, but as strong as they were together, taking on a High Lord was a fool’s errand, even for people as seasoned as Cassian or Azriel.

“Your court borders the mortal lands, meaning like it or not, you’re an arbiter of what comes in and what goes through. I may be fae now, but I still care about the humans, and while it may not look like it, I engage in these meetings out of a hope that I can get something out of it that will let me help them in some way.”

Tamlin gave a hollow laugh. “Eris Vanserra and the Autumn Court are the last people to ever give a damn about humans.”

“I know, that's why it’s important to keep an eye on them the most.” Tamlin blinked at Nesta’s claim. “When you’re gathering allies or resources that are sympathetic to your cause, that doesn’t mean you ignore your biggest opposition. I figured a High Lord would know that.” The beast bristled at her last comment, but Nesta reeled her fangs back in.

“And despite what you may have done to my sister after she di-,” She paused to correct herself, “After she changed, I remember that you filled our father’s coffers and let us regain our nobility, when you could have left us out in the cold to starve and die. You let Feyre come back to us, even though it meant eternal imprisonment for you and your people. And you made sure Nyx got back from his little adventure safe and sound.”

Nesta brushed a hair behind her ear. “A person who does all that can’t be all bad.”

Tamlin glanced down at the grass, thinking hard on Nesta’s words. Nesta’s. Supposedly the most vicious of the Archeron sisters. This whole conversation was almost surreal, and he felt a strain in his chest that felt an awful lot like…hope?

“I’m going to go now.” Nesta stated, waiting for a reaction before calling her powers to winnow her away. If Tamlin still pounced on her after all this, she was going to be really disappointed.

But no. Tamlin simply let his stare rise to meet hers again, before turning to walk away. “Have your meetings somewhere else.” He murmured, Nesta chuffing as the shadows carried her back to the Night Court.

#acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar critical #nesta archeron #pro nesta #nesta acotar #neris #nesta x eris #eris vanserra #tamlin #pro tamlin #night court critical #healing arc #tamlin redemption arc #tamlin healing arc #cassian

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throwawayasoiafaccount · 5 months

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literally so done with rhaegar antis at this point. we know practically nothing about this character besides all the good things other characters say about him and the fact that robert baratheon hates him and says things about rhaegar that ned disagrees with. and robert baratheon is a pos so being hated by him only does favors for rhaegar’s character imo.

but somehow all these characters who think well of rhaegar are just lying. even though almost all of the characters who have spoken/thought well of rhaegar come from different families and have different allegiances. make it make sense. explain it to me like i’m five. what do jamie and ned have to gain by thinking positively about rhaegar? what about jorah? and barristan?

seriously. stop with the “prophecy obsessed freak” and the “rhaegar was mad” bs. none of this is supported in the books.

for 1) the prophecy is real! this is a fantasy series! and it’s very likely that jon snow (his likely son) is one of the azor ahai/prince that was promised figures! the other completely certain azor ahai figure is his own sister! so yes this prophecy seems to be centered around rhaegar’s family.

2) rhaegar being “mad” is not supported whatsoever. prophecies and magic are very real in asoiaf. so believing/trying to figure out prophecies is not an act of a madman. if anything, we should praise rhaegar for having the foresight to be actively concerned about this world ending threat! he was right. and one mention, if not the first mention, of the song of ice and fire comes from a vision in the house of the undying… from rhaegar. please remember what the title of this series is…

now, it is fair to criticize rhaegar for how he treated elia at the tourney at harrenhall. he was wrong there and that was a terrible thing to do to elia. however, saying that rhaegar was awful to elia throughout their whole marriage is not supported. and saying that rhaegar was awful to his children is not supported at all.

also, getting angry at a fictional character for needing a son to secure the succession to the throne is hilarious, especially since it was necessary for not just rhaegar, but also for elia to secure their own positions at court. they both needed a male heir, but elia needed to have a son more than rhaegar to secure her position. so why are people so mad that rhaegar and elia had aegon? andal tradition says that a son comes before a daughter and a daughter before an uncle… but aerys had viserys to threaten rhaegar with because aerys was king and had the power to change the succession. having aegon was very important for both rhaegar and elias futures and protected rhaenys position as well. just look at what happened to alys karstark when all of her male brothers were gone. she was almost usurped by her uncle. do you really think aerys would let the throne pass to a girl? aerys??

anyways, we don’t know enough about rhaegar and elias relationship to actually make any concrete statements about them, but, from danys house of the undying vision of rhaegar and (likely) elia, their relationship seemed fine and they seemed open with each other. not every marriage of duty ends in nedcat and five kids, but their marriage was clearly far from the robert and cersei nightmare.

another thing rhaegar antis love to harp about is how he is a pedophile. i’m literally so sick of it. rhaegar, someone who seemingly struggled with some form of depression, finally found some joy outside of a marriage of duty. the author himself called rhaegar a love struck prince. ned never thinks ill of rhaegar, even though if the stories robert baratheon would have us believe were true then ned would be the first character who thinks rhaegar is some sort of monster. but ned doesn’t. back to the pedo argument… anyways i have issues with the age gap as well. but i know where to lay my criticism. with george. he’s weird about ages and it pisses me off. however, i won’t let this change the way i see a character, especially since westeros doesn’t have any age of consent laws.

god just criticize george already.

but to be clear, rhaegar, a tragic character who died trying to protect his family, who’s daughter hid underneath his bed for protection, is not some monster. he was born in grief, lived in grief, found some joy, and died whispering the name of the woman he loved. that’s sad. and it’s horrible that he’s blamed for his family’s deaths even though he fought and died trying to protect them. and then robert baratheon sat on his throne and drunk and whored the realm into debt. thank you mr. boar. and good riddance. cersei slayed with this one.

now if you want to blame someone for the war and what came after, then blame aerys for his cruelty. blame brandon for his foolishness. blame robert for his warmongering. blame tywin for his monstrous actions. blame gregor and amory for their terrible violence.

stop blaming the guy who died trying to protect his loved ones.

and tbh, we literally have so little knowledge of what happened before the rebellion and after harrenhall. we just don’t know what happened between rhaegar and lyanna besides what george has told us and whatever small scraps we get in the book. we don’t know if it was a rash decision or if there was some plan in place when rhaegar and lyanna ran off. we just don’t know.

so please stop treating your headcanons like canon facts. especially when your headcanon isn’t supported anywhere in the books! it’s so tiring to see! i get it! you hate this character! whatever! but stop acting like what you’re saying is canon!

rhaegar is simply a ghost haunting the narrative. but his legacy lives on in dany and (likely) jon. and both of them are saviors fighting the good fight. and based on the descriptions we have of rhaegar, i can say that he’s likely very proud of his sister and son.

#i hate you jon snow and dany antis #i hate you rhaegar antis #way to warp characters #literally so done it’s so annoying to see at this point #this is a fantasy story sorry you can’t wrap your head around someone taking a prophecy seriously and being right about said prophecy #well he didn’t get it right at first but he easily changed his mind about who the prophecy was about #this literally contradicts any argument that rhaegar had delusions of grandeur since he was clearly rational enough to change his mind #sleep deprived lol #where are the good metas about rhaegar i hate seeing antis doing surface lvl analysis’s of this guy in order to paint him in the worst light #ppl love complex characters until they get to rhaegar and dany and suddenly we’re talking modern morals and higher standards like wth #when jon learns the truth ppl are gonna do 180s on him and suddenly he can’t make any mistakes either #george pls release winds and save my poor eyes from these horrible garbage takes #i’m getting kinda mean here i’m just in a bad mood sry lol #anti sansa stans #anti elia stans #just in case lololo #rhaegar targaryen #asoiaf fandom critical #asoiaf #rip rhaenys your dad loved you so much rip elia fly high queen rip rhaegar and lyanna your love story was too epic so george had to snuff it #aegon may be alive? it’s jaqen…….. lol i probably lost all credibility with this one

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sapphire-weapon · 1 year

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Not to rattle the cages, but for all of their so called, "sexual tension", Leon and Ada have a startling lack of intimacy. Everything they find out about each other most likely is learned from reading sterile, impersonal dossiers and not from any meaningful conversation.

And the only quality time they did have with each other took place completely off-screen and it's not even entirely clear what happened because it was only referenced in a single blink-and-you'll-miss-it throwaway line of dialogue in Damnation. (I'm willing to concede that it's likely they banged, but it's also just as likely that Ada blueballed him and ran off, because her follow-up question of "You're angry with me, aren't you?" doesn't make sense if he actually came LMAO But that's beside the point.)

But... at the same time... I don't think it's that simple. There's more to it than that.

God, I'm really about to make a case for Aeon, aren't I? Damn my dedication to this series's canon. Let's think of this post as the Aeon haters' guide to understanding Aeon, because it's fucking canon whether we like it or not. Goddamn it.

To start off, there's a difference between knowing someone well and being intimate with them. I've talked in the past about how intimate Luis's death scene was in RE4make, and Leon and Luis knew barely anything about each other at the time of his death. But that doesn't take away from the intimacy of the scene.

I feel like a similar principle applies to Leon and Ada.

Ada was with Leon throughout the majority of what was objectively the worst night of his life. Nothing else comes close to Raccoon City in terms of what it did to Leon -- no matter how much greater of a threat he faces logistically, it's still not as bad as what happened to him in Raccoon City. So, Ada knows Leon in ways that no one else in the series does.

Claire got a glimpse of the old Leon -- arguably, the "real" Leon -- but that's all it was. A glimpse. They weren't together long enough for her to really get to see what made him tick or to understand the perspective he was bringing into the city with him -- but Ada got to see all of that. And there's an intimacy to that all on its own -- especially when you consider that, after RE2, Leon starts building walls around himself made of machismo and bad one-liners that eventually wash away beneath a sea of liquor, which then dampens and darkens everything around it.

But no matter how fast he tries to run from himself, or how many walls he tries to put up, or how hard he tries to become someone else, there's still one person in his life who has seen and remembers who Leon S. Kennedy really is, and her name is Ada Wong.

He's allowed himself to be weak in front of her, to fail in front of her, to get frustrated and angry and overwhelmed around her -- and there is a real intimacy in that kind of vulnerability. And not once has she ever judged him for it or held it over his head or tried to harp on him about how he's changed -- because, to her, he hasn't changed. She can see through all of those new defense mechanisms he's put in place and knows that the core of who he still is is still intact. So, she silently allows him to work through whatever it is that he needs to work through while still trusting that he'll always be who he's always been -- and that's pretty fucking powerful, honestly.

And that's why he feels like he can't let her go -- because he's afraid that, if he does, he'll be letting go of the very last piece of himself that's still alive and holding on from before all the trauma set in.

The sad reality of the ship, though, is that that's not true. If Leon were to let Ada go, he wouldn't be letting go of his old self. Because, while Ada has seen the old Leon -- has met and known and spoken with him -- she is not what's keeping the memory of the old Leon alive; she is not the actual bearer of his legacy. Sherry is.

Even though Sherry wasn't around Leon nearly as much as Ada was and didn't get to know him the same way, that doesn't matter. What Leon doesn't see is that he didn't give up who he was because of Ada. He gave up who he was because of Sherry. He did it for her sake -- to save and protect and take care of her.

That's why he almost breaks down and cries when he sees her for the first time in RE6, when he's never done that when reuniting with Ada. It's because Sherry is carrying with her so many of the pieces of Leon that he left behind in order to properly fill the role of a federal agent. Doing what he did for her makes him more of a father to her than William Birkin ever was, and Sherry knows this. That's why she didn't think twice about following in his footsteps and jumping at the opportunity to become an agent herself -- and, to do that, she trusts Derek goddamn Simmons when she really shouldn't have, but she does it because she's still carrying the old Leon's optimism and trustfulness and faith in humanity. Again: she's following in Leon's footsteps, and the old Leon is the only Leon she ever really knew. Even if she didn't know him nearly as well as Ada did.

I think, on some unconscious level buried deep within his psyche, Leon knows this -- but it's a reality that's too painful to face, so he doesn't. Instead, he projects all of that shit onto Ada, because it's easier that way. Besides, he's been doing it for so long already, so why stop now? There's comfort in the familiar, and Ada is nothing if not familiar.

But, to go back to what I was saying earlier about Ada trusting that Leon will always be who he's always been -- that's also why he believes in her in RE6 when no one else does. Part of it is his projections about his past self and all that bullshit, but there's also an element of... "she would do the same for me." Because she has. She's been doing it for years.

And in that specific regard, there is a real maturity to their relationship that doesn't really get enough attention or praise from the fanbase. The whole "sexual tension" thing is stupid, and you're right to point it out in your ask as being stupid, because Leon and Ada's relationship isn't about sex -- and it shouldn't be! And that's why that line in Damnation is so fucking pointless and stupid AND I HATE IT lmao Leon and Ada's relationship is about two people who accept and trust each other without judgement, even when they really shouldn't.

NOW.

WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID.

EVERYTHING I JUST WROTE OUT IN THAT HUGE WALL OF TEXT IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO THE OG STORYLINE. THE REMAKES DO SOMETHING VERY, VERY DIFFERENT WITH LEON AND ADA. And honestly, the massive changes to their relationship are really the #1 major reason why I believe the remakes are a completely different timeline of events -- because so much of what I just said is not fucking true for the remake versions of Leon and Ada. It's just straight up not true.

Remake Leon does not accept Remake Ada for who she is (he literally asks her to fucking change, for god's sake!! LMAO), and he definitely does not fucking trust her. RE4make basically erased the canonicity of Leon/Ada as a romantic relationship. It's not there anymore; it's no longer a canon romance; it's gone. If it's anything still at all, it's one-sided unrequited Ada having fallen for Leon, and him not being able to get away from her fast enough.

But that doesn't mean that their relationship is lacking in intimacy.

We've talked before about how Remake Leon is touch-starved as fuck -- and touch seems to be his love language. And while Leon is greedy and sneaky with the touches he steals from Ashley in RE4make, none of those little touches that the two of them pass back and forth come anywhere close to Ada's touches in RE2make.

The scene between them on the shuttle is very intimate -- and not just because she kisses him. It's the way she sits so close to him, the way she leans into him, the way she keeps a hand on his knee and gently caresses it with her thumb. It's the way they both speak in more hushed tones, the way she tries to be soothing with the tone of her voice. It's how she kisses him -- close-lipped and gentle, meant only to ease his anxiety and quiet his mind (and also get him to shut the fuck up for two goddamn seconds. god I respect her so much for this LMAO).

And not just that scene, but it's also present in the way she patches him up after he gets shot. We don't get to see it, but if you look again at Leon's bandages? She had to strip him the fuck down in order to do that LMAO home girl was sitting there unbuttoning his shirt and going "this sucks he's unconscious this isn't even fun. pain in the ass." And when he wakes up? Sure, she's gone, but he definitely knows that she had to have been all up in his business in order to do what she did -- and she left her coat behind with him as a fucking blanket and I'm sorry but that's so cute. IT'S CUTE. I'LL ADMIT IT. But it was probably a moment for him of "Wow. She really cares." -- because, again, touch is his love language. AND BOY DID SHE DO THAT A WHOLE FUCKIN LOT.

So, basically.

What I'm trying to say is.

Leon and Ada's relationship is poorly written and poorly executed and I hate it for a myriad of reasons, most of which involve the fact that it limits Ada's character and waters her down to a really unnecessary degree, but... I can't bring myself to say that there's no there there. Are they the hot and sexy spy vs spy ship that the director of Damnation desperately wanted us to believe they are? Absolutely fucking not. Is the ship predicated on only semi-resolved sexual tension? Also fucking no.

Does any of that actually matter...? Again... No. It doesn't matter. There is something to it. Even if they are still mostly strangers to each other, knowing facts about each other isn't what's important about their relationship. It's knowing who the other is at their core that's important.

At least, in OG.

In Remake, Leon can't fucking stand her by the time of RE4. And if anyone tries to say otherwise, they're fucking delusional.

Though I honestly believe that if either version of Ada learned more about who Leon was in the day-to-day, she'd probably like him a whole lot less. Leon, shave your face and stop drinking and why are the fucking Beastie Boys playing in your car when you're driving to work and holy shit are you really watching Casino for the third time this week oh my god

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #leon kennedy #ada wong #meta analysis #AND NOW I NEVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS SHIP AGAIN

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lasthopesolo · 1 year

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maybe human is not such a bad thing to be

Rhaegar Targaryen has been named his father's regent, and plans on starting his regency with a royal procession through the Seven Kingdoms. With the Defiance of Duskendale still fresh in everyone's mind, the Silver Prince finds now is the opportune time to introduce the realm to a new dragon in an attempt to heal the divide between the Crown and its subjects, both highborn and lowborn alike. That he has to find a wife is the least of his worries, instead focusing on strengthening the kingdom for the threats to come.

In the farthest reaches of Westeros, Lyanna Stark enjoys her last days of freedom as the looming threat of marriage grows bigger and bigger. With news that a royal procession will be making its way to Winterfell in a few moons' time, Lyanna views the upcoming pomp and circumstance as one last hoorah before she is forced away from the only home she's ever known for the sake of duty and honor.

As a wild girl and a melancholic boy meet, their world changes. For theirs is the song of ice and fire

rated M ; 139k words ; chapters 21/?

𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝; 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. “𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

He did not notice how Rickard Stark watched their entire interaction intently, nor did he hear a bench scrape along the stone floor as his cousin abruptly stood up in a fury. Rhaegar did not notice the look Brandon gave him or the look he shared with his only sister. Rhaegar ignored the din of whispers traveling across the hall as the prince led their beloved lady to a line with the other dancers. He only focused on the feel of her hand, so small and cold, between his; he wondered if his callouses bothered her, if she minded the way he swiped his thumb in soft circles on the top of her hand. He wanted to know more than anything what thoughts crossed her mind as they moved in tandem to the soft swells of fiddles and harps.

The dance was southron, no doubt chosen with him in mind, but more sorrowful than normally played at festivities. Rhaegar found it suited the situation. There was power behind the emotions created and evoked by the bards, a power that matched the pull he felt to this woman he barely knew but could not get enough of. He relished in the feel of her in his hands as he guided them expertly throughout the other couples who braved to join them. His hand splayed out across the small of her back, his long fingers touching either side of her; he brought her as close as he dared, thrilled she did nothing to widen the gap between their bodies.

Rhaegar did not think it possible to be so invigorated because of a dance, but Lyanna Stark changed that for him. It was all about the right partner, the one who would undoubtedly heighten the shared experience. Neither of them spoke, content to let the heavy silence cover them the longer they stood close. It was too fragile, too new, this thing forming between them. Words had the potential to destroy it, and neither of them dared to risk it. The large amber drew his attention to her neck; he imagined gently unclasping the heavy stone and exposing the smooth, unblemished skin beneath. His eyes flickered to her mouth as he thought of placing feather light kisses to her neck.

Their shared silence permeated the atmosphere, shifting the mood with them for one brief second. The last notes of the dance floated in the night air before disappearing with the wind. No one dared breathe, aware that something poignant was shared between the couple dancing at the center. The importance of that moment would not be understood for decades to come, but people would look back at the first dance shared between the dragon prince and the wolf maiden as when they were set upon the path of their destinies.

Lyanna smiled brightly at him, easing the tension between them. Soon the sound of applause threatened to deafen him and people crowded around him and Lyanna. Hands clamped on his shoulders, but Rhaegar could only feel the absence of her in his hands. There was a warmth that was cruelly ripped away from him; now aware of what he was missing, there was no way he would be able to part with it so easily. His arm lifted, fingers hesitantly brushing the edges of her long hair.

Her smile was much sweeter this time, soft edges dressed in pink and meant only for him. Rhaegar’s heart caught in his throat and he smiled dumbly at her, his words lost to him for perhaps the first time in his life. He knew Oswell and Arthur were sharing a laugh at his expense somewhere in the crowd.

“You’re an excellent dancer,” she said, bunching her skirts into a fist as she tilted her head towards the table. She said nothing else, only turning away and walking towards her table without sparing a glance to see if he had caught on. Rhaegar’s long strides allowed him to catch up with her quickly, skimming the soft satin of her dress. He noticed the edge of a ribbon peeking out from the thick curtain of her hair; he flexed his hand at his side, not daring to touch her so familiarly despite thinking of doing precisely that.

#rhaegar x lyanna #rhaegar targaryen #lyanna stark #asoiafedit #asoiaf fic #rhaelya #my writing #mhinsabttb #house targaryen #house stark

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ladye-zelda · 4 months

Note

Warriors angsting corner

Folktales

The cursed Deity

There’s more I want to ask about but… I haven’t caught up to anything you’ve already asked

XD No worries; I have updated the list to put check marks on the ones that I have done so that way it would be easier for everyone XD (and for myself too)

Warriors angsting corner

This was really meant to be a dump of stories to inflict pain upon our pretty knight (inspired by Silver) but I only have one thing on there called the Orphaned Knights AU and I swear I don't remember writing this XD Its one of those fics where all of the Chain just adopts each other I think lol

There really isn't a good place for a WIP (since it's all written like a summary except it's freaking long) and the short of it is Wars, Sky, Wild, Hyrule, and Wind are orphans; Twilight and Four are siblings and the sons of Time except Four lives with Time's adopted father for some reason; Time goes back to the military to fight monsters, Twilight sneaks out and joins the army to find him where he ends up meeting Warriors there; Sky, Wild, and Hyrule end up joining the military and Four and Legend become blacksmiths for them as well.

Yeah I have no idea where this fic was going lol

Folktales, but Zelda

This was kind of inspired by @/telemna-hyelle's own Zeldafied-folktale and I just wanted to make some of my own XD

The only one that I have in this doc is selkie Legend, largely inspired by the song "The Maiden and the Selkie" by Heather Dale

It was forbidden for a selkie to come upon land. It was made common among the seal-folk of the dangers of living on land outside of their seal form. If they were to stay on land past the stroke of midnight, they would surely die. But just because it was forbidden, didn’t mean it didn’t happen often. Legend had often admired the above world. He had spent more time on land than any of his other brethren, collecting trinkets and watching the usual passer-by from the safety of the beach. That was, until she came. People who passed by Legend unaware often spoke of the lady. A woman with red hair, dressed in island blue, with a voice that chimed like a harp. She had been walking along the beach while Legend was up there in his human form. He had stopped collecting trinkets as he stared at her with awe as the strange woman strolled along the beach, singing sweetly. Oftentimes she would stop to make friendly conversation with the seagulls. They seemed to talk back to her; a charm usually possessed by faery folk like he.

The Cursed Deity

Honestly have no idea where this fic was going too, but I had written something for this one XD

The threat that surrounded Hyrule was too great not to check out for herself. Princess Zelda, alongside Link, journeyed far into the woods not long after the strange attacks started. Monsters covered in a strange, dark malice had been attacking the nearby villages and towns. Already one has been massacred before the monsters had cleared the area, and Princess Zelda wasn’t going to allow it again. She was always on her guard, staring daggers into the shadows around her. They were lucky enough not to run into too much trouble, despite heading deep into the heart of this problem. It could only mean that something bigger was on the horizon. Link pressed a hand onto Zelda’s clenched fists, that she didn’t even know were clenched. She looked down and relaxed a little, repositioning one of her hands so she was holding his. They looked into each other’s eyes and he gave a comforting nod. She was with Link. She had no reason to be afraid while he’s around. Then why was she so afraid? They rode for a little longer until the woods started to thin. Black, charred tree logs replaced what was once green, and soon enough their horses’ feet were crunching through dead grass. The trail ended in a sloping drop to an endless valley of death. She could hardly believe her eyes as she showed her steed into a stop. What had once been a beautiful meadow on her map was now gone. Large rocks of inky blackness covered the map, which sent an uncomfortable chill down Zelda’s spine. Right in the middle of the cluster of rocks, looked to be a statue of some kind, glowing eerily with a black light. The hero and the princess dismounted from their horses, looking into the valley beyond. “That must be the source there,” Zelda said, pointing to the statue. “The Master Sword should be enough to—” Suddenly, the Master Sword was placed in Zelda’s hands. “Link, what are you doing?” the princess asked. “I’m going to go check it out,” he said, “take this, and run if anything bad happens.” He gave her the Hylian shield before sliding down into the valley below. Zelda called out to Link, but it was too late. He couldn’t hear her voice once he made it to the bottom, and headed carefully to the stone statue.

#the ladye answers #amazing aj!!!#wip ask game

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agonycrossbow · 7 months

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Let's think of this post as the Aeon haters' guide to understanding Aeon, because it's fucking canon whether we like it or not. Goddamn it.

To start off, there's a difference between knowing someone well and being intimate with them. Luis's death scene was very intimate in RE4make, and Leon and Luis knew barely anything about each other at the time of his death. But that doesn't take away from the intimacy of the scene.

I feel like a similar principle applies to Leon and Ada.

NOW.

WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID.

But that doesn't mean that their relationship is lacking in intimacy.

So, basically.

What I'm trying to say is.

At least, in OG.

In Remake, Leon can't fucking stand her by the time of RE4. And if anyone tries to say otherwise, they're fucking delusional.

#resident evil meta #aeon analysis #leon characterization #ada characterization #OG RE analysis

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blobracing · 9 months

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2) Splinter of the Mind's Eye, by Alan Dean Foster

Featuring classic scifi’s issues with women and racism, “He Would Not Fucking Say That”, and more . . . .

Splinter has lived in infamy with me for a while: I didn’t like it as a kid, when pretty much anything with the Star Wars label would get a mild thumbs-up at worst. The complaints I’ve repeated to myself from that time was that I didn’t like the prose, it felt like something was wrong with the characters, and every chapter– or scene change– would end with a trailing ellipsis. You can set your watch by it.

I’m not sure it would be worth it to harp on things I dislike about the prose now– even those ellipses strike me as kind of charming, in that they feel left over from conventions about serialized adventures ending in cliffhangers. Like, it’s not to my taste, but who’s it hurting?

In scrolling through the first pages of Goodreads reviews to see if I could snag more succinct blurbs and pawn off some of the work, I noticed that none of the reviewers mention any of the physical violence, condescension, or sexual threats made against Leia. I don’t mean to pearl-clutch, and I’m the last person to worry about or condemn “problematic” writing, but there’s something about the more-explicit-than-casual sexism going unaddressed in a Star Wars novel that feels… weird. There’s an argument to be made that Splinter is essentially a pulpy scifi novel, that the concept of “a Star Wars novel” with all the caveats of adhering to canon (or keeping romance very courtly and mostly chaste) didn’t exist yet. Foster was set the task to write a follow-up for Star Wars following the genre conventions of the time.

Unfortunately, those conventions suck. Leia pendulums between Annoying Princess and Active Obstacle, Luke is full of derring-do, better ideas, and in the last half of the book seems to be getting paid by the word. No aliens have speaking roles, and come in three varieties of Savage– Pathetic, Useful, and Too-Primitive-To-Be-Truly-Noble. Vader is verbose (boo), briefly sexually threatening ( 👀) and ultimately a blathering fool not that far off from the throwaway Imperial commander antagonist that wastes a lot of our time earlier in the novel.

So, let’s get into it. We’ll do the world’s fastest plot summary, get into why the characterization fails and the silliest examples of it, and maybe I’ll have finally worked this splinter out from under my skin.

PLOT SPEEDRUN:

Luke and Leia are on their way to a planet to negotiate its support for the Rebel Alliance. They crashland on a nearby planet, find a secret Imperial mining colony, and are drawn into helping a Mysterious Eccentric Old Woman find a legendary Force-enhancing crystal. They’re briefly captured by the Imperials, break free with the help of two aliens, run from a giant worm and fall into an underground labyrinth of caves that ends in a long-abandoned city. Ritual fight to establish dominance over the “primitive natives,” Vader shows up, there’s a firefight, they find the temple with the crystal, Luke fights a beast, Vader shows up again, final fight, Vader gets dropped down a hole and the crystal revives Luke from death so he can heal Leia, done.

Wookieepedia has a more in-depth summary if you’d prefer a nittier gritty.

It’s a little meandering, and has the cadence of a couple sessions of D&D where there are only two players and a DM with more setting ideas than story beats. The setting of a boggy planet full of ancient temples waiting to be explored and underground caves full of mysteries and aliens kinda fucks, and it feels like there may be some of Dagobah’s DNA in the descriptions of the swamp filled with alien birdcalls. (The Force-sensitive eccentric “oldster” [one of Al’s favorite words] Halla bears only a passing resemblance to Yoda in that Luke sort of forcibly adopts her as a mentor figure and she loves to lie.)

OKAY COOL WHATEVER GET TO THE PART WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT LEIA:

As one of three returning “"canon”” characters and one of two main protagonists, Leia gets a lot of airtime and really doesn’t do much in the first half of the book besides scold Luke for acting sensibly but against her sensibilities, worry about the wrong things and get corrected for it, and get slapped either literally or by the narrative. It’s difficult to try and remember that at the time this was written, there wasn’t a large corpus of work that helped flesh out her character and give her agency and respect– but I don’t think that’s really an excuse. In Splinter, she’s frequently shrill and stuffy, infantilized, and in turns both naive but somehow knowing more than Luke– although his instincts usually prove to be right over her experience.

Goodreads reviewers correctly note that the sexual tension between Luke and Leia is pushed hard and makes the reveal in Empire that they’re siblings… complicated. Luke/Leia has legs as a ship and I’m not about to deny it, but unfortunately the things that would make it interesting or compelling– the separation and then reuniting, both of them giving Han grief, the tension and intimacy granted by their potential bond through the Force– are best left in the hands of fic writers, since obviously it would never be even remotely embraced in canon. Foster’s take on Luke’s attraction to Leia is blithely and standardly horny in a boring way. After a day of trudging through the swamp and Leia harping at him, they huddle together for warmth at a campfire.

“Then he happened to glance down at his companion’s face. It was not the face of a Princess and a Senator or of a leader of the Rebel Alliance, but instead that of a chilled child. Moistly parted in sleep, her lips seemed to beckon to him. He leaned closer, seeking refuge from the damp green and brown of the swamp in that hypnotic redness.

He hesitated, pulled back. [...]

His assignment was to protect her. [...] He would do it out of respect and admiration and possibly out of the most powerful of emotions, unrequited love.

He would even defend her from himself, he determined tiredly. In five minutes he was fast asleep. . . .”

Damn, dude. The hypnotic redness? This part mostly stands out to me as being purple prose and a relic of “ohoho, this was back before we knew they were twins” writing– cherry on top being the idea of her as a “chilled child,” and the weird sort of babydoll innocent-sexy convention that we all know by now. It’s not worth excoriating Foster for this, we all know the real ways that it sucks and the tiredness of it as a fictional trope. It does tie into a lot of her (mis)characterization and irrationality in Splinter.

Later, the two have snuck into the Imperial mining town after stealing some mining duds to blend in (which Luke steals, because Leia refuses to. Yeah, Leia ‘famously worried about personal property’ Organa.) and are getting something to eat at a tavern. Luke’s made a point to tell Leia to walk differently, to put dirt on her face, to disguise her regal bearing, but attentions from an officer make her anxious.

“They do suspect!” she whispered tightly. She started to stand. “I’ve had enough, Luke. Let’s get out of here.”

“We can’t rush off, especially if we’re being watched,” he countered. “Don’t panic, Princess.”

“I said I’m leaving, Luke.” Nervous, she started to turn and leave.

Without realizing what he was doing, he reached out, slapped her hard across the face, and as heads turned in their direction said loudly, “No favors for you until I’m finished eating!”

One hand went to her burning cheek. Wide-eyed and voiceless, the Princess slowly sat back down. Luke frantically attacked his steak as the uniformed Imperial sauntered over to them, backed by the attendant at a discreet distance.”

Luke spins them a tale of how she’s a servant he bought and is still breaking in, and they buy it and congratulate him on his taste.

“It was the first logical thing I could think of,” he insisted. “Besides, it explains you as well as anything could.” He sounded pleased. “No one will question you once the word gets around.”

Like, what happened to protecting her hypnotic redness? What makes this even more dumb and insidious bad is that occasionally, the story will cue us that Luke is being prompted by the Force to do things, even his hunches are usually correct, and none of his plans completely fail. The servant story is bought until they’re brought before the Imperial boss of the place, who proceeds to beat Leia until Luke spins him another story that’s miraculously believed.

Beyond the shittiness of Wormie Skywalker, who has now been portrayed by doe-eyed cat-cuddler Mark Hamill, slapping Leia and then propping it up with a cover story, it’s the fact that he never faces any prompting from the narrative that this was, perhaps, shitty!

When they’re outside, Leia kicks his shins to get back at him and he then instigates a mud-throwing fight– yeah– that evolves into wrestling in the mud– yeah, no, yeah– that gets to the point where local roughnecks show up to join in and try to get in on assaulting Leia once they see that she’s Beautiful Woman. That leads to their Imperial capture and drags the plot along by the barest of sinews.

Blah blah, Leia is ogled and beat by the bog-standard Imperial Badguy officer, yadda yadda, thrown in a prison cell, Luke befriends the Yuzzems while Leia does nothing. Officer Badguy returns briefly to inform them that he’s called his bosses and an Imperial Governor will be by soon– which, interestingly but unsurprisingly, sends Leia into a panic attack.

“Imperial governors don’t take an interest in common thieves, Luke,” she whispered tightly. Something was clutching at her throat. “I’ll be interrogated again… like that time… that time.” She broke away, threw herself up against the back wall of the cell.

That time back on the Death Star. Small black worms crawled through her head. [...] The remorseless black machine, illegal, concocted by twisted Imperial scientists in defiance of every code, legal and moral.

[...] Screaming, screaming, screaming never to stop she was…

Something hit her hard. She blinked, burned to see Luke looking at her, worried. She slid down to sit up against the wall.”

Nothing in the text contradicts the implication that Luke slaps her out of her panic attack.

Later, she has some kind of screaming fit in the underground caverns and berates herself for missing a shot against Darth Vader in the middle of a fight. I could keep transcribing passages but like, I’m hoping you get the idea.

Her one moment of sort-of triumph is when she takes up Luke’s lightsaber to duel Darth Vader– Luke has his leg trapped under a rock like on the cover and is momentarily out of commission. She surprises him at first but then spends the rest of the fight being wounded and toyed with until Luke is ready to get tagged back in. She dies? Or something maybe? And then gets healed– no scars, thank god, can you imagine if she wasn’t fuckable– wakes up, and has no speaking lines after wondering what happens to Threepio and Artoo. The old woman with a heart of gold gets cajoled into the Rebellion by Luke and everyone laughs.

It sucks. It sucks! It’s so clearly just Default Woman Character and not informed by Carrie Fisher’s performance or anything other than the laxest tropes in adventure novel writing. And it’s not just her. This is nowhere more evident than the fact that Leia is characterized as not knowing how to swim– but Luke does.

OH SHIT, WHAT ABOUT LUKE?

Luke who? Luke Skywalker doesn’t exist here in any recognizable form. This is distilled perfectly in the last fourth of the book after he’s won his duel against a “primitive alien warrior.” Imagine this falling out of his cute little twink mouth:

“Don’t you understand?” [Leia] asked brightly. “You won. We can all go free now. That is,” she continued in a more subdued voice, staring around at the silent crowd and trying not to show any fear, “we can if these creatures have any sense of honor.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Leia,” he advised her, wiping water from his face. “Canu has judged, remember? Besides, it takes many thousands of years of advanced technological development for a society to reduce honor to an abstract moral truism devoid of real meaning.”

AND… THE RACISM?

Right, whoops. Let’s see– our three kinds of indians– I mean, uh, natives– I mean, native aliens! I meant aliens. The three kinds: pathetic, useful, and too-primitive-to-be-truly-noble.

Pathetic: Local humanoid-but-furry aliens are seen speaking in broken English and begging Imperials for liquor. See: the firewater myth and stereotype of the Drunken Indian.

Useful: Luke and Leia meet two almost-humanoid-and-furry, ultra-strong Yuzzems, Hin and Kee, who were also imprisoned by the Imperials for accidentally signing themselves in slavery and then getting drunk and trying to wreck the mine. They don’t have any speaking lines, and are only able to communicate through Luke. They function as a kind of “shit, we need the characters to get this resources” tool and nothing is ever learned about their personal lives or personalities beyond their ability to tear Imperials limb from limb. One of them gets gonked offscreen by Vader and the other one lives long enough to die helping Luke in the final fight. No time is spent mourning them.

Too Primitive To Be Truly Noble: In the underground city, Luke and Leia meet a settlement of humanoid-but-furry aliens called the Coway, who appear to be living in the remains of a more ‘advanced’ civilization. They challenge Luke to a ritual duel to determine if he and his captured friends should be set free, which Luke wins through an instinctive use of the Force. The Coways they kill before this point aren’t mourned by their people, and for winning the fight they throw Luke and Luke’s Friends a party. The settlement is attacked soon after by Imperials, but thanks to Luke and Luke’s Friends marshalling them, they defeat the stormtroopers. After the battle is done, the Coways kill any injured Imperials, which Leia condones and Luke finds morally repugnant.

I don’t super want to quote any of the passages illustrating how the narrative feels about these characters. It shouldn’t be shocking: old scifi is frequently as racist as it is misogynist. New scifi is frequently as racist as it is misogynist. (Shoutout to Rebel Moon, woo! Time I’ll never get back!) Part of Star Wars' genetic material is that of westerns, for good and ill.

DO WE HAVE TIME FOR HORNY DARTH VADER? WOULD THAT LIGHTEN THE MOOD? :(

“Do you remember that day back on the station,” Vader mused, with deliberate patience, “when the late Governor Tarkin and I interviewed you?” He placed a peculiar stress on the word “interviewed.”

Leia had both hands on opposite shoulders and was shivering as if from intense cold.

“Yes,” Vader observed, perverse amusement in his voice, “I can see that you do. I am truly sorry I have nothing as elaborate to treat you to at this time. However,” he added, swinging his weapon lightly, “one can do some interesting things with a saber, you know. I’ll do my best to show you all of them if you’ll cooperate by not passing out.”

Incredible prediction of itsorlo’s steez.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My allotted “Um, Actually” for this post is pointing out that Luka and Leia navigate an underground lake by using rods of selenite as paddles on a giant lily pad– selenite is water-soluble.

The first use of “stang” as a curse word shows up– “What the Stang!” Probably my preferred Star Wars expletive, considering how goofy they get.

Oh– Leia does say “Well, darn” after missing Vader with a rifle shot.

Do I recommend it? It's an unimpressed and dispassionate no from me, bud. The things that made Foster’s work charming in the ANH novelization are fewer and farther between, and additionally now that we know who Luke and Leia are, their mischaracterization means the only thing left of interest is the worldbuilding. Even that’s shallow at best, and not remotely worth the weird racist mouthfeels and seeing Leia get shit on. There are better adventure novels, there are better scifi novels, and there are better Star Wars novels.

NEXT TIME:

Han Solo at Star's End, by Brian Daley.

#star wars #sweu read #star wars expanded universe #alan dean foster #splinter of the mind's eye #book post

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peachymilkandcream · 10 months

Note

Hello. Can you please do a part 2 of the sick Evelyn story 😊 I was thinking maybe Levi calls a doctor and during the check up the doctor notices bruises on her body. He gets suspicious and starts questioning her. Levi makes some silly excuse but he won't buy it (obviously. He is a doctor) Then Levi has to tell him to mind his own business and threatens him. The doctor understands that it would be stupid to go speak up against Levi and apologizes. But he still feels bad for Evelyn.

Levi x Evelyn -> In Sickness Part 2

(A/N: Ooh, so the only thing I changed in this is the doctor is a woman to keep with Levi's no men around my wife rule. But other than that....I might have made Doc a tad secretly rebellious....*wink wink*)

WARNINGS: implied noncon/dubcon, domestic violence mentioned, manipulation, mind breaking, misogyny, yandere themes/behaviours, violence, blackmail, Levi's a silly little guy, etc.

=============================================

Despite Evelyn trying to convince Levi that she was completely fine he insisted on asking for a professional opinion regardless. Evelyn was too much of a people pleaser, worried about being an inconvenience to anyone. He didn't give a damn about someone's time, the two of them only had one doctor, it had to be a woman with a small enough practice so that she would turn the other way with a few good threats. Plus he paid her well enough, his wife's health was worth a pretty price.

Now he stood against the doorframe with his arms crossed, even though she was a woman Levi had to ensure nothing happened. In his eyes Evelyn was such perfection and beauty that everyone wanted her to themselves, that was why he had to keep her hidden away and keep his eye on her. Although deep down he knew he had turned her into such a slut for his cock she wouldn't think of anything else, but a naive meddler might try something regardless.

"Captain?" The doctor inquired, inspecting the bruises.

"Is there a problem?"

"Sort of, can I ask how Mrs. Ackerman came to get these bruises? They're pretty bad-"

"You cannot ask."

She straightens, giving him a fierce look. "And why not?"

"Because that is mine and my wife's business. I don't pay you for your meddling."

Evelyn stared nervously between the two, she knew first hand Levi's wrath when pressed about her various injuries. Many people had come and gone that had questioned Levi's right to discipline her.

"May I talk to you in private then, Captain?"

He nods, taking her into the adjoining hallway, his stern expression still on his face. "Speak."

"What is going on here Levi? I've never seen her so pale, and those injuries. I don't question you about the consent revolving your relationship because I don't know what part of it is actually permitted and what is threatened- but-"

"Can you shut up about that for once in your damn life? That's all your harp me on when it doesn't fucking matter."

She sneers. "I have many opinions on that, but I won't get into them all now. And I really don't want to ask if you've been hitting her because I'm sure I already know the answer." His silence confirms her suspicions, making her angrier. "You mark my words Levi-"

"No, you mark my words woman- if you so much as breathe so much as one word of this to anyone, it won't be about money it will be your life."

"Are you threatening me-?"

"That's a promise."

"If you think I'll get scared by your words-"

"You should be. I'll give you unimaginable hell, so much that you'll wish for the death that will never come. I do whatever the hell I want with my wife, and I won't hear some paper pushing old bat who forgot her use meddling in with her opinions. I pay you for your medical advice, and if you can't provide that then we'll have another conversation."

She opens her mouth to say something else, but quickly shuts it. He has a point, with his influence and reputation he could put much more than just her life in jeopardy. Maybe she couldn't directly help Evelyn, what the girl needed now was time. Time to escape and get somewhere far away from him. And when she escaped she would have at least one friend on the outside who would help her.

"Alright Levi, I'm sorry. I won't question you again. Please just let me finish putting salve on her wounds? I don't want them to get infected."

Levi takes a minute, as if reading her before nodding.

The two return to Evelyn's bedside, the doctor finishing putting salves on her wounds. "Alright my dear, you're all set for now. Just rest, and take good care of yourself." She slips a small handkerchief of pills into her hands under the covers, a little something she keeps with her for all her house visits, for dealing with wives of abusive husbands like him. "Make sure to take your medicine, and I'll come check on you again soon and I can give you more."

Evelyn seemed confused, but then understood the meaning behind her intent, the pills like hot coals in her hand. "Thank you."

She pats her hand, giving Levi a sideways glance before leaving. See if you get your way now Levi, all your precious plans will come crashing down on you.

#break me slowly #levi x oc #attack on titan #levi ackerman #levi aot #levi x reader #shingeki no kyojin #yandere levi #yandere levi x reader #yandere levi ackerman #oneshot request

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nightswithkookmin · 2 years

Text

How is this confusing?

Did they stutter?

They said those images are her personal photos , PERSONAL. That presupposes they are not only REAL PHOTOS but also that she didn't intend to share them with the public. Ergo the invasion of privacy part.

Don't be slow.

But look at how vague they tried to be by not stating explicitly which photos are real and which aren't. Note they didn't comment on the relationship rumor because they have already said that's none of their business. Great PR tactic. I hate it.

I'm relieved in part though because I genuinely was concerned about Tae's privacy and though this doesn't mention him it sends a clearer message than the crap hybe posted. That man has been suffering non stop from the relentless attacks and invasion on his privacy since the end of last year. Do you know how frustrated a man must be to forsake all respectability to threaten homicide on the internet?

Last I checked threat of violence is a crime. But he risked getting charges levelled against him. Risked getting canceled for glorifying violence. And he even threatened to sue too on top of everything💀

To put it into perspective, if any other person made those threats on the internet they would be canceled by woke cancel culture 💀

That's how bad it got for him. Tbat man was pushed to his last limits. His sanity hanging by a thread. That man is bleeding red. He's a Lion made to squeak like a mouse. Do you know how powerless that can make you feel? You just have to stand there and watch everything spin round and round. I'd lose my head and knock someone down on the streets with a truck if I were in his shoes.

I want to leak GHs address to Taehyung not gonna lie

Ill be his escape driver and stand watch for him.

Personally, I think this whole thing have been handled poorly from the start. Ignoring issues won't solve them anymore than ignoring you have herpes will cure you.

And to me my biggest concern was the breach of privacy if any these were true. It's one thing zooming and slowing down on content they've already consented to make public which is not at all what this person is doing here.

And I'm all for free speech and freedom of expression and shipping but how is any of this that? How is any of this right if it's leaving mental scars on the artists on the other end?

Like yea, I'm a hater.

I hate tuktukkers more than anything and this low key makes me giggle like an evil bat

But I kinda hate cis het straight ships and would rather read my Taejin smut in peace so I'm torn.

I get the pictures in the car and the Jeju Island rendezvous. I do. It's nothing at all compromising even though it raises the question how the hell any one got their hands on them.

But nudes??? That's where they lost me.

Miss me with the revenge porn.

That is not only morally wrong, that's a tort too. Crossed several lines with that one. Criminal. You don't give up your fundamental human rights just because you are an idol. This is wrong.

I don't know what both companies keep harping on about false information when yall never set the record straight on anything and have been complacent and do nothing while this 'false' rumor whatecer it is keep spreading, running wild like wild fires.

This is the most complicated scandal in the history of scandals I've ever witnessed. Neither company have a handle on this cos it's truth mixed with a ton of lies.

These malice this, wrong info that are just PR tactics. I understand it but I don't respect it at all. You letting false rumors run wild when if you cared about the truth at all you will be setting the records straight.

And YG waiting for hybe to make a move first before doing anything says just how much powerful Hybe has become in the entertainment industry.

It's interesting seeing them squirm with this curve ball.

I will refrain from sharing any legal perspectives on the matter cos I don't want to give anyone ideas. There's a way YG can win this and there's a way OP can win this. Court is an arena for the battle of legal opinions and whoever makes the most legal sense wins.

Plus it's always one person's rights against another's.

I feel bad for Miss Jennie.

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kpopnlockit · 2 years

Text

Royal Counsel (Part 17)

Happy 2023!

Part 16: https://kpopnlockit.tumblr.com/post/691167643968929792/royal-counsel-part-16

Part 18: Coming soon!

The ceremony would be quick and presided over by a priest. As far as you knew, Vixx was not a very religious country but even they viewed marriage as a union before God. That sentiment apparently extended to engagements as well. The ladies-in-waiting had delivered you straight to the path that divided the rows upon rows of filled seats. At the end of the aisle was a gilded platform that had been specially made for the occasion. It was raised a half-meter above the ground so that the entire audience could see. An arch would frame you as you stood up there, the arch having been draped with purple chiffon and outfitted with white roses to create a picturesque scene. Two artists had been hired to capture the moment on large canvases. Even the weather was cooperating. It was fairly cloudy but there was no threat of rain, and a gentle breeze cooled the rising heat of the day.

You had focused on the stage when you arrived, but it did not take long to hear the tinkle of the guests’ finery as they turned to look at you. The buzz of conversation died hurriedly as they realized that the event was starting. You did not allow yourself time to study them because you knew all you would find was judgment. There would be talk of your dress, of your hair, of your face, of anything and everything that could be critiqued. The gossip would come no matter what you did so there was no point in wasting your energy on witnessing it in real-time.

The sound of violins interrupted your thoughts. You could not see where the music was coming from, but the sound of harps and flutes could be heard adding to the ethereal ambience that was being carefully crafted. To add to the image, the servants of the manor were outfitted uniformly in lavender livery. They stood in neat lines on both ends of each row of seats, making sure that their polished shoes did not touch the royal purple aisle runner that was meant for you and your promised to walk down. The manor had to have hired outside help for the occasion, as there were far more butlers available to attend to the nobles than you had ever seen in the castle. The ladies-in-waiting curtseyed and followed a path around the guests that had been marked with a generous scattering of white rose petals to their designated chairs off to the side of the stage.

King Ravi had been somewhere nearby. As soon as you were deposited, he appeared at your elbow with N, Leo, Hyuk, and another man you did not recognize tailing him. The mystery man was tall, just like the other men and had a very distinguishing nose. All of them were outfitted in Vixx colors of aubergine and gold. However, each suit was different, with Leo’s being of a military bearing and N’s being plainer and befitting of a scholar. It was clear that the choice was deliberate to show pride in Vixx and simultaneously display their positions within the royal court. The man you did not recognize clapped King Ravi on the shoulder before leading the men down another footpath that mirrored the lady’s maids to their chairs on the opposite side of the stage.

You took a long look at your fiancè. He wore a traditional Vixx robe with a plum torso and white sleeves to match his white trousers. A beautiful mulberry and gold embroidered sash across the waist denoted his royal status and a patch over his left shoulder highlighted his military honors. The most surprising piece of his ensemble was a red tie that kept his robe closed. It matched the crimson in your gown. You had expected him to only be in Vixx colors. You would have to overanalyze the meaning of that later. In total, it was a simple but elegant outfit that did not require jewels or additional adornments to display King Ravi’s pride in Vixx and its short history.

King Ravi did not have anything in his body language that showed nervousness. He wore a facade of happy serenity. He turned to you and offered his arm. He smiled as he said, “You are exceptionally beautiful today.”

You did not know if you wanted to roll your eyes or blush. “You are more handsome than usual today as well,” you replied. And it was true.

He always looked regal in his national hue but combined with neatly styled hair and lightly rouged lips, he seemed to glow in the glimpses of sunlight that peeked through the clouds. You took his elbow and straightened. You needed to exude some of his easy confidence, let alone feel it.

Spectators gawked as you took your time walking toward the dais. Like King Ravi, you gazed ahead and refused to let your line of vision wander. It was not only for your peace of mind, but also to remind those who questioned your legitimacy of their own positions. Most would not be able to be in the same room as you once you were queen. Their presence at the engagement was to add to the scale and perceived grandeur of the event. Many of the attendees would usually only be invited to local balls and functions hosted by the nobles of their respective kingdoms. To be invited to a foreign King’s celebration was a show of power and excess. Vixx would be seen as a country that could afford to house and cater to irrelevant earls and counts. Vixx would also be considered humble and hospitable for doing the same.

As you had noted before, the ceremony was quick, taking just over ten minutes. During the proceedings, King Ravi did not once look away from you. Though you could pretend to be as stately as a monarch, having a staring contest with one of the most powerful men in the world while promising matrimony in the near future proved to be difficult. You very much wanted to squirm under his gaze or break eye contact just for a moment of reprieve. That could not be done without repercussion so you both maintained vaguely agreeable smirks. Internally, you wanted to awkwardly giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation. The only reason you did not was because of the seriousness of the situation. And just like that, the whole fiasco was over and King Ravi took your hand and led you back to the castle.

You did not actually go back inside but he instead took you to one of the open tents set up to the right of the rows of chairs. Some of the tents had been set up with food and drink and others had been outfitted with lounging furniture over thick carpeting. The most ornate tent housed two identical white thrones. In that tent, King Ravi ushered you to take a seat before sitting himself.

Once the guests were given leave to roam, they did so. A line of attendees formed, all of them wishing to give you greetings and congratulations. You plastered on a genteel smile and murmured your thanks and shook hands and received curtsies and bows. The line never seemed to end but you continued to nod affably alongside King Ravi. You could not recall a single face you had seen. You were sure that you had greeted at least a few people you had personally known, but through the flood of brightly colored clothes and painted skin, you could not recognize them. The receiving line took an estimated two hours. During which, you charaded as a polite and sweet future royal. Undoubtedly, everyone knew that you were no such thing, but no one dared to slight you.

There were about thirty minutes of reprieve between the end of the cocktail hour and the beginning of the reception. You were able to get through half a glass of lemonade before you were prompted to go to your chambers and change into your second dress. You were glad to go. The volume of social interaction had been overwhelming. Minah and a small entourage of ladies-in-waiting escorted you. The house was startlingly quiet after having been in the ruckus outside. With only the sound of footsteps echoing in your ear, you realized that you had not spoken to King Ravi at all after the ceremony. You likely would not be able to exchange words for the rest of the night. You were not sure if you were disappointed or not.

The second gown was less revealing than the first but was far more striking. It had a proper ball gown silhouette with a touch of scandal in the sleeves, or lack thereof. The bodice was completely strapless. Over the top was a sheer shirt with long sleeves to add the illusion of modesty. Buttons in a straight row went all the way up to the throat of the mesh shirt. A ribbon tied into a small bow separated the waterfall of fabric flowing to the floor from everything above the waist. The thing that set the dress apart from all others was that it was dyed a deep blood red. To contrast with the dark tint, the gauze over your arms and chest was stark white. Your hair was pulled back into an immaculate chignon. This time, large diamonds studded your ears and encircled your wrists. It was so bold that you would command attention by virtue of walking by.

All eyes were on you when you walked into the ballroom. Your entrance was announced which did not help. You kept your chin high and your shoulders rolled back as you made your way through the crowd. No one attempted to approach you. King Ravi was easy to locate as he was a spot of red in a sea of amethyst. Just like in Exo, his clothing was designed to complement yours. He wore a white shirt tucked into white pants and an open cherry-dyed sheer robe over it all. The robe was once again fashioned in the traditional style of Vixx, embroidered with red roses. The collar and sleeves were lined with the same ribbon at your midsection. It was a smart move to transition from Vixx purple to matching completely with you. It sent the message that before the ceremony he was King of Vixx. Now he was a claimed man with a partner that was his equal. The spot of cardinal on his ceremonial robe now made more sense, as it showed that he was including a fleck of you in his attire. A sign of thoughtfulness, of what could be construed as love. You appreciated the powerplay in the small and subliminal undertones to everything. It would help paint the picture you both wanted. Two very different people now united to create a nation more powerful than the world had seen in centuries.

King Ravi motioned to meet him in the middle of the room. Your skin crawled with the attention being directed at you by everyone else. You did not open your mouth to greet him first, which in any other situation would be incredibly rude. However, you had a plan. You had not discussed it with him previously so you did not know if he would play along, but you were banking on it. You paused and made sure to look him in the eye. He quirked an eyebrow before his mouth settled into a small grin as he approached. He understood what you were doing. He did not falter in his prowl towards you. He only stopped when he was within an arm’s distance. He took your hand and pressed a gentle kiss to your knuckles.

Though you had wanted him to greet you first, you had not expected the chivalrous gesture. You could not hide the way your lips parted in surprise. You rapidly overcompensated with a wide smile and commented, “You look quite handsome in red.”

“Not as stunning as you though,” he replied in a tone equal part sultry and teasing.

You beamed though you really wanted to return with a smart quip but that would not be ladylike. He took your hand in his and turned towards the spectators.

He addressed the guests in a voice so loud, it must have come from the depths of his gut, “Friends, thank you for being here today to celebrate this joyous occasion.”

You stood still, the portrait of a happy girl betrothed to Prince Charming.

King Ravi glanced at you, before continuing on, “Please celebrate with us. Enjoy the food, drink, and dancing.”

At that, the miniature orchestra in the corner began to play. A cheery song was chosen, concealing the lack of applause after King Ravi’s speech. There were plenty of people not pleased by your arrangement. There were also many who had not developed an opinion yet. When they approached you one on one, they were on their best behavior. However, there was power in groups. They had conspired not to clap and King Ravi had predicted as much. By not allowing ample time for people to even try to applaud, he had enacted his own countermeasure. Very few would pick up on the silence.

You would have to tread lightly. You were in a den of snakes. You smiled wickedly. It was good to feel at home.

#vixx #vixx fanfiction #vixx fanfic #ravi #ravi fanfic #vixx ravi #vixx ravi fanfic #wonshik scenario #kim wonshik #wonsik

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luimagines · 2 years

Note

*comes on in tiredly, waves* Hullo there, OG Lustrous Anon here, how do you do today? I hope you’re faring well ^^

Have to agree with 2nd Lustrous Anon (Houseki Anon? Kingdom Anon since Houseki no Kuni literally translates to Kingdom of Jewels?), I did not expect for there to be three of us and for us to basically barge into your place with Starbucks and lore and discussing media you weren’t familiarized with, but I particularly find it hilarious even if I apologize for having you lost xD, also shout out to them and Shrimp for explaining how Inclusions work better than I could ever sleep deprivation or not, all I can say for certain is that they’re not hiveminds, I suppose you could say they work a lot like the human brain, but they’re a body wide network rather than just the organ, they’re what give gems their ability to think, move and have personalities and store memories, hence why every lost part of a Lustrous causes memory loss if it’s not put back, unless a gem is quite literally shattered into fragments then they won’t lose consciousness, hence why they don’t work like hiveminds do. Usually the quickest way to get a Lustrous unconscious is by breaking their heads off at the neck or shattering them into incomplete fragments, but as mentioned in some of my previous posts they can’t really be killed unless they’re ground to dust, affected by mercury since it kills the inclusions on them and those parts become dead weight, meaning where the mercury touched needs to be scrapped off and replaced if too severe, or dissolved, though the last case is very rare to ever happen as we only see it once in the series.

Anyway, delivering more Lustrous Reader shenanigans with the Chain because why not? XD, thinking of writing all of this down into stories on a separate blog one day or on ao3, though that’s a hard maybe. I'm not a good writer at all.

-Lustrous Reader immediately clocking Four and the Colors even when they don’t tell them anything because there’s a Lustrous with a similar case back home, and then just going “So, who’s fronting today and should I get anything different or...? Cause Wild was going to teach me that one nice cake recipe today but I could change a few things up.”, And then it’s either instant panic or Lustrous Reader being chill with the colors on their free time when they split, if asked why they’re so chill they just shrug and go “Ghost Quartz is the same back home, them and Cairngorm think they’re subtle, but there’s not really anything suble about their temperament going from quiet and nice to rivaling Blue’s temper and Vio’s tendency to say yes to violence on a good day. This is a cake walk.”

-Lustrous Reader twitching whenever they hear bells, because that’s usually the first sound you hear during a Lunarian attack, so they instinctively draw towards a member of the Chain whenever they hear one as if to defend them, it probably kind of reminds Warriors of how soldiers can have of very specific things after being in battle so long it they recognize it as a threat, so the next course of action is obvious next time they can: instrument introduction to see what likely might be a trigger and if hopefully continued exposure in small doses help, Lustrous Reader also won’t touch a flute with a ten foot pole, but they’d probably be interested in learning the ocarina or the harp. After a while it’s likely not uncommon for them to hear them humming songs they picked up from the Chain from time to time once they’re more comfortable, though it probably has a clinking and tinkling sound behind it, like how you’d tap a crystal just to see it ring, it’s very soft but it’s there. It’s nice but eerie if someone hears them in the middle of the night.

-Lustrous Reader, in Ordon or in Lon Lon Ranch, casually picking up unruly goats or helping Malon move cows with their bare hands, or just straight up picking up Wolfie to carry him around on their arms “What? Like it’s hard?”, meanwhile at least one Chain member is registering in full how strong they are in spite of looking delicate and falling in love. Or Lustrous Reader casually pulling a Wild and riding a Lynel into battle or wrestling one into submission because again, zero sense of self preservation and a lot of pent up spite means one is willing to do crazy things. Never let them, Wild, Hyrule, Wind and Flora on their own, they’re just as likely as to stop the shenanigans as to accidentally throw fuel into the fire.

-Whenever they’re in a Hyrule with a castle that can actually be used, I feel like Lustrous Reader is just immediately kidnapped by any and all present Zeldas, look their hair is literally made out of jewels and they can pull off any outfit, it’s prime opportunity for them to dress someone up who won’t mind and will only be mildly exasperated! Plus they can probably exchange battle tactics and cultural differences since Lustrous Reader lived for a long time, and their fighting style is more fast and acrobatic than anything Hyrule uses so it would be a good opportunity (you can’t tell me Artemis, or Dusk or Flora for that matter, wouldn’t want to learn from Lustrous Reader how they deflect arrows back onto enemies with their sword on instinct, if the Chain can learn it from them then so can they), Lustrous Reader probably wouldn’t mind since Red Beryl does the same to all Lustrous, they’d draw the line at anything related to jewelry (since Lunarians make Lustrous into jewelry and weapons decoration most of the time, this probably relates to why they’re wary of Ravio but rh sleep deprivation is failing me), but they’d pull off any clothes convincingly enough. I can see any member of the Chain accidentally stumble because they’re more use to seeing them with simple and practical clothes (since fun fact, all clothings Lustrous are basically patterned after mourning clothes, or those you’d see in a funeral for the most part apparently) and seeing them dressed up throws them for a loop. Also bonding times with Flora because I bet they’d be amused and willing to go along with all her experiments and bonding times with Sun over their shared trauma of being hunted down for who they are, even if on a different spectrum, and staying stuck in a place for thousands of years and unable to move, Sky is probably happy but concerned, maybe wanting to give them a hug and check in if they’re really doing good only to get this very mixed answer of “Yes/No”, meanwhile Time, Wild, Fierce Deity and First, with similar trauma, probably feel like they need more context and some names.

Also something I personally find hilarious is if Lustrous Reader, after hearing about the Links journeys, realizes they all usually start with them having people they love or care for kidnapped or taken away similar to how they always lose their fellow Lustrous to the Lunarians, points it out to the Chain and they just have something of a small existential crisis, or shared bonding time over that particular trauma.

... Now I have this in my mind about Demigod Readers and Lustrous Reader meeting somehow, and the Chain just having to deal with two unnaturally beautiful people who quite literally shine around the edges hitting it off and swapping battle tactics, it’s probably just the sleep deprivation and the headache talking though

-As for the arm thing...

Twilight, who canonically lost an arm and had it reattached in the manga, but that was his own arm not another person’s so he’s still horrified but not too shocked since he could immediately clock that they lost it somehow: Since when was this as surprise?

Lustrous Reader, tired and cracking from the stress: Trust me, no one would rather it be my own arm rather than me. I’d gladly be ground to dust a thousand times over if it meant it would get their original owner back and my partner. *Sighs, sits down* How much time do you all have? May as well explain about how I lost it and my eye while I can, plus about this nifty thing called inclusions and how losing body permanently parts causes amnesia.

And the Chain freaking out because what do you mean one of those eyes isn’t yours either?!

(I’ll honestly probably write it how I envision it went down in full from their perspective in another ask, this is getting long enough as is)

-Lustrous Reader learning to draw from Sky, has a bunch of pictures done of the Chain on the a second notebook separate from their historian one and, if they somehow manage to contact Little Lucky, sends a picture of themselves and the Chain together as a way to say they’re fine, Little Lucky is ecstatic even if wondering where they are even more. It probably leads to nice bonding times with Sky or them revealing to someone of the Chain that they’re drawing so that, even if they lose more parts, they won’t forget their time together easily. Or one of the Chain spotting a drawing of Lustrous Reader, fully whole with both their eye and arm, with Little Lucky and immediately see the resemblance between them all even if in the form of a jewel person, or they spot a drawing of Lustrous Reader, a Lustrous that looks suspiciously like Zelda but with blues and pinks and purples in her hair along with the usual gold, and someone who looks like them but with greens and blues along the gold, clearly a Lustrous as well, though it doesn’t look like Lustrous Reader style, more similar to their own and way on the back of their historian notebook. And then wondering what happened to their world would make two generations of the hero’s spirit appear so close to each other and know the same person, Lustrous having a different life span aside.

And I believe that is all for today, very sleep deprived and have a headache, week has been rough and not even coffee has been helping. Anyway, hope you’re having a nice day and thank you for all your hard work in the fandom!

-Just an Anon on A Stroll.

Anon- how long must you stolll for? XD

Take a nap. <3

I don't feel like I have much to add this time around. Very well rounded and bitter sweet in all the right place. Almost like a dark chocolate with raspberry filling. (I'm channeling a specific flavor but I'm sure if raspberry is the one I'm looking for.)

LUCKY.......My baby DX

He needs to know his sibs is ok. Send the pictures!!!!

#pinky replies

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guideoftime · 2 years

Text

▴ — Path / An Ancient Darkness. Breath of the Wild; Yiga.

The Sages were struggling.

It wasn’t a secret, they could all feel it. The decline started with the loss of Ruto, the Sage of Water, and then fell even further when they lost that connection to the Royal Family. He doesn’t know when exactly they stopped depending on them, it was during one of the incarnations of the Princess, where she didn’t find that connection to Hylia, to them. The temples fell to the natural decay of time, their power weakened.

There were only a few of them left. Nabooru, Darunia, himself. He doesn’t know when Saria left, it was something with the change of the Kokiri to the Korok. He felt Nabooru was nervous, Darunia and her had the strongest connection to their people. Sheik was fading. Whatever was going on with the Sheikah, it wasn’t fine.

It was worrying.

It was something to worry about.

His eyes open when he feels an unrest in the Shadow Temple. His connection was stronger to it than it was to his tribe, hand in hand more or less. It’s become an extension of himself as much as he was a part of it. The Temple was disturbed, unsettled, it makes him climb to his feet slowly, grabbing the harp as he went. He steps over to the wall and rests his palm flat against it, closing his eyes as he let himself feel what the Shadows were telling him.

Someone was inside. More than one. Several.

His red gaze opened and he pulled his hand back, gripping his harp tightly as he looked toward the door. “Alright then. They want a fight, let’s give them a fight.”

Ruin and lack of proper care or prayers can bring any spiritual place to it’s knees. The Shadow Temple wasn’t any different. Though the place gave them everything they had, and plenty of them fell to the nightmares the Temple had to offer, the mass number they brought wasn’t something that the temple could outfight. When the Hero came through before, thousands of years ago, the Temple had been at it’s strongest point. Previously a place of captivity, slaughter and torture, it was fueled by the nightmares that were created in it. Now, it was about as tired as Sheik was.

When they reached the middle point of the temple, a place between the whirling reapers and the path down to the ferry, Sheik was there to greet them. To prevent them from trespassing any further. He regarded them with a cool glance, his harp held at his side, prepared for anything. The red suited people with strange masks and the reverse symbol of the Eye of Truth was not what he was expecting. What was the reverse of the Eye of Truth even supposed to mean? The Eye of Lies?

“Who are you people? And how dare you trespass on a Sheikah Temple dressed like that?”

His words carried a threat to them, one that a few of them took intelligently and stepped back. It’s like watching roaches crawl across the ground, and he has the urge to step on them. Whoever comes forth, they’re clearly one of the leaders of the group. They look Sheik up and down with a tilt of their head, face hidden from view by those revolting masks. “You’re the Ancient Sheikah?”

Ancient Sheikah? “I am Sheik, the Sage of Shadows.”

That seemed to be enough of a confirmation for them. The man tilted his head back up and held it rather pridefully. “We are the Yiga. What is gathered from the Sheikah who were thrown aside. Our people were once honored by the Hylian for saving them with our powers multiple times over. However, after believing to be a threat, the Sheikah were made to back down. To become less than we deserve to be. Brought to our knees before the Royal Family. We are those who refuse to kneel.”

He feels like he’s heard this story before, though it didn’t end for him the way that it clearly ended for these people. Sheikah split by those who refuse to bend to the will of the Royal Family anymore, and those who wish to not be massacred and remain loyal. Irony, he almost finds. His Tribe is always doomed to repeat it’s past.

Almost like the Hero and the Princess.

“You think this will help?” He asks, waving his left hand in motion at them. “What exactly do you wish to accomplish by fighting fear with more fear?” Nothing. Fear will do nothing but make it worse. “You want us to not have to hide in the Shadows? You want us to be who we are? Well I hate to break it to you, but this is not the answer.”

“You won’t come peacefully with us then?” Go with them? He’d sooner toss himself back into the Sanctum to pray for another ten thousand years. Losing his power to fade to history. That sounds better than going with them. They arm themselves, answer clearly given, and Sheik takes a breath before adjusting the harp in his arms.

Very well.

Though he gives it everything he has, he was not only outnumbered but out strengthened. With his fading power and his struggle with holding his place in the Shadow Temple, Sheik was taken out by their power. When he feels himself brought to his knees, the harp taken from his person, he chances a brief glance up at the blademaster above him and has a single thought before he’s struck in the head. Nabooru, Darunia, forgive him.

He doesn’t know how long they keep him in their cell for, changing out different guards and occasionally visited by Kohga, the leader of these mad men. He feels himself waning quickly, struggling to not only stay conscience but sane. Whatever magic they managed to learn from Sheikah records was difficult to fight in his exhausted state and he knows that’s the intention. When he finally feels himself lose the fight and slip into the dark oblivion, there’s the slightest bit of relief.

Sheik wakes to Master Koga handing him his harp.

“Come. Let’s talk about your future.”

#▴ — path / an ancient darkness.#( Yes I am having to much fun shhh )#long post //#▴ — the shade / facts.

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