#(—and in order to answer the question i first have to unravel all the assumptions and explain why they're incorrect.)

[ckret2]

What is the equivalent of the phrase "Oh my God" that Bill uses? Is he mentioning some god figure from his home dimension or is he using “Oh my me” or “Oh my Axolotl”?

He doesn't use anything.

Have you ever heard an atheist say "oh my big bang" instead of "oh my god"? In common usage, the word "god" in "oh my god" is merely part of a stock phrase and not a declaration of belief. In fact, changing "god" to another term would instantly make it more religious, since if you just say "oh my god" it's like "well maybe they believe in a god or maybe they're just using the phrase," but if you say "oh my [something else]" it's like "they DEFINITELY believe in [something else] so passionately that they changed the phrase just to emphasize how much they believe in it."

If Bill ever used the phrase, he would use it like a foreign word pronounced omaigohd that's just an exclamation that communicates a specific emotional meaning to English-speakers (anger, shock, excitement)—and he's not going to get all cutesy while speaking a foreign language to draw attention to something irrelevant. This exclamation isn't an avenue to announce his religious beliefs.

There ARE issues he feels passionately enough about that he'd break away from common English. Unless he's in "pretending to be human" mode, at any place where a human would naturally refer to themself as "a person," "a woman/man," "female/male," "she/he," Bill will refer to himself as "a shape," "a triangle," "triangular," "it," even in contexts where that sounds weird to the humans. His gender is triangle and that matters to him. Religion does not.

At any rate, there's no [something else] he could fill into the phrase. He knows for a fact that there are figures powerful enough to alter reality—he is one. He suspects on good evidence that there are even more powerful figures that can conjure an entire universe from nothing—he is not one. He considers "power" and "divinity" to be separate things, he doesn't think powerful figures are divine, and he doesn't think the divine is real. He thinks "god" is an artificial social label, like "king," that only exists when enough people concur that it's real and stops existing when enough people stop respecting it. He thinks "god" is what the weak call the powerful when they've been fooled into thinking the powerful deserve worship. He thinks he's one of the powerful that fools the weak. He doesn't think he's a god—except when he's lying to himself very well—but he loves how it feels when other people call him a god, so he encourages it. He doesn't consider anybody god, he doesn't obey or respect any authority, and generally the more powerful a being is, the more he dislikes them on principle. One trillion years ago, the beliefs he was raised with were the sort a white American boomer experiencing a religious crisis would insist are "spiritual but not religious." He briefly thought gods might be real in his youth, but never worshiped any.

But all that aside—his vocabulary simply doesn't include the phrase "oh my god." He doesn't want to imply he even might worship something—he's too proud and that pride is too fragile. If he has to make an exclamation, it'll be something entirely different—"Oh boy." "Oh, come on!" "You're kidding me." "Seriously?" "Whoa!" "Wow!" "No way," maybe hysterical laughter—whatever's fitting in a given situation. Several times in the fic I've had to go find a different phrase where if he was another character I could've just put "omigosh".

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is an excellent article by astrophysicist Dr. Adam Frank and theoretical physicist Dr. Marcelo Gleiser about how information from the James Webb Space Telescope is changing physicists' perceptions about the standard model of cosmology. 😱

Since how we understand the universe seems rather important, the link above is a gift🎁link to the article, so that even if you do not subscribe to The New York Times, you can read the entire article. Below are a few excerpts:

Not long after the James Webb Space Telescope began beaming back from outer space its stunning images of planets and nebulae last year, astronomers, though dazzled, had to admit that something was amiss. Eight months later, based in part on what the telescope has revealed, it’s beginning to look as if we may need to rethink key features of the origin and development of the universe. [...] But one of the Webb’s first major findings was exciting in an uncomfortable sense: It discovered the existence of fully formed galaxies far earlier than should have been possible according to the so-called standard model of cosmology. According to the standard model, which is the basis for essentially all research in the field, there is a fixed and precise sequence of events that followed the Big Bang: First, the force of gravity pulled together denser regions in the cooling cosmic gas, which grew to become stars and black holes; then, the force of gravity pulled together the stars into galaxies. The Webb data, though, revealed that some very large galaxies formed really fast, in too short a time, at least according to the standard model. This was no minor discrepancy. The finding is akin to parents and their children appearing in a story when the grandparents are still children themselves. [...] Working so close to the boundary between science and philosophy, cosmologists are continually haunted by the ghosts of basic assumptions hiding unseen in the tools we use — such as the assumption that scientific laws don’t change over time. But that’s precisely the sort of assumption we might have to start questioning in order to figure out what’s wrong with the standard model. One possibility, raised by the physicist Lee Smolin and the philosopher Roberto Mangabeira Unger, is that the laws of physics can evolve and change over time. Different laws might even compete for effectiveness. An even more radical possibility, discussed by the physicist John Wheeler, is that every act of observation influences the future and even the past history of the universe. (Dr. Wheeler, working to understand the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, conceived of a “participatory universe” in which every act of observation was in some sense a new act of creation.) [...] The philosopher Robert Crease has written that philosophy is what’s required when doing more science may not answer a scientific question. It’s not clear yet if that’s what’s needed to overcome the crisis in cosmology. But if more tweaks and adjustments don’t do the trick, we may need not just a new story of the universe but also a new way to tell stories about it. [color emphasis added]

Image caption: "These six galaxies may force astronomers to rewrite cosmology books. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, I. LABBE)"

___________ Gif source (before minor edits)

[ironunderstands]

I've seen some people mention that at the end cutscene of 2.2, while everyone else in the dreamscape looks to be waking up/seems dazed, Ratio looks composed????? Like this is a normal Tuesday and said people said "what if he's been awake from the Order dream for actually a while lol"

Thoughts, o Aeon of Reading Comprehension?

Knowing Ratio, yeah, he probably figured out he was in a dream pretty quickly, perhaps even as early as 2.2.

There are two things that confuse this though:

It doesn’t linearly become Ena’s dream, there’s no specific moment in time where everything is no longer reality. Rather, the entirety of Penacony is slowly falling into the dream, with people like the Trailblazer going in first because of their sensitivity to Memoria. Honestly the Ena’s dream thing is very confusing, but what I’m trying to say is that it’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly Ratio woke up, but we can make a few assumptions

We just don’t see shit from Ratio’s end like, at all. The amount of screentime he has versus his importance in the story is nuts, to the point where I think they are almost deliberately hiding what went down on his end. Like bro how did you figure out Dormancy, what happened 😭

However, even with these limitations I still have somewhat of an idea of what I think happened.

The Ratio we meet next to Aventurine and Topaz following our “defeat” of Sunday likely isn’t the real Dr. Ratio. Because well, look at him. And look at them for that matter 😭 “The IPC is going to leave Penacony alone” “I Veritas Ratio am working with the Genius Society” this seems more like wishful thinking on the Trailblazer’s end rather than something that could ever happen in reality, especially since in what universe would Ratio find the time to somehow convince and work with the Genius Society on a topic neither he nor they would care about.

Moreover, this scene is also meant to make the audience go “hmm, something’s up” so the twist that it was all a dream had more impact. However, in that scene, Himeko and Welt also comment on how weird their behavior is, which makes me wonder. Were Himeko and Welt (and by extension Dan Heng and March) also experiencing the same dream as TB, or are they also fake, and TB’s closer relationship with the other members of the Astral Express makes them more realistic in Ena’s dream, objecting to the IP3’s behavior in a way they would in reality?

Anyways, tangent over, the point is, that Ratio wasn’t real, so where is the real Ratio? I’d say he’s experiencing a perfect dream of his own, just like everyone else on Penacony.

Which is why he woke up so early. Sure, the memokeepers could have sensed he was useful and woke him up so he could help wake others up, something which we can assume he’s doing based on the singular frame he gets in that cutscene.

Just based on vibes, it looks like he just helped those two people in the back wake up, and now he stands up to look at the Hunt arrows/stars/meteors? Shooting across the sky.

However, I want to entertain the idea that Ratio woke up on his own, because realistically, he 100% could.

Ena’s dream, and well, Penacony in general offers a perfect reality, and that’s not something Ratio believes in. He would immediately notice everything is too good to be true, and that would cause the dream to fall apart. Interestingly, Ena’s dream also seems to tailor itself to the individual, so what would be too perfect for Ratio to ever believe it could happen in reality?

I’m sure you have already guessed the answer.

How was it, Veritas Ratio? Having the thing that unraveled your dream be the one thing you have wanted all your life? How does it feel, knowing that being acknowledged by Nous is something that could never happen to you in reality?

How was it?

I still think it could have happened in other ways, or maybe he avoided falling into the dream in the first place somehow, but ultimately, I prefer my idea the most.

I hope this satisfies your question

[dreamlifebunny]

it doesn't matter where you came from, what matters is that you're here now.

one thing that really bugs me about spiritual communities in general (reality shifting, law of assumption, non dualism, etc.) is that a lot of people shame others for not understanding things or for believing in things that are limiting when they first start out. i mean, i understand the frustration - anons can ask a thousand questions that could be answered if they read pinned posts, and we all just want everyone to abandon their limiting beliefs and just get it.

but the fact is that we were born in a society that teaches us that we are limited and that some things are impossible, from the time that we are small until we find these teachings, and we are slowly undoing them through exploration and self-inquiry. it's an overwhelming and tricky journey, filled with so many beautiful highs and a lot of devastating lows, and i feel like everyone deserves a whole lot of compassion when searching for answers. i know i needed love and compassion when i first started, because my ego was scared and sad and was searching for answers in order to feel loved and secure. being told i was dumb and having someone be frustrated with me for my questions was the last thing i needed to become self-actualized. i know that everyone is different, but this is just my experience, so i wanted to share it.

my beliefs are constantly evolving into what brings me more peace and understanding. in the beginning, i wouldn't have been able to believe that my assumptions create my reality (law of assumption) if i hadn't been introduced to the idea of reality shifting. i wouldn't have understood the fact that this life is just beautiful dream and that my true Self is the dreamer (non dualism) if i hadn't first been able to separate my "imagination" from my "real life" (3D and 4D from law of assumption). these were all stepping stones in my understanding of the greater ideas that i needed to get to, and i feel no shame in formerly having beliefs or practices that i don't identify with anymore. i don't believe that you should have shame, either, regardless of where you are at in your journey of self-discovery and creative power.

i get so sad when i see bloggers shaming others for not understanding things when all of this is so fucking difficult to grasp when one is first starting out. i mean, we come from societies that have beliefs as foolish and damaging as skin colour making you inferior, or that gender is binary and you can't express yourself the way you feel inside. with beliefs such as these, of course the beliefs of anything being possible and the fictional being real are going to sound impossible and profoundly false. in my personal opinion, the tough love approach has never helped me - compassion and patience has. i feel like so many people believe and understand that we are all one and have a great understanding of the truth of things, and yet go around and are rude to those seeking answers. it just feels so pathetic to me to see bullying of those seeking answers when they're literally just an extension of the answerer. anons are showing up with silly questions because bloggers expect them to have silly questions. and i realize that even this is hypocritical of me to say because i could just choose to see a spiritual community full of love and compassion instead of what i'm seeing, but i still wanted to share this while i unravel my own hypocrisy.

i feel like if you are wanting to be a teacher of others, you have to take on the responsibility that being a teacher holds, which includes patience, patience, and more patience. that's just my own perspective at least, and everyone is welcome to have their own, but my favourite teachers have been ones that guide me to my own answers with patience and compassion. i am also profoundly sensitive and feel wilty when others are cruel to me, so maybe i'm just trying to speak out to those who feel similarly, because this is a post i wish i could have read when i first started my journey. ultimately, everyone can do, be, and say whatever they like - it's their own blog after all - but i just want to be a voice of compassion to anyone who is in the beginning stages of learning about the law of assumption, non dualism, or reality shifting. it all comes down to the same profound teachings that we are, at our core, limitless.

all of this is to say that i am proud of you. you are doing a good, great, amazing job. you are worthy of love and goodness in your life no matter what others may make you feel. you are worthy of the absolute best and nothing less. it is a hard journey at times, but it is a worthwhile journey, and you are brave and creative and beautiful for taking the steps to expand and give yourself the best life. you deserve compassion and love and patience, and i am rooting for you every step of the way. i hope you are rooting for yourself, too.

ultimately, it doesn't matter where you got your beliefs. what matters is: does it feel right to you? does it make you feel connected to your true, unlimited Self? does it open up your world and your heart to the endless possibilities available to you? does it give you peace? if so, it doesn't matter what practice or teaching you believe in. you are your own greatest teacher.

it doesn't matter where you came from, what beliefs you once held, or who you've been in the past. what matters is that you are here, learning and growing, learning how to give yourself the most beautiful experiences that your creative power has to offer. be kind to yourself and remember that we're all just trying to expand and love and open ourselves up.

[feralkwe]

Elidibus lives au :)

hahahahahaha hey. hey, azems-familiar, fuck you.

in order for a few things to work, i have to imagine that kit somehow is unable to pick up pieces like she normally does. it would take me more time that i'm willing to put into an ask to work out exactly what that is, but somewhere some of her resilience just... dies. also, for these purposes, i'm gonna play a little loosey-goosey with the magic hydaelyn puts into azem's crystal.

under a cut for spoilers.

seat of sacrifice still happens as in shadowbringers, with the caveat that elidibus has a moment of clarity in the lead-up to the fight, similar to what i wrote in "memories bring back memories." he knows, she doesn't (because how could she?), and he tells her what he remembers. is there a kiss? there might be, because i'm a monster. kit, not having any context whatsoever, doesn't understand. maybe she even rejects it, furthering both of their hurt. it doesn't matter anyway; he still has his duty, and she is but one life against the possibly hundreds of thousands (if not more) of sacrificed souls. he cannot let her live. they fight, and she comes out the victor, utterly destroyed. the aftermath plays out as in canon, because she does not have any foundation that would allow her to ask the right questions before he is absorbed into the tower.

everything else happens as normal through endwalker, except kit is left with a snagged thread of anguish that slowly unravels her. she can't quite believe what he told her, or grapple with what that means given she's killed him. her initial journey to elpis does nothing to buttress his version of events, and given the everything happening during this time, she dismisses it, assuming he was confusing her with azem. this reinforces her assumption that the only reason anyone cares about her is because of who her soul used to be, and her ability to fight now.

pandaemonium. guts her. slices her open like a caught fish and rips her insides out. everything he said is true, and though she tries to resist allowing it to happen, his own words that she can't use any of this to change the past or future play against her. she still falls in love with him, in full knowledge of everything. only that admission, that moment of clarity, that kiss at the top of the crystal tower. all of it cuts too deep because she rebuffed him in his moment of need, and then killed him. even knowing there was no choice, that it had to play out as it did, that just like with emet-selch they were at such a cross purpose that one of them was always going to die, it consumes her. she returns to the present, but explodes her relationships. urianger and thancred leave just as they did before, but this time she lets them go without a fight.

dawntrail happens largely as it does, except there is a pall hanging over hot warrior girl fun times, and by gods she tries so hard to move on. she tries to reconnect with urianger and thancred, but it's hollow. by the end of the msq she's managed to isolate herself. elidibun happens; fuck you. only... only... she can't do it. she can't do it alone. she can't move on. but there's an answer. the same magic that brought the scions back in ultima thule... maybe that could work. maybe... maybe there is enough left. she summons him back from the aetherial sea. at first he does not thank her for it. he was at rest. that is quickly set aside when she tells him about the elidibun in the oven. they decide, then and there, to grab what joy they can, given that so much of fate has taken it away from them at every possible turn.

they disappear. i don't see any other way this can play out. they find some reach of the world where they can be left undisturbed, away from those who would not and could not accept them, and carve out a life that destiny would deny them. there is love, and happiness, yes, and they get to raise their child in that cocoon of bliss. but it will always be colored by what they had to give up to have it. there will be adventures, but deep down kit knows it is never what it could have been, and he would always wonder if she gave up too much for their life together. deep down she'll know that just as she robbed elidibus of his life, she robbed themis of his earned peace, and he will always feel like he is holding her back.

so, there you go. i did not expect that to get dark, but here we are lol. thanks, i hate it lololol. i should totally write it.

[reliquiaen]

Okay, my Dragon's Dogma 2 thoughts. This is not a review, this is me figuring out the story and its meanings, how it connects to the first game, what it answers, and what questions I still want to know answers to.

'Ware of spoilers 'neath the divide.

“Abandon all illusions of control.” – Grigori

First: some words from our original Seneschal, Savan.

“Show that you’ve the strength to break the yoke that binds you.” – Savan encourages the Arisen to challenge him and rise above the role asigned them to become Seneschal. It always comes back to this idea of willpower being the driving factor of power and accomplishment.

“I command all life into existence.” – He creates a copy of the Arisen, demonstrating that he creates life.

“The world thirsts for the will to live.” – The world requires a strong will to hold it together and give it order, give it purpose and life. It’s the will of an Arisen that drives the world and all existence. With a weak will, nothing happens and nothing is overcome. Which is why all the tests are in place: to ensure only an Arisen of exceptional will can become Seneschal.

“Show that your will is fit to bind the fraying circle of this world and hold it fast.”

“Will you claim your right as Arisen, or shrug the burden and seek peace in oblivion.”

“The forge of my heart grows cold, and the world shivers for it.” – Over time – an eternity of it – even the most steadfast and determined Arisen grow weary and falter in their duty. Savan was Seneschal for so long that he’s become tired (he’s experiencing burnout, as you would if you were caretaker of an entire world for millennia), hence his search for a replacement.

“May you guide the world ever justly.” – These words are interesting specifically because they give insight to Savan’s character and I’m going to come back to these in relation to the Pathfinder.

The assumption I'm working with: The Pathfinder is Seneschal.

On the left, Savan from the first game; on the right, Pathfinder from DD2. They are wearing similar robes. There are colour differences, yes, but I put those down to graphics and mood/disposition. The 'world beyond the rift' looks very similar in both cases, but no screenshots because it's essentially just a big empty void with a thin layer of water for a floor. (The Brine lives in the water. I'll come back to that.)

Things about the Unnamed Sequel Dragon:

“If thou seekest to behold this world in its true aspect, abandon thy reason. Cast aside thine heart and thy life both.” – Unnamed Dragon (at the start of the game)

“Naught but thine ambition can alter the course of the rivers of fate.” – Heard at the start of the game and then again at the end if you refuse to sit on the throne, implying that the opening of the game in first person is actually your Arisen being crowned at the end but without the context of the events of the game.

Upon being defeated the dragon says, “perhaps thine will is strong enough to put an end to it,” which is interesting because it suggests that the dragon IS an agent of chaos and wants the destruction of the cycle which would lead to the unravelling of reality and all existence as we know it. But the dragon is merely a failed Arisen (which we learn in the first game, unless that’s no longer the case in the sequel) fulfilling the duty given them. Not a villain in the typical sense, but an obstacle to be overcome for the good of the world.

Who was this dragon before they were a dragon? That's always what I want to know. Why are they unnamed? (I do like to imagine they might be our Arisen from the first game in a dimension where they failed to beat Savan, but I doubt that would work in a timeline.) How long have they been the dragon? At the end, it looks like the Pathfinder can simply summon a dragon from nothing, so are the rules about failed Arisen becoming dragons different in this game? Where are the wyverns and wyrms from the first game, also, we only have drakes and lesser dragons in this. (I would sincerely love to see those big worm things from the post-game in the main world in NG+ and also proper two-legged wyverns, that would be awesome.)

Things about the Pathfinder:

“You must jump. That is the only path forward.” – The Pathfinder helps you escape the prison camp at the start, encourages you to ‘fulfil your destiny’. The griffin might have even been put there by him for this purpose. Since we see Savan create a copy of the Arisen in the first game, and there are several examples of the Pathfinder creating situations to benefit their goals (presumably*) it makes sense that they could have created the circumstances to ensure a griffin would be there to carry the Arisen to safety. The is especially compelling when taking into account that the griffin didn’t attack the people on the cliffside, it just left, which makes it seem like it, too, was simply fulfilling its duty.

*When the Pathfinder appears in Ambrosius’ study, Ambrosius can’t see him but you can. Then he changes Ambrosius’ mind, demonstrating control over someone, which is what Savan was doing in the first game. We also see the Pathfinder rewind time at least once, by putting you back onto the dragon’s back so you can godsbane it.

“Learn aught you can of this world you must protect.” – Pathfinder wants you to fulfil your role within the cycle, but not to challenge the ‘natural order’, which is counter to Savan encouraging you to challenge him in the first game.

“It is my wish that you should live out that life of purpose.” – This, too, suggests that the Pathfinder doesn’t want you to take their place as Seneschal, but to do what an Arisen is intended to do. This is why we don’t get a chance to fight them, why they show us the world without a Seneschal to safeguard life. Perhaps this is different because this Pathfinder is more vindictive and selfish, more ambitious, more inclined to defend what they see as their ‘right’ to godhood than Savan was. Or perhaps they are simply a newly instated Seneschal (comparative to Savan), someone who hasn’t spent thousands of years as custodian of reality and so doesn’t need to be replaced yet. Their will, then, would keep them in power because they would WANT it. This creates an interesting concept for me, in that a Seneschal doesn’t have to step down if someone of stronger will challenges them, they can simply rewrite the world to change the situation.

While Savan came across as a benevolent god-ruler, the Pathfinder strikes me as far more spiteful. He doesn't seem as if he really cares all that much about things generally, but more that he simply likes being in control and will do anything to keep that power. Savan said, "May you guide the world ever justly," and stepped down as Seneschal gracefully. But when you pursue this Pathfinder (on the assumption that you'll get to challenge him the same as you could challenge Savan), you instead get him saying that you are stepping out of bounds.

Now, I personally play a character I like to consider neutral-evil in disposition, and bumping up against the Pathfinder felt like meeting someone very similar. Someone who acquired this position and simply refuses to give it up because no one else can be trusted to do their job. This is such an interesting contrast to Savan, and I do love the possibility that this Seneschal still has the will to keep the world going, keep the cycle spinning, as it were.

Things about Rothais:

“Time and again have you sent unto me your minions. Yet repel them I have, and so I shall anew, till I might claim the true world as mine own.” – Rothais and the Pathfinder clearly hate each other, but neither has been able to defeat the other completely. Perhaps Rothais was a proper challenger for the position of Seneschal and was punished in a different way because the Pathfinder couldn’t defeat him? (This does not make much sense, but you never know.) Rothais sits on a throne the same as the one Savan sat on in the first game, the Seneschal’s throne. He appears not dead nor alive, but the same wispy sort of spirit image as the Pathfinder, but darker.

“The flesh may rot; the soul fragment. Yet power – power endures.” – This implies that Rothais was an Arisen of such will that time couldn’t kill him – he simply refused to die.

He seems to know more about the cycle than most, but not the entire story. He says, “could ne’er hope to fell the dragon, let alone the watching one,” which suggests that he is aware the dragon is a pawn of the Seneschal.

The godsway are made of broken Arisen souls. The godsbane blade is made of a pure Arisen soul. He pulls a godsbane from his chest, same as Savan does in the first game. Rothais was an Arisen, but he turns his soul into a godsbane, which is something we have only ever seen Savan do as Seneschal. But he’s NOT the Seneschal because he is wary of ‘the watching one’. He says, “the ages have taken their toll; ‘tis as withered as mine own flesh,” so perhaps the ability to create a godsbane from one’s soul is a skill only for the Arisen and time wears away at an Arisen's soul regardless of whether they become Seneschal. Is the purpose of the godsbane for one Arisen to kill another? Is it meant only as a physical manifestation of their unbreakable will? We use Savan’s soul to kill him in the first game, but our own soul remains intact, which is perhaps important to the bestowal of spirit? But in this game, we use Rothais’ soul to kill ??? Ourself? The dragon?? The Pathfinder??? Unclear.

In the post-game: He says he defeated a dragon once and created Vermund afterwards. So he was a successful Arisen in that respect. He says he “ruled the world entire” and that’s how he “came to know of the watching one” which suggests to me that he was a mortal Arisen with very lofty ambitions. It also suggests that this particular Seneschal (the Pathfinder) was in the role before Rothais became Arisen. (So how long ago was that? How ‘new’ are these nations? What happened to Gransys? Anyway.) He forged a mortal empire and ruled it, but because he wanted more power, more everything, he maybe encroached onto the Seneschal’s territory as ruler of the world. He wanted to challenge the Seneschal but was denied the opportunity. Then a new Arisen must have cursed him somehow with the Seneschal’s blessing because he says the watching one sent an Arisen to imprison him in the Seafloor Shrine. So, if he's not the Seneschal, he must be cursed, but why would the Pathfinder want him around?

I do so wish we had a nice little trail of breadcrumbs to piece a timeline together. Because Lamond's there too, being an ex-Arisen, and we know nothing about him. We don't see him in the little collection of character epilogues at the end, so I assume he died when his heart was returned to him, but we don't know for sure and I would really like to know.

General concluding thoughts:

The post-game, then, is a glimpse of what a world would look like with the cycle broken: no Seneschal to keep the world whole and sensible, everything falls apart. Without a guide, all falls to ruin. This properly answers the question left at the end of the first game: What happens if you break the cycle? The end of days happens, good to know.

OR was this simply what the Pathfinder wants you to think? Did they show this vision of the world to the dragon we fight to get him to back down? Were they an Arisen also who gave in and were turned into a dragon by the Pathfinder? Or are the rules different here?

Right at the end, in the final cutscene, the Pathfinder claims that the dragon is meant to embody all the chaos and destruction that we witnessed in the unmoored world. That instead of constant chaos and disaster all the time threatening to destroy all life, we get a single great dragon to ravage the land once every few years (or however long) in order to keep the world whole. A single cycling and defeatable calamity instead of an unending deluge of them that cannot be stopped. And the Arisen, selected to defeat the calamity – the dragon – and grant the world safety and peace for a time afterwards. With the Pathfinder – the Seneschal – to guide and watch and safeguard (?).

“A new world comes. A new tale is set to unfold. Yet it seems I will not be there to watch it.” – So did we kill the Pathfinder (Seneschal) after all? Guess I’ll find out when I do NG+. But it does seem as though the Pathfinder was killed alongside that giant dragon we stabbed with the godsbane at the end. And also that our Arisen vanished, the state of the world is restored and people seem to remember our actions but we - the Arisen - are no longer there. Perhaps we became the new Seneschal? I do so hope that when you get to endgame in NG+ that it's the same as in the first one, with your previous Arisen acting as the Pathfinder, but I doubt it.

Perhaps unrelated: when the Gigantus is powered back up in the post-game, your pawn is sucked into it through the empty eye socket and when that happens, they get the glowing red eyes and writhing purple/red aura that happens when they have the dragonsplague and they get drawn in by tentacles like the brine. So what is the significance of the dragonsplague? Is the brine the dragonsplague infecting pawns to create more chaos and destruction? Is the brine the destructive force the Pathfinder is keeping in check? And what was the Gigantus originally created for? Is it powered by the brine? Are the dragons/wyrms in the post-game that glow and pulse like that (and the lesser dragons also) infected with the dragonsplague? Are the enemies with glowing eyes?

Was the infection taking hold of our pawn at the end a final attempt to break the cycle? Is the brine using the “empty vessels” of the pawns to try and create that apocalyptic version of the world the Pathfinder showed us? Was the will of our pawn – as imbued by us – enough to fight the infection off? Is that why they tried to kill the dragon?

So good to know this game has left me with as many existential questions as the first!

[shine-of-aldhani]

WARNING, spoilers Ep10 ahead

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I thought something horrendous happened, and then watched the episode and? It? Was? Sad, yes. Uncomfortable to watch? Yup. Realistic and messy and unpleasant depiction of varying degrees of animalistic rage from people suddenly put through the grinder? Absolutely.

Rhaenys: they are coming for you and your children. You should maybe abandon Dragonstone at once.

Rhaenyra: goes into labor right there.

Daemon: checks garrison, organises outlook posts, mentions that they are undermanned and how they should at least attempt to appear strong, sends a dragon skywards in fear enemy dragons might come, thinks to check the loyalty of the Kingsguard. Listens to her cries, all the while doing his stuff. When all is done, comes to Rhaenyra (it's too late). Grieves. Is with her at the funeral. Crowns her.

People panicking left and right: He didn't SuPporT hEr.

No. He didn't. He secured their castle on the very real assumption that they could be attacked any moment. That's a realistic depiction of what would normally happen in such a situation and a realistic depiction of Daemon in particular. He would see securing the castle as way more useful than being emotionally supportive of his wife. Come on.

The council: gathers

Rhaenyra: talks.

Daemon: is literally vibrating in his skin... yet still waiting for her to ask every pertinent question before giving her the answer.

Panicked viewers: He Was UnDerMinIng Her.

No? He was doing his damned best? His best isn't very good, but that is a known fact? I truly loved the first meeting? He was acting like a teacher's pet dying to be questioned and to show how ready he is? Like a hound tearing at the leash? Like she asked about the state of their garrison and he started answering before the question ended, talking at a speed we've never seen from him before? But he waited for her command each time? Like, what did you realistically expect, Daemon being calm and reasonable?

Otto: exists.

Daemon: is mouthy and Dark Sister happy.

Rhaenyra: tell him to stand down.

Daemon: stands down.

People: He WaS UndErmInIng Her.

My sisters in Seven, this man has no self control at the best of times. Here, he's convinced these people killed Viserys. He has hated Otto his entire life. He has just cremated his daughter. His brother's throne has been usurped and he's fully expecting to be attacked at any moment. And Rhaenyra looks at a fucking book page and starts to forget what she'd spent 20 years pursuing and preparing for. It's a fucking miracle Otto is still alive.

Second council: gathers.

Rhaenyra: wants to maybe accept terms.

Daemon: unravels.

OK, I'm with y'all here, this is absolutely bad and the entire scene just was bad per se. Now, the entire episode was leading to him screwing up under pressure, it was a given because it was always going to be too much of an offence from people he hated too much, and not being allowed to act the way he wanted because he's suddenly answerable to the Queen was never going to be without consequence. Rhaenyra said right in the beginning that he'd go mad, and she knew him best. She actually sent Jace after him because she expected Daemon to start the war without her (didn't happen). It's hardly a commentary on their relationship, more of a "multiple brave attempts at bottling the rage were made, but ultimately, in the face of escalating stakes and piling up tragedies, were unsuccessful". That said, the entire scene was kind of badly thought out. I'd sooner believe Daemon would openly defy Rhaenyra's orders than him kinda sorta threaten her but not really and then leave?

Anyway...

Show: makes a point to have Rhaenys scold Corlys for abandoning her, remind him that they're both hurting. Hmmm... Something something parallels something.

Rhaenyra: actually goes on to plan a war? Thank you 14 flames of Valyria, because just accepting the terms and sending her sons to be "wards" (read: prisoners) of her enemies would be a wildly stupid decision. Is shown to be too naive, sadly. Reminding the Baratheons of their oath wasn't the power move she expected it to be.

Daemon: makes himself useful? In the only way he knows how? In the middle of the mess? With everything collapsing and war unfolding? 2/10 you screwed up and aren't out of the doghouse by a long shot but a small attempt was made to shield Rhaenyra from the rest of the council and to just be at her side? OK maybe 2/10 is generous, 1.5/10 is more like it.

TLDR: my expectations of this man were realistic (read: low where violence and high emotional pressure are concerned) and there was always going to be a fuckup from him somewhere. It's the thing about burning - Sometimes It Actually Burns. Daemon and Rhaenyra aren't a lovey dovey couple, they are two fucking dragons that are being caged and threatened with spikes. There will be blood.

[aishiterusaezuru]

The Deliberate Changes in Doumeki

A Singular Connection

Our guy Doumeki has had 4 years to process everything at the end of his interactions with Yashiro. He still keeps tabs on Yashiro. Serious tabs. He’s also still a yakuza. These are not things you do if you are over Yashiro or even just  casually interested in Y. Doumeki’s grown up a great deal and he is bidding his tiiiime. 

So why hasn’t Doumeki professed his love to Yashiro, bedded him down and convinced him to go on the lam and adopt a ton of parakeets?

Well, I think that most of Doumeki actions have been very calculated and deliberate because he know he can’t force Yashiro’s emotional journey. That’s truly how D could break Y. He doesn’t want to risk that. 

We know from the beginning of Yashiro’s and Doumeki’s relationship that there was an almost abnormal comfort level between the two of them. 

-They would ask each other questions (and get decent answers) when neither of them were naturally disposed to being transparent. 

-Doumeki doesn’t seem to be one for random sex (and we know he’s not totally indifferent - he thought Yashiro was kire from the time when he started at the other office after all) but he lets Yashiro repeatedly go down on him without real judgement. It’s almost a dispassionate, “Alright if this is what you need to do so I can stay by your side, sure.”

-But more than sex, these two allow the other to push boundaries which would never fly with anyone else.  Yashiro probes Doumeki’s past with his sister’s abuse in order to break D’s misplaced self-blame and Doumeki challenges Yashiro’s pursuit and use of sex (especially with Inami, but more on that at a later time).

D and Y understand each other pretty well. I think they both think they have a good handle on the other person’s thoughts, but there are egregious gaps. That’s where things get really messy. 

When you know someone really well and start to make bigger assumptions and bigger leaps of imagination, then your conclusions can be that much more off the mark. Both Doumeki and Yashiro are guilty of this. 

Yashiro forcibly divested himself of Doumeki after the Hirata fiasco without considering Doumeki’s free will and right to choose to stay as a yakuza and with Yashiro. But Y treats D as a kid who doesn’t know any better and who actually has an out from this world. Yashiro never had a choice to enter or leave because of Mizumi. As misguided as it is, Y is trying to give D the out he never had and if that ain’t love...?

Doumeki doesn’t understand where Yashiro’s walls come from. It’s interesting that Yashiro casually mentions his abuse to Mizumi and to Doumeki’s sister, even Nanahara knows. Y doesn’t hide it, but never makes any allusions to it with D. Doumeki pushes soft affection on Y because he thinks it will help and maybe even heal his unnamed wounds. D doesn’t realize all the nuances of why Yashiro runs away hard from him until after they end up in the hospital. Then after Y’s feigned amnesia and shooting D, Doumeki lets it lay.

Actual problem: They both try to save the other without the other’s ok or understanding the other’s reasoning. 

4 Years of No Contact

Doumeki stays in the yakuza at great cost to himself because he trusts that staying in that world will enable him to see Yashiro again. He also leans on his cop side to get information from Chesnut* on Yashiro’s moving whereabouts.

If you were shot by a guy who repeatedly ditched you, first after you had unraveling sex for the first time, then in situations that threatened Y’s life and after you both got very hurt saving the other’s life - I think you’d switch love tactics too. D’s not devoid of emotion, I’m sure there’s an element of hurt here too.

Doumeki works and thinks about Yashiro. 2 occupations. Maybe texts with Nikki-san. That much seems pretty clear to me. But it seems like while he’s assertive, he’s done with lambasting Yashiro with affection. Maybe he’s trying to match Yashiro’s speed and communicate with Y on a more sexually motivated level? But I think that’s because he understands that Y might not be capable of processing or responding to a relationship with D’s level of affection. 

Let’s learn to crawl Y before we run right?

I think he now sees their first time together in a much more nuanced light, he can guess where Y’s abuse colored their time. He doesn’t want a repeat of Y running away after being emotionally overwhelmed. If anyone has ever experienced extreme sensory overload to the point of pain- I think that can start to approach how those soft Doumeki attentions hit Yashiro the first time. 

D ain’t going to chase Y’s growth. It didn’t work before and it ain’t going to work now. So here is where he lays the groundwork so Yashiro can come to his own conclusions about the way he feels about Doumeki. D’s plan, I think, is to get Y to come to him this time.

Still there’s also an element of overcorrection on Doumeki’s part. He helped Yashiro get to a point where Y’s not fucking the world to cope with sublimated pain. But D hasn’t really grasped that change in Yashiro. And he’s still @saezurufeels has the hallmarks of not understanding how to respond to abuse and the fact that he couldn’t do more with Aoi and now Yashiro. 

Until these two stop fending each other off halfway, they are still going to move across each other. 

*Corrected from Inami

[bestworstcase]

Salem who knows humankind is strong when they band together due to her experience of gathering an army to fight literal gods vs Ozpin who was put in a position that already came with a secret he felt he couldn’t share who has seen strong groups fall to doubt and fear which is huh… what made him and Salem break up bc their doubted and feared what the other was hiding from them. Which came after Salem convinced him to become gods to the humans bc their powers combined convinced them they could do so.

I Love Tragedy and Complicated Relationships and How Ozpin and Salem are both their own jailers and biggest asset. It’s wild

tbh i don't think the conviction with which salem believes in human potential because of the experience of rallying armies against the gods--like, she's always had this fundamental inkling of optimism, it would never have occurred to her to lead a rebellion if she didn't believe in the possibility of victory, but i think the experience that really crystallized this part of her worldview was living long enough to see that the gods failed. they crushed her rebellion in the blink of an eye by obliterating every person on the planet, dismissed humankind as a disappointing experiment that had now ended by their hand, and then left her to rot.

and then humanity came back.

that was not supposed to happen. that should not have happened, not when the gods so thoroughly and brutally dismantled their little exercise in sharing their toys. that humanity crawled out of the mass grave the gods condemned it to is the ultimate defiance of the gods and ultimate proof that humans really CAN liberate themselves from the tyranny of their creators.

( there's a part of me that always side-eyes what salem says to ozma after they reunite. "we could be the gods of this world. our powers surpass all others; our souls transcend death." like. the natural assumption here is that by we salem means herself and ozma, but... salem was there when the gods slaughtered humanity, and then she watched humanity rise again all by themselves. she once rallied armies to "claim the powers of [the gods] for themselves and [...] perfect their own design"—and i really think as far as salem is concerned, she lost the battle that day, but the gods lost the war. it's all muddied by her earnest desire to support ozma's vague ambition of "bringing people together" and the unanswered question of exactly how much salem was willing to compromise in order to give him what she thought he wanted, but particularly given the repetition of "the hearts of men are easily swayed" i DO wonder if salem was really suggesting what ozma understood her to be suggesting or if, instead, she had in mind more of a "rebellion against the gods...2!" in mind on the grounds that humanity ultimately won the first round. )

( by the same token i also wonder how much ozma might have picked up on that subtext, because his reaction to what she's saying is puzzled with, at worst, a tinge of skepticism until the very, very end, when salem proposes with such casual confidence that they could make the world BETTER than it was when the brothers ruled over humankind. the like... layer of theological disagreement, apostate vs disciple, in the tragic unraveling of their marriage is endlessly fascinating imo. )

another thing i think about A NORMAL AMOUNT in this regard is that, while jinn says that salem and ozma "each withheld parts of their story" after their reunion, a statement that implies approximate equivalence in dishonesty on both their parts—salem "blamed the end of the world on the gods," which is, um, accurate, whereas ozma "kept his task and the relics a secret," which by necessity means that he told her nothing. and of course, this bit of narration plays over a silent scene that depicts salem talking—soaked in an inexplicable wash of red light—before panning over to ozma who says... nothing.

my read on lost fable generally is that jinn is answering very precisely the question ruby asked her, which is "what is ozma hiding from us?", and consequently ozpin's own biases, misconceptions, incomplete understandings, and genuine doubts about the veracity of what salem told him back then are left intact and conveyed through the narrative structure of a fairytale—exactly the way ozpin would have told this story himself.

but at the same time jinn is the avatar of knowledge (and her personal disdain for ozma, and the enjoyment she takes in exposing him as a liar, are both quite clear) so... i think the incongruences between the spoken narrative and the flashback narrative arise from jinn's own desire to paint a more complete version of the truth than merely ozpin's side of it; she tells salem's story with the same edge of condemnation that creeps into ozpin's commentary on the girl in the tower, but she shows her audience the genuine anguish, desperation, and fear salem felt, shows them the cruelty and indifference of the gods, shows them salem grieving and distraught as the gods leave and shards of the broken moon hammer down... and then, when factually recounting ozpin's side of the story requires her to make this misleading implication that salem lied to him too, she literally DISTORTS the accompanying flashback by abruptly suffusing it with red light. it's like. a literal red flag that the verbal narrative does not add up. that it's nonsensical to imply that salem telling ozma that the gods destroyed the world is the same, a deception on the same level as ozma not telling her that the god of light had promised to return one day to exterminate humanity again.

( either that or the sudden sinister red lighting is jinn's way of representing ozpin's intense desperation to believe that salem lied to him back then, because if she told him the truth then it's his fault, isn't it? if he's the only one who lied. if she really meant the things she said, if she wasn't just maliciously stringing him along to fulfill her own violent designs the entire time, if the things she did were based on genuine trust and support of him, because she believed him when he said he wanted to bring people together under their banner—like. he feels so much self-loathing and guilt as it is. it's fucking boiling him alive and the only way he is coping even slightly is by frantically reassuring himself that salem lied to him and manipulated him too, that he fell for an elaborate deception, that maybe there was something rotten in her all along, even from the very beginning, even in the tower—anything, ANYTHING to make it her fault. it's less painful to convince himself he was a gullible fool back then than to torture himself by wondering if things might have turned out differently if he'd just trusted her with the truth from the start. i think deep down there's a part of ozma that is terrified he's the one who ruined them both, and he's trying so hard to smother that fear by convincing himself that salem was always a monster and his only mistake lay in failing to see it, but he... can't. )

anyway lost fable fucks me up good

also on the subject of blame im obsessed. OBSESSED with ozpin in v5 gravely and honestly saying "it's all my fault"—bc he really truly believes that—before sharing a distorted sliver of the truth that at once takes the blame for things that are unequivocally not his fault AND YET ALSO obfuscates and ignores the actual things he did wrong, the lying the lack of trust the manipulating salem into serving the abusive tyrannical gods she openly despised. half truths and lies blown wide open in the first act of the next volume. im obsessed with this bc—stares at salem's "it's all my fault" moment in v8, at the unspoken tension between the transparent manipulation and the pointedly intentional choice to not do to cinder what the gods did to her all occurring in the context of the dramatically shifting dynamic of her relationship with cinder who much like the kids were with ozpin in v5 is chafing hard against salem's control and outright demanding answers and compromises and essentially equal standing from someone who had hitherto been an unquestioned authority in her life and WHAT IM GETTING AT HERE IS. v6 took ozpin's manipulative "it's all my fault" and turned it inside out and drastically shifted the entire paradigm and in V9 IT'S GONNA BE SALEM'S TURN

[ladylynse]

Chapter 12 [FF | AO3] of Whirlwind (SQ fic): Jake should be used to ominous predictions by now. Randy should know better than to blindly follow McFist. Adrien should think twice before sneaking away. And Danny should’ve expected something like this when he got that phone call.

Previous | Timeline post

-|-

7:46 PM

“Don’t come here,” Gabriel hissed. “If you’ve captured Chat Noir, simply take his Miraculous! I want that ring.”

“Bringing him to you while he wears his ring is the same as bringing his ring to you,” was her infuriatingly mild response. “Unless you care to revise the terms of our agreement and specify that you would like only his ring?”

Gabriel ground his teeth. He knew what she was trying to do. “Take his Miraculous,” he repeated. “I have no use for the boy. If you bring him here, his fate is on your head.”

He thought that would give her pause. Instead, she asked, “Are you so afraid of him?”

“I know you don’t like needless death, Dracona,” he snapped. “If you believe bringing him to me will save him, you are sorely mistaken.”

“You don’t want to know who he is?” she asked lightly. “For the next time he foils your plans?”

“There won’t be a next time if you give me his Miraculous this time.”

“How can you be so sure of that when he could face you using a different Miraculous?”

Gabriel stilled. How did she know that? He had never told her of the Miraculous beyond asking her to fetch Chat Noir’s, and he didn’t recall naming the ring as a Miraculous until now.

She must be guessing. She couldn’t know more.

He wasn’t willing to bet on that, though. She’d surprised him by having that blood magic of hers; he wasn’t about to assume she was ignorant of other magics. “We’ll meet on the rooftops, then. The former venue.” He didn’t want to make this concession, but she’d use a refusal against him. It was far better to meet her away from prying eyes than to have her find him where he stood now. Besides, he knew to be careful. She’d only captured Chat Noir; the other heroes he’d seen acting earlier were still out there, as was her son.

He suspected this was her new way of opposing him. She was still trying to bargain with him, trying to find loopholes in their agreement. Still thinking she could get the upper hand. No matter; he’d prove her wrong soon enough.

“No.”

“I beg your pardon?” He spoke slowly, letting his threat soak through the words at her audacity of trying to dictate more terms.

“Go to the roof of your hotel. I’ll find you.”

“I’m afraid—”

“You’re not from here, and this is hardly a residential district. You’re staying at a hotel nearby. Your first choice tells me that much.”

Gabriel let out a growl, and Dracona added, “Or would you prefer I come straight to your room?”

The cane in Gabriel’s grip trembled slightly, and he forced himself to relax. He didn’t want to let her know how much her insubordination irked him. “Very well.” Once he had Chat Noir’s ring, he could recall her akuma and be done with this. She may have inside knowledge of other magical artefacts that might be useful to him, but it was abundantly clear that she wouldn’t part with that knowledge if he didn’t have some leverage. He’d hoped Nooroo’s magic would be enough to keep her on a short leash, but if she could push back this much, he was better off declawing her.

Fortunately, while she wouldn’t remember the incident, he’d know everything she’d told him. That would have to be enough for him when he found his next target.

“Dark wings fall, Nooroo,” he said, letting the magic wash over him.

Nooroo appeared in front of him. “Is this wise, Master?”

“Are you questioning my judgement?”

“No, Master.”

“Then what more can you tell me of her magic? How she could possibly know about the Miraculous?”

Nooroo hesitated.

“Answer me.”

“These things are not meant to be spoken of, Master.”

“Consider this an exception.”

Nooroo swallowed. “Dragons believe themselves to be the protectors of the magical world. While the Order of the Guardians have striven for utmost secrecy themselves, it is likely the dragons are aware of the Miraculous.”

Dragons.

“And you did not think to mention this before?” Nooroo would have known that from the beginning. It was highly unlikely he’d known she possessed blood magic without recognizing its kind, especially after Dracona had unlocked her own power. Gabriel did not appreciate being taken for a fool, yet they all seemed intent to try it—though it did make Dracona’s protection of her family make so much more sense. Her son, especially; as she’d said he’d fought and won his own battles despite still learning, Gabriel had no doubt that her son also considered himself a protector of the magical world.

“You forbade me from speaking, Master.”

A convenient excuse but not likely the real reason. Nooroo’s reluctance to speak of this at all would have been obvious even if he had met Gabriel’s eyes. “Then speak now. What can you tell me about the others? The ghost, the ninja?”

“I do not know specifics,” Nooroo admitted in a whisper. “I believe the Ninja is using magical artefacts to achieve his powers—”

“Then we shall have to see if we can take those away from him.”

Nooroo flinched. “That would not be an easy thing to do, Master. I do not know what the artefacts might be or if they are connected and must be used together. I cannot even guess if they are bound by magic my own cannot unravel. I would have to see them to discern that, as was your plan for any other artefacts we find here.”

“Then we shall see if you can properly evaluate those artefacts once we crush the Ninja. What of this Phantom?”

“Spirits are not uncommon but rarely pose a serious threat to the living realm. They…. The strongest are capable of possession, but—”

“Possession?” That was not a threat that should have gone undisclosed. “Can you counter it?” When Nooroo didn’t answer, Gabriel repeated himself slowly, letting his anger at Nooroo’s delayed response simmer in every word. “Can you counter it?”

“It’s not the same as when my magic is used to overtake another Miraculous Holder. The spirit magic—”

“I don’t want an explanation. I want an answer. Can you counter it or not?”

“I-I don’t know, Master. I can try.”

He couldn’t afford to expose himself if Nooroo wasn’t certain. “You can shield me from other threats,” he said, keeping his voice deliberately mild. “You said it’s not the same as when other Miraculous Holders are overcome by your magic, but unlike Ladybug and Chat Noir, there are no constraints on how much of your power I can safely access. If you used all your power to fight a threat such as this, could you not protect me?”

“I don’t—”

“Could you not protect me?”

“I could,” Nooroo breathed, not meeting his eyes.

“Then I command you to do so. Protect me regardless of the cost to yourself.”

The kwami nodded and had the sense to hide in Gabriel’s breast pocket instead of arguing.

Gabriel reached up to touch his earpiece. “Nathalie, I’ll be delayed further. Relay to the security team that everyone is to stay off the rooftops for their own protection.” Enough people had seen Dracona that such an order wouldn’t be questioned, and with any luck, Dracona’s presence would be enough incentive for the other buildings where he had no influence to follow suit.

“Of course, sir. Would you like me to see if I can have a lockdown instituted?”

Gabriel considered the idea and then dismissed it; if worst came to worst, he’d need to blend into the crowd quickly—and that would require there to be a crowd in the first place. “Not within the building. I want people to be free to move about inside, but talk to security about getting the streets cleared. There’s no benefit in stalling that any longer.”

“I’ll see to it right away, sir.”

He didn’t need to ask how her negotiations were going. She would be doing an exemplary job; he didn’t pay her for anything less. She knew what he wanted and she’d find a way to get it—most likely while making others think they were doing precisely what they wanted.

As Adrien knew better than to leave his room, Gabriel had no need to check the adjoining suite to know that everything was in order.

Much as he hated letting Dracona choose their meeting ground, he wasn’t going to argue with results. With Chat Noir out of the picture, Ladybug would be easy enough to defeat in the future, even without any other magical artefacts.

-|-

7:47 PM

This was not going according to plan. Clearly, there was a reason that Ladybug was the one to come up with their plans. Adrien didn’t even have the room to squirm in Dracona’s talons. The suit protected him from being sliced to bits, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the amount of pressure she was using to keep him in her grip.

The suit also protected him from the cold wind, and he hoped that wind wasn’t going to rip away his words. He needed Dracona to hear this. Even if he could only get her to hesitate, it would give the others time to catch up. “You’re worried about your family, aren’t you?” he asked, thinking that was a fair assumption when they were clearly involved in the magical world and Hawk Moth wanted something from that world enough to put in an appearance. “I’ve met your son. And your daughter. They love you very much.”

Dracona said nothing.

Maybe she couldn’t hear him; he wasn’t whispering, but he couldn’t draw enough breath to shout over the wind.

Or maybe she was just ignoring him.

“I’m someone’s son, too. And if you give my Miraculous to Hawk Moth, you’ll be endangering so many more kids just like your own. You’ll be endangering everyone. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. It won’t just be your family or mine; it’ll be anyone who’s even remotely in his way.”

Everyone was insisting that Dracona was different because she was part of a family of dragons, but she was still akumatized. Most akumatized people couldn’t be reasoned with, but some of them— Some of them fought back. And from what he’d heard of the dragon earlier—of how no one had been hurt—he was pretty sure that she was one of those people who was fighting back.

She might be like Nathaniel had been as the Evillustrator. From what he’d seen and what he’d heard from Marinette, Nathaniel had tried to resist Hawk Moth more than once. If Susan could keep doing that….

“I heard what happened earlier at the fashion show,” he continued. If he hadn’t begged off shadowing Nathalie, chances were very good he’d have been caught in the middle of it. As it was, everyone seemed to have assumed that he’d never left his room. Perhaps they’d left a message for him and told him to remain there; he hadn’t looked in the brief time he’d been back there, too focused on other things, monitoring Plagg’s cheese consumption included. He could always claim to have been in the washroom when the message came, maybe say he’d needed a shower to wake up.

As it was, too much had happened for Adrien to feel tired. More likely than not, he’d crash once this was over. They had to get this sorted out tonight. Soon. Now. He couldn’t afford to give Hawk Moth more time to find what he was looking for, especially when he had a connection to someone who would know exactly where to procure what he wanted, providing he could convince her to do that.

“I know this night didn’t go like you’d hoped, and I can’t fix that—” Not like Ladybug could have, anyway. “—but that doesn’t mean we can’t begin to make it better now. And better includes keeping your family safe, doesn’t it? You might think that will happen if you give me over to Hawk Moth, but it won’t. Your son and I….” Adrien hesitated, not sure if he could call this a proper partnership, let alone a friendship, when he hadn’t told them his real name. “We’re working together. Sacrificing me—and sacrificing my Miraculous is sacrificing me—won’t make him give up; it’ll make him fight harder.”

“I know.”

Adrien blinked, not expecting to get a response. At least, he hadn’t been expecting that response. An argument, maybe, if not continued silence, but an acknowledgement? It was going to be a lot harder to sway her to his side if she already knew what he was going to say.

“Then why are you doing this?”

“It’s the only choice I have.”

His heart sank at her words, and as she banked towards the site of the gala, he thought it might have skipped a beat entirely. There was a figure on one of the rooftops—and unless he was completely disoriented, it was the rooftop of his hotel. Hawk Moth was staying at this hotel? Surely he wouldn’t have had time to go to a different one. But if it was this one, then if Plagg could get a look at the registry so Adrien could check names once he got back to Paris—

He could discover Hawk Moth’s identity. At the very least, he could narrow it down.

He just needed to get out of this first.

-|-

7:49 PM

“Why are you slowing down?” Randy asked. “They’re there! We can see them! We need to go!”

“Danny’s gotta get Chat Noir out of there before we completely lose the element of surprise,” Jake reminded him. “If he can do that without Hawk Moth realizing, all the better.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“I like to be optimistic sometimes.”

“Really didn’t seem like that earlier.”

“I said sometimes. Besides, it’s better if I drop you here and we hit them from different angles.” He wheeled towards the same rooftop where he’d talked to Randy earlier that day. “I wanna check on Trixie and Spud, too. Make sure they caught up to Haley. If I tell you the number, can you call them for me?”

Randy snorted. “With what, my broken phone that you left in pieces somewhere? Or did you give them one of those earphone things?”

Oh. Right. Jake had used his cell phone as a dragon before, difficult as that was when it came to precise handling and not, well, accidentally gouging out buttons or scratching the screen or completely smashing it, but if he didn’t specifically try to keep the phone with him when he transformed, it stayed safely with his human clothes.

“Sorry,” Jake mumbled as he landed and crouched so Randy could slide off.

Randy flipped onto the rooftop instead, missing Jake’s transformation but turning back in time to watch him dig his cell phone out of his pocket. “You didn’t talk angles with Danny,” he said as Jake started dialling. “Shouldn’t you have done that if you wanted to hit them from all fronts? And, I mean, not to say I don’t have some pretty bruce moves, but is it wise to pretty much divide and conquer ourselves against someone we know is strong, especially when she’s with the shoob who’s manipulating her?”

“Now you’re questioning me? Really?”

“You decided to stop before fighting. That means I get to criticize, doesn’t it? Since I’m not doing anything else. I mean, I don’t usually get the luxury of a breather in a fight. You seriously do?”

Jake rolled his eyes and was about to retort when Spud picked up his phone. “Hello?”

That wasn’t Spud.

“Trixie? What’s going on? What happened to Spud?”

“He’s fine. We’re both fine. Don’t worry about us.”

Jake frowned and turned away from Randy, who had pulled off his mask in order to make increasingly silly faces at Jake in what was undoubtedly an attempt to get a reaction out of him. “Then you guys found Haley already? Have you dealt with Rotwood? And, um, McFist?”

“Not exactly.”

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’? Where are you guys?”

“Cool it, Jakey. Spud had an idea. I’m helping.”

“Wh—? I need you here! Haley needs you here!”

“We’re trying to save your butt. And Haley’s. Let us do this.”

“Yo, do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now? Spud doesn’t have time to build another thermos if he can’t find the first one!”

Trixie let out a low whistle. “You would be surprised what ya boy can do under pressure.”

“But—”

“Just trust us. We got this. I think. And Haley can hold her own. Chill.”

Jake just groaned as Trixie hung up on him. He turned back to Randy, about to explain Trixie’s side of the conversation, and then realized that Randy wasn’t there. Jake spun and finally spotted a flash of Randy’s red scarf the next building over. He was steadily making his way towards the building—hotel, Jake realized—where Hawk Moth stood with Susan, who was still in her dragon form and using it to very effectively pin Nino to the rooftop.

Evidently, Randy’s suit had repaired itself just fine.

Jake hoped that wasn’t the only bit of luck they’d have tonight.

-|-

7:48 PM

“Magic exists,” Haley said. The words were a bitter betrayal. It didn’t matter that Rotwood already knew about the magical world or that McFist had to be aware of it if he fought the Ninja; the point was that she was never supposed to confirm that knowledge, and now she was.

“Of course magic exists,” sniffed Rotwood. “You are a dragon. I know you are a dragon. Therefore, magic exists.”

Haley glanced at McFist, who shrugged. “I work with a sorcerer. It’s not news to me.”

“Still,” she whispered, “that’s not the same. This magic isn’t like that.”

“We do not have time for games,” Rotwood said. “If you think we do, perhaps I should just phone one of the news channels?”

Ordinarily, Haley would think Rotwood had cried wolf too many times for that threat to hold any water, but after tonight?

She wasn’t willing to make that bet after tonight.

“You have to swear that you won’t tell anyone if I explain this,” she said. Jake and Rotwood had called truces in the past, so he might keep his word, but she had no idea about McFist. Frankly, she didn’t trust either of them as far as Fu could throw them. But, hopefully, if she made this sound important—and told them a little bit of what was important—they might not realize what she left out.

Or how much.

McFist frowned at her. “Any of this going to blow up in our faces?”

“Not if I tell you,” she said carefully, “so you’re warned.”

“Good enough for me.” McFist hesitated. “Except I don’t want to lie to my wife. I don’t lie to her. I’ll have to be able to tell her enough so she knows she can’t push me on this. You good with that?”

Haley blinked.

“And Viceroy sometimes just knows things. Man’s not a mind reader, but he’s good at tricking you into saying things. Not sure I can make any promises with him, either, and expect to keep them. But if you’re worried about this whole magic thing, he knows it’s real, too. Helps me help the Sorcerer. And I can’t keep anything from the Sorcerer. I think he really is a mind reader. Maybe. Hard to say. He hasn’t caught the Ninja yet, either. But he knows things. The existence of magic included, obviously. So you okay with me promising not to tell anyone but with the caveat that those people might find out?”

“You have our word,” Rotwood said. “He won’t intentionally tell anyone, and I won’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know—unless you try to trick us.”

She wasn’t going to get a better deal than that, and it was as much as she’d expected anyway. Rotwood has given himself the out he wanted—he could claim trickery and tell the media—and given McFist the out he’d wanted, and she was left with little more than she’d started with.

“Okay.” What was the best way for her to put this? “The dragon you saw earlier was created with magic.”

“How?” McFist demanded. “Can it be replicated?”

“Not by any of us. It’s not a magic I understand. The person doing this…. They’re not from here. And that dragon? She’s not much more than a distraction.” That wasn’t exactly true, but they wouldn’t know that. Besides, it wasn’t entirely a lie, either. Things would be simpler if it were. “If you—if anyone—kicks up a fuss over the dragon, you’ll be playing right into their hands.”

Rotwood frowned. “This other person, what game are they playing?”

Haley shrugged. “We figured it was better if we could cut them off before they could set any more rules.”

“So you, what, saw me talking to him and figured you had to get us out of there before we messed with your big plan?” McFist crossed his arms. “Gotta be more to it than that.”

“It’s my job to protect people from the magical world, including those who go poking their noses into trouble,” Haley shot back. Rotwood sniffed, maybe because he knew that was supposed to be more on Jake and Gramps and Sun than her at the moment, but she ignored him. “The Ninja’s heard of you,” she said, looking at McFist, “and what’s happening in Norrisville. He gave me some weaponry to help me, um, convince you to leave. If I can figure out how to use it to distract more than just you, all the better.”

“Wait, are you asking us to help you?”

She wasn’t, but Haley nodded anyway. If McFist was going to offer, she wasn’t going to turn him down. She didn’t have a plan—not anymore, anyway—and she doubted Jake had come up with anything yet.

“And what are we supposed to get in return? Are you willing to take me back to the Magus Bazaar?”

“The what?”

“Magical market,” Rotwood said to McFist. “Filled with magical creatures and magical things.”

“Could I get something to take down the Ninja there?”

“I can promise to ask if someone will take you,” Haley said, “and I can promise that you’ll remember this when it’s over.”

“Why wouldn’t we remember this once it’s over?” McFist asked.

Haley cocked her head. “Why do you think so many people don’t believe in magic anymore?”

“If you could do that, Jake would have already done this to me. To Brock. You are stretching the truth, little girl.”

“Ordinary humans aren’t supposed to know about the magical world,” Haley said. “You might know it exists and keep looking for solid proof to share with others, but that doesn’t mean you remember every encounter you’ve had with it. Even Jake knows how suspicious it would be if you suddenly stopped poking around until you saw something that made you suspect the truth again.”

“But…but your brother’s friends—!”

“I don’t know,” admitted Haley. “I think Jake defied direct orders and Gramps smoothed it over. You’ve met my family, Rotwood. If it were perfectly fine for humans to know about the magical world, don’t you think our lives would be easier?”

Rotwood opened his mouth but paused as her words sunk in. McFist raised his eyebrows at him, and Rotwood’s expression sunk into a glower. “It’s Professor Rotwood. But very well. I see your point. However, if you are not able to get me entrance to the Magus Bazaar again, you must do something else for me in the future. I am not going to give up on an opportunity like this without good reason. There is footage of a dragon out there now. Proof. Which means redemption for me as all those who have mocked me realize they were the ones who were wrong. You must think me a fool if you believe I would give this up for nothing.”

She did think him a fool, but she shook her head anyway. “I can’t make an open promise like that.”

“Then I will add the caveat that, whatever I decide, it will not directly endanger the magical world or your family. Or directly expose them. Is that satisfactory, Miss Long?”

Haley bit her lip. She knew this wasn’t what anyone had intended when they’d asked her to distract Rotwood and McFist. It might very well be the opposite of what had been intended. Still, they needed help. And Jake had struck deals with Rotwood before. She wasn’t sure about Randy and McFist, but….

“Okay. Yes. I agree. Help me protect the magical world now and don’t ever tell anyone the truth about what’s going on, and I’ll do something for you later if I can’t get you into the Magus Bazaar.” She looked at McFist, waiting to see what he’d ask for; he didn’t strike her as someone who would let Rotwood take a better deal than him.

“You don’t have anything that’ll grant me the superpower of my choice, do you?”

She shook her head. “There are some potions that grant temporary effects for something specific, but—”

“Like what?”

Haley swallowed. “Invisibility. Flight. Shapeshifting. There are a lot of—”

“Could you get me a bottle of something?”

She wanted to say no. Giving magic to a human, especially one with questionable intentions, was just asking for another situation like they one they were already facing. And if McFist intended to misuse magic and she gave him the opportunity to do so, chances were good Randy would pay the price for her decision later. Still, if she warned Randy and gave him something to allow him to counter whatever she gave McFist, then maybe—?

“No, wait— Have you got anything that will stop magic from affecting me?”

“You’re worried about that sorcerer you mentioned?” she guessed. “I might—”

“No, he’s going to give me a superpower when I destroy the Ninja for him,” McFist said, “and if you can’t give me one, too, then I want something that’ll stop swamp magic in case Booray gets any ideas.”

“Swamp magic?”

“It’s, y’know, swamp magic,” McFist said, waving his hands in vague motions as if that made his point any clearer. “Little pouches of mind-controlly stuff. Freaky. Don’t want it anywhere near me.”

A protection spell, then, or something that would cancel out this other magic. Gramps and Fu would have an idea of what would be best, but she was sure there was something. “All right.”

“And you have to tell me about the NYC Ninja.”

Haley agreed to that condition immediately. If McFist had just said the Ninja, she would’ve had more trouble justifying that grey area, but as he’d specified, she felt no qualms about agreeing at all. It was hardly her fault that he wanted to know about a Ninja that didn’t exist—at least, not to her knowledge.

She wasn’t going to tell him that until he asked, though.

McFist grinned and stuck out his hand. She shook it, then shook Rotwood’s. “You want us to find a way to convince everyone that things are not as they seem, yes?” he asked. “That this new dragon is a hoax? As everyone has always believed of my proof?”

McFist grunted. “People were already muttering about it being some kind of publicity stunt. Better to lean into that. I can even sponsor something if I need to.” He glanced at the bulging pocket of her hoodie again and said, “Let’s have a look at what the Ninja gave you first and see what we can come up with.”

(next | see more fics)

[nerdybutcute]

Themes in Cyberpunk Generally and Shadowrun Specifically

What is Shadowrun about? Aside from elves with mohawks and machine guns, I mean. That much is obvious. In all seriousness, though – what should we expect from a Shadowrun game? How is the Sixth World different from other “cyberpunk” settings? What does this particular game do well, maybe even better, than other games of a similar stripe? We can answer these questions by taking a dive in the roots of cyberpunk as a genre of science fiction, but even that journey must start with the very foundations of the modern mindset, because cyberpunk as a literary movement has a real problem with modernity.The central moral concepts of the Enlightenment are autonomy and authenticity. The arguments for liberal, democratic government, capitalism, and the Scientific Revolution alike are rooted in an assumption of the importance of liberating the individual. “Liberty” is the moral center of the modern paradigm, and all the other appurtenances of modern life mentioned above are to be interpreted as mechanisms of that liberation. As imaginative fiction reflects the tenor of the times, the through-line of early 20thcentury science fiction is a utopianism based in the modern ideal, with emphasis on the liberating power of science.

But postmodernist critics soon began to question the validity of this vision. The Holy Trinity of liberal society, free markets, and scientific progress began to seem, in their analysis, less likely to free the individual than to enslave them. They posited that under capitalism, science would always be a tool for subverting democracy, and genuine freedom required taking a skeptical stance toward all three. Likewise, the cyberpunk movement in science fiction was born of these post-modern fears, envisioning a future where high-tech has ensnared the individual in a web of consumerism, drugs, virtual reality, and technological serfdom. Indeed, in the idiom of speculative fiction, cyberpunk literature could pose questions about even the moral center of the modern world, as exemplified in Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – in a world where the barrier between man and machine has eroded to the point of invisibility, what is autonomy? What is authenticity?

Cyberpunk literature, like all science fiction, leaned heavily on the science aspect – hence the “cyber” – but it was skeptical, rather than laudatory, of technological progress. The “punk” aspect encompassed the postmodern rebellion against existing structures of power – capital and government – which are posited in punk philosophy not only as hopelessly intertwined but fundamentally flawed, inevitably enslaving those they propose to serve. Punk is inherently anarchist, seeking to tear down the mechanisms of domination; cyberpunk takes special interest in the high-tech aspect of these structures. But just as punk has a difficult relationship with capitalism, constantly courted and tempted by the urge to commodify and merchandise the punk aesthetic in the name of wider exposure and increased social capital (all in the name of the movement, of course), cyberpunk replicates this relationship with technology – the interface of man and machine chips away at our essential humanity, threatening to turn us into objects that can be programmed and directed rather than free and authentic individuals, but the technological marvels of the setting are indispensable in fighting the very structures that produce and control them. The tools of the oppressors can be used against them but likewise constantly threaten to co-opt those who oppose them. And most disturbingly, of course, even the anarchist subculture of resistance in cyberpunk literature is presented as violent and nihilistic, raising questions about what the world will look even if the “punks” win – is there any hope at all?

Cyberpunk can quickly drift into transhumanism, usually when the technology of the setting is fetishized rather than approached skeptically, but also when the central characters are unproblematically portrayed as agents of the structures of power rather than subversive elements in society. But pure punk characters are rare as focal points – it’s more interesting and certainly more in-genre to focus on those who were in some way caught up in the structures of power and then cast aside by them, damaged and discarded. Gibson’s Neuromancer provides excellent examples in Case, Molly Millions, and Riviera, brutalized by the powers-that-be but still used them as disposable commodities to advance the interests of the wealthy and connected. Case is a pitiable figure, arguably the most abused by the agents of power but also, in the end, least willing to reject their blandishments. Indeed, the titular AI is perhaps the only truly free character in the story, exerting its autonomous will on the world, and reaching even beyond.

The original cyberpunk roleplaying game, called quite simply Cyberpunk, followed the style of that era of games in providing little guidance to new players in how to create characters while assuming a knowledge of the relevant genre – the fact that players could take the role of Corps and Cops was not a mistake, as it was likely assumed that these characters would, ultimately, embody the ambiguous relationships to power of their literary counterparts, rather than being uncritical servants of the authorities. The game fittingly portrayed corporations as sinister and government as largely ineffective, but the most telling design feature was the inclusion of rules for “cyberpsychosis,” a gradual disintegration of mental faculties brought on by excessive use of cyber-enhancements. This mechanic “game-i-fied” the postmodern skepticism about the liberatory power of technology and fears about loss of autonomy when the human – the free and authentic person – becomes continuous with the thing, the servile commodities produced by those structures of power.

Other “cyberpunk” games followed, missing the point to greater and lesser degree, until Shadowrun, which wedded fantasy elements to the setting. The inclusion of elves, dwarves, and other magical things might seem to dilute the point of cyberpunk as a genre, but the history of the setting makes the additions apt. Because of the precise way in which Shadowrun integrated fantasy with science fiction, the core conceits of the cyberpunk genre may well have found one of their best expressions to date.

The return of magic in the Sixth World, as the setting is called, provided occasion for the Native American people of North America to rise up, using their traditional spiritual practices – now terrifyingly efficacious – to destroy the United States. As acts of resistance by oppressed outsiders goes, this one is impressive, an apotheosis of the “punk” element of cyberpunk. And the resistance is non-technological, but rather magical – a non-technological resistance only being possible in a setting like Shadowrun’s, despite other works like Neuromancer playing with the idea of “urban primitivism” before this. The triumph of the Native American Nations in the Sixth World is a triumph over all three elements of Enlightenment culture – science, capitalism, and liberal democracy – given the self-proclaimed role of the United States as their standard-bearer in the modern world. True, this decisive defeat does not recapitulate the angst brought over into cyberpunk literature from the noir genre, but the triumph of the indigenous peoples is not the end of the story.

In the Shadowrun setting, major cyberpunk tropes are preserved – the government is corrupt where it is not ineffective, and true power mostly lays with the corporations. “Mostly” is an important caveat there, however – other power blocs exist, such as dragons, the Native American Nations, and the nations of the elves, quite aside from such mysterious antagonists as insect shamans and other foul creatures. Again, this might seem to dilute the essential conflicts of the cyberpunk genre, but Shadowrun envisions those conflicts in a different way, the clue to which is found in the dissolution of the United States in the setting’s backstory. Rather than pitting inchoate punk anarchism against rampant capitalism, rather than pitting urban primitivism and the struggle for authenticity against the insidious creep of technology, it quite literally pits the pre-modern against the modern – mysticism and tradition against the values of the Enlightenment. The outcome of the struggle is no longer pre-ordained, so the sense of futility of classic cyberpunk is lost, but a different sense of doom has taken its place: between the modern and the archaic, there may be no good choice.

Classic cyberpunk is skeptical toward the machinery of democracy and other modern accoutrement, but presents no alternative except anarchy (in this, one might imagine that blighted dystopias like Mad Max are a sort of cyberpunk, but that’s another essay). Shadowrun presents a different choice – rolling back the clock on the Enlightenment is now perhaps a realistic possibility, but one that carries dangers of its own. And it is a choice that must be made. Corporate rapaciousness threatens the natural spaces that embody the magical Essence of the Earth, just as cyber-enhancements threaten the individual character’s Essence, with the end result of too much reliance on cyberware being, in this game, death rather than psychosis. But magical threats abound, as well, such as the insect shamans of the first major myth arc in the game, and this aside from what else might be lost in the unraveling of the modern order – ideas of democracy and equality and so on. Shadowrun pointedly presents the corporate order as practically a feudal one, with employees treated more like serfs, indentured to their lords, while the reflexive Japanophilia of the cyberpunk canon is here leveraged to a different purpose – as an alternative social model based on ancient ways, another refutation of the Enlightenment. Such pre-modern subcultures abound in the setting, but they are pre-modern, which is to say authoritarian, sexist, racist, culturally chauvanistic, and so on. Classical cyberpunk fiction critiques the modern order and offers petty acts of resistance to it; Shadowrun fragments and partially overturns it, but with the caveat that what stands to replace it probably isn’t any better.

Shadowrun, therefore, while an offshoot of the traditional cyberpunk concept, is undoubtedly faithful to the core element of the genre, the critique of the modern. It dissolves the tension of fruitless struggle against it, but replaces it with a diabolical choice. Mind you, as with cyberpunk literature, this can easily fall into transhumanism; the setting-specific counterpart misstep is the glorification of the oppositional pre-modern traditions that now hold a place of honor in the world. The true cyberpunk essence of Shadowrun is best expressed in emphasizing both the intrusive, dehumanizing elements of technocracy as well as the de-individuating aspects of traditional culture paired with the cosmic horror of the magical world.

[ofgoodmenarchive]

Blighted Empire: 9

Careless Hands

  ...Early researchers operated under the assumption that the social habits of wyverns would share similarities with those of highdragons, due to their visual likeness. With further study, the striking differences between wyverns and dragons became quickly apparent...

  I'm fifteen pages into this bloody thing...

  ...And there's still no bloody sign of him!

  What are they even doing?!

  ...The most prominent difference, and the one that seems to set apart their social rituals, is the inclusion of poison glands into the wyvern's anatomy. Whereas dragons test prospective mates through combat, or competing for prey, the wyvern tests suitors via the poison itself.

  Through scientific observation, it has been concluded this is due to the independent nature of the wyvern. They are loathe to share their territory or prey with any creature they judge as weak. Therefore, trust between these beasts can only be attained when both are assured that the other is hearty enough to withstand their poison...

  ...Maybe that's why he's acting so strange?

  Did I just...withstand his poison...?

  Maker, what am I thinking?!

  He's not a blighted wyvern, Pavus!

  Even if he bloody-well acts like one!

Huffing in frustrated surrender, Dorian shoved the book away. Arms forming a pillow, he dropped his face into it with a private, anguished groan.

  “Dorian...are you actually doing any work over there?” Katerina's voice chided from a nearby shelf, where she was collecting tomes, a few already stacked in one arm. He peeked at his friend from behind a robe-sleeve, the concealed pout evident in his voice.

  “Well, it depends on your meaning...I have a pile of books on wyvern behaviour right here, and-”

  “And you're not looking at them, either!” She scolded, the perfect image of a dedicated scribe in how she frowned, free hand on a hip.

  “I can't focus!” He jolted upright, knocking aside several volumes. “Where is he?! They said they only needed to chat...”

Rolling her eyes, Katerina turned to inspect more titles, absently carrying their discussion.

  “You finally bedded him and now you think you're his handler...”

  “I've done no such thing!” He was prompt in his denial, sitting straighter. “You've seen what he's like! Do you really think I'd take advantage?!”

  “That's definitely not what I said...” She rebuffed airily, not looking from her task. “...well, not the taking advantage bit, anyway. He seems fine to me!”

  “Because you don't really know him...” Dorian observed with a sneer.

  “Fila doesn't seem too worried...”

  “She doesn't really know him either!” Gesturing wildly, he upset more of his book-pile. “At least- not as his own person. She knows him as her older brother- which is fine! But she's more inclined to think of him as invincible than anything else.”

Katerina scoffed impatiently, shooting a glare before immersing once more into her work- though not before dismissing him-

  “Go look for him, then! If you're so bothered.”

Tension stretched across the lightly-crowded library, silence disturbed by the nervous tapping of Dorian's fingers as he pondered...

  “...Fine, I will!”

Chair-legs screeched as he bounced upwards, earning a few scolds and shushes from those who were actually preoccupied with work. Leaving them unacknowledged, Dorian strode into the hall, features twisted in concentration.

  He promised not to keep me waiting...

  ...I don't know why I believed him!

  Even at the best of times -

  isn't that essentially all he does?!

Subduing his frustration was difficult- thankfully not impossible. Evallan's inebriated-like behaviour was already digging under his skin, plaguing him with more questions than answers. One would think that experiencing a chunk of the elf's memory first-hand would enlighten Dorian somewhat. He supposed it did- somewhat- on some things.

Yet already the fragments of Evallan's past were becoming an incomprehensible blur, allowing Dorian but a few scraps of knowledge. A new, much-needed insight on the Keeper's internal world...

At the same time, there were many aspects that still eluded Dorian.

  Has he always been...so terribly clingy?

  Was he just...reigning himself in before...?

Despite this clinginess he was equally open to distraction- more so than usual. Sweeping aside these musings, Dorian refocused his efforts to what distracted the elf this time. Traversing the hall, he eyed the faraway door he knew to be Evallan's, wondering if he'd needed to return for whatever reason...

Regardless, he wouldn't be in the dining hall, would he? He was confined to the higher levels- the Templars would order him to depart once the room emptied. Maybe that's what happened- and in his Entrapped, disoriented state, he'd thought to hide in his room, forgetting to meet Dorian?

There was one way to know for certain, and he felt a tad uncomfortable to simply charge into the man's quarters...

  “...Alright...” He spoke aloud, glancing around to ensure solitude. “...I know you can hear me- and you probably know where he is. Mind lending me a hand...?”

Inspecting his surroundings, he added with a chuckle;

  “Or a....light?”

A response was given- though not involving any kind of visual. Instead he experienced a pulling sensation somewhere in his chest, as if there were a string tied to his ribcage, tugging him along. From this he judged his assumptions to be correct- this sense of pressure clearly led to Evallan's room.

  “I see I'm not worth any fancy veilfire tricks...” He joked to Lightbringer, smirking as he closed the space between himself and his destination. She'd been more than happy to display such 'veilfire tricks' when her chosen lost Dorian's Birthright. Apparently this situation wasn't considered as desperate.

  Which probably means he's fine, at least...

Knuckles rapped against wood, calling out as he did-

  “...Are you there...?”

  “Enter.” The reply was swift- but light. Whatever had consumed his attention, he sounded casual enough. Dorian accepted the invitation with equal swiftness, immediately feeling like the biggest block-head in the tower when he realised why Evallan was late.

Cool eyes blinked up at him from the writing-desk; where a bowl of fresh water, bandages and ointment had been laid out. The Keeper was still mid-way in a struggle with his dirtied wrappings, having paused to greet Dorian.

  “Oh-your bandages- of course...Kaffas- I'm so sorry, I forgot-”

  “It is fine, Dorian.” He consoled gently, seeming to want to wave him off.

  “No, it isn't- here, let me-”

Dorian rushed to perch on a corner of the desk, tentatively grasping Evallan's hands. Though he didn't recoil, muscles tensed in Dorian's grip- which was odd. While Entrapped, Evallan had seemed more than just a little receptive to his touch.

  “I- really do not need...” As awkwardly as he attempted to refuse, he was still docile enough to have aid forced upon him- and now Dorian was slightly suspicious. Why was Evallan so concerned with hiding his hands...? He couldn't possibly be embarrassed!- That was obviously an emotion he didn't have frequent access to, judging by his behaviour the entire morning.

Without his usual strong-headedness, Evallan merely sat and pouted while the spools of fabric unravelled from his palms. It became evident to Dorian why he'd wished to conceal the injuries- though he had to do a double-take - slivers of green light, peeking between creases. Once those bandages were discarded he was faced with a bright pulse, seemingly burrowed into the centre of Evallan's wounded right hand.

  “...Why is your hand glowing?!”

  “Please- do not panic-” Evallan attempted to soothe his nerves before they ran away with him; voice warm, his opposite, mundane-looking hand reaching to lay on Dorian's forearm.

  “I'm not panicking!-” Dorian spluttered, very much panicking. “But- why is it doing that?!”

Fingertips pressed with more urgency into his arm, seeking to comfort- it did help, a little...

  “Lightbringer connected to you for survival.” The Keeper explained, as composed as he was tender. “I was forced to connect to something else.”

  “Something else...?” Turning his brain upside-down for a satisfactory explanation, Dorian tried to angle the scenario through a perspective he could actually understand...

  “...Some sort of...reservoir of will, deep within the Fade...?”

  “Something like that, yes.”

The lack of deeper elaboration wasn't lost on Dorian, sighing wearily in his response.

  “...You're not going to explain, are you?”

  “No.” Evallan's mouth curved sadly, shaking his head. “You will only think me mad.”

He was so sincere and so damn sweetly melancholic about it- Dorian was powerless to argue.

  “Alright, fine...just let me do this for you, then...”

With nothing left to hide, the elf submitted to his fussing. Cautious with each of his motions, Dorian set to lightly cleaning the inflamed areas, already having all the supplies he needed on the desk. Though absorbed in his task, he could feel Evallan's eyes pinned upon him in silent consideration.

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[binsofchaos]

99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice

• That thing that made you weird as a kid could you make great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.

• If you have any doubt at all about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips.

• What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. At your funeral people will not recall what you did; they will only remember how you made them feel.

• Recipe for success: under-promise and over-deliver.

• It’s not an apology if it comes with an excuse. It is not a compliment if it comes with a request.

• Jesus, Superman, and Mother Teresa never made art. Only imperfect beings can make art because art begins in what is broken.

• If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a pyramid scheme.

• Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand. For the rest of your life you’ll use this knot more times than you would ever believe.

• If something fails where you thought it would fail, that is not a failure.

• Be governed not by the tyranny of the urgent but by the elevation of the important.• Leave a gate behind you the way you first found it.

• The greatest rewards come from working on something that nobody has a name for. If you possibly can, work where there are no words for what you do.

• A balcony or porch needs to be at least 6 feet (2m) deep or it won’t be used.

• Don’t create things to make ; make money so you can create things. The reward for good work is more work.

• In all things — except love — start with the exit strategy. Prepare for the ending. Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.

• Train employees well enough they could get another job, but treat them well enough so they never want to.

• Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.

• The foundation of maturity: Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.

• A multitude of bad ideas is necessary for one good idea.

• Being wise means having more questions than answers.

• Compliment people behind their back. It’ll come back to you.

• Most overnight successes — in fact any significant successes — take at least 5 years. Budget your life accordingly.

• You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

• Assume anyone asking for your account information for any reason is guilty of scamming you, unless proven innocent. The way to prove innocence is to call them back, or login to your account using numbers or a website that you provide, not them. Don’t release any identifying information while they are contacting you via phone, message or email. You must control the channel.

• Sustained outrage makes you stupid.

• Be strict with yourself and forgiving of others. The reverse is hell for everyone.• Your best response to an insult is “You’re probably right.” Often they are.

• The worst evils in history have always been committed by those who truly believed they were combating evil. Beware of combating evil.

• If you can avoid seeking approval of others, your power is limitless.

• When a child asks an endless string of “why?” questions, the smartest reply is, “I don’t know, what do you think?”

• To be wealthy, accumulate all those things that money can’t buy.

• Be the change you wish to see.

• When brainstorming, improvising, jamming with others, you’ll go much further and deeper if you build upon each contribution with a playful “yes — and” example instead of a deflating “no — but” reply.

• Work to become, not to acquire.

• Don’t loan money to a friend unless you are ready to make it a gift.

• On the way to a grand goal, celebrate the smallest victories as if each one were the final goal. No matter where it ends you are victorious.

• Calm is contagious.

• Even a foolish person can still be right about most things. Most conventional wisdom is true.

• Always cut away from yourself.

• Show me your calendar and I will tell you your priorities. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you where you’re going.

• When hitchhiking, look like the person you want to pick you up.

• Contemplating the weaknesses of others is easy; contemplating the weaknesses in yourself is hard, but it pays a much higher reward.

• Worth repeating: measure twice, cut once.

• Your passion in life should fit you exactly; but your purpose in life should exceed you. Work for something much larger than yourself.

• If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep.• When playing Monopoly, spend all you have to buy, barter, or trade for the Orange properties. Don’t bother with Utilities.

• If you borrow something, try to return it in better shape than you received it. Clean it, sharpen it, fill it up.

• Even in the tropics it gets colder at night than you think. Pack warmly.

• To quiet a crowd or a drunk, just whisper.

• Writing down one thing you are grateful for each day is the cheapest possible therapy ever.

• When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re usually wrong.

• If you think you saw a mouse, you did. And, if there is one, there are more.

• Money is overrated. Truly new things rarely need an abundance of money. If that was so, billionaires would have a monopoly on inventing new things, and they don’t. Instead almost all breakthroughs are made by those who lack money, because they are forced to rely on their passion, persistence and ingenuity to figure out new ways. Being poor is an advantage in innovation.

• Ignore what others may be thinking of you, because they aren’t.

• Avoid hitting the snooze button. That’s just training you to oversleep.• Always say less than necessary.

• You are given the gift of life in order to discover what your gift *in* life is. You will complete your mission when you figure out what your mission is. This is not a paradox. This is the way.

• Don’t treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are.

• It is much easier to change how you think by changing your behavior, than it is to change your behavior by changing how you think. Act out the change you  seek.

• You can eat any dessert you want if you take only 3 bites.

• Each time you reach out to people, bring them a blessing; then they’ll be happy to see you when you bring them a problem.

• Bad things can happen fast, but almost all good things happen slowly.

• Don’t worry how or where you begin. As long as you keep moving, your success will be far from where you start.

• When you confront a stuck bolt or screw: righty tighty, lefty loosey.

• If you meet a jerk, overlook them. If you meet jerks everywhere everyday, look deeper into yourself.

• Dance with your hips.

• We are not bodies that temporarily have souls. We are souls that temporarily have bodies.

• You can reduce the annoyance of someone’s stupid belief by increasing your understanding of why they believe it.

• If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.

• All the greatest gains in life — in wealth, relationships, or knowledge —come from the magic of compounding interest — amplifying small steady gains. All you need for abundance is to keep adding 1% more than you subtract on a regular basis.

• The greatest breakthroughs are missed because they look like hard work.

• People can’t remember more than 3 points from a speech.

• I have never met a person I admired who did not read more books than I did.

• The greatest teacher is called “doing”.

• Finite games are played to win or lose. Infinite games are played to keep the game going. Seek out infinite games because they yield infinite rewards.

• Everything is hard before it is easy. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a stupid idea.

• A problem that can be solved with money is not really a problem.

• When you are stuck, sleep on it. Let your subconscious work for you.

• Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the work so you must limit your time. Hours are the only thing you can manage.

• To succeed, get other people to pay you; to become wealthy, help other people to succeed.

• Children totally accept — and crave — family rules. “In our family we have a rule for X” is the only excuse a parent needs for setting a family policy. In fact, “I have a rule for X” is the only excuse you need for your own personal policies.

• All guns are loaded.

• Many backward steps are made by standing still.

• This is the best time ever to make something. None of the greatest, coolest creations 20 years from now have been invented yet. You are not late.

• No rain, no rainbow.

• Every person you meet knows an amazing lot about something you know virtually nothing about. Your job is to discover what it is, and it won’t be obvious.

• You don’t marry a person, you marry a family.

• Always give credit, take blame.

• Be frugal in all things, except in your passions splurge.

• When making something, always get a few extras — extra material, extra parts, extra space, extra finishes. The extras serve as backups for mistakes, reduce stress, and fill your inventory for the future. They are the cheapest insurance.

• Something does not need to be perfect to be wonderful. Especially weddings.

• Don’t let your email inbox become your to-do list.

• The best way to untangle a knotty tangle is not to “untie” the knots, but to keep pulling the loops apart wider and wider. Just make the mess as big, loose and open as possible. As you open up the knots they will unravel themselves. Works on cords, strings, hoses, yarns, or electronic cables.

• Be a good ancestor. Do something a future generation will thank you for. A simple thing is to plant a tree.

• To combat an adversary, become their friend.

• Take one simple thing — almost anything — but take it extremely seriously, as if it was the only thing in the world, or maybe the entire world is in it — and by taking it seriously you’ll light up the sky.

• History teaches us that in 100 years from now some of the assumptions you believed will turn out to be wrong. A good question to ask yourself today is “What might I be wrong about?”

• Be nice to your children because they are going to choose your nursing home.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recap: “As Above, So Below”

Welcome back, everyone. So. Last Saturday I was actually feeling pretty good about RWBY. Not as a whole, but for that particular episode because, as I explained to a lovely anon, not much happened. Sure, there were some semi-important bits in the form of meeting Willow and Weiss discovering the recording, but compared to everything else we’ve gotten this volume it was all around a tame fifteen minutes. Which meant there wasn’t much space for RWBY to mess things up. There simply weren’t any stakes last episode. You don’t like how the group gets past Whitley or the exact words Ironwood says to Jacques? It’s ultimately whatever in the grand scheme of things. Last episode was mostly details.

“As Above, So Below” is not that kind of episode. So much happens and I’m once again left metaphorically banging my head against the wall, not regarding the writing choices themselves per se, but rather at how they’re used and portrayed. There is so much that I want to enjoy about this episode but Rooster Teeth continually ignores aspects of a situation in order to highlight one very narrow, very biased viewpoint. The scenes throughout demand that we conveniently forget or outright ignore certain things in order to immerse ourselves in whatever emotion the writing has decided we should be feeling right now ... and I simply can’t do that. RWBY is a show based on the claim that it’s a bright sunny day, so pay no mind to the rain clouds hovering above your head. It’s the animated equivalent of a Jedi mind trick. These are not the interpretations you’re looking for.

Secrets are finally revealed, folks, and oh boy. It’s a hot mess.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Undermining my assumption last recap that Watts had dismantled something that was regulating just a portion of Mantle’s temperature---something specific to maintaining rain over snow---we learn that all heating has been lost across the city. Which, if you know anything about temperature and the fragile human body, is really fucking bad. Here RWBY actually did a good job of introducing Weiss’ comment early in the volume about how people can freeze to death within an hour or so. We were still left with a few detail-oriented questions like how useful aura is in combating that, why Ruby was still so cold with her, why no one was showing symptoms back during the walk to the farm... but at least the setup is clear here. Civilians don’t have aura so that’s that. They’re dead if they don’t find some way to keep warm (riot fires help...) or aren’t evacuated somewhere else. It’s a big deal, though how exactly this fits into the rest of Watts’ plan and the other bits of chaos he’s accomplished is still unclear. More on that in a bit.

We see Pietro and Maria, but they don’t actually do anything this episode. They just stand around looking scared as people get violent and the city is covered in ominous red lights. At least the show remembers that they exist, but we don’t get to see the brilliant scientist specializing in creating weaponry and the former Grimm Reaper doing something to help. So... B grade on that one?

There’s no time skip this episode so with Mantle unraveling we segue right back to the dinner at the Schnee’s. Ironwood is still getting called out for having too much power. He pushes back that there are checks and balances in place to keep everyone, including him, from abusing that power. This is countered with a broad and not very persuasive claim that they simply haven’t worked. Ironwood comes back with a line about intentions and the nameless (?) council guy goes, “What people intend and what people do are not always the same thing!” Well no shit. If that were the case everyone’s lives would be staggeringly easier. You intend to find the madman who dismantled your army at Beacon? Boom, done. Intend to find the murderer responsible for attacking Robyn’s supporters? Congratulations, you did it. RWBY now has a habit of throwing out lines to remind us that the evil men in power---notably Ozpin and Ironwood---might intend to do good, but look! They haven’t managed it! Which... yes? Sometimes intentions fail, but that leaves the unanswered question of what these characters (and the writing) want them to do instead. No one has the luxury of changing their situation and everyone continues to ignore the fact that there are only bad options all around. I’d rather have someone with good intentions at the helm than, you know, Jacques. It also speaks volumes that as much as the council and RWBYJNR has been criticizing Ironwood lately, everyone still expects him to make the hard call himself. They don’t want that responsibility; they want a scapegoat if and when things go wrong. Just like the group was happy to scream at Ozpin and then get pissed that he left, leaving them to make the hard decisions themselves for once, everyone is screaming at Ironwood and then two minutes later turn about with, “So what should we do, General? What’s your plan? How are you going to fix this?” Though I don’t think any of it is intentional, RWBY has a lot to say about how only good and lucky leaders get to come out of their role unscathed. No matter what you do someone hates you for it and even choosing to abstain isn’t an option, as we saw clearly with Ozpin.

At this point the meeting is briefly interrupted by a waiter who tells Jacques about the heating issue. He responds with a, “My authorization?” before trying to cover things up, awkwardly agreeing with the conversation he just missed. Robyn announces that she’s not done with Ironwood yet though and accuses him of more failures, ending with, “yet you won’t let your own council help you?” which... honestly? Just hammers home how not useful this “Ironwood should trust everyone!” mindset is. Because is Robyn really that dense? The council is Jacques and two of his lackeys. You know, the guy who is about to be arrested for treason and as an accomplice to murder. Even though that hasn’t been revealed yet, Robyn is very well aware of what a corrupt, dangerous individual he is. Remember that she herself is not the council. She was given a “seat at the table” because Jacques wanted to use her against Ironwood. Robyn is sitting here symbolically pointing to Jacques and the two members he has wrapped around his finger going, “Why aren’t you trusting them?” like that’s in any way a sound suggestion. Sometimes the answer to, “Why are you doing Bad Things like keeping secrets?” is “Because people can be unimaginably stupid.” This is an example of that. Robyn wants to know everything and right now she’s willing to risk that information falling into an enemy’s hands to get it.

(Also, that picture in the background? Says a lot that Jacques has a picture of him, his obedient son, and his terrified wife in the room where he conducts business. No Weiss or Winter in sight.) 

Ironwood, of course, tells a straight out lie with an excellent poker face. “I’m not hiding anything.” Which inspires Robyn to use her semblance. Oh no! An insanely convenient ability that would undo every conflict we’ve set up for this season! However will we avoid this? Timing, obviously. Weiss, also conveniently, barges in right when Robyn has put Ironwood on the spot. I said it as soon as Robyn’s semblance was introduced: if you give someone that level of power---something that can too easily solve all the problems you’ve set up---then you have to keep coming up with semi-contrived ways of keeping them from using it.

Also, does she need skin-on-skin contact for her semblance to work? I wonder if that’s why she’s got that one random finger missing on her glove.

Wiess plays the recording of Watts and Jacques, giving us the rest of their conversation. We don’t learn anything new. Watts promised Jacques a seat on the council and he in turn (supposedly) would get the satisfaction of ruining Ironwood’s life. Jacques handed over his login information, including what he gained post-election, and now Watts has access to everything he built and then some. To say that’s bad is an understatement. You might be distracted from your worry though by hearing that cake line again as well as the men’s villainous laughs. RWBY really went full cartoon for that conversation.

A detail I really love though? Ironwood’s rhythmic footsteps as he walks around the table. Super ominous and intimidating. Meanwhile, a hilarious detail is how awkward Jacques gets when he’s finally lost that precious control. This isn’t a confident man capable of denying the accusations against him in anything like a persuasive manner. He doesn’t have Ironwood’s poker face. Jacques is a coward who looks like a schoolboy seated in the principal’s office once caught.

He attempts to escape only to find Weiss’ knight blocking the exit, the one we now know was the possessed armor that belonged to her grandfather. In a thoroughly satisfying moment she declares that Jacques is under arrest... and then turns around to ask Ironwood if she can actually do that. I’m on the fence about this. Normally I don’t mind a bit of humor lightening the mood, but in this case we have three things that I don’t think are improving the situation. The first is the sheer emotional impact that should be accompanying this arrest. This is Weiss’ abuser. The man we’ve known about (incidentally anyway) since Volume 1 and who has driven nearly the entirety of her character development from working to escape him pre-RWBY to coming back as a huntress. Provided that Jacques doesn’t pull a Torchwick and escape himself somehow, this is the culmination of nearly seven volumes worth of heartbreaking struggle. There are some things that I think should be allowed to shoulder their weight without undercutting it with a joke and this is 100% one of them. Just like finding out that a friend you thought had been permanently torn to pieces in front of you should generate heartfelt shock and joy, reaching the moment where you finally arrest one of the show’s biggest personal villains should be treated seriously. Let Weiss have this and put the joke later if you still want it. Weiss could be staring hollow-eyed at her father being put in handcuffs and Ruby could try to cheer her up. “So...” she says. “Can we arrest people?” Weiss blinks, coming out of her stupor, and gives a tentative smile. “Don’t know, actually. But it’s working in this case.” There. Serious moment leading to a bit of comedy-bonding. Humor is a wonderful tool, but it also lessens the other emotions of a scene if not used properly.

Potential issues #2 and #3 are smaller. On a personal note, hearing Weiss’ question simply reminded me, again, that RWBY has failed to establish hard rules for its world, including what a huntsmen’s job entails. A few weeks ago fans were arguing over whether Blake and Yang should feel anything in regards to killing Adam because, according to some, it’s already a part of a huntsmen’s responsibilities to arrest and if necessary kill people. Why would they flinch at something they knew they were signing up for? Others (myself included) pointed out that although we see the students sparing with one another at school, no one says anything about them taking out human and faunus criminals. RWBYJNR’s adventures---from Ruby stopping the robbery in her trailer to tracking down the White Fang---are presented as outliers. This is not the sort of stuff huntsmen are meant to get up to. They fight grimm first and foremost. Everything else is a case-by-case surprise. Note, for example, that Ironwood expects his army to keep the peace and presumably the police when things aren’t quite so dangerous. He’s not sending huntsmen out to track down everyday criminals because that’s not their job. Killing grimm is. Weiss’ comment reinforces that. Can I arrest someone? Is that within my power as a huntress? And Ironwood... doesn’t answer. Because it’s meant to be a joke, not a legitimate bit of world building.

And then the third... is just how Rooster Teeth is using humor throughout the entirety of this episode. AKA not well, which makes me less inclined to give this particular moment the benefit of the doubt. We’ll get to that in just a second though. For now I’ve written way to much on a two second scene.

While Jacques’ plans unravel the rioting in Mantle is getting worse and worse. “Atlas killed the heat on purpose! They’ll do anything to control us!” which is very much a conclusion born of panic. It feels like every other episode Mantle is on the verge of collapse and, by extension, all of these moments feel anti-climactic. We’ve watched Mantle rioting over the embargo, and then Penny, and then the election, and now the heat... none of it feels like it has weight anymore. Rioting is just the way we’re ending most episodes now. It also (again) raises that question of what exactly Watts is trying to accomplish, and not in a “Still to be revealed!” kind of way. We do still have an element of that, but at this point there’s also just a, “Literally what was the point?” aspect too. Why is Mantle rioting most episodes? Shouldn’t that be something to build to? More importantly---as I’ve said before---WHY did they frame Penny? We see in the next scene that Jacques’ guilt likewise reveals Penny’s innocence... even though everyone important knew that two seconds after she was accused. There were no consequences attached to blaming her and, as just established, we clearly didn’t need the loss of a city defender to bring that city to the brink. Mantle has been going over the edge for a variety of reasons and the people were at that point before the group even arrived. When Penny was first framed that seemed like a brilliant setup. Now we see definitively that it led nowhere. Why did Watts bother and why did the writers? It’s another case of RWBY chucking in things they think are “cool” without bothering to follow up on them.

So yeah. The Penny situation is done. We didn’t even get any development out of her from it. That really is disappointing.

With everything Jacques did on the table the situation looks bleaker by the minute. What can Watts do with this control?  “With enough time… whatever he wants.” The group finds out that the first thing he did with this power is shut off the heat and Weiss has the most dramatic reaction, which makes sense given that she’s the one who best understands the risks here. And then... then.

Oh dear god.

Ironwood realizes that Watts may eventually have access to the Amity info, if he stumbles across it or actively goes looking for things to uncover. This revelation on its own is good. That’s something Ironwood needs to try and prevent, so it would have been an excellent moment of storytelling to show us Ironwood’s moment of revelation, perhaps with a bit of dramatic music to hammer things home. Except that instead of keeping this issue between the people who know about it---Ironwood and Ruby could have exchanged knowing glances like Blake and Yang did when they first started keeping their secrets---Rooster Teeth has Ironwood talk about loud to himself about the major secret he’s keeping. He literally calls it a secret! “No. The secret is safe for now. But if he learns about Amity…” Hello?? I understand that this episode is all about things coming to light, but that moment was an absolute insult to Ironwood’s character. We just saw this man claim with a perfectly straight face that he had nothing to hide. Five minutes later he’s apparently lost so much intelligence he stands in front of four people he’s keeping secrets from, including Jacques Schnee, and starts soliloquizing about said secrets. That is the most stupid and contrived way to get caught in a lie. Oh no! I totally forgot a bunch of people were standing beside me! Now everyone has heard that I’m keeping a secret since I felt the need to state that out loud...

And in case anyone thought this is a case where I’m reading too much into things, Robyn literally laughs and goes, “Yep! Still here, everyone!” Reminding them that someone who is not supposed to know about this stuff is standing... right there... listening in... The writing draws attention to it. 

This trumps all other former stupidity. Like the group loudly announcing their attempts to avoid getting arrested in the city covered with surveillance. This is so stupid I want to turn it into a meme. Cleanse this scene somehow.

Anyway. More rioting. More anger. Shock, surprise, that draws a ton of grimm. Take note of the fact that Ironwood’s army is almost useless against this barrage. The missiles from the airships don’t seem to take the horde out. Nor do the guns. Two other soldiers are forced to cower when some pterodactyl-type grimm flies overhead. 

I say this not to bash the army itself (they’re doing their best while up against horrible odds), but rather to re-emphasize how not good telling the whole world about Salem is. Everyone seems to forget that, first and foremost, this is the concern that Ozpin dealt with. Even if he was 100% wrong on every other count---no one would lose hope, no one would ever betray him---it is impossible to hear about Salem and not experience negative emotions and those negative emotions draw grimm that kill everyone. Ironwood’s primary justification was that he’ll use his army to protect the people when that happens and (ignoring that his army can’t possibly be everywhere at once) we see here that it’s all but useless. His soldiers may have been able to handle the grunt grimm seen at the breach and the Battle of Beacon, but they’re  helpless in the face of anything stronger, the exact sort of stuff that world-wide panic over an immortal woman would draw. Clover makes it clear when he arrives that only huntsmen stand a real chance and huntsmen are few and far between nowadays. They lost an entire school. Lionheart made sure nearly all the huntsmen in Mistral were killed. They’ve reached a point where teens are given licenses at least two years early, without full training, because they need the help that badly. Ironwood cannot protect the people if their fear grows stronger. That’s not his fault, but it also means he can’t afford to deliberately stoke that fear. Telling the world about Salem, whether she’s immortal or not, is a 100% death wish for lots and lots and lots of people.

That’s why I can’t get behind an idealistic view of, “But they deserve to know.” Maybe they do, but if given the choice I’d rather keep people in the dark and let them live their lives than tell them for the sake of the moral high-ground and risk the very likely possibility that they’ll die a horrible, bloody death. 

Then, finally... we come back to the group’s secrets.

As established, Robyn is calling Ironwood out on his own secret keeping because he just admitted aloud to having a secret. 100% dodged her suspicion  by Weiss’ timely arrival and Jacques getting outed as a traitor, then went ahead and shot himself in the foot. Sorry. I just really can’t stress that enough. Anyway, she’s homing in like a bloodhound, backing him into another corner, and this is the animation they decide to give us.

This is why I haven’t liked the group since mid-Volume 5. Because they’ve become reckless, hypocritical, often incredibly cruel people. Animation is a drawing. Someone had to decide and design this moment. Nothing is left to chance. So Rooster Teeth made a conscious decision to have Ruby almost-smiling in this moment. Looking pleased and happy at the very least. She’s still keeping her own secrets and is taking pleasure in the fact that Ironwood’s are coming to light. This is the exactly the same behavior we saw with Ozpin and (to a lesser extent) Cordovin. The satisfaction this group derives from either seeing or handing out what they perceive as another’s just desserts while they themselves are committing the same or worse sins. Ruby should not look happy here in the same way that she should not have pushed for Ironwood to sacrifice Mantle in the name of finishing a doomed project. And as we’ll see in a moment, she shouldn’t be giggling with Oscar over the shared damage they’ve caused.

At this point everyone is ganging up on Ironwood. Yes, including Oscar. As a preface to all this, I love my farm boy. Just not how Rooster Teeth has been writing my farm boy. Because this is what I meant at the very start of this recap. Oscar and Ruby’s speeches here are only inspiring if you choose to ignore the fact that, in this moment, they’re still keeping their own secrets. I honestly thought Oscar was going to come clean when he approached Ironwood leaning against the wall. Instead he offers his advice which is, straight up, to just stop keeping secrets. Says the kid who is still keeping secrets. Oscar even goes so far as to say that “You already knew that wasn’t the right course” which is the biggest load of BS I’ve heard on this show so far. No! No one agreed that was the wrong path. You all explicitly decided that keeping secrets was the right thing to do. They’re telling him he was wrong to choose the thing they benefited from and continue to use to their advantage in this scene.“Tell the truth,” Oscar insists, still not telling the truth. “You’re not alone,” Ruby adds when she hasn’t trusted Ironwood once this season. This moment is manipulation because Oscar and Ruby both are trying to convince Ironwood to do something using false personas. Ironwood believes that he should listen to them precisely because he thinks they’ve achieved the very thing they’re demanding of him: sharing all their secrets. He thinks they’re models to look up to. When in fact Ironwood is the only one who has ever managed this demand by sharing his plan with them, completely of his own volition. 

The fact that they decide to tell him a few minutes later doesn’t matter. They already got what they wanted and the damage is done. I mean that literally. By manipulating Ironwood into spilling the beans, they’ve created a situation where Ironwood revealed the Salem secret to the council and Robyn but not her immortality. Ironwood himself only learns of that afterward, back in the dining room, and you can see the utter devastation on his face.

Is it still a good idea to tell two highly suspect council members and a woman who has been his semi-enemy about Salem given that she can’t be killed? Who knows. We don’t get to tackle that question because Ironwood wasn’t given a choice. It’s too late. He was pressured and manipulated into a making a huge decision without all the necessary information (which, for the record, is still not the same thing as the group deciding to help people and do the job they signed up for without knowing about Salem). Even if nothing horrible results from these three people now knowing about Salem, Oscar and Ruby have created more problems. We hear the council woman ask fearfully whether Ironwood can defeat Salem. The only thing holding them together is the hope that they can still win with their army... but they can’t. What’s Ironwood going to do with that expectation now? Will he tell them about her immortality too? Risk what they might do in response? Don’t you think this is something he should have known about weeks ago, Ruby? “You should know before you make any… sacrifices” Oscar tells Ironwood, completely ignoring the fact that he already made sacrifices. Mantle was a sacrifice. Those resources were a sacrifice. Telling the council was a sacrifice. Ironwood’s ongoing hope that he could finally end this, stretched out far longer than it had to be, was a sacrifice.

What kills me is the casual nature of it all. There was no catalyst here. Nothing new happened to convince the group that they can suddenly trust Ironwood. If they’re willing to trust him now that means they trusted him before and just didn’t tell him because... they didn’t. The defense of “He’s unstable, who knows what he might do to them and Mantle once he finds out the truth!” was a smokescreen the whole time. Because nothing changed. Ironwood said and did nothing in the last fifteen minutes to suddenly cause the revelation of, “Oh my god. We can trust him. Now we finally know we’re safe to reveal this secret.” They could have done it on day two and avoided so much strife. Like, you know, the situation in Mantle that Nora felt the need to scream at Ironwood about. Maybe if you’d told him his plan was doomed he might not have taken so many resources from the people, given that he’d have known there was no longer a justification for that. You had the power to fix the problems you blamed him for from the get-go.

Combine this with Oscar and Ruby’s horrible conversation. Sure, the rosegarden shippers are thrilled, but beyond the fact that I’m personally not shipping Ruby with a boy housing her 1,000 year old headmaster, that (once again) was not the correct emotion to apply to this moment. They both come across as horrendously callous by laughing and giggling through the decision to finally tell Ironwood. It’s not like these secrets have driven this entire volume and are about to absolutely devastate him or anything. Why would you have a serious conversation about this? Why express even an ounce of sympathy and regret for what you’ve done? Nah, better to jump around and give each other thumbs up. Act so proud that you’ve randomly decided to come clean, like you deserve praise for this. Kids, am I right, Marrow?

Seriously. This is how these two treat the situation vs. what the situation actually is.

Which in a horrible way is fitting because there are zero consequences for all this. (Cue my shock...) Ironwood isn’t mad about any of this. He jokes with Oscar! “No more surprises, alright?” Given that RWBY releases weekly and thus there’s plenty of time between episodes, I feel like people forget the expectations they developed months back. The more optimistic side of the fandom (god bless you all, you’ve got more hope than me) keeps insisting that eventually the group’s new behavior will lead to repercussions, but time and time again Rooster Teeth tells us they won’t. Not for putting Argus in danger. Not for stealing an airship. Not for keeping the secrets Ozpin was crucified over a whole volume for. And that’s still going. Alongside Qrow’s talk with Ruby, Ironwood is given the space to blame Ozpin again---“Why? Why would Oz keep this from us?”---and has no desire to blame the group for doing the exact same thing. Oscar is allowed to go, “Sorry! We just didn’t trust you” but the same justification out of Ozpin’s mouth doesn’t fly, despite the fact that he had a hundred more reasons not to trust a bunch of teens. The level of hypocrisy in this episode is just staggering. We all watched Ruby tell Ozpin’s lies and went, “Oh yeah. This is going to come back to bite them” and it didn’t. 

There is nothing the group can do to get in trouble, or even a reprimand for. Anything and everything is twisted to praise them:

Destroyed precious military equipment (which this episode’s attack shows that the world desperately needs) and nearly get people killed by attacking an ally? You get a free ride to Atlas.

Broke Atlas’ laws by stealing their property and then avoiding the police? You get hugs from your sister and early huntsmen licenses.

You tell the exact same lies you demonized your headmaster for? You’re so much better than he is and I’m so proud of you.

Keep secrets from Ironwood, making a horrible situation even worse? Haha no more surprises in the future please!

And yes, this also includes: Going behind everyone’s back to spill information to Robyn? No one will even find out you did that. I’ve seen a post going around with people expressing how pleased they are that Robyn didn’t rat Blake and Yang out. That’s the level of bias the fandom and the writers are working under. The group gets away with everything because they’re the protagonists. Everyone adores them unconditionally. At this point I think they could join with Salem and people would insist that it’s the smartest and most badass move they could possibly make. Fans and the writing would praise them for that too. 

Ugh. Sorry for the level of salt in this recap. For the record I am glad that others are able to enjoy all of these moments. I just can’t. Oh boy I can’t. 

Alright. Close to wrapping up now. A series of smaller things: Oscar has another moment where he draws on Ozpin’s memories of Atlas being built. “You say that like you were there---” Ironwood says. We’ve spent a lot of time theorizing about the merge but in light of this episode... are we really expecting an explanation? RWBY hasn’t adequately explained dust vs. magic, or Qrow’s semblance, or why we should be rooting for heroes who do everything their perceived opponents do. Why would we expect them to explain something as complicated as this merge either? I think we should just expect a continually wishy-washy situation that changes based on the whims of the plot.

Ren and Nora have a moment on the airship that sparks another charged look between Blake and Yang. Are we ever going to tackle the huge concerns Ren had a few episodes back before they were silenced with a kiss? Does he or anyone else know that Oscar spilled the beans? For that matter, did Oscar admit that there’s still a question left in the relic? Does Ironwood actually want to lock it up now like they should have from the start? Did he explain precisely why Ozpin ran off? These answers remain lost to the void.

Jaune looks like he’s going to be sick after the airship is attacked. Nice throwback to episode one.

Whitley is devastated by his father’s arrest, truly alone now. He slinks off with Willow watching him go. Hopefully with Jacques out of the way she and Weiss (and possibly Winter) can start helping him. Show him how to connect with others in ways besides cruelty. 

The group then jumps out of the destroyed ship... but not before Elm and Harriet tease each other a bit. In a kind way. One might almost say... a friendly way...

Yeah these people aren’t friends. No way. What an absurd assumption. Will the show ever come back to that assertion, or will it remain another illogical way of insisting that the group is intrinsically better than everyone else they come into contact with? I’m betting on the latter.

Finally, we catch glimpses of a disguised Neo infiltrating the Schnee manor. After everyone leaves she returns to Cinder who says, “Oh, you’re back early. Tell me you’ve found what we’ve been looking for” and Neo gives an affirmative gesture. To which I respond with no emotion whatsoever because this episode has scorched me from the inside out.

1/10 with the 1 given because yay arresting Jacques. Everything else I’d happily put through a paper shredded. I’m gonna go cleanse my mind with more Witcher 3 now.

Until next week! Everyone start praying...

[aroworlds]

Mara/Esher/Suki Master Post

I’ll be posting stories over the next month that require having read and/or reference previous stories. To ease confusion, I’m putting together a master post that I can link to when posting said pieces.

I’ve listed these in chronological order. There are gaps between stories where Things Happen that aren’t yet the subject of an actual piece but are referenced by other pieces. Filling these gaps, in this series of interconnected stories, is my goal for this year, hence this post.

(Writing? In chronological order? What is this wild absurdity?)

All stories contain trans, aromantic and neurodiverse narrating protagonists. Aros who like QPRs may prefer Mara’s stories, while non-partnering aros may prefer Esher, Suki and Moll’s stories. Loveless aros can find representation with Moll and Suki, while allo-aros can find representation with Mara and Suki.

All these stories are available for free, even on Patreon.

Abrasive

Spending Midsummer night with a pretty man shouldn't be a problem for Suki ... except for everybody else's romantic expectations.

Links: Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 999 words / 4 PDF pages.

The Complexity of Human Decency

When Mama Lewis continues to browbeat Suki into becoming the kind of girl who doesn't tick off unwanted romantic suitors, she knows the best thing to do is leave. The port city of Malvade offers work enough to pay for her own room, but Suki's freedom comes with long hours, a leaking roof, outhouse mould and a yearning for a world that offers her more than bare subsistence and continued disregard.

A red-robed priest of the Sojourner may hold answer and opportunity ... if only she can endure a conversation with someone preaching a truth anathema to everything a proud woman of Freehome should believe.

Links: Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 3, 580 words.

If Absurd Works 

An unexpected letter sees Suki of Sirenne, a red-robed priest of the Sojourner, doing the unimaginable: returning home to farewell a dying Mama Polly. After ten years of studying the ways of Spoken Service, she's built a life that serves her nature ... even if she's still inclined to a sharp turn of phrase. Can't she now explain her feelings and choices in ways easier for Mama Lewis to accept? Shouldn't her mothers now be easier to manage?

Yet one conversation leaves Suki feeling that she'll never stop being the brittle, abrasive young woman who left Freehome ... and presents her a problem only solvable by remembering priesthood's first lesson.

Links: Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 3, 526 words.

The Sorcerous Compendium of Postmortem Query

Necromancer Mara Hill has waited weeks for the Thinning: the one night the dead walk freely amongst the living. Her wandering great-aunt, Rosie, was wise in the way of magic and the world, and Mara knows of none other to ask. Books and magic alike haven't restored her fading love, and Benjamin Lisabet is too wonderful to risk losing. Why can't Mara keep herself from falling out of love whenever the girl she yearns for dares love her back?

She's sure that Aunt Rosie's spirit will offer up needed advice. She just doesn't expect a deluge of deceased villagers set on unravelling everything Mara knows about what it means to love and be in love.

Links: PDF (read in browser) | Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 8, 221 words / 32 PDF pages.

The Mundane Progression of Premortem Colloquy 

After a night of revelations to her dead aunt Rosie and her living brother Esher, Mara Hill must dare another with Benjamin Lisbet. If she's truly the woman Mara hopes, surely Benjamin will be receptive to a conversation of the "I love you and want to be with you, just not romantically" sort? Surely this afternoon won't stray beyond Mara's preparations of a picnic basket, chives, rehearsed speeches and less-rumpled clothing?

Yet her months of searching for magic to refresh her fading love means there's too much she doesn't know about Benjamin. Too much Mara needs to know to hold this conversation without losing Benjamin's friendship.

Mara thought speaking of her fading love under cover of dark difficult enough ... but speaking of romance in daylight is another challenge entirely.

Links: PDF (read in browser) | Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 7, 160 words / 30 PDF pages.

What Makes Us Human

Moll of Sirenne needs prompts in their girdle book to navigate casual conversations, struggles to master facial expressions and feels safest weeding the monastery's vegetable gardens. Following their call to service, however, means offering wanderers in need a priest's support and guidance. A life free of social expectation to court, wed and befriend does outweigh their fear of causing harm—until forgetting the date of a holiday provokes a guest's ire and three cutting words: lifeless and loveless.

A priest must expand a guest's sense of human worth, but what do they do when their own comes under question? Can an autistic, aromantic priest ever expect to serve outside the garden? And what day is it...?

Links: PDF (read in browser) | Patreon | WordPress | Tumblr

Length: 8, 062 words / 32 PDF pages.

Love Spells, Rainbows and Rosie 

Lovers’ Day is good trading for a witch who deals in enchantments, ribbons and dyed flowers. For Mara Hill, it’s long been a holiday of tedious assumptions and painful conversations–once best handled by casting petty curses on annoying customers. This year, when a girl asks about love spells, it may be time to instead channel a little Aunt Rosie.

Links: PDF (read in browser) | Patreon | WordPress

Length: 3, 429 words / 10 PDF pages.

Love is the Reckoning 

Esher Hill left his home and kin a crying wreck of a man, too depressed and dysphoric to care what his people make of him. If he’d had his way, that would have been the end of it.

His sister Mara, the village witch, made sure he didn’t.

Two and a half years later, Esher owns two dogs, a blade, a career and a new body—the shape of masculinity he always felt he should be. A miracle Mara refuses to explain. A miracle the Sojourner’s priests reject and fear. A miracle, say the Grey Mages, that cannot exist without something precious sacrificed in exchange: a soul.

Returning home in search of his sister and the truth isn’t just a matter of enduring stares, whispers, explanations and the condescending pity from those he left behind.

Love holds edges sharper than Esher’s sword, for nobody wins but demons in the sale of souls.

Links: PDF (read in browser) | Patreon | WordPress

Length: 10, 463 words / 39 PDF pages.

[fortunatelylori]

Coming into Season 8 Jonsa will have old tension we saw in 6 and 7 (the subtext), new tension from being separated and reunited, tension from wtv is going on with Jon and Dany and then sibling turned to cousin tension (which I believe will find out pretty early). How do you see Jonsa acting with all of this going on and at what pt is this tension no longer subtext?

Hey, nonnie!

That sounds like quite the romantic bomb waiting to explode, doesn’t it? Those two crazy kids are just swimming in all kinds of tension. :))))

My short answer to your question is … fairly quickly. In fact, let me go even further and put a timer on it: in the 1st or 2nd episode this multi-layered tension should become text instead of subtext. If Jonsa doesn’t get revealed in episode 1 or at the latest episode 2, I would be very surprised if it happens at all. Or if it does, it just won’t be as satisfying. 

The main reasons why I say this are: 

1. We know from interviews and press coverage that episode 3 will most likely be the big battle with the army of the dead. 

This means that the bulk of the personal and political drama that will unfold at Winterfell must occur in episode 1 and 2. In order for Jonsa to have the full impact they’re looking for after building up the tension for 2 seasons and for them to explore the love triangle fully, Jonsa needs to get revealed during those episodes. 

Now I know a lot of people are afraid that the Sansa/D*ny conflict will be centered solely around Jon and their feelings for him and that it will feel like a cat fight. I don’t think that’s the case since the first two episodes have a lot of other pay offs that they need to reveal, namely the antagonism of the Northern Lords, Sansa’s own personal issues with D*ny coming over and wanting to take control of the North and potentially Winterfell, Jon contending with bending the knee in front of the Northern Lords and his family, Sam finding out about his father and brother, Jon finding out about his parentage and the Starks being forced to keep this a secret. In short, there will be opportunities for Sansa and D*ny to get into a lot more conflicts, than just their jealousy. 

However, since a love triangle is very much in play, they will bring it to the table. There’s no point in having it unless we’re going to get some pining, some sighing, some anger, some misunderstandings, some insecurities. And the easiest way of doing this is by revealing Jonsa in some capacity. If they don’t confess their love for each other or at least we see that Sansa loves Jon, then there is no love triangle to play with and what would be the point then? They would miss an opportunity for drama and I don’t know any writers who would do that. And what would be the purpose? Stretching the mystery even longer? You keep something secret in a narrative for a long time so you can reveal it at the most dramatic moment possible. And for Jonsa that’s episode 1 or 2. 

2. The potential kidnapping of Sansa

If this is to come into play it would have to be at around episode 3 or 4, at the latest so you can milk the Cersei/Sansa interaction for all its worth. Have enough narrative time for Jon to come over to King’s Landing. Deal with the Cersei issue. And then finish off with Dance of Dragons 2.0. 

And from a narrative perspective, Jonsa having been revealed, the audience knowing that Jon loves Sansa or perhaps them even being married at the time (in a secret ceremony I’ll delve into a little bit further down) just adds more stakes to the whole thing. Particularly if none of the characters, or very few, are aware of it. This is also the most opportune moment for Political Jon to be revealed to D*ny and her finding out that Jon never loved her and was in fact in love with Sansa all the time he pretended to be with her. Talk about DRAMA! :)))

So in terms of how I see the Jonsa vs. D*ny plot playing out, I’d say that: 

Episode 1 - Parentage and Jonsa reveal

Episode 2 -  full on love triangle ending with secret wedding

Episode 3 - Sansa kidnapping, Jonsa reveal to D*ny, Jon off to the rescue

Episode 4 - Sansa/Cersei showdown; Jon arriving to bend the knee

Episode 5 - Cersei taken out; Jon and Sansa together; start of Dance of Dragons

Episode 6 - Full on Dance of Dragons 2.0; Jonsa resolution/rebuilding Westeros epilogue

As for how the Jonsa reveal happens, one scenario I seem to come back to again and again is this: 

As you well pointed out, in addition to the romantic tension that has been building up for 2 seasons, Jonsa will also experience the tension of being separated. Jon looks like a love starved man when he rushes into Sansa’s arms. He’s weak as hell and he’ll probably be less able to control his emotions around her than he was before he left (and let’s be real, he was never that good at it to begin with, ). Add to that the fact that Sansa is most likely very angry with him for having bent the knee and Jon will try to look for any opportunity to explain himself. 

Also, while he was away, Sansa couldn’t help herself from mentioning him again and again. And LF has already planted the seed of him falling in love and marrying D*ny so emotionally she’s very vulnerable as well and perhaps with a lower guard than usual. 

So instead of the tension slowly unraveling, I see it just exploding in one scene. This most likely will occur after the parentage reveal. And in order to play with the season 1, episode 1 parallel, it will happen in the Broken Tower. 

So the way I see it is that all through the first episode for one reason or another Jon and Sansa aren’t able to speak privately. And at the end of the episode, after Jon finds out the truth about his parentage, they finally manage to talk alone. And that’s when things come to a head. Because Jon will try to explain pol!Jon to Sansa (good luck with that, Jon! it took me the better part of an afternoon to even scratch the surface). Sansa will be angry and go on the attack. And all that tension we saw in the tent scene will only exacerbate and they will end up giving into their feelings for each other.  And to end the episode on a cliff hanger, you’ll have someone seeing them. 

I think the best candidate for the “intruder” is Tyrion, mirroring him watching Jon enter D*ny’s cabin at the end of season 7. This would also play into him proposing a marriage between himself and Sansa after he discovers Jonsa.

By season 8, Tyrion would be aware of the power Sansa holds in the North and he already knows that Jon and D*ny have had sex. If he discovers Jonsa as well it might push him to propose a marriage for several reasons. 

For one, he’d want to break up Jonsa to ensure that D*ny doesn’t find out and abandon the fight with the NK. Since the show has portrayed Tyrion as a hero, it seems likely to me that he’d be pretty invested in not wanting the dead to kill the whole of Westeros and just like everyone else he’d be under the mistaken assumption that D*ny, her dragons and her armies are the key to defeating him (newsflash: IT’S BRAN!!!!). 

Then there’s the matter of him figuring out how much power Sansa holds and wanting to get that for himself and his queen and try to neutralize Jon in the process. 

Now as for the secret wedding I was referring to earlier … I keep coming back to this because of: 

The Sansa/Lyanna parallels: 

They keep pushing for this parallel with Sansa having her hair braided in a similar fashion to what we see Lyanna wear in the wedding ceremony flash-back as well as the play on the feather motif. That feather has come to represent the secret of Jon’s parentage but it’s significant that they chose Sansa to rediscover it in season 5. They could have gone with Jon in season 7 finding it to signal the secret parentage but they didn’t. They had Sansa dust it off and place it back in statue Lyanna’s hand and followed that up with the dialogue of LF intimating that he knew the truth behind Lyanna’s “abduction”. 

So since they took so much care to link Sansa to Lyanna visually, it makes sense to me that she would end up involved in a secret marriage of her own to Jon. 

The reason for this, I suspect at this point, is two fold: for one if the theory that D*ny’s camp will try to push a Tyrion marriage on Sansa is correct, the simplest way for her to get out of it is if she is already married. And you can have another parallel here to Rhaegar/Lyanna/Robert where Lyanna fell for Rhaegar as a way of getting out of her marriage to Robert. 

The other aspect is the reveal of Jon being a Targareyen. The easiest way to neutralize the threat he poses to D*ny from their perspective as well as ensure that the Northern Lords continue to support him is for Sansa to marry him and make him a Stark. 

Of course, this would also lead to complications because D*ny is bound to take Jon marrying another woman very badly, particularly coupled with her finding out that Jon is her rival for the Iron Throne. But that’s the beauty of this secret wedding theory and the parallel to Rhaegar/Lyanna because a certain amount of hubris needs to be involved in it as well. And just like the Rhaegar/Lyanna elopement and marriage led to Robert’s rebellion, the Jonsa secret wedding can lead to the Dance of Dragons 2.0. There are other reasons for the DoD 2.0, of course, but then again there were several reasons why Robert’s rebellion started as well. Jonsa/Rhaegar&Lyanna both serve as inciting incidents in a way. 

And also it would be a cool way of ending the episode as well because Jon and Sansa get married and are happy (hopefully with a wedding night to end all wedding nights) but they never manage to reveal what they have done because the NK and his army attack Winterfell. 

And the marriage ends up becoming public knowledge only after Sansa is kidnapped which would just exacerbate the Jon/D*ny conflict even further. 

So there it is, nonnie! My best estimation of how the Jonsa reveal and romantic tension will pay off in season 8. I feel like I just went to whatever version of heaven shippers go to. :))))

Thanks for the ask!