#Arthur's in the clear 100%

[badsalmonella]

You know like THEEE one people would make long angry rant posts about being like "you like this character??? Don't you know they did *grocery list of problematic traits* ???" The one deemed as """the true villain of Camelot""" in those bad take posts. Yes I encourage explanations in the tags.

[blanc-ci]

Guys I might be drawing my craziest au yet

[caprinekindness]

Nobody understands them like I do, actually

[littlecactiguy]

Tho I do enjoy the concept of Arthur and John being the type to repeatedly divorce, I feel like I vibe more with the idea that they declare they’re divorcing the other but hadn’t actually made it to tying the knot in the first place or just nowhere close to even asking each other

Or

Arthur and John agree to get married during the 5min they get along and consistently agree with each other

10min later they’re back to arguing and Arthur calls off the wedding. John protests until Arthur goes back on it/declares the wedding can still be on, and then John immediately calls it off himself.

No one can keep up with whether or not they’re actually engaged or not, only Kayne really tries, but he does his best to inject some conflict when things are starting to get too consistent cause that’s more entertaining.

So, Arthur and John, but as the engaged couple who constantly disagree during wedding planning, announce they’re breaking things off, but end up back together (at least for a while). The actual wedding date has been moved around more times than anyone can count.

[tigertrack]

waugh finished doing all the last debt collection and charlotte missions.. arthurrrr 🤧🤧🤧🤧

[exhaustedalien]

fix it fics where Arthur lives but is forever changed

fix it fics where Arthur has to fight for his life in a way that doesn't use physical violence

fix it fics where Arthur has to learn how to live with his disability

fix it fics where his redemption isn't tied to his death but to his willingness to continue living and learning and changing

Kinda a controversial take but I like fix it rdr fanfiction that doesn’t take away Arthur getting sick

Idk it’s so important to his character that I like seeing how people can “fix it” while letting him still deal with the consequences of his actions

[achillesuwu]

Thinking about vampire Merlin and I just realised something as someone who collection allergies like pokemon card

Vampire Merlin who hide his inability to eat human food behind allergies 👀 like, nobody would question the fact that he only seems to drink a strange liquid mixture out if he has so many allergies he can't eat anything 👀

Especially if one knight once tried to put something in it as a prank and everyone saw him punk for hours.

Like allergy is the BEST covers for a vampire. Especially in that whole "100% science era" Uther forced upon his people

Obviously since I can not, NOT, bring everything back to a post return au : I just think it would be funny if Merlin manage to create food alike to human for vampire (like it looks like an apple, it tastes like one but it's not an apple it's 100% blood) and Arthur's 10 years long reflex kick in. Poor Merlin getting picked up as arthur tries to force him to spit it out lmao

(In Arthur's defense, Gaius made quite clear that allergic reaction can be as mild as a bit of spicy, to extreme pain and even bring death. In such case there is nothing he would be able to do. The poor man was scared shitless everytime Merlin had to interact with food.

[wisteria-lodge]

About the gender in hp thing: I know JKR wrote the books wanting the patriarchy to have minimal impact on the world but even through a couple of the metas you wrote you can see that that’s not the case. In your character crying post there’s a clear implication that showing that kind of emotion is a weakness but also that it is not masculine. Equating strength with masculinity is foundational for cultures with strong patriarchies, and this idea infests every other aspect of their lives. Idk because of that and many other reasons I have a very hard time of writing the wizarding world as anything other than a patriarchy

This is a watsonian analysis vs doylist analysis issue.

I 100% do think that JKR went out of her way to really, really downplay the importance of gender in her worldbuilding - and this contributes a lot to the specific feel of the world. You could genderflip, idk. Neville. Snape. Draco. Hermione. McGonagall. and almost no plot elements or character dynamics would change. (Maybe James would bully Severus slightly differently? Idk. He honestly might not.)

Compare HP to something like His Dark Materials, another British fantasy series released at the same time, marketed to the same demographic... in which gender politics are REALLY important. Lyra conforming or not conforming to specific gender norms hugely impacts the way a lot of other characters treat her. So much of Mrs. Coulter's character has to do with how she's navigated the back ways and side avenues into power, because the patriarchy that runs *that* world is extremely explicit and plot relevant, and there's a lot she just can't do.

Now is JKR *good* at writing a gender-blind world? Not really no. So she's stripped out the importance of gender in a fairly surface way, while leaving evidence of the foundations intact. Everyone's a het couple, women take the husband's last name, Molly and Petunia are at home while their husbands work and there's no inverse of that situation, Fleur's father walks her down the aisle at her wedding, it's important that Hermione be able to tame her hair when she wants to, but for Harry it doesn't matter...

There is ALSO the narrative voice poking through and putting its own spin on everything. This is where we start getting judgment (for example) directed both at girls who are too feminine, and at girls who aren't feminine enough. Or sexual assault not really "sticking" if it's directed at boys. We don't have a character talking, in-universe, about how it's wrong for a woman not to want children. We just have a book where the only women who don't have kids (or take care of kids) are villains. Same thing with masculinity = strength = no crying. That's something the narrative framing / bias of the author brings to the table, but it's kept out of the mechanics of the magical world. I guess you could say Harry and Draco equate crying/fainting with weakness (but not explicitly anti-masculinity)... but then Lupin goes out of his way to separate 'fainting' from 'weakness' anyway.

Interestingly, gender is much more baked into the muggle worldbuilding. (Part of why I think leaving that aspect out of the wizarding world was a deliberate choice.) Smeltings is an all-boys school, so is St Brutus.' Dudley teases Harry about his "boyfriend" Cedric, Vernon sizes up Arthur and Mad-Eye by how masculine they are. At the beginning of Book 4, Dudley's diet is this very gendered conflict between Vernon and Petunia, where Vernon doesn't want a "little nancy boy for a son" - and that is one of the only truly gendered insults in the whole series. "Crybaby" almost counts... but the Slytherins tease Hermione for crying too, so idk. They tend to go for pretty gender-neutral insults, like "poor" "unimportant parents" "looks like a chipmunk" ... etc.

Like... I'm trying to imagine a scene were Lucius lays into Draco for not being masculine enough, and I can't. I think that in a canon-compliant fic, a scene like that would feel odd. The conflict would need to be framed more like a "you disgrace the name of Malfoy with your weakness" or "never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking" or "your believe yourself to be more intelligent than you truly are." Not "you need to man up."

[live-laugh-lenney]

Omg! I need your take on Arthur and y/n trying for a baby and y/n finally gets pregnant!!! This would be so cute!

oh my god, this is so cute :(((

"i really think it's happened this time."

arthur rolls onto his side to look at yn, propping his had up with his elbow and ruffling the sheets beneath him whilst giving the duvet a slight pull as he tried to keep himself covered up, their bodies naked and slightly sticky with sweat. his hair clung to his forehead, his eyes were full of love and hope as they had tried, yet again, to fall pregnant with a baby.

"arthur-"

"i just have that gut feeling. we've been trying to months and i just-"

"exactly, arthur. we've been trying for months. we've been on a tight schedule, for god sake, and nothing has happened. i thought i'd, at least, have had a scare," she sighs heavily and stares at the ceiling, "i don't want to keep getting my hopes up."

"it sounds like you want to give up," he admits and she turns her head to look at him, sadness in her eyes and she chews on her bottom lip to keep it from wobbling and giving away the emotions running wild in her mind, "lovie-"

"i don't want to give up. arthur, i want kids so badly. i want them with you but," she gulps back the thick lump in her throat that seemed to ache and make swallowing difficult, "i don't know. i feel like there may be something wrong. i should be pregnant right now."

he adjusts his weight on the bed and sits himself up, back leaning against the headboard and the pillows squashing in the space behind him, and the duvet falls from his chest and covers him from his hips down and yn can see the upset beginning to pinch at his features. his eyebrows were furrowed on his browline, his eyes were sunken and his lips no longer held that hopeful smile that he once had turning his mouth into a curve.

and she felt guilty.

she knew he was excited - from the moment they'd spoken about it, having seen all their friends going through major milestones and life changes, he was totally and 100% on board with taking the next step in their lives. and she was, too. feeling comfortable and happy with the knowledge that she had someone supportive and caring and so understanding of her that anything that scared her, he would be by her side.

"babe-"

"maybe we're just not doing it at the right time," he wonders softly, "i mean, we're both busy with work right now. we're stressing about so much. it can't be helping."

"i'm just- i honestly thought it was going to be so much easier than how it's actually been for us. people fall pregnant unexpectedly all the time," she follows in his motions and sits up on the bed, except she hugs the duvet to her chest to keep herself covered, "why is it, when we plan for this because we're ready, we get nothing yet other people fall pregnant with no preparation at all?"

"are we thinking too much into it?"

"i just don't want to follow a silly schedule anymore, arthur. i want to have sex with you whenever i want to," she frowns and he feels the tickle in his stomach because, of course, he'd love that too, "i don't want to wait till a certain day of the month or ovulation week."

"then we bin the schedule."

"but-"

"we just need to be patient, don't we? we want it so badly that we just get knocked back when we see a negative test. maybe, we just need to let life take over and stop hoping every time," he suggests and she frowns, her eyes stinging, "we know that we're ready, that we want it to happen, so we get on with life with no schedules and if it happens then it happens."

he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side, her head resting perfectly in the curve where his neck met his shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. her arms wrap around his waist and he pulls her close, a leg being placed over his as she just wanted to be held.

"i love you, yeah? whatever happens," he whispers, "so much."

"i love you too."

--

two lines.

bold and clear as day, bright red and hard to miss, in the tiny screen of the pregnancy test.

she couldn't stop her hands from shaking and she couldn't stop the nerves that bubbled in her gut, she couldn't wipe the shock written across her face as she remembered the night that it had happened, the smile on her lips almost face-splitting.

"so? can i come in?"

arthur's voice comes muffled from the other side of the bathroom door and her hand wraps around the handle, pulling the door open in a haste manner, with the test still gripped in her free hand.

"pregnant."

"no way?"

"two lines," she turns the test to face him and he stands from the bed and walks towards her, his eyes set on the tiny oval screen that gave them the news they'd been hoping and praying for for months, "i'm pregnant, arthur. pregnant."

"from that night?"

"that exact night," she cackles loudly and his cheeks blush a bright pink, "who knew kitchen sex would be the perfect way to become pregnant?"

it was a few nights after they'd decided to scrap their schedule.

a few nights after they came to the conclusion that if it happened, it happened.

he'd put together a small and rather romantic night at home, a little surprise for her to walk through the door and see after she finished work so they could spend some time together without their minds instantly going to how and when they were going to try for a baby, because that was all that occupied their minds.

he had her favourite dinner cooking in the oven, and accompanying veggies cooking on the hob, by the time she walked through the front door. candles lit around the living space, giving off a sunset hue with the additional sunset happening outside and filtering through the window, the dining table set for a dinner for two with the best plates and cutlery lied out. a bottle of her favourite rosé wine chilling in an ice bucket with the fancy wine glasses standing tall beside it.

it was perfect.

neither of them brought up the topic of having a family.

it never even crossed their minds.

they spoke about work; she spoke about the tea and the gossip from her workplace involving the girls she worked alongside, which she knew he would struggle to understand, and he listened to every word she spoke with no interruptions. he spoke about how he and george had been asked to be guest appearances on another sidemen sunday video shoot that he was super excited to be a part of and she couldn't hold back on how proud she was feeling for him.

they spoke about going on a holiday; simply taking a break from the real world and from their busy work schedules and disappearing onto an island off of the coast of mainland greece where they'd be alone, with nothing to distract them, where they had no interruptions and no fans to post their sightings and whereabouts.

she praised him for cooking such a delicious dinner and how she'd enjoyed every bite, for putting such a beautiful night together, for taking her mind off of everything and enjoying the time as just the two of them. because she'd missed him immensely, even though they lived together, and it was nice to be back down to earth.

it was her suggestive comments on her recommendations for what she wanted for dessert - him - that got the ball rolling.

washing up the dishes from dinner together once they'd finished, as he washed all the plates and the knives and the forks whilst she dried and put everything away in the cupboards and drawers, insisting that he was delightful and delicious... he was certain it was the wine that had gone straight to her head but he wasn't turning away from her advances.

"so, you're telling me that we made a baby... on the kitchen counter?"

she feels her cheeks pink up and her face feels hot and he can't help but laugh out loud at the events that had happened to get them to where they were now.

"yes," she murmurs and shakes her head in disbelief, "all it took was a spontaneous night that wasn't planned solely to make babies."

he wraps her up in his arms and she clings to him tightly, hiding her face in the t-shirt hanging down his body, gym shorts showing off his legs and he smelt like sweat from his session with george in the local gym, but she couldn't tear herself away from him once she felt a little nauseated at the scent.

"i'm genuinely in shock," he laughs, pressing a kiss to her head and squeezing her close, "kitchen sex equates to baby. we'll have to remember that for next time."

"shut up," she grumbles and rolls her eyes, "can we just enjoy this news without remembering how it happened?"

"it was great though, wasn't it?" he questions and she pulls away from his body so she could look at him with a frown, "sorry, i'm sorry. i'll just think about it silently."

the silence in the room swallowed them before she looked back up at him, "it was brilliant sex. definitely my favourite to remember."

"just don't mention it to anyone when we have them over for dinner, yeah?" arthur smirks cheekily, "don't need your mum to know i was balls deep in you where she prepares the salads."

"arthur!" xx

[sunnibits]

OH MY GODDDD

OH GODDD I JUST HAD TO GO LISTEN TO A CLIP OF ARTHUR’S VOICE AND THE HORRIBLE THING IS. I CAN HEAR IT. I CAN FUCKING HEAR IT AND NOW I CAN’T UNSEE IT. FUCK.

thanking all the gods and stars above that Malevolent wasn’t created as a tumblr-beloved live action tv show adaptation in the 2010’s so that I never have to be subjected to Martin Freeman as Arthur Lester

[freuleinanna]

I'm still confused about Verna.. I thought she was a demon?? Because why would Death be going around making a bunch of deals with people? After Verna told Pym she decided to go "topside" I thought she was some kind of crossroads demon since it implies she came from below (hell)

Oh! I feel you, and I struggled with that a lot too. She does seem a lot like a demon. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct in my thinking either, but here's why I personally think she's Death. Kind of a long post, sorry. I hope I make myself clear, but feel free to follow up!

So, Verna. An anagram for Raven, that much is established. Ravens are wonderful - symmetrical even - creatures. Bringers of death in a wide understanding. Bringers of good luck in many cultures. The duality is amazing. To me, that also leans majorly into the theme of death being a concept of duality: an enemy for some, a friend for others. Each greets her differently. I'm not talking about the characters here, but people in general.

There's a proverb I came across a while ago that reads 'Death is a great leveller'. Meaning, everyone's equal before her. You have no leverage or buffer against death, and it doesn't matter if you're poor or blindly, feverishly, grotesquely rich (like our folks here). Everyone pays the last bill. For everyone, there's a day of reckoning. It's a major theme with the show, at least. Verna also says 'Buy now, pay the bill later' - although it can still read very demonic, I agree.

She's obviously ancient, and I was leaning toward the demon theory based on all of her talking. Yet - she also keeps ranting about Egypt and pyramids and Cleopatras and such. What's the one thing with Egyptians everyone knows of? They honored death. Death may have been a bigger part of their lives than life itself. The Usher Twins' obssession with all things Egyptian, antiquities, jewelry, swords and such, plays a nice parallel here too, because they're just collectors. They have no grain of honor for the real thing, for what these things are tied to. Kind of a nice thought, I guess.

Anyway, back to Verna. She says on multiple occasions how intrigued she is with us, 'adorable little things'. She saw the pyramids, the expeditions, and she wanted to see what else we do, she wanted to see what Roderick and Madeline will do (in her own words). It's all an experiment to her. She makes an offer just to see what we, people, do.

Here's where my beef with a demon theory comes in. No demonic creature I could think of, be it an actual demon, a trickster, or something else, is that sincerely intrigued. Something something death loving life something something.

Demons, in my understanding, are most interested in winning the deal. They come up with incredible challenges, they enjoy torture, emotional or physical, they never let anyone win. Verna has never once expressed this. Quite the opposite. She gives everyone a chance to step back. Even when the ink has dried and everything's decided, each Usher sibling is conditioned to make a choice: push forward, or step back. Neither of them steps back. Neither of them takes a long hard look at themselves (except Tamerlane, both literally haha and figuratively, as she's the only one to have realized how lost she was in her way - just at the end, when it didn't really matter anymore, but still). Verna is kind to those she takes (sincere pet names, regrets of having to do it this way, making sure they know it's not personal, etc). She grieves with them, just before. Grieving - 'The Raven' being about an expression of grief and trauma - ravens as synonyms for death... you get the gist. Oh! Except Freddie - cause Freddie struck a cord. Infuriated her. So he doesn't get an expressed choice. And he would've blown it like coke anyway, so meh.

And then Arthur Pym. Oh, Arthur Pym. I honestly couldn't imagine a demon kneeling and thanking someone who's refused them.

About Arthur Pym, by the way. It's the one story I hadn't reread, and I should have, it turns out! haha Anyway, a few notes about his travels:

In the story, Arthur Pym is expressedly afraid of white color (North Pole, yada yada, white being the absense of colors/life, and the absense of life is death).

Verna enumerates the moments she witnessed of his travels. Someone getting left in Sahara. Someone getting shot in the Arctic. Something bad that was done to an Inuit woman. Why would she follow Arthur so closely? She didn't know him, he wasn't her favorite. I think it's because she came to collect those deaths. If she is death, she would've been exactly there, where people died. She would have also seen Arthur not partaking.

Aaaaaaaand it makes her 'You saw me' line sound better, because he had sure seen death along his travels.

I think the part about a place of out-of-time, out-of-space creatures and hollow Earth was a bit unnecessary, BUT I can try and tie it in this way:

It showed us how Arthur might have coped with what he saw, and he 'saw a lot', even in his 70s it's difficult for him to recall, and it made him think of humanity as a virus, literally;

He might have thought up that ethereal realm simply because he was in an expedition? Exhaustive conditions for both body and spirit? Traumatic experiences? If he saw Death, he might have cloaked it in his mind to cope with it, thus came his stories;

Verna going 'topside' may just mean that she had to go take a look herself, actually be willingly present for the events - to see the brave little humans conquer the earth. 'Topside', as in, 'visible, present, participating'. If Death exists, I doubt it bothers with our boring human realm but lives downunder, among all threads that weave the world.

So that's that on Arthur Pym.

A few other references my mind is too exhausted to tie in nicely:

Death takes Lenore. THE Lenore from 'The Raven' (mostly) and 'Lenore' (secondary). That happened. Also, death talking to a child of life? Regretting having to take her? Not very demonic of dear ol' Verna, in my opinion.

Her mourning veil, her last toasts to the Ushers at the cemetery? Demons don't tend to grieve their players. Demons don't respect and love them enough, and 'what is grief, if not love persevering'?

Death is the last threshold. Before death, we look upon our legacy (major theme with the show), we remember our losses and loves (Annabel Lee!!!!! love the poem, brilliantly done), we get heavy with regrets. We face death as an enemy & fight, like Madeline did. As a friend, like Arthur did. We confess, like Roderick did. All that is too significant to me overall.

And the last thing. It's Edgar Allan Poe. The whole Death tribute is a giant, incredible, thought-through-to-the-bits hommage to his literature where Death, figuratively and literally, takes the throne.

I hope I managed to express myself alright there. Thanks if you read it through, and as I said before, feel free to follow up or elaborate on some ideas. There are oceans to discuss. <3

[livingdeadmlm]

Back from the dead

OKAY SO…Werewolf Arthur Morgan x reader ??

Probably just fluff and maybe an overprotective Arthur?

TEEEHEEE

-🌶️

Welcome back!!

He keeps his ears tucked away in his hat, he dosen’t want it too clear when he’s trying to hear what people are talking about around him

He comes back to the camp and tries his hardest to keep his tail from wagging like crazy when he finally catches a small smell of you throughout the camp leading back to your tent.

However he is always exposed when you peek around a corner and hear his name sung out to him, it does get some giggles from the women in the camp and Jack when big ol Arthur's stoic face and tail are going 100 miles a minute

Heading into town he makes sure to be half a step behind so he can make sure no one sneaks up on either of you and maybe take your or his wallets and run off.

He makes plenty sure that when talking to folk they don’t attempt to scam you out of any of your money

When taking jobs he tends to consider his safety more now yet still finds himself in the middle of the woods talking to strangers he’s never seen before.

He wont get jealous if people come up to talk to you but when its at the bar, and the other person is getting much to close his ears are pinned back under his hat

You don’t entertain the attention much but the other person tends to pick up on Arthur’s no longer wagging tail and the tension that could be cut with a knife

He’s never had to get loud unless someone grabs at you then he dives in and holds back no bite or punch

You’ve specially sown his pants in order to fit his tail through them, before he would just rip a line in the hem and fit is tail in it.

If you find a hat that accompanies his big wolf ears it exposes just how often he gets confused but plays it off like nothing

As a wolf I think he’d have a much bigger appetite and gets a little embarrassed when he’s downed his whole meal when you’ve just started eating

[hetagrammy]

I know it wasn't really popular until the 1870s, nor am I totally sure Arthur would go this far, but the idea of Arthur putting Molly on a "rest cure" to treat her "hysteria" around the 1840s before the Famine really kicked in is something that has been sticking in my brain. The idea of this woman going Yellow Wallpaper is something that just intrigues me. To be clear, either way, Arthur 100% referred to her as his "hysterical sister" and used that as an excuse to both keep her from going to Europe and making allies again.

[vanessalocke]

Canadian Flag

Yesterday when I was talking to my friend, she mentioned that on the Canadian flag, the red represents the red cross of England, and the white represents the French royal.

I wanted to take a closer look so I searched about this and this is what I found:

According to the wiki about Canada flag, it was King George V of Britain who chose red and white as the colors of the Canadian flag. Red comes from the Saint George's Cross (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) and white represents the French royal. This happened in 1921.

The thing that shocked me the most in this story is that the person who put the white color of France on the Canadian flag was the KING OF ENGLAND!

At first, my friend told me that the Canadian flag was British red and French white. I thought the Canadians made it up because I saw that they were usually quite proud of their French roots. When I looked into it more, I found out that the red and white colors were actually made up by the British king! I was like 😱😱😱

I MEAN, the fact that the British king chose white to represent France for Canada, a long, long time after the fall of the French monarchy, is still something that blows my mind!!!

Like, the only reason why Britain stopped declaring monarchy to France in 1802 or later was because the French monarchy collapsed (monarchies cannot declare monarchy to a republic). So when Britain incorporated the colors of the French monarchy into the Canadian flag in 1921, it was clear that England was still obsessed with the "marriage" with France AFTER 119 YEARS LATER 🙂

This means that Arthur demanded to marry a continental noble for nearly 500 years and after losing hope of marrying him, he still missed him (and missed his unrecognized marriage with him) by putting his crush's colors on his child's flag over 100 years later, every time he looked at his child he remembered him 😃 are you kidding me. This white color probably represents not only the French monarchy but also the desire for a "wedding" (that will never happen). It feels like for hundreds of years, England has never stopped thinking of France as his spouse. As long as the Canadian flag has not changed its color, and the US state of Maryland has not changed its name, the evidence of England's feelings for France will still be there.

I discussed with my friend and learned a few more facts: King George V of England, the one who put white on the Canadian flag, was a king who was very loved by France. France even has a street named after him because he was the one who wanted to send British troops to support France in WWI and was also the one who campaigned for the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France.

[highfantasy-soul]

So I read Bloodmarked and feel the strong urge to write a 'fix it' fic for a certain love story.

spoilers, obviously

the insane desire to fix the Sel/Bree dynamic - starting in book 1 - is strong

Sel should have remained combative to Bree in book one, not suddenly turn and fall madly in love with her by the end of the book. He should have only stayed with her for duty because she's Arthur's Scion and it should have been made clear in the story that it was killing him staying with Bree because he's bonded to Nick.

He should have still been combative as she doesn't want to stay hidden, but it should have been 100% duty as to why he was staying with her and protecting her.

BREE should have actually done things to change his mind, not just be the main character. She should have studied past Order dangers they faced and how they overcame them, she should have kept training with weapons and her aether, she should have actually DONE things to try to get Nick back (giving updates after her bloodwalks), and should have worked tirelessly to help others and learn enough to really help in this war.

AND she should have shown how she's different from just any other Scion - she should have pushed for a different perspective, sought out others to help in the battle since she does know about others who use magic. She should have pushed for inclusion and bringing everyone into this fight in the ways they can instead of just leaving it to the Order. She should have researched more about Merlins through this study of magic and perhaps pointed out inconsistencies in the official records, she should have gotten empathy after seeing how much is expected of Merlins and the standards they have to keep and the punishments if they don't - giving her understanding for Sel's position and why he behaved the way he did in book 1. She should have kept in touch with the Lieges who are part of this war, but have different perspectives too.

They should have SEEN each other DOING things to protect people and fight demons SEPARATELY rather than Sel only existing to protect Bree when she's done something stupid or someone is after her. Bree should have DONE something other than run around helpless and complaining about being helpless until she explodes with power.

They should have learned to RESPECT each other for their own actions and histories and seeing how hard each other are trying to do the right thing - and always butting heads because their methods are so different. KEEP the arguments! KEEP the conflicting perspectives - but have them argue with RESPECT for each other, pleading their own cases, but never devolving to petty shit since, you know, they should be focused on protecting people from Camlann.

---

THEN.

THEN! When Bree is attacked and is bleeding out and Sel gives all his energy to keep her alive, THAT'S when he realizes that he's not just saving her because she's the Crown Scion, he's saving her because she's Bree. He can't stop thinking about what would be taken from the world if BREE is dead (her desire to bring together the different communities, her desire to help others even when she can't access her power, her questioning of long-held beliefs and push back on how Merlins are treated and how enslaved all the Legendborn are to the Order's rules down to who they're allowed to marry and her desire to change that) and that he didn't think once about the cost to the Order or the Lines. THEN we can have his change and the slow burn enemies-to-lovers become apparent.

Nix all this 'you're the most strongest, beautifulest, bravest, phenomenal person I've ever met' bullshit - since he can't give examples of her ever being those things! If you think you can come up with reasons, give me some that don't revolve around her power or her attempting to claim her authority - give me some examples of her ACTUALLY HELPING people. As it stands, the narrative only gives us 'Bree is super powerful and pretty and that's enough to make her brave' - no actual action on her part, just how she was born.

Idk, all the tension was just like......we GET IT! She and Sel LIKE EACH OTHER!!! The narrative just has to have arbitrary reasons they can't be together even though they're very clearly attracted to each other! Sel was super concerned about her being out to hurt Nick in book 1, then 180 and he's in love with her now. It's ok for him to be annoyed that she's in the middle of this and she has no idea what she's doing! It's ok that he's annoyed she has such little frame of reference as to how to fight this war and lead the Order! It's ok if he's still annoyed at her in book 1 because he thinks Nick deserves a bodyguard who actually knows what they're doing!

It really pissed me off that Sel started out as a cool, very hard and sharp character, then once he decided he didn't want to kill Bree anymore, he became a completely soft butterball of a person. LET GRAY CHARACTERS KEEP THEIR EDGES!! Stop smoothing their rough parts once we're on the 'to lovers' path!!

Their whole contention could be that she's studied the Order and sees all the ways it needs to change and offer solutions - maybe specifically how the Merlins are treated - and Sel could push back because of all his self-loathing and fear of himself that the Order pushed in him and so he's always playing 'devil's advocate' for the Order and all their methods of control. Stay in line and you stay safe - they've kept Onceborn safe all these years, why fix what isn't broke and risk the chaos that would bring - chaos demons feed on. Bree could push back on him arguing 'WHO' is being helped, WHO has been kept safe? Rootcrafters hunted down by the Order? Onceborn POC who are subjugated under Vassal power given to them by the Order but wielded in the Onceborn world? The Legendborn who have no control over their lives? The Lieges who will die early because of their curse?

Have Sel and Bree actually bring up real and nuanced themes to explore in the story instead of petty shit like it was. Make their arguments MEAN something more than just 'I'm worried for your safety/You're smothering me'.

Make their rivalry real, make Bree's character DO something, and make Sel begin to question his fear of himself and the control the Order brings him. THEN they can start to have feelings for each other based on concrete actions and who each other are, not just 'oh no, he's hot'.

[pianokantzart]

I posted something somewhere about Papa Mario’s “these are boys” line being wholesome (and made more so because of who voices the character!) and I got some comments from people who hated the line because it was clear Pio “didn’t give a shit” about either of his sons and only accepted them once they gave him something he could brag about. In other words, he only “cares” about them when they make him look good. I don’t think this is the case, and I get the feeling you don’t either. Can you do a brief analysis on the character given what little we’ve seen of him? :)

Yep, I 100% agree with you. Mario and Luigi's dad may have his flaws, but he definitely cares about his kids.

The thing about Pio is that he strikes me as the family patriarch? At least for as long as the grandpa has been in his twilight years. Not only does Pio appear a lot more emotionally restrained than Uncle Tony and Uncle Arthur, but he's bulkier and moves with a lot less pep. Either he's a good number of years older than either of them, works a far more physically demanding job, or both. Whatever the case, he takes matters with a lot more gravity, and his lapse of judgement at the dinner table seemed to be out of genuine worry rather than disdain or apathy. At first he did his best to talk about anything other than Mario's failing plumbing business, keeping his head down and eating his pasta while everyone else was either defending or teasing Mario and Luigi.

It's only when Mario directly asks his dad for his opinion that he gets right to the heart of the matter:

"I think you're nuts. You don't leave a steady job for some crazy dream. And the worst part? You're bringing your brother down with you."

It's harsh, but you can tell he means well. This is not the face of a man who "doesn't give a sh*t." This may be a big joke to Arthur and Tony, but to Pio it's dead serious. Mario's taking a huge gamble with his and his brother's financial stability. Yes, this is Mario AND Luigi's dream, and Luigi is perfectly capable of making his own decisions... but it's clear who's leading the charge and making a lot of questionable choices along the way. If Pio has a place of headship in the family like I suspect, then this statement has a lot more weight to it– he knows what it is to have other people's wellbeing rely on you. It's important Mario understands that if this longshot fails, he won't be going down alone.

Did Mario already know this? Yep. Was telling him he was bringing his brother down a step too far? Absolutely, but Pio was not trying to emotionally gut his son the way he did.

When Mario storms off, he looks blindsided by the reaction.

When everyone stares at him in surprise he asks "what did I say?" in a tone of genuine confusion. This was meant to be a wakeup call for Mario, not a slap in the face. Apparently, Luigi's inability to read a room is hereditary.

But Pio's not a man of pure stoicism, he's still a hot-blooded Italian at his core, so of course he gets so excited when his kids appear out of nowhere to decimate a giant turtle dragon and his invading army??? (Please note the way he's leaning way too far out of that window in his excitement. It's lucky he's got good core strength or he'd be falling right out of the third story into what is still an active war zone.)

When the smoke clears both Mia and Pio are climbing over wreckage to get to Mario and Luigi, well before a crowd has gathered to cheer. The "these are my boys!" was a continuation of the pride Mario's dad had already expressed before he realized anyone else was watching. He has absolutely no idea what just happened, but anyone with eyes can see that Mario and Luigi just did something fantastic! And as much as Pio sees Mario in the leading role– responsible for his and his brother's failures– he also sees him as responsible for their victories.

So yeah. Conclusion: Mario's Dad is a flawed guy who makes big mistakes, but there's no doubt in my mind that he cares a lot about his kids.