#But miraculously the moment queens have power more than the kings it's an issue?

[some-pers0n]

The actual boldness to post this off anon lmao. Jesus christ

Tui treats her male character like trash and I absolutely hate it.

Like switch the kings in the series to queens and suddenly you see how horrible it is.

Darkstalker’s rule, how the female dragonets are all royal in some way while the boys are disabled, Kings (this is about Darkstalker again), and I’m sure there’s more

It just bothers me a lot okay!!! I know that Tui is all like “I never see queens in power” and all this girl power stuff but reversing the gender roles makes her just as bad in my opinion

Idk, hopefully the men in the series are treated better in the 4th arc

.

[miraculouscontent]

Didn’t Need Burrow (May 23rd-25th)

Anonymous asked:

Didn't Need Burrow: Astruc admitted Sabine was based on an ex and Marinette is what he imagined their daughter to be like. He later admits Audrey was based on an ex and Chloe is what he imagined their daughter would be like. Despite moving on, he still bitter and created two teen girls as "payback" against his exes.

The whole “virtual daughter” thing still squicks me out.

Also, I don’t actually take “Didn’t Need Burrows” referring specifically to the staff/fandom since that’s outside of the show, but I also definitely think about them all the time and like sticking them in here.

Anonymous asked:

Didn't Need Burrow: Building off of the "Adrien knows about Marinette's crush on him and tells Plagg about it" Burrow, Plagg will point out to Adrien that this is a bad idea and what he is doing is wrong and that Adrien is leading Marinette on so as to stroke his own ego. He will not be listened to, and the show portray him as in the wrong, despite him being right, because anybody who stands up for Marinette's agency deserves to be shut down. In the meantime, Adrien will be allowed to continue

Bonus if Plagg will be considered “wrong” because Adrien not leading Marinette on would lead to him being sAd because Marinette isn’t fawning over him anymore (as if he doesn’t have a million fans).

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Zoe will be presented not only as "Chloe if she was good person", but also as "Marinette if she wasn't constantly making mistakes"

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Zoe will be basically  Marinette if "Marinette's Mistake of the Week" formula never existed.

Sounds about right.

Amazing what can happen when the show doesn’t have a gun to your head telling you to make mistakes in every episode.

Anonymous asked:

Didn't Need Burrow: The show delves into a shitty harem as the writers forget that Adrien is not the main character. Who knows, maybe Zoe will join the harem.

The only reason I feel like Zoe wouldn’t be a part of Adrien’s harem is so she can ship the love square.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: There will be Animaestro-type episode where Marinette "makes alliance" with (read: is manipulated by) Chloe or Lila against Zoe. In the end she is only one punished, while her "partner in crime"  (or rather person who manipulated her) walks away completely scot-free.

To the surprise of no one. Can’t have the antagonists be punished, because that would make sense.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: (narrative-wise) Agreste's family drama and Bourgeois's sisters drama will overshadow whatever Marinette character arc will be in season 4.

I’m taking this a step further and saying that Marinette in generall will keep having her plots/”arcs” overshadowed by everyone else.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Marinette will be akumatized. She will be easily defeated due to "bond" between Chat Noir and Temporary Ladybug Zoe. This will be presented like Ladybug's constant refuse to "bond" with Chat Noir was reason why their fights with Akumatized Villains are so hard. (bonus: This episode will be followed by a group of fans that would state that Zoe should replace Marinette as Ladybug Miraculous Holder and not Chloe as Bee Miraculous Holder.)

Uggggh, I’m always waiting for the “love square magical bond” garbage.

Also, the bonus reminds me of the fact that I don’t understand people who hate on both Marinette and Luka but continue to ship the love square. Like, wouldn’t they want to ship Adrien with someone “””worthy””” of him??

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: If Marinette akumatization has Miracle Queen-type set-up, Chat Noir will quickly defeat her and whatever all other Miraculous Holders alone (or optionally supported by Temporary Ladybug Zoe). This will be presented by narrattive as proof of why Chat Noir is Brawn in Ladybug-Chat Noir duo. (Bonus: After that episode Adrien stans will make mass of "I hope this will shut up everyone who think that Chat Noir is useless/weaker than Ladybug/etc." type posts)

At this point, I’ve just grown numb to Chat suddenly being able to do things that don’t make sense for him.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Temporary Ladybug Zoe

Okay but is she keeping the black highlights or do they turn red. These are important questions.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Kagami will be changed (ret-conned) into  Adrienette (or other Love Square's part) shipper after "Lies"

Something similar is already on the card so that’s fun. :’3

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Zoe, not Marinette, will be wearing that dress from the Season 4 Concept Art.

*eye twitch*

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Rena Rogue will be appearing even when she isn't needed to defeat Akuma of the Week. This will be probably used to justify Chat Noir's increasing resent up towards Ladybug and (probably) consequent reversal of Love Square.

anything: *happens*

Chat Noir: bad Ladybug

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Ending: Marinette will willingly sacrifice herself to wake up from coma/ressurect Emilie. Both Adrien and Gabriel will be happy that Emilie is back. Adrien will have his happy relationship/ending with Zoe whom personality is (or was ret-conned into) "Marinette in anything but name". (Bonus points: if everyone behave like Marinette never existed after Emilie revival)

I’m sad.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: If Akuma of the Week isn't Reflekta/Mr Pigeon/Gigantitan/etc,.Pig Miraculous"s "Gift" power will basically fail and only make current Akumatized Villain angrier and more determined to achieve his goal, basically restarting whole fight against Akuma.

PIGELLA NO

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Lila will never react to Zoe becoming more popular than her

I imagine Zoe isn’t the same age as Chloe since they’re not twins, so Zoe at least won’t be in Bustier’s class.

Now, if they make her a Lila slave, then we’ll see.

Anonymous asked:

Didn't Need Burrow to know that Marinette is going to hate Zoe for being related to Chloe and this will be limited to her or she'll be the only one scolded for it (likely by Adrien), because you can't hate someone for who they're related to (which actually is a good lesson but ml will probably f it up somehow).

I feel like the writers just look at a character and go, “okay, how can we engineer them in a way for Marinette to mess up around them?

Anonymous asked:

Didn't need Burrow - Chat will find out Rena Rouge knows her identity and becomes angry bc "You and me against the world, m'lady." This will cause one episode of Adrienette becoming closer and Ladynoir drifting apart before Chat magically forgives her like it was no big deal after she makes a huge gesture to get him back.

You’d think they’d have worn out the reset button by now...

Anonymous asked:

Didn't need burrow: one of two things will happen, either Adrien will try to help Luka get back together with Marinette (basically the same plot as Mr. pigeon 72) or the relationship will not be brought up ever again and Mari and Luka don't really directly interact with each other anymore

“Bonus” if Adrien is “taught a lesson” that he shouldn’t meddle, and it’s only because he chose to meddle in Lukanette. “Double bonus” if his attempts actually get Lukanette back together but this is presented as a bad thing (for some reason)..

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Zoe will be(e)come pernament Bee Miraculous Holder.

This won’t be added because I think we already got official confirmation on this?

Oh, or do you mean “permanent” as in her keeping the miraculous eventually?

edit: yes, that’s what they meant (also, A+ pun)

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Every Miraculous Holder introduced in Season 4 will be will lose right to their Miraculous, except Zoe/Vesperia.

lol me just imagining them struggling over either making models or trying to not use those miraculouses anymore.

Anonymous asked:

Didn't Need Burrow: Luka will be forced to say Adrien and Marinette are perfect for each other in "Optigami".

Wow, show, why don’t you just prove more that you’re purposefully pointing out that you’re giving Marinette a grand total of One “Obvious” Option.

Anonymous asked:

Unsure if this one has been sent yet but | Didn't Need Burrow: Alya is going to continue Marinette to pursue Adrien even after Marinette broke down and said she doesn't have time for love right now.

We have some similar ones I think.

“Marinette’s feelings towards moving on are invalidated/ignored by one of her “friends” to push for the Love Square“

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Sandboy 2.0: Ladybug's nightmare will be about Chat Noir abandoning/hating her

I was dumb enough to raise an eyebrow at this like, “Would they really reuse akum--oh wait.”

Anonymous asked:

I'm gonna try and go for a good Didn't Need Burrow: WHen Sole Crusher gets Marinette we'll either get a lovely King Kong moment between them, or Chat Noir will come in and save her (and it'll possibly be a moment of reverse love square).

If they have Marinette doing the cliche “crushing because they got saved” I’m gonna throw hands.

Anonymous asked:

Don't need to burrow:

Marinette will never have a heart to heart with Luka revealing she's Ladybug or even explain the reason for their breakup.

Just gonna slap a big asterisk on this because it’s like:

*despite Luka being an obvious choice and they could’ve worked out the issue but the show is afraid of the side ship they’ve created working out better than the love square itself

Anonymous asked:

Don't need to Burrow: For Optigami, the episode will barely or never acknowledge Luka's and Marinette's relationship/breakup. It will be ignored and we won't have any cute Lukanette moments. As long as Adrien is in the picture, Luka will be always sidelined.

Honestly that last one is basically one of the commandments of this show.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Lila will now only appear in cameos (probably without even any voice lines).

show writers, shoving Lila under a rug: Leela Ransai?? Never heard of him.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Since Lukanette is over, Luka can be ret-conned from show. Everyone will behave like he never existed at all (and Lukanette never hapenned).

We at least know that Luka now appears in a later episode, but this could easily be worded as “Luka can be retconned away from being Marinette’s love interest and everyone will act like he and Marinette aren’t that close or never made soft eyes at each other.”

Except I wouldn’t count on Lukanette being retconned because that would stop the show from being allowed to make Marinette feel bad and guilty and possibly cause another akuma over it, plus possibly Luka “rejecting” his feelings for her and thus making her feel worse that he sees her in a lesser light.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: There will be an episode that will break "Mr Pigeon" episode record of  "Don't Need a Burrow" and close calls.

Not gonna lie, I would be legitimately impressed if that happened. I’m just wondering what predictions would be mashed together to make it as such.

Anonymous asked:

Didn’t Need Burrow to know that Zoey (I heard somewhere that that’s how her name is going to be in America, it might be wrong), is going to get involved in the love square somehow.

Bonus:

Or she will replace Kagami’s role as Marinette’s friendly rival, and when her heart gets broken Marinette will be the one to blame, for no reason, like always. Or she will have an interest in Marinette, since it seems they are going to be close friends, only for Marinette to put her in the friend zone, and she gets akumatized. People will blame Marinette for giving false hopes to the girl, even though, she never acted different than how a friend would act.

All girls exist to comment/have an opinion on the love square, obviously, and they’re antagonists/villains if they have a negative opinion on it.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Writers will use Alya bashing concept of Alya proposing Lila as potential new Miraculous Holder. Marinette will obviously refuse, but due to fact that Lila is suddenly ret-conned into being good person this is Marinette's Mistake of the Week. She will repair it by making Lila pernament Miraulous Holder

Waiting for the one episode long Lila redemption...

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Sabrina will be redeemed. She will change from Chloe's servant... to Zoe's servant.

and it’s fine of course because Zoe and Sabrina are best friends and Sabrina is doing this all happily and willingly.

Anonymous asked:

Don't Need a Burrow: Alya will be changed into basically Marinette's Guardianship mentor

Somehow, this is one of the ones I hate the most because it seems accurate so far.

[vidalinav]

POV’s are really interesting in this series:

For a number of reasons, but because you realize how fucked up the IC are, and I don’t mean this in a hate way. I mean this in a people are complicated way, but also sometimes annoying. Like I knew they were before because they have been since ACOMAF, but they were even more so when it wasn’t Feyre’s POV. 

Because look we now know Azriel clearly has issues now. To what extent truly they are? We don’t know yet. But he’s got some issues. Whether that be having this 500 year “crush” or him being like “I deserve an Archeron.” Clearly that’s not a good sign and then of course, Rhys can’t “control” him and he doesn’t really value Feyre’s input as word of law, and they don’t get really any information about his past as Rhys has said, which is problematic for so many reasons including Rhys himself.  

Then we have Cassian, who has an almost god-like sentiment towards his High Lord and the IC, which I understand to some extent because those are his family and he didn’t have anyone, but it’s almost too fanatical. Which of course, plays into this mindless soldier scenario which he’s always put against. But, Cassian’s POV to me is a lot like Feyre’s where they are almost too blind to the people around them, who’ve helped them in some way. 

We know all the issues with Rhys, that didn’t change at all. He’s basically the same, though we got to see more of his politics in which he offers many many choices but all of them are not really choices. As Amren points out, SPECIFICALLY, when dealing with Nesta. That if threats were necessary that’s what they’re going to do to get her to agree lol. 

Amren is horribly tyrannical, which again I’ve said might be because of her loss of powers and her being second without really having the foundation to be Rhys’s second anymore. So she might be insecure in her place, but... She don’t need to be ruling the world. No one wants to rule the world. Maybe she’s still got that mindset I don’t know, but she needs to stop. It would be interesting to see if she gets any character development in later books. 

Mor is the one who actually wasn’t trashed too much in this book, except for the beginning, but that miraculously went away (SJM--rolling eyes). Though I would like Mor not to be trashed only because she’s basically Nesta in so many ways. Where she’s been through horrible things, and unfortunately just like Nesta she has to be pleasant to belong in this group. I understand that this pleasantness is at some point healing, but it’s also at some points invalidating, because you can read that Mor is not happy all the time and she has to hide from who she is from her own family who she’s suppose to trust. How do none of them know that she’s a lesbian or have they ever inquired about her relationships with anyone, because they know the whole Az situation? Is that not uncomfortable? Like I’m sorry, but how many times did we get the fact that Mor is telling the story wrong of her own pain either from Eris or Eris hinting that Rhysand knows this too. Like okay... When will they realize that usually things are not black and white, but if someone says you hurt them, you have in some way, you can’t argue your way out of that by saying your memory is wrong. ***whispers*** that’s called gaslighting. 

Feyre I didn’t hate and I’m glad, because I did want the sisters to come together and to be close. Because honest to god, who the hell would keep the chances of dying by birth from the woman who is giving birth? Like I’m so glad Nesta told her, and I’m glad that Feyre was like fuck y’all you should have told me. I felt a great like relief in that, especially because it mirrors that one time where Feyre went to see the Suriel in ACOWAR and Mor was angry at Nesta because she didn’t tell anyone where she was, and Feyre was like “At least she’s loyal.” There’s a lot of times in this series, where I feel that the only people who have the Archeron sisters’ best interest are the Archeron sisters. They act so much more familial even with their issues, than the IC. My hope is that they come together more. Because this bs voting thing that IC has is definitely skewed in certain directions and I really like the thought that the sisters even this out and can’t necessarily be taken advantage of. Because Feyre certainly had Nesta’s back with the weapons situation. I would like to see that more too with Elain. 

But I know the next book won’t center on Nesta but it would be interesting to see if Nesta ever realizes that the IC do take advantage of her and want to take advantage of her--especially if the goal is to be High King and Queen. Using Nesta for power was mentioned so many times by so many people, and she still has some power that’s clearly important if the mother reached out a hand and she still has the trove. I wonder if she’d fight that. I feel she would to some extent, and I really don’t think Feyre would want to be High Queen but it’s certainly interesting. Because Nesta has a lot of guilt for things that are warranted and things that are not warranted. So I asked that question in a previous post, what did you think about Nesta kneeling to Amren to apologize, and most people said that hell no. The apology wasn’t the problem, because you know the apology at some point was her letting go and it was healing for her to do it, but almost everyone said that they wished Amren would have done it as well, since she was horrible the entire time. I agree. The IC still have the same problems now, so it would be very very interesting to see how Nesta views them when she’s more involved with them all familiarly. Wouldn’t it be something if she was like “oh it was you after all.” Nesta is not perfect by any means and she was def at a rock bottom situation, but I argue and say that the IC have been in a rock bottom situation for 500 plus years, and at this point their digging. Maybe they needed these additional people in their group to really suss out all of the issues that they have. 

I right now have only hope for the sisters, because there’s obviously some notions of fate going on here. That 3 Archerons all turned fae for this moment, for some reason. The main POV’s are the sisters so far and it’s almost certain that Elain will be next POV, because then it wouldn’t make sense at all. All of the sister’s have so much power and the IC rely on them sooo much that I wonder sometimes if the IC realize that if they joined together like none of them would have a real “true” say in what the sisters are involved in. Because they’re family first and not Court first, as it always seems to be hinted at though not expressly stated. 

But that’s just something I’ve noted. What do y’all think? 

[helenaofdevon]

HELENA GREY : COUNTESS OF DEVON

BULLETPOINTS:

NAME: Helena Courtenay nee Grey

AGE / D.O.B.: 25 || August 22nd, 1534

STATUS / RANK: Countess of Devon

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England

PLACE OF BIRTH: Bradgate House, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire - England

BIRTH ORDER: Second

MOTHER & FATHER: Frances Brandon & Henry Grey

SIBLINGS: Two, an elder and younger sister

SEXUALITY: bisexual biromantic

HOROSCOPE: Leo. ( leo virgo cusp )

VIRTUES:  dynamic, perspicacious, authentic

VICES:  strong-willed, opinionated calculative

MARITAL STATUS: married to nicholas courtenay, earl of devon

ISSUE: n/a

RELIGION: roman catholic / protestant. raised in a religiously divided house. is well versed in both

ALLIES: to be announced...

ADVERSARIES:  to be announced...

TIMELINE:

approx. 1492 – mary tudor, is born ten months after her brother, henry viii

early 1533 – wedding of frances brandon and henry grey, the marquess of dorset with permission from their parents as both are young and in love.

22 August 1534  – helena grey is born, she is the second child of couple

approx. 1540 – frances brandon with the approval of her husband begins to educate her daughters at Bradgate House. several clergy knowledgeable in all subjects and both protestant and catholic are commission in the private education of the girls. the youngest is still to small to start lessons.

approx 1551 / 52 – Helena's elder sister is likely married off. Helena is officially presented at court ( despite having grown up within it to an extent ) 

early 1554 – Helena Grey is precontracted to Nicholas Courtenay but Henry Grey dies of natural causes ( sickness ). Formal marriage arrangements thusly drag on for sometime for various reasons

late 1556  – Helena Grey formally marries Nicholas Courtenay

November 1558 – Helena's fahter in law and husband are arrested & tried ( the courtenay conspiracy ); cousin william pardons Col but exectued Hugh Courtenay thus making Col the new earl or devon; Helena is made countess of Devon

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION.

NAME & TITLE/ROLE: helena grey, countess of devon

MONIKER: the empyreal

AGE: 25

FACECLAIM: alicia vikander

THREE POSITIVE TRAITS: dynamic, perspicacious, authentic

THREE NEGATIVE TRAITS: strong-willed, opinionated calculative

BIOGRAPHY:

A single decision changes the world from what it might have been. With a twist of fate or a turn of time in a direction that alters its ineffable course and what we know is no longer the truth hidden within the pages of a new history. So a family line is both royal adjacent and equally as royal as the one that rules. The grandson of the stepson of Edward IV would marry the Wotton girl and Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset would be brought forth into the world. Frances Brandon would also be born of Mary Tudor, the youngest surviving child of Henry VII and sister to Henry VIII. The two would marry and they would have three daughters and no sons and that would be an absolute facet of time - a fixed point that would remain unchanged in this or any other reality. Rather one should state that events before the birth of these two individuals had changed setting an entirely new course when ten months after the birth of a future king his sister Mary Tudor was then born. Altered forever was the flow of time and so became a possibility for a different set of Grey sisters to be born. It would not change though the fact their blood would mark them as dangerous and would call into question those would they attach themselves to as royal lines no matter how distant were quite troublesome.

Helena Grey would be born the second daughter and middle child of her parents and born perhaps as one of the most miraculous women. Each Grey sister was something to behold and wonder just the same but a girl would stand out. Helena had many passions and a zest for life and yet was capable of being a rather rooted person who was loyal, kind, and quite perspicacious. She was not her elder sister who was by default their example nor the younger sister who was beloved as the youngest and final child. A girl however in any situation even from the smallest age took charge and was the leader of the small band of girls. In the days of early youth, there were a gaggle of giggles and many games to be played in the various halls causing little ones to be a source of mild trouble and much entertainment which she was generally at the heart of. She would have an interesting youth and her mother would see that each of her girls was incredibly well educated in a religiously divided household. Helena excelled in her studies as tutors ( many of them various clergy from both the catholic and protestant faith ) taught her various languages and to read and write many of them and more. She danced and swirled through everyone’s lives and one could rightfully argue even as a young girl you were forever changed by her presence and the life and light she brought to any situation.

All was not so wondrous but time and age cover massive events that would come into play years later. Helena was more than well aware of family history and the lines that twisted and crossed and broke out into branches that had started civil wars and uprisings. Lady Helena knew many people's real faces behind the masks they wore at court, having been a favorite as her mother once was of the king. After all one learns to play the game or to become the one being played. There were so many rules, so many unwritten codes and all the world swirled with intrigue and Helena navigated the water thusly earning to her name several handfuls of friends but suffered no fools as her companions - especially as many a person with loftier ambitions would seek out noble blood with royal ties with no sort of good intention.  Helena, not that she wasn't already strong-willed and having a smart tongue, learned she had a sharp one and an eye for false intention despite her Christian ways being told a woman was to be meek and forgiving of her fellow man.

There were suitors indeed interested in the girl even before she became available to marry, even before her elder sister was wed. Who could deny she had a draw and one enjoyed being around her never short on a conversation or any pleasantly stimulating amount of time spent but in truth, Helena would've rather not married at all. She was of an independent mind, not keen on being tied to a man whom she barely knew and her parents chose. Truly even court despite her deep love for people and being a point of focus would've rather spent her time in the country reading books. living fully and caring for horses and dogs and the idea of a small gaggle of children she could return to either sister not enjoying the idea of settling. Life was to be lived and well and perhaps Helena had ideas of what she wanted. It certainly wasn't the men that presented themselves especially after the elder sister wed with Helena being even more pushed to the forefront than she had naturally been with her personality. When Helena set eyes on Nicholas Courtenay a young woman knew what she wanted or rather who she would desire to marry if one must marry. She saw in him an equal partner, one who would respect and cherish her, one she would be willing to call husband and he did indeed make her laugh. It never fully occurred to her either that her interest and yes eventual marriage to the man would have quietly been considered a potentially problematic union. Two descendants of separate plantagenet lines could've been construed as a suspicious and powerful marriage politically. Was it what both of their parents had intended when a match was brokered? Could there have been a moment while walking past her father's study and the door was slightly ajar that two men may have quietly conspired something more in marrying the two? What could've been considered suspicious about two men with some ambition whispering amongst themselves? Helena would never know what was truly discussed in that room as her father died in 1554, narrowly avoiding the fate his friend would suffer later dying of a sickness that would take him off his head suffering the effects of fevers and other health issues. That was not the actual tragedy a young woman would suffer for it would come later once she was married to Col.

Helena, like all the world, mourned her great uncle's passing. The death of a king was nothing easy to stomach especially after the death of her father though years apart. She did not expect however when her father-in-law mourned the death of a friend and distant cousin that it would break open a well building up inside him for years. Hugh Courtenay had become a father to Helena since joining their house, he was indeed a dear companion of hers and she cared for her father and mother in law but saw nothing of what was to come. A series of letters poured out from her father in law's hands with many damning words and the attention it thus shined on Col and herself. Ugly words and pointed accusations were made during an investigation into the letters that her marriage in connection with the things Hugh Courtenay was writing was the beginning of some great conspiracy to seat someone else on the throne and other such aspirations tied with Catholic strings. Helena watched the trial drag on and saw a Queen push for the death of both the young lady's father in law and her husband as well. For a brief moment, Helena could nearly feel the axe on her own neck had both a husband and father-in-law been executed - she imagined and expected the worst. Thankfully, truly as Helena would see it, cousin William would intervene but only on behalf of Nicholas. Her husband's charges were dismissed but Helena watched like many others did the execution of her father-in-law to again serve as a warning not to attempt anything similar or remotely considered treasonous.

As war knocks at the doorsteps of England now and spreads across europe Helena finds herself in a precarious position. She is a well connected woman among the court and is popular among the people and abroad through her correspondence with many individuals who have strong opinions with the ears of leaders and influential beings. Helena is of royal blood as is her husband and both were well educated and dynamic.. One would be foolish not to be suspicious of the two especially after her husband's father, the late Earl of Devon's beheading. If so motivated and aligned they could pose a serious threat - a credible one. The woman is well within her rights to be angry, to seek revenge as her husband may desire but Helena is loyal and more concerned about the whole of England rather than vengeance. She worries over her husband though not fully knowing where his mind is at with the state of his depleted family and if she should be suspicious of his thoughts. If they were to err on the side of the whispers and suspicions of those who would see them as adversaries Helena would be divided between love and loyalty to country. It is a strange world, another time entirely in which to be alive but if anyone can play the game and come out on the other side it may be this woman..

WANTED CONNECTIONS: 

at the moment none that I can think of but I would adore any and all plotting to create something truly wonderful.

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION.

NAME / ALIAS: eden

AGE: 26

TIMEZONE: est

DISCORD USERNAME: edenzini

[nomolosk]

Snapshots (AU Yeah August 2020)

read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25655623/chapters/63298387

Day 20- Fairytale

Universal had been darting all over Paris, following the pulses put off by various soulmates finding each other. There weren’t all that many- only eight- but none of them matched the general description of Ladybug or Chat Noir, and now her time was running out. Try as she would, she couldn’t make any particular reality last for very long. Hopefully, after she delivered their Miraculouses to Hawkmoth, he would fix her power so that she could enjoy her alternate universes as long as she wanted to.

Growling to herself, she tried to think what kind of universe would help her find them next. Fun was still possible, but she really needed something geared toward finding out who they were, or stealing their Miraculouses. 

Making a decision, she forced the new reality on top of the present soulmate universe, watching as the changes expanded outward from her, and wondering if the heroes would think to try locating her that way.

----

Ladybug made her way to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with Chat. Apparently, they’d both had the same idea of transforming to avoid a possible identity reveal through a soulmate mark, because Chat had tried calling her right after she and Tikki decided transforming would be best. Now she was hoping they could come up with a workable plan for confronting this akuma. 

Tikki could apparently remember everything- possibly because she was a kwami and the akuma didn’t take non-human brains into account when she was rewriting memories. 

And Marinette could remember bits and pieces of what happened since the first time she and Chat had gotten caught in the change while transformed. Not everything, but enough to know that she’d been separated from both her Miraculous and Tikki during at least one of the universes.

That… was worrying. What if the akuma decided to do something similar in the middle of the fight, once they finally found her? Speaking of, how could they find her if she continued to be so circumspect?

She already knew this akuma wasn’t the flashy type, otherwise she and Chat would have been on top of her after the first reality change. It was possible to see the effect whenever she changed reality again, but the memory rewrite negated most of the advantage of that, since it was possible neither she nor Chat would be able to remember to go after her, or even get to the center of the change before the akuma had moved on.

This is really annoying, she thought. We can’t wait for her to come to us, but we also don’t want to draw her to us in case she tries to figure out our identities, and it’s dangerous to take her on in the first place because she could change reality and strip us of our powers!

Speaking of… 

Ladybug watched with dread as a ripple in the air moved steadily towards her, changing everything in its wake.

----

Ladybug, the Luck Knight, charged towards danger on her trusty mount, Tikki. She was on a quest. Well… perhaps “quest” was the wrong word. More like a challenge. A contest, even. With a prize beyond measure if she managed to pass all the tests. 

Off to the side, she caught sight of an oven with smoke issuing from it’s chimney. Considering she was riding through a deserted patch of wood, an oven in use struck her as… suspect. There were several things it could be, but most of the signs pointed to ‘witch.’ Whether it was a white witch or a black witch remained to be seen. 

Ladybug reigned in and dismounted, approaching the oven obliquely and with her sword out. It was too bad Chat Noir, Knight of Destruction and her partner in arms, couldn’t join her on this journey- she could have used his help, if only to watch her back. But he’d been called home in order to wed, and while she missed him, she was happy he would finally have someone else to try and romance. Something within her screamed at her with the thought, but she ignored it in favor of trying to watch her own back.

As she got closer to the oven she began to hear something. A faint call for help. She edged closer, activating her lucky charm just in case. She checked the area around the oven again to see if illusions would now fall away… but there was nothing. 

“Out! Out!” she heard again, still faint, but echoing a little, as if the sound came from the bottom of a well. “Take us out before we burn!”

Ladybug held her lucky charm in one hand and checked the area once more before picking up the hook to open the metal door. Praying her luck would hold (and she wouldn’t see a child in there) she peered in. All that met her gaze was half a dozen loaves of bread. Letting out her breath, she relaxed a little.

“Take us out! Our crust is crisp and our insides tender. Please take us out before we are ruined!” the bread pleaded- though how it could speak without a mouth was beyond her. Ladybug tended to chalk these things up to magic and go on with her day. Now she looked around and found a bread peel lying a table beside the oven. Ignoring the fact that the table hadn’t been there a moment ago, she took up the peel and shoved it quickly under the bread, smiling as she managed to get all six loaves on the peel at the same time. Being raised in a bakery sometimes came in handy.

With a practiced motion, she pulled the bread out and deposited it on the table. 

“Thank you, thank you!” the bread said, and Ladybug smiled at it. 

“You’re quite welcome,” she said. “It would truly be a shame to let good bread burn.”

“Yes, yes! Please, take one of us with you! It will give you energy when you need it.”

Ladybug quirked an eyebrow under her helmet and bowed to the bread- however strange that felt. She wasn’t likely to turn down an offer of magical provisions, so she carefully said, “Thank you very much. Would any of you like to volunteer?”

Incredibly, one of the loaves on the table twitched, and she picked that one up, calling Tikki over so she could stow it in her saddlebag, carefully wrapped. Turning back to the table, she was about to ask if there was anything else she should do for the bread… but the oven, table, and bread had vanished. She put her hand on the saddlebag, comforted by the warmth she felt radiating from the loaf that still remained.

Shaking her head slightly, she remounted and continued on her way.

----

Chat Noir, Knight of Destruction, sat in the window of the impossible tower on the impossible hill, and tried very hard not to curse his own father. Right now being Chat Noir was easier than being Prince Adrien. At least if this whole thing collapsed underneath him, Chat Noir was more likely to survive than Prince Adrien would. 

He’d always known King Gabriel had standards that reached the moon, but he’d never imagined that he would renege- oh wait, not renege, oh no, not that- on a marriage contract. And all because once the Princess had arrived, she’d apparently been very annoying.

King Gabriel had decided that he did not in fact want this woman for a daughter-in-law, but since going back on the arrangement entirely would most likely mean war, he had decided to throw the field open in a contest. Whoever passed all the trials and succeeded in bringing Prince Adrien down from his tower would be allowed to wed him. Of course, the last and most hazardous trial of all was conquering the glass mountain.

It had to be magic, of course. There was no earthly way for a mountain- more of a small hill, actually- to be made of glass, have a regular stone tower built on top of it, and not shatter into a thousand pieces. For one thing, there wasn’t enough glass in the world. 

Still, Chat felt ridiculous. He’d always hated being the one everyone admired and envied. It was the reason he’d become Chat Noir in the first place. People treated Chat Noir with respect (and fear, in the case of criminals and evil-doers), but they still treated him as a person. Prince Adrien never got to experience that. And now here he was, once again reduced to the status of a prize.

Granted, having now met with Princess Chloe, Chat could understand his father’s concerns. She was both vain and self-serving- a dangerous combination. And he had already heard servants gossiping about how impossible it was to serve her. A Queen like that would be a bad bargain for the Kingdom, and he didn’t relish the idea of her as a wife, either. 

Now, if only Ladybug would enter the contest…

He had no way of knowing who had entered, but he could see some of what went on from his window. He’d been in the tower for nearly a whole month, and in that time, only three had come close enough to attempt the mountain.

Surprisingly, Princess Chloe- he would recognize that shrill voice anywhere- was the first to get past all the other obstacles and attempt the mountain. Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t gotten far before giving up, complaining loudly about the ruined state of her hair.

The second attempt was made by a seemingly resourceful woman with brown hair. She had caught his interest, since she’d brought a retinue with her. They’d begun building a large crane, but when they’d hoisted her up to the top of the crane, the top of the mountain was narrower- and thus farther away- than the bottom, and she couldn’t swing across the gap.

The third was a fierce looking woman who had made it halfway up the mountain using something attached to her hands and feet. But then it had started to rain, and she had lost her grip on the now-wet glass, sliding back down to the bottom. 

After that, no one else had gotten far enough in the contests to make the attempt. Chat frequently thought about simply cataclysming the whole thing, faking his death, and rejoining Ladybug to have adventures for the rest of his life.

And that, of course, is when Ladybug showed up. 

----

Universal watched from the sidelines, carefully disguised with all the other ‘nobles of the land,’ and watched as this reality’s version of Ladybug- this time a knight in red and black armor- made her attempt. Once she got to the top, Universal was planning to change realities again, this time to something that would strip them of their superpowers again. Hopefully, she’d be able to learn their identities as their masks melted away.

----

Ladybug felt the eyes on her back as she readied Tikki for the climb, but she didn’t let them bother her. She unpacked the golden armor that was the third gift and put it on the horse, clutching her lucky charm tight. Once the horse was ready, she unwrapped the loaf of bread- the first gift- and quickly ate it, feeling a surge of energy both magical and mundane.

Whispering spells under her breath, she mounted, and rode straight at the glass mountain, determined to free the poor soul at the top. When she’d heard that King Gabriel, instead of outright honoring the marriage contract with the Kingdom of Bourgeois, had decided on a contest for his son’s hand in marriage, she knew she had to do something. She had seen many a noble sacrifice their own wishes for the sake of lands or gold- she had even assisted in that sacrifice- but she’d known the Prince as a child and decided then and there that he should be allowed to make his own choice.

So she would complete the course and rescue him from the tower, and then… then she would set him free. She stubbornly squashed the hope that always rose in her heart when she considered what he might choose to do with that choice. He didn’t know her anymore- to him, she was nothing but yet another heroic knight, questing for adventure and fame (also money, but it was considered gauche to mention that). To him, his rescue would seem merely another attempt to gain favor and fame.

Tikki slowed as they approached the foot of the mountain. At her rider’s urging, she placed one tentative foot on the slippery glass, and when it didn’t slip off as expected, took another tentative step. Soon, Ladybug had her trotting around the mountain in an ever tightening spiral until finally… they reached the top.

@auyeahaugust

[arlakos]

Miraculous Rank List: My list of Secondary Superheroes

Considering most of my usual posts contain a fair amount of salt, lets go for something a bit lighter today!

This list basically covers my listing of all my favorite secondary heroes and ranking them from best to worst. I’ll be working my way up from the heroes I like the least to the ones I love the most.

With that statement out of the way, lets get started.

Number 8: Bunnyx

Yeah, this may be a shock to some, but I don’t like Bunnyx. I think her power is cool, and I think the outfit is ok, but everything else about her is just so not cool. And that really has to do with her debut episode: Timetagger

Aside from her episode being the one where its revealed the miraculous powers become unlimited when you become an adult (which is just dumb!) her attitude towards Chat is extremely shitty, along with the fact the show this episode LOVES to point out how Bunnyx being stuck was ALL CHATS FAULT, with the show pretty much rubbing it in all episode! There's also the fact she does pretty much nothing in the long run, with the day pretty much being saved (yet again) by Ladybug! Sure, this is a running theme with most battles, but it would be cool for the other heroes to be able to win a fight without Ladybug's help.

Number 7: Pegasus

There’s nothing really much to say about him other than I find him boring.

The new heroes' idea was a nice thing in season 2 when it first came out, and the fact they limited themselves to only 3 heroes was pretty good so far. Unfortunately, season 3 has made the idea of new heroes kind of boring with just how many they introduce in the season alone. However, with the rest of the heroes, most of them had a pretty good introduction to warrant their place on the team and the fan hype. With pegasus, however, there wasn’t really much of a good intro for him, at least in my opinion, and when he finally appeared, I was underwhelmed.

His outfit, despite having an ok design, radically changed his appearance in comparison to other characters, and the colors really failed to suit him at all. His superpower is an ok superpower. A portal is not a bad power but again, pretty bland as well.

Number 6: Queen Bee

Yeah, Ironic since I'm a huge fan of the Chloe redemption idea, but canon did my girl rough.

From having her reveal herself publicly to essentially having her put lives at risk just to show off, Astruc really tried to hammer home that Chloe would not become a hero. Even the bit at the end of Queen Wasp wasn’t enough for me to get rid of my hatred for the episode.

Despite that, Malediktator and Miraculer (the second half at least) were enough to improve her in my books, but it's still a far step away from the other heroes rather simplistic intros. I would’ve been fine with Chloe’s intro to being a hero if the other heroes weren't treated marginally better in comparison. Everyone else was chosen by the ‘amazing’ Ladybug and all of them listened to Ladybug and did everything right and everyone else is perfect - While Chloe found the box by mistake and became a villain by the end of season 3. Really Astruc? Really?!

Despite all that and the season 3 finale, I still like Queen Bee, but there is no mistake that her introduction left a pretty bad mark on her (temporary) hero career.

Number 5: Viperion

Luka’s debut as a hero was also something I felt was off. Not only was Luka not chosen initially (due to Ladybug choosing Adrien for the sake of her crush, which was actually one of the good parts of the episode as Adrien basically chose Luka for her, and was some good character growth for Ladybug) but Luka’s abilities are kinda .... weird.

Not so much the superpower, the idea is based off the ouroboros, which has been misinterpreted before to represent ‘infinite’, which makes sense considering his power is a time loop but the tool itself.

Chat Noir and King Monkey have staffs, Ladybug has a yoyo which can tie up baddies, Rena has a flute which also functions as a mini staff, and Carapace has a freaking shield! Even Pegasus has a boomerang Horseshoe.

And Viperion ... has a freaking Lyre. A freaking musical instrument that doesn't even function as a weapon.

Sadly, Viperion’s tool was pretty much designed only for the Desperada episode, due to it allowing him to distract the main villain of said episode. Aside from that, it doesn’t really do much for him combat wise. 

Hell, if you’re going to have Viperion have a freaking Lyre for a weapon, at least have a funny scene where they have him using it to serenade every boy and girl in Paris! Just have him play music and everyone just becomes swooned by him, as well as make straight guys confused on their sexuality.

0/10, not enough Luka serenading Paris for me.

Number 4: Carapace

The Anansi episode actually did a few things right for my boy. He fought Anansi by himself without a miraculous, which was a good thing, he kicked even more ass as a hero for a bit, which was also a good thing. Unfortunately, he, like every other hero, was not given a chance to shine as he was completely overtaken by Ladybug. Again, it's a running issue with every secondary hero, but after he becomes a hero, he is pretty much playing second fiddle to the ‘actual hero’.

Aside from that episode, he has some pretty rough luck with being a hero. Like all the other temp heroes, he was overtaken by the akuma in heroes day, with his only part being stopping Hawkmoth from attacking Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is still a good thing, but after that, he doesn't have really anything much going for him. Still though, like Roy, he is my boy, and I love our hero with a shell shield, even if he doesn't have actual Turtle Power.

Number 3: Ryuko

Cool Outfit? Check. Cool Power? Check. Badass Kagami? Double Check.

Kagami had a lot of good things going for her in her debut. Her power was one of the coolest I had seen in a while and she had a badass outfit to go with her. I also like Kagami a lot, so it helps with the favoritism a lot as well. Unfortunately, her identity was revealed to Hawkmoth, and she didn’t make that many appearances, even compared to other heroes. Still, she is pretty cool.

Number 2: King Monkey

Whoever decided to give Le Chien Kim a miraculous was absolutely bananas, but I suppose that is for the best. :)

Like Ryuko, he has one of the greatest costume designs, and his power is awesome as well, and Kim as a miraculous wielder is absolutely amazing, being sporadic, crazy and funny as well. However, he suffers from the same issue as Ryuko, with that being that he doesn’t have much screentime as a hero, even less than her.

The difference is that I love Kim a bit more due to his personality, and when you combine it with the monkey miraculous out of all miraculouses in the box, and I could just watch an entire series of Kim monkeying about Paris. He’s that cool and funny to me.

That just leaves number 1...

Number 1: Rena Rouge

Rena Rouge’s first appearance was one of the best introductions in the series (aside from King Monkey), and the episode itself was certainly one of the better ones compared to the rest of season 2.

When I first saw Rena Rouge back in season 2, I was amazed by the episode. It didn't have any bad or cringe moments, no character bashing, no implied salt, just Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the new hero bantering and joking with each other while fighting another akuma, and it was amazing. The fact that they showed being a hero through Alya’s perspective really helped to show her excitement at not only helping Ladybug and Chat Noir, but also being a hero flying through the air. Rena joking with Chat was certainly one of the highlights

But undoubtedly, the best part was probably at the end with her giving back the miraculous, and showing that no matter her feelings, she was one of the best choices as a hero, and proving to herself and others that she is hero material as much as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Again, this was before season 3 gave miraculous out like Oprah gives cars, but semantics. Going back, the episode still hasn't been sullied by time and remains one of the best episodes and hero introductions in the entire series. Which is why Rena Rogue deserves the top spot.

And there you have it! Feel free to create your own list of favorite secondary heroes in your reposts and tell us why they are at the spot on your own list.

For the sake of people I respect and watch on Tumblr, I ask @twin-books, @ratheroddranger, and @rucky-chan to make their own lists of favorite secondary heroes and tell us why they arranged their list that way! They don’t have to do it, but it would be cool if they did!

[edgarbright]

King of Spades Harr AU Headcanons

Shout out to @spades-and-hearts for a splendid edit of Harr as the King of Spades! It was love at first sight for me! This post isn’t even fully inclusive of all the things I would want from this AU but it’s a start~

There is also Harlance here because that’s just how I function and also King Romance is way too good to ignore. Although of course this AU could play out as just friendship. The baseline is that Lancelot and Harr care about each other and they are always working towards the same goal and I don’t want it any other way.

Becoming a Soldier

Harr still escapes the Magic Tower at 16 and is exiled by the King of Hearts

He still lives in the Forbidden Forest for 4 years

Picks up a stray cat along the way

At 20, he calls upon Sirius and Lancelot and that doesn’t go well

But Harr knows what’s up with the King of Hearts and the Tower

Wanted Exile Wizard Man Harr showing up at the Black Army HQ and declares he wants to join

Throws the army for a FRENZY

They try to capture him/knock him out on their doorstep

But Harr has magic and they do not, and he makes a wicked show of it

And he says he needs their help to overcome the Red Army

WELL WHY DIDN’T HE SAY SO SOONER! Anyone who is against the Red Army is good in their books so sure, you’re in, buddy!

Also no one can remember WHY the Black Army followed a decree made by the King of Hearts. Wasn’t Harr wanted for trying to overthrow the King of Hearts? Or assassinate him? GOOD! (F*ck you, King of Hearts!)

Harr never really gets comfortable with guns or swords or fists or, like, following orders

Harr is too much of an independent worker to be an outstanding unit soldier, but his reputation as being both smart and magical proceeds him

(He’s not actually in this to wage war with the Red Army but they don’t have to know that just yet)

Being in the army gives him a safe place to hide

Still wary about the Tower coming for him but they seem to have lost track of him...

Loki, who is just a kid, continues to be in Harr’s care, just now closer to home

Loki subplot where his parents get their just rewards for selling off their kid and Loki gets some kind of inheritance

Harr lives in the barracks at Black Army HQ but now Loki and he have an actual house, and Harr gets to stay there/visit when he has leave

Harr doing all his magical research/planning and training Loki in magic at the house because the barracks aren’t very private

King of Spades

Harr becomes King because the Black Army’s hierarchy is based on POWER and he has MAGIC

Also once Lancelot becomes King of Hearts, the Black Army want a magical King of Spades too! (F*ck you, King of Hearts! You’re not special!)

So Harr miraculously makes it to KING OF SPADES on some weird, convoluted popular vote

The comedy of a shy king OK

He’s all into his war speech, determined to do what must be done, being crazy intelligent and informative and a little long-winded about who they are fighting (everyone is SUPER INTO IT) and then... he comes to a stop... (something throws him... something dumb) and he goes quiet, and everyone is on the edge of their seats. What’s next? What is it?? And he’s not looking them in the eye anymore and just

“...We should head out then.”

You can hear the crickets

Please save him he wasn’t trained for this

Harr, once king, loses MAJOR POINTS when it’s revealed he doesn’t think the Red Army is their true enemy

But he gains some back because he is ALL for the Freedom Soars on Raven Wings life. He IS fighting for freedom--but freedom against something he won’t tell them outright (and that’s freedom against the Magic Tower)

But he’s already in the top seat and he has magic and no one can do anything about overthrowing him now

He also does right by them--Harr is just brash enough that the Black Army don’t feel stifled by his careful treading

Luka is 2 years younger and it takes him a while to make it to Jack, and he’s another shy boy but his shyness is different than Harr’s so it’s bad but not too bad.

Luka as Harr’s sword, because Harr is also limited in his magic use despite being the most powerful wizard in Cradle

Luka knows what it’s like to have a grudge against the Red Army (read: Jonah + Clemence family). He doesn’t know what Harr is aiming for when hinting that the Red Army isn’t their true enemy.

Some trust issues between Luka and Harr? Luka won’t forgive Red Territory while Harr hints that he wants to.

Ray is 3 years younger than Harr so it takes awhile before he appears in the Black Army, but he’s going to make it Queen all the same and he’s going to do it REAL quick. Maybe even makes it to Queen before Luka gets to Jack.

King and Queen work well together, although now it’s the King telling the Queen to hold off on the fighting

With Ray as Queen, now he really can go wild with Fenrir on the front lines~

Harr doesn’t know of Seth’s connections to the tower. Seth has a special role in all of this, playing both sides.

Harr is a public figure now. The threat from the Tower is real.

In this AU Sirius joins the Black Army MUCH later. As in when Lancelot and Harr are being idiot kings, and Sirius sees that he might gain access to one of them (Harr).

All that nonsense from my past post regarding Sirius running his flower shop and quitting it to join the army proper and fight the war. Harr isn’t pleased, but he’s not very good at telling Sirius off, and maybe it’s not so bad having Sirius around to baby-brother him a little...

Harr is doing his best but there is A Lot going on

Two Kings

Give me those Garden Tea Parties!!!!!

Harr and Lancelot sitting across from another

The bickering of the rest of the officers while Lancelot and Harr are throwing out riddled speech

Harr won’t reveal Lancelot is in cohorts with the Magic Tower in front of everyone, but he won’t back down from fighting against Lancelot and the Red Army if he must

It’s in these instances where the Black Army officers DELIGHT in King of Spades Harr -- Harr gives as good as he takes vs Lancelot

And yet Harr insists they have a mutual enemy but that continues to not win him popularity with the Black OR Red sides lmao

Lancelot gazes out at everyone with cold, empty eyes -- but over time his eyes are anything but when he looks at Harr

Lancelot thinks Harr becoming King of Spades is ridiculous -- he’s angry Harr is putting a target on his back for the Tower like this

When the officers leave in suited pairs, Harr and Lancelot are left alone in the Garden

Left alone for however long they want or need

Unless Amon is spying but they can tell because Magic

Over time, they learn to speak more freely, but they are in a stalemate

Harr wants Lancelot to either work with him or step down

Lancelot wants Harr to just step down, but then Lancelot knows more about what Amon is plotting than Harr does

And then they learn to use their stalemate as a way to put a hold on Amon’s schemes

Lancelot is still attacked indirectly by Amon, per canon

Harr finds himself caught in bad situations too and it’s even more draining for him because his army barely has any Magic Crystals to begin with.

The Tower doesn’t want to sell them to his army when he’s King.

It’s all on him, most powerful wizard or no.

Considering these attacks against Harr are made to look like they are coming from the Red Army, they help the Black Army rally around Harr more than ever

Lancelot is acutely furious at Amon when he finds out about the King of Spades being targeted -- Amon plays the “I’m just helping you against a strong foe” card.

Amon using a frustratingly good argument that once Lancelot defeats Harr, he can have Harr and the Black Army both. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have Harr in Red Territory with you?”

Lancelot knows Amon wants Harr back for the Magic Tower, that Amon might actually take a weakened Harr out from under him if the chance arises, but he is no position to call Amon’s bluff

Amon can’t really go after Harr without breaking part of his deal with Lancelot, which is a fragile shield to keep Harr protected

The tour de force: HARR USING HIS POSITION SO LANCELOT CAN VISIT THE SEA

This is the breaking point for Lancelot RIP Sweet King although he had lost long before this but now his heart is officially softened by that blue horizon and the salt air and sound of waves and Harr’s unassuming smile, because Harr had wanted to give Lancelot the sea maybe more than Lancelot wanted it, and that’s beautiful

Harr’s troubled heart is also softened to see Lancelot’s pure, wide-eyed wondered. Maybe Lancelot reaches out to him and just RIP another Sweet King

King of Spades and King of Hearts romance ensues

Give me those private moments in the Garden

Give me them secretly visiting each other and conspiring together and the shenanigans which ensues

(Lancelot seeing the small size of a Black Army bathroom for the first time: You live like this?)

All the while Amon must be defeated and their two armies need to learn to stop clawing at each other but gdi Cradle is built on Red vs Black throwing stones and it’s going to take awhile to fix this

But where before they fought alone, now there are two of them

[whenimgoodandready]

Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, ADRIENETTE! LUKANETTE! ADRIENETTE! LUKANETTE! IDK!? STOP BADGARING ME FANDOM!!! Even Marinette is indecisive about it! She’s just a dumb teenager who doesn’t know what she wants!..........does she?

*Desperada-Marinette and the girl squad were hangin’ out at Julekas house boat listening to Kitty Section rehearse and Marinette and Luka get cozy with each other. It also looks to be that the squad is starting to jump onboard with the Lukanette ship. Well, Adrienette isn’t goin’ anywhere so how much longer are they gonna support something that hasn’t even set sail yet!? Adrien and Kagami show up (having ditched fencing practice) and Marinette quickly leaves Lukas side to not give Adrien the impression she likes Luka. Oh, Marinette, what are we gonna do with you? She even says they’re “just friends” too🤨.

Jagged Stone arrives and he tries to get Juleka and Lukas mother back into the band cuz they had “history”. Oh! Thing is, he fired his guitarist, Vivica, and now he’s looking for a new one. Hmmmm, a new guitarist? Like, someone who knows rock n’ roll? And who’s young and talented? Marinette knows a guy like that! IIIIIIt’s Lu-Adrien!? Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! 🤦‍♀️. Marinette WTF!? Adrien is a classical pianist! I highly doubt he’s strummed a guitar! She knows damn well Luka is a better fit and yet she’s still trying to give Adrien hints she wants him! Okay, Marinette, I know how much you want Adrien, but you can’t just ignore talent when you see it from Luka.

Just then, Vivica shows up in her akumatized form calling herself Desperada! OOOOOH! So she’s that mysterious villainess I saw in “Gamer 2.0”! Well, thanks for the closure! (I’m talking to you person in charge of episode scheduling 😑). Desperada, I like that name, reminds me of a Rihanna song. Thing is, it’s more like a Western name and she didn’t really look “Western”. I mean, she kinda did with the whole musical skeleton make-up look, which is pretty cool, but nothing really “Wild Wild West” to me. It was more like something outta “The Book of Life” or “Coco” with that sugar skull thing. I’m a little fan of westerns where there’s a female outlaw that’s why. Her powers were using any instrument like a gun to capture people in her guitar case with a pic of them appearing on it as a sticker. Let’s just say if she wasn’t a musician, she’d make a bada** sniper!

Anyways, Desperada captures everyone except the love triangle kids and Ladybug is given the lucky charm to bring in extra help from Master Fu again using the snake miraculous! The snake miraculous!? OOOOOH! We saw who that was! (“Party Crasher”), some people in the fandom were right about it too! And now, ladies and gentlemen, the holder of the snake miraculous, (drum roll) Luk(trumpets begin to sound)-ADRIEN!? AGAIN!? (trumpets die out). WTF!? WHY!? Okay, I get it, he did save Luka when Desperada almost got him and as we know, Marinette/Ladybug doesn’t know Adriens Cat Noir, but still! Adrien agrees to it thinking he’ll win over Ladybug in a new superhero form since this time, she knows who he is and becomes “Aspik”...........(turns to the trumpeteers) you guys can sound I guess, (trumpets sound, but not enthusiastically). Okay, thank you.

So um, the snake miraculous is a bracelet of a snake swallowing itself, a Kwami snake like being named Sass (remember him from “Sandboy”!? He’s kinda like the leader of the Kwamies), a harp weapon and its power is “Second Chance” where they can go back a few minutes in time by turning the snake head on their bracelet back and it’s not a one hit power! It can go on as many times until the snake head gets to the end! It’s almost like Bunnyxs power except hers is more serious and can go back (and fourth) many times and it’s more fragile. Huh, I always thought the snake miraculouses power would be hypnotism, but I’m thinking too much “Jungle Book” here (what do snakes have to do with time travel!?). That’s cool! So it’s just Ladybug and Aspik vs. Desperada. It. went. TERRIBLE! Ladybug kept getting captured again and again and again and again and again AND AGAIN! And do you know why!? Cuz Aspik over here was too busy trying to woo Ladybug and not focusing on defeating the bad guy! That’s why!

ENOUGH! Adrien quits cuz he’s had it with being a f**king failure as it’s been 25,913 times! 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? DAMN ADRIEN! YOU SUCK! Ladybug finally sees she’s wrong again! So Adrien suggests Luka take the miraculous instead. HALLELUJAH! Ladies and gentlemen, the real holder of the snake miraculous, Viperion, a.k.a. Luka Couffaine! (trumpets sound and end with a big finish!). Now this guy, this guy! Does a hell of a better job than “Aspik” did and it only took him a few tries! Humph!

I apologize for my wild outbursts there, I’m a very passionate writer and I speak what others are afraid to say. I’m like a voice for the people. I’m sure that’s what all of you were probably thinking way in the back of your heads there about the plot that occurred in the episode. I’ve settled down now and I’ll explain more. Ahem, first off, the girl squad are now leaning towards the Lukanette ship cuz they’re probably sick and tired of all the Adrienette nonsense and want something new. More importantly, they think this ship better since Marinette is more comfortable with Luka and how he’s more liberated than the sheltered Adrien. Fair point. The character Vivica/Desperada was based off a fan who won a contest at comic con and was originally supposed to be a veterinarian until they changed it to a guitarist (she looked so cute!). I heard about that, they also said she was supposed to be a fan of Cat Noir and was upset that he wasn’t getting as much recognition as Ladybug. It would’ve been nice cuz according to my Love Chart (which I legit have), nobody and I mean NOBODY likes Cat Noir, so cut him some slack and give him at least one fangirl! C’mon! Adrien failed at being the snake miraculous holder, but it’s not because he sucked (25,913 TIMES!? That’s like 3 months!), but it’s cuz there was no black cat hero to assist Ladybug! It was just Ladybug and Aspik and no Cat Noir! I thought they would’ve realized by now that they can’t defeat the villain unless it’s both of ‘em (plus a third or fourth party if necessary) to stop ‘em! Sure Ladybug defeated Style Queen by herself, but at least she had a “black cat” like someone there to help! It has to be Ladybug and Cat Noir! Good luck/Bad luck, Yin/Yang! That’s the idea! The reason why they didn’t see that was cuz they were both blinded by love! Marinette/Ladybug mostly picked Adrien to be the snake miraculous holder cuz she thought, “OMG! I’m gonna be fighting crime with my crush!” and Adrien/Cat Noir said yes cuz he thought, “Maybe she’ll love me this time if she knows who I am!” :P. Even Plagg thought it was a bad idea cuz he knew they needed Cat Noir and they weren’t even focused on Desperada and just trying to court each other! You’d think Marinette/Ladybug would’ve listened to her own words about Adrien being a distraction in her life (“Chameleon”). Speaking of courting, during one of Aspiks failed Second Chances, he confessed to Ladybug that he was Cat Noir (cuz she knows he’s Adrien as Aspik) and we only see a brief look of shock on her face before she’s captured again. Wonder what was quickly goin’ through her head at that point? Flashbacks of all her moments with him as himself and Cat and how she acted like both herselves in front of ‘em realizing how stupid she’s been? Lol! The shocks gonna be more wilder when it happens though and I’ll be there to see it. Ladybug really should’ve picked Luka first cuz at least he was bold enough to step in and distract Desperada to save Ladybug like he did as Viperion. Poor Adrien though, now he’s gonna think his Lady is too incompetent to be a hero. Well, not a “snake” hero at least, but a different animal hero if only she knew. The problem is Marinette is indecisive. She doesn’t know what she wants which is why she can’t choose between Adrien and Luka. Tikki and Kagami can see that and the latter even points out how Marinette needs to make up her mind already! Actually, according to the Season 3 canon episode order, this is actually the start of the mid episodes which means things won’t get more complicated ‘til the end. Especially when the last few episodes are more focused on the love issues. Currently, we’re dealing with plot right now, but we’ll eventually get there.

[princeasimdiya12]

So I had this idea since last year but I was too lazy and unmotivated to actually go through with it. Until tonight! I finally finished these drawings for a Captain Underpants Miraculous AU featuring OCs from two great friends! The premise is fairly similar with both George and Harold who become the new Ladybug and Chat Noir and have to protect Piqua from  the wicked Black Moth. There isn’t a love square involved in this AU but there is drama between the boys and their alter egos as they try to reconnect after so much time apart.

But first, I present to you the casting.

George as Marinette Dupain Cheng/Ladybug. Along with being a main lead, George is always quick on his feet and knows how to come up with a solution all while keeping his cool. He’s a good friend who is always willing to help those in need. His main goal is to be a professional writer, but he does have an eye for fashion and is able to pick out some cool clothes. While George is ecstatic to live out life as a superhero, he eventually learns of how much responsibility there is in keeping people safe and becoming a symbol of hope. As Ladybug, he likes to use alot of prank themed traps to capture the Akumatized villains.

Harold as Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir. Despite being goofy and playful, Harold is also as emotionally sensitive as Adrien and is easily vulnerable. He also has family issues which makes it hard for him to bond with others. In this AU, George and Harold were very close friends. But after an accident happened involving Grace, Harold was taken away from George and the public. After several years of homeschooling and lack of parental love, Harold returns to Jerome Horwitz an emotionally stunted boy. He slowly gets better when he meets with George again and when he gets to cut loose as Chat Noir.

Captain Underpants as Tikki. CU is supportive and super cheerful just like Tikki. Also his main color is red so it felt very appropriate. Although he’d be a little more sillier when it comes  to dangerous situations. 

Edith as Plagg. I mainly chose her for the role since she would balance out the dynamic for the main group. Though Edith would definitely provide support and love for Harold who often has his moments of depression and self-doubt. Also she has a strong stomach and prefers to eat foods that are “gross” and undesirable. 

Gooch as Nooroo. This was mainly a design choice since I can see Gooch having Nooroo’s appearance. While he is sad about being forced to help a mega-maniacal supervillain, he still makes blunt and honest remarks about Montego and his choices.

Montego Chrome as Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth. For the role of Hawkmoth, I needed an antagonist who was serious to the core, cold-hearted, and scary both in his normal form and his super form. And with permission from @jackie-sugarskull, I was able to cast Montego for the role. In this AU, he actually had a long relationship with Harold’s mother after her divorce. She unfortunately went through a tragic accident that everyone presumed left her dead. But Montego knows the real reason. He kept Harold trapped in his mansion for years giving him strict restrictions and treating him like a prisoner. And it isn’t until recently did he decide to allow Harold to go to school, as a way to give him more privacy as Black Moth. So along with using his dark powers to steal the Miraculous, he also has to serve as a reluctant father figure for Harold whom were left in his care. And sad to say, he’s just as loving as Gabriel himself. His form as Black Moth is heavily based on his original design as Monochrome. I honestly love that design! 

Madame Miyuki as Master Fu. Both of them are calm, compassionate and wise magical people who are considered the Big Good for their heroes. And just like with Hawkmoth, I had difficulty finding a character that could fit the role of Fu. So I asked @tornrose24 for permission to use Miyuki and she said yes. Along with being the Guardian of the Miraculous, she also faces guilt from her mistakes of the past and sometimes feels insecure when making important decisions. And I also gave her a modernized kimono dress.

Erica as Alya Cesaire/Rena Rouge. Both of them are close friends of the protagonists and have a strong sense of justice and being cool. Rena also deals with the power of illusion which works for Erica as she likes to keep herself a mystery towards others. When Ladybug first appeared, she challenged herself to determine his true identity along with his origins and lore. This would result in the Ladyblog being born. But as time goes on, along with becoming a superhero herself, Erica starts to let go of this personal goal as she learns that there are some things that shouldn’t be investigated for the greater good. 

Bo as Nino Lahiffe/Carapace. He’s also another close friend who would want to use his strength to protect others. Also he’s a huge fan of Turtle Lawyer so he’s practically living out his dream when he becomes Carapace. He also has an interest in music like Nino, though he’d be more of a banjo performer instead of a DJ. Also, I don’t see him or Erica as a couple for this AU given their roles; at most, Bo would have a small crush on her that turns him into a flustering mess and Erica would be flattered by it.

Melvin as Chloe Bourgeois/Queen King Bee. The designated mean kids at the school that everyone dislikes because of their selfish, arrogant and bratty attitudes. They also act out because they desperately crave affection from their parents or role models in their lives. The only difference is that Melvin wouldn’t be a fanboy of Ladybug like Chloe is. He just sees him as a nuisance that is making life harder for everyone. Through unforeseen circumstances, Melvin winds up with the Bee Miraculous and becomes fascinated by the magical properties that give him advanced powers. And naturally, he and George/Ladybug wouldn’t get along with anything so it takes serious matters for them to settle their differences and work together. Also he really doesn’t like it when people call him Queen Bee.

Miss Anthrope as Natalie Sancoeur, She also serves as an indifferent secretary to a dangerous, self-absorbed madman who enjoys making people suffer. She still does the monotone shtick with Montego only he has more tolerance for it than Krupp. 

And those are my main ideas for this AU. This honestly took longer than it needed to be, but I’m very happy with how this AU turned out. What do you guys think of this? If you want to expand on this or share you’re thoughts, you’re more than welcome to reblog this post.

[nightqueendany]

What Does Jon Snow Know About Daenerys Targaryen?

Translation: Does Jon know enough about Daenerys to believe she’s someone who can’t be trusted AND/OR that she’s someone he thinks shouldn’t hold reigning power over the North?

AKA Is there even REASON for there to be a “Political Jon” in the first place? (aside from Jon apparently being in love with his sister which would be basing theory on theory {political Jon is true because Jon loves Sansa} which is the logical fallacy “Begging the Question”)

Let’s start with the basics.

What Jon would know of Daenerys aside from what Tyrion writes in his scroll?

Jon should know that Daenerys is the daughter of Mad King Aerys and that she was exiled as a baby and grew up in Essos. While we do have the scene of Sam reading to Aemon about Daenerys, Jon does not show up until the very end of that scene so it’s unclear if he heard about her freeing slaves in Essos. He would know Aemon is her great-great-uncle and that her brother Rhaegar kidnapped and raped his aunt Lyanna (allegedly).

That’s essentially it. Daenerys is never mentioned around book Jon so to ascertain Jon’s impression/thoughts of Daenerys, we only have Season 7 to go off of.

Without further adieu, here we go:

(another obnoxiously long-winded one, I probably ramble on a bit too long but whatever, read if you like)

7x02

Tyrion’s scroll  -

Queen Daenerys Targaryen, First of Her Name, invites you to Dragonstone. My queen commands the combined forces of Dorne and the Reach, an Ironborn fleet, legions of Unsullied, a Dothraki horde, and three dragons. The Seven Kingdoms will bleed as long as Cersei sits on the Iron Throne. Join us. Together we can end her tyranny. I appeal to you as one bastard to another. For all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes. - Tyrion Lannister, Hand of the Queen.

What can Jon surmise about Daenerys from Tyrion’s letter alone?

1) She’s powerful. She would have to be in order to command a Dothraki horde. Jon might not know much about the Dothraki, but he certainly grew up with stories of them. Lewin mentions Dothraki boys and how they learn to shoot a bow from horseback to Bran so we can assume Jon knows what they are, how fierce of warriors they are, and probably, that they’re a patriarchal society. With Daenerys being a woman commanding them, she’s got to be pretty damn special.

2) She has already won the allegiance of the Reach, Dorne, and the Ironborn (at least, some of them). The Reach and Dorne are easy to guess why they sided with Daenerys: because they hate the Lannisters/Cersei. However the Ironborn is the oddball. The Ironborn are “known” for their failed rebellions and wanting to distance themselves from the Iron Throne. And yet they’ve sided with Daenerys. That, in the least, tells Jon Daenerys brings more to the table than just revenge against Cersei. He may not know what that is yet, but he knows there’s something there, something other than Cersei, that would draw the Ironborn to her. Again, there’s something *different* about her.

3) She may have miraculously birthed dragons into the world again. It’s not written anywhere how this is done. That’s why the Targaryens went without dragons for 150 years though obviously there were eggs around. No one knew/remembered how to do it. Yet apparently, Daenerys figured it out and now has dragons. So she is *possibly* magical... like him.

4) Daenerys chose Tyrion as her Hand. Jon knows Tyrion is a dwarf and how people look on him. And as Tyrion reminds Jon in the letter all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes. Last Jon saw of Tyrion, he was just a bookworm and kind of a drunk, his only claims to fame being he was the Queen’s brother and a dwarf. Yet Daenerys chose him as her Hand anyway. She didn’t have to do that. She could have just kept Tyrion on her council for being a Lannister and picked someone else not related to her enemy as her Hand. But no, she chose him. This is likely the most telling thing Jon could learn about Daenerys. Knowing she chose Tyrion as her Hand, Jon can see Daenerys is someone who looks past a person’s outward “faults” and values them for who they really are, regardless of what society thinks of them. This right here was likely the deciding factor in Jon choosing to actually meet with her in person.

7x03

1) Jon and co are asked to hand over their weapons before meeting with Daenerys - Jon could see this as an intimidation move, a test to see if he’s “compliant”, a power play, what have you. Perhaps it’s meant to make Jon and co feel vulnerable, at Dany’s mercy, Jon doesn’t really know as he’s never met her, but it certainly rattles him. “My bannermen think I’m a fool for coming here,” he says and Tyrion doesn’t disagree with this statement. “If I was your Hand, I would have advised against it.” So Jon likely thinks Daenerys isn’t someone he wants to tangle with. If her own Hand is telling Jon he would have advised him not to come were he in Davos’ shoes, that tells Jon he may have made a mistake in coming. It’s not meant to make him feel at ease at all. So Jon goes in to meet Daenerys with his guard already up. To add to that feeling...:

2) Jon see’s Drogon. This clearly tells Jon Tyrion wasn’t lying about the dragon thing. They’re fucking real and really fucking huge. They could likely burn down Winterfell within minutes. Though Daenerys isn’t on Drogon’s back, controlling him, commanding him to fly over Jon and the welcome party, it’s yet another intimidation move, albeit unintentional. Again, Jon would likely be thinking about how powerful Daenerys really is. The evidence just flew over his freaking head. She’s powerful!

3) Daenerys is announced with all the bells, whistles, and titles and immediately assumes Jon is there to bend the knee. Jon clearly gets irritated during this conversation with Dany, telling her, “As far as I can tell, your claim to the throne rests entirely on your father’s name and my own father fought to overthrow the Mad King.” Jon likely thinks Daenerys arrogant for assuming he’d bend the knee to her without getting to know her, a bit full of herself for having to be announced with all her titles, entitled because she’s trying to reclaim the Kingdom when her family’s rule was overthrown, and likely that she has illusions of grandeur when she says “Together, we will save this country from those who would destroy it,” as if under her rule alone the Seven Kingdoms will be as right as rain. He’s not impressed by her visions of the future and he no doubt thinks her foolish for believing Cersei is the worst threat against the Seven Kingdoms when he’s standing there telling her it’s the Army of the Dead she should be focused on instead.

However, though Jon is clearly not impressed with Dany in this first conversation, seeds are sown of what she’s really like: She admits her father was an evil man and wants to be seen as different from him; she considers Jon a Stark worthy of holding the North for her though she knows he’s only a bastard; though she may want power for power’s sake, she also has lofty ideals about protecting people which *may* align with his own efforts. But of course, that’s yet to be seen.

4) Tyrion tells Jon that Daenerys stayed in Essos to “save people from horrible fates.” At this point, again, Jon has likely been on Dragonstone for a week or so and has probably now heard about her slave-freeing efforts in Essos. While Jon may not see the importance with what Daenerys was doing in Essos, he at least gets it from Tyrion that her true wish is to protect people. Though her version of saving people is not quite in line with Jon’s - Dany’s wishes more broad, wanting to rule and Jon’s wishes more narrow, just wanting to defeat the Night King - they do have this one small thing in common, regardless of how they approach the issue.

5) Daenerys gives Jon the dragonglass. Jon has just essentially ambushed Dany on the steps. It doesn’t appear as if it was a planned meeting between them. She’s just out there watching the dragons and watching the sunset and he comes to find her to speak with her alone. “You’ve been talking to Tyrion?” - that line right there tells us Jon wasn’t sent by Tyrion or summoned by Daenerys; it’s a completely candid moment between the two of them. Jon gets angry again and tells Daenerys he hasn’t changed his mind about not bending the knee - again, this likely makes him think she’s stubborn, entitled, difficult, shortsighted, any number of negative things.

BUT THEN Daenerys does something completely unexpected: she gives Jon the dragonglass AND alots him men to help him mine it. She doesn’t require Jon bend the knee for the glass and she doesn’t ask for any kind of payment from him. Though, yes, the dragonglass is virtually useless to Dany, at least with the White Walkers on the other side of the Wall, it’s still something Jon wants. It’s on her island. Supply and Demand. Dany could charge Jon a lot for this glass as he needs it and she has it. Gold would only help in her war against Cersei - buy some more ships, ship in supplies from Essos, etc. But she gives it to him for free AND she gives him men to help him - fighting men that could be spending their time on the battlefield instead of in the mines with him. In this moment, Jon may feel slightly defeated for Daenerys still *possibly* not believing him about the Army of the Dead and the Night King, but he also will be feeling grateful for her giving him the dragonglass free of charge. Daenerys knows next to nothing about Jon except he was named King by his people and he won’t bend the knee to her. But she gives him this anyway. She’s taking a leap of faith. Jon has to feel thankful to her. He’s not a punk. He knows Dany didn’t have to do this and he’s appreciative of the progress Daenerys is making toward an alliance with him. Again, Jon has done nothing to earn Dany’s trust aside from telling her of this mythical magical threat no one has seen in millennia. He offers her only words and an even bigger problem than she’s already facing. She offers him weapons. It’s an unequal exchange. Jon has to appreciate this selfless gesture.

7x04

1) Dany agrees to meet with Jon to see the dragonglass cave. This doesn’t really tell Jon much about who Dany is as a person as it could mean a lot of things: she’s just a nerd who likes looking at volcanic rock in caves, she’s got nothing better to do (actually pretty accurate), she’s genuinely curious about this substance found on her home island, she’s trusting - not requiring her Dothraki guard to accompany them and being alone with Jon - she’s got the hots for him (also pretty accurate), she’s open to the idea of accepting the Night King and Army of the Dead are real (also accurate). There’s nothing really negative Jon can assume about Dany by her agreeing to let him show her the caves. The most obvious things he could think are that she’s open, trusting, and curious.

Jon could assume Daenerys is attracted to him and that that’s the reason she agrees to go into a dark cave alone with him. But it’s not really Jon’s character to assume so highly of himself. PLUS - what’s stopping Jon from assuming Daenerys is trying to seduce him to get him to bend the knee? Again, he doesn’t know Dany. She’s young. She’s pretty. She’s single. What’s to stop her from trying to use her womanly charms to get the young Northern King who was supposed to be recently celibate (Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch) to bend the knee? If Jon tried actively seducing Daenerys, his plan could completely backfire - or just be utterly pointless - if she in turn was trying to seduce him. And if Jon *thought* of the idea of seducing Dany to get her to come over to his cause, he would have had to at least consider that Daenerys would think of the exact same plan to get Jon to bend the knee. But I’m going off on a tangent...

2) Daenerys tells Jon she would fight for the North IF he bent the knee. Now, I’ve seen a lot of Jonsa/anti-Dany blogs describe Jon’s look in this scene as “disappointed” and I see nothing wrong with that assessment. Dany gets Jon’s hopes up by saying “I will fight for you. I will fight for the North” - at this Jon looks like it’s Christmas. And then Dany drops the bomb “when you bend the knee.” Of course he’s disappointed. He thought he had convinced her of the real threat, the really important war, not her one with Cersei. And she does let him down. Yes, I think Jon is disappointed in this moment. What could this make him think of her? He could still think she’s entitled, for wanting ruling power over the North. He could think she’s shortsighted/stubborn for wanting to defeat Cersei first. He could also think she’s manipulative for getting his hopes up, stepping into his personal space, being close with him, using her soft bedroom voice, calling him a king. (and again, if Jon has thought of seducing Dany purely for gain and not because he genuinely likes her, he has to consider the possibility she’s doing it right back to him. One of her nicknames is “foreign whore” after all. And what do whores do? Seduce men for personal gain) If Jon’s feelings aren’t genuine, he’d be an idiot not to consider the possibility that Dany’s feelings aren’t genuine either.

Then Daenerys tells him, “Isn’t their survival more important than your pride.” Verbatim what he told Mance. The. Exact. Same. Words. While this could still make Jon think Dany is being shortsighted and entitled, he’s got to recognize the oddness of her word choice. It’s not a common phrase. It’s not a thing people just...say. The coincidence of her words have to freak Jon out a little bit, even if he didn’t like what she was saying. So it has to at least put him back in that mindset he was in with Stannis threatening to burn Mance. No, Dany hasn’t physically threatened him or his people. But she’s offering something he wants - protection - and in order to get it, he’d have to give her something she wants - loyalty. This has to at least a little bit, start making Jon mentally weigh the pros and cons of having Dany as his queen. He doesn’t want his people to end up like Mance’s people at Hardhome. That’s what he’s trying to avoid. So to avoid what happened to Mance’s people, he’s got to be considering not making Mance’s mistake. So there’s that also.

3) Their encounter in the caves ends and Tyrion and Varys deliver the bad news that Olenna has been murdered and Highgarden is sacked. Daenerys orders Jon and Davos to stay with them on the beach and then she contemplates flying to King’s Landing to burn down the Red Keep with Dragonfire. Jon looks a little exasperated at this, especially when she says “you will stay.” Again, this likely furthers his belief that Dany is entitled, used to getting her way. When she mentions burning down the Red Keep with the dragons, Jon could be thinking Daenerys is ruthless - but he wouldn’t be thinking she’s completely uncaring though because she did just tell him she would help him, if he bent the knee. There’s a very delicate line there she’s balancing on. And he wouldn’t be thinking Daenerys is mad like her father, because she takes no pleasure in this decision and it isn’t unprompted. Cersei attacked her ally. Daenerys wants to retaliate. It’s a natural reaction in war to want to retaliate against one’s enemies. Hell, it’s the entire reason why Jon nearly punched Ramsay’s face off - anger and retaliation for killing Rickon and raping Sansa. Cersei (her armies at least) captured/killed Dany’s allies. She wants to attack Cersei right back. It’s not madness.

Hearing Daenerys talk about wanting to fly to the Red Keep - Jon again, likely thinks Daenerys a bit ruthless. But she’s still not on a level with Cersei - Cersei has remained protected within the confines of the Red Keep, letting Euron and Jaime do her biding. But Daenerys wants to join the fray herself. Normal queens wouldn’t do that. “What kind of a queen am I if I’m not willing to risk my life to fight them?” Jon may not agree with Daenerys’ plan, but he likely respects her as a fellow fighter. This could be an attractive quality to Jon when he thinks about the Great War. It wouldn’t just be him alone out there facing the Night King as he faced Ramsay’s cavalry. He would possibly have her beside him. And that would be a comforting thought. Again, Daenerys may be ruthless, but she takes responsibility for herself and her people, just as Jon does. 

4) Daenerys asks Jon for advice. This is an incredibly telling moment between Jon and Daenerys. Jon means nothing to Dany. They have a very shaky alliance at this point at best. They’ve met in person all of three times. But Daenerys still asks Jon what he thinks she should do about the Cersei problem, over her own Hand. Jon begins to tell her “I would never presume...” but she still asks for his advice anyway. She wants him to tell her the truth.

For all those people who think Jon picks up on some kind of “secret language” people speak to Daenerys with - flattering her, telling her she’s special, painting her as a savior, blah blah blah blah blah - this move from Dany completely destroys all of that bullshit. Jon has offered Daenerys no praise at this point. The only thing he has told her that could be seen as even a neutral statement is “At the very least, you’re better than Cersei.” That’s not a compliment. He has not flattered her at all at this point. But she turns to him for advice anyway.

If Dany were wanting to be flattered and pandered to in this specific moment, the person she should turn to is Missandei - the slave girl she freed and saved from her masters. Missandei would likely have the most praise to lay on Dany and would tell her something to make her feel good in this moment. If that’s the way to Daenerys’ heart, then Jon is the person she would seek advice from the least. But she asks for his input. That move right there tells Jon she doesn’t want to be pandered to. She doesn’t want to be flattered. None of that shit works on her. He’s only told her the brutal truth at this point and that’s what she’s looking for. Jon doesn’t tell her she’s special or flatter her in this moment. He warns her what she would be seen as if she flew off to King’s Landing. For Daenerys to seek Jon’s advice and then take it to heart (she never attacks a civilian population), Jon has to be thinking that he and Daenerys are similar in that respect. She values the truth as much as he does.

Jon scoffs at Sansa when she says “You’re good at this you know. Ruling. You are, BUT you have to...” - Sansa giving Jon a “compliment” before she tries to tell him what she really thinks of him and his ruling style. Daenerys doesn’t want useless compliments either. She wants the truth. Even if that truth comes from someone who is virtually still a rival to her. Jon has to respect Dany for this. He may not agree with her thought process, but as one leader to another, he would respect this.

5) Daenerys leaves Dragonstone to attack the Lannisters who sacked Highgarden and he learns from Missandei that she used to be a slave whom Daenerys freed. This doesn’t necessarily tell Jon anything he didn’t already know. He’s kind of left in charge of the island - at least a few of the Dothraki are there to protect him and follow his commands as we saw on the beach scene with Theon. Tyrion is with Dany and Varys isn’t there on the beach with Jon when he meets Theon. Missandei doesn’t step in either, letting Jon have complete control of the situation. This is Daenerys putting a lot of trust in Jon. She puts her trust in him when she asks for his advice and then she puts even more trust in him by letting him have basically free reign of her island when she’s gone. If Jon really were Dany’s prisoner, she would take him to the mainland with her and keep him guarded while she fights the Lannisters. But she doesn’t do this. He’s left to keep mining dragonglass with his new Dothraki bros. The Dothraki are, again, a patriarchal society. Why would Dany leave some of her men with Jon, a king, a fighter, all the things Dothraki would respect in a khal, if she didn’t trust him? Jon has to see all of this. He may not completely agree with what Daenerys has left to do, but he would see how trusting she is of him. That, or he would think Daenerys doesn’t see him as much of a threat anyway and that she has complete control/the loyalty of her people. Likely, he’s thinking both.

7x05

1) Daenerys returns from the Loot Train Battle. While some in the fandom don’t think it very telling that Jon is waiting for Dany when she returns, I think it’s very telling. I mean, he’s out on a cliff, Dany’s other dragons are still on the island. He’s alone. He’s vulnerable. In the 7x05 commentary Dan Weiss says Dany is like 85% sure Drogon won’t eat Jon - meaning there’s a chance he still might. Yet Jon is there waiting for Dany anyway. He shows his bravery (or stupidity) and stays, pets Drogon (YOLO, I guess...? Or sorry, YOLT as Jon’s on his second life), and then he banters with Daenerys about the dragons being gorgeous beasts. Notice Jon smiles as he says “wasn’t the word I was thinking of but....” He’s comfortable enough around Dany to laugh and attempt a little banter. He’s just had a scare of his life - having a dragon rush him on a cliff - and he’s lived to tell about it. His adrenaline is going. This wouldn’t put him in a calculating and manipulative mindset. And again, even if he were trying to manipulate Dany, he wouldn’t tell her “No I’m not” when she asks “You’re not sure how you feel about that” - in reference to her battling the Lannisters. He’d say something like “You did what you had to do and I respect that,” to get on her good side. But he’s still butting heads with her. If Jon is trying to seduce Dany, he’s the worst seducer in the world.

2) Sometimes strength is terrible. Daenerys doesn’t use flowery words around Jon...or ever really. So he’s got to appreciate her honesty. He may not agree with her worldview on the surface, but he can’t deny the similarities between the two of them. Daenerys points this out to him: “How many men did your army kill taking Winterfell back from the Boltons?” Again, Jon may think Daenerys a bit foolish for thinking the Seven Kingdoms will be better off under her rule, but still, he can’t argue with her logic. It’s the same argument he used in order to justify taking back Winterfell. After all, who appointed Jon protector of the Free Folk and protector of the North from the White Walkers? No one. He promised the Free Folk safe passage south. He never said he would protect them after that; he only asked they help him when the Night King came. That’s it. Jon took it upon himself to be their warrior. Daenerys is doing the same thing with the Seven Kingdoms. If she’s foolish, then he’s foolish too.

3) Jorah returns. So far Jon has seen Daenerys interacting with Missandei, Tyrion, Varys, and her Dothraki. Aside from her friendship with Missandei, he hasn’t really seen anything other than the regal side of her. Then Jorah shows up. Shipper goggles aside (if Jon isn’t jealous of Dany and Jorah’s relationship), he at least is now privy to this softer side of her. Right after she calls the dragons her children and is a little vulnerable, she then reunites with Jorah and she’s got tears in her eyes. If Jon was thinking Daenerys is nothing but a cold-hearted, ruthless, entitled queen before, these interactions would have to change his mind and make him see there’s more to Daenerys than meets the eye. Jon knows who Jorah is, having served his father in the Night’s Watch. He knows Jorah was once wanted for selling people into slavery - yet Daenerys’ whole plight in Essos was about freeing slaves and Jorah is loyal to her. So Jon must be able to put it together that Jorah has changed - so much so that he’s even gained Daenerys’ love and affection (in whatever context). Jon has never seen Dany as emotional as when she reunites with Jorah. This, right after she’s told him “We both want to help people. We can only help them from a position of strength. Sometimes strength is terrible.” These interactions with Daenerys, her showing him her belief system, showing him they’re not so different, and her affection for Jorah, would make him see that there’s this softer side to her, a caring side.

4) The letter from Sansa. Jon tells Daenerys at the beginning of this conversation “I need to go home.” Daenerys, not put off by Jon’s anger, puts things back into perspective for him. “You say you don’t have enough men.” Jon’s being a little bit of a hothead here, reckless, possibly suicidal. He and Daenerys know he doesn’t have the men to face the army Jon’s described to her. If what he says is true, he’s as good as dead. And when Jon asks her “unless you’ll join us?” she doesn’t give him an automatic “no.” She gives him a very legitimate reason as to why she can’t YET. She’s not even talking about Jon bending the knee here. That’s all gone. Daenerys hasn’t mentioned Jon bending the knee since the last episode, before she rode off into battle. When Jon starts to pile on more evidence for her - even if it’s questionable evidence - Dany forgets this bending the knee nonsense. It doesn’t matter anymore. She does want to help Jon but she tells him the truth - she’s afraid of what would happen to her lands and people if she weren’t there to protect them from Cersei. Whatever Jon was thinking before, he now knows that Daenerys is not beyond reason and her heart is in the right place. There are just obstacles in the way, preventing her from helping him right away. She wouldn’t go along with such an idiot plan if her heart weren’t in the right place. She wants to help him. She’s willing to delay indefinitely her war with Cersei in order to do so. And he knows this now.

7x06

1) I’ve mentioned this before in THIS post but when Jon tells Tormund “She’ll only fight beside us if I bend the knee.” That’s not true anymore. Their mission beyond the Wall proves that. Jon hasn’t promised to bend the knee to Dany when he returns from the mission with the wight. Yet the whole point of the mission is to get Cersei to agree to a truce so Dany can come North without putting her people in the south at risk. Why would Jon think she won’t fight with them unless he bent the knee with this whole truce plan in place? At the very least, Jon’s just being forgetful here. At the most, he’s possibly already thinking (unnecessarily) that he’s going to bend the knee to Daenerys once he gets back from the mission.

Or, you know, it’s just a really really stupid and glaring error in the writing of this episode. Which is also entirely possible.

2) Jon thinks of Daenerys to come and help them. At this point, yes, she’s the only one who can help them when the entire army of the dead is after them. BUT, to even ask for her help, Jon has to be hopeful that Daenerys would come save them at all. And then she actually does. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll repeat it again, Daenerys has never given Jon a reason not to trust her. He wanted the dragonglass, he got it. He wanted to figure out a way to make people believe him about the army of the dead, Tyrion thought of it and Dany didn’t stop the mission. He asked her to come save him and the fellowship of the wight. She saved them. She has done literally everything Jon has asked of her.

Of course, again, Jon could be thinking, “hey, maybe she likes me.” But if Daenerys is already doing what he’s asked of her, what would his motive be to further try to seduce her and get her into bed? He hasn’t slept with her yet or been terribly affectionate with her. But she’s done what he’s asked anyway. If he were seducing her, wouldn’t he want to keep dangling the carrot? In dog racing, you have the little motorized bunny for the dogs to chase. You don’t stop the bunny for the dogs in the middle of the race and let them play with it! You keep the bunny running until the finish line. So if Jon were trying to get Daenerys to fall in love with him so that she would do what he asked, wouldn’t he keep himself slightly distant, feeding her small bits of hope of a relationship, but holding out until the very end, when the Night King was defeated?

And if Daenerys asked Jon to sleep with her...he could give any number of excuses not to. “I was a man of the Night’s Watch and I’m a virgin, I want to wait until I’m married, I don’t want to dishonor you, we should be married first, I want you to meet my family first, etc.” Literally so many excuses that would make him seem even more honorable.

But I’m going on a tangent again...

3) Daenerys pledges to fight for Jon without requiring that he bend the knee FIRST. Again, Daenerys hasn’t mentioned Jon bend the knee in two episodes. Why? Because it’s no longer a requirement for her to come help him. She just needs her truce with Cersei to ensure her people in the south will be safe. That was established in 7x05. Dany coming to save him and pledging to help him - no strings attached - has to make Jon feel ridiculously grateful to her. And she just lost a lot. He now sees what she has to lose and she did lose. Yet she’s willing to risk the lives of her other two dragons, her two remaining “children” to continue to help Jon until the Night King is defeated. What else could Jon feel in this moment but immense gratitude? What else would he think of Daenerys other than she’s a generous and caring person who finally gets it. Jon would have no reason to think ill of Daenerys in this moment. He would have no reason not to trust her word in this moment. Again, as far as he has seen, she has done everything he’s asked. And now she is finally pledging to do the first thing he ever asked of her - help him defeat the Night King. He has no reason not to trust her AND no reason to bend the knee to her...other than that he thinks she’s better equipped to save/protect his people. Which she is.

7x07

1) Daenerys and Jon talk and she tells him for the second time that she can’t have children. He could think she’s mistaken and that she actually can get pregnant. He could think she’s telling the truth and that if he slept with her he’d be safe from getting her pregnant. He could think she does have feelings for him as it’s a fairly personal thing for her to divulge. If anything, he would be thinking about Daenerys’ softer side and that she does have things she cares about other than being a queen - she wants to be a mother. He could guess that she fears being like everyone else, being mediocre/ordinary, not making a difference in the world. He should think of her as strategic at least as she doesn’t want to jeopardize her people in the south and wants to ensure their safety first before going North.

2) Daenerys decides to sail with him versus flying on Drogon. The Emmy script tells us Jon wants to smile at this news. Now, if Jon were really manipulating Daenerys, is this something that would necessarily make him smile? If he felt it was going to lead to his having to sleep with her (as in he doesn’t want to and it’s going to be like a chore), he probably wouldn’t smile! You smile when you’re happy. If he didn’t want to sleep with her but now thought that he had to sleep with her because they were sailing together, though it’s part of his plan, he’d probably be feeling a lot of pressure - he’s got to preform well after all - he’d probably be feeling upset/sad/mad (some combination of the three) because he doesn’t want to sleep with her. He may feel slight relief that his master plan has *worked* and he’s going to be able to get her alone. But this wouldn’t make him so happy he has to hold back a smile. Jon isn’t some evil genius mastermind, like Baelish. He’s not mad like Aerys. He doesn’t take pleasure in other people’s pain, even if he thinks other’s suffering is necessary - planning to kill Mance for instance. He’s a guy with real feelings. If he felt obligated to sleep with Dany, it’s not going to make him happy at the prospect of it. He wouldn’t smile.

But Jon does smile...or tries not let his smile show. The only reason Jon would be smiling is because Daenerys agreed to his plan to sail together rather than flying by herself. And the reason her decision makes him smile is because he’s excited to be sailing with her. The prospect of them sailing together makes him happy. He’s not thinking about an obligation or a master plan he’s trying to put into place. He’s thinking about how the woman he’s slowly fallen for just agreed to stay close to him for the next month or so while they sail and he’ll get to spend more time with her.

And what Jorah said about it being more dangerous for Dany to travel with him on land, angry man with a crossbow nonsense...well, if Dany died on the way to Winterfell, Jon would be fucked. Her safety is paramount to him because otherwise, her armies and dragons go the fuck back to Essos. Why would they stay and fight for Jon when their queen is dead - due to his dipshit plan - when they don’t know him, don’t speak his language, haven’t seen him fight, haven’t seen his strength, and his own people won’t be very welcoming of them. If Dany dies, Jon loses his army. He has to see her safely to Winterfell since she’s not flying - which means sticking even more closely to her as he’s pretty much the best fighter around.

On a non-shipping level, Jon would think Dany’s agreeing to sail with them would mean she values their alliance, she values Jon’s opinion, and she wants to make a good impression on his people. Even if Jon isn’t in love with her - as a small portion of the fandom speculates - he would at least appreciate that. He would appreciate all the efforts Daenerys has made to 1) save his ass 2) save his people and 3) earn his people’s trust. Dany cares about how she’ll come across to the Northerners which means she cares about their voices, their thoughts, their opinions. And Jon would have to see that. Just as she values him as one of her vassal lords, she would value the rest of them. It’s what good queens do.

So regardless of whether Jon’s initial impression of Daenerys was bad not, his opinion of her would have had to change as she began making efforts toward an alliance and to helping him and his people.

Again, Jon likely thought of Dany as arrogant, entitled, and foolish when they first met. But through his interactions with her he saw that she’s not arrogant - she seeks advice from him when she doesn’t even know him well, meaning she’s sensible enough to know when to humble herself; she’s not entitled - she knows she needs to earn the Northerners trust which is why she’s finally agreed to come help in the war against the Night King; and she’s not foolish - she saw the real threat to the realm and she immediately answered his call to arms.

Once Daenerys pledges to Jon on the ship coming back from Eastwatch - really when she agreed to let the wight hunt mission happen in the first place - there’s no reason for Jon to “trick” or “plot against” Dany anymore, if he was plotting against her before that. Again, she has done everything he’s asked up to this point. She has never broken her word to him. It makes no sense for Jon to think that Daenerys would break her word on coming North to help them fight the Night King.

AND

On Jon pledging the North for Dany...

I’ve seen some people say he did it to “protect” Sansa...as if somehow he was making it okay for her to be named Queen while he’s gone and then the Northerners could rise up against Dany when they come to Winterfell...but that wouldn’t make sense. If Jon pledged the North to her and they rose up against her, it would put Jon’s people in even more danger because Daenerys would be well within her rights to execute any dissenters - namely Sansa.

There is really no reason for Jon to pledge the North for Dany unless he couldn’t actually really mean it. To do so, again, puts his people - his family - at great risk.

And if Daenerys has already promised to help Jon defeat the Night King and she’s done what she’s said she would do thus far, there’s no reason for Jon to bend the knee to Dany to get her to come North. She already has agreed to do so.

Worst Case Scenario - if Cersei didn’t agree to Dany’s truce, Dany would be forced to burn down the Red Keep to take King’s Landing quickly so she could become queen, ensure the safety of everyone in the south, and then march North - this would be a much shorter timeline then Jon deceiving Dany, them getting all the way to Winterfell, and then the Northerners raising up against Daenerys OR them getting all the way to Winterfell only to find out Cersei betrayed them and Dany leaving to deal with Cersei first, then come North again.

Jon bending the knee to Dany - whether or not he intends to betray her - was a much more risky move for Jon. Again, if things go to shit, there’s still the chance Dany would leave to deal with Cersei so her people in the south don’t suffer. why would Jon risk that? Risk that much more time being wasted not helping his people and not fighting the Night King?

The only reasons Jon pledged to Dany were because he truly believed her to be a fair ruler, the right ruler of his people, he believed in her...and he loves her (that’s not the only reason or the main reason, it’s just in addition to the others).

TL;DNR:

Political Jon is utter bullshit. Jon has no reason not to trust Dany. Jonsa isn’t happening. Everyone can suck it.

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Acts of Sacrifice

by Dan H

Monday, 13 August 2007Dan H on Harry Potter, Aslan, and John Sheridan

I still, technically, have a weblog, although I haven't updated it in over a year.

One of the things I wrote about when I still did update it was the movie version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe. In particular, I felt that it was interesting that in movie!Narnia the Salvation of Narnia was supposed to come from the Pevensies, whereas in book!Narnia and BBCAdaptation!Narnia it was very much supposed to come from Aslan.

I don't think it was conscious, but this subtle change pretty much destroyed the underlying moral message, and the underlying emotional impact of the book. Incidentally it also undermines the original Christian message, but religion isn't really what I'm interested in for the purposes of this article.

In the movie, Aslan sacrifices himself to save Edmund, and the strong implication is that he does so because otherwise the Prophecy would not be fulfilled, and the Four Kings and Queens would not be able to Save Narnia and the White Witch would win. In the movie, Aslan makes a sensible strategic decision. His life for the lives of everybody else in Narnia.

In the book, however, the exact opposite is true. It is Aslan, not the four children, who is the key to driving back the White Witch. When Aslan dies on the round table he is not only sacrificing himself, he is sacrificing Narnia itself, and he is doing it purely for the sake of one rather horrible little boy. Again I should briefly mention that this is rather central to the Christian message: Jesus was not one man dying for many, he was God dying for You.

As you probably remember, I've just come from an epic slog through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. One of the things that sat most awkwardly about that book was Harry's "sacrifice" at the end. Like movie!Aslan Harry makes a strictly Utilitarian decision: by his death he can weaken Lord Voldemort, and therefore achieve his goals (or, perhaps more precisely, the goals of that manipulative fucker Albus Dumbledore).

Perhaps I'm just selfish, but I genuinely don't see that as any kind of meaningful sacrifice. Both Aslan and Harry reach the decision that they can, by their deaths, further the goals they are working towards better than they can by remaining alive. It's just resource management. It certainly isn't heroism. It most definitely isn't Christ-like, despite Harry's miraculous resurrection and the revelation that his death broke the power of Lord Voldemort and redeemed Hogwarts.

There's an episode of Babylon Five, which I don't actually like very much (because it's very, very heavy handed) which actually highlights this point remarkably well. In the episode Comes the Inquisitor, the Vorlons send a man named Sebastian to B5, and Sebastian proceeds to torture the hell out of John Sheridan in an effort to get him to admit that he is unworthy of his destiny.

So Sheridan gets zapped, Delenn shows up, so the Inquisitor zaps both of them, and they do the traditional: "Wait! Don't kill my romantic interest! Kill me instead!" speech.

Here's where it gets interesting, where the distinction is drawn between the sacrifices of Movie!Aslan and Harry Potter, and the kind of sacrifice that actually has a meaning.

How do you know the chosen ones? No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his friend. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame... for one person. In the dark. Where no one will ever know or see. I've been in the service of the Vorlons for centuries, looking for you. Diogynes with his lamp looking for a man willing to die for all the wrong reasons.

Now okay, it's a bit preachy, it's a bit JMS, and ultimately I'm in no way convinced that Sheridan actually displays the qualities which Sebastian attributes to him, but I think it recognises something which both the Narnia movie and the Potter books failed to recognise. It is easy for a fictional character to sacrifice themselves for an objectively defined Greater Good. Defeating Voldemort or the White Witch are obviously big important endeavours and they require that people make sacrifices. But it's precisely because those tasks are so vast that the decision to sacrifice oneself in their service is ultimately meaningless. If your destiny (sorry, "Destiny") is to die, then dying is really your only option, whether you go to your doom with your head held high or blubbing like a little girl is ultimately meaningless. In the Potterverse the vaunted Gryffindor courage is little more than a good old British stiff upper lip: putting a brave face on it while you do whatever it is you were intending to do anyway.

I should probably take a step back here and say that I'm very much talking about fictional characters here. Real people have survival instincts, they have millennia of evolution telling them to save their own skins. In the real world, a soldier going into battle, a policeman tackling an armed criminal, or an aid worker working in a warzone are all showing tremendous courage, even heroism, just by going about their daily lives. A fictional hero, though, has to be more than that. A hero must, by definition, not just be doing his job. A hero who is also a solider must do things which the ordinary soldier is not called upon to do, and ordinary soldiers are regularly called upon to lay down their lives for a cause.

The test which Sebastian places before Sheridan is a simple one, but one which cuts to the heart of what "sacrifice" really means. He does not ask "what will you sacrifice for your destiny" he asks "what won't you sacrifice for your destiny" or to put it another way "what will you give up your destiny to protect."

I think it's actually a very important question for any "hero" to ask. A hero is generally working towards some higher goal, and they will often make tremendous sacrifices in pursuit of that goal. The greatest sacrifice a hero can make, therefore, is not their life, but the very goal towards which they have struggled for so long. When your entire live has been devoted to something, dying for it is a small step, giving it up is what takes real moral courage.

The death of a fictional character is meaningful only insofar as it affects the narrative afterwards. When a fictional character sacrifices their life, the sacrifice only has meaning if it does not directly further their wider goals. Otherwise it's just a play, a strategic manoeuvre. Being dead but getting your way is infinitely preferable for a fictional character than being alive and losing.

When Lily Potter sacrifices herself to protect baby Harry, that's heroic. But her sacrifice is meaningful precisely because it is futile. From the Utilitarian mindset which governs Harry's later sacrifice, or the sacrifice of movie!Aslan, it's a completely stupid thing to do. As far as Lily is concerned, Harry is going to die no matter what she does, so really she should have just cut her losses and saved herself. Her sacrifice had power because she wasn't trying to achieve anything by it, she was just making a moral stand: no matter what, she wasn't going to stand aside and let her son be murdered.

In fact, one might almost say that the sacrifice of a fictional hero (as opposed to a real person doing a difficult and thankless job) is powerful only if it is ultimately futile. Its meaning resides in its very meaninglessness. It has to have a purity of intent, a simple moral decision that this line cannot be crossed, that this injustice cannot be borne, and all the "greater good" can go hang. The sequence in Pan's Labyrinth, in which the doctor administers a fatal injection to a captured solider who would otherwise be tortured is a fine example of this. This single act of mercy costs him his life, and it costs the rebels their doctor, but achieves nothing except the end of one man's suffering.

So for me, the most resounding moment of heroism in Harry Potter is not when he goes off to let Voldemort kill him, thereby destroying the chunk of Plot which resides in Harry's very soul. Rather, Harry's one moment of redemption in my eyes was when he flew into the burning Room of Requirement to rescue Draco Malfoy. Here he risks not only his life but his entire Destiny in order to save his worst enemy.

Unfortunately, Harry's principles are not always so unwavering. He happily uses Unforgivable Curses at little or no provocation, whenever it becomes convenient to his Quest, and it is his devotion to the Quest we are expected to admire, not his loyalty to any actual people (which is, let's face it, negligible).

I don't mean to single Potter out here. I think there's a general tendency in modern fiction to praise those who put the "big picture" ahead of the troubles of individual people. It seems to be seen, nowadays, as worthier to be concerned with large scale issues like destroying the Dark Lord than with small scale issues, like how many lives you wreck along the way.

Were I in the mood to make a trite political point, I might be inclined to draw parallels between this modern brand of heroism, and the attitude of a number of modern governments to problems like - say - international terrorism. So long as you take down the Dark Lord it doesn't matter what methods you use to get to him.

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Wardog

at 10:38 on 2007-08-14Hmmm...interesting, very interesting. *strokes goatee* Actually, it occurs to me that Harry's Big Deal is that he supposedly understands LOVE unlike Lord V. And that his sacrifice is, you know, this amazing, jesus-like act of LOVE. But surely the point of love is that it's personal and small-scale. I mean, it's LOVE that inspires the Malfoys to say "fuck this war and everything else, we're saving our son." If I had a son and he was walking off to lay down his life before a nose-less super-villain (and by, super, in this context I mean inept) I'd probably be all "Son, son, run away to Australia, you can live with Hermione's parents, go, go now." I wouldn't be saying "Hey, kid, death is fun. You're being really brave." LOVE is another one of those weird double-thinks, it's the ultimate selfish emotion that, nevertheless, inspires selfless acts. Thus Lily Potter dying for her son. Not Lily Potter grinning happily that the son she *gave her life to protect* is about to *fling his own away*.

Similarly, you'd think LOVE would not gather around Harry

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Wardog

at 11:01 on 2007-08-14Also I have to wonder if the 7th book was trying to ship RAB/Kreacher, just because it occurs to me that drinking the Killing Juice himself was an insanely noble sacrifice, especially when Kreacher survived it and, in fact, had suffcieint dodgy plot-hole house elf magic to be able to get them both out of the cave again. Also to lay down your life for an attempt to kill your house elf strikes me as ... well ... is that LOVE do you think?

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Arthur B

at 12:28 on 2007-08-14I think the general rule with Harry Potter books is that "if the fans think they can discern a relationship between characters which is not specifically stated in the text to be a relationship, they are Wrong because they are trying to corrupt the Holy Writ of Rowling".

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Wardog

at 16:52 on 2007-08-14I don't know, I think there's definitely something going on between RAB and Kreacher... Greater love hath no man than he who is willing to lay down his life for house elf... Oh, sorry, we're talking about Rowling here so that should be LOVE.

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Jen Spencer

at 14:46 on 2007-08-15My current favourite source of heroism: David Sumner in Straw Dogs. He is willing to fight the pack of maniac locals to the death because he will not stand by and let them lynch a slightly retarded murderer, and he certainly will not let them violate the sanctity of his home (again) to do it. You go dude!

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Wardog

at 10:36 on 2007-08-16I haven't seen Straw Dogs, I'm afraid it's another one of those movies that would upset me. I gotta comfort zone and I'm sticking in it, dammit.

[mellieartcorner]

The Princess and The Prince Thief: Chapter Six- A Miraculous Fanfiction

Summary: Princess Marinette of the Kingdom of Creaturae was very happy. Her reasons?-The notorious thief Chat Noir was locked up, her 21st birthday was soon, and she was going to become Queen. That is, until it was decided that she had to marry the mysterious Prince Adrien of the Kingdom of Mortem in order to become Queen. To make matters worse, Chat Noir escaped from jail and is visiting her almost every night. Having to run a kingdom is bad enough, but falling in love with a thief and a prince is the hardest part of all.

Genre: Fiction-Fantasy/Romance AU

Rated: T for Teen- Ages 15+

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Fanfiction.net

Ao3

Chapter Six

   -The Council of the Seven Kingdoms-

The amphitheater where the delegates met was within the town of Creaturae, in the same area where the Senators of Creaturae came together to formulate laws and agreements to take to the royal family. Marinette sat, uncomfortable in her formal attire, in between her parents while they waited for the bell chimes that indicating the beginning of the Council.. They were positioned at the front center of the large stage, facing out onto the massive crowd of delegates, kings, queens, lords and ladies. Marinette’s own Lady-in-Waiting sat with her family at the stage right side of the row of seats. Alya gave her friend a bright smile when Marinette gazed over at them.

This was the first time Marinette was going to lead the such a immense group of people, and she felt the weight of a thousand bricks on her shoulders. A hand graced her own, and Marinette turned to see her mother’s soft and encouraging eyes.

“You are going to do great,” the older Queen whispered, giving Marinette’s hand a squeeze.

“She is right,” King Tom butted in, smiling and placing one of his broad hands on Marinette’s shoulder, “You have been preparing for this moment. Show them you are meant to be Queen.”

A small tear formed at the corner of Marinette’s eye, and she grabbed both of her parents in a loving embrace. “Thank you both, for being the best parents ever,” she lovingly whispered. As they parted, Marinette quickly saw blonde hair at the corner of her eye. Prince Adrien, his father, and Lord Lahiffe were taking their seats closest to the stage. A swell of nerves exploded in Marinette’s stomach. Prince Adrien smiled at her, raising a fist and mouthed, ‘Good Luck’.

The bells began to chime at the tune of Marinette’s heart beat.

With an soft push onto her lower back from her mother, Marinette rose up to greet the shushing crowd. She spotted the House of Bourgeois, House of Rossi, House of Kurtzberg, and the  Draconus Lords. Their faces were different shades of mistrust, worry, fear, happiness, and solemness. Senators of Creaturae were intermingled in the crowd, their emotions hanging on Marinette’s every breath.

Inhaling deeply, Marinette began, “ Most of you know me, though I have never met some of you. I am Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I will become Queen of Creaturae on my 21st birthday which is within the month.” Marinette stole a glance over at Alya, who simply nodded for her to continue. The many nights they practiced this speech helped, but with this additional new information Marinette had to include brought a set of nervousness. “I have many plans for Creaturae, and I hope you will help me as the Council of The Seven Kingdoms. Though, it has been decided by the Senators of Creaturae that in order to calm the people’s minds, I am too also marry Prince Adrien Agreste of Mortem before I can become Queen.”

Whispers raced through the delegates who did not know; the words “war” “Agreste” and “marriage” rippled through the crowd.

Rising her voice above them, Marinette continued, “ I wanted to assure each and every one of you, that despite my marriage, I will still be Queen of Creaturae and now of Mortem. I will lead Creaturae and Mortem into a new age, with taxes lessened, trade agreements renewed, and an equal rights law that I intend to see through. I will also review all previous treadies.”

The young King Nathaniel Kurtzberg of Ovium rose, his red hair causing him to stand out considerably. Marinette smiled, glad she had a good friend among the strangers. Nathaniel was an amazing artist and helped Marinette with designs as well as he gave her great advice on becoming queen,since he had to become king so young due to the death of his father.

“I have heard Chat Noir has been sighted here. What do you plan on doing about him?”  

Her feet turned to stone; her blood ice. The one question she wanted to avoid came right out, from her friend, no less. But she had thought long and hard about this, spilling out her answer, “Chat Noir will be left alone until after my coronation. We have heightened security and have issued a curfew.”

Adrien hung on every word and grinned brightly at her words. But others around him began to cry out in rejection.

Princess Lila Rossi, whom Adrien had a courtship with years ago, stood up; her sly coy eyes revealing more than her words, “How are we supposed to trust you when you won’t do something about this thief? He stole precious heirlooms from Vulpus. He needs to be stopped.”

Adrien rolled his eyes secretly and gave a sideways glance at Nino, who also had a disgusted look. Lila lied; Chat Noir never stole ‘precious heirlooms.’ The only thing he stole was a cat statue that was rumored to point to the ring’s location. Adrien was glad when they broke off their courtship years ago, due to Lila’s rumored affairs.

Straightening out her back, Marinette stood her ground with determination pouring from her, “Chat Noir is not a threat. He will be left alone until I become Queen. This I command.”

The crowd roared; Kings and Queens stood in yells of anger or of agreement. The arena grew in temperature as many began to verbally fight amongst themselves.

“How dare you command us!”

“You are not Queen yet!”

“Bring the thief to justice!”

Marinette took a step back in fear, froze from the eruption of negativity. Alya stood quickly in defence, crying out, “Let Princess Marinette speak!” She couldn’t move from her family, but she tried with what she could do.

   Marinette gulped, trying to swallow the rock of foreboding that threatened her. Her courage was fading, but she had to do this. For Creaturae. For her parents. For Alya. For Chat. For herself.

“Please! Please calm yourselves!” Marinette shouted, stretching out her hands and drawing out her magick unknowingly. A bright red wave escaped her fingers, pulsating through everyone. A warm breeze passed through them all, like spring-time. Ladybugs began to flutter inside through open windows, a mysterious wind carrying them. Everyone stared at Marinette with mouths agape, their anger and uneasiness forgotten. Never has a member of the House of Cheng done that at a Council meeting before. Powers were forbidden to be used during the meetings.

    Adrien felt the warmth rush through his body, like an aura of tranquility. He stood, wanting to get closer to the source. In his eyes, Marinette was illuminating a steady pinkish hue. Her power was incredible and beautiful, like she. The urge to stand beside her was too much to bare, causing Adrien to take a step forward. But before he could, King Gabriel abruptly stopped him with a strong grip on his arm. Adrien saw his father grow a sinister smirk, as Gabriel walked forward instead. He had a dark maroon cane with a clear crystal orb on the top of it in his hands. King Tom and Queen Sabine took positions next to their daughter, defensively as Gabriel approached.

  “It seems clear to me that you will be an amazing Queen,” King Gabriel began, all eyes turning to him as he stood in front of Marinette, looking up at her, her parents, and then towards the people, “But it seems your powers are a bit uncontrollable.” Gabriel completely faced the crowd, raising up his arms and thus, lifting his cane, “Do you want a manipulative Queen? She obviously used her powers to calm all of you. Who is to say she won’t do that again? What other powers is she hiding? And defending a thief! Preposterous!”

Echos of “Gods No” “Keep her from the throne”, and “All hail King Gabriel,” reverberated through the amphitheater, causing Marinette to draw in a shaky breath. She didn’t mean to use her powers. Had this man planned this? The delegates turned against her so quickly, Marinette’s magick fading from them in almost an instant.

Adrien felt his own anger rising, but he quickly noticed a swift purple mist pouring from his father’s fingers that were wrapped around the cane’s crystal top. It was suttle and unnoticeable unless you looked directly at his hands. ‘He is feeding the crowd negative emotions,’ Adrien concluded, realizing his father has been doing this the whole time. No wonder everyone was on edge.

Adrien was about to speak up to call out his father, when King Gabriel continued, “Oh, I know, my fellow Council. But, we should still let Princess Marinette become Queen.” He turned towards Marinette again, giving a fake smile.

“That is, if she would place The Earrings of Tikki on before the coronation.”

Marinette and Adrien both inhaled sharply, the mentioning of the earrings flashing the same memory between both of them. Alya and Nino stiffened in their seats as well, realizing the turning of the situation.

Princess Chole stood up, causing some to look over at her. She spoke, as if scripted, “She wouldn’t be so powerful then.”

King Gabriel nodded, twirling his cane in the air as he began to pace in front of the crowd, the purple mist subsiding.

“That’s right, Princess Chloe. As most of you are aware, The Earrings of Tikki block or lessen the powers of the reigning Queen. ‘To insure equality without power’ as it is said in Creaturae’s constitution. It seems we should demand that Princess Marinette place the earrings on as soon as possible.”

Prince Adrien’s heart began to thunder in his ears, his fists digging into his palms and drawing blood. How dare him. Marinette will not be treated this way. The destruction threatened to call, but he strode in front of his father to address the Council himself and calm the animal within him. All eyes drew to him.

“As future King of Creaturae and Mortem, I take full responsibility for Princess Marinette,” Adrien stated, loudly, “She does not typically have access to the vault until closer to her birthday. I will personally make sure Marinette does not use her powers for personal gain, if the Council would consider to let Marinette keep her family traditions and get the earrings on her coronation day.”

Adrien turned to Marinette, trying to convey without words. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she held her head high and avoided his gaze. Adrien cringed, realizing he might have embarrassed her.  

The people whispered in consideration. King Gabriel’s face was unreadable as he stood behind his son, the mist gone from his hands. Marinette gripped her mother’s and father’s hands strongly, her eyes carrying the racing thoughts in her mind. The air grew to a still as the Council deliberated.

 King Andre rose next to his daughter, as Chole sat back down, “All those in favor of letting Princess Marinette wait until her coronation, say aye.”

About three fourths of the room erupted in “ayes”.

“All those opposed, say nay,” he continued.

Only a few of the Draconous Lords, the House of Rossi, and both King Andre and Princess Chole said “nay”.

“Then it is settled,” Adrien commanded. He looked at his father, eyes narrowed, then walked away towards Nino, who held a locked worried look. Marinette sat down at her seat, keeping her scream inside for now as her father continued the meeting.

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     Adrien searched and searched the whole palace for Marinette. He wanted to apologize and discuss the Council meeting with her, but her parents refused to tell him her location. Lady Alya wouldn’t even speak to him, and Nino was busy trying to figure out who all King Gabriel had under his wings. Too many people from around the Seven Kingdoms turned quick this morning, and Adrien wanted to figure out why. Right after he spoke to Marinette. Adrien had almost given up hope, when he heard soft sniffles from under a marble stairwell inside a large closet. He opened the wooden door slowly, seeing his fiance curled up with her head in between her knees and her arms covering her face. A tiny square window shone light into the closet, giving natural beauty to Marinette’s form. She hadn’t changed clothes, but her tiara was crooked and her hair was super stringy.

“Marinette?”

She jerked up, tears falling hard down her face. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, then hardened her complexion. “What do you want? Come to take responsibility for me?”

Adrien’s face softened, his heart tearing. “Marinette, I’m sorry for what happened. I had to do something or else we would have had an uprising in our hands.”  Adrien closed the door to the small space, sat down across from the Princess, and placed his hands in his lap to not seem threatening. Marinette stared into his eyes deeply, and Adrien knew it was embarrassment more than anything else that upset her. Using her powers, him having to take over for her; it was all too much.

“I believe my father was feeding the crowd negative emotions before you even started,” he stated, “This wasn’t your fault at all.” He reached for her hand, but she jerked it back.

“You and him are in on this together, aren’t you?!” she reacted, her voice rising, “You both planned this!”

Adrien narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, “No! I promise you on the soul of my mother that I do not work with my father. I know he has been trying to start a war, but I am limited by what I can do for now. I have been waiting for the moment when I can stop him from ripping the Seven Kingdoms apart!”

It grew quiet between them the words hung in the air. Marinette widening her eyes and knew in her heart that Adrien was serious.

Adrien sighed and leaned back against a wall of the closet, the space between them short so he had to draw his legs to his chest. He stared off into the distance, not wanting to say anything anymore.

Marinette crawled to sit next to him, bracing her shoulder on his. “I don’t know what to do, Adrien,” she whispered, placing her hands on her knees and staring at them, “I will place the earrings on if that pleases everyone.” She sighed heavy, “I don’t know what came over me back there.”  

Adrien grew a little stiff at Marinette’s closeness, slowly relaxed as she spoke, and shook his head.“Do what is right for you. Do what matters to you, okay?” He told her, turning to give her a small smile. She returned the smile, erupting a warm feeling in his stomach.

Suddenly, two pairs of hurried footsteps echoed, causing Marinette and Adrien to look over at the closed door. Voices were coming into focus,too. They both stood up, bumping into one another to lean against the doorway to listen.

“Natalie, make sure nothing happens to halt our progress.” The voice of King Gabriel echoed to the young couple. “And now that we know Chat Noir is after the ring, too, we shall provide a reasoning for its’ disappearance.” Marinette quickly gripped onto Adrien’s hand to tether her to reality, and Adrien thought nothing of it as he returned the gesture, trying to hear every word his father was saying.

“See to it that Princess Marinette and Adrien spend some time apart for now. They can not fall in love or it will ruin everything.”

“Yes, sir,” Natalie, King Gabriel’s assistant spoke, her voice monotone.

Their voices began to drift farther away, as their steps grew distant.

Adrien and Marinette parted from their secretive place into the corridor, looking over at each other trying to process what they just heard. They both looked down at their hands together, retreating from one another like fire. The warmth of her hand highlighted Adrien’s, and Marinette could feel a shadow pulse beat in her own.

“I have to go,” they both said at the same time in hurried tones. Realizing their repetition, they quickly added,

“I have to go see Alya,”

“I have to go talk to Nino.”

Harmonious laughter floated between the both of them..

“Go on, Princess,” Adrien comforted, his voice low. He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it softly and lovingly. “Till tomorrow.” He turned without another word and hurried off, not realizing his parting mistake.

Marinette stood there, stiff as stone. Her hand did not move from where Adrien left it.

 It couldn’t be. He can’t be. She shook the thoughts from her head hard. A coincidence. That’s all that was. He might look a bit like Chat Noir, but Chat Noir was a thief. Who smelled like the earth and who was honest, flirty, and cared about her. Marinette headed back to the closet she was crying in and grabbed the book she brought in with her. She was going to return the book after she felt better, but now, thanks to Adrien, and with this new information King Gabriel spoke about, Marinette knew what she had to do. She silently apologized to the head librarian and headed towards Alya’s chambers. It was time to make a plan of action. Of course, without Alya knowing Marinette was developing feelings for an infamous thief and her soon-to-be husband.

[n333rdypirate]

FSYY 1 001 - King Zhou and the Goddess Nu Wa

The Shang Dynasty replaced the Xia Dynasty and ruled China for nearly 650 years. The Shang court produced twenty-eight kings of whom King Zhou was the last.

Before King Zhou ascended the throne, he and his father, King Di Yi, and many civil and military officials were walking in the royal garden one day, viewing the blooming peonies, when suddenly the Flying Cloud Pavilion collapsed and a beam flew towards them. Rushing forward, King Zhou or then Prince Shou, caught the beam and replaced it in a display of miraculous strength. Deeply impressed, Prime Minister Shang Rong and Supreme Mei Bo advised King Di Yi to name him Crown Prince.

When King Di Yi passed away after thirty years on the throne, Crown Prince Shou was immediately crowned king to rule the country in his father's place. King Zhou established his capital at Zhaoge, a metropolis on the Yellow River. The king appointed Grand Tutor Wen Zhong to be in charge of civil affairs and Huang Feihu, Prince for National Pacification and of Military Prowess, to supervise military affairs. In this way, the king hoped the nation would live in peace under a civil administration backed up by the military. The king placed Queen Jiang in the Central Palace; Concubine Huang in the West Palace and Concubine Yang in the Fragrant Palace. They were all virtuous and chaste in their behavior and mild and gentle in manner.

King Zhou ruled his country in peace, and was respected by the neighboring states. His people worked happily in their different professions, and his peasants were especially blessed by favorable winds and rains. There were 800 marquises in the country who offered their allegiance to four dukes, each of whom ruled over 200 of these marquises on behalf of King Zhou. There four dukes were: the East Grand Duke Jiang Huanchu, the South Grand Duke E Chongyu, the West Grand Duke Ji Chang and the North Grand Duke Chong Houhu.

In the second month of the seventh year of the reign of King Zhou, a report reached Zhaoge of a rebellion of seventy-two marquises in the North Sea district, and the grand Tutor Wen Zhong was immediately ordered to lead a strong army to suppress the rebels. One day when King Zhou was holding court, Shang Rong stepped out from the right row, knelt and said, “Your humble Prime Minister Shang Rong begs to report something urgent to Your Majesty. Tomorrow is the 15th day of the third month, the birthday of the Goddess Nu Wa, and Your Majesty should honor her and hold a ceremony at her temple.”

“What has Goddess Nu Wa done that a great king such as myself is obliged to go to her temple and worship her?” King Zhou asked.

“Goddess Nu Wa's been a great goddess since ancient time and possesses saintly virtues. When the enraged demon Gong Gong knocked his head against Buzhou Mountain, the northwest section of Heaven collapsed and the earth sunk down in the southeast. At this critical moment, Nu Wa came to the rescue and mended Heaven with multi-colored stones she obtained and refined from a mountain,” Shang Rong explained. “She's performed this great service of the people, who've built temples to honor her in gratitude. Zhaoge in fortune to have the change to worship this kind goddess. She'll ensure peace and health tot he people and prosperity to the country; she'll bring us timely wind and rain and keep us free from famine and war. She's the proper guardian angel for both the people and the nation. So I make bold to suggest that Your Majesty honor her tomorrow.”

“You're right, Prime Minister. I'll do as you advise.”

Returning to his residential palace, King Zhou ordered a notion be issued that His Majesty, together with his civil and military officials, were to make a pilgrimage to worship Goddess Nu Wa at her temple the next day.

It would have been better if he hadn't gone at all, for it was this very pilgrimage that caused the fall of the Shang Dynasty, making it impossible for the people to live in peace. It was as if the king had tossed a fishing line in to a big river and unexpectedly caught numerous disaster leading to the loss of both his throne and his life.

The king and his entourage left the palace and made their way through the south gate of the capital. Every house they passes was decorated with bright silk, and the sheets were scented for ht eking by burning incense. The king was accompanied by 3,000 cavalrymen and 800 royal guards under the command of General Huang Feihu, Prince for National Pacification and of Military Prowess and followed by all the officials of the royal court.

Reaching the Temple of Goddess Nu Wa, King Zhou left his royal carriage and went to the main hall, where he burned incense sticks, bowed low with his ministers and offered prayers. King Zhou then wandered about the hall, finding it splendidly decorated in gold and other colors. Before the statue of the goddess stood golden lads holding pennants, and the jade lasses holding S-shaped jade ornaments which symbolized peace and happiness. The jade hooks on the curtain hung obliquely, like new crescent moons suspended in the air, and hundreds of fine phoenixes embroidered on the curtain appeared to be flying towards the North Pole. Beside the altar of the goddess, made of fragrant wood, cranes and dragons were dancing in the scented smoke rising from the gold incense burners and the sparkling flames of the silvery candles.

As King Zhou was admiring the splendors of the hall, a whirlwinds suddenly blew up, rolling back the curtain and exposing the image oft he goddess to all. She was extremely beautiful, much more than flowers, more than the fairy in the moon palace, and certainly more than any woman in the world. She looked quite alive, smiling sweetly at the king and staring at him with joy in her eyes.

Her utter beauty bewitched King Zhou, setting him on fire with lust. He desired to possess her, and thought to himself in frustration, “Through I'm wealthy and powerful and have concubines and maid servants filling my palace, there‘s none as beautiful land charming as this goddess." He ordered his attendants to bring brush and ink and wrote a poem on the wall near the image of the goddess to express his admiration and deep love for her. The poem ran like this:

The scene is gay with phoenixes and dragons,

But they are only clay and golden colors.

Brows like winding hills in jade green,

Sleeves like graceful clouds, you're

As pear blossoms soaked with raindrops,

Charming as peonies enveloped in mist.

I pray that you come alive,

With sweet voice and gentle movements,

And I'll bring you along to my palace.

When he finished writing, Prime Minister Shang Rong approached him. “Nu Wa's been a proper goddess and the guardian angel for Zhaoge, I only suggested that you worship her so that she would continue to bless the people with timely rains and favorable winds and ensure that they'll continue to live in peace. Bur with this poem, you've not only shown tour lack on sincerity on this trip but have insulted her as well.” He demanded, “This isn't the way a king should behave. I pray you wash this blasphemous poem off the wall, lest you be condemned by the people for your immortality.”

“I found Goddess Nu Wa so beautiful that I wrote a poem in praise of her, and that’s all. Hold your tongue. Don’t forget that I am the king. People will be only too glad to read the poem I wrote in my own hand, for it enables them to identify the true beauty of the goddess.”

King Zhou dismissed him lightly. The other civil and military officials remained silent, no one daring to utter a word. They then returned tot he capital. The king went directly to the Dragon Virtue Court, where he met his queens and con in a happy reunion.

On her birthday, Goddess Nu Wa had left her palace and paid her respects to the three emperors, Fu Xi, Shen Nong and Xuan Yuan. She then returned to her temple, seated herself in the main hall, and received greetings from the golden lads and jade lasses.

Looking up, she saw the poem on the wall. “That wicked king!” She flew in to a rage. “He doesn't think how to protect his country with virtue and mortality. On the contrary, he shows no fear of Heaven and insults me with this dirty poem. How vile he is! The Shang Dynasty's already ruled for over 600 years and is coming to an end. I must take my revenge on him if I'm to assuage my own conscience.”

She took action at once. She mounted a phoenix and headed for Zhaoge.

King Zhou had two sons. One was Yin Jiao, who later became the “Star God Presiding over the Year," and the other Xin Hong, who later became the "God of Grain." As the two gods paid their respects to their father, two red divine beams rose from the tops of their heads and soared high in the sky, blocking the way of the goddess. Looking down through the clouds, Nu Wa at once realized  realized King Zhou had still twenty-eight years  to go before his downfall. She also realized that she could do nothing about it at this moment. Since that would go against the will of Heaven.

The goddess returned to her temple, highly displeased. Back in her palace, Goddess Nu Wa ordered a young maidservant to fetch a golden gourd and put it on the Cinnabar Terrace outside her court. When its stopper was removed, Nu Wa pointed at the gourd with one finger and suddenly a thick beam of brilliant white light rose from the mouth of the gourd and shot up fifty feet into the air. Hanging  from the beam was a multi-colored flag called the Demon Summoning Pennant. As soon as this pennant made its appearance, glittering high up in the sky, all demons and evil sprites, no matter where they were, would gather round.

Moments later, dark winds began to bowl, eerie fogs enveloped the earth, and vicious-looking clouds gathered in the sky. All the demons in the world had arrived to receive her command Nu Wa gave orders that all the demons return home except the three sprites that dwelt in the grave of Emperor Xuan Yuan.

Who were these three sprites? The first was a thousand—year-old female fox sprite; the second was a female pheasant sprite with nine heads; and the third was a jade lute sprite.

“May you live eternally, dear goddess!” the three sprites greeted Nu Wa, kowtowing on the Cinnabar Terrace.

“Listen carefully to my secret orders. The Shang Dynasty's destined to end soon. The singing of the phoenix at Mount Qi augurs the birth of a new ruler in West Qi. This has all been determined by the will of Heaven, and no one has the power to change what must happen. You may transform yourselves into beauties, enter the palace, and distract King Zhou from state affairs. You’ll be richly rewarded forgiving the new dynasty an auspicious start and helping the old one to its downfall. However, you mustn‘t bring harm to the people.”

at the end of her order, the three spirits kowtowed, turned themselves into winds, and flew away.

Since his visit to the Temple of the Goddess Nu Wa, King Zhou had sunk into a deep depression. He ardently admired the beauty of the goddess and, yearning for her day and night, lost all desire to eat and drink. He had no passion for his queen, his concubines, or the numerous maids in his palace. They now all appeared to him like lumps of clay. He would not be bothered with state affairs.

One day, he remembered Fei Zhong and You Hun, two minion courtiers who would flatter and slander as he pleased. King Zhou sent for Fei Zhong, and the latter appeared in no time.

“I went to worship Goddess Nu Wa recently,” King Zhou began. “She’s so beautiful I believe she has no rival in the world, and none of my concubines is to be compared with her. I’m head over heels in love, and feel very sad as I cannot get her. Have you any ideas with which to comfort me?”

“Your Majesty! With all your honor and dignity, you're the most powerful and the richest man in the world. You possess all the wealth within the four seas, and are virtuous as the sage emperors Yao and Shun. You may have anything you wish for, and you should have no difficulty in satisfying your desires. You can issue an order tomorrow demanding 100 beauties from the grand dukes. You’ll then have no trouble finding one as beautiful as Goddess Nu Wa,” Fei Zhong suggested. King Zhou was delighted. He said, “Your suggestion appeals to me greatly. I’ll issue the order tomorrow. You may return home for the time being. ”He then left the throne hall and returned to his royal chambers to rest.

If you wish to know what happened thereafter, please read the following chapter.

[jonsalways]

About Jon and Dany Targ magic baby ruling Westeros:

First of all I think we all need to prepare ourselves for the upcoming “Dany is pregnant” moment next season.  D&D are obviously foreshadowing it this season bc they are so clever and unpredictable. *roll eyes*. But the thing is: Dany being pregnant doesn’t mean she’s gonna conceive a child. This whole plot is probably based on her miscarriage in ADWD.

Miscarriage is coming.

Season 8 is final and the show needs to lead the series to an ending similar to George Martin’s, and I do not think GRRM intend to give Dany a child. Her miscarriage at the end of ADWD is to show us Dany is barren. She was sexualy active and young in the books so it was more than natural she would get pregnant. When she sees the bleeding she couldn’t remember the last time she had a period. That’s very telling bc it means she was used to have periods even after Drogo’s death. That’s why in the books she is not certain of her infertility as the show Dany is. But back to the show we had a very important change at 7x7. The leaked scripts had a scene of Cersei’s miscarriage that was cut in the final edition. The first important implication of this choice is that Cersei is probably going to die very soon, so if she’s pregnant or not will not change the storyline very much.  The cut scenes usually are gone for good and aren’t added to the upcoming episodes. So I do think Cersei is going to die pregnant. The second implication is that Dany also having a miscarriage at season 8 would be repetitive to the viewers. But now Cersei still pregnant, Dany miscarriage will be more shocking and way more likely to happen.

The Power Struggle.

Dany’s pregnancy would be very problematic for many reasons. She’s heading to war, so being pregnant of a precious miraculous baby would make her think twice before putting herself in danger on Drogon’s back to fight. On the other hand, the “queen of the seven kingdoms” would need a father to her child, since Westeros is not that liberating land yet,  and Dany is current unmarried. Her marriage to Jon would be very problematic once Jon heritage became public.  Jon has done plenty of things against the Northerners approval since the army of the dead is marching upon the North, but once the WW threat is done, he’ll have to face the consequences and the last time he did things like this the consequence was his own murder. You can’t expect the North will be okay to be forced to go to war for Daenerys after just have fought an army of dead people. The North will be tired and devastated and the last thing they will intent to do is fight  another war for a southern. The North will not fulfill Jon’s promises to Daenerys and will probably crown Sansa as Queen instead of keep Jon (who is actually Lyanna’s son not Ned’s and worst: it’s half Targaryen) as King in the North. Marrying to Jon would be pointless to secure Dany the North once he’s no longer their King besides she’d lose a powerful weapon to make alliances in a peaceful way. D&D would need to write a very complex narrative to solve all these political complications and allow a Jon and Dany marriage. Also Jon’s marriage is a complicated issue bc he’s the heir to the IT, marrying him to Daenerys would  make sense only because Jon is really honorable and wouldn’t want a son to be a bastard, but aside from give Daenerys a true claim to the Throne  their marriage would bring no other benefits and would not fix the northerner rebellion. The Knights of the Vale and the northerner army are necessary to take King’s Landing since the Reach and the Dornish army are gone in the show. The key to the Iron Throne once the WW’s are gone is Sansa. And Daenerys can’t marry her. And Jon can’t marry her either if he is already married to Daenerys. The easiest way to solve all this complications is giving Daenerys a pregnancy for drama purposes and then a miscarriage. Just like they intended to do with Cersei. That’s how D&D do things.

The poetry

The whole point of Dany being called “The mother of Dragons” is the fact that her dragons are the only children she will ever have. Dany’s intimate bond to the Dragons is because of that.  It would be way less poetic if the mother of dragons could have children of her own.The slaves calling her “mhysa” wouldn’t be so beautiful  if Dany had her own kids. Dany being barren is a crucial point to her ideal of “break the wheel”, not only because she wants to do so, but because she needs to do so. Dany can’t have children, so monarchy will not work for her, she needs to find another way to make a successor, and that’s why she’s so revolutionary compared to Cersei who wants to give the kingdoms to her child and initiate a “dynasty that will last a thousand years”. Having a child or dying at childbirth is too off the proposition of her character. Rhaego was never born and she never saw his face because it would chance a lot her nature, like Cersei’s children affected her personality. That’s not something GRRM wanted and I don’t think he wants that now. Dany is a female conqueror, she is far from that loving and maternal figure heroines and female characters usually have. She is not bond to maternity and yet she is the only character we know to be called as “mother”. Giving Dany a trueborn son/daughter would kill the entire poetry.

Profecies

“When will he [Drogo] be as he was?” Dany demanded. “When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,” said Mirri Maz Duur, “When the seas go dry and the mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a LIVING CHILD. Then he will return, and not before.”

Daenerys IX, AGOT

Dany may gets pregnant but she’ll NEVER conceive a living child.

The prophecy refers to Drogo’s return, it is not about her fertility. Dany being unable to bear a living child is a condition to Drogo never comes back to life. And he never will, that’s why she’ll never mother a trueborn son. I’ve seen a lot of “Only death can pay for life” metas, but Mirri Maz Duur showed us that’s not very true. Dany paid with Drogo’s horse and her unborn childto have Drogo alive and the “life” he had was not a life. Dany had three dragons coming out the fire after she had paid with only two lives in exchange. Having a Dragon’s death, whose life was already exchanged for a person’s life, just to give Dany a son is illogical and kind of cheating. It would be an infinite circle of death for life. It’s not happening. Dany will be pregnant because she can get pregnant. The curse was about never having a living child not “never getting pregnant”. Prophecies are tricky and dangerous, don't try to find holes to run from them, bc that’s not how they work.

The trigger

Like a said, removing Cersei’s miscarriage from the storyline but keeping Daenerys’s is very telling. I already told you why I believe Daenery’s ending will be tragic. She will probably die a heroin or live enough to became a villain. Her visions at the House of Undying are very telling, she saw important things about her life and her future. But she saw no lover, no husband, no kids, no growing old, no kingdoms of her own because that’s not her future. She’ll probably not gonna live enough to achieve these things. The show is foreshadowing Daenerys as a threat but for that, she would need a trigger to pass the point of no return. The treasons she will face, the North not backing her in the war for the Throne, the better claim to the IT Jon has, her miscarriage, I think this whole series of events will lead her to take bad decisions, face her fall and probably death.

Stop talking about Jon’s bastard Sansa will raise. Jon is Ned 2.0. Ned didn’t have a bastard as Jon will not too.   Sansa raising Jon3rys kid would be far from what Sansa deserves.

[druidkitty]

Rumple’s Dark Castle Chapter 28

Read the entire work here

            That night Belle had a very difficult time sleeping, something that wasn’t foreign to her, but this time the reasons were twofold.  First, every time she closed her eyes she saw either the ogres or the blob creatures.  Second, she was terrified about this ridiculous errand Rumple was sending her on.  There was no way she could ever pass as his sister.  They did not look anything alike.  Rumple had assured her that if they questioned it at all she just had to plead adoption.   Yet, these were powerful men and women-some magical folk.  Wouldn’t they be able to tell if she was lying or not?  And not to mention she would be lying to THE KING.  Couldn’t she be locked away for such a crime? 

            Rumplestiltskin didn’t seem to think so.  He seemed fairly confident in this whole thing as if it was the best plan he had ever concocted.  Maybe it was.  Then again he was the one who also had thought it was a good idea to lock his son in some sort of time prison to keep Bae safe.  His intentions were good-in that case at least-but he really needed to set his priorities straight. 

Rumplestiltskin needed to understand that this mission was the absolute most ridiculous thing to do.  Yet, she knew she was still going to do it.  She would do it for him because she cared for him and she cared for Baelfire.  It probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a shot.  At least she wouldn’t be lying when she did call him a coward.  In her heart she believed him to be brave, and she knew she would still try to alter his decision to go through with this and would most likely be unsuccessful.  But having her go to the palace on his behalf was a very cowardly thing to do.  Yet, if the King did seize Rumple and his son, what would she have left?  Absolutely nothing. 

            All these weeks in the Dark Castle, all these weeks hoping she would heal and yet still not one memory had returned to her.  It was hopeless, just like getting a good night’s rest.  It didn’t help that every little sound or movement caused her to cringe, to recall what had happened earlier that day.  But Rumplestiltskin had assured her over and over again: no one or nothing could get in the castle.  So then why was he so terrified of the Blue Fairy or the King?  If nothing could get in then that included those two as well didn’t it?  She supposed he didn’t want to be locked up forever, but really nothing made sense because Rumple only seemed to tell her half of what was going, if that much.

             Eventually, she did drift off, somehow managing to get a couple hours of sleep before Rumple had Lumiere woke her at the break of dawn to have her dressed and ready to go on this foolish chore. 

            “What will you be disguised as?” Belle asked Rumple as she wrapped a warm wool shawl around her shoulders, preparing herself for this outing. 

            “That, I haven’t decided!”  Rumple replied with a squeal as if this was a joking matter.  He took a sip of his tea as he sat and watched her carefully.

            Belle rolled her eyes and slipped her shoes on.  “Then how shall I know it’s you?”

            “Oh you’ll know it’s me my dear, it will be quite obvious.”

            It was so impossible to get a straight answer out of that man.  “And what if I’m discovered as a fraud?”

            “You let me worry about that.”

            Of course that was his answer.  She should have known.  She flashed him a fleeting scolding look, reprimanding him for basically sending her into this blind without any clue of what to do except somehow to miraculously convince this Fairy to release him from whatever hold she has on him. 

            The little wheel clicked by the door turning to the color indicating she was going to the capitol, going to the Palace that housed the royals. 

            Belle walked down the couple of steps and reached out for the doorknob, but it was then she froze.  Scenes flashed before her eyes.  Horrifying scenes of ogres and the black blobs.  All she could imagine when she stepped out that door was one of those monsters waiting to pounce, grabbing her and ripping her to little pieces and feasting on her flesh.  It was the most gruesome thing she could imagine, but after seeing what happened to the people of Avonlea she couldn’t push the images from her mind.

            “Belle?”

            She could feel Rumple standing behind her now, feeling his breath on her shoulder as he was so close.  It should have made her calm down, it should have made her feel safe, but all she could do was imagine she was on the verge of being attacked. 

             “Belle?”  It was Rumple’s voice again and this time it was accompanied by a hand on her shoulder.  She jumped then; flipping around defensively, ready attack before anything else could.  But she could see now it was only Rumple.

            Tears threatened to fall again, pooling near the corners of her eyes.  She answered Rumple before he had time to ask what was wrong.  “How can you be sure there’s no ogres out there?”

            “Belle, I’ve explained this-I used my magic to scour the area.  There’s no ogres within one hundred miles.  The capitol is far from Avonlea, far from the battlefields.  You aren’t in for any surprises this trip.”  He paused his face showing he couldn’t promise something like that.  “Any ogre surprises I mean…”

            Belle was far from any type of mood to joke.  “Alright, no ogres, I believe you, but what about the…”  She stopped herself then, having almost spilled the beans about the dark blob creatures.  She still hadn’t told him about those and she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to.  Every time she really thought about them…like really thought about them that headache would return.  He would probably think more about it than he should.  He would worry more than he should.  It was just headaches after all; any one could get them.

            “What about the what?” He eyed her suspiciously leaning forward a little, scrutinizing her every move. 

            Thinking quickly on her toes she came up with an answer that was a legitimate concern.  “What about the Evil Queen?  What if I run into her?”

            He went into deep thought then, as if he hadn’t considered the witch might be an issue.  And to Belle, she may very well not be.  After all it wasn’t like she had seen the woman before, yet whenever her name was mentioned it did seem like she was this impending threat.  After his confession that the Queen wanted a relationship with Rumple-something that every time she thought about made Belle’s blood boil-she really didn’t understand why the woman was so dangerous.  All Rumplestiltskin had to do was say no.  She couldn’t force him to be with her. 

            “Here.”  Rumple held up his hand and his flesh flashed gold before returning to normal as a ring magically appeared between his thumb and forefinger.  “Give me your hand.”

            Belle watched him carefully, before obeying and holding out her left hand.  When he took it, she could feel her heart leap and it began to beat even faster as he slipped the little ring on her index finger.  She held it out to examine it.  It was a small gold ring with a bright red round jewel at the end of it that sparkled even in the tiny bit of candlelight.  It fit her hand absolutely perfectly as if it was always meant to be there. 

            Her eyes sparkled as they looked back up to meet his, but she was unsure about what all this meant.  Her heart so wanted it to mean something special, something romantic, but her head told her not to wish for such impossible things. 

            “This will protect you from the Evil Queen among other things,” he explained.

            Oh…it was for protection, nothing more.  Her smile faltered a smidge as she felt a tinge of disappointment.  Why did she even think it meant something more?  She was so stupid.  Over and over again she needed to remind herself that he would never want an ugly woman like her.  He probably thought of her like a sister and that was why he came up with this plan.  No.  That was a stupid thought too.  Why would he think of a maid as family?  It was all for Bae, nothing more.  Bae thought of her as family and that was enough reason for Rumple to keep her safe.  He had explained that to her the night before and she needed to do well to remember it. 

            As if he sensed her disappointment, most likely because he saw it on her face or inferred from her quietness, Rumplestiltskin grabbed her hands and made her look back up at him.

            “Hey, you can do this, don’t worry,” he assured her.  “The ring will protect you-I personally will be there to protect you-and you will be able to convince that fairy scum to release me of my contract.” 

            She sighed.  He couldn’t read her at all.  That had not been what she was thinking of even though they were all valid points.  He was however, holding her hands and she felt all tingly inside and a little uplifted.  She didn’t want him to let go.  Being this close to him had become very enjoyable to her and it felt as if he was showing her more and more affection with a little touch here or there.  And there she was going again letting herself believe it wasn’t an act. 

“Why do you hate the fairies so much?” she asked with genuine curiosity, but mainly as a distraction to try and stall him.  It didn’t work.

            Instantly he dropped her hands and his face soured.  He backed away from her stepping back up the stairs to the main floor.  “Hurry along now my dear, shan’t be wasting any more precious time.”  He waved at her in a shooing motion, which infuriated her just a little bit.  She wasn’t some stray he was trying to get rid of.  Then again he could have just been teasing her.  Or he could have just been trying to avoid going into detail about his past, avoiding telling her anything about him like always. 

            Well she could play his game.  Grabbing the doorknob and turning it, she stepped one foot outside before turning around to address him one last time.  “Perhaps you should be nicer to me Rumple.  I am doing you a favor.  After all you wouldn’t want me to tell the Blue Fairy the truth about your little plan now would you?”  She flashed him a playful little smirk, waggled an eyebrow and then shut the door before he could have the last word. 

            For a brief moment she stood outside the door to the castle, which here in the capitol was just a door on the side of a brick building.  She giggled.  She found delight teasing him even if she wasn’t very good at it.  Perhaps she should start doing it more often. 

            Composing herself, she decided to set off toward the palace to get this over with.  But as she took her first step a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air, startling her as it floated down from above her, wide open with a large font so she could easily read it.  “Leave the deals to me, dearie,” the large calligraphy read just before it hit the ground and burned away leaving no trace that it had ever been there in the first place. 

            Belle sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, looking to the sky as if she expected to see Rumple there.  Yet, there was nothing but a few puffy clouds, the sun shining bright, and a couple of crows.  They were cawing loudly as they flew overhead, a few of them landing on a nearby building and staring at her as if they were watching her. 

            “Oh he better not be disguised as a crow,” she said aloud with a huff.  How could he protect her as a measly little crow?  She guessed he could easily watch over her and see all around, but still…

Thinking of protection and disguise, Belle glanced down at the ring and then down at her clothes.  He had given her a nicer dress to wear, one that screamed more wealth and less maid.  It had a pretty pink linen skirt that fell just above her ankles with a cream linen shirt that had a ruffle around the neck.  Over the shirt she wore a thick button down brocade vest, that matched many of the vests Rumplestiltskin wore when he was dressed as a wizard and not a man, but hers of course was much more feminine.  The wool cream shawl wrapped around her helped protect her from the chill in the air, as there was a slight breeze in the city that day. 

They were all very nice, but like everything else they meant nothing and Belle knew they didn’t suit her at all.  She didn’t deserve to wear such gorgeous clothes.  They were pretty things for pretty women and she was nothing of the sort. 

The crow cawed loudly again pulling her from her thoughts.  She huffed again and looked away, this time actually setting off on her mission, determined to get through this even though she knew it wasn’t going to work. 

At least the little bit of excitement caused her to briefly forget about her fear of ogres and blob men, but as she made her way through the streets she began to find herself nervous once more.  Every alley way she checked, every corner she peeked around fearing there was something hiding there waiting to get her.  She took a deep breath and told herself to focus on something else-like trying to determine what Rumple had disguised himself as.  Yes, that was a good decision and something she needed to know.  Now if he had just told her, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but he had to make everything a game didn’t he?  She had come to the conclusion that it was not a crow.  She had not seen any since she left the castle and not one of those that were hanging around there followed her.  He could have been some sort of bird though.  It did make sense.  He had magic and did fly.  He had showed her that, once, and of course she had freaked out.  But he had surprised her and she wasn’t in her right mind, what did he expect?  Maybe if the time was ever right she could ask him to try and show her again. 

            When she came to the center of the city there was a large bronze statue and fountain right in the middle of a man with a beard on a horse.  Belle had no idea who it could be, but she assumed it was either the current or a past king.  Several pigeons perched on the statues head and a few on the cobblestone streets, cooing loudly as they scouted the ground for food.  Could Rumple be a pigeon?  No.  If he wasn’t a crow then he wasn’t a pigeon.  It was too simple for him.  No, if he were a bird he would be something more sophisticated she was sure. 

The town centre was hustling and bustling with people, most of them obscenely wealthier that the crowd she had encountered in Avonlea.  Their brightly colored clothes made of lace and silks were nothing like she had ever seen before.  Most of the men wore very fancy suits with either a tie or bow tie to match and some sort of hat a top their heads.  The ladies wore hats too, adorned with bows, feathers, or small trinkets.  Some women were dressed in more traditional clothing like Belle while others were in the modern wear with skirts that came above their knees and furs wrapped around their shoulders. 

            She didn’t understand that clothing very well, although she did recall wearing something similar in that dream she tried to forget, the one that made her blush every time she considered what her and Rumple were doing in one of his shops.  It was causing her to also blush now as those images surfaced in her mind.  Over and over again she needed to remind herself that it was only a dream, a dream she needed to forget. 

            A laugh from above caused her to forget about it and she glanced up to see a two manned metal flying contraption flap by with large wings.  A man was driving and a woman held on to him from behind as he made the machine do a little swoop trick causing the woman to giggle uncontrollably like a little school girl with a crush. 

            She felt a pang in her heart.  Her mind told her THAT could be Rumple, showing off and flirting with other women, but she desperately hoped not. 

“Mreowww, meoooowwww.” Something brushed against the bottom of her legs caused her to startle. 

            It was just a kitty, purring and rubbing her ankles, looking at her to be petted or fed, she couldn’t be sure.  Belle bent down and rubbed the grey cat on the head, the little thing purring even louder and rubbing back.  “I really need to stop being so on edge,” she said a loud to herself and the kitty as if it could understand.  Something occurred to Belle then and she narrowed her eyes at the cat who was so adamant about getting affection from her.  “Rumple…is that you?” 

            The cat mewed again as if it was answering her, but then suddenly it squealed and darted off, faster than Belle could ever expect to chase it. 

            Straightening her back, Belle placed both hands on her hips.  Well, no she supposed that wasn’t Rumple.  Then what was?  And what had scared off that cat?  She turned around and instantly received her answer.  Sitting right behind her was a little Dalmatian puppy.  It stood on all fours and barked, as it’s long tail waggled back and forth happily. 

            Belle smirked and shook her head.  “I should have known you would want to make an entrance,” she commented, knowing now this little puppy was her Rumplestiltskin.  She adjusted the shawl on her shoulders and continued on down the streets.  The dog followed obediently as if she was the master and had told him to come.  “I’d like to know what you would have done if there hadn’t been a cat.” 

            The puppy barked twice.  Belle rolled her eyes.  Of course she couldn’t really understand what he was trying to say.  “Couldn’t you at least pick something more useful?  Or that sticks out a little less?  I mean seriously Rumple, out of all the dogs, a Dalmation?  I didn’t think you wanted to draw attention to us.”

            And attention was just what they had drawn.  As she scolded the dog, or Rumple perhaps, she didn’t notice the duo of dark blob men appear along side her along with a tall rounded black carriage accented with a beige door and trim.  The top was adorned with intricate gingerbread and a single black curtain his the occupant inside.

“My my, what an adorable little dog.”   A sickly sweet woman’s voice echoed from behind the red curtain of the carriage, calling Belle’s attention as she realized she was no longer alone.  At first she only saw the carriage and not the creatures that were pulling it.

            If she had been alone, she knew she would now be scolding Rumple for drawing attention, but she had to keep her mouth shut in front of this stranger of whom had yet to show her face. 

            “Too bad he makes company with such an ugly little bookworm.”  The curtain moved aside then revealing a breathtakingly beautiful woman.  She was dressed all in black with a silver necklace and embroidered cape to match the detailing on her carriage.  Her hair was just as dark as her dress and her lips as red as an apple.  A small hat with lace on the edge sat a top her head giving her a very polished and wealthy appearance.   And for the first time without doubt Belle knew who this was.  She did not even have to think or guess.  It might have been her memory or it might have been just inference, but there was no mistaken.  This was the Evil Queen. 

[lovehotelreservation]

Someday the Prince Will Come - Transparent

Summary: Though he preferred to wear his Askrian armor, Alfonse never questioned your decision to wear your robe to battle. However, when said garment becomes wet and turns sheer, there’s not a piece of protection that could spare him from the lascivious fantasies that immediately seize hold of him.

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Reader/Alfonse

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING BUT WE’RE HERE NOW BECAUSE ALFONSE NEEDS MORE LOVE GDI

Also I know that this week is supposed to be themeless, but between today’s one-shot and tomorrow’s, I couldn’t resist!!!

ANYWAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY!

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Even while carrying the title of Prince, Alfonse often didn't adhere to it that much.

Joining the Order of Heroes brought about the ire of Askr's royal advisors, who incessantly nagged at him to reconsider his and Sharena's decision. Why meddle in the affairs of the other worlds when they should be at home, preparing for their eventual ascension to King and Queen?

Though his sister was more playful in response, she at least tried to quell the frustrations expressed by the royal court, whereas he simply shunned them out.

The fates of the other worlds, the meddling of Veronica, the disappearance of Zacharias, they were all matters that could not be ignored--a sentiment, thankfully, shared by the Heroes that he, Sharena, and Anna recruited amidst their journey.

However, their ability to create a fearsome retaliation against Veronica's vengeance couldn't have been done with the most mystifying addition to them all: you, the Summoner.

The circumstances of when you both met for the first time, the unfathomable power you possessed with Breidablik, the intriguing mystery of the world you hailed from--there was always something about you that never failed to fascinate him.

Or make him yearn to be closer to you.

As the trauma of Zacharias's disappearance seemed to forever leave its lasting effect on him, Alfonse made it an outright point to you that he had no intentions of forming any relationship beyond teammate. While Sharena chided and pouted at him for being so standoff-ish to a new friend, he couldn't find it within himself to get attached to you in any way. You appeared out of nowhere in some miraculous way. What could stop the opposite from happening, much like with Zacharias?

Though really, he should've known that the battlefield was the best place to create and strengthen relationships.

Despite you lacking the ability to draw a sword and fight, you more than made up for it with your ability to summon and composing impeccable strategies. Alfonse only saw you as a leader, one who he can trust to seek victory, which in turn lead to peace, and, ideally, would eventually lead to uncovering the mystery behind Zacharias. With each successful battle however, he felt a surge of pride and accomplishment, especially when you always made it a point to praise him for his efforts.

Suddenly, he found more reason to give it his all on the battlefield.

While above all, the mission was what was to take top priority, Alfonse eventually found himself wanting to impress you, whether by how many enemies he could defeat, or landing the finishing blow that would seize victory for you all. Sharena was quick to pick up on this, thereby teasing him with a smug grin and a coy, "What was that about not wanting to be friends~?"

Though Alfonse waved it off as his sister's imagination simply running wild, it came to the point where he just couldn't deny it.

Whenever camp was set up after battle, he always found himself drawn to your side, wishing to talk to you about anything that would allow him to bask in your presence a little longer. He was especially interested in what your world was like, mystified by all that you had to say, about these unique metal carriages that needed no horse to move, or how you had these lightning-infused devices that made communicating by letter and carrier owl obsolete--to which a nearby Feh huffed its chest and turned away with disgust.

The time spent with you, whether alone by the campfire before bed, or doing an early morning patrol together while the rest of camp was asleep, eventually added another priority that he was determined to uphold:

Protecting you.

Not merely to preserve the stability of the Order of Heroes--even though that was, without question, vital. But for his own wishes, his own desires--

His own love.

It was why that he--at this moment--couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt, shame, embarrassment for indulging in an act that was doubtlessly unbecoming of a prince.

Since Camilla, the Nohrian princess who hailed from the World of Conquest, was summoned, she immediately insisted that a bathhouse was to be installed at the Order of Heroes’ castle headquarters. While Alfonse saw her request as much too frivolous and indulgent, the idea was widely and agreed upon by those who also hailed from the princess's world, and that of Birthright.

Unsurprisingly, when you were in favor of the bathhouse--noting the benefits to having a place where everyone can unwind before or after battle--Alfonse changed his tune.

And was he ever thankful for it.

Sitting upon the smooth stone edge of one of the many baths in the area, he--surrounded by inescapable steaminess, both physically and in fantasy--was succumbing to his own desire and lust for you. His legs submerged in the enticingly warm water, he was stripped down save for the small towel he had nudged aside, offering him access to wrap his hand around his erect cock while he stroked himself furiously . Biting down on his lip, he still took great effort to keep himself from being too noisy--even with the sound of bathwater constantly streaming in and the ruckus outside with some sort of welcoming celebration hosted by Izana, the most recent Hero to be summoned. Though, really his restraint was more out of shame than anything else.

He had been at this for minutes now, somehow finding snatches of relief while dragged further along the edge of his release. Though, how could he find relief after what happened today?

As per his own personal allegiance to protect you, Alfonse didn't hesitate to object to any strategies of yours that could draw any harm your way. Your role was to give commands, not enact them. Usually this came about when their enemies were on the defensive side, hiding amidst the natural environment while waiting to strike.

In other words, they had to be lured out.

While it wasn't too much of a hassle to do so with whichever Heroes had been brought in for a fight, there were some instances when your strategy called for you to be the decoy. You draw out the enemy, your Heroes--in position--strike and commence the attack.

Today's battle called for such a plan. Heavy thickets and vast forests were nothing new to you at this point, and neither were enemies lurking within the trees in wait. Considering the opposition, there was no way you could try luring them out with a Hero without that person being completely overwhelmed.

A point that Alfonse immediately interjected with, his fists clenched tightly and his eyebrows furrowed.

However, you assured him that luring out the enemies would be a success, given that there happened to be a ledge that loomed over a lake. The height that the leap would require was feasible for a person to make, even one who wasn't battle hardened like yourself.

While concern was expressed by the likes of Anna and Sharena, the agreement for you to play decoy was near unanimous, save for Alfonse. Though, seeing the fierce determination in your eyes, he gave in soon enough--but not before insisting that he be the one to ensure that you made a clean getaway, volunteering to take the position by the lake and keep it clear of any enemies that would come forth as the battle begun.

Anxious didn't even begin to describe the wait for you to show up.

Still, losing faith in you was out of the question--he should trust you in the same way you to him while he carried out your strategies. But now, under this newfound stupor of vulnerability and affectionate wishes, he was tense as he remained hidden amidst the pine trees that grew around the lake, which remained thankfully clear of new enemies. Nothing made him yearn for that lightning-infused communication device to see how you were doing--

Suddenly, Alfonse's eyes grew wide open, his jaw becoming slack for a moment before it tightened.

Wearing your white robe, you leapt from the ledge and into the lake.

Sure enough, there were enemies behind you. Some soldiers hung back upon coming across the ledge, while one was bold enough to leap after you.

Only to be greeted by the swing of Camilla's axe as she zoomed by on her wyvern.

His body moved faster than his mind could process.

Leaving Fólkvangr, his shield, his cape along with the heaviest pieces of his armor on the shore, he quickly dove into the lake to swim towards where you landed, making sure that he wasn't weighed down. His focus unwavering, he felt even lighter when he saw you emerge from the depths with a sputtered gasp. With near rapture, he called out your name as he approached you, blessed relief sweeping over him.

"You did it again," he laughed gently while his eyes scanned over you to note any injuries you may have sustained--whether from your jump or while running away.

"It's just the prologue, more or less." You smiled in return before your eyes shifted back up to the cliff, where the cries of battle and the sound of weapons clashing could be heard overhead. "The real act begins now."

"And I'll see to it that everything sticks to the script," he assured before gesturing back to the shore with the slight flick of his head. "Come Summoner, your guidance is further needed.:

With this, the two of you made your way back to the shoreline. As Alfonse retrieved his armor, his posture was at ease, knowing that this dilemma of being so worked up over you was finished.

Or so he thought.

Embarrassing as it was, he found some issue with getting his cape to properly stick with his armor. Usually, he would ask for Sharena's help--which would earn some teasing from her end--but with her offering Anna support up on the battlefield, he had no choice to just ask you for assistance.

Then he looked your way.

And then...

"Maybe...I should start asking Robin for his robes..."

Wet.

Clinging.

Sheer.

Feeling heat rise to his face, Alfonse's eyes were flued to you as you stepped onto the shore, the soaked white fabric of your robe--practically see-through due to its light material--like that of a second skin to you. As your robe was a size bigger than you, he could make out every curve of your physique. Though, what truly left him speechless was watching your hands move to the front of your robe, pulling the flaps open.

He heard you sigh over not wanting to traverse through the forest with your robe weighing you down, but it was left unfathomed. While he wasn't treated to the sight of your underclothing--or even your naked skin--you were wearing a loose-fitting sleeveless top and a pair of shorts that hugged your hips that fulfilled and realized a good chunk of his imagination. Given that summer was here, he shouldn't have been too surprised by your attire.

Or excited.

With your robe completely off, you held it in your arm, sighing with relief from the freedom. Though, recalling how Anna's stern but well-meaning advice that you keep your identity hidden at all times--if just to avoid letting the likes of Veronica exploiting that information by any means--you looked back to your outerwear, wondering if you may as well slip it on again, discomfort and all.

"Ugh...this is gonna be a pain..."

Then you suddenly had a near face full of cape being held before you.

Curiously, you glanced at Alfonse, only to see that his gaze was directed away from you, the tips of his ears a noticeably blushing red.

"H-Here, just use this for now. Wear it as you like," he stammered before stiffly stepping over to where he left Fólkvangr and his shield. "We should be quick to get you to the lookout area too. We need our strategist after all!"

Though he did not turn back to face you as he spoke, he raised his hand to offer you a thumbs up.

So awkward yet so sweet.

You smiled.

That was your Alfonse.

And now your Alfonse was hidden away in his own personal hell of vices and desire. Though the battle was successful and there was even a celebration that followed after with Izana formally recruited into the Order of Heroes, the prince couldn't find it in himself to partake in the festivities.

Simply because he had so much he needed to release.

The baths were empty, thankfully, with everyone else was swept up in the party, yourself included.

He shuddered as you came to mind, thinking back to how you wrapped his cape around your damp form. What would be better--he wondered--to be intimate with you while you wore his clothing--fatigues, royal garb--or while you were naked, your skin pressed flush against his.

Already blushing and slick with bathwater and sweat, he gasped and bucked against his hand, squeezing around his cock at the thought while his eyes shut in pleasure. His rhythm quickened the more he thought about you clinging to his body, raking your nails along his shoulder blades as you begged to be fucked harder by him and--what made him quiver most--declared your love for him.

In turn, his hands being able to roam around your body, free to stroke and discover all the spots that made you gasp and arch your back most, it only fueled his hunger and intensified his need for release.

And yet, even in the privacy of the baths, Alfonse could only feel shame for what he was doing. Wishing to step beyond mere Heroes fighting alongside together was indulgent in itself. But now, going further with jerking himself off to the mere thought of your lips parting open to moan his name was utterly disgraceful for a prince.

On the same regard, for you to call out your name in a mix of a whimper and pant was pure defilement, a sullying of your character--

"Alfonse?"

Whatever heat that enveloped him turned frigid, fitting for the way he froze at the sound of a voice calling his name.

Your voice.

From the entrance to the baths itself, there was no real obstruction, save for the changing room, mainly for easy access. Thus, when it became apparent that you were standing right beside where he sat--clothed in nothing else but a towel--his current disheveled state of depravity was on full display.

Your eyes were as wide as could be, your jaw slack in complete shock.

Not only did you just walk in on Alfonse touching himself, but he was fantasizing about you while doing so.

For someone who was quick to action in battle, everything at this moment just felt so sluggish. Any excuse he could possibly think of were immediately rendered useless, for there was really no way of getting out of this, save for owning up to his shame and apologizing--though his guilt only deepened as he resisted from staring at you in your current attire (or lack thereof), even more of his imagination realized compared to earlier today.

He expected for you to curse his name and storm off. Instead however, you--while remaining understandably and completely flustered--stayed in place, even if your gaze proceeded to shift elsewhere. His hand reached for his towel to cover up his cock, right as his fingers clutched at the fabric while he stared down at the baths.

Nothing was said between you both, the only sound in the room being muffled chatter from outside and the continuous rush of bathwater.

When he couldn't take the shared silence, he gripped his towel tighter as his name tumbled from your lips. "I-I..."

"I came to rinse off since Izana thought a cake fight would liven things up at the party...! I'm so sorry, Alfonse!"

"'Sorry?'" Alfonse repeated with disbelief, his gaze immediately returning towards you. He saw that your head was lowered in apology and that--like him--you were gripping your towel as well. "For what?"

As though he couldn't feel even more remorse, you looked apologetic, even in your embarrassment.

"I-It's nothing!" You exclaimed in return, shaking your head before you took a step back, looking as though you were about to leave. Though, seeing his genuine confusion, you seemed to mirror his shameful feelings, given by how you winced by some seeming internal conflict. Your voice small, you confessed while shifting away even further. "I...really didn't mean to watch you...this whole time. I'm really sorry."

With nothing more to say, you moved to depart in shame. Truly, you did come to the baths to wash up, only to catch Alfonse alone, right as he pushed his towel aside to begin stroking himself. Entranced didn't even begin to describe how enamored you were by the sight, your need to rinse forgone in favor of watching your dear prince indulge in pleasure. It wasn't until that you heard him moan your name that you had to approach, to clarify what you heard.

However, you didn't make it a step more until you felt his hand reach for your arm.

Astonished, you turned around, expecting for him to be furious.

Instead, you were met with the most vulnerable that you've ever seen him, his expression longing with need.

Alfonse spoke your name, his voice breathless. "I don't want you to go," he gasped, proceeding to draw you into his arms. Hearing his words as you become wrapped in his embrace--with his bare skin pressed against your body--you shivered and did the same, your grip clinging.

He brought a hand to your face, cradling your cheek as gently as his thumb grazed over your skin. Earnestly and with need, he panted out, "I...never want you to go."

Staring up into his eyes, which reflected a desire for you that equally matched yours for him, what was next was clear. An opportunity for you both that--for someone who lead many victories as a strategist--would be foolish the two of you to not take.

Your arms moved up to slink around his neck as your head moved towards his, any gap between your lips soon to be closed and sealed--in this case, for the rest of time.

"And I never want to leave."