#But you still were forced to commit patricide | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

secret-fungi · 2 months ago

Text

Fathers be good to your children

Book: Thunderstorms saga rating: M pairing: Tai/ Tiss words count: 6k tws: drinking, mentions of blood, physical injury, Patricide, sexual harrasment (tiss is spied on)

A/N dinners done i serve you a bloody prince yaaay everyones favorite

Ever had a girl so bad you committed patricide?

@rc-catalog idk if this really counts as a mothers day submission but tiss is preg in it soo almost mom?

She hated the palace. The walls and thick vines that grew upon them, the flickering flames and each and every marble step seemed to watch her, Warn her against something she did not know. She hated the feeling as if even the flowers that sat on the windowsill were watching, their gentle sways as the wind played with their petals somehow nefarious— somehow in some way it was warning her too.

It was alright in the light, and in short spurts of visits But the moon was outside her window and in the darkness, the novelty of the empire had worn off, and no longer was it interesting that there was hardly a familiar sight, She missed the blossoming flowers and the salty, crispness that settled in the air of her home.

She laid in bed, candle still lit and a dagger that she had snuck in under her pillow. She continued to try — fruitlessly— to read what she held in front of her, but the words swam and jumped and her eyes darted to every dark shadow that accompanied her in the room, waiting for eyes to emerge from the darkness.

Oh, how she hated the palace.

And as if it too shared those same, strange sentiments towards her the walls peered closer, leaning in too close to watch her read. Under the weight of the disembodied stare, she thought a rather silly thing: that If it had something to say, then it should say it. She disliked it being watched, and she hated most that her things seemed to move about while she was alone, as if mocking her.

Toying with her silly idea that the prince’s chambers could protect her— That he could. And she did not like that one bit. Maybe, someone was watching, through a hole in the wall she didn’t know of, waiting for her gown to drop, for the candle to be blown out and her eyes to close—

A small, barely noticeable shuffle sounded from somewhere in the darkness, she jumped upright, her book harshly dropping against her thighs. If you could feel a laugh, she did. cruel and mocking and overjoyed at her fear.

She reached under her pillow and searched the darkness, there was no more movement, but still she knew, they lingered somewhere she could not see, and at the sound of movement outside of her door she bolted up, jumping out of bed and rushing to the other side of the room. She came bursting forth, dagger in hand pointing wildly at the source of the sound, resolved to end the source once and for all.

The room adjoining her and the prince’s was lit softly, hardly a place to hide within the shadows that hid in small corners, and as her eyes adjusted to the sight, the prince– just as undressed as her– stood still for a moment, his eyes heavy on the dagger pointed to his neck, a small, devilishly amused smile tugging just so at the corners of his lips. Easily, it could’ve been taken as a sign of war— She wished he had taken it as such, tossed her back into a cell but instead, He looked at her and let the laugh that had come up pass his lips.

“Have you come to talk me out of a drink?” He teased, his hand still half pouring a glass.

She dropped her arm but still she was tense, that unease still wrapped tightly around her throat. She rolled her eyes then glanced around the room. It only took that. The small jittery, anxious movement forced him to pause, placing the pitcher back onto the table before he moved towards her as if she was a wild beast.

“What happened?” He asked.

She knew it was coming from the way he glanced at her open door, and the dagger in her hand as if there was some hidden mystery to solve. He parted his lips and she knew what he would say, and some small part of her feared he’d already know what the issue was– that telling him would make the eyes quieter but not disappear, and she feared that after all of it, he would have played her. That the whispers about him were true and held no exceptions. She had been confined for a while now, sick and weak; she was unsure if she worried more that he would think it had made her mad or if it truly had made it so.

“Maybe, what do you have to offer if I did?” She says in response, a tightness in her words that didn’t escape the other for even a moment, but he responded as if her poor attempt to wipe the stricken look from her features had worked and he had not noticed what she didn’t wish to see.

“What would you want?” he asked with a grin, and had the mage looked away from his eyes she would have noticed that his hands, one wrapping around her waist and the other gently tugging at the dagger. But she did not look away from him and neither did he from her.

“My favor?” He asked “Have you not heard? I have that already.” She said, a small smile on her lips despite herself.

“I was hoping for a token of your appreciation… But you’re a thankless creature,” She says dramatically.

He laughed, tilted and tense like it was when they had first truly spoke to each other, it distracted her for the moment it took him to respond. “Am I?” He asked, moving to pull her to the sofa. He sat with her, his hands still holding her as they sat.

If he was surprised to see her, he did not show it, nor was he surprised when she sat so closely to him. No, he only glanced down at her state of undress for a few moments too long to be less than intimate before he smiled at her.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, if only to annoy her. “Yes.” she said, if only for him to invite her to his room. His brows shot up, eyes glancing to the dagger before she caught him. “I worried you were a lady of the court.” she joked. His laugh became true at this, a bright grin spreading across his lips as he reached for the towel that rested on his shoulders before he dried his hair.

She watched the man’s muscles move at the absent movement. He was kept busy these days, and the fact he had come out here for a drink likely meant that the pitcher in his room ran empty, or maybe he had hoped his movements would stir her from her sleep.

He caught her glaze, her eyes wild and wired and smiled, continuing his attempt at distracting the mage. “You truly can’t be worried about them,” he said. “No, not truly.” she admitted.

“Are you thirsty?” He asked, gesturing to a pitcher that was placed on the side table. “No, thank you.” He nodded slowly, rising to his feet and walking over to the table. Her eyes didn’t wander his direction though, they jumped from shadow to shadow, over every crack and every inch of each wall that encased them, what she was searching for, he didn’t have to try too hard to understand. He watched her as he poured himself a drink. She was flushed and her chest heaved and a strange anxiety etched into her features.

He hadn’t heard her leave, so he couldn’t imagine that she ran into anyone, but still a lump formed as he took a drink from his goblet. She picked at the thin, sheer fabric of her nightgown as he watched her, her figure silhouetted from the light that came from behind her. He watched as she seemed to battle herself, her brows furrowing and relaxing in response to her silent argument.

It wasn’t until he had invited her to his bed that she seemed to calm slightly, sinking into her side with a heavy sigh. He watched her, occasionally taking a drink as he waited for her to tell him, and she would, he could see it, that she was losing the mental battle she fought. Still, he waited, grabbing his book before settling beside her. It was halfway through the third page when she rested her head against his chest, her head tucked under his chin and her body pressed close to his side. And it was around the seventh page that she finally spoke up.

“Prince.” she said with a strange undo formality, drawing herself back from him as she leaned into him. “Yes.” He replied. She spoke without thinking, and the courage she had to demand his attention faltered the moment she had it. She paused, taking a moment as she tried to form the words— she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say first, in truth she hadn’t meant to address him out loud.

“Is there…” she started, her fingers picking at the lavish blankets that sat at his waist. He watched her every move as if she would combust at any moment.

“I have been to many castles.” She tried again, only to bite at her lip again. “In many there is a way to look into a room in case the servants are needed and such–” His eyes drifted to the door, then back to her.

“Do you think someone is watching?” He asked. Looking down at her. She paused, her entire being stilling against him for a few seconds too long for her not to be given away. “Tell me, If someone wanted could….” she caught the look he gave and lost her nerve, her palm coming to press into the center of her forehead. “Nevermind, forgive me.”

He watched her curiously, a strange look upon his face as he observed her wired movements.

“There’s no such spots to watch that I know of.” He said “That you know of.” she repeated.

He frowned, his brows knitted together and his shoulders tense and pushed back as if he was readying himself for a fight, his eyes landing in the direction of the dagger he had taken from her before he looked back to her. “What happened?”

She paused, her fingers absently drawing patterns on his skin. “Someone is watching.” She said, He glanced paused, his perking up at her words before she lost her nerve. “No one would dare unless it’s at your command.” she said as the name passed by both their minds. He didn’t know if she was asking so she knew it was not him or to make sure it was his doing, her tone almost begged it to be him, because the alternative was much worse. She looked pale and sunken, a rosy flush across her face, and every bit of the sight grabbed hold of him and tied him in a knot.

“I was worried about you.” He said softly, as if testing the thickness of the ice. “You’ve been ill and I didn’t wish to bother you.” He said his hand coming to smooth down her hair. She sighed, sinking into him farther. “You’ll have to stay here, to ease my worries.” he said “Okay.” she replied. Sleep came quickly to the restless mage after, still hugging the prince who stared at the door, and when he snuck out from her grasp he found that the dagger had been moved from how he placed it, and with a heavy sigh, the man held his face in his hands, trying to pull a plan from the threads that hung in the air.

He found her sitting alone reading in the garden that had become more theirs than his, sitting under a tree as she paid him no mind at all. And as the sun shone, it stretched out in great beams of golden light. And as the breeze came from the west it tugged at the curls that fell from her braid crown. He stopped where he stood on the stone path to observe her, Occasionally reaching to grab hold of a small round biscuit that had been sent from her home or turning the page. She did not seem too happy, a frown pulled at her lips and her brows pushed together. He came to sit with her on the bench without announcing his presence, stealing a cookie as he did.

The mage seemed to forget her fright in the days that followed, not speaking a word of it again but still keeping to sharing his bed. She greeted him with an odd smile before she caught sight of what he held in his hands. “You look somber.” He noted watching as her eyes lingered on her cookie before they looked at her book. “What are you reading?” He asks, she gives a vague gesture before she smiles. “I got the newest work from the bards back home.” she said, holding up the thick, green book. “And it’s made you sad?” He asked. She glanced back to the open page before she smiled. “It makes me miss home.” she admitted. He finished the sweet powdery cookie before he leaned over to read. She leaned back, holding the book above her head.

“Get your own, thief.” She said, “Thief?” he questioned. “Thief.” she confirmed, pointing to the sugar still on his fingers. He frowned before he licked his fingers. “What are they called?” he asked, “snowdrops.” she replied. “Seasonal?” She nodded, watching as he glanced at the book that was well within his reach before he leaned forward, grabbing hold of it, his eyes scanning the page she was. “The future.” He read aloud, giving a weary nod as if he had a personal animosity with the concept.

“And it saddens you?” He asked, “Saddens? No.” she replied. “It frightens me.” she admitted, smoothing out the lines in her skirt. “What do you make of yours?” she asked

He paused, taking another bite of his cookie as he watched the small birds play in the pond. “It tires me.” He admits. She nods slowly. “You’ll be a fine ruler.” She said, then watched as an odd combination of emotions moved across his features. “That sounds like a threat.” She shrugged a smile on her lips as she took in the sight of him, offering him another cookie from the small sack. He looked down at her gentle smile, watching as the wind tugged at her hair as he took another.

“You can take it as such.” She said before taking a bite of her cookie.

“Have you recovered?” He asked. At once any sense of ease fled from her as she coughed. Her hand that was not covering her mouth curled around the fabric of her skirt, creasing it once more. “No, It will be a while before I do.” she admitted. She looked to him, trying to find any sort of understanding, and when she found none, she stood abruptly pulling at her fingernail softly before she laughed almost nervously. “Does the future frighten you now?” she asks, her hand pressing on her stomach. His eyes followed, darting around quickly as she strained to keep herself from running.

She did not expect a grand reaction, she did not expect any at all, she assumed that he had dealt with such before, but his reaction made her heart drop through her shoes. He looked at her as if she had been struck. His brows tented and his lips pulled into such a flightful frown. He looked terrified, and horribly pale, as if he had been struck a second after her.

“Tai.” she said, reaching out to him. He blinked too many times, as his eyes darted around as if searching for something in the air. He didn’t respond to her, she doubted he even heard her. It was dreadful, she’d never seen him in such a way. Like he was a ball of energy, unstable and shaking.

It didn’t take but a moment for her to come close to him once more, taking his trembling hand in hers. “Tai.” “Don’t tell anyone.” he said, insistent and firm. He took hold of her, encasing her face in his hands and forcing her to look him in the eyes. “No one. Not a soul.” She stared up at him, at once she truly feared him. She feared the odd, furious look that had lit within his eyes unsettled her, because it was so very wild, cruel and unmoving. She nodded shakily. “Will I be sent away?” She asked. He parted his lips before his eyes fell to a maid that had started to approach, not close enough to hear, but close enough to notice them.

“Wait for me in my chambers.” He said, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before he was urged away by the servant.

Tiss did as told, what else could she have done. She waited, sitting herself on the bed as she waited, and waited, and waited so long that a maid had come with a trolly of food. “Will His highness be joining?” She asked. and the maid, not either of hers, looked at her before she served her plate.

“No, Lady Vedtree, His highness is not available right now, he sends his regards.” She said before she bowed her head and walked off. She sighed, stabbing a piece of fruit. It was not so bad to be there, it felt much safer than hers, and the balcony was rather nice, and the entire room smelt of books, ink, and lavender. And when the sun set it’s light was like diamonds shimmering through the sheer curtains. She picked up the book he had placed on his nightstand and waited, for surely he would return soon.

Lost in her reading she soon found herself interrupted by the maid again, head bowed and dreadfully quiet.

He wished to bore her to death.

Maybe, she was waiting patiently for her execution and she would hardly know it.

Her nail tapped at her glass, her eyes locked behind her to the balcony bathed in gold. “Will he come today?” she asked.

“His highness’s schedule isn’t known to me, Lady Vedtree.” She said in the same, even tone.

By the time dinner was served she had settled, though the maid watched her and seemed to wait for her to ask, Tiss ate in silence and kept her eyes to the door.

He did not come.

One.

The dining hall was marred by a vicious silence, knifes scratching against fine dishware, A prince at the end of the table, he too was a vicious silence that swallowed the room whole. Tai looked at his father with a stern coldness. it was clear to everyone but his father that the prince no longer bowed his head. His shoulders back and tense, his brows furrowed and jaw set. He was every bit the image of a predator ready to snap.

There were not many things in the world that Tai could say he loved to the point he could not fathom to part, that the thought of a threat was just as dangerous as a real one, that he was not willing to have them endure– because he endured. Pain was a matter of how much you paid attention to it, it was meditative. He couldn’t imagine, in this moment– sitting across from his father as he grinned at him, knowing and cruel. Truly, He could not imagine letting the few he loved that much know of the man before him.

“How is she? Vedtree. she hasn’t been tempting the guards recently.” Foelh asked, that same look of knowing. He knew very well that he had been caught and he enjoyed that he had even more. Tai smiled with a practiced peacefulness.

“She seems fine, don’t you agree?” Tai replied. Foelh smiled, that same taunting smile, cutting a piece of meat off before he took it. “You cage a woman like a bird and she will fly away.” The emperor warned.

The prince‘s jaw clenched almost painfully but other than that, he gave no other show of being bothered, only blinking as if he was bored. “Thank you, for your wisdom.” was all the prince said.

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten bored” Foelh said with a

Choke. The prince thought as he watched. Everyone but the emperor could see it, the way Tai’s fingers curled around his knife, his knuckles paled and tight.

Not yet!

The stage is not set! don’t you know what’ll happen when you jump without looking?

Not yet I tell you, —

He shrugged. “There is still more to do.” Choke.

Two.

The days repeated, so similar she had found she had lost hours to her worry— she couldn’t remember if it was today she had sweet bread or if it was the day before. It did not matter, it was one day.

She hoped he was well, that he’d send a letter— come for a moment anything. But he didn’t.

Three.

For three days, she had asked, and for three days the answer was the same; “His highness is not available right now, he urges you to dine without him.”

Tiss frowned deeply at the maid, biting at her nail as she paced the room that she had become imprisoned in. Tai had been miraculously busy. If he had come to his room, it must have been while she slept, but even then she doubted as he left nothing to prove his presence.

She wondered about his plan, was it working? had it already failed? she paced across his room so much she worried the ornate rug would tell on her. But the routine remained the same, even as she worried.

The maid came once more when the sun was setting.

with a tray a small, unmarked letter sat propped up against the serving dish. She took the letter and came to sit on the ottoman at the end of their bed. The sound of tea being poured went on far longer than the letter, all the familiar handwriting said was this; I love you. Nothing of his plans, or when he would come. If he would come, nothing more than a farewell.

She frowned, looking at the maid as she took hold of the offered tea. “The prince, does he seem well to you?” She asked.

The maid once more in her distant, unmoving way looked at the mage through her lashes. and in her even, indifferent tone she answered; “Yes, He seems as well as ever.” she said. Tiss frowned, taking a sip of tea before she sighed deeply. “He’s coming back, isn’t he?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t know, Lady Vedtree.” was the only response the other gave.

She had realized too late that it was a sedative, Only when her hands stopped trembling and fear lifted it’s heel from her chest did she realize.

“His highness sends his regards, and offers this in hopes it’s of some comfort to you.” The maid said, finally showing a worn leather bound book, small enough to carry with you and truly it looked as if it had traveled.

flipping through the pages she found them filled with his words alongside the poems and sonnets and songs she had come to know— a small blue flower stuck out from between the pages. She took another sip before she opened to that page.

She took faith in these small things that proved him safe, and like a prayer she repeated it throughout the whole day, not a second from when it came into her possession did these signs leave her sight, as she ate, and as she bathed, and as she laid in bed— she repeated it before she fell asleep.

It was so late that no light at all could cut through the darkness, the wind did not howl, no it didn’t even whisper. An undue stillness overtook the palace, one that had not been felt for many years now. As if the very walls and thick vines that grew upon them, the flickering flames and each and every marble step seemed to let out a breath, it had always felt as if it warned you against something she did not know. She hated the feeling as if even the flowers that sat on the windowsill were watching, their gentle sways as the wind played with their petals somehow nefarious— somehow in some way it was warning her too. But tonight, they quieted, peered towards something more interesting than the mage fast asleep.

The room smelt of metal and sweat, and the only sounds that came was the rapid breathing and the heavy steps that squelched with every one of them came towards her bed.

Drip.

The prince walked forward, dragging his feet as he climbed into bed, he wrapped his tired arms around her, his bloody, shaking hand coming to press against her stomach, his thumb swiping against the soft fabric as he tucked his face into her shoulder. He shook so violently as if he was freezing, but he was so warm. His heart raced so fast against her that it swept the sleep from her. “Tai?” she called softly into the darkness. His response came just as softly, in a hoarse, strained whisper the prince pressed his reply into her shoulder. “He’s dead.” he said, with all the heaviness in the world. A strange tone that couldn’t seem to make up it’s mind at being giddy, remorseful, or relieved so it fell to exhausted with random, odd bursts of each.

She turned over harshly, her eyes wide half expecting to see the emperor staring back at her, but when she turned it was still only Tai, worn and battered, his face covered in dark speckles, a strange, wired look about his eyes.

“Foelh.” He said, as if he had dropped much more than a rose into her hands. Realization came with a wretched gasp and a deep sigh. Still wrapped in his arms she rolled over fully, her hands coming to gently swipe away at what was left of the cruel man from the prince’s cheek, it only served to leave a smudge. For a while, they sat in the darkness, the only light coming from the small candle he had left by the door, it casted long shadows upon the wall and the pairs faces. Still, they laid, foreheads pressed together.

She parted her lips but the words she used to have failed her at the sight of him, he breathed heavily as if he ran here from wherever he had been.

Blood saturated him, dripped from his hands as he drew circles against her stomach. It was almost like a compulsion, as if he was making up for the times he wanted to reach out but withheld his touch, as if he was adrift, lost in the sea that the emperor became and the only driftwood for miles and miles was the mage and the child yet to breathe.

Her throat dried with all the words she wished to say. I’m sorry. Are you okay? I love you. What will come of tomorrow? I love you.

His eyes found hers again, weary and tired, and resolved, as if he understood that she would be leaving. She swiped at his cheek again, her thumb smudging the tops of his cheekbones before she leaned to meet him, as she had many times before. He breathed deeply against her lips, his shoulders relaxing just that much more as she pressed soft kisses to his bloodied lips. He seemed different, even now in the state he was in, but she didn’t let her eyes stray from his– wide and hazy, insistent and burning- he burned, and his heat seemed to demand something of her, whatever it may have been she was willing to give.

His hands still trembled against her skin, but he didn’t shed a tear. Neither did, they stayed, locked in each other's arms. They kissed as if to reassure the other that they were still with the other, still accepted after all. Each one seemed to be the conversation they didn’t care to voice out loud.

Her fingers got lost in his tangled hair. I’m here.

His nose pressed against her cheek. I’m here.

Her lips against his. No ones gonna hurt you while I’m here.

His hand on side. No ones gonna hurt you while I’m here.

Thunder crashed suddenly followed by the flash, Her fingers sought to rid him of his clothes out of force of habit that came when his lips pressed against hers and lavender surrounded her. She wasn’t surprised to find him flinch against her, but it didn’t stop her from pulling her hand away from him as if he had snapped. His hand came to hold hers, fingers intertwining as he breathed out.

By tomorrow they would not get the clothes clean if they tried for days. His lips found hers once again. By tomorrow, this will have been long over. He pressed her hand against his chest, her fingers curling around the ruined garment, her fingers dipping slightly into a tear in the fabric. By tomorrow, he’d be a prince no more. He pulled her to lay on top of him, She was a welcomed weight against him. Something like armor that reassured you.

By tomorrow, it'll be over.

He strained to meet her lips, flinching once more at the movement. Her eyes left his, dropping to his chest before she pulled at his clothes, finding the last will and testament of a dying man written on the prince’s pale skin. She cast him a scolding look before she helped him rid himself of the soaked garments. Surely, he was satisfied to die within her arms, but she was not. Not now, and when they were old and their child grown, she would not let him go then, either. She pulled him once more from the bed, his steps staggered and heavy eaven as he leaned against her. The bathroom was already lit, and when they entered they found that a frazzled servant had already drawn a bath, it did not steam as usual, nor was it fragrant and frothy.

The maid bowed her head. “Will you be—“ the prince cut her off with his hand. “The physician will be waiting.” she said, bowing before she left.

In the light and without his clothes he looked rather gruesome, a gray tint to his skin and his lips devoid of their soft rosy color. He landed on the stool that sat by the tub harshly, watching her as she took hold of a sponge.

He gave a smile watching as she attended the wound. “You should have gone to someone.” She scolded. “I did.” She glared at him, biting her lip as the wound became clearer. At the sight of it she worried her lip, biting down to stop herself from crying. She felt rather foolish not having control of her emotions in the least anymore, but the man in front of her didn’t seem bothered. A relieved smile on his lips and fondness in his half lidded eyes.

Foelh did not go silently, no– he left as he lived, violently and without ties of morality, fondness, or fear. A beast-like man with no heart in his chest, just a bitter hole he shoved all the things he thought could help into. For many years, Tai wondered if that was always the fate of the crown or if it was the fate of men like his father. Still, he was unsure.

“Have you thought of any names?” He asked, catching her by surprise for a moment before she grinned. “Have you?” She asked “Every second after you told me.” he said. Her grin widened, her chest seizing for only a moment before she couldn’t hold it within herself and she breathed out a soft odd noise. “And what have you come up with?” she asked as she scrubbed the dried flakes from him. “Tai II.” He said “Oh! No, one of you is enough.” She said “That is where we differ, lady because I want the halls to be filled with the very image of you.”

She cast him a warning glance “Flatterer,” She said with so much fondness that it might as well have been any other term of endearment you could think of. But had you seen the look in his eyes, you would not have said that, it wasn’t even the first word that came to her mind herself, but the word that came to mind, seemed too good a thing.

She didn’t wish to flush, but his words made it so anyway.

“I’ve always been fond of the name Alora.” She said before she raised his arm to wash his hands, her eyes locked to the blood that had dried under his nails, he could see her forming a scene in her mind but she didn’t ask, not when all but his hair was clean, not when the water ran red, not even when it ran clear.

“Alora.” he repeats “For a son?” she looked up to him rather guiltily. “I’ve never thought of one.” She admitted. He raised his brows, a look of amusement already flitting onto his fis features. “Did you think you’d get a choice?” he asked “no, I just never found one I liked.” she denied, without even an ounce of believability in her tone. The man laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he pulled her closer.

“Then let's hope this one is a girl.”

Soon as the physician came, it’d be over. the sun would rise, and today would wash away. He pressed his forehead against her temple and sighed. He no longer shook, but the toll had weighed on him much heavier now that he had calmed.

“You scared me.” “I’ve heard.” he teased, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She shot him a warning look, gently lowering his arm before she dropped the sponge.

Soon, the storm would pass and they would hardly remember the man that used to be.

The storm did past, and the day did break, and as they knew, the light marked the time that they would have to part, and they did, they must, and as the Soon to be emperor recovered, they turned to the mage, They looked to the prince, and when he was finally fit to walk he took her to the garden once more. His hand resting on top of hers as they strolled arm and arm, as they had come to be known to do.

The flowers in bloom swayed with each brush of the breeze and the pair chattered on, of names and who they’d wish the baby would take after. It was a strange sight, to see how he looked down at her with an unguarded smile, watching as the wind tugged at her hair. They looked much younger now, without the weight of the emperor. Free.

And as he looked at her, she adjusted the cloak that sat heavy on his shoulders. “You’ll be a fine ruler.” She repeated with a nod, much less threatening than she had previously said it. He watched her only for a moment to capture the image before he pressed his hand on top of her.

“Will you make sure of it?” He asked, with a grin on his lips. “I will have to.” she said, her fingertips lightly grazing his as she stretched her neck to meet his lips.

The storm did pass, in time.

#rc the thunderstorms saga #rc tai #rc fics #my fics #hes still not my li #rc catalog mother's day event #fics for void #request

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theshipsong · 3 months ago

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hii Kat! firstly, congrations once again on the follower count, here’s to as many more fans as you’re comfortable with 🥳) and secondly, i’d so love to req a relationship cross spread for the good (?) ship ophine .. (no pressure of course!)

— some s/i info, because while you are familiar with Ogata (♒️ and a very well-adjusted darling), i feel like i force people to collect pages for Seraphine (♐️/♑️ cusp) lore 😅🪽… born in a family of a career military man, and raised in religious austerity (staunchly anti-religious since). with their restless and flighty personality, and lax moral compass, they were briefly involved with a revolutionary group as a teen, but under the fear of prosecution (and out of a wish for a more comfortable existence), seraphine did their best to lie and hustle their way out of russian empire. soon enough they landed a paid informant gig, first with the british intelligence, and later with the japanese, when a certain first lieutenant (when, still possessing a whole frontal lobe) took them under his wing. this led to their work as his agent during the russo-japanese war — resulting in some traumatic experiences for them, which led seraphine to close off onto themselves, dulling their once active and lively demeanour.

being from the same boytoy collection as ogata, they were cursorily aware of him, but the two met properly after the war and eventually hit it off, plotting against everyone. ogata enjoys their practicality, dry wit and unexpected flashes of affection, and dislikes how ambiguous seraphine keeps their relationship (while obviously being into him, duh), meanwhile seraphine is afraid of any sort of commitment, but finds his blunt personality, singleminded focus and obvious mental hang ups charming. both of them possess immense hunger in their hearts and yearn for something that would make them feel complete, and both are stubborn idiots about it also 🙂‍↕️🪽

(i hope any of that background is useful, and cards will cooperate ^^, thank you for this opportunity, and for re-kindling an interest for more arcane ways of blorbo analysis in me with your excellent insights <3333)

hellooooo seraphine! have a seat, grab a drinkie. i'm so glad i got to know this odd duck of your husband in time for this and even more thrilled to know your s/ins!!

(for any other readers, if you say "cusp" where i can see i will show up in your house like this)

ogata (aquarius sun, pisces moon): four of coins

seraphine (sagittarius sun, aries moon): page of coins

past: eight of wands

present: judgment

future: six of swords

the fours are kind of bitter. all of them have overt tones of either loneliness or lack, and really all i could think of looking at four of coins is hyakunosuke's earlier perception of love, specifically his father's love, as a finite resource that he might direct toward himself by cutting off its other outlets. yes, i mean the matri-, fratri-, and finally patricide, which makes for a family of four. the figure in the pictorial four of coins is a hoarder. they have reached their goals and have no one to share the rewards with. what ogata lacks in coins' common signification of capital we can turn into… survival, and skill. he's selective about who benefits from his service, which is to say he's a squirrelly little schemer no one trusts because he keeps these coins close to his chest.

the two of you matching suits is darling, and golden coins for golden kamuy is almost annoying, but i'm also the one using a gold foil deck. the pages are the wobbliest, least experienced court cards, so the page of coins standing for seraphine points to, i think, their clumsy way of affection. i'm kind of liking using coins as the pair of you's like… late-bloomer cups, which are conspicuously absent from this spread but does not! mean you're unemotional. seraphine's page is trying to hold onto emotion like it isn't water that runs through their fingers, because the best way they know how to conceptualize intangible concepts as solid and countable. that said, seraphine is surprisingly fiery, so the temperamental extremes aren't alien territory.

i think the eight of wands aptly describes, well, flashbacks to war as shown in golden kamuy, and within it the stress and pace of being hooked into lt. tsurumi's plans. (would love to read for him… capricorn, the devil…) it's a card heading straight for burnout. to me, this sounds like the two of you having separate missions during the russo-japanese war and the near-impossible weight of tsurumi's expectations, maybe slightly caused by his limited personnel and slightly caused by he's not exactly hinged even with a whole frontal lobe, is he? wands are fire, so this also feels appropriate to seraphine's continental travels. to be basic and explicit and stupid, the english bits of "winding road" i can remember have this tired/fire rhyme: "don't you get so tired and don't be an outsider, the proof against the fire." etc.

judgment is funny if we think of reading and roasting and such, which ogata certainly embodies as a shady little shit while with sugimoto's group, but its real meaning for the present of your relationship… makes me think of a revenge k-drama like the glory or eve or a revenge film like kill bill or, you know, the more classic the count of monte cristo. i lead with the glory for the wacky couple hijinks of evidence tampering and lying to cops and conspiracy as foreplay. for most mundane, modern uses, this card has been watered down to like, self-reflection and growing from mistakes, but for storytelling? it's vengeful spirits and collecting debts and looking hot doing it.

i promise i gave my deck a giant reshuffle, but the damn six of swords keep coming back. i've pulled it like, three times this week, and from two different decks! so i feel like i'm beating a dead horse when i say it's about departure, and journeying on to an undefined something better even though you're dead on your feet. as a card for your future, this can only be a good thing. you two deserve to run far, far away from the tempest that made you, and the mess you served in return. swords are also ogata's air. he's actually a wet lad where you're very dry with his air sun/water moon versus your double fire, and it's always notable in a pictorial deck where multiple elements seem present: yes, swords are air, but the waite-smith art shows a ferry, traveling over water. escape and refuge seem like a bigger deal to ogata than sereaphine, who's more practiced at moving around and abandoning things (pos or neg. this is also my chronic s/ins issue)

get into my tarot party!!!

#짜릿해 짜릿해 three of cups #fool on the hill #ophine #entrancing lore tbh #asks #the 11th house ♃

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apotheosis-part-1 · 1 year ago

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Chapter 4

No. No! NO! It couldn't be Him! He's dead! I killed Him! Nononononono no, no, NO! Fuck fuck fuck!

-You heard me. Don't make me force you to.

I'm sorry, creator! I... I! I...

He started lifting his spear off of the ground.

I'm sorry im sorry imsorry!

-Fine. Please do not resist.

In a panic I scrambled for a dodge.

I looked death in the eyes when I flew over His accelerating spear. While I was landing I noticed that the exit was left unguarded! I rushed there.

-I said do not resist. Nevertheless, don't think I won't find you.

Just run. Just run! JUST RUN!

Eyes started opening around me in the overly long hall I was running through - Seer's eyes. Fuck, he was here as well.

As I was about to reach the end I heard a door open, THE door, the one behind me. And then - loud stomping of His tentacles. They were hitting fast, too fast. RUNRUNRUN.

I opened the door at the end of the hallway. What I saw would put an evil grin on my nonexistent face at any other time - The Library. But now is not the time. I NEED to hide.

I hid in between two bookshelves on the second floor. The light didn't reach that much in here.

-Don't try and hide. I know you're here. 10.

Shit! H-Here He is!

-9.

M-M-Maybe I should switch spots!

-8.

I can be sneaky while I'm doing it!

-7.

But what if He sees me?!

-6.

T-That would be b-bad!

-5.

Fuckfuckfuck!

-4.

What should I do?!

-3.

I can't hide from Him!

-2.

He may be a sinner, b-but-

-1. Кто не спрятался я не виноват!~ ("I'm not the one to blame if you didn't hide!~" in russian. Children say this when they stop counting and start seeking in hide and seek)

I tried to become one with the wall and not make any sound. He started searching the first floor.

I heard my own heartbeat. It was fast and loud, not ideal for the situation at hand. Calm down. Calm Down. CALM DOWN!

I heard loud thumping against the stairs to the second floor.

He. Was. Here.

Fuck!

My frantic attempts to fuse with the wall continued.

The natural light coming in from the windows dimmed to a point I couldn't see and an eerie faint red glow started coming in from the direction of the stairs. A quiet and high-pitched sound filled the air. Other than that it was awfully silent. No tentacles, no spear, only my panicked breaths and heartbeat. The glow was increasing in intensity, soon painting the entire room in an eerie red. My heartbeat sped up and became louder. The noise wasn't so much a noise anymore, but a scrambled and fast paced, although still legible, piano and violin melody. One of His tentacles wrapped around the bookshelf I was hiding at. And then the full body came into view. It was glowing red with lines of tension coming off of it and onto the floor and walls. Red eyes started appearing all around me. He looked at me.

HE LOOKED AT ME!

-I said that you couldn't hide so why did you even try?

His voice was twisted and broken, but it is not the time to focus on that! I flew over Him. He just laughed. His laugh echoed and boomed all throughout The Library. I flew towards the exit. Landed. Locked. FUCK!

I looked behind me. He descended unnaturally fast from the second floor. His body seemingly grew and took up most of the artificial hallway created by the bookshelves. His tentacles were stomping over to me too fast. His spear was pointed right at me.

This is the End, isn't it?

In a desperate attempt I lifted my hand up and-

...

When I opened my eyes the Shadelord was frozen. Along with most of the Library. This is why I came here isn't it? Destroy the books that hurt. Haha- It seems to work out in the end~

...

I started to lose my footing and tried to lean on the door. It opened, causing me to fall. I laughed. And laughed and laughed. With a laugh that could come out only from somebody who has just committed patricide twice.

hahahahahahahahahHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

#the angel #apotheosis #the shadelord

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marvelstars · 10 months ago

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I think that was the show creators trying to whitewash Obi-Wan role in ROTS when he decided to cut off all of Anakin´s limbs and letting him burn alive, one of the most painful ways to die ever. This tells me not only part of the fandom has a hard time seeing the story as it´s with nuance but also current creators at disney but that´s not how Lucas developed his story.

Obi-Wan may have not groomed Anakin like Palpatine did, owned him like Watto but he certainly tried to kill him on behalf of the Jedi Order and he was convinced he only could kill him off , in fact it´s Obi-Wan the one who started the fight on mustafar activating his lightsaber first while Anakin wasn´t looking at him.

Obi-Wan´s mission on mustafar was to kill off Anakin plain and simple, when he saw him burn alive he didn´t feel pity or mercy, he feel disgusted, in lucas words, Obi-Wan thought he was a thing, a thing of the darkside and when he discovered Vader was alive he planned to train Anakin´s Son, use his memories of Anakin to convince Luke to kill off Vader, his father, then tried to deflect blame when confronted with the truth by Luke.

This doesn´t mean Obi-Wan didn´t love Anakin at some point but he believed in "once a sith always a sith" for someone who told Anakin only Sith deal in absolutes, he had a very "absolute" way of thinking, the only thing Obi-Wan tought he could do for Anakin once he fell to the darkside was kill him off, at no point does Obi-Wan in the OT tries to deny that´s his intention so it´s unnecesary for the fandom and some creators to try to do mental gimnastics over this fact and by the way Obi-Wan learned of Anakin´s actions, you could even say he was justified even if his actions were cruel.

That said the story is clear that there are two types of deaths, the physical one and the spiritual one when people fall to the darkside, the jedi believe killing a sith is ok because they are already dead and so they are not killing the same person, that´s the logic Yoda follows and Obi-Wan when it came to Anakin and Dooku but they are also hypocritical in this choice of words when they act as if revenge wasn´t a big factor on it but at least they accepted they played a part in what happened to Anakin even if they are trying to fix it by killing him.

This is what makes Luke reject their orders, because he doesn´t want to commit patricide for revenge, he respects and loves his teachers but that´s something he knows he can´t do without falling to the darkside as well and despite all the reasons he had to hate Vader, he also has felt his care for him in the force and that´s why he wanted to save him.

Anakin tried to convince himself that he was spiritually dead and lost until Luke went to rescue him and that´s why he told him he already saved him even if he was dying.

Obi-Wan was totally surprised when he discovered Vader turned back from the darkside and when he realized Anakin was going to join the force he realized he wasn´t going to see him as himself again, unless he teached him how to become a force ghost(this is tackled in the novel version of Obi-Wan´s pov in ROTJ), so ironically, it was Obi-Wan´s need to keep Anakin around, on his side, what promted him to teach him how to become a force ghost, because he discovered he still loved him as his friend and wanted his friend back.

It´s pretty clear in the story, this isn´t about criticizing Obi-Wan, this isn´t Jedi bashing, it´s how literally the events happened in star wars and those are part of Obi-Wan´s personality as well as some of the Order povs on the darkside this doesn´t contradict their good intentions or Obi-Wan´s sassy lines and warm demeanor with friends and family.

It annoys the heck outta me that people take Anakin’s words under the duress of intense stress seriously when he condemns himself but never when he stands up for himself or dislikes the way he’s treated in a situation. Like anytime he makes a negative comment about the Jedi Order or the Order straight up treats him horribly it’s all “he’s an unreliable narrator, mentally ill!” which go to hell! he is mentally ill but that doesn’t make him an incompetent idiot), or biased as if no one can truly know the of their own experiences. However when he says stuff like “You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker, I did”, everyone’s all like “ SEE ! SEE! ANAKIN WASNT ABUSED OR GROOMED! HE SAID SO HIMSELF! IT WAS ALL HIM ALL ALONG, VICTORY IS MINE”. Like Jesus. Cherry Pick much?!!!

#stop taking the nuance out of star wars #disney critical #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #luke skywalker #darth vader #star wars

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ciaran · 2 years ago

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ok ok ok i told myself i was gonna write this so im going to write it even htough its not going to make any sense and i am not actually doing anything and everything sucks. but we live in a shitsuck world so i am gonna write my dumb little thoughts down.

mo du spoilers ahead and discussions of triggering topics

anyway so. the thing abt the last book of mo du which is a v recognisable thing to happen and i Get It as an author like i truly do despite the longest thing ive ever written having been 50k of unhinged word vomit about feeling profoundly isolated from reality. i am the shit king of things that are too complicated and simple and that make no sense and plot is not my strong point as an author and i could not have done better. but i truly believed that priest could. anyway the thing that happened is that the last book was just not good lmao and it was not good for a few very particular reasons that were EASILY rectified by having a team of good alpha readers who are willing to slap you over the head and tell you to make a damn decision.

the thing is that before that mo du IS good and my idea for what should have happened in the last arc WAS SET UP BY THE NARRATIVE! i was not an idiot for thinking that that was what would happen! its just that she refused to go there for two critical reasons

she felt like she wouldnt have enough time to resolve this plot point

she didnt want to introduce a new major trauma before the end

she didnt trust her characters to get through it

she had set up a moral system in which once u commit murder u are irretrievable from The Abyss (as proven by that one dead cop's daughter idr her name but she killed a cop by accident)

that's more than 2 but i am a lit crit bitch not a numbers bitch. moving on.

she WOULD have had time to resolve this plot point if she had simplified her plot by a few threads. that cult shit was not necessary. the fact that the mysterious organization had someone within working to bring about its downfall was a great touch that didnt go far enough. there was a parallel between fan siyuan and fei du that was never fully explored and that was a waste of both their characters.

fei du needed to Go Through Something and he just did not. he needed to suffer a major moral injury in order for that arc to work - he needed to kill his father, or be mindbroken by being submerged in the abyss. the abyss needed to affect him. instead he is untouched which is awful. where are The Horrors of finding yourself at home among monsters! where is the Relief of not needing to mask, and wondering if this might just be better, if its not a little joyous to not care about morality and goodness. where is the Fear and the Self-Hate and the moral conflict between wanting to become your worst self and wanting to slip back into a comfortable orbit. where is the CRISIS OF FAITH!

but that's the thing, she didn't trust luo wenzhou to be able to handle fei du like that. she knows lwz can handle fd when he's being like "im gonna atticwife you shixiong" while clearly being a wet bedraggled catboy but she doesnt know if lwz could handle fd while hes laughing maniacally and trying to decide between killing his father, zhou chunliang, and fan siyuan. not that fd can handle a gun's recoil but that's not the relevant part. she didn't know if lwz could see fd at his worst and still love him but he CAN! he's a little crazy too let him find it kinda hot when fd struts around masterminding complicated criminal plots.

i truly think that showdown should have had lwz as a captive audience so fd experiences terrible feelings. OR fd should have actually HAD TO kill his father, no take-backs, no last minute outs. murder that vegetable. pull the fucking PLUG piglet. he should have to live with patricide even if he's never going to be charged with anything. lwz should have to live with loving a guy who was forced to have blood on his hands. let him have nightmares for the rest of his life about the closure he craved for so long.

but this goes back to priest's issue with MORALITY. the morality of the mo du universe is very clearly slanted into people being either GOOD or BAD and once you cross the line you can NEVER COME BACK. there is no complexity offered to the characters and there SHOULD HAVE BEEN! fan siyuan was a horrible person but what if he felt like he didnt have a choice? what if he was just like fei du and HIS lwz died? u cant tell me that fan siyuan wasnt in love w that one guy whose photo he was trying to see in his last moments. show me the beauty under the rot. what if fei du was pushed over the line? could he still be allowed to have some light? could lwz LET HIM? and i truly think lwz can, it's fd who cant let himself have that. but fd needed some confounding factors in his worldview.

call me a whump lover but i love when theres major trauma at the end of a book but it's still slanting to a happy ending. i like a hint of bitterness, a hint of "it will never be okay but at least we have each other." it's good.

anyway when mac and i were talking about this mac also suggested that fd walking into the abyss could have been very effective as a trust fall, a sign that he KNOWS that lwz will come for him and pull him out and not let him get lost in the evilsauce. and i agree w that being hot but i also have a personal preference for fd having a crisis of faith and lwz having a crisis of faith and both of them realizing in the end that they did choose each other and they still have each other

but priest chickened out of Challenging her Characters at the end and that just meant the whole thing rang soooo hollow. big grief. mz priest i will give u one dollar and my heart if u write an alt ending

get rid of that cult shit, get rid of the moral black and whiteness, let fei du sink into hell and kill his dad and be pulled out and dusted off and loved anyway. forgive some of the people who wandered into it without meaning to. let lang qiao and xiao haiyang kiss. The End

#mo du #notes

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edelegs · 4 years ago

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Postwar Edeleth + Two Jewels Headcanons

- I always imagine that Byleth joins Hubert in the fight against TWSITD. They go out at night on dangerous missions. Edelgard and Ferdinand can’t sleep on nights when they’re gone and both end up working on policy to try to distract themselves.

- Byleth and Hubert’s friendship is built on a foundation of mutual respect and trust that manifests as jokes about how they’d kill each other and get away with the murder

- Byleth also tries to recommend romantic weekend trips to Hubert. “You know, El and I really liked Deirdru. You and Ferdie should go next weekend, you’re both working yourselves too hard.”

- Byleth loses the power of the Sword of the Creator, but they teach Edelgard how to wield it.

- All four of them are great at keeping their work and personal lives separate. Cabinet meetings are largely dull and involve a great deal of painstaking drafting and bickering. But the second work is done, they snap out of work mode and become different people.

- EDELGARD GETS HUBERT TO CALL HER EL

- It completely goes against all of Hubert’s instincts, but he comes to realize that she wants him to be seen as her equal rather than her vassal. Cue some unpacking of his devotion complex. Eventually, he compromises with “Lady El”.

- Hubert and Ferdinand become the most pretentious wine snobs. Hubert likes dry wines while Ferdie likes sweet wines. They will still try each other’s preference during tastings.

- Ferdinand has a strict routine of morning horseback ride + coffee/tea break. The tea break is done on a balcony overlooking the gardens.

- There were two Edeleth weddings: one for the public, which was highly formal and intended to solidify the regime, and another just for the Black Eagle Strike Force. The private one was held first because without it, Edelgard wouldn’t have been able to keep her emotions in check when giving her vows to Byleth. Hubert planned both events. The Bleagles all gave speeches (with varying degrees of sobriety).

- Edelgard takes up art as a hobby/destressor. She hires Bernie to be her art instructor. One anniversary, she surprises Byleth with a technically sound portrait of them.

- They all start studying the Brigidian language. Ferdie is the most fluent, but Hubert has the best accent. Edelgard is paralyzed by second language speaking anxiety and writes a million letters to Petra about how amazing she is.

- Hubert has not known peace since Ferdinand found out he could sing.

- Hubert opens up to Ferdinand about committing patricide and his feelings on being a Vestra (because you know he definitely asked)

- None of them would change their last names. Byleth and Edelgard are both the last of their family lines. Hubert would not dare sully his already bloodstained name with that of the old Duke Aegir’s, and if you honestly believe Ferdinand “I am Ferdinand von Aegir” von Aegir would ever take on a different name you are sorely mistaken

#edeleth #ferdibert #edelgard von hresvelg #hubert von vestra #byleth eisner #ferdinand von aegir #black eagles fe3h #crimson flower #long post

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chaotic-major · 4 years ago

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My take on ninjago villains (From s1-s8)

I have not watched anything past season 8 yet, but this is my rating for each villain and my opinions: Pythor: 8/10 I liked that he was continually used without it feeling forced and that it lined up with his morals and goals, even when they changed. Scales: 10/10 I knew form the first time he appeared that he was the smartest. Being constantly underrated made me all the more wanting for him to take control. Then he makes peace with the ninja and has a son-

Lord Garmadon: 11/10 Lord G is probably one of the best written villains in the show, with or without bias. The way he is still a villain and does harm and damage, all while able to be civil with the Ninja, his brother, and son. The fact that he didn’t want to make Lloyd think he had to be evil to be loved by him made my heart melt. Then he’s a good guy all the while his past coming back to haunt him? *chef kiss* Props to you on this one ninjago writers.

The Overlord: 8/10 The overlord was cool. He was inherently evil and was a good foe for the ninja. I don’t remember much of season 3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Master Chen: 9/10 I liked how he was an interactive villain. Like, he actually interacted with the contestants and made it known that you could win his favour. And he saw how there was an easy way to manipulate all the contestants, especially Kai and Jay (though for different reasons).

Claus: 6/10 I got his hatred against Garmadon and I like that they gave him a backstory that made him relevant, but then he’s used as a plot device for season 6 and its just :/

Morro: 9/10 Probably my favourite villain so far. I like how his story and motivations still make sense throughout the entire season and how he had a sympathetic backstory that opened up the door for redemption. Still kinda sad that he didn’t stick around for a redemption arc (he totally could’ve helped Cole learn who to control his ghostyness)

Nadakhan: 7/10 Despite the horrible ending season 6 had, Nadakhan was a villain I really liked because you could understand where he was coming from the entire time. Near the end his goals went from building djinjago to Marriage which was kinda a let down though.

Acronix & Krux: 8/10 I like how they had the sibling dynamic built into them and how they didn’t completely see eye to eye, being the future and the past and all. I wonder if we see them again? Acronix had definite potential

Harumi: 4/10 OK. Hot take: Harumi isn’t that good of a villain. She has a solid reasoning and everything, and I like her as a villain. The roots of her motives though? Trash. Ok, the great devour destroyed your home and killed your parents. Cool. She’s mad at the ninja for not being able to stop it sooner and thinks Lord G is a hero. Understandable but there is a flaw there. I get the “Ninja are responsible for my trauma bc they couldn’t do anything” part but, isn’t lord G a well known villain in ninjago history? Like, she would’ve had to have some memory of him being the villain rather than the hero, if not experience then textual knowledge. She’s then adopted into the ROYAL family and lives out her years seething in anger and manages to hide it under a mask for how long? She is shown being a caregiver for the poor in ninjago and I’m sure knows full well that summoning Garmadon as “A heartless being” will only cause destruction. So, unless she actually doesn’t care about the poor in ninjago like we were shown, this detail gives he conflicting moral wants. Also, committing patricide is fine if she just wanted to control, but she just wants to hurt Lloyd. Though it seems like her motives are moving away from revenge and more towards anarchy. If Harumi had rallied everyone who was affected in the collateral of the great devourer and brought them against the ninja, not just Lloyd, to show them that their actions have consequences, that would’ve been awesome. That would’ve made everything bode well because, now it’s not just one person who wants Garmadon back and a bunch of anarchists and chaos enthusiasts, it’s a group of collateral victims who all believe in the same thing and are fighting for something they believe in rather than causing chaos for harms sake. TL;DR: Harumi is the good skeleton of a villain, but her backstory has too many holes for me.

#lego ninjago #harumi ninjago #master chen ninjago #claus ninjago #lord garmadon ninjago #krux and acronix #morro ninjago #ninjago nadakhan #skales ninjago #pythor ninjago #the overlord ninjago

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kanerallels · 4 years ago

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Okay, no clue if I can send in multiple prompts, so no pressure, you don’t have to reply to this one.

But maybe Kanera with soulmates, rescue (maybe even fix-it 👀👀) As you can see I’m a sucker for soulmate AUs🧍‍♀️💀

Alrighty, this isn't EXACTLY a soulmate au, but it came to me and I have ZERO self control around domestic Kanera, so let's go!!!

Pairing: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla

Word Count: 1,592

Tags/Warnings: Rated G (for me getting ridiculously sappy today)

“One more story?”

Kanan shook his head. “Not tonight, Jacen. I told your mom I'd have you in bed before she was home.”

“I don’t want to go to bed until she’s home, though,” Jacen said. “I want to say goodnight to her.”

Brushing a hand over his son’s hair affectionately, Kanan said, “I know, kiddo. But your mom will string me up if you’re still awake when she gets back. You’re up late enough as it is.”

Jacen let out a theatrical sigh, and Kanan heard him shifting his weight in bed as he clearly considered his next maneuver. He couldn’t help but repress a smile at it-- the kid’s tenacity came straight from his mom. Although Hera would claim he inherited it from Kanan.

“What time does Mom get home from the appointment again?” Jacen asked.

“She’ll be back around ten-thirty, as you already know,” Kanan reminded him. “That was a really bad stalling technique. Time for bed.”

“No! Tell me another story,” Jacen begged. “Tell me about when you first met Mom.”

Kriff. The kid knew his weak spot. “Jacen…”

“Just this story, then I’ll go to bed. Please?”

Letting out a sigh, Kanan said, “Okay. But only one more, and then you’re going to sleep. Got it?”

Jacen let out an excited yelp, bouncing up and down in bed. “Yes! I promise.”

“Good, now lay back down,” Kanan ordered. “You’ve got to at least pretend you’re going to try and fall asleep after this.”

Immediately squirming back down under the covers, Jacen lay still obediently, and Kanan felt himself smiling as he paused for a minute to collect his wits for the story. If he was being honest, he loved telling this story.

“The first time I met your mother, I was on a backwater planet called Gorse. Now, the planet wasn’t much to look at, but the moon was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

“Until you met Mom,” Jacen jumped in, and Kanan nodded.

“Exactly. So, I was working as a pilot, flying explosives to the mine at that point. Wasn’t a safe job, wasn’t a smart job. But I didn’t really care back then. I didn’t care about much of anything. Until one night, when I was heading out of this old tapcafe where I’d been eating dinner, and I heard it.” Kanan tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes and imagining the moment with a soft smile.

“What was it?” Jacen asked, as he always did, his voice dramatically curious.

“The most incredibly beautiful voice,” Kanan said, his own voice equally dramatic. “It was soft and warm, so totally unlike Gorse and everything I’d ever come to expect about the galaxy. The minute I heard that voice, I knew there was something worth living for. And at the moment, it was finding out what kind of woman had a voice like that.”

“So you went after her,” Jacen supplied.

“I did-- after I paid my bill, of course,” Kanan said. “Side note, never run out on a bill from a Besalisk with anger management issues. Anyway, I went to find her, but she’d disappeared, like she was some kind of dream. For a while there, I almost thought she was one. Until--”

“You heard her again!”

“Hey, who’s telling the story?” Kanan gave Jacen a mock stern frown.

“Sorry,” Jacen said, his tone making it clear he was grinning. “I won’t interrupt again.”

“I should hope not,” Kanan said sternly. “But yeah, I heard her again. And, typical of your mother, she was about to get in a brawl with a gang.” As he spoke, he heard the door to the bedroom creak open, and stifled a smile as he kept talking. “So I rushed in to save the day.”

“Oh, did you?” Hera’s voice came from behind Kanan, and he could no longer hold back his smile as Jacen let out an excited yelp.

“Mom!!! You’re home!!”

Kanan ducked just in time to avoid Jacen as the boy launched himself out of bed and at his mother. Catching him, Hera hugged him, and gently set him to the ground. “What are you still doing up, sweetheart?” she asked, pressing a kiss against his forehead. “As if I didn’t know,” she added, directing a look at Kanan that he didn’t need eyesight to decode.

“You don’t know what he threatened me with,” he said, shooting a wink at Jacen. “It was brutal, Hera. You almost lost your husband tonight-- and how would you feel if you came home and your son had committed patricide?”

Hera let out a scoff that was very clearly hiding a laugh. “You’re full of it, dear.”

“Full of love for you,” Kanan said, grinning, and that pulled a laugh out of her.

Stepping forward, she set Jacen onto his bed. “Okay, get back in bed, Jacen. Your father will finish his story, and then it’s time to sleep. Got it?”

“Okay, Mom.” Jacen snuggled back under the covers, and Kanan began his story again.

“As I was saying, your mom was about to get in a fight with a gang of ten, fifteen beings. But little did I know as I started to charge forward to save the day, I was right next to one of the most competent and incredibly talented women I’d ever met. She started fighting right along with me-- handled more than half of the gang, I might add,” Kanan said with a grin.

Hera, who’d settled next to Kanan, chipped in, “Meanwhile, your dad got tackled through a window.”

“Who’s telling the story here?” Kanan demanded, and Hera let out a quiet laugh as she leaned into him, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

“Sorry, love. Keep going.”

Turning back to Jacen, Kanan said, “Anyway, once I finished my fight, I made my way back to where your mom had been-- and there was no one there. Just the cloak she’d dropped when the fight began.

“But when I picked it up and turned around, there she was. The most beautiful woman I’d ever met.” Kanan paused for a moment, a soft smile crossing his face. “I was spellbound immediately.”

“Meanwhile, I was wondering what this scruffy gunslinger was doing with my cloak, and why he was staring at me,” Hera said wryly. “I took off, despite his attempts to follow me or convince me to stay.”

“But then you met him again at that bar,” Jacen said.

“And from there, I found myself dragged into shenanigan after shenanigan with this woman,” Kanan said with a teasing grin. “Somehow, she convinced me to help her save Cynda and Gorse from that psychopath, Count Vidian. Long story short, we ended up on an exploding Star Destroyer together. And that’s when I actually saved your mother’s life.”

“True,” Hera said softly. “I still remember when I saw you use the Force for the first time. You were the last person I would have expected to be a Jedi back then.”

“Well, that was the point,” Kanan said.

“But he’s still a good Jedi,” Jacen said. His voice was growing steadily sleepier as he spoke.

“One of the best,” Hera said.

“I had my moments,” Kanan agreed. “But one of the best things I ever did was save you then. You know, kid, in some cultures, they say that when you save someone’s life, that means they’re your soulmate, that you’re meant to be together.”

“Is that true?” Jacen asked, letting out a huge yawn.

Kanan shrugged. “Who can say? I would have married your mom regardless. Now, time for you to go to sleep.”

As he and Hera rose to their feet, Hera dropping a quick kiss onto Jacen’s forehead, Jacen let out another yawn. “Night, mom. Night, dad.”

“Good night, sweetheart,” Hera said as she switched off the light, and the two of them slipped out of Jacen’s room.

Kanan gently closed the door behind them, then turned to Hera. “Hey. How’d your appointment go?”

“Pretty well,” Hera said, catching him by the hand and leading him away from Jacen’s room and into the living room. “The doctor said that I didn’t have a stomach bug, but there were a couple other tests she wanted to do on me.”

“Oh?” Kanan kept his voice calm, but he could feel his heart rate pick up. They hadn’t been sure when Hera had gone in, but he had a feeling… “What were the results?”

Giving his hand a quick squeeze, Hera said softly, “Why don’t you check for yourself?”

Kanan needed no further encouragement to reach out with the Force towards Hera, sensing her usual bright spark of warm life. And then, somehow within it and separate from it, there was another one. Another life form, tiny but insistent.

“Oh, wow,” Kanan breathed, awe sweeping over him. “Hera-- you’re--”

“Pregnant,” Hera finished, and Kanan could hear the vibrant joy in her voice. “You were right, love. We’re having another baby.”

Kanan felt a grin spreading across his face, and he pulled his wife into a fierce embrace. “This is amazing,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her temple. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Or him,” Hera corrected. “Even you can’t tell this early, Master Jedi.”

“I have a feeling about it,” Kanan said with a smirk, and he felt rather than heard Hera’s laugh.

Pulling back from him slightly, she said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Kanan murmured, and bent down to give her a kiss. “Both of you,” he added.

#kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #jacen syndulla #swr #star wars rebels #post star wars rebels #domestic kanera #i just happen to enjoy domestic kanera #of COURSE i already had that as a tag #kanera is love kanera is life #sw rebels fic #swr fan fic #111 followers celebration #it was dope. the end

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marvelstars · 1 year ago

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Compassion as unlimited love

Obi-Wan and Yoda believed there was no turning back from the Darkside, that´s why Obi-Wan didn´t deny the fact he meant to kill Anakin when Padme asked him and why Padme wanted to take Anakin away from everything and why Obi-Wan kept himself hidden on Padme´s ship instead of going with her to try to bring Anakin back to his senses together.

His mission was to kill Anakin as punishment for his betrayal on the Jedi Order and his attack on the Jedi Temple. Acording to Yoda Obi-Wan´s mission was to "take Anakin out of his misery" because "Darth Vader had consumed him" that´s the Old Jedi Order approach to sith, to kill them because once you fall to the darkside it will forever dominate your destiny and in Anakin´s case as one of their own and member of their Jedi lineage, this was personal, so there was also revenge involved. Obi-Wan left Anakin to die burning alive because he wanted him to suffer and he was sure that was going to be enough to kill him, at no point he expected him to survive.

This is also why Yoda and Obi-Wan keep Luke in the dark about Anakin´s familiar connection to him, they were not sure how to approach the fact they were bassically telling Luke he had to commit patricide to defeat the Sith, it wasn´t something they liked but they thought it had to be done. They were suprised by the fact Vader told Luke the truth because they saw him as a being of complete darkness, inhuman, twisted, evil more machine than man and so unable to feel a connection or a wish for his Son to be with him.

But he survived because Darth Sidious rescued him. Sidious had his own attachment to Anakin, he saw him as something that belonged to him. He also still believed he was the chosen one, in the sense his power could help him keep the force in darkness and support his rule this way.

When Luke told Obi-Wan he could not kill his own father out of moral principle and that there may be a way back from the darkside, Obi-Wan answered him that then "The Emperor has already won" "You were our last hope" this means that Obi-Wan expected Luke to either kill his father or be killed by him because there was no going back from the darkside.

The definition of Compassion as "unlimited love" is Anakin´s personal take to the Jedi principle of "compassion at the center of their jedi life philosophy" in answer to Padme´s question "Are you allowed to love, I thought the Jedi were not allowed to love?" but this wasn´t a generalized view in the old Jedi Order, this was Anakin´s personal take on it.

This is also why when Luke stopped himself from killing Vader, Luke rejects both the darkside the Emperor and his offer of power represents and also rejects killing his father out of a sense of justice as "the ends justifies the means" or to defeat the Sith that he exclaims "I am a Jedi like my father before me"

Vader comes back from the darkside because Luke forced him to remember what he used to believe, his real self, how he once believed in compassion as unlimited love, he believed if he helped enough he could solve the problems of the galaxy, he remembered how much he loved his Son, his family, Padme and Obi-Wan so he decided to sacrifice his life defeating his master, because he was reponsible, personally responsible of the sith becoming as powerful as they did in the Empire even if he also loved the Emperor and he did this out of compassion for his Son knowing this would bring an end to the Sith and the Empire.

Shmi and Anakin with their "the biggest problem in the universe is that nobody helps each other" and showing how helping made the galaxy better, they definitely made a difference for Naboo.

Anakin´s definition of compassion as unlimited love that he practiced during the clone wars is a theme of SW, Padme and Luke are the characters who embody the principle of "compassion as unlimited love" in relation to their compassion for Anakin after he fell to the darkside, is a love that can bring people back from the darkness which the old Jedi Order thought was impossible. When Obi-Wan choose to teach Anakin how to become a force Ghost was to show him he forgave him. In the Star Wars Saga it´s the story biggest message and why the story is about the Skywalker family.

#padme amidala #luke skywalker #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #yoda #shmi skywalker #star wars #star wars meta

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emeraldcast-archive · 3 years ago

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@arroganceandfear plotted starter

The King of Jotunheim had been holding court for a few hours now, listening to petitioners; of which there were many. Their realm had been desolate and dying for such a long time, that even with the Casket returned, it was taking time for Jotunheim’s former glory to return. There were many who still doubted him, who believed his small stature made him unworthy and unfit for the throne. Loki would have thought they would be grateful that he had returned the Casket, but despite being Laufey’s first born and rightful heir, he’d had to fight off more than one assassination attempt.

Committing patricide probably hadn’t helped win him favor with his father’s most loyal followers; but in his defense, Laufey had deserved it. He’d abandoned him to die, cast him away like he was trash, and much as he hated Odin for deceiving him, it was only by his mercy that he was still alive. Even if he didn’t count himself into the equation, Laufey had been a poor ruler who’d allowed his people to suffer for far too long. Loki would prove to them one way or another that he was worthy of the throne, and if was only under his ruling that Asgard would finally pay for everything it had done to Jotunheim.

As another person entered the throne room to petition something from him, Loki felt the presence of magic that wasn’t of his realm. It was strange, and had appeared out of nowhere which didn’t bode well. He didn’t believe it could be someone from Asgard; but he would be a fool if he didn’t investigate to make sure. His seidr was able to conceal Utgard from Heimdall’s sight, and so far Odin had kept Asgard’s forces back, but Loki knew the Allfather too well, he wouldn’t hold back forever, especially when his prized Casket and Jotun runt had been removed from his control.

❝ Býleistr- ❞ He turned to his youngest brother and in one fluid and graceful movement, stood from the throne and stepped to one side. ❝ We have an uninvited guest on our realm, I will go see to it, keep court until I return. ❞ With a twist of his wrist, he teleported from the throne room to where the magical signature had originated from. ❝ Whoever you are, I strongly suggest you leave now, whilst I still allow you to go unpunished. ❞

#arroganceandfear

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robininthelabyrinth · 5 years ago

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prompt: The reason JGY dug up NMJ's corpse was in the hopes that Xue Yang could create him a "ghost general" of his own, since the actual ghost general was proving disappointingly loyal to his creator. Except here it actually works, and JGY has Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse as an obedient weapon to deploy.

Lan Xichen’s hands were shaking, hidden in his sleeves, and his mouth kept opening and closing, trying to find something to say.

The worst part of it was: Jin Guangyao was still smiling.

He mostly looked worried, the rest of the time – directing his subordinates to gather the necessary things, putting in place his plans to flee into the night where the best case scenario was he’d never be heard from again and the worst case was that he’d reappear like a malignant tumor to cause havoc – but whenever he looked at Lan Xichen, he smiled.

“A-Yao,” Lan Xichen finally forced out through numb lips. “A-Yao, you swore an oath.”

Jin Guangyao blinked, then laughed. “I swore many oaths,” he said, as if breaking oaths was nothing. “Which one are you referring to? The one to be filial towards my father? I gave that one a fair shot, at first, but in the end there was no choice.”

There was a ringing in Lan Xichen’s ears. He’d heard how Jin Guangshan had died – it’d been a shameful death, an unpleasant one, and from Jin Guangyao’s words…

“I wasn’t talking about that one,” he said, because it was true. He didn’t care about Jin Guangshan, other than the instinctive revulsion at the thought of patricide; the man had been worse than worthless. “I was talking about the oath you swore with me.”

With us, he meant, and surely the way he couldn’t take his eyes off of Nie Mingjue’s corpse, standing as a guard at the gate, eyes lifeless and dead, with nails in his head to control him – Xue Yang had been very happy to boast about his techniques – will let Jin Guangyao understand.

Sure enough, Jin Guangyao’s expression softened. “I would never hurt you, er-ge,” he said, and his voice was as fond as it had ever been. “You’re the only one who understands me – the only one who supports me. Da-ge…da-ge didn’t understand. It’s like you were always telling him: he was too inflexible, too unforgiving. He never bothered to listen to my reasons.”

Lan Xichen had said that, hadn’t he? He’d filled his sworn brother’s ears with excuses for Jin Guangyao.

Jin Guangyao, who had desecrated his grave.

“Was it –” Lan Xichen swallowed. If he condemned Jin Guangyao now, the other man would close up at once, and he would never know what he needed to. “Did you only take his body to use? Or did you…”

He couldn’t finish the question.

Jin Guangyao laughed. “I thought you didn’t want to know the details, er-ge! You always preferred to look away while I did the dirty work –”

Had Jin Guangyao believed he’d known about it all? Known and approved in silence, supported him in silence?

“– but I suppose since we’ve reached this point, there’s no reason to hide it. It was really very clever, wasn’t it? To everyone else’s eyes, it just looked like a qi deviation, and everyone knows about the Nies.”

He’d killed him, then. Lan Xichen had led Nie Mingjue down the road to his murder.

“I helped you do it,” he said blankly.

“Oh, I couldn’t have done it without you! The Song of Clarity – it was a truly brilliant move, er-ge. You introduced it, so he wouldn’t be suspicious, and then transferred it all to me; it was only at the very end that he started realizing something was wrong with the song, I think, but by that point it was too late. The Song of Turmoil already had its claws dug in too deep for him to stop it.”

That was worse. He wasn’t just guilty of negligence; he was complicit.

“It really is too bad that it didn’t work out in the end,” Jin Guangyao said with a sigh. “If only my plan to eliminate Wei Wuxian early hadn’t failed..! Admittedly, that was more because he was such an excellent scapegoat; I hadn’t realized he’d be clever enough to figure things out. Or Nie Huaisang as well – who would have thought?”

“Who would have thought,” Lan Xichen echoed dully.

“Xue Yang assures me we won’t have another glitch like last time, though,” Jin Guangyao said, and his voice was tender, almost as if he were trying to be comforting. “I’ve used da-ge to slaughter so many people – who knew he’d get so unruly at putting to death a single child?”

It wasn’t a single child, Lan Xichen wanted to scream, it was your own son! Nie Mingjue held him in his arms after he was born, and you thought he would –

Jin Guangyao had explained his thinking about little Rusong already. He’d said it wasn’t his fault, that he hadn’t known, that poor Qin Su had been pregnant by the time he’d found out – it had all sounded so reasonable, the blame slipping off his shoulders and onto Jin Guangshan for having committed the act in the first place, onto Madame Qin’s for not having confessed sooner, at old Sect Leader Qin for having opposed the match until they had no choice but to make it irrevocable before they were officially wed…

And then he got to the end, where he said that Rusong had to die because he might be disabled, because people might ascribe that disability to the circumstances of Jin Guangyao’s own birth.

An innocent child, dead for the sake of something as fleeting as reputation.

Lan Xichen still didn’t know what exactly had happened, only that Nie Mingjue had somehow gotten out of control – and now Jin Guangyao’s plans had all met with disaster.

But little Rusong was still alive, safe inside the now-barred gates of the Unclean Realm.

“What’s the plan now?” he asked, starting to stroll around the room aimlessly. “Do you still intend to go to Dongying?”

“Yes,” Jin Guangyao said. “It’ll be a good place for us, er-ge; I’ll let you go once we’re there, so that you can come back – you should tell them all that I forced you, of course – and we can continue to correspond afterwards about our next steps. I understand your reluctance to fight now, given your brother’s obvious infatuation with Wei Wuxian.”

Lan Xichen hummed in assent, and Jin Guangyao looked so happy at his agreement. At his support, given as unstintingly as it always had been – when he’d defended him over protecting Xue Yang, when he’d disregarded the accusation that Jin Guangyao was slaughtering all those who stood in the way of his plans…

Lan Xichen stopped in front of the door. In front of Nie Mingjue, whose white eyes showed no sign of recognition but whose face was twisted into a snarl of anger, just barely restrained.

Lan Xichen had no doubt that if he were unleashed, he would kill them both – Jin Guangyao for what he had done, and Lan Xichen, for aiding and abetting him.

I betrayed you, Lan Xichen thought, staring into Nie Mingjue’s eyes as Jin Guangyao continued talking in the background, sketching out plans for building up a power base in Dongying before returning. I betrayed you, and our oath as sworn brothers. I did not mean to, but I did; I am foresworn.

They said that once you broke your oath one, it would be easier to do it the second time.

Lan Xichen hoped for a brief fleeing moment that that was true.

A-Yao, despite everything you’ve done, everything I’ve learned, I still –

I’m sorry.

He reached out and pulled out the nails from Nie Mingjue’s temples.

#mdzs #jin guangyao #lan xichen #nie mingjue #my fic #my fics #Anonymous

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ariainstars · 5 years ago

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Congratulations, We Fell for Another Love Bombing or Thank You, Disney, You Did It Again

Sigh. Luke Skywalker is back. And Din Djarin and his child had to say goodbye. I never thought I would curse and say “Oh no!” when Luke appeared in that fateful corridor.

I wonder why the Disney studios are doing this - trying to "make up” for the oh-so criticized sequels, I suppose?

The Jedi have made their time. It was shown and proven over and over again that their attitude is wrong and needs to change, and Luke was the last of the old school Jedi. Again, a Force-sensitive child is all but kidnapped by a Jedi: he obviously did not like to go. Mando is no longer the hero of the story, he was stripped of his agency and all of his personal choices were questioned and valued for null and void. But the Dark Saber is in his hands now, so he’s the heir to the throne of Mandalore I guess. Like he ever wanted that.

This show, which grew to be so well-beloved in only a few episodes, now is not “The Mandalorian” any more. Its new title is “Luke’s Skywalker’s Comeback”. Hardcore fans may be out of their minds with joy, but for us, who admired Mando both as a badass hero and as a father figure and loved the dynamics between him and Grogu, the whole purpose of the show is destroyed. And here I naively had thought The Rise of Skywalker was bad enough to teach the studios not to repeat its mistakes.

~~~ more under the cut ~~~

Star Wars ought to be a fairy tale. It is and always was one. I can understand that the prequels had to end in a tragedy, we all knew that from the start, but why the sequels? And now, why must this generally acclaimed and beloved tv show again appease hardcore fans of old with Luke coming to save the day, cancelling in a matter of minutes what the story had built up within two entire seasons - the relationship of the two protagonists, heart and core of the narrative, as it had been with Rey and Ben Solo? And when both of them had their relationship just getting started - Rey and Ben kissing, Din calling Grogu by his name and the latter seeing him and touching his face? Why make Rey a queen without her king, and Din a father without a son?

Again, a Force-user is denied having a home: „Jedi training” matters more. By Luke of all people, the guy who never was trained in the first place (only very briefly), who except for a few lessons with Obi-Wan and Yoda was self-taught in the Force, and never understood that his strength lay with his compassion and his connection with other people, not with his alleged „superpowers”.

Think back to how Anakin, Luke and Rey were before they met the Jedi: unaware of their powers, compassionate, idealistic, brave. The Jedi mindset tainted their characters and lives, making them believing that they are (or have to be) untouchable and invincible, compelling them to live for duty instead of love, condemning them to a lifetime of loneliness. Will the Jedi never learn?

Though I practically grew up with the classic movies, I loved The Last Jedi; I can accept that Luke failed, and also that Han and Leia did. Nobody is perfect, and the Jedi mindset as well as the universally accepted idea that „Jedi” is a synonym for infallible saint-like hero was wrong in the first place, else the Empire never would have risen. Making Luke not the cavalry who came to save the day - until the battle on Crait, that is - but a man who failed and picked himself up again was much more meaningful, and I know not a few fans who felt inspired by this. Luke had saved his father choosing love over power, not the contrary. Some fans just never get it. To appease them, why not simply give him a new storyline of his own, instead of making him intrude in other Star Wars related shows? Why stop the new stories in their tracks just to bring him back?

Instead of seeing Luke as the grand kickass hero in a tv show that never had anything to do with him until now, it would have been more to the purpose to finally shed light on the thirty years between his father’s and his nephew’s death, to explain us where the Jedi and the Skywalker-Organa-Solo family failed to make such an outcome possible - the granddaughter of Palpatine taking over with their own blessing. There must have been a huge build-up between the end of the original saga and the fateful night at the temple when Luke briefly panicked looking into his nephew’s mind. Many fans still are convinced that „Kylo Ren just chose to be bad” because we hardly know how the relationship between these two was in the first place. (A very easy plot twist would e.g. have been Snoke warning Ben that his uncle sooner or later would turn on him, frightened by his power. The fulfilment of that prophecy would have made the night at the temple much more impactful.)

I understand that the studios want to tease us, to make us watch the other shows, too. But honestly, I’m getting tired of feeling duped. Tired of getting attached to new heroes to have their purpose smashed just so the Star Wars dudebro fans can sleep quietly at night because „some Jedi will take care of it”. First the characters from the sequels, now the ones from The Mandalorian. You get to love the new characters, you root for them to find happiness or at least some closure, and then, at the last moment, poof!, the hero of old comes back and the story development stops right there.

It is not right and it never was for the Jedi to take Force-sensitive children away from home, to enforce „you have to become a Jedi, like it or not” on them, to teach them not to have attachments, to make them focus on the Light Side thereby bringing the Force out of its much-needed balance. While Ahsoka saw that Grogu has formed a strong attachment to Din Djarin, Luke obviously did not, or he did not care. The irony is that he always wanted a father, and knows the pain of losing a father you’ve just found.

The Mandalorian felt like a consolation after Episode IX, a blessing for the fans for whom heart and soul are more interesting than nostalgia and „Jedi superheroes”. Now it’s just another kick in the guts. It’s painful and embarrassing to get to love characters so much, to get invested in their story so deeply, and then to realize again that they seem to mean nothing in the shade of the heroes of old. Ben Solo died young and miserable and Din Djarin and Grogu can now, I suppose, be miserable too. Can someone please explain to me why after the classics, no Star Wars film or show had an uplifting ending any more? With the possible exception of Solo, which was a nice filler but not a really important storyline. (I do not count Episodes I and II, they officially had a happy ending but it was tainted by the knowledge of what was to come.)

Fans are not blind. We saw the parallels between Darth Vader and Din Djarin as well as the differences - both being cool and tough but the latter not disdaining to be a caring father at the same time. The entire show lived from the dynamics between the gruff but kind bounty hunter and the innocent-looking powerful child, ever from the first episode. Two years of build-up for nothing, as it was with the four years of the sequels. Mando has to relinquish Grogu, Rey loses Ben. What was all that for? Both Mando and Rey are fighters, they have done nothing else their entire lives. What is to become of them now that they have nothing to fight for any more, nor anyone to live for? Except staying on a planet that is foreign to them and, for all they know, inhabitable or at least inhospitable?

With Rey and Ben Solo, the situation was different: she had proven good intentions but bad attitude (arrogance, violence, judgement) over and over, unable to deny her heritage, and even impaled her „antagonist” once while he was only defending himself. He had been the head of a criminal organization for years, and had committed patricide. Of course there are nuances to these characters and I still believe that they would have deserved another chance; I understand however that would have been unfitting to let the sequels end giving them a happy ending.

But in the case of Din Djarin, a man of honor, who has made friends and brought peace wherever he went throughout the galaxy? Grogu, the last surviving padawan of the old Jedi temple, who saved both his and Greef Karga’s life despite the danger for himself? What did they do to deserve being ripped apart like that?

So, all I can say: thank you, you did it again. And, once more, just before Christmas. I wish at least these depressing endings would be released at some other time.

I would dearly want to see a galaxy that finally learned from its faults, where family and attachments and Balance and free choice are not contrary to being a Jedi. I am in my late forties and I’m beginning to give up hope that I will live to see it. By now I am wondering whether George Lucas himself will live to see it.

I always loved Luke. He is one of my favorite heroes. But now he’s become an insensitive know-it-all who suffered from his own daddy issues to the point that he almost died crying out to his father for help, yet did not learn not to separate fathers from children and vice versa and, on the contrary, is doing it over and over again. He did not even tell Mando his name, or where he could reach him. We don’t have a clue as to if, when and how the Clan of Two will meet again.

I get it that since this show is set five years Return of the Jedi, it would have been difficult to ignore Luke’s existence altogether. And of course, we can rest assured that Luke will do his best for Grogu. But still: he has made his time. I wanted to see the new heroes going their own way, not hanging on the sleeves of the former generation. Mando is a man of honor, he had promised to bring Grogu to his own kind and he relinquished him despite his own wishes. (Not to mention that technically, since he identifies as a Mandalorian, by being a Jedi Luke is his enemy.) Why did Luke have to take the child away? His greatest strength always was that he was first and foremost himself and only in the second place a Jedi. What became of his trademark compassion?

Before The Mandalorian, we have never seen a healthy and working father-son relationship in the saga. It was incredibly refreshing and heart-warming to see these two traveling through the galaxy and living through adventures together; also, contrarily to Yoda, Grogu saw a lot of the bad things happening in the galaxy with his own eyes, which certainly was good for his character development.

But in the end, both he and his „father” did not go anywhere. Like Rey in Episode IX, they found a) power and b) a surrogate place, but neither got what was actually his heart’s wish - a home. I can’t understand why. Deliberate cruelty? We never knew whether Han and Leia and Ben felt how painful it was to break up their little family for the sake of „Jedi training”. You bet Din and Grogu did feel that pain and loss.

Both as a person with a heart and a brain and an almost lifelong Star Wars fan I am sickened by the readiness of the studios to end all that this well-made show had built up, for the appeasement of Jedi worshippers who just don’t want to see that the Jedi mindset needs urgently to change. It can’t be that difficult to renew them for the better; there is no necessity to erase the Jedi completely and there is nothing bad with making them grow wiser and stronger by finally understanding and accepting the importance of attachments and family ties. Yes, I realize that being a father also means learning how to let go; but here we are speaking of a literal child, not of a young adult who chose his own way in life.

I thought that George Lucas knew why he sold his franchise to the Disney studios, given their tradition in telling stories about family and friendship. This development is not a triumph, it is unworthy both of the studios and of the entire Star Wars saga. I’m tired of producers bowing down before fans who see every shred of the saga through „Jedi are always right”-tinted glasses respectively who value coolness over compassion even though it always was the saga’s central message.

Whatever happens in Season 3, countless fans will only be watching it asking, „Where’s Luke?” If Grogu should choose to join Mando again, everybody will be like, „But how can he want to leave Luke Skywalker of all people?” Some already see Grogu die prematurely, killed by the oh-so-bad guy Kylo Ren, for no other reason than to just to further prove how evil he is. In which case both Ben Solo and Grogu will have lived and died for nothing except for leaving a lot of heartbreak behind.

There must be another and better way to honor the legacy of both Luke Skywalker and the original trilogy than to think up new heroes and then destroy their purpose for the sake of old times’ glory. Lucas himself had said that Star Wars is basically for twelve-year-olds. It seems not: it’s for the fans who were twelve years old forty years ago, when the first movies hit theatres.

There are enough voices crying out for the sequels to be erased from canon. Who knows? This may be the next step into the past instead of the future. The sequels were hinting at a better future (Balance), Grogu was, too (family). But the grand past is so reassuring. The sequels tried to tell the audience to grow up and learn to do without their heroes, to see that even they were flawed and that the new heroes could grow beyond them. Fie on them, said the hardcore fans. Now it’s the turn of the younger generation, who got to know and love the saga with the sequels or The Mandalorian, to be like „WTF”.

Rogue One also had been a huge disappointment to me. Not that I found it badly made, but I went into a depressive mood for three days for the same reason: I did not like that I had grown so attached to all of these characters only to see all of them die. The infamous Darth Vader scenes and the design with the huge hints at the classic movies were no consolation. Nostalgia does not make me happy. Heart does. Rogue One, the sequels and The Mandalorian were all, in the end, deprived of all human feeling except loss and regret and many, many thoughts about what might have been.

The Mandalorian was an excellent story on its own. It did not need Luke Skywalker. It is and ought to be Din Djarin’s story, who lost or gave up everything because he was afraid to lose the child: and now he did. It’s not comforting that he lost him to the alleged Good Guy. Luke of course won’t turn a hair on Grogu’s head, but he can’t offer him a home, we already know that. Ahsoka saw the attachment between the two and she knows the dangers of it; Luke does not know what drove his father to his terrible fate. If the sequels remain canon, then we already know that Luke will not allow his pupils having and keeping healthy attachments. And that does not promise well for the child’s future.

Unless the studios commit the madness of officially erasing the sequels and starting the saga anew, we can only hope that the child will not stay with Luke for long since it’s a good five years before he will start his own Jedi temple. Maybe he will die of a broken heart, poor little guy. And Din Djarin might become the new ruler of Mandalore, though sad and alone. But who cares: Luke is back. Please: I did not subscribe to Disney+ wanting to see Schwarzenegger movies. The lonesome hero can ride into the sunset for all I care, out of sight and of mind. Star Wars’ greatest strength always was its heart.

My own take was that Grogu is meant to be a healer, and since Luke is not, there is no way he can teach him this particular skill in the Force. Anakin was a pilot and a mechanic, Luke and Ben also were pilots. None of them were Jedi by choice. Grogu is older than Luke and he was already trained at the old Jedi temple: he’s more likely to be a teacher to Luke than the other way around. Grogu as the first Force-user who values attachment and family over power and Jedi training, that would indeed have been a new hope. This backpedaling is shallow and useless. Even if Luke sends Grogu back to Din Djarin, this won’t teach him not to take a child away from its home, since only a few years later he will do the same thing to his nephew. (Although it would admittedly be an interesting plot point to see a small Ben Solo interacting with Grogu for a while.)

Please give us back The Mandalorian the way it was, with its characters and dynamics. The themes and messages of The Last Jedi already were almost all aborted in The Rise of Skywalker; we didn’t sign up on Disney+ to see the exact same thing happen with The Mandalorian. I for my part am fed up with this kind of love bombing followed by a quick and coldblooded let-down. Star Wars may be a cult, but it need not be the kind of cult where you get hooked and then unwittingly follow a carrot hanging before your eyes. I thought the exaggerated Jedi cult was mostly made by the fans: the studios did not need to jump on this ship. This is not the Way.

Now everything I feared is flaring up again - fans jubilating because “the Jedi are taking matters in hand” instead of accepting the failure of the Jedi mindset at last; and even insisting that since things are going so well, all Disney needs to do is to cancel the sequels from canon and everybody can be happy again.

Please, please, give this tormented galaxy a chance to heal at last. We don’t need Luke Skywalker to save the day by killing all the bad guys. We don’t need the oh-so-powerful and perfect Jedi. We need faith in the Force. We need a home. Don’t take it away from us again. Thank you.

P.S. If we see Luke again in Season 3, at least give the role to a live actor. That digital “rejuvenation” made him look wooden. Luke’s best trait, apart from his compassion, always was his smile.

P.P.S. What’s with Boba Fett claiming Jabba’s throne? I thought Jabba had a son. What in the galaxy happened to him?

P.P.P.S. I don’t mind kickass women, but honestly, I’m getting somehow tired of them. What became of the ladies of Star Wars, the diplomats, the good queens, the loving mothers, the accurate librarians, who contribute to the galaxy without killing (or hurting) anyone? I’m feeling kind of underrepresented here...

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unexpectedreylo · 5 years ago

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Yes, It’s Been Half A Decade Since TFA Was Released

Five years already? Geez!

If you’ve been following my humble Tumblr blog since the beginning, you’ll know I was not truly a Reylo until I saw TLJ. Before then, I was dealing with a movie that left me with a lot of mixed feelings. Why? I missed George Lucas for one thing. He has an indelible style that few can match and few really cared about that universe and its characters as much as he did. I was very unhappy to hear a month before TFA’s release that Disney tossed out his story and came up with something he didn’t really like very much (as later confirmed in Bob Iger’s memoir). As a long-suffering prequels fan I didn’t like either the vaguely anti-prequel tone the pre-release hype took. Whatever you do in life, don’t disrespect the man who created the GFFA.

The post-release hype probably annoyed me even more. Remember the doofuses screeching on t.v. that it was the best SW movie since TESB? LOL. (No, that would be ROTS and the only thing that came close since was TLJ.) I hated that a movie I felt was flawed not only got passes from the media that really trashed Lucas and everybody who worked on the prequels, but also got lavish Best 10 lists and award nominations. I was one bitter chickie for a while and later got a good laugh out of the backlash.

I thought it would be funny to post what I thought at the time, with added commentary:

Oh yes, the movie. My mother called it…it’s good, we all enjoyed it and were entertained, but Lucas’s touch is definitely missing. The romantic epic sweep of Eps I-VI, the goofy and whimsical touches, the feeling of being immersed in another galaxy, and Lucas’s gift for aesthetics aren’t there. The visuals don’t have that beauty and some of it is kinda ugly. The creature designs just aren’t as good. It’s not the kind of movie you watch dozens of times to catch little things. Even John Williams doesn’t have a knockout track like “Duel of the Fates” or “The Imperial March.” But it’s hard to think of how this was ever going to live up to any of it any more than I’d expect Suzanne Collins to write a Narnia book as good as C.S. Lewis. We lost those things when we lost Lucas.

I like the visuals a lot more now but TLJ’s cinematography rules the ST. Still feel the same about creature design; I see better aliens and creatures on The Mandalorian. One weird thing about the ST is how the filmmakers seemed to have avoided putting in anything at all that we’ve seen before. No Jawas, no Togrutas, no Twi’leks, no Zabraks, no Quarren, etc.. Just Chewbacca and Admiral Ackbar.

The music didn't leave much an impression on me at the time but now I love “Rey’s Theme,” “Kylo Ren’s Theme,” and “March of the Resistance.”

As long as we’re on that note, I’ll get to the film’s flaws first. The movie has a lot of snappy, arch, and funny dialogue but you can tell the script was cranked out in a hurry. It lacks the careful structure of its predecessors and cribs a little too much from ANH. Poe disappears and you are led to believe he’s dead then he suddenly shows up healthy and hale with no explanation. Abrams’s first Star Trek film was riddled with unbelievable coincidences and unfortunately this movie has some of those too, such as when Han and Chewie just happen upon the Falcon in space. The film does very little to set up what’s going on and why, such as why the hell is the Republic fighting the same a-holes after all of these years. Abrams prefers instead to keep the action going instead of doing much exposition, which is pretty much what he did with the Trek films. Those little moments in Lucas’s Star Wars films don’t happen much here. Things must always be occurring, which dumps all of the responsibility for character development and world building on Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow. I have no idea why they decided to be all teasy-weasy with who Rey’s parents are instead of just telling us. (I suspect Luke is her father.)

LOL! I guess the adoption by proxy thing at the very end of TROS proved me right or...did it? Yes, my first assumption after seeing TFA was that Rey and Kylo Ren were cousins.

As for the rest of it, I still feel the same. Rushed script, borrows too much from ANH, precious few explanations/set-up, not as good structure but still full of humor.

BB-8 is a charmer, Finn and Rey (who are so going to hook up) HA! But remember I thought Rey and Kylo were cousins! have some charm and potential growth as characters, and it was great seeing our old crew again even if not under ideal circumstances. (Personally I would’ve preferred NOT to have broken up Han and Leia.) Hux had some mustache-twirling moments and Abrams was at least smart enough not to kill off him, Ren, or Snoke just yet. Finn and Poe have a good rapport (maybe they’re going to hook up).

Stormpilot definitely pinged the slash-dar. It was completely unsurprising to find fans shipping them.

Abrams seemed to have avoided the mistake James Cameron made in “Avatar” when he killed off his most threatening villain while planning sequels. As you might have guessed, I was really shocked at Snoke’s death in TLJ. I wasn’t expecting that until IX. I was also really shocked at the casual, quick-get-rid-of-him ways both Hux and Ben were killed off in TROS.

The most compelling aspect of TFA for me was the Skywalker family drama, which made me wish it was more up front rather than a subplot. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is a conflicted guy with a huge chip on his shoulder and it makes you wonder exactly what happened to him because I think he may have mental issues. Leia knows there’s still good in him but can a guy who commits patricide be saved? (RIP Han…I so knew this would happen because I figure it was the only way Ford would’ve done another film). Can his cousin/half-sister or whatever Rey save him? Would she want to? With Luke back in the picture and Artoo activated again, what will happen next? Even though they split up Han and Leia I liked the banter between them; it’s sad because they clearly still loved each other.

This is still true for me. A few days after posting this it struck me just how nihilistic TFA was because I found Han and Leia’s split unnecessary (had Han gone out for Chinese food or on a mission for the Resistance instead of just being a loser smuggler, it wouldn’t have changed anything that happened in the film) and what I thought was Kylo’s certain fate to be a narrative bummer. TLJ made me think they weren’t going on that direction only to be proven right in TROS (sadly).

I’ll dispense with the stupid Snoke is Plageuis theory and my dad wondering if Finn was Mace Windu’s lost son or something, though I’ll give him half a point for Finn turning out to be Force-sensitive after all.

I don’t know why people have said this takes them back to the ’70s because the film really is a 2015 movie made for an audience reared largely on the MCU, YA flicks, and other staples of contemporary geek culture. It is what it is and we aren’t going to get back the films of George Lucas and his influence. TFA might not be an awesome Star Wars movie but it is at least a good sci-fi action flick.

I still stand by most of this. Time and TLJ made TFA a better movie in my eyes.

#tfa #star wars #sequel trilogy #reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #jj abrams

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