#I mean to be fair I live near a military base and there's lots of military families

[high-voltage-rat]

Posting my RvB Project Freelancer playlist because I have brainrot about some of these songs and also crave public opinions on them.

This playlist was built with two things in mind- the badass space marine vibes, flashy fight scenes, and fast-paced action that embody the freelancer arc, for one. Some songs I included primarily because they contributed to this overall energy that Freelancer was based around. That feeling of flying through the battlefield, guns blazing, with no regard to the danger. The kind of confidence that lets you jump off a building without worrying too hard about how you'll survive the impact- that lets you face an entire base worth of enemies and still crack jokes as they surround you. The kind granted by a ranking system that tells you "you've been chosen. you're the better than the rest. you're on the leaderboard."

But the other motivation, in perhaps direct opposition to the first, was the set of underlying narrative themes that poisoned the Freelancers from within.

(Further discussion, Spotify link, tracklist, and choice lyrics under the cut:)

The ignorance, intentional and otherwise, to the purpose of their missions- to the Director's true motivations, to the ethical principles being violated with every step, to the thinly veiled lies. The need to prove oneself- to stay on that leaderboard no matter what the cost, to remain worthy of approval, of power, of support that could mean your very survival. The betrayal and infighting to remain on top, to right the wrongs done- the break between the agents who valued loyalty and those who valued morality. The manipulation by The Powers That Be to participate in and perpetrate the horrors of war, to stain one's hands with blood and commit horrible deeds which ultimately have no purpose- believing the lies of 'us versus them', throwing away your innocence and believing that it's all for the greater good, only to discover that the people you've done these horrible things to are no different, no more evil than yourself. Eventually breaking free from those influences, despite the potentially lethal consequences, and being left with the near-impossible task of trying to become 'good' again. All of these were themes I tried to keep in mind and channel in this playlist. Bonus points touched on were the impact of AI on their hosts' physical and mental health, the quest to gain justice, and the attempts to find peace and be better after it's all said and done.

I found that while my primary focus was on the Freelancers themselves, a fair number of the songs applied just as well, if not better, to the simulation troopers and even the soldiers of Chorus. I enjoy that this kind of highlights how the main message kind of echoes through all the RvB arcs. I also think it's a notable point that a lot of the songs that I used to portray the manipulation and abuse of the Freelancers by the men in charge have the real-world messages of highlighting wealth and social inequality and abuse of the working class by the rich. This isn't something necessarily explicit in the RvB canon- but the vast majority of military recruitment comes from their exploitation of the desperation of the working class. This real-world issue has echoes throughout the story- in the Reds and Blues, yes, but also in the Freelancers. They say multiple times, "The Director's given us everything"; they've been lifted up, granted a better life, but it all depends on remaining in line, staying in the good graces of those with power. They eat, sleep, breathe because of Freelancer- they live on the ship, spend their whole days submerged in it. One wrong step, and they're back to having nothing.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the playlist lmao

True Friends- Bring Me The Horizon

I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you // 'Cause I'll forget but I'll never forgive you // Don't you know, don't you know? // True friends stab you in the front

2. Go To War- NOTHING MORE

With every battle we lose a little more // Remember everything that we'd die for // You are everything that I'd die for

3. Only Us- Thrice

Finally when will it be enough // To find there's no them // There is only us // There's only us

4. Wicked Ones- Dorothy

This night ain't for the faint of heart // For the faint of heart, for the faint of heart // This night ain't for the faint of heart // 'Cause the faint of heart gonna fall apart

5. Saints of the Sinners- The Faim

When jokers smile and angels cry // We lose ourselves and lose our minds

6. All Eyes on You- Smash Into Pieces

Now the whole world's watching every move // Still your heart so much to prove // Fight for all the things that you believe in // Now the whole world's watching every move // Take your shot, don't act a fool // All you've got and all you'll ever need // Is one bullet in the chamber

7. Used To The Darkness- Des Rocs

Now would you pray before you twist the knife? // Yeah, would you take my hand and take a life? // I'm too damn young to give up on the light // I'm used to the darkness, I'm used to the darkness

8. Can't Go To Hell- Sin Shake Sin

It's no mystery, what can I say, we're blind by design // And history keeps getting paid to change it's mind // Some wounds will never mend // Divided by deception, but together we must rise // Deafened by the naive while we silence the wise

9. 12 Rounds- Bohnes

'Cause I fight for everything I die for // Everything I bled onto the ground sacrificed for // When the reaper comes knocking at my door // We'll be going 12 rounds

10. Hold Steady- The Glorious Sons

What ya think? // I do it for free? // Either you're lyin' // Or you must not think much of me // I gave you my soul // I gave you my bloody, ragged soul

11. Chosen Ones- Mountains vs. Machines

We are, we are the chosen // We are, we are the few // The end will never come // We are the chosen ones

12. I'm So Sorry- Imagine Dragons

So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go // You'll never be loved till you've made your own // You gotta face up, you gotta get yours // You never know the top till you get too low

13. Machines- All Good Things

Hands to the sky I swore I'd try // Searching for a better life // They would take us far from home // Far from all the things we know

14. The Kids Aren't Alright- Fall Out Boy

And with the black banners raised // As the crooked smiles fade // Former heroes who quit too late // Who just wanna fill up the trophy case again

15. Man or a Monster (feat. Zayde Wølf)- Sam Tinnesz

It's so hard to tell which side you're on // One day is hell, the next day is the dawn // The lines are blurred, you keep rubbing your eyes // The tables turn, now it's time to survive

16. Spaceman- The Killers

And you know I'm fine // But I hear those voices at night sometimes // They justify my claim

17. Down (feat. Trella)- Simon

All the secrets that I keep // Like a bomb inside of me // I've been waiting to be free // All the shades of who I am // Try to catch me if you can // I just slip right through your hands

18. Mars- Sleeping at Last

As life replayed, we heard a voice proclaim // "Lay your weapons down // They're calling off the war // On account of losing track // Of what we're fighting for"

19. What Are We Fighting For- The Federal Empire

The price of our freedom // Is blood in the water // We’re looking for hope what will it take // We keep on repeating // The fate of our fathers // Somehow there’s got to be a change

20. Follow My Feet- The Unlikely Candidates

There's a fork in the road in front of me // At the crossroads of identity // The Devil is standing to the left // He says "either way, they both lead to death" // And the high road's steady and steep // And the low road's easy and deep // Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet

21. Hysteria- Muse

Yeah, it's holding me, morphing me // And forcing me to strive // To be endlessly cold within // And dreaming I'm alive

22. Go Get Your Gun- The Dear Hunter

And to those who'll die, please try to understand // That for those who die, we tried the best we can // With our one foot in the grave // While the other one's kickin' its way right down to Hell

23. The Fear- The Score

I've battled hard with the face in the mirror // Every scar makes me dig down deeper // Push it 'til there's nothin' more // 'Cause I'm stronger than I was before

24. Lunatics and Slaves- Sin Shake Sin

Hate what they tell you to hate // Love when they say it's okay // Still, you have nothing to say anyway // And you don't even know you're a slave

25. Try Honesty- Billy Talent

Sew up my eyes, need no more // In our game, there is no score // Forgive me father, why should ya bother? // Try honesty, try honesty

26. Blood On Our Hands- KNGDAVD

So walk with me and you will see // That your enemy may be your remedy // 'Cause we all got blood on our hands // But we still got hope in our souls

27. Free- Mother Mother

A bloody war // Behind my eyes // I come out right on the other side

28. Back Against the Wall- Cage the Elephant

Blanket of silence makes me want to sink my teeth in deep // Burn all the evidence of fabricated disbelief // Pull back the curtains, took a look into your eyes // My tongue has now become a platform for your lies

29. Spirits- The Strumbellas

I spend a lot of nights on the run // And I think, oh, like I'm lost and can't be found // I'm just waiting for my day to come // And I think, oh, I don't wanna let you down

30. Blindness- Metric

I was a blind fool // Never complained // All the survivors // Singing in the rain // I was the one with // The world at my feet // Got us a battle // Leave it up to me

31. Champion- Barns Courtney

I've been on a long road // With the devil right beside me // Rising with the morning sun // It's a hunger that drives me

32. All These Things That I've Done- The Killers

Another head aches, another heart breaks // I'm so much older than I can take // And my affection, well, it comes and goes // I need direction to perfection, no, no, no, no

33. Imaginary Friends- Des Rocs

Do you wanna leave me here? // With you 'til the end, imaginary friends // Give in to the fire and the fear, the liar in your ear // And you'll never be lonely again

34. Dear Dictator- Saint Motel

And at the trial, there'll be no jury // And all the dead are going to play witness // Not too late to say you're sorry // It's too late to truly mean it

35. False Confidence- Noah Kahan

Why won't you take me seriously // Look at me all fucked up over someone I'll never meet // And I wonder why I tear myself down // To be built back up again

36. Villains, Pt. 1- Emma Blackery

I don't feel anything // Because I became possessed and obsessed // With the idea of revenge

37. Woke Up A Rebel- Reuben And The Dark

I am wild, I am lost // I am sick, I am damned // But I am holding redemption in the palm of my hand // So I tighten my fist // And sharpen my teeth // It's a promise I made // It's secret I keep

38. Revolution- John Butler Trio

So tell me family now what do you think // Watch it all go down the great big sink. // Watch how the scum it rises to the top. // Don't you wonder when it's all gonna stop? // Sometimes I wonder how we do sleep, // Serving the dodgy companies we keep. // All kicking and scrounging for the very first place // Dictionary definition of a rat race

39. Survivor Guilt- Rise Against

Carry on // Don't mind me // All I gave was everything // And yet you ask me for more // Fought your fight // Bought your lie // And in return I lost my life // What purpose does this serve?

40. Pressure- Muse

Get out of my face, out of my mind // I see your corruption // I'm not blind // I'll carry the burden and take the strain // And when I am done I will make you pay

Note for anyone who actually read this far or looked at the selections here: yes I know these selections and bands imply something very specific about me, and the idea of some of these more popular and overplayed songs being paired with my melodramatic write-up might be laughable. I feel the need to qualify by promising my taste is not just the basic "action movie trailer" vibes or early 2010s radio hits this playlist sort of lets on... but these are the songs that make me Feel The Vibes and part of the vibes is the inextricable fact that I watched the Freelancer Saga in 2011-2012 when I was an edgy teen listening to Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy on repeat daily. Just be glad I branched out more than I did 11 years ago for this one.

[pandaluver189]

get to know me tag

rules: tag ten followers you want to get to lee know better

tagged by the lovely @changbeanie​ ♡

star sign: virgo (I know my other signs if anyone wants me to disclose them)

put your playlist on shuffle and list the first four songs:

trust my lonely - alessia cara

blooming day - exo-cbx

adore u - seventeen

tomorrow - bts

fun fact my playlist has 474 songs

grab the nearest book. turn to page 23, what is line 17? sweats I think I've misplaced my books hang on ”[But the chance had been snatched away] from him — Wormtail has escaped before they could take him [to the Ministry of Magic]” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

ever had a song or poem written about you?: no (as far as i’m aware of)

what was the last time you played air guitar?: I don’t remember lol but if I remember correctly, I've never played air guitar

what’s a sound you hate? you love?: loud static I guess? (just generally earrape-y stuff, but really im just eh to most sounds) & waves crashing (im not really opinionated on this stuff but I do have a video of a wave crashing into some rocks when I went to sunset cliffs with a cousin) and changbin singing (that singing room vlive tho) also I think chan’s singing is lovely, no, all of skz singing is lovely I can’t decide skdjskdjs

do you believe in ghosts?: eh not really (but if there are ghosts that exist and are reading this post, I respect your existence or is it non-existence?)

do you believe in aliens?: no in the sense that there are beings that look like the aliens in pop culture, but yes in the sense that there are possibly other life forms out there. (like the odds are so large yet also so small? maybe the future humans can figure out something before the universe has heat death and before the sun eats us all)

do you like the smell of gasoline?: no but it’s bearable

what’s the last movie you saw?: solo: a star wars story (I think? my memory is bad due to stress)

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?: I've never had any injuries where I needed to be stitched or admitted to a hospital yes I was a careful child and I still am but I guess the times I accidentally hit my head on stuff (emphasis on accidentally because I sometimes bang my head since im stupid I think it’s something lasting when I was young and my mom would hit my head for some sense to be knocked in) and maybe that one time I was playing soccer wow panda being active? unheard of and I fell on my arm wrong? it was weird to move for that day and the next, I was fine after

do you have any obsessions right now?: not really? im fond of pixel wallpapers and changbin’s stupid smile and dried cranberries (but I like those all the time??)

do you tend to hold grudges?: im more afraid of people holding grudges on me but yes, if you really frick up and continuously frick up OR I don't like you (I generally am pretty neutral on people but if you have bullied me or caused me some misfortune that could’ve been avoided, I dislike you)

in a relationship?: no but I think you could consider that im in one with my phone but no actually no one likes me or knows me (I've been labeled as my friend’s “Asian friend” by her classmate) so yeah im basically a nobody

tagging: @vanillachangbin @arqueritefrost  im sorry for the ping hopefully you haven’t done this already dsjkdjks

[thegreyj]

Already Home

Prepare your tissues for this sweet yet heartbreaking little oneshot. Based on the song If You're Reading This by Tim McGraw.

*runs away, hides*

..enjoy?

Already Home

Waking up next to her husband was the highlight of Aelin’s day. It was rare that she woke up before him though, so when she did, she stayed as still as possible just admiring him. His face was so peaceful, like he didn’t have any worries, like the possibility of him being called to leave wasn’t hanging over his head constantly.

But it was.

Aelin had grown used to him being called away at a moment’s notice. It didn’t mean it wasn’t hard for her. She loved having her husband all to herself, but she also knew Rowan was an honorable man, proudly doing his duty.

This time, though, Aelin felt the flicker of hope start burning in her chest. Rowan was nearing the end of his contract, which meant that they could soon finally start trying for a family. They both wanted kids, a big family, but they had also agreed to wait until Rowan was done with the military. It wouldn’t be fair for the child to grow up with a father that might leave at the drop of a hat.

For now, Aelin would enjoy the time she had alone with her husband. His beautiful silver hair, usually very short, had grown a bit longer. It would soon need cutting again, but maybe after his contract finished, he could keep it a bit longer. Long enough so Aelin could easily run her fingers through his hair. She felt the urge to touch his hair now but didn’t want to bother his peaceful slumber.

Apparently, Rowan had other ideas. Still half asleep, he grabbed his wife’s hand and placed it on his head. Then when Aelin ran her fingers over his scalp, she could practically hear him purring.

“Morning, buzzard,” she chuckled and placed a kiss on his nose, still scratching his head.

“Mmmmh, morning, fireheart,” his response was partially mumbled by the pillow. “Are you watching me sleep again?”

“Of course, I don’t get many opportunities like this, mister I-wake-up-at-dawn,” Aelin explained while slowly getting up, allowing the covers to fall off and show off her nude figure to her husband, who suddenly was wide awake. “Join me for a shower?”

Rowan practically jumped and ran after his wife.

**

Their lives went forward pretty smoothly, day by day. Every now and then they had a small argument, usually about nothing important – usually about the renovations they planned to have done on their house. After living for a few years in military bases, the Whitethorn-Galathynius couple had decided to find a house of their own, with space for future kids and maybe a dog.

When they had found the beautiful two-story house that needed a little care and love, they had made an offer immediately. The process had taken a while to get approved, and had happened when Rowan had been away, but had worked it all out over the phone with Aelin taking on the brunt of it all at that time.

Not that she had minded – she had had free rein of the place before Rowan came back and had gotten all the necessary renovations under way.

When Rowan had eventually come home, they had celebrated in their new bedroom with half the wallpapers ripped off.

Together they had finished the rest of the house, with only a few tiny fixes left – at least according to Rowan. Plumbing is not a job for you, buzzard, and you know it, had been Aelin’s response everytime her husband even dared to suggest that maybe he could just redo their bathroom plumbing so they could get the last room done as well.

They also talked a lot about what they would do once Rowan officially got to retire from the military. They would go on a long trip; visit all the family members they hadn’t seen in a while. And most importantly, they would finally start trying for a new addition to their family.

Aelin wanted three kids; Rowan wanted at least five. Five, are you insane? I will look like a stretched-out puff pastry after five kids.

You look beautiful and will always continue to look beautiful to me, Fireheart.

Aelin held tight onto those words when Rowan was called in again.

They were so close, almost finishing his contract without another mission.

**

It had been a few weeks since Rowan had left. Aelin had continued living her life, as she always did when Rowan was away. She met up with friends, had lunch with Aedion and Lysandra more often than usually. At least once a week she would get to speak with her husband for some time, ranging from a few minutes of calls to almost an hour of video chat. Every day she sent emails and text messages, pictures to share her daily life. She didn’t often get pictures back, maybe a few affirmative words that Rowan had seen whatever she had sent him.

Life was good. Aelin waited for her husband to come home, to finally finish the contract.

Finally start their family.

Funny how the universe works sometimes.

About two weeks after Rowan left, Aelin started to experience odd headaches. Mostly she managed to ignore them, but sometimes they hit so hard she threw up.

A week later she started throwing up without the headaches.

--

Aelin was sitting on the edge of the bed in her and Rowan’s bedroom, staring at the plastic stick in her hands. Positive. Of course, it was, with Rowan and his super swimmers getting through birth control before they were ready for it.

But they were, weren’t they? The only hang up still was Rowan being active military, and he was coming home, and he wouldn’t be active any longer. Their future was now, at least according to the baby Aelin was apparently now carrying.

With the widest smile, she went on a small shopping spree and found the cutest onesie.

She took a picture with the onesie and the pregnancy test and sent it to Rowan.

**

“Are you really? Pregnant I mean?” Rowan’s face looked eager, excited and shocked at the same time as he was on the video call with his wife. Aelin couldn’t do anything but nod.

Rowan let out a sob.

“We’re gonna have a baby? I’m gonna be a dad!” He practically screamed in excitement, with some happy tears falling down his cheeks. Aelin could hear some congratulations from the background. Apparently, he had an audience to his call.

“You’re gonna be a dad, buzzard. Are you happy?” Aelin still held some fears – maybe this wasn’t such good timing after all.

“Am I happy? I’m beyond ecstatic! Sure, we talked about starting a family once I’m done, but I practically am done, Ae. I’m coming home after this mission and we’re gonna paint the nursery,” he started blabbing. “We’re going to be a family. Fireheart, are you crying?”

“It’s the hormones, I swear they just hit me out of nowhere.”

They talked about their fears and expectations a bit more, and when Rowan had to go, he assured Aelin that all would be fine, and they would manage. They would be the best parents to that baby, for as unexpected it was, it also was very much wanted.

**

Aelin was documenting every single moment of her pregnancy. She had bought one of those cameras that printed the photo out immediately, and she used it at least every week to take a picture of her growing baby bump. Sure, Rowan had managed to see it a couple of times when they had managed to get a connection good enough for a video call – but usually their communication was through emails or phone calls.

Finally, past her first trimester, Aelin decided to share their excitement with their friends. Aedion was over the moon, ready to become an uncle to the prince or princess cooking up there. Lysandra had started crying and hugged Aelin, who in turn had started crying due to the emotions running wild.

Her bump was very visible already, not big by any means, but visible – and Rowan had gone wild when he saw it in their video call. He had dragged his fingers along the screen, imagining his hands on her stomach.

Aelin started crying at the point when Rowan had introduced himself to their baby over the call.

She still cried after the call ended, as she missed Rowan even more now that she was carrying their child.

Soon he would be home.

**

This had turned out to be a mission a bit more complex than previous ones, so Rowan had been gone for over four months already. Aelin had started on the nursery, with her husband's input of course, and Aedion’s hands helping her build the crib and assemble the shelves.

Aelin painted beautiful drawings of a hawk and a stag on the wall of the baby’s room.

She went to her check-ups, got sonograms and printed 3D-ultrasound pictures to add to the scrapbook for Rowan.

There was quite an amount of material there already, but she didn’t want her husband to miss any part of the pregnancy, so she had been busy snapping pictures and gathering pieces to add to her crafts project.

--

Then one day, her life turned upside down. Two military men knocked on her door. The next moments went by in a blur, as she was given Rowan’s dog tags and some explanations. Not that she actually heard anything beyond missing in action - presumed dead and these were left at his last known location.

Aelin cried for days on end, still sending messages that had the tiny note that said delivered. Never read.

Rowan’s mother came by to stay with her for a while. Her parents visited when they could too.

Couple weeks went by before a military man visited again, this time it was Rowan’s best friend Lorcan. Rowan had asked him to deliver a letter to her in case he didn’t make it home. Lorcan said that Rowan had instructed his mother to sit with her while she read the letter.

So, the two females settled on the sofa in Aelin’s living room.

With shaking hands, she opened the envelope to see a piece of paper with her husband’s handwriting on it.

--

Dear Fireheart, my soul, my love,

I never want you to read these words, but sometimes life is unfair, and things don’t work out the way we want them to.

So, if you’re reading this and Lorcan did as I asked, my mother hopefully is with you, and I’m not.

I have some things to tell you both.

Mom, I know you didn’t want me to join the military, not after it took Dad away from you. From us. But I’ve always felt like it was my calling, and I can’t regret it, not for one day. I’m proud that I followed in Dad’s footsteps. I just wish it wasn’t quite this literally.

Aelin. My Fireheart.

I’m so sorry that you have to read this. I wish I was there, at home with you. I wish I could give you one more kiss, have one more chance to look into your beautiful eyes. Tell you I love you one more time. Hear it back once more.

Ever since the day I met you, you have held my heart. You became my home, something to look forward to each day. Now that heart is still with you, in our little girl. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see our baby being born. Gods, I wish more than anything that I could be there on that day. If you’re reading this, it means I won’t be.

But it will be okay. You’re the strongest person I know, and I know you will give birth to the most incredible tiny human this Earth will ever see. I hope she looks like you, with your beautiful fiery eyes. And I hope she has my fighting spirit, so she will always stand up for those who need it.

And Fireheart... I hope I will be there at home with you, but if I won’t be, then… Then I hope you will find it in yourself to move on one day. Maybe you’ll find someone else to love, like you’ve loved me all these years. It’s going to be OK, you have so much love to give. I don’t want you to stop living just because I’m not there. Show our little girl everything the world has to offer.

To my unborn little love, I loved you from the moment I knew you existed. You were wanted, very much. I couldn’t wait to meet you. I’m so sorry you won’t get to meet me like your mama, and I planned but know that I will be there watching over both of you.

I’m sorry I couldn’t make it home like I promised.

But I don’t want you to worry.

I’m already home.

-Rowan

**

The rest of Aelin’s pregnancy was rough, but she kept up the pictures and gathering material. She finished the scrapbook about her pregnancy – only this time it was more intended for her daughter eventually. The letter – Rowan’s final letter was also added to the book.

After her daughter Alora was born, Aelin read the letter to her almost on a daily basis. She told her stories of her dad, of the wonderful man Rowan had been. How much he loved her.

One day, when Aelin was reading the letter once again to her daughter, and she got to the part about Rowan apologizing for not being there to see the baby being born, Alora spoke her first words. Baby me! Dada. That day, Aelin drove with her daughter to a place very important to both of them.

“Meet your daddy, little love,” Aelin said as they sat down for a picnic in front of the memorial stone. She grabbed the book from her bag and once more started reading it to her daughter. “This was the day mama found out about you and told dada too. He cried, because he was so happy.”

--

Tags: @rowanaelinn | @morganofthewildfire | @tomtenadia | @leiawritesstories | @aelinchocolatelover | @backtobl4ck | @wesupremeginger | @goddess-aelin | @hiimheresworld | @swankii-art-teacher | @jorjy-jo | Let me know if you want to be added/removed from the taglist.

[teletraan-meets-jarvis]

hello ma'am id like to request a captain rex x f! or gn! reader,, maybe he's promised to take reader out on a date after he returns from a mission and when he does he asks you out and stuff bksbegksgjsn hope that provides inspiration

Ooooh I love this idea and it really did spark something in my brain so thanks for that!! :D. So happy to be writing again. See below for some happiness and fluff!

Date Night With The Captain

AO3 Link

Pairing: Rex x gn!Reader

Summary: You and Rex have been pining over each other for a while now, thankfully your good friends in the Elite Guard intervene to help speed things up.

Warnings: General Audience. Don't think there is any. One bit of swearing.

Word Count: 1.5k

It was another warm, smoggy day on Coruscant. The hatch door to the landing bay of the Republic Military HQ was open, allowing whatever small breeze the planet had to offer through. The top of your Republic issued jumpsuit was tied around your waist, letting the trousers hang loosely around your lower half, in attempt to keep yourself cool. You had the radio on as you worked beneath a red A-Wing, your mind on autopilot as you rewired, cut and welded through the repairs. Casually rolling back and forth on your dolly, humming along to the newest song the radio had to offer.

Given your work as a mechanic for the Republic since the start of the war, you’d gotten to know a lot of the clones from various battalions. You always had fun working on the ships for the Wolfpack as they were natural pilots who took a real appreciation in your work. In return, you made sure to always touch up the artwork of the two buckets and General Plo’s face for them on each ship, as you knew how much it meant to the men. Other battalions, while lovely, really did love to make your job difficult. Aka, the 501st. The clones weren’t too bad when it came to flying, it was more the involvement of General Skywalker which usually meant most of your ships didn’t even make it back, and the few that did were in a questionable state. Captain Rex always had the job of checking the ships back in to you due to Skywalker’s fear of facing your wrath for another ship mishap.

Captain Rex... you felt your mind drift to think of the clone you’d been getting close with over the past few years. He was easy company. A strong, friendly presence that was always welcome in your repair bay. He’d usually stick around for longer then he should, relaying their latest mission as he nursed a cup of caff while you worked away. You’d developed quite a crush on the Captain as time went on, how could you not? His buzz cut blonde hair, his caring nature, and that handsome face which despite being a clone, had something unique about it that made you smile every time he looked at you.

Yep, you were crushing bad on the Captain. But it wasn’t entirely one-sided. Just before he departed for his last mission, you think he was attempting to ask you out on a date before his comm went off and pulled him away and back to the war. You’d been running that interaction through your brain ever since he left, trying to guess how he would’ve liked to finish his sentence.

You let out a sigh at the thought. A person could dream right. You were suddenly pulled out of your thoughts when someone yanked your dolly from out under the ship, taking you with it. You were presented with a helmet-less, Commander Fox who’s curly hair was hanging just above his eyebrows. He didn’t say anything as he shoved a cup of caff in your direction.

You got yourself up from laying on your back and gratefully accepted the caffeine “Cheers, Fox”

“You need to take a break every so often” he stated while sipping at his own beverage.

“Rich coming from you” you winked at him, “Let me guess, Stone forced you to take a break by sending you to bring me a drink and make me take a break”

“Pretty much”

“Classic” you enjoyed the comfortable silence which fell between you both. Despite his overly stressed exterior, Fox was one of your closest friends. He and the other Elite Guard Commanders always made sure to check in and look after you and you did the same for them.

After a few minutes, he spoke again “Oh, Thorn needs your advice on something. He asked you to meet him in the mess hall”

“Dating drama again?” You questioned with a chuckle.

“Most likely” Fox replied with a roll of his eyes.

You bid Fox a farewell and set off to find Thorn. The military base very much stuck to a black and grey colour scheme so it was near impossible to distinguish one hallway from another if you didn’t know you way around by memory. Your jumpsuit made some swooshing noises as your legs skimmed past one another while you walked. Tools and bolts rattled in your pocket as you went. A contrast to the quiet you found in the hallways this evening.

Eventually you spotted Thorn standing outside the mess hall where he waved you inside and disappeared into the room.

You eventually caught up and walked in and the sight you were met with took your breath away. The lights in the hall were dimmed and there was a single table set up. A few candles lit up the centre and there were two portions of standard mess food waiting on either side in their signature metal trays. Standing next to the table was an awkward looking Captain Rex, his armour still dirty from battle. He had his helmet off, letting you see the flush of pink on his cheeks as he rubbed a hand down the back of his neck.

Thorn was practically bouncing with excitement as he pushed you forward into the room. “Well you kids have fun, don’t do anything I wouldn’t dooo!” He shouted as he ran out the door, closing it behind him.

You and Rex stood there for a moment, taking each other in. He looked quite vulnerable in that moment, waiting to see your reaction.

“Hey Captain, glad to see you’re back safe and sound” you said with a smile as you walked towards him. “What’s all this?”

“Well, I uh, I’ve been meaning to take you out for a while now, but things kept getting in the way. I know it’s not Coruscant’s finest dining experience-“

“It’s perfect” you cut him off, smile beaming on your face as you realised everything you’d been dreaming about these past months was true. “How’d you manage to pull this one off?”

“It was Thorn’s idea to be fair, he managed to get Fox on board to give us access to the mess hall after hours.” You chuckled at his words, of course they were meddling. Not that you minded of course, you knew exactly what you signed up for when it came to being friends with the Coruscant Elite Guard.

“You hungry?” Rex asked, much more relaxed now he had your approval on his surprise.

“Absolutely starving” you replied as you took your seat opposite the handsome Captain.

The pair of you chatted away as you ate the standard food that the base pumped out on the regular. Rex filled you in on his latest battles and 501st drama. He mentioned that it was only him from his battalion who had returned, and he was only back for a couple of days with the General to give a briefing to the Council before heading back out again. Which explained why Fives, Kix and Jesse hadn’t come storming into the repair bay to say hello to you.

You relayed what you and the guard had been up to, the pranks that Stone and Thorn had been playing on poor Fox, any fun stories about Palpatine that Fox had bitched about to you all.

Everything came so naturally with Rex; you spoke for what neither of your realised was hours. The candles burning slowly down until they were nearly running out of wax. You didn’t realise how much you’d missed his presence until right now.

Seeing an opportunity, you took his hand in yours on the table. Running your thumb over the hardened skin on his knuckles. “This has been probably the best evening I’ve had in a long time” you admitted, blushing.

“You and me both. But it’s not quite over yet” you cocked your head at the trooper in front of you as he hit something on his comm link and suddenly some slow jazz song started playing through the room’s speakers. Rex stood up and offered you a hand to join him. You nearly swooned at the entire thing. You’d never experienced romance like this. How did you get so lucky that he’d chosen you for all of this?

You took his outstretched hand as he led you to a slightly more open portion of the hall. You wrapped your arms around his neck, he was about to put his on your hips but paused and quickly asked for permission with a quiet “May I?” before he did so. It surely was not possible for a living being to be this adorable, handsome, perfect. Right?

The pair of you began to sway casually to the song that was playing. “So how did I do?” He asked with a small smirk on his lips.

“Honestly Captain, you couldn’t have done anything better. This is perfect” you smiled up at him. Your eyes met his fiery amber ones, filled with such warmth and content. You couldn’t wait any longer, you leaned up and placed your lips on his in a soft, first kiss. Both your movements were slow against one another, enjoying the languid pace set by the dancing and music, letting it guide your kiss.

You pulled away and met his eyes again. Yep you were falling for this man. Badly. But from the looks of it, he wasn’t too far behind you.

The pair of you danced the night away, the war forgotten for that one evening.

Back to Masterlist

[sarasa-cat]

So america, you have had a coup. Yes, it failed. Yes, politico nerds, technically this would have been a (failed) autogolpe, aka a self-coup.

If you’ve followed the news closely, you also realized that the President viciously turned on his Vice President Wednesday morning, which made his extremely conservative Vice President just as much of a target for the angry mob as the Democratic Speaker of the House and all of the electoral votes.

Some of you may be surprised by what happened or how bad it got.

Some of us weren’t the least bit surprised (or have been warning for years/decades).

Some of us were relieved that it did not end as badly as it could have.

This could have had a far worse outcome and the state of affairs right now isn’t good.

But a lot of Americans — and I’m not just talking about the stunned parade of faces in my house’s WFH zoom room — mistakenly think this is the beginning of the end.

After all, we will see a Biden-Harris administration take over on the 20th of January and, with the razor thin majority in Congress, America will be controlled by a democratic government that believes in modern values like being principled, making policy based on facts and science, creating policy that is more just, fair, and equitable for the diversity of people inside America. (Of course, there is a whole lot to argue about in those statements and tapping at some of those words make me wince because the seat of Dem party power is far more center-right business as usual but for fucksake, for giant fucksake, for the past handful of decades there is not a single damn compassion one can make between the centrist dems and the economic disaster turned crazypants loony right wing that are the shriveled heart of the Republicans).

So, yes, humanity and decency has won this round, thankfully, and may I never again have to wonder if Mike Pence has my back, but...

I’m here to bring the bad news. (That’s always been my job$ and now I’m doing it here for free while I drink my coffee)

America, your nation is sick, literally and figuratively, and badly wounded.

Your democracy is broken, and both half-implemented and outdated.

Your economy is akin that a colonized nation except in your case, you’ve colonized yourselves.

A sizable number of your voters are deeply uneducated and deeply pissed off.

You have your own homegrown taliban who are very heavily armed and your official security forces - at nearly all levels - look the other way and allow your homegrown taliban to recruit and to run amok. You police departments are city-level military police who are deeply corrupt.

What I’m saying is, America, you are a (so-called) banana republic.

And you have experienced a coup.

You have thousands of people needlessly dying every single day thanks to extreme federal government neglect coupled with decades of defunding and underfunding and profit driven nonsense regarding public health and health care bc your public-service gov has been shunk so small it drowned in a bathtub. (Remember, self-colonized?)

You have experienced a coup and your new incoming gov (thank every star in sky for this new incoming gov not being the outgoing gov) is a weak government.

You have experienced a failed autocoup and that alone means your incoming gov will be weak.

This isn’t over. You cannot go back to blissful ignorance. You have a problem in your own backyard and you need to clean it up.

You already know about home grown white terrorism, bombings, school shootings, etc. You know what they have done in the past. You also had a rash of assassinations in (old ppls) still living memory. Can you guess additional or different scenarios for how this shit might play out in the near future?

Bc remember, you have experienced an autocoup. It “failed” but it also succeeded because ppl showed you exactly who they are and what they think. Showed their faces. Gave their names. Bragged.

America, you had an autocoup.

You are wounded, self-wounded. Your education system - especially elite private education- has not prepared you for understanding what has happened.

You need to actually educate yourselves. Start reading about postcolonialism and critical theory along with the reading lists Black Americans have shared on your nation’s real history.

You need to follow politics the same way you follow sports or media.

You need to read far more widely than many of Americans do. Fiction and nonfiction. Read more writers who aren’t in America.

You need to think long term and build a future for the next (not yet born) generation.

Finally, you need to stop patronizing ppl who aren’t White Protestants when they explain history and your government and you culture to you. You need to listen bc for fucksake ppl have been warning for years - decades - this was coming. All of it, everything from the golden escalator ride in 2015 to the idiotic autocoup on 6 January 2021.

Tune into those voices who have been warning and start listening.

My coffee break is done.

Thus my free consultation is over.

Go use your google fingers. Go educate yourselves.

[thr-333]

Drastic Measures- Part 15

@daminette-december2019-2020

~Cats~

Did I set up a whole pet store b plot? Yes. could I have easily used it for this promt? Yes. but I live to be unpredictable~

Also I’m gonna give you all fair warning I’m starting to foster kittens tomorrow(huh cats good timing) so if I miss an update it is all their fault.

Ao3

First < Previous

--------------

“So was this how you did it?” Damian asks, leaving the plane on autopilot.

“No, it was a lot less private jets and a lot more magic portals,” Marinette hands him a drink because oh yeah there's a fridge on this plane stocked to the brim, “Won’t he figure out where we are?”

“No this is a card Jason gave me he says Father never caught him so he won't catch me,” Damian sits down across from her, a sea of clouds out the window, “He actually had a whole box full I’m a little concerned,”

“Well you know as long as he doesn't do anything drastic, like buy a plane,” Marinette scoffs gazing out the window. She feels Damian's eyes on her but he doesn't say anything so she lets it be.

“How did I never realize you were Ladybug?” He’s looking at her like she's the world, a look she never gets out of the mask it feels undeserved.

“How did I never realize you were Robin?” Marinette snarks back, anything not to feel that knot in her chest, “I mean the way you tried to kill me was so reminiscent,”

“... I tried to kill you,” Damian seems stricken by the realization.

“Twice,”

“I am very sorry,” 

“... Wow,” And dammit he does look sincere, and she was ready to forgive him on his half-baked apology before how was she meant to stand up to this?

“What?”

“Oh no I was just expecting to hear your brothers scream or something,” Marinette shrugs, Damian rolls his eyes but relaxes, “You actually apologized,”

“Yes surprisingly I understand the concept,” Damian snaps not looking directly at her.

“Now you’re back,” Marinette smiles, letting herself relax.

“About what happened,” Damian breaks the silence again, “The whole soul mate ordeal, does that actually exist?”

“In a way, usually not the way people think,” Marinette faces him turning on more of her Ladybug confidence, “The universe is all about balance, that's the whole point of the miraculous, like the creation of the Ladybug miraculous has to be balanced by the destruction of the Cat miraculous, if it’s not, the world is out of balance, you get things like Hawkmoth,”

“So that’ll happen to us?” Damian leans forward with rapt attention.

“No, miraculous are powerful examples but balance applies to people too, soul mates balance each other out if one dies then the other person is off-balance,” Marinette makes vague gestures to support her explanation, “Sometimes the effects are minimal sometimes they are extreme, it all depends on how well you know your soulmate and if you have a miraculous,”

“What happens if they have a miraculous?”

“Well miraculous have more power and if you wear them long enough that power becomes part of you, if only one person has that power than the bond is off-balance, so usually the guardians try to pair up soulmates to hold the miraculous,”

“So you-”

“Extenuating circumstances,” Marinette waves off before it can be mulled over, “Master- the guardian that chose me feared it might have negative effects on you but I guess being… everything balanced it out a bit more,”

“So you said it’s not romantic,” Damian's blushing now, Marinette holds her breath, “Does that mean-”

They are thrown to the side, alarms start blaring and they are losing altitude quickly.

“What's going on?!” Marinette stands up shakily, using the seat to pull herself up.

“We’ve been shot,” Damian's running to the cockpit, “We’re going down,”

“Damian!” Marinette grabs him, the ground is visible now and they are quickly approaching the forest. 

There's no miraculous to protect them. Marinette grabs the parachutes passing one to Damian they shrug them on before opening the door.

“Ever done this before!?” Damian shouts over the wind.

“Nope!” and with that Marinette jumps out of the crashing plane.

She stops the fall by deploying her parachute, drifting down as the plane crashing into the rain forest. She gets tangled in the canopy trees, getting out of the parachute Marinette makes her way down to the forest floor far from the crash here and no Damian insight.

“Hey, Damian! Where are you!” Marinette shouts meeting silence, running through the jungle, “Are you alright!? Answer me!”

“Define alright,” Marinette looks up above her and there Damian is, hanging from the branches like a ragdoll, “do not laugh,”

“I’m not laughing,” Marinette is definitely laughing, “No I’m just checking my phone up high like I always do, ignore that sound pretty sure it’s just a bird,”

“Marinette stop taking pictures and get me down,”

“Alright, alright,”

She does with some trouble eventually getting Damian down safely.

“So whereabouts are we?” Marinette peers through the trees.

“Jungle, far from our target,” Damian has his specialized GPS out, “We’ll have to find the nearest town and get transport,”

“Right, town,” She whistles,  “There seems to be an abundance of those around,”

“There's one a few days walk from here,”

“Perfect,” Marinette rolls her eyes, following Damian's lead, “Who shot us down anyway?”

“Could be the military, wouldn’t put anything past Father, there may be a villain base nearby,” Damian lists, “Or perhaps, it was some poachers,”

“What Damian you didn’t spring for the armored jet?”

“I would have if I didn’t-” He stops looking at her despondently, “You’re messing with me,”

“Yep, but the fact you fell for it is very revealing,” Marinette pats him on the shoulder walking forward. She gets the distinct feeling of being watched and looks around casually as possible, spotting the source,  “In other news have you seen that mushroom over there,”

“We’re being followed,” Damian whispers to where she was pointing near the hunter.

“Amazing deduction, if only someone had pointed you in that direction,” Damian smirks before Marinette asks, “Who could it be, Batman? Assassins?”

“Or the people that shot us down, or both,”

They both watch cautiously taking a step forward, then they get attacked. Marinette and Damian dodge to the side in time. And no it’s not Batman or a villain or anyone else its-

“Big kitty!” Marinette squeals the tiger prowling towards her. Marinette reaches out with her magic trying to soothe them.

“Marinette stand back,” Damian warns, forced to the opposite side.

 “Please Damian this thing looks so starved I could speed walk away from it and it wouldn't catch up,” Marinette reaches out, cautiously despite her flippant attitude. The tiger sniffs her hand before bumping against it harmlessly, her creation magic soothing it, “Come on let's help her out,”

“How on earth did you pull me into adopting a tiger?” Damian asks as they stalk through the forest tiger in tow.

“Please, I’d probably have to hold you back from adopting it,” Damian doesn't deny it, “We’re just making sure she gets some food,”

“And how are we not turning into that food?” Damian asks, backing up as the Tiger stalks closer to him.

“Miraculous magic, animals tend to love me,”

“Especially cats,” Damian says a weird pinch to his tone.

“Sure, cats, ladybugs… oh,” She stops, looking back at him.

“You said miraculous holders should be soul mates,” Damian's talking to the ground.

“Yeah but Adrien's not my soul mate,” Marinette puts her hands on his shoulders, “You are,”

“So you two arent?”

“Not at all,” Marinette smiles, Damian relaxes and they keep walking.

“That's good,”

“Good?” 

“I didn’t say that,” He’s blushing now and Marinette’s not above teasing.

“Yes you did~”

“Marinette shhh, we’re trying to hunt here,” Damian shushes her still in a teasing tone. Marinette laughs, running to catch up.

 ---

 The hunt goes well. Well enough that Marinette should be more worried the tiger is about to adopt Damian not the other way around. They are carrying the kill for the tiger back to the den. She goes inside while they set the food down outside.

“Do you think she has babies!?” Marinette is also not above using her magic to pat tiger cubs.

“I’d say by the empty den no,” Damian backs up from his peeking when she stalks out, pacing around the area.

“I’d say by her distress and these footprints that yes,” Marinette glares in the direction the footprints go, “And that this isn’t good,”

“Follow me, I’ll track them,” Damian runs forward, closely followed.

“Another hunt, goodie,”

“You know a problem with your sarcasm Marinette is that I don’t know when you’re being genuine,”

“Oh, Damian I always use genuine sarcasm,”

Damian holds back whatever comeback he has, instead, running faster. They track the footprints through the rain forest. It isn’t far until they find the poachers. And it takes considerably less time for Ladybug and the former Robin to take them down.

“There you go sweetheart,” Marinette hands the two cubs back to their mother, not before getting in a quick pat.

“Yeah considering this man's arm that's not accurate,” Damian begrudgingly bandages the guy's arm, not with the best bedside manner.

“Yes it is~” Marinette coos at the mother fretting over the babies, “I suppose we have to take them to the hospital,”

“Right in the main city, and we should use their truck,” Damian grins evilly, Marinette matches it.

“There are closer-”

“Hush you,” Marinette gags the poachers for good measure, all of them bound.

“We’re taking a job at the Royal palace, you can be sure that we’ll mention you,” Damian glared coldly down at the men, “I would recommend not making your review any more unflattering,”

---------

no taglist :P

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

V2 playing Aming Us?

Hajime

Mains orange with a green leaf.

Gets crewmate role 90% of the time, though he’s usually one of the first few killed. 

Either that or he’s sus bc he so-happened to be standing near the body.

Asked “Hey how do I go in vents like __ did?” once and genuinely meant it.

As an impostor he kinda sucks at killing, so he needed help from Chiaki.

Nagito

Mains dark green with toilet paper or white with a green leaf.

Always gets impostor role.

Tho he wins without having to do much of anything.

Never kills but prefers sabotaging to see the “hope” of his crewmates trying to win.

The one time he finally gets a crewmate role, the game glitches and he’s kicked out.

But bc of another glitch he somehow got all the outfits and pets unlocked.

Just his luck, huh?

Ultimate Impostor

They have all the hats and outfits unlocked, constantly changing them and their colors for each game, usually to mimic their classmates.

Ironically is never the Impostor.

But sometimes they’re voted out first just for having that name.

They like fair discussions and hate ppl who just say “sus” without proof.

Hiyoko

Mains yellow with pink flower.

The millisecond she gets impostor role she beelines to Mikan and kills her.

She doesn’t care if everyone sees her, she gets a kick out of it.

Though if Mikan gets the impostor role, too, she’ll be pissed off and rat her out as soon as a body is found.

She’s a mean crewmate who’ll yell at everyone to hurry with their tasks while slacking off herself.

Hajime def made sure to have the censor chat on.

Mikan

Mains purple with medical mask.

Usually has medbay tasks and is too nervous to go anywhere else when she’s done with them.

Only trusts Nagito, Hajime, and Ibuki.

Impostor role scares her and sometimes she’ll call a meeting just to get everyone to vote her off.

Hiyoko bullies her relentlessly.

Teruteru

Mains red and alternates between the egg, cherry, cheese, and chef hats.

Kinda disappointed there’s no cooking-related tasks, only the vending machine task, so the game is kind of a letdown.

But he still tries to help.

First time he got impostor role he was scared and accidentally killed Ultimate Impostor and felt so guilty he cried.

Gundham

Mains black or purple with ram horns, bear ears, bird nest, or wolf ears

Has the bundles with the dog, hamster, bedcrab, and squiq (of course naming them after his Dark Devas)

Usually off on his own doing tasks which doesn’t give him a good alibi.

But he gets furious if someone accuses him.

Prob takes the game a little too seriously sometimes.

Chiaki

Mains pink or cyan with a flowerpot hat.

Her Ultimate Gamer talent truly shines here, as she’s excellent at all the tasks and is the smartest impostor.

Is usually the one helping others with card swipes (esp Hajime).

Gets bored after finishing tasks and sometimes falls asleep waiting for everyone to be done.

Peko

Mains black, white, or dark green with a hockey mask.

Always following Fuyuhiko around so they have alibis for each other.

As an impostor she’ll kill everyone except him, which outs her as the impostor quickly.

Fuyuhiko

Mains yellow with a black suit and a black fedora.

Peko is basically his bodyguard, even if she’s the impostor. She’ll never kill him.

Will get pissed if another impostor kills him or he’s accused of being one--which gets him voted off quick.

Mahiru

Mains red with either flower hat.

Screenshots a lot of stuff from the game.

She and Hiyoko have each other’s backs so they have alibies.

Is usually the one Hiyoko trusts enough to reveal her impostor role.

Akane

Mains brown with an egg hat.

She gets competitive as an impostor, wanting to get the most kills before anyone else finds her (or any other impostors does).

Nekomaru is usually her alibi during discussions.

Nekomaru

Mains black or dark blue with a knight helmet or toilet paper.

Insists everyone sticks together in groups of three.

Wishes he could challenge impostors to a fight instead of being helpless against them.

Also doesn’t entirely understand that the living crewmates can’t see the ghost chat

Sonia

Mains dark blue with a military suit and a crown or hockey mask.

Gundham and Kazuichi usually stick close to her, giving all three of them solid alibis if they’re crewmates.

Is actually a good impostor.

Kazuichi

Mains pink or lime green with a mechanic suit and goggles, along with a robot pet.

Often gets most of his tasks in electrical and is terrified to go in there.

Will get very defensive if someone accuses Sonia.

But he was horrified when she killed him as an impostor.

Ibuki

Mains purple or black with ram horns or a mohawk.

Usually sticks with Mikan to watch her scan or encourage her to finish her non-medbay tasks.

Actually likes being a ghost and won’t mind if she got killed.

Definitely records her game for trends like the ghost one or "c00chie man"

Izuru

Mains black with a black suit.

He’s already a pro given the “Ultimate Gamer” talent within him, so he gotten bored of the game easily.

Doesn’t really care if he’s voted off based on proof or just the word “sus”.

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Master Kohga Age of Calamity Trailer Analysis

I’m a speedy boi time for some thoughts on today’s new trailer

Ok first off THIS SHOT. Very important. Look at the Sheikah Slate filter. Last trailer I was able to write it off as some thematic choice since Robbie and Purah were Ancient Sheikah Scientists, but THIS trailer does not have that same connection. Couple this with this screenshot [credit to @rachelsmusicallife​ thanks for pointing this out to me!]

I’m under the impression that these cutscenes might be part of an overarching theme of reliving memories through the Sheikah Slate. Kinda fleshed out out theory on how this might be related to eggbot here.

“Hehehehe... Look. What. You. Did...”

The camera motion here is handheld (yes I know it’s not literally handheld but it has that feel) with Master Kohga here literally holding the camera. I’m assuming because this scene is from the direct POV of another character, perhaps Link. Which would make sense, since he is apparently accusing us of doing something. The lighting is also super weird, we’re in the Yiga Hideout (the area with the large pit where we fight Kohga in botw) but the sun is just setting with a shroud on the area. Although, I can’t exactly place the time of day because I’ve been through the hideout my fair share and no time of the day really lines up with this scene (because of the snowy Gerudo Highlands in the background, so the glistening of the sun is different) 

This is by the Great Plateau. I’m thinking near the Outpost Ruins considering this isn’t Gatepost Town since they Great Plateau’s entrance is not in view. In fact, I could probably specifically place this right....HERE

Flag poles, juts in the Plateau walls, road directly perpendicular to the Plateau. If my three years of staring at the Botw world is correct, [please Nintendo it’s the only thing I’m good at] then I’d say they’re at the Outpost Ruins. The only thing is that the houses seen here are mainly wood, while the ruins have clear stone walls

Well...I don’t mind.

This is not Master Kohga. Different voice actor, new character design, new villain! I’m assuming he’s some sort of second in command or captain, given he duel wields Windcleavers. Also not how he doesn’t have a scar on his mask in this scene

Further note, look at that chimney!!! I love that chimney, I haven’t seen that chimney before... it’s in a style that I can only really place in Castle Town, but the location is clearly not there, so best assumption is that this is another prominent Hylian Village. The Hateno style archway at the bottom right seems to support so. The house shingles definitely mean this isn’t an outpost or military ruin...[this weekend I’d love to hope into the game myself and place it exactly] the background cliffs mean this isn’t Gatepost Town either. The rock formations look like a turn by Scout’s Hill, of the western breach by the Outskirts Stable...I wouldn’t put the Rauru Settlements out of the question either. All in all, I’m hesitant to connect this scene with the other scene because one clearly has a dirt path, and the other a stony road. Plus the house shingles are different

Ok I can pretty much place this scene exactly. At least the bottom one, the top one is a separate scene that doesn’t flow into the other one (you can just tell by the framing and continuity) 

You can see the Great Plateau entrance, the line of sight is at an angle, placing this backflipping Yiga man somewhere here. Only inconsistency would be the trees, but perhaps it’s just grown over after a hundred years, you can even see a building in the middle of this forest in center left of the map.

Link is chasing Backflip Benny over here through to the exit of town, (you can see the town entrance/exit archway on the bottom right, similar to the one seen in the chimney pic) AND you can see that Backflip Benny also has a fresh cut on his mask, presumable gained after fighting Link, which is why he teleports away at the end. 

So that places these two shots definitely after whatever conversation happened on the roof. Yay for timelines! 

The stupendous Chief of the Yiga Clan! Master Kohga!

This takes place at some ruins of some sort. The rocks on the top right actually look Edlin or Akkala, but that might just be the lighting. The stony slabs and etches actually remind be of Zonai, but that doesn’t really seem right...I’ve never seen those designs before I don’t think...you can see from the way the stone slabs are angled that they lead to a circular pattern. It could be the circular pit at the Yiga Hideout, but that area is just sand, not stone. The smooth, plain style of these ruins is actually more in line with Gerudo Ruins so that might actually be the case; we know the Yiga have a history of taking Gerudo Ruins as their own (The Yiga Hideout is canonically an old Gerudo architectural dig)

I’ll also note that this scene has the same lighting as the first shot, and the last two shots which we’ll see later. 

*maniacal laughter* Oo? TWO new characters I see???? O????? 

This is definitely the Yiga hideout, you can tell from the wall design, plus the lanterns, and the general comfort of Master Kohga and Backflip Benny in the background. But, elephant in the room...who are YOU dear sir? 

I’ll talk more about them later, but just keep that Calamity glowing thing in their hand in mind for later.

He’s gonna kill you all...to DEATH! 

This is Master Kohga speaking again, if you couldn’t tell from his....very dramatic and in character dialogue. Maybe this game will actually make me like him now alsdfkjsdlk

Obvious is obvious, this is the Yiga Hideout again, similar lighting to the first opening shot, I’m thinking this might be sometimes before it though, considering he has his minions around. Maybe Link fights off the goons, which prompts him to ask “Look what you did” but we can’t know for sure. 

Also there’s grass? So maybe that other shot isn’t the hideout. Also a spotlight???!? Jazz hands?!?!? Leave it to Kohga to defy the fourth wall huh.

Also I haven’t mentioned this yet but NEW MUSIC it’s so good aughghug I can’t wait.

And...we end on another Sheikah Slate fade out on this mysterious new character. Eyeliner says: Avatar Kyoshi

Ok but seriously I have THOUGHTS!! So firstly, they’re obviously working with the Yiga Clan, perhaps they’re the reason why the Yiga are in the Gerudo to begin with considering they have the Gerudo symbol on their cape. [Cause am I the only one that thought it was weird that the disgraced Sheikah people are living in Gerudo, and not like...closer to Kakariko, or their suposedl arch nemesis of the Royal Hylian family?] Also note that this scene most definitly takes place in the Lost Woods. Perhaps they need something with the Master Sword...or are ambushing someone...hmm..

Based on that rock formation in the background I’m thinking somewhere in one of these three general areas but I really need to just pick up my switch sometimes soon and find it exact...so bare with me it’s only from memory but I’m pretty sure of myself when it comes to locations

My money’s on this being the true mastermind and antagonist, notice how their eye circlet is the same of that of the Calamity goop eye 

This person has...yellow? Brown? Hazel eyes? And light hair with a braid? I don’t think they’re Sheikah, but definetly not Gerudo either. So that leaves them to be some Hylian. A Hylian with an evil Ancient Core. 

[It’s definitly some form of Giant Ancient Core. But there’s runes on the side of it that I have yet to translate]

Thinking on their idenity for another second, you’ll notice that they wear a black robe, but their cape with the Gerudo crest is actually torn and tattered. So, perhaps they were disgraced? A runaway? Or perhaps it’s a disguise, perhaps a spy playing both roles on either side of the war? 

There’s an old theory that the fortune teller who initally told King Rhoam of the prophecy was actually part of the Yiga Clan. Seeing as, their actions led the King to dig up the Guardians, and cement the deaths of thousands of people. So, putting points in order here

Evil Magic dude

Works for the Yiga

Has connected to people in power 

Has an evil Ancient Core

Could it be that this mastermind fully knew that the Guardians would eventually be corrupted? Could they be the “fortune teller” that encouraged the King to excavate the Sheikah Technology? Sheikah Technology, that would be an insult to the Yiga Clan considering their people were banished for creating them in the first place? Hmmm....

Final NOTE! Remember that one scene in the other HWAOC trailer with Zelda holding a mysterious object? 

Hmm...Sheikah Scientists, weird egg robot, and now an evil Ancient Core...you may also remember Daruk mentioning in dialogue that something was wrong with Rudania...and cutscenes from Urbosa and Revali might point to the Yiga being close to the Divine Beasts...lots to chew on. I’m thinking the plot of this game will heaviliy revolve on the idea that there was some sort of plan that led to Ganon corrupting the Guardians and Divine Beasts, but we’ll see!

[lo-55]

Playing With Fire Ch. 3

Ignition

@emrysaf

You’ve decided. You’re going to marry Maki. 

You’re going to marry her and adopt Sputter and Flare, and you’ll all live happily ever after in the cathedral and- 

You’re broken out of your thoughts when Maki smacks you so hard you literally see stars and throws you on the ground. 

“... owe.”

If everything else hadn’t cemented the fact that you were really living inside Fire Force, the pain of Maki’s fist and the hard concrete under your cheek sure would have. Holy hell, how was she so strong?

You roll over on your back to look up at her. 

“I bet,” you begin, “that you could bench press me if you really wanted to.”

Maki’s cheeks pink and she huffs down at you. “Why aren’t you using your pyrokinesis? Do you think I can’t handle it?”

I have no idea how to do that! 

“Nope, Nope! I’m sure you could wipe the floor with me, it’s not that miss!” You said quickly. “I was just in awe of you, sorry,” you salute quickly, and watch pink crawl across Maki’s face. 

So cute!! 

“H-honestly! At least use your spear!” 

You perk up. Spear? The Sun Spear? Is that what you have here? An answer! Finally! An answer! 

Maki takes your surprise for something else. “No one told you that they’d sent it over ahead of you? You should really keep better of your gear.” 

You dip your head quickly. “Yes, yes. Sorry. Can you show me where it is, please?” 

“Sure,” Maki smiles at you, “We’re about done for now, anyhow. Let’s go back inside and wash up. Sister Iris and Shinra should be waiting.” 

Maki takes you back into the cathedral, away from the training area on the roof. The cathedral really is pretty run down. The walls could use a good scrubbing, the floor boards either need to be replaced or are missing entirely, and there’s a lot of cracks in the tile and missing corners. The windows are fine, if not dusty, and the stained glass pieces are really beautiful. The whole place smells faintly of burnt wood and gun oil. It’s not bad, but its certainly unfamiliar. Everything is so vivid. The way it smells. The sound of the building settling, and the birds outside, and the voices of your new comrades. 

It’s amazing. 

Kinda terrifying, but crazy cool too. 

After a quick shower for each of you Maki shows you to the weapons room, where a long, thin case is rested against a wall between two racks of guns. Obi’s shield is propped up in one corner, along with a couple of his weird stabbing things that he puts infernals to rest with. You’ve been here two days now, and you’ve seen him use it twice.

You don’t know how, but you know instinctively that that case belongs to you. 

You go to it. There’s a strap along the back, like the kind on a violin case. You carefully set it on a table, mindful of the bullets stacked on top of it. With a few clicks you undo the buttons on either end and open up the case. Inside is a long staff, deep red in color and capped at the bottom with copper colored metal that curves into a diamond point. On the opposite end is a thin band of the same metal, that reveals the inside to be hollow. 

You pick it up carefully, testing its weight in your hands. It feels natural. Even though you’ve never actually fought with a spear before your body knows where to hold it, and how to spin it around elegantly until you’re facing Maki again. Your body knows how much space you’re taking up, and how not to hit the walls, while your brain geeks out over the fact that you’re actually holding the Sun Lance. 

So cool! 

Is it conceited to say that you’re super cool? Or that this was hella badass? 

You were almost bouncing on your toes you were so excited. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you missed your spear this much,” Maki smiled at you. “You look good with it.” 

“Aha, you think so? It’s just nice to have it I guess. This has been, I dunno. An adventure already. I’m in a strange place, with strange people, and I’m in an awfully dangerous situation. It’s been an adjustment, ya know?” 

You feel like a fool for rambling, but Maki smiles at you kindly. 

“I understand. Even though I was raised in a military family, it took me a while to get used to life as a fire soldier too. Don’t worry too much about it, and you know, we’re always here to help. It’s not like you have to go it alone.” 

You’re heart warms with her words. “Yeah. Thank you, Maki. You’re really a nice person.” 

Once the Sun Lance is safe in its case the two of you leave the armory, and make your way to the dorm rooms. 

Since the company is so small, each person gets their own room. In bigger companies you would be in actually dorms, or barracks, but the eighth only has Obi, Hinawa, Maki, Sister Iris, Shinra, and yourself. Arthur will be here soon too, and Tamaki. Your small company will grow soon. 

Your own room ended up being at the top of one of the towers on the west side of the cathedral, opposite of the garage. Which meant that last night, when the alarm had gone off, you’d been the last to arrive at the Matchbox. Near the garage are the locker rooms, and the communal showers, although there’s more bathrooms scattered through the base. 

In the center of the cathedral is the courtyard where Sister Iris purifies herself, and grows flowers. 

It’s really a nice place. 

“Thank you,” you say again, and Maki nods to you and leaves you to climb the steps on your own. You shut the door and lock it behind you. 

Your room is scant, all things considered. A bunk bed it pushed into each corner, with a desk underneath it. You’ve claimed the one nearest to the window. There’s a wardrobe on the opposite side, and a small, stocky book shelf. 

You need to hang up some pictures or get a rug or something. It’s entirely impersonal. 

You rest your Sun Lance up against the corner by the window and go to sit at the desk under your bed. You’ve already unpacked your few belongings into the wardrobe and the drawers of the desk, including the diary from ‘Fuyuki’. 

Your ‘sister’. The game honestly hadn’t told you a whole lot about her. Just that she disappeared, and what few flashbacks you would have now and again. Like the one you got when you touched your ring and the lighter.  

You open it up with careful hands. 

Inside the handwriting is familiar, even if the words aren’t. There’s no mistaking your hand writing. It looks like a serial killer in a movie has left a ransom note made out of letters cut out of magazines. 

I wonder if there’s cereal in the kitchen. 

You always think better when you’re snacking. 

To keep your thoughts in order, you scatterbrain.

<3 Fuyuki 

 The first entry is dated for 193 AC. After the Cataclysm. It’s 198 now, so this was given to MAIN (to you?) five years ago. That would have been right before she graduated the fire academy and joined her company. A year before she disappeared, around 194. 

It feels invasive to read the diary of the person whos life you’ve taken over, but you need answers and you don’t have a lot of options here. 

I can’t believe Fuyuki gave me a diary! That’s so lame, and super girly. I don’t really want to write in it, but she gave it to me so I guess I should? Even if I am kinda mad at her. She left to go to school years ago and she never comes home! She’s so mean but then she’s nice and its so frustrating! Not fair. Stupid sister. 

But i’ll try i guess. There’s not much else to do in the house. None of the other kids really wanna play with me, and the Yagi’s are busy watching the littler kids. And maybe i’ll have kids and their kids will have kids will have kids will have kids and i’ll be their super cool ancestor and they’ll read this for inspiration or something. 

Good god, how old were they when they started writing this? Twelve? How old even were you? 

Fuck it. 

You kept reading. They/you weren’t a regular writer, with long months going between entries. Some of them were sad, some of them were happy, most of them were angry. They had a lot of complicated feelings on the sister who had abandoned them to what was basically a group home outside Asakusa, and then bitterness at themselves for being so angry when she disappeared. But most of it wasn’t that useful. It was about grades and teachers, and grief. They got into a lot of fights, and they were something of a scrapper. They were briefly enrolled in martial arts classes, but they had to quit because they were too rough with the other kids. So they were a scrapper, but that wasn’t anything related to fire. 

You rubbed your temples and glared at the diary. How did it answer your questions but leave you with more? 

Why is this my life now? 

So much here didn’t make sense, nonetheleast the fact that you were here to begin with. Well. At least you finally knew what your pyrokinesis was right? Even if using it was nearly impossible, and you couldn’t make sense of everything. 

Of course, there were plenty of things in this world that didn’t make sense. Like how sound could turn fire into ice. 

Bringing back the dead made more sense than that! 

You cross your arms and glare at the diary. So far the only useful bit is the part where you’ve had some decent training. Everything else is just the most vague information about the investigation into her sister’s disappearance. That much you already knew, although you didn’t have time to read everything in it. There were big gaps that you just knew were holding important information! 

At a loss, you flipped to the very last written on page, halfway through, and froze. 

Staring back at you was your own face. A small picture. It was your resume for the squad assignments, with your own check boxes and preferences listed. Underneath it was the list you had written before, of Everything You Knew. It was short, with little screen caps here and there. You flipped the page and found it filling itself in with ink that didn’t come from a pen, finishing up what it started on the page before. 

A new page started, this one listed your stats. 

In game there were a hundred levels. You had gotten maybe halfway through? A third if you rounded down. And it listed your level at 40. Underneath had your attack power, defense, stamina, agility, and your special moves. 

You were weirdly well rounded. Three out of five bars for everything, except the SM, which only had one. 

But, you hadn’t put that there! 

You quickly flipped it back and forth before you went to the very, very last page in the diary. On the back cover the ink finally finished filling out. A progress bar. 

You stared at it for a long, long time, trying to work over everything was happening. 

So. 

Now you knew what you could do. Just not how to do it. 

You were out of options at this point. You were just going to have to suck it up. 

You were going to have to ask someone for help directly. 

 ~

Shinra looks up from his work when you plop into the seat across from him, your arms crossed across your chest. It would be a lie to say you’re not nervous. You’re not even totally sure how you’re supposed to ask these questions, but you don’t have any other way to go about this any more. 

You tried the diary. You’ve spent two and a half days trying to get your ignition ability to work without help. Admittedly, you hadn’t even know how your ability was meant to manifest at the time, but even now you can’t get it to work.  

“Oh, hey there,” Shinra offers you an awkward smile. You grin right back, trying to project as much happy-go-lucky-nothing-wrong-here-!-  as you can. It’s made easier by the fact that prior to a few days ago, no one here had known you as anything more than a passing acquaintance. 

“Hi Shinra. I’ve got a weird question for you,” you announce bluntly. 

Shinra looks a little more wary, and he’s starting to smile. 

“Oh yeah? What is it?” 

“Ah, it’s pretty simple actually. How do you activate your abilities?” 

“Huh?” 

“How do you-” 

“No, I heard you,” he holds up his hand to cup you off. “It’s just a weird question.” 

“Hey man, I told you it was gonna be one.” 

You stare at each other for a long minute before Shinra huffs and looks towards the ceiling. He might not be the best person to ask. Maybe you should ask Maki, but Shinra makes you feel secure and you trust him more than anyone else just yet. 

“How do I activate my abilities? I dunno. I guess for me it’s more like I have to turn it off.” 

You tilt your head, listening intently to Shinra. 

“When I was a kid… I had a hard time controlling my flames. They started up suddenly, and burned through my shoes and pants. I ended up wearing these extinguisher boots, and shorts, so I wouldn’t destroy everything around me. It took a long time to figure out what was going on, but someone finally explained it to me. For a lot of third generation pyrokinetics, the thing that triggers out ability is the memory of the first time they happened.” 

You falter. “But, wait. Didn’t yours activate when-” 

“Yeah,” he cuts in, shooting you a grin that’s anything but happy. Your heart clenches in your chest. 

“Oh god, Shinra…” That meant that every time he used his powers, he had to remember his mother’s ‘death’ and his brother's disappearance. He had to think of pain and fear and grief, and he used his flames so often-

“It’s okay,” he cuts in. You can’t imagine what kind of face you’re making. “It was painful at first, and it still is, but it’s a good reminder for what I’m fighting for, and why I’m working so hard towards that goal. I will find a way to stop human combustion. I will make sure no one else ever has to grieve the way I did.”  

“Shinra,” you say softly. “You really are something.” 

Shinra tries to shrug off your words, but his smile is a little more genuine. “I just wanna be a hero.” 

“You will be,” you promise him. It’s all you can do not to tell him the truth then and there. His mother is alive, and suffering. His brother is alive, and suffering. 

They need help. 

But you hold your tongue. You don’t have any way of proving it to him, and there’s already so many things that are different here than they were in the game, or the show. Your presence being one of them. 

You let out a breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up something so painful.” 

Shinra shakes his head. “What made you ask?” 

“Honestly?” you rubbed the back of your neck, “I’ve been having trouble using my abilities since we left the academy. I thought maybe if I asked you how you do it, I might be able to figure it out.” 

Shinra looks startled. “Really? I guess that explains why you haven’t used them in the last few days. You never really held back when we were training.” 

“Sorry to disappoint?” you offer lamely. “I just can’t figure it out.” 

“Well… Have you thought about when you first activated your powers?” 

“That’s just it,” you say sadly. “I don’t remember when it happened at all. So that’s not really an option for me.” 

“Oh.” 

You frown, and draw in on yourself. You can’t help it. You have no way to activate the powers you now know you have, and you’re in a bad place to be powerless in general. Not to mention these people are going to expect you to help, and you can’t help, and if you can’t help then- 

Shinra’s hands land on your shoulders, startling you. It’s a warm touch, one that sinks into you with comfort and kindness. Shinra looks seriously at you, his red eyes bright and intent. 

“Whatever happens, I know you’ll figure it out, and I’ll help you as much as I can. Even if I have to protect you in missions for now. So put your trust in me for now, okay?” 

Your heart thumps hard in your chest and heat spreads through your body. It grows hotter and hotter, centering somewhere in your chest and your back. 

Light blooms behind you and you barely turn your head to see a flicker of white fire over your shoulders, wings stretching over your back. They’re small, going no further down than you’re elbows and no further up than your jaw, pale and white and glowing. 

You recognize the feeling in your chest with a start. 

It’s care. Friendship. You want to help them. You want to fight for them and earn and keep their trust. The flickering embers of love bloom into a fire across your shoulders and flutter with undistinguished feather’s. 

~ ~

A/N So! Phoenix is my favorite power, but everyone else seemed inclined towards the Sun Lance, so I smashed them both together!

If you’re so inclined, let me know what you think :D

[shortnotsweet]

The Allegory of the Tin Man, the Dictator, and the Knight: a Dissection of Ironqrow and a Character Arc of Failure

“There lived in the Land of Oz two queerly made men who were best of friends. They were so much happier when together that they were seldom apart.”

— L. Frank Baum

A brief Ironqrow meta and character analysis of James Ironwood, the ultimate screw up, in three parts.

I. Qrow and Ironwood’s Homoeroticism in Canon Source Material and its Translation

II. Ironwood’s Repressed Characterization and the Inherent Chivalry of the Dictatorship

III. Ironwood, Alone

Qrow and Ironwood’s Homoeroticism in Canon Source Material and its Translation

Within the Oz series, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow are layered within homoerotic subtext, even if it is included unintentionally. Tison Pugh’s analysis Queer Utopianism and Antisocial Eroticism in L. Frank Baum's Oz Series posits that the land of Oz as portrayed within the series is a largely asexual environment of suspended adolescence that involves the deviation of binary gender norms, and of performative heterosexuality. Pugh refers to it later as a “queer utopia”. Men are portrayed as a lesser military force to women, and heterosexuality is a flimsy presence at best; all signs of procreation within Oz are stifled. While this could be chalked down to Baum not wanting to get into the subject of sex and exploration in a children’s series, it does contribute to a particular tone with real-life critiques of capitalism and a particular deconstruction of gender norms. Ozma, who will become the ruler of Oz after the Wizard and the Scarecrow respectively, for example, is originally a boy named Tip (the name itself holds phallic implications) who is “transformed” into a girl. The strongest military force is one of all-women led by a rebellious female general. Pugh observes, “At the same time that Baum satirizes...women as leaders…he consistently depicts women as more successful soldiers than men, and female troops appear better capable of serving militarily than male troops…[the] male army comprises of twenty-six officers and one private, and they are all cowards…” and cites the Frogman’s declaration that “Girls are the fiercest soldiers of all...they are more brave than men, and they have better nerves”.

RWBY itself isn’t opposed to this kind of subversion, either in its characters or its relationships. There’s an obvious effort to include LGBTQ+ representation (albeit primarily in the background), strong female characters are prevalent and make up most of the main and supporting cast, a character’s gender is not strictly reliant on its source material, and BlackSun, while cute and a valid ship in its own right, is treated as a heterosexual red herring to Bumbleby. Additionally, there have been a lot of hints by the voice actors, writers, and creators on social media that Qrow himself is queer, the infamous Ironqrow embrace included.

Admittedly, if I wanted to write an essay about the likelihood of Qrow being LGBTQ+ or having some kind of queer identity, I would probably focus more on his relationship with Clover, which had a lot more overt and probably canonically intentional Gay Vibes, and despite having known Qrow nowhere near as long as Ironwood has, it has just as much, if not more, to extrapolate. Unfortunately, that’s not the main point of this essay, although it remains relevant. While I personally don’t doubt that Qrow has had sex with women or experiences valid sexual attraction to them, I get the feeling that it is, to a degree, a performative act and a masculine assertation of enjoyment intended as a coping mechanism. It plays into the trope of the handsome, tortured alcoholic (best exemplified, perhaps, in the MCU’s Tony Stark, Dean Winchester in Supernatural, and critiqued in the superhero episode of Rick and Morty) who sleeps around just to recall the feeling of intimacy, or because he associates sexual ‘degradation’ as a reflection of his worth. Real self-deprecating, slightly misogynistic stuff. Qrow’s recall of short skirts, as well as his brief exchange with the waitress in an earlier volume, reminds me of one specific interaction between the Scarecrow and his own love interest. Within the series, the Qrow’s source-material counterpart, the Scarecrow, has one canonical love interest, the Patchwork Girl:

“Forgive me for staring so rudely,” said the Scarecrow, “but you are the most beautiful sight my eyes have ever beheld.”

“That is a high compliment from one who is himself so beautiful,” murmured Scraps, casting down her suspender-button eyes by lowering her head.

Pugh points out that the two of them never develop this relationship further than flirtation, and heterosexuality is reduced to a “spectral presence” lacking the “erotic energy [driving] these queer narratives in their presence”. Specifically, Qrow never reveals a serious or long running heterosexual love interest - he is not the father! [of Ruby] (despite much speculation that he and Summer Rose were involved) and he and Winter never really moved past the stage of ‘hostility with just a hint of sexual tension’ - and there is no debunking of potential queerness. His interactions with Clover (deserving of an entire essay on its own) seem to support this interpretation, and is more or less a confirmation of some kind of queer inclination or identity. Again, the “queer utopia” of Oz comes at the cost of the expulsion of the sexual or the mere mention of reproduction - still, through this device, same-sex relationships gain a new kind of significance with the diminishing nature of heterosexuality. Speaking of queer narratives, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man have the most tender and prolonged relationship of perhaps all the characters in the series, exchanging a lifelong commitment:

“I shall return with my friend the Tin Woodman,” said the stuffed one seriously. “We have decided never to be parted in the future.”

Within the source material, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow voluntarily live together, and are life partners in nearly every sense of the word. The second book in the Oz series is The Tin Woodman of Oz. In summary, the Tin Woodman recalls that he had a fiancée before the events of the first book, forgot all about her, and now must search her out so that they can get married. Who does he ask to accompany him in this pursuit? None other than his no-homo life partner, the Scarecrow. Although this sounds like a stereotypical heteronormative storyline, “this utopian wonderland...rejects heterosexual procreation...First, the Tin Woodman does not desire...Nimmie Amee...” and even acknowledges that due to the ‘nature’ of the heart that the Wizard had given him, he is literally incapable of romantically or passionately loving or desiring Nimmie, and by extent, women in general - to me, that works perfectly as an allegory for a gay man who is literally incapable of experiencing legitimate heterosexual urges, but ‘soldiers on’ out of obligation and societally enforced chivalry. “The Tin Woodman excuses himself from the heteronormative imperative...Only his sense of masculine honor, rather than a heteronomratively masculine sex drive, impels the Tin Woodman on his quest to marry his long-lost fiancée.” Again, Ironwood’s character follows the lines of propriety within the sphere of the wealthy elite, and his persona as a high-ranking military man and politician, as well as the conservative values instilled within Atlas, prioritize duty and obligation. This kind of culture is stifling and in a lot of ways aloof, as the upper class deludes itself into believing that it is objectively better and more advanced than its neighboring territories. *ahem the myth of American exceptionalism ahem*

“There lived in the Land of Oz two queerly made men who were best of friends. They were so much happier when together that they were seldom apart.”

I think it’s funny that the characters that Ironwood and Qrow are based off of are canonically the closest of friends, who coexist almost as a unit. In contrast, the first introduction we get of Ironwood and Qrow is a hostile exchange where they’re at each other’s throats, never on the same page, and never in sync, not when it matters. Indeed, Qrow snaps at Ironwood for his lack of communication, which is a recurring issue between the two of them on notable occasions. If the source material is anything to go by, there should be a significant relationship between the two of them, or at least some kind of connection, even if it goes unspoken or unacknowledged. To be fair, in RWBY’s canon, I think there is.

I’ve seen this joke that while Qrow hates the Atlas military, the only people he really seems to flirt with is Atlas military personnel. “Ice Queen” is something I interpreted to be partially hostile, partially mocking, and partially flirtatious, in equal spades - the voice actors and creators have indicated that it was flirtatious, and there was a whole Chibi episode dedicated to the concept of Qrow and Winter’s extrapolated sexual tension, albeit in jest. I might argue that his use of abbreviates aren’t reserved for people he dislikes, but for people who bring out his playful side. “Brat”, “Pipsqueak”, “Firecracker”, and “Kiddos” are all drawn from a place of affection, however short or mocking it may seem, because that’s what crows do: they mock others.

Qrow has little nicknames for people; while it’s not exclusively a sign of affection, I do get the feeling that ‘Jimmy’ is an informality that irks Ironwood, but can also be interpreted as Qrow giving James what he needs, rather than what he wants.

Glynda is by no means a pushover, but in assuring him that while he does questionable things, he’s still a good person, she’s softening the blow and probably further enabling deeply rooted and pre-existing traits, many of which contribute to his problematic control complex. It is established early on that Qrow resents the military (as he should), and it is implied that he’s spent a fair amount of encounters harassing and provoking military personnel (Winter being the most evident example of this), and has insulted the military numerous times to Ironwood’s face. He lectures Ironwood about the way he conducts his operations, his inability to communicate, and basically what a complete, inconsiderate asshole he really is.

What Ironwood needs is someone who operates outside of the pretense that he works, breathes, and lives under, and just tells it like it is. Jimmy isn’t all that - he’s a person, just like the rest of us, and he can flaunt all the titles that he wants, but James stripped down is still just Jimmy.

Qrow also is the kind of person who pries, who is insistent, and not particularly sensitive. For someone like Ironwood who has a lot of (physical and emotional) barriers, logically, in order for him to receive genuine understanding, Qrow fits the profile of someone who is invasive but not exploitive, who sees past the cracks in his armor and takes him for what he is. What is just important is that whoever Ironwood is with is someone who makes him want to try not only to be better, but to be real; thematically, General Ironwood seems to have a great respect for but a deep struggle with authenticity. He clearly resents the ignorance and frivolity of Atlas’s wealthy elite, as evidenced by his support for Weiss at the dinner party in announcing that “she’s one of the only people making any sense around here”, while struggling to project the facade that he’s carefully created.

See, we don’t have evidence that there is something going on between Ironqood and Qrow so much as we have enough evidence to inconclusively say that there’s not not something going on. I think there’s enough evidence to support the idea that something could be going on, or was going on.

When Qrow saves Ironwood at the Battle of Beacon, who is under the false impression that Qrow believes him to be the culprit of the attacks, his eyes follow Qrow and we get a closer shot of his awed expression; we the viewer can only imagine what he sees as Qrow arcs through the air and slices down a Grimm from behind his back. The focus on Ironwood’s expression portrays something like shock (so Qrow wasn’t trying to attack me after all, but then what the hell is he doing?), maybe wonder (I can’t take my eyes off of him, I can’t look away), maybe respect (I know he’s a good Hunter, but I’ve rarely seen him in action), but it is unfiltered nonetheless. In a show where fight scenes are vital to the progression of the story itself, the dynamics of these fights are at their best when they are character driven, whether it is revealing or reinforcing something about the characters and their relationships, or it is deciding their fates. There’s something to be said about characters being given moments together in battles, and what that says about the significance of their relationship. The best example of this might be the battle between Blake and Yang vs Adam; it served to give Adam what he deserved, help Blake and Yang reach closure in certain aspects of their own trauma, and solidify the bond between the girls. Similarly, Qrow and Ironwood’s moment is meant to reveal a theme that will later be revisited in volume 7; trust. Ironwood is startled but not shocked when he believes that Qrow distrusts him to the degree of attacking him, and is ready to attack or defend as needed.

Qrow tells him what he needs to hear, more or less: YOU’RE A DUMBASS. Ironwood is, indeed, a dumbass. While he does extend the olive branch of trust and good will to CRWBY and co. this trust is highly conditional and proves to be, while from a place of desperation and sincerity, at least partially performative.

When Ironwood snaps, he snaps hard.

Amber’s voice actress tweeted early on, joking that Qrow has two Atlas boyfriends, and Arryn has made comments, too. It’s one of the older ships, and the crew is certainly aware of it (“...extended chest bump...”).

Kerry has stated that he finds the Ironqrow relationship interesting, and wishes it had been explored more (additionally, allegedly lobbying that Ironwood’s arm in the Ironqrow hug scene be slightly lower). I’m not saying that they’re going to both make it out alive, or canon, or even that romantic subtext was intentionally woven into the script. All I’m saying is that I think their relationship is interesting too, especially when the subtext of their source material relationship is taken into context, and the way their characters are positioned is suggestive of some sort of compatibility, even if it is a hit or miss kind of opportunity, and I have the sinking suspicion that it was missed on both accounts.

The Tin Woodman of Oz concludes,

“All this having been happily arranged, the Tin Woodman returned to his tin castle, and his chosen comrade, the Scarecrow, accompanied him on the way. The two friends were sure to pass many pleasant hours together in talking over their recent adventures, for as they neither ate nor slept they found their greatest amusement in conversation.”

Ironwood’s Repressed Characterization and the Inherent Chivalry of the Dictatorship

“I don’t give a damn about Jacque Schnee...what about the other two? Do not return to this office until you have Qrow Branwen in custody.”

“And that’s not all we’ve lost...I had Qrow in my hands, and I didn’t do what needed to be done.”

Observe: Ironwood, at this point, does not care about politics. I doubt he’s ever wanted to, or ever liked it (if his tired outburst at the dinner party is any indication) but his Knightly qualities (we’ll get to that) have, up till this point, prompted him to adhere to them for both power and etiquette. James surrounds himself in a world that he understands and despises; more than anything, he’d like to be a general, a commander, and the Knight in Shining Armor archetype, because warfare is something he understands. It is a testament to his (superhuman) willpower that he forces himself to become fluent in the language of politics, and to live and breathe in it. To clarify, Ironwood sees himself as a man who does what needs to be done; if he wants to change and control Atlas, he will have to involve himself in its politics.

Likely, his resilience has contributed to the way he views himself and what he deserves, as someone long-suffering and almost martyr-like, a silent hero doing what needs to be done. But at the moment, he’s lost his goddamn mind coming undone. He’s murdered and jailed his political dissent (and might have considered executing prisoners), but at this point, that’s all that Jacque and Robyn are to him. First he dismisses Jacque, narrows it down to the two escaped prisoners, and finally reveals what’s really on the forefront of his mind: Qrow, free and out of his hands.

[ When recalling this dialogue, please do so while imagining a bad recorder cover of the Titanic music playing over the background. Here is a sample. ]

In the most recent episode, Ironwood seems to have gone off the rails even further. The fact that Winter, his most faithful lieutenant, is losing her unshakable faith in him, says a lot about how hard he’s fallen off the deep end. In Winter’s mind, I think that she sees him almost as a surrogate father figure, or at least a patriarch who can be positively compared to Jacques in every way. The previous volumes go to lengths to compare the two as adversaries and showing James in a favorable light; Winter is in her own personal horror right now, because she is beginning to understand that Ironwood is a man who may not be her father but is just as susceptible to corruption, and may have been that kind of person all along. Skipping over the...ah, genocidal tendencies, and the fact that he’s proposing to kidnap Penny’s friends to force her to obey him and likely is starting to realize that Winter is the perfect bait (let’s just say that “Ironwood is not good with kids” is the understatement of the year) Ironwood wants Qrow back (in captivity), I think that it’s significant that while Ironwood registers that Robyn is gone as well, his first priority is Qrow, probably for two reasons. On one hand, he still refers to Qrow by his first name, instead of the formal Branwen. Of course, that doesn’t have to mean anything at all. They’re colleagues within the same age range, both members of the same secret brotherhood and similiar skill sets.

On the other hand, it reminds me of the moment when Qrow and the kids first fly into Atlas, and they see the heightened security, and Qrow mutters, “James...what have you been doing,” under his breath, sounding concerned, apprehensive. He’s not addressing the kids, he’s talking to himself; he regards James much more seriously both as a potential threat and a friend than he’d rather the other know, and I think that James’ focus on Qrow at this point is similiar, only not only is this a sign of them knowing each other well, but of Ironwood’s slipping control. He offered Qrow his trust and camaraderie, his last attempt to keep a handle on his humanity (or, his heart). Qrow, in return, withheld vital information, got close with another operative instead, then allegedly killed him and and escaped ‘rightful’ imprisonment.

The Tin Man is offering Qrow his heart, at least proof of it, and the Scarecrow [and co.] steps back to observe the situation, and assesses that no, what you are going to do is wrong, and I cannot agree with it.

Ironwood is not an objective person, as much as he wants to be. He’s angry, desperate, scared, and humiliated. Worst of all, he’s rebuffed, and he’s taking Qrow’s escape personally. First, he understands that Qrow is a threat. He’s Ozpin’s best agent, he has years of field experience, and he knows too much, probably more than James knows. Second, they have history.

My personal interpretation of Ironwood is something this:

He’s a sad, sad, lonely bitch. What Ironwood longs for, just like his source material counterpart, is a heart. He will go to any lengths to achieve this, because he believes that he has self awareness and therefore is able to check and balance himself. He treats his subordinates well, is diplomatic, skilled in a variety of trades, fighting the good fight, and longs for the affirmation that yes, he is a good person, and yes, he’s had a heart all along. He just strays from the path, and loses his way.

This is symbolically represented by his partially mechanic exoskeleton; we have no idea how far the cyborg extremities extend, or how deep, but we do get the visual notion of humanity in conflict, or a man’s soul deconstructed and split between the cold efficiency of machinery and the very real warmth of a human body. Ironwood wants to appear human, and benevolent, and genuine, and in return, loved; he is human, and he could be all of these things. If my reliance on the source material holds any merit (although I highly doubt it), then there is also a potential struggle with sexuality, (Glynda herself even explicitly and exasperatedly references a testosterone battle between Ironwood and Qrow, suggesting a regular overassertation of masculinity) and a further incentive to achieve love and subsequent acceptance.

To clarify, I do believe that there were less-than-subtle allusions to Ironwood and Glynda having a vaguely flirtatious history, taking their shared scenes and background dancing into account, but this, again, does not “debunk” the presence of queerness within a narrative; it could be an assumption of heterosexuality, or performative itself, or just not an exclusive interest. Besides, Ironwitch isn’t what this essay is about. I’m not trying to persuade or dissuade someone of the notion that Jimmy is gay, or straight, or something else, only that the potential ambiguity exists. What I do think is most important is that James doesn’t openly ward people away, not when those people aren’t under his command and are technically outside of his jurisdiction. He’s friendly with Glynda, tries to extend trust to Qrow, is kind to people in the aftermath of battle, and overall clings to diplomacy as his first weapon. He wants to be accepted, to be liked, and to be welcomed. This is not an outrageous want, nor is it uncommon. Unfortunately, Ironwood’s understanding of love and acceptance is entangled within the concept of control, and he associates unquestioned compliance with this Want.

Ironwood’s introduction into the series shows him being openly cordial, and very considerate, especially his interactions with Glynda and Ozpin. He’s a gentleman, he’s apologetic, and, as Glynda assures him, he’s a “good man”. She doesn’t really elaborate on what a “good man” is, exactly, but we might presume that a “good man” is a person with good intentions, who strives to do what’s right, regardless of his options.

Here’s the thing - one similarity between Ironwood and the Tin Man is that they both have the capacity to love, but they fool themselves into thinking that they don’t; before the Wizard gives him a ‘heart’, the Tin Man suggests that he is only kind and considerate to everyone in Oz because he believes he needs to overcompensate for what he lacks, and is therefore doubly aware of how he treats others. However, the Wizard knows no real magic, only tricks and illusions, and what he gives the Tin Man is essentially a placebo that enables the Tin Man to act towards and feel about others the exact same as he always had, only with the validation that what he feels is authentic. Similarly, Ironwood has always had the option to be empathetic and not fucking crazy open to collaboration, which he’s very aware of, until his own paranoia cuts into his rationality and compels him to cut himself off from all allies and alternative perspectives. He then uses his difficult position and responsibilities to justify unjustifiable actions, to rationalize irrational urges, and to gaslight and brainwash his subordinates into compliance.

The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.

“You people with hearts,” he said, “have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives me a heart of course I needn’t mind so much.”

Qrow sees through this, however, and not only seems incapable of following orders himself, but disrupts the decorum that Ironwood is used to. In return, I think we see a little more of James that he’d like to reveal.

“If you were one of my men, I’d have you shot!”

“If I was one of your men, I’d shoot myself!”

In case this entire ass essay doesn’t make it obvious, I do really ship Ironqrow. I’m open to other pairings, definitely, but this one in particular is just more interesting to me. It feels more revealing, more subtle. I have more questions.

In hindsight, maybe the dialogue example above ^ didn’t age well, considering where they’re at, but I do like how their professional animosity is flavored with a kind of camaraderie, and understanding. This exchange isn’t exactly playful, but they’re taking each other seriously - and, like repressed schoolboys, taking the piss at each other in a childish way, and isn’t that part of the fun of banter, when they’re so focused on each other that they forget to act their age? In a lot of ways, this is a really fun dynamic to watch. They’re opposite-kind-of-people, which I like, at least on a superficial level, and I can easily imagine them tempering each other in ways that would make them ultimately happier people.

They even look well-coordinated, with similar color schemes that lean on the opposite sides of the shared spectrum (white, grays, reds and black); I think the decorative design on Qrow’s new sleeves are supposed to be more ornate simply to communicate that Qrow is committed, and willing to be sentimental, but some viewers have suggested that it resembles the pattern on James’ weapon, Due Process (the revolver is based off of the Tin Man’s pistol, although, curiously, in The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow was the only character to carry a pistol, and the commentaries suggest that the 2007 Tin Man miniseries was the “basis of the allusion”. Does that mean anything? I don’t know. Probably not.). Still, it raises the questions: who was in charge of designing the team’s new clothes and gear? How much input did Atlas get, and was this intentional? Personally, I think that the vine-like pattern on Qrow’s sleeves also bear a resemblance to Ozpin’s staff, a subtle reaffirmation and foreshadowing of his allegiance in contrast to Ironwood, but I digress.

They can also deliver that UST kind of banter that takes up their attention, and get up really close to each other, in each other’s faces, and just be pissed, which I think is very sexy of them, mhm. Enemies to Colleagues to Reluctant Friends to Lovers is a trope that I very much appreciate. Gaining some sort of common ground at the Battle of Beacon only to reunite, tired and battered, after the shit has already hit the fan? Slow burn kinda vibes.

That hug between them was something genuinely vulnerable and a sign of Ironwood letting his guard down because he is tired as fuck. It also was uh...kinda fruity.

Ironwood approaches closer, and Qrow scratches the back of his head, a characteristically nervous gesture that he’s made before; it’s a nervous twitch, manufactured nonchalance. He has no idea what Ironwood wants, but he does know that Ironwood wants something. James is the one to initiate the hug, and Qrow startles and even freezes up before relaxing into it. He seems suprised, but gives the bisexual eye roll of grudging fondness. This is out of character for James - Jimmy - but Qrow doesn’t think that Ironwood is a bad person. He leans into the hug, and the camera cuts out before they separate, suggesting that they probably end up standing there for a long ass time. You can also see from the side shots that it’s a close hug; their torsos are pressed up against each other, front to front, and there’s not a lot of wiggle room. James must be really goddamn depressed. It’s a long, manly, intensley heterosexual hug. Like I said, kinda fruity.

Other people have analyzed the hug shot for shot, so I won’t get too into it, but I think that it was intentionally left as a double red herring; some people thought that maybe he bugged Qrow, and after finding out that he didn’t, we were forced to conclude that this is a genuine olive branch. To find out that Ironwood is sincere but was still susceptible to corruption is that second subversion that I didn’t really expect. I hadn’t prepared myself for it, at least, and neither did Qrow. I wouldn’t go as far to say that Ironwood’s descent into fucking craziness paranoia is triggered by Qrow not ‘reciprocating’ or something, but I do think it’s interesting how the volume opens up with a signifigant interaction between Ironwood and Qrow, only for Qrow to spend the rest of the volume homosexually bonding with Clover, while Ironwood basically has no one as emotional support (again, his subordinates do not have the power or the place to be viewed as equals and the veil of formality is one of isolation). Qrow initiates nothing further, and nothing further happens.

Ironwood’s downfall, in a thematic sense, is that what he Needs is a heart, and when he gets that chance to demonstrate tolerance and empathy, James ultimately rejects his Need (a heart) and his arc reverts into one of villainy. To be specific, Ironwood is essentially a fascist dick, and that is not very sexy. (Speaking of dicks, the thought of Ironwood’s dick makes me laugh. I bet in the RWBY universe, people have made memes about that. I do not accept criticism because I am correct. Anyway,).

Dictators are charming, charismatic, and one of the pillars of their method is absorbing potential political opponents into their own administration to reduce the threat of rebellion, to appear openly tolerant to their supporters, and to further consolidate power. A good example of this would be Mean Girls, which runs on a comedic commentary of dictatorships as a political structure of power. I hate to compare James Ironwood to Regina George, but Regina’s posse includes Karen and Gretchen, two of the only girls who might take away from the authority she holds over the rest of their school, both in their wealth and attractiveness, and Cady’s interesting backstory and conventional attractiveness is the main reason Regina draws her into her own sphere - because she detects a potential threat. Much in the same way, while Ironwood likely has good intentions, his efforts to win over team RWBY and co. - including Qrow himself - is a logical way to consolidate resources. His willingness, at first, to cooperate with political opponents (ie Robyn) is because he’s not inherently evil, and he has nothing to lose. It’s when he is openly opposed and diplomatic gestures no longer hold the necessary weight that he snaps.

In one really interesting meta about Ironqrow’s archetypes (that I reread occasionally just because I really love it), @onewomancitadel posits that Ironwood is framed within the archetype of the Knight in Shining Armor, which should inform us of the moral consistency of his character. The meta was written around the beginning of volume 7, I think, and obviously we have a lot more character development and information to go off of now, but I think she makes a really interesting point about the nature of parallels and how that might help drive Ironwood as a character. I love her analysis of the visual of Ironwood stepping out of an airship wreckage, onto the street, the smoke billowing around him to reveal his cyborg prosthetics, and of the intentional framing. Once his uniform is stripped back, we see a man who is literally half-armor, which could be indicative of a lot of things. He’s emotionally guarded, he’s used as a human weapon, and he wants to be a line of defense. In her words, “The symbolism is really obviously put into perspective of his actions in trying to do the right thing: in the flesh (his true physical self) he is literally a knight in shining armour. From the ground up. Even if it's unseen or distorted by his uniform, his nature is still true.”

While Ironwood clearly has gone down a darker path in the most recent volume, I think this analysis holds true in a crucial way. “Ironwood is working with different information, and he’s doing exactly what he knows: stick to his knightly virtues, even disgraced.” Disgraced, indeed. Ironwood is holding onto his knightly values, and doing what he believes is right. If not right, he believes that it is necessary. The problem is that these values are manifested within Atlas’s sociopolitical-military culture in an inherently toxic way - his response is, at this point, neither rational nor empathetic, but it can be explained partially due to his cultural (flawed) understanding of justice, and because of the extenuating circumstances. The harsher the conditions become, the more difficult it is for anyone to project a facade that is not sincere at its core. If James is to uphold his Knightly virtues, he needs to be a protector, a leader, and a servant all at once while operating under limited intel with dwindling trust. All he has left are the few key players still in his grasp, and the control of the people he is responsible for.

To digress: generally, knights take an oath. It could be to a King, or Lord, or some noble, but Knights are supposed to operate on a code of honor, and chivalry, and to uphold these values throughout the land as an extension of whoever they have pledged themselves to. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a really good example of the way that, back in the day, chivalry and honor was supposed to place knights on a moral high ground compared to the common people.

In the middle of a celebration in Camelot, an obligatory tradition that has since lost real value but is rehearsed because Camelot fears that failure to uphold traditions that once had meaning is disrespectful, a Green Knight interrupts the celebrations and offers a strange challenge that boils down to a fight to the death. Gawain volunteers because accepting this challenge is what is expected of him, and Arthur would be humiliated if his knights, supposedly the best in the world, would not rise to the challenge. Gawain - and to a certain extent, the rest of Arthur’s knights - are fickle, in a sense, because their adherence to this code is performative, and it allows them to delude themselves into moral superiority and lie both to the commoners and amongst themselves; their identity as knights is based on a falsehood. Gawain is offered the first blow, and after beheading the Green newcomer, is horrified to see him become reanimated and immune to mortal blows. He invites Gawain to receive his own - likely fatal - blow, and gives him a time in which to meet, before promptly leaving.

Throughout the story, Gawain is tested in a variety of ways - in his final test, he fails, and allows his greed for self preservation and the fear of death to lead him to lie to his hosts and proceed to his meeting with the Green Knight under dishonest pretenses. While he is spared at the last second and becomes a better person (after it is revealed that Morgan le Fay orchestrated the ordeal to spook Queen Guinevere) - and by extent, a truer Knight, by the end of the story, the superficial and hypocritical nature of Arthur’s court is still in question, and still unanswered.

See, the entirety of Gawain’s trials was a test, not necessarily for him, but for Arthur and his court as a whole. Morgan wanted to prove the fickle nature of Arthur’s knights. The Knights of the Round Table were considered the best in the land, and to discredit one was to discredit all. What use is tradition if the meaning is empty, what use is chivalry if it is performed for reward instead of merit, and what use is loyalty if it is blind and unearned? Returning to Oz, the Tin Woodman, or Tin Man, grew to be made of tin because his axe became enchanted by the Wicked Witch of the East to sever his own body parts instead of the lumber he tried to cut down. A nearby tinsmith replaced each amputated limb with one of metal, until his entire body became tin and his meat body had been entirely discarded. Something to note is that Nick Chopper’s, (General Ironwood’s) wounds are technically self-inflicted. Each time he swung his axe, he made the decision to continue, knowing of the end result each time. In losing his bodily functions, the Tin Man believed that he had lost his humanity and ability to love.

The tragedy of his origin story draws a pointed correlation to Ironwood’s current dilemma; his unwillingness to stop, his self-imposed isolation, playing into the hands of the witch, and finally, the decision to let go of his ability to love remain consistent throughout both stories.

Watts even refers to Ironwood as a “Tin Solider”; a reference to the Tin (Woods)Man, no doubt, but could also evoke a soldier clanking around in metal armor. Ironwood is a Knight in Shining Armor, through and through. He wants to save the world, but at the terrible cost of civilian autonomy and possibly life. The problem is that he’s pledged himself to a discriminatory and hypocritical system, and his code is something that can easily be misconstrued by fear ( @disregardcanon ), much as Gawain’s own values. The Tin Man is, after all, still a man, and if we’ve learned anything from real fairytales, it is that men are fallible, whether or not they are made of metal.

Ironwood, Alone

he’s a lonely bitch

I know I f- up, I'm just a loser

Shouldn't be with ya, guess I'm a quitter

While you're out there drinkin', I'm just here thinkin'

'Bout where I should've been

I've been lonely, mm, ah, yeah

— Benee, Supalonely (2019)

You do get the sense that Ironwood is riddled with self-loathing conflicting with pride, with self-doubt clashing with competence, and that he is the kind of person who longs for things without verbalizing. Maybe his dad never paid enough attention to him as a kid. Maybe he suffered some terrible physical and emotional trauma, which might as well be assumed, given the extensive nature of his cybernetic limbs. Maybe (probably) he’d be more well-adjusted and would’ve made better decisions if the people around him trusted him and were a little more open. To be fair, though, he is the one at the wheel, and he is making the calls; no one else is to blame for his mistakes, and to pretend otherwise is to deny him accountability. I think we do enough of that in everyday life, in excusing powerful men of their responsibilities. To his credit, I do think he wants to help people. I think James also wants to project the personality of a leader who is stoic, controlled, and measured. He is charming when he wants to be, sympathetic when it suits him, and influential in just the right areas. He is not a sociopath, but he is a politician, and in a lot of ways, those are the same thing. We see in his brief flashes of temper, often prompted by Qrow, or most notably by Oscar, that this is not a calm, stable person. This is someone is on the verge of exploding, who is so fucking angry that he is not in control that it’s killing him, and so he is going to lash out and kill the things that are not within his grip. If the people beneath him will not reciprocate the heart that he offers, then he has no real use of it. James Ironwood does not begin this story as a bad person. This is a tragedy, in however many parts it takes.

I read, in one very smart and very put-together analysis that I cannot find and properly credit at the moment, that part of Ironwood’s (many) failures can be seen in Winter, and how, like Ozpin, he has appointed a woman as his talented, no-nonsense, second chain in command at his right hand. In this way, Winter is an intentional parallel to Glynda, who is, without question, a bad bitch. In theory, surrounding yourself with strong individuals is a demonstration of self restraint, in implementing your own checks and balances. James wants to project that he is powerful, yes, but he is reasonable.

I take this to mean that, to some degree, even if it’s unintentional or subconscious, Winter serves to boost Ironwood’s ego.

The issue with this is that within the inherently hierarchical structure of the military, Winter cannot question, undermine, or challenge Ironwood in a way that is particularly meaningful and their relationship is one of commander and subordinate before colleagues or equals (link to a fantastic post about Winter’s role as the Good, Conscientious Soldier by @fishyfod). Whereas Glynda is free to argue with, converse, and be as combative as she needs to be with Ozpin (although their power dynamic is arguably one of commander and subordinate albeit informally), Winter cannot temper Ironwood effectively, and through the illusion of equality, Ironwood is further isolated.

His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.

Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow, while Toto barked sharply and made a snap at the tin legs, which hurt his teeth.

“Did you groan?” asked Dorothy.

“Yes,” answered the tin man, “I did. I’ve been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me.”

The Tin Man needs oil to lubricate his joints; without it, he cannot move, and he is rendered helpless and inanimate. When Dorothy and the group find him, he is entirely isolated with no one in sight, and he has been there for such a long time that he has begun to rust. Similarly, Ironwood needs valued voices of dissent to keep him in check. His colleagues were able to serve that purpose in the beginning, and out of them, Qrow is the best example of someone who doesn't take his shit, openly questions him, and looks down on the performative decorum of the military culture that Ironwood is surrounded by. What Ironwood needs is to be flexible and adaptable; his Semblance, Mettle (heh, metal, very nice pun, RoosterTeeth), is a double edged sword in that it gives him supernatural focus and willpower - enough, perhaps, to flay/chop off your own limbs - but it blindsides him, and is only further prolonging his pain.

There is a lot of sympathy to Ironwood’s character, as much as I’ve ragged on him for being an authoritarian, kind of a dick, and bad with kids. There are moments, such as the previously mentioned dinner party, where he shows his colors a bit, and when he assures the students at the Vytal Festival that there’s no shame in leaving before the battle begins, and in giving Yang a prosthetic arm before her father even has to ask. As far as Generals go, it seems that he’s seen soldiers come and go and understands, at least in his best moments, that not everyone is the same, and not everyone has power of unflinching determination to rely on. Ironwood performs his best when he tempers himself because he understands himself, and others. It’s when he fails to self-reflect that his hypocrisy shows through. Glynda points it out, too, as does Qrow; Ironwood advocates for trust but often fails to give it himself, going behind Ozpin’s back, being absolutely shit at field communication, and now the whole fascist, borderline-genocidal keruffle he’s gotten himself into.

I think that Ironwood reaching out to Qrow was his ethical last stand, his last chance and conscious effort to choose the right path. Qrow is unequivocally an equal, not like how Ozpin is the Big Boss, the authority that James becomes disillusioned with and tries to overthrow. He wants someone to trust, desperately so, and Qrow wants that too, but narrative subversion has hands. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man have no brain and heart respectively, and are in need of them. As it turns out, Qrow is actually a pragmatic guy with solid principles angled against authoritarianism, and Ironwood is a dick who would rather enforce martial law than to empathize and tame his military-shaped boner for one second.

I might conclude that someone like Qrow might be best for Ironwood, but that does not mean that someone like Ironwood would be the best for Qrow. Qrow has a brain after all, but Ironwood does not choose his heart when it matters, case in point. Even the intro of the current season features Salem and Ironwood on a chessboard; his white pieces are disappearing, dissolving into dust, as hers transform into Grimm. Ironwood is isolating himself by depleting himself of allies. As this post by @hadesisqueer points out, Ironwood isn’t even positioned as King, the supposed commander, but the Queen, the most versatile player on the board that is so far underused, since he hasn’t moved from his spot. Ironwood’s refusal to unify against Salem is his failure to strategically utilize the best resources that were available to him; soon, the pieces will be swallowed by the dark.

James is guilty of something that a lot of us are guilty of: doing a Bad Thing for what we have convinced ourselves is a Good Reason, when in reality, it is actually a lot of Very Bad Reasons. James Ironwood is a Knight archetype, through and through, and he is charging forward to do the right thing. He is afraid, he is lying to himself, and he will never surrender.

“All the same,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”

“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodman; “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”

Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of her two friends was right, and she decided if she could only get back to Kansas and Aunt Em, it did not matter so much whether the Woodman had no brains and the Scarecrow no heart, or each got what he wanted.

The lesson of James Ironwood is a lesson of failure, and of the way that we succumb to fear, because that is Salem’s agenda, really, in the end: fear. It’s the negative emotions, fear being first and foremost, that draw in and empower the Grimm, and it’s fear and uncertainty that causes chaos. It is when Dorothy’s friends give into their fear that they are truly defeated. FDR’s assertion that “The only thing to fear is fear itself” holds true here; it’s not so much that these characters are afraid of losing their lives, their loved ones, and of the dark, but that they do not have the love or the resources to be brave for themselves or for others.

Qrow as a character is introduced as one who is already defeated, in a sense. Half of his team is gone, dead or estranged, he’s forced into the shadows of espionage to protect a world he knows is darker than it should be, and he’s fighting a losing battle with alcoholism. As charismatic as he’s written, he’s referred to as a “dusty old crow”, a hunter of renowned skill but past the prime of his life.

Dorothy’s three titular companions are defined by what they lack; in the same vein of the Disney I Want song (a main character’s main monologue song in which their wants and desires that motivate them throughout the rest of the film is laid out in song; ie Part of Your World, Reflections, How Far I’ll Go), the Lion, Tin Man, and the Scarecrow want bravery, a heart, and a brain respectively. RWBY relies on flipping the script of its characters based on what the audience might expect from the source material; Ruby is not just a helpless little girl - her introduction is a badass with a scythe. The Scarecrow is a chronic alchoholic. Cinderella is a victim of abuse, and is also a villain who wants to set the world aflame. Subversion, subversion, subversion.

There are obviously parallels between the characters in RWBY and in their own fairytales to keep them in character, and part of the fun is spotting those clues and occasionally connecting the dots to anticipate the direction of the narrative and certain connections between characters and the significance of their arcs. While I’m not aware of Dorothy Gale’s RWBY counterpart, if she has already been established or is yet to be introduced, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that Ruby has adopted a Dorothy-eque persona and can act as a surrogate in a way. She begins as a sweet, naive child eager to join a world of color and excitement, who initially believes that she has “normal knees” and is thrust into a political scheme full of powerful and older players. She even has a small dog as a companion, Toto Zwei, who seems like an odd addition, since he’s usually sidelined and basically forgotten about except in a few spare moments, unless he’s there to draw further comparisons to Dorothy. She may not be from Kansas, but she is first helped by Glynda (the Good Witch), and later expects assistance from Ozpin, Qrow, and the later Ozian counterparts. I find it a peculiar detail that for Ruby to be Little Red Riding Hood alone, she is surrounded specifically by Dorothy’s companions. This, of course, only increases the importance of the relevance of the Oz series in particular and the characters that are borrowed.

In the case of Ozpin’s inner circle, Dorothy’s closest comrades (sans Toto) differ in crucial ways to their source material. (After finishing this essay, I found a much better, condensed explanation by @neopoliitan )

Disillusioned by the Ozpin, the Wizard (who has been projecting an illusion of a failsafe) and overwhelmed by the rise of the Wicked Witch of the West, Lionhart (the Lion), gives into his cowardice and ultimately forgoes the arc and redemption of his character from the source material; as such, he is by all definitions, a failure and a premonition, as Ironwood eventually follows. If RWBY is a dark take on classic fairytales, then it is only fitting that these characters are charred husks of their fairytale selves - these are people, and some people are selfish, scared, and cowardly, and they do not overcome these traits.

This is all opinion based, pure speculation. I have no idea what will happen in the next episode, and whatever goes down will be...shit will hit the fan. I’m under no delusions that Ironqrow is going to be canon in a healthy, tender, endgame sense. They’re both kind of losing their minds, and Ironwood is shitting absolute bricks. No, they’re going to try to kill each other, and I personally cannot wait for Qrow to cleave this man in two. (Not sexually, just, literally. Like, with a scythe.)

On that note, I think that the RWBY writers are good at callbacks, at drawing attention to their own connections, and if Ironwood and Qrow’s inevitable confrontation is scheduled, then it will include visual callbacks to Qrow saving James at Beacon, maybe shot for shot. Their visuals have only gotten better as time goes on, and I imagine Ironwood’s eyes widening as Qrow leaps through the air, scythe drawn, in recal of a moment so long ago when they weren’t on the same page, but they were at least on the same side. When Qrow brings the blade down, there will be no enemy behind him. Only Jimmy James. The difference between the two of them will be that Qrow isn’t fighting out of fear, but out of love, for what happened to Clover, and to what could happen to his girls.

Qrow’s reliance on alcohol, as well as his (mostly) feigned nonchalance is meant to fit with the motif that the Scarecrow has no brain, and, had he a mind to desire anything, would desire it most of all. His role is, also, notably, gathering intelligence for Ozpin (his character is also based on Munnin from Norse mythology). There is so much about Qrow that is an act and so much that is not, and I think that this act is born both from this motif and from his own cynicism, and the alcohol contributes to this act. However, he eventually gets sober after Ruby expresses legitimate frustration, and he understands that he’s putting their lives at risk. While one could say that he gave up drinking for the kids, I would argue that the kids - Ruby in particular - made him want to give up drinking for himself, to better himself.

While Lionhart and Ironwood betray the people depending on them, Qrow’s love for his nieces (and for the kids) allows him to deviate from this pattern. The answer to fear is perhaps not merely bravery - Qrow’s triumph is love.

Ironwood knows triumph in the context of a military state, but he’s backed himself into a corner. Soon he will find himself alone and friendless. Hopefully, his last stand will not be in vain.

[transcendentcacophony]

Thoughts on Worldbuilding: Storytelling with Geography: Lunar Lakes

So I've been thinking about worldbuilding for awhile, and one of the things that I like about certain worlds is that they tell a story with their geography. I think Lunar Lakes is one of these worlds.

Image: An overview of Lunar Lakes from Sims 3

All Lunar Lake images will be from here

This is going to draw from James C. Scott's The Art of Not Being Governed and the concept of Zomia

So one of the central concepts behind Zomia and The Art is the idea that not everybody wants to be a part of centralized governments or nation-states.

Traditionally, most academic fields have held that as societies centralize around agricultural centers that evolve into urban centers, they draw everybody to them through some kind of unexplained magnetism as they gradually expand. It's usually held that this is because the centralizing power of agriculture allows for population booms not supported by hunting-and-gathering. At least one philosopher <cough> Daniel Quinn <cough>1 this is a result of these populations controlling access to food. Not just surpluses of food, but access to food at all, forcing those within their borders to join the system or die.

This idea that agricultural societies are somehow fundamentally better. We see this reflected in different cultural evolution models (all of which are horribly racist but still manage to hang on in weird places, particularly developmental models). As such, the shift from hunting-and-gathering to sedentary agriculture tends to be heralded as a good thing in most history text books and is pretty much always seen as a step towards "modernization.2" But what if you don't want that? What if you have zero interest in joining the agricultural community and implied state control?3 What options do you have then?

You, then, may be interested in Zomia or one of the other extra-territorial spaces that function similarly.

Image: A village in the mountains

So what is Zomia? Zomia encompasses a large territory that ranges across Southeast Asia up into Tibet. Its primary defining feature is its rugged terrain and various populations that have no interest in different state-sponsored "civilizing" projects. While different agricultural centers expand outward to fill the lowland regions seeking to bully those they encounter along the way into joining, various people along the way say "f*ck it" and go up into the mountains. Why? Because the rugged terrain makes it harder for their valley-based neighbors to control them while providing plenty of hiding places push back against their expansion.

Image: A map of the Zomia area highlighting the Southeast Asian and Himalayan Massifs, areas encompassing the geography of Zomia itself.

Agriculture tends to lock people into place and makes them easier to control, therefore nation-states interested in keeping track of large populations have a vested interest in convincing people to farm. Buggering off into the mountains offsets this. Agriculture isn't necessarily harder in these mountainous areas4, but you do have different crops as a result of altitudinal zonation and a fair amount of people choose to engage in animal husbandry instead because the high altitudes impact calorie consumption as your body spends more energy keeping you warm.

This impacts cultures in these regions as well. People may choose to define themselves in opposition to the lowland culture they are avoiding. They may hybridize with cultures already in the mountains, create new languages, or define themselves by the fact they are there for political or semi-political reasons and expressly avoiding the control of an outside party, even if that outside party is the nation-state they are legally considered a part of. There is also a tendency of these cultures to discard literacy for orality, in part because orality is easier to carry around and in part because it marks them as Other compared to their lowland counterparts. It also gives you a since of control over your culture itself, as orality can't be shared unless you want it to whereas almost anyone can learn a writing system and open a book.

So what's this got to do with Lunar Lakes? Let's look at LL more closely, shall we?

Image: The downtown region from Lunar Lakes

The most densely developed part of Lunar Lakes is easily this "downtown" district in the lowlands region. This area contains most of the community lots for the world, and, most tellingly, City Hall and the Perigee, which we're told in the original blurb brought the (human) sims to Lunar Lakes to begin with.

Image: The Rim

There is a little bleed over of rabbitholes from the city center onto the Rim, a slightly elevated area just above it, but these are no where near as "mountainous" as the craters we'll get to in a minute.

Image: The Canals

Another defining feature of the lowland central area are these canals. As these canals do not extend to a beach or other waterway, they can't be for trade, thereby lending themselves to the idea that they are intended for agricultural uses. They could, of course, predate the colony, but that doesn't change the intent.

Image: The Crystal Mine, the Outpost, and the Depot

On the backside of the craters, we have the Crystal Mine, the Outpost, and the Depot. We're told in the original backstory blurb for the world on the Store page that the residents had to harness the crystals to to make their colony sustainable, but it feels abandoned now. Given the importance of the mine in the early days of the colony, it makes sense they'd have a transport depot here for the workers and an outpost, possibly for the military, to protect it, especially if the world was inhabited and the indigenous people wanted nothing to do with them or actively apposed them.

Image: The Craters from Lunar Lakes

Which brings us finally to the craters themselves. Here's where Zomia comes in. If Lunar Lakes was inhabited and if the native population had no interest in joining the colonists or being exploited by them, where would they go? The craters, of course! This would also hold true for anyone who didn't want to fall in line with the colonial leadership among the human sims themselves. We know the Louie family, for example, had to move to the craters after they were exiled by Patricia Cross, the current colonial leader. It therefore stands to reason that, even if the people who live here are colonists, this is where they are expected to go if they are exiled or want to get away from the political milieu of the central powers in the downtown district.

Image: Suburban Subspace lot from Lunar Lakes

And, of course, architecturally, this is where we got those distinctive mushroom houses, which again, suggests an alternative development of this region compared to the lowlands even if the people here are exiled colonists, deviants, etc.

Regardless, we end up with a setting that is rife for internal worldbuilding and storytelling based on its geography. If you add an alien population seeking to escape SimEarth colonization by fleeing to the craters, it establishes a political backdrop for stories, making the world feel more lived in and providing a ready-made backstory. This is one of the things I think is drastically missing in the Sims 4 with their itty-bitty neighborhoods and lack of connecting spaces.

Anyways, these are the things I think about when worldbuilding myself. What story does my world tell geographically? Does it have a built in backstory represented by its geography? Are the different regions/neighborhoods connected in a way that makes cohesive sense? Are their other worlds you think do a good job of storytelling with their designs?

If you build worlds, do you take into account the storytelling potential of your geography? Why or why not? If you play in worlds like Lunar Lakes, does the geography inform your storytelling? Does it help build a metadiscourse around your game? Are there other worlds that inspire your gameplay with their layouts?

Edited in response to @nornities excellent feedback.

1) This is not meant as an endorsement of all of Quinn's arguments; he's got a weird overpopulation theory built into his writing that's a little too close to Malthusian for my liking, but I'm not one to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as it were.

2) Ever notice how "modernization" and "development" are always fundamentally anchored in how Europe moved from feudalism to imperialism to democracy etc.? Yeah, that's the remnants of that "cultural evolution" model I'm talking about. "You're not successful until you look like us!" "Take these developmental loans from the World Bank or the IMF! We promise the strings attached are for your benefit too!" "What do you mean you want to skip industrialization and natural resource extraction and invest in your environment, happiness, and long-term sustainability? You'll never be like us that way! You're a failed state! Ignore the coup in the background we swear we had nothing to do with!"

3) This is the section that was edited after @nornities pointed out that it could be read to imply that non-agricultural societies don't have taxes, class warfare, epidemics, subjugation, slavery, conscription, etc. That was not the intention, although it is clearly stated in Scott's original work that he considers these and other negative societal effects to be the direct result of such "civilizing projects." It was not my intent to perpetuate that idea as these things do happen in non-agricultural societies, so I have changed the original wording. Thank you, @nornities

4) I also forgot to mention the clear exception to this: the Incan Empire. Unlike most empire models, the Inca engaged in a top-down society (literally) that was based in the mountains and expanded downward and outward over time. They were predated by two earlier Andean civilizations.

[vampiresuns]

Aelius Anatole Radošević De Silva

Anatole has changed a bit as a character since i was around the first time, so he’s getting re introduced. His open to make friends.

art by @elizastarkart​

Name: Aelius Anatole Radoševic De Silva. He has two surnames because his mother is latina. He is a mixed Latine-Slav, with family that is all latine, vesuvian, and slavic. People he’s friend’s with call him Anatole (russian/greek pronunciation, he doesn’t acknowledge the French one). Only people he has a strictly professional relationship with, and his uncle call him Aelius.

‘Aelius’ means sun, while ‘Anatole’ means sunrise. He’s fully aware of this, he chose his name himself.

His nicknames are:

‘Nana’ is the most common nickname, and the one most people use.

His mother calls him Lilito, Nana, Nanito, Toly, Tolito, Tortolito.

His father calls him Lily or Lilu.

Toly, Tolytoly or Tolito are nicknames used by his maternal grandmother, his aunt, and his Vesuvian family.

He will not mind if you want to call him Toly, but you cannot call him Lily/Lilu if you’re not his father.

Asra came up with Nanatole, which he doesn’t like but lets Asra call him anyway. Asra also came up with Nana Banana and that is absolutely forbidden.

Family: on his father’s side both the Radošević, who are slavic (yugoslavic, specifically), and the Cassano, a prominent Vesuvian family who has had a hold of the Consulship for years.

On his mother side, the De Silva.

His father’s name is Vladislav, but everyone calls him Vlad, he’s an alchemist, a polymath, and works in what is most similar to biochemical engineering. He has one bother, named Valeriy, who you, however, might now as Valerius. Vlad’s biggest personality trait is being head over heels in love with his wife, and adoring his son more than he thought it was humanly possible to care about someone.

His mother’s name is Louisa De Silva (if you want to add her mother’s surname, it’s Lascal). The L-o-u spelling was a registry mistake she never changed. She moved half across the world while her native country suffer a military-civilian dictatorship to study Medicine. She swore never to go back as long as vestiges of said dictatorship remained in the country. She has two sisters: Paris, who lives in Vesuvia, and Alma, who remained with her parents out of her own choosing. Her medical experience include having been a volunteer war doctor. She didn’t change her surname when she got married.

The Radošević (pronounced Radozheveech) and the Cassano have been entangled families by friendship for generations upon generations, with some marriages between them. Notoriously: Vlad and Val’s father married a Cassano, Matilda, and his bother Mircea, Anatole’s great uncle, also married a Cassano: Florentino. Mircea’s brother and Matilda Cassano died when Vlad and Val were children still, so him and Florentino brought them up.

The Radošević are an overall eccentric family (think the european Addams family), whom are noted for: one, their self-sufficiency/self-preservation, which comes out in a very ‘eccentric people of the world unite’ manner. They appreciate people with character. Two, their leanings towards trades/professions, they do not conceive not doing anything (work hard to play hard). The Cassano, while sharing the quirk, they add the zest for life. It’s like they grabbed the Radošević and told them “you have forgotten how to live and we will remind you how.” Both of them are ridden with racially ambiguous bastard you cannot kill in any way that matters. They simply refuse to. Someone (either the courtiers or Lucio) compared them to roaches, they took it as a compliment.

This will tell you a lot about Anatole’s character.

On a last note, Anatole’s an only child. He has a good relationship with his parents, albeit marked by a sense of distance, solely because he was privately tutored from age 15 and on, which required him to travel a fair share. He was an argumentative teenager, but always cherished whenever he could see his parents. The older he gets, the closer they all become.

Favourite Food: Cake

Favourite drink: Coffee, in general.

Favourite Flower: Iris

Birthday: Nov 1st

Age: 29 (I calculate his age as if he had been born in 1991)

Zodiac:

Sun: Scorpio

Moon: Virgo

Rising: Libra

Mercury & Mars: Scorpio

Venus: Virgo

Patron arcana: Strength & Ace of Swords

Strength

Upright: inner strength, bravery, compassion, focus, Reversed: self doubt, weakness, insecurity      

Ace of Swords

Upright: breakthrough, clarity, sharp mind, Reversed: confusion, brutality, chaos

MBTI Type: INTJ-A

Gender: Transmasculine, but Nonbinary. Uses He/Him pronouns only

Orientation: Identifies as NBLM.

LIs: Julian, Muriel, @ilyamatic​‘s Andrico, @thelazaretmakesmesad​‘s Vishal.

“The sun-like strategist with a solution for everything, and a whole lot of hope in the future.”

More details under the cut!

Physical appearance:

art by @lesbianarcana​

5′4. As you can see in the sprite down below, while he’s slim but with muscle, out of doing a moderate to high level of physical activity. The man has a nice waist and inherited his mother’s hips, which he’s very proud of. He likes his legs and his butt the most about himself

Dark brown eyes, long eyelashes. His hair is naturally black, but he dyes it blond.

Has a mole over his right eyebrow, on the left side of the bridge of his nose, and on his left jaw. He has freckles.

An horizontal scar on his nose, which he got by getting hit with a wooden scaffold square in the face. His nose wasn’t broken out of sheer dumb luck. He has a smaller cut on his cheekbone, which was done by a fencing sabre which lacked the proper tip protection/button. It was done onto him by someone else.

The nose scar is how he met Julian before the plague, as he was the doctor which cured his face.

He has several tattoos:

Right arm: A rapier on his inner forearm. Over his elbow he has a black work band, and over it the words ‘THE SUN IS MY UNDOING’ in all caps, circling his arm.

Left arm: a snake wrapped around his forearm, near to the wrist. The Odyssey quote ‘let’s have a toast to the incompetence of our enemies’ under the inner crook of his elbow, and a floral half sleeve.

Chest and Torso: AMOR OMNIA VINCIT over where his heart is supposed to be. He has laurel leaves on the base of his waist.

Legs: ‘o serpent heart hid with a flowering face‘ in his upper, inner thigh, like really up his left inner thigh. A floral anklet on his right ankle.

Languages Spoken: Too many. He speaks nine languages.

Magic Specialities: His magic is connected to both light and languages (it is a play on words with ‘logos’) so he is both adept in photokinesis — he is able to create and manipulate sources of light — and language related magic — which includes incantation and language manipulation. He learns languages as a faster rate than most people, and while he cannot speak or literally understand a language unless he learns it, his magic allows him to intuitively grasp the meaning of words that are being spoken to him.

This capacity also makes him very good at recognising hidden intentions in people. This is not an ability that he broadcasts having, and when he later succeeds Valerius as the Consul, it is something which aids his diplomatic work but he keeps private.

His words tend to carry more weight sometimes because of his magic, something which he can’t always control — it depends on many factors — so he tries to choose his words carefully and with consideration.

His familiar is a Raccoon, named Antu.

Occupation: While he did study magic and is in touch with his magic, he studied politics, diplomacy and international relations. By trade, and out of will to help people, he is a political analyst and, later in life, a Statesman.

Personality/Trivia:

Willpower or Stubbornness? Depends how you look at it. Passionate, generally devoted, hopeful, independent and sometimes defiant. He is a people-oriented introvert. Competitive, but not aggressively so.

Smarter than he gives himself credit for. Overall charming, even debonair.

Curious by nature, hates having his decisions taken for him.

He is proper, sometimes even distinguished, but he is feral. A firm believer in being kind and compassionate with people, until you cross him one too many times, then nothing will make him taint his vindictive wrath.

Is he humble? For the most part. His humbleness comes from knowing his own limits and knowing he’s not infallible. He does have, however, a good deal of pride in himself and trust in what he can do, and he doesn’t like being underestimated.

He’s not particularly loud, though when the chatterbox is on, then it is on, specially if he’s nervous. He is often never still. 

He’s known he has ADHD since he was seventeen.

Likes dancing.

He fences, almost every Radošević fences/sword fights, and he will let you know at the slightest chance. Which can be either him simply being hyper-fixated in fencing, him flirting, or him letting you know that if the occasion rises, he’s armed.

Friend shaped, lover shaped if you’re daring enough.

He wrinkles his nose when he doesn’t like something.

Speaking of which: he doesn’t like abuse of power, the Court, injustice, supremacists of any kind, unkind, hurtful and selfish people in general; he doesn’t like red meat (he says it tastes like metal or dirt), narrow minded people, incompetence, specially when displayed by people in positions of power, and purposeful apathy.

A mastermind archetype, but he draws his power from connection. He does not conceive a life not lived with others.

A bit of a bastard, he enjoys a good laugh.

He plays the piano and the harp, he sings, he cannot draw, he’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol (which doesn’t really stop him), he likes the opera because he likes watching other people’s drama without being dragged into it, and his favourite season is winter. Also likes playing chess, reading, coffee, flowers, a well tailored outfit, learning, languages, the sea, mysteries, winter, a well laid argument, collecting quills, music, winning, knowing he loves and is loved in return.

When he was 7 he bribed his dad for more dessert, and he ate so much he vomited. His sweet tooth hasn’t gone anywhere, it is alive and well.

Perceptive little bastard, will knife cat you for the sake of it. He has a way more present sense of humour than what he comes across.

Would call himself a ‘trans masculine Mary Poppins’.

He is closest to his parents, his uncle, my other ocs Leonore, Medea and Sabine, his cousins Amparo Cassano and Milenko Radošević, Natiqa, Asra, Portia and Nadia.

If he liked women, he would be paired with Nadia. The possibility both terrifies and fascinates me.

@ilyamatic​, @viviae​, @gaybirdwrites​, @arcanaprentiss​ @apprenticeofcups​

[itslieutenanthawkeye]

A Knight’s Oath

Day 6 of Jeankasa Week 2021: Royal AU

AO3

Sir Kirstein aids the princess of Hizuru escape a coup d’état organized by the marleyan Jaeger brothers.

There isn’t one inch of my body that isn’t yelling this is wrong, not one bit that isn’t shouting at me to return, to go back to my chambers, cover my ears with both hands and ignore that letter until the signal comes from within the palace. I came here to do a job: become her close guard, infiltrate the institution, take down the royal line.

That one job could have me swimming in silver. One job would be enough to buy myself that lifestyle I can only dream about. One job, and I could leave knighthood behind, buy myself a castle, a royal title and a woo wife to go with it. A pretty young wife with dark hair and big eyes and a whole army of servants to fulfill our every wish.

And yet here I am, walking with more purpose than ever before in my life, heading towards her.

Like most upper class Hizuran structures, the Azumabito royal palace is built atop a tall stone base. It’s an intricate maze of buildings, rooms and sliding doors that I’ve spent two years memorizing. I should know, better than anyone, how hard it’ll be for us to sneak out. Even if we do it without anyone being aware, even if nobody knows what the princess has found out.

“Jean, over here.” her voice calls from behind one of the doors. I follow like a bee searching honey. I enter the place where she’s been waiting for me and encounter her wearing the peasant clothes I procured for her a couple of days ago. She’s as lovely in them as she was the first time I saw her, sitting atop a high throne next to the regent, Kiyomi Azumabito, wearing a wonderful kimono of red fabric and golden threads.

Her mother, a pure-blooded Azumabito royal, fell in love with an eldian man, and in the process of marrying him, she also fell into disgrace and was expelled from the balance years before conceiving the princess. After a wave of plague that caused the death of the shogun and his closest relatives, however, Kiyomi had sent a contingent to bring back the princess’ mother to serve as regent until the princess came of age.

Stories say Kiyomi found a ten-year-old princess orphaned, living of scraps she found in the field near her home. Her parents were also killed by the plague. Some people say they starved, some others that they were murdered. However they died, the princess came back to the ancestral home of the Azumabito alone and Kiyomi took her into her care. Even I am aware of the love the woman has for her adoptive daughter, how much she cares for her safety.

It was her the first to find out about Marley’s plans to overthrow Hizuru’s royal line, of the spies sent by Marley in the shape of knights for Hizuru’s princess. It was Kiyomi who came to me, asking for help for the princess. She knew my involvement in Marley’s plans gave me a lot more intel than any other servant could’ve collected…and because she saw the way I looked at the princess that day our delegation arrived, two days ago, and how I’ve seen her every day since. She figured out quickly how much affection I carry for the princess and knew, barely one year after my arrival, that I would never leave her adoptive daughter behind.

“Are you ready?” I ask, putting on the peasant clothes, hiding the katana Kiyomi left in my room in the folds of my own hizuran clothes. “Your highness, are you ready?”

“I don’t want to leave.” She says; she’s turned away from me, giving me what little privacy she can while I change. “I can’t leave Kiyomi. I can’t leave the people of the palace behind.”

“Many of your servants are traitors, princess,” I remind her, tapping on her shoulder to indicate I’m decent again. A slight tremble travels her back and I curse myself; I’d forgotten how reserved hizuran people are when it comes to physical touch.

She turns around and faces me, resolution clear on her face. “Traitors or not, a ruler owes herself to her people,” she says, more dignified than any other royal I ever saw in Marley. “Traitors or not, I cannot leave them alone. And Kiyomi—”

“You heard their plans, princess,” I say, wondering how many times I’ll have to repeat the same thing to get her to forget that commitment to the people the Azumabito care so much about. “The moment the clock hits twelve, the guards will be at your doors. Zeke plans on executing you at dawn, on the morning of your eighteenth birthday. It’s either that or be forced into marrying his brother.”

“And I must let Kiyomi’s head hang just for the sake of escaping?”

“Mikasa,” I say; using her name feels strange. It’s a lovely name, but also forbidden. No knight is allowed to address the princess by her name, nor try to give her orders, let alone try to convince her to follow a plan she doesn’t agree with. The princess widens her eyes in brief shock, but nods, inviting me to continue. “You’re the last of your line. Kiyomi is willing to sacrifice her life for you.”

The princess lowers her head. “I can’t leave her.”

“If you can’t respect her wishes, at least do it out of pity for me,” I say, in a last attempt to get her moving. Time is slipping away from us, and Eren’s retinue must be making its way across the mountain roads already. “I’ve given up everything by just being here. If you stay, I hang with you, dishonored, tortured first.”

The princess looks up at me, her eyes stone-cold. “You came here under false pretenses, betraying mefirst. And now you’ve betrayed your country by being here. How can I be sure you won’t betray me again?”

Ah, how can I assure her without looking like a lovesick fool?

“I’ve served your palace for two years now, haven’t I?” I say. Mikasa nods, her gaze softening somewhat. In an act of boldness, or perhaps a leap of faith, I take a hold of her hands and fall to my knees. “I’m well acquainted with you now, princess, I cannot bring myself to leave you behind or betray you even if I should wish it.”

“Why, though, Jean?” she asks, and the mention of my name from her lips wraps me up like a warm blanket. Suddenly I remember again why I don’t care about the lost wealth, about that castle and title, about the group of nameless women I could’ve wooed into marriage. It’s her. Just her.

“Because you deserve to live. A great leader deserves to live,” I reply, bringing the back of her hands to my lips. I graze them briefly; a royal courtesy from Marley, never performed hereabouts. Royalty in Hizuru barely touches each other, and I can feel her trembling at the mere touch of lips against her hand. “I mean it when I say I won’t betray you, princess. I’m devoted to you as I haven’t been devoted to anything in my life. All I can hope for is that you believe me.”

“I believe you, Jean,” she says after a moment of quiet introspection. “I’m not sure why, but your face always seemed honest. From day one, even when you were scheming against me.”

I can’t help but to smile. “I’m willing to use my whole life to convince you I’m no longer scheming.” I say, standing to face her, holding her hand still. “Are you ready, princess?”

A sad smile adorns her face as she nods, and I’m forced to not focus too much on her face as we sneak out of the castle. Apart from being well-educated, she’s been trained extensively in martial arts and acrobatics, so sliding across the various rooftops of the palace and jumping from one terrace to another proves an easy task for her. She looks back at me at a point, her pale face illuminated by the moonlight, and I manage to give her a tight, ridiculous smile in encouragement.

I’ve seen plenty of women before, but she is by far the most beautiful sight my eyes have ever witnessed. But her beauty is just one of the things that have drawn me to betray my homeland’s coup d’état against Hizuru. I met her when she was sixteen, and I nineteen; these two years, I’ve seen her grow into a fair, kind ruler, one that cares more about the wellbeing of her subjects than the wealth of the family mines or the expansion of her land.

At seventeen, she convinced the council to abolish arranged marriages for women, recognize divorces requested by wives as legal, increase taxes for royals and establish a free education system for the entire country. I know she had in mind to establish free healthcare within her fifteen-year plan. All in all, she is a great leader.

Then there’s the fact that she’s extremely good at sparring. And I’ve always had a soft spot for women that are good with swords, especially women who can beat me in a fight.

I guess, in a way, spending my days with her, being with her…it all makes me want to be better. Before Hizuru, before the princess, all I thought about was ways of getting a comfortable life. My whole childhood, I’d spent it scamming people. Then knighthood had seemed a good way to find myself a relatively wealthy wife or become rich by taking down a king, or by plundering a town.

Just being by her side makes me a better man.

I want to keep being that better man.

I also want to keep seeing that pretty face of hers. I want to keep hearing her rants. I want to keep sharing my thoughts with her. I just want to be with her.

___________________________

Hizuru’s capital is surrounded by tall mountains. It’s thanks to my military training that I know which rivers the Jaeger brothers will use to invade the city, and which ones will give us safe passage to the sea, where a boat provided by the queen of Paradis Island awaits. Hizuru is a large nation, however, and the possibilities of our escape plan going sour are high. Still, I cannot let any of my insecurities show on my face. I took it upon my shoulders to protect the princess, to take her to her new home to keep her from being executed, forced into marriage, or tortured to death by the royals who had aided the Jaeger brothers conspire against the Azumabito.

By the time the sun begins to climb the mountains, we are miles away from the capital. And yet, we can hear the execution bells ring across the watch towers. Heads are starting to roll in the palace, the bells across the Hizuran Mountain Pass tell us, and one of them must be Kiyomi’s. Mikasa sits next to me on the motorboat, crying into her sleeves, leaning slightly against my arm.

“I’m sorry.” I manage to muster. “I wish I could’ve done more.”

She shakes her head, not looking at me. “Why did your people do this to us?”

I say the first few words that come into my mind. “Greed…I’ve never interacted much with the Jaeger brothers, but I know that the eldest wants power, and the mines in Hizuru are too rich to ignore. And the youngest cannot stand monarchies. He says people in them aren’t free.”

“Why decide to impose a dictatorship instead? What kind of hypocrisy is that?” she asks, although it’s clear she doesn’t expect me to answer her. “Why kill the council members? Kill Kiyomi? Our people are happy, and I wanted to work to make their lives better. I really wanted to. Why invade a foreign land that has rightful rulers with the excuse of freedom?”

“I wish I could explain it all,” I say, and the sight of the tear streaks on her face turns me into a rambling idiot. “I’m sorry, princess. I’m sorry I was with them. I’m sorry I didn’t do more to stop them. I’m sorry I came into your palace with—”

“You’ve already said you’ll spend your whole life making it up to me, won’t you? It is a promise, isn’t it?” the princess replies, and something inside me tells me she might be too tired to hear my apologies. She took the news of my original plan badly and stopped talking to me for a whole week, not being able to just look at me in the eyes, with fair reason. We spent so many days together with me as her guard, we became friends over those long nights of study, our few sneaky expeditions outside the palace, the times when I brought her street food for dinner in our chambers, the times when she’d sung for me and Kiyomi from behind a white canvas…

All those memories of friendship are stained now, covered with the mark of my initial plan to help the Jaeger brothers with their coup d’état. “I mean to fulfill that promise, princess,” I say, more convinced than I thought I would. “I’ll do anything to redeem myself from the initial betrayal.”

“What if I ask you to raise an army for me?” she asks, wiping the tears off her eyes with the back of her hand. “What if I say that you will prove you’ve redeemed yourself once you help me gain my throne back?”

Her face has acquired that solemn expression she uses whenever she addresses the council. And, like the council members, I cannot bring myself to say no to her. “I-I will try my best, princess. I do not have any influence, and I’ve no money to offer. But I will raise you an army, I will do my best.”

“Do you promise?”

“I could swear on my knight’s honor, princess, but you and I know I don’t have any. I’m a traitor to you and to my own homeland, remember?” I admit with an awkward smile, scratching the back of my head. “I’m lucky enough as it is that you trusted me enough to come with me.”

Mikasa smiles, then wraps my hand with both of hers. “There is one way you can assure me.” she says, her eyes not meeting mine. The sunlight is bathing us both; we’ll enter the lowlands soon, and speed will be of essence to avoid getting captured. Perhaps my concern for speed is what keeps me from realizing her face is dangerously near mine for the first couple of moments.

“What way?” I manage to stammer.

“An oath on your soul,” she explains. “It’s not a thing we do often here, though.”

“Is it like a blood oath?”

The princess shakes her head. “It’s something a bit deeper than that.”

I swallow hard, wondering if she’s going to force me to cut my finger off, or something worse. I don’t have any gripes if that’s what it takes to convince her I would fight to gain her trust back, but I can’t help being concerned about the health implications of cutting a finger off in the middle of a river.

“I’m not going to ask you to cut a finger off, Jean,” she half-sobs, half-laughs, guessing my thoughts. “It’s nothing as ghastly as that.”

“From the way you’re talking, it seems like a big deal.”

A soft blush travels her cheeks. “It is,” she says. “It’s a soul promise. We don’t touch each other here, not after you’ve left childhood behind. Let alone if you’re from a royal family. These oaths only happen behind closed doors, or at weddings.”

“What kind of oath is it, princess?”

“Kiss,” she says, closing her eyes. “You close the oath with a kiss, and your soul is bound to that person.”

“A k-kiss?” I manage to say, realizing at last how close she is sitting to me. If I must be honest, for the most part during my first year on the job, I paid little attention to hizuran traditions. It wasn’t until she started talking to me more that I began to care for the country I was hired to take down. And despite paying more attention to the country she loves so much, I have never heard of such an oath. Could it be that she just wants to feel someone else’s skin on hers?

A smirk appears on my face, and she seems to guess what thoughts are going through my head. She withdraws from me, narrowing her eyes dangerously. “It’s not like I want to!” she says, her cheeks burning red, her murderous expression only increasing my smile. “Stop looking at me like that!”

“I’m sorry!” I say, coughing to clear my throat. Her hands are still holding mine. “I didn’t mean to disrespect you, princess. Please, tell me about this oath.”

“No.” Mikasa replies, shaking her head. “You are clearly not mature enough for it.”

“Please, princess.” I say, and she gives me a serious glance before sighing in defeat.

“If you do it, it’ll be important. You cannot back away from this; you must fulfill it even if it takes your life. Your promise will be bound to your soul; and your soul is bound to me.” Mikasa hunches her shoulders and exhales, her eyes set on the mountains we’re leaving behind, her eyes longing for the warmth of the castle, the voice of her caretaker.

Her home crumbled in the lapse of a few hours; all her friends in the palace, her adoptive mother, the members of the council that cared for her…they’re all dead by now, or tortured, perhaps, to get information on her whereabouts. Kiyomi is probably getting the worst of all. And that’s when it hits me: I’m all she’s got left. Me, one of the knights sent to infiltrate her palace, gain their trust, and stab them in the back.

What a grim scenario that is.

“Princess, please look at me,” I say. She turns to face me, and my lips press against hers for a couple of seconds. When we part, her eyes are as wide as plates. “I promise I will not fail you.”

She nods, her hands clutching mine, her cheeks tinted pink. “Thank you.”

I let go of her hands and wrap her face with both of mine. Then, I press my lips against hers. This time, when we part, her eyes are closed. “I promise I am bound to you, blood, bone and soul.” I say, then kiss her again, a little longer this time. “I promise I won’t rest until you get your throne back.”

She smiles at me. “You’re splitting your soul into a lot of little pieces there.”

I kiss her again, and this time her lips move against mine, her arms wrap around my shoulders. Many times these two years I dreamed about kissing her –no, I’ve imagined doing a lot more with her, if I must be honest. But it was all fantasies, half-built while I looked after her during royal events, while I guarded her in her sleep, while we had our quiet dinners.

“I swear, my princess,” I say as we come apart once more, grazing her cheek with the back of my hand. “I swear my soul, heart and body are yours, from now until I the day I’m ripped from you.”

“That sounds a lot like a wedding vow.” She points out, holding my hand in place against her face.

I smile. “I’m sorry, princess.”

“Don’t be, please,” she says, then places a quick kiss on my fingers. “You can call me by my name from now on, you know. I’m not a princess anymore.”

“You’re always a princess, though.”

She shakes her head. “You and I are fugitives,” she says, setting her eyes on the mountains again, a fire burning bright behind the grey curtain of her eyes. She wants revenge; she wants to gain her throne, her homeland, back, and rain fire upon the ones who dared to lift a finger against Hizuru.

And all I want, I realize with a bit of embarrassment, is to keep her safe, stay by her side.

“I’ll raise an army for you, Mikasa.”

“We’ll raise it together. I believe in your oath,” she assures me, leaning forward to press her lips against mine for a long moment. “And I swear to you that when I get my throne back, I will give you all the lands and wealth you desire.”

“I could do without all that.” I say, shrugging, eliciting the first smile I’ve seen from her in a while.

I want to protect that smile, I think as our boat picks up speed. We’ll enter the lowlands in a couple of miles, and it’ll be a race to get to the ocean. The island is the only safe option for the princess now; the only safe place for the both of us. Despite my oath to her, all my mind can think of is a peaceful life with her. No luxuries, no armies, no grand schemes for power. Just the princess and I, sharing our lives in a quiet cottage by a river, hidden away from the world on Paradis Island.

It’s a fool’s dream, I know.

“I’ll keep you safe.” I assure her, giving her hand a little squeeze, hoping this isn’t too much touching for someone like her.

To my surprise, she squeezes my hand in return. “And I’ll keep you safe.”

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X5

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I’m going to go right ahead and say it. This episode felt like a PSA to me, but it was well done. It was emotional and impactful and the storyline about Bailey’s Mom made me tear up, but at the same time the episode felt very stagnant and I feel like the lives of the other characters didn’t really move forward or go anywhere. It felt like they were all standing still. I liked the conversations between Jackson and Richard and Bailey and Maggie about how COVID has impacted black and brown people more than other races and how unfair that is and how politicians and decision makers need to pay more attention to that.

I loved the conversation between Bailey and Maggie. I liked that they addressed what happened with Maggie’s Mom because that storyline bothered the heck out of me. Maggie treated Meredith and everyone else horribly when all they did was try and help and then she forced her mother to undergo treatments she didn’t want because Maggie couldn’t handle the fact that she was dying and then they just dropped it. I’m glad to see that make a comeback and that Maggie has recognized that what she did and the way she behaved was wrong and is now using that experience to help others.

I loved their comments about guidance counsellors and others assume black people aren’t as bright or as capable as white folks and how insidious that is. It’s not something I’ve experienced myself as a white person, but I’m glad they’re highlighting it. This episode was written by Zoanne Clack who is a black woman and a former E.R. Physician. The previous episode was written by Julie Wong who is an Asian woman and I think it’s great they are utilizing the talent that they have so that people of colour can share their stories and their experiences on a global scale. 

By telling these stories through the lives of characters we know and love and can empathize with it allows people who will never have these experiences understand a little bit more. Representation is important and this show has always done a really good job in my opinion of highlighting important topics and social issues in a sensitive and thoughtful manner. These characters are fictional, but their stories are taken from the lives of real people and I think an important step in the process of creating a better fairer world is creating media that reflects people’s realities in order to cultivate empathy so that people who might not otherwise understand or get it have a window into that experience.

Maybe it changes their mind. Maybe it doesn’t. But the point is that it opens people’s minds to the possibility of seeing a side that they didn’t before and that is half the battle when trying to get people to understand someone else’s experience or point of view. I’m going to be seeing my family this holiday season virtually and in small groups from a safe distance. As is the case for many visiting with relatives over the holidays means having to listen to a lot of ignorant opinions, frustrating statements, and in some cases racial slurs and inappropriate remarks. 

So I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to handle that this year because my tolerance for that crap has gone out the window. All this to say it’s nice to see good people fighting the good fight to get these stories out there to a global audience so that maybe some people will get it and maybe some good will come of it. And even if it doesn’t seeing characters and stories that represent you on screen is powerful and moving and wonderful and we all deserve that. I teared up watching Bailey suffer with the deterioration and death of her Mom.

The end scene where Bailey describes the patients she’s lost to COVID in the voice over while her and Richard sing ‘My Girl’ to give her Mom that moment of peace and a death with dignity got me. It really put a face on the disease. Watching her and her Dad struggle with it was so hard. I loved Bailey’s voice over where she shared info about the COVID patients she’d lost so far and who they were not just their disease. That was well done. Made me tear up.

I loved the talk between Meredith and Bailey at the hospital and on the beach. This episode wasn’t as shocking as the previous ones, but it was still good. I’m glad Meredith is getting better. I will miss the beach, but I’m excited to see her wake up, get better, and hopefully spend some time with Hayes. Which brings me to my chief complaint with this episode which is where the heck was Hayes?!?! This is the second episode he’s been absent from for no discernable reason and no explanation has been given as to where he is.

I did not sign up for this. A big part of the joy I felt when they announced that he was being upped to a main character was the implication that he was going to be given his own storylines and character development outside of Meredith and his relationships with Abigail, Liam, and Austin. But Hayes being absent when Meredith’s not awake robs of him that. Don’t get me wrong. I love Meredith and Hayes together and all I want is for them to be together and live happily ever after.

But, Hayes has such a rich and interesting backstory and there’s so much to explore there. Richard Flood who plays him brings such a wonderful depth to the character and he deserves to have his own story apart from Meredith and I really want to see him interact with the other characters more. We’ve seen him interact significantly with Jo and Bailey, but I’d love to see him interact with Maggie, Amelia, Jackson, and Owen more. His absence this episode reminds me of the episode after the Conference Episode last season where he was suddenly missing for no reason and they didn’t explain where he was.

I’m confused because he was upped to a main character just before this season started so he should be in every episode or almost every episode like the other characters are. I’m starting to get concerned that the actor who plays him has fallen ill or tested positive for COVID-19 or that he’s dealing with some kind of family emergency and so they had to cut him out of the episode last minute. I hope I’m wrong, but I honestly can’t think of another reason the actor would be missing for upwards of 2 to 4 weeks when these episodes were filmed.

I can’t see his absence being a story choice because it doesn’t make any sense and they haven’t addressed it on screen as they usually do when an actor has departed or needs time off and they have time to write that in. He also doesn't appear to be in the promo for next week’s episode which is strange considering it shows another meeting being held by Richard where some of the other department heads can be seen and we get shots of most of the other characters. After the Premiere aired he appeared in the promo for Episode 3 standing outside Meredith’s window and in that episode we saw them have a heart to heart that I thought was really beautiful and lovely.

At this point it’s unclear if Meredith even knows that Hayes is the one that found her and got her help and is distraught over her condition. He’s the head of Peds which is a pretty important department. Where the heck is he? They can gladly write off other characters in the second half of the season to give him more screen time in my opinion. I really hope the actor and his family are okay.  I’d also hate for his sudden absence to wreck Meredith’s storyline.

I love their friendship and flirtations and I’d hate to see her wind up alone or with someone that clearly isn’t right for her and that she doesn’t really love because something unexpected happened with the actor. I really really hope he’s in the mid-season finale next week! Jo suddenly declaring that she wants to quit general surgery to become an OBGYN came out of nowhere and makes no sense to me.

She spent years being with and then married to the Head of Pediatric Surgery and was decidedly lukewarm on the idea of having kids or even being near them. So her and Alex split and in the wake of that she randomly decides she wants to be an OBGYN and deliver babies? What the heck? I’m also confused because I feel like Hayes should have been there because it was a Peds case and he wasn’t and if Jo wants to re-specialize it would make sense for her to talk to Carina or Hayes.

Carina’s a main character on Station 19 and is still reoccurring on Grey’s so she can talk to her for an episode or two, but anymore than that and I think that would fall under Hayes perview because he’s a main character. But he’s currently MIA and we don’t know why. I did love Jo’s scenes with Levi though. They’re always hilarious and I think they bounce off of each other really well. I’m glad that Tom improved and apparently isn’t dying.

I like him with Teddy and I hope they get back together at some point. I’m glad they are choosing to be friends again. More than anything I want Teddy to pick a lane here. Owen or Tom. Pick one and go with it. Stop flip flopping all over the place like a fish out of water. Teddy’s a hot mess these days. I liked Amelia’s speech to Teddy. She has feelings about what Teddy did and didn’t do, but as she says she herself has done horrible things, some of them involving Owen, so she’s not in any place to judge, but she also doesn’t want to be friends with Teddy or really talk to her. And that’s fair. I have to say I love Amelia post-tumour. She’s great.

Also what happened to Casey Parker the resident from last season who was transgender and former military? I really liked him! Where did he go? I’d much rather see him that DeLuca or Nico on screen. Based on what I caught of next week’s promo it looks the COVID situation at Grey Sloan is about to get worse. We see Richard addressing staff in the cafeteria saying that they need to prepare for a surge of patients and that their patient load could double. We’re in May in the current Grey’s timeline so that fits.

It’s apparently also a cross over. I don’t want another cross over. I want to know where the hell Hayes is! And it looks like Amelia is back in the OR and the doctors are treating two teenagers who were kidnapped and held captive. Yikes! And we see Meredith smiling at someone on the beach before suddenly waking up. My guess is that it’s Derek and we are finally going to get to see them embrace and then Meredith is going to return to the land of the living. And hopefully interact with Hayes.

Until next time!

[mirrorworldangel]

OTP Question Meme 1

Got tagged by @r6shippingdelivery thanks for the tags!

Imma do a second one for a different OTP cus this is kinda fun.

Tagging @dimethief @lj-todd @rayearthdudette @retrodisaster​  @ourwarbird and anyone else who wants to try this.

(art done by @ourwarbird)

Gustave “Doc” Kateb x Julien “Rook” Nizan

DISAGREEMENTS

Who is more likely to raise their voice? Usually it’s Doc, but there are some rare occasions Rook would scream.

Who threatens to leave but never actually does? Neither.

Who actually keeps their word and leaves? Rook, he would either use a different room to sleep in or would leave to stay with someone for a few nights until one of them m up and  

Who trashes the house? Because of an argument? Neither. 

Do either of them get physical? Once, and it was a slap to the face. It never happened again.

How often do they argue/disagree? They would sometimes have a few disagreements and bickerings, but when it comes to big arguments that’s when everybody know shit just hit the fan.

Who is the first to apologize? Whoever feels more guilty for how they acted, which usually is the one in the wrong (once they realise that).

SEX

Who is on top? Depends on who is in the mood of controlling the other, but mostly it’s Doc.

Who is on bottom? Rook, unless Doc let’s him hold the reins. Literally.

Who has the strangest desires? Rook would think it’s him,but Doc is always the more experimentally curious.

Any kinks? Bondage, marking/biting, dirty talk, discipline, lingerie with heels, collar, riding crop, creampie.

Who’s dominate in bed? They let the mood take them.

Is head ever in the equation? Yes.

If so, who is better at performing it? Rook, he has more experience.

Ever had sex in public? Sometimes. From Doc’s office to the communal showers, where they could have their own privacy but  getting the thrill of possibly getting caught.

Who moans the most? Rook, Doc likes to make as many sounds as he could from the man.

Who leaves the most marks? Both.

Who is the most experienced of the two? Both.

Do they ’fuck’ or ‘make love’? Depends on their mood.

Rough or soft? Middle ground, veering more towards rough most of the time.

How long do they usually last? Depends on the day and their stamina, but it’s not uncommon they’ll go for 2 rounds.

Is protection used? Sometimes, but mostly not.

Does it ever get boring? Never. They like to spice things up differently.

Where is the strangest place where they’d had sex? At the infirmary wards, they had to be quiet about it because there are a few operators that were asleep there. But also there was that one time at the parking lot in their car...

FAMILY

Do they plan on having children/ have children? They wanted to, but were afraid of bringing it up because of their busy lives.

If so, how many children to they want/have? One or two, twins at best.

AFFECTION

Who likes to cuddle? Both do, especially after work.

Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate places? Both, they enjoy the flirting game together to see the other getting hot and bothered,

Who struggles to keep their hands to themselves? Both, but mostly Doc with a bit of dirty talking.

How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable? No idea because I haven’t thought about that.

Who gives the most kisses? Both.

What is their favorite non-sexual activity? Spending time together. Taking walks with their pets, lounging together, and all of the simple things they do together. They also adore sight-seeing around the places whenever they are at other countries together. 

Where is their favorite place to cuddle? Anywhere and anytime.

How often do they get time to themselves? Everyday after work? Weekends and day offs? Its the times they finally get to relax without worrying about work are the best.

SLEEPING

Who snores? Not snoring, but heavily breathing for Rook.

If both do, who snores the loudest? Look at the previous answer.

Do they share a bed or sleep separately? They share.

If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay separately? They cozy up together, Rook snuggling at Doc’s side with Doc’s arm around him.

What do they wear to bed? Sometimes in their shirts and boxers, sometimes Rook uses Doc’s button-up shirts. They would also sleep naked after sex.  

Are either of them insomniacs? Not really, although if woken up from a nightmares, the other would wake up to accompany them until they go back to bed again.

Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside? Nope, no sleeping pills.

Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side? Yeah, they wrap their limbs around each other whenever its cold. They also would lay side by side as well.

Who wakes up with bed hair? Both, although Rook is the winner here.

Who wakes up first? Both are early risers, Doc is a bit of a slower paced.

Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other? Both, whoever gets up first.

What is their favourite sleeping position? Either spooning, or one of them using the other’s chest/shoulder as a pillow.

Do they set an alarm each night? Yes, they do have to wake up for work.

Can a television be found in their bedroom? Nope. They have dogs for that.

Who has nightmares? Doc. Rook only occasionally.

Who has ridiculous dreams? Once it’s Rook saying a song verse in his sleep.

Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed? I don’t think so? It’s mostly about the blanket hoardings.

Who makes the bed? Both, they take turns.

Any routines/rituals before bed? Both would kiss their pets goodnight after final rounds of bathroom duty and feeding. Once in bed, Doc would do the occasional reading and Rook with the social media accounts while they were snuggling with the pets that followed them to bed.

Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up? Doc. Pity him.

WORK

Who is the busiest? Doc, being the Head Medic of the team has its responsibilities and paperwork. Rook would try to help him out after Recruit trainings

Who rakes in the highest income? They seem to rank the same in Rainbow so they probably get paid the same? Or maybe because Doc is the Head Medic he earns more?

Are any of them unemployed? Nope.

Who takes the most sick days? No fucking idea.

Who is more likely to turn up late for work? Neither, they’re punctual.

Who sucks up to their boss? None, Doc would rather argue with Harry and Rook would plead at Harry until he gives in

What are their jobs? They're part of the GIGN team within the counter-terrorism group Rainbow.

Who stresses the most? Both, but Doc probably a bit more.

Are they financially stable? I think so, especially with Doc’s family background.

HOME

Who does the washing? Doc, he is a bit fussier with the type of detergent. Although Rook slowly takes over his task because Doc had to stay at work a bit later because of the paperwork.

Who takes out the trash? Whoever finds the trash full before bed or work or else the pets will have a go at it.

Who does the ironing? Both do. You gotta keep the formal uniforms crisp smooth, so why not iron too whatever other clothes need ironing.

Who does the cooking? They cook together, mostly Rook.

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying? None, unless if they’re too stuck to their phones or had fallen asleep while waiting for the kettle, then it’s a fair game.

Who is messier? The pets.

Who leaves the toilet roll empty? Blame it on the pets.

Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor? Military life has trained them to not keep throwing dirty clothes on the floor, amongst other things. The only exception is when they undress each other and fall in bed kissing and marking each other, they can’t be bothered to think about that in the heat of the moment.

Who forgets to flush the toilet? Neither. The fuck is this question.

Who is the prankster around the house? Again blame it on the pets.

Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere? One of the pet birds they fostered has a slight obsession with shiny things.

Who mows the lawn? They have an apartment, not a house with garden, so neither in England. If they are at the family cottage, they already had a gardener for that. But at Greece, there is no grass to mow.

Who answers the telephone? Both, but more often Rook.

Who does the vacuuming? Again Rook. This is his deal of the chores because of his habit of fostering stray animals.

Who does the groceries? Both, and they go together.

Who takes the longest to shower? None, they keep to short and efficient showers... unless they hop together under the spray.

Who spends the most time in the bathroom? Both. Being this handsome takes a lot of work. XD

MISCELLANEOUS

Is money a problem? I don’t think so.

How many cars do they own? Each had their own car, so when they start livign together they technically have two cars.

Do they own their home or do they rent? They rent an apartment near the base at England. Once they had to move to Greece, Doc took this as an excuse to buy a beach house for “family visits”.

Do they live in the city or in the country? Somewhere near a small town. Not too far from the base nor the nearest hospital in case of an emergency.

Do they enjoy their surroundings? For the most part. Surroundings are secondary, what matters the most is the company.

What’s their song? I don’t know why, but I always have the song Dandelions by Ruth B playing in my mind every time I think of them. 

What do they do when they’re away from each other? If they’re away from each other that means one of them went on a mission, so they do their jobs. But they also mail each other love letters and foreign bouquets and gifts to the other back home.

Where did they first meet? When they got selected to be part of Rainbow. Though in Rook’s opinion, its at the infirmary back in France.

Who spends the most money when out shopping? Doc is extremely frugal when it comes to grocery shopping, but will easily splurge a custom made $200,000 Lamborghini in a blink of an eye to show off against NIGHTHAVEN. Rook would buy a lot of snacks and treats and toys for their pets, but is usually the one who had to control Doc on his lavish spendings just to show off.

Who’s more likely to flash their assets? If it is meant to spoil the other, then it’s Doc and his family.

Who finds it amusing when the other trips over? Rook, because it’s rare to see the orderly man stumble adorably.

Any mental issues? Yeah, Doc have PSTD (especially after Outbreak), Doc more than Rook because he had to deal with a lot of deaths head-on.

Who’s terrified of bugs? Neither.

Who kills the spiders around the house? Doc would, behind Rook’s back. While Rook would just simply find a cup and move it away by hand. 

Their favorite place? Their countryside cottage in France, lend from Rook’s parents.

Who pays the bills? Both. They split it in half.

Do they have any fears for their future? Both are terrified of losing the other during a mission. Them dying is something they have more or less assumed, but the other dying? Unthinkable. Especially if they died in their arms.

Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner? Doc. But with a nice home-made dinner tho? Rook is the winner.

Who’s the tallest? Both have the same height I guess?

Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other? Both, but mostly Rook with permission.

Who wanders around in their underwear? I don’t think either of them would be probe to walking around in their underwear unless it’s for a romantic occasion.

Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio? It would be Rook here, especially when he’s doing chores or dancing together.

What do they tease each other about? Doc would usually fuss about Rook’s weight but that is nothing to the whispers of sweet praises to Rook’s ear with a few kisses, how beautiful and sweet he is and how his loving heart could fit the whole world etc. Rook usually tease him about his motherly habits, but also cooes at how his darling “angel of grace” is always watching him.

Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times? Neither, because Doc has the best taste in men’s fashion and loves to spoil Rook rotten. And Rook has good tastes that he learnt from Warden.

Who crushed first? Rook.

Any alcohol or substance related problems? Nah. But is he occasional weed brownies included?

Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am? Both, all the Spetsnaz go drinking together as a team, so the boys stumble home drunk together.

Who swears the most? Doc at work, Rook in bed. 😄

[aboveallarescuer]

How Dany assesses the counsel she receives and makes her own choices - Battle of Yunkai

This will be a series of posts meant to show that Dany is open to receiving advice and criticism, but that she doesn’t act solely based on what other people tell her to do. On the opposite, GRRM makes great effort to write a Dany who most often merges different viewpoints and/or finds her own solutions to the problems she’s facing. I won’t include every single decision she ever made (e.g. her decisions at court are often made without counsel and her execution of the ritual to hatch the dragon eggs was already exhaustively and deftly analyzed by other people), but there will be plenty of instances in this series that will prove my point nonetheless. 

Since Dany doesn't receive a lot of advice in this chapter and I want to highlight her agency and skills here, I’m putting the verdict above so that people who don’t want to read the entire meta can at least find its synthesized points right away.

Chapter (s):

ASOS Daenerys IV

The advice Dany receives:

Both Jorah and Barristan warn Dany that she won't convince neither the Stormcrows nor the Second Sons to switch allegiances.

Verdict:

In this chapter, Dany:

Applies Barristan's lessons when she willingly chooses to assess the enemy forces and makes a reasonable guess of how many men the Yunkish forces have.

Has in mind that the sellswords, who are fighting on horseback, are more likely to cause damage and kill too many of her freedmen. (This will inform her plan later)

Embraces her limitations to mock those who will underestimate her for them. (And the author will give plenty of reasons to challenge the simplistic notion that Dany is just a young girl who does not know the ways of war.)

Applies historical knowledge to support her opinion that her forces will overwhelm her enemies'.

Maintains her self-composure and offers excellent comebacks when the captains and the envoy try to slut-shame and/or sexually harass her.

Is doing what she's doing for no other reason than to free the slaves in Yunkai:

She didn't have to worry about the freedmen's safety when they take part in the battle for her, but she does because it would otherwise render her fight for them meaningless.

She could have kept the chest for herself, but she didn't.

She could have taken other chests from the city like she suggests she might do, but she promises instead that "Yunkai will not be burned or plundered" (and that will bite her in the ass later in ADWD).

The only thing she requires is that the former slaves are "allowed to choose freely from among their masters' possessions" and that they are given "food, clothing, coin and goods". Doing this doesn't benefit her in any way, it only helps the slaves.

Outlines a tactical plan that is motivated by her desire to prevent a high number of freedmen casualties and that implies knowledge of:

The Yunkish forces' tactical formation.

The basic topography of the area.

Her enemies' weaknesses and how to exploit them ("I made no promises about tonight", "We will take them under cover of this darkness", "they will see hundreds of campfires burning").

Stays in the room while her captains decide how to better execute her plan. We don't know how much she contributed to the conversation, but it nevertheless shows her willingness to learn more.

When Daario shows up and declares that he and his men will fight for her, she:

Considers if he might be a spy, worries if there are others and is initially suspicious if he's just trying to save his own skin.

Only changes her mind when she sees that he killed the other commanders and that the dragons are fond of him.

Knows that she can't be too distrustful in general, despite the prophecies.

Realizes that the Stormcrows switching allegiances will guarantee that the Yunkish are overwhelmed.

Is more morally flexible concerning the sellswords than one might expect from a traditional hero(ine) fighting against slavery.

Beginning of the chapter

ASOS Daenerys IV is set in motion here:

Her Dothraki scouts had told her how it was, but Dany wanted to see for herself. Ser Jorah Mormont rode with her through a birchwood forest and up a slanting sandstone ridge. “Near enough,” he warned her at the crest.

Dany reined in her mare and looked across the fields, to where the Yunkish host lay athwart her path. Whitebeard had been teaching her how best to count the numbers of a foe. “Five thousand,” she said after a moment.

Even though her Dothraki scouts had already done so, Dany wants to apply Barristan's teachings and assess the enemy forces by herself. She estimates five thousand, which Jorah considers to be a fair guess. I would also note that, while it's not explicitly acknowledged that Dany would know how to describe the terrain the way the narrative does (in the parts in bold above), she is still sufficiently aware of it to concoct a successful outline of where each of her forces should strike the Yunkish later, as we'll see below.

Jorah notes where each sellsword company is positioned and Dany realizes that the Yunkai'i are located in the center. She asks if they lead slave soldiers and the knight confirms that they do, but they aren't equal of Unsullied. Jorah thinks they can "easily" defeat their army, but Yunkai has been forewarned, so any fight might result in more casualties than Dany is willing to accept.

Dany considered. The slaver host seemed small compared to her own numbers, but the sellswords were ahorse. She’d ridden too long with Dothraki not to have a healthy respect for what mounted warriors could do to foot. The Unsullied could withstand their charge, but my freedmen will be slaughtered.

First, here we see Dany using the knowledge she acquired from living with the Dothraki to make a more precise assessment of how her forces might fare against her enemies.

Second, I've seen Dany be criticized before for "breaking" her word with the slavers ... You know, these people who think selling other people is acceptable. This little fact already makes this criticism a moot point at best and slavery apologia at worst, but even then ...

Let's not forget that thinking Dany was "breaking" her word with the slavers means accepting that slavery is valid and that they have the right to sell other human beings.

Let's not forget that Dany's fear that too many of her freedmen will die is what leads her to decide to attack Yunkai and the sellswords when they don't expect it, as the passage above shows.

Let's not forget how awfully we see the Yunkai'i treating their slaves in Tyrion's chapters.

Let's remember all of this.

So, with these considerations in mind, Dany decides:

“The slavers like to talk,” she said. “Send word that I will hear them this evening in my tent. And invite the captains of the sellsword companies to call on me as well. But not together. The Stormcrows at midday, the Second Sons two hours later.”

Jorah thinks they might refuse the invitation, but Dany is quite certain that they won't:

“They’ll come. They will be curious to see the dragons and hear what I might have to say, and the clever ones will see it for a chance to gauge my strength.” She wheeled her silver mare about. “I’ll await them in my pavilion.”

I have no doubt that the previous reactions of the Qartheen and the Astapori to her dragons are informing her attitude here.

Negotiation talks

On my rereads, I've noticed that the negotiation talks in ASOS Daenerys IV are actually quite formulaic: a) the commander/envoy underestimate and/or insult Dany, b) Dany shows self-assurance and/or makes a threat and c) Dany makes a proposal only to be rebuked. So, instead of analyzing dialogue by dialogue chronologically, I think it's more interesting to display these patterns and focus on Dany's voice to highlight her rhetorical skills.

With both the Stormcrows and the Second Sons, Dany points out their blatant military disadvantages while embracing her youth and ignorance (because otherwise they will use these factors to hold her in low regard) and pretending to underestimate herself (because to do so right away means to undermine their propensity to do that):

“Five hundred of your Stormcrows against ten thousand of my Unsullied,” said Dany. “I am only a young girl and do not understand the ways of war, yet these odds seem poor to me.”

~

“It is true that I am only a young girl, and do not know the ways of war. Explain to me how you propose to defeat ten thousand Unsullied with your five hundred. Innocent as I am, these odds seem poor to me.”

The captain of the Stormcrows, Prendahl na Ghezn, is adamant that they don't stand alone, for they have the support of both the Second Sons and "the stalwart men of Yunkai". Dany questions if the Second Sons will stay by their side with such poor odds, but Prendahl doesn't flinch. Misogyny undoubtedly plays a part in his reaction, but there's also the fact that, as Jorah later told her, "[l]ikely he had kin in Astapor".

The captain of the Second Sons, Mero, doesn't even bother offering counterarguments. In his mind, since the Second Sons won battles with worse odds and have him as a leader, of course it will be easy to win against a "little girl".

With both Prendahl and Mero, Dany applies her historical knowledge to support her case:

“Woman?” She chuckled. “Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap, if I took you for a man.” Dany met his stare. “I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, khaleesi to Drogo’s riders, and queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.”

~

“The Second Sons have faced worse odds and run. At Qohor, when the Three Thousand made their stand. Or do you deny it?”

The first passage, in particular, is often quoted by fans, and rightfully so. All of the three men with whom Dany negotiates try to underestimate her on behalf of her gender and/or by sexualizing/slut-shaming her. It speaks volumes that Dany is able to maintain her self-composure and offer such an excellent comeback. She knows what happened to the last man who dismissed her as "an ignorant whore", after all.

In fact, that's not the only rebut that Dany makes for being reduced to her sexuality. Mero's misogyny is particularly insiduous for pretending to be flatterous while he's actually both underestimating her authority and sexually harassing her. That's why her responses to him are more threatening than to the others:

“If you bring the Second Sons over to my side, I might not have you gelded.”

~

“No need. After my eunuchs cut it off, I can examine it at my leisure.”

~

“So it is from you they get their courage?” Dany turned to Ser Jorah. “When the battle is joined, kill this one first.”

The last example is particularly noteworthy. In Game of Thrones, the writers have show!Dany tell her advisor to kill Mero first after he is gone. In the books, however, Mero tries to paint himself as the one that gives his soldiers determination to fight only to be undermined by Dany, who simply asks Jorah to kill him first. As we can see, Dany acts like a boss here and undercuts her enemies' misogyny multiple times.

Then we get to the proposals she makes to each man she interacts with.

This is her proposal for the commander of the Stormcrows:

“Once battle is joined, do not think to ask for quarter. Join me now, however, and you shall keep the gold the Yunkaii paid you and claim a share of the plunder besides, with greater rewards later when I come into my kingdom. Fight for the Wise Masters, and your wages will be death. Do you imagine that Yunkai will open its gates when my Unsullied are butchering you beneath the walls?”

[...] “Tell me this—are the Stormcrows slave or free?”

“We are a brotherhood of free men,” Sallor declared.

“Good.” Dany stood. “Go back and tell your brothers what I said, then. It may be that some of them would sooner sup on gold and glory than on death. I shall want your answer on the morrow.”

Later, Dany's assumption will be validated: Daario Naharis will rather "sup on gold and glory" rather than be killed alongside his commanders. I'll get to him later.

This is her proposal for the commander of the Second Sons:

“Then stay, and fight for me. [...] Coins can be returned,” she said. “I will pay you as much and more. I have other cities to conquer, and a whole kingdom awaiting me half a world away. Serve me faithfully, and the Second Sons need never seek hire again.”

[...] “Can I have a flagon of this fine wine to take back to my captains?”

“You may have a tun. It is from the cellars of the Good Masters of Astapor, and I have wagons full of it.”

“Then give me a wagon. A token of your good regard.”

“You have a big thirst.”

“I am big all over. And I have many brothers. The Titan’s Bastard does not drink alone, Khaleesi.”

“A wagon it is, if you promise to drink to my health.”

“Done!”

If Mero had been more thoughtful and less dismissive of Dany (who had already conquered a city and freed thousands of Unsullied at this point), perhaps he would have considered that she might have used their inebriation to her favor (she did deceive the Astapori, after all, even if she was righteous in doing so). Perhaps he wouldn't have asked for an entire wagon himself if he had taken her seriously as a threat. If she were a man, I'm sure he would have been more cautious.

Finally, this is her proposal for the Yunkish envoy:

“I have a gift for you as well.” She slammed the chest shut. “Three days. On the morning of the third day, send out your slaves. All of them. Every man, woman, and child shall be given a weapon, and as much food, clothing, coin, and goods as he or she can carry. These they shall be allowed to choose freely from among their masters’ possessions, as payment for their years of servitude. When all the slaves have departed, you will open your gates and allow my Unsullied to enter and search your city, to make certain none remain in bondage. If you do this, Yunkai will not be burned or plundered, and none of your people shall be molested. The Wise Masters will have the peace they desire, and will have proved themselves wise indeed. What say you?”

This moment makes it clear that Dany is doing what she is doing for no other reason than to end slavery in Yunkai.

She didn't have to worry about the freedmen's safety when they take part in the battle for her, but she does because it would otherwise render her fight for them meaningless.

She could have kept the chest for herself, but she didn't.

She could have taken other chests from the city like she suggests she might do, but she promises instead that "Yunkai will not be burned or plundered" (and that will bite her in the ass later in ADWD).

The only thing she requires is that the former slaves are "allowed to choose freely from among their masters' possessions" and that they are given "food, clothing, coin and goods". Doing this simply doesn't benefit her in any way.

However, the envoy calls Dany mad when he hears her terms, so she has her dragons burn his tokar. It's a moment that GRRM wishes had been included in the TV show, probably because it has ramifications later in ADWD (namely when Dany is trying to make peace with the Yunkish and they won't trust her word for that reason). 

Battle plans

I recently came across a good meta analyzing the Battle of Yunkai from a military standpoint. I will juxtapose certain excerpts (adapted as bullet lists) from that meta with passages showing Dany's actions and statements in the books to emphasize how capable a leader Dany is becoming:

“An hour past midnight should be time enough.”

“Yes, Khaleesi,” said Rakharo. “Time for what?”


“To mount our attack.”


Ser Jorah Mormont scowled. “You told the sellswords—”

“—that I wanted their answers on the morrow. I made no promises about tonight. The Stormcrows will be arguing about my offer. The Second Sons will be drunk on the wine I gave Mero. And the Yunkai’i believe they have three days. We will take them under cover of this darkness.”

“They will have scouts watching for us.”

“And in the dark, they will see hundreds of campfires burning,” said Dany. “If they see anything at all.”

“Khaleesi,” said Jhogo, “I will deal with these scouts. They are no riders, only slavers on horses.”

“Just so,” she agreed. “I think we should attack from three sides. Grey Worm, your Unsullied shall strike at them from right and left, while my kos lead my horse in wedge for a thrust through their center. Slave soldiers will never stand before mounted Dothraki.” She smiled. “To be sure, I am only a young girl and know little of war. What do you think, my lords?”

~

1. We know that Dany had limited knowledge about warfare (after all, she's only a 14-15 year old girl), but nonetheless she outlined a rough tactical plan which her captains did not hesitate to accept.

2. She used terms such as 'left', 'right' and 'center', which suggest that her outline was based on the assumption that the enemy forces would be arrayed in some kind of linear formation. It also implies that she's familiar with the local terrain and topography. Because if the enemy camp had been protected by natural obstacles (by the coast, a mountain or a river for example), Dany's outline would not make any sense and her captains would certainly have told her so.

3. She also seems to realize her own limitations when it comes to warfare and that the implementation of military operations are better left over to her experienced captains.

4. Dany's plan made common sense and the battle turned out to be a success: The basic idea behind her plan was to let the heavy mass of Unsullied handle the sellswords on the flanks, while the Dothraki attacked the fragile slave soldiers. She deceived her foes, took the initiative, exploited her numerical superiority and took them by surprise.

5. But her plan involved certain calculated risks: Trying to direct a battle involving thousands of men at night can be very difficult, it can easily turn into a mess, and the danger of sudden panic is always present. That is probably why her armed freedmen were held back: Their lack of discipline and lack of fighting skills could easily backfire. The Unsullied, on the other hand, were very disciplined and they were also trained in night-maneuvers. (x)

As we can see, Dany's plan shows that she knows: a) the Yunkish forces' tactical formation, b) the basic topography of the area and c) her enemies' weaknesses and how to exploit them ("I made no promises about tonight", "We will take them under cover of this darkness", "they will see hundreds of campfires burning"). Even more importantly, as the reviewer acknowledges, her captains accept her plan without any objections. This is commendable, considering that it comes from someone who lacks both experience and knowledge.

This quote is also relevant:

It took an hour to work out all the details. Now begins the most dangerous time, Dany thought as her captains departed to their commands. She could only pray that the gloom of the night would hide her preparations from the foe.

To which extent Dany participated or gave feedback in the discussion above is unknown, but we can conclusively say that she at least listened to which military operations her captains would later implement to take the city, which highlights her desire to acquire more knowledge. In fact, I would argue that the author chose not to give attention to this hour of planning because he would rather focus on Dany's outline (and character development). GRRM takes great pains to give Dany agency, portray her as a competent leader and challenge the notion that she is only a young girl who doesn't know the ways of war.

Then, something unexpected happens (though, as I said above, Dany had already considered that this might have happened, even if not 100% seriously): Daario is captured by the Unsullied and unexpectedly declares that the Stormcrows are now on Dany's side. @rainhadaenerys already explained why Dany's trust in Daario does not make her stupid for a few reasons that I'll sum up here: a) he had already betrayed the other captains and would gain nothing doing the same to her; b) having him and his 500 men on her side would guarantee that the Yunkish would be overwhelmed; c) because, despite the prophecies concerning the treasons, she knows that she must trust other people, especially since no one's loyalties are certain. I would also want to add that she makes several considerations before accepting Daario on her side:

“The Unsullied caught one of the sellswords trying to sneak into the camp.”

“A spy?” That frightened her. If they’d caught one, how many others might have gotten away?

~

Dany was dubious. If this Tyroshi had come to spy, this declaration might be no more than a desperate plot to save his head.

This is not the reasoning of someone who can be considered "reckless" or "stupid", but who is rather aware of possible negative implications. However, she also proves to be flexible soon afterwards: if Daario killed the other commanders and the dragons trust him, accepting his allegiance seems worth the risk (and it pays off). Anyone who dismisses her for being "shallow" here has a shallow reading of the text themselves. He's handsome, but that's just a bonus.

In fact, there's a Doylist reason why we shouldn't criticize Dany for accepting Daario - doing so would mean validating Jorah's opinion, which is not a good look. Even worse, doing so would mean undermining this powerful and more than earned moment.

Aftermath

Things go pretty much exactly the way Dany had planned and expected:

“Your Grace, I bring you victory. The Stormcrows turned their cloaks, the slaves broke, and the Second Sons were too drunk to fight, just as you said. Two hundred dead, Yunkai’i for the most part. Their slaves threw down their spears and ran, and their sellswords yielded. We have several thousand captives.”

And, as more proof (if that was even needed) that Dany was concerned for the number of freedmen that would end up as casualties when she decided to attack the Yunkish when they didn't expect it:

“Our own losses?”


“A dozen. If that many.”

Only then did she allow herself to smile.

I won't comment much on the mhysa scene because it doesn't really concern Dany's decision-making. I will say, though, that their reaction shows that they are grateful for her actions (see above, again, how the slaves are treated in Tyrion's chapters) and that it highlights, once again, the righteousness of Dany's cause.

(I've already written about what mhysa means for Dany here and here. Also, because this scene is understandably controversial ... here and here you can find good posts about the racism in the writing of Dany's storyline as a whole in a way that doesn't mischaracterize her.)

How Dany assesses the advice she receives

I'm putting this section in the end because there are only two moments (and one goes beyond the scope of this post) in which Dany receives advice in this chapter. This makes sense: as I said, despite Dany's limitations due to age and experience, GRRM really wanted to highlight how influential she was on the outcome of the battle.  

The one moment that we see Dany getting advice is after she meets with the Stormcrows and the Second Sons. Both Barristan and Jorah agree that she is probably not going to get their support - Mero is treacherous and Prendahl had family amongst the Astapori. There isn't much she can do but accept their warning, but I find this line interesting:

“It is not his reputation that I want, it’s his five hundred horse.[”]

Dany is a traditional hero(ine) in so many ways, so it would be easier to portray her as someone who is unambiguously and plainly wary of the sellswords' lack of morals. However, moments like this and the one later in ADWD Daenerys VIII when she finds that being "dishonorable and greedy" can be advantageous if she wants the sellswords to turn to her side show that Dany is actually quite down-to-earth and flexible and doesn't suffer from moral righteousness like some think. In fact, if Dany had that problem, I'm not sure she would have thought that deceiving the slave masters (justified as that was) and revolting against an entire economic system would be okay; it's more likely that she would have had Barristan's attitude instead (i.e., leaving the region behind while feeling empathy but doing nothing about it). It's also a little detail that shows how GRRM maintains her characterization consistent, for it would be easy to forget that aspect of Dany by the time he got to writing ADWD.

(Of course, it's not so simple as to say that she's okay with their immorality. She is suspicious of them - we see with Daario that she doesn't fully trust him nor reacted well to that advice to kill all the masters in the Temple of the Graces.)